I know I say this every time the website has an overhaul, but I have to say this is  the best-looking my site has ever been. Phil has done an amazing job, and deserves a very public “thank you” and a link to his two wonderful websites, Sodaware and Phil Newton.net. Sodaware is dedicated to his shareware business, and contains some excellent hand-drawn art too. Phil Newton.net is dedicated to “Improving Every Day” with insightful articles on getting things done, motivation and productivity tips. If you want to fine-tune how you approach your life, it’s a great website to visit.

If you’re a new visitor then welcome and thanks for coming! A great place to start is to browse the archives or check out the Best Bits in the sidebar on your left, and please bookmark me with Ctrl + D, subscribe to my RSS feed, leave a comment and spread the word!

Over the coming weeks we’ll be seeing more development on the elusive novel, another Player P.O.V. article as I take another look at my beloved Beyond Good and Evil and many, many more memorable posts. I aim to update at least twice a week, so please do check back and I hope you enjoy your stay!

   I am currently listening to God Only Knows by The Beach Boys

This occurred to me whilst watching “Snakes on a Plane” last week (watch those hits skyrocket!). Whenever I watch a film and a character plays games, it’s rarely a normal part of their character – they’re either kids who won’t do their homework, grown-ups that wildly thrash about, tongues flapping, or have some other form of abnormality that stops them functioning normally. Probably caused by games, but that’s another story.

I wrote a CV a few weeks ago, and didn’t feel that “playing videogames” was a good hobby, even though “reading books” and “watching films” would be fine, and are arguably more passive activities (contradiction?). I like to believe that you shouldn’t feel ashamed of anything you enjoy, but when writing that CV I felt ashamed to say I enjoyed playing games. That’s sort of upsetting.

Games are bigger business than ever, and will be all over the media this Christmas with the new console launches. Does this validate the existence of games? Are games acceptable now that everyone knows about them?

I really want to know your take on this, which is why I’m hosting a special “The Collected Writings of James Newton” podcast – catchy name not included! – for you to air your views. You can get in touch in these ways:

Skype – JamesProsody. Leave a voicemail!

Email – mail@prosody.co.uk. Either attach a sound file (mp3 please!) or just write your comments down. I’ll be happy to hear them.

Leave a comment here on this post.

However you do it, do get in touch – I’d love to know if you think games are – or will ever be – acceptable and “normal”. Here’s another thought – would you want them to be?

I am listening to Can You Feel The Sunshine? by T.J. Davis.

Well I didn’t quite manage 1,000 words of the book but I did around 500 of actual prose, and another 500 of notes, ideas, characterisation and so on. Unfortunately that’s not really a lot when you think about it – Hannah mentioned that NaNoWriMo books have to be 50,000 words long to qualify, so I am 1% of the way there. Small steps, I suppose.

More to come every day, including some possible extracts if they’re good enough!

Note – normal blogging service will continue whilst I write the book, don’t worry!

Honestly, who thought writing a book could be so hard? All you do is sit down at a computer and write the thoughts in your head. I suspect most people on the Internet do that anyway via email and instant messengers, so why should it make such a big difference when the program is Word instead of Messenger?

Part of the reason I started this site was because I wanted to begin writing my novel and posting sections of it up here. So far I think I’m about fifty words into it.

Most of the problem is not having a story, or so I tell myself, but I’m sure I must have a story worth telling in me somewhere.

I love writing and I don’t publish half as much as I should do. One of my aims for the near future – maybe the next year or so – is to collect these articles from the site and publish them in a book. Of course, that leaves me with lots of content yet to write, but let’s face it – both of us know that my best is yet to come.

Part of the book will be my novel, however far I get with it. I’m going to set myself a target of 1,000 words a day, starting tomorrow. I’ll post tomorrow night letting you know how I get on with it. Wish me luck.

I am listening to Passing The Hours by Tunde

Beyond Good and Evil is a grown-up’s game. IGN called it “Zelda for grown-ups”, and although in typical IGN style they’re half-right, there’s so much more to Beyond Good and Evil (BG&E) than a Zelda clone (see my next article on Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy for more on that front.) Beyond Good and Evil is brilliant because it likes the player, which I’ve always thought is the most important aspect of a game – if the game enjoys being played, people will enjoy playing it. It really is that simple. BG&E loves to be played because it wants to show you its ideas, how different it is and how much it likes you. It wants to be your friend.

It wants to be your friend because it knows you’re going to be impressed with what it can do. First of all, it’s not like any friend you’ve had before – it’s a stealthy photographer that pilots a laser-shooting hovercraft. The game switches between different game modes smoothly, and although they’re not all winners – the stealth sections aren’t great, though I dislike stealth anyway – the overall effect is a pleasing range of things to enjoy.

Of these gameplay sections, my favourite is the photojournalistic drive of the game. The idea of a photography game appeals to me greatly, but up until now I’d only played Pokémon Snap on the N64; these two are very different kettles of fish (likewise Tecmo’s Project Zero series, which I’m far too wimpy to play!). Your character is sent on missions to photograph the hidden secrets of Hyllis, including aliens, torture and exactly what the Alpha Sections are shipping around in crates. Whipping out your camera and taking aim is easy, and can also be used to “scanalyse” maps or, in a really enjoyable sidequest not unlike Wind Waker’s figurines task, document all the animals living on the planet for the Science Centre, which is a very lucrative hobby. When you’re slinking around bases or zooming around the open waters, managing to grab a shot of an elusive animal is really satisfying. It makes me wonder why we haven’t seen more photography games – perhaps an opportunity for the Wii?

One thing I haven’t mentioned so far is the game’s sublime art and music. The visuals’ use of greens and blues give the game an almost aquatic feel, and the many aliens, corals and crystals glow and filter light beautifully. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ubisoft’s alien world was inspired by the depths of our own oceans.

The game’s soundtrack is one of the most varied I’ve come across, with beautiful piano tracks (“Home Sweet Home” being possibly the best game tune since Headhunter’s “Jack’s theme”) sitting alongside the rhinos’ reggae, drum’n’bass and others. It’s good to hear the French and European influences in the music as a whole (the reggae being an obvious exception), and another point is the game’s voice acting, which is certainly higher quality than some I’ve heard.

Plot-wise the game makes a number of more serious points – or even accusations – than your typical 3D adventure, particularly in questioning the information handed down to us. This is brilliantly done by contrasting a subscription to the official Hyllis Word with the emails and newsletters of the rebellious Iris Network. When your reports are published it’s wonderful to read how the Alpha Sections spin and cover it up to make you look like the bad guy, which also somewhat unnerves you; who can be trusted? I won’t say that the game is a massive political satire, but there are certainly subtexts of uncertain trust and Government manipulation.

Unfortunately for me and many others, despite its good review scores and press praise, Beyond Good and Evil did so poorly in shops that it’s unlikely to see a sequel. It was released on the PC and all consoles, so you can play it if you want to. I’m told the Xbox version can go for a fair old price on eBay, but if you flick through the second-hand racks of your local game shop hopefully you’ll chance upon a copy (if not, send me an email – I have my sources).

Please, please do hunt it down and give it a chance. It’s a very warm and charming game with so much to recommend it, from its fantastic dialogue and characterisation (I can never decide whom I like more, Pej’y or Double H…) to its inventive direction and above all its smooth, enjoyable gameplay. I really took to Beyond Good and Evil in a way I haven’t felt for many years, and I hope you’ll think it’s worth your time and try it yourself.

www.beyondgoodevil.com