If you owned a PlayStation back in 1997, you may have heard the name Armored Core mentioned by particular niche circles, and for very good reason. Developed by From Software, Armored Core was a decent mech simulator that attempted to balance the grit of western mech titles such as Mechwarrior with the panache of eastern titles such as Gundam.

The story is based after a near apocalyptic war known as the “Great Destruction” which has forced the remaining human population underground. The current system of order involves a rough and rumble conflict between underground cities run by two self-contained corporatocracies, Chrome and Murakumo Millennium. Your character is part of the mercenary group Raven’s nest, an impartial organisation whose members take on any job for the right price with the use of Armored Cores, the titular mechs of the game.

One of the unique features of this game that was fairly original for the time was its garage system, which allowed you to design your very own mech. The parts available to begin with are basic but through earning money by completing contracts from organisations (missions in game) you will be able to upgrade your machine by purchasing new parts.

The garage allows you to customise what type of Armored Core (AC) you wish to pilot. This allows you to customise the shape, armament and specs of the machine. You can choose from head, core (body), arms and legs parts, each with its own strength and weaknesses. Some parts drain energy more than others while some have altering armour points which determine the AC’s endurance. Other variables such as the type of generator, Fire Control System and Boosters determine the AC’s speed, ability to lock on and energy supply for your machine.

The game allows you to take on different missions (sorties) from different organisations or entities, and each includes payment upon completion. While mission selection is varied to begin with, the choice of available missions begins to alter, depending on the player’s preference in clients. This adds replay value to the game and encourages players to discover new missions with alternative organisations.

While the gameplay is very solid, there are certain elements that are slightly amiss. The physics in the game can be suspect and in places very broken. For example, while heavy ACs cannot jump as high as lighter ACs, they still seem to be able to boost around as fast as their lighter counterparts. Certain parts are so ineffectual that there is little use for them, even in favourable situations. In addition to this weapons such as the Karasawa are so overpowered that it renders the game very easy. While these are things to take note of, the overall AC customisation mechanic is still pretty well implemented and still adds a unique dimension to how each mission is played.

Despite a few shortcomings, Armored Core is a solid title from PlayStation era, which delivered a fresh concept at the time. This title should not go unnoticed.

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Considered a maligned classic even fourteen years after release, System shock 2 still stands as a solid totem to the potential of the video game medium. Made in 1999 where gameplay standards of first person shooters were entrenched in mindless shooting sprees and card-key collection, System Shock 2 took things several steps further. The game managed to fuse styles such as the FPS and RPG genre in a way that modern games struggle to emulate, as well as incorporating a complex narrative that pays homage to the twisted genius of well-known dystopian novels.

The story is set in the year 2114 where the technology for faster than light travel has become a reality in the form of the spacecraft the Von Braun. As a marine you are tasked to safeguard the Von Braun’s maiden voyage into space. Yet an unexplained two month gulf elapses as you awake with amnesia in a cryo-pod. The ship has become the domain of an alien parasite called the many; a strange hive mind organism converting your prior crew members into mutant hybrids.

System Shock 2 changed the concept of playing computer games in several ways, however this can all be summarised with three words; complete uninterrupted immersion. There are no cutscenes to stall the experience which keeps the flow of the gameplay on-going and creates an ambience that is quite unnerving. Audio logs are your only connection to the human inhabitants of this ship, providing multi-layered subplots for each crew member. Listening to these audio logs in the empty hallways accentuates a sense of dread for your situation and plays heavily on your imagination.

The roleplaying elements come into play in the form of three class options. The Psi-user that serves as a magic user, the hacker which resembles a thief character that can access locked crates and terminals, and the marine that serves as a warrior like class using guns instead of swords. The Player levels up by obtaining cyber modules used to spend points in class trees. This allows the player to either focus on one class type or mix several class trees interchangeably.

What must be noted however is that System Shock 2 is over fourteen years old, meaning the graphics have not aged well. Character models use flat shading which look like origami figures and some of the intricate textures also suffer from aliasing problems, meaning that signs and text on surfaces can be difficult to read.

The final criticism is in terms of the games accessibility. This game can be fairly difficult and can punish impulsive players. Overspecialising with particular class trees can make game progression difficult, especially when an instance favours a particular ability. Weapon degradation can also be a problem and challenges the player to search for alternative methods to overcome obstacles.

Overall System Shock 2 is still a surprisingly enriching experience that feels fresh a decade and a half on. Players wishing to find a game that breaks the mould should look no further than this.

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The original PlayStation; can one console be given enough plaudits?. Who would have thought a simple research engineer relatively green to the video gaming industry back in the early 90s, would upstart Sony into creating one of the most successful gaming platforms in computer game history.

Little refute can be made on the impact of original  Sony PlayStation to the gaming world  at large, surprising many sceptics  who initially believed that the system would merely add to the status quo of  terrible 3-D based gaming formats. The PlayStation boasted a 32 bit processor, the ability to render real time 3-D technology at 360,000 polygons per second as well as the use of texture mapping to create three dimensional character models and allow for fully interactive environments which added a third dimension to gameplay, as there are many games out there, of course if what you want is to game and also make money casino games are your best choice as you can go to spin samurai online just for this purpose.

The concept for the PlayStation was initially the pipedream of one of Sony’s underlings, Ken Kutaragi, who then was a just a simple research engineer in the lower strata of the company’s management structure. From witnessing his daughter play the Famicom (the Japanese NES) he began looking into the current gaming fads at the time and was shocked by the profit made by such companies as Sega and Nintendo.  He believed it was in Sony’s best interest follow suit, and was convinced that he could utilize the CD-ROM technology manufactured by Sony at the time, into creating the next generation of gaming consoles.  Kutaragi took this idea to Sony’s senior executives in place at the time, who were already convinced that any forays into the gaming industry were “only suitable for toy companies”, and were quick to reject it.

This dismissal however only strengthened Kutaragi’s resolve, and with this stern rejection from his bosses, decided to take his idea to Nintendo, who wished to collaborate with Sony to create a CD-ROM peripheral for the SNES that would rival the Sega-CD. However the venture was abruptly halted due to Nintendo’s apprehension over the licencing rights of the system, and would later make plans with Phillips on creating a similar add-on behind closed doors. With the discovery of Nintendo’s shift in partnership, Kutaragi became even more determined to get this project off the ground and after appealing to Sony’s Chairman Norio Oga, who sympathized with Kutaragi’s frustration, got the green light on the project to continue on the development of the console as a standalone system.

But of course it would take more than just impressive hardware and the promise of an innovative gaming format for the PlayStation to take off.  In 1993 Sony put together a subsidiary called Sony Computer Entertainment to handle the development and marketing side of the system.  Through this subdivision, Sony closely examined the current market trends of the gaming culture at large as well as the reasons for the lack of success of other previous 3-D based consoles such as the Atari Jaguar. From acknowledging the poor 3-D game line up from each of these consoles at the time, it was decided that it would be a better priority to secure  support from third party game developers first, before considering  the system’s launch. They began a campaign to contract these developers in producing games for the system, which, as expected, were heavily against the proposal due to the expensive requirement to program games matching the console’s software. It wouldn’t be until late 1993 that the developers would have a change of heart when witnessing how 3-D technology was utilized in arcade titles such as Virtua fighter which showcased 3-D incorporated gaming and how such technology had a potential to be applied in home consoles.

But what put PlayStation on the map, particularly in the UK, was the shrewd marketing campaigns that tailored their game content for the young adult market, which at the time was under represented. Most of the 2-D gaming industry had developed its mainstay by gearing its content towards younger audiences, with cartoon-like mascots such as Sonic and Mario and gameplay that had a focus on simplicity. This isolated a broader audience, who were looking for a grittier and more adult gaming experience.

The release of the PlayStation was perfectly timed at a period in gaming when most of the 90s youth, who had grown up on 16-bit generations as children, were making the transition into their teens and young adulthood, and now had demands for more mature content that was now made available from what the PlayStation had to offer (with such titles as Ridge Racer, Tomb Raider and Toshinden. ) As well as the graphical upgrade and launch titles that gave the console a fresher and professional presentation, many onlookers began to realise that the PlayStation could really deliver a new gaming experience in place of the other attempts that failed.

What we got was probably one of the most innovative consoles of the 1990s which, while not  quite the first of its kind,  was the first console to effectively manage the transition from 2-D to 3-D gaming, as well as providing CD-based games from third party developers and publishers that could fully utilize the systems much touted specs.  A simple idea first thought by most to be success in a pigs eye, became one of the gaming industry’s biggest shift in graphical and gaming paradigms.

When reminiscing my youth with the PlayStation in the early part of 1997, a fusillade of memories of my gaming experience bombarded me in all its polygon glory like my own mental image of a poorly rendered Reboot episode. Memories such as the early use of flat-shading used to represent the character models like weird computerised origami figures. The First Person Shooters promptly ported from the PC that had that awkward compromise with the shoulder buttons to control the camera, due to analogue sticks still being in development at the time. And let’s not forget the weird advertisement campaigns attached to the system such as Chris Cunningham’s promotional advert on the mental wealth of gaming.

My Experience with the console when I first had access to it did not extend outside the main movers and shakers, such as Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy 7 (with a few exceptions such as Abe’s Oddysee and Armored Core).  Like most, my youthful impressionability fell victim to the garish promotional adverts at the time as well as a media focus that insured the more popular games were pushed to the forefront.

But hidden behind the slew of derivative football games by Electronic Arts and the tiresome 3D0’s Army Men releases are a small vestige of unique games that at the time became nothing more than pearls before swine. Some titles such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night would see a re-release as downloadable game content on consoles such as the Xbox 360 (or PSN if you’re lucky enough to live in  the United States or Japan). However there still remains a large subset of games that remain untouched by these current mediums and it wouldn’t be until my late teens that I fully released what the PlayStation had to offer.

Of course  most of the more worthwhile titles were kept neatly out of reach  on the shores of Japan and the US, which I was assume was mainly because they were not in-keeping with the UK’s  less impressionable demographic at the time ( surely they must have gotten bored by  seeing the same re-release  of  Fifa 96 at some point). The system gave us some great overseas classics such as Tail of the Sun, Xenogears and Brave Fencer Mushasi, as well as a scant selection of titles localized for Pal regions that were kept well under most people’s radars. Most of these obscure games had some great gameplay on offer, however there are also a few other titles that while outright horrendous, have some very interesting history attached to their inevitable failure.

In this fortnightly retrospective I will be delving into some of the best and worst games of the system that most people raised up by Metal Gear Solid and Syphon Filter will probably have never have heard off.  In two weeks’ time I will delving into one interesting title that any avid adventure fan’s will surely get their teeth into.

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I am arriving at this review six years after Facebook’s inception, but as its endured more so than Myspace and with the grandiose announcement of the Queen joining up (which no one outside the victory service club cares out, ) maybe a review is not a lost cause. Before exploring the crippling hits against Facebook, Here are the positives;

Conspicuous at face value, is enabled contact with lost friends, by searching for any given name a long-lost friendship can be rekindled. Information apropos of topical discussion is also easy to collate using hyperlinks, photo display and Hashtagging. It’s easy to extend a simple exchange into a corroborated symposium.

Facebook is also congenial for hobbyists, societies and business establishments to advertise without paying out a website premium for hosting, as well as Facebook’s innumerable subscribers acting as a latent by-product of increased exposure.

However, Facebook can be like a legitimised black hole, sucking one’s time until the entropic hindrance of responsibility leads to the being fired, arrested or in some cases killed.

Superfluous third party apps such as Q and A applications regarding clandestine friend relations or making a virtual Farm are other things that are taking up spare time that people don’t have, reinforcing the notion that there is an omission of the prefix “anti” to the term “social network”.

Surfacing also are hate groups of virtual effigy immortalising trivialities like an individual’s infidelity to switching to I-phone over the cumbersome QWERTY interface of Blackberry, like it actually matters. When these exemplars are taken seriously, the results can be distressing. Results like Cody Turner’s murder over derisive remarks made about his dead relative on Facebook.

The idiom “having one’s cake and eating it” comes to mind here; with overwrought applications allowing for procrastination or scathing remarks, Facebook really needs to reconsider what should be available.

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On Saturday 26^th of February, I got free entry into the Cardiff international comic and animation expo, in the Mercure Holland House hotel.  I got free entry thanks to Otakuzoku for helping them in-store in the week and for assisting their vendor in the expo. This was the first convention I was going to cover, and the fact that it was practically in my backyard was an added bonus for my legs and wallet. I’ve kind of made it an unwritten rule of mine to never visit conventions unless they where showcasing something new and exclusive to the convention.  I can flood this feature with a deluge of reasons like the Yangtze Flood of 1935, to why I avoid them.

First you got the fact that most of the concessions for promotional brands are inflated beyond belief, so unless they’re convention exclusive (Such as exclusive action figures, which you can later sell on Ebay for a considerable profit) it’s really worth waiting until such inventory becomes widely available in store or online.

Second you got the fact that these places are usually cramped and humid in which rushing around a lot can make you dehydrated if you don’t have water on you (which I suggest you buy before each convention because again food and drink does really cost here).

And final reason is the unbearably eccentric and devout fans  who “represent” each of the respective franchises on show. Fans such as Weeaboos ( people obsessed with Japanese culture)proselytising those without anime savvy to watch Naruto  or debate on who is the hottest character in Death note, L or Kira.  And not to mention the obligatory Star Wars Stormtrooper troupe for each convention, pelvic thrusting the air in your general direction and making other dancing motions not even fit for the Mos Eisley Bar. I know conventions  are made for people to just have fun and celebrate their favourite works of fiction, but I suppose your mileage may vary.

The Convention itself did have a very diverse selection of comic book fiction, however it was centralised mainly on promoting the work of local artists. A broad spectrum was available for different cliques, provided you knew what you where looking for.

For example a recent comic adaptation of Barry Nugent’s Novel “Fallen angels” was now available, which explored the  strange bedfellow cadre of heroes and anti heroes teaming up together to fight a mysterious evil.  For fans of classic literature, a group called “Classic comics” was also promoting their adaptations of classic literature such as “Great expectations”, retold in a comic book format.

There were also very outlandish titles such as Dr Geof and his amazing “Fetishman” comic which is about a man who is trapped in a restrictive latex suit who fails to fight crime because of this restriction. I failed to see the appeal of this comic, however apparently it has a small following due to its lewd nature.

Probably the biggest element to the convention was the appearance of “Charlie Adlard”, Artist for  “The walking Dead” Comic.  The Basic synopsis sets the Story in a post-apocalyptic world where a small time police officer rallies up several survivors to find a stable home in amongst the zombie-ridden holocaust.  The Comic has already produced a televised spin off, set to air its second season in late October.

The convention even had Welsh comic book Company Dalen books promoting their ventures, which basically set out to translate a selection of comics into welsh, such as Tin Tin and Arthur the Legend. They even had samples of the first few pages their own welsh comic called Derwyddon. My biggest complaint about this however, is that these comics had very niche appeal, and as a more lucrative business venture it might have been wise to include mainstream translations in their repertoire.

There was also a few vendors from local stores around the area, including Forbidden Planet that had a few Dr who memorabilia, and Genki Gear selling t-shirts with Anime motifs and other relatable Memes.  There were also Comic book vendors available, including Otakuzoku’s inventory which, while I’ am attempting not to sound to partial, had a very good selection of Manga ( anime comics) for a wide  spectrum of fans.

There were also a few events such as the Cosplay competition hosted by Otakuzoku which was interesting to say the least when people actually put of effort into their costumes, ( this varied from a meticulously designed Leon costume from the Resident Evil game, to the scant homage of Spiderman, discerned only from his  face-painted mask).

While at the convention I attended two Q&A panels including Matthew Savage who was the concept artist for the recent of Dr who as well as collaborating such films as The Dark knight and Kick-Ass. He discussed his experience working with Christopher Nolan and putting aside his own personal aesthetics into order to meet the desired output wanted by the executives he was working for.  ( for example he had to redesign his initial concept art of the Daleks, which where a homage to the 1960’s design, to something more accessible to a modern audience. )

I also sat in on the Q&A of Paul Cornell’s recent Comic “Knight and Squire” and his collaboration with artist Jimmy Broxton. The comic was an alternate retelling of the Batman franchise set in an anachronistic Britain, intended to be comic that celebrates and alludes to aspects of British culture.    The panel was not as formal as Matthew Savage’s Q&A, and the discussions were often more Light-hearted in nature and anecdotal. For example Jimmy Broxton recounted on the backlash of the in-joke of hiding his name in each panel, which many critics responded to  virulently, approximating it to something similar to tooting your own horn.

Overall my previous aside of rings true here in terms of going to a convention for the right reasons. Unless interested solely in Local comics, or Dr who, there wasn’t really much there to appeal to a wider audience.

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