Top 5's

Making an advert for a game or console is almost as difficult as developing the product itself. A misjudged commercial could ultimately decide whether a game's fate. When done well, though, game adverts have the ability to transcend their purpose, and become as iconic as what they are selling. Here are five examples that got it totally right:

Because we ALL go a little crazy sometimes!

Given that the majority of computer games are set within fantasy realms, and given the slightly crazy storylines that develop within, it’s no surprise that every so often a total nutcase is thrown up from the twisted minds of the developers. True, most computer game characters are a little nuts, but these guys take insane to a whole new level! Here is a selection of my personal favourite crazies.

No other form of entertainment has the ability to suck up so much of our free time and make hours pass by like seconds. Most people who read this will agree that they have spent more time blowing their games wide open, than on more worthwhile pursuits such as....gardening.
In honour of the countless hours of entertainment gaming can give I have compiled a list of the five most life consuming games and have taken a look at what makes them so addictive.

1. World of Warcraft:   It would be wrong to start any list of life consuming games without paying homage to the worldwide MMORPG phenomenon that is World of Warcraft. Since its release in September of 2001, Blizzard entertainment’s “pay to play,” open world RPG has gone on to have over 11 million monthly subscribers. While perhaps the entire MMORPG genre could be given a rightful place in this list, no other game of its type has sucked people in quite as much as Warcraft. With numerous expansion packs to extend the games already limitless lifespan and horror stories of people dying at their computers after playing marathon five day sessions, Warcraft is probably the most worthy of the five games in this list to be labelled life consuming, literally.

First Person shooters can make you feel the experience, associate yourself with the character and feel a part of the action better than any other genre of game.  Here are my top 5 first person shooter experiences which make an impact on the player and add a bigger and better level to the gaming experience.  Feel free to add any suggestions for your top 5 in the comments.  It's not exhaustive – but off the top of my head these are the ones that come to mind.  These aren't the best first person shooters or even favourite first person shooters, they're events in first person shooters that I consider an experience in themselves and which in some way define games or gaming.

- Storming the Horde's lair on the back of a Brumak.  Gears of War 2 is, without doubt, a brilliant game.  Quite apart from looking and sounding great, it has managed in many ways to re-invent the FPS with a completely new feel to it via it's style of control, duck and covers, running and reloading.  Everyone I have spoken to about the game in their first 10 minutes of playing it says something along the lines of “the controls feel a bit sluggish and a bit different”. Within an hour it feels completely natural and you don't know how you did without covering in other games.  They don't come much bigger than Brumaks, the ultimate enemy and pain the armoured ass of Marcus and Dom. After spending several levels of the game killing them, the chance to ride and control one is an awesome experience. It is in this list because (apart from being very, very cool) having spent 2 games worth of time fighting against Brumaks, the biggest symbol of the terror and power of the Locust, riding one in to the enemy base fills you with a genuine sense ingenuity.  This is a testament to the quality of the story/script and story telling ability of the GOW games.