The Round-up: Best bye bye

It's been a while chums, my apologies for not putting up a news article in a while. I'm sure you'll agree though, there's been quite a number of AAA titles launched in the past month and they all needed to be played. So, on with the show.



Best Buy Europe, a venture which is part owned by both Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse, has announced the closure of all 11 of its UK megastores with approximately 1100 jobs being affected. Most of the affected workers will be redeployed to Carphone Warehouse stores, with some of these retail outlets being re-branded as "Wireless World". The Best Buy UK experiment lasted just over 18 months but was brought to a close due to disappointing sales figures, most likely a result of the economic downturn. Plans to open Megastores across Europe as well as China have also been shelved. It's a real shame that so many people will be affected by this withdrawal from the UK but it's encouraging to see that they will be re-deployed where possible. On a positive note it would be safe to assume that when the 11 stores close at the end of the year there will be plenty of bargains to be had...



It's over a week since DC Universe Online went free-to-play but there's been some encouraging news for Sony Online Entertainment. SOE president John Smedley tweeted recently that the in game population numbers for the game have risen by 1000% compared to pre free-to-play figures. Gamers are always fond of a bargain, and free is as good a deal as you can get for a game that originally cost £40 plus a yearly subscription to play. Friend of the show Darragh O'Connor downloaded the PS3 version last night while I myself will be shortly. I'll be giving my thoughts on the F2P version of the game during episode 14 of the Killer Keyboard podcast next week.



Rockstar's Dan Houser certainly isn't backwards in coming forwards with his thoughts on the 3D revolution that's sweeping the Movie and Video games scene. In an interview with Variety magazine he said -

"I don't think anyone has solved the riddle of how you make 3D an integral part of the gaming experience,"

While this certainly doesn't mean he's not a fan of 3D, it does indicate that perhaps Max Payne 3 and GTA V might not be too heavily dedicated to the pursuit of 3D gaming perfection. In my mind that's not a bad thing either. I've yet to see a game use 3D in a way that adds to the gaming experience in a way that couldn't be achieved using a two dimensional display. Sure, Super Mario 3D comes close with it's "giant coin" puzzles, but echochrome proved that perspective bending puzzles are just as easy to achieve without the use of a 3D display.



There's something gloriously original about Takashi Miike's films. Ichi the Killer and 13 Assassins are two of my favourite films, each is very different from the other but the direction and camera work in each is spot on. This being the case, when i heard that he was behind the movie adaptation of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney i was interested to see what he'd do with it. The trailer hit Youtube recently, and even though my Japanese is just south of atrocious I could still see that it's going to be a well made movie that is extremely faithful to the source material. If you don't believe me just check out the hair and wardrobe in the trailer below..






By now you've probably heard about a promising little game that's due out soon, it's got Dragons and swords and lots of fighting in it and is apparently part of something called the Elder Scrolls series. No, it's not ringing many bells with me either...

Well if there's anyone reading this that knows what the hell this game is about, this news is for you. First up, Skyrim will receive a patch on day one that "fixes some minor stability and quest progression issues," this patch will be downloaded automatically the first time you play the game and should make the experience that little bit smoother.

Also in the news this week, Skyrim Director Todd Howard has told Wired that the game will have an unending list of quests to take part in. The "Radiant quest system" allows for random generation of quests in-game for each of the guilds, while also generating random NPC quests for you as well. So that's great news for anyone that gets through the main storyline in this years game, although you do wonder how long it will be before you get bored of "take this bag of herbs to my brother on the other side of the bandit infested woodland" or "my cart is broken, could you fetch me a fixing pin from the blacksmith?". Oh and while we're talking about Todd Howard, here's something that he told Norwegian publication Gamer.no.

"There is an unlimited number of dragons"

Is that enough to get those juices flowing a little more freely? Killing one Dragon is great and all, but killing a dozen more is better don't you think? Well done Bethesda.



An inductee to my personal gaming hall of fame is up for sale on GOG.com right now for only $6 (£4 approx.) Quantic Dream's classic title "Fahrenheit", or "Indigo Prophecy" as it is better known in the US, is one of my favourite PS2 titles of all time and served as a proving ground for many of the control and story telling techniques eventually used in Heavy Rain on PS3. The game currently on sale at GOG.com is the uncut European version, meaning that, for the first time, our American cousins can have simulated sex with a polygonal woman while Theory of a Deadman plays softly in the background. It doesn't get any better than this.



Time for my free download of the week, which this time is actually a full blown game. I haven't played this game yet, but it's getting my recommendation purely because it has, quite possibly, the greatest name in Video Games history.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this weeks Free download of the week is Stealth Bastard: Tactical Espionage Arsehole. It's completely free to download and includes a level editor to boot. You can thank me later...



There's been more rumours this week regarding the next XBox console. For ease of reference i'll list them by source.

MS Nerd blog

-Console is codenamed XBox Loop
-XBox Loop will run on a modified version of Windows 9 and use ARM architecture
-Hardware will include a "main processor" which is supported by dedicated cores for graphics, audio, AI, physics etc
-New console will be Cheaper and Smaller than 360

Paul Thurott - TWiT

-Holiday 2012 release
-Microsoft will "would almost have to announce this [the new console] at CES"
-Console will use the same Metro UI design as Windows Phone 7
-Next XBox will feature Embedded Silverlight
-Expect integration with Windows Phone and Windows 8

The code name certainly makes a lot of sense, Loop fits with the whole 360 degree philosophy and brings to mind the idea of coming full circle. Of course that's reportedly only a code name, the same as Natal was for Kinect, so the real name is probably some horrible title with a K or a Z in place of the C's and S's. There have been multiple predictions of release dates, safe to say it will be sometime during 2012-2014. Integration with Windows is a must, especially with Windows phone being on the market from the beginning of the console life cycle. If the Console is to be more powerful than the last then it makes sense to have dedicated cores for each function, but chip technology moves so quickly that it's hard to get a real feel for what direction they'll take.

Ah, hell. Let's just wait for CES in January and see if they announce something...



Finally, it's time for the UK top ten games on all platforms for the week ending November 5th

1.Battlefield 3
2.Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
3.FIFA 12
4.Batman: Arkham City
5.Just Dance 3
6.Football Manager 2012
7.Forza Motorsport 4
8.Zumba Fitness
9.Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
10.Sonic Generations

Battlefield and FIFA 12 are non movers at numbers 1 and 3 respectively while Uncharted 3 makes it's chart début at number 2. It's a solid showing from the latest Nathan Drake game although Naughty Dog must be disappointed not to have claimed top spot for themselves, but with sales that are over 1/3 better than Uncharted 2 at the same point there's no shame in being second. Batman loses 2 places as does Football manager, and then there's Zumba Fitness. Again...

I had hoped that in a month with so many great games on sale, that Zumba might just have slipped outside of the top ten, but that dream has yet to become a reality.

There's always next week...

E3 - Reasons to be excited

With one of the most anticipated E3's for years kicking off next week, it's only right to delve into the list of games on display to see exactly why it's going to be such a great show.

In the last couple of days Square Enix Europe released a trailer for the re-boot of the Tomb Raider franchise. It looks as though the game is based on a mysterious Island which might be related to the Bermuda triangle, old galleons and at least one plane litter the shoreline but they all look recently shipwrecked, Pirates vs Lara Croft perhaps? No game play was on display but whatever the answer to the questions raised in this trailer, i have to say it's jumped right up to the top two or three games on my most anticipated list.



On the subject of treasure hunters, Nathan Drake makes a welcome return this E3 in not one, but two new games from Naughty Dog. Playstation 3 owners will get Uncharted: Drakes Deception while anyone tempted to pick up the new NGP hand held system will have Uncharted: Golden Abyss to look forward to. Here's some game play from the new Console game to whet your appetite.



Some of you will remember that i wrote about Gran Turismo 5 a little while ago, I'm still playing it and have begrudgingly accepted the role of the B-Spec drivers in the overall game but i still think that it's a very good driving Sim wrapped in a terrible game. This isn't a problem i had with the Forza Motorsport series though, and this year Turn 10 will introduce the world to Forza 4. So long as they concentrate on evolving the menu system, something which was perfectly implemented in the last instalment, they have nothing to fear. More manufacturers, more locations, Kinect support for people who care, and graphics to die for coupled with great sound and the community based game play that made Forza 3 so great. This could be the best driving game ever.



You've all seen the Dead Island trailer by now, if you haven't you owe it to yourself to check it out. This years E3 gives us the first chance to really see if the game can live up to the hype that the beautiful (if anything with zombies in it can be called that) trailer created. Similarly Mass Effect 3 has a lot of hype to live up to. The third instalment of the franchise is meant to be where all your decisions in the first two instalments take effect, I for one am very interested to see what effect sparing the Rachni queen and cheating on my love interest from the first game will have.

Any gamers out there who have played Elder Scrolls Oblivion will no doubt be aware of the upcoming sequel available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 entitled Skyrim. Set 200 years after the events of Oblivion, the Kingdom of Skyrim in full civil war after the assassination of the king. Adding to the woes of Skyrim, the God Alduin has appeared in the form of a Dragon that is terrorising the people. Only you, the last of the Dovahkiin (Dragon born) can stop him and return the Kingdom to peace. The game looks stunning and promises to expand on the game play that made Bethesda's Elder Scrolls game so enjoyable. Check out the epic trailer below.



Earlier i said that Tomb Raider had jumped to the top of my most anticipated games list, there's only two games that i can think of that are keeping it from number 1 status. In both cases these games have made me interested in getting back into the genres they both represent.

EA's Battlefield series is probably the best chance anyone has of breaking the Call Of Duty monopoly over the modern day reality based FPS genre. While i have become increasingly bored with Modern Warfare's multi player, more often than not it devolves into an every man for himself fire-fight, Battlefield rewards co-operation between team mates. It doesn't hurt that the third game in the franchise looks stunning either. Utilising ANT technology that also features in the FIFA series, character animations look more realistic, you can drag team mates to cover, mount weapons on almost any part of the environment and transition into cover more naturally. Before I saw the trailer for BF3 i could quite happily have never played another wartime FPS again, now I'm eager to give it a go.



So now we're onto the main event, my most anticipated game of E3. If you'd told me this time last week that it would be a music game i would have laughed at you. At this point i'm almost completely burnt out on the plastic instrument front, but this game is a little different.

Rocksmith is a music game like no other, instead of playing a plastic instrument and just matching a combination of five buttons plus the strum bar you actually play a real guitar. Rocksmith doesn't use canned riff's either, it uses the sounds straight from your guitar meaning that you feel you're really playing. It's intelligent enough that the note structure alters itself to become more or less challenging depending on your skill level. This is the first game i've seen that might actually teach me a real world skill, and i'm all for it. If you don't believe me though, let Daemon Hatfield of IGN convince you. He felt the same way as i did before he had a hands on, it's his enthusiasm for Rocksmith that got me so excited.



There are plenty more games being shown this year, Not to mention that Nintendo are expected to reveal further details of the new Console they have under development. A more complete round up of the games and conferences of the show will be forthcoming post E3, with plenty more coverage during the event itself.

So stay tuned and check out IGN's coverage of the event too, those guys are the real pro's after all.