Hey MyIGNers! I have decided to write up yet another Assassin's Creed blog and this is a specific topic that has been haunting me for almost 2 years and I feel that now is now the time to write it. Assassin's Creed 3 was meant to be the biggest of the franchise yet for many, it didn't quite seem that way and appeared as a huge disappointment. Many people have their own opinions for disliking the game. Just like how many hated Mass Effect 3 but I think that some of my thoughts seems to differentiate from fellow gamers and their views which is why I might make this in to a form of a blog series for many other games and maybe even movies one day.

Anyways, I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy Assassin's Creed 3. Far from it since it did have a lot of surprises. Most notably that you could pat animals but there were some issues that I found with the game. Many have come to the conclusion that the main protagonist of the game was the biggest downfall. Others say the controls were a sight for saw eyes but there are many different reasons as to why this game wasn't as perfect as I was hoping it to be and much of this is down to what the game is trying to represent as well.

So here's a bunch of reasons why I thought that Assassin's Creed 3 is flawed as well as my thoughts on how the game could have been better. Unfortunately, this also contains a few spoilers for the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood ending and AC Revelations multiplayer so if you don't wish to see any spoilers, make sure you blindfold yourselves but if you've completed the games or don't mind spoilers, then be my guest to read on! Enjoy!

Modern day storyline

One of the biggest problems I found whilst playing through Assassin's Creed 3 was something that not many people were really interested in. The modern day hasn't been the best aspect to some but to me, it does feel like a necessity to be within the franchise yet the potential overall doesn't succeed since considering the previous games, the premise seems to be very random. I mean after Brotherhood, Desmond was likely going to become the ultimate Assassin especially considering the events of using his ancestors abilities as his own and there was more focus towards the Piece of Edens and stopping the end of the world in 2012 (you remember right?) yet the final Desmond game instead focused on finding a Key to open a lock to a chamber that we know almost nothing about in the previous games.

Maybe it's just my speculation but I think the game would have been best suited focusing more on journeying around the world evading the Templars and coming in to contact with fellow Assassins or also known as hooded killing machines.The reason being is that Desmond might not have been as important, at least not without the other Assassins to help them. Bearing in mind this is at a time when the Assassins were almost diminished completely until someone else finds out about the conspiracy or betrays the order so I think it would have been interesting to understand the lives of many Assassins viewing their ancestors and searching for many Piece of Edens themselves. Even working or infiltrating the Templars on certain occasions. In a way, I think this would have been better because not only could it have featured multiple characters and settings both in the modern day and historical settings but it could also generate speculation of future games of where the series could go next. Both present day (well 2 years ago) and the historical aspects.

What seemed to catch my eye a lot were the e-mails within the game. E-mails are pretty much within most of the AC games and you can check out much of the lore which might hint at what may happen in the future to who spilled who's Coffee. Within the first few games, it shows that the story has progressed only about a few days. Sometimes within just a week. However when AC3 arrived, it spanned a few months from October to December. This might be a minor point to many of you... perhaps not even a point at all but to me, it just seemed like all that use of time was for nothing. I mean, Connor Kenway's journey took this long duration yet this was the Animus 3.0! The fastest of it's type with probably more up to date wi-fi capabilities.

Instead, I believe the game should have focused on travelling around the world and recruiting the remaining Assassins and also recruiting new ones to the cause to finally take a stand against Abstergo and search for all the Piece of Edens scattered around the globe whilst at the same time, training the Assassins with their own Animus and ancestors. Maybe something more like linear missions and hub worlds where we could see the lives of the ancestors in open world. More characters but less screentime for each person. Filled with their own unique stories and personalities. Oh and the historical ancestors would have something similar. In a way, it could even maintain the time frame of only a few days and skip over to December 21st 2012 with a final battle since I believe that it should have ended the story right there especially as it was the whole premise of the franchise. However, in the case of skipping over a few weeks, these missing weeks could be explored within future games of different modern day protagonists and their experiences of their past all until they are recruited by Desmond Miles.

Character

In a way from reading what you have above, you might have a feeling that I didn't want Connor in AC3. Well that is partly true (Dodges arrows). It wasn't necessarily his character that I didn't enjoy because I believed he was a more realistic Assassin and a heightened closeness with the very first game in which the Templars would make him think more about who he's fighting for. Even the storyline felt more unique than AC2 since there wasn't a clear sign for him in life. Just like there isn't for us all in real life. As well as Haytham and his Templar buddies dropping in now and again.

Although when considering the journeys of Altair and Ezio, it felt inconsistent introducing a character at the last minute with a lack of connections towards any of the characters. In my view, AC3 was a chance to try out multiple settings and characters which could become the basis of future games should players like those historical celebrities and eras and it would also represent that Altair and Ezio were simply the start of training others to fight. At the same time, I think that if it was to take place with a single character, I believe it would have to be one that would complete his/her story within the game rather than extend it past a game after 2012. Therefore, a character based on a smaller lesser known era or a character who we see at a ripe old age and we can see through flashbacks of his life would be almost the opposite of Ezio's journey who we see his life right before his birth whereas Altair would be more of the inbetween in which much of his life is shrouded in mystery.

Maybe the new character could even uncover the secrets of Altair and Ezio and I believe that Revelations didn't fulfill to the potential of interesting plot twists and it would have been cool to have a Victorian character perhaps not even within the Assassin or Templar orders and merely a discoverer or even  part of a new order uncovering their mysteries. I'm not saying that a character within a vast time frame such as the Viking Age or Venetian Republic would't be sufficient and would need to cover every single aspect. That could simply be done with another character afterwards (or perhaps an entire new franchise 0_0) but when it came to Connor, whilst there was a kind of ending to his part, it's unlikely to be our final look at him whether we like it or not so we'll most probably see him in the upcoming AC: Rogue which only leads on to another one of my many criticisms about the game. The Kenway Saga!

This particular saga is very interesting especially since it focuses more on the bloodline within only a few years and it could be interesting to see all these crossovers. However this doesn't seem like a journey that should have begun with the final Desmond game. For one, it feels inconsistent with the series with a character being introduced at the final game and two, it has forced Desmond to become a part of the new series even though it could very well have become more efficient with a new modern day character. I mean, imagine a brand new character uncovering his/her ancestral memories and how that may impact the character. Especially with so much diversity in terms of ideologies and ethnicities. Also that being said, what if we had a character connected to Ezio like an Assassin apprentice sent to another country or even a surviving relative of the Auditore family?

Setting

Now there really wasn't much to argue that the American Revolutionary War setting was a bad era for any Assassin's Creed installment. All eras have their potential but as the final Desmond game, this didn't seem like this was the best option and what I believe could have been much more intriguing would be the setting that would support the whole 2012 prophecy in the first place. The Maya! What is more interesting is that Assassin's Creed 2 was likely going to take place within the Maya or the Aztecs or at least a civilization within South America and you can tell that by the many temples in Assassin's Creed IV and the DLCs within AC3, that Ubisoft hasn't forgotten about the setting but is likely making much use of it since it's not something they might wish to return to. I mean there were a few problems with the era such as the economic system and famous landmarks but we already has that in AC2 didn't we? Maybe it would have been time to take a different approach with an obscured setting and maybe it could have featured many aspects including hunting, journeying to far away areas in search of treasures or Piece of Edens and exploring the lore of ancient civilizations. Maybe even exploring tombs of death or seeing how empires have taken over such as the Aztec and the Incas.

It could have even have become closer to what Assassin's Creed 3 came to be since it could have quite easily have focused on the Spanish Inquisition and seeing the lives of previous cultures with the use of the First Civilization devices. Even if there was no one there to fight or much of the population died from disease, it could quite easily show a different perspective with a Spanish ancestor seeing the peoples and small tribes being taken over by the growing civilizations through a device similar to the Masyaf Keys... and then how they were overtaken by the Incas and Aztecs... and then the Spanish Empire. Plus it would have been interesting to see how the Assassin - Templar groups merges with those areas since they would most likely have some kind of Piece of Edens around but perhaps not necessarily the Assassin - Templar War and could even have their own groups and ideologies instead. Therefore, the colonization of future Spanish traditions within Latin America would be interesting. Sometimes I wonder whether this was meant to be the setting of AC3 because the naval missions were originally meant to be the basis of a new game which would fit right in with this particular setting. Although since they were worried about how it would be seen, it was dumbed down to a small component in AC3 possibly due to Den Defense. Then again, it could well have been ACIV or a new franchise. I just can't help but think that there are many settings that Ubisoft have considered but Ubisoft might have altered the orders of when they appear in the AC franchise.

Although this setting might not be perfect. Even with the Mayan Calender. It's always down to how the developers have set out the setting and it is still subject to opinion. To be honest, I don't mind where it would have gone but using the American Revolutionary War just seemed to obvious especially with the puzzles. What I think would have been interesting is if the developers went with a setting that the Assassin's Creed series might never have even implied before such as the Russian Empire or British colonization around the world. Maybe even with different themes such as a figure of discovery or invention or a time of improvements in a particular area including medicine or a time of religious expanse and superstition. Then when it came to completing AC3, the developers could have said that one of the eras of the many puzzles in AC2 and ACB would become the basis of a new setting in AC4 which would have driven speculation to it's highest point. I mean, there are well over 50 puzzles and therefore setting overall from the birth of the Fireworks all the way to the Space Age.

I wouldn't have even minded Constantinople as a setting if Revelations didn't get there first. Revelations was pretty much making the most use of that era with Ezio but they were far from fully explained regions and conflicts and much of the recognition of Suleiman the Great appeared when he was much older. As I said, I didn't mind the American Revolutionary War but I believe it could have been saved for later just like the Kenway Saga and I just don't think there was much need for the setting since it didn't have a great deal of myteriousness surrounding it for the final Desmond game.

There is the matter of what Ubisoft aims to try and accomplish. Bring to life settings that aren't used many times within video games but in many cases, this rule doesn't really exist anymore because North America as a whole has been used countless of times before and even with just the cities, New York is really the main reason for this and I'm sure there have been a few skateboarding games based within Boston or something inspired from that city. Within the first 3 games every single city and linear area you could visit (in the case of Brotherhood) all had their diverse ways even though they are so close together in appearance in real life. In some ways, these just seem to be popular areas. I know that many popular areas are well known due to their place in history but there are many other unique cities with diverse historical aspects and cultures. This isn't just something within the AC series but many other Ubisoft franchises such as Watch Dogs. I mean, Chicago has been explored many times in movies and some video games and it seems more like it's using inspirations of existing settings such as New York rather than develop new areas to visit such as lesser known areas including Oslo or sunny areas like Athens yet within economic conflict. Even just going to a place like Florence in the modern day would be interesting!

Gameplay

This was one of the very first games to utilise Anvil Next. The video game engine which would become the basis for next gen games and all the games to follow AC3. I admit that I really enjoyed the realism and taking down enemies on the go and many people will come to the conclusion that there were too many glitches but I actually found that there were fewer glitches within the game than in Brotherhood. Most of the people who complained either bought the game from Gamestop or mostly played the multiplayer (we'll get to that soon) although it did have it's flaws. Mostly at the fact that there was much more focus in to developing this engine but then there wasn't really much else outside of that in terms of gameplay.

There was huge Frontier. Almost one and half times the size of Rome in Brotherhood but there was barely any missions to suit the game and those that were in the game were simply hunting missions and sending messages to people between the cities. Not only was this lackluster but it got repetitive fast and there was almost no rewards for these missions and what upsets me is that this game was meant to be a step forward than Brotherhood. I mean the War Machine missions and Lair of Romulus side quests let us visit some interesting places and we got in return wasn't just money but also various armour, outfits and the latest in 15th century gadgetry.

AC3 on the other hand did accomplish this in some ways with bringing the era to life with naval battles and missions where you could voyage to other areas from finding peg legs. Not to mention all the Assassin recruiting missions. However what made this frustrating to many gamers is that many didn't know at first that the Peg Legs would progress towards new missions. Neither did people know that helping some random stranger throw some blankets over 10 people would eventually lead to a full side mission. Yet even if people made it that far throw the tedious missions, they were often short and I can't help but think that there should have been some other ways to bring out the side missions.

Why didn't they create missions from figures such as Benjamin Franklin or a series of missions from people of different backrounds including the Dutch and even fighting Red Coats and Patriots on both sides in order to protect the innocent or those caught up in conflict? It just seems like this open world had so much potential but there's barely anything to call it an expansive environment and it was almost empty. In a way, they could have easily have built on missions where we would have to use more stealth and survive. I know it was more combat focused but it would make sense since stealth were techniques that the Patriots used and Connor could easily gain those skills from completing missions and this like Brotherhood, would expand the lore of the setting. Heck! Why not let us journey to other countries under the British Empire rule or even let us play as Haytham during the times we were playing as Connor or his life before moving to the New World. Even playing through the lives of our Assassin recruits would have made things interesting or understanding the lives of other countries as Connor reads about the world. Maybe even a bit of Altair's, Ezio's or Leonardo's lives that we didn't know about!

The worst part is that it's no longer a series of interesting missions that remain on the same quality as the main missions but instead a random bunch of small quests which can be completed in under 3 minutes. This is reinforced by the fact that many of the other Ubisoft games are suffering with lackluster missions and small collectible quests and it's something I hope changes soon. So much for the so called many divisions innovating the franchises.

Multiplayer

I think many people might have been expecting this and it's something that I believe dragged the game behind. Especially at the fact that not just there being little innovation aside from a few new characters and map packs but there were also less game modes from the previous games that actually had more activity than deathmatch modes. Why is the deathmatch mode at the far top of the list yet in revelations, it was usually 80% of the time within low activity yet with modes such as Corruption, there was always a medium - high activity rate. It was only because Ubisoft wanted to attract the mainstream audience that these modes were dropped and even then, there were problems with the servers and I found it difficult as many other people to join friends or even access the multiplayer menu. This was even furthered by problems with hackers and campers freezing the game and obtaining points from nowhere and campers pretty much everywhere in artifact assault.

The only mode that seemed playable was Wanted but that isn't a mode that I enjoy completely because it's easy and not challenging enough whereas within Manhunt, you had to focus solely on survival or cutting down the competition which wasn't easy when people were shooting through walls. As well as the buttons not being responsive and the locking system still doesn't actually lock the target to assassinate and even causing my own smoke bomb to turn on me. 0_o

If people are complaining about glitches because of the multiplayer, then I couldn't agree with them more! Many of my friends who played multiplayer jumped straight to Wolfpack because of these issues and because it was really the only new thing added. I just don't understand taking away modes that got so much attention. Many people will play through the modes even if they're new to the game.

What disappointed me the most was that wasn't really a story to the multiplayer anymore. In Revelations, it was cool to see the events of progressing through the life of an Abstergo Agent and all the luxuries they would get but it also seemed to lead toward the story of the next game. At least, that was meant to be the focus. Instead, AC3's multiplayer story consisted of a guy saying well done and hoping to find some kind of mute button because realisticly, it wasn't a story. Just a guy congratulating you on your progress throughout the game, even if you haven't played the game for a while and receiving a few neat Christmas pressies for the holidays. The thing is that they said that there would be a storyline yet there really wasn't and it kinda made me think back to Bioware's promises and the betrayal and realising that these were to nothing which hurt many of us gamers. Therefore, anything I hear about developers I will take with a grain of salt... and then throw away the salt and most likely won't believe what they say. Instead, I will think the opposite because that's what happens when developers talk about their games now.

Don't get me started on the graphics of the maps! I know graphics aren't everything and they're not the best in the AC games but it seemed way too cloudy. Like a PS2 game could do much better which leads me further on in to my thousands of word rant.

Graphics

It's clear that the second main installment in the franchise got the most criticism for it's graphics and many sighted it as one of the only problems with the game. Brotherhood and Revelations improved upon this in many ways with more detail, colour and everything seemed grainy. When it comes to AC3, the environment seems very focused on detail but the appearance of the characters, not so much. It's not that they were terrible but it just seemed like a step down since they all looked like they had the same model but smoothed over without much attention to detail. If we only consider the numbered titles, then it is an improvement but the cutscenes didn't always run smooth when in crowded in spaces. Nor did the camera.

The biggest issue for me though was with the modern day characters and even though this game was meant to complete the journey of Desmond Miles and yet their graphics were poor. I mean I didn't mind Desmond's appearance changing. I mean, it was a closer similarity towards the Adam Sandler - Ben Stiller lookalike but what was horrible was seeing Shaun and Rebecca within the game where not only did their graphics look like mush but they didn't even act like they were. I mean, I know this is the end of the world but Shaun was still being sarcastic about Rebecca's ancestors being more skillful than his whereas Rebecca looked more like she had undergone plastic surgery in order to appeal towards the mainstream audience. What is it about sexualising characters these days especially female ones. There's a whole section where you can find that kind of stuff and it's called multiplayer. That being said, it's not a bad thing for a bit of change but there was barely any life as a result. Especially with Shaun having much less emotion and acting less enthusiastic about what he talked about.

In a way, I couldn't help but think that Ubisoft forgot about these characters... as well as many other things.

Continuity issues

Brotherhood and Revelations both seemed to be amping up towards the future especially for AC3 but the game falls short in telling us what happens towards the consequences and therefore these potential storylines have become mere plot holes in the Assassin's Creed continuity. In particular, during the ACB ending, Juno says to find the other. A female, possibly related to the Adam and Eve bloodline. As well as an issue with that Lucy seems to die so suddenly yet there isn't even a true reason for it. Just that she's simply a Templar but it seems too much of a cliche for the franchise. It would have made more sense if she was some kind of Anti - Desmond since she could have been related directly towards Templars that could have the answers of where secret Pieces of Edens or just generally secrets are hidden. Maybe a descendant of Abel and a few early Templars and what about this woman Juno was hinting about? Desmond could simply be a conduit like all the ancestors before him or they may run our of time so he merges his DNA with the Animus with her's so she can find the answers... if there's time and if she survives, she can use the Animus to remind people of the horrors of conflict and how it obscures from the threat of the Sun within the new world. New world being the world after the disaster.

Further more, even the Revelations multiplayer was amping towards something really intriguing and it really should have altered the entire modern day plotline altogether! Skip to 6:30 for the cutscenes I'm referring to but if you want to watch the whole thing, be my guest!

So shouldn't the Templar Agents have confronted the Assassins? Even if they wanted to wait for them to find the key, what would be the point of kidnapping William Miles? Plus, the cutscene wouldn't really make much sense otherwise so it would have been cool if the Assassins were on the run and prepared for a final fight and that could have made more sense especially if Abstergo had items that they needed and it would make more sense to start an ACIV fashioned brawl. Although they could have found them at the beginning and brought them to Abstergo and it would be cool to experience the lives of the different Abstergo test subjects and their ancestors. Especially if they were connected to Daniel Cross or maybe a point in time where all of the bloodlines converge between Desmond, Daniel and Clay Let's not forget the bleeding effect! Desmond was suffering even with these new updated Animi and Revelations itself was due to a result of the bleeding effect caused by Juno so why isn't this resolved or even progressed within AC3?

Overall, there was a problem with Daniel Cross because seeing him in the comic book, he seems such an interesting character yet AC3 gave him a bad reputation and ending with him and Warren Vidic especially when considering their death scenes being silly after all this time.

Ending

Actually like many, I didn't find the ending to be that bad as many thought. It was inevitable that it would be a crazy ending because if it wasn't, it wouldn't really be an Assassin's Creed ending. What I didn't enjoy very well was that the aspect of Juno was thrown in at the last minute just like many other things in the game. Now that I think of it, there are a whole bunch of plot holes as a result because if Juno wanted him to arrive to the Temple, why didn't she just tell him that in AC2 or even further back with Altair with a Piece of Eden. Sure the Templars could have known but they were looking through Ezio's life anyway with Clay and they could easily have killed Lucy off once they reached the temple. Where was Zeus when all this was happening?

What's more frustrating towards AC fans is that there wasn't much closure. All the character deaths were sudden and usually unexplained. I mean, I think that the confrontation with Abstergo was fun but it was rushed completely and in some ways, I would have preferred if some of the Templars survived yet with many characters, we never get to meet them such as Alan Rikken, Laetitia England or even any of the Templars outside of the Abstergo Industry front.

Last but not least, there could have been a plot twist to help understand or even confuse gamers of the franchise anymore such as the purpose of the orders, their true origins, who's running them and what do we really know about the characters. In some ways, I think we should have got a choice to not only decide for another chaotic cycle or complete control but also to try out some of the methods that Juno said wouldn't work. I mean, if the energy field can all of a sudden stop the blast, then it could easily support the use of converting the energy to ray guns or even becoming limited to protecting a certain amount of people.

In a way, I enjoyed the potential that the AC3 ending had but it's starting to make me think that this won't be fulfilled. I mean, Juno could easily be destroying nuclear weapons that might hurt her and turning everyone in to her slaves to build her pyramids. However I think that the future AC games are either acting as filler until this happens or the modern day will become less relevant and I really hope it not only remains but improves.

Overall I very much enjoyed Assassin's Creed 3. It's storyline of the Kenway family and the improvement of cinematic action was fun as well as more focus towards Desmond actually using his abilities for once. However for the biggest AC game, I think there could have been different picks for settings and characters and I can't help but think that the story changed after Patrice Destilles left. It would explain the many plot holes and I believe that the focus on a new engine hindered less expansion of the open world environment. I enjoyed AC3 to an extent but in terms of reviewing the game, I'm not 100% on what I would give it as a score. It both surprised me and disappointed in areas which it did have potential. With much of the new series forgetting about the events in the first few games, I'm a tad skeptical whether the new installments will take risks in terms of storylines, character types and gameplay. I hope that one day I find another Assassin's Creed game I'll enjoy but until that day comes, AC3 will remain a good game but it could have been something much more.

Phew! If you somehow read all of that, then you made it! Many hours this took to write up so you'll probably be feeling as tired as I am now. Then again, I had fun writing up this blog and I hope to continue the "Where these series went wrong" blogs in the near future.

So what did you think of AC3? Did you enjoy it? Think there could have been more to it or did you think it was a disaster? I understand that many people have different opinions of the game. Which is why I decided to write my own out!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! It's only a few days before I go back to school and it's been a while since my last fun blog involving funny videos and wallpapers so this time seems like the right moment to write out the next addition. I have written many detailed blogs recently and I think many people have become a little worried about reading so many words but don't worry! This blog won't be too long. Although of course, that might not be said for the next blogs in the next few days.

I believe that many people's summer holidays seem to be declining away. For many, they've already gone back to school, university, work or Mars. I mean it can reach -40 degrees Celsius on that planet and Earth is so much warmer. Therefore, I think that this blog will be a nice send off for those who will be gaming much less as a result (and for many of us that will gaming less very soon too) so it's time for the funny wallpapers and cool wallpapers. Bearing in mind, I don't own the videos or pics and so I take no credit for them but fell free to use them. Oh, by the way, there will be many small and some more detailed blogs from yours truly in the near future. Whether fun blogs or my thoughts about Assassin's Creed, I hope they will continue to entertain my readers.

Enjoy!

Funny Vids

Well Just Cause 2's glitches won't be making the scene tonight but we have another replacement in the meantime... Assassin's Creed III!

A few not so great moments of E3 2011

I'm not really sure what he says at 1:16. Bowl? Ball? Boo? Either way, it still makes me laugh... and most likely made others laugh too. Although that might not be a good sign if humour was unintentional. At least we have Mr. Caffeine to time travel and all.

A scene from the British TV series Benidorm and a funny scene with Johnny Vegas.

Fortunately, Johnny Vegas is set to return in 2015... with Lesley in turn.

Hell's Kitchen season 2 highlights... Viewer discretion is advised!

A time when Gordon Ramsay seemed more calm. At least compared to later seasons. This particular season might explain a lot of things.

Finally, a bunch of scenes showing a Magneto Astronaut on wheels in Top Gear.

I wonder whether this car will ever make it's appearance in future Forza, Gran Turismo, Driveclub and The Crew games. Perhaps as part of Watch Dogs 2 for a full speed getaway during an awaited 2 hour long traffic jam.

Cool Wallpapers

If you want to see the wallpapers in greater detail, then simply click the link for a larger version.

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So that's it from me! For those who are enjoying the rest of their Summer holidays and vacations, have fun while it lasts! Many others have already finished their holidays so best of luck in the future and hope to see you around the amazing gaming realm known as MyIGN!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Assassin's Creed is currently on the pace of 2 games preparing to launch later this year. Both within the time frame of November. The two games in particular are Assassin's Creed: Unity which is a next gen (or current gen) exclusive for the new consoles including the Playstation 4 and Xbox One and of course, Assassin's Creed: Rogue focused as the exclusives for the previous consoles  Whilst many applaud and many (mostly me) critisise the progressive annual releases and even extra games within a year, it does make me wonder whether this will be something common for the franchise. In some ways, the newer consoles have sold much higher than expectations so not only are many glad that mobile devices haven't taken over but also means that the market for new consoles could be better for developers and publishers than the anticipated and many companies even expanding to focus their efforts on this new technology.

Although where does this leave Assassin's Creed for next year? It's clear that the new gen only is going to remain exclusive and I believe it's highly doubtful that we'll see PS3 with PS4 games lately. However is another installment available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 still likely? At least for next year? After thinking about this approach, I believe that there are many possibilities for and against so in answer to the questions, I've decided to narrow this down to yes, neutral and finally no. So will there be an Assassin's Creed game for the older consoles next year?

Yep! 

Much of the market is still focused on the older consoles. Even in some cases the original Wii (although not so much in the past few years) and the reasoning for this focus on older consoles is because there's still many more millions that remain stranded on the older hardware than there are on the latest additions of the console series, whether due to uncertainty or wondering whether to try some other upcoming consoles like the Steam Machine. This explains the existence of Assassin's Creed: Rogue on the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles and Ubisoft is confident that this year will be just dandy as a result.

In terms of next year, it seems tad different since 2015 appears to be set for a whole barrage of not only video games but also movies as a result and the list keeps on increasing especially for those for the PS4, Wii U and Xbox One titles. However, in some ways, I believe that this would be the perfect way to release a final game for the Assassin's Creed series on the older consoles. I think 2016 and further is very much out of the question with mostly support from Japanese companies developing Playstation exclusives for 3 more years as well as the inevitable sporting video games set to become the final PS3 and Xbox 360 video games. 2015 on the other hand will still have a substantial amount of the gaming population playing their older consoles. I mean, even though there will be many games available, it's unlikely that people will buy a whole bunch of new generation games with higher prices and so many will still be making the use of their older consoles... and what better way for Ubisoft to make more money than to release yet another video game!

Most of the reason for Assassin's Creed: Rogue is to make the use of gamers wallets before they run to the newer consoles and it's likely that this is focusing on people who enjoyed the previous naval battles and are looking to finally see an end to the Kenway Saga. Therefore, if there isn't a next gen game based on including naval battles, then a new game could easily make some space for yet another naval focused game. I mean, if Assassin's Creed: Unity is trying to appeal towards new audiences who have are new to the series or have never even played a video game before and are mistaken the franchise for a movie, then the previous gen could easily be utilised to deal with all the loose ends. Maybe introduce a brand new character during the British Empire within India or Australia or many other locations under their rule. Perhaps even focus on an existing character even if they are within and era during the Third Crusade or Italian Renaissance. I mean, Assassin's Creed: Unity is introducing a feature I've always wanted with new missions scattered around many eras and settings and even those involving existing characters such as Altair and Ezio. Hopefully, it will focus on new characters and aspects in turn such as Assassin apprentices sent by the Master Assassins during the Venetian Republic or Holy Roman Empire.

Could this even introduce characters such as Giovanni Auditore? Even though, Ubisoft probably want to focus on another time frame other than the Italian Renaissance, there were so many characters built up and could be further developed within a new game. There was such a vast variety and cast of characters compared with other games and featuring the life of Giovanni Auditore and many other characters such as Paola would certainly be interesting to see in a final game. Many characters appeared even more interesting than those in the American Revolutionary War and I think this might be a game that many would love to see since if Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin's Creed: Rogue are focusing on these aspects, why not within an era more full of life and even though we know some of the history surrounding the characters, there's still a tad mystery about them. Many more than others...

It also probably wouldn't be too difficult because they could re-use some of the settings and models for the characters. Simply with updated characters and what better way to end the Italian Renaissance era for good than with a final game focusing on all the characters? Especially since this might seem a little out of place on the newer consoles and there really wasn't an epilogue to the story even in Revelations with the exceptions of Altair and Ezio and I believe many have yearned for Leonardo Da Vinci's return again. I haven't even mentioned all the characters you can gather to the Homestead and the Assassin recruits which have potential for future installments and possibly prequels.

Although to be honest, there are many ways that a new game could go just from the first 2 games and just within Assassin's Creed 2, there was a huge expansion of possibilities with the Assassin Tombs and puzzles and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a game that focused on all these characters within smaller separate open worlds or could even be explored within future next gen titles. Despite all the continuing loose ends of the series and many plot holes, I think that an Assassin's Creed game based on Nikolai Orelov wouldn't be too bad to consider. Maybe it's more unique as a comic book story but I believe that many remain confused on who he is and many don't even know about the character but the reason why I don't think this story could have potential is because of Daniel Cross. Assassin's Creed 3 failed this modern day character badly and a new game featuring his journey might be a good set up and give his character the justice he deserves. Without a court of course. Especially since they already have the storyline ready and would give more focus on to the modern day storyline.

It would certainly be something Ubisoft could do to get some money but in a way, I believe it would be best to feature a new character in another Russian setting on a new console. Maybe it's best left alone because the reason of the comic book was to explore other aspects so a video game adaptation might cut in that. Even if they have the Animus Cloud to search through Daniel's memories and most likely, his body won't be hard to find.

Maybe

It still remains uncertain about what Ubisoft plans with the previous Playstation and Xbox series of consoles. The end of the Kenway Saga might signal a final epilogue and with Assassin's Creed: Unity and Assassin's Creed: Rogue both being classed as Assassin's Creed V, maybe Assassin's Creed VI will be next gen only and this could spark a change for the franchise for good! I remember once that Ubisoft stated that ACIV won't be released until 2015 and in some ways, I believe that the ACIV we saw in 2013 was meant to be more like AC3.5 since it's within the time frame of the Continental American era or even part of a new Pirate franchise.

Perhaps AC: Rogue was more of something utilised at the last minute because it doesn't seem to have much innovation as AC: Unity and so maybe Ubisoft has a whole bunch of eras laid out in case they wish to use them in the future. I mean the Polar Bear and Narwhal will likely be extremely close to the usual land and marine creatures we have seem before. If this is the case, then they could easily throw in a setting of somesort.

Then again, seeing the rift feature in Assassin's Creed: Unity makes me wonder whether previous settings will be explored on more improved technology rather than ancient hardware. In addition, it seems like games based on a single character that has been seen before tend to thrive on single player based downloadable only games so if characters such as Aveline and Haytham were to have their own games, it would likely be comprised of a few missions and if it took place within a new era or country, it would likely be amping towards a new protagonist for a full fledged game rather than focusing on everything.

Maybe with Ubisoft's new views of how the new consoles are doing, it might change their minds or make them cautious about what is to come and this could even be applied to  AC: Rogue and all the games in between 2012 and 2015 releases since they might have been originally meant to be a form of hiatus era in terms of development. What's interesting though is that AC: Rogue hasn't been confirmed to be the final AC game on the PS3 and Xbox 360 so perhaps there is more to come. I mean, Ubisoft Sofia (the development team in charge of Liberation HD) could develop another game and it would be easy to develop a video game for a console that they are already specialised in. Speaking of AC: Liberation, what I've noticed about the American Revolutionary War era is that is much less games focused on handhelds lately.

With Altair, they pretty much dominated more than the  home consoles whereas with AC2, they were on par and the handheld known as Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy was later converted towards Assassin's Creed Revelations so when it comes to AC3's era, there's only one... and that has become available on consoles since earlier this year! Therefore, it's probably the case that Ubisoft hasn't exactly expanded their divisions. They've just put more focus in to home console editions rather than handhelds and other franchises and that would certainly explain many things.

It also depends on the response of AC: Rogue. If it didn't do so hot, then Ubisoft might rethink about games for older hardware in the future and I suppose they have a plan in place for their games. Take a look at Connor Kenway because if he was likened even more than Ezio, then there would likely have been another game with him as the main protagonist and there are also conflicting reports that it is the end of the Kenway Saga or the North American Saga. The North American Saga was something unheard so maybe Ubisoft changed it because the Kenway family might continue or perhaps, Haytham was meant to be the original star of AC: Rogue! Maybe he just had some disagreements with Ubisoft?

No way, Jose! 

It vastly depends on Ubisoft's approach and whilst future games within a per year release or even within smaller timescales (such as a monthly release), I'm not 100% sure whether the release of 2 games within the same year for home consoles will simply a rarity or even excluded to this year. Even with their multiple divisions, I don't think that will continue to provide a sustainable franchise and many believe that the series is already inconsistent. I personally believe that if they were to start anything new, they would make the best of the newer consoles and if Ubisoft think returning to a few characters will be more like filler than a full game, they might just leave it be.

I personally think that with all the companies such as Activision and EA preparing themselves for the PS4 and Xbox One futures, maybe they'll decide to focus their efforts on one particular game rather than oudated hardware. Whilst they might still be efficient tech, I think that they will need huge games in order to combat the likes of Activision and EA franchise and this is reinforced by the developments of open world games for memorable series such as Star Wars and possibly even new franchise which could take on Ubisoft in the future. Who knows if Activision is preparing something. In addition, with so many other developers creating games of similar formats and scheduled and potential launches next year and beyond, it might make Ubisoft think twice about developing 2 games for one specific year within the same franchise. ... This is reinforced by the fact that consumers will have a lot of games to choose from and not just open world games so developing a game for PS3 and Xbox 360 might be a little worrying. If they focus on two games, inevitably people will be buying other games in turn and many people are considering skipping AC: Rogue for AC: Unity.

Although what I think is the most prominent is what Ubisoft still has in store for us. Not literally speaking a Ubisoft store but they've already announced some new franchises and most likely they won't be the last. I mean, franchises such as Watch Dogs have a lot to improve upon but I wouldn't be surprised if they revealed a new franchise based on a Pirate themed era or focusing completely on particular historical setting. If Ubisoft won't go with an Assassin's Creed game during World War 2, then why not create a new franchise where you can explore all the aspects that aren't shown within video games... unless Ubisoft think it's all about guns and crazy people with mustaches. Quite possibly, they could even be attempting to revive new series such as Prince of Persia and Beyond Good and Evil and even if they decide to make a spiritual successor of the franchise like what the cancelled Osiris project might have been to Prince of Persia, they could still surprise fans of those franchises. Plus, they have an entire advertising weapon at their disposal.

Last but not least, it depends whether Ubisoft wants to use the resources for another games for newer consoles. If 2 games per year release will be the norm, then maybe they might transferring their capabilities to making both games of a similar platform which would be more easier for them to develop games in such a short space of time... and with a quick buck too! Then again, even if there is a game for another platform in 2015, it could easily be Assassin's Creed: Rising Phoenix for the PS Vita unless they decide to make it for PS3 and Xbox 360 or even cancel it as a handheld.

Overall, I believe it's almost certain that Ubisoft will release a game for the PS4, Xbox One and possibly the PC in 2015 but for PS3 and Xbox 360 remains questionable. I mean Ubisoft could develop further naval battle games quickly or return to a few eras to develop epilogues or explore some new aspects of an existing era but it largely comes down to the response of AC: Rogue. If the game became too familiar for players and the fans of the series thought it was just a for a quick buck, then it might hinder focus of another AC game. Then again, it could do well and if the characters are likened, then who knows? Perhaps some kind of sequel outside of the Kenway family.

Since there hasn't been an official announcement of no games for the PS3 and Xbox 360 tells us at least that Ubisoft are at least considering it but with all the games arriving in such a short time and with many people's wallets likely to be challenged probably wouldn't be an amazing move. In some ways, I wouldn't mind another current (or previous gen) game if it was based on the Auditore Family or exploring new aspects of the eras we've visited or allowing existing characters playable because I don't believe Revelations gave much of the cast of the Italian Renaissance what they deserved and in many ways, the Third Crusade could have been expanded on too. Then again I guess with the whole 2012 storyline that the developers were rushed in to making Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Assassin's Creed 3 which might explain why some fans of the series were short changed by the final AC game set during the Italian Renaissance... for now. Although if it was to introduce a new character, I would kinda prefer a new timeline and new era.

Then again, there is the Assassin's Creed movie which could offer the basis of a new game and maybe Assassin's Creed for previous consoles will explore this path just like Insomniac Games are doing with the Ratchet and Clank: Remastered. Well hopefully with less of an adaptation. Therefore the new consoles can take the story elsewhere. Perhaps it could even make Altair popular again... Either way whether there's a game for the old consoles, I think it's doubtful that we'll see another AC game or even a Ubisoft game after 2016. Even if they wanted to focus on the older consoles, the seventh generation of gaming has been very long and Ubisoft even want a next gen or a next, next gen within 5 years in terms of home consoles at least so maybe they're preparing for more than just the PS4 and Xbox One.

So there you have it! Do you think there will be another AC game set for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2015? I mean, it's not like there will be Far Cry 5 or anything in that year (hopefully) although there might be a new Blood Dragon game. Unless there's another Rayman game, this might not only be the final AC game for PS3 and Xbox 360 but perhaps the final Ubisoft game.

Do you agree with my thoughts and do you think there should be another PS3 and Xbox 360 game set for 2015?

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! Most recently, I was tagged by a member of the community known as LeeDoc93 to write up a blog about what I enjoy about games and well... my preferences I guess. It was like he presented a challenge to me and I accept! I'm not sure but where did this community blog originate from? What am I meant to talk about specifically? Oh well, I guess I should add a few new things here and there. So it's time to hop in to the comfy Animus and experience my blog in high detail... I'm not joking about high detail since this is the prefect moment to talk about the history of your fellow MyIGNer although I believe that some of that should be set around for another time.

So to start off about my gaming interests, it's pretty complicated. Sometimes I prefer a game more than another and the same really goes for everyone but now that I look back at all the games I have played, I realise that many of the reasons why I enjoyed them were due to the inspiration they gave me about the world and how I began to develop my own ideas... as well as the fond memories of the games of course. Perhaps this applies to everyone. They all seem to mix and match. I mean when I talk to fellow gamers about the games, they might have never have played a certain element within a video game before such as flying around the world or even a a genre like an open world game which might make them more fond of the game whereas I might believe it's too similar to previous other games even outside the franchise... and a huge hype and extensive advertising campaign doesn't really help that much either. Overtime I guess my preferences have changed so I would like to divide this section in three parts. One for each gen. It will also help you to understand the kinds of games I enjoyed during the times of those special and unforgettable (well I haven't forgotten... yet) video game generations. Enjoy!

Consoles of choice

Most of the video game consoles I have played are well... part of Sony which might explain why all the video game consoles will be of a Playstation series of consoles. That's not to say that I hate Microsoft, Nintendo or even all the microconsoles but since I was born in the mid 1990s, most of the video games and especially the video game consoles were simply given to me as part of an amazing bunch of Christmas presents (I mean who knew that Santa Claus had that kind of hardware?!) and also I've played many other consoles and even a PC at friends houses. When it comes to video gaming however, I pretty much bought whatever video game there was... if my parents had the money of course but starting upwards through the ladder of gaming, I had about 60 PS1 games to start off with anyway so there was really no need to buy a whole bunch of games... until of course, internet shopping became a reality and I could uncover all the long lost games I had been searching for my whole life.. well my gaming life anyway but it's a pretty long gaming life.

So since I couldn't really buy many games myself, I simply learned to make the most of the games that were already available and I can't really remember a time that I got bored of gaming (not that I would like to think that I got bored of course) and that's why I was always playing video games from previous gens especially if they had backwards compatibility... although in the realm of Playstation consoles, it's not really a common thing anymore. Nowadays however, I have been able to research the games that I believe I might like and not relatives trying to guess what game I would play 24/7 but as a result, much of my interests have changed and even though I have the ability to buy any of the games I want, I'm too savvy... even though when I was much younger, I wanted to buy every game! Now that I look to the future, I wonder whether I will remain within the Playstation fanbase who move to a different dimension like that Microsoft one. Maybe I'll announce that in this blog somewhere.

Playstation 1

Each gen have had their own kinds of games and whilst many have played franchise from the very beginning such as Final Fantasy and Call of Duty, the games I played were much different from the games I would play on the futuristic consoles. The PS1 in particular was fun to the extent that I had a wide range of video games of many different franchises and even their own genres it seems! So what are the games that I played during thee early Mikeerik years? Much of them were pretty separate from each other in terms of franchises and somewhere on the gaming floor. One in particular I can recall is Crash Bandicoot. The Playstation mascot that has almost disappeared off the map in the seventh generation of gaming but having the complete first trilogy but without the Crash Team Racing or Crash Bash even though I wanted those games so much! 0_0

Perhaps this character would explain a lot about my personality. He was certainly relatable at the time. I mean, who wouldn't try to spin around at 100 miles per hour or see whether the mythical double jump exists? Then there was it's rival. Spyro which I thoroughly enjoyed... but I only had the first game and Enter the Dragonfly and the reboot... I won't speak too much about the reboot. So it wasn't like my educational childhood. Although there were many other games to choose from who seemed like they could easily have been their own mascots. Croc. Gex. Rayman and so many other games.

The other reason why this console impacted my life was that there a plethora of demos on the horizon with each edition of Playstation Magazine including games like Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain. As well as the retro theme that came along with the main menu! It was also a time of many risks for 3D rendered video games and of course Sony would let many companies jump aboard. It's how it achieved to sell so many games within it's first console series.

Now I said that the Playstation had many new genres to it with games such as N-Gen Racing, Worms and Theme Park World delivering new experiences  to the console market... if those genres didn't exist already. I mean, who doesn't like zooming around areas with a fancy Trance music, shooting other enemies in a 2D world until it's time to wait your turn or creating their own Theme Parks in some retro environments!

As well as a few games such as Cool Boarders, Hogs of War, Final Fantasy IX and Rainbow Six. Unfortunately, the problem with this era was that if one of the games was broken or could be scratched easily, I wouldn't be able to play them and that was common amongst many games I didn't even have a chance to play. Even with a device that could clean disks yet the chances that it still wouldn't work were still possible. That was the flaw and why this console isn't my highest choice.

Playstation 2

I won't talk too much about the original Playstation because I have a a feeling we're just meant to talk about a single video game console... Whoops! When considering the Playstation 2 however, many of the franchises I knew and loved survived such as Crash Bandicoot as well brand new franchises sparking from some of my favourite video game developers such as Naughty Dog (at the time) and Insomniac Games who went on to the the sixth generation of gaming to produce some of my favourite franchises including Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank.

Yet it was also a time I could play so many new games outside of my comfort zone (although the PS1 set variation to a pretty high point) such as sports games like F1 04, Tony Hawk's Underground and Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup. Although the quantity of games was still similar to the collection I had with the PS2, they were still very enjoyable in their own unique ways and what made this console special was that it made me think that nothing could really improve on the console. Of course, that was just my state of mind. At the time, I was also trying to figure out why the console wouldn't open up like a book.

However to me personally, the games offered inspired me in so many ways such as the Lego: Star Wars and Battlefront series made me want to see the whole movie franchise... even though I wanted to watch it before and I even thought that the Original and Prequel series were actually different franchises... I guess a lot of prequel trilogy haters would like to think that too. Since I only saw the ending of Episode V, I thought that was Star Trek or something and then the ending of Episode III truly made me think more that it wasn't really Star Trek. Maybe that's why the Darth Vader reveal was surprising to me.

Anyways, the games also inspired me with my own ideas especially Jak and Daxter with it's great storyline and Ratchet and Clank with it's wide variety of planets and wide cast of aliens and I couldn't help but become interested in Space afterwards. I just wish that could have happened before my Space project! Plus, I could play all the PS1 games I had and use it as my own DVD player without needing to ask for an extra Christmas present. Therefore, I could watch all The Simpsons I wanted and it really was the first console in which there was more than a single use other than gaming. Sure, there might have been a Nintendo, Sega or a new video game developer that might have created a console with more features even if the first Playstation didn't exist... although I don't know whether I would be watching The Simpsons in that reality.

Then again, like the PS1, there was a few problems. The games played fine but when it came to games to 16+ games, I was only able to watch even though the series were only games that weren't heavily focused on violence like Tony Hawk's Underground and Driv3r so my desires of playing open world games would be limited towards playing games such as The Simpsons Hit an Run even though all I wanted to do in those games was ride a skateboard and drive! Therefore, the open world aspect would be left to another time... another gen.

Playstation 3

That's where the PS3 comes in to play! It was the console where I could pretty much buy any game I wanted and there was so much variety in terms of new developers and my favourite developers and publishers returning.  Plus, I could play all these new open world games such as Infamous and Assassin's Creed and not only did they have a unique sense about them but they also made me think about many new things in life such as religion and the high number of Jason Statham wannabees taking over the world.

The games also seemed to have a great set of storylines and that really inspired me with my own storyline ideas and franchises in a time when I thought many people were simply turning towards video game shooters with a simple storyline and multiplayer. The series aren't like what they were but I'm sure many new fans of their new games might have the same feeling. Thus, this is the console where I finally got to play more of the open world games, shooters and it also allowed for my introduction to multiplayer.

To be honest, aside from the gen itself being ridden with simplified video games and essentially movie games, there's not really a great deal of negativity towards this console. At least not in my experience. It had a similar leap like the PS1 - PS2 where you could customise your profile and it connected fanbases closer together and how many of us have made the friends we wouldn't have met across the road because well... they're across the pond. The Atlantic Ocean pond that is. There were many issues particularly the lack of backwards compatibility and that somehow my PS3 says it can use PS2 utility data but won't allow the games to be played! However this was a time in my life where I could really access so many games, meet new friends and watch a whole bunch of movies in high definition!

That's why this is my favourite console because it was a time where I could set my wings out and fly free with all new mature games available to play but the PS1 and PS2 delivered some unique experiences and memories too. It's just with the PS3, I did feel like many of the exclusives were more than just shooters and there was still focus on platformers outside of the realm of shooters that was gathering pace. Plus it had Ratchet and Clank.

I also have an original handheld Gameboy and also a Gameboy Advance but that would make this blog long when I have already talked enough about my favourite video game console for a tad bit. I had some nice memories with them too but I believe that since I have mostly played Playstation consoles, I know that my life would be different if I was brought up with alternative video game consoles such as the Nintendo 64 or Xbox 360, then my gaming experience as well as the choices I would have made in life and my interests in terms of gaming and maybe other aspects. That's why I keep an open mind about video games because I never know they might influence me. Plus, you don't know whether you can enjoy a game unless you've tried.

Playstation 4, Xbox One or Wii U... or something else? 

I'm not sure whether this is part of the community blog but I don't think there were any rules against it so I'll throw it in anyway. The eight generation of gaming is upon us an many people have already bought their next console. Others are considering when to buy and in some cases, what to buy. In my view I was originally going to buy a Playstation 4 especially since the Xbox 360 didn't interest me in terms of exclusives but from seeing E3 2014, I think that Microsoft finally have a bunch of games that can interest me with Sunset Overdrive, Phantom Dust and Quantum Break. Plus I knew paying for Gran Turismo 5 at it's full price even though I disliked the first game was a bad idea. Whereas Sony seems to be living off from remasters, games that you can play on phones and titles that are set for release by over a year from now. Plus, there will always be games that are available towards the PC gaming medium but exclusive towards a console when considering home consoles. The PS4 looks like it has more horror games, the Xbox 360 had a whole bunch of RPGs and the Wii U awaits with platformers.

To be honest though, I'm happy with the PS3. It has a lot of life in it and most likely, every console will do well in their own ways but there needs to be more games available to make my decision. This will be the first time ever, I will buy a console and since I tend to get a single console per gen and buy as many games as I can for them. Therefore, I will have to make a wise decision! Plus, there's still the Steam Machines and Microconsoles that are waiting to be released which could hopefully deliver some new games and reduce the prices of the big companies consoles and games but overall, I'm no 100% about them. Sure, it's fun to stream games from the PC but aside from that, much of the reason I play video game consoles is for the exclusives and without exclusives, they're just a bunch of devices which come with more or less of it's components selling separately. Plus with some of the games, you can't even keep them and it's just a subscription! Plus, there might be many new consoles released in the near future. Maybe I should consider buying a handheld like a PS Vita or a 3DS or even a really old (yet still great console) such as the Gamecube?

Although then again, all the console designs look very similar and many of the features themselves aren't actually innovative. Many of the games are still multiplatform but since many say that the PS4 looks way better than the Xbox One, in my opinion, there really isn't much of a difference. It just depends whether you prefer Rectangles or Trapeziums. (Sighs) There would have been many models that would have looked so much retro!

Story or Gameplay?

There are many reasons why I buy games and like I said, my views can quickly change and these days, I'm pretty skeptical and the fact that my PS3 only accounts for about 74GB, that makes my decision even more tricky. However to sum it all down to these certain categories, all of them remaining great would be awesome but overall, it's really whether they have a unique side. Sometimes I like playing games with a great storyline and other times, I enjoy games riddled with huge explosive open world gameplay.

Although these days, I'm pretty worried about storylines these days because most of the time even if it has a plot twist or character development, they've most likely been used before and with franchises such as Infamous and Assassin's Creed, I thought they would go further with more complex storylines but now it seems that these series are now simplified in many ways and now, they're more like standalone movies rather than improving upon what made them great. I don't understand. Even within Assassin's Creed 3, the storyline was complicated for newcomers anyway so why start a new storyline at the last minute when you could let players know about the previous story during the game and how it connects and focus more on discovering more to the story rather than abandoning it completely. Games are meant to improve. Not get worse. Maybe it's just me and my experiences because looking back at the games now, they did have similarities with other stories from other games but they still had their unique sides and the storylines were actually going somewhere amazing. Why is that everytime a developer starts to build up a great story, it appears less relevant through in the sequel? It's not just my expectations because many others agree. I guess once a franchise becomes popular, that's when developers can get carried away with annualising their franchises. However it might also be down to the fact that there are new writers on new games. Then again, I think it would be a good idea to keep the people who have developed it right from the start because they know where it's going.

Stories based on sagas however is what interests me especially with series such as Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid which not only have interesting storylines but interconnecting storylines and I really hope that these games don't become simplified. I mean people complain about KH being confusing when it seemed pretty straightforward to me. I'm not saying I hate standalone storylines but I'm mostly interested in games which are unique and new to me. For example, I'm a little worried about buying Tomb Raider released in 2013 because there are huge similarities between the game and other series such as Lost and the focus on action scenes isn't a core reason why I play video games (although they do make the game more fun) whereas with franchises such as Need for Speed and a couple of Sports games, I might not mind them as much because I don't really play many Need for Speed games before. Heck! I haven't played a substantial amount of the racing and sport genres. So I might not see the problems compared to other games or the lack of innovation that fans of the franchise might see. I guess I might have a bit of a pessimistic view on a few games but the truth is, I'm not alone and I'm sure that there are games that haven't been up to your cup of tea. I'm open minded about games and I'm keen to play as many games as possible but since I like to save my money and I get annoyed a bit by the hype, it can kinda put me off and therefore, I head towards games outside of my comfort zone. Who knows? Maybe I'll meet my next favourite franchise along the way. Maybe if I started playing many of these games where they are now, I would have enjoyed them more. However I stand by thoughts of the games I have played.

Do I avoid certain games? 

Avoid is such a harsh word. I would like to say I try to play every game I possibly can that I become interested in but when it comes to saving money and having a 74GB PS3 and with all the promises developers have told us, I'm starting to become much more critical about gaming. Many times, I used to play franchises that I was very common with and much of the reason why I wanted a Playstation 3 at all was because of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Now it seems like I'm playing a single game from each franchise since this way, I can might have become annualised over the past few years or focused on multiplayer and in some cases, it's both but also, I can explore not only new franchises but also new genres that I've never played before such those of the Tales series.

It's not that I have a close minded approach about gaming from big developers but ultimately, most games never live up to the hype and from seeing trailers, cutscenes and gameplay, it can make me think about whether to buy the game. People may say it's a certain game is enjoyable but I'd rather go with a series I'm unfamiliar with instead of one where I've been disappointed by the most recent games because even if I don't enjoy these new series, I might learn something new... and who doesn't like learning?

Then again, my choices can almost be random and very difficult to tell. My Christmas list will usually feature a game outside of my comfort zone, a franchise or game I'm familiar with and then a game I was hoping to buy many years ago... but then other matters kinda made me forget about the important things in life... games of course. Another however, it could be something entirely different! I could buy a whole bunch of games I'm new too or even in a very horrific yet a case that has occurred before... no video games at all!

Although I really don't blame myself for disliking games from the big developers and publishers because many don't take risks like they used to especially with Activision and Ubisoft. I'm sure their games are fun to newcomers but their games just appear to familiar to each other in terms of gameplay and story and that goes for between their franchises too. However, this is one particular company that I will always be cautious of now. This company might not come as a surprise to you and this company has caused many people to lose faith in the franchises they love and perhaps wish things could have been different. I'm talking of course about EA.

Many of their games used to be enjoyable even when they had games on a per year release but the whole aspect of a digital society has caused them to become way too greedy and ultimately none of games published will be missing out on DLC. That might go for every game nowadays but at least the DLC isn't on the disk!

Genres

Just like video game consoles, I've enjoyed many different genres at different points in time. In a way, this is starting to sound like I'm talking about myself for a dating site. Then again who doesn't like gamers. However the most substantial of these genres would be...

Action - Adventure and platformers

This is a category I was brought up with especially with Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. Games which feature a great storyline and range of environments and much of these are mixed up with not only platforming elements but almost every genre you can find within gaming. Lets see Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank all had their kinds of races and vehicular combat, thrown with a few mean monsters and a whole cast of enemies to fight. Ratchet and Clank even featured a new range of different puzzles to complete... although it wasn't something I very fond of many years ago when I just wanted to use my latest gadgets. So games with lots of exploration is a must for me in life and I guess open world comes in that category to with games such as Assassin's Creed and Infamous but I just miss the games that had pretty much everything in the games. Exploration, superpowers, shooting, racing, puzzles, unique characters and environments, platforming and some might say even action and adventure! 0_0

Shooters

Many people believe that the only games I play are only shooters and Assassin's Creed and they couldn't be more wrong but the most recent games I play sure make it appear that way. I mean, it's almost impossible to find a game of this gen that doesn't feature shooting unless it's a sports or JRPG and in some cases even those genres have shooting. I mean the trailer with Golf and a battleship is worth mentioning. However just like most games, I focus on buying a single game of a franchise... and then that's pretty much it. Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 3 will likely be the only shooters of the COD and BF franchises I will ever buy because they're mostly utilised for a quick buck and I doubt I will pay for multiplayer when buying a new console. Although for a match where I want easy access to multiplayer and also the top of the leaderboard, then shooters are certainly worth playing!

Many others such as Crysis and Far Cry can sway me to buy their games too since they have a unique twist and don't always focus on a broken multiplayer. At least not Far Cry. Then again, my history of shooters goes back a long way with Rainbow Six (in which I couldn't really get anywhere) and the 007 games including Agent Under Fire, Nightfire and Goldeneye: Rogue Agent and yes I have played Goldeneye on Nintendo 64 and it was fun but just like Half-Life, it's not the best game in the world. (Dodges arrows)

This category can also account for games such as Lost Planet and Uncharted which are fun to play but they can sometimes suffer with the same problems and focus on multiplayer and cinematic sequences which isn't all a bad thing but I prefer third person games with more single player!

Racing

I love racing and driving games! In fact, the games in which I have very fond memories (behind action-adventure of course) are with the Driver series especially with the latest installment of Driver: San Francisco which had so much focus on many forms of driving and 19 multiplayer modes. Even though I barely played driving games, I was always at the top of the leaderboard in the Driver: San Francisco beta aside from one time... then again that was out of about 30 matches so that didn't really matter. The actual game though... is another story. I made many mistakes and in a match where I had to achieve 100 points by collecting this flag for the longest. Kinda like tag (but being tagged is good this time round) and I reached 99 points. Just one more to go! Then... the opponents took it and by the time I got to them, guess how many points they had? 99! I finally got the flag at the last minute. I guess it sometimes depends on where you are in the game rather than actual skill.

Anyways, I also love Split/Second: Velocity since it's basically Michael Bay: The video game... well if he made Need for Speed. So much action that games like Blur and Need for Speed always try to achieve. After an entire year of drought of not playing the game, I jumped in to a helicopter survival match and then I ended up 14th highest in the world for the airport track! I could have improved on that but when I drifted too much, the car jumped out of existence... two lives left.

Not to mention the Rally games and F1 games. I haven't even tried the Need for Speed franchise but just like shooters, sometimes the games are mostly focused on multiplayer and so buying them per year release isn't such a great plan to make unless it has a lot of focus within the single player like Driver: San Francisco does. There are many games where driving is common such as Just Cause and even Jak 2 but that's not the main reasons why I would buy the games... Jak 3, Jak X and Crash Nitro Kart is another matter.

Role playing games and JRPGs 

I don't have much to say on this particular topic because most of the games I have played aren't exactly RPGs but what I love about this genre is that it gives a sense of achievement once you complete sections of the game and if the game features choices and consequences? Then it's something that will make me buy the game even at full price. This is reinforced by the Witcher 3 being available towards video game consoles! 0_0 Then again, most of these games are more of fantasy based setting when I'm more of an outer space obsessed kind of guy so Elder Scrolls isn't something that intrigues me and many of the games appear so similar to each other. Plus in many ways, the games are being forced in terms of story rather than your actual choices. Mass Effect 3 is a pure example of this and the latest Final Fantasy seem like gameplay is more of afterthought... in a genre that desperately needs gameplay. Final Fantasy IX had a huge impact on my life because it was so diverse and I love games which are more of a read the text rather than sitting through hours of cinematics. Japanese games are very common in that context and whilst Japan might have their own similarities between their franchises, it's something new to me outside of zombie survival themes.

On the other hand, it could be argued what is an RPG and the lines seem to be blurring between genres. When I talk to people about Assassin's Creed, then people believe it is an RPG and Ubisoft could easily just change the purpose of it's genre and people might see why it would be an RPG. I mean customisation and buying weapons for your travels and in many ways, there are games which probably don't deserve to be called an RPG. I mean why is Borderlands an RPG if you can't make your own class, choose your own weapons and create a character? The only factor to me that makes it an RPG is that it's connected with the single player but games like Far Cry are already using levelling up for the single player and even in Call of Duty, there are more RPG elements in than Borderlands.

Puzzles

I've played a few puzzle based games in the past including maze concepts including Pac Man to all the puzzles within Ratchet and Clank. At the time, I didn't enjoy them at must. I mean, I just wanted to see the astronomical sights but now it seems that I've put away that hatred and I have fun. What makes games including Echochrome so fun is that it's the kind of game where you can have laughs and they're great for friends and even dates. Most of these exist mostly in the form of mobile gaming but there are plenty of enjoyable games to be found especially within the fourth and fifth generations of gaming.

Although the music can be a pain!

Turn based shooters

Yep! There is such a thing known as turn based shooters rather than just role playing games and the games such as Worms: Armageddon and Hogs of War were games that really fulfilled a sense of enjoyment. I'm not saying turn based role playing games aren't as good but from the shooters I played, there certainly a lot of humour. I was even playing Worms when I had the PS2 and it's one of the few genres that have almost become extinct during the modern day.

So much fun and the best part was that the environments were all varied. Filled with explosive mines. I really miss the moments in Worms where the water would keep rising.

Creating simulation

Games where creating your own lands is a joy! In particular, Theme Park World allowed players to design their own theme parks, full of horror and alien based terrains. Unfortunately, just how Infogames became a part of Atari, Bullfrog Productions became a part of something else. Something that could be argued more sinister. I refer back to EA! Games such as Sim City look really fun but the focus on PC platforms and problems arising from the game's requirement for the always online service means that this series might not be in good hands. Oh you wouldn't imagine the hours I spent creating my own skateparks in Tony Hawk's Underground which was full of lava pits with towering skyscrapers and Gameboy Advance racing games allowing us to design many miles of racing tracks! I wonder how these kinds of designs will improve in the newer gens and games such as Far Cry 4.

Stealth

This final genre that I enjoy tests the intelligence of the AI to it's limits... especially that of Assassin's Creed. Within games such as Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, it shows that there is no need for war and these games can be rewarding with more points awarded for those who use their silent pistols as a good luck charm and each level will usually feature a different set of paths to choose from. There are even games in which stealth and all out combat can both be utilised as part of tactical options in Crysis.

So that's just the short version of the genres I play. I'm sure there are many other genres out there that I haven't listed and no doubt there will be future ones in the near future.

Singleplayer or multiplayer? 

These are aspects of gaming that I've always known where I was within these categories. Many people find it hard to know whether they play more single player or multiplayer but for me, it's always been singleplayer. Maybe it's because I've been brought up with singleplayer whereas multiplayer always felt like something extra. Even when I first started playing multiplayer in late 2010, I still balanced the singleplayer and multiplayer in an almost equal fashion but still most of the time, the single player remained more popular even when in 2011, I was playing games such as Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Battlfefield 3. Two games which were focused on multiplayer.

However it depends on what the game is intended for. If I'm looking for a game with many game modes, I would search for something outside of Battlefield because that's more of a game based on long duration team matches but nothing else... unless you buy the DLC. In some ways, it also depends on my mood because if I'm looking for crazy action, I'll head with Battlefield 3 multiplayer but if I'm looking for many modes to play, Call of Duty is more of an interest. Then again, it also depends on the game's difficulty and patches. In the case of Uncharted 3, it appeared too easy and not being at the top of the leaderboard would be like a crime and most of the time, it was me versus the other top member on the other team rather than an actual challenge. So after a few weeks, I kind of got bored of that as well and the one of the reasons why I made a new account in the first place. In addition to the fact that it kept deleting all my videos after patches to introduce a new hairpiece, making me vanish from the leaderboards entirely and it won't even let me connect to a match anymore. Most likely, free to play is to blame and that's what can put me off the multiplayer. In addition, there are times when I'm not as great but I still have fun because I'm playing with friends. Often they're screaming through their mics but it's an enjoyable experience. Plus I was never that amazing at Modern Warfare 2 anyway. Campers and hackers are too overpopulated.

Finally, it depends on the game modes within the franchise because series such as Assassin's Creed have changed their layout so much. Within AC: Brotherhood, the mode of Alliance was super fun for those yearning to team up with their best friends or whoever they can find on their friends list. Within AC: Revelations, Corruption was introduced which rewarded gamers more for staying alive the longest. I mean, in Manhunt, I was always running around the rooftops because I was actually surviving and I would prefer 12 kills and 1 death (which was due to me running towards the enemy to stun them) and fewer points whereas my friend had about 3 kills and 9 deaths but the most points. Unfortunately, even though they were more popular, Ubisoft decided to ditch all of them in favour of deathmatch... which was basically a ghost town in Revelations. Just because they wanted to become mainstream. Those are most of the reasons why now, I prefer to play to play singleplayer because there's too many problems associated with the multiplayer and that's if you can actually access it. Even if I do well in the multiplayer after not playing for a while, I still get bored so I guess I'm just too much of a singleplayer person. I enjoy multiplayer from time to time and it's much more fun in matches where everyone's equal in games such as the RPG Lab in Uncharted 3 or Gun Game in Call of Duty: Ghosts and of course with friend. However developers and publishers can sometimes make the games inaccessible and even the most recent games are prone to hackers and issues where the controls don't even compute with the game especially with so much lag. So singleplayer is a very safe option but I just wish that developers would focus less on multiplayer because it's starting to drag down the quality of the singleplayer.

That's it! ... and Lee thought I wouldn't write this up! So the moment you've been waiting for! I tag...

Assassinita

DanyAFS

Zack0273

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! Most recently, I was tagged by a member of the community known as LeeDoc93 to write up a blog about what I enjoy about games and well... my preferences I guess. It was like he presented a challenge to me and I accept! I'm not sure but where did this community blog originate from? What am I meant to talk about specifically? Oh well, I guess I should add a few new things here and there.  Sorry if I've confused anyone about this blog. I had to re-post it because it became an error. I even had trouble re-posting the blog! Maybe The Terminator movies were right about technology! 0_0

So it's time to hop in to the comfy Animus and experience my blog in high detail... I'm not joking about high detail since this is the prefect moment to talk about the history of your fellow MyIGNer although I believe that some of that should be set around for another time.

So to start off about my gaming interests, it's pretty complicated. Sometimes I prefer a game more than another and the same really goes for everyone but now that I look back at all the games I have played, I realise that many of the reasons why I enjoyed them were due to the inspiration they gave me about the world and how I began to develop my own ideas... as well as the fond memories of the games of course. Perhaps this applies to everyone. They all seem to mix and match. I mean when I talk to fellow gamers about the games, they might have never have played a certain element within a video game before such as flying around the world or even a a genre like an open world game which might make them more fond of the game whereas I might believe it's too similar to previous other games even outside the franchise... and a huge hype and extensive advertising campaign doesn't really help that much either. Overtime I guess my preferences have changed so I would like to divide this section in three parts. One for each gen. It will also help you to understand the kinds of games I enjoyed during the times of those special and unforgettable (well I haven't forgotten... yet) video game generations. Enjoy!

Consoles of choice

Most of the video game consoles I have played are well... part of Sony which might explain why all the video game consoles will be of a Playstation series of consoles. That's not to say that I hate Microsoft, Nintendo or even all the microconsoles but since I was born in the mid 1990s, most of the video games and especially the video game consoles were simply given to me as part of an amazing bunch of Christmas presents (I mean who knew that Santa Claus had that kind of hardware?!) and also I've played many other consoles and even a PC at friends houses. When it comes to video gaming however, I pretty much bought whatever video game there was... if my parents had the money of course but starting upwards through the ladder of gaming, I had about 60 PS1 games to start off with anyway so there was really no need to buy a whole bunch of games... until of course, internet shopping became a reality and I could uncover all the long lost games I had been searching for my whole life.. well my gaming life anyway but it's a pretty long gaming life.

So since I couldn't really buy many games myself, I simply learned to make the most of the games that were already available and I can't really remember a time that I got bored of gaming (not that I would like to think that I got bored of course) and that's why I was always playing video games from previous gens especially if they had backwards compatibility... although in the realm of Playstation consoles, it's not really a common thing anymore. Nowadays however, I have been able to research the games that I believe I might like and not relatives trying to guess what game I would play 24/7 but as a result, much of my interests have changed and even though I have the ability to buy any of the games I want, I'm too savvy... even though when I was much younger, I wanted to buy every game! Now that I look to the future, I wonder whether I will remain within the Playstation fanbase who move to a different dimension like that Microsoft one.  Maybe I'll announce that in this blog somewhere.

Playstation 1

Each gen have had their own kinds of games and whilst many have played franchise from the very beginning such as Final Fantasy and Call of Duty, the games I played were much different from the games I would play on the futuristic consoles. The PS1 in particular was fun to the extent that I had a wide range of video games of many different franchises and even their own genres it seems! So what are the games that I played during thee early Mikeerik years? Much of them were pretty separate from each other in terms of franchises and somewhere on the gaming floor. One in particular I can recall is Crash Bandicoot. The Playstation mascot that has almost disappeared off the map in the seventh generation of gaming but having the complete first trilogy but without the Crash Team Racing or Crash Bash even though I wanted those games so much! 0_0

Perhaps this character would explain a lot about my personality. He was certainly relatable at the time. I mean, who wouldn't try to spin around at 100 miles per hour or see whether the mythical double jump exists? Then there was it's rival. Spyro which I thoroughly enjoyed... but I only had the first game and Enter the Dragonfly and the reboot... I won't speak too much about the reboot. So it wasn't like my educational childhood. Although there were many other games to choose from who seemed like they could easily have been their own mascots. Croc. Gex. Rayman and so many other games.

The other reason why this console impacted my life was that there a plethora of demos on the horizon with each edition of Playstation Magazine including games like Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain. As well as the retro theme that came along with the main menu! It was also a time of many risks for 3D rendered video games and of course Sony would let many companies jump aboard. It's how it achieved to sell so many games within it's first console series.

Now I said that the Playstation had many new genres to it with games such as N-Gen Racing, Worms and Theme Park World delivering new experiences  to the console market... if those genres didn't exist already. I mean, who doesn't like zooming around areas with a fancy Trance music, shooting other enemies in a 2D world until it's time to wait your turn or creating their own Theme Parks in some retro environments!

As well as a few games such as Cool Boarders, Hogs of War, Final Fantasy IX and Rainbow Six. Unfortunately, the problem with this era was that if one of the games was broken or could be scratched easily, I wouldn't be able to play them and that was common amongst many games I didn't even have a chance to play. Even with a device that could clean disks yet the chances that it still wouldn't work were still possible. That was the flaw and why this console isn't my highest choice.

Playstation 2

I won't talk too much about the original Playstation because I have a a feeling we're just meant to talk about a single video game console... Whoops! When considering the Playstation 2 however, many of the franchises I knew and loved survived such as Crash Bandicoot as well brand new franchises sparking from some of my favourite video game developers such as Naughty Dog (at the time) and Insomniac Games who went on to the the sixth generation of gaming to produce some of my favourite franchises including Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank.

Yet it was also a time I could play so many new games outside of my comfort zone (although the PS1 set variation to a pretty high point) such as sports games like F1 04, Tony Hawk's Underground and Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup. Although the quantity of games was still similar to the collection I had with the PS2, they were still very enjoyable in their own unique ways and what made this console special was that it made me think that nothing could really improve on the console. Of course, that was just my state of mind. At the time, I was also trying to figure out why the console wouldn't open up like a book.

However to me personally, many of the the games of the sixth gen inspired me in so many ways such as the Lego: Star Wars and Battlefront series made me want to see the whole movie franchise... even though I wanted to watch it before and I even thought that the Original and Prequel series were actually different franchises... I guess a lot of prequel trilogy haters would like to think that too. Since I only saw the ending of Episode V, I thought that was Star Trek or something and then the ending of Episode III truly made me think more that it wasn't really Star Trek. Maybe that's why the Darth Vader reveal was surprising to me.

Anyways, the games also inspired me with my own ideas especially Jak and Daxter with it's great storyline and Ratchet and Clank with it's wide variety of planets and wide cast of aliens and I couldn't help but become interested in Space afterwards. I just wish that could have happened before my Space project! Plus, I could play all the PS1 games I had and use it as my own DVD player without needing to ask for an extra Christmas present. Therefore, I could watch all The Simpsons I wanted and it really was the first console in which there was more than a single use other than gaming. Sure, there might have been a Nintendo, Sega or a new video game developer that might have created a console with more features even if the first Playstation didn't exist... although I don't know whether I would be watching The Simpsons in that reality.

Then again, like the PS1, there was a few problems. The games played fine but when it came to games to 16+ games, I was only able to watch even though the series were only games that weren't heavily focused on violence like Tony Hawk's Underground and Driv3r so my desires of playing open world games would be limited towards playing games such as The Simpsons Hit an Run even though all I wanted to do in those games was ride a skateboard and drive! Therefore, the open world aspect would be left to another time... another gen.

Playstation 3

That's where the PS3 comes in to play! It was the console where I could pretty much buy any game I wanted and there was so much variety in terms of new developers and my favourite developers and publishers returning.  Plus, I could play all these new open world games such as Infamous and Assassin's Creed and not only did they have a unique sense about them but they also made me think about many new things in life such as religion and the high number of Jason Statham wannabees taking over the world.

The games also seemed to have a great set of storylines and that really inspired me with my own storyline ideas and franchises in a time when I thought many people were simply turning towards video game shooters with a simple storyline and multiplayer. The series aren't like what they were but I'm sure many new fans of their new games might have the same feeling. Thus, this is the console where I finally got to play more of the open world games, shooters and it also allowed for my introduction to multiplayer.

To be honest, aside from the gen itself being ridden with simplified video games and essentially movie games, there's not really a great deal of negativity towards this console. At least not in my experience. It had a similar leap like the PS1 - PS2 where you could customise your profile and it connected fanbases closer together and how many of us have made the friends we wouldn't have met across the road because well... they're across the pond. The Atlantic Ocean pond that is.  There were many issues particularly the lack of backwards compatibility and that somehow my PS3 says it can use PS2 utility data but won't allow the games to be played! However this was a time in my life where I could really access so many games, meet new friends and watch a whole bunch of movies in high definition!

That's why this is my favourite console because it was a time where I could set my wings out and fly free with all new mature games available to play but the PS1 and PS2 delivered some unique experiences and memories too. It's just with the PS3, I did feel like many of the exclusives were more than just shooters and there was still focus on platformers outside of the realm of shooters that was gathering pace. Plus it had Ratchet and Clank.

I also have an original handheld Gameboy and also a Gameboy Advance but that would make this blog long when I have already talked enough about my favourite video game console for a tad bit. I had some nice memories with them too but I believe that since I have mostly played Playstation consoles, I know that my life would be different if I was brought up with alternative video game consoles such as the Nintendo 64 or Xbox 360, then my gaming experience as well as the choices I would have made in life and my interests in terms of gaming and maybe other aspects. That's why I keep an open mind about video games because I never know they might influence me. Plus, you don't know whether you can enjoy a game unless you've tried.

Playstation 4, Xbox One or Wii U... or something else? 

I'm not sure whether this is part of the community blog but I don't think there were any rules against it so I'll throw it in anyway.  The eight generation of gaming is upon us an many people have already bought their next console. Others are considering when to buy and in some cases, what to buy. In my view I was originally going to buy a Playstation 4 especially since the Xbox 360 didn't interest me in terms of exclusives but from seeing E3 2014, I think that Microsoft finally have a bunch of games that can interest me with Sunset Overdrive, Phantom Dust and Quantum Break. Plus I knew paying for Gran Turismo 5 at it's full price even though I disliked the first game was a bad idea. Whereas Sony seems to be living off from remasters, games that you can play on phones and titles that are set for release by over a year from now. Plus, there will always be games that are available towards the PC gaming medium but exclusive towards a console when considering home consoles. The PS4 looks like it has more horror games, the Xbox 360 had a whole bunch of RPGs and the Wii U awaits with platformers.

To be honest though, I'm happy with the PS3. It has a lot of life in it and most likely, every console will do well in their own ways but there needs to be more games available to make my decision. This will be the first time ever, I will buy a console and since I tend to get a single console per gen and buy as many games as I can for them. Therefore, I will have to make a wise decision! Plus, there's still the Steam Machines and Microconsoles that are waiting to be released which could hopefully deliver some new games and reduce the prices of the big companies consoles and games but overall, I'm no 100% about them. Sure, it's fun to stream games from the PC but aside from that, much of the reason I play video game consoles is for the exclusives and without exclusives, they're just a bunch of devices which come with more or less of it's components selling separately. Plus with some of the games, you can't even keep them and it's just a subscription! Plus, there might be many new consoles released in the near future. Maybe I should consider buying a handheld like a PS Vita or a 3DS or even a really old (yet still great console) such as the Gamecube?

Although then again, all the console designs look very similar and many of the features themselves aren't actually innovative. Many of the games are still multiplatform but since many say that the PS4 looks way better than the Xbox One, in my opinion, there really isn't much of a difference. It just depends whether you prefer Rectangles or Trapeziums. (Sighs) There would have been many models that would have looked so much retro!

Story or Gameplay?

There are many reasons why I buy games and like I said, my views can quickly change and these days, I'm pretty skeptical and the fact that my PS3 only accounts for about 74GB, that makes my decision even more tricky. However to sum it all down to these certain categories, all of them remaining great would be awesome but overall, it's really whether they have a unique side. Sometimes I like playing games with a great storyline and other times, I enjoy games riddled with huge explosive open world gameplay.

Although these days, I'm pretty worried about storylines these days because most of the time even if it has a plot twist or character development, they've most likely been used before and with franchises such as Infamous and Assassin's Creed, I thought they would go further with more complex storylines but now it seems that these series are now simplified in many ways and now, they're more like standalone movies rather than improving upon what made them great. I don't understand. Even within Assassin's Creed 3, the storyline was complicated for newcomers anyway so why start a new storyline at the last minute when you could let players know about the previous story during the game and how it connects and focus more on discovering more to the story rather than abandoning it completely. Games are meant to improve. Not get worse. Maybe it's just me and my experiences because looking back at the games now, they did have similarities with other stories from other games but they still had their unique sides and the storylines were actually going somewhere amazing.

Why is that everytime a developer starts to build up a great story, it appears less relevant through in the sequel? It's not just my expectations because many others agree. I guess once a franchise becomes popular, that's when developers can get carried away with annualising their franchises. However it might also be down to the fact that there are new writers on new games. Then again, I think it would be a good idea to keep the people who have developed it right from the start because they know where it's going.

Stories based on sagas however is what interests me especially with series such as Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid which not only have interesting storylines but interconnecting storylines and I really hope that these games don't become simplified. I mean people complain about KH being confusing when it seemed pretty straightforward to me. I'm not saying I hate standalone storylines but I'm mostly interested in games which are unique and new to me. For example, I'm a little worried about buying Tomb Raider released in 2013 because there are huge similarities between the game and other series such as Lost and the focus on action scenes isn't a core reason why I play video games (although they do make the game more fun) whereas with franchises such as Need for Speed and a couple of Sports games, I might not mind them as much because I don't really play many Need for Speed games before. Heck! I haven't played a substantial amount of the racing and sport genres. So I might not see the problems compared to other games or the lack of innovation that fans of the franchise might see. I guess I might have a bit of a pessimistic view on a few games but the truth is, I'm not alone and I'm sure that there are games that haven't been up to your cup of tea. I'm open minded about games and I'm keen to play as many games as possible but since I like to save my money and I get annoyed a bit by the hype, it can kinda put me off and therefore, I head towards games outside of my comfort zone. Who knows? Maybe I'll meet my next favourite franchise along the way.  Maybe if I started playing many of these games where they are now, I would have enjoyed them more. However I stand by thoughts of the games I have played.

Do I avoid certain games? 

Avoid is such a harsh word. I would like to say I try to play every game I possibly can that I become interested in but when it comes to saving money and having a 74GB PS3 and with all the promises developers have told us, I'm starting to become much more critical about gaming. Many times, I used to play franchises that I was very common with and much of the reason why I wanted a Playstation 3 at all was because of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Now it seems like I'm playing a single game from each franchise since this way, I can might have become annualised over the past few years or focused on multiplayer and in some cases, it's both but also, I can explore not only new franchises but also new genres that I've never played before such those of the Tales series.

It's not that I have a close minded approach about gaming from big developers but ultimately, most games never live up to the hype and from seeing trailers, cutscenes and gameplay, it can make me think about whether to buy the game. People may say it's a certain game is enjoyable but I'd rather go with a series I'm unfamiliar with instead of one where I've been disappointed by the most recent games because even if I don't enjoy these new series, I might learn something new... and who doesn't like learning?

Then again, my choices can almost be random and very difficult to tell. My Christmas list will usually feature a game outside of my comfort zone, a franchise or game I'm familiar with and then a game I was hoping to buy many years ago... but then other matters kinda made me forget about the important things in life... games of course.  Another however, it could be something entirely different! I could buy a whole bunch of games I'm new too or even in a very horrific yet a case that has occurred before... no video games at all!

Although I really don't blame myself for disliking games from the big developers and publishers because many don't take risks like they used to especially with Activision and Ubisoft. I'm sure their games are fun to newcomers but their games just appear to familiar to each other in terms of gameplay and story and that goes for between their franchises too. However, this is one particular company that I will always be cautious of now. This company might not come as a surprise to you and this company has caused many people to lose faith in the franchises they love and perhaps wish things could have been different. I'm talking of course about EA.

Many of their games used to be enjoyable even when they had games on a per year release but the whole aspect of a digital society has caused them to become way too greedy and ultimately none of games published will be missing out on DLC. That might go for every game nowadays but at least the DLC isn't on the disk!

Genres

Just like video game consoles, I've enjoyed many different genres at different points in time. In a way, this is starting to sound like I'm talking about myself for a dating site. Then again who doesn't like gamers.  However the most substantial of these genres would be...

Action - Adventure and platformers

This is a category I was brought up with especially with Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. Games which feature a great storyline and range of environments and much of these are mixed up with not only platforming elements but almost every genre you can find within gaming. Lets see Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank all had their kinds of races and vehicular combat, thrown with a few mean monsters and a whole cast of enemies to fight. Ratchet and Clank even featured a new range of different puzzles to complete... although it wasn't something I very fond of many years ago when I just wanted to use my latest gadgets. So games with lots of exploration is a must for me in life and I guess open world comes in that category to with games such as Assassin's Creed and Infamous but I just miss the games that had pretty much everything in the games. Exploration, superpowers, shooting, racing, puzzles, unique characters and environments, platforming and some might say even action and adventure! 0_0

Shooters

Many people believe that the only games I play are only shooters and Assassin's Creed and they couldn't be more wrong but the most recent games I play sure make it appear that way. I mean, it's almost impossible to find a game of this gen that doesn't feature shooting unless it's a sports or JRPG and in some cases even those genres have shooting. I mean the trailer with Golf and a battleship is worth mentioning. However just like most games, I focus on buying a single game of a franchise... and then that's pretty much it. Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 3 will likely be the only shooters of the COD and BF franchises I will ever buy because they're mostly utilised for a quick buck and I doubt I will pay for multiplayer when buying a new console. Although for a match where I want easy access to multiplayer and also the top of the leaderboard, then shooters are certainly worth playing!

Many others such as Crysis and Far Cry can sway me to buy their games too since they have a unique twist and don't always focus on a broken multiplayer. At least not Far Cry. Then again, my history of shooters goes back a long way with Rainbow Six (in which I couldn't really get anywhere) and the 007 games including Agent Under Fire, Nightfire and Goldeneye: Rogue Agent and yes I have played Goldeneye on Nintendo 64 and it was fun but just like Half-Life, it's not the best game in the world. (Dodges arrows)

This category can also account for games such as Lost Planet and Uncharted which are fun to play but they can sometimes suffer with the same problems and focus on multiplayer and cinematic sequences which isn't all a bad thing but I prefer third person games with more single player!

Racing

I love racing and driving games! In fact, the games in which I have very fond memories (behind action-adventure of course) are with the Driver series especially with the latest installment of Driver: San Francisco which had so much focus on many forms of driving and 19 multiplayer modes. Even though I barely played driving games, I was always at the top of the leaderboard in the Driver: San Francisco beta aside from one time... then again that was out of about 30 matches so that didn't really matter. The actual game though... is another story. I made many mistakes and in a match where I had to achieve 100 points by collecting this flag for the longest. Kinda like tag (but being tagged is good this time round) and I reached 99 points. Just one more to go! Then... the opponents took it and by the time I got to them, guess how many points they had? 99! I finally got the flag at the last minute. I guess it sometimes depends on where you are in the game rather than actual skill.

Anyways, I also love Split/Second: Velocity since it's basically Michael Bay: The video game... well if he made Need for Speed. So much action that games like Blur and Need for Speed always try to achieve. After an entire year of drought of not playing the game, I jumped in to a helicopter survival match and then I ended up 14th highest in the world for the airport track! I could have improved on that but when I drifted too much, the car jumped out of existence... two lives left.

Not to mention the Rally games and F1 games. I haven't even tried the Need for Speed franchise but just like shooters, sometimes the games are mostly focused on multiplayer and so buying them per year release isn't such a great plan to make unless it has a lot of focus within the single player like Driver: San Francisco does. There are many games where driving is common such as Just Cause and even Jak 2 but that's not the main reasons why I would buy the games... Jak 3, Jak X and Crash Nitro Kart is another matter.

Role playing games and JRPGs 

I don't have much to say on this particular topic because most of the games I have played aren't exactly RPGs but what I love about this genre is that it gives a sense of achievement once you complete sections of the game and if the game features choices and consequences? Then it's something that will make me buy the game even at full price. This is reinforced by the Witcher 3 being available towards video game consoles! 0_0 Then again, most of these games are more of fantasy based setting when I'm more of an outer space obsessed kind of guy so Elder Scrolls isn't something that intrigues me and many of the games appear so similar to each other. Plus in many ways, the games are being forced in terms of story rather than your actual choices. Mass Effect 3 is a pure example of this and the latest Final Fantasy seem like gameplay is more of afterthought... in a genre that desperately needs gameplay. Final Fantasy IX had a huge impact on my life because it was so diverse and I love games which are more of a read the text rather than sitting through hours of cinematics. Japanese games are very common in that context and whilst Japan might have their own similarities between their franchises, it's something new to me outside of zombie survival themes.

On the other hand, it could be argued what is an RPG and the lines seem to be blurring between genres. When I talk to people about Assassin's Creed, then people believe it is an RPG and Ubisoft could easily just change the purpose of it's genre and people might see why it would be an RPG. I mean customisation and buying weapons for your travels and in many ways, there are games which probably don't deserve to be called an RPG. I mean why is Borderlands an RPG if you can't make your own class, choose your own weapons and create a character? The only factor to me that makes it an RPG is that it's connected with the single player but games like Far Cry are already using levelling up for the single player and even in Call of Duty, there are more RPG elements in than Borderlands.

Puzzles

I've played a few puzzle based games in the past including maze concepts including Pac Man to all the puzzles within Ratchet and Clank. At the time, I didn't enjoy them at must. I mean, I just wanted to see the astronomical sights but now it seems that I've put away that hatred and I have fun. What makes games including Echochrome so fun is that it's the kind of game where you can have laughs and they're great for friends and even dates. Most of these exist mostly in the form of mobile gaming but there are plenty of enjoyable games to be found especially within the fourth and fifth generations of gaming.

Although the music can be a pain!

Turn based shooters

Yep! There is such a thing known as turn based shooters rather than just role playing games and the games such as Worms: Armageddon and Hogs of War were games that really fulfilled a sense of enjoyment. I'm not saying turn based role playing games aren't as good but from the shooters I played, there certainly a lot of humour. I was even playing Worms when I had the PS2 and it's one of the few genres that have almost become extinct during the modern day.

So much fun and the best part was that the environments were all varied. Filled with explosive mines. I really miss the moments in Worms where the water would keep rising.

Creating simulation

Games where creating your own lands is a joy! In particular, Theme Park World allowed players to design their own theme parks, full of horror and alien based terrains. Unfortunately, just how Infogames became a part of Atari, Bullfrog Productions became a part of something else. Something that could be argued more sinister. I refer back to EA! Games such as Sim City look really fun but the focus on PC platforms and problems arising from the game's requirement for the always online service means that this series might not be in good hands. Oh you wouldn't imagine the hours I spent creating my own skateparks in Tony Hawk's Underground which was full of lava pits with towering skyscrapers and Gameboy Advance racing games allowing us to design many miles of racing tracks! I wonder how these kinds of designs will improve in the newer gens and games such as Far Cry 4.

Stealth

This final genre that I enjoy tests the intelligence of the AI to it's limits... especially that of Assassin's Creed. Within games such as Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, it shows that there is no need for war and these games can be rewarding with more points awarded for those who use their silent pistols as a good luck charm and each level will usually feature a different set of paths to choose from. There are even games in which stealth and all out combat can both be utilised as part of tactical options in Crysis.

So that's just the short version of the genres I play.  I'm sure there are many other genres out there that I haven't listed and no doubt there will be future ones in the near future.

Singleplayer or multiplayer? 

These are aspects of gaming that I've always known where I was within these categories. Many people find it hard to know whether they play more single player or multiplayer but for me, it's always been singleplayer. Maybe it's because I've been brought up with singleplayer whereas multiplayer always felt like something extra. Even when I first started playing multiplayer in late 2010, I still balanced the singleplayer and multiplayer in an almost equal fashion but still most of the time, the single player remained more popular even when in 2011, I was playing games such as Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Battlfefield 3. Two games which were focused on multiplayer.

However it depends on what the game is intended for. If I'm looking for a game with many game modes, I would search for something outside of Battlefield because that's more of a game based on long duration team matches but nothing else... unless you buy the DLC.  In some ways, it also depends on my mood because if I'm looking for crazy action, I'll head with Battlefield 3 multiplayer but if I'm looking for many modes to play, Call of Duty is more of an interest. Then again, it also depends on the game's difficulty and patches. In the case of Uncharted 3, it appeared too easy and not being at the top of the leaderboard would be like a crime and most of the time, it was me versus the other top member on the other team rather than an actual challenge. So after a few weeks, I kind of got bored of that as well and the one of the reasons why I made a new account in the first place. In addition to the fact that it kept deleting all my videos after patches to introduce a new hairpiece, making me vanish from the leaderboards entirely and it won't even let me connect to a match anymore. Most likely, free to play is to blame and that's what can put me off the multiplayer. In addition, there are times when I'm not as great but I still have fun because I'm playing with friends. Often they're screaming through their mics but it's an enjoyable experience. Plus I was never that amazing at Modern Warfare 2 anyway. Campers and hackers are too overpopulated.

Finally, it depends on the game modes within the franchise because series such as Assassin's Creed have changed their layout so much. Within AC: Brotherhood, the mode of Alliance was super fun for those yearning to team up with their best friends or whoever they can find on their friends list. Within AC: Revelations, Corruption was introduced which rewarded gamers more for staying alive the longest. I mean, in Manhunt, I was always running around the rooftops because I was actually surviving and I would prefer 12 kills and 1 death (which was due to me running towards the enemy to stun them) and fewer points whereas my friend had about 3 kills and 9 deaths but the most points. Unfortunately, even though they were more popular, Ubisoft decided to ditch all of them in favour of deathmatch... which was basically a ghost town in Revelations. Just because they wanted to become mainstream.

Those are most of the reasons why to this day, I prefer to play to play singleplayer because there's too many problems associated with the multiplayer and that's if you can actually access it. Even if I do well in the multiplayer after not playing for a while, I still get bored so I guess I'm just too much of a singleplayer person. I enjoy multiplayer from time to time and it's much more fun in matches where everyone's equal in games such as the RPG Lab in Uncharted 3 or Gun Game in Call of Duty: Ghosts and of course with friend. However developers and publishers can sometimes make the games inaccessible and even the most recent games are prone to hackers and issues where the controls don't even compute with the game especially with so much lag. So singleplayer is a very safe option but I just wish that developers would focus less on multiplayer because it's starting to drag down the quality of the singleplayer.

That's it! ... and Lee thought I wouldn't write this up! So the moment you've been waiting for! I tag...

Assassinita

DanyAFS

Zack0273

Good luck writing them up! You'll need it!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! I'm back at school which explains why I've had much less time to write up a blog every 3 days or so but also, one of my most recent blogs well... exploded or imploded so I've been trying to fix that problem also in the meantime. I hope it's not something that's common on IGN for all you people. However don't threat! In my absence, I have devised a plan so that my legacy can live on if I don't blog... for the next few days. This is of course a community blog focused on what your most anticipated video games are but there's a catch. This isn't a blog where you can list a high number of anticipated games but instead, you'll have choose complete all these certain categories which go as follows...

You can only list one of your most anticipated games from 2014 and another from 2015 with reasons as to why you desire that game and at least have to be announced already but the next category is where you can choose a game from any timeframe whether it be a game with an unknown release date where the developers are scratching their heads for an appropriate release date... or perhaps some Gold or something. It can even be another game from 2014 or 2015. Perhaps it's already been released but you're just waiting for Christmas to get it for free or it can be a game that hasn't even been announced yet! Bearing in mind that these games can include HD collections and downloadable expansion packs as well.

The fourth game is different because it's doesn't have anything to do with the future. Instead it involves the most anticipated game you might have been waiting for in the past such as 2010 or perhaps earlier. Basically your No.1 anticipated game to date. Even if it's a game you were greatly disappointed with.

The reason why I've only made 4 sections is to see what you would want to choose if you were to put it down to only a few choices. I know that there are many huge releases on the way and with fellow gamers talking about so many upcoming interactive motion pictures, I think many people will simply forget about the rules.

Ooh! Also, You can tag up to 5 people and preferably someone who hasn't been tagged already although then again, if you're tagged you don't have to necessarily write up a new blog... but I think we'll know who has yet to write up a blog.

So without further ado, I will begin with my selection! Enjoy!

2014

Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix

Kingdom Hearts sparks the memories of many gamers throughout the world. Whether it be back in 2006 or even last week. The franchise focuses on the Disney and Final Fantasy universes and merges it with it's own universe and storyline. A universe which I believe has developed a unique sense with so much lore with so many different beings, riddled with plot twists and which maintains an interconnecting set of storylines and has inspired me with my own stories. Especially since it doesn't try to confom towards more simplistic storylines of the most recent Western entertainment. So... yeah. I have a history with this franchise and I don't think there was any hiding that but in a way, I think this is a great time to start the franchise for those who are new. I mean, with Kingdom Hearts 1.5 already released with Re: Chain of Memories and a few extra trophies for watching 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts 3 on the horizon, I don't think it's ever too late to catch up on this franchise.

Speaking of Kingdom Hearts 1.5, I don't normally buy many HD Collections because even with my most beloved franchises such as Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter, I have them on PS2 and with so much waiting to just buy the PS2 versions (I'll explain that a little later), I have feel reluctant to buy those particular HD Collections but with Kingdom Hearts, it's much more different. For example, the Remix games were always restricted towards Japan and now finally, we have the opportunity to play it all without needing to learn a language and also for those who have never stepped outside of the realm of Playstation home consoles, well you're in luck! This collection comes with Birth by Sleep which is a really crucial game that will lead up to the events of Kingdom Hearts 3 and can also help you to understand the universe much more. As well with a few extras so you won't need to buy a Playstation Portable either to play some more games. Whereas with games such as the Ratchet and Clank Trilogy, although they are still fantastic games in it's PS3 form, many games like Ratchet: Deadlocked require you to purchase the game digitally and I think there should have been another collection with Deadlocked and the PSP games including Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank.

What is intriguing about this franchise is that it has many similarities towards franchises such as Star Wars where the universe has expanded so much and Assassin's Creed because there's an entire fanbase dedicated to speculation on the worlds that could be developed from existing Disney movies and concepts rather than which historical era... not yet anyway. Plus, I guess Kingdom Hearts will have much in common with Star Wars soon enough. Another similarity is that both of these series kinda went dark for a few years with some smaller releases including Kingdom Hearts: Coded and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Now, they're all returning to full force... yeah, yeah haha.

Overall, I guess Birth by Sleep is one of the most anticipated games that I always wanted so since I'm pretty skeptical about all these upcoming releases until Christmas and beyond, I think I'll with a series I'm pretty familiar with and won't let me down... hopefully.

2015

No Man's Sky

This was a tricky one to choose because 2015 will likely be huge in terms of both video games and movies and perhaps more entertainment mediums too but it seems like most developers and publishers have remained distant when considering announcements. Therefore, 2015 could prove to be the year where there's a whole bunch of amazing announcements not just with video games but maybe even video game consoles. Maybe the year to spark off a golden age of video gaming... or another video game crash.

Anyways, when weighing up all the options with what has already been shown, I would have to go with No Man's Sky because of the fact that Space is an interesting topic for yours truly and for many others too! Many have already become interested in certain topics because of video gaming. This takes place around hopping on to many different planets and it makes me think of the dream game I've always wanted! A game in which you need to go to different areas for split decisions for choices for separate resources which could affect the outcome of the game and the survival of the crew... but that's my vision and I don't think it will be involved too much on my dream game or survival. Instead, you start with a small ship and then try to find ways for interstellar travel. You don't even need to explore the whole universe and you can simply become a Zookeeper of some sort. Someone's gonna have to herd those Dinosaurs! Maybe this is something close to Star Wars: Galaxies?

This particular game appears to reinforce the open world sense of the universe which is like a dream for pretty much any Astronomy fan. Especially since it's one of the few games that is procedurally generated for video game consoles and may even allows us to reach up to quadrillions of worlds! Now that's a game that will take a while to complete. I mean the Universe has infinite possibilities and I can't help but think that this will be like the next Minecraft since it sounds like there's enough room to make our own planets. Perhaps even more vast because of the potential variation outside of simple blocks.

Although there's another reason why this game interests me and why it's gained so much hype. Ever since the seventh generation of games, there hasn't been many games like Star Wars: Battlefront or Ratchet and Clank where you could visit multiple planets that were all unique in their own ways and instead, there's been a plethora of shooters such as Halo and Warhammer which have remained on usually one planet with only one main enemy to fight. I'm not saying those games are awful but in the respect of a vast universe, it's not what people are looking for in that category. Like I said, I had a difficult choice making this decision and most likely it will change because there are many more games that have yet to reach the spotlight until 2015 let alone more Space games. At the same time though, I am a little worried about the new Ratchet and Clank game since whilst it will most likely feature new planets and with the movie, Insomniac Games can expand their universe with increased confidence but after Ratchet and Clank: In to the Nexus, I'm not one hundred percent sure whether the planets will feature unique terrains with their own alien species. Since it's based on the movie which is partly a remake of the original game, it just looks like they'll show all the areas we know with species from the Future series rather than anything new.

I still have skepticisms about this game (dodges arrows) since I've been lied to before by developers and publishers. With some of my most favourite franchises such as Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed giving a bit of a medicore taste in my mouth now, it might turn out to become relatively repetitive and maybe not great in the gameplay perspective. Plus, I still prefer the original Ratchet and Clank games with the whole star fighting and thus, this game appears to look less original (just to me). I mean, there's Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction if you wish to roam a Dinosaur planet.. Although it is certainly a game I am willing to give a try and the fact that they haven't revealed much could be a good sign to a long lasting video game. Maybe many more developers will adopt this form of format to with their releases with holding back gameplay footage. The storyline, I'm not really sure about because I don't think it's focused in that area but we all play games for many reasons and the core reason to play this game would be for the expansive open Universe exploration... and perhaps some funky music too! It also gives me hope that many more PC type games which feature games to pretty much generate their own areas will become more common.

Regardless whether this game proves to be fun or repetitive, I would still buy this game more than Destiny by a mile! It actually makes the universe look fun and varied rather than the usual colonised green world from Halo.

Extra game

So any game within 2014, 2015, a game already released that I need to buy or a completely unannounced game. Hmm... So many options but I have made up my mind and I'm going to go with...

Wild

This is a brand new game which was only really announced a few weeks ago by Ubisoft... er a guy that works at Ubisoft I mean... with his own studio... which kinda relates to Ubisoft. Anyways, Ubisoft hasn't been a pretty sight in it's most recent years. There were times where I really enjoyed the franchises they offered by with the most recent Assassin's Creed games and Watch Dogs, I'm much more skeptical about it's mature releases. On the other hand however, many games like Rayman: Legends do look like a joy to play and despite my growing skepticism of their games and the fact that they're not taking as many risks as they used to, many of the lesser known titles seem to be doing very well. In particular, the latest game by the new studio by the name of Wild Sheep Studio is developing a new video game called (you guessed it!) Wild.

This game revolves around being able to play as a specific character joined by what appears to be the Croods. Set during the Caveman times where the evolving Human race were developing ways to fight their enemies and previous predators, all through different times of the years. So why am I excited for this game? Well I enjoy the Caveman era just as much as Space and sometimes, I see them both interconnected. The Universe involves a realm of Space where celestial objects including planets can develop and eventually form their own conditions for life. Although survival is never an easy thing and the whole aspect that many of these harsh conditions and close extinction scenarios can happen anytime even within the future. Ultimately, it represents us when technology and civilizations have become distant.

Another reason it looks fun is because it has all the components that I've enjoyed within previous Ubisoft installments. From the expansive open world to the changing seasons of the world and the gameplay components that have been almost thrown out of many of the most recent games including the ability to choose your own character. I loved it in Far Cry 2 where you could play as a different character since there was much more replayable value and most likely, this will build upon the aspect of different storylines. Sure, Far Cry 2 didn't have a great number of decisions but the fact that every mission and event could result in your best buddy dying is one of the factors that competes against the likes of Mass Effect. It even looks like the game's taking inspiration from Far Cry 3's tribal sequences where deities and reality seem to become the same but the reason why I'm don't think re-using this is a bad thing is because Far Cry 4's Shambala missions look fun and in tone with the setting... but I don't see anything new aside from shooting opponents with arrows. Within this game, it might be enjoyable because from the trailer, it could have a new sense around the story rather than mostly the gameplay.

In addition, since it's involved on a particular setting, it gives me high hopes for some of the upcoming games whether Ubisoft or not because with the Assassin's Creed franchise, they're just making a new setting and throwing in a story and character type that we already know and in many ways, in makes me think the series should have been put on hiatus ever since 2012. However this game looks like it will expand on the culture and maybe become an entire franchise on the setting! 0_0 I mean, the name of the new developer, Wild Sheep Studios makes me think that there will be more or at least spiratual successors with similar themes of surviving. Perhaps with a Volcanic apocalypse or involving the future of a changing world at fast rates with landmasses rising and falling with many tornadoes and whirlpools available for some fast travel.

If this studio is affiliated with Ubisoft, then it might be enough for a more positive view on their games and I just wonder what it could feature. Perhaps many beings of Human ancestors that we didn't know about including Giants or being able to cross the oceans and control other characters across the pond or rather, the Arctic shelf.

Most anticipated game to date

Hmm... So a game based on one of my previous experiences. You might be thinking maybe it's Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood but you would be wrong about that. Well when I was growing up, I wasn't able to buy many of my own games so usually, I had to miss them until they appeared sometime later in the supermarkets... which never seemed to happen. However with the glories of internet shopping, I was able to get the game I had always wanted ever since I became a fan of the franchise. This can only be

Ratchet and Clank 2

Ratchet and Clank just like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter were some of the first experiences I had with franchises and character development. Other than that, there were many PS1 games in which I only had a single game of that franchise and a whole bunch of my first gaming experiences rested on demos. Sorry Spyro. When it came to Ratchet and Clank, I didn't have much high expectations but once I began to watch it and play it more, I became one of it's biggest fans! It was even the series that got me interested in Space (although it would have helped it I played the series before I had to present my Space project!) but many of the games I got for Christmas rather than bought so I didn't know where to look for to buy the next installment and once it wasn't in the stores anymore, I feared that I might never be able to play the games I was 2 years late for. It was so cool seeing Ratchet and Clank 2 at the back of the Ratchet and Clank manual... but that's as close as I could get to the game... at the time.

The next stop for the franchise was Ratchet and Clank 3 which I was able to get in 2005 and Ratchet: Deadlocked in 2006 and I feel very lucky to have played the games when I had the chance! However there was still that Ratchet and Clank 2 game I was still out of the blue. My mind was always ramped with speculation and it almost seemed like even if the game wouldn't be great to many, I would still love it! I often asked my school friends what the game was about and it all seemed so interesting but it was always out of my reach. Until 2007 with the majestic use of internet shopping, I was able to get the game I wanted all this time and what a great time it was!

The great thing about the Ratchet and Clank series is that there was a familiar formula but there were so many new gadgets and weapon upgrades that made it feel even more... well awesome and if the game was based within the same galaxy, there would be over 3 quarters of the list of planets that would be new!

Many would say that Ratchet and Clank 2 is the best but to be honest, I can't really which is the best. I played them all at different times and they all had different affects on me. They all inspired me with the Universe and my own games and it would be like comparing Ratchet and Clank with Jak and Daxter. I could play one of them and say it's the best but then my mind would change once I played the other. So I love the games rather than try to choose favourites because if I chose a favourite, it would be subject to change... within the next few hours.

I can see what people mean by Ratchet and Clank 2 being amazing and it was a great way to finish off the PS2 series (even though my path throughout this series was all over the place) with so many unique weapons and planets, star fighting areas, a great soundtrack and finally a more shadowy story. Soon after, I was able to play all the games I ever wanted including Jak 2, Jak 3 and Jak X all through 2007 but to me, Ratchet and Clank 2 was the kick start of this and I had so many memories since it was when I had so many Simpsons season boxsets, a Futurama jumbo boxset to catch up on and finally it was my last few months of primary school so I guess all those thoughts make me think about the game in some ways too. I would never try to change the timing of when I got Ratchet and Clank 2 though because the ways things have gone seem just fine to me and I eventually got the game I always wanted. In some ways it's better though nowadays because you can simply buy pretty much any game or just get the entire HD collection for it! Unless it's something for before the fifth gen. I've heard SNES components and games are hard to find.

If you were wondering, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was a close call but to be honest, I didn't have enough time to become anticipated about the game. I was only beginning to focus on playing the series in March 2010 and only in June 2010 did I realise that it was only a few more months to go until the global release of ACB although, many AC fans don't really need to wait for a new game anymore. AC: Rogue was announced officially just about 3 months before it's release date!

I just hope they don't remake Ratchet and Clank 2 in to a cartoony movie!!!

So those are my most anticipated games and I'm not sure whether they'll change. Maybe during 2015 because a game I've always wanted could announced in the year and that could wreck the balance or reality... for my top 2015 game of course but also some games are simply announced within a year and then released a few months later. I'm looking at you AC: Rogue! Ultimately, my decisions like many are unpredictable and I may not even buy the games listed at all... but hopefully they won't release too many other games to catch up on.

So here's where the fun parts starts. Here are the victims... I mean friends I will tag to write up their own version of this community blog. Bearing in mind you don't have to write it up and I can remove your name from the list if you wish.

These include:

RCC97

Starseeker94

Missymee283

Leedoc93

MK1982

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Watch Dogs is a new franchise and it's very first game was just launched in Spring 2014 after a delay after Christmas 2013. Based around ctOS, a central network where everywhere is connected within the city from mobile phones all the way to traffic lights and a main character by the name of Aiden Pierce who makes the use of his hacking skills to hunt down his enemy. With some help from his friends of course. Developed by the company who have a large collection of open world games, Ubisoft developed this new IP to add something fresh. Although there were a few problems with the game such as the story, gameplay and ultimately the fact that it didn't feel like a game developed for the latest gen and therefore created as bad in taste in gamers mouths. Maybe this was due to the large hype surrounding the game all the back to 2012. However, the franchise still survived and there's likely to be more of the series on the way in the near future. Perhaps within the next 2 or 3 years from now and maybe with a movie on the horizon too.

If Ubisoft has shown us anything, it's that usually a numbered title will reveal a brand new setting and storyline and sometimes this may even be due to the reaction of gamers wanting something more and thus, a new character could help fix this issue for some gamers and provide something new. At the same time, Watch Dogs just like many other franchises has potential and with so many scenarios surrounding the world at the moment, it's almost like the world is changing greatly and the franchise Watch Dogs could mix it's own story with these real life elements. From what we've seen from the original game, the sequel could really go many ways with almost infinite possibilities and that was the same with the first Assassin's Creed game yet just like Assassin's Creed, there wasn't anything definitive about what the story could be. I mean for all we know, Ubisoft could have set Assassin's Creed 2 in the future fighting brand new enemies or remained with Altair with the Mongolian Empire. So that's why this series might be unpredictable to understand where the franchise could go for now but here's a list of a few of my thoughts and ideas about where the sequel could improve upon it's predecessor. This isn't the first time that I've talked about Watch Dogs for one of my blogs since I wrote something similar about 4 months ago but overtime, I felt that I could have written more and so here it is. This is blog won't feature any spoilers so don't worry about rushing to the store to by the game first. Enjoy!

Focusing on real life themes (Governments)

Ubisoft isn't shy about introducing aspects of the real world as shown with historical events, survival and disease and of course hacking in a skyscraper city. Watch Dogs has already shown off it's apps of hacking capabilities and mercenary groups. Now it's time to move a step further in which there are many different aspects around the world which could easily tie in with this new franchise even if they might have nothing involved with hacking and the most prominent theme would be the hackers around the world especially by the governments and groups of people trying to pursue their own objectives. Especially if we look back to the developments of last year with the leaks of the government by much of the whistleblower community (those who expose the truth of governments or powerful organisations). One of them could be called Eddie and featuring a character similar to these individuals whether involved in governments or perhaps ctOS and Ded Sec or even something new could easily tie in with a Watch Dogs sequel. Especially since there's already a theme of trying to stay off the grid and remain pretty silent in the world... although a few car chases might cut in to that.

The reason why I think this could be something special is because it could improve upon the story and create new potential storylines afterwards. Maybe with a character who's determined to protect these individuals because he/she has become tired of the large corporations making the use of their monopolistic power and has decided to put their faith in this more obscure group. Therefore they could learn from them and it would be interesting to see how the main protagonist might develop their beliefs of the world which could easily lead to confusion, distrust and new understanding towards many sides including the community they may help. This could ultimately alter his/her choices and the outcome of the game. Although it doesn't necessarily stop there because a new society of people could be created to protect these individuals and maybe even something more on a global scale which could not only delve in to the realm of the control of powerful groups but maybe even conspiracies too. I mean Watch Dogs was most likely developed to act as an alternative for an Assassin's Creed game during the modern day and Ubisoft has even stated this but thus far, there hasn't been a great deal of conspiracies flying around. There's the sense of unknown for sure with even a reference to the Templars but it would make the franchise more interesting if it talked about powerful technologies hidden from the world, new ways of understanding the world and living or even UFOlogy because this could expand on the lore of the existing franchise rather than simply create new games. In fact, if we take the first Assassin's Creed game, there wasn't much we knew about the universe until the second game in which the puzzles and the ending made us realise that the franchise was more expansive than the Third Crusade and that there was still an influence all the way to the modern day.

Real life aspects (Independence movements) 

If you live in Europe, then the view of independence of many regions is something that you might know about or even effect you. Already with the views of economies struggling, distrust in governments and more wealthier regions demanding more of their say, it seems like the continent is becoming more and more divided regardless if the vote is yes or no or even if there are referendums at all. The most well known at the moment would be Scotland (which didn't really go so well for those who wanted separation from the rest of the UK) and Catalonia in Spain and together, they even used to be former Kingdoms and countries in their own right as well as many other areas around the world.

So why am I talking about independent movements in a franchise focused on hacking? Well since the franchise is taking place near enough around the world, it couldn't hurt because just a single event would change the area more as it enters the deadline date which could help for an interesting story and gameplay. Especially since it could very well tie in with the storyline already. For example, the expansion of the ctOS within Europe could make certain regions become more fearful and the best chance to prevent it's establishment is to break away from the country in order to form it's own rules. Overtime, many different groups may form in favour or against and the character may be able to use both to utilise their resources to understand more about ctOS and even understand more about the character's past if they're searching for specific individuals.

British Prime Minister Harold Macmillian stated that, "The wind of change is sweeping through this continent" which could not only be applied to what is happening now but potentially for the basis of a video game and how the storyline could progress further on to many other regions as well as the future video game characters set to make their appearance.

When considering the gameplay however, it would enable many ways of getting around the regions without getting caught if they are being chased and it would be cool if the character could blend in by taking a few flags or if the character or perhaps a villain, they could spark riots by connecting with these characters to further their cause. Particularly when tensions could rise and the entire region could become divided under separate factions.

Although the reason why different groups and people would make the franchise more exciting is because this franchise may not necessarily have to feature a long-term story or even definitive set of villains. Within the Assassin's Creed franchise, there's always the sense of the Assassin-Templar War throughout history but even though Ded Sec seems to be something to avoid, there doesn't appear to be a protagnositic group or villain at the moment. Of course they could expand the story with groups of hackers fighting Ded Sec but I believe that would be too close to Assassin's Creed so why not feature multiple storylines and affiliations? For example, a sequel could show Ded Sec as a villanious group for a while but new groups could be formed as a result which could make Ded Sec appear less of an enemy or relevant and in the third game, it could potentially show a more personal story fighting individuals of many groups or joining an organisation or campaign which might only be temporary and thus probably won't be shown within it's sequels such as independent movements. It also delves in to many aspects of political and economic issues which could be emphasised as an interesting perspective rather than something many gamers would get bored at from watching the news.

Therefore the storyline wouldn't be too simplistic and may feature an overview of ctOS establishment but the response and different groups, areas, protagonists and villains could pave the way for new sagas similar to those we have seen with the Kenway Saga in Assassin's Creed. For example, a game set in Scandinavia may have some ties with characters like Aiden Pierce but overall, it may form it's own storyline with about 3 games set within many areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark whereas another saga could be set within the Mediterranean or maybe even a single country such as China or France which could show off some new aspects, storylines and inevitably a fanbase focused on which Saga is better than which.

Real life aspects (New technology) 

Aside from all the hacking capabilities, evil corporations and a changing society, the future is usually described as representing the development of technology. The 20th century showed massive developments in communications, medicine, travel and beyond. We are much more connected that we have been in just the past 5 years let alone since the beginning of the 21st century and most likely this is going to continue. Whether to make lifestyle more efficient or even harm Humanity.

With the first Watch Dogs game, it looks like they've begun to show that with an interconnected system and advancing city but it looks like they've just scratched the surface to new technologies as well as the franchise itself because the aspect of healthcare, transportation would delve deeper in to the lore of the Watch Dogs franchise and maybe even new advances that don't really exist for now including teleportation or Human-Robotic consciousness. This could act in a similar way to the Assassin's Creed puzzles or side missions where we can understand more about the world and hype up speculation of what's next and this could even be integrated with ctOS in which it could have brand new uses such as teleporting resources from far away countries or acting as a super intelligent artificial network in which it can defend itself from the forces of nature, extreme weather and rising sea levels. Maybe it could have different uses after each numbered title and feature some new methods of how the main character could use it for their own needs. Maybe it could show the possible problems of advancements of technologies with the likes of robotics turning against us, the factor of cloning and maybe even creating superhuman like feats. Perhaps ctOS could be used more to find the answers to a darker secret of a super intelligence being under development rather than actually being the heart of the storyline. I mean, people may say that's unrealistic... but there are many aspects of Ubisoft's games which are already unrealistic.

There is also still many questions about ctOS, Aiden Pierce and much of the original story. Now, Ubisoft probably won't develop a prequel or in fact another game based solely on the first main protagonist but it's possible that they may show more to how the story came to be in the future involving flashbacks of a brand new character involved with a ctOS prototype of some sort.

I haven't even mentioned all the other possibilities of the real world including crime, conflicts, the extent and power of economies, development, trading, cuisine or even conspiracies such as secret meetings and new world orders but I think that would be too long to talk about for now.

Like most Ubisoft games and franchises though, we need to look at what would be the basis of the sequels and that would likely be a brand new setting and character(s) to try something fresh. Especially since the original game was criticised for both the setting and the main protagonist.

Better quantity and quality of settings

Over the course of Ubisoft's games, it's become clear that each numbered title would usually introduce a new setting but what's also prominent is that more games outside of these numbered titles are becoming more commonplace with usually single cities for each game. Whilst this isn't necessarily a major problem, the fact that most of these regions aren't explored in great detail and only feature a handful of interesting missions is making me wonder whether Ubisoft should alter their strategy.

During the reign of Assassin's Creed 2, there were about 6 areas we could explore yet the sense of the Italian Renaissance still interested gamers and brought new fans to the franchise. Fast forward to Watch Dogs though and the pictures are slightly more bleak. Many complained that it delivered more of a closeness to New York City and the side missions weren't something of an interest. This is where I believe a sequel could easily fix up on these issues. I can understand that showing a single city allows for more detail and more extensive quantity and quality of missions including the plethora of side missions in most recent games. However, the problem is that many of these missions have been becoming more and more stale and repetitive. The reason why is anyone's guess and maybe the amount of games they're developing is probably hindering this innovation.

Although regardless if the side missions aren't quite everyone's cup of Tea, a variation of settings and less but more interesting side missions could become the key improvement of not only Watch Dogs but almost every franchise that Ubisoft owns. I mean people don't want to play games with a single setting and the same repetitive missions and therefore, if there were at least 2 settings which were smaller but had a wide variety of things to do even outside of missions, then it would be almost like the developers have struck gold for their customers... hopefully.

If we look back to Assassin's Creed 2, there were a wide variety of settings and even within the very first game, the cities looked remarkably different from one another despite the fact that they mostly look very similar in the real world and the side missions were getting pretty repetitive... without even a single trophy to show for it! Animus 1.50 at it's finest! So even if the missions were getting boring, the factor of many settings could lift people's spirits up. However, for this to work, there needs to be a connection to the city and it's traditions. I believe that many cities, towns, countries and all locations have at least some form of uniqueness about them that distinguishes themselves from others and there are many areas that could be explored around the world especially many lesser known regions that people might not know about.

What is great about the Assassin's Creed series is that it sparked a wave of interest for historical settings among many of it's fans and I believe that the same can be done for Watch Dogs. Take for example, a city or town outside people's knowledge or a region that isn't often talked about. Then it might interest people to develop an insight in to those particular areas around the world and ultimately see where the series could go next. So for a sequel, it could feature at least 2 cities or towns with a great difference between them such as Bergen in Norway throughout each of the seasons and Nice in France.

Two very different settings which could reinforce interest. Especially if it featured a character for each setting so it could tie in with how these characters of 2 very different backrounds could meet up and how that could build up their personality and attributes. What is important though is how it ties in with the current story whilst developing new ones. An area such as Greece is still within economic struggles (well one of those with the greatest struggle) and great uncertainty so even if there are those who might be against ctOS or skeptical, it could even provide a basis of cheap and efficient energy which might sway people's minds even if there are a few problems with it. In particular, many people may believe that ctOS could be the only chance of escaping the deteriorating economy since it could very enhance their economy be the country's last hope of prosperity. Plus these regions could have many ways of getting around including skiing or secret underwater and tunnel networks.

Then again, the region might also influence the gameplay aspect from how the character can get around to where they can establish awareness of their surroundings of the map. The ctOS Towers were often seen as tedious and similar to the already ways of obtaining information quickly on the map as shown with the viewpoints in the Assassin's Creed franchise and the towers in Far Cry. Therefore, different ways of understanding the world could help which could range from different layouts of the towers which could be easily recognisable to what may simply look like a small hotel... but it secretly has a special network inside or they may even be underground. As well as brand new ways to activate areas on the map such as reaching an area in time during a race, using secret pathways to activate new information and these could be difficult to find since they may have secret entrances via the basement of the local Ice Cream store. Plus, these underground paths could be filled with almost bottomless pits and waterways which can be utilised to get around which would be an improvement from Assassin's Creed 3 which usually got not only tedious but also tiring trying to find a new path... and even getting lost wasn't that very exciting. Maybe these paths could also unlock systems on the pavement where the character could fall through the ground via an underground electrical system.

Looking further from the cities which much of the story could be tied with, maybe there could be many different side missions based on other characters around the world with their own short stories and could even create speculation of where the next game could be heading next. These could range from cities in Australia all the way to Chile and so I really don't think this franchise has any limits because in the case that there are too many rural areas, it could feature another setting of an opposite environment.

In some ways however I think that China or an Asian setting is one of the likely possibilities if Assassin's Creed doesn't go down that route of lesser known areas for their settings and the reason why that might be a great thing is because at least by the time of the modern day, there are so many cities within China and just a single city might be too much for a single game alone. Sometimes, even the smallest of cities are considered to only maintain a population of a few million! Considering this, they could build up a region such as Yangshuo which maintains a large town for the rural area with many different areas to climb and attracting tourists from around parts of China. As well as Guangzhou to represent the urban expanses of huge airports constructed within only a few years and the excessive development of megalithic buildings but at the cost of a relatively poor population.

Maybe even France because Assassin's Creed: Unity's setting could be the basis for an open world version for Paris and the lighting graphics do remind me a lot about Battlefield 3's map Operation Metro set in France... although that's probably not the best case to base on a a whole range of potential settings.

These settings don't suit you? Well there's many thousands of other potential cities and towns that Ubisoft could take the franchise... and that's just within China alone.

An already used setting?

So where will Ubisoft take the franchise? It's pretty unknown for now because they have a whole bunch of settings available left open to them. What could clarify this question more though is whether Ubisoft have an open mind about the ranges of settings out there regardless of whether they're lesser known settings. Looking at this though, I'm not completely sure whether Ubisoft will head towards a region that people will scratch their heads at because if that was the case of lesser known settings, why did they set the first game in Chicago? An area that has some similarities with popular cities and metropolises anyway? Maybe it was suitable for a first game and to test it out but even after they stated they would go to areas that are lesser known or at least not found in many video games, New York has been featured in Assassin's Creed 3 so in a way, I can't help but think that Watch Dogs 2 will feature a setting within the USA or at least a capital city of some kind such as London.

It's not a complaint but a mixture of popular and something new would be more interesting towards the gamers since it's a range of what they're comfortable with and something exciting. Maybe they could look at previous open world games and maybe those settings that haven't been utilised for a while. One in particular that springs to mind would be Turin in the Italian Job which could provide an interest in to much of it's history and the scenery of the Alps. Plus the reason why I mentioned Nice in France was because I enjoyed roaming around the region whilst playing Driv3r before the franchise become under the rights of Ubisoft and it would be amazing to see it on a futuristic console. Allowing us to hitch a ride on cruises and try out some lovely cuisine whilst we're moving stealthily through the streets. In some ways, I wonder if Ubisoft have looked back at the franchises they have bought such as the use of the Istanbul setting in Assassin's Creed: Revelations and the similarities of the tropical paradise setting of Far Cry 3 from the original game.

Many locations including San Francisco are pretty popular but I'm also a little worried about that specific setting. Not that it wouldn't be fun to visit but because it has already been featured within Driver: San Francisco. The name was probably a giveaway. It could be interesting since Ubisoft already understand it's layout and have more time to add extra missions but there are many other possibilities out there and many cities and towns which have potential but haven't really been represented in any game. Maybe by the time of Watch Dogs 4 will it begin to interest me.

I also believe that a current day version of Assassin's Creed settings would be fun to explore. No. I'm not referring to New York City but cities such as Florence but then again, I think it would be best that if it did feature a return of an existing setting, then it would be nice to see another setting too. Exploring new territories could open new possibilities. Ubisoft could fly free!

Finally, as this blog comes to a close, there's also another matter to talk about and it's one of the most key influences about why Watch Dogs wasn't for everyone.

Unique character

Character development is what can drive stories and it helps us to connect with these individuals and therefore, maybe characters are the reason why there is such a fanbase on particular franchises. Everyone has their favourite whether hero or villain and it leads to the numerous and sometimes inevitable parodies and memes.

However there are some characters which haven't been seen in a great light. Of course, it's up to people's opinion but the main reason why I didn't enjoy Aiden Pierce very much was not because he was a boring and grumpy character that everyone says he is (although I do enjoy to make fun of that view) but because he doesn't deliver anything new. There are various similarities towards Batman and hard man characters such as Jason Statham which would have worked well about 20 years ago but things have changed. Action movies aren't new aspects anymore and with the explosion of different forms of entertainment and so with many films and video games out there, people want something new. I can understand Aiden's dark personality because of what happens to his niece but even before, he seems a tad boring and Ubisoft have shown the same story before with Connor Kenway and Ezio Auditore. Maybe Aiden might not have received so much hate if it was released instead of the very first Assassin's Creed game. I mean Altair didn't have the best character development but I liked his character because he was new and the same could have been the case for Aiden. Then again, Ubisoft have been in the business for a few decades now so they could easily have improved upon the problems with their previous games. We don't need the same story!

I believe that we have all great qualities and are all unique in our own ways so even if Ubisoft ran out of character ideas, maybe they could look at themselves or other individuals and start building up a story from there and it really wouldn't be too much of a bad risk. Many people don't want dark vengeful characters anymore and want something more. However with the celebrities of the upcoming Assassin's Creed games, Shay and Arno, I'm a little worried because they remind me too much about Galen Marek and Anakin Skywalker for their bratty attitudes. Both of which are from Star Wars.

So therefore, it would be great to have a brand new character with a personality outside of the mainstream type such as someone who learns more about the world and begins to question more about it. Especially since they themselves may not like hard man like characters either. Maybe someone who realises they need to protect an individual for many reasons and sees between the lines from everything they hear so is therefore, unafraid to speak their mind of certain issues. Although the storyline could easily influence their behaviour such as an individual who's friends with powerful organisations and may feel happy but gradually begins to understand that there are problems and begins to blame themselves and undo what they might have done regardless if it was outside their control. An individual that might be friendly and maintain close friendships with many people at school but overtime, they might descend in to fear in their late 20s and slowly become more hateful towards society. Maybe a character who's shy but is willing to confront enemies and help those in need whilst treasuring every friendship he/she might have.

It also depends on how the setting they are based in might affect them and the characters they might meet along the way could influence their personality such as someone who's pressured in to exercising almost everyday because of bullies but might discover something that will overcome their troubles and lead them to new organisations or how the low expectations of themselves might make them feel depressed but once they walk among the hackers and understand their city more, they realise that they've found purpose. Maybe a character who's surrounded by many others who want to break away from the city and ctOS and head towards more isolated areas but realise that ctOS has more of a global reach. Therefore, the rural life feels like an unachieveable dream. Speaking of friends, maybe there's a character the main protagonist might look up to as a friend and aspire to be more like them but might begin to distrust them after lies and feel confusion after so many years. Maybe a character who's been knocked in to a coma for years and awakens but realises that his/her story isn't over with memories flooding back and ultimately teaching someone to fight for them to finish their goals in life because of their frail age. Especially since it could explore how precious life is and dream like sequences like in Assassin's Creed: Lost Archive.

In fact, I don't know whether there are many games in which we understand the character as a whole. Of course this would probably take a few lifetimes to know everything about them and that would be without their thoughts and ideas but they could show distinct aspects of their personal tastes. For example, a character might be interested in Formula 1 and that's where they might uncover some kind of conspiracy that changes their lives or they may wake up early so that they can remain awake and make the day feel longer. Just simple things like these might help us understand characters more, how the story and environment might affect them and how we might be able to relate to them... I like Formula 1. Those were just a few ideas from the top of my head. So the thing is that there's infinite possibilities and just one moment of a life could be represented as a main character's personality and storyline for a game. As well as the whole bunch of sequels to these characters.

With the aspect of multiple playable characters however, it could show their different personalities and backrounds as well as the attributes they might have developed. Allowing for new abilities among different characters for more variation for the sequel. Maybe one is a skilled skateboarder and can gather information and eavesdrop whilst on the move especially within a chase whether the target's on foot or in a car and another character could have a whole range of disguises to his/her identity.

Last but not least, it would be amazing to see characters with different ethnicities, nationalities, gender, religions, sexual orientations and identities. Many games these days have been filled with white male protagonists even though more variety could introduce some new possibilities and make the game more exciting. Especially since it would support the modern day era of a multicultural societies. Unfortunately, many developers don't think that way on a business perspective and it makes me worry that just because we're flying through the years, it doesn't necessarily mean we're developed or understanding. Hopefully however, Ubisoft isn't one of these companies... well not all the time. They have done more than most and introduced Native American characters such as Connor and a female black protagonist like Aveline and from the criticism Ubisoft are getting, I believe that Watch Dogs 2 will take much longer for development rather than simply an annual release and maybe this could signal the start for more variation. Not only that but maybe even improve the characters and storyline too!

Conclusion

So to finish off, Watch Dogs is a franchise shows that companies can hype up a product so that it can sell yet it turned out not to be the game we were hoping for. In fact, it almost makes me wonder that many developers such as Ubisoft could easily create a new IP without having a great deal of innovation from it's other franchises and still benefit from it. In fact, it could have easily just have been a Splinter Cell open world game. However, I believe that despite it's similarities to other games and action movies, it can become something more. This is the entire reason why I wrote this blog. To show that whilst a franchise may not be looking so hot, it can improve and become a franchise which is more unique than what it was when it began. Ultimately, I don't think Ubisoft should discard Aiden and I think that a story which crossovers with another character's storyline would be great to see. There is a film on the way and I think that Ubisoft might have been too eager to reveal it before the first game was even released but since there isn't any word on the sequel's release date, that's hopefully a sign that they are making more focus towards the game's quality and maybe release it within the next 2 or 3 years from now. It could become what the Assassin's Creed franchise was amping up to be and since this is probably one of Ubisoft's most mixed received games, this franchise's difficult start could be a thing of the past... hopefully.

So there you have it!

Sorry for my absence over the previous games. Before this blog I didn't write a blog for a while and from the amount of time, it almost amounts to a month! In addition, there has been a lack of activity on my profile. The biggest culprits would be due to school and the usual cold I tend to run in to at this time of year. I am still recovering from this cold but I was able to write out as much as I could so I hope you enjoyed reading this blog! I also haven't actually played Watch Dogs but I have seen many gameplay videos and understand the storyline. I hope you don't yell at me for that... maybe for the fact that I'm writing so many blogs about Ubisoft lately but that's because I'm still skeptical about their most recent games and perhaps many of you are too. Hopefully in time, I will return to their games and maybe even decide to buy Watch Dogs 2 once it's released.

So where would you like Watch Dogs to take place? Do you enjoy Watch Dogs?

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! It's been a while since I last wrote a blog and in some cases, it's been a long time since I commented on other people's blogs. Much of the reason is down to school and well... time going fast. I miss writing blogs and I'm sure many people might have my detailed blogs and many people are beginning to catch up with my blogs... which makes more sense to write a new one. Add to the backlog I say!

However in the time that I've been absent, I've began to reflect on the video game series which appeared to become more stale after the second installment or at least weren't as enjoyable as the very first games and sometimes I wonder whether the series might have been better and maintain if it's fanbase if it ended at the second game. Therefore, I have decided to add a list to some of the series which might have been better as duologies. A duology meaning only 2 games within the series. Although this by no means shows that there will only be 2 games within the franchise since usually, trilogies consider a character's journey rather than the whole franchise. Additions like games with continuing new storylines featuring within brand new duologies, trilogies, prequels, midquals or new series continuing the story as comic books or even movies could represent new series without adding a definitive third game... although that might be up to interpretation. Neither does it mean that a third game within the series would be doomed because it might have better for developers to take more time on the third installment or place it within vapourware similar to Half-Life 3.

Maybe it's just my opinion with many third installments of a franchise but when considering the third games, the final game of a character's journey isn't always up to people's expectations. After a while, the developers may take it down routes that people aren't very fond of especially if they're set on a yearly release.

So here's the list of the series which I believe might have been better as duologies, series which could have continued probably more efficiently be creating a series for a new character or simply taking more time for the third game. Although before you proceed, many of the games will have spoilers so I will warn you if you wish to skip the spoilers until you've completed the games. If you've completed the games or just don't mind spoilers, then be my guest and read away! We start off with...

Resistance (Spoilers)

The Sci-Fi World War style story is based on a mysterious Alien virus which ultimately results in an alternate timeline being formed with the first game depicting it's rise and the second taking place within the United States with technological improvements for the Chimera and also many more varieties of the species with beings as large as skyscrapers. So as you can imagine, it's no easy task for the main characters. Particularly for the main protagonist, Nathan Hale. Then again, when it came to the ending, it was more criticised and whilst I didn't think that the ending of Resistance 2 was awful, it wasn't really reinforced in the third game.

Resistance 3 was the first game of the franchise that I played, aside from a few scrapes with the original game during the first mission or 2 as well as the multiplayer beta set in a lovely place called Wales... before the invasion of the Alien beings of course. Although it was quite confusing when the Resistance 3 box I got was mostly written in French. Anyways, I understood the ending of Resistance 2 and whilst the beginning of the Resistance 3 wasn't amazing, the journey of Joe Capelli was fun and a great way of showing a more apocalyptic vision of the world. Until the ending which not only made the game feel like it was run short but it also applied to the franchise. It didn't seem to do the franchise justice and there were many questions that were still left unanswered... and I wasn't even fan from the series at the time of the original game's release so no doubt many hardcore fans feel more shortchanged from the ending of the series.

Maybe it was just the ending of Resistance 2 that annoyed many players and the fact that it's sequel didn't address more clarity was more concerning. What I think it comes down to though is that Resistance 3 was planned to end the franchise for good, at least on the side of Insomniac Games and I believe that this may have affected the final game as a whole. It didn't appear like the final definitive title we were looking for and on a harsh but possibly likely note is that the developers probably wanted to get the game out of the way with or at least didn't see a story with a game after Resistance 3. Particularly where Resistance 3's premise of the Chimera's return from their homeworld and a massive scale of uprising seemed out of the blue. Perhaps if there were more missions focused on how this came about and Joe Capelli's early life.

To me, Resistance 3 felt more like a standalone title and could have easily have worked as a prequel or a sequel which would lead up to the events of a more definitive final game. The final game could show Nathan Hale's secrets and the truth surrounding the Chimera because there Nathan Hale's demise didn't seem like it was fulfilling the character's potential and it wasn't great seeing him go so quick and even if he was overtaken by one of the Aliens, surely he would survive by a resurrection or something. Maybe if Resistance 3 went down more with the path of Resistance: Retribution and left Resistance 2's ending open for a new game, I don't think a third console game would have received a more mixed response from gamers. Perhaps for a future developer to take the helm. Regardless, I don't think we've seen the last of the franchise because Sony will need it in the case if they run out of exclusive shooters.

Infamous (Spoilers)

A franchise depicting superhumans known as conduits rose as one of the few open world franchises focused on superpowers and has already lead to so much advertising for it's most recent main game, Infamous: Second Son. Then again it was one of Playstation 4's only exclusives at the time. I personally have been a fan of the series ever since playing the demo of the very first game and loved every bit about the first game and you might tell that I was watching every move of Infamous 2's announcements and made me think that I didn't really mind if the sequel was a completely different story and just wanted a new Infamous game. Infamous 2 did follow Cole MacGrath's story and I did enjoy the game but it did seem like it was rushing the storyline of The Beast and there were many potential storylines for Kessler and the characters from the original game. Ultimately, I thought the arrival of The Beast by a hypothetical third game would have been the best option so in fact, I wanted Cole MacGrath to have a trilogy of his own.

Although I wasn't against the ending of Infamous 2, I did think that either way was going to stir up complete demand for a storyline down one ending or another. Yet at the same time, I thought that the evil ending would have been more appropriate because it wouldn't necessarily consider a canon ending. The good ending where Cole dies could be the ending where the story ends but the evil ending where Cole's on a rampage could signal the opposite in which the storyline never ends and could even feature multiple games similar to the Expanded Universe of Star Wars and Assassin's Creed's multiple sequels and standalone games for pretty much every era (We'll get to that one soon) and the most substantial reason would be that it wouldn't end the storyline of The Beast. I mean, it could still feature Delsin Rowe (The main character of Infamous: Second Son) as the main protagonist uncovering Cole's life and how to fight him off and it could even show Cole with his Kessler outfit to represent the notion of the ends justify the means. Yet it could show a different side to The Beast more closer to the cutsecenes of the original Infamous rather than the giant version tearing a few bits and pieces. I mean, who wouldn't want to see a new version of The Beast with volcanic powers and it would be fitting for the newer technology of the consoles. As well as other games which would focus on new characters outside of the Beast's realm.

Instead, the developers went with the good ending which wasn't a terrible decision but there wasn't any cool reason as to why the Conduits survived especially within a series that was building up a unique storyline. Therefore, it made Cole's sacrifice seem all for nothing and felt more like a comic book cliche where some of the characters were immune and survived. So I guess, now I have a few different thoughts about Infamous because now, I would prefer an Infamous game which would take longer in development if it meant providing an innovating story and just like Resistance, since Infamous: Second Son is more like a standalone title, maybe it could have worked better as a prequel so speculation about the end of Infamous 2 still continues or simply a character created by the government after the first Infamous who is sent to uncover the life of Kessler which would be cool because it could make references to many of the events throughout the series. Maybe it could explain Cole and Zeke's reunion or perhaps something like Trish being a conduit who can survive in some way after death which would make things more interesting!

To me, Infamous is still a great franchise but Infamous: Second Son makes it seem more like it's much more fun to play if you haven't played the previous games or just new to superhero fiction. In some ways, I think that the good ending had potential for a new game but it needed the right story for it. Even with the ending of the original Infamous could be considered the point at which where there could have been many other standalone games because with the evil ending, Cole would never reconcile with his friend or care about anything other than power. Therefore, the comic books couldn't take place in the same way or lead in to Infamous 2.

I guess I'm getting ahead of myself there but maybe Sucker Punch could have started a brand new franchise. I mean either way, the game would have been promoted by Sony. Plus, if they developed a new franchise, there's no reason why they couldn't develop more comic books. In a way, maybe I will buy future Infamous games if it continues but I just hope that it doesn't suffer release timings of about 2 years or less or even more concerning, the release of the Marvel movies!

Modern Warfare (Spoilers)

What was seen by many gamers as what what would be the best games ever especially during pre-release of Modern Warfare 2, many were disappointed by the time of Modern Warfare 3. Many were warning their friends not to buy the game as a result and it could be argued that it's the point that multiplatform games became more and more criticised yet common with yearly release dates. Even though Call of Duty has a bi-release with different developers, the principle of annual releases is what plagues the thoughts of gamers.

One of the biggest problems with the game was that there was little to distinguish it from the previous titles and whether you were playing single player or multiplayer, the gameplay, the storyline and replayability were all fairly similar. Aside from the additions of new modes and maps. However what I believe was the problem with the storyline was that it was didn't really emphasise the aspect of the war. Even though the franchise is pretty stereotypical with Americans as the main protagonists and the Russians still as one of the main villains of the franchise...

A war between the USA and Russia would not be swift unless it involved the use of weapons of mass destruction all at once and looking back at the previous installments, there was a lot of potential for this series because the first 2 Modern Warfare games could be seen as taking place within a Cold War style setting whereas the events of Modern Warfare 2 would kick-start something much larger. Not just World War 3 but a war that would carry on for many years affecting every single nation and the worrying problem with the current Call of Duty games is that the games are too fast-paced even for it's story so it probably wouldn't feature more hours of playing the game to represent multiple events and years pacing by.

I mean, in essence it would be the start of a brand new series withing the Call of Duty franchise which could include many additional aspects including countries becoming more politically unstable, the paths for developing economies and of course, many more perspectives rather than just the usual America good, Russia bad.

I remember there was also much talk about the game involving Ghost maybe as a prequel or maybe his survival. This made me think speak humorously that with the franchise being milked, maybe they'll develop games for every single character that we see such as... Ozone and Toad. Characters who are only seen for a few minutes... or seconds. Anyways, I was in support of the game being based on ghost because there was a lot of mystery about what would happen after the events of Modern Warfare 2. Plus it would be interesting to see the life of the character considering the comic books which could focus on his younger life and assassinations and uncovering the possibility that Sheperd was part of something darker and results in Ghost turning against the ones he fought with. So if there was to be a more definitive Modern Warfare 3 game, it might be best suited for a newer console and in a way, I didn't think that continuing the story of Soap and Price was necessary because why would Makarov all of a sudden draw attention to himself? Wouldn't he go quiet with this war as a disguise? I guess that's up to your opinion. Although with the COD franchise, in some ways many people see Modern Warfare 2 as the turning point of the franchise becoming too mainstream and lacking in innovation.

Mass Effect (Spoilers)

Mass Effect is franchise with a huge universe and that's because it's... focused on the universe just like Star Wars and Ratchet and Clank and just like Infamous, buying the Mass Effect 2 port for PS3 was a top priority for moi! My expectations couldn't be better because not only did I enjoy the whole universe, planets and species but also the choice system where the choices you made would affect a consequence and without completing a few loyalty missions, you could expect that the final mission might not go so well for your crew or even the entire failure of the mission. Just with a single unloyal member or the ship relying on last gen hardware could result in others paying the price for it. Then again, even though I have everything possible for the crew to survive, Mordin is still a victim.

Anyways, when it came to the hyped up and hopefully promising (at the time) of Mass Effect 3, many people criticised the ending but praised the rest of the game. However, I played Mass Effect 3 with many choices with few crew members surviving, many loyalty missions completed but also some choices which affect entire races such as the Rachni and the Geth. Unfortunately, I couldn't really see anything different from mine or anyone else's storylines apart from the fact that there were some additional faces and a slightly different hairstyle. I mean I completed Jacob Taylor's loyalty mission all for nothing even though it could have had an impact with his father's role knowing more about a star system which could help fight against the Reapers. So to me, I was much more critical because the game simply disregarded every single choice and with the addition of promises by the developers, it was no wonder that Bioware have now lost some of it's customers. Therefore, it was far from the definitive final Shepard game me and many others were expecting.

Why would I prefer the Shepard series to be a duology? Well I'm not 100% for the elimination of Mass Effect 3 because it had many possibilities and I believe that a final game was needed to conclude the Shepard's story but the game just felt so rushed and just like Infamous, I don't believe the game needed to finish off the villain's story completely. I mean with the Arrival DLC, it would take countless years for the Reapers to reach the Milky Way Galaxy and even if this was just used as a distraction to reach a different Mass Relay, it was never clarified. Maybe the third game could have focused not on the Reaper invasion but on a new Reaper character which would challenge Shepard but might depict more about their history and become more sympathetic to Shepard and it would be more efficient to focus on the events of the previous games from the smallest of things rather than just throw in some new side missions which had little connection if any to the franchise previously. Therefore, failure to stop this Reaper or make the right choices could result in the Reaper invasion. Unless you defeated the Reaper and then a character in far future would have to face them off. The Reaper Invasion would obviously be something huge and take over a long period of time with countless of events happening. Something fit for the newer consoles.

Maybe this was all too much for Bioware with all the other things on their minds and I would have preferred a later release of Mass Effect 3 without all the features of Kinect and multiplayer and even the PS3 ports after ME3's release if it was to make our choices much more meaningful. Although, was this really about Shepard's journey necessarily? In a way, he was more like delaying the inevitable and maybe it could have started a Reaper Saga with a new character with Mass Effect 2's ending as the cliff hanger. I mean, it uncertain whether Mass Effect 2 would feature Shepard at all and with choices carried on, it could still have an impact with Shepard's squad mates. Perhaps maybe starting new games focused on exploration and revelations rather than the Shepard's storyline or focusing on smaller games but relevant like Assassin's Creed did with Brotherhood and Revelations... although we all know how Assassin's Creed turned out (Again, I will talk about that later).

Overall, however I would just have preferred a duology with the third installment in vapourware like Half-Life 3 and could have had a release date around 2013 just before the newer consoles were released, perhaps as one of the final PS3 and Xbox 360 games in 2015 or even something for the newer consoles. A man can dream though...

Uncharted (Spoilers)

By no means do I hate the treasure hunting franchise staring everyone's favourite Francis Drake descendant. I'm just kidding, Sully's his descendant. In fact, this was the first franchise I played on the Playstation 3 and the second reason why I wanted to jump on to the boat of the seventh generation of gaming. The most primary reason was Ratchet and Clank of course. Aside from Uncharted 3's multiplayer though, it wasn't really the best game of the series and despite all the mysteries, the easy (well easier) crushing trophy and the memories of playing the game around the time I made an IGN account, it didn't seem that similar from the previous games in terms of story and it looks like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was the kind of tone I was looking for in the game. A definitive ending to Nathan Drake with some cool plot twists... unless Uncharted 4 will be the same the others.

Another series that would have been nice to see the third installment in vapourware but I also wouldn't have minded Nate's story ending with Uncharted 2 (Dodges arrows). You might have a burning hatred for me for that comment but let me just explain. At the time of Uncharted 2's release, I loved it! The movie like scenes were enough to make me think that I should give it 10/10 but then again, I wasn't very fond of the similar ending and the relationship between Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher reminded me of National Treasure 2. Therefore it couldn't possibly be a 10/10 if I thought there were problems with the game since throughout the series, the story has been the usual group of people inhaling or chomping on some supernatural substance and Nate saves the day before it can be exported from the area by the villains. So what if something happened in Uncharted that would hinder Nathan Drake from going on future adventures such as the death of his friends or using a device to erase him from all knowledge. That doesn't mean that the series would stop. Just perhaps in terms of Nate's chronology. When I was playing Uncharted 2, it made Nate seem like he had a past and lived through events that he doesn't really talk about so why not explore this with prequels? Maybe continue the storyline in the future with a character uncovering Nate's past just like Nate was searching for answers to Francis's history. Perhaps 500 years in the future with the character's surname as Drake?

At least with a definitive ending with the sequel and many different ways of continuing the franchise would have made it different from the other treasure hunters such as Lara Croft and Indiana Jones. I'm still hopeful for a Sully or Elena styled spin-off one day. Now the next series is something I have been hinting at throughout this blog... and perhaps you saw it coming before reading this blog. One of my favourite franchises not just for the seventh gen of gaming but also one of my fav of all time... although it's gradually being demoted in that category as the years progress. Yes! It can only be...

Assassin's Creed (Spoilers)

Based on the device of the Animus which can be used to experience the lives of our ancestors and a war shadowy war throughout time between the Assassins and Templars fighting over a whole bunch of ancient thingamagigs. Ultimately, the premise of this franchise leads up to 2012 and the apocalypse it would bring. At least that's what it used to be...

Instead, the developers have seemed to have gone a little crazy about their fame for the franchise and are now releasing games on yearly releases... and in some cases, perhaps more than one. I mean Ubisoft are probably releasing console games instead of handhelds which might explain this. Then again, there are 2 other mobile games to be released this year. However the reason why I don't really enjoy the as much franchise anymore is because the storylines and characters seem more standalone and less relevant yet at the same time, they're mostly the same! There are many ways in which I believe the franchise could have gone down different paths which could have lead to some cool plot twists and definitive ending for the characters.

The whole premise of 2012 has gone by but now it seems like Desmond's sacrifice was all for nothing (For some reason, there are a lot of similarities with Infamous in this blog) and even passed this point, the modern day story doesn't seem to have improved. Plus at the fact that it seems like they're throwing in random historical settings rather than featuring a character which could lead in to the modern day storyline. Like I said before, this is becoming more of a franchise in which mostly the newcomers will enjoy more. Even the developers have probably thought this before and they wonder why their struggling to fit in female characters for AC: Unity? Maybe I just have a bit of a dislike about Ubisoft right now but the 2012 storyline could easily have been continued with an ending in which didn't know what happens to the world and then prequels leading up to the event with new modern day characters and storylines which could clarify what happens and do the premise justice.

So the main reason why I believe that Assassin's Creed 2 should have ended the storyline (at least for a while) is so that all these problems could have been prevented. After Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, it seemed to go downhill for many and my expectations that Assassin's Creed would become the next Kingdom Hearts or Metal Gear Solid were squandered. I believe there are many ways in which the franchise could have improved and I don't think all the games are terrible but if it ended with Assassin's Creed 2, it would have been more open minded considering the ending of what could happen and whether Ezio will provide all the answers. After writing many blogs about the issue of the most recent Assassin's Creed games, I think that Brotherhood, Revelations and Assassin's Creed 3 needed a few adjustments for the series in terms of story and setting and then it could have been fine. Now it seems like the franchise is selling like hot cakes and the storyline is both starting a new series without Desmond by erasing the unanswered questions... yet continuing part of his story which might make it still difficult for newcomers.

I guess I can see why the franchise was rushed though because at the time, they needed to finish the storyline with 2012 and in real life, it was fast approaching and it probably wouldn't be as compelling if there was a game set before 2012 in the modern day without knowing what happens or Desmond's fate. Nonetheless after AC2, there was much speculation about the future and what seemed like unlimited possibilities. In a way, this was the main reason why I wanted to write this blog because the talk about AC3 would have been like the talk about Half-Life 3 or Final Fantasy Versus XIII or the numerous other games we don't know where they are.

So overall, there are many possibilities that franchises could have headed down. All would have been subject to opinion but many might have worked better for most and when considering that some of the games after the second games didn't quite match up to the hype and expectations of an ultimate end, I think it's no doubt that people call games such as Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed 2, classics.

So do you agree with my list and what games or even movie franchises would you have preferred to see as duologies?

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've written one of these celebration blogs before and it's still been a while since my previous blog. I mean almost an entire week! How could I? The blogs that I have most recently posted over the past few months have been mostly Assassin's Creed blogs and how I'm worried that Ubisoft is hindering this franchise from greater potential... so the usual. However I knew I would stop blogging for a bit because of school but last year, I was still writing about 7 blogs per month. Why the change this year? The main problem was when I had trouble posting blogs in September which even though I managed to fix, it still delayed me from writing more blogs at the time. Plus my most recent blogs have been more detailed... that's probably an understatement. So therefore, I developed an ingenius way of allowing my legacy to survive whilst I was gone and many are still playing catch up with my blogs.

Now Halloween, whilst I enjoy it for all it's culture and an excuse to not wash and dress up a little funny looking. Many walk around the streets as Wizards, some as Stormtroopers and some as Doctors trying to quarantine a deadly virus... Wait! Are they real?

Anyways, there has only been one time I've been trick or treating at a party and dressed up as a Wizard but despite my magic skills, there really wasn't much purpose for it especially since we only moved across 10 houses and then went straight back to the house. Aside from the free Scooby Snacks available at the party. You might think that this party was a long while back. Many years ago and possibly ancient history and you would be right to think that. I was about 8 at the time... or older. Nowadays however, at least in our neighbourhood, all the lights appear to turn off around the street, similar to something or a nationwide powercut or just the upcoming winters. Saving energy and all. Maybe that's why fewer trick of treaters seem to arrive at people's doors unless it has something to do with Ghosts flying around... Nah, I'm sure it's something more simple like the extensive use of the internet available pretty much everywhere. A horror story in itself!

So what's the schedule for Halloween? Well basically I watch Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes which mostly feature the older ones. Sometimes I get a little picky because when I see the normal Simpsons episodes, they already seem like Treehouse of Horror episodes. In more specific terms, it's not really that consistent and events impact the continuity and I can't help but think that maybe the competition between South Park and Family Guy might have something to do with it. This gives me more reason to watch the older episodes because well... in some cases the older style of the drawings and darker colours make it feel more in the horror spirit and even the jokes might seem kinda dark (or it just might have been me when I was younger) but the most recent episodes just feel a little off with so many different colours. Well many say worse things about the franchise now so it's not just me. (Dodges Eggs) Plus I remember a time when  it was based on a Treehouse of Horror...

Although this is really the closest point that I reach to a touch of Halloween because honestly... it's never been much of my thing. I suppose in an alternate reality where I was brought up with the theme, then I might enjoy it but even when I was younger, I simply saw it as the step before Christmas AKA something to be hopeful for when returning back to school! I understand that in the USA and other places across the pond, it's probably more common since so many people watch movies regardless if they've run out of new movies to watch or go with the usual and play a survival horror video game... or both.

So it's time now to feature some funny videos and pictures. Sorry to say that there won't be any wallpapers this time round because finding a single picture to load takes about half an hour (per pic!) and so I've decided to put wallpaper blogs on hold... sorry. I take no ownership of these videos of course... I'm a blogger dammit! Also, just to let you know, many of these videos aren't all necessarily based on horror but they're funny... that's enough right? Although there will be things in politics... maybe I shouldn't have discarded the word horror so easily now.

Enjoy!

Funny Vids

E3 2014 in a Nutshell

E3 2011 Xbox

Ugh! Bouuuu!

Ed Miliband in a time loop

Chaos!

Remember! Many of these individuals are getting bonuses this year.

Vertical limit... A helping hand?

I believe there was a community blog which tasked people with showing their funniest moments of movies that probably weren't intentionally designed to be funny. This one in particular was a video which came to mind since even though the cover of the movie looked really cool and in some ways, I thought it was meant to be pretty terrifying which I'm sure would be in those conditions even in the case of walking up a hill of just a few metres... however after the many years of owning the DVD within our extensive over few thousand DVD collection (and counting to this very day), I decided to give it a shot and well... it might have been creepy at the time before I realised (well told) that they were simply actors. Therefore, in this timeline, I could understand that well, it did seem kinda silly. Watching the movie though, I wasn't really sure what to think. I mean, was I meant to laugh? Are the main characters meant to trust these people? Is that Reese Wetherspoon?

Nonetheless, I should probably save movies for a another time but in the meantime, be sure to watch the moment at 4:38 where Chris O'Donnell begins to rethink his life choices, whether there will be a sequel to this movie and finally rethinking how he ended up in this movie in the first place.

Funny pics

Mathematics isn't my favourite subject in the world especially at times when it's awfully confusing but I suppose it could be worse... it could be Physics with Maths... or just Physics. I'm still trying to understand why we need to know the probability of what the colour sock the teacher would wear.

I... I was always the one I knew who had never seen the movies in full until late 2009!

Or... when loosing the sight or the soldiers and sitting on a somewhat comfy yet empty public seat, it would result in the guard running past, another stopping in front of you and staring at Altair and repeating the words "I will find you one day!" That day would arrive shortly with Assassin's Creed 2... kinda.

Wait a minute... I must be under the Assassin Order somewhere! It must be a "sign".

So there you have it! I apologise if you were hoping for a chapter of one of my horror stories but rest assured, I will get round to those... around Christmas. Until then, there will be many blogs in the upcoming weeks! Including many Assassin's Creed, book blogs and many surprise blogs on the way.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! It's been a while since my previous blog. Just over a full week! I hope you had a great Halloween and if you don't celebrate Halloween like me (although I do enjoy some Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes), then I hope you had a good er... Friday. However I'm not really exclusive in the category of blogging for a while since many people I know have remained inactive for almost a month and many of my closest friends on IGN have already ditched the site completely. How could they?! So before you begin to forget about who I am, I've decided to write up a new blog reflecting an issue which that has been progressing ever since the explosion of social media and greater accessibility to TV series and whatnot. I'm not saying that it's pure coincidence but over the past few years, more and more franchises appear to be adopting very similar approaches not just within the video game industry but also as part of TV shows and movies. Many have which used the same themes and elements which makes it difficult to distinguish between particular franchises and for the people who watch or play these series, they either want more of the theme or may begin to dislike the extent of these elements and in the worst case scenario, may lose faith in the mainstream series.

In a way, it could be argued whether these themes improve people's viewpoints of the industry or gives the impression of too many similarities and repetition. In some ways, many people even stopped gaming entirely because of these particular issues which hindered innovation... I'm sure all of you don't hate gaming though for it's achievements and downfalls. So this is something that's common with the wide variety of opinions and franchises.

So here are the aspects of the entertainment industry which I believe are being over-used and in many ways, obscuring more creative works within the industry and this can apply to video games, TV series, movies and even comic books... Aside from some like... dancing and partying.

Realism

Realistic approaches are based on the closeness of linking our world to video gaming from the use of real life like animations and graphics all the way to the storyline of certain aspect such as war or survival. It's what brings people closer since it relates to a more Human state and may even allow them to reflect on what people would react in those kinds of situations or their previous experiences and may even make people think about the wider world in which they live in. In fact I even enjoy some video games and movies which try to draw attention of a world that looks very similar to our own such as with Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception which almost confused me in to thinking that maybe the graphics are better than those in real life. 0_0 With the addition of TV series such as Stargate Universe which traveled down the path of a more darker tone with elements of survival but still maintaining and interesting storyline to it and despite becoming more of it's own series, it does continue part of it's mythology in it's own way.

Although that's not to say that realism is becoming more and more common within video gaming and TV series and the problem with this particular aspect is that it can hinder the development of creative ideas. Why you may ask? Well if a developer is focusing on creating something which is closer to the real world, many things which are closer to science fiction maybe seen as something outside the realistic aspect and in many ways even science fiction and superhero movies appear much more like they're trying to be as close to realism as possible. A pure example would be the Rhino in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in which the villain uses a mechanical suit rather than the form he was seen in the comic books. Sometimes I think it's humorously an Iron Man villain finding it's way in to the Sony continuity of Marvel movies but aside from the chuckles, it does tend to worry me a little because it makes me wonder whether companies will start to link superhero fiction more and more with machines. Especially since robotics are the closest feat we have to a superhuman element. Aside from maybe Stephen Hawking with super intelligence.

The reason why I think the closeness of these attitudes with superhero movies is mostly down to the Dark Knight trilogy. Not only was it influential with it's realistic tones of superheroes and villains but also movies in general in some ways, I can't help but think that this is going to give the impression that in order to create a successful franchise, it needs to abandon colour and create a much darker feel with more realistic tones. Of course, this doesn't apply to every single franchise out there but when I see many of the most popular movies being released this year in comparison to those in 2005, the films seem to change slightly. For example, the Star Trek reboot in 2009 did create a sense of realism involving the setting of the Universe as shown by the fact that the crew doesn't go to dozens of different planets in a few minutes. However, at the same time, it wasn't downright serious and it did involve a lot of humour and faster than light travel... just with a bit more HD to make it seem much nicer. Then we have the sequel, Star Trek: In To Darkness which did seem to carry on something The Dark Knight achieved and that was the focus on the villain.

0_0 This movie was released on my birthday!

Anyways, there's nothing wrong with this principle of focusing more on the villain but you can tell that there are major similarities between the Joker and the the villain Benedict Cumberbatch plays (don't want to give out any spoilers!) such as knowing much more about the events taking place than the main protagonist, being slightly crazy and ultimately being able to remain within a prison cell and... you get the idea and perhaps that's why people didn't enjoy the latest movie as much as the previous films. I'm not an expert on Star Trek so forgive me if I'm wrong but weren't the very first movies, the TV series and even the entire premise focused on exploration of Space and defeating unique villains rather than a sense of Cold War and fighting a terrorist like figure? Sometimes I wonder if realistic tones weren't so popular, then the storyline of the movie would be much more different and perhaps it wouldn't have received the response that it did from it's core fans.

In some respects, the theme of realism is possibly to attract people from audiences who don't really watch many sci-fi movies. For example, if it was solely focused on attracting it's core fanbase, then people who are more in to action movies may not decide to watch it or may have the knowledge surrounding the movie. However since realistic themes have become much more integrated within different forms of entertainment, it's possible that many companies may think it's the best way of attracting interest. If this is the case, then maybe it's Human nature to try and appeal towards others. It's something within the realm of psychology that one of my best friends explained to me about when we're told something differently about something and our brains try to make us think what's good and what's not such as about a movie or even ourselves. This is known known as a distortion. Just think of it in the case of a movie or video game. That particular form of entertainment became widely popular and the reaction to the reasons of it's success is down to it's realistic tones. Now, developers may start to think what's good in a film and which will lose consumer interest. Therefore, many developers may give in to what they believe will catch people'e eye and decide to adopt the same approach... even if it does change the franchise too much and could potentially damage what the series is.

Then again, not everyone appears to conform to changing their series or limiting the possibilities just to make some quick cash and this can be found easily within comic books. Comics have changed over time but ever since superheroes were brought to this world, they've been the most dominant focus for comic books and after a few years of becoming successful and buying the rights of other characters and publishers, Detective Comics and Marvel Comics were easily seen as the recognisable publishers. To some, they are the only companies they have ever heard of. Although the problem with these publishers is that the franchises are so huge, that there is more devotion to creating more to the series rather than simply making new franchises. Even in the case that a character wasn't getting the attention they deserved, they would either have a new version which would focus on a new series or simply reboot the character as shown with the New 52.

Therefore, this resulted in Image Comics being developed which allowed for new ideas to flourish and characters and series that would only last a few weeks or months would be accepted as opposed to only creating or continuing series which would be popular to everyone and gain the most profit. In fact, there are many more comic book publishers being formed as a result and even their own superhero universes have been established.

What does this have to do with realism... well not much. Image Comics probably have many more franchises in tone with realism but it does show how not everyone has gone on the bandwagon for the quick buck.

When considering video games however, it's not so much different from TV series or movies in which there are many realistic games show in every 5 minute of advertising on TV and a whole plethora of other games which innovate and become something different. Only this time, it lies a lot in the use of the shooter genre. Video games used to be more focused on arcade formats and platformers until a huge expansion of many different franchises and genres but just like movies, it did become to dive more in to realistic tones by the mid 2000s. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare made the use of multiplatform multiplayer and with the series being annualised which allowed Activision to become more recognisable (mostly for it's infamy), it's no wonder why it got more shooting involved in video games. In fact, when I played Uncharted 3's multiplayer, there were so many similarities with the Call of Duty multiplayer including kickbacks instead killstreak rewards and of course... DLC! >:) Of course, Uncharted had it's own twist on the series but not only did the original Modern Warfare create a revolution of multiplayer, in some ways, it had an influence on single player games and it's component too... and not with great results.

Many of the games which know feature guns tended to become much more action based and focused on the multiplayer. I mean Ace Combat kinda looks like the Metal Gear Solid of the air in a way but with one of the most recent installment of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, it's become more focused on simplistic gameplay and more modern day dogfights which not created more repetition but the setting of the game caused it to become much closer with American characters and many of the settings consisted of those you could find in Call of Duty such as the Middle East or Russia. As opposed to the fictional states and influence of Asian territory. Ultimately, it led to a entirely multiplayer based game called Ace Combat: Infinity.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is a reboot in itself but what's evident about most realistic themes in entertainment is that many of them are reboots. Ace Combat, Tomb Raider, Dark Knight to name a few.

Whilst realism is a very substantial theme of what's being over-used these days, it's linked with many aspects which may lead in to gameplay or storylines. Although there is an element which tends to be popular regardless if it's realistic or not.

Zombies and Diseases

Ah the times when students return to school after the holidays or after a party with only 5 hours of sleep... I mean Zombies. An easy mistake to make. This paranormal phenomenon isn't just something which has taken over (or infected) the entertainment industry but has become it's own culture. People even believe that a Zombie Apocalypse is on the way and are preparing their stocks of food and munitions in case that day ever comes. Pfft! As if! The Aliens are a much bigger threat...

Anyways, this is something like shooters and a very easy and less risky way of making some quick cash as a developer. In some ways, it's become integrated with shooters and could be argued as being more popular considering it's only been around for the last few years... in a huge popular form of course. Zombie games have probably existed since the dawn of gaming... or dawn of night. Since they were mostly undead being from the graveyard?

I'm not really sure why Zombies are so popular in almost every form of electronic entertainment. From the Walking Dead to an additional reason to play Call of Duty: Black Ops, it's really increasing in popularity and almost like an apocalypse. Maybe it's a thing that people might become obsessed about because it's mostly based on fun when considering movies and games which require friends watch or defeat evil Zombies. Heck! I even played Black Ops: Zombies... and I don't even like Zombies.

However, many of the games and movies which show represent these being which are much closer to me on a Monday morning rather than anything sinister, aren't actually focused on something serious. When looking at some of the video games out there, many such as Dead Nation didn't really look that far off from other crazy Zombie games focusing on killing rather than innovation and in some ways, maybe the fact that it's based on Zombies is the reason why it's so popular. I mean strategy games from a bird's eye viewpoint don't usually sell that well on the consoles as opposed to PC devices.

This is what I'm worried about the most because games which may feature something with Zombies will get a lot of praise regardless if it doesn't really focus on anything interesting in terms of gameplay and storyline and this can be shown by many people who are willing to play games such as Dying Light and Dead Island regardless if they turn out not to be their liking. Almost like many don't know about other games like many don't have the knowledge about other games outside of Call of Duty and FIFA because of the developers grip on advertising. Even if they had the belief it will be bad, I still see people buy these games. Heck! People even bought Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 regardless of the fact that they hated what the single player and main multiplayer components offered. I remember many even agreed with my theory that they were essentially copying from other games or at least not making much of an effort to innovate as shown by the closeness of the mechs in Metal Gear Solid and the horse riding in a Yemen Desert... somewhere around where Uncharted 3 took place. Yet they bought the game for the Zombies mode. Many didn't even like the Zombies mode to end off with after buying the game so in a way, it's like a form of hype. People will get hyped about it yet there isn't anything new about it and instead, it's mostly just a reason to go with friends to the cinema.

This is mostly my perspective and I'm sure people will like Zombie games and movies for many different reasons. I don't believe that the Zombie theme is necessarily a boring topic but there hasn't been much to improve what it is and explore new aspects. I mean World War Z in it's original format as a book featuring many interesting topics including cults and different perspectives which therefore generated a more complex issue. The movie... it has the same name and I can't help but think that maybe they just thought the name was too ingenious.

Although most likely, regardless of the title, people would still go to watch the film. So why am I concerned about this? Well it means that creative works within the Zombie genre may become unrecognised. It just makes me sad at the fact that all the simple things in the world are receiving so much profit for the less creative things in the world and repeating the same things over and over again.

However even with some changes, others will follow the same suit. How many games, TV shows and movies do you know which feature Zombies without a form of virus? It's truly a difficult thing. A few seem to come to mind but they are the very old movies and episodes of Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror. Almost as difficult as the realm of Physics! 0_0

The use of a virus as being the basis of the Zombies is a popular concept which can be found almost everywhere within the theme like The Walking Dead, The Last of Us... even World War Z (the film) ... just to name a few. Not only is this being advertised pretty much everywhere but it's increasing and the worst part is that one of my (well used to be) favourite video game developers is now jumping on the badwagon of the virus theme creating uproar... minus the Zombies but there's nothing else to it! Just the virus seems to make people go crazy about the premise. It would be amazing if there was some form of twist to the premise that the virus alters the framework of DNA or architecture. Maybe even a being which creates the virus and has existed for thousands of years causing all these disruptions in Human history. Just something like that might get me interested in the whole disease theme but it looks like it's simply something for some quick cash. Why else would they be developing about 6 generic games in a single year?

Ultimately, it does have an effect on the other paranormal beings which have been ignored and barely been utilised for new franchises. Aliens from UFOlogy, Ghosts and Werewolves could be something interesting for video games. Whilst many of them have dominated TV series such as Vampires within True Blood, why not go with video games and try to show something new? Especially with some new aspects. Why feature a love story like Twilight when it could involve a character travelling the world trying to uncover the mysteries of people such as Vlad the Impaler or even a post-apocalyptic world where Vampires are purged with the current uses of technology or it could go the other way round and the Humans try to find ways to make peace with their decreasing populations. Those are just a few ideas from the top of my head so why can't other companies take the risk... when they basically have all the time and their whole professions to focus on new things people want in entertainment.

What about beings from Greek or a lesser known mythology and folklore? I mean it might be risky but I could see much more interest in these new terrifying beings and the beauty of this would be that there would be much more variety.It would be cool to see brand new monsters in entertainment just like Doctor Who has achieved and it would be amazing to see a new monster being the pinpoint of a new franchise. Perhaps we could make our own monsters too.

Like I said, the Zombie theme isn't a bad thing. Everyone will have their own opinions but since this has expanded so much, it begs the question, what happens if we don't enjoy them or if we just start to get to get bored of them? Where else can we go? Hopefully developers may understand that using the same things over and over again isn't the best way. It could become like shooters in which it had it's turn but the hype will move on to something else. Perhaps every theme will get it's own kind of hype... in a perfect world of course. Then again, there is such a thing known as advertising and that may keep Zombies around for much more... and remember to prepare the gas masks because we all know they can spread like that. All the video games, movies and TV series of zombies after 2006 told us so.

White American (and sometimes grumpy) protagonist

The United States of America is the home of many big companies out there. Many of them are in the entertainment industry and this in turn has had an impact on other parts of the world with the concept of globalisation allowing many of their video games and TV shows to be some of our favourites over some games and series which may be developed in your home country. However a lot of this influence can also be passed on to other companies even though they might be foreign and even as far as across the pond. I understand that there are a whole bunch of varieties out there in terms of franchises and whatnot but it's no doubt that that even in a society that's developing in terms of multicultural links, there still is a large focus on one single figure of character type and that is usually the white skinned American protagonist... or characters.

For example, if we take a look at some of the lead roles of characters in TV series these days, what do you see? With the huge expansion of TV shows via streaming devices and services, it's almost like all of these shows are being filmed in pretty much the developers streets (not really... but there's just so many developed in a short amount of time!) but if not the developers streets, it doesn't feel like they've expanded very far because many of the individuals look very similar. White skin, American accent, usually with a Christian religion, hetereosexual and sometimes even a similar appearance from the most smallest of features in terms of hair and sometimes even muscle mass.

For example, shows including Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead all seem to have the same features. Same accent, same brute physiology, same long hair and beard... and those are just the females. I'm just kidding but in many ways aside from appearance, they all appear to be carry out the same things in terms of psychology. The principle of hating other individuals until a time comes where they'll get to know them and become more like friends but overall, it will usually be a character who will focuses on using their strength first and then personality later... if they have one. I'm not saying that it's full of these character types since there are many ethnicities within a single show and game but when considering the main character roles, I can't help but think characters such as Asians and Europeans are placed in the backround with the usual white male character in the lead.

... Sometimes, these are the most variable because many shows and movies may show a complete white cast with almost the same exact style of attitude. Even in video games, not only has this issue continued but it has also increased to a certain degree. Take for example Ubisoft when considering games such as Watch Dogs and much of the Assassin's Creed franchise... starting with everyone's favourite Aiden Pierce. This is my opinion of course but he doesn't seem like anything new... maybe in the 1970s where action movies were becoming all the craze but it just maintains the same dark attitude and the problem with this is that many have seen it all before. People want something new and fresh especially in the main character! The main protagonist is what drives the story and the player through the game. If the player doesn't like the character so much, then it might not have been the best expense of money if the game is focused mostly on the central character.

Assassin's Creed on the other hand is something which has confused me. Aside from the view that I thought the franchise would have a unique storyline and cool plot twists, I also thought that a game set during the French Revolution would be the point of Ubisoft's way of going full throttle with what they know. Unfortunately, the latest installment, Assassin's Creed: Unity features a character born in the region we now know as France with little influence from other nationalities and the fact that Ubisoft has almost an entire staff who speak at least something in the French language. The actual game is not that simple with sounding of the characters. To be honest, it sounds much more like British voice actors and not even Napoleon seems to have a different accent of any sort outside of a Canadian - British accent. I don't understand. Did the United Kingdom annex part of France or something? How could Ubisoft do this to it's own country of origin?! I mean maybe they might have got worried about the deadline of the franchise if there was so much work on their hands but why not slow down the franchises so they can actually find the time to create innovation and feature characters of many backrounds?

I just can't help but reflect back to the original Assassin's Creed where many of the main leads didn't have an accent of the region it took place and much it almost felt like most of the voice acting was utilised on many of the minor characters who were usually people you would walk past in the cities... or the guards saying they will cut the main character for... walking around. Why am I saying this? Well the use of accents should have developed. Especially since Assassin's Creed 2 featured an Italian character with an accent from the region and I even learned more Italian words than from any previous moment in my life. This hasn't exactly been the case and that's why the most recent game (well one of them) gives me such confusion. After we had Connor Kenway who was more of a closer figure to the Native Americans... it kinda trailed off particularly with Assassin's Creed: Unity where I can't really see or hear the character as someone from France. It just seems like another white male character from a country which is associated in someway with America and Britain. That's why I enjoy characters of many different ethnicities. I can connect and learn from them especially since it might be helpful for a Francais learning class like Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood helped me learn much more about the Italian language, not just it's history of white hooded characters and evil Templars! Although looking back at Assassin's Creed 2, when it was announced that the sequel to the first game would take place during a different time era and region, Japan and the French Revolution were the most talked about settings in speculation. So if AC2 did take place in France, maybe we would see a fully fledged French character. Plus if things went the similar way in an alternate reality, AC: Unity set during the Italian Renaissance probably would have a Canadian voice actor regardless.

Oh wait! There's more and we certainly can't exclude Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Being someone from Wales myself, the new main historical character, Edward Kenway gave me slight interest to the game for a little while but he really didn't become the Welsh character I wanted to see. Not only was there barely a mention of a Welsh word but the character sounds like someone from Wales after the extensive use of the television was able to spread American and English TV shows and video games around the area. I know that England had a significant influence on Wales but the language was still maintained and it was only around the 1900s did things start to change with the time of the ports in the 1900s... Although the game takes place in the early 1700s.

Maybe it's because it was a standalone title even if the character became popular or that the developers may not have initially intended it to be an AC title as such but part of a new series. Perhaps this game was just testing the "waters" but I don't believe it was necessary to include a Welsh character just because they could just like they could have easily featured Constantinople a different time and focused it with more quality. Considering the reaction of the character, the only people who I've known who praised the character were those who enjoyed his storyline and those who like brutal, drunk Walking Dead, Game of Thrones character types. So overall, it was more like Welsh in name. Many of my fellow Welsh people may praise for recognition of the Welsh region in a well known video game brand but ultimately, it wasn't the game that brought out any interest for Wales. In fact I suppose people may miss the fact that he's Welsh. 0_0 What I'm saying is that Assassin's Creed used to be the franchise in which I could connect to the timeline and the area but now, I'm much more skeptical and I don't think it's really bringing out much interest of what is special about those characters... and I'm just saying this nicely... and I'm not even a Welsh nationalist. In a worst case scenario, the series will probably become something like what we see with most TV shows. Similar accents and attitudes unless there's changes in mainstream shows. I just hope that doesn't happen and one day maybe, Wales hasn't been crossed of the list for potential settings and we may see a character devoted to the area, it's traditions and culture and just maybe... the last hope the Welsh language has of surviving.

^ So this Welsh character went to the Caribbean and didn't even mention the Welsh word for Jellyfish? Wibbly Wobbly?

However that doesn't mean all the characters are bad in the game and sometimes I wish that many of these big developers would focus on many of the supporting and minor characters, just in case people don't enjoy the main character. When I played games like Mass Effect or Assassin's Creed, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to play games involving a character such as Kasumi or Yusuf Tamzin because they seem like characters that would be interesting knowing more about especially if we could play through moments of their lives. Many times, I wouldn't mind just playing small parts of the lore in games such as Far Cry 3's World War 2 diaries because many of the characters who wrote them seem more unique rather the closeness to emotionless characters.

This isn't something that I've believed because I've always wondered what it would be like to play as other individuals from the story like La Volpe from Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and perhaps even components like the characters in the Assassin's Creed multiplayer and perhaps their stories could be much more unique than the main stories. In some ways, many fans have got their answer such as the numerous DLC packs of the Assassin's Creed franchise including Freedom Cry allowing us to play as Adewale and the upcoming Elize: The Fiery Templar game... unless they were originally meant to be part of the main game before changes to... DLC.

Although overall, it's not necessarily the characters that I would want to see but the new personalities and character types because we are all unique in our ways. Every path we take in life may shape who we are and the events we go through and just the single point of someone's life could be the basis of a new character. There are infinite character types out there just like there are infinite possibilities. That's why mainstream developers tend to confuse me when there isn't much difference between the characters and it's sad to see people writing comments about how many believe the newest games and TV shows will simply feature the usual cliche character. It shouldn't be this way because companies have the potential to innovate and try something new. If a company like Ubisoft develop upon these aspects, why don't they do it again and there's no reason why another developer couldn't do something similar.

Then again, there is also... the other side. Who is the villain to the main protagonist? It may vary especially with so many new movies and games showing new groups and villain types. Although there are still major similarities between many franchises and in some ways, it does emphasise the view of the typical American protagonist.

Most of the time in movies surrounding thrillers, there are little to no villains on the American side however there are particular nationalities that many tend to target which include the Russians and the Chinese. For example, shooters such as Call of Duty especially within the Modern Warfare department always show the Russians dedicating their efforts to an attack in which the Americans eventually get their revenge. In some ways I'm not surprised. The Cold War went on for almost half a century and so of course, there's gonna be a whole barrage of movies depicting the Russians in a bad light... but why is it still continuing? Maybe because they're a more recognisable foe so it's easily to sell the product and so maybe these developers have ran out of ideas and are just going with the most noticeable theme... or they're some kind simulation practice or something.

The awful thing about this is that not only is there not much creativity but it also gives a bad impression. In fact, many people believe that certain nationalities are placed within villain roles for a reason. Many people even believe that all Russians are Communists... despite not knowing what a Communist is... or a Russian.

Sometimes it's not necessarily targeting groups of people but it doesn't really give the impression that they're promoting a multicultural view on both sides. For example, much of the Uncharted series sees Drake and his pals travel the world in search of treasure but whilst they don't hate other groups of people, the enemies are always outside of the white ethnicity. Let's see... Eddy Raja? Indonesian. Laservich? Serbian. Marlow? British. On the heroes side, there is some diversity with Arabian and Nepalese characters but many of these individuals aren't really key to the story. At least not compared with the villains. So in that sense, it's kind of like comparing not telling someone when compared with a lie. It doesn't say that the British and Indonesians are all of a sudden evil but they don't really give a great impression of these different groups when most of the main cast consist of characters originating from the USA. Then again, Naughty Dog probably didn't intend for this because usually most developers may portray characters of their own backround first such an Indian movie is more likely to feature Indian characters as the lead because they're more easier to find and perhaps more relatable within that area. However in such a multicultural world we're progressing in, it's no surprise that they may get some form of criticism.

The same goes for games like Battlefield which don't completely put the Russians and Chinese in a bad light but that's only when players progress through the game so in a way, looking at the game at a first sight usually gives the impression that they are the main antagonists. It's not all like this since GTA4's character was a Russian but it's almost like they've done a Ubisoft. It might not have worked out so they'll skip it and go with whatever makes the most profit. Sometimes when I see shows like 24, it usually does a marathon of people from the Middle East and China as the main villains. So if there is still a hatred of these groups of people, are we ever going to see games taking place on the Inuit communities, Asian peoples and even many different religious groups? Well yes! Just maybe not in some of the biggest titles. Games like Never Alone could promote the Inuit group and their traditions to gamers. Although when considering some of the biggest titles such as Call of Duty, have many doubts because even games which focused on the Native Americans including Assassin's Creed 3 altered much of their trailers depending on the region especially the USA version which was more a of a patriotic trailer and even if you can play as different groups of people in the multiplayer, you can't really see or hear the characters anyway. It's a first person and the only person that can be heard would be the commander and a few soldiers yelling... and gamers screaming.

In conclusion, I think this blog was a little bit too big as well as mentioning Ubisoft a little too much and so I've decided to leave out a few bits and pieces until another blog. How nice of me! All kidding aside though, the concept of similar themes being used time and time again isn't actually something new. Each year and decade seems to have it's own theme of entertainment such as in the 1980s, it was becoming much more retro in terms of sci-fi movies and since technology was at a different stage, they all look different compared to today. When considering the modern day, movies TV shows and video games do tend to have similar themes and it may come to pass eventually. Come to think of it, many of the games I see on the PS4 and Xbox One as well as on the Wii U and PC have both similarities and differences but it's not all completely based on Zombies or shooters... at least not yet. However many decades ago, it was more difficult for new movies and games to be developed but with our generation, movies, TV series and video games aren't too difficult to develop at least not compared to those years ago but there's much more advertising and influence from the mainstream companies and developers which may obscure the knowledge of lesser known works. Ultimately, that's the dilemma of the many forms of entertainment today.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Reviews are a means of representing a view of a form of entertainment in order to help aid the reader in to making a decision of paying for that particular product Usually before the game has been released to the public but it may also be used as a way of helping others a few weeks later or for those who are willing to try out product which has been in existence for substantial amount of time. Usually, this audience might be people wondering what to spend their money on and sometimes friends of the reviewer and ultimately, the review could become the basis of weighing up their decisions of the pros and cons. Therefore this may decide whether the readers would be willing to buy the game or stay at least 100 miles away from it! This not only applies to games but the whole vast expanse of entertainment consisting from the most notable movies, music or could go could apply to many different formats of lifestyle such as a hotel service and what the restaurant was like.

For this blog, I have decided to focus primarily on the principle of video game reviews. Why, you may ask? Well I believe it's more appropriate considering this is mostly a video game site but also at the aspect that many reviews probably wouldn't have the concepts that the video game and other entertainment reviews may have compared with lifestyle. It may cross over with movies and songs in particular with a few similarities but since video games are more structured in terms of storyline, gameplay, music, replayability, there are some factors which would make video game reviews much more unique. However the main reason why I wanted to write up this blog is mostly because of the many reasons why I don't write up many reviews. I have only written one as a blog which stretches as far back as Early 2013! 0_0 It is also at the fact that I have decided to write up many different blogs rather than simply become a weekly or monthly reviewer and it doesn't necessarily mean that I won't write up reviews again. Although there are factors which I believe make me think whether more critical about whether it might be over exaggerated or where I might think much differently.

People have different opinions

This is probably the most substantial and notable of reviews. Especially in a society where the entertainment industry has pretty much expanded to the extent that many people will never watch every single movie, play every single game or have the same ideas and thoughts about them. Whether it maybe where the fans of the franchise believe the series should go next or what they think about the franchise in general, it is largely reinforced by the memories we have experienced with many different games in our past or whether we have a positive attitude playing the games. With so many millions of movies, to watch, video games to play and books to read, it's no wonder why people might think differently and point out similarities and differences which might make the entertainment area more unique or perhaps too close towards another game. A particular case would be that many gamers from perhaps the 1990s such as myself might point out that a specific franchise just might not be as enjoyable as it used to be and therefore, they might have a somewhat pessimistic view of the future of the series or maybe even the future of gaming.

A lot has changed since the good old days (Just my opinion) of the PS1 and PS2 which might involve the whole concept of shooters, multiplayer and in some ways, more survival and realisitc tones. People may value more of the multiplayer component that others and some reviewers may even see the game as being impossible to achieve a 10/10 because of the lack of the multiplayer aspect! 0_0 Although in some ways, for many who have mostly played multiplayer games or their first games may have been a whole bunch of shooters, it might be more important to them and then playing a new genre such as Japanese Role Playing Games might generate a different perception of gaming. They may enjoy it, perhaps much more than shooters and possibly believe that maybe they were too keen to give the shooter a good score... Or it might go the other way and they might believe that role playing games aren't for them. Then again, this might be skewed by a number of factors especially since it depends on whether it was just the game that they didn't enjoy. I know many people who play Call of Duty and FIFA because all the other games they tried to play weren't that enjoyable. They didn't play every game in existence obviously but they certainly had a bad experience and didn't give other games a chance... Then again, I don't believe that Call of Duty and FIFA are the best games in the world.

When considering that people born at different time of the Earth's history and in particular, the moments of video gaming, gamers will be brought up with many different video games and favourite franchises which might reinforce their view on what is their favourite video game franchise but even then, there would be conflicting views. Say for example someone's first video game console was the Xbox and their original video game experiences were based on Halo. Even if you enjoyed it and others may have played similar video games to you, there might be a whole bunch of different views to what they believe is their favourite game of the series. To the point at which someone might love the first game and believe the second was twice as awesome whereas another gamer might have thought the first game was the best game ever to exist... but the same can not be said for the second game. Therefore, the review may not apply to every single fan of the franchise. Especially if someone might only see a single game as being the best one as opposed to the others in which they might see with a hatred. By the way, I haven't played the Halo franchise in full so I can't really go in to detail about what people may or may not like... sorry about that but there is a series which is closer to me personally which I will talk about in a bit.

So many times, it's what people believe is great for the franchise. I personally enjoyed Assassin's Creed because it was new to me in terms of a historical setting and even open world. 0_0 Yeah I was kind of a late bloomer in the open world department. To me, it felt like the franchise was really going down a mysterious path and thought that everyone's stories would be wrapped up with a whole bunch of unique plot twists and I started thinking about my own speculation and ideas for the franchise. However that's possibly the point in which the series became more of a letdown. Maybe I was became over hyped with the fact that it would become the next Metal Gear Solid or Kingdom Hearts with interesting storylines. Many believed the characters storylines were already concluded but for me, many questions still remain unanswered. For me, the modern day felt more relevant to me than to others. All of these factors would reinforce what I think about the series and to display that to other people, many might not see the factors as a relevant reason such as the paths that I wanted the series to go and how it might have been better that way. Nowadays, the Assassin's Creed franchise has expanded similar to how the entertainment industry developed and since it's an annualised franchise, it's likely to have a whole bunch of new audiences and therefore, wide range of opinions of which game they preferred more. For example, many people joined the series at the point of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and loved it mostly for the naval combat which might make people vote for a higher rating for the game because it's given them great memories but when it comes other sides of the game and people who don't enjoy the naval combat, they might not enjoy it as much. Particularly if they wanted more focus on the modern day and a long story.

Since I didn't play many open world games that I could keep which were set in the open world and featured mature themes, I guess I was more open minded with the whole non-linear concept and expanse of the wonders of religion. So I kinda missed the whole repetitive problems so I didn't hate it as much as others. Looking back at it now, it does seem like it was a pretty slow story but I personally enjoyed how we could learn more about the individuals we had to assassinate and the diversity of the region within a game just made the cities feel more unique. Many people may even have whole heatedly enjoyed the whole repetitive aspect or they might have thought that Assassins's Creed 2 went in a direction that didn't like. Maybe it was the character, the structure or perhaps they wanted Altair's story to be continued. I have a feeling it might have been because they wanted an Asian setting with so much hype about it!

Considering these examples, many will develop different opinions for a multiple of reasons. Nostalgia, memories, our thoughts when comparing predecessors, experiences with other games which might make us think which games are more unique than to others which are usually different from other gamer viewpoints and finally... all the processes and sparks within our brains which might ignite what makes us enjoy a franchise. I personally believe that if I only just became a video gamer when I was about 10, then my thoughts about video gaming would probably be massively different and most likely, my life would be significantly different and perhaps I would be playing more COD and FIFA. Perhaps I would even start to become bored of gaming altogether... I... I wouldn't like to think of that possibility.

So why do I think this is a valid point for the top? People will experiences different things and many of these memories can't be fully understood unless with the view of telepathy. We can only express it by written text or voice to make our point across. As well as the fact that many don't really talk about their ideas of where the series could have gone better because the usually the primary focus of a review is mostly about what's there rather than how it's improving or deteriorating the franchise. Especially since it may not really be suitable for those new to the franchise. It also lies in what people might think a cliche is this can be shown by when Rotten Tomatoes gave Looper a high score for an original story? Although it reminds me of other time travel fiction such as Jak 2 and the speculation of The Beast in Infamous. However this isn't the only substantial reason as to why reviews may not be a perfect means of understanding what the game would be like and the next reason could be more significant in determining how the reviewer has come to their conclusion.

Timing of the review maybe limited

Many reviewers who write as a hobby or write reviews for games which have been released after a few weeks may have more time to explore a majority of the game in detail but many within the most well known sites or reviewers who want to write a review as fast as possible may not be able to do so. Video games are taking a few more hours to complete as we begin to progress through the newer generation and that's only considering the aspect of the story. Many reviewers may get a few copies up to a small number of days but is this enough time to explore everything? Quite frankly, it isn't. I mean when viewing games such as Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, there are a high quantity of side missions to complete and many are still trying to complete them up to this very day! Since there wouldn't be enough time to review the games, many side missions may have been skipped as a result and the reason why I think this is an influence on the review is because much of the focus for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood I believe was for the side missions rather than the story.

It's also prominent that in this allotted amount of time, reviewers wouldn't be able to experience the game in a comfortable amount of time. Playing the game the whole way for a day will probably make them miss a few things and may just want to get the review written and up and running. Playing the whole variety of side missions, gaining all the outfits and exploring the game in your own time might make the reviewer see different things about the world. They might take a chance to look more at their surroundings. Maybe have some cool memories whilst playing through the multiplayer and journeying through the city without having to worry about a strict deadline. After playing the game for a few weeks, I noticed that there were many more positive things about the game because the side missions were more like the story missions in a sense. Ezio was building up Rome and establishing the Brotherhood but I also recognised that there were a few flaws such as invisible pedestrians and falling through the floor while riding a horse, in to the abyss below. The unfortunate thing is that many people who played the game didn't play through it all and gave it a review. Whilst they were more of a review within a comment, they didn't actually play all the way through and based it largely on the story mode. However, many of these issues weren't noticed yet they were in Assassin's Creed 3!

After the release of Assassin's Creed 3, there was a barrage of mixed reviews involving the game. Whether it wasn't the final game they were looking for or simply the glitches, it wasn't Ubisoft's best moment... as well as AC: Unity... and Watch Dogs. Many even gave it a score as low as 3, mostly criticising the character and the glitches. One in particular was pretty low and  in response many people spoke about a few of the positive things they left out. Afterwards, the reviewer said, "Er... yeah, I guess that's true. I'll change it to a 5." If this was an review for a bigger site, then it would be too late to change it and that's the worst part of a contrained time frame. People may miss a few things even though they played through them and might have enjoyed or hated those aspects. Some only played the game for about 2 hours and gave it a review! Even if they hate a few bits of the game, they would need to complete a majority of the game in order to give a more valid judgement. I mean, they might miss something important.

To be honest, when I was playing Assassin's Creed for the first time, I didn't enjoy it as much. Mostly because my young teenager mind was wondering what on Earth was going on... but the most problematic were the controls. I stopped playing the game for a few weeks and then after a period of time when I wanted to play something new, I started the game, got used to the controls surprisingly quickly and then it quickly became one of my favourite games... and franchises. This isn't just exclusive to me because I know this change of interest has occurred with many of my friends and fellow gamers. People will sometimes quickly change their mind about something and this can be from as long as a few years to simply a few minutes!

On the other hand, these days game developers have been giving this view that reviews must take more time over a few days as shown with AC: Unity even after the game's release! If this is the case, then shouldn't other developers be able to do the same or shouldn't they have given copies to the reviewers at an earlier stage. I personally think this is wrong because it discriminates between other games which don't have that time and it only reinforces the view that companies are becoming more greedy to delay a review as log as possible. If they didn't think the game would be bad, they wouldn't have done this. I mean why should Assassin's Creed: Rogue have to take a few days extra when it's much shorter than any of the other games! Plus, shouldn't they have to reassess their previous game reviews as a result which were too long for the reviewer to complete the whole thing?

In some ways, after a few years, we might even start to think differently. We might have enjoy different series and whilst at the time I enjoyed Assassin's Creed 3, I didn't think it was the game I wanted such as some cool plot twists and a more relevant setting to the whole 2012 concept and the story with Altair and Ezio. Then again, there were many other things that I really enjoyed especially at the more compelling story. Although, now I'm more critical about what could have been the ultimate game and I suppose the whole issue with the franchise being milked just influences my view because it feels like maybe AC3 isn't that different from ACIV. A standalone story and create more questions with no answers to them. ;( It might not just be me. Many others might see the first games they played as being mostly based on nostalgia and the wonders of gaming rather than a more detailed thought about the flaws.

We play specific games at different times

Franchises like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Assassin's Creed all have their history of highs and lows and with the yearly releases, they've probably existed since Humankind itself! As a result, many new audiences have joined the franchise these opinions are always going to be vastly different. For example, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was seen as being the most favourited Battlefield experience amongst the core Battlefield fans. Whether it be to the increase in destruction, playing with friends or an improvement from the original Bad Company. As the series progressed to Battlefield 3, at the point it became more mainstream, there were more mixed views but most of the people who enjoyed the BF3 were those who were new to the series or just wanted the alternative to Call of Duty. That's what I think might be problematic for a review because how would you make reviews to support all of these groups? Would a core fan of the franchise be more suitable to write the review for a well known site as well as vice versa but how would new fans of the series be able to understand the predecessors? Would we have to make different reviews for fans of the older series and with a franchise like Assassin's Creed, it would be more complex because the franchise is prominent with speculation.

Whilst I loved Battlefield 3, mostly for it's multiplayer, at times I felt like I wanted to give it 10/10 but I could understand how it wasn't that destructive compared to the PC version or the other games and I felt like it deserved more like an 8. However I believe that if I played the franchise prior to the game's release, I would have thought differently. Then again, much of the reason as to why I enjoyed Battlefield 3 was because I was able to play it during the Summer holidays and it just felt like it would be a great holiday game to play. As well as the fact that I had great times with my friends and my life was really getting better so in a way, many of these factors sorta reinforced my enthusiasm for the game.

By the time of Battlefield 4's release, many of the people new to the series were giving it a high score but it didn't feel like anything special and the destruction was a bit overrated.. especially with all the glitches around.

This doesn't just apply to the Battlefield series but many other series, especially the ones with a yearly schedule for release. A very good example of representing how old and new audiences seem to collide is with the Call of Duty series. Most of the time, the first game people play of the franchise will be their most favourite but the second may seem to be almost the opposite. Perhaps leave a bad taste in their mouth and may not want to play the franchise in the future. When it became popular in 2009, many were new to Modern Warfare 2 and enjoyed it but the fans before saw it more as the series deteriorating but this view was similar amongst the fans of Modern Warfare 2 when Black Ops was released. Many didn't enjoy Black Ops and went back to MW2. Many people new to BO loved it but hated MW3. Many people who played BO2 loved it but hated Ghosts. It's almost like a recurring pattern. My Call of Duty has kind of been all over the place but after a while with my collection of COD games being pretty absent, I decided to get Ghosts and I actually enjoyed it... I mean more than most but I know that if I played Black Ops 2, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it very well. Then again the reason why I didn't play Black Ops 2 was because I thought it was too similar to other games already like Uncharted 3's desert horse riding in Yemen or Metal Gear Solid's mechs... just to name a few. So in some respects I can see why many don't read reviews as much and even if they do, they won't let it get to them. Although there is another reason as to why reviews may not be considered to be the best way of determining your gameplay experience.

Corruption and focusing on mainstream franchises

It's a word that many would dread in the video game industry... but it happens. In a way, I've already referred to it with AC: Unity with the late reviewing system just so that more people would buy the game if the reaction wasn't so hot... and it wasn't as great as many hoped. However there are many games which will inevitably get an 8 or over particularly the shooters. I mean many people have been assigned to write up IGN reviews in the past and I can't help but think that they don't have much experience of playing genres such as JRPGs. It's not just me because many of the franchises including Drakengard 3 were fine compared with the western reviewers who didn't really seem to like it. I'm not saying that there's something wrong with the reviewing system but if you look at the games that the reviewers may give 10/10, it will be the usual Grand Theft Auto 5, Uncharted, Game of Thrones. Mostly games within Asian territories don't really get the attention they deserve and almost seem like a second thought. I mean, games which are lesser known don't necessarily do so well on the reviewing system compared with series like Call of Duty and mostly it's all down to the multiplayer. For some reviewers, they may question whether a game without multiplayer will be allowed to achieve 10/10 so no wonder games such as Tomb Raider have last minute multiplayer.

Unfortunately, this is the case of the most well known reviewing sites and this is just a small part of the problem. The biggest problem is what happens after the review is given. Reviews which give 10/10 for a game will sometimes have a close minded approach in which comments which disagree with the review will be removed! No wonder the aspect of fanboys and fangirls seems to become noticeable. They're the voices that can be heard the most because others won't be listened to and it's no wonder that people seem to ignore reviews and hype whenever they can... like me! It's not there's anything with expressing our opinions but saying others shouldn't express their's is not right... like at all. Remember The Last of Us? I personally didn't enjoy it (Dodges arrows) but many comments on IGN articles are usually removed if they write about something negative. Heck! Even my friend wrote that he didn't want a sequel to the game mostly because he thought the first was perfect anyway... and he got his comment removed! What kind of world will we be in if alternative opinions are removed? Ideas aren't allowed to be expressed? How do we know what's a good or bad idea? Ideas and thoughts largely are all opinionated and people should be allowed to express their free speech. Entitled to their opinion. Although even though there have been reports that reviewers are bribed, I think that perception makes people think about all the big developers in the industry. I mean, lots of things have been exposed in past, it's possible. No wonder more and more are writing up their own reviews and even developing their own sites to express their own thoughts about the game.

Conclusion

Overall, there are a few key issues with the reviewing process and the most substantial is that there probably won't be a review that will apply to everyone. People will always have their own opinions and as franchises expand, it's inevitable that fans will become more and more divided with new games and new audiences... and the new games and audiences joining after that. The second is that reviewers may only play partial points of the game if the time frame of releasing their review is pretty short. Especially since they miss the most important aspects. Furthermore, people may emphasise a game which may be new to them but old to others so how do we make it more closer to other individuals who might think the series has been overdone. Ultimately, there has always been a sense of bias regardless whether the reviewer intends to be but ultimately, sometimes when a franchise is criticised, people will start to think their bias. Although the whole concept of fanboys and fangirls tends to drive many people from critisising reviews and therefore, I do think that many people are reliant on reviews because it will help support them in which game is better or the console wars. This only hinders independent thought. A final point I would like to make is that there is the dilemma of enjoying a game and rating it as a masterpiece... but then playing another game and thinking it's much better. The question is, would the reviewer think that they need to reassess their scoring?

Don't get me wrong! I don't think reviews are terrible and have no meaning at all. I believe it helps us to understand different perspectives and perhaps understand the reviewer more and what they may enjoy. However the only perfect review that would be important to you would be your own. Reading a wide range of reviews will help to gain an insight in to what the game might be like but whether you will have good memories or a horrible experience. Many of these opinions are simply caused by sparks in the brain. I didn't enjoy Assassin's Creed to begin with but then I began to enjoy it... and then afterwards criticise is more. Only you will know whether the game is good in your opinion and whether you think it's better compared with it's predecessors or even the best game ever! The trick is whether to pay for the full price or wait for it as a price drop or just wait until Christmas.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! I have decided to write a fairly short blog based on something that I've been meaning to write... for over a year now! Everyone has an IGN follower on this site, well for those who those who are lucky enough to meet the cool people on here of course. Although there was a time that I thought I would probably never really meet anyone nice or make any friends on IGN and it's not just me! Many others have said similar things and that they were just grateful for having simply 10 followers. We all start off small in the world I guess... Unless you're the heir of a monarchy or something. Talking to people who would eventually become my friends (and possibly enemies... I'm just kidding, everyone likes me...) was just really the beginning of how I met the further friends that I have to the current day.

Referring back to the first line, this will be a much shorter blog (at least compared to my other ones of course) and in a way, it's part of a blog series about my MyIGN Journey involving how I met certain friends, wrote the countless blogs that I have and how I've evolved as a result. Not just in terms of leveling up but mentally too... but I don't think leveling up is that important. This particular blog series will hopeful allow me talk about the people I have met chronologically even if we don't really talk to each other a lot as well as my experiences on IGN and the beauty about the series is that it can last indefinitely. I personally believe that many things in life can go on forever and ultimately, the only way this series would ever hit a limit... would be if I stopped blogging entirely which is never going to happen... hopefully. Even when writing blogs now, I will meet new people... which only adds another blog to the list. Then again, me and my pal DanyAFS decided to write up a community blog talking about underrated MyIGNers so talking about people in blogs hasn't exactly been in the chronological order I was hoping to develop and ever since I have mentioned many other people a few times. You might have noticed that the particular blog was over a year ago so this blog series has been in my mind for a long time. A little overdue some might say.

However by no means does it mean that you can get away with reading! There is a bit of a story of how I met my first IGN follower or should I say, friend! So this blog will be in quite a bit of detail. Not too much (then again, that's what I said last time) but we'll see how it goes. Also, feel free to talk about your first IGN follower and the first person that you followed (even if you unfollowed them) or even the first few followers on IGN. Also, this won't even be considering how I made an IGN account since that will be until next time. Mostly since I think I will write in too much detail for a single blog... and there's a reason why it's called a blog series. Enjoy!

So there I was! I made an IGN account on April 20th 2012 (at least that's what I can remember and what my account says) but what else is there to do aside from writing on a single forum? I might as well make more use of the account. Most notably by commenting on other forums around the spectrum. Although since I was pretty new, I didn't really understand how to navigate around IGN. Neither did I really understand what else there was within IGN aside from the IGN Boards which contained the forums and as you may well know, the reviews... Therefore, I didn't even know what a MyIGN or blog was! As you can tell, prior to making an IGN account, I didn't have much knowledge about forums or social networking sites in general... and quite perhaps just the internet. So most of the time I relied on seeing where other people in the forums were talking to elsewhere and in a way, that led me to my the first duo of people who I followed... but not my first follower and I will explain why.

On to my second or third forum that I decided to visit, I got my first reply so I decided to follow the person... then I realised that the individual was being sarcastic. I still remember most of the people I met on the forums including the person that I followed. I won't name names because I think people will start spamming them. Bearing in mind that prior to making an IGN account, I wanted to stay well away from social networking sites... especially IGN since I wasn't really too fond of the reviews and when considering the people at school, usually adding or following someone who we didn't meet face to face was often seen as a strange thing to do. It's not like I was going to follow just anyone on IGN but many of their responses when people started adding or following people from around the world on Facebook or Twitter just made me think that friends in digital world wasn't a good thing to do. In a way, it kinda got to me that maybe I shouldn't be using a IGN account altogether let alone making friends alone... but thankfully I didn't do that. Particularly because I already had friends on PSN who I didn't know a great deal about. Even though I guess I was worried about what people would think of me, I was willing to do what I want and I didn't care about what others said. If I want to make friends online or express my opinion, so be it! So why am I saying this later on the blog. Well, since the first person who I followed was also the person that I er... unfollowed, I decided to think much more and communicate with people more before I made the ultimate decision of following them.

As the same forum thread progressed, more and more people were joining the debate but there were a few arguments going on between other IGN members throughout the thread. I don't really know why but it was difficult to really to talk to anyone. Despite this, I was able to talk to one person by messaging them which led to a format known as a conversation since we could invite many others to the conversation. Like I said, I had limited knowledge about MyIGN so if I knew about the wonderous realm known as MyIGN, I probably would have talked to people sooner in that area but at the time, I thought that messaging people was the best way to communicate... which is true in a sense since you can add pictures without needing to use hyperlinks but it's much easier to talk to people on MyIGN if it's quick pieces of writing or just want to get involved in many other conversations... without needing invitations!

Back to my potential friend and follower, I noticed that he was a Mass Effect fan which was great because it was difficult to find someone who had interests in terms of gaming outside of Call of Duty and FIFA and so seeing someone who enjoyed Mass Effect seemed out of the ordinary but cool at the same time. Much of the conversation involved talking about... well Mass Effect obviously and thus after he declared that he would get a few multiplayer maps (because they're free), I decided to follow him but reflecting back at the time, I realise that it was probably a waste of time. Then again, if I never talked to him, I would have made different paths in life especially in IGN and I probably would have met other people. Maybe I would still have no knowledge about MyIGN... I'd rather not think about it.

We talked in detail but overtime when I started stating my opinion about why I didn't enjoy Mass Effect 3 that much, he pretty much started to avoid me and when I talked to him on the forums, he appeared to think that I was someone he had just met me and well... implied that I was stupid because I didn't think that the choices in Mass Effect 3 mattered. As well the fact that I thought Far Cry 3 multiplayer probably wouldn't be that special. These are all up to people's opinions but he seemed too definitive like it was fact and so I came to the ultimate conclusion that maybe... just maybe that he was a Mass Effect fanboy. Even though I loved Mass Effect at the time (Mass Effect 3, not so much...), it seemed like I couldn't get in to much of an open minded conversation and I was usually getting along with other people who agreed with my opinions or at least understood where I was coming from.

Eventually I unfollowed him after my very first follower because I give people lot of chances but after a while, it just seemed pointless following him. I know that probably sounds harsh but I think he only replied to a few people that he knew so I had doubts that he would ever consider talking to me that much and if he did, it was only when I developed a thread post that represented my dislike of Mass Effect 3. Then again, there were a lot of people on the IGN Boards who were very keen to defend Mass Effect 3 by any means necessary... Hmm. Although like I said, I'm not going to name who he is. Only my first follower will get the spotlight.

It might seem like all hope was lost for meeting people and in a way, I would be surprised that at least one IGN member would follow me in the next week. Then again much of the events in the previous paragraphs of text took place within only the first day of making an IGN account and some of the events took place after my first follower. After about 2 or 3 days after creating an IGN account, I was able to talk on an Infamous forum and I noticed someone was enjoying the franchise so I decided to start a conversation with him. Added to the fact that his IGN name was somewhat a name that I had noticed before in the recollection of my mind. The name of a weapon from both Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. Mostly talking about The Beast's role in the game and even though I was a bit shy and I didn't really talk about a lot things in great detail (I know that's probably something difficult to comprehend) we still got along... which led to me hitting that button for a follow... and then I got a follow in return. My first IGN follower! My first IGN... friend.

Who is my first follower? It's GunBlade! Overtime, we did talk about other games and I was gaining many followers out of nowhere but what I find the most memorable about my friend is that in some ways, he did make me notice that MyIGN exists. At the time, I didn't really pay attention to the newsfeed which brought me to MyIGN because I assumed it was the same thing as the IGN Boards. Just after about a week or two after developing my IGN account, I was forced to abandon the computer in the second living room (I'm not rich, we just got rid of the garage) and use the laptop upstairs in my room. Once I went on to the IGN Boards, I clicked on my newsfeed rather than just the alerts (as in notifications) in the boards and I then I found the amazing universe of MyIGN! Then again looking back, there was talk that the header changed slightly (although I probably didn't notice as much, being a new member and all) so that's possibly what caught my eye of the newsfeed in the first place.

It showed me a whole bunch of who GunBlade was talking to and the many things he was commenting with an oddly strange name known as blogs? 0_o What might these be I wondered? Shortly after this amazing discovery, I was notified by GunBlade of an important event... his first blog! I'm not actually sure whether he sent me a link to his blog or even notified me but I think I would have commented on it regardless. This aspect of blogging sure did fascinate me. I mean we could write anything we wanted and speak our minds in much more detail. Plus, I knew who the first person I could tell if I ever needed someone to comment on one of my blogs. As I progressed through the blog, the idea of blogging intrigued me further and further. Especially since we could write anything we wanted as opposed to school which always sets out strict rules on what we have to do... and only a single topic. When commenting, the comment system itself was a time before Disqus was implemented in to the IGN comments... yes there was a time when IGN was free from Disqus mighty control.

In fact, I enjoyed the IGN comments prior to Disqus since it showed who upvoted you first... or last (it's been a while) and ultimately, there was an outcry of people when Disqus entered the scene. Although it wasn't exactly a horrible change since I didn't mind the layout. Plus, it showed how many people upvoted you and who and it also allowed for almost an infinite number of replies I think whereas the old IGN system only allowed for about 3 replies to each comment... which is a good change because most of my favourite conversations online were focused on writing a whole bunch of replies... like 40... very detailed comments. However when I tried to write up a blog, it didn't really say write a new post. Perhaps it's because I didn't level up so I would have blogged slightly sooner after reading his blog... like immediately although it might be the fact that I was on looking on his IGN blog page which might be the reason why I wasn't able to make that option. Still, the second time I checked to see if I could write a blog, I could so I've assumed I was just on the wrong blog home page. In turn, I started blogging. So in a way, the reason I wrote my first blog was possibly due to GunBlade... So thank you GunBlade!

I still maintained communication with GunBlade but ultimately, times changed. Even though when something's new to me, I will still use the old things prior to the event such as playing the Playstation 2 after getting a Playstation 3 and in this case, using the IGN Boards whilst at the same time, making the use of the MyIGN aspect but overtime, I think GunBlade started using the IGN Boards a whole lot more. I was mostly focused on writing up blogs and since I didn't really get along with people on the Boards, I commented on other people's blogs and met some cool new people. Plus the people you're following on the IGN Boards isn't often updated and probably just considers those you follow that use the IGN Boards.

So overall, GunBlade was my first true IGN friend. Even though I might have many best friends as a result of IGN, he was the one got me intrigued in to blogging. I mean it's possible that even if I never met him, I would have eventually have blogged sometime in my life but if he was the one that brought me to MyIGN with the use of a hyperlink, then I'm not quite 100% whether it's likely I would have written blogs especially on IGN... or met the people who I have... who are awesome! ... Mostly. Plus, he's the one who mentions me the most on the IGN forums and gives me more reason to comment in a realm which I don't often visit and became an outsider! Like this one for example.  

I guess we're the two friends who tend to bump in to each other now and again and are happy to see each other. So here's to one of the coolest first IGN followers ever!

See! Not a long blog at all! Although it depends on your perspective. So who was your first follower and the first person you followed on IGN and how did you meet them... if you can remember of course. In that case, feel free to talk about the first few followers you can remember meeting!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! It's been a while! Almost a week since my last blog! The culprit for this would be the amount of school essays I've had to write which coincidentally are all before the Christmas Holidays. That must mean that we won't have any essays to write over the holidays... hopefully. So aside from this, just a few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about how reviews don't necessarily matter towards our perspective. We all have our own ideas and opinions but I think that since the Human brain is so complicated, we're not always going to enjoy every single thing in the world and from what I've noticed from fellow entertainment fanatics is that sometimes certain sequels or perhaps prequels may not be considered as amazing or perhaps eventful as the previous installment. Sometimes I felt like I could enjoy all the sequels of my most favourite franchises but then I came to realise that this wasn't always the case and many sequels of my most favourite games make me think that they could have gone much better. So I do understand where many people are coming from especially since we all have our thoughts about the original or previous installment and how that might have affected us more. Although there are many reasons as to why we may not enjoy sequels, prequels, reboots and (one that makes some people shiver) remakes of the original... if that particular one can be counted of course. Enjoy!

Hype

There is always hype around a video game, movie or episode of a TV show waiting to be released, both in terms of advertising which makes pretty much everyone who's hoping to play or watch it go crazy and our own personal hype. Each of which may reinforce one or the other. For example, when Destiny and Assassin's Creed 3 were ready to be released, there was a whole bunch of advertising for them but there was also a lot of talk leading up the releases. I mean these were the games which were making people wonder what Bungie have been up to the past few years and Assassin's Creed 3 was the game that gamers were waiting for as many as 3 years! Therefore, as a result of this continuous development, it's no doubt that many were going to think that these games would be the ultimate game of the existing franchise, perhaps a milestone for the developers or even perhaps the best game ever! For some, this might have been the case but for many, it wasn't exactly what they expected.

This maybe due to the fact that the hype just doesn't match the actual game. Mostly because there will be a great emphasis on the best parts of the game or from what we've seen from numerous E3 announcements, a version of gameplay which doesn't really seem that close to the product. Particularly if the game scraped what people loved and became more scripted. During the E3 2012 announcement of AC3's gameplay trailer, it appeared that there were a lot of ways in which you could traverse and a whole bunch of side missions which was true in a sense but the missions of collecting meat or fur in the trailer seemed more interactive. When considering the actual game, it was more like "Hello" and "Forever in your gratitude" ... and there were dozens of these individuals... and that was just within one area. Thus, the side missions kinda became a let down to me because it just became repetitive which was unfortunate to see when Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood had so many enjoyable side missions (which to me felt like the primary reason to play the game) and it was difficult to see how a game which took 3 years would have less interesting side missions than the previous installments. It could have at least become on par with the previous games at least.

We're all going to have different perceptions of hype and advertising and therefore, we might develop higher expectations. If people are saying how amazing something is going to be and then more start to join the bandwagon, if it wasn't as great as they hoped it would be, it could potentially backfire unless they find something about the entertainment enjoyable. Especially if the developers are making the full force of their advertising like the company depends on it.

Then again, hype is usually something that shows the expression of how fans want the game or movie and how companies may utilise this as a way of advertising to further their interest... but just advertising and hype in itself doesn't show what makes people react in certain ways completely and sometimes, hype simply reinforces people's attitudes and expectations which leads on to the next factor.

Thoughts and speculation

As we begin to enjoy a specific game, movie or book, we may see in different respects to others. With Ratchet and Clank, I always saw it as delving in to the vastness of the Universe with so many varieties which made it seem like there were infinite possibilities. So when games such as Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One arrived, it made me think that the franchise was heading in a direction that I didn't enjoy as well. In some ways, it became more of the opposite of what the first games stood for since it became more linear and barely any regions of Space and other planets were discovered. New Aliens and variety was pretty limited. Despite the fact that I was really hoping the franchise would move on from R&C: A Crack in Time, this wasn't the way in which I hoped and in some ways, I wish that the game should never have been released.

I'm not a close minded person and I would have loved to have seen co-op in some way as well as new things but it almost felt like it should have been the basis of a new franchise and I suppose it was with Overstr... I mean Fuse. It just seemed like the series was lacking in what it was built up towards and since there were already changes with a cartoony format, it was like it was abandoning the direction it was heading with huge exploration and varied planets and species and instead, emphasising games with single planets and shiny graphics which made my eyes hurt. This shows what I believe the series is. A franchise which made me fascinated about the vast topic of the Universe and even many principles of science fiction such as robotics so when it came to a brand new style, it just didn't kinda go for me. However everyone's gonna experience games and movies in different ways. It's going to have a different impact on them. Thus for me, the older series and in some respects the Future series remain the games which close fit my favourite aspects of the series.

That was just a simplified example. When it comes to a franchise like Assassin's Creed, it becomes much more... complicated... to say the least. In particular, the sense of the first game made me think that there was a whole mystery of God and religion which made me much more intrigued with the series. However, even though Altair was one, I still thought that he would be a part of the franchise in the future as well as Ezio and so when I first heard about Assassin's Creed: Revelations, I went a little crazy about the game especially since I thought there were many things which needed to be answered including Altair's true fate and eventually how the Templars were able to develop after Ezio... Although even though my mind was spinning with ideas and speculation, the game wasn't really what I anticipated. The game itself just felt like more filler and even though Brotherhood's story wasn't hugely great, the side missions made it feel like I was a part of rebuilding Rome and it was really leading up to something interesting. Instead, Revelations just wasn't the game I was looking forward to because after playing it, I realised the story was very simplistic and I couldn't connect with Constantinople. To be honest, there weren't really any side missions aside from a few Assassin recruitment missions and delivering a few boxes up to the 4 steps... seriously. I see many people enjoy the game much more even for it's story so I guess that maybe I was letting my thoughts get away with me but then again, for a series that was amping a cool story, it's no wonder why I expected so many plot twists and understanding of the characters.

What I love(d) about the franchise is (was) that there was a connection between the historical and modern day character since it felt like I was witnessing their journeys... which made me double excited. When it came to Revelations though, the characters such as Altair, Ezio and even Desmond and Clay didn't seem to have a whole lot of relevance. So much so that Revelations was (in my eyes) skipable because it essentially had no impact on the final game whatsoever. Therefore, I'm not really surprised that I think this way. I mean if AC3 was released instead of Brotherhood, the final Desmond game, then I think we would have seen more relevance involving the characters. It was like the series had the potential to compete with other story arcs including Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid and at least it they made standalone games, it could have been after AC3. Unfortunately, even though there was a storyline leading up to AC3, characters including Lucy and Daniel have really no impact. I mean nothing's really explained about them and they're more like an after thought and that's if you talk to the other characters in the game! Therefore, when considering this Desmond arc, I wish that the new historical character would have been affected by the actions of both Altair and Ezio or perhaps the character would impact them. I'm not saying I hated Connor or the American Revolutionary setting. Everything has potential but in my view, it was the point at which new characters were simply thrown in the franchise in a popular setting and time frame with a quick standalone storyline.

So Assassin's Creed has ultimately become the opposite of what I believed the franchise to be which is pretty sad... and hurting! Developers aren't supposed to give up on their story and hint towards so many possibilities! Sure, AC2 was another vengeful story but it had twists and turns and it was really leading up to something special... unfortunately they went backwards with the story and when considering the most recent games, it's not even that simple for new audiences because old stories are being brought up. I believe that the final Desmond game could have got many up to speed and then could have ended it with a brand new series. Maybe it would create the premise of the new series but with the latest games, it's like they're throwing in new questions and nothing will be answered. Although many people will like and hate certain Assassin's Creed games for a variety of different reasons so it might not just be me talking in an incomprehensible language. This is why I've pretty much had to write numerous blogs about where the games went wrong and how they could have been better... in my view.

Much of the reason why I believe that speculation is influential is yes, it made me think that the games would be much greater and build up on the original games but I also noticed these signs when I was younger... before Ubisoft betrayed me. Take Star Wars for example. I didn't mind the prequel trilogy (dodges arrows), the first was kinda boring, the second was okay and the third was pretty exciting but when I look at the original trilogy, I can see what people mean. Many of the remaining Jedi would talk about the dark times and that could have opened the doors to many things like consistent conflicts around the galaxy, disconnected star systems in terms of communications and a very dark atmosphere. So when reflecting back to the series, I could see their point since there was a lot of politics in the movies... which I don't really think many people would want. I mean the characters of the original trilogy had other ways of confronting the enemies...

Then again, some of these franchise are also down to other factors too...

Franchises becoming mainstream and nostalgia 

A series like Star Wars is one of the many that has survived to this very day but ultimately, it has changed in some respects in order to support the developing technology of entertainment with the use of special effects. In addition, a whole bunch of new audiences are now keen to watch the franchise from what they enjoy such as dark and sometimes realistic themes. I'm not quite sure whether this will apply to the the new upcoming Star Wars movie since we haven't really heard much about it... until most recently...

Of course this isn't everything that we have yet to see about the movie but I've been pretty skeptical about the movie ever since it was first announced (dodges further arrows) because I can't help but think that this the new series is just to get the attention of the fans of the original series. To say it will work for every fan would be incorrect because some may not enjoy it more than others. Some may prefer the story of the very first movies and even the style of the movie with the graphics and special effects. I mean it's been a while since the very first movies and many still prefer to watch 70s and 80s movies over the most recent movies. Maybe this is a sign of the nostalgia effect kicking in.

The reason why I'm pretty skeptical is also because of the fact that the series probably won't delve in to anything new. After seeing Star Trek: In to Darkness, I'm a little worried that it might just be a few fights in HD and trying hard to focus on showing off the Millennium Falcon since In to Darkness did feel more like it was trying to be too close to Wrath of Khan... to which J.J Abrams blamed it on the video game... which is an easy excuse to make when most video game adaptations of movies are often criticised anyway... The next issue I encountered with that particular movie was that it looked like it was trying to use similar themes from other movies such as the villain type of a crazy and dark villain. Why? Because it's been the basis of many films ever since The Joker in The Dark Knight. So if you don't enjoy the themes to which companies utilise to get the attention of much of the public, then you may enjoy is less than others. Plus, with the desert surrounding, it just feels like... Earth rather than a planet far, far away.

However even though a franchise such as Star Wars is already mainstream, appealing to new audiences usually faces a few problems with fans of the original. For example, referring back to series like Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect, after fans enjoyed the very first games, it became much more popular but this rise in popularity ultimately became the demise for many people's love of the franchises. I've met people who love the very first Mass Effect for it's choices but overtime, the series delivered a much more simplistic story, more linear with fewer choices and more combat focused and this doesn't apply to Mass Effect but also many other franchises too and I can't really find a popular series which hasn't adopted a more simplified style. So when considering people's nostalgia, it may or may not influence whether they enjoy the next installment. If the movie, video game or comic book has a big impact on them, then it will be much more special to them.

To be honest, sometimes I wonder if I never played the favourite games that I have in the past and then decided to play them right now. I believe that most likely I probably wouldn't enjoy them as much and I would probably even enjoy some of the most recent installments. Therefore, I think that nostalgia could very well play a role but it's still a complex thing to determine whether someone will like the sequel or not. I mean many might criticise the movie or game for being too similar to the previous ones or perhaps too different and I guess that reinforces what I said about Assassin's Creed and Ratchet and Clank. Both have gone in to a different direction which seems more simplified and less diverse but it has maintained being focused on new audiences for a while. In that respect, it has both become different and similar... if that makes sense. AC2 felt very different from ACB but with AC: Rogue and even other franchises such as Watch Dogs, it seems too similar.

The next aspect is one which is probably the most obvious yet most substantial.

I don't wanna sequel!

Movies, video games, books and TV shows have many different storylines. Many of which people love whole heartedly so when seeing a sequel being announced, it might just send shivers down their spines. Especially if the form of entertainment had a very definitive ending. In some cases, many prefer an open minded ending and would prefer to wonder about the many possibilities of what could happen next... with the resulting consequence of a sequel.

Perhaps the game could be huge already and just seem too perfect to have a sequel and this might be emphasised by some sequels which haven't come to everyone's liking. Maybe the fear that they won't enjoy the next addition may produce more of a pessimistic view in turn. Particularly if they don't really enjoy the sound of where the story's going or if they're worried about the actors or publishers of the movie or game.

In a way, sometimes I think Assassin's Creed might have been better without so many sequels. Maybe just ending with AC3 or at least on hiatus would respect the franchise' integrity. Then Ubisoft could focus on new franchises and then return to the AC franchise with a new series... in a few years.

In conclusion, sequels aren't necessarily a bad thing. There's no definition of good or bad in the entertainment world... or universe. We all arrive at series at different times and experience different moments. I mean I could start playing a franchise now and enjoy one of the games but it might be a sequel which is loathed by many. It brings diversity of the series and even if we don't enjoy them, we can say what we didn't like and how it could have been better in our own perspective. However, in my experience of video gaming and watching movies, the reasons why I may not enjoy a particular sequel is because of the amount of hype which often led me to believe that the game would go beyond what I could even think of. That hasn't been the case and as certain series progress, it might make former fans want to say stop! Then at least the series wouldn't deteriorate further. It happened with Medal of Honor but as series like Assassin's Creed progress, it has made me think about the many disappointments and to never buy too much in the hype. I will always think about my ideas and speculate about particular franchises which might explain why I don't consider many things to be masterpieces anymore. However I think this is something which happens to all of us. To say we're going to like every single thing of a franchise would be crazy! Perhaps some people think that but with series changing either too slightly or too differently and depending on when we arrive to the series, I believe we're all going to think different things and have different opinions. It's only natural to enjoy certain movies or games more than the successor.

So there you have it! Are there any sequels with movies/games/TV series and books which you didn't enjoy as much as the predecessor? Don't be afraid to talk about the biggest disappointments too!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! It well... hasn't been too much of a while since I last showed my presence on IGN and my most recent blog was only a few days ago. So I think many are kinda playing catch up which is good because then people have plenty to read! However, a lot of the deadlines for my school essays are fast approaching which means that this week and next week will be slightly more difficult to write up blogs even if they're (slightly) smaller and less in detail. Hmm... Perhaps I will write one over the weekend but you can be sure that within 2 weeks time, I will be writing a whole bunch of blogs as the days fly right towards Christmas!

So since I won't have much time to blog in the coming days, I have decided to write up a funny blog for you to enjoy. Bearing in mind that this won't be the only funny blog and there is more to see as the days reach Christmas. Particularly on Christmas. So in this blog, I have a few funny videos lined up for you. I don't own these videos or anything... I will probably get Youtube account one day... but it's probably not likely.

Enjoy!

Assassin's Creed: Glitches (... It's not the name of a game or anything)

With the release of Assassin's Creed: Unity... and Assassin's Creed: Rogue and... others, I believe it's time to reflect on the many glitches throughout the series in celebration!

Malfoy (Cartman) crossover

David Cameron Cassetteboy

I... can't really get this music out of my head.

Burn After Reading: The beginning of the movie

E3 Nutshell EA

To think I actually liked their games almost a decade ago! Some of my friends even like them! Blasphemy!

And we end off with...

Mr Caffeine

Duddloo Dududuloop

Thanks for reading and watching! Like I said, there will be many more blogs on the way. Many more detailed and full of surprises. As well as many fun blogs. Christmas and New Year is the perfect excuse for a fun blog.

Happy Gaming!

Hey MyIGNers! I hope you're doing okay and that no Aliens have taken over the site or anything. Ugh! Disqus! Christmas is fast approaching and with time deciding to speed up all of a sudden, I think it's time to write up yet another blog. Yep! I finally have free time and the Christmas holidays are only about a week away for me which can only mean one thing... blogs dedicated towards the festivities. So what am I going to talk about today? Well I've been meaning to write up blogs about countries for a while and some I wanted to mix up with video gaming (being a gamer myself) so now I believe it's time that I get started with this blog series... well one of them anyway. Basically, I'll talk about a country, region or city and how I've experienced the areas... within video games and also TV series, movies and books. Hmm... Perhaps I will talk about the video game developers of that area and even my experiences if I've been to that country or area but for this blog, I will talk about one that I have never been to... but hopefully that won't be for long. Enjoy!

For this first blog of the series, I have decided to pick Hawaii. The home of lush greenery, clear waters and lovely effusive volcanoes.

As well as a nice history of tribal groups... and then the empires came along. This isn't an archipelago that I have even set foot on. It's almost on the exact other side of the world where I live. However thanks to the entertainment industry, I have been able to experience the area within video games and TV series. Many fictional and some non-fictional... some even historical fiction but sadly I haven't really watched many movies or read many books that I can recall about the islands. That's where you come in and feel free to talk about you own experiences of the islands from movies, books or even by visiting the islands. Lucky you!

So the first series I can remember where I first understood about the islands would probably be a series which has both a mixture of movies, a TV series and a video game. It is...

Lilo and Stitch

Okay, many people laugh at me when I talk about this franchise. I don't know why. Although then again, I suppose at the time, Shrek was all the craze. Who wants to see a Hawaiian attempting to be friends with a cuddly mutant Alien defeating other superpowered aliens and how he fits in with his Ohana (family) when they can see an Ogre and his Donkey...? Not that I hate Shrek of course. I probably just have some issues from previous arguments about which series was better... even though I've always been the Dreamworks kind of person.

Anyways like I said, this series is about Stitch (Experiment 626) who crash lands on a strange looking planet called Earth (I've heard there's a lot of crazy people who live on that planet) and disguises himself as a pet but ultimately meets Lilo and that's where the film takes off. I won't say anymore because there will probably be spoilers as a result.

When watching the series for the first time however, I was in the frame of mind in which I didn't really understand the world around me. I didn't known much about how the planet was developed in terms of continental plates or the oceans or even whether any of the things within movies were actually fictional. Similar to TV series like Pokemon which was also has a few islands here and there, I kind of assumed it was something similar. By similar I mean, I didn't quite understand the location of all these areas but I sure had fun watching the series anyway! The setting just seemed to match the series perfectly. With it's diversity and vibrant community yet isolated region which could be harboured by aliens. Maybe it's because of the fact that the mixture of futuristic alien species which are way ahead of us and the Hawaiian population which has still maintained it's traditions just made me think that the island was full of mystery. So many wonders about it.

This is reinforced by when I started watching the TV series. Essentially, it was based on many different experiment pods (cuddly yet deadly and not so silent aliens) which were being activated and with so many different varieties of both the superpowered beings, their purposes and also the island' terrain, it's no wonder why I thought this series was so cool! At the time, I loved characters with superpowers but the only other series I knew about was the Teen Titans which was cool too... but I wasn't really aware what a DC or Marvel was at the time so no comic books for me. As well as the fact that I enjoyed watching Pokemon but was unable to find out what channel they were on or what happened to their existence! So Lilo and Stitch kinda acted as the substitute series and there were even fights in the series which looked like they were trying to compete with the Japanese series or something. To be honest, the TV series is what engaged me much more in the franchise because of how the experiments link in with with the terrain such as an Experiment based on Ice would create his own palace... but then decide to take on an easy life by making additional Ice Creams! There were even episodes similar to specials like Simpsons Treehouse of Horror in which the experiment aliens had certain powers like scaring people away or just being a Christmas star... quite literally. However in that sense, it was like Lilo and Stitch were making Hawaii a better place. They were forming their own family and friends.

Although it did make me think of a darker side of the story when dividing the movies from the TV series. The TV series were great for action and variety but the movies were much more storyline focused. Particularly with LoS but it's sequel, LoS2 seemed much more darker in the sense that things were just getting worse for the characters despite all the good things in their lives. So when looking at Stitch! The Movie, the TV series and Leroy and Stitch, it was something that people would enjoy and laugh and it kind of reminded me of series like Star Wars in which there's just so many possibilities. LoS2 on the other hand I believe was more focused on the friendship between the 2 main characters however it made me think about death and the concept of the unknown as well. It's a similar feeling that I get with stories about uninhibited islands or islands that we don't know much about such as in Crysis. Whilst it might not be something that's terrifying in which a ghost will simply pop out of nowhere, it makes me think that something bad will happen or at least something of an unease. Sometimes it makes me think of life in general with all the uncertainties we may face. Although it helps value the people in my life that mean the most to me. It's not like I'm ever going to let them go. Spoilers ahead in the video if you wish to avoid them!

So where does this also link in with video gaming? Since I loved the TV series so much and since it was something most recent, I thought that most likely, the Playstation 1 video game would be similar especially considering that Experiment 626 was also based on other Experiments aside from Stitch. However... it become something that I didn't really want but also what I was expecting to an extent. It was more like Crash Bandicoot where you had to run to or away from a direction as well as featuring sub levels which wasn't a bad thing... but I was kind of looking for something open world.

Looking back and re-watching the movies, it does make me think more about the traditions of the Hawaiian people and sometimes when I'm watching these movies, it's kind of difficult to comprehend that it's owned by the USA. In a way, I've always seen it closer to Japan or Asia but I can't really explain why. It's just something about the forests and the fact that there's so much mystery about it. Maybe it was just that it was a good competitor against Pokemon... to me at least. It also makes me think about the languages since all the phrases seem to be kinda catchy. Oloha!

Although when considering the fact that Stitch had a new series... set in Japan... without finding all these superaliens, it just seems so odd and to me, it feels like the series has lost it's sense. Then again, I did enjoy the series more for the Experiments so maybe there were fans of the movies who didn't really like the first TV series to begin with.

Test Drive Unlimited 2

I love all kinds of driving games but I just never really played many of them. So in 2011, I decided to buy this game mostly at the fact that it was a sandbox game. I won't go in to great detail because then I think I will probably write up a review but what I can say was that you could journey to much of Ibiza... and Hawaii. Of course though, they wanted to save the best until last. I remember that it was a game that I really enjoyed but there were just so many problems with the camera and the movements of the car just felt off. The layout and characters of the game were a little annoying too but it didn't really bother me especially when I completed enough driving challenges (which was sometimes frustrating with the movements) and earned the money to get to Hawaii, I could easily ignore whatever people were saying to me.

It was really fun driving around the paradise and I recall going to somewhere in central Oahu where I kind of slipped over the road and ended up in the jungles. I don't know why but that's what reminded me about Japan more and also about my first racing experiences with demos and soon to be broken PS1 games... No! I didn't break them! If you would like a tour of the island in a video game version, here you go.

Going to the east was nice because it looked like the houses were placed in the wake of the sea and the jungles just for the use of quick exploration for the residents. It even rained (which is one of my favourite types of weather) and seeing all the players online driving around aimlessly because no one really wanted to race any of the players with Ferraris, was fun! Although I wonder how much of it was actually related to the actual island. I assume that there would be more buildings, wildlife and well... people on the streets but in that sense, it brings forward other games based on existing areas including The Crew. I highlight The Crew in particular because Test Drive Unlimited 2 did have the ability to join different groups of racers, meet up at your fellow racer villas and well, race! So basically, The Crew is Test Drive Unlimited 3 in a sense. I mean, it still hasn't dealt with the problem of the car's movements! Sorry, I just couldn't help my Anti-Ubisoft attitude but for the time, it was a game that predecessor to Ubisoft's most recent driving game.

In a way, it did remind me of Lilo and Stitch quite a bit because that's how I first understood the Archipelago but it's not like I was expecting superpowered aliens to be flying around at any moment. Although I didn't really like the whole frame rate and from my previous knowledge, I didn't know trees would appear and vanish within seconds!

Tony Hawk's Underground

Ah, the memories when you could finally get off of your skateboard and run around until you wanted to skate again... or drive. Yes! It is Tony Hawk's Underground which did feature Hawaii as one of it's locations. Although there were really a whole bunch of locations I could name which I enjoyed travelling to but just the whole concept about paradise and a skateboard? Now that was cool. Okay at the time it was pretty neat and no! They weren't any surfers since the characters can't really swim.

I can't quite explain why it was enjoyable aside from that. It was probably my second... no third favourite location but I still had a blast playing through it. Maybe it was because it was a change of the settings in Eastern USA. Perhaps it was the strange portal you could go threw past that totem? I can't really explain more than that. It was pretty confusing to me. Although when considering the story, it was a pretty key moment. I will try not spoil for anyone that wants to play the decade old game but I will say that it's where things change for the main characters and basically where the story progresses forwards.

To be honest though, aside from these things, it wasn't a setting I played 24/7 since there wasn't a great deal to offer for it. By the time I got to areas like Vancouver, I was swept away with skateboarding in the hotel and trying to get the biggest combo ever whilst in the skating arena. Plus it was sunny so it's not like the weather was excluded to Hawaii... in the video game of course. Then again, there was still a bit of mystery about the Hawaiian setting because of the Totem for one but also all the skateboarding areas within the gutters. Then again, not many people would go down that way.

Finally as far as I can remember, there was a TV series which is pretty recent and I've kinda got round to in moderation.

Hawaii Five-0

Slightly more further away from any of the franchises and games that I've referred to since this series puts much more emphasis on the American side of the archipelago. I mean, many of the characters are American and there is a story about marines and all but there's still plenty of locals around. Well from the episodes that I have seen.

I remember watching the series when it first aired and I guess at the time since 24 was one of my favourite TV programmes to watch, this looked like it could very well be next. Especially since I was pretty crazy about thrillers at the time... not so much now but Hawaii Five-0 just stood out for me because of many things. Not just about Jack Bauer flipping over a table for trying to uncover the name of someone but instead about the style. The setting, the characters, the whole origin story, it all seemed perfect to me... well at the time but I really can't blame myself because it was new to me. I suppose there are many shows about detectives... wait I'll say that again. There are many shows about detectives. Perhaps maybe too many but this series stands out more, perhaps for some it could be the setting but like I said, it's the combination of many things and how the characters connect with the setting as well as the story. I mean surfers, storylines involving rituals, government cover ups, mafias relocating to the country... Shrimp! It's a mixture of many things. It has a lot of Western influence of course but it still draws my interest.

Perhaps because it has some diversity or it's at least more varied than other shows since series like CSI just seem too humerous to me. The humour just doesn't fit and the chase scenes are just silly when they are chasing random people in the open road overlooking the coastline with absolutely no barriers to stop them. Whereas with Hawaii Five-0, it's funny to an extent I guess but it feels much more compelling and it doesn't have silly music in the backround. I have a feeling some people might be hating me for that but then again, I haven't watched a whole lot of the CSI series. It's still funny I guess seeing the guy from Vertical Limit and the actress from Kindergarten Cop. Looking back at Hawaii-0, it does remind of Uncharted. Whilst I don't quite enjoy the Uncharted franchise completely, it does remind me of the time when we first saw Drake and Sully or when they were travelling the world with a few treasure hunter fanatics. What am I saying? I'm saying that they were interesting characters to me and the same goes for Hawaii Five-0 although you can tell how the characters have evolved further overtime to trusting each other much more.

Although I haven't exactly been an avid fan all the way through. It's not that I don't enjoy it but I wanted to buy the season boxsets so I could watch them from the start. Streaming isn't for me so since I didn't buy any DVD collections of the particular series, I kinda lost track. I watch it now and again but usually they're really key points of the season... like the ending. So perhaps I need to watch through them a bit more. Buy a few DVDs if I must!

What I would like to see next

If I was to see a new video game taking on the setting of Hawaii, I wouldn't really mind what it would be. Another driving game, perhaps a Just Cause game taking on the role of some new terrain but renaming it or something. Maybe a game similar to Never Alone in which Hawaiian traditions could be uncovered and explored with their mythologies and deities or maybe the developers of that specific game could hire people who are from Hawaii themselves! A game of Hawaii Five-0 with either open world or smaller material but continuing like we see with the Walking Dead or Tales of the Borderlands I don't really know whether I would enjoy a shooter because Crysis and Far Cry 3 seem very similar to that kind of setting but if a developer made it unique, then I think it would be fine. Although a brand new series featuring Hawaii or even an entire franchise focused on Hawaii completely would be fun!

A few years ago, I probably would have said something like, anything with Ubisoft's franchise would be great. Then again, looking at the state of Ubisoft now, I'm not quite sure whether it would do the setting justice. I mean would love to see a Watch Dogs game focusing on ctOS with a different style and using local informants or artificial trees which act as surveillance until they're discovered by the main characters and they need to uncover the extent of it's influence. Maybe a character originating from that region and being able to migrate to other areas of the Pacific as well as Asia and the Americas. I would even love an Assassin's Creed game set during the tribal kingdoms and then the arrival of the European Empires but I don't know whether there would be much relevance about the setting. Areas such as Constantinople and New York seem great but there's not a huge connection between the characters and the city and neither is there much within the cities compared to other previous games. Plus without a modern day character, it doesn't feel like the series is going anywhere and the more standalone yet similar games they develop with a very small modern day section, the further it pushes it me away. So I really wouldn't it to be set in an area just to get a lot of money... but that's what a lot of companies do nowadays.

Overall, Hawaii has been a pretty common setting that I have known about and it was because of the TV series and video games that I knew about this area in the first place. However, it is mostly because of Lilo and Stitch that I knew about Hawaii...and remembered it. So in a way, this is probably a Lilo and Stitch blog. Although I'm sure I would have come across Hawaii somewhere. I'm not sure about the what if possibilities but if I never played these games or watched these series, then I'm sure I would have discovered the archipelago at sometime like a "best places to visit" documentary.

Enough about me! What games, movies, TV series and books have you experienced about Hawaii and yes, you can mention your experiences if you've actually been there.

Also would you like to see more blogs like these in the future? I appreciate your feedback.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! Christmas is fast approaching which for many can only mean a few things... free video games! As well as free movies, Season boxsets, comic books, novels, video gaming consoles... So only a few days ago, I decided to list out a few of the games that I'm interested in getting for Christmas. Although I don't usually write blogs about this kind of thing. In fact, I've only written a single blog about the games I will get for Christmas and that was almost 2 years ago! 0_0 Many people haven't known me for that long. Some might have only have known me for a couple of days! I do however tend to write blogs about the games I am hoping to get in the Spring of every year for the rest of the specific year but usually my list of the games I want will change... pretty quickly and sometimes only a single game will correspond to the list. Sometimes the fact that I only get a single game from my list at all is because I decide to write the list just over a month away or less from my birthday. If I didn't, then perhaps I wouldn't have asked for or bought any of the games! 0_0

So why is this? I believe it's mostly down to E3 and the games which are not only given much more information but they are simply announced. So I will do my research more in to that game and this is reinforced by the events of gaming events including Gamescom and just times when developers decide to tease use with an upcoming game we've all been waiting for! Secondly, it's probably down to the fact that I've become much more open minded about games and so I don't really have a fixed mindset of what video game to get anymore. Many of my favourite franchise have either gone quiet, lost their theme or have suffered the issues of being an annualised series. Therefore, I sometimes lean towards games that I haven't played (some I never even heard until a few months before the game' release) and a few games which support the kind of game I want including a multiplayer game or Role Playing Game.

As a result, I will talk about the games I'm hoping to get as part of my Xmas presents but also why my choices might have changed slightly in favour of others. Also feel free to talk about the games you're hoping to get and why your choices might have changed. Enjoy!

Tales of Xillia 2

A popular franchise in Japan being a Japanese Role Playing Game and perhaps only behind Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts in terms of popularity of JRPGs. When concerning the popularity outside of Japan, it's almost barely recognised because shooters and sports games are the way of the world. Well at least in my gaming neighbourhood. The people who I talk to about the series (who I refer to as associates, sources, friends) have shown a lot of mixed reviews about the most recent game. There was almost a hype involving the English dubbed version of the first Tales of Xillia last year with the people who I hanged around (who knew about it's existence) but after a few weeks, it quickly died down. Some enjoy it more for humour but they might criticise the stereotypical characters, others enjoy it more for the ability to play as many characters and they're more mature and whereas some might hate the game wholeheartedly. Of course, their opinions are going to be shaped by their experiences of previous games especially with a whole bunch of JRPGs out there.

Although the truth is that I haven't really played many JRPGs in the past (Dodges arrows) because like I said, my choices of games tend to change and the video games I've played in the past tend to be all over the place. So I've only had a few games of each genre like first person shooters, racing games, RPGs, sports and puzzlers. With the most common only taking up slightly more of my gaming collection and that would be action-adventure games. Bearing this in mind, the JRPGs I've played in the past were only partial extracts of particular franchises such as Final Fantasy IX and a couple of Kingdom Hearts games... for the consoles I have. It's not to say that I've never played other Japanese games because games including Ace Combat and Ape Escape are some of the franchises that I have enjoyable moments with. Heck! Even the consoles I have are Japanese... although Sony is very much Westernized now... and so is Ace Combat.

Anyways, since most of the games with a lot of American influence tend to be getting a little boring now, I have decided to stretch my wings, expand my horizons. I could really start off anywhere with JRPGs and not just that! Simply aspects including Anime and Manga are pretty new to me. Which in a way is why I've chosen Tales of Xillia 2 as a starting point. It's not something I'm really familiar with but it's something I've recognised for at least a year now so I've been doing more research about the series. From what I see, it does interest more when compared to the most popular games in the USA and the UK because the characters actually have personality instead of conforming to boring mainstream characters who seem to be praised for their interesting personalities and uniqueness? 0_o Plus, if you don't like someone, just play as someone else and that's more than many games allow us to do now (coughs) Final Fantasy. It does look like it has some flaws at least in some ways which might hinder me from being intrigued because sometimes the humour just doesn't seem for me and since this is the only game in the Tales series which was released only a year after the previous installment, I'm not surprised that some didn't enjoy it that much. I mean it sounds more like a way to continue the existing characters in some way... but maybe it was a bit too quickly. Therefore it might have appeared similar to the previous game or maybe because people have been brought up with many JRPGs, people are more likely to criticise it more for it's similarities with other games... or people just might enjoy other games and franchises.

In way, this is why I didn't ask for Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix. Um... (Dodges ballistic missiles) Well I did originally have Kingdom Hearts as one of the 4 games I was hoping to get especially since I love the story arc and it's even inspired me with my own stories. Especially with Birth by Sleep and so it would be nice to play on a device that I have rather than reading up on the game and watching gameplay videos.

However, I made a very difficult choice. My list quickly built up with a comic book trade and a DVD collection so since I've already played Kingdom Hearts 2 at least, I wanted to keep my list new and fresh with few things that will be similar to me... which I could potentially hate and regret. Sometimes I believe it's best not to think about the things I've just missed out on for a few months. That doesn't mean all hope is lost for the amazing HD collection because I could easily get it next year especially since I want to get a whole bunch of HD collections that I never decided to buy when they were first released which will probably be super cheap now... whilst everyone else is off buying expensive games for the newer consoles hehe. I still don't know why Ratchet and Clank games on their own of the HD collection were priced at $15 on PS Store in the USA. I bought it for that price when I got in PS2 just after a year. Then again, it is PS Store. A place that sells games that will never support my PS3's space.

F1 2014

I don't often buy sports games and even though this is more racing based, it does have a lot of close attributes to games such as FIFA and Rally games. Particularly when considering the focus of change with the season rather than much innovation. That's why I'm not really a common fan of the F1 gaming series and tend to not really buy many of the games on offer even though I enjoy the sport... well when watching it because seeing football and basketball matches tends to act like a drain on my awareness and surroundings... basically I fall asleep.

Although in a way, the F1 series is pretty special me because it was the first indication that I got what I never thought I would own... a Playstation 2! 0_0 It was Christmas 2014 at about 3 o'clock in the morning and as usual, I looked to see how many presents I had in my stocking and the variety of different objects always felt like lumps of Gold... unless you include that pointless Orange which ultimately ruined the stocking I was brought up with! I only used another for the next year and that was it. So I could have kept the stocking if it survived for another year. Anyways, I opened up the present once I realised what it was, I believed there was 2 possibilities. Either I have a PS2 which I was really hoping for or I simply got PS2 games without the console... which would have been awkward and not to mention heart breaking but most likely I would have treasured the games as a remnant of the Gods. The strange yet cool thing is that, with the other games I got which including Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, I think about the other 2 games when playing them. For example, if I'm playing CB: WoC, I think about F1 and sometimes when playing the Harry Potter games on the PS2, I think about F1 cars just outside and the Crash Bandicoot snow levels. As well of thinking about castles and furry animals when playing F1 2004.

Looking back, F1 2004 was a fun game to play especially since I loved the locations especially in Japan and the difficulty allowed me to be about 5 laps ahead of everyone else. I know some things have changed then such as the realism, difficulty, menu and customisation but it's gone a step back in terms of the graphics and there is almost little to no change. If there is, it's not too pretty because when playing the F1 2013 demo, it just didn't seem quite right. At least compared with F1 2011 which had a whole barrage of praise rather than hate. I haven't played the games aside from F1 2004 and a few demos so perhaps I will inevitably enjoy it more than most.

Even with my racing games in general, I only have a handful of games involving action (Split/Second Velocity) and others with pick ups (Crash Nitro Kart) so perhaps this is something more positive for me. Many people say that racing games are the most overrated genre and looking at the games over the past 3 years, even if they try to be different, it will probably suffer with flaws. For example, Test Drive Unlimited 2 had a system where you could join different groups of racers and hang out in their apartments... especially since the only person who had to pay in terms of point was the owner. However there was a simple problem that made this whole concept almost completely flawed. After buying the game just about a month after it's release... no one was joining the racing groups! Even if there were racers around to compete with who were probably part of racing groups too, then no one would want to race against them when their car only has a maximum speed limit of 60MPH and the others have a speed of 120MPH... Sorry did I say speed? I meant acceleration... within the first 10 seconds.

So since it's essentially been a decade since my eyes glimpsed on my very first PS2 game that I set my eyes on (that was mine) gives me the feeling that it's more of an obligation to play F1 2014 after 10 years. Who knows? Maybe I will do the same thing when it comes to Call of Duty.

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

I'm going to be honest with you. I don't really enjoy Batman as a character, his storyline whether within Gotham or as part of different groups such as the Justice League or much of the entertainment that he is in including comic books, movies and video games. Mostly because he just seems too dull of a character even more than Bioware's most recent characters...I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for this. Plus, the story tends to be all the same in which a villain is locked up and then breaks out which completely contradicts his entire purpose! If he's brutally battering weaker villains, why doesn't he put a complete stop to the main villains who are creating them in the first place? In some ways, his side of the universe with Gotham and the characters he meets as well doesn't really interest me that much either and I suppose the hype doesn't quite exactly help me project a positive perception of the character. It confuses me when people say he's an interesting character because I personally found Connor Kenway to have more emotion and yet badass at the same time. Not perfect but I don't see how people can hate Connor but love Batman. Is it because Batman is the first dark character they've ever heard of? Perhaps people just like white characters? I don't understand how he can be relatable. Okay maybe in the mornings when everyone's groggy. Well at least on Mondays. Most of my friends love the Batman side but get bored of everything else about the DC universe.

So why on Earth am I even considering buying this game?! Well it's very simple. It's not just about Batman because there's a whole variety of DC characters from Superman to Alfred. From The Joker to um... Adam West.

The beauty of this aspect is that not only within Lego games do characters have unique abilities but if you really hate on particular character but love another, why not just pick and select... assuming that you've unlocked the characters... and you're playing through free play mode. This also makes makes the game much more replayable especially with the new DLC packs on the horizon adding the Bizarro League and Sunfire and Raven. 0_0

I've always been a fan of Traveler's Tales games from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex to the very first Lego games. I haven't played all their games and maybe that was a good thing because they did seem like they were getting repetitive for a bit with games like Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones... and I don't even enjoy those series which would probably have been even worse if I got them. However, they've improved much more by adding voices instead of simply grunting which has allowed for more humour, more open world areas or at least non linear areas and also more diversity between the characters. In fact, most of the recent games seem to have a different layout which include Lord of the Rings with different hub worlds and levels between them whereas Lego Marvel Heroes is more open world compared to the previous games. In some ways, the Lego series reminds me of the Ratchet and Clank franchise. It may have a similar feel and the same engine but the story, abilities, weapon upgrades characters and locations just make everything seem much different!

Although it was a tough choice between Lego Batman 3 and Lego Marvel Heroes. I enjoy both DC and Marvel in their own ways (aside from you know... Batman) but in the previous years, it just felt like the characters of DC either had every single power and was thus essentially a god or goddess or they had no powers at all. Whereas Marvel seemed to have much more diversity and there were powers that could allow the character to become more recognised and also represent a few of their weaknesses. In a way, this is reinforced by the entertainment of the movies too because whilst some of the movies became darker, it wasn't too realistic as saw with Batman and the aspects I didn't enjoy about the Nolan series was that it was hindering new characters from joining such as a character simply with any superpower or even characters that might expand the series such as Robin or even the Justice League. Plus, the hype about the uniqueness of the series and movies like Inception again confused me.

Since I'm not Batman's No.1 fan, I didn't get in to the video games either so when I played the Marvel Heroes demo, it was almost like the game was totally for me. However since I could never access Uncharted 3 multiplayer because of connection issues which coincidentally happened after a patch to introduce a new hairpiece and a few other things like deleting my videos and erasing my existence from the leaderboards as well as the amount of updates for Battlefield 3 gave me a few problems when trying to playing multiplayer games. So, since I'm probably not going to pay for any multiplayer service no matter which console I decide to buy, I chose to get... Call of Duty: Ghosts instead. Talk about my Christmas list choices changing just after a matter of days.

Just like this though, after playing the demo for the new Batman game, despite my dislike of the hype surrounding Batman and the Nolan series, I had a really great time with such a vibrant cast of characters and so many outfits to use! So my mind was subject to change... you could call it brainwashing. As well as Injustice which made me see more hope in a potential movies involving the Justice League. I suppose the announcements of the amount of movies on the way and the fact that I enjoy the TV series of DC characters, did have an impact on my choice when compared with Marvel series like Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter. I don't event want to go in to another speech about why I dislike something in particular. The realism mostly which I would probably be fine with if it wasn't for the boring characters.

What about the other games? 

Okay so I've talked about Kingdom Hearts and now it's time to give reason as to why I'm not buying the same games as I planned at the beginning of the year. Let's start of with... Drakengard 3. Another JRPG which I guess would be the game I would have asked for if I wasn't buying Tales of Xillia 2 and whilst I did like the story concept of fighting the 5 sisters and the whole thing with flying around in a dragon, I got a little worried. I didn't let the reviews get to me which were much higher in Japan but the animations didn't really seem that fluid to me and even though the artwork did look cool, I was still unsure as to whether it would be that cool in the actual game. Although I'm hoping to buy around January maybe. No! Not May(be) and looking back at the game, I think that I should have looked in to the game much more before making my final decision.

Next we have, Wolfenstein: The New Order. this is a game that I really wanted to play especially since there have been few games based on alternate reality in general and the games which depicted the Nazi' success didn't go well. Wolfenstein on the other hand showed that this wasn't the case this time round but I had a feeling that the story of the game would probably be simplistic and that the game would mostly focus on huge crazy moments with robots and mechs towering well above the character. These over the top moments weren't a bad thing but they're not a primary reason why I would buy a game. At least not any more. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed since it didn't really look hugely unique and probably got praised more on the fact that there was an alternate history game that functioned well. However I'm more looking towards potential games which might delve in to lesser known alternate history or perhaps even an entire franchise on different alternate histories. Then again, the previous Wolfenstein games take place around lesser known aspects of World War 2 including cults and superweapons in development which sounds intriguing.

I was also thinking about getting Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry because it would be interesting to see a character who has gone through the events of slavery. Even if this kind of thing has been overdone and it's similar to Assassin's Creed IV, I still don't have ACIV (to many people's surprise) so I will probably enjoy it since I still have yet to experience the Caribbean... Hopefully in real life. However, the way Ubisoft is going, I don't even want to give the company a single penny of my money! I've written several blogs about the problems of annualising Assassin's Creed and my predictions have been proven right. The story isn't going anywhere. It's just simple standalone storylines that in which, mostly the new audiences appear to enjoy. I could forgive them with Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Assassin's Creed 3 since they had to reach the deadline of 2012 but continuing this cycle and releasing 2 games at the same time... with many mobile games? As the series continues, I just see less and less hope in enjoying the series. I'm not going to buy a PS4 or Xbox One just for the Unity of patches just because they're unwilling to reconsider actually making the games enjoyable and unique rather than copied from other games and still full of issues. Rogue? I've already played Star Wars: The Force Unleashed! I'm not buying it again. I'm not even going to talk about what the potential Achilles had. Don't worry though, I'm sure there's plenty of games from other developers and publishers next year I could buy.

Sorry for my Ubisoft rant. I tend to get like that sometimes.

Also, no EA Games this year. For obvious reasons.

The games I listed that I wish to get aren't 100% confirmed but I'm hoping I'll be able to play them over the Christmas Holidays! Looking back at the lists in the beginning of each year, I tend to be quite unsure whether I will get all of the games. Maybe I should just wait and write my list until later or just talk about the games I'm interested in... for now.

Again, feel free to talk about the games you're hoping to get in Christmas and how your choices might have changed throughout the year. Unless of course, you already have the games you want.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Lego games have become a craze over the past few years. With the development of video games as part of it's own sets such as Lego Racers to Bionicle, it became much more popular as the early 2000s progressed. Instead of simply playing with the physical sets of Lego which would eventually collapse (at least on my part), the brand finally made it's way to a digital form and took over the world which allowed for further collapses of Lego characters. However it was only until the series become licensed based on existing franchises, did the Lego series become more popular, particularly with Harry Potter and ever since, many audiences have enjoyed the series and have wondered what will be next for the series. Which Lego set could be the basis of the next game? It's something that many fans haven't been shy about speculating. Traveler's Tales which is the developer which has become focused on the Lego games, has made a majority of the Lego games in the past decade at least. Before this, there were some Lego games here and there but it was  With many sets ranging from Jurassic Park to The Simpsons and Disney Princesses, it doesn't look like Traveler's Tales will stop developing the Lego video games anytime soon. Although, when looking at the Lego games and sets out there, it does make me think of different possibilities that many people haven't really spoken about and many I believe are a real possibility for the near future. Near future as being in 2015 up until about 2017 at the most... rather than the 2040s with the Playstation 6 and Xbox 0.25 or whatever consoles there will be. Many of these potential games are almost like sequels or at least within the same universes as the games already released.

So for this blog, I would like to talk about my thoughts and the games which I think we are likely to be playing in the near future. Enjoy!

DC character or team

This year, there has already been the release of another Lego game based on the DC universe. Batman 3: Beyond Gotham which contrary to popular belief is the third installment of the Lego Batman series and features much more than Batman himself. Especially since Batman 2: DC Super Heroes introduced many more characters to the fold so the most recent games makes it feel like the whole cast of DC characters are around. From Nightwing to Lex Luthor. From Starfire to um... Adam West. So feature another game altogether? Haven't we had enough? Well many of the characters are based on free play in which the characters play less of a role and have fewer abilities. That's not to say that they're not fun playable characters but the majority of the main story and abilities are based on Batman and those around him.

Therefore, wouldn't it be cool to see another character take the helm for a new Lego DC game? I think characters like Superman and Wonder Woman would be obvious choices because they're just so popular even when they don't have many video games themselves and it would be nice to see their side, the villains they fight off and the vast majority of powers and versions the main characters may have. As well as a different style of the game since it's no longer focused too much on Batman. Although to be honest, they could really take the series anywhere. Perhaps even a lesser known character or even a team. I mean, the Teen Titans is a team which I think would do great with the series. Then again, much of my knowledge of the group rests on the cartoon series... but I'm sure there would be humour too in a Lego video game! Although this might not be the first Lego DC team that might feature it's own Lego game.

What I've noticed about the Lego games is that they are usually released around the time of the actual movies or films which are set around the same universe even if they don't a connection to the video game. This can be shown by the very first Lego Star Wars game which was released in 2005, the same year as Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith and the Lego Lord of the Rings and Hobbit games were released during the development of the The Hobbit trilogy. So when considering the numerous release dates announced for the upcoming DC movies, could the video games coincide with the movies? I mean Suicide Squad has been announced for a 2016 release date so maybe if a Lego Teen Titans game is released, it might be after Lego Suicide Squad if it follows a pattern with the movies, even if the story and characters featured are much different.

Marvel Super Heroes already has a full blast of characters not just within the universe of The Avengers but including X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Almost like what a Marvel movie would look like if they were all together. So perhaps there could not only be a game based on a single character or team but maybe the whole bunch with DC Super Heroes... and likely sequels would follow. I mean, they've got to make room for everyone in the main story. Then again, I'm still not quite sure whether a game based on a team would be considered Lego (group name) because the only sets there seem to be include the range of Lego Batman and Lego Superheroes which considers all of the characters. Although that said, they did call it Lego Marvel Superheroes rather than Lego Superheroes and they did have the rights to feature all the characters together rather than issues with the movie companies so maybe they don't have to call it by an existing set. They could just make a new Lego set lineup. Maybe there's the possibility of a mixture of the DC and Marvel universes! With all the superhero (and supervillain movies) being announced and released, anything's possible.

Marvel single character or team

Since I was talking so much about Marvel, it's only fair that I should talk about it in more detail and should have similar treatment to the DC series. The DC series has been stuck with the attention on Batman not just within Lego games or even video games for that matter but also movies and just generally, recognition. On the other hand, Marvel has featured a whole range of characters but it appears that it's focused much more on the characters associated with The Avengers. In a way, I can see why because The Avengers was only released a year before and it makes it seem suited for those who are enjoying the movies for now. Then again, as a result, does miss out a few characters. Some which play important roles in the comic books towards particular characters and teams. So why not feature the characters with their own Lego games? DC has Lego Batman so maybe they could feature a character on Marvel's side to rival The Caped Crusader?

I'm gonna go with a favourite of mine and say Spider-Man as a character who could easily have his own Lego video game. Why? He has a whole bunch of comic books series, villains, versions, possibilities so in my mind, it would be kinda silly to pass this one up at least within the next 2 years. Spider-Man 2099, the What If series, the characters and villains who have yet to make an appearance from Scarlet Spider to Hydro-Man and the list goes on... The universe within not only Spider-Man but the rest of the Marvel Universe seems just too big for a single video game and when considering this, it makes me think that 2016 and 2017 could have a whole barrage of Lego video games based on comic book characters because with at least 2 games being released every year from the developer and both DC and Marvel films being set for 2016 and 2017, it wouldn't surprise me if this year becomes amazing for superhero fans. In particular, the Sinister Six and new addition of the the X-Men movie series is set for release all in this one year and with some of the characters and groups still remaining unexplored in some respects, it appears like it's almost inevitable that we will see these video games in the near future.

Then again, I'm still unsure how the sets might work since they discontinued the Lego sets in 2002 but I suppose since it's part of Lego Super Heroes, it would still become a video game.

Lego Star Wars Episode VII or somewhere else

The Lego games which started the fame and fortune and future of Traveler's Tales could very well return once again for the video game consoles. Why do I believe this? Well at the time, the last few movies were being developed by LucasFilm and the future of the movies remaining pretty unclear before Disney got to it. As a result of Disney's pumping of dozens of movies in a single year, it's likely to impact this specific franchise with many new Star Wars movies set for release just within a year after Star Wars VII, especially the addition of standalone movies and films which have yet to be announced. So when considering the usual time frame of releasing games around that the time of the movies, it's probably something which is already underway and it wouldn't even after to wait until all the franchise has reached Star Wars IX because they could expand from simply the very first movie in the new lineup of movies.

Much has changed since the very first Lego Star Wars games since it doesn't always revolve around the movies with every single event and even when it does, the game may focus on other aspects. For instance, Lego: Lord of the Rings felt much larger because it was more open world and therefore, more replayable... to me at least. There have also been changes in the way the characters respond to one another since they are able to talk in the most recent games rather than simply grunting and moving their eyebrows a little funny. So it could be nice to see how the characters speak more Human and more Alien.  However with the combination of these new changes and the expansion of new movies and TV series, maybe the possible new Lego: Star Wars video game could be completely different from Star Wars VII since it may not even involve the movie altogether. With series like Star Wars: Rebels, maybe that could become something in the future especially if it's part of a Lego set and as the franchise moves on, more and more Lego sets will be developed for the new upcoming series. Although even if they weren't able to take on this series or any Star Wars series in the future, there's a whole range of places they could go with the Star Wars timeline spanning billions of years with countless of diverse eras. I mean, they could create Lego sets for the Pre-Republic era and times around the beginnings of the Sith which could make the most of the Expanded Universe. Perhaps, they could even make their own series within Star Wars? Whether it's based on a entirely new era or just another side of the story of the Empire or during the Rise of the Empire, I think it would something more fresh to the series especially for those who don't want to play through the whole movies they've just watched.

If the Lego games continue to release games around the time frame of the movies, then it's very possible we could see something new until next year at the earliest! 0_0 Then again, even if they didn't release a game next year, I think that all the movies, TV series, video games and maybe even comic books will probably make the developers at least consider making a new game. I mean stopping at the Lego Yoda chronicles doesn't seem like the best point to end the series... and hopefully there will be more Lego games in the future. Maybe based on the movies themselves or going down the route of Lego Batman and Lego Marvel Super Heroes in which they introduce a new story, have more mobility of what they want to do with the characters and setting and maybe even open world allowing us to journey between the planets.

Bionicle

Bionicle really takes me back to my childhood just when I was reaching a decade old. The layout of the characters and series is much more menacing compared with the Lego sets within the Super Hero series but at the same time, it's a perfect kind of series to be swept away with and the kind of series people used to talk about on the playgrounds... which were occasionally pretty menacing too. So what's the series that I and many other went crazy about? It's based on a mechanical sapient beings on many different islands and masks who have many different abilities. As you can tell, this is the kind of series that brought me in to the superhero genre. I never really read the superhero comics when I was about 9-10 so the toy set of Bionicle was what got me intrigued much more, especially since it appeared much more unique. I used to get the sets for my birthday and Christmas sometimes and they were pretty mysterious to me and the whole aspect of elements and the diversity is what got me engaged. Building the sets however was also mysterious because I never quite understood what I was meant to do with them or how to develop them! So overtime, I bought 2 games. The first was a PC game which appeared really buggy, it was difficult to move the character and probably put me off PC gaming for good. The second however was developed for the PS2 by the fabled Traveler's Tales and allowed us to play as many of the beings which could control the elements within many different environments. The game still had a few flaws but it was something I could enjoy playing... to an extent.

So why am I talking about my life story about this game? Well it's because by reading it, you can tell that the games weren't exactly top notch or amazing experiences. Even if I did enjoy Bionicle Heroes with it's sinister yet cool characters and an environment where grunting machines were destroying each other for purposes beyond my comprehension, the movements of the game felt a little off and the checkpoints were the kind that sent you back to the beginning of the level... yeah that kind. Therefore, I think a game based on Bionicle would be amazing because not only could they suit the theme and make the use of the franchise but they also have freedom with which characters they want to make and the storylines they could develop.

To be honest though, I wouldn't be talking about this game if it wasn't for the announcement that the theme of Bionicle would be returning in the future... as early as 2015! Perhaps a game based on Bionicle is thus, very likely as a result and just like with Lego Star Wars, much has changed since the very first Lego games by Traveler's Tales and I'm really hopeful that a new game could allow us to explore more of the island yet maintain the dark atmosphere of the series. Even if the game did head more towards the gameplay mechanics of the Lego Marvel Super Heroes and smaller characters, it could draw in more to the series, even those who aren't familiar with the franchise already.

However I think that if they kept the series like it looks now from the reboot picture, then it would be great and support the current theme especially with all the powers. It would be something that would branch out further from the usual Lego games we've seen before and show that TT Games are willing to outside their comfort zone of the usual Lego games and might even make their own series one day. The only difference is that the older series appeared slightly darker but it's great to see some more colour and I think we are likely to be seeing much more of the killing machines on the way.

Bearing in mind that TT Games only created a single game of this set so it's possible that they could return to try and develop the series further.

Lego based original themes

Much of the popularity of Lego games has stemmed from the numerous games which are based from existing franchise such as DC to Star Wars but Lego has a substantial amount of it's own themes and Lego sets and many have been able to make it's way in to the realm of video gaming. For example, there are many sets which have made it towards video game such as Lego City with the use of Lego City Undercover and also series like Lego: Legends of Chima have been adaptated in to video games whereas others including Lego Castle have remained more towards a purpose of toys rather than part of any video games. However as more and more games based on existing movie and comic book franchises have been developed, I believe that Traveler's Tales is becoming increasingly confident about the Lego based themes. Like I said, many of the early games based on Bionicle weren't that great and neither were many of the other games so since they've established a new style for their series, I think it's only a matter of time until they still start developing a plethora of video games which originate from Lego itself.

In particular, Lego Ninjago would be interesting to see because there is already a TV series running and a movie set for less than 2 years away. As well as Lego Racers or even Lego Space and Lego Architecture. Perhaps, a set like Ultra Agents could be developed since it looks like a series which could be suited toward a video game. Bionicle is also a part of this but I excluded to it's own category since I believe it's something that's more likely. Plus, I think you all needed to hear my life's story.

Although regardless of which series makes it to video gaming first, the fact that themes like The Hobbit resulted in a video game only 2 years after and Lego Superheroes only just began in 2012, I think it's possible that will see all of these series one day. Many could be set for release within the coming decade or even simply next year!

Overall, I believe that there's a whole bunch of possibilities for Lego games especially with licensed franchises of Jurassic Park and Doctor Who and even The Simpsons and Minecraft. Then again, there are already Lego series which are still going strong including Lego Superheroes and I doubt that it will be the last we see of superheroes within Lego games just within the next 2 years, particularly with all the movies to be released in 2015, 2016 and beyond... However, I believe that TT Games are probably more willing to go forward with series such as Bionicle and many other different Lego series. At the same time, it depends if Traveler's Tales expands and are able to develop more games or if another developer decides to create Lego games too. I mean, it's not like there's a huge story which links all the games together since they are mostly based on different movie and comic book franchises. Who knows? Maybe we will see Doctor Who or The Simpsons next year.  If there are about 4 games next year or perhaps even more, then the likelihood of the games we would like to see continues. If the games announced this year aren't the ones we were hoping for, oh well. At least we have next year.

Do you agree with these possibilities as being likely in the next 2 years? Do you think that Traveler's Tales will eventually make a new franchise one day outside of Lego if others start developing Lego games? Where would you want to see the Lego series go next?

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! I hope you've had a great Christmas, some nice memories and neat games too! Sorry, this isn't a Christmas celebration blog even though I love celebration blogs (as do we all) but for now, I've been wanting to return to something that would be more thought provoking rather than use laughing at videos. Over a year and half ago, I wrote a brand new blog series which was designed more to engage the readers more and in a way, I guess it meant more and more were likely to read all the way through the blog because it would be a question that would apply to you, the audience. I linked it more with video gaming in the first blog which are both my 2 favourite topics and would relate more to the reader even if they hated Mass Effect and Star Wars but after publishing the blog and it's wide success, I decided to think about the next blogs which included focusing on more philosophical aspects that I thought about in which both choices would provide similar concepts but also, slightly different meanings. In particular, the view of immortality made me think that maybe there's more than one aspect of it from ageing to invulnerability. By the way, I'm also sorry if you've been an avid fan of the series and have been waiting for a sequel for so long so I hope you like this. There will be certainly be more on the way and for those of you who are new or just have never met me, here's the original blog which provides for some extra reading right here

The question for this blog is which aspects of immortality would you prefer?

1. The ability to never age but become vulnerable to things which could harm us now such as diseases, conflict and our worst TV shows.

2. The ability to age normally which would eventually lead to death but become invulnerable to diseases and the normal things that could hurt us and the harsh impacts of injury would cease to exist.

Throughout this blog, I will detail the several pros and cons which I believe apply to both situations which might help you with your choice and I will also talk about the choice I would make.

Although before I go any further, anyone with superhuman abilities or people who maintain attributes of immortality will not be able to participate in this blog... Sorry Superman and Thor. Bearing in mind also that these aren't actually real choices but just for fun. They won't actually give you special abilities so wrinkles are still likely to occur!

Never age

So you can never age for some reason. Miraculously you can survive the many years without your appearance altering and your joints and bones seem to be working all at their best capacity as the years... Sorry, I mean centuries progress. even if ageing is a response to time and in a way, a disease itself... but lets say everything was just fine... although would it be just fine?

Pros

It would be so cool to live for so long and live past the usual life expectancy currently. Assuming that many other things can be avoided (but we'll get to that a little later) and we could see so many things change around us. I mean imagine living from the Egyptian era and seeing the building of the Pyramids and then the rise and collapse of empires. The technological innovations and the point at which the very Earth itself begins to change both in terms of climate change and the geological processes. The same could easily be said for the future. We may not have lightsabers or superpowers (yet) but we could still see the new changes of the world in terms of Human civilization. You would be able to see the all the different video game consoles all the way to the Playstation 122 until some new companies finally decide to arrive... and most of these new companies could be from very different species from ours. Whether we create robots or develop another species we have evolved on the Earth to become similar to us or in fact an Alien species... which we might have evolved to become similar to us. All these new changes could allow us to see not just the expansion of the Human Race (if it does) but also what might happen to other beings and how we may ourselves change overtime.

However I believe the most substantial at least to me would be the fact that there's so many things to do in the world already! I don't think I would be able to play all the games, read all the books or watch all the movies which are simply currently in existence... neither do I think I would be able to experience every form of entertainment such as comic books and anime just within a single year alone. Most likely, the quantity of things to do will only just increase once virtual reality and being able to teleport finally becomes a reality. Throughout my life, I've always wanted to write out my ideas and my ideas only just increase as the years pass by. Therefore, I could easily think about new story and game ideas indefinitely but the current form that I have doesn't allow me to do all that. Then again, this power would allow me to do just that and I would have less worries about not being able to think about my ideas for the rest of my life. As well as being able to do all the fun things in the future from hoverboarding (even though it's out already but nothing that can zoom in to the sky) and journey to other worlds. I mean we will never know all the questions of the universe but that's what makes it so fascinating and being able to combat age would make us see the whole bunch of possibilities of Science, Historical discoveries (especially if there's a time machine) and of course, video gaming!

Cons

Then again, despite the large amount of potential positives about being to able to finally defeat ageing, there are also a whole list of problems which in some respects might topple the pros altogether and the most important factor would probably be the view that it doesn't secure a future for the individual to survive forever in the long term or short term. In particular, during the long term, It's likely that there will be many changes over the next few centuries which could very well alter our very being and lifestyle. We could become integrated within a computer (which would be horrible because I'm really not all that great with computers) and robots may force us to become something we don't want to. We don't know what kinds of challenges we may face in the future especially if empires begin to take over and even if we survived that, we would have to take on the physical and mental scars... assuming that without ageing, we could still heal wounds at a similar pace. There will never be a perfect timeline and thus challenges will always continue. Simply, we will go through different challenges. Although it may also be the perception of the changes within the future.

I mean, soldiers from the 16th century (if they had this power) would probably still maintain the mentality of what they lived through and wouldn't want the world to move forward and therefore, wouldn't be for them especially since many would see their traditions fade away or perhaps the future and many different eras may not be for many of us. Already many still maintain nostalgia of their memories when they were growing up and most people have similar attitudes but simply across different time frames. Many from the 70s may have loved those times but hate the 2010s. Some people from the 1990s may enjoy video games of the Playstation 1 and 2 but not so much with new consoles and try to remain within that era in some way by playing a whole bunch of Crash Bandicoot games.

There are also the individual aspects that we may have to change our lifestyle. Unless an anti-ageing cure is developed (but it probably wouldn't be distributed because of population growth), then many might look us suspiciously and we may need to remain off the grid in order to survive captures for experiments for our strange yet desired ability amongst many as well as potential assassinations. Those who pick this would probably have to become shadowy characters in society especially if there is a larger amount of control and knowledge over the population by the government or higher powers. This might not be a problem if we people become used to travelling and changing identities but what about all the people we know and love? Assuming this power is only for us personally, many of our friends and family would only apply to a small time frame of our vast lifetimes. The new friends and family we could make in the future may also suffer the same fate.

In fact, even with this power, many wouldn't be able to surpass the age of 100 because the 21st century could be one of the most dangerous for Humanity with problems with super diseases and all the issues Humans may cause in the future. I mean, looking back to the past few centuries, we haven't have such fluctuating events of the Earth since the Stone Age. Since we're a more connected society, we could still survive but there would be huge impacts on almost everyone from a small ice age to a supervolcanic eruption.

As well as the development of new technologies which makes both the future exciting yet dangerous. Exciting at the fact that there are new things happening in the world's climate and more questions, as well as new technologies allowing us to play games in HD but dangerous of how these could turn against us. I mean, I think we're more closer to Nuclear War or a new era more than ever even though I believed that it was more likely in the further future in the 2040s or something when I wrote about the threats to Humanity last year. I won't go in to the details of why because people will probably go crazy here and there. However even if the Human Race was to survive, it doesn't mean that those who can't age will be the lucky ones. Ultimately, this would be the short term problem as opposed to long term because it would ultimately deem the power almost useless if those who can't age can't reach above the life expectancy.

Was that a convincing choice? Wait! Don't go anywhere! Remember there's another possibility to choose...

Invulnerability but ageing

Through this path, you can age normally around the life expectancy or even past it although not by many decades or centuries for that matter. Instead however, diseases and the smallest things that may cause us doom and gloom in the future will not be able to harm us with almost no pain or injury inflicted. The only threat that there is down this path would be ageing.

Pros

Ah, the things that try to hold us back in life and cause so much heart ache from complications of our body, being at the very center of a catastrophe or even the smallest things that might have easily been avoided such as a car crash which could have have been evaded by mere seconds. With this path, I guess it would be more of the quality rather than than the quantity of years you might live. For example, you would be able to live in the most dangerous areas in the world, go around the world without any worries of injury. It could make you avoid the things in life that could cause heart ache amongst your family and friends. Things which could potentially harm a normal Human being would be deemed as a miracle perhaps with no scars or injuries with no pain. Hopefully that wouldn't cause people to try and capture you for DNA experiments so they can try and harness your powers of anything like that.  Perhaps this would even give more incentive to have more confidence in the world and making the most out of what life has to offer and try things no one has ever done before. You could become the actual superman of the world! Breaking so many feats like the longest time to bathe in a lava pit or survive in outer space without a space suit. Not that anyone else would want to try it.

It also wouldn't necessarily impact your life if you simply wanted to live normally. When compared with living without being able to age, you could start a family and grow up without having the fear of knowing that those around you would probably always die before you. There would simply be less worries about you, yourself being hurt. There is also the positive view that might top the use of non-ageing which would be if it's better to live within the eras that we live today. Perhaps if we could never age, we wouldn't be able to get used to all the new things and there could be many things that we just may not like that could have taken the world by storm... like Facebook for a while.

Cons

Although there are a few issues just like the ability to never age and a lot of these disadvantages arrive when comparing between the two abilities. If you were to live forever in terms of ageing, then if there are bad moments in your life, then you might be able to continue and start again but invulnerability yet ageing might not offer that. If awful things happen for much of the lifetime like a war, it may consist of a huge percentage of the lifetime. New memories and future events would only be limited towards the number of years until the ageing process finally decides to defeat the Human body. So therefore, horrible things that might have happened would probably create a huge impact on us whereas without ageing, there is the chance of seeing new things in the world... or worlds.

If another financial crisis happened that limited us from wealth for many years, a lot of the time that we could have potentially been able to visit other areas in the world and buy expensive things probably wouldn't exist for a while until a few years later. So in a way, it would be more stressful with the clocks ticking away. I mean, there's always been a notion that we should do the things we want to do before we get older and if there are things which hold us back, we may not be able to do completely everything we want to. This is reinforced by the aspect that we wouldn't be able to experience the new possibilities of the future from the newest additions of our favourite video game franchises to reading up on new comic books. As the years progress, new things will be developed but we may not be able to try every single video game we want to and when we hear things on the news in the future about new technologies and discoveries, our time to try out those things simply might already be up and finished.

Ultimately with this choice, there would definitely be an end at some point whereas with living past life expectancy without ageing, there are almost limitless possibilities... as long as you're able to survive the wars, diseases and alien invasions. With ageing still being an issue, there would be fewer chances to take.

I have a feeling that a lot of Science fans might pick out flaws of being able to age is the result of us being vulnerable in the first place and therefore other things could happen... but this doesn't necessarily apply to this choice.

What would Mikeerik do? 

So now the question boils down to me! I had a thought about which choice I would go down but in a way, I was appeared to always be fixed on the one choice and that would be the first one. To never age but still be vulnerable to things that might affect us. I've just been the kind of person who's always wanted to see so many things in the future and looking back at the past with developments of historical aspects, there could be many great eras on the way which would allow me see how the world is changing and improving. I'm not really sure whether I would want to start a family in the future and in a way, I guess I could just live from all the wonders of the world and so friends wouldn't necessarily be hugely essential especially if most of the population were robotic and talked like the boring hardman characters we see on in mainstream TV series all the time. I admit, there are some problems which is why I listed them out to help come to my conclusion.  In fact, we really don't know what will happen in the 21st century or even the next few decades for that matter. Perhaps a super artificial intelligence will take over us. Maybe we'll create a goo which will take over the planet. Even mobile games could take over video gaming as a whole which could lead to doom for us all!

So what would you pick?

Oh also, would you like to see more blogs like this? Both which you would prefer and thought provoking blogs?

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Hey MyIGNers! This year, 2014 (the last time I heard anyways) is coming to a close and therefore it's time for a final blog ever... until a few hours maybe. Some people have already communicated form the future. They are currently in 2015 and talking to us from many miles away unless you are one of those ones doing the talking of course. They are known as Australians, Polynesians and the Japanese as well as all the other groups and countries that are way ahead of our time... by a few hours. Soon to be, this will apply to many other countries. Unless the dateline was to shift closer or further away...

Anyways just like last year, I didn't write a blog during Christmas because I was making the most of the holidays outside of MyIGN however I wrote one at the end of the year which will hopefully make up for my absence during Christmas. Then again, this year, I wanted to write as early as Saturday but I was unable to so because of of something hindered my blogging experience from the most basic level... the button on the computer wouldn't work. So if it was functioning, you can be sure that I would have written more blogs. Oh well, at least I can write them up after the new year.

This blog will of course act as a celebration blog full of funny vids and cool wallpapers and feel free to use the wallpapers by the full pic. By the way, I take no credit for the videos or wallpapers just in case the wallpaper police try and quiz me or something.

Enjoy!

Funny Vids

E3 2014 in a nutshell

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Black Ops 2

By the way, this video contains offensive language... It is Call of Duty multiplayer afterall.

IT Crowd: Stress Test

And it's going to go bang...

South Park Harry Potter Mashup: Lice

Assassin's Creed 3 glitches: Part 2

In celebration of the new games, why not have another video dedicated towards it's glitches? A core part of the franchise. I... I still have a few issues with the series and where it's gone and where it's going.... which is probably noticeable.

Cool Wallpapers

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I hope you've had a great time in this blog and there's obviously another blog coming soon dedicated to the new year from yours truly. In a way, I'm really hoping for the new year. Last year, I believed that 2013 had some ups and downs but ultimately, it was my friend. However 2014 hasn't exactly been the nicest year for me. To me, 2013 was my friend and I will hopefully visit it again... once I'm able to use time travel but 2014 on the other hand is something I want to avoid. Goodbye 2014. There have been some positive moments but many pretty average and negative events whereas 2013 was certainly something special to me. Ultimately, I never want to see you again! Just kidding! I've made some new friends over the year, written up blogs which I loved typing up and of course gaming but 2014 just wasn't the best for moi.

So how do you feel about 2014?

I believe 2015 will better than this year or perhaps even many previous years too and many great things could happen especially in the realm of video gaming.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Oh and happy new year if I don't see you around for a while!

Hey MyIGNers! Seeing as we're all in the new year now (aside from those who maybe want to time travel soon), I believe it's time for yet another celebration blog full of things you enjoy from funny vids and cool wallpapers. I hope that 2015 will be a great year not just for gaming but for life in general. To me, 2014 wasn't really such a great year. Maybe not the worst during my time on this planet but it certainly isn't the best when compared with 2013 or many of the other years. So it was more like a very average year. I've met some great friends and maintain nice memories but many have become much more distant and left MyIGN, particularly my closest friends and the were some problems when I was trying to access my blogs which meant that I was unable to write us many last year... especially with school throwing us many things to do.

As well as the fact that I miss my best friend (I know you're all great so don't be worried about being left out) and we weren't really able to talk to each other that much last year so I sure hope that she's okay. In a way, she's the reason why 2013 was so much fun too! Without her, the year would have been pretty average... but maybe not as bad as 2014. Nice try 2014! I suppose we all have friends who we miss... Although it's not just me that seems to have some issues with last year so it isn't just me. Maybe this year will be different though. However I'm still determined to write up many blogs this year and I doubt that I will be going anywhere. 2015 will have a lot of choices for me personally and all of us. I'm not quite sure what I want to do in life yet but blogging seems to be something that I can't escape so perhaps that's a sign. Maybe 2015 is the point of a new era for the world. I mean who knows what could happen in the future... unless you're from the future.

By the way, feel free to use the wallpapers with the full the pic on the full... pic link however I take no credit for these vids or pics. I hope you have fun. Enjoy!

Funny Vids

Just Cause 2 glitches and bloopers

IT Crowd: Clip of a guy trying to be Godzilla

Karl Pilkinton plays Call of Duty

This video contains some offensive language since it's Call of Duty multiplayer. Despite this, I seem to have an urge to play this game... yes I do have Call of Duty: Ghosts (Dodges arrows)

Alan Partridge: Mentalist!

Burn After Reading: Bank Account

Far Cry 3 glitches

I mean why not celebrate Ubisoft's past few years of games?

Comic Strip: Four men in a Car

E3 Microsoft Nutshell

I just wish that AC: Unity at least had Francais accents for the main characters.

Cool Wallpapers

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So Happy New Year everyone! I'm grateful for all the friends I have and I hope 2015 is a great year for all of us! So here's to 2015! (Raises Glass)

Now it's time to save up for all of those releases on the way... and that's just for the old console that I still have!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed.