Author: Merman

Infinity Ward are the chefs, and they have been toiling away in Activision’s kitchen to send out a perfect dish for Christmas 2009 – Modern Warfare 2. But what is the recipe for success?

Next weekend I’m off to Manchester, for two reasons. I’m going to spend most of the weekend in a pub, although I will take some time out on the Sunday to go around an exhibition at the Urbis centre.

There were rumours about Sony redesigning its hardware in the run-up to E3, and they proved to be true. The PSP without a UMD drive emerged, but the slimline PS3 (not PSThree, that would be too hideous for words) did not. Will it make a real difference?

I’ve been shopping this week – both online and in my local town – and something is troubling me. There are too many cheap games on the shelves, and some of the deals just seem too good to be true. I realise this may sound like an odd argument, but does the cheap price mean we value the game less?

So, I did my bit to boost the economy by buying an Xbox 360. I’ve never been an early adopter of a new console (a subject I will return to in a future column, I imagine) but I judged this was the right time to take the plunge. With pre-owned games cheap and some great new games on the way, it was logical.

Packaging. There are times when you appreciate it, and there are times when you hate it. The games industry has a long history of unusual packaging, but that’s not what this column is about. No, this is about frustration and annoyance.

I’ve just completed Guitar Hero Aerosmith on the PS2, and it got me thinking about the whole Guitar Hero (and Rock Band) series. What started out as a novelty arcade game with Konami’s Guitar Freaks has become a phenomenon, and now the music industry sees gaming as a legitimate source of extra revenue.