Archive for Daily Content
Tubed
Copyright: Marco Fiori
I wrote this late one night on the way back from the pub. Don DeLillo is one of my favourite authors and I love what he does with language, the urban space and modern culture. I took a similar approach. Enjoy.
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It begins with a man. A single man. Littered among the discarded papers and faded seats, he stares into the floor, the stucco drawing him in. He’s nobody, a mere ghost in a sea of mediocrity and repetition.
The stale air seeps into his soul, bringing him around to the harsh reality of existence. His eyes clear, his attention drawn away from the abyss. Its welcoming call urges him to stay as his tries to shake away the haze.
Still drinking from the cup of consumerism, surrounded by false idols of worship. Water purifiers, the latest distraction of isolation, pizza. It’s washed down with a shudder, a jolt. A break.
Time is lost. The U of the Thames brings him around with its waters. The bobbing heads, the briefest of eye contact – suspicion, partnership, indifference. Nothing makes sense, morals are lost, respect pushed beneath the tumbling train.
Darker it goes, the earth embracing it like a mother does it’s newborn. The womb of the FTSE. A crack on a glass, a scratched name into the plastic armrest. Preserved until the end of time.
Beep beep beep. Mind the gap. Mind the closing doors. Mind your business. Mind your mind. Mind mind mind. Do you mind? Mynd.
And release, no bang, no light, not vast thrust into the world. Merely air, like a man struggling beneath the surface of a lake, yearning for a crisp, life affirming breath.
It begins to make sense again. Counterculture is countered by culture. He’s an easy rider clear, the fresh air cleansing the stagnant fabric of the worn seats. 4 empty, 3 taken.
His name is Jonas and he’s nobody, a grain of salt in the eye of society. He works as an administrator, administrating the bureaucracy of administration. His humble quest to complicate those that need complicating is just. Without him, it’d be too easy. There’d be no triumph over the behemoth.
He stares at the woman next to him, using the dark glass as a mirror. She’s drooping, almost melting. Her turquoise waterproof, half zipped, her mouth pursed. Hands on her lap, black trousers, she seems to disintegrate into the carriage’s seats. Looped earrings, sparking in the artificial light of the tube.
Jonas shifts his weight away from the woman, taking solace in his thoughts. He’s wearing a suit, the uniform of obedience. Deep blue, capped off with a burgundy tie. It sits askew, off centre.
Jonas is now Jon.
It begins with a man. A single man. Littered among the discarded papers and faded seats, he stares into the floor, the stucco drawing him in. He’s nobody, a mere ghost in a sea of mediocrity and repetition.
The stale air seeps into his soul, bringing him around to the harsh reality of existence. His eyes clear, his attention drawn away from the abyss. Its welcoming call urges him to stay as his tries to shake away the haze.
Still drinking from the cup of consumerism, surrounded by false idols of worship. Water purifiers, the latest distraction of isolation, pizza. It’s washed down with a shudder, a jolt. A break.
Time is lost. The U of the Thames brings him around with its waters. The bobbing heads, the briefest of eye contact – suspicion, partnership, indifference. Nothing makes sense, morals are lost, respect pushed beneath the tumbling train.
Darker it goes, the earth embracing it like a mother does it’s newborn. The womb of the FTSE. A crack on a glass, a scratched name into the plastic armrest. Preserved until the end of time.
Beep beep beep. Mind the gap. Mind the closing doors. Mind your business. Mind your mind. Mind mind mind. Do you mind? Mynd.
And release, no bang, no light, not vast thrust into the world. Merely air, like a man struggling beneath the surface of a lake, yearning for a crisp, life affirming breath.
It begins to make sense again. Counterculture is countered by culture. He’s an easy rider clear, the fresh air cleansing the stagnant fabric of the worn seats. 4 empty, 3 taken.
His name is Jonas and he’s nobody, a grain of salt in the eye of society. He works as an administrator, administrating the bureaucracy of administration. His humble quest to complicate those that need complicating is just. Without him, it’d be too easy. There’d be no triumph over the behemoth.
He stares at the woman next to him, using the dark glass as a mirror. She’s drooping, almost melting. Her turquoise waterproof, half zipped, her mouth pursed. Hands on her lap, black trousers, she seems to disintegrate into the carriage’s seats. Looped earrings, sparking in the artificial light of the tube.
Jonas shifts his weight away from the woman, taking solace in his thoughts. He’s wearing a suit, the uniform of obedience. Deep blue, capped off with a burgundy tie. It sits askew, off centre.
Jonas is now Jon.
Patrician IV Interview
Image Source: www.strategyinformer.com
Following on from my LOTRO preview for Strategy Informer, I was given the chance to find out more about upcoming strategy game, Patrician IV. It’s due out at the beginning of September on PC and Daniel Dumont, Creative Director at Gaming Minds Studios, was kind enough to answer the questions. You can find the full dialogue here and as usual, there’s an extract below. It was fun being on the other side of the PR veil again.
Strategy Informer: For the uninitiated, what’s the Patrician series all about?
Daniel Dumont: The main principle of the Patrician games is that you start as a young trader in the historic setting of the Hanseatic League – the northern and eastern European sea area of the late middle age.
In this setting, there are 32 historical towns which produce certain goods to fulfill the demand of the citizens. However, each town produces other goods and therefore, the main game mechanism is to buy goods where they are produced at a cheap price and spread them with ships to the towns where the goods are in short supply and sell them at a higher price.
The economy system in the background is fully simulated and the prices are calculated in real-time by offer and demand. The AI traders – your concurrents – are simulated as well.
A Return To Strategy Informer
Hoodies Face Britain
It’s been a long while (over a year and a half) since I wrote for Strategy Informer and it definitely feels good to be back writing for them. It was the first paid-games-journalism gig that I managed to get and I’m very grateful for the start that they gave me. Appreciation aside, I’ve written a Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) preview. It looks at the state of the game with the Free-2-Play (F2P) upgrade coming this Autumn in mind.
The article can be found over at Strategy Informer and I’ve included an extract below.
Since arriving on the MMO scene in 2007, you can’t help but feel sorry for Lord of the Rings Online. Despite being one of the best online RPGs since Everquest, its highly polished exterior and loyal fan base have failed to draw subscribers away from World of Warcraft. Coming up against Blizzard’s behemoth is akin to climbing Everest – no matter what the IP, no-one seems to be able to stop its dominance.
Having quickly realised its facing a losing battle, Turbine and Warner Brothers have altered the subscription model to Free to Play (with the release of the Shadows of Angmar content pack). It’s an intelligent decision and one that will certainly appease those who refuse to pay for monthly play. We jumped into Middle Earth to see how the quest for the One Ring is coming along.
I Lost A Sunday To Football Manager 2010…
Image Source: Uproxx
Rather than discuss the following topics in depth, it’s wiser to give a brief overview of what I’ve been watching, playing and doing with my time recently.
The biggest news is obviously my return to Football Manager 2010. Fresh from watching the SEGA marketing video discussing the new features in FM11 and with the Premiership in full swing, I decided to return to my 2019 Barnet save. I lost the whole of my Sunday (13 hours playing the game straight) as a result, seeing my newly promoted team relegated in their debut season in the top flight. Surprisingly, despite being dumped back to the Championship, thanks to the fairplay rule, Barnet are in the Europa Cup with Inter, Dortmund and Partizan. Updates as of when they come.
Elsewhere, I’d been playing Forza 3 for the first time. It’s fantastic and makes me less depressed about missing Gran Turismo (if it ever gets released) after defecting to the Xbox 360 this generation. It takes time getting used to a simulation again (after sliding around in Grid), but once I’d turned off the counterproductive driving aids, it proves a much more enjoyable experience.
I caught Salt last week at the cinema and my full thoughts can be found here. At the weekend, I invested over two hours into The Pianist (2002), Polanski’s Warsaw Ghetto true story. Adrien Brody is excellent as the protagonist and it’s a depressing tale of the horror that was the holocaust.
Here’s my favourite photo of the week.
Finally, I’m planning on doing another page feature for GAMES? and that’ll appear at the start of September, while I’m away for three weeks in the states on holiday. More on that to follow.
Stay frosty marines.
Need A Designer? Try Dave at Xboxer
Thanks Dave!
I’m always keen to recommend those that do a good job. I recently read that 80% of new business comes from trusted referrals and I’m no exception. Ranging from where I get my hair cut (thanks Steve) to a recent client win via an existing client’s referral. So, as I have very little skill in digital design, I enlisted the help of Dave Burns at Xboxer360 to whip me up a logo for my portfolio (found in the top left of the page). Pretty sharp huh?
He’s extremely good at what he does, is reasonably price and most of all, delivers the service he provides with a smile. Feel free to email him at: dave[at]xboxer360[dot]com and his portfolio is here.
He’s an extremely talented web designer and you won’t regret it. Be sure to mention I sent you to him. Feel free to check out Xboxer360 as well, it’s one of the best Xbox 360 community sites out there.
GAMES?: Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe
Choo Choo
A few weeks ago The Telegraph’s games co-respondent Ashton Raze requested budding writers for a new project. The idea is GAMES? and you can find out about it here. I’ve often felt games journalism focuses too much on the big titles and not enough on the unexpected classics. GAMES? looks to rectify this. The first issue is out now and I wrote a feature on Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe, an open source version of Chris Sawyer’s strategy PC title. You can find the full piece here and an extract below. It’s one of my favourite games on the PC and I’m looking forward to contributing more to GAMES? in the future.
Ever since my friend grew a beard during a mammoth 14 hour Spore session, any activity that’s yielded similar levels of obsession has been labelled by its corresponding ‘beard’. So ladies and gentlemen, I have a Train Beard. We’re talking about OpenTTD, an open source clone of Chris Sawyer’s long extinct Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
oTTD, and the game it’s modelled on, is of a bygone era; one of the last giants of a time when simulation ruled the dominant platform, the PC. Rendered in isometric 2D, it concerned itself with the raw mechanics of transport simulation and the business that drove it: cargo.
PCZ Review: Railworks
As you’ve probably heard PC Zone is closing. September 2010 is the last issue and I wish the boys the best of luck, especially Steve Hogarty and David Brown. I was honoured that David asked me to write a final review of rail simulator, Railworks. It’s Future Publishing so I can’t afford the PDF reprint rights, but here’s a sample from my .doc copy anyway.
R.I.P PC Zone, you’ve touched a generation of gamers and I’m thrilled to have been part of such a prestigious publication.
Don’t get me wrong, I like trains as much as the next guy. I’ll happily spend hours building the perfect layout in Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe before switching to Railroad Tycoon 3 to watch the money roll in. But a train simulator? I’ve never delved that deep into the world of steam power. Railworks is essentially a skeleton, ready to be built upon with overpriced DLC providing the meat. The core game gives you a limited selection of train routes from around the world.
07/06/10 Content
- Feature – How the West Was Won: An Epic Night of Red Dead Redemption – Link
Abstract: The noon sun is high in the sky and it’s hot enough that even the tumbleweeds dare not leave the shade. My character scouts the room, searching for his two companions. A drunkard bumps into a leggy lady of the night. Words are exchanged and all hell breaks loose. When the dust has settled, the bartender lies dead, slumped up against the wall. Snoozer282, my greenhorn alter ego, stirs once his gang turn up. They ruthlessly execute the remaining bar-folk, leaving the prostitute alive, cowering in the corner ready to take the blame. A quick slip out the back and it’s an iconic ride into the sunset.
26th April 2010
- Brutal Gamer – Mount & Blade: Warband – Link
Extract: Mount & Blade’s a pretty self explanatory title. You gallivant around the medieval game world partaking in noble quests, assisting hopeless villages and slaying all that oppose you. It fuses a variety of play styles into a meld of uniqueness. You’ve got your RPG character development, complete with skill roster and levelling system. There’s optional first person shooting (in the form of arrows, stones, knives, etc). Strategic components come via hotkey orders allowing you to control your army of minions with stratagems ranging from charging face first into enemy lines, cowering in fear as you go on an a Rambo-spree or a combination of the both. As you trot about, relinquishing your opponents of their limbs with devastating effect, it becomes apparent that there’s nothing quite like this.
Promotion: Account Exec
After 8 months at Bamboo PR, Marco has shed his Junior status with promotion to Account Executive. He’ll continue to work across the MASERGY, Musion, oncore IT, Me Learning and Intego accounts writing copy, press materials and maintaining media relations with the core trade, consumer and channel press. Simultaneously, he continues to search for new business opportunities, attend sector events and conduct marketing campaigns. The use of social media to increase brand awareness is a particular interest while the production of traditional PR content like press releases, case studies and bylined articles is equally well received.
For a PR campaign, please contact Marco [at] Bamboopr [dot] co [dot] uk – replacing with the correct symbols.