PS3 OUT TODAY IN UK! - Ive Got Mine, What About You?

After waiting what seems like forever (when in fact its only been around a year) the Playstation 3 (60GB Version) is finally available to purchase in the UK.

After Some trouble (well more like confusion) i managed to get hold of my Pre-ordered PS3 (which as you can see consists of the PS3 Console, Resistance: Fall Of Man, HDMI Cable and Blu-Ray Media Remote) costing well over £500. (luckily i got staff discount so it makes it abit cheaper).

For £425 you do not really get much in the box, as all you get is the console, thin instructions, control pad, AV Cables, Power Cable, USB Controller Charger and AV Scart Adaptor. But the console itself is extremely shiny (just like its baby brother the PSP - so get them dusters out).

The PS3 is a decent console on HDTVs (or on standard CRT TV's) but what makes gameplay more fun is the online options, for example there is a Playstation store with free demos, trailers and games and there is a web browser so If you havent got a Wireless Network (or a Wired Network) in your home your going to be missing out on alot of fun.

So Next-gen has now become current-gen, as all 3 "next-gen" systems are finally out on the market, but who will win? no idea, but im not too bothered because i like all 3 machines. 360 has definately got the lead at the moment, but with the features the PS3 brings im sure it will soon catch up, even with the large price tag.

Also if your wanting a PS3 but you did not pre-order one, well you might be in luck as some retailers such as COMET and CURRYS managed to get a fair amount of free stock, so its worth calling in and asking about it (thats if you really want one of course).

Latest N-Gage Titles Confirmed

As most of you are aware the N-Gage (as a device) is near enough dead - however the games will live on.

GDC (Games Developers Conference) is just around the corner and Nokia are out surprise us yet again with still backing the N-Gage Gaming Platform.

As you know Nokia has shifted from a single deck to multiple phones (I.E. The N-Series), but the N93 is the ideal phone to use, and as most of us know the last few N-Gage games were released onto Nokia's Gameshop. So The future is this you will use your N-Series (or maybe even better next-gen phone) to play the next-gen n-gage games, however you then - but what games are going to be available?

Well nokia aint spoiling us too much, just yet, however they have announced a few titles, some of them we guessed would be released, and others we already knew from last years E3 Event (Creatures of the Deep). Well anyway the list of games that have been announced for the new N-Gage gaming are:

* Asphalt 3: Street Rules (Gameloft)
* Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway (Gameloft)
* Brain Challenge (Gameloft)
* Midnight Pool (Gameloft)
* World Series of Poker: Texas Hold’em (Glu Mobile)
* Fifa 07 (Electronic Arts)
* One: Who's Next? (Nokia)
* System Rush: Evolution (Nokia)
* Space Impact (Nokia)
* Creatures Of The Deep (Nokia)

Good news for N-Gagers like me, and maybe interesting to new "mobile gamers" as its always fun to have a PS1 Graphic game on your mobile, rather than a mobile and PSP or DS. The Latest information (for next-gen ngage) can be found from the N-Gage Future Watch website here.

And If that isn't enough good news for you below is a sneek peek preview trailer at whats coming over the next few months.

UK Launch Titles for PS3 are 720P not 1080P!!!

Remember awhile ago when Sony said that there "beast" was going to be the greatest games console as it will support full 1080P High Definition (which is the highest HD viewing at the moment). And that all its games and Blu-ray movies will support 1080P. Yep Sounds like a great idea for people who wanna spend £3k on a TV (as only 2 Sharps and 1 Pioneer (that ive seen) Support 1080P.

Well anyway (back on topic) i managed to get the official PS3 Dummy Cases (for Games), as you can see below:

If you can't read / see the pictures the games are Ridge Racer 7, Resistance: Fall Of Man, Motorstorm, Genji: Days Of The Blade and Formula One: Championship Edition. Whats so special about these dummy cases is that they have all the features of the originals such as Age, Barcode, Region etc etc and not only that they are in the new Blu-Ray / HD-DVD Style cases and to make sure they aren't mixed up with Blu-ray films the cases are CLEAR / SILVER instead of Blue.

*OK BACK ON TOPIC*

Sony said that all there games released onto the system would be in 1080P (or support 576i (Standard Definition), 720P (High Definition), 1080i (Better High Definition) and 1080P (Best High Definition)...... Well according to the 5 Game boxes i have here only 1 of them supports FULL 1080P and the others ONLY support up to 720P. (Example Below):

Formula One: Championship Edition Only Supports 720p HD Output:

However Ridge Racer 7 Supports 720P, 1080i and 1080P HD:

out of the 5 Games i got (Dummy Wise) Ridge Racer 7 was the only game that supports 1080i and 1080P - all the others say they only support 720P HD. - So if you have bought a big 1080P TV just for PS3, it looks like your gonna be let down (plus there aint MUCH difference between 1080i AND 1080P anyway, but i thought id post this to make sony look like fools yet again, as they promised us 1080p and gave us 720P.

So now an Xbox 360 is better (or just as good) Graphically as a PS3, and if you say any different well then your a sony fanboy. Hopefully i should get a PS3 aswell on 23rd March (UK Release Day) if i do i'll be sure to post pictures.

THPS Tournament Won!

The N-Gage gamedeck maybe coming to an end, however Nokia (and N-Gage Arena) are still supporting the gamedeck for a few months until the next-gen mobile gaming is out.

I Say this as Mile High Pinball Game Of The Month (GOTM) has just come to close (Winners to be announced) and a prize was an N73 Mobile Phone (so obviously nokia are still supporting the gamedeck/games) and this month (March) is going to be Tiger Woods GOTM (Prizes to be confirmed).

However with that aside - today was tournament time for one of the N-Gages oldest, but most loved games "Tony Hawks Pro Skater" (one of my favourites aswell). Basically you had 20 minutes to do an impressive run - the rules = combo's, variety and skill give you points, but bails and same stuff loose points. The Winner usually gets a trophy (but in this case i already had it) and sometimes a prizes (and for once i won a prize).

The prize is that i could choose any N-Gage Acessorie i wanted, it may seem lame but i choose the Aliminum MMC Card Case and a N-Gage Key Strap, mainly because i find it more useful than a Mono wireless headset.

However at the end of the day a win is a win and a prize is a prize, So Rock on! Nokia and Next-gen. I'll see you N-Gagers in the games.

Fix an Xbox 360 using.....a TOWEL!

If you are an Xbox 360 owner (like me and thousands of others across the world), you may have heard the term "Ring Of Death" or "3 Red Lights". Well the picture to the left is an example of the "3 Red Lights"

The Red lights is basically microsofts way of showing you an error on your xbox 360 and depends how many lights are being shown depends on what your fault is.

The Most common fault is the 3 Red Lights, which to be honest is an unkown fault - but most people guess its an internal hardware failure or the connections, wiring and solder haven't been done correctly inside the machine.

So far ive heard of 3 Solutions to this problem and they are:

1) Take it back to the shop and get it exchanged (if under warrenty)
2) Send it to microsoft for it to be repaired (if under warrenty, if not it costs about £80 / $140)
3) Take the machine apart and use a heatgun on the machine for 2 minutes.

However i have come across another solution, and yes it does indeed work. My xbox 360 (at the moment) is currently working fine (and its my 3rd xbox 360 incase your woundering), but this time its my older brother thats having the problem (first problem he has had in over a year!). The problem was the 3 red lights.

Instead of sending it to microsoft (and paying money) he gave it to me, mainly to sell on ebay for spares, however i came across a "amusing" method for fixing your 360. Basically you get a dry towel and let it on the floor, then you place the xbox 360 on top of the towel, you would then turn the xbox 360 on, once its on wrap the towel around the 360, it doesn't have to be tight, it just has to be covering every hole so hardly any air can get it. Leave it for around 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes , the first thing you will notice is that the 360's cooler fan is buzzing really hot, next you will notice is that the back of the xbox 360 is rather hot, so take the towel off and leave the 360 on for about another 30 seconds, then switch it off, leave it for 30 more seconds and switch it back on. Hopefully it should return to main xbox dashboard and should be fine.

I tried this, this afternoon and my brothers xbox 360 is working fine - sounds strange but it actually works, Just don't leave the towel on too long or you might burn the towel or mess up your xbox.

Sonic & Secret Rings - Released Today!

Sonic's Latest "next-gen" outing has arrived, and as promised it is his FIRST solo adventure since Sonic The Hedgehog, which was released back in 1991, so thats 16 Years!

however his friends Tails, Knuckles, Amy and the rest of the gang aren't too far behind, yes they are back, however they are not in the storyline of the game. The additional characters (Tails etc) are only playable in the 40 Multiplayer games (which up to 4 People can player at once - crazy party games like mario party).

The game is released today (Friday 2nd March 2007) and costs £39.99 (£34.99 from some online retailers such as amazon.co.uk), i have got my copy but i haven't had chance to play on it yet, but from the pictures and videos ive seen it should just be some simple, fast paced fun!