Day 65 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Clear Out

Sometimes you've just got to get rid of some stuff.

We decided to be ruthless and go through every last game we own because our shelves were overflowing with games. The games you see in the photograph are the games we're 'potentially' getting rid of, but what makes this a happy gaming day?

We didn't just look at getting rid of the games we'll probably never play again, along with the games we think are downright terrible, we also thought we would get rid of the games we can/will buy on PC.

We've been on about getting a new PC for ages and now we're finally starting to make space for it, and most importantly, put some bloody money towards it. Hopefully the new PC will arrive in the next few months and I'll be building it myself (first time trying), and I'm also looking forward to rebooting my YouTube channel with it as well.

It's a happy gaming day as we're finally moving on to pastures new and I'll be keeping a little journal here to let you all know how things are coming along.

And don't worry I won't be going off my nut yelling "PC Master Race!" because consoles kick arse.

 

Day 60 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Age of Empires II The Age of Kings

As Microsoft release a new Age of Empires game for mobile devices, or as Kotaku put it 'digging up the corpse of Age of Empires'. I thought I would cover what is arguably the best game in the series, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

For the uninitiated Age of Empires was a popular historical strategy series where players would develop civilisations and achieve victory by meeting certain objectives. Age of Empires 2 brought the series into the medieval age allowing for grand castles and other technological advancements, beautifully detailed maps and units, and such a vast range of features that made the struggle for supremacy all the more exciting.

In the Deathmatch mode you could achieve victory via conquest, constructing/defending a wonder, or by capturing/defending relics scattered about the map, and you could fine tune the settings to construct your own game modes as well. There was also a campaign mode following the tales of key figures from history, for instance Joan of Arc and William Wallace.   

One of the finest features of AoE II however, was the map editor. It allowed users to create beautiful maps to explore along with pre-prepared units to crush your unwitting foes (if you were a dirty cheater). I remember painstakingly creating my own neighbourhood down to the finest detail, allowing for street brawls and skirmishes.

I also remember when my high school decided it would be a good idea to install AoE II on classroom computers. I'm not really sure why they thought it was a good idea, it kept some kids out of trouble by allowing us the chance to play during lunch, but for those needing computers for school work they had a tough time finding an available machine.

Microsoft have tried, and failed, over the last few years to revive the magic of the Age of Empires franchise. I don't hold out much hope for the new mobile release, but let's pray Microsoft will eventually see sense and create a brand new Age of Empires game. One that's even better than the Age of Kings, delivering the intuitive gameplay and glorious scale the series was once known for. 

Day Nine: Play Expo

I've been going to Play Expo for the last two years and I've recently picked up my tickets for this years event in October. It's held at Manchester's Event City venue, which is a stones throw away from the Trafford Centre, and for a whole weekend it's crammed with games as far as the eye can see.

Last year Nintendo were there to show off Zelda: A Link Between Worlds about a month before it's official release in the UK, along with Sonic Lost Worlds and a playable demo of the upcoming Mario Kart 8! I imagine Nintendo will be back this year and seeing as Super Smash Bros Wii U has a planned Winter release they'll hopefully be bringing it along.

Ubisoft were there last year with Assassins Creed 4 demoing on PS4, also about a month before the PS4 was on sale, so as you can imagine there was queue that rivaled the Great Wall of China. The same can also be said for the Oculus Rift which was attracting a lot of attention, hopefully they'll be back this year as I wasn't prepared to wait in the queue last time around, and Namco also made an appearance to torment gamers with Dark Souls 2.

Then of course there's the retro games with several hundred machines on offer from the Atari 2600 to the PS2; so I was certainly spoiled for choice. This was accompanied by a huge selection of arcade cabinets and pinball machines, ensuring that everyone who attends goes home happy. There's also little hubs set up for people to play tournaments on Super Mario Kart, Doom and plenty other titles so if you want to have a little competition you're covered.

There's also a large number of stalls selling games for pretty much every platform imaginable, along with some great gaming merchandise and handycrafts as well, I picked up this Blastoise T-Shirt last year.

Cosplayers are also welcomed with a load of people turning up in fantastic outfits and there's usually talks with various designers sharing their cosplaying tips.

This year is already shaping up to be something special as they've just announced the screen.play feature, which is promising meet and greets with Hollywood movie stars, photo opportunities, film props and movie cars. 

The thing that I'm looking forward to most though is the Classic Gaming Championships, and the final is going to be held at Play Expo. I'm going to enter the heats at NERG in July so wish me luck, I'm probably going to need it.