GTA V announcement

  
   Now I can't exactly say the Grand Theft Auto V announcement this afternoon was a surprise, it is the industry's worst kept secret after all, but the timing of the announcement was a bit of a surprise.

A lot of people expected Rockstar to announce GTA V at this year's E3, but it ended up being a no-show. I'm not quite sure why they chose to announce it now, it may have something to do with Saints Row: the Third being a few weeks away. Possibly.

As I've said though, GTA V's existence shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. What we really want to know is where it's set.

It's been rumored for some time that the series is returning to Los Santos, the first city from San Andreas, and it has even been said that V will be the first game in the series to include a real-world city, probably Los Angeles.

I'm not quite sure how significant that might be, because its always been clear which real-world city the game's cities are based on.

I also read this article today that suggested the series could be headed to the American capital, which I think could be very interesting.

All these questions will be answered on November 2nd, where Rockstar will release the first ever trailer. I just hope it isn't a teaser trailer. I fucking hate teaser trailers.

Vita faces up-hill battle

   Sony announced the pricing for Vita today, and all I can say is, ouch.
The Wi-Fi only model will launch at a hefty £229.99, with the 3G model coming in at an eye-bulging £279.99.

Britain's piss-poor exchange rate and extortionately high VAT won't have helped the matter, but it's still a hefty price point that is sure to price Vita out of a shifting market. Shifting in the sense that handheld console’s in general are becoming more and more insignificant with the booming smartphone and tablet markets.

Not many people in the industry doubted that Nintendo would continue to dominate the handheld space with the 3DS, but so far it has failed to ignite public interest in the same way that the DS did.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why this is the case, and it is more likely due to the culmination of several factors.

The launch line-up was nothing short of shocking, the marketing was appalling as I believe a large number of people had no idea the 3DS was an all-new console. The initial marketing campaign didn't make it entirely clear, and the casual, un-informed audience believed the console was simply a DS with 3D capabilities.

The negative press didn't help matters, but whether exaggerated or not the fact remains that some people cannot play the machine without feeling nauseous. That was never going to end well.

Another huge factor I believe was the high pricing which at launch was around £200-£230, resulting in what can only be described as a disastrous launch, with Nintendo embarrassingly slashing the price just four months after its initial release.

Regardless off the technology, £200+ is a lot of money for a handheld machine that is primarily used for gaming. It’s not just Nintendo, Sony are competing with neither. Whether you consider them a direct competitor or not, Apple are must be considered a serious threat to the Japanese giants.

Apple’s growing dominance certainly doesn’t look like stalling any-time soon. The iPhone might not be a direct competitor in the truest sense, but in the space of just a couple of years it has become respected platform, and the iPad is heading in the same direction.

One thing is certain, the handheld landscape is changing, and Sony face will face a stiff challenge in convincing Joe public that Vita is worth their hard-earned cash.

Sony said they had learnt lessons from the PS3 launch, but today’s price announcement indicates that they clearly haven’t.

Starbreeze demo 10 mins of Syndicate

 

   EA released a lengthy section from Starbreeze's upcoming shooter, Syndicate today and I must say it looks rather promising.

Yes it does look alarmingly like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but I wouldn't start crying foul. This happens a lot in our industry, usually and the reason is usually fairly simple. 

Companies either jump on the 'me too' bandwagon, or they come up with new ideas/settings that other developers have also thought of. I'm guessing in Syndicate's case it is the latter.

I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see more FPS's set in the future, as people finally start to tire of militant shooters (or are they?). Well I certainly am that's for sure.

As much as I am a fan of Call of Duty, their prescence seems to stifle any real progress in the entire genre as more and more developers try and ape their success. It's been said many times before, but they're like the Summer Blockbuster of gaming, the problem is come Oscar season there's rarely a shooter around that's worthy of a nomination.

Hopefully this will start to change because this has been a problem for some time now. In fact I remember discussing this topic three years ago when Starbreeze released The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena. 

I never got round to playing Dark Athena, but Escape from Butcher Bay was a breath of fresh air in a rotting genre, even if it was a re-release of a five-year-old game.

I was also a huge fan of the The Darkness, another Starbreeze game that was far from perfect, but it was a game where you actually cared for the characters in its story, which was second to none. I was genuinely disappointed to hear that Starbreeze wouldn't be making The Darkness 2, but Syndicate looks like it could be special.

Check the video out.

Top ten games this Christmas

   Now I must confess, this is not the first time I have attempted to start a blog, but alas I am here again for a third time. Three's a charm, third time lucky and all that. I'm hoping that alone will help me avoid another epic fail when it comes to actually keeping the damn thing alive.

So to get back in the swing of things I've compiled a top-ten list of the games that will hopefully be sitting under my tree come Christmas morning.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Let's get one thing straight-I love The Legend of Zelda. Ok so I've never played a Link to the Past, which I have on Virtual Console by the way, but I've played Ocarina of Time onwards and hold the series in the highest regards. After finishing Twilight Princess however, I didn't feel that same magical feeling. I felt empty. It was good, but it felt like there were far too many rehashed ideas, and the dark world/light world theme was old and wasn't good the first time round. I was genuinely disappointed when Nintendo announced the then untitled Skyward Sword. I wanted a reboot but it looked like the same old Zelda.

Recently though I've had a change of heart. I eventually came to accept that even if it did use the same old formula, it would still be fantastic. I recently seen a presentation from Ninty legend, Shigeru Miyamoto, showcasing ten minutes of Skyward Sword gameplay, and it looked fantastic. I am genuinely more excited for this game than I have been for any game in a long time, and I'm confident that Nintendo have shaken the formula up somewhat, even if it isn't the reboot I wanted. I am now officially won over.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

It's been far too long since the last Elder Scrolls game, and let’s face it, a sequel is long overdue. That said, as much as I'm looking forward to Skyrim, there is a part of me that wishes Bethesda held off and made Skyrim for the next generation of consoles. I’m just being picky though, as I’m sure I’ll be spending countless hours knee deep in Skyrim goodness.

Dark Souls

It took me quite some time to get to grips with Demon's Souls. In all honesty, I couldn't see myself getting very far with it. You need a lot of patience, which is something I don't have a lot of. What I do have a lot of though is persistence. I persisted and a thousand deaths later I found a deeply rewarding and satisfying RPG romp. I'm certain the spiritual sequel to Demon's Souls will be every bit as satisfying and probably twice as fucking hard.

Uncharted 3

Uncharted 2 surprised me a hell of a lot. The first Uncharted was good, but I was far from blown away. Uncharted 2 was a spectacular, globe-trotting thrill ride, with some of the most memorable set-pieces this gen. The cinematics usually draw most of the praise, but it’s the pulsating action and death-defying exploration that I'm looking forward to most.

Batman: Arkham City

I have to admit I really wasn't as impressed by Arkham Asylum as most of the gaming press were. Sure I enjoyed it; it was a well-crafted action game with a great story running through it. The Scarecrow sections in particular were fantastic, but in general I just thought it was a tad over-hyped. I've been concerned that it may have been a one-hit-pony and was sceptical that Rocksteady could match, let alone surpass their first effort. Everything I've read in the last week seems to tell me that I couldn't be more wrong.

Rage

I'm of a certain age where I can reminisce about the good old days to a certain point, but I'm not quite old enough to hold Id software close to my heart. I was more of a Duke Nukem guy to be honest. That said, Rage does look stupendously lovely, and the actual shooting aspects look extremely gratifying. I don't think it's going to be world-beating, but hopefully it will be an entertaining romp through post-apocalyptic hell.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3

Ok, so it's not a proper sequel and probably could have been released via DLC (despite what Capcom say).
But the bottom line is this, you can play as NEMESIS. End of discussion.

Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD collection

I've always wanted to be a fan of Team Ico, but having never actually played any of their games; it makes it a tad difficult. Thankfully I've been given a second chance with this glorious HD double pack. A little birdie tells me Shadow of the Colossus is still as breath-taking as it was back in 2005, whereas Ico hasn't aged quite so well. I can live with that.

Battlefield 3

No-one can deny just how stunning the promotional footage of Battlefield 3 looks. My gripe from the start though has been that those gorgeous visuals will not be replicated on consoles. I'd love to play Battlefield 3 on a PC, but mine just won't cut it, and I'm a console gamer through and through anyway. I'm still confident Battlefield 3 will be a fantastic online experience, just as Battlefield 2 was, but I will be surprised if it offers a superior all-round package to its fierce rival.

Modern Warfare 3

Having played the series since Call of Duty 2, you could say I'm somewhat of a fan-albeit a different breed to the type of fan the series has picked up post Modern Warfare. I don't eagerly anticipate the yearly release-though I did get swept up in the Moderns Warfare 2 hype,which I thought was brilliant by the way-but I buy them as they tend to be better than 90% of the shooters on the market. And for the record, I didn't think Black-Ops was shit. It featured some of the best moments in the series, though the plot did lack some of the finesse of previous efforts. The multi-player was finely-tuned, with some excellent new modes thrown into the mix. The gun game in particular is a fantastic addition. Modern Warfare 3 however could see the series take a turn for the worse. With a large mass of Infinity Ward's troops defecting to the enemy, it will be interesting to see how Activision's crown jewel will fare this year.