Xbox One and the deep dark hole of Dota 2.

The next generation is upon us... well sort of. At least we have some sort of idea what Microsoft and Sony have to offer us in the next five to ten years at least. That is as long as the gaming consoles are still a viable options in a landscape where more and more folks are going mobile, and more and more gamers are turning to their PC's to satisfy all their needs. Still, you get the sense that both the Playstation 4 and Microsoft One will have a home in many peoples living rooms for a good while to come.

But, what to make of these mysterious and fantastical gadgets of entertainment. Whilst I don't want to ramble on endlessly about specifics here, I feel my views are pretty much inline with the vast majority of people who sat and watched both the Sony and Microsoft press conferences. Before we go jumping to absolute conclusions, it's best we all wait and see what E3 as to offer us. Yes Microsoft screwed up the reveal of the Xbox One, in a pretty substantial way I might add, but there's potential in Microsoft's new console. Even if that potential isn't exactly aimed at me, I wonder if Microsoft can entice me to watch any television at all with what they've shown, other than live Motorsport. What they've shown so far hasn't exactly captivated me on a TV standpoint, but I'm willing to give them a chance and see what they have in store for E3 in a matter of weeks.

However Microsoft seem conflicted on who exactly uses their console. While I'm sure a majority of Xbox 360 users were satisfied with the very forgettable coverage given to Call of Duty and EA Sports, many including myself felt that the inclusion of both felt rushed and pointless. With E3 just a matter of weeks away, maybe it would have suited Microsoft best to make this reveal event an entertainment focused only spectacle, instead of shoehorning video games in as poorly as they did. On that note I wasn't particularly impressed by EA Sport's offering either. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually pretty damn excited to see the next generation of FIFA titles but the video they showed off looked strangely fake and cartoon-like. Almost like it, dare I say, it wasn't actually gameplay at all.

So whilst it's fun to bitch and moan about Microsoft's reveal of the Xbox One, I'll personally wait and see what E3 2013 as to offer. As things stand right now the Playstation 4 excites me a great deal more and I suspect that will probably be the case after E3. However they too have questions that must be answered, especially surrounding the heated debate of used games. But as things stand, Microsoft will almost have to do some damage control when they next take to the stage. But whatever happens, there's no denying that E3 2013 is going to be one exciting ride.

Down the Dota 2 hole!

I'm playing Dota 2. Never thought I'd actually say that. A month ago I wouldn't have given Valve's Dota 2 a second thought, but thanks to Brad's recent adventures into the world of creeps, heroes and ganking, I too have found myself venturing into this rather frightening world. Now the last MOBA I played was a night of League of Legends with a friend, an experience that left me with a particularly nasty view of MOBA's and the LoL community in general. From the aggressively offensive users who we were matched up against, to the downright racist comments spouted at an Asian based player participating in one of our matches, ultimately left me never wanting to play a MOBA game ever again. I wish I could say these were just one offs, but in the night we played pretty much every match had something that turned me off the game. Look, I'll be honest here when I say I don't quite get why so many MOBA veterans choose to be so hostile to new players, but I guess I'll just blame it on the internet being the internet.

Now I'm sure there are many nice, friendly and kind players of League of Legends, and certainly this sort of attitude isn't solely found within MOBA's. But it doesn't do the genre any favors whatsoever. Valve have attempted to ratify this with a number of players based tools which allows other players to report bad behavior and more importantly, reward those who help others in-game. It's difficult to tell if this system is really working for Valve but my own personal experiences in Dota 2 have generally been pleasant ones. Yes there's always one player who thinks he's better than everyone else, so gets angry because the players in this co-op bot match aren't super familiar with the mechanics of the game, but for the most part things have been reasonably pleasant. That said, that hasn't stopped racist players being rather racist, which is a shame. Least we have the tools to report such players and Valve seem pretty good at tackling this rather sour part of the community.

But I'm playing Dota 2 and that scares me because I can see how and why you'd end up spending ridiculous amounts of time invested in this game. Hell, I've only been playing for a week at most and already I have spent 25+ hours playing, I'm not even sure where those 25+ went. That said, right now I'm mainly playing co-op bot matches with other players and I can sense that either I'll go even deeper down the rabbit hole of Dota 2 or I'll reach the point where I won't get anymore enjoyment out of simply playing the game. That time might be coming up fast and I'm somewhat scared to jump into public matchmaking because I really don't want to let a team down. So who knows how my Dota 2 playing will develop, but the fact that I'm even playing in the first place is something I never thought would happen. Oh and Riki is pretty darn fun to play.

Thanks for reading, it's appreciated.

MachoFantastico.