For many years my PC/Playstation combo was a cornucopia of digital fun. When I wanted complex strategy I could go on the PC, if I wanted mindless arcade fun I would jump into the Playstation. Neither platform attempted to be the other and each held their own ground and so it was a perfect symbiotic relationship for me. I kept all my GTA playing to the PS2 and all my Strategy and FPS gaming on the PC, that was before my girlfriend bought me a XBOX as a birthday present. Now my gaming life is in confusion and I shall explain why.

The first thing is fairly simple and that is that many games for the XBOX are also on the PC. The choice in this case is very simple. If its an FPS go to the PC if it is a Strategy goto the PC if it is 3rd person or driving stick with the Xbox. Its a rule worth following if you have a decent PC.

This rule however is becoming more difficult to enforce and my choices are getting harder to make due to an alarming trend I have noticed on the XBOX. For example:

Battlefield:Bad Company

for the XBOX is a strange beast. Based upon the popular Battlefield series it is like an alternate universe version of Battlefield 2. It has deformable/destructible environment which seems great, a few vehicles and 2 multiplayer modes as well as a pretty large mix of weaponry. But it feels ‘dumbed down’ a simpler approach with thicker physics, some semi-locking shooting, overpowered snipers, graphics look like someone made a pretty horrible cake but dressed it up very well. They look a little weird, sometimes great (when there is action) then pretty plain and dull (when nothing is going on). The helis feel like bricks, the landscape is quite a weird scale and doesn’t feel particularly large, its like a cartoon version. It is however still a very good game and on live with a team definitely more coordinated and tactical than BF2.

COD4

Another game that has got the dumb down features. Simply put on the console version there is no lean or prone position, which for me, is an essential part of the game. Sheer butchery to a fine (but overrated) game.

Civilisation Revolution

Take CIV 4, create a smaller map, remove many of the features, add incredibly annoying avatars, simplify resource management and speed the game up. Civilisation Revolution another dumbed down PC game. One I think I may enjoy, again in secret.

Worms on the Xbox Live

This has been the only game I have purchased on Live and what a disappointment. Most of the weapons from the PC game have disappeared. No level creation options, no start position options (massive flaw) or any options that really vary the game. The explosions, I think, do not look as good as my old Amiga Version and that was 13 years ago. This like many other games on the XBOX is another butchered version of a great game.

GTAIV

Yep, I had to do this game as well I’m afraid. One of the major reasons for getting the XBOX was GTAIV. So after completing the game and playing multi-player; is this a new bright future for this franchise? or a cerebral assault of pointless dumbing down? Well a little of both.

I can sum up GTA IV very quickly, it is a superb graphic engine. The cars look incredible, the peds look great, the action on the whole is very smooth. Dynamic damage on the cars is wonderful and their handling feels superb.

But, there is so much missing, so many little side missions, quirks, humour, creativity of missions, alternative things to do, no businesses, no little hidden things,  crazy stunts (yeah crazy not dull little ramps). By taking itself too seriously its also lost a lot of heart, and even though as a multi player I think its fantastic fun (apart from the appalling racism on live), the single player feels…. empty… and the narrative makes you feel empty as well with both endings being fairly depressing.

GTAIV like many other games coming out on consoles and particularly the XBOX are now trying to produce streamlined games. Games that are fast, easy to get back into, quick to reward and hold little punishment for failure. The amount of cut scenes on GTAIV makes me think that they want us to play an interactive film rather than play a truly dynamic game in an interesting gaming Universe. Sophistication is NOT in fashion, mass appeal (sales) and simplification seem to be order of the day on consoles leaving many console gamers feeling like they have been persistently patronised.

One last note, Battlefield and GTAIV have both ditched parachutes. I love parachutes and I’m not happy.

Like Richard Dawkins, I am myself an atheist, that is, I do not believe that divine beings exist, let alone influence our lives. I have been fascinated to see the rise of Richard Dawkins over the years and have been a fan of his approach and work until the last couple of years. There is no doubt that this known but hardly celebrity level academic has suddenly exploded into the public eye through a number of TV programmes and of course through the controversial book ‘The God Delusion’. With the establishment of the Richard Dawkins Foundation of Reason and Science (RDF), he is now the figurehead of a movement to rid the world of the superstitious and ignorant views of religious zealots and lazy thinkers.

Richard has questioned representatives of most faiths and has exposed clairvoyants and spiritualist charlatans for what they are, and although his arguments are solid and completely rational, I wonder what his objectives really are? Let us not forget Richards background. He is from a privileged landed gentry background and certainly represents the intellectual elite in our country. From the lofty heights of academic supremacy there is no doubt he can look down upon the teeming masses, scrutinize their illogical actions and dissect them into a palatable example of how ignorant many people truly are. Ignorance is often the result of poor education/cultural influences and is also the result of choosing to be ignorant as a coping mechanism to deal with emotional trauma. An erudite and accomplished academic will find it incredibly easy to overturn most orthodox religious assumptions as well as dissect the fickle modern interpretations that seem to constantly evolve to cope with modern changes. Yet, within the madness are reasons however banal or poignant. The reasons why people choose irrationality over reason is often due to a survival or coping mechanism. Dealing with the death of a close relative or adapting to a harsh theocratic dictatorship. This is obvious, but what may not be so obvious is that poverty plays a massive role in the establishment of the uneducated, traumatised and terrible life experiences that people have to deal with. The disparity between rich and poor is extreme and I will not venture to explain what most people know to be the truth.

This is where my admiration of Richard Dawkins starts to curdle as I watch him simply argue in a rather self-satisfied way that rationalism and scientific methodology can give wonder and hope to everyone in the same way that is does to him and no doubt as it does to myself. The truth is that atheism is a luxury, something to treasure and respect. It is predominately found in rich liberal western societies and has no doubt freed many people from the constrains of dogma and superstition. I argue as much as Dawkins against supposition and assumptions believing in a Socratic method to weed out untruths and delusion. Yet, like Socrates, I believe that personal development should over-ride financial aspirations, something I’m not convinced Richard Dawkins completely agrees with, especially with BUY NOW buttons plastered all over his website. As much as Dawkins seems to understand rationality he seems to be incapable of understanding the importance of self-delusion. There is no doubt that lying is fundamentally important to every-one’s sanity and forms a fundamental part of our creative and imaginative tapestry as a species. Embellishments, exaggerations, and lies are creative processes and no doubt form a hugely important part of every day lives. From fiction books to films, urban myths to legends their prevalence and importance cannot be understated. We all allow ourselves these escapes, yet it is most evident in areas where poverty stricken people live life in a way most westerners would find intolerable. It is here Dawkins fails to deliver a fair case for an idealised secular world through evangelised atheism. To truly enlighten the ignorant he needs to tackle its main cause, poverty. It is this irony that strikes at the heart of Dawkins argument. How can a man of so much privilege and obvious intelligence fail to recognise that the very wealth and liberality that allows him his freedom to study, scrutinize and communicate his ideas is formed directly from the capital which drives these people into poverty and ignorance. Dawkins is a perfect example of a bourgeois, intellectual bully boy.

To sustain my interest I would like to see him become a braver man and address the socio-political reasons why people turn to religion or fundamentalism. I know empirical data to Dawkins may just seem like filler in an already won argument but I think that Dawkins needs to challenge his own cultural inheritance and its contribution to keeping the plebians ignorant. Understanding and facing the reality of poverty and the inevitable poor educational standards this creates should be his priority now and would certainly give him far more credibility than slamming average Joes who never had the chances he had. Dawkins should be addressing why people turn to religion and supernatural beliefs rather than proceeding to duck shoot the ignorant.