'It's in the game' has been the new slogan for ages, hasn't it? I seem to remember my copy of World Cup 98 shout "IT'S IN THE GAAAAME" at me every time I loaded up. Oh, how I crave for the simple days of Fifa International - I remember crashing the game by scoring with my goalie. The poor thing didn't have a CLUE what to do with itself.

I totally agree that the original slogan should've stayed. The 'dumbing down' of certain aspects of computer games to appeal to the plebs is a BIG bug-bear of mine. Deus Ex: Invisible War being a good example.

There be an article in that, like.

Fifa Street doesn't sound like a bad concept to me. Take out the crap hip-hop connatations and you've got what sounds like a fun little football-spin-off game. I've not played it though, as a) it should be an extra in a proper football game, not a title in its own right, and b) it'd be far too embarrassing to go into a shop and pick it up.

Yeah. The problem is that it's clearly aimed at Scallies who don't have the attention span that can cope with playing a season of actual Premiership matches, and want to look "hard" and "street".

See also : Def Jam Vendetta

I thought FIFA was a real football game until I played Pro Evo. It's pretty hard for a crap bastard like me, but that's what's good about it, and the improvements to 5 look good, like better individual player skill levels, and a power bar for quick passes.

'I totally agree that the original slogan should've stayed. The 'dumbing down' of certain aspects of computer games to appeal to the plebs is a BIG bug-bear of mine. Deus Ex: Invisible War being a good example.'

No-one wants universal ammo, regardless of status in the gaming community. Apart from that, I don't really see what you mean.

No-one wants universal ammo, regardless of status in the gaming community. Apart from that, I don't really see what you mean.

Things like removing the ability to hand enter security codes, the god awful and over simplified inventory system and the fact that it's about a 3rd of the length of the original game. These are concessions made in order to make the game more playable on a hideously limited control system and to cater for a more casual gaming audience with short attention spans, who make up a large proportion of the console gaming market.

'Things like removing the ability to hand enter security codes, the god awful and over simplified inventory system and the fact that it's about a 3rd of the length of the original game.'

1st one, hardly a loss. The inventory system fine and functional. The length of the game, shorter than the original but as a game and an experience not necessarily short. I don't think it is as good as Deus Ex, the greatest computer game ever made (with the exception of Fallout), but I still think it is a very good game even though not everyone may have got the same kick out of destroying everything I had put in to and everyone I knew from Deus Ex that I did. And maybe the thrill of seeing Chad turning from terrorist group leader to Illuminati boss and seeing JC turned from action hero into weird guy with funny, pathetic voice might not get the same reaction for other people as it did with me. So, I enjoyed myself. If Deux Ex was a trilogy, this was an interesting Part 4.

1st one, hardly a loss.

Oh, but it *is* a loss. A huge great whopping loss, in fact. The thing that set Deus Ex apart from the FPS shooters around at the time was its RPG elements and an immense sense of immersivness. It created that immersivness with the little details like the interactive keypads. In real life would you press a button which enters in a code magically or do you search through your notes, check your location and figure out which one is the right one to use and then tap it in? You'd do the latter, and that's what I *loved* about Deus Ex - you had to do the work! You felt apart of the world, not just some automaton pressing 'A' at an access panel and doing nothing else. It was the same with hacking, too. In IW you just press a button and if you happen to have the right username and password in your databank it just magically gives you access and performs the tasks for you. In Deux Ex you'd have find the correct username and password, note them down, type them in and play around with the controls yourself to achieve what you need.

And those are prime examples of the dumbing down of interactivity to cater for appalling control systems and, generally speaking, a post-pub audience.

Story wise, I do find ti interesting, though. I got a big kick out of meeting up with JC - and I liked the various (if slightly strange) story developments.

Oh, and the levels were way to small in IW, too. Yet another side effect of being made for a console with less memory than my goldfish's senile uncle.

Sorry, forgot about this. Yeah, I do agree with you, when I think of Invisible War, the word 'immersive' doesn't come to mind. Though I don't know if could blame it wholly on loss of interactivity. If we look at the similarities between games and films and novels, then surely immersion into any creative universe is also very much a passive thing. And I do think that in IW there were a few times were I just didn't believe the universe: If I remember correctly in Antartica where you go into a room in JC's lair and then flash into different settings and levels from the first game. I just thought it felt a little clumsy and the newer versions of the room didn't have the same feel as the newer rooms. I would say though I think interactivity is probably the computer game's defining attribute. What do you think?

(Also, I need to bail out of any debate on the control system or gameplay because my PC was old and I played it on the XBOX).

I know what you mean about not believing the universe. Despite the quite impressive graphics I just didn't enjoy being in the IW world. I think the overly small levels went a long way towards this.

I mean, Deus Ex 1 wasn't perfect, it had really shonky graphics and dodgy AI, both things that could easilly pull you out of your little world and ruin the interactivity and immersivness. But, for some reason, they didn't bother me, because the game managed to have this overall classy style and feel that kept you in - and a lot of that was to do with all th keypad entry stuff I banged on about before.

I guess there's a much greater 'PCs vs. Consoles' argument humming below the surface here, so I might just get off my arse and write it.