Picture this, it was 2005 a large black box sat under my telly, it had provided me with hours of entertainment, then I heard there was to be an even better white box!  For months I gathered as much information as I could about the Xbox 360, I stayed up till all hours browsing for any snippets as to what this new machine could do.  All was good.  Come August I stopped smoking and placed a pre-order for the wonder machine, but only on the premise that i didn’t smoke again, to pay for it (still off the fags incidentally).  Come launch day in December I took my 360 home, all was good.

Now during my info gathering months I came across a speech made by someone at Microsoft who was bigging up the 360 when he told of this wondrous new feature User Created Content, UCC.  With UCC apparently you could design a new pair of trainers, a t-shirt, logos etc and you could then sell them on to other 360 users for them to use in game and for you to make some handy MS points.  Being slightly arty I thought this sounded brilliant, I could knock out some quick designs and make some points out of it.  All was good.

Here we are now more than two years after the 360 launched and my UCC is entirely non-existent.  Yup, it never really transpired.  Well I say never really but it would be unfair to dismiss Forzas’ editing system and the auction house, but it was all in game money not the much coveted MS points.  What went wrong?  I guess that developers either couldn’t or wouldn’t include it in their games, a great shame really ’cause it would have funded my arcade habit.  All was less than impressive.

Now look at the Wii, the Mii contest channel and even everybody votes is a step in the right direction.  The Miis’ especially are UCC at its’ most basic but oh so addictive level.  So far my greatest rank is level 9.  So come on Mr Gates, get the UCC project back online.  Oh wait a minute, if people earned MS points through stuff they created Microsoft wouldn’t rake in as much money!  The penny finally drops!  All is a bit shitty.

So on February 10th Professor Layton and the Curious Village was due out in all of its glory in both the US and the UK. It was in all the shops bright and early in the US, but I think someone forgot to send the boxes to the UK. For not a single shop had a clue about Professor Layton and his puzzle solving ways or when he would be joining us even.

It’s unfortunate, but this isn’t an isolated scenario. Fine, they need to delay the release to the EU for whatever stupid reason, I get that. But if they’re going to give us a date they could at least stick to it. Especially if the game has already been released in the US. So often the EU is the red headed step child of game releases and it’s just infuriating.

If you know you’re going to release the game in the EU then be prepared for it and don’t screw us around. In situations like this we only end up importing it from the US because we have no clues to when we’ll finally get a release.

It starts with a low rumble… then the ground explodes, a creature rises from the debris and takes flight. I run to my horse to pursue and, ultimately, defeat it - all to save the girl. So she’s already dead; a mere technicality!

I’ve been going a bit “retro” by playing Shadow of the Colossus a fair bit recently; maybe you’ve heard of it? If you haven’t, it’s the sequel (and prequel) to the critically acclaimed game Ico - a strong contender for not only one of the greatest games ever made but also the concept of games as art. Not too bad for a couple of Japanese guys who’ve only made these two games together, eh?

Both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus could be described as… sparse. Both have only three ‘human’ characters, minimal dialogue and vast environments and that’s it - doesn’t sound very appealing does it? Yet, somehow, it works. They draw you into their worlds with an incredibly compelling, emotive story and just by developing a bond between the player’s character and their companion. When I was playing, I even found myself gettting twinges of guilt after defeating a Colossus… and don’t get me started on Agro, my horse

Of course, as with any game, they aren’t for everyone - some may find them too slow paced or repetitive. But if you don’t give them a chance, you have no soul! If you don’t have them, I demand you buy them! You can thank me later