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Matt Hazard, Darksiders, Demon’s Souls, ModNation Racers, MAG and the completion of InFamous.

News discussion – Apple iPad, Pokemon reboot, GTA4 episodes coming to PS3 and PC, next Borderlands DLC, Telltale games coming to Mac, Bayonetta updated on PS3, Battlfield Bad Company 2 beta, further Xbox Game Room details and ‘Splosion Man deal of the week.

The retail round-up – DLC, sexy quiz and Tweeting action.

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Comic books, sequential art, graphic novels, whatever you want to call them, the video games industry seems absolutely hell bent on capitalising on this century old art form of superheroes and spandex. We’ve had various attempts at putting comic books onto consoles and with the exception of Batman: Arkham Asylum (which frankly owes more to the films than the graphic novel of the same name) it just hasn’t been all that successful. We’ve had the fairly weak ‘motion comics’ for the likes of Dead Space and Uncharted 2, ‘digital comics’ arriving on the PSP that add absolutely nothing to the experience of reading and even Capcom trying, to little avail, to translate the (appropriately) paper thin Street Fighter universe to paperback form. No one, it seems, can get it right. Until now.

Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut is the perfect blend of comic book and video game. Superbly paced and beautiful to behold, it is an essential purchase for anyone with the remotest interest in gaming on the go, classic adventure games or simply a compelling narrative.

Revolving around The Knights Templar and a global conspiracy, Broken Sword was originally released in 1996 to much critical acclaim. This re-release finds the game just as entertaining and relevant; George Stobbart, the American tourist out of his depth, is just as likeable as he was the first time round Paris, Lochmarne, Syria and beyond, as is Nicole Collard, the French investigative journalist. Nico’s story and background feels a lot more fleshed out in this edition, especially after the inclusion of Director’s Cut exclusive sections that utilise the touch screen controls in puzzle solving. The emphasis feels shifted somewhat from solely focusing on Stobbart, providing a different angle (and shedding further light) on the often complex narrative.

This new content goes some way to ensuring that the experience for veteran players feels fresh, even after 14 years, though thankfully this isn’t the only part of the game that has changed. The point and click interface that so hampered the translation to consoles of the time is essentially gone, replaced with an elegantly contextual, touch screen control method that fits Apple’s mobile gaming platform perfectly. Tony Warriner and Joost Peters deserve real commendation for the mechanical guts of Broken Sword; it fires up quickly, is a technical tour de force and enables the title to be approached in a more piecemeal fashion, perfect for that ten minute bus ride to work.

Helping bring the art bang up-to-date is Dave Gibbons, whose new animations and cut scenes are some of this comic book legend’s best work to date. His time spent at 2000AD, Marvel and DC is clearly evident in the evolution of the title’s near graphic novel presentation, with new, almost panel in panel sequences being just one of the highlights on offer.

Charles Cecil though is quite obviously the guiding hand here, his vison of a traditional adventure for the twenty first century being a big step forward for the struggling genre. Clearly he understands his audience, painting a more detailed picture of a beloved universe, though perhaps his greatest achievement here is making the game relevant for a wider market. The implementation of a hint system and memory jogging diary seems simple enough, but it guarantees that frustration never quite kicks in when tackling some of the fiendish puzzles along the way.

It’s this perfect storm of Gibbons, Cecil, Warriner and the rest of the creative team, that makes Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut worth every penny of the £3.99 asking price. A stylish, mature, sophisticated adventure, Revolution Software should be very proud, they’ve collectively produced one of the best games on iPhone thus far.

MLG Rating: 9/10

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The low down on the new web site.

Gears of War 2, Darksiders, MAG and InFamous.

News discussion – Left4Dead 2 update details, Facebook gaming portal, Final Fantasy XIII special edition, British Broadcasters investigating gaming, developer platform choices, death threats in Australia, additional Borderlands DLC, Heavy Rain demo, Apple tablet thoughts, Playstation motion controller delayed and Dr Phil.

The retail round-up – DLC, sexy quiz and Tweeting action.

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A couple of weeks ago I argued that traditional PC gaming was dead. Through a combination of rampant piracy, a dwindling market and a technologically divided player base, the age of the office chair gamer with a wealth of big budget, Triple A titles at their disposal is well and truly gone. This week, I’d like to make the point that PC Gaming is far from dead either financially or artistically and that perhaps the keyboard and mouse is the real future of video games.

As Nintendo know all too well, the biggest gains to be made in the market aren’t from persuading gamers to swap product allegiances, or buying up platform exclusives, or developing award winning content. The serious profits are from the casual and non-gamers; the Brain Training Grans, the EA Sports Active Dads, the Farmville on Facebook Fans. Instead of requiring dedicated hardware to access content, i.e. a home console, all potential players need is a computer and an internet connection, something that in the western world, we have in abundance. Tie this into insidious methods of viral product marketing, such as Mafia Wars auto-posting to the wall of your Facebook page, and you have a lucrative combination of untapped market, ease of access and an abundance of brand exposure.

It does.

For a totally ununified platform with different hardware load outs from machine to machine, developing for PC offers some interesting benefits that can level the playing field. Taking Blizzard’s approach to World Of Warcraft and building a title that can run on practically any system out there, yet remain visually appealing because of art style, is useful to game developers for two reasons. To begin with it means that a wide range of players can access content produced by the team, you don’t need an Alienware gaming rig to just while away a few hours with friends, creating a larger potential market. Second, production costs of making the game in the first place are much lower and without the need for that next leap in graphical fidelity, dev teams can concentrate on putting out the far more profitable expansion packs.

There are other benefits of course, there are many superb, PC native middleware tools and SDKs to get game creation software into the hands of budding bedroom programmers. Epic recently even went so far as to release the Unreal Development Kit completely free of charge for non-commercial use. This abundance of tools for those eager to break into the industry creates a lush, fertile environment of smaller, more experimental games, just look at the blossoming indie scene at the moment and you’ll see that nearly all the games there start out in development for the humble personal computer.

It ain't pretty, but by god it gets the job done.

Distribution models can also deviate wildly from the industry standard of ‘create a game, release for download’. Facebook games, Jagex and Free Realms are all products of companies who realise that when you have a permanent online identity tied to the play structure of a title, the potential of piracy is almost zero. Likewise the payment methods don’t necessarily need to conform to boxed releases; lower start-up, maintenance and distribution costs mean games can not only be inexpensive to purchase, they can be free, with ad support, micro transactions and pay-what-you-feel models a distinct possibility moving forward through the coming decade. These models are only really possible on, you guessed it, PC.

The ‘traditional’ PC gaming that was so popular ten years or so ago, may as well be dead, we probably won’t see a return to the keyboard and mouse as a viable platform for the ‘hardcore’ market. However the home (or office, or university, or library) computer may still be the most lucrative and experimental area in gaming’s very bright future. PC gaming is dead, long live PC gaming!

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The completion of Assassin’s Creed 2 with FAQs, Gears and beers, Afrika, Ratchet and Clank, Bayonetta, Star Trek Online and inFamous.

News discussion – Splinter Cell, R.U.S.E. and Gran Turismo 5 delayed, Ubisoft weathering the storm against piracy, DSi XL details, White Knight Chronicles, Star Wars online next year and 3d Dot Game Heroes.

The retail round-up – DLC, sexy quiz and Tweeting action

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As anyone who has been following me on Twitter can attest, I’ve been very much a fan of Uncharted 2. After playing the original, watching teaser trailers, pouring over leaked images and otherwise hyping myself up for the second, the one thing I was sure of was a fantastic single player experience. What I wasn’t sure of going in however, was its multiplayer. How wrong I was.

For me the biggest surprise of 2009 wasn’t a game like Flower or Noby Noby Boy getting a release in western markets, it wasn’t Street Fighter 4 successfully making the leap to 3D, it wasn’t even a Batman game being good. What shocked me most about last year’s releases was the multiplayer aspect of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Initially I was surprised, almost appalled at the idea of including multiplayer in what had been, up until this point, a superbly paced narrative with likeable characters, in a very single player driven experience. Why on earth would the developers set aside valuable time, resources and creative energy on an element potentially no one would play? At the time of the multiplayer announcement, it was clear Uncharted 2 would have a fight on its hands Q4. With a new Call Of Duty looking to once again dominate the competitive gaming space, it surely didn’t need this to contend with on top of being a format exclusive sequel to an original that received a very mixed reception.

Yet Naughty Dog ploughed ahead, confident in this new endeavour… and by gosh they pulled it out of the bag! Offering some of the best multiplayer action I’ve played in the last five years, Among Thieves doesn’t try anything too fancy, nor does it particularly innovate, but what it does do is look to the best titles out there for its inspiration. Experience and money is accrued throughout the online experience with a persistant profile; levelling up your character, allowing access to bonuses and game changing improvements to your character. Always getting pinned down by fire? Choose the blindfire perk to improve your accuracy when firing from behind cover. Not packing enough punch? Choose weapon upgrades to really take the enemy down a notch. It’s certainly nothing we haven’t seen before, but it adds to the depth of play to ensure you come back for more.

Speaking of depth, the number of game types available to players is impressive, with survival, death match, capture the flag etc. all represented well here. From a purely technical perspective, finding a game is fast, the lobby system is decent and the game doesn’t falter in terms of presentation either, matches are smooth, connections are strong and balancing is good, for the most part.

Where you’ll have the most fun though is the game’s online co-op, taking in locales used in the main game but providing a different, non-canonical story experience. It’s here that communication is key, not simply for the mission’s success, but to experience the true enjoyment of the title, namely: Dicking Around. The plot is full of cliché, making it perfect for snarky comments between players, likewise when a tank comes rumbling into view and you’re armed with little more than harsh language, it’s a real moment of joy to hear yourself and two other compatriots simultaneously exclaim ‘Jesus Christ!’ with a tone of apprehension and giddy excitement.

Uncharted 2′s multiplayer is truly special because it sparks that feeling of childlike wonder we so rarely experience as adults. It serves as an example of why we shouldn’t judge games before trying them for ourselves, that we should be optimistic as to what Naughty Dog bring to the table with the inevitable sequel and that when game designers take real risks, sometimes, sometimes, it pays dividends.

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Gears of War 2, Dark Void, Bayonetta, MAG and Mass Effect.

News discussion – CES release dates, the next Call of Duty, Wii in prison, Left 4 Dead 2 free for Xbox Live Silver members, Alan Wake episodes, PSN coming to more Sony hardware, Project Natal and Xbox Game Room details.

The retail round-up – DLC, sexy quiz and Tweeting action

Subscribe to the show on iTunes & leave us a sexy review… or listen here

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It’s a long held belief that the hardest of the hardcore gamer, rocks a PC. Near infinite expandability, game modding to the point that entirely new games can be fashioned out of others (e.g. Portal) and an always on community linked directly to the greatest online gaming experience available; the untethered internet. But PC gaming has seen a serious decline in press coverage recently from the major blogs and gaming sites out there and for one very good reason; the ‘PC gamer’ is very much a dying breed.

It was, with the widespread use, integration and acceptance of the internet and a rapid increase in bandwidth from broadband suppliers, almost inevitable that PC gaming would flourish beautifully for a moment and then die, like the Christmas trees we threw on the compost heap last week. With the transfer of goods comes piracy and it is this that has left the bigger publishers reluctant to put out IP with the lead skew being the personal computer. There have been attempts to counter the illegal sharing of games across the internet of course, though most have been unsuccessful and even detrimental to the growth of gaming in this sector. Digital Rights Management has gamers up in arms with boycotts, the threat of any other DRM except Steam is apparently just too much for many spoilt by the freedom to do with their games whatever they please. The ability to play on dedicated servers has also traditionally been a great benefit for PC fans, however this feature is quickly being removed as an attempt to control large and significant portions of several titles, with the heavyweight that is Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 being widely panned by critics and PC gamers as having this method of multiplayer being the only way to play one of the most anticipated games for WASD heads across the globe.

Arrr, we've destroyed sales of Spore and Sims 3 me laddos!

But look beyond piracy and there are further problems; society at large is still not particularly comfortable paying large quantities of money for non-physical products, yet for many PC gamers digital delivery services such as Direct2Drive are the only way to access most titles, with major outlets such as Gamestation and Game having an extremely limited choice of titles available. Speaking of which, the issue of choice may well have been null for years, with seemingly only real time strategy and first person shooters getting any real attention in the PC charts. The nail in the coffin though is the potential to upgrade machines I mentioned earlier. Being able to purchase and easily install the latest tech is a fantastic thing, enabling games to be created that simply aren’t possible on current home console technology. However this is ultimately a double edged sword as it negates the PC being a standard platform, designers wanting to appeal to a traditional PC gaming audience must decide whether to risk poor reviews of visuals but create a game a majority of people can play, or create a high end showpiece that only the elite can access. With a modern console the specifications are set, designers work within them to get the best whilst any person with the hardware can run any product available for it.

Crysis - Beautiful, detailed and an absolute bitch to run.

The market is then, for all intents and purposes, on its last legs. With FPS and RTS titles now truly possible on console, it seems that PC gamer numbers are dwindling as fewer and fewer people reinvest in gaming rigs, newer players skipping PCs altogether in favour of their Wii, 360 or PS3. In Part 2, I’ll tackle what can and, most importantly is being done to revive the PC arena and why, in some regards, PC gaming could well be the future of video games…

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The ‘hangover’ show!

Rock Band 2, Boom Blox, Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, Fable 2, Forza 3, Demon’s Souls, CSI: Deadly Intent.

Zero news to report as the internet has been preoccupied with the best games of 2009, and we did all that in the last show!

No charts this week (they’ve not been updated since the last show).

The retail round-up – DLC, sexy quiz and Tweeting action.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes & leave us a sexy review… or listen here

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THE END OF THE DECADE!

Rock Band 2, Sony Home, Tales of Monkey Island, Assassins Creed 2, Osmos, Blue Toad Murder Files, Forza 3, Left4Dead 2, Battlefield 1943 and Uncharted 2.

News discussion – UK game sales eclipse film, psychology of gamers, Blizzard still to return to console development and the public MAG beta.

The retail round-up -Modern Warfare 2 at number one for Christmas, DLC, sexy quiz and Tweeting action.

Community top 10 of 2009 & our personal top 5.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes & leave us a sexy review… or listen here