Construed

So it begins…

Fallout 3 has a very cold heart beating at its core.

First review for Caught in the Crossfire has now gone live & am fairly pleased with it – here’s the link: http://www.caughtinthecrossfire.com/games/7608.

Am already onto the next review which will be Valve’s Left 4 Dead.

DM∞

The last couple of days have seen me busy, scribbling away – not here mind but instead for my first videogame review for Caught in the Crossfire. Some of you may remember I interviewed a band, Blood Red Shoes, for Crossfire back when I was also freelancing for Ripten.Time has moved on & I have moved with it & although I stopped freelancing for Ripten some time back, I have wanted to return to writing videogame reviews for a little while now.

As a site, Crossfire is an interesting mix of music & skateboarding with film/videogames but recently there has been very little updated on the videogames front – hence, this is where I have stepped in to fill some empty boots, so to speak.

So expect a regular flow of reviews from me on Caught in the Crossfire, very soon with the first of which being one for the massive scope of Bethesda’s Fallout 3.

[NOTE: my games diary will still continue, here at Construed]

DM∞

In this first part of 3 Q&As with members of the Sony Online Entertainment team, involved in the production & development The Agency(slated for release in 2009) – a self confessed shooter-MMO, the topics of social gaming were looked at & how The Agency hopes to deliver a successful MMO experience to the player. Matt Staroscik, Game Designer & Lead Writer for The Agency, came through with some insightful answers to our questions.

Thanks Matt!

My many thanks also go to Aaron for his help with the questions in the development of this series of Q&As.

Q1 – The Agency seems to break new ground for MMOs in many ways. But what aspects of the game might feel familiar to veteran MMO gamers?

Matt Staroscik – The persistent world, interlocking quests, team play and other social elements of The Agency will be pretty familiar to MMO veterans. Players will also work on building influence in the game world, another genre staple… There is also a crafting system, though the way you research and build things will be different in The Agency from other games. (You’ll be directing a team of Operatives, collectible NPCs, who do the work for you.)
Read the rest of this entry »

I have just caught the second trailer released for the upcomming Star Trek movie that is due in 2009 & I have to admit that this could be the best vision of the franchise since Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan(1982).

OK, so I’m basing this on a trailer but there seems to be a return of the gritty underscoring space theme that made the 2nd movie such a hit with the fans. The new movie also looks to tell an old story that has never made it to the silver screen before – the back story of the Enterprise crew & how the story escalates into space.

Leonard Nimoy reprises his role as the old Spock in the new Star Trek movie, who travels from the future to help the Enterprise crew, with Heroes Zachary Quinto portraying Spock as new cadet but there is no reprise for William Shatner – even though some quarters suggested an approach was made by the producers. Shatner responded to these suggestions by releasing this rather lighthearted video statement:

Star Trek is due to be released on the 8th May 2009 in North America & the UK.

DM∞

Earlier in the month, I took to task the Mayor of London’s attitude towards videogames & the industry behind it. I am still in the mind that Mayor, Boris Johnson wants the best of both worlds – a thriving videogames industry in London but also with it, young people out doing more creative things with their time & not playing videogames.

My concerns are somewhat reflected in the reply I had from the London Mayors office, today:

The Mayor recognises the Games sector’s significance as a creative industry, but he also has long-standing reservations about video games.

He’s always stressed that playing computer games should not be the sole pastime for young people, who also need to be reading books, doing sport and getting out there to play and experience life with their friends.

All very noble sentiments but I still believe that Boris Johnson, who probably is not alone in this train of thought, thinks that only the young adult spends time playing videogames & that it is a childish past-time.

Boris only has half the story but has still felt that he can make a sweeping condemnation of videogaming as a social activity. I believe that videogaming is becoming an increasingly popular social activity for a larger proportion of the, shall we say, mature adult age group(one that I belong to).

So, I am planning a reply to the email I got today where I hope I can eventually draw Boris Johnson into a direct response to my concerns & maybe get some lively debate going.

More, I hope, soon.

DM∞