Light gun games on consoles were a mixed bag, obviously the buzz of the packed arcade was detracted and the social aspect lowered, with games either feeling too light in content or just feeling rather dull to play. But there were some sparkling examples of games that made the cross over well, such as House of the Living Dead 2 on the Dreamcast, this was always a great game to pick up and play either solo or with friends. Its  unique co-op experience is under appreciated in today’s modern multiplayer formalities.

Booting up House of the Living Dead 2 armed with my light gun is a memory I’ve always looked back on when talking about light guns and arcade shooters.  The game was a fantastic light gun experience that played just as well on the Dreamcast as it did in the arcade. The official Dreamcast light gun was nothing short of brilliant (the VMU unit added some nice little touches). It had a good weight to it, it was able to take punishment (rage throws to the floor after a cheap death) and was responsive.  Playing light gun games with Playstation Move and the Wii motes feels like a pale imitation. This isn’t to say the Move or the Wii doesn’t work or is particularly bad, they just feel rather soulless compared to using a brightly coloured light gun, which feels almost natural while playing the game.

While light gun games are disappearing and/or are merged into the first person shooter genre (for example Killzone 3) it would be nice to see a little more activity in the genre.  There are of course the few bastions carrying the torch for light gun titles in today’s market, such as the fantastic House of the Dead: Overkill, but these games are far and few between. While the light gun is set to become something of a relic, and the genre either obsolete or merged into another genre, it should be remembered and treasured for being one of the most fun video game experiences to date. While the arcades have all but gone (in the UK anyway) and video games now strive towards motion control, I will always look back at the light gun with a sense of joy and regret. Joy for the great times I had with a light gun in my hand, be it in the arcade blasting zombies in House of the Dead with my father or playing the Dreamcast equivalent alone in my room, it was always fun to play.

The regret is that within a year or so light gun games will be all but gone; a mere relic of days gone by. While this realization is disheartening, I can rest in the knowledge that playing my light gun collection is merely a press of a button away.

The return of Leon is well welcomed as he as been my most favoured Resident Evil character (though his hair cut has always slightly confused me) but it does raise a few questions that the game will surely answer. Leon’s sections seem to be a mixture of the action packed Resident Evil 4 gameplay tied in with the classic T-Virus zombies. It’s a nice touch to see Resident Evil bringing back the classic zombies but it does present a few issues in terms of how well the gameplay can blend in with the established ‘slow’ zombies. While there is plenty of room to question Leon’s section in trailer I found myself easily looking past them and instead questioning the next showing.

Chris Redfeild takes a large role in the Resident Evil 6 trailer and this is where my problems arise. My issues don’t rest within the character of Chris Redfeild but instead rest with the actions we see him perform. There’s a certain clip within the trailer that shows Chris taking up a very ‘Gears of War’ like position. While its apparent Chris has became the face of the pure full on action side of Resident Evil, this jump to third person cover based shooter seems rather alien given the franchise we are talking about here. While I understand franchises must evolve/adopt to survive (for the most part anyway) I cant quite get past the mish-mash of gameplay styles Resident Evil 6 seems to be.

I worry that the sections I could possibly enjoy could often be broken up too often and the gameplay switched to something I enjoy a lot less (or perhaps even dislike). This could easily lead to the game feeling like a chore to play through which can easily kill any video experience. Of course I’m speaking from a personal point of view, there will certainly be people who enjoy the potential mixing pot of gameplay. The prospect at having such a mix and change in pace within one game, while trying to carry a storyline, is an extremely daunting idea.

Another problem I seemed to find myself having with the trailer stems more from the identity crisis Resident Evil seems to be suffering. Capcom are no strangers to experimenting with the Resident Evil franchise. A look back through the years shows new directions taken by the franchise with some having more success than others. The likes of Resident Evil Survivor showed Capcom were willing to push their franchise into new genres. Even when they met failure they were still willing to try again and use their past experiences improve future efforts. You could not accuse Capcom of lacking ambition with the Resident Evil franchise after the releases of Out Break 1 & 2 which were met with a mixed reception. After a number of experiments and new directions it seemed Capcom had stuck gold with Resident Evil 4. The core gameplay of Resident Evil 4 seemingly set the tone for Capcomls numbered entries into the franchise. This hasn’t resulted in Capcom sticking to just one style of gameplay or genre, but has in fact allowed them to return to their experimental ways allowing them to branch out the franchise. The existence of the Wii Resident Evil light gun titles (Umbrella Chronicles) was further proof Capcom felt comfortable returning to their meddling ways within the Resident Evil world, the same can be said for Resident Evil:Raccoon City. Capcom have also began to embrace new technology in the shape of their title for Nintendo’s 3DS named Revelations.

I may have my issues with Resident Evil 6′s trailer and indeed with Capcom as a company, but I can see to why they have seemingly took the route that Resident Evil 6 is on. The mixture of gameplay is a double edged sword that could allow the game to offer a decent range of experiences or turn out to be a mess. I may be against the ‘Gears of War’ style action we seen in the Chris sections of the Resident Evil 6 trailer but the Leon sections and the sections belonging to the new character did raise a slight interest for me. Resident Evil 6 could be potentially franchise changing event for a number of reasons but until the game ships all we can do it sit back and wait.

Maybe I’m stuck in the past, maybe I’m just jaded but what I do know is I’m willing to have my mind changed. Just don’t charge us for content that’s locked on the disc Capcom.

Here is the clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Founder of Avalanche commented on the developers struggle with the current situation with the recession:

…we have achieved yet another goal by establishing a new studio in the greatest city in North America. We are one of the few independent, AAA-budget studios remaining in the world after the disastrous economic recession of the last few years. While this was a huge wake-up call for everyone in our industry, we have prepared for this expansion for over three years and it is a great feeling to execute our plans with such resounding success

We can expect more details soon.

Chief executive officer at Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot, had his say on the matter.

“The team at RedLynx has developed exceptionally strong digital brands that stand out for their high replay value, their long tail sales and their multiplatform positioning. We are delighted to welcome RedLynx to the Ubisoft family. Their expertise in asynchronous online games and physics-based game mechanics provides us with a great opportunity to bring their powerful brands, most notably Trials, to an even broader range of fast-growing digital platforms.”

 

This is great news for both parties, as RedLynx will now receive greater help/funding to expand their vastly popular Trails franchise.

Below is the attached full press release regarding the partnership:

London, UK – November 02, 2011 – Today, Ubisoft announced that it has acquired RedLynx, the Finland-based creator of the renowned digital brand “Trials”.

Founded in 2000, RedLynx is a pioneer in digital games, developing more than 100 high-quality titles for a wide range of digital distribution channels, including PC, consoles, mobile phones, tablets and interactive TV. After initial success on PC and wide acclaim for its highly realistic, physics-based game mechanics, Trials, RedLynx’s flagship brand, has now become one of the best-selling games ever on Xbox™ LIVE Arcade, with over two million paid downloads across the main game and both DLCs. Trials Evolution, the next title in the franchise, will be released in the coming months. The recent DrawRace 2 for the iPhone and iPad was lauded by both press and gamers for its innovative physics-based touch-controls and asynchronous multiplayer gameplay. Upon its release, DrawRace2 became the best-selling racing game in both Europe and the United States.

Commenting on the acquisition, Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer at Ubisoft, stated: “The team at RedLynx has developed exceptionally strong digital brands that stand out for their high replay value, their long tail sales and their multiplatform positioning. We are delighted to welcome RedLynx to the Ubisoft family. Their expertise in asynchronous online games and physics-based game mechanics provides us with a great opportunity to bring their powerful brands, most notably Trials, to an even broader range of fast-growing digital platforms.”

“We were attracted by Ubisoft’s focus on creativity and quality, and the fact that they base their long-term strategy on both the traditional and digital distribution video game markets. The reality of today’s market is not about platforms, it’s about creating excellent gaming experiences that consumers can play on any device or screen they like.” stated Tero Virtala, chief executive officer of RedLynx. “As part of the Ubisoft team, RedLynx will be able to focus even more intently on creating stand-out, excellent brands that push the boundaries of online gaming in many new growth areas. With Ubisoft, a wider audience will get the chance to enjoy our games, we’ll generate more value for our brands, and also leverage our experience more broadly in digital distribution channels.”

Following the acquisitions of Massive Entertainment, Nadeo, Quazal and Owlient, RedLynx represents the continuation of Ubisoft’s focus on strengthening its online expertise and infrastructure in order to expand its portfolio and use of new online business models. The success of The Smurfs & Co social game on Facebook, the upcoming launch of the AAA project Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online in open beta, the enthusiasm of the TrackMania community, the success of The Settlers Online in Germany and the Uplay online services platform are the most recent implementations of this digital strategy.

Now that RedLynx are now under the Ubisoft brand, what are you hoping to see become of this?

The general consensus is that the German Origin program (which comes bundled in with Battlefield 3) appears to install spyware on to your computer. Although at the moment no clear call can be made as to whether there is truth behind this claim – only time will tell, once official tests have been run. Though, until then, German gamers have been in uproar.

• “The Devil is in the contract details” 

Firstly, German gaming magazine GameStar have went as far as to hire a professional lawyer to analyze the ToS of EAs Origin – the findings were somewhat shocking.
To summarize the findings, EA enables themselves to gather all the information on the computer and process the data, which has the potential to escalate in to a privacy violation.

German Source - Translated Source

• “Origin analyzed my tax program!”

Members of the Amazon forums have even used a “Process Monitor” to scan exactly what Origins is doing and where it is looking. The user has posted pictures of the program accessing files of their tax management program (Picture/Video) and their cell phone manager (Picture).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TAZ-HN9cOk&

• “Battlefield 3 is the worst rated game on Amazon ever”

It appears German gamers have went as far as to down rate Battlefield 3 on Amazon. As well as unverified reports talk about 90,000€ loss on Amazon alone from returned copies of the game.

German Reviews - Translated Source

• “Retailers accept the return of opened copies of BF3!”

The German electronic retailers Media Markt/Saturn have openly announced that they will accept returns of opened and used (namely the online pass) copies of the game.

German Source - Translated Source

• “Attention rising with print media”

The attention has been so great even print media articles have been released in the “Lübecker Zeitung”, you can see a picture of it here, the article is in German.
The headline says: “Datatrap in new shootergame”

• “Fight for files / Spyware included”

German Radio station 1Live presents an article about EA on their website.
“Battlefield 3 was the most anticipated game of the year for many people…But EA is belived to put Spyware (Origin) into their game what is a mood killer for the gamers.“

German Source - Translated Source

• “Games giant wants to spy on customers”

This is the headline of “Der Spiegel” – the biggest and most renowned media company in Germany. The topic was brought up as and remained the top article of their website.

German Source - Translated Source

• “Online petition to take Battlefield 3 off the shelves in Germany!”

Some of the protesters started a petition to stop selling Battlefield 3 in Germany as an preventive move. “The publisher of the game,
EA, has got paragraphs in their ToS that clearly infringe the German laws. EA enables themselves to have complete access to sensitive data.
This selling stop is not permanent but until the company changes its ToS in such a way that it does not interfere with the law.”
By now, almost 4 000 people signed this petition. If they get 50 000 in 90 days, the politicians will talk about this in the Federal Council of Germany.

German Source

• Is this Universal?

As we are all well aware, the days of study on pen and paper are becoming rapidly outdated. The fact is, it’s just not efficient enough when using a computer is faster, easier and generally develops better results. With a huge E-universe of resources at your fingertips it seems almost pointless to go to a library and pull out a giant (and most likely outdated) encyclopaedia when Wiki and the rest of the world wide web are available from the comfort of your home or wherever else you place your computer.

Of course, unfortunately not everybody can afford the luxury of using a computer and so efficiency doesn’t matter if the funds aren’t available.

That’s where Raspberry Pi come in.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation are a charity with the purpose of promoting computer science and related subjects.

David Braben, the chairman of Raspberry Pi, had a dream. His dream was that one day children and adults alike would start enjoying learning about computers again, he wanted people to be able to use computers creatively and equally as important he wanted them to be available to everyone.

Davis Braben was initially concerned about the lack of computer science graduates over the years and so decided to investigate. He found that people were generally bored of what they were being taught. Spreadsheets and how to operate windows is all well and good but the general population are quite computer literate already.

The possibilities with computers are endless and the thought that others were being put off by boredom was an unsettling one for David Braben, and so Raspberry Pi was born.

Size doesn't matter.

So, tell me about the £15 computer.
Okay!
Well, firstly, it’s not going to be pretty. They do plan on releasing cases for the computer sometime after release, but apparently it’s not a concern and being a nonprofit organisation it’s not a priority.
The computer is essentially an ARM processor, USB port, and HDMI connection. Connect it to a keyboard, mouse and a television or a monitor and you will have a fully configured, functional Linux system.

The specs are as follows;

-700MHz ARM11
-128MB or 256MB of SDRAM
-OpenGL ES 2.0
-1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
-Composite and HDMI video output
-USB 2.0
-SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot
-General-purpose I/O
-Optional integrated 2-port USB hub and 10/100 Ethernet controller
-Open software (Ubuntu, Iceweasel, KOffice, Python)

Its powerful processor is similar to those in high-end smart phones, a screen connector ready for HD graphics, memory card reader for 32 gigabytes of storage, and up to three USB ports for keyboards, mice, network adapters, external storage or other accessories.

The open source software can handle any general usage like browsing the web, emails, Facebook etc. But also, and more importantly, it allows you to make your own creations and share them with others.

It doesn’t need charging, all you need to do is hook it up to a TV or a monitor and borrow a keyboard and you are away. However, apparently, you can put in a couple of AA batteries and use on any low budget tablet too.

What about games?

Here’s a clip of the device running Quake 3 with no problems at all, and rest assured when this is released there will be a horde of people creating their own updated games to try, test and share with the device.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It would cost less than £15m to give one of the computers to each and every student in Britain in the starting year at school, it would cost more that that to provision those students with new books, pens and study guides throughout their school life.

Overall, this is a brilliant idea and dare we say a revolutionary one at that.

Creativity is key and Raspberry Pi want to give the key to as many people as possible.

The Raspberry Pi is currently scheduled for release in ‘late Novemeber’.

Pachter believes Modern Warfare 3 will hit sixteen million globally by the fourth quarter of the year while Battlefield 3 will sell eight million globally.

He was quoted in saying:

“I’d guess that around half of the console copies of Battlefield 3 will be bought by people who also buy Modern Warfare 3, so around two to three million will buy both, I don’t see much cannibalization of the titles.”

Pachter said that Modern Warfare 3 could sell an extra eight million in 2012 and Battlefield 3 could sell a possible extra two million providing many gamers pick up both games.

EA have already began the process with the with the employees of the studio saying the affected staff “will be considered for positions at other EA studios including those in the UK”.

According to the official EA website, Bright Light’s goal is to “become the world’s leading character action studio, making games that all the family can enjoy” and that new IP’s are currently in development. Not to forget more Harry Potter games.