Should video games be considered an artform? It is a debate which is endlessly entertaining – with the emphasis on endless. So perhaps it is not surprising that in the pursuit of ease I often settle on the Jaggeresque position – it's only rock and roll but I like it. But deep down I know I appreciate games more seriously than that, and I believe other people could too.

A few weeks back I suddenly felt the urge to send thousands of tiny men to their deaths. Such an urge is hardly out of the ordinary, but on this occasion it was particularly strong: I'd been reading Tolstoy's War and Peace for quite some time (is there any other way?) and found myself immersed in the war part, so it felt rather fitting to give Napoleon: Total War a whirl.

Cargo Commander. It sounds like the sort of self important handle I might have referred to myself with back when I played the space MMO Eve Online. Ah, those were the days; stick the ship on autopilot, make myself a brew, read the latest Andy McNab novel, deliver the goods, job done. Yet Cargo Commander shares very little in common with such tranquillity… except the space setting, and the brew… and I guess you might be able to replicate that inner peace with an incessant swearing session (just press the F key).

A good soundtrack can absolutely transform a game. That's not a particularly controversial statement, but it is easy to take for granted. Thankfully, I was reminded just the other day when, in the process of trying to make Far Cry 3 work, Hotline Miami stopped working (typical). Specifically, Hotline Miami was stripped of its intoxicatingly cool soundtrack; where before its electro pulse egged me along my killing spree, now I just feel… dreadfully unclean.

And so another platformer manages to escape the gloomy limbo that is Xbox Live Arcade.

Quite why Limbo took a year to find its way I have no idea, maybe it couldn't find the door shrouded in darkness… *does research* Rather more predictably, it turns out the awkward bouncer that is Microsoft decided to bar Limbo entry onto it's niche platform, the personal computer. In spite of it showing quite the appetite for indie platformers. Another score for common sense.

Right now I've got my magnifying glass out, I've been poring over wikipedia, seeking out snippets of TV circa 1994, listening to a hell of a lot of the Manics. I'm constructing a retrospective identikit of the band, and all the insanity starts to make so much sense.

Here's a tip: If you ever fancy paying a morbid visit to a police station's morgue, it's a good idea to ask first at reception. Regrettably, oblivious to the clerk sat behind glass, I instead try to barge into the station's innards like the unruly lout I am. No such luck. Undeterred, I exit the police station in search of an alternative way in.