Checking-in procedure is worth checking out

SOON enough the phrase ‘talk to the machine cos the face ain’t listening’ will be in wide use.
Believe me.
That was very nearly the response I got this week when I went to check-in to a Travelodge hotel in London’s Covent Garden.
I waited patiently for a few minutes while the receptionist dealt with an upset customer and then I stepped forward handing her my reservation number.
She then looked at me and said: “Sorry we don’t check people in any more, you’ll have to do it on the computer over there.”
I asked if she was joking.
I mean, you check-in at a hotel. Right?
You always speak to a receptionist, you get asked if your bags need carrying, whether you have a credit card to scan, or whatever.
Ultimately you always have that personal greeting or connection.
Wrong.
So off I went to the computer, tapped in the reservation number and confirmed my details – despite the fact I was listed as ‘Miss Nichols’.
The machine – yes the MACHINE – then gave me my key card.
Computer check-in is the future it seems.
Much like at airports, and being your own supermarket till operator when you go shopping, it is the way things are headed. And personally I think it’s wrong.
I know the banking, financial, housing, family, (and world) situation is in disarray but hey, now we’re becoming even more distant from one another and talking to machines?
Does it really have to go that way?
I agree that it’s far easier to book gig tickets, hotel rooms, and even buy Christmas presents online but hey... does everything now have to be so impersonal?Anyway, rant over
.Oh while I’ve got you, have you seen the ‘Siri Argument’ video regarding the iPhone 4s’ new feature on Youtube?
It’s had me in stitches for the past two weeks.
Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tedPRkMjGFo.

Here are the latest game reviews:

Title: The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Platform: Wii
Genre: Action/Adventure
Price: £39.99
Hit count: 97%

The Legend Of Zelda series will no doubt hold a special place in the hearts of many gamers, some who've grown up with its earliest NES outings to those who first dabbled in the Ocarina Of Time or those with only fond handheld memories to look back on.
Skyward Sword demands that any gamer with a desire for a top five gaming experience ever should buy a Wii, MotionPlus accessory and lock themselves in a room with a telly for a fortnight.
Beautifully realised from every angle - storyline, swordsmanship controls, musical score, graphical detail - this is the ultimate Zelda adventure that will unite those nostalgic memories, place them gently to one side, and allow your mind to lose itself to Skyward Sword.
The perfect balance between motion-sensing innovation and familiar Zelda gameplay, this is likely to go down as the Wii's finest hour, as the clock starts counting down...


Title: Saints Row: The Third
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Price: £44.99
Hit count: 90%

In a turf war with Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row knows deep down that it would be running down a dark alley with its metaphorical tail between its legs.
However, that hasn't stopped the series evolving to this third instalment, which picks up the story years after the Third Street Saints have taken Stilwater for their own.
They have evolved from street gang to household brand name, with Saints sneakers, Saints energy drinks and Johnny Gat bobble head dolls all available at a store near you.
Their celebrity status has not gone unnoticed, engaging you in a criminal stand-off with The Syndicate, a legendary fraternity with pawns in play all over the globe.
Refusing to kneel to them, you get to take the fight to a new city, playing out the most outlandish gameplay scenarios ever seen, which really give Saints Row its unique differentiator from GTA.
It never takes itself too seriously, delivering incredibly over-the-top sandbox scenarios for you to play out as you see fit.
And yes, while frequently lewd and juvenile, it reminds us all that games should, at their heart, always aim to be darn good fun.


Title: WWE 12
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Wrestling
Price: £39.99
Hit count: 87%

The WWE franchise has delivered for console wrestling fans with fantastic consistency over the years, and this 2012 edition continues the trend with the most fluid, dynamic and realistic WWE simulation to date.
The addition of the new Predatory Technology gameplay system provides a major boost, helping to create the highest benchmark yet for authentic combat within the gaming ring.
Other new and improved gaming features such as the Breaking Point submission system, new character attributes, control layout, momentum and stamina further enhance the experience, and all give gamers the confidence that the developers won’t rest on their laurels when it comes to game-engine innovation.
That leaves you free to drool over the impeccable character models of your favourite stars, the new animations and lighting and the improved rendering.
And with more game modes than you can possibly imagine, the replay value in the WWE ring has never been higher.


Title: Super Mario 3D Land
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Genre: Action/Adventure
Price: £34.99
Hit count: 91%

Get ready for a new spin on a familiar tail.
The loveable gaming ingredients that have elevated the Mario franchise to god-like status are reinvented in the third dimension with the first platforming environment in true 3D.
Here, you can revel in the depth, distance and speed while running, jumping and stomping on enemies throughout the levels, plus make the most of the fan's favourite Tanooki suit and tail attack.
New enemies include Goombas with tails, tall stacks of Goombas and a Piranha Plant that spits ink to obscure your view, but none of them will cloud the overall sense of sensational platforming that gives the 3DS a much-needed shot in the arm ahead of Christmas in a similar way to Zelda's new lease of life on Wii.
It's pure, unadulterated classic gameplay, which still feels fresh despite the moustachioed plumber's already burgeoning legacy.

Return of the Mac (problems)

SO I walked into my house the other day, booted up the Mac, and began reading the paper.
A few minutes later I began to wonder who exactly had crept into my home and begun using the hairdryer I don’t own.
Confused? Yes, so was I.
I went from room to room – ear first – trying to ascertain exactly where the noise was coming from.

And as I approached my bedroom, which also plays host to the house office, I realised the noise – which by now resembled that of a small aircraft taking off – was coming from my usually trustworthy G5 Power Mac.
It’s never made this noise before and usually these sort of noises mean bad things. I turned it off, and on again, and off, and on again, and the fans started up each and every time.
Why? I don’t know. And to be honest three days on, I’m still not sure.
In the last three days I must have booted and re-booted 30 or 40 times. And it has gone through and logged in successfully once.
I took off the side panel and looked at the art-like set up and – in my mind – I was back in the garage workshop looking bewildered at my car engine.

You see I know how to change a car wheel, and how to insert a DVD into a Mac, but everything else is lost on me.
I immediately grabbed the nearest thing I could find which I figured (albeit stupidly) would help fix the problem – a duster.
‘Maybe it’s upset because it’s all grubby?’ I thought.
You see I bought the unit from a mate who ran his entire recording studio using it.
I use it for accessing the internet. And that’s it.
Anyway, the next day I took it into the Herald’s IT department gurus and they immediately laughed at my predicament.

“Macs always do this,” one of the guys said.
“They just like to throw a wobbly for no apparent reason just to show you who’s boss.”
I turned it on in front of the fast-growing audience, who by now looked like people queuing up to watch a comedy show, and the Mac huffed and puffed like it was impersonating a hurricane.

Cue laughter.
The chaps disassembled as much as they could, gave it a clean, ran a diagnostics disk – which came up with nothing of note – and left it running like that for a while.
It was powered off overnight and... you guessed it, the next morning it turned on without so much as a breath.

No noise and no drama.
Typical.

Never known a computer like it.
Anyone else experienced the same problem?
For the past three days I have been freaking out thinking I had lost, not only all my digital photos saved on the Mac, but also my entire iTunes library and other saved files.
I, like countless other people, save their lives and treasured possessions on their home computers without thought of something going wrong.
So guess who’s off to buy an external hard drive after work to back-up his bits and pieces?

UPDATE: Friday 18th November - It seems my hopes have been dashed. My Mac has booted up and connected once since IT looked at it.

Gutted.com

Oh, apologies for the huge delay in updating the blog.
Three months in Afghanistan plus other bits and pieces going on.
I’ll try and make this weekly from now on.
Here are the most recent games reviews – and there have been some absolute belters released in the last few weeks:


Title: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Platform: PS3
Genre: Action
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 97%

BATMAN raised the bar to incredible levels last week when it comes to console action adventures, but the PS3-exclusive Uncharted 3 has arguably come along and effortlessly hurdled that bar.
The first two titles gave gamers a pretty good indication that the conclusion of this trilogy would be something special, but few could have hoped for this pinnacle of production values.
From the finest graphics on the system to the unavoidably addictive multiplayer mode, Drake’s latest outing is every inch the cinematic experience, jam-packed with jaw-dropping set pieces, a much refined melee combat system and brilliant characters you believe in and care about.
There’s not a lot more you can ask for from any game, and its rivals are going to have to come up with something pretty special to knock Drake’s Deception off the top of PS3 owners’ Christmas list this year.


Title: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Shooter
Price: £54.99
Hit count: 92%

CALL Of Duty publisher Activision has claimed that up to 30 million people are playing a Call Of Duty game.
A mammoth figure in itself, but it's one that’s set to swell hugely as the sequel to the one billion dollar-grossing shooter Modern Warfare 2 hits the shelves.
Following on directly from the MW2 storyline, the action picks up amid the continuing struggle of US forces against an invasion by the Russian Federation following the framing of an undercover US agent in a terrorist attack on Moscow.
Cue the now obligatory jaw-dropping combat set pieces in single player mode, which features the cities of Washington, New York and Paris under siege, to name but three, all of which are beautifully rendered and suitably shocking and surprising in content to keep your finger firmly on the trigger throughout.
Along with classic Call Of Duty multi-character control, MW3 offers deep multiplayer support, including two-player Co-op Survival mode, plus all-new Kill Streak categories and customisable strike packages that deliver even more options for player combat styles and strategies.
When the scripted single player campaign battling transgresses into the ultra-competitive and hugely satisfying online multiplayer war-zone, you’ll be treated to another exemplary, explosive shooter.


Title: Battlefield 3
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 91%

IN A tough shooter crowd, the Battlefield series has emerged as one of the finest multiplayer experiences on the market right now.
Wrestling the single player crown from the likes of Call Of Duty is a tougher challenge, yet this explosive third outing still has more than enough for gamers to easily lose weeks of their lives to.
As bullets whizz by, walls crumble and explosions throw you to the ground, there's no doubt that here the battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before.
Tackling diverse locations from around the globe including Europe, the Middle East and North America, the differing terrain, troops transportation and multiplayer maps for each region present an incredibly rich and tactical playing experience.Graphically stunning, there are very few games that do war in such an unashamedly exciting and addictive manner.
It may fall a couple of shots short of the impeccable PC version, but still, no Xbox 360 is complete without a blast on Battlefield 3 this winter.


Title: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Platform: PS3
Genre: Action
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 91%

A STAGGERING 30 million units in just four years suggests that the Assassin’s Creed series is fully deserving of a place on the most popular franchise podium alongside the likes of Elder Scrolls, Modern Warfare and Uncharted.
That will probably come as no, ahem... revelation to fans who have followed Altair and Ezio’s adventures to this point, yet this final instalment will bring enough plot twists and turns to satisfy even the harshest gaming critic.
Here, Ezio’s perilous path takes him to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, where a growing army of Templars threatens to destabilise the region.And, in addition to Ezio’s award-winning story, the acclaimed online multiplayer experience returns, refined and expanded, with more modes, more maps and more characters that allow players to test their assassin skills against others from around the world.
It’s uber-polished, ultra-slick, sensational action gameplay from start to finish, and yet another triple-A title that you shouldn't be without this winter.


Title: GoldenEye Reloaded
Platform: PS3
Genre: Shooter
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 82%

FOR any gamer who had the pleasure of dropping the original GoldenEye into their N64 and simply being blown away for the addicted few months that followed, the prospect of the game getting a revamp for the more powerful PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles will be enough get their trigger finger involuntarily twitching.
Built on a new engine that delivers striking HD visuals, blistering fast gameplay and the ability to play using the PlayStation Move with Sharp Shooter peripheral, too, Reloaded is a brilliant shot in the arm for the famous title.
This is further boosted by the addition of new, distinct ‘Mi6 Ops Missions’ that open up a whole host of new environments and game objectives, not to mention providing the perfect playground for the all-important online multiplayer modes.
Overall, it’s a great standalone shooter, further enhanced by the legendary status the original still enjoys.

Title: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Platform: Xbox 360

Genre: RPG

Price: £49.99

Hit count: 95%

YOU’RE probably tired of hearing the words ‘eagerly anticipated’ such as been the frequency of top notch titles hitting the game store shelves over the past few weeks.

But RPG fans have been waiting five years for this fella, and who'd refuse them a little over-excitement when this title totally reimagines and revolutionises the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore in any way you choose.

The now legendary freedom of character choice and storytelling truly knows no bounds here, all played out in a new game engine that effortlessly offers up rolling clouds, rugged mountains, bustling cities, lush fields and ancient dungeons for you to explore.

And, by the way, the dragons are back, like you’ve never seen. This is gaming escapism on an unprecedented scale, so dive in and enjoy.

Celebrity spawns news

WE were obsessed with the celebrity. It now seems we’re obsessed with the celebrity pregnancy and future celebrities (namely present celebrity’s unborn kids).


Is it me or does every link you click on lead to some mention of another film/sports/pop star, musician, artist or general more-money-than-sense z-list so-called celebrity falling pregnant?

In the last few weeks alone we’ve discovered Victoria Beckham’s pregnant, Kate Hudson too, oh and Natalie Portman, Emma Bunton, Danielle Lloyd, Jessica Alba, Holly Willoughby and Kym Marsh.

Whoopee! Great! Who really cares?

Who really should care outside of the immediate family and friends?

Do you care? I know I don’t.

And you know the very second you hear/read/view the news you’re going to be faced with months and months of coverage about what it’s like to be pregnant, what pregnant celebrities are eating, and what they’re wearing.

And then we also have the continued ‘joys of motherhood’ stories from birth, and then the pictures and videos after.

Joy oh joy oh joy.

Why promote something which should ultimately be private?

It’s like Facebook. I swear we get to a certain age (around 30 or 31) when every other person’s FB picture is a cute picture of their kid.

Oh, and then we get the status updates such as ‘little timmy did his first poo today’.

I. Am. Sorry. But.... why would anyone want to know that?

Does that small snippet of information better my life? Would it ever???

It’s a weird weird world we’re living in.

And it’s a weird weird future we’re heading towards where kids are thrust into the limelight, be it celebrity or parents-who-want-their-kids-to-be-celebrities.

Yes, be proud. But what happened to wanting to be private with family matters?

Here are the latest games releases:

Title: Test Drive Unlimited 2
Platform: PS3
Genre: Racing
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 88%
Test Drive Unlimited 2 promises gamers a Massively Open Online Racing (M.O.O.R.) experience and, on the islands of Ibiza and Oahu, Hawaii, it certainly delivers.

So vast and varied are the challenges across these nuggets of paradise it’ll take you months to conquer everything in single and multiplayer modes, with your online XP gauge gradually increasing and encouraging you all the while.

From car-wreck discoveries to traditional competitive races, a thriving online community scene to the countless properties, clothes and cars you can collect, a challenge lies round every corner.

It’s a shame that the core racing events aren’t particularly enthralling or difficult, but this is a minor gripe in an open world gaming experience that offers so much.

Free exploration is a joy, in whatever cars you choose to collect, and when a game focused on racing even offers the option for customising your in-house coffee table, you know it’s a beast of a game, crying out to be conquered.

Title: Mario Vs Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Action
Price: £34.99
Hit count: 86%
Mario has created an amazing theme park called Super Mini-Mario World and he wants the first 100 guest to receive a free mini-Pauline doll.

Donkey Kong subsequently gets wind of this and comes storming in, arriving too late and, in his rage, he steals the real Pauline, leaving Mario no option but to send in this trusty wind-up minis to go and save the day.

And so begins a fantastic puzzle adventure that offers up an incredible amount of content to conquer and unlock, as you guide the mini-characters around each level to achieve your goal, reach your exit door, or batter the big boss levels.

As most Mario games go, it’s incredibly ingenious, infuriatingly addictive, with a brilliant soundtrack to accompany the game play.

Nintendo’s done it again, and prove that even when mini, Mario still packs a stonking puzzling punch.

Title: Bop It!
Platform: iPhone
Genre: Party game
Price: £1.79
Hit count: 72%
Hasbro hit on a fantastic handheld party game with the original Bop It! and the iPhone translation works just as well, making full use of different finger commands on the touchscreen and the device’s accelerometer to provide an interactive and challenging party puzzle experience.

The microphone even comes into play as one of the Bopjects available to unlock, as you work through the eight single and multiplayer modes that will see you bopping, pulling, twisting and flicking your way towards higher and higher scores. The ability to challenge friends on Facebook will no doubt spark a spate of ’Bop It!-wars’, and when you’ve got pals around you the fun takes on another dimension as you pass the phone around like a hot potato.

Slick, colourfully presented and just as addictive, Bop It! is one iPhone experience you have to sample.