I just thought I would update my blog here so that everyone is in the know. I’ve been very privileged to be able to join the editorial team over at The ECA’s publication site -  Game Culture dot com which means I’ll be mostly posting my blogs and thoughts on their website from now on. I’ll continue to blog here on the off chance that I’m not posting there but you might see less of me here and more of me there (hint hint).

So thank-you to everyone who supported me here at Game Culture especially Casper from Steel Series who was nice enough to send me products to review (I know I still owe you a review Casper!) and to all my gaming buds – thanks for reading and not commenting LOL! Maybe you guys can check out my work over at Game Culture dot com

I won’t be leaving permanently, just spending a little less time here is all

I’ve just posted a new article over at GC dot com so check it out!

Xenith out (for now!)

I was reading this thread over at the ECA forums which got me thinking about how fascinated some gamers become with their own characters or even with other characters in the games they play. Game developers are now at the point where they can create characters and animations that become more and more realistic with every game. What is it about the characters in a video game that we seem to find so appealing?Quite alot of gamers get attached to characters they play in games – and yes, I’ll readily admit I am one of them (or at least I have been in the past). I ain’t afraid to fly my geek flag high. Customisation in games is also a hugely appealing factor for me. I can’t wait for the day when they will allow gamers to do this in games like Gears of War (currently, they don’t have a female model to play but I hear that might be changing with the next instalment).

When thinking of sex appeal and video game characters, Lara Croft springs to mind. It’s not too hard to figure out why she was created to look the way she does. And although I wouldn’t say that Lara Croft looks realistic by any stretch of the imagination, she does possess a certain level of sex appeal that hundreds of male gamers worldwide have found difficult to resist. Better for sales no doubt but the combination of Lara’s over-the-top vital statistics and an uncanny ability to kick copious amounts of butt all over the place proved overwhelmingly popular with a specific male demographic.

It’s a tad more difficult looking for sex appeal in a game character if you’re female, however. There just doesn’t seem to be alot of male characters in video games that one can find aesthetically pleasing. Maybe that’s primarily because the antagonists in most video games are all created by male game developers. Although if I really had to name names I’ve always found Kratos from the God of War series to be pretty cool – he’s tough without seeming like he’s trying to be a hero and has a moody and bloodthirsty demeanor to match. That said, The Apprentice from The Force Unleashed is pretty appealing as far as game characters go and I’ve always had a thing for Carmine from Gears of War – there’s just something about guys that wear masks And now that I’ve totally weirded you all out, I think I’ll go back to playing a ’sex appeal’ free zone game like BFBC2.

I found this video clip online and thought I would blog about it here. It’s a documentary that attempts to answer the questions surrounding the controversial topic of the level of violence in video games. With input from various valuable members of the video games industry and community including Trip Hawkins (founder of EA), American McGee (Game designer), Jason Della Rocca (IGDA) to name a few, it’s well presented with some interesting points of view from the people that create, sell, play write about and buy video games.

I doubt it’s a topic that can ever have a right or wrong argument, but it’s interesting to view some very candid opinions on the topic from such an esteemed group of people. Every games journalist and gamer should check it out. It’s enlightening and educational.

The website is here and the video clip is below.

I was reading an excellent article over at The Psychology of Games blog about achievements and loss aversion and it got me thinking about gamers and their (almost unhealthy) attachment to video game achievements and gamerscore. I can’t boast about possessing a large gamerscore on either my Xbox 360 or my PS3.

The reality is that as a games journalist, I do get to see alot of games and eventually, I do get to play them but very rarely will I ever have the time to complete an entire game. I have completed some but it’s a ‘few and far between’ moment rather than an expectation. Also, alot of the games I get to see are pre-retail which means they are beta versions of the game before the retail or promo copies are released. As much as I’d love to have a better gamerscore, it’s just not possible for me.

So what is the appeal of gamerscore and why does it have such a powerful grip on gamers? Is gamerscore treated much like a status symbol – if you have a large gamerscore you’re obviously bad ass and thus should expect homage from your peers and anyone you meet online? Surely it’s more than just a number that tells the world you obviously play alot of video games. Or is it?

I’d love to have more time to improve my gamerscore only because it would mean that I’ve been able to spend more time with the games I own rather than having to rush through them. I don’t spend alot of my time on XBL or PSN these days to warrant using my gamerscore as a status symbol amongst my gaming buddies, but there was a time when I actually did feel the pressure of not having a substantial gamerscore.

The appeal for some gamers however seems to go beyond what most would consider ‘healthy’ and ends up becoming something of an obsession rather than a healthy way to compete with others online. Last year I heard through various friends and gamers that Microsoft were banning people due to abuse of the profile editor. So I did some research on this and it wasn’t hard to find guides like this one which explain (in great detail I might add), how to hack your Xbox 360 to obtain a better gamerscore. Yep, it’s actually old news now. But imagine it. You’re so fixated with your gamescore that you decide to hack your Xbox HDD (and break the terms and conditions of your contract with Microsoft Xbox 360 in the process) just to keep up. Some people are even selling consoles on Ebay with the lure of using a high gamerscore to attract buyers!

It happens. It’s a reality. I know because I’ve seen it happen. It’s sad that people have to resort to cheating just to feel acceptance. But it’s not all on the gamer – I think some responsibility should be placed on the manufacturers for making it so easy to do this. I am sure Microsoft Xbox 360 are putting measures in place to stop this sort of behaviour but you’re dealing with an online environment. Nobody can be everywhere all of the time and gamers are a smart group of people well, usually…

So the next time you want to scoff at your kids/brother/cousin’s gamerscore, think twice about the affect it will have when you do.

Last week I talked about aspects of being a games journalist such as passion vs. skill and what to do if you want to become a games journalist. I also talked about why games journalist’s aren’t always thought of as ‘real’ journalists. This week I’ll discuss the finer points of working towards becoming a games journalist.

The personal journey

Obviously, my personal journey isn’t going to be some miraculous guide on how to be a games journalist. I’ll be completely frank with you and say that there are times when I really don’t know what it is that I’m doing. Times when I truly feel like well, a dummy! Like anything, if you love what you do, it’s always going to be a journey frought with ups and downs but hopefully, you’ll come out feeling like you’ve learned something. And that’s where a ‘job’ and a ‘career’ are two different things. In a way, I didn’t really pick this career. In a round-about way this career kinda picked me. It took me several years and a trip to E3 in LA to finally realise what I wanted to do but it was kind of always there. Writing was something I had been doing in one form or another most of my life so it was really only a natural progression for me to take my love of writing and combine it with my love of everything relating to video games.

Are you experienced?

Most of my writing experience started online writing for Gameplanet, a fairly prominent online gaming community website in New Zealand. That’s where I learned the in’s and out’s of online video game reviewing. I didn’t really have a ‘teacher’ per se but I learned alot from the people around me. If you can get your foot in the door at a place like this, you’re off to a good start. There are literally hundreds of websites out there looking for volunteer writers who love video games. Don’t believe me? Do a search on google for ‘video game journalist jobs’ and see what you find. Everyone wants writers, unfortunately, if you’re looking for more than a free game or two, getting a paid journalism gig is an entirely different story. That’s when you’ll be faced with the decision to either turn your hobby and love for gaming into something tangible or continue treating what you do as a past time. It might not sound like a tough decision, but it can be if you’re serious enough about making a career out of games journalism.

Games journalist vs. journalist

Games journalist’s are a specialist group indeed. You’ll probably find that you’re better off looking at journalism jobs in general to begin with rather than focusing solely on being a games journalist. Just remember that holding onto your goal of becoming a games journalist is the most important thing to do. You should never give up writing about video games, even if you have to do it for yourself. In fact, I urge you to start writing for yourself as soon as you can. Start a blog or a website, or even a journal but make sure you continue to write about the thing you love the most. It will prove extremely motivational and will help you through the more psychologically challenging moments you’re bound to experience when you doubt yourself. Particularly if you find yourself not getting hired straight away.

Next week I’ll talk about the differences between print and online games journalism. Until then, keep writing and thanks for reading

I’ll never forget my first experience of discussing the finer points of team strategy in a Gears of War lobby with a six year old. Ah yes, the initial shock was followed soon after by ‘wtf?’ I decided to ask this kid how he could possibly be playing an R16 game when he was only six and then proceeded to ask him what his parents thought of the idea. He said his parents didn’t care and that his uncle bought the game for him so he could play it. He also continued to brag about how he is so much better than most of the people he played. That still didn’t explain why an under-aged child was playing a moderately violent game rated R16 for a reason.

Hmm. OK so what do we as gamers, parents and concerned community individuals think of this? I am sure this kid is one in many who have shared similar experiences. The parents don’t care because their kids are doing something ‘relatively safe’ in the comfort of their own living room/bedroom etc. I’ve also read online that some parents refer to the Xbox 360 as their ‘virtual baby-sitter’ – again, WTF?! I’m sorry but calling the Xbox 360 a virtual baby-sitter really is beyond me.

I mean let’s dissect this for a second. Sure, playing games online in your own home could be considerably safer than having your kid running around outside and meeting strangers. But then there’s the ever increasing online ‘threat’ that alot of parents just don’t understand or even know about. Online predators can be hiding anywhere, they’re not always in chat rooms. And you never know who the people are you’re playing with online, even when you’ve talked to them in chat or via live cam. The danger is always there, even for people who are the right age to be playing R16 games. Would you ignore this fact if you knew about it? Would you continue to let your child add strangers to their friend’s list and play with potentially dangerous people?

Take the recent case of the boy that went missing in Canada a couple of weeks ago. After a disagreement with his parents over his excessive Xbox 360 use, he left the house and never returned. The police have finally given up searching for him after two weeks. That child could have been your kid. Now the police are looking into potential leads stemming from his online activity using Xbox Live.

The fact remains that many adults are allowing their under-aged children to play games that they shouldn’t. In the example of the boy who went missing in Canada, of course the fact that he’s missing is of the utmost importance, but nobody has even mentioned that the boy at 15 years of age is actually a minor and also shouldn’t be playing Call of Duty to begin with due to its game rating. To enforce this fact, the official CoD website presents an age gate to logon before you can even access the site!

Putting the potential dangers aside, there is no way that these laws can actually be enforced so I guess that is one reason why online gaming can be a dangerous place for young people. Nobody polices it and anything goes. As much as I love gaming, I draw the line at allowing under-aged children to be exposed to a potentially abrasive environment. There is a reason why the games carry an R rating and parents should really be taking more responsibility for what their children play and get up to online.

Yesterday I mentioned the growth of video games as big business, possibly surpassing that of the movie industry worldwide. Today the ISANZ (Interactive Software Association of New Zealand) released statistics regarding exactly how much growth the industry has had in New Zealand. Despite the gloomy economic slump our economy seems to be in, things don’t look to be slowing down for the gaming industry and in fact, the ISANZ reported a growth of 12% since 2008 in the industry last year.

Here is an exerpt from the press release:

New Zealand’s interactive gaming and entertainment industry shows no signs of an economic slowdown achieving a record sales result of just over $170 million for the 2009 calendar year.

Despite the economic challenges of the last 12 months, sales data compiled by independent market research group GfK Retail and Technology Australia indicates computer and video gaming sales of $170 million – an increase of 12 per cent from 2008. The data includes all sales from hardware, gaming peripherals and traditionally boxed software, yet excludes revenue generated from online retail sales, downloadable content, online games subscriptions and games delivered to mobile phones.

‘Family Games’ are a key factor to the industry’s growth proving to be the number one selling genre in 2009. 27% of all software sales were from the ‘Family Games’ genre – up 34% from 2008. Growth figures for the New Zealand market were three times larger than Australia’s gaming market which recorded a 4 per cent growth.

That’s definitely a first for New Zealand, showing three times the amount of growth than our cousins Australia across the ditch. How did you contribute to this growth and exactly how much on average do you think you spend as a gamer on video games? Food for thought, isn’t it?

I felt like being a little dramatic with the title of this post because Dante’s Inferno brings out the poet in me… and as it should. The game is based on ‘The Divine Comedy’ and is riddled with excerpts from the poem written by Dante Alighieri in the 14th century. If you haven’t the faintest idea what The Divine Comedy is, that’s OK too, you won’t need to know to be able to enjoy Dante’s Inferno but it helps if you want the full experience.

I can’t yet talk about Dante’s Inferno (it doesn’t release until the first week of February worldwide) in specifics but what I can say is that the storyline and characters are truly out of  this world and if you’re into your character driven games, you’ll love it. It’s set in third person perspective with lots of fighting and bloodshed, especially of the demon-killing kind.

I thought I would post a different image this time instead of a screenshot of the game. This image is taken from the DC comic based on the game released last month in the US on DC’s Wildstorm imprint. There is also a really cool animated movie based on the game releasing in the UK early next month. Created by some of the best animators in the world, Dantes Inferno the movie looks positively fantastic as does the graphic novel.

You can find the official website for the game here, the website for the movie here and the comic details here.

So what are you waiting for? Go to hell why don’t ya

As a gamer, I’d like to entertain the notion that we’ve evolved as a demographic of society. But every now and then I hear things or experience things online that make me think a little more about that concept.

As gamers we’ve helped to push ‘gaming’ into the mainstream. So much so that the billions of dollars earned by movie-makers and hollywood types could now be considered under threat by the billions that seem to be getting poured into making games. Like it or not, gaming is big business and gamers are, for the forseeable future at least, here to stay.

But unfortunately, like any other growing demographic of society, there’s a dark underbelly that every now and then, gets an opportunity to rear it’s ugly head. I don’t hold any one group of people responsible for this. I’ve been victim to some of these things myself and you’d be surprised to know that it’s not just the younger gamers that participate in what is commonly referred to as “Rage” or more specifically “Nerd Rage”.

The term “Rage” when used online in a gaming environment pretty much means exactly what the word relates to – a person who is filled with anger or rage taking these emotions out on another person or a game. When you “rage” at someone, it means that you’ve got a problem with that particular person or game or sometimes even their entire clan (as I’ve witnessed many times). “Raging” is all too common in online gaming environments, particularly between clans or even entire countries – I kid you not! I’ve been in online game lobbies where people from opposing countries raged at each other until the game started. And it’s not uncommon for racial tension to seep into these rage-fueled conversations. Australia vs New Zealand, other times it’s New Zealand vs the US, or Russia or even Germany! “Rage” cares not about international boundaries or gender for that matter and will likely take root in anyone, even the usually quiet or shy types. Nobody is exempt from getting their “Rage” on… nope, not even female gamers. I’ve heard some of the worst examples of gamer rage coming from the mouths of female gamers!

“Nerd Rage” is a derivative of “Rage” and is meant to specifically put someone down. If you call out “Nerd Rage” in vent at someone or type this in a chat channel, you are going out of your way to put someone down or make a fool of them. If you’re called out for being a “nerd rager” you’re basically being told that you’re a “nerd” or socially inept individual prone to verbal fits of rage. You’re worse than a rager, you’re a “nerd rager”. It’s kinda sad that we have developed a word for it but perhaps even more concerning that it’s an acceptable part of being a gamer these days and an acceptable part of game culture.

If you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a nerd rage fit, just make sure you’re the first to /ragequit – that way you’ll always get the upper hand!

Cheat: –verb (definition on Dictionary.com)

To practice fraud or deceit or to violate rules or regulations

I dunno about you but when it comes to game cheats, I’m not a fan. I’ve never understood the term ‘game cheat’ because I was brought up to believe that the word ‘cheat’ had only one meaning. That was before they invented the ‘cheat code’ or game cheat as it’s commonly referred to.

I mean I understand why there are game cheats. I’ve just never been one to use them. Surely there must be a reason why the developers make the games the way they do. If they wanted things to be easy, I’m sure the game sales not to mention the popularity of the games they make would suffer. Nobody wants a game they can just cruise on through. People want challenges, they want to feel like there is a reason to be doing what they do and they want to feel accomplishment in a game. How can you achieve any of that if you use cheats?

And then there’s the walk-through. I’ve never been able to properly determine the difference between a ‘cheat’ and a ‘walk-through’. Are they one and the same? Afterall, they pretty much exist for the same reason – to pass a portion of a game that you would otherwise not be able to pass without help.

I think walk-throughs might be slightly different to a ‘cheat’ because some walk-through guides are sometimes created by official companies associated to the game. I remember receiving a guide similar to a walkthrough for one of the Star Wars games I was playing at the time. I never used it but it was sent to me all the same.

I suppose there are pros and cons to this argument. Without cheat codes/walk-throughs and the like, many gamers would not be able to successfully finish the game they love. And finishing a game is paramount to alot of gamers. Remove the cheat codes etc and there would be a whole group of unsatisfied gamers out there. There’s also the ‘value for money’ aspect. People want to get the most out of a game they buy and if they can’t do it using their own mental faculties, they should be able to do it somehow, right? But there’s still the moral thing there. If you need help finishing a game, you’re not doing it on your own… so you’re not really achieving something on your own merit.

Do you use game cheats and if so why? Do you think it’s right to use a cheat in a game or do you think it’s better to work things out yourself, even when the game seems impossible to beat?