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• 6Feb 10

  Bonding over Joysticks

  Ever since I can remember I've had a terrible memory.
  
  Sometimes I wonder if this is the result of blunt force trauma or a by-product of a superbly boring young life; neither is particularly good. In any case one of the few memories I hold dear to me is playing a certain Amiga football game with my brother on cold Winter evenings in our family home in southern Ireland.
  
  The youngest of three kids, my closet sibling in terms of age and inspiration was my brother Alan, 6 years my senior. Brotherly love can be tough and common ground rare, especially with an age gap as wide as ours. When he was tumbling around our mucky garden with his pals, I had just learned to stop to stop crapping my pants. By the time I was finished my multiplication tables he was trying to get into girls underwear.
  
  But this great divide disappeared altogether when, sitting in front of a 14 inch true-colour TV, we'd load up a chunky floppy disk labelled 'Sensible Soccer'. For years 'Sensi' was the common ground we delighted in stamping around in for hours. We bought every version of the game (usually with his money), created our own custom teams, smashed each other with Zipsticks and sometimes argued over who's turn it was to play. It sounds silly, but that simple Commodore Amiga game was the platform atop much of our childhood relationship blossomed, something I am eternally grateful for.
  
  Years later the Amiga would give way to the SNES and Mega Drive, neither of which really grabbed my brothers attention. By the time the Playstation arrived Alan had left for college. Over the coming years his enjoyment of video games quietly shuffled away behind new and exciting social & sporting endeavours. Myself and my brother are different in small but measurable ways, and though over the years we could often enjoy a night in watching films, or a few pints in a pub none of these engaged us actively the way those tiny pixelated players did.
  
  This past December my brother turned 30, a milestone that resonates inside this little brother how long its been since we heard that Amiga disk-drive clunk into action. His generous girlfriend celebrated the occasion by buying him a Playstation 3, the first console my brother has owned in nearly a decade. Rabid football fan he is, FIFA10 was immediately acquired and practised on for the weeks running up to Christmas. When the 25th came we all returned to the homestead and much to my surprise, Alan arrived with his brand new console.

  

  On Christmas night, as our stomachs struggled to digest a broth of turkey, stuffing and mince pies, myself and my brother played FIFA into the early hours of the morning. The phrase "Just one more game" lost all credibility as we screamed and laughed through competitive and co-operative matches between teams from across the globe. It was a great night. Last week my brother flew over to London to stay with my girlfriend and I for a couple of days and it all happened again. We had planned to visit a few Museums and generally act like the cultured adults we should be by now, but inevitably that singular morning game of FIFA soon became an afternoons worth. Before we knew it, it was time for him to catch a tube to the airport.

  Children use play to bond with each other from a very early age and the older we get, it seems, the less time we have for play. Alan and I would sometimes play with toy cars or kick a football beneath the apple trees of our back garden, but those battles in Sensi were special. Nowadays the age gap is less relevant, replaced by distance and free time. But I'm happy with the knowledge that when we do have the time, we can sit down in front of FIFA and, for a short while, transport ourselves back 15 years in front of that tiny TV with joysticks in hand.
  
  C'mon bro, Just one more game.

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  > Sensible World of Soccer is available on Xbox Live Arcade for 800MS Points

  Reader Questions:
  Q: What games did you play with your brothers/sisters when you were young?
  Q: Do you still play with your siblings?
  Q: Have games ever helped you bond with somebody?

  • Posted Feb 6, 2010 4:24 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 61 Comments
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• 30Nov 09

  Whats Danny Doing #2

  Oh Hai,

  I've been a busy boy of late. Whats that? I should compartmentalize these events into a list? Sure!

  Raised over £600 for children in Need.
  The great Citizen Game community banded together to play games throughout the night of Children in Need, raising over £600 for somthing they probably would have been doing anyway. Horah!

  Wrote a Modern Warfare 2 Review
  9.0, still loving the multiplayer.

  Started a Forum on CitizenGame
  Eventually I got around to it. Already saves some cash from the deals in our "Bargain Hunter" section, so it was worth the dev time already.

  Recorded a few Podcasts
  We have the formula down to a tea now. 45 minutes every week. The first every week too, available from 9:30 Monday Morning.

  Bought a new TV!
  My projecter exploded the day after the gameathon. Perfect excuse to buy a 42 inch 1080p HDTV.

  Other Games I've been playing:
  DJ Hero - fun, but got it for free.
  AssCreed2 - fun, but stupid story
  Left4Dead2 - Far better than the first. Refined.
  CrossFingers, Beneath a Steel Sky, Minigore, Doodlejump (all on iPhone)
  
  Everything else is cool. Work is going great, going home for 2 weeks at Christmas and recording some fantastic CitizenGame content in the run up to Christmas. I might post somthing here in the lead up to Jesus day, but for now, thats what Dannys doing.

  

  • Posted Nov 30, 2009 6:15 am GMT
  • Category: Computers
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• 12Nov 09

  Children In Need Gamenight

  Charitable Gamespotters,

  As part of Children in Need, Citizen Game staffers (and some close friends) will be playing a video games marathon on November 20th in aid of Children In Need (and because we'd probably be doing it anyway!). We'll be taking over a film studio in central London for the night, and invite you guys to join us online.

  Alternatively, get involved here as we're going to broadcast the event LIVE on my website with photos and articles available in the days following.

  In case you're not aware, Children in Need is a UK charity that has been running since 1980. In that time it has raised £500,000,000 for disadvantaged, disabled and abused children in the UK. We hope, in some small way, to contribute to their worthy cause this year.

  We also encourage you guys to get involved and raise awareness by playing with us that night via Xbox Live or the Playstation Network. If you're interested, check out the details here.

  Please don't worry if you cannot afford to spare anything, these are hardly the most affluent of times, but anything you can spare to give will go towards a great charity.

  Thank you for your charity and support.

  Now lets raise some money!

  FURTHER INFORMATION HERE

  

  • Posted Nov 12, 2009 8:17 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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