The System Is Down; Why "PSNgate" could be bad for the whole industry

Something that really winds me up is when technology goes wrong and somebody will say they hate technology. People don't hate technology, they hate when it goes wrong. I get the feeling a lot of people will be hating technology right now.

The Playstation Network has been down for a week today. Yesterday the news came that the reason for this extended interlude in service was that Sony had been hacked, and the personal data, which potentially included credit card information, of around 70 million people was now in the hands of said hackers.

At this stage it's still undetermined who actually hacked the PSN. Many are laying the blame at Internet hacktivist group Anonymous' door. The group recently declared an attack on Sony, in response to Sony's during of George Hotz, who provided the key to unlocking the console for unlicensed software.

Dr Medic or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Multiplayer Gaming

If you are a follower of me on Twitter, you'll have probably noticed something of a theme in my recent tweets; Team Fortress 2. I've recently started playing. Probably an unhealthy amount.

I'm not normally a huge multiplayer fan, in that up until very recently, my Xbox Live account remained staunchly Silver. This changed when I started playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I had read many a review stating that the multiplayer was "pretty good". This didn't really ever affect me, multiplayer was always something for "other people" to play, gaming snob that I am.

After completing the majority of the single player of AC:B, I decided to use a free trial of Gold I had thanks to a flier that came with Fable 2. I was nervous as I went into my first game. My hands were shaking as the Abstergo logo shifted about, connect me to a server. I selected the Harlequin. And I started playing.

Everything about AC:B multiplayer appeals to me. It's not a test of lightening fast agility or well developed twitch skills, but rather a battle of wits. Who can be the best assassin? Who can blend into a crowd, disappear in the blink of an eye, vanish using the environment? The upgrade system attached to the multiplayer adds a level of customisation that keeps the gameplay varied but balanced.

AC:B is my kind of mutliplayer. Players who try the run straight at their target are swiftly put in their place as they target the wrong model or get dispatched by a hidden opponent. Skilled players will walk alongside you, lull you into a sense of security then pounce as you target your folly. The untraditional multiplayer is a place where I can not only enjoy myself, but actually shine.

Team Fortress 2 on the other hand is much more traditional online mutliplayer. If you haven't heard of it, you've clearly been under a rock for the past four years, or perhaps just really dislike the FPS genre. Here's a thing; Team Fortress 2 was released in 2007. In all that time, all the content updates have been entirely free. In fact, until recently, all of the in-game items could be obtained just by playing the game.

It's tough for me to decide on my opinion of TF2. I can't decide whther it's the best multiplayer game ever, or just the best game ever. Valve have covered everything. The classes are balanced. The maps are not only balanced, but also constantly increasing. Yesterday, I had a sniper duel across a crowded canyon. A few days ago, I created a teleporter way point for my team and kept them healed whilst we were pinned down in a tunnel. The number of stories that game produces is phenomenal.

If you'd like to play a game with me, you can send me a message on Steam. I'm lavalampbamboo, and I'm probably playing as The Medic or The Engineer.

Dis-Fable-ed

Why can I never think of any decent puns to go with my blogs? Next time it'll just be words about the post, not some crap joke.

So Fable 2. It's a fantasy game, and a sequel to a game I've never played. The plot is alright although the amount of freedom you have to do whatever you want means that the story is ignored most of time. Also, Stephen Fry does one of the voices, so the game gains lots and lots of Awesome Points (tm).

I guess the big thing about Fable 2 is the concept of freedom to do whatever you want, with your character being a reflection of these moral choices. Now, a lot has been said about moral choices in games and that's not particularly something I wanna get into now, but I think Fable takes an interesting approach to it. Bar the end of the game choice (which was completely stupid, by the way) the game doesn't make an epic deal of the decisions, compared to, say, Bioshock or Spider-man Web of Shadows. The majority of the choices that you make affect your characters alignment, meaning your character is a better reflection of YOU. YOU. THE PLAYER.

Fable 2 is a nice looking game as well. There are some lovely looking locations in there like Oakfield and Bower Lake. The caves are also nicely designed, and there are some brilliant light effects on the exits of them. Some of the characters have crappy models, but they get the job done, I guess.

I've actually beaten the game, and I thought the ending was incredibly anti-climatic. SPOILERS AHOY!

So you collect together the three heroes, and they all give you power or something, it wasn't very well explained. Then, evil Lord Lucien shows up and kidnaps everyone, which is expected of him, because he is generically evil. Then he goes on to talk to you, but I wasn't listening at this point. Something about chaos. Then he shot my dog. NO! MR WOOFYPANTS! Although his real name was Maxwell. Then he shot me and I died. But I didn't and you have to go through this whole creepy dream sequence with your (dead) sister, and then you run off into this horrible battlefield and get the music box from the start...

So you finally reach the spire and Lucien is draining magical power from the three Heroes, for no apparent reason other than it's evil, although I had been doing the exact same thing ten minutes earlier. Then you hold A to activate the music box, and this stops Lucien (somehow) and then I shot him, and he died.

And that's how Fable 2 ends. What a gyp. Okay, you get to make the decision to resurrect the dead people, or the dog, or just get loads of gold. Admittedly, I was gonna get the gold, but I decide to bring back the dog, a decision which the game then yelled at me for. Stupid game. Mr Woofypants must LIVE!

Speaking of live, I got a wirless router t'other day and am now online. Go me. My connection is pretty awful, but it works well enough for me to download some trial games and some free DLC for Fable.

Also, you'll have noticed the new layout. Mmm, coffee-coloured...

Next time, Portal, y'all!