Well, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster all around this week… Konami drama came to a head with the removal of PT, Warner Brothers have offered a Season Pass that folks are leery of, The SPJ statement (Which I’ve already talked about, to some extent)… Yep, it’s been a hell of a week. So, let’s get the bad out of the way.

AAAwfulness

One of the things we talk about a lot is how advertising for video games has always been a targeted thing, and one of the effects of this is… Well, it’s hard not to take things personally. This has been proven in the case of both Konami and Warner Brothers, who’ve both made decisions that have caused a bit of a to-do. In the case of Konami, this has been a slow shift away from video games coming to its most obvious point, with the removal of even the teaser demo of Silent Hill PT (Causing, itself, a justifiably irritable reaction from the archival community, who not only have to advise folks how to keep their copies preserved, but have to go to extra effort now to keep said demo preserved.)

Warner Brothers have not exactly been exemplary either, as their marketing has focused on the Season Pack DLC aspect over, you know, the actual game. Steps have been taken to rectify this, so they’re at least aware it’s been a boo-boo, but questions have been asked about this DLC, such as whether it’s really worth the money, and why this content is gated off behind a six month pass that… May not actually encompass all the promised DLC? The answer to that can basically be summed up as business, but I hope I’m forgiven if I say something that’s been said many times in the industry, with justification: Don’t Preorder. That’s not saying Arkham Knight will be bad, that’s saying “We don’t actually know how it’s going to be until it’s out. So save those shiny coins until you’re sure. It’s less than two months away, I’m sure folks can restrain themselves till then.

Right, badness out of the way, let’s move on to nicer things. Like interesting announcements, releases, and the like!

The Fun Stuff

First off, something with a disclaimer: I’m backing the project I’m about to mention. Not too much (£20, enough for a copy, not the shiny stuff), but there’s a reason. You see, the name of the game is Formula Fusion, and I’m backing it because it’s a spiritual successor to Wipeout, by some of the folks who worked on Wipeout 3 (AKA – The Best Wipeout, as far as I’m concerned). Go take a look if you like future racing games.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater once again appears to be coming to our machines, although I see no mention of a PC release at the present time (XBox 360, XBox One, PS3, PS4). Shame, I quite liked the series, and it looks pretty fun. Ohhhh well!

Also rearing its head is a first teaser trailer for Battlefleet Gothic, the latest game as part of Games Workshop’s push to see quite a few of their licenses in video game format. Considering it’s only a teaser, and shows nothing GW fans wouldn’t already know about Battlefleet Gothic (There are Imperial Battleships that look like flying cathedrals. They have powerful weaponry. Space is pretty, and possibly deadly), I’m just going to link it rather than embed it.

In nicer news, Itch.IO has added a few new features to allow devs to create collaborative bundles. We’ve seen at least one bundle pop up already, and I look forward to seeing more devs working together on good causes.

As far as new game releases goes, Chroma Squad came out on the 30th, and the review will be up next week, Black Mesa finally released on the 5th of May, and the day before showed the release of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, which is apparently a bit of alright. Other potentially interesting releases of the week include Dex, a sidescrolling cyberpunk RPG, and the release of the imaginatively named Project CARS, which, as you can see from the store page, doesn’t involve racing the chopped liver you’d expect it would.

Oh, and Invisible, Inc. officially releases on the 12th, next week. Why is that this week’s news? Because the full build is available to Early Access backers today. Which gives me plenty of time to get my teeth stuck in before its official release.

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Yes, The Mad Welshman is open for business! Reviews, opinions, posts about PC gaming and gaming history, hopefully interviews, and possibly my Let’s Play stuff as well (We’ll see what happens there), all can be found here!

…Or not, because… Well, look at the date, and the site. Did you seriously think I would go back into reviewing with a draft site (And this is a very rough draft, which will be updated pretty much live, design wise, and definitely logo wise) and not a single (Actual) article? (I like the better planned jokes of April Fools, but I’d rather write something clearly unbelievable in a hopefully entertaining way on that day)

No, instead, today, I’m gonna post a lil’ bit of what is going to go on the about/contact page, let you know who I am, why I think you can trust me, and what’s going to happen.

So, for those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter, but heard about this from a mate, here’s the skinny:

Not my normal look, but still a fun one.

My name is Jamie Durbin, also known as JamieTheD, Jay LPs Shizzle, and The Mad Welshman. I’m a 33 year old Let’s Player (That’s talkin’ over videogames), ex barman, a film extra at least once, I like to play with my voice and sing, do digital art… and for about three years total, I was a game reviewer, first for a lil’ site called Gamerfill (Defunct), second for a canadian site called Game-Boyz. Both of those are links to old reviews, and you can find others at the same sources. Third and fourth sources would be my Let’s Play channel, and my current, somewhat sporadically written blog. All of these should hopefully demonstrate I’ve grown as a reviewer and a writer, and at least a lil’ bit as a person. My first game was Rogue, on a terminal, and my first home system was a BBC Micro. (God I feel old…) End of establishing this whole “cred” thing.

Problem is, like many folks who got their start in Games Journalism on the hobby end of things, I didn’t make much out of it, and you can help me change that. Provided, of course, you like my work. No, don’t worry about looking for a Patreon, that won’t be up until the site is good and ready. But it will be up, and if you like my work, I’d love it if you helped me make this a full time job.

So here’s the deal:

Publishers, Developers

• Do get in touch, through themadpembsman@gmail.com (Or, if you already know me from my Game-Boyz/Gamerfill days, that other address you probably already have), and ask me if I’m interested in covering your games. Odds are I will be, but there’s only got a rough estimate for when the site’s going to be ready, so until I say it is, don’t be disappointed if I say “I am, but in all honesty, I’m probably not going to be able to get the site up before release, so you might be better off with someone else.” I’d rather know you’re there, and that I’m in your contact list.
• IMPORTANT EXCEPTION: I know full well I’m not qualified to do the majority of sports games. Just strike me off the list as far as NFL, FIFA, or Stanley Cup Throwdown is concerned. Sports management games, or strategy games with a sport theme I’m much better about, and racing games are just fine, but I’d rather not do anybody a disservice by writing an article about FIFA ’16 when I know damn well the last football game I played was Sensible Soccer, and I sucked at it.
• If you’re disappointed/angry with a review, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re both aware that games journalism can feel in conflict with developers or publishers, and I’d rather discuss things than have a screaming match about them. Especially get in touch if I’ve got something factually wrong, because that will need to be corrected. I don’t want you to be afraid to talk to me, because I’m pretty sure we both want games to be cool and interesting and enjoyable. On the flip side…
• There are no scores, and my overall opinion is not likely to change. I still think Blur’s components fit badly together, I still think Dungeonbowl’s design was flawed, and I still think Space, Pirates And Zombies wasn’t that hot. That I’m not hot on your game or don’t like it doesn’t make you bad people, and I want to make sure I don’t get personal, because that’s pretty shitty.
• If you end up liking my work enough to want to help me succeed, anything more than £5/week will have to be disclosed by me, because that’s the minimum I’d consider a “Significant amount” for conflict of interest purposes. Do us both a favour, and please don’t go above that if you do.

Readers/Viewers

• There will be no scores, no pretty numbers. Sorry, but I really don’t believe they’re useful, and I’ve had this opinion for a long time. You want scores, you probably want somewhere else. You want to read or watch (I’m planning some video content, as time permits) where I think a game’s going to be enjoyed in our big ol’ community, and what I think of that game, you’ll be coming to the right place. Similarly, if you’ve come to read about discussions of games past, the culture that surrounds games, and (if this goes full time) some of the shiny events folks put on to share their games, that’s stuff I definitely want to provide.
• If you like my work, there’s gonna be a Patreon, and I’d like it if you contribute to that. Won’t force you, won’t be hiding content from you.
• Because I like discussion, not hitting the “delete” button fifty odd times before said discussion can be found, there is a process for gettin’ in touch, but it won’t be through comments on the articles themselves. Mail me. Your mails have the chance of becoming part of a regular article (Haven’t decided between every fortnight, or every month) where I look at a selection of these mails, and hopefully build a discussion out of them. But because I like discussion, not “You suck”, “Go die in a fire for dissing this game I like”, and the like, be aware that trash-talk mails go straight in the trash, and the author goes on my mail blocklist the first time it happens. I love it when people disagree, and raise points about things, because there’s always something a player, any player, is going to miss, but keep it civil, keep it as spoiler free as you can, and in return, while I can’t guarantee a reply, I can at least say I’m going to try to read them all. Obviously, this may prove foolhardy over time. But for now, we’ll see how it goes.
• There’s gonna be at least one article a week right now, obviously getting more articles the more successful this site is. In the case of reviews, I will take my time before writing a review, so don’t expect day one reviews of a 4X or big RPG.  On the flipside, yes, you can cement your opinion of an RPG after 26 hours of play, even the big ones like Skyrim, and yes, when a game bluescreens your computer for the 4th time in a row, it is time to say “This game is unplayable.”
• I do have a twitter (@TheMadWelshman) , but, like any sensible netizen, I exercise the right to mute/block you if I don’t think we’re going to get along, and report you if you’re being an asshole to me or my friends. So again, be civil, be cool.

Okay, that’s mostly over. What’s left is gettin’ in touch. It’s nice and simple. Themadpembsman@Gmail.com . Please make your subject lines clear (COMMENT: [subject] for commentary , NEWS/REVIEW/PREVIEW/INVITE: [Subject] for pub/dev stuff. I know that isn’t always possible in the pub/dev case, but the easier it is for me to auto-sort, the more time I have for replying).

If you got to the end of this lil’ fireside yak, thanks for reading, I hope you’ll enjoy my content in future!

EDIT: themadPEMBSman@gmail.com (Man, what a great start we’re off to! :V )

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Things are being edited. Thanks for your patience!

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