Double Touch

The latest title from the team behind Loco Roco, is the marvelous Patapon!Seriously, if you have a PSP then drop that big bag of peanuts you're taking to feed your Hippo and go and buy it!

Well go on then!

What's that?

No! I'm sure you can't take a 20 kilo bag of peanuts into your local Game! I mean the peanuts would get everywhere!

Now GO! I'll wait till you get back.



Ah you're back, good. Well now I hope you can see why Patapon is so utterly brilliant. How has Sony not given these guys enough money to release games like this every year? I mean this game stands out; yes one must concede here that it's not got much to stand out against, but still. A rhythm action game so perfectly and cutely executed like this deserves to buy a team a new studio or something. Heck if they gave Ion Storm Dallas a Penthouse to create Daikatana, then surely the Patapon team should get a whole continent!

From the minute you load up the game and hear the surreal mix of African tribal drums with bagpipes, to the moment where your little Patapons first shout out your name as their God, till the moment you take down an end level boss with a perfectly executed series of button presses... this game is superb. And addictive too! With slick production values and numerous advances in the elements that made Loco Roco a hit, Patapon steamrollers into gaming greatness.

Many will probably miss Patapon though. Coming out in the gaming industry quiet period and recieving hardly any hype apart from on the dedicated gaming websites, I'm sure that it won't sell well either. Which is a shame because games like this is, have been sorely missing from, what I still believe to be an excellent gaming platform. It's amazing really how the team hasn't jumped ship with Sony seeming to give up on its handheld console. This type of 3rd party development is exactly what both the PSP and PS3 have been crying out for.

I won't go into more mechanics here as I wouldn't do this 2D scroller justice. If you lied to me when I told you to go and buy the game then click HERE to watch it in action. Truly a marvelous site to behold no?

When I first watched the trippy FMV teaser trailer for Street Fighter 4, I was far from impressed. My appetite for a return to the Street of old was certainly not wet and quite frankly I had disregarded it a few minutes later.

After all, time had moved on. Tekken, Soul Caliber and Dead or Alive had moved a much loved genre into a 3D environment; the pinnacle of the series, Street Fighter 2, had been outdated and felt long in the tooth, it only brought high levels of nostalgia instead of visceral combat. And after all when Mortal Combat 2 (also the series pinnacle) went 3D, it almost killed the IP. So long live Soul Caliber 4! I get Vader with my PS3 copy!

Time changes all though.


It was on Gamespot that it all changed. A week or so later I was visiting the now slightly lackluster site in a hope of a Patapon preview (check out Patapon on the PSP - released 22nd Feb), low and behold they had a Street Fighter 4 preview and a billion new "in-game" screenshots. I had forgotten about it already, lost to the sands of time, but now with some hard copy and pictures it drew me back. All my favourite characters were there and apart from the initially off-putting graphics (which grew on me pic after pic) it started to look like it could be a genuine contender for the genre crown.
So long live Street Fighter 4! Even though I don't get Vader with my PS3 copy!

Well is it? Come on you know how it goes. Is Zelda: The Ocarina of Time is the best game ever? Discuss.

Indeed, can there ever be a definitive best game of all time?

Of course one could easily include Zelda: The Ocarina of Time in a Top Ten. Or could you? Let's see. These are a spontaneous, off the cuff, personal top ten in no particular order:

1. Fallout 2
2. Mario 64
3. Half Life
4. Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
5. Grim Fandango
6. Baldur's Gate 2
7. Crysis
8. Goldeneye
9. Deux Ex
10.Super Mario World

Well what are your top ten games of all time?

Do you have an all time favourite?

Ok, 3...2...1... DISCUSS!

The Perspective:

A robed and hooded figure strides over the lush planes of Albion.
The burning hue of the sultry sun disc is fading over the hazy horizon; throwing shadows like black velvet streams over the land. Long swathes of silky, burnt orange grass sway in the gentle breeze and a single, snow white butterfly drifts this way and that, before perching austerely on a satin orchid.

The skeleton of a ancient ship rests against a rocky outcrop, the rays of the sun piercing its ribs, like a charnal gutter. Beneath the shadow of the ship, embedded into the rock a rusted sword hangs; and it is here that our figure halts, imprisoned against the rock by the bars of shadow.

Approaching the sword he reads the words carved into the rock face, "Any person to wield this sword will surely rule all of Albion... but will do so at a terrible cost!"

Our figure appears un-moved, there is no change in his stance; he reaches an outstretched , gloved hand toward the intricately cut hilt.

"WITH THIS SWORD I WILL FULFILL MY DESTINY!!! NO MORTAL WILL BE ABLE TO STOP ME!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

But the hand freezes inches from the hilt... for our character is being watched.

Sensing the onlooker he slowly, oh so slowly reaches for his scimitar. He turns weapon unsheathed but is too late.......



.........his face is being licked. Voluminous globs of slobber cascade down his cheeks, a little bit runs into his nose!


"Damn it Fido! I thought i'd seen the last of you when I threw your squeeky ball into the pit of despair!!! And no! I do not have any sausages!!!!!!!"

Change of perspective:


Peter Molyneux's long awaited Fable 2 is coming, and it's got a dog for each and every one of us! To see the cheeky canine in action click HERE.


Gromit aside though, Fable 2 is looking good. Very good. More than what Molyneux states would be simply bigger and better than the original, the sequel is pushing boundaries, the exact thing he says LIONHEAD STUDIOS was set up to do.

Now of course the creator of such hits as Black and White, Dungeon Keeper, Populous and The Movies is quite akin to promising the earth and delivering (a still super impressive) half of it. But with Lionheads 2006 acquisition by Microsoft one has the sneaking suspicion that with the extra financial backing, he might be able to follow through 100% this time.

The list of promises for Fable 2 include: the ability to marry and have children, the ability to buy ANY house within the entire game, a complete free form world and the ability to love UNCONDITIONALLY among many others. Obviously if all these elements make it into the final game we could be looking at the contender for Game of the Year 2008, if they don't however, one has to wonder if Fable 2 will be added to a pile of also rans.

Of course only time will tell if the game will be the stellar X-BOX 360 hit it's been billed as, but early impressions are good.

Keep watching this space.

Oh and keep watching for big slobbery dogs!

Game God Peter Molyneux has spilled some proverbial beans about Fable 2 to David Lynch of Games Media Culture. Check it out by clicking HERE.

Fable 2 preview coming soon!!!

Warning! Warning! Warning! Optimism Alert! Optimism Alert!

Fallout 2, the 1998 sequel to the underground cult hit Fallout, holds my record for longest time spent playing a game. No seriously. I have not played any other game for longer than Fallout 2. Halo? No. Goldeneye? No. Zelda: The Ocarina of Time? No. Grand Theft Auto? No. Crysis? No. Half Life 2? No.

I mean the level of nostalgia both titles invokes is monumental. Remember the Cafe of Broken Dreams? How about K-9? The bridge of death anyone? How about the Holy Hand Grenade? What about Smiler? Remember freeing the slaves from Metzer? Wasn't listening to the Hubologist guest speakers funny? Wasn't it moving when you return to the NCR to find the little girl from the first game running the town but now 80 years old? The list is absolutely endless!!!

What's that you say?

You've never played the second game?

Well what about the original? The game that defined a genre? The game that started it all?

WHAT!!! You hadn't even HEARD of the Fallout series untill Bethesda annouced they would make Fallout 3!

But... but...surely...... WAIT, wait a minute; how about the Vault Dweller? You know the guy in the blue jumpsuite with Vault 13 written on the back? Surely you remember seeing him? Maybe even in a magazine?

WHAT!!! NO!!! THE... VAULT DWELLER... IS NOT... CALLED... GORDON FREEMAN!!!!!! (Suppresses growing rage.) Ok...ok, ok how about Mr. Pip Boy ? You know, that cute little chappy that pops up in your Pip Boy all the time?

(Repeating what he just heard.) WHAT...IS... A... PIP BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Head explodes.)





You see now? Fallout 3 is my most anticipated game for years, hell it even tops Crysis. I've played the originals for hundreds of hours, i gave Interplay my hard earned cash and, not wanting to sound to much like a Star Wars fan, NO-ONE knows more about the Fallout Universe than me?

But Bethesda are not making Fallout 3 for me? No. They're making it for Joe "Casual Gamer I Buy One Game A Year And Make My Decision Purely On Hype I Have No History With The Game Think Pc Gaming Is Half Life And Nothing Else Am 14 Years Old And Can't Even Spell Fallout Let Alone Tell You What It Means Is Gordon Freeman The Pip Boy" Smith.

And you know what?

It makes me sick.