Games Review: XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. We all have great memories of things that we consider formative experiences; games we have played, books we have read or films we watched, that were the first time we felt a certain way, or saw a certain thing done, that memory remains so strong, so positive, that anything too similar always fails in comparison, regardless of it's own merits. You can never see that Star Destroyer slam overhead for the first time again and try as you might you can never quite recapture that feeling. For me, as a long-time gamer, UFO: Enemy Unknown is one of those games that sits in my memory, unassailable. Intellectually I can probably talk about its flaws, but emotionally it is one of the greatest games I ever played, one of the games that talked to me about what games could be. And its time has passed, turn-based tactics is dead, and we will never see its like again. 

Whats that you say? XCOM: Enemy Unknown? A modern remake? Turn Based? WHAT? 

ThoughtBubble 2012 Comic Round-Up

So, finally got chance this weekend to sit down and finish off the comics haul I got from last weeks rather fantastic Thoughtbubble Con. As ever, I had a pretty great time, caught up with a good bunch of people I rarely see, and spent far to much money. I also bought this lot:

Not Shown: The Rainbow Orchid. Which I bought on the Sunday. 

Movie Review: Skyfall

What is it about James Bond? I mean, 50 years, 23 ("official") movies, 6 lead actors and more cars, women and explosions than you can count, and still it's going strong, standing on, rather than being dragged under by, the weight of history that the series has accrued. Its been written off several times and not least after the messy Quantum of Solace but here he is, back again, storming the box office. And we went to see it last week, and so this is what I thought (warning, spoilers!)

Rant: Fake Geek Girls and other such crap.

So, like a turd that just won't flush, the "fake geek girl" debate - although calling it a "debate" honours it more than it deserves - came up again yesterday after this particularly incoherent rant from artist Tony Harris. Twitter and the Blogosphere and so on exploded into righteous fury, and many words have written on the subject. And in many ways it was heartening to see, that this sort of crap is stood up against, and reading through yesterday there was some optimism to be found in the idea that the visceral response is a good sign for geek community being open and inclusive, and y'know, not deep down just a bunch of gynophobic basement virgins with too much access to the internet.

And then the more I thought about, I started to feel genuinely angry about it, because although there are many, many, good people standing up against this sort of behavior, it still keeps happening.

Games: Planetside 2 and the Dangers of Nostalgia

I was really excited when Sony Online Entertainment announced they were making Planetside 2. I was even more excited when it because clear it was going to be a free-to-play game. And then I got a Beta Key, and it was even more exciting! 

And then I got to play, and it was like being slapped with my own broken Nostalgia Filters.