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| Fanning the Flames - Metacritic proves the public can't be trusted. |
| Monday, 27 October 2008 |
 After a brief absence Fanning the Flames is back! We take a look at the recent fanboy bashing of games on Metacritic and how it proves that the public just aren't ready to be critics.
The world of blogging has lead to an uprise in the number of average Joe gamers having a crack at games journalism. The fact of the matter is though whilst blogging may have entered the mainstream (The Daily Mail's glossy pull out had a feature on it just the other week) they have not held in the regard required to become considered bona fide journalists. We here at Gaming Corner are bloggers and despite trying at all times to remain as professional as we can, but there is no escaping the fact that we are bloggers.
There would of course be those who argue that various gaming news/reviews networks don't deserve to be held in high regard as their integrity gets called into question following questionable review scores. The recent Metacritic debacle only helps to back this view.
For those not in the know this all started when 360 fanboys started giving Sony's new mascot Sackboy's Little Big Planet awful scores. This led to the games score plummeting, Sony fanboys hit back and did the same with Gears of War 2 before it became 2-1 to 360 fanboys as Resistance 2 became the latest to get stung. Fable II looks like it's the next hit as it's score slowly tumbles with it currently at 6.1.
This led to the sites Games Editor Marc Doyle making the following statement;
"My advice for our faithful users is to focus your attention on the Metascore for this game and not the thousands of user votes, most of which have been submitted before said users have played the game. This is a gaming community, and if people want to stuff the ballot box, there's not much I can do at this point. When we upgrade the registration requirements for participation on the site in the near future, this type of thing won't happen. We'll post the full legitimate user reviews upon the game's release. As always, thanks for using the site."
Marc Doyle did the right thing here. whilst he admitted that the site is a community he also admitted it does have it's failings and that this is something it is going to address. With all this in mind what exactly did fanboys hope to achieve? No discerning gamer is going to look at the critics score and dismiss it out of hand and instead take the user votes as gospel. Metacritic have been clever in the wording here, with critics having scores and reviews and users votes and comments. This shows even though under normal circumstances the user votes have their place there is still an acknowledgement that they are not reviews and whilst still valid should be held as such.
However is this phenomena new though or just an evolution of what has always stood? Let's not forget Sega's famous "Genesis does what Nintendon't" bashing of their rivals consoles capablitlies. This sort of advertising used to cause countless arguments in the school playground. Companies have in recent years become more professional and more concerned with self preservation than slamming the opposition. However they don't ever try to quash the fanboy wars and happily let them rumble on knowing that it does help to promote their products in a unique way that no amount of marketing will account for.
So what can we take from this? If you want to see a true reflection of a games worth, stick to the critic reviews, if you want to see fanboys getting themselves all round up, read the user comments.
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posted by flameboy @ 11:59  |
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| Another 'Videogame' Comic - Nook's Town - Part One |
| Sunday, 26 October 2008 |
Labels: Comic
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| posted by not_so_tiny @ 15:39 |
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| Top 10 - First Person Shooters |
| Wednesday, 22 October 2008 |
 Well then here we go, another week and another Top 10 article. This week we will be running down the Top 10 First Person Shooters, so once again enjoy and if you disagree then leave a comment or join up to our forums.
10 - Wolfenstein 3D
Its hard to remember but I think this could have been the very first FPS that I ever played. Killing everyone in a room then sliding along walls looking for secrets never seemed so much fun. Oh and who doesn't love being able to kill Hitler!
9 - Duke Nukem 3D
I remember playing through this game when I was pretty young and I just loved everything about it. The blood, the violence, the sex, the swearing... It was just a fun game, one I am now thinking about getting on XBLA after I finish writing this. Who would have thought writing a Top 10 article for a blog would cost me money!
8 - Quake II
Another game I played when I was younger. The first Quake was good but I think Quake II really took it to the next level. The mod scene was brilliant for it as well, anyone ever play Action Quake?
7 - Goldeneye
I will confess that I am not the biggest Goldeneye fan out there but I couldn't really leave it off this list could I? Even if I didn't play it much myself I was in no way blind enough to notice just how popular it was with nearly every gamer I speak to.
6 - Halo
Its such a shame that the original Halo didn't have online multiplayer for the xbox but that didn't stop the original Halo from being a great game. Sure some of the levels were so repetitive that you wanted to rip your eyes out but you still seemed to carry on. Playing Halo on co-op was some brilliant gaming for me.
5 - Team Fortress Classic
I'm sure a lot of you reading this would have chosen Counterstrike in the place of TFC but not me, I just could not get into it. Team Fortress Classic however was a brilliant multiplayer game. that I think allowed people from all skill levels to jump right in and just have some fun (That's right, I am not the best online gamer you will ever see!).
4 - Doom
Well, what can I say really? I mean its Doom, I am sure you've heard it all before.
3 - Call Of Duty 4
I was actually very run down with the COD games before 4 came out, I think the WWII era has been used to death. Then came along this fresh and new setting and I just loved it. The multiplayer as well was brilliant, I had been burnt out on online FPS before this came along.
2 - Half Life 2
This game is just near perfect, everything about it I just love. The characters, the enemies, the physics, the world, the story. Plus playing with the gravity gun was just fun :P
1 - Half Life
Some would probably say that Half Life 2 was better than the original and I guess they might be right, but not for me. Once again we get nearly all of the things that made Half Life 2 so great but I was doing it all for the first time and that definitely sticks in my mind more than the sequel.
.......Oh, and anyone wondering where Portal was in this Top 10, don't worry. I love it as well but I wanted only proper shooters on the list.Labels: Features, Top 10
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| posted by Happenstance @ 09:06 |
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| Another 'Videogame' Comic - An Inconvenient Evil |
| Friday, 17 October 2008 |
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| posted by not_so_tiny @ 06:48 |
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| Top 10 - Nintendo DS Games |
| Wednesday, 15 October 2008 |
With our Staff Roundtable on the newly announced Nintendo DSi I decided to do this weeks Top 10 features on my favourite DS games.
Enjoy......
10 - Sonic Rush
Being a big fan of the old 2D Sonic games on my MegaDrive this was going to be a no brainer buy for me. Similar to the Sonic Advance games on the GBA, Sonic Rush made good use of the top screen and was just pure fun.
9 - Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
I think there are unjustified complaints against Pokemon that it is somehow kiddy (Most likely due to the cartoon) but they are definitely some brilliant and easy to get into RPGs. I have been playing the Pokemon series since I first got Pokemon Blue and I plan to continue playing it hopefully for many years to come.
8 - Animal Crossing: Wild World
I absolutely loved Animal Crossing on the GameCube. Wild World was pretty much just more of the same but that definitely isn't a bad thing. Its not a game that you will spend hours at a time on but you will feel the urge to go back to your town everyday to make sure things are OK. I just wish they had left the real world holidays in this version.
7 - Professor Layton and the Curious Village
It took a while for this game to even come onto my gaming radar. It has some brilliant anime cut scenes, good voice work (OK the accents make me laugh but that can only be a good thing) and the puzzles are very fun to work through.
6 - Elite Beat Agents
A quirky music game where you use the stylus to hit the DS touch screen at the correct moments. The best bits however are just watching the characters on screen going through their stories.
5 - Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time
Another Mario & Luigi game and another success I would say. These games are just filled with great moments and humour, I love playing them.
4 - Brain Training
Now a few years ago I would never have seen myself putting an educational game onto a "Best of" list but here we are. Brain Training is very addictive, especially when you play with the rest of your family/friends, then it becomes a challenge to see who is the smartest. It also managed to open up gaming to a whole new market and is definitely one of the biggest reasons the DS has done as well as it has to date.
3 - Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hotel Dusk is basically a noir detective story set in...yes you guessed it, a hotel. You go around talking to people and collecting clues. This may sound similar to other games in the genre but the amazing design in this game really puts it above all of them.
2 - New Super Mario Bros
What can I say. This game has kept me playing since launch, up until today and I'm sure for a long time to come. Its classic Mario Bros and so much fun!
1 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
God damn it I love Phoenix Wright games! Whenever I start to feel a bit bored with the gaming industry I can just stick one of these on and everything will be better again! Even though the court room scenes and evidence gathering are great, my favourite part is simply the stories and characters. They are all very likable and you really get pulled into the stories with all the twists and turns.
 Labels: Features, Top 10
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| posted by Happenstance @ 09:20 |
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| Staff Roundtable - Nintendo DSi |
| Monday, 13 October 2008 |
Right then, here it is. Our brand new feature will be a staff roundtable, this will have a set topic for discussion. Something that has come up recently that we would all like to express our opinions on. There wont be a set date for this feature, it will just come out when something interesting as happened in the industry, there has been a big announcement or when there is just something we feel like chatting about.
Nintendo DSi
 ReZourceman - Most of us have a phone. A lot of us have an MP3 player. Most phones have MP3 players and cameras built in. Does this make the DSi a useless hardware rehash? In my opinion it kind of does. To me personally it simply isn't appealing. Im gaining camera, memory slot, smaller design and other basic technological functionality, and Im losing the ability to play GBA games. For me this isn't a worthy trade off. As Ive said, I can get and have access to these other functions, in more specified devices. Devices that have been around for a while and adapted with demand and changing times....although we havn't seen quite how the functions are incorporated its likely that the ease of use for these features will pale in comparison to the tailored machines.
That said....its a tempting proposition. The addition of music, media and camera useage on a DS is certainly not a bad thing, it just may not be necessary or hugely useful considering their fairly accesible on other gadgets. Perhaps the best thing about the DSi is the potential for more new and innovative games (either exclusive to the system) or for both DSi and DS'. It could add a level customability to games - having your own head on a Mario Kart driver for example, or for DSi exclusive games (maybe as the announced Wario Ware DSi?) the camera could be an intergral part of the gameplay, like Sonys Eye Toy.
not_so_tiny - Since I didn't upgrade to a DS Lite the prospect of the DSi is very exciting for me, but whether I buy one or not is going to boil down to the DSi software and how they use the SD slot. They have already announced a Warioware game which I am very interested in, but would like to know how it will differ to the other versions. DSiWare is also a very exciting prospect in the same way WiiWare is, but not much is known about the games we will be getting and if Nintendo offer a Virtual Console of old portable games then the DSi is a must by for me.
So far the DSi looks promising but so little is known about it I really can't decide whether I will get one, I think its a good idea in theory, let's just hope Nintendo can do something amazing with the system.
Happenstance - I still have my original Nintendo DS which I imported from Canada as soon as I got the chance and I still play on it a lot to this day. It is probably time I upgraded soon though, especially since my sister got a DS Lite and I could see just how much better the screen was.
The launch of the Nintendo DSi would be a perfect opportunity for my upgrade and I am sure (money permitting) that I will be getting one. My reasons though are simply for wanting a newer model and not really about the fancy new features Nintendo have added.
The bigger screens will be nice but I cant say I have ever complained at my current DS' screen size. Better sound quality will also be a plus but once again its not something I noticed too much beforehand (that could be because I play a lot of my games muted though!). If the camera really is only 0.3 Megapixels then im not sure how well thats even going to work, I spoke to goaferboy about this the other night and found myself trying to defend Nintendo and saying they must know what they are doing......not so sure anymore.
The features I am interested in though are the SD Slot and in-built browser as this will open up the window for the planned DSiWare and if that is handled well, we could get some interesting games/apps through it.
As I said my purchase of the DSi will be mostly based on wanting an upgrade and not the pull of the new features themselves. I think to get people to buy one that already have the DS Lite, Nintendo will have to make more of an effort to show how they plan to use these new components than they have over the past few years.
 goaferboy - I already have an all singing all dancing digital camera and mp3 player, why would I want some inferior ones? My phone already has inferior versions built in and I can guarantee I take that more places than I would ever take a DSi. Sure it would give me the potential to watch movies on a slightly bigger screen than my iPod, but watching movies on busses makes me feel sick and watching them in other public places makes me a prime target for a happy slapping.
I imagine I'll get one eventually since I have a habit of collecting consoles once they hit bargain bin prices. But for now it doesn't really spark an interest, especially since handheld gaming doesn't really do it for me. Plus I have a "chunky" DS anyway that never gets used. Every time a person plays a handheld, their unused TV cries a little.Labels: Features, Staff Roundtable
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| posted by Happenstance @ 19:09 |
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| Another 'Videogame' Comic - Where are they now? - Billy Hatcher |
| Friday, 10 October 2008 |
Labels: Comic
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| posted by not_so_tiny @ 19:17 |
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| Review- Final Fantasy IV DS |
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 Remakes. They seem to be everywhere these days with companies looking to draw on their rich heritage and bring their old classics to the new generation. Or, taking a more cynical view, remakes are seen as companies being low on inspiration and looking to make some quick cash by repackaging their old material. Final Fantasy IV is undoubtedly a classic game and where better than the DS, with its booming RPG market, to unleash the game once more upon us.
Even with a passing interest in gaming you will have at least heard of the Final Fantasy series. The series was always known by gamers worldwide, but were something of a rarity in the west due to some games in the series not making it out of Japan. Back in the day, FF IV was in fact known as FF II in the west but since the release of FF VII, the numbering of the games became standardised worldwide. Now, if that has made you are unsure whether you played FF IV before or not this should clear it up for you: it’s the one with Cecil and Golbez. Fans of Final Fantasy often highlight this fourth entry as being the best of them all- it blew peoples minds back when it first released on the Snes, so is it all just nostalgia, or is FF IV worthy of this remake?
The game opens with some gorgeous (though not perfectly compressed) FMV with music that will tug at your heartstrings if you are an FF IV veteran. Beginning a new game, you play as Cecil the Dark Knight of Baron. Cecil has always been the most loyal of servants to his king, however recently he has began to question the king’s motives more and more. I won’t go into the details of the story, but as you can guess, things spiral out of control leaving the fate of the county and world in your hands. The adventure is a lengthy one, however it plays out deceptively rapidly as the story is well segmented and always driving you forward. You always know where to go next whether you have played FF IV in the past or not.
Unlike FF III, there is no job system. Each character has their own specialities and areas of expertise meaning your party will always be diverse, leaving you to worry about little more than levelling them up- which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As in FF III you would have spent a hefty amount of time levelling up each character as well as each individual job, meaning the game became a huge grind. In comparison, FF IV is much more focused. You have Cecil who will be your “tank” and others who will be your white mage, black mage, etc, which allows each character to have their own role and play their very deliberate parts in the story. In battle you line up with a maximum of five party members (split between being front and backline) and rather than being strictly turn based, battles are played out in the groundbreaking and acclaimed ATB system. With active time battle, everyone has their own bars that fill up before they can take their turn, making for something that’s more engaging than your standard turn based affair. To add extra spice to proceedings, FF IV is an RPG that is less about power levelling and more about utilising good tactics in battle- a lot of the time, if a boss beats you, the answer is not simply to spend time grinding but to adjust your approach to the battle.
So with FF IV already being available on GBA, is there any point to pick up the DS one? Well, yes I would have to say there is. The DS game has sufficient additions to warrant your time and money and I’d even go as far as to say it’s the ultimate version off FF IV on the market. Sadly, the extra content added to the end of the GBA port is missing, but FF IV includes Augments, an all new (and incredibly charming!) Namingway sidequest, an auto battle feature as well as possibly one of the best New Game + features in any game yet.
Augments are one-time abilities that you receive when characters leave the party or can be found in certain locations. They are difficult to find and as for the ones you do uncover, seeing as when equipped they cannot be removed, you will find it rather daunting as to whether you should actually assign them or not. Through the augments you will gain such abilities as counter, darkness and a variety of others. They allow for some extra customisation and are fun to play around with, but it would be nice if you could remove them if you do find a particular ability would be better suited to someone else.
Auto-battle allows you to give each character a preset move which they will continually use when you enable auto-battle, which can be turned on or off with a press of the X button. Auto-battle is most useful for random battling where you would normally just be attacking your way through with little need to think, if you just sit back and allow auto-battle to take you through the boss fights then you will be decimated. It’s a good feature, which will save you from hammering the A button as you slash your way through random battles in the field.
The New Game + feature encourages you to play through the game three times in order to get the most out of it. You carry your Augments over allowing you to have certain abilities from the get-go. Even if you normally find yourself playing through your games once and then shelving them, Final Fantasy IV on DS will genuinely coax you back for more.
What is a letdown is that while Square-Enix said there was a lot of the game left on the cutting room floor back in the nineties, the additional story content in this remake is negligible. You will notice some scenes here and there that are new, but on the whole this is basically the same FF IV as it always was. On the plus side, the story while not being as impacting as it was on the Snes, it is still good enough to make you want to keep playing. New players will find it clichéd, but you should keep in mind that FF IV was one of the games that set the standards for how a strong story could be delivered in games. At key junctures, the major scenes are played out as voice acted cutscenes. The voice acting is in general of a fine standard- however Kain’s voice is a lot deeper than personally I ever imagined it to be.
Musically, the title is also top notch. The stars were truly in alignment when FF IV originally came out because Nubuo Uematsu’s soundtrack is one of the most recognisable in the whole FF series, with Theme of Love even becoming part of the Japanese curriculum.
When all is said and done, FF IV is worth playing by everyone. Veterans will simply adore this trip down memory lane, and will enjoy toying with the Augments as well as spotting new scenes. Newbies will also find a lot to enjoy with this remake. It may seem fairly archaic if you have been brought up on more recent RPGs, but with a 3D make over, the game can be enjoyed by today’s DS playing generation. Heck, its even worth trying FF IV out if you have played and dislike proper turnbased RPGs- the ATB system keeps things more interactive, so its worth having a go before you dismiss FF IV as just another boring RPG.
 Labels: DS, fantasy, final, iv, Reviews, rpg
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| posted by darksnowman @ 13:10 |
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| Retro Column - Bargain Hunting |
| Thursday, 9 October 2008 |
All games go through a "bargain bin" phase. Some games however, manage to fight their way out of the bin and go on the become ludicrously expensive. Whilst there isn't much room to make massive profits in the same way as antiques since games don't generally increase in value a massive amount, there is potential to feel smug knowing you only payed a small fraction of what the game is worth. Gaming Corner takes a look at what makes a game gold dust and how to make the most of it.
First things first, this article is mainly aimed at the PAL market. I have tried to add the US equivelants where I can but all prices are in pounds and rarity of titles may vary between regions. £1 is about $1.7 at the time of writing.
Step 1: Knowing which games are worth a lot now
Firstly it's important to know which games are worth a lot now. This way if you see a "hens teeth" game for sale at a bargain price you know to snatch it up now before some other shrewd gamer buys it. Here is a brief list of a few gems that could pop up for bargain prices:
 Secret of Mana (SNES £40-£80)
Chrono Trigger (SNES £50-£150)
Harvest Moon (SNES £50-£100)
 Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Mega Drive £70-£100)
Daze Before Xmas (Mega Drive £50-£60)
Shining Force II (Mega Drive £30-£50)
 Suikoden II (PS1 £40-£80)
Final Fantasy 7 (PS1 £20-£40)
 Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn £75-£125)
Burning Rangers (Saturn £30-£50)
Shining Force 3 (Saturn £40-£50)
House of the Dead (Saturn £30-£50)
Guardian Heroes (Saturn £30-£50)
 Mario Party 3 (N64 £30-£50)
Conkers Bad Fur Day (N64 £40-£60)
Paper Mario (N64 £40-£80)
 Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike (Dreamcast £30-£50)
Shenmue II (Dreamcast £30-£40)
Step 2: Identifying potential
The general trend indicates that games released towards the end of a consoles life span are the ones that tend to command higher prices. This is mainly due to the fact that later games are released in smaller quantities due to small demand. These games however, tend to be better than earlier games due to the makers having had more experience with the console. This combination of low quantity and high quality makes these games more desirable and therefore more valuable. Not all games released towards the end of a consoles life span are valuable though, be sure to look for games that scored high in reviews.
Special editions are often worth more when it comes to selling them on. This isn't so much the case with current generations as every game under the sun seems to have a special edition nowadays. Previous generation special editions are worth a look if the price is right. Be sure to keep an eye out for special editions that come with something interesting rather than just a load of extras on a seperate CD. Music CDs, figures/models and limited edition peripherals are a few accessories that could be worth more in time.
Another reason why a game could end up being more valuable is that it didn't sell well originally despite being a good game. These can be hard to predict since what isn't selling now might stay that way and is not guaranteed to be worth anything in the future. Wait until it hits rock bottom prices before you try your luck and again, check review scores first.
Step 3: Knowing where to look
So you now know what is worth loads now and what could be worth loads in the future. Now all you need to know is where to look. Here is a few places that I have found worthwhile:
Gamestation
Gamestation has been a bit of a treasure trove. Recently they have apparently decided to get rid of all its retro stock. I say apparently because out of the 3 stores I visit, all of them still seem to get new retro stock in. That hasn't stopped them from selling some silly bargains though. So far I have managed to nab a PS1 with 200 games (£20) and Steel Battalion, expansion pack and giant controller (£30) and I have also seen Various Mega Drive, Saturn, Neo Geo Pocket and Wonderswan bundles for silly prices. Definately worth checking their front window and cabinets once in a while, especially if your visiting a different branch to your local.
Car Boot/Garage Sales and Charity Shops/Thrift Stores
There comes a time in everyones life when they must fly the nest and leave home. It's a wondrous time where the precious child truly becomes an adult. It's also a wondrous time for gamers since the parents, sick of all the crap the son/daughter has left behind, decides to either give it away or sell it dirt cheap. This is where gamers can really bag a bargain. At a car boot sale I recently managed to bag a boxed Playstation 1 with 2 controllers and all the leads for £3.
Ebay
Not always the best place to look since most people who know how to use ebay also know how to check prices before they list their items. There is the occasional bargain to be had however. Check regularly and keep an eye on auctions with no bids. It might stay that way and you could have a bargain for 99p.
Hopefully this article will help you find some bargains. And remember, just because a game isn't worth a tonne of money, doesn't mean it wasn't a bargain. Some games will remain dirt cheap but will still provide hours of entertainment.Labels: Features, Retro
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| posted by Goafer @ 11:00 |
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