Wow it's been a while since I last wrote on here! Surprisingly, though, I haven't played a huge variety of games in that period of time. There's just some games that I'll play all year round, one of those games is FIFA. So surprise surprise I've been playing a hell of a lot of that during my hiatus I guess you could call it. Also during the time I've been away I been playing a lot of 2010 FIFA World Cup, I guess that's no surprise. Although the World Cup itself was a bit of a let down, the game was not. In fact It's a huge improvement on FIFA 10. The gameplay seems a lot smoother and fairer. A well known exploit in FIFA 10 was the ability to chip the 'keeper with great ease, this mean't bring your goalkeeper of his line was a no no, and keeping him on his line would leave a easy finish for the attacker. So, thankfully, EA caught on to this and have made improvements that will hopefully find there way into FIFA 11 to eradicate that exploit.

Well, now I've bored you with more FIFA waffle I'll move on to new games that have been sent to me. These include Skate 3, Green Day: Rockband, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and most recently, Madden NFL 11 all thanks to EA. Although I've not played a huge amount of Skate 3 I can appreciate the improvements upon Skate 2. Skateboarding games just aren't my thing I guess, roaming around the city not really doing much and occasionally coming across a challenge just couldn't keep me entertained. This is of course coming from a guy that has never stepped foot on a skateboard in his life.


Green Day: Rockband, the critical bit in the title there is 'Rockband' to gamers this technically means done well. It is widely known that Harmonix, creators of Rockband, make a better job of creating a game for a real life rock band. So clearly this game does It's job well, the fans of Green Day will be very happy with the game they have here, all of the animations, title screens, cut-scenes and what ever story there can be in a music game are all very well done. Ultimately you have to at least be content with Green Day's material, if you hate there music with a passion, this game is clearly not for you. Otherwise like The Beatles: Rockband, I would recommend this game to all music game fans.

Well well, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, the only change here is that Rory McIlroy is now on the box art! I kid, there are a few enhancements on the '10 version. They are firstly the inclusion of the Ryder Cup mode. This for golf fans is a big improvement, It's similar to FIFA including a World Cup mode rather than making a separate game like they insist on doing unfortunately. The second is 'True View' this basically shows you where the ball could land depending on weather and power, there are some achievements/trophies linked to this addition which can only mean that the developers want gamers to at least make and effort to try it.

Finally we have Madden NFL 11, this only arrived Friday morning. Now, I'm quite a big fan of watching American football, but when it comes to playing Madden I suck! So the new addition of GameFlow was very welcome. The game chooses the play for you and lays the runs onto the field as your about to play, this helps immensely. I can know play Madden with out getting board instantly and have the 'I have no idea what's going on' feeling.

Well that's all for another few months, only kidding I will try my very hardest to update my blog much more regularly now I have more time, so stay tuned!

It’s been a crazy year, this year; we actually saw more than one boxing game come out, posing what could be conceived as a rival for EA Canada’s Fight Night Round 4. Seeing the likes of Punch Out!! On the Wii, Facebreaker and Don King’s Prize Fighter last year, Fight Night’s developers had some competition and had to pull it out of the bag, and how they did. Fight Night Round 3 was known for its great graphics and easy achievement points. A sequel in any franchise is always surrounded by hype and expectation; the Fight Night franchise is no different to that. Making improvements without losing what the prequel had going for it is always a tricky task, overall EA Canada have managed to please its audience with the sequel, and put out a very impressive Boxing simulation.

Fight Night Round 3 was one of the first games to be released this generation and indeed for many, their first look at HD gaming. Because of this, Fight Night seems to have some sort of connection and relation to great looking visuals. The pressure was on EA Canada this time around after the now defunct EA Chicago handed over the reins. Many of us watched in awe when some of the first screenshots and videos of FN Round 4 were released, playing the game is no different. The slow motion replays following knockdowns are something special. The crisp graphics and facial animation after landing the punch are something to admire, it really makes you feel as though you have accomplished something special by landing the deadly blow.



Changes have been made to the career mode or Legacy mode as it’s called. Firstly, it does seem to be a lot harder than FN Round 3, even on the lowest difficulty setting. The main change, though, is the new control mechanics. Not only have EA Canada changed to all new analogue stick controls but they have also re-modelled all of the shots, speeding up those shots and adding a brand new physics system. The final obvious change is something EA seem to have been progressively working on throughout their sports titles, the ability to take an image of your face and create a boxer that looks just like you. Following this, there is also the ability to trade your boxers with friends.

The whole experience within the ring defeats all other fighting games this generation. The speed and rate of punches that fly both towards and from your body are staggering. Perfecting your defensive skills in order to divert these punches and hit your opponent on the counter is just as much fun as spamming the right hook manoeuvre on your thumb stick to create that swelling across the boxers cheek. Landing counters, perfectly placed shots and haymakers feel great with added effects such as controller rumble and the opponent taking a step back, regaining his balance after taking the hits — all adding that realistic experience. Although 9 times out of 10 this works perfectly, you will come across the odd time your shot doesn’t register or the full effect is not issued.

As with most games, at the beginning of the Legacy mode you complete a tutorial stage, this time it’s administered by your trainer – who does become quite annoying after hearing his voice for more than 30 minutes. Due to the new control scheme, completing this tutorial is pretty much essential to become acquainted with the whole scheme of gameplay, including offence, defence and getting up from the canvas. If you do skip over this level, you will find your boxer on the mat quite a few times within your first fight, completing the tutorial gives you some experience at the least. When you enter your first fight, you realise just how useless your fighter is even if, like me, you chose Muhammad Ali. This is all part of the game mode, progressing up the rankings, gaining experience and developing your boxer through a set of fun training drills.



In terms of the moves, as mentioned above, the whole control scheme has changed quite a bit. Apart from this, favourite moves like the haymaker are no longer performed by pulling back the right thumb stick and then pushing it forward as it was in FNR3, now all you have to do is hold down RB and throw a hook or upper cut. This move isn’t as emphasised as much as it was in FNR3 which does leave you wanting more, it’s replaced with the animation of the opponent wincing and taking a step back in anguish. Not too much of a loss then after all. Hooks, Jabs and upper cuts are still performed in the same manner; body shots though, are simply performed by flicking the right stick, left or right.

A new feature added to the Fight Night series is the ‘Photo Game Face’, this allows you to upload an image of yourself on EA’s website or take an image in-game using your Xbox Live Vision cam (or any USB web cam on the PS3). Not only does this add a further immersive nature to the game, it also allows you to trade yourself with a friend (if you’d like to beat me up following this review, PM me on the forums). The ‘create a boxer’ mode is extremely customizable. With adjustments such as hairstyles, facial hair, height, weight, muscle definition, entrance music, entrance effects such as dry ice and strobe light the list is endless.

Taking Fight Night online offers a whole new experience. FNR4 builds on the great online experience FNR3 began, with the new ‘Online World Championship’ mode that allows you to take your created boxer to the world stage and show of your talents poses a great challenge and experience. As with most online games, there are ranked and unranked matches to choose from with an extensive list of customizable features. As you’re only playing against one opponent, most games remain lag free – I say most because there was the odd occasion the shots appeared to slow down.

Overall, Fight Night Round 4 has taken leaps and bounds from its predecessor. Additional modes, new control schemes, great new physics engine and stunning graphics makes for a great experience, online and offline.

Well firstly, today was my final time i had to return to the exam hall to sit an A level exam and thankfully it two forgiving General Studies exams, albeit 3 hours in total. So back to the title, an “interesting question to end my exams.” As this is a gaming blog, your first guess, naturally would be the topic of gaming? No, but close, in fact the question was on the topic of Blogs, Internet communities and Interactive websites, so here is the actual question;

Citizen - Journalists; people using blogs, internet communities and interactive websites - take on an increasingly influential role in the process of disseminating information and forming opinions, nationally and internationally.

Consider, with examples, the benefits and dangers of this development. [50 marks]

Needless to say i well and truely hammered the question for all it’s worth, at least i think i did. As of writing this blog, i have been blogging for a little over 2 years. Along with that i have been participating in internet communities and interactive websites for far longer. How would you answer this question and what are your thoughts?

Prototype came through the letterbox two days early thanks to the great guys over at ShopTo.net. After a full day of scaling walls, collecting orbs, roaming the streets and causing huge explosions nostalgia crept in from the old days of Crackdown.

Prototype does possess many similarities to the open world game by real time worlds. Although i'm going to stay away from saying Prototype is “Crackdown on Crack”, I’ll go with Steroids. The addictive orbs that we all remember from Crackdown have sneaked their way into Prototype also — this time there in just two different categories, Hint orbs and landmark orbs.

I’ve found myself disregarding the missions and going all out for the orbs, they seem so rewarding. Up to now I’ve completed 9 of 31 missions, this partly due to my drowsy persona Wednesday night; unfortunately i decided to overwrite my game save with a new campaign, i wasn’t best pleased after i sunk 5 ours into that save.

That’s all for now, best get back to it!