Toomanywires

Dear Sony, For the last fifteen years my home console of choice has been of the PlayStation variety, and while I may be a gaming polygamist, I'll always opt for Sony wherever possible. You continue to have my support and I want to see you succeed, but I fear you have all but pissed away two decades worth of goodwill with your haphazard approach to this generation. With each poorly executed new initiative, delayed response to a pressing issue, foolhardy quote from an overconfident executive or lengthy new firmware install, my enthusiasm for the PlayStation brand lessens. I fear that I'm not alone. I'm sure you’ll have noticed the volume of malicious comments that follow updates on your official blogs, including people threatening legal action because they can't buy Counter Strike just yet. These people are idiots, but their vitriol is indicative of a shift in popular opinion both within and without the industry. Your supporters are gradually start

*This post contains Metal Gear Solid 2 spoilers* I bought the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection because I wanted to experience one of my favourite games, MGS 3: Snake Eater, at its absolute best. I saw Peace Walker, a game that I had skipped on the PSP, as an added bonus, with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the weakest of the numbered Solids but still a good game, being somewhat of an after-thought. Snake Eater turned out to be as good as I remembered , Peace Walker was a disappointment and Sons of Liberty proved itself wholly undeserving of my initial indifference. Metal Gear Solid 2 has garnered more than its fair share of criticism over the years, largely focussing on the new and unpopular protagonist, Raiden. A clean-shaven lady-boy who moved like a ballerina and carried more baggage than the most troubled of Final Fantasy heroes, he certainly wasn’t the man we were expecting. We so desperately wanted to reprise our role as Solid Snake, a desire that was fuelled

Gamescom, everyone's favourite Germanic video game trade show, is drawing to a close. Despite some high profile absentees - neither Microsoft nor Nintendo could be arsed to show up - there has been plenty to talk about, as Gamescom succeeded in providing a pick-me-up after the disappointment of E3 and whetting our appetite for Tokyo Game Show. With expectations low and its main rivals out of the picture, Sony emerged from their headlining press conference, where they focussed on the Vita and announcing intriguing, if not blockbusting, new IPs, smelling like roses. Acutely aware that many Vita owners feel abandoned , Sony were careful to put their handheld front and centre, confirming new features and games while making us believe, if only for forty five minutes, that they have some sort of plan for the future. August 28th will bring the PSOne classics patch; so far Sony has only confirmed that Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII are part of the initial

Over the last few weeks I have found myself stuck in a gaming rut, an unprecedented malaise that has sapped my enthusiasm for all things video game-y. I look over at my PS3 and all I can think of is Final Fantasy XIII-2 which, as I shall explain later, is not a good thing. The only game I have to play on my 3DS is Final Fantasy Theatrhythm, which I adored for a week but am now bored of. I can't think about my Vita without getting slightly peeved; the process of picking it up and spending five minutes looking for something to play has become an oft repeated and thoroughly depressing routine that I could do without. I'm eyeing The Witcher 2 on the 360, but I just can't bring myself to start it, put off by the prospect of learning new controls when I still don't know the difference between trigger and bumper. My Wii is now exclusively an every-other-Saturday karaoke machine and I really can't be arsed with all the wire fiddling required to play something retro.