Ashes Cricket 2009: The advert

What a day of cricket. Like most of this series, it came out of nowhere. You could say Stuart Broad's display today had been hinted at at Headingley with his six wicket haul, but no one could have predicted the Aussies' collapse. While I was watching it though, I had a Charlie Brooker-style epiphany: the advert for Ashes Cricket 2009 on the Wii is pathetic.

Now, video game ads don't tend to be great pieces of art. When they try to be, they end up at worst offensive and at best embarassing. Ashes Cricket comes under the latter bracket. In it we witness three lonely-looking men waiting for their team mates at a local cricket club. But where are their teammates? The following scene reveals twenty sweaty, exuberant men playing Ashes Cricket on the Wii, necks craned towards the TV. Why don't they just step outside and pretend they're budding Flintoffs for real, seen as they're all padded up for it? Nope, they'd rather have a session on the Wii. As an avid gamer myself, I wouldn't be so dismissive if the game looked decent - I know only too well that a good translation of a sport can be just as rivetting as the sport itself (witness early PES as an example). But Ashes Cricket? Nah. The character models are positively demonic for starters; lazy photoshops that have been thrown in at the last minute.






I should be grateful. I do see where they're going with it. But from the looks of it, I'd prefer sticking with the lonesome men outside rather than the sweaty morons. Still, it could be worse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu8456pVSLI

Time to jump the Microsoft ship?

Last Christmas I decided to sell my Wii. After Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Sports there was little else to offer. Sure there were a few conversions (Resi 4 and Okami) but I didn't want to be left behind playing last-gen titles. Although its first tentative steps were promising, the Wii had finally emerged as a gimmick. I jumped ship to the Xbox 360 within weeks.

I played Fable II and Bioshock. They were stunning games. I was glad of my new console. They pushed the boundaries for storytelling within video games, highlighting the medium's potential to catch up with the likes of film and literature.

Afterwards I sought my next taste of gaming goodness. I kept an eye on E3 and the critical reception of games like Bionic Commando and Resi 5, but found nothing different to what I had played before. As of yet my next must-have has not revealed itself. All the 360 exclusives seem to have given way to a promising array of releases on the PS3, while even Nintendo finally seem to be redressing the balance between their casual and hardcore offerings.

It all seems to lead to this conclusion: in the coming winter I will get itchy feet again. Nintendo lost me last year and likewise, if Microsoft fail to impress, I may become impatient once again. When will I ever be faithful?