I finally got mentioned on the GamespotUK podcast! I basically asked about any UK tournaments on Gamespot, but also raised the point of Batman Arkham Asylum's way to combat piracy (they took out one vital function). I'm currently waiting for my GamespotUK podcast emblem...which I hope will be up soon. :)

BTW, if any mods are reading this I'd appreciate if you could get my the emblem :)

Also I won a game! I got Fate Unlimited Codes for the PSP, and I'll be giving my thoughts on it when I finally get round to playing it.

As for the next week, I'll be in Turkey! A week away in the lovely Aegan Sea, I'll be off to Bodrum. Unfortunately the only thing game related is pirated games, so I won't be buying any games. However Gatwick airport has a HMV...so I may be buying some games from there!

Just thought I'd put the games that I'll be looking forward to in the next six months, and will be pre-ordering through Game with their handy £5 voucher (code: lastminute09 ).

Modern Warfare 2:

For the simple reason that it looks awesome.

Uncharted 2:

I absolutely loved the original, and this sequel is one of the many reasons on own a Playstation 3.

Napoleon: Total War:

I am a massive fan of the Total War series. Empire Total War has had me hooked since it was released in January. I personally cannot wait to be fighting at Waterloo!

Bioshock 2:

Again I absolutely loved the original, so will be pre-ordering this as I miss Rapture!

Dead Rising 2:

I have ahuge zombie fetish, so will be definitely pre-ordering this. At the moment it seems that Lovefilm.com are doing the best promotion, £25 for a pre-order!

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles:

Need I explain? Resident Evil + me = heaven :)

Resident Evil PSP:

Now this game hasn't had ANY details released, but I can almost guarantee that I'll buy it. It looks set to be released with the PSP Go in mind, so we'll have to wait and see.

Assasin's Creed II:

Although I never got round to finishing the original, this game looks awesome. I'll probably get this if I manage to finish the original.

Crackdown 2:

Even though it's not got a release date yet, the original was pure awesome.

Fable 3:

This game hasn't got much detail, but seein as I loved Fable 1 & 2 - 3 should be on my list.

So there we go, these games ought to keep me happy for hours. However I need to finish a few games before I get anymore. I feel a bit unmotivated with some games, so I need to finish various games like CoD2 & 3, Assassin's Creed, Halo 3 and Wars etc.

NoI'm sure everyones aware of his unfortunate demise of Patrick Swayze. However a certain TV chef who I feel has been overshadowed by the death of Mr. Swayze, Mr. Keith Floyd was an amazing TV chef who made me laugh in all of his programmes.

Keith Floyd (1943-2009)

This guy practically created the TV cooking show, bringing the audience to exotic locations and cooking amazing food - whilst he used to drink the local wine.

I'm sure the BBC's Saturday Kitchen will do a nice special on him, seeing as they featured loads of clips of him on it. The saddest part of his death was that he was an hour away from watching his own documentary, and a month from his autobiography being published. Bit like if Mr. Swayze had died before Ghost had been released.

Anyway, cheers Keith!

It's nice to get an emblem for doing the GS bracket.

"This emblem shows that youve submitted a bracket for GameSpots Greatest Game Hero competition. Lets get in there and fight!"

Mines not doing too well, hows your brackets doing?

The DS has 3,600 games....and the PSP only has 600.

Any reasons why?

(fact from this week's Gamespot UK Podcast)

Today the First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP (Scottish National Party) Alex Salmond announced that the Scottish Government is to have a referendum next year for Scottish Independence. Now this may sound good for Scotland, but not for Great Britain. Personally I'm English and Scottish, so in comparison it's like seeing a state in the USA want independence. Let me give you guys a brief history lesson in the history of England, Scotland and Great Britain.

"England" was established in 927 AD - then invanded by Normans in 1066. Simple yes? Well then England became England and Wales in the 13th century, thanks to Edward I's defeating the last Welsh settlements.

England and Scotland had a turbulant history, however the big step was the Act of Union in 1707. This created Great Britain, of which the term "Britain" and "British" was born. To add to this the state of Ireland was added to the Union in 1800 - creating "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". For me this is the ultimate act of unison. The WHOLE of the British Isles having one government, and being united.

However the independence of Eire (modern day Irish Republic) meant a break-up of the British Isles. Of course they did what was right, but I would hate to see a divided Great Britain. However resentment from English, Scottish and Welsh camps have meant that the very existance of such a country is under attack. To me, Scotland should be partners with England. At the moment its very one-sided for Westminsters favour, but an equal partnership would help this situation. Independence isn't the answer.

I've decided that I'm going to focus on one aspect of gaming that I feel is under-rated: the video game set-up. Some people might literally have a few consoles under the living room tv, whilst others have devoted most of their time creating a video game paradise. Whether you play solely online, or bring all your mates over for regular gaming sessions - I'm going to outline some basics that makes your set-up a gaming room.

TV:

Now this is probably the most important aspect of your gaming. Its your sound and vision into the gaming world, and with the latest consoles offering HD, it seems the logical answer to have a HD tv. However, if your gaming is focused on consoles before the 360/PS3/Wii - then you may want to consider a normal tv. Some light-guns for older consoles don't work on LCD tvs, and so would require the older tvs to play them. If you want the best experience, 1080p is the maximum resolution in HD televisions, and probably worth going for an LCD.

Now, another variable is the size of your room. I take the guideline for televisions as, if where your sitting is equilivant to 3x the tv screen, then its fine. A rough guide for most gaming rooms is 32". However if you have a larger room, go for a larger tv. Its not important, unless you enjoy split-screen sessions and therefore, it would be essential. Its a huge change to go from full screen to splitscreen, and with more games online now-a-days, its becoming a redundant format.

Seating:

There is a variety of different seating arrangements available for gaming rooms, however its not always important to buy a piece of furniture solely for gaming. In my current set-up I use my computer chair for PC and gaming, and luckily I have a sofa bed if my back gets too uncomfortable. On finding this website, I believe they can sum up seating arrangements easier, with every arrangement having good and bad points. Overall its important to keep a good posture, as those long sessions can really take a toll on your body.

Sound:

Surround sound might not be important to you, but for some it brings the game to life. Unfortunately for me my recent system died, and I'm yet to get a new one. However the romantic image of having surround sound is often broken when your room ends up looking like this:

The perfect bachelor set-up...complete with tea and coffee shelf

Think of the space, and how your room will be affected by the surround sound system. Are there too many wires? Does it look a mess? And the most important question, does playing Super Mario World with 7.1 really sound better? I think not seeing as most early stuff was done in mono - rendering surround sound useless to anything earlier than PS1/PS2. Try and be realistic, and remember that a decent system costs quite a bit - so be prepared.

In my opinion it can really make a game come to life - my first experience of MGS2's opening sequence with surround sound was breath-taking. However its not for everybody, and for some simply hooking up your hi-fi is just as good. A decent sound system should do the trick, as even as a 2.1 the sound is much better. However some HD teles come with virtual dolby, so its worth experimenting to see whats right for you.

Tidy:

Keep your gaming area tidy! Its the pride of your room, and meant to be a centre-piece or a shrine for others to pray to. Make sure the wires are behind, that the shelves are clear and that you dust every now and then! No matter how little or large, common sense will always prevail.

Do NOT leave your set-up like this! Listen to your mum once in a while...

And MOST importantly:

Remember its not a contest for the biggest HD Plasma tele, or even to have 3 seperate wall mounted teles with one of each console, its about YOUR gaming space. Take pride in it, and people will be impressed. Take a look at this one below, its simple yet it looks good.

Simple as it is, it works!

So today I FINALLY finished CoD4 100%. I had done all of veteran mode, collected all the intel, and yes shot every tv screen. The final mission "Mile High" on Vet was a real bummer. I'd given up on the game...until tonight.

Basically I followed a youtube video on doing the mission with only flash bangs. Then I tried, and adding a few gunshots followed by a flukey ending - I finally got my first 1000/1000!

And to top it off I finally got round to doing that Domino's game with 200/200. Gotta say I've never felt so accomplished after finishing a game 1000/1000. Did you guys feel the same after doing so?

Ah, so the debate of Achievements over Trophies. I'm not here to debate which one is better, or even to compare them. The one thing I do believe, is that neither ideas were original.

Let's take a look at Xbox's Achievements. A number based points system, in which the goal (the unwritten goal that is) is to achieve as many points as possible under your gamertag. However, few games give the maximum points away easily (the infamous Avatar game allowed you to get 1000g in 2 minutes HERE), and so cannot really be called an "achievement". Then again there's the other extreme, with Gears of War 2 requiring you to kill 100,000 enemies on any mode. Therefore it can be argued that the points system on the Xbox is unbalanced, with a website devoted to showing your true achievement level. My GamerScore is 8,930 - but on TrueAchievements it's calculated at 11,125.

However this points system isn't new to the world. The simpliest form of an earlier version is high scores. Whether it be in the arcade or at home, the high score system had kids and adults around the world trying to get the highest score. The achievement? Pure satisfaction within your local community. The difference with Achievement and high scores is the fact that achievements are forever kept, and are viewable around the world. But at the end of the day, it has no real value - and often can leave you with a permanent reminder of your failure (for example, I'm forever reminded I cannot complete the Mile High Club on Veteran Mode on Call of Duty 4).

Now in the current market, the only available alternative to the Xbox Achievements is the Playstation's Trophies. These are based on Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum trophies. The lower three trophies are handed out for similiar reasons as the Achievements, and the Platinum adds the satisfaction of gaining every trophy. This added bonus shows the world that you have 100% completed said number of games, and therefore adds something extra that Achievements lack.

Now the trophy system isn't new either. The earliest form of this is, (with my research) the Timesplitters games. These offered, funnily enough, the full range of Bronze, Silver, Gold and even Platinum trophies. Hmmm, funny that eh? As for how to get them, the game offered different challenges for the player that were not to do with the main storyline. This video shows one challenge that also looks familiar to Nazi Zombies, and with the player in the video being awarded a gold trophy. The difference with the Timesplitters challenges and trophies is that you actually unlocked certain characters to play in multiplayer. This gave the player the need to get every character, and to get every Platinum trophy.

So my xox has finally died on me. I assumed that people who got this thing were having their console in cramp conditions, and on all the time. Well I did have some excessive hours on it (6 hours a go at one point) - but it was always kept with plenty of aie to circulate. So today she is being sent off to the xbox people who will fix her up.

Just a quick question, is the Elite version still prone to breakages such as RROD and E74? I might consider buying one if thats the case.