the not a top five list

New Year’s Eve then, suppose I should be reviewing the year gone by in the form of top 5 lists... I've done it other years for films I’ve seen, but have to admit that 2015 saw either less cinema trips or less films I really took too. Only two films spring to mind as standing out, the joyously chaotic Mad Max or the massively under-appreciated Me, Earl and the Dying girl.

Games then? I've played loads of those. To talk about them all would take up too much space even in the infinity of the interweb. Plus there's that thought buzzing around my head which says you can't compare games to each other....

Splatoon is one of my favourites this year. Batman Arkham Knight is another. And then there's Journey. Aaah Journey. Is any of them an outright winner? It's really not fair to compare. Splatoon plants me in an arena with three other random people Nintendo’s servers find and asks us to team up and win a match. You've 3 minutes to do so and pride is the end goal. It's similar to one of these 'sports,' i hear people do, outside and away from the comfort of their sofa.

Batman has missions and a story. Roughly twenty hours of escalating battles and a story that twists and turns until its eventual end. Pitting that against Splatoon is like making a top 5 film list and sticking the FA Cup final in there. Even comparing Batman to a film seems nonsensical. The Dark Knight didn't last 20 hours long. It's more like TV, like Game of Thrones. You have chapters. It builds slow, sets its rules and creates its world. Then everyone either gets naked or eaten by a dragon. Or maybe not.

Then there's Journey. Journey was a game that lasted me a mere two hours. It's probably the shortest game I’ve ever played but then it’s also one of the best. My love for it can fill up another blog post but that timeframe is why it's here now. How do I compare a two hour experience to a 20 hour one? Or a game in which I keep playing 3 minute matches? In 2 hours you can be almost flawless and you have to be. There's less room for error. Every good TV show has quiet episodes or weak parts. An average episode can be forgiven because you know its part of a greater whole. An average 45 minutes in a film is going to lead to an average film...

There are average parts in Batman (blooming tank missions) and there were times Splatoon nearly cost me the price of a new controller and a window. Both games however gave me far more than two hours of entertainment and for that reason I can't say Journey is the better game. It's like saying Mad Max was better than Mad Men or Manchester United’s 38 league games. It's like saying that one Taylor Swift song was better than a weekend at Glastonbury (although Shake It Off is a modern pop marvel)

To sum up then... I have played some brilliant games this year. When I flew into the light in Journey, when that character was in your head during Batman, when I won matches in Splatoon by the closest of scores, that goal in Rocket League, that death in Valiant Hearts, that time I fell in love with Thomas and his fellow rectangles, when I climbed a mountain in Far Cry and glided off the top or when I kicked the arse of Bowser with princess Peach.

How do you compare that lot? And to be honest, where’s the fun in doing so? I've some games to be playing. Happy new year

The Cake Topper

"Write a blog," they said, those friends of mine. Reasonings varied from tales of other bloggers getting free stuff to exaggerated claims that i could string words together in a mildly pleasurable manner. That second point is only backed up by the occasional two sentence film review on facebook or the never ending splurge of whatsapps my friends are tortured with. Unless they read my last attempt at blogging, way back on the colourful world of Bebo. That mainly consisted of hangover stories and an appreciation of bacon.

I'm waffling already. Stay with me... The point of this blog and my reason for splattering words your way is a love of games. I love games, and i love talking about games. I talk about them a lot. Doesn't mean anyone is listening however..

For years i heard that i was a geek whilst my parents would ask when i was going to grow up. Until this year, the year my love of games got put on display and produced a smile from those who know me.

I got married.

To games? Well no, thats just silly. I got married to a lady. She gets bored when i talk games and she plays Mario Kart for 30 minutes in every six months. But she accepts my passion for the hobby and she encourages me to play more (although her motives are more to do with taking naps and claiming the tv for whatever reality crap is flavour of the month). That wedding though, that public display of me and my hobby...

I had a Zelda cake topper. Oh yes i did. And it was glorious. I had the Super Mario Bros. theme tune played during the wedding service. All of it accepted, approved and maybe even suggested by my wife. The mario music produced laughs and the cake topper was called cute. Cute!! A Zelda cake topper!! It wasn't geeky or stupid, it wasn't something a 30 year old male shouldn't have at his wedding. Nope it was an element of me, a love of mine and everyone who knew me well should have had a tiny grin out of it.

Pardon the cheesy and predictable statement but that day was the best of my life. Theres way more to it than my Nintendo fan boy indulging himself, but that little part helped. This blog post hasn't said much, it's just scene setting. I'm going to talk about games, i'm going to rant and praise, moan and overhype. If i say nothing of note or fail to entertain you in anyway then just remember this.. I'm the guy who had a flipping Zelda cake topper at his wedding.