Matches on FIFA against my teenage son have shifted from me letting him win to avoid a tantrum to making it look like I'm letting him win to avoid a tantrum as I sit wondering how he's managed to dribble from his own half without me getting remotely close to him.
It wasn't always like this. At one point I was good - really good - at video games, but with a full time job and three kids to think about, I don't get in anywhere near enough hours to be a competent gamer these days. I am, I suppose, the definition of the casual gamer. Not bad enough to give it up completely, but not good enough to slap down the numerous gobby wee shites on Xbox Live.
These days I manage, at best, a couple of hours a week that I can dedicate to playing. I still consider myself an enthusiast - I picked up the Xbox One on launch day, and have been eagerly following news of the Project Scorpio console, trying to figure out a way to justify spending money on the new console and (of course) the 4K UHD TV that I'd need to really get the best out of it.
I've played video games for as long as I can remember, from the early days of spending hours typing code into a Commodore 64 or waiting patiently for Dizzy or Pole Position or Match Day 2 to load up, through the Segas - Mastersystem, MegaDrive, and Dreamcast (I skipped the Saturn in favour of the PlayStation) - the Atari Lynx, then PlayStation 1, 2, and PSP, Nintendo 64, and then settling on Xbox, which I've stuck with through to its current generation.
As far as game genres go, I like action games and first person shooters - though I am dreadful at FPS games (Dara O'Briain does part of his stand up routine explaining how he panics and shoots all over the place when he's playing FPS games - that's a good description of my playing style).
I'm a late arrive to the GTA series - I had a few goes at early incarnations of the game and never really got into it, however GTA V was outstanding, and goes down as one of my all time favourites (I suck at that, as well, I should add.)
Other games that get my attention these days are the Dishonoured series, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Call of Duty, FIFA, WatchDogs, Quantum Break, and Halo.
I'm aiming to start blogging more about video games to keep an interest and hopefully connect with other middle-aged gadgies like me who care enough about games to still bother playing, but won't get hung up if I don't sail through every game I play like a boss. Or an end of level boss...
I'll also be venturing into game streaming now that Xbox have launched their Mixer app, if I can somehow figure out how to get that onto YouTube I'll post them up there as well.
In the meantime, please follow me on twitter @theshangamer and feel free to add me on Xbox Live where my gamertag is franck sauzee.
I will do my best to avoid fanboy debates, I'm too old to care what platform does the highest res or fastest frame rate.
To round off this introduction to the blog, here are a few of my all time favourite games (in no particular order), with a wee bit about why I love each of them.
Grand Theft Auto 5 (Xbox One)
I never really got the GTA games up until this one. The top down early games did nothing for me, they were a little controversial but that looked to me like that was all they had going for them. I tried the later versions but the sandbox environments and lack of linear gameplay left me bored and confused about what to do next. It was only when GTA 5 came out that I took enough time to actually explore the game, and what a rewarding experience that was.
Great characters and funny storylines add to a beautifully created city that just brings the game to life. I played right through the game and I am certain I've only scratched the surface of it. Here's a video of me sucking at GTA (stick with it):
Dishonoured (Xbox 360)
Dishonoured looked different from other games of its kind. It has its own style and this draws you in to the quirky but unnervingly violent setting. You can choose how to play the game, you have the option of a kill-free stealthy approach, using shadows, magic, and distraction to patiently play your way through situations, or if (like me) you're shite at being stealthy, you can go for all out destruction and slay your way through the game.
As with GTA, Dishonoured's triumph is in its characters and storyline as well as its gift of giving you almost total freedom to choose how to approach any given situation. There is no good or bad, the morality of the game is entirely up to you.
I bought this again on Xbox One to play through it on a current-gen console, and it lost nothing in the port. Highly recommended.
Star Wars Knight of the Old Republic (Xbox)
There have been some great and some not-so-great Star Wars games over the years. I remember Super Star Wars as being good fun, and I was desperate to be good at X Wing v Tie Fighter on PC (I wasn't - even in my videogaming prime, that game was too hard for me!). KotOR was amazing, however. It was my first proper foray into RPG's and I've remained a fan of the genre since.
As a Star Wars fan I was surprised at how much it felt like Star Wars despite a totally new character roster. How the game develops depends entirely on the choices you make and the rate at which you level up is pitched perfectly - it leaves you with the same desire to keep playing that Football Manager does.
I loved this game, and I genuinely hope that someone, somewhere is working on a current gen version.
International Superstar Soccer (Nintendo 64)
So I could have picked the PlayStation version, which was immense, but the ISS that I loved the most was the N64 version. It had sort of cartoony-yet-realistic graphics, subtle touches like the goalie drooping from the cross bar after a shot has sailed over, but the real win was in the gameplay.
This game was built for the "through ball" lover. If defence splitting passes and one-twos are your thing, this was your game. Immense.
Resident Evil (PlayStation)
This was the first game (other than a game-of-the-film Friday the 13th on the Amiga) that made me genuinely bothered about what was about to happen next. From the zombie-hound things smashing through the windows of a quiet corridor to the mental frog-zombie lurcher things (I can't remember their exact names, but they were utter bastards), this game was properly scary.
Add in the survival element of limited supplies (who wants to go into a boss-battle with only one herb for health and three bullets?) along with clever puzzles, this game was a revolution. The series went downhill afterwards, and the last time I had a shot the game had none of the magic of the original, however the first in the series will always be a classic and helped cement Playstation's status as one of the coolest consoles ever made.
There are loads of others that I'll come back to in later blogs. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from you on what games you love (or hate - I might come back and do a 'shittest games ever' list).
Keep an eye on my twitter for details of streams and please feel free to leave feedback and share the blog!
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