I'm a Soul Man...

I've recently been having great fun with Soul Calibur 4 and some good friends. The online play is great, if a slight shame that you can't have any more than four players and two of them have to spectate. But, the character creation is great fun and it is a right laugh to get someone in who thinks they might be good and whoop their asses with some button mashing and technical skill!!! If you want a fight and see me online check it out, just watch out for sausage man!!!

Video Games Live

T-minus virus

Ha ha ha ha that was a good header as well. Anyways, the clock on http://www.residentevil.com/ has counted down and we are now treated to a new video of Resi 5, and it looks freakin' awesome. It looks very much in the mould of Resi 4 but with better looks (is that possible) and more, much more enemies on screen. It looks like the game once again features parasites that inhabit the body and come out the head. But I wont spoil it too much for you, head to the site and see for yourselves.

New www.ready-up.net logo

My good friends at www.ready-up.net have recently unveiled our new logo, I think it looks awesome, what do you reckon?

Start your engines

Stats and figures are boring, no two ways about it. However this is quite an interesting figure. The recent demo for Codemasters upcoming racer Race Driver GRID has been downloaded over one million times. I was one of them and was hugely impressed by it, much like their DIRT game. This helps to quash my feelings that no one would be playing it online when it comes out (this Friday 30th May). I do believe that this will be the 360s' premium online racer so look me up when it's out for a few races. Incidentally I set a time in the win a BMW time trial on the demo but I'm still 4 seconds off the best entrants. Damn!

Countdown to extinction

Good god I'm getting really good at my story titles. If you head on over to http://www.residentevil.com/ you will find a static image with some fuzzy sound and more importantly a countdown timer. What is it counting down to? Some are saying that it is for a new trailer at the end of May. There apparently is a new trailer due on the 31st of May but surely it can't just be that. When I just looked there were 66 hours left which would take us to Friday. Ah well as soon as I see what it is I shall let the loyal know.

Dog walker available, very quiet, prefers night.

Many places are reporting that Ubisoft has cancelled/postponed Splinter Cell Convictions for as of yet, unknown reasons. Some are saying that the game was not up to par with current games. Some are saying that it just wasn't turning out as well as was hoped. There is an upcoming Ubidays event, where Ubisoft unveils games, makes announcements etc. So pay close attention to what is said. Shame really cause from what I saw it was looking quite good. Ah well you can currently get the last game, Double Agent, for under a tenner in most shops, £7.98 pre owned in GAME!

Ahhh..the good old days.

This coming Wednesday (28th May) will apparently be heralding the arrival of Commando 3 on the live arcade. When I was much younger I used to pump 10 pences into the original Commando in my local arcade so I am somewhat looking forward to seeing what they have done to this. Now this is s minor point but if you purchase the afore mentioned game you will also get an entry into the (deep breath) Street Fighter two HD super duper hyper fight 'em smashey game. Ok it's the HD remake of Street fighter 2 and it looks freaking awesome. This is bound to sell Commando 3 (wolf of the battlefield) by the bucket load.

All over the world

The next installment in the GH franchise has been officially confirmed and will be called Guitar Hero World Tour. As previously speculated the full game will be available with guitar, drums and microphone peripherals, with a rumoured USA retail price of $190, which is dearer than Rock Band! A few things to note though, the GH drum set has cymbals on it and it is speculated that the RB set will not be compatible. So if you have the RB set and want to play the GH version you may need to fork out for more drums-sour grapes? Lastly, apparently the game is not being called Guitar Hero four due to the abbreviation, GHIV. Do you think that is true?

Rock on

Well I have to say, Rock Band-without all the gubbins-is a fantastic game. Just playing it with the (guitar hero) guitar is ace. The song selection is inspired and the difficulty is pitched just right. You can also use the 360 headset to sing the vocal track-I got 99% on the free Still Alive song. Today in a GAME shop I saw the drums being used and they look pretty good too. Online play is also good with matches to find quite quickly and when I played it, no lag. I think I now prefer this to the GH games. If you wanna make a RB band let me know, I wield a mean axe, up to medium and wail a good tune too.

Movin' on up

I already posted this pic at the other site I write for, www.ready-up.net. Where we now have a wonderful forum section and a re-designed look. Did you also know the some hard working members of ready up made a video which is on the OXM cover disc this month, well done guys and gals. Anyway this pic is from my daughters Bratz Diamondz DVD and features a character we all know, how funny is it?

Bustin' makes me feel good

Announced for proper a few months ago work has been progressing on the new Ghostbusters game and it's looking mighty fine. Set after the original films you take the roll of an apprentice buster and must bust ghosts. The game looks faithful to the source material and a right blast to play. Click on the following link to see some awesome footage of the game. The Mr Stay Puft fight looks really good. Out later this year, as always more when I hear.http://www.n4g.com/xbox360/News-146717.aspx

Who's that girl?

Some snippets of info are staring to dribble out regarding Resident Evil 5. Famitsu magazine has recently run a small article (above) detailing some background of the characters and the setting. The quick among you will notice the inclusion of characters. Yup there is a mystery woman in the game who you may also get to play with along with Chris. Is it Jill? Don't know, but she does look a bit like her, look up there what do you think? I'm thinking maybe two player co-op, how absolutely brilliant would that be for a resi game? T-virus riffic. Still don't know when it's out though, hopefully this year.

Guit....dru....mik...oh f**k it, hero 4

It is now really 100% true that (and i use this term loosely now) Guitar Hero IV will feature drums and microphone as well as the good old guitar. How this will affect the flow of the game is any ones guess but it just smacks of trying to keep up with the Joneses. If it ain't broke don't fix it as I always say. Anyway the picture here is of the GH IV drum set which is a bit different from Rock Bands', it looks like it may be cymbals at the top. I can't wait to find out.....really i can't.......honestly I can't wait..........ok I can.

Handy for a royal

It has been known now for a while that the Prince of Persia series was to go on and just recently details have been emerging of the next game. Sub titled Ghosts of the past it has had a slight shift in the graphics dept. in that it is now cell shaded type cartoon style, which looks ok but the prince has gained some big daft glove thing. It seems this glove imbues old princey with some powers but it just looks dubious to me. I liked the sands of time game mostly for the jump, climb puzzles I always felt the combat was an un-necessary extra but it seems I was the only one. I'll still keep an eye on it.

Bourne to be alive

Another one that has the potential to slip under the radar, but if you haven't had a look now it is my duty to draw your attention to it. Available as a demo download or on the OXM cover disc the recent demo of the upcoming Bourne Conspiracy has opened my eyes a bit. Initially I hated the demo but when you get the hang of it it kicks in big time-fights, gun play, running, jumping driving all are present, it doesn't look fantastic but does the job. It actually feels like you are taking part in a live action movie/game. Try the demo see what you think- I likes it!

Mr Frodo, your feet are like mine..

This is kinda bad news tinged with a bit of good news. Firstly it seems that Pandemic are not going to make another Star Wars Battlefront game....sob, sob, wail, cry etc. But instead, they are making Lord of the Rings Conquest which is the same type of game just set in the LOTR universe. I did love the Battlefront games and I'm not adverse to a little LOTR so this may be good.

I expect you to die....

Now this could be ok depending on your own thoughts on the franchises. It has emerged that the new James Bond game will be running off the COD 4 game engine, this was a good engine and really made the game so it holds some promise. My thinking on this is that if the game is half decent and includes a good multi player it could fill the void until the next COD game. In fact I really like the idea of a multi player set in the bond universe COD 4 stylee.

Cogs of Peace

This news will only be good if you read it before 7am on Saturday the 10th of May coz after that you will know about it. Anyway a video is going up on the marketplace tomorrow morning at 7am BST showing the first gameplay of Gears of War 2. The game is still on course for a November release. I look forward to seeing the vid, lets hope it's not edited MTV stylee with quick cuts and stuff so we can't see too much.

E=MC2

Ok nonsense title I know but it is good news. The wonderful Codemasters have secured the rights to make Formula 1 games, the first one will be out next year. Having just recently played the GRID demo this is great news as they are one of the few studios who can do driving games some justice. Formula 1 has been missing from all consoles for some years so this is a welcome return, and a great many people are looking forward to full races online-me included.

Thoughts

Ok, I've been playing GTA IV for over a week now and it keeps impressing me to no end so following is a small list of nice things I have seen in the game.

1. Interior lights in cars going on and off when the doors are opened.


2. The Chinese restaurant called "Ming Inn".


3. Internet cafes called TW@.


4. Timber yard called "woodfellas".


5. If one car wheel comes off the ground it stops spinning.


6. If a car drives too close to Niko it will go over his toes and he will jump up and down on one foot.

There are hundreds more but that is what springs to mind. Got any more? Let me know.

Splatteriffic!

Good news for me on this one, an old favourite game by the mighty name of Splatterhouse is being resurrected by Namco for the current gen consoles. For those not in the know, Splatterhouse was a side scrolling, horror inspired hit em up. The main protagonist in the game was a guy who looked like Jason from the Friday the 13th films and he had to fight off hoards of monsters. The screens I have seen don't look like they are staying true to the original, but the fact that it is getting made may be enough. I'll keep an eye on it.

Old skool

This is going around everywhere and is un-confirmed but.....On an official site for GTA 2 there is a countdown timer for the 27th of May. Many are speculating that this is going to be when GTA 2 is released on to Xbox Live and PSN. Apparently Rockstar have said that it is just a mistake but it is looking that something is going to happen on that date. I have to say, if it is true it will be a welcome addition to Live and may even draw a few of us away from IV. More soonish.

I have seen the light

In the pursuits of keeping my loyal readers up to date tonight I found online, a video featuring game play from.......GTA 4. ooooooooooohhhhhhhhh! For a start it was in French so I didn't pay attention to what was going on but the look of the game is like nothing you expect. It all looks so solid and real with lots of lovely wee touches that look like they will make the game a real gem. I'm not going to link to the site so that it's not easy for you to just click to it I will tell you that the site is called dailymotion and it's up to you whether you want to see it before release. Me, I liked what I saw. UK mag Xbox world 360 have score the game 98/100. 6 days to go!

Hey, hey I wanna be a rockstar!

It is filtering through that Activision have said that Guitar Hero 4 is set to possibly include drum and microphone peripherals. Ok, it is a blatant cloning of Rock Band but if the price is right ie. under £100 then people may be interested in it. Of course some of us 360 owners are still waiting for the Rock the 80's edition to be released, that has some really good songs on it- Skid Row, Faster Pussycat, Anthrax, Twisted Sister etc. I hope they don't muck with the Guitar Hero formula too much.

Super skid marks

Coming in the next couple of months, maybe July, Criterion are adding bikes to Burnout Paradise. I wouldn't say that they are needed to improve the game any but they will be a welcome addition. Of course the whole thing with bikes in games is the handling, and if it is wrong, it could render the bikes un-playable. But wait a minute.....did the Burnout guys not make a game with bikes in it? I think it may have been called Speed Kings.

Finish him, Batboy!

Recently announced at some convention in our favourite Rainbow Six location, Midway games have let loose with some details of the next instalment of the Mortal Kombat series. Titled so far as Mortal Kombat vs DC it looks to be a fighting game in the mould of previous MK games featuring an all star ensemble cast of DC comics characters. This could be read as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman etc. Game arenas are to be split over levels with destructible scenery and stuff. Might be good but I'd rather have Marvel vs Capcom 3!

A perfect 10?

Ok few words, one picture. OXM have given GTA 4 a 10/10 score. If you can see it the pic is the last page of their review. 15 days to go.

Grand day out

Ok I'm running out of tag lines for GTA 4 but I have so much more to say about it. Anyways the following is a list of all the multi player modes in the game, ready? Hangman's noose-car jack city-bomb da base-bomb da base 2-mafia work-team mafiya work-deathmatch-team deathmatch-turf war- cops 'n' crooks-race- GTA race-deal breaker-free roam. I make that 14 in total sounds like we could all be verrrrrrry busy for a while. The pic is the actual HUD from the game. Only 15 days to go.

Feel the force.

Ok I like Star Wars, always have and always will so the prospect of a decent game to do the films justice is always eagerly anticipated.. The upcoming Force Unleashed is sounding better and better and recently it has been announced that you get to control Darth Vader himself-woo hoo! The game is looking good with rancor fights and large battles but time will only tell if it is any good. The picture here is the first official release of the dark lord himself.

Going Def, I said going Def?

Coming this month, the 24th to be precise is a new track pack for Guitar Hero III. This time around the featured Artists will be that motley band of Sheffield rockers-Def Leppard. The three tracks will include their new song "Nine Lives" along with two early song "photograph" and "rock of ages". I quite like the lep so these songs could be a welcome addition. No price point yet but expect it to be 500 ms points. Rock on!

Two good?

This week on the Live Arcade we are being treated to two games. First up is Rocky and Bullwinkle which stars those two famous American cartoon characters, Rocky the squirrel and Bullwinkle the moose, or is it the other way round?!! Anyway it is apparently a series of mini games, some of which are vision cam enabled, price is 800ms points. Secondly an update of the 28! yikes! year old game, Battlezone. This was originally done in vector graphics and featured tank battles, price 400 ms points. Try before you buy come Wednesday.

Grrrrand stuff....can't wait....

Ok this is not a full post as such but follow the link to the GTA4 website, it is revealing lots, more than i could fit in my blog. Check out the multi player stuff and the music download service. I'm now feeling all warm and tingly. http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/#?page=multiplayer

Coming soon

Just an advance warning of what's to come, more GTA 4 news including the multi player games. Some stuff on the force unleashed and anything else that floats my boat.

It's a me...Haggis

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Mario Kart Wii and just have to tell you all it is wonderful. It plays like the game we all know and love and the addition of the Wii wheel is truly a mark of genius.. Control with the wheel is spot on and within minutes you'll be driving like a pro. For the first time Mario Kart is playable online and it doesn't disappoint, any games I have joined have been lag free and an absolute laugh. Such a shame that you can't talk to others but that aside this is sweet.

Dark Sector vs Condemned 2

Ok I tried Condemned 2 and initially I hated it, then I kinda liked it but then I really dis-liked it again. It's just too dark and a bit samey, the forensics are good and it looks ok when you can see what;s going on but overall I was quite disappointed with it.. Now I had a dilemma, do I keep it for the GTA 4 trade in or do I exchange it (Gamestation still do 10 day returns) so I took it back and swapped for Dark Sector. Thank the maker I did, Dark Sector had slipped under my radar but on playing it I don't know how. It is like a mix of Resi 4, GOW and of course the film Krull coz of the Glaive weapon you have. Haven't touched the multi player yet but so far loving it.

Everyone hates campers!

Do you remember a few years ago some games companies were paying people to camp outside game shops in advance of big releases? The one that springs to mind was for a Turok game. Anyways some really sad individuals have started to camp outside a games shop in Sweden in anticipation of GTA 4. Now don't get me wrong I want this game to but camping......no way Jose. I might jump the queue a bit if I can but no way am I taking my flask and sleeping bag.......IDIOTS!

No more parachutes

Come June we will be able to get our hands on the next Lego game. Lego Indiana Jones will be bringing smiles of joy to our faces and I suspect it will feature all FOUR films, yup I think the new film will be part of it. Anyways I have just learned that in typical Lego game fashion, there will be over sixty playable characters. Most of the popular ones I can think of but sixty from the Indy games?? I reckon there may be a few Star Wars cameos and maybe even.......Batman? Time will tell.

Iron lion zion

A nice wee man at Capcom has let loose a few details about Resi 5. Mostly he has been explaining why Africa has been chosen as the setting. It seems that Africa is where life and the T-Virus originated, so why not. Also we get to find out what has been happening in the ten years since S.T.A.R.S. dis-banded. This game is high on my want-o-radar so as soon as I hear more it will be here. Just for the record, I do not see there being any racism with setting the game in Africa and having to shoot coloured zombies.....we've been shooting white zombies for years and no one minded so.....

Grand theft Sony

Word has emerged that Sony has secured an exclusive deal with Rockstar to launch a GTA 4 PS3 bundle. This will be the 40gb version bundled with GTA 4 for £299.99. Which is essentially giving away the game for free. This is a kick in the nuts for MS who seemed to be great friends with Rockstar by securing downloadable content for the 360 first. This game is going to shift a lot of consoles, who will come out on top? Four weeks time will tell.