The Curious Case of John Terry

John Terry retired from England duty on Sunday, overall I feel this is a good thing and I'm going to try and explain why.

Firstly, Terry was a great defender for England. He was also a great leader for England. The keywords in these two sentences are "was". Throughout his 8 year international career he has performed honourably whilst wearing the "Three Lions", he has performed with a passion that very few have shown over the past few years. He has been a leader for a team that has lacked leadership both on the field and off it; although sometimes, like everything he done off the field, he crossed a line. Terry's defensive abilities also shone on the field, along with his willingness to put himself where others wouldn't, and his defensive leadership have helped out England to achieve more than they should have. Terry formed a great defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand that continued on from Rio's pairing with Sol Campbell. The two's individual attributes complimented each other, and for the past 8 years it would hard to argue against selecting them as the first choice pairing for England. For all of Terry's positives, there were negatives. His biggest flaw (on the pitch) was his lack of pace, and now as he cruises past the age of 31 it's going to be shown up even more at international level.

Age is a key factor in why I believe him retiring is a good thing. England have a talent group of defenders coming through and I believe Terry (and Rio Ferdinand) are now surplus to requirement. After the disasters of previous World Cup and European Championship campaigns, it is time for England to slowly remove the old "golden generation" and allow the younger players to take over. With Joleon Lescott, England have an experienced defender with no past history who can steady the ship for the likes of Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Steven Caulker to take over. I also believe this process needs to happen across the rest of the team, with Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard making way for their younger counterparts, however this is a story for another time.

Now, let's get on to the dirty off field shenanigans of Terry, the reasons why Terry shouldn't be part of the England set-up outside his declining ability.

Terry has been twice stripped of the England captaincy. That, to me, is enough to show that he shouldn't be part of the team any longer. The reasons behind him losing the captaincy are fair enough, and are something that the England captain should not be involved in. Sleeping with an ex-teammates ex-girlfriend and making racist comments towards another footballer on the pitch are not the behaviour of a role model. The fact he's trying to make himself look like the victim is also disgusting. The magistrates court and the FA are two different entities. It's only right that he is getting punished by the FA despite being found not guilty at court, in a trial that should have never been considered. A large fine and a several match ban, plus put on a "black list" for England selection where he wouldn't have been called up for 6 months or so, would have been enough for me. However, this won't happen... it's logical and the FA doesn't do logic.

In the end Terry has made himself look like a victim and people have bought it. It's a disgusting way to end his England career, but good riddance to you. The England team will be better for his loss, despite what people will try and claim.

Best XI - A Different Take

These "Best XI" teams pop up all the time, usually they contain the same players who are proclaimed to be the "best" players in the world. I thought I'd create one, and have challenged Herby to do the same, made entirely of our favourite English Premier League players from the past 10 years, so from the 2002/03 season onwards. This is going to be quite difficult.

The Team

I'm setting my team out in a simple 4-4-2 formation; I may be using some sort of loophole for some of my picks, but as I said, it's a team made of my favourite players. So it'll pass, right?


GK - Kelvin Davis
Sunderland (2005/06), Southampton (2012/13)

I haven't picked Davis on his merits playing for Sunderland and Southampton in the EPL, but for the 2 years he had in Ipswich. He was brilliant for us, easily our best keeper since a young Richard Wright picked up his ears and left for the bright lights of cup games for Arsenal.

He joined us in 2003 and won the 'Championship Goalkeeper of the Year' award while helping us achieve the play-offs where we would lose to West Ham. Things went downhill for us from there, and he left after one more season and has struggled to be replaced ever since. Thanks for the good times, Kelvin. Good luck in avoiding relegation this year with Southampton, you're a class keeper.


RB - Danny Mills
Leeds United (1999-2003), Middlesbrough (2003/04), Manchester City (2004-07)

This may be a strange selection to some, but "Sir" Danny Mills has a special place in my heart thanks to a certain videogame.

Spending hours playing 'Pro Evolution Soccer' on the PS2 after school with my mate, we always had the problem of having Gary Neville being the first choice right back for England. One day we decided to risk it and go with Mills instead, what a brilliant decision that turned out to be. He was there making tackles, winning the ball, causing trouble for everyone. After such a Man of the Match performance he was first choice in every team I ever played with on PES. Only right that he's first choice in this team.

CB - Sol Campbell
Tottenham Hotspur (1992-2001), Arsenal (2001-06, 2009-10), Portsmouth (2006-09), Newcastle (2010-11)

He was a class defender for England for years, robbed of his first goal for his country on a couple of occasions. His reaction everytime he thought he had scored wreaked of passion, something that current England players seem to lack.

He was class for Tottenham and for Arsenal. He had the ability to back up his passion, determination and leadership. One of the best English centre-backs of all time, probably one of my favourite defenders of all-time.

CB - Hermann Hreidarsson
Ipswich Town (2000-02), Charlton Athletic (2003-07), Portsmouth (2007-10)

Your typical Scandinavian defender.

Large, stronger, awesome.

He was great for Ipswich, he was loved by everyone. It was a shame to see him move on after our relegation and subsequent failure to get back to the big league. Whenever he scores for my team he can jump in the crowd, I'll even cover the fine he'll get for it.



LB - John Arne Riise
Liverpool (2001-08), Fulham (2011-13)

Left back was a difficult position to fill, as there haven't been many ones that I've liked over the years.

Ashley Cole was an option to start, despite him being a censored, his performances for England over the years have been great.

Riise, though. Another Scandinavian being awesome. Amazing left foot, runs all day, amazing left foot, pretty competent defender, amazing left foot. That just about sums it up. He'll form a great partnership with Hermann, I shall call them the "Awesome left-footed Scandinavians", or something a bit more catchier.

RM - David Beckham
Manchester United (1994-2003)

This was one of the easier selections I had to make.

Whenever I played football with friends when I was growing up, we always pretended we were a player. Something I'm sure a lot of you done. Beckham was close to top of the list for me. Sure he messed up a lot and played for Manchester United, but I don't hold that against him. Easily one of the best players I've had the luck of seeing play, on TV and in real life. He had to be first choice to fill this right midfield role, no doubt about that.

CM - Xabi Alonso
Liverpool (2004-09)

He is so damn sexy.

Also, he's a great footballer.

But... look at him.




CM - Jimmy Bullard
Wigan Athletic (2004-06), Fulham (2006-09), Hull City (2009-10)

A quick YouTube search will give you the real reason I've put Bullard in this team. It's always a great sight to see a player out there on the pitch enjoying themselves and having a laugh.

A side reason for his addition would be the loan spell he had at Ipswich at the end of the 2011 season. He was so great that he won the Player of the Year award for us, his subsequent permanent move didn't work out so well, but those 6 months were great. Shame injury plighted such a good footballer's career.

LM - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Arsenal (2011-13)

This might be a strange choice to many of you, given how little time "The Ox" has spent in the EPL. Let me explain myself.

When he broke into the Arsenal team in the middle of last season, I was more than impressed. He possess all the attributes a great footballer needs. He's strong, quick, has a great touch and great technique; he's also at probably the best place to be developed into a top quality footballer. I'm going to enjoy watching him progress for Arsenal and England, there's a lot more to come from him.

ST - Dennis Bergkamp
Arsenal (1995-2006)

He may have only scored 131 goals in his 11 years spent in England, but every single one of them was awesome.

I dreamed of being a player like he was, that touch, that technique, that being afraid of flying.

His goal against Newcastle would be my favourite goal of all-time if it wasn't for his goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup.

The best foreign player to grace the Premier League? For me, no doubt about it. Not even my final choice surpasses him.

ST - Thierry Henry
Arsenal (1999-2007, 2012)

I once found out that somebody had uploaded every single of Henry's Arsenal goals up to YouTube. Needless to say I spent 40 minutes watching them all. There were some special goals amongst them.

Thierry Henry only ever scored special goals.

In his prime there was not a better goal scorer on the planet. Despite being French, one of my favourite players ever.

Substitutes

GK - Brad Friedel 
Liverpool (1997-2000), Blackburn (2001-08), Aston Villa (2008-11), Tottenham Hotspur (2011-13)

There is a law that states to be an American goalkeeper you have to be bald. Brad Friedel does this very well. He also does the goalkeeping stuff very well too. He also does the not missing a league game thing very, very well too. If I was to create a team in 10 years time, I'm sure Friedel would still be playing every game and still be hopeful of selection.

D  - Thomas Vermaelen
Arsenal (2009-13)

He may not be the best defender in the world, but I enjoy watching him play. The way he bombs forward, he 's a useful force attacking as well. Hope to see him lead Arsenal for many more years.

D  - Ashley Cole
Arsenal (1999-2006), Chelsea (2006-13)

As I said, him being a censored ruled him out of starting, but he still makes the bench for his performances for both club and country. Shame about the personality.

M  - Jack Wilshere
Arsenal (2008-13)

Another young English player in amongst my favourites? Wilshere is going to be a class act though, you could see it in his first full season at Arsenal. High hopes for him.

M  - Juninho Paulista
Middlesbrough (1999-2000, 2002-05)

He just sneaks into the guidelines, but he's worthy of a place. The Teeside Twinkle Toes was a joy to watch in his brief spell in the North-East.

ST -  Gianfranco Zola
Chelsea (1996-2003)

Sticking with the short players who just make it past the guidelines, we have this man. Zola was such a pleasure to watch, and so was that goal against Norwich.

ST - Marcus Stewart
Ipswich Town (2000-02), Sunderland (2002-03)

This is another homer pick, and it's for the 2001-02 season, which falls outside our guidelines but he makes them because he played for a couple more years afterwards. In the 01-02 season, Stewart ended the year being the highest English goalscorer in the league. Ipswich finished 5th thanks to his efforts. He deserves this place based on that alone.



So there we have it. A team made up of my favourite players who have played in the Premier League in the past 10 years.

BF3 Ultimate Squad - Part 2

This is the second in a series of five blog posts specifying, what I believe to be, the best combination of classes for a four man squad. Whilst the Battlefield is most certainly a fluid, living system requiring at certain points direct modification of behaviour to counter a specific threat, it is my belief that the following squad can counter most – if not all – threats. Click here to view myfirst blog.

My second pick for the ultimate squad is the Engineer class.

Title: Anti-Tank Engineer

Weapon: Carbine

Side Arm: Silenced

Gadget 1: RPG/SMAW

Gadget 2: Mines

Squad Perk: Explosives

Reason: I believe, apart from Metro, every map in BF3 has some form of Armoured Vehicle. It should come as no surprise then that for a squad to be successful and self-sufficient that an Engineer is needed with Anti-Tank capabilities. RPG/SMAW, when utilised effectively, are superior to the Javelin and the Carbine is almost, if not equally effective as an assault rifle. All together it makes the most single handedly destructive soldier and henceforth I'll break down the mentality/abilities.

As with all classes, PDW/Shotguns can be used with this class alongside the exclusive weapons of the class – in this case Carbines. In reality, you would pick your favourite gun from the list available to the Engineer, as you need to be comfortable engaging infantry. Utilising a suppressor is an option, however, the firepower of the Carbines alongside a Recon already favouring Stealth means that it isn't a necessity. The player should travel with the rest of the squad and provide backup when needed.

RPG/SMAW is chosen over the Javelin for a few good reasons. The most obvious one is that Tanks/IFVs can utilise smoke, rendering the Javelin all but useless. Of course, not every Tank/IFV will run smoke, but it is of my belief that any player using an Armoured Vehicle should run Smoke, so it would be against logic to advise Javelins for their disposal. I have verified it myself that it takes 2 in the rear, 4 from the side to destroy a Tank, with a similar amount for IFVs. Utilising these facts for disposing of Tanks/IFVs will leave you with rockets to spare and will be just as effective as a Javelin. Another reason to go against Javelin using is the sad fact that SOLFAMs are not common place on the Battlefield and that smart tank drivers can use buildings as cover.

When an armoured vehicle appears, every effort should be taken to flank said vehicle in order to maximise damage. Moving with another member of the squad, preferably with a suppressed gun, the 2 man team should move to the rear of the vehicle before engaging. Once the initial shot is fired, assessment of the situation should be made so as to engage the vehicle again from the rear or side. With support from the second soldier, it should be possible to remove the vehicle with minimal team losses.

I have picked Mines for Gadget 2. Clever, concealed mines can hugely benefit the team and help rid the Battlefield of enemy vehicles. Since mines don't disappear after death, the Engineer can place and forget. It is of my opinion that mines should be placed in areas that are hard to see when driving, such as a slope or inside a crater, as a mine in the open will easily be seen by many vehicle drivers.

Finally, the squad perk I have chosen is Explosion, for obvious reasons. Double the amount of RPGs/Mines seriously benefits yourself and allows you to be less dependent on ammo resupplies. 

In conclusion, the Anti-Tank engineer has a well earned position inside the ultimate squad. Providing Anti-Tank capabilities, the player can engage and destroy enemy armour whilst the rest of the squad provides backup/diversions. Mines allow a place-and-forget attitude to destroying armour elsewhere on the map and finally, the firepower of the Carbines allow engaging of infantry.

Visit again next week for discussion on the 3rd member of the ultimate squad.

Steams Big Picture; 2 Worlds Collide

When I blogged about my changing attitude to computers, I touched upon the fact that Steam were releasing Big Picture mode; a UI that turns the black and white difference between console and computer experience into a nice shade of grey. If you can get a nice shade of grey, I suppose. A few days ago, Big Picture was released into beta, with those who opt into Steams Beta option given the first public test of the feature. As one of those beta boys, I've played around with the experience and I hope to give you an insight as to how important this interface is.

Firstly, one might ask, is what's so interesting about a UI? Well, Steams Big Picture interface is optimised for television. What does that mean? Consider the regular Steam UI. Small text, drop down menus and a fairly cold experience – an interface you wouldn't put on your TV as you most likely wouldn't be able to read the text. Big Picture replaces the small text, drop down menu interface with chunky, square boxes more akin to Xbox360s interface; a solution far better adapted to the TV.

I'm going to take a stab in the dark here. You, the reader, might be thinking this; Why make a User Interface that is optimised for TV when I sit here, on my computer, looking at a monitor and play games with a mouse and keyboard? If that is what your thinking, then Steam has thought it too – the answer is that the Interface isn't just for Mouse and Keyboard – it's been designed for controllers.

More specifically, the Xbox360 controller. PS3 fans, don't worry,there is a way to get your controller to work with the interface. Connecting your controller to the computer while in Big Picture instantly replaces the keyboard instructions with controller buttons. The black and white picture is turning greyer. Big Picture, optimised for TV and navigated by console controller; almost like your on a console, no? Furthermore, many of the multiplatform games, that is games that appear on the 360 and PS3 alongside the PC, have controller support native to said game. Time to take this all for a test.

Once I got my PS3 controller paired to Windows, I plugged my heaterImeanlaptop into the TV by HDMI. With Steam loaded up and the window in front of me, I pressed the PS button. For a lack of a better word, boom! Steams new intro pops in (albeit, on may laptop, jittering). Rather instinctively, I navigate to my games collection and scroll past FM, Company of Heroes and such to the Limbo Demo; a game that was time-exclusive to the 360 and designed more-so with consoles in mind. Couple taps of X and Limbo loads up – no rectangle telling me its launching or pop up which would appear foreign in this interface. With Limbo loaded up, my controller is still working and operating the game. I hit the PS button once more, and I'm greeted with the Big Picture UI layered on Limbo. Back to the game, I sink 20 minutes into the demo before deciding to quit out. Right back to the Big Picture UI.

Although in Beta, the whole experience makes you forget your operating a computer. Big Picture has it's own web browser optimised for the controller, as well as the friend list easily accessible for chating with your fellow gamers. Steam have got around the whole difficulty typing messages by including a new type of keyboard to use with the controller; the daisywheel. From my experience, it compares to the PSPs keyboard, although circular and generally more easy and fast to use. The store is also included in Big Picture, allowing you to browse for games and even purchase – all optimised in the new UI.

There are, at this stage, obviously a few bugs. I've had a little bit of trouble getting the search function to work and I've had a couple of times a sound bug. However, these bugs will be highlighted and fixed. There is no word how long the beta will last but I fully expect that when they remove the “Beta” tag this new interface will be ready to stand up to, and possibily beat, consoles interfaces.

A console experience, on your PC. Games optimised for controllers, being launched by controllers though the UI of the biggest game store on the PC. All that's required is a PC that can play said games (easily achievable for less then £300) and a HDMI cable. The colour is well and truly grey now.

BF3 Ultimate Squad - Part 1

This is the first in a series of five blog posts specifying, what I believe to be, the best combination of classes for a four man squad. Whilst the Battlefield is most certainly a fluid, living system requiring at certain points direct modification of behaviour to counter a specific threat, it is my belief that the following squad can counter most – if not all – threats.

Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon. The four available soldier classes. With the ability to choose unlocks, different perks and gadgets – what is the best class for the squad of four to pick?

My first pick for the ultimate squad is the Recon class.

Title: Stealth Recon, Squad Leader

Weapon: Silenced PDW (UMP-45 Recommended)

Side Arm: Silenced

Gadget 1: T-UGS/MAV

Gadget 2: Spawn Becon

Squad Perk: Grenade

Reason: The Recon class should always be an integral part of a squad; although I believe it isn't being used as it should. Firstly, although sniping is one of the main draws of playing the Recon class, it should not be the main one. For my ultimate squad, the Recon should have the job of Squad Leader and be played with the perspective of being an advanced, stealthed soldier.

To expand on the last point, the Recon player shouldn't, and can't, be the killing machine. Many, if not all, Battlefield maps allow the player to slip behind the frontline to attack from a different angle. As a Stealthed player, utilising the Suppressed gun allows the player to choose his battles. Too often players break from what they were originally doing to go grab a kill. This isn't how the Recon player should play. Even with a suppresor, a big skull on the enemies radar alerts everyone in the vicinity that a death occurred and draws attention to the reason. Choosing not to engage in conflict, unless it is absolutely necessary, allows the player to place a Beacon down behind, or aside, the objective. Having a fixed, advanced spawn point allows continued assault from the rest of the squad from a different point – stretching the enemy and more often then not securing whatever the objective is.

Gadget 1 is left open to the player and depends on the map, game type and circumstance. In general, having the T-UGS is most often the preferred choice. T-UGS gives the player an extremely powerful tool in the enemy showing up on the radar. Having the drop on the enemy greatly improves your chances in any circumstance. If on an exposed map, such as the first MCOMM on Operation Metro, the player can communicate and guide the rest of the squad to the objective – an extremely powerful and underestimated option. Describing, guiding and alerting negates the missing firepower from the fourth soldier. I have not recommended the SOLFAM in this analysis – this is mostly because I believe the ability to know where the enemy is on the Battlefield is superior to the additional damage done by the Javelin.

In closing summary – Stealth, Forward placing Spawn Beacon and T-UGS. This turns a class often used to sit 500+ meters away from the Battlefield and being any use to the squad into a game changing soldier. Playing solo, I am able to drag a team that is stuck in the same bit of the map killing each other in the same place into an interesting battle, capturing flags and blowing up MCOMMS before the enemy can realise what's happening. Together with clan mates, it often leads to victory after victory.

Next Monday, I will give my verdict to the next class that a squad member should utilise. Check back on the 17th!

For those interested in my BF3 stats, click here

World's Worst Review - Gran Turismo 5

This is a new section and idea for the blog that will (hopefully) be a regular thing. It's called World's Worst Review, because frankly, it's going to be bad. The idea is simple, me and Herby will regularly review games, the twist is that they will be any game from the past 1000 years (probably not that far back, but still). So basically we're going to be reviewing games that have been out for a long time and that you've played a lot and either like or hate. A twist that M. Night Shyamalan would be proud of.

Gran Turismo 5

For anyone who doesn't know, Gran Turismo 5 is a PS3 exclusive driving game from Polyphony Digital. The previous 4 games in the series were good, both graphically and drivingly (that's now a word). The 5th instalment was awaited with much anticipation as it was the first Gran Turismo game to arrive on PS3, and due to the release date being put further and further back. I picked up the game on release day after a pre-order, and well... I was underwhelmed to put it kindly. Using a controller the game felt lifeless to me. The AI were more on rails than an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine, which is why I referred to it as a "driving game" and not a "racing game". After a couple of weeks of pointless "races" against the awful AI, the game was returned to the shop and traded in for something else. I had moved on and had no intention of returning to the series.

This changed a few weeks ago when my friend, Skuh, sent me his old Logitech steering wheel and a copy of GT5. I plugged it in, set it up and hit up a time trial on one of the tracks in a Ferrari 458. Wow. It was a completely different game using the wheel. The car felt alive, the game felt alive, I actually had fun playing Gran Turismo. I was actually interested in doing lap after lap after lap in various cars at different tracks, this was the ultimate driving experience.

So now I've played the game and actually gotten the real driving experience from it, I can safely say that Gran Turismo is a good game. The graphics are great, the car handling is great (when using a wheel), and there is a long lasting appeal to it the game now. Setting a time on a lap and knowing you can improve it on the next, you get the driving bug and don't want to stop, even after 30 sweaty minutes around Nordschleife. Although the AI is still poor, the online challenges are still fun and competitive. The staggered start means that there's some challenge in catching up the leader in five laps, plus the prize money award for winning a stage is worth it and means I can buy another Nissan.

Obviously there are a few negative points to the game. Firstly, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but the AI removes any fun had racing offline. Online is good from what I've experienced, but I still wish they would have spent some of the development time improving the AI rather than adding another type of Nissan. The choice of cars is strange, to say the least. Sure, the game may have 1000 cars but there needs to be more variety and more "premium" cars. The biggest negative point for me though is that the game only becomes fun when you splash out another £80+ on a steering wheel (plus any extra money need for a stand or solid set-up). Not everyone has that kind of money, or awesome friends who send you things for free; and although there is some fun in playing the game with a controller, it really becomes a different beast when you use a wheel.

If you're after a good driving simulation game on PlayStation 3 that will compliment your new wheel set-up, then you have to look no further than this brilliant offering from Sony's own Polyphony Digital. If, however, you don't have such a set-up, you may want to look elsewhere for that "ultimate driving experience".

On the 30th of August, I woke up to the news that the next Metal Gear Solid has been showcased as part of the Metal Gear 25th Anniversary. After shutting up the 10 year old screaming girl inside me, I re-read the news report and took in what it meant for me. The game was running on the PC. It wasn't console exclusive. It was the push I needed to abandon the console ship.

Bit of background. I've had a console in my life since before I could remember. Well, that's a slight lie. I remember getting up for Christmas and finding a Sega Megadrive with Sonic. But since then, I've always had a console. I had a PS1, 2 & 3. My brother lent his Xbox to me and I bought a 360 (which then died 3 days later) before I purchased a PS3. My girlfriend has the Wii and DS/3DS, whilst I have had a GBC,GBA and PSP. I also had desktops in my life, on which I did play games such as BF2 competitively, but the console was always around. I have had every generation of console that was possible to buy alongside my life, basically.

Yet I will not be buying the PS4, Xbox720 or WiiU. Even without knowing the features, I know that I will not pick up the next generation. Why the flip in behaviour?

The answer lies with the desktop PC, Steam and perhaps with my age.

Firstly, my age. When I was a young whippersnapper, I bought the magazines previewing games, I went into Electronic Botique wide eyes and read the back of the games cases with vigour. Nowadays, I look at the price tag of a new console game - £40 in most cases – and say “Fuck no”. I see the latest releases and hardly any interest me. Uncharted 3 disappointed me, F1 2011 was, well F1 2011. Battlefield 3 is fun but anyone can see that the 24 player experience is nowhere near the awesomeness of 32-64 players – and thats without examining Armoured Kill. My latest game and the game thats made me return to the PS3? Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection – games from the PSP and PS2? The only game that interests me is The Last of Us, and even then I won't slap down £40 for it.

My age has taught me that gaming is expensive and that my golden generation will be the games I was playing when I was younger. Yeah, I'll still buy the latest FM, Metal Gear or the like, but most games these days are no longer “exclusives”. This trend will do nothing but continue and while the PC suffers from piracy and horror stories of software which does more to offend the customer then the pirater (Ubisoft!), [deep breath] there is one shining hope of becon; Steam!

Steam is the argument for the desktop PC, in a gaming sense. They have recently announced Big Picture mode. The premise? Console UI for your TV, PC games. There has been a trend alongside this of games becoming more “Console” on the PC as well, with interfaces designed more for controllers along with the option of using controllers for operating the game itself.

The benefit of this is clear to see. Why do you need to fork out for a console with static hardware, closed software and relatively high (at launch) failure rates when you could buy a PC and hook it up to your TV for a console experience?

An argument can be made that the initial price for consoles are lower then when buying/building a PC. An argument which is, in my opinion, fairly wrong. I've been doing some research and found that I can buy a pre-built barebones computer, missing around £40 worth of hardware, for £120. This PC can play current games such as Dirt 3 at 40FPS. The system can then be upgraded whenever you have the available funds – building a PC which far surpasses the current crop of consoles for minimal cost and will cost less then the next generation of consoles.

Consoles are known to be friendly to use. Plug it in, launch it and stick the disk in – game away. Well, with the computer literacy of children and our generation, not many people don't know how to use a PC. Steam once again comes into the argument with their store. It's simple to just download games from them and Big Picture mode will make the UI even better.

The most compelling argument is consoles normally come with some form of proprietary hardware. PS2 came with a DVD drive which helped justify it's position as not only a console but a system which lets users watch films. PS3 followed suit with the Blu-Ray player, as did the 360 who tried to wage war with the HD-DVD add on. At the time of launch, the PS3 was the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the market. It could be possible that a next gen console will use a new proprietary hardware, giving us a cheap way to have some more expensive kit. It is, however, possible it will go the other way – cloud source gaming, download only games or the like. Cloud source and download gaming is already available on PC and, what with games no longer trending towards exclusivity there is no strong argument against the PC gaming.

There is, however, one huge cloud on the gaming horizon that I have to consider when ditching the SS. Console for the Battleship PC. Windows 8. There has been much rumblings about how gaming will be segmented by the new “Metro although its no longer call Metro” UI. It seems that Games for Windows, the Steam like download service, will be the only “apparent” gaming application on Metro. Steam will be relegated to the normal desktop view, hidden away in Microsofts eyes. Not very, erm, user friendly.

There is of course ways around this. Firstly, we don't even know if Windows 8 will sell well. The new UI is very Tablet friendly – why would a business or customer want that for their home desktop – why not just get a tablet? Secondly, Windows 7 isn't going anywhere. Game companies won't suddenly lose compatibility for their games with Windows 8 much like the new consoles do. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly in the long run, Steam are not taking this lieing down.

What hasn't really been mentioned is the other benefits PC gaming gives the console user. FPS become more competitive and full of teamwork. Real Time Strategy games are only really viable on the PC and are complex and interesting. Racing games can take advantage of the superior CPUs to deliver better physics and driving experience. Other games, like platformers and Sports games, are now playable on PC due to the console controllers working on PCs. Games also normally have vibrant communities, offering user patches for games that are no longer supported by the developers or even full modifications of games, turning them into something new or adding massive amounts of content.

On the productivity front, desktops offer word processing, image editing and many other abilities that completely escape my brain. Although the browsing experience of the internet is perhaps better on tablets, it can't be denied that there are many things the computer does better and tablets are more supplements then replacements. Except when Tablets are compared with Laptops. Bloody laptops.

To sort of put a lid on all of this, there is very little reason as to not jump ship anymore to computers. Perhaps these arguments have always existed but it has just taken age to finally understand them and make them for myself. Or perhaps I'm just such a MGS fan that it took the announcement of the game coming to PC as well that made me see the light. I haven't mentioned University; a desktop will certainly help that. But these are more general arguments and I hope those who have read it will perhaps consider the Desktop option in replacement of consoles.

Battlefield 3: Armoured Kill - My Take

My good friend and fellow bloggerist Herby wrote a very good initial take on the new Battlefield 3 DLC "Armoured Kill" which you should read. It's located here. I haven't played the new DLC as much as Herby has, so my views won't be as in-depth as his, nor would you want to read the same thing twice.

First impressions... it's decent. My main fear for this DLC would be the size of the maps ruining the console experience, and to some extent this is true. 24 players just doesn't work for Conquest on maps with this much scale to them. There's too much emptiness to the battles, as people focus on the flag that has access to the AC130 (which is what I expected), leaving the other four flags to be a battle between a couple of guys from each side. With a good team on your side you can easily dominate the game by capturing the remaining flags and ignoring the AC130 as it does little to affect the battle in Conquest. The way the flags are laid out leads me to think that there will be a smaller, 3-flag version of Conquest made available for 24 player servers in the near future, which will certainly make things different... hopefully in a good way.

As for the maps, I think they all have their pluses and minuses, but overall they're good. I've played a fair bit on all four of the maps and my favourite so far is definitely "Armoured Shield", which I seem to be in the minority in thinking. I had a very good Rush match on this map, although that mode is flawed which I will get more into later, and left the match feeling like I had just played "Oasis" on Bad Company 2. "Bandar Desert" is only okay in my opinion, the vastness between the flag areas leaves a lot to be desired on console, but with more game time on it I could perhaps come around to it more. I only played Rush briefly on this map, and it seemed like it had a nice flow to it and had potential for some good games... if it wasn't for that dastardly AC130. "Alborz Mountain" is a map I have hardly played, and I'm pretty sure I have touched in it Conquest. It looks great, but it has too many rocks for me to crash into. Rush seems like it could be the most balanced on this map, as the defenders get the high ground while the attackers get the air support. "Death Valley" is the map I have played the most in Conquest, and it's below average. The night time setting is good, although the moon is too bright, but the map layout just doesn't feel 'great' to me. Perhaps over time it will grow on me, but early signs aren't too promising.

As I've said above, Conquest feels too empty on 24 man console servers which would lead me to play Rush more, except there's one big problem. The AC130. The attacking team get access to the AC130 which leads to a huge balance issue. Not only do they have ground vehicles in the form of tanks, they also have air superiority in the form of a massive, take no prisoners, cannon. With the location and close proximity of the MCOMMs the AC130 cannot be ignored. It takes around 4-5 stingers to be shot down, more if flares are used well, and it does devastating damage to the ground troops who will be focused on shooting it down thus leaving them to be shot in the back and the MCOMM to be planted with ease. The AC130 needs a nerf of some sorts in Rush, perhaps limiting it to only 2 flights per base or significantly increasing the respawn time of it. A good team can hold it off, but a good gunner can outclass any defenders.

I haven't touched on Tank Superiority, but in my brief encounter with that mode it seems a fairly decent addition and will be good for a change of pace from the regular game modes. Perhaps the flag capture area needs to be larger, but other than that it's a good addition.

Overall I think the new DLC is decent enough and adds some more depth to an already deep game. I would find it difficult to recommend it to a friend or foe; but to a dedicated BF3 gamer who has already splashed out on the Premium upgrade for the game, I'm sure they will gain many more hours of pleasure from the new additions.

The best addition to BF3 though? The new patch that was released on the same day.

BF3 Armoured Kill: Initial Review

So, Armoured Kill launched on the PS3 for Premium players on the 4th and I've had a couple days of fairly extensive play to give a brief analysis. There won't be any sort of grading system at the end of this “review”, what really changes an 8 to a 9 or a B to a B+? I'm approaching this review as a player who got sick of the game a couple months back; the lack of teamplay and balance combined with overall fatigue of FPS. Will Armoured Kill get me back in the FPS groove or turn me of BF3 for good?

First up, I'll analysis the four maps from a Conquest point of view. My favourite, by far, is Alborz Mountain. It seems fairly balanced; I've been on rubbish teams with both sides and still managed to pull a victory out the hat. The Gunship is effective but not overally so – a problem I have found in other maps. It doesn't feel too lonely on your travels either. The worst map for loneliness seems to be Death Valley. Perhaps its the night time theme, meaning I can't see everyone engaging in pretty battles, but I found the fighting was centralised around the Battleship flag, with A and E hardly ever being captured. The night time effect is cool but man, that moon is shiny! I've never had a glare problem from the moon before in my everyday life. Armored Shield is good fun although, once again, the fighting is centralised over at B – the flag controlling the Battleship. The map can feel lonely at times, but overall the design is good. Bandar Desert is the worst map overall, in my view. Feels so much like Gulf of Oman, but with the Battleship flag stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Although the fighting does pick up a bit in the city, it just doesn't feel as good as the other maps.

In terms of Rush, Armored Shield stands tall as the most fun map. The inclusion of the river for a boat attack is brilliant – allows for a bit of sneaking in the midst of all this armour focus. The first set of MCOMs is a standout feature, with some real intense close quarters combat. Bandar Desert is the hardest for Attackers to get a foothold, from experience. Seems like its taking it's style from Kharg Island but the MCOMs are a bit closer together. Para-dropping from the Gunship helps, but it is just a massive target and it seems that people just wait for it to re-spawn before attacking again. Not much fun. Death Valley is so-so. It feels like the Gunship has a bit too much power on this map. Death rains from the sky, being a real pest to the defenders – I'll touch more on this later. Finally, Albortz Mountain is fun, although I don't seem to remember much of the Rush mode on this map. Must just not stood out as much as the rest.

Tank Superiority is the new mode added by DICE to Armoured Kill. I didn't know much about this mode pre-release, as I wasn't really paying much attention to Armoured Kill at all. It is a pleasant surprise. For some reason, it reminded me a lot of the Tank missions in Company of Heroes, but a more suited comparison is obviously the Single Player mission involving the Tank Divison. The mode seems to shine on Bandar Desert and Armored Shield. There's plenty of flanking areas, allowing you to get the drop by going behind enemy lines and setting up mines or just blending in with the other tanks for a surprise attack. There are choices in terms of going sniper for SOFLAMs so as to enable troops to use Javs and tanks to use guided shells, or keeping to engineer to repair your tank. I'm not too much of a fan of this map on Death Valley. It seems to me like the Russian team of tanks spawn too far away from the flag, giving the opposing American team too big an advantage. I have yet to see a Russian team win from about 5 attempts, take from that what you will. On Albortz Mountain the mode is passable; not too much fun though like on Bandar Desert or Shield. Bit disappointing that tank shells don't damage the ice.

The addition of the AC-130 gunship is the biggest change in gameplay brought about by the expansion pack. The slow flying, constantly circling aircraft has a major influence in Conquest and Rush – Rush moreso. In Conquest, it's a race to the gunship controlling flag, with most teams opting to attack said flag more then others so as to gain the gunships ability. In the Conquest maps, the AC-130 isn't really overpowered. It does effect the ground battles, but planes, helicopters and the patched Stingers (THANK YOU DICE) really does limit it's powers. On Rush, however, I don't think it's balanced. Having the attackers with the AC-130, aiming at the relatively shortly spaced MCOMs and its defenders is just not a good idea. It works well in Conquest because of the huge arch the plane takes – meaning some flags are protected from constant barrage for a few minutes before the plane gets in range. In Rush for the attackers, the AC-130 is nearly always in range, meaning the defenders are sitting ducks.

The new Tank Destroyers really remind me of 1940s tanks. Boxy and rectangular. Aesthetics aside, they arn't all that interesting. The ATVs shine; they are great fun to zoom about in and are the right mix between vulnerable and speedy. The MRLS is slightly disappointing. Once people work out the projectile distances, they will become valuable I'm sure, but in these early days they are too lightly armoured and difficult to use to make them practical.

The biggest concerns I had coming into this DLC was if the maps would be too big for us console players. The answer in my opinion is they are, but only just. You don't have the feeling of battle that you get on, say, Canals or Metro, but what you do get is spectacular tank battles mixed in with aircraft dogfights and people zooming around on ATVs. The big picture seems more deserted but more spectacular; more like a Battlefield. Which is the point, really, isn't it?

There is still the fustrating hit detection, annoying moments that make you consider chucking your controller and the overall IQ of the people playing the game hasn't really increased to make the game play like it should (I kid you not, some guy got to a MCOM and tried destroying it with his pistol). However, these things existed pre-Armoured Kill and the DLC can't be judged on this. What it does offer are 4 new maps which are graphically beautiful, more hardware to blow things up with and another reason to return to BF3 after the pre-Armoured Kill problems got too much.

There real acid test will be if I'm still playing this a month from now, which is why on the 5th of October I'll attempt to get my thoughts up as to if this DLC has any real staying power or if the shiny DLC clouded my judgement. Overall, I'd say it isn't worth £15 but if you want to get Premium and can see yourself getting another DLC, I'd certainly say this is a fun expansion of what Battlefield should be about. It doesn't fix anything, Rush is annoying with the Gunship and it can feel lonely, but it is still getting me to play the game again and it highlights just how fun it is to destroy tanks.

Initial thoughts: I wouldn't buy this DLC if I didn't have Premium for the price. If you have Premium, download it and give it a go. It is fun, just not £15 fun.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes 11 Minute PAX dissection

The following blog post will be my impressions, understanding and analysis of the PAX Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes trailer. I am a huge Metal Gear Solid fan, and what I hope to do is include previous game lore so as to make the trailer make more sense and comment on the graphics, gameplay and general feel of the trailer. There is not much gameplay to be had in this trailer, unlike the extended one released earlier today – so I will cover the gameplay in a separate blog post.

I'm going to approach this by dissecting the trailer in time slots – it might make sense, it might not, but since I don't have filming equipment to explain what I see this will have to do.

Time 00:00 to 1:00

Logos and more logos! Your normal set – no rating, Kojima Productions etc. But wait! Fox Engine! Why is there so many exclamation marks! Well, this is the first in game trailer, to my memory anyway, showcasing the Fox Engine to the masses. It has been built inhouse[1], with the specific idea that the company could use it to make multi-platform games quicker. Not shown in the trailer is what system said trailer is running on, but it has been mentioned on a high end current generation PC with PS3 specifications [2]. This points to a current generation release, and not for next generation consoles.

Taking this into account, excuse me while I blink a few times and pinch myself. How are those graphics achievable on a PS3? The lighting and rain effect are incredible – simply miles ahead graphically to the previous PS3 MGS – MGS4. As the trailer runs on, we get to see some incredibly realistic dogs - major improvement over the dogs previously seen in the series. Comments can be made on the smoothness of the human avatars movements, although praise will have to be held until we see the player control a character. As far as the storyline goes, we are following soldiers entering “Camp Omega” - a “High Security” American encampment. Many POW can be seen with soldiers guarding over them.

Time 1:00 to 2:00

The soldiers enter the camp and we follow them over to a prison cage. The camera swoops in and focuses on one of the soldiers heads. What's so impressive is the soldiers headgear – plenty of imperfections and gritty segments on it – showing that there will be no more pristine military gear on show. As the soldier arms his weapon, the high resolutions on the weapon impresses and we are treated to the soldiers stare. You can clearly see the persons eyes and even eye colour; blue. The focus switches down to a POW, and we hear the first words of the trailer (thankfully, with subtitles!”.

The story is made a little clearer for us. We learn that a female POW told the leader, we can assume, everything he needed to know and that he held his part of the bargain by not making her suffer too long. He throws in the tape-player...

Time 2:00 to 3:00

We finally get to see the POW face. A young boy. The camera pans up and we get to see a face which looks badly burned – reminiscent of Two-Face from The Dark Knight film. The man asks the boy what it feels like to play the traitor, suggesting he has told information – possibly to save the girl who was tortured life, by betraying his boss. The boy finally shows his face fully to the camera; the graphics are stunning, showing a baby faced boy with real expression; there is even high clarity on the headphones in the boys ears. Of note, he seems to have a bandage on his left eyebrow. He removes the 3.5mm jack from what appears to be his flesh – perhaps a wound in which hes keeping his jack dry or, hopefully not, some sort of socket. The disfigured man remarks that he wants his regards sent to his Boss when he gets home. From this, we can gather that the Boss is infact Big Boss and it would seem that he believes he will soon be released – perhaps rescued?

The sound effects from the video take a backfoot as “Here's to you” plays. The men begin to leave the camp and once again we are treated to some animal shots. Rats are seen running at the feet of the men as dogs are held back from attacking. There is a real sense of momentum from the dogs on their leesh. The camera pans out to show a helicopter.

Time 3:00 to 4:00

The men leave in jeeps. The graphics are once again stunning, showcasing creases on the backpacks of the soldiers and more imperfections on the soldiers gear. The jeeps are shown to kick up spray from the ground and there is a sense of dynamic light. The storyline continues. We can assume at this point it is Kaz, better known as Master Miller and Big Bosses right hand man, speaking. He reports that Paz, last seen attacking Mother Base, is alive. As the talk happens, we get another face shot. You can see the rain droplets falling down his face, as well as the creases on his clothing. The talk between Big Boss and Kaz continues, with Kaz believing that Paz is acting as a double agent. If we recall the events of Peace Walker, Paz was shown to be deceiving Big Boss and was acting as a spy for Cipher.

Time 4:00 to 5:00

Kaz states that Paz is being held for interrogation at a camp on the southern tip of Cuba. Now, we can almost certainly assume that the interrogation camp is the one shown in this trailer. This means the girl mentioned earlier – who was interrogated by the disfigured man, is Paz. Had Chico tried to protect her? Apparently, there is a UN inspection of Mother Base due to occur shortly – they assume that Paz has talked; disclosed information that Mother Base has it's own Metal Gear and nuclear weapons and that has prompted an inspection. As this is stated, we are treated to the jeeps driving to a heliport. The helicopters shown look, once again, incredible. The jeeps stop, with the mirror adjusted to show a Fox emblem. Or is it? It shouldn't say Fox in the mirror, since it's inverted, and the F is pointing the wrong way. This means the logo says XOF. This must be the organisation the soldiers belong to. Big Boss and Kaz conclude they need Paz on their side.

As the 5 minute mark hits, we can see the disfigured man looking to the left, in front of the soldiers. You can see he is bald and has a face very skeleton. Time for some speculation on who he is. There is obviously a huge chance he is a new character; unknown to the MGS series to date. It cannot be Zero – he is heading Cipher and as such would not of had Paz detained in an integration camp. Volgin, a man last seen in MGS3 and defeated/killed by Big Boss, would have been heavily disfigured should he have survived but would likely not be working for the Americans. Could it be GENE? He gave Big Boss his funds at the end of Portable Ops, but if memory serves correctly Big Boss left before GENE died – there was an explosion shortly afterwards. If he survived, he'd be burnt etc. Possibly a survival candidate. I don't believe it would be anyone from Peace Walker.

Time 5:00 to 6:00

Mr. Disfigured dons a hat, which really should fall off in that wind – I mean, come on, he is next to a helicopter! Ah well, the MGS humour remains. He picks up some sort of scanning device, and removes XOF from his helicoper. He states that the Trojan Horse is in. Now, what could that be? It would seem that, by removing the XOF, he is either hiding the identity of his aircraft to keep the organisation secret or him and his unit are not really XOF. Considering his facial features, I think it is a long shot to say he is pretending to be apart of XOF – they would get found out. So, what was the Trojan Horse? It could very well be the Tape Player he chucked to Chico, or the idea that he tortured Paz. Could this turn Chico against Big Boss? Unfortunately, this does not get cleared up in this trailer so speculation will remain speculation.

He removes his hat and faces the camera to talk – it would appear that his hole face is burnt and disfigured. He declares the “pirate crackdown has begun”. Is this a reference to Big Boss – his Mother Base as some sort of pirate ship ready to be attacked? The men get in the chopper and get ready to leave.

Time 6:00 to 7:00

The soldier swirls his finger and off we go. The helicopter movement looks great, and once again Big Boss speaks. He wants to know the other target – confirmed as Chico. Radio contact has been lost, suggesting he has been captured during some sort of operation for Mother Base. As this is being talked about, XOF patches are removed from the soldiers and chucked out the helicopter. A peculiar action, but falls in sync with the removal of XOF from the helicopter. As they are being chucked, we get a great view of the area from which they have just left. The area looks magnificent in the rain. The lighting looks superb, and the overall design is perfect for a bit of sneaking.

Time 7:00 to 9:00

The camera falls down to the cliff, and we are treated to a nice slow mo of the XOF badge. Clearly, it is based on the design of the original FOX logo, with the colours inverted. Strange choice. Finally, Big Boss appears! The close up shows his FOX logo. Now, FOX was disbanded after Portable OPS, but the insignia was kept on the right shoulder of the sneaking suites using by MSF – possibly as the suites were obtained from GENEs stockpile. The trailer states that, from “FOX”, two phantoms were born. Wikipedia has this to say about Phantom:

Phantom may refer to:

• Ghost, in traditional belief, a physical manifestation of the soul or spirit of a deceased person
• Illusion, a distortion of the senses

The Ghost definition, that of a physical manifestation of the soul or spirit of a deceased person, is the most interesting. As we all know, The Boss's will, that of a united world without war, is what drives both Zero and Big Boss – with alternative theories of how to achieve this. They were both members of Fox – thus the two phantoms of The Boss's will were born.
Snake continues to climb the cliff and sees the helicopters departure. He is told that he must sneak in and rescue the POWs without the help of Mother Base, which is all fine and dandy for Big Boss. The camera pams around, we are treated to a line from MGS2, and then Big Boss looks directly at the camera to show us his face.
The face we see of Big Boss resembles MGS4s Big Boss much more then before. He looks older, certainly older then in Peace Walker. This throws up a bit of doubt – just how long is this game set after Peace Walker. There are a couple points to consider here; firstly, it is stated earlier in the trailer that Paz was found 10 days ago – she was drifting in the Caribbean and was rescued. Now, after defeating Paz at the true end of Peace Walker, she falls into the Ocean. How long can someone drift before dieing? It must be set fairly soon after Peace Walker – which means Big Boss has aged a fair bit in a few weeks! Perhaps the PSP graphics could not achieve the level of age of Big Boss that he should have been. Doubtful though. The light is shining on him, making his hair look very grey. The facial detail is astonishing, with many lines and crinkles as well as a stunning level of eye pupil detail.
Snake is back from Fox! So he still calls himself snake and he is back. Woo! Two more helicopters fly overhead looking sexy and the game is declared a Hideo Kojima title and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. He is told that Chico and Paz are held in the camp and boom – gameplay time.


9:30 to credits

The transition is amazing – the cutscenes were clearly developed using the ingame engine and real-time. There is no HUD visable, and Big Boss switches to his binoculars without showing the item in the corner. The animation of Big Boss is so much better then in previous MGS titles. The light from the guard tower pans out and back on Big Boss, bringing the gameplay to an end. Blasphemy! There is not much to comment on in this gameplay trailer; for a more detailed analysis please wait until I analyse the extended gameplay trailer.


Closing thoughts

That is it for the 11 minute trailer. My overall impression is that of a 10 year old girl who is going to see Bieber in concert. I'm excited to see the continuation of Big Bosses story – Solid Snake is done; Big Boss still has many stories to tell. The new Fox Engine looks gorgeous and there are already questions to ask of the new antagonist, the setting and most importantly, the release date!

Sources

[1] http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Fox_Engine

[2] http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/09/01/pax-2012-metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes-is-coming-to-ps3/

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes

Introduction

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is the latest instalment in the long running Metal Gear saga. Billed as the prologue to the unreleased MGS5, the player once again takes on the role of Big Boss (Naked Snake), the protagonist in MGS3, Portable Ops & Peace Walker.

Trailers

Known Plot (spoilers)

It would appear that the game takes place after Peace Walker and before Metal Gear. The trailer shows a United States prison camp, holding Chico and Paz, with the antagonist of the game (name unknown) declaring to Chico that he had held his word and not hurt Paz, but had extracted key information from her. It appears that he has betrayed Big Boss in some way. The antagonist, appearing as a member of XOF, removes this logo from his helicopter and personnel, suggesting he is not actually a member of the organisation.

Big boss, still referred to as "Snake", is later seen entering the video from the cliff. It would seem his mission is to infiltrate the camp and return the two "prisoners" back to mother base; the military establishment founded during Peace Walker. The betrayal of Paz to Snake and Miller is highlighted in the chat between the two men as the video plays - it would seem, however, that Paz is needed by MSF (Snakes organisation) so as to keep their activities unknown to Zero (The man who has founded Cipher [seen in MGS3, Portable Ops and referenced in Peace Walker and MGS4 {I will not spoil that for those who haven't played}]).

Key Information

• The game is set to be an open world game, with players having the ability to call in helicopters to assist and remove the player from the mission, to commence another
• It is set for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 release using the FOX engine
• The game is a prologue to Metal Gear Solid 5 - an unreleased title. It is definitely not a prologue to Peace Walker; a game which was meant to have the title "5"
• It has been stated that there is no "game overs" for being seen. Although there has been no real "game over" in the series except for choosing the option in difficulty screens or death, it appears to mean that if the player is discovered the player can leave the base via helicopter so as to end the mission
• There is no current release date confirmed
• The inclusion of Chico and Paz confirms that Solid, Liquid and Soldius Snake will not appear, as the two aforementioned individuals are still young meaning the three brothers would be still in infancy
• The PS3 is the lead title for the game, with the 1st trailer being run on a "High-End" Current PC
• Hideo Kojima is personally Developing/Writing the game

I will write an in-depth analysis of the trailer tomorrow! 

Sources: Kotaku.com 

The Ipswich Saga - Follow Up

On Thursday I produced a blog that contained some of my feelings towards the current state of Ipswich Town Football Club. I was hoping some of the questions that I felt needed to be answered with the current state of the team would be answered by the end of the transfer window on Friday evening.

They weren't.

On Friday lunchtime I visited the best Ipswich Town news site on the internet, TWTD, only to find the headline "Jewell Doesn't Expect Any Deadline Deals." Well, that certainly threw a spanner in the works.

For several years Ipswich have had a weakness in defence. I'm sure Jewell is well aware of this, and in the summer he strengthened this area of the team by signing a goalkeeper in the form of Scott Loach from Watford, a centre back by the name of Luke Chambers and a young right back known as Elliot Hewitt. These 3 signings would give us some depth in defence but, in my opinion, they would not bring our defence up to the level to challenge for the top half of the table. We needed another good centre back to play alongside Chambers, as our only other current centre back is Tommy Smith who I would class as "okay". He's young, still learning but lacks pace and is prone to mistakes. He's no more than a slightly below-average Championship level centre back. We also needed a centre back as we have 2 senior centre backs at the club, along with young defender Jack Ainsley who isn't very good at all. So, to me it was obvious, press forward for another defender by the end of the transfer window to improve our defensive issues and it would have been a good window.

No-one was signed.

Jewell has since stated he is looking at bringing in one on loan with a view to a permanent move in January. This is not good enough. Loan signings can only be brought to the club for 93 days, which would mean we would be back down to 2 centre backs and Jack Ainsley when the busy Christmas schedule began. I'm sure that the manager and board are aware of this, or there has been a huge oversight on their behalf, but the fact they haven't signed another defender on a permanent deal is worrying.

The club is intent on balancing the books and preparing itself for when the Financial Fair Play rules kick in. This is a good strategy to have, much better than the one first employed by Marcus Evans when he took over the club. The strategy would work much better if the manager set up the club to locate young and hungry players from the lower leagues and abroad. The amount of clubs that have employed this policy and succeeded proves that it is something that needs to be done. It can also be backed up from within the club with the success of Aaron Cresswell, who was signed from Tranmere last summer and went on to be Player of the Year in his first season here. It also lead him to be linked with a move to the Premier League which may have effected his mindset at the beginning of the season, something I'm positive he can recover from and get back to his form last season. Elliot Hewitt is another signing from the lower leagues, he's currently injured and I have no knowledge of his abilities, but he is rated by coaches at both club and international level so is looking like another positive signing from the lower leagues.

My honest feelings are that come the summer we won't be looking for just players from the lower leagues, but also a manager. Jewell doesn't give me confidence, although the transfer failings are not entirely his fault, and bringing a young manager with better knowledge of the lower leagues would bring this club forward and kick start the long-term rebuilding process. The season has a long time left to run, and as long as we're not in a relegation fight I will be satisfied with the outcome. Let's hope it's a fairly decent season.

After today's draw at home to Huddersfield there were some positives to take away. Paul Taylor appears to be a good signing. Luke Chambers scored and Scott Loach played brilliantly. Having a goal of building the club for promotion in the long run is the best policy for the club. I mean, it certainly worked out well for George Burley, didn't it?

The Ipswich Saga

The 2012/13 season has begun, and while it may only be three games in I've already lost the hope I had on opening day. There are several factors to these feelings of disappointment and frustration, and perhaps come deadline day on Friday I'll be left with egg on my face and nice slice of pie to eat; but as of right now, the feelings are there in force.

Opening day arrived with hope, it ended with a well-earned point against freshly relegated Blackburn. The performance was good, perhaps we could have gotten more with some improvements. That was okay though, it's the first game of the season, the team is still gelling together but most importantly we played well. Could we keep up the level of performance, perhaps grab another point away to Watford. Every team has an opposition it struggles against, for Ipswich this team was Watford. 15 games in all competitions, home or away, since Ipswich had beaten Watford. It took another 90 minutes before Michael Chopra scored the winner, but not only had we gotten a good draw against Blackburn, we'd also gone to Watford and beaten them whilst keeping a clean sheet. Things were looking up, although it was only two games old, this season could be a success. Things were about to change.

Blackpool are a good side. I'd even go as far to say that Blackpool are the best team in the Championship this season. If they don't get an automatic promotion spot then I will be very surprised. Travelling to Bloomfield Road all I wanted was a good performance, I didn't think we stood a chance at a win, a draw would be a huge surprised. 2-0, 3-1, a scoreline like that would be fine if combined with a fighting performance, something that could continued to be built on. 6-0. Blackpool 6, Ipswich Town 0. There are no words that can describe what happened that Saturday afternoon in Blackpool. All I knew was that the team needed strengthening, especially in defence. There was a week left in the transfer window, this is something that surely would be addressed by the board and the management staff over those few days. They couldn't ignore it again, surely?

The final week of the transfer window was interrupted by a trip to Carlisle in the Capital One Cup. A perfect arena for us to get over our drumming to Blackpool, score a couple of goals, keep a clean sheet and continue on a cup run. It start well enough, we scored within 20 minutes and we had started well. We were on top and if we could score a second goal before half time, the game was ours as Carlisle had nothing. We didn't score before half time, infact we didn't do much else before half time... or after it. What we did was switch off, give up and concede in the 90th minute... again. Then we conceded in extra-time and got knocked out of the League Cup by a lower league team... again.

As with Ipswich Town for so many seasons, there was no fight or determination. No grit. No guts when it mattered. No travelling to a far away stadium and grinding out a win. It's not like we lost to Carlisle while playing our reserves, firstly because we don't have any and secondly because they've changed the rules of the League Cup so Football League teams (Championship, League One and League Two) have to play full strength sides in every game. Premier League teams don't. Such a fair rule.

The team lacked depth and the manager was aware of it. Players needed to be added, the board needed to work quick. They did work quick, a double bid for the Peterborough attacking pair of George Boyd (left midfielder) and Paul Taylor (striker) was accepted. They arrived in Ipswich and passed a medical before leaving on Wednesday night after failing to agree terms. Not a promising start. In the past few hours it's been reported that Paul Taylor has since agreed terms with Ipswich, some depth to the front line and perhaps someone who can score more regularly than Chopra. Alongside this piece of news, Daryl Murphy has rejoined on loan from Celtic... again. If you were to put all the players that Ipswich could sign in a barrel, Murphy would be close to the bottom of it, perhaps only reachable if you scraped said barrel. But anyway, that's two attackers added to strengthen the side, which alongside midfielder Guirane N'Daw who is also joining on loan, has made the team look a bit deeper and stronger. There is still a glaring weakness with the squad though.

On Monday morning, Ipswich Town had four centre backs contracted. Luke Chambers, signed during the summer for free after his contract with Nottingham Forest, where he was captain, expired; much needed signing for a team who has had defensive problems for several seasons. Tommy Smith, a youth product who played for New Zealand at the World Cup, he's decent enough for the league and is still young but prone to mistakes; good enough for the team for now, but not if we're serious about promotion. Jack Ainsley, a recent youth graduate who isn't highly rated by anyone, no more than depth. Damien Delaney, old, Irish defender, good for depth. Well, he was good for depth until he was released today. The termination of Delaney's contract means that there are 3 natural centre backs at Ipswich. Three. This is a huge issue if not addressed. There is a fresh rumour going around that we are after Sean St. Ledger from Leicester. That would be an important signing if we can make it, but given our negotiating history and the tightness of the clubs finances, it's a big if.

There are lots of questions to be answered by 11pm Friday night. I am again being hopeful that I won't be left with new questions come the passing of the deadline, but being an Ipswich fan that is probably wishful thinking.

Laptops: Place on lap only if you want to become sterile

As I write my first blog post since I was 15, I had to think about what I was going to write. Ideas, or the lack of them, swirled in my head. Should I write about BF3? My latest game MGS: HD Collection? My private life regarding University, new pets or how I'm going to soon turn 22 and want to become 11? All good ideas for future blogs perhaps, but slowly there was one idea that kicked and screamed to the forefront. It can't be ignored. It's my bloody shit laptop.

I used to be among the Master Race. Windows XP, BF2 and the occasional typed up Microsoft Word school report was my world. I upgraded certain aspects when they became slower and apart from a lack of sunlight, there was no real draw backs. But times changed. University loomed, a social life beckoned and the desktop in the corner which I built for myself became something that was to inflexible, to impracticable for my new life. I bought a laptop.

Now, I'm going to skip over my first laptop. I'm going to focus on my second laptop. The laptop I am currently typing on; HP Pavilion DV7. Bought for around £500 at the time, this piece of kit was supposed to be the best of both worlds for me. I could game on it, an option no longer available to me since I broke my desktop while drunk (whoops), and it was portable with a lovely battery life.

Oh how things turned sour.

First thing to go wrong is something that is always a danger with laptops; overheating. I tried to play, I believe, The Sims 2 on the laptop. Hold the laughter, it's a good game. Anyhow, the laptop shut down on me. Critical error. Whah? This laptop should be able to handle a game released in 2004 surely? It had not gone unaware that the laptop was running extremely hot. So, I got into contact with HP. They reassured me it was a well known problem and they could fix it. 2 weeks later, I was back on The Sims 2 and it was still spewing out more heat then my oven.

Fine, I thought, I'll just have to give up on the games. £500 for some technology that has a dedicated graphics card and I can't play 2004 releases. I'll take the bullet and limber on. I'm a University student! Forces me to study.

Only, the evil bastard of a thing decides to spring another surprise on me. It's not just games that causes my £500 laptop to die. Microsoft Word, take a bow, you too can boil my laptop! Currently typing this my hands are almost to the point of sweating (lovely, I know). Quick download of a hardware monitor tells me my processor is currently 76c. Fabulous.

Now, I know not every laptop radiates heat almost as hot as a slow cooker when using a word processing package. The next fault that occurs is the battery. 9 months into ownership, a big X appears on my the battery icon. Big Xs are never good. The charger that could last 2 and a half hours off charge soon lasted 30 minutes. What next to go wrong? The charger. The connection inside my laptop where the charger goes in becomes wonky. Now, unless my laptop is perfectly still the laptop will go off charge and turns off.

Is there a point to this sad story? Beyond me venting, yes. This is a warning.

Laptops are walking disasters. My girlfriends laptop has died, my laptop before it, the keys fell off. My dads laptop? The screen died. My brothers laptop went the same way as mine. Even Alienware laptops, of which a Uni friend had, spontaneously combust from heat and have to be held up by books to avoid melting into the table its on. They can't be upgraded so as to make them last and if a key falls off the keyboard, typing becomes a nightmare.

These days, tablets are coming of age. I once viewed them as wastes of money – why buy a tablet when you have a laptop? The reason is tablets don't overheat, are user friendly and do almost everything a laptop can do for much less then £500. The Google Nexus 7, my first tablet, has retired my laptop to Football Manager and Word Processing – something I could do on my Nexus is I bought an external keyboard. Bare in mind, FM causes 90+ heat.

My laptop is practically dead to me. Waste of bloody space.