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Showing posts from October, 2013

The End of a Generation - Play it Again

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I'm writing a series of posts about the games and consoles of the seventh generation (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP and DS). This will include a Top 20 countdown, thoughts on the industry, silly pictures and whatever else comes to mind. Seventy per cent of games released between 2005 and 2013 included the words three, five or HD in their title. A shocking and wildly inaccurate statistic, but you can't really blame publishers for wanting to capitalise on our longing for nostalgia and familiarity. Basically, once we'd agreed to pay £7 for a digital copy of Old Super Mario Something, we were fucked. Iteration was trendy, retro re-releases were in and HD collections were everywhere in the 7 th Generation, and I was part of the problem.   While I pined for exciting new IPs, I still lapped up rehashed versions of old favourites and paid premium coin to enjoy new (for me) experiences from previous eras. Some of my favourite games this gen have been of the recycle

The End of a Generation - My Favourite Games of the 7th Gen: 20-16

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I'm writing a series of posts about the games and consoles of the seventh generation (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP and DS). This will include a Top 20 countdown, thoughts on the industry, silly pictures and whatever else comes to mind. Everyone loves a good countdown, myself included. That's why I've compiled a list of my Top 20 Favourite Games of the Seventh Generation, which I'll split over a handful of posts, starting from today. Before we get started, here are the rules: 1. Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PSP are eligible. Unfortunately, I haven't played any new, PC-only games this generation. 2. Although they have been out for ages, the Wii U, 3DS and Vita belong to the 8th Generation, something I had to remind myself on more than one occasion. 3. Re-releases and updates are excluded. So without further ado, here are my favourite games of the last eight years, counting down from number 20 to 16. 20. DJ

The End of a Generation: The 7th and I

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I'm writing a series of posts about the seventh generation of consoles and the games that graced them (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP and DS). This will include a Top 20 countdown, thoughts on the industry, silly pictures and whatever else comes to mind. November 2005 saw the release of the Xbox 360 in the US, the first home console of the seventh generation. It also happens to be the month that I upped sticks and moved to Japan. I don’t recall being aware of the 360 at the time, in fact my interest in video games was at an all-time low, but that would change as the generation progressed. The era of 360-PS3-Wii-DS-PSP spans some of the most exciting and eventful years of my life - I'm not dead yet, but I’m told everything goes downhill from 30 - and it turned my interest in video games into a passion. All in all, it was a pretty good eight years. My decision to move to Japan was a rather hasty one. I was supposed to be going back to university to study law fo

The End of a Generation: Intro

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I'm back, for a bit. Throughout this month and next I'll be sharing my thoughts on the outgoing (7th) generation, just ahead of the long-awaited arrival of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The Wii, PSP and DS have already been replaced by the Wii U, Vita and 3DS, and now it's time for the PS3 and 360 to step aside and bring this generation to a close. The 7th gen has certainly been a long'un, full of highs and lows, and I want to take this opportunity to look back before looking forward. Although this won't be a full-time return to blogging, for the next month or two I will be posting regularly, sharing some final thoughts on a period of gaming that I have enjoyed more than any other. I hope you'll join me. ************* Let's Catch Up It has been almost five months since I last updated Toomanywires, but not much has changed in that time. I continue to enjoy video games, waste far too much energy pining for Japan and I'm still