HEAD BLOG

There's a snake in mah boots

I’ve never been a huge fan of westerns.

I don’t know why. I guess the setting never really appealed to me. Maybe the landscape of the old west wasn’t as much of a draw to the younger version of me as the notion of barrelling down the Death Star trench. I had no understanding of the freedom it represented – the lawlessness and the excitement. I grew up in a bungalow in Wigan, a million miles away from Cowboyland.

All that’s changed now. Well, since I’ve been playing Red Dead Redemption anyway.

I’m not saying that I now know just what life in the old west was like, due to me simply playing a game, but I’m starting to see why kids are expected to like “cowboy stuff”.

The multiplayer version of Red Dead Redemption is great fun. It contains all the iconic elements of life as an outlaw, without any of the boring stuff, like eating or resting or having to face the law if you shoot someone. I realise this semi-review arrives a good few weeks after everyone else’s, but it’s finally starting to hit home just how appealing the cowboy life can be.

The game world affords a similar sensibility to the old west, in that there are no real consequences for your actions. You can choose to help, befriend or shoot anyone or anything you happen across. And in an online multiplayer world where strangers inhabit the same space as you and your friends, this presents so many opportunities for fun, it’s unreal.

Last night I rode out across the plains of New Austin with three friends in my posse. We chose a simple mission and headed across land to our destination, only to find a group of other players had already arrived before us, intent on taking the loot we wanted so badly. What followed was an astonishingly enjoyable massacre that saw us ousting the bad guys, taking the swag and riding off into the sunset.

I never left my comfortable seat, but I had a storming time with a bunch of friends, playing a classic role in a guilt-free environment. Finally, I understand why the old west is such an enticing prospect.

I walked out the room last night with a little bit more of a swagger in my step.

My turn to cook tonight and I’ll be cooking Udon. Or my partner will and I will take the credit… Read more…

The young David studies the last ten minutes of "Woman in Red"

Head First is ten years old. We’ve been asked to ponder the number 10 and write a little something.

Rejecting “My 10 favourite games”, “My 10 favourite snacks” and “My 10 best lists”, I decided to just take the number, and apply it elsewhere.

I consider myself on the verge of being a grumpy old man, so I thought it would be nice to ponder a time when I was a little less grizzled – 1982. The year I was 10. Read more…

Ok, I will happily hold my hands up in defense of my love of Transformers. An unpopular lifestyle choice in our office, but one that I remain unashamed of. Optimus Prime could read from the phone book into a camera, and I’d probably still pay to see it. I have no problem with the subject matter, however, watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen the other day, I found myself pondering something. Read more…

Bet you I can jump ten flags on this

For weeks now, GTA IV hasn’t left my Xbox 360. I’ve played nothing else. To be more specific, the “Free Mode” Multiplayer element of GTA. I’ve hardly scratched the surface of the single player game itself. I realise that a lot of people cottoned on to the pleasures of Grand Theft Auto a long time ago, but my habit of waiting for most games to come down in price has made me a late starter. Read more…

My idea of heaven is quite basic. Requiring only a tatty old 3′x2′ wooden board from my childhood (the ‘drawing board’), a pile of clean, untouched paper, and a freshly sharpened pencil. The possibilities are endless. The very definition of a blank canvas. That’s my heaven. Read more…

Thanks to our recently-introduced-workmate Jen, and her kind pointer to the excellent Project Rooftop site, the past few days have been lost to floating thoughts of superhero-based costume redesign. I had given myself many tasks to achieve over the bank-holiday weekend, the last of which was to “have a think about the current Wolverine costume redesign competition, if I get a spare minute”. Of course, when facing off against “clear out all unused items in the loft”, there was a clear winner. Read more…

“Stereographic projections”. The name doesn’t sound visually appealing and the techno-babble that accompanies these pictures would give lieutenant Tuvok a migraine, but I must admit I’m drawn to these head-spinning visuals. I can see the appeal of repeat viewing with so much to take in on each image. Read more…