Who would have thought that anything good would have come out of the flabby behemoth that is ArmAII? But DayZ (the mod) took the game world by storm last year and actually boosted sales of ArmAII as people bought the shambling game just so they could play the multiplayer open world survival horror mod designed by Dean Hall.

Now before I launch into any more rabid ArmAII bashing I will say that my experience of the game wasn't all negative - I remember that when I tried out ArmAII on one of my game days in 2009 I was initially wowed by the beauty of the environment. Thus far AmrAII - IMHO - has supplied one of the most realistic and submersive virtual worlds that I have played in battlefield FPS games.

...However the game itself stunk!

The DayZ mod added something very special to the basic ArmAII game - fun and playability! Basically it was like someone came along and showed Bohemia Interactive how to make a real game. :)

Check out the DayZ developers video blog...

Such was the success of the DayZ mod that Bohemia - finally showing some common sense - hired the DayZ developer and are in the process of making a stand alone DayZ game.

For me this is the stand out game of 2013 as last years drive for 'realistic modern warefare' just bored the bejezuz out of me. I am really looking forward to the DayZ release...

To be honest I was completely depressed that there hasn't been a LeftDead 3 yet, but even so DayZ surpassed teh experience by being a huge open world - not a restricted 4 player co-op game.

Fingers crossed eh?

Link: http://dayzmod.com/

This is amusing, I spotted this in last weeks episode from Series 3 when 'The Govenor' (Boooo! Hissss!) shot down an escaping National Guardsman. The irony of this was it was supposed to be one of those impressive Hollywood long shots where the bad guy takes his time and fells an escaping target with one very cool shot...Well, can you spot the problem with that from this still?

Yes, some moron in charge of the firearms on set forgot to install the rear sight!

Source: Clinton re-Blogged from The Firearm Blog

Plastic soldiers take me back - I had a huge army of 1/32 scale Airfix plastic soldiers when I was a kid, and my friends and I had amazing battles with them. But how I envy todays kids as now you can pit your soldiers up against a zombie hoard!

Obviously, I get the feeling these are going to be snapped up by adult collectors, which is a bit of a shame. But they do look fantstic and would make for a superb game against a small force of troops.

Ah, to be a kid again!

Link: The Walking Dead Zombie Army Men - Gentle Giant Ltd (USA) $14 per pack. 

I have to admit that I have noticed the boom in marketing products as 'Zombie' this and that has boomed over thepast couple of years. Several serious firearms manufacturers in The States have brought out a undead themed gun in an attempt to cash in on the 'popularity' (if that's the right word) of anything to do with Zombies.

One thing I find interesting is the attitude of 'serious' firearm users to this rather frivalous (they would say) inclusion of such items into thier sport/hobby. I'm a big fan of the 'Guns & Ammo' magazine - and I don't even own a banjo - and have been amused by the reaction to some of thier readers at the inclusion of a special Zombie section on thier web site!

That said I don't see that preparing for a imagined Zombie plague is any more 'crazy' than some of the other reasons that American 'Survivalists' use to justify thier paranoia (my favourite being a 'UN invasion' LOL).

My only concern is how much this frivolity affects taking firearms seriously as lethal weapons (not toys). I am not a fan of the painting real firearms to look like toys (like the whole 'Hello Kitty' pink gun fad) - I like the idea of making shooting fun as a sport, but a healthy respect of firearms should always be an inherant part of gun ownership.

...So I was pleased to see that the only guns painted in garish colours in this video were the airsoft ones.

Link: 'Guns & Ammo' - Zombie Nation section