5 Best Games of The Year

5 Best Games of The Year

Those guys over at MSN have created their 5 most anticipated games of the year. What do you reckon?

1. Grand Theft Auto IV
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
3. Spore
4. The Agency
5. Ghostbusters: The Video Game

It is an interesting list but I am sure you guys could do better.

Read the article and tell me your thoughts. I'll blog the best selections for us all to see!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23268719/wid/11915829

Xbox 360 2.0 or something else?

Rumours are abound that Microsoft could be on the verge of releasing something new in the Xbox 360 stable.

Brier Dudley, from the Seattle Times, tells us that he believes Gates will reveal that Microsoft are working with Toshiba on "a digital video recorder with a hard-drive, high-definition HD-DVD drive" with "Xbox gaming capabilities".

What is that in plan English? To me it sounds like a Personal Hard Drive based Video Recorder (think Sky+ in the UK or Tivo in the US) with the additional processing capabitity to run 360 games, and connect to Xbox Live, and all your 360 accessories.

Sounds unlikely huh? What else could it be? Well it is clear that Microsoft, and Toshiba, want to shift more HD Players and right now Sony do have the advantage of having Blu-Ray as standard in the PS3 whereas you have to spend some money to get the add on HD Drive for the 360.

My money is on a new 360 spec which will arrive this fall along the lines of the Elite but with a bigger hard drive and integrated HD Drive.

I can't see MS confusing the brand by branching out into third party devices that can also play 360 games but I could be wrong, I does happen sometimes! ;-)

Xbox 360 Games of the year 2007

In our opinion the Xbox 360 has been the console of year and with that in mind, we have put together our top five games of the year for 2007. If you are getting a Xbox 360 for Christmas, you should seriously look at these titles.

5. Half Life 2: Orange Box

Excellent value for money and plenty of hours gameplay, with Half Life 2 including Episode 1 and Episode 2, Portal and the amazing online Team Fortress 2.

Five brilliant games in one - its a must have on the 360

4. PGR4 - Project Gotham Racing 4

Whilst PGR3 was technically brilliant it was a bit too anal for a lot of gamers, the smallest error costing you the race and make the whole process frustrating. PGR4 comes back much stronger and puts the fun back into the series.

With a fantastic amount of cars to choose from, incredible graphics and fantastic gameplay, its a racers dream.

3. Halo 3

Truly fantastic - there isn't much you can say about this game. At first it feels familar and you wonder if it has moved on that much since Halo 2 but as you get further into the game you get blown away by the awesome graphics and sheer scale of the battles.

This must be one of those games that anyone who owns a Xbox 360 must have.

2. Call of Duty 4

Infinity Ward have come back with an absolute stormer with COD4 on the Xbox 360. The graphics are amazing, echoing the footage we are all used to watching on channels with Sky News. The game play is gripping and the multiplayer is best of class, hours and hours of fun. Only stayed off the no.1 spot cause the single player is just a little too short (but at least you'll complete it!)

1. BioShock

Some games don't live up to their hype which leaves a bad taste in your mouth. BioShock however delivers and delivers. Gripping from the offset this creepy FPS takes you to an amazing underwater world where you really can choose your destiny. The graphics are incredible, the story line is awesome and you just won't put this down. So good, you'll start again from the beginning and choose a different path!

No spoilers here but this one is an example of the sheer power of the Xbox 360 and happily the Gadgets, Gaming and Girls Blog winner of Xbox 360 Game of the Year. Enjoy it!

Nintendo Wii calls on the Cockroaches

I've heard some far fetched stories but this one takes it to another level!

The Reg reports that the Nintendo Wii supposedly gives off a high pitched frequency that attracts Cockroaches!

According to the report the little creatures respond to air movements and ground vibrations by "feeling" them on their body and the Wii gives off the right impulses!

As I said, I don't believe a word of it and having had a Wii here for a year I can safely say that I've not seen one cockroach!

You can read up here...

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/14/wii_attracts_cockroaches/

A Sound Idea for the PS3

There is a good review of the Logic3 SoundStation3 PS3 speakers over at Reg Hardware (link below).

The bit that caught my eye and made me laugh was the opening paragraph.

"So, you’ve got your PS3 all set up, nicely wired into your widescreen LCD TV... and it’s sitting there gathering dust ‘cause there are very few decent games available for it yet. That’s the prognosis - the diagnosis is: treat yourself to an affordable set of speakers that will breathe life into your under-utilised games console."

Nether a truer word spoken in jest! My PS3 hasn't been getting a look in lately, I tend to turn it on and check to see if there are any good demo's online, then I shut it down and power up the Xbox 360.

In fairness to Sony I do remember similar times with the Xbox 360 during the first year, however these were largely confined to the summer period and there was a host of games out for the holiday period last year and this one. It is slightly concerning that there isn't a better crop of games for the PS3 this year, hopefully 2008 will see some quality.

If you are trying to make a decision on which console to go for, I'd seriously consider the Xbox 360 as it has an amazing back catalogue and defer your investment in a PS3 until next year.

However, if you already have a PS3 and need some good speakers that will look the part, whilst not breaking the bank, then the Logic3 SoundStation3 PS3 Speaker should keep you entertained whilst you wait for some decent games.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/07/review_logic3_soundstation3_speakers/

First Impressions of Xbox 360 Fall Update

Just a quick update to tell you about my first impressions of the Xbox 360 Fall Update released today, December 4 2007. So far I am impressed!

The update took only seconds to download and install, much faster than PS3 updates take on the same connection, and the Xbox 360 screen loaded up. It seemed to pause on here for longer than usual before saying I had signed in, then it took me to the Xbox Live tab and showed me signing into Xbox Live as normal.

Sticking with this tab you can now go into Inside Xbox which at present has one update from AceyBongos (awful name) explaining that updates will be due every Thursday. I guess they are going for a Blog appeal with weekly updates (unlike us who post at least once a day!). Apart from this no real changes to notice to this tab.

Going into Marketplace is where the real improvements have been made. "Spotlight" gives you the latest downloads, which you can navigate left and right throwing different sub lists, e.g. What's Hot, Top Demos, Top Arcade, etc. It much clearer to navigate.

Back to Marketplace you have "New Arrivals" which again you go left and right to see Games, Arcarde, Xbox Originals, etc.

Then you have "Games Store" which gives you an up and down list that features Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Originals, Game Demos, etc. Xbox Originals is a cool feature on this update, you click on it and makes the display black with green text and graphics in a like the original Xbox. Ah it makes you feel all retro and you almost miss it! There are 7 demo's showing in my region (UK) that include Halo, Crimson Skies, Fuzion Frenzy and Fable. All priced at 1200 credits and approx 2Gb downloads... download a few of these and you will wish you had the Elite or at least the 120Gb hard drive.

The last point I'll touch on for now cause I don't want to spoil all your surprises, is the Games tab. Now when you into "Games Library" you can click on My Games which allows you to flick left and right between All Games, Arcade, Demos, Recently Downloaded, etc. It is just a much better way of navigating and I'm really pleased they have done it like this.

I'm off to play but left me know your thoughts on the subject.

Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard

The guys from Gamerscoreblog walk you through the Xbox 360 Fall Update showing you all the new changes we can expect tomorrow, December 4.

The new update helps to keep you in touch with all that’s new on Xbox LIVE Marketplace – the Spotlight function points you to great new content and promos, while a New Arrivals area gives you easy access to all the freshest downloadable goodies on LIVE. Inside Xbox is another new feature that will keep you up to date with all the latest developments in the world of Xbox Live, and then there’s Xbox Originals. This exciting feature allows you to download a range of classic Xbox titles like Halo, Psychonauts and Burnout 3: Takedown and play them on your Xbox 360. Bring them on!

Wii'll get fit (next year)!

It looks like we can have a Christmas of generally being lazy and fat as the WiiFit product won't ship to Europe or the US until next year (insert overweight sigh of relief).

Nintendo have announced a street date of the 1 December in Japan only with no release dates slated for other regions.

Imagine having to go through the motions Xmas Day of trying out your new present post Xmas dinner, it would have been hell!

So relax, get fat and worry about your waistline next year when it finally hits our shores!

Wow! Nintendo shifts 1 million units in 1 week in the US

Nintendo has announced a recording breaking week of sales of its systems in the US. During Nov 18 to 24 it shifted 350,000 Wiis and a stagering 653,000 DSes. Given that it was Thanksgiving Week in the US, a time when presents are exchanged, its probably not as mad as it seems however it is a fantastic achievement for a company whose fortunes were getting written off as dead a few years back.

Not taking anything away from the Wii, I put my hands up and admit its a great fun family console, I do question how many owners purchase that many games once the family has got over the initial fun of the Sports pack that ships with it.

At least with established gamers that buy the Xbox 360 or PS3 you know they are going to purchase a large percentage of new releases to test out their shiny new HD consoles. I wonder how many Wiis will be used to the same level that their counterparts will?

Xbox 360 enters social networking

Microsoft have announced today that the next update for the Xbox 360, expected on December 4, will allow users to see other members friends lists, hence allowing them to invite them to their own list in the way Facebook users do and challenge them to a game of Halo 3 (something Facebook users can't).

I'm not sure I love the idea, with Facebook you end up with lots of friends of friends on your list for the same reason. I prefer to keep my Xbox Live list down to my key friends I enjoy playing against. Plus the pop ups mid game telling you someone has signed in can be a pain if you have large active list.

All configurable though so I'm sure some will welcome it. As will concerned parents who will be able to set a Family Timer to restrict access to the console at certain time. Yeah right, like any teenager will let his or her parents near that setting!

MS are also launching the Xbox Originals download service and will be putting its Xbox releases on sale for a fee. They don't seem old enough to be classed as Retro but I guess some will be worth a look at.

IPTV won't make it this year, which is probably a good thing. There are enough games out to play you won't have time for watching TV, on the 360 or elsewhere!

Happy Gaming!

Welcome

Sometimes I just wish I could stumble open a blog that covers all my favourite things in one place... so in the end I thought I better get off my ass and do one myself.

It's going to be all about:

Gadgets - The latest tech gadgets that catch my eye, could be phones, ipods, LCD's or anything tech!

Gaming - What's big in the world of gaming across any platform, new releases, rumours, etc.

Girls - For when it gets a bit too technical some lovely girls to brighten the place up. They could be in music, tv, glamour or film, if they are hot I'll wanna talk about them.

So that is my starting point really. Welcome along and enjoy.

Dubz