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11.9.10
Riots in the streets. International economies faltering. The world entering a dark period of history. Alright, maybe that's an exaggeration, but still; many of you have confused about the lack of content on Gamer's Guide to Life recently. Are we abandoning you, the wonderful public? Nope.
We're simply making GGTL better.
Since earlier this month, we've been hard at work on a brand new Gamer's Guide design. 'Sleek', 'elegant' and 'crisp' only begin to describe the intense beauty the new website will have. Of course, in order to get this redesign up, we've had to pool a lot of our time into creation, so the amount of content we post has dropped.
Unfortunately, we're going to stay silent for a while longer. With any luck, the new GGTL will appear on browsers the world over in late September, or very early October 2010. Until then, we might have the ability to drip-feed some of our wondrous writings to you, but the majority of effort will be going towards the new site. However, we can assure you that as soon as the new site launches, we'll have a hurricane of literary brilliance pouring out from our golden gates.
We do apologise for the lack of updates over these coming weeks, but when you see what we've crafted, we're very sure you'll be utterly blown away. Until then, check out our sister site SystemLink, which is finally up and running, covering all the gaming news around. We'll see you next month!
Labels: Chris Hawke, Gamer's Guide to Life, GGTL, Redesign
- Chris Hawke
Firstly, an apology. I know, I know; opening on a sombre note, right? Well, remember our Fallout: New Vegas community interview? It's been a few months since we've heard anything back, and that's because the development team have been really super busy making the game as awesome as possible. Since Gamescom's almost over, we're hoping to get them back in the coming fortnight, but we apologise for taking so long. We'll try our hardest to get these RAGE answers back as soon as possible!
Man, that was a downer. But get ready to put your EPIC HAPPY FACE ON, because Gamer's Guide to Life.com is once again giving you, the loving public, the chance to have your questions answered by the RAGE dev team! It's so rad, it deserves CAPITAL LETTERS EVERYWHERE, and AT LEAST two exclamation marks!!
Details after the jump.
You can ask just about anything, from the use of MegaTextures to the reason behind the surprisingly blue sky in id Software's upcoming post-apocalyptic FPS. Go as in-depth as you want in your interrogation, and make sure you really ask the things most on your mind.
How do you get involved in this wonderful exercise in democracy? Easy...
Pop it in the comments section
Possibly the easiest way to ask your question from this page is via the comments system. You can login using your Disqus, Twitter, OpenID or Yahoo account, or can comment as a guest too. It's so quick, even a turtle can do it! Well, a turtle with fingers and a basic grasp of English...
Contact us via Twitter
Have a Twitter account? Tweet us your question. All you need to do is send us a message via @ggtl. And please use the GGTL hashtag, #ggtl: not only will your tweet show up on the right of the website, but we can also easily track down any questions you've sent.
Use something called an... email?
If you're not a fan of comments systems or social networking, you're in luck. Scientists from Area 51 have just invented something called an 'email', so you can send us a question through the ether! What next? A 140 character limit on those messages?! Send your question to chrishawke@gamersguidetolife.com and we'll do our best to include it.
With over three-hundred questions asked last time, we can't get every single one in there, but we do try and squeeze in as many as possible, so don't hesitate to try it out. We'll stop taking questions late on Wednesday 25th.
What are you waiting for? Get to it! To make sure you don't miss out on the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas answers, the not-too-distant RAGE answers, or any other community-driven interviews we're doing (there are loads in the pipeline, we assure you), follow our Twitter. Oh, and don't forget that our sister-site, SystemLink, is hiring. Because for every shameless plug we do, a baby seal is set free. Aww.
Labels: Community Interview, Exclusive, GGTL, id Software, RAGE
- Chris Hawke
Welcome, one and all, to yet another in-depth analysis from the Gamer's Guide to Life.com eagle-eyed workers! Following on from our Assassin's Creed 3 close-up, we're back with more pictures and explanatory detective work than you can shake a Chimeran stick at. We're sorry if the page loads slowly, and remember that you can view the pictures in full-res glory by right clicking and pressing 'view image' or similar. Take your seats, get the popcorn, and start booting up your inner-nerd: we're going in...
The trailer, which you can see here, starts with an unknown man jumping onto a moving train. There are five other people in there, and it's pretty clear these guys are the resistance - no army, no special forces, just a bunch of people wanting their home back.
We close up on them as they nervously fiddle with amulets and look a bit grumpy. Here's where it all kicks off. After various long shots of the American countryside (ohh, isn't it nice?), we see two spiders. The first is the horrible little creature you and I kill in the bathroom every so often, but the second is much more evil.
In case it hasn't hit home - we lost. The Chimera won, and have control over parts, or even the whole, of America. To makes things even more clear...
In the centre, you can see a rather large, hulking beast roaming the lands. Humankind just got pwned. This shot also hides a secret - you should just be able to make out a red nuclear sign, probably saying 'Warning' or the like. Did the US nuke their own soil? Do the aliens have WMDs?
But enough of that - there's some dead guys to look at - there's one just in front of that truck. Ouch...
And here's the big find...
Not only do you see a poster for New York, seemingly the games setting, but look just to the left of that - it's an image of an arch...
You can see the real thing just before the tunnel - what is it? We believe it's called the Gateway Arch - and it's in St. Louis, Missouri. So, why is the train in the mid-east of the USA if the game is set in New York? We have no idea. This group of resistance fighters aren't the main characters, remember, so we could just be seeing parts of the US that are 'worst hit'.
Want more info? Well, we managed to track down the exact line the train goes in to. The railroad going through the park, parallel to the Gateway Arch, is the TRRA Railroad, a part of the Union Pacific Railroad, which stretches from Chicago, Illinois (a playable area in Resistance 2) to the Pacific coast. The tunnel underneath the memorial steps is the Arch Grounds Rail Tunnel #2, built 1963 (same time that the Arch started construction) - we think either this, or the Arch Ground Rail Tunnel #3, is the tunnel you see in the image.
We're also noting that the arch began construction in 1963, and judging that it doesn't seem fully built in the image, and with construction ending 1965, the game must take place within that time window. It means we're looking at sequel to Resistance 2, which was set in the 1950s, not a prequel.
Now, the shooting starts. For being so good, here's a nice shot of a Chimera getting plugged:
And another cool snap of Craig The Chimera with lockjaw. Poor fella:
You can also see that the aliens still wear the heat packs that stop their bodies burning up:
And, finally, the title. It's seen from the point-of-view of the man we saw getting on the train at the start - he's been hurt, and he looks up at the wall of the train, before blacking out. You can clearly make out the Statue Of Liberty and Empire State Building inside the logo's letters, following the same trend of using landmarks of the game's setting in the logo as the previous two games.
So, that's it folks! If you see anything else, stick it in the comments, and don't forget to follow our Twitter. Oh, and if you want to join in with the Gamer's Guide to Life Network, we're hiring! See? It's always time for a shameless plug...
Labels: Analysis, GGTL, Resistance 3
- Chris Hawke
The summer is a time of year which, often, has a strong link to the happiest moments of your life. With the sun shining and big, booming, epic records blasting from the radio, it's as vivid a time as you are likely to experience. It's the time of year which heralds in the summer holidays, eight weeks of blissful nothingness before the work of the next school year, and the family holidays to summer houses and hotels by the sea which we all long for in the bleak midwinter.
It can also be a time of great sadness too, however, as the time comes to say goodbye to some aspects of your life and move, reluctantly, onto different things. Unfortunately, it seems that at Gamer's Guide to Life, not one summer can pass without us losing a member of our team to the all-consuming monster which we call 'life'.
Let me explain. Around the summer months, we usually start a push for new writers and new talent, ousting those writers who have disappeared or trailed off in their work and pushing for new, original and lovely content. It keeps our team fresh and motivated; ensures that GGTL keeps up its constant evolution and development and makes good on our promise of the best, most passionate independent writing you can find on the web.
The time surrounding this push is a form of hiatus on GGTL, in which we gear ourselves up for the long summer ahead, and some members of our team feel it the natural point at which to leave our ranks for pastures new. We've had two such departures this summer, and I'm sad to have to announce them to you.
The first of our team to break ranks and leave us this summer is Mr. Tyson Breen. Tyson's been with us a year, since July 2009, and has been a valuable member of our staff throughout the duration of his time here. We're sad to see him go but we all wish him luck in everything he does in the future. All his work can still be viewed using his archive page.
The second of the departures is Nintendo Section Editor, Mr. Sean Engemann. He has, unfortunately, had to re-examine his budget of time due to changes in his personal situation: chiefly supervision of his young daughter and a new job. Sean has been a constantly reliable and supremely dedicated member of our team since late last year, and we're reluctant to see him go but sympathise with his current situation. We wish him all the best. His previous work can be viewed on his archive page.
Lastly, Matthew Meadows - original founder of GGTL, Lead Editor between 2008-2009 and Managing editor during the second half of '09 and first half of 2010 - has officially left our team. Though much of our current team have hardly ever dealt with Matt, when I first joined GGTL in June '08 he taught me much of what I know about games journalism now, and I thank him for inviting me to join GGTL more than two years ago. We wish him all the very best in his current efforts at university, and all the best in the future. Everything Matt wrote during his lengthy time at GGTL since December 2007 can be viewed on his archive page.
Goodbye is never easy, but our next - even bigger task - is moving on and continuing to develop Gamer's Guide to Life during the summer months. We've got some big things planned and we hope you like them when they finally leave the shadowy darkness of the GGTL development laboratories.
Labels: Departures, GGTL, Writer's note
- Linford Butler
Gamer's Guide to Life.com is an independent videogames website based in the UK and focusing on providing quality games journalism optimised for UK-based readers, but relevant to others outside the UK also. Gamer's Guide to Life.com is currently edited by Lead Editor, Linford Butler. The site is owned and managed in the United Kingdom, currently by the Lead Editor.
Gamer's Guide to Life - or, as it became known, GGTL - was established in December 2007 by Matthew Meadows. Soon joined by fellow writers and friends Lewis O'Brien and James Grimshaw (affectionately known as Grimmy), Gamer's Guide to Life began to experiment with feature articles, editorial writing and the odd casual piece, all focusing on coverage of the games industry.
The site quickly grew after Linford Butler joined the team in June 2008. With a larger four-man team, coverage of the industry became more of a serious pursuit into the world of games journalism, in contrast to the prior casual nature of the site. Quickly establishing themselves as an upcoming name in games journalism, at least in the United Kingdom, Gamer's Guide to Life underwent a transformation, taking a direct and measured approach to serious games journalism and following the industry closely in order to provide unbiased and entertaining videogames coverage.
Gamer's Guide to Life underwent it's first major redesign and restructure in April 2009. This redesign saw the current version of the GGTL logo unveiled for the first time, based upon the structure of the old logo for familiarity but using Hand of Sean as its new official typeface. Hand of Sean was complimented by Liberation Serif, and the redesign saw this combination of official and serif font, and the first use of the official GGTL red as a main basis colour, used for the first time.
Around the same time, GGTL sadly said goodbye to two of the founding members of the site, Lewis and Grimmy, who both moved on to work on other things. However, the site was going strong and soon official positions were established, with Matthew Meadows as Lead Editor and Linford Butler taking the position of PlayStation 3 Editor. Jacques Hulme soon joined the ranks, taking Linford's old position as PlayStation 3 Editor. This saw Linford become Associate Editor, in a move which would form the first foundations of the Senior Editorial Team.
Gamer's Guide to Life underwent one major restaffing in autumn 2009, and another in January 2010. In December 2009, Matthew Meadows took the less-involved role of Managing Editor, and temporarily left the team due to commitments at university. He later left the site in May 2010. Linford Butler, working as Lead Editor, took charge of the management of the site, and under this role directed changes in team structure, staffing, policy and design of Gamer's Guide to Life.
Gamer's Guide to Life.com now has multiple writers coming from as far away as the United Kindom, the United States and the Dominican Republic. We focus solely on editorial content as of early 2010, and GGTL is the founding website of the Gamer's Guide to Life network of websites.
Gamer's Guide to Life - or, as it became known, GGTL - was established in December 2007 by Matthew Meadows. Soon joined by fellow writers and friends Lewis O'Brien and James Grimshaw (affectionately known as Grimmy), Gamer's Guide to Life began to experiment with feature articles, editorial writing and the odd casual piece, all focusing on coverage of the games industry.
The site quickly grew after Linford Butler joined the team in June 2008. With a larger four-man team, coverage of the industry became more of a serious pursuit into the world of games journalism, in contrast to the prior casual nature of the site. Quickly establishing themselves as an upcoming name in games journalism, at least in the United Kingdom, Gamer's Guide to Life underwent a transformation, taking a direct and measured approach to serious games journalism and following the industry closely in order to provide unbiased and entertaining videogames coverage.
Gamer's Guide to Life underwent it's first major redesign and restructure in April 2009. This redesign saw the current version of the GGTL logo unveiled for the first time, based upon the structure of the old logo for familiarity but using Hand of Sean as its new official typeface. Hand of Sean was complimented by Liberation Serif, and the redesign saw this combination of official and serif font, and the first use of the official GGTL red as a main basis colour, used for the first time.
Around the same time, GGTL sadly said goodbye to two of the founding members of the site, Lewis and Grimmy, who both moved on to work on other things. However, the site was going strong and soon official positions were established, with Matthew Meadows as Lead Editor and Linford Butler taking the position of PlayStation 3 Editor. Jacques Hulme soon joined the ranks, taking Linford's old position as PlayStation 3 Editor. This saw Linford become Associate Editor, in a move which would form the first foundations of the Senior Editorial Team.
Gamer's Guide to Life underwent one major restaffing in autumn 2009, and another in January 2010. In December 2009, Matthew Meadows took the less-involved role of Managing Editor, and temporarily left the team due to commitments at university. He later left the site in May 2010. Linford Butler, working as Lead Editor, took charge of the management of the site, and under this role directed changes in team structure, staffing, policy and design of Gamer's Guide to Life.
Gamer's Guide to Life.com now has multiple writers coming from as far away as the United Kindom, the United States and the Dominican Republic. We focus solely on editorial content as of early 2010, and GGTL is the founding website of the Gamer's Guide to Life network of websites.
- Linford Butler
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