Harry's Blog

Sensible jobs involve moving bits of paper around a desk. That's not really my thing. So instead I find myself doing very odd things. Such as going to Camden to stand under stage lighting to play plastic guitar-based videogames.

It's an odd life.

Thanks to BHPR for the photo. And for not making me look too fat.

Go and read this piece of nonense at the Daily Mail.

Read it?

Good.

Do you know what that image actually is? No it's not created by Al Qaeda.

It's promotional artwork from a Role Playing Game called Fallout 3.

Yes the Daily Mail should be ground into dust.

Well this is a first. I'm actually blogging by phone. Why? Well because I'm waiting at St Pancras station for a train to Paris. No I'm not on holiday, this is actually a work thing. It's rather exciting but I miss my gorgeous wifey loads already.

I'm not one to blow my own trumpet¹ but I thought it worth mentioning that you can read my review of Grand Theft Auto IV over at Boomtown.net.

There's been an awful lot of guff written about the game by journalists that seem to have been on the receiving end of illicit sexual favours from Rockstar Games. That's the only explanation I can see for the astonishing hyperbole that has greeted the launch of what is a very good videogame.

I think there are many games journalists who are going to feel rather embarrassed about their GTA reviews in a few months' time. The game is good, very good, but way too many problems with the game have been ignored in favour of sycophantic praise.

I make no claims to have written the best review of the game, but I think my take on it is a little more honest than the spurious nonsense sent forth by many a games website².

The other star of the game is Liberty City itself. It's beautiful, it's shabby, it's a real living and breathing place. People live out there lives, answer phones, read papers, eat hot dogs, get hit by cars, have shoot outs with the cops – they live. It's fascinating just walking the streets and watching the world go by.

Liberty isn't as big as San Andreas and thank goodness for that. There was an awful lot of fat on that title and with that trimmed away GTAIV feels a lot lighter, trimmer and fitter. Little space is wasted, it's a packed city of of cars and people. There's so much detail to admire, such as seeing garbage trucks routinely roam the streets in the early hours or even smaller things like the design of the umbrella on the hot-dog stands.

If we had to reward just one part of the team behind the game it would be those that built this world. It is a work of art.

See what you think, here's my review of Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360.

_{¹Steady now.
²It goes without saying that we're ignoring magazines as on the whole games magazine writing isn't even fit for toilet paper.}

Away from the nonsense spouted by concerned "experts" like Keith Vaz¹ there's been some interesting commentary following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV in the mainstream media.

I've particularly enjoyed the following piece from Catherine Bennett published in today's Observer newspaper. She's by her own admission not a gamer and her initial attempts at the game's supposed ultraviolence were rather thwarted.

Were it not for its fearsome lewdness, many parents might prefer to help their children, too, to explore GTA's satirical universe, rather than waste time on CBBC's ever more dismaying offerings, from the dystopic filth that is Tracy Beaker to those twin triumphs of moronic nihilism, Prank Patrol and Hider in the House

In fact, if a new book on gaming, Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games, is to be believed, there may exist hardly anyone in sound mind who might not, from time to stressful time, benefit from an hour or two of moderately violent gaming. The authors, two Harvard psychiatrists, Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K Olson, were told by many young players that they played violent games to 'relax' or to 'get my anger out'. Should we not, as a matter of urgency, implore Gordon Brown to escape into GTA IV over the bank holiday? Or would the experience make an already vulnerable and solitary Prime Minister more likely to aim his car, à la Niko, at cyclists such as David Cameron?

You can read the whole of Catherine's editorial at The Guardian website.

_{¹Vaz doesn't even know what a PSP is, which was demonstrated when he was being an "expert" in a House of Common committee.}

Here's another advert for Grand Theft Auto IV, which is released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this month. Hopefully review code will be waiting for me when we return from honeymoon.

I recently played the game for a couple of house at Rockstar Games' office in London and you can read my thoughts on it here, but for now just enjoy the footage in the knowledge you'll be able to play the game for yourself in a couple of weeks.

This morning sees the publication of Dr Tanya Byron's investigation into issues surrounding the protection of children from adult material in videogames and the internet. And while there are some good recommendations it already sounds a bit of a mess, because once again non-gamers have made major assumtions about those who enjoy this particular medium.

But first let's look at the reports major recommendations:

• The creation of a unified game rating system rather than the current UK dual BBFC/PEGI system.
• The creation of a website for parents where they can find our more information about online safety.
• A comprehensive public information and awareness campaign on child internet safety.
• Clear and consistent guidance for industry on how games should be advertised.
• High profile efforts to increase parents understanding of age ratings and improved parental controls.

I think the first and last items are the ones we should look at in details. Currently games a covered by an age voluntary system called PEGI which puts age recommendations and content details on game boxes. Certain games also have to be rated by the British Board of Film Classification due to their stronger content.

The practical upshot of this is that you can't buy a game in the UK without clear age guidence labelling on it. Now I do agree to some extent with Byron's report suggesting just one labelling system should be used - but I do think this is getting away from the real issue here.

The issue being the stupidity of parents.

Rockstar Games has released some rather entertaining trailers for Grand Theft Auto IV. You can check out all the content at the newly opened official website (open in a new tab/window).

This is the one that made me laugh most - for the The Steinway Beer Garden.

Well maybe you might think he does, maybe not, or maybe you think he just hates games journalists¹.

As videogames become much of a part of our generation's leisure time as cinema and TV for the last there's an increasing focus on the morality of games.

Mostly this comes in the form of criticism from the older generation who don't understand the medium, figures like Jack Thompson and Keith Vaz would have in the past have been attacking rock and roll, jazz, the hula hoop or short skirts.

Today though we need a more broader look at the place of videogames as an art form. An art form that looks here to stay. And like all forms of media/art it can be the conduit of good and bad.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 may have all the best games, the best controller, XBox Live and a more powerful GPU but it seems it may not be the choice for the next generation of gamers.

Over the last week both Patrick and Kitty have got uncomfortably close to my various bits of technology surrounding the television but both have shown very little interest in the Xbox 360.

Well here's one way of getting folks into church, let them come and play Halo 3.

Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent¹ video game Halo.

Those buying it must be 17 years old, given it is rated M for mature audiences. But that has not prevented leaders at churches and youth centers across Protestant denominations, including evangelical churches that have cautioned against violent entertainment, from holding heavily attended Halo nights and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles so dozens of teenagers can flock around big-screen televisions and shoot it out.

Today the Manchester Cathedral row with Sony rumbles on with - to no one's real surprise - the Cathedral making it clear that it's after a large amount of cash from Sony.

Well I suppose that's par for the course, yesterday we got pride and today greed, perhaps Manchester Cathedral is trying to work its way through all the deadly sins.

Yesterday I suggested the cynical might see this whole row as a way of Manchester Cathedral skimming some money from Sony and today that's clearly come true as the church has admitted in addition to wanting Sony to apologise and alter the game, it expects a large donation from Sony.

1950s Manchester as depicted by Resistance: Fall of Man

The Church of England has criticised Sony for the depiction of Manchester Cathedral in the science-fiction action game Resistance: Fall of Man. The church is angered by the use of the Cathedral in one of the game's levels and has called for the PlayStation 3 game to be withdrawn from sale.

Churches of course have long been the settings for battles, you'll have to look hard for a WWII book, movie or videogame that doesn't feature one, but Manchester Cathedral seems to be unusually angered by the depiction of its building in the game.

“I think they are going to be in for a surprise because we are not going to let this one go," said Canon Paul Denby, Manchester Cathedral Subdean and Administrator. "One million people are visiting Manchester Cathedral through this game."

I'd seen it in the cupboard and wondered what it was for, never used one before. But it seems it's a specially designed table for use with force feedback steering wheels.

How thoughtful of our landlord to include one in the fixtures and fittings, must have known I was a gamer.

So I'm able to enjoy some Project Gotham Racing 3¹ action from the comfort of the sofa and I may have a crack at Test Drive Unlimited's hardcore mode in a little while too.

I'm all set and ready for Forza Motorsport 2 now.

¹_{Look, I'm not a mong, I was certainly not driving in the lame third-person view - I just put PGR3 into photo mode as simply pausing puts a big menu across the screen.}

This is a repost of a story that first appeared back when this site was called grumpygamer.biz. I thought it was worth saving for posterity. I've reposted it here in its entirety on the correct date.

I've had a rather odd afternoon today. Jack Thompson has been pestering me. Normally he pesters the Florida Bar, videogame publishers and websites that give money to charity because he's to cheap to keep his promises. But today I was the target of his anger. Why should this be so?

Well, you see last week I played Canis Canem Edit, a game otherwise known as Bully. Rockstar Games had invited me over to take a look at the game and having played the PS2 title in question I wrote up my impressions of the game here at Boomtown.net.

Well that's just great isn't it? My second Xbox 360 bites the dust. My original console suffered from the dreaded red ring of death just before Christmas and Microsoft was quick to send out a replacement model - though hampered slightly by the Christmas break. This time though the symptoms are different. Over the last few days I've been playing Saint's Row ready for my review (thankfully I've got enough play time in to review now) but started to see the occasional glitch this evening.

Now at first I thought this was a bug, because as I'll point out in my review on Tuesday, the game has a real serious problem when it comes to standard definition display. But this was more serious. Every so often the console would just freeze. There would be some odd lines on the screen and the console was locked up. No warning lights. I'd reset the console and play again and all would be fine.