Entertainment For Lively Minds
The lure of the console
Posted by tim tunes on 1 April 2011 - 10:26am.
Music has certainly got a harder job of grabbing the attention of youth today than in the past.
In the early eighties the only competition for music for me was the local Video rental. Today its games like this - and this is actual gameplay not just a cut in CGI clip.
I recently set up Tunes Towers with an XBox plugged into the 'proper' surround speakers -it is hugely impressive.
Just slightly more exciting than Noah & The Whale.
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And at
£40-50 a pop, that's a lot of music not getting bought.
I don't really play that many games...
...but my god, when I do, they're so immersive. My last outing was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the PC (well, the PC partition of my Mac, anyway), and it was amazing. Almost photographically realistic, it just grabs you and won't let go.
Which is why we have to give our kids the reading and music bug young, while there's still hope. How can the slow-release pleasures of a book or a great record compete with the smack-crack speedball of today's games, unless you've learned how to concentrate first?
Blood
..and the enjoyment comes from killing
Usually, yes... but not always
Many people's tip for game of the year features a gun that spouts weird physics, not buckets of blood:
(YouTube clip: Portal 2 trailer)
The original Portal..
...was just mind-blowing in its originality. A smart, simple idea, well executed and injected with humour and wit, and not a little satire. And a nice little song thrown in at the end. This one is as good.
Rewarding games that challenge you to think are few and far between, but with the likes of this and the new LA Noire one, some game makers are obviously trying to head in a different direction from the endless stream of “straight to video” type action titles and what not.
Like any other medium really: largely dross with a few standouts every so often……
CoD:WaW, somewhere in South East Asia...
I've got two Bettys placed, one at the base of the ladder that leads up here, and another at the top of the steps on the north side of the bunker. The Thompson's not good at distance, but I can see a long way from here, and there's a sticky at hand if it comes to it, though that's a risk if I don't throw it too far. I can hear them coming down the river from the east, running for the vantage point on the bunker opposite, and there's something crawling through the paddy field to the south. I can't see any signs of movement behind the huts across the compound, but it's hard to be sure without showing myself. I wish the rest of the squad would get here, and fast...
and there's more
I'm not a gamer
Well that's not quite true: I 'm sure I would be if I had a console, but another hobby is the last thing I need.
For the size of the industry, it's astonishing how little mainstream coverage gaming gets. It's just snobbery really. The only mainstream coverage at the moment is probably the odd Charlie Brooker slot.
Was talking to a retired Marine queuing in Game once...
Said he spent all his spare income and time on the Call of Duty games and downloading the new maps and guns etc online. He was so impressed how realistic they were and the adrenalin rush that he only had from his frontline service was repeated. He was 67 years old.
Upgrading from the Wii
I've had countless hours of fun with small daughter, playing Super Mario Galaxy and Epic Mickey, but I'm tempted to go for something with a bit more grunt. Tempted by titles rather than platforms - loved Halo back in the day, don't mind a good FPS - is there a compelling reason to choose one platform over another? All direction most appreciated.
Well...
...nobody's yet managed to completely arsehole the XBox network, so they'd probably get my vote by default. I'm seriously thinking about getting a "proper" console too, much as I love the Wii. There's nothing quite like shooting people in the face in high definition, is there?
EDIT:
Speaking of, I just won - completely on impulse - a refurbed XBox console on eBay for fifty quid. Fun fun.
XBox
The only current-gen console I have, but have been hugely impressed by the quality of the games, the sound and the overall XBox live experience once plugged into a good TV and sound system.
Even the notoriously anti-tech FPO has tolerated it and joins in with the Kinect games.
I'd particularly recommend Dance Central, DJ Hero (you can pick this up very cheap now and its great fun), Blur, Mass Effect 2, Halo Reach. Just about to try LA Noire.