Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Forza Moter Sport 2

There is going to be a new Forza Moter Sport for the Xbox 360. The first one was a increibly realistic driving game where you could customise your cars to no end, whilst still retaining the realism that Need for Speed lacked.

Also, Microsoft announced the following add ons for the Xbox 360 at Lepizig, the games convention in Germany. They are making:

  • Wireless steering wheel - it looks soo cool.
  • A wireless headset that looks just like the thing in Dr. Who ie. a Blue Tooth headset.
  • A wireless HD DVD player, I personally thought the Xbox 360 played HD DVDs but apparently not.
  • The webcam - comes with 1 month/year of Xbox live gold subscriptio.
  • New face plates (Master Cheif, Forza 2 and some weird clowd thing?)
On the PC front they are releasing the world most sexiest mouse ever, sadly it will cost you £35. It has 7 customisable buttons, blue neon strips and interchanable face plates?!
Also, there is a device you can plug in to your computer and allows you to use wireless Xbox 360 controllers.

Nintendos confrence apparently went terrible as the article puts across. However I can confirm it will be less than 250 euros, £168.903. I doubt it will be that much though.

I could not find any news on Sony, I think they were ill or something because belive me I looked.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Live Music

I was just watching Feeder at Reading and Leeds on BBC3 when I realised how exclusive music is. Every few minutes or so, a message would pop up at the bottom saying: "The following performance contains strobe lighting." Now, this means that if you are epileptic there is a very high chance of an epileptic fit. Basically all Gigs and festivals use strobe lighting, which means anyone who is epileptic can't go to any festival/gig at all. All so it looks a little cooler. This is not acceptable really. Any other industry and it would be discrimination. Please leave a comment if you agree with me, because it isn't fair.

thk123: "Fighting to make the world fairer"

Gamespot no longer trustworthy

It is offical, you can no longer rely on Gamespot for reviews. No this isn't a way of getting more readers. Here is my reason, I receive emails from them and they say what good previews they have got coming amongst other things, they had a preview of guitar hero 2. Now when I went to my local game shop, I saw the guitar for the 1st game and it looked the MOST tackiest thing you have ever seen, in the email it was one of their game of the years and "couldn't wait to get their hands on more information." Do you really think that a company that likes guitar legends should be trusted with what game you spend your hard earned cash on. No is the answer.

I should point out I have only seen the guitar, if anyone has the game and it is actually good then please inform me. Also, I would like to point out that Moto GP a game that I reviewed in my last quick reviews is actually a good game, I had a chance to play it whilst knowing the controls. Expect a updated Quick Review next month.

Finally I am moving house so expect a drought of posts for the next couple of weeks as I will be busy moving.

Monday, August 21, 2006

PS3 to win console war?

I was browsing gamespot and found a interesting article talking about 1 company who have predicted that Sonys PS3 will win the next gen console wars. I found this very interesting because I personally think Sony are going to die. Microsoft have taken over the un-innovative company that makes solid consoles, and Nintendo have left no room for another innovative company so where do Sony come in. Sony used to rule because the PS1 was a new console with basically no opposition, it had a great controller and stunning graphics for the time. The PS2 had competition, and I think came out joint first. It had the best controller, a wide range of games, and not below average graphics. However, Microsoft have learnt form their mistakes and know how to make a decent controller. Plus, Microsoft and Sony both have external funds, so they can both chuck money at this, however, Microsoft had got pockets deeper than the Grand Canyon and definitely Sonys, so they can effectively buy Sony out. Also they have experience in combining everything together, which is what people want now. So this is why I think Sony have had their day.

Before I found out about the cost of the PS3 I thought that they would be able to hang on, keep creating consoles, selling them to their extensive fanbase (that is something they have in their favour) however, it is rumored to be as much as £750 which means half their target audience is gone. I predict doom.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

More Quick Reviews

Half Life 2
Half life 2 is a popular 1st person shooter from Valve that today I was lucky enough to play on. It isn't like any old 1st person shooter. Sure there is shooting and navigating levels but you can pick stuff up and the physics are out of this world. It has a simmilar physics engine to Splinter Cell 4, however, unlike SC4 it incourages you to put it to the test as in the latter levels you have this tool which means you can suck anything towards you and then fire it. For example I blocked a door with this crate and then after 5 minutes the crate broke up under the strain (it also started smoking which was a bit weird)

That Warhamme Game RTS Game
I have temporailrly forgotten the name for this game. This game is a intense RTS. Once one has got past the slightly un-orthadox set up of how to build units and building you can have a really good time with it. Instead of collecting resources you have to take these posts, these, I belive, are there so that even deffensive players get lured out to fight. I played on easy which meant even the strongest enmies run when they get shot. The graphics are really good and the game only requires 256mb RAM which meant it ran really smothly, if you are looking for a RTS, I recomend this before AoE 3.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Quick Reviews

PGR 3 - More in depth
My friend got PGR3 with his Xbox 360 so I can now do a more in depth review to it. The single player feels like you are flying through it, there are less races than in PGR2 and a lot of the time it feels too easy. Now I should note I am playing it on the easiest level, but, unlike PGR2, I don't know if it is actually long enough so that by the time you come to do the 1st level in the next difficulty whether it will be new or not. Having said that, the AI is clever and, as usual, will play as foully as you do, if not more. One of my favourite features about it is there are many different race types in SP and MP. For example in MP there is capture the track where the person with the fastest time captures a section of the track.
3.5/5

GRAW
Ghost Recon Advanced War-fighter is a intense, visually stunning SP and MP team strategy/3rd person shooter. I have player MP and a little SP at the shop. I really enjoyed it particularly the MP as you could communicate with your partner what to do. The game also features random events, which is what AI on the PS2 was meant to be like, where different things would happen each time you reloaded the game, so a guard might choose a different patrol route (this would have been much appreciated in Splinter Cell 3). The graphics was more than impressive; although I don't think good graphics are vital for a good game; they have helped a lot in this game.
4/5

Moto GP
Moto GP is a motor bike racing game also for the Xbox 360. It is, as per, graphically perfect; but what about the game play. The game is very difficult and so I presume very realistic. The brake doesn't appear to work and, as there is no break light, it is unclear whether you are pressing the right button. As I have not had much time to play it my review is fairly limited.
2.5/5

Table Tennis
Table tennis, although created by Rockstar who made GTA, the game is not violent in any way. The game is very simple in both controls and everything. The graphics are un-belivable, even for the 360 but all you have to do is stand near the table and press (A). I think this would be a good game for Xbox Live Arcade unless it happens to have a in depth story line.
3/5

Wake me up when we're at E3

Check out this funny flash movie on newgrounds. It is a paradoy on the Greenday song: Wake me up when september ends . This is what the author says:

E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo) is tomorrow! Woo!
Celebrate with this musical parody!

Two quick things: 1) I know I can't sing. You don't have to tell me. I am fully aware. My job is animation. =)
2) I appriciate reviews and try to respond to them. But I will be at E3 this year, so please don't be discouraged if it takes a few weeks for me to reply. Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!

Ok - go watch: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/311913

Xbox 360 analysis coming soon.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Splinter Cell 4: Double Agent

Splinter Cell is a popular 3rd person stealth game that is published and created by ubi soft. It will feature a intense single player but with a twist. You are a double agent working for the bad guys. You have to choose how far you are prepared to go. If you don't go far enough they start to suspect you, however if you go to far... well I will leave that to your imagination. Furthermore the already stunning Multiplayer is going to be drastically improved. The game is expected to hit the store September 10th. Currently there have been 3 titles Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell Pandora Tommorow and Splinter Cell Choas Theory. However, I am not hear to tell you about the game I am here to discuss the games rating.

A un-offical source tipped me off that the game may be reciving a 18+ certificate. The previos 3 titles have recived 11+,12+ and 16+ respectivly. At Gamespot there has been no offical annoncement as to the games rating and the box image still says Rating Pending for both Xbox and Xbox 360 versions. However at Game, my local game shop, it claims to be 18+ on both consoles.

At ubisoft, it also says rating pending, and preumably this is the most reliable source. So in conclusion Double Agent may well be a 18+ but at current there is no reliable source certifing this. I will keep you posted.

 
"All your base are belong to us"