Sunday 30 May 2010

9

What do you get if you cross Little Big Planet's Sack Boy, Resistance Fall of Man and a Sentinal from The Matrix? 9.

In 9's future world, rendered in sepia tones with many dark spaces which lies in ruins after a war between mankind and machines is '9' and this film is his story, it's not a 21st century post-apocalypse but instead an early 20th century ruins. No computer or nuclear weaponry is involved. Rather the imaginative machinery derives from Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" by way of Baron Munchausen and Fritz Lang.

Its heroes are what Acker calls "stitchpunk" creations -- 8-inch puppets sewn together by a divine creator, in this case, the human inventor of the evil Great Machine -- that carry possessions within zippered bodies and have been endowed with a "soul" by their now-dead creator.

These creatures, with only numbers for names (Slipknot?), must battle mechanical monsters in the ruins of a vaguely European city, a vast junkyard from which they scavenge useful debris.

Looks stunning in FullHD. So i give you the full original 10minute short to enjoy.


[mobiletone] owner of a pimped 40Gb

Friday 28 May 2010

Game Over Man, GameOver

RLOD

*crys*

just dismantled it and got my RedDeadReddemption disc out of it.
it didn't shut down right last night, turned on this evening and it's borked. attempt to power up makes a couple of clicking sounds, then flashing red light.

[mobiletone]

Test Drive Unlimited, Not Your Usual Driving Game

Want In On A TDU2 Beta?


Leading up to the launch of Test Drive Unlimited 2, we are recruiting a team of dedicated beta testers to provide feedback, and help us make Test Drive Unlimited 2 the ultimate Massively Open Online racing experience. This dedicated group will be selected based on their knowledge of the genre, passion for video games, and ability to effectively test the evolving "beta" stage software in use. Many will apply, few will be accepted.

As a beta tester your feedback will be essential in driving the game to completion. Your opinions, feedback, and rigorous road testing will help us optimize the performance, handling, and final feel of the game. You will be among the first players on earth to experience Test Drive Unlimited 2, and your feedback will help make the game everything it can be.

Apply for your spot in the beta today!

[mobiletone]

Furtive Killzone 3 Footage


Remember to sign your NDAs on the way out yeah ;)

[mobiletone]

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Deviant Behavior in The Wild West

PS3 Games Better Than 360 Games, Official

I mean, just look at the percentage of dross games on the Xbox compared to the Glorious PS3 for a start. Also if one was to look at console sales figures since Nov 09 you'd find the PS3 outselling the other console every single week since then. Dare i say win?

[mobiletone] really enjoying playing REZ on his dreamcast and HDTV

Monday 17 May 2010

i'm Sorry Dave, I Can't Let You Do That

The next time you fall asleep in front of the TV, someone, or rather something, could be watching you – and all in the name of saving energy.

Sony last year launched a new addition to its Bravia range of TVs, which features facial recognition technology similar to that found in the electronics giants' most advanced cameras. As a result, the TV is able to "watch" you and can turn the picture off if you nod off in front of Match of the Day, saving the energy used by the backlight.

The Bravia WE5 also features a heat and motion sensor that similarly allows the system to turn off the picture if it is left playing to an empty room, and an ambient light sensor that reduces the output from the TV's backlight depending on the brightness of the room.

A spokeswoman for the company said that the new sensor technology will now be rolled out to other models in the Bravia 2010 range, delivering significant energy savings to those viewers guilty of leaving their TV on when it is not being watched.

"If you wonder off to make a cup of tea you will still be able to hear the TV but it won't be wasting energy showing the picture," she said, adding that the picture returns as soon as someone walks into the room

Sunday 16 May 2010

Gunslingers Rejoice

quick one - next Friday is the release day for Red Dead Redemption, I've got my pre order in (I went with Play for the Limited Edition) and must say this is a big release for me.

Rockstar are, for me, one of the most consistent studios/publishers. I can't think of a Rockstar title which wasn't a labour of love, something I insist on for pretty much any game I fire up. I've little doubt I'll be walking like a gunslinger for a few weeks, I might even take to spittin' and drinking hard liquor.

Have a look at the Rockstar Games Wiki page for a mind bending list of studios and releases - played and aced many of them, may well go back and ace a few more.

[MrJimmy]

Saturday 15 May 2010

OMG3DHDTVFTW!!!


Today i got my arse down to the 'World Cup Show' tech trade event to see just what all this fuss over 3DTV is. It was held in a giant exhibition hall in the middle of nowhere, luckly i was loaded up on expressos and dextros so the cycle ride was quite nice, i guess they don't ever expect cyclists there as there was no provision for parking up the human powered device so i chained it up next to an ice cream van.

Once inside, after diverting around a security guy giving me shifty looks, i got to gaze upon the wonderment of a hall full of more technology than you could dream about. I was there to compare the two sets i guess most gamers would be getting if they opted to go 3D and that was the Samsung and Sony 40" sets, both specced out the same and both around the £1500 mark.

My first stop was at the Samsung area where they had the sets up on the wall at head hight, the booth monkey was all to happy to get me a pair of glasses and let me loose. All you do is hit a small button on the glasses and they auto sync to the set, no hassle, also they charge via a usb mini port and you get around 30+ hrs on a full charge. The picture on the Samsung was nice and clear though i did notice some edge blur on one particular thing, it was the blue blob alien (i was watching Monsters vs Aliens) when he came 'close' to the front of the screen, but it only happened the once and i put it down to me looking at other sets and throwing the sync out.

The most impressive thing they had up and running was a set doing 2D to 3D conversion, this was another point i needed to explore as just think about all those games you can hit up with a new dimension. They were running a standard 2D input (wirelessly streamed from a remote server!) and the 3D image was full of depth, not a bit but deeeep. You could adjust the parallax depth via a sub menu and setting it to 7 gave the most natural feeling to the picture, setting to 10 and it felt you could reach into the picture. Very very impressive.

After 20 minutes with them i went over to the Sony zone where they had the 'natural enviroment setting' rigged up (a big tv and a sofa plus a few homely bits and bobs) First thing was that they were running the rig off a PS3 Slim and the booth monkey there seemed pleased to meet someone who wasn't a cluelessfucker. We chatted a great deal about 3D gaming mostly and i soon took over the sofa as he fired up some 3D demos, and what were those demos you may ask little ThreeSpeechers? the first was Wipeout3D and i was all 'woah dude' as the ships actually floated over the track and raced into the mindbending distance, i don't think you're gonna be disapointed. The next demo was a Killzone one, not really playable but a reworking of the Bullet Time interactive advert, it showed great promise.

The most impressive, surprisingly, was MotorStorm PR, it was not like the same game i played and discarded all those months back, the depth of field was the deepest of the lot with the tracks winding and bending into obscene depths of the screen and racing around judging the corners felt soo soo good and totally natural to judge rather than having to go off braking/turning cues like you do in 2D, if it was running at an upscaled sub-hd resolution you couldn't really tell.


If i had to choose between the two manufacturers sets i would have a hard job, i loved the Sony TV with it's now familiar XMB menu system, the Samsung impressed with it's 2D convertion demo, both had built in wi-fi and a whole host of other tricks up their sleeves, both used active shutter glasses and had beautiful quality images, the Samsung glasses had the better design, but Sony's seems brighter. I guess at the end of the day you and you fifteen hundred beer tokens are going to have to decide for yourselves. The only true way to decide this would be to use the Harry Hill school of logic. FIGHT!

Other sets on display were some LG kit and some Panasonic jobs, a point of note was the glasses supplied with the Panasonic screens are designed to be used with perscription glasses and more adjustable so both adult and children can wear them comfortably.

[mobiletone] has seen the future and doesn't want to look back

*goes off to watch Evil Aliens it has Emily Booth in it*

Thursday 13 May 2010

Critter Crunch (now £2.39!)


One of the PSN games on special offer from this week until 26th May is a great little puzzler called Critter Crunch. Read on for my review of the game.

At first glance it's a simple Puzzle Bobble-style game. Slow-falling rows of creatures called critters need to be matched in colours and popped by the protagonist "Bigs" - a small and cute furry creature with a huge mouth and a long tongue! Bigs slurps up critters with his tongue and spits them back out again. He does this either to shuffle critters around the screen or to feed smaller critters to larger ones. Once a critter has been fed two smaller ones it pops, dropping a gem in the process. The size of the gem dropped varies according to how many critters are destroyed in one go. Bigs collects the gems in order to fill a "hunger metre". When this is completely filled he's completed the stage. If he doesn't stay on top of things however, then the critters reach him at the bottom of the screen and he gets buried alive underneath them!

The last element in the basic gameplay is getting Bigs to feed his son "Smalls". When you pop 8 or more critters in one go, not only do you get a good sized gem (filling a large part of your "hunger metre") but your son Smalls turns up for his afternoon snack (of course!). Take time out to feed him but beware the critters seem to drop more quickly when he's at the sidelines. In most stages there's an opportunity to feed your son and if you do so, this feat is marked clearly on the map. It's purely a bonus thing for extra points, plus there's a trophy to complete 25 stages in which you've been able to do it.

The graphics and presentation are extremely good. It's all in 2D so nothing too fancy, but what's there is colourful, cartoony and crisp - just how I want it in a puzzle game. Bigs lives on a mythical island together with his son and each of the different stages are shown to take place in different parts of this island. Between stages you can navigate around a large map (think PixelJunk Monsters). Bigs has to complete certain stages in order to unlock different parts of this map and to unlock different types of gameplay.

In the introduction to the game and between certain stages, there are short cut scenes where a whacky scientist-type character explains that he's researching the island where Bigs lives. He attempts to offer scientific explanations for things that happen in this strange place, for example, how bigs is able to consume so many gems. It's an attempt at comedy in the game. I have to admit I don't find any of it in the least bit funny and after a while it actually starts to grate a little - luckily you can skip through it. This and the excruciatingly-bad jokes displayed on the screen at the end of each stage are the two things I don't like about the game. Maybe it's there more for the younger audience. It's nice to see a family game anyway, it offers a refreshing change from the mature-audience-aimed games like Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2 that we're all playing at the moment.

The online multiplayer element is done very well. I've played against random people online. It seems to be very quick to find an opponent and I haven't experienced any network problems whatsoever. The only problem I've had is that I've won only one online match so far. If you just select to quick join against a random opponent there's no way to specify that you want to play against a beginner. Nevertheless I'm learning techniques from watching how other people play. Multiplayer is organised in split-screen with one player on the left and one on the right. It's possible to play against each other in versus mode or together in cooperative.

Offline multiplayer is also available. That's actually the main reason I bought the game - it looks to be girlfriend / wife friendly. Well, it's got small and cute characters! plus it's easy to jump into. I say it looks that way because there's more to it than meets the eye. The initial stages are very easy. As you progress to what the game is really all about you'll realise that it's quite complicated. There are many different types of critters - not just different colours and sizes, but they're different in the way they behave. Some can't be fed and popped directly, some can't be moved elsewhere. There's variation in the play area as well. Sometimes you have just 3 columns of critters meaning less space to work in shuffling them around in order to match up the colours. Sometimes you'll have a few more columns, sometimes quite a lot more. This means you'll have to learn different styles of play and tactics for different types of levels. On top of this you can collect power foods, or power-ups of which you can hold three different types at one time. These do various things from frightening the critters one row up (with garlic - buuuurp!) buying you some time, to allowing you to easily take a few out one at a time by shooting pips from a watermelon at them. Finally you can pull off combo moves and "food chains" where you can kill of large numbers of critters at one time. Both of these techniques need to be used in the later stages of the game in order to get through. All of this variation is great and it's what keeps me interested in the game. It does take a bit of patience though as you'll find yourself needing many attempts at some of the stages. The game also has a steep learning curve if you just dive into an online match where all of these different elements might be on display in your very first game.

I recommend playing through a fair chunk of the adventure mode first, before venturing out online, as at key points there are tutorials which introduce you to new elements of gameplay. This is again presented in the tongue-in-cheek style but is explained clearly and the tutorials come at just the right time. In addition to the standard gameplay which I have described, there's also the following game modes: puzzles; challenges and survival. Puzzle stages usually involve you having to solve the stage in a set number of moves (or less) and represent some of the most difficult stages. You have to think carefully and logically. Challenges offers an interesting slant on the gameplay as you're asked to attempt things you wouldn't normally do in the standard mode. For example, you might have to complete a stage without destroying certain types of critters. All of the stages in all of the different categories are actually accessible from the island map that you navigate through when starting in adventure mode. However, having the categories selectable from the main home screen enables you to jump straight in to the category you fancy attempting - plus is easier to see which ones you've completed and which you haven't (great for trophy collectors). Survival mode I still need to unlock - like me I expect you can guess what that's likely to involve!

Because of all the variations in gameplay, the trickiness of some of the later stages and the multiplayer and online elements I would say the longevity of the game is excellent and bearing in mind it's an inexpensive download from the PSN Store I feel I got great value for money. Now if only I could win some more of those online matches!
[reakt]

Mafia II Developer Diary, Taking Care of Business

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Borderlands + Chibi Fan Art = Win

"I'm the happiest Siren in the whole wide world!" ~^_^~ -  Zephos

At the request of Apocalust, and also because I really wanted to draw it anyway and just needed a good excuse to, here's my take on Borderlands! Unlike the actual game which is more of an orgy of violence, dismemberment and decapitation, my version is a bit... well... happy, but that's just how I see my Siren's personality. In my mind, she can indeed bake a wonderful cake and doesn't like long walks very much but is a generally happy person who just happens to have horrible luck. ^_^

Thank you for all of your patience, I wanted to invest as much time in drawing it as I did playing the game which in retrospect was probably a obscene amount, and it turned out even better than I expected!

Hope fans of the Borderlands enjoy! ~^_^~ 

Monday 10 May 2010

my imaginations runnin' wild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs0T5l24JL0

lbp-3

Intelligent...Penis monsters?

[edited by 'Tone]

Blinkbox movie streaming comes to PS3

Users will be able to choose from a library of more than 6,000 films and television programmes, including The Hangover, Gossip Girl and 30 Rock. TV shows can be rented for as little as 39p, while movie rentals start from 99p. Users can also buy episodes of their favourite series from 89p, and films from £2.99, and there is also some free content available through the site.
Content is streamed to the PlayStation 3 through an optimised version of the Blinkbox website, which makes it easier to navigate menus and find films and television shows using a PlayStation 3 controller.

“The PlayStation 3 is the first of a number of devices to which we will be bringing Blinkbox," said Michael Cornish, the company's chief executive. "We want to enable customers to use our service on their TVs for instant streaming of new blockbuster movies, available on the same day as their release on DVD, as well as a growing library of free ad-supported titles.
"Gamers want access to the very largest selection of movies for instant viewing, and do not want to lose valuable hard-drive space or have to wait for their downloads."

HIT UP HTTP://BLINKBOX.COM ON YOUR PS3 TO VIEW THE BETA

Friday 7 May 2010

Street Fighter Legacy/Beginnings End

Two fan-made short films.



Ken is pretty spot on in the first one imo.



[pabloamigo]

Thursday 6 May 2010

New GranTurismo 5 Demo

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Mercedes-Benz are offering consumers the chance to test-drive the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG – virtually – via Gran Turismo®5 for PlayStation®3 (PS3™). Gran Turismo® is the world’s best selling driving simulation game, acclaimed by motoring aficionados for its ability to give a taste of the real thing, driving the finest cars in the world on some of the world’s most challenging tracks.  Starting in May 2010 customers can visit their local Mercedes-Benz dealership for an exclusive taster of the forthcoming title – a one-track demo featuring the new model at a specially-installed PS3 unit.  The sampling activity marks a new stage in the partnership between developers Polyphony Digital and Mercedes-Benz that has already seen the SLS AMG picked to star on the game’s cover when the title arrives in stores this year.

http://eu.gran-turismo.com/gb/news/d13120.html  for video and more marketing blurb.

/// I do wonder how our local Merc' dealership will feel about being overrun by spotty gaming herberts, like we could ever afford to buy an AMG, due to blowing all our spare cash on Sony TVs and piles of  games.

[mobiletone]

Split/Second: Cars and Tracks

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Split/Second

Being the resident petrol head i felt it my duty to download the Split/Second demo off the PSN Store today, what's up with the update being on a Wed's anyways? Anyhoo, i didn't go into this with any expectations, all i knew was it's a car game with power-ups and expolding scenary, the controls are easy, triggers to accelerate and brake, X for stage one attacks and O for stage two scene bending explosions, that's it!

I got past the intro screens and was dumped onto the track, the first thing was how slow it felt and how heavy the cars were, but i had been playing Gran Turismo this afternoon so that may have distrorted it, so on a second game things were noticably better, the cars felt quicker but still well planted on the track and i'd sussed out how to do power drifts around the tighter bends, it's not quite up to Ridge Racer standards but they do feel damn good to pull off. and the racing gets faster as you progress through the laps, which considering the track is a debris field by then gets the pulse racing.

The car designs are pure Burnout inspired and the graphics are very pretty, provided you take your eyes off the track to have a look. The tracks look like they'll have the expected shortcuts though they provide these on a risk/reward basis as the ones on the airport track are rigged with car destroying explosives so if you have someone closing in fast with a power bar lit it may not be the best option to cut the line. But having 'Triple Wreck' flash up on the screen and a slow-mo shot of the guys in front of you turning into a twisted mess is lol worthy, should be a blast in multiplayer.

On one race i was in the lead and blasting down the runway on the final lap when someone behind me triggered a stage two and i was suddenly faced with a crashing cargo plane heading straight for me, luckly i swerved around it, only just missing it as it slammed into the tarmac, and i pulled out a 185yd power slide round into some hangers, activated a shortcut and blew home to victory.


[mobiletone] high off 98% octaine and burning tyre fumes.

Sunday 2 May 2010

Tenuous Link Sunday

so, i was playing F.E.A.R.2 last night, you were right Sketch it is teh awesomes! and there's guns in it, and guys in all riot gear and stuff trying to kill me, and i'm pretty sure there was a ginger too somewhere, just like this disturbing yet totally incredable video from M.I.A, she's the bint that did 'Paper Planes' in GTAIV on Radio Vostock.and here is the full 10+ minute version of Born Free, probably best not to watch it if you are a ginger :)

 
M.I.A, Born Free from Vimeo.