Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword not even near finished. WHAT?

After that Bluetooth interference-scuppered presentation of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword at E3, the team was at least confident about how far along development was. "If it weren't for the new art style, the game would have shipped by now" - that's what Eiji Aonuma said. So what's Miyamoto talking about now when he says the game's merely 'over half complete'? We always thought it was coming in early 2011 but now we're not so sure...
Miyamoto told Pocket-Lint “What we are focused on is creating gameplay mechanics so the gameplay experience feels very dense. In fact, the overall experience is going to feel more dense. We hope that people will want to go back and replay the game once they finish it”. Looks like the team is concentrating on making the game as packed full of interesting things to do as possible.
That can only be a good thing - even Wind Waker had a section that Miyamoto felt was rushed and actually apologised for. That hunt for the Triforce was boring in Miyamoto's eyes. So making sure the whole game is as interesting and well-paced as possible should make Skyward Sword more than worth the wait. It's still down for a 2011 release, so hopefully it won't be too much longer.

In the same interview, Miyamoto had time to comment on Microsoft and Sony's new motion control endeavors, saying: "Of course, I am happy that motion is fashionable now. But when we make games, we are not trying to produce trendy products. It needs to be an experience that's meaningful, and the motion control needs to add something. So our new Zelda game takes motion control and adds something to the game to make you feel like you're part of the adventure. I think our rivals need to find what it is they have to offer that’s new."

Source: Pocket-Lint

Free online Gum games

Super Boomer Max
Tags: Flash, Collecting Games, Gum, Unrated games, 1 Player, Running,
Infomation: Gather all of the gums and dodge all monsters.
How to play: Arrows Keys - Move. Spacebar - Jump.Play free Super Boomer Max at freeonlinegames6.com

Bubble Gum Crisis
Tags: Flash, Girl, Gum, Unrated games, 1 Player, Kids,
Infomation: Avoid all the Charm Candies hit the Princess Candy.
How to play: Use mouse to play the game.
Play free Bubble Gum Crisis at freeonlinegames6.com

Chewrassic Park
Tags: New games, Flash, Collecting Games, Gum, Animal, Unrated games, 1 Player, Shoot Em Up, Dinosaur,
Infomation: This is the chewrassic park! The monster chewie is hungry. Feed him with some chewits.
How to play: Use Mouse to interact.
Play free Chewrassic Park at freeonlinegames6.com

Bubble Gum Sweetie Catcher
Tags: New games, 1 Player, Animal, Bubbles, Cat, Collecting Games, Flash, Flying, Fruit, Gum,
Infomation: Use your bubble gum to fly up and try to collect all the fruit.
How to play: Left / Right Arrow Keys - Move. Spacebar - Fly. Play free Bubble Gum Sweetie Catcher at freeonlinegames6.com

Bubble Boom
Tags: New games, 1 Player, Balloons, Beat Em Up, Bubbles, Fighting, Flash, Gum, Kids, Throwing,
Infomation: Beat the Gadbad Gang by throwing Bubbaloo Balloons on them and avoid their red balloons.
How to play: Use Mouse to interact.
Play free Bubble Boom at freeonlinegames6.com

Coyote Roll
Tags: 1 Player, Animal, Flash, Gum, Obstacle,
Infomation: Race down the slope to catch the roadrunner!
How to play: Right Arrow Key - Speed Up Left Arrow Key - Slow Down. Up Arrow Key - Jump. Play free Coyote Roll at freeonlinegames6.com

Jimmy Bubblegum
Tags: 1 Player, Animal, Bubbles, Flash, Flying, Gum, Obstacle, Puzzle, Shoot Em Up, Shooting,
Infomation: Float upwards with your bubblegum. Dodge baddies as you shot them with gumballs. Gets crazy hard.
How to play: This game is played with mouse only.
Play free Jimmy Bubblegum at freeonlinegames6.com

First look at World of Warcraft’s charity pets

Blizzard has recently released the first images of the new World of Warcraft in-game pets that will be coming to the Blizzard Pet Store. Check out the extra cute version of raid boss Ragnaros and the tiny Moonkin Hatchlings below.

As with the previously released Pandaren Monk, Blizzard plans to donate proceeds from sales to a charitable cause. Blizzard was able to raise $1.1 million for the Make a Wish Foundation with sales of the Pandaren Monk pet. However, no details have been announced as to which charity will receive donations or how much of the proceeds from sales will be donated.

 

 

 

 

[gamesradar]

First L.A. Noire trailer coming this Thursday

Rockstar has announced that it will release a new L.A. Noire trailer this Thursday. Though footage has been previously released, Rockstar is calling this the "first" trailer, which we hope means that it will include gameplay. Oh, wait... you do remember what L.A. Noire is, right?

Team Bondi's upcoming detective game has been teased for a long time (since 2004, even), but information has been sparse. Earlier this year, GameInformer posted exclusive screens and scored a 10-page mag feature which described the game's "groundbreaking facial-animation system" and "astonishing reconstruction of 1947 Los Angeles."

According to the latest from Rockstar, the game is a "twisted tale of murder, corruption and jazz" and is the "public debut of groundbreaking new performance scanning technology that will change the face of digital entertainment."

Rockstar has sort of changed the face of digital entertainment before, so bombastic as the statement may be, we're intrigued.

Director Paul Anderson: Not playing games before adapting them is disrespectful

At one time we’ve all done it, or seen it done. We’ve stood in front of the class and delivered a report on a book we’ve never read. Rarely was it ever successful, and even when it was, we all knew the report would have been better had we actually read the damn book. Yet Hollywood has been doing the same thing for years according to Paul Anderson, director of Resident Evil: Afterlife.

 

In a recent interview with Crispy Gamer, Anderson responded to filmmaker Mike Newell’s admission that he had never actually played the Prince of Persia games whilst promoting the film of the same name. “That's like adapting a book without reading the book or adapting a stage play and never seeing the stage play. I think it's disrespectful to the medium, and it's disrespectful to the original source material, and ultimately, it doesn't make the best movie." 

 

While Afterlife never even approached PoP’s worldwide gross of $335M, Anderson sticks to his guns:
“As a filmmaker, I'm definitely immersed in the world of Resident Evil, so even though we're choosing to tell slightly different stories and introduce some different characters, the movies are very much immersed in the video game world. You can see it from the way they're shot to what the production design looks like, to what the costumes look like. This is clearly a franchise made by people who know the intellectual property that it's based upon very, very well. I think it infuses the whole movie with the feeling of Resident Evil that I think the fans know is authentic.”
While Anderson’s research integrity is certainly appreciated, and he definitely doesn’t foul the air quite like another certain director does – and, hey, kudos on marrying Mila Jovovich - deference to the source material does not always a good movie make. Lest we forget Anderson is also responsible for the Street Fighter, Super Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat and the Dead or Alive films... along with the other Resident Evil films.

Still, we cannot help but feel that loving that material you’re working with will at least make the end result (whatever it may be) “better” than if you don’t. But we can probably all agree that just developing a compelling story and characters will make an infinitely better film than love alone. In either case, the last thing we want is for Hollywood to stop making game adaptations…how else would we get articles like this?
Any thoughts on the matter? Tell us in the comments.

[radargames]

Supreme Court hears arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, asks if we should ban fairy tales too

Nov 2 is the day for Americans to make their voices heard, and in the cold of a Washington D.C. morning hundreds of people gathered of the steps of the Supreme Court of the United States in anticipation of the oral arguments heard today regarding the Schwarzenegger v. EMA suit, and the much-reviled California Video Game Law.

 

While little attention has been paid to this suit on a national level, the Court’s gallery was over-stuffed with observers as Attorney General of California, Zackery Morazzini, made his opening statements. Moranzzini began by suggesting that the “deviant” level of violence that is depicted in certain video games requires legal restrictions to protect minors.
Protect them from what, wondered Justice Scalia. "You are asking us to create a whole new prohibition... what's next after violence? Drinking? Movies that show drinking? Smoking?"  Scalia also suggested that banning violent videogames would be of the same order as banning Grimm’s fairy tales, which are often very similar in their depictions of violence.

The Court was not prepared to let the video games industry off the hook so easily, however. "Imagining a game that allows a player to torture babies," Justice Breyer suggested. "Why isn't it common sense for the state to say 'Parents, if you want your 13-year-old to play it you have to buy it?” The Court went on to question the game’s industry ardent resistance to any law that would limit the exposure of violent content to children.

While the hearing was not a very somber affair, with Justice Kagan admitting that half of the Court’s clerks played Mortal Kombat, the Justices did press Moranzinni hard to prove why video games should be placed in a ‘special category’ separate from rap music or fairy tales.

 Moranzinni declared that video games were ‘unusual’ in that their interactive nature may trigger a subconscious drive within players –particularly young players- to commit violent acts, and that these impulses would not be triggered through non-interactive mediums such as movies, music, or bedtime stories.
After the hour-long hearing both plaintiff and defending representatives emerged optimistic about their chances for success.
“I think what the court really does understand is the difficulty of regulating in the area of violence in the absence of any historical basis for drawing a new exception under the First Amendment…  and so I think the court is, at least I hope, they will come away very skeptical of the notion that just because someone can show you a video of a video game that some people think is offensive that somehow it justifies coming up with a whole regulatory regime – particularly where there is already a whole voluntary regulatory regime,” said Paul Smith, representative of the EMA.
Senator Leland Yee, author of the controversial legislation, countered “I think that they [the Justices] were very, very interested in finding a way to ensure that [these] gratuitous, ultra-violent video games [are not] out in the hands of children.”

The Court’s decision is expected before the Summer recess of June, 2011. Since today’s the day to make your voices heard, what did you think of the proceedings?

[source: gamesradar.com]

play free Cristiano ronaldo Dress up game

Christiano Ronaldo prepares for the great football match and needs you to help him find the perfect decision for his apparel. Can you give him some suggestions.

http://www.freeonlinegames6.com/Play_Free_Online_Christiano_Ronaldo_Dressup_Game.html

Free online movie games - 20 games

Gimme 5 Movie
Tags: Guessing Game, 1 Player, Flash, Series, Movie,
Infomation: Spot the five differences in the two movie pictures. You have a joker to reveal a difference. So concentrate, find and have fun searching!
How to play: Mouse - To interact.
Play free Gimme 5 Movie at freeonlinegames6.com

Movie Maker
Tags: Flash, 1 Player, Movie, Kids,
Infomation: Make a great film by using ung camera skills.
How to play: Use arrow keys to move the camera. A and Z to zoom in and out. Play free Movie Maker at freeonlinegames6.com

American Pie Beer Chugger
Tags: Beer, Shockwave, 1 Player, Movie,
Infomation: Don't leave your fraternity bros hanging! as a lowly pledge, you've got to prove you're Beta material by becoming the Pledge Bartender.
How to play: Use Mouse to interact.
Play free American Pie Beer Chugger at freeonlinegames6.com

Movie Connection
Tags: Unrated games, Flash, Fun, Guessing Game, 1 Player, Movie,
Infomation: Do you love movies? The object of the game is to place the actors in the correct positions so they matched up with the films they starred in. You earn points for each correct answer. Have fun!
How to play: Mouse - Drag and release.
Play free Movie Connection at freeonlinegames6.com

Dress Up Samara
Tags: Flash, Girl, 1 Player, Dress Up, Parody, Movie, Kids,
Infomation: Watched the Japanese horror movie "The Ring"? Dress up Samara from "The Ring" in this scary dress up game.
How to play: Use mouse to interact.
Play free Dress Up Samara at freeonlinegames6.com

Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest Fighting
Tags: Flash, 1 Player, Action, Strategy, Movie, Sword, Fighting,
Infomation: Relive the fight scene in the popular movie. You will fight your enemy until your last breath and use your skills to become the ultimate pirate of the the Caribbean! Good luck!
How to play: Q , A , Z - Block. O , K , M - Attack. Spacebar - Jump.Play free Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest Fighting at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG ep 6
Tags: Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Movie, Monsters, Fighting,
Infomation: This is the sixth installment of Sonic RPG. I hope you enjoy this just like you enjoy the previous episode.
How to play: Use mouse to interact.
Play free Sonic RPG ep 6 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG eps 2
Tags: Fun, Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Robots, Movie, Fighting,
Infomation: Well, here is the second episode of Sonic RPG, as We promised. Who haven´t seen the first episode, sonic, knuckles, shadow and Seelkadoom were sucked by a portal to other dimension.This episode, relates the adventure of Sonic and his friends in a planet called "Herbegitan".I hope you enjoy it! How to play: Use mouse to interact. Play free Sonic RPG eps 2 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG eps 4 part 1
Tags: Fun, Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Movie, Fighting,
Infomation: Well, here is the episode 4. This time the auhtor put on it voices in the characters. He had to divide the movie in two parts because with all the material the final movie became too big.
How to play: Use mouse to interact.
Play free Sonic RPG eps 4 part 1 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG eps 5
Tags: Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Movie, Monsters, Fighting,
Infomation: In this movie you will be able to explore the caves of night's Castle to get Holy water which will be used to heal Knuckles .Through the labirinth you will find some menaces, as a real RPG exploration. Then you will use your RPG's experience to fight the last boss.I hope you enjoy it and thanks to all the appreciators that motivated me to make this game. How to play: Use mouse to interact. Play free Sonic RPG eps 5 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG eps 4 part 2
Tags: Fun, Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Movie, Fighting,
Infomation: Well, here is the episode 4, part 2. The Author had to divide the movie in two parts because with all the material the final movie became too big.
How to play: Use mouse to interact.
Play free Sonic RPG eps 4 part 2 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG eps 3
Tags: Fun, Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Movie, Fighting,
Infomation: Here is the 3rd episode of the sequel Sonic RPG. The people who wanted to watch the power of Seelkadoom will enjoy this movie. The other ones will also enjoy this one...NOTES:- Flash player 8 required - To forward trough the text press ENTER How to play: Use mouse to interact. Play free Sonic RPG eps 3 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG eps 1 part 1
Tags: Fun, Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Movie, Fighting,
Infomation: This is a series movie, Sonic RPG by MidNightMaren.
How to play: Use mouse to interact.
Play free Sonic RPG eps 1 part 1 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG ep 7
Tags: Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Movie, Monsters, Fighting,
Infomation: Here it comes! One more chapter of Sonic RPG! This one took me months to finish, but I hope it worths all this wait! Nothing to say really, just thank you all guys to keep me motivated to make this series!
How to play: Use mouse to interact.
Play free Sonic RPG ep 7 at freeonlinegames6.com

Sonic RPG eps 1 part 2
Tags: Fun, Action, Flash, Series, Role Playing, Robots, Movie, Fighting,
Infomation: Here is the part 2 of Sonic RPG eps 1, here sonic fights eggman's robot and find who is his new enemy.
How to play: Use mouse to interact.
Play free Sonic RPG eps 1 part 2 at freeonlinegames6.com

Evan Almighty Arketris
Tags: Unrated games, Tetris, Advergames, Arcade, Shockwave, 1 Player, Movie,
Infomation: Help Evan Almighty with the Ark! The goal of the game is to clear all of the wood pieces from the screen. As they tumble down to the wood pile, arrange them in stacks to collect them for Evan’s Ark.
How to play: Left/Right arrow keys- To move the wood pieces from side to side. Up arrow- To rotate the wood pieces. Down arrow- To move the wood pieces down at the bottom. Play free Evan Almighty Arketris at freeonlinegames6.com

Monsters vs Alien Gallaxhar Invades
Tags: New games, 1 Player, Advergames, Alien, Arcade, Flash, Flying, Monsters, Movie, Shoot Em Up, Shooting,
Infomation: The movie Monsters vs. Aliens has a renewed version of the classic Space Invaders. Shoot your water cannon and defend the earth from the invasion.
How to play: Left / Right Arrow Keys - Move. Spacebar - Shoot. Play free Monsters vs Alien Gallaxhar Invades at freeonlinegames6.com

Harry Potter Fight the Death Eaters
Tags: New games, 1 Player, Action, Defend, Flash, Movie, Shoot Em Up, Shooting, Wand,
Infomation: Use your wand to defeat the Death Eaters before they reach you. Light up the 6 orbs to perform devastating Patronous charm and clear the whole area.
How to play: This game is played with mouse only.
Play free Harry Potter Fight the Death Eaters at freeonlinegames6.com

The Lion King Memory
Tags: New games, 1 Player, Animal, Flash, Memory Game, Movie, Puzzle,
Infomation: Remember the sequence and then copy it.
How to play: This game is played with mouse only.
Play free The Lion King Memory at freeonlinegames6.com

Spider man 3 Memory Match
Tags: New games, 1 Player, Flash, Matching Game, Memory Game, Movie, Puzzle,
Infomation: Find the matching cards before time runs out.
How to play: This game is played with mouse only.
Play free Spider man 3 Memory Match at freeonlinegames6.com

Microsoft: Xbox Live price hike covers the cost of exclusives, new features

Wondering why your Xbox Live Gold subscription increased from $50 to $60 per year? Microsoft didn't offer an explanation when the increase was announced, but now that it's taken effect with the fall update, MS says the hike was required to cover the costs of exclusive content and games, the increased number of XBL users, and new features.
"In 2002 it was strictly multiplayer gaming," said Xbox Live's Craig Davison in an interview with Gamasutra. "Now we get those Call of Duty map packs before anybody else does. We've got Gears and Halo, of course, as exclusives. We continue to get exclusives on the service as well. And we've gone from 400,000 members in our first year to 25 million."
Davison also cited the just-released ESPN partnership as evidence of Microsoft's commitment to bringing new features to the service.

 

Microsoft's justification is mostly nothing we object to. We like new features (not that we intend to get a great deal of use out of the ESPN app), and we like Gears and Halo, though we're not sure we love paying for Microsoft's exclusives in a roundabout way. We'll probably never download the CoD map packs, and who knows how many future exclusives Microsoft will "buy." We may have no interest in getting them early, or at all, but we'll still be paying for them... sort of.
But excluding exclusives (ha?), we're willing to accept that the service and its extra features cost money to maintain and build on. Despite the 360 being the only console which charges a fee for general online play, we've been impressed with it enough to continue to shell out.

At least 10-or-so of us at GamesRadar US have XBL Gold accounts, and according to Forbes, there are about 12.5 million Gold subscribers, so that means there are approximately 12,499,990 people who agree with us (or at least haven't cancelled their subscriptions yet).
Granted, Forbes also noted how much Microsoft stands to gain from the increase, which comes just as it expects a wave of new Kinect purchasers to join.
What do you think of the service and its fee? Is the $10 price hike justifiable, or should we all be kicking the habit and buying PS3s? Keep our 12,499,990 friends in mind... they validate our luxury expenses so we don't feel bad about cutting corners on other stuff, like birthday presents for our mothers, or whatever.

Is A SOCOM Developer Making The Next Resident Evil?

This headline may look totally absurd, but with Capcom increasingly focused on Western development, a rumor has sprung up that the next Resident Evil game is being worked on by Slant Six Games, the team that created SOCOM: Confrontation for the PlayStation 3.

Kotaku is reporting on this rumor based off of a mysterious document they were sent. According to the document, Slant Six Games has been brought on to work on a game currently titled "Resident Evil: Raccoon City," suggesting a story set further back in the RE timeline or possibly a reboot.

 A couple other pieces of evidence add fuel to the fire. Slant Six's website says that they are working on "an amazing new project" with "our new publishing partner on a world class franchise." Meanwhile, on its Twitter account back in March Slant Six was looking for a Japanese translator.

I reached out to Capcom about the rumor, but they responded only to say that they do not comment on rumors and speculation.

Bejeweled 3 announced, will 'take the match-3 genre to new heights'

PopCap announced today that the third numbered Bejeweled game - the first "true" sequel in over six years - will be released on December 7 as a web game and at "leading retail outlets." It wasn't announced, but it will almost definitely be ported to consoles in the future, like Bejeweled 2.

 

"Bejeweled 3 elevates the 'match-3' category of puzzle games pioneered by PopCap a decade ago to an entirely new level," states the press release. That's a pretty silly statement, but we totally believe it. PopCap's accessible games have relentlessly impressed us with their polish, humor, and unbreakable death grips on our free time.

Bejeweled 3 will contain updated versions of the four modes from Bejeweled 2, a relaxtastic "Zen" mode, a not-at-all-relaxing-sounding "Lightning" mode, four "Secret Games," and a "Quest" mode, which demands that we "journey through 40 magical puzzles."

It's a journey we'll have to take, because Bejeweled won't let us not, even if it means blowing off stupid, real life obligations in favor of deep, colorful trances.

 

“No other casual game comes close to the success of Bejeweled in terms of popularity and influence. PopCap has been able to keep the franchise strong for 10 years because they have focused on quality and innovation and have not flooded the market with dozens of sequels. I fully expect Bejeweled 3 to not only be a big success in its own right, but also ensure the Bejeweled brand continues to grow in popularity over its next decade on the market,” said David Cole, founder and president of DFC Intelligence, and stater of the obvious.

It's true though. Did you know that Bejeweled is one of the top ten franchises in gaming history? The press release said so, and as mentioned, PopCap doesn't jerk us around. And why wouldn't it be? It's got the simplicity and charm of Tetris (not saying it's Tetris, just that it has that je ne sais quoi), and that's why the Bejeweled franchise has sold 50 million units across 17 platforms. Of course, most of the revenues went back into buying vowels - that many 'e's doesn't come cheap (I'd like to give a shout-out to spell check for its contribution to this article).

Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami joins Bethesda at ZeniMax

Resident Evil and Vanquish creator Shinji Mikami's studio, Tango Gameworks, announced today that it has been acquired by Bethesda parent company ZeniMax, and will now develop games published under the Bethesda label.

“It’s refreshing to find a publisher who understands, trusts, and supports the development of blockbuster games and works to make it a collaborative effort,” said Mikami in a statement. “The library of AAA franchise titles ZeniMax owns speaks for itself. We are very excited to be joining ZeniMax and working with a company that is dedicated to creating the best games ever made.”

Despite having his name on several high profile games like Vanquish and Grasshopper's upcoming Shadows of the Damned, Mikami has been busy forming Tango and beginning work on the studio's first game, which isn't due for another three years. Mikami will remain in charge of the Tokyo-based studio.

Eagle-eyed followers of Mikami's tweets may have seen this coming. According to his feed, he traveled to Washington DC on a business trip in August. Bethesda is based in DC... in case you didn't infer that.

[source: radargames]

Irrational reveals discarded game pitch for 'Monster Island'

Irrational Games has revealed a nearly-10-year-old document written by Ken Levine. The 2001 pitch describes "Monster Island," a console action game inspired by '50s Japanese film monsters.

The post is a couple days old now, but it's too cool not to share anyway, especially because Irrational Games artist Jorge Lacera created some awesome monster illustrations to be included retroactively.

 

The document's introduction describes the premise:

"Monster Island is a fast paced action/strategy console game that lets the player assume the role of either a giant monster out to eat a city for dinner or the authorities pledged to protect the innocent citizenry.

Monster Island features three different time periods for the player to battle through: Greece 400 BC, Europe 700 AD, and Tokyo 1957 AD. The game features one of the most advanced physics engine ever featured in a console game. As a monster, players will be able to topple skyscrapers, punch holes in buildings, collapse bridges, and tear street cars off their tracks and scatter them like so many toys.

The game will boast not only 20 Irrational-created monsters but will also allow players to build their own monsters and set them loose upon the world. Players will be able to change appearance, skin, size, even special powers such as radioactive breath and multiple heads!"

Yes! Stop work on BioShock Infinite immediately and make this!

 

Levine suggested a budget of $2.5 million for the game, and regarding its platform, wrote, "XBox is probably the easiest, PS2 is a pain in the butt, and who knows about GameCube?" What a fantastic piece of gaming lore!

Thoughts on Cheating in Multiplayer Games

Harry occasionally refers to me as, among other things, ‘Mr Singleplayer’ such is my general lack of interest in multiplayer games. I just prefer a properly told story than the thrill of Capturing the Flag, really, making me the polar opposite to Harry in regards to more than just my good looks and manly physique.

Still, one of the few multiplayer games to successfully capture my attention has been the Modern Warfare games, which ensnared me with their speed and slow dribble of achievements and new weapon unlocks. I’ve been known to dabble in Left 4 Dead and various Source mods, like Plan of Attack and The Hidden, but MW2 multiplayer is what I tend to play when I want to shoot a real person, generally.

And yesterday, I had my first definite run in with a cheater. 

 

 To some of you the surprising part will obviously be that it’s taken me this long to have a run-in with a cheater – but, again, I don’t play MP that much. And anyway, maybe I have had encounters with cheaters before and I just didn’t know it; it’s not exactly rare to hear cries of ‘HaX!’ ring through a server, not for me to get killed by players who can predict my every move.

The surprising thing to me though was the boldness of this player, who confirmed that he was cheating when accused of cheating by another player. He seemed proud of the fact. It boggled my mind.

“So what?” He declared, “Everyone does.”

No, I informed him (using language I can’t quote verbatim here), they don’t. Then I called him a loser and quit the server. Some would call that a rage quit, but it was more an acknowledgement of futility than an act of anger. I didn’t quit because I was angry at him; it was because there was no point playing in that match any more. It would be more fun to go back to the singleplayer.

This gun shoots homing lightning rockets coated in anti-matter lava, automatically
It honestly baffles me why anyone would want to cheat in a multiplayer game like that, not least of all because Valve’s VAC system means you're putting your Steam account at risk with every hack. In a singleplayer game cheats can be useful and occasionally make sense – using God Mode to get past a troublesome battle you’ve been stuck on, for example. Or for allowing you to breeze through the incredibly repetitive last third of Doom 3.

In multiplayer games though, there’s none of that. There’s no goal other than the fighting and if you cheat you’re effectively undermining even that. You can reach the top of leaderboard, but even you have to recognise that it’s a hollow, pointless victory, right?

There are a few circumstance I can see multiplayer cheats being fun or useful, but only really on servers where the whole point is to either grind for achievements or to try something new. One of the only matches of Counter-Strike I ever enjoyed was one where everyone had cheats on and spent the game making human pyramids or towers – but that’s still fairly rare to see. Most people play a game to play a game. If you’re using cheats to play a standard deathmatch then you’re just going to end up going through the motions and hating the game, surely?

Honestly, what’s the point?