• 19Jun 13

  GameSpot UK Internship

  The anticipation began to build as I traversed the London Underground on my way to Gamespot. What was the office behind my favourite gaming website going to be like? When I finally escaped the veal fattening chamber that is the London Underground at rush hour, I was but a short walk away from finding out. Stepping over the threshold of CBS Interactive where a muggy London meets the "magic" and "science" of Gamespot, I was met by an ensemble of familiar, albeit jetlagged, faces. In retrospect, the day that much of the London Gamespot staff resumed work after a week of E3 madness was perhaps not the most sensible time for me to saunter in off the street. However, it did allow for a more relaxed day than it may otherwise have been and, on a busier day, I may not have had the time to write this very blog.
  
  Allow me to rewind a bit though, for those readers who do not already know me (probably everyone). The name's Simon Thornton and for the next two weeks I will be working on an internship with Gamespot. As a journalism student from Scotland, its extremely exciting to be combining a passion for games with my sector of choice. Coupling this with the chance to stay in London and meet like minded individuals from across the country makes for a fantastic opportunity.
  
  Being in the position where your computer is surrounded by gaming paraphernalia and unreleased games (Wonderbook: Diggs Nightcrawler!) is like a dream come true. Any desk with a view of an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device is probably a good place to be and its comforting to know that in event of a GlaDos-like hardware malfunction, there is a solution nearby -- something that is noticeably absent in my university. After the warmest of welcomes Im sure that this wont be the last time you hear from me during my time at Gamespot and if you have any questions for me then Ill be in the comments.
  
  Twitter: @SimonSiThornton
  • Posted Jun 19, 2013 7:27 am GMT
  • Category: General
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• 14Jun 13

  Dark Souls Review with William McPinch

  Willy McPinch has a bash at reviewing Dark Souls for YouTube. Sorry in advance.
  
  
  • Posted Jun 14, 2013 6:36 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 9Jan 13

  The Death of Tactical Shooters

  In a time when the video game market is haemorrhaging Call of Duty multiplayer clones, tactical shooters like SOCOM are being left to die. Despite the success of the SOCOM series and the Counter-Strike series, a gaping hole still exists in the gaming market for tactical, slow shooters where respawns are disabled and death is a fate to be feared.

  
  

  Being a huge fan of the SOCOM: Confrontation, I had often resented Slant Six for letting the servers become a breeding ground for cheaters. Cheats range from the harmless multi-coloured clothing to the ridiculous God mode and invisibility. Hell, Ive even seen a smoke grenade wipe a whole team out and a guy running around with an emplaced turret gun. But I still play Confrontation. Even with the community leaving and being replaced with cheaters or flamers, I still play. Because in Europe, SOCOM: Confrontation is my only option when it comes to tactical shooters. Counter-Strike did not release on our PlayStation Store and I am not aware of any other game that could replace Confrontation (dont even mention SOCOM 4).

  
  

  At first I was thankful to Sony for keeping the Confrontation servers online in spite of hackers and glitchers but I discovered something a couple of days ago which has made me resent their decisions regarding Confrontation. Let me start by reminding you that SOCOM: Confrontation is still being sold on the PlayStation Store for a whopping £24.99 along with the add-on pack, Cold Front, for £7.99. During the last week alone I have seen people on Confrontation who have only played one or two games, so it isnt a wild assumption to say that people are still buying this game. Maybe only one or two, but thats still people who are dishing out money to play a fun, tactical shooter in fact, Sony describes it as a game where it will soon become apparent that brains are every bit as important as brawn; teamwork and strategy are key if your squad is going to improve its ranking and progress in the global tournaments. Information that is, of course, extremely out of date because, in reality, all that is needed for success is cheats and no amount of tactics can help you beat an invincible, invisible hacker who is throwing grenades that blow up like nuclear bombs.

  
  

  Why then do I resent Sony for selling this game? Well I found out recently that the lack of patching is actually down to them. I had always assumed that it was Slant Sixs fault. That they had simply given up on SOCOM. But that is far from the truth. I contacted them through Facebook and got the following response:

  __________

  __________

  The way I see it, Sony should either fix their online games so that no one can cheat or they should stop selling it on their store and take down the servers. And oh yeah, release bloody Counter-Strike already!

  • Posted Jan 9, 2013 4:37 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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