Month: February 2013

(Upcoming) Games of 2013 – Prelude to the deluge

Michael Leave a comment

This list is likely to change/expand pretty drastically after E3 when its likely the launch lineups for the PS4 and XBox720/Durango are announced. I’m not sure if I’ll be jumping to next gen straight away because as I mentioned over here I’ve got back into PC gaming in a big way. Well, thats most likely a lie. Unless the launch line-up is absolutely shit I’ll probably grab a PS4. Though I am interested in how theyre going to handle backwards compatability, particularly considering the amount of donwloaded/PSN content I’ve purchased.

Even without the infusion of next-gen stuff 2013 is looking like a pretty amazing year for gaming. A large number of titles that were originally slated for 2012 got pushed back and a number of highly anticipiated sequels to popular franchises are coming out this year as well. As well as looking at whether or not I’ll bother with next gen consoles theres also the question of whether or not I’ll bother with the Wii-U. My luck with Nintendo systems is mixed. While I owned a SNES I preferred my Megadrive. I never had, or played more than once, a N64. I got a lot of play out my Gamecube (worth it just for Eternal Darkness, Super Monkeyball and Animal Crossing). I was excited about the Wii, bought one and played it literally twice. On the other hand there’s a number of Wii-U exclusives that I really like the look of (SMTxFire Emblem, Monolithsoft’s X, The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, maybe Zombi-U). I might pick one up when the majority of those games are out and the systems dropped in price. Knowing Nintendo I dont want to get stung when they do an early hardware revision. Continue reading…

Stopgaps

Michael Leave a comment

I want to run or play in an RPG campaign. But its awakward both geographically and because I feel inordinately guilty about reaading rpg material or planning a game. No idea where the guilt comes from but it makes it difficult to plan anything. The fact that theres a general feeling that I’ll never get to run anything that I come up with doesnt help. While I now only buy one or two rpg products a year I still have a giant stockpile of unused stuff. Ideally I’d have a regular weekly session but even trying to plan a once a month boardgame night is proving a chore so that seems unlikely. Maybe move it online? Playing online with strangers just feels sort of odd though. So is this post just me whinging? Well to a certain extent, yes. Wait, no. It isnt. In my previous post I was complaining about time just passing idly by. So I’m going to combine my problems. Continue reading…

State of play

Michael Leave a comment

As I mentioned previously January was a write off. On the plus side I did get employed for the next six months. On the downside work this year is actually proving to be rather time consuming. Having to write notes about programs I’m not super familiar with will do that. My schedule is also dung. But they are just excuses. I dont know if Im simply out of practice or Ive lost any analytical skill but I’m finding it next to impossible to get going on my Best X of 2012 stuff. Its already a few weeks late as is and I cant see me getting it done. In terms of game design stuff this month was planned to be a month for intensive skillups but the terrible machine I have in work more or less fucked that plan. I broke and bought a new PC but have yet to get it up and running (because the parts have shipped in an order that looks like the suppliers are deliberately trolling me). Its not as if Im using my free time for non-constructive stuff either. I’ve played fuck all (lets be honest, only one) of the 108. I’ve only written a little more of the post-50K words part of my novel. I havent read any of the books I planned. When I’m not working time just seems to flow past me. “The sun is the same In a relative way But you’re older” Time to do something I think.