After weeks of false promises, Liam and Ross finally get around to their favourite games of the generation. Yes, there are some controversial choices, but hey, that’s a dead ringer for my opinion man. Tell us your faves of the generation to date. Anything like ours? I’d be amazed if anyone had the identical top 3.

Uhhh, it has been some time since we recorded, but I’m pretty sure there’s Tomb Raider chat and bunch of different awesome tidbits……just have a listen. Whatever we were nattering on about, I’m sure it was golden.

As always, please check us out on Facebook and Twitter (@brashcast)…..oh, and please do download and subscribe on iTunes……oh, go on.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

1. Top 10(ish) Games of the Generation‏
2. Brashcast: Episode 23: Online Rage
3. Brashcast: Episode 22 – Duffman Loves Harcore Gamers “Oh Yeah!”
4. Brashcast: Episode 21 – 720? NextBox? SexBox?
5. Brashcast: Episode 20 – Star Trek & Star Wars? WTF!
6. Brashcast: Episode 18 – 80′s Toys are the greatest!
7. Brashcast: Episode 15 – Favourite Games of 2012
8. Brashcast: Episode 11 – The Sex Episode
9. Brashcast: Episode 8 – Snoop Dogg: Games Be Pimp, Yo!
10. Brashcast: Episode 7 – The PS3 is Sh*t!

The Xbox brand is rapidly escaping from the confines of its plastic box, and never just in a single direction either.

Right now, you could play Skulls Of The Shogun in your Windows Phone, your Microsoft Surface Tablet and in your Xbox 360.

The significant portion of that’s each can play multiplayer with the opposite; they’re all part of an identical family, the identical zoo.

This, people, is where the way forward for Xbox lies.

The future is Xbox Live and it’s set to return at you from every device you own…

Next-Gen Tech: Surface

Microsoft envisions an international where tablet and console will not be at odds with each other (not that we expect they ever were), but one wherein they harmonise together.

A recent rumour even means that Microsoft can be considering launching an Xbox 360-capable table called the X-Surface.

Firstly, this could or is probably not true. Secondly, we’d like one.

Movie: 2001: an area Odyssey

Quite amazing when you consider it, but yes; in 1968, Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick predicted not just tablet computers scarily equivalent to those now we have, but additionally that they’d be connected to a bigger, more capable local computer system.

Amazing.

Next-Gen Tech: SmartGlass

Certainly, Microsoft would favor you experience SmartGlass integration out of your spanky new Surface tablet (or X-Surface), but Microsoft is just not Nintendo and it isn’t Sony.

Microsoft knows that when you truly love something, that you have to set it free, and so SmartGlass permits you to use any Android, iOS or Windows phone or tablet.

And you must form of love Microsoft back for that one. Group hug?

Movie: Real Steel

You know that bit, right, where they’re controlling that enormous robot, right?

You know, and it gets a character and does all cute things and stuff, right? Well, – they’re using SmartGlass.

Or something that appears similar to it.

This film can also be notable for holding the world’s first ever ad for Xbox 720. Check that out too.

Next-Gen Tech: Windows Phone

There’s a brand new generation of smartphone available in the market, people. It’s powerful.

We mean gaming powerful, and while phones and tables is absolutely not in a position to compete with the console experience (since any power gains in a mobile device are reflected by similar gains in devices without mobile’s restrictions).

Soon we’ll all be playing some games on our Xbox 360 or Xbox Whateverthehell’scomingnext and continuing to play them at the bus.

Mad!

Movie: Star Trek

We’re talking right the style back to the unique series, before they changed their communicators over to badges.

Here we’re one day and we’re still not talking into badges, so there’s room yet for improvement.

Next-Gen Tech: Kinect Gesture

Okay, okay; Kinect hasn’t really worked out how we might all rather it had.

Menus could be a painful backward and forward as your Xbox 360 tries to decide what that last hand-gesture was.

Were you shining it on, or were you trying to move to the subsequent menu screen? Within the fantasy way forward for our Xbox device zoo, however, waving at your Xbox is way more efficient than pressing a button.

You never know; soon that will actually be true.

Movie: Minority Report

Yeah, when Tom Cruise did all that manifulating of future events, looking in on people and determining future murderers.

He did it on gesture-reading technology, which we’ve (Kinect). On a see-through screen, which crop up at CES each year now.

With a different glove (Nintendo’s Power Glove). Fed by thoughts of people that can predict the longer term.

We’re you, Pachter. Shut up and get in that floatation tank.

Next-Gen Tech: Kinect Voice

What Kinect can do well is know who you’re. Not just that, there’s a potential here for it to benefit your speech patterns. Kinect voice is by far its best feature and is why it makes it into our Xbox Live-focused sci-fi lounge.

Sit down, discuss with Xbox, tell it about your day, ask it to recommend something. Your Xbox will handle you. It could report unusual behaviour to the precise authorities.

It will eject you into space via the pod bay doors.

Movie: Moon

Just like in Moon, the stuff you say are listened to and things are done consequently. Unlike in Moon, Kinect is isn’t more likely to a) Talk back to you, b) Sound like Kevin Spacey.

So, i stopped Assassin’s Creed III and, uhhhh, it was a little a struggle wasn’t it. Not a nasty game by any stretch, but despite the amazing naval battles and an expectedly gorgeous game world, all of it just felt slightly flat. Issues with familiarity and its largely disappointing lead aside (more Haytham please), my disappointment rested primarily with the truth that, despite being so densely populated, the cities managed to once more feel so strangely with out actual life.

I think the matter lies with challenge overload – everything is aimed towards consistent busy work. It’s usually an identical; start a riot, deliver some goods etc etc. Everything is similar; there are simply no surprises. What the following Assassin’s Creed needs is a more organic game world; one less controlled by the handful of side quests so wanting to eat up it slow and a spotlight. Ubisoft needn’t throw everything in our faces. It doesn’t should be signposted – let gamers find the extra challenges……have faith.

A large portion of this problem comes from the undeniable fact that you’ll only speak to the folks the sport wants you too; aside from the handful of characters ACIII wants you to deal with, the remainder of the inhabitants are essentially mindless, characterless drones. I appreciate that a factor of this is inevitable given the scale of the sport, but when it’s good to take successful to the size on the way to create a denser, more believable game world, then so be it.

Despite being utterly gorgeous, the total experience felt more like a 3D postcard than a genuinely tangible, real place. Sure, i’ll climb the buildings and run across their rooftops, but despite the shiny, HD exterior, i used to be always under the impression that behind these beautiful facades, lay little greater than a blank, empty space. Like a gorgeous but ultimately vacant ghost town at the wrong side of the Korean border, Assassin’s Creed world looks the part, but never quite appears like a living, breathing entity. An identical goes for the folks – yes, the core cast are mostly great, but again, get past the handful of primary characters and there’s simply no life behind the eyes of the world’s other inhabitants.

For this reason that, come 4 months from now, chances are high, i’m able to have forgotten nearly all of Assassin’s Creed III with its problems likely to remain fresh within the memory than its positives. Shenmue though? Well, 13 years on and I’ll still regale very nearly anybody willing to list listen at the games’ many, many virtues…………and if there may be nobody to listen, I’ll often find the closest rooftop. Why? Notably else, it’d be the believability of its game world and its host of memorable charaters. They weren’t all their to push the tale forward, a few of them, some o fthe best basically, were simply there because, well, that’s where they lived. They went about their business and would chat if spoken too, but these characters did not want you to deliver anything, they’d no real interest in starting a riot; they simply were.

Yes, neither Shenmue or its superior sequel can touch Assassin’s Creed for scale, but everything in them, from the incidental details at a native grocery stand to the wrinkles on an old ladies face are full of the type of unique character and a focus that Assassin’s Creed is so often lacking. Shenmue doesn’t feel like a game world, it looks like a global, an international that arguably, despite being created over a decade ago, has yet to be bested. For better or for worse (counting on your perspective), Shenmue, in my humble opinion, continues to be probably the most immersive game world ever created.

It could have invisible walls and is unquestionably not expansive by modern standards, but whereas Assassin’s Creed III is rife with locations that I forget the instant I run past them, i locate myself capable of recall virtually every nook and cranny of Shenmue’s smaller but infinitely more interesting world.

With a higher-gen just round the corner, i’m hoping that developers heed this warning; bigger will not be necessarily better. It isn’t how much one can fit right into a game, it is the quality of what’s there.

Shenmue 3 or simply Cause 3?……..Yeah, that is what i presumed.

1. Looking back on the Line – Potential game of the year? Not quite.
2. Assassin’s Creed III – Preview
3. PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed 3 may have exclusive content
4. Psychonauts 2 = Shenmue III? The Manchester City solution to videogame financing.
5. Things I hate about videogames part 1: Making videogames longer than they must be.
6. Best videogame ending ever? Call of Duty: Black Ops you are saying? Bollocks I say.
7. Great Games on the cheap – The Club (Xbox 360/PS3)
8. Resonance of Fate – a steep learning curve or a vertical one?
9. Games to play before you die – Part 1: Shenmue
10. Alpha Protocol – terribly good?

Battlefield 4 looks pretty good, doesn’t it? Like lots of you, we’ve spent more time than we should always have going over the 17 minutes of gameplay and looking to glean any new information we will.

It’s a dense 17 minutes, too, highlighting shiny next-gen visuals, lovely new effects and plenty of, many explosions. But what does the hot gameplay really let us know about Battlefield 4 and what it is going to eventually be want to pay?

What are we able to study DICE’s Battlefield 4 from the ‘vertical slice’ of gameplay it has shown off?

Well, listed here are five stuff you might have missed…

It is all about multiplayer (really)

If there’s some thing that DICE’s 17 minutes of gameplay proves, it’s that Battlefield should follow what it knows and concentrate on multiplayer.

If anyone came faraway from the footage and thought ‘yeah, it looks amazing, but haven’t I played that game before?’ would have correct.

It’s since you have played it before, and it was just alright.

Multiplayer however is where the action is and if the gameplay shown off in Battlefield 4’s trailer is anything to move by, potential for multiplayer is off the charts.

Bigger maps, more players, more vehicles, more complex gametypes and everything looking and sounding like what’s already been shown off: amazing.

Ignore Battlefield 4’s single-player, let’s just specialise in what the multiplayer can do because if this trailer is anything to move by, it’ll be something very special.

It’s not quite as next-gen as you think

There’s no denying that there are elements of Battlefield 4’s gameplay that look totally stunning, but there also are parts where you can actually quite clearly see that it is a next-gen game with one foot stuck long ago.

There may well be hundreds of birds flying around, but doesn’t the grass look somewhat low res?

And what in regards to the water and people canned splash animations?

It all looked just a little non-interactive and basic surface detail that isn’t quite as impressive because the rest.

Trifling concerns, we all know, but if everything looks amazing, these details stand out like enormous sore thumbs.

Obviously, Battlefield 4 is a piece in progress, so there’s every chance it’s going to look even better when it releases, but at the moment it is easy to peer where the present-gen ends and the following-gen begins.

Real actors

Probably the foremost impressive aspect of Battlefield 4 needs to be the digital faces on display.

We’ll ignore the truth that their still generic soldiers with clichéd personalities and concentrate on the truth that Battlefield 4 has among the most visually impressive faces we’ve ever seen.

The potential for telling more engaging and believable stories in games is unprecedented.

Will Battlefield 4 be that game? Not really, it’s macho military nonsense and not using a sense of irony or understanding, however can be all of the more engaging as a result incredible tech on display.

More interaction, please

You may have each of the next-gen graphics you desire, but if the gameplay is five years old (and counting) it’s hard to get that excited.

It is simple to distract those with the shiny tech, though, and it’s surprising so few gamers have picked up it.

Battlefield 4 is again displaying just how much of a current-gen experience it’s with next-gen graphics.

Setpieces that wrestle camera control far from you, QTEs (Press F to chop leg) and such a lot of sections of gameplay where you’re asked to follow the person. Where were each of the next-gen ideas?

Again, we shouldn’t worry an excessive amount of, here is only a glimpse at what Battlefield 4 is set and besides, there’s always multiplayer.

It truly is only the beginning

The main thing we must always get rid of from DICE’s Battlefield 4 reveal – and that’s the reason including both the nice and the bad – is this is the very start of the subsequent-gen, things are just going to get well from here.

Remember how impressed everyone was with Kameo and Condemned back within the day?

Well, Battlefield 4 is today’s Condemned (kind of). As a minimum inside the sense that it’s an early next-gen game that appears impressive now, but only represents the top of the iceberg with regards to the opportunity of the subsequent generation of consoles.

In case you have not seen it yet (really?), here’s the complete Battlefield 4 gameplay trailer:

[mpu]

Yes, i do know ; the generation isn’t done yet – for a start, we’ve still got GTA V, BioShock Infinite and the Last folks to return; all games that would very realistically make their way onto this list upon release. But you recognize what – i do not care. Sometimes it’s fun to do lists and by God, that’s exactly what i will do. Here, if it make you are feeling any better, just consider it because the ‘Top 10(ish) Games of the Generation as much as and Including the 15th of March 2013′. It should not be catchy, but when you’re a stickler for the facts, it’ll certainly can help you sleep at night.

Anywho, with that long winded caveat out of ways, i will get all the way down to the business of regaling you with my favourite games of the generation. Ross and that i actually spoke about this at length at the most up-to-date episode of Brashcast (test it out here) and, while the vast majority of this list is interchangeable, my top 3 are both absolutely set in stone and bizarrely enough, totally different from Ross’ (although i believe which may have something to do with my general malaise toward Bathesda games). Now, before anyone gets too upset on the loss of Skyrim and the such, allow me to emphasise that i am removed from unaware of their qualities and charms; they only don’t click with me – maybe it is the combat, maybe it is the weird looking NPCs, but despite my best efforts, I just don’t enjoy them……….strange that I loved Dragon’s Dogma up to I did. Go figure.

As I said, you most likely shouldn’t take the site too seriously for numbers 10 through 4 as these really may be in any order with several honourable mentions added which may have easily made the pinnacle 10 if I had, say, compiled this list on a Tuesday in place of a Friday (essentially, it has seen changes to the order from the list presented at the podcast earlier this week), but yes; those top 3 – they’re golden.

10) – Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

Lost Odyssey is a game very near to my heart and stands as certainly one of my favourite gaming experiences of the generation (hence its place at the list i assume). a conventional JRPG experience within the finest sense of the word, Lost Odyssey is an outstanding game and a fine option for those disillusioned by Final Fantasy XIII’s streamlined, largely linear design.

Some may find it a bit too ‘old school’, but with its fascinating lead, great writing and brilliant game world, Lost Odyssey proves to be the 360’s finest JRPG at an absolute canter…..although which could have something to do with the final loss of stiff competition. Ni No Kuni may force its way onto the list after I play it, but because it stands, Lost Odyssey remains to be the only to conquer.

9) – Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo Wii)

It will not be everybody’s favourite Zelda, heck, it’s not likely most oldsters favourite Zelda at the Wii, but for me (does that make me sound like Alan Shearer?), it’s right up there with the ideal that the series has to provide. i believe plenty of that has to do with the art design that I absolutely adore, but perhaps greater than anything, it would be that final battle which needs to be right up there amongst essentially the most memorable boss battles of all time.

I appreciate that it being originally developed for and simultaneously released on GameCube make this game borderline ‘last-gen’, but personally, I got it at launch with the Wii and thus has become somewhat synonymous with the console. Either way; it’s an utterly fantastic game.

– Portal 2 (Xbox 360 / PS3)

How the hell did Valve be capable of spring Portal on us? Every other developer or publisher will be screaming the virtues of a game of that quality from the rooftops months prior to release, but Valve, no, they go and sneak it onto a compilation including 4 others games with essentially zero fanfare. It was a bizarre but ultimately inspired decision as, given the volume of content at the disc, it often took gamers weeks if not months to finally get around to this hidden little gem…..but if they did; what a treat. What a downright pleasant surprise. On this age of knowledge overload, it’s borderline absurd that a game of this quality could essentially sneak up at the gaming masses, but that’s exactly what it did.

Valve’s spiritual successor to 2005’s independently released freeware game, Narbacular Drop, Portal and it’s near perfect sequel have gone directly to become two of this generations most beloved titles. Despite the outstandingly high standards of the unique, Valve, as Valve often do, outstripped all however the most unrealistic of expectations by delivering a sequel that improved upon essentially every aspect of the original’s design – ok, so the tip credits song was admittedly better in Portal 1 (i do not know the way which can possibly be topped anyway), but despite this most minor of caveats, Portal 2 is the very best product in barely about every way. The puzzles are more expansive, the visuals improved and, I’m being serious here, Portal 2 might just have the smartest videogame script ever; a script helped no end by some truly stellar delivery……..whilst I write this i feel about moving it further up the list.

7) – Project Gotham Racing 3 (360)

I’m sure this would possibly not be on too many top 10 lists come the generation’s end, but i do not believe I’ve put such a lot of hours into some other racer………possibly ever. With its near perfect balance of realism and arcade sensibilities, each car to your virtual garage is a joy to behold, and because of the inspired kudos system, something so simple as a single corner is actually transformed right into a mini-challenge unto itself.

Not proud of simply continuing at the series’ fine tradition of painstaking recreation, varied challenges and super slick gameplay, Project Gotham Racing 3 almost single handedly dragged early adopters into the subsequent generation of gaming; from its striking high definition visuals to its then incomparable online integration, Project Gotham 3, greater than some other launch title, managed to successfully sell the main concepts of next-gen gaming to the loads.

6) – Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)

I’m unlikely to lie – i have never been exactly enamoured with the PS3. Yes, it has its positives, but honestly, as a bit of hardware, i locate it very difficult to like – substandard ports, mandatory installs and quite possibly, the longest update times known to man have all combined to make the PS3 slightly, well, a little a chore if I’m to be honest. So, thank God for games like Metal Gear Solid 4, a game so good, it somehow makes the console for which it was built look superior by association.

Despite my issues with the hardware, the PS3 have been host to a set of amazing first party content (only the shooting mechanics have kept Uncharted from making this list), but despite the array of quality on display, it’s Metal Gear Solid 4 that effortlessly stood out from the Sony crowd.

Of course, it’s not for everybody and, as one might expect, is home to a virtually incomprehensible story, but Snake’s final flourish (?) is nonetheless a borderline masterpiece of recent game and art design and is just bettered by the genuinely unforgettable Metal Gear Solid 3.

5) – Gears of War (360)

Despite the unique only being released 6 years ago, it’s already easy to forget just how innovative and impactful the primary Gears of War game really was. Beyond ushering in genuine next-gen visuals, it popularised, and arguably perfected cover shooting mechanics, and managed to take action at the first attempt no less. Apart from possibly Platinum Games’, Vanquish, no game has come just about matching Gear’s pitch perfect cover system. Yes, it’s dependent upon a plethora of conveniently placed, waist high walls, but if the gameplay is as enjoyable because it is here, it becomes all of the easier to suspend ones belief.

Sure, the tale and characters are mostly mince, however the testosterone fuelled script and beefcake visuals perfectly match the on screen gameplay and, man, those visuals sure are great aren’t they? Obviously, they’ve since been trumped, most glaringly by its gorgeous looking sequels, but when it comes to initial impact, few games this gen have managed to compare the initial Gears of War for sheer wow factor.

4) – Mass Effect 2 (360 / PS3)

The story of Commander Shepard may vary looking on your choices but something that continues to be universal is the standard of the overriding experience. Mass Effect could have successfully laid the rules however it was the games’ far superior sequel that actually brought BioWare’s unforgettable universe to life.

By ironing out the faults of the primary game and building on its already rock solid foundations, Mass Effect 2 proved one in every of this generation’s most unforgettable gaming experiences. Mass Effect 2 delivered a very flexible combat system, a memorable cast of characters and arguably some of the generation’s finest videogame narratives. Helped no end by BioWare’s game changing conversation wheel and film standard voice work, Mass Effect 2 proved a gripping, hugely addictive experience………still haven’t played Mass Effect 3 though – what’s that about?

3) – Vanquish (360)

I said it in my review and I’ll say it again – this may be the good game ever created. It’s cool in that way that only Japanese developers and writers look in a position to break out with. For one, Sam Gideon ought to be a whole douche, and in many ways he’s, but burning around on his knees, talking shit and smoking far too many cigarettes, he somehow comes out any other side looking, and here’s that word all over again, ‘cool’. From the clean, crisp art design to the ultra-tight gameplay, nearly everything in Vanquish works. Sure, that you need to argue that it’s just another cover shooter, but if it’s person who arguably surpasses its primary inspiration, who am I to argue with its existence?

There were a bunch of canopy shooters this gen, but except for Vanquish, few, despite the appropriate efforts of such games as Binary Domain, have come near matching Epic’s initial tackle the mechanic. Not just does Vanquish match it mechanically, nonetheless it also manages to inject some much needed pace within the sort of the inspired knee slide boost, something which, let’s be honest, don’t have worked, but in practice, is an absolute joy. i’m an unashamed Platinum Games super fan and despite the brilliance of Bayonetta et al, I genuinely believe that Vanquish possibly their finest work to this point. Perhaps it’s not as tight as Bayonetta, but hey, what am i able to say, i like giant Japanese robots (or are they Russian?).

2) – Red Dead Redemption (360 / PS3)

I’ve always appreciated the Grand Theft Auto series greater than I’ve actually enjoyed it. Each game within the series has proved technically outstanding, have all deliver huge amounts of content and are about as cinematic as gaming experiences get. The article is though, as great as they could be, I’ve always found the realism of every games’ setting quite jarring against the flat out outrageous back drop of mass murder, maiming and customarily blowing sh*t up. Sure the cops rock up in the event you really get out of hand, but get some decent distance between yourself and the chasing pack and all is forgotten.

Thanks to the wild west setting and the more devastating effect of basic weaponry, the tale and subsequent actions of the player in Red Dead Redemption felt more natural and in sync than in any of the Grand Theft Auto games that came before it. Simply put, Rock Star had found the correct setting for his or her exceptional brand of sandbox gaming and boy did they run with it.

Red Dead Redemption’s world, while inevitably a quieter place than the bustling today’s Liberty City, is a piece of creative genius. Visually, it’s as stunning as anything you can find this gen, the tale is compelling, its characters both memorable and unique…..and that ending, my God that ending. Considering how much time people often spend with a game, it’s amazing just how little effort goes into the finale of even the superior games. Red Dead Redemption’s is poignant, thought provoking and entirely befitting of the experience that comes before it. Simply put, it is a masterpiece.

0 1)– Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

It was always going to take something very special to maintain Rock Star’s, Red Dead Redemption from claiming the highest honour and that is exactly what Super Mario Galaxy 2 is – something very special indeed. Nearly as good because the other games in this list are, nothing comes just about the pure gaming joy of Nintendo’s implausibly good Super Mario Galaxy 2. i’d honestly go as far to claim that i’ll play this game forever. With all 240 stars within the bank, i will not help but return to this tour de force in videogame design time and time again.

Back when the unique was released in 2007, I honestly thought Nintendo had painted themselves right into a corner. I mean, how could they possibly top something quite so brilliant? The truth that they did so and just 3 years later continues to be something of a mystery to me. As great because the first game was, Mario Galaxy 2 trumps it on with reference to every level – the extent design in improved, the soundtrack much more magical and the visuals just that little more crisp and imaginative.

I often ask myself an identical question now as I did back in 2007 – how are Nintendo going to top this? Only Nintendo have the reply to that query – and that is the reason why they’re Nintendo i assume. The proper game? It just probably can be.

Honourable Mentions – Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4, Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter, Bayonetta, Street Fighter IV, Rayman Origins, Journey, The Orange Box, Dragon’s Dogma

1. Best videogame ending ever? Call of Duty: Black Ops you assert? Bollocks I say.
2. 2011 – 5 Games that Deserved Better
3. Games as art – are we there yet?
4. Great Games on the cheap – The Club (Xbox 360/PS3)
5. What’s the toughest game of this generation and are all of us going somewhat soft?
6. This generation’s most valiant misfire – Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
7. Next generation consoles……..who needs ‘em?
8. Platinum Games’ next game is………
9. Brash Games’ Top 5 Games of 2010
10. Song Packs from Alternative Rock Bands Announced!