THQ games VP Danny Bilson has come out with a quote the like of which is usually only uttered by Peter Molyneux. Speaking to CVG he has said that

“The next Saints Row is mind-blowing. New tech; mind-blowing. I can’t talk about that too much but it’s mind-blowing.”

I guess he thinks it’s gonna be decent then. Hopefully we’ll get some more details on just what exactly this new tech entails sometime soon.

In this weeks show we discuss BFBC2, New cod maps and if they are worth 1200 points. We talk about what we have been playing, Webby gives you the low down on the Secret World and drools over Ghost Recon Future Warrior. Lots of news and great out-takes.

Don’t forget those all important Itunes reviews

Question Special part 2 in which we answer your questions from the community regarding many gaming issues and some non gaming issues which end up being quite hilarious

Not a show to be missed

Don’t forget the Itunes reviews

In this episode we have lengthy dicussions on what we have been playing with some strong disagreements.
Lots of gaming news and some very big news for one of our team in the out-takes.

Hope you enjoy the show and don’t forget the Itunes reviews

P.S

Final Fantasy 13 rocks!!!!

Us gamers are an opinionated lot, and in all honesty every one of us loves a good moan. As much as we enjoy our favourite passtime, from time to time certain things annoy us enough to incite hatred against that which we claim to enjoy most. I’ve had these annoyances crop up as much as anyone else, and they have inspired me to start this new semi-regular short feature: I H8. To kick things off, I’ll be looking at the gaming staple of puzzles.


I would like to make one thing clear from the start: I’ve got nothing against puzzle games per se. Games who’s sole purpose is the solving of puzzles are absolutely fine by me. They’re not the kind of games I would personally choose to play on a regular basis, but I do recognise their merits. What this piece is aimed at is games from other genres who use puzzles as part of their gameplay mechanics.

 
 
 
 
 
 
You know the sort of thing: flip the switch; move the block; turn the handle or align the tiles in order to solve the puzzle and progress. My main problem with each one of these mechanics is that the puzzles which are set almost exclusively fall into one of two categories: the blatantly obvious or the annoyingly obscure.

The blatantly obvious puzzles are probably the lesser of the two evils due to the fact that the player can simply complete the necessary task and move on. I still dislike them as in my opinion they represent tired and old fashioned game design. We’ve been playing slightly different variations of these same puzzles for years, and they are now getting beyond stale. There’s been such advances in graphics, physics and the like over recent years that we really shouldn’t accept such dated game design any more. The game developers need to get with the times and give us more interesting things to do in these beautiful worlds they are creating for us.

By far the worst type of puzzles though are the annoyingly obscure ones. There’s nothing worse than coming to an area from which you’re sure there must be a way to proceed but are unable to figure out exactly what the game designers want you to do in order to move on. These are the kind of puzzles that take the player so long to solve that by the time you’ve been able to progress to the next area, you’ve almost totally been drawn out of the experience.


Of all the ways to get stuck in a videogame this is probably the most annoying. Difficult boss battles; tricky jumps; waves of enemies; all present opportunities to get stuck in games but what they have above puzzles is that during instances of them you’re actually playing the game. With puzzles you’re sat there scratching your head until you come up with the answer; or until you google it.

 
 
 
 
 
In essence, that’s why I hate puzzles in games. When I’m solving a puzzle, I’m not busy playing the game. In my opinion that’s a waste of my time and effort which could be better spent having a fun gameplay experience. Hey, if I’m playing an action game: I want action, not headscratching!

Maybe some of you enjoy these little diversions from the main game? If you do then I’d love to hear why in the comments below.

There’s one thing above all that has really annoyed me about the last two Halo games: supposed ‘good connection’ matchmaking pairing me with folks in America. Now I’ve got nothing against our friends from the colonies, but what does annoy me is when I lose games just because the host is on the other side of an ocean.

Well, one little line from this weeks Bungie update has got me very excited indeed:

‘If you’re worried about regional networking, rest easy. Matchmaking will now take into account your locale and match you up accordingly’.

That one line has got me more excited for the new Halo game than any of the info, screens or videos that have been released thus far. It’s about time we got a Halo game with decent regional matching, and I now really cannot wait to try it out come May 3rd.

Even though I’m not particularly a big fan of formula one, due to finding the races rather tedious and overly long, even I have to admit that this trailer for the upcoming formula one game looks very interesting. Claims of ‘the most advanced weather in a game’ get me very excited indeed.

In this episode Webby gets very vocal about EA and VIP codes in new games. Webby and Punker have quite a heated discussion on this topic. The usual what we have been playing and lots of news.

Not a show to be missed

 
Don’t forget to leave us 5 star itunes reviews

Recently certain members of the gaming industry press received a mysterious e-mail from a ‘Sam Fisher’. The e-mail contained a link (remember kids, don’t follow links from strangers…) which the press foolishly followed. The link directed them to Twitter, and more specifically, the account of the real Sam Fisher – ‘ex-Third Echelon agent and on-the-run criminal’.

http://twitter.com/real_samfisher

As well as having a fun filled profile with a bio reading: “I’m being set up. I need to find out who killed my daughter. Please help me.” Sam reveals pieces of intel relating to the game and some wise words relating to Splinter Cell: Conviction.

‘relying on rogue resources…gonna need some help. Gotta lay low, but you’ll have more intel soon.’

 
Or not so gaming related…

 
‘when you believe, it’s easy to sacrifice. I never had any problem believing. Perception of power can be seductive.’

 
If you ask me, all of those who are interested in the game and have Twitter accounts should follow the Real Sam Fisher. You never know what you’re going to find out.