Kyle McColl

At last the Easter holidays have arrived and I can finally take a break from historical and political essays for a while and just enjoy life. Not to say I don't enjoy learning, but hell, I needed a break! The weather here in Scotland is pretty good considering, blue skies and mild temperatures with only a little bit of rain here and there. The gaming future also looks bright ahead with the 3DS launched and the NGP hopefully arriving at the tail end of the year.

To top it all off, I've just bought some rare CDs by a Japanese singer I like called Hiroko. She sung in English and her career crashed by 1993 but she had 5 albums out (all in English) and had some good tunes. You guys in the US would know her best (not saying much, she wasn't a success really there) for a song called My Love's Waiting, which is a very Madonna-esque track.

I've also recently acquired an original Xbox and have bought a few great titles for it - Metal Slug 3 and 4, Knights of The Old Republic, Fable and Halo are the main ones but there's a couple of others too that have also been great fun to play. I must admit, having gone back to it after a few years on the 360, I wonder now why I got rid of the Xbox in the first place. It's just such a great machine and there's something attractive about it, both in terms of games available and design. The controller is big and meaty and is (in my opinion) a hell of a lot better than the 360 design.

Playing these Xbox games got me thinking over the last week about something that gamers the world over have debated since the early days of Atari, Intellivision and Odyssey - is there such a thing as a perfect game? And if there is a perfect game, what is it?

See why it's such a hotly contested topic? Everyone has a different view on what a good or a bad game is, and a viewpoint on a game can be different now than it was at release. My first blog here on Crosseyedgamers was a review on Sewer Shark on the Mega CD, which was a FMV based game. Although a lot of people have slammed the game (and perhaps rightly so), I still feel there's fun to be had with it, and the comedy offered appeals to me. One man's rubbish is another man's gold so it seems!

Videogame magazine are a source of both good consumer advice, as well as debate on a game's worth. After all, all game magazines review titles and then give them a score out of 10. I've never heard of a game getting a 0 but I still remember when GamesTM gave it's first 10 out of 10 score. It was for Burnout 3 Takedown on the Xbox (which I've bought as well) and I remember thinking it was a well deserved score. Playing it now, I still think it deserves the score. It's held up well over time, is still as addictive as ever and is a fun party game and a single player experience.

However, and I know this might sound somewhat daft, but I can't say that Buronout 3, despite being a 10/10 in my head is a perfect game. It's brilliant, don't get me wrong, but there's just something missing with Burnout 3 that makes me avoid calling it a perfect game.

Perhaps a perfect title should be an 11 out of 10. After all, a 10/10 suggests a game has fully done what it has set out to do without any hitches or notable flaws. And 11 would be a game that goes above and beyond the call of duty, and truly makes your live magical for the hours you spend playing it. Does that sound like a good idea?

So I've spend the last week looking through my game's collection, trying to find as many games as possible from as wide a range of systems as possible that could be 11 out of 10 games. I've chosen one for each system that I believe would be worthy but some I just coudln't find one. That doesn't mean that there isn't one out there - just that I don't have it!

Playstation 3 - Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Game of The Year edition)

I haven't played the first three titles but they were all big hits on the PC when they arrived in the 90s and early 21st Century. The fourth title was a blockbuster though and sold by the truckload. It's hard NOT to see why - the game offers a beautiful and rich world that encapsulates several different environments (snowy mountains, grassy plains and the hells of Oblivion) and an intricate plot that keeps you hooked while giving you room to explore.

RPGs tend to have a Marmite reputation and will either be loved or hated by individuals on the basis of being an RPG. It's arguable that Oblivion was the first RPG that truly captured the imaginations of the masses, both casual and hardcore gamers alike. The fact that the game's engine was used to develop the equally brilliant Fallout 3 and New Vegas also adds to my love of the title.

While the game offers you a brilliant plot that keeps you hooked right until the very end, the side quests offered are equally impressive and make the world you live in seem more tangible and realistic...for a world that has magic and strange creatures living there anyways.

Playstation 2 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Although a multiplatform title, it was originally a PS2 title when released in 2004. It was brilliant then and it's brilliant now. GTA III was the first blockbuster title in the series and set the standard the sequels would be judged by. Vice City was a worthy sequel and added elements that III didn't have such as planes, bikes and the brilliant 80s music. However I don't think anyone was fully prepared for what San Andreas would offer.

The world of San Andreas was by and large a mini country in scale. Three distinctly different cities were available to visit and the plot that brought them all together, fronted by character CJ was just pure brilliant writing. You truly care for the characters you are trying to protect and that is something all games should be trying to do. San Andreas does this with style, while allowing you to still commit grand crimes like robbing a casino, hijacking a plane in mid flight and robbing houses. All to a excellent soundtrack that any game would be proud to have.

Playstation 1 - Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped

There are loads of contenders for the PS1 that's for sure. It was really hard to truly pick a game that I felt would be deserving of the award. Crash 3 I felt was the best example, as the Crash series was perhaps one of the best ever made for a system. Crash Bandicoot 1, 2 and 3 are all truly brilliant games, but there's one reason I chose three.

Warped brought together all the elements that made the first two titles so great and just improved on them. Grapically the game was a beauty to behold, with each level having it's own unique feel and color threshold that was a joy to just watch. The soundtrack behind it was equally fantastic; I can hum the tune to the first level right now, it's that good! The structure of the levels are inventive and are fun to play but are also fun to repeat. That's a key point - a lot of adventure titles lose steam after the first play, but Crash 3 just keeps on giving!

The idea of visiting several times zones is an innovative one and makes for a creative and quirky story that allows for great humor and creativeness. The story of good vs. evil is a classic but Crash 3 Warped does it better than most and when you finish playing it, you just want to play it again!

Xbox 360 - Halo 3

It's an obvious one so I won't stick around to explain this one long - Halo 3 was an immense gaming experience, both in single player and online. It was a truly fitting conclusion to the Halo trilogy and a great FPS to boot. Stunning to look at, fun to play and good for multiplayer with friends, how can anyone complain?

Xbox - Project Gotham Racing 2

I know racers can divide opinion, and there are gamers out there who feel that a racing game just can't be a perfect title. God knows why, and if there is a perfect racing experience, this is it! Partially an arcade racer and partially a racing simulator, PGR 2 is a complete experience that is everything a racer can and should be.

The game has a great range of cars to choose from which few will find to be poor or lacking. The number of tracks and locations available is simply mind boggling, with each of the cities and cars rendered in such great detail that sometimes you can lose control of the car while driving due to just enjoying the visuals. The fact that the game allows you to listen to your own songs on the radio while you drive is a great feature - I remember crusing around the Nürburgring for several laps justlistening to the Bon Jovi album Slippery When Wet....good times.

The kudos system that the game uses is improved on that used in the original PGR, with the controls giving you more oppertunities to gain those valuable points. There's an immense satisfaction gained when you drift around a corner just right and gain 100 kudos for it. It's rewarding good behaviour! Well, at least as far as racing is concerned!

And sadly that's all I've got time for today - If I maker this blog post too long then no-one will ever finish reading it! I've covered Sony and Microsoft so next blog post I'll have a good look at the Sega systems and will maybe even try and argue for a good Atari Jaguar game...see you then!