OnLive/Survival Horror/Career in Game Design.

With the recent announcement at GDC of an upcoming service that will allow the user to stream AAA titles direct to their television using a simple and inexpensive box, we decided to get our teeth into the possibilities this could represent. Could it be the Cloud computing everybody's been dreaming of or a patchy first attempt at something that may not work properly for a decade?

We finish off our weeks-long discussion of the impact of Resident Evil 5 with a talk about survival horror and how far it's come, along with what could be done to bring RE back to it's roots.

We're very pleased to have on Ryan Astley (who was with us the whole show and throws his hat in the ring many a time), a listener with a background in game design. For the final part of the show, we talk to Ryan about his education and subsequent career in designing architecture and assets for various video games while working for a midlands-based company.

To see Ryan's work go to http://www.ryan-astley.com/

Written By: Alex Shaw

I’ve been writing furiously about Resident Evil 5 for over a week now, exorcising demons I was clinging to regarding the controls, inventory, acting and story but to prove I’m not all bile and fury, it’s time for a bit of post-mortem praise. There were some excellent moments in playing through story mode which you forget while your blood’s boiling over control issues. For those who haven’t yet finished, I’ll steer clear of spoilers.

The depiction of an African village is extremely detailed. There’s some very compelling evidence pointing to casual, clumsy and thoughtless racism on Capcom’s part, which would make for another article altogether, but the fact remains that the sun-bleached township you begin at, with its oppressive shacks and buzzing flies, is very evocative. The scene is horrible and you wish you weren’t there, but that’s surely the point. Now while the labyrinth of locked rooms and puzzles that formed the backbone of the whole series is gone, what’s in its place will make for great replay value. Being able to dive in and out of each level, with or without a friend, and hold onto a consistent stash of loot and weapons means you can explore every nook and cranny on multiple occasions. The mercenaries mode yet again adds the element of score-beating and rewards to emphasize the new arcadey nature of the core game. In addition, the cut scenes are undeniably pretty, with a lot of stuff flying about and some impressive fighting, and working for achievements was a welcome addition, which made me alter my playing style several times. Finally there is one very effective moment when you have to be very, very quiet that had my nerves shot to hell, harkening back to the tension of the Nemesis theme.

If the series is to progress and we’re going to get that reboot that Capcom are hinting at, I have some suggestions here which may interest them. Firstly; take it back to the mansion. It’s where we go to in our heads when we think Resident Evil. Ditch S.T.A.R.S, Umbrella, Chris, Jill, Claire, Leon, Wesker and everything else. What they equated to thirteen years ago is not where story games need to be going. For a reboot, we need new characters, plot, settings etc; it’s in a mansion, there are zombies, puzzles and weapons. That should be all that remains of the original story. From then on, we need new ideas.

A more successful blend of action game and survival horror requires a nimble character you can rely on with a solid control system. No more movable turrets. This means running while aiming (at the expense of accuracy), and being able to dodge an attack (but not run rings around slow enemies.) Go back to slow zombies as the main grunts of the game. Introduce much faster, more intimidating enemies in thinner numbers (the Crimson Heads of the GameCube version, for example) further on. Since 28 Days Later we’ve had the zombie upgrade of screaming, charging infected in popular culture, but they’ve never quite been done right in a survival horror game. They always move too slowly or stop to attack, or in the case of Left 4 Dead, attack en masse without the creeping weight of a Resident Evil encounter. They need to be savage, blood spewing maniacs who never stop moving.

Here’s the formula; enclosed corridor + fast zombie + half-empty handgun and the exit in sight. Tension up the wazoo! Survival means scraping together everything you have. Bring us back to a place where every single bullet counts and careful organising of your inventory kept you alive. Allow us to keep a hand free and pick up something like a herb in an emergency, even if we have no slots empty (again at a loss of firing accuracy because you’re shooting one handed.) The gameplay should involve running between rooms, braving the prowling undead and giving us the binary choice of the original games; shoot now and this room might be safer, but you’ll have less ammo, or run for it and the room stays lethal. The taking of responsibility for your environment and being permanently wary of what is around the next corner is something that needs bringing back. The spirit of these games is very much alive, but something has been lost along the way as action games evolved. To successfully instil us with horror, Capcom are going to have to make us fight to survive and that means holding on to your last bullets like you’re in Die Hard, and every slowly opening door will once again make us hold our breath.

Written By: Alex Shaw

I'm very proud to announce that I've begun writing articles for the website Platform Nation. Check them out here, they are a fine source of gaming news and reviews with an excellent forum section and plenty of podcasts including of course Edie Seller's Gamehounds.

My first article for them is My Old Friend Nintendo.

I sit gazing into my rapidly cooling coffee. It's two in the afternoon on a sunny day in a sleepy New York bistro. Nintendo, sitting across from me laughs uproariously into his cell phone and says his goodbyes to the caller, closing it and setting it beside his untouched cup.

"That was Time magazine,” he says. “They want to do an interview with me this week.”

“I know,” I say. “You just agreed to meet them Friday after lunch.” Nintendo nods and takes out his Blackberry, tapping at the tiny keys and smiling.

“Mmm,” he says.

“That was the day we were going jet skiing on Drake Lake,” I say pointedly. Nintendo stops tapping and looks at me as if waking from a dream.

“Can we make that Saturday?” he asks and starts to check his Blackberry. “Next Thursday…sorry, the Tuesday after that?” I look at Nintendo as he starts to pencil me in and my shoulders slump.

It was never like this before. We met in 1985 when we were both very young. It was one of those friendships that you find yourself holding up as the yardstick to every relationship. He was fun back then, and honest. We"d play at exploring castles, rescuing princesses, battling fire-breathing monsters and all the other things kids find to do. We grew up together and our friendship only became stronger. We played better, smarter games, went Kart racing and got into RPGs exploring vast imaginary worlds. He learned new skills and I learned from him.

Then came high school and college and we still kept in touch, even though we saw each other less. I hooked up with an ex-girlfriend of his, who was a little more mature then either of us, causing an undeniable rift - yet still every time we met it was like we were kids again, but with encounters tempered by our newfound view of the world. The imaginary lands never seemed more vivid and real.

Of course people change. They grow up and move on to greener pastures with the inevitability of little Jackie Paper. The last time I saw Nintendo he wasn’t doing too well. The imagination was there in his work, but he was having an awful time of getting people to really pay attention to it. I was frankly worried about him, but the distance between us was growing vast and noticeable. We kept in touch; we both got jobs and moved in different directions. The way it always goes.

Next thing I know, it’s New Year’s 2006 and he’s calling me up, blind drunk and very happy. His business ventures in Japan, America and Europe are all paying off so well, he can barely get the stock in to meet demand. I’m so incredibly happy for my old friend and tell him so, but for the first time it doesn’t seem like he’s listening to me. Then he calls me the wrong name. I mention it, and he mumbles something and hangs up.

It’s July 15^th 2008. Today. I haven’t seen Nintendo for four years and he’s sitting across from me in the bistro, with the world at his feet.

“I saw your work with the space project,” I offer, “Great stuff.” He looks up at me from his iPhone.

“Thanks,” he beams. “What did you think of the sports programmes?”

“Also good,” I say diplomatically. I don’t want to bring any personal feelings of indifference into the conversation. I’m trying to be as positive as I can be, but it’s hard when he’s received seven calls since we’ve been sat here. I feel like the proverbial third wheel.

“And what about that music project? That looks like great fun doesn’t it?”

Not wanting to be painfully honest, I change the subject. “Are you planning any more projects based on your old creations?” I ask hopefully. Nintendo’s brow creases.

“That’s a lot of effort for not much return,” he says absently, ordering us both another coffee. “The last one took three years to make and made substantially less profit than a cheap little Carnival I set up in two days.

“But it was such a great piece of work,” I press on. “Surely that’s what counts in the end; building something of substance, something of merit. Something that will last and future generations can appreciate.” He looks stumped and chews thoughtfully on a biscotti. Then Time magazine calls and I’m alone again for fifteen minutes.

“So I’ll put you down for jet skiing on Duck Lake on Tuesday the twenty-ninth, OK?” Nintendo repeats.

“Drake Lake,” I say quietly and nod.

“Swell,” he says, rising from the table, throwing down a handful of bills. “Listen, I have to run, I’ve got to be on the Tonight Show, and they start recording in three hours.”

“I’ll see you later,” I say, locking eyes with him. He smiles, but his eyes are on his Blackberry again.

And you know what? In a few years time, when the standard of his work is at an all time low, his new friends have all deserted him and he’s no longer the man of the hour, he may come to me, deflated and contemplative, with plans and ideas that more closely resemble the heights he reached as an imaginative child with a world of potential. On that day, when I could crow and sneer at his downfall, I will instead sit back and look at his new ideas and encourage him in doing what he always did best; creating worlds that were bright and fun and innovative, and of undeniable substance and quality.

I tell myself this as I watch him go. Who knows what will happen to him, but if my battered heart knows anything it’s that he’ll always land on his feet, and I’ll always be there for him.

Edie Sellers Guest Stars.

In this episode, one of the best we've ever recorded, we are very proud to have with us one Edie Sellers, sometime professional radio host for KGO-AM Radio in the bay area of San Francisco, but more importantly host of the Gamehounds podcast.

We're going to be taking a five minute spot on the Gamehounds weekly update or "Humpdate" starting next week, so we figured it would be a great way for our audience to meet her and vice versa.

Long known for her fierce liberal opinions and extremely well-read knowledge of video games Edie is just about the best guest a podcaster could ever ask for, so we took the opportunity and mercilessly grilled her on her views on everything from the shady dealings of Gamestop to the frivolous decisions of Nintendo.

Also discussed is Resident Evil 5 and the culmination of Alex's week of furiously writing articles on it. Thankfully Tony is there too to lend a bolted down viewpoint.

Edie records Gamehounds every Saturday with longtime friend Cooper Hawkes. You can find it here. Check it out, it's hugely entertaining and informative, and now the mid-week update has US on it, so there's no excuses.

Part 5 of the Resident Evil Musings.

Does this sound familiar?

1. "Boom - Resident Evil!"
2. Hey you're a white, average cop in their twenties. Your name is Chris/Jill/Leon/Claire.
3. Welcome to the scary mansion/police station/Raccoon City/Eastern European/African village.
4. Things are looking a little scary, thank God you have your pistol.
5. Aaagh... Zombies/Infected folks of mixed ethnicity!
6. Solve this puzzle.
7. Oops, the pistol's a bit rubbish, here's a shotgun.
8. Aaagh... monsters that are faster and more dangerous than zombies!
9. Here's a bit with a train/tram/boat.
10. Hey you've reached the laboratory, now get to the bottom of this mystery.
    
11. Damn, it was Wesker what done it!
12. Aaagh... a Tyrant! Better use this rocket launcher.
13. All done. Fly away on the helicopter and stare at your partner with your dead, personality-free eyes.

It's really as by the numbers as that, and this is coming from someone who loves the Resident Evil series. My biggest problem with 5 is that it does nothing with the formula. The acting is just as bad, the plot twists just as trite, but there isn't anything new or sparky about it. Resident Evil 2 had branching story lines for the two leads, 3 had the ever-stalking presence of the Nemesis, Veronica had a scrolling action that did away with static screens, and 4 had the new controls and perspective. Aside from pretty graphics, Capcom have come up with nothing new for the series in five years... with the exception of an incompetent sidekick who gets herself in trouble or killed more often than a Doctor Who assistant.

Yes, it would appear co-op was what they were dangling their hopes on for this game, but if you don't have a friend with you - if, say, your best mate is still waiting for his copy to come through the post, days after yours arrived - you have to make do with the AI to help you out as Sheva. But she doesn't. Sheva wastes your good ammo and herbs, creates frustrating weapon trading scenarios and gets herself cornered and squished by axe-wielding brutes when you're being relentlessly attacked. The brutal combination of non-pausing item control and belligerent, suicidal AI makes your single-player experience hollow and annoying, leaving you only able to see the similarities and lack of improvement on previous games.

Think of the advancements we've seen just in video games over the past five years since the last RE game. We've had two Gears of War games, which picked up and ran with the third person action perspective redefining it in the process; Silent Hill Homecoming, which by all accounts has improved the control scheme of the original game and made it easier to move and dodge, in a survival horror long known for its steadfast adherence to slow, awkward progression. We've had Left 4 Dead with its multiplayer orgy of never-ending fast-zombie onslaught, twitch-fast controls and genuinely nerve-wracking pace. And we've had games like Uncharted and The Darkness which worked on a tried and tested movie formula and made the delivery fresh and interesting.

In truth RE5 is not a bad game experience. In relation to 50 Cent: BOTS it's a breath of air that, while not fresh, is at least breathable. But another average outing in Umbrella-Town is not what I wanted. I want to see this series that I cherish advance on the level that Metal Gear did when it jumped from MSX to PSX. Maybe it needs a hiatus before a grand reboot, but if Capcom do the same thing again for 6 then there's going to be words.

Screw Chris, Jill, Leon and Claire. They are mindless, character-free automatons which have no place in contemporary games. The day of the Mary-Sue superman whose abs ripple in the sunlight and whose catlike reflexes are remarked upon and admired by all has long since departed. We need flawed, fascinating, dangerous or vulnerable individuals, surrounded by a cast of similarly original creations. Capcom need to employ some western writers of high quality like J Michael Straczynski or Mark Millar if they wish to continue the form of homage to American movies, because their staff scripters and plotters are doing a horrible job.

And finally the controls simply aren't good enough any more. If Capcom want an action game they need action controls. This means running while shooting, an intuitive item system you really can operate on the fly, canceling of animations if you need to move fast, and the ability to beat the crap out of your enemies without fulfilling certain criteria first. It's what we'd all do in a survival situation and it's time RE reflected this.

The rating I give RE5 is based on the game itself, but taking into account what it should have been. Tony maintains that experiences of Resident Evil 5 may vary.

Final Score: 6/10

As we're nearing episode 100 and with the change to a two man show, we've got a new logo for iTunes and general use. It feels a bit more personal than three controllers and here at DC we're ALL about personality. This weeks podcast is going to be absolutely kickass! Recording starts tonight.

Written By: Alex Shaw

Strangely enough for a game that's got everybody so nitpicky and middling in their scores the one place that Killzone 2 excels is in it's weaponry, specifically the sniper rifle. I maintain that this is the best SR since GoldenEye showed us how to do it, and it's for such a simple reason; control.

As warped and twisted as our hands become trying to grasp the slippery eel of the PS3 Dual Shock, and as much as our confused fingers end up resembling a plate of fat spaghetti, as we search for purchase on the triggers, once you're looking down the sights of this bad boy it all becomes clear. We can let go of the nubby thumbsticks with their supporating pustule rubber buttons on top and just lightly tilt the pad left, right, up and down and as long as you are pointed in the general direction of a Helghan warrior you can ease the sights dead centre between his glowing red eyes and squeeze off a round or two to encourage his propaganda-addled brain to launch through the back of his Kojak slap-head.

It's delightful, and if only it didn't require you to wrestle your avatar into cover to initiate, it might be the perfect weapon. We need more PS3 developers making subtle use of the tilty control. Not in a way that's crucial to the game, but in little ways that make you smile in the knowledge that you're not going to find that feature anywhere else.

We all have a pile of shame. It's the stack of games we've bought and are sitting on, but have yet to finish, or in some cases; play. Here in order of priority is mine. PLUS the specifics of when they will be considered beaten.

1. The Darkness (Finish on Normal)
2. Silent Hill: Homecoming (Finish one ending)
3. F.E.A.R 2 (Finish on Normal)
4. Chrono Trigger (Finish)
5. Dead Space (Finish)
6. Bionic Commando (Have to kill Hitler)
7. Burnout Revenge (Have to unlock a truly awesome car)
8. Shadow of the Colossus (Play once in my life)

Games I've Finished

Peggle
Resident Evil 5
Street Fighter IV
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
Killzone 2
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Flower
Sega Mega Drive Collection
Streets of Rage 2
Left 4 Dead
Scene It?: Box Office Smash
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Gears of War 2
Fallout 3
Rock Band: AC/DC Live

Written By: Alex Shaw

While playing his latest game, in which this dangerous little animal goes to Iraq and massacres every person he meets, I began to despair for all human culture. It's not that the developers of the game, Swordfish, were just uninspired in placing this rapper du-jour at the heart of a hot-button Middle-Eastern territory and then throwing seven hundred screaming Arabs at him, each with an AK-47, a bandana and a neat line in the most appallingly cliched dialogue, it isn't even the fact that the game is broken on a fundamental level that only playing on hard mode would uncover, it's not even that I hate this project, its subject and the way it's been comported on a base level. No, the reason this makes me crazier than a bastard on Father's Day is that this game is going to sell bucketloads.

Mainstream journos, when handed this game, will judge it based on the built-in audience of Fiddy fans. This means they won't look upon it as a real game, but another installment dropped atop his merchandise mountain. Thus it will get away with its multitude of sins. Dedicated gaming press have seen it as a guilty pleasure and a fun arcade romp. I felt no guilt and not the least bit of pleasure playing this, merely a cold deadness where joy once resided and a deep, unremitting fury that this man earns more per year than some of the countries he would gladly visit to perform his bling-fueled genocide. Of course it's 50 Cent, not Curtis James Jackson III, who's the neanderthal-browed mass murderer in this game; a sub-human killing machine whose only goal is to get back a skull covered with diamonds. Unfortunately this is apparently the same character he plays every time he sets foot onstage or does an interview for MTV. Unless it's not, unless it's him and all this playing characters bullshit is a hangover from childhood games that allows these arrogant, angry halfwits to do and say anything they like as long as there's some comforting fiction to hide behind.

It's morally repugnant, needlessly violent, sleazy, mysogynistic and utterly trite... I respect that, but it's also horribly written and riddled with glitches to the point where it doesn't feel like a game any more than Paris Hilton's Stars Are Blind single resembled real music. It's just a cheap, vanity project for a man with the emotional development of a nine year old. Worst of all, the game's been applauded for not being quite as bad as the execrable Bulletproof, released on the previous generation of consoles. That it's not entirely unplayable is not a plaudit and should not enter into the debate on the quality of this game, which is lower than Fiddy's IQ, thinner than his library and more untraceable than the sum totality of worthwhile actions this man has done with his career.

P.S. Graphics and sound were adequate.

Final Score: 2/10


 

Written by: Alex Shaw

Part 4 of the Resident Evil musings.

Here's something that's been driving me batshit crazy lately. The greatest detractor from the reality of any given action game is that we are obliged to see all the animations. In Resident Evil 5 if an enemy is pulling back a spear to plunge it into your chest you can blast him in the face with a shotgun shell and the game will often, but not always do something like this.

Hmmm...

That should really have killed this mob here.

Still, I've started so I'll finish.

Better luck next time pal.

And lo and behold, your shotgun is ineffective, while his pointy stick wins through and robs you of a third of your energy. If you sidestep, he pivots on the spot like one of those teacups at Disney World and homes the point in on you with laser-guided precision. In other words, if you're in range, that stick's hitting you no matter what.

The level of response to a good 40% of your shots in RE5 is nonexistent. You can plug an axe-wielding behemoth in the kneecaps, head, wherever; the game is not registering bullets hitting bone, it's keeping count of the mobs internal damage bar. You have to shoot him precisely ten times in the head with your shotgun to take him down. Do it nine times and that guy WILL survive long enough to splatter you with his axe. On the tenth hit, he will crumble to the ground as his bar runs out, but his head will not explode. You didn't shoot him really, you just rolled the dice enough times to lower his HP to zero. Other mobs are slightly different. In the classic RE4 manner, you can kneecap them and keen headshots are rewarded, but in later levels, they are tougher and eventually every enemy will have this internal stamina bar and nothing but the predetermined shot count will take them down. Passing this off as an action game is a fallacy. It's an action RPG, with all the reactions of World of Warcraft's expressionless enemies programmed in.

Worst of all, is Chris' unending ability to not get out of the way when he needs to be quick on his feet. Not only can't you run and shoot,or run and reload, but you can't cancel a reload on the fly. 2001's Halo saw Master Chief able to melee in the middle of a reload if caught unawares or suddenly ambushed, and yes he could reload while running. The lumbering dolt Redfield, stops moving with all the grace of his dribbling rabid foes and starts his three second reload cycle. Any damage he receives while this is happening is an unavoidable penalty, because that gun is going to get reloaded, same as the pointy stick was always going to hit you. In Capcoms own Street Fighter 4, it's possible to cancel special moves in order to fake out your opponent. Are Capcom serious in their assertion that standing there like a nob and fiddling with your weapon heightens the tension rather than just frustrating? The only horror you end up feeling is of your character's inability to perform the actions you need to survive.

Fortunately to counter this it's possible to limp through the game on a shred of energy if you keep Sheva close because she will tap you out Dom style every time you hit critical status. Of course if she's in trouble you both die. Do it all again, try harder next time. Now they have pointy sticks and wooden headmasks, which are impervious to magnum shells. They must be made of the same titanium wicker as the impenetrable doors.

Written By: Alex Shaw

Part 3 of the Resident Evil musings.

Think of the worst acting in a video game ever. The worst written lines and the shoddiest delivery of said dialogue. You're probably thinking of the original Resident Evil, or if not, it's in your top three.

There was something so iconic, so amusing and so likable about dialogue like... "Jill, here's a lock-pick; it might come in handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you. / Well I'm sorry, but he's probably... / I found this weapon. It's really powerful, especially against living things. / and of course; Don't COME!" It was forgivable. After all, speech in console games was relatively new, as was trying to present a cinematic experience. The game limped through on B-Movie sensibilities like a redlining hero in desperate need of an F. Aid Spray and we accepted every cheesy minute. Then Resident Evil two came out and it was the same, then three, Veronica, the remake, and Zero and very little had changed. As with everything else the quality of the delivery got a little better by the time 4 rolled around, but now with the fifth installment, thirteen years later the world of games has changed and this is still a sheepish B-Movie. Games like Heavenly Sword, The Darkness and Half Life 2 have proven that nuanced, subtle performances are more than possible in an action game, so why are we still looking at gruff beefcakes and their chirpy female sidekicks chewing through line after line of trite cliches, with little to no emotion or truth in their performance?

Cinema itself has changed. Resident Evil 4 is an evolution of the series much like 1995's GoldenEye made James Bond smarter, harder and sharper. It's been years since Pierce Brosnan first twinkled those eyes on our screen, and now we have the quantum-leap progression of Casino Royale as the benchmark for gritty, realistic and excellently measured spy thrillers, and the steely gaze of Daniel Craig. By contrast GoldenEye looks a bit creaky and sleazy, though still solid. Resident Evil 5 is the Tomorrow Never Dies we've been delivered, when we need Casino Royale. Also the game is based on action now, not horror, so the writers have years of Bruckheimer films to look to as the basis of their characterisation and themes. But the action movie has changed too. We have had Bourne, Nolan's Batman and The Matrix and the sharper writing attached to those films to show us that dialogue doesn't need to be a leaden series of setups for the big explosions, and central characters can be flawed, interesting and dark. Team America: World Police was designed as a parody of the very films RE emulates. Every daft line delivered with painful sincerety. The landscape of cinema that Capcom originally explored and transposed to the gaming scene has changed, along with the performance of their competitors. To progress, they must go back to the drawing board and look at what they could be delivering in terms of a cinematic experience. Just pray they don't look to Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil films as a yardstick of excellence.

Written by: Alex Shaw

Part 2 of the Resident Evil musings.

Now the issue of control. Even in 1996 when we were still just getting to grips with 3D worlds, Resident Evil had poor controls. Released three months before Mario 64 showed the world the best, most fluid, freeing and agile new system, one that has arguably even now not been matched, the Playstation users were bestowed with a game that presented you with a weighty marionette dressed as a special forces police officer, and asked you to gamely shove them through a series of static screens, hopefully avoiding the lumbering undead on the way.

There was a rhythm to them. Your heart beat steadily along with Chris and Jill's footfalls on the dusty floors. You kept up pressed and wove left and right with the bottom half of your thumb, occasionally stopping and rotating like a robotic toy from the 1970's whenever you found a statue or picture worth investigating. It served to heighten the tension, and it made you feel that at least when you stopped and aimed your pea-shooter of a Beretta 92F at a Zombie, you were an immovable object and that you had made the decision to fire, thus eating up eight of your bullets. There was no nimble sidestepping or stunning of your enemies, it was a binary choice. Run or kill. If you evaded and left them alive, they would be there when you inevitably returned. If you killed them, you would have a safe, empty room to explore but less ammo to play with. This was fine against loping zombies, but when the scaly, needle-toothed Hunters entered the house and, following the offscreen crunch of their footsteps, you saw what a fast enemy could do to your meat-puppet, the fear genuinely began to set in. Were Capcom banking on this creating genuine excitement in the game, or simply ignoring the frustration over the fact that you just couldn't smack the reptillian bastards in the face with the butt of your shotgun? Either way, I personally relished every treacherous explored corridor now furnished with its own movable deathtrap.

And so it stayed for many years; through Tomb Raider, Mario and eventually the Prince of Persia - a game founded on fancy footwork - re-emerging in a 3D world in a way that both utilised the geometry of its blocky Playstation 2 environments, and also freed up the player to indulge in feats of acrobatics that rivaled Nintendo's plumber. The last Resident Evil Games before 4 were Zero, and a remake of the original for the GameCube in 2002, both of which were still using the antiquated control scheme from six years previous. The only addition was a much needed quick-turn pioneered in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and occasional dodges that could not be relied upon as a survival tool. A more action-oriented Resident Evil was developed that later became Devil May Cry. One can only imagine what that game might have been like had a Dante-powered S.T.A.R.S team member been able to take a sword and dual pistols to Umbrella's finest.

Then in 2004 the huge redux finally came. 4 was what we'd been waiting for. The camera was behind Leon and the screens flowed rather than remaining static. It actually had a lot more in common with the underrated Code Veronica, both in terms of pacing and sheer weight of enemies thrown at you. In fact, the first-person Merceneries sub-game in Veronica fairly closely resembles the machanics of 4. Now you could aim. Now you could kick the Ganados in the face, kneecap them, and most importantly the combat knife, long relegated to sitting at the bottom of your magic trunk could come into play as a deadly and useful addition to your arsenal. It was so good that we didn't think to ask why Leon couldn't move and fire at the same time, sidestep or roll to evade attack. One of my favourite journalists, John Davison of 1UP and What They Play, remarked that it felt more like moving a turret on wheels around, choosing a position to plant it in the ground and then rolling the gun left and right to choose your targets. Not at all the organic, flowing and action packed realism that Capcom were aiming for.

Five years have gone by. We've had Gears, we've had Dead Space; hell, even Niko Bellic can walk and shoot at the same time, and the shooting controls for GTA have long been documented as being patchy. Chris is back, with Leon's moveset, and a great deal of us are not happy. Why haven't Capcom evolved the series? Why do we still feel so vulnerable? Is it for the sake of tradition or sheer laziness? The demo kicked at the proverbial hornets nest with unfounded rumours of a control rethink weeks before release.

If you look at the gaming world of Resident Evil's 4 and 5 you don't need to move and fire. It's still the binary choice. Only what's changed is that ammo is no longer finite, and we don't have to retread these paths again. It's more a case of moving to the next section and clearing away the hordes that reside there, rinse, repeat. So with this being the case, whether you need to or not, why can't you move and fire?

When Resident Evil 6 inevitably emerges, in 2014, no matter how shiny the graphics are, Capcom are going to have to address this issue. A game with a five year old control scheme that refuses to acknowledge the advancements of it's peers simply can't be excused by the general gaming public in this day and age. The only thing carried over from the survival horror genre that it no longer bears any resemblance to are these controls. Updated circa 2004 granted, but nonetheless pitched to have you doubting your abilities to evade death, and in an age where high quality action games with decent controls are fast becoming the most popular genre, Capcom are going to have to take a good, hard look at what they want this series to be.

Written By: Alex Shaw

This is the first of a series of musings on Resident Evil 5 and how the series has changed in the past 13 years.

Inventory management. Originally Chris Redfield could carry six items and Jill Valentine, being a resourceful woman with more pockets, had room for eight. This led to ridiculous leaps in logic regarding relative mass and weight, so a shotgun, it would seem, took up the same space as a key. Other games like Fallout have attempted to deal with this conundrum by assigning weight to each item, keys and food usually equating to a tiny fraction of that of a weapon, yet still neither had it right. In Fallout the designers would have you believe that your hero could cart around ten assault rifles, a few rocket launchers, and a host of other weapons before you start to feel it and have trouble running, yet for game after game if Chris or Leon were holding a pistol, shotgun and the relevant ammo, plus a key and a crank, he would, when confronted with a vital, life-giving herb, be unable to stuff it into a spare pocket or (most ridiculously of all) simply consume it on the spot. Instead you had to hightail it to the nearest safe room, dump a few items in the trunk and then traipse back to the herb. Resident Evil Zero on the GameCube made another attempt to advance this by having Rebecca swap her items for what was lying on the floor. This solved nothing as backtracking for whatever you swapped it for was inevitable, but at least it made more real-world sense.

The magic trunks in every safe room had a strange reassuring quality. Big enough to contain every item in the game and transport them to various locations, often miles apart, they made up the core item management homebase that allowed you to feel like you were taking part in a genuine zombie movie, with limited resources and careful planning of trips around the house/police station required as a central facet of the gameplay. Bullets were wholly finite. There were 500 handgun bullets in the game and they had to be used sparingly as and when you found them. Even saving had a tinge of danger to it, as with ink-ribbons you had to find your saves, hidden in the bookshelves, drawers and assembled clutter of a spooky old mansion. Save too often and you may not have many chances left to continue.

Then came Resident Evil 4 and all that changed. No longer were there a set number of bullets in the game. Hoarding ammo was counter-productive and rather than a vast labyrinth of locked rooms, puzzles and backtracking, Leon Kennedy was faced with a relatively linear path of fast-zombie action. Sharpshooting rewarded ammo, so the more you used your guns, the more regular the flow was. The inventory also changed. Leon now carried everything with him in a briefcase, and the arms trade was brought in (later mimicked by Metal Gear Solid 4 in an expanded and, some would say, game-breaking manner) with the introduction of the mysterious and charismatic Australian. "Welcome!" he would shout. Then "What are ya buying?" and we would smile and gaze upon his wares and try to fit them in our case. Sorting, changing positions and selling items became a new mini-game and a welcome addition to the series.

This was when Resident Evil stepped up and out of the dark ages, into the next century, and both rode in on a wave of action games and also spawned the stylisations of more to come. Gears of War, Dead Space and Alone in the Dark, all profoundly influenced by this one, and in turn all of the Gears clones that are now emerging wretchedly from the shadows like post-modern slasher films in the years after Scream. Digital Cowboy Paul always expressed extreme gratitude to Capcom for these changes, and for the many others in 4. In his words it was as though the developers had asked themselves "What would Paul like to see in a Resident Evil game?" The answer was more action, less backtracking, better controls, more precise aiming and less faffing about.

Now Resident Evil 5 is here. I am three sections in and after struggling with the inventory system I can honestly say I miss the Australian. More than that; I miss the attache cases. I miss the magic trunks. I even miss the safe rooms. Because while there are safe havens, the only time you get to really mess about with what you have in your nine slots per character is on a static screen before the sectioned level starts and you are once again loaded into the zombie cannon and fired down the tunnel of shacks and market streets.

You assign weapons to each direction on the D-Pad, (mimicking Gears) and ammo and healing items go in the corners. It's that simple, it's that boring and honestly, in this writer's thoroughly biased opinion, all the sparkle has gone out of the world of inventory management. Crucially the action no longer pauses when you check your supplies and you are highly likely to be attacked if you stop for a moment to look, so it's more an issue of knowing what you have and taking fleeting jumps in and out to throw your partner some relevant ammo.

It's a different type of game. You have to survive one onslaught after another and it is indeed horrific, but I dispute on a fundamental level that this is any longer definable as survival horror. The conundrum is, of course, how do you take it back to the days of inventory management without losing the tension and all the progression in game design that's been made? Or is this even a step backwards, because now, in the frantic, neverending chase through the African back alleys and marshlands, I'm coming across items I can't pick up... because my inventory is full.

Killzone 2/Watchmen/50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.

As one Cowboy leaves for a break from the show the other two gear up for a full assault. As well as news of a console going UP in price we've got three huge, heated and thorough reviews.

Killzone 2 the Playstation 3's great red-eyed hope for FPS dominance or at least a shot at the title. Does it hit the mark? 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, often dubbed a guilty pleasure has it's whistle well and truly blown and finally the film geeks have been waiting for, for two decades; Watchmen explodes onto the screen but can it impress the Cowboys?

All that and a bunch of fantastic listener mail. Send your messages to digitalcowboys@googlemail.com for future episode readings.

Compiled by: Alex Shaw

These are the ten graphic novels I most recommend if you've seen Watchmen and want something more. Most of them involve superheroes and the re-working of the popular themes set by Marvel and DC.  A warning; these are filled with dark, adult themes, sex, death, politics, religion. Most of them are offensive in some way. All of them are exhilarating and fascinating.

Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street (Warren Ellis) A foul-tempered journalist in a hedonistic future world documents the events of his city and follows the election of a twisted liar into presidency. Clearly based on the work of Hunter S Thompson, this book is what made me want to be a journalist.

Preacher: Gone to Texas (Garth Ennis) A young priest in Texas becomes the carrier of a power equal to God and goes to find the almighty with his ex girlfriend and an Irish vampire in tow. Bloody, pitch black, hilarious and terrifying American storytelling.

Rising Stars: Born in Fire (J. Michael Strazinski) A meteorite collides with a small American town. Every local unborn baby at that moment absorbs a share of unearthly powers. This book is about how the kids grow up to become superheroes and villains and then change the world. 

Y The Last Man: Unmanned (Brian K Vaughan) Every single male on the planet suddenly dies horribly except a young escape artist named Yorrick and his monkey. The book is all about how the women cope in the following years. Absolutely brilliant female characterisation. Sharp, funny dialogue, epic scale and a real sense that the apocalypse could be like this.

Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? (Brian Michael Bendis) In a noirish city filled with capes, how do the police get by? Join two jaded detectives on the hunt for the killer of a beloved superhero. Bendis hung out with real cops to get his facts and lingo right so this is hard hitting stuff.

Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others (Mike Mignola) The best way to read Hellboy is in this collection of short tales. The red, horny one travels the world, tracking down menacing ghouls and demons and putting an end to their mischief in his customary gruff manner. Pure, dark-spirited but light-hearted, fascinating, tale-weaving.

The Authority: Under New Management (Mark Millar) What if the Justice League had no compunction with taking on real world events? A troubled superteam deal with dictators, a twisted alternate Avengers and God in the form of a titanic space slug. And the wonderful Jenny Sparks, foul-mouthed, chainsmoking spirit of the 20th century finally gets to see midnight at the turn of the milennium. Harsh and brilliant.

Planetary : All over the World and Other Stories (Warren Ellis) A trio of superpowered archeologists uncover the secret history of the 20th century. Like the Authority, it deals with ghosts, alternate worlds and time travel. A grown up Dr Who.

Wanted (Mark Millar) Pure nihilistic nastiness. Much like the film, a worthless office jerk gets pulled out of his horrible life to become a super-powered assassin. Unlike the film, this deals then with a team of super-villains who secretly took over the world in the 1980's. Awesome stuff.

Nightly News (Jonathon Hickman) A cult target newscasters for assassination to make a point. More of an investigation as to how all of our news is apportioned out by six major real life corporations. Scarily real and chock-a-block with facts and figures about just what we're watching and reading. Impossible to put down.

Hi, Paul here... with, erm, an announcement.

More observant listeners will have probably noticed that my presence on the show and blog has been somewhat low-profile over the last few months. This is due to a number of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with Digital Cowboys, but are clearly impacting my ability to make a useful contribution to the show.

As such, and after much discussion with Alex and Tony, I have decided to take a break from Digital Cowboys for a few months. I am delighted with the increase we have seen in the popularity of the show and blog (which is getting more and more hits every day) thanks to Alex and Tony's phenomenal efforts, but sadly I am not really able to match them at the moment. Not having much time to play video games beyond singing a few songs every other evening is not really the best position to be in for someone who is co-hosting a video game podcast! I'm also conscious of the increased emphasis being placed on written articles on the blog and... well, to be perfectly honest, I'm not really much of a writer either. :(

I will be back – probably sometime after my holiday to Australia in May – and will definitely be joining my fellow Cowboys for the journey to PAX in Seattle in early September. In the meantime, I will still be contributing to the show by helping to maintain the blog (something I have been doing since the beginning), so think of this as a temporary farewell rather than a long goodbye.

Ciao for now,

Paul Shotton.

P.S. Rock Band 2 FTW!!!!!11111

Amongst NXE's feature set, the most prominent is the ability to create your own custom Avatar. In true Digital Cowboy tradition, we have created virtual versions of ourselves.

So without further ado, here they are:

Alex



Tony


Lizz


Paul

Hello everyone.

I'm Lizz and I'm married to Cowboy, Tony Atkins.

I would like to share with you some of my video gaming background.  

I was given a Master System II when I was about 10 and was only given one game, which was Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade.  My reactions were not very good so I don’t think I ever saw the third level of this difficult platform game, plus, my sister used to kick my butt when playing Alex Kidd in Miracle World so the console gathered a lot of dust.  Later, I was given an Amstrad PC with lots of copied games but they took a long time to load and had a tendency to crash.

I didn’t really come into much contact with games - other than Tetris on the Game Boy, which I completed on the hardest setting and saw the rocket take off once - until I met Tony.  He owned an N64 and Playstation and bought a Dreamcast soon after we started going out.  I didn’t play the N64 or Playstation as there weren’t any games that interested me.  I only played Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast and used to successfully button bash, which annoyed Tony as he couldn’t beat someone who was so unpredictable.  It wasn’t until Final Fantasy X that I got more interested although after playing over 100 hours, I still never completed the game. 

The Xbox was my breakthrough.  I bought my own console and Xbox Live account and we set up a good network in the house and I have many memories of sitting in the converted attic playing 16 man Rainbow Six 3 with friends that we met online and still talk to five years later. 

Tony bought a gaming PC for the release of Half-Life 2 so we had 2 PCs to play World of Warcraft together when it was released.  I was hooked, like the 14,000,000 other subscribers, but my desk set up, gave me repetitive strain injury so I’m not able to play for very long.  I currently have one level 71 character and about a dozen alts over a couple of servers.

I also really enjoy playing games on the 360 like Rock Band & Guitar Hero and XBLA puzzle games.  I still play the odd shooter, like Gears of War 2, but my slower reactions let me down sometimes and I find that I’m only good for target practice.  I did own a Nintendo DS but recently sold this due to the acquisition of an iPod Touch which is even more mobile for quick casual games than the DS for commuting.

Thanks for reading.

Lizz Atkins

Compiled By: Alex Shaw

Having just seen Watchmen, I need to have a good long think about its strengths and weaknesses. In the meantime, I can honestly say it fits into this updated list very firmly. The titles of the graphic novels are contained within the brackets.

Straightforward comic book films like Spider-Man are excluded because they aren't based on a specific, core story - although we could go into semantic arguments for years on this one.

The only film I really want to put in here is one that is entirely original and not based on any kind of comic book. 2008's Hancock, which would be just above Watchmen. Post your additions or omissions in the comments space below.

1. The Dark Knight (The Long Halloween - Jeph Loeb)
2. Batman Begins (Year One - Frank Miller)
3. Sin City (The Hard Goodbye/The Big Fat Kill/That Yellow Bastard - Frank Miller)
4. Watchmen (Watchmen - Alan Moore)
5. X-Men 2 (God Loves, Man Kills - Chris Claremont)
6. Hellboy (Seed of Destruction - Mike Mignola)
7. A History of Violence (A History of Violence - John Wagner)
8. Akira (Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo)
9. 300 (300 - Frank Miller)
10. 30 Days of Night (30 Days of Night - Steve Niles)

Final Bosses.

Since Street Fighter IV came out, teeth round the globe have been ground together in frustration over it's final boss, the cheap collection of unblockable super-moves known as Seth. But this is nothing new to fighting games, or indeed video games in general. This episode we look back on the most annoying, difficult and just plain nightmarish bosses in our gaming history. What went wrong, why do we feel so cheated and on the opposite end of the scale, what's the formula for a truly great boss?

Also discussed in the news segment, DSi shortage predictions, Rock Band Beatles edition and the fiery end of Tabula Rasa the ill-fated MMORPG.

We get to hear what Alex thought about Flower, which FPS is the most mediocre in history and what brawler has Tony surprisingly champing at the bit.

Next week - Killzone 2, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and the most anticipated graphic novel movie of all time; Watchmen.

Written by: Tony Atkins

The time has finally come! 

 Of course, what I am referring to is breaking the 100,000 gamer score barrier.

As I currently write this, I stand at 99,683 and I have mixed feelings about going past the 100k mark.  My initial feelings are 'Yay, about fecking time!'  I"ve been achievement hunting since 11/12/05 so as you can see that's 3 years of blood, sweat and tears and probably thousands of hours played.  So I should at this stage be jumping for joy as 100k has always been my goal.  However, herein lies my problem - what happens when I pass that goal?  I"ve been so focused in getting past it that I'm now a little apprehensive how I"m going to feel once I’m there.  It’s almost like hitting the reset button in Call of Duty 4 once you’ve hit level 50 to go back to zero again.

 

Now, of course, achievement points mean far more than just an accumulative score, they are there to guide you through games and experience new and wonderful things you wouldn’t have challenged yourself to bother with before.  Of course, I’ve could have hit 100k easily last year if I had done what a lot of achievement whores do, play every game that comes out and then hit it for 300 or 400 easy points and then just move on to the next one.  This has never been my style, I like to get the very most out of every game I put in the drive, which can sometimes lead to playing games for 100+ hours.  So as you can see, I take my gamer card very seriously.

 

However, this has never stopped me from playing the odd crappy title - Jumper, Shellshock 2, please raise your hands - but I’ve also found some real gems along the way - Cars and Just Cause to name a few.

 

So what’s my goal after 100k?

 

110,000 doesn’t quite have the cache, so I guess I need to aim high, 200k maybe.  In the end, it always comes back to the games though and achievements come in at second place.

 

I’m looking forward to this continued journey in the years ahead.

Tony aka GHOST WORLD

Written by: Alex Shaw

FAO Rare

It's been three months now guys. I think it's time for a plain black T-Shirt! Let me first start by saying that I love my avatar. Aside from a head so freakishly large that if he's lived in the middle ages he'd have been killed as a witch, he's a pretty cool guy.

But there are definitely some recurring themes in the growing list of avatar clothing and accessories which leave me cold.

1. Camp, colourful and silly clothing.
2. Stupid outlandish hairstyles (but no unusual hair colours)
3. Tacky gangsta-wannabe clothing.
4. A decided lack of game-related clothing (aside from the Xbox T-Shirts and a vaguely GTA-flavoured recent package.)

Now most days I like to Daniel Craig it (Grey fitted T-Shirt and dark blue worn jeans). No joy on the grey. In fact even black and white are off the menu. Black Tees involve monkey faces, heavy metal imagery or a great big dollar sign on a gold chain. But what if you aren't a teenage punk, a metal-head or a pimp with his eyes on a prime piece of bling?

The other extreme is also available. You can dress like a darling little preppy with golfing pants, tie and blazer combo's and turtleneck/jacket ensemble's that would make you a truly punchable figure as you exited the dressing room.

But where are the clothes for real people?

More to the point, where are those game-related kits that we've been dreaming of?

1. Gears of War armour
2. Halo armour
3. Fable getup
4. Burnout racing leathers
5. Dead Space suits
6. Street fighter karate Gi's
7. Hitman black suits with red ties and black gloves
8. Fallout 3 Brotherhood of Steel power armour
9. Mirror's Edge Faith outfit (for the ladies)
10. Tomb Raider outfits

I mean the marketing pretty much writes itself. The pitfalls (everyone wearing the same boring T-Shirt, or 90% of Live users dressed as Master Chief) simply aren't as perilous as the simple fact that I can't be alone in the settling for rather than choosing of my outfit.

On a podcast I listened to last year, someone said they had visited Rare and asked "Oh, you can change the colour on that T-Shirt, right?" and his guide had answered; "Hmm... that's a good idea." That was two weeks before NXE launched. You've had time enough. Knock Sony and Nintendo on their asses with a dazzling array of free clothing. Not just once every so often, every week. Make us ache from the choice of what awesome outfit to kit out in next. While it reaps no cash reward (like 49 cents for a cowboy hat), the ultimate end will be a happier and more diverse crowd of XBL users.

Make it happen in 09.

Sincerely

Alex Shaw
Digital Cowboys

Written by: Alex Shaw

This is something that's been bugging me. I've been playing since I was 12, which at 28 is more than half my life, yet being honest with myself, I'm not actually all that good.

I can beat the computer on easy, maybe normal and I can beat unpracticed players two out of three times if I concentrate, but put me up against someone online who knows a combo or two and I go to pieces. Maybe I'm intimidated by their silence. Maybe it's because they always pick Ken and Ryu and those two characters are hideously unbalanced in terms of being able to pull of quick successions of hits (no matter what Capcom tell you). Maybe it's just that I need to train, but something feels like it's missing.

In the interests of putting things into perspective, let me set a one to ten scale for Street Fighter skill.

---

1. You've never played Street Fighter before. You may have button bashed on another brawler but never Street Fighter.

2. You've played Street Fighter but you're not very good. This is usually characterized by leaping all over the screen hammering all buttons at once. You say the moves are too hard to do.

3. You can play Street Fighter. You know how to throw a fireball, but it doesn't always work and once someone gets you in a corner you just give up. You're thinking of getting an arcade stick.

4. You know one character. (Usually Ken or Ryu) and default to them each time, when you fight competently.

5. You know a few combo's. (Jump in, hard kick, crouch, hard kick, dragon punch, then throw if they're stunned.) You may have owned Street Fighter games in the past and beaten them on easy and sometimes normal.

6. You can perform multiple combos for multiple characters, plus you're getting the hang of focus moves and Ex moves. You almost definitely own a stick.

7. You win most fights against regular folks. You're unfazed by their button mashing. You can do Super and Ultra moves every time and you know how to cancel and use it to your advantage.

8. You're a pro. Street Fighter is your game of choice. You had Street Fighter III: Third Strike on the Dreamcast. You take ranked matches VERY seriously.

9. You're a maniac. You hate every other fighter online and want to kill them, which you can, with Akuma, effortlessly. You are a master of all moves. You made your own joystick (possibly out of a shin bone).

10. You're a world champion. We watch vids of you on Youtube and are left humbled by your prowess. You probably use Dhalsim or Dan to leave your opponents confused as to how you're pulling this stuff off. You have a Street Fighter arcade cabinet in your house... which is otherwise empty.

---

So looking at the scale, I'm more of a level 5 fighter actually. True Street Fighter players will scoff at this list and the leaving out of the various permutations of pro player, but this is from the point of view of an average gamer.

I think that applies to most of my games playing exploits. I'm never the champion of anything. Leaderboards are alien to me. But I do beat games. I soldier on, and I have level six in my sights. I'm going to master Ryu... or maybe Sagat to throw off the thirteen year olds who keep defaulting to Ryu and Ken.

Wish me luck, and if you meet me online... go easy on me.

Written by: Alex Shaw

As all of you will know, the recent acquisition of the 1up network by UGO left the whole site stripped of staff and most of the podcasts and shows they put up on a regular basis were either changed considerably or canceled altogether.

One of the latter (it seems at present) was The 1up Show; a weekly half hour slot featuring the journalists of 1up discussing the latest games, previews and industry news. I've been watching the back catalog to see what I wasn't watching at the time and I can honestly say this show will be bitterly missed.

It is without a doubt, the smartest, most professional, truthful and occasionally hilarious video game show ever committed to camera. I cannot recommend enough that each of you go back and check out at least the last few months worth of episodes.

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462

It's more than just a look at games though. Through the show, we get a glimpse at their office life (albeit through a filter of comedy). It's a warm, geeky, clever and honest place where people get paid to write and talk about games. Ironically in the end it was the high production values of this show and the various podcasts of 1up that left the Ziff Davies network in debt, leading to the sale of the site, and EGM to UGO. Obviously they worked very hard to keep the place together and clearly it couldn't last forever in this case, but nonetheless, watching these episodes back presented me with a tantalizing glimpse at my ideal job. Now that it's gone I feel like something hopeful in me has left along with it.

It's not all sadness though. Several of the resilient folks behind the show pulled themselves together admirably and now have a follow-up series named Co-Op on their website; Area 5. They have set themselves up as a fully fledged game-related video company and they take donations. For what they put out, I'll be proud to make one.

http://area5.tv/

Anyhow, that's enough of my fawning. Check them out now. Remember to state your age properly if you're over 18, otherwise you'll be refused entry. It gets a little blue. 

Personalities, the glue of the network include Phil Kolar, Rob Bowen, Shane Bettenhausen, Ryan Scott, Nick Suttner, Alice Liang, Jay Frechette, Tina Sanchez, Richard Li, Sam Kennedy, David Ellis, Jeff Green, Ryan O'Donnell, Greg Ford, Jason Bertrand, Cesar Quintero, Thierry Nguyen, Anthony Gallegos, Matt Leone, and Matt Chandronait. All of them know their stuff and are thoroughly entertaining to watch.

Written by: Alex Shaw

As mentioned in this weeks episode. I got the new Street Fighter figure of Ryu. There's a whacking great vile misprint on the back concerning Ryu's Country of Origin. Kids should look away. On a side note, the figures are awesome. £9.99 on Play.

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.

(Or Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection to our British listeners)

After being hooked on 16-bit gaming for a week, Alex and Tony delve into why this is a landmark title in nostalgic game packages from past generations.

We also talk about Race Pro and Street Fighter IV, along with the latest news from the gaming world, including swearing Street Fighter figure packaging and speculations on a PS3 price cut.

Fans of Firefly get a treat at the end.

For Further episodes on Sega, check out Digital Cowboys 59 (June 12/08) for the Sega Special.