SPECIAL!! CoD: Black Ops Teaser!

For most gamers the CoD series is the definitive fps and who am I to argue? Each new addition brings Activision a ridiculous amount of money and the games top the online charts for years after (or, at least, until the next one arrives!). Needless to say the latest addition to the franchise (Black Ops) is very much in peoples minds at the moment, everyone eager to see what Treyarch can do to counter some of MW2's online problems.

Today Treyarch released a multiplayer teaser trailer that has, when looked at up close, given quite a lot away. In this episode of my ramblings i shall be dissecting this latest trailer quite thoroughly indeed, so if CoD does not interest you I'd advise you sit this blog post out; I will hopefully be posting my normal blog later this week.

Just before I begin if there is anyone who has not seen the aforementioned trailer here it is:

Let's Begin!!!

1)
Here we can see our first glimpse at the first of the two maps on show in the trailer. Things to see here is the spy-cam seen in the first segment. Note that it is mapped to the upper button on the D-Pad, does this mean that it isn't a killstreak? Linking to this the image from the camera takes the place of the mini-map; possibly a choice you get??

2)

From this shot we can see the return of both callsigns and the mini-challenges brought into the series with MW2. If you look closely it also appears that Treyarch have added a sense of humour to the game is that a smilie for the red dot site??

3)

This little shot gives the cam a name, of sorts, camera-spike. This looks to be a very interesting addition possibly a measure to reduce camping.

4)

This shot gives a good look at the new HUD, bullets are replaced with numbers the d-pad gets a little quartered circle around it and the scores get racehorse-esq revamp. Take a quick look at the mini-map and you can see that this particular map seems to be rather large.

5)

Now we have a few exciting additions to the mix here. Most obvious is the apparent return of customisable killstreaks, one of which being a remote buggy (more on that later). The killstreaks are once again mapped to the right button on the d-pad (again, where does this leave the camera?) I'm glad to see Treyarch have kept the custom killstreaks as it adds that extra depth to the game, we just have to hope it doesn't encourage the camping we all see in MW2.

6)

There are two trains of thought in my mind for this screenshot. A - The rocket is just a piece of moving scenery like the cars in Carnival (MW2) or the missiles in Countdown (MW). B - Could this be a new objective-based game type or game-effecting scenery?

7)
Next up is one of the stars of the E3 trailer: the exploding crossbow!! In other news the care package is back.

8)

Another killstreak here; according to the audio it is simply artillery. My first thoughts went towards predator but this looks more like a torpedo...

9)

Ballistic Knife. By the looks of things it is a pneumatic knife. Will this be a refined throwing knife or an easy kill (like the noob-tube)?

10)

This shows a lovely new stabbing movement that looks very violent indeed. Also another killstreak, this one looking unnervingly nuke-ish, at the very least it is a bomb of some form.

11)

Next in the killstreaks shown is a Chinook helicopter. You can see this in the mini-map but a few seconds earlier the beast itself is visible. My money is that this will deliver care-packages based on the role of Chinooks in the military and the fact that in a couple of seconds we will see the enemy on the mini-map killed whilst attempting to retrieve said package.

12)

Not much to report in this other than the destruction being caused by another killstreak: an attack chopper.

13)

Back to the remote buggy, here we see it being controlled toward the two chaps in front who then are blown to bits. This excites me quite a lot, mainly as it seems a god way to combat campers. Note also in this shot the missile in the background. This overtakes the buggy and turns a lot. This suggests that it is remote controlled, but from the trajectory it seems more of a torpedo than a predator.

14)

This one is all about another killstreak. Seeing a pattern? From the jet on the mini-map and on the d-pad this looks like a harrier strike, albeit with a tad more vava-voom than its MW2 brethren.

15)
I don't need to point out the obvious in this screenshot of the sniper rifle. Instead take a quick look at the mini-map which can be seen to have been divided into quadrants. I expect this will please those in the MLG with an easy way to call out where enemies are.

16)

Just like MW2's multiplayer Treyarch have left a big crowd pleaser until after the titles. This time its a dedicated theatre mode reminiscent of that found in the Halo series.

17)

As we can see here you are able to view the action from multiple angles, this will surely be a great addition for veteran and rookie Machinima directors and commentators alike.

18)

All to see here is a very simple looking after-editing programme, allowing cuts and transitions; again one for the Machinima directors.

19)

Finally we have this one. Pay attention to the background and you can see the option to upload you film straight from the game and, i would imagine, onto a site run by Treyarch. I would also hope there is an option to upload them either directly to YouTube or your PC/Mac so you can show off that impressive killcam or lucky shot!

That is all that I could deduce from this 1:25 of footage, if you have anything to add please feel free to leave a comment.

Many thanks and I welcome you back to my usual ramblings which should resume later this week.

FT

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SPECIAL!! Toy Story 3!

Welcome everyone to my blog's first ever special!! Today i am focussing my entire post to one film, so without further ado; let's begin:

If you are one of the few who have actually watched my, quite frankly embarrassing, entrance into vlogging you'll know that last week I went to see the film I have been waiting 11 years for. That’s right. Toy Story 3! I have no notion of embarrassment in going to watch this as I genuinely believe this film is not for the kids of today, its for people my age; those who were 3, 4 or 5 when the original came out and were completely transfixed by the realisation of a dream everyone that age had. The dream that your toys really were alive. This was then repeated 4 years later by the, not quite as good but still awesome, sequel. This time the film appeared to have grown with those who had first seen the original. It managed to draw the same level of fascination from the kids who were now approaching 10 at the same time capturing the hearts of those who were new to the franchise. This, I feel, is no easy feat. To add to this both films loved by parents and adults alike creating an unusual situation of universal love.

This then left a lot to achieve for Toy Story 3. Film history is riddled with poor sequels, let alone third entries to franchises. Notable here are Shrek 3, Spiderman 3 and the list goes on. For Toy Story 3, I am thrilled to report that it fits in the same vein as The Return of the King or The Bourne Ultimatum. In brief then it is brilliant. Once again the film has grown with both its original audience and those who tagged on late with Toy Story 2 whilst being able to captivate those who were joining the saga. The cinema itself was proof of this; filled with all ages from babies and toddlers to teenagers and adults, then at the end was filled with praises coming from the end of showing chatter.

So why was it so good? I'll tell you. The story is beautifully written and follows on from the 2nd film in real time. So Andy is going off to college and the fate of our favourite toys are called into question as Andy's room has to be cleared out. Andy then decides what he wants to do with them all but, a little predictably, all does not go to plan! I will not give away any more of the plot but what follows is a familiar but still fresh adventure for the Toys; meeting new friends (and enemies) and facing perils worse than ever before! This all is then tied up with a very satisfying end to the trilogy that I'm sure will please new and old Toy Story fans alike.

As expected it looked superb, Pixar are still way ahead of any other animation studios, with every scene looking flawless and to immense detail in both image and texture. This wonderful look in addition to the 3D made it a treat for the eyes. The 3D was, in my opinion, even better than how Avatar handled it. With Avatar it was good but felt rather uncomfortable and blurry at times, whereas with TS3 it was crystal clear throughout. There was also none of the gimmicky jump-out's that are too common with 3D films. In an interview with Graeme Boyd for Inside Xbox TS3 producer Darla Anderson said how they wanted the 3D aspect to "add another dimension" to the film and that it was important to them to "not use it as a gimmick." This is definitely the way to handle 3D in my book as it immerses you more into the world without raising the 'cringe factor.'

Combining all of this with the return of Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack and the rest of the original voice cast makes for an enjoyable adventure for any age. This is a truly magical film and one that shouldn’t be missed. It fully deserved its achievement of knocking Twilight's Eclipse out of contention for the biggest opening week in the UK and is now second only to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Hope you enjoyed this FTB special, i'll be back to regular blogging next week :)

FT

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Catch-up!

It seems a comonly recurring thing now on my blogs to apologise for the lateness of the post. Unfortunately i must carry on form with this one. I had hoped to get this up last week but i had some issues with broken discs so had nothing to talk about! But its all fixed now and ive managed to watch the films in question so sit back, relax, and enjoy :)

This edition's films are the new(ish) Astroboy film and Ponyo. I shall also include my opinions on Alice in Wonderland as i have finally seen that now. Ill begin with Ponyo as i have been looking forward to seeing this film for a few years now due to a school trip i was on to Nagano, Japan. On this trip I was part of a homestay with a primary school child. Around this time Ponyo had just come out in Japan and my host sister was completely obsessed with it to the point that the theme song was the only thing we listened to on any car journey, on repeat! So by the end of this i knew the song off by heart (albeit in Japanese!). So every time i now hear this song it brings back some very fond memories of mine which, i think, means i enjoy this film more than i usually would. The reason i say this is that Ponyo is not Hayao Miyazaki's finest film. It is still a very good film, packed full of adventure and the bizzare that is so common in Miyazaki's work but it is just missing that edge that Totoro and Spirited Away had. Despite this i urge anyone who enjoys animated films to check this out, it has been translated very well into English with the voice talents of Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Noah Cyrus, all of whom make the language barrier non existant.

Next up is Astroboy. Having watched Astroboy on TV alot as a child i was definately wary of this film and hoped that it would not tarnish my fond memories of the robot child. All i can say here is that these fears were completely unnessesary. In my opinion this film is up there with some of Pixar's work. The graphical styling is spot on and the whole thing looks absoloutly gorgeous, from the towering skyscrapers of Metro-City to the wreckages of the Earth below. To complement this look comes a brillient voice cast including Bill Nighy, Nicholas Cage, Eugine Levy and Kristen Bell to name but a few; all bringing the characters to life marvolously. The story behind the film is also brilliently written by Osamu Tezuka who stays true to the history of Astroboy that he created all those years ago. This is a brillient family film but also a must see for any fans of the TV series, the manga or any sci-fi lover or closet nerd.

Last but by no means least in the film section of todays blog is Alice in Wonderland (a la Tim Burton). This film was released to incredibly mixed reviews and was quite quickly characterised as a 'marmite film,' mainly due to the vast number of both 4/5 starsalongside just as many 1/2 starred reviews. So what side of the fence do i fall down on? For me, i am well and truly on the 'love' side. This film completely blew me away to the point where i ordered the Blu-Ray as soon as it finished. I believe that Tim Burton was the perfect man for the job. No other director can contend with the way he portrayed the madness of Carroll's world. The whole film is a treat for the eyes with so much detail in every scene; the art department truly deserves an award for what they have produced. Along with the art comes the actors in this all star lineup. Mia Wasikowska, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway; Matt Lucas, Timothy Spall, Michael Sheen and Barbara Windsor all play their parts faultlessly along with the rest of the cast. Though none of them match Johnny Depp's inspiring take on the Mad Hatter in all his excentric glory. When you then add these to the story that intertwines both books and adds a little extra to boot you get the perfect package that has now achieved top spot in my personal film top 10.

Continuing on this positive streak i bought The Beatles: Rockband special edition this week as it was on a truly brillient offer at HMV (£129.99 down to £49.99!!). This comes with a copy of the game, a microphone plus stand, a guitar controller (made to look like Sir Paul McCartney's Hofner Violin Bass) and a drum kit (made to look like Ringo Starr's Ludwig kit). I'm not going to go into the games merrits as that has previously been covered in my previous posts. This small section is just to say how wonderful these instruments are. They have been made to a wonderful level of detail and are a pleasure to play as well as look at. It is clear to see that a lot of work and love has gone into the design and creation of these most impressive of peripherals.

Now just before i go i would like to inform you all of a new project of mine that i have just started. I am now going to attempt to create a series of vlogs that will be going up on my YouTube channel (http://bit.ly/bYPvYt). I have 1 vlog up at the moment and i must apologise for the sound quality which went really quiet for some reason when it finished uploading. I am aiming to produce semi-regular vlogs and hopefully the more i do the better they will become. So id like to ask you all kindly to check them out :)

Thats all for now then, i hope you enjoyed today's blog,

FT

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This week!

As i mentioned in my last blog i was ment to be getting the new Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton from LoveFilm. This did happen but, much to my disgust, the disk was a bodge and wouldnt play :( To make up for this failure of epic proportions i popped it back into the post today and LoveFilm will be sending me a new, working copy. Due to this then i cannot review it or give my opinions, i hear your pain! But fingers crossed the new working one will arrive soon and will hopefully make it onto my next blog. Despite this crushing dissapointment i still have a few other things to write about so do not dispair...

Films shall front this blog methinks so i shalll start off with The Invention of Lying. Written, directed by and starring Ricky Gervais this film has a rather sterling premise. In a world where noone can lie and everyone tells the truth one man tells the worlds first lie and his life is followed through this period. Unfortunately that is where it all ends. The actual excecution of the film is very bad indeed, the story is very predictable and some areas that scream out for some hilarious incidents just arn't included. This is possibly due to Gervais's style of humour which, i believe, is wrong for this type of film; the dry humour that works so well for the Office, for example, just doesnt gell with a story that needs more of a slapstick, laugh out load style. Gervais has produced some hilarious work in the past but you cannot help but feel this part lends itself better to Jim Carrey or Steve Carell. Another aspect that greatly dissapointed me about the film was how blatent the product placement was. The number of refferences to Pizza Hut, Budweiser and Coke became one of the films biggest jokes. This is a film where product placement is done wrong, done right it can be ok; after all most people could tell if a beer was budweiser without the label pointed directly at the lense, then lifted to the lips still with the label pointing at the camera. Its unnessesary and detracts from the film itself. In essense then this is a very poor film and i reccomend you avoid it if your given the choice.

On a lighter note i have recently been playing The Beatles:Rockband which is a immensly fun game. Taking the well tested and user friendly Rockband experience and filling it full of The Beatles. The upside of this is that you know nearly all of the songs even if you are not the most avid Beatles fan, this makes singing and playing that little bit more fun as you have a sense of where the song is going. As The Beatles music is so renowned this game is fun for everyone be it at a family get together, on your own or with your friends. Tied in with the main career are a series of unlockables, including never seen before photos and video clips. Along with information about the band which gives it a nice touch of nostalgia for those who were around when The Beatles were at large and some insight for those who were late to the party. If i had to complain about the game it would be that some of the big hits are not included in the game such as Hey Jude, Elenor Rigby, Penny Lane and a few more. A few of these are included in the form of downloadable content but not all of them. This is quite a big dissapointment but you still have the majority of their big hits to play around with. I would highly reccomend picking this one up as i am still having a great time playing it and will definately be buying it myself after it returns to LoveFilm.

Thats all that i can think to report for today, tonight i am going to The Moonwhiskey Soul Jam's final gig at the Maze in Nottingham which should be great fun but quite sad at the same time and my results arrive tomorrow. So expect both of those things to crop up in the next blog, hopefully alongside Alice in Wonderland.

FT

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Better late than never!

Ok, ive kind of come to grips with the fact that i cannot update this as often as i would like to, not due to lack of stuff to write about but down to my incredible power of forgetting to do it :( For that i appologise. This week however, you may be pleased to know, i did not forget :) its late because Apple released their new iPod opperating system OS4.0 so i wanted to try it out and include it in this blog for y'all.

As ive set the scene nicely ill kick things off with the new OS, if you couldnt care less i'd advise you to skip the paragraph as i have more to comment upon than a tech update :) Basically OS 4.0 is for the new iPhone 4 (which looks and feels and runs frikkin amazingly!) but as i dont have £500ish quid lying around i wont be getting one :( So if it was for the iPhone why do iPods get it? This is a plain and simple streamlining issue, they add it to all iPods (touches) and phones so as to reduce their workload by only running one systemfor what is, essentially, the same piece of hardware. Enough with the boring stuff though! The main new features are the abilities to create playlists on your iPod, organise your apps into folders and a general visual spruce to make your "desktop" as it were to look more iPady. If you own an iPhone you also get the huge boon of multi-tasking, this wont arrive on iPod touches as they physically dont have the tech in the to handle it. Overall im very impressed with the update, the looks are very swish and make a nice change from the ageing desktop and the new animations that go with it are a nice touch. Folders are incredibly useful as i no longer have to flick through 10 or so pages of apps to find the one i want i can now store them in folders of 9 apps that relate (eg i have a folder for online, one for my fave games etc) Now i only have 2 pages which is a lot tidier and easier to manage. Creating and editing playlists on your iPod has been something i have wanted for ages as i have a playlist of my favourite songs so if ever i think of an addition when im out i can add it straight away, smoothly avoiding the epic failure that is my memory! There are a few other new features such as a spell checker which works just like the one on Word, underlining all your errors in red for you to treat as you will. All other features are only minor changes so ill move on to the multi-tasking. Ive had a play with this on my Dad's work iPhone (3Gs) and am very impressed, it allows you to do just what it says, ie you could be writing a text and quickly check something on Safari or be playing a game and change the music track. Its all very fluid and doesnt drastically hamper the iPhone's overall performance, within reason (it starts to struggle if you try and pile too much onto it at once). The only negative point about the new OS is that it gives the already weedy battery a full on thrashing, which is rather annoying to say the least! But hey overall the pros outweight the cons quite considerably :)

Next up is E3 that finished not too long ago. To those who are unaware E3 is the biggest gaming expo in the world held in LA where a lot of the years big reveals are unleashed at one of the big three's (Microsoft, Sony & Nintendo) personal conferences. Microsoft opend the show with a rather audacios presentation of Project Natal, as invisiged by Cirque de Solai. Here they had a big circus and announced some release titles and its name, Kinect. Yes i thought the name was lame too! The next day Microsoft had their conference where they spent the first half talking about Kinect and showing off some release titles (kinectimals, Kinect Sports, a fitness game from Ubisoft, a dance version of Rockband by Harmonix and a few others) although these appeared very casual they did show a lot of promise as well as hinting at the opportunities as possibilities provided by the new tech. With this then it is an encouraging step before the big guns start to announce some titles for the more hardcore gamer. After that there was not much to write home about, they showed off a bit of the new Call of Duty: Black Opps which looked good but nothing really that new. This was followed by a short talk about Fable 3 and another about Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Both look pretty awesome but again, nothing outstanding. To finish off their bit, Microsoft announced the 360 S a slimmer, sleeker, sexier version of the console with a 250GB HDD and the fastest wireless N adapter of any console built in. All this for the same price as a new Elite, so not too shabby. Its also worth pointing out that it is also a great deal quieter, has a smaller power converter and no red ring of death, so thats nice!

Next up was Sony who, in my eyes, was very dissapointing. They spent the first half hour talking all about 3D gaming which, if im honest, is a bit of a fad. However during this pitch they did announce Killzone 3 which, from the demo, looks amazing. Next on their list was their version of the wiimote, Playstation move. This showed some promise, with 1:1 motion tracking but it was let down by long calibration times and lacking in game promises. For me personally, the biggest dissapointment came next with a big inspiring talk about the PSP. Like everyone else watching i had my fingers crossed for what appeared to be the announcement for the PSP2. But instead it was all in aid of a brand new advertising campaign....Lame. The rest of their conference improved slightly announcing Steam is coming to the PS3 along with Portal 2, an exclusive Assassins Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer Beta and the return of Twisted Metal.

It was Nintendo that stole the show, however, with the brillient looking 3DS (without stupid goggles!) the returns of Kirby, Kid Icarus and Donkey Kong. Not only this but also a renevated version of Goldeneye on a real controller with Daniel Craig's face which looks like it will be one of the best titles the wii has ever seen. Finally they showed some very impressive looking gameplay from the new upcoming Zelda game which, with the motion plus add on rivals Playstation move's 1:1 control.

In DVD news ive been revisiting the Alien series and the Ocean films both of which i find hugely entertaining. Im expecting Alice in Wonderland to come tomorrow so that will be an experince as i have yet to see burton's version of the classic.

Thats all for this time see you soon,

FT

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Donwload 2010

I got back from Download around 2:00am on Monday after having been there since around 5:30pm Wednesday evening. I had a truly brillient time at the festival and my aim of this blog is to talk all about the various experiences from the extended weekend.

As bands didnt start untill Friday and i arrived on the Wednesday i feel it best to start with camping. camps Bret and the village. I was honoured to be a part of Camp Bret, a camp made up of about 15 people, everyone conected in some way or another (ie friend of a friend). The camp had a great atmosphere that was aided by fun conversations and copious amounts of alcohol! This plus the general atmosphere of the campsite (Camp Bret was situated in Blue Camp) which was one of excitement for the weekend and full of like minded people making for great exchanges with countless random festival goers. So the two days before bands began were spent in and around the campsite and the village (a large area full of shops, stalls, food vans, fairground rides and entertainment tents) providing a very enjoyable, albeit expensive, time.

On to Friday then and the discovery of the weekend! Me and my friend Will discovered a small band on third stage called Year Long Disaster, these proved to be a very talented band with a unique sound that is deffinately going onto my Spotify playlist and i fully recommend you all check out. The rest of Friday was spent on main stage, watching a decent set from 36 Crazyfists. This was followed by Killswitch Engage who made up for a slightly distortion-heavy sound with a decent control of the crowd and a blinding tribute to the late legend Ronnie James Dio with Holy Diver. This finished their set with a bang and made way for supergroup Them Crooked Vultures who performed a faltless set, Dave Grohl a bundle of energy on the drums, John Paul Jones' stupendous bass and fronted brilliently by Josh Homme. All of these acts were blown out of the water however with Fridays headliners and my weekends highlight. ACDC. Their performance was quite simply the best i have ever seen live, a mix of classic hits such as Back in Black, Thunderstruck, For those about to Rock and many more; mixed in with tracks from Black Ice alongside pyrotechnics, giant inflatables, rising platforms and stellar solos.

Now Sturday had a lot to live up to. But boy did it deliver. The first bands i saw were Atreyu and Flyleaf, both performed quality sets flyleaf where a little weak due to the lead singer being slightly drunk. Five Finger Death Punch then took to the stage, they are not really my cup of tea but they performed well and really got the corwd going. At the end of the set Ivan Moody exclamed he wanted to shake every member of the audience's hand which evoked this reaction...

Next up was another steller set, this time from Lamb of God; again getting great crowd support. The experience seemed to touch the band quite deeply, leaving them very emotional as they left the stage after their largest ever crowd. Following this was a dissapointing Megadeth performance and a passable effeort from Him. However, for the second night in a row, the headliners took to the stage with force. Rage Against The Machine went off with their simple set but brillient stagecraft. Everything that was expected wad delivered and exceeded including the inevitable political opinions from Zach de la Rocha. They even dedicated a song to Simon Cowell :)

Then along came Sunday. Saxon took the crowd back in time by playing Wheels of Steel in full as well as a couple of classics. The next act i saw was the legend of guitar himself. Slash. I managed to get very close to the stage for this one and was greeted with a blinder of a gig from Slash and his touring frontman Myles Kennedy with a guest arrival in the form of Motorhead's Lemmy. The set included a mix from Slash's new solo album as well as Velvet Revolver classic Slither and Guns 'n' Roses timeles songs Sweet Child of Mine and Paradise City. Unfortunately as Slash left the glorious weather changed to rain. Despite the newly horrendous conditions the rest of the bands played on seemingly oblivious to the heavy rain. Billy Idol belted out classic after classic finishing off with Rebel Yell. I then went off to second stage to catch Porcupine Tree's present in the form of a perfectly played gig. Steel Panther where next on who provided laughs all around and a set that made you forget all about the rain. It was back to main stage for the final two peformances. Stone Temple Pilots played very well, it was just dissapointing that their crowd was so small. Then to finish it all of Aerosmith kicked out a belter of a finale to finish off the weekend in style. If i had to, i would say Aerosmith were the weakest headliner but that would be picking at straws.

On a related note i was able to be one of only 25 people who were allowed to see the world public premiere of the New Medal of Honour game at the EA hub that had been set up in the main arena. A section from one level of the single player campaign was shown and was very impressive on the 70inch HD TV. The visuals were incredible from the rocky, Afghanistan terrain, to a random goat to your teammates faces. The sound was top notch with very realistic sounding weapons and even ruffles of fabric and boots on rock. There were a few issues with players walking through others and the odd judders but this is still very early code so is to be forgiven. This is truly looking to be a quality title and a realy rival for Modern Warfare 2.

All in all then the weekend has been one of the best of my life. I inted to write another blog either this week or next with my opinions on the latest announcements from the E3 gaming Expo that is currently underway in LA as well as a quick review of Dead Man Running. I will leave all of this for next time as i feel this blog has gone on for too long!!

FT

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Roundup...

I owe a major apology first, i promised more regular blogs but did not follow this through. I have no excuse as all ive been doing is living up my new found freedom as all exams are done! So what's been going on that is worth reporting?

Firstly i would like to put across my full on excitement as tomorrow i shall be heading off to Download! This i cannot wait for to the point that the webcam from downloadfestival.co.uk has been taking up half of my desktop for the past few days. On a related note it has been a sad time for the rock world recently with the deaths of Ronnie James Dio one of the finest vocalists ever, the truly talented yet underrated bassist/songwriter of Slipknot Paul Gray and the steriophonics drummer Stuart Cable. My thoughts go out to their loved ones, family and fans who will miss them all immensly.

On a gaming note ive just completed Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar games' wild west epic. This is a thoroughly awesome game with so much to do throughout the vast open world and the main story is as gripping as they come with plenty of twists and turns. It is the first game i have played where i have watched every cutscene all the way through which, in my mind, really says something. I do urge everyone to get this game as it is a great adventure thats easy to drop in and out of. Sticking to gaming for a bit longer i have just got back into the music genre and am slowly but surly making my way through DJ Hero and Rockband. I havnt quite decided yet but i think Guitar Hero is still my favourite but the setlist for Rockband knocks it out the water. Linking to this is the new Guitar Hero that was announced yesterday (warriors of rock) with an amazing looking new guitar peripheral and a return to GH3's rock and metal soundtrack this is looking to be a scorcher of a title.

Onto films now and i have just watched DeJaVu and Taken on Blu-Ray, both of which and exciting and clever thrillers with many twists and turns in the plots to match the high octane action. Personally i preffered Taken as it was a lot tighter in both story and editing. However credit is due to DeJaVu as its story was far from the norm and really makes you think.

The last little section i want to write before i leave is a quick talk about gadjets. Whilst in town the other day i got to play with an iPad in PCWorld and was blown away. First impressions were of how good it looks and how it is heavier than i thought it would be. Once i turned it on, however, this was all forgotten. The screen is beautiful and provides a brilliently sensitive touch which outstrips that on the ipod touch or iphone. The apps work a dream as does the accelerometer making games such as labyrinth a lot more user friendly. With regards to safari, browsing the web is a lot faster and you hardly notice the lack of flash support, besides all the major flash users have their own apps that can be used for accessing this content. The next bit of tech news is again from Apple, this time it is the announcment of the iPhone 4, this once again, pushes the boundries with a much sleeker, sexier design, a better screen, faster processor, bigger battery and the new opperating system allowing for multi-tasking. All of this adds up to a beautiful looking phone that will definately be a market leader and bring in another shedload of revinue for Apple.

All that i have left to say is that ill write another blog next week. It shall probably arrive around Wednesday and ill have a lowdown on the events of Download as well as the latest news from the E3 gaming conference that is taking place in LA from 14-17th of June.

FT

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