Rumours hit the internet todaythat at E3 this year not one but two new consoles are going to be announced. After a painfully long wait it finally looks as though both Microsoft and Sony will be announcing the next generations of the XBox and PlayStation family. The first site to make this announcement was mvcuk.com. They stated that  ”MCV’s third-party publishing sources claim the firm had signalled to partners this will happen.” Ben Parfitt MVC’s online editor also tweeted about the news saying “Obviously we can’t reveal our sources. But you have my personal word on this – the source is exemplary, 100% concrete, ultra high level.”

This is pretty huge news, but as it is only an announcement we probably won’t see any solid release dates until a year or so down the line. Personally I expect that at this years E3 the most we will see is  maybe some concepts and if we are lucky a screen shot or two. Interestingly, if they go ahead these announcements will coincide with Nintendo’s announcement of the official release date and price of the Wii U.

E3 sounds like it is shaping up to be quite a show this year. We will be keeping a lookout for more official information about the 360 and the PS3′s successors, so stay tuned to PlusXP for more updates soon.

Though as yet information about the next generation of consoles is limited, personally I am hoping that a whole load of new IP’s will come out of the next console generation. It would be great if the successors to the 360 and PS3 bring a whole load of new features and content instead of being just a basic continuation from their predecessors. I also hope that the new Microsoft console will have an integrated blu-ray player.

While we wait for more information to surface what do you guys think and what are your predictions for the next generation of video games consoles.

Garv

E3 kicked off today with the first of this years majour Press conferences. Microsoft took the stage with some key announcements that could get even the most hardcore of gamers jumping out of their seats.

So without further a-do, here is the lowdown:

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

First on the cards was a Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 live demo showing. The demo showed a squad of marines infiltrating a submarine through a plethora of dead bodies and wreckage. Turns out Manhattan is under attack and this is where the MW3 story line picks up. Not much is shown other than an epic battle at sea, but it looks like the 3rd installment of the Modern Warfare series is set to be an epic one.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released 8th of November.

Tomb Raider

The reboot that we have (or maybe haven’t?) been waiting for was up next with Crystal dynamics. Another live demo was shown with Lara this time battling to survive an mysterious island that appears to be trying to engulf her. From what was released today the new Tomb Raider appears to be more survival horror based this time round and will be hitting our consoles in Auntumn 2012. I’m a little dubious to be honest as this reboot seems quite different from the Lara Croft that we all know and love, but more on that story later.

EA Games

Today EA announced some new titles for Kinect and the Xbox 360. Tigerwoods, Madden and FIFA will all be Kinect compatible, promicing players a whole new range of sporting activities.

After that brief  insght into the EA sports,  EA then gave us a look at the Sims 3 Pets which they revieled will also support Kinect.  Eye-pet mixed with Ninten-dogs maybe? More will be revealed at a later date.

Mass Effect 3

Dr Ray Muzyka announced details on the higly anticipated Mass Effect 3. He stated that the Galactic War has begun, and that Earth has been taken. Like many of the games showcased today  Mass Effect 3 will also support Kinect. Want to know how? Well one feature is that you can talk to your team mates through Kinect. Whilst playing, speech options will appear on the screen and when you respond to them Kinect will recognise your voice. A pretty nifty little trick which could work rather well. It doesn’t stop there though, you can also use Kinect in battle. With this new element you can gesture to your team mates and give orders whilest in battle. Pretty cool.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier

Yves Gullemot stated that Future Soldier will also use Kinect for some of its game play. Gunsmith is a new  feature in Future Soldier that will let you customise your own weapons down to the very core. You can break the guns down by using the Kinect motion sensors and construct your perfect weapon literally using your hands. A handy feature.

Xbox LIVE

Xbox  LIVE will soon also have some new features. The new Xbox Live experience will feature dashboard improvements which will work more with Kinect. The microsoft search engine Bing will also be added to the Dashboard. Sadly it wont be a full on web browser within Xbox live but it will give you the opportunity to use the Bing search engine to explore all Xbox Live content. YouTube will also be joining the Xbox dashboard family.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition

It has been 10 years since Halo Combat Evolved came out for the original Xbox, and it is now being remade. This time it will use the Halo Reach engine giving it an HD makeover for 2011 . To me this is fantastic news as even though Halo CE is an awesome game compared to more recent releases it does look rather dated. It is set to be released on the 15th of November this year.

Forza Motorsport 4

Another Kinect enabled game Forza will be bringing back the driving simulation that we have come to love on the Xbox. The game will feature Kinect head tracking, community car clubs, rivals mode, 16 players and an epic world tour.

Fable: The Journey

From the looks of things the this new Fable title will be fully connect compatible.The demo showed the game being played using Kinect by using gestures to creat spells and also holding invisible reigns to drive carriages. Could be good but so far I’m not that impressed by it, yet.

Kinect Starwars

Ever wanted to be a Jedi Knight? Well this is the closest you are going to get. Using Kinnect technology you get to shout things like “Light saber on” which surprise surprise activates your light saber. You can also  Jedi tricks such as force push by using the right actions. Surprisingly to me all of the action takes place in the 3rd person, as I assumed a game like this would keep the action close to give the player a full immersive experience. On the other hand I suppose might be a better vantage point.

Halo 4

It has finally been announced. Halo 4 will be making its way to Xbox 360 consoles Christmas 2012. A little while off yet but its official, Master chief is back!

And that was it for the Microsoft press conference. With some great announcements today we have a lot to look forward to in 2011 and beyond. Here at PlusXp we cant wait to hear what the other Press confrances will have to offer as the week progresses. Stay tuned for more E3 coverage.

Garv.

The Worlds Most Awesome Gaming Keyboard......Apparently

As for me, I am a semi converted FPS fan. Most of you are probably thinking, what the hell do you mean? Well first off I was playing First Person Shooters on the PC. But this was back in the days of Doom, Wolfenstein and Duke 3D. Basically the FPS games that didn’t require you to use the mouse. You could happily go along with the arrow keys seeing as there was no way to look up or down. It wasn’t till the end of my PC FPS game days where Quake 2 implemented the mouse. I couldn’t really get on with it so I just tried it out with the keyboard and somehow made it through the campaign.

With the new control set up for FPS games, I actually feared that my shooting game days were long gone. So I went to the Playstation 1 and 2 for games like WWE wrestling, Tony hawks skate boarding and Devil May Cry. It wasn’t untill I got my original X Box and Halo where I got my FPS gaming back. I then was evermore glued to the console way of FPS gaming. So you could say I have really been playing FPS games the same way all my life, mouse free.

The Perfect Combination Of PC and Console Controllers Perhaps?

But back to the question in hand. What is the best platform for FPS games? If I were to put this question to the Plus XP team I will have a vague idea of who will say what. Leon would say console but then go back to playing God Of War or something similar. Mark will probably say console as well, but then start day dreaming about Jessica Chobot. GuitarGirl’s reaction would probably be ‘does it involve a guitar so I can melt the enemies faces?’. Then there is That Bloke In The Beanie, a hardcore PC gamer who has an X-Box in the corner of his room which he does play every now and again, but I know straight out he will say FPS games are better suited to the PC. This will probably stroke up a heated debate which I will endeavor to post on this site when the time comes.

lately I have revived my original silver clunky DS and have been playing Metroid Prime Hunters. Possibly the best shooter you are ever gong to get on a hand-held ever. Ok so it may cramp up your hands like a bitch but still it utilises the FPS game mechanics perfectly. Possibly not the best platform for FPS gaming by any stretch of the imagination, but defiantly something to look at, using the touch screen as your mouse if you would like, you then use the D pad to strafe and move forward and backward and then use the left bumper button as your trigger finger. Very interesting way at looking at game mechanics indeed.

I feel it is time now to give the Wii an honerable mention. If it were to drop it casual/party game facade that so many people pin down on it these days, I think that this console could be the next big thing for FPS games. Oh c’mon you must have thought at some point that shooting games would have been perfect for the Wii when motion plus came out? Metroid corruption used the Wii controls perfectly, and is today still the game that is making me think about getting a Wii. Red Steel 1 we probably won’t talk about here, just mention it for the sake of mentioning it as it was, quite frankly, a shite game. Red Steel 2 on the other hand looks a lot better with the time I had with it at Eurogamer last year. Then you have games like house of the dead which just turn the console into an arcade cab. But I must say the Will has stunning potential for being the Next FPS platform as you pretty much have a gun in your hand.

So the best platform for FPS gaming? Well I am going to have to hand it to the consoles, A) because I can’t get on with the mouse that well, B) because if it wasn’t for Halo I would have probably never touched an FPS game again, and C) the Wii has so much FPS potential it just makes me a tad sick that it has had this casual gaming marker put on it.

But that’s all my opinion, what do true FPS fans out there think? Feel free to voice your opinion.

Garv.

Since February 1 2007, gamers have had the chance to extract more satisfaction from a particular game by merely completing specific criteria for an in-game challenge. Games have been given a whole new depth and in many ways have become more appealing to players just by having these.

That date was when Microsoft made it mandatory for developers to implement achievements into all games from then on requiring an allotted amount of achievements that would total 1,000 Gamerscore. For the next two years, Microsoft had an additional feature for their console that would entice thousands upon thousands if not, dare I say, millions of gamers to try to exceed past performances on a lap or step up their efforts to defeat a game on a particular difficulty setting. All of this just so they could boast about an additional 60G that now showcased on their Gamercard; despite said achievement being virtual and solely for extra bragging rights. As a PS3 fanboy I was instantly jealous and kept thinking “why doesn’t Sony have a feature just like this”?
My wait lasted many months, and all that time I was hearing my fellow XBOX friends talking how they’d got an achievement for killing over 70,000 zombies in Dead Rising or for escorting a gnome through the entirety of Half Life: Episode 2. At times, I could not contain my jealousy and found myself going to my friend’s house just so I could make a profile on their XBOX and rack up a few achievements before I left. By getting one I felt the urgency to earn more, so I could see that counter pop-up in its smiling inducing way. I mean, they bring certain entertaining qualities to a game because if it wasn’t for trophies I would never have thought to place a grenade in someone else’s pocket on Fallout and vaporise that particular NPC into loads of maroon splodges.

Note: Results may vary when placing grenade into super-mutants pocket.

Latching onto the success of them; Sony joined the invisible rewards bandwagon by utilising a trophy system that similarly rewards gamers for completing certain feats in a game and that being shown in the form of a shiny trophy. Following software updates and much waiting, the new system of Playstation trophies debuted with one of the Playstation Network’s cult hits, Super Stardust HD. Despite never playing the game before I opted to buy it and spend that night trying to become the “Hero of Lave”. After obliterating many comets, space debris and creatures from a far distant universe I was rewarded with my first ever trophy. Originally the trophies I started to get were certainly sweet but as time passed I noticed one subtle, but crucial difference between a trophy and an achievement…

…

…

PING!

The simplicity of a catchy sound effect can make all the difference in my opinion, as you can strive to guide Master Chief to glory on Legendary and see that tidy bit of text appear along the bottom of the screen, but that’s not enough and certainly doesn’t provide enough gratification. If you’re like me and you’ve played Call of Duty: Classic, then you’ll understand that you have to persevere like never before with a game. On Veteran mode, it’s 3 hits before you die and very few checkpoints per level. So when I completed Pavlov’s House, unquestionably one of the hardest levels ever assembled, on Veteran I truly felt that effort was rewarded with my shiny little trophy with its gleeful ping.

On the other hand, I look at blogs and articles stating the unimportance of trophies and achievements and claim that they not only detract from a game, but they’re needless to boot. Now that tells me you’re a part-time gamer and lack a whole lot of interest in the games you play, or that you’re too ashamed to admit you cannot earn 5 stars on all of the Hannah Montana songs. I can understand that they detract from the game, as I find myself constantly checking the trophy list via the XMB seeing if I can do a particular trophy in the area I’m in. It’s also not a bad thing, and if you don’t like them or you’re completely oblivious to them, then it makes no difference to you and allows us to enjoy them to their fullest. Very recently, I noticed in the menu for Dead Space 2 an option that said trophies. I pressed on it, and lo and behold was the full set of trophies to earn with one notable exception. Next to the tasks that required a required amount of times to do, such as “Stomp 10 containers”, it would state how many times it’d been done. Not only is this quicker than accessing the trophies via a long process through the slow XMB, but it’s useful in that you’re aware how many times you need to repeat a particular kill or complete a trophy-gaining task. I get the impression that some developers understand how important trophies/achievements are; and if my memory serves me correctly then I recall Red Faction: Guerrilla utilising an identical system of recording and displaying such details.

Achievement Unlocked: You hit stuff with a hammer....well done!

I’ll be the first to admit that my attitude towards games have changed in the fact that I now tend to avoid games that don’t have trophies in them. On some levels I think it’s sad that I would overlook a game that could be brimming with quality and as an example, I’ve overlooked Race Driver: Grid purely because it was trophyless. There are many games I’ve played and got the platinum for, yet I’ve no desire to play it anymore as in my eyes it’s served its purpose. You may consider this a shallow and unforgivable act of betrayal to games, but I don’t see it this way. I find it to be the utmost tribute to a game, or for certain games at least, as I’ve obtained every trophy for Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection and not exactly felt empty, but it certainly wasn’t my proudest achievement (mind the pun). On the other hand, I’ve played through Dead Space 3 times and dedicated over 40 hours to Resident Evil 5 through thorough effort and gaming supremacy. So for those who doubt and sneer at the people who waste away their lives, in the words of Kevin Butler “Gaming is staying up till 3AM to earn a trophy that isn’t real… but is”.

Quite simply; the act of completing a task and earning a reward whatever your console has been conceptualised into a competitive satisfaction that demands the most out of you if you so please, while separating the unworthy individuals to the ones who want to complete Through the Fire and Flames on Expert whilst having several replacement controllers on stand-by.

…After writing that last line I felt I had written what I wanted to say about this subject but a brief thought comes into my head and all of a sudden this article is going to shoot off into a new direction. It’s quite contradictory to what I have said in that earning all trophies/achievements means you’ve accomplished the game, but in lots of cases this is far from the underlying truth. One example is Criterion’s Burnout Paradise, in which the trophies are pretty easy but, as I proved, it’s possible to display that platinum proudly with only 70-80% of the game actually finished. In effect I’ve driven around Paradise City and not mastered IT but I’ve mastered the game, which in reality are two different things. Despite this epiphany my attitude will remain the same, but I understand that maybe I’m disrespecting developers and publishers by playing their game just for the trophies rather than actually wanting to. Lots of my platinum trophies come from games that I’ve borrowed just to grab the platinum, not with the simultaneous intention of enjoying it. However, we’re all different, and again we get to see the difference between people; I refuse to believe someone would buy a copy of Terminator Salvation with the intention of playing it because they “like Terminator”. Oh goodness no, that would be a fabrication if I’ve ever heard one!

This is the best game ever! Really! It Is!.... Achievement Unlocked: Bullshit.

I have some friends that have hit certain milestones, for example, hitting 1,000 trophies, and they’re saying they’ll be far less bothered about trophies soon after the milestone is reached. Why? I have two theories about this which could be linked to the psychology of trophies; or as I like to call it, “Trophyology”. When an individual has reached a milestone then they feel satisfied by their own inner accomplishments, then lose all motivation and essentially declare on that total without wanting to go for more. In my opinion this individual is not motivated in any part of life, and therefore they do not wish to achieve more milestones, which also means you’re a soft-core gamer. The other theory is related to the creator of Trophyology, me, as I recently passed the 2,000 mark and I was not only joyous but relieved as it was a symbol of two years of hard work. I’ve spent countless hours farming areas, repeating the same race or gutting out the most tedious online matches *CoughBioshock2Cough*, but now I can explore new realms of tranquillity with my gaming, and can start again as I gradually approach the 3,000 mark and so forth.

I’ll end with this question: Does an easy set of trophies and achievements sell more copies of a game?
I would argue that is indeed the case. Reverting to Terminator as an example, it’s easy for anyone to see that it’s a poorly made game serving the purpose of being an accompanying movie tie-in (and not to forget cash-in!). With every conceivable element of the game being poor; from repetitive gameplay to the wafer-thin size of its length, Terminator Salvation was always destined to be a below average game and I’d hazard a guess that the makers, GRIN, knew this too. As a result, the marketing/strategist guys started stirring and devised a way to increase sales or maybe even rentals. That’s when they thought of putting twelve gold trophies and one platinum in the game for trophy/achievement hunters. Aside from trying to demonstrate the lengths people will go to make their game succeed, I’d like to think that we’ve learned how integral trophies and achievements are to the current gaming industry. Whether it’s boasting, boosting or competing; they’re guaranteed to attract opinions and arguments as to their true value.

- Andrew Highton

The Worlds Most Awesome Gaming Keyboard......Apparently

As for me, I am a semi converted FPS fan. Most of you are probably thinking, what the hell do you mean? Well first off I was playing First Person Shooters on the PC. But this was back in the days of Doom, Wolfenstein and Duke 3D. Basically the FPS games that didn’t require you to use the mouse. You could happily go along with the arrow keys seeing as there was no way to look up or down. It wasn’t till the end of my PC FPS game days where Quake 2 implemented the mouse. I couldn’t really get on with it so I just tried it out with the keyboard and somehow made it through the campaign.

With the new control set up for FPS games, I actually feared that my shooting game days were long gone. So I went to the Playstation 1 and 2 for games like WWE wrestling, Tony hawks skate boarding and Devil May Cry. It wasn’t untill I got my original X Box and Halo where I got my FPS gaming back. I then was evermore glued to the console way of FPS gaming. So you could say I have really been playing FPS games the same way all my life, mouse free.

The Perfect Combination Of PC and Console Controllers Perhaps?

But back to the question in hand. What is the best platform for FPS games? If I were to put this question to the Plus XP team I will have a vague idea of who will say what. Leon would say console but then go back to playing God Of War or something similar. Mark will probably say console as well, but then start day dreaming about Jessica Chobot. GuitarGirl’s reaction would probably be ‘does it involve a guitar so I can melt the enemies faces?’. Then there is That Bloke In The Beanie, a hardcore PC gamer who has an X-Box in the corner of his room which he does play every now and again, but I know straight out he will say FPS games are better suited to the PC. This will probably stroke up a heated debate which I will endeavor to post on this site when the time comes.

lately I have revived my original silver clunky DS and have been playing Metroid Prime Hunters. Possibly the best shooter you are ever gong to get on a hand-held ever. Ok so it may cramp up your hands like a bitch but still it utilises the FPS game mechanics perfectly. Possibly not the best platform for FPS gaming by any stretch of the imagination, but defiantly something to look at, using the touch screen as your mouse if you would like, you then use the D pad to strafe and move forward and backward and then use the left bumper button as your trigger finger. Very interesting way at looking at game mechanics indeed.

I feel it is time now to give the Wii an honerable mention. If it were to drop it casual/party game facade that so many people pin down on it these days, I think that this console could be the next big thing for FPS games. Oh c’mon you must have thought at some point that shooting games would have been perfect for the Wii when motion plus came out? Metroid corruption used the Wii controls perfectly, and is today still the game that is making me think about getting a Wii. Red Steel 1 we probably won’t talk about here, just mention it for the sake of mentioning it as it was, quite frankly, a shite game. Red Steel 2 on the other hand looks a lot better with the time I had with it at Eurogamer last year. Then you have games like house of the dead which just turn the console into an arcade cab. But I must say the Will has stunning potential for being the Next FPS platform as you pretty much have a gun in your hand.

So the best platform for FPS gaming? Well I am going to have to hand it to the consoles, A) because I can’t get on with the mouse that well, B) because if it wasn’t for Halo I would have probably never touched an FPS game again, and C) the Wii has so much FPS potential it just makes me a tad sick that it has had this casual gaming marker put on it.

But that’s all my opinion, what do true FPS fans out there think? Feel free to voice your opinion.

Garv.

You ever get those moment where, after you have seen an epic game trailer/video, you realise that you were starting at the screen with you mouth physically open and a vacant stare spread across your face while you were watching said video. This is exactly what happened to me when I watched the multiplayer trailer. I personally didn’t think Halo could get any better multiplayer wise. There are new game modes, new weapons and assassination moves just to name a few. Today I am gonna pick out the new things I saw from the trailer and give you my opinion what the new additions to the game are going to be like.

JETPACKS

Ever since I saw the elites bobbing round in these things in Halo 2, I could not help but think ‘I Want That!’ well a couple of games later, my mental message has eventually reached Bungie and now we have Jet Packs in multiplayer and I could not be happier.

Then I thought some more, how will these jetpacks work? Are we looking at a fuel gauge for them? Are they just going to feel like the anti-gravity mod in Unreal Tournament? Or are these actually going to be the single best thing to ever come out of Halo Reach and everyone will be having mid-air gun fights? I have learnt in the past that ideas such as these don’t pan out the way you think they are going too. I personally expect some limit to these jetpacks, so I am preparing myself for a fuel gauge of some sort, unless it will be classed as a new vehicle, in which case it will be unlimited and awesome.

ASSASINATIONS

I touched briefly on the addition of assassinations in my Halo Reach News Round Up a couple of weeks back. In this new multiplayer trailer you get to see them in full action.

Right off the baton I immediately thought Aliens Vs Predator. This was the first time I ever saw the assassination mechanic used in an FPS game when I played it back at Eurogamer in October. I personally love the fact that Bungie have brought it into Reach. Sure, since Halo 2 the game had the assassination medal for when you melee’d an opponent from behind, but this takes it to the next level with full on assassination animations, which I have to say look awesome and a lot better than the AvP ones. So I will be looking forward to assassinating any Halo player that gets in my way, be it Spartan or Elite!

WEAPONS

Again, another thing I briefly touched on in the previous article but this trailer brings us some interesting footage of some of the new weapons available. We all know that the needler rifle can take out three enemies at a time, and the marksman rifle is a love child of the sniper rifle and assault rifle. But in the trailer I saw what looked like a Covenant version of the Spartan laser! If that is true, we could be looking at some insane laser battles. I also saw what looked like a laser guided fuel rod cannon too.

NEW GAME MODES

Probably one of the most important things in any new multi player game, whether it is a sequel or not. Game variety is key to anyones enjoyment. It definitely looks like Bungie have added a breath of fresh air to the multi player with a good few game modes.

So here is the all-important list and what I think you have to do for each game mode. I could be wrong here but I’m gonna give it a go.

HEAD HUNTERS – It looks to me that head shots are key here. Kill someone with a head shot and they drop skulls, collect the skulls and the total of skulls is totted up at the end, the player with the most skulls wins. How did I get all that from a little clip on a trailer? I put it down to educated guess. But that is not necessarily what will happen. I believe this will be one of those games that snipers are gonna love or hate. All well and good scoring head shots but if you half way across the map when ya do it, someone else is bound to collect those skulls.

INVASION – To me this looks like Bungie’s answer to an assault type game mode. Meaning that one team defends while the other fills out objectives to inevitably invade an area or destroy something. I loved assault levels in time splitters so I hope Bungie’s attempt at this game mode (if it is what I think it is) will be perfect.

SPARTANS VS ELITES – To me this just sounds like a team death match, one team Spartans, the other Elites. What they could implement into this though is race specific abilities, like Spartans can sprint while Elites have active camo, or something along those lines. It will be interesting to see how Bungie develop this game idea.

THE ARENA – To me it just sounds like they renamed slayer. I could be totally wrong, it may be something like a one on one shoot out? I am pretty confused about this one and can’t comment much on it. best wait and find out.

OTHER THINGS I PICKED UP ON

DODGE ROLL – It looks like Bungie have implemented a dodge rolling system of some sort. Looks pretty cool but how it will work form a first person perspective is beyond me. Will it zoom out like an assassination?

ACTIVE ROSTER – This looks cool. Looks like you can jump in and out of active games. Means you don’t have to scoff down your dinner in time to play a game with your mates.

Halo reach multi player looks like its taking a step in the right direction. And I cannot wait to jump into some Beta test action on May 3rd. Who’s with me?

Till then I will leave you with the Multiplayer Trailer:

Garv

However, not much later we would see a new idea enter the market – moving from cartridges to CDs which were a much more standard media type; for the Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast and perhaps most importantly, the PlayStation. The release of the PlayStation 2 gave a new aspect to the home console – backward compatibility. Having grown up a bit and developed a greater passion for gaming – with a growing collection to boot – the PS2 allowed for gamers like me to upgrade to the new model, whilst allowing me to continue playing my (still growing) collection of PS1 games – while I fell in love with Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy X, I was still able to bask in the glory of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night without needing two PlayStation consoles set up at a time.

On the handheld side of things, Nintendo had dominated the market with their Game Boy, eventually releasing the Pocket and Color models which improved the console’s build whilst keeping the Game Boy game format. When it came around to releasing the next completely rehauled handheld console, the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo acknowledged that people would be upgrading, and therefore made it possible to play original GB titles on the GBA system.

A GBA SP with a Gameboy Color cartridge

So at the end of last generation we had the PS2, which was compatible with all PlayStation games released thus far, Nintendo moved onto miniature discs with its conversion from cartridges with the GameCube (soon to be followed up by the backward-compatible Wii), the new Microsoft Xbox crept onto the scene with its own DVD-format discs. It was looking as though data formats were being standardised, and as consoles all moved to disc it seemed likely that we’d be able to see backward compatibility in the future, with consoles all using game formats that would be physically compatible with the new versions – the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 would again use discs, and the Wii would incorporate full size discs while still being able to accept the GameCube titles.

However, I find myself in a different situation altogether. Whereas the rare, initial version of the PS3 (albeit high-priced) was able to do such a thing – being able to play games from all three generations of the Playstation consoles - this was soon scrapped for the new, cheaper model of PS3, and the following Slim version, looking to be lost forever. Although the PS3 is still compatible with PS1 titles (yay for Final Fantasy 1-9!), the console lost access to what is perhaps one of the largest console libraries ever – the PS2 being one of the most successful consoles ever made, personally making up a good third (if not more) of my entire gaming collection. But due to this change, my PS3 console is severely flawed in that it cannot play Devil May Cry 1-3, Onimusha, Final Fantasy X+XII, Capcom Vs SNK 2, God of War I&II, Kingdom Hearts and Shadow of the Colossus among many, many others, while my little PS2 slim sits still triumphant underneath my TV. Don’t get me wrong – I love my PS3, and its fast becoming my favourite console of the generation – but do I really want two PlayStations set up at all times?

Sure, the graphics are looking a little dated, but if you haven't played this - you're missing out

The Xbox 360 had a similar situation – although the original Xbox wasn’t nearly as successful as the PS2, it still had some worthwhile games. However, instead of simply being compatible or incompatible with the previous titles, it has a select set of titles which are possible to emulate via online patches (of which the database is never updated). Obviously this is fine for mainstream games like Halo 2, but upon foolishly purchasing a copy of Dino Crisis 3 I found myself with a disc I couldn’t use. This was far too complicated, so I didn’t bother getting any more original Xbox games – but I think if the original console had as vast a library, this selective system would be awful. I can imagine that a few owners of the original system got screwed when half of their old games weren’t compatible with the new system. Especially when Microsoft then follow-up by releasing the old Xbox games for digital download on Xbox Live. I’d much rather look after a disc than have Fable eating up my hard-disk space for the 99.9% of the time I’m not using it.

The Wii, however, is the only one of the three latest consoles that is successfully and completely backward compatible with the previous console (strangely being the one with the most difference in the new and old hardware – with its change in disc size and controller rehaul). However, I have a bone to pick with Nintendo in the handheld area of things…

Now, the Nintendo DS is a good console with some great titles, such as the Ace Attorney series and Castlevania titles. By including a GBA slot, it’s library was vastly improved, my DS game collection consisting of about a 3:1 ratio of GBA games to DS titles – with series’ such as Castlevania, Megaman Battle Network, Fire Emblem, Zelda, Metroid and others providing very solid gameplay, which has aged very well and still looks great on the DS – I mean, it was a shame they ditched the original Game Boy functionality, but to be honest they haven’t aged so well, and I don’t miss any of the titles – with perhaps the best titles such as Pokemon having sequels and (good) remakes on the GBA format regardless.

Now you may say… that’s not a complaint, surely? Well – although the GBA functionality is a blessing for the DS, it’s not perfect. Since a good few of the GBA title’s use a Link Cable for various functions (such as trading in Pokemon), sometimes even being necessary for 100% completion, the DS does a terrible job by failing to have a link cable port, or incorporating a link cable emulation system using the DS’s wi-fi capabilities. This isn’t too big a deal, but having to find out a couple of old GBAs and a working link cable can be a mountainous task. This isn’t my main issue, though.

No. Introducing the DSi. Look at it, on the left, with its slim design, in-built camera and well-lit screen. One could say it’s a perfected version of the original DS. But oh, what’s that – WHERE’S THE FRICKIN’ GBA PORT!? That’s right. Believing that today’s market isn’t interested in the GBA (which is probably true, with Nintendo aiming at the casual market), they ditched the GBA functionality and just quartered the selection of great games the console has to offer. Well done, Nintendo. I’ll stick to my fat DS thanks (which incidentally fits in my pocket regardless). The Slim was a great rehaul, but the DSi should hang its head in shame. Where’s the respect for elders and all that?

Now, I understand that technology can be expensive, and perhaps it’s more cost-effective to produce consoles that aren’t backward compatible. But in this day and age, where technology moves so fast, I think the old media is being dropped far too fast. I play GBA titles and PS2 games far too often for them to be classed as obsolete. I’d much rather pay a bit more in order for my PS3 and DS to fully incorporate what the previous consoles could do, as I’m far more likely to be playing Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow in the long-term than I am Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training. And yes, one day I would like to be able to play the entire Devil May Cry quadrilogy on the same console. We already know it’s possible – just give us the chance. With technology today, I’m sure both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are powerful enough to handle true backward compatibility. I for one would pay an extra £50-£100 for a PS2-incorporating edition of the PS3/Slim – why not just let us choose whether to pay the extra or not?

-Leon

It’s a constant discussion, between friends and ‘fanboys’ – which, ultimately, is the best console? Microsoft’s Xbox 360? Sony’s Playstation 3? Or Nintendo’s Wii?

Well, today I thought I’d throw my thoughts into the ring – being a proud owner of all three consoles I’ll do my best to give a fair and justified view of the three titans of the current gaming generation.

CANDIDATE #1: THE XBOX 360
Released: December 2005
Costs: Around £200
Exclusive titles/series’: Fable, Gears of War, Halo, Lost Odyssey

The Xbox is perhaps the most popular console for serious gamers of this generation, after Microsoft crept into the game market last generation they’ve taken the world by storm – released first of the three, offering the console at an affordable price, people have really gotten to see the Xbox 360 as a fully-fledged competitor on the gaming market. With many developers moving to multi-platform sales, the Xbox 360 has access to the majority of major releases. With online play becoming standard in this generation, we now have access to online socialising, online gaming, DLC and more. There’s not much the 360 can’t do for a gamer, so it’s a good sturdy choice.

However, the Xbox has been known to have a high amount of breakages, due to a problem with the initial design – causing the dreaded RROD (Red Ring of Death). Although consoles have been improved, it’s still not unheard of – so it’s a shame Microsoft didn’t sort this out to a better standard. Still, they offered a free service for fixing this problem with a decent length of time, so they’ve tried well to make up for it.

Pros:
+ Well priced
+ Good online capabilities
+ Large choice of titles
+ Selective backward compatibility with Xbox titles

Cons:
- Prone to breakages (although improving)
- Online gaming costs money (around £40 a year)
- Loud console due to fans
- Some Xbox games not backward compatible
- Must buy an adaptor for wireless internet connectivity

Next we have…

CANDIDATE #2: THE PLAYSTATION 3
Released: March 2007
Costs: Around £250 for a Slim, or £300 for the original
Exclusive titles/series’: Final Fantasy Versus XIII (upcoming), God of War III (Upcoming), LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Uncharted

The Playstation 2 was an excellent console, winning the console battle by a mile last generation (in my eyes). So, naturally, I looked forward to the PS3. However, a lot went wrong concerning it’s release. Firstly, it got delayed quite badly – already due for release after the Xbox 360, it was put back even further until it was eventually released in March 2007 – over a year after Microsoft’s release. Not only that, though – the console was priced at over a whopping £400. The pricing was largely due to the consoles Blu-Ray capability and expensive hardware. This meant that the PS3 was highly slated, and many gamers opted for the more affordable Xbox 360.

However, I did get hold of one eventually, due to my love of God of War and Final Fantasy, both of which have exclusive titles lined up in the future. A couple of years later on from it’s initial release, I could finally appreciate the console for what it was. Sharing many of the titles with the Xbox 360 in the multi platform market, and with a host of exclusive titles of it’s own, the PS3 is a mighty piece of hardware. Along with titles such as LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted, and it’s exciting line up of future titles, the PS3 also offered Blu-Ray capability, a powerful engine, and free online play. However, Sony removed PS2 backward compatibility to the newer consoles to make it cheaper – sadly meaning it’s unable to play the large library the PS2 has to offer. It’s rumored that this will be fixed in a future update, but I’m not too sure.

The PS3 has a lot of pros and cons, but this year has seen the release of the more affordable PS3 Slim, which may just tip the scales for the PS3′s future.

 Pros:
+ Totally free online functionality
+ Large choice of titles
+ Backward compatible with PS1, allowing game saving to HDD
+ Large hard disk comes as standard
+ Less prone to breakages than the Xbox
+ Quiet console
+ Doubles as Blu-Ray player
+ Built in Wi-fi

Cons:
- The most expensive console of the three (although the Slim is cheaper)
- Online socialising not as user friendly as the Xbox
- Currently no PS2 backward compatibility (apart from select early models)
- More people often have Xbox 360′s than PS3′s for online play
- Games often have initial installation requirements that are simple, yet may cause a wait when booting a new game for the first time

Lastly we have:

CANDIDATE #3: THE NINTENDO WII
Released: December 8th 2006
Costs: Around £180
Exclusive titles/series’: Fire Emblem, Metroid, Red Steel, Super Mario, Super Smash Bros, Zelda. Also specific ‘Wii’ titles such as Wii Fit and Wii Sports

Nintendo made an unusual move in their latest console, moving away from traditional gaming by inventing a motion controller for use with a new style of game. The console is a much more family oriented design, created in a way to mimic real movements with on-screen cursors and images. Nintendo have also taken their biggest franchises to the Wii with some fantastic additions to the Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Smash Bros series’, among others, implementing the motion controls in well alongside the regular gameplay – enhancing them with fun, precise controls.

However, the move to motion controls has introduced a line-up of badly ported games with motion controls ‘tacked on’ to the games’ button based engines, and far too many party games, many of which are of low quality – selling on the ‘innovation’ factor of the motion controls, and the easy target market of parents and the entire age spectrum – which is a shame, since Nintendo have proved that the console can work wonderfully if used well.

Pros:
+ Cheapest of the consoles, costing less than £200
+ Nintendo’s main titles are fantastically well designed
+ Controls can be fun for many people
+ Completely backward compatible with GameCube titles and controllers
+ Completely free online play, although not many games support it
+ Quiet console
+ In built wireless

Cons:
- Buying all of the controllers and accessories (Nunchuks, Wii MotionPlus) is expensive, raising the total cost to as much as the PS3 if you buy enough for 4 players, and are mandatory for many titles
- The weakest hardware of the three consoles, with graphics similar to the GameCube
- Overly child-protective online making communication and online play difficult
- Controllers require batteries, with no wired alternative
- Good games are rare, low quality games are plenty
- Some games require wide movement space, so aren’t very good unless in a living room or equally open area.
- No ethernet port for wired internet
- Small hard disk (although expandable via SD card)
- No DVD or CD play capability like the other consoles

RESULT

As I said initially, there’s not really a clear winner, its very much up to the individual. But here’s my view – if you want a solid console at a good price, go with the PS3 Slim. A little while ago, I would say the Xbox 360, since the price difference was rather large. However, with the Slim being more affordable, the little extra cost goes a long way – giving you a quieter console, with free online play and lots of extras. However, the Xbox 360 is still very much the popular choice, meaning its often more likely to know other people to game with – but be warned, the constant cost of Xbox Live builds up more than you may realise – making it actually more expensive than the PS3 in the long run. If you’re not bothered about online play, its really up to you if you want to save the cash by going with the 360.

However, if you’re looking for something more casual, the Wii may be the way to go. It’s got some fun family games, but beware that they are often short-lived, and the costs of the accessories raise the console’s overall price. However, there are some real gems amidst the legions of casual games, making the Wii worthwhile; Nintendo always put the hard work in with their main titles.

All in all, I believe the PS3 is the dark (albeit late) horse this generation, but only time will tell. It really could go any way.

-Leon

Back in my ODST Fire Fight article I mentioned that I will be taking a trip down the Master Chief’s past, and give you reviews on the previous titles in the Halo saga. So now I present to you:

Being the keen FPS player that I am, the 2nd game I ever got for my Xbox was Halo (the first being the RAW Wrestling game that came with it). In all honesty before I played Halo, the last FPS game I really got into was Duke Nukem 3D on the PC. That seemed like an age away, so I had lost some of my FPS skill. That aside, Halo, for me was the rebirth of my love for FPS.

You start the game as the last Spartan, Spartans are super Marines that were wiped out by the Covenant a good few years ago. You have been revived as mankinds new hope in the war against the Covenant.

You are known as Master Chief, you wake up from your frozen sleep and suddenly the ship you are on is taken over by the pesky space aliens. So you start the game weaponless running through the ship getting to grips with jump, duck and so on, until low and behold the captain gives you a gun. Yay! You shoot your way through aliens, but eventually the ship goes down and you have evacuate. As you do so you crash land on a mysterious ring-world. Not going to spoil too much here but lets say the rest of the story is aimed at you discovering what it is, and doing something about it.

Halo goes back to FPS basics while throwing in some nice little new additions to keep the game feeling like a fresh new title but still keeping the core FPS gaming we all love. Shooting the living crap out of space aliens is always the best route to go down, and Halo does it beautifully, you have your Right Trigger for shoot, Left Trigger for grenade, B for melee attack, X to reload/interact and Y to change weapon. What I thought was quite odd to start off with, is that Master Chief can only carry two weapons at a time, pretty unusual seeing as I was used to FPS games that can carry at least 10 weapons on your person. Even though this was a little strange I got used to it eventually.

You have a great variety of weapons to find around each level. Anything from poxy little pistols to great huge Rocket Launchers, that’s not all though, you also can wield some of the Covenant weapons too, such as a plasma rifle, or my particular favorite, the Needler, this baby shoots flurry of pink needles that home into your target andmake them explode in a cloud of pink mist. If used correctly enemies don’t stand a chance.

The same goes for grenades, you have 2 types of grenade in the game, the plasma grenade which is the Covenant sticky grenade, which surprisingly sticks to enemies and kills them in an instant. Then there are your bog-standard frag grenades which just go boom.

One thing I do love about this game is the nice amount of enemy variety. You have your standard grunts, but in this game they are more of a novelty, they are small, pathetic, and are easy to scare, they mean well in battle but once the bigger enemies around them are dead, they just run for their lives. You then have the Jackals, again a bit feeble, but they have a shield they hide behind and have better accuracy, in large numbers they can be a bugger. Then there are the elites, these are big and ruthless, they don’t back down from a fight. They come in two varieties; the invisible variety or the overshield variety. Each as annoying as each other but pose a great challenge. Then there are the tanks, the huge aliens known as Hunters, they have shields massive green projectile guns and take a lot to kill. Great fun though.

Earlier I mentioned that this game brings something relatively new to the FPS genre, and that is the use of vehicles. In some levels of the game you are supplied with a Warthog. This is a 4 wheel drive beast with a mounted mini gun for a gunner to use, great to get around in and run aliens over, but my favorite is the Ghost. This is a Covenant vehicle  which has 2 guns for the driver to use and is pretty nippy. With those two vehicles, you also get to control a scorpion tank, with a mini gun and the mortar launcher you cannot go for wrong with this war machine.

Graphically the game looks really good for an Original Xbox title, the outside environments look lush and living, the use of colour is well thought out, and nothing looks out of place. One of the great things about this game is the skyline in some of the outside levels. If you look towards the heavens you can see the rest of the ring world go over your head, and it looks amazing.

Halo for me hits all the buttons, great game play, a good story, a nice variety of enemies and the vehicles are a great addition to an FPS. If you haven’t played Halo: Combat Evolved, or indeed any other game in the series. I suggest you do so right now.

Garv!