Been at a LAN party today. Played lots of cool games, including some that I thought I’d hate. ÜberMac handled things very well. Suspending it kept it nice and cool – think I would benefit from expanding my setup. Trip to the Apple Store is in order, I suppose.

Since getting The New Laptop, I’ve been gaming in Windows again. Got myself an XBOX pad and a few games on Steam. Also kept forgetting to hold Option at boot, so installed rEFIt. rEFIt is awesome, and it lets you customise icons, which I naturally love. These are from one of the Flurry sets, in case you’re wondering.

The problem of paying for reviewer attendance to events by hosts is a constantly hot topic, in games especially, it seems. Capcom are the latest to throw light onto the subject, hosting an event in Hawaii and paying for some to attend. This is such an irritating practice, because the skeptic in me will always think the reviewer is communicating something entirely separate from their review score when they’re reviewing. A low score says nothing about the game, but instead that even if someone else is paying, they haven’t been bought. A good score says either “I’ve been influenced by this awesome trip, and I’m giving a good review so the freebies keep coming” or “This was a great game, buy it!”, making the score completely untrustworthy!

As a (relatively) normal person, I don’t see why games companies have these events. I mean sure, a great willy-wave is fitting every now and again (especially when you’re knocking out an awesome game soon) but you’re making it impossible for reviewers to effectively communicate to their audience. You’re subsequently breaking the review process and cheapening your release!

I, therefore, propose that if a company has a game to review they send a copy to the reviewer and have them review it in the way they would normally play a video game (if you’re from Hawaii, and you usually play on a beach with hula girls and piña coladas, lucky you! (nationalist stereotyping aside)). Using this method removes peer and corporate pressure, as well as the temptation to be greedy from the review process. If you’re a reviewer, either pay for your own ticket and disclose that even though this could’ve been a subsidised event, you’ve integrity. Your review will serve your audience much better!

Thanks.

I don’t have a lot of PS3 games, but I’ve recently been getting back into it and I’m really enjoying it. Mostly playing Far Cry 2 and Skate 2, but I picked up Killzone 2 (do I only play sequels?!) today and it’s got the first SIXAXIS support I’ve seen.

I had a Wii, and I was always underwhelmed by the whole experience. It seems like the wavy controller stuff is shoehorned in in a lot of games just because of the whole gimmick surrounding the console. That’s not to say anything really negative about the Wii – I love Nintendo and it’s so good to see one of the game-makers from when I first started playing kicking ass (after Sega committed suicide with the Saturn), but I couldn’t get past the overbearing gimmick of the Wii.

Killzone 2 implements motion detection so subtly and so appropriately that I can’t help but be impressed by it. Turning the controller to open valve releases and set blast charges is just such an amazing touch, and fits perfectly with the oft-overlooked environmental interaction aspect of FPS games.

Loving this! Gaming is really floating my boat these days.