Gears Of War 2: Limited Edition Set Announced

Gears Of War 2 is set to be released worldwide on 7th Novemember 2008 and to be honest i can't wait, and just like last time their will be a LIMITED EDITION set, however what is going to be included has never been mentioned, until now.

Gears Of War (standard) will retail for around £39.99 - £44.99, the Limited Edition Set (pictured) will retail for around £44.99 - £49.99 and will contain 2 Discs, 1 being the game, the other being behind the scenes content, an artwork book and some sort of Picture of Dominics wife - more maybe included but at the moment im not sure, i guess they will confirm it at a later date.

However their is another COLLECTORS EDITION pack that is coming out, it will cost around £64.99 and featuring everything in the LIMITED EDITION Pack and will contain also contain some more bonues, one of them being the famouns machine-gun come chainsaw (not a full size one of course). So Cliffy B is really going bigger, better and more badass - and judging from the pictures the game is going to rock!

Another feature id like to note (that ive recently heard) is that some achivements of the previous Gears Of War game will unlock bonus content in Gears Of War 2, such as extra players to play online or special power-ups during the campagin, so if you haven't unlocked many achivements in the previous game you wont get any of these extra bonues when you insert the new game - so you better finish off Gears Of War now!

Nokia To Make Games for XBLA and PSN

According to pocket gamers recent post regarding Nokia and N-Gage Games, Nokia are investigating whether or not to make games for Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) or the PS3 (Playstation Network), well according to what Aki Jarvilehto said at a recent Develop Mobile 2008 conference.

At first i was abit stunned as NOKIA are great at making phones and their "in-house" games are great, such as System Rush Evolution and Mile High Pinball, however when you think of it from an overall gaming view it might not be so bad, nokia could bring some decent titles to the Xbox 360 and PS3 and Nokia can already cope with the achivements system as shown with the N-Gage, and if the new N-Gage plan does some to dip a little bit the money earned from PS3 and XBOX 360 Arcade Titles will pick up the pace a little, as their are alot more owners of 360 and PS3 than they are in N-Gage so they can appeal to alot of people.

Would be interesting to see a System Rush in FULL HD with great online play on PS3 or Xbox 360 and you never know it could happen.

The full pocketgamer article can be read here.

Iphone Games Get Cracked!

When Apple released Apple 3G a New feature was added, which was the ability to play Games - and when it was launched hundreds of games were released, however majority of these games werent anything new or used the Iphone to the best of its abilities, but it had a larger catalog than the N-Gage had, even though both phones cost around the same price (if not the Iphone may cost more).

Well much quicker than expected, some of the Iphone games have been cracked, (two of them being shown in the picture above). No idea if any other games have been cracked however it won't be long before the whole catalog (or most of it) is cracked open.

Apple have yet to comment on the situation of the games being cracked (but then again they probably havent noticed yet), however what strikes me odd is the download size, these two games (Crash Nitro Kart and Engimo) are both well under 10mb, yet majority of N-Gage games are 15mb upwards so it seems to me that N-Gage games may be better just by looking at the size difference.

In all fairness i believe these Iphone games were cracked quicker than the N-Gage games, as the n-gage had first access period (which lasted for a few months) before the games were officially revealed and even then it took a few months before the games were out for majority of phones(illegally) - so in simple terms N-Gage took longer to crack than the Iphone did and alot of people brand the Iphone the ultimate phone - i guess its not now.

Reset Generation Demo Available For Fileplanet Subscribers

Reset Generation, Nokias most anticipated game is soon to be released onto the N-Gage and PC Platforms, however if you a fileplanet subscriber (one that pays monthly/ yearly to get better service) then you can download and try the Reset Generation Demo now!

However if you are not a subscriber the demo will be made public to everyone within the next week or so.

Then from 4th August (if not later) Reset Generation will be officially available for the N-Gage Platform and PC.

At the moment 4th August is the "estimated" release date as when scott foe (developer of the game) asked about the 4th august release date he replied with "let me get some more coffee", which suggests that their might be some work left to do on the game.

Reset Generation will surely make a mark as its one of the first games that combines pc gaming with mobile gaming - not quiet sure in what way but its goingto be Good!

Street Fighter IV Intro Appears On Xbox Live Marketplace

E3 Has come and gone yet again and with it it brought a whole bunch of surprises and annoucements, two major ones being the 360's new 60GB Console which replaces the 20GB Pro and PS3's 80GB Console that will replace the 40GB Console and will eventually be the same price as the previous unit.

However thats not what this post is about, E3 has gone and if you haven't checked out Xbox Live Marketplace (i would suggest PSN Store, however the Xbox Live Server has more to offer) then i think you should as you will notice alot of new trailers, arcade games and demos, the newest (and i believe last addition) to this collection is official STREET FIGHTER IV Intro.

Capcom recently Confirmed that Street Fighter IV will come to the Xbox 360 and PS3 Consoles within a few months of its Arcade release and to wet the fans a little they have released the intro to the game (its 260mb). The intro uses in-game gameplay footage and not any fancy CGI so the footage shown in the intro is what the actually product will look like.

I believe gametrailers (and a few other game trailer type websites, have this in SD for awhile - however this is the HD Version and it looks awesome!) So Street Fighter fans go to Xbox live marketplace and start downloading it NOW!

Street Fighter IV is expected to be released onto the PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year, however the release date can change at any time (always does with titles like this).

Iphone Vs N-Gage Comparison

With the recent release of games onto the Iphone, pocket gamer (and a few other mobile gaming websites) have decided to do a comparrison between the two formats, ive read a few and pocket-gamers comparison seems to be the best and most friendly of the lot.

If you have already been looking at the N-Gage blog (or other blog sites) then you will have already noticed this comparison - however its still good to see that Nokia's first batch of games can still hold of the Iphone large range of games.

You can see the full comparison on pocket gamers website here.

To sum up both platforms are evenly matched, Iphone having the numbers but N-Gage having the quality, Iphone is for everyone and N-Gage is for dedicated - yet the one thing they have in common is price tags as both phones retail at around £200 upwards (or require contracts) to get the latest models.

i havent tried any Iphone games yet, but maybe i will (friend of mine has an Iphone) - but i will stick to N-Gage Games for the moment - mainly for the achivement points, but mainly because of the community and thats why alot of people like it.

Games For Windows Live Becomes FREE!

Yesterday Microsoft announced that its "Games For Windows Live" Service will now become FREE to everyone and will be effective immediately - So now all you current gamertag owners (for PC or 360) can now play your PC Live games online for FREE and you will be able to earn achivements (as before you needed a GOLD Live account to do this). The Full statment (taken from joystiq) is shown below:

"Microsoft's struggling Games For Windows Live service, which promised an Xbox Live like online experience with voice chat, unified friend lists, and cross-platform play between PC and console, is about to shrug off its chief criticism: cost. MS announced today that it is ending the XBL-style tiered pricing structure – which put a year of Gold membership at $49.99 – and making the service free for all users.

The change is effective immediately, affecting all current GFW Live titles (such as Halo 2 and Shadowrun) as well as future releases. MS is also set to expand the service through a GFW Live Marketplace, due this fall. Like the XBL Marketplace, the PC-centric store will offer free and paid downloadable content, demos, and trailers (is this PC Live Arcade?)

In addition to these announcements, MS is working to make the GFW Live interface "much more PC friendly" (read: not like the Xbox 360's now deprecated "Blades" interface) along with reducing the technical requirements for developers. One criticism of the interface from the development camp has been that it must be built into every GFW title, rather than a stand-alone client such as Steam."

So there you have it - Games For Windows LIVE is now FREE - I guess to the majority of xbox 360 live owners it wont exactly matter but its all good. Happy gaming!

HD-DVD Continue To Lives On - Cheaply!

The War between Sony's Blu-Ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD May be over, however HD-DVD continues to live on and to make it more interesting they are cheaper.

As most of you know a few months back (during the conflict between the two HD Formats) both formats would cost anything between £18 - £30, nowadays blu-rays are £12 - £25 (depending on where you buy it from). Well now HD-DVDs can be purchased as cheap as £3.

The reason for this dramatic price drop is for retailers to sell off all their old HD-DVD stock as quickly as possible so they can stock more Blu-ray format titles - which means cheap HD Films for us.

To some it might sound pointless as films arent being released in HD-DVD anymore, however over in the USA publishers such as Warner Bros, Paramount and Universal are stilling releasing HD-DVD films and BBC have recently released Torchwood Season 1 on HD-DVD - and the titles that are bein moved from HD-DVD to Blu-ray will come out at full price, for example Batman Begins will be £18 on Blu-ray, however you can buy it now on HD-DVD for £4 - same film, same quality, different disc type.

HD-DVD Players are still pricey, however at some retailers such as Currys and Comet you can pick up Toshiba EP-30 HD-DVD/DVD Players for around £100 (they will be classed as DVD Upscalers instead of HD-DVD Players), however if your an Xbox 360 you can head down to your local gamestation and get a 360 HD-DVD Drive + any 2 films for £25.

So if you want some HD Films at a decent price, now is the time to do it as stock as selling fast. Here is a list of links to cheap HD-DVDs:

HMV - From £2.99 per film (Free Delivery)

Amazon UK - From £3.98 per film (£1.24 per DVD)

Play - From £3.99 per film (Free Delivery)

Sendit UK - From £3.99 per film (Free Delivery)

Currys Entertainment - From 4.93 per film (Free Delivery)

Majority of Films are currently in stock (but somtimes do go out of stock, so check back often) Happy Shopping HD Film Lovers!

E3 2008 Sony Press Conference Summary

Over in LA (los Angeles) This week is one of the biggest gaming expo's ever, of course its E3 2008.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have all come down to LA to show off their latest and greatest achivements of the gaming industry, whether it be new games, firmware updates or services.

The Conferences themselves last over an hour (each), so ive decided to summarise them, starting with the longest first - Sony.

The conference started out slow, however it picked up paste and alot of interesting things where shown and discussed, including Resistance 2 and Sony's Answer to Microsofts Movie Rental Service, so here are the best bits:

* PS3 will have Budget Titles (cost $30, such as Resistance, Ninja Gaiden, Warhawk)
* PS2 to have 130 new titles released in 2008 (Yakuza 2, Mercanies 2, Singstar)
* PSN Gets more exclusive games (Ratchet & Clank: Quest For Booty, Crash Commando, Siren Blood Curse)
* Gran Turismo TV to be in GT5 (and GT5 Progloue) - Starts August 5th (USA) (Pay Per View) - such as episodes of Top Gear / Racing Events/ behind the scenes in HD (or upscaled)
* Home to have specialist Game room Aeras (such as Uncharted, Resistance, Warhawk)
* PSN to offer movie / tv rentals from $1.99 for TV Episodes, $2.99 movie rentals, and from $9.99 for movie purchases (in SD and HD) - movies/episodes can also be transferred to PSP (aswell as other devices).
* 80GB PS3 to be released in september (replaces current 40GB PS3 for same price)
* PS3 to have Huge Line-up within next 2 years, including God Of War 3 & MAG (Massive Action Game).

I will post up the other Conference summaries later on in the week - too much information in 1 day to handle, however if you want to watch Sony's Conference in FULL you can watch it over on gamespot's website or you could just click here.

Brothers In Arms: Hells Highway Arrives On N-Gage!

The latest outing of the Brothers In Arms series has finally arrived onto the N-Gage platform and if you are woundering if its like last years symbian Brothers In Arms 3D then you are partially correct.

Borthers In Arms 3D Was only 2mb, this N-Gage version is 35mb (one of the largest N-Gage games so far) - it features better music, graphics, new levels (as well as longer levels) and more campagins to play on, plus the addition of N-Gage points and online leaderboards - so it looks like the N-Gage is definately starting to kick off!

Hell's Highway is also coming out on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC later in the year, so it comes as a surprise that they have released the N-Gage version alot earlier (not only that it was released sunday night/monday mourning - which again is odd for an N-Gage game, as they are usually released mid-week). As most titles that are multi-format are released in the same week.

As usual i would do my "first impressions" on the game, however because gameloft has only given us 20 seconds (YES!, 20 Seconds) to judge the game before buying it i have decided to let my friend Rafe at All About N-Gage do the review (which you can see here). After reading the review it does seem like an awesome game, so i might have to buy it myself!

As I Mentioned earlier, the game itself is 35mb (when installed), however when downloading its only 25mb - so its going to take at least 3 - 5 minutes (if not longer, depending on what connection your using) to download the game. The game itself costs £8 to buy, £4 for 7 day trial or £1.50 for a day trial - but judging from the length of the game its gonna take longer than a day to complete (i may be wrong but its no fun completing a game in one day).

Brothers In Arms: Hells Highway is now available to buy on the N-Gage platform, either via the N-Gage application or via the N-Gage Website. Have Fun!

Devil May Cry 4 Finally Arrives on PC

Earlier in the year capcom released Devil May Cry 4 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, at the same time it should have been released on the PC, however in the last few weeks before it got released it was pulled out and delayed for a summer 2008 release.

Well last month a playable demo (same demo used on Xbox 360 and PS3) was released for download, the idea of this is to let users see if the game runs on their system and whats better is that they have included FULL Settings Options and Frame-rate settings in the game, so everything in the demo will be same in the final version (except tweaked to run smoother) - so if the demo dont work on your PC, the full version wont once its released.

Well The Game is being released (in UK/Europe) this Friday - so its a long time coming for PC Fans of Devil May Cry 4 and whats better is that it plays EXACTLY like the console version but with a few extra bits, like better frame-rate support and a new harder difficulty mode.

Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: Pentium 4 @ 3 GHz
Memory: 512 MB (1 GB for Vista)
Video Memory: 256 MB (nVidia GeForce 6600 SM3 Required)
DirectX: 9.0c

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO
Memory: 1 GB (2 GB for Vista)
Video Memory: 512 MB (nVidia GeForce 8600)

Devil May Cry 4 (Demo) runs perfectly fine (with slight lag) on HIGH settings on my pc which is Windows Vista, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 3GB Ram, 512mb nVidia GeForce 8500 GT, Direct X 10). So if your PC is similar to mine it will run fine - but you can always lower the graphics detail to make it run even smoother.

Devil May Cry 4 is released on Friday and will cost around £29.99, it also supports the GAMES FOR WINDOWS part of PC Gaming, but nothing has been mentioned whether or not it will include achivements like previous games for windows titles have.

Dualshock 3 Officially Out In UK!

Its been a rather long wait but Dualshock 3 has officially arrived in the UK!

The Jap's have had it for nearly a year and the USA have had it for several months and now its finally for sale in the UK (officially) and better yet its cheaper than 1 Sixaxis controller.

A Few months ago Sony started shipping SIXAXIS Double Packs, which featured 2 Sixaxis controllers for £39.99, £5 more expensive than 1 controller on its own - which is a bargin! - but i believe the reason they did this was to sell a few extra spare units of Sixaxis as Dualshock 3 is what everyone wants.

Dualshock 3 is ALOT better than a standard PS3 Controller, it still features everything from the OLD PS3 Controller, except it has vibration function (hence dualshock) and also feels a little bit heavier (making it feel like a true controller) and what is better is that its only £32.99 at some online websites (RRP is £39.99).

Another thing to note is that some games are already Dualshock 3 compatible - they do not say it on the box but some games do work, such as:

* GTA IV
* Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
* Haze
* Metal Gear Solid 4
* Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online

This games (which i have tested myself) all work and vibrate with Dualshock 3 controllers, however other games such as Time Crisis 4 dont vibrate and now that Dualshock 3 is officially out more games will have vibrating features.

You Can buy Dualshock 3 for £32.99 (including postage) from gameplay, click here for a direct link to the webpage.

Pro Series Golf Now Available On N-Gage

Pro Series Golf is now officially out and available to buy via your N-Series Device or via the N-Gage Website, its been a long wait (as this was expected 3 weeks ago), however was it worth the wait?

On the original N-Gage Tiger Woods PGA Golf Tour 2004 was the key title - it was the only golf game of its kind on the N-Gage and spawned online multiplayer aswell as a decent campaign mode, now Pro Series Golf has appeared onto the N-Gage 2.0, which is an unkown game but alot of people have been looking forward to it.

Before i go into my "impressions of the game" the game itself is 60mb, which is the largest N-Gage 2.0 game so far, so it must have something decent inside, however the download size is only 21mb - so if your using an external memory card - make sure youve got the space ready!

The game (on N81) boots up in landscape mode and from the menu system you get a VERY basic feel to the game, however once your actually playing the game the graphics are rather clear and crisp, however your character does look a little flat, but is still rendered in 3D which is pritty impressive for a mobile game.

The game itself is rather easy and very similar to Tiger Woods as all you do is press A (or 5) to confim where to shoot or to start the "putting meter" up and use the D-Pad to move the cursor to choose where your ball "should" land. As i mentioned before the game is easy enough for anyone to pick up and play and will bring a fair amoutn of entertainment to gamers and golfers alike.

No online mode is included on the trial that i played, however it states their is an online mode with up to 4 players taking part - will probably work the same way that Tiger Woods did, either way we should see some tournaments up on the n-gage arena for this game very shortly.

As per usual the game includes 3 different options (1 day, 7 day trial and FULL Acsess) and with no surprise the full acsess costs £8 which in my opinion is pritty reasonable for this kind of game.