Thirteen1

No doubt the the title will cause controversy, but it has to be said. Digital distribution is a great thing, but when retail stores (the latest being HMV) jump on the band wagon, we’re just going to end up with a complete mess of an industry.

HMV have jumped on the digital distribution bandwagon vowing to offer their own in-house digital distribution. This is a retail store embracing technology, something which I applaud them for, but I can’t help but feel a little cynical about the way they’re going about it.

Currently there are a lot of digital content providers around, the most prominent of which, is the Steam platform. Steam is successful for a reason, it was the first to the game, it offers constant updates, a catalogue of games bigger than any retail store and some great social features. It’s evolved from a digital store into an entire platform offering its own social aspects, DRM and anti-cheat methods. Quite frankly, it’s refined, it’s well thought out, and it keeps all of your games safe (presuming of course that they don’t go bust).

The last thing we need now is another digital provider. I’m all for competition, but to compete with Steam you’re going to have to have one hell of a product with a truly fantastic back catalogue. Currently, I don’t see anyone offering anything close. The multitude of digital providers popping up doesn’t seem like a bad idea, but when you consider that big business can mean exclusive titles, we’re going to end up with our game collections spread across the internet like a double rainbow. What does it mean? (sorry for the crap reference) It means that ultimately we’re going to end up with lots of different platform software to play a game, we’re going to end up with games all over the web, we may forget where we bought our games and they’re lost forever.

Worst still, if more and more companies jump on the bandwagon, there won’t be room in the market and some of them may go bust. What happens when the provider goes bust? Bye bye games!

I’m not all against digital distribution, I prefer having a disc, it means my retro stuff will always be with me on and offline, and I like that. But I also have an ever-expanding collection of games on Steam, and I love that too. I just despise people jumping on bandwagons with little to no enthusiasm or imagination, creating just another generic service. HMV, please don’t fall into that trap!

This may come across as naive fanboy-ism, but GT5 finally seems to be close to release and better yet, it looks to be “the ultimate driving simulator”.

Taking a look at some of the released details about the next-gen GT game, it’s hard not to be impressed. All the years of development look well spent, and granted it’s a bit overdue, but with graphics like this and the sheer volume of options, it’s easy to see where the time has been spent.

Not everyone is making a big song and dance over it though, but it is a groundbreaking game in the GT saga. With the addition of damage modelling, GT5 is moving on leaps and bounds from its predecessor. Finally we’ll be able to destroy some of the most beautiful cars in the world and then publish our videos to Youtube… That’s right, Youtube!
GT5 will allow you to post your replays online in both standard and high definition format to show the world your skills. It’s a bit of a gimmick, but with the advent of competetive gaming and 32-player online gameplay it’s sure to be a massive hit.

So that’s 1000+ beautifully crafted cars, 32-player online races, Youtube, damage modelling… what’s left that could possibly make it better?
How about track creation? Oh yes. GT5 will allow users to create their own tracks and upload them for the community to play on, finally we’ll get to see what the gaming community can come up with, no doubt some amazing track designs are already rattling around inside gamers’ heads.

Racing around in posh fancy cars trying not to scuff the paintwork is a tricky task, but what if you just wanted to get back to your racing roots? GT5 offers a go karting mode for some Lewis Hamilton-esque racing.

Still not content with all the awesomeness listed so far? ok, well there’s more. How does 70 circuits spread over 20 tracks, rally stages, Nascar and the Stig sound? That’s right, the Stig, the topgear legend will drive your car around the TopGear test-track. Ok, so it’s you in control, but Stiggy will sit at the wheel as you barrel around the circuit trying to best the rich and famous in your Chevrolet Lacetti.

Ok, so that’s enough promotion for now, but let it be known, come November 2nd, I’ll be taking a week off and not only will I have a new PS3, but I’ll have GT5 and a kick-ass steering wheel too! Oh, and if you don’t believe how stonking it looks, check out the gallery below!

[View with PicLens]

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After helping out the residents of Northshire Abbey, it was time for me to wonder out into the wider world. It was time to head out to Elwynn Forest.

The first person I have to report to is naturally the local marshal, Marshal Dughan.  After talking to him and a few of the other locals in the area I have a few things to be getting on with it. Main thing I learn is that those damn Kobols, that I thought I had dealt with in Northshire, were actually just the tip of the iceberg.

These little buggers are everywhere in Elwynn, but the first lot I am tasked with sorting out is the bunch that have taken over The Fargodeep Mine. The locals don’t want them in there and have a whole pile of stuff they need from within the mine itself.

So given my marching order, I set out with Belyal for a bit of mindless bloodshed.

So with DrunkenGamer created there was only one thing left to do, Introduce him to the locals and get to work.

Being Human this meant the folks in and around Northshire abbey. The first person I bump into is poor old Deputy Willem, his primary duty seems to be to see that everyone knowns that Marshall McBride was the guy that you really needed to talk too. After meeting the Marshall,  I learn that apparently the area has a rather nasty Kobol infestation. The mine in particular has had to be shut down because it was overrun by the little candle loving buggers.

On my way to the mine I have a quick chat with a local merchant called Eagan Peltskinner who wants me to help cull the local wolf population, in return he offers me a new pair of boots. Now the wolves have not bothered me really, but an upgrade is an upgrade and as a result the wolves must be killed.

After a small massacre I manage to pick myself up a few minor upgrades, a cloak, some new bracers & obviously the new boots Eagan had promised me.

Of all these items the one that pleases me the most is the cloak. Its a personal thing with fantasy games that I play, but there is always one item that I must have before it feels like the character is actually out of its creation phase. In Warcraft its the cloak, I don’t know why, but that’s just the way it is.

So when we decided to redo the site, we agreed that we would all do regular personal blog’s as part of the regular content. When I sat back and thought about what I was going to do for mine, I thought I would revive an old habit of mine – Playing games with self-imposed restrictions.

By this I mean things like playing Final Fantasy without using shops or Command & Conquer without using any vehicle units. One I started a while ago, but had to put on hold due to time, was trying to see how far through World of Warcraft I could get without using any items of more than Common (White) rarity.

This challenge will be known as DrunkenGamer the Commoner.

Well, a week has passed, and what a week it’s been! The new site has had a few visual tweaks, we’ve modified it slightly for IE viewers and the changes are still ongoing. On top of all this we produced another awesome issue (if I do say so my self) even though it almost killed me. Quick note, if you’re ill, sleep deprived and trying to manage both a new website and a new issue, thing’s aren’t going to go too smoothly!

This issue marks the end for the current grunge-look as we move towards a cleaner, more simplified look. If all goes to plan that should be implemented next month which means even more work for me! As always, everything we do here is off of our own backs, we’re self taught in everything we do, we’re not experts we’re just gamers like you. So on that note, time for some shameless plugging…

Well, it’s been a long time coming, but welcome to the new site. It’s a work in progress, and it’s taken what seems like forever to get it to this stage, but we’re here, it’s launched and we’re still awesome (modest too). T1 has slowly but surely evolved over the years (all 2 of them) into this slightly more streamline look we’ve got going here. The idea behind it is to make the most common uses easier to access, so at the top you’ll find our nice home icon and a direct link to the magazine. The menu is simplified to the most common stuff, and the Featured articles are all of our special stuff which we just can’t cram into the mag.