A Week In Gaming With Asim Tanvir
That’s right folks, it’s my turn to step into the “a week in gaming with…..” spotlight once again. This week, I will be looking back at my trip to Cologne where I attended Gamescom 2010 and talking about a particular “topic” that reared its ugly head here on GodisaGeek.com this past week. If you glanced at the comments on Calvin’s Call of Duty Black Ops impressions or our Castlevania: Lords of Shadow preview then you will know exactly what I am talking about. If you haven’t, well, I suggest you sit back, relax and (once again) enjoy a week in gaming with…..ME!
WHO AM I?
For those of you who don’t know who I am or have just plain forgotten (don’t worry, sometimes I forget who I am too), click here to find out all my dirty secrets.
GAMESCOM 2010
As some of you might know, last week myself and Calvin were in Cologne attending Gamescom 2010. It was the first time we attended Gamescom, so we weren’t 100% sure what to expect. When it all kicked off with the press day on the 18th, we were pleasantly surprised and very impressed. The event was open to the public from the 19th-22nd, so a dedicated press day was nothing short of a godsend. We attended E3 earlier in the year and being a member of the press/media didn’t really mean much at all. You still had to queue up for hours whilst you watched “VIPs” cut-in to see or play games immediately. During the Gamescom press day, the longest you had to wait around to see or play a particular game on the show floor was two minutes. For example, we queued two hours to play Kinect at E3 yet we didn’t have to wait at all during the press day at Gamescom.
Gamescom 2010, the first public day.
The venue itself was great too, fantastic even. The various halls which housed the gaming booths were massive, a perfect size for welcoming thousands of “hungry” gamers…..254,000 to be exact. No, that figure is correct…..no need to adjust your screen. These were records numbers in terms of attendance, making Gamescom the biggest gaming expo in the world. It doesn’t surprise me at all though, I had first had experience of the masses when I ventured onto the show floor for a short period during the first and second public days. You could literally smell the sweat of the excited gamers! In all seriousness, I urge all gamers to attend Gamescom at least once and experience the awesomeness.
This might sound a little selfish but, after attending Gamescom, I really do wish that a similar big gaming event was held in London. Don’t get me wrong, Cologne is a fantastic little city but, come on, how awesome would it be if we had something like Gamescom in London?! Sure, we have the Eurogamer Expo and that is growing but, personally, I yearn for something bigger, where all the the major players in the industry come together. I discussed this with Calvin during the trip too and he agreed with me. I mean, London has both the venues and the resources to cope with it. So, Mr Cameron (or anyone else that help) if you’re reading this…..come on, sort it out! The question is though, can the English fish and chips match up to the German sausage?!
OPINIONS, ARE THEY STILL ALLOWED?!
Right, this might sound like another rant (in some respects it is) but it’s something that I think needs to be talked about and discussed. Earlier this week, we put up our Castlevania: Lords of Shadow preview on the website and the reaction to it (well, one particular part of it) was a bit negative. Aaron stated that the game was a contender for the best looking game on any of the current consoles whereas I went that step further and said it was the best looking console game I had seen, even better than Uncharted 2 and Gears of War 2. My comment in particular seemed to cause quite a bit of outrage, mostly amongst faithful patrons (fanboys?!) of the PS3. Many comments were posted, including people suggesting/implying we are posting bullshit, we need to buy some glasses and must not own a PS3. I found it quite funny that people were so hurt by our opinions that they resorted to personal attacks or, better yet, lept to the defense of a console which all the main contributors on the website actually own. Infact, quite a few of my favourite games released during this console generation have been PS3 exclusives. The likes of Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, Heavy Rain and God of War III.
A similar thing happened when Calvin’s Call of Duty Black Ops impressions were posted up on the website. Just because he wasn’t too impressed by the game he was called a “nobhead”, Infinity Ward fanboy and, to go off a different tangent, someone even implied he must not be a PC gamer. Wait, do these people know Calvin personally?! Calvin is one of the biggest PC gamers I know! Infact, I would probably say it is preferred gaming platform. Sure, he is a huge Modern Warfare 2 fan but, as a gamer, I’m sure he doesn’t want Black Ops to be a bad game. Infinity Ward fanboy? No chance. As for the “nobhead” comment, I totally agree. He can be a right “nobhead” at times. That was a joke by the way! Resorting to personal attacks on someone you don’t know because you don’t agree with their opinion…..it’s just childish, plain and simple.
What I’m getting at here is, it seems as if having an opinion that differs to the majority (or even minority, in some cases), especially if you’re part of the press/media, leaves you open getting personally attacked and people making snap judgements about what games you play or what console you prefer. It’s almost like you’re not allowed to have an opinion at all unless you agree on certain key aspects. Where is the fun in that though?! I don’t know about you but I thoroughly enjoy discussing and debating games with my fellow gamers, even if they have different views or opinions to mine. Infact, it is more interesting when the views or opinions are different because you get to see things from a different perspective. Sure, you might not agree with the perspective but it is always nice to keep an open mind rather than just bash on people who don’t agree with you. Well, that is my philosophy anyway.
I guess it boils down to the anonymity factor on the internet and the way it has given every Tom, Dick and Harry out there a voice. That is a different discussion for another time though, one that I could probably go on forever about, so I will leave it there and spare you anymore of my random ramblings.
I hope you enjoyed reading my “a week in gaming with…..” post and if you have any views or opinions to express in regards to what I have written then please do not hesitate to comment below. You can also email me (asim[at]godisageek.com) or tweet me (@AsimTanvir).
Next week, Mr Aaron Sullivan will return to enchant you with his wise words or he’ll try to anyway! Until then stay tuned to GodisaGeek.com for some top class gaming news, previews and reviews.
