I loved my PC. But I don't regret ditching it for consoles.

I loved gaming on PC. My rig was never monstrous in the spec dept, amd CPU + gtx 770, but it gave me a good year or so playing most AAA games. Games that ran far better and far more beautiful than they did on the consoles I was used to. In most cases the step up to native 1080p was enough to put my Xbox one games to shame and, for framerate, it was always just too buttery smooth for even my ps4.

But they were the well optimised games. The best case scenario if you will.

Then there were games that came along , less well optimised, from lazy developers unwilling to shape code sufficient to make a PC rig sing. Games like Assassins creed Unity. A game so horridly ported, so slapped together with no regard for quality, that it's only equal in example was astonishingly the same Publishers prior game.

Both Watch dogs and Assassins creed do not, by any means, stand alone as far as terrible PC ports go, but they are great flag bearers for the cause. We have two games from the same publisher that stutter and chug so much that framerate on most rigs are reduced to mere slideshows. Games that send even the most PC elitest sprinting for the lowest setting like Usain Bolt for Virgin media cash. No, these games are truly hideous and borked to such degree that even slinging the world's only true proven saviours fix all for PC problems at it, the wallet, is not enough to drag these games much north of a steady 30fps +.

It was because of games like that, I packed in PC gaming a while ago and headed back to the welcoming bussoms of Microsoft and Sony -  Companies that both only want me for my cash but are at least willing to offer me the allure of a steady fps to get it.

I miss 'good' PC gaming. I miss the money I saved on cheaper Steam games. I especially miss those little graphical extras you get in games. Like fur on the animals in far cry 4 or the great tessellation in GTA v. And especially envious of the way PC Geralts ponytails bobs and weaves in the wind.

But I can't go back. I can't because of games like Arkham knight.
If there'd been any game that brought me back it would have been that one. I was tempted. I'm a big Batman fan and I was as impressed by Nvidias touted gamesworks visual feature as the next guy. But I stuck with my PS4 preorder. I'm glad I did. Buying Arkham knight at launch for PC would have been a gamble. It could have been a really good port. In which case the added graphics features would have made the definitive place to experience Rocksteady's swansong.

But it wasn't a good port and that makes me sad. Sad for people out there who still have a that passion for PC gaming. I know what it's like to look forward to a new release just end up bitterly disappointed and I feel for those gamers who waited up till midnight to play there new game the moment it unlocked on Steam just to find a yet another lazy half hearted 5fps port.

I don't regret going back to consoles. I'm enjoying Arkham knight on PS4 and even though it may not run at 60fps or have Nvidias enhanced rain drops, its still clear that it was the focus of Rocksteady's attention and as such is a really solid experience.

So in summery, yeah I miss my PC. But not that much. As long as there are PC Ports like Arkham or creed in the world - I'm better off where I am.

The Batmobile is AMAZING!!

Omg. The batmobile is amazing in Arkham knight. Rarely have I ever encountered a gameplay mechanic added to an existing series that has had such a profound effect. Just to say the addition of vehicle combat and traversal freshens the usual Arkham gameplay is a whopping understatement. No, the inclusion of the Batmobile shakes up the whole damn game.

One thing that has me perplexed at the moment however, is I can't seem to find the brake for the Batmobile and I'm starting to think there isn't one. Which is a bit weird at first. But I'm getting used to it.

Have to say the quick transform to battle tank mode, L2, is a joy. You can literally go from blazing down the street at unholy speed before shrieking to halt and seamlessly entering combat in seconds.

Even now I'm itching to get back to the game. So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

I'll leave you with this Batmobile gameplay footage captured direct from my Ps4. Enjoy and remember to like or subscribe if you do.

I am THE gwent master!

No seriously I am because I have the trophy to prove it.

Why this trophy is just a bronze I have no idea because it isn't all that easy. Worthy of a silver at least in my opinion.

Ok, so to get this trophy I needed to win a Gwent tournament held at the passiflora in Novigrad, during the sidequest mission 'High stakes'.

The tournament consisted of 4 rounds featuring increasingly more advanced opponents in each round. Oh and 1 punch up. Elves are poor losers it seems.

I have to say that I really love the Gwent mini game in Witcher 3, so going for this particular trophy, though difficult, wasn't at all a chore. In fact, I thought sticking a Gwent tournament into the game as a mission was a great idea and I genuinely wish they'd been more than just the one. A separate tournament for each territory, Velen-Novigrad-Skellige, would have been great. Oh well, perhaps they'll drop a few more tournaments into this winters dlc expansions. I'm hoping for loads more new cards too.

I included a gameplay video covering the Gwent tournament for you guys to check out, so I hope you enjoy that. If you do, please consider giving my blog a sub or my YouTube account. I'm only doing this for fun but every bit of of support I get is really appreciated.

Trophy guide: Environmentally unfriendly (The Witcher 3)

Kill 50 opponents using the environment (e.g swamp gas, insect or objects)

Okay; really straight forward trophy this one. The game requires you to defeat 50 enemies using the environment, which, in this case, means things like bees, exploding barrels e.t.c.
Now I can't vouch for this 100% because I haven't reached this point in the game, but I hear that a lot of these type of environment kills occur naturally in a battle somewhere near the games finale. Apparently the battlefield is bombarded with meteors that kill loads of enemies and that each one counts as an environment kill.

But, if you want to get this minor trophy done and out of the way before that, there's a number of ways to proceed. The best ways I found are;

Swamp gas.
Basically, if you're fighting necrophages in a swamp, (hey that's like a quarter of the game, right?), then you'll no doubt spot areas coated in a yellow gas. Lure the enemies over to these spots and then simply light the gases with your igni sign.

Barrels.
Nice and easy. Ever see an enemy anywhere near a barrel, blow the barrel up using igni.

Aard sign.
I found this one the easiest method for racking up environment kills.
All you need do is knock your enemies flat on his back with Aard and then finish him with with the ◽button.
I was surprised these counted to be honest. But they do.

Lastly, as I point out in the video, its worth mentioning the way I achieved by final environment kill. The last enemy I dispatch prior to the trophy popping seems to go down without any form of environment interaction. What I think happened here is this. I have recently upgraded my Quen sign and unlocked a kind of alternative cast for it. This is done by holding R2 instead of giving it a simple tap. Now I don't know exactly what this does by my guess is that when the enemy attacked he was repelled by the new Quen shield making my next blows environmentally assisted. That's my take on that anyway.

All in all an easy bronze. Go get it.

Check out my video for more.

The horrid gaming drought and my DA3 problem.

Thank what ever god you worship for the world cup because gaming is DRAB at the moment. You know when you're in the middle of a summer gaming drought when you;

A) Find yourself clearing your games 'backlog' I.e the shite you've been avoiding all year while you hoovered up every single AAA release of the winter/spring

B) Decide to catch up with some of those dramas on the ole Sky +

C) Become obsessed with wishing injury on Federer/Nasal/Djokovic
(Come on Andy!)

D) you start looking at indie games and think they look great.

E) you're waiting by the letter box for your postie to bring you Sniper elite 3. Sniper bloody elite 3 for Christ sake. The last one wasn't that bad was it?

After Sniper 3 there is literally nothing until Diablo 3 on August 19th. And no, I won't be buying The last of us for Ps4. I've already paid £40 for the PS3 version and if Sony won't recognise that with a substantial discount they can go and take a jump on that one.

Still, the end of 2014 is shaping up great for gamers. September is going to be all about Destiny for me, then October is Alien isolation and Dragon age inquisition.

But Dragon age gives me a first world problem. With Ps4 likely to boast the better performance but Microsoft getting DLC first, I just don't have a clue what version to get.

If you want to join in the bemoaning of games drought 2014, tell me I'm an entitled prick for owning both consoles or just want to chat about gaming then leave a comment or contact me directly via @lazyboyblue on Twitter.

🎮

NEW SCREENSHOTS: DRAGON AGE INQUISITION.

Xbox one outsells ps4 4 weeks running.

Microsoft's Xbox one console appears to finally be getting some traction in the uk. According to UK trade paper MCV, the console has now outsold Sony's PlayStation 4 device four weeks in a row.

Could the Xbox One be making a comeback? Is Titanfall the reason for this latest upturn in sales? Or do you think the ps4's supply problems are to blame? Let me know in the comments section.

Video: Assassins creed unity for xb1/ps4/pc

Here is the very first video for Ubisoft next gen only Assassins creed Unity, one of two Assassins creed title being prepared for a holidays 2014 release, the other is either called or codenamed comet.

The developers claims it was not ready to show the game quite this early and as such stressed that this footage is pre alpha.

Video: forza 5 with dx12

Yesterday I posted shots of Forza 5 running on direct x 12. Here one better, a video. Enjoy.

Official: No secret sauce power in Xbox One.

The internet can be a crazy place, especially in video games and especially if you happen to be a 'fanboy' of a particular platform.
When both the PlayStation 4 and the XboxOne launched last November, talk on the internet quickly turn to which console had the most power. As it transpired it was the ps4 that edged the contest slightly but, in truth, both machines were pretty close and many would argue that what the xb1 lacked in power it more than made up for with its lineup of great software.
But that was never going to be enough for some. Enter the fanboy.

Unable to except, relax and simply enjoy their Xbox one consoles, some instead took to making up things that just couldn't exist. Pretty quickly, the Xbox one became this kind of Trojan horse thing, with huge stores of secret power hidden away to be revealed by Microsoft in the years to come. For example, many believed the console had an entirely separate GPU hidden under the existing one. Its crazy stuff really, when you think about it, why would Microsoft want to hide that they have the most powerful console. Madness.

Well I can safely inform you all that all this secret power nonsense is just that, nonsense, after Microsoft broke their silence on the matter last night. The following is a quote from Albert Penello, head of product development for Xbox.

"I thought I already said something about that. There is no 2nd GPU, there is no stacked GPU."

There you have it. Straight from the horses mouth so to speak. There is no hidden performance boosting hardware in the Xbox one.

Now software is a different story. Direct x 12 was announced yesterday and Microsoft claim this new api will boost performance by 20-50%.
This, however, is some way off, with dx12 enabled console games not expected before fall 2015.

UPDATED. Rumour: Dying light delayed, last gen versions cancelled.

UPDATE: Techland are denying the release date has slipped to 2015 but are as yet to comment on ps3/xbox 360 cancellation.

Original story:

THIS IS IN NO WAY CONFIRMED but I'm hearing, from polish sources, that Techlands Dying light game has been delayed into 2015. Even more curious, apparently ps3 and xbox 360 versions have been cancelled. I can only assume if this is true then Techland have elected to concentrate their effort solely on ps4 /xb1.

Dying light is the extremely promising unofficial follow up to Techlands dead island zombie open world game

I'm going to keep digging on this one and will update the article if I hear anything else.

New Watch dogs trailer

Check out this trailer for watch dogs exclusive PlayStation content. Enjoy.

Forza 5 with dx12 screenshots

Following on from my earlier dx12 article, here are the first shots of dx12, here being used to power a reworked version of Forza 5.

Review: MGS V: Ground zeroes

Snake?..... Snake?....... SNAKKKEEE!!!!

Calm down Otocon Snakes not dead. Look he's over there with his feet up. You see, he finished his mission in just an hour and now he's kicking back with his bitches and a smoke.

Ground zeroes is short on story. There, that's out there now, yes its a bloody short main mission. But that's not the whole story here.

Lots have criticised Konami's decision to release this installment of metal gear as played for content. Some have even labeled it a glorified demo. In some respects I'm inclined to agree. The main mission in ground zeroes, rescue two hostages, is simple and short, very very short. There's no getting away from that. What ground zeroes does to counter this though, is give the player a number of incentives to, effectively, replay the same content. You see, everything about ground zeroes is wonderful. The gameplay is rich, the story is gripping and the graphics are arguably the best on next gen systems. Trouble is, as good as all those things are, grounds zeroes just doesn't give you much of them. So the trick is to get the player to replay the same wonderful content over and over again. This, Kojima productions has done by introducing side ops and collectibles.
Collectibles come in the form of xof badges, scattered around camp omega ( you need them all to unlock a platform exclusive mission) and audio tapes. Audio tapes are used to flesh out a story that, for a kojima game, is incredibly short on cutscenes.
The side ops mission I felt were satisfyingly varied. Some were set at night. Others during the day. Some required stealth whilst overseas encouraged balls out gunplay. Overall, withe side missions, I've managed to squeeze nearly eight hrs out of the game.

Another bone of contention in the gaming community has been the decision to replace long serving voice actor David Hayter with Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland. I can happily confirm Kiefer does an excellent job voicing the iconic character of big boss. His performance is very understated but the voice still fits Snake really well.

Xbox v PlayStation
I haven't had the opportunity to test old gen versus current gen but I can tell you that, of the new gen systems, it is the Ps4 the edges the contest slightly over the still impressive Xbox one version. Both versions were very close, but texture were occasionally blurred on the Microsoft system and the overall image on ps4 just appeared much sharper.

Sound wise, the audio engineers at konami have done a good job but I think they missed a trick by not having the games many audio logs play via ps4s controller speaker, like shadow fall.

So summing up, great graphics mix well with stellar gameplay here to make a great metal gear solid experience. Whether or not its a game or a demo will come down to how much value you will place on side missions and collectibles. If its purely the story you are after though, then I recommend either renting the game or watching someone else play the main mission on campaign.

Verdict

Graphics 9.5
Gameplay 9
Sound 7
Story 5
Value 3

Overall 7

DX12 announced for Xbox one - big improvements

At GDC today Microsoft have announced the latest API in the direct x line - DX12.
Dx12 is available for all Microsoft platforms including XboxOne. Features include new rendering techniques, more emphasis on gpu, more direct access to hardware ( like mantle) and multi CPU optimisation that provides performance gains of up to 50%.

More news as I get it.

Resident evil 4 coming to Xbox one?

Gameware.at in Austria are listing resident evil 4 for xbox one. Whilst I would take this one with as pinch of salt, there may be some truth in it, remember a remastered version was recently released four PC too.

More news as I get it.

First Playstation origanal Tv show named.

Microsoft are big on TV for their xbox one console and have promised a Halo TV series and other original content too.
In an effort not to be out, Sony themselves have started to do the same and today the first show to become an original playstation show is reported to be called 'Powers'.
The show is about to go into production and is based on a graphic novel that features two detectives who investigate people with super powers.

More info as I get it.

Report: Titanfall 2 is coming to Playstation

EA games have now signed up to publish Respawn entertainments Titanfall sequel and Sources close to the company suggest the game will NOT remain exclusive to Microsoft platforms.
While an exclusive deal for the first game no doubt helped the fledgling developer find its feet with this new franchise, it is generally considered, in retrospect, to have been a bad move. EA betted heavily on the Xbox one being the dominate console this time around but many argue that more money could have been made from ps4 sales of the original Titanfall than any amount of cash Microsoft played.

So Playstation 4 owners - start looking forward to Titanfall 2.

First screenshot of new Assassins creed game

Screenshots and info of one of two AC games to be released this year have landed.
The game is suspected to be an xb1 & ps4 game and is either called Unity or that is the project name. Reports also suggest the shots are from early development.
The French revolution of the 18th century appears to be the setting.

Let me know what you think of the screenshots in the comments section.

Official Xbox One headset works on ps4

A really quick update to my earlier review of the official XboxOne stereo headset.
I can confirm that I've now tried the headset plugged into a dualshock 4 controller and I'm happy to tell you it works really well.
So if you own both consoles, this further adds to the value of Microsoft's official headset, which is priced competitively at £59.99 and includes the stereo adapter.

With price in mind, is this the best headset available for Xbox One?
Let me know what you think in the comments section.