Ridge Racer: Unbounded, My EuroGamer Lowlight

After experiencing the pleasant surprise of Anarchy Reigns at the Eurogamer Expo on Friday, I experienced my most disappointing lowlight of the event.

Anarchy Reigns, My Surprise Eurogamer Hit

I’ll admit that before the Eurogamer Expo, I had heard very little about Anarchy Reigns. The little I had heard, described it as a “Mental Brawler”, but I had no idea what that meant exactly?

“Mental” as in, the thinking gamers fighter? or “Mental” totally over the top, bat shit crazy? It’s definitely the latter.

Dead Island… I’m Back!!

Well it been a hectic few weeks.

But now the summer holidays are over, work has returned to normal and games are slowly being released again.

I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time over the last few days playing Dead Island, a fantastic but flawed (buggy) Zombie Survival Action RPG, I'll admit I'm tempted to record some footage for a “Let’s Play” series to put up on YouTube.

It is a lot of fun, but definitely more fun in co-op mode than single player. Nothing like smacking a zombies head off with a meat cleaver, but viewed with friends it becomes a manic game of one upmanship.

“Did you see that?? one swipe with a meat cleaver”

“Yeah, Well watch this machete swing”

I did buy Warhammer Space Marine at the same time, but have barely touched it… i think ill have to rectify this soon though.

School Holidays Are Nearly Over

Fear not, I'm still alive!

The summer holidays are always a blessing and a curse, they are a blessing due to the extra hours the cinema is open, which means more pay.

Eurogamer Expo 2011, Getting Prepared

Sorry for the quiet spell this week, gone a bit hectic at work.

Starting to get excited for my trip to London next month, it will be my first time there since I was a young lad off to the natural history museum with my dad.

This time though, I will be heading to Earls Court for the Eurogamer Expo.

I am starting to gather my supplies already, new memory card for my digital camera, as I intend to take a lot of pictures, and I have even bought myself a Flip Ultra HD Camcorder for well.. taking videos if and when I can.

The list of playable games on show is growing daily, and I've started making a mental list of where and what I want to have a look at. So far the games I'm definitely taking a peek at are:

Assassins Creed: Revelations, I’m hoping that this is a fitting end to the series, its one of the best original IP’s in the last few years

Batman: Arkham City, I absolutely loved Arkham Asylum and have high hopes for this

Battlefield 3, It’s Battlefield.. .. no reason is needed

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, I never got into the original Counter-Strike rush. I dabbled a bit when it was first released as a mod for Half-Life, and again when Counter-Strike: Source came out, but never got hooked in a big way, the same can be said for Team Fortress 1 & 2, but 2 is now free on steam so I am giving that another shot

Saints Row: The Third, low brow GTA knock-off? maybe it is but Saints Row 2 was fantastic, and a lot of fun. Hopefully this one will continue the trend

Star Wars: The Old Republic, I’m a sucker for MMO’s and Star Wars.. this could be a bad thing.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine, while this is actually released a few weeks before the expo I wouldn't mind taking a look at it in person before parting with any cash. I loved Warhammer when i was younger and still have all the paints and books cluttering up my cupboard, maybe this can keep the addiction in check for a bit longer

I know this list is going to grow over the next few weeks (39 days to go) so I will keep adding as more are announced

ARGHH Game

A couple of weeks ago I was informed that my local Game was closing for a month, not permanently though, it will be reopening as a GameStation.

Not a major change, or so I thought, apparently they will have better pre-owned prices and a wider range of accessories.

But yesterday the thought struck me.. My pre-orders?!, what will become of them?.

I pre-order a lot of games each month, the last time I left Game with a pre-order list the receipt was nearly 3ft long. Battlefield 3, Dead Island, Skyrim, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Pro Cycling Manager 5 (my friend on the counter added a load of random games to see if I would notice)

I also had a paid deposit for Gears Of War: Epic Edition, what would happen to all of these?

So I went in to ask, and I did not like what I was told.

"all pre-orders have been allocated to the nearest Game store"

With my local game changing, the nearest one is now a 40 minute train trip away, which defeats the purpose of me pre-ordering in my own town.

In all honesty I don't have a big problem with it, but I don't want to pay out for a train ticket just to pick up a game.

Luckily I managed to find the pre-order slip for Gears of War 3, and got my deposit back. But what of other shoppers who haven't asked about their orders?

I would love to hear the customer support calls when the change happens and everyone who has pre-orders gets told to go to Exeter to pick them up.

Now This is how Harry Potter Should of Ended

Damn Kill Stealers..

It did make me laugh though, and for the moment it will probably be the closest we will get to seeing the Masterchief in a movie.

Diablo 3.. hmm

With Blizzards announcement that Diablo 3 will not only feature an in game auction house that will allow players to buy and sell for real money, like eBay but without the threat of having your auction shut down and account suspended.

But will also require the payers to be on a permanent internet connection, while I don't play pc games when I'm not in the house, I can see this upsetting a lot of laptop gamers, the gamers who play while traveling.

If I spend £29.99 - £34.99 on a pc game, I want to be able to play it when and where i want to, regardless of an internet connection.

Yes, I can see their point, by being online when playing they can monitor for mods and hacks (both of which are forbidden now), but to me this feels like a punishment, how dare you play our fantastic (possibly.. I can’t see Diablo 3 failing… unless something catastrophic happens) game outside, in the sun/on a plane/in a car, you should be at home, in the dark, in the basement gaming away like the social outcasts you are.. mwhahahaha

I'm looking forward to Diablo 3, the first 2 games are classics, and as my pc is permanently connected to the internet this wont affect me.. but I do feel sympathy for those wanting to play on long trips

 

 

In other news my local GAME is turning into a Gamestation… right when Deus Ex: Human Revolution comes out, so now I need to find somewhere else to buy it..

From Dust (Xbox 360 Arcade Trial) Impressions

After a hectic week at work i was very pleased to discover From Dust has been released.

From Dust is from Eric Chahi, the genius behind Heart of Darkness on the PlayStation 1, and Ubisoft (Assassins Creed series.. oh and Beyond Good & Evil)

It immediately reminds me of “Populous” the first God-type game released waaaaay back in the late 80’s, from the sadly missed Bullfrog (those immortals behind Theme Park, Theme Hospital.. Syndicate)

You play as “The Breath” the connection between a small tribe and their god, or maybe you are their god.. did not quite work that connection out. You can manipulate the world to help your tribe grow and prosper, or watch as the superbly animated natural disasters wipe them out.

Form land bridges, divert waterfalls and rivers, watch as vegetation springs up everywhere and animals start roaming around. This is a visually stunning game, which makes it more surprising when you find out that this is an arcade title (or PSN/Steam depending on your platform of choice)

The trial has sucked me in, and i will be putting Microsoft points onto my account to unlock the full game.

Battleship… Movie… What The Hell…

Seriously… What the hell is this..
I can remember playing the (video?)board game when i was younger.. and i’m pretty sure it was human fleet Vs human fleet, not Human Vs Aliens.
Liam Neeson what have you done? Taken & Unknown were great films, The A-Team was enjoyable, but this.. im at a loss for words.
I realise the Transformers movies must have been great fro Hasbro, but not everything is destined to be mad in a movie. I would love to have been at that meeting.. what else was brung up in?
Connect 4?, Monopoly? Trivial Pursuit??
I just cannot think of a worse setting for a movie..
Can you?

New Minecraft Video Up

Just a small note, a new video for my Minecraft series is up.

Face to face with my feared enemy, a Rat…

if you missed the previous video, here is the playlist link

Minecraft: Tactixal Play's Yogbox "reloaded" Playlist

Games To Fill The Gaps

It's nearly the end of July and the games drought is in full effect. The next big game release, for me anyway, is Deus Ex: Human Revolution which is released at the end of August.

Dungeons Of Dredmore

I bought a neat little game from steam today, Dungeons of Dredmore.

lots of humour, randomly generated dungeons, quests, a lot of character skills to choose from .. and is a hell of a lot of fun

Big on fun, small on price

It is only £3.14, highly recommended

http://store.steampowered.com/app/98800/

Online Passes, Good or Bad?

Online passes, the current initiative by games companies to get gamers to buy games new over pre-owned is a thorny subject to some people.

99% of the games I buy are new, my pre-owned buys are limited to the games I have a slight interest in but have no intention of paying the £40 price tag for.

Essentially the pass locks out specific gameplay functions, multiplayer in most cases, or added maps. Personally I don't believe it is needed to punish gamers for buying pre-owned, not everyone can rush out and buy the latest games at full price.

I can understand the idea behind it, when a game is bought new a percentage of the selling price goes back to the developers, when a game is bought pre-owned the developers see nothing of the sale.

Obviously developers want to get something for every copy of their game sold, and the passes help towards that.

But if I want to buy a game pre-owned, why should then have to pay out extra on top of that? Why should gamers who buy a game for the online aspect be forced to pay extra to go online?

I'll admit because of this my game collection is at a decent size, the majority if the games I have bought over the last few months have needed the pass for online play, and I could not bring myself to be responsible for causing someone else to pay extra to go online due to my trade in.

Another Reason To Watch Harry Potter..

Going back to This post another reason I will probably come in and watch Harry Potter: & the Deathly Hallows Part 2, seriously can you think of a recent film with a longer name?, is to get a better look at the trailers we have attached to them.

Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows, and Dark Knight Rises.

Sherlock Holmes is out this year and reunites Robert Downey JR and Jude Law and Sherlock & Dr. Watson. The bits I have seen look fantastic.

Dark Knight Rises, the conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, is out next year. I have caught a glimpse of Tom Hardy's "Bane" and he looks great.

For those that do not know, Bane is the Batman villain renowned for "breaking the bat" literally.. He broke his back.. Over his knee!

I'm trying not to get too excited at this stage, it's only a teaser after all.. but damn... it looks good!

Activision Need A Sense Of Humour

Fusible has reported that Activision have filed a domain name dispute over the www.modernwarfare3.com website.

Previously the site forwarded you onto the official Battlefield 3 but now viewers are treated to the original anti-Call of Duty content that was up before the forwarding began.

Filing a dispute over a domain name, a domain name that you failed to think ahead and register yourself, is laughable to me.

Ok it was linking to your competitor, EA in this case, but just be the bigger men, hold your hands up and say "yep, we cocked that right up" then start handing over the cash to buy it.

I am firmly in the Battlefield camp in the upcoming battle when Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 are released, which side are you on?

100 Posts, Nearly 3,000 Page Views

I have just realised, The last post I made was my 99th blog post.

Which makes this one, my 100th.
To me this is a important milestone, when I started this blog back in February I didn't think I would keep at it.

I generally have a short attention span for anything I try out, well except gaming, so to actually still be excited to write and post something is an accomplishment for me, throw in the addition of my YouTube channel and the fun I'm having making videos to upload, I hope this lasts for another 6 months.

Which leads me to this, I would be very to happy to hear from anybody reading this,

What can I do to improve the blog?

What would make you recommend my site to others?

Would you like to see giveaways?

I want to hear from anybody reading this, you can comment anonymously if you wish to.

So, what do you say?

Harry Potter, I May See It After All

As loathed as I am to admit this, I may have to actually sit down and watch the last Harry Potter movie.

During the morning show today, I checked on the screen, I have to make sure the picture hasn't gone funny, or upside down & back to front.. Don't laugh I've seen it happen.

From the moments I have seen, I'm intrigued, I want to know what happens, I'll admit I have read most of the books, Order of the Phoenix was the last one I think, and have seen all the movies so far.. So I will inevitably see this one. Just for completions sake..

LA Noire Reefer Madness Case… Finally

It only took 318 Minutes, but my video playthrough of the latest DLC case for Rockstar and Team Bondi’s, 3rd Person Point & Click adventure, LA Noire is finally up on YouTube.

I didn't read up on this case, I never watched the DLC trailers, didn't read anything written on Kotaku, IGN, or Gamespot. But from the title i could tell this was going to be a vice case, and that meant teaming up with Roy Earl again… and I cannot stand the guy.

No spoilers here though, I will admit that I don’t think the case went as well as it could have, Interrogation has never been my strong point… but then again neither has driving… shooting though…. well I'm pretty average at that.. my death at 7 minutes is proof…

Overall I just didn't feel the love for this case, Rockstar & Team Bondi have both stated that this isn't the last DLC we will be getting, so I am hoping out for a good old fashion homicide case to finish it all off.

Future UK Publishing Redundancy’s Looming

Over on the MCV website there is an article up stating that Future Publishing will be making "around 100" staff redundant, Future are the publishers behind the Official Xbox 360, Official PlayStation, PC Gamer, GamesMaster and EDGE magazines, also Hi-Fi Choice, Home Cinema Choice, PC Format, and a wide selection of Hobby magazines including, Cross Stitch Collection, The Knitter and Your Family Tree.. Not that I Have ever read any of that last lot…

The move comes after a trading statement showed that the sales of printed media (magazines) was down. a fair point, pretty much all information released in magazines nowadays is available on the internet at least 2-3 weeks before the monthly magazines are printed, and are old news by the time the latest issues hit the newsagent's.

The article states that they will be transferring to a “predominantly digital model” which to me sounds as if they will be transferring over to app like editions for the current tablet generation.

I do not like this, as much as I love technology, I do not want to be permanently glued to a PC, tablet or games console to read up on news's and events. I would dare take a Tablet PC with me for a bath, like I do with magazines or books.. at least with a magazine the worst you have to watch out for is dropping it and ending up with a couple of soggy pages.. I wouldn't want to think of the repair bill for dropping an Ipad.. nor would I want to explain to whoever was repairing it..

Redundancy is never a happy experience, I've suffered it before, and I wish the staff at future publishing well & good luck for the future.. no pun intended..

The Only Reason I'll Watch Harry Potter 7 Part 2

Is the fact that the new teaser trailer for Batman : Dark Knight Rises will be attached to it.

I'm not a big Harry Potter fan, I've got the first 5 books, but they were given to me by an ex.
I've read them, I'll admit that, but they just didn't grab me.

But Batman, I'll pay to watch a film just to watch that trailer, the film itself isn't due out until next year.

MineCraft Let’s Play, YogBox Edition

I have just started a Minecraft Let’s Play series, featuring the YogBox compilation mod.

One thing I love about minecraft is the amount of mods, texture packs and maps available for download. While some do not necessarily improve the game, but it will always be different and fun to play.

The YogBox however is attempting to change that, this takes some of the best mods around and packages them up into one installer.

Get the YogBox Here, and also check out the contents, it includes a fantastic selection of mods that promise to:

“enhance and improve the minecraft single player experience without distracting from the enjoyment, atmosphere and general awesomeness of the vanilla game.”

While making this first episode I did actually find myself enjoying the opening day a lot more than I previously did. Hopefully this will be a fun learning experience, getting to grips with what exactly everything does, as well as an enjoyable video series to watch.

L.A. Noire, Nicholson Electroplating DLC Arson Case Complete Run Through

I did it, 5 hours of uploading and my complete run through of the arson case “Nicholson Electroplating” DLC is available to view.

See the playlist here

I hope viewers find it entertaining.

L.A Noire, DLC YouTube Videos On Way

I am just putting the finishing touches to my first proper XBox 360 videos.
A mini Let’s Play series for L.A. Noire DLC “Nicholson Electroplating”.
I Found the story quite interesting, if a little shallow, it didn't really have the same pacing, to me anyway, as the main cases.
But if you were wondering if it was worth the time/money/Xbox Live Points take a look at the video and see if that swings your opinion

Burnout Crash… What the Hell Have They Done

This… is not the burnout i know and love, I have spent countless hours playing all the burnout games… and this just looks shocking.

the worst part is that this is also Kinnect compatible.. How? Why? This looks like a damn pinball game.

Burnout has always been about driving like a crazy person in traffic, racing with spectacular crashes. I cant even think who they are aiming this at?

 

/rant

Automatic 3DS Demo Downloads?

GamaSutra has a post detailing Nintendo’s idea for game demo’s to be automatically downloaded onto your 3DS

I sort of like this, I currently have one game for my 3DS, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I rarely buy a new game that I haven’t seen or played a demo for.

Yes, there is always the internet to watch videos or read reviews for but reviews are always one persons view of that particular game being reviewed, and videos are specifically made to make the games look good, I was convinced Brink was going to be fantastic just by watching the trailers and developer diary's. and for 2-3 hours had convinced myself it was a brilliant game.. and then reality set in.

I like the idea of waking up in the morning and finding a new demo already downloaded and ready to play, my 3DS is always in its charging dock next to my router, always ready for a quick session.

Providing the Demo’s are released before or around the titles release dates this could help me save £29-£34 on a game that could very well be rubbish

Hauppauge HD PVR Test With F3AR

I've just finished uploading my test video for my Capture Equipment, I’m really impressed with how easy it is to setup and use.

F3AR

With this setup i can expand my (albeit small) collection of gaming videos to include PC (MineCraft, anything i find on steam, Project Zomboid, Dungeons of Dredmore,) AND Xbox 360 (I have a co-op run through lined up, for F3AR on INSANITY difficulty, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, maybe some Red Dead Redemption)

I would say PS3 as well… but quite frankly i haven't picked up the control pad for that in months

Tickets Booked for Eurogamer Expo

Just booked my tickets for the Eurogamer Expo this September in London, I'm quite excited already, I haven't been to anything like it before.

Random Stuff

I've only gone and ordered a Hauppauge HD PVR, so expect videos of 360 game's to start popping up on here.

F3AR, Well.. Not Really

I bought myself a copy of F3AR (Fear 3) on Friday and decided it was time to take the wrapping off and play last night, this is a standard routine for me, I just never seem to get round to playing a new game the day I buy it.

Decisions, Decisions.. Oh and Money Off Codes For Jinx.Com

I have a decision to make, do I purchase a Gainward GTX 550 Ti Golden Sample 1GB GDDR5 DVI VGA HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card, or a Hauppauge HD PVR?

A new graphics card would mean better quality PC gaming & videos , but the Hauppauge HD PVR would mean I can start uploading Xbox 360 footage to my YouTube channel.

Eventually I will have both, but what to get first? At the moment I Spend more time on my pc due to being able to FRAP most things, so the graphics card would be put to good use.
But being able to record Xbox videos would mean more variation to the Minecraft video’s currently occupying my channel

Any thoughts?

Also those lovely people at J!inx Clothing have supplied me with 2 $15 off codes to use on anything bought from their web store, this works out to be roughly £9 off an order for us Brits.
They have a fantastic range of Gaming & Geeky Shirts, Bags, buttons & wallets to choose from.
If you are interested in a code for an order, just like the TactixalGamer Facebook page & I will send them via a DM to 2 random fan’s by the 8th July

New Pc, Up & Running. Oh And Transformers 3…

Well the new pc is all up & running, just getting all my software from the old one installed, then its a case of getting that one ready for a new home.

Introducing The Tactixal Gamer You Tube Channel "Tactixal Play's"

I now have a YouTube channel up & running (shameless self promotion)

I'll be uploading videos from the games i'm playing, mainly MineCraft atm but when I get the new PC up and running I'll be doing more graphically intense stuff. Also planning on getting myself a Hauppgage HD PVR so I'll be able to include Xbox 360 games as well

In other news, Shadows Of The Damned has caught my eye... but I'm not sure why

New PC... Soon, Bring on the Games

I should be receiving a new PC this weekend. one, that quite frankly, poops on my current one. And that means...

Yep actually being able to play top quality games!!

Games like, Duke Nukem Forever & Dungeon Siege 3... Ah hell, who am I kidding.. I'll still play Minecraft & Terraria on it.

Balls'ing up Minecraft Maps... Again

Just finished uploading another playthrough of the AscensionCraft puzzle map for Minecraft.

And once again I manage to ball's up near the end..

I think this is my speciality.. failing at puzzles

The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

As I'm sat here writing this, my PC is rendering a Minecraft video, and uploading one to YouTube at the same time.

My ash tray is looking at me, pleading to be emptied, and my 3DS is humming a well known Nintendo tune, well known to all who know and love that little green tunic wearing bugger... Link.

That’s right I'm playing Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

I'll be honest I never got into the Zelda series before, and I'm not really sure why that is...

I can remember my uncle and cousins playing this on the N64, and seemed to be having a lot of fun playing. Graphically the 3DS version is a massive improvement & the controls work well. Surprisingly the 3D works extremely well, its probably the best use of 3D I have seen on the little handheld.

If your a Zelda fan you have probably already run off and bought it, or are waiting for it in the post. So you know what to expect.

If not... here’s Robin Williams to tell you about it

Oh and if you register your copy with club nintendo they will send you a free Zelda Soundtrack CD, Mine should be here within 8 weeks

Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony mini review

I’ve spent far longer playing “Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony” today than I should have, but its just so god damned enjoyable...

Minecraft AscensionCraft Part 2

Just finished uploading the 2nd video for this map.

I'm enjoying it, but I do get quite frustrated with the jumping puzzles, I think there was a good 40 minutes spent  trying to get past the first jumping puzzle room.

if I ever manager to finish the second set I will continue the series :)

Minecraft AscensionCraft Part 1

I have started playing the AscensionCraft Puzzle map on Minecraft, I enjoyed it so much I recorded my efforts

hope you do too

Terraria Lets Play

After a tiny hiatus, I am back in the saddle.

Been playing Terraria for a few weeks now and I enjoying it, I figured I would start to record me playing it to give you all an idea of what its like, how it plays, and basically attempt to get more people to play this little game.

It has been called a 2D Minecraft, but its more a mix of Minecraft and Snes age Zelda. Simple controls and lovely 16bit sprites.

No real story, other than build, explore, and survive

This is on steam, and priced at around £6

L.A Noire

L.A Noire, it's a masterpiece...

Seriously.

This is the first game I have played this year that I just cannot physically wait to get home to play. I love the 40's time period, clothing, the music, the cars, and L.A. Noire captures it all perfectly.

Brink, From My Viewpoint

I'll say right away, I do not have Brink in my possession yet, but it is released on Friday and I'll be picking up my copy then..

I've been going over the reviews released so far and I find myself feeling that some reviewers may have missed the point on the game.

Apologies, Minecraft Has Swallowed My Soul

Ok I admit it, I've fallen way behind on my blogging duties..

But I do have a very valid reason.

Minecraft.

The Film To Watch This Week?

Thor.

Kenneth Branagh has managed to not only do the story of Thor justice, but has created probably the best Marvel movie released so far.

Portal 2, Done

Still the Easter holidays, so updates at the moment are a little lacking.

I did manage to finish Portal 2 last night though.

Mortal Kombat!!!!!!

Fear not, I haven’t abandoned the blog.

It is currently the Easter holidays at the moment, and I’m quite frankly, im exhausted from work.
Easter to me means 2 things, Firstly I get to eat an enormous amount of chocolate, I have a very sweet tooth, secondly it also means that soon the summer movie's will be hitting the big screens, It is the opening of Thor 3D this week.. and i am very, very happy to be getting that in.

Thor Is Almost Upon Us!

With Marvel's next movie "Thor" quickly heading our way, Empire has posted their review online, and it actually got a pretty good write up

This Week I Shall Be Buying...

Of the games released this Friday, Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat (9^th in the series), I can honestly say.. Mortal Kombat will be the one game I buy this week.

I'll be frank... I hate Portal.

Mega Drive Mission Update.

Success!! I have managed to track down, and buy a Mega Drive 2 from eBay.

A working Mega Drive 2, 2 control pads (one normal 3 button, and one six button, the ones that came out when Street Fighter 2 appeared on the Mega Drive) plus 9 cartridges:

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Tengen Dragons Revenge
Desert Strike
Disney Castle of illusion
Quackshot cartridge
Zoop cartridge
Arcade's Greatest Hits (includes Joust, Robotron, Defender, Sinistar & Defender II)
Mega Games 1 cartridge (includes World Cup Italia 90, Super Hang-on, Columns)

Raining, Full Cinema, And OAP's Watching a Film

Well the weathers taken a turn for the worse today, and to be truthful I'm quite happy with it.

Contract Killer iPhone/iPad Game Review

Well, we have another iPhone/iPad app from Glu Games.

As well as the mediocre “Big Time Gangsta ”, there is also “Contract Killer”..

Really basic story overview, you play a contract killer, hitman, guy with a sniper rifle, taking out criminals who are “too dangerous to see the inside of a courtroom”. For some reason after your first mission the General, apparently he is your boss, becomes unhappy with you and takes you off his Christmas card list...

Bye Bye Flip Camera's

I've just read over at the BBC news website that Cisco System's are shutting down their Flip video camera business

iPhone App: Replay

I love to have a rummage around the App store on my iPhone, occasionally I find something fun and interesting, more often than not though it's just a load of rubbish.

Carboot Sales, Retro Gaming, eBay, And My Childhood

While walking about a car boot sale on the seafront yesterday before work I found a stall, hardly surprising.. the place was full of them. But this stall was different, in between the large assortment of dolls, Thomas the tank engine trains, and the large amount of action figures that I recognised from my childhood, I found a box.

Sunny Days, and Mii Plaza Visitors

Well it is another sunny day, in the south west of England we are having a mini heatwave, and it's interesting to see that people are still coming into the cinema.

No Augmented Reality Cards For My 3DS. I Want This!!

Most People that know me, know of my love for “stupid” T-shirts, mainly game related, and occasionally funny to people who don't have that much of a clue about video games.

I'm very tempted to add this one to the collection

Improve The Way DS Games Look on 3DS

I decided to give Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars a bit of a break today, I’m still getting annoyed with getting to the end of a mission and failing due to the untimely death of one team member.

I decided to fire up Sim City DS, who can honestly say they don’t love a bit of Sim City now and then?.

Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars

Dear Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars for the 3DS,

Would it of been too much trouble adding a mid mission save point to your missions?

Big Time Gangsta, iPhone review

I'm currently playing Big Time Gangsta from Glu games, much like mafia wars, or any of the other time consuming games on Facebook. Big Time Gangsta puts you in the shoes of a fresh out of jail "yoof" with the aim of reclaiming the "hood". In simple terms your goal is to take over the city.

LEGO Portal Sentry Gun

Do you have a mountain of LEGO? Put that mountain to use by building...

Your very own Portal sentry gun!!

Also I  have set-up an Amazon store Here.

Categories for Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo 3DS, I've found that Amazon can be a little steep with the prices but occasionally you can find a bargain.

Water Cooled Wii???

I've seen some interesting case modifications for consoles over the years, but never one for the Wii that wasn’t a simple paint job... until now

Public Service Announcement: Sony Under Hacker Attack

A short message for now,

Just noticing a few sites are reporting on Sony's Playstation servers being attacked by a hacker group, so if anyone was wondering why they were having trouble signing in and playing on your PS3's... there's the answer

Next Few Weeks Looking Slow

I get paid from the cinema this Friday, and as always I've decided to hop onto the www.gamefaqs.com website and check the games releases for the next 4 weeks.

To be honest it doesn’t look great...

Nintendo 3DS, Day 2

I've spent some more time playing about with my 3DS today.

The built-in pedometer is telling me that I've walked over 3,000 steps since yesterday, and I've earned 10 play coins, play coins are used to purchase wanderers and puzzle pieces for the mini games in Mii Plaza.

That amount of steps does feel a little low, but I have been driven about for a good chunk of the day

Face Raiders is a lot of fun, using the camera to take a picture of someone's face and then shooting balls at the tidal wave of faces trying to kiss you is entertaining, spinning about in one spot will make you dizzy though and remember to make sure you have enough room to spin about without knocking into anyone or anything 

I'll admit I a little eager to receive my first Streetpass notification, Streetpass is the 3DS's way of communicating with another 3DS when it's in sleep mode, when you shut the lid it goes into sleep mode and when you next open it up it springs back to whatever you were doing before.

With Streetpass you can collect other Mii's for your plaza and get them to appear in some games, the Mii's originate from the Wii, they are the little avatars you create and appear in most of the fitness and sports games. 

I think I will need some more games though, Ghost Recon is fun but I will need something else to play to keep me from getting bored 

I Fell To Temptation

I did it, I went and bought myself a Nintendo 3DS (in Cosmos Black.. how many types of black are there any way?)

I'm pretty impressed with it, my only criticism is that the dock could be a little bit sturdier as it just seems a little bit flimsy to me. I've spent the last couple of hours playing about with the camera and the app's, again only one small niggle as it keeps identifying me as a baby boy... I'm almost 29, cant it see the receding hairline?

I chose a good day to get it as well, GAME had just changed their bundle offers £224.99 and a choice of a free game. I chose Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, a strategy game similar to Advance Wars on the Gameboy Advance and DS, granted it is not the best for showing the 3D off to your friends but... well I like strategy games, I could of gone and chose Street Fighter 4 3D Edition but to me that is more of a play for 10 minutes and then your done, admittedly I did almost buy Nintendogs + Cats but then remember I was 28, and male.. although I'm still fighting temptation

New Release Day.. Nothing To Get Though

Well it's new release day in the UK, and quite frankly I'm underwhelmed.

Tesco, GAME And The 3DS Debacle Part 2, Tesco strikes back

Yesterday I Mentioned about GAME sending their employees out to Tesco's to stock up on 3DS's due to Tesco's launch prices being considerably cheaper than their own.

Today EuroGamer has had a response from Tesco's,

"We always provide Tesco customers with the best value," a Tesco spokesperson told Eurogamer. 
"We think you could say this is game, set and match."


Horrible pun aside, some of the comments to this have had better suggestions, Tesco seem to be pretty non-plussed about the entire episode.

Hawken, Big Mech's Bringing Indie Chaos

I constantly amazed at the work of the Indie developer community, this work in progress video from Adhesive Games shows that its not just the big game companies that can make stunning games:

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Teaser

Ooo, a teaser trailer for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City has surfaced on you tube.

I'll admit I wasn’t a great fan of the first 3 games, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Nemesis, Code Veronica didn’t do anything for me, and I missed out on the Gamecube's remakes and Resident Evil 4.

But Resident Evil 5.. I freaking loved that game, I'm pretty sure I was only 2 or 3 achievements from 1000 points.

Tesco, Game And The 3DS Debacle

Eurogamer is running a story on a memo sent to GAME stores regarding the 3DS launch.

Story Here

Knowing that GAME could not match Tesco's price for the 3DS, £209 for the 3DS and a game, GAME hq authorised the staff to take money from the tills, head up to Tesco and buy their stock, which in turn would then be traded back in at GAME for the same price.

After The Dark Knight Rises... He Will Rise Again?

I found out today that after Christopher Nolan finishes his work on the third and final film in his Batman reboot series, The Dark Knight Rises, he will be co-producing the next Batman film.. which will be yet another Batman Reboot...

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49053

Xbox Avatar On Your Bookshelf

Xbox Avatars... personally I love mine, stood on my screen wearing his Black Ops outfit, playing with a Banshee from Halo. Many times I've wished that I could get a little statue of him to put on my bookshelf, for no other reason than being able to go “that’s me that is”...

Well, now I can

Enslaved (360) Retro Review

I've spent a good chunk of today playing “Enslaved: Odyssey to the West” on the 360, I missed this when it was first released but remembered it a couple of weeks ago. Well thanks to my LoveFilm account I can finally see what all the fuss was about.

When Enslaved was released it had pretty much universal acclaim, with a story co-written by Alex Garland, the same man who wrote the screenplays for 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go and the upcoming Judge Dredd movie “Dredd”. The Story itself is an adaptation of a 16^th century Chinese story, which has been adapted into the movie “The Forbidden Kingdom” and the manga/animé series “Dragonball”

3DS Poll

Running a poll on the Facebook page just to see what everybodies views on the Nintendo 3DS are.

Personally I'm still really tempted for one, will see how my next pay looks though

Click to vote

Kinect, Still Waiting..

There are times I feel like kicking myself, the majority of these is mainly after I've been cooking with chilli peppers, and get the overwhelming urge to scratch my eyes.. I've temporarily blinded myself several times due to this.

The lesser times are usually aimed at my own inability to control my spending on new gadgets.

Microsofts Kinect is a good example of this, I fell for the hype, the advertising promising so much, in my head my fantasies of The Matrix, Minority Report and to a lesser extent Gamer were about to come true.

I preordered.

Crysis 2 Multiplayer

I did get Crysis 2 this week, but i don't want to write about it until I have actually finished playing the singleplayer.

Multiplayer though, I love it. Not only is this the best looking console shooter out, actual quote on the box there, but it is also a lot of fun.

As I bought the "limited edition" I started my multiplayer career off at level 5, and the ability to make custom classes. As a personal choice I always make my class's have light machine guns, bigger clips, usually more damage.. And quite frankly I want to imagine I'm Rambo striding across the playing field.

The multiplayer will draw comparisons to Call of Duty, because quite frankly like it or not it is the most popular online shooter series out.

You can customise your armour abilities, make your cloak last longer, use less power in armour mode, even have bullet trails fired at you highlighted so you can see where your attackers are. And select weapon attachments.

There are also killstreaks, like Call of Duty, however unlike the Call of Duty series you need to collect the dogface from your victims, it's a nice attempt at reducing campers but one of the armour abilities at the higher levels is one that automatically retrieves dog tags, so not sure how that will work out.

The maps are compact, but flow well with combat, I haven't came across a map where everybody sticks to one area so far.

I'll give some the single player more of a playthrough before I comment on that, though from what I have played so far, I'm impressed.

Ipad 2, 3DS, Queues... Wow

Today marked the release of two big electronic devices, Nintendo 3DS and the Ipad 2.

While I did not go to the GAME midnight opening for the 3DS launch, I did stop by on my way to Exeter for the day though, a fair few had been sold.

I did get my hands on the 3DS again and tried out the racing game Asphalt 3D, I'll admit I’m not the greatest racing fan but this was a lot of fun. It felt like a burnout clone, you were rewarded points for knocking out other racers and taking short cuts, one of which saw my car flying over roof tops like a demented vehicular version of superman.

Captain America New Official Trailer!!

This is the new trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, I am so excited for this film.. I got goosebumps watching this.

The story is about Steve Rogers, Scrawny american teenager who wants to join the fight against the nazi's in world war 2, after numerous rejections he is given the chance to become the worlds first super soldier.
Captain America is born, and fights against the Red Skull, a former SS nazi scientist who commands his own army "HYDRA".

I wasnt sure about Chris Evans being cast as Steve Rogers, Captain America, no matter how hard i tried i just could not get the image of him as Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four movies, there is a rumour going about that there will be a reboot attempted with the Fantastic Four series, out of my head. But after watching this.. i can now accept him, although scrawny CGI Steve Rogers looks a little un-nerving to me

The cast looks great so far, Hugo Weaving, Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, and Dominic Cooper (cameoing Howard Stark, Tony "Iron Man" Starks father).

Released in the UK 29th July, in 3D.

2011, the year of the superhero

Top Spin 4 Trailer

I've just seen a trailer for Top Spin 4 for the PS3

*edit video removed by YouTube*
What the hell..

Is that implying if you play this with Move, you will look like Serena Williams? or that you need to dress like that to play a tennis game??

I'm not taking a shot at the PS3 and its motion control system I am quite intrigued about Move, there genuinely seems to be more games out that use it compared to Microsoft's Kinect system (yes i own one, and so far i feel pretty underwhelmed about the games... there is only Dance Central and Kinect Adventures in my  collection)

Its the advert itself I'm not happy with, you can see "the worlds sexiest tennis player" and "the worlds sexiest tennis gamer" stood in front of the TV swinging their arms, but at no point do you see them dashing about the place to get into position..

if i watch a trailer for a game i want to know a little about how the game plays, i couldnt care less if "the worlds sexiest traffic light maintenance crew" featured, if it features motion control i want to know how much of a prat I will look playing it

My Own Personal Challenge

I've been looking at my Xbox Gamertag recently and I began to think.

I have been on Xbox live for just over 5 years, science bit coming up..

In that time I've played nearly 200 games, and earned a gamerscore of 50,907, fully completing 3 games to 1000/1000:
Divinity 2: Ego Draconis
Fight Night: Round 3
Fallout 3 (1500/1500)

Mass Effect 2 and Borderlands were on that list, but I didn't buy the add-ons for them..

Yet Another Bi-Weekly Round Up

Games:

Downloadable or Physical Game In Your Hand
physical over digital

Fight Night Champion... arghh
Fight Night Champion Criticism


Game Pulled, and "Dr" Attacks Games.. Again
Wii Dare, No More
Gaming is like Cocaine


Its Just Not On
Launch Day DLC


Homefront Arrived
Online Pre-Orders Can Be Good


Homefront Multiplayer Mini Review
Homefront Multiplayer, Its Actually Alright


Homefront Multiplayer, Mini Review 2.. With Video
Homefront Multiplayer, In Action


Movies:

Battle L.A. mini review
Battle L.A. Give it a chance


Chalet Girl, Why Oh Why
Chalet Girl

Chalet Girl.. Oh God Why

Working in a cinema is both a blessing and a curse, I get the chance to show potential blockbuster movies to the public, and hear of films that I wouldn't normally see or be interested in.

The curse is, I will get films that I really want to watch ruined for me. As a projectionist I need to check on focus and get the auditorium lights up at the end of the films, so I will see the final scenes, and always see the hero triumph or the shocking twist of a horror film.

Another part of the curse.. I get to see films that are truly... Truly awful.

Homefront Multiplayer in action

Just a short one today, I figured with all the doom and gloom going on regarding Homefront's multiplayer problems, too much demand not enough servers, I would film a game of ground control to show how it actually plays.

Obviously today being the UK/European release date, the Euro servers are up. And the game is running smoothly.

I truly am loving this online, the only faults I can find with it are with other players, playing on US servers it felt like for every 1 person on our team, there were at least 3 snipers. This match felt more balanced, and I finally got around to using the Parrot Drone.

I will admit I'm not the best player in the world, the higher killstreak's in Call of Duty: Black Ops were always out of my reach... I did become a master of calling in the UAV recon plane, but never anything that needed more than 5 kills.. (4 with the hardline perk). But playing Homefront I don’t have to worry about killing as many players as possible without dying, the battle points build up with each kill, assist, capture and defend, and don’t disappear if you die. These in turn are spent on special weapons, the Parrot Drone and RPG in this match but you can customise them in the armoury, or vehicles like the Humvee or the small tank I disastrously piloted into a head on collision with the other tank.

If you like what you see, get it. you wont be dissapointed 

Homefront, Invasion in Progress

I managed to get a few hours on Homefront last night, you know what?... it is actually pretty good. While not doing well in reviews with critics pointing out the relatively short single player and ok graphics but praising the multiplayer, I was a little apprehensive.

I have played up until chapter 2 in the campaign and so far really enjoyed what has played out, torn from your home with no more reason than “your a pilot, come with us” shoved onto a bus and driven past the occupiers cruelty, civilians beaten, parents shot in front of there own kids, people herded into fenced areas. Until your rescue by freedom fighters it looked pretty bleak.

But in all honesty who buys shooter games nowadays for the single player alone? Multiplayer, when the server stays running and doesn’t kick you to the lobby without saving any of your kills to that point, actually plays fantastically.

The only downside are the server problems.

As I mentioned the critics gave this a bit of a mauling, but that hasn’t stopped North American day 1 sales of 375,000 copies. Enough to underestimate THQ's projected demand for the dedicated servers, quite simply more copies were sold than they thought would do, and as a result the servers are overloaded.

I managed to play 2 matches from start to finish, 1 of those had so much lag I started to think I was watching a slide show. But I didn’t care. I was having a fun.

Hopefully by tomorrow, the official shop release date, THQ will have enough servers up to cope with Europe jumping online.

This has the potential to be legendary online. People need to give it a chance to find its feet and iron out these small problems. Hell people give the same chances to the Call of Duty games, every single time one is released, and that is one of the most popular online Multiplayer series ever.

Online Pre-Orders

I don't usually buy my games or films online, but I was moved enough by www.bee.com's pricing of Homefront to break my personal rule, £29.99 for Xbox 360 and PS3 in case you were wondering

Yes you can buy pretty much anything online cheaper than what you can find in the shops, but I've said it many times.. I'm impatient.

But I'm also always looking for ways to save money, eBay online and the local CEX can be fantastic places to find bargains, CEX is always on my must visit list when I head to exeter.

So it was a very nice surprise to find a package when I got into work this morning.




The only thing that sucks right now.. I do not finish work til 11.

Until then I have this to stare at




Granted the reviews coming out right now aren't good, short single player, graphics not fantastic, but the multiplayer is getting alot of praise.

I'll find that out later for myself though.

Downloadable Content, Yay or Nay

DLC, or Downloadable Content for games is something I look at every now and then, occasionally I will buy some, but only if it adds new life to games, new maps or missions yes, I did say new maps.. looking at you Modern Warfare.. not reskinned maps that were in the previous game.

Extra costumes or weapons. No if I can finish the game without a particular weapon then I didn’t need it in the first place and wont be paying for it.

Launch day DLC is the only DLC I totally disagree with. If you have extra items/missions/characters that are available the moment the game is in the shops, those could have been thrown into the retail disc when it went the game went gold, maybe with a note saying "look we made these after the game development finished, stay with us and just imagine how much we can achieve"

Battle L.A.

We've had Battle L.A. Playing at work since Friday, this is a film I have an interest in so trying not to watch too much, so I don't ruin anything.

Basic story, aliens invade earth, Los Angeles is the last major city that hasn't fallen, US troops wage a valiant last stand to keep it free of alien tyranny.. Lead by Harvey "Two Face" Dent from The Dark Knight, and Ne-Yo who apparently is a singer.

If anybody asks my opinion, it's like Independence Day, without Will Smiths over the topness or Jeff Goldblums geekyness, so much more gritty and realistic. (don't mention Tom Cruise's War of the Worlds, because that was truly awful)


It's the first big special effects film of the year, and nobody that has been in to watch it has said a bad word against it, but I don't believe it's going to do well.

Which is a shame, there used to be a time when you could tell if a film was going to be a blockbuster, back before super special effects were the norm for most films. Nowadays films have to be pretty special to be popular, or have the backing of a hugely successful book series, looking at you Potter.

Bigger Things than Games on my Mind atm..

I have spent a lot of time watching all the videos and images coming out of Japan at the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, it is truly terrifying, the height of the waves reached over 7 meters in some places. Entire buildings washed down the streets as if they were made of paper.

If something like this happened here, I know for a fact that realistically me and my home would not survive, my flat is located less than 200ft from the seafront and is ground floor.

Japan is one of the few places on earth I would actually love to visit, and it was truly saddening to hear and then see the damage done.

My thoughts are with the people of Japan right now.

Weirdest thing seen today

When did sugar contain milk?

Too Good To Be True

When I said Earlier it was a nice change to see something other that FPS games being attacked in the news, I didn't think I'd find an article attacking games and gamers quite so soon.


MVC posted an article reporting on a statement from therapist Steve Pope, who in an interview with BBC 5live says:

"2 hours of gaming is equal to a line of cocaine"

Aswell as:

"It is the fastest growing addiction in the country and this is affecting young people mentally and physically."

Pulled from the UK...

It makes a nice change that for once the newspapers, politicians and your granny aren’t screaming blue murder about GTA, Modern Warfare 2 or any of the other “murder simulators”.. nope this time everybody is in an uproar over... “We Dare” on the Wii, you know the family friendly console most of us know and love.. well except for me, I bought one and sold it 3 months later..

Going by the “We Dare” trailer, players will be tasked with eating wiimotes, spanking... and sexy dances..

Thankfully, or maybe not if you were going to try and convince your girlfriend to play this with you, the publisher Ubisoft has pulled its release in the UK after it was rated suitable for 12+.

I’m not sure in what universe its acceptable for a group of 12 year old's to do anything shown in that trailer, but I think Ubisoft is actually doing the right thing here. I'm pretty sure they don’t want to be known as the publisher who sold sex games to kids

Fight Night Champion, Champion mode finished..

I finally got around to finishing Fight Night Champion's story mode last night.

The story charting middleweight boxer Andre Bishop's rise, fall, and rise to heavyweight champion is definitely the weakest part of the game.

Not wanting to give too much away about the story, but you can guess straight away that you will be champion, you will get screwed over, and there will be a mild sexual tension between Andre and his manager.. Although it comes across as creepy at times.

Physical Over Digital

Earlier I read, over on IGN, that the digital sales of Mass Effect 2 on the PS3 were a good sign that simultaneously releasing a new game in the shop, as well as the Xbox Marketplace or Playstation Network could become a more regular occurrence.

Personally I don’t like the idea of buying and downloading all of my games. I'll buy a game from the Xbox Live Arcade every now and then, but when it comes to games like BulletStorm, Fight Night, Homefront or any of the other big releases coming up, I want a physical copy in my hands.

Mass Effect 2 was priced at £47.99 on the Playstation Network , I paid £39.99 over a year ago for a new copy for the 360, it is also a 12Gb download, that is roughly 1½ hours for me to download plus installation time on the PS3, . I can be in town and in my local GAME within 10 minutes of leaving home, then another 10 minutes for the walk home, then I can pop it into the console and can be playing. It also gives me a solid 20 minutes of fresh air.

Maybe its the hoarder in me, but I like to look at my bookshelf and see the game cases staring back, having a collection, be it games, books, or little china cats in funny costumes, is partly about the ability to look over it every now and then. It doesn’t have the same feel looking at your 360 or PS3's hard disk space screen as looking over the row (or row's) of cases with some really nice artwork, at time they can be downright hideous though.

If digital copies are the future of home entertainment, I'm not sure how I would react to that.

I'd still play my games, but would look back longingly at the bare shelf space thinking of the good old days...

Am I alone in thinking like this?

2 weeks worth..

I figured the Blog has been up and running for 2 weeks, i should gather up the more interesting posts that i have made.

Dragon Age 2 Demo, my thoughts 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Bulletstorm, and why i love it

Kill Shots and Dinosaurs

Fight Night Champion

So Far, So Good

Control Pad Modification

New Buttons For My 360 Controller

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Play Games

MMMORPG's and Me

Handheld Gaming 

Why you wont catch me playing on a DS

Ooo i Got to Touch a 3DS

Maybe Getting Tempted For a 3DS

The Best and Worst Video Game Movie Adaptations

When Worlds Collide

Upcoming Game and Film releases to get excited about

Looking Forward To

New Super Trailer

Comic Book Movie's

Why schools half term holiday gets on my nerves

Half Term Hell

Genuine customer quotes

All overheard at work

Fight Night Champion, So Far...

I am having an interesting time with Fight Night Champion at the moment.

On one hand I am loving the revised full spectrum punch controls, as a button veteran of the series (I waited for the downloadable pack for Fight Night: Round 4 reintroducing the buttons before I finished playing ) using the right thumbstick now feels more natural, pulling off 4 punch combinations including uppercuts and hooks is a lot easier. In fact compared to the last game using the buttons makes your fighting feel slower which is a little off putting.

Legends mode is the standard create your boxer and take him to the heady levels of greatness gamemode we all know and love, if your a raging egomaniac like me the game face feature is a lot faster than the last time. Upload a picture of yourself to http://www.easports.com and you can create a virtual fight who, sort of, looks like you.

At the moment the little bit of hate I have for the game is aimed squarely at “Champion” mode, the story mode in the title. Charting the rise, fall and rise again of “Andre Bishop” an up and coming middleweight boxer. After getting screwed over and sent to prison your released to make a comeback.

The fights inside prison were interesting, bare knuckled and against skinheads, with no rules. But the story plays out like a really poorly written script for a discarded Rocky film.

Certain matches have certain requirements, “Knock so-and-so out before round 3” or “win by knock out”, my favourite was definitely “win only using your left hand” which takes place after you hit your opponent so hard you break your right hand.. which was different for me, the majority of my jabs and hooks come from the right. Although the conversation between Andre and his trainer Gus amused me for a few seconds

Andre - “my right hand, its broken”

Gus - “what are you going to do”

Andre - “use the left”

So barring a really... really poor story mode, Fight Night Champion is a lot of fun

I will be taking a look at the multiplayer soon, but you now what to expect from a Fight Night game, if you like boxing it will be on your to buy list.