December 2008 Archives

Sonic Unleashed
Sega
XBox 360
£39.99

IS there really a place for pure arcade action any more in the days of ultra polished and realistic titles?

After all the reason for the unrealistic look for most games was that the technology simply wasn't there to do a better job.

To be fair, I think that people expect their 'arcade' games to have this kind of colourful appeal now it has become the accepted norm for this genre.

Sonic Unleashed at first seems to provide what this series is all about - blistering high speed, stripped down platforming and breakneck collection of items.

Visually it looks great - loads of primary colours, and although it's cartoon-like, the graphics are complex and clearly utilise the latest rendering methods.

Unfortunately the Werehog part of the game is a bit like wading through treacle after the excitement of the traditional bit, and certainly doesn't add to the experience.

So, one part excellent traditional arcade action, one part tedium.

65 per cent

My Make-Up, My Dress-Up, My Secret Diary
MyGames
Nintendo DS
£14.99, £17.99 and £14.99

CLEARLY someone has come to the conclusion that there is a vast market among Nintendo DS users comprising young girls.

This collection of games is certainly aiming to tick all the boxes this group is interested in.

We have a lot of bases being covered - diaries, make-up and dressing up too - all split off into separate games - all at about the £15 mark, so if you get the lot for your darling daughter you're looking at a fair amount of cash.

The make-up game at least prevents 'real life' applying of slap, and my daughter (aged five) quite enjoyed it.

There was a host of brushes, colours and creams, face masks, hydrating fruits and facepaint palettes - well enough to keep her quiet for five minutes anyway.

Next we have Dress-Up, which doesn't come with many surprises, you, err, dress up in all manner of different gear, mostly, it must be said, to comedic effect.

Finally we have My Secret Diary, which, I suppose has the potential for the greatest longevity, unless you do what most people do and fill it in for a week before consigning it to the back of a drawer somewhere.

The electronic format at least might go some way towards stopping your little brother getting hold of it and revealing the contents to everyone.

The idea is to chat with your friends who will also be nearby on their DS using the three applications - which I would suggest isn't necessarily that likely, although if it happens will greatly add to the fun.

Overall taken as a whole the MyGames series isn't a bad buy at all for a young girl - but they should really be one package for about £20.

69 per cent

A GOVERNMENT report released today says speed-limiting devices should be fitted to cars on a voluntary basis.

The aim of this scheme is to help save lives and cut carbon emissions.

The government's transport advisers claim the technology would cut road accidents with injuries by 29 per cent.

The device automatically slows a car down to within the limit for the road on which it is being driven.

I just dread to think what this technological innovation would mean if it was widely introduced.

After all, let's look at lorries, which already have speed limiters.

We all know that George Lucas famously 'revisited' Star Wars (subsequently rebranded 'A New Hope') with all manner of digital jiggery-pokery.

The screen was literally packed to capacity. Previously where stormtroopers had walked down an empty Mos Eisley side street, it hummed with dozens of tiny robots buzzing around their heads.

For my money, it was rather over the top, and only a couple of the shots were worth doing.

And as for Han shooting first in the confrontation with Greedo....let's just say I agree with certain internet users...

Anyway, one section not touched was the classic bit involving Luke's Red Squadron comrade Porkins. The salad-avoiding X-Wing pilot gets toasted by turbo lasers during the attack on the Death Star.

But now, using the finest technology available to 21st century humanity we can find out why 'Red Six' Jek Porkins (for he has a first name) was unable to 'hold it'.

Yes it's because he'd just been to a space drive through in Yavin's orbit and was trying to polish off a large fries and coke while wrestling with his control column.

And yet! There's more - it turns that Porkins not only has a first name but a middle one also. It's not Jek Jek Porkins in the style of a much loved other SW character, but, in fact 'Tono'.

As someone who's in the film for a time measured in seconds he seems to have acquired an amazingly colossal biography here.

See ya Porkins!

Prince of Persia
Ubisoft
PC, XBox 360
£39.99

IT'S saving the world time again in Prince of Persia, another game which is the latest in a long line of sequels.

According to the blurb, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness.

Something about a god of light, needless to say, his brother who is the god of darkness, an ancient tree of life which has been destroyed, and the battle to save the earth from doom.

OK, so the plot doesn't exactly go beyond every fantasy novel ever written, but as ever in a Prince of Persia series, it's all about the gameplay.

I remember the original set new standards for what a platform game ought to be when I used to play it on my Commodore Amiga years ago.

And it would be fair to say that this latest incarnation is absolutely brilliant at the fluid acrobatic action which the series is known for.

It does feel a touch repetitive at times, the controls will have you nutting the TV screen and it's a bit short, but Prince of Persia is pure gaming, and great fun.

****

Need for Speed Undercover
EA
XBox 360
£39.99

IS NEED for Speed a franchise desperate for some kind of makeover?

It's certainly been going for some time now, with the same old high speed cop dodging and racing against rivals.

And there's a whole host of rival titles too including Project Gotham, Grid, Midnight Club and even the Grand Theft Auto series at a stretch.

The story, such as it is, and illustrated with some fairly poor cut scenes, is some nonsense about racing other drivers and avoiding police while going undercover to bring down some international crime syndicate.

Tri-City where the game is based, features 80-miles of roads, including a large motorway section.

The city is all very generic, albeit nicely realised, although it suffers from the unrealistic looking problem of skyscrapers popping into view from nowhere in the distance.

Undercover is an excellent racing game, make no mistake. It's fast, furious, competently put together, and has licensed a good many of the hottest cars around. It just doesn't get the excitement levels up as much as it should - possibly because it doesn't really do an awful lot that's new, in what is a crowded marketplace.

***

Virgin today announced that it was launching the UK's fastest broadband service.

And they used the traditional pr method of launching hi-tech items. Yes - get a pretty girl in a dress to do it.

I suppose there's the connection, faster internet, pretty girls....go on, you work it out.

Stevens, in a strapless red dress, held symbolic fibre optic cables to launch the Virgin Media 50 megabits per second (Mb) domestic service.

Apparently she uses the internet every day for 'business' to keep in contact with friends.

And in a quote not at all concocted by a Virgin PR person she said: "I use the internet every day so broadband is essential, and the faster the better as it means I can fit more into my day."

At the same time CEO Neil Berkett said that new anti-piracy traffic monitoring equipment will come on line.

Specifially they are going to have a go at BitTorrent traffic, saying it unfairly hogs bandwidth from other users.

Illegal downloaders face having their speeds throttled back.

Below - Rachel Steven looks for something in the distance at the launch.

America's Next Top Model
Eidos
DS
£24.99

NOT that I've ever watched it, you understand, but I believe there is a popular TV show which is the 'inspiration' for this exercise in narcissism.

The aim of the telly version is for numerous lovely ladies who have spent their entire lives being told they're a 'princess' by their mothers, to bitch, trample over people, and generally in the most unpleasant way possible, slime their way to the top of the catwalk tree.

The game, on the other hand, is on the DS, and as such is of rather more wholesome construction, being as its target audience is young girls.

And to be fair it's not all that bad at all - and given that I thought it was going to be reprehensible, tedious and above all, up itself, is something.

The game is similar to the show, in that you're up against nine other contestants, and must undertake a series of challenges including posing, pouting and, erm, wearing clothes.

It's not all that bad - my five year old daughter found it to be quite good fun, and didn't seem particularly corrupted by the experience.

***

Tomb Raider: Underworld
Eidos
PC, PS3
£39.99

IS Lara Croft the most iconic computer games character ever?

Well quite possibly, and a testament to her popularity that the latest instalment has just been released - a full 12 years after the original made its debut.

Of course, familiarity can breed contempt and there have been some less-than stellar releases in this series over the years - with complaints including each didn't do anything new.

Tomb Raider: Underworld doesn't do much radically different.

The combat system has been tweaked - it's now possible to shoot at two targets at the same time, if you're engaged in double pistol action, which is fun.

You can even hang by one hand, while shooting with the other.

Underworld continues the story started in Legend, which has Lara in search of Avalon, no, not the Roxy Music album, rather an ancient underworld which could hold the key to her missing mother, and ends up covering a whole bunch of Norse mythology, including the whereabouts of Thor's hammer.

It's a great addition to the series, with infuriating puzzles and excellent combat.

****

Counterfeit Nintendo consoles given to children as Christmas presents could put their lives at risk, parents were warned today.

Hundreds of fake computer consoles imported and seized at freight depots across the UK were found to have potentially dangerous power adaptors, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said.

The fake versions of the popular Nintendo DS and DS Lite consoles were bought from a range of websites, mainly based in Asia.

The sites claimed the items were "genuine Nintendo" and offered many of the counterfeit consoles for around £40, instead of the usual retail price of £100.

But Nintendo confirmed that the consoles were counterfeit and it had not produced the power adaptors supplied with them, meaning they had not been electronically tested.