Switch 'N' Shoot (Nintendo Switch)

The past few weeks I’ve moved back to Australia and whenever I take a flight I love to have my Nintendo Switch on hand to take up some of the time. Flying from the UK to Australia is not something that’s going to go by quickly unless you can sleep for a long time. Unfortunately I really cannot sleep on flights so I thought I’d spend some time playing a bunch of Switch games I’d had sitting on the console for a while.

One of these games and arguably the one I put the most time into on the flight was Switch ‘N’ Shoot, an arcade style Shoot Em' Up in which you press only one button to control your spacecraft with the aim of getting the highest score possible. The game was made solely by Indie Developer Matt Glanville and is also available on Steam, and for Android devices. I really enjoyed my time with the game and wished to briefly touch upon why that was.

As soon as you boot the game up you are welcomed by some gorgeous border art by Paul Duffield (who interestingly currently works out of my home county of Northamptonshire, UK) that would not be out of place on something like a classic Space Invaders arcade cabinet. This artwork is in place for the entirety of the game and really helps sell the feeling that you’re about to play something inspired by the classics.

The game itself is very simplistic as you would expect with a game where you only really need to press a single button but this is something that allows the title to stand out and really helps with the addictive nature of the gameplay. I found myself absolutely terrible at the game at first because every time you shoot you also move left or right with each subsequent shot but over time I improved!

Your enemies remain the same so you don’t have to worry about how to deal with new enemy attack patterns and interestingly you don’t even have to worry about shooting every single enemy. However what I like about this game is if you do happen to miss an enemy they will stay almost level with your spaceship for a few seconds and then explode, meaning you have less space to manoeuvre and therefore have to press your single button a lot quicker.

This really ramps up the stakes and keeps you on your toes. Another great feature is that you can upgrade your craft if you collect enough pickups along the way. However should you miss any then your weapons will revert back to their previous level. I really enjoyed this as I really had to think did I want better weapons but risk hitting an enemy along the way? Or did I want to try playing it safe with a more basic weapon but not gain points as quickly and potentially be overrun with enemies?

It’s great that although you can upgrade yourself you never feel too overpowered compared to the enemies and the game will actually introduce a new challenge if you get the highest possible upgrade. That added challenge comes in the form of two beams that stop you being able to scroll out of one side of the screen and appear on the opposite side. On the one hand you’re insanely powerful but on the other you’ve got a much smaller window to move in.

Usually I find myself losing shortly after I obtain this upgrade because I’m just not quick enough to move back and forth before hitting those beams. Yet this game is just so addictive that I jump right back in for another 10 minutes or so. I think it’s a real challenge to make a game that’s not frustrating in that kind of situation so I applaud Matt for this.

A feature I found quite funny even after every time I died was that your pilot would have a unique name every single time. I’ve played countless times now and have never had the same name twice. You even get a nice message every time you die from your commander; I loved this little attention to detail and hope to see more of this sort of thing in other games in the future.

As an aside Switch ‘n’ Shoot actually reminded me of the game Downwell which I reviewed a few years ago. This was not only due to its pixilated style or the ability to unlock new palettes as you progress, it was the addictive nature of the game. In my ignorance I actually believed this was developed by the same person as Downwell and I do wonder if there was any inspiration on the developers part.

I really do not have anything bad to say about this game because there is not much to it and what it does have it does well. I generally struggle to find a fault with the game but would perhaps like to see different ship designs and enemy designs as further unlocks along the way and perhaps even different borders as the art is just so nice it would be lovely to see what else Paul Duffield could come up with.

All in all I think Switch ‘n’ Shoot Is a fantastic affordable and short title that is absolutely perfect for those on the go or those who want a brief but addicting game to pass a short amount of time. Do I think I will keep coming back to this game for years to come? No. However for now it’s a nice little way for me to eat up time on a lunch break or on the Train home from work.

This game would not be out of place in an actual Arcade and I really like that aspect of it, in fact while researching the game and the developer I found that Switch ‘n’ Shoot does have an arcade cabinet available for purchase thanks to the guys at DSM Arcade. Now do I love the game enough to buy one? No. But If I saw one in the wild I’d definitely have a few rounds.

I think Matt Glanville has made something special here and would love to see what else he comes up with in time.

The failed Vita and why I like it.

After talking about the Wii U a few weeks ago and how I still enjoy it even if it is deemed a failure I felt I should talk a bit about the Playstation Vita and how many would deem this handheld to also be a ‘failure’especially when comparing it to Nintendos 3DS and mobile gaming. I really enjoy the Vita and a lot of the games made for the console but I can absolutely agree that Sony again dropped the ball with their handheld system in the West.  I don’t believe the console is in any way a bad console for what it does or the games it has on it but I do feel Sony have not learnt from any mistakes of the past and brushed the Vita away as if it is the unwanted member of the Playstation family.

I feel to a point the PSP was a way more popular console, it certainly had longer Western support by Sony compared to the Vita. I did own a PSP and used to play it quite regularly but the only reason for this is because I modded the console with the help of a friend (and honestly who didn’t mod their PSP?). I mainly played Japanese Gundam games and PS1 games if I’m honest, I cannot remember a specific Western game I truly enjoyed on the console however I will say there were a few fantastic titles on the system that I used to play a lot that were Japanese Developed such as Tekken 5 DR which I would say is the best numbered titles to this day and the Shin Budokai Dragonball games. So there were elements to the PSP I enjoyed but I doubt I would have without the modding capabilities that plagued Sony and the console.

The reason I bought a Vita though is not because of my enjoyment of its predecessor but because I’d signed up for Playstation Plus and kept getting free games for it that would stack up, at the time when I first got PS+ the Vita games it provided me with were actually titles I was interested in playing such as Gravity Rush, Uncharted and Dragons Crown as well as a few indie titles. I thought if I keep getting decent titles like this I may as well pick up the console and just never buy any games for it so I bought the original model new with Tearaway (another great  game) included and for about a year I generally did not buy anything for the console.

Over time with the sales popping up I have been buying Vita games and I did buy a few physical imported Gundam games so I certainly do have a library built up albeit a small physical one so in no way do I leave my Vita to gather dust the way I eventually would my PSP. I feel the Cross save function for games like The Binding of Issac have really played a big part in this also, it’s such a wonderful feature and allowed me to continue my games on flights abroad, I can’t fault it.

Much like the Wii U I find myself getting annoyed that a lot of Vita exclusives have moved to other formats like IOS or Steam, I think it’s great that it will allow others to actually be aware and experience certain titles as some certainly deserve to be played but It kind of takes away some of the reason to ever play the console, I’m certainly torn on this.

I Felt some games used touch features for the sake of it, I think one of the biggest culprits of this is Uncharted: Golden Abyss. I have only played the game for about an hour and it’s nothing special but the tutorial would stop you every now and then saying things like ‘If you want to jump and climb touch the front screen’ when you could literally just press X and have it done automatically like in any other game, why mess about with touch features for something like this. I have no issue with touch features like rubbing the screen to uncover something or to zoom in and out but if you’re using it just for the sake of it because it’s on a console that uses the features then I’d rather you not bother, be creative with it for goodness sake.

The Vita actually got me in to a lot of Visual Novels which is a genre I really did not think I would ever care about, usually I cannot be bothered to be reading constantly when I’m playing a game but thanks to a sale and the DanganRonpa series I was hooked on the storyline and have now played every released game in the series, the great thing about these games is that they make sure they do something I feel any handheld should do and allow you to save at almost any point so you truly can play on the go even if the game is text heavy. I certainly would not want to be on the move with a game like this and be unable to save after reading a whole bunch of plot.

I will say I find the console comfortable to hold and never really find any issues with the button layout, I think I may find issues with the smaller slim version however, I love the interface of the system itself it’s really simple to find anything you need and the store is just as simple to navigate, I will say It does annoy me that some Apps on there cannot be deleted such as the calendar and the recently shut down ‘near’ service (think streetpass but shit)

As much as I enjoy the console I have never actually used the remote play feature which allows streaming of PS4 content to the Vita, this is because I’ve never had the need to, all of my consoles are in my own room and I never felt the need to go elsewhere in the house to play them, if I did I would just move the console I do think this is a cool feature for those who need it however!

I thought the Playstation TV was an alright idea in theory as it was a Vita console without a screen or buttons you could hook up you your TV. I mean if you wanted Vita games but did not want the Vita and wanted to play them at home it’s certainly an option for you but half the games were not even compatible due to Touch screen features so if you did own one you had to be quite selective, either way it was discontinued in the West last year which really does not surprise me…

People like to say the console is a ‘Weeb machine’ because most of the support was from Japan and at this point pretty much all the support is from Japan, I can see why they would say this because it’s generally true. All the games are either Niche titles or JRPGS with a few Indie games sprinkled in, I have no problem with this as I have found plenty of titles I’ve enjoyed, however the reason it’s this way is because Sony again don’t know how to push a handheld in Western markets, the support is there from Japan but not everyone is a fan of typically Japanese games.

The Vita started off well with games geared more towards a Western audience like ports of PS2 classics, Uncharted and Tearaway but soon after it just sort of dried up, I don’t ever remember there being much advertisement for the console either and most people were already disappointed with their dust collecting PSPs at that point to see a clear reason why this one would be any different other than touch screen features. Perhaps the necessity for a  handheld aimed more towards ‘gamers’ rather than kids is not really there, I certainly feel a bit odd bringing out a handheld on the train or in public even though that’s primarily the whole point of them and I’m sure others do too.

I think one of the reasons it sold so poorly in general though is the ridiculous price of memory cards. I believe my console game with a 15gb card and due to the amount of games I would get from PS+ I would constantly have to delete titles and redownload them when I actually wanted to play them again rather than just having a full library available to me whenever I wanted.

This was an issue somewhat with the PSP also but at least with the PSP the memory cards were a fairly decent and reasonable price that also did not have to be Sony specific and could be any sort of Sandisk card as long as it was the right physical size to fit, of course there was the chance for corrupted data from cheap cards but the option was there.

With the Vita though there is not this option, you HAVE to buy a memory card specifically made for the Vita, this tiny little thing that holds your games has to be from them. That’s not so bad right? Wrong! Because Sony never cheapen the price for these cards, If I wanted the biggest card I could find which was 64GB it would set me back almost £70 plus postage as god knows there Is no Vita merch in any game store I’m aware of in the UK.

I actually did bite the bullet and buy this memory card recently because I was just sick of constantly trying to make room for the games I would be getting,  It was annoying to have to pay this price but I felt with the lack of the support for the console in the West they may just stop making these cards soon and then to buy one new would be even more expensive. I’m glad I did buy it because I can just play whatever the hell I want now without the worry but eventually I’m sure I will fill this up too! I sure as hell won’t buy anymore cards!

I really like physical media rather than purely digital although I have got a number of digital titles on all my consoles due to services like 'Games with Gold' and such I really would prefer it to be physical, now in the case of the Vita I only own a few physical games by choice however there are a few games that I’m happy actually get a release in the US and EU such as the new Gundam Vs game which came out this month but there was just no option to own it physically which kind of bummed me out, I understand it is a very niche game but I’d love there to have at least been a very limited run of physical cases for them, I just love to see them all displayed on my shelf.

Some companies do actually do this and that’s really cool it’s like developers know there is this really small but vocal fanbase in the west for the Vita and they appreciate them as much as we do them, it’s almost like the Vita is this little club of people sometimes from what I read online and I have no issue with it, I know people who have bought one and literally only have ps1 games on it because they want to play them on the way to work, I know people who just buy exclusives and I know people who just play imports  or Indie games . There are all these different kinds of people playing who are so vocal and happy the console exists and that’s kind of endearing.

As much as I like Sony I feel it is crucial they learn from their mistakes in the West with this sort of thing especially with VR coming up, I am quite excited about VR and will likely by the PSVR at some point however I am hesitant as I don’t want it to just be a fad first of all and I don’t want Sony to slowly drop supporting it altogether as they have the Vita. Perhaps as VR is attached to a home console this will not be the case but I cannot shake the feeling.

I think it would be best if Sony do not make any more Handheld consoles and if they do they better make sure they learn from it, I think they can certainly release mobile games even if I am not one to play games on a phone or tablet but they certainly do not need to focus on making another handheld, I think the Vita will be fine for the duration of the PS4s lifetime but I feel all developers will move on after that which is totally understandable, I think I’ll continue with it for ps1 games on the go if anything at that point but who is to say what’s going to happen in a few years time I suppose.

Overall I still continue to enjoy the Vita and feel I will for some time as PS+ continues to provide me with some fun titles and sales generally always bring me something new to play, I think it’s a shame that the Vita has been reduced to this by its own companies lack of support amongst other issues but I think if you’re on the fence about it and perhaps want to try a few titles then by all means see if you can find a used console or one quite cheap but be aware of the issues like memory cards and multiple exclusives eventually being ported either to the PS4 or Steam, it’s certainly no necessity to own this console as a Sony fan but it’s left an impression on me.

Gundam Breaker 3 (PS4/Vita)

This week I wanted to talk about something Anime-related again however there is a bit of a twist this time around, I’ve been playing a PS4 game called Gundam Breaker 3 a lot at the moment and I dare say it might be one of my favourite Gundam related games to date. I’m a huge fan of Gundam and love making Gunpla models when I find the time, my room is littered with them.

Recently Bandai and Sunrise have been pushing the Gunpla aspect of the franchise a lot more as they have had three separate animated series relating to it in which the characters are normal everyday people who just participate in tournaments in which their custom models battle it out. With the popularity of such, sales naturally went up but a lot of people yearned to be able to make custom units in the same way they do in the series, now there are many talented people who can do this in real life but for someone like me it’s quite difficult to go beyond just snap building.

That’s why I love that they made this game, the game pretty much follows the idea of those Anime I mentioned above in that you place your Gunpla in a virtual environment and pilot it in battles against other users or the CPU, but with this game you can totally customise your unit with any existing parts placed in the game. So for example you could make the original Gundam but give it the tank tread legs of the Guntank, or you could give your standard Zaku II a huge ass Gunblade, the possibilities are somewhat endless and I find myself spending more and more time just making units and uploading pictures of them to social media rather than progressing in the game itself.

The reason I got this game so early rather than waiting until it was much cheaper was because it was actually translated into English fully (with the voices still being in Japanese), this has become the case with a few titles on the PS4 recently and is such a great idea, I mean the PS4 is region free so why not? I used to import a lot of titles on the Vita and PS3 but they were all in Japanese text and therefore pretty difficult to get my head around in some cases, I would generally shy away from any game like this title which relied heavily on text to explain the mechanics of the game (Like an RPG for example) but by having this option available I’m more willing to import.

I think it’s funny that they didn’t do this sooner to be honest, Bandai knows that many fans buy Gunpla online from Japan and import their games so why not offer this option to them and get the most out of their sales, so far I’m about halfway into the game and have not noticed any spelling or grammatical errors so I would say they have done a good job translation wise for the text, I have had absolutely no trouble in figuring out what I am meant to do objective wise or what the effects of certain equip parts are.

This gives me faith as there are about three more Gundam or Mecha related games coming out in the next year that are going to offer the same English language option, it’s going to destroy my wallet but I’m so happy Western fans are being taken into consideration, it is important to remember however this is the Asian release of the game (Singapore,Taiwan etc) and not the Japanese release, it has full Japanese Voice acting but the text can be in languages such as Taiwanese or any other Asian Language for that region.

When I played the original game I felt the focus was absolutely on the online play as the difficulty in going in to levels alone would ramp way up or they would last so long due to being all on your own that you wouldn’t really want to play more than one match at a time. This time around I do still play alone but you always get at least one or two CPU controlled units with you to alleviate some of that difficulty spike.

It’s clear they still want you to play online (and I do when I can!) but at least there is that option to go solo with CPU backup, I will say I do generally get people joining me online but they are usually those that are so overpowered and over-levelled compared to me that any mission they do is a cakewalk and no real fun, they are also super impatient when I’m looking through the items we got during the mission and deciding if I want to equip them or not.

This game shines for me due to the amount of customisation on your unit, I had only played the original game but on the Vita and it was all in Japanese (so pretty impossible to understand what I was doing), had an awful frame rate at times and was generally not as fun due to the lack of things to do. I did not play the second title so cannot comment on how much they improved from the original but in terms of this title I think they blew the original out of the water. I’m playing it on PS4 so there is that natural step up graphically as this is the first of the series on the console but the amount of options I have to design my unit is fantastic.

You have the standard leg,arm and head parts as you would in the other titles but this game allows for much more finer detailed options such as the ability to add emblems and decals to your unit, being able to change the material you unit is made out of such as plastic, High gloss injection or metal composite and one of my favourite appearance details has the be the option to make your unit battle damaged, I love this it really make the unit stand out more than just a big plastic blob on the screen, you can even add weathering effects to the unit which give off a really worn or dirty look.

The gameplay is relatively simplistic as it is generally a multi-level based mission in which you and your team will face hordes of other Gunpla enemies, with a mid and main boss’ usually appearing throughout  the level, once you have defeated X amount of enemies you are then able to move on to the next stage of the mission until you face the strongest unit and end the mission. Now there are variations in this in which it can be you versus a giant mobile armour as a kind of one on one boss battle and there are also some more objective based gametypes in which you must defend a command post while defeating enemies.

The combat is generally a simplistic fare as you have your three main attacks, light, heavy and projectile based attacks and when you gain enough power you can execute a special move that does huge damage, now obviously there are a wide range of customisable weapons, so for example with your melee attacks you can use Beam sabres, whips, knives or even martial arts fists as if you were in G Gundam, now if you have the latter that will affect your entire fighting style as well as your special move which can be anything from a combo to a Kamehameha type move.

Now those are the standard equipable weapon types however as you progress you may gain certain parts that allow you to use even more weapons, for example if you equip the 00 Raiser Seven Sword backpack which has buster blades on each shoulder then hell yeah you can use those. Have a back plate with two throwable daggers on it? Hell yeah you can use them. It does not even stop there an addition in this game from the first was ‘Builder Parts’ now these are small items that are either cosmetic or weapon based, an example being if you added a grenade anywhere on the body you can use it, I personally use the ZZ head beam cannon and put it on my units chest to have a decent long range attack.

The good thing about these extra weapons are that they do not replace you existing melee and projectile weapons, these will always be your Square, Triangle and R2 weapons no matter what, these extra weapons are controlled by the D-Pad for selection and used by pressing the circle button. You actually have enough room to use 8 extra weapons so two for each direction, I think this is wonderful even if it does make you slower and you mech look massive.

Now while the combat can get a bit more intricate if you throw all this into the mix it does not really go beyond an almost horde mode sort of thing where you’re just smashing through waves of enemies so in that respect it is not a touch on the arcade fighter series Gundam Vs, however I feel in time it could become a lot more than it is now if the developers will allow it, it is certainly a huge step up from the first game.

I think I would recommend this if you’re a Gundam fan or even a mecha fan, there are so many options and the in game story is nothing you really need to pay attention to or need to have watched the series in order to understand, it’s just sort of in the background so this is a pretty decent place to start for anyone. Of course I’m a huge Gundam fan so there is a bias somewhat in that I’ll pretty much play anything Gundam related I can get my hands on,

I would have to say that I would class this game as my favourite of the bunch I have played, I think the reason for this is just from the satisfaction of making your own unit, I love this aspect of the game so much and feel it can only be improved in much more detail in further instalments, this game is most definitely worth your time if you’re a fan or the series!

If you ever pick up the game and want to play add me on Psn: ScatmanBegins

I just want to take a short moment to thank Royce for always sharing my Blogs, I mostly write for myself but thanks to him my blogs have reached a lot of people I would never expect them to reach, he does a lot of work for a lot of people but I really appreciate it and will miss him in California this year!

Your experiences with Video Games: Josh Brown

This week I'm back with another interview, this time from my friend Josh. I've known Josh for around 4 or 5 years now but we only really became friends in our second year of university, I can't even remember how really but I know we used to talk about video games a lot with Liam and a few other people, much to the frustration of our friend Jess.

Although we were always talking about Videogames we've never actually played online with each other, other than our go to games Smash Bros and Mario Kart. We all get super competitive around it and find Josh's admiration for Rosalina to be sickening...

Myself and Liam never really kept in contact with anyone from university, more so because it was in our home town and the people we sometimes spoke to have since moved back to their own home towns etc, but I think the reason we keep in contact with Josh almost daily in our group chats and meet up often because he's like the only one from Uni who got our sense of humour and had the same interests as us.

I've been looking forward to interviewing him because, like Liam he is one of my closest friends and he got me in to a lot of series like Samurai Warriors, I'm really interested to see his answers and hear about his experiences as I hope you are too!

What were your first experiences with video games?

Hard to say, as I believe I started playing games when I was 3 years old. My first memory, which was more spurred on by the fact that I saw a photo of it when I was in my teenage years, was me in my older brother's room playing Super Mario 64 and wearing a jumper with Mario on it. Some other ancient memories include playing Cannon Fodder with my Dad and also Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn.

When do you feel you got in to video games as a hobby?

I'd say when I got a bit more independent and was liking things for myself more than what my brother would play, so around 6 maybe? Although I'd always still want what my brother had...

What are some of your favourite games and why?

So many to choose from!

·         One of them would have to be World of Warcraft - In my opinion this is one of the best games ever to be made, whether that is pure fanboyism or truth, or the fact that Blizzard managed to turn a niche thing into something that began to spread everywhere, it's hard to say. All I can say is that I've spent countless, so many hours (and so much money, which was worth it, and actually cheap compared to constantly buying new releases) on this game that it has to be one of my favourites. I've played it on my own, with friends and family, I've played it a year at a time, to sometimes only one day in a year. On and off for over a decade this game has provided me with entertainment, and really that is the whole point of a video game, so I think it's safe to say its done a good job. Also, it strikes the nostalgia chord within me and a lot of others hard.

·         The big 3D Mario Games (Super Mario 64, Sunshine and Galaxy 1 and 2) - I find these games to be almost perfect in every way. Gameplay, length, music/sound, narrative, art/graphics and replayability. Anyone can play and enjoy these. Another nostalgia factor too.

·         Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus - This game is purely fantastic. Has one of the most unique gaming experiences and worlds I've ever seen. The soundtrack is fantastic, aswell as the atmosphere. I can always replay this game, it will never get old.

·         Dark Souls/Dark Souls II, Bloodborne and probably soon to be Dark Souls III - These games will still have to stand the test of time unlike the others just mentioned. They are very different and often challenging games, which is the main appeal for me. The atmosphere is almost always top notch, which really helps to separate these games from others. Whether they will start to fade away and become mediocre its hard to say, but the fact that Dark Souls itself is starting to almost become a genre (as cringey as some journalists can be about it) shows that it has had an impact on the gaming community.

I could go on and on but I'm just going to name some titles now that have had a massive impact on me and I would consider favourites:

·         Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

·         Dawn of War (Plus expansions)

·         Diablo II

·         Command and Conquer Series (Mostly up to and including Generals - Thanks, EA)

·         Stronghold

·         Advance Wars Series (And more recently the Fire Emblem Series)

·         Half-Life 2 (and Episode Two)

And so many more...

What game has the best soundtrack to you and why, do you feel music is important in a game?

This blurs with my favourite games, but World of Warcraft. Its a fully orchestrated soundtrack that can instantly bring pictures in your mind of whatever area you were in when it plays, and that is a powerful thing.

Music is very important to a game, it can make mediocre games memorable as it gives you a sensory memory effectively. Video games are mostly visual, hence video, but when you get a perfect audio response, it makes the game so much more worthwhile. Immersion is a big thing that music helps with.

Most vivid video game memory?

Again, World of Warcraft.

I used to play Runescape, and one day my brother (who was at University at the time) messages me on AIM (I know, right?) telling me, 'Just wait until you see what game I've been playing' and sends me a screenshot of his Night Elf Rogue in a dusty, barren area in the game aptly called 'Desolace'

Upon his return from University, he gets me started with the free trial, and thus the memory commences. Playing my Dwarven Hunter in the Dwarf starting area, the snow-capped mountains of 'Dun Morogh.' The sense of wonder and awe is too great and I wish I could experience it again.

What are you playing currently?

XCOM 2 - This game is kicking my ass, making me feel like the worst Commander in existence as I watch my friends that I created in-game die and die again due to my stupid mistakes and the wrath of RNGesus. Aside from some performance issues, the game is pretty good.

What is the most obscure game or rarest game you own?

Probably Shogo: Mobile Armor Division for PC. I can't even find the disc but I know I have it. Younger me would have never known how heavily influenced by Japanese mecha this game was, but I just liked guns and these mechs had guns. I never finished it and probably never will.

What about video game memorabilia?

I've tended to mostly stay away from collecting video game memorabilia, mainly because I just played the games and shyed away from being seen as a 'nerd' too much (silly I know). Only recently have I started to collect some things, but they're quite tame, such as Nintendo's Amiibo or the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain collector's edition arm, and it kind of makes me want to get more. This newfound, yet small, love for this probably stems from Lewis, so thanks, I guess.

Are you as in to video games as you once were?

Yes, possibly even more, but the passion is directed towards being part of the community of gaming and keeping involved with everything rather than younger me just playing games and doing nothing else. I do put less hours into most games now, but that is just due to adulthood.

As you switch between consoles and PC often is there one you prefer of the two?

I go through phases. For a recent example, late 2014-late 2015 I was pretty much PS4 only, yet now I've just built a brand new gaming PC and my focus is there. I've only ever been adamantly on one side, and that was on PC back around 2006-ish. I don't care now as each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. Most of my gaming has been on PC and Nintendo platforms though.

If I absolutely had to pick one over the others, and that choice would lock me out of all the rest, I would choose PC. The longevity and flexibility of PC is something that can't be ignored, it has the most games and often blurs into the other platforms (i.e - cross-platform games and emulation) It would break my heart though as then I would never have Nintendo games again.

And that's why I will play on every platform if I have the opportunity/desire. :)

Favourite game you never beat?

Quite a recent one - Divinity: Original Sin.

The game is fantastic, a really solid combat system with a wacky world. I played about 40-50 hours of it and then just stopped. With the Enhanced Edition out, I have no excuse. I will go back and play through it again, it deserves it.

Physical or digital?

Depends on the platform:

·         Home consoles (PS4, XB1, Wii U) - Mostly physical, and some digital.

·         Mobile consoles (3DS, Vita) - Mostly digital, and some physical.

·         PC - Digital.

Was there ever a genre or series of games you were adamant you would not get in to but ended up enjoying?

Hard to pinpoint and exact genre/series, but I would say more Japanese games, the ones that are less mainstream. Since getting a bit more into some anime/manga (as in literally one or two) I've become more relaxed around the more niche games that Japan provides.

What was the best co-op or online experience you had?

Online - World of Warcraft - no doubt about that.

Co-op - Probably the Gears of War trilogy - played them all through with my brother, which really highlighted the 'Brothers-in-arms' feelings the game gave

If you were to have kids would you want them to be in to video games and what would you have them start with?

Try and look past how sappy this is, but I'd be happy and encourage them in whatever hobby they liked.

If I would have them start with anything though, it would be Mario.

Do you feel you'll always be playing games in some form?

Probably, whatever you do when you were young stays with you in some way or form. Video games will easily, as they are technology, which will always being changing and evolving.

What's a game series you feel is under appreciated?

The Warriors/Musou games (Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors and the like).

Although Koei Tecmo literally poops them out like Activison does with Call of Duty, and Ubisoft with Assassin's Creed, and the DLC they have is ridiculous, they have done it for so long that there is a base standard of quality they always maintain. They are great to just play and play, they are full of content, and there are so many areas of culture that they can encompass - Dynasty/Samurai for historical periods, Hyrule/One Piece for other game series' and anime/manga series - so you may just find one that resonates with you.

For me it is Samurai Warriors. Less known than the juggernaut of its sister, Dynasty Warriors, it is a game I really enjoy. The soundtrack is very good, and the period of history is intriguing. Since the first title, it has become more wacky and anime-ish, but is just fun for me. Maybe others won't understand, but I've sunk over 250 hours into Samurai Warriors 4/4-II  and got the platinum trophy for both.

What is the best Anime related video game you've played?

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3/Tenkaichi 3 - without a doubt in my mind these two games are probably the most fun games to ever be made for the Dragon Ball Universe.

Is there an anime series you feel would work as a game that hasnt already been made?

I haven't watched much anime, but one that I have, and an idea that gets thrown around sometimes by people in the community is a Kill la Kill video game. It would be perfect as a hack-and-slash game, akin to Platinum Games and their titles.

Has there ever been a spin off of a series you've enjoyed more than the original series?

Samurai Warriors - I've always preferred it to Dynasty Warriors. Although nowadays it's less of a spin-off. (And I can't think of any other examples at the moment!)

What series are you connected with the most?

The Warcraft Universe. Love the lore and its been with me half of my life.

I'll probably go check out the film too, doesn't look half bad.

What series have you always had an interest in but not had a chance to get in to?

Final Fantasy - I've only really played a bit of Final Fantasy X, and some of Final Fantasy XIV.

With XV coming out and the renewed interest in VII I should get to it!

Are there any areas or stories you wish were explored more in games?

·         Areas:
Space - More Space is always good.
The Mind - Psychonauts did this to a certain extent, was very interesting.

·         Stories:
Tragedy - I really like stories that are just despair and hopelessness. If you've got a story that really shows there are no heroes and potentially no happy endings, it can really make you think about the characters.

What game are you most excited for in 2016?

I'll be cheeky and name the top three:

1.       Fire Emblem: Fates - I'll be buying the special edition (hopefully) with all three sections as I've recently started to love the Fire Emblem franchise.

2.       Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - Deus Ex: Human Revolution was fantastic, and the cyberpunk genre is fantastic.

3.       Dark Souls III - Just read above really.

How do you feel about video games currently?

I'd say at the moment we're having a mini video game renaissance. There are tonnes of new games every quarter, old titles that people thought were dead are getting sequels, games are getting ports so they can be played by more people, companies are starting to listen to feedback (Square Enix, to name one) and the console war has all but evaporated, with companies focussing on their own things.

There are a few negatives that must be addressed though. There are two main things that spring to mind instantly:

1.       Broken games - Games not working on PC, terrible console performance, etc. These aren't just normal bugs and glitches but a reoccurring problem of companies taking the 'Let's see if we can just get them to buy from the hype and not notice the issues. If they do, we'll just patch it later!' approach.

2.     Over-sensitivity to certain content in games - I'm mainly talking about certain groups of people and journalists that want to thrust their opinion onto the world that a game is 'too sexualised,' or, 'too white.' Stop trying to censor and change everything you don't like, there is a reason people have different tastes. You wouldn't go into a book store and start yelling about raunchy romance novels and how they are damaging society, would you?

Apart from that, it's going fairly well. Let's just see what happens.

Where do you feel video games will go in the future?

I feel they'll mostly stay the same as they are now, accepted by society but not massively popular aside from the standard big titles that the mass public are used to.

VR will try to make its way onto the scene, and I really hope it does, as I am very intrigued to see what can come of it, but it may just fail.

All in all, I'll keep playing games until I decide they aren't worth my time anymore, but that doesn't look like that will happen for a while.

Thats it for this week, I think this was super interesting and I discovered a few things about Josh I actually didn't know before, Josh doesnt have twitter or anything but if you wanna find him I'm sure he's starting another Rosalina thread on 4chan....