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

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.

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..

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

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.

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.