360 Health Check

So I went and bought a new 360 arcade today for £130 notes. I will ring to register it and when I do i'll try and get my two borked units fixed. This way hopefully I'll get one to sell and one to keep for when this one RRoD's.

I am however going to adjust my TV stand so the 360 gets more air.

I'll keep you updated.

Oh and I got Fable 2 thrown in free.

360 Health Check

And so the inevitable Red Ring of Death rears its ugly head for the third time in House of Bob.

I returned the original and got a new one sent out. That lasted a very short time before it RRoD'd. I couldn't be bothered to send that one back so I bought a third Premium and sold the new HDD.

Now I'm faced with the prospect of another bricked 360. To be honest I'm getting pretty sick of it. I'll buy another one tomorrow cos really they're as cheap as fucking chips now and it's not worth the wait to be without.

But I'll have to ring up Microsoft to get the cable to transfer all my data over if I buy a new Elite and so I'll see if I can get both of these bricked machines sent back, repaired, and then sold on eBay.

First Look: Little Big Planet

Having been excited about this for months it was perhaps a little strange that not only did I not rush out and buy it I actually didn't even play it for ages after it arrived.

However I finally got around to slotting the disc into the slot (Aren't trays just so last-gen?) and giving it a whirl. Having cast an eye over the last few games I completed there's a lot gritty action so Little Big Planet comes as a breath of fresh air. From the minute Stephen Frys dulcet tones ease you into the tutorial to the brilliantly realised combination of graphics and physics that make the Little Big Planet itself what it is it's fantastic fun.

It's very easy to get in to and start playing. Obviously the main draw of the Story mode is to collect all the pieces you need for creating stuff. But even for someone like me whose not interested in creation (although I was fascinated to see what other people had made) it's a compelling draw to try and find all the stuff and 100% a level. (Sadly I've only managed this on the opening level despite some replays). It's also full of imagination and charm and it's a lot of fun to play.. Sackboy is a bit loose but he's made of sack, What do you expect? He's also got a consistant physical weight and you're soon wondering why 2d platformers went away in the first place (of course the reason being that ones that are this much fun to play are few and far between.. This is the best one since Super Mario World in my opinion.) It has a similar sort of inventiveness and character.

The crux of the matter for me though is that the Story mode is a delight. To give you an idea one set of levels features a Tim Burton-esque gothic wedding and the grooms gone runabout. Beats the usual fire, ice, desert levels does it not? There's a moment a few levels in where you presented with a jetpack and there's a puzzle where you have to lift weights into a large bucket to open a door...At once you're reminded of Half Life 2 and the seminal Thrust and you think ... why can't all games be this much fun?

The "Complete" List

Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge
Quantum of Solace

I was 'lucky' enough to borrow this off a mate. It's basically the Call of Duty engine mixed with both the last two Bond films (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace). It's also a mix of First Person shooting and Third Person cover style shooting. In fact the camera zooms out all the time so you can see Daniel 'Mr Poatato Head' Craig doing his thing. It's not quite as slick as Gears of War but it's not far off and works solidly. There's also the chance to do some brutal physical damage up close.

Unlike most FPS's you'll get nowhere running and gunning. It's a tatical shooter and the controls mostly let you duck from cover to cover and pick off the bad guys.

The crux of the matter is do you feel like Bond? And, rather inevitably, the answer is yes and no. There are moments when you feel like a super spy and there's moments when you feel like there's rather too much Call of Duty and not enough on Her Majesty Secret Service.

Overall I enjoyed most of it. There's some good hacking and spying touches (there's a neat little keypad hacking minigame that's sadly let down by the 360's fisher price D-pad that can't always register the difference between the four basic directions). There's also some brilliant set pieces and chunky weapons.

360 Health Check

Some of you may remember that my third 360 was starting to act up a little. There's been no need for any further updates cos apart from the odd 'freeze' and failure for something to load it's not really given me anymore trouble. Yes the disc drive is still noisy as hell but overall it's fine.

Until today! Dun dun DUH!!! Switched on this afternoon only to find that I got one single red quadrant (bottom right fact fans!). Switched it back off and then on again and then it was fine for the rest of the afternoon. Let's hope that's it for a while.

Round up of the Year - Part 3.

So here it is.. the big one. Apologies for being so late. I was trying to spend as much time with the big hitters as I could before making my judgement. I've managed to polish off a couple as you can see below and I've been trying to work up enthusiasm to play Little Big Planet. But at the moment I can't. Which probably says it's not going to be my GOTY.

So what is. Well not GTA IV. It's a good game but for me hasn't moved on enough. It's still basically the same game we've been playing since three and where were all the exciting missions?

Saints Row 2 was the surprise of the year and almost clinched it. Yes the production values are a lot lower than GTA IV but it's far more fun. There's checkpoints, there's recharging health, there's full co-op play. Almost everything is big dumb fun from start to finish.. But it's a little derivative and the gang/bling culture thing is a little off putting (Although you can pretty much ignore it).

For me the game that I enjoyed the most and sucked me into an awesome world of possibilty and depth was Fallout 3. I've already written plenty about it so I wont repeat myself here. Suffice to say it's an awesome achievement.

The "Complete" List

Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge

There's a lot of talk over on the Edge Forum as to whether they where to harsh on this in the magazine when they gave it a 5. Especially after all the pre-release coverage they gave it.

For me it's a game of two halves. I love the character design and the pure clean look when you're out on the roof and there's no question that it's a great leap in First Person gaming to have a sense of physicality in the world rather than being a floating gun.

On the other hand there's some brutal old school gaming mechanics in play.. No doubt it's designed with replay in mind but there's probably too much trial and error for my liking (fortunately, mostly, the checkpoints are well spaced and the game restarts quickly). I probably made it a tiny bit harder on myself by completing it without shooting a single enemy (for the achievement!).

Overall I enjoyed it but I was glad when it was over too.

Round up of the Year - Part 2

So it's time for the album.

It's not been the beeeeeeeest year for albums. Although it's not been short of some solid efforts either. I liked the Coldplay album but despite their 'It's 10 tracks' they had to go and put a couple of secret tracks in and so it's still a bit too long. It's no surprise their best album is still the debut which was short and sweet.

I've listened to Chinese Democracy by Guns N' Roses more than anything else since I had it. It rocks. Most people seem to be complaining that it's not Appetite for Destruction and that it's taken to long to make. Axl isn't from the street anymore though. It'd be ridiculous for him to try and pretend that he was. He always had a huge vision for Guns music. It's over long. It's a bit self indulgent but it's a great album.. But it's not album of the year.

Ladyhawke came from nowhere (Well New Zealand, which pop music wise, might as well be nowhere). She's hot. She likes cats and video games and she's produced an almost perfect pop album. It's full of tunes and great lyrics, It's got some thumping, Pete Hook style, bass. It sounds fantastic. With just the right hint of 80's. It's 13 tracks of pure class. Anyway don't take it from me.. Listen to this sample of my favourite track.

First Look: Mirrors Edge

Obviously the First Person view point is supposed to make me feel more immersed in the game.. But I'm not convinced it's worth it at the convenience that the spatial awareness of seeing my character in Third Person would provide.

Is it worth it? While there's no denying that DICE have made a First Person game where you can enjoy the joy of movement and running and jumping isn't a chore there's no denying that playing it in a Third Person view would be less annoying.

The question is do I feel more immersed in this than I did in say Prince of Persia: Sands of Time where the game is mostly about the joy of movement? I'd have to say no..

It's a great solution to a problem that doesn't really matter.

The "Complete" List 2009

So a brand new year, A brand new list.

Resistance 2

First scalp of the year. It's very linear. Very old school and somehow a bit of a let down. As Insomniacs third PS3 outing I was expecting something jaw dropping. Something like Ratchet & Clank. What I got was more of the same really. Some dull boss fights and some annoying difficulty spikes.

What there's most of is annoying design decisions. Gone is carrying the huge arsenal of weapons in favour of a Halo style limit letting you to carry just two weapons. Which is dull. Most weapons spawn where you might need them but it stops you from experimenting with weapons and combat ... or even carrying a favourite. Next is the health system. The first game had four health sections each section would recharge in cover but you'd have to collect health packs to replace lost sections. That's been replaced by a Call of Duty style reddening of the screen when you're getting hit. Rubbish.

There's also a host of annoying enemies (Yes I know they're the bad guys and they're not supposed to be likeable). There's a 'Flood' like zombie sort that charge straight at you (even when you're in a squad they mostly home in on you) in huge numbers. It's not fun. There's a sort of invisible monster that doesn't appear until it's very close and charges straight at you. Most of the old bad guys reappear and they're fun.. There's some huge mofo's as well and, mostly, they're fun (as long as you find the hand heavy ordinance that will have been left conveniently about.. ). Other wise the combat is mostly as solid and fun as before. OH and there's no annoying vehicle section.

Story wise it's more of the same with a bit of globe trotting thrown in for fun. It's thoroughly average. Although not devoid of entertainment.

Round up of the Year

So it's that time of year (Well it was a couple of weeks ago anyway) where we traditionally have a look back at what has impressed us from the year. There was going to be a whole top five for each thing I've been blogging about but... having had a think about it I'm just going to tell you the years essential game, album and film.

First off.

Film - Iron Man

Obviously there was some stiff competition from the The Dark Knight this year. I will also readily admit I'm not the hugest comic fan. For me it comes down to three elements. Firstly acting. Heath Ledger was good. Very good. Would he be in the running for an Oscar for a superhero movie if he where still alive? Not for me to say. Does he carry the film? No. Robert Downey Jr IS Tony Stark. He's got more charisma both as the Hero and as the Alter Ego than Bale. Downey Jr is the actor of his generation. He lights up the screen in everything he's in. Bale is intense.. but for me that's all he brings to the party.

The second element would be the action sequences. Iron Man has some brilliant action sequences. The Dark Knight is very exciting but somehow the direction let's it down. Apart from the opening bank robbery (which obviously doesn't feature Batman) all the action sequences are edited and directed so choppily it's actually difficult to see what's going on most of the time. Iron Man on the other hand is clear and concise. The camera angles are selected to give the best view of the action and last long enough for it you to be able to see what's going on. The Dark Knight is, understandably dark but the action chops and changes so quickly and at such odd angles (even second time of viewing) I couldn't actually describe an action sequence to you apart from in the vaguest terms. Iron Man on the other hand is bright and vibrantly, comic bookly, colourful. The direction is great but it's not trying to hard. The most iconic image of the cinematic year? After Iron Man has fired the rocket at the tank he doesn't even need to watch it explode.. just turns and walks away.

The third element is a blend of pacing and plot. The Dark Knight is over long and (rather like Spiderman 3) tried to fit too much in. There's a weak climax (where they possibly run out of Ledger time) and it's like Nolan doesn't know when to end it (A bit like Peter Jackson in Return of the King).. Second time of watching and there's far too much dullness to action quotient and the plot was actually no clearer. Iron Man on the other hand tells a clear story very well. There's a twist. It all makes sense. It frames the action. There's also some nice running jokes and the hint of a love story without getting to soppy.

Crucially Iron Man is a delight to show to people who haven't seen it before. The combination of Downey Jr's magnetism, A cracking script that's still funny fourth time through and a visual feast can't be beaten. I saw The Dark Knight twice.. I don't think I could sit through it all again.

Happy New Year Gaming Round Up!

Happy New Year 2009 to everyone!

So there's not been a huge amount of gaming so far. Little Big Planet happily arrived. Sadly still no stock of Dualshock 3s in town or indeed at Shopto.Net. However today I decided to go to Ramsey and visit the Islands only independent game retailer and see if he had one. Sadly not. Huge amounts of 360 stock but virtually nothing for PS3. Happily he did offer to sell me his own ex-demo genuine Sixaxis for £20. It seemed reasonable for a second controller and to get me back in the PS3 gaming loop (I only have two days holiday left after all), So I'll pre-order a Dualshock from Shopto and keep this one as a handy second/spare pad.

I'm struggling to like Banjo & Kazooie. More about this in it's own post.

Went to a New Years Eve party and, I suppose some what predictably, the 'just received for Christmas' Wii was brought out. I got to play Sonic and Mario at the Olypmics which I hadn't played before, but I suppose ironically, all the non-gamers had and Mario Kart Wii as well.

Sonic and Mario at the Olypmics isn't great. I found a lot of the events boring and over complicated but everyone else seemed to enjoy it despite the slow pace, the constant need to plug in and then remove the Nunchuck and the 'relatively' complicated controls.

Mario Kart Wii, at least in multiplayer, has lost none of the old magic and I would've bought that today (to get some much needed practice in) but the local independant didn't actually have it in stock.