10:54. Missed call from @EGVroom. Stuffing what remains of a sausage butty into my mouth I head  back down to the main entrance to meet my expo wing-man. Apparently the queue outside is now stretching so far round Earls Court the powers that be have decided to open the doors 5 minutes early. That time is now! Making my way through the ensuing chaos I find EGVroom, give him his wristband and we make our way inside. Coincidentally he brought along a little friend, @SuperTwario, a rising star in the Twitterverse with a penchant for carrots, we’ll no doubt be hearing more from him in the very near future. After a brief pause for a caffeine pit-stop we launch ourselves into the fray on the hunt for the next hands-on experience.

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
As a big fan of the Burnout series I never really got into Need for Speed. Burnout was all about the fast, frantic and more importantly fun aspect of racing fast cars around the streets. You can pick up the controller and within minutes be in the midst of a chaotic battle for first place, ‘taking down’ opponents with stylish moves. Need for Speed lacked this immediacy – certainly in latter installments. To this end I hadn’t really given the franchise much consideration. That changed with Hot Pursuit. One word, or rather one name can explain why. Criterion. A cursory glance walking past the stand and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a new Burnout game on display. Taking up position next to EGVroom we await the start of our first multiplayer race. Going back to it’s roots Hot Pursuit  is all about the high speed police chase. Players get to decide whether to play as a cop or a racer, and choose from a healthy list of licenced supercars. From the moment the race begins it is clear this Need for Speed is all about action packed fun.

Whether cop or racer you have an array of weapons and equipment at your disposal to help you become the top cop in the county, or the most wanted racer. Playing as a cop I get to choose from: a helicopter, to help keep the racers I am pursuing ‘in sight’; an EMP to fire at vehicles, frying their systems and sending them out of control; a spike strip to be dropped ahead of the chase to damage or immobilise the racer/s car; and the ability to call in a roadblock to stop, or at the very least, slow down my prey. As I quickly found out these can also be used against your fellow cops. Only minutes into the game I had caught up with and was in pursuit of a racer. Before I get chance to score my takedown and claim the subsequent bounty I am hit with an EMP and sent careering across the freeway into the path of an oncoming car. As I slam helplessly at full speed into the car I am overtaken by a cop badged Dodge Viper who goes on to bag my intended target. Not only are you out to beat the racers but also your fellow cops – there’s only room for one top cop! All the while I’m playing, part of my mind is telling me not to be fooled, Hot Pursuit is nothing more than Burnout in a new dress. But even if that’s the case, it isn’t a bad thing. Based purely off the multiplayer part of the game I got to play, Hot Pursuit  is promising to be a great, fun, action packed addition to the Need for Speed stable. With talk of the single player portion of the game offering an open-world of over 100 miles of road and freeway to own, 4 times larger than Burnout’s Paradise City, it should keep gamers occupied for a while. I’m curious to see though how it sets itself apart from the Burnout franchise. For those wondering, I can’t remember who won between EGVroom and myself! ;o) Burnout Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is released in the UK on 19th November for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Parting company with EGVroom for a while I make my way to one of the many Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood stands. Having only recently started playing the first Assassin’s Creed (don’t ask) and thoroughly enjoying it I am very keen to get my hands on Brotherhood. Chatting with the Ubisoft rep it’s clear multiplayer is a major focus of the latest installment in the franchise. I try to draw him on the other multiplayer game modes recently announced, Hunted and Alliance, but he is having none of it. Initially skeptical of how they’d manage to add multiplayer without it feeling too contrived and shoe-horned in I was happily surprised. The demo on display consisted of an 8 minute round of Wanted, the only mode to be fully revealed so far. I have 8 character skins available to choose from which include the Priest, the Courtesan, the Executioner and the Doctor, each with their own unique weapon and signature move. On selecting your character, the sinister almost spy vs. spy looking Doctor in my case, you then have to decide on your special abilities. Abilities come paired together and choices include smoke bombs and morph, speed boost and throwing knives, disguise and hidden gun, and poison and decoy. By gaining XP whilst playing you progress through 50 experience levels which at set milestones unlock additional abilities, skins, perks etc.

When the game starts I am dropped into a smallish map, apparently an area within renaissance Rome, populated by NPCs made up of the various playable character skins. Within seconds I am assigned my assassination target, an image of the Priest appears in the top right corner of the HUD. At the same time I acquire a pursuer – another of the player assassins who now has me as their intended target. The aim of Wanted is simple, achieve the highest number of assassinations before time runs out, as stealthily as possible for maximum experience points and more importantly… stay alive! A very simple ‘compass’ at the bottom of the screen gives you a general direction of your target, the larger the ‘cone’ the closer you are. The trick is to find them without giving yourself away to your pursuer. By blending with, and acting like an NPC I move freely and unnoticed through the crowds zeroing in on my prey. Moving towards him the compass is now fully illuminated indicating I am right on top of my target. I am stood next to him at a market stall, the other player completely oblivious to my presence. With the press of a button I perform a perfectly silent assassination, a kid two seats down swearing in unexpected surprise. The key to my success was in acting as much like an NPC as possible, not only does it allow you to get close to your target but it keeps you relatively well hidden from the player pursuing you. Often all this boils down to is simply not running on scaling buildings – the two dead giveaways that that person is not an NPC. Unfortunately for me as I perform my pre-scripted assassination animation I am spotted by my pursuer. The HUD prompts me to “Run away” with a big red warning bar and a small red indicator on the compass showing their position relative to me. Much like the Assassin’s Creed single player mode I need to break the line of sight the other player has on me. When I do the red bar changes to a decreasing yellow ‘evade’ bar and I need to stay out of sight or hide in a haystack. When the bar reaches the end a pop up tells me I successfully escaped my pursuer and awards me 100 bonus XP – the other player has now lost me as his contract and must wait until they are assigned a new one. I am now free to pursue my next target. It is whilst evading and escaping a pursuer that your special abilities come into play. Using the smoke bomb for example I can temporarily incapacitate everyone in the immediate vicinity allowing me extra time to get away. Alternatively I can use disguise to temporarily transform  myself into a different character thereby throwing off my pursuer, just as long as I am out of sight when the effect wears off! Each ability can be used as often as you like, only limited by a cool-down period after each use to prevent continuous use. Had I used up my abilities but still not successful lost my pursuer there is one last resort – “chase breakers”. Ubisoft have cleverly placed these environmental features throughout the map which can be activated to delay my pursuer giving me valuable seconds in which to further distance myself. Identifying these breakers is made easy by way of a shimmering silver animus visual effect around them, and they include gates that slam shut as you run through them blocking the path of your pursuer and pulleys that when activated zip you to the roof of the building in seconds, forcing your pursuer to take the much slower route of climbing up after you. The more of a menace you become by scoring lots of assassinations without dying, the more pursuers have you assigned as their target. If you are running away with the points you can end up with four other players all hunting you down at the same time!

Wanted is just one of the multiplayer modes so far made playable, if the others are half as much fun then it should shape up to be a great addition to the single player campaign. My only niggling doubt is just how long this mode will remain appealing, as fun as it is I suspect once you have played with the different abilities, characters and maps it will get pretty samey. That being said it was probably the highlight of the expo for me, I played it 5 times over the course of the two days I was at the expo, crashing 3 PS3s in the process. Consider it pre-ordered! Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is released in the UK on 19th November for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

This post forms Part 2 of a series of posts coming over the next few days rounding up my thoughts on Eurogamer Expo 2010. Part 1 can be found here.

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

So, E3 2010, good eh? Wasn’t it?

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the right question, of course it was good it was a big huge gaming expo after all. The question I’m searching for should be was it disappointing? Even that doesn’t seem quite right, how can loads of great games being shown off disappoint?! How about… did it meet your expectations?

Each year I bemoan my inability to head off to LA and take in the spectacle that is E3. Not because I want to go networking with industry types but because I want to experience the utter madness of the launch events and be surrounded by the not-yet-released and newly announced games. But that is where my expectations would have sadly been left a little wanting this year.

There’s no denying the raft of spectacular and must have games that were on show this year. Fallout: New Vegas, Halo: Reach, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, Fable III, Medal of Honor, Gears of War 3, Dead Rising 2, Brink, Crackdown 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops to name but a few(!) of those I am looking forward to.

Now read that list of games again. You’ve heard of them all haven’t you?

There in lies the problem. Almost every game or piece of hardware on show was already firmly on my radar. It was great to see new trailers and find out more information on Title-X but I really wanted something unexpected to wow me. I understand in an age of leaks and online journalism it is pretty difficult to keep things secret for long but still. The only titles I wasn’t aware of pre-E3 were the new Silent Hill game and NeverDead, both from Konami. No doubt there were more but none within my scope of interest. And I suspect these too were probably already known to many just that I hadn’t stumbled across them!

The same can be said of the new hardware announcements. Nothing I didn’t already have some degree of awareness about. Nintendo’s 3DS came close, I knew and had heard very little on it. Once again it appears Nintendo have got it right – introducing 3D to their already successful and established platform but ultimately keeping it simple and, more importantly, fun. Now for the obvious. I can’t talk about E3 without mentioning Kinect and Move. I have little interest in Move so more or less skimmed anything from Sony on the subject. Being an Xbox fan I was much more interested in Kinect and there’s nobody who can say it isn’t an impressive piece of kit. Technically it blows the competition clean out of the water but to be honest it’s big Cirque de Soleil showcase and subsequent presser left me feeling rather flat about the whole thing. Last year it was positioned as a real game changer, literally, with far reaching implications and possibilities. Nobody saw it coming, it was genius. Fast forward 12 months. After a very long build up the result was rather anti-climactic. The problem was too much was revealed the first time around. All that was left to show this year was an unfortunate name change, a new form factor not a million miles away from the dev kit and the games you’re going to be playing on it. None too surpassingly these were nothing we hadn’t seen before on the Wii which in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Even the announcement of a new ‘slim’ Xbox wasn’t enough to appease me (it didn’t help that I’d bought an new Super Elite only 6 weeks ago). Again, the rumours had been circulating for a while and really took the wind out of the sails when it was officially announced.

Ultimately there might not have been any real stand-out revelations but when you have so many talented developers and great publishers flooding the market with fantastic games you’re never really going to get a ‘disappointing’ E3. I may have been left a little underwhelmed overall but I’ll take solace in the many great games I’ve got to look forward to in the next 18 months, and if anybody would like to take me to E3 2011 then by all means do!

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

Nothing beats mince pies after a big Christmas dinner!

Christmas without mince pies is like Cannon without Ball, Paul without Debbie – it just doesn’t work. You could always pop down the supermarket and buy in your mincers but where’s the fun in that?! The recipe below, spotted in a Sainsbury’s magazine and tweaked ever so slightly, is supposed to make 24 mince pies – trust me, whilst the pastry is enough for 24 the mince meat will probably make in excess of 36! It’s also worth bearing in mind they calculate the 24 based on cutter sizes of 7.5cm and 6cm. So stick on some cheesey Christmas music, pour yourself some booze and get stuck in…

Brown Sugar Pastry
350g Plain flour
75g Brown sugar
125g Cold butter, diced
1 Large egg yolk
Vanilla extract

Begin by preheating the oven to 200˚, fan 180˚, gas mark 6.

Now, sift the flour into your mixing bowl and add in the brown sugar.

Next rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Making a well in the centre, add the egg yolk, a few drops of vanilla extract and 4-5 tablespoons of cold water.

Now for the messy bit, get your hands in there and start to combine the ingredients until they form a soft dough.

Tip it out onto a lightly floured work top and knead briefly until the dough becomes smooth.

Divide your pastry up into 2 or 3 smaller balls, wrap them in cling-film and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Whilst waiting for the pastry to chill it’s time to make the mincemeat.

All you need for your own mince meat

Your mincemeat should be a nice thick, sticky consistency

Mincemeat
25g Blanched almonds
50g Ready-to-eat Dried figs
50g Ready-to-eat Stoned dates
50g Ready-to-eat Pitted prunes
50g Dried cranberries
50g Cut mixed peel
50g Regular or Vegetarian suet
1/2 tsp Ground mixed spice
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
Grated zest & juice of 1 tangerine
75g Dark soft brown sugar
1 Small Bramley cooking apple, unpeeled & grated (and it really does need to be small!)
2 tbsp Dark rum or Brandy (or Whisky or Orange Liqueur or any other alcohol really, not sure why they only suggest those two)
Demerara sugar for sprinkling

For some reason when you say to most people why don’t you make your own mincemeat they give you a look of both mild contemplation and utter despair, usually responding with “Oh it takes far too long” or “It’s too much faffing and arsing about, you might as well buy it”. Now, it may come as a surprise to learn that from weighing out the ingredients to spooning it into your pastry it will take you around 15 minutes. Yes. 15 whole minutes. Ages isn’t it? Admittedly it may work out costing a little more than buying a jar readymade but I can guarantee it will taste a whole lot better!

Firstly if your almonds aren’t already, blanch them by covering with boiling water for no more than 1 minute. Drain off the hot water and immediately rinse with cold water. Drain again and pat dry to remove excess water. Now holding the almonds between your thumb and index finger, squeeze gently and the skins should slip off.

Put the blanched almonds, figs, dates, prunes and depending on their size, cranberries into a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add in the remaining ingredients stirring until well mixed.

At this point the recipe states to add 2 tablespoons of your alcohol, personally I felt this was woefully inadequate, you could barely taste the brandy in the first batch I made. If you follow my lead you will stir in a good 4 tablespoons (more if you are so inclined) and leave the mix to stand whilst you turn your attention back to the pastry.

Nothing beats mince pies after a big Christmas dinner!

Having chilled for 30 minutes remove your pastry from the fridge.

Lightly flour your work surface and roll the pastry out thinly.

Using the larger cutter, cut out 24 pie bases and push them into your bun trays.

Add a spoonful of your mincemeat, careful not to add too much as it will bubble over.

Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out the 24 tops with the smaller cutter.

Brush the underside of each top with milk and place on each pie, pinching the edges together to seal them.

Brush your pies with milk, sprinkle generously with demerara sugar and make 2 small cuts in the centre with a knife.

Lastly, bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

The best thing about making your own mincemeat is that if you make too much simply put it in an airtight jar and store it in a cool dry place until next year. Alternatively, festively label and decorate your jars and give them out as stocking fillers!

Time for a nice warm mince pie, smothered in cream – enjoy.

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

Facebook on Xbox 360

FACEBOOK – To be perfectly honest I can’t really see why I will ever have the need to visit my Facebook account on the Xbox. For obvious reasons it is a somewhat abridged copy of its web-based parent, but it has been ported across remarkably well. Sure you can update your status, see friends profiles, view yours and friends’ photos in nice little slideshows and check out the newsfeeds but frankly why would you want to when you have a perfectly good computer in the house!? When you look past the great work done to bring the service to the console you really need to ask yourself why they bothered. After the initial 10 minutes of ‘oh that’s cool’ you quickly realise that it’s far quicker and easier to fire up you laptop or desktop, log in, and do on Facebook whatever it is you need to do before returning to your console. No doubt there will be plenty of people who will while away the time on Facebook whilst waiting for friends to come online for some button mashing but the question still stands, why not do that on a computer?

Twitter on Xbox 360

TWITTER – Now Twitter on the other hand I use, often. Admittedly I have it on my computer through TweetDeck and my phone with Tweetie but its integration into the Xbox really caught my attention. Imagine, you’re in-game, you’ve just done something to be truly smug about, you have finally conquered that epic level or fragged a mate beyond recognition and you really want to brag about it. You pause your game, fire up the guide button, navigate down the menu items and…. FAIL! Twitter hasn’t been so cleverly integrated as you’d have understandably expected it to be, opening up the guide mid-game and firing off a quick tweet is nothing short of to be expected but alas is not possible.

You see, like Facebook, it is a standalone application accessed from the dashboard, completely segregated from everything else. If you want to access Twitter (or Facebook) you have to launch the app from the dash and log in. If you are already in a game you have to quit to the dash first, if you decide to launch a game after tweeting you have to exit Twitter, logging you out in the process. Now, it makes perfect sense to have the standalone app available on the dashboard to read through tweets, check out trends and view profiles but why not include the basic function of tweeting from the guide?!? It really is a shame as Twitter on the Xbox is otherwise a great app, and something I imagine I’d use a lot. And the most annoying thing of all? Fundamentally it would be no different than opening the guide mid-game and sending a message to a friend through either the message centre or Live Messenger! Hopefully this is something that Microsoft will look to further integrate before it’s launch to the greater populace because at the moment it is a fatal flaw. Twitter by its very nature is supposed to be spontaneous, the ability to share what you are doing or thinking in that exact moment, not minutes later once you have quit your game, launched and logged in to the app and then tweeted.

I fully intend to further explore the functions and limitations of both Facebook and Twitter on the Xbox 360 but at this point neither seem more than a flash in the pan. Facebook is nice but rather pointless, whereas Twitter has the potentially to be fantastic and useful but is seriously limited with the omission of something so simple.

Oh yeah and another word of advice, don’t even bother with either unless you either: a) own a chatpad, b) have a spare keyboard plugged in to a USB slot, or c) have very little to say, typing 140 characters using the onscreen keyboard would be nothing short of painful!

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes they get it right!

Typically when a game has launched in recent years it is available in 2 or 3 different editions. No matter what its moniker, it heralds the promise of bonus extras, special packaging or exclusive content, and as you’d expect more money. Halo 3 launched in Europe back on September 26 2007 with 3: Standard Edition, Limited Edition and the only-disappointing-because-we-couldn’t-wear-the-Spartan-Mjolnir-MarkVI-helmet Legendary Edition. Now, I can see the need for publishers to elevate the standing of their title in an often over-crowded release window but to the buying public is it really worth the extra money? Sure I ponied up the extra cash (somewhere in the region of £50 if I remember correctly) and stumped for the Legendary Edition because, well, frankly it looked cool! And since the release date have I actually flicked through the “Bestiarum”, a collection of original Halo 3 storyboard art, or watched either of the 2 bonus discs of behind-the-scenes, creative process, documentary featurettes? No. Did I eye up the Spartan Helmet once or twice in the 2 weeks it sat on my office shelf before being put back in it’s box and wonder if maybe, just maybe it would somehow fit on my head? Yes, but that’s not the point.

The fact is, despite being grabbed by the assumed ‘coolness’ of it all and the extra goodies that were included, all I was ultimately interested in, and was actually buying, was the game. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that? In amongst all the extra fluff, you got a copy of the game – you know, the thing you originally went online to buy?! Super fantastic limited collector’s editions are always a good way to stand out from the crowd and get people talking about your game, often pulling in lots of pre-orders as a result but it seems that people get far too carried away by it. The game is what you’re interested in, it’s what you’ve been waiting for, what you’re going to sink countless hours in to playing. Once upon a time limited editions brought something to the table, they rewarded you for stumping up the extra cash, and usually they truly were ‘limited’. Lots of the editions released today are simply cashing in on people’s misguided beliefs that more money and the word ‘special’ or ‘limited’ means they’re getting something good and unique with added value for money. Of late the biggest sell out of these so called value-added incentives are the unlock codes for special or exclusive in-game items, usually clothing, weapons or maps… that can often be unlocked through the course of playing the game anyway, or are released for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace or PSN a few weeks after release! Special editions rarely live up to the hype. What seemed cool weeks or months before release, hits the light of day and soon becomes somewhat disappointing, the special packaging and bonus discs gather dust on the shelf surrounded by questions of ‘why did I bother buying that?’, or ‘was it worth the extra money?’.

Sure, sometimes they get it right. Halo 3 Legendary Edition was only available in limited numbers and the Spartan Helmet in many ways was worth the extra cash for looking so cool, if a little too small. The Fallout 3 Survival Edition added lots of extra value to the geek-minded individual in the form of a Vault-Tec Lunch Box, Vault Boy Bobblehead and wait for it, life-size Pip-Boy 3000, all be it as an alarm clock. Resident Evil 4′s chainsaw controller on the PS2 and Game Cube also succeeded in adding something special to your purchase without taking any of the attention away from the game itself.

Give me $149 and turn out the lights...

Is there a limit to what publishers will charge for, and bundle as special or limited? At a time when people’s pockets are hardly overflowing with disposable income you’d think there would be a cap to it all. Maybe there is but nobody told Infinity Ward and Acitivsion. The next big thing is their Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition which is to include fully functioning night vision goggles! Yes, night vision goggles!! No more turning on the lights at 3am to stumble to the fridge mid-gaming session for a well deserved refuelling. There is still no word on UK pricing but in the US it’ll be kindly asking for $149 before turning out the lights and shooting you in the face. (To put that in some context, Halo 3′s Legendary Edition cost $129.99 2 years ago for a plastic helmet that can just about fit your cat!) Is this going a step beyond what gamers want and are prepared to pay for? Hell no! There will always be those gamers out there who are prepared to go that extra mile in their quest for geekdom. No doubt when available for pre-order there’ll be a mad rush of people trying to get their hands on these no matter the financial burden. Sometimes cool is just worth that little bit extra.

Tempted? I know I am!

<UPDATE 17/07)> Activision have confirmed the UK price of the standard edition to be £54.99, still no word on the Prestige Edition however. The higher than normal price for the standard edition of the game is attributed to the weak pound and high development costs. I’m thinking prestige is going to be pretty damaging to your pocket!

<UPDATE… AGAIN 17/07)> The UK price for the Prestige Edition has now been announced! Coming in at £119.99 it will only be available to purchase through HMV online, it will not be available in store. With the current exchange rate that equates to around £30 more than the US but hey, that’s nothing new! If you are unlucky enough to live in France or Belgium the price is immaterial, night vision goggles are banned there so if there is a Prestige Edition it’ll be substantially different. Time to visit HMV.co.uk……. whoooops that’s that pre-ordered!!

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

To many nothing more than a typically dreary day, that point in the week where you have got over the despair of having to go to work on Monday morning, realising that the next weekend is one day closer. To me this particular Tuesday, the evening in actual fact, was the last time I actively played a game on my X360. Hardly Earth shattering news to most people I know, 16 weeks of not playing video games, for a 32 year old adult? “About time” many a detractor may shout. Now, I would never describe myself as an addicted gamer, merely an avid gamer. Whilst I thoroughly enjoy spending time online with friends, taking down terrorist cells and destroying zombie hoards, I know where gaming sits in the order of things. Despite putting in numerous hours over the years I have great personal hygiene, I wash daily, I sleep, I don’t eat junk food (often) and I do set foot outside into the Real World of sunlight and fresh air. I know where gaming sits, it rides back seat to my personal life, work and responsibilities.

Coincidentally Tuesday 6th January also happens to be around the time my relationship with my partner, Miss Non-Gamer, took a VERY satisfactory step up to the next level. Times were great, Christmas went off without a hitch, I started the new year in a much happier place than I started 2008, I had a great new job – in video games no less – things surely couldn’t be any better. Or so I thought! Somewhere in the midst of the hectic Christmas festivities things had changed, Miss Non-Gamer and I no longer had a relationship, we had a life together. My Xbox was left behind, sat alone under the plasma slowly gathering dust, cut off from the rest of Live. Almost every waking minute was now spent in the company of Miss Non-Gamer or The Beast (the 4yr old terror!). Barely a second thought was given to the gaming glee I was now consciously shunning in order to spend time with my family. And it didn’t matter one bit! Admittedly it also helped that my console was several miles away and Miss Non-Gamer despises current generation video games more than anything in the universe – Mario yes, Master Chief no. Fast forward to 14th March and I had completed enough side quests, amassing enough experience points to make the next big level-up – marriage. Living together and engaged, planning to wed in 5 short months, destined to spend the remainder of our lives together, forever. The impending unity of Gamer and Non-Gamer, surely something so potentially cataclysmic had been prophesied. The question now was, does this prophecy of together forever have a place in it for an Xbox 360?

Can gaming and marriage live together peacefully?

Bravely, Miss Non-Gamer had allowed the X360 into the house a little over 2 months ago. Sitting patiently under the TV it’s true nature untapped, being used merely as a way to watch the occasional dvd, it has waited. Despite having the console sitting in front of me day-in day-out the thought of “when can I play a game on it” barely skirted my thoughts. The console was there but the controllers and games were not. And again, it didn’t matter one bit. It was one thing to have access to the console but another to find the time and opportunity to use it. As much as I enjoy playing video games I enjoy lounging on the sofa with Miss Non-Gamer more. The time has now come to begin moving the remainder of my possessions into the house, the wardrobe full of [ice] hockey jerseys, the vast dvd collection and the array of video games and consoles. The prospect of bringing even more video game related material into the home has been very much at the fore of my thoughts in the past couple of weeks. Living with someone I love so very much and bringing in even more of something she doesn’t really like just wouldn’t be fair. Any good marriage is apparently made of good compromises and as such I have decided to dispose of my console ‘collection’. Gone will be the original PlayStation, the PS2, the Dreamcast, the Atari 1040 STe, the Commodore 64, the Sega Mega CD and all their associated controllers, memory cards, VMU’s, light guns and games. And it makes me happy to be rid of them, simply because I know it will go along way to making Miss Non-Gamer happier there is less clutter sitting around doing nothing more than gathering dust. This whole chain of events and thoughts have now led me to one moment of uncertainty, what next for my gaming?

The big question is how will gaming fit into life married to a devout Non-Gamer? Even though hating most things video game Miss Non-Gamer has clearly said she doesn’t mind me occasionally playing video games. As long as they remain a pastime, nothing more than a distraction, and still riding back seat to my other priorities it shouldn’t be a problem. Now for the crux of the problem, do I WANT to find time to play video games. On the surface of it the answer is a resounding yes. The problem is the answer to the question “Do you want to spend lots of quality time with the people you love?” is also a resounding yes. What seems like a simple conundrum is in reality a complex minefield of various factors to way up. Having the time is one thing, having the opportunity is another but balancing those with getting home from work, making dinner, playing Lego, feeding the dogs and actually feeling like shooting people in the head is easier said than done. Yes there are the times when Miss Non-Gamer is watching things on TV that I have little or no interest in, furnishing me the ideal opportunity to grab some gaming but it also gives me the time to play with The Beast, or get other chores done, or simply be with Miss Non-Gamer. Which raises another issue, we might well have more than one TV but is it fair to oust Miss Non-Gamer from the comfort of the living room each time she is watching something I don’t want to? The glory days of having a TV all to myself are quite simply consigned to the history books. Add to that the fact I’d never even consider playing on the Xbox until The Beast is in slumber and the window of opportunity is open barely a crack.

The more I ponder the subject, trying to come up with a solution to the unfathomably complex problem the more I believe there simply isn’t one. This is the gaming equivalent to the elusive unifying theory of everything physicists and mathematicians have been scrabbling for for decades. An elusive nirvana where both Gamer and Non-Gamer can peacefully coexist, where there is enough time to play video games and spend time together in equal measure. I suppose the only way to truly find out if something will work is to give it a try. This weekend I will chance bringing some games into the fold. If I have opportunity to play them in the coming weeks then great, if not then so what? They’ll still be there if and when I get chance. I’m not ashamed to say I thoroughly enjoy playing video games but nor am I ashamed to say I enjoy loving my family and spending time with them. I’m confident there exists a place for gaming in my impending nuptials, where and in what form I’m not sure but we’ll see soon enough!

Watch this space!

And P.S. before you say it, I know I’m no illustrator!!

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.