This gaming generation seems to have centred around shooters. Since the release of the bestselling Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare there has been a scramble by designers to top it: Call of Duty: World at War, Killzone 2, Gears of War 2 and Socom: Confrontation; all attempts at bettering Modern Warfare that spring to mind. Each promise a new take on the tired war formula, but never quite deliver.

However, the next new innovation is nearing. Codemasters, the people who brought us the excellent Race Driver: GRID, are back with a new and exiting project: the sequel to the PC exclusive Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis – a sequel which might well bring a whole new type of combat. Aiming for the whole 'really realistic gameplay' idea, hopefully Operation Flashpoint will not be just another game that promises reality but can't actually manage it. The fact that the original was used for US army training suggests that Operation Flashpoint 2 is definitely one to look out for in the future.

I'll leave you with the latest trailer for Operation Flashpoint 2.

Jacques

Labels: Jacques Hulme

Additional accessories for games consoles seem to be all the rage just at the moment, primarily because they add that little something extra onto your already-beloved console. So, it’s no real wonder that Sony has decided to release another official PS3 accessory, this time in the form of a wireless, clip-to-your-controller keyboard.

The keypad itself is pretty run-of-the-mill. Including a standard QWERTY keyboard and some OS-specific buttons, the keypad itself is just what you’d expect it to be.

The keypad includes some nice little features, too – ones that you wouldn’t really expect to usually find. The keypad features three new buttons just above the Select and Start buttons, which allow you to quickly navigate to your friends list, message inbox or activate the keypad’s built in touch-sensitive mousepad.

However, some niggling little flaws prevent this accessory from being all it could be. For starters, the buttons are tiny. When typing with the keypad, you find yourself constantly making mistakes and having to either delete or edit what you’ve already written in order to make it at least legible, which can be an irritating and time consuming process. Also, the buttons are so small that you can’t type without forever looking at what you’re doing – you find yourself staring at your fingers all the time, just to make sure you’re pressing the right thing, even if you can usually touchtype.This can be seriously annoying.

Another thing: the mousepad. A great idea, don’t get me wrong, but it just doesn’t work well enough to be worth adding in the first place. It is amazingly inaccurate – you can use the mousepad to move your cursor to a link, just to find the cursor jumps back again once you take your finger away. Also, the mousepad is so well hidden that you often only find it by mistake or if you’ve actually read the manual (and, let’s be honest, who does read the manual?).

Symbols can be difficult to handle too. Instead of utilising the standard ‘hold shift, press button, insert symbol’ interface which pretty much every PC user from five to ninety years old is used to, the keypad uses two ‘dedicated’ shoulder buttons on the top of the keypad which you use instead of shift. Now, call me whatever you like, but these shoulder buttons are actually more trouble than they are worth – it is much easier and more instinctive to merely use the normal shift interface.

The keypad is good for a few things though. You’ll notice that logins on websites immediately become less cumbersome and much quicker – the keypad is particularly good for quick input of passwords. The dedicated OS buttons make XMB navigation lightning fast – whatever you’re doing, a press of one of those buttons will get you where you need to be fast. And, if we’re honest, it does exactly what it says on the box; it does work as a keyboard. Just not amazingly well.

In conclusion, however, it really isn’t worth buying if you’re likely to use it to type loads of messages or use online forums through the PS3 web browser. For the 18 quid it costs, you’d be much better off looking for a standard bluetooth keyboard.

4/10

Linford

Labels: PS3, Review, Sony, XMB

First of all, I'd just like to reach out a hand of apology to those of you who have been loyally following the normal Gamer's Guide to Life site in the hope of seeing some new content. We'd just like to say that we're very, very sorry that we haven't been posting anything over here, but almost all our effort has been going into producing content for our E3 coverage. Head over there for all the latest from E3, including the latest news, trailers and more.

Linford

Labels: E3, E3 2009

It's been two days since Linford posted the Modern Warfare 2 Extended Gamplay trailer, and today for my first article I'm going to bring you two minutes more footage. Posted last night on IGN, this new trailer is much longer and seems to depict another global crisis with the ultranationalist Russians at the center - the story ties in with Call Of Duty 4 with references to Zakhaev, the ultranationalists and a quest for revenge.

In terms of gameplay, things seem better than it's predecessor, Call of Duty 4. Gunplay looks to have come on leaps and bounds since the first, with a faster pace and much meaner-looking enemies. The single player is looking as though it will be longer this time round, with the bigger set pieces and further-polished environments. From this trailer, it's certainly looking like Modern Warfare 2 is set to compete with other big titles due for release this year.

Jacques

Labels: E3 2009, Jacques Hulme, Modern Warfare 2, Trailer, Video

So, a week or so ago I brought you a gameplay teaser of upcoming and highly anticipated sequel to Call of Duty 4. And, if I’m honest, it was very short and actually quite underwhelming. That’s about to change with this extended trailer, including some of the shots you’ve seen before and some which you won’t have seen. So, sit back and enjoy.

More Modern Warfare 2 information will be coming at E3 2009. You can follow all the E3 action at our dedicated E3 coverage site, GGTL at E3 2009.

Linford

Labels: E3, Modern Warfare 2, Trailer, Video

Yes, that’s right. Gamer’s Guide to Life is back again this year with all the latest from possibly the biggest gaming event in the world: the E3 Expo. But this year, we’re doing things a little differently to before, with loads of new features on our snazzy new dedicated E3 site. Here’s the current list:

- Liveblogging of all the major keynote conferences, including the Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft conferences. That is, you’ll get all the latest as it happens with GGTL. Liveblogs start 1st/2nd May.

- Full, unparalleled coverage from the expo, including in-depth news coverage and much more.

- A rollercoaster ride of a run up to the actual expo. Our coverage starts on Monday 25th May, a week before G4TV or GameSpot, with predictions, hypes, news and many other E3 related posts.

- Chat with the GGTL team: ask us your questions, E3 related or not. We’ll be on hand all the time to answer questions left as comments on this site.

- Constantly updated content, every day, so you get your gaming fix straight away.

- For games fans, by games fans: we’re here writing for you, not for us. So we’ll make following GGTL at E3 the best and easiest experience for you to follow the expo.

Remember to keep an eye on GGTL at E3 2009 for all the latest from E3 2009. The GGTL at E3 site can be found at http://ggtlate3.blogspot.com/.

Linford

Thanks to the Gamer’s Guide to Life at E3 sponsors:

Midwest Gamer Podcast | Warp9 Gaming

Labels: E3

Actually, yes way. GameTap is a website offering both free and premium downloadable PC games, from some of the best known franchises of this generation. The service is also completely legal and entirely secure, so no lawyers knocking on your door or viruses knocking about in your computer. True, you need to sign up to the service before you can access anything (there are three different packages: two are paid subscriptions, and one is a free service), and you also have to install a browser plugin to download stuff once you are signed up, but other than that, the process is pretty simple.

The site is currently offering thirty-six games for free, including big titles like S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl, Battlestations: Midway, Hitman: Blood Money and Codename 47, Just Cause, Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition and Tomb Raider: Legend. Get them while you still can from http://www.gametap.com/.

Linford

A quick note: You’ll need a very speedy internet connection to get anything near the estimated download times GameTap predict for the free games. You can still download using a slow(er) connection, but it will take a long time to download a game.

Labels: DLC, PC

Infinity Ward and Activision aren't half working hard to keep us in suspense. The latest of the hype for the latest in the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2, comes in a short but very, very sweet trailer. Not much has actually been announced concerning Modern Warfare 2, but it looks like new melee moves, vehicles, swimming and cold, bleak winter environments are all par for the course this time round. Hopefully they'll be some more information at E3 2009.

Linford

Thanks to our affiliate MWG Podcast for bringing this to our attention.

Labels: Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2, Trailer, Video

Home Community Manager over on the EU PlayStation Forums, Mr. TedTheDog, has been keeping us regularly updated on developments in the EU version of Sony's online estate, PlayStation Home.

The latest of these updates comes in the form of a rather lengthy list of upcoming changes to Home, which might well have you loading up Home for once in a while to take a look.

The updates will be making their way into Home over the next few months. You can read through Ted's bulletins by clicking here and here.

I hope that these updates will do the European version of Home the justice that it should have had in the first place, and attract back gamers like me who gave up on it due to the lack of content.

Linford

To view all GGTL's Home articles, click here. For automatic updates, subscribe to our RSS Atom Feed.

Labels: News, Playstation Home, Update

If you know ‘The Getaway’ series, then you may already know who Katie Ellwood is. She worked on the original Getaway game and The Getaway: Black Monday. However, more recently, she has broken away from Sony to pursue a more independent career, now screenwriting for games and film as a director of two different business. She took some time out of her schedule to talk to me for Gamer’s Guide to Life about writing for games, films and The Getaway series.

Linford: Before you 'broke into' the games industry, did you ever want to work writing screenplays for games or film?

Katie: Film, yes; I'd thought about it, but when I started writing I was writing for theatre. My background was in dance, so I'd always had a love for the theatre and stage and when I was studying English at university I started writing for theatre. It was to write narratives into dance, so very, very different to anything game related. So no, I'd never considered games - in fact, I think that, back then, you didn't really have a need for professional writers in games. It tended to be, back then, that the designer, or the designer's mate, or the designer's mum would come up with the story if there was one.

Linford: You've written screenplays for both games and film. How does one differ from the other, and if so, which do you prefer?

Katie: The games that I've written for have been quite film-like in structure. They're quite narrative based, such as the original Getaway. With The Getaway: Black Monday, we did have a branching storyline towards the end, so you could end in four different places with four different endings. There's obviously that to take into account - whether it's a linear narrative or not - but the other thing with a video game is that you don't know whether someone's only just played the previous level or if they've left it for two weeks, or six months. There's a lot of restating of information that we had to do. People from the film industry who have read my game screenplays say 'you're making things obvious'. Watching film narrative unfold, the viewer just sits there for ninety minutes and his/her attention is focused there for that amount of time. Also, in film, you have to make your character strong, a decision maker; that's your protagonist, it's their journey that the audience are interested in. In games, we as players make the decisions. When you play a character, you want to see a certain amount of yourself in that character. We tried never to over-assert the characterisation, so that someone could feel that there was a part of themselves in that character. Not to say we we left our game characters as a blank canvasses, but we made them a little more neutral than perhaps you would in a screenplay for film.

Linford: With games becoming less and less linear, screenwriting must become harder. How does, say, a free-roaming, semi-story based game affect the typical screenwriting process?

Katie: That's a difficult one for me to answer, actually. I've not actually been involved in writing a really branching narrative. We've looked into a lot of different structures, and I've written recently for a European company on a game which was very episodic, we was new and came with it's own set of challenges. If designers design levels that branch and lead the player in different directions, it can feel very much like a no linear and personal experience, however bringing the level back to the same hub or cutscene ensures the writer can have a handle on the flow of the narrative also.

I think what's happening on development teams now is that the design and the narrative are created in tandem. Before it was very much a case of weaving a narrative into a game. This resulted in a shoe-horned narrative. Now we find the missions or levels are as narrative-based as the cut scene themselves, and the cut scenes might not exist anymore. Players want to play the narrative, be immersed in it. That's nothing new, it's always been the case that players wanted that. Now it is more possible with more powerful hardware: dev teams are more able to run a variety of set piece animation and dialogue during within the game play i.e. real time. Rather than bookending levels with narrative, you actually embed the narrative into the levels themselves. It's exciting when that happens.

Linford: Tell me about your work at Sony. What is it like to work at such a famous company, dealing with such a fast-moving, hype-fuelled industry?

Katie: I was with Sony for seven years, and I think the nature of Sony has very much changed. When we first started out there our team was relatively small, and it felt very much that we were inventing the wheel, if you like; everyone was very young and fresh and it was more about creativity than the actual marketing and moneymaking processes. That happened elsewhere. Now I think developers are more corporate in structure and in the current state of finance everyone need to be more aware of their market, who they're writing for and who they're making games for.

Sony Computer Entertainment grew massively in my final years there. With the advent of PS3 games teams and budgets were much greater and thus we really had to justify what we were creating. In a way this is great as everyone becomes hugely focussed on the task in hand, but sometimes great original, 'out there' ideas get lost because they might be perceived as less commercial. Having said that, I think Sony's creativity is seeing a resurgence now; the question is 'how can we break the mould again?'.

Linford: We first saw a tech demo of The Getaway (PS3) at E3 2005, and then another trailer at 2006's show. Then nothing until March 2008, when it was confirmed that the game was 'still in the works'. It entered preproduction and then, just a few weeks later, it was mysteriously cancelled. Is it really dead?

Katie: Well, I can't actually say that. I'm not with Sony any more; in all honesty, I don't know. I'd love to see The Getaway be reinstated. Sony still have the IP [intellectual property] and it's there for them to do what they want with it in the future. So, let's hope that it's not dead and buried, but I have no official information on that.

Linford: When The Getaway (PS3) was cancelled, how did you react? How did it affect the morale of those working on the project?

Katie: Being such a close-knit team, we were very much a family for a long time. We really had a lot of passion for that project, and I think we all still do; although some people are working out in San Francisco and some in Canada, we all met up recently and we always talk about The Getaway; we always talk about what we could do with it. There was a disappointment but then, in many ways, many people were very excited to move on to different projects because, obviously, we'd been working on the same thing for 7 or so years so it's nice to get out there and find something new.

Linford: You announced plans for a Getaway movie a while back. Any developments on that front?

Katie: Again, I can't really say because I'm not there [at Sony] any more, so unfortunately I don't have any official information on that either. But I am working on another SCEE game film adaptation which should be announced soon.

Linford: With game-movie tie-ins beginning to pick up more pace now (with such big releases such as the Lara Croft films and the Max Payne series), what are your views on this new cross-industry activity? Do you think that game-movie tie-ins are a good idea?

Katie: I think they're a good idea, I'm just yet to see one that works well. I don't know why that is, but I think that a movie has to be it's own thing; I think that you can base a world or character on games but you need to find a story for the film which can exist outside of the game. I like what they tried to do with The Matrix, but I still think we're waiting for someone to nail it really successfully.

Linford: You write screenplays as a job, but what do you spend your spare time doing? Are you a gamer yourself?

Katie: I played more games when I was at Sony, but I'd call myself a casual gamer now. I do like adventures, and I do like games with a good story - I'd say ICO is probably my favourite game of all time. I love Singstar, games like that which you can play with friends. But I don't spend as much time playing games as I do watching movies.

Linford: Sony has a stellar list of releases lined up for 2009, as do other third party developers. Are there any which stand out to you or that you're particularly looking forward to?

Katie: The game that I was really looking forward last year was LittleBigPlanet; we played that as a demo way back and I fell in love with the whole concept. I love that the game was about working together to complete levels than working against each other. I think that's the kind of creativity and difference which I like to see in games. On a story level Heavy Rain and Alan Wake are going to be ones to watch.

Linford: Would you say that a good screenplay is essential to the success of a game?

Katie: I'd like to think so, but actually my instincts and experience say 'not especially'. When it comes down to it, fundamentally, the majority of time spent making and playing a game is in the realms of it's design. I think a good story will entice people into the game's world, but it's the design and the way that the gameplay's going to hold their attention that's important. There is a great sense of depth that a good narrative and characters can bring to a game beyond the button pressing. And that's where the magic can happen.

Linford: How do you find it beginning a new screenplay for a game or film from scratch?

Katie: For games we always collectively generated the breadth and flow of the story; we very much mapped out where it was going as a team, and then it was just a case of filling the gaps and adding depth with the screenplay. I think it's always a challenge to begin anything fresh. But it's ultimately the most exciting way to do it.

With a film, I often write alone - and I could write anything, I'm not beholden to the game play. So it's definitely difficult at times - you'll always have points where you're staring at a blank piece of paper - but then again it can flow very freely at times too. I guess it boils down to how you're feeling on any certain day.

Linford: A lot of games of this generation use in-game cutscenes (from the character's perspective) as opposed to the FMV cutscenes of old. Do you prefer cutscenes which could add narrative depth, or is it more important for you to keep the player in the action at all times?

Katie: I think 'player in action' is the ultimate way. You know, there's been rendered cutscenes in the past which I've loved, that have worked really well, and I think they're stunning. But really I like to see a mix, like in the God of War series. There's narrative in the gameplay but then, at times, you're given a bit of respite and you can sit back and watch [a cutscene]. But when you have to be careful when you take players out of the action, I think that's where you can lose people's attention.

Linford: This generation there has been a rise of online game purchasing platforms, such as PlayStation Network or Xbox Live Marketplace. A lot of these games sacrifice any kind of narrative in favour of good fast fun; titles such as Geometry Wars and Everyday Shooter, for instance. Do you think that it is better that these games are allowed to just be a gameplay experience, as opposed to a gameplay experience with a shoddy narrative?

Katie: Yes, I think they can totally manage without narrative. When it comes down to it, people sometimes just want pick-up-and-play fun, and I don't think that necessarily needs narrative plugged into it at all. That's kind of the old school, golden era of pure gaming, really; like Tetris.

Linford: Do you think the concept of episodic gaming, seen in the Penny Arcade and Sam and Max series' will ultimately allow the game industry's narrative quality to increase?

Katie: I think it's a new way of thinking about gaming and gaming narrative, and I do like the idea of it; we've been calling for episodic gaming for years because people want to play in an episodic way. The thing that scares new gamers is the thought that all their time will be eaten away by gaming, but that's not necessarily the case.

In terms of narrative quality; I think there's a high narrative quality in various TV series; the epitome of episodic entertainment. There is also a deep narrative quality in films, which are ninety minute experiences. It's just down to the type of narrative you creating. You write with the end result in mind. I think that you have to find a good narrative for episodic gaming. If we look at TV writing, a 12 part series will have an entire series story arc, but it will be compiled of 12 discrete stories with cliff hangers at the end of each. Now TV writing is so deep they even write mini cliff hangers before each ad break.

Linford: With Konami all but cancelling the controversial Six days in Fallujah, do you think gaming is ready to take on such a controversial, emotionally charged subject like the Iraq war, or are we going to be permanently destined to play games in "unnamed middle-eastern" countries?

Katie: I think that's a really difficult question and I don't have the answer. If you set up an enemy and a hero, that's risky territory.

Game developers are intelligent people and if they can handle their subject matter fairly and maturely, there is not reason why books and films alone can make social commentary. War is horrible and people die. A player can experience that horror and adrenalin more in games than any other medium.

However with games in which violence is involved and the player has the gun, you have to be really careful about who is perceived to be the 'enemy'. You're making political statements and asking a player to kill a countryman of a named country to 'win'.

You give the player an opportunity to shoot and fight [in a named place] and they have control in that world - that's where the difference lies. Developers of games (just like filmmakers or writers) need to be accountable for any racism they fuel or myths they permeate.

Linford: You've now set up Ellwood Entertainment, a business of your own which works in games. How do you find that compared to work at a corporation like Sony?

Katie: It's great to be able to move from project to project. Previously, I was very involved with The Getaway, which is great because you build up a relationship with the team, but it's superb to go in somewhere fresh and get a variety of people to work with, with new and very different ideas. That is great; I really enjoy that.

Linford: Are there any projects you're working on at Ellwood Entertainment that you can tell us about?

Katie: Unfortunately not. I'm not able to talk about them because the projects I've been working on are all in development and I'm not able to announce anything. Sorry.

Linford: In your work in film, what are you up to at the minute?

Katie: I'm currently one half of a co-directing team called Bert and Bertie and we have just finished our second live action film called The Taxidermist, which is going around festivals now. Last year I wrote my first feature-length CGI animation film. Currently we're just starting a very exciting new CGI animation project involving dance and a well-known story, which again, I'm not able to talk about.

Linford

Labels: Exclusive, Extra Extra, Getaway, Interview, Sony

Confirmed bugs with the new GGTL layout:

Lack of compatibility with the PlayStation3 web browser
Some aspects of the new layout are broken in the PlayStation3 web browser. We're working on making the site fully compatible with the console's browser, but this will take time. In the meantime, we recommend you use GGTL through a desktop web browser on PC, such as Firefox 3.

Lack of full compatibility in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
PNG images with alpha transparency show with a light blue background. The 'jump to top' button is not correctly placed and does not move when the page is scrolled, as it should. Sidebars are placed underneath main content, instead of at the side, as they should be. We recommend upgrading to a later version of IE (IE7 or IE8), or downloading and using Firefox 3.

Image sizes on older posts are smaller and are oddly placed
This is due to the dimensions of the old GGTL layout. We are currently attempting to resize images on the more recent posts which are experiencing this problem, to make your GGTL experience more fluid and easy. Bear with us while we resize these images.

Please bear with us while we rectify these problems. In the meantime, we suggest you use Firefox 3 from Mozilla, which GGTL is optimized for. It is available free from the Mozilla website.

If you encounter any more problems, please comment on this post and we will try to fix them for you.

Linford

Labels: New Layout