Here at the Incomplete Gamer, we love our basketball as much as our video gaming.  If we’re not actually hitting the hardwood for real, we’re either watching a game or playing a virtual one.  With Game One of the NBA finals just hours away, you would be right to imagine that we’re actually counting down the minutes.  Following today’s official announcement, that Basketball legend, Michael Jordan will grace the cover of Take Two’s Basketball game NBA2K11, and play a role in developing the title, we’re now also counting the days until the game’s release in the Us on October 5.   Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports, confirmed the news to CNBC.com.

The Incomplete Gamer has a brand new home, and it’s all your fault.  Too much traffic is never a bad thing, except when you’re on a capped bandwidth hosting plan.  You may have noticed the site was missing in action during the last two days of May as a result of exceeding our bandwidth limits.

With our traffic continuing to build, and not wanting to risk another disappearing act, we went looking for a company offering both unlimited GB’s of space and unlimited GB’s of transfer.  We also wanted great service at the best price in town.  JustHost.com ticked all the right boxes and while it is still early days, we would like to thank the Just Host support team for their assistance in making the move painless and swift.

While we’re tipping our hats, a quick shout out to WordPress Hacks.  Their advice on how to move a WordPress site to a new host or new domain proved invaluable.  You might notice some slight tweaking over the next few days as we restore the site to its former glory.  Thanks for your patience and, as always, a big thank you for stopping by.

There’s more shape-shifting going on in the fourth and mercifully the last series of ‘til Death than your typical episode of Fringe.

But rather than different characters inhabiting the same character’s body, over on the set of ‘til Death, four different actresses have played the role of Ally Stark,  daughter of Eddie and Joy Stark.  Just in case that wasn’t confusing enough, the shows producers have elected to play episodes out of order so that one Ally actress appears, is replaced, and returns throughout the final series.  One of the actresses playing Ally, even played a different character on the show – a waitress – one episode before joining the cast as Doug’s wife Ally.  Read on to make sense of the nonsensical and why we think ‘til Death didn’t merely jump the shark, but jumped in the pool and bludgeoned it to death.

Here at Incomplete Gamer HQ we love a good sit-com.  The show ‘til Death showed early promise.  It had a reasonable premise; examining the contrast between an older married couple, Eddie and Joy Stark (Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher) and their new newly wed neighbours, Jeff and Steph Woodcock (Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster).

It never rose to the heights of Garret’s previous sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond.  Nor was it ever on our list of must see TV.  Still, when in the need of a 20 minute chuckle, it could always be counted on to deliver a few laughs, so we’ve stuck with it through four seasons   It’s our back up comedy for those times when we’ve exhausted all our gems – our episodes of Modern Family, Community, The Middle or The Office.

Unfortunately Season Four is a stinker.  There’s no kind way to say it, but it’s true.  It’s almost as if the writers saw the writing on the wall and just gave up trying.  The jokes have become meaner and at times downright racist.  Where a show like Two and a Half Men can push the ‘risque envelope time and time again and still elicit a belly laugh, ‘til Death’s attempts  at humour more often than not felt forced vulgar.

But perhaps the most obvious sign that the show’s writers and producers were simply showing up and no longer cared was in the casting of Ally Stark.  In Season One and Two she was played by actress Krysten Ritter (left).  Season Three saw actress Laura Clery (right) assume the role of the daughter.

Laura didn’t stick either.  That brings us to  Season 4 were two more actresses have stepped into the character of Ally.  Lindsey Broad (left) was first out of the gate appearing in ten episodes, while Kate Micucci formerly of Scrubs (right) was the fourth to try out for the role that no one else seems to want.  Not only that, she actually goes from playing an extra – a waitress with one or two lines in the episode ‘Check Mate (Season 4, episode 17), to playing the character Ally the very next episode.

The producers and writers have made light of the casting changes.  Son-in-law Doug (played by Timm Sharp) remarks throughout Season 4 that he is convinced that his life is a sit-com.  In one episode, where the family is talking about  who to invite to a baby shower, Doug remarks, ‘What about the Woodcocks? And Kenny, and the other five girls who played Ally?’

Now it’s not like ‘Til Death is the first show to ever have to back-fill a character with a new actor, and casting problems aren’t always the fault of the show’s producers.  Lose one actress and your unlucky, but lose three actresses in four years seems more than  a little sloppy.

With all the casting changes, screening the final episodes out of order just exacerbates the continuity problems even more.  It seems like the producers are having a laugh. As long as someone is.

UPDATE: Stop the clock, or more accurately the Day Calendar.  Halo 3: ODST is in the building.  Ordered on the 1st, dispatched on the 4th and in the Incomplete Gamer Mail box today – Friday the 21st of May.  We won’t tell you that our purchase was in part motivated by a desire to play the Halo Reach multiplayer beta, if you promise not to highlight the fact that the beta just ended.  Fact is, we’re excited about playing the single player campaign and at a smidge over $28 we still feel like a winner!  Read on to find out why we’re rating the online retailers.

The Incomplete Gamer is proudly Australian and proudly Scottish.  What can we infer from that I hear you ask?  As a Scotsman, The Incomplete Gamer loves a video gaming bargain as much as the next man, and in fact ,possibly a bit more.  Being an Aussie and residing in Canberra, The Incomplete Gamer sometimes has to cast out his net to distant oceans in order to find the Catch of the Day.  OK, that’s enough of the fishing metaphors.  In order to be of service to our readers we’re making the ultimate sacrifice and ordering games from a select few on-line Video Game retailers in the coming weeks.  The cynical amongst you might think we’re just using any old excuse to get our hands on the latest new releases.

Ok, you’re on the money, but if we can assist you in landing a bargain, and not getting fleeced or inconvenienced at the same time then all the better.  The first ocean to trawl (sorry) is http://www.mymemory.co.uk/.  We’ve been lured by the promise of free shipping (from the UK even) and a price of only $28.14 for Halo ODST.  Compare that to JB Hifi’s online price of $72.60 shipped, and MyMemory is looking like quite the bargain.  The proof is in the pudding as they say and I’ll check back in with you once the game has arrived in Oz.

UPDATE: The order is currently showing as pending…which wouldn’t be of too much concern if not for the fact that the game is now showing as ‘Out of Stock’.  It would appear that the promise of the Halo Reach Beta (availalble free to owners of Halo 3: ODST, has caused a last minute rush for the game.  We’ve contacted MyMemory to find out exactly what ’Pending’ means to our order?

UPDATE: The order updated from pending to shipped within 24 hours.  As long as the Icelandic volcanic ash is playing fairly I expect ODST to arrive at the Incomplete Gamer labs with the next day or two.

Can’t get enough of The Incomplete Gamer?  I’m spreading the love and my writing to GameFlavor, a network of four sites, PS3 Informer, PSP World, Xboxist and The Red Shell.

You can find my first rant online and awaiting your reading pleasure right now!  Read on to discover why Alan Wake fans are reacting in horror. Game Reviews: Your Number’s Up.

I’ll still be dishing up regular servings of Incomplete Gamer.  Think of it as a bonus extra course!

Episode 3 has been available over at www.brightfalls.com for almost a week now, but why watch it on your pc in a teeny tiny window when you can be scared witless in the comfort of your lounge on the big screen.

The appearance of the videos on the marketplace doesn’t explain why Episode 3 was missing in action for so long.  Perhaps the Microsoft code monkeys lost the video file down the back of the couch.  Perhaps it was there all along and we just didn’t  see it or perhaps it wasn’t even a week late.  The mind plays strange tricks especially in Brightfalls.  Why are you still here reading  How long have you been standing in front of your computer?  Who wrote all those words on the notepad?

Just last year came exciting news from Nottingham in the UK. Keep in mind there’s been nothing of note come out of Nottingham since the tales of Robin Hood emerged, and that was 800 years ago. This exciting news even has something in common with the fictional world of Robin Hood, in as much as  it concerns videogames and the tales they have to tell.

Dr Souvik Mukherjee is a researcher and videogame narrative expert from the School of Arts and Humanities at Nottingham Trent University. How great would it be to have such a niche qualification? The academic conferences are possibly lonely affairs, but it has to be neat being an expert in a field that no one else has studied.  But I digress.  Now according to Dr Mukherjee, the complex mesh of possible storylines and deep levels of involvement in videogame narratives relate to, and often surpass, the experience of earlier narrative media, such as books and films. In short he believes computer games have the same value as literary texts. ‘Take that Mum. Zing!’

Says Dr Mukherjee, “Though often unfairly dismissed as toys for children, computer games are far more complex than that. Most gamers, adults and children alike, play these games because of the stories they tell. So, whilst many focus on the violence in videogames, the narrative potential of these games should also be explored.”

He would get no argument from Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux (Fable, Fable 2) who, back in March 2009, famously predicted “Godfather” levels of storytelling in games by 2016. At the time, Molyneux was taking part in Edge Magazine’s issue #200 roundtable which had posed the following question: ‘By 2016 (the year when Edge issue #300 should be published), will we be any closer to that completely immersive narrative experience?’ As reported by MTV, Molyneux explained, “We’re starting to realise our uniqueness, and that we’ve got the ability to do things that no other medium has had before. I think by 2016 we’re going to have a truly amazing story, which will be cited as the equivalent of ‘The Godfather’ on film.”

In April 2009 at GDC, Molyneux upped the ante even more. Speaking to VG247 he said, “I think I was wrong about that Godfather line… I think we can surpass where the Godfather is. Here’s the thing about games: you’re involved in them. And part of the stories that we tell, if we tell them in the right way, and we give you access to the right tools as you’re playing, you will feel engaged and involved in them in a way that you cannot feel engaged and involved with any film, or even book.”

Back in the forests of Nottingham, Dr Mukherjee studied how games have been influenced by earlier forms of media such as film, comics and graphic novels and in turn, as was the case of Max Payne, can contain a strong enough narrative to lead to a film adaptation.

Not a great adaptation to be sure. For the purposes of the column and consistent with my fine tradition of procrastinating, I watched the movie the other night. That’s a hundred minutes of my life I’m never getting back. Of course failed adaptations aren’t always the fault of the source material. (In the case of the Max Payne movie, and in defence of Remedy, had the script been more true to the videogame, the movie may well have been more successful). For every Shawshank Redemption, and indeed The Godfather – stories that successfully make the transition from the page to the big screen – there are films such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which fail miserably.

While I largely agree with Dr Mukherjee’s findings, and while I certainly admire Peter Molyneux’s audacity and ability to generate a headline, I’m not sure that the videogame medium needs to surpass or supplant any other existing medium.
Just as great cinema in no way makes great literature redundant, I believe gaming can similarly expand its narrative scope and emotional capacity to engage its audience without diminishing in any way the importance and relevance of other art forms and other mediums. Videogames don’t need to topple other art forms and other media to be taken seriously or to achieve greater mainstream and critical success.

The narrative that exists on a canvas is different to the narrative running through a poem; the story structure of a screenplay, different to that of a short story or a novel. Different is the key word. Not better; just different.
Great books, great films, poetry and art can and do exist side by side. So can videogames. Let’s not forget that there are already fine examples of good story telling in the videogame world; games such as Shadow of the Colossus or Bioshock.

Narrative structure in videogames can be simple and clichéd, or minimalist, as was the case with Ico.  It can also be rich and multilayered like last year’s blockbusters Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4, or the story driven challengers from 2010, Heavy Rain and Alan Wake.

While film and the written word may have both short and long form, videogaming is still very much an evolving medium, not yet constrained by convention. I have no doubt it will continue to mature and develop.

Videogaming doesn’t need to topple the works of Shakespeare (or for that matter the works of Mario Puzo) anymore than Hollywood needed to, in order to achieve greatness and acceptance as a legitimate art form.

Parts of this article were originally published on PALGN, (25 April 2009) .  © Jeremy Henderson

While my preordered, Collector’s Edition of the game, Alan Wake, languishes somewhere in a Channel Islands warehouse and volcanic ash clouds gather on the horizon, a chap in Spain,  HeikkiX360, was lucky enough to receive his game 8 days early – courtesy of the good folk at GAME Spain, who it would appear, have diligently shipped off their pre-orders, a week and a bit early.  If it’s not cruel enough that HeikkiX360 has taunted us with an ‘un-boxing’ video, he’s also had the gall to put up a video walkthrough of  the first three episodes, lest there be any doubt that he did in fact have the game.  If you love a good unboxing (it just tends to make me jealous and annoyed), then make the jump and press play to see Alan Wake stripped of his shrink wrap.  Lastly, a community service message for any budding Spielberg planning on shooting an unboxing video of their own.  Don’t film the unboxing on your bed.  It tends to just come off as creepy.

In order to be of service to our readers we’re making the ultimate sacrifice and ordering games from a select few on-line Video Game retailers in the coming weeks.  If you read Part One of our Rating the On-line Retailers you’d know that already.  You’d also know how to get your hands on a cheap copy of Halo 3: ODST and free postage to boot.  Today we’re trawling another UK site, Zavvi.com, in search of a deal on up-coming Xbox360 exclusive, Alan Wake.  If a price of just over $70 Australian sounds good and the possibility that it will ship to your door before the Australian release date sounds even more enticing, then read on.

Here at the Incomplete Gamer we’ve pulled the trigger on our next Video Game purchase, a pre-order of the Collector’s edition version of upcoming action thriller, Alan Wake.  If you can find a better deal than Zavvi.com then we’d suggest you snap it up fast.  You see, Zavvi seems pretty unbeatable.  Thanks to the vagaries of regional release dates, Alan Wake hits the UK on the 14th of May, a full six days before Australia.  As both Australia and the UK are PAL territories you’ll have no problem playing the disc on your Aussie 360, and there’s a real chance we’ll receive our copy of the game before the 20th of May.  Sure, review code would be better (just in case any publishers happen to be reading) but we’ll take advantage of any way of obtaining our games early, as long as it’s legal.  Then there’s the matter of price.  Our own Aussie  Game are currently advertising a price of $109 for the Collector’s Edition version – a saving of $10.95 of the RRP in Australia.

Zavvi’s advertised price on the Collector’s Edition is 39.95 UK pounds.  Postage is a reasonable 2.35.  Converted into Aussie dollars the damage is only a smidgeon over $70 – $A70.48 to be exact.

Realistically, here in Australia, you won’t be able to pick up the standard game in store for anything less than $79 on the 20th of May. Seems like we’re on a winner. We’ll keep you posted on how we fare.   Have any experiences with Zavvi or any of the other reputable on-line gaming stores.  Let us know how you got on?

DISCLAIMER: Incomplete Gamer.com has no association with Zavvi and has not entered into any financial arrangement in return for this post.

I need a game I can finish. Seriously; if I failed to complete books the way I fail to finish videogames I’d be illiterate and still half way through ‘Where is the Green Sheep’ (I’ve read it twice). Nor have I ever walked out of a movie screening either, and it’s not just my Scottish heritage or that I only see great movies. I once dated a girl who worked at a local art-house movie theatre which mostly screened the movies that Dendy rejected. I didn’t walk out of those foreign language stinkers either and they were free. Admittedly, I did fall asleep a couple of times.

No, I like to start what I finish. It’s the completionist in me. Blame it on a Protestant work ethic, stubbornness or determination, but there’s a level of satisfaction in turning the last page of book, watching the credits roll on a film, or the season finale of a favourite TV show. Ticking it off my ‘list of things to do’ is all part of the experience.

If you’re getting that same level of satisfaction from videogames on a regular basis then good luck to you. Not me. My collection of unfinished games – my pile of shame – far outweighs the titles I’ve clocked from start to finish. Sure there are more books and movies in the world then I’ll ever find the time to read or watch but the difference is I don’t tend to swing by my local Borders and drop cold hard cash on books and movies and then only partially consume them. My failure to complete all my games is my pastime’s greatest sense of frustration.

Am I just collecting games for the sake of it? Perhaps it’s a sickness? On an episode of CSI, (Kill me if you can) Dr Raymond Langston remarked that "Collecting is pathological whether you’re a rich man or a serial killer." Still, he’s a fictional character on a fictional TV show, so I shouldn’t put too much faith in that. So why can’t I finish what I start?

I’m pretty discerning when it comes to the games that I play, so I don’t think I’m failing to finish games because they aren’t compelling enough. And it’s not like I’ve got a short concentration span either…’hey look, it’s an ice-cream truck.’

…Sorry. Where was I? Is it just me? Could be. Sure, I’m a videogame writer. Does that mean if you put a video game controller in my hand that I’m suddenly possessed with the stealth of a ninja, the physical strength and dexterity of LeBron James in full flight and the ability to out snipe NCIS special Agent Jethro Gibbs with one eye closed? It’s highly possible that I boasted as much on my Incomplete Gamer job application, but I may have played a little hard and fast with the truth; the stealth of an injured LeBron in full flight might have been closer to the mark.

Truth is, regardless of my gaming ability, I don’t think it is just me. We’ve all got our piles of shame. Over at the Neogaf Gaming forum, member LovingSteam posted a ‘call to arms’ entitled Resolve to finish one game this week and beyond!.

LovingSteam’s challenge: "So for all of us who have a gazillion games to finish, I say we should all agree to finish at least one game this week. It can be one that you are already playing or one you haven’t started. By this time next week let us all finish at least one."

And while we’re at it, lets sweep the leaves in the yard, mow the lawns and do a run to the tip. As one NeoGAF’er, Moz La Punk responded, "When did we agree to make playing games feel like work?"

Perhaps some of those titles we’ve abandoned were just inexcusably bad and didn’t deserve our time or attention. Perhaps we’ve grown and matured and what was shiny and bright and appealing to us six months ago is no longer of any interest. But what of the rest of the games, not played or incomplete? Titles we loved when we first played them six days, six weeks ago or six months ago, and still adore now. What’s stopping us from seeing those games through to the bitter end?

Now The Incomplete Gamer is all about solving problems. You won’t find me bitching and moaning about the way things are without at least putting up a few positive ideas. There has to be some simple reason why I’m not completing these video games. They are either too long, too hard or just too boring. Let’s take it as read that it’s not the latter. What can we do about those other two possibilities?

First up, I need a ‘Get Past’. Let me make myself perfectly clear. I don’t need a ‘Walkthrough’. Walkthroughs tell me what to do and where to go, but very rarely help me do it. Just forget the stuff I can work out myself. Save yourself the trouble. Seriously, no one wants a refresher course on the control system. We’ve got an in-game tutorial and a game manual and if i really thought there was something enlightening in those pages I’d take the time to read them. Nor do I need your bastardised take on the story. Don’t care, don’t need it…not listening. What I do need is details, and alternate strategies for the bits you know I’m going to get stuck on. Focus on the tricky stuff and forget the rest. Rather than a detailed one foot in front of the other walkthrough, concentrate on those tough sections. So many walkthrough’s simply tell me what I need to do. I already know what I’m meant to do. I just can’t do it. Give me a detailed, multiple strategy ‘Get Past’. That’s what we need…or is it just me?

One Titan Too Many

Developers; help me out here. How many times do you want me to die? Twenty? Thirty? Really? You don’t think the game is starting to lose it’s shine? I’ve gone to the walkthrough. I know what to do but I just can’t do it. I can’t kill all three Titans. I need one cut down by friendly fire and the other to grow restless and just wander away. I think I can cope with the one remaining Titan. That’s what I need; smart intuitive AI that will see me struggling and cut me some slack. Variable AI works both ways. If I’m shooting fish in a barrel, then take my gun away or at least stop leaving all those ammunition crates by my feet. Better still; don’t put the fish in a barrel. And don’t just tell me to play it on easy. I am playing it on easy! Variable AI will cut down on game length, or more accurately, will ensure that a ten hour game play will be a ten hour game play regardless of whether you’re a gaming god or just cannon fodder with a controller.

So you’ve hired a DVD from your local Blockbuster. It has more scratches than a hip hop DJ, and refuses to advance beyond a certain scene in the movie, repeatedly stopping at the same point. So you simply hit the FF button to get things moving along. Bingo. That’s what video games need. Don’t want to replay that scene over and over again until your eyeballs bleed? Hit the FF button. Sure it’s cheating and by all means, you can keep your trophies and your achievement points. Just let me finish the game.

Either a Fast Forward functionality or simply unlock it all from the start. I’m an adult. I bought the game. Let me play it all. If I want to play the last scene first then let me. If I only want to play the last scene, let me. Unlock it all from the g
et go and I’d likely complete the game (in a manner of speaking) that much more quickly and then you can sell me your next title. Everybody wins. Or is it just me?

This article was originally published on PALGN, (23 May 2009) .  © Jeremy Henderson