Windows on Steam Deck - Pros and Cons

The Steam Deck is a very flexible device and one of the things that you can do with it is install Windows onto it. 

Now, I'm going to get right into the meat of the article and give my pros and cons behind having Windows installed on the Steam Deck.

Flexibility is one of the main pros for me, when Windows is installed on the system it allows a lot of freedom. You can download and install other game launchers such as Ubisoft Connect, BattleNet, Epic Games etc. I liked this, because of the free games which I've picked up over on Epic Games store. However, there is a way to download these games through desktop mode on SteamOS using Lutris or Heroic Games Launcher, but I have to admit, I haven't had much joy with getting games launching or working smoothly using this method.

Having Windows installed also allows you to play games which might not be possible through SteamOS due to Anti Cheat not being compatible with Linux, so games like Destiny 2, Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 23, are all playable on Steam Deck when Windows is installed.

My Steam Deck Experience

Ever since the Steam Deck was announced it had always piqued my interest, the ability to play my steam library handheld and wherever I wanted was a massive draw. Another draw for me was that games tended to be cheaper on steam and there wasn’t a subscription to pay to play online. Win win I thought. When the Steam Deck eventually launched I didn’t have the funds available to be one of the first in the queue to get on, so I put the idea on the back burner until I did.

Animal Crossing: Time Travelling; Yay or Ney?

 This always seems to be a touchy subject with a lot of players of the Animal Crossing series. Should you time travel? What are the benefits and cons of doing so?

Well, I am going to give my take on the subject, and I will start off by admitting that yes, I have Time Travelled within the game and I will explain more. There are people who I’ve seen across the internet who time travel for various reasons, they want to get their bug/fish/fossil collections completed as quickly as possible, so time travel to certain points in the year to complete it. I have also seen people time travel for financial benefit to help pay things off in the game quicker! (That 2 mill house expansion can take its toll). 

This is partly where I start to frown at time traveling within Animal Crossing, if you are going to do it, then I don't feel you should benefit from it in a way that's financial within the game or proceeds to go so far ahead in time to get all bugs and fish that when you travel back to the present day it makes the museum part pointless. It's full within a couple of days and there is no other reason for you to visit it, other than maybe to hand it works of art from Redd when he shows up, even then, you can time travel and manipulate that. 

Now, I’m not saying that time traveling within the game is bad, at the end of the day you can play the game how you want to play it, but when it’s a game that is meant to be enjoyed over a long time, and with most in this series, it is meant to be something enjoyed for years. This is why I don't really see the point in time traveling to collect fish and bugs quickly, to say you’ve then completed the game to me is not an accurate statement. For me, this is a game which I don't feel you can put a 100% status on, yes you can collect all the bugs, fish, and fossils, but what about your island? All the furniture, all the recipes, the design of it, surely there are always things to do and hundreds of villagers to experience. 

New Leaf was the first animal crossing game that I enjoyed playing, but didn't really experience it to its fullest, not to the point that I’ve gotten to with New Horizons and putting 700+ hours into the game. The last game I put those types of hours into was Titanfall 1 and the most recent game that I broke over 100 hours in was Assassins Creed Valhalla which I completed in 125 hours. 

So you see, for me, it takes a special kind of game to get me to play it for that amount of time, and Animal Crossing is one of those games. Now, I'm deviating a bit, so let's get back on track.

I mentioned above that I had time travelled, yes, I have time travelled within my game to help move the opening bit to quicken up getting to the KK concert. So time travelling to get buildings built quicker as well as things like bridges. This also was only when I had restarted my island as well when I wasn’t happy with how my old island was turning out, the shape that I had picked, and the position of the plaza and river mouths, it started to make what I wanted to do awkward and not very achievable.

As I missed Festivale the first time around, I travelled back to be able to enjoy it.

This may sound strange but that's how it is, I fell into a lull with my island and didn't know how to break out of it, so I decided to start again and I used time travel to speed the initial part up of getting the resident services building, able sisters as well as nooks cranny. I also used it to get Amiibo villagers onto my island quicker as it takes 3 separate visits before they will agree to live on your island. (Which I don't mind doing as it helps boot off villagers I don't like…. I'm looking at you Pietro!) And as I found out recently, you can travel back to events that you missed, so as I didn’t get to enjoy Festivale at the time, the other day I traveled back to Feb 15th to partake in the event, and I am glad I did as I absolutely loved it. The one downside of traveling back or forward that far is the mess that it leaves on your island with weeds and also sometimes villagers will comment that they haven’t seen you for ages which mess up friendship points if you’re looking to try and get their photos, it can also lead to cockroaches in your house which can be a pain.

At the end of the day, as I said earlier, people play the game how they want to play, and that’s fine, but I feel trying to exploit a time-based game for financial gain isn’t a way to fully experience and enjoy. For me, the annoyance of weeds (especially after working so hard to keep the island clear) and everything else that comes with the game as a side effect isn't worth it, and the weedage on my island after going back to Festivale was unreal. 

I would love to get others' thoughts on this and whether you have time traveled in Animal Crossing and what the reasons were for. Do you think time travel is good or do you avoid it like the plague?

My PS5 Experience

Update: 17/04/2021 - The first major update for the PS5 has been launched and it adds a few nice new features and changes a couple of things up for the better.

Those who read the original article will know about my beef with the Game Base and struggling to see friends who were online, mainly because as I managed to find out, they were buried at the bottom underneath the parties section, which to me was a ridiculous thought. This has now been updated in new the newest version and parties and friends have been tabbed so each has its own section, which is a lot better than what it was. Now, if I could only have the friends tab as default.

Xbox Games Pass - Value for Money?

Microsoft recently announced that all Xbox One exclusives will be coming to Xbox Games Pass on their release date. So Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3 will all be coming to Games Pass when they release with Sea of Thieves being the first of those 3.

My thought was, does this represent value for money? Have Microsoft struck gold with this plan? There’s a couple of things to look at here from both sides of the spectrum. Both of which points to the very good in terms of what’s on offer.

From a gamer’s point of view to me this is a very good offer, brand new games being put on the service from the day they launch. As long as you have the subscription, you can play it as much as you want, as many times as you want. I don’t see the negatives from this, to be honest, plus not only do you get the new games, there are lots of other games to try as well. The downside is, you don’t own the game, so if you were to get rid of the subscription then you wouldn’t be able to play the game anymore, however, this is where it plays into Microsoft hands.



If you’ve played a game that you’re enjoying, you don’t have the subscription anymore but really want to continue with your game, then you’re more than likely going to buy the game, money in Microsoft’s pocket. I guess it’s one of those where you even if you still have the subscription you might want to purchase the game so that you have it as yours anyway. Again, for Microsoft, this is a win-win situation.

It’s also enticing for those who don’t currently have a subscription, such as myself I have recently taken the subscription out based on this, but luckily for me there were other games there that I haven’t played such as Re core and others, so it’s still making the money worth it for me, and with games changing in it, there will probably always be something for me to try.

Is this consumer friendly and value for money? Yes, very much so, being able to try and play a FULL game, for £8 a month as well as playing 100’s of others that are there as well is very much value for money. Thing is as well, if you only wanted to play one or 2 games and haven’t used a month’s free trial, then you can easily get a free code from somewhere and play that game for free…. I have taken out the full thing as there is going to be plenty to play over the coming months. Also, with games pass I can try a game risk-free without having to ‘pay’ for it, then if I do like it, there is the option to buy it and own, so as mentioned above, if I no longer want Games Pass, I’ll still have access to it.



The value of Games Pass over Sony’s PS Now is a massive difference. I tried PS Now with a few games and because it was a streaming service, didn’t get the same experience as I have from Games Pass. Mainly because the games are downloaded straight to your Xbox so you don’t need to have an internet connection when playing them…. Unless they’re an online game of course.

There is value for money with Games Pass and I have to admit that I would implore anyone to try it, whether it was just the 14 day or month trial. I’m sure there’s game on there to suit everyone. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me, it’s worth the try. After all, it’s not going to cost you anything to try it.

When it comes to Microsoft’s point of view, you have to look at the fact that, even with increases in revenue from Games pass, is it going to be enough to cover development costs? Are they heavily relying on conversion sales and getting people to buy the game after trying? There must be logic to the madness, but to me, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that to me, gamers are winning with this.



Another aspect that you have to look at is the retailers, how must this be affecting them? Is it a drive to digital-only sales? There must be a knock on effect in terms of Xbox game sales for retailers. I know a lot of high street retailers such as Game sell digital games, but the prices are so high its enough to put any savvy shopper off purchasing them, even the ones that allow trade-ins, you don't get much bang for your buck so you usually have to trade in 3 or 4 games just to get anything decent to go towards a new one. So there isn't really any value for money doing that, so when you see new exclusives being added on their release date, can you blame someone for paying £8 that month to get to play and try it before buying, or even playing it and finishing and moving on, then if they want to cancel there pass, happy days they can do. They've then just played the full game which to buy was £50.00, for just £8.00.

Whichever way you look at it, you can't deny that the service is value for money and Microsoft adding new exclusives to it is gamer friendly and giving you your monies worth.

Is Nintendo’s online system keeping big games from coming to the Switch?

We all know that Nintendo is not at the forefront with their online systems and network. Just like most of its style of games, it’s kept simplistic, and easy to access. A bonus of it so far as well is that it is free (Although this is changing in 2018 it’s only minuscule compared to the charges for Xbox and PlayStation)

However, when the Switch was announced there wasn’t really much information regarding things like party chat, then when Splatoon 2 was announced and that it was going to be the first to use party chat, there was an air of excitement that there was going to be a proper party chat system for the Switch.

Then we were shown to the mobile app connecting, wires everywhere mess that we use today… I say ‘use’ in the loosest term. I tried once and gave up, far too much messing about. There is a 3.5mm jack on the top of the system, why wasn’t an app placed on this so all you had to do was connect a headset to the jack, go into the app, create the party and voila, or connect the headset to the jack, and you can talk to people in the lobby…. Voila!



The most probable reason behind this is because of the deal that was struck by Nintendo with DeNA to make their mobile apps. Nintendo has probably thought that this was the most convenient thing to do as pretty much everyone has a smartphone or access to one for younger people with parents, but then, I must admit that if my young child came up to me and asked me to download the party chat so they could speak to people, I wouldn’t do it. Splatoon 2 is the only game at the moment that uses it, and for me it’s not needed really, only if I wanted to party up with people to talk while playing, then yeah, I would be up for it, but I’m not the most social person when playing with random people, I just like to sit back and play.

So this begs the question, because of this insane system, is this what is keeping games like Call of Duty, Battlefield 1 etc off the Switch?

People are going to say that they don’t think that those games can run on the Switch, but I beg to differ, I think that a resource hungry game like DOOM can be brought to the Switch and Wolfenstein 2 as well, why not games like CoD and Battlefield? Yeah, there is going to be downgrades and compromises, but at the end of the day, if it plays well, feels good and gives the experience that gamers are looking for why not? Well, because these types of games do rely heavily on party chat.

A lot of communication is needed, especially when it comes to playing some of the bigger modes in Battlefield such as Conquest, getting your team organised to go after whichever flag it does need you to be able to talk to your teammates. I have found that I have a better chance of winning if I have people on the team who are communicating.



In my eyes, the way that Nintendo has done the party chat may have alienated these games from coming to the system, for now at least anyway. Unless there is going to be a workaround or Nintendo decides to put a dedicated party app onto the Switch for it (when they decide to release apps) I’m not sure whether games like CoD and Battlefield will be able to implement a party chat into it.

At the end of the day, if they truly want these games on the system, then I am positive that they will find a way around it, whether it’s using Nintendo’s app, or just not including party chat. Which in this writers opinion would be a disaster for the objective based games.

More shooters are needed on the Switch and I think a Call of Duty or Battlefield game would be amazing, but I think one of the things that are putting off Activision and EA bringing their big shooters to the system is the party chat feature.



Another question to ask is, with the hardware within the Switch, would an app be all it needed? A simple update to allow for party chat, or is it now beyond the realms of possibility to get this feature direct onto the system?

I personally hope that Nintendo changes the app on mobile into a dedicated app for the system which will allow for direct connection to the 3.5mm jack and hey presto, you’re ready to go. Whether they will take on the feedback or not, as there have been a lot of grumblings from gamers about this, is yet to be seen, but we can just keep our fingers crossed.

What next for the Switch?

There is no denying that the Switch has had a strong launch and the lineup of games coming for the rest of the year is again very strong.

There are plenty of games announced for next year as well, and from the system still being out of stock in a lot of places (here in the UK) is there going to be enough stock to cover the holidays? Nintendo did say that they were trying to up production from August to try and make sure that the backlog of people who were after one managed to get one and that they would have enough for the Holidays. However, at the moment I can see there being a shortage at Christmas and that we may have a Wii situation on our hands. Intentional or not from Nintendo, it's going to keep the flow of systems running for a long time, which means software sales keeping up as well, hence the reason why games like Zelda, Mario Kart 8D etc keep up to the £40/45 mark all the time. A steady flow of sales and plenty of people still wanting to buy.

The question to ask ourselves now is, what is next for the Switch? There are a steady amount of games being released and more and more being announced on a weekly basis with more and more developers getting on board the Switch hype train.

However, it's no secret that when it comes to other features that the system is a little threadbare. There isn't an internet browser, no apps are on the system currently and nothing new has been added since launch, just general stability updates that are being released quite sparingly.

But my questions are, where are the apps or other features coming from? When are they coming? What's the deal with Virtual Console? Is that going to come along when the paid online system kicks in? Is this going to be the same for most of the new features?

There are a few tweaks that I would like to see added to the Nintendo Switch, the first of which being the homepage. When you get 12 items on the homepage, there comes an icon at the end that says 'All Software'.



When you press this little button, it takes you to a page which displays all your games in a full page grid as displayed below:



My thought to this was, why can't this be the homepage and make it scrollable? Why are we restricted to just the one row of 12? Surely it would be more productive to have them all on the screen and make that scrollable? It would also make it quicker to find the game that you want as you wouldn't have to scroll to the end, click the 'All Software' button, wait for the page to load and then potentially scroll some more to find it.

This can also be adjusted as well so that maybe folders can be implemented, so you can put Cartridge games in one, digital in another, or one for games, and when they're released another for apps. There could also be the option like they have for Xbox pins to be able to move the games about so you can keep your favourites at the top. Lots of ideas possible for this, and some that I hope get implemented.

Speaking of the Homepage, there is a lot of unused space and if you check the first Homepage image out you will see what I mean, there is a lot of space above and below the games and this could be better executed, maybe one updates start coming along it will, but at the moment, there is a lot of room there for improvement.

The next thing I would like to see as an improvement is the joy con battery alerts and display. Currently, if you would like to see the battery levels of your joy cons, you have to go through the menus, to the controller page, where it gives you the battery levels. You can see this below:



My beef with this is that why can't this be placed on the homepage? So, say you're changing games, and want to know how the new game is affecting your Joy Cons battery life, all you would need to do here is press the homepage button and voila, there is it. You can then go back to the game as quick as you got to the homepage. All good.

Another improvement I would like to see made is to the capture feature. I'm not going to mention video recording as Nintendo has said that this is coming to the system. What I would like to see improving is how captures are shared. Currently, once you've taken a screenshot, you have to go back to the homepage, to the album, select the screenshot you want to upload and then do it.

Why can't this be improved? Made a lot quicker so that it can be done in-game? Keep the one press for saving screenshots, but why not have a hold down or double press feature which takes, and saves the screenshot and opens up a window to upload it to whichever outlet you would like?

That would make things a lot simpler when wanting to share a screenshot straight away, because if you're like me and carry on playing and say 'Ah, I'll do it later' - You're bound to forget after a few hours of playing and it goes lost of days and maybe weeks if you don't check your album.

Next, I'm going to talk about the friend's list and adding friends. I came back to 30+ friend requests one day on my Switch and I had to go through each of these individually. My question here is why? Why do you have to do this one by one?

Why can I not select the friends I want in a mass batch and click an add or approve friend button? It gets a bit of a pain when you have to do it one by one, especially when I found that the pages don't load that quickly either.



The games are coming to the system, and I'm hoping that apps will become available sometime soon. As mentioned above there are tweaks and improvements that can help the system be a lot quicker and easier to use.

Fingers crossed we get to see these improvements made or something along those lines. Is there anything else that you would like to see improved on the Nintendo Switch is terms of the UI or anything that could make it faster?

 

*Images are copyright of respected owners.

3rd Party Games and Nintendo Switch: No Excuses?

One of the main talking points before the Nintendo Switch launched was the support that it would get from Third Party game developers. After the poor showing that the Wii U had when it launched and pretty much right through its life, it was more than acceptable to be a little bit apprehensive when it came to third-party games.

Nintendo did show us a strong backing at the reveal of the Switch and promised that there would be a bigger third party support. Again, apprehension had crept in as this was kind of De Ja Vu from the Wii U when they said that EA and others were on board with the system and that more games would be coming. The Wii U died out pretty quickly and this was mainly down to the lack of third party AAA games not being brought to the system. It was down to the first party games of Nintendo and Indie developers, which there were some good games, but a lot of them were pretty dire and did nothing to sell the console.

The Switch launched to massive applause, complete with Zelda releasing on the same day, the console did lack a library of big games at the start however over the first 6 months the system has been available, that has changed considerably and the future is also looking brought for the console.



Plenty of first-party games have launched on the system with Zelda, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Arms, Splatoon 2 and Mario/Rabbids crossover and the third party support hasn't been too bad either with Skyrim coming to the system in November, 2K bringing NBA as well as their WWE franchises to the system, EA will be launching FIFA on the console next week, and as I mentioned Skyrim above, Bethesda recently announced that DOOM and Wolfenstein 2 will also be coming to the system, DOOM at the end of the year and Wolfenstein 2 in 2018.

This brings me to my question. If Bethesda, who are seemingly loving supporting the Switch and are trying to bring their games, and you have to admit, that these aren't small games, they're big hungry and demanding games, if Bethesda can bring these to the Switch what is stopping other developers jumping on board? What's the stop Rockstar bringing GTA V? Yes, they've already announced LA Noire, which is good, and this is a game I enjoyed playing and would enjoy playing again on the Switch. But, why shouldn't the Switch have something more demanding like GTA V?



If the system can cope with something as demanding as Skyrim, then surely it can cope with GTA V? OK, we are going to have to live with games being downgraded due to limitations, but this isn't stopping the games being brought to the system.

Bethesda is showing the gaming world that this little device can literally handle anything that is thrown at it, and personally, I think it's getting developers scared, developers are running out of excuses to say no to bringing their game to the Switch. They can no longer turn round and say "The system is powerful enough".



The games can be adapted/downgraded however you want to describe it, but the games can be played on the system. How long you're going to get with battery life is a whole different issue. You get around 3 hours from Zelda, so I would expect the same from DOOM, maybe less given how hungry that game can be.

It will be interesting to see with Skyrim, DOOM and Wolfenstein how much battery life they take up, they're all massive games with wonderfully designed worlds that will no doubt use a lot of the power from the system. Can the games be optimised to help with this? Are we going to see improvements that way, graphically downgrading the games, which most of them will be as the system can't compete on that level with Xbox and PlayStation, will this help when the games are in handheld mode? Will they still be as resource hungry as they are on Xbox and PS? One thing that we have seen lately is that DOOM is running well on the Switch and people who have had a hands-on with it have said that it plays well.

Below you can see some off-screen gameplay footage of DOOM running on the Switch which is brought to us by Gamespot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eOdEkmTP0o

It's certainly an interesting argument and I am excited to see what games are going to be announced for the console in future. Are we going to get more games ported over to the Switch? Bethesda seem to be on a fine run of bringing games over, will we see any more games being brought over? Fallout maybe?

If FIFA sells well on the system, will EA be tempted to bring more of there sports catalogue over, Madden, NHL, NBA? 2K has already brought there NBA game over, maybe this is something that could spur EA next year to enhance their library for the Switch.

With the current sales figures for the Switch and the fact these are only going to rise, are we going to see an influx of developers who haven't really invested in the Switch put more effort into it?



Rockstar releasing LA Noire, is this them dipping their toes into test the waters and see if it's worth bringing games GTA or even Red Dead to the system? Maybe. Who knows though, only time will tell, and at the moment, there are plenty of games out there for us to play on the Switch and much more still to come. Fingers crossed that this is only the start for the system and this is going to grow and grow for it. I personally love my Switch and can't wait to see how it grows over the next 12 months.

I think it's going to be interesting to see, especially from E3 next year when the console is getting into its momentum, what type of games and support it still has at that point. If we're still with the strong support at that point and the games are flooding in, I think the system is going to be onto a winner for years to come. Only time will tell though.

N64 Mini - What Games Would You Like To See?

With the release of the SNES Classic Mini it's only right to think that we could be on the way to getting an N64 Mini loaded with a few games.

The question we have to ask ourselves is that games would we like to see on the console?

Below you can check out the games we would love to see on the console.



Super Mario 64
One of the best games for it's time with a lovely open world to check out and play through.



The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
This was always going to be on the list. One of if not my favourite games ever. Played and finished on numerous occasions when I was younger and would love to get the opportunity to play this again.



The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Another Zelda game on the list. Mainly because this is the only Zelda game I have yet to play. *Shock, Horror* Indeed, this is on my list of games that I have never played, and I am ashamed of that and would love to get my hands on it and finally play it.



Goldeneye 64
This game needs no introduction. One of if not the best shooters for it's time, played countless times in single player and with friends in split screen mode! Its remake didn't cut it for me and I would love to see this on the Mini.



Perfect Dark
I would love to see this on the N64 Mini, this is one of the games that I didn't get to the play and from what others have said it is nearly on par with Goldeneye

I did have a think about the above 2 with regards to being on the system and whether it would be possible. But then I thought, why not? Just because they're owned by Xbox Studio, Rare, doesn't mean to say that they can't be on the system. Xbox at the moment, especially with Backwards Compatibility seems to be all about preserving gaming's past so I can see Microsoft being willing to allow it on the system, and Nintendo will obviously want some of it's biggest hitters to show up.



Mario Kart 64
A lovely racer to change the pace a bit, I think this one would be a dead cert to show up on the system should it be announced and released.



Donkey Kong 64
One of Nintendo's biggest franchises and characters, can't see him getting left out on this. Again, this is another platformer that I never got round to playing.



Star Fox 64
One of the all time classics and I can't see this one missing out on the party.



Bomberman 64
I used to play this loads with my Dad, having battles against each other, which I always won. A brilliant nostalgic feel for me and good memories of my youth should this be included.



WWF No Mercy
This is my favourite wrestling game of all time. The feel the game had, the way it played was amazing, and I played this so much that I actually wore out the cartridge. That was the saddest day in gaming for me. Suplexed to gaming heaven.

Would you all agree with the above? Are there any other games that you would like to see on the N64 Mini if it was the show up as next years Classic blast from the past?

Let us know in the comments what you would like to see! :)

UK Retailer Game's New Elite Membership: Is it worth it?

For as long as I can remember, Game the UK Retailer has always had a loyalty/Rewards scheme, I think I was one of the first to join up to it when the retailer launched the program, I still have my old school card with one of the first membership numbers splashed across the front, which whenever I do go into a Game shop (Which these days, is now very rare) I usually get some comments from staff on my old school card. Which is kind of a nice thing, but then being a member that long doesn't get any other perks.

So when the new Game Elite reward scheme was launched this week, with it's higher percentage rewards points, you would forgive me for thinking that Game had got something right, changing their rewards scheme and giving more back to their loyal customers, who go in and in my opinion pay well over the odds at £60 for a new game instead of heading to places like Amazon, Tesco, Asda who often have the game in the low £40's.

But I digress, so the main question here is, is the new Elite Membership worth it?

The short answer is no.... Why I hear you ask? Mainly because you have to pay £36 to sign up to it. With this you then get 10% back on all physical games, merchandise and accessories, 4% back from consoles, phones and tablets and 2% back on trade in as well as a birthday gift and member only deals and exclusives.



So, to break even you would have to buy 6 new games at £60, just to get your £36, 10 £40 games to get £40 back and then you would be able to get another game free, but then you're only breaking even, that to me doesn't seem like rewards. Rewards to me would be giving the customer more back, especially as this is meant to be 'Elite'.

Game have stated though that if you don't earn your £36 back in rewards after 12 months, they will give you the difference in rewards points. No thanks Game, I'll spend my £36 down Tesco and get a game from there instead, thanks.

I have always tried to support high street retailers, in a digital age where it is much cheaper to buy online and especially more so with free delivery or even next day delivery, I can see what Game are trying to do, but unfortunately it is going to fail, there in store prices are far to high to be able to compete, but a lot of people will go in and trade as it's an easy option to get credit for the next game, it's just a shame that you get pittance from them, but that's another story.

It does seem like a very desperate measure and one that is destined to fall flat on its face.

Nintendo Switch: What do we know and Games Lineup

What is the Nintendo Switch?

The Nintendo Switch is a new Home Console that turns into a Handheld so you can play your favourite Nintendo games on the go.



So, how does the console work? The main console part of the system is the main body in which you can detach from the dock. When placed within the dock it connects to your TV, you can then attach the Joy Cons to the grip and play as a normal console.

When taken out of the dock, you can attach the Joy Cons to the main part of the console and it turns into a handheld. Magic!! In this mode as well, you can detach the Joy Cons, use the stand for the Switch and play with the Joy Cons in your hand... Still on the go... So, if you're on a long train journey, a flight or on a road trip (and not driving), you can play Zelda, Mario and others where ever you are.

I can hear you shouting from here! 'But Jon, how does it work when you take out of the dock, what's the transition from TV to handheld like?'... Well my Friends, here is a handy video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4liEfuFvIqE

Now the next question... Joy Cons? - These are the new controllers which you use to play the Nintendo Switch with. They can be used in many different ways, and there are some games where you can use each left and right one as a separate so you can share with friends. Cool!! There is also going to be a more traditional Pro Controller that will be available, however this is going to be around the £60 mark and have to be purchased separately.



Lets talk about battery life! Nintendo has confirmed that the battery life of the Switch will last between 3 and 6 hours depending on the game being played. My understanding of that is for me personally, that is a good length of time, I know there are people who would play for longer, however for me that would be a decent amount of play time, and if I was somewhere with a plus socket, I could always plug in to keep my gaming going.

However, if I was truly out and about, I can't see me wanting to or having the time to play longer than the 3 hours minimum stated.

What Games have been confirmed so far? 

There have been a couple of games that have been confirmed for launch and others which have been sighted for further a field, but this is what we know.

Nintendo Switch launch games confirmed so far

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild


• 1-2-Switch


• Just Dance 2017


• Skylanders Imaginators


• Super Bomberman R

First-party Nintendo games

• Snipperclips - Cut it out, together! (March 2017)


• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (April 28)


• ARMS (Spring 2017)


• Splatoon 2 (Summer 2017)


• Fire Emblem Warriors (autumn 2017)


• Pokémon Stars (late 2017)


• Super Mario Odyssey (holiday 2017)


• Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (TBC)


• New Fire Emblem (2018)

Third-party Nintendo Switch games confirmed for 2017

• I Am Setsuna (2017)


• Fast RMX (2017)


• Has Been Heroes (2017)


• Rime (2017)


• Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (2017)


• Disgaea 5 Complete (2017)


• LEGO City Undercover (2017)


• Puyo Puyo Tetris (2017)


• Sonic Mania (2017)


• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2017)


• NBA 2K18 (2017)


• Project Sonic 2017 (2017)


• Shovel Knight (2017)


• Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (2017)


• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (2017)

The following games are third party games, however there is no release window for these yet, however they are confirmed.

• Arcade Archives


• Constructor


• Cube Life: Island Survival


• Dragon Quest X


• Dragon Quest XI


• Dragon Quest Heroes I and II


• Dragonball Xenoverse 2


• EA Sports FIFA


• Farming Simulator


• Minecraft: Story Mode - The Compete Adventure


• Rayman Legends: Definite Edition


• Redout


• Seasons of Heaven


• New Shin Megami Tensei (Western release unconfirmed)


• Stardew Valley


• State of Mind


• Steep


• Syberia 3


• Project Octopath Traveller


• Taiko Drum Master


• New Travis Touchdown game


• New 'Tales of' RPG


• Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers

So then? When is the Switch going to be available?

The Switch will be available from March 3rd and it is priced at £279.99/$299.99. In the UK you can pre order from Amazon, Tesco, GAME and ShopTo, while in the US you can get a hold of one from Target, Best Buy, Walmart and GameStop.

Should Sony Get EA Access Onto PS4?

Ever since it was launched 18 months ago, people have been wondering about the lack of EA Access on PS4. At first Sony said that it didn’t represent value for money, now my first observation there is, could that have been down to the way that EA pitched it to Sony?

£20.00 a year and a bunch of free games, trials and discounts, how could this not prove value for money? At first, there weren’t that many games available, and the ones that were, were over a year old, most of which if people wanted to play, probably had it already in their games library.

With this then, could Sony have looked at it and thought, nah you’re alright. The question now is, are Sony kicking themselves? Seeing how many subscriptions that are being taken up on Xbox One, as well as the amount of games that are now available through the Vault, and for £20.00 a year, you can’t go wrong!



Would I like to see EA Access venture its way onto PS4 with the library that it has on Xbox One?

Yeah, of course I would, especially now that my PS4 Pro is my primary console, I would be very tempted to get a subscription to it, especially as there are games on there that I haven’t got round to playing yet such as Dragon Age Inquisition and Mirrors Edge: Catalyst.

It does seem to me to be a very strange decision indeed that Sony was offered the service and turned it down. Especially when the reason that they gave was that they didn’t think that it represented value for money.

OK there are some games in there which are the usual yearly iterations such as FIFA, which you know are going to be added 6-9 month down the line, but when you think of other upcoming games which will be added to the service, such as Mass Effect Andromeda and other unannounced games, I don't see anyone who doesn't see the value in the service.

The fact that Sony feel that their PS+ service can match up to it? Sorry, but no. The games that are presented each month with PS+ are simply dire at best 99% of the time. Indie games which most people probably wouldn't bat an eye lid at. I can't remember the last time there was a game on there I saw which I wanted to play or piqued any kind of interest for me. Compared to the Games with Gold program, PS+ is a poor addition and I personally don't feel that the games offered warrant the value you pay for the service.



Another angle to look at things is that if EA Access was to be widely accepted on consoles, what is stopping other major developers from doing the same? What would happen if Bethesda, Ubisoft, Activision, TellTale all locked their games behind a subscription system? We would have them coming out of our ears, but say for example, you paid £100 a year to the 5 mentioned to play their games... Would you have anything to spare afterwards for other developers/publishers?

The answer there might be that yes, you do, you can afford to pay a little bit more here and there for other games, but there are people who wouldn't be able to afford anything else on top if they paid £100 a year. Leaving a massive gap and gulf in the amount of money being spread across the industry.

There may be people out there who would only afford to pay 1 or 2 subscriptions, and would have to think very carefully about the ones they chose, and which games would benefit them the most.



This to me is why I think there are pluses and negatives to both sides of the argument with the EA Access to PS4 chat. Where it would be great value and there would be an amazing amount of games for people to play, if others jumped on the bandwagon, I think it would start to isolate people from playing more games and a bigger variety than they would like, especially if gamers have to budget and pick their games carefully throughout the year. Constant subscriptions to developers/publishers could use this budget up. I also understand people have a choice in what subscriptions they take out, but if their favourite publisher/developer came up it can be a hard prospect to turn down. Knowing that for just a little price you will end up getting your favourite games and more.

So, should EA Access come to PS4? Well, it's kind of a yes/no scenario... For me it does provide value for money, well over what PS+ brings in terms of games, but I think an overall acceptance of this type of program will bring others into it, and personally I don't feel it would be beneficial for the industry as a whole.

 

HGR's Game of the Year 2016

2016 has been another great year for games, with the usual yearly suspects such as FIFA and other sports games, to the yearly slug fest of Call of Duty.

New IPs we’re introduced such as what is now Game of the Year from the Game Awards, Overwatch. There was also the brilliant Firewatch, Abzu and No Man’s Sky. The latter of which was hyped up to oblivion and had the fastest fall from grace.

Each of the team have written their own pieces for what they believe is there game of the year, or if they haven’t managed to pick one, then there selection for the year. I have to admit as well. Each of us at Honest Gaming Reviews have picked something different, which we were all pleasantly surprised about.

Jon

Last year I couldn’t make my mind up on a Game of the Year. It was a difficult decision and went with an overall view of my top games. This year has been a little easier and I do have a clear GOTY winner, which in a way I was surprised and also not really at the same time.

My GOTY is ….. *drum roll*… Titanfall 2. Surprised? I think the game is a very worthy winner. After the Tech Test, Respawn went away and took the feedback from that on board and made amendments to the game which added that bit of polish.

There are times where the launch of games don’t go smoothly, either because there are issues with the game, or the servers haven’t worked as expected. But with Titanfall 2, I didn’t have any of these issues and since switching the game on, it’s been an absolute joy to play. Plus, if you’re wanting a quick game of attrition to kill 10-15 minutes, then this is easily the best option for that. Getting into a game is so quick and easy, the loading times are barely nothing. This for me was one of the biggest factors when choosing the game as I was 50/50 between this and Battlefield 1, but the loading times on BF1 can be atrocious, I have known it to take around 5-10 minutes before I've been placed into a match, you then add that to the 10-15 minutes each match takes and that can at times take up half an hour. Not the 10-15 you were hoping kill.



One thing that I loved about this game is how smooth it runs. If you have read my review for this game, you will see what I mean about that. Technically for me the game is sound, wall running is simply smooth, going from one side to another, drifting wonderfully over each surface. I cannot fault this games mechanics at all, and it's an absolute joy to play.

This is why Titanfall 2 is my GOTY.

 

Lurkio

As a few people know I only tend to play one game and I can't really pick that as my GOTY constantly. So this year I'm going to throw my accolade on a delightful Indie title that I had the pleasure to review earlier this year.

Fru is a game that had me grinning like a loon and actually had me up off the sofa and getting some exercise whilst still having fun. It took a piece of hardware, the Kinect, and utilised it in a way that it hadn't been used before. There was a story of sorts but it was secondary really to the enjoyment I gained from actually changing the way the character moved by using my body. In a year where all the big AAA companies released their stock 'sequels', I found Fru to be a welcome breath of fresh air and it showed that you can drift away from the current meta and still have a successful game release.



Honorable mentions go to Titanfall 2 (love you BT) , The Magic Circle (quite fun and surprisingly funny), Action News Heroes (devs listened to feedback to make the game more enjoyable), the quite brilliant Turing Test which featured some stunning voice acting and also to EA Access who have built up a tidy catalogue of games that are available if you subscribe to the service.

See you all in 2017.

Sadie2099

I'm not usually one for singling out a game that stands out above the rest. I play a lot of great games and always struggle to say 'That ones the best' but in my opinion my game of the year has to go to Gears of War 4. The Coalition really outdone themselves in bringing the new chapter of the Gears franchise to the Xbox One. I loved the story in the original trilogy's campaign and Gears 4 expands on this with great success. The gameplay and controls are pretty much spot on. Horde mode has been refreshed to Horde 3.0 and doesn't feel like the slog getting to round 50 as it used to.The look of the game is simply stunning. Thanks in part to the Unreal 4 engine, I think its one of the best looking games of the generation.

[caption id="attachment_13264" align="alignnone" width="2128"] Gears of War 4 Poster - Horizontal[/caption]

Honourable mention to Titanfall 2 (#dicksoutforBT). The single player campaign is one if not the best FPS campaigns around. Also, The Division, a rocky start to begin with but has really came into its own after the latest update.

Ubersnug

For 2016, I was between a few games, the new Doom being one of them. But the game that I felt trumped them all was, potentially, 2016’s biggest Lemon, Ubisoft’s The Division.

It’s no big secret that the Division has had its fair share of problems. Going from a well received, high profile release to quickly becoming almost a laughing stock in the industry. Recent patches rectified a lot of the problems and revitalised the heavily depleted community that stayed with the game. But in the face of so much negativity, it’s easy to forget what the Division got right.

At its core, it’s a very solid third person RPG. The core campaign and side missions alone provided a healthy and enjoyable 25-30hrs of gameplay. The world that was built for The Division, an almost identical recreation of the centre of New York, was an incredible feat and one the game was constantly praised for and still to this day can wow me unexpectedly. The Division also has a very solid party system implemented into the game, one I’ve yet to see bettered by any other developer, successfully keeping players in games even when disconnecting in the middle of sessions or the seamless transitions when joining other players’ games. The soundtrack is great and, eventually, the loot system became almost as rewarding as Diablo or Borderlands rather than the stingy harsh grind it was.



But the two things that made The Division particularly special to me was the Dark zone and the most recent expansion, Survival. The Darkzone was The Division’s PVP Zone. Letting players decide whether to engage one another or to help one another adds a level of tension and uncertainty that I’ve only previously experienced during my time with EVE Online and its own PVP sandbox and the exhilaration or the panic you can feel is palpable. It’s an element and experience which can and does leave a lasting impression on a player. Whether through a random act of kindness from a stranger or the unexpected stab in the back from the group of players who ignored you half an hour ago. It can be a marmite experience, but it’s one I savour.

The recent Survival mode, takes everything I love about the Darkzone and encapsulates it into a single contained mode. Pitting 24 players against each other, along with the AI in the game, with an hour to live and fighting over the limited resources everyone needs to survive and escape. The tension is increased dramatically as every encounter with another player becomes an even desperate fight for survival. Do they have the medication you need to survive that little bit longer or the equipment you need to push forward? Or do they have the same desires for the few valuable items you have found? Perhaps they’ll decide to ask for help, thinking safety in numbers is the way to increase their odds of surviving? Or will they stab you in the back when you finally let your defences down? These are all valuable questions you need to ask yourself and, on a certain level, test the sort of person you want to be in that game world.



Very few games can instil a true sense of panic, or the elation the way The division can. There is an unspoken social element to the game which brings out the worst, or the best, in people which is something I hope more games try to introduce. Not necessarily by copying how the Division has built their PVP Sandbox, but by coming up with their own flavours. Given Massive Entertainment’s dedication to turn the game round as much as they have, I cannot wait to see what they have planned in the next patch, the next expansion and the rumoured year 2 content.

------------------------

I felt that was a very rounded take for games of the year, Titanfal 2, Gears 4, FRU and the Division. 3 Shooters, but all worthy accolades and FRU is one of the best indie games we have played this year and certainly deserves it's place.

What would your Game of the Year be? We would love to hear and find out!

 

Call of Duty: Is It Getting As Stale As Your Unwashed Socks?

I feel that this is a very valid question. There are a lot of different FPS's out there but is Call of Duty getting that stale that the franchise needs a good shake up. For the last few years the game and franchise just doesn't seem to be going anywhere, same engine being used time and time again, non to very little graphical upgrades and a community of immature gamers with more 'mom' jokes than Tim Vine's world record.

The whole ethos of all-out war is lost when companies are building games on future wars, mainly because they probably don't want the effort of making sure that what they're putting in is historically correct, so take a stance that they are doing futuristic games and can make up whatever they like and get away with it, despite the fact they have fans now screaming at them that they would love a WW1 or WW2 game making again. But what do the fans know? We only play the games don't we?

To me it's lazy development, trying to fob it off as 'inventive' kind of speaks out to me to say 'We have no more ideas, so were making this up as we go along'. Also the fact that the community you are providing for are screaming out for games based in WW1 and WW2 means that you are not giving the fans what you want. Currently it is the publisher and developer deciding on what content and era that the games are going in and it seems they have a direction and plan. However, I think that because there are a lot of people who play the series year in year out and there are a lot of people asking for certain themes within the game and a certain era. But this isn’t being provided by Activision and the 3 developers, the games are going more futuristic and I think that the reason for this is because they are using the same models as other games and amending them to their own needs.



For me the games need to go back to basics, bring that feel of all-out war back to the series and get people interested again. Simple kill streaks would definitely help this, and after playing Infinite Warfare I found myself more confused, especially with the addition of the Rig system. Something for me which has added more confusion. I couldn’t quite get my head around what the purpose of them was and why they were needed, it just seemed to be something to add in for the sake of adding in. It didn’t make a difference for me though as I didn’t really understand what the purpose of each different rig was.

When I was at EGX I managed to get a game on both Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered, and I had such a blast on MW:R it felt good, and this is the direction that the games need to go back to.

Simple kill streaks, simple create a class or pick a gun, secondary weapon, maybe a few perks, a grenade type and happy days, away you go.

If you look at how Battlefield 1 has gone with the World War 1 timeline, this is back to basics and I have been having an absolute blast. One of the problems with Call of Duty is that it has a fan base where it doesn’t matter how many don’t buy the game, there will always be a strong sales point for it, and even if it were possible that the sales were that bad, Activision will probably be able to make it up the losses any way.



It is a sad sorry affair that from the game I used to love when I started playing it from Black Ops 1 has gone so dramatically downhill. I think Activision and the 3 developers for the series need to have a look at what is going on in their own backyard and what others are doing. If Call of Duty sales are down this year (which I highly doubt will happen) then I am hoping that the series is due a shake up, get the back to basics going and simplify the game. Make it more about narrative, really think about map design as the ones that are being released lately are either terrible, or they are just re skinning old maps from previous games, which while the nostalgia kick is nice, it’s hardly the point of a new game. (Black Ops 3 did after all have 1 old map in each of their map packs. Not cool, why should I pay twice for the same map? I shouldn't have too, and this brings me down to Modern Warfare remastered.

Treyarch released Black Ops 1 into the Backwards compatibility program and made it available to everyone who owned the game, or wanted to go back out and spend a couple of quid on it. Now, Infinity Ward have remastered Modern Warfare and not only have they done that, they have added it as an extra to there new game.

However, instead of rewarding loyal fans, they have sort of given a 2 fingers up and said that if you want this, not only do you have to buy our next game, you have to pay more for the privilege as well.

Wow, thanks Activision. The game isn't even for sale on it's own basis, you have to buy the new game to be able to play. The reason they've done this is simple. If they had sold Modern Warfare remastered on it's own, I think they know that it would have outsold the new game, showing that fans are right and showing Activision and there 3 developers that the direction there going in is the wrong one. Again, something that Activision won't want to admit.

I do get the sense that the thought process is that it is there game and they can do whatever the hell they want with it. Because let's be honest, 3 different developers, all keeping along with similar themes. It shows to me that they don't have much if any creative control over the games.



It does make me sad that a franchise I once loved and looked forward too each year is now heading down the drain faster than a Japanese bullet train. Especially when it used to be fun, and I enjoyed playing. Now, there is so much discontent with how similar each iteration is. Especially this year when you look at similarities within the Call of Duty Infinite Warfare and other games, it does look like a lot of things have been pinched from other franchises. Although for me this has been going on since Advanced Warfare.

Only the future will show where this franchise goes and while people are still playing and supporting it so heavily, I don't think the games are going to change. This article isn't one having a go at the series, it's one that wants change, to go back to basics and enjoy the series again.

 

Our Hands On Experience @ EGX

Another year, and another EGX has been and gone, and just like last year we loved the experience that the event had to offer. There was so much to see and do, and with the additional room that had been made for the event with extra halls, it didn't feel so crammed with the amount of people there.

There was a lot more eateries this year on the floor, with a couple of areas which had a nice little courtyard to them were you could get some food and sit down and eat at tables, and not trying to find a dark corner and sit on the floor. So it was good to see the feedback from last year being taken on board.

Again though, another problem for me was queuing, however this is always going to be an inevitability. I don't think this will ever change, despite the fact they had introduced more screens for people to play, they didn't say whether that was an all round thing or on a booth by booth basis. There were some who still only had between 5-10 screens, there were others who had up to maybe 30 screens, but still when you have about 200 people queuing to play your game, if it's a 15 minute demo then there still going to be waiting a good hour to an hour and a half.



When I queued to play Call of Duty I ended up waiting 2 hours and that was going in just after 10. That does seem to be the theme, if you want to play a game, you got to be willing to stand in queues for hours, which if you are only there for the day can be a waste of time as you won't get to see everything that the show has to offer.

Right the games, this is after all the main reason for going to EGX.

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare/ Modern Warfare Remastered

I managed to get to play this, and I wanted to play it as a few people who had, mentioned that it was good. So I thought, why not, can't harm... anything other than my legs having to queue for 2 hours. I was grateful for the seat when I finally managed to get in.

I had a match of Domination on Infinite Warfare, and if im going to be honest, I didn't like the game, the graphics were no different to what's been pumped out the last few years, the mechanics felt the same, it just seemed like the same game re imaged with different maps.To me, this did seem more suited to a DLC than a brand new game.

The guys there gave us time to look through the menus, familiarise ourselves with the create a class section. This to me was very confusing, the devs talked us through the new rig setups, which for me was a pure explosion of non sense. I didn't understand what they did or how they would benefit me on the battlefield. I knew they did something but again, how I used them when out in a match was a whole different kettle of fish.



I know that you have the single player campaign, but there aren't many people who play the Call of Duty games solely for the single player, and to be basically throwing out the same multiplayer stuff time and time again, it's getting to the point where it's not acceptable. The poor thing is that they will continue on this path though, as long as they have the YouTubers, Twitch streamers, e-sports players who religiously pump content out for people to watch in there droves, it's not going to get any better.

After finishing my rounds of Domination, I went on to play a match of Team Deathmatch on Modern Warfare Remastered. I have to admit, that I really enjoyed playing this and going back to basics. No wall running, kill streaks and your basic perks. Nothing fancy like Rig setups and other confusing things.

BACK. TO. BASICS - This is what the series needs. I think I had more fun playing these 15 minutes than I have over the last couple of years of playing Call of Duty games.

This is why I am hoping that they release Modern Warfare Remastered as a standalone, because I would probably buy and play this as this years Call of Duty for me. If they don't however, I won't lose any sleep over it.

Titanfall 2

I was going to try and play games I hadn't already played, but enjoyed the Tech Test that I decided to give it another go and this was exactly the same as the Tech Test. Same 2 maps, and depending on where they sat you depended on whether you had Bounty Hunter or Amped Hardpoint.

I was happy as I had a game of Bounty Hunter. :)

Mafia III

We didn't get to play this, but we were taking into a made up cinema (which was pretty cool and all themed as well) to watch 20 minutes of unreleased footage as well as a few trailers for the game and others that 2K have coming out soon.

After watching the footage, my excitement levels for this game went through the roof. I cannot wait for October 7th and to get my chance to play this game! The world looks amazing and from the map that we saw the area looks huge! Hype train wooooooo woooooooo!!


Yooka Laylee

This was my surprise package from EGX. I loved the look of the game, and it had a very Spyro the Dragon feel about it, which the Wife was excited about as she loves Spyro. (She even went to the Retro section to find it)

It's due to be released early next year so we will be keeping an eye out for that when it releases. You can view the new trailer for the game below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYJjeQcqcyw

FIFA 17

Due out this week, not going to go into much detail as our review will be launching in a few days, but you got the chance to play the demo, which has been out now for around 2 weeks. There wasn't any difference although it was funny to see my Brother in Law lose 3-0 to a 10 year old.... He didn't take it to well. haha!

Forza Horizon 3

This simply put, looks epic. I cannot wait for my copy to arrive to be able to play more of it. Game looks and feels stunning, I can't wait to get my fill!

Destiny: Rise of Iron

I didn't play this as I already had it and, but there were plenty of things going on where you could try and do a strike in under 5 minutes to try and win prizes.

I even got to be an Iron Lord for a minute :D



It was an overall round good experience but again the amount of waiting time there is to play games is beyond. 2 hours+ is a bit excessive for me.

I am looking forward to next year's and seeing what it has to offer.