Tried out Modern Warfare 2 on the XBox

I entirely missed the first installment of this series. I have never been a great fan of the “Call of Duty” games, I always preferred the “Battlefield” series. I have always preferred the more open aspect of that series over the tightly scripted world of COD. I have also never been a huge fan of WWII games, they are interesting but I get the feeling they are unnecessarily limited (hence my enjoyment of jumping into a tank in Battlefield).

But I was in a supermarket, there was the last copy of the game in the shop and it was cheap, so I picked it up. Nikobe is always telling me what a great game it is. I liked the idea of the various perks in the game, not only the ones like the gunship but the ones that beef-up the useless players in the game seeing as that is the area I live in.

I know this is not going to win me any friends (and maybe the ire of the fan boys) but I can’t say I am impressed. Read more

Convert to Linux, you will not be disappointed

I have been living away from Windows in the wild country that is Linux for a couple of years now. Windows still infests my day job (in a good way) but Windows has been banished from home PCs for a long while.

This week saw the release of Ubuntu 9.10 and I am already running it. One of the things I love most about Linux is its ability to partition almost everything in clever ways Windows just has not caught up with. This time when I installed my system I setup my home drive on a separate partition. Installed Ubuntu and it pulled in all my settings as if nothing had happened, even my background wallpapers were integrated into the new ones.

In the scheme of things its only a minor thing, but it just makes going from version to version almost effortless. Read more

This evening the whole of BGR will be in London to see the renewed version of Ghost in the Shell. This is a very special film for all of us, and we are all hoping the renewed version will only make it much better.

An all time classic brought up to date

I posted a quick look at what is in this new version of the anime classic, and I have to admit I an thoroughly looking forward to seeing it in a cinema. As I said before this is one of the film that sets the standard for not only anime, but for Sci-fi. With such a precious film it is not easy to back to and make the decision to re-do it. But I think they have come up with an excellent idea of keeping the original film and story intact and enhancing the actual animations.

I was fortunate enough to see the original when it had a limited cinema run back in 1995. Both Nikobe and Sideswipe turned down my invitation to see it, it is one of only a handful of times I have been to a cinema on my own. But tonight we are going to correct that mistake, and all get a chance to see “The Major” battle a walking tank once more.

If you want to see it, it is on for a limited run around the country. Take a look at the official site for times.

We will put something up about our thoughts on this new version. But I already have the Blu-Ray on order, so its going to be good.

So the real question everyone* is asking is “Do you know Wil Wheaton?”

If not, I’m afraid there is no excuse. We all know Wil, we all enjoyed Star Trek : The Next Generation so he was part of our childhoods. Some of the best times in the evenings were watching a group fail at Knightmare, then switching over to BBC 2 at 6pm to watch Star Trek : TNG. If I was very lucky “The Crystal Maze” would be on a little later (but I’m not sure they happened on the same days.. so I might be making that up).

Either way Wil is about to publish a book called Memories of the Future : Volume One. He has started at the beginning of Star Trek : TNG and takes a look at episode, what it was about, how it fitted in the series, and just his general observation about what was going on and off set at the time.

To go along with this he is doing a series of shot pod casts talking about the book, reading excepts, and just generally being funny. The second episode has just come out, and Wil’s thoughts and observations are excellent. I especially like how he is not precious about the work he did, the show has it flaws, but on the whole its great and he just had fun.

Check out this episode, then the first one (or in order if you are crazy like that) and bask in the glory of Wil.

*When I say everyone.. I might mean the geeks among us.

If there is one anime I want to be released on blu-ray that won’t be in the UK or US for a long time if ever, it is 2008′s Macross Frontier, my next choice would be the 2009 remake of Mazinger Z.

Mazinger Z is the original, big giant robot piloted by a human. A world without Mazinger Z is unimaginable. And now, the king of big giant robots is back in this hi-def re-telling and it is seriously awesome. From the adrenalin pumping intro you know you are in for a treat and it does not disappoint in the action stakes.

Most Insane Begining Ever!

The first episode blew me away, it dumps you straight in the middle of the fight to end all fights.  I have to admit, I haven’t seen all of the original Mazinger Z and while I marked out like mad as everyone I recognized appeared in the first episode, I still didn’t know everyone and was left thinking there is no way anyone could just pick this up.  Then the episode ended, without finishing the epic battle and without telling us how we got to this point.  I was hooked, I wanted more, much more. Read more

I saw this trailer and I was captivated. There is something about Sam Rockwell that means you just need to pat attention to him. Anyone able to play Zaphod Beeblebrox has to be amazing, its a requirement of the job

A simple, but fun game for XBox

Just released on XBox live is “Trials HD” a very well done motorbike trials game. After getting the demo I was hooked on this game. Its instant fun factor is evident from the start, and while it initially appears very simple it is actually surprisingly hard to master.

But this game threw me back to one of my most favorite games of all time, and game I played when often over 15 years ago on my ZX Spectrum. That classic game was called Kikstart, and it has more than a passing resemblance to this new title on the XBox.

With a pedigree like that, how could I resist buying it? Read more

When the Repo man comes.. its time to run

The premise for the film is quiet simple. Set in a dystopia future a mystery disease has killed the majority of the population. All looked lost for humanity until “Gene Co” offers a solution, they will replace your organs and save your life… for a fee. But there is no problem if you can’t pay now, you can pay on credit. Through the intro to the film it explains the company forced through new laws that made it possible to repossess the organs if the borrower could no longer pay.

I have to admit the opening to this film made me smile, largely because I can see how it would be entirely feasible for this to happen, big business is in the habit of making laws that are not good for the populous, so why not take back their organs? they don’t own them?

This film had a lot of promise, but staring Paris Hilton can it really work? She is not renowned for her glittering acting skill. Read more

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The Machine Girl. A film you sould probably see.. but I don't know why

I was lucky enough to be given this film for a birthday present by BGR’s very own Sideswipe. I have just finished watching it, and I feel that I must immediately blog about it.

Now I love B-movies, I can enjoy a good gore film (if it has a purpose), I relish in a totally surreal adventure. But when you read on the front of the box “A film so incredibly outrageous that it couldn’t possibly exist…” I start to get a little worried. I have the distinct feeling there is so little content for the marketing guys to talk about they have to resort to making claims. Read more

Street Fighter: The Legend of Fail, I mean Chun Li

The second official live action film based on the Street Fighter video games is possibly the most mediocre action film  I have ever seen.

That said, I will buy it on blu-ray just for the awesomeness of Balrog.

There’s an awful lot wrong with this film from a Street Fighter fan’s point of view but as a stand alone film it’s not bad, just average, from the competant but not great fights to the glory of Balrog and an RPG which really sums up a lot about this film, it shouldn’t really have been called Street Fighter at all really.

Of course there’s also the question, how does it compare to the original live action film?

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I want to talk to you if I may about something very serious. Something that has always annoyed me and continues to annoy me now. Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles. The “Ninja” part is very important. This is the story of a little boy and his eyes being opened to the larger world. When he realised you can have great meaning and significance in something that on the surface appears to be only very small.

21 years ago I was introduced to Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. Four characters that still mean a lot to me now. The year was 1989 and I was just a small boy. Transformers had come and gone. But even now the voice of Peter Cullen and Optimus Prime bring back fond memories, and always puts a smile on my face (I am fortunate I can share this with my son, and my daughter when she is a little bigger). But that was 1985, I needed something new, something fresh.
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Does exactly what it says on the box

That is the simple title of this board game. I saw that and thought that’s enough for me and bought it. Anything to do with Zombies, or fills my need to be Bruce Campbell is a sure fire winner. The concept is simple, like every zombie apocalypse you have ever seen you are a survivor, and if you want to stay that way you need to get out of the city before it is completely overrun.

So every turn you have to evade the on coming zombie horde, plan your escape, and thwart the other survivors. What more could you want? Read more

Street Fighter IV is an awesome fighting game, easier and more recognizable to SFII fans than SFIII but still done so that a skilled player can destroy a noob faster than you can load a fight if you don’t do the install…

Anyway this isn’t about how good it is, or even the few things in it that aren’t so good, I’ll do a proper review later but there’s something annoying me much more than I have to rage about.

The Ken/Akuma Fighter IV Pheonom.

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