More fun ways entertain (or embarrass) yourself...

List: Interesting Websites & Links 1, Scavenator, Spider-Man, Ewan McGregor, Charlie Boorman, Jonathan Ross,Chris Moyles (Radio 1 DJ), GameSpot Tournament TV, Reject False Icons, PlayStation Shop, Star Wars (30th anniversary party ticket), PlayStation 3 bag, Rix robots, Kelly Brook (Virgin Media pictures), Mountain Dew, Formula 1, ITV F1, Lewis Hamilton (wiki), McLaren, ITV Sport, Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios(wiki), Sumthing Else, Play-Asia, Kudos, Bob Rafei, Red Hot Chili Pepper (wiki), Water, Drinking Water, Buxton (natural mineral water), evian, Highland Spring (sparklingwater), Red Bull (wiki), Red Bull F1,Tropicana, TESCO(Organic Sparkling Lemonade), Burnout(wiki), BurnoutAholics, Operation Burnout, Burnout Fan Central, Burnout Crash, Band Slam, KahRa Shin, Game Informer, CKE Restuarants, Yellowcard, Guitar Giveaway, Bill Murray, Lost in Translation, OXM, BIONICLE, BIONICLE books (reference), Kasabian, Awards (Virgin), Design 07, Bape & Kidrobot clothes,female silhouettes, Gadget Boy, Inspector Gadget, TINTIN, Franz Ferdinand, ATARI, King Arthur's Disasters, PG Tips, VM - Music, Hot Rods, IBM, Blade Runner, MPH, Demon Days article, Blue Peter, Newsround, Bonnie & Clyde, video games study, Colin McRae, Gorillaz Fan Fiction, RedPhoenix915, After Hours, Player's Ball, Pimp My Ride, Stardust, Barry White, Oyster card, Eye Create, Gulliver's Travels, Kettle Chips, WCG (wiki / GT page/ GSnews), File Front,Rock Band (GameSpot, GT page, YouTube, Harmonix), Game Scoop! After Dark, PS Union banner thread, Kelly Brook, Billie Piper, Gerry Anderson, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray, Joe 90, UFO,Space: 1999, Fireball XL5, Supercar, Clans (PlayStation Forums), PS3 Games (Forums), SingStar VIP, Nintendo (published/developed), Ticket Tout info, Monty Oum, EA (GT page), Space Jam, Michael Jordan, I Believe I Can Fly (R. Kelly), Basketball, >>> Reggie Dabbs (wiki), Kefalonia, (video game engines) Source, Wallace & Gromit (eBay), Underrated: PSP, Store cards, The Sweet Escape, PlayStation Spot, Peter Serafinowicz, Child's Play, Musipolis.com (David.B), My Resistance, Gamecity, LGF, Killzone - Collector's Edition, Speed Demos Archive, Askaboutgames, BBFC, PEGI, ESRB, ELSPA, ESA, CERO, ACRB, PEGI Online, the white papers, gamesindustry.biz, Byron review, AGDC, GDC London, WIGI, Video Game Statistics, Emoticon practice, JPsBlog, The Music Slut, TOPMAN, UNIQLO, Lisa Ralph, FHM, Tekken Girls, Maxim, Soul Calibur Universe, Blogging guidelines, My Console, Games Press, All Games Radio, FreeCovers, PEPSI WORLD, Pepsi Gallery (2007 Redesign), Gorillaz (Facebook), Video Game Voters Network, Start-Select, Team ICO Gamers, What They Play, Ask About Games, Big Red Button, Jeff Gerstmann's Blog, Alex Navarro's Blog, Ryan Davis's Blog, Brad Shoemaker's Blog, Rich Gallup's Blog, Giant Bomb.

Today the Blu-ray edition of Warhawk was released on our not so sunny European shores. Just like Heavenly Sword, which was also release a week previously, Warhawk is one of the original high-profile games for the PlayStation 3. A single player Champaign and Multiplayer mode had originally been intended for the game, but design decisions eventually lend to the game focusing solely on a multiplayer only experience. If you've haven't been following the news coverage for the game, you may not know that Warhawk was original released as a PS1 title back in 1995. However, the game's first iteration only contained the single player story.

The "new" Warhawk has been created in the spirit of fast paced flight and ground combat games. Think Star Wars Battlefront, meets Battlefield 2, meets Ace Combat. The game boasts an impressive range of play stylés and this is brought together veryimpressively in a simple 'Red vs. Blue' affair. In-game you take control of planes, tanks, jeeps and of course your foot soldier. All of which requires some getting use to, but there is a good amount of depth to them too. It currently contains five maps (of varying sizes) and just four game modes: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and zones. It had also been billed as an important game for introducing the SIXAXIS motion control, but unlike LAIR you are not forced you use it.

The gameplay itself is fantastic! Some how the pace and excitement of the game draws other people in too. I've only played a few games today, but there's nothing like evading a missile in a dogfight and then catching your rival by surprise with a quick rocket up the tail pipe. The SIXAXIS functionality is usable, but still requries added concentration if you wish to survive. While it would be interesting to know more about the two factions (the Eucadians and the Chernovans) fighting this "timeless" war and their back stories, the gameplay more than make up for this.

When it comes to the game's release their have been two options for gamers: downloadable (from the PlayStation Store) or Blu-ray disc. There aren't really any major differences between the versions besides pricing (£19.99 vs. £39.99) and the added value of a bluetooth headset (Jabra BT125) that comes with the disc edition. For this reason I decided to wait for the Blu-ray version before taking to the skies.

In addition to this, the other two features that attracted me to this offer were LAN support and some "exclusive" behind the scenes extras (developer interviews, concept art, trailers, etc.). These features were announced for the North American copy of the game and I figured they're [SCEE] not going to cut any of that out of our one. But how wrong I was. When the game arrived today the first thing I checked, once the menu screen booted, was for 'special features'. No link. What if it's hidden away in the options menu? No. El Zilcho. Nout! No Warhawk special features for us here in Europe. What's up with that SCEE!?

Seeing as its relevant now, I think this is the perfect time for me to have a quick rant about SCEE's cross-region "changes". The only examples of a Sony Computer Entertainment game where Europe have the best version when it comes to gameplay and extras are ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Both of these games were developed by the same team in Japan and featuredextras like a two-player mode in ICO and a 'making of' video on SOTC.

On the other hand, when 'Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando' was released here it featured none of the TV adverts or 'making of' movie, and the same was true for its sequel. Any limited editions DVDs, particularly for Japanese titles like Final Fantasy X or Xenosaga II, are never released in large quantities. 'Space Channel 5: Part 2' was completely cut from release after less than 2 months. A more recent example is God of War II, which SCEE decided to sell in a standard and limited edition, containing game disc and bonus features. But therefore giving Europeans less chance of owning the same content that all the US versions have.

Of course this isn't the first time Sony Europe have cut movie content from one of Incognito's games for the European market. The coveted, clasśic 'Twisted Metal: BLACK' contains absolutely NO story videos in the game. Not only that, iconic moments from the gameplay, like by ability to shoot down the jumbo jet in the second level, have been removed. Now since the game was released in late 2001 there could have been an extreme amount of controversy concerning its content and themes, so maybe this is justified.

But why do SCEE cut all these other features and extras that just add more value to the game in other regions? What I'm getting at is even though these features are of little importance next to the game itself, why should one region get them and another does not. It's bad enough having to wait for later release dates, It's worse when SCEA announce great content for one of their games and then SCEE decides "nope, not having that here thank you".

Well, at the end of the day I guess they're only "extras". I'm sure SCEE have their legal, technical or some other draw out corporate answer to why we don't get some of this content. But if anyone has the US version of Warhawk Blu-ray, I'd like to know what's on the disc. Still, Warhawk is an amazing multiplayer combat game that is more than a little addictive. Nice one Incog'!

Having not checked some of my favourite fansites in a long time I was extremely excited to hear that a new Gorillaz compilation album for 'Phase 2' will be released this November.

This 2-dise epic is packed with b-sides, remixes and a few track that will debut here for the first time. Both the standard and deluxe editions are set to go on sale on November 5th 2007.

Tracklist:[spoiler] CD1
1. 68 State
2. People
3. Hongkongaton
4. We Are Happy Landfill
5. Hong Kong
6. Highway (Under Construction)
7. Rockit
8. Bill Murray
9. The Swagga
10. Murdoc is God
11. Spitting Out the Demons
12. Don't Get Lost in Heaven (Original Demo Version)
13. Stop the Dams

CD2
1. DARE (DFA Remix)
2. Feel Good Inc (Stanton Warriors Remix)
3. Kids With Guns (Jamie T's Turns To Monsters Mix)
4. DARE (Soulwax Remix)
5. Kids With Guns (Hot Chip Remix)
6. El Manana (Metronomy Remix)
7. DARE (Junior Sanchez Remix)
8. Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Years Remix)
9. Kids With Guns (Quiet Village Remix) [/spoiler]

Boxart:

This is truly reason to celebrate Gorillaz fans, hail.

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Note worthy User of the Month:

fop626

find them at:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/fop626

Fan Fiction.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1105641/Fop626

So we've at last landed in September, and the holiday release season is already hotting up. With my Warhawk pre-order locked for it's EU release and a new term being I've had little time for games (or blogging) lately. Returning home today I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me in the form of 'Heavenly Sword'. Yes, the thunderous action-epic from Ninja Theory has arrived!

It doesn't seem so long ago that I was watching an ambitious pre-rendered concept of the red headed beauty, Nariko, on Sony's E3 2005 press conference. Since then hype and interest in the game has continued to grow with its cinematic demo displayed at E3 2006 and brief previews of the dramatic direction. The game won a slew of awards during the show. As one of PlayStation 3's original exclusives it's clear that there has been a lot ride on this one. Whispers ran that it was all looks and no depth. "It's just a God of War rip-off". But the dev' team stayed faithful to their vision.

Next came the SCEA Gamer's day, a levels and gameplay shown. E3 2007, the live stage show reveal more on the game's story (as well as letting fans know just how much of the PS3's power is devoted to the plucky heroine's sea of hair ;) ). Leipzig 07, Heavenly Sword has practically gone gold and final previews are released giving us a taste of what to expect.

And here is it is, in my hands now. Time to pop it in and see what this is all about...

The journey of this game's release has also been half the fun. Following the behind the scenes specials on 'Gamer TV' and reading every preview and review I can get may hands on.

Speaking personally I have felt some of the reviews to be a little harsh (the 6.5s and 7s), with the main criticism being that "it's too short". But after three years waiting I guess some people wanted MORE! One example is OPM - UK who described it as "a prima-era Jet Li film - you're in the middle, practically daring people to take a shot at you" and then comment that the combat isn't as fleshed out as other titles in its genre. Well I'm not quite sure what they were playing. Clearly, the majority of these reviewers couldn't put it down; as has been the case for me. But in many ways that is a very good thing. It compels you to keep watching, keep playing. Isn't that what you want the best summer blockbusters to do, despite there length? The cutscenes and voice acting are immaculate, the gameplay additive, and its story grand. For me the goddess of war has more than lived up to the hype, so at the risk of sounding cliché "please sir, could I have some more?"

Well E3 07 is over. And what an event it's been. Since I missed most of last year's E3 (not to mention every one of those sweet emblems) I was determined to see it all this year. And as you can probably seen from my emblem I didn't miss a beat, bagging all 3 press conference emblems and the gold version of the LIVE show emblem. The highlight for me was definitely the Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction' stage demo (and Jeff laying it down 'real' in the SingStar demo). I found the mood of the event lacking previous year's glitz and glam' but it was no less crazy! Chewie at the Sony conference!? Homer's crazy floor tours and of course Rock Band!!! Great E3 coverage this year GameSpot.

Many people have already posted their thoughts about E3 07, but I thought I'd do something a little different. In collaboration with several PlayStation Unions I have created this in-depth Feature on 'Sony's E3', here on 'The PS Union'. It contains a run down of all the big, Sony-related news as well as comments and opinions from Union Leaders.

It's taken a lot of effort but I'm proud of how it's turned out! Have a read of it and tell me what you think.

Sony's Wooden Horse

Wah Ya! Today marks my second year of having a GameSpot account. The past two years have been great, what with E3, all the new console launches and of course the latest and some of the best games of recent years being revealed/released.

With all this already behind me I can't wait to see what's in store for the world of video games and my GS account in the future.

Party on!

With E3 less than a week away I thought upload a few videos and quickly throw a few reviews up on the site. Maybe now was the time to also revisit some of those old ideas.

After continually attempting to get my DVD recorder to record from my games consoles I thought I might just give it another go. Blank screen, once again. After all this time wanting to upload video game footage from my TV I thought that was it. NO, one more try. After change over a few SCART leads and messing around with the DVD channel setup I was starting to get somewhere. I inputted another new channel and there it was, finally the image I'd been waiting to see for 6 months. With everything set up I decided I'd try it out first on something simple... flOw seemed a good choice.

So I recorded about 5 minutes of footage and took out the DVD to copy to my PC. 'Drive D is empty', this is the message that appeared when I tried to access it for the first time. And it was the beginning of a long list problems which took me a full hour to solve. So after finalising the disc, changing the VOB file, removing the encryption, compressing the video and adding a some edited changes it was at last ready to be uploaded.

The fruits of my labour can be seen here. Not very entertaining I know but I'm pleased it's actually there!

Now that I've done the whole process once though it should be much easier in the future. I'm looking forward to uploading things like Jak and Daxter cutscenes, Burnout speed runs, boss fights and many other things. The system is finally connected.

How did you find the DVD-to-Internet process?

ps. With the new Potter movie out and the 7th book about to raise hell I'd like to randomly post this intriguing picture of J.K Rowling with a cheeky quote over her head.

[EDIT 12/12/07]

[video=6148842]

Taken from Johnny Byrnes 'blarg':

"Tools Programmer Johnny Byrnes discusses how even just a huge fanboy can gettheir start at Insomniac.

I feel like I'm at a 12-step meeting and it's now my turn to confess my addiction to the group. You see, I have a deep dark secret working here at an Insomniac which I have had varying degrees of success hiding from my coworkers. But now, it appears, it's time for me to share, openly. So here it is:.....I...am...a Ratchet and Clank fanboy. It's true. I strut around the office like it's no big deal, while secretly stifling my desire to point and say "HOLY CRAP! IT'S TED PRICE!!" or hug the big Ratchet statue by our lobby (I'm not saying I've never done this...*looks around*). Here's a little background info on my story, and how I, as a Ratchet fanboy, made it "inside".

I vividly remember sitting on a couch in Orlando, Florida playing the first Ratchet and Clank game. I couldn't find a single fault in the game. I loved the environments, the characters, the animation, the sound, the varied gameplay...everything! Insomniac had taken platforming, and shoved an M-80 up its virtual rectum. I had always thought about working in video games, and if there was ever a company I'd like to work for, it was *now* Insomniac. Orlando, at the time, was unfortunately home to the makers of such virtual frat boy gaming delights as Madden and NASCAR, so I decided to pack up my world and move it out to Los Angeles to pursue "the dream".

After moving, and shortly after playing Going Commando and unlocking the Insomniac museum and every bonus video and mini-game available, in January of 2004, I just so happened to check the Insomniac website the very day they were hiring testers for the next Ratchet title. Fate, I tell you, had a hand this day! I had years of web application programming for financial institutions, and now I was about to apply to the lowest job on the totem pole, just to get my foot in the video game world's door. But everyone says if you want to break into video games, the best way is via the QA department, so I had to take the plunge.

Going to the Insomniac office in Burbank for the first time, was surreal. I was standing in a fishbowl lobby, wearing khakis and a tie (still not sure if that helped or hurt my chances), surrounded by other guys who were talking about their previous tester jobs at other local game companies. At that point I was actually nervous that I'd be screwed by not having any previous testing experience. But, I guess my enthusiasm showed in the interview, and they hired me shortly after. Still not sure if gushing over the fact that I was literally walking through the Insomniac Museum (based off of Insomniac's offices) was a good thing or not, either.

My first day was nuts. Luckily at that point I hadn't been misled by commercials showing two guys sitting in easy chairs "tightening up the graphics", but I still had no idea what to expect from a job in video games. As I was led to my desk area, I bumped into Ted (Mr. Price, if you're nasty). I think I shat myself at that moment stumbling to even pronounce my own name. Seemed like a pretty down-to-earth guy though. Thank god I knew what he and many other employees looked like after unlocking the Behind the Scenes video in Going Commando, otherwise I wouldn't have known him from the janitor. "And mom said I'd never learn anything from these games."

Finally, sitting down, and picking up a game controller instead of a pen or a keyboard, I was asked if I understood the Ratchet control scheme. "Vividly", I assured my new boss, "just show me where to go and I'll start blasting." Powering up the level from what he called a "debug menu", I was placed in a snowy ice level controlling an odd looking robot creature that looked a bit like Clank, but definitely was not. Though a little confused that I wasn't controlling Ratchet, I was still incredibly excited. That is, until I saw an enemy that looked just like me run up and shockblast me in the face. I'd never seen a Ratchet enemy run up so randomly and attack me with what appeared to be my own weapon. Then I realized, I had just been shot by one of the other testers and I was now playing the first build of Up Your Arsenal's Multiplayer game, and a fresh change of shorts was now clearly in order.

That's when it sunk in. I have the coolest job in the world at the coolest company in the world, for me anyway. After I shook off the glow, it was back to my top priority; trying to make this temporary tester job a fulltime gig. I've since moved on to other roles, and have learned a great deal about how video games are made. And most importantly, I continue to enjoy every day I come to work. So there you have it...confessions of a Ratchet fanboy from the inside...now please don't tell my coworkers, otherwise they might move the Ratchet statue. :P"

Great story. Thought I'd post it here for all of you to see!

Remember when 'Batman Forever' came out? And they had the car and the Coke Cola competition and... (would you believe it!) the video game. We'll 'Batman Forever: The Arcade Game' is not a very good game. Especially when compared to other 2D arcade fighters like 'Street Fighter' or 'Capcom vs. SNK'. So when I picked it up, sometime back in 1997, I wasn't sure what to expect. Pop it in for 10 minutes on single player, don't really feel like playing it more than once a week.

But! Then what should happen but my brother walks into the room and suggests we should play some 'two-player co-op'! And low, a legend is born.

I'm not very good at fighting games, but for some reason I just can't stop playing BF: The Arcade Game in 'co-op' once we start. Iconic, badly drawn 2D backgrounds from the movie,horde after horde of nameless goons, infuriating boss fights and some of the most crazy bat themed gadgetry ever (I mean the 'Bat Call' causes a few tiny bats to fly in a carry random enemies off screen). Fighting along side a buddy in 'co-op' just becomes surreal as you shout "THERE! To your right! Use the Grapple! Quick! Quick!". It's just an insanely fun game to just play and chat crap about Batman.The Riddler's foolish laugh often seems to get the better of us though as the 'Game Over' sign appears, and always on the same busted-damn-near-impossible level. After battling through 18 out of 20 grueling levels, 6 hours when we could have been doing something completely Batman unrelated! Oh' well better luck next time.

What's your guilty pleasure game?

[video=6172421]

[UPDATE: Video - Mar 24, 2008]

This a list of of the websites I find interesting, weird, random and a whole host of other ways to waste one's time!

List: The Gadget Show, Top Gear, Fifth Gear, Paul Merton, GameSpot Schwag: E3 2006, The History of PlayStation, Gorillaz.com, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, Hustle, Spooks, Life On Mars, Robin Hood, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Criterion Games, Film scripts, Film info, E3, Leipzig, TGS, DICE, CES, E for All (video content), Facebook, BBC, Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, PSU, PlayStation.com, us.PlayStation.com, PlayStation.Blog, ThreeSpeech, Official PlayStation Community (English Forums), This is Living, MGS: Portable Ops League, Futurama, Video Game Magazines, My Favourite Magazines, Bradygames, Prima Games, Piggyback, GameFAQs, Artemis Fowl, Alex Rider, Keys to the Kingdom, GamesIndustry, The Emblems Union/ Forums, Player Review Recommendation Thread, GameSpot LIVE, GameSpot's Gamespace Banner Union, MSN PlayStation retrospective, The PS Union, Veronica Belmont/ (wikipage)/ CNET profile, CNET TV,E3 retrospective, E3 Gut Reactions, E307: Editors' Choice,Adam Sessler, PSP Video 9, Freeware, IGN, CVG, CNET UK, CNET.com, Calitia, TV indents, The IT Crowd, Extras, (E3 Documentaries) Stupid Pants Operation/ Electric Showdown/ Unleashed, (Sports) Golf/Basketball/Pool/Canoeing/Football/Dance/Gym, Booth Babes (wiki, GR), Reboot, PlayStation development, Samurai Jack (TV links), Red vs. Blue(On demand), Rock School, Jamie Oliver, Electric Proms, South Park, South Park (On demand), Reality TV fan, Thaila Zucchi, Midnight Brown (Jeff Gerstmann's band), Konnie Huq (in pictures), Robot Wars, Reboot, Puzzles, PlayStation 3 wallpaper, Blu-ray Disc Association, Blu-ray Disc Info, Blu-ray.com, HDMI, CNET: playstation 3, Metal Gear: 20 years, MGS Bosses, Rapid Reload, Sony Index, Choice FM, Honda (Honda ads), Bratz, Beyonce, Rihanna, Future Publishing (wiki) / magazines, Games Radar, BBC Sport, MINI racing, Video Game Voters, GameSpot Japan, Gameplay HD, Home beta, Fan Fiction, Crash, Kenan & Kel, Older Fiction, Waterstone's, Tottenham Hotspur, MCV, Famitsu (wiki), T3, Oskar's (restaurant), Sonic stuff: Sonic wiki/Sonic the Hedgehog/STC/Sonic Adventures/Sonic Underground/Sonic X, Manga & Anime: PokeMon/Digimon/Cardcaptors/Dragonball Z/Naruto/Bleach/Hello Kitty/Tamagotchi/Jackie Chan Adventures/Sonic X/Yu-Gi-Oh!, Nickelodeon, South Park Zone, WoS (Rapid Reload), MINI (ads, google, wiki, MSN topic), Haagen Dazs, Krispy Kreme, Billie Piper, PSM3, PC ADVISER, THE TIMES, The Guardian, Stage 6, BBC Health, Energy Star, Jak and Daxter: Fansite & art (Bob Rafei), Teen Movies List, Scary Movie, Red Bull, Gorillaz Shop, Kidrobot, GameTrailers /SCEI/PS3/PSP, System ads: PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP,Scanvenator, HTML info, VG Charts, Chart track, GameFAQs, PS3 releases, PSP releases, PS2 releases, PlayStation Events,Gorillaz Collections (G-U), Halo 3 (MSN), Halo, Microsoft (GT.com), Xbox,Xbox Live, Games for Windows, Degunk your PC, Concept Cars, 1UP girl cal, Gamer Girl News, GG Advance, HGG, GG top 10, NERDCORE (news story), GRRLGAMER, TechRepublic, GS - Launch Centers, Flight of the Conchords, Machinima.com, Comic-Con, PAX, Golden Joystick Awards, PlayStation Experience, London Film & Comic Con, London Design Festival, BBC Electric Proms, London Games Festival.

Podcasts: The HotSpot, GameSpot UK podcast, OzSpot (The GameSpot AU Podcast), The Full Moon Show, Crave, radiOPM, The PSP Show, PSM Podcast, EGM Live*, IGN Podcasts, 1UP Podcasts, PSM3 Podcast/Blog, Crash FM Podcast, BBC Podcasts, more...

Blogs: London Calling (GameSpot UK), SIDEBAR, Rumour Control, GS_News, Spot On (GameSpot AU), Industry News, Kotaku, Joystiq, Next Generation; Official Blogs: PlayStation.Blog, ThreeSpeech, SingStar Blog, Heavenly Sword Blog, Warhawk Blog, Resistance Blog, Hideoblog (Kojima productions).

Unions & Affiliates: The PS Union, PlayStation 3 Online, PS3 - THE REAL NEXT GEN, PS3 Union, PlayStation Family Union, The PSP Union,Home Suggestion Union, Ratchet & Clank,The Un0fficial Metal Gear Solid Union, The Unreal Tournament Fans Union.

Video game design software: Havok, Maya, RenderWare, Unreal Engine, (game engines), Games Industry.biz. Then "get your foot in the door..."

Official PlayStation websites thread