Casually Hardcore Gamer?

Evening all,

Now there are certain things in life that are inevitable. Taxes and death are 2 things that spring to mind, but one of the more social inevitabilities is that of labelling.

You wear lots of black, white make-up and listen to dreary sounding rock music - you're a goth.

You have a beard and wear off-beat clothes - you're a hipster.

You are a Tory voter - you're deluded.

You support Chelsea, Man Utd or Millwall - you're brainless.

The list goes on, and that list extends to the world of gaming, usually in the form of those who are fanboys, hardcore gamers, casual gamers, noobs, retro gamers and the list does tend to go on.

Now I tend to categorise myself in a group of gamers that can only be growing in size: I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer.

Now there are certain elements that I've thought of that put's one in this category.

Firstly: You must have a passion for gaming that is unmoveable. I have a passion for gaming, have done since I was a tiny little Toolbox. Loved them all, from old DOS games like Gorillas.bas and Digger to Wolf3D, Doom and Quake, moving on through to games like Metal Gear Solid, WWF Attitude, FIFA (minus the massive amounts of alleged money embezzlement) to Championship Manager, then Football Manager, Mass Effect, GTA and many more. Gaming is a passion of mine that just cannot be quenched. Whether it's revisiting old games again, or exploring new ones - gaming doesn't get old for me.

Secondly: As much as you love gaming, life events tend to be more important. Such is life. When I was younger, I went to school or college, then after a little bit of homework or a little bit of time with my mates - the computer beckoned. Sometimes, the mates would be fobbed off or homework left to the last minute because. hey, it's CLEARLY more important to me. But then you grow up a bit - this doesn't mean that gaming is no longer important - and things happen. You get married, you have kids, you have a more responsible job. These things inevitably...get in the way. Now that could be read wrong. My wife and kids don't "get in the way" of time that I could be spent gaming...no wait, they totally do - but it's alright, cos I love them dearly and would do anything for them. So games of Toy Story Happy Families and Guess Who? or going for walks to the park or spending some quality time  with the Mrs are as, if not in a strange way MORE important than gaming. I know right, as if anything could be more important! But really, they are. I never would have thought it growing up, but there you go.

Thirdly: Time spent playing is limited - but treasured. This little nugget is so true. I don't tend to get on the computer for any "me time" until the kids have gone to play in their room before bed and the wife is on her laptop watching the tele. As much as I'd love to roll in from work, sit my fat arse down and play some GTA or Football Manger (the 2 games diving my gaming attention at the moment), that's just not gonna happen. Dinner needs to be made, the rubbish needs to be taken to the outside bin and other things need doing. But when the evening rolls round, and the kids are gone...then I'm no longer a father, or a husband. I'm Toolbox24 - gamer. The other thing though is that when I was younger, late nights gaming into the wee hours, even before work, were commonplace. I mean, I only worked at Argos, it's not like I needed to use much of my brain. Now however, I work an important job in the Civil Service, and as such, I need to go to work and actually use my brain for good. This means (unless it's the weekend) no late night gaming sesh's. So the time gaming, is minimal - especially with tea/coffee breaks with the wife - or getting the kids teeth cleaned and bedtime story read.

Fourthly: You sneak gaming in wherever and whenever you can. I work in an office. Sometimes I need to photocopy a ton of shit. While I'm stood over the photocopier waiting for it to do it's thing I could do 1 of 2 things. I could stand and wait, maybe check the stationary cupboard...OR I could whip my phone out and play some games. This sneaking of gaming in is where casual gaming comes into play. I generally wouldn't spend my evening playing Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, or Criminal Case. No, no, no...I would however play them whilst sitting on the porcelain throne or having a tea break. And in doing so, I have played over 500 games of pool on 8 Ball Pool on Miniclip, completed pretty much every Angry Birds iteration out there and am steadily approaching level 800 on Candy Crush Saga to name but a few. Gaming is somewhat of a way of life, and it's one I am immensely happy with - be it with "proper" games or casual ones.

Fifthly: You don't play just one type of game. This one is important now, it's important for anyone who wants to really appreciate the art, sophistication and subtle nuances of gaming. Someone who just sits and plays CoD or Battlefield all day - no matter if they spend most of their days and nights doing so, can't really be called a hardcore gamer. They fit more snugly into the Fanboy category, along with the people who bicker over the superiority of the Playstation or Xbox. It's just not going to happen. I figure that you need to regularly play and enjoy at least 4 different types of game, to be embedded into the hardcore gamer fold. Now herein lies a caveat - no matter how many casual games you play, they cannot count towards the 5. The following game types can:

• First Person Shooter (Call of Duty, Battlefield, Portal etc)
• Role Playing Games (Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Fallout etc)
• Sports Simulator (FIFA, NBA, Madden etc)
• Real Time Strategy (Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, Starcraft etc)
• Other Strategy (Civilization, Hearthstone, etc)
• Management Simulator (Football Manager, Prison Architect, Cities: Skylines etc)
• Action/Adventure (The Witcher, GTA, Batman Arkham series etc)
• Platform (Mario, Limbo, Terraria etc)
• Survival / Horror (DayZ, Resident Evil, Dead Space etc)

The list does go on, but I would say that you need to be an aficionado of at least 4 genres - including the bonus indy game genre. Which of course is a mixture of all genres, but independently made. FTL, Game Dev Tycoon, Plague Inc: Evolved, Gunpoint to again name a few.

Roll those 5 elements together, and you have a hardcore gamer, who hasn't got time to be a hardcore gamer - so he does it casually. The usual type of gamer that this will end up being is a parent.

So yeah, I play casual games, I play proper games too. And I don't pretend that I'm some kind of divine Über gamer - I'm alright, I'm pretty decent and I occasionally have moments of greatness but overall, I'm pretty average. But that doesn't diminish how much I bloody love to play. When I get the chance. I mean even writing this, I've gotten one daughter a carrot, the other one a milk, sorted a tablet out that had disconnected from the wifi and had an incredibly brief chat with the Mrs before she went out to read her book.

So yeah. In summary, I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer. I'm proud of this, and I won't pretend to be anything that I'm not. And I would imagine, that guys and gals who are in their mid-20's to late-30's who grew up on some awesome games in the 90's and early naughties, probably fit quite snugly into this category as well.

Nighty Night.

Toolbox24

Flight of the Kerbals and Danny Glover

I suck at Kerbal space program, but it is one of those games that people can really really suck at but still have fun with it.

I have put around 30 hours into it and have now just learned (albeit not very well) how to actually play it.

I have created a series of video's that show exactly how much skill I have at this fantabulous game (f*ck all)

I will hopefully post a lot of videos in this series and progress my skill steadily the whole time, although chances are I will soon forget to post them and just look like a foolish Kerbal lover.

I am awful at finishing a video series I create, take the Danny Glovber show for instance....It has been years since I posted a proper video in the series, is it because they are shit? maybe....or is it because I am lazy? more likely.

The first Let's Play Video in all it's glory...

http://www.youtube.com/user/monkeyboystevey?feature=watch

MonkeyBoySteve

My Life at the Controller

The Joy of Gaming – My Life at the Controller

It may come as no surprise to you that I have a certain passion and love of gaming. And that passion and love comes years of gaming, and being a part of a family growing up that appreciated the joy of gaming as well.

I have so many different memories growing up in a gaming household, it’s not a fucking wonder that I’m a gamer myself!

Firstly, with my Dad. There was a game back in the day that I loved. Bear in mind, I’d have been about 3 or 4 I think. The game was on the PC, on MS-DOS, and it was a QBasic game called Gorillas. Some of you might not have heard of it, some of you might go “SHIT ME!!!! I REMEMBER THAT!!!” Chances are though, that you’re one of the former.

Gorillas QBasic.

The game was as basic as it comes, but also required a degree of skill and logic. Picture the scene…2 giant gorillas, angry with each other for some reason, climb to the roof tops of some random city, and try to kill each other by throwing exploding bananas at each other. And that was the game. Basic – yes? Complex – actually, a bit yeah, you see to throw your banana, you had to punch in your angle and velocity, and take into account wind direction and speed!

Now after doing a slight bit of digging, it’s good to see that it’s still knocking about and you can still play the game online or even on your smartphone. How far we’ve come.

The experience of throwing virtual bananas and hitting the target against my Dad was – I’m pretty sure – my first computer gaming experience, and it was a multiplayer one! It taught me basic physics, healthy competition, how to take losing as well as winning and the fun of blowing things up in a virtual world.

Moving on to my dear mother. Bless her. To look at her, you’d think what a lovely lady, she’s a writer (pretty awesome short-story writer, check her bloggy out here) she’s a small woman (just over 5ft), she’s sweet as sugar, and a loving, doting grandmother to all her grandchildren. Not to mention an avid animal lover, and a person who always put the needs of others before her own. Awwww.

Until she gets on her computer to play instead of write…

Then she transforms from the lovely lady I described above into…a ferocious gaming pioneer. Seriously. A mother fucking pioneer, bitches. My first experience of the new wave of computer games, branching on from basic Yahtzee and Gorillas was watching my mother break free from…Castle Wolfenstein. In fact – again I hope I’m getting this right – my Mum was one of the first people outside of the US, shit outside of Mesquite, Texas to play the game, with my Dad ordering our copy of the game direct from iD Software which at the time consisted of 4 programmers (Messrs A + J Carmack, Hall and Romero).

 

Wolf3D

But yes, the cult classic Wolf3D was played extensively by my mum, and being only a little boy at the time, I’d sit by her and watch her playing the game for what seemed like hours. And I’d sit there, memorising as much as I could. So when she played it again on a harder difficulty, I’d be there, letting her know when the harder guards were going to turn up, or where a secret passageway was.

To be honest, my mum is still quite the gamer, it was by no means a 1-game-wonder. She later got the newer versions of Wolfenstein along with some other games like Sanatorium and Phantasmagoria. And has always retained a good interest in video games, and has supported my interest in them to this day!

I couldn’t write a blog about this sort of stuff though and not mention my siblings – my older brother and sister. Now the age gap was pretty big, nothing like them already being grown up or anything, but big for kids. I am 6 years younger than my brother and 9 years younger than my sister. Fortunately for me though, as computer games became more prevalent, I would watch on and feel all grown up and whatnot!

I’ll start with age before beauty, and let you know a little bit about my older sister’s gaming habits, before I delve a little bit further into the pair of them…the rapscallions.

I’ll illuminate 2 games that my sister used to play, or at least what I can remember my sister playing quite regularly. The first game, is SimTower. A seemingly simple game which is a lot more complicated that it’s first appearance – especially if you want to actually complete the damn thing! My sister was bloody great at that, and I’d love sitting by, watching her tower grow. Or just checking in to see how many more floors her tower had since last time! The other games were a bit heavier hitting, it was Rise of the Triad: Dark War or ROTT for short. A game that was originally meant to be called Wolf3d II: Rise of the Triad, but changed was a first person shooter which I don’t think got the recognition it deserved, because it was released in the mid 90’s when if the FPS you were playing wasn’t Doom or Quake, then what the fuck was the point?

 

Rise of the Triad (Original)

Fortunately for my sister and those who were fans of ROTT there is due to be a rebooted version coming to Steam and GOG.com courtesy of another rebooted company – Apogee. Just make your way to www.apogeesoftware.com for more information.

Then we move on to my older brother, now I used to watch him playing games for hours on end, it’s probably no surprise that I learnt a lot from him. Now a couple of the games I’ll mention are these: Panzer General II and Grim Fandango. Both brilliant games, and both very different games as well.

We’ll start with Grim Fandango – considered to be one of the greatest games ever made. An old school LucasArts point-and-click adventure surrounding the events of Manny Calavera as he tries to make his way in “the Epic tale of Crime and Corruption in the Land of the Dead”. I wont say too much more, but know that it’s an amazing game with a fantastic film-noir-esque storyline.

Panzer General II might have slipped you by, and you almost certainly won’t have heard of it if you’re a gamer of the Naughties. But it was a brilliant tactical game where you controlled the tanks and armies of the Third Reich, and if you did well enough – you’d be able to invade the UK and sack Windsor Castle or invade the USA and steal their plans for a nuclear warhead. Suffice to say, I learned a lot about tactical gameplay and story-driven gameplay from the older brother.

 

Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle

Then there were the games us kids would play as a family. I say we would play as a family, firstly I mean the games I would watch my brother and sister playing! First, I remember vividly them both playing Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle, an absolutely amazing classic old-school LucasArts point-n-click adventure, and they played it against each other in a way and I for a time was a messenger between the 2. If my brother got stuck on a bit that my sister had completed, I could relay the information upstairs to him and visa versa. It was good, but I don’t remember much of the actual game thinking back now…

The other game that is definitely worth a mention is Doom II. Back in the days of the mid-90’s multiplayer pretty much consisted of playing split-screen games sat next to each other. Then Doom II came along and blew our minds.

We connected the PC’s up on a home LAN, and fired Doom up. My sister would listen to Stevie Wonder, and I’d watch her, my brother and my brother-in-law playing Doom II together…while I’d watch.

It was all good, and I still can’t listen to Stevie Wonder without thinking of Doom or play Doom without thinking of Stevie Wonder. Weird huh?

 

While googling an image of Mr Wonder. I laughed hard.

Anyway it seems that I did a lot of watching as a child, but this all put me in good stead for when I would start gaming properly as a teenager and adult. It meant that I had patience beyond my years on games, had the ability to play games that were of a higher level than my age would suggest. And as an adult, I play games mainly for fun and as a form of escape – not to compete like making sure I get X many more achievement points than other people or to make sure I win every game I play online, I mean yeah it’s good to win and I complete to win, but I’m never gonna kick myself or think I’m a shitty gamer because I lost 20 games in a row. Fuck that shit, life’s too short.

The pleasure I get from gaming, is the same that film buffs get from watching those black and white film noirs with a smelly Frenchman in it, or a wine buff gets from sampling the finest wines from the world, or an avid reader gets from finding an author who captivates them from first page to last. And I owe that pleasure in no small part to my family.

I grew up in a gaming house…it’s no wonder I grew up to be the man I am today.

Toolbox24

Living With a Gamer

Hi there. You may have noticed by now that I’m a bit of a gamer. Now I wont make any wild claims like I’m the greatest gamer, that I pwn on more games than anyone I know. I don’t. In fact, I’m a pretty good gamer, and I know my limits. But gaming is a huge part of my life, a part that provides me with my little piece of me time.

My wife understands this in abundance, and is always more than happy for me to spend my evenings on the computer having a wind-down chill-out gaming session, after a long days work. I love that girl.

But it does make me think (and from thinking, I write these things) about the foibles of gamers be it big things or little things, and it’s those foibles – mostly my own – that I thought I’d happily share with you today.

Just one more level/mission/level up/etc…

This one must be something that is more widespread than just in my own head. I’ve truly lost count of the amount of times that the midnight oil has been burning, the kids are all asleep, I know that in a few hours I must get up for work but there I am slogging away through whatever game I’m playing at the time.

          “Are you coming to bed yeah?” Carriecakes would ask.

          “Yeah, yeah…just let me finish this side mission.” Toolbox 24 would reply.

But of course it’s not just me, it can’t be! And it wont just be those with partners, it’ll be any gamer who knows that they should stop playing because it’s late.

          “I should really come off now, it’s getting late and I have to be up early to get to work/school on time.” Thinks Joe EveryGamer. “Oh fuck it, I only need an hour’s kip to see me through!!”

I’m sure this trait isn't limited to gamers alone, there must be people out there who stay up late watching their favourite TV show, movie or reading their favourite books – the latter I cannot understand though, when I start reading, it sends me to sleep.

I think this is why cans Relentless and Monster are usually to hand for most gamers…

Oh my god you’ve got to see this…

 I am so guilty of this. So guilty it’s untrue.

With most games, if there are cool bits, or funny glitches or you’ve done something you think is spectacular. You want to share this with people. Unfortunately for my betrothed, my go-to guy is her.

I even did this last night playing FIFA 12, a random glitch meant that Stephen Crainey of Blackpool ended up – very roughly – face fucking El Hadji Diouf. That’s really the only way I can put it…I actually wish I had saved the video, uploaded it to Youtube then I could prove this trait by showing it here and now. Suffice to say, I chuckled, paused my game, went into the instant replay bit, changed the angle and like a child, asked Carriecakes to stop what she was doing to witness the hilarity.

Now whether it’s just her politeness in not wanting to make me feel stupid or whether she genuinely doesn’t mind…I’m still not sure. I do know that I’ll keep doing it whatever the case may be.

But then of course that’s something on a minor scale. I’ll show her bits on Mass Effect, GTA, The Sims or Unchartered for example because she really enjoys them herself. But then I wont show her bits on Dragon Age, because – well quite frankly I’m still quite green on that one myself (have started again on it after a 2 year hiatus), and I’m pretty sure she isn’t over-struck on that whole LoTR-esque action. I may be wrong though.

The bigger scale, are the people who do what I suggested I could have done earlier. Those people with such a blatant need to show the world, even their most minor exploits in a game, as much as possible – via YouTube. Now it’s a legitimate tool, and a great way for sharing videos that you’ve made with friends and other people, but it’s when you see snippet videos of people scoring normal goals in FIFA, or doing unremarkable things in Skyrim that makes you think – why is this wasting space online?

The only awesome fan things to look for are video game fails. Good times.

Grumpy Grumperson

That’s right, this jovial bundle of gaming awesomeness can be a bit of a grumpersaurus. A grumpersaurus rex.

And usually it’ll be something gaming related. Something like not getting my evening dose of game time, or something going wrong with a game that I’m playing or finishing a game through to the end…and then being in that weird little haze when there’s nothing I can think of for a couple of hours to a couple of days, to play – so I end up playing something mindless and repetitive. I end up playing FIFA.

I then proceed to slouch about a bit. Sighing a fair bit more than usual. Having more toilet breaks, and being generally quiet. This grumpy version of myself usually dies a quiet death once I’ve figured out what I’m in the mood for.

MY GAME!!!!! NYAAAAH

Maybe not such a surprise but I get a deep sense of “MY GAME” Syndrome. My games are my games, they’re my things and they’re mine.

Not yours. Not his. Not hers. Mine.

But being a father does not lend itself so easily to the role of “selfish gamer”. Not easily at all.

For example. A couple of months ago, I was progressing nicely through Bully. Evening after evening, class after class, my little Jimmy Hopkins was slowly climbing the high school ranks and doing it with aplomb. Then one evening, before I’d had the chance to play…one of…them…(the kids) comes in…

          “Have you got Bully? I really want to play that this evening!” he asked. Now of course I had Bully, it was in the Xbox as he asked, I wasn’t going to be on the computer for about an hour after I did my stuff…

          “Yeah, it’s in the Xbox.” I said with a slight exhale, small enough to hide the anguish I was feeling inside. He then took the game away…and I haven’t seen it since. Now this was in like October / November last year. I got yanked out of my zone, and to this day, really don’t want to play Bully. I’m just not in the mood for it, and most likely wont be for a good few months yet.

Now I could have said, “Yeah, but I’m going to be playing that in a short while so you can’t have it.” Or “Yeah, but I want to keep playing it myself, so you can take it for a while but give it back when you’re done.” Or simply “no” but I find that I’m soft like that…well I am with the boys, but not with my girls. Or girl I should say, my youngest is too young to give a shit about anything more than her Mickey Mouse toys. Nah my eldest girl will come down while I’m playing and she’ll want to watch me, even though it’s a good deal past her bedtime. Most times I’ll let her sit and watch me, but then a lot of the time…I’ll just tell her that I’m not playing until she’s gone to bed.

After all…it’s MY GAME!!!!

You’ll Love it…trust me! Really you will!!

No this isn’t the slightly awkward part of the conversation where I ask the Mrs if I can do…“that”…

Think of my last point - MY GAME!!! – and turn it on it’s head. When I get close to finishing a game, I always start to think the same thing. “I loved this game so much…Carriecakes would love it too!!” even though I know she has her evening things much like I have my gaming, and that she doesn’t mind listening to what I’m doing or indeed watching from time to time…she just hasn’t got the time to play like I do…not with the amount of comping she does!!

But I still have that insistence in my mind, that if I love a game, then everyone I know, and everyone on Earth must love it too. As you can probably tell by my insistence that Mass Effect is mentioned if not in every post, then every other post, and to a large degree!

But then, that’s the point of this blog – MonkeyBoxGaming: Where games go to be loved up and down. I don’t want to talk about games I think are shit. What’s the point? It’s a waste of my time, and it’ll be a waste of your time. I just want to talk about games I think are good, and that you’d like…in fact this blog shows what I mean in this point. (For the most part)

I’m sure there are more things as well, but for now I cannot think of them. There is work and play to be done. And I am a master of both…ish.

Toolbox 24

Mass Effect Races 3

THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD... BUT CAN IT WAIT FOR A BIT? I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF SOME CALIBRATIONS...

PART 3: TURIANS

Hello again, Toolbox 24 here. It's nigh time I posted a 3rd blog about the races of Mass Effect. The reason I'm continually posting these blogs is for those Mass Effect fans who might just want a run-down of the various ins and outs of this particular universe, and also for anyone who has heard of the games, seen how obsessed fans of the series seem to be (such as myself), and basically to show these people how deep, varied and detailed Mass Effect is.

Thinking that the games have only been out for 5 years, but have been in development for more like 7 or 8 it's still a very short time for the amount of history that there is. There are several books, comics, an anime film due out within a year and supposedly a live action feature film in development (rights to Mass Effect have been bought by Legendary Pictures, the company that has brought us the new Batman films with Christian Bale and also Inception.)

I digress, this blog is primarily about the race of super-cool aliens called the turians.

Turians

Turian

The turians are again, another absolutely fascinating race in Mass Effect, with a rich history and many, many intriguing and full characters in the games. The turians are (originally) one of 3 Citadel Council races alongside the asari and salarians, after events of the first game, humans also become a council race, stepping up from being a citadel race.

Enough about us though, the turians were the first alien race encountered by us humans in 2157. Us gung-ho humans, liking our lovely new technology a little bit too much kept finding and activating new Mass Relays to new and unchartered areas of space.

Thinking, possibly rightly so, that we could be the first species to use this new mysterious technology, we didn't know that the government of the galaxy had, since the year 300 (our calender), strictly prohibited the activation of dormant relays.

As such, when a turian patrol happened upon these strange aliens activating a dormant relay, they responded with absolute force, decimating the few human ships that were tinkering away activating it. All but 1 ship was destroyed, and that sole ship retreated to the human colony of Shanxi (shan-shee). The turians swiftly followed this sole survivor and proceeded to spank us humans and take over Shanxi. What followed was a massive counter-attack by the humans to retake our colony. The turians wrongly assumed that Shanxi was our only planet, and that if there was a retaliation it would be more than manageable. What followed was the forceful eviction of the turians from our little colony. Yay humans!

Turians however are a highly militant and mighty race, and were just about to prepare for a full scale war, "total war" if you will - (Side Note: Since reading World War Z, I hate the term "Total War" - it's just not possible!!!) - when the asari and salarians intervened, stopping the conflict before it got out of hand. This event would be known as the First Contact War to us, and the Relay 314 Incident by the turians.

Since then, there has been a lingering animosity between the 2 races, which appears to have gone for the most part, especially with the development of the SSV Normandy, co-designed, developed and built by the 2 races.

That, I feel, was a nice little introduction to the turians. However if you're still reading this, I'm going to throw some more information and history your way.

Turian - Unzipped

Originally from the planet Palaven, adult turians are usually over 6ft tall, and have 2 long thick fingers with an opposable thumb on each hand, each tipped with talons. They also have a set of mandibles around their mouths. One of the most notable features of the turian's biology is their metallic carapace, which is a direct result of thir evolution. Because Palaven has a metal-poor core, their planet has a very weak magnetic field letting in a lot more solar radiation, as a result most of the species of Palaven have developed a metal-like exo-skeleton.

Turians appear to have quite similar features to birds, and look like avian-humanoids...apart from the lack of wings. However when I play the game, I can't help but think that facially they, facially, look a bit like cats. They also have a similar lifespan to humans.

The last thing I'll mention about the turian biology is their awesome voices, that all have a distinct flanging effect, some more than others definitely, but it's always there.

Turian culture is heavily focussed on public service, with all turians having to serve the state from the age of 15-30, from anything from being a soldier to an sanitation worker. Because of their heavy leanings towards public service and strong sense of self-sacrifice, because of this, they're not the best entrepreneurs. Because of this, they have a special relationship with the volus who offer their financial, entrepreneurial talents in exchange for the turian military protection.


Turians follow a strict social code, they are highly focused and have a very high work ethic. They are always willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done and always deliver. Despite their military ethos that is seemingly "all or nothing", they are not really prone to violence. Due to their massive military, they tend to defeat their enemies with nothing but overwhelming force, leaving them so weak and powerless that they have no option but to surrender and become a colony of the turians - a fate that would no doubt have happened to the humans had the Citadel Council not intervened in the First Contact War.


The turian military is not just a standard military like you would expect from our own armed forces, but it is a total public works organisation. Their military police, fire and medical services also serve the civilian population. Their engineers don't just build military facilities, but also schools, sanitation services, power stations and libraries.


I feel I've rambled on a bit about the turians, so before I leave, here are a few notable turians in the Mass Effect universe.


Notable Turians

Garrus Vakarian - Absolute legend. If I were to list out my favourite video game side-kicks/team-mates then Garrus would top the tree. He's funny, he's hard as nails, he's got your back. And if you're a lady, he'll no doubt spoon afterwards baby. The first time you'll encounter Garrus is on the Citadel, working for C-Sec investigating the Spectre, Saren. You get a feeling from the first time you meet him that he's a man on the edge - not of sanity but just of leaving C-Sec, frustrated and angry that he's being held back and stifled. So you help him. Through thick and thin he's at your side, taking notes on how to be the ultimate bad-ass along the way from his new mentor (Shepard). And in ME2 he uses those skills to become the leader of a vigilante group in the most dangerous and crime ridden place in the galaxy - Omega. You find him again taking on the 3 main crime syndicates in the galaxy - single handed, with a sniper rifle. And even then the crime bosses don't think it's a fair fight, so you can imagine their fate when the biggest bad-ass in the universe teams up with your Commander Shepard. After the events of ME2, you catch up with Garrus on Menae, the biggest moon of the turian homeworld of Palaven. He's basically the turian hierarchy's chief advisor on all things "Reaper", something that he is very modest about stating that he's just an ex-cop and vigilante. Garrus - from the looks of things - has the biggest female following in the ME universe, and it's not hard to see why when his personality is just...well it's just aces!! And even I, as a straight man, find his voice very attractive...smooth like chocolate, knocked back with a cool glass of creamy milk. View the video above to see him talking shit with ME3's James Vega (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr).

Saren Arterius - Another legend. Albeit a meanie! His dislike, disdain and disgust for humanity goes back to the First Contact War when his brother, Desolas, was killed by humans. He is the main antagonist in Mass Effect and an all round badass as well. He is seen as a prophet of the "old machines" (Reapers) to the geth, which is why they follow him devotedly. He is totally focused and will not let little things like innocent people get in the way of him getting his job done. He is one of the first people in the Galaxy who is notably indoctrinated by the Reapers, and uses his position as a Council Spectre to get a head start on Shepard n Co in the search for the illusive Conduit. He ultimately meets his end in the Citadel a mere moments before the Reapers would have poured through to start the next cycle of harvesting.


Adrien Victus - Although he only appears in ME3, he is one of the most influential people in the game. He starts the game as General Victus of the turian army, but because of the Reaper invasion becomes the new Primarch of the turian hierarchy through succession. He is a soldier to the core, and is obviously uncomfortable leaving Palaven's moon of Menae to talk diplomacy with the salarians and krogan. But he does it anyway and pulls off what he needs to with aplomb. We see him last before the final push on Earth to the Conduit MkII, where he is ready to fight, showing that he really is a soldier first and a politician second.


Right, that was the turian entry for my Mass Effect Races post. However, I'm thinking I might concentrate more on other things in gaming as opposed to the races of a single game franchise. It's quite time consuming and it's nothing that you can't find out by playing the game or going to the Mass Effect Wiki.


If there's another entry it'll be either salarian, krogan, geth, Reapers or humans. But I just don't know. I really don't. See you later.


Toolbox 24

My Type of Gamer

Hello there.

I’m still working on the Turian entry for the Mass Effect Races series that I’m doing at the moment, but little life events like getting married kind of put the brakes on that for now.

Just so you know, I am still here and I do still have plans to continue blogging on computer games, gaming in general, gaming in the news, and when I can more blogs on upcoming games, hardware and events.

But today I got to thinking. What kind of gamer am I?

Well I’m an avid gamer and I feel the need to write about it as much as I can whenever I can. Obviously, the things I write are my own interpretations and my own opinions – whether you agree with them or not is beside the point. This blog is here for me to vent my spleen about gaming. Yeah I’ll post the things I’m sick off, like kids in multiplayer or the media lampooning games because of a nut case who shot a couple of guys. But as far as games go, I just want to write about the games I love, and why I love them. You may have noticed this with Mass Effect.

So am I an “Intelligent Gamer”? I say “intelligent” not in an elitist, “I’m better than you” way – but in that I play games for more than their Michael Bay Stylings. A lot of people will play a lot of CoD or BF and that’s just fine, they do it because they like the challenge, the bright explosions and the Rambo in them wanting to burst out in some form – that’s fine. I play games because I want to be captivated by the gameplay, the story and how tuned out of the real world I can feel. That’s why I have such an affinity for the Mass Effect Series. It’s why I love Red Dead Redemption. It’s why I was so dumbfounded and completely deflated by the ending to LA Noire.

But then I got to thinking more practically. You may have noticed that this isn’t a gaming blog in the normal mould of a gaming blog. Most gaming sites you’d come across would have loads of information about the latest games, the latest trailers, the latest updated, DLC, patches, hardware etc etc, but here on MBG, we don’t. Because instead of “intelligent gamer” I’m starting to think of myself as a casual hardcore gamer.

Toolbox24 - Casual Hardcore

Casual Hardcore? An oxymoron? A contradiction in terms? Well on the face of it yes, but digging deeper – no. I’m not thick. I’m not going to turn around and say “Well I’m kinda skinnily fat.” “I’m shortly tall” No. I’m hardcore in that gaming (apart from my wife and kids) is my whole life. But because of the whole family thing I’ve got going, I cannot let gaming be my whole life. It’s my whole life, when I let it be. When I get stuck into a game, I’m there. I AM John Marston, trekking through the wild west in search of zombies (Undead Nightmare DLC). I AM Commander Shepherd, and you know what? This IS my favourite store on the Citadel. I AM Richard Thompson – Leeds United striker, top goal scorer and all round fans favourite. I am these people, and it’s amazing. BUT when my daughter starts crying because she needs a nappy change, or my lad comes down wanting to show off some of his art work – the games pause and I’m Dad. My wife wants a cup of tea and to have a little break and a chat in the garden – the game pauses and I’m husband.

I’m hardcore in that I do think about gaming an awful lot, I do play as much as I can and to me there is no better entertainment medium.

I’m casual in that I realise that spending £40 on a new game is a bit daft, when that £40 could be spent on groceries or paying for new school uniforms. It’s why I’m not always on the ball so far as new releases go. I’m casual in that I don’t feel like I have a genre that defines me. Some hardcore gamers only play FPS games like CoD, BF, Team Fortress etc other just racing games like Need for Speed, Forza, Gran Turismo and others only play games like World of Warcraft. All hardcore in their own right, but incredibly narrow minded when it comes to playing other games. Some filter through, like Hardcore FPS gamers could have a soft spot for the odd racing game, or sports game for example.

I don’t feel like there is a genre that defines me as a gamer. I love playing RPG games for their story element, and how much more immersive they are. I also love playing management sims like Football Manager or Sim Tower (blast from the past). I love playing FIFA games, and the occasional racer. I love playing RTS games like Command and Conquer or the Age of Empires games. I love playing Turn Based Strategy games like Civilisation and I love playing reality games like The Sims. I love mobile games like Stupid Zombies or Temple Run, and I love all kinds of games which makes me feel like I can write more objectively about any game I play.

A hardcore CoD gamer could play Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and think it’s a load of shit and should be set on fire. Because they detest RPGs. A hardcore sports gamer could play Halo and think it’s a crock of shit and should be set on fire because they detest FPS games. I however could sit playing FIFA for hours, write a review about it’s pro’s and cons, then sit playing Dragon Age for hours and write a similar review. 2 completely different types of game yet fairly easy for me to love them both.

Now I’m not saying I’m a rare breed. I think that most gamers would probably fall into the same or similar category of a lover of many genres. That’s why I hope this blog will appeal to more than just those who like to point and shoot.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to try and post more blogs, thick and fast and attempt to get the website registered onto NewsNow.co.uk. A news sourcing website that I use daily to look up Leeds United news.

If I succeed, then who knows where this blog could go.

That was a fairly pointless blog I think, but I’d like to think that everyone knows what kind of game they like, and if they like multiple genres to be flexible enough to say as much. I know that some people might just like casual games like Farmville or Diner Dash – but that’s alright. Someone made the game, someone thought up the concept and created the game. It’s only right that it’s found a niche with those who might not do “proper” gaming. Just remember: Minesweeper is a game as well.

Coming up on the MonkeyBox – Mass Effect Races: Turians, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Plants vs Zombies, XBOX 720(?) and more.

Toolbox 24