I must say, when I got Nier through the post, I hadn’t really heard a great deal about it. All I knew was that it had been developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix, which wasn’t a great deal of information. I had heard things from people saying it was a one button affair and that it didn’t look anything special, but it didn’t put me off, after all, I have to formulate my own opinion don’t I?
After putting the game in the tray I was greeted by an audio only monologue from a woman that seemed to be talking to a character called Weiss. I say talking. I mean shouting abuse and profanity at him in a comical yet erm… enthusiastic way. This was before I had even started the game. Hell, I hadn’t even pressed start and new game, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the story was going to be as colourful. That said, I got the show on the road to find out if this game was worth shelling out for.
It happens to every gamer and some point in time. Sometimes more than just the once. It’s what I like to call the ‘dry spell’, where you pop a game in the console, start to play and promptly turn it right back off again. The will to play any game has completely disappeared and it doesn’t matter what game is in the console, it could even be the newest game on the market that you have been waiting since forever for, it’s like eating a really nice looking meal but one that tastes of nothing but sawdust.
1994 was a bad year. Fred West’s house was excavated, Kurt Cobain killed himself and Ayrton Senna was killed during an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix. In fact if you look at all of that year you will see that there was probably little to celebrate. Saying that, one thing that was definitely worth celebrating about was the release of Shiny Entertainment’s Earthworm Jim. This side-scrolling platform game had everything; class, charm and style and was well received around the world.
Way back in 1997 a game was released that would forever be heralded as one of the best games of all time. It had an epic storyline, one that is still gripping people to this day. The game was Final Fantasy VII. Now, I know that the seventh game in the series wasn’t the starting point for the franchise, but it was easily the most recognised throughout the world, especially in the Western market. Previous titles had really only appealed to the Japanese market and Final Fantasy VII was the turning point. Since that time, people have always anticipated the next Final Fantasy game, hoping for another character that would capture them like Cloud Strife did all those years ago.
Sex in video games has always been taboo. It starts with a developer adding something to a game that people deem inappropriate, like a having sex with a prostitute in GTA, to being something more risqué like a topless character in Heavy Rain. Nine times out of ten these scenes or gameplay extras never usually make the final cut of the game due to the classification board not allowing them to be kept in.
As a gamer I like to sit back, relax while playing a game and make as little movement as possible! It’s not that I’m lazy or anything like that, but to me gaming is supposed to be a time for me to wind down, not getting wound up at frustrating controls or waving my arms around like a retarded chicken. Maybe with an attitude like that you may think I weigh in at a weight of twenty stone and counting with every slice of pizza, cream cake and beer that I consume. You couldn’t be more wrong, I would say I look athletic, but I don’t think you can classify an eleven stone empty wetsuit as athletic.
We at This Is My joystick happen to be lucky enough to have a presence at the GAME British Academy Video Game Awards. That’s right, we’re at the BAFTA’s folks. So why not mosey on over to TIMJ and follow the live text as it happens.
Through The Mind of Simon Weatherall 