She'd sort it all out in no time...

And the soap opera wagon that is the Activision vs EA/Activision vs West and Zampella lawsuit drama trundles onward.  After no news for a while, suddenly the case is back up in everyone’s faces – not that we mind… there isn’t much in the way of gossip and scandal in the gaming industry, so this makes for good, popcorn stuffing viewing, in our book.  For those who don’t remember, ‘how it all began’ can be viewed here in a sexy GamingLives news piece, or at Develop-Online who have thoughtfully laid out a timeline of articles.  In short, Activision unceremoniously threw Jason West and Vince Zampella out of Infinity Ward, back in March 2010, causing an exodus of key staff and lighting the blue touchpaper on a number of lawsuits and counter-suits.

West/Zampella are suing for unfair dismissal (insubordination, was Activision’s reason) and unpaid royalties.  Activision are suing them, claiming they were in cahoots with EA before jumping ship.  Then Activision dragged EA into the fray, claiming that their rival illicitly lured the pair away, and that they may well have taken sensitive info with them, seeking $400 million in damages from EA due to the disruption caused.  To top it all off, everyone has been bickering about the Modern Warfare 2 IP.

Meantime, back at the ranch, a group of former Infinity Ward employees – the Infinity Ward Employee Group -  sued Activision for unpaid royalties for work on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2… a case which was settled, in part, by Activision just a few days ago to the tune of $42 million.  Lawyers for the group, however, are seeking full damages, which could run to between $75 and $120 million.

Yesterday, EA and Activision put their toy swords down and finally reached a settlement over the Modern Warfare lawsuit, but aside from a short joint statement, no details have yet emerged as to the specifics.  Now, however, EA have at least been removed from the lawsuit against West/Zampella – a suit which is still very much on and heads to court 29th May.

So… is that it then?  Nope.  More details are emerging as the date for the hottest show in the playground draws near.  According to court documents filed by West and Zampella, Activision snooped on the pair, instructing their Director of IT, Thomas Fenady, to dig up dirt on them by hacking into emails, voice-mails, and PC equipment.  A report today on Develop-Online states that “In pre-trial documents filed to a Los Angeles court, it was alleged that Fenady initially expressed reservations about hacking into personal data belonging to fellow employees.  Yet George Rose, Activision’s Chief Legal Officer, is alleged to have told Fenady that the order to hack ‘comes from Bobby [Kotick] directly’.

Understandably, Activision wanted this information sealed away, however, it has been set free after objections from the West/Zampella camp.  Allegedly, the original plan (dubbed Operation Icebreaker) failed, and Activision were left to take a more direct approach, seeking to gain physical access to the pair’s computers:

“Fenady asked Activision’s Facilities Department for help gaining physical access to West and Zampella’s computers. Executives discussed staging a fake fumigation and mock fire drill in a bid to get West and Zampella away from their active computers. Cracking passwords was also considered.”

Dirty stuff indeed and, of course, more compulsive viewing than World’s Craziest Fools (but not much).  So folks… take your positions up on the roof of the bike-sheds for the scrap of the century, come 29th May.  It only gets dirtier from here on in.

Click for full enlargements and to see more details that may have been cut off…

Borderlands 2 Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition ($149.99 MSRP) – roughly £95.00, so expect to see it rounded up to £99.99.

This edition includes:

• Borderlands 2 Game
• Replica Borderlands Loot Chest
• Authentic Marcus Kincaid Bobblehead
• Numbered Certificate of Authenticity
• Steelbook Case
• Creatures of Pandora Wide Format ID Chart
• 4 Lithograph Postcards
• Field Notes from Sir Hammerlock
• Comic Book Download
• 4 Exclusive Stickers
• Inside the Vault: The Art of Borderlands 2 Hardbound Book
• Cloth Map
• Plus Bonus Digital Content

Borderlands 2 Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collector’s Edition ($99.99 MSRP) – roughly £62.00, so it may well get rounded up to £64.99 or even 70 quid.

This edition includes:

• Borderlands 2 Game
• Authentic Marcus Kincaid Bobblehead
• 4 Exclusive Stickers
• Map of Pandora
• Comic Book Download
• Inside the Vault: The Art of Borderlands 2 Hardbound Book
• Plus Bonus Digital Content

When I’m not making a coital tour of the galaxy as Commander ‘Big-Man’ Shepard, or hoarding iron ingots as ‘Hawky’ the sneaky wood elf who is somehow the head honcho of every guild in Skyrim, I tend to be caught up studying history. As much as I’d love to say that this is entirely out of choice, it’s more to do with me simultaneously trying to get a degree while putting off real life until my rightful lottery jackpot is awarded. With my final year dissertation looming over me, and procrastination in short supply, I began to wonder how things might have been different if, instead of choosing to write about monks in tenth-century Germany, I’d instead written about videogames and their relationship with history. Here are a few of my insights:

It’s actually quite surprising just how few games make direct use of historical settings. Assassin’s Creed is the most obvious title that springs to mind (and we’ll get to that later) but apart from this series, and numerous strategy titles, videogames have been rather sparing in their use of history. Unless the game is set in World War II, when a liberal spraying of Nazis and swastikas is about all that can be hoped for in terms of historical accuracy. Instead, many developers prefer to create unique worlds, based on one or more historical periods or ideas.

Take the Elder Scrolls series, for example – with elves, vampires, giant mudcrabs and daedric gods, it’s hardly rooted in historical fact. However, you don’t have to have studied much history to know that Imperials are basically Romans, Nords are basically Vikings, and Bretons are real people from Brittany in France. In fact, so much of Skyrim is based on (or just blatantly copied from) Norse legend that, at times, the game feels more like a Viking Sim than a fantasy adventure. This Nordic inspiration can be seen in everything from the names of enemies (draugr are undead creatures in Norse mythology) to the political hierarchy of Skyrim (jarl is the Scandinavian word for earl).

It’s not just Bethesda who have adapted history to create their own worlds. Dragon Age’s Orlaise is based on France (as Leliana’s accent will testify), while the second game’s struggle between Templars and Mages holds parallels with the Medieval Inquisition and Reformation. Even when direct comparisons aren’t evident, fantasy games tend to be set in a generic Middle Ages world, where lords live in castles, noble knights guard the roads, and spell and sword are the weapons of choice. This imagery of wild forests, little market towns and chivalrous heroes is what many people think of when asked about the Middle Ages, and provides a suitable context for numerous adventures with few historical parallels.

Taking a familiar setting, which has a historical precedent and is easily recognised by the vast majority of people, is also fairly common in videogames. Think of Red Dead Redemption; John Marston’s world is probably the epitome of most people’s perception of the old American West. It doesn’t matter that elements are historically inaccurate, or that the locations don’t exist in real life – the setting perfectly encapsulates modern attitudes about the period. The narrative, meanwhile, does a good job of highlighting genuine historical themes of the era, such as the introduction of new technology and the development of federal law.

L.A. Noire is a similar example. Set in 1940s’ Los Angeles, many of the game’s landmarks and locations appear as they would have in the 40s. Elements such as the music, clothing and language all add to the feel, while much of the action is of the developer’s own invention. While professional historians could no doubt find countless inaccuracies (the concrete barriers that block the routes out of the city weren’t invented until 1968, for example), it’s important to remember that videogames are entertainment; striving for meticulous historical accuracy isn’t synonymous with creating an interesting, enjoyable experience.

This is particularly true in the case of strategy games. The Total War series does an admirable job of presenting worlds that feel historically correct. However, from the very moment I decide to send my king off by himself into a barbarian ambush, so that the heir-apparent with a better command score can take over, historical accuracy goes out the window. The series exists for players to dominate medieval Europe/Japan/the eighteenth-century world – making the military and political mechanics historically accurate would not only make this impossible, but would prevent the games from being fun. People don’t want to watch history unfold exactly as it did, occasionally clicking a button to create the illusion that things happened because of their intervention. They want to build massive armies and outwit their opponents.

It’s not just the actual premise of such strategy games which is at odds with history. In Medieval: Total War for example, everything is far simpler than it would have been in reality. It’s just impossible for the developer to represent all of the unique factions, political figures and competing elements of society, whilst still keeping the gameplay fresh and exciting. Imagine trying to wage war against France (which wouldn’t really be France, but would actually be an assortment of duchies, counties and petty kingdoms) whilst also having to keep all of your knights, nobles and bishops happy, as well as having to deal with five invading Welsh princes and demands from Northumbria for independence. It’s enough hassle just reading about it.

Europa Universalis makes a good attempt at combining strategy with historical accuracy. The flip-side of this is that EU is less popular than simpler games such as the Total Wars and Age of Empires. While historians might delight at seeing Germany divided into numerous tiny principalities, all under the rule of one emperor, most people are happy to just play as the Holy Roman Empire, and to have fun whilst doing it, without having to worry about the devilish details.There’s always going to be tension between creativity and historical accuracy, and getting the balance right can make or break a game. Nobody wants to get a game over every five minutes because Ezio died of the plague… again – just as nobody would really enjoy using a jet-pack to get to the top of St. Paul’s. The popular perception of medieval Europe is more than enough for most people and, judging by the continued success of the Total War series, any historical inaccuracies haven’t seemed to hurt.

I’ve saved Assassin’s Creed until last because it’s one of the most obvious, and interesting, examples of a series with a historical setting. In some ways the series excels: many of the landmarks are spot-on, and the descriptive passages in the codex are a nice way of adding real historical context to proceedings. Many of the characters are also true to the era, and Ubisoft deserve praise for selecting assassination targets who died (often mysteriously) at about the same time as their in-game assassination. This attention to detail combines to make the worlds of Crusader Palestine and Renaissance Italy feel believable. Obviously this is ruined by a load of scientific mumbo-jumbo, some scandalous assumptions about how DNA works, and a simply terrible ‘plot-twist’ that revolves around the existence of a race of super-powered creator-beings. Perhaps setting a game in an historical context, accompanied by a fairly rational and well-executed storyline, but without including a pseudo-scientific explanation and the world’s most boring man was too much to ask for.

Despite first impressions, it’s evident that, in some form or other, history has had a tremendous impact on video games. In addition to this, the virtual worlds that we explore have influenced our own ideas and assumptions about the past. If you got this far without experiencing terrible flashbacks of your teenage history lessons, then congratulations – if there is one thing that can be said for sure about these kind of games, it’s that they make history part of something fun. I’m sure that, thanks to games such as Assassin’s Creed, Red Dead Redemption and the Total Wars, people know far more about history than before they fired up their consoles and PCs. This is surely a good thing, even if the flip-side is thousands of people believing that everything we do is the result of a global Templar conspiracy.The past can seem like a whole other world, just as foreign and bizarre as any fantasy or sci-fi setting. With thousands of years of history, there’s ample inspiration to be had and, in the meantime, I’ll just have to keep killing Templars and pretending it’s somehow relevant to my degree.

In a world of increasingly sexy and ever more realistic graphics, it is good to know that looks aren’t always everything – sometimes the simplest gameplay can capture the imagination of millions.  That and being able to build a giant cock/Death Star/evil villain volcano lair.

For anyone who hasn’t read Mark’s preview of the game from Gamescom, Inversion’s twist on the third-person shooter is the ability to let you manipulate and alter gravity. The story starts with your protagonist having seen better days, unless his days usually involve being tied up, bloodied, bruised, and with his imminent execution in front of people using broken dialect. Cue a voice-over tied with several playable flashbacks presented in monochrome, allowing you to get a small glimpse into the gameplay that lies ahead, as well as your apparent fate. As things look about to take a turn for the worse the core game begins, placing you several weeks in the past as your protagonist Davis Russel and his friend (or your co-op partner) Leo Delgado discuss the former’s plan to take a break from policing the streets in order to give his daughter her birthday present.

Their conversation is cut short when chaos breaks out and our heroes resolve to check it out, hefty shotguns in hand, and are confronted by strange men mowing down the civilian population. Cue you trying to take down your foes whilst avoiding gunning down the fleeing bystanders, and expect an earful if you accidentally shoot one of them too. As the city begins collapsing around them, the duo make haste to Davis’ apartment in order to save his family, and let’s just say there wouldn’t be much to the rest of the game if the plan went off without a hitch. The action restarts several weeks later, as Leo and Davis have been locked up in an internment camp and forced to perform manual labour by the invading force, now named the Lutadores. Our heroes’ luck takes a turn for the better as they’re forced to explore some of the nearby tunnels, and are both given a shiny new grav-link to play with.

The pitfall of games forced to walk in the footsteps of any particular genre is that attempts to differentiate often feel shoe-horned or gimmicky and, if not done correctly, can ruin the entire experience. Worse still is when ideas seem to have been retrofitted without considering how they’ll affect the rest of the game, akin to someone creating a three-armed mutant without thinking ahead to modify any t-shirts until it came time to clothe them. What makes Inversion stand out above the rest is that the game feels like the idea of using gravity was there from the beginning, and this is evident from the moment you’re first allowed to progress, grav-links in tow.

Every environment seems filled to the brim with objects that can be manipulated by the grav-links in one way or another; objects you can send floating up in the air, crashing back down to earth or flying across the map. There were hints towards how interactive the environments were in the opening gunfights, as areas of cover would shatter and break apart under gunfire, but once gravity manipulation comes into play all bets are off. Enemy cover can be compromised with the simple press of a button, causing the flimsy barrier and the unfortunate Lutadore behind it to be hurled into the air and left completely exposed. Objects can be lifted in a similar manner then hurled across the screen at your foes, giving you a great incentive to conserve ammo and create mayhem, or even used as temporary cover as you move to a more secure location. As I progressed throughout the single player I was reminded of all the games that boast destructible environments, only for it to result in a couple of set pieces just so they could put a tick on the back of the box. Inversion is not one of those games, and I couldn’t help but let my jaw drop a little during the boss battle I ended my single player experience on, when I saw that every piece of cover had been tattered or broken in some way.

The other reason you can tell gravity manipulation was there from the beginning is also the same reason why I started to fall for the game long before my time with it came to an end: the flow. Simply put, Inversion’s campaign mode is so expertly crafted that everything feels seamless, from the grim opening to running through a slowly collapsing apartment block and sneaking out of a makeshift prison as you slowly start to lose consciousness from blood loss, Inversion is a game that seems to never let up and always has something new and awesome to show you. Gameplay elements are introduced gradually and, after a short introduction with each of your grav-link powers, you’re left to figure out how best to employ these powers at your own discretion. Even your basis melee attack manages to feel as quick and brutal as every other tool in your arsenal. The pace feels fast yet consistent but without ever rushing you, cut-scenes are intertwined with the action without noticeable loading times, and it all makes for something that becomes increasingly more difficult to put down the more you play.

In comparison to other games in the genre where the pace slows to a crawl as the developers thought “difficulty” meant “put more enemies in the room than you can feasibly deal with and make them bullet sponges”, Inversion is a breath of fresh air. The two hours I spent with the single player were amazingly invigorating and I’m sure that the experience will continue to pay dividends beyond where I finished, whether I continued by myself or with a friend. While there is an option to have a friend join in your adventures, your AI partner is much more competent than you’d expect him to be, with him intelligently taking cover, using gravity powers himself, attacking targets you may not be, and not collapsing every couple of minutes in need of rescue. Regardless of whether you tackle the adventure solo or with your friends, the flow of the campaign is so masterfully manipulated that you’ll be thinking with gravity in no time.

Once you’re done with the campaign and need more gravity-based shenanigans in your life, you can always make your way to the multi-player mode. After dabbling with the customisation tools for a while, the time came to play a good old fashioned death-match, and even though there were several experienced players in the midst, it managed to be a tense, unpredictable affair where mastery of gravity powers was all-important. One thing I did notice was that people employing the blue gravity power that lifts everything in the air seemed to do slightly better than those using the red gravity that makes everything heavier, as the red gravity needed a more accurate blast while the blue left the affected player exposed for longer. Regardless, battles didn’t rely on the use of powers to define a clear winner or loser in the sense of whoever fired first won, but they acted as a catalyst to each fight and emphasised the use of quick-thinking strategy over run and gun action.

The other mode we were shown was referred to as “Hourglass”; players are split into either the red or blue team, with your team colour reflecting the only gravity power your character is allowed to use. One team starts out as the defending side, and must make sure to keep their capture point safe until the hourglass on the side of the screen finally lands at their team’s emblem. So far, so familiar, but the twist is that if the attacking side successfully take the point, then the gravity is turned literally upside down and the fight continues on what was formally the ceiling. It’s a well-employed twist, and helps shake up the battlefield considerably, as you must quickly accustom yourself to your new surroundings and make haste to complete your objective if you want to turn the tide back in your favour. Hourglass is a great mode, and I’d personally rate it as a much better experience than the death-match, as it captures the feel of Inversion a lot more accurately and, like the campaign before it, emphasises what can be done when you throw the ability to change gravity into the mix.

When my time with Inversion finished, I was left excited, and as I write this preview and relive the experience, I’m excited all over again. Granted, I’ll be surprised if the game ends up in any top five lists come the end of the year, but I hope that when it’s released people will recognise Inversion for what it is – a refreshing take on the third-person shooter that can breathe new life into the genre and show what can be done with a little innovation. It helps that the flow of the campaign mode is constructed so much more effectively than most recent forays into cover-based shooting and, as long as it keeps up the pace that I witnessed in my short time with it, Inversion will certainly be a strong contender for the contents of your wallet. Hopefully with the game launching at a more budget-friendly price, more gamers will be encouraged to give it a chance, as well they should.

Inversion is a beautifully-flowing game that will turn your perception of the genre upside down. Or sideways.

They could be the one!

Finding ‘the one’ is difficult. You know who I mean; the one you can share everything with, who’s always there for you when you’re having a bad day. You can call them at any time and they’ll run halfway across the world to help you out. And even if you fall out, you know that tomorrow they’ll be back with a smile on their face, happy to make things up again and carry on where you left off. That’s right, I’m talking about your co-op partner.  Oh sure, I’ve experimented with co-op partners over the years. I roped-in friends to play games with me, but they just never lasted. Mainly they would complain that their parents wanted them home for tea by five, and they really had to go. They just didn’t have the same grim determination as I.  And then there were others who were too busy dicking around to really play the game. One of my best friends falls into this category and, as such, I only play co-op with him when absolutely necessary.

I thought I’d found my true partner once; another of my friends came over to hang out and, while waiting for the others to arrive, we ended up playing Army of Two together. In the end, no one else arrived for about four hours, but we played that game constantly, even going as far to re-do the same level over and over so we could raise enough money to buy all the masks and get the achievement associated with doing so. It was a glorious evening.

But, as most things do, our co-op partnership deteriorated. I tried to hook him back in with the second Army of Two, but by then he had moved on; he didn’t want to buy the game, he didn’t want to renew his Gold subscription. He had found out that you got more girls playing guitar than you did videogames. I was crushed, to be sure, but I kept my head held high and moved on.

Will you... will you be my co-op partner?

At one point, I almost convinced myself that my girlfriend could be my co-op partner. She told me that she had played a lot of games as a kid, and I thought: “great, we can play games together all the time!”  Unfortunately, most of her skill lies in the Legend of Zelda series, and trying to find a Zelda-esque game with co-op has, so far, been nigh on impossible. That hasn’t stopped us getting together for some Fable 3 and Dungeon Siege 3, however, and we just kicked off Rayman Origins, but somehow it just doesn’t feel right. Maybe it’s just me, but she doesn’t seem that interested.

I’d given up hope of finding a co-op partner… that was, until I reached university and discovered a whole plethora of potential partners, thanks to my crummy accommodation, which allocates twenty-six people to the same cramped, dodgy kitchen. Among the dirty pots and pans I found a couple of guys who were interested in the same games as me, and who were fans of co-op. I nearly jumped for joy when one of them came into my room, suggested we play Halo 3 and, as I was setting up a versus match, said: “Actually, I was thinking we could do some co-op?”

And, as all co-op lovers should, we quickly found ourselves playing Borderlands into the early hours. Obviously not if all three of us were in attendance, but when one had a prior engagement, the other two would gather and carry on regardless. I was initially a little worried about how the third man would feel about being left out, but it proved to be a fully working system that meant everyone could enjoy themselves and no one felt totally left aside.

Things are looking bright for the future, too. We’re planning on moving in together next year and our grandiose plans for our new house include putting a PS2 in the front room, getting Dynasty Warriors 2 and whiling away the time hacking and slashing our way through waves of enemies. It’s going to be glorious, and I couldn’t be happier.  Obviously I worry about what the future holds. Maybe there’ll be a gigantic fight and we won’t speak for months. Maybe we’ll realise that we don’t have anything in common anymore and drift apart. Or, even worse… one of us may be involved in a tragic car accident and the other two will be left too distraught to even think about picking up a controller.

But, until any of that happens, I’m just going to go ahead and accept that I’ve found two great people with whom I can share one of the things I find most important to me. I had thought that all was lost but, as the old saying goes, you wait ages for one bus to come and then two come at once. I just hope our buses aren’t involved in a huge pile-up on the M1 anytime soon.

“The music of Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II was a huge inspiration for me as a composer who was just venturing forth into the world of writing music for games,” Said Hulick, “so to be able to travel back in time, so to speak, and score original material for the Baldur’s Gate saga is a dream come true for me.”

Now we kind of wish Santa had brought us an iPad.  Okay… we don’t because Lorna would have dropped it or spilled something on it, but still… if anything could make lust lust for one, it is news like this.

Back in July 2007, the dedicated PC gaming blog was launched by four UK game journos, Alec Meer, Jim Rossignol, John Walker, and Kieron Gillen, and has risen to become one of the UK’s most popular gaming sites, scooping several GMAs, and boasting a dedicated readership.  Politely maverick, often humourous, and holding on staunchly to their independence, despite being partnered with the Eurogamer network since 2010, the site is an unapologetically individual concoction of serious features, light-hearted esoterica, reviews, previews, and interviews.

According to a recent audit by ABC – media data wranglers responsible for independent verification of circulation figures – Rock, Paper, Shotgun have racked up over 2.1 million unique users, with an eye-watering daily average of over 117,000 visitors.  No, they didn’t bribe their readers with shiny baubles, Pokemon pencil cases, or nudey ladies (we can still hope), they just did it the old fashioned way.  Hard work.

After the announcement in the gaming press about their impressive traffic, we grabbed the attention of RPS-er and ‘funny word specialist’ John Walker for a chat about Rock, Paper, Shotgun, PC gaming, and one of his ‘light the blue touch paper’ hates.

Congrats on your uniques, it is quite an accomplishment!  So, in the beginning, what made a handful of respectable games journos decide to go it alone online, and what challenges did you face in building RPS to where it is today?

Well, we’d all been at it for ten years, and we were all a bit fed up with having bosses. So we decided it made more sense to become our own bosses. Spotting that (at the time) there was no dedicated PC gaming site, Jim Rossignol rounded us up like the Nick Fury he is, and the four of us (that’s Alec Meer and Kieron Gillen as well) started putting something together in our spare time. We committed to writing two posts each a day, for six months, to see what would happen.

Challenges were there many. Just having a site infrastructure that suited what we wanted to do was, and still is, a big effort. Also, we didn’t make any proper money for the first two years, so had to keeping working as freelancers elsewhere to keep it going. Hosting would have been a nightmare if it weren’t for the amazing people at Positive Internet helping us out. And we argue, a lot. Oh, and so many other challenges too. It was an awful lot of very hard work, really.

What was the initial reaction to the plan to create your own site?  Were your peers and the industry generally supportive?

Yes, they were. That’s the thing about the industry – it’s mostly made up of really nice people. At the time PC Gamer didn’t have a website of its own, so we weren’t even competing directly with them, and people generally hoped we’d do well. I think. I mean, they could have been spitting bile and casting hexes on us behind our backs, of course.

How does RPS compete in an increasingly cluttered online space?  What makes you stand out and apart?

We don’t think about it. I think that’s key to all of RPS’s success. In our press release about the 2.1m readers, we weren’t kidding about avoiding all the SEO crap that makes so many sites look so sad. We just write what we’d want to read, and that seems to work. We’ve now got a big “competitor” in the form of PCGamer.com, and there are always rumours of others arriving, but we don’t look at it that way. We just get on with being RPS. And a big part of that is celebrating the writing, enjoying being silly, and standing behind the industry, scrawling rude words on its walls.

Did you ever envisage RPS being at the point at which you now find yourselves?

Not for years, no. But that was my failing. Jim has always been the one with a laser-guided knowledge that RPS would be here by now, and where it will be in a few more years. It took me a while to catch on that he wasn’t delusional. Then, I didn’t think it would fail either. I just didn’t think. It pays my rent! That’s amazing!

While many fledgling game sites start from ground zero, as experienced journos, you already had a firm foothold in the industry.  Do you see this as a key element of your success?  Can other sites, without this benefit, emulate the success of RPS?

I don’t think we can ignore that we had some sway with our names. Especially having Kieron on board back then, who was unquestionably the most famous UK games journalist at the time. So yes, dedicated readers from PC Gamer, or Eurogamer, or elsewhere, would have come because they knew or liked our writing already. But really, I’d say that’s going to be a very small group of readers, and then mostly other industry types. I expect it made us more likely to get linked from elsewhere, maybe? I dunno. But no – I don’t think it’s necessary to succeed at all. Like I say, I’m sure the vast majority of our readers would have no idea we’d worked anywhere before RPS, especially those outside the UK. And as I said earlier, it still took at least two years of barely paid graft to begin to be a success. And Kieron’s dead now, anyway.

Your repeated wins at the GMAs testify to your continued success… where do you see the site going from here?

Heh – I’m not sure GMA wins make any difference to anything. As for where we go from here – obviously we have plans in the works all the time, but mostly it’s to continue defiantly producing great written content.

Are there any areas into which you’d like to expand; anything that you just don’t have the time to do, but would love to?

Gosh yes. But I don’t think I could say, in case I/we ever do them. There’s stuff I’d love to spin off from RPS, but indeed, time. There’s still only five of us working full time on the site, from editorial to management. We’re busy!

Do you see the number of new game sites – good and bad – that spring up on an almost daily basis as a good thing for the medium, or are they muddying the waters, so to speak, or even diluting the quality of games writing out there?

I don’t think it’s any bad thing for readers. More choice is great, and the good will rise to the surface. I worry for sites that launch with misguided ambition, or even debts, but that’s their business. My only real concern, as we’re about to discuss, is those that are making money who convince people to write for them for free.

GamingLives isn’t currently self-sustaining, more a labour of love (and pain – although those are pretty much the same thing) at this time, and as much as we would dearly love to pay contributors (and ourselves) we have to settle for other incentives and small gifts when we can, along with the simple offer of a platform.  As such, it disgusts us that those who can blatantly afford to, don’t.  i.e. Pocket Gamer and NowGamer and their recent ads for unpaid columnists/interns.  This is a subject about which you have been quite vocal on your blog.  For the benefit of those who may have missed it, can you tell us why this has got you so (rightly) riled up?  Is it so much that they are skimping on paying writers, or the fact that there is that arrogant conceit that said writers should feel privileged just to have a position with them?

It’s both and more. It devalues the concept of writing. It’s a clever and unscrupulous trick that is being played long-term on writers, where the lie is spread that there’s no way to get started on their site without working for free first. It takes advantage of people, and is frighteningly accepted. I’ve had arguments with editors doing this to others, who defend it by saying it’s how they got started too, which makes no sense! They were taken advantage of, and now they’re in a position to ensure others aren’t! Madness.

The gaming industry seems to be one of, not just change – such as print to online; physical to digital – but of ebb and flow.  It seems that not so long ago, gamers were shifting away from the PC platform to consoles… do you now see this trend reversing?  If so, why do you think more gamers are now coming back to the PC?

I think what actually happened is lots of new people arrived into gaming via the consoles, and the PC numbers, while always growing, were dwarfed. And as the industry adjusted to that, the PC was rather stupidly sidelined. So while a game like Call Of Duty will only sell 5% on PC, 5% of eleventy billion dollars is an awful lot of money. As this generation of consoles dies out, the PC is becoming more obviously the place where the best version of a game can be played, and developers love making the best version they can. 2012/13 will be great years for PC gaming, and then come Christmas 2013 and two new consoles, the PC will continue doing just as well, but the industry will get distracted by the new shiny objects yet again. It’ll be interesting to see how consoles attempt to co-opt the digi-download and indie markets that are the PC’s biggest strengths right now. And around and around it will go.

Now those look like gaming PCs, or just objects of lust

It is perhaps fair to say that the PC has traditionally been seen as a more of a platform for ‘core’ gamers – is this still the case?  Do you think that this perception (right or wrong) has influenced recent migratory choices of those (I can speak personally to this) perhaps jaded by the casual/motion drive on consoles?

Well, I think the PC was the platform when there were only core gamers! So yes, that was definitely its tradition. And look at a PC, too. It’s this giant, ridiculous behemoth of a box, with a mouse and a keyboard attached. It doesn’t even vaguely look appropriate for gaming. The reappropriation of this work tool into a source of fun is masterful, but it’s not instantly accessible like a console (well, that’s increasingly untrue – I just got a PS3 and the interface is more complicated than installing drivers.).

What would you say the biggest changes have been in PC gaming over the last few years?

Digital downloads, I suppose. That’s made a big difference to accessibility, and created an equality between AAA and first-time indie products, especially on places like Steam. As for the games – not nearly enough changes have occurred. Games are getting extremely good at what they’ve done before. I’m looking forward to the new stuff.

How do you think that digital platforms and crowd funding sources, such as Kickstarter, will drive PC gaming over the coming years?  Is there a risk of burnout or over-saturation in these areas?

I think the saturation has already occurred. People only get paid once a month, but big projects asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars are racing to the goldrush when everyone’s tapped out. I wish people would pace themselves – the internet’s not going anywhere. My guess is that we’ll eventually see a shift away from Kickstarter, and more toward just fund raising, where there’s no target to hit or miss. It certainly causes people to want to give more, and to encourage others to give too, but I think that has a lifespan. But then I’m just some guy making stuff up.

Many great looking projects have got off the ground thanks to Kickstarter, but will the bubble burst soon?

Piracy has always been an issue for PC games, but how can publishers balance the need to protect their IP without alienating gamers like your readers with DRM?  Has anyone got this right so far?

Well, while others on RPS will disagree with me, I think piracy has always been a boon for PC games. I’ve never seen a scrap of evidence, let alone convincing evidence, to demonstrate it causes a reduction in sales. Games sell more than ever before, despite piracy being easier than ever before. Go figure. And even if someone vehemently disagrees with that, no attempt to combat piracy is even vaguely effective, other than providing a service better than piracy offers. Once publishers start doing that, then they’ll see even more money coming their way. The people who have got it right are those who just ignore it, and get on with making and selling their games. We live in an incredible time where people are paying astonishing amounts of money for games being offered for free, with bundles, etc earning millions upon millions for DRM-free games that could have cost them 1c or be pirated. It’s a beautiful thing.

Don't ever expect to find a decent PC section...

With the PC game sections in traditional retail outlets ever-shrinking, where do you see the future of high-street PC retail going?  Will this retail neglect be reversed if more gamers return to the PC fold, or is the writing on the digital wall?

I can’t imagine it will even exist in two years time. But then, we rightly complain about the ridiculously tiny PC sections in GAME and Gamestation, but take a look at their PS3 and 360 sections too. Heck, the Wii sections. They’re almost no better now. They made such a serious mistake when they stopped keeping catalogues of games in their stores, and I’m certain they’re suffering because of it. And it’s too late now. Some people will always want boxes, but why would you opt for a shop that seems to treat almost all new products with disdain over a website that has the lot?

How does it feel to see classic PC titles, such as UFO: Enemy Unknown, re-imagined and/or pilfered for the console market?  Should we be proud that they are stealing our toys, or should we feel like our house has been burgled?

I think people’s complaining about that is just ridiculous. It’s as if making a stupid shooter version of Syndicate somehow erases the original game from existence and our memories. There being a crappy FPS of your favourite game doesn’t harm your favourite game in any way, and as the Firaxis UFO project shows, it also doesn’t prevent more appropriate sequels from appearing either. It’s definitely a shame to see something great being remade as something rubbish, but people haven’t been robbed of the “proper” sequel. The universe just contains one more crappy game – that’s all.

Is the future bright for PC gaming?

I sure hope so, or I’m out of a job.

Thanks once again to John Walker for taking the time to talk to us.  He has kindly waived his usual appearance fee and, instead, asked that we donate the money and fizzy cola bottles to the Kieron Gillen Memorial Fund.