After the success that This Is My Joystick had covering the Golden Joysticks via live text, we decided to do the same with the BAFTAs. Keep this post open, and keep refreshing it. The ceremony starts at 20:30 so the bulk of the goodies will be happening from then. However, I’ll try not to forget you all, and will keep you up-to-date with any titbits as the day goes by. I am thrilled to be doing this, so I hope I will be able to keep you all entertained.

Stay tuned!

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So, it’s Thursday morning, 18^th of March, and the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo has been on the Xbox Live Marketplace for just over an hour. Somehow, I’ve managed to drag myself off Final Fantasy XIII just long enough to give it a go. As I am with a lot of Ubisoft’s military based output, I am a huge fan of the Splinter Cell Series and have been following Sam Fisher’s antics since the very first game. I have to admit, as a long time fan, that there were times throughout Conviction’s development that I found myself wary at where the franchise was headed. The game has had something of a troubled development process, and has seen many trials and tribulations since the original teaser trailer, which showed off a distinct (and unpopular) shift in gameplay. Since then the game has been delayed, delayed some more, then totally redesigned and then delayed once again for good measure.

So, with under a month to go until its now concrete release date of April 16^th, does Ubisoft Montreal’s demo show a game that has beaten adversity, or has the uneasy creation period proved too much to recover from? You know how to find out.

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We were extremely fortunate last year that even after only being up and running for less than six months we were still able to get to cover a small number of pretty high profile gaming events. Now into 2010 that doesn’t look like changing. We are pleased to announce that our very own Bryony will be attending and covering this year’s GAME British Academy Video Games Awards this Friday! That’s right, we’re at the BAFTA’s baby!

What type of coverage is exactly yet to be decided, but rest assured we’ll be bringing you all the news from one of the industries big award shows.

In a recent interview on IGN, Cliff Bleszinski talked about the future of gaming and the Gears of War franchise. In the interview he expressed his support for motion controllers like ‘Project Natal’ stating that he was preferring that over the other motion controllers, purely because you don’t need to hold anything in your hands. Cliffy B also talked about how he wanted Gears 2 to be a better experience when it was released, and that the issues with the online matchmaking was the single biggest disappointment for him and when it gets brought up it breaks his heart. He also stated that when he reads posts on online forums it hurt him how people identify with the big, buff characters and how there is a lot to be said for the background of the world he’d created.

One of the biggest statements that he made was that he has a Google alert for anything with ‘Gears of War’ in it and that he and the team read as much as they can so they call get the feedback, this includes forums posts too. What better way to test this statement by giving the TIMJ view on what should be considered next for Gears of War.

Ok, so this may be a long shot but here is hoping the powers the be make this article pop up on Cliffy B’s alert box so he can become a friend of TIMJ, and possibly comment on my thoughts.

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There are times when I feel that it’s healthy for all types of gamers to throw away any kind of pomposity or preconceptions they have about certain types of games and have a bit of brainless, no-strings attached  fun. It’s the reason why I loved Army of Two with its “Press A to high five” moments, why I sat through two hours of Transformers 2 and managed to enjoy myself without  having to imagine how much better my life would be if Megan Fox was my star crossed lover (although it did cross my mind, I’m only human), and it’s a concept that I’m very much into at the moment. Sure, I’m still more likely to get really taken in by a deep, innovative game or something with an epic story to get my teeth stuck into, but I also find myself being filled with a damn near insatiable hunger for some old fashioned carnage. I just plain want to blow stuff up, so it’s a good thing that the Just Cause 2 demo has decided to parachute onto Xbox Live, akimbo magnums ready to cause some damage. Just Cause certainly pushed the boundaries of just how many epic moves and explosions you could cram into one game, so what could go wrong in the sequel to a game that existed only to sate the destructive desires of prospective anarchists like myself? Read on to find out…

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I’m back once again, providing you with the latest news digest of the gaming world every week. This spread will cover all the major formats; Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, DS, PSP, iPhone, PC and more. We explore the big news, the major announcements and even some that sneak under the radar.

This week, news from the Game Developer’s Conference, including first real details on Sony’s Motion Control Device, major announcements from Infinity Ward, Lucasarts and Telltale, first details on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Arkham Asylum 2 and a Doctor Who game?!

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It would have been hard to imagine many people saying this a couple of years ago, but you have to give EA Sports credit for the work they’ve done since the release of FIFA 08. The general perception of them was a poor one with most football fans seeing them as the big bad corporation churning out fully licensed phone-ins as they gleefully raked it in. A massive overhaul and gradual improvements in subsequent iterations has seen FIFA deservedly place itself at the top of the league, even overtaking PES which was widely regarded as the football sim for purists. EA Sports now convey an image of genuinely caring about the quality of the content that they release which is particularly evident in the recently released FIFA 10. That being said however, we are still talking about one of the many arms of Electronic Arts here, who have no qualms about asking for a bit of incentive to release any new content (and what better incentive than cold hard cash?). With that in mind I felt it was healthy to approach the appearance of the Ultimate Team game mode with my cynicism levels readily stocked. The idea of building my own team and showing the rest of the world what they can do is just too sweet of a nut for me to ignore however, so the only way I was going to find out if my £3.99 was cruelly wasted was after I had taken AS Nutrageous to the top of the world.

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Okay, so a few weeks back we recorded this podcast (episode 10) and well… I’d like to have a big dramatic story as to why it’s taken this long to edit and post, but I don’t. So anyway I can only apologize for my laziness and say “here, enjoy!”

This episode features the usual bunch, with Andy “Milo molester” Corrigan, Joe “can I just tell one joke?” Staley, and Trent “Records on a Dictaphone” Pyro being lead by myself Andrew “Can’t stop swearing” Knight, as we waffle our way through some not so latest gaming news. Still there is plenty to be enjoyed as we discuss…

• Valentines Day losers
• Games we’ve played
• We rant about aspects of gaming that annoy us
• Try and come up with some news to discuss
• How to abuse a virtual child (only joking, Feds)
• We also have usual features Gamer’s Dic, and Getting To Know You

Music featured at the end of the show is called “NueroFunk Experiment” by DJ Bjra and can be found here.

The episode should be appearing on iTunes shortly as soon as the RSS feeds refresh, or you can stream it or download it below. iTunes users, please drop us a review and help spread the word of the site. If you have any questions or talking points please feel free to email us on podcast@thisismyjoystick.com.

 

 This Is My Joystick! Episode 10 [83:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When I first started gaming I played lots of different games, some of them on my own and a few with some mates. It dawned on me the other day that I have been playing more co-op games of late and not because I’m afraid of gaming on my own, but more because I find it a much better experience when you’re sat with your partner/friend in the same room or across the internet working together.

Multiplayer gaming is what people look to more often than not these days, but for me, I like to take into consideration games that my partner (Kirsty) can play with me. The amount of co-op games is on the rise, some good and some bad, but the shift is obvious; co-op is the new single player!

So, what’s the attraction of co-op gaming? For me it’s because I can hold a conversation with Kirsty that doesn’t involve any over- explanation because she doesn’t have a clue what I’m on about. Co-op is also something that we can do together and work as a team which beats playing with yourself (no pun intended… well maybe a little). You can discuss tactics and have a laugh, and you can also explore the story together. The main problem when it comes to co-op gaming is finding a decent game to play, so I have decided to do you a list with my recommendations in no particular order.

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Quantic Dream earned an instant fan in me with the release of Fahrenheit back in 2005. It wasn’t your usual video game affair. Playing almost as if an evolution of the classic point and click genre, using context based analogue stick movements for logical actions in the game, this supernatural thriller followed the story of unwilling murderer Lucas Kane, and the two cops tasked with tracking him down. This story heavy experience was absolutely captivating, at least until the final third when the story unexpectedly disappeared right up its own backside. As someone who loves a good story with his interactive entertainment, I could see that this new control scheme definitely had potential, only it would take nearly five years for Quantic Dream to return with their much-hyped ‘whodunit’, Heavy Rain. This game has seemingly become a title that Sony is banking a great deal on for 2010 considering the financial clout that they’ve backed it with, and for a game that could hold limited mass market appeal, that decision could seem to be a bit of a gamble. So how has it turned out? Well, it’s quite hard to say.

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