January is traditionally a quiet month for new game releases, which makes it the perfect window for experimentation
The mid-Autumn to early Winter release schedule is the most desirable slot in which to release your game or film. Why? The days draw shorter and people spend more time at home. Alongside this is a small holiday that you may know called Christmas.
Big releases tend to happen around the festive period and then take time off in the New Year. January and February are usually lean months for five-star gaming experiences.
Much like the controversial Hawaiian pizza, I love January and not just because I am born in this month. It is a chance for studios that may not have the resources of say, EA or Square Enix, to shine when little else is being released. It also provides the opportunity for untested concepts to find an audience. One such concept was Silent Hill. …
Gazing out of the window is a practice for the old
I worry. We all worry. This is how psychologists stay in business. Our worries can provide a lifetime of income and with Nomophobia being a diagnosed condition, we all need to be afraid.
We are addicted to our phones and this is not okay. The human race cannot survive without redressing the balance somehow. I spent hours looking out the window when I was younger, with concepts flying into my head, quicker than I could write them down.
If we spend all our time, looking down, then how can we develop an imagination? …
Failure is the success story that we are all looking for
Everyone has failed. It is impossible to live your life without, at least once experiencing the crushing truth, that what you did, did not work. The confidence to fail is something which has been lost from society and it is about time that it returned.
Fear
Fear is the great leveller in life. We are all afraid of failure in some way shape or form. We fear to put ourselves forward to be judged by others. This is as human as breathing. It is something that holds society back, rather than pushing it forward.
“Success is a lousy teacher,” says Bill Gates. “It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS: ELON MUSK LEARNS FROM HIS FAILURES, Evannex.com …
If social media was simply switched off, what would be the damage?
As I was walking home yesterday a thought crossed my mind. What if we banned social media, what if the world simply turned the switch off and let the marmite entity fade into the history books?
It was a pleasant thought whilst it lasted, as the practicalities of such action quickly swam over me. It would offer humans a fresh start, a means to cleanse the soul, but then that would be unfair to platforms in which people engage in decent discussion and not bullying.
Banning social media would never work but it is fun to imagine what the outcomes could be. …
With a stay at home order being in place across the United Kingdom, online learning has returned to the pleasure of none
Teachers and schools are doing the best that they can. This should not be underestimated. Even without a global pandemic, they give up hours of their spare time to go above and beyond. With the situation being as it is, they have been forced to become the best actors in the country.
Have you ever tried to teach an empty room? I certainly haven’t and seeing my fiancee record videos for children who are not there is humbling. The care and attention that goes into each video despite the lack of training is motivational. Her school has taken the decision to pre-record videos and the infrastructure is still not in place for live teaching. …
The United Kingdom leaving the European Union is a licence to be xenophobic
Xenophobia is “fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.”
‘Xenophobia’ vs. ‘Racism’, Merriam Webster
Xenophobia is different from racism. It refers to the fear or hatred of strangers or in the case of Brexit, ‘foreigners’. The word is not a nice one. It is one that I wish did not exist and I particularly wish that it could not be associated with the United Kingdom as much as it will be.
Brexit was a life-changing event and one in which I am living. From the years of build-up to the vote and now the aftermath. Regardless of whether you were a Remainer or Leaver, the end is here. …
Something that was previously ignored will now be cherished
We made it through the rain. 2020 is behind us and I do not believe that it is a stretch to say that most people are happy to see the back of it. The year has been like the long lost relative that you never missed coming back into your life. It was a year of challenge and now, at 00:01 am (UK time) we have arrived in 2021.
Will this year be any different to last? You would hope so. It by no stretches of the imagination will be a complete 180 and return to pre-pandemic life, but it will be different. …
Call of Duty is nothing if not ubiquitous — but will it ever (and should it) come to an end?
The yearly churn seems to have no end in sight. Like the inevitable rising of the sun, Call of Duty is released every year and it has been this way for more than a decade. During this time there have been some major hits, some average beasts, and some clunkers. It is an entity that divides opinion with casual gamers ducking in and out much like the yearly FIFA release.
This year’s entry took us to the Cold War with an install size nearing half that of the PlayStation 4’s storage capacity. …
Long before COVID-19 the trend for gaming online had taken over that of going to a friend’s house
COVID-19 pushed the accelerator for many industries. One of which has been gaming. A popular past time has been catapulted to the attention of the world, with runaway successes such as Animal Crossing taking centre stage. In a year that has seen much change, the move to seeing friends virtually has taken precedence.
The virus known as COVID-19 has required the world to adopt a certain level of distance from each other. Friends have been kept at bay and moved into the corner of the screen, where they can be muted at will. …
Should a 31-year-old read a book designated for young adults?
Reading ages for books help us to ensure that a child does not read material that is not appropriate. They protect the vulnerable from straying too far into material that should not be read until they are much older.
You would not provide a copy of the Kama Sutra for a ten-year-old but should you provide a copy of Harry Potter for your Grandparents?
The Maze Runner
A little after the release of the Hunger Games came the Maze Runner.
There are echoes of the Hunger Games in here, with the fight for survival, the age of the participants and the oversight of an evil agency. It is the personification of the age-old question, ‘What came first’? …
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