Game Gripper is a mobile phone accessory that allows you to transform a mobile phone slide out keyboard into a game-centric joypad in a matter of seconds. Simply place it on top of the keyboard for some serious button smashing portable gaming. Currently only available for the Motorola Droid mobile phone, this accessory is gaining interest by users of other similar form factor mobile phones fast. Take a visit to their homepage to see some youtube videos of their Droid version in action.
Nokia N900 users at talk.maemo.org, including myself, have requested for an N900 version of the accessory by filling out the request form on game gripper’s website. Nokia N900 is a perfect phone for such accessory as it is capable of running nearly all old school game emulators such as SNES, NES, GBA, SEGA MS, MAME etc. Game Gripper maker listened and just recently have revealed a prototype pic of the N900 version of the game gripper. It’s looking very nice indeed. We hope to review one in the near future.
Splinter Cell: Conviction Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3 Release Date: April 13th, 2010
Sam Fisher is back !! A lot has happened to Mr Fisher since we last saw him, he’s not his normal self anymore. Everyone that he has trusted in his life has now betrayed him. He’s lost his daughter, the only thing that keeps him going is the thirst for revenge. Which in a way is pretty sad, but it’s perfect for what UBISOFT have in store for us in Splinter Cell Conviction.
This is by far the most brutal Splinter Cell of them all. Splinter Cell Conviction has you following leads and collecting answers. Sam Fisher no longer has the support of Third Echelon, which means no more trademark cool gadgets to use, but don’t worry, what Sam lacks in gadgets he makes up in pure brutality. Throats are choked, heads are smashed through anything including urinals and wash basins, hands are used as pin cushions, but replace the pins with knives. Pretty much anyone that comes in contact with Sam won’t live to tell their tale to their grandkids.
One of the great new features never seen before in any game is the flashback sequences. These are Sam’s thoughts, projected as flickering films over all sorts of surroundings and environments. The flashbacks transport Sam back into his darkest days and remembered events of his past but also instruct him of the new mechanics that will need to be performed moving forward. Everything else around him turns black and white as Sam is hidden from enemy site, I personally thought this was a great little touch to the game. Another feature is the interactive memory, this is where Sam flashes back to a time to places like his house or when he was in the Gulf War. Initially the house invasion has you learning the new combat aspects of the game, including melee takedowns and Sam’s automatic execution moves : “Mark and Execute” your enemies and then with the press of a button unleash pure mayhem as they are executed one by one in a slow motion extravaganza that you’d only see in video games… wait a minute this is a video game.
Splinter Cell conviction is no longer a slow paced stealth game, like the previous Splinter Cells. UBISOFT have managed to find a perfect blend between an action packed 3rd person shooter and a stealth game. Players are encouraged to move in and out of darkness all the time, taking full advantage of Sam’s lethal abilities. Enemies are fairly smart, they throw grenades, have itchy trigger fingers, but do tend to talk a lot. They scream out and taunt Sam possibly to throw you off your gameplay and freak you out causing you to panic. This is a nice little touch to the game. Even though the enemies tend to be more talk and no action as most of them think they know where you’ve gone but can’t end up finding you. This is where you’re going to have to keep a steady head and outflank, outwit and certainly outgun with a twist of spine snapping thrown in for good measure.
Touching on the topic of interrogation and choke holds, Sam doesn’t hold back when it comes to smashing a head through a mirror or basin. A basic environment will end up becoming the enemies worst nightmare as Sam will have the enemy begging for mercy in a matter of moments. You can drag and pull your enemies around and with the press of the B button will have them smashing through something hard. Remember Sam is a little on angry side so in the end he’ll end up doing more than what you’ve bargained for. If you enjoy watching artificial intelligence being put through a lot of pain then you’ve come to the right place. The interrogation sequences do break up the game-play a little which is always good, combine that with the flashbacks moments like when Sam is back in the Gulf War and you have a fine mix of action, stealth and brutality, what else would you ever want in a game.
Along with the Single player campaign, UBISOFT have also introduced a second campaign which is focused on multiplayer, where you take control of two characters, Kestrel & Archer. This campaign is a co-op only experience and is full of action and heart pounding moments. Kind of reminds me of Resident Evil where your running or scrambling for breath at every moment. The greatest thing is planning and taking down enemies with the mark and execute technique. I have to say this co-op campaign is more hectic than spec-ops mode in Modern Warfare 2. Great fun if you’re playing with someone you can trust and communicate clearly with. As there is little or no margin for errors. There is less story elements but more action in this campaign but that fine you get to taste a bit of both worlds which is always good.
Splinter Cell Convictions single-player campaign can be completed in roughly eight or so hours. It’s a little too short and once you get the hang of Sam’s moves under your belt even running through on the hardest difficulty will not be much of a challenge. The story is finely put together and has Sam always right the middle of it all. It’s a great move away from the previous Splinter Cells and does place the series back on track for any future instalments. Fans of the Splinter Cell series will definitely not be disappointed as it provides the much needed closure.
G’day Everyone MasterAbbott’s back with another of his Collector’s Edition unBOXings !! Today we test drive UBISOFT’s Splinter Cell Conviction Limited Collector’s Edition on Xbox 360.
This is what you get in the Limited Collectors Edition on the Xbox 360 PAL / EURO
* An exclusive Sam Fisher Figurine
* Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Game
* Infiltration Mode : Eliminate All Hostiles in the mission area without being detected
* A special playable skin : SHADOW ARMOR
* Early Access to 3 weapons : SC3000, SMG-2 and MP5
* The Official Splinter Cell Conviction Soundtrack (Over 17 Tracks)
Check out the video unBOXing below to see everything up close and personal.
The Limited Collectors Edition does come with a few cool little extras. But most of them should just be included in the game. There’s no limited edition art book, that normally comes with collector’s editions, and the case is just your standard Xbox 360 case. In other parts of the world this collectors edition actually comes in a nice tin case. The saving grace for this collectors edition is the Sam Fisher Figurine. It’s finely crafted and doesn’t look cheap, time and effort has gone into make Sam Fisher look as realistic as possible. The soundtrack is also pretty cool but expected in a collector’s edition box set.
How much would you expect to pay for all of this ? Well here in Australia the RRP is $119. Yes quite a steep price to pay for a game a sountract and a plastic doll. If your a super keen fan of the Splinter Cell series you could swallow your pride and pay the price. But for the rest of you just wanting to play the game, this collectors edition is a little to expensive.
As suggested back when we first heard news of the cancellation of the original Xbox Live support will provide more flexibility on the Xbox 360’s version of Xbox Live, and it turns out to be true.
In an interview by CVG, Microsoft product director Aaron Greenberg has stated that they know of their consumer’s requests to expand Friends lists, and even possibly provide more methods to sort and group together your friends.
Greenberg also has stated that with the loss of “Xbox 1’s” Xbox Live will provide even further flexibility for the 360’s online interface; and you can take that as you will. But personally I don’t understand how much it was hindered by the old Xbox considering there was already no similarity to the two.
“We’re at that point now where that community has largely transitioned off and onto the Xbox 360, and now, by discontinuing that support, we’re able to add more features without necessarily having to support things like that friends list integration where you could see your friends on Xbox1 or Xbox 360. Having that new flexibility will allow us to bring more features to the Xbox Live Community on Xbox 360.”
There has been no official announcement of any changes being made, though one can expect them to come closer towards the next seasonal update. Though personally the friends list issue will only affect a few people, as I don’t know many people who have issues holding over 100 friends themselves short of special GamerTags for events. The grouping ability would be welcome though, as you can group your friends to which game you usually interact with them with. I can’t wait to see what else they have in store now, don’t you? Any idea what they could be changing now that they have more “flexibility” with what they can do?
Has anyone here ever seen a TV series where they changed directors for every episode? I sure haven’t. The standard of TV series usually has the same exact director for as many years that they air for. However that is not true now for a brand new anime called Mayoi Neko Overrun.
The show has been listed for a director that is “Under Negotiation”, however now the makers of said anime, AIC, have stated in the website’s official blog that the show will have a different director for each of the show’s 12 episode run.
The first episode was directed by Shin Itagaki, Kenichi Yatani directed the second, and Yoshimasa Hiraike directed the third episode. They have not quite said which director will produce the fourth episode, nor do they release who they have lined up. However one thing is true, it will be quite interesting to see how each episode may vary slightly due to the difference in director. One episode may contain extremely dramatic happenings, while another is lighthearted and joyful as it follows the standard storyline of the show.
In case anyone is interested in the plot of Mayoi Neko Overrun, an adopted orphan boy and his childhood friend work for a pastry shop owned by the boy’s adoptive sister. They take in stray cats and stray other things, including a girl who appears to be mysteriously like a cat girl herself.
Quite interesting if I do say so myself. Do you think that most shows would actually benefit from a variety of directors doing different episodes? Maybe a little change of pace every now and then in shows which have hit a stagnating point?
Fishpond have just released their SIZZLING Mother’s day Specials!! I think its time to get mum something cool this year !! check out the titles below and grab youself a BARGAIN !! Mum will love you for it !!
In Assassin’s Creed 2 you were able to gain Uplay points through certain tasks, which could then be used to unlock extras for in your game. Splinter Cell: Conviction also included Uplay. It seems a lot of people still don’t understand how to use the system, and Ubisoft has created a video to explain how you can unlock the cool items in the game in response. Admittedly, the Assassin’s Creed Uplay menu was much easier to miss then the Splinter Cell: Conviction menu, but I guess a late explanation is better then none.
The latest system update from Sony for the Playstation 3 ver 3.30 will be a mandatory update thats going to be available very soon. The Trophy Enhancements are possibly the most interesting part of the update, you can now easily sort trophies and compare trophies sections. Along with this update Sony are also preparing the Playstation 3 with some cool new features, this includes the 3D Stereoscopic gaming, thats going to be availabe as soon as the Sony 3D BRAVIA TV’s hit !!
Check out the details on the Trophy Enhancements below :
Trophy enhancements –- Now you can more easily sort trophies in the [Trophy Collection] and [Comparing Trophy] sections. Sorting can be done with [Trophy Collection] in the [Game Category] and also when comparing trophies with your friends in the [Friend Category]
Trophy Folder (Title List) can be sorted by game name/ by title according to the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
Add-on list (Group list) can be sorted by original/the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
Trophy list can be sorted by original/trophy name/grade/date of obtaining the trophy (ascending/descending)
Whats everyone think of these updates ? Let us know leave a comment below
A scumbag weapons dealer, a horny German, and a grouchy Russian. Characters that you will meat in Alpha Protocol throughout it’s choice based path. Below are 3 videos for the characters. Enjoy. Alpha Protocol comes out May 28th.
Press Release from EA. If your a fan of Ultimate you can now play Lord Of Ultima online for free !! YES FREE
Check out the press release below and then head on over to the site and give it a whirl. Let us know what you think of it 🙂
–
Free-To-Play Web-Based Game Transports Players to Legendary Ultima Universe
Phenomic, an EA studio, announced today Lord of Ultima, a new browser-based online strategy game is available worldwide for free* starting today. Lord of Ultima immerses players in a brand-new, deeply-rich strategy game set within the Ultima universe. The game introduces innovative social features, such as advanced trading, alliance creation, online chat and community forums, make for an endlessly entertaining experience.
“Lord of Ultima was designed to ensure that everyone, from strategy newcomers to diehard fans, can make it to the top of the leader board,” said Volker Wertich, Creative Director at Phenomic. “Phenomic is committed to building dynamic communities that delight players as they interact with the game, each other and the legendary world of Ultima.”
To become the Lord of Ultima, players will master the arts of diplomacy and trade, as well as the military activities of spying, plundering, and the takeover of enemy cities. Set in thenew world of Caledonia, players start the game as eager conquerors in the early stages of raising an empire, and then move from developing a humble village and evolving it into a prosperous, highly customized capital. Players can flourish as peaceful merchants by trading resources over land or sea and using diplomacy. They can also become feared conquerors, by creating mighty armies of knights and mages to crush enemies.
Lord of Ultimais a free-to-play MTX browser-based game. No download or installation is needed and players do not need to register to play. Lord of Ultima is available in English and German and is playable now by visiting the Official Website.
