This is what your local GAME might look like soon enough.

It has been widely reported by the gaming press, including Eurogamer, that the UK’s largest independent video game retailer is in financial difficulties. The firm had a poor 2011, and whilst many had hoped the Christmas season might bring a last minute reprieve it was not to be and sales were down close to 15% compared to the year before. To put this into context, most major high street retailers in the UK experienced a rise in sales compared to twelve months earlier, as Christmas 2010 had been so poor due to excessive snow and ice keeping shoppers away from their town centres.

To be fair GAME have, for a while now, been issuing profit warnings and talking of reducing the number of shops they have over the next one to two years. This of course is taking place at the same time as HMV recently having to reorganise its debts with its lenders. However, HMV have a broader range of products, less stores but larger ones (and hence can sell more and try a greater variety of activities) and have earnestly started moving the business into new areas, albeit some more successfully than others. The firm has invested in live music and venues, and started to transfer space in stores (which was set aside to plastic boxes) to fan related merchandise and technology.

This is not to say that HMV has the answer, but I mention it as a way of demonstrating that specialist music, film and game retailers are having to find new ways and that this is hardly new. Over the last few years we have gone from having, perhaps, 3-5 retailers offering such products per high street to 1-3, with some towns having barely 2. Those two are often HMV and GAME. There is now a serious chance that over the next 2-3 years this will reduce further to one or in some cases none.

The all conquering Amazon. It's taking sales from bookstores, toy stores and of course videogame stores. It's also the perfect platform to migrate from physical product to digital download or stream. Something it is pushing more and more.

Let’s look at the reasons why and what this means for both the games industry as a whole and the consumer. Whilst it would be easy to say it’s down to the increase in downloaded content (legal or illegal), it would not be true for the overall market. For PC, clearly, it has had a huge impact but the average store dedicates very little floor space to PC titles. Meanwhile in console land, whilst you can get a small selection of titles as downloads, most are retail only, or are retail only for a long time before they go onto Xbox Live, for example. Sony has started doing near simultaneous releases for a few titles, but it does not release numbers for the PSN store; though it’s safe to say that if a game is on for significantly more money there than it is priced in shops that it can’t be picking up many sales at present.

So what does the trouble at GAME signify? It could just be that the business expanded too fast and inherited too many shops, with a range of leases and costs which are unsustainable. In other words the business has put itself into the situation it now finds itself and is not systematic of any type of global change. I suspect though that this is not the only reason the firm finds itself in trouble. It expanded rapidly, largely on being the only place which had a good selection of titles and in more recent times in supplying a strong second hand offering.

Both areas are now under attack, from both Supermarkets such as Tesco and due to the online side of the business such as Amazon, Play and many independent ‘warehouse’ only operators using the Amazon/Ebay marketplace. Whilst GAME also has a strong online presence, it’s not actually that easy to use, and doesn’t offer great prices. This is because the focus of the business has remained its stores.

So we have established that most consumers are buying boxed games still, but the market is being redefined by the online retailers and supermarkets. Yet that is not the only factor in play here. We are buying less games. Sure some games are selling in huge numbers, and for more money per purchase, but we are buying less overall.

When discussing market size, services such as PSN, STEAM and others are rarely included in such figures. However, it's clear that if you are a PC gamer, you download, you don't get the box.

The size of the UK market shrunk last year. The UK is not alone. Some people are hoping a new console generation will solve this. I doubt it will in the short term. In the medium to long term it will as people who currently play games continue to, whilst new younger generations join the ranks of hardcore gamers. However at present, there will be no sudden demographic shift where we immediately find new consumers to join our ranks. Such a culture change last took place during the Wii/DS generation and at least 30% of that has since found that smartphones suffice, as they were never hardcore gamers to begin with.

As I’m sure many of you will have noticed the games we buy take longer than ever to complete. Aha, I know what are thinking; Modern Warfare 3. This takes a bus ride to complete. That as we know is the single player experience only. The online is an ongoing all consuming social experience, with more special op operations being added, more multiplayer maps and modes. Even the Elite experience is designed to take up your gaming hours with stat analysis! Yet check out the games sale’s figures. It made more than Black Ops but sold less copies in 2011, as reported by Eurogamer.

So back to the idea of launching new consoles. The Vita is out pretty soon and as it offers an HD experience in your hand it, ironically, will split consumer spending even more. It won’t increase the size of the hardcore market but take purchases away from the PS3, Xbox and WiiU. In case you missed it we are now in the midst of a deep economic slow down, which for some people is starting to look like a depression, or at least a slow and ongoing contraction (which could last up to a decade). Whilst the entertainment sector as a whole is less effected during downturns (as reported by TIME, quoting the ever popular Michael Pachter), as people need escapism and spend less on holidays and other high price ticket items, it’s clear that new consoles and games costing £35 or above are now falling into the luxury area of disposable income for many, bar a few yearly purchases where value is eked out through replay and DLC offered throughout the year.

So less games are being bought, which means less games being traded, which results in less profits on second hand sells for the retailers such as GAME. The more money we spend on AAA titles and then investing in DLC to go with them also means we are more likely to play them to death and not trade them in (compounded by the ‘online pass’ feature meaning second hand copies lack online functionality).

So back to the present. In the short term this has been an awful week for GAME. Whilst they have managed to secure support from publishers and creditors it seems logical that consumers will slowly start to place pre-orders elsewhere in case the inevitable happens soon. Also will you be taking your games there to get reward points? What happens if the company goes down the pan and you haven’t spent those points? The time to redeem could be now, which could actually give the firm a short rebound, but if we don’t take in new games to part-ex against other new titles their business model will dry up. Publishers meanwhile will start to encourage the platform holders to push digital delivery, at decent prices (perhaps) and at the same time as the game launches on the high street. The days where they had to protect their retail distribution is perhaps starting to end.

The loss of GAME or HMV won’t mean the end of retail or a lack of competition for the consumer. We have 3-4 supermarkets in the UK of a decent size. In addition we have a plethora of online retailers all able to sell a product which is not required to be sold on the high street. After all it’s just a box with a disc in it.

The next generation of consoles will offer discs, but ultimately though, game retail will stop being physical and the next generation of consoles will offer all titles as near simultaneous digital copies, at competitive prices, as the publishers will learn a lesson from the (eventual) demise of GAME. Whilst it’s always been in their interests to protect and look after their retail channels, times are a changing and they now must look after themselves and their future distribution partners i.e. the platform holders themselves.

As predicited TVs are now shipping with game streaming software built in. This of course is a threat to everyone in the industry, but is much more of an immediate threat to one trick ponies such as GAME.

Assuming the next generation of consoles also offer a streamed game service in parallel to downloaded content for those with broadband fast enough (it’s safe to assume that a large enough market will exist 5-7 years from now with super fast broadband in many countries), it is clear that there is no hope for businesses such as GAME and HMV. In the UK it could be argued that the decline in the high street retailing of games really started with the demise of Woolworths and Zaavi (which is now online only), but the troubles at GAME have demonstrated that perhaps we have become perilously close to the tipping point which will lead to a fundamental change in the way in which the majority of gamers purchase and access future content.

• Format:3DS
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo
• Players: 1
• Site: http://www.nintendo.co.uk

Wii based Galaxy titles have introduced a new level of inventiveness to the Mario formula; so how have Nintendo kept a balance between traditional 2D Mario gameplay, Galaxy style gameplay, and the 3DS’ form factor? Well, they have gone back to their roots for the core DNA. There are no open 3D areas to explore here. Instead think streamlined experiences with the gameplay of traditional 2D games, yet in full 3D with a degree of flexibility to experiment with route and method. Indeed the best comparison is the often overlooked ‘pure platforming’ type levels which were a minor part (but the best sections) of Super Mario Sunshine back on the Gamecube.

This style of gameplay suits the screen size of the 3DS perfectly. With the 3D effect turned up, it’s like looking into a little box of Mario (hence making the Mario land in the title quite apt). The fact that the levels are clearly linear and constrained means it’s like having a little Mario play-set to run around in, there in the palm of your hand. It is rather beautiful in our opinion with bright hues and well rendered characters, platforms and backgrounds.

The gameplay and level variety do not disappoint. As with other franchises, such as Mario Kart, Nintendo seems to know how to add just enough to move the series on, without alienating seasoned veterans. You would have thought that when it comes to platforms we would have seen them all, from all angles; but Nintendo keeps finding new ways of making the old seem new. As with Galaxy, the levels are abstract, with settings such as underwater or firepits, with moving platforms with forward and backward triggers which Mario can control. There is a superb level which is based on old 8 bit, pixelated graphics which uses cannons to propel Mario between different faces and designs made out of these 8 bit blocks. You kinda have to see them to believe them.

Clearly inspired by its 2D bretheren but with added depth....

Some levels are very 2D in design, but rendered in 3D. However they are true 3D and you can move Mario to the foreground or background of the levels, often finding alternative horizontals paths, in a fashion similar to how story levels are constructed in LittleBigPlanet. Mario, though, controls much better than Sackboy and the addition of real 3D allows you to judge the depth much easier. However some levels are clearly influenced by games such as Galaxy, with different areas to progress to, free standing and floating in the air. Whichever level you are on though it is a linear playthrough from one end to another as there are no ‘get the star’ targets here. You start at one end and have to reach the flag at the other, just like with the 2D games we love so dearly.

Throughout the game, Mario will be able to slip on various suits which give the type of superpowers we have become accustomed to over the years such as fireballs, boomerangs – and for 3D Land we see the comeback of the Tanooki suit! The Tanooki suit allows the player to hover in the air for a bit (very useful for all this platforming) and kill enemies with a flick of Mario’s Tanooki tail. Beware, though, as this time the enemies get their own Tanooki suit to use against you! Two suits can be carried at once, and by touching an icon on the bottom screen you can easily switch between them.

The first eight worlds are great and they are super accessible. If you keep failing you’ll get given a super suit that essentially means you can’t be killed. Great for beginners and the experienced alike, to wean them onto the difficulty which kicks in once the main quest is over.

That’s right, the game keeps giving. Once the main quest is complete, another eight worlds appear, with a remix of levels made harder and not coming with any special ‘I can’t be killed’ suits to help you out. Each level comes with three gold coins which need collecting to unlock new levels (and also act as a reason to replay levels for the completists amongst us), whilst the spotpass feature means you end up competing on best times against other 3DS users you might have bumped into via other games such as Mario Kart 7. It’s a great shame Nintendo didn’t go the whole way and offer public leaderboards.

It’s also a shame the game doesn’t offer any multiplayer mode whatsoever. New Super Mario Bros on the DS had a quite compelling coin collecting competition going, and so did the DS remake of Mario 64. However 3D Land has nothing, when an online mode would have added even more replay value.

With the 3D turned up, this looks lovely.

Whilst we feel content to make suggestions regarding what is missing in this review, please don’t confuse that with our actual view on the title. It is excellent. It is better than New Super Mario Brothers on the DS, in that it offers a real difficulty curve for experienced players, and way more replay value. It looks lovely, and the levels delight in their ingenuity whilst the 3D makes a tangible difference to how you experience the game, with some simple puzzle elements being easier to solve with the 3D on rather than off. There is also a nice variety of special suits, as you would expect in a Mario game, which add a degree of strategy and gameplay variation to how you might approach different levels.

Nintendo has shown once again that a proper Mario title is not just a cynical way of printing money, but is a franchise that justifies its greatness time and time again with each release.

Get it now.

This image has threatened traditional gaming since around November 2006.

It’s been a year of worry for the traditional gamer. Whilst gaming might seem to be an ever growing past-time, some of the traditional elements which make up the industry have seemed fragile. Publishers have been busy shutting down traditional developers, especially those famed for 3D racers, but beyond too.

We have seen shops such as Gamestop starting to seriously invest in alternative delivery platforms such as their own tablet and streaming services, fearing a fast-arriving dead end to their current business model. Indeed in the UK, where GAME have been less aggressive in moving into new areas of the business, we are witnessing the start of what will be a contraction of its street presence over the next five years. HMV, too, are struggling and are being quite open about the idea that they might not be around in the next 2-5 years in any shape or form.

Alongside this we have seen traditional hardware providers, such as Microsoft and Sony, in effect pour cold water on the idea of an early start to the ‘next generation’ as it is only really now that they are generating real profit dollars from their investment in current hardware and software. Whilst they might feel the urge to produce something new in the face of the soon to be released Wii U, both companies will resist in the knowledge that they have healthy, steadily improving install bases and technology which still won’t look outdated, even compared to the Wii U. I suspect they have noticed that the current generation of hardware is actually perceived to be cutting edge by many consumers today, despite being very behind suped up PCs. Hence there is little demand to bring a new, expensive console solution to the market in these difficult economic times.

Look, look I got some new plastic! But no games or applications to use with it!

Nintendo’s own year has been a difficult one, until the final quarter came around with the upturn witnessed in the holiday season. The launch of the 3DS was undermined by a range of mistakes. A high price, which did not actually put off day one early adoption but which did kill day two, three and further afield purchases. This drop in sales and consumer relevance was then compounded by the device having no actual new software (quality or otherwise) for months after release! It was almost as if Nintendo itself was surprised by the release of the console. One suspects that this observation might be closer to the truth than some might realise. Could it be that Iwata suddenly panicked when he saw the drop off in DS hardware and software sales in late 2010 and early 2011, and thought a hardware launch, which was due for November 2011, should be brought forward? Could it be that he actioned this change of timeline, forgetting that the software development teams couldn’t speed up, pro-rata?

This would explain the lack of software, both in terms of game titles and the also slightly unfinished operating system, which is still having parts of its online functionality added by firmware to this day; but which the software team have admitted were due to be there from day one.

Indeed Nintendo have taken a bashing on behalf of traditional gamers everywhere. Analysts the world over have decided that Nintendo could be the RIM (the makers of Blackberry products) of the games industry. Everyone likes to be the one who can call the end of the world (just ask the Mayans) and analysts are as human as the next guy (really they are) and Nintendo was their punching bag in 2011. The narrative went like this – people are moving from dedicated gaming devices to iPads and smartphones. Why spend £30 on a game, when you can get freeware or £1 software? The logic was sound, but too simple. People will always buy something they want, you just need to give them something they actually want, and come the end of the year Nintendo seemed to be achieving this. The 3DS sales are now running ahead of all predictions and confidence is not only building in the platform, but in the traditional games market in general. What started as a bad story for Nintendo and the industry as a whole has started to evolve into a success story.

Of course the area of growth which has probably received the most headlines, is the continued march of the social and casual gaming market. This encompasses everything from the Just Dance franchise, to the exponential growth of the Farmville type experience. There is no question that the online ‘Sim’ style of gameplay is not only hugely compelling but ideal for multi-platform, cloud play. Users can switch from the PC to their tablets, and in theory continue on the Sony Vita, as many of these games start being released in the platform agnostic HTML5 coding language. Indeed as televisions become ‘smarter’ with their own implementation of Kinect-like experiences, merged with an appstore, we can expect to see continued growth in the use of such genres. For hardcore gamers, this can be seen as a threat, as it potentially pulls funding from the type of projects they would traditionally welcome. Indeed if one looks, as an example, at Disney Interactive, it is moving evermore into this social and casual space and further away from traditional AAA game titles.

Should we as traditional gamers be worried by this? Probably not. Firstly the world is not black and white (even though according to my dad, when he was a boy it used to be – just look at old films back from when he was a youngster he tells me) and hence some of us also play those social games (maybe less so the dance titles). After all they are really very similar to RPGs, but often the character is the ‘farm’ or ‘restaurant’. However it also means that those AAA titles that are released get an increase in funding, and hence we should see an ongoing rise in production values and overall quality. The end of year titles released in 2011 are probably the best evidence for this. The range of software in your local GAME or Gamestop is reducing, but who can dispute the quality of Batman Arkham City, Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and the top shooters, MW3 and BF3?

Let us not forget the great games that have come out on XBLA, PSN, Android/iOS and recently on the 3DS, which is starting to have some quality digital titles. If you are a dedicated gamer, and not just someone who dives in to kill some time, you have never really had it so good.

What will 2012 bring to the story? For sure, we will see the ongoing decline of brick and mortar shops. Boxed product will still exist, and we will probably continue to see the ongoing investment into ‘limited edition’ versions which will help to prolong the life of this boxed product. However for many they will only order via online, postal only services. Shops will simply start to close or become trading and part exchange locations.

Game of the Year 2012?

The year ahead, when it comes to software, is going to be a very exciting year. Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, MW3 map packs and BioShock Infinite (have Take 2 already sewn up 2012?) are already in our consciousness. The 3DS has some superb first and third party exclusives arriving in early 2012 too, and the industry will have the US and European launch of the Vita to look forward to.

The Wii U will release. Nintendo will see this as a slow burner, as the Wii at its new price is still selling strongly. However for those wanting to upgrade it could spoil the party for the current levels of PS3 growth and Xbox steady sale projections. Why? Because for those who already have a Wii (and only a Wii) and are considering what to step up to then if the Wii U ticks a number of boxes, it’ll be the natural platform to choose. What are those boxes?

• If the Wii U has the same range of ‘adult’ software as the 360 and PS3 in addition to being 100% backwards compatible with all their Wii content.
• If it allows them to play all the new Mario titles, along with new Nintendo only IP. Expect Nintendo to make a push to position the Wii U as the first console to take MMOs seriously with a controller designed for them.

The ultimate home based tablet and server solution?

If the above happens, then who would not buy the Wii U over one of its HD counterparts? Those of us already with a Wii and 360, or PS3 will probably fail to become early adopters. That’ll be fine by Nintendo though, as once the new inevitable Mario games and Pikmin are released, and once the hardware does eventually drop in price, they know we will still invest.

What Nintendo decides to do with its online provision for the Wii U though is very exciting. Nothing is really known, but all the rumours suggest a very open online service, perhaps with multiple portals such as EA’s Origin and Steam. However, if they could be linked with a single Wii U identity (not a friend code!) it suggests a range of delivery services, offers and perhaps even streaming services being offered through the platform, alongside its own propriety content.

2012 could be Take 2's year, at least when it comes to Metacritic scores. Sales will surely follow.

As the economy continues to stumble, the games industry will clearly find that growth and expansion is stunted by the social and economic factors around them. Yet if any leisure industry will succeed in these tough times, it’ll be ours; and 2012 will be another step forward.

We are heading into London to a Sony event where they are showing off the PSVita. Sony has huge hopes for this powerful, hardcore gamer-centric portable system. So they should too. As much as there is huge demand for both casual and social games on phones and tablets, it is clear that high quality, hardcore games struggle on those platforms; partially due to the economy around them not supporting the type of investment a 3DS or PSP game requires, partially due to lack of battery life, or down to the fact that FPS and third person games just don’t transfer well to touchscreens.

Hence the PSVita could become the tablet of choice for gamers. Especially 18-35 year olds. With its high res 5 inch OLED display, comprehensive touch and hardware controls and superb wireless connectivity options, it has the potential to become relevant to a subset of gamers who are potential tablet consumers who value Uncharted 3 more than Angry Birds.

However, as with the 3DS it will come down to the games. If the games can justify a shelf price of 30 pounds then consumers will justify owning the device. If the games are just cynical releases such as overpriced tablet conversions, low on content hours, or just rubbish then the device will fail. This preview event will probably be one of the last opportunities to assess that launch line up and potential prior to release in February.

Well, impressions of the hardware itself were very positive. It feels comfortable in your hands and the weight is acceptable for long play sessions. However it is not really a commuting device, due to its footprint. For long journeys and for use at locations once you have arrived, it is perfect. Nine out of Ten iPad users never take their device out and it is seen as a coffee table device when the TV is being used for something else, and the PSVita could become the tablet of choice for gamers.

The screen is remarkable, the contrast ratio on it seems better than many expensive LCD screens. Indeed whilst playing a couple of games next to their PS3 counterparts (see below) it was clear that the PSVita looked better than the Sony TV sets next to them. Playing games and watching movies will be a pleasure on this screen and will be a great selling point.

However, let’s run through a selection of the games on offer:

Reality Fighters

This game has great customisation options. Using the cameras you can put yourself in the game, altering your digital alter ego utilising various settings. It’s purely a gimmick from what I could see, but the comedy element is certainly there. There are tons of options to change the look, size and dress code of your avatar. You can also choose various ‘comedy’ fight styles.

The game has various online and local multiplayer options and it could be really fun with friends. However as a singleplayer experience or serious online brawler, it seems too lightweight and gimmicky. It would make a nice ‘pack in’ with the system or cheap digital release for launch to show off some of the features, should Sony choose to take it down that direction.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

We only got to play a small slice of this game, and it’s very similar to a recent play-through posted on the web. Nate is stuck in a burning building (isn’t he always nowadays), has to do some climbing to escape and then he acts as a sniper, shooting bad guys off in the distance protecting his companion.

If looks sell, then this games sells the system. It looks like a PS3 title, based on the little we have seen. We hope they have some more open, outdoor levels in the real game so that we can see if the PSVita can do those graphics away from small areas of play.

Our only problem with the game, based on this very small demo, is that Uncharted feels a little too much like a ‘Sony Bend’ game and not a Naughty Dog game. If you have played any of the Syphon Filter games on the PSP you’ll know what I mean. Those were great games, but enemy AI and the ‘situations’ were a bit simple and basic. We felt we were playing through a level of those games, especially with the sniping section. It is only a demo, so let us hope the game is more intelligent, and not just Syphon Filter in Uncharted’s clothes with nicer textures and more polygons.

ModNation Racers

Sony’s alternative to Mario Kart; some of us have never truly taken to this game, simply as the handling is so spongy. However this might be no fault of the game, and simply be a result of us (like most other people) being conditioned for Mario Kart. Either way that spongy handling is still there, which is a little disappointing. It does look like nice; but to be honest the PSP version looked nice too.

What makes this version stand out is the online functionality and, more importantly, the superb track building tools which use both touchscreens. These are used in ways which are very natural and intuitive. For example on the track editor you can raise or lower elements (such as scenery or the track itself). Tap on the front screen to raise and tap on the rear screen to lower. This best demonstrated how the touchscreen can suddenly make not so new ideas far more accessible, and the rear screen takes that logic to a new level.

MotorStorm RC

This was a lively little game. To be honest, there is very little Motorstorm about it. It is not a traditional 3D racer, but one which harks back to the 16 bit days of off-beat racing games, such as Skidmarks on the Amiga. As with Skidmarks it’s very non-offensive fun. Races are very short, so the game has that ‘just one more go element’. The game is one of the first to offer the ‘buy one copy for both PS3 and PSVita’ technology. Whilst PS3 users and Vita users cannot play against each other, all online leaderboard and community features will be shared.

This will be a digital, PSN release and it will be one of the launch titles. If priced fairly this will offer compelling and honest fun gaming, something often missing in modern videogames.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3

Not a lot to say here. It is Marvel vs Capcom, in your hands and with terrific graphics. If you want a serious fighter in your hands you’ll want this. It is fast, fluid and looks amazing. There seemed to be a huge list of characters to choose from, and it was comfortable to play.

We think it’ll be the only (serious) fighter at launch, but it also looks like it’ll be setting the standard for the others that follow at a high mark.

Little Deviants

It’s a minigame collection. A little bit Super Monkey Ball, a little bit Face Raiders (from the 3DS) and a little bit this and that from every other mini-collection on the market!

This has been relegated to a title which is simply a tech demo to show off the PSVita’s control options. Based upon the lack of people playing it at the event, it’s fair to assume that it has not garnered a whole lot of interest.

This is because people’s assumptions seem on our experience largely true. Once again, as with Reality Fighters, this might be better as a pack-in, a Wii Sports title for the PSVita to help move units off the shelf. However if this game is priced at £30 or above it’ll surely bomb. Most of the game modes are not memorable and most people would have played something similar elsewhere. The AR games built into it are very similar to the software packed into the 3DS.

I’m sure there is more to this game, but we will have to wait till its formal release to see and experience it.

Super Stardust

A PS3 favourite. What can we say? It’s Super Stardust on the Vita. It looks amazing, the controls are superb too. Dual stick controls (as you would expect), face and shoulder button use and touchscreen controls for some weapons. Additionally you can control a camera which lets you see more of the above or across from your ship by gently tilting the Vita.

The tilting doesn’t change the gameplay and you don’t ever need to do it, but it adds real depth to the graphics, and can be useful to plan strategies if you can keep a couple of steps ahead of the game.

F1 and Ridge Racer

Both driving games were generally underwhelming. Ridge Racer looks very competent, with high res graphics, but it seems like a cynical release to cash in. Locations might be high res, but they are quite dull. F1 also looked competent; but I felt that despite the lower resolution, driving games might actually be better on the 3DS, due to that much underused 3D screen. Games where you are going at speed into the distance can really benefit from that third dimension, possibly more than extra high res textures.

FIFA 12

This is FIFA, in your hands. No other way to say it really. Well visually it is, anyway. The game, from what we experienced, lacked the new defending technology, but the graphics seemed almost the same. FIFA on the old PSP played well, despite only having one control stick – so even though the Vita has two, the difference is less pronounced than with other genres.

However, the touchscreens add some really great depth to the gameplay. Shooting can (if you wish) be controlled by swiping the rear screen, but more importantly, passing can be triggered on the top screen. Simply press where you want the ball and the player will try to pass it there, even if they are not currently pointing in that direction. It’s not a replacement for traditional button play, but for situations where you see a possible ‘play’ (even if your player and teammates are not all in the right positions, or facing the right way), then touching is a superb way of triggering a counter attack.

This could be a system seller.

WipEout 2048

This was simply blinding. It looked amazing. It was fast (locked at 30 frames per second I think the developer said – which on an OLED screen is better than 60 frames on a LCD), has all the features a WipEout game would have, and a great selection of tracks. Controls were as you would expect, in addition to tilt control, which felt really comfortable.

One of the really cool elements was the implementation of Cross Play. This meant that Wipeout HD (on PS3) users could play alongside PSVita users where the tracks were the same, both with local play and with online play. We tested this feature using local wireless and it was seamless. We also have to point out that the game looked better on that cool OLED screen.

WipEout has become a smaller franchise in recent years, but the Vita could see it blossom again and become the mainstream racer it once was.

Gravity Rush

Beautiful is not often a word associated with games, but once in a while a game comes out which is lovely to look at. It is not trying to be realistic or fluorescent in tone, but is simply mind expanding. Gravity Crash is beautiful to look at but also to play.

How can we explain it? Well it is a third person brawler (in some ways to its detriment as it could be a puzzler, like Portal with some more imagination), where you can shift the centre of gravity. Your main character can fly through the air, suspending and switching the perspective on the fly. It is beautiful and is fully realised by taking advantage of the control set of the Vita. The dual sticks, the motion controls and traditional buttons all come together to allow the gameplay to flow along without it feeling clumsy. That, you see, is why it is beautiful. The gameplay is allowed to develop and involve you, as the hardware is able to display and perform the code the way the designers have clearly intended it to be experienced.

The demo was short and didn’t explain much about the setting. All that was clear was that you play a young girl, who has a cat as a friend, who doesn’t understand where she is or how she can control gravity.

I’m sure the story will be bizarre to match the gameplay, but that’s just fine. Along with traditional IP such as FIFA and WipEout, this should be one of your launch purchases.

It comes in a BLUE box!

PSVita Summary

So to summarise, the launch line up does have some real gems. Sony will need to work with its third party developer to make sure there is a constant flow of new games soon after launch. A 3DS style vacuum of games to follow till August 2012 could kill the system, so we hope the games we saw were only the start of a constantly growing line up.

However, with FPS games not even shown off and with at least Resistance confirmed for release soon after launch, and third person shooter Unit 13 recently announced, it seems Sony are on track to offer a comprehensive selection to any early adopters.

A true tablet for gamers is what the Vita offers. The platform has the potential to offer superb £40 games, digital games at £5 and possibly ‘marketplace’ style apps for 80 pence. We also saw some of the serious apps, such as Twitter, the web browser (not fully working) and other social-orientated applications which shows that this could be a hardcore gamer’s one stop shop for media consumption, and a true player in the portable digital market.

• Format:PSP and PS3 Mini
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Tower Studios
• Developer: Vivid Games
• Players: 1
• Site: http://www.tower-studios.co.uk/

Do not dismiss this game because you have not got a PSP or do not use your PSP. Why? It’ll work on the PS3 and up and coming PS Vita. And why is it so important we bring this to your attention? Because this game is great, amazing value, and possibly the first PSN Mini which is a must have. Seriously. We’ll set out the argument below.

As with the IOs version the original metallic palette has been considerably brightened up.

If you recall we have already reviewed this game for iOS devices, and we gave it a ‘safe’ 7/10 score. It was the same great game of Speedball 2 that we could remember, but somehow some of the atmosphere seemed left behind and this was acerbated by a poor man’s compromise between tilt controls and a touch screen virtual joystick. For all the criticism the PSP has received over the years about only having one thumb stick, it is ironic that near the end of its lifecycle it receives a game that was designed for only one thumb stick! This was originally an Amiga game, and that platform utilised joysticks, which mainly only had one fire button and one simple control stick. The PSP is in its element here, and the game equally plays well on the PS3 (more on that later).

Speedball 2 is rugby, handball and Australian Rules Football combined in a future setting. It’s faced paced, and it involves scoring points in multiple ways. Methods of scoring include throwing the ball into the opposition’s goal, bouncing it off mechanisms in the field of play, or just by knocking out opposition players.

The graphics are sharp and the sound is as good as we remember on the Amiga, and seems to have been sharpened up a little; but that might just be psychological. Either way the presentation is excellent, with clear menus and updated graphics for team selection, and the whole package is very high quality.

Updated Menus make the game more accessible and smarter for 2011

The game has no multiplayer mode which is a real let down, but which is a problem with the Mini format, used to get this game to market. Multiplayer Speedball 2 would be amazing over PSN, and perhaps if this Mini does well Sony might be encouraged to request an upgraded PS Vita/PS3 version which is a full PSN release. What the game does offer is a full ten season career mode, a quick match mode and a challenge mode (which is really the career mode broken down into its individual elements). Additionally the game comes with its own form of achievements and trophies encouraging different styles of play.

In our previous review we had discussed the little known fact that there was a version on the GBA. We thought that it was a near perfect conversion of the game. The iOS version seemed a step back from that, but this PSN Mini version is a step in the right direction. We dug out our coveted GBA conversion (which is almost identical to the Amiga in every way) and overall we can say that this is an improvement on the original! The only two remaining issues are the already mentioned lack of multiplayer and that compared to the original, the characters don’t always seemed to be connected to the floor when running. This might simply be an illusion caused by a wider range of colours being used in the newest build; or it’s because the player animations have been tampered with, leaving an undesired effect visible to the player.

We really can’t stop emphasising how this game really suits this gaming platform. It is not just player movement which is far more fluid, but in addition the ability to curve the ball is given extra refinement with the implementation of proper analogue control.

Speedball has always been a great concept, and the original developers, The Bitmap Brothers, struck upon a timeless gem. The iOS version is still very good; but if you have a PSP lying about and/or a PS3 this is a must have download. Most PSN Minis are throwaway titles, but this will keep you coming back and back for a quick fix. The game looks just fine on the PS3 (a higher res build would be lovely, but this will suffice), unlike many Minis which don’t scale that nicely to a large HD screen.

If you want a hard hitting, addictive sports game which gives instant gratification get this now. Heck it’s only £2.49, which is less than the IOs version. Hopefully if enough of us get it Sony will see fit to commission a full PSN release with multiplayer, both local and online.

Gaming websites are very, very popular. Traditionally they were popular as it was the place you went to (if you didn’t wait for the magazine copy) to get the first review of a game. A review was important, really important, as often the review was the first place where you could really find out the details of a release. However over the least five years, the review has become less and less relevant for the large budget ’super release’ games that are designed to hit the October to January release window.

A whole load of game, requiring a whole load of review.

The games due for release during that period this year such as Batman Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and so on have been previewed to the high heavens. We have seen a plethora of detailed written previews and, more importantly, huge amounts of streaming content. Some content has appeared in edited trailers, and others being over the shoulder camera footage of in-game content. Now this is not to suggest that games don’t need reviewing any more. Of course they do. However, it’s one thing playing the game for 10-30 minutes in bite sized chunks and another playing through the narrative and judging the experience in its entirety. Indeed recently we had the pleasure of previewing Bodycount, the new FPS from Codemasters. I’m happy to say that a ten minute playthrough showed the game had promise. Indeed for ten minutes it was quite fun. However, just see its Metacritic scores and read the well written reviews from a range of sites and it’s clear its content doesn’t hold together well for a full 5-10 hours (if you can get near to ten hours from it!) £40 game experience.

Looks great doesn't it! Plays great too for 10 minutes.

Yet, for many gamers, the reviews of these AAA releases about to be unleashed on us are superfluous. Many have already decided and pre-ordered. Myself included. Indeed the cult of the pre-order, often with the pre-order bonus, has increased this diminution of the role of the final review. To exacerbate the situation the publishers are giving out review copies closer to the release date on some titles, or due to the decreasing margins for websites the number of staff (and hence reviewers) are decreasing, whilst title lengths are increasing.

What does this mean in practicality? Reviewers sometimes play the game through on the easiest level setting. This might be followed by replays of select passages whilst on more extreme difficulty settings to test improved AI, and how the increase in difficulty measures up in terms of overall game experience. Of course, some areas of the game can’t be fully tested, such as many of the side missions (a requirement of many of the third person, open world games on the market) and it’s really hard to fully test the online part of a game before release in terms of robustness. Testing game modes though is something that we can all do, with many developers (not all though) offering open betas, often a month or more before release.

Uncharted 3 for example has had extensive testing, both for all PSN users and for PSN Plus users. Additionally, who interested in Battlefield 3 reading this has not played the BF3 beta that was available on PC and both consoles?

So what purpose does the review serve? Clearly some people don’t follow every article and preview. Some play on their console seasonally and are not aware of the betas. In addition there are still a healthy proportion of owners who don’t like playing online and for whom the single player narrative is the most important element. For them the review is still crucial; but even they have to accept that the degree of thoroughness a reviewer might have is limited and influenced by a great deal of pressure.

For everyone else, the review serves a different set of objectives. For some, they just enjoy games so much that they like reading about games (the same reason someone might choose to read a feature or commentary article like this). They like to see the energy and excitement a game can bring to a fellow game lover, and share in the glory of seeing someone else delight in a superb narrative and interactive experience.

However, there is also a negative reason to read reviews. Due to the betas, previews, video clips and hype games have focused upon them, they have fans and groupies before they even hit the shelves. This is where the review becomes a victim of the marketing machine. If the reviewer dares criticise or celebrate a game suddenly all the readers who have already made up their mind somehow feel personally violated and start attacking or supporting the review; and in some cases making it personal, focusing their attention on the reviewer.

"Modern Warefare 3 pisses on Battlefield 3. You got that? Say YES CHEF!"

This is an ugly and immature culture that is developing. It’s one thing to be into a brand, claiming that you really enjoyed previous incarnations – but to start attacking or supporting a game which you have not fully played is daft! Okay, so the reviewer might not have had the time to experience 100% of what the game offers, but at least they have the release copy and have had significantly more time with it than their readers.

Gaming has always had fanboys, but they mainly focused on arguing about consoles. When they did argue about games it was post release and they could claim to have played them. With publishers hyping games more and more, this situation will only get worse. Reviews will decrease and websites will turn to more news and feature based articles. Already some websites are encouraging reader reviews, which although democratising, can result in lower editorial standards across the industry as a whole.

Criticising is an art in itself. No reviewer has a divine right to know what is good or bad, but by playing a cross section of titles regularly they can develop a good knowledge of what is good, bad, inventive, well executed or clumsily brought to life. In a world where we are being bombarded with more and more content, via XBL, PSN, app stores, etc and still encouraged to purchase expensive £60 titles, we need ways of filtering out the bad from the good. Old fashioned reviewing is under threat and if it is eventually replaced by social reviews, we shall be worse off without it.

Criticalgamer.co.uk was recently invited down to London to experience Codemasters’ up and coming shooter Bodycount. For those of you who have not been following the development of Bodycount, let us have a small reminder of events so far.

The game has unofficially been tagged the spiritual successor to the PS2 and Xbox hit Black, not least due to Black’s lead designer being involved. However, he left the development of Bodycount some time back and so that link is a little tenuous and overused. What does link the two games is the focus on arcade style, explosive gun battles where the star of the game is the gun.

Unlike, say, Borderlands where the stars are the many guns, Bodycount only has ten firearms and they are not customisable. However, they are full of character, and by limiting the player to two at a time getting to know their strengths and weaknesses will be crucial for efficient gameplay.

The gameplay itself is very ‘throw away’, but in a good way. A great deal of the environment can be destroyed, and this is best highlighted when the player takes cover. There is no ‘cover button’ per se, but instead the ‘ironsights’ button is no longer an ‘on or off’ toggle but instead recognises the analogue nature of the controller, similar to how modern racing games allow you to control the gas pedal.

Hence if you hold the left shoulder button all the way down you will have a traditional, accurate iron sight but you cannot strafe or move. You look, and you can lean. Yes, you can lean left, right and over objects allowing you to use anything for cover, however it best suits you. However, the cover you hide behind rarely lasts long as either your own bullets or enemy ammunition will soon destroy it. If you only hold the left shoulder button halfway down you will have traditional ironsights with movement; but it is less accurate. This system works very well and is refreshing. Leaning has been in FPS games before, but this is one of the best implementations of the technique.

The game forces you to run – keep moving and keep shooting. The storyline is intentionally non-existent as the game is all about the action, similar to a nonsense 1980s Hollywood action film. You are an unnamed character, working for a vague organisation fighting the enemy. That’s about it. The levels have mission targets within them, but you can carry them out as you choose as each level is a small sandbox, rather than a linear scripted experience. Additionally the game will offer traditional deathmatch shooting and a co-op survival mode, which could be terrific. As the rounds progress there would be less and less scenario to hide behind!

The build we saw was not the latest and the graphics were still rough at times, but the game moved fast (it’s a 30 frames per second game, techie nerds), and the outside level we saw looked bright and inviting. We also saw an inside level which, while clearly inspired by Tron, felt very narrow; full of ‘corridors’ and a strange coming together of Halo 1’s opening level and the Wii’s Conduit (not a good thing that).

Overall this could be a great antidote to the serious nature of MW3 and BF3. Other games have tried to give players a lighter, more humorous shooter in recent times such as Bulletstorm and Duke Nukem Forever, but many have failed as they got too bogged down in narrative or were not ‘pure enough’ in terms of simple shooting and running action. Our playthrough was limited and as with all AAA titles, we are still to find out if the game can keep our interest for a number of hours.

If the level design can be kept varied, and if a range of gameplay modes such as destroy and fetch missions along with survival (with respawning enemy sections against the clock) and possibly more can be implemented, then Bodycount could be a high quality, over the top diversion from the serious nature of the other 2011 shooters. A game like this really needs interesting locations and maps, along with enemies with a good AI. Even though the build we experienced was not up to date, the enemy AI already seemed ferocious and adaptive, which bodes well.

Bodycount could be a very addictive, play for 30 minutes and get a high score shooter. It’s out in a few months and with any luck we will do a full review to see if the final package hangs together and delivers on its promise to entertain with explosions and adrenaline.

Nintendo discovered the mainstream casual market but for some reason missed the fact that this audience had migrated to phones and tablets. Evidence: launching with Nintendodogs; a game which is no longer relevant to the typical dedicated gaming handheld consumer.

It says something when the best reason to switch on a games console is to see if that firmware update you have been waiting for has actually been released yet. Normally this level of excitement might be associated with a never quite on schedule Blackberry release, or possibly the once a year Xbox Live update. However, my first few months of owning a 3DS was spent waiting for it to become functional.

Without wanting to pre-empt the whole article, I should add that it is now functional, and it is all the better for being so. Yet, it seems strange that a company as wise and rich as Nintendo would bring a product to market which would turn its own ‘early adopters’ into its worst possible ‘word of mouth’ marketing team. I am yet to read an article, or meet a fellow owner, who was not full of dismay and scorn at the device resulting in them questioning whether the 3DS represented Nintendo’s first great marketing misstep since the birth of the Gamecube.

The 3DS launched with a lot of razzle and dazzle, with celebrities and events globally. The official magazines, and not so official magazines along with websites had previews of exciting first and third party games which, although not PS3 level of graphics, still looked great and would arrive within weeks of launch. As the launch approached, retailers started changing the launch line-up as games (the ones people might want to actually play) were delayed. The machine launched with very few good games, very few good games that justified £35 a pop, in a world where PS3/Xbox games retail soon after launch at £40 and apps for the iphone and ipad are £1. The good games were Ridge Racer (no online racing mind you), Street Fighter 4 and, er, yeah….

Months later Dead or Alive arrived, (superb) and a remastered and repackaged Ocarina of Time (amazing), followed by Resident Evil Mercenaries (great but way overpriced) and then another vacuum.

This might have made a great E-Store launch title. However, who ever thought it would justify £20-£35?

Now, perhaps Nintendo have realised that charging too much for 3DS games will cancel out the issue that there are actually very few worth buying. The few that are worth having can just about claim to be worth £35, at a push, so owners might buy one every two months. To be honest though, they probably won’t, not if the experience is so limited such as it is with Resident Evil Mercenaries. 3DS owners want and expect handheld versions of full console games, and this is what the publishers and developers need to bring to the party. Of course we live in a digital age, the age of the download and of the stream, and Nintendo had supposedly taken this on board with the 3DS, which was going to be made super E-Friendly. The way in which they best demonstrated this level of E-Friendlyness was to launch the system with no Browser or E-store, saying it’ll be along in a couple of months, maybe, perhaps, possibly – if you close one eye whilst standing on one leg singing the French national anthem backwards.

May came, and the store arrived. As app stores go, this is very well designed and easy to use. The store makes good use of the fact the 3DS has 2 screens, and it’s easy to navigate using the buttons on the 3DS or the touch screen using your finger. In fact as an aside, many people criticise the 3DS for still using a stylus. This criticism is not fair as the resolution of the bottom screen is much higher than that of the original DS which most of the time, results in you not needing a stylus as it is very responsive. Anyway, back to that E-Store…..

It’s easy to find what you want and there are a nice number of trailers appearing adding the idea that it’s not just an E-Store but a general content delivery system for trailers and everything Nintendo. You would think that with the time Nintendo had available to it whilst arranging the release of the E-Store it would arrive full of games and videos from the get-go. Hell no; it launched with one free game, that being a remastered version of ExciteBike, a couple of Gameboy games (including the amazing Super Mario Land) and then a best of DSi highlights. Strangely the DSi games seem much more appealing on this system, not least because you can have quite a few of them installed without running out of memory.

Yet Nintendo have missed a trick here. If they are willing to allow us to have new 3DS-only titles saved onto our SD card, then why not the DSi games too? Having to copy and move games from one storage medium to another is absurd in this ‘click now and play in 30 seconds’ lifestyle we live in. Even if you do have the patience for such stupidity, it results in your save data being lost. This in turn results in you never buying another DSi game, once you have reached your storage limit, if you don’t want either inconvenience. For new 3DS-only games though, there is no such trouble. Save away onto your SD card, and all will be well. The store is an Xbox Live experience in that it also offers regularly updated trailers and channels and hence encourages you to visit regularly to see what else is new.

Whilst I appreciate Nintendo do not want their E-Store reaching saturation point with an ios level of apps and games, they are still too far the other extreme. They should be adding many more games to the store, and certainly more 3DS exclusive games. These don’t all have to be major releases, and could even include free downloads with paid DLC as on ios, which can offer longer lasting revenue streams for certain types of games.

A game which really does justify the investment into the console. More remakes or original titles to this standard must hit the shelves month after month.

So, where now for the 3DS? At last it seems the pieces are in place and the technology works. The release list for major games though still looks brittle and is worrying, but if the promised first party games are delivered on schedule they should drive sales and create a community attractive enough for third party support. I have a sneaking suspicion that in a year’s time, when the PS Vita is out, Nintendo might be regretting not putting a second analogue slider on the device, where there is already space for one. Yet if they can get the price down to £150 or even closer to £120 within a year (quite possible) I think it’ll be a device that can overcome its troubled start and carve out a space for itself in a very congested portable technology landscape.

Editor’s note: This article was originally submitted mere hours before Nintendo announced they were reducing the trade price of the 3DS by about a third, so Steven actually pre-empted this. Honest.

The 3DS false start has caused some to fear the end of dedicated handhelds

Many analysts are claiming the death of the dedicated handheld console way too early. Article after article points out the huge number of smartphone sales and app adoption, and from there leap to the conclusion that this in some way means that there is no future in the dedicated handheld market. I disagree with this position and see that there is room for a strong dedicated handheld offering from the major gaming manufactures. That is not to suggest that I’m blind to the changes taking place in this sector, nor does it mean that I think there will always be a market for dedicated handhelds. I’m open to a world without them eventually, but I would argue it’s way too hard to make that call at present.

So why are ‘experts’ stating that this market is dying? Well clearly there are a ton of smartphones out there, and many are able to play high quality games. However there are five strong reasons why, for the next generation at least, handheld consoles have a role for the serious gamer.

Firstly, if you play games a lot on the move on your phone the batteries cannot cope. This means you’ll find yourself rationing or unable to make phone calls. With their primary purpose being able to make and receive phone calls, it is a major disability when the battery cannot allow such calls to take place. Even emailing a lot can drain the battery on most smartphones, which is why many business people choose to carry a blackberry for email and another phone for calls. Whilst batteries are coming along leaps and bounds, and the CPUs which drive these machines are improving drastically, the extra ‘oomph’ these improvements deliver are fast consumed by the increase in graphical quality and screen fidelity demanded by the consumer, content creator and hardware designer.

Secondly, apart from the Experia Play, all the devices lack credible physical controls. For some forms of games this is not a problem at all, and some have blossomed because of it; but it clearly leaves out a very large number of game genres (especially those adopted by the hardcore) from being experienced in their optimum environment. The hardcore might be a minority term; but it’s a rather large minority who are willing to spend large amounts of money on games and hardware if the content justifies the financial investment (I’ll get onto that in a moment). The hardcore complained about only having one analogue stick on the PSP, so we are hardly excited about having none on the iPhone. Devices that emulate a control stick via the touch screen create a new problem as fast they attempt to solve an existing one. Have you played Street Fighter 4 on the iphone? The controls are not bad, but I can’t for the hell of me see what’s going on as my thumbs are on top of the actual graphics. Now I’m sure some can live with this, but for those that justify this and go out of their way to tell me it’s acceptable, let me pop round to your house when you are watching Avatar in HD and stand in front of your TV wriggling my bottom.

Physical buttons are no fad!

Thirdly, the software ecosystem and dedicated IP offered by the two differing types of devices vary greatly. The smartphone with its app store has allowed a huge amount of content to be generated and sold at amazingly low prices. This is great for the consumer, especially consumers who have never purchased mainstream games before. Additionally, some hardcore gamers also enjoy this content. Apple’s App Store has been good for the genres which were being overlooked on traditional consoles. Additionally, in the case of the latter years of the DS, it has helped make a mockery of the type of software Ubisoft and others were putting out priced at £30 but offering little more than a 79p app. However, this same marketplace is unable to sustain AAA titles, except once in a while. Yes, the iPhone might have its own version of Splinter Cell, but it is a different, cheaper to produce game. Would we have ever seen the iPhone version of Splinter Cell take the lead with regard to design and publishing priority? I can’t imagine such a reality, unless Apple bought Ubisoft and made it an Apple only developer as way of selling more hardware (always a possibility moving forward).

An ecosystem with such low consumer prices cannot offer a return on investment similar to that provided by traditional consoles. Is it easier to make money on the App Store? For sure, in theory, if your app can get noticed. However, is it easy to make hundreds of million of dollars? Not at all.

Will Apple ever own an IP in the world of gaming?

Additionally, Apple do not yet own or publish internally commissioned content. Perhaps one day they might; after all they have bought music software businesses and other developers as a way of capturing other markets. Yet, at present they do not and hence they lack strong IPs, which can drive the sales of hardware. It could be argued that their best IP is the App store itself along with iOS, but that perhaps is not as strong in the long term as Mario, Uncharted, or LittleBigPlanet. An App store can be replicated, but quality IP cannot be (ask Gameloft).

You see, the handheld is to the videogames industry, what the Cinema is to the film industry. The movie industry needs cinema and to an extent huge HDTVs. The experience of seeing a film on such a large screen with amazing sound is unique and consumers love it. Hence movie studios are able to invest in quality IP that makes the most of the cinema experience and justifies the high price of the tickets demanded of consumers. In turn, the dedicated handheld with its physical controls and larger, or double screen viewing experience is a perfect stage for major games such as Ocarina of Time or Uncharted, which would not see the light of day on a smart phone.

Fourth reason; whilst on paper many of the devices can provide superb graphics, many are often behind the curve in contrast to the dedicated consoles. This is because with the case of the PlayStation hardware it launches well ahead of the curve and it’s only near the end of its life that phone based hardware really catches up. It can be argued that this differential is fast reducing, however, as the smartphone has to always be running phone, messaging and other services; in reality, they can never truly throw their full processing weight behind running a game. This is why even the 3DS graphics look great compared to phones, which are technically more powerful – just compare Resident Evil Mercenaries on the 3DS to the ios version.

Fifth, the price of smart phones, or at least the ones that can really rival dedicated handhelds, are very high. If bought out of contract they can cost close to £500 (iPhone) and the iPad price is £400-£600. The iPad is often mentioned as a handheld and even home based console competitor. Let’s remember a PS3 costs around £250 and does so much more – it’s a daft claim to argue they are in the same space in reality. The PS Vita in comparison is looking at being £280 at launch, with the 3DS already selling new for around £170. The argument goes, that the software for the 3DS and PS devices are much more, but see point three above – it’s not a like-for-like comparison and the hardcore market knows and understands this. That’s why they still buy Call of Duty every Christmas for £40 as well as Angry Birds. The hardcore perceive them as two distinct offerings.

It'll do everything you know, like a tablet, except it's aimed at serious gamers...

The 3DS has had a dismal launch but if the price stabilises around £150 by Christmas, then with a strong boxed retail line up and with a good range of £2-£8 content on its excellent eShop there is no reason why this won’t be a platform which performs excellently over the next 3-5 years, appealing to old and young alike.

The PS Vita could end up being the tablet for game lovers. It is clear that for many hardcore gamers the iPad is too large, too expensive and lacks physical inputs. If the Vita also has amazing (and flash enabled) browsing, full media capabilities, perhaps even ebooks, then it could end up being perceived as the gamers tablet of choice. It’s not by chance that Sony have moved away from the small screen format of the PSP Go, and decided on a screen large enough for a quality web experience, but more portable and manageable than that of the iPad. It’s also no surprise that the device might offer compatibility with the Android market, offering the best of both worlds from an app perspective.

Will we still be playing on dedicated handhelds in 15 years? Even I don’t want to look that far ahead, but if gamers still want physical controls, AAA content and as long as there between 50-200 million of them worldwide then this will be enough to justify companies existing to provide a solution to that demand with dedicated hardware. For the immediate future though, expect to see 3DS consoles and PS Vitas on birthday and holiday season gift lists for the next 5 years.

Angry Birds has been a HUGE success. It's no fad, there will be other similar successes, but that doesn't mean that this form of gaming will replace hardcore titles. However, the game can also exist on the 3DS and PS Vita and add value to their entertainment offer.

These are the theatres in which I perform.

I call myself a gamer. You probably do too. Indeed, we have taken that term – which has traditionally meant ‘nerd’ – and turned it into something which is more self assertive, something we can be proud of; as we are proud of our community and our common interests. Yet, does the word ‘game’ best reflect spending an hour with Modern Warfare, or Uncharted?

There is clearly a problem with the word game, which affects not only how we look at our own past-time but also how those outside our medium view and value it. What is a game? It’s something one plays. It’s not even a sport, simply an activity that involves play. In much the same way that children or young monkeys play, so we also play. Most likely, society tends to perceive playing as an infantile activity. To be fair, ask any actor what they are doing on stage and they will say they are ‘playing’ a certain character. Indeed it’s by playing out a part and narrative that we can experience certain emotions and situations, in an environment which is not real, allowing us to analyse and confront feelings and decisions which we either might never experience in reality or never have the time to properly consider.

However, actors on a stage or set are not playing a game, they are playing a character. It’s clear that videogames are slowly but surely allowing us to do the same. Rather than playing a game, where you either win or lose, we are instead playing a character, exploring that role’s twists and turns whilst exposing a narrative thread. Clearly some games take more care over their character and narrative development than others. However, if we step back and look at the industry’s output in general, most games are at least attempting to achieve this. Games such as Modern Warfare and Red Faction have characters which we play, with strong narratives. Some commentators might raise the issue that only some of these games offer plot choices, as if this somehow makes the act of playing a character more sincere; but this is a red herring, as an actor on a stage does not have narrative choices, they only have choices regarding how they will react to the role they are playing out.

In Modern Warfare 2 there was a huge amount of debate surrounding the Russian airport scene. The scene played out exactly the same way, whatever the player decided to do. You were an undercover agent, embedded with Russian terrorists about to carry out an atrocity. You were not compelled to act like the terrorists, but the narrative would not let you change the story and attack the bad guys. That’s fine – that’s what happens with films. Rarely does an actor on set suddenly improvise and act in a way totally counter to that stipulated in the script. However, if the character and story is compelling, then as we play out that Russian airport scene we should be experiencing a range of emotions and thoughts, which until that moment we had never experienced in our relatively safe and regular daily lives. The first person perspective has the ability to really amplify parts of what is happening around us, as our experience is so focused on what is literally ahead of us, as seen through our virtual eyes.

Some games are trying to go out of their way to highlight the fact that they offer us ‘gamers’ the ability to play a character. Unfortunately, they seem obsessed with taking elements from film and fusing them with games. Heavy Rain demonstrates this style of fusion between the traditional art of acting (as so much of the character movement is motion captured from real actors) and interactive directing by the player. At times the real actor gives way and passes control onto us, where we are given an opportunity to become the actor from the comfort of our sofa. At other times, we step back and once again become the director, making decisions that affect the story and timeline.

Moody, linear, strong narrative and some rehashed game mechanics to highlight it's differences.

L.A. Noire, in contrast, offers a pretty linear experience, but with traditional game elements (such as shoot-outs and driving) embedded into the experience to punctuate and involve the user in the characters they are following. Additionally, the entire questioning experience is a simple way to have the player react to the computer character performances in a question and response mechanism. It’s basic, but it does involve a degree of improvisation, which can slightly alter how the exposition of the main story plays out. In reality though, the questioning ‘mini-game’ (which I feel is poorly executed – better to just have a Bioware dialogue wheel) is clumsy, and is just a version of  ‘rock, paper, scissors’ utilised as a way of choosing which story thread to activate.

Of course, not all games have meaningful characters, with deep back-stories and strong story lines. Surely, you ask, the multiplayer part of an FPS title is simply a game and am I really arguing that Angry Birds involves exploring character and emotion? Maybe I am. Perhaps the multiplayer element is the drama equivalent of a large-scale improvisation session, and Angry Birds is purely an interactive edition of Bugs Bunny. When I play a multiplayer shooter, the game develops its own narrative as the rounds develop. Those of us with voice chat, when it’s not just junk speech, are creating our own lines, reacting to the chaos around us. Surely, if ‘The Only Way is Essex’ can win a BAFTA and is considered a form of drama, so too can the maps of Battlefield: Bad Company?

Often we attack our own favourite media, complaining that the reason stories linked to games are not as compelling as TV, film or literature is due to the story being secondary to the experience or the writers not being as talented. I think we do videogames a disservice here, as many TV shows, films and books also have generic storylines which are pastiche works. For every classic production there are hundreds of forgettable titles. Additionally there are plenty of films where the story is secondary to the special effects or initial premise, which then fails to develop – Pirates of the Caribbean anyone?

Games are finding their own voice and are moving forward narrative concepts. For sure, they explore action related narratives best, and perhaps in that specific genre are starting to do it better than films. Games such as Modern Warfare handle the Jerry Bruckheimer production better than film. EA’s The Sims has demonstrated that videogames can handle the domestic, non-eventful stories in life, which TV has traditionally handled through soaps. The Sims can be criticised for providing an amplified, exaggerated version of domesticated life – but the same can said of TV based soaps.

As motion and animation capture improves, so does the ability to deliver meaningful stories and experiences

Motion capture technology is fast improving, and consoles and PCs are increasing in power to increasingly portray the real world (and worlds which can’t be created on a set, such as the worlds of Avatar) with greater realism. Console systems are offering an ever-evolving way of interacting with the story, from using a traditional controller to body and voice control via technologies such as Kinect. Hence, it is clear that just as being a musician has been democratised, allowing many non-specialist participants to express themselves, so too acting will become an activity which we can all partake in. It needn’t be something we only watch, but something we do. Those of us who are called Gamers, are the early pioneers of this new way of experiencing a story.

As mentioned at the top of this article, another word for actor is player. So perhaps from now on, us Gamers should think a little more of ourselves, and instead of feeling the need to justify our playtime, confidently pronounce to those on the periphery why our stories and dramas are all the more real and meaningful than theirs as we get to play through them.

It's all an act!