SO no sooner have we all bought HD televisions, we’re now being told the ‘new’ generation of sets are now outdated.
Yep 3D TV is here, well almost.
I’m sorry but at the moment when I think of the 3D revolution, I think of being conned out of money.
I mean, Avatar in 3D. Man that was cool, and you really felt like you were part of something new and hip.But then on my second outing to the cinema to see Clash of The Titans I came away feeling ripped off.
It later transpired that 3D bits had been added to the main battle scenes afterwards because its producers were impressed with how much money Avatar grossed.I can’t help but feel that I will be as disappointed, if not more, by spending £2,000+ on a new 3D TV.
My parents have just signed up to Sky for the HD version and to be honest the picture is amazing.But I seem to be one of many who believe we should already have that sort of clarity on any TV for the money we pay in the TV licence.
To date the main broadcasters (i.e. BBC and Sky) have been heavily flirting with the idea of 3D TV channels and there has been a football match or two on the latter (which for the record wasn’t THAT impressive, with the crowd shots being more spectacular than the football itself).
And Samsung have just launched the first of its new 3D sets.
It is a step into the future.
When it fully comes online in a couple of years time, it will no doubt be worth investing in.
You will probably be able to buy a TV for about £800 then and even the cheapest set should boast some quality.But until then I remain unconvinced.
Another toy for the fat cats to play with.
Oh, and I bet in the future when you’re sat in your front room watching your 3D TV, if listen really carefully you might well here those fat cats laughing at how stupid you look in your 3D glasses.
Anyway, for the time being spend what money you aren’t saving (for a 3D TV) and buy one of these:
Title: Super Street Fighter IV
Platform: PS3
Genre: Fighting
Price: £29.99
Hit count: 5/5
Just when you thought this legendary series had done it all, the follow-up to Street Fighter IV further redefines the fighting game genre with classic 2D Street Fighter action, a host of new and returning characters, more advanced online gameplay, new ultra combos and much more.
It has instant appeal, throwing you quickly into fast and furious fighting action, while also providing the opportunity for more serious gaming scrappers to refine their fighting style, discover new ways to chain combos and improve their overall skills.
Long-term fans of the franchise will simply see this as yet another first-rate release that allows them to indulge themselves once again in what must be the finest fighter of all time.
Also, newcomers will wonder why they’ve being missing out on so much fun for so long. It’s well priced and a superb way to spend hours on your PS3, so buy it now!
Title: Football Manager 2010
Platform: iPhone
Genre: Football Management
Price: £6.99
Hit count: 4/5
Known for draining hours, days and months from many adults’ lives, the Football Manager series has always retained that ’just one more game’ appeal.
This means that deciding to install it on your PC or console has to be a carefully-considered lifestyle choice!
Pared down and polished up for the slickest on-the-go gadget around, Football Manager 2010 is a brilliant ’lite’ version of the full desktop experience, but don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s been over-simplified.
The player search database is still huge and nearly a dozen leagues are available for managers. Understandably, things such as the 3D match engine have been retrofitted with more basic top-down animations, but this never feels like a step backwards.
Some fiddly fingerwork is required in team selection, but for those with dainty digits, this will herald an extremely exciting launch for the portable gaming world.
Title: God Of War: Collection
Platform: PS3
Genre: Action
Price: £24.99
Hit count: 5/5
In a way, it’s a little harsh to bring out the early two incarnations of the God Of War series so close to the monstrous impact that the third and final episode has made on PS3.
But giving people the opportunity to fully appreciate how far the series has come is one action experience that no serious gamer should turn their noses up at.
Graphically, they struggle to keep pace with the likes of Uncharted 2, but they’re still both a dream to play – eclipsing many of the early, and some recent, big next-gen releases.
The HD graphical upgrade has certainly worked its magic, making the early adventures of Kratos all the more engaging.
Each half of this incredible bundle represents a serious piece of gaming history and you’d be mad not to add them to your collection – even if you played through the PS2 versions first time around.
Title: Splinter Cell: Conviction
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Price: £49.99
Hit count 5/5
Sam Fisher’s previous forays into the world of stealth have been supremely successful, so it’s a pretty bold move to adapt the gameplay formula for the next episode in the series.
But Splinter Cell: Conviction proves to be a masterful progression for the series, restructuring the stealth aspects to turn Fisher from a silent shadow lurker into a ruthless hunter.
Intuitive controls allow you to improvise with the environment around you and react on the fly to any changing enemy situations.
You can create diversions, execute dozens of close-combat takedowns with adrenaline-pumping accuracy and make the most of new high-tech gadgets to stay one step ahead of your pursuers.
While the single-player story may be a little short, the additional modes provide admirable replay value and ensure that Conviction raises the bar for all action stealth titles that follow.
Title: Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City
Platform: PS3
Genre: Action
Price: £34.99
Hit count 5/5
Liberty City dropped the jaws of sandbox gamers long ago when Grand Theft Auto IV first hit the streets.
Now, this duo of expansion packs finally brings the fresh perspective on life in the city to PS3 gamers.
Whether you’re unearthing the seedy underbelly of Liberty City bursting to the seams with guns, glitz and grime through The Ballad Of Gay Tony or joining Johnny Klebitz and his biker crew in a vicious turf war with rival gangs in The Lost And The Damned, this additional content brings the overall GTA IV experience close to perfection. New missions, side missions, characters, weapons, multiplayer modes, TV, internet and radio content all add to the rich tapestry of life in this virtuoso virtual world.
A few hours with both of these episodes and you’ll realise you’d have been happy to pay double. GTA is still the daddy.
GAME CHART: ALL FORMATS FULL PRICE
1. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction
2. Just Dance
3. Grand Theft Auto – Episodes From Liberty City
4. Wii Fit Plus
5. Monster Hunter Tri
6. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
7. Wii Sports Resort
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
9. Just Cause 2
10. Pokemon SoulSilver
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (c) ELSPA (UK) Ltd
Friday 30 April 2010
Thursday 1 April 2010
Stranger than fiction?
EVERYONE loves a good conspiracy theory right? Well this week I’ve been sticking my head into the real X-Files.
Last month the Ministry of Defence released its UFO files onto the National Archives website (http://ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/).
The files contain a wide range of UFO-related documents covering the years 1994 to 2000.
They offer the viewer to find out more about close encounters, strange illnesses, flying ‘Toblerones’ and unidentified objects tracked on radar.
Files range in size from 2MB to about 195MB and contain an absolute shedload of information.
Sifting through the pages is actually quite eerie as the files contain letters to and from the Government denying reports.
In one report it states: “It is clear from the reports we receive that there are many strange things to be seen in the sky.
“However, we believe that explanations could be found for most of them.”
Freaky huh?
Random seems to be the theme of this week for me as I’ve been looking at some seriously ‘left at the traffic lights’ sort of stuff.
Like for instance a little search engine site which tells you which song was number one on the day you were born.(www.everyhit.com/dates).
There’s also a strange ‘statastic’ website which tells you heaps of random facts you’ll never really need to know.
Saying that though it is quite fascinating to look at a figure – increasing every single second – relating to births in the world at that one time.
The nifty web page also has stats on how much oil is being pumped around the world at any one time, how many people have died of malaria this year (morbid I know), and the amount of forest the earth is losing every single second.
Check it out at www.poodwaddle.com/clocks2.htm.
Here are the latest game releases and games chart:
Title: God of War III
Platform: PS3
Genre: Action
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 5/5
With so much emphasis placed on multiplayer gaming experiences online, it’s sometimes nice to settle down with a single-player only title and think: "This is just for me to enjoy."
And God of War III is about as good a gaming gift you could give yourself right now.
As its first and probably final outing on the PS3, this is an all-action mythological encounter that combines as equally engaging a storyline as the first title with the ramped-up combat prowess of the sequel.
Bundle in the PS3’s beefy graphics capability and you have one of the punchiest packages around.
Epic boss battles, clever puzzles for you to ponder on, and the kind of over-the-top gore and brutality you’d expect from this fantasy world, all add up to one gaming experience you wouldn’t want to share with anyone, even if there was an online option!
Title: Metro 2033
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Shooter
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 5/5
Bleak is not the word. Set in the shattered subway of a post-apocalyptic Moscow, Metro 2033 is another one of those stories where the fate of mankind rests in your hands.
After 20 years spent underground, with human civilization in a new Dark Age, you must now venture beyond the Metro Station-City limits, from the forgotten catacombs beneath to the desolate wastelands above, where your actions could save the world – or what’s left of it.
But what a wonderful, atmospheric world to explore, putting this shooter up there with the likes of Bioshock and Half-Life 2.
In fact, it’s probably better than Bioshock 2, simply because this is a unique world that will make your jaw drop – we’d already seen Rapture once before.
Yes, the shooter action itself could have done with another wee bit of polish, don’t let that stop you immersing yourself in yet another incredible shooter to land on the 360.
Title: Superstar V8 Racing – Next Challenge
Platform: PS3
Genre: Racing
Price: £39.99
Hit count: 3/5
Hmmmm, there’s been a glut of outstanding racing titles in recent years, and carving your way up into pole position within the genre is not easy.
And with Gran Turismo 5 on the horizon, staying there will be even harder. Here, Superstar V8 Racing – Next Challenge sets its target audience squarely at the more serious racing gamer.
If you’re expecting to pick this up and screech away with the reckless abandon of DiRT 2 or the Need For Speed series, you might be a little disappointed.
However, if you’re prepared to tweak your suspension, master the racing lines and devote the time this title requires, you’ll unearth a racer that handles supremely well and looks pretty darn good, too.
Computer opponents love to take you on with aggressive AI and the online mode is perfectly playable as well.
All in all, Next Challenge may never reach the peak of the podium, but it’s a solid challenger.
Title: How To Train Your Dragon
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Price: £39.99
Hit count: 4/5
It’s one of the hot new films doing the rounds for families right now, and when the kids return from the cinema desperate for a pet dragon of their own, pulling out this disc could prove a winning move.
Set after the film, you take the role of either lead character Hiccup or Astrid, exploring the island of Berk and preparing your dragon for battle.
A host of well-considered mini-games act as the training material for your dragon. Once trained, you send your dragon into battle tournaments, where kid-friendly combat controls do a cracking job. The level of dragon customisation is pretty impressive, too.
Also, the full cast lend their vocal talents to this 360 production – making it a really seamless continuation from the big screen, and one most little dragon lovers will be crying out for this Easter.
GAMES CHART ALL FORMATS FULL PRICE
1. Just Cause 2
2. Pokemon SoulSilver
3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
4. Pokemon HeartGold
5. Just Dance
6. Wii Fit Plus
7. God Of War III
8. Final Fantasy XIII
9. Wii Sports Resort
10. Wii Fit Plus
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (c) ELSPA (UK) Ltd
ends
Last month the Ministry of Defence released its UFO files onto the National Archives website (http://ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/).
The files contain a wide range of UFO-related documents covering the years 1994 to 2000.
They offer the viewer to find out more about close encounters, strange illnesses, flying ‘Toblerones’ and unidentified objects tracked on radar.
Files range in size from 2MB to about 195MB and contain an absolute shedload of information.
Sifting through the pages is actually quite eerie as the files contain letters to and from the Government denying reports.
In one report it states: “It is clear from the reports we receive that there are many strange things to be seen in the sky.
“However, we believe that explanations could be found for most of them.”
Freaky huh?
Random seems to be the theme of this week for me as I’ve been looking at some seriously ‘left at the traffic lights’ sort of stuff.
Like for instance a little search engine site which tells you which song was number one on the day you were born.(www.everyhit.com/dates).
There’s also a strange ‘statastic’ website which tells you heaps of random facts you’ll never really need to know.
Saying that though it is quite fascinating to look at a figure – increasing every single second – relating to births in the world at that one time.
The nifty web page also has stats on how much oil is being pumped around the world at any one time, how many people have died of malaria this year (morbid I know), and the amount of forest the earth is losing every single second.
Check it out at www.poodwaddle.com/clocks2.htm.
Here are the latest game releases and games chart:
Title: God of War III
Platform: PS3
Genre: Action
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 5/5
With so much emphasis placed on multiplayer gaming experiences online, it’s sometimes nice to settle down with a single-player only title and think: "This is just for me to enjoy."
And God of War III is about as good a gaming gift you could give yourself right now.
As its first and probably final outing on the PS3, this is an all-action mythological encounter that combines as equally engaging a storyline as the first title with the ramped-up combat prowess of the sequel.
Bundle in the PS3’s beefy graphics capability and you have one of the punchiest packages around.
Epic boss battles, clever puzzles for you to ponder on, and the kind of over-the-top gore and brutality you’d expect from this fantasy world, all add up to one gaming experience you wouldn’t want to share with anyone, even if there was an online option!
Title: Metro 2033
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Shooter
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 5/5
Bleak is not the word. Set in the shattered subway of a post-apocalyptic Moscow, Metro 2033 is another one of those stories where the fate of mankind rests in your hands.
After 20 years spent underground, with human civilization in a new Dark Age, you must now venture beyond the Metro Station-City limits, from the forgotten catacombs beneath to the desolate wastelands above, where your actions could save the world – or what’s left of it.
But what a wonderful, atmospheric world to explore, putting this shooter up there with the likes of Bioshock and Half-Life 2.
In fact, it’s probably better than Bioshock 2, simply because this is a unique world that will make your jaw drop – we’d already seen Rapture once before.
Yes, the shooter action itself could have done with another wee bit of polish, don’t let that stop you immersing yourself in yet another incredible shooter to land on the 360.
Title: Superstar V8 Racing – Next Challenge
Platform: PS3
Genre: Racing
Price: £39.99
Hit count: 3/5
Hmmmm, there’s been a glut of outstanding racing titles in recent years, and carving your way up into pole position within the genre is not easy.
And with Gran Turismo 5 on the horizon, staying there will be even harder. Here, Superstar V8 Racing – Next Challenge sets its target audience squarely at the more serious racing gamer.
If you’re expecting to pick this up and screech away with the reckless abandon of DiRT 2 or the Need For Speed series, you might be a little disappointed.
However, if you’re prepared to tweak your suspension, master the racing lines and devote the time this title requires, you’ll unearth a racer that handles supremely well and looks pretty darn good, too.
Computer opponents love to take you on with aggressive AI and the online mode is perfectly playable as well.
All in all, Next Challenge may never reach the peak of the podium, but it’s a solid challenger.
Title: How To Train Your Dragon
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Price: £39.99
Hit count: 4/5
It’s one of the hot new films doing the rounds for families right now, and when the kids return from the cinema desperate for a pet dragon of their own, pulling out this disc could prove a winning move.
Set after the film, you take the role of either lead character Hiccup or Astrid, exploring the island of Berk and preparing your dragon for battle.
A host of well-considered mini-games act as the training material for your dragon. Once trained, you send your dragon into battle tournaments, where kid-friendly combat controls do a cracking job. The level of dragon customisation is pretty impressive, too.
Also, the full cast lend their vocal talents to this 360 production – making it a really seamless continuation from the big screen, and one most little dragon lovers will be crying out for this Easter.
GAMES CHART ALL FORMATS FULL PRICE
1. Just Cause 2
2. Pokemon SoulSilver
3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
4. Pokemon HeartGold
5. Just Dance
6. Wii Fit Plus
7. God Of War III
8. Final Fantasy XIII
9. Wii Sports Resort
10. Wii Fit Plus
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (c) ELSPA (UK) Ltd
ends
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