Assigning a Value to “Indie” Games

Do you know what my first reaction to seeing that The Witness was released yesterday: it wasn’t to go straight out and buy it. Instead, I sat on my hands staring at that £30 price tag wondering if the game was worth that much. The reported high quality of the game being a none factor, I found myself hung up on the cost to purchase the game. But considering what early reviews have to say, £30 is apparently a steal.

We’re at a point now where video games are as inexpensive as they’ve ever been, and yet we’re all still talking about our value for money and independent studios overcharging. People complain about the free games they get with services like PS plus and Games with Gold because they’re not getting the £50 triple A releases. Continue reading “Assigning a Value to “Indie” Games” →

10 reasons the Majin Buu saga sucked

When it comes to Dragonball, my opinion is a great big double-edged sword. I think the perfect place for the series to end, from a storytelling perspective was with Goku defeating Freeza on Namek. It ended the Saiyan arc that started with Z and had Goku fulfilling a legendary prophecy to become the strongest fighter in the galaxy. Problem is, if that had happened, we wouldn’t have had any more Dragonball.

And while it wasn’t as tight as the series before, I still liked the Android Arc, it introduced some cool characters and had a ton of cool moments. It also came full circle on Gohan’s arc with Goku passing the torch to his son to become the new hero, thanks to the power the series had been eluding to since his introduction. Then again, if that had been the end, we wouldn’t have had anymore Dragonball. No Battle of the Gods, no Dragonball Super and no… Majun Buu saga.

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Thoughts on Star Wars: The Force Awakens

My salt levels were high for this one. I’ve always been a big Star Wars fan. I read the books, I read the comics whenever possible, any Star Wars game was something I’d pick up. I even enjoyed the Clone Wars series. But eventually, it all became too much. Like a sponge filled to capacity, the Star Wars started to seep out of the edges and I started to get cynical.

It didn’t help that this might have been the most marketed piece of media ever, but everyone around me who used to turn their nose up at Star Wars were excitedly talking about booking their day one tickets to see the movie on release. Something I wasn’t able to do. On top of that, the movie is part of a new Canon that has basically made over 100 novels, the games and the comics all part of the Legends continuity.

(I’m assuming everyone who goes further from here has seen the movie, you have been warned.)

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