Pages

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Watch Dogs and The Crew Delayed


Hey guys and gals some sad news in the gaming community, Ubisoft has announced that Watch Dogs and The Crew have been delayed. Watch Dogs will now be released  between April 1 and June 30, 2014 and The Crew between July 1 and September 30, 2014. I am deeply saddened by this news for Watch Dogs was one of the next gen games I was really looking forward to but a statement by Ubisoft via Ubiblog should clear things up for you guys


"Our ambition from the start with Watch Dogs has been to deliver something that embodies what we wanted to see in the next-generation of gaming. It is with this in mind that we’ve made the tough decision to delay the release until spring 2014.
We know a lot of you are probably wondering: Why now? We struggled with whether we would delay the game. But from the beginning, we have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality. As we got closer to release, as all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place in our last push before completion, it became clear to us that we needed to take the extra time to polish and fine tune each detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you. We thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the way you respond on the web, at events, press conferences and other opportunities we have to interact. Your passion keeps us motivated.
We can’t wait to see you in Chicago next spring. We are confident you’ll love this game as much as we love working on it."
CEO Yves Guillemot also made a statement saying
"Our long term goal is to win the next generation. The tough decisions we are taking today to fully realize the major potential of our new creations have an impact on our short-term performance. We are convinced that, longer term, they will prove to be the right decisions both in terms of satisfaction for our fans and in terms of value creation for our shareholders. We are building franchises that will become perennial pillars of Ubisoft’s financial performance. In a context of growing successes for mega-blockbusters, the additional time given to the development of our titles will allow them to fulfill their huge ambitions and thus offer players even more exceptional experiences.
Fueled by strong momentum for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, calendar 2014 will see the return of growth to the console market. Combined with the quality of our line-up and our strong financial situation, this growth will allow us to achieve record operating income in fiscal 2014-15 and 2015-16." 

Thursday 26 September 2013

Grand Theft Auto V Review

Hey guys and gals GTA V has been out for over a week now so either you've completed it or like me you're ruining though Los Santos picking fights with pedestrians or having high speed adrenaline filled chases with the LSPD (Los Santos Police Department) either way you've experienced the wonders of GTA V if not don't worry this review may just persuade you to become one of the millions of people already playing the game.

The Grand Theft Auto series has been a popular franchise among gamers since it was a top down old-school PC game and as the years went on and technology has made leaps and bounds GTA's fan base as grown astronomically to the point that GTA V is the UK's best selling game of all time beating the titan that is Call of Duty and that is no small task.

In GTA V you control for the first time in the games history not 1 but 3 protagonists while this seems daunting at first during gameplay it seems that Rockstar has perfected multi-character plots and the ability to switch between them. The 3 characters that you will be playing in GTA V are Michael the once best bank robber in the world who has been but into the witness protection program, Franklin the gangster of the trio who will do anything to gain some money and status then we have Trevor who is as crazy and insane as you're going to get but is also quite the comedian.
Get used to these guys as you will be playing them alot


Each character has their own special ability Micheal can slowdown time Max Payne style while shooting, Franklin can slowdown time when you're driving which if you're a bad driver like me this is very handy and Trevor who goes into berserk mode which allows him to deal twice the damage but also receive reduced damage. 
These abilities come at a cost though and that cost is represented by a yellow bar that is located at the bottom- left of the screen with your heath and body amour if you have some. If you're wondering how do you refill your ability meter its quite simple all you do is drive at top speed, driving on the wrong side of the road with on- coming traffic and in Trevor's case taking damage.

If you find that you're dying quickly or your ability bar is depleting rapidly then never fear for these can be upgraded by doing various activities and each activity is related to a certain area for example playing tennis will increase your power do to more damage in melee, running around Los Santos and competing in triathlons increases your stamina which allows you to run father without tiring and driving everywhere will increase your effectiveness with cars.
Driving in GTA V has vastly improved to the point that its fun to drive at high speeds without the fear of crashing 


Now GTA has been know to have some trouble when it comes to driving and that can be seen in GTA IV where if you wanted to turn a corner you would either drift and smash into everything or you would have to slow right down luckily GTA V improves upon this the first time you drive in GTA V you will notice that the cars are very sensitive to movements this is actually a good thing for ever since this has been implemented I haven't crashed so much and its generally more fun to drive from the one end of the map to the other.

The thing that makes GTA GTA are the weapons and how they handle in this respect the people at Rockstar have taken a page from Max Payne 3 where the reticle or the aim point is now a simple white dot this is a more simple version but it can sometimes be hard to see if you don't focus on it. The way in which you select your weapons is again taken from Max Payne 3 for your weapons appear on a radial around your character which you can chose from any you have purchased, depending on your character you may have different weapons say if you have a shotgun for Franklin and not for Trevor then until you purchase or find a shotgun for Trevor he can't select it.

GTA V has had gamers waiting for a long time and when it was finally released it did not disappoint in fact it was beyond expectations so much so that it's being dubbed the best game of the decade which is absolutely correct except for the mandatory 8 GB install to make the game run smoother I have had no disappointments with it. GTA V with over 100 hours of gameplay is going to keep me and fellow players occupied for a long time and with the release of GTA Online on the 1st of October which has over 700 missions I can see GTA being the most played game for many months to come. 

However PC players are suffering with no PC version available for them and Rockstar being smart will most probably announce a PC version in the next couple of months and whith the next generation of consoles released very soon will GTA V be ported to the next gen consoles if so they would not only provide a game that would be visually stunning but would make a ton of money.   

                            
     

Wednesday 25 September 2013

A Steam Console?

Hey gays and gals yet another surprise by value today but this one taking the shape of a Steam Machine or Steam Box as people are calling it  which will let you play 3000 games while more to work via streaming. If you are panicking that you will have to buy this new hardware don't worry Value have said that you don't have to purchase it if you don't want to, for more information about this new Steam Machine click on the Link.
If you want the chance to test on of these machines Value is giving only 300 away so you can help with the development so what are you waiting for go check it out. 


Tuesday 24 September 2013

A Steam Operating System

Hey guys and gals after a busy week I'm back and ready to work and to start things off Value announced yesterday that Steam is getting its own OS or Operating System. I am hugely excited for this due to the fact that I have a stupid amount of games on Steam thanks to their awesome sales also Value will be bringing something new and exciting to the table. For more information about the Steam OS click on the Link.


    

Thursday 12 September 2013

Saints Row IV Review

Hey guys and gals have you ever dreamed of being the president of the USA and having superpowers? if so then Saints Row IV is the game for you or is it? Read the review and find out for yourself.

Just like any Saints Row game you can expect over the top action and humor now some people hate stuff like that but for me its on of Saints Row's biggest feature. You can guaranty that every conversion that your character has will be filled with sex related jokes and one liners which although may not be pee your pants funny they will make you smile occasionally. 

The overall voice acting in Saints Row IV is good considering the fact that you can chose from 7 voices which include that of Nolan North who famously portrayed Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series and Desmond Miles in the Assassin's Creed series. 

Now on to the thing that makes all Saints Row games great and that is the endless amount that you customize your character from the colour of his/hers eyes to what type of socks they wear. It's this level of customization that makes Saints Row IV one of the silliest games ever made for if you ever wanted to have your character running around Steelport with nothing on except a towel and a halo then you're in luck because Saints Row IV leaves you do just that.
If you like to dress quite silly then Saints Row IV is the best game to do so 

Right off the bat in Saints Row IV you take the role of the president of the United States with one difference though...you have superpowers. When gain your powers they are quite powerful even though they haven't been upgraded, you upgrade your powers by collecting clusters of data which can be found everywhere around Steelport get enough of them and you can run faster,jump further and glide your way across Steelport. When these powers have been maxed out you feel like your are untouchable but that can take a long time if you're not doing any of the side quests of which there are many.

The fighting mechanics in Saints Row IV largely remain the same as Saints Row III which the exception of new super powered melee attacks and new controversial weapons such as the Violator which well you have to play the game or Google it to see why this game isn't for kids however there are weapons that just make no sense like the Dubstep gun which when fired makes civilians dance and cars bounce to the tune of "wub wub" while shooting out bright lights which are surprisingly effective. My favorite weapon though has got to be the Inflate-o-ray which you can guess inflates people well their heads anyway, while this takes time to do it's just too funny not to do. 
The addition of superpowers in Saints Row IV is just amazing no matter how bad you dress

Overall Saints Row IV is the best one so far for the introduction of superpowers and just amazing new weaponry make Saints Row IV a massive sand box that will keep you playing for hours due to the numerous side quests and just running, jumping and gliding around Steelport is just a blast.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Steam Family Sharing Gets People Excited


Hey guys and gals Valve has announced a Family Sharing system for Steam this allows users to share their  game libraries with family and friends. Users may only access a shared library one at a time so if you're playing something and someone wants to play one of  your games they have to wait. The library owner will always take the priority, so if someone's in your library and you want to play say Rome II they'll have a few minutes to quit playing or purchase the game they're running.

Steam accounts can authorize up to 10 devices at a time, however not every Steam game will necessarily be available for sharing external services such as Origin and Uplay, subscriptions, and other tech limitations may prevent you from playing someone else's games. However Valve notes that if you borrow a game you also have access to an owners DLC content.

I think that this I pretty neat espically that Microsoft took family sharing away from the Xbox One then decided to bring it back again, for more information check the Link to the official steam page where you can sing up to the beta.  

Monday 9 September 2013

New information about PS4 and PS Vita

Hey guys and gals at Sony Japan’s pre-TGS press conference there was a vast array of information regarding next gen consoles and the PS Vita. 
First off the Vita is now designed for "a more casual and easier to use model” it's also thinner, lighter and  comes in different colors. It’s  not only 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the standard Vita model but the main thing is that its more “affordable,” packing a 5” LCD (liquid-crystal display) display instead of an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen. Battery life has been increased by an hour which added to the generous battery life it already has is just amazing. Sony as also announced a 64 GB memory card for the Vita however this so far is exclusively for Japan 


The biggest shock was unveiling of an all-new piece of Vita-related hardware. It’s called PS Vita TV, and it lets you play Vita games on your television. Now that's freaking awesome!
The idea of PS Vita TV is to let you play Vita games on your TV using a DualShock 3 controller.However PS Vita TV has a card slot for Vita games, and accepts Vita memory cards, so it will let you use video streaming services. It will even let you play your PlayStation 4 via Remote Play with DualShock 4. Sony are really pushing for the Vita to be the ultimate go to device when it comes to mobile gaming so if your a Vita owner 2013/14 will be a very good year for you and with rumors of a PS3/4 Vita bundle Sony could be racking in the cash.   





In other news the PlayStation 4 will launch in Japan on February 22, 2014, and will cost 39,980 Yen or $401 on its own with a DualShock 4 controller, or for 43,980 Yen $441 with the PlayStation 4’s camera. A special “First Limited Pack” will also be available, which will come with a download code for Knack and a one year guarantee on the hardware itself.  This year and next looks like a very expensive year for gamers and hardware enthusiasts.