GTA IV is one of the most fun games I have played. From the gaming mechanics, story to the amount of fun you have it delivers to the last dot. The story is not much for a gamer who has played the GTA games in the past, I guess we're getting used to what we should expect, but it's still good and it's now dynamic, since some of the choices you make will change the final outcome.

Pros: Well there is nothing but pros to talk about in the game. For those of you who love a open ended city this is it. First about the game technology, you have an open city where you can roam around looking for trouble or just to earn some cash, the graphics are breath taking on the Xbox360, and the sound is so realistic. The main story is nothing much as I mentioned earlier but it takes you on various adventures all over Liberty city meeting various characters. The game mechanics are really cool, the controls are so comfortable on the 360 and the physics are so real for example, the rag doll effect when being thrown out of a car or when blasted by a bomb are so cool. Small things do matter, and the game developers have looked in to so much of details. For those who like detail this is it from car damage to injuries of the character. There are so many side missions for you to choose from street races to vigilante missions, they have taken out the fire and ambulance missions, but there is so more to fill in. San Andreas was a more gang story and environment, which some of us enjoyed the change, most who like the original GTA's i.e. Vice City missed the mafia and GTA IV delivers. Be ready to get addicted for 30 hours at least to one of the best games of 2008.

Cons: None to talk about I've only played it on the xbox360 so can't really comment on how it runs on other platforms. May be more character customizations could have been added on i.e. the gym from San Andreas has been taken out.

For anyone who loves RPGs this is one for you to play, for anyone who wants to try out an RPG then this is one game you have to play and you will be hooked on to it.

Wow... it's good to be back after sometime. Yep, it's been hard to come around here with my new job and all, but it doesn't mean that I have stopped playing games, recently I got my hands on COD 4 which was way cool, and right now I'm looking at Rainbox 6 Vegas 2 - I'm looking forward to see how the story continues.

Well this is it i'm announcing that I'm officially back on game spot, and hoping to focus my attenssion on building up a good Union, cause it seems like the unions are loosing what ever they had in the past. Well I got a few concepts in mind, will be building them up in the next few weeks, and I'm pleased to invite who ever would like to join in my new project. It's good to be back...

Playing Crysis these days, I know I'm a bit behind. Wow what a game Crysis is, awaiting to get my hands on COD4 and Pro Street. And from next week I'm officialy back on Game Spot.

Ahhh today I go for my first job interview... What are the chances of getting a job from the very first interview??? We shall see...

Been away for sometime because of all the projects from uni and stuff. One more project to go and then I'll be done with Uni (Finally!!!)

Wow, Garfield comics are s awesome...

Ok, I haven't written something original in my blog for a long time. So here it goes this post describes how evil the world is to me. I have listed down 10 things that make the world such a cruel place to live in.

 

1. The world has given me great friends the right ones at the right time.
2. The world has taught me how to heal, taught me how to get up on my own two feet again.
3. The world has taught me how to make my sadness in to something good. After all experiences are things that go wrong in your life.
4. The world has given me so much happiness, sometimes I fail to see this happiness because of the momentary sadness in my life.
5. The world has given the ability to understand. I know the world doesn't revolve around me
6. The world has given me the ability to feel, to know when other people are happy and when they are down in the dumps.
7. The world has shown me there is more than stress in my life, there are also things like relaxation and recreation
8. The world has shown me that there are many paths in life, and that I deserve happiness
9. The world has given me understanding parents. The secret is not in them understanding me but me understanding them.
10.The world has given me the internet and IM, to say hi to my friend on the other end of the world.

Come to think of it the world that I live in isn't that cruel. The world is everything that surrounds me; you are part of my world.

 

Thanks for being part of it...

 REF: http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/12383/532/

By Stephen Withers   

Thursday, 24 May 2007

New firmware for the PlayStation 3 will upscale DVD movies plus PS1 and PS2 games to 1080p resolution on compatible HD TVs.

"The capability to upscale DVDs to HD quality is a feature normally only associated with top range DVD players, and its inclusion in the latest firmware upgrade now allows PS3 owners with an existing DVD collection to dramatically enhance the viewing pleasure of their DVD collection when viewed through a compatible HD TV set," Sony official said.

Upscaling DVD content requires an HDMI-compatible TV.

Available from today, the 1.80 firmware upgrade includes several other significant features, including the ability to view or play content stored on DLNA-enabled devices such as PCs and media servers on the same network. Dedicated media players sell for $US200 and up (significantly more for HD models) so this is a valuable feature.

The ability to print photos stored on the PS3's hard drive or removable media such as CDs will also be welcome, and will help extend the PS3's appeal. While nobody is going to buy a PS3 just for this capability, we can imagine younger would-be PS3 gamers saying "But Mum, if we get a PS3 you'll be able to print your photos without having to mess around with the computer." The downside is that it seems only certain Epson printers are supported, but we would expect to see other brands and models added if this feature proves as popular as we predict.

But upscaling of PS1 and 2 titles isn't the only thing the upgrade does for gamers - it also enables remote play of content stored on the PS3 across a broadband connection to a PlayStation Portable. Exactly how much bandwidth is required remains to be seen, and the feature requires the PSP to have the 3.50 firmware due by the end of the month.

Here's the teaser for the 2007 release of the Need for Speed Series. Can't wait for it.

This is my new Sign, I know it's nothing much, but would like to here your comments on it... and areas that need imporvement...

 

I'll be away next couple of days, going on a trip to relax from all the stress and complications.

You can see my new Banner and Blog Header, I would like it if you can rate them, and give me your views on them. The Image is off Ultimate X-Men - Issue 67. I love the Ultimate X-Men series.

Fable: The Lost Chapters is a game that would take you out of this world literarily. Fable puts together action, fantasy and affection that lacks in many games these days. Action in the sense of great fights and action sequences, fantasy has been brought out through great story telling, affection is brought out through the ability the game has to bond the player with the character he plays.

Fable is basically about you, in the game you play and unnamed character who you have to build up as you advanced through the game, this is one of the most dynamic games that I have come across which lets the player decide on the choices that he makes, which could be a good one, a bad one or one that is balanced. The game starts you as a young boy giving you many quests to play along with the main quest, all quest could be finished off in more than one way, giving you experience as you grow old, yes the character ages as you progress through the game. The game is a mix of Grand Theft Auto 3 and Oblivion combined.

Some of the dynamics the game offers are as follows, it allows the player to modify the character as the game progresses adding various hair, and various outfits, there is freedom when it comes to where you want to explore and what quests you want to do like your normal RPG. The choices you make affect things such as your appearance and how people react towards you, what you want to become is totally up to you whether it's an evil spell-caster or a good warrior. You need to collect experience as you progress which allows you to increase your abilities such as your fighting ability, skills such as guile, and finally magic. You never get bored in the game since every area you visit has something interesting to discover, such as special silver keys you need to collect to unlock treasures, solving riddles to open a demon door, searching for new weapons, buying good, plying mini-games at the local bar, getting married and yes even laid. There is great detail paid when constructing the story of Fable.

The GOOD: You can play this on a reasonably ok machine, the graphics and sounds are just breathtaking. Sound is done by Hollywood composer Danny Elfman, and the developers have paid great attention to detail in graphics, from the leaves falling to the textures on a grave stone. The game has the ability to bond the player with the character heshe is playing creating an affection towards the character and the story. The dynamic environment and the dynamic way you can play, you can end a quest is superb. The game is structured that you learn while you play learning new tricks as well as knowing your environment is great. Many say that for an RPG this game is short, true you can finish the main quest just under 10 hours of game play, but the game isn't fun without the aspect of exploring and finishing off the side quests as well. The length of the game is perfect; if it was lengthier people would be pretty annoyed.

The BAD: Other than the fact there is no multiplayer play I do not have anything bad to say about the game.

Overall I can recommend this to any game lover; the game has the ability to capture any player regardless of what genre of games you like. Can't wait for the second game to come out.

With not much action available for the PC, I have decided to play some of the old games that I remembered to be fun. The first of these was Quake 4 and now I'm playing Fable: The Lost Chapters. The game brings back old memories, it still stands true to what it offered me more than an year ago. This time around I have decided to play all the quest, and this time I can enjoy some stuff that I misses the first time.

I will post my new Review for the game soon, as soon as I'm done with the game.

REF: http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/11809/53/ 

By Stan Beer   

Thursday, 03 May 2007 

Graphics chip specialist Nvidia isn't mincing words when it boldly claims that its new graphics processing unit (GPU) is the fastest gaming platform in the world. However, starting at US$829, the GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card had better live up to its claims.

According to Nvidia, the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra, which boasts support for both Blu-ray and HD DVD content, performs an average of between 10 and 15% faster than its predecessor the GeForce 8800 GTX.

For your extra money you get a GPU with extra speed achieved by cranking up the clock speeds by around 10 to 15%.

GeForce 8 Series GPUs are the first shipping DirectX 10 GPUs and are the reference GPUs for Microsoft DirectX 10 API development.

"The definitive gaming platform is built around the fastest components available and today there is no disputing those components include the GeForce 8800 Ultra GPU and an NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI-ready motherboard," said Ujesh Desai, general manager of desktop GPUs at NVIDIA. "The graphics industry evolves extremely quickly and it is quite an achievement when you can leapfrog your own performance milestones in succession like we have done with these GeForce 8 Series GPUs."

Reaction to the Nvidia announcement in the blogosphere was mixed, with some posters commenting that the new GPU is too expensive, while others care little about the high price tag, describing the new performance specs of the GeForce 8800 Ultra as awesome.

It's so frustrating when coping stuff on to the new editor that Gamespot's  added. Could someone tell me how to paste stuff that I do on word or on notepad. The details get copied but when submitted gives out various errors, such as not well formated HTML. I first thought it was Firefox I tried IE7 but it gave out the errors as well. It's frustrating sometime, that I just go and publish the stuff on my other blog.

Ahhh done with two games in an awesom trilogy, The two thrones was great. I'm having thoughts of playing the Sands of Time. Just sad that it's over. I guess I'm waiting for Halo 2 for PC. Read my review for Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones bellow,

 

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/princeofpersia3/player_review.html?id=448720
 

Been playing POP3: The two Throne the last few days, the game is fun but bot Warrior Within that's the sad part, but as a seperate games it's pretty good. Can't wait to finish it off...

The video is the developer diary of the look and feel of GRAW 2. It looks like we will be assuming the role of Captain Mitchel, the diary introduces the artistic director and lead engineer of the game.

The GRAW 2 Trailer showed that the graphics have imporved since the first game, but fact that I noticed in th first game are the massive system requirements, but the games graphics were not that impressive to me compared with Half Life 2 of the time, HL2 gave out amazing graphics for a less system requirements, I hope they have imporved on this fact.

The story seems pretty stable, hope it matches up to the story of the first game which was very stable story wise. The first game offered many tactics when engaging enimies hope this keeps up to the expectation. I like the day to night cycle feature and the different weather effects, which will be a real experience. The God rays shown in the video are really immpressive, can't wait to see those effects in action. It seems that the developers have paid great attension to detail, which has a good side and a bad, the small small details would mean need of a HI end system to manage these like the advanced physics feature in GRAW, on the other side great detail would mean realism which is one of the qualities that I see in a game that takes binds the player with the game.

Overall it seems to me that the game would do great on the consoles, and for those who are like me and want to play it on the PC, looks like it's time to save up for a better system.