Category Archives: General

Gaming, General

Vic B’Stard’s (late) week in review: Elite, Rollercoasters, Disneyland, Halo and Assassin’s Creed

Vic B'Stard
Broke and tired!

My wallet exhausted, my gaming schedule full, it’s time once again to take a look at my week in review.

Too many games to play has meant a delay to my usual weekly editorial missive. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks been lost between the a return to the ringworld of Halo, the battlefields of Modern Warfare 3 and the icy tundra of Skyrim. Before I embark on my journey to Constantinople in Assassin’s Creed Revelations, here’s a few words.

British outfit Frontier Developments’ main man, David Braben was one half of the team, along with Alan Bell, that was responsible for the genre defining, nay creating, game called Elite. Without Elite there wouldn’t be any number of space trading games, including the massively popular Eve Online. For me, thirteen-years old at the time, it was my first introduction to the illusion of a living breathing virtual universe, and it was incredible. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s (late) week in review: Elite, Rollercoasters, Disneyland, Halo and Assassin’s Creed →

Comic Books, Gaming, General

Vic B’Stard’s week in review: Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3 vs. Modern Warfare 3, Robin DLC, Halo and Skyrim

Vic B'Stard
MW3 vs. BF3...there are no winners in war!

I’m so weak. Despite promising myself I wouldn’t, I got myself a copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 for the Xbox 360 and I’m rather glad that I did.

It’s one week after the release of the fantastic Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception and I’ve yet to actually finish playing the game. Although playing though the game in bite sized chunks has allowed be to savor the experience. I know that I’m not far from the end now, and I’ll be sad when it’s over. I’m really enjoying the game, as I did the previous two. I’ve dabbled a bit with the multiplayer, both during the beta and with the retail release. As fun as it is, I can’t see it pulling me away from Battlefield 3…or Modern Warfare 3.

Now that I’ve played both EA Games’ Battlefield 3 and Activision’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, I’m about as in the middle of the two publishing powerhouses’ willy waving contest as one can, unfortunately, be. EA’s public fighting talk and Activision’s aloof, faux high-ground taking retorts have resulted in both publishers being caught with their trousers down. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s week in review: Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3 vs. Modern Warfare 3, Robin DLC, Halo and Skyrim →

Gaming, General

Vic B’Stard’s week in review: Battlefield 3 bugs, Batman: Arkham City Nightwing DLC, Crimson Alliance, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Skyrim!

Vic B'Stard
So many games, so little time!

As the NZ gaming scene continues to hot up for Christmas, it’s been another exciting week in the house of B’Stard.

Last week Battlefield 3 reminded me why I have such a love/hate relationship with PC gaming. Even though console releases can be riddled with day-one bugs, they are not usually as bad as the absolutely show-stopping little bastards found in a PC release. Regardless of my love for the game, as you can read in my review here, the PC version of BF3 can be a sod at times. This, on top of having to wrestling with my three overheating  SLI’d GTX285 video cards has provided me with a few moments of frustration over the past week. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s week in review: Battlefield 3 bugs, Batman: Arkham City Nightwing DLC, Crimson Alliance, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Skyrim! →

Comic Books, Gaming, General

Vic B’Stard’s week(s) in review: Batman, Holy Terror, Kinect Sports: Season Two, Battlefield 3 veteran status.

Vic B'Stard
Busy. Do not disturb!

After Bat-week , a long weekend here in New Zealand , a little bit of intellectual property drama and me being too busy in Arkham City to write anything, State of Play returns to normal. Well sort of, as best it can in this game encrusted run-up to the Christmas holiday. 

Even though I’m still getting down and dirty with Batman in Arkham City and taking Battlefield 3 through its paces, my attention is turning towards the next triple A title, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception which launches in little over a week’s time, exciting stuff. After Nathan Drake’s outing we then have Modern Warfare 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Busy, busy, busy.

Anyhoo, with two weeks work of goings on to summarise, I’d better get cracking. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s week(s) in review: Batman, Holy Terror, Kinect Sports: Season Two, Battlefield 3 veteran status. →

General

Vic B’Stard @Game Culture NZ

Vic B'Stard
Credit where credit’s due.

Due to an administration error, my writing credits got removed from the articles that I wrote on the Game Culture NZ website and accidentally credited to another author.

As I did the writing for free, having the author credit is pretty much the only reward I got for the job, so it was important for me to get the situation sorted out as soon as possible. Apparently the stuff-up was due to me being removed as a contributor to the site; other commitments making me unable to continue writing for them on a regular basis.

Continue reading Vic B’Stard @Game Culture NZ →

General

I’m Baaack!

I’ve just moved the site from the comfort of wordpress.com to its permanent home at www.stateofplay.co.nz.

Please adjust your links accordingly, although wordpress.com will redirect you here for the time being. You may notice a lack of functionality and the old hiccup as I configure plug-ins and edit the CSS. Hopefully it’ll all be up and running nicely by next week.

Why have I moved host? Well, this site started out as a simple  Saturday afternoon folly. I see a fair amount of potential that wordpress.org simply doesn’t allow for. About a month ago I purchased the domain www.stateofplay.co.nz and it has just been a case of getting around to it/being brave enough to migrate.

There is a lot more that I can do now. So please stick around

General

Musical interlude: Kurt Shanks…I know that man!

This isn’t a music site, I know. But I got a press release in my email box today that triggered a WTF moment that I thought I’d share.

Auckland singer/songwriter Kurt Shanks, who I used to work with when I lived on the Shore, has just released the video for We Shall Have Another Day, the featured track from his debut EP which will be out in the first week of August.

Continue reading Musical interlude: Kurt Shanks…I know that man! →