Tuesday 25 October 2011

Forza 4 - Review


Have you ever driven home and decided to take the longer route just for the fun of it? Do you sometimes go for a drive to clear your head? Maybe you like to tinker with an engine at the weekend? For some the auto-mobile is simply a tool, a way to get from A to B in as little time as possible. For the people at Turn 10 and Top Gear however, cars are so much more than that.

Forza 4 represents their passion for the internal combustion engine in all its many forms, be it a tiny four cylinder super mini or a fire breathing V12 Aston Martin DBS, every car in the game is painstakingly modelled to be the best that it can be, and it shows.

Booting up the game, you're immediately greeted by the gruff tones of Jeremy Clarkson, one of the immediate examples of the partnership that's been forged between Top Gear and FM4. He explains that car enthusiasts are being marginalised, that we're no longer accepted in a world that values mpg over mph. Then he let's us all in on a secret, there's a safe haven for us all, and it's right here in our own living rooms.

After a quick blast around the Bernese Alps (one of the new Tracks in Forza 4) in a Ferrari, you're introduced to the main menu and given the option to load your save data from Forza 3 for a bonus gift in return. Being a Forza veteran, i was interested to see what bonuses i would get for having a Forza 3 save on my system. I was pleased to see that not only did I get some money in my pocket but I was also rewrded for my dedication to Turn 10's racing series with a few extra cars in my garage. This meant that if I really didn't want to start out in the slow as all hell Ford Ka, or equivilent small car, I could quickly jump into an Aston Martin DBS racing car and not miss a beat.

The world tour "career" mode in Forza 4 is a fairly linear affair, at least in terms of where you'll be racing. Each year of your career is broken into several race days, with later years becoming longer more drawn out affairs than your earlier ones. You'll visit tracks from all around the world in a set order and take part in special events like track days and Car Bowling. However, despite the lack of choice as to where you'll be racing, Forza 4 never makes you feel like you have no input into what you're doing.

Every race day has three seperate events to choose from and these change depending on the car you're currently in. If you're currently driving a Ferrari Italia 458 you might get some S class events and a specific Ferrari challenge, but if you get into your Fiesta the options will be altered to suit that cars class and body style. It's a fantastic way to let the player progress at their own pace in cars that they're comfortable with. As mentioned earlier, Forza 3 players are given extra Money and bonus cars in their garage, so experts in the field can race S class and above from the get go.

It isn't just career mode that's been tweaked in this years game though, the levelling system in Forza 4 has had something of an overhaul too. In the last game Driver Exp was rewarded with a new car at each level, and while that has remained the case in this game, the mantra of "choice" has once again been applied.

Wait, i get to choose?!

Anyone that's ever bought a car to compete with and then ended up being given the same car soon after will know how annoying that can be. Turn 10 seemed to realise this and so they've decided that every time your Driver level increases in Forza 4 you should be able to choose your next reward car. Each level is associated with a type of car, be it Super Minis at level 1 or Boutique Supercars at level 35, each level has at least 3 cars to choose from, ensuring that every time you level up, you get something new.

Similarly, the Car Exp of the previous game has been almost completely scrapped in favour of a new system called "Affinity". Essentially you earn affinity points based on the brand of car you drive rather than the model, so if you drive a Ka, then a Fiesta and then move onto a Focus RS, all the Exp you have earned will count towards your Ford affinity. This gives you more reason to keep using a car, instead of dumping it after reaching level 5 because you get no further bonuses.

The only criticism I have of this system is that after level 4 you have a 100% discount on all parts for the brand in question, which does rather gimp the game slightly. It would have been better, in my opinion, to give discounts at 10% increments and then financial rewards after that. We'll see how it affects the game, although in fairness i haven't had to upgrade a single car yet as the ones you win when you level up on Driver Exp are all very competitive in their individual classes.

The car Models themselves are what this game is really all about though, and with the new lighting system that Turn 10 developed for this game the cars have never looked better. It's an astonishing achievement that so many cars from so many manufacturers have been crammed onto 2 discs and yet the visual quality off all of them remains impeccably high. Where GT5 only allowed interior cabin views in a selected number of premium cars Forza have said "Sod that, they're all premium cars in our game!" It's a testament to their hard work and dedication that a Fiat Punto looks as stunningly realistic as an Audi R8 does.

Lookit! It's gorgeous out there!

The improved visuals don't just stop at the cars though, oh no. The tracks have all been given a lick of paint with the digital brush and now look even more gorgeous than they already did. New tracks like the Bernes Alps, and the sure to be fan favourite Top Gear Test Track are welcome additions to what has become a robust, if slightly too American, roster of raceways. It would be nice to see some more European and Asian tracks included, especially the Singapore Grand Prix circuit or one of the many Australian tracks used for Touring Car racing there, but perhaps there's scope for that in the DLC to come.

Every car in Forza 4 handles uniquely on the track, which once again is testament to Turn 10's hard work in getting all the details right. While lumbering giants like the Range Rover Sport are positively barge like in their response in the corners, nimble roadsters like the Lotus Elise are tail happy to the point of being nigh on uncontrollable. The difference between FWD, RWD and 4WD is easily noticeable from the off, but thanks to the raft of driver aids available in the difficulty menu even a rank amateur should be able to handle the most exotic grand tourers on offer.

Feedback through the controller is often ignored as inconsequential in most games, but in Forza 4 it's an essential extension of your relationship with the car. That Turn 10 have managed to make each rumble feel so intuitive to me is praise worthy. On several occasions I've rescued myself from a spin out thanks to the feedback the controller has given me on track.

With the tyre deformation technology introduced in the last game as well as the extra research that Turn 10 have been given access to thanks to an alliance with Pirelli, Forza 4 is the closest to driving the real thing that we've seen so far this generation, and i imagine it will continue to be for some time yet.

The rewind function that so divided the fan base last time round has made its return here, and honestly it's for the best. Players who dislike it can ignore it's existence while those who don't want to have to repeat the longer races because of a lack of concentration on the penultimate corner of the race can rewind till they're blue in the face.

Unfortunately the complete lack of night time racing and the absence once again of rain/wet track races is distractingly noticeable. It was maybe forgiveable when FM3 was released that they left these options out, after all they had put together an exhaustive new set of online features and managed to create a very solid racer around it, but with GT5 having both these features, it seems strange that Turn 10 haven't done the same.

Autovista is a function that got a lot of attention when Turn 10 announced it, especially since it allows you to explore a car using Kinect technology. Getting around the cars is simplicity itself, with just a few presses of your pad you can "explode" the car (that would be where all the doors, boot lids and engine bays open up) and when you highlight any of the marked points of interest you can have the Game narrator explain some of the technical specs for the car. Even better is the option to have Jeremy Clarkson tell you what he thinks of the car, and he doesn't hold back with some of them that's for sure. This makes for a refreshing approach to what can be rather boring facts and figures, giving you another example of how Cars can affect us on an emotional level when we look at them as much as when we drive them.There's an example of Jezza's musings below, it's a doozie.



On the Audio front, Forza 4 is an impressive beast. The number of different samples of engine noises that must be in this game is immense, every time i get in a new car it sounds completely different from the last. Exhaust notes vary from high pitch small block engines to the rich and deafening roar of the supercars and again when you graduate to the fire spitting, raw power of the race spec cars. Music has become an important part of the Racing game genre, and while the track listing in Forza 4 is probably weaker than both GT5 and Forza 3 in terms of big names, it's still highly listenable. Although why you really need music anywhere except the menu screens escapes me to be honest, especially with such wonderfully captured engine acoustics running through your gameplay experience.

Conclusion

With Forza 4, Turn 10 have created a game with the most stunning visuals, realistic gameplay and the most diverse selection of Cars seen this generation. Racing sim fans are guaranteed one of the finest examples of the genre ever to hit the Xbox 360 and most likely any current console, while newcomers to the series/genre will find it instantly accessible. While they've left out features such as changeable weather and night time racing, they've created a compelling racer that gives the player ultimate control of where they go and what they do. The Online community is central to Turn 10's efforts and can once again boast the most creatively enabling edit modes of any game in any genre. GT5 had better move over, because there's a new guy sitting on Pole position.

Oh snap...

It's the ten year anniversary of GTA3 this year, so you'd expect a fair amount of traffic to be going through the Rockstar games website at the moment. Thing is, there's a shed load right now, and it probably has something to do with this.


This really is a genius move by the R* guys, they have a whole load of publicity for no cost already thanks to the ten year anniversary celebrations taking place on legit gaming sites like IGN, so this announcement should blow the roof off.

If you'd like to see the announcement page for yourself, head over to http://www.rockstargames.com/

Wednesday 19 October 2011

The Round-up: Gamestop encourages second hand sales, Wii UK pricing announced, FIFA 12 knocked off it's perch...

A few days later than expected, and with a throat that feels like it's been coated with sandpaper, here's your weekly Video games round-up.



Starting off today's round-up there's news of two seperate legal wrangles currently making their way through the court systems. First is the news that Rocksmith's European release will be delayed into 2012 after it emerged that there is a band with the same name who aren't happy with being fobbed off by Ubisoft. According to Chris Ford, the percussionist for the UK group Rocksmith, the band even took the first step and contacted Ubisoft regarding their concerns over the naming of the new Music game, and trying to sort out a solution moving forward.

Eurogamer quote Mr Ford as saying that "there's nothing I've said that can't be backed up with absolute fact. I've got documents proving that I registered the name." Seems fairly cut and dry to me...

Next up is the news that Mojang have won an interim injunction against Zenimax/Bethesda and can continue to use the Scrolls title for their new game until the action goes to court. In a tweet on his official @notch account, Markus Persson said "We won the interim injunction! We can keep using the name "Scrolls". Zenimax/Bethesda can still appeal the ruling, but I'm very happy :D" Frankly it's ridiculous that Bethesda could even contemplate suing over any concern that the Title "Scrolls" infringes on their Elder Scrolls property, but i guess lawyers will be lawyers...



In happier news it appears that Blizzard have been raising money for charity while giving their rabid MMO fanbase a keep sake of their gaming past. On October 17th Blizzard began auctioning off server blades that used to house their long running World of Warcraft MMO. All in all, four seperate auctions were planned with all money raised going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. With around 2000 blades up for sale, each with their own special presentation case, that's a lot of money for a very deserving cause.



Good news for all UK Sony fans now, it was announced by Jim Ryan who explained "PlayStation Vita is an incredible device that offers the best possible portable gaming experiences." That's fancy talk designed to make the price sound reasonable, in case you didn't know. To be fair to Sony, the price for the PS Vita is actually reasonable compared to other tech out there right now. At £229.99 for the Wifi only and £279.99 for the 3G enabled models you get plenty of technology for your money including the now famous rear touch screen, front touch screen and massive horse power the processor affords it. February 22nd is the official release date for PlayStation's latest hand held, and with only a £50 gap in price it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people end up going 3G.



While we're talking Portable Sony devices it would be remiss of me not to mention the ever expanding roster of double packs making their way to PSP. For $15 US gamers can pick up the Mega Man Maverick Hunter X/Mega Man Powered Up or Monster Hunter Freedom Unite/Monster Hunter 2 packs. Absolute bargain right there.



More HD remake goodness is heading our way sometime next year, with Capcom confirming that they are working on a remastered HD bundle containing Devil May Cry 1,2 and 3. Not only that, but it will be available on PS3 and XBox 360. That's right, Microsoft fans can play it on their console too. Not happy to leave it there Capcom have also confirmed a RRP of just $40 for the collection!



Everybody knows that the best kind of shit is free shit, and thanks to Zen Studios you can download Pinball FX2 absolutely free of charge between October 26th and November 2nd. Not only that but you can also get the new Paranormal table layout for free at the same time. A round of applause for Zen studios please ladies and gents.



This next item may not be free, but it is awesome. On the heels of the Portal 2 knee socks (see what I'm doing there) comes one of the cutest little plushies I've seen (at least since Kon of Bleach fame). Seriously, take a look. Turret's never looked so cutesy.



Right, we have a shed load of Arkham City stories this week. First up is the news that Gamestop might be giving away Catwoman DLC with every used copy of the game that they sell. Obviously this benefits the retailer as their overheads on used games are much lower than new software, but from the developers point of view this is the worst thing that Gamestop could possibly have done. Kotaku report that an anonymous tipster sent them an internal memo detailing plans that all used copies sold would have a code for the Catwoman downloadable content printed on the receipt. This has since been confirmed with a retail branch by the Video games site.

Fans of the Batman Beyond TV series will be able to download a free skin of the futuristic not-so-caped crusader if they drink enough NOS energy drink. Although the skin will be available as regular DLC later on, fans of the Fast and Furious styled energy drink will get the attire once they complete the single player or play any of the challenge maps. To be honest i always thought that the Beyond version of Batman was a bit lame, but then, I love impractical capes.

PC gamers will finally get hold of Arkham City on November 18th, the delay is apparently due to the team working on the PC port wanting to fix some bugs before they ship the final product. Good for them i say, patching post release is something i really detest, but it's a growing trend as developers look to meet release schedules.

While players on the console versions of Arkham City might not have many bugs to contend with they are having trouble with DLC, namely the free DLC included in the box. Reports range from codes not working at all, to doubling up on certain pieces of DLC and in some cases Code cards included being completely blank! The Warner Bros twitter account has promised news as soon as they work out a solution, with a cryptic message pointing towards Catwoman being the first to be solved, claiming that players "will get to play as the sexy thief,"



Now then, PS3 owners out there, and i myself am included among your numbers, will know only too well how annoying it can be to turn your console on for a quick session, only to be told you need to run a firmware update before continuing. Sony seem to have finally realised this inconvenience and as a result Firmware Update 3.73, which fixes software stability issues will be completely optional. No doubt other firmware updates will be mandatory depending on what they address, but it's nice to have a choice on this one at least.



What news of EA? I hear you ask, okay i didn't physically hear you, but you must be wondering surely? well the pre-order figures for Battlefield 3 are in, and they're mightily impressive. EA have stated that pre-orders currently stand at over "a couple of million" while participation in the Beta has apparently topped 8 million users according to a graphic on the Battlefield 3 blog. wowzers.

Also hot off the presses from EA is the news that they have filed 2 trademark requests for the title "Prison Kings". Trademark applications for an Online game, as well as downloadable computer game software have both been made but any other clue as to the type of game it will be aren't forthcoming at the moment. Personally I enjoyed the prison sections of Fight Night Champion, so a re-imagining of the Knockout Kings brand set in the prison system would be an interesting take on the fighting game genre. Either that or we're going to get a bully style prison game with online components.



Finally, here's your UK top ten selling games on all platforms for the week ending October 15th

  1. Forza Motorsport 4
  2. FIFA 12
  3. Just Dance 3
  4. Rage
  5. Pro Evolution Soccer 12
  6. Gears of War 3
  7. Dark Souls
  8. Zumba Fitness
  9. F1 2011
  10. Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge
The might of FIFA 12 has finally been vanquished! After two weeks in pole position EA's football sim has been outsold by Turn 10's ode to the motor vehicle. What makes this even more impressive is that Forza 4 was released on Friday the 14th, meaning that in 24 hours it sold more copies than FIFA did in an entire 7 day period. True enough most people that wanted FIFA would have bought it inside the first two weeks, but no other game on the top ten this week, including Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, has managed to beat EA's sales.

Good to see once again that Dark Souls is in the top ten, while F1 2011 and GoW3 also hang around the list. Surprise surprise, Zumba fitness is still selling well. I'm beginning to think that Wet wet wet had the right idea when they withdrew Love is all around from sale after they got sick of being number 1. Take note Majesco entertainment...

Right, that'll do for today, I'm going back to bed to die quietly.

Later days.

Monday 10 October 2011

Monday Round-up: GLaDOS takes over iPhone, FIFA continues to dominate the world.

It's Monday which can mean only two things. One, you just had your first day back at work after a weekend that felt about as short as Wayne Rooney's temper, and Two, It's time for another Monday Round-up.



In what has to be one of the quickest U-turns in recent memory Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has announced that Qwikster is dead in the water. Going forward there will be only one account, one password and one service, be it through the post or by way of streaming.

Hastings posted this message on the Netflix blog this morning - "It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVD", "This means no change: one website, one account, one password... in other words, no Qwikster."

Victory for common sense and keeping things simple!



Listeners of the Killer Keyboard Podcast will be aware of a little game by the name of "The Binding of Isaac" which is being played by our very own Tim Regan. It's an interesting concept for a game, begging the question "just how big can a basement actually be?" but also has some really neat ideas in the gameplay department such as the idea of having only one life per play-through.Link
Anyone who is curious about the game can now play a free Flash based version of the game on the newsgrounds website, while those who already own the game, including Mr Regan, can look forward to a free update set for release this Halloween via steam.

The update is set to include 20 more items, 3 extra bosses, a new playable character, extra achievements and a new final chapter for anyone who has completed the game already.

Edmund McMillen, who as part of Team Meat created Isaac as well as Super Meat Boy, said of the Halloween update - "This 2nd update is more or less my dream update, something i wanted to be able to do for release but knew it would push the game back another month to get done, so in a way on the 31st Isaac will become exactly what i wanted to release but didn't have the time to finish."

Team Meat are right up there with Valve in my estimations at the moment, let's hope they keep producing original and high quality games like this.



Two pieces of news this week in regards to the aforementioned Valve studios. First off we have this brilliantly edited video that shows just how badly things could go for you hipsters out there if iPhone's new "Siri" voice recognition system goes more the way of "GLaDOSiri". Personally i can't wait for the GLaDOS option to hit the App store...



Also of note is the news that Brandon Jones recently managed to put together a demo of Team Fortress 2 running (or at least rendering) on a web browser. As if this game wasn't accessible enough. If the Unreal Engine can run on Flash 11 there seems little reason why TF2 can't make the move to Flash soon.



Get ready for more Hats!



Xperia Play might not be setting the world of mobile gaming on fire right now, but Sony haven't given up on it quite yet. Sony have partnered with EA to make four titles available for absolutely free during the holiday period. Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dead Space, NfS: Shift and NfS: Hot Pursuit will all be made free to download during the Thanksgiving break right up until January 15th next year. That should keep the dozens of Xperia owners happy...



And if that doesn't then maybe the announcement of Minecraft: Pocket Edition being released on Android will. On October 7th Carl Manneh, the managing director of Mojang, tweeted that the Android release of Minecraft was finally available for download on the Android Marketplace, having originally been slated for a late September release. Owners of Android platforms can now download a free demo of the game to see how well it will run before stumping up the $6.99 (£4.29) it costs for the retail version.



Bad news for XBox 360 owners who love their "Gears" after an influx of reports from gamers complaining that their game was freezing and/or crashing when they try to load a game mode. It appears to be confined to split screen Horde mode and makes one of the users profiles unusable in game.

Epic games are currently trying to resolve the issue, telling Joystiq.com that "Getting this resolved is a priority for Epic. We are collecting information internally, sourcing as much as possible from the community and exploring potential fixes. We do not have any recommendations to share with players just yet."



In other XBox 360 news, it would appear that the Fall dashboard update will be hitting on November 25th. According to GIGAom, Microsoft is targeting a Black Friday launch for the update which includes the Live TV functionality reported in last weeks Round-up as well as Bing universal search and Kinect functionality. Interestingly XBox TV partners are favouring the use of Apple's H.264 encoded video over Microsoft's own smooth streaming system, that's a bit of a kick in the nuts if you ask me, but if it works then who cares?



We have Skyrim news!

The above image is apparently the world map for the upcoming Elder Scrolls title and points to the in game world being every bit as expansive as you could have hoped. Revealed at the Igromir Expo in Russia, no i have no idea what that is either, but according to sources every attendee got a copy of said map to take away with them. here's the map translated into English, you can click it to zoom in and drink up "ye olde worlde mappe goodenesse"



Right then, for any Nintendo geeks out there it;s time to hold onto your Virtual boys and baton down your 3DS's. Nintendo have announced that a new Wii bundle will be released in conjunction with the release of Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games this November.

As you can see from the above picture it's...well...It's Blue. It's also one of the new versions of Nintendo's best selling console, meaning that you won't be playing any Gamecube titles on this powder blue relic, oh for god's sake, it isn't even the same colour as Sonic!



Time to wrap it up as we always do, with the UK's Top ten best selling games on all formats for the week ending October 8th.

1.FIFA 12
2.Rage
3.Dark Souls
4.Gears of War 3
5.F1 2011
6.Zumba Fitness
7.Dead Island
8.Deus Ex: Human Revolution
9.Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
10.Resistance 3

So FIFA makes it 2 weeks at number one, leaving everything and everyone in it's titanic wake. No surprises there then. Rage makes a solid début at No.2 while Dark Souls surprises many, including myself by reaching the No.3 spot. Zumba somehow continues to sell well despite the fact that everyone and their aunt must own a copy by now while games like Dead Island, Deus Ex and Resistance 3 all manage to stay in the top ten best sellers.

Seeing a game like Dark Souls doing so well in the chart this week makes me both happy, and optimistic, that gaming hasn't turned away from hardcore titles. While Zumba may well represent all that I despise in gaming, there are plenty of people out there who still like to get their arses kicked regularly and then ask "Please sir, can i have some more?" Props to any of you that bought the sequel to Demons Souls, you're encouraging developers to continue to make great games that challenge the player on several levels.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

The Round-up: Valve give away free shit, Karma catches up with Team Bondi.

It's a few days later than expected but non the less here's the weekly edition of the Round-up for all you gamers out there.

Don't you just love getting things for free? I know i do, which is why Valve continue to be in my good books after they released the third volume of "Music To Test By" the official soundtrack for their smash hit game Portal 2. Along with a free download of all three volumes, the official site also has promotional videos, posters and ringtones available for fans of the game. You can follow this link to the free goodness that our masters at Valve have provided for us, just click on the Download link at the top of the Portal 2 home page...



While on the subject of Valve's portal based puzzle game the new DLC pack entitled "Peer Review" featuring a new test track and everyone's favourite homicidal AI, GLaDOS, is now available on PSN, XBL and Steam for free. Once again Valve show that they know how to keep the fans happy. And if by any chance you haven't picked the game up yet i have more happy news for you, as Valve have made Portal 2 available on Steam for half price, get them while they're hot!



Any gamer who wants more graphically impressive games on Facebook or Google + may have lucked out after Epic and Adobe announced at the ADOBE MAX conference that Unreal Engine 3 will support Flash Player 11, even going as far as to demonstrate a version of Unreal Tournament 3 running on flash. impressive, but it's still not going to get me playing Mafia Wars...



Regular readers of this Blog may recall i had a go on Resident Evil: Revelations a while ago, and while i wasn't all that happy with the controls it was a graphically impressive title that showed just what 3DS is capable of. Obviously that build was some way from complete since Capcom recently announced that North America will see the game released on February 7th, that's still a way off so hopefully the controls can be tweaked between now and then.



From one Zombie game to another now, as it was announced by SEGA that Yakuza: Of the End will be seeing a release in the West under the new name Yakuza: Dead Souls. Gamers familiar with the Yakuza series will see a different side to the franchise in this instalment as they try to survive the Zombie hoard rather than beating up rival gangsters. It's an interesting spin on the standard Yakuza stories of the past so here's hoping it does well.

Ah the dead...that reminds me.


Team Bondi are officially no more after documents were filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the company entered administration. Production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell has reportedly bought the studios assets, but fear not LA Noire fans, Take-Two still hold some rights to the game that should have heralded a bright future for the now defunct Australian developer, and given the number of copies it sold will be giving a sequel the green light at some point.

Seven years huh? way to fuck it up Mr McNamara...



It is a truth, universally recognised, that code based validation of video games is a stinking turd of an idea that leaves little good will between gamers and games makers. There's no arguing that developers need to protect their investment, and that the people that spend hundreds of hours honing the games that we play deserve recompense for all the hard work and effort they put into the game, but Sony's Online Pass and EA's Project $10 as i have heard it referred to by some people are the worst way to do it.

Why am i writing about this? Well it turns out that Resistance 3 was only the first game in Sony's first party catalogue that will have an Online Pass included with it. Uncharted 3 will also include one of these wonderful little codes which SCEE/SCEA claimed to be "an important initiative as it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhancing premium online services across our first party game portfolio."

Bull shit.

Sony's online infrastructure is, has been and will be for some time yet, a pile of Crap. Just admit to what this really is, a way of making more money from people that buy their games second hand because new ones are too expensive. I'll get back to that particular point later on... The implication here is that any first party game with online functions from now on will have a code included with it.

Gentlemen, start your keyboards.



Microsoft's Major Nelson has released a list of Xbox 360's TV partners, essentially listing which TV channels we can expect to have access to when the Fall update hits "This Holiday 2011" with regard to the release date, vague doesn't really cover it does it?

Click here to see the full list for your region.




Last but not least here's the new UK Top 10 best sellers on all platforms

1. FIFA 12
2. Gears of War 3
3. F1 2011
4. Zumba Fitness
5. Dead Island
6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
7. Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection
8. Driver: San Francisco
9. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops

People of the UK, you disgust me. How on earth are you still buying Zumba Fitness!?

On the other hand the rest of the top ten looks rather respectable, FIFA 12 is somewhat inevitably at number 1, more on that in a moment, while GoW3 and F1 2011 round out the top 3. Driver is still hanging around the top ten dropping two places from 6 to 8 and it's great to see the Team Ico Collection getting some love. The continued sales of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean are confusing while it was no surprise that with CoD and Battlefield around the corner CoD:Black Ops has seen a rise in sales.

So FIFA 12 is number 1? It didn't exactly take a crystal ball to figure that one out, but the rate at which it's sold is startling. On the list of all time début weeks It's third behind CoD: BlOps and Modern Warfare 2, beating GTA4 down into fourth. Given that last year EA claimed that FIFA 11 was their fastest seller ever it seems clear that FIFA 12 will not only dwarf that record but most likely it's on target to become the quickest selling sports game of all time. EA estimates put week 1 sales of FIFA 12 at some 3.2 million copies meaning that it's up on last years release at the same point by roughly 20-25%

As i said, Startling.

Even more surprising though is the fact that in almost every shop that sells the game it's retail price is £42.99. Now I'm no cheapskate, but it seams to be a cynical move on either EA's part or on the part of the retailers. Knowing that the game would sell out on day one, they put prices up by an extra £3 on the normal retail price for a current generation game, which for the longest time has stood at £39.99. HMV actually made a big deal of the fact that they were selling the game at £39.99, the price the game should have been to start with.

This isn't the first time that the Market has been manipulated by EA and the retailers though. Back in 2010 during the world cup in South Africa you couldn't find a copy of FIFA 10, used or new, in any store. Instead you could only buy FIFA World Cup 2010, the same game as FIFA 10 but with World Cup branding etc. I'm sick of being treated like cattle by these big companies, but unfortunately the majority just go along with it.

I've tried the Demo for FIFA 12 and I'm not buying, admittedly I'm a bit of a PES fan boy, but this year EA have taken defending and turned it into an impossible challenge, aiming more at people who can already play the previous instalments of the game rather than trying to be inclusionary to the rest of us. The rest of the game is fine, but they made learning the game too hard for me to jump ship, plus PES is easy as hell to patch with real Kits, and that's really the only thing FIFA has over Konami's game most years, in my book anyway...