Master Chief’s favourite viewpoint has become ever more dominant in games over the last couple of generations, to the point where it sometimes feels like the industry’s default camera view. Don’t get us wrong, we love a good FPS and we totally appreciate the immersion the perspective can afford a game. But to be honest we’re just getting dog-tired of seeing everything down the barrel of a gun, seemingly just for the hell of it. And for all of its advantages, there are some things that first-person can never do as well as third-person. Just compare the combat in Oblivion and Fable II. Which one is the most dynamic and fun?

And while we’re on the subject, let’s pay attention to the fact that 2008 has finally, thankfully seen the glorious resurgence of 2D. Braid. Bionic Commando: Rearmed. SSFIITHDR. Street Fighter IV. Geometry Wars 2. Mega Man 9. Anything with the phrase “PixelJunk” in the title. All brilliant, all as good as anything in 3D, and all impossible in anything but two dimensions. The industry finally seems to be accepting that 2D is a legitimate form again. Let’s keep that up in 2009. Nintendo, you have WiiWare. Start thinking Mario and Zelda.

 
Seriously guys. We know that you’re just people doing jobs, the same as any of the rest of us. And we know that means that you have opinions and frustrations, and a need to vent from time to time. And we’re interested in that, we really are. But that’s why we interview you. That’s why we record open, one-on-one conversations with you and give you a chance to tell us how things are going over on your end. It’s a system that works and we enjoy it. So what in the hell more, in the name of all that is good and pure, do you think you’re going to achieve by instigating a flame war on a forum?

Some people are always going to disagree with what you say and do. But disagreeing back on a public forum does no good whatsoever, no matter how many compliments you might direct towards their mothers in the process. If they think your game is shit, the only way their opinion will change is from “shit game” to “shit game made by a whiney dickhead”. People criticise forums for being reactionary, immature and needlessly angry, and they are. By getting involved in that crap, you’re achieving nothing but being all of those things yourself. Be professional, get on with your job and let your work do the talking. Then we’ll meet up and you can vent all you like.