Gears of War, Xbox 360 - £7.99 delivered
Not heard of this site before, anyone got any experience with them?
Gears of War, Xbox 360 - £7.99
Tomb Raider: Underworld, PC - £23.51
Tomb Raider: Underworld, PC - £23.51 delivered
Apply code "B4U" for 2% off
Ubisoft condone and endorse video game piracy.
Anyone who has bought any Ubisoft game ever, and in fact, anyone who ever buys any games, should read this.
Have you ever bought a game, and then not managed to get it working on your machine? Have you ever had to resort to download a no-cd crack to get it to run? I know I have, and I know that the games industry considers me a massive pirate due to buying their software, then running it in a way they don't like.
Which makes this thread over on the Ubisoft forums all the more entertaining. When faced with a version of Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 that wasn't working on lots of machines, ubisoft did exactly what you would have done. They when and got a no-cd crack of the internet and released it as an official patch.
Continues here.
The games of E3 2008 you might have missed
Update: Apparently rehosting game trailers on Vimeo breaks their user agreement, who knew?
I'll be on the look out for a decent resolution video service that will let me host game trailers, let me know if you have any suggestions.
This year's E3 is drawing to a close, and there have been lots of huge game announcements, biggest of all is probably the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360.
But E3 is not just about the big games, there have been a ton of really interesting smaller games shown off too.
Here is a roundup of some of the games that have really caught my attention that don't seem to be getting as much press coverage as I think they deserve.
Rhythm Heaven, DS
The follow up to the import only GBA cult hit "Rhythm Tengoku", Rhythm Heaven makes you focus on the what you hear, not just what you see. It's made by the Warioware team, and presented in a similar format, and certain to make you crack up with laughter.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Xbox Live Arcade (and PC?)
I have literally sucked hours into the original Retro Evolved, both on the PC and the version included with Galaxies on the Wii. A bunch of new modes, Multiplayer and a remixed soundtrack is enough to interest me.
Wario Land: The Shake Dimension, Wii
I absolutely adored Warioland 4 on the GBA, and this looks like it is the natural continuation. Stunning 2D animation, and great looking cut-scenes from Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire). Viva la 2D renaissance. Speaking of which...
Megaman 9, Wii Ware/PSN/XBLA
I always preferred the Megaman X series to Megaman classic to be honest, but even still, this is just brilliant. I am a little disappointed about the lack of aslide too, but I really have faith that this will live up to it's legacy.
Kirby Super Star Ultra, DS
Kirby Super Star was easily one of my favourite SNES games back in the day. There was enough game there to keep you entertained for hours. No doubt some of the screen sharing coop fun might be lost in the transfer to the DS, although I am sure wireless multiplayer will be include, and even as a single player only title it will be fantastic to replay it. They also seem to be adding a whole load more content, hence the ultra. If nothing else the battery won't run out on this cartridge after 10 years or so. Also, 3D cut-scenes and production values out the wazoo.
Dark Void, PS3/Xbox 360/PC
I don't care that this is brown.
We have only really seen one level of this so far, and I am more than happy to give the level design the benefit of the doubt. It is like Gears of War. In fact, it is a lot like Gears of War. But then, multiply the scale several hundred times. It's hard to tell from gameplay videos, but if the controls are solid, and they mix things up enough to keep it interesting, this game could be epic.
It really feels like E3 is a lot less about big announcements than it used to be, remember the 2004 Twilight Princess announcement?
I guess it isn't the conference it used to be, it's far smaller, far more press orientated. It's also more about games that are going to be out in the next 6 months, rather than far away titles on the horizon.
Still, we have Develop Conference and Expo in Brighton in a few weeks (and Bungie, Epic, Rockstar, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and maybe even SavyGamer will be there!), Leipzig Games Convention and PAX in August, Tokyo Game Show in October and then GDC in February 2009, so there is plenty to look forwards to in coming months.
I am excited about this game
This game looks really fun. It's made for all of us who winge on about games just being brown these days.
From what I can tell, it's one part Katamari, one part platformer with a spot of light combat thrown in.
It is based on a PC freeware game made by a bunch of highly talented Dutch students at Utrecht University, which can still be downloaded here. It's changed a fair bit since then, but I certainly think for the better.
It is an exclusive, for the Wii too, and a proper game too.
Ignore what the Video says about the release date, I have it from THQ that it's set for a September 26th release.
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom, Xbox 360 - £11.75
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom, Xbox 360 - £11.75 delivered
Apply code "B4U" for 2% off
Dragon Quest Swords: Masked Queen & The Tower Of Mirrors, Wii - £17.99
Dragon Quest Swords: Masked Queen & The Tower Of Mirrors, Wii - £17.99 delivered
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit - Review
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, PS3 - £32.99 delivered
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, Xbox 360 - £32.99 delivered
Review by TheSonicRetard
There would be a review here for you to read, but TSR is waiting on a new console to be shipped to him from Sony after his PS3 got bricked by the 2.4 firmware update.
He'll be getting to write an actual review as soon as his replacement console arrives.
Thanks Sony.
7/10
Mirror's Edge looks awesome - MP3 Download
Mirror's Edge is one of the hottest looking games I have seen from early E3 footage, but any reaction to footage of it I have seen has included people saying how much they love the music. I have tracked down a full mp3 of that lovely chilled out song, you can download it here:
Alcorus - Shine
Cheers Scotty.
Be sure to buy the inevitable OST.
Search Engine plugin
I have just put together a search engine pluging for Firefox and IE7 users, so you can search through SavyGamer deals/posts straight from your browser.
You can grab it here.
Let me know if you have any problems with it, although from my quick testing, it seems to work fine.
Edit: Also, new favicon!
WALL·E, Xbox 360 - Review
WALL·E, Xbox 360 - £28.55 delivered
Apply code "B4U" for 2% off
Review by LewieP
Foreword
I have not yet seen the film WALL·E, and as such I will be reviewing this game entirely on it's own merit as a game. It is possible (and in fact likely) that having seeing the film before playing the licensed game would have an impact on your experience.
I do plan to go and see the film at some point though, I am doing the whole thing backwards for the benefit of the game playing public.
This review will probably contain minor spoilers.
I first booted up WALL·E to hear some pretty annoying music, so I skipped the cut scene. Then I got to the (surprisingly slick) menu system. Booted up a new game, and began my adventure. As soon as I took control of WALL·E, I moved the Analogue stick forwards. Then I got an Achievement for moving forwards. Instantly.
Off to a good start then.
I was initially fairly impressed with the animation of the titular character, his caterpillar tracks look and move just right. It's a shame the environments don't hold up so well. At best, there is some really impressive things going on with the physics, on a pretty large scale too, but at worst there is bland, repeated objects and textures all over the place. The bad outweighs the good. On the surface it looks pretty, but the animation, destructibility and up close textures let the whole package down.
The first level or so is fairly easy platforming challenges, involving thowing cubes, hitting switched, and avoiding falling to your doom. Whenever you do die (which is more likely going to be because the camera lets you down than the gameplay challenge) you will respawn pretty close to where you were, no lives system to worry about. There are lots of collectible trinkets strewn over the place, including some 'oh so subtle' references to previous Pixar films (Is Toy Story really 13 years old? blimey!), which unlock bonus content, including multiplayer maps.
After a while, I bumped into this iPod looking flying Robot called EVE. I took control of her, which was not only a much needed change of pace, but it was pretty damn fun. The EVE sections of the game are like a Rogue Squadre-lite with next gen pretties smeared over it. It's a real shame that they didn't give you more freedom as EVE, but you are constantly being intterupted with cut-scenes and timers, so you never feel like you can enjoy it to it's full extent. Hat's off for the homage to the Death Star Exhuast run from Return of the Jedi though, that was ace. It was around this mark that I realised how good all of the in game music was. Crank it up to 11 and you will hear some really great ambient music.
For the first half of the game, there is no enemies, it's just you VS. the environment, and it really would have been a lot better had it stayed that way. In the second half, they introduce a range of enemies, and the combat is pedesrtian at best. Hammer the right trigger til either they or you die. Luckilly the AI is bad enough that you can often position yourself somewhere that it can't 'see' you, and you can take them off from a distance, without them even noticing you. At the turning point, there is a boss battle which had me laughing for all the wrong reasons. You don't actually fight it, just jump into a nearby wall untill it dies. Seriously.
WALL·E underperforms on a technical level. Nothing approaching game-breaking, but it definitely shows itself up in a few key areas. The framerate is pretty ropey, the controls never quite feel spot on, there are invisible walls all over the place, the camera stuggles at times.
It also managed to crash my 360 once, I hope it's not early onset red ring.
If you can see past these kind of troubles, the kind of troubles that often come from an underdeveloped licensed game, then there is fair amount of enjoyment to be had out of WALL·E.
WALL·E on the Xbox 360 is a pretty serviceable, but by no means spectacular, 3D platformer. It has just enough new and interesting elements to keep your attention to completetion, and it retreads just enough familiar ground to be instantly accessible. Keen gamers will be able to burn through the main game in around 6/7 hours, but others in the target audience will probably take longer. The bottom line is, I imagine for most people reading this, there are many far better gaming investments to be had this summer, and this should be pretty far down the list for serious gamers.
However, and this is probably what you expected as soon as you clicked on this review, if you are looking for a "my first platformer" for a younger child who they enjoyed the film, then you could do a lot worse than this, although only if they have already played LEGO Star Wars.
WALL·E, Xbox 360 - £28.55 delivered
25% off everything at Play-Asia Sale!
Play-Asia are having one of their "25% off everything" sales right now, for the next 10 days. I bet all of the best stuff will go fast though.
The deal is, as long as it is in stock, and has been out for 30 days or more, it qualifies. Items will be getting restocked too.
Here's the details
I'll have a look through now and pick out some of the highlights.
Grand Theft Auto IV, Xbox 360 - £20.50 delivered
Condemned 2: Bloodshot, Xbox 360 - £17 delivered
The Bourne Conspiracy, Xbox 360 - £20.50 delivered
GRID, Xbox 360 - £20.50 delivered
Sega Superstars Tennis, Xbox 360 - £15 delivered
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Xbox 360 - £15 delivered
Component Cables, Wii - £5.50 delivered
Official White Gamecube Controller - £14.50 delivered
No More Heroes (USA version), Wii - £19.50 delivered
Okami (USA version), Wii - £19 delivered
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (USA version), Wii - £23.50 delivered
Gunstar Super Heroes, GBA - £7 delivered
bit Generations: Boundish, GBA - £5 delivered
bit Generations: Digidrive, GBA - £5 delivered
bit Generations: Coloris, GBA - £5 delivered
Jet Set Radio, Dreamcast - £5 delivered
Let me know if you see any good deals.
The Government does not understand the internet
ID Cards.
I don't know if you feel strongly about them or not.
I completely understand the theoretical benefits to a unified compulsory ID system, however, the proposed implementation of ID cards is both highly flawed, and unlikely to realise any of those benefits in my opinion, and be very costly to the taxpayer.
Regardless of your opinion on the issue, I imagine that most of you think it is important to have a coherent and open public debate over the issue.
The government would probably like you to think it is supporting an open debate on the issue, it recently launched the 'debate forum' mylifemyid.org. Have a look over it, have a look at the information provided, and then have a close look at the forums.
It essentially amounts to propaganda. Every single government employee (the admins and mods) are towing the party line, supporting the ID cards plans 100%. Posts disagreeing with them are being edited, or even completely deleted, without a trace.
To register on the site, you are forced to give them personal information. You have to fork over your age, gender, location and current employment status. Which is one good way of scaring off privacy concious individuals.
Once you have registered, even if you uncheck every box regarding whether or not they can send you emails, your inbox will be bombarded with unsolicited, illegal, emails.
In addition to this, the government are using mine and your tax money to provide (what I hope is) free marketing to the following brands: Super Mario
Finding Nemo
Dilbert
Powerpuff Girls
Sonic the Hedgehog
and Batman
I don't care how kickass these brands may or may not be, my tax money should not be used to market them.
The forum code is terrible, up until a few minutes ago they were ordering posts with the oldest at the top. It frequently shows signatures twice, and the post ordering is in no way conducive to debate. The whole operation is geared towards being as spinable as possible. This government can't even put together a stable forum but they want us to trust them with a centralised database of our sensitive personal information?
I urge you to register and undermine it as much as possible.
If nothing else, this patronising drivel should not be the face of Britains youth:
Frontlines: Fuel of War - Special Edition, Xbox 360 - £17.95
Frontlines: Fuel of War - Special Edition, Xbox 360 - £17.95 delivered
Comes with:
Additional Content
Exclusive Art book
Limited edition T-shirt
Official Soundtrack
Poster
Cheers to Adam MacLeod for the tip off.
Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Legacy Edition, Xbox 360 - £10.99
Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Legacy Edition, Xbox 360 - £10.99 delivered
Guilty Gear XX Core, Wii - £2.99
Guilty Gear XX Core, Wii - £2.99 delivered
No idea if this entry in the series is any good, but at that price I am willing to take the risk.
Update: Looks like it's sold out now, hopefully they will honour my order.
House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, Wii - £12.99
House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, Wii - £12.99 delivered
Puzzle Quest - Challenge of the Warlords, PS2 - £3
Puzzle Quest - Challenge of the Warlords, PS2 - £3 delivered
Gameplay Sale Now on
Gameplay Sale Now on.
I'm having a look through it all for the best deals now ;D
Trauma Centre: Second Opinion, Wii - £12.49
Trauma Centre: Second Opinion, Wii - £12.49 collect in store.
Reserve it here and then take this printout along, and get them to pricematch + 10% of the difference. Comes out as £12.49 by my maths.
Burnout: Paradise, PS3 - £15.77
Burnout: Paradise, PS3 - £15.77 collect in store.
Reserve it here and then take this printout along, and get them to pricematch + 10% of the difference. Comes out as £15.77 by my maths.
Burnout: Paradise, Xbox 360 - £15.79
Burnout: Paradise, Xbox 360 - £15.79 collect in store.
Reserve it here and then take this printout along, and get them to pricematch + 10% of the difference. Comes out as £15.79 by my maths.
Army Of Two, Xbox 360 - £15.79
Army Of Two, Xbox 360 - £15.79 collect in store.
Reserve it here and then take this printout along, and get them to pricematch + 10% of the difference. Comes out as £15.79 by my maths.
Army Of Two, PS3 - £15.77
Army Of Two, PS3 - £15.77 collect in store.
Reserve it here and then take this printout along, and get them to pricematch + 10% of the difference. Comes out as £15.77 by my maths.
Xbox 360 Elite + GTA IV and Call of Duty 4: GOTY Edition - £289.99
Xbox 360 Elite + GTA IV and Call of Duty 4: GOTY Edition - £289.99 delivered
Xbox 360 Premium + GTA IV and Call of Duty 4: GOTY Edition - £229.99
Xbox 360 Premium + GTA IV and Call of Duty 4: GOTY Edition - £229.99 delivered
Xbox 360 Arcade + GTA IV and Call of Duty 4: GOTY Edition - £189.99
Xbox 360 Arcade + GTA IV and Call of Duty 4: GOTY Edition - £189.99 delivered
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Legacy Edition, Xbox 360 - £12.99
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Legacy Edition, Xbox 360 - £12.99 delivered
The original game plus all the DLC packs.
Tomb Raider: Legend, Xbox 360 - £4.99
Tomb Raider: Legend, Xbox 360 - £4.99 delivered
I played this on the Oxbox, this is exactly the same game with extra pretties right?
Bioshock: Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £19.99
Bioshock: Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £19.99 delivered
Now this is a proper Collectors Edition. Making of DVD, (fantastic) Soundtrack CD and a Big Daddy Figure.
Gears Of War 2: Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £39.99
Gears Of War 2: Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £39.99 delivered
Beautiful Katamari, Xbox 360 - £10.29
Beautiful Katamari, Xbox 360 - £10.29 collect in store.
Reserve it here and then take this printout along, and get them to pricematch + 10% of the difference. Comes out as £10.29 by my maths.
Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, PS2 - £4.99
Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, PS2 - £4.99 delivered
Sonic Mega Collection Plus, PS2 - £4.99
Sonic Mega Collection Plus, PS2 - £4.99 delivered
Pretty much a must own if you have any love for 2D platformers.
Perfect Dark Zero - Limited Edition, Xbox 360 - £4.99
Perfect Dark Zero - Limited Edition, Xbox 360 - £4.99 delivered
It's it pretty bad game, but if you (like me) want to find that out for yourself, no need to spend more than this.
Assassins Creed Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £19.99
Assassins Creed Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £19.99 delivered
Comes with rather kickass Altair statue thing.
Space Invaders Extreme, DS - £12.83
Space Invaders Extreme, DS - £12.83 delivered
A few pennies cheaper than my previous post. No excuse to not get this game.
Mass Effect, Xbox 360 - £9.99
Mass Effect, Xbox 360 - £9.99 Collect in store
I think this is a clearance, but there seems to be plenty of stock.
Thansk to Xush for the tip off.
Update:
Even better, head to PC world armed with this printout, and get them to pricematch + 10% of the difference. Since they are charging £32.99 for it, by my maths it should come to £7.69 after the pricematch.
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Gamecube - £12
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Gamecube - £12 delivered
That's with the bongos included.
One of my favourite 2D platformers ever. Really, really excellent, and a bargain at that price.
Rhythm Tengoku Gold, DS - £21
Rhythm Tengoku Gold, DS - £21 delivered
If this is anything like the GBA version, it'll be fantastic, and language barrier will be minimal.
It's basically WarioWare + Elite Beat Agents, only a little bit crazier and better than that would imply.
After playing this for long enough, this will make perfect sense:
If you like crazy Japanese import (and if I know my audience, I bet you do) you should definitely pick this up.
Xbox 360 wireless controller - £22.99
Xbox 360 wireless controller - £22.99 delivered
If you haven't already, head to Eurogamer.net and grab a £2 shopto voucher for free.
Lost Odyssey, Xbox 360 - £14.69
Lost Odyssey, Xbox 360 - £14.69 delivered
Apply code "B4U" for 2% off
Infinite Undiscovery, Xbox 360 - £29.98
Infinite Undiscovery, Xbox 360 - £29.98 delivered
Pretty good pre-order price.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, PC - £17.99
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, PC - £17.99 delivered
£3 off £30 at Game.co.uk
Head to Game.co.uk, and apply code "DXT74JR2" to a basket of £30 or more for £3 off.
You can also get £2 off any item priced £29.99 by adding a gift wrap to nudge it over £30
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Review
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, PS3 - £29.99 delivered
Review by Amitai Winehouse
From the off, I want to confirm one thing about myself and my relationship with the Metal Gear Solid series. For some, it is an abusive relationship, in which one partner seems to be nothing but schizophrenic, changing his whim and direction of the game when it suits him. On the other hand, there are those such as me, who take even the very worst with boyish glee, pushing aside the very little we find bad, and savouring the best like the last few inches of a Bacon Sandwich.
I can however see why some may not like Metal Gear Solid. After all, some people do not like balloons, fluffy toys and anything else worth smiling about. Typing away at their computers (yes, I do realise the hypocrisy), they try to confine things to unwritten rules and laws, in this case, video games. Many of those detractors seem to focus on the fact that Metal Gear Solid 4 (and the entire series in reality) is very heavy on sections when you are not allowed to play the game. But the truth is, those who looked forward to MGS4 would in reality be disappointed if we were not told to "Live, Snake" at least once. The games would really only be half the games they are if it wasn't for these long movie like sections. Kojima has always taken the stance that video games are art, and this is his way of expressing it, through additional story development.
The gameplay itself is very good. However, I'm going to have to take off my fanboy cap at least once, and look at this objectively. The thing which we fans were most excited about (being in a dynamically changing battlefield) is only present for the first 2 of 5 areas in the game. Even though there are sections which are incredibly innovative and are nice touches (the following of a resistance member through Europe being one of them), much of it is the "same old, same old" with the omnipresent vehicle, sneaking, and gunning segments being involved. Sometimes you can still wish for a game to be slightly innovative.
The game is also beautiful. I mean, the surroundings are nice, the characters look realistic (and so does nearly everything else), and there are some serious "Whoa" moments when the game transitions from cut scene to in game. Rather than fading to black, occasionally, the camera will merely move behind Snake, and honestly, the in-game engine makes the game and cutscenes look beautiful enough to be CGI movies rather than video games. However, the abuse of brown is something I wish would stop in video gaming. I mean seriously, since when did everything have to be so dank and depressing. Windwaker is an example of a game using art to make a game better. I'm not suggesting Metal Gear Solid become a Cartoon game, but it is ridiculous that the only green in the game comes from a 30 minute long section. Other colours are totally removed from this world. Even MGS3 had a nicer pallete of colour, and I wish Kojima had not decided to go with the rest of the gaming world and sacrifice some beauty for 'realism'.
The story is really Metal Gear Solid personified. I'm not going to say too much in order to avoid spoilers for those of you who haven't yet played it, but there is enough good fan service in this game to make anyone happy. This may however eliminated newer fans of the series, which may not be good considering this is the game that is meant to sell Playstation 3s. The game does a fairly good job of containing things however, and despite referencing the other games in the series, one could get away with going in totally blind (as discovered when asking friends about the game, who loved it). There are also several twists, including one that honestly shocked me beyond all belief.
In reality, I was never not going to love this game. I'd rate this up there with some of my favourite movies, and I'd say that this is without a doubt the best video game I've ever played. People may point to things such as GTA IV for being so tremendously huge, or Mass Effect for taking literally a lifetime to come near completion, but MGS4 is the best experience I've ever had with a video game.
Plus a single line in the game made me start crying.
I am not going to attach a number to this, but would recommend it to anyone. If I hadn't of owned a PS3 before this, I would have been glad to pay the full price of the console for this game alone. Go and pick it up. I know I'll be buying Metal Gear Solid 4: Subsandwich.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, PS3 - £29.99 delivered
Day of Defeat: Source, PC - £2.96
PC World clearance
Just been in PC World Manchester, near Old Trafford. They have a pretty large selection of older game on clearance, buy one get one free. Most around a tenner.
They have DS, PSP, PS2, Xbox 360 and one or two PS3 games available. I was nearly tempted by Yakuza for £10, but couldn't find another PS2 game I wanted (you can't mix and match formats).
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars: Limited Edition, PC - £8.73
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars: Limited Edition, PC - £8.73 delivered
I just got a Nokia N95
I am posting this from my new mobile phone, how cool is that!
Expect lots of pointless "Wow! Guess who/what I just saw" posts from now on.
It will be great for posting from PAX too.
In other tenously related news, later on this month I am going to be heading to LA for 3 days courtesy of Activision. No, I'm not that important. I won a guitar hero competition. I'll get back just in time for the Omega Sektor meetup.
Project Gotham Racing 4, Xbox 360 - £11.75
Project Gotham Racing 4, Xbox 360 - £11.75 delivered
Apply code "B4U" for 2% off
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