June 2017

My Adventures with Activision’s Dubious Business Practices

The following piece has been sitting in my drafts for well over six months, but I never quite got around to publishing it. Yesterday however – after reading Shelby’s excellent piece about a similar thing – I was reminded of its existence, and thought that, actually, if I published my piece, just maybe it’d add to the general chorus of disapproval at Activision’s abhorrent behaviour and perhaps, possibly, that that chorus may then encourage them to do a bit of soul searching, see the error of their ways, and ultimately become a kinder, less greedy set of dirty robbing bastards. Lolz – I jest, obviously. I published it for the rantz, innit!?

The last couple of paragraphs are new, and were added to reflect recent developments since the original draft was written, and I am indebted to Shelby for bringing them to my attention. Continue reading “My Adventures with Activision’s Dubious Business Practices” →

June 25, 2017 11

Dying Light – dem curves though!

I spent a good chunk of my first few hours in Dying Light….well, dying. I spent a good chunk of my second few hours in Dying Light…..also dying. In fact, if I had to pick one word to sum up my initial Dying Light experience, it’d be dying. A lot. So much so, in fact, that after spending nearly two years on my To-Play pile, there was a very real danger that Dying Light would move directly to my Unfinished/Abandoned pile after only a few short, frustrating hours of actually being played. Having spent the last few weeks in the combined worlds of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, I had felt like I wanted to play something a bit grittier – a bit more challenging, even – but after I’d been mercilessly pummeled (or munched) into oblivion for the eleventy-twelfth time in the space of 32 minutes, I was beginning to think that might have been something of a bad idea. Like, “I wonder what’ll happen if I lick that plug socket” kinda bad….. Continue reading “Dying Light – dem curves though!” →

June 22, 2017 16

I’ve always been quite cynical about re-releasing and remastering shenanigans. At best, it often seems like a desperate cash grab and, at worst, it kind of feels like us Gamers are being taken for hopelessly naive rubes who’re easily parted from their money. Nintendo appear to be something of a repeat offender in this respect, and back when they seemed intent on padding out their Wii U catalogue with remastered versions of fan favourites, I couldn’t help but greet the decision with a fair degree of disdain and eye-rolling. “Seriously, how stupid do you think we are?” I cried, “What fucking eejit’s going to keep buying the same game again, and who, pray tell, is going to be so irredeemably, monumentally stupid that they’re going to buy your failing console just to play a decade old game on!?” I yelled, gesticulating wildly for emphasis even though there was nobody else in the room. But then, on the other hand – and in answer to my own questions, I guess – I eventually did buy a Wii U pretty much so I could play The Wind Waker again, and I also bought me a copy of Twilight Princess HD too.

So, like, there’s that…. Continue reading “The Potential Dangers of Returning to a Favourite Game – The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD” →

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD – Questing Done Right

I never owned a Wii, for a few reasons but mostly, if I’m being honest, because it all looked suspiciously like exercise to me. Whilst the wands and nunchucks of the Wii may’ve been considered fun and quirky – the kind of thing you’d have a laugh playing with your friends for an hour or so – the idea of spending large chunks of my downtime swinging my arms around like a lunatic just never really appealed to me. As such, there was a whole console generation of Nintendo Games that I either didn’t play at all, or just tried briefly at friends’ houses, and precisely because a lot of them seemed intent on making me get up off my arse and dance around like the bastard lovechild of Jane Fonda and Mr. Motivator. Continue reading “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD – Questing Done Right” →

June 6, 2017 2