The images, as posted on Digital Spy, show Spock and Uhura battling a new villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

The film is still set for a May 2013 release.

Check out the brand new images below.

I hope Zoe Saldana knows how to use that phaser.

Vulcan nerve pinch!

On the dawn of the Western release of Sony’s new handheld console, the Playstation Vita, I look at its potential over here, and why it isn’t selling in the East. Interviewing industry professionals to find out whether the PS Vita will sink or swim.

The technology behind the device is clearly staggering. The PlayStation Vita is the most powerful mobile gaming device around to date, beating all competitors hands down. Sporting a large 5 inch OLED touch screen, a quad-core ARM A9 processor and 512MB of RAM making it the most impressive handheld gaming technology money can buy. Why the lack of initial sales over in Japan then?

One of the main reasons is its gaming rival, the Nintendo’s 3DS. This gaming machine launched a year ago, and is continuing to dominate the market everywhere, primarily Japan. Its outstanding 3D technology continues to amaze, with sales ever expanding. The main reason why it’s done so well? It’s cheap, therefore attracts a larger audience of gamers. This domination therefore, means it’s tough for Sony to catch a break, when there is already such a strong favourite in the market.

Simon Whipps, Chief Editor at thegamerscene.com had this to say regarding Nintendo’s dominance. “The problem for Sony is that they have to ‘break through’ in a competitive market, largely owned by the ever successful Nintendo. In order for Sony to succeed they need a hell of a good marketing campaign”.

It looks like Sony knows this; they have reportedly invested $50 million in an advertising campaign to persuade potential buyers. The tag-line ‘The world is in play’, will be featured on many of the ads, they’re spreading the hype on twitter too using the hash-tag #gamechanger across their media. Their recent advert has been playing constantly on UK screens for the past week, and it’s fast becoming a recognisable advert. Sony have clearly done their research in an attempt to sell this to us.

The full trailer can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/7zn7u8v

Simon Whipps went on to state that, “Japan and the East mostly consists of casual gamers. These are gamers who would play for short periods of time, with more family-friendly and fun games, progressing through them at a slower rate. Nintendo largely focuses on this form of gamer and Sony does not, resulting in a lack of interest in the market over there”.

Another drawback resulting in its lack of sales in Japan is its price. Selling for ¥32,729.77 (£259.99) for the 3G/Wi-Fi version. This hefty price just includes the basic console. You then have to fork out even more money for its necessary memory card, accessories, games and £15 per month contract. In today’s economic climate, your average gamer can’t afford such prices.

The games for the Vita aren’t very cheap, most games retailing for an average of £33 each. There is a bright side though, the downloadable versions of the games are offered at a 10% discount. But the games are still costly on your memory card – downloading takes up a lot of space. The Sony produced memory cards are hugely expensive and are only available up to 16gb, I’ve used up 7 already and I’ve only had it for a day! Pre-ordering mine cost me just over £300 with just one game and a 16gb memory card with the console. That made a large hole in my bank account, and will for the majority of the market too.

All these drawbacks however, have not stunted Sony’s release schedule for the Vita and the future is looking promising.

I spoke to the employees at Game in Lincoln about their predictions of the future of the Playstation Vita and the upcoming launch here in the UK. Among the things they talked about was that, “there have been loads of pre-orders, along with accessories, games and other products related to the Vita such as screen protectors for instance. We are also having an early morning launch in order to attract more people and give those who have pre-ordered it, the option of picking it up real early.”

Launch day came and I queued early in the morning along with many other fans, awaiting the doors to finally open and the mad rush for the console to begin. Standing outside at 8 in the morning in the cold is dedication and clearly, these are the die-hard fans. I had a chance to speak to some of the fellow gamers and I found that the majority had in fact reserved their copy of the console, with most opting for a 16 GB memory card. The most popular game was Uncharted: Golden Abyss. “Uncharted has the best graphics and gameplay”, one fan said. “It’s the best game to show off to your friends”.

The doors finally opened and within moments, shelves looked bare. Customers walked out of the store with a smile on their face, despite their gaping hole in their bank accounts. “It’s been 7 years since the first PSP and Nintendo DS with the second generations finally appearing on the market. I can’t wait to see the outcome. Sony and Nintendo have been at each other’s throats for years”, one Game employee told me.

Despite lacklustre sales in Japan, with its popularity hitting an all-time low, from what I witnessed first-hand at the early morning launch and its incredible technology, I expect to see great things for the Playstation Vita. The future is looking promising. Sony, you have done well.

The comic book genius told The Daily Record, that Kick-Ass 2 is to be shot alongside his other film American Jesus, a story about “a kid who finds out he is Jesus Christ”. Further describing that it is in fact the reverse of the 1976 horror classic, The Omen.

For a while, Kick-Ass 2′s future was seen as being rather uncertain. Due to the team being behind the original, announcing they were unable to commit to the project. An unnamed writer and director however, have taken their place.

The new writer and director are expected to be announced soon.

Let's just hope the sequel will 'kick ass' as much as the original.

Building a Death Star is frankly impossible. Thank goodness, Alderaan you are safe!

It would cost roughly 13,000 times the world’s GDP, take over 833,000 years to build, and the iron needed for construction would have to come from the earth’s core, which would pretty much bottom out the planet.

So unfortunately, any budding Emperors out there, you may need to think of a better weapon to control the galaxy. This one just isn’t a possibility.

It's just not possible I'm afraid.

EA’s career network recently posted a new job ad “seeking a video director to work with Crytek to capture game footage, create video assets, and “challenge the paradigm of video game trailer creative.”

The ad, found by AllGamesBeta, points out that knowledge of the CryEngine (That used for the Crysis games) would be needed.

Makes sense for a new iteration I suppose. The previous game, Crysis 2, sold around 3 million copies since it’s release in back in March 2011, bringing in a hell of a lot of money. EA don’t want to be letting this one go.

So, it’s possible that Crysis 3 is on its way. Personally I can’t wait, I love the franchise and I want to see where the developers take it from here. We can expect even more awesome graphics, gameplay and plenty of carnage! Please let this be true.

However, the pessimist in me is saying that this may not be Crysis 3, but perhaps a brand new IP utilising the CryEngine. This being the case, i’m sure we will still be blown away. So let’s not jump the boat here, i’m sure we will find out more information as time progresses.

Screw it, I want a new Crysis game now!

I can't wait to set foot in the nanosuit and wreak havoc once again!

Among the things discussed was the reasons why his company is reluctant to give any information regarding their popular franchises – including the munch awaited Half-Life 3.

“We’re acutely aware of how much we annoy our fans and it’s pretty frustrating to us when we put them into that situation,” Was Newell’s response to fans who are rather eager for information.

Newell went on to explain that he wants it to be  ” we’re trying to be careful not to get people too excited and then have to go and disappoint them. So we’re sort of reacting in the other direction ands saying ‘okay, well let’s have thing a little more baked before we start getting people all excited about it.”

This comes as ‘Operation Crowbar recently came into effect. This operation is where fans would buy crowbars on Amazon and send them to Valve’s headquarters.

This is creepy so err Valve, please give us details before something else happens!

Oh and erm, what's with the beard Gabe?

What this means is once you have purchased a game on your Ps3 for instance, you’ll be able to download the same compatible game on your Vita for no extra cost. Forking out for already payed content on different platforms sucks, so this is a nice addition.

This comes as Sony just announced via the Vita FAQ on the PlayStation Blog, that they have ‘no plans’ to make PS3 and PS2 games playable on the Vita, which sucks.

However, this single purchase idea looks promising. So far, the list of compatible games for both systems includes, MotorStorm RC, Hustle Kings, Top Darts, WipEout HD (and it’s HD Fury DLC) as well as Capcom’s, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 DLC.

So, if you already own any of these games, if and when you get your Vita you’ll be able to download the equivalent software for absolutely nothing! Good going Sony.

The future is looking bright.

In just 2 days, i'll finally have my hands on one.

The video gives us our first glimpse of the relationship between Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and his classmate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Being refused entry by Gwen’s doorman, we see Peter’s conflict between his new superpowers and his blossoming romance with classmate Gwen.

The film is being direct by Mark Webb and is essentially another origin story, how he got his powers and also follows Peter investigating the disappearance of his parents.

“It’s really important for us to be able to communicate that this isn’t a remake of Sam Raimi’s movie,” Webb said recently. “There’s a new territory, there’s a new villain, it’s a different Peter Parker.

Could Andrew Garfield be a better Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire?

So it’s more of a reboot than a remake, which if I’m honest, I prefer. I believe remakes seem much more of a waste of time, no fan really wants one. A reboot however, attempts to bring success into films once more, often with good results.

I have high hopes for this film when it releases on July 3rd.

Credit to Lewis Fowler for making this awesome Battlefront 3 concept!

Playing through yet again, me and Ben both realised how much of an impact the Battlefront series had on our younger selves.

Taking part in our most played map, Bespin Platforms, was invigorating to say the least. Playing as the Rebel Alliance fighting a battle on a close quarters map suspended high above the planet Bespin against overwhelming numbers of Imperial soldiers proved epic. Advancing through the only chokepoint on the map (and the only way to push the Empire back), we died countless times. We kept coming back however, constantly ordering our men forward.

This is what makes Star Wars Battlefront great. It’s essentially EA’s Battlefield series but with Star Wars. Similarly it contain RTS elements, ordering your soldiers to either move forward with you, defend a position or fall back. I love this aspect. A Star Wars Real Time Strategy game with you at the heat of the battle!? Hell yeah!

Due to our perseverance (and our experience due to the fact we’ve never really stopped playing this game since release), we caused the Empire to fall back  with our help from our guys in the air and on the ground, and ultimately won the battle.

Bespin Platforms and it's epic-ness

This is why the battlefront franchise is needed once more. This franchise offers up variety unrivalled by other games in the genre. The ability to command troops, and choose the way you want to play through each battle, is phenomenal. Feel like being at the forefront of the battle all guns blazing? you can do that. Or what about being an awesome fighter pilot? You can do that too.

Star Wars battlefront 3 is needed. It’ll introduce a new generation of gamers to its amazing franchise, offering them the same amount of fun I used to have when I was younger. Similarly, veterans like myself will be able to rejoice at a new iteration for next-gen consoles.

LucasArts, this is plea. PLEASE make Star Wars Battlefront 3 happen, for the benefit of every gamer.

How i’ll be feeling when Battlefront 3 is announced.

The rather obviously titled Call of Duty Black Ops 2 was recently listed on Amazon France in their marketplace. Sacrébleu! Within moments however, the almighty Activision demanded it was removed and it promptly was. This was all noted by the eagle-eyed french videogame blog, GameBlog, who reported on the finding before the removal. Activision quickly told the blog to take the info down, but the blog didn’t comply.

Activision then retaliated by disinviting the website from upcoming preview events such as the upcoming Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, cancelled all advertising plans for their page, and blacklisted the site as a whole. Activision are clearly defensive.

Are we to see the return of the Black Ops name?

To me, this sounds like something that Activision does not want us to know just yet, showing that by making an example of the blog that reported the information. My bet is that this looks like a confirmation of the next CoD title, however, the whole ‘oh it’s the second Black Ops’ title idea seems lazy if i’m honest, but that’s just my opinion. Activision needs to spice their yearly Call of Duty titles up, I lost interest years ago.

LinkedIn had a similar mishap to Amazon fiasco earlier, as Nerve Software artist Hugo Beyer recently listed work on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on his profile. Since then it has been removed by the powers that be. I’ve looked into this and it turns out Nerve Software has actually had artists working for Activision games and developers in the past, including Treyarch, the Black Ops developer.

Are we to see the same generic multiplayer, or a total reinvention which is what the series needs?

Here comes the inevitable run up to the next yearly CoD title Activision are throwing at us.

Watch the rather comical Call of Duty in real life, below.

Quick update before we start. As of tomorrow I will be posting news as of when I receive it, instead of a big daily news post at the end of the day. This way I feel as though you the readers will be more up to date with all your nerdy news, however I will still post an NN at the end of every day, as a form of daily news recap. Any comments/criticisms will be greatly acknowledged.

First up, Daniel Radcliffe has recently stated that he would like to play Harry’s father James Potter in any Harry Potter remakes. ”I’ve been kind of thinking who I’d like to play in the inevitable remakes, and I’ve decided I’d quite like to play James Potter,” Radcliffe said. Inevitable remakes!? I was not aware of this. Oh god I’d much prefer them to leave it as it is. The last film was phenomenal (yes I did shed a manly tear). Warner Bros. better not go ahead with this.

Awww look at how tiny he is.

Secondly, some sad news to report. Irish actor David Kelly passed away recently at the age of 82. The actor is best well known for his roles such as Grandpa Joe in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake and most notably his starring role in 1998 comedy film Waking Ned, for which he won a Screen Actors’ Guild nomination. Mr Kelly reportedly passed away in hospital after a short illness. Check out one of his  best roles in Fawlty Towers below.

An iPad 3 event is supposedly gonna be taking place very soon. According to reports, Apple will be introducing the iPad 3 during the first week of next month, with the exact date being rumoured to be March 7th. This comes with rumours of the specs. Such specs include a quad-core A6 chipset with a 2048×1536 Retina Display. Rumour has it. Suppose we will have to wait till then for Apple to wow us yet again.

Yet more rumoured specs.

A Transformers 4 Director and Date has been set. Michael Bay is to return in the Directors chair once again, with the movie scheduled for a 2014 release date. Personally, I don’t know where the movies can go from here, as number 3 proved to be a good ending for the series. Expect to hear more news as time progresses.

Vita sales still aren’t going very well apparently. According to Japenese gaming site 4gamer.net, the recent gaming console has had it’s lowest sales week after selling just 13,939 units. This report comes on the eve of it’s Western release. This upcoming release however, proves positive to it’s sales, with a large amount of pre-orders having been placed. I know i’m getting mine!

And finally, something i’m very excited about, Minecraft Lego has been given it’s first details and pictures! A summer 2012 release date has been confirmed. Check out the trailer and pictures below.

Those darn creepers will ruin your Lego's day.

Being able to create your own Lego Minecraft world? Hell yeah!!

Well that’s it for today folks, be sure to be ehre tomorrow with your new and improved Nerdynotifications! Before we go, here’s something a little more light-hearted.

First up, Rock Band developers, Harmonix, tweeted yesterday their #1 most requested song for Rock Band will finally be arriving as DLC. What is this you ask? It’s Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. You’ve just been Rick Roll’d. The song will rather fittingly be available on Valentines Day for $1.99. I’d advise you not to play  this for your partner on Valentines Day, she’ll most possibly leave you.

Secondly, Nyan Cat has finally arrived on XBLA. Based on the rather popular internet meme, Nyan Cat adventures is a single button arcade platformer, with 5 different modes for the low low price of $3! These different modes vary the game by introducing different objectives and playstyles. One mode, called Toast, tasks the player with shooting down toasters in order to progress. This is just making my hungry. Check out the trailer below.

L.A. Noire had such hype and unfortunately it didn’t really perform. Despite the amazing facial recognition technology present within the game, I played the hell out of it, but it felt empty. Despite this, Rockstar have stated an L.A. Noire sequel is ‘a possibilty’, even though the original developer, Team Bondi, closed last year. Personally I’m looking forward to this possibility, perhaps it will overcome the faults of the original, providing an incredibly in-depth crime thriller experience.

The facial technology impressed. The game however, didn't live up to the hype.

The run-up to Playstation Vita’s Western launch is becoming more and more apparent, with many launch titles being announced and released on day one. One which shows promise is that of Gravity Rush, directed by Keiichiro Toyama. The game hasn’t even been released but a sequel has been announced to be in the works! Speaking on his Twitter account, Toyama stated that both DLC and a sequel is in the works. As the first game clearly shows promise, the second will undoubtedly be on to watch.

The art style in Gravity Rush is intriguing.

Yet more Apple news! If you thought the rumours for the iPad 3 were enough, think again! Apple has just filed a patent for virtual 3D eye tracking display. The recent patent filing states technology combining 3D motion sensing technology with facial recognition and ambient light awareness. Rumours suggest that this may become the norm for the majority of Apple products on the way. Apple is still paving the way for the future.

And finally, Sony have stated that it will be spending a rather large amount of $50 million on Playstation Vita advertising, IGN reports.      This comes as Sony announced earlier in the month that they have incurred significant losses. It’s nice to see they are making the effort however despite these recent problems. The campaign will reportedly be using the slogan ‘Never Stop Playing’, showing gamers that they will ”feel engaged and still feel like they’re playing on a console” according to John Koller, Sony’s director of handhelds. Knowing Sonys’ record of advertisements, its sure they will be rather odd! Watch on of the best recent adverts that Sony Playstation had to offer below.

Well that’s about it today, time for something a little more light-hearted. Enjoy.

Video games have slumped in one of their biggest markets, the US. The consumer market research group, NPD, stated that sales in stores in the US were down 38% with a total income of $1.14 billion. Why is this you may ask? I believe it’s due to a lack of major releases lately, with the large releases being around that of Q3 2011. The state of the economy may also be playing a part.

NPD analyst Liam Callahan claimed that “games which launched in the last three months of 2011 performed poorly in January 2012, down 31% in units compared to fourth quarter launches in January 2011,” IGN believes that sales should pick up once Mass Effect 3 is released. So, Bioware, you have the fate of the Video game industry resting on your shoulders!

Shephard and his team have a lot at stake!

To our next news story. Sony regretting decisions seems to be becoming rather frequent lately. Today, Sony have stated that ‘Passing on Demon’s Souls was a mistake’. Back in 2010, Sony passed up the opportunity of publishing From Software’s title, Demon’s souls, in the West. Speaking to Game Informer, Shuhei Yoshida of Sony Worldwide Studios broke this news. ”I hope we won’t make the same mistake again. I should have been more stubborn talking to marketing people here in North America and Europe.”  Check out the original Demon’s Souls trailer below. How can you pass up on that!?

The largely popular and bloody hard video game, Super Meat Boy, is on it’s way to touchscreen devices! Team Meat confirmed via twitter that it will not be a remake of the original 2010 version. They went on to further rightly put, ”We won’t make a game with s****y touch controls”. They also teased sequels and unfortunately slipped the news that the original will never see it’s release on the PS3. I look forward to getting extremely stressed playing this game again!

Don't let looks deceive you, this game will not make you happy.

And finally, two major things have come out of the Toy Fair in New York. Star Wars: the Phantom Menace has recently been released in 3D and with it, comes a hell of a lot of merchandise and toys. The best of which has to be this, he single handedly crushed many Star Wars fans hopes of the prequels and now, he’s finally frozen in carbonite!

Photo courtesy of IGN

Similarly, we’ve finally got a good glimpse of The Lizard from the upcoming Amazing Spiderman movie. The upcoming Hasbro toy showed off the villain in all his scary goodness! Check it out.

Photo also courtesy of IGN

Well that’s it! Time for something a little more light-hearted. Have a good day.

First up, do you like Jurassic Park and Beetles? (No not the musical kind). Well it turns out someone likes both. Visit this amazing blog post, highlighting Etsy artist EBPearce’s creations of beetles (albeit dead ones) dressed as Jurassic Park characters! Each one is sold for around $100 a pop! Clever girl eh?

This one here has to be my favourite, complete with 'Mosquito trapped in amber' walking stick!

Secondly, remember the info I delivered to you 3 days ago surrounding new Battlefield 3 DLC announcements? I remember it. There was so much hype with the majority of gaming news websites covering the story. So what did EA announce I hear you cry? Well it turns out it was unfortunately overhyped and overall a bit of an anticlimax . I’m writing this at the end of the week (the week of which the announcement was supposed to happen), and the only news we received was rather poor.

When confronted about upcoming DLC during an interview, Peter Moore stated, “We’re working on it”. Is that it!? Oh god I think that’s all. Oh well, perhaps we will receive more information as time progresses.  Here’s to the bright side.

What do you think of Comic crossovers? Personally I believe them to be somewhat fun and entertaining, offering a much more enjoyable storyline with a whole range of characters. You may disagree however. Like it or not, Bleeding Cool, a fellow nerdy information website, reported that IDW Publishing is planning an event in which Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s comic series’ will crossover. This sounds very exciting! The storyline will be different that’s for sure! The Doctor on the Enterprise? Damn that’s a cool thought! This crossover is expected to debut around May this year and the first picture has been revealed.

© Bleeding Cool

More graphically awesome games will be on their way! This is due to the brand new Unreal Engine 4 to be unveiled this year! Epic Game’s Vice President, Mark Rein, recently told G4 that, ”People are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have”. With Unreal Engine 3 powering the majority of games you see today such as Mass Effect and Gears of War, the new and improved engine is likely to be just as popular, showcasing a superior graphical and overall technological improvement of its predecessor. The new engine itself has been in development since 2003 and is scheduled for release in 2004, not long then!

Check out the graphical prowess of Unreal Engine 3 below, it’ll blow your mind.

That’s all for today guys! Time to get some sleep I suppose. But before we go, here’s something a little light-hearted. Enjoy.

I have to get this for my house next year!

Who shot first Han or Greedo? For years his seemed to be one of those questions that would never be answered, similar to that of the chicken and the egg, until now that is! In an attempt to address this ongoing argument, Lord George Lucas has given us his answer.  So who did shoot first? Prepare to be annoyed. Lucas states that  Han Solo never actually fired first in his classic showdown with Greedo. Fans only wanted to think that. So basically it’s all your own fault. I will still defend to the death that Han solo shot first, he’s just that badass.

Secondly, want some more LittleBigPlanet in your life? Feel as though there was a distinct lack of vehicles in it? Well you’re sure to be happy as today Sony have revealed the rather obviously named, LittleBigPlanet karting. This was confirmed via the company’s Twitter feed stating that,

“Update: We can confirm that LittleBigPlanet Karting is in fact in development and we look forward to sharing more on the game soon!”

This is pretty much the same as the recently released Modnation Racers so all we can ask is, what does the future hold for this franchise? No official details or release date has been announced, however a poster has been found and snapped  is it accurate? Who knows!  Check it out below.

More Xbox 720/Nextbox rumours have arisen. According to Xbox World Magazine, the new Xbox controller will involve touchscreen technology. Oh dear god. They state that:

“Microsoft are experimenting with a tablet-like controller with a shape closer to Sony’s sleek Vita handheld / Apple’s iPad than Wii U’s bulky unit – it’s an HD screen surrounded by the traditional 360 buttons and sticks.”

Personally I like my controllers nice and simple, too much stuff on them gets me confused. All I need are analogue sticks and/or a mouse. However, this new controller may bring something new to the table perhaps actually becoming rather awesome. Only time will tell I suppose, after all, this hasn’t officially been announced.

And finally, with the release of the Skyrim creation pack, it was only inevitable. Just watch.

Well lets leave it at that shall we? Time for something a little more light-hearted. Enjoy your day.

]]> http://nerdynotifications.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/nn-09022012-game-over-man-game-over/ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:47:14 +0000 NathanSpendelow http://nerdynotifications.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/nn-09022012-game-over-man-game-over/ Greetings once again, lets get on down to some nerdy news.

First up, the box art for the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines videogame has been unveiled. Released by SEGA today, the art work is very dramatic, only causing myself to get more excited! Where’s my money, I need to pre-order? Check it out in all it’s scary goodness below.

Secondly, SOPA still exists. We won though didn’t we!? Well it turns out that SOPA supporters (I can’t believe there are any), are still trying to pass related acts. These people are pushing two agreements: ACTA and TPP.  ACTA would criminalize users, encourage internet providers to spy on you, and make it easier for media companies to sue sites out of existence and jail their founders.  Sound familiar?  That’s right, ACTA is from the same playbook as SOPA, but global.  Plus it didn’t even have to pass through Congress. TPP goes even farther than ACTA, and the process has been even more secretive and corrupt.  Don’t like the sound of that? visit here to sign the petition.

Well that was worrying, i’m sure you want me to talk about something much more fun and insightful right? Well it turns out there’s an iPad 3 in the works. It was inevitable. An image supposedly showing the casing of the new Apple tablet was published on Fix-iPhones.com. No, I can’t tell the difference either. Much more intelligent people than myself however have derived from this picture alone that there are key differences from the previous version. These differences include that of larger battery life, greater overall width and a clearer screen.  Sounds like guesswork to me. Clearly, only time will tell if this is the case (har har). Either way I still don’t have one.

Steve Jobs' last wish.

Constantly stuck between buying toys or video games? Worry no more, with these really cool toy/video game cube thingys! Sifteo cubes are both an educational toy and video games. Yes playing with them involves learning. These 3 little cubes interact with each other, with mini games being presented on each little display. The mini games on offer supposedly help with spacial reasoning and puzzle solving skills. It’s hard to explain so i’ll let their advert do the explaining.

And finally it’s time for a rant, here we go. Call of Duty Black Ops has been voted the greatest game ending of all time according to a poll carried out by the Guinness Book of Records. Who the hell answered the poll? I am utterly shocked at the amazing games with fantastic single-player experiences not even being present on the answers. First of all, the games present in the poll were largely modern (being released within the last few years). That sucks. And secondly, I played the single-player of CoD: Black Ops, and it was that forgettable that I err forgot it.

A game which is primarily geered towards its multiplayer with just the single-player add on, somehow trumped games focusing primarily on their single-player experiences. This as a result makes me sad for modern gaming. Games with compelling and engaging single-player storylines and gameplay are no longer recognised. What is recognised however, is repetitive games being released year after year after year with little depth and attention to detail such as the yearly Call of Duty games that Activision throw at us. These games sell, so does this mean your average gamer is mindless and dumb? Not necessarily. But a lot of people don’t appreciate many games for what they are. Art. Where do video games go from here? Only time will tell.

Are these mindless, brainwashed gamers or do they appreciate the art?

Phew time to breathe. Now thats out of the way time for something a little more light-hearted. Have a wonderful day.

First news story of today isn’t really news but shhh. Turns out LEGO have purchased the rights to Lord of the Rings. Gosh this makes me excited. Back in my prime (Okay when I was of an acceptable age to play with LEGO) I wanted this so badly. Now however, this is actually happening. Their official website hardly gives us much information except a teaser of Lego Legolas (Perhaps just LEGOlas? har har) and a date of summer 2012. What can be expected I hear you cry? Well its obvious that pricey LEGO sets will be released such as Minas Tirith e.t.c and with a bit of luck, a video game. Just another reason to be excited for the summer.

Nice try

Secondly, did you happen to like Tim Schafer’s Psychonauts back in 2005? Well he wanted to do a sequel but couldn’t get the funding. Sadface. Until now that is! The guy funding the prject is none other than Notch, our resident Minecraft creator! Earlier today Notch tweeted to Schafer, “Let’s make Psychonauts 2 happen.” The internet then cried with joy. Ah if only something like this would happen for half life 2: episode 3.

Getting bored of your multiplayer mayhem in Battlefield 3? Nah me neither! But EA are set to announce their new dlc this week! The company are set to announce the details at an event in New York later this week. What dlc you ask? Well no one knows what exactly, as the only ‘extra’ content released thus far has only been preorder bonuses and rehashed maps. EA can go anywhere with this. My prediction? Some nifty paid Battlelog features, new maps and of course new weapons with which to destroy those maps with. Typically, Battlefield’s developers Dice like to give their audience a lot of ‘bang for their buck’ when it comes to purchasing extra dlc. So expect some awesome content!

If only...

As marriage propositions go, this next news story is one of the best. The rather conveniently titled Doctor Who nerd, Matt Smith, recently proposed to his girlfriend in such an awesome way I had to include this here. Just watch, it’s all romantic and lovely. Awwww.

And lastly, The Muppets Movie is finally going to be gracing UK screens in 2 days and what better way to embrace this fact than to cover one of The Muppets Shows greatest songs, albeit in a different way than you would have imagined. Prepare yourselves.

Right im off to sleep in preparation for my late night showing of Star Wars Episode 1 Phantom Menace in 3D (Yes I know it isn’t the best movie but it’s still crappy 3D fun!). My lightsaber is ready and I cannot wait!

But before I go, here’s something a little more light-hearted. Have a lovely day.

First things first, it turns out that the prices of the UK games for the highly anticipated Playstation Vita have been released today. According to Sony, the recommended retail price will be between £24.99 and £44.99, not too bad I suppose. Lets just hope most games manufacturers stick with the lower end of that scale eh?

Secondly, the trailer for upcoming Ridley Scott film, Prometheus has been released upon the internet! The trailer finally shows information of what the film is actually going to be about (finally). The trailer for the upcoming Alien prequel (even though Scott says it isn’t but it clearly is) shows that of space adventurers stumbling upon the ‘Space Jockeys’ encountered by the crew of the Nostromo in the first film. Surely it’ll be found how the titular Aliens first came to be? Alien fans such as myself have been anticipating this ever since its initial teaser. Check out the new trailer below.

Doctor Who fans were filled with sadness the other day. Karen Gillan (Amy) confirmed the rumours that both Rory and Amy will be leaving the show. Stephen Moffat, the show’s main man said on Twitter that, “The final days of the Ponds are coming during the next series. Then the Doctor will meet a new friend.” Who will be this new friend you say? Well only time will tell *snigger*.

Yet more upsetting news. The long running Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies has had it’s servers shut down. This was all to make way for the new one, Star Wars the Old Republic. As a result, I blew the dust off the game and booted it up to witness it’s final moments. I’m still trying to hold back the tears. Check out the last few minutes of the servers below. You will be missed.

Now for some happy news, The Last Guardian hasn’t been cancelled! Words cannot describe how relieved I am of this. Gamestop wrongly released information that the upcoming emotional boy/bird dog thingy game was cancelled. However, GameStop has confirmed that this information about The Last Guardian’s cancellation was incorrect. Thank god for that, my heartstrings are still yet to be pulled in 2012.

On a final note, Star Wars the Old Republic is out! Shame I don’t have anything decent to play it on…

Time for something more light-hearted. Have a good day.

First up, Doctor Who fans rejoice! Turns out the famous science fiction series is on its way to videogame format! Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock was announced by the BBC yesterday and is being developed by Supermassive Games  for the PC, PS3 and PS Vita. Sorry Xboxers, turns out the short straw has been dealt to you again.

Very little is known about the game as of yet, however the post from the BBC proves interesting. It reads, “the Doctor and River Song must save the Earth, as usual, and the player must ‘learn to master the complexities of time travel with exceptional time-based gameplay.’ Seems that changes made in one layer of time will have consequences in other layers, causing multiple scenarios players will have to solve using puzzles ‘across the centuries.’” Personally I cannot wait and this’ll be a must buy for me! Expect more info as time progresses.

Secondly KinectFAAST, our resident YouTube Kinect modder, has got the hugely popular and awesome game Skyrim to be fully motion controlled. Movement is all one to one, pulling out swords makes you look like a baddass. Also dragon shouts are controlled by your voice, so shouting out the Thu’um in real life makes you feel like a true dragonborn. Check oout the video below to watch the amazing work. Good job.

2 days ago it was rumoured that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto would be stepping down from his position at Nintendo. Thankfully however, this has been denied by a Nintendo spokeswoman. She says, ”This is absolutely not true, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. He has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation. He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned.” Thank goodness. Heres to the future we still have with you Mr Miyamoto!

Battlefield 3 jet flying is bloody hard. Everytime I get the chance I get blown out of the sky in a cloud of fire and embarasment. It turns out however, that some people are actually rather bloomin’ good, with videos posted all over YouTube showcasing this talent. Personally, this one’s my favourite:

And finally, the annual Video Game Awards (VGA’s) will be airing tonight, with a lot of speculation as to what surprise announcements will come with it. For instance, Tony Hawk is rumoured to be announcing his new game tonight, hopefully it’ll be better than that go awful Tony Hawk Ride skateboard peripheral! What the majority of people including myself are truly looking forward to however, is that of that “exlusive PS3 title announcement” everyone’s been talking about.

As of now, details surrounding this game are sketchy, yet it shows promise. There is no word on developers or what the game will really be about, only that it will be  titled, The Last of Us. This game is rumoured to be a new take on the post-apocalyptic genre. I’m incredibly excited for this and I cannot wait to find out all the details tonight.

I now leave you with something more light-hearted. Goodbye.

First up my good friend and fellow nerd, Lewis, has plenty to say about the new Xbox dashboard. Let’s read:

Xbox dashboard

You like? stay tuned for more nerdy notifications from Lewis as time progresses!

Secondly, Samsung have recently released an awesome video showing what could possibly be the best future for tablet technology. The video showcases ultra-thin and flexible screen technology using Samsung’s new AMOLED touchscreen. Find it far too hard to believe? Well Samsung actually announced this incredible technology at CES at the start of the year! Concept designs have already been produced and it’s rumoured the first AMOLED phone will be released sometime next year. Here’s hoping! Check out the video below to be amazed at the potential of this tech.

Next up, if you don’t live in Australia like myself, looks like you’re gonna miss out on this one. This is due to Star Wars burlesque. Yeah you heard me correctly. If you’re in the Sydney area this week, the show — “The Empire Strips Back” — is being performed at The Vanguard from Wednesday, November 23 to Sunday, November 27. So if you want to watch some Sandtrooper erotica, feel free to go watch.

Thinking about pirating the new Serious Sam 3 game? Well this may deter you from it. No game maker likes piracy, but the developers of Serious Sam 3: BFE have come up with an awesome way to stop this from happening. Aparently, if you decide to pirate the game, a gigantic immortal scorpion will ruin your day and constantly follow you around from the get-go. Personally I think this is an awesome idea however, surely this may just encourage piracy due to people wanting to try and combat this death-defying scorpion? Check out the video below and laugh t this awesome use of DRM

Skyrim. Chances are you are playing the hell out of it right now. Well for a majority of PS3 users that may not be the case. The game has only been released a few weeks, yet major problems have been found in that the game is near un-playable. Aparently, users with large game saves (of over 60 hours of gameplay) have encountered serious slow down issues. PC and XBOX 360 users have also encountered the same problems, yet not at this broken scale. Bethesda have announced that fixes are on their way however, experts who understand the PS3′s architecture have stated that this may prove ‘unfixable’. Personally I believe loss of trust with Bethesda may result. Shame on you for releasing an unplayable game.

And finally, as of yesterday, the Back to Karkand map pack was released for the PS3 a week early before other consoles. The DLC, which includes 4 classic maps and a variety of weapons and vehicles from Battlefield 2, is free for those who purchased the Limited Edition. Both myself and my flatmates have been playing the hell out of it, be sure to check out my verdict soon.

That’s it for today folks, time to leave you with something light-hearted.

First up, do you like LEGO? And what do you think of the hugely popular game, Minecraft? Well you must do, if not what are you doing? Well it turns out Mojang, the developers of Minecraft, would like a collaboration with Lego. You’ll be craft all sorts of weird nonsense with your lego pieces in no time! The developers told the LEGO Cuusoo community that, ”Seeing LEGO Minecraft sets is our dream… Minecraft is about placing blocks to build anything you can imagine in the virtual world. You can build anything you imagine with LEGO bricks in the physical world. Minecraft and Lego were meant to be together.” This better happen, I really want to get into LEGO again!

More information has been found surrounding the new South Park RPG being developed by Bethesda! This is following up from Saturdays initial announcement. According to a user on the NeoGAF forums, he has a hell of a lot details surrounding the game. It’s a long list so here’s the good stuff:

• The combat system will be similar to the  Paper Mario games frequently released on Nintendo.
• Also, the games main selling point will be its funny-ness (rather obvious if i’m honest).
• Obsidian will be using the Dungeon Siege 3 engine.
• A variety of melee and ranged weapons will be included.
• They plan on creating it in an episodic style.

It’s worth checking out the full post, if you love South Park you’ll get far too excited!

In Xbox news, the new and improved dashboard is finally released tomorrow. Bring on the frustration, with the majority of people not liking changes (Youtube and Facebook changes anyone?). The new dashboard will feature a new layout, Kinect based voice and motion control. This is good, lets just hope this works!

New Xbox dashboard

The other massive feature coming with this, is Xbox TV. Microsoft have reportedly partnered with over 40 providers across the world, with users able to watch TV through their Xbox’s rather than cable.  This service will only be available for Xbox Gold customers (as they are already paying their yearly fee). If you aren’t already a subscriber to Xbox Gold, now is a better time than any to fork out!7

Finally, you now that new Wii U coming out next year? Well it turns out the specs may not be as powerful as many think. Please note this is all rumour and even though I despise rumours, there’s no harm to be speculating about new hardware  According to a post on IndustryGamers, a developer working with the new hardware has revealed that the specs of the Wii U won’t be drastically more powerful than the current generation of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.  Oh dear, here was hoping for a truly ‘next gen’ Nintendo console. Despite this however, i’ll still be getting myself one when it releases next year.

Well that’s it for your news update this week, now for something lighthearted. Enjoy.

Greetings! On to todays news…

First up, the worlds first Android store has opened it’s doors! Androidland in Melbourne, Australia, was the product by Telstra, an Australian service provider. The store was built with cooperation from both Google and android handset makers, offering a large variety of various android products, such as tablets and the like. There are also a variety of fun activities present within the store, to keep nerds alike entertained! Sadly there is no word on any plans to bring more stores to other countries, looks like we have to travel to see the Aussies in order to get our nerd on in Androidland!

Check out the video below to bask in it’s geeky goodness…

Secondly, the ps3 is becoming more aimed towards an adult audience. This is primarily due to a new app being released. What is this app I hear you cry? Well it’s a porn app. Yes you heard me correctly, a freaking porn app! I mean really, do that many people seriously do the dirty using their ps3′s web browser in order for it to constitute the creation of a porn application! In case you were wondering it’ll cost around $10 a month. On a final note, surely users need both their hands in order to use the controller… Bagsy using the other controller!

In PC news, it has been rumoured that Microsoft is planning to launch a public beta of windows 8, early next year. According to The Next Web, the computing giant will release its new software to the public in February of next year. This leads to speculation that the software will be fully available to the public in around September of next year. I wonder what changes to the software it’ll bring. I’m a PC and Windows 8 was my idea.

And finally, I stumbled across something rather ironic on my internet travels today. It turns out that an anti-piracy group has been caught in a copyright scandal. Aparently, Dutch anti-piracy group, BREIN, has stolen a music track for adverts used in Dutch dvds. The musician, Melchior Rietveldt, discovered his track on the ad when  he bought a Harry Potter DVD in early 2007. Oh dear the copyright advertisers have been copyrighted.

That’s it for your nerdy news update today, time for something more lighthearted…

"Cover me Porkins!"

First up, it has been found that notch, the lead designer of the incredibly successful Minecraft, has stepped down. On his blog, Notch mentioned that he will be handing over the design lead to the Mojang developer,  Jens Bergensten. However, thankfully this doesnt mean that he isn’t leaving the game, as he will still have the main say surrounding the game. Personally I think this is a good move as frankly, Notch has earned this after all his hard work surrounding the project, creating one hell of a game! And he says he is working on other projects, surely this can mean more great games will be coming out? This must be good right!?

You know Obsidian right? Yeah, they’re the developers behind the awesomely intricate Fallout games! Well they’ve just announced their new game in development! So is it a new fantasy RPG? Hell no! It’s a South Park game. YES a South Park game. How completely unrelated. Apparently this will be a full-fledged RPG that sees you as the new kid in town trying to “make friends and defend the town from a wide range of threats”. Obsidian have an awesome track record for games, so perhaps they could pull this off?

Personally, I find the Annoying Orange rather annoying (If you’ll pardon the expression). However, due to it’s popularity, it’s getting a regular TV show. The Youtube show, which has gained more than 850 million views collectively, will air on Cartoon Network next year. According to the New York Times,  Orange and his friends will be using a “magical fruit cart” for time travel. Oh how cliche. Well we shall see how long the new show lasts and how ‘annoying’ it may get.

The Tomb Raider films are set for a reboot. The reboot which is being written by Iron Man writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby, is set for a 2013 release. Producer Graham King stated that, ”There’s something about her character and going back to her roots, and that’s what we’re doing with this,” he explained. “You’re actually gonna meet her before she has all her powers as Lara Croft. It’s more of a character study, but it’s a really fun, funadventurestory.” Sounding very much like the upcoming video game, could this be tieing in with this?

Finally, may I draw your attention to a fantastic video I have spotted on the interwebs. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrsoluSjuKc&feature=g-trend. It showcases a vairety of mobile games such as Angry Birds and Plants Vs. Zombies, but in real life!

After that, let’s bring on something more light-hearted, have a good day.

Occupy this Harry!!

First off do ya like Harry Potter? If you are reading this then you obviously do. What do you think of the theme park? Well it turns out another one is being made! And well unfortunately it’s being built in America again! Harry Potter nerds residing in other countries other than the US of A still can’t experience the wonder of these parks Never mind, perhaps the next one will be built somewhere in Europe? *Fingers crossed*.

I have lots of Doctor Who news for you all this week! The first being that more information surrounding the Doctor Who movie have been released! The shows’ Steven Moffat says that the film will stay truthful to the series. Thank christ. He goes on to explain that “any Doctor Who movie would be made by the BBC team, star the current TV Doctor and certainly NOT be a Hollywood reboot”.

Similarly, Steven Moffat confirmed earlier that the show will air again next Autumn. According to Doctor Who Magazine, “For me, as a kid, when the afternoon got darker and there was a thrill of cold in the air, I knew that even though summer was over, the TARDIS was coming back!”. Oh dear, look like we are going to have to wait much longer for The Doctor to grace our TV’s once more.

In gaming news, its been released that 50 million people play CityVille every month. According to VentureBeat, the game has 49.7 million monthly active users, with over 10 million playing the game every day. During peak hours, as many as four million players are logged on at the same time. Now that’s some impressive numbers, leading to a rather impressive profit of around $9 billion!

More Half Life 3 rumours! Reportedly, a Valve employee has been spotted out in the wild sporting a Half Life 3 T-shirt. Is this a cruel joke instilling false hope between nerds or does this truly mean we will be getting our much awaited, Half Life 3. Whatever it is, it shows me that this could still be happening.

Finally, I write about something rather upsetting. Turns out The Muppets Movie is set for release in the UK on February 10th 2012!!!! This comes a full 2 months after release in the States. Why do we have to wait longer!? We need to watch it now. Regardless I still cannot wait to watch it, and I’m sure I shall love it

Thats it for some news this week, I leave you with some more light hearted goodness. Goodnight.

The Occupy Movement. But tastier.

I’m knee deep in a review for Lord of the Rings War in the North at the moment and here’s a sneak peak – loving the lore.

Anyway in gaming news this week; It has been rumoured that the creator of the popular games Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and the upcoming The Last Guardian has left Sony. Fumito Ueda is apparently ‘embarking on personal projects’ according to Eurogamer. Sony however, has denied these reports.

In similar Sony news, the PS3 recieved it’s 4.00 firmware update today, coming with it few minor changes within its software. The most notable change is support for the highly anticipated Playstation Vita.  Also comes with it increased privacy within Playstation Network itself in that users can decide whether it be friends, friends of friends or anyone who are able to message them. Personally, I believe this to be proactive in battling those annoying spam messages along the lines of:

“Kevin Butler says that the PSN will go down again if this e-mail doesn’t go round to 20,000 people blah blah blah”

I despise these and when I’m battling orcs and fell-beasts in the mountains of Gundabad and these messages pop up, it distracts me from the experience, reminding me that there are still gullible people in this world.

That’s it for your (rather brief) gaming news of the day, I leave you with something light hearted. Have a wonderful day.

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