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Justin Calvert
Deputy Editor, GameSpot UK
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Now Playing: Gran Turismo Concept 2002: Tokyo-Geneva (PS2), Suikoden (PS), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2), Pro Evolution Soccer (PS2), Spider-Man: The Movie (GC), Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)
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Like many of you, I suspect, I think nothing of spending a few hours most evenings playing with myself. It's not that I'm an antisocial gamer or a fan of laminated magazines, mind you; it's just that many of the games I enjoy playing are not designed with friends in mind. There are exceptions of course, but save for the regular Pro Evolution Soccer marathons that see me competing with friends who are every bit as comfortable on Konami's ball as I am, it's often difficult for me to find an opponent who's played any of my favorite multiplayer games for even a fraction of the time that I have.
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Justin knows football.
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Besides, what I really mean when I say that I enjoy playing with myself is that I have a definite penchant for games that allow me to play as a character that resembles the figure I see in the mirror every morning, or at the very least is referred to by the same name in conversations with NPCs. Some years ago a group of friends and I went to a lot of trouble mapping our own faces onto the skins of Half-Life models, and the deathmatches that ensued were some of the most enjoyable I've ever played. There were also obvious advantages to being able to instantly recognize each other when team deathmatch became the gameplay mode of choice.
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Justin knows skateboarding.
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Increasingly, console games are allowing for levels of character customization comparable to those on the PC, among the most noteworthy of which has to be Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Despite the availability of more than a dozen real-life pro skaters, I have, to date, only completed the game with one character--the character I imaginatively named Justin Calvert, after spending a good hour or so re-creating my taste in clothes, my (lack of any discernible) hairstyle, my choice of watch, and even the scar on my right arm, which, incidentally, I wish I could tell you resulted from a spectacular boarding accident rather than a schoolboy scuffle.
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Justin knows golf.
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At the other end of the scale, I've recently started playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 on the PS2, and although I don't have a problem with stepping into the golf shoes of the man himself, I'd much rather be able to play as Justin Calvert. If I want to see Tiger Woods sinking championship-winning putts, I can just turn on the TV. Game publishers spend small fortunes signing up big names to endorse their games, and while it makes for the occasional diverting news story in the nonspecialist press, I'm really not convinced that they get their money's worth once the game hits the shelves. There could have been no better player license during the World Cup than David Beckham, for instance, yet in the UK, Rage Software's Beckham-endorsed game performed very poorly against others, such as Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer, which features player and team names that serve only as hints at what the real ones should be. Perhaps the endorsement fees currently being enjoyed by big-name sports stars would be better spent on game development--the authenticity of player names and likenesses can certainly add much to a game, but as Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer has recently shown by outselling both FIFA 2002 and 2002 FIFA World Cup, it's the quality of the gameplay that counts above all else. And as for Tony Hawk, when it comes to pulling tricks via a hand controller, there's nothing he can do that Justin Calvert can't.
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