Expanding my gaming genres

So if you have come here from my YouTube channel you might know that I have just finished a series on a game called Outlast. To be perfectly honest I'v never played a "Run and Hide" before, to be really honest the only gaming genres Iv been interested in the past have been role-players eg; Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout 3. and some FPS like Halo, Quake, GTA. I really love the Universe you get with a fantasy gaming and the problem with that when I'm looking for a new game to play is that I find my self too invested in the universes I'm already in (especially with the  elder scrolls series). One of the biggest reason I wanted to start a gaming channel on YouTube (apart from the reasons I'v spoken about in other posts previously) is that I wanted to expand my gaming knowledge, and I wanted to share the adventure with others. Which is why I went left field off the bat with Outlast. From hacking, slashing and shooting too literally the total opposite running and hiding. I found this to be a massive eye opener mainly cos at the start I didn't think I'd enjoy the fact I couldn't kill Chris Walker (aka Pig Man as I like to call him) I had to keep running and hiding and he kept becoming an recurring issue with my progress through the game. But what I felt when he (spoilers!!) was beaten to death by a ghostly entity and then exploded from the inside out in front of my very eyes was overwhelmingly satisfying! The game on a hole was an interesting learning curve for me as far as trusting game developers to engage and satisfy my love for fantasy gaming. 

I got told about Outlast by a friend at Uni and I wasn't convinced for a second that I was going to enjoy it. But I checked out the previews got the ratings even watched some game play on YouTube and after doing the research I decided that "yeah I probably would enjoy playing this game" and lets face I have wasted $17.50 on worse things lol. But Outlast was no waste of money.

As apart of my self betterment with my gaming experience goes I have decided to hit as many different genres as possible with my channel, vowing of coarse to not upload heaps of random/boring FPS, or sniper shot footage (not that there is anything wrong with that lol).

My next YouTube project is the 2013 release of Tomb Raider, Now I loved Tomb Raider as a kid I played the first two but was pulled into a more social gaming seen when I got my first Xbox! so I was really interested to see how the developers of the new Tomb Raider have bought it back to life. So far I'm loving it! Without giving too much away again its a totally different gaming platform to what I'm used to and I'm really glad that I broke free from my comfort zone.

My advise to anyone out there who feels like they can empathize with my feeling of being stuck in a gaming rut, 

-1: Pick a game:

Don't try and compare it to stuff you'v played in the past just pick something totally new a different. If your having trouble with this take to social media (Facebook status: "Anyone know of some cool games I should check out?" See what happens.

-2: Do your research!

When you have picked the game do some research, look for reviews or a lets play series and dip your toe in the water first. With the price of some tittles these days there's nothing worse then spending all that money and getting a crappy game with crap in game graphics and no story line! not to mention this will probably just drive you further in to you "gaming rut".

-3: Don't be afraid to try something new:

Pick a genre you have never done before! even if its just because the female protagonist has a nice ass! that's as good excuse as any and you might be surprised with what you find. I mean if you only expectation of the game is staring at Lara Croft's booty all day and you find your self enjoying the game as well the WINNING!!

And finely don't force it, if the game you have picked just isn't for you then that's fine, lend it to a friend, sell it back to a Game Traders or something and try again!

I hope my words have inspired you to take the plunge into a new world of exploration remember a game is an adventure not a destination.

Happy gaming!!!

ESO Video Clip Korn - Freak on a Leash Mash up

Outlast Walk Through Part 4

OutLast Walk Through Part 3

Part 3 of my Outlast walk through! Creepy stuff

A Surprise Success (it's the little things that count)

So just a little back story..
I dropped out of a public school at the end of year ten, I was fifteen and had been talked into an apprenticeship in commercial cookery. The prospect of earning money at such a young age was extremely enticing, especially when I wasn't doing so great at school. I started to fall behind like some young boys do, I got distracted whether it was girls, computer games, pot, I was just a typical suburban teen. After I noticed that I had fell behind, I started to get less and less interested in school work, the more I fell behind the harder it got and the less I cared. feeling slightly failed by the public school system I saw the apprenticeship as a way out, a way out where I wasn't 'quitting' I was moving on, taking a positive step for my future. The fact of the matter was that I wasn't going to succeed at school as a fourteen year old boy, I wasn't in the right sate of mind. Ten years later I have done some pretty awesome things and feel very accomplished, even lacking a good education I managed to purchase a house a few months after my eighteenth birthday, I have lived in the United Kingdom and traveled western Europe, I have won awards with my cooking and I now live in Adelaide city with my lovely girl friend.

At the end of last year I looked back and the last ten or so years and thought to my self "If this is what I can achieve with a drop out education, in a career I'm not passionate about, what would I be capable of if I applied myself to something I really love doing?.. if I challenged my self mentally not just physically?.. What could I do with a university degree?'' So after talking it over with my girl friend and gathering the support of my close friends and family I enrolled in university and got a casual part time job doing breakfast at a local pub.

Six months later I am just finishing my first semester in a preparatory program (alternative pathway program) at the University of Adelaide and have taken the first big step to achieving my dream! I want more than anything to get involved in computer game development, whether its programming, graphic design, even story boarding.. Its something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember, I just never thought I'd ever be able to achieve it. The people that made computer games to me were like other peoples music icons or movie stars, they were the veiled heroes of my childhood. I remember playing the Legend of Zelda (it wasn't the first game I ever played) but I distinctly remember I was about six and was thinking to my self "how?!... how is this possible?.. how am I controlling the image on the screen!? what process did the person who built this game follow? where did they start? how did they put it in this cartridge so I could plug it into my TV and play it?" The whole thing was very fascinating and I just remember having this thought for so long. I'm now on my way to finding out! Admittedly I never chased this fascination up, I never dove any deeper in the industry than simply just playing the games I loved, it was enough for me like a Nirvana fan listening to every song over and over again wishing they could play guitar like Kurt Cobain and having no idea where to start!

So anyone who was involved in my discussion about the steam box and the survey about PC vs console gaming might be interested in my grades and feed back on that course.. Well this is what has inspired this blog post, I want this to be my feel good story, my fuck you to those public school teachers who never saw my potential, who told me I'd never amount to anything. My over all grades for my first semester of university are:

ICT: 93.7% High Distinction
UNI CULTURE: 92.3% High Distinction
BIOLOGY/PHYSICS: 76% Distinction
MATH: 74.74% Credit

And all I want to do now, is better and better! These grades might not look like much to some of you but to me its the best I'v ever done at anything! and after being convinced that I was never going to excel at anything academically these grades have shown me that anything is possible and that I can make my dream a reality, as long as I take control and push my self to success! This post isn't me trying to brag about my grades or anything like that, my hope for this post is that someone out there that feels like they have it tough at school or feels like they aren't suited to a class room environment reads this and finds some level of inspiration in it. Because if that's how you feel the likelihood is you probably aren't in the right state of mind for a class room environment, spread your wings find something constructive to do while you figure out what it is that your good at. I would never have been able to do so well at uni if I hadn't dropped out of school to become a chef, the things I have learnt as a chef; dedication, time management, organisation, adaptation, all these things I was never going to learn at school, and to be honest I had a lot of growing up to do first!

So let that be a lesson to all of you out there.... the only person that's in your way of success is you! don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The sooner you realize that you're the only person who can change your life, the sooner you can start to succeed!

I would just like to thank my friends and family for the support that they have given me, it has been invaluable. Especially from my Mum and my girlfriend!