Consolation Prize

Consolation Prize Has Moved

2008-03-30T10:11:00.004+01:00

Consolation Prize has moved to its new permanent home at http://consolation-prize.com. If you've enjoyed this site then please hop along to the new home and update any bookmarks.

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Game Update (26th March)

2008-03-26T23:48:00.001Z

I finally managed to finish off Devil May Cry 4 over the Easter Weekend. Its not an overly long game, weighing in at about 12 hours, and I’m sure it’s possible to fly through the game a lot quicker once you know what to do.

I’ve decided to run through the game once more on the next difficulty level, mainly to try and unlock some more achievements but also because you start off with all previously accumulated character experience, skills, abilities and items which makes the devil hunting so much more fun.

There were a couple of frustrating points about the game, which I’ll elaborate on when I write up a review, and you tend to retread the same path and locations about halfway through the game but overall it’s a great "hack ‘n slash" experience for fans of the genre.

As usual there's a backlog of games waiting to be played but so little time available. So what’s next on the list? Well, a certain Miss Croft is looking seductively enticing in Tomb Raider: Anniversary, however, Kratos may have something to say about that and barge and tear his way to the front of the list when God of War: Chains of Olympus is released later this week (UK) for the PSP.

As usual I’ll keep you posted!

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

2008-03-24T13:49:00.008Z

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil , available from Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 points, is a game that tries to play homage to the early comic book style of science fiction with finned rockets, Venusians and dastardly Martians.

The trial of this top-down action “dungeon crawler” style game starts off quite well allowing you to customise your characters traits such as the gender, race, class and clothing colour. Presentation wise it all looks quite good. Comic book style cut scenes with voiceovers are used to further the tongue-in-cheek storyline and the art design suits the retro Sci-Fi style of the game and could have been taken from a 1930’s episode of Flash Gordon.

The game is simple enough to play. Wade through the level shooting anything that moves while picking up the occasional time limited weapon upgrade such as a shotgun or laser cannon, with the aim of completing the primary mission objective.

However, there are some major flaws. Although the isometric backgrounds are decent enough the animation of the lead character is pretty poor as if only half the number frames have been drawn. Criminally as you move through the level you are cut off from returning to any previously trodden area unless it’s part of the level design, thus if you like to explore a level fully or return for pickups you are going to be disappointed. Finally the enemy AI, if you can call it that, isn’t anything special with the difficulty of the game induced by throwing swarms of mindless enemies at the player.

I really tried to like this game. The old retro Sci-Fi feel of the game provokes distant memories of watching black and white episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, but unfortunately the game is spoiled by its flaws and the gameplay is a little too bland for my tastes.

Triggerheart Exelica

2008-03-20T13:28:00.001Z

It looks like it’s been a quiet few weeks for demo’s and arcade games for the Xbox 360 while I’ve been away but I noticed there were a few new titles to try out.

Originally released in the Japanese arcades a couple of years ago (2006) Triggerheart Exelica, now on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 points, is a traditional top down vertical shoot ‘em up with the usual formulaic mix of hordes of enemies, end of stage boss encounters and an obscene amount of enemy weapon fire to dodge.

The trial game allows you to play the first stage of five, choosing from one of two humanoid weapon systems known as “Triggerhearts”. There isn’t too much difference between the two apart from the onscreen representation of these cute anime inspired mecha girls and the different fire patterns employed. Exelica uses a wide fire pattern while Crueltear has concentrated straight forward fire only.

The novelty of this game is the use of the anchor. Fired straight ahead via the “B” button this allows the player to grab enemies, spinning them around the triggerheart before hurling them back to cause damage. If an enemy is too large the anchor acts as a lock-on allowing you to concentrate on dodging incoming shots which is extremely useful for the end of stage boss encounters.

Triggerheart Exelica takes no prisoners and it won’t be long before all but the most proficient shoot ‘em up players see the “continue” screen. As a result of the difficulty it’s hard to see how this could appeal to the casual gamer, but if you’re a die hard fan of shooters then this is worth a try.

Back from Winter Park

2008-03-18T13:15:00.000Z

I’ve now returned from a fantastic snowboarding holiday in Winter Park and I can safely say it had some of the best snow and trails I’ve ever experienced. Ah, the memories… No bones were broken, just some minor sprains, and my body clock is now returning to normal after a few days of confusion from jet lag and a very long return journey when our flight was cancelled because of very high winds in London.

As you can probably imagine I was a bit too preoccupied to play any games on the DS while away as I'd hoped. I’m only just settling back into normality here in the UK and catching up with the latest goings on with our beloved hobby, but as soon as I'm back in the flow you can expect the usual run of impressions and reviews to continue.

Heading for the Slopes!

2008-02-22T13:20:00.002Z

Just a brief post to say that there won’t be any updates for a while as I’m embarking on another Snowboarding trip soon. This time I’m off to Winter Park, Colorado, USA and I can’t wait to hit the slopes!

Also, I found out yesterday from a colleague that the site hasn't been displaying correctly on Internet Explorer since Wednesday. This has now been fixed and I'll have to ensure I check the site with other browsers more often. Apologies!

I’ll be posting as usual upon my return and I’ve a few improvements planned for Consolation Prize which I didn’t want to implement before the trip. Until then, whatever game you're playing, have fun!

N+ Leaves a Positive Impression

2008-02-22T13:02:00.006Z

This weeks Xbox Live release for 800 MS points is N+, a game that stays true to the “game play over graphics” philosophy and looking beyond its minimalist art design there lies a highly entertaining action puzzle platform game.

The game is split into fifty odd episodes with each episode split into five levels. The aim is simple, guide the ninja to the exit in as little time as possible before the time runs out while avoiding any hazards. At the start of each episode you’re allocated 90 seconds and the remaining time is carried over from level to level. However each level is littered with gold which can be collected to increase your time.

Depending on the level there could be a number of hazards standing in the way of your ninja and the exit. Some are passive that effect the level like doors, trapdoors and launch pads, while others such as homing missile turrets, laser drones, and gauss turrets will have a very detrimental effect on the ninja’s life expectancy. Death at some point is inevitable, but luckily you have an infinite number of lives until the timer runs.

Each level gets progressively more difficult and you have to rely not only on your reflexes but also some grey matter to figure out the best path to the exit. It’s addictively compelling stuff, something simple yet very playable.

N+ has a retro feel to it. Not only do the simple graphics feel like they could have originated from a decade ago, but the choice of music and text font all solidify that feeling. To some this brave style choice may be a bit too bland but I applaud the minimalist approach to the design and in this case less is certainly more.

DS Games for a Journey

2008-02-20T20:06:00.010Z

My DS has been crying out for some attention. It’s been sitting unloved and feeling shunned next to the PSP for the last few months waiting for the chance to shine. Well, that opportunity has appeared as I’ve an upcoming trip planned which presents the perfect opportunity to get some DS gaming done while travelling. In preparation for the journey I’ve been messing around with a few games over the last few days.

Metroid Prime Pinball

This is a great pinball game which makes fantastic use of the Metroid license. As soon as the game starts up you know you’re in for a treat as you’re greeted with a familiar musical theme. The feel of the game is spot on with tables based upon different levels such as Talon Overworld, and Phazon Mines and feature some quite diverse objectives such as Burrower Bash and Space Pirate Panic which when successfully completed award Chozo Artifacts. The aim is to collect 12 artifacts in total to advance to the final tables.

Age of Empires: The Age of Kings

I’m working my way through the Joan of Arc tutorial campaign at present but what I’ve played so far is quite good. It’s a turn based strategy game with a variety of units (infantry, cavalry, ranged, and siege) but also includes some building and resource management as-well as technological advances for both units and buildings. Some of the unit models aren’t that great to look at and it can be quite difficult to differentiate units when they’re clumped together on neighbouring squares but the game-play is solid.

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

It’s quite a few years old now but I’ve only just got around to playing this rhythm game from Japan that spawned the westernised Elite Beat Agents. The gameplay is simplicity itself and finds you as a member of an elite cheerleading squad helping out various characters by tapping away or tracing a path on the DS touch screen in time to the music. I must admit my understanding of the Japanese language is limited to a few verbal phases but it’s easy enough to get the gist of each characters scenario when it's shown via a series of comic strip style panels on the top screen. The J-pop music is also quite catchy and the stories haven’t yet failed to bring a smile to my face.

There's some great DS games out there and I still want to check out Professor Layton and the Curious Village and Advance Wars: Dark Conflict but this small selection should keep the boredom at bay.

Commanders: Attack of the Genos

2008-02-16T13:15:00.000Z

The second game to hit Xbox Live Arcade this week, Commanders: Attack of the Genos is a turn based strategy game based in an alternate history. In this timeline the secrets of the atom have been discovered by the start of the 20th Century and by the mid 1920’s the human genome has been cracked and a genetically enhanced race, the Genos have been created. Unfortunately racial division soon arises and the Genos are forced to flee and after a number of years eventually retaliate and attack.

On a basic gameplay level this is an Advance Wars clone, albeit using a 3D engine rather than a top down sprite based approach. The mechanics of the game are very similar with both movement and attack handled using an underlying grid based system and a selection of unit types available to command which have inherent strengths and weaknesses against other unit types. For example scouts are strong versus infantry but weak against anti-armour units.

Unlike Advance Wars however each unit has a number of action points which can be spent on movement and attack rather than just a fixed movement allowance followed by an attack. This should give a bit of flexibility as you could time your movement to allow a couple of attacks or alternatively forgo an attack altogether to move further during a turn, but in reality this means you have to constantly check the number of action points remaining and in this sense it loses some of the fluidity of movement that Advance Wars has mastered.

Commanders: Attack of the Genos looks quite good, the landscape isn’t particularly interesting, it's functional at best, but the 1930’s art deco style of units and buildings is nicely done and makes a change. The story unfolds using 2D static character portraits with the obligatory speech bubbles when characters converse and although they would seem to be in contradiction to the 3D game engine they work quite well, it's just a shame the portraits are a bit bland and aren't more interesting to look at.

Although Commanders: Attack of the Genos isn't on a par with the the game it pays homage too, I found the trial game to be entertaining and it's good to see another turn based strategy appear on Xbox Live. The full version costs 800 MS points to download and features 15 campaign missions and support for off-line and on-line multiplayer.

Discs of Tron

2008-02-14T13:13:00.006Z

Tron. I remember the movie fondly from my youth, mainly because of the amazing (for the time) special effects and the game related theme. I’ve not watched the movie since as there’s no doubt my rose tinted spectacles would be shattered in an instant.

This little trip back down memory lane brings us onto one of the weeks Xbox Live Arcade releases, a port of the original arcade game Discs of Tron, released back in 1983.

The game is based in an isometric view of the arena, the player character Tron is closest and the opponent Sark is at the far end, both players are perched on disc shaped platforms. The aim is simple, throw discs at Sark whilst avoiding any thrown back in return, and defeat him by either knocking him off the platform or hitting him twice.

The left joystick controls player movement and the right controls an aiming reticle shown on the arena walls. The aiming controls however feel a bit hit and miss and are not sensitive enough for precision aiming and you will frequently find the need to correct your aim. Up-to three discs can be thrown at a time which can be ricocheted off the arena walls rather than being thrown in a straight line allowing you to create an attack spread which is more likely to catch Sark off guard.

There’s not much more to the game really. It’s a fairly straightforward affair with the arenas getting more complex as you advance and it kind of reminds me of futuristic game of squash but with deadly consequences. The trial version of the game looks OK but sounds pretty dire with only the occasional splash of music or sound effect.

I can imagine that this game would have ridden on the crest of a wave of the films popularity but once you take the film out of the equation there isn't a huge amount here that will appeal to the modern gamer.

The trial game lets you try out the first couple of single player arenas whilst the full version offers enhanced graphics and multiplayer for 400 MS points.

Devil May Cry 4 Price Injustice

2008-02-11T23:00:00.000Z

Last Friday saw the release of Devil May Cry 4 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in the UK. I was intending to treat my PS3 to a new game as I feared it had been neglected for far too long and DMC4 seemed the perfect choice. I'd tried out the demo on both formats and although the differences seemed hardly perceptible the controls on the PS3 version felt a bit more responsive.

Alas, the decision on which version to pick was already made for me as the price difference between the two versions was unacceptable, and I certainly wasn’t willing to pay 10 GBP more for the privilege of playing the game on the PS3.

The price of games between the two formats is usually very comparable, and I can't remember seeing any significant difference before. Thankfully I have the luxury of being able to pick and choose as I see fit, but I can imagine there are a few PS3 owners out there that are feeling both frustrated and annoyed with the price inequality. I sincerely hope this is a one off occurrence and not a sign of things to come for the PS3 just because it's doing well in Europe.

I’m only about three hours into Devil May Cry 4 so far and overall I’m enjoying the game. There are a few niggles here and there, mainly to do with the camera angle, but I was expecting as much from the demo. The gameplay is solid and the cut-scenes have been great, even if they’re completely over the top, but they’re worth viewing at least the once.

A New Domain!

2008-02-11T13:21:00.000Z

Just a quick note to say that Consolation Prize has now moved onto its own domain address rather than using a “blogspot” address. I’m still using Blogger for hosting at present but I’ll hope to move away from that in the future.

The transition was painless enough to complete but I apologise if I’ve caused any problems while implementing the changeover. I’m also hoping to move onto a new layout in the next few weeks and so apologies in advance for any problems caused.

Chessmaster Live and Poker Smash

2008-02-08T13:24:00.000Z

There were a couple of new releases on Xbox Live Arcade this week. Both games, Chessmaster Live and Poker Smash, will set you back 800 MS points.

Chessmaster Live

There’s not a great deal I can elaborate on with this game. It’s a more than competent chess game based on a reputable chess engine, but don’t expect an exciting sensory experience.

The board can be viewed in either two or three dimensions, the latter of which can be rotated and panned and looks as good as can be expected. The 2D board doesn’t offer anything more exciting, feels a little out of place on an Xbox 360 console and reminds me of those portable magnetic chess games you can buy.

The actual chess engine itself seems decent and offers different personalities to play against in single player with the full version featuring full online play. Chess is one of those games that you either really like or just pass on. Personally I’ve never really got into the game, but if you like giving the old grey matter a workout then the trial is worth a go.

Poker Smash

Second up this week is Poker Smash, a puzzle game featuring five columns of rising blocks faced with kings, queens, jacks, aces or tens. The aim is to clear the blocks in either rows or columns by matching various poker hands before the blocks reach the top of the table.

Cards can only be swapped horizontally which will invariably leave you with some that can’t be matched in time and in these circumstances the limited numbers of bombs available to clear “bottleneck” areas are vital. Additionally time can be slowed down, draining a time meter, giving you a few additional seconds when under pressure.

Poker Smash looks pretty good with some vibrant effects when combinations are matched but the male commentator audio soundbites started to grate after a while. Regular readers will know that puzzle games aren’t really my favourite genre and unless a game offers something new and exciting then they don’t hold any lasting appeal for me. I had fun for about 30 minutes with Poker Smash but by that time it had unfortunately overstayed its welcome.

Rez HD Review

2008-02-06T00:13:00.000Z

I missed out on Rez the first time it appeared on the Dreamcast, and also its subsequent port to the PS2. An enhanced version is now also available from Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 MS points and this time I’m not going to miss out.

The story is a simple one providing enough detail to form a setting for the game. In Rez, you’re a hacker infiltrating a super network controlled by an artificial intelligence. Known as Eden, the AI has recently begun to question the meaning of its existence and has started to shut down. Your task is to enter cyberspace and infiltrate the core to re-awaken Eden.

Rez HD is an on the rails shooter and thus the player has no control over movement as you follow a predetermined path through each level. Emphasis is instead placed upon aiming as you guide the onscreen laser reticle over swarms of viruses and projectiles holding down the “A” button to get a lock-on to each target. Up-to a maximum of eight targets can be simultaneously locked-on ready for a laser attack when “A” is released.

Throughout the game you can pick up a couple of different power-ups. The red “overdrives” are in essence smart bombs and when activated with a press of the “B” button clear all onscreen enemies for a limited period of time. In addition blue "progress items" can be collected to increase your evolution bar, which when filled will see your character evolve to the next form. The evolutionary form of your character acts like a life counter. Every time you are hit by a virus or projectile you will devolve to the previous form until eventually only appearing as a wireframe spherical object. Once in this vulnerable state if you’re hit again then the infiltration of the mainframe was unsuccessful and its back to the menu screens.

Visually and aurally Rez HD is a treat. Yes the graphics are simple by design mainly being a mix of wireframe and polygons, but splashed with such a vivid colour palette that they’ll burn themselves onto your retinas. Of course it’s all the more perfectly realised now it's all in high definition and in widescreen.

The background music, all trance, builds from the first tentative beats of the track to a full-on crescendo as progress is made through the level. Not only that but the sound effects for your laser shots form part of the music and vary depending on the number of locked-on targets. This all sounds excellent in stereo but if you have a 5.1 channel surround system hooked up to your Xbox 360 then this is the way to experience the game.

The game itself is short with the core of the game featuring only five areas, the first four of which are split into ten "layers" as you delve deeper into the network. To clear each area you will need to progress through each layer before finally defeating the boss at the end of the level. To help longevity there are some extras to play around with, once unlocked, including extra levels, additional game modes, and the ability to apply different visual or aural effects to the game. The original version of Rez (is this now Rez SD?) is included but is only really here for historical completeness.

Although Rez HD is short, it represents excellent value for money for what is one of the best Live Arcade games available at present. A game that attacks the senses and is perfect for a quick blast whenever the mood strikes. Sit back and enjoy the ride!

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty Demo

2008-02-03T11:56:00.000Z

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is yet another FPS to be set in that highly plundered period of World War II but promises to offer a new perspective on events. The whole premise of Turning Point is based upon the idea of an alternate timeline. A reality where the then diplomat Winston Churchill hadn’t survived a collision with a New York taxi cab on December 13th 1931, and thus didn’t become the hugely influential prime minister of the United Kingdom. In this timeline the tide of Nazi Germany domination couldn’t be stopped and the United States is about to be invaded.

At the start of the demo you find yourself in New York atop the semi completed structure of a skyscraper during the initial air invasion. Your task is to navigate your way down from this precarious position to street level far below. Unfortunately the first segment of this demo as you immediately get control is flawed, requiring the player to negotiate a series of narrow girders. Although as long as you don’t jump off you can’t really fall to your death, merely grabbing the girder and hauling yourself back up, as an introduction to unfamiliar controls this design leaves a lot to be desired.

Once free of the platforming the game picks up slightly leaving you to follow a fairly linear path to the end of the demo. To keep the feeling of tension high and the player on their toes a smattering of pre-scripted events are also thrown in for good measure.

The game itself looks passable but I certainly wasn’t overly impressed with what’s on show in the demo. The controls were all fine and I liked the introduction of the context sensitive “B” button that’s used for actions such as climbing or descending ladders and grappling enemy troops.

Turning Point is one of those demos where you just have to wonder why the publishers released a demo. The premise is a sound one and there are some good ideas lurking in the depths but surely releasing a game build which is sub-par with some obvious bugs and flaws does more harm than good? When an enemy’s body disappears right in front of your eyes, the third person view doesn’t show weapons even though you’re carrying them, and bullet collision detection is dubious you have to question the logic behind the decision.

However, according to the developer’s blog the demo is several months old. There’s still reason to hope that this game can improve, but unfortunately the seeds of doubt have already been sown.

How Much Time Do You Invest in a Game?

2008-02-01T13:19:00.000Z

I was playing through a few games of Catan on the 360 the other night, working towards the "Knight of Catan" achievement. It’s easy enough to get, you just have to finish the game ten times with the largest army card but I’ve never focused on the largest army before, preferring a road building and settlement strategy with a dose of knights for protection. As is usual with an Xbox Live Arcade game I always have a quick look at the leader boards to compare how badly I’m faring against the rest of the world.On the single player leader board I noticed that all the top players have easily logged over 2000 games and the leader of the pack is way out in front with over 5000 games played.

Now although that's an impressive feat it raises the question of "how much time do you invest in a game?". With Catan as an example even if you set it to the easiest AI, three players, and a capped victory point condition of seven instead of the usual ten then I would reckon a game would last between 10 and 15 minutes and therefore just to play 2000 games you'd need to invest somewhere between 300 to 500 hours. This is a serious amount of time dedicated to one game and although Catan is a good game I would find it extremely difficult to play the same game so often as to rack up this kind of tally in a year.

Of all the games I've played only one springs to mind that kept me entertained long enough to breach the 100 hours game-play mark, namely Oblivion. A fantasy RPG game with a highly detailed world that captured my imagination and proved to be a very immersing experience. However, even with a game as good as Oblivion there came a point where I felt I'd had enough and it was time to move onto something new.

Oblivion is the exception not the rule in my case and I'd say 15-20 hours is the general amount of time spent per game. Of course when considering the number of games I've played over the last year I can easily imagine I've spent hundreds of hours in total playing games, thousands of hours when looking back historically over the years. For me the saying "variety is the spice of life" is certainly true. Although I always aim to complete a game I'm forever looking ahead to latest and greatest offerings on the horizon and I very rarely go back once I've moved on.

So dear reader, what game have you played the most and for how long?

The Quest Goes On

2008-01-30T23:48:00.000Z

Following on from my deliberation whether to play an existing game or start something new I decided to continue with Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. I've been playing the game (on and off) since it was released on Xbox Live Arcade last October and I'm determined to finish it, especially as I never finished the DS version. It's certainly providing excellent value for money but I think I'm on the home stretch now as I edge towards a final confrontation with Lord Bane.

In between playing Puzzle Quest there's been a glut of new demo's to try out (impressions will follow in the near future), the occasional game of Catan and a co-op session of Undertow.

Rez: HD was released today and immediately made a good impression persuading me to shell out for the full version. The game also suits my current preference for quality games that can be played in small bite sized chunks. I'm in no doubt that I'll be playing more of this game in the days ahead.

On another note, Consolation Prize has been going for a few months now and I thought it was about time I performed some general maintenance. I've finally managed to add an "archives" section to the sidebar and customised the monthly results page to show post headers by date rather than the full post details. Hopefully my tinkering hasn't caused too many problems.

Devil May Cry 4 Demo

2008-01-28T13:25:00.000Z

Capcom’s Devil May Cry series has been around since 2001 and the highly anticipated fourth installment is due to be released next month. A demo of Devil May Cry 4 was released onto Xbox Live Marketplace last Thursday (24th) and should be available on the Euro Playstation Network later this week.

In previous games the lead character was Dante, but the demo introduces you to the new character Nero via two playable missions to showcase the different aspects of the game. The first mission "Exterminator" allows you 10 minutes to experience the core of the game as you move from area to area in an opera house plaza clearing enemies with the odd simple puzzle thrown in. The second mission “Executioner” lets you play a couple of set piece battles, firstly against some “Icy Frosts” before the final showdown with the impressively huge flaming boss character “Berial”.

The controls are all fairly straight forward and moves and combos are slowly introduced throughout the demo. Like Dante, Nero has both a sword for melee and a gun for ranged attacks but his right arm is not human and has a couple of “Devil Bringer” attacks that can also be used. There are some great attacks to play around with in the demo. Whether it’s launching enemies into the air or grabbing enemies and hurling them around with his demonic arm when “B” is held down, which is particularly great to watch against the boss “Berial”, all of them look impressive.

Both sword and gun attacks can be charged up for additional damage by either holding down the left trigger or “X” respectively. As with the previous instalments in the series each encounter is graded and the key is to try and chain combos together, not only to dispatch an enemy as fast as possible, but also to get the best rating.

The camera, which for the majority of the game provides a fixed viewpoint of the action, can only occasionally be moved by the player and it does take time to adjust to this, especially as the viewpoint will change as you're running along or between areas which can cause some disorientation.

The demo of DMC4 looks fantastic, with some great looking cut-scenes, decent character and enemy designs and a great boss encounter. However, the game mechanics all feel very familiar and don’t seem to have changed significantly from its predecessors, which on the one hand will appeal to fans but may alienate newcomers. The demo is well worth investigating and fans will be happy with what’s on offer until the games release.

KUF: Circle of Doom Demo

2008-01-24T19:21:00.000Z

Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom is a fantasy third person hack and slash action role playing game. A demo of the game is now available from Xbox Live Marketplace and is a rather chunky 1.2GB download.

According to the written prologue, which you can view if you’re really desperate, the world was once ruled by a pair of deities, Nible the lord of light, and Encablossa the lord of darkness. Each lord would take it in turns to rule and shape the world as they see fit and then after an age had passed hand over the reigns of power. However as is usual someone always gets fed up with the arrangement, in this case Nible throws his toys out of the pram and refuses to hand power back to Encablossa, thus igniting a war between the forces of light and darkness.

Upon starting the demo you can choose from one of two selectable characters. The final version of the game features six characters but in this instance you can play as either Leinhart an assassin, or Kendal the paladin. As you’d expect each character has strengths and weaknesses and specific weapons and armour types are only available to certain characters.

There are quite a few controls to get your head round in KUF:CoD but the demo will walk you through both the controls and item management. Different weapons can be assigned to both the “A” and “X” buttons whilst “B” and the right trigger are used for special abilities and the two shoulder buttons reserved for item assignment. Although this kind of configuration allows easy access to attacks, abilities and items as with most RPG’s item management forms an essential part of the game and you will frequently have to re-assign buttons as you find better equipment or learn new abilities. The tutorial can be skipped at any point but it’s worthwhile putting up with it the once before deciding to head off into the unknown world.

Any kind of attack, whether it be melee, ranged, or the use of an ability will cost “SP” points to perform. Your character has a total number of “SP” points available indicated by a blue bar at the bottom of the screen but once depleted the character will no longer be able to attack or use abilities. Although the SP bar does replenish fairly quickly (or via potions) having depleted can leave you vulnerable to attack for a period of time. This is compounded by your characters complete inability to block any type of attack.

Along the linear path that your character travels “idol sanctuaries” will be found. At these locations the player can buy, sell or synthesise items together. Alternatively you can choose to sleep and enter the dream world, a place where you can learn new abilities and discover more about the characters and the story.

KUF:CoD looks quite good. The demo environments all look OK and the main character models are decent enough but there is a lot of screen tearing throughout. Unfortunately I found the AI to be very poor with groups of enemies standing around and quite happily ignoring the player until trigger points are crossed. Similarly when fleeing to a previously cleared area enemies will only pursue you so far and will suddenly break off and return to there original stating location.

The camera is frustratingly poor, needs constant attention, and will frequently get obscured by a bush, tree or other object whilst fighting large groups of enemies. By holding down the left trigger you can change the camera to an aiming view. However this view seems rather pointless because although I could see a group of enemies and fire at them they were invulnerable until a trigger point was crossed. Once triggered the group would be upon you in seconds leaving only enough time to loose off a couple of ranged attacks.

On a positive point the game has a wealth of equipment and special abilities with which to customize your character. Levelling up a characters hit points, sp points, and luck works quite well with a pot of “attribute” points that allocated how the player sees fit.

I wouldn’t say that KUF:CoD is a terrible game, just average. It does quite a few things competently enough but there are some key areas in the demo that it falls down on, not the least of which is that it is repetitive. If you’re a fan of hack “n” slash RPG games then it’s worth giving the demo a cursory glance.

US December Hardware Sales

2008-01-23T13:25:00.000Z

I’ve only just noticed that December’s 2007 NPD hardware figures for the US were released recently. Looking down the list it’s more or less the same pattern that has been evident every month throughout the year, excepting the occasional surprise, just with a heck of a lot more units sold during the festive season.

Nintendo is top of the heap once again but the Xbox 360 managed to get within touching distance of the Wii, albeit due to the Wii’s stock shortages. The grandfather of the current generation, the PS2, now over seven years old is still showing the new boys on the block that there’s life left in the old dog yet.

The PS3, while having fairly decent sales, lost more ground to its rivals and 2008 is shaping up to be a crucial year in determining the success of the platform in this region.

1. Nintendo DS (2,470,000)
2. Nintendo Wii (1,350,000)
3. Microsoft Xbox 360 (1,260,000)
4. Sony PS2 (1,100,000)
5. Sony PSP (1,060,000)
6. Sony PS3 (797,600)

The total sales for the year also follow the same pattern:

1. Nintendo DS (8,500,000)
2. Nintendo Wii (6,290,000)
3. Microsoft Xbox 360 (4,620,000)
4. Sony PS2 (3,970,000)
5. Sony PSP (3,820,000)
6. Sony PS3 (2,560,000)

Boogie Bunnies

2008-01-21T12:15:00.000Z

Boogie Bunnies is a new puzzle game that has recently been released on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points.

The aim of the game is to match three or more groups of “bunnies” in varying colours either horizontally or vertically by launching bunnies from the bottom or the left / right sides of the screen. Every time bunnies are successfully matched the “bunny bar” will fill up and once filled the player will advance to the next level. Every few seconds an additional row of bunnies is added to the top of the screen marching the crowd of bunnies further on and edging them closer to the trap (pit, water), which they will fall into, at the bottom of the screen.

There are a few minor variations in the game-play to that outlined above as every now and then the bunnies will dance acting as a double point’s multiplier for the duration. In addition red bunnies, in the roll of suicide bunny, will explode clearing the surrounding area when matched.

Boogie Bunnies is a very colourful game and has a nice isometric perspective of the action but doesn’t really break any new ground with this genre of game. Apart from being able to launch bunnies from the sides of the screen as-well as from the bottom the principles are similar to older games such as Puzzle Bobble.

With it’s cute graphics and bunnies that yelp “yippee” when successfully matched this game is probably more suited to the younger generation and is just a bit too saccharin sweet for my tastes. However, the game still plays well enough and I’m sure plenty of people will find it addictively engaging.

VG Media Network

2008-01-21T07:00:00.000Z

Just a quick post to let you all know about a new video game blog network that is launching today over at VG Media Network, a community based site with the aim providing high quality blogs and improving member sites via reviews and helpful critique.

Although I’ve not looked at all the blogs in detail thus far they all appear to be of a high standard, are updated regularly and cover a wide range of topics including MMOs, World of Warcraft, retro gaming and game development.

Members at the time of writing are:
DrainingSouls.net
Girls Don't Game
Daniel Primed
Press the Buttons
Tank Hard!
The Hunter's Mark
The Server is Down
Write the Game

Metal Slug 3

2008-01-17T20:24:00.000Z

The Metal Slug series of games have been around for quite some time now and spawned a host of games on a number of platforms. I've even got a copy of Metal Slug 1st Mission and Metal Slug 2nd Mission for my Neo Geo Pocket Colour, that ill fated hand-held that I thought was particularly good for the time.

This time it's the Xbox 360's turn to receive a port of Metal Slug 3. The game is a run and gun side scrolling shooter which sees you taking on hordes of enemies, rescuing prisoners for power-ups and taking on the obligatory boss at the end of the stage.

During a stage you will come across different types of "Metal Slugs" (vehicles), increasing your firepower and overall effectiveness, and are essential for ensuring your survival if your reflexes are as bad as mine. One nice aspect about this game is the branching paths that are available within a stage adding to the games replayability as you explore the different routes available.

The controls are nice and simplistic with the left joystick used for movement and for the direction of fire with "X" used to shoot, "Y" to throw grenades and "A" to jump. Graphically things all move smoothly and the sprites, some of them surprisingly huge, look great.

The full version is available for 800 Microsoft Points and is well worth a look if you're into arcade shooters.

Back from a Break

2008-01-15T13:15:00.000Z

Well it’s been quite a long time since the last post but fear not I’m hoping to start regular posts again starting this week.

Unfortunately I’ve not had a serious gaming session for a few weeks now. Even though there have been plenty of games to play, and a backlog of games to complete, I’ve been having a bit of “game burnout” recently and just couldn’t get enthused enough to play any of them. I tend to find it happens every now and again and the best thing to do is just to step back from the gaming scene for a few weeks (or even months) until you're ready to play games for fun again.

After a week’s trip snowboarding in the French Alps and settling back into the daily grind I’m once again getting the gaming itch. The only deliberation is whether to finish the game of “Mass Effect” I started weeks ago (if I can remember what I was doing) or to start the year afresh with a completely new game. Suggestions are welcome!

Festive Greetings!

2007-12-24T08:40:00.000Z

Apologies for the distinct lack of posts over the last couple of weeks but in the run up to Christmas everything seems to have gone a bit haywire. In addition my broadband router decided to die on me and it took me a few days to get around to setting up a new one.

When I put my gaming hat back on again I’ve the usual back log of games waiting to be played. Firstly I need to finish off Mass Effect, which I started a few weeks back and was certainly an enjoyable, if flawed experience. Waiting to pounce from the shadows is Assassin’s Creed, a game which seems to have generated a lot divided opinions, and of course how could I forget the silent Gordon Freeman, patiently waiting for me to finish Episode 1 and 2 from The Orange Box.

So all that now remains to be said is to thank any readers that have meandered onto this blog and decided to hang around, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Undertow

2007-12-11T13:16:00.000Z

Undertow has been available on Xbox Live Arcade for a couple of weeks now. It’s a small download at only 49Mb and to unlock the full game will set you back 800 Microsoft Points.

Undertow takes place after the polar ice caps have been melted covering the planet in water from an attack perpetrated by an unknown aquatic alien race.

The game is a side scrolling shooter where the player must fight for possession of strategic control points to achieve victory. Both the player and the opponent have a number of “tickets” (points) available which decrease in speed depending on the number of control points that have been conquered. The player will win by forcing the opponents “tickets” to zero.

Conquering a checkpoint is simply a matter of wiping out all opposition in that sector and waiting until it changes to your teams colour. Of course once you’ve taken a control point there’s nothing stopping the opponent taking it back, and thus control points swing back and forth between the player and the opponent during the course of a level.

The controls of the game are very straightforward using the left stick for movement, right stick to shoot, left trigger to drop a depth charge and right trigger to boost. In addition “X” can be held down for a continuous boost and the D-pad is used to select one of the four different unit types available to the player.

As you’d expect each of the different unit types have strengths and weakness but the player can interchange between them during the level if so desired. The “Marine” is fast and agile and has a decent shooting range, the “Dragoon” is slower than the marine but is better armoured and has a very powerful short range attack, the “Corsair” is fast and fires long range missiles but is lightly armoured, and finally the “Destroyer” is the slowest class but is heavily armoured and has the most powerful, but slowest firing weapon in the game. Each of the four units can be upgraded three times during the game once enough points have been racked up from destroying units and taking control points which increases there overall effectiveness.

Jotted throughout each level you will also come across various power-ups such as the “Frenzy” which doubles damage for 30 seconds, “Depth Charge” packs to add three depth charges to your arsenal, or “Health” packs to restore your unit to fighting fitness once more.

The trial lets you play the first three single player missions; “Training”, “Tide Pool”, and “The Line” from the first campaign. The game does have a story and the action is punctuated between levels with cut-scenes, but to be honest I didn’t really find them to be that enthralling.

Undertow looks great with some gorgeous backdrops and some nice graphical effects and I found fighting for control points with the tide of the battle swinging back and forth to be an enjoyable change from the shooter norm.

The full game offers multiplayer co-op as-well as versus modes and if you like playing the occasional shooter then this would be worth trying out.

December Dashboard Update

2007-12-05T13:33:00.000Z

As of yesterday a new dashboard update was made available for the Xbox 360. You’ll be prompted that there’s a new update ready to install as soon as you sign in and connect to Xbox Live. Similar to previous updates the process was quick and installed without any problems.

The new update features some fairly drastic cosmetic changes to the dashboard that are immediately noticeable. Overall the new interface improves both the look and the usability of the dashboard and the continual improvements to the system are always welcome.

Marketplace

Apart from categories that have been renamed, the most obvious addition to the dashboard is the new “twist” menu used to navigate the “Spotlight” and “New Arrivals” categories. This new interface allows you to move left or right across a series of sub-menus as well as up or down to select one of the menu items.

The “Game Store” category now groups together all Xbox Live Arcade games, demos and the newly introduced category “Xbox Originals”. At present there are seven Xbox original titles that can be downloaded for 1200 Microsoft points including Halo, Crimson Skies, Psychonauts, Farenheit, and Fable. Original games are selectable from a nice menu using the original “black and green” colour scheme of old with all titles displaying the box artwork.

I personally think the “Xbox Originals” downloadable service is a decent feature, although the price point may need to be reviewed as most original Xbox games can still easily be picked up in stores or online for a similar price or less. However, this service offers a level of convenience that I think most people will appreciate.

Xbox Live

Friends and messages have been combined to allow for the new “Inside Xbox” news feed item. According to the default message that’s available at present news will be refreshed every Thursday.

Personal profiles have now been extended allowing you to add some additional information about yourself (should you so want to) showing your real name, location, and biographical data. Personally I prefer anonymity with regards to my real name but the additional “bio” certainly allows far more flexibility rather than trying to squeeze information into the “motto”.

The new “Friend Sharing” functionality, which allows you to view other people’s friend’s lists is quite interesting. I’m generally fairly nosey when it comes to what other people are playing and what they’ve managed to achieve, so this is an added boon for me.

Games

The Games blade generally looks to have undergone a bit of a face-lift with the category “Games Library” grouping together downloaded arcade games, demos, and Xbox originals. It also seems like the achievement list has been optimised once again as it seemed noticeably quicker.

Media

Although not a vast amount of changes in this area the “Twist” interface is now included and thankfully videos are now grouped.

For further details see Xbox.com

Fighting Required in the War Room

2007-11-29T13:30:00.000Z

I finally managed to complete the last couple of levels of the main campaign on Veteran difficulty (not the Epilogue) on Call of Duty 4 the other night. I had a feeling the last few levels would be extremely tough and this was certainly the case for "No fighting in the war room". Not only are the enemy crack shots, but there's plenty of places for them to wait in ambush.

The difficulty is compounded as the mission is against the clock and you won't get checkpoints if there isn't going to be enough time left to complete the mission, which sometimes feels unfair but in reality is a sound game mechanic.

My patience was severely tested and if I was more easily prone to frustration I'm sure the 360 controller would now be embedded in the TV. However I did find that instead of just banging my head against a brick wall and repeating the same segment time and
time again if I made a conscious decision to leave it for another day then more likely that not I would have a breakthrough the next time I played.

There are a few more achievements I'd like to get in this game, time permitting, and I've no doubt the disc will be spinning once more in the 360 soon.

Mass Effect Impressions

2007-11-27T13:19:00.000Z

Mass Effect was released last week and I'm about ten hours into the game at the present. Overall I'm really enjoying the game but it's a love-hate relationship. There are so many things that feel so right about the game, but on the other hand there are a few annoying glitches that get on my nerves.

The feeling of playing in a Sci-Fi space opera is spot on. So far the bits of the galaxy I've explored are very well detailed and the amount of work that Bioware have invested in the history, the alien species, culture and technology is notable. New information when discovered appears in the "codex" (an in-game encyclopedia) and although not all of it is essential reading it provides the "icing on the cake" (which is not a lie!) of a well rounded game universe.

The game looks great, even fantastic most of the time but unfortunately it's let down by frequent texture "pop-in" which you can't help but notice, and the occasional bout of frame rate stutter.

As you've no direct control over individual team members and can only issue team orders like "follow", "move to location", or "take cover" the AI of your team members is very important. Sometimes I’ve felt it has been lacking in this department, resulting in team members standing still in the open and taking fire rather than finding cover. I've even had times where they've got stuck behind objects until you notice he/she/it has been left behind and return to point them in the right direction.

For me "Mass Effect", at present, is a flawed gem. I'm happy to continue exploring the known universe but you can't help but feel like the game has been released a little too early just to ensure it's available for the Christmas market.

The Orange Box: Half-Life 2 Review

2007-11-22T18:40:00.000Z

Released about three years ago on the PC to mass acclaim Half-Life 2 is now available on the Xbox 360 as part of The Orange Box. If you've not played either the PC game, or the Xbox port released back in 2005 then you're in for a treat.

In the first game Half-Life, our protagonist Gordon Freeman was involved in an incident at the "Black Mesa Research Facility" which resulted in a dimensional portal being opened to an alien world. Half-Life 2 kicks off an unspecified amount of time after the events of the first game as Gordon finds himself on a train on route to City-17 and learns that the world has been conquered and humankind enslaved by an alien force known as the "Combine".

What follows is a series of story driven events split into a number of seamlessly merging chapters as Gordon tries to escape the Combine forces that are hot on his heels, and help the resistance movement fight back against there alien oppressors.

Although I've summarised the story rather succinctly I don't want to give too much away. The unfolding story line, witnessed first hand without cut-scenes and narrated though dialog and characterisation is excellent and certainly one of the highlights of the game. Even though Half-Life 2 is now a few years old I still found myself very impressed by the emotional expressions shown by non-player characters and struggle to name another FPS game that can show the same mastery.

The world that the developers, Valve, have created is both believable and full of interesting locations. The urban setting of City-17 and its network of canals compliment locations outside of the city like the abandoned settlement of Ravenholm, or the hideouts along the coast-line, ensuring that repetitive locations are kept to a minimum.

Unlike a number of recent games where the player can only carry up to two weapons, Gordon can carry all the weapons he comes across during the course of the game. Although the actual number available just runs into double figures there's a good assortment, including the trusty "crowbar", sidearms and fully automatic weapons. The much touted "Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator" also known via the much catchier name of the "Gravity Gun" is the key innovative weapon and can be used in a variety of ways both defensively and offensively to grab, throw and manipulate environmental objects.

Throughout Half-Life 2 not only will your reactive shooting skills be tested but also your grey matter will be called upon to solve puzzles that stand in your way. The puzzles nicely act as a change of pace, sometimes allowing for a breather, but always keeping the game feeling fresh and stopping the action from becoming monotonous.

I've not mentioned much about the look of the game up to this point, but even though the "source engine" is now a few years old this port is still looking great today. As an an extra benefit this (Orange Box) version features HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging to further enhance the visuals. Audio is yet again decent with good voice acting for characters, although Gordon is once again silent throughout, and some pumping background music kicking in at key moments. The radio calls between Combine troops as they relay information to one-another, or the audible radio "white noise" and monotone beep as they're killed are excellent examples of how sound effects when used correctly enhance a games atmosphere.

The greatest negative I can say of the game are the "loading" points. Although they're not poorly situated they do detract from the game as suddenly everything comes to a halt for the 20 or so seconds it takes to load the next portion of the map.

It took about 16 hours to play through Half-Life 2 and as part of The Orange Box represents incredible value for money as this game alone is first class. Highly recommended!

See also: The Orange Box: Portal Review

Game Update (19th November)

2007-11-19T13:42:00.000Z

I finally managed to finish off Half-Life 2 over the weekend, the core game I hasten to add, not either of the episodes. As I'm not a PC gamer unfortunately I've arrived late to the party and this was the first time I've played through the game. And what a fantastic game it was, bursting at the seams with action, puzzles, story and characterisation. I'll post my thoughts on the game in due time once I've managed to write up a review but I think it's safe to say that this deserves all the plaudits it's received over the years.

I'm now taking a break from The Orange Box for a few days as I wanted to spend some more time with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I decided, maybe somewhat foolhardily, to play the single player campaign on "Veteran" difficulty and it's certainly providing a challenge. Surprisingly I've managed to make it up to the final three chapters although there are some real frustrating moments, particularly on "Safehouse", "Heat", and "One Shot, One Kill" where there are some seemingly impossible set-pieces where it feels like you have to rely on luck to get through. I've got a feeling the last few missions may be the most difficult of the bunch but I'll give them a shot.

This Friday sees the release of Mass Effect, a game I've been looking forward too since the first details and movie clips were released all those months ago. All been well I'll pick-up my copy over the weekend and immerse myself in what could potentially be a fantastic experience.

Word Puzzle / ScrewJumper

2007-11-16T13:23:00.000Z

There were a couple of new releases on Xbox Live Arcade this week, namely Word Puzzle and ScrewJumper. Each title will set you back 800 Microsoft Points.

Word Puzzle

Word Puzzle is based upon word searches, the kind that seem to be popular in puzzle magazines, whereby the player is given a grid made up of seemingly random letters with a list of words to be found either horizontally, vertically or diagonally on the grid. To make it more difficult it's possible that the word may be reversed, or a multi-dimensional grid employed to force the player to spin the grid in order to locate the word.

The gameplay isn't complex and it's therefore easy to pick up and play. To enliven the game the developers have thrown a few extra things into the mix, such as word combos, and pretty backgrounds. The trial lets you try out the "Arcade" and "Survival" modes for a limited time and all in all this is quite a decent puzzle game to add to the Xbox Live roster. However, 800 Microsoft points is a bit too steep a price in my opinion.

ScrewJumper

The other game released on Wednesday was "Screwjumper". Players must choose a character and free-fall into various structures diving through platforms at velocity to destroy them (green objects) whilst avoiding or destroying hazards (red objects).

The destruction of the reactor core at the end of the free fall is the primary objective. If enough objects have been destroyed on the way down then the reactor will have no shielding, leaving it exposed and vulnerable. Before the reactor explodes you must escape by jetting back up the structure, once again avoiding the hazards.

The game doesn't look great, but I can forgive this if it's both playable and fun but unfortunately ScrewJumper is lacking in both departments. Not only are there problems controlling the character whilst in free fall, but the aiming reticle used to lob your sticks of dynamite at hazards is just as bad to use.

After a couple of attempts to get into the game I decided that this certainly wasn't something I would consider purchasing.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Demo

2007-11-14T20:21:00.000Z

I gave the Guitar Hero III demo that's available on Xbox Live Marketplace a run through yesterday in preparation for the UK release later this month on the 23rd. The demo offers five different songs to try your guitar thrashing skills on including "Lay Down", "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Even Flow", "Hit Me with Your Best Shot", and "The Metal".

Apart from "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam I'm not familiar with the other tracks, but I found them all enjoyable enough to play though and thought they provided a good example of the different styles of music that would be available in the final release.

The fundamentals of the game remain unchanged, adopting the "if it ain't broke, why fix it attitude". And to be honest I can't really see how they could, or would want to change the core gameplay to make it much better. Players still hit notes and play chords as they scroll down the virtual guitar neck using the five "fret" buttons and "strum bar" on the guitar controller. Your performance is measured via a "rock" meter varying in colour from red (poor) to green (good) and if you miss too many notes in a row then apart from being greeted by the jeers and booing of the audience you will also find the "Song Failed" message staring you in the eyes.

The demo includes a comprehensive tutorial on how to play the game covering the basics and advanced techniques, and is well worth a look if you're new to the series. The tutorials also explain how the "battle mode" works, which is a new mode introduced this time around for "boss" battles and player vs player.

All in all the game is shaping up quite nicely and I'm looking forward to the retail release version as not only does it provide a lot of fresh new tracks to try out, but also I'm afraid I just can't resist that new wireless "Gibson Les Paul" guitar controller.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Impressions

2007-11-12T16:10:00.000Z

Last Friday saw the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the eagerly anticipated first person shooter from Infinity Ward. I've spent sometime over the weekend playing the game and I completed the single player campaign yesterday. Now before you start thinking "This guy's got too much time on his hands", it must be stressed that the single player game doesn't last that long at all (maybe 6 hours) and can easily be finished in a few days or in one session if so inclined.

Although the single player game is undeniably short it provides a fun and enthralling experience with some very intense moments when all hell breaks loose on the battlefield. I don't think the single player game is breaking any new ground in terms of game mechanics, it's all very familiar, but what "Infinity Ward", and thus the game, excels at is providing an experience that fully immerses you in a war zone and makes you feel part of a gigantic war effort.

The game does provide an overall storyline and I was very impressed by the use of the in-game engine to relate key events, especially when viewed through the first person perspective of a character. Ever since the first trailers appeared and the game was demonstrated the graphics engine has been lauded. And it certainly doesn't disappoint with some truly glorious visuals that surely must rank as some of the best seen on the Xbox 360 to date.

On a final note, I've yet to try out the multi-player game modes but I hope to give these a shot over the next few weeks.

Need for Speed: ProStreet Demo

2007-11-09T13:25:00.000Z

It's approaching that time of year again where one should try and be kinder to their fellow man or woman, turkeys are gazing nervously at the farmer and a new "Need for Speed" title, in this case ProStreet, is about to be unleashed upon the masses.

Ahead of its release later this month you can sample the demo which is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace at a pretty decent download size of 655MB.

The demo lets you try out two game modes, each one with a different track and preset car. "Nevada Highway" is a straightforward speed challenge whereby you, and seven other competitors, have to pass through four speed checkpoints as fast as possible with the winner being the player with the highest cumulative speed total. The other track on offer is "A-54 Interloop" which is a standard two lap race around a street circuit.

When you've selected your race you're taken to the race day menu, which just seems to show some of the car entrants for the race with various people wandering about fawning over the cars but with no real interaction from the player. All you can really do is start the race and I hope the final release utilises this menu screen a bit better.

To help the player you can choose from three levels of driver assists before the race starts (casual, racer or king). "Casual" helps the player by managing the braking with some adjustments to find the best racing line, whilst "King" leaves the driving to the player.

Personally I preferred setting the assistance level to "King" as I found that the other two levels, especially the first, interfered far too much with the driving experience and it just didn't feel right.

Visually the game looks pretty good at this stage and should be able to hold its own against most of the 360 racers out there although it's hard to tell from the demo tracks whether it will be top-of-the-class. For me the "A54 Interloop" track was the better of the two available as the Nevada Highway was mainly a series of straights, which is fine for a speed test but doesn't really present much of a challenge.

If you're into the "Need for Speed" franchise then it's worth trying out the demo as a taster of things to come but with so many quality racing titles already available for the 360 we'll have to wait and see what this offers compared to its competitors as the demo doesn't really give much away.

Super Stardust HD Review

2007-11-06T17:30:00.000Z

Every now and again I get the urge to play a decent old school style shooter that can provide a good gaming fix when you've only got limited time to spare. I'd heard that Super Stardust HD on the PS3 was a good classic style shooter and once I'd sorted out my credit card with the PlayStation Network, promptly downloaded it.

The game is very straightforward and at its heart this is similar to the classic Asteroids but with a 21st Century spin to provide fast and frenetic gameplay with the simple aim of destroying anything that moves. The player controls a spacecraft in orbit over a planet using one joystick for movement and the other for directional fire, similar to Robotron or Geometry Wars. However, unlike the aforementioned classics you're not based on one 2D plane but on the curved plane of the planet you're orbiting.

Your ship comes armed with three different types of primary weapon, namely the "Rock Crusher", "Gold Melter" or "Ice Splitter" which are selected via the "L1" and "R1" shoulder buttons. Each weapon is not only more suited to certain asteroids and enemies, but slightly different in nature. For example the "Gold Melter", a beam like burst of fire is more appropriately used against "Gold" asteroids whilst the "Rock Crusher" is best against standard asteroids but provides great fire dispersion.

Although it's not essential to use the correct weapon type it certainly makes life easier and thus less likely you'll be swamped with hundreds of asteroid fragments floating around the planet surface and your ship crushed between a rock and the proverbial hard-place.

Certain asteroids contain glowing green cores and when destroyed will leave various power ups to collect such as extra lives, shields or weapon upgrades. Power-ups gradually degrade over time and when left uncollected eventually deteriorate to bonus points.

The game is split into a series of five planets, with each planet separated into five phases culminating with a boss encounter. Each planet gets progressively more difficult and soon the planet atmosphere is swarming with asteroids and enemies to avoid. In the event of an emergency you have a limited number of "bombs" which can be used to clear the immediate area or alternatively a "boost" facility which is unlimited but takes a a few vital seconds to recharge.

The game is gorgeous to behold featuring some great explosions and special effects with some catchy background music tracks which take me back to some of the classic shooters that appeared on the Amiga in the days of yore. Super Stardust HD has all the qualities of a great shooter and at its core is a very playable game that is easy to pick up and play yet hard to master. The game not only provides a great experience but is exceptionally good value at only 4.99 GBP.

Friday Game Update (2nd Nov)

2007-11-02T15:59:00.000Z

Unfortunately I've not had much chance to play lots of games over the last week or so, but I'm still progressing with both Half Life 2 and Puzzle Quest when time allows.

I hope I'm now into the latter stages of Puzzle Quest as I've just defeated another one of the boss characters and I'm now making my way through the quests found in the "lands of war" with my level 33 druid character. Although initially I didn't really like this class it has grown on me as the character has become more powerful and gained access to the more powerful spells.

Generally the druid doesn't have a good selection of direct damage spells but what the class does seem to excel at is "board manipulation". For example "Earthpower" allows you to destroy (and gain the effects of) all green mana tiles or "Evaporate" converts all blue mana tiles to yellow. Thus with careful use you can deny an opponent vitally needed mana whilst boosting your own supplies. I also found that if the board becomes too cluttered with "Skulls" you can use "Call Lightning" or "Lightning Storm" to remove them and damage your opponent if it looks like they'll be used against you before you have chance to use them yourself.

Half Life 2 is progressing well, with my only complaint thus far being the loading times when moving between areas. Unfortunately they do interfere slightly with the game and although they're strategically placed to not occur during pivotal sections of the game it is a bit off-putting when your hurtling along in a vehicle and the game freezes in its tracks for 20 odd seconds while the next section is loaded. Apart from that, the game is top class, hugely enjoyable and packed full of atmosphere.

Hopefully I'll have more time in the upcoming weeks and will be able to work my way through a number of demos and arcade titles that have been released for the Xbox 360. And of course there's also plenty of demos for me to try out on the PS3 that I'll report on in future posts.

The Orange Box: Portal Review

2007-10-24T14:30:00.000+01:00

As The Orange Box offers such a solid line-up of games all in one package I thought I'd review each element as and when I've played them rather than as a whole. First up is Portal.

Although Portal is played through a first person perspective it is at heart a puzzle game where you survive using your wits and skill. When the game begins the player awakes in a test chamber at an Aperture research facility and is informed over the intercom that they must complete a series of hazardous tests and when complete you will be rewarded with cake.

Portal does an excellent job of slowly introducing the player to the different aspects of the game, building upon skills learned in each test chamber enabling you to solve increasingly more complex tests. The primary puzzle solving element of the game is of course learning how to use the portals created by the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" which you pick up during the early stages of the game.

The device allows you to create two portal openings, one blue and one orange, on most flat surfaces be it floor, ceiling, or wall and creates a physical connection between the two. Thus if you walk into the "blue" portal you will walk out of the "orange" portal. This is obviously a fairly simple example but things soon become more complex when you realise physical laws can be applied to problem solving. Thus if you fall into a portal at high speed you will exit the other portal at the same velocity and it becomes apparent that you have to use these physical laws to your advantage to jump great distances, reach high platforms or drop an object onto a button or hazard. As the game progresses you'll have to start using more resourceful methods for portal placement, and experimenting with ideas is certainly one of the highlights of the game.

Graphically the game looks good. The environment portrays what I'd imagine a research testing facility with minimalistic design to look like. Portals deserve a special mention as being able to view into a different part of the map and seemlessly move between them in a 3D space is a feat in itself.

The test chambers are all excellently designed and you feel a real sense of satisfaction when you figure out how to complete a level. Dialog from GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), your guide through the game, is top notch being both informative and amusing and gets even better as the story unfolds. Also of special mention is the ending of the game which features a sublime song sung by GLaDOS.

Unfortunately it's over all too quickly and you're left with wanting more. As a bonus for completing the game you get access to six advanced "re-jigged" test chambers and additional game modes such as completing the chamber with the least number of portals or the fewest footsteps providing a good deal of replayability.

Even though the game is short it's still excellent, provides an alternative approach to the first person perspective genre and is a worthy addition to the Half Life universe.

PS3 Joins the Fold

2007-10-22T14:30:00.000+01:00

I picked up a Sony PS3 last weekend. The price has recently been reduced to the point where I was willing to part with my hard earned cash. The price also included three games (from a selection of five) bundled with the system and fortunately all of them were on my list of titles I would have bought for the system. I also wanted to pick up the 60GB version before it was phased out in favour of the slightly cheaper, but feature stripped, 40GB version that was released recently.

I've not had a great deal of time to play with it but first impressions are good. The system was simple enough to set-up, connect to the wireless network and once connected to the outside world update to the latest version of the operating software (version 1.93). The PlayStation Store is easy to use and there's quite a lot of content available to download should you wish to try out some demos, watch movie clips or purchase games but it's not on a par with Xbox Marketplace yet.

It was very noticeable just how quiet the PS3 is compared to my Xbox 360, although it still gets just as warm! Unfortunately the system only comes with a SCART TV connector (Europe) which is useless for HD and gives poor picture quality, thus you have to purchase a better connector (HDMI) to get the full benefit.

So yet another toy to play with and more games added to the stockpile with Heavenly Sword, Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm all waiting to be played. Firstly though I've The Orange Box, Puzzle Quest and Sega Rally Revo on the the Xbox 360 to complete!

US September Hardware Sales

2007-10-19T14:00:00.000+01:00

The September hardware and software sales for the US were recently released and the Xbox 360 has managed to outsell the Nintendo Wii and the DS. The sales would have been boosted by the massive success of Halo 3 which managed to sell a mind bogglingly impressive 3.3 million. Almost double the combined sales of all the other titles in the top 10 for that month!

1. Microsoft Xbox 360 (527,800)
2. Nintendo Wii (501,000)
3. Nintendo DS (495,800)
4. Sony PSP (284,500)
5. Sony PS2 (215,000)
6. Sony PS3 (119,400)
7. Nintendo GBA (75,000)

The software sales figures for the month were:

1. Halo 3 (3.3 million) (X360)
2. Wii Play (282,000) (Wii)
3. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (224,000) (DS)
4. Madden NFL 08 (205,000) (PS2)
5. Skate Xbox 360 (175,000) (X360)
6. Madden NFL 08 (173,000) (X360)
7. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (167,000) (Wii)
8. Bioshock (150,000) (360)
9. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! (141,000) (DS)
10.Heavenly Sword (139,000) (PS3)

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe

2007-10-18T13:34:00.000+01:00

Ice cream! Ice cream! Those that can remember the phrase will be pleased to know that Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 MS points.

This is an enhanced port of the 1991 game that I first played on the Commodore Amiga and features both the original sprite based graphics and some new 3D graphics as-well as Xbox Live multi-player, the obligatory 200 gamerscore achievements and leaderboards.

The game of "Speedball" features two opposing teams of nine players split into attack, midfield and defence in a futuristic full contact sport. Each team will aspire to score a goal, worth 10 points, but this can be increased by using the score multipliers on the sides of the arena. Jotted around the arena are also various power-ups that may be picked up to give one team an edge for a limited duration.

Initially the "Brutal Deluxe" team you start with will be fairly weak, but through the use of the gym and money invested each players stats can be improved. Alternatively you could dip into the transfer market and buy better players if you have enough cash.

There are plenty of modes to keep you occupied like, "league", "knockout", "cup", "practice" or "league manager" and improving your players from weaklings to all conquering powerhouses that smash through the opposition is one of the highlights.

Unfortunately the enhanced graphics aren't that great and I prefer sticking with the original top-down sprites that I fondly remember, even though they don't look as great today on larger HD displays. The game is still good fun, especially with friends over Xbox Live, and even by today's standards it's certainly playable. However, as with all retro games something is lost between the memory and the actuality of playing it again, but it's still a happy trip down nostalgia lane.

Halo 3 Review

2007-10-16T15:54:00.000+01:00

So the fight has now been finished but was it worth the blood, sweat and tears of your fallen comrades? Well for me the answer to that question is mostly a resounding "Yes".

The game kicks off immediately after the ending of Halo 2 as Master Chief impacts "meteor-like" on Earth. After being found by sergeant Johnson and his team the chief sets off on nine campaign missions to conclude his fight with the Covenant forces.

If you've played any of the prior games then you will instantly get a feeling of familiarity. This is by no means a bad thing as the gameplay which was so successful before has been retained, tweaked and honed to near perfection to provide both intense small scale skirmishes and massive set piece battles.

The campaign game features a variety of decent locations both on and off Earth with most missions providing a good balance between indoor and outdoor settings. The levels are generally easy enough to navigate around with a waymarker appearing on your HUD to provide assistance. However, without giving too much away, there's a mission towards the end of the game that features a very organic environment which unfortunately was all too similar and isn't the easiest level to find your way around. With the exception of the aforementioned, all the other campaign missions were thoroughly enjoyable and provided some great gaming experiences.

The story is told through a number of cut scenes using the game engine or via dialog when in-game. The story is functional and does a fairly decent job or wrapping things up but leaving some tantalising questions hanging in the vacuum of space. Speaking of dialog, the "battle banter" from comrades and foes is top class and enhances the overall sense of immersion and on occasion provides some very amusing lines, especially with the "IWHBYD" skull switched on which provides alternative dialog.

The game features a number of vehicles both old and new which can be used by yourself and your comrades and were great fun to use. I still found that when it comes to driving the AI still isn't the best around and in some circumstances would get stuck or overturn the vehicle when you're controlling the mounted weapon of a vehicle like the "Warthog".

Graphically the game doesn't look to be on a par with some of the showcase games on the 360, but they are still very good and the entire game moves at a very slick pace without any slowdown even when there are lots of models on screen during the larger battles. This in itself is an achievement that is worthy of praise. No game is complete without decent background music and the dramatic music score featured in this game strikes the right balance between subtlety and the melodramatic and is always perfect for the current encounter.

The single player campaign isn't the longest around and should be finished within a few days, however it does promote a lot re-playability. Not only are there hidden "golden" and "silver" skulls which drastically alter campaign mission parameters, but the entire campaign can be played through with up-to three friends in co-op. Even when you've exhausted those options you can turn on campaign scoring for an extra edge of competitiveness's with friends and for the game achievements.

As mentioned the "skulls" that are found dotted through the campaign missions can be switched on to alter certain parameters. For example; the "Fog Skull" removes the motion sensor and more drastic skulls such as "Iron" ensure that the mission would have to be restarted from the very beginning if anything unfortunate happened to the chief.

A lot of games tag on some sort of multi-player mode just as an afterthought but this is certainly not the case here. As with its fore bearer Halo 3 has an extensive multi-player mode on offer. Depending on your preferences you will find something to suit your gaming style. Whether you prefer running around solo or teaming up with friends or random players there are a number of maps available which are all significantly different to one another, and together with the variety of gaming scenarios and settings that can be changed provides one of the most complete multi-player experiences available on a home gaming console.

A Halo game wouldn't be complete without featuring a variety of weapons and Halo 3 is no different. Some new weapons have been introduced like the "Brute Spiker" and "Spartan Laser" whilst others have been refined or re-introduced like the "Assault Rifle". All the weapons feel well balanced and some are more suitable to certain situations than others. Additionally the player now has the ability to rip weapons from mounted gun emplacements, such as Gatling guns or plasma cannons, switching the view to an "over-the-shoulder" third person view. This can be incredibly powerful while the ammunition lasts enabling you to clear rooms full of enemies quickly but reducing your movement speed quite considerably. The game now also features four grenade types with the standard frag and plasma now reinforced with the spike and incendiary grenades.

As-well as weapons and grenades Halo 3 now introduces "equipment" to the mix. This provides another tactical element to the combat as deciding what to carry (only one item a time) and when to use it can sway the tide of an encounter. Each piece of equipment has there uses. For example, the "bubble shield" provides an enveloping shield which cannot be breached by weapons, whilst a "power drain" can be used to remove the shielding from your foes making it easier for you to finish them off.

Of final note is the new "Theatre" mode. Every game you play, whether campaign or death match, is temporarily saved to the 360's hard drive for viewing afterwards. Although this initially doesn't sound like it should cause much of a fanfare what really raises the bar compared to other replay modes is the ability to detach the camera and move it around to your hearts content while the movie is playing or paused. This is a fantastic feature enabling you to analyse your performance, or that of another player, and definitely helps you learn item locations and strategies. As an additional bonus movie segments can be recorded or screenshots taken to send to friends or upload to the file share.

In summary; although in my opinion the single player experience doesn't quite reach the lofty heights of something like Bioshock , as a complete package it provides first class entertainment and will be played for many months and years by its devotees.

Puzzle Quest on Xbox Live

2007-10-11T14:30:00.000+01:00

Puzzle Quest is now available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace and will set you back the princely sum of 1200 MS points.

I gave the trial a quick go last night and from what I've seen so far the game is an enhanced port of the Nintendo DS version that I played a number of months ago. The controls have been translated well and graphically it's been given a nice HD make-over and of course the layout has been rearranged to suit the widescreen format.

The trial lets you play for as long as you want but your character will max out at level 7 and the game cannot be saved. As usual there are 12 achievements on offer totalling 200 gamer points.

I really liked the DS version but never got around to completing it due to a number of other games I was playing at the time. If you like puzzle games then I would definitely recommend checking this out as it has a number of great gameplay elements that enhance the overall experience.

Conan Demo

2007-10-10T14:02:00.000+01:00

The demo for Conan, a third person action hack and slash game, is now available to download from Xbox Live Marketplace. The game lets you try out a single level and provides some mild entertainment.

Initial impressions of the game were not that great. It certainly isn't the best showcase for the graphical capabilities of the Xbox 360 with OK character models and an uninspiring environment on show. In all departments a game such as God of War 2 on the PS2 is superior.

The games strongest element is the combat. Conan has at his disposal a huge variety of attacks based upon combinations of light, heavy or grappling moves using the "X", "Y" and "B" buttons. You can also block an attack using the left trigger and if this is timed correctly Conan can perform a deadly counter-attack. The right analog joystick is used to evade attacks but unfortunately because it is reserved for this purpose you have no direct camera control leaving its placement in the lap of the gods.

Conan is a blood thirsty game and doesn't hold back with the severed arms, decapitations and general blood spilling and soon the level is awash with the spilt blood of your enemies. Hopefully the final release of the game is given a bit of a polish as lurking beneath the negatives and rough exterior is a game that is both playable and quite good fun.

For me, Conan is a game that I may pick up if I had no other games to play and it was found lurking in the bargain basement bin at the local gaming emporium.

Halo Dirt Revolution

2007-10-08T14:00:00.000+01:00

The weekend is over once more and it's time to buckle down to work again. I've had a fairly busy game-playing weekend with bouts of Halo 3 mixed in with DiRT and smattering of Sega Rally Revo.

I'm still enjoying Halo 3 and I'm progressing with both the level scoring achievements and online multiplayer ranking when time permits. Most of my time is still spent playing co-op as I find it more enjoyable than taking part in a deathmatch type scenario.

I picked up Sega Rally Revo the other day and thus far I'm enjoying the game. However I find the opponent AI to be frustrating at times as they tend to stick to one racing line and if you happen to get in the way then you're invariably bullied off the road.

I've been playing DiRT on and off since release and I've finally completed the single player career mode 100%. Now that's finished I've turned my attention to the championship mode and thus far completed the "European" and "International" events with just the "World" event to go before the game can cast aside.

This week sees the release of PGR4 for the Xbox 360 and I'm very tempted to pick that up later in the week. It seems like at the moment there's a high profile game released on a weekly basis. The problem is getting the time to play them all!

Finished the Fight?

2007-10-02T14:30:00.000+01:00

I've been playing a lot of Halo 3 over the last few days and I'm having a real blast with the game. I've finished the campaign a couple of times now, once individually on "normal" and with a group of friends playing co-op on "Legendary" difficulty. Although the single player campaign is good I found that the real fun is to be had when you're playing co-op and I'm sure that without the help of others I wouldn't have stood a chance on Legendary, so a big "THANK-YOU" to those that participated!

Even though the campaign has been completed there's still lots for me to try out as I mess around with the various "golden skulls" and try to get the scoring achievements for each level.

So far I've only dipped my toe in to the multiplayer matchmaking water but what I've seen so far has been excellent with some interesting levels and game types. The only real negatives on my experience to date has been the number of times my connection has been terminated or the lag that I've experienced during some on-line games. However I won't lay blame on any particular area as there are a number of factors to consider such as overburdened xbox live servers and the connections of all players involved (including my own).

I hope to post up my review of the game once I've experienced more of the on-line matchmaking modes but for now it's back to the fight!

Stranglehold Review

2007-09-27T13:45:00.000+01:00

If you're familiar with Hong Kong action movies then you will have more than likely heard the names John Woo and Chow Yun Fat. Stranglehold sees the film director Woo bring his style of gun-fu action direction to a video game while the actor, Chow Yun Fat, lends his appearance and vocals to reprise his role as Inspector "Tequila" Yeun of the Hong Kong Police Force for the leading character.

John Woo's influences are noticeable. From the "stand-off" sequences when you're surrounded by hostiles, to the animations used in some of the special moves, all have a certain cinematic feel and flare. Although there's a storyline to the game revolving around the disappearance of a cop and the kidnapping of those close to Tequila, told through some nice cut scenes and flashbacks, the main emphasis is on non-stop unadulterated action and if that's all you require from a game then Stranglehold delivers.

The story takes you through both varied and interesting locations including a Hong Kong marketplace, a restaurant, and a history museum in Chicago. The environments themselves consist of a vast number of objects that "Tequila" can interact with or are destructible to some degree. Interactive objects are highlighted when close by and a quick squeeze of the "left trigger" will find you sliding down banisters or zip lines, swinging on chandeliers, or even rolling on a food carts whilst taking pot shots at hostiles. As mentioned previously the environments have a large number of destructible objects which can be used to your advantage to dispatch your enemies with style. Speaking of style, the more outrageous a kill the more "style" points are awarded. Simply shooting an enemy rewards you with a couple of points but if you take them out by shooting the explosive canister they're standing next too while Tequila is sliding down a banister then you'll be handsomely rewarded. Style points are not just there for bragging purposes they're also used to help fill your special move gauge and can also be used outside of the game in the "Unlock" shop to purchase a number of extras like multiplayer skins and artwork.

The destructible environments deserve a special mention as they certainly alter how you approach a level and provide an entertaining game mechanic. In most games for example you could quite happily crouch behind a wall to avoid incoming fire but in Stranglehold if you dive for cover behind a structural column, wall, or most other objects you won't be safe for long as they're gradually whittled away by incoming fire and may leave you exposed. It does however still provide a brief respite to gather your thoughts and I found the use of cover essential in the latter stages of the game as you are attacked by multiple enemies from all sides with automatic weapons.

There aren't a huge number of weapon types in the game but the basics are covered well with pistols, shotgun, sub-machine gun, assault rifle, heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher available at some point or other. However Tequila can only carry two weapons at a time and throughout a mission they will be swapped frequently with those from fallen enemies as ammunition is depleted.

There are four special moves known as "Tequila Bombs" that are gradually unlocked as you progress through the game. The first of which is the most basic and just gives you an instant health boost. The remaining moves are more interesting with the "precision aim" enabling you to zoom in on enemies and snipe them, the "barrage" attack giving unlimited ammunition, invulnerability and a higher rate of fire for a short duration whilst the "spin attack" kills all enemies in the immediate vicinity. The barrage attack can be particularly devastating when used in conjunction with a certain weapons like the shotgun, golden pistols or rocket launcher.

One additional gaming element not mentioned so far is "Tequila Time". This is essentially a slow-mo mode and is activated automatically whenever you're interacting with an object or diving whilst an enemy is in your sights. The mode can also be activated manually if required and this is an essential feature of the game as it allows you those few additional seconds to line up head shots or target the environment whilst in the thick of the action.

The game offers four difficulty levels with "casual" being the easiest and "hard-boiled" the most difficult. I played through the game on "normal" difficulty and on the whole this provided the right level for me. However, I did feel there were a few difficulty spikes in the latter stages as enemies kept spawning until certain trigger points were reached. The game does suggest an easier difficulty if Tequila dies too many times in a row but I've always found that persistence is the best attitude and eventually through trial and error progress will be made.

Graphically the game is no slouch with some great reactive animations from your enemies depending on where they're shot, well designed environments and decent character models. Chow Yun Fat is easily recognisable as the lead character and John Woo even makes guest appearances in a couple of places. My only reservation with the game engine is the camera, which for me sometimes placed itself in awkward locations and I prefer a manual override when I want to examine the environment rather than having to move the playable character around.

Overall the game was fun to play, if not cerebrally challenging. It does have some flaws but none of them are game-breakers and detract from what on the whole is an enjoyable experience.

Halo 3 Legendary Edition: Not for Me!

2007-09-25T16:12:00.000+01:00

I was hoping to get my hands on the Halo 3 Legendary edition tomorrow when the game is officially released but my online supplier has "kindly" informed me that my preorder will not be met and the order has now been cancelled.

Although it's not the end of the world I was looking forward to the Legendary edition as it looked like something a bit special and not just an extra disc in a metal case like most "limited" editions. Instead I will just have to settle for the standard copy, or if I really want the metal case, the collectors edition. In the end though it isn't the packaging that matters but the game inside and hopefully it will live up to both the hype and my expectations from playing the beta version.

US August Hardware Sales

2007-09-24T16:35:00.000+01:00

I noticed the other day that the hardware sales figures for August in the US have been available for a while. Nintendo heads the pack once again with the Wii and DS still selling like hotcakes, whilst the Xbox 360, comes in third, receiving a sales boost after it's 50 USD price cut at the beginning of August. The sales of the PS3 seem to have settled down once again as it trails at the back of the pack.

Figures after the jump.

1. Wii 403,600
2. DS 383,300
3. 360 276,700
4. PS2 202,000
5. PSP 151,200
6. PS3 130,600

PSP Gets Sales Boost in Japan

2007-09-21T16:02:00.000+01:00

Wow, this certainly makes a change from the norm. The PSP has outsold the DS in Japan for once as it appears it's got a huge boost from the release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Figures for the week ending 16th of September has seen the PSP gain a six fold increase!

I'm so used to seeing the Nintendo Wii and DS dominating the hardware sales for Japan (and the world) that something like this comes as a little bit of a pleasant shock.

The hardware rundown looks like:

PSP: 95,487
DS: 79,974
Wii: 26,181
PS2: 13,128
PS3: 13,101
X360: 1243
GBA: 836
Cube: 97

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Sega Rally Demo

2007-09-20T11:57:00.000+01:00

I tried out the Sega Rally demo last night that's now available on Xbox Live. The demo lets you try out two courses and choose between two staple rally cars, either the Subaru Impreza WRX or the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. After you've selected the course and car you have to decide on one of two setups to determine if your car is either better on tarmac or off-road segments.

As this game is more an arcade racer, compared to say something like DiRT, you will soon find yourself performing stupendous powerslides as you career sideways around corners without any concern for car damage. The handling feels more akin to something like Ridge Racer with a "hovercraft floaty" feel, although not as extreme, and is perfectly acceptable for an arcade racer which allows players of all skill levels to instantly jump into the action and have a blast.

Graphically it looks excellent. The car models all look very sharp and the courses themselves looked great. One of the first things that caught my attention were the "tracks" left in the mud by the cars themselves. Rather than just looking flat, like most other racing games, they had depth and there was a distinct rumble from the controller when driven over.

As usual there's an array of camera views to select from with the "bonnet" camera being my personal preference as I felt I had more control and could judge cornering better than if I were to use an external chase camera.

Overall this is looking like another fine addition to the Xbox 360's repertoire of top class racing games and if you prefer the more "pick up and play" approach to racing games rather than the depth of something like Forza Motorsport then this is definitely something to watch out for.

Fatal Fury Special

2007-09-18T13:10:00.000+01:00

Available for download from Xbox Live a while ago Fatal Fury Special is a classic 2D sprite based fighting game from SNK (now SNK Playmore) that finds you playing one of twelve selectable characters and progressing through a number of bouts to be crowned the winner of the tournament. I can imagine most players will be more familiar with Capcom's Street Fighter brand but in the nineties Capcom and SNK were fighting head-to-head to be crowned "King of the 2D fighter" and both series of games had there fans.

Fatal Fury spawned a number of sequels and this edition that's been brought to Live is a remix of Fatal Fury 2, first released on the Neo Geo in 1993. The large character sprites are nicely detailed and have decent, but not overly complex move sets. What made this game different to other 2D fighters was the introduction of the "two plane" system allowing characters to move between planes to dodge attacks and adding another dynamic element to the gameplay. If you're a fan of the genre and you've not played Fatal Fury Special before then it's certainly worth a look.

Something for the Weekend

2007-09-14T14:07:00.000+01:00

The D.I.Y renovations are now more or less complete and my life can once again start taking on some semblance of normality. Apologies for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks but when there's no time to play games or catch up on the latest news then there's really no point in just posting "for the sake of it".

After this weekend the house should be back to normal and the 360 will be powered up once more. I've just picked up a copy of Stranglehold on the strength of the demo and I'll be playing through that time permitting.

In some game related news I noticed that the Nintendo Wii has now taken the lead in worldwide cumulative sales (source: Game Industry) from the Xbox 360 with some 9 million Wii consoles purchased compared to 8.9 million Xbox 360's and 3.7 million PS3's. It's an impressive stat considering it (Wii) has been on sale for only 9 months.

This and That

2007-09-06T23:55:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy week for me so far. I'm on a leave of absence from my day job for a couple of weeks but instead of chilling out I'm in the middle of D.I.Y, the house is upside down, and there's no relaxing allowed. Thus I've not had any time to play games, demos or catch up on gaming news this week.

I managed to finish Bioshock last weekend and I will post up some in depth thoughts on that in due course. In my book this is one of the best games I've played in a long time and in some ways I was saddened to finally complete the game and bring the grand adventure to a close. However, looking ahead there are some bright gems on the horizon such as Halo 3, Mass Effect and PGR4 that should provide a fix for my gaming addiction.

Blazing Angels 2: Secret Weapons of WWII

2007-08-31T09:00:00.000+01:00

I tried out the demo of Blazing Angels 2 on Wednesday. My impressions of the first game were that it was an average arcade flight-sim. It had some flaws but was something I may consider playing if I was at a very loose end. And I'm inclined to think the same about this game as-well.

The demo lets you play the single player mission "Rain of Death" which sees you flying over Germany on the Zingst Peninsula as part of the Operation Overlord offensive taking out V2 rockets as they launch. Once you've taken down enough of the rockets you're joined by your wingmen and proceed to destroy as many ground targets as possible. Finally you have to protect the incoming naval strike force as they approach the coast.

Before the mission starts you can select your aircraft from either the German "GO 229", "DO 335" or the Russian "Yak 15" and as the name suggests this game is about the more advanced fighter technology of WWII. You also have the option of upgrading your aircraft from a number of categories such as "aiming assistance" when spending Prestige points. These points are accumulated from flying missions and can be spent how you see fit.

I found the controls easy enough to handle and you have the option of using either "Arcade" or "Simulation" flight controls. Like the previous game you can order your wingmen to attack targets, defend or perform an ability which are all easily accessed via the D-pad.

From the demo I can't see that the look of the game has improved much over its predecessor, and I would say it was "functional". However, with just the one single player mission to try, which was at night and in rain, it probably wasn't the best envoy to use as a showcase.

This second installment of Blazing Angels appears to offer more of the same but with some improvements, such as the aircraft selection, upgrades and prestige points. If you liked the first game then I'm sure this will be right up your street.

Wii Makes Gaming History in UK

2007-08-30T13:44:00.000+01:00

In some landmark news for UK gamers the Nintendo Wii has now become the fastest selling console to achieve the "one million sold since launch" milestone in UK history. This number was achieved in 38 weeks compared with the Sony PS2 (49 weeks), and Microsoft Xbox 360 (60 weeks).

This is an impressive achievement. In my opinion there hasn't really been a steady flow of quality "AAA" titles appearing on the platform since its release and this figure highlights just how much of an impression the Wii has had on the hearts and minds of gamers (casual and hardcore alike).

Original source: Telegraph online

Overlord Review

2007-08-29T14:59:00.001+01:00

Further to my initial impressions of the demo I've now finally completed Overlord and I thought I'd post up my final review of this fantasy based third person action adventure.

As the game starts you become the new overlord of the Dark Tower, once a mighty bastion of evil but reduced to ruins after it has been plundered by the so called forces of good. It's your job to restore the tower to its former glory and once again gain dominion over the lands around you.

To help you with the task at hand you can call upon your minions, small impish creatures that you can directly control or order to attack creatures, retrieve objects or move objects too heavy for your wimpy strength. At the start of the game you only have access to "brown" minions, but you will also gain the devotion of "red", "green", and "blue" minions which have there own strengths and weaknesses. Brown minions are best at melee, reds are immune to fire and can throw balls of fire for a ranged attack, greens are immune to poison and have a powerful back-stab attack whilst blue are the weakest at melee but are immune to some magical attacks and can resurrect fallen comrades.

The controls are fairly straight forward with the only complexity being minion control. The right joystick is used for direct control over your horde and it's necessary to familiarise yourself with the control as soon as possible. Your horde can consist of different colour minions and if you don't want to send the entire horde into battle then you will have to master selecting the different minion types and guard marking. Choosing a minion type is accumplished by holding down the right bumper button and then selecting the appropriate colour joypad button that closely resembles the minion type in question, for example "B" would select "red" minions whilst "Y" would select "browns". You can also leave minions "on guard" using the "Y" button and using a combination of these controls becomes essential the further you progress.

The inhabitants of this fantasy world are all the typical creatures you'd expect, halflings, dwarves, trolls and plenty of other interesting enemies to get your teeth into (or your minions), with some requiring specific strategies if you don't want to witness the slaughter of your impish friends. There are also a number of "Hero" boss characters you will need to dispose of throughout the game as part of the story arc, but their days of righteousness are far behind them. Every hero has become warped in some form or other and towards the end of the game you learn how these former heroes have fallen from grace. Every creature that is killed in the game releases certain types and amounts of lifeforce which is stored and used to summon minions from spawning pits dotted around the landscape and thus a certain proportion of the game involves retreading already cleared areas harvesting lifeforce to ensure you've got a healthy supply in stock.

Although minions help your chances of survival you're not completely defenseless and you have a number of magical spells at your disposal. New spells are unlocked when found during exploration but there are four definitive classes of spells accessed from the D-pad; "up" gives you fire based attacking spells, "right", domination spells that affect your enemies, "down" gives you defensive shield spells and finally "left" results in minion enhancing effects. Of course you can always just wade into combat swinging your axe should you prefer a more "hands-on" approach.

Your tower also provides you with few other distractions. A forge allows you to create three basic weapons (sword, mace or axe) or new armour and helmets once you've recovered the appropriate smelters. All can be upgraded by sacrificing minions to imbue them with magical properties depending on the number and types of minions sent to the flames. Forging better armour and weapons isn't essential (I just used the basic steel set initially), but if you've got minions to spare then it will make the later parts of the game easier to handle. Spare cash from looting can be used to upgrade your tower with various aesthetically pleasing objects like statues or a marble walkway, but these items don't really serve a purpose apart from personalising the look of your tower. Finally you can access the dungeon which allows you to take on most creatures you've previously encountered and is a good way of harvesting minion lifeforce when choosing any of the "beetle" types unless you prefer to venture outdoors to find one of the many flocks of "sheepies" roaming about the wilderness.

On the whole the game looks good with some interesting cliche'd fantasy environments such as the mines in Golden Hills, the twisted forest of Evernight or the halfling village with typical Tolkien-es burrows built into the hillsides. However the game doesn't employ a "roam anywhere" policy and thus you will unfortunately come across many an invisible barrier blocking your path as you try and explore the environment.

There's quite a lot of decent voice dialog employed throughout the game and the sound effects and music serve there purpose well but on a few occasions I found that some of the scripted dialog for Gnarl, the minion master and your guide, to be annoying when repeated; Hearing his explanation of the forge time-after-time soon got on my nerves.

Although the premise of the game is to be evil I was playing through the game to get the "zero corruption" achievement and thus most of my actions could be interpretted as "good" deeds. All the enemies in the game are provided in a negative light, and heroes have long since stopped being heroic. And I ended up liberating the townsfolk rather than subjecting them to tyranny.

Overall I enjoyed this game. It has some interesting ideas and gameplay mechanics, is laced with wry humour and is fun to play. It's not without its flaws but if you're looking for a fantasy game that offers something a bit different then this would be worth trying out.

Space Giraffe

2007-08-24T22:25:00.000+01:00

Space Giraffe is now available to download from Xbox Live Marketplace costing 400 Microsoft Points. The trial lets you play the first 9 levels out of the 100 that are available in the full retail version.

Space Giraffe is a arcade shooter from the mind of Jeff Minter, and although stating that it is not "Tempest", my initial impressions were of just that, albeit with a mind boggling dose of psychedelia thrown into the mix.

On the first go you basically haven't got a clue as to what is happening in this game, and even upon investigating the tutorials which describe the "powerzone", "flowers" and the art of "bulling" it still doesn't make a great deal of sense. I had to play through the tutorial a couple of times and study the "how to play" guide to finally start understanding how it all fits together.

I find it quite difficult to come a decision on Space Giraffe. Part of me finds it an intriguing and challenging game, but the other side of me finds it frustrating when the psychedelia becomes overpowering and you can't see what's going on. The game has a very old school design, simple in essence but hard to master with a difficulty that rises quite quickly with only perseverance bringing rewards.

I don't believe this game is for everyone, but I'm sure it will have its fans that absolutely love it. Try before you buy!

PSP Slim European Date

2007-08-23T14:00:00.000+01:00

In some additional news from Leipzig the European release date for the Sony PSP slim has been announced as part of the Sony conference. You'll be able to get hold of the new sleeker PSP as of September 5th 2007 for 169 EUR.

The new design will also be available in either a "Spiderman" bundle pack, featuring a black and red PSP and including a copy of the Spiderman 2 game the movie Spiderman 3. Alternatively the "Simpsons" pack features a yellow PSP and a copy of the game. Both bundle packs will be 199.99 EUR.

The prices announced thus far have only been in Euros, but I would expect a slightly higher GBP value for the UK market.

Leaked Wii Release Dates for Europe

2007-08-23T09:00:00.000+01:00

Rejoice! It looks like I'm finally going to have some Wii games to buy later this year that interest me. Leaked European release dates from the Leipzig GC07 conference in Germany have surfaced on the net and if confirmed it's going to be a busy 4th quarter for Nintendo fans.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - October 26th
Endless Ocean - November 9th
Super Mario Galaxy - November 16th
NiGHTS - November 23rd
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - November 30th

A date for the highly anticipated DS title The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass has also surfaced as October 19th.

Originally sourced from Kotaku

Small Price Cut for Xbox 360 in the UK

2007-08-21T16:32:00.000+01:00

Announced recently was that the Xbox 360 will receive a small official price cut in the UK as of this Friday 24th August. The cut coincides with the release of the Xbox 360 "Elite" and two anticipated games (Bioshock and Blue Dragon). The new "Elite" will retail for 299.99 GBP (441 EUR), the Premium for 249.99 GBP (30 GBP cut) and the Core for 179.99 GBP (20 GBP cut). The extra 50 GBP for the "Elite" gets you a 120GB hard drive instead of the Premium systems 20GB as-well as a HDMI port and comes in a black finish.

Also available will be the 120 GB hard drive and should you wish more storage you will have to splash out 129.99 GBP (191 EUR) for the replacement drive.

Personally I'd quite like more hard drive storage as I've come close to filling my drive with demos and videos on numerous occasions but I believe 129.99 GBP for a hard drive of that size is a bit too pricey.

God of War II Review

2007-08-20T18:25:00.000+01:00

Recently I played through God of War II on the PS2. I was a fan of its predecessor and was very much looking forward to this game and overall it was a very enjoyable experience. For those unfamiliar with the series the game sees you playing the role of Kratos, once a Spartan warrior but as the game starts now the titular God of War. The game is based on Greek mythology and is an action fighting game with some puzzle solving elements thrown in for good measure.

Kratos is an angry man, and most of that venom is directed at the gods of Olympus. He really does have a right to be a bit hacked off with the gods. Not only was he tricked into killing his own wife and son by Ares, as told as part of the story of the first game, but in this second installment he is fooled into becoming mortal and into losing his godly powers. Thus this is a story of betrayal and revenge as Kratos seeks out the Sisters of Fate so that he can change his own destiny and destroy the Olympian gods.

Once Kratos has lost all of his abilities you're slowly introduced to the various button combinations and as you progress through the game a number of magical abilities and additional weapons become available. These can be powered up using the collected souls of your defeated enemies giving you additional moves or attacks. What you power up really depends on how you prefer to play the game and what you find the most effective. Personally I chose to power up Kratos' default weapon, "The chains of Athena", along with the magical attacks "Cronus' Rage" and "Atlas Quake. What I like about this game is that not only can you string together quite complex combo moves, but you can also get away with a bit of button mashing without being penalised. And in this respect the game finds a good balance for both the casual and hardcore gamer alike.

There are a number of difficulty levels available, however I played through the game on normal and on the whole this is well balanced and provided a good challenge to my limited skills. I did find that the game had the occasional difficulty spikes as you take on a number of the set piece enemies, and just as you breath a sigh of relief you suddenly find that more enemies have just spawned into the battle and finish you off. This can lead to some moments of head banging frustration but I always found that a specific strategy would be required and it's just a matter of learning the attack patterns and not trying to wade into battle without defending yourself. If you die a number of times in a row on a specific section the game humbles you by asking "if you want to change the difficulty to easy". I found this spurred me on rather than face the indignity of playing on easy, but at least the option is there should you and the game come to an impasse. Generally checkpoints are generously spaced so you don't have to repeat vast sections of the game again should the worst happen but there are a couple of notable encounters that left me feeling an additional checkpoint was required.

The game has a rich enemy selection and some of the boss encounters are spectacularly memorable. Once an enemy has been weakened you will be able to perform a finishing move which is activated by pressing the relevant button icon floating above their head. This then launches a series of "quick time" events of button presses and / or joystick movements and if successful Kratos sends them packing to Hades in a number of brutally violent ways.

This game certainly showcases that the Playstation 2 can still deliver graphically and it's still spectacular even by today's "next-gen" standards. Both characters and backgrounds are expertly modeled with some fantastic animation and the level design is of an exceptionally high standard with some great puzzles. I wish I had played the game on a PS3 as its ability to sharpen and upscale the graphics from the standard PS2 resolution for my HDTV would have enhanced what is already an impressive graphical accomplishment. Not only are the in-game graphics excellent but there are some great FMV sections that progress the storyline throughout the game.

It took me about 18 hours to complete the game but there are some extras available once completed including the "Arena of the Fates" and additional costumes should you wish to glean more from the game. Unfortunately the story doesn't really conclude at the finish of the game and leaves the door open for the inevitable "God of War III". I really enjoyed this game and although towards the end of the game I found it difficult in places, I never felt like giving up and always knew that there was a logical solution to tackling the situation. On the evidence of what has been delivered with this game I can't help but look forward to the next installment.

Bioshock Demo

2007-08-15T19:30:00.000+01:00

The demo for one of this years most anticipated games, Bioshock, has been recently released on Xbox Live Marketplace. The download isn't small at 1.35GB so expect a wait if the servers are busy. The demo lets you play a small part of the beginning of the game and reveals some of the story behind the game.

It's 1960 and you find yourself in a plane crash whilst on a night flight over the mid-Atlantic. As you struggle to the ocean surface you're surrounded by a ring of fire created by the crash and see what's left of the plane slowly sinking into the murky waters below. In the distance what looks like a small island with a tall building lights up the night and is the obvious destination to swim towards.

As you climb the steps on the island you find that the door to the the building has been left ajar and with nowhere else to go you head into the dark. When you step through the door it closes behind you, light slowly illuminates the area and in the distance you hear some 50's instrumental music. The only way to go is down and as you descend a few flights of stairs you discover the source of the music comes from a bathysphere.

This is your gateway to "Rapture", a sprawling city built beneath the sea by its visionary "Andrew Ryan". Your guide to Rapture, at least for the demo, is via radio contact with a man calling himself Atlas. He introduces you to "Plasmids", which are genetic enhancements that rewrite your DNA giving you abilities. "Electrobolt" and "Incinerate" are just such plasmids and enable you to send out a bolt of 1000 volts or set a target alight. Atlas also gives you some background information about the warped citizens that now lurk around the corridors of the city.

The graphics of this game are very impressive. From the first scene where you break the surface of the ocean to the excellent object modeling and art deco styling everything is outstanding. I sometimes found that I spent time looking at the scenery rather than getting on with the task in hand. The game is also very atmospheric with some great use of music and sound effects to enhance the tension.

The controls were straight-forward enough and will be familiar enough for anyone that's played a FPS game with the left joystick used for movement and the right for looking and aiming. Triggers are used for plasmids (left) or weapons (right) whilst the bumper buttons are used for plasmid and weapon selection. This leaves other actions like reloading, jumping, interacting and healing assigned to the main buttons (X,Y,A,B).

Although this is a FPS at heart it seems to encourage you to use your environment as you see fit. For example you could hack a sentry gun or sentry bot to use as an ally rather than destroying it. Or if you spot enemies standing in water you could opt to Electrobolt the water rather than just the individual.

The demo gives you a taste of what's to come and definitely leaves you wanting more. I would highly recommend that you download and try out this game if you're a fan of FPS games, and even if you're not a fan try it anyway!

Track and Field

2007-08-10T13:53:00.000+01:00

I remember the original arcade release of this game back in 1983. The game must have been the bane of arcade owners everywhere as the controls certainly got a lot of stick as players frantically bashed buttons or wiggled joysticks as they competed in a number of Olympic events.

You can now recreate the atmosphere (and break your controllers in the process) as the game is now available on Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points.

The game consists of six events including the 100m sprint, long jump, javelin throw, hurdles, hammer throw and the high jump, with the trial letting you play the fist two of these. The controls really can't be more straight forward as you either wiggle the joystick or D-pad left and right or mash the "X" and "B" buttons to run and "A" is used as the action button, for example to jump hurdles or throw the javelin.

The game can be played locally with 1-4 players or over Xbox Live and features the usual set of leaderboards so you can see just how bad you suck at a game compared to the rest of the world. There's also 12 Achievements to obtain totalling 200 gamer score points.

Track & Field is still very playable and fun even today, however the game has not got longevity and is best used as a quick distraction from any other games you're currently playing.

Stranglehold Demo Impressions

2007-08-09T19:36:00.000+01:00

Stranglehold popped onto Xbox Live yesterday. It's a meaty download at 1.3GB so be prepared for a bit of wait before you can take Inspector Tequila for a stroll.

The game is a third person shooter and has been developed in collaboration with the film director John Woo of Hong Kong action movie fame. It features Chow Yun Fat whom is reprising his role as Inspector "Tequila" Yeun from the movie Hard Boiled. Those that have seen a John Woo film should know what to expect as the game brings on non-stop action with a cinematic flare.

The demo is based in Hong Kong and the story commences via a cut scene showing the abduction of a police officer. After the police department receive a ransom call demanding that they send in a lone policeman to Kowloon Market Inspector Tequila steps forward and volunteers for the mission.

The game makes use of most controls on the Xbox 360 controller with the left joystick used for movement and crouching (when clicked) and the right joystick used for aiming. The right trigger is used to shoot whatever weapon you have while the left is used to interact with objects or to perform dives when used in combination with movement. The left bumper button is used to take cover, for example against walls or columns while the right bumper is used to activate "Tequila Time" which is a slow mo mode that lasts for a limited duration. Special moves entitled "Tequila Bombs" are activated via the d-pad and finally "X" is used to pickup weapons, "A" switch weapons and "B" is used for grenades. Although there are quite a few controls to remember the game does a good job of introducing them to you as you play through the level.

As soon as the demo begins you're thrust into the action and one of the most impressive things that you immediately notice is the amount of destruction in the game. Most of the objects in the game can be damaged in some form or other and as you take on an ever increasing number of enemies you start looking at the environment for assistance in dispatching your enemies. Any environmental objects that "Tequila" can directly interact with flash as you approach them and objects that can be shot to cause damage noticeably "glint" to draw your attention. The game rewards you for style and the more stylish a kill the more your "Tequila Bomb" gauge is filled. Thus instead of running at opponents head-on you soon find yourself diving over barriers, sliding down banisters and trying to interact with the environment.

There are four "Tequila Bombs" (special moves) accessed via the D-Pad which include a health boost, a precision aim which zooms in on the target and follows the bullet to the point of impact, a barrage attack where you unleash a massive number of bullets, and finally the spin attack which kills every enemy in the vicinity. The game also includes "stand off sequences" at set points. In these slow-mo events the camera changes to an over the shoulder view as "Tequila" is surrounded by a number of enemies and one by one you have to take them out as you dodge left or right to avoid incoming bullets. The last three "Tequila Bombs" and the "Stand-Offs" are very cinematic and enhance the overall "movie like" feel of the game.

No shooter would be complete without a selection of weapons and you start with a pair of pistols but eventually you will come across shotguns and a few hidden weapons like the golden pistols or Uzis.

The demo offers a good amount of gameplay and to start with only two difficulty levels, "Casual" and "Normal" are available. Repeated plays unlock "Hard" and "Hard Boiled" and also the last two "Tequila Bomb" moves (Barrage and Spin Attack). If you want to experience all the demo has to offer then you will most likely play through the level at least three times.

Overall I thought the graphics were great and Chow Yun Fat was easily recognisable as Inspector Tequila. Although the controls are pretty good I did find that "Tequila" has a tendency to slide over objects (which is automatic) far too easily which did annoy me on a number of occasions and an option to have this tied to a button combination may have been preferable.

If you're a fan of action games and third person shooters, and especially if you like Hong Kong action movies, then I'd recommend you check out this demo. The game is shaping up very nicely and I'm looking forward to it's release later in the year.

Xbox 360 Receives $50 Price Cut in the US

2007-08-07T14:30:00.000+01:00

From tomorrow the Xbox 360 will receive a 50 USD price cut in the US. This now means that the Premium system will have an estimated retail price of 349.99 USD, the Core system for 279.99 USD and the Elite for 449.99 USD. In addition the limited edition Halo 3 "Spartan" Xbox 360 will be available in September for 399.99 USD.

A price cut has been rumored for a while and it will be interesting to see how this affects sales which seem to have plateaued. I suspect this is response from Microsoft to the the PS3 price cut that occurred a few weeks ago, which has consistently outsold the Xbox 360 since the drop.

Article via PR Newswire

Price drop coincides with release of 'Madden NFL 08' on Xbox 360, one of
many titles that make up the greatest holiday lineup in video game history.

REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today kicked off the greatest holiday lineup in video game history by announcing it will reduce the estimated retail price (ERP) of Xbox 360(TM) by $50 (U.S.) beginning Aug. 8. Soon to follow, Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) will release its blockbuster video game title "Madden NFL 08" on Aug. 14. "Madden NFL Football," one of the most important mass-appeal franchises in video games, was the top-selling game of 2006 and is the top-selling franchise of the past 10 years. Only Xbox 360 offers a console for all
interests and budgets.

"The fact that we have been able to keep our launch price longer than any other console while retaining our leadership position demonstrates that consumers believe in the value of Xbox 360," said Mitch Koch, corporate vice president, Global Retail Sales and Marketing Group, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "On the eve of the best holiday games lineup ever and the launch of 'Madden NFL 08,' there has never been a better time to jump into Xbox 360."

Xbox 360 will enhance the value of its entire family of consoles beginning on Aug. 8. At a new ERP of $349.99 (U.S.), Xbox 360 offers an unsurpassed experience right out of the box with a 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, Xbox 360 headset, and more. For those looking for the ultimate value and the freedom to customize their console as they see fit, Xbox 360 Core System now has an ERP of $279.99 (U.S.). Xbox 360 Core System provides everything needed to start gaming while giving consumers the
ability to add new features and accessories they want. Dressed in black and equipped with a 120GB hard drive, Xbox 360 Elite will be priced at an ERP of $449.99 (U.S.) for those who want the premium games and entertainment experience. In anticipation of this year's largest blockbuster game launch, the Xbox 360 Halo(R) 3 Special Edition Console will hit store shelves in September with an ERP of $399.99 (U.S.). Featuring an authentic Spartan green-and-gold finish, this console will include a matching Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, Xbox 360 20GB hard drive, Xbox 360 Headset, an Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit, and more.

In addition to being a great value, Xbox 360 is the only console on which consumers will be able to play all of this year's biggest titles: "Guitar Hero III(TM): Legends of Rock" (RedOctane/Activision), "Halo 3" (Bungie Studios), "Madden NFL 08" (EA) and "Rock Band" (MTV Games). Xbox 360 is also home to the most exclusive games, such as "BioShock" (2K Games), "Lost Odyssey(TM)" (Mistwalker/Feel Plus), "Blue Dragon" (Mistwalker/Artoon Co. Ltd.), "Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action," (Screenlife), "Project Gotham Racing(R) 4" (Bizarre Creations Ltd.), "Mass Effect" (BioWare Corp.), "Naruto: Rise of a Ninja" (Ubisoft), and "Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation" (NAMCO BANDAI Games). With a record-setting attach rate of 6.1 games per console sold (NPD, Life-to-date, June 2007), a new price and the greatest holiday games lineup ever, Xbox 360 has proved itself as the home of the best games and entertainment at the best value.

Marathon: Durandal Trial Impressions

2007-08-06T17:32:00.000+01:00

Marathon: Durandal was released onto Xbox Live Arcade last Wednesday (1st August) for 800 Microsoft points and it's a fairly sizable download for an Arcade game at 138MB.

The Marathon series of games, of which I believe this is the second, are FPS games developed by Bungie Software of Halo fame. With an attack by the alien race the Pfhor imminent, Durandal an AI is the only hope of defeating them and this game sees the player exploring the ruins of an alien civilisation known as the S'pht on their homeworld of Lh'owon.

The full game offers a good selection of multiplayer deathmatch modes such as "Every Man for Himself" and "King of the Hill" or you can play the single player campaign cooperatively with up-to seven friends. The trial game allows you to play the first level of the single player campaign as you start exploring Lh'owon.

The controls for the game are straight forward with the left joystick used for movement, the right to look, with fire controls assigned to the triggers and weapon selection to the bumper buttons. The only real oddities are the "X" and "Y" buttons which are used to glance 90 degrees to your left or right respectively when they are held down.

You can either play the game using the original or HD enhanced mode, with the latter mode sharpening up the graphics noticeably. Overall the graphics are what I'd expect from a game that was released in 1995 with some fairly decent backgrounds, sprite animation and details. The gameplay seems fairly typical of first person shooters and sees you trying to achieve mission objectives and flipping switches while dispatching enemies.

The available trial level didn't really impress me and unfortunately it left me feeling fairly nauseous after I'd played it for a while, which is something I've never experienced before from a FPS. I also found that the glance buttons only added to my feelings of nausea and I stopped using them fairly quickly. If you're a fan of this genre and have an interest in older games then this game may be worth a go but it's not one for me.

Ace Combat 6 Demo Impressions

2007-08-03T20:15:00.000+01:00

The Ace Combat 6 - Fires of Liberation demo has been around for a few weeks now and I thought I'd give it a go. It's a fairly small download at 309 MB but the demo still gives you a good dose of gameplay.

The game is a flight sim, but it is only semi-realistic and although the countries and places are fictional the aircraft in the game are based on realistic designs. The demo allows you to sample the first mission from the campaign mode entitled "Invasion of Gracemaria" and as you're scrambled from your airbase it sees you defending the skies from a hostile invasion.

The controls are fairly complex to start with and make use of most buttons on the Xbox 360 controller, but they are not too overbearing and once you've had some time with the game you will soon get the hang of it. Additionally the demo provides either "Normal" or "Novice" difficulty levels with novice providing slightly easier flight controls so you don't have to worry about yaw control.

I found while playing the demo I relied heavily on missiles rather than the aircraft cannon and luckily, as it's only semi-realistic, you get a healthy supply of ammunition which didn't come close to running out.

The game runs very smoothly with great graphics overall, and it's only when you get really low do you find that some of the ground scenery for the city (not objects such as buildings) are just textures. I thought the backing track and sound FX all suited the game and there's quite a lot of background chatter going on between pilots to add to the atmosphere. However I found I didn't really hear what was said most of the time as I was concentrating on taking out the next target.

Initially I was disappointed with the camera views on offer as I thought the default chase view was the only one available but after a some experimentation I found that you could change the views between "chase", "cockpit" or "HUD" via pressing the right joystick control.

Overall I enjoyed this taster of the game and I'll be keeping an eye on it as the release date approaches later this year.

Grand Theft Auto IV Delayed

2007-08-03T08:26:00.000+01:00

One of this years most anticipated titles has unfortunately been delayed until next year. It was confirmed by Take-Two yesterday that the title originally set to be released in October 2007 will now be released from Q2 2008, but no specific date has been given.

I must admit this was looking to be one of my "must have" titles of the year and I'm disappointed with the news. However, I will always prefer a delay to a sub-par product being released on-to the market, especially when its a games series as iconic as GTA.

Related links:
Kotaku - Take-Two Execs Explain GTA IV Delay
GamesIndustry: GTA IV delayed until 2008

Yie Ar Kung-Fu Trial Impressions

2007-08-01T13:45:00.000+01:00

The classic game Yie Ar Kung-Fu is now available for download from Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points. You play the character "Oolong" and it's a traditional fighting game in which you square off against 11 increasingly difficult martial arts masters in one-on-one combat in a quest to become the ultimate martial arts champion. Each of your opponents has a preferred martial arts style, for example, "Star", your second opponent has a tendency to use Shuriken.

The gameplay is pretty simplistic, and as you'd expect from a game that was first released in the arcade in 1985 your character only has a limited number of moves at your disposal. This release provides both the authentic arcade mode and is enhanced for Xbox Live.

It's amazing how time clouds your judgment of a game. Through my "rose tinted spectacles" of nostalgia I remember playing this game on the ZX Spectrum many years ago and liking it. Unfortunately the same can't be said today as the gameplay is too limited to stand the test of time for a fighting game. Some "Classic" games seem to age far better than others, and in my opinion this is a game that's best fondly remembered rather than dusted off and re-sold.

NASCAR 08 Demo Impressions

2007-07-30T17:33:00.000+01:00

After my Xbox 360's absence quite a few demo's have built up and I've been busy downloading and testing a few of them out. First up was NASCAR 08.

Firstly I'll have to admit that I don't know a great deal about NASCAR as it's not that popular over here in the UK. The demo provides you with one track to race on, which is the "Daytona International Speedway" and allows you to select from one of three available driving personalities (presumably real life drivers in NASCAR).

Before a race you can choose to qualify for track position and you're given two laps to post your best time. Once you've qualified (or skipped) you can enter the race and this commences with a rolling start and lasts for a eight laps with eleven competing drivers.

The graphics are OK but didn't overly impress me and although the sound FX were fine in general when changing camera views there seems to be a transitional sound effect as the engine noise is silenced for a split second until the new view takes over. I'm not sure why the developers thought this necessary, but I found it irritating as I do tend to switch views every now and again during a race. On a positive note there's a good selection of camera views including a cockpit view which serves its purpose well.

I found that driving at speed on an oval does take skill and finesse even though in principal it sounds fairly easy, and if you're not careful you will clip the barriers or spin out on numerous occasions. Although the speedometer reported that I was travelling at high speed (over 170 mph) I never really felt a great sensation of speed. This may be due to the nature of an oval track as there aren't many objects that whizz past or corners you have to brake hard for to enhance that impression.

The demo doesn't really give you a lot of options to play with but gives a flavour of the game none the less and there are various options that are greyed out that indicate there's more to the game than the demo suggests.

Although the racing genre is among one of my favourites I'm sorry to say that NASCAR isn't really my scene and the demo didn't impress me enough to tempt me into trying out the full retail version.

Return of a 360

2007-07-27T21:34:00.000+01:00

I was getting a bit worried about my Xbox 360 that I'd sent back to Microsoft (three flashing red lights!) a few weeks ago. It had been 17 days since it was picked up by UPS and I'd not heard a peep from Microsoft support to confirm they'd received the console or if it had now been fixed. I was therefore resigning myself to the fact that it was going to take the full 25 days as estimated to either get it repaired or replaced.

To my surprise I returned home today after work to find a UPS delivery notification stating that they'd left a package with my neighbour. Without delay I rushed next door to pick it up.

It was indeed an Xbox 360, not my original but a replacement. The cover letter reads:

"So you can get back to playing and enjoying your Xbox quicker, we have replaced your Xbox console with a replacement unit."

If it takes 17 days to "replace" a unit I'm glad they decided not to fix it or else it may have been gone for a very long time.

So far it's working fine but I did notice that it sounds different to my previous unit and I hope this is down to an "enhancement" that has been made to stop the problem reoccurring.

All in all the process was relatively painless and I've been sent a couple of complimentary one month Xbox Live Gold subscriptions as a gesture of goodwill, but at the end of the day we shouldn't really be seeing hardware failures on this magnitude from a mass produced commercial console.

Related:
Death of a 360
The State of Play

Sony PS3 Sales Double in the US

2007-07-20T13:44:00.000+01:00

The weekly sales for the US have been revealed for the week ending 14th July and as stated by Sony during their E3 conference the sales of the PS3 have indeed more than doubled since the 100 USD price drop on the 9th July. For the week ending 7th July 17,770 units were sold but the latest figures show that 41,005 units were sold the following week, a dramatic increase of 23,235 units. It will certainly be interesting to see if this is a short term burst or the start of a turnaround for the PS3.

Sales of the other consoles remained generally consistent with the DS, Wii, PSP and PS2 taking the top four spots whilst the PS3 snatches fifth place from the Xbox 360.

Sales breakdown after the jump.

Weekly figures from VGChartz.com

The State of Play

2007-07-19T15:32:00.000+01:00

It's been over a week now since the Xbox 360 died and got sent back for repairs and I'm feeling its loss. Apart from playing full games, I tend to use it a lot to try out any new demo's, arcade trials or view game trailers and its absence was felt all the more last week during E3 when by most accounts Microsoft did a pretty good job or releasing downloadable content. I was also in the middle of playing Forza 2: Motorsport and DiRT and had Overlord waiting in the wings which I was looking forward to playing once I'd finished with the other two. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be getting the 360 back anytime soon so I will have to lament its loss for a little longer.

I was tempted to buy a Sony PS3 when the Xbox 360 died and I think I would have gone out and bought one if the UK had received a price reduction similar to the one introduced in the US, but unfortunately as soon as the bundle pack was announced the purchase was put back on the back burner. It's not that I don't think the bundle pack is value for money (if you want those games), and yes, I could sell the games and extra SIXAXIS controller if I wanted, but it all comes down to a matter of principle. I've always thought 425 GBP (RRP) was far too expensive, and offering me some first party games and an extra controller (that I don't want) as "added value" is not going to sway my mind. I'm hoping that we will see a proper price reduction later in the year and it's then that I'll buy into the PS3.

The Wii is still sat gathering dust as I await the release of some first party titles, the first of which will be Super Paper Mario, and I sincerely hope some "AAA" titles appear for the Christmas holiday season. I have been tempted by some Virtual Console games but I'm waiting until my 10,000 or so "Stars" points I've accumulated over the years as part of Nintendo 24:7 VIP Club can be converted to Wii points and put to good use.

So where does this leave me? Well at present the power light on the PS2 is burning green once more after a long absence and I'm ploughing through "God of War 2" which I'm very much enjoying, even if it does have some frustrating, joypad throwing inducing, sections to complete.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare E3 Footage

2007-07-14T14:11:00.001+01:00

From a lot of accounts Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was one of the highlights of E3 and looking at the footage I can see why. The game looks like it's shaping up to be an amazing FPS and is due to be released on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

More footage after the jump.

Nintendo E3 Conference Snippets

2007-07-13T16:35:00.000+01:00

As-well as Microsoft and Sony having E3 conferences revealing some nuggets of information, Nintendo also had there own little shin dig on Wednesday at the Civic Auditorium (Santa Monica). Even though this news is probably old hat now I thought it was only fair to extract some facts and information from the conference.

Of special interest was the announcement of Wii Fit with custom hardware (Wii Balance Board) and as anticipated release dates for some high profile first party titles were also revealed. However the dates listed were for the US only and European dates are yet to be announced.

Nintendo platforms have experienced a 69% growth this year.

The Nintendo DS has now doubled its sales percentage of all videogame consoles sold from 12% to 23%!

Nintendo's strategy of targeting the female demographic seems to be working as they have now achieved a 67 / 33 split for male to female gamers whereas it was stated this is usually 80 / 20.

The Nintendo DS has now sold over 40 million units worldwide and there will be 140 more new titles to appear this year.

Wii Fit was announced for the Nintendo Wii and features a new bit of hardware which is similar to a step aerobics platform known as the Wii Balance Board. The platform can measure weight distribution and calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index). The "game" covers different genres of activities such as aerobics, yoga, muscle conditioning and balance games. A price and release date has yet to be announced.

The Wii Zapper was announced which is basically a light gun incorporating both the Wii remote and Nunchuk and will be compatible with forthcoming games like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Medal of Honour. The Zapper will be bundled with first party Nintendo software or sold separately for 19.99 USD.

A new channel is coming to the Wii called Check Mii Out. In the new channel you will be able to vote on Mii's and search for popular Mii's.

In terms of online statistics it was stated that 5.5 million players have used the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection with 230 gameplay sessions and the Wii Virtual console has had 5.6 million downloads.

Super Mario Galaxy will be released in US on November 12th.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be released in US on December 3rd.

Mario Kart Wii was announced and will feature online play. The game is scheduled to be released globally in quarter 1 2008. A custom steering wheel will also debut alongside the release of the game.

PS3 Starter Pack for Europe (No Price Cut)

2007-07-13T10:08:00.000+01:00

This morning Sony announced that a new PS3 Starter Pack that will be introduced for Europe. For 425 GBP (599 EUR) you will now be able to get a 60GB PS3, 2 SIXAXIS wireless controllers and a choice of two first party games which includes Resistance Fall of Man and MotorStorm. The starter pack is rolling out across Europe as of today and should be available everywhere by 1st August.

Although this is not the price cut we really want, the bundle does offer you about £115 worth of savings (if bought at RRP). However my issue with bundle packs is that they really only offer you significant savings if you wanted the bundled games and hardware in the first place. From a personal point of view I would much rather see the price of the PS3 base unit (60GB + 1 SIXAXIS controller) reduced by 100 GBP and leave the decision of games and hardware to the individual.

Press release via Sony Europe Press Center

13/07/2007 04:00
PS3 STARTER PACK ANNOUNCED FOR EUROPE

Santa Monica, 12th July 2007. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the availability of a high value Starter Pack for PLAYSTATION®3, comprising a PS3, two first party games and two SIXAXIS™ wireless controllers, at €599.

Rolling out across the SCEE territories from 13th July, and in all territories by 1st August, the new Starter Pack represents exceptional value for money as an entry point into the exciting world of High Definition interactive entertainment with PLAYSTATION 3.

The choice of first party games available in the Starter Pack will vary to suit the interests of entertainment enthusiasts in each country, but will include million sellers such as Resistance Fall of Man™ and MotorStorm™; titles specifically chosen to demonstrate the stunning graphics and enhanced gameplay of High Definition games on Blu-ray disc.

With an additional wireless SIXAXIS, motion sensitive controller provided for head to head and multi player gaming, the Starter Pack is sure to appeal to those seeking to enhance their entertainment experience with the best of 21st century technology.

“With sell through of over 1.2 million units in the SCEE territories to date, PLAYSTATION 3 has proved to be an instant and huge success”, said David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

“The exceptional value of the new Starter Pack will bring the excitement of PlayStation® gaming to a much wider audience. Add to this a stellar lineup of software titles for the second half of the year and we are confident that this amazing value Starter Pack will encourage many more keen gamers to join the PLAYSTATION 3 community”.

Sony E3 Conference Snippets

2007-07-12T19:17:00.000+01:00

Sony's E3 conference was held yesterday at 19:30 BST. As with the Microsoft conference I've extracted some interesting titbit's of information.

Unfortunately a European price cut for the PS3 was not mentioned but apparently there will be some sort of announcement tomorrow.

PS2 Snippets
Now has an installed base of over 118 million, thus according to Jack Tretton (CEO and President of Sony America) makes it the most popular console of all time.

160 new games for the PS2 are scheduled for the US this fiscal year.

PSP Snippets
Weekly sales of the PSP have gone up by 90% since the introduction of a price cut.

A New version of PSP was unveiled and it will be available worldwide in September. Although the revision looks very similar to the existing model it's apparently 33% lighter and 19% slimmer. It also makes use of a more efficient battery and loading times will be a lot faster too. It also incorporates a new bit of functionality in that it can now be hooked up to a TV (Sony Bravia) and output any of it's content (videos, photos, games) directly to the screen.

The new slimmer PSP will be available in the regular black and the new "ice silver" colours in an entertainment pack which includes a 1GB memory stick. There will also be a "Star Wars Battlefront" entertainment pack which features a white PSP emblazoned with Darth Vader on the back. Both packs will retail for 199.99 USD and will be available in the US from September. Sony Europe and Sony Japan have yet to announce pricing and packs that will be available.

140 new games are scheduled for the PSP in the US this fiscal year.

PSP UMD sales are up by 35% since 2006.

PS3 Snippets
80 first party games are in development worldwide.

The PlayStation Network now has 2 million registered users, 950 thousand of which are from North America and the service has seen 20 million downloads.

PlayStation "Home" can now have client software running on mobile phones. The example given will allow you to take pictures with your mobile and have them sent directly to your "Home" lobby.

Sales of 60GB PS3 have doubled in North America at Sony's top five retailers since the cut was announced on Monday and Sony are going to ship 11 million units by the end of the year. There's no news as yet of a price cut for Europe.

Unreal Tournament 3 was announced as exclusive for the PS3 until the end of the year.

Metal Gear solid 4 was reconfirmed as being exclusive to PS3. Hideo Kojima has also stated that MGS4 would be the last in the series. The game is due for release in spring 2008.

The PS3 has helped the sales of Blu-ray and it is now approximately outselling HD-DVD by a ratio of 2:1.

Microsoft E3 Conference Xbox 360 Snippets

2007-07-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

In case you're unaware between 11th - 13th July E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is being held in Santa Monica, California. Although it is now fundamentally different to previous years and gone is the huge central location and now in it's place are smaller individually organised events that are invitation only, all the big players are still in attendance. Yesterday Microsoft held there E3 conference which highlighted some interesting news

The Xbox 360 Elite will be released in Europe on 24th August, although a price has yet to be announced.

A new Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition will be released to coincide with the game.

There are now more than 7 million subscribers to Xbox Live and Microsoft expect this to increase to 10 million before next years E3. More than 45 million games have been downloaded from Xbox Live Arcade to date and more than 100 games will be available for the service by end of the year. Highlights include games such as Bomberman live, Undertow, Hexic 2, Sensible World of Soccer, Wing Commander Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2. Track & Field, Golden Axe, Space Giraffe and Super Puzzle Fighter.

Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe have been added to Xbox Live as of yesterday and will cost 400 Microsoft Points each.

Europe and Canada are to be added to the video marketplace download service (which is US only at present) later in the year.

Project Gotham Racing 4 now includes motorbikes (Honda, Suzuki, Ducati are signed up) and more than 120 cars are to be included in the game when it is released in September.

It was stated that the footage shown for GTA IV was captured from the 360 and there will be two exclusive downloadable chapters available for the Xbox 360 version next spring.

Mass Effect is now scheduled to be released in November but no definitive date has been firmed up.

A beta of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be made available and it will be exclusive to 360.

Death of a 360

2007-07-09T18:36:00.000+01:00

My Xbox 360 finally died on me at the weekend. It has been playing up for the past week and had frozen a few times whilst playing games so I had an inclination that all was not well. On Friday evening I finally got the three red lights of doom, fortunately the extended warranty is now in effect so I gave Microsoft Support a ring on Saturday morning.

After a 58 minute wait on hold and after about the one hundredth time of hearing the words: "Please remain on the line and a support representative will be with you as soon as possible. Thankyou for your patience." I finally managed to speak to a representative.

A few questions about the console followed (serial number etc) and I eventually got the option of having the UPS labels sent by post or by email. Initially I said I wanted them by post but as soon as I found out that it can take up to five days to get them I promptly changed my mind to email. At this stage I needed to change my Xbox Live email address so I gave the representative my new details and to my amusement the representative said he would have to write them down as the system had just crashed. I asked him if there were "three flashing red lights" displayed on the front of his PC but I don't think he was too amused with the quip.

My console is scheduled to be picked up tomorrow and there's currently about a 15 - 25 day turnaround for repairs (i.e. get a refurbished one sent back). I've had the console since the UK launch and I honestly thought I'd escaped the abysmal reliability problems but alas that was not to be. During my 360's downtime I will continue to post news but unfortunately trial and demo impressions will have to wait until I get the console back. On the up side I should now have the time to play a few of my back catalog of games for other platforms that have built up over the last year and I hope to post reviews as appropriate.

Sony PS3 Price Cut in North America

2007-07-09T08:58:00.000+01:00

I've just seen that a price cut has been announced for the Sony PS3 in North America. The 100 USD cut brings the price of the 60GB model down to 499 USD. Also announced is that a new 80GB model will be available from August for 599 USD bundled with a copy of Motorstorm.

There's been speculation of a cut for some time now, so the move is not entirely unexpected and the 100 USD amount is spot on with what was anticipated. We now have to wait and see what happens in the rest of the world, but I'm hoping this carries forward to Europe.

Press release via PR Newswire

Sony Computer Entertainment America Introduces New 80GB PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)); Announces New Price on Current 60GB Model

80GB System Designed for Today's Connected Gamer, 60GB Price Now $499

FOSTER CITY, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment
America (SCEA), Inc. today announced a new 80GB model of its PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system. Beginning in August, the new PS3 model will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of $599/$659 CND and will be sold with the popular online-enabled racing game MotorStorm(TM). In conjunction with this news, the company also announced that effective immediately, the current 60GB PS3 model will be available in North America for $499/$549 CND, or $100 below the original launch price.

By featuring an expanded hard disk drive (HDD), the new 80GB PS3 is designed to appeal to the online gaming and entertainment enthusiast, providing ample storage space to download more games and other entertainment content from PLAYSTATION(R)Network. There are currently more than 60 playable games and game-related downloads available through PLAYSTATION(R)Store, with expanded entertainment content coming soon. The new model features the million-selling game MotorStorm in the box, allowing up to 12 players to play online at one time, hitting the dirt in this visually-arresting, fast-paced racing title.

Throughout the holidays and this fiscal year, more than 120 new first and third-party software titles will be available for North American PS3 users to enjoy, in addition to the more than 40 software titles currently available. Key upcoming first-party titles include Folklore(TM), Heavenly Sword(TM), LAIR, NBA '08, Ratchet & Clank(R) Future: Tools of Destruction(TM), SingStar(TM), SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, THE EYE OF JUDGMENT(TM), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Warhawk(TM).

Numerous third-party titles, including several exclusives, will also be available such as Devil May Cry(R)IV, Dynasty Warriors(R):GUNDAM(R), Grand Theft Auto IV, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hellboy, Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots, Ninja Gaiden Sigma(R), SEGA Rally(R) Revo, Stranglehold(TM), The Darkness, TimeShift(TM), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter(TM) 2.

Additional games and services will also be available for PS3 system owners through the PLAYSTATION Network including PlayStation Home, a state-of-the-art 3D online community that serves as a meeting place for PS3 users around the world, as well as numerous downloadable games including the highly-anticipated title PAIN.
"As we move into the next phase of PS3, it's important that we continue to evaluate our product line, offering consumers the technology and features that meet their growing needs for new forms of media and the way in which it is delivered," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA. "The introduction of the 80GB PS3, the new pricing for the current 60GB model, the availability of more than 100 new software titles this fiscal year and, finally, the expansion of services for PLAYSTATION Network, will provide even more options for users and will help bring new consumers into the PS3 fold."

Both the 80GB and 60GB PS3 models come standard with Cell Broadband Engine(TM) (Cell/B.E.), Blu-ray Disc(TM) (BD) player, built-in HDD, 1080p high-definition output, Wi-Fi connectivity and SIXAXIS(TM) wireless controller.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation(R) and PS one(R) game console, the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, the PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) mobile entertainment system, the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system and its online and network services the PLAYSTATION(R)Network and PLAYSTATION(R)Store.
Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com
"PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION", "PSP," "PS one" are registered trademarks and "PS3", "Cell Broadband Engine" and "SIXAXIS" are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Xbox 360 Gets Extended Warranty

2007-07-06T15:44:00.000+01:00

Some great news was announced by Microsoft yesterday. Peter Moore has issued an open letter to the Xbox community and as of 5th July all Xbox 360's are now "covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console". The enhanced warranty applies to both new and previously bought consoles and will last for three years from the date of purchase. Additionally Microsoft will reimburse you if you've paid for your console to be repaired due to the "three red flashing lights".

This is definitely a step in the right direction from Microsoft, however the new warranty is specific to hardware failures displaying the "three red lights" so it isn't the great panacea for the 360 that some may have hoped for. If you've paid for an extended warranty from a retailer, then fear not, it's still very useful and should cover you for any other failures not specific to the three red lights of doom.

Open Letter From Peter Moore

To our Xbox Community:

You've spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we've not been doing a good enough job.

Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console.

The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it's something I take very seriously.

We have been following this issue closely, and with on-going testing have identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console.

We are also implementing some important policy changes intended to keep you in the game, worry-free.

As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience.

If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.

This will take a few days to roll out globally, and I appreciate your continued patience as we launch this program. I've posted an FAQ that should address some additional questions, and we'll update it over the next few days.

I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty.

The Open Letter also has an FAQ and Update that are worth a read.

Missile Command Trial Impressions

2007-07-04T19:42:00.000+01:00

The classic 1980 arcade game by Atari Missile Command has been released onto Xbox Live Arcade today. The full version is 33.56MB to download and will set you back 400 Microsoft Points.

The premise of the game is pretty straightforward, you must prevent the destruction of your six cities from wave after wave of missiles. To help, you have three missile batteries with ten missiles each. The player must try and make the most efficient use of the limited supplies by targeting the best places to intercept the incoming warheads.

The game has been "remastered" for Xbox Live and has both an Evolved mode with re-stylised graphics and the original Classic mode. Also the game introduces the new Throttle Monkey difficulty level which is pretty insane.

The enhanced graphics are nice with some pretty backdrops and serve there purpose well. I doubt many players would prefer to play the original unless it's just for nostalgia value. The controls are very easy, with the left joystick used to guide your crosshairs and "X", "A" and "B" used to fire missiles from the left, middle or right batteries respectively.

The trial version allows you to play the the game for a limited number of waves (2 or 3), and this is sufficient to allow you to decide whether to buy the game or not. The full version gives you access to the usual set of leaderboards and 12 achievements totalling 200 Gamerscore points.

Although a nice job has been done on the update, and it's fun to play in small doses, for me the game doesn't really hold any lasting appeal. I'm sure however that fans of the original will like the version on offer here.

Colin McRae: DiRT Review

2007-07-03T19:49:00.000+01:00

Released a few weeks ago Colin McRae: DiRT is another great addition to the xbox 360's fine repertoire of top class racing games. Whereas the majority of racing games released are predominantly circuit or road based, DiRT as you may gather from the title is more concerned with the grittier and dirtier side of off-road racing.

Colin McRae titles of yesteryear were purely associated with Rally driving, but just like the namesake has digressed in the latter stages of his career, the developers, Codemasters, have also branched out and the game now features a whole host of off-road styles with a plethora of vehicles to make the game more appealing to the mass market. It certainly contains lots of variety and one minute you could be tearing down a narrow track competing in a traditional rally stage and the next you could be driving in a CORR (Championship Off-Road Racing) event, wheel to wheel with other competitors as you bounce around a muddy circuit.

There are plenty of modes available in DiRT. The main mode, Career, features a pyramid of eleven tiers with the bottom tier consisting of eleven stages, the next tier 10 stages and so on until you reach the final stage on the last tier. When selecting a stage you can choose from one of five difficulties starting from the easiest "Rookie" and moving up to "Pro" class. The level of difficulty you choose directly effects not only the AI opposition skill but also the level of mechanical damage you can sustain, whether terminal damage is switched on or off and importantly the amount of money you can win from placing 1st to 3rd. In a nice change to the financial rewards once you score a podium position the money that will be offered for repeating the race at the same difficulty significantly decreases, thus encouraging you to step up to the next difficulty level.

Money gained through the career mode can be used to purchase new vehicles and liveries. With 46 vehicles and 182 liveries in total there's something to please everyone from rally cars like the "Suzuki Swift 1600" and "Subaru Impreza 06 WRX", to buggies like the "Ickler Jimco" and big rigs such as the "Freightliner Century Class S/T". All the vehicles handle very differently to one another and the player has to adjust to not only the vehicle but to the track surface, whether it is tarmac, mud, or gravel the differences are very noticeable and the physics engine does a fine job in this department.

Career race events are nicely varied and as-well as covering traditional rally stages and crossover events also feature CORR circuit racing, hill climbs and rally raid events. Once an event has been selected there are a number of additional options available and although you can jump straight into the race you could also practice an event, change your vehicles set-up, repair damage or get verbal feedback on the stage from your co-drivers recce.

As with Forza this game features a good balance between realism and accessibility. For those that want to glean every bit of performance from a vehicle then there are plenty of tuning settings that can be changed for a vehicle such as the suspension, brakes, differential or the downforce. Similarly tuning is not a necessity and a player can quite happily stick to playing the game without ever feeling the need to mess around with the setup.

As well as Career mode there are a couple of additional single player modes available. Championship is the more traditional rally game setup, and the "National" event within this allows you to compete in a single rally event consisting of up to seven individual stages. The "European", "International" and "Global" championship events bulk up the championship mode by combining a number of single rally events into individual tournaments. Rally World finishes off the single player modes and allows you to choose a single race, event or time trial for any of the career events you've unlocked thus far.

The environmental graphics for this game are truly excellent, very realistic with plenty of variety and locations such as the green hills and windy roads of the UK to dusty outback trails across Australia. You get a real thrill as you hurtle down dirt tracks narrowly missing rocks and trees as you slide around tight hairpin bends. The vehicles themselves are all beautifully modelled featuring a good damage system that becomes more realistic on the harder difficulties.

Whereas I was a bit disappointed with the camera views on offer with Forza I cannot fault the number available in DiRT. There are six in total and apart from the usual bumper, bonnet and external chase views there are a couple of cockpit views that really immerse you in the action. The replay camera also deserves a mention with great slow-mo, rewind, and fast-forward actions and I've found myself using it on many occasions to watch the action once a race has ended.

So what are the negatives? Well, there are some minor points. The game features fairly long loading times and although an attempt has been made to disguise this fact with some snazzy statistics you do eventually get bored of knowing how many times you've failed to finish or the amount of time you've spent on two wheels. And although on the whole the cockpit views are excellent, I did find that I had to switch to a chase view when using the "Chevrolet Siverado" as one of the front reinforcement bars badly obscures the view. It may be accurate, but in terms of playability it just gets in the way.

To summarise this is another fantastic racing game, beautifully modelled with a lot of variety and if you're looking for an alternative to Forza then I would highly recommend it.

Zelda - Phantom Hourglass US Date

2007-07-02T18:14:00.000+01:00

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS has been given a release date as the 1st October 2007 by Nintendo of America. As yet there has been no official word on a European release date and given the usual track record for Nintendo Europe I think we'll be lucky to see it on UK shores before the end of the year.

However all is not lost for UK gamers and if you can't bare to wait for a European release, and as the DS is region free, there will be plenty of importers lining up to supply you with the American version.

Carcassonne on Xbox Live Arcade

2007-06-28T23:27:00.000+01:00

Carcassonne is now available on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points. The game was released yesterday and is a port of the classic boardgame of the same name combined with The Rivers expansion.

The game is for 2 - 5 players and is based in medieval France. Each player takes turns to place randomly drawn tiles to complete towns, roads, farms or monasteries and lay claim to these by placing one of your followers on the tile. To win the game you need to accrue more points than your rivals.

The trial version gives you access to the basic tutorial and allows you to play 19 turns of the single player game. I've played the trial a few times and found it to be quite an enjoyable, light hearted game and I'll be posting up a full review of the game in the near future.

GTA IV - Trailer 2: Looking for that Special Someone

2007-06-28T18:24:00.000+01:00

It was announced some time ago that the second Grand Theft Auto IV trailer would be released today and it's now available for your viewing pleasure. I'm sure the trailer is being scrutinised all over the Internet to glean every possible last bit of information from it, but I'll take it for what it is; An excellent trailer for a very promising looking game in the series.

Nintendo "WiiWare" Service Announcement

2007-06-27T15:18:00.000+01:00

After reading the rumours it has now been officially announced that the Wii will play host to "WiiWare" starting early 2008. WiiWare is going to be a new service that enables developers to make available original downloadable content for sale via the Wii shopping channel. It's reported that Nintendo will be responsible for setting the price of games (payable via Wii points), but it is up to developers to secure a games rating.

The service is, in some respects, similar to that on offer by both Microsoft and Sony via Xbox Live and Playstation Network repectively, but it's still great to see Nintendo following suit and offering new original games content and not just virtual console games for download. The only thing that still needs to be answered is how all this new content can be stored. Can SD cards be used? or are the rumours about a new piece of Wii hardware (external HD drive) true?

Official press release via PR Newswire

Nintendo's WiiWare Paves The Way For Fresh Games, Cool Consumer Experiences

REDMOND, WA UNITED STATES

Nintendo Sets a New Paradigm: One Game Can Still Make a Difference

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The search for the next ingeniously ground-breaking video game has begun. At a private developers conference this week, Nintendo announced the introduction of WiiWare(TM), a game-creation service that will allow developers large and small to create new downloadable video game content for sale by Nintendo through the Wii Shop Channel of the hot Wii(TM) home video game system. WiiWare paves the way for smaller, more creative games to make their way to the public at lower prices, without any inventory risk to developers. The first WiiWare content will launch in early 2008.

"Independent developers armed with small budgets and big ideas will be able to get their original games into the marketplace to see if we can find the next smash hit," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "WiiWare brings new levels of creativity and value to the ever-growing population of Wii owners."

The possibilities for WiiWare are limited only by the imaginations of developers. WiiWare provides game creators a simple method by which they can get their games to the public. This approach, combined with the remarkable motion controls of the Wii Remote(TM) and Nunchuk(TM), will give birth to fresh takes on established genres, as well as original ideas that currently exist only in developers' minds. The reduced barriers to development provide developers the freedom to create and an inexpensive,
clearly defined path to reach consumers who will ultimately determine which game will become the Next Big Thing.

WiiWare will be posted on the Wii Shop Channel. As with current Wii Shop Channel offerings, users will redeem Wii Points(TM) to download content. It will support a variety of pricing options. Details about that and upcoming projects will be announced at a later date. For more information about Wii, visit http://www.Wii.com.

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.4 billion video games and more than 409 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R), Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo,
visit the company's Web site at http://www.Nintendo.com.

Zelda - Phantom Hourglass Gameplay Footage

2007-06-26T20:29:00.000+01:00

Newly released in Japan on June 23rd for the Nintendo DS The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the sequel to The Wind Waker and features the same cel shaded graphical style as its predecessor. Obviously the game caters for the reduced power of the DS compared to the Gamecube, but even so the game is looking stunning and as I'm a Zelda fan I really can't wait to get hold of an English language copy. There's been no confirmed European release date as yet, but with a bit of luck we may see it released later this summer.

A Quiet Week for Demos

2007-06-24T22:08:00.000+01:00

It's been a bit quiet this week on the gaming demo front. After the rush of the last few weeks where a number of demos were released in quick succession onto Xbox Live this week has seen the complete opposite and there haven't been any new demo downloads made available to the UK service.

At present I'm still playing through Forza 2: Motorsport (X360) and I still need to finish off Shadow of the Colossus (PS2). I've also recently picked up Colin Mcrae DiRT (X360) and I'm hoping to post up a review of that as soon as I can get my teeth into it. From what I've played of the game so far it's very different to Forza and requires a different driving style but it's still very enjoyable.

On the horizon we have Overlord, Tenchu Z, Hour of Victory, Project Sylpheed, The Darkness and Call of Juarez all due to be released this Friday on the 29th June for the Xbox 360. Of those I've already got Overlord on preorder which I'm very much looking forward to playing. I'm also keeping an eye on the The Darkness to see if it's worthwhile picking up a copy once I've finished some of my existing games.

So many games, so little time!

Call of Duty 4 Gameplay Footage

2007-06-22T00:38:00.000+01:00

Infinity Ward has released some gameplay footage for the next game in the Call of Duty series. Unlike all it's predecessors which were set in WWII this time the action takes place in more modern times.

The game looks like it's shaping up quite nicely and I'm pleased that they've brought the time frame up to date. No release dates are available but it's due to appear on both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Super Paper Mario September Release Date

2007-06-22T00:15:00.001+01:00

Europeans it's time to rejoice! Nintendo Europe have not forsaken us and has issued its Quarter 3 release schedule. At last some key Wii titles have been dated but before you get too excited there's still a while to wait before you can get your hands on Super Paper Mario, Mario Party 8 or Trauma Centre.

Mario Party 8 - 13th July 2007
Trauma Center: Second Opinion - 10th August 2007
Super Paper Mario - 14th September 2007

The full release list can be found on Eurogamer

Band of Bugs

2007-06-20T20:14:00.000+01:00

Today sees the release of "Band of Bugs" on Xbox Live Arcade. The game is a turn based strategy game following the story of Maal as he tries to save the Queen and kingdom.

The game is only 34MB to download and it costs 800 Microsoft Points.

The trial game allows you to sample the single player story mode through a series of tutorials and skirmishes but doesn't allow you to save your progress.

The mechanics of the game are similar to lots of other turn based strategy games such as "Advance Wars". Each map is composed of many squares of varying terrain types and you have different units (or bugs in this case) available to command. Each bug is is better suited for certain roles and all have individual strengths and weaknesses and it's up to the player to use them effectively.

The full game allows access to the other single player modes and the multi-player mode. In addition there's a comprehensive level editor which allows you to create custom scenarios which you can play by yourself or over Xbox Live with friends.

I couldn't really get into this game, and although I really enjoy games such as "Advance Wars" this just didn't make an impression. If you've tried and enjoyed this game let me know what you thought.

Forza 2 Motorsport Review

2007-06-18T22:44:00.000+01:00

I've been playing Forza 2 Motorsport for the Xbox 360 for over a week now and thought the time right to post a review of the game thus far. It's probably an understatement when I say that Forza 2 is a vast game and will keep you occupied for a number of weeks if not months at least. There are so many races available in the different modes that there's something to suit everyone.

In the single player game you can either play the "Arcade" or "Career" modes. The career mode is the meat and potatoes of the game and to start with you need to choose your home region from either Europe, America or Asia. Your chosen region initially has an impact on the car models available and eventually other cars from your home region will be heavily discounted as your career progresses. After your region has been selected your given 20,000 credits to purchase your first ride and once you've selected your starting car it's off to the races where a number of event meetings all consisting of a number of races need to be completed to earn yourself some more credits.

Initially only the "Proving Grounds" race category is available but as you win races and your driver level improves additional categories and event meetings will open up. The driver level advancement is nicely paced and it ensures that you don't try to "walk before you can run" and the game gradually eases you into harder races and stiffer competition. All in all there are nine categories culminating in a series "Endurance Races" where only those with stamina really need to apply. The events are nicely varied and generally each one will have certain restrictions, for example "cars with less than 150 horsepower". Thus you cannot stick with one car throughout the game and you will need to either purchase, or win an appropriate car when you fancy entering another event when you haven't got any other suitable cars.

Every time you achieve a new driver level, or your car gains a new reputation level you will be rewarded. These can range from discounts on upgrades or cars, to opening up new relationships with manufacturers which unlock car models that were previously unavailable for purchase.

As you accumulate winnings you'll eventually start to think about upgrading your car and you won't be disappointed with the options on offer. You can buy upgrades, in varying levels, for nearly everything. The upgrades are nicely categorised, and a handy bar chart is available to show you the positive (or negative) effects it will have should you choose to purchase and fit the new part. Upgrading is not the only option available and you can further tweak the car by "tuning" it as-well. Again a number of choices are available from changing the tyre pressure and wheel alignment to altering the brake force, aerodynamics and the differential.

Not only can you upgrade and tune a car but you can also take it to the paint shop to re-spray it, apply manufacturer vinyls or if you're feeling creative you can apply vinyls in layers using preset or primitive decals to fully customise the look of your ride. Each car model allows you to add up to 1000 layers to the hood and each side and 500 layers to the front and rear bumpers. The sheer number of layers really allows you the freedom to make any design you could think of. I'm no artist and my talent (and patience) is strictly limited but I have seen some truly amazing custom paint jobs that have been created.

The difficulty level of Forza 2 is very customisable. Although under the hood this is definitely not an arcade racer Turn 10 have made a number of "assists" and variables available so you can have fun playing the game whatever skill level of racer you are. If you prefer to have a "suggested racing line", "traction control" and "anti-lock brakes" with "easy" AI opponents then that's entirely up to you. However, each variable has an effect on your overall winnings in a race and if, for example, you had all the assists and options set at the entry level then you'd have a -25% deduction applied to your winnings.

If you fancy a break from the career mode you can jump into the arcade mode which offers either "Exhibition", "Time-Trial" or "Free Run" events. Exhibition consists of 15 races whereby you can choose you car class or select a car from your career garage with the aim of getting a gold, silver or bronze medal in each race. Time-trials features 25 circuits where the sole aim is to beat the target time using a specific vehicle, and finally free-run is what you'd expect it to be and allows you to try out any circuit.

If all this isn't enough for you then you can try out the multi-player aspect and this offers the usual mixture of player and ranked matches, but there's also a number of ongoing tournaments which are continually being held for you to enter upon successful qualification. The multi-player mode also plays host to an "Auction House" where you can sell unwanted cars or buy that oh-so-sweet car with the custom paint job you've seen if you're willing to part with the credits.

Forza 2 is a beautiful game to look at, granted some of the courses may not be as complex as say something out of "Project Gotham Racing 3" but this sacrifice has ensured that the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second with a complex physics engine. If you're ever in doubt as to how much is actually going on underneath that glossy hood you just need to turn on the telemetry display (either during a race or replay) to get feedback on a number of physical attributes effecting the car such as the G-forces or the tyre wear as you take a corner.

Although there's not a vast number of actual racing locations available, each one has a number of different circuit alternatives. These all add to overall total number so that it becomes a respectable figure. Each circuit is nicely detailed and varied enough from one another to provide a challenge.

The cars are a big part of this game and there are a staggeringly high number (over 200) available from all sorts of global manufacturers. Although I've not tried out every car I have driven a fair few and each one has handling that is noticeably different to one another. Unfortunately there's still no inside camera view and I guess it's a casualty to ensure a smooth frame rate, but I've found the "bumper cam" to be perfectly adequate. If you don't fancy the bumper view there's also the bonnet camera and a couple of chase camera views.

The beauty about this game is that you don't have to be a gear head to have fun playing it. The options are there so you can customise and tune to your hearts content but it's not a requirement. Turn 10 have successfully developed a game that is accessible to all but have still maintained a hardcore racing game at its heart and for this they have to be commended. Without a doubt Forza 2 is a fantastic game and instantly takes its place on the podium along with other great racers.

US Hardware Sales - May

2007-06-16T23:07:00.000+01:00

US hardware sales for May have been recently released. Nintendo once again continues its dominance over the rest of the field with the DS and Wii in 1st and 2nd place respectively.

In general the number of units sold were down for all when compared to April apart from the PSP which saw a rise. The PS3 continues to under achieve but at least it wasn't outsold by the GBA this time.

1. Nintendo DS (423,000)
2. Nintendo Wii (338,000)
3. Sony PSP (221,120)
4. Sony PS2 (187,800)
5. Microsoft Xbox 360 (154,900)
6. Sony PS3 (81,600)
7. Nintendo GBA (80,554)
8. Nintendo Gamecube (10,728)

Project Sylpheed Demo Impressions

2007-06-15T22:59:00.000+01:00

Project Slypheed is a sci-fi space combat shooter and is now available for your perusal from Xbox Live Marketplace and is just 613MB to download.

The demo allows you to try out the extensive tutorials along with an actual combat mission, in which you have to escort and defend a number of cargo vessels for 15 minutes as they try to reach "Vonnegut Base"

Before jumping into combat I'd recommend that you try out the tutorials first as each one introduces you to the nuances of your ships controls from basic handling, weapons, and wingmen to more advanced maneuvers.

You have to read the briefing before you're allowed to take off and start the main mission, but after this you can research and customise your ships weapony. Once into the mission things quickly hot up as you're thrust into the defence of the cargo ships with multiple enemy targets including fighters and capital ships to contend with.

I usually like space combat shooters / simulators and initially had high hopes for this game. I enjoyed the tutorials but unfortunately once the main mission started I just couldn't quite get into it. I think the main reason for this are the engine trails left by friendly and enemy fighters. Once there are multiple enemies on screen at once, all hurtling around you, it all becomes a little too confusing for my tastes. Aesthetically the trails look quite nice, but to me they're just a visual impairment.

The production values seem to be quite high and there's a good CG intro movie which hints at elements from the main story. Graphically it's quite hard to appreciate this game. Although capital ships and backdrops look good, enemy fighters don't hang around long enough for you to get a good look at them and you'll spend a lot of time chasing a targetting recticle.

Part of me really wants to like this game, I think I'm longing to play a space combat shooter and I'll therefore reserve judgement until the final game is released. If you've played the demo let me know what you thought.

Prince of Persia Comparison Footage

2007-06-15T17:57:00.000+01:00

This rather good "Prince of Persia" comparison video has been released over at Gametrailers. The video combines footage from the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis), PC and XBox 360 versions so you can compare and contrast.

I've not seen the retro versions for a very long time and it's nice to see that the update is true to the original, not just in story but also level design.

Related article: Prince of Persia Classic Impressions

Prince of Persia Classic Trial Impressions

2007-06-13T20:29:00.000+01:00

Prince of Persia was originally launched in 1989 for the "Apple II" and went on to be ported to many platforms in the years that followed. Today marks its release on Xbox Live Arcade after an overhaul to bring it up-to date. The download is 49.89MB and is yours for 800 Microsoft Points.

At the start of the game you're told that the Sultan of Persia has left to wage war and the grand vizier Jaffar has been left to rule in his place. However, the vizier intends to marry the sultans daughter to claim the throne for himself and gives her an ultimatum, marry him or die.

This is a platform game and you have just one hour, in real-time, to negotiate the palace and rescue the princess. The core gameplay remains the same from what I remember when I played it on the Amiga many years ago. You still need to negotiate precarious platforms, avoid traps and fight guards but it has been lovingly given a new coat of paint with an updated graphics engine. The graphics, for an arcade game, are excellent and the prince still moves with the characteristic animation that made the original stand out. There are only a few controls for the prince and you have to remember that the prince can either walk or run, there is no precision analog control, and this can lead to an unfortunate end in some circumstances.

The trial version allows you to try out the first level as you find yourself thrown into the dungeon. To help you out a "butterfly" shows you the way, or you can just explore in your own time if you prefer, but to progress to what would be the next level you need to find your sword so you can dispatch the guard that is blocking your path.

The full game offers 14 levels, normal, time-attack and survival modes and has 12 achievements totalling 200 gamerscore points. Although the trial is a bit short it perfectly showcases the game, and for me it brings back a lot of memories and is instantly familiar.

I'm Impressed with this update and it is a prime example of how to produce a "retro" game for the modern age while respectfully acknowledging the original.

Halo 3 Beta - Final Thoughts

2007-06-11T22:31:00.000+01:00

Well folks, the Halo 3 Beta has finally come to an end and I did intend to post some final thoughts on the game. However I didn't manage to dedicate as much time to the demo as I intended.

Therefore, my thoughts haven't changed that much from my first impressions. I still believe this is shaping up to be a great game and I sincerely hope that the single player experience proves to be just as good as the multiplayer.

I definitely started enjoying the game more once I got used to the controls and weapons. As with all multiplayer FPS games there's a "trail-by-fire" period when it seems like all you do is stare at the re-spawn countdown. If you stick with it though it becomes an amazing amount of fun and there's always a great amount of satisfaction to be had when you take out the current leader in the match.

Roll on 26th September, when I can get my hands on the European release. In the meantime here's some footage of the Wraith Tank.

Overlord Demo Impressions

2007-06-11T18:59:00.000+01:00

Overlord is a fantasy action RPG in the third person perspective but instead of taking on the role of a traditional hero you are instead cast as an evil overlord and it's your job to bring the realm back under evil dominion. A 892MB demo of the game is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace.

As the demo begins you are awakened by your evil minions and discover that your predecessor has been killed and your tower has been plundered and wrecked. With the help of your right hand minion master "Gnarl" you're taken through a series of tutorials on summoning minions, basic combat and minion control as your unfortunate court jester takes a pummeling.

After the tutorials you're allowed to try out the first few tasks of the game that include recovering the "Tower Heart" which is the source of power for your evil tower and teaching halflings a lesson or two as you "rescue" some villages.

Not only do you get control of the "overlord" but you have the ability to summon minions to help you wreak havoc. The minions can be targeted at objects or creatures or you can take direct control of them using the right analog stick to "sweep" them to an area. Minion control looks to be a fundamental aspect of the game as not only will you need them to fight for you but also to move obstacles standing in your way.

Overlord is set in a cliched fantasy universe, with bright colours, bouncing sheep, bubbling brooks and ugly pitchfork wielding farmers. This is not a negative, the cliches are here as intended by the developers. This game does not take itself too serious as there are a number of humorous moments throughout the demo, from the dialog with the court jester to finding out that my minions like to wear pumpkins on their heads. I think it's important that this game does not take itself too seriously as I'm sure if this game was delivered in the wrong way then it may be unpalatable to some gamers.

The controls worked well although minion control uses the right joystick which can take a bit of getting used to as a majority of games reserve this for direct camera control. Instead you have to remember to hold down the left bumper button if you wish to move the camera.

The graphics are excellent with nicely animated character models and good textures. The look of the game reminds me in some ways of Fable, which is no bad thing, but a similar negative for both games is that invisible walls are employed to keep you on track. The sound also deserves a mention with good sound effects and backing music all fitting in well with the environment. The minions are especially good as they gleefully go about there tasks.

I really enjoyed this demo and I'm intrigued to see how the "minion" mechanics evolve for the final game. In the demo you only get to control one minion type but the game hints that different types will be available. The game is looking to bring some new mechanics to the action RPG genre and I can't wait to give the full game a go.