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cgm

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Back in business

After many many months away I am back and will be resuming my posts on CGM.

Tuesday 4 December 2007

Mass Effect review

Title: Mass Effect Format: Xbox 360
Genre: 3rd person action adventure/ RPG
Basic plot: You are Commander Sheppard, kick ass space marine or whatever you choose him to be. It s your job to stop the return of Evil machines from destroying all organic life in the galaxy. Hows it play: Amazing, the combats great, even though your teamates can be retarded sometimes, the speech is fantastic and makes you feel as though your in a movie. Massive galaxy to explore with loads of side quests.
Graphics: True next gen, fantastic
Fun factor: I love every second of it, except the parts where you keep dying, autosave can be a pain in the ass. length: Epic storyline and you can spent weeks just travelling the galaxy looking for stuff to do.
Deaths: A lot, evil geth mostly but there is a shock later on.
Soundtrack: epic sci-fi score, love it.
Highlight: Being evil to aliens always makes me chuckle, and the exploration aspects are great. Lowlight: annoying auto-save, and the graphics do glitch a bit but nothing ruining.
My Score: Excellent the true heir to knights of the old republic ( the first one). 9/10

Monday 26 November 2007

Review: Assasins Creed

With so many new games out lately CGM has changed its review system to allow us to cram in as many reviews as possible.

Title: Assasins creed
Format: Xbox 360
Genre: 3rd person action adventure Basic plot: er well your an assasin and you take people out as in kill em.
Hows it play: Really well, similar to the prince of persia series but far better executed, combats a bit easy though.
Graphics: True next gen, amazing on an HD tv Fun factor: This lets it down as it quickly gets repetitive, not very exciting side missions and a bit predictable.
length: Lenghty story mode with loads of things to find and side quests... there just not that exciting.
Deaths: Thousands, your like superman on steroids but with a sword. Soundtrack: Mostly medieval sounds and Arabic music, pretty good though
Highlight: Riding the horses and mounted combat, and swan diving from the top of huuuge towers.
Lowlight: repetitive, and a bit dull CGMScore: 7/10

Friday 6 July 2007

Microsoft Admits Their Crap!!

In a statement released today Microsoft has finally admitted that their is a problem with the Xbox 360 console.

The following is frm the BBC website:
Microsoft has said that it is facing a bill of more than $1bn to cover the cost of offering extended warranties, after failings with its Xbox 360.
The company admitted it had been forced to make "an unacceptable number of repairs" to the consoles after key hardware failed.
Customers who suffer the problems will now be given a free three-year warranty, the company said. The failures are indicated by three red flashing lights on the console.
Microsoft, has not revealed how many of its machines have suffered the problem, but said the number was "bigger than we are comfortable with."
It added that the move - which will also see some people reimbursed for postage and repairs on consoles which were out of warranty - was aimed at keeping the loyalty of its customers.
"The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having a great experience with their console and have from day one," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division.
"But this problem has caused frustration for some of our customers and for that, we sincerely apologise."
It added its Xbox division was still expected to make a profit during the financial year beginning 1 July 2007.

Wednesday 20 June 2007

More Rockstar controversy

British censors have banned a violent video game from the UK for the first time in a decade.
The video game Manhunt 2 was rejected for its "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying", the British Board of Film Classification said.
It means the Manhunt sequel cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK.
The parents of a Leicester schoolboy who blamed the original game for the murder of their 14-year-old son said they were "absolutely elated".
'There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed' said BBFC director David Cooke
The original Manhunt game was given an 18 classification in 2003.
Manhunt 2, for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles, is made by Rockstar Games.
The company has six weeks to submit an appeal.
The last game to be refused classification was Carmageddon in 1997. That decision was overturned on appeal. David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said: "Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone.
"There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game." 'Morally irresponsible'
The original Manhunt game caused huge controversy and was blamed for the murder of Stefan Pakeerah. The boy was stabbed and beaten to death in Leicester in February 2004.

Stefan Pakeerah was murdered in 2004 his parents believe the killer, Warren LeBlanc, 17, was inspired by the game. Stefan's mother, Giselle Pakeerah, had condemned the sequel, branding the gaming industry "morally irresponsible". "We have been campaigning against these games for a long time and the BBFC made the right decision," she said. Police said robbery was the motive behind the attack on Stefan in Stokes Wood Park on 26 February 2004 - and not the video game blamed by Stefan's parents. Manhunt's maker Rockstar North has always insisted its games are geared towards mature audiences and are marketed responsibly.

Leicester MP Keith Vaz, who campaigned with the Pakeerahs against the original version of Manhunt, praised the decision to ban Manhunt 2. He said: "This is an excellent decision by the British Board of Film Classification, showing that game publishers cannot expect to get interactive games where players take the part of killers engaged in 'casual sadism' and murder."
Once again the twerp Keith Vaz gets involved. He must be trying to emulate Jack Thompson the prolific game banner from the states.

Monday 11 June 2007

Sony in God Bother!

The Church of England may sue electronics giant Sony in the latest video game-related row, reports the BBC. The Church claims that the PlayStation maker did not obtain proper permission to use the interior of Manchester Cathedral in its first-person PS3 shooter Resistance: Fall of Man.
The game is set in an alternative 1950s where World War II never happened, and follows army ranger Nathan Hale as he fights against an invasion by alien creatures called Chimeras. The game is set in the UK, the last European stronghold against the Chimeran invasion. One of the scenes involves Hale battling against the aliens inside Manchester Cathedral.
The Church is demanding that Sony apologises and removes the game in its current form from store shelves, or face legal action.
Bishop of Manchester Nigel McCulloch said, "For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have gun battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible." The Bishop added that in light of Manchester's gun crime problems, the scene was especially inappropriate. The church even went as far as to call Sony's actions "desecration" according to a report in The Sunday Times.
Sony said in a statement that it was taking the Church's concerns very seriously, and would be contacting cathedral authorities today to discuss their concerns. The statement read, "Resistance: Fall of Man is a fantasy science fiction game and is not based on reality. We believe we have sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of the game."
Sony's UK head of PR, David Wilson, added in an interview with The Sunday Times, "It is game-created footage, it is not video or photography. It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction." A recent episode of Doctor Who, "The Lazarus Experiment," featured a climactic battle in Somerset's Wells Cathedral.

Wednesday 23 May 2007

Mass Effect Delayed Again!! ARGH

According to the online retailer amazon, mass effects release date has been put back yet again, this time the date listed is October. After suffering several delays in the past, ( which I covered on CGM a while back) it seems that one of the most eagerly anticipated titles wont be out in the shops until after the September release of Halo3. With Halos release in September and GTA4s release in October it seems that Mass effect may be lost in the hype and wake of the other two huge titles. It seems the Autumns going to be a pretty expensive month for 360 owners, and in the mean time the summer games drought seems to have grown larger. Whats to look forward to except maybe Forza 2? Sort it out Microsoft, your release dates are starting to be something of a joke.

Wednesday 9 May 2007

CGM Movie review, Spiderman 3

Where to start i ask myself. Well lets get the positives out of the way first shall we. The SFX are impressive, the soundtracks good and Bruce Campball makes a cameo appearance in one of the only funny scenes in the whole film. Right that's the good stuff mentioned, prepare yourselves now its time for the list of negatives. The plot was well crap it didn't make much sense, it was too long and yet at the same time felt rushed especially the ending. The enemies were boring and shallow with no background or anything to provide any real interest to the audience. The Sandman was poorly acted and the highly co-incidental plot about him killing peter Parker's uncle felt tacked on. The highly anticipated appearance of Venom proved to be a huge disappointment with him only appearing in the last half hour and once again being poorly acted, the plot involving Venom is also never explained such as were does the suit come from and why does it take a liking t Peter Parker. The main theme throughout the film is that of vengeance and unleashing the darkness that is inside every one of us, but for some reason when Parker turns evil he turns into John Travolta from Saturday night fever and is quite frankly embarrassing to watch rather funny as it must of been intended. I really wanted to like this film as i greatly enjoyed the first two movies, but this proved to be a massive disappointment which is a shame. Its bound to be a summer blockbuster but its a title it doesn't deserve.

CGM rating 5/10

Monday 30 April 2007

Prepare to serve once again,Call of Duty 4

So the new trailer of all of duty 4 was released on the Internet this week and confirmed what many gamers had predicted. Instead of being set in World war 2 the game which is subtitled Modern Warfare is erm well set in the present day (ahem, bit obvious really). The graphics look absolutely breathtaking and look as though they will easily surpass the impressive call of duty 3s. Lets just hope the game play goes more back to number 2's style and miss out the annoying characters and limp plot and story lines. With the market being literally swamped with War based shooters this will have to be pretty impressive to stand out from the crowd. With competition from Medal of honour and countless other WW2 shooters the new present day setting may prove to be the factor that does just that. The game is bound to be a success, just
on the series famous Xbox live game modes, with thousands of gamers still waging war online via COD2 and 3 the multi player will prove to be the main factor for its success.Call of duty 4 is out at the end of the year.

Monday 23 April 2007

Spiderman swings into London

The Spider-Man 3 premiere will be swinging celebrity stars into London tonight. Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire, who once again star in the film of the arachnid superhero, will greet fans at Leicester Square's Odeon cinema on April 23rd.If the London event mirrors the New York premiere, the red carpet will be replaced with a black one in honour of the change in Spidey's outfit.Just as the superhero and his alter ego Peter Parker have found a work-life balance, the new suit comes along and enhances his powers while fuelling his dark side.While trying to curb the uglier elements of his own psyche, Spider-man also has to deal with two new super-villains, Sandman and Venom.Venom, Spider-Man's arch enemy, is the body of Peter Parker's journalist rival and a body snatching alien.

Friday 20 April 2007

Prepare to command and conquer on 360

Last week, Electronic Arts revealed what many gamers were anticipating--a demo of the Xbox 360 edition of Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars was in the works. Today, the publisher pulled the curtain back on the demo and released it to the public over Xbox Live Marketplace.
The file weighs in at 1GB, which apparently has clogged some Internet pipes and made downloading fairly sluggish. Though EA hasn't come forward to explain what is in the demo, message board users have. The file allegedly features a pair of single-player missions, a tutorial, and Xbox Live multiplayer support. The Xbox 360 version of Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars is scheduled for release on May 10. If the 360 version is the same as the PC version (reviewed earlier this month) then 360 users should be in for a treat. Prepare for epic online battles via xbox live and wage war with gamers from across the globe. I can hardly wait.

Thursday 19 April 2007

Tarantino up for Canne award

Quentin Tarantino and Gus Van Sant are among the directors vying for the top prize at the 60th Cannes Film Festival. Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, who headed last year's Cannes jury, is also in the running with his first English language film, My Blueberry Nights.
The prestigious event has unveiled the line-up ahead of its opening on 16 May.
Tarantino's Death Proof, half of his double bill Grind house, and Van Sant's Paranoid Park join 20 other entries in competition for the Palme d'Or.

Wednesday 18 April 2007

Prince of Persia movie 2008?

Another video game series is being eyed for a film adaptation franchise, this time the Prince of Persia games from Ubisoft. The game has taken off in recent years with at least 3 recent sequels and become a huge hit for Ubisoft. The series has been in discussion for a while with Disney, since Hollywood mogul Jerry Bruckheimer bought the rights in 2004. The Jim Hill Media blog talked about it briefly, stating that “in theory Prince of Persia will be Disney's big action-adventure release for the Summer of 2008.” Which afterwards “could then lead to a new hit series of movies for the studio.”Although nothing is officially confirmed for a 2008 release, it does sound like the project is moving along and they're waiting to use the Prince of Persia series as the new successor to Pirates of the Caribbean. Little is known as to whether the movie will follow the games storyline ( I for one would like to see that as the story for the game was pretty good) and lets hope the films director doesnt take the same route with the persian prince as has been done to the Resident Evil series of movies. (i.e crappified). Rumours abound that Michael Bay will take the directors chair and after his transformers film it'll be interesting to see what direction he decides to take. Lets hope there will be a decent movie of a game for once.

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Gere burnt

Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere, a day after he swept up Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty in his arms and kissed her several times during an Aids-awareness event. In Mumbai, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena set fire to glamour shots of Shetty and beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks.
Similar protests broke out in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds chanted "Down with Shilpa Shetty."
In a country where sex and public displays of affection are largely taboo, photographs of Gere embracing Shetty and kissing her on the cheek were printed on newspapers' front pages.
The two appeared at a press conference on Sunday in New Delhi to highlight the HIV and Aids epidemic among India's truck drivers. In front of a cheering crowd, Gere kissed Shetty on the hand, then kissed her on both cheeks before embracing her to kiss her more. If this is all it takes for these people to riot then they really need to lighten up, their crazy!

Monday 16 April 2007

Release list

The biggest and best titles scheduled for released this week.

Final Fantasy III (DS)Some 17 years after it was released in Japan, final fantasists get the chance to complete their back catalogue at long last. With a total overhaul to match the DS’s capabilities rather than a simple graphical update, it is certain to be an enrapturing experience.

FEAR - First Encounter Assault and Reconnaissance (PS3)A solid port of one of the best FPS’ doing the rounds at the moment, which kept us nervously clutching the pad throughout. Exclusives for the PS3 version include an extra mission, some new multi player maps and a very tasty rapid fire shotgun. Sweet.

Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS)Remastered from the classic N64 title of the same name, this colourful racer has more than enough substance to hold its own against the likes of Mario Kart. Pumped with new characters, four new tracks and a sparkling six person multi player – this is all you’ll need for weeks.

Also out this week:Aces of War (PSP) Ancient Wars - Sparta (PC)Dawn Of Magic (PC)Exit 2 (PSP)Final Fantasy V (GBA)Free Running (PS2/ PSP)Gurumin (PSP)Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (PC)Red Star (PS2)Stacked (PC) World Championship Poker 2 (PS2/PC)Zendoku (PSP/DS)
Coming Soon (27 April 2007)Burnout Dominator (PSP)Buzz: The Mega Quiz (PS2)Coded Arms Contagion (PSP)Dancing Stage Super Nova (PS2)Dead Head Fred (PSP)Death Junior 2 - Root of Evil (PSP)Demon Chaos (PS2)Driver - Parallel Lines (PC)Earthworm Jim (PSP)Frontlines - Fuel of War (Xbox 360)God of War II (PS2)Mercury Meltdown Revolution (Wii)Monster Madness - Battle for Suburbia (Xbox 360/PC)NBA 2K7 (PS3)Playwize Poker and Casino (PSP)Pocket Pool (PSP)Rainbow Six Vegas (PSP/PS3)SingStar Pop Hits (PS2)Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Summoner - Kuzunoha Raido vs. The Soulless Army (PS2)The Cube (PSP)The Elder Scrolls - Oblivion (PS3)The Godfather - The Dons Edition (PS3)Top Trumps - Horrors and Predators (PS2/DS/PC)Valkyrie Profile - Lenneth (PSP)World Series of Poker - Tournament Champions (PC)Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2007 (DS)

Halo 3 promises to be the game of 2007