[Event] Gadget Show Live 2011

Just a quick update folks!

I got to attend the Gadget Show Live this week! It was a fantastic event to walk around, checking out the new gadgets and gizmos...and ofcourse...videogames!

Over at this link right here you can read up about the games I got to play, which include Gears of War 3 and the long awaited Duke Nukem Forever.

I'm currently in the process of editing footage from the show, and will let everyone know once its up!

[News] Gamers Heart Japan

Japan hasn't been having the nicest of times recently.

A country that has unleashed amazing games upon the world over the years is currently struggling to get back on its feet since the devastating Earthquake and Tsunami.

In an effort to raise funds for Japan a large number of people within the videogame community have come together to create a video discussing how the Japanese game industry has in many cases shown everyone else how its done when it comes to gaming. They are hoping to raise awareness and ask everyone who watches the video to donate any amount they can to the Red Cross via there website.

The video, along with the button to donate, can be found at http://www.gamersheartjapan.com.

If your a PS3 gamer, you can also donate money to help Japan get back to their feet via the Playstation Store home page.

[Update] Press Pass? Don't Mind if I Do!

A few days ago, I spotted that Eurogamer had put the early bird tickets for this years Eurogamer Expo on sale to the general public. I went to one of those a couple of years ago (when they used to do two, one of which being in Leeds, much closer to home). I had an awesome time, highlighted by the fact I got to play a demo version of Heavy Rain quite a while before it was released. Last year they switched the event to London's Earls Court, and as tempted as I was to go along...I instead jetted off to Gran Canaria for my parents anniversary.

This year however, I had no plans for around that time of year. Now, I was quite happily thinking about paying for my ticket...but then my eye spotted the Press page. Wouldn't harm to take a look right? So I did.

Turns out you can apply for a press pass one of two ways. The first was open to your proper/full time/industry journalists. The second, interestingly, was entitled Enthusiast Media, basically a chance for small part time journalists and websites to register for the chance to get a press pass. Without a moments hesitation, I applied on behalf of BlastProcess.com. Our cheesy videos and general geekness would sway them right?

Surprisingly...it was. 2 days later I received an email, with two printable Press tickets for the Saturday and Sunday of the show. Fan-flippin'-tastic! It's awesome to see Blast Process growing and developing into a bigger and better game site, one it seems that is good enough to get approved for a press pass.

I'll be going, hopefully, with Blast Processor Mike and ofcourse plenty of paper for notes, my laptop and camcorder. It'll be a great opportunity to talk to various people ranging from fellow gamers to (fingers crossed) industry developers/etc...

Watch this space too, as I'm currently in talks in regards to a radio show...or failing that...creating a podcast. Exciting times ahead!

[News] When TV's Fall...

...Xboxes may break...

The other evening I took my shiny Halo limited edition Xbox round to my friends house. He was using one TV, while I used another. As good as playing games online can be, you can't beat a bit of multiplayer gaming in the same room.

So there we were, working as a team on Battlefield Bad Company 2, when completely out of the blue the TV I'm using falls forward and hits the floor.

Only..it never made it all the way to the floor, as my Xbox cushioned its fall:

Although you may not expect it to survive such a beating, it indeed has. Apart from the crack along the top all seems well. It goes without saying my copy of Battlefield has more than a couple of laser burn marks, but it's a small price to pay.

A lesson can be learnt here. Make sure your TVs are secure folks, I'd hate to see this happen to one of you...

[News] Bizarre Creations: 1994 --> 2011

Today marks the end of the line for another UK studio. This time the axe fell on Bizarre Creations, makers of Project Gotham Racing, Fur Fighters and Blur.

How and why could this Liverpool-based studio bite the dust? Within their ranks they have some superb talent when it comes to racing games. And how could you forget Geometry Wars? What a funky little puzzle game that was, and in fact, was the first Xbox Live Arcade game that I downloaded!

Many (make that most), will point towards the recent buyers of Bizarre Creations, Activision Blizzard. During the production of Project Gotham Racing 4 the studio were bought by the Activision. PGR4 was still published by Microsoft Game Studios.

Just over two years after the acquisition, Bizarre Creation finished a less serious styled racing game than PGR, entitled Blur. It crossed' Mario Kart' style weapons with realistic licensed cars. However the timing of its release clashed with a similar, less cartoony racer called Split/Second. To further add problems, rumours were rife that Activison had fallen out with high street retailers GAME and Gamestation, as they purchased very few copies of the title to stock in their stores. GAME dismissed this rumour however, stating...

We have bought the stock we feel is appropriate to meet our customers demand for Blur and are working closely with Activision discussing all of their up-coming titles for the rest of this year

Ether way, week one sales of Blur were pretty poor, entering the UK charts at Number 14.

I feel somewhat responsible in a way, as I've only just found out recently how good a game it actually is after picking it up for a bargain price! I'm trying to make some sort of amends by encouraging friends to pick it up on the cheap.

The studio's next project from Activision was James Bond: Bloodstone. As most videogamers will tell you, tackling a Bond game is tricky business. It's a bit of a cursed IP, with very few videogames based on the license actually being playable. Bloodstone failed to set the world alight, which received mediocre reviews and again failed to get the big sales numbers that ActiBlizz wanted.

Activison announced they were looking for a buyer for the once proud studio, but when no-one came forward, and with Activison already looking at lay-offs, the hammer fell and it was quite literally Game Over.

Activison aren't very well loved by gamers across the globe, with many people disliking them 'milking' certain franchises, such as Call of Duty and Guitar Hero which I mentioned in my last post.

Another reason for the closure, well, perhaps not a reason...but perhaps something that may have helped, would have been the proposed UK tax break for the gaming industry. The Conservatives, as well as the opposition parties, had all agreed deals to have tax breaks for UK gaming devs in this country, only for David Cameron to do a U-Turn and scrap the plans.

So we have got to take difficult decisions and I think that tax break relief, which was not particularly successful or targeted, had to go. Those are the difficult decisions we have to take

Gaming is big, BIG business. Videogames consistently outsell Music and Movies, yet more and more studios move away from our shores to countries where it's cheaper to create games, such as Canada.

Anyway, its all ifs and buts, the sad fact is that we have to say goodbye to a once treasured developer.

You can view a retrospective video created by someone from within Bizarre Creations over in this article on Blast Process.

I think I'll go have a blast online on Blur.

With thanks to MCV/Develop for the following links:
Tax Breaks Had to Go
GAME clarifies Stock Rumours