The 1990s were a major turning point in gaming history, as consoles came into their own, PCs went from work tools to hobby machines, and games themselves took the leap into 3D, epic storytelling, and multiplayer. Whilst a vast array of games could be deemed influential in their own way, this article explores five titles that really did bring something new that passed on to further generations of games and players over time. Another five covering the latter part of the decade will be coming next week!

The Metal Gear Solid series has always been considered a highbrow pleasure: many point to its weaving plotlines, and deep stealth play as proof that not all console games are aimed at the FPS/platform demographics. However, there is a quiet but large undercurrent of players who never "got" MGS, too embarrassed to admit to it for fear of derision as stupid. This is a shame, as it seems to be based on a public opinion which rarely seems prevalent in gaming circles, except perhaps in console flame wars (MGS4 being the one true exclusive for some time).

I still remember many of my experiences with the original Bioshock. From the early encounter with the maniac splicer that attempted to get inside the elevator to the one that had a magnum in a baby stroller calling it out as her child. Perhaps what was most impressive was the story of how a society that wanted to be free from things it considered a hindrance, itself transformed to a psychotic society yet still maintained a hint of humanity. The reason why I remember my experiences in Bioshock is because the game was a stunning and truly amazing experience. Unfortunately, there is nothing that comes close to this in Bioshock 2.

Casual gaming is a curious thing. On the one hand, you have a wide array of games, appealing to many people who don´t have much more than 20 minute spells to while away during a hectic day. On the other hand, you have die-hard gamers, accusing companies of flooding the market with low intelligence, inferior games, and destroying our beloved gaming world in the process. This brings up an interesting predicament: is casual gaming the future we refuse to accept, or merely a way of widening a somewhat narrow market for appeal to the masses?

Back in the early 21^st century the gaming industry was going through a craze about injecting realism. That was also the time period of GTA 3 and Vice City and they particularly stood out because they threw realism out of the window. Now that the craze of realism has slowly died down, it seems the bug of realism has bitten the GTA franchise.

All the Little Things:

Don’t get me wrong, I did thoroughly enjoy GTA 4 when I played it. I was particularly impressed with all the little nuances such as getting spam in your email, to actual television channels and the various mini-games available. I did not really spend time taking part in those activities but I appreciated their presence.

It wasn’t until I played DMC4 and the Condemned series right after GTA 4 that I realized I did not actually have as many thrills as per the amount of time I had spent playing that game. The question that comes to mind is if all the little things that GTA 4 developers included in the game made them side step and take the concentration away from making the campaign missions more exciting and fun.

A recent exchange on our very own website got me to thinking: how fair are game scores? They seem to be the most divisive element in gaming after the "console wars", as a disagreement over what score a game should get can cause angry shouts to fire forth from all corners.

Firstly, for the record, I actually hate the idea of a score. It forces a reviewer to pigeonhole a game in a strict framework, and can detract people from actually reading a review. And how do you come to a score anyway? What defines a game getting 9 instead of 8? And how is this represented in the wider market?

After reading Adeel's excellent review of Mass Effect 2, I thought it worth my while to write a short piece highlighting my feelings on the game. Rather than repeat statements made by the good man himself, I will purely concentrate on the areas I feel let the game down.

For the record, I consider Mass Effect 2 to be a great game, and would have scored it 8. But praise is less fun than criticism, so let´s pick on the little niggles that marred my experience.

Firstly, the story - Yeah, it was great, and we really got to know the squad. But why build up a great squad, with depth to the characters, only to send us on ONE mission? The completed squad should have been the halfway point, after which we took our new friends across the galaxy fighting the good fight. We actually could have gotten more story pertaining to the collectors, and felt as if we had invested a lot more into the final conflict.

Steve Jobs referred to the iPad as the ultimate internet experience. There is also buzz being generated on the potential of iPad as a gaming device. However due to the limited functionality and the steep price for the iPad, there are better and cheaper alternatives to satisfy both computer and gaming needs.

The Price Tag:

The price starts at $499 for a 16GB and $599 and $699 for a 32GB and 64GB respectively. In this day and age 16GB of memory falls short. However an extra $100 for only an increase in 16GB in memory is a rip-off.