Should They Build or Buy?

It isn’t often that I agree with Max Mosley on his stance on policy in the world of F1 however when it comes to his view of customer cars in the Formula One Championship, I actually feel he’s right.

With Super Aguri gone in the F1 championship, and with Toro Rosso up for sale from Red Bull, it looks like the ban on customer cars next year will see a reduced grid, especially as Prodrive will no longer be racing their McLarens next year, or indeed racing at all. This ruling will do damage to the sport, that seems evident. And for once Max opposed a rule that will do that.

Ross Brawn, Ex-Ferrari and now Honda man, also agrees. He feels that the teams who voted for this change in rules were acting to protect themselves and their sponsorship more than in the interest of the sport, and he is right.

Frank Williams is one of the main opponents of Customer Car deals, claimed that Super Aguri’s demise was due to financial problems in raising funds to compete. It is true that F1 is an expensive sport to get in to However the problem only arose when Aguri found that they needed to develop their own car for next season. So now that the grid is down to just 20 cars, the question is, why should there be a problem with two teams racing similar cars?

Formula One is about driver skill, not how much money you can throw at your R&D department in hope that you will win on sheer performance. Unfortunately with the way the sport works that is how it has become, and it would appear that it is going to become even more that way.

OK so Super Aguri were never up there fighting for podiums, rarely even points, and Toro Rosso weren’t the best of the best, but they offered some form of entertainment, and allowed new drivers a place to start and work their way up the ranks. A grid of 22 cars is what we have become used to, it will sit at 20 for the rest of this season, and should Toro Rosso not be bought and have a car ready it could well be 18 cars next season. Is that really what the sport needs?

So, customer cars are going next year, that is inevitable. Some teams will not be competing, that too is inevitable. Formula One is going down hill, that isn’t quite inevitable, but of the current trend of decisions continues, it is a slippery slope, and one caused by people who should know better.

MTFBWY

It’s That Day Again

Happy Intergalactic Star Wars day everyone, and I can’t let May 4th go by without making some form of Star Wars related post. This one will be on something that probably doesn’t count as an entirely canon part of the Star Wars expanded universe, and that is the content of two books that aren’t often seen.

These two books show a slightly more fun side of the Star Wars universe, and are presented in a format that may be slightly unfamiliar to some people. You read them back to front. They are the Star Wars Manga Black and Silver edition books. Now they have been around for about two years in Japan, but only recently have reached UK book shops and so when I saw Silver last weekend, and Black yesterday I couldn’t resist picking up a copy. And for our American friends, sorry but Tokyopop haven’t announced any plans to release these in the USA.

If you should see them lying around may I suggest that you pick them up. They look a little like this and are most definitely worth the £9.99 price that is usually attached to them. For those of you who don’t usually go in for Graphic novels these may just seem like a silly comic book that opens the wrong way, but they aren’t. OK there is some silliness, and Jar Jar haters may not want to see his son in Black, and yes they do open the wrong way, but once you get over the whole “Which panel’s do I read in what order?” thing (there is a little guide at the front) then you are pretty much set to just enjoy the stories that follow.

A quick rundown of the books for you all, The black edition contains three stories and a special ‘Letters to Anakin’ section at the end. The letters to Anakin are from his friend back on Tatooine, Kitster, and appear in Aurebesh as well as English. The three stories are most likely not Canon. One, titled ‘Tantive IV,’ involves Jar Jar Binks’ son on a rebel blockade runner when it is attacked by the empire, Another, titled Evil Eyes, tells the story of a young Jedi called Iguni who wants to grow up to be a big strong Jedi like Anakin Skywalker, with similar motivations, And part one of a story called ‘Perfect Evil’. I will come on to Perfect Evil after I have told you about Silver.

The Silver Manga edition has five stories in it. Apart from the continuation of Perfect Evil, there is ‘OH!! JAWA JAWA’ which is, unsurprisingly, about a Jawa. “Star Wars - Phantasmagoria’ looks into what Vader may have been thinking during that climactic scene in Return of the Jedi. ‘Vader Vs. ARTOO & THREEPIO’ is probably one of my favourite strips in this book. It shows us one of the single most famous scenes in cinema history in a light that will mean you can probably never watch the DVD again without thinking “What if…” and the final strip is, quite simply ‘Dark Jedi’. It features General Grievous who fights the Dark Jedi Kaa and Lii and it explains why he now has some Jedi lightsabers.

Now, Perfect Evil. There was great shock running through the Star Wars community when it was announced that Darth Vader had an apprentice. That should, had these books been read, not have been a shock. Whilst most of the stories in the book present a fun, happy, side of Star Wars, this two parter follows a very distinct arc that sees Vader finally return to his old home world. It even lets us really know why Episode IV became a New Hope, if you didn’t already have an idea.

These stories are great. They may not be entirely canon (but they are labeled as Infinities) but they may well be of interest to you. Infinities, ‘offers a world of endless Star Wars possibilities’, and I think that perhaps on this wonderful Intergalactic Star Wars day that is what we should look at. Star Wars, as films, exist as purely true, there is nothing more accurate for Star Wars knowledge. Some of the books may be true, some may not, George doesn’t really read them, so do they matter? There are the TV shows as well. But Star Wars can go beyond what everyone thinks actually happened ‘in Universe’. There are endless possibilities in Star Wars, OK so Jar Jar being allowed to reproduce may make some of us cry inside, but it could happen.

So on this day, let us not just celebrate some things Star Wars, let us celebrate the sheer diversity that exists in Star Wars, the endless possibilities of what could happen with our favourite (or not so favourite) characters. Now then, let’s all go and read the story of when a Jawa found an X-Wing.

May The Fourth Be With You

GTA is Boring

Before I start to explain the method behind the madness of that title, I would like to first make a different point. It’s always nice when the media continually shove a story in your face isn’t it? And when better to do that on the anniversary of the event.

I am indeed referring to that little girl that went missing a year ago today. However she will not be come the main subject of this post for one very good reason. I have lost all interest, and did about 10 months ago when we were still all being told any little thing that was happening. I no longer really care about this story. I know she’s missing and I will continue to assume that is the case until I am told otherwise. So it would be really nice if anything regarding this girl was kept out of the newspapers, off the news and not mentioned until something major happens, like she is found, dead or alive, or they find out the parents who did it.

And with that out of the way, onto something that was said to me yesterday that got me thinking. I was told that GTA was a boring game. Now, as far as I’m concerned it isn’t, that seems quite obvious. A game in which you can pretty much go anywhere, do anything, and then maybe do a few story line missions. But then when the story arc is complete the game doesn’t just ends with a list of endless names scrolling across the screen. You can go and get some property, you can run some taxi missions, or ambulance missions, there’s firefighting to be done, or maybe even become a vigilante. Anyone for a quick jaunt from one side of the City/State? In what other game can you actually have a road trip across a state the size of San Andreas? Are there any games that have given you so much choice in a city the size of Liberty or Vice?

And I thought long and hard about this, and then it clicked. The Grand Theft Auto games are so big, that with so much to do, you sometimes miss bits out. Sure you can go back and do it all, and you will, but what about the actual story line. The reasoning I was given for GTA being ‘boring’ was that the person in question wants to just be told what to do, do it, and move on to the next mission. That clearly shows that GTA is not a game for him.

If you just want to load a game, get a mission select screen then GTA will surely disappoint, but it shouldn’t. OK so you can’t just randomly pick a mission you’ve done before and play it, but the missions are there, and if that’s all you want to do then you can. You have got the game, you’ve completed the story arc, but then you have missed the point of GTA. The game isn’t there to just have the story played, it is there for you to look around and see what makes a city tick.

There are so many GTA clones that the free-roaming game has its own genre now, but despite the openness that some gamers don’t like, I doubt ‘boring’ is the word they would use. Let’s think about this. ‘Boring’ occurs when you have nothing to do, and you do have something to do, all the time, even when you are getting to your next mission. So maybe you want to just play the next mission, in this game you have to get there. The game makes you travel to the person who will give you the mission. I would have to say that a closed-end game would be more boring that GTA simply on the basis that there isn’t any game-time between missions, and no game-time when you’ve finished the game, until of course you go back on a higher skill level, or to get a better rating.

I am rarely ‘bored’ by a game. There have been a few games that I haven’t liked, I once owned Largo Winch on the PS2, but boredom and gaming… it’s something I do to not be bored and with a game as full as GTA, I don’t think boredom will ever ensue. But hey, every gamer is different, maybe I should accept that someone could find Grand Theft Auto boring…

Oh, and congratulations Boris Johnson, nice to have someone who isn’t Ken Livingstone in charge of London, now where are these Routemasters.

MTFBWY

Angry Parents, Must Be GTA Again

As with the launch of every GTA game since the start of time GTA IV has been receiving all the publicity it needs from those people who want to rid us of its evil.

On Tuesday Rockstar’s latest incarnation of the free-roaming game of all free-roaming games hits shelves in shiny boxes for the XBox 360 and PS3. A few journalists have already had, somewhat brief, hands-on time with the game, but already calls have been made for it to be banned. Tim Winter of the Parents Television Council stated on April 23rd that “This brutally violent video game must be kept out of the hands of children, and we are calling on all major retailers to reconsider any decisions to sell this game.” And I agree on one of those points.

This is a violent game, there is no point anyone saying that it isn’t. I doubt Mr. Winter, or any of the members of the Council have ever played this game, it’s probably questionable as to whether they’ve played any GTA, so quite how he can comment on the exact nature of the violence is a matter on contention. And I also agree that this game should not be sold to young children. The game will carry an 18 rating here in the UK, and to me that says it all.

A game that carries an 18 certificate is for people over 18. It should, therefore not be sold to those under 18. It is a criminal offence to sell a game rated by the BBFC as 18 to an under 18 in the UK. Why do people feel the need to ban a game just because there is the possibility a child may get hold of it?

Why must the experience of a game that has received, almost completely, near-perfect reviews be taken away from all simply because some parents will blindly buy their child a game when it has a large ‘18′ on the front. I have not only had a rant or two about games causing violence before, but I have also mentioned parents buying games they shouldn’t. This argument however never seems to go away.

This is a game made for adults, marketed to adults, and quite clearly should not be given to children to play. That is a point that gamers universally agree on. It should not be assumed that every person in the world who is a gamer wants kids to play these games. We understand, just as well as everyone else that ‘extreme’ violence, prostitutes, large amounts of swearing and general lawlessness is not a subject for a child’s game. Something that parents seem not to understand until they see it on screen.

What some people fail to understand is that those who play games are not all 13/14 year old boys. Yes they are predominantly male, but the average game player is between 29 and 33, the average buyer’s age is 38. So games aimed purely at adults are perfectly reasonable in a world where most gamers will be able to play them.

I will not blindly say that there is no way a child who wants to play GTA will not find a way however they will not be the ones who actually go into the game shop, pick up the box and take it to the counter. However those who do get the game are even less likely to go and kill someone.

Go ahead and keep the game away from children, but don’t keep it away from those who can really enjoy it, and don’t condemn the game until you have played it.

MTFBWY

TFL Together For TFL?

Now TFL have never been my favourite transport company and I think they may be about to fail miserably at yet another scheme. They have a nice slogan “TFL together for London” however unless I am greatly mistaken they are working more for themselves than they are for London.

They bring in the congestion charge to try and get people off the road and onto public transport. Seems like a fairly good idea, but then the public transport hasn’t exactly improved well enough to handle the existing rush hour numbers, let alone these extra people who now can’t afford to use their cars. But hey, there’s free travel if you’re under 13 on buses and trams, no, wait, that’s about to change.

I have never been a great fan of the Oyster card. It seems to simply be a way of TFL to get more money from people who don’t want/need/see the point of having one. I don’t live in London, and as such the Oyster Card is slightly pointless for me. I go into London every so often, visit Forbidden Planet, do other strange things, then go home again. However if I were to get an Oyster Card I would have to get a return to Liverpool Street, then use my Oyster card from there. So I would still need a paper ticket, and the cost would be pretty much the same as what I pay now, as the return attached to the travel card I buy and the overground Oyster Card zone start don’t over-lap. There is also the way that TFL presented Oyster to the public.

TFL told us all that they would in no way force customers to use Oyster if they didn’t want to, however it would appear that they want to make it as difficult as they possibly can for people without them. The fact that the only people who pay on Bendy buses (another thing I don’t like from TFL) is only a small reprieve, and I would never advocate fare dodging. But TFL are about to put their foot well and truly in it, because as expensive as it is for adults without oyster cards, it is about to get worse for kids without them, and they are the future, and the ones TFL want to get in the mindset of using public transport.

The under 5s are fine, they don’t need to worry they can go free on buses, trams, the underground, DLR, everything. Now the 5-10 age group is slightly more confusing, they can go free on buses and trams, and free on the tube, DLR, overground with a fare paying adult, up to four of them can in fact. However should they be travelling alone and want free travel on the trains they need an oyster photo card. That doesn’t seem to bad, but what happens when they reach the 11-15 age band? Well, 11-13 year olds always used to be free on buses and trams (if they looked 11-13 that is, but how many kids actually look they age they really are?), and 14-15 year olds needed an Oyster photo card. They both needed to pay on trains, but hey, what do you expect? they’re big kids now. However this is about to change. As of the 1st of June kids between 11 and 13 become one age group.

Grouping them together is no great problem, it is the change that comes with this that worries me. They all need Oyster Photo cards to get free travel. With that they also get half price pay as you go on all trains run by TFL. and when on off-peak times they can do it all for a capped £1 if paying with a full-fare paying adult. But no Oyster, no free travel.

For a company that is working to improve London they are doing it in a way that seems very confusing, and totally pointless. How can they justify a kid needing an oyster card for free travel? Does a child with a photo card take up less space than one without? Does this count as forcing kids/forcing parents to get their kids and Oyster Card?

The pricing has never been especially cheap, and now it is confusing as well. TFL is a business, I understand that they need to make money. There is, however, no explanation that I can think of for forcing kids to get an Oyster Card to get what they have been offered for a few years. I wonder what Boris Johnson or Brian Paddick would do.

MTFBWY

Have Hype Will Game

There are so many game releases every year that it is hard to know whether a game is worth buying or not, and upon seeing the list of top 100 games that have been sold in the past year it becomes clear that if you have a well known name you can sell anything.

The full list is on Next Generation should you wish to read it all however as the atrocity of some games in the 40s still haven’t lost their shock I shall just list the top 10 here:

10. Brain Age 2: More Brain Training in Minutes a Day
9.   Super Mario Galaxy
8.   Assassin’s Creed
7.   Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
6.   Need for Speed: ProStreet
5.   Madden NFL 08
4.   FIFA Soccer 08
3.   Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
2.   Halo 3
1.   Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Now, this provided a look at what people are looking for, however there are some games missing here that deserved a place much higher than the sales place them, and some games that shouldn’t be here. Let me start by saying that Madden and FIFA don’t deserve a place this high, simply because the games aren’t exactly that great, and Halo 3 is there, but I will come to that later.

The ‘Saga Collection’ of Lego Star Wars was ranked 27th. Lego games are great, pure and simple, they might not speak, but they can sure act and the games are fun, 27th? below Ratatouille and Harry Potter, seriously? Bioshock made just 29th, Mass Effect down in 34th, and the one that probably shocked me most, Orange Box, that’s 5 games Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episodes 1 & 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, down in 44th, one place above Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. Think long and hard people, are the top 10 games really the best games of the year, or just the ones who push themselves onto people the best?

This brings me to Halo. Too often have I been told that the Halo series is the best ever. I once read an article saying that you are not a true gamer unless you have played the Halos. Not only was this person wrong, he was just being stupid. I have played Halo, it was, as First Person Shooters go, a good game. Was it the best FPS ever? No. I can name three games that are better than Halo and they aren’t hiding behind shiny graphics. Quake 4, Half-Life, and Goldeneye (N64). Yes, the games go that far back, and are still better than Halo. If we want to go for tactics, Rainbow Six is in there. People praise the multi-player of Halo 3, I have just two words and a number for you. Team Fortress 2. If you haven’t played it, I would suggest you do now. And don’t forget Unreal Tournament, just in case I’m using too many Valve games. And if you are after a game that is far cheaper that Halo, there is always Americas Army, y’know, the free one, that recruitment tool. And before I get told there are too many annoying people on Americas Army, please go use XBox Live.

I feel the whole Halo series to be over hyped. OK they are good games, but not to the extent that everyone seems to say they are, and from that I now get to complain about a game that was under-hyped when it originally came out on the PS2 in 2006, and hasn’t been receiving all it deserves with the upcoming Wii release.

The original studio who spawned the game has gone now after the game didn’t sell as well as had been expected, which is a shame because everyone deserves to experience this game, if only for a short while. But I doubt anyone would want to put this game down. I am talking about Okami. It brings together a lot of Japanese myths and legends and does so in what is possibly the best visual experience of any game. By that I don’t mean great, super-realistic graphics, I mean it looks great because it has a special quality. It was reviewed well, but it never really took off. You play as a dog in a water-colour world very like that of Japanese artwork. It’s an action-platform-puzzle game, strangely similar to the Zelda games, but with one thing that every game should have. A celestial paint brush.

This worked so well with the PlayStation analogue sticks, however reviewers have said that the Wiimote controls can cause some problems, even with the simplest line drawing. In theory the Wii is perfect for this game, however as with most things evidently what happens in reality isn’t quite what you hope for.

I hope that this game does well, if just for the legacy of Clover Studio. This game deserves to do far better than Halo 3. Will it? I doubt it for one simple reason, Halo 3 had Bungie and Microsoft pushing it, this game has Ready at Dawn and Capcom. People should play this game, however I have a strange feeling it will be overlooked again.

If you have a PS2, buy the original, if you have a Wii then buy the Wii version, if you have both, I would say go for PS2, just because you don’t want the bugs with the Wiimote to ruin this experience.

MTFBWY