Super Stardust HD

I was very apprehensive whilst this game made its way down to my shiny black box from the PSN. I was apprehensive because of what Super Stardust HD was billed to be: As good if not better than the now legendary 'Geometry Wars' on Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade.

I didn't like Geometry Wars. I found it too difficult and there was simply too much going on at once for me to get my head round.

There. I said it.

If you're still reading then now you understand my reservations about playing another game of a similar ilk. Still, other reviews were positive so I thought this title deserved a closer look. A decision I'm glad I made.

The control system is simple. Left TS: Move. Right TS: Fire in all different directions. LT: Boost. RT: Smart Bomb. Nothing too complicated at all.

As you're making your way around the various planets, meteorites, alien monsters and little red spiky ball thingies all hunt you down or simply just get in your way. The meteorites come in all shapes and sizes and split into teeny weeny, tinsy winsy smaller ones, all of them in need of a good old fashioned blasting.

As you progress, the sheer deluge of colour and splaying plasma fire lighting up your screen is a sight to behold. All without a shade of slow-down, running at a very smooth 60fps. Although stunning and chaotic at the same time, it didn't leave me with the feeling claustrophobia that Geometry Wars did. A timely boost with the left trigger and I had some breathing space and as you traverse around the length and breadth of a planet, your playing field feels a lot larger.

Shiny, swirly things!

There are 25 levels to get your head round, and considering it took me about an hour and a half to get through the first five that's a good few hours gameplay for around six of your English pounds. Of course if you're a dab hand at this kind of thing, your gaming-time could be considerably less. However, for the price of of a couple of Boots meal deals who's complaining?

Hopefully more games of this quality will be joining Super Stardust HD in the near future. The lean spell that almost all Playstation 3 owners have had to endure recently has been difficult, be we soldiered through it. And with games like Super Stardust HD being the light at the end of the tunnel, it seems we have certainly been rewarded for our patience.

Anyone who needs that kind of casual, 'dip in and out' entertainment that in my opinion the PS3 has sorely lacked since launch, then this is the game to get. Conversely, if you live and breathe for this sort of schmup action, and succumbed to the charms of its evil twin, Geometry Wars, it won't disappoint you either.

Seni Soccer XBLA Priced and dated

The much anticipated remake of the 1992 Amiga and Atari ST classic has finally passed certification and the countdown has begun. That's right, Codies have made a press release that lets us know when we can all get our grubby little hands on it.

Codemasters have remained tight-lipped for quite a while and the "ready when it's ready" tag line has deterred many an enquirer.

Well this week we were finally told that the release will be on August 29th and the game will cost 800 Points.

I'm informed that on-line play will be implemented with the usual 200 Achievements and on-line leaderboards to help boost that fragile ego when you compare yourself with some bloke you've never met off the internet.

There's also a HD version that I'm told is actually worth the price of admission this time round. So all in all, everything is looking pretty positive.

Check back around late August for our in-depth review of the game and for now, there's, well...nothing you can do but wait!

Soon my pretties. Soon!

Microsoft announce new backwards compatibility update

For those of you who still have old XBox games lying around and are still embittered about not being able to play them then this piece of news might just cheer you up.

Microsoft have revealed yet another backwards compatiblity update for the XBox 360 which include such notable entries as Morrowind and PGR 1 and 2.

I'm also told that some games will upscale to 720p, although a definitive list of exactly what games they are is as of writing unavailable.

Here's the list in full:

America's Army: Rise of a Soldier
Auto Modellista
Blinx 2 : Masters of Time & Space
BloodRayne 2
Burnout
Crash Bandicoot 4
Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex (FIXED)
Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics
DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil
Drive to Survive
ESPN College Hoops
ESPN NHL 2K5
Evil Dead: Regeneration
FIFA Street 2
Full Spectrum Warrior™: Ten Hammers
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge
JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future (FIXED)
Justice League Heroes
King Arthur
Legends of Wrestling
Magic: The Gathering--Battleground
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
MechAssault® 2: Lone Wolf
MLB SlugFest 20-03
MotoGP 2
Myst III: Exile
NBA Live 2002
NCAA® Football 06
Outlaw Golf: 9 More Holes of X-mas
Outlaw Volleyball: Red Hot
Outlaw Volleyball: Red Hot
OutRun 2006: Coast to Coast
Pac-Man World™ 3
Project Gotham Racing®
Project Gotham Racing® 2
RoadKill
Rogue Ops (FIXED)
SEGA GT™ 2002 (FIXED)
SegaGT™ Online
Silent Hill® 2: Restless Dreams
Sponge Bob Square Pants: Lights, Camera, Pants!
The Da Vinci Code
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The Sims™ 2
The Urbz™: Sims In The City
TMNT™ Mutant Melee
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Transworld Surf
Trivial Pursuit® Unhinged
Without Warning
World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International
WWF™ Raw
Yu-Gi-Oh!™ The Dawn of Destiny

60GB PS3 Being Discontinued In The US

When is a price cut not a price cut? When it's to phase out and discontinue current stock to bring in a new SKU at the old price.

Make sense?

SCEE president David Reeves has announced that after they have sold off all the 60GB model PS3's, that particular model will no longer be made available. So the only model that our US friends will able to buy will be the 80GB model at the old price of $599.

The 60GB model is expected to be phased out by the end of July.

Reeves made the statement whilst being questioned about the potential European outcry over the fact that the price cut won't be applicable to them (us).

"Well, they're not really are they", he said, "because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game.

"All they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July."

The new 80GB model will now come bundled with a copy of Motorstorm (see image below) and retail at the old 60GB price of $599.

So there you have it. Simple...

[Update]: Sony US now say that they're not discontinuing the 60GB model, although SCEE president David Reeves say they are. A Sony US spokesperson said,

""As announced this week, SCEA's product offering in North America consists of a 80GB PS3 available in August at $599 and a 60GB PS3 available now for $499. We have will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future."

Expect this to go on for a few more days.

Bomberman And Yie Ar Kung Fu On Their Way To XBLA

This Wednesday Microsoft are dishing up a double helping of old games for their Arcade service.

First up, there's the much loved Bomberman, an arcade-style mazed-based games developed by Hudson Soft way back when I was only eight tiny years old. (1983) In fact this could very well be the longest running franchise ever with a PSP incarnation of the game being released only last year.

If you're keen to play it again, or maybe for the very first time then you can for 800 Points. The game will feature eight player online multiplayer and four player local and wrapped up in shiny High Definition graphics.

Also, to further whet you appetite, your Bomberman will also be fully customisable, with over 10,000 possible combinations of Bomberman to choose from.

Next up it's Yie Ar Kung Fu. Released this time by Konami back when I was 10 years old.(no date this time, you should be able to work it out for yourselves!)

This fighting games sees you play as Oolong, someone who's trained his whole life to become the ultimate martial arts champion. You'll be up against around ten different enemies all with varying abilities and weapons

Choose to play the authentic arcade version or experienced the enhanced version, which features stunning hand painted models and backgrounds mimicking traditional Japanese art styles. says the blurb.

Yie Ar Kung Fu will cost 400 Microsoft Points. Both games will feature the usual on-line leaderboards and 200 Point Gamerscore.

THQ Announce De Blob for Nintendo Wii

Originally designed by some university design graduate students, THQ saw the potential and decided to make the game for the Nintendo Wii.

The idea of the game is that you have to paint the world with colour. The evil corporation, Ink Corp. has removed all the colour from the world and De Blob crash lands on earth in order to put the colour back where it belongs.

You can choose between four primary colours but you can combine these colours in order to make a whole array of nuances in order to complete the tasks set.

De Blob colours the world by bouncing into things. Everything you touch bursts back into colourful life. Although your progress in hindered by Inkies, who will try and attack you as you navigate throughout the world.

However if you can't actually wait that long, you can play the game on your PC. The official website is here.

A release date for the Nintendo Wii version is unknown, but what we do know is that we won't be seeing the game until 2008. Keep in touch and we'll let you know more as soon as we have it.

E3 - Alles ist Games!

E3 always reminds me of The World Cup. Ok, there are only four teams in it and it only lasts two days, no-one actually faces each other head to head and there’s no ref, but it still reminds me of the World Cup. Not only is it the highlight of the gaming calendar, it is the time when we get to see all the talent from around the world come together in one place and do their best to entertain us.

Fixture List

We know the line-up, we know the teams. We know who the star players are for each side. Microsoft is to be feared with their mega-signing, Halo 3. Sony has Metal Gear Solid 4: Sons of the Patriots, which is relatively new and untested but from what we’ve seen, it is not to be underestimated. Nintendo looking to experience, fielding their journey-man pro, Mario in Super Galaxy form. The PC with its spectacular Crysis, which has constantly dazzled spectators, although no-one has witnessed a ‘full 90’ just yet.

As you can see the big 4 are hogging the limelight as usual, but let’s not forget the formidable teams of EA, Ubisoft and Konami, all wrestling for the coveted trophy of Best Game.

Mexican Wave

The fans play their part in this carnival atmosphere too. People will be sitting with their fingers hovering over their keyboards just waiting to comment or tease their friends and collegues about their rival brands’ misfortunes. The banter will be flowing around the web as armchair supporters across the globe are glued to their LCDs for the full three days of the event.

However, it’s not just the die hard supporters that E3 attracts. The neutral can gain as much, if not more pleasure from the games on show, as they won’t have the nervous feeling that their gaming platform of choice might come out the loser. Being a neutral, it’s almost impossible not to choose a side, though the mentality is usually is “may the best man win,” or sometimes just hoping for a giant killing.

Let us not forget the purists. They can sit and bask at the deft skill, creativity and natural talent on show, just pleased that great games are being made, and the industry is healthy and moving forward. Or conversely, sitting with their arms folded, duly unimpressed at how playing it safe gets results, and that no-one is willing to take a risk for fear of loss. How the same old games get the most attention and no-one is paying attention to the minnows plying their trade.

The Beautiful Games

So whatever mindset you take into this year’s championships, whether you watch through the whole thing live, or would rather wait for the edited highlights, you can be sure the carnival atmosphere will delight and distract us from the daily monotony of sales figures and the trudging of the “Rumour Mill”. Although the respective managers will be talking up their protégés, the battles will be fought and won on the pitch, as it were. There will be winners, loses, surprises, disappointments. Most of all however, there will be games, and lots of them. I for one can’t wait.

Kick off is tonight (Wednesday 13th July), at 4:30am GMT.

Golden Axe

Amid the demos and trailers that Microsoft bestowed upon us to celebrate E3 were a couple of SEGA classics available to download via Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service. One of those was our old friend Sonic the Hedgehog, the other SEGA’s 1989 side scrolling hack’n’slash Golden Axe. My rose-tinted specs nearly fell off my face when I saw the announcement. I hadn’t played this in years and I really wanted to play it again and at 400 points – use the converter of the left side of the page – I couldn’t really restrain myself, could I? I really should have.

The story, or the attempt at a story, puts you up against the might of the evil tyrant Death Adder’s minions. He murdered your best mate, see. On top of that, mean old Death Adder’s got the King and his daughter, The Princess. The peaceful land Yuria is now seriously under threat and who better to sort it all out then you. But who will you choose to be? I remember always wanting to be Gilius Thunderhead, the battle axe-wielding dwarf. I always found the reach of his axe much more satisfying than the other two, which still seems to be the case. But as most things related to this game, it’s probably just my mind playing tricks on me.

The other two protagonists you can choose between are the barbarian, Ax Battler, wielding a two handed broadsword looking for revenge for the murder of his mother. The last is a long-sword wielding Tyris Flare, a female Amazonian, whose parents were killed by Death Adder. Oh I forgot to mention that Gilius’ twin brother was also killed by, you guessed it, Death Adder. So everyone has an axe to grind. Ho ho.

After playing for about 5 minutes it soon became apparent that they’ve done nothing to it. It still looks identical to how it did 18 years ago, containing none of the high definition make over that we were treated to with Geo Wars, Double and Dragon and the more recent Prince of Persia. This isn’t a good thing. As with most things retro, the rose-tinted glasses lose their pigment rather quickly and you soon get the feeling you’re just playing a cut and paste of the original with no real love or attention paid to it. The music too, unchanged from the original is as twee as could be and does to nothing to immerse or entertain.

Motion Blur on the shieldz!

The game sees you traverse a map to Death Adder’s castle, passing fleeing villagers and engaging the evil, flanking minions. Here the side-scrolling has a rest whilst you dispatch of a variety of sprites ranging from animal-clothed muscle men, Amazonian warrior-esses to sword-wielding skeletons rising out of the ground all trying to prevent you from reaching Death Adder’s domain. You can do this on foot or ride on purple dragons with swishing tales or blue and pink ones that shoot fire. After you have hacked and suitable slashed a cluster of enemies, you can walk in the direction the on-screen arrow points to until you meet another cluster. Rinse. Repeat.

End of level bosses are much like the minions but larger and harder and take a while longer to kill, but nothing a few douses of magic won’t dispense with in a hurry if you’ve saved those little blue bottles throughout the level.

What struck me most, apart from the slap-dash nature of the port, is how short and utterly unrewarding it is. It took me literally twenty minutes to complete it. Alright, I wasn’t going to get Perfect Win Achievement after lazily using about fifteen continues to get to the end, but the game didn’t exactly offer me any incentive to want to sit down and master it. I then completed it with Ax Battler and then Tyris Flare. 1 hour later, I’d completed in every way possible and got 80% of the Achievements on offer. I might ask some lonely sole to come over on complete in ‘local co-op’ mode or bribe someone on my friends list to go through it with me over live to for the twenty five Gamerpoints that would award me. Yes, I do care.

In true Golden Axe style, I’ll keep the conclusion short. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking this is still great. It isn’t.