So, did you enjoy Aryel’s “a week in gaming with…” piece last week?! Of course you did. Well, now it’s my turn to enchant you with my ramblings. I will, of course, be talking about gaming news that has hit over the past week but I will also be having a bit of a rant. Yes, a rant…..because let’s face it everyone loves a good gaming rant now and again. Before I get into that though, I will be telling you a little bit about myself. So, sit back, relax and enjoy reading a week in gaming with…..ME!
Who am I?
I didn’t really know who I was til I turned 15, it was a strange old period in my life. Oh wait, this is not that sort of “who am I?”. Sorry!
My name is Asim Tanvir and I am the Editor-in-Chief here at GodisaGeek.com. Apart from posting news, previews, reviews and being the host of our podcast, I also sort out the review schedule and proof read pretty much everything you see on the website. Oh, I am also responsible for around 90% of the sexy banners you see on the site. See, the life of an Editor-in-Chief on a gaming website isn’t all fun and “glamour”. I don’t liaise with big gaming companies such as Konami, I don’t fly out to LA to attend E3 and I definitely don’t get to play games early. Oh wait, I actually do all those things! In all seriousness though, being Editor-in-Chief is a mixture of hard work and fun. The latter is definitely a reward for the hard work that goes into the website.
Gaming wise, I play pretty much everything apart from MMORPGs. Many people have tried to get me on to the World of Warcraft but I guess I am just not interested. I might give DC Universe Online or Star Wars: The Old Republic a go though, maybe. Moving on though, if I was pressed to choose my favourite genre(s) I would probably go for first person shooters and action/adventure games. I also love football games (soccer, to our American readers) which means I play both PES and FIFA. The latter has been the game of choice of the last few years but, if you read my recent impressions, you will know that PES is (finally) on its way back. My favourite game of all time is Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation. You could even go as far as saying that I am a bit of a Metal Gear fanboy. Those rumours that claim I worship at the altar of Hideo Kojima are totally true. I actually think I started them!
LIMBO – Chances are that many of you have heard of this game that was released on Xbox Live Arcade this past week. Some of you might have even played the trial version or gone that step further and actually purchased the game for 1200 Microsoft points. Me, I played the trial version and thought to myself, “what’s all the fuss about?”. The game has received immense critical praise and already gained a huge army of adoring fans. Still, I really don’t see what the fuss is about!
The game is ok but nothing special, certainly not 10/10 special. The black and white art style is fantastic, it should certainly be praised for that, but the gameplay is just standard trial and error. The basic premise of the game is to solve puzzles to progress but I got the feeling from the trial version that they (the puzzles) were a little too “clever” for their own good. This is not me saying, “they were too hard”, far from it infact. I don’t want to “ruin” anything for people who haven’t played the game yet but I thought the last puzzle in the trial version was quite poorly implemented. I’m all for a game being challenging but it needs to be sensible and fair, I didn’t find that to be case with LIMBO. Is it a case of some people letting the fantastic visuals overshadow their true opinion of the game? I certainly think so.
In the end I didn’t end up buying the game and it had very little to do with the price. I visit a certain gaming forum regularly and over there some people have made a huge deal about the games price (1200 MS points) and length (it’s about 4 hours long). For me, that was a very small factor and the quality of the game itself was the defining one. If I had really enjoyed the trial version, even if the game was 2100 Microsoft points, I would have purchased it. It always come down to overall enjoyment at the end of the day and, for me, LIMBO is a case of too much style and not enough substance.
LIMBO - too much style, not enough substance
GAME/Gamestation Stores – Yes, I mean the high street stores. I mean their terrible business practice and the awful customer service. For those who don’t know, I used to work at Gamestation and left just after GAME came in and bought them out. I won’t go into the reasons why I left because I don’t want to be on the wrong end of a lawsuit! It’s just not worth it!
Anyway, back to the terrible business practice and awful customer service. I rarely pop into my local Gamestation now but when I do I always (without fail) have a bad experience. I went in a month or so ago to trade-in the Monster Hunter Tri Special Edition and, as per their offer, I was going to match a higher trade price I had been given by another retailer. The guy behind the counter scans the box in and says they give 1 pence for it. 1 pence for a game they have on their shelf priced at £59.99! Ridiculous, no?! I know, from experience, not to expect the same price but 1 pence?! I tell him I want to match a higher price I had been given by another retailer (£40) and he says they can’t do that. A bit of an “argument” ensues and a hour (plus two calls to their head office where I am spoken to rudely) later I get what I originally came in for. The same thing happened a week ago too and I had to get into an “argument” (again) to get what I wanted.
It makes you realise exactly why some of these stores are closing down and why people are losing their jobs. As bad as it might sound, it is hard to feel sorry for these people because they treat you like shit when you go into their store to purchase something. It is exactly why people in the know tend to buy their games online now, so they don’t have to deal with the actual store and the people who work there. I know I am not the only one out there who has experienced instances like this when shopping at GAME or Gamestation, I hear stories like this on various forums all the time. The funny thing is though, I buy from GAME’s website all the time and have never had any issues. Infact I have had nothing but good customer service from them. A week ago I got a call from them and a nice lady offered me a couple of games at cheap prices, which baffled me. GAME, actually putting the customer first and providing a good service?! Shock and fucking horror! Why can’t the same ideals be applied to their actual stores?! If it did I’m sure they would gain some more customers. Let’s face it though, that is not going to happen! Bottom line, buy your games online folks. It’s cheaper and you don’t have to deal with morons.
That’s all from me for this week, hope you enjoyed reading what I had to say. If you have anything to say please feel free to comment below or tweet me at @AsimTanvir.
It’s Aaron’s turn next week, so please come back then for some more random rants and ramblings. Until then stay tuned to GodisaGeek for some top class gaming news, previews and reviews.
