This time next week I will 28 years old. Shortly there after, I will have been married for the some total of 2 months. So I am getting older and being all growed up, and now have a wife to think about as well as myself.

Like many people, I am searching for something though. Not happiness in love or anything as cheesy as that since I have already found it, but rather contentness in my job and career. I have never really thought of myself as particularly creative until the last few years, when I have been unable to scratch a growing creative itch, and it is getting annoying.

So, like a lot of people reading and using this very site, I have decided I want to go into the games industry and here is a short account of my attempts thus far. I have to point out at an early stage though, so far, I have not been successful, I am still working as an IT support analyst and not particularly enjoying it anymore. It's a good job don't get me wrong, but it is not what I want to do for the next forty years.

So for the last couple of years I have been applying for jobs as a QA tester for various companies, trying to get into the industry on a low grade footing and work my way up. Unfortunately, this has gone quite according to plan. The first interview I ever had I was suited and booted and ready to go, and I walked in immediately felt over dressed, since everyone else, including other interviewee's where in jeans and a shirt or t-shirt. Also insulted a game one of the interviewers made, so that wasn't so good. Alas, that job, at Kuju in Surrey, was not to be mine.

So I continued applying for other studios, eventually having a interview with Outrun 2006 developer Sumo Digital. Having learnt from my previous attempt, I attended the interview with a shirt and trousers, which I felt was a lot better and meant I wasn't as out of place, especially when one of the guys interviewing me walked in still wearing motorcycle leathers. The interview seemed to go well, though I still wasn't to get the job.

At this point I got more than a little bit determined, and started sending my C.V. into various Yorkshire studios on a regular basis (one to two month intervals). Eventually, this scored me a second interview with Sumo Digital, which again went well and the guys recognised me and we had a great informal interview. They told me they had a new round of tester roles coming up and I would be high on their list. I am still waiting to here from them, and that was coming close to 2 years ago now.

From that point on I have been scanning games industry job sites on a regular basis to find a suitable position, even taking the tactic of sending my c.v. in once a month for a as long as the QA position was listed on the studios site (sorry Rockstar leeds!). As you can probably tell I am getting a bit desperate here.

The reason I chose to tell you about this so far unsuccessful venture is because on Saturday, I had a very nice chap come round to my home from a company called Train2game. For those of you who don't know about them, train2game offer TIGA endorsed game programmer and game designer courses on a work from home basis. The idea behind his visit is that they only offer the courses to a select few individuals in a given post code area, and after a 2 hour interview about my gaming habits, what I want to do in the industry, why I want to change careers and various other things, he said that he wants to offer me a position on the course and that he needs to know by 10am Monday if I want it.

Unfortunately for me, £135 a month for three years to be able to pay for the course is too rich, so, being unable to get any decent help from the government or parents or anything, I had to decline the course, effectively ending my dream for at least another year. I am still trying to find that dream job but the current economic climate isn't making it any easier.

The morale of the story is this: decide what you want to do with your life quickly. In school I wasn't much of an academic, and the only thing I really decided on was that I wanted to work with computers when I got older. If I had decided I wanted to work in games a lot sooner than I had, I may well have put more effort in, knowing I had to get the grades to get onto a decent course at university to be able to leap into the industry. Alas, I only realised what I really want to do in the last five or so years, which is just about the right time to be way too late.

So kids, decide what you want to do quickly. Take a week out of your life and really look at yourself, what you like to do, what interests you, what makes you happy, and decide to make that career a reality. Hell, if you genuinely want to become a real life pet detective, do it, but decide soon because even though people say you can always re-train, the reality is an expensive and time consuming process that at a point, just isn't viable anymore. Don't make my mistake, take the advice and figure out what you want do soon.

I hope my story has helped and you take away more than 'this guy is a looser' from it. And if anyone from a games studio is reading, I am looking for work right now so please contact me for a copy of my C.V!

So for the last few months I have been contributing to a smaller gaming site as a writer. I wont say its name cause I am above shameless self promotion. Honest. Anyway for this site I have been writing news, reviews and features and though it isnt the holy grail of actually being a paid games journalist, it is as close as I can get at the moment.

An interesting thing happened yesterday though. While I was going through my emails from the site, the boss of the UK guys who contribute said that the site has thier first review copying coming in the next couple of days. Naturally I was excited for the site, as it is a fairly big deal, but most important of all, he wanted me to review it. Colour me excited.

I havent received the game yet, which will be this weeks summer of arcade release, Trials HD, but my excitment has so far gotten me out of a real funk (life sucks and all that, despite the fact I got married to the love of my life two weeks ago), excited about a game I really wasnt that bothered about before and even more infused to become a bona fide games journalist.

So I cant speak to the quality of the game as yet as I havent played any of it, but I do want to discuss another issue that this impending big event in my life has had me thinking about, that is of reviews in general. Now, the issue of games, movies and even book reviews, are, at best, controversial, with some people saying that ratings shouldnt be given to mediums that are, arguably, very personal, while others say that it is invaluable to steer them from the rubbish to the great, and is the seed of another post all together, but I have something else I want to discuss on a more personal level.

From listening to the Hotspot and other podcasts, professional reviewers seem to be generally always having a pop at movies, books and, of course, games. Now, to say that I have watched the same movies and read the same books and played the same games and had a different opinion is kinda mute, as everybody knows that everybody has a opinion and that it is thiers and thiers alone. However, it worries me that as I review more games, I will become as, well, frankly, cynical as the professionals, and things I have enjoyed when I haven't been a reviewer I will no longerlike, making me only fullfilled when those great movies or books come along.

I like to think I can switch off my reviewer mode andsee bad movies (I count Guyver: Dark Hero as one of my favourites, butappreciate it is rubbish atthe same time), but thismay beme fighting tooth and nail against the envitable. I have played and enjoyed games lots of people say suck, theoriginal Matrix game being one of them.

It makes me wonder that if Brendan, Tor, Tom and the rest of the gamespot crew werent reviewing games and playing alot of them all the time, would they have more of an appriciation of movies like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or even Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li?

If they are truely going into everything they can critque with the mindset of a reviewer, then surely thier enjoyment of that piece will be marred by them looking for flaws, and mentally taking notes as to what they did and didnt enjoy. I loved Revenge of the Fallen, though it wasnt as good as the first, and this is because I just sat back and enjoyed it, and didnt even notice half the bad points the team talked about on the hotspot a few weeks ago. This is either an alarming warning about ADD, or the difference between a review mind engaged and a review mind disengaged.

As I get closer to my dream of becoming a professional in this most heralded of industries, I worry that I will become jaded, as so many of my one day peers have become. I dont know if that is a risk I have to take, and whether it is a bad thing or not is questionable, but I would like to think I can buck the trend, and only review when I need to. I hope some of you will go forth and read some of the reviews I have on this site, and see what you think.

What do you think about reviews and reviewers? are they all jaded, or just more precise in thier enjoyment habits?

As previous readers of my blog can tell you, I work as an IT support tech (and if I haven't mentioned that before, now you know!), and that is in a call centre for a insurance firm. The atmosphere is really good and generally the staff are a good lot, and every week, like many places, we have a dress down day where we pay £1 and that money goes to charity just so we can wear jeans and a t shirt to work, which, I am sure you will agree, is a nice thing to do.

Every so often, we have specific 'fun days' for the larger charities, such as red nose day or children in need, where we have a range of activites throughout the day along with cake stalls and other nonesense. Over the last couple of years I have taken it upon myself to introduce my beloved hobby to the workers there, and have decided to run tournaments on those big charity days so I can a) feel like I am helping and b) get people to play games they normally dont. Its a good thing, not just an excuse to toss off work for a day. Honest.

Each time I have run a tournament I have messed about with the formula a little bit, but have now come up with a few concrete rules on how to go about running them, which I thought I would share with you, the lovely people of Gamespot, just in case you too decide to run such an event. So here are my rules to running successful tournament at work:

1 -Keep the matches short

Remember, you are still at work, so pick a game where the matches are short and can be finished within five minutes. I prefer to use fighting games for this, such as Street Fighter IV, but Fifa or a racing game could work too. This will have the dual effect of keeping players interested and not annoying any managers.

2 -Pick a straight forward game

You dont want anything too complex as people will not be into it, and the win conditions need to be clear. Again fighting games are good for this, and since people can pretty much just button bash and you dont have to really tell them what to do, then it saves on stress for all involved.

3 -Keep the whole thing small

The last time I run a tournament, its was Street Fighter IV and I had unlocked every character, so I decided to make it a boys vs girls tournament (in the first round at least) and say that people can only pick one character and once they had that character is gone from the list. This was a bad idea, as too many people meant I found it hard to get people to come and play and keep it going through lunches (a particular problem in call centres). So keep the tournament places small, with 12 being the absolute maximum for a decent running game.

4 - Open registration well in advance

Give it at least a few days before the tournament so that people can get thier names down and make sure they are actually in on the day, and keep all involved up to date on any changes, the venue and game.

5 -Play yourself

Dont be afraid to put your own name down, as alot of people, especially work friends, will want to take you on. This is mostly so when you walk around they can take the mick, but hey it works, and ifyou trounce them then you can do it instead, which lets be honest, is always a good thing.

6 -Dont make people look daft

Unless they are drunk, which I hope they arent if they are at work, people will not play anything that makes them look stupid. So a singstar tournament, unless you work at a music label or something, is probably not the best plan as we are all aware (those of us who are over 18 at least) that karaoke is best done intoxicated to the eyeballs.

7 -Make sure you have all the right equipment

It may sound stupid, but you can't run a gaming tournament if you dont have a TV and a few spare power sockets, so make sure the venue (often a meeting room) has all the right gear. Oh and check the TV for sound play back, as thinking every TV has speakers built in has proven my downfall in the past.

8 -Make it fun

A bit of a no brainer, but if you can get some sort of prize for the winner, do so, and dont be afraid to trash talk, even if your not playing. Commentate, and after each match consider sending an email around the office announcing the winners and loosers (especially fun if a very manly man gets beat by a girl lol) and even update twitter as a laugh.

9 -Keep a list of participants handy

Again a no brainer, but also arrange into a tournament structure on a spreadsheet and print it, so that you can easily work out who isplaying who next. This will save you having to remember and be an easy reference for people who ask who they are playing. If its a fighting game your running, put down peoples characters too, so those who do know about the game can think about it in advance.

10 -Get the payment fee's early

Remember the tournament is for charity, so if you are charging an entry fee (£1/$1 is a good start point) collect it before the people play. This will mean you can concentrate on running the thing and not have to remember who has paid and who hasn't on the day.

So there you have it, my top ten hints on how to run a smooth tournament at work. Admittedly, most are provided by common sense, but some are lessons learnt the hard way. Thanks for reading, and I hope your tournaments go well. If you have any other tips. please let me know!

Many people say that video games will never be art. Personally, I think that is a load of rubbish, and games already demostrate a level of artistic expression vastly above most 'old school' artists, its just that the detractors cannot see that it is a different type of art. Some people also say that emotion cannot be delievered well in games or at least not in the same way as movies, and it is this that I am going to discuss because I am torn between the two sides of that arguement.

You see on one hand you have memorable gaming events like the death of Aeris or the majority of Mass Effect, ones that tug at your heart strings in one way or another or provide a gripping story throughout. But movies do this better for one reason and one reason alone: Actors.

Both games and movies use actors, in games it is for voice and sometimes motion capture, while movies use the actual person in a live way. While anyone who read my last blog will know I believe that games can convey some the best tales ever created, one area that really lets them down is voice acting.

I have recently played and completed Ghostbusters: The Videogame, and once I had I then watched the Blu-Ray of the first film I got with it and I noticed something, something that prompted this post. That something was Bill Murray. Now we all know he is a great actor (Lost in Translation not withstanding) but his performance of the same character in a game and in a movie is telling of why movies, to me, will always be that little bit better (but not more creative).

The animation of a videogame, while widely superior to anything that has come before it at the present time, is still unable to create a truely photorealistic human. This is mostly due to the small movements and twitching a human does, games simply cannot replicate to produce a truely believable human being. This became apparent because I was laughing at Bill Murray's lines in the film but not that much in the game.

Its an interesting point, because actors are being used more and more in games, with some significant voice talent being brought in for major games. The best the medium has to offer, games like Mass Effect or Alpha Protocol do this and do it well, but the cinematic human interaction feel they are going for always feels a little flat, and another reason for this is fluidity.

If were to actually pay attention to the way people talk to each other, you will see there is a fluidity to, one is saying something while the other is thinking what to say in response and continues pretty much as soon as the other person has finished. While I do not deny the best the medium has to offer do a fairly decent job of replicating this, it still falls wide of the mark due to how voice acting is recorded.

Again this is the fault of the medium, as voice acting isnt recorded using the voice actors being in the same room (generally), instead each actor records thier lines and then an editor splices them all together to create the conversation. I am not denying that the method works, but it rarely replicates the true fludity of a conversation as you can hear where is line is stopped and the next started, with very few interuptions or talking over another person.

Now this can have great results, but it depends no what your trying to do. In Ghostbusters, it didnt work because the animation couldnt replicate Bill Murray's ability to conduct himself, and his quick witted lines do not transfer well to the gaming medium. In something like Halo for example, it works because the tone is more serious and comedy is at a minium, letting the voice acting convey what is required well.

I guess its what your trying to accomplish that ultimatly affects what you need to be able to do with voice acting and animation as Ghostbusters was trying to be the third film in the series, though it was a good game, it was still a game and simply couldnt compete on the level the actual movies can. Halo, conversely, is a game through and through, and emulates movie action and science fiction but knows exactly what it is.

So what is the one valid reason why games will never replace movies? Actors plain and simple. Until some figures how to truely make an interactive movie, combining the best of both mediums so that photorealistic actors (or even actual actors) can be used and still give the player all those bad ass powers gamers want then movies are always going to be the superior way to show off subtle acting and get that 'real' feel.

As I have said, I am not having a real pop at gaming, this is just an exploration of a limitation of it. My previous blog showed that I believe games can provide experiences that surpass even the best movies, and I stick by that, but that comes with a certain suspension of disbelief about the way characters have converstations in games.

What do you think?

Ok, let me be straight up from the off: this is about my reasons for gaming, what I like and don't, and is generally more about me than anything else. I will ask the question of you at the end, but please, if your going to comment on my thoughts, at least be polite.

Now, for most of my life I have been a geek. Its an honest assessment, and one anyone who knows me, or indeed, has read my previous posts can attest to. I am cool with it, but this is probably the biggest reason why I game.

As a geek, I have a certain affinity for some material. For some geeks it is swords and sorcery, hack and slash, with the height of your geekdom coming from knowing every line from the Conan movies. For others, and for me, it is science fiction and to a lesser extent, comic books.

As a kid I grew up watching Transformers and G.I. Joe (action force as it was known in the UK) along with M.A.S.K and Centurions. These cartoons really grabbed me, they were surprisingly adult in how they told their stories, despite being 'kiddified' and were brilliantly inspired pieces of sci fi. This followed on into the movies I watched, with the obvious one's being Star Wars, because, lets face it, very few sci fi geeks don't love them.

Gaming original started out as a way to a) shut me up and b) do something else but use my imagination to re-enact great Autobot vs Decepticon battles with my Transformers toys. However, as the technology of gaming became better and better, and more cinematic and intricate story's could be told, I found my self drawn to it more and more.

I started playing space invaders when I was very young on a really, really old battery powered device with a black and white screen built in. Later I graduated to the ZX spectrum and games like Chucky Egg (I think that was it) and Ghostbusters. Then came the PC into our house and asteroids took over for a while.

Shortly there after, stories were added to games. Oh wow, now here was something that filled my head with information, and let what I do best run amuck. Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, the very first Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, all games with stories that I got behind, along with the Seminal Doom.

My imagination was on over load, and it pretty much still is. Gaming, along with movies and to a lesser extend TV, has become my medium of choice to tell intriguing stories with great characters and fantastic backgrounds. I first geeked out over the story in Wing Commander, then moved on to both flavours of Command and Conquer (the installs for those early games were like p*rn for me!!!) before getting to PS2 games like Devil May Cry.

It was this era that really made me game a lot more. The story's and cinematic flair available through the power of the PS2 and its successors (Xbox included) meant that developers came up with stories and universes that appealed to me on a fundamental level.

The biggest game to do that is, and despite the attention I know this will get, Halo. Bungie created one of the greatest science fiction universes ever, its intricate back story, powerful characters and awesome visual scope made it probably my favourite game series of all time. I just can't help myself, it is brilliant.

And now, that is why I game. For the story, the characters and universes developers create. The power of modern computing technology allows for those cinematic cut scenes and powerful story's, and titles like Braid have certainly shown that a story doesn't just have to be about blowing stuff up. Gaming has become more than just a pass time of the bored (though it is still that), it is now a full fledging medium in its own right, with its own rules and boundaries.

These rules and boundaries can be bent or broken, but even if developers remain within them, they can create stories are compelling as the greatest works of literature or cinema and tell them in a completely different way. Do we need a movie based on Halo or Gears of War? Honestly, probably not, though I would go see them.

Games can tell stories just as well as any other medium, they captured by heart and mind years ago continue to do so. I may be a geek, and gaming geek at that, but I have been rewarded for my status with stories I will probably never told better in another medium, and experiences that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Gaming is great, though it may not be your reason to game, the stories and universes that I play through are mine.

So tell me, what are yours?