Simulate Me

Flying into Heathrow, nice day, low winds and a great touchdown. No I haven't gone crazy and think I'm really flying, I'm just playing Flight Simulator X. Playing might actually be the wrong word for some, for others this isn't some game, its a simulation, a way of life.

For many onlookers simulators look like some kids toys for grown ups who have yet to put away their fireman, policeman, pilot uniforms. Yes in some cases this is just people trying to be who they aren't but for most it is simply a nice escape from the burdens of life. Flight simulators and racing simulators are certainly the most popular however there is a small niche out there for every job, for example bus, train and boat simulators have a fair few followers as well.

For me, I guess I just wanted to try a bit of flying (despite being completely shit scared of flying ;) ). I was surprised by the amount of technical detail packed into FSX, about a million and one buttons in the cockpit. I was stumped so I took the realism down a bit and made it more automated. After some time I got used to flying, starting with the small planes and worked my way up to the 747. I purchased the Saitek X52 Hotas joystick and my immersion and love for the game *ahem* simulator soared. It's hard to describe why I love taking the plane up for a bit of a spin but I just do, its peaceful. No guns, no cliche story, no bad guy, just me and my plane.

I guess that deep down we all want to be someone else, try something new or just get away from things for a while and Simulators allow for that perfectly. I may not be into trains but I can appreciate why others get the same thrill from it as I do from the flying. It may be a niche market but it shouldn't be one that is ignored, with a bit more marketing I'd say games such as FSX or X-Plane could be enjoyed by even more people who yet to experience what its like to 'simulate'.

Steam Guard

The guys over at Valve/Steam have just finished up their new security feature. According to Valve 'Steam Guard' is "a new feature that enables an additional level of account security.

Steam is one of the best places for downloadable PC games

Steam has always been pretty secure however this should boost the confidence of those who were weary of buying anything from their store before. Effectively what this new feature does is send an email to you when someone is using your account on an unrecognised computer. A code is sent to you which must be imputed  on the unrecognised computer in order to gain access. This means that unless the guy has stolen your email as well then you're pretty safe. More importantly however in my view at least is the fact that steam still allows you to use its service on more than one computer with just a one time only annoyance.

Random Regards

Homefront and beyond

I've just read a review for Homefront on eurogamer which received an average 6/10. I haven't played Homefront so I cant say anything from personal experience about actually playing the gaming however even before release or the Eurogamer review I wasn't that particularly interested in the game.

I think now a days a lot of developers or more so the publishers have gotten a bit of bankers syndrome. What I mean by that is that they pour money into something to make a quick buck but ignore the long term. Many of these modern games lack the depth that say Deus Ex or Vampire: The Masquerade had considering most of their income is coming from 2 hour singleplayer games with a multiplayer clone of modern warfare. Now you could say that Homefront did at least attempt to add some story, placing the player in the middle of a Korean occupation of the United States but besides that initial premise what else does it add besides the regular run and gun game. All I can say is that this 6/10 is a reflection of gamer/reviewer community's reaction to this blatantly lazy work of developers. The days when game companies were small is gone and I acknowledge that they now have to contend with shareholders too but that is no excuse to drag games into mindless replica of each other.

I want to use Valve as an example of a now large company which hasn't lost its roots. It still maintains that attitude that games are there to entertain so lets make them entertaining and not games are there for increased revenue. I am not naive either, I recognise that Valve equally want to get money however they have realised that in order to get the big bucks a company must think long term, make games people enjoy and they will come back for more. EA at one time missed this point entirely (being one of the first large game companies) which ripped them from their podium place to a running joke amongst gamers, a new sequel per year sort of thing. Thankfully they have realised what brought them down and have restructured accordingly. It will take a few more bubbles bursting before companies finally realise what really makes money however when they find out this very simple work ethic the gaming community will be much better off.

Random Regards

WOOZ iz got first post!!!

Well this is going to be my PC gaming blog for pc gaming news, reviews, the stuff I'm playing and all that jazz. Unlike my main blog http://ctrlier.blogspot.com/ this one will be far more specific which is of course PC gaming, not that console nonsense, well maybe occasionally.
Well if you want to ask me uestions on PC gaming or anything like that just ask in the comments and I'll try to answer. ANYWAY happy gaming!!!

Party time! Excellent! dululululululu!!!