A Week in Gaming With Aaron Sullivan

So here we are, our third week of “a week in gaming with…” and it’s shaping up quite nicely isn’t it? After last weeks epic self proclaimed rant at GAME/Gamestation stores from our very own Asim Tanvir (and rightly so considering the service he got), I’ve decided to try and keep this weeks dose of ramblings relatively short. So stop playing StarCraft II for a moment (I know it’s hard), relax and enjoy this weeks “a week in gaming” with yours truly.

Who am I?

Right! My name is Aaron Sullivan AKA “Sully”, a GodisaGeek.com nickname I can’t seem to shrug off (thanks Aryel) and I’m the Head Writer for this lovely website your reading. “What does that mean?” I hear you say and the short answer is that I post news, previews, reviews and proof read articles when required. I am one of the four founding members of the team alongside Calvin, Asim and Aryel who started GodisaGeek.com just over a year ago for no other reason than our love of gaming after meeting at University (games design and programming course, just in case you were wondering).

Now that is over onto the games. Yes, that lovely pastime we all can’t get enough of. My gaming habits are pretty varied as I will play almost anything as long as it is good, irrespective of genre, platform and target audience (yes, that includes World of Warcraft so stop hating people). That being said if I was pressed to choose my favourite genre(s), action/adventure, role playing (RPG) and football games would make the list. Are you noticing a trend here? Yes, we all love that football genre. My favourite game of all time would have to be Zelda: Ocarina of Time closely followed by Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation. I’m usually in line behind Asim at the altar of Kojima waiting to sacrifice naysayers (yes, I took that metaphor a step further). It is also worth mentioning that I love my PC gaming and anyone who claims that the platform is dead and/or dying should burn in hell, you’ve been warned.

Digital Distrubution – Digital distribution has been around for some time now with services like PSN, Xbox live and Steam providing the option and while I’m not an advocate of it outside DLC, it seems to be where the industry is heading. It’s surprising then, that some companies still seem to be getting it wrong. Blizzard’s StarCraft II is the latest offender with their £44.99 price tag of a game that is priced a full £10 less in store or online (disc based). Now it seems to me, that if you’re trying to promote digital distribution then you shouldn’t be trying to shaft your consumer on price so you can make an extra buck. With the lack of shipping, packaging and disc costs that digital distribution affords, you would expect a cheaper price point, no? It’s hard to see this form of distribution moving forward if these companies keep attempting to rip us off. Personally, if you want me to abandon my disc collecting ways you’re going to have to offer me a competitive alternative or at least cough up a good reason as to where my extra coin is going.

“Cheating” in Online Play (Super Street Fighter IV) – Cheaters are nothing new I know, but recently on my trips through that digital plain we like to call the internet I came across something I wasn’t even aware was happening. It seems that people have been using the turbo function (turbo enabled buttons allow you to spam a button press by holding said button down) available on some 3^rd party pads and sticks to assist their combo execution in ranked matches.  It is true that there is more to Street Fighter (or most fighting games) than just combos and the addition of turbo won’t instantly turn you into a Street Fighter God but I still find this rather irritating and it can still be considered “cheating” or “improper”.

I’ve never understood the urge to cheat in any game and I find it curious that people will do anything to get one up on their opponent (Turbo is banned from tournaments for a reason). Forgive me if I’m wrong but I thought the purpose of competitive gaming aside from the obvious fun factor was to test your wits, reflexes and in this case, execution against your opponent. I fail to see how this is possible when both players are not on an even playing field and so I wonder why these people in particular even bother to play these games at all! Surely it lessens the sense of achievement afterwards? Or am I the only one who enjoys the challenge of beating my opponent while relying on my own skills?

The community are fighting back and putting these individuals on notice though as seen in the clip below:-

My final message to anyone trying to gain an unfair advantage over their opposition is to PRACTICE or don’t play at all.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – This week I and Asim got invited to play through the latest build of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and all I can say at the moment is the game is shaping up rather nicely. Expect our full impressions later this month, so stay tuned!

That brings this week in gaming to its conclusion feel free to comment below or tweet me at @AJRSullivan.

Next week you can enjoy the pleasant company of Calvin, enjoy!