Armchair Diplomat

A little heads up for the readers, just in case you’re wondering why content is a little slow this week.  Myself and Mark are currently working on a redesign for the site to make things a little more streamlined.  And less reliant upon a shitload of images.

Although the colour scheme and general theme are going to remain the same, we will be tinkering with the layout a little, changing ad servers and adding some new little features to improve connectivity and customisation.

This will all be taking place over the next fortnight or so, so if you notice anything out of place or just straight up on fire, please feel free to blame either me or Mark for playing around with live code.

Tristan has also started designing avatars to go along with the update, which you can take a look at by clicking “Read More”.  Currently he’s got Moose and Jess sorted out, Stu is in preliminary and has started messing around with the original avatars too.

So while this all goes on the content might be a little slower than usual, but we’ll certainly still be updating!  And if you have any suggestions for changes you’d like to see on Armchair Diplomat, by all means drop me an email on matt@armchairdiplomat.com.  Unless of course you want to complain about the colour scheme, in which case sleep safe in the knowledge that Mark is on your side and got shot down by me …

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The end of the decade is fast approaching. And it’s bringing a few thoughts to mind. One is LOL, wasn’t that Y2K bug a crock? Another is LOL, has it really been 10 years since I last hurled abuse at The Violent Femmes in a live format? Yet another is LOL, maybe next decade I should stop making obscure personal references in my articles.

But by far one of the most important things the impending end of the noughties has made me think about is this: what’s the best game that’s been released this decade?

While we could’ve settled the issue with a round of gaming spin the bottle, we’ve been a little more scientific. All your beloved AD writers have voted for their favourite games from the past 10 years and from December 26 we’ll be counting down the top five, one each day. There’ll be thrills, there’ll be spills and there might even be 1000 elephants. And in between, some of us will talk about a few of the other games that grabbed our attention but didn’t quite make the big list.

So put December 26 in your diaries and tune in as we start counting down to Top Five (Totally Abritrary and 100% Personal Opinion) Best Games Of The Noughties Evar!

For anyone currently pondering the lack of content on site, you can rest assured that we’re still alive and no-one’s passed away from a horrific alien spore.

The unfortunate fact is that with the Christmas season setting in, we’re all stretched a little tight for time and attenti0n, so apart from one major series of articles (and if we’re lucky, a few smaller ones) you won’t hear much out of Armchair Diplomat until we hit the new year.

We’ll be kicking off a big year in 2010 too.  Mark’s getting stuck into his redesign of the site, and Bone is drafting up new avatars to accompany our new writers.  And I’ve got a whole raft (possibly even a dinghy) of games I want to write about.

I’ll let Stu introduce the last series of articles for the year himself in the next few days (although the concept won’t shock anyone who follows us on Twitter), but apart from that I wish all of our readers a very happy holiday season, and look forward to seeing you all in the new year!

‘Nuff said, really

This week’s release of Modern Warfare 2 has apparently, according to Activision at least, been the biggest entertainment release in history.  I’d guess this to have something to do with the game’s hefty price tag more than anything else, but in this respect: what have we been playing this week?

Mark’s Been Playing:

Unlike Matty’s opinion of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I thought it freaking brilliant. Finished the game today (on regular difficulty), and in an out-of-character event will probably finish all the spec ops, and replay on more difficult settings.

I was honestly surprised at the game. Review coming soon (probably tomorrow). A lot of time  got eaten up by it, even though it is a short game. I actually paced out my gameplay to savour the flavours.

Matt’s Been Playing:

Busy week, actually.  We attended the Xbox Insider Tour on Monday, and got to check out a whole bunch of current and upcoming titles.  I tried out Tony Hawk: Ride, Band Hero (just don’t ask) and even logged another half an hour or so playing Assassin’s Creed 2 (I’m already going to buy it, I don’t know why I keep teasing myself).

Apart from that, back at home I’ve been playing some Tekken 6, and trying out the latest GTA episode The Ballad of Gay Tony.  Reviews this week!

And yes, I did play Modern Warfare 2 this week, but only to check out the oh-so-edgy “No Russian” mission, and try out the Spec-Ops mode (which was good fun).  Apart from that, I think I’ll just borrow it off Mark if I want to play it through one day.  It didn’t really grab me as the “must own” game that Activision would lead me to believe.

To write about the games we’ve played, or to play the games we haven’t yet had the chance?  Oh, the ever-waging war inside a games writer’s head!  What did we get around to playing this week?

Matt’s Been Playing:

Cutting and cross-fading my way through the DJ Hero tracklisting all this week, which has been mixed in with playing Borderlands.  I finally discovered what everyone was talking about when they said that the ending sucked in comparison to the rest of the game.  Managed to get a bit of online co-op going, and even managed to find myself the “And They’ll Tell Two Friends” achievement.  I hereby promise that I’ll review it this week.  Along with the new Tales of Monkey Island episode and Sam and Max Through Time and Space.  Jeez, I’ve got my work cut out.

According to my Xbox GamerCard I’ve also been playing The Ashes Cricket 2009, which is actually Moose’s fault since he’s the one who started the game while my account was still signed in.  So now I might just insist that he complete all the achievements for me.

This week I’ll be heading along to the Melbourne Xbox Insider Tour (tomorrow, to be exact), so if anyone else is going just look for the guy with half-blue hair and half-arsed Klingon moustache attempting to hug MC Hammer.

Mark’s Been Playing:

Kicking it ol’ school.

In the sweltering Melbourne heat, I retreated indoors (surprise surprise), and with no decent internet connection to do some intehtube work on, sat down the rifle through the games collection.

The Orange Box was a purchase *ages* ago… purely for Portal (which, in my humble opinion, is the greatest puzzle game ever, purely on the basis that I hate puzzle games and I actually finished this one. Then went and played it again on “advanced”, another trait I never do). So I sat down to play some Team Fortress 2 (which I had heard would work fine, even on my capped internet, as iiNet have the Freezone, which apparently includes Xbox play). But I never got that far.

Back in the day, I never got into Half-Life and all it’s mod wonderment. Counter Strike was (and I may get shouted down, here) shite. The original Half-Life was kinda cool in the ‘pick up things, drop things’ way. And the graphics were neat (for its day).

Therefore, buying Half-Life 2 and never playing it, seemed to make the world an okay place.

Oh, how wrong I was. Suspense, gritty gameplay and cutting zombies in half with a buzz saw blade fired from a gravity gun. Lack of ammo, great voice acting. Chase scenes that are actually fun. Horror elements with towns filled with zombies, and a lone priest smashing their faces with his shotgun. Damn, son. *slow, appreciating claps*

E’gads, how did I miss you?

That was my gaming week. Stay tuned for more ol’skool wickedness I missed next week.

This weekend we’ve been in and around the eGames Expo as part of the International Digital Entertainment Festival.  Met a lot of cool people, drank FAR too much (or just the right amount?) booze with the gang from Gamer Limit and were able to preview a lot of cool games.  So while it’s been a quiet weekend on site, it’s certainly been busy behind the scenes, expect a flurry of articles through the week.

What Mark’s Been Playing:

*Mark hereby promises to fill in his section after he finishes deciphering his mother’s lasagne*

The lasagne was read, and the augurs are good!

So…. many…. games.

Please sire, give me a whoop whoop. DJ Hero. Really, really fun game. And for the extra cash than a regular game (due to the radular controller), you get some compliments from Grandmaster Flash. I’d pay extra for that alone!

Also got into the games Matty has cracked through below, and I have mixed feelings towards a few, really desire others, and tremendous amounts of ambivalence to the rest.

Assassin’s Creed 2 is shaping up to be an excellent sequel to a game I quite enjoyed. And my big surprise of eGames was A Boy and his Blob.

What Matt’s Been Playing:

TOO MANY FRIGGIN’ GAMES.

At home right now I’m playing Borderlands, DJ Hero and Sam & Max Through Time And Space.  I started, had a lovely time, then finished ToMI Ep 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood yesterday.  And to top it all off, at eGames I’ve played Assassin’s Creed 2, Fairytale Fights, A Boy and his Blob, Red Steel 2, Just Dance and James Cameron’s Avatar.  There was lots of fantastic gear at the Ubisoft booth, who basically owned the show from what I could tell.

So much writing to do!  So many articles to come!

Sure I’m currently away on holiday, enjoying the heady “building the 70’s forgot” heights of Hobart’s Wrest Point Casino, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some serious game playing this week, right? …. Right?

What Matt’s Been Playing:

After finishing Brutal Legend, I’ve been finishing up all the available side-missions.  I’m sorry to say that it hasn’t been much of an enjoyable task.  Most of them have been fairly repetitive, although I did enjoy the hunting challenges.

Attempts to play through Sam & Max Through Time and Space have bee hampered slightly by picking up Borderlands.  You have to love a title that settles all qualms by stating in big bold letters on the back: “Two-Player Splitscreen“.  The game is pretty awesome, although the splitscreen menu system is as stupid as I’ve seen in a long time.  Side scrolling your inventory?  Bizarre.

Looking forward to eGames Expo coming up this week, checking out Assassin’s Creed 2 and a couple of others.  By all means let us know if you’re attending and want to say hi!

What Mark’s Been Playing:

Once again, a week of little played. We played the computer version of Risk. I quite disliked it as I was getting smashed and, in seriously childish fashion, took my bat and ball and went home.

Things of note, however:

1. Dalek helmets do restrict Wii Sports gameplay. Who would’ve thought?
2. Operation Flashpoint 2: Fuck You I’m a Dragon was shit. So incredibly shit, in fact, that I took it back to the retailer. I NEVER take back a game as there’s always that time, a few months in the future, when you want to give it another run through. I do not forsee this with OP2:FYIAD. After playing the original, and that one by the other company (ARMA I think it was), I was so incredibly disappointed with it that I couldn’t even have it around the house. Who the fuck wants to crawl five kilometres to an objective to get smashed by a gunship helicopter?
3. Looking forward to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2. I think that makes it COD8, or maybe COD4 to the power of 2, so what’s that? COD16? Maths wasn’t my strong suit.

We’re welcoming two new writers to the site this month: Jess and Moose.  Moose is his real name, “Jess” may yet turn out to be a pseudonym.  They come from two rather diverse backgrounds gaming-wise, but mostly we’ve brought them on board to round out the site’s writing focus a little.  While out primary love is all things gaming, I’m not so o-fay with geek culture (despite all the horribly goofy t-shirts I own).

Jess has already started her posting, and I imagine Moose will do sometime soon also (once he decides what he wants to write about).  Say hello in the comments section, if you feel like it.  They’ll both be joining us at eGames Expo this month too, to help us report on all the goings on.

I’ll update the About page with bio details soon.  We may have one more new writer in the shape of my brother, if he can ever pull himself away from online poker, but most likely he’ll simply be writing guest articles, so I’ll mention him when he’s ready to go.  I’ve also been fiddling around with our sidebar navigation to incorporate the staff expansion, so you can now access individual blogs through there.

Content out the wazoo on the way, I’ve got two more days until a fortnight of time off!

A busy week of gaming for the both of us, but what exactly have we been playing this week?

What Mark’s Been Playing:

A relatively quiet week.

But, and much to my shame, I purchased Operation Flashpoint: Fuck You I’m a Dragon (commonly read as Dragon Rising). And it’s shit.

So fucking hard, and not in the fun-because-its-challenging hard. You get fuxored by helicopter gunships randomly unless you want to crawl everywhere (literally crawl, at a bewildering slow pace). A true, true fucking shame. A lot of rubbish. And in the name of ultra-realism, war really is a pain in the arse.

And some Wii to round out the week.

What Matt’s Been Playing:

Apart from vomiting my way through the Band Hero demo, then having to play a few straight hours of medicinal Beatles: Rock Band, this week has mostly been about the metaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal.

After playing a few days worth of Brutal Legend, I’m enjoying the experience but getting bogged down by a few little niggles.  The fact that the game lacks a jump button is a big one for me, especially since you seem to be able to drive yourself into unescapable areas quite easily.  Apart from that, it’s got a great visual style, rocking soundtrack and interesting combination of action and real-time strategy gameplay.  Review will be up soon!

I’ve also started to work my way through Sam & Max Through Time and Space, which is going well.  I’m hoping that they’ll keep things a little more varied than last season, but it’s looking good so far.