Out of the loop for 4 months

Due to purchasing an immensely entertaining and money draining car back in
May I pretty much gave up on video games, the fact I am always driving
coupled with the fact I got completely fed up with games in general (apart
from the DS) meant the PS2 and GC were packed up and haven't seen the light
of day...until now...the rain is back, the roads will start getting slippy
in a few months so driving for pleasure will be out of the window for a
while soon, not to mention 98 ron petrol flying past the £1 mark with no
signs of slowing down.

Anyhoow, I decided to get a game, my first for 6 months or so. I haven't so
much as even looked at a games website, magazine, shop or anything since
May, and damn, have things changed. First of all, a new XBox out soon?!
Bloody hell things move fast! I visited Bath to see what games were about,
popped into Game and discovered they ONLY sell chart titles and pre-owned
stuff (and this is the only GAME store in Bath) and not to mention a
complete lack of anything related to the GC, so that gave me little idea of
what was going on. Tried the indy, again no GC at all but a few PS2 titles
worth looking at. Next I tried Gamestation, GC is on the way out there too.
So, I decide I may as well get a PS2 game as the choice seemed a little more
varied.

I came home and went online to read some reviews, got attracted towards F1
2005, with the settings ramped up it offered a "huge learning curve",
"painfully difficult", "need to know the in's and out's" etc etc I read.
Popped to Tesco and got it for £30, Game and GS didn't even stock it, when a
supermarket knocks £7 off and has more stock you wonder how Game survives,
quite frankly. Anyway, the game. Eh?! With damage collision on I smashed
into the back of a BAR at about 140mph on my first lap, then miraculously
managed to do another 17 laps with no visible effect. When you need to
discipline yourself not to cut corners or hammer past a pack of cars just to
enjoy a realistic race, you do wonder what game many of the reviewers were
playing. With "realism" at its highest (flags, penalties, damage etc) it
could still be not far short of Burnout if you want without being penalised
for anything. I know its not a full blown sim or anything, but if you are
going to offer settings to make it more realistic at least actually do it, I
want to get stuck in a gravel trap if I end up in one, not be able to drive
out at 90mph, catch up with the shoddy AI and win again...on hard...with no
driver aids...in a Minardi. My career team (Jordan) wanted me to finish
16-18th in the first season, I have 40 points after 4 GPs, and I'm a self
confessed loser at video games, I'm useless at everything. My lap times
aren't even that good yet, I rarely make the top 6 on the grid yet still
breeze to victories whilst making sure not to make contact with anyone or go
off the track.

So, not a great start, but I'm sure some other driving game must be able to
offer me something challenging, I hope.

A few things I've noted now I've caught up a little...

1) PC Games: Virtually non-existent on the high street, have the likes of
Play knocking new titles out for £17.99 etc completely killed off the bricks
and mortar market for these?

2) DS Games: Have any new games come out since its release?! I still have my
collection from when I bought my DS and 6 games in Canada in Feb, nothing
new seems to exist. I love it regardless, Zoo Keeper got regular play over
the Summer months. Has it failed miserably with the impending doom of the
"handheld" PSP? I want more games! Surely Lemmings with the stylus is in
development, they are as good as perfect for each other.

3) Next gen machines. The same games with improved graphics, and £10 extra
for them as well. What a genius money making idea. By the time they start
genuinelly putting the power of these things to good use (i.e. AI etc) the
next-next gen will have arrived already and we will have to start over
again.

Chris.




.

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