Toomanywires

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

After more than two and a half years and almost three hundred posts, I’m taking a break from Toomanywires. I'm not entirely sure what I hope to achieve from a trial separation - this could be the beginning of the end, The END or just the break I need before a triumphant, wordy return - but this definitely feels like the right time to step away. I've been considering packing in this blogging lark for some time, but a continued enthusiasm for writing and a constant supply of topics means that I have avoided, or rather put off, a dramatic farewell. Writing has been a huge part of my video game experience over the last four and a half years, and is not something I'd give up lightly. It started off as a way to share my thoughts as a Brit living in Tokyo, surrounded by video games; for a short while my blogging was fuelled by a desire to write for coin, but mostly it has just been about sharing a passion for games with an audience larger than my group of real-life friend...

After much procrastination and countless false starts , I have jumped head first into the world of Monster Hunter with MH 3 Ultimate. The first few hours went a little something like this…. What’s My Name? We didn't get off to the best of starts. My first session with MH3U on the 3DS lasted all of ten minutes, before a strict character limit (ten letters or numbers for your username) drove me straight back to my PS3 and Skyrim. I wanted to be Toomanywires, not Toomanywir! I tried reverting to my PS3 handle, but Talkingboo is even more embarrassing. Monster Hunter is rubbish. Two weeks and a Wii U upgrade later, and I gave character creation another shot. My grey-beard wearing a purple, Apollo- Creed-running-on-the-beach-length t-shirt has been christened 2manywires. I'm not happy with the numerical solution, but if I didn't compromise then I'd never have gotten past character creation. Monster Hunter is fucking rubbish. Moga Village Th...

I spend my daily commute behind the wheel. After a great deal of experimenting, I have found that this arrangement is not well suited to playing 3DS or Vita. Back when I commuted by train, I had about an hour a day for Nintendo and Sony on the go, allowing me to enjoy my DS and PSP without cutting into home console time or running the risk of crashing into a tree. Once car replaced train, handhelds became a far less important part of my video game routine. However, this has started to change over the last couple of months. I've been spending evenings playing my portables on the sofa, in bed and sometimes even standing up, resting my elbows on a windowsill or other surfaces of a similar height. Like a kitchen table, for example. I like having something that is instantly accessible, a game and platform for when I have only fifteen minutes to spare. I'm not going to turn on my PS3/WiiU/360 for anything less than thirty minutes, as by the time I've sat through the s...