Cease fire.

Starting a petition for Sony and Microsoft to have a ‘cease fire’ for a year so we can finish off the games we already own.

— Alan Williamson (@AGBear) February 18, 2013

It started off, as sadly most of my bright ideas do, with a joke on Twitter. I've been playing Halo 4 in level-sized chunks since Christmas and had completed another stage of the campaign. I looked at the pile of games under the television: Dishonored, Binary Domain, Dark Souls. My brother got me Uncharted 3 as a gift and I haven't even started Uncharted 2 yet.

I've been doing this for years: picking up 'bargains' that I never end up playing for one reason for another. As much as I love collecting, I'm really a collector of experiences rather than shiny boxes. I suspect many of you will be guilty of the same reckless spending. Bargains aren't bargains if you don't actually use the product.

Buying games I want to play, but won't for at least a year (Ni No Kuni, Metal Gear Rising, Bioshock Infinite) is unsustainable and unnecessary, not to mention ridiculous. Great games will still be great games a year from now, and if not they weren't worth buying in the first place.

So this year I'm not going to buy any games: no new or pre-owned console games, no Steam sales, not even iPhone games. It's time for me to stop 'finishing' games and start enjoying them again.

Words of value.

Today, I'm delighted to launch Five out of Ten, a brand new digital magazine dedicated to videogame culture.

Five out of Ten is a new kind of magazine: one that celebrates, reflects upon and enriches gaming culture. Maybe you've played video games your whole life, or maybe you're just curious about the medium. Either way, there's something here for you to enjoy. We believe that video game criticism is worthwhile and good writing is worth paying for. We split all revenue between the five authors in each issue. There's no advertising and no publishing company, no news or reviews: just great feature writing that's fresh, bold and different.

If you like Split Screen, you'll love Five out of Ten. If you don't like Split Screen, you might love it anyway. Head over to the website to purchase the first issue or download a sample!

Don't worry: Split Screen isn't going away. We'll still be working on bringing you our usual eclectic mix of content, including a completely redesigned site coming in the new year.

Yo Low.

Hello Split Screen fans,

You’ve always wanted to meet us- whether it was to put an ugly face to an ugly voice from the podcast, or to make good on your death threats after Alan’s Altered Beast review. Now’s your chance! Next weekend, we’ll be at the Eurogamer Expo on 29th and 30th of September. Seriously, we’d love to meet you, so please come and say hi!

Here’s a handy guide so you can spot us on the expo floor:

Alan

He’ll be wearing: A shirt, I think? Probably a shirt.
Weapon of choice: Canon EOS 550D aka 'The Cyclops'
Where to find him: Playing Halo 4 or being led away from the Sega stand by security, crying

Craig

He’ll be wearing: A smile and headphones. Possibly clothing as well
Weapon of choice: Zoom H4N Recorder with a furry blue pop shield nicknamed 'Grover'
Where to find him: Invading someone’s personal space or playing an esoteric sound wave puzzle game