Halo Music Video Hell

Quite an old one this but I thought it was worth bringing back for anyone that hasn't already seen it.



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Down on your knees and...

...PREY?

If you have a 360, like FPS games, and have yet to experience PREY, where have you been? You may have been in the same place I was. I was on Planet Yysiab. No that's not one of the planets from Geometry Wars Galaxies, it's Planet Yea Yea Seen It All Before. I was so completely nonplussed by 3D Realms offering that despite buying it because it was cheap I still didn't play it. That is until about 4 weeks ago when, inspired by a returning interested in FPS games, I decided to give it some of my attention.

If Venom Games decided that PREY was going to get into training for the Beijing Olympic Games it's chosen event would be high diving. PREY would go straight for the highest board and it's first attempt at a flying forward one-and-a-half somersaults pike would earn it straight 9's. Easily.

Vertigo is not something that PREY has a problem with. Prey prefers to stand at great heights, play with gravity and generally mess with your head. I was in awe of this game's use of gravity when I first walked up a wall and then stood on the ceiling firing round after round at the alien invaders. Certain large rooms contain new born planets, very Magrathea, and once you get yourself onto one the gravity changes, relative to the size of the sphere you're on. It's very elegant and seeing the main chamber from all angles while you run around the baby planet blasting aliens is a lot of fun.

The main character, Tommy, has the special ability to Spirit Walk and to visit the Spirit World. He is a Cherokee after all. Ok, so it's a bit cheesy but it works incredibly well and adds a fresh element to the game. When Spirit walking you are separated from Tommy's body and can go where Tommy normally couldn't go. This adds plenty of opportunity for puzzles and little bit of thinking outside the box for the player. If Tommy loses all his energy he's returned to the spirit world where you play a mini game shooting red and blue spirit wraiths to try to return your health and spirit levels before returning to the real world. This all keeps the story flowing along nicely and I personally enjoyed it far more that just restarting at the last check point.

Built on Unreal technology the levels are both gorgeous to look at and superbly designed. If you've ever looked at one of M.C. Escher's' impossible pictures you'll know what to expect with PREY's levels. The only difference is that there are more aliens that you have to destroy in Prey.

PREY isn't particularly challenging if you're into FPS games but it's a gaming experience well worth playing. The only area that seems to cause players difficulty is the cube puzzle on level 16. I can honestly say I was out of the cube and back to adventuring and blasting within minutes. It's really not difficult at all and just requires a bit of spatial awareness.

There are moments in this game so awesome that you will stop playing and stare goggle eyed at what's happening on screen. The rest of the time you'll be adventuring and blasting and loving every minute.

I've seen PREY in Gamestation for £7.99 so, while you wait for GEARS 2, do yourself a favour and walk the spirit walk. You won't regret it.

Nintendo Why? Fi

As people should be aware it is illegal to use your mobile phone while driving. That's no talking and certainly no texting at the wheel. Nintendo being the law abiding citizens that they are have implemented this into the forth coming Mario Kart Wii. There will be no texting and most definately no chatting during races, but you can text your friends before the race using either a USB keyboard or the Wii remote. If you opt for the latter the race may well be over before you can type 'I'll pwn your face at this noob!' however.

Nintendo say they did toy with the idea of not only including a plastic wheel with the game but also a small bundle of sticks. Using these, players could rub them together vigorously to create smoke signals to organise online matches and chat to friends in a more reliable way than the Nintendo Wifi connection. The only reason these were removed from the final boxed version was that sending friend codes via this method proved even more time consuming than using the Wii remote. Well, that and the fact that players were winning races in a very real 'blaze' of glory!

So here's a plea to Nintendo. If you really are serious about charging to play certain games online, sort out the basics first. You only have to scan through the forum quickly to see the constant problems people are having trying to play any DS or Wii game online. The Geometry Wars online scoreboard is still an annoyance for me too, being something close to useless. Extensive was the word used on the box I believe, so why can't I choose to see my friends scores? And isn't it called Wii Connect 24? I assumed this meant 24hr and not the average number of times I would have to connect and disconnect from Nintendo Wifi to upload and view the scores. Still a great game though.

Update: Reading through a preview from people who have played the actual game it's said that the chat feature is even more limited than originally thought, consisting of a few preset phrases you can send to each other. The preview rated the game extremely highly but did say the plastic wheel control was rubbish and to stick with the other methods available.

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One console to rule them all.

While Nintendo and Sony's plans for the current generation consoles couldn't have looked more different it now seems that they were both going for the same market share but from completely different ends.

Nintendo were going for the casual gamer and none gamer using the Wii's all new, now all conquering, control method as the hook. Coupled with a large array of casual style games, some massive first party games and a sprinkling of games to please the fans, Nintendo's plan is working better than anyone ever thought it would. The Wii is a massive seller all over the world and even now, more than a year after release, it can be hard to find a Wii for sale on the high street. Nintendo are enjoying a new golden era.

Sony on the other hand went for hi-tech. REALLY hi-tech. So hi-tech that people began to question the sanity of the decision to be quite so hi-tech, not least because of the price that the console was going to cost. Were PS2 owners really going to upgrade to a PS3 at launch? We all now know the answer to that, as do Microsoft and Nintendo who both must have smirked as Sony plummeted into third place in the console war. The PS3 is the powerhouse of the current generation but history shows that this alone is not enough. Sony must have been aware of this as they decided to go even more hi-tech and added another expensive, and unproven at the time, piece of hardware. The Blu-Ray drive

So like the fat kid in the 1500m race on sports day the PS3 is a lap behind in last place. But this isn't a sprint and, just like the tortoise, the fat kid could cross the finishing line first.

With the announcement last week from Toshiba that HD-DVD has gone the way of the Dodo, Blu-Ray is set to be the new DVD. Sony's plan all along was to have a PS3 in every house to play, not just games, but films too. D'oh! How could we have doubted them!? Sony, like Nintendo, targeted the casual gamer and none gamer but they thought they'd lure them in with the only way to buy high definition films and it's worked. Blu-Ray has punted HD-DVD into touch. For good.

Compared to Blu-Ray player prices the PS3 is now a very attractive option for anyone wanting to watch high definition films and PS3 sales will very likely overtake both the 360 and Wii sales very soon. It's only a matter of time for Joe Public to think "Hey, this monstrosity plays games too? I gotta get me some of that!" and it'll have the most software support just like it's predecessor.

Maybe I'll be temped with a PS3 one day. Hopefully Sony will release a slimline PS3 before that day. At least that way it will fit through my front door.

Does Blu-Ray interest you? Does it interest anyone? Could downloadable movies yet usurp Sony's plans? Most PS3 owners are a bit scared of Gameov3r and they don't stick around for long. It could be his flatulence but the rest of us forgive him that. And use pegs. So come and shout for the PS3 on the GAMEOV3R Forum.

Vick's Monday Blues (Legoshire)

'Ey uup! Tha lad's gone all emo like.



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:) Vick :)

So Close...

95% is all I need. That shouldn't be too hard should it?

Get a 95% shot down percentage in all five areas to unlock 'boss rush' mode. One and two are complete. Area three, score attack, Rez HD.

I've decided on my tactic. Don't worry about getting a good score, just make sure I shoot everything I see, and it's working well. By the time I meet the boss it's a formality, and in a couple of minutes it explodes in an expanding ball of bright light that leaves me squinting at the screen.

It's not my best score, but I sure did shoot a huge amount of abstract objects, I think to myself. A few escaped I know but I can afford a few. The screen fades and the couple of seconds before the scoreboard shows up seem to just hang there. I'm sure I've done it, almost positive in fact, I probably don't even need to look. But I do, and it's there in bright frickin orange... 94.85%... 94.85%?! What did I miss that was worth 0.15%?! I don't know yet, but I'm sure gonna shoot the b@****d later!

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Anya. Berserker. Satellite? Take 2

Oh yes! Microsoft and Epic have now confirmed, yes CONFIRMED, that in the month of November this year Xbox 360 owners will once again be feasting all of their senses on glorious Locust destruction. I, for one, can't wait.

There's no exact date yet and no news if Gears 2 will see a synchronised worldwide release but it sounds like everywhere will have the game before the end of November. I think we now know that this years number one best selling game won't be on the Wii.

And looking backwards for a moment, it looks like Amazon did get it right. Someone somewhere knew something the rest of the world was desperate to know. BLOG

There's a short trailer and a couple of desk top pictures, one of them, slightly altered, you can see at the top of this blog, available HERE

Marcus and the boys can't get here quick enough.

EDIT: Some more footage to get you drooling...



Visit the GAMEOV3R Forum if you're not too giddy with excitement and didn't spontaneously combust at the realisation that GEARS 2 IS COMING!!! Shit Yeah!!!