Afain...

Again, no posts for some time as I've been severly overworked! Here's a brief catch up on some recents reviews etc.

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
Call of Duty: World at War
Gears 2 Multiplayer Roundtable
Mirror's Edge
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Left 4 Dead

Catching up

No posts for a while...

360 has been away in Frankfurt, Germany for repairs on the RROD this past week and is due to arrive back Wednesday 5th Nov. 9 days total from UPS collection to it returning isn't bad.

Have got Fallout 3 and Fable 2 ready for its return with Gears 2 out a couple of days later.

FIFA 09 and NBA Live 09 reviews are up, as well as hands-on previews for Battlestations: Pacific and Tomb Raider: Underworld.

Ryder Cup Day One - USA A-OK

Bad start for the European Ryder Cup team, finishing day one three points behind the Americans at 5 1/2 to 2 1/2. During the first half of the foursomes and fourballs events the Euro team was flying and looked unstoppable, but collapsed in the back nine both times.

George Bush Snr recognises Westwood's effort on the day

Credit to the American team though, as they fought back brilliantly from a very nervous start to finish the day with such a commanding lead. How the hell Mickelson and Kim came back from being three down, against Harrington and McDowell, to finish 2 up i'll never know. Westwood and Poulter were probably Europe's biggest stars on the day bu were still totally eclipsed by Mickelson and Justin Leonard, who both played superbly in high pressure scenarios.

Moment of the day has got to be when Phil Mickelson had a spectator ejected from the course for taking a photo of him during his backswing, apparently causing him to lose concentration on the shot.

Sports Gaming Guru

Just got given the role of 'Sports Gaming Guru' at Games Are Evil. Pretty sweet gig, get to mix my two favourite past times in one neat package. On that note it's a good time for sports games right now - Madden just got released, the annual 2K vs. EA Sports battle is well under way with NHL 09 and NHL 2K9 on shelves and will only intensify when the basketball games are released in a few weeks. Not to mention the FIFA vs. PES battle next month.

Good times indeed.

Hockey Woes

EA's NHL 09 severs for the EA Sports Hockey League (EASHL) are, frankly, a load of shit. I've only been able to get in one game for my club so far, and in total we've only managed 10 meaning our ranking is... less than great.

It's a shame because the rest of the game is so polished are well built. EA sort it out! The EASHL has th epotential to be one of the best features in a sports game ever!

Football Is Getting Dumb!

British football that is - not the American kind.

It has been getting me down recently at just how many Premier League teams are being bought out by foreign investors with money to waste, and no sense of the history built up over countless years prior to their arrival. I suppose it all started with Chelsea, who went from perennial upper-mid table challengers to consistent league challengers in the space of a year due to the bottomless pit that is Roman Abramovich's wallet.

That seemed to spark a number of takeovers from the American owned Man Utd, Liverpool and Aston Villa to the Icelandic contingent that controls West Ham United. Man City now find themselves under their second set of foreign owners, after Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club from the disaster zone that was Thanksin Shinawatra. And their first action... table a bid of £35 million for Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov.

And this is what gets to me, British Football (to a lesser extent all European Football) is merely a playground for the rich. The quality of a club's scouts, youth academy and coaches don't really matter anymore as many clubs seem to be able to pay whatever it costs to get the best players.

No need to give our future England star a game because we've just bought our new £35 million striker, might as well sell our academy players to Barnsley where they'll never have a chance to improve enough to play for their country. Scouse accent was annoying anyway, much better to have someone who can't speak English.

NBA/NFL-style salary caps should be introduced to the league to deter richer clubs merely paying over the odds, in terms of wages, to attract players who will be used as a backup at best. Steve Sidwell at Chelsea was a clear example, the guy barely played but still signed because of the money (not a bash on Sidwell, he does have a family to look after). A salary cap would force clubs to think about their signings a little more and would help make the league more exciting, as it would most likely put a stop to the dominance of the top four clubs and add a touch of much needed variety to the oh so monotonous parade that is the Premier League season.

Also, have you noticed the amount of managers that've been fired since foreign ownership has become so regular? The owners are pumping so much money into the clubs that if success isn't instant then you can pack your bags and leave. Eriksson, for example, managed a top ten finish with Man City last year (a more than respectable effort considering their form before him) only to find himself let go in the most unceremonious manner.

Do these owners not understand that it takes time for even the best players to settle in? Do they not understand the gulf in talent between a Man City and a Man Utd? Do they not know a it takes at least a season for a new manager to implement their way of doing things, both on and off the pitch?

Not all foreign money in the British game is bad. Randy Lerner at Aston Villa seems to 'get it', and has given Martin O'Niell a lot of time to build the club from the foundations up. This has put Villa in a stable financial position that means they'll be able to survive if he decides to leave the club. Chelsea on the other hand would be stuck down the river without a paddle' if Roman left and wasn't replaced by an equally wealthy figure. Roman seems to be thinking along the lines of 'stuff the stadium, stuff the academy, stuff the fans, just get me the best player in the world now - even if it is going to cost £30 million for a player the wrong side of thirty, and while we're at it... raise the ticket prices, a lot'. Roman will get bored eventually, he'll take his money and leave Chelsea to pay the bill without the facilities to generate the cash.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

The finest ever!

Phelps might just be the world's finest sporting star. No current team-based sportsman comes anywhere near matching his greatness - Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant you have truly been surpassed.

The only current sportsman that have any legitimate shot at being considered alongside Michael Phelps are Federer and Tiger Woods (Nadal hasn't dominated for a long enough period yet). But still even considering the success of Woods and Federer they come nowhere close to the dominance shown by Phelps in winning 11 Olympics Golds and 2 Bronze, making him the most successful Olympian of all time and he still has a chance at another 3 golds at this Olympics. The guy just seems to break - his own - world records constantly, he just keeps getting better. I've never seen dominance on this level before, and i don't think i ever will.

Greatness current sportsman. Period.

Jonathan Blow read my review?

As a games writer your primary responible is to infrom the players, but it's also fantastic to find out that developers appreciate your work enough to list them on our their blogs. It's always good to know that the guys and girls behind a game have read what you've written about them, and/or their creations - it's the next best thing to meeting and talking to them personally.

So it was great when i saw that Jonathan Blow has listed my review of Braid on the game's blog! I missed the chance to speak to him personally at Develop 08 a couple of weeks back, so knowing he has read my positive comments is the next best thing.

Here's the post on his blog.

And here's my Braid review.

Developers don't tend to highlight your negative reviews though...

A Perfect Composition

Games that generally make you stop and think about just how much potential the medium has are exceptionally rare. Too many games seem like clones of each other - run around and collect this, clear this room of enemies, hit these buttons in this order - but Braid, from developer Jonathan Blow, is certainly no copycat.

The quality of the visuals alone are enough to make you fall in love with the game, doing away with fancy technical graphics and instead focusing on a distinctive artistic style that will surely stand the test of time.

With all puzzle games though the true test lies in the quality of the gameplay. I'll just say that if anyone out there is currently working on a puzzle game it had better be bloody good because Braid just raised the bar a good 7 or 8 notches. Best XBLA game to date? Absolutely. Best 360 game? Quite possibly.

See my full review here.

A good looking MMO... finally!

At a recent NCSoft Media Day i managed to get some time with upcoming MMO Aion: The Tower of Eternity. Now, i'm not a big MMO fan by any stretch of the imagination but this particular game looks very promising. Graphically it's easily the finest MMO i've ever seen and the player v player v environment arena sounds much more in-depth and substantial than your standard PvP realms.

Check out my full preview here.

Bioshocked Brighton

Develop 08 is over, so I thought I'd share part of my write up of it...

2K Boston’s Ken Levine - joined on stage by Bioshock co-creators Nate Wells (lead technical artist), Chris Kline (lead programmer) and Bill Gardner (head of level design) - kicked off the conference proper with a session entitled ‘Bioshock and Awe’. Mainly focusing on the creative forces that lead to the final version of the game, the session described how it’s important for developers to work as a single unit (as opposed to isolated groups each with a different task; AI, design, sound etc.) and to keep an open mind about your ideas possibly being a load of twaddle.

In an attempt to demonstrate just how important it is to listen to feedback Nate Wells explained how an early build of the game involved a boss known as ‘Eelman’, a disfigured creature that slithered across the floor. “It’s as good as it sounds,” said Levine. “… It could turn invisible” continued Wells “[but] its main attack was making you feeling awkward”.

The guys went on to talk about how it’s important for games companies to hire people from a diverse range of backgrounds, saying that many games feel so similar to each other because they’re made by people who know nothing but games. “We're hiring designers at the moment,” said Levine “and we want the guy who's buying Dungeons and Dragons on the first day, but we also want to hire the guy who's into the movies of Truffaut. Bringing that mix of people in is really important.”

In fact Levine referred to himself as “the pretentious one”, often taking ideas and inspiration from classic French art-house cinema, only for Bill Gardner to bring him back to reality by telling him that no-one will buy the game if the content is too obscure or inaccessible. Levine admitted that in it’s early stages focus groups found it difficult to play through the game, “I mean, try asking people if they want to play a first-person shooter in an objectivist art-deco dystopia.” - apparently, the answer was no.

Conversation turned to talk of the upcoming Bioshock movie and how Levine is particularly pleased that director Gore Verbinski and screenwriter John Logan are working on it. Levine praised Verbinski for creating films that packed a visual punch and as such was a perfect choice for recreating the world of Rapture on film. Likewise Levine was confident that Logan was the perfect writer considering his work on Howard Hughes biopic ‘The Aviator’ as, we learnt, Rapture’s Andrew Ryan was based on Mr Hughes himself.

The session also spent a little time discussing whether or not the purchase of Irrational Games (now 2K Boston) by Take-Two in 2006 hampered Bioshock’s development. Levine was adamant that it didn’t, and went so far to say that due to a sense of creative freedom formed by the guys at Rockstar (also a Take-Two company) the company had faith in projects that challenged the established formats. “Take Two was a unique company because they'd been through the wars…” Levine said, “…they understood the artistic importance of something. The audience is not a bunch of mouth-breathing Neanderthals. The audience is ready for this sort of thing.” Amen Mr Levine.

God we're ugly

Just been watching the Olympic Opening ceremony and have come to the realisation that British people are possibly the ugliest on the planet.

Zzzzzz.....

Back from Brighton. Tired. More soon.

Brighton Ahoy!

Sorry about the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks, I've been super busy writing up previews for the upcoming EA Sports catalogue - NBA Live 09 and NHL 09 both have mega cool online features that make them worth checking out.

Anyway, off to the Brighton Develop conference this Wednesday and am looking forward to seeing the big dog himself Ken Levine (Creative Director on Bioshock/ 2K Boston President) speak about gameplay and story in Bioshock.

Fanboy alert! It's Ken Levine!

Will be heading off to the NCSoft offices later in the day to see (and hopefully play) upcoming MMO 'Aion' and interview the guys about it. I'm not a big MMO fan but it's always exciting to see games that are still in development. Need to catch the train at 6.30 am though, which is gonna be a bummer.

Looking forward to Soul Calibur 4 at the end of week too, i played the game a few months back and it felt awesome then so my expectations are pretty high. The pain of not being able to play Yoda vs. Vader will still take a while to ease though.

In other news Bionic Commando: Rearmed will be released August 13th! With that and Geo Wars 2 being released in consecutive weeks i think it's time to invest a few more Xbox Live Points.

E3 08 - MAG

MAG - Massive Action Game.



The trailer for this looks incredible - a 256 player online, squad based action game that includes all the usual MMO elements of a dip in and out campaign and personal character development. The trailer showed a massive squad of players that included tanks, air borne infantry and mounted guns attempting to take out a fortified enemy base.

If this game works properly than i might have to take my first step into the MMO world as it finally looks as though there is a game worthy of my time on the horizon.

Early days yet though...

E3 08 - DC Universe Online

Sony Online Entertainment announced the development of DC Universe Online. As the name suggests it's an MMO set in the DC Universe.

You'll be able to create your own hero/villian and enter the DC world alongside the more established hereos of Batman, the Flash, Superman etc.

Playing as a villian sounds awesome! Release prisoners from Arkham Asylum and take out the Batman! Yes!

In terms of art style it's all based around the Jim Lee drawn DC comics so if you're a fan of those then you'll be pleased, if not... tough. The design of the Joker looks particular sweet!

E3 08 - PSP... same old

PSP is still not setting the gaming world aflame with excitement and that looks set to continue.

Resistance Retribution will be coming to the PSP in Spring of 2009... looks... average.

LocoRoco 2 will also be coming to the PSP - not sure where they can go with that franchise to make it different (or better) than the original, but we'll see.

Vakyrie Chronicles looked pretty awesome though!

E3 08 - Playstation Home

So will Home ever be available? Yes... apparently...

New video of PS Home (which looks very similar to vids we've seen before) shows off some features such as game-specific locations such as "the Resistance 2" area which is all decked out in Resistance attire (metal walls and alien corpses etc.) but only shows a bunch of avatars standing around talking... great.

No world on when it's going live though.

E3 08 - PSN

Finally, all Playstation users will have a single, unique sign-on... about time! Much like your Xbox Live ID this will allow you to sign on via a PC and see your friends list and send messages etc.

New PSN title announced - Racthet & Clank Futures: Quest for Booty a continuation of the PS3 R&C game. For a downloadable game, the graphics look crazy good... like retail game good. R&C: Quest for Booty will be $14.99 and will be out this fall.

The montage of upcoming titles for the PSN make the XBLA titles look like graphical crap (apart from Geo Wars), they are 50% more expensive though.

New RagDoll Kung-Fu game coming out... i totally hate ragdoll physics.

Gran Turismo TV (GTTV) will be launched through the PSN from August 1st to users who own Gran Turismo: Prologue. This will enable users to download a variety of free and PPV content from the car world. This includes TV programmes such as Top Gear and All About Ferrari as well as actual race events from all over the world.

E3 08 - 130 New Games Coming to PS2 in 2008

As well as the usual Warriors Orochi, Singstar, and Madden updates Yakuza 2 will finally be coming out in the west this year!

Gonna have to dust off that old PS2 and plug it in for a few days later this year then...

E3 08 - A LittleBigPlanet Business

LittleBigPlanet is used to demonstrate Sony's business numbers. Wow, LittleBigPlanet is looking as stunning as ever. Final Fantasy might not be exclusive anymore but this game might just be the real reason to get that PS3 in your home.

Sony outline how they are going to start full scale distribution in the Latin American territories. The Playstation brand has generated over $50 Billion of revenue since the launch of PS1.

Seriously... LittleBigPlanet is a system seller! I want it now!

E3 08 - Resistance 2

Insomniac's Resistance 2 is the first title shown off by Sony at their press conference. And yes... it looks mightily impressive. Set in 1952 you'll need to fight the Chimera and reclaim the USA for ourselves. First a scene is shown in which you're fighting a hella big monster (i mean like bigger than the thing out of Cloverfield) with a rocket launcher.

I mean, the monster is bloody huge, and it looks amazing. Your character's movement looks a little sluggish though. A new trailer was then shown which gives you a good background of the story you'll be playing through in the game (basically... shit is all messed up).

Resistance 2 will feature 8 player online co-op and 60 player competitive multiplayer.

E3 08 - Wii MotionPlus & Wii Music

Add-on for the Wii-mote which will improve the motion controls for the controller will be bundled with Wii Sports Resort (next spring).

Looks as though the add-on works well and dramatically increases the possibilities for developers to create games that are more intune with the gamers movements.

Shigeru Miyamoto (the dude) introduces Wii-music! A music game that uses the Wii-mote (including nunchuk) and the Wii Balance Board. Wii Music is focused on allowing everyone to "experience the joy" of creating music. Instead of following on-screen commands you just move the controller (or push a button) to the timing you want and the game will pick a note for you that matches the tune of the song. For example, if you want to play the saxophone you just hit the buttons when you want to play a note and the game decide on the correct note to play.

The drum mode is different as you have to actually hit the correct pads and symbols (displayed on-screen) to create the correct sounds. The Wii Balance Board is used to hit the foot pedals. Lessons are included to touch you about playing the drums.

Classic Nintendo tunes will be included to play in the game i.e. Mario theme, F-Zero them etc.

E3 08 - Grand Theft Auto DS

Holy Crap! GTA: Chinatown Wars will be coming to the DS this year! The game will be set in GTA4's Liberty City and will introduces a host of new characters.

E3 08 - A Console for Everyone

Nintendo DS gamers are now 48% female - 52% male.

Guitar Hero: On Tour "Decades" will be coming to DS this fall and will allow players to share songs with other gamers. For example you have GH: On TOur and your friend has On Tour "Decades" - you'll be able to play each others songs co-op via local Wi-Fi.

Spore will be a unique experience on DS including a unique creature creator using touch screen and you will also be able to exchange creatures between DS'... PC one looks a lot though.

Poke-fans mark your calenders! New Pokemon Ranger set for Nov 10th

E3 08 - Call of Duty: World At War (Wii)

Loads of gameplay footage of COD: World at War which looked rather impressive graphically for a Wii title. Interestingly players were shown using the Wii-Zapper - will be interesting to see how the control scheme for movement works.

E3 08 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars

New Wii game based on the Genndy Tartakovsky Star Wars animated series. Character models are extremely loyal to the versions that appeared in the animation.

E3 08 - Pleased, but not satisfied!

Finally here's Reggie to pat himself (and his company) on the back.

Reggie says Wii sales in the US have exceeded 10 million units and the DS has broken the 20 million mark in the US (amazing DS sold 8.5 million in 2007 alone with 2008 sales 12% ahead of that!). Reggie claims that the Pokemon franchise is the main catalyst for the sales totals.

Pokemon game sales have exceeded the 185 million mark worldwide.

DS has sold over 70 million copies worldwide!

Apparently third-party Wii titles have been successful... not so sure about that.

E3 08 - Animal Crossing: City Folk

Katsuya Eguchi speaks about Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii. City Folk will include a city which will host such areas as shops, beauty salons, an area to see what other players are currently doing.

The post office will now include options to enable you to add pictures to letters and post them to the Wii message board or send directly to friends.

City Folk will also include the Wii-speak option which always you to communicate using voice with other players in the game. The Wii Speak peripheral will come bundled with the game.

Of course, all the Animal Crossing staples are present and correct - visit other players town, design your room and plant flowers etc.

E3 08 - Iwata-San

Nintendo's Global President Saturo Iwata lays out why Nintendo has been succesful:

"Evergreen Products" - Games such as Nintendogs, Mario Kart have a long product lifecycle and continue to sell many years after release - this is in contrast to the usual big release followed by distinctly fewer sells model.

"Great Ideas" - WiiWare enables small teams, with small budgets to make great games based on a great idea.

"Intuitive Interface" - New ways of interacting with games has changed the market in terms of who buy and play games.

"New Form of Social Interaction" - The breaking down of the physioligical barriers between gamers and non-gamers. Wii and DS games have enabled the steroetypical gamer to talk with the "non-gamer" about videogames on an even playing field.

Iwata also makes a jab at Sony and Microsoft by stating that innovative idea get boring faster when competitors copy and dilute ideas. Follows on by saying that Nintendo are constantly thinking about new ways to both improve the current experience and to create new ones.

E3 08 - Where's Reggie?

Reggie is not presenting the Nintendo Press Conference... boo!

They have got Olympic Gold Medallist Shaun White demoing "Shaun White Snowboarding" using the Wii Balance Board though.

E3 08 - 360 Fall Update Details

Here is the official release from Microsoft regarding their upcoming 360 fall system update. *Taken directly from Microsoft's own Major Nelson*.

· Play from hard drive. Copy your games from the game disc and play directly from the hard drive. Not only will the drive not spin, but load times are quicker, as well. Of course, you will still need the disc in the tray to prove you own the game.

· Access Xbox LIVE Marketplace on the Web. Browse and purchase Marketplace content whenever you want from Xbox.com and it downloads automatically to your console. Purchase that new map, television episode, the latest Xbox LIVE Arcade game or set up a movie to watch when you get home from work.

· Dashboard built into the new Xbox Guide. For everyone who loves the blades interface, it’s not going away; they are now built directly in to the new Xbox guide. Every feature and option is available right from the guide. You can even access your full games library at all times. No matter where you are (in dash or in game), immediately call up your games played list and directly launch a game.

· LIVE Party system. Create a party of up to eight friends, and stay with them from one game to another, or watch a Netflix movie together, or share a slideshow of your personal photos. It works with all Xbox 360 titles, not just upcoming games. LIVE Party allows up to eight people to chat in the dashboard, so you can meet up before playing.

· Xbox LIVE Primetime. This whole new category of games is going to give you more reasons to get online with your friends. Games will support everything you’d expect, like Achievements and leader boards, but many of these games will include real prizes. You can invite your friends, and even set a reminder for an upcoming show. Each game is broadcast simultaneously, so everyone is answering the same questions. Many events will have a live host, calling the shots as they happen.

· Avatars. Your online identity started as a Gamertag - it then grew into a personalized Gamercard. Now, it has evolved even further into avatars. You can express your style, check out new outfits and share this with the community. Avatars will also be integrated into Xbox LIVE Arcade games, LIVE Party, as well as retail games.

· New display support. Because you asked for it, we are adding 16X10 over VGA or HDMI, and support for 1440x900 or 1680x1050.

E3 08 - OMG! Square Enix have done it again!

How odd that an American made console looks as though it will be the dominant platform for RPG fans over the next year or more.

Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to the 360! No longer just a PS3 exclusive, FFXIII will be available in N. America and Europe on the 360 at the same time as the PS3 version. Rejoice 360 owners, rejoice!

Square Enix also announced release dates for their other 3 eagerly anticipated RPG titles - The Last Remnant will be released worldwide on November 20th and will debut on the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows. Star Ocean: The Last Hope will be available in Spring 2009. and 360 exclusive Infinite Undiscovery will be available Sept 2nd in N. America and Sept 5th in Europe.

E3 08 - Rockband Debuts Exclusively on 360

Rockband 2 will debut exclusively to the 360 this September (in the US).

Shackler's Revenge from the upcoming Guns 'n' Roses album will be available on Rockband 2, from launch, amongst 83 other tracks included on the retail disc. Among others the track list includes - Metallica, Beck, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam etc etc etc.

Great news for owners of the original Rockband is that any tracks you have downloaded for the game will be forward compatible in Rockband 2 and you'll also have the option of loading up the tracks on the original Rockband disc to use in Rockband 2.

E3 08 - The Rumours Were True

Lips is a real game and yes it's a karaoke from the creators of (the awesome series) Gitaroo Man.

Lips will allow you to use music from your own music collection from your iPod or Zune. Not only will you be able to sing into the bundled microphone you'll also be able to create sounds of a tambourine by shaking or clapping with the mic in your hands, allowing you add your own style to the track.

At this point the artist Duffy came onto stage to demo the product who, quite humorously, didn't manage to hit all the notes on her own track. Still, the whole product seemed to work very well and looked someway ahead of Sony's singstar - especially with the ability to play any of your own music collection.

E3 08 - You're In The Movies

Codemasters will be releasing "You're in the Movies" - a game which encourages you to make short, funny movies by performing the actions that the game prompts you to engage in (these include swatting bugs on the screen and dance to the in-game music).

You'll see a representation of yourself on the TV via the Xbox Live Vision Camera (bundled with the game) and the whole thing kinda seems very similar to the Eyetoy. After going through a number of tasks the game will compile the footage into a short movie by adding it's own preset scenes and graphics. You then have the option to edit the footage and upload them to Xbox Live.

It seems like a pretty funny game that would be good in a party situation but will certainly not cater to the hardcore gamer crowd.

E3 08 - Geometry Wars, Galaga Legions, Portal: Still Alive and more...

Geometry Wars 2 (Bizarre Creations) and a brand new Galaga game "Galaga Legions" (from Pac-Man World Championship Creators - Namco Bandai) will both be available next month.



This next one will send shivers down your spine. Portal: Still Alive will be released this autumn exclusively on Xbox Live as well as a mysterious South Park licensed project.

The original Banjo Kazooie will also be available via Xbox Live Arcade in the run up to the release of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

E3 08 - The new Xbox Experience

Xbox Live will be receiving a dramatic overhaul this autumn. The much talked about "avatars" (very similiar Nintendo's Mii system) will be included in the update allowing you to customise a character that "shows off your personality" and allows you to "express yourself".

As a whole the new system looks a lot simpleir and user friendly but as a "hardcore gamer" i get the feeling that the whole thing might be a little too simple and, dare i say it, too "Nintendo-ey".

Apparently the "new Xbox experience" is tailored to the living room. Instead of the traditional friends list you'll now have a community channel that that show which friends are online in a lobby and are represented by their avatars. This will allow you to connect with multiple friends at once and do things such as share photos etc.

Microsoft have also signed up with production company Endemol (Big Brother and Who Wants to be a Millionaire) to produce "Prime Time" - a massively multiplayer online game show in which you can compete against the whole of Xbox Live in a live game show.

A new "games channel" will also be added. This enables you to take any friends that are within the aforementioned community channel and launch a game (i.e. the newly announced Uno Rush") which will transfer all of your selected friends with you.

E3 08 - Microsoft: "360 will sell more units than PS3 this generation"

Microsoft claim that the 360 will definitely sell more units than the PS3 this generation. They also claim that the user base for Xbox Live has over 12 mi lion users worldwide and live users have spent over $1 Billion on Xbox Live downloads since launch.

NBC and Universal Studios have also signed up to release TV programming and movies over Xbox Live (in the US).

That means awesome movies like The Bourne Supremacy and Fast and the Furious will now be available - from today! If only i was in the US....

A selection of the MGM movie library will be available from today in Europe.

E3 08 - The Locusts Are Back

Probably the most anticipated game between now and christmas is Gears of War 2. The footage shown during Microsoft's press conference looked mightily impressive to say the least. While perhaps not much has changed gameplay-wise since Gears 1 the sheer scale of the game this time round looks significantly bigger.

The amount of enemies on-screen at once is, frankly, ridiculous with seemingly whole armies of locusts swarming in your direction. You'll also have to go up against Burmaks (giant beasts that you couldn't fight in the original) - which will be fun... if difficult.

New five player co-op mode "Horde" included in which ;players will have to battle wave after wave of increasingly difficult groups of locusts.

Released worldwide Nov. 7th.

E3 08 - I Love Capcom

The big story: Resident Evil 5 has full online co-op support!

Released in N. America & Europe on March 13th 2009 and Japan March 12th 2009.

Multi Kill!

Unreal Tournament 3 (360) review is now online over at GamersUniverse. Check it out here.

Not Such A Bad Company After All

For the past couple of weeks all I've been playing (in between games i gotta play for review) is Battlefield: Bad Company. I wouldn't exactly call myself a Battlefield veteran so I can't really compare this game is previous versions in much detail so all i will say is wow!


In terms of pure fun this game is up there with the very best and treads a fine line between tactical play and all out carnage. Both single and multiplayer elements are well put together and feel brilliantly polished. Enemies in single player do seem to be able to spot you a little too easily though, which makes stealthy play pretty difficult, but hey when you can blow up virtually everything in the game world who needs stealth, right?

"Gold Rush" (the sole multiplayer mode) is a well conceived idea also and offers you a wide range of routes to take in order to complete your objective. In terms of weapons it's not the guns but the support items that are the most gun to use. Destroying tanks with the mortar launcher or the laser designator (a user controlled missile) is hard to beat and I'm struggling to find an example of something equally as satisfying in any other FPS.

Anyway, i suggest checking the game out and giving it a spin for yourself. In the mean time take a look at these user uploaded pics from the game's multiplayer. The first one i took myself and got an achievement at the same time, which somehow scrambled the top of the pic - oh well.

Note - Click on pics to see full size image.

Go Team!

Shit... dude is dead!

WTF?

Imagine what that looks like from the other side of the wall...

New Banner - Check It!

Huge thanks to Dom Palmer for coming up with the awesome banner using the Battlefield: Bad Company grenade logo - big improvement over my personal effort, as was the old banner.

Hopefully this relationship will spawn new banners each month so keep your eyes peeled!

You can check out Dom's blog (including other examples of his work) right here.

Look him up!

I got on a leaderboard! (Briefly)

First time i've ever noticed myself on a worldwide leaderboard, albeit briefly! Check out the screen below of the Soul Calibur (XBLA version) Extra Survival leaderboard using Sueng Mina - 10th place in the world. Yay! I've now been surpassed - oh well... geeks.

RSS Feed

If anyone has subscribed to this blog - via the RSS feed - could you please delete that subscription and re-sucribe via the link on the right.

The old feed will no longer be updated from this point forwards.

If you want the same type of feed subscription as you had previously please use the "Atom" link at the bottom of the Posts section.

Thanks.

Update

New articles!

Reviews
NASCAR 09 (PS3/360)
Shadowgrounds Survivor (PC)
Top Spin 3 (PS3/360)

Previews
Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise


Also added a recommended and watching/listening etc. sections to side panel!

DragonBall Z: Burst Limit Review

You can see my recent review of DBZ: Burst Limit right here!

It's actually pretty decent (for a Dragonball game).

My Second "Spore"!

My First "Spore"

So, i downloaded the Spore Creature Creation trial version today and spent a little while messy with it. I was surprised at just how user friendly the whole experience is, literally anyone could make something look (pretty much) exactly as they have planned.

I think i have been persauded to buy the game...

Here are a couple of pics of my first Spore creation, Bodkin.

Notable articles to date

Here's a list of reviews i've written you can find on the web.

Rainbow 6 Vegas 2
N+ (XBLA)
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
UEFA Euro 2008
Football Manager 2008 (Xbox 360)
NBA Ballers: Chosen One

Here are some other notable articles.

Madden 09 Cover Athlete
Midway Gamer's Day 08
NBA Ballers: Chosen One Preview
WiiWare EU Release
Mario Super Sluggers Confirmed

Manningham & Phillips

OK so this isn't really about games but what the hell.

I'm just so excited that that the Giants managed to put together another awesome draft class for 2008. Stand-outs are Safety Kenny Phillips for University of Miami and Wide Receiver Mario Manningham from Michigan. Manningham should stabilise the Giants the receiving core with him and Burress playing the outside and Steve Smith in the slot. Eli Manning has got no excuses now, the receivers are all there!

Manningham

Kenny Phillips is pretty much the finest safety in the draft so he should be able to step straight into the void left by Gibril Wilson jumping ship to the Oakland Raiders, who in my mind, might actually have a chance to win a few games for once.

Phillips

So yeah... Go Giants!

On a gaming note Brett Favre has named as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 09, which is awesome! It's good that he'll be the cover star before we get too hooked up on some other quarterback.

UEFA Euro 2008 Review

Check out the review here!

Boom Blox (Wii) "Meet the Blox" Video

Oh man, this game looks awesome. Who would have thought Spielberg would know anything about games?

Condemned 2 Review

Check out my review here.

Little Guys Can WIn Too!

Woot! Woot! Score one for the little guy! Electronic Arts have decided to scrape the idea of paying for guns as extra content in the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company. The extra guns will now be available immediately to players who purchase the special edition and for everyone else you can earn them by levelling up to the max level. Still a bit of a scam but a much better deal! The huge outcry over the intentions of EA seem to have worked, at least for now...

Just yesterday finished Condemned 2: Bloodshot, review will be up probably tomorrow over at ripten.com. In the meantime you can check out a couple of news stories i wrote recently on Mario Super Sluggers and Orlando Bloom being handed the lead role in the Prince of Persia movie/movies. Bloom is probably the most "wooden" actor i've ever seen so it'll be interesting to see what he can bring to the table. Nothing probably.

Found an awesome article over at 1up.com on the 101 Best Free Games of 2008. So if you waste al ot of time online be sure to check out some of these, in some cases they are totally awesome. I like Splume, a Bust-A-Move clone with a few extras.

That'll do for now, gotta finish mah' Condemned 2 review!

Mahjong Man

Once again, another piece over at Ripten - NBA Ballers: Chosen One preview.

Found this awesome pic on Kotaku and had to put it up here. This game of "sexy mahjong" was too much for this Japanese guy.

Funny.

Got my copy of Condemned 2 Friday and from what i've played so far it's kind of a mixed bag. It is truely gruesome and scary if played in the right setting (dark room), but the combat is fairly repetitive which is a shame as other parts of the game work really well; the investigations for example. They'll be a review of it up somewhere in the next couple of days, i'll let you know.

COD4 map pack has taken up the bulk of my time this week. Generally the maps are good and make a welcome change from the bleak settings of the original maps. Having not played COD regulary for a few weeks, these maps rekindled my interest. Already though i'm dreading the though of going back to those other maps, so when the new ones get integrated into the whole multiplayer i dont think i'll be playing much after that. Seems like one of the main reasons i stopped playing was i got bored of those original maps - Bloc and Vacant are just dull to look at and play.

Creek is an interesting one. It has a good design in theory but the spawn locations and the position of objectives (in objective based game-types) are just plain biased. However starts on the high ground will generally win, which sucks. IW need to change up the spawn locations on that map fast.

COD4 Maps, N+, Bryon

New review for N+ up, over at Ripten. Check it out here.

Call of Duty 4 map pack should be available tomorrow morning. I haven't played any COD4 properly for quite a long while now, still gonna get the maps though. Hopefully it'll reinvigorate my interest in the game, at least for a while.

Been playing a HUGE amount of N+ recently, partly for review purposes but also just cause it's so damn addictive! Some of the levels are extremely frustrating and often down right sadistic but in a way that's what keeps you coming back.

The whole Bryon review on videogames has been the hot topic recently and i've found it somewhat interesting. It seems like she's just setting out a model that builds on the system currently in place, only that she recommends the BBFC take a bigger role in the classification process. This makes a great deal of sense as games such as Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 has no BBFC rating despite having been awarded a 16+ rating from PEGI. In reality, that means a 6 year old could legally go and purchase a copy of the game. Kinda ridiculous really.

Round Up for March 27th.

First post for some time. Sorry folks, i've been a little busy! Among other things i've written a Rainbow Six Vegas 2 review which is up on Ripten.com. Check it out here.

Starting to get real excited about GTA4 now! Pre-ordered it today, a little late but at least i still could. Midnight launch for the game happening in mah' town too, so i'll obviously be there! Probably end up completing the story stupidly quick and then regret that i haven't left anything for later. But... there's multiplayer, so it's all good!

Totally addicted to N+ at the moment and i haven't even tried the multiplayer. Eternal Sonata has been getting a good outing onthe ol' 360 recently too. The same can't be said for Mass Effect though, not sure if i'm ever gonna finish that one.

COD4 maps next week! I've not been playing to much COD4 in the past few weeks but i'm still gonna splash out for the maps as soon as they come out (3rd April). You never know, it may get me playing it again.

5 New Gameplay Movies

5 new gameplay videos have been added. Click below to see each video or click the "8WM Videos" link in the sidebar.

Haze - Gameplay Video 1, Gameplay Video 2

Soul Calibur 4 - Gameplay Video 1, Gameplay Video 2

Battle of the Bands - Gameplay Video 1

Here is the Battle of the Bands Gameplay Video - just to get your appetite going.

Preview: Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Another round of terrorist swatting action is coming our way, on Thursday 20th March Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 will be shipping out across the EU. The game has looked fantastic since the early screenshots and on the eve of it's release, it's looking even more promising.

Something that has been getting alot of attention in the build up to the game's release is the A.C.E.S. experience point system. Essentially this breaks down the levelling up system into three sections; marksman points gained through getting headshots, CQB points gained through taking out enemies up close, and assault points gained through blasting enemies through cover. As you gain XP in these different categories you achieve ranks in each of the three A.C.E.S. areas, these ranks in turn unlock new items specific to that category. So, for example, you could achieve rank three and marksman and be rewarded with a new sniper rifle, perfect for headshots.

This is intended to reward players in a meaningful way, as it will fill up each players armoury differently depending on their playing style. So if you like to keep your distance with a sniper rifle your weapons list may be full of sniper and assault rifles, whereas if your a run 'n' gun kind of player you may have a whole host of shotguns and grenades at your disposal. The A.C.E.S. points are achieved in both single and multiplayer as one complete XP system.

In comparison to the original, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is looking to be a bigger, longer and deeper game in both single and multiplayer modes. There will be 13 new multiplayer maps (including a couple of classic mas from R6: Raven Shield), 11 new weapons, a tweaked co-operative play mode, the in depth experience system and a longer singleplayer mode. Added to this there are apparently 36 different ways to take out your enemies (Major Nelson Podcast 3/14), and there should be enough to keep even the demanding gamer busy.

This time round, the co-operative mode will now be playable through the entire single player campaign, unlike the original Rainbow Six Vegas. So now, 2 players can play through the entire story mode. The main character in the game, Bishop, will be played by the host, who will also command the friendly AI allowing the second player to act pretty much like a hired gun.

Two new multiplayer game modes have also been added; Team Leader and Demolition. Team Leader sounds particularly interesting. In Team Leader one player per team is designated the "leader", with the objective being to either get your leader to an extraction point, or to eliminate the other team. The twist is that while the your leader is alive, you have respawns available; kill the leader and respawns are taken away. Each of the two leaders can also see each other on the radar, making team tactics and communication vital to success.

Add to this the in-depth character customisation and, of course, achievement points (for 360 owners) and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 looks to be one of the games of the year.

Review up in the next few days.

4 New Gameplay Videos

Four new videos posted. 3 LEGO Indiana Jones gameplay videos as well as a Ghostbusters gameplay video.

Apologies for the length of the Ghostbusters video, the PS3 it was being played on was not very reliable.

The Ghostbusters video can be seen below.

Check here for the other videos.

A link to all the videos has been added in the sidebar.

Eight Way Movement TV Beta

Rock Band - Stage Demo from Play.com LIVE at Wembley.

Eight Way Movement is getting ready to hijack your internet experience. This video is a test of the system, expect many more videos soon - including video reviews, video blogs, gameplay footage and more.

A new RSS feed has been made available specifically for video and other media content.

All videos can also be seen on youtube here.

Play.com Live Hotdogs & System Crashes

OK, so Play.com Live is over. It was pretty successful i suppose, alot of people there of all ages having a good time, some of 'em playing games. More on that coming soon. I've got some gameplay videos to put up, so keep an eye out for those in the near future.

Also have a short videoblog on of the event that i made, which will be up soon and there are plans afoot to make regular Eight Way Movement media available in the form videos/podcasts etc.

In the meantime why not familiarise yourself with the hotdogs that were being sold at the event.


PS. Couldn't resist posting this pic also. As we were playing Soul Calibur 4 at the event, the 360 we were playing on crashed just as we unlocked an achievement somehow. Soul Calibur 4 seemed to have alot of problems, constantly crashing on numreous consoles, put it down to the game not being ready yet or heavily used 360's.