John Stones' Paint Trophy

My PS Plus is about to run out (or has, I don't know) and, rather than renew through the store, who is doing the 12 month codes the cheapest? CD-Keys has them for £35.90 but scared to dip into eBay, in case some kid in Basingstoke makes off with my card details. Anyone able to recommend somewhere?

It's a good game, if a bit annoying to control at times. Or I could just be an idiot. Also, I have a problem with it where I can't get into the second world/area whatever you want to call it. It's just walled off and I can't find a solution on how to get past it. One day, I'll get round to finishing it.

I once heard of someone calling their team 'Germany' and getting booed for it. It's got nothing to do with games but it made me laugh.

You say "suffer" I say, "adds to the survival horror experience". They are brilliantly awful. Touche. I was going to put Silent Hill in the same category but that's less "Oh, look a zombie" and more "Oh fucking christ, what the fucking hell was that, a DEMON?" so I was much too afraid to actually play it. I'd just watch my dad play through it.

Depends. There's stuff that was classic at the time but hasn't held up at all, whether it be because of graphics, control schemes or odd 90's game design (poor checkpoints, lots of back tracking etc.) I'd say there's two sides; the "classics" and the games that still hold up. The Tomb Raider games haven't held up at all (just try to get Lara to fucking turn around) but they're worth seeing as a cultural touchstone. 2 or 3 are probably the best ones. If you can handle the controls, they're still games that allow you to explore and solve puzzles. Resident Evils 1-3 suffer from tank controls but that's more manageable. Still good games though, even if you have to wire your brain in weird ways to solve the puzzles. Final Fantasy 7/8/9. Each have their supporters and detractors but I'd say they're all good RPGs. FF7, I'm sure you know about but it actually has more to it than RPGing through use of little mini-games to break things up. FF8 can be broken over your knee in hilarious ways and FF9 has a good cast of characters and an interesting world. For racers, you've got Gran Turismo 2, which people consider the benchmark. Tons of cars, tons of tracks, hugely involving career mode for the time. They've ruined it slightly by doing the same thing for 15 years but GT2 at the time, man. I spent weeks on that A License. Metal Gear Solid still holds up and it's impressive to see just how much crazy story shit that they packed into that game. Crash Bandicoot 1-3 still look good and play really well if you want some platforming. The first is the most difficult with the other two being slightly easier but having more level variation. The other big platformer at the time was Spyro the Dragon, which is more Mario 64 than Super Mario World. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of the most perfect games ever but I have no idea about price. It's probably expensive so I'd buy the XBLA version, if you can. Unless you're emulating, then knock yourself out. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is still a great game if you want some action-adventuring. Environments can be a little sparse now but the actual design of the game is really strong. The PSX was a popular console for a reason though, with a shit load of good games and I love it very dearly. A good website to have handy if you don't know where to start with consoles is RacketBoy.com. Here's two good links for PSX stuff: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/games-that-defined-the-history-of-the-playstation-ps1 http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sony/ps1/the-best-ps1-games-under-10 Also, some of my lesser known, personal favourites are Future Cop L.A.P.D., Alundra, Tenchu, Driver 2, Crash Team Racing, FIFA 98, Fear Effect and Bishi Bashi Special.

Counter Spy is another one I haven't actually finished due to, what I assume, is an absolutely impossible last level. I think I fucked it by going between the two sides as the levels get progressively harder, the longer you go. It's a good game though.

I was having a lot of fun with Ether One, even if the puzzles are kinda obtuse sometimes, especially the ones to get the Projectors working. Played it for about 4 hours until I couldn't access an area since I forgot to bring a key with me from way back when and I'm not trawling the previous areas to find a single key. Probably would be fun to play with a walkthrough for the story beats since the premise is actually a little intriguing since it does some interesting things toward the end of each level. Race the Sun feels like something I'd get really into on my phone but it's not doing much for me really. Fine for a freebie though. Not tried Unfinished Swan but I loved Guacameele when I played it on PS3. Gets pretty hard toward the end with some tough enemy rooms and platform sections though. Not sure I finished it.

I cannot express enough how much I love them calling it 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5' Didn't one of the THUG games have a multiplayer game where you shot things at each other to disrupt combos?

Oh, I forgot playing "Won't Get Fooled Again" on Rock Band on expert drums for the first time and seeing how perfectly they'd charting Keith Moon's manic performance. And subsequently failing horribly. Rock Band in general really.

In fairness, they're correct. Not when he buys the thing like an hour before the murder and other details that never seem to matter in LA Noire. It's just annoying when the suspicion response is the one they actually want you to use even though you can actually place the guy at the scene of the crime with witness statements that aren't put into evidence and other factors. Plus blowing it off is hardly a realistic reaction unless you're a mob guy. Stuff like that just annoyed me. The best part of LA Noire was that your hat would drop off if you got punched.

Burnout is the king of the arcade racers for me. I am eagerly awaiting the disappointment of a new Burnout game.

If we're talking Final Fantasy games, that time you storm in the Dollet beach in FF8 is pretty incredible the first time you do it. And the next 500 times. Also, the all-out war in Galbadia Garden at the end of Disc 2 has a great sense of chaos to it. Flying Balamb into Galbadia, having a fist fight with a paratrooper as you glide over the two factions kicking the piss out of each other. God, the first two discs of that game have some great moments.

A couple of mine revolve around getting the 360 for the first time. I had never went into online gaming before and went from PS2 to Wii in 2006. Picked up a 360 in 2007 and got Oblivion and Gears of War with it. Oblivion was, very specifically, the moment you come out of the prison and you can just do...anything. Go over there, punch that guard and see what happens. And it wasn't like GTA, where they just shoot you and you respawn, nah, you actually go to prison. And, because you're an idiot with no skills, you can't lockpick your way out so you sit around for 3 days until they let you out. And then came The Dark Brotherhood and all the other sidequests and, not looking at the internet for guidance, it just felt like this world was the most immersive shit ever. It totally blew my mind. Gears of War wasn't for it's graphics or anything like that (though they ruled at the time), it was playing my first online match with a few of my friends and realising that you PC gaming fuckers were living the high life for years. Staying up until 3 in the morning, pissing my sides laughing as 4 of us ran the gauntlet in Ranked matches and then wrangling up 8 of us to spend all day Sunday on a revolving loop of matches together. So yeah, that first step from PS2 to 360 seemed like the biggest shit in the world to me. I could never play PC games, never had an original Xbox and the power of those machines and the first steps into online gaming. It's common place now, of course but almost ten years ago (jesus), it felt like I was living in the future. To a lesser extent, with that stuff, Crackdown? That had a similar feel of "This world is reacting to the shit I do, this is awesome!" Also, the bit in Binary Domain where Cain shows up for the first time, driving a van away from oncoming police, cracking wise with a crazy French accent. That game is the secret sleeper hit of the last generation.

Me and my friends play older games together pretty frequently. Fighting games are always good and we tend to go to Soul Calibur 2 because you can make Tali do huge front flips out of the arena if you're careless. I'll usually plug the Wii in, load up the emulators and we'll play a fair amount of Base Wars, North And South, Mario Kart and Super Smash TV. Timesplitters 2 is one I haven't played for years but that was always in the mix a while ago. Tony Hawk 3 still gets a quick airing every few months on a bored Sunday as I try to remember all the old lines I used to pull off. For my sins, I know my way around Final Fantasy VIII like the back of my hand so I tend to enjoy breaking that every year or so. I usually get up to the Disc 3 sidequests and remember how fucking ridiculously obtuse they are and put it down. Tetris. I like to make my friend play Tetris and beat him. Worms. My friend likes to make me play Worms so he can beat me. There's more from the last generation that I go back to more often; I always replay the Mass Effect trilogy when there's nothing out. Gears of War 1 is still an incredible multiplayer shooter but the people still playing that thing are insane masters who have made it...not fun. Rock Band 3 is something I actually play, just to make sure I don't get too rusty as a drummer. I should really play Lost Odyssey more, I love that game.

Driveclub is easily worth £12. I never played it at launch but it controls really well (a lot better than The Crew, for sure), looks gorgeous and has plenty of content. They're constantly adding new content through DLC too. Some is free but the rest is affordable. It's a shame it was such a disaster at launch because if it came out as strong as it is now, it would have been awesome. Still, at least it's cheap now.

Man, the inclusion of the Jackass shit was terrible. I remember, as someone that liked Jackass, fucking hating it. I have memories of the Classic mode being really underwhelming too. And yeah, 4 ruled. I was including that in the good games. Avoiding gigantic mounds of elephant shit in a zoo is what video games should be about.

Oh shit, yes. I'm even more hyped if they actually call it "Tony Hawk 5" like rumoured. Project 8 and THUG 1 were pretty good but everything else since 4...not so much.

A lot of the ones I'm looking forward to have been covered but will agree with Rock Band 4 100%. That was my favourite series of last-gen and Harmonix always treat it right. I'll throw a vote in for N++ though. N+ was great. A fine example of something being challenging enough to keep you at one level for hours but never unfair. The sequel should be awesome, especially if they offer up free DLC like last time. And a more sensible way to play created levels.

I think Larry "Rhino" Reindhart is the best name for a guitarist I've heard in a long time.

Oh, I totally forgot about Santana's ridiculous amount of band members.

Ah, The Beach Boys.

I'm excited for Mortal Kombat and Arkham in the next few months but I have no idea what's coming out past August or so. Will N++ be this year? Gang Beasts and No Man's Sky hitting the PS4 would be nice too. Man, I remember when I used to be so excited for Mortal Kombat but fighting games really don't interest me anymore. I downloaded Injustice when it was free and had no interest whatsoever in it. I'm in, no way, good at fighting games but I'm still someone that gets friends round fairly often and they're still great for local multiplayer. Plus, I love seeing how batshit the story goes and have had a warm affinity for it since I was a kid.

I'm excited for Mortal Kombat and Arkham in the next few months but I have no idea what's coming out past August or so. Will N++ be this year? Gang Beasts and No Man's Sky hitting the PS4 would be nice too.

I haven't even started and I already want a hug