http://youtu.be/uZR4Fp9xWSk

This week's Steam Midweek Madness is the fantastically simple puzzle-platformer 'Limbo', a dark game about a boy's journey to find his sister in a twisted world of forests, cities and horrible creatures. A quick playthrough of the first five minutes plays whilst I give the low down on what's it's all about, and whether or not it's worth your hard earned cash.

Until video embedding is fixed, you'll have to link through to the YouTube video with the above link. Sorry for the inconvenience.

http://youtu.be/DusgvhWlRfk

In the second of a playlist that will now be known as "Steam Sale Spotlight", I play Bastion, a gorgeous looking indie action rpg with some fantastic storytelling, and talk about what the game is, how well it plays and whether or not a voice will give me an orgasm. Have fun!

http://youtu.be/UrAsoYZBTzs

Hello fellow Destructoid users!

Today's discussion is about Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2, in reaction to the events that occurred over the weekend. In the video, I talk about my feelings about episode 2 following episode 1 and Generations, what my early impressions are based on the trailers, my opinions on Tails, Episode Metal and the new Special Stages, as well as an analysis of gameplay footage and the deciding factor into whether Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 will flourish... or flop!

I know it's been a little while, but things at home have gotten, funner. My house mates have returned and so lots of video games have been played, so finding time between that and my dissertation to churn out another video has been tough, but this is one I couldn't pass up. So, my apologies for the delay.

Hello you're reading an article by Nick R P Green, no internet pseudonyms here, what you see if what you get, writing on the 19th April 2012 and today I'm going be talking about... me.

Sound familiar? Probably not, but if you've watched any of the videos I've been releasing in the last week you'll know that that is my opening. So after a week, I thought it might be time to introduce myself properly to the community. My name is Nicholas Robert Pierce Green (Nick R P Green or NickRPGreen most commonly, please feel free to just call me Nick), a Theatre Student at Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK, though soon to be a graduate this year and currently the social secretary of the university's Gaming Society (Lancaster University Gaming Society (LUGS)).

I've been playing video games since my parents bought a NES second hand from a friend, which I would guess is about 15 years ago (I'm now 22), and I've grown up with them ever since. Shortly after the NES came a second hand Megadrive, then quite a few years later, a borrowed PS1 and then finally, a brand new PS2, quickly confirming Metal Gear Solid as my favourite game franchise ever made. After starting college in Chesterfield, Derbyshire (I lived in Sheffield, South Yorkshire with my parents) and starting work at a Thorntons store in Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre, my first ever Xmas pay came in which resulted in my first ever console purchase (rather than my parents buying one), my PlayStation 3. Finally, after one year of University, I bought my brother's Xbox 360 off him as he was upgrading to an 360 S, and 2 and half years of being around and living with hardcore PC gamers, my first proper gaming PC from which I am writing now.

So as you can see, my gaming history is quite open, I've had a lot of experience, with lots of devices and with that has come a lot of fun and particularly at University, a lot of friendship. Joining the University's gaming society was probably the second best thing I ever did at University (the first being making out with the cute girl from the other corridor in a night club, resulting in what has now been a one and half year fun, loving relationship. She even plays Team Fortress 2 as well!). If I could give one piece of advice to anyone going to university, particularly one like Lancaster where it is campus based with a college system, is to get involved with societies and your college. It's the best way to make friends and find people who enjoy doing things that you do, gaming in particular. My closest friends, and two of my current house mates, I met through LUGS, and I wouldn't trade them in for the world.

My interests in gaming are very broad, as you can probably tell by my collection of hardware. I tend to play a lot of shooters, Gears of War, Team Fortess, Halo, Borderlands and Gotham City Imposters are my regulars at the moment, but I delve into most genre's, enjoying such things as Elder Scrolls, Sonic, Dungeon Defenders, Minecraft, Blur and Magic the Gathering (though in real life trading cards, I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh! man). And with an interest in so many areas, I've grown a great interest in the gaming world and gaming journalism. My first regular viewing was the fantastically worded Zero Punctuation by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, who teaches us that even the greatest game in the world has its flaws, and talking about it really really fast is the funniest way to tell the world. Escapist also allowed me fall in love with such shows as Doomsday Arcade and There Will Be Brawl, which made me laugh, cry, reminisce and drink (drinking games, with friends, on gaming videos, is hilarious fun!) Regular viewing now consists of TotalBiscuit's Mailbox, Jim Sterling's Jimquisition, Rooster Teeth (particularly Game Fails), cjszero01 and MiloSaysRelax (who admittedly, is one of my house mates!)

I decided I wanted to start getting into games journalism, as I realised it was something I was very much interested in. TotalBiscuit and cjszero01 have been very big influences on my work, you'll see a lot of similarities with their videos and mine. As a Theatre Student, and a hopeful actor, I've always enjoyed working with live performance, and video editing has been a past hobby, editing compilations, home movies as well as camera, writing and editing work as part of my university course. So it seemed natural to follow in the footsteps of my inspirations. I don't have the best equipment, or the best software, but hey, we all have to start somewhere right? After graduation and when the inevitable job hunting period begins, I hope that these videos will give me the chance to continue to express my thoughts and opinions, as well as give me a better excuse to my girlfriend for sitting in front of a computer screen all day!

So that pretty much all I can say about me and gaming. If you haven't managed to catch any of my videos yet, check out my YouTube channel amongst the links below, or just have a look at my previous blog posts for links. And please comment on them! I'm always on the look out for some useful constructive criticism. In my opinion, practice and criticism are the two best ways of learning!

And so, to close as I began: Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Nick R P Green


YouTube Channel

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PlayStation Network

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http://youtu.be/Jo-653iHydU

In today's gaming in discussion, a response to comments made by TotalBiscuit in his Mailbox for 13th April 2012 about the irrelevance of achievements. In this video I discuss why achievements are a great idea, what their uses and enjoyment factors are and talk a little about my own experiences with them.

Footage in the background from my PC of Dungeon Defenders. Dungeon Defenders and all related characters are a property of Trendy Entertainment.

http://youtu.be/lfCXaqLXnaI

Today see's my first attempt at what I'd guess you'd call a 'let's play'. It's Dark Energy Digital's 2011 survival adventure game 'Hydrophobia: Prophecy'. But why? Because it's on today's Steam Daily Deal for the low low price of 99p! So I take it for a spin and let you know what I think of it, and whether or not it's worth that 99% of a pound! Try it yourself if you like, but be quick, it won't be 99p for long!

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, but only if you enjoy my videos, and only if you want to. No pressure.

[Please note, due to urgency of time frame of this offer, this post has been created whilst the YouTube video is still uploading, so I can go to bed! If the video isn't ready, check back in about an hour and it should have finished uploading.]