Well, most of the big releases this year have come and gone, and though they were a mixed bag, quality wise, they were all a big old load of fun. But, there is still one game that has not yet been released, to hopeful critical acclaim. I am of course, talking about "The Saboteur" James Cameron's AVATAR, The Game, which is seemingly the latest in a long line (and by long line, I mean 2) of games featuring half naked blue men gracing their cover art. I thought I'd take some time out from my busy university life, and explain, through the traditional means of "Anti-Logic", that AVATAR's cover art truly will be it's undoing. By comparing it to an Xbox 1 launch game

Exhibits A & B - James Cameron's AVATAR - The Game, in comparison to the "Hit" Xbox

Exclusive, Azurik - Rise of Perathia - For the magic of comparison, put your mouse over Avatar's "glorious" box art, and watch it change before your very eyes! shazam!

I Highly doubt that I will be in the minority when I state that Azurik was a horrible, horrible game.  This game was undoubtedly an experiment by axis scientists, sent forward in time, in order to accurately determine the exact quota of blue men that would probably send the world ever so slightly loopy. However, it is the box art that truly sticks in my mind. Every time I pulled this game off my shelf, I saw this awfully designed cover, and my heart sank. It seems as Azurik failed in its key mission, as the world is still slightly sane. But only just.

But now, it seems that the French aim to test the limits that the blue men will push the human spirit to, and perhaps even break us. James Cameron’s AVATAR (The Game) is a movie tie in (so the odds are already stacked against it) featuring, everybody’s favourite key protagonist (stop me if you’ve seen this before), a half naked blue man, wielding a staff, in front of a lush land, tormented by some kind of evil presence. However, it would seem that things are linked between these games, other than their love of blue people. I will establish, without any logic, (or reason), why AVATAR is pretty much just Azurik with  a fresh coat of paint, but with the same blue man that we all know and (probably) love.

Step One – both feature a new technology (on consoles) for the first time ever.

Azurik introduced the world of console gamers to Anti-Aliasing, and their world was never the same. Nowadays, teenage man babies complain if their edges aren’t as smooth as their (never shaved) faces. So thank-you Azurik, for giving us this gift.

AVATAR, on the other hand, introduces us to 3-D. which I’m sure is just about to take off, just as soon as everybody buys a brand new 3-D TV. Yep, real soon.

Step Two – both feature a blue guy with a massive staff.

Well, just look at the protagonists on each of these covers. They are pretty much mirror images of each other. If that doesn’t creep you out something terrible, then I don’t know what would. Perhaps clowns? That could be it.

Step Three – Both are rated T (For Teen)

I may be just clutching at straws, but seriously, what are the odds of two games featuring heavily tattooed blue men, both published by companies ending in “soft”, both being rated T for teen? The fact that there are two covers featuring blue men is weird enough. This is just getting silly.

To Conclude, if you ask an elderly relative for James Cameron’s AVATAR (The Game) for a Christmas present, just be sure that you are extremely descriptive when describing the cover to them. Nobody wants to wake up Christmas morning, all excited, only to discover that you’ve been given Azurik in its stead. If you do get Azurik for Christmas, the best thing to do would be to;

1)     Find a small packet of C4 (or gelignite, whichever you can get your hands on faster really)

2)     Encase Azurik in this explosive packaging.

3)     Go to your nearest desert, and detonate this package. Make sure you stand well clear, wouldn’t want to get Azurik embedded in you. No way you can trade that abomination in now.

4)     Relish in the delight that is not playing Azurik.

Of course, AVATAR will probably also be awful too. But that’s just relentless pessimism speaking.