Blog Update

Good day.

Have you seen the weather, I don't know what it is like else where, but here it is fantastic. Can't wait for my local out door pool to reopen. Unfortunately I haven't been enjoying the weather as much as I should have as I have a 3 day trail of Counter Strike: Source. Full(ish) review at the end of the trial. I think Steam could have been the computer Xbox Live if you didn't have to buy the game through it to use it.

Also, Halo 3 has been reconfirmed for release this year. It will come out this October. There isn't a great deal happening in the gaming world at the moment. E3 is looming but what with its downsize, it isn't so impressive. I should be able to get a Wii retro game this weekend as I think I have enough money.

Finally, if I get round to it I am going to re-run the podcast as if you listened to it, you will know it is terrible and you can hear the sum total of 4 words. If I do I will post times tomorrow.

Got something on your mind, leave a comment on this post!

Stunning Nintendo News?

I just went to the Nintendo website for research for my new preview for Super Smash Bros Brawl when I discoverd their site was down due to too much traffic. This could be nothing, but their site is probably quite stable, being a multi-national company.
Would upload image but uploader not working

Preview: Super Smash Bros BRAWL

Super Smash Bros is one of Nintedos most esteemed games. It features mental button mashing so perform moves. What differentiates this game from every other combo fighting game is one very important difference. To kill someone you must push them off the edge. Attacking them makes them weaker and thus easier to push of the edge, but you must ultimately kick them. The skill becomes timing your jump to get back on the map. The latest instalment, SSB Mellee featured the majority of Nintendos much loved characters from Kirby to Samus and Mario to Zelda and some truly crazy maps that distract you from what is already confusing game play. So, what can we expect from the new title in the series, Super Smash Bros Brawl?

This game is for the Wii, and is due out later this year. Among other things it will have a collection of new characters including Wario, Zero Suit Samus and, as a true surprise for most, Snake from Metal Gear Solid. However, one of the most obvious question about any Wii game is how will it use the motion sensing features? It won't. They are not planning to include any motion sensing. This to me is a disappointment as I was looking for a level playing feild against my friends but it isn't particularly surprising given the nature of the game. To counter this, the main selling point is on-line play. This will be crazy as the off-line play is pretty intense when you get 4 players who are quite good. I belive that if they can get decent lobby support and maybe a headset this could turn around the internet side of the Wii which has had a slightly weak start, see Wiiview.

As with every Nintendo game, all the details are quite shady and will remain so until the launch. However, no one can stop everything from being leaked so here is a summary of what everyone combined knows:

Characters:

• Fox McCloud from StarFox
• Kirby from, yup, Kirby
• Link from Legend of Zelda
• Mario from any Mario
  
• Meta Knight from Kirby
• Pikachu from Pokemon
• Pit [NEW] from Kid Icarus
• Samus Aran from Metroid Prime
• Solid Snake [NEW] from Metal Gear Solid
• Wario [NEW] from WarioWare
• Zero Suit Samus [NEW] from Metroid Prime 3

There will be a new stage for every new character. There is also speculation based on the two videos released for this game that there will be some others although that is unconfirmed.

The game will feature on-line play through the built in wi-fi. Also each character has a "Brawl" special move. Most are un-announced but some have been revealed. Links will be a special tri-force thing that traps people. Mario seems to be able to charge at people on fire. Kirby seems to put on a chefs hat and cooks people, it is rumoured that Samus will have a huge laser gun, however I am sceptical of this as the trailer it just looks like they are blowing it out of proportion, and finally, Warios is a huge, nuclear sized fart!

One final note to the character list, Nintendo have stated that there are many more things to come, possibly more characters. Most notably Sonic. Particaully with the Mario and Sonic new Olympics game it is possible that Sonic could be joining the ranks.

Updates are bound to follow E3 which is fast approaching.

Halo 3

This game has had huge hype, ridiculous anticipation and now, they may have just justified it. I watched this documentary on the MP for Halo 3. This is obviously going to be this games biggest selling point and, to say it looked awesome would be quite a considerable understatement. This is not pre-rendered, this is now an advert, this is Halo 3.


It looks incredible, to playing is so intense, Halo 3 is looking to bring the Halo franchise back on track, which is incredible giving the incredible MP before. In other Halo 3 news, the release date is set for October this year, making it the biggest game for 2007.

In other news, a new Peep Show series is starting tonight, 10:30pm. This is the funniest thing ever.

Wii Internet Channel

The full version of the internet channel has been released, was it worth the wait?

The new channel still has most of the glitches I found in the original version with a nice skin. Still good, but not perfect.

Now the original channel I got as soon as I got the shop working again (change router to channel 1/11 if you are having the same problem). Initial impressions were very good. The ability to watch Youtube videos on your TV was instantly very class and then playing flash games with the remote only made impressions better. However, things started to slide from here on. The first thing you are likely to notice are some browsing issues. Every so often the browser will jump back to a page you were visiting earlier and then go back to where you were a second later. This seemed to occur more if you clicked on a link before the whole page is loaded. Less frequent was when the browser just jumped straight back to the start page. You would also start to notice that things like Real Player and Windows media player didn't work, and that you can't download the plug-ins. If you frequent sites such as Newgrounds a lot you would have also noticed some flash files didn't load properly. One of my favourite games, Neon, doesn't load the menu, inhibiting any play. The problem seems to lie in flash 8. However, it will play flash 8 movies, but not properly. It isn't playing seemingly random elements. For example, in one of my flash 8 movies, it loads the flash 8 components (introduced in flash 8 [they're V2 anyone who is in to technical stuff]) and they load, but a simple drawing didn't. It seems completely illogical. Now that seems like a lot of bad, but then when you might be getting a bit frustrated, you discover some sites are already making special allowances for you. If you go to Minclip, you will be redirected to a special Wii game page, Virgin Radio can now be listen through your Wii and some games on NG, like INDESTRUCTOTANK!, have special Wii controls listed in the instructions. Overall, the original was very strong and so I had high hopes for the upgrade, I envisioned that all the bugs would be gone, I wasn't so hopeful about a real player, but I knew that was low on my list of worries.

So was the upgraded version I could have dreamed of. Well, the first thing you will notice is the preview button is now greatly improved, bringing it in to line with News/Weather channels. Other positives include, options, better zooming, built in search and it never skipped back to previous pages. Unfortunately, not much else has been fixed. Some flash files still do not render properly, there is still no Real player and no tabbed (or even window) browsing. I was hopping for more from this update, but seeming as it is free it dosen't matter. Youtube will still be my number one destination as it is actually better than on PC.

Apple offically on my hate list

Since downloading iTunes 7 I have had nothing but problems. The songs skip at the start because of a high processor requiring special effect, which I don't want! There is no way to return to an earlier version. Now, my iPod needs reformatting, but it comes up with an error. After I did some research I quickly discovered that this is widespread, and the solution is using an older version of iTunes. That is unacceptable. So mich for Apple being "quality" This isn't the first time I have had to install an old version of iTunes (can't remember why I had to before.)

GRRRRRRRRR

PS3 Price Drop

Well, Sony may still be arrogant enough to not drop the price, but local retailers aren't so sure. Yesterday, walking back from the cinema (saw the new Bean film, review soon), I was a PS3 ad (hand drawn) for advertising PS3's for £400. It is still to expensive, but it shows that shops are desperate to sell them. Only one shop has done this at current, but I am sure that if it works, then all the other shops will follow suit. I say it is a local thing because, a) the other shops haven't changed and b)Sony have not made an announcement.

I think the price will drop again, this time to £350 and then they will start selling. As a result, the other shops will report to their respective HQs that if they lower the price to £350 the consoles start to sell. As a result there will be a nation-wide price drop. The only thing stopping this is if Sony are selling them to shops at £350 as shops will not want to loose money on sails (although having said that, people would then buy PS3 games and better something than nothing). The shop that initiated this was Blockbuster, their reason is they have put a lot of backing behind the PS3. Now renting blu-ray DVDs and they stock mainly PS3 games.

Show 03

Sorry this is a little late. But tonight at 8:30pm BST Show 03 will be live and on air and Blog Talk Radio. You can listen live here or listen to the archive at the same location, or if that is too much hassle, in the side player on the right. In tonight's show there will be:

• Wii review - A summary of my Wii review
• PS3 Advert Campaign - More PS3 bashing on their shoddy advert campaign
• What you can expect this easter - Basically a blog update but in audio, and more interesting
  
• 2007 Out look - Things to watch out for this 2007
  
• Much more

If at any time you want to contact the show, you can email me at the kileyenator at googlemail.com (all one word, anti spamming device). Or you can phone the show up LIVE. The number you need to call is: (646) 915-9573 Remember, if you live inside the USA it is free to phone in with Skype. If you live outside America you need to add a double 00 to the front. Calls are international so I recommend using Skype. Finally, you can IM me during the show on Skype, my name is thk123-cheap_web_design. All this information will be read out in the show, and will be in the show notes. This show has not had enough planning to go smoothly, so it will be very enjoyable!

Blog Update

You know when somethings up when I do a blog update. Firstly, I would like to apologize for my recent post that was littered with spelling and grammatical errors. I forgot to do a spell check and re-read it. I have since corrected the errors and I will make sure it doesn't happen again.

Also, I have just launched a new blog of me and my friends new wacky idea. We are going to make our own ecosphere. If you don't know what that is, or would like to find out how that goes (I am actually going to do this,unlike most of my mad capped schemes, it is advancing at a very rapid rate) then check out the official blog here.

I am (hopefully) going to do a podcast tomorrow, at the URL in the sidebar. Be sure to listen to it, I haven't done one in ages. Show details will be released 5PM BST tomorrow and the show will be t 7PM. Make sure you listen and phone in. If you miss it, you will be able to listen to it here on this blog, you will find the player updated around half an hour after the show finished, so about 8 o'clock. Once again, this player is on the right.

Bad news now, Metroid Prime 3 is not going to be released until, at the earliest, the end of 2007, which will mean mid 2008. This game is looking like Halo 2. There is a huge amount of anticipation, so naturally they need to make it good. Ergo, it gets delayed again and again. At least there is Super Smash Bros Brawl and BWii (Battalion Wars 2) to look forward to. Full previews of those games coming soon.

Metal Gear Solids designer, Hideo Kojima, talked about the future of video games as well as dropping some subtle hints about the much anticipated MGS game. However, the discussion that ensued was more of a console war than anything else. Some ridiculous points were made, not least this one:

For me, I don't play for just "fun"

Pixelsword commenting on the problems of the Wii, or there was lines said by people who talk about stuff they don't have a clue about.

agree,20 gbs suck btw,i love my 60 gb know why?space=faster load times.

Umm...no, bigger hard drive means more space, RAM and processor effect the speed. You can read the full debate here, oh and hear what Mr. Kojima had to say, but why would you go to a news story about that, to read about that?!

Seriously, the console war has gone too far, makes good commentary though!

PS3 Ad

Now, long term readers of this blog (or the mysterious person who did the mysterious search, see previous post) will remember a photo I posted of a 360 poster. At the time I was commenting on what the poster said, however, now I am commenting on the poster itself. Here is the original image:
Its not amazing but it does the job just fine. Now take a look at this photo of the PS3 poster. It is basically saying the same thing, but isn't quite as good...
Now can anyone spot the difference. Now I know most of you are all sighing complaining that I am going PS3 bashing again but really, for a company that knows its console isn't doing well, shouldn't they at least try to invest some money in to advertising. What is more, this isn't my first post about a disappointing advertising campaign. Once again, Sony shoot themselves in the foot.

Its Easter [Blog Update]

It is easter. The weather is good, I've broken up for school, my friends are coming round tommorow for a Wiiathon and who searched "webcam "Guildford High Street""?!?! I have Google Analytics and that is the most common search term than ended searchers here. If you searched that please leave a comment explaining!

Now because I have broken up you should see more posts, so what have you got too look forward to this easter other than lots of chocolate.

• In-depth Wii previews of: Battalion Wars 2, Super Smash Bros Brawl and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I will actually do some research and everything
• Console Wars Summary - I'll bring you up to speed with what has to be the wackiest console war ever.
• Reviews of Super Monkey Ball Banna Blitz and...
• The long awaited (nearly 1 and a half years!) Civ 4 review
• A podcast
• Plus the latest gaming news, reviews previews and analysis.

Stay tuned. To those who are wondering what a Wiiathon is, or how it goes, I will post about it tomorrow evening. Finally, tonight, once I have got the images collated, I will be comparing the PS3 ad I saw in town today with the 360 ad I saw in town last year.

Super monkey balls and internet channel

I just got Super Monkey Balls Banna Blitz. full review coming soon but it is very good if a little unpolished. I also got the Wii shop to work (anyone who is having problems change router to channel 11) and downloaded the internet channel. Although there are a couple of annoying bugs, on the whole it is very good.us Watching youtube is a dream! This posted through it aswell. Lastly Dr. Who was fantastic.

Xbox 360 Advertising Campaign and new PS3 Model

Wow, second post of today! Saw this picture and laughed:
That is good PR. Also, Sony have announced an Elite version of the PS3 that will come with an 80gb HDD, further details yet to be announced. Has the world forgotten the Wii, Microsoft are going at Sony, and Sony at Microsoft, but the Wii is just staying out of it. It is because they don't have HD and aren't even bothered. An example of this confilct is a letter Sony sent to PS3 owners:

"We think every PlayStation 3 owner should have an 'elite' experience, which is why we include an internal hard drive and HDMI output in every PS3 we sell, along with the 50 GB of storage capacity on a high definition Blu-ray disc. Sony has been the strongest advocate of high definition as the future of next-generation gaming. This requires high-definition components, including HDMI output, and large storage devices to deliver and store all that rich and vivid HD content. Microsoft's announcement today not only legitimizes Sony's PS3 strategy, it moves us closer to adopting universal standards in the area of high definition gaming that will benefit game developers and ultimately the end user."

Maybe they will destroy each other and then every game developer will have to develop for Wii.

Civilization 4 : Beyond the Sword

A new expansion pack has just been announced for the critically acclaimed Civ 4. It is set to come out July 2007. The expansion pack will include:

• 10 new Civs - This is predictable but still good none the less, particularly if you have mastered a way to beat all the civilizations currently included.

• 12 new scenarios - Not really bothered by this, the scenarios are fun but I prefer the main game.

• 16 new leader - Once again, predictable but good.

• 5 Wonders - Meh

• Expanded Space Victory: Winning the race to Alpha Centauri will now require more strategic planning and tactical decision making. - Meh,I don't normally go for this route, this should be interesting to see what they have changed though.

• Corporations: A new gameplay feature similar to religion that allows players to found companies and spread them throughout the world. Each corporation provides benefits in exchange for certain resources. - This sounds pretty cool, and good for me because I never could be bothered with religion so maybe this will be an alternative more suited to my style of play.
  
• Espionage: Now available much earlier in the game, this expanded feature offers players many new ways to spy on opponents, stir citizen unrest and defend your own government's secrets. - Not too worried about it, I never use spies, if the AI uses them I could be in trouble
  
• Events: New random events - such as natural disasters, pleas for help, or demands from their citizens - challenge players with obstacles that must be overcome for their civilizations to prosper. - This sounds very good and will mean I can play the game without needing to go to war for incredible tenseness.
• Apostolic Palace: The United Nations will become available earlier in the game providing a way for players to win a diplomatic victory earlier. New resolutions will also be added which will expand the available diplomatic options. - YAY, I really want to use the UN but I have never got the chance because by this point I am usually at war or desperately trying to get in to first place to worry about this. Bringing it forward means I might be able to use it.
  
• Advanced Starts: A major fan request, this new feature will enable players to "buy" components of a custom-tailored empire and begin play in the later part of the game, allowing them to experience many of the new features of the expansion in a shorter amount of time. - This sounds cool, although I am not 100% sure what it means.
  
• Enhanced AI: The AI has received many enhancements making it tougher to beat on the higher difficulty levels. The ways in which the AI will attempt to achieve victory have also been expanded. - This is never a bad thing, but then I never had a problem with the AI being stupid before.
You can view the full press release and see the art work here. I am looking forward to this release and will probably get it for my birthday or something.

Art work for the future Civ 4 Beyond Swords

In blog news:
I have added Google Analysis to this blog as my old site meter was deleted when I re-did the design. So now I know where you (or at least your server) live.
Also, you can now view this blog at www.veterangamer.co.uk, I registered this domain to see how it worked for a website I am doing. That URL should be a lot easier to remember.
I am breaking up for easter tomorrow, so expect more posts, maybe even a Civ review. Yeah, right...

Life on Mars

The best TV program :Life on Mars, is about to end. It is on in 5 minutes time BB2 9:00pm. Watch it, it has the blend of comedy and action just right. The attention to detail is very good.

We need to establish if this is a hate crime

As opposed to one of those I really really like you ones

Very funny

Film Reviews: Crash and 300

This weekend, I saw both Crash and 300. Both have cryptic names and both are very good.

Crash

This film is about 6 stories that seem un-related but turn out to be connected. The film starts with the end, at this point it doesn't make any sense. The film has a central theme of racism, which would be quite heavy, but the film has added a touch of humour. The film remains serious and powerful, but easier on the mind. The characters are well developed and they each have something that makes you pity them. All the characters develop well through the film and you are on the edge of your seat to find out what will happen. The story can be quite confusing, keeping track of who's who, but at the end it all makes sense. This film is very good and is definitely worth watching. It is also good enough to see twice because there is plenty you won't have picked up.

300

Saw this in the cinema today. I wasn't sure what to expect with this film as I had heard mixed reviews. After a breif kuffufle getting in, I sat down. The film is about the battle between 300 (hence the name) Spartan and basically every slave in Asia (like 10000000000000 or something). The film was not true to the history at all as some people have got swords for arms. It was an action film. Complete with the heavy metal music, the slow motion and the arrogant sardonic humour. The film had very little story and prehaps 5 scenes in the entire film depicting it. It was basically a huge action scene. But a really good one. It had cool kicks, manic charges, huge elephants and impossible odds. Like I said, the film contained humour. Such as this bit:

Captain: *Killing the barely alive after battle* Sir, the enemy commander wants to meet with you
*Eating apple* Yes, I see, well there is no reason to be un-civil
Captain: No sir, *stabs man lying on floor* no reason at all

Brillant. Even though you know how it is going to end, you find yourself wishing it won't, and the closing scene where the survior brings back 10000 Spartans is very cool. Overall, at fantastic film and deffintly worth going to see. Watch again: Yes, because it is just class fighting.

Thankyou for reading, both of these films are very good and worth seeing.

100th Post

This is the 100th post for thkgamereview.blogspot.com! The first post was posted Saturday, June 25, 2005. For 2005 it was mostly reviews as I had not got in to the news scene at that point. My favourite post is
Age of Empires: A relevation, or more of the same

2006 was a far bigger year with 51 posts in total. Making up over half of all the posts. By the end I was really in to this blog. Favourite post:
Forums

And now we are in to 2007. What looks like to be my best blog year. With the new version of Blogger, my new activites in GS and my web design skills coming along. I have already posted 23 posts. By my maths that means I should have 69 posts by the end of the year. If you want to see what was posted when, remember all my posts are archived and are broken down in to year and then month on the right hand side of the pages.

Thank you for reading my blog, if you've been here from the start or have just started. Remember, I have a podcast (haven't done one of them in a while) and spread the word.

Veteran Gamer - Where gamers don't have to go, to be in the know

Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess

Legend of Zelda: Twighlight PrincessPlatform: Wii
Rating: 12+
Type: Puzzle Action/Adventure
Graphics: 8.5/10
Story: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Multiplayer: 0/10 (No MP)
Sound: 9/10
Wiimote Ussage: 7/10
Overall: 9/10

Legend of Zelda is the game for the Wii that EVERYONE has. It is the only game released with the Wii that is critically accepted, mature and sold a lot of units. The game is popular because it is Legend of Zelda. The game is renowned and was sold out at launch. The game features excellent puzzles and an explorable map.

In this game you play a character named Link. You start off in a small peaceful village where you are a polite young boy who everyone likes. To get you used to the controls you have to complete a number of mini adventures involving riding your horse to shepard away goats to fighting a scarecrow to learn how to use your sword. The story line in this game is fantastic. This game demonstrates that consoles are still a very viable media for telling a story.

The graphics have a very artistic style. So although they are not beautifully rendered, they look cool and some elements of the game have been sharpened and when you kill a boss, it does look good. There aren't any graphical errors were something impossible happens. Also, the draw distance is fairly impressive. Rocks and core grass aren't very impressive but the grass that you can cut down is nicely animated. The design in to the enemies is excellent, each type is unique.

I would go in to detail about the story line but what makes it so good is the twists and turns that makes it good. It is suffice to say that it is very good and even if this game had absolutely terrible game play, the story line could almost single handedly save it.

The use of the Wiimotes capabilities is a little more suspect. All the different sword moves are controlled by holding down different combinations of buttons and simply waving the Wiimote. How you wave the Wiimote has no effect on the move. A couple of moves make use of the Numchuq , but once again it isn't intuitive or logical. This element of the game could be improved if say, you wanted to do a jump attack, you brought the Wiimote down in front of you. Or a spin attack was done by swinging the Wiimote round you, even if the stab was you stabbing rather than swinging the game would be better. In credit to the game, the aiming for bow and arrow is well done and there are nice touches like when you are fishing or flying a bird. Both of these use the Wiimote well.

The gameplay in the game is both good and bad. The good, the puzzles are integrated seamlessly in to the environment and are compelling and tricky. The majority of the time they can be solved without going completely insane. The map works well and there are virtually no load times at any point. Nor is there any lag. The combat is quite repetitive but simple and fun. The bosses are too easy to kill but are fairly rewarding as you have to work out how to use you new piece of equipment to kill them. The problem lies mainly in the temple, sometimes there are a few puzzles that require you to run around the temple. Now, because all the temples have to fit in to the style all the rooms look quite similar and so at first it is quite confusing. On top of this, the second you leave a room, all the enemies re spawn. This is both good and bad. It is good because it means that if you get stuck you can go back and kill some creatures. It is bad because in combat you can get quite disorientated and so you end up going to wrong way. This feels more annoying than challenging. The length of the game is good and there are plenty of minigames littered around the game. On top of this there are a large number of collectables that will keep you entertained for much longer. Over all the gameplay is good despite some of the problems.

The music deserves a special mention as it is very good. You will find yourself humming the tunes for where you are at the moment. They do not distract from the game and react to what's happening so builds a sense tension. Also, character design needs recognition too. Some of the characters will make you crack up with laughter, others will make you cry and they all work and develop well in the story. There is no multi-player but that is not surprising and it does not feel like it is a missing element.

In conclusion this is a very good game, with good graphics, fantastic puzzles and a great length. The problem lies with the lack of use of the Wiimote. I think that if you have a Wii and a GC controller, if you can get the GC version cheaper, get that as the Wiimote is not used well enough. The story line has gripped me as I am dieing to find out how some of the characters develop, this is a credit to NIntendo. If you have a Wii, this is a game to get. So much so, it was sold out long after the console!

Worms

I got the chance to play on a 2D version of worms my friend has bought off the Xbox Live Arcade. When I heard it was 2D it was over the moon. When I played on 3D worms my reaction was, "well I can play this, and enjoy myself, but it just isn't worms." Worms is possibly one of the greatest ideas for games to date. The simple controls and the in-depth strategy and skill make a brilliant combo. The game is very good a loyal to the original, but a little short of customisation and weapons.

The graphics aren't as good as they could have been. The back grounds on each levels are very well done. However, the actual environments don't look very different to what they did on the PS1. I know they had to keep it 2D, but they could have had 3D explosions and the like. I admit that it was released on the Xbox Live ARCADE, but that doesn't mean in can't have nice explosions, especially when it is 800pts. Having said this, the graphics are both smooth and clean.

The AI is very good, when you are alive they play easy on you, but when you are dead they do their best to finish the game quickly. With the difficulty set to easy, the play as a believable human with some experience. I never saw them do anything daft, they might have been a tad to hard for the easiest difficulty but it wasn't annoyingly hard. When you are dead, some of the shots they pull off are actually incredible. They will fire it up, and because of the wind it will be guided in a small cave where someone will be hiding.

The customisation lets this game down a little. The game maps once again are generated and there are pre-sets to choose from, however this is where the choices stop. You cannot stipulate how many mines there are, what weapons you start with etc. This kind of choice was part of what made worms so good that they didn't need to include a real single player. Also missing is a wide variety of weapons. It has the same amount as the original Worms. This is fine except: why? They could very easily have copied all the weapons in. There are no super sheep, pneumatic drill has been lost, and the holy hand grenade is gone. Once again, this isn't disastrous for the game, but there really is no need for it.

I only played off-line multiplayer. This worked fine although you cannot use multiple controllers. This is not really a major problem. The game keeps scores of how many games you have played, worms lost, worms killed etc. It also gives you awards at the end of each round based on how well you performed. This are both amusing and interesting if you wish to analyse you performance. Another annoyance is the fact you must watch the AI battle it out at the end.

In conclusion, this game is very good, but I fear simply because it is 2D and worms. I think there are a number of small problems with this game that could and should have been resolved before releasing. Also, this game does show the XBLA in a very positive light as it means that we might get classics back. They are far too simple to pay £40+ for but that doesn't stop them being good games. Hurrah

PS3 Launch

The PS3 is out. Wow. The next generation is officially here in England. Song handed out, get this, FREE Bravia HD TVs worth £2000! Suddenly the PS3 seems so cheap. Now a lot of the people at the launch interpreted this as "proof that Sony is a really nice company" aside from the fact that Sony is just like every other company: heartless. All they were trying to do was get some press coverage seeming as they predicted they weren't going to sell out. They did not sell out, only about 150 people turned up for the launch and there were 600 consoles to be bought. Back in my town, they are in stock now (sadly not with a free Bravia TV) Sadly for Sony, this launch is a failure. I should be able to get myself invited round somewhere and play on a PS3 and it won't be long before Game have a demo one set up so a review will be on the way.

If you are wondering why there is a lack of Wii posts, this is because Nintendo is keeping everything (and always has kept everything) under tight wraps. I am going to try and piece together a preview of Battalion Wars 2. I have plenty of Wii posts in the pipeline, but Nintendo is making it quite hard at the moment to post anything. For example, I wanted to review the ORIGINAL Mario, but the Wii shop isn't working. I need to finish my Zelda review as I have has 2 people add my on GS since I copied all my reviews over to it.

In addition, I managed to get a go on Worms from the Xbox Live Arcade. It reverts back to the 2D format it started at. This is much better, and I had great fun playing on it. Some of the options are a little limited compared to what they have been previously but it does have the addition of Xbox Live. Full(ish) review coming later tonight/tomorrows. Thanks for the recent comments on my blog, your feedback and contributions will help me improve the blog.