I finally got a few minutes with Batman: Arkham City yesterday thanks to the demo which was released on PSN (or SEN).

If you’re familiar with my past ruminations on all things ‘Dark Knight’ you’ll probably be wondering why a mega-fan of the caped crusader, such as my myself, has left it this late to sample the goods.

I’m conducting a bit of a protest at the pre-order policies of game publishers who find it perfectly acceptable to nickel-and-dime their loyal customers by charging for skins, or releasing sections of a game as DLC on the day the game is released when they could’ve easily included it on-disc. So I’ve decided I’ll refrain from making day one purchases for games, especially the big-hitters, considering there’ll be a Game-of-The-Year version released within a year of the original release, with all bonus content included on one disc.

You may marvel at my self-restraint (or miserly behaviour, depending on your point of view) but I feel it has to be done.

Back to Arkham City. From a purely gaming perspective, I must say Rocksteady have done admirably well. The scale of the game, in comparison to Arkham Asylum, is clearly much larger, and there’s a LOT more for Batman to see and do, even though the basics of beating-up thugs and stalking bad-guys is largely unchanged from the first game.

I can’t wait (even though I kinda can, lol) to get my hands on the GOTY edition of Batman Arkham City in September of this year.

The Andrews Sisters - Bei Mir Bist du Schön [Bioshock]

Now that the dust has settled on 2K’s first Bioshock title (originally released in 2007) it’s safe to say this game is my personal highlight of this particular generation of gaming, which is even more remarkable considering I’m not really a fan of first-person shooters.

To describe Bioshock merely in terms of its FPS dynamic is like saying Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is a painting about plant-life. There’s so much more to the game than running and gunning, and as you delve deeper into the experience you begin to appreciate the depth to the world of Rapture and its rather disturbing origins and existence; that’s before we meet even one of its jolly citizens.

One of the major contributors to Bioshock’s success in drawing the player into the watery confines of Rapture is the role music plays in generating a vivid mood and a strong sense of time and place, which incidentally happens to be the year 1959. Many of the songs featured in the game originate from as far back as the 1930s and 1940s, and can be heard crackling to life from the tinny sound systems throughout the corridors and halls of the city. 

It’s no mean feat for a twee and unbearably cutesy song such as (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window to take on a decidely sinister quality when heard within the eerily unsettling sparseness of the underwater environment the protagonist finds himself in.

The particular track featured in this blog post is my favourite of all the licensed songs from the Bioshock soundtrack. Upon hearing the first few notes I’m immediately reminded of my time playing this game, and I can’t help but to give the game an hour or so of my time and re-enter the fantastic world created by Ken Levine and his 2K team.

Enjoy the song.

[Picture: martinconcept.blogspot.co.uk]

Don’t ask me why but I had an incredible urge to create a UK road sign in Photoshop. It looks authentic but I’m still not sure what I was hoping to achieve. 

Maybe I should print some fake / incorrect signs and put them over real road signs so that drivers end up miles from their actual destinations?

I was viewing random Tumblr blogs last night to ascertain what kind of folk were reblogging my posts, and I must say most people have given their blogs really cool and original monikers. Some people use a lyric from a song or the name of their favourite band. Others use a line of dialogue from a movie or TV show. Me? I’ve used my initials and my surname.

What a square.

Whilst brushing my teeth this morning I came up with two hip, new titles to replace ‘DGOswald’, and I thought I’d put them out into the ether: 

1) Lord Love-Rocket & His Mate Max - Now, if you recognise where I’m referencing this from you’ll appreciate why I had to remove a certain word …

2) Pube on a Pipe - Self-explanatory isn’t it?

I’m erring towards the first option, but the second holds a certain caché that appeals to my sensibilities. Decisions, decisions.

Here’s a few versions of the header graphic I’ve managed to make so far. They’re obviously in the style of well-known iconography from the world of gaming, movies and comics. I’ll try and get some more done soon. I’m currently on-board with the Super Mario World design but I’m sure I’ll change my mind before the final decision.

A bit of a milestone….I have my first ever 100 notes for a post I created! What a time to be alive.

Thank-you to thebastarddiaries for the vital contribution.

EDIT: Well this definitely has legs. Got my 200th post a few minutes ago. Thanks to phoenixpen for the note. [22 May 2012]

How far can this go? Frankly I’m afraid…

Apologies if you’ve been wondering what the heck is going on with my ever-changing blog-header graphic for the past few days. I got a bit bored with the original yellow title, and I thought I’d spruce it up a bit.

I’ll most likely go through a fair few iterations before I settle on one I like, so you have been warned(!)