Matthew Hutchinson

From the very excellent (UK Based) Media Molecule, a Lionhead spin-off company. I had an interview with Lionhead many years ago, long story short, I didn’t get it :(

I took a visit to the Game:On Exhibition at London’s Science Musuem – £8 for 2hrs and all the Arcades and consoles are set on ‘free play’. Everything from the orginal Asteroids and Space Invaders machines, to Amiga classics and the current consoles. I took a few photos, but the Flickr group has loads more. Its well worth a visit if you are into this sort of thing, all the old cabinets took me years back to scrounging for 10ps at the Portrush arcades

After weeks of absence from the online gaming lark, I jumped back in last night for a quick bout on DoD:Source. DoD:Source arrived earlier this year and has taken the game to a whole new level.

is the only game I have been playing since 2001, when its 3.0 release was a mod for Halflife (1).

Ive had other brief stints on HL2:Deathmatch, Counterstrike, Battefield 2, and being a fan of WW2 history and books may make me biased, but DoD is simply the best game i’ve ever played. To be sucessful it forces teamwork and tatics. And while tough for beginners and sticking to realism, its not completely insane – like Ghost Recon, where wind direction and drag infulence bullet trajectories.

For almost a year or so at college I was a member of the Iron&Steel division, a U.S. based clan that doesnt take themselves too seriously and focuses on skill and teamplay. Taking part in tournaments and leagues was good crack for a while, and Ive made a few friends from it all.

You’ll usually find me on the servers at Sunlit Games – they are also based in the States so the pings are little higher, but the quality of play and teamwork are second to none. Many IronAndSteel regulars hang out there and the servers can get busy after 9pm GMT. Its very tough on there, defintely more so that a normal pub server – but that will only make you a better player. (or so I tell myself). They also tend to try out and host some of the best custom maps available.

With the exception of Halflife 1&2, I only play multi-player PC games. Single player games just seem pointless when your beating a predictable cpu. (and consoles were fun for 10 or 20 mins, when I was 15) – saying that Goldeneye 64 has yet to be beaten for 4 player carnage around a TV – (it even forced me to buy an old N64 on ebay a few months ago)

Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be enough time in the day anymore to warrant a 4hr marathon on DOD till the small hours. But I get some practice in when I can.

Oh well, back to work …

BTW – if you’d like to shoot at me (online), my steam account is m.hutchinson@ijug.org or playername G.Costanza – (dont ask)

Also – look out for the Flickr Feed of DoD screenshots, taken in game – this set will grow further with time.