Before I’d even heard of Tron, or seen another one of the 8962398146238 game clones of the Tron Light Cycle sequence, I had this – Light Cycle (Light Cycles on the title screen, for some reason) by PSS.

It was awesome. Looking back now, it looks basic even by Spectrum standards, but the gameplay is still there. I also don’t remember any other variant having the little “blips” around the edges, making edge-hugging impossible but opening up more chances to make the other player crash.

The emulator used is Qaop.

OK, so I managed 200 miles in the first month, then took 3.5 times that long to go just 1.5 times that far, but bear with me and my excuses. Firstly, I have tried to go out – honest. Nearly every week I’ve at least gone out a few times, although the glory days of a daily ride are long gone. However, I have generally been cycling further and faster when I have been out, so that makes up for it a bit.

The problems I’ve had include the weather (in particular, half of February was dreadful), my bike (the rear axle snapped, so I was without it a week while it was repaired) and two bouts of illness (including a lengthy spell of labyrinthitis – which wasn’t nice). However, where I couldn’t get out and it was practical, I did hit the exercise bike instead. Sure, it’s not the same, and I opted to not let the mileage from that count towards my goal, but had I done so then I could add another 120 or so miles to that 500, making it around 120 miles a month rather than 85-ish.

Anyway! Excuses are excuses.

Some good news: the weather is (generally) improving now, so I’m getting out a bit more often again. As I said, I’m also riding further – in January I’d usually go 4-5 miles a day, now it’s 8-10. I’ve also cycled 12 and 15 miles a few more times, and last Saturday I really went for it and managed 25.7. I was very pleased with myself. My general fitness has really improved too, with my “recovery time” after a ride now being virtually nil, and I’m able to maintain average speeds of 13.5mph+ rather than 11.5/12. Yes, it’s still not fast, but these are comfortable rides, not races. I’m also coping much better with hills.

Finally, there’s the fact that this Sunday I’m doing a charity cycle ride. It’s 19 miles, and even though I did 25 last weekend, I’m still not sure it’s going to be easy. Not least because the forecast is wind and rain, but also because I suspect the 25 miles one was a bit of a fluke. We’ll see!

In terms of “spending” my miles, I’m doing well. As in, I’ve only spent half of them. At the time of writing this means I have £250 in the cycle bank for my Wii U, if it comes out this year. Unfortunately, my Xbox 360 is slowly dying a painful death so I might need a new one of them sooner than that!

It is, of course, completely broken. Like everything else on xbox.com, whenever I’m asked anything about what I use my Xbox for, I’m careful to point out “Games”. And nothing else. No films, TV, music, social networking, chicken farming or strategic planning. Or Kinect.

So I answered with:

Which gave me this profile:

Um. Right.

(I’ve removed the picture because it had kids in it).

However, I have now found my new Mac laptop is pretty decent at playing PC games, and, with a HDMI connector and an Xbox controller, I can play it on the TV sat on the sofa, with a joypad.

Then I saw Batman: Arkham City for £11.60 for the PC. And I bought it. Here is a chronicle of the events that followed. Disclaimer: I have rubbish broadband, which didn’t really help matters.

On Wednesday, I installed Origin (which was a 10 minute download) and bought Batman. I set it to download. 70+ hours later (constantly!), on Saturday morning, it was done, so I excitedly ran it. Up popped a message from Games for Windows Live saying I needed to sign in. So I did. Then it spent over an hour downloading my Live profile. Then it told me an update for Games for Windows Live was necessary, so I set it to download.

It finished downloading about 20 hours later, on Sunday morning. At no point did it tell me how much it needed to download, so I had no idea how long it was going to take. Once the update had installed, I then had to sign in again, and it decided to download my profile again. It “only” took about 20 minutes that time.

Finally! I can play Batman, right?

No. There was another update – this time for the game itself. So I left that to download and install. And, at 9pm, eventually, I could play the game. Just 100-odd hours after I bought it. Hurrah for digital copies and their super-fast delivery mechanisms! Saved me the minutes I’d need to buy it from Asda, at least. Oh, wait.

Sure. My connection is rubbish, and yeah, this is just one game, but I’m wishing I’d bought the 360 version instead. In fact, I still might. I’m not sure slightly shinier graphics is really worth the hassle.

As a related comment to this, I have tried Steam too. I quite like Steam, for what it is, but when you forget to update your games for offline play, then try to play offline (as I have to because my connection is so rubbish Steam keeps detecting I don’t have one) – you can’t. Which is more than a pain.

At least I’ve not had to fiddle with graphics drivers and controller configs (Batman just switches to Xbox Controller Mode, which is nice) yet. I did have to turn the virus killer (Microsoft Security Essentials) off though, as 20 minutes into the game the framerate dropped to nothing as a scheduled scan kicked in…

Kid Icarus: Uprising brings the action and adventure of the beloved series to new heights – and new visual dimensions – on the Nintendo 3DS system.

5. escapeVektor (Wii)

Criminally overlooked, this WiiWare gem is a fantastic Painter-type arcade game. I played it from start to finish in almost a single sitting, and although it’s pretty short, it was excellent fun with a perfect difficulty curve. There’s a 3DS port/update/sequel coming, and I’m really looking forward to it!

4. Red Dead Redemption (360)

GTA with horses. That might sound like I’m putting it down, but in fact, I’m praising it. And, somehow, Rockstar managed to make a world which is 99% wilderness interesting and varied. It’s not without problems  - not least the controls, which is a hanger-on issue from GTA – but it’s a great game with a great story. Yes, even the bit right near the end where the MASSIVE SPOILER. And horses.

3. Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (3DS)

In the run up to the 3DS release, when I still wasn’t sure if I was going to get one or not, I pretty much ignored launch title Shadow Wars because it had yawn-snore-tedious-soldier-game-klaxon-trigger “Ghost Recon” in the title. Then I found it was, in fact, a turn based strategy game from the creator of X-Com. Just like that, my thoughts went from “meh, whatever” to “OMGNEED”, and with my 3DS in my hands (I’m weak) it was swiftly bought. It’s still my most played 3DS game too!

2. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

The best Mario Kart. I think that’s all that needs to be said, yes?

1. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (360)

It was just a chance lull that caused me to pick up Assassin’s Creed II at some point last year. I’d picked it up cheap a while before, but never really thought about actually playing it as although I’d mostly enjoyed the original game, I wasn’t impressed enough to leap on the sequel. I’m glad I did – it turned out to be one of the best games I played all year. So impressed was I, that I desperately needed to carry on with the story, so grabbed Brotherhood. Which was even better.

At first, I wasn’t so sure though. It was too different from ACII. There was only (really) one city. I didn’t like that I’d been “nerfed” and had to regain most of my weapons and skills, although I did like how they achieved that in-game. I didn’t like having to train assassins and send them on missions. And I didn’t like having to buy all the houses and buildings.

Then, of course, everything changed as I played and I started loving those things. Getting to OCD levels with them. Spending longer collecting things and buying things and managing my assassins than actually playing the game. And it was all glorious.

And the rest:

Just a quick mention of some of the other great games I played in 2011. First off, the 5 Back to the Future episodes on PSN. Despite struggling with the controls (partly because of the PS3 pad, partly because they’re just awkward in the game anyway), the story was brilliant and the puzzles better than those in other Telltale games, like Tales from Monkey Island and Strongbad. I’d be more than happy if they turned the story from these 5 episodes into a second BTTF film trilogy, actually.

Pullblox was a surprise bit of downloaded awesomeness for the 3DS. A clever puzzle game with a billion levels and a level designer (which you can swap levels with others via QR code), and, most importantly, Super Happy Fun Blue Skies. Yay!

Then there’s another game that needs a mention, but shouldn’t really appear in the top 5 even though it’s probably better than anything else I played in 2011: Fallout New Vegas. I played through all the remaining DLC, and spent another 60-odd hours with it. I just couldn’t make it the best game of 2011 since I already made it the best game of 2010. Hmm.

This looks even better though! Apart from the voice acting. Not too sure about Lego games with voice acting yet…

Now that we have erased them from all of time, let us instead look at Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD – the second best thing that could ever happen(*). A remake of levels from THPS games, in HD. On XBLA. Yes.

NEED.

* The best thing would be a 3DS compilation of THPS1-4, but this’ll do for now.

Because he’s walking in the air. And in the wall.

Got this bug last night. It’s odd, as I didn’t get anything this bad in the previous two AC games.

The Sonic Cycle wheel, of course. I will not be suckered again (you know I will) after the disappointment that was Sonic 4. And Sonic Colours. And two versions of Sonic Generations. I think that word pretty much sums up Sonic games these days – disappointment.

A single play of the Sonic 4 Episode 2 trailer already shows some obvious problems. Firstly, most importantly, and most obviously – Tails. Gnnh. Just kill him off already. Then there’s the “fixed physics”: Sega reported a while ago they were retuning the broken Episode 1 physics. Blatantly they have not. Just look at it – a mess.

One of the problems I had with Episode 1 was how most of the levels were made up of graphics from previous Sonic games, and it’s clear there’s more of the same here. Remember Aquatic Ruin? Sega are hoping you don’t. Looks like Marble Garden in there too.

In addition, why is Sonic still running through walls, destroying them with his face? Stupid. And homing attacks are still in. STOP IT.

Excitement level: blurrgh.

You can, of course, just swap your old card for your new one, but then any pictures you’ve taken and games you’ve downloaded and “extra data” and stuff won’t be on there unless you swap cards again. And we all know that swapping SD cards is the worst of all First World Problems.

Using this method, you can transfer everything from your old card onto your new card:

1. Mount your old card on your computer.
2. Create a folder on your computer and copy EVERYTHING from the card to it.
3. While it’s doing that, put your new card in your 3DS and turn the 3DS on. It’ll initialise the card for you.
4. When both these have finished, mount the new card in your computer.
5. Open the folder you made on your computer, and copy everything to the root of the new card. If you’re asked to overwrite folders, or merge folders, say “yes”.
6. When the copying has finished, you’re almost there. Next, on the new card, open the folder called “Nintendo 3DS”. Inside there will be folder with a huge string of letters and numbers for the name – open that.
7. Inside that folder will be two folders with long random names. One of these is the folder tied to your old card, the other is the one tied to your new card. Simply copy the contents (not the folder itself) of the old one (it’ll be the one with the larger filesize) into the other one – merging and overwriting again if necessary.
8. Put the new card back in your 3DS, reboot it if necessary, and you’re away!

Sorry, not Mario Kart. Some other game that’s nothing like it.

In those 8 days, I have already blown my required 17.5 miles-a-week average out of the water, cycling over 50 miles. OK, that’s 8 days not 7, but still. It was 40 on the 7th day anyway. And you know what? I’ve enjoyed it. Sure, I’ve not enjoyed the oh-god-its-2-degrees-outside, 25-mph-winds-WHATness of last week, but after a couple of miles on each trip I was into it and enjoying it. Which is good, right?

I decided to treat myself by spending 22 miles on a copy of Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS. Hurrah!

That isn’t a problem though, as I’ve plenty of other things to play, and they’ll drop in price eventually. Except Mario, of course, which won’t. Ever. Hmm.

There is also an issue with the £18 Rule, in that I can still buy as many games that are less than £18 as I like. Mainly, this was downloadable titles for XBLA, the 3DS and the Wii last year. And they all add up. In terms of value for money, a £40 Skyrim purchase would do me better than the 7 or 8 downloaded titles I probably bought instead. Which means I buy more games, although generally still do spend less. Perhaps.

This year, I’ve decided on something different. Why not apply a physical limit on game purchases, instead of a monetary one? And so it has come to pass that I am announcing…

The Pound A Mile Challenge

The basic rule is this: for every mile I cycle, I’m allowed to spend one pound.

That’s it. Simple, right? There are a few additional rules, however:

1) Miles must be earned before being spent.
2) Game prices do not include postal charges.
3) Store credit, vouchers, etc. can be used instead of (or in addition to) miles.

With this rule, I hope to rethink how much I really want a game. Is it worth me going out cycling for 30 miles in order to buy Mario 3D Land? I also hope to get fitter simply through desire for a game.

One challenge this year will be the Wii U. I’m expecting the price to be around £200. Which means, I’ll need to cycle 200 miles to get it. Not all in one go, of course. I’m not Jochta. I’ll really need to work for it!

Last year, I spent just shy of £900 on games and game “stuff”. If the same is true this year, I’ll need to cycle 900 miles in 12 months. On average, I’ll need to be doing about 17.5 miles a week to spend that much. To some, like HarpingOn and Jochta and people who are not me in general, that’s not a lot, but it’s above my current average so I’m going to have to train harder and for longer. That’s not such a problem in the nice weather, as I can easily manage 8-10 miles in a day (in my current fitness state – hopefully this will improve!), but at the moment 4 to 5 miles is the norm. I may have to “stock up” the miles over the summer in order to see me through the winter!

Ultimately then, I’ll end up doing one or the other of these:

1) Being unable to keep up the mileage, so spend less on games, or
2) Being able to buy whatever games I want, so end up fitter.

Either outcome is a win, although 2) is clearly the target

I’ve not bothered with a dull list of each and every game I’ve bought in this post (they’re pretty much all on my Gaming Diary anyway), but I do have the cold hard numbers to excite you with. And pie charts!

In all, I spent £888.22 this year. Last year, that figure was just £590.32, almost £300 less. However, there are two things to bear in mind: 1) Last year I didn’t buy any consoles, whereas this year I got both a 3DS and a PS3, and 2) Last year I broke the £20 Rule by buying Fallout New Vegas for almost £70, and this year I haven’t broken the £18 Rule at all.

Here’s how the hardware/software split works out:

And 65.2% of £888? £579 – just under last year’s software spend. I expect a similar situation this year when the Wii U comes out, as I’ll need one of them. Yes, need.

How did the spending break down by platform?

Last year, it was 45% Wii, 34.5% 360 and not much else. This year, it’s a whopping 32.6% 3DS, and the 360 and Wii taking 2nd and 3rd places. This chart does take hardware into account, however, so most of that 12% PS3 slice is actually the console – I haven’t bought many PS3 games.

Finally, the spend by medium:

This shows a surprising increase from 25% to almost 35% for downloaded software (the chart doesn’t include hardware). Much of this is due to the huge number of 3DS Virtual Console and eShop games I’ve bought, but also a general increase in the number of 360 and Wii digital store purchases. There are a few PSN titles in that blue wedge too.

So what have I learned from this little exercise? Very little. My expenditure on software is virtually the same (although the actual number of games bought has increased from about 90 to over 130 – clearly I’ve been buying cheaper!), and things are progressing in the world of digital distribution as I expected it to, although perhaps not as quickly. Things will be more interesting come next year!

Of course, the 3DS Mario Kart, Mario Kart 7 is out too. And probably better. But you could have both! Hurrah!

Skidding on to the Nintendo 3DS comes Mario Kart 7.

Pick your favourite Mushroom Kingdom character and aim for the chequered flag in the latest addition to the popular Mario Kart family. With new tricks under the hood Mario Kart 7, for the first time, gives you the opportunity to customise your karts to give you the edge in a race and gliding karts!

Note: This is a sponsored post.

That’s all I’ve seen written about the new 360 GUI. It’s rubbish. Everything is hidden. There’s too many adverts. Games aren’t the focus any more. It’s too confusing. Everything is seventeen menus deep and behind carousel images. Rant bloody rant moan moan.

With good reason:

Everything is hidden. There’s too many adverts. Games aren’t the focus any more. It’s too confusing. Everything is seventeen menus deep and behind carousel images.

Of course, it looks nice. It really does – clean and swish, and everything moves around seemingly much faster than before. With my useless Sky “Broadband” connection, the images on everything take a while to load, but at least I can chuck the screens around without having to wait, so that’s not the end of the world. I also like how playing my most recently played games is now a bit easier too, with the disc in the tray a single stab (been playing Assassin’s Creed, sorry) of A away and the ten most recent installed games and demos just down-and-A. Nice.

Unfortunately, it’s finding everything else that’s a problem. Getting to installed content is akin to one of those steady-hand testers, where accidentally veering into the wrong menu or tab or button or whatever the hell else you end up in means you get lost, electrocuted, and essentially have to start again. Finding new content, be it Arcade games, demos, or (worst of all) Indie Games is now five hundred and forty six button presses or more, is displayed in a jumble of nonsense, and even lumps stuff that isn’t new games (like game trailers and videos) in the list of new games. I spent ages last night excitedly trying to download Sonic CD from the New Games bit on the Games Marketplace only to realise it isn’t out – there’s just a video to look at.

Most worst (and most worser than my grammar) is the special offer section. Take the current Ubisoft offers, for instance. There’s an offers section, and within that an Ubisoft section. Fine. Except the Ubisoft section is three screens wide, with only 5 “tiles” on each. And then, on two of these screens, the middle (larger) tile is actually a carousel of several offers which cycle through, meaning you have to watch and wait to find out all the offers. Then move to the other screen and watch and wait there. I was later told (it doesn’t say this on the GUI anywhere) that you could select the carousel and use the right-stick to flick through manually, but even so – why can’t all the offers just be in one big list on one screen, which scrolls if necessary? Or at the very least, provide a “show all” button? They’re going to lose sales because people can’t browse – they essentially have to sit and watch adverts instead.

The browsing thing applies to pretty much everywhere as well. Unless you know what it is you want, finding stuff to buy is a chore. Impulse purchases are going to drop as a result, so it’s not only a bad design issue, it’s a bad business move – especially for the smaller companies who thrive (or throve) on XBLA sales. You can’t stumble upon their games any more, you have to seek it out. Often, when I had five spare minutes having finished a game or something, I’d have a quick nose through the marketplace at new stuff and offers. That’s not going to happen any more.

With the shift in focus from games to “home entertainment”, the menus on the dashboard now have lots of video, music and social “features”, almost exactly none of which I will, or even can, use. As I’ve mentioned, my internet connection is akin in speed to a telegraph machine, so any streaming media from the internet is out. So no Youtube, iPlayer, 4oD, Lovefilm or Zune for me. I have a phone for Twitter, don’t use Facebook, and since they crippled Last.fm I don’t use that any more either. In fact, the only non-gaming thing I use my 360 for is streaming video from my network. As an aside, there is a positive thing I can say here – the new dashboard finally fixed it so I can stream m4v and mp4 files from my NAS, making my PS3 completely obsolete now.

And the adverts. Oh the adverts. Yes, they’re fairly unobtrusive, but I pay for my Xbox Live Gold service. I don’t need it to be subsidised with adverts thanks – and neither do Microsoft. I don’t even mean the usual adverts for games coming soon or available on the XBL marketplace either – actual proper adverts for Sky TV and Virgin Money. If you must have adverts, leave them for the non-paying members, please.

Somehow, in one fell swoop, Microsoft have gone from having the best console-based “store”, light years ahead of PSN, the Wii Shop and the 3DS eShop, to having this crippled form-over-function one. Consider the old store as a sort of virtual Argos catalogue, where everything is pretty easy to find and well presented, and the new store as an online TK Maxx, where nothing is in any particular place, the things they show on the TV ads are in there somewhere (but where?), and half the stuff is strewn on the floor like a WI jumble sale. Nasty.

tl; dr version: New dash looks nice, fixes playing media files, fails spectacularly at usability, screws over users and providers of XBLA and Indie Games, annoys the hell out of everyone, makes deKay cry.