Wow Wow Wow Wow WOW!!!

For todays bloggage im going to talk about two things, unless my mind goes off to a place my fingers cant help but follow (in the typing sense). Both of these things are (EPIC spoiler warning) truly phenominal (spoiler end) so ill get started!

First off i would like to regale you in the events of my Sunday evening! Father Hudson took me to see the Australian Pink Floyd live at the Trent Fm Arena Nottingham. Before i go on i should point out that this is a kind of tradition for me and the pop as we go pretty much every year! What marks this out as special (in our eyes anyway!) is that this was the first time we have seen them at the arena; we normally go to Demontford Hall in Leics... The reason for this being that i ground my father down untill he finally agreed to such drastic change! I have to say it was truly worth it, they are not a huge band so only played half the arena but the sound quality was the best i have ever heard. ever. The APF are commonly known as the best Pink Floyd tribute band around with others (The daily Telegraph) even going so far as to labling them the greatest tribute band ever. They played all the classic hits from a variety of the albums and played everything impeccably, add to this the phenominal stage show; a mix of bright lights, lasers, crazy animated projections and even a giant inflatable devil-hog!! This was an amazing night and even Father Hudson admitted that it was the best APF show he'd seen. I would highly suggest to all readers to check them out as this is the closest youll ever get to seeing Pink Floyd live.

My second topic is a new Blu-Ray i have rented from LoveFilm. Re-released onto blu-ray for the first time this month is The Lord of the Rings. Personally i adored these films, seeing each one multiple times in the cinema and owning them on video, dvd and the special uuber extended DVD version. I havn't bought them on Blu-ray yet partly because i wanted to check them out first and partly the cheapskate in me wants to wait for the price to decline a lil! After watching the Fellowship of the Ring however, ill be buying these asap! It was literally the most staggering film available on Blu-ray. The picture quality was so crisp, so clear that you could see every last detail in everything from the weave in the cloak to the engravings in the armour. Coupled with the unparralled sound this truly is a testament to the sublime work done by Peter Jackson and his crew over the five years of filming, crafting, producing and other such time consuming activities. To compare it to other Blu-Rays i would say that it is hundreds of times more stunning than current leaders Watchmen and Inglorious Basterds and knocks seven shades of s***t out of the likes of Moon. This is my new definate must by as it blew me away and reinvigored my love of this trilogy.

Thats all for today folks as revision calls (exams a week today, *gulp*) untill next time :)

FT

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All good things...

I've had my 360 now for 3 years but it has finally given up the ghost :( out of the blue yesterday i turned it on, to find one red light and error message E74. Luckly for me Microsoft will repair it for free, it just means no Xboxing for 2-3weeks :(
What this has brought to light, however, is the ridiculously short lifespan of modern "things" in general. I bought my Elite for £230 new and for something costing that much youd expect it to last longer than three years especially as i do not play on it a ridiculous amount and i always take care of it.

In other news i have discovered the worlds greatest Japanese video on Youtube! If you do not know i study Japanese at school and our teacher introduced us to this brillient, if slightly strange, video. A link from this video however brought me across Tomatochan! ill add it into the end of this post for you all to marvel at is....oddness! Apologise though if you do not share my sense of humour :p !!

FT
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Download Fest!

Onto a lighter note today, but just before i begin i'd just like to say ive added a sidebar widget for The Cove and i would be very grateful if you could sign up its free and could make a realy difference :)

Now onto my blog! 30 new bands were announced for Download '10 on Monday which added a lot of variety to the lineup and confirmed that Slash will be playing on the Sunday which has got me well and truly buzzing as his new album is simply sublime! Other newly announced bands include Porcupine Tree and Zebrahead so its all good in my eyes! Well, apart from there being sooo maany bands i want to see on Sunday that theres no hope in hell of me fitting them all in :( But in a sense that shows just how good the lineup is this year. With the likes of ACDC, Rage, Aerosmith, Stone Sour, Motorhead, Them Crooked Vultures, Wolfmother just to name a few this will be a Donnington to remember!!

FT
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The Cove

I would like to take a moment to post this quick blog about a film i have just seen, that has affected me more powerfully than possibly any i have seen before. It is called The Cove. This fgilm is a doccumentary about the slaughter of thousands of dolphins taking place in Taiji Japan. It is one of the most shocking, disturbing films you will see but it is one which, i believe, must be seen. I urge any and every person who reads this to find out more about this film. The DVD can be bought off amazon for just £10 i shall post the link below. We must forward this message as it is one of drastic importance. I thank you for your time.

FT
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Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cove-DVD-Louie-Psihoyos/dp/B002UEX132/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1271286284&sr=8-1

The Cove official website: http://www.thecovemovie.com/

The Future...

Now i have to say, 2010 has so far been an immense year for gaming with bayonetta, bioshock 2, final fantasy xiii and many more pushing the boundries in what developers can achieve. The past is not, however, the topic of this blog. Its the future, or to be more specific, the near future.

Just looking to the end of this year we have a whole host of tantalising titles awaiting our reception; In the next couple of months we'll have Rockstar's Wild West Epic Red Dead Redemption, Ubisoft's stealth supreme Splinter Cell Conviction and the haunting Alan Wake. Further on we'll have the likes of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Medal of Honour, Halo Reach, CoD7 and many others to get our mits upon. Again, however, i do not wish to talk about any of these; the game that is on its way that i am looking forward to most has to be Fable 3.

To set the scene please allow me a brief trip down memory lane to when i purchased Knights of the Old Republic for the original Xbox, i probably wont be liked too much for saying this but i was very dissapointed. I loved the RPG style to it yet hated the fact that you froze for every fight and had to go through menus to then watch the fight. This then, i believe, is what impressed me most about the original Fable. It had the adventure, it had the customisation and it had the real, involved action. Needless to say it swiftly became my favourite game for my Xbox and swallowed up countless hours of my time. This as then followed up by Fable 2, which improved on the original in every way (though i missed all the different armours) delivering a much deeper story and more pronounced and more subtle moral decisions. Again this swallowed up hours and hours of my time and i do not regret a single minute.

All of this then has me looking forward to the third installment of my favourite series. With all of the bits and bobs announced so far i defy anyone else to disagree. For a start everything is going to change on your moral decisions be it your character physically, your weapon and how others react towards you. Add in the new touch dynamic, possibilities of Natal functionality, being king of Albion, a whole new continent Aurora and what hasnt yet been released we are looking at one serious game! Lets not forget who's developing this game either, Lionhead studios continue to push the boundries of imagination lead by Peter Molyneux, a man whos imagination is trully magnificent (i would love to know what goes on in his head and how he comes up with the stuff he does!!). I for one will be pre-ordering the special edition as soon as it is available.

All that i feel is left to say is to encourage any reader to search the web for more fable 3 info, i know for certain www.oxm.co.uk has a preview of it as do many other sites. Ill also attatch the teaser to this post.

FT

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P.S - I wish Lionhead and Peter Molyneux the best of luck with Fable 3 and i cannot wait to play it!!

[place obvious kickass pun here]

Went to the cinema last night and saw Kickass! Honset opinion? I loved it! Full of laughs, action, blood and some terrible language all of which help make this pseudo-superhero film into a masterpiece... On the bad side i feel it lost its way a little in the middle but this was soon picked up with dramatic effect. The films two funniest parts, in my opinion, occured in the first and last scenes, giving the film a brillient sense of closure tying up any loose ends.

A definate reccomendation from me :)

FT

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First impressions...

Well ive tried out both THRide and DJHero so here are my first impressions:

We'll start with THRide methinks; personally i am loving this game, the physical interaction adds a great new face to the skating genre and one that will definately get you working. After about half an hours play i was pretty worn out which surprised me considerably as you dont appear to move very much. Back to the game, the tutorial is really helpful, outlining the basics of control and trickery putting you straight into the action. If i were to make any complaints it would be the steering system in the harder difficulties which either has you not turning sharp enough to turning far too quickly making steering a very difficult feat. I have always been a big fany of the Hawk games and have never really got on with EA's skate series but i feel this new interactive dynamic adds new levels onto the genre. So its a thumbs up from me!

Now its DJHero's turn in the spotlight. This game is very easy to pick up and i whizzed through the tutorials with no real problems. The beauty with this game i feel is that it is difficult to master especially when advanced techniques come into play. So in all im very impressed with DJHero. On the other hand, however, i feel there are a few things that could do with an improvement if DJHero2 comes with a new controller. 1)Crossfader - This is generally good but it is all too easy to flick it too far when returning to neutral position, especially in cross-spikes. 2) The buttons on the pad dont have enough grip so when you are scratching the disk occasionally slips away from you meaning you lose some vital pointage :( Other than those two quarms, however i think the game is a corker!

All in all i have thoroughly enjoyed my time with both games and cannot wait to have a more intense/longer sessions on them both in the future.

FT

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Town Times

Well today i had a break from revision and went into town for the morning (Nottingham). If you've read my previous posts i took in the games and traded them in for a measly £43, but what can you do! Linking into my other post i spent the money on a pair of converse hi tops in black as i cannot have my customs made :( ill stop complaining now!! Incase you care i also got a few DVD's to add to my collection: 21, pulp fiction, the international and the departed. Ill probly drop a line or two about them sometime soon.

In other news THRide and DJHero arrived about 10mins ago so after this, and a bit more revision ill check them out then post some initial opinions!

FT

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Converse woe

My last pair of converse hi-tops havnt fitted me in years so ive recently been thinking about a new purchase, so to the interweb i went! I entered the official Converse site and went to the "Make your own" section, to which i spent a good 5 minutes or so knocking up my own custom pair, which i am pretty chuffed with. It was only when i got to the checkout that i read that you can only buy your custom pair in the USA not in the UK!! Majorly gutted :( But heigh ho, guess im going to have to settle for a boring normal pair after all... If I were to say anything though, it would be SORT YOUR UK SITE OUT CONVERSE!!! If any of you want to see my custom design i've posted a pic in the side bar.

FT

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Activision Reeling

It seems that all the bad press towards Activision for its insane rip-off that goes under "stimulus package" has, in a way, payed off. Firstly it was announced last Thursday that till Sunday (Yesterday) the night vision goggles for your avatar would be free; this was for everyone, not just people who bought the DLC but even so! This was then followed by a message recieved today from Microsoft/Activision giving away 7 days free Xbox live gold for those who, and i quote "shown continued support to Xbox Live and purchsed the Stimulus Package." Which is nice of them :) I now fully expect the next MW2 DLC to either be a good deal cheaper or to include more stuff. Fingers crossed, anyway!

As for the DLC itself i have to say i did buy it and im not too shure what i think about it on top of its ridiculous price tag. If i'm honest i was expecting the maps to be a bit better than they were which was the main reason for me shelling out the points. This is not to say they are bad, i enjoy the new maps but other than bailout they are nothing really special. The best part of the package is definately crash and overgrown from CoD4 which play really well with the new additions MW2 brought with it. If Activision and Infinity Ward bring out another package with 5 more maps like those in the Stimulus package for around 800MSP it would hit a solid 5* but i feel for the 1,200MSP price tag i can only give it 3*.

FT

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Paridise a Plenty

As you may know from my last post i am currently playing Just Cause 2. So now that ive had more time to get to grips with the game i feel i can make a more judged opinion on the matter.

Now i never played Just Cause 1, but from what i heard and read about it when it was good it was great but when it was bad it was terrible... Unfortunately this hasnt changed enough in JC2. On the positive side the world you ply in is stunningly massive, with a fair amount of stuff to do. the whole parachute/grappling mechanic also works a charm. That though is where the good points end. the combat is lacking with enemies that are stupidly accurate from very far away, and there are so many that you are constantly losing large chunks of what little health you have meaning deaths are all too common. sending you back to checkpoints or safehouses which may be miles away from where you were. in this instant the map can be a big hinderence. In a similar vein i feel that the vehicles within the map are too fragile for the sort of things you are expected to do and the terrain you are supposed to cross. to add to this each time you crash you either have to find your way back to civilization and steal one or call in air-support to get you to pay again and again for the (admitidly really cool looking) car/bike/plane etc.

For the missions themselves they start off fun, but are repeated over and over to the point where they become boring.

All in all i think this should be a game for the casual gamer, who doesnt care about the story or the missions as the massive open world is a treat to mess about in.

In other news ive been on ebay recently and have made a few choice purchases that should arrive within the next week. These are namely Dj Hero and Tony Hawkes Ride. Both of these are titles i really wanted to play on release but was put off by the hefty £99.99 rrp they were both bundled with. So fingers crossed for the experiences i want and ill keep you all informed on here.

FT

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