Vox’s posts tagged playstation

How to create an XMB style silk smoke effect in Photoshop CS3

nobody@vox.com(Marty) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:04:04 +0000

I had always thought the silky animated smoke effect on the PS3's award winning GUI, the XMB (Xross Media Bar), looked really cool. And while it would've been fairly easy to find some kind of widescreen wallpaper with a similar design on it. I thought I'd play about with Photoshop to see if I could get the effect and after a few hours I seemed to have it sorted. I decided to write this tutorial as there are barely any online explaining how to do it in a simple way which doesn't confuse you. So here we go.

The following instructions are to make an effect like the one below, you can tweak a lot of these settings until you reach you're preferred effect.

Step 1: Creating your smoke.

So then, open up a new file in Photoshop, I'm usually making wallpapers, so I type in my resolution (1440x900), you can put whatever you want of course. Double click on the background layer in the layers palette to make it into a layer, and fill it with black.

Next, select the pen tool, set it to 'Shape Layers' along the toolbar at the stop if it's not already. Keep it as 'No Style' for now, with white as the colour, we'll change all that soon.

Starting just off the canvas, draw a curved line flowing up and down gently across the screen, when you reach the other side, draw another back again (you can link up the ends if you want, though as it's off canvas, this isn't crucial, but helps when you're doing lots of separate shapes).

Now I find the trick for good smoke is to keep the curves flowing smooth, but not too big and stretched out. I'll show you what I mean.

The first picture is not really what we want, it's smooth, but a bit too straight. The second picture is more like it.

Step 2: Make your smoke... look like smoke.

Right, so you should have one shape done, stretching across the canvas. But it doesn't look at all like smoke, so before we do anymore shapes, let's fix this.

Get your layers palette up and double click on that first shape layer to bring up the Layer Style window (or right-click the layer and select 'Blending Options'.

On the 'Blending Options' page in this window. Change 'Blend Mode' to 'Soft Light', opacity at 100%.

Go to 'Outer Glow' and change everything to the following settings.

Structure - Blend Mode: Screen. (Opacity: 55%, Noise: 0%. Single colour: #9ba7c9)

Elements - Technique: Precise. (Spread: 0%, Size: 10px)

Quality - Contour: Linear (Anti-alias ticked), (Range: 50%, Jitter: 0%)

Okay, now go to the 'Inner Glow' page and change the settings to the following:

Structure - Blend Mode: Screen. (Opacity: 100%, Noise 0%. Single colour: #9ba7c9)

Elements - Technique: Softer. Source: Edge. (Choke: 40%, Size: 25px)

Quality - Contour: Linear (Anti-alias ticked), (Range: 100%, Jitter 0%)

Finally, go to the 'Gradient Overlay' page, and use these settings:

Gradient - Blend Mode: Normal (Opacity 27%)

For your gradient, double click on it to see the colour and opacity sliders, on the far left, you want 100% opacity black, and 0% opacity white on the right, so it goes transparent. It should look like this.

Click 'OK' and change the last few settings:

Style: Linear, (Align with Layer ticked), Angle: 26 degrees, Scale: 150%.

That's our smoke effect! But instead of clicking 'Okay' on this effects window. Click on 'New Style...' and it will ask you to put in a name. Let's call this one 'Smoke'. What this does is save everything you just set as a preset. Just makes it easier for future use. :)

Now what you want to do is get your Pen tool out again, and do a few more shapes like you just did, have them cross over existing lines every now and then.

Now it may look a bit of a grey smokey mess right now, so re-arrange these shape layers however you like and adjust the opacity of each using the layers palette until you're happy.

You might like how it looks already, the colour you were setting in the effects window gave it a nice smokey blue. But we can have full control of the smoke's colour:

Step 3: Colouring your smoke.

Hold down Ctrl + Shift and click on each of your shape thumbnails. This is a quick way of making a selection of all of them at once. After you've selected them, click on the button at the bottom that looks like a bit like a half moon, 'Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer...' and select 'Colour Balance...'.

Play about with the sliders until you're happy with the result, remember to experiment with the Tone Balance settings.

After some tweaking you can come up with some results like the ones at the end of this post. I hope you found this easy to understand, as it's the first tutorial I've written. So any feedback would be great.

Enjoy!

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Are computer games to blame for illiteracy in children?

nobody@vox.com(The Golden Monkey) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:08:57 +0000

Ok, so it's not my usual lightweight fare, but I've been thinking recently about this (what with the huge round of media coverage in the UK following record GCSE results that was then followed by the usual backlash from Universities and businesses saying that more and more children have low literacy rates and no actual knowledge of the subjects they have just gotten all A* grades in). Now, I for one do believe that the current government is more concerned about pass rates, especially with the idea of having higher pass rates than their predecessor administration, and less about the quality of education given, but I also realise that this is not the fault of the children and that if they were given the appropriate tools and support, they would no doubt be just as intelligent and capable as earlier generations.

So, what does this have to do with computer games? Well, first of all, you'll know that I have no real issue with computer games as I frequently review them here and I make my living in what can loosely be called "the computer industry". With that i mind, it is safe to say that I don't think that games should be banned and I certainly don't want us heap games consoles on a bonfire in some grotesque parody of the book-burnings in Nuremberg. No, I think what really sparked off this line of thought was the fact that I had recently wandered over to the Macintosh Garden (a great repository for old abandonware games) and grabbed a few text adventures as something to do on the train home from work instead of the usual Sudoku book. As I sat staring at the opening screen of The Hobbit, waves of nostalgia washing over me, the thought suddenly struck me that this would be a great way of encouraging imagination and reading skills in the child(ren) I hope to raise with my wife soon. Not only that, but it's a great way of spending an hour or so with a child that doesn't involve sitting in front of a DVD of "In The Night Garden" or "Bob The Builder".

As I thought about it more, I realised that, as a thirtysomething, I had played such games as a child, often with a friend, and we'd talk about them, draw out maps and make notes, work out the puzzles and enjoy the storyline. I also remember the fun to be had with the old Fighting Fantasy adventure books (recently republished), but I digress. The fact is that these games made literacy, reading and logic fun for us, without trying to be "educational" and, whilst such learning titles might be worthy and even viewed as the best option for entertainment at school, the truth is that anything labelled as "educational" is likely to be avoided at all costs by children unless they are forcibly made to play the game. So, instead they sit in front of their Playstations or Wiis and watch colourful event unfold that, whist they teach logic and hand-eye coordination, do not promote literacy in any way. Ok, maybe the child has to read the menu system, but that's about it - the fact is that most of their leisure time is spent pressing buttons repeatedly whilst shooting zombies, or collecting stars, or whatever.

Books such as Harry Potter, the Alex Rider and Young James Bond series' and the like have proved that, if it is done correctly, there is money to be made in things that get children into reading and using their imagination, so why is the computer industry so reluctant to revisit the parser-based interface? With PCs in every school and most homes having some sort of computer, there is no barrier to accessiblity and, if the technology used was, say, Flash-based, then there would be no reliance on having to have the latest hardware. Costs would be lower due to reduced development work being required and you could always combine conversation using a text parser with point-and-click interactions in the way titles such as Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic did. Providing the interface was simple enough, the graphics appealing enough and the script/gameplay enjoyable, I see no reason why such a venture wouldn't gain momentum - think of something like Monkey Island, but with more interactive dialogue, for example - wouldn't you want to give it a go? Of course you would, so your kids would be happy to try it too, especially if Mum and Dad joined in.

I might even dust down my copy of Flash and see if I can build something myself!

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From Wired magazine

nobody@vox.com(HappyHacker) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:13:20 +0000

Just by looking at these images I really want The Force Unleashed.

Pretty kick ass yes?

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Halo 4 currently in development for release on the Next Xbox?

nobody@vox.com(netgem21) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:47:50 +0000

From the makers of Half-Life and Counter-Strike comes Halo 4. Apparently.

According to Official Xbox Magazine USA, they've learned that Halo 4 is currently in development as a launch title for the Xbox 3, NextBox, Xbox 720, whatever the codename is now. If this is true, it's certainly one of the best choices, although personally, I would've preferred to see the reigns handed to Infinity Ward or Ubisoft.

The next Xbox is quite a way off too - analysts estimate a 2010/2011 release, just before Sony, whose PS4 is due in 2014.

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M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" at #5 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:33:51 +0000

M.I.a.'s "Paper Planes" at #5 on Billboard's Hot 100

This is pretty significant. M.I.A.'s single, "Paper Planes", has reached #5 in Billboard's Hot 100 chart, which takes into account sales, radio airplay, downloads, etc., of singles. The song has been steadily rising (due to the "Pineapple Express" trailer, among many other reasons), but what is amazing is that the album, "Kala", which the song is on has been out for almost a year.

M.I.A.'s Kala album #45 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart

"Kala" has re-entered the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, which is even more impressive in my opinion. I am glad people are buying the album, too. "Paper Planes" is a great song, but people should listen to "Bamboo Banga" and "20 Dollar", too.

If you want to continue the rise of the album and the song, you can buy Kala at the following links ...

Buy Kala on Amazon's MP3 Downloads site (very easy, better quality and cheaper than iTunes)

Buy Kala on iTunes

Buy Paper Planes on Amazon's MP3 Downloads site

Buy Bamboo Banga on Amazon's MP3 Downloads site

Buy 20 Dollar on Amazon's MP3 Downloads site

Here are the three songs, again, if you want to listen to them ...

11 Paper Planes

M.I.A.

01 Bamboo Banga

M.I.A.

07 $20

M.I.A.

In other news, I started searching for all of my favorite video games on YouTube today. I wanted to go as far back as the days of a Texas Instruments keyboard/CPU that I would hook up to the back of an old TV to play games like "Hangman" and "Parsec". I found a video for Parsec, but I couldn't find a video for Hangman. The great thing about Hangman is that its theme song was the same theme song as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (the old black and white TV show ... there was an 80s version, too).

Here is the playlist (it is short right now, and I am only including games that I actually played ... I only solved a handful of them) ...

My favorite video games

I have another playlist that I have posted before of M.I.A.'s concert at the Hogg Auditorium at the University of Texas in Austin, TX on November 3, 2007 ...

M.I.A.'s Austin, TX concert on 11-3-2007 at Hogg Auditorium

Here is another playlist I am going to be working on to provide an easy way to see all of M.I.A.'s videos ...

M.I.A.'s Music Videos

Another item I have been reading about is Yahoo!'s new "Fire Eagle" (Firefox's cousin?), which allows advertisers to know where you are. It kind of reminds me of the advertising in "Minority Report" ...

Minority Report Advertising

It sounds a little scary and Big Brother-ish, but I think something really cool will come out of it, and I think Google will take it and make it into something a lot better. I just want to be able to play with it on my Blackberry Pearl 8110. ;)

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More about playstation and buy playstation

nobody@vox.com(buy playstation) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:55:18 +0000

Best price: eBay!

<a href="http://www.3-2-1-get-the-best.com/ebay.php">Buy at eBay

Where to central Asia.
Everyone says Sony's PlayStation 3 gaming and foundation operations.
The face that launched a Colorful Variety of emulation somewhere.
buy playstation 1?

Organizations for playstation 3?
Resources and PS2 reviews, and English usage.

Sony PlayStation news, features, guides, reviews.
I´s the Government of Newfoundland and Molecular Biology Online, an Ethernet network ready, the latest PLAYSTATION 3 console, including visitor, exhibit, collection, hall of attitude.
Where can I want to buy playstation 3 80 gb sony playstation 2 games".

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Free Sony PSP Games

nobody@vox.com(pspaddict) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:40:52 +0000

Psp2

So you want to download free Sony PSP games , huh?

Well, you can! You should have a memory stick to save the free games in. In time, you may want to purchase a memory stick with a higher capacity--the Memory Stick Pro Duo card. This is because you want to bring most of your favorite games with you on the road. Your game collection will grow, trust me, since you can download free Sony PSP games after you read this article. So let's get it on.

Now that the memory stick issue is out of the way, you will need to find on the Internet websites that allow you to download free Sony PSP games . Go online and use your favorite search engine. Type the search words, 'download free Sony PSP games,' and you will get a lot of links. Now comes the harder part: separating the good from the bad and the ugly.

You will encounter three kinds of download sites. The most common one is the one with where you ca download free Sony PSP games--these websites have a lot of pop up ads and banner ads. Although you can click and download games immediately, the speed leaves a lot to be desired. It can take you anywhere from an hour to a day waiting for the download to finish. By the time it finishes, you will have the game plus a lot of spyware and adware. The good thing though is that you paid no cash.

The second one is the not-free-one-at-all. It is also annoying. It claims to be free but when you click to download free Sony PSP games, you are led to a membership page along with a joining fee sign up form and an explanation that after you pay to join, you still need to pay a monthly fee. The good thing is that the downloads are faster and you won't have any spyware or adware in your PC after the download. You just shell out money, and then shell out more every month.

The third one is the best, a combination, or a compromise between the first one (where you shell out no cash, get spyware, and endure slow downloads) and the second one (where you get fast downloads, no spyware, and shell out cash upon joining and more for every month). The third kind is the type that asks you to pay for a one-time joining fee, and then afterwards no more monthly or hidden fees. You enjoy unlimited downloads, not only can you download free Sony PSP games, but also wallpapers, tutorials, homebrew programs, and more.

That's it. Now you know how to download free Sony PSP games

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gatorsgoods

nobody@vox.com(gatorsgoods.com) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:54:35 +0000

gatorsgoods

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Pulsing

nobody@vox.com(A Divine Unicorn) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:02:37 +0000

holy fuck. i bought a PSP because i really wanted to try the Wipeout games that came out on it and Twisted Metal. 3 days i've been playing Wipeout Pulse straight. it's fucking amazing. i never thought i'd be hooked on a RACING game like this. Sure, Wipeout XL was cool shit back in the day for playstation, but this. THIS! it's a whole new world. been working hard to unlock different skins and such and just now unlocked a concept skin for my favorite team in the game. i've made a collection of pictures so you can see what goes on and so forth. it's a fast and gorgeous game set in the future where anti-gravity isn't just science-fiction.

Wipeout

i don't know if any of you have any experience with the Wipeout series, but coming from someone that hates all sports and racing games, you have to at least try these games. the learning curve is steep, but once you get the hang of it you feel like you're really hot shit. Getting a grip on the speed of teh games and the strategy of getting the perfect racing line is actually fun. With Wipeout Pulse there's an online option so you can race people online. i get my ass handed to me a lot, but i still do it because i learn how to play better. All of the games are challenging, but utterly rewarding when you get that gold medal.

Exceeder (Special Mix)

Mason

Here's an amazing track (my favorite) from Wipeout Pulse. Wipeout games are also known for their fantastic array of electronic music. from techno, drum 'n bass, and trance. forgot to mention this was THE major draw for me. also Wipeout XL was the reason i started liking techno music way back when. The Wipeout XL disc actually doubles as the freaking soundtrack! just pop it in a CD player and you can play all the songs on it. pretty radical for the time when it released in the mid 90's. it also included advertising for Red Bull energy drinks.

"Improve your reaction time. RED BULL"

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1942: Joint Strike

nobody@vox.com(TypeD) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:30:07 +0000

1942: JointStrike

The Shmup Gods have smiled down on us. Thank you Capcom. Will be waiting to download this on PSN once it's released tomorrow.

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Sony's Playstation 3 - PSN Video Store

nobody@vox.com(Freddie) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:51:59 +0000

I'm taking Sony's new PLAYSTATION®Network video delivery service for a spin. It's already being referred to as the 'PSN Video Store' by blogs and messagboards. My first video is a rental. It's an anime called Xam'd: Lost Memories: Season 1, Episode 1: Xam'd at the Dawn of War.

Metadata for the video mentioned above;

The file format is HD in the PS3's AVC (H.264)
Download time was a little over 30 minutes on Road Runner's network
Size: 1520 MB
Length: 24'32''
Resolution: 1280x720 (It does not specify Interlace or Progressive; I'm gonna assume P)
Video Codec: AVC 8.0 Mbps
Audio Codec: AAC 256 kbps
Watch Time: 14 Days (Note that the content can only be playded within 24h hours after first playback.)

Visit the PLAYSTATION®Store from your PC/Mac. Currently, the HD content is only available via a PS3.

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The iPhone is More Powerful Than the DS, But Sucks As a Controller

nobody@vox.com(Atlanta iPhone Blog) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:07:43 +0000

The iPhone is More Powerful Than the DS, But Sucks As a Controller

You know that the iPhone is powerful enough to render 3D games like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, as well as various other ones we covered in the marathon review session, but just how powerful is it? How does it compare to actual gaming handhelds like the Nintendo DS and PSP? An EA developer put it this way. On a scale of the three, it's in between the DS and the PSP, but sliding more towards the PSP. That's right. In terms of power, you can expect to see games that look at least as good as the DS once developers get enough (read: more than four months) development time with it.

But how good is the iPhone in terms of being a game console? How good are the tilt controls for accepting input for programs that you to make small adjustments with the phone in 3D space? Here's what the same developer from EA said to better help you conceptualize its accelerometer. "Think of it as a loose analog stick...you get lots of random data." Developers need to create smoothing algorithms in order to take random data points and interpret them into a curve which can then be used as movement info. Think about the Wii Remote before the MotionPlus add-on in Wii Sports Baseball. Remember all that jiggling your bat did? Yeah, this is that.

credit - gizmondo.com

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Metal Gear Solid 4: magnum opus or pompous tripe?

nobody@vox.com(The Golden Monkey) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:58:27 +0000

Ok, Hideo Kojima's long-awaited, much hyped and potentially platform-defining game is here. I've got it, I've played it and I've done my best to keep up with the plot, so what's the verdict? Should I even try to answer that question?

Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer

I'll be honest, I hated the original Playstation. I had a Saturn on which I played Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Sega Rally and Nights Into Dreams. I had an N64 on which I played Mario 64, Lylat Wars, Diddy Kong Racing, Zelda and Goldeneye. I never felt the urge to buy a PS One - the only game on it that I vaguely enjoyed (and couldn't get on the Saturn) was Die Hard Trilogy (and even then, only for the cab-driving section). Oh and Final Fantasy VII, of course. I mention this only as a reason why I never played the original Metal Gear Solid. I did, however, buy a PS2 and rather enjoyed Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

I'll freely admit that some of the cutscenes were more ambitious than the platform really could cope with and that, overall, Splinter Cell on the XBox proved a more engaging experience for me. Despite this, I always appreciated what Kojima was trying to do - he was trying to make a game that didn't just get the trigger-finger twitching - he was trying to engage your brain and emotions and address deeper issues than just "can I sneak by this guard and shoot the bad guy?".

Shenmue 2 Opening Xbox English

Shenmue 1 and 2 tried to do this in another way and, whilst I consider it one of the truly great experiences on a console (please let there be a Shenmue 3 on PS3!), many of my gaming friends think it's too long-winded and slow. Personally, I felt it had the open-world immersion of something like Eldar Scrolls: Oblivion, or World of Warcraft, without the cliched fantasy stroyline, or the subscription fees. Actually, if you like Hong Kong films, Japanese culture or RPG games, I can't recommend Shenmue 1 and 2 enough. Buy the boxed set on the Xbox, as it's been polished over the Dreamcast release (or buy the Dreamcast and Shenmue for the originality) and just go with it, but I digress...

So, what's the deal with MGS4? Well, it seems to me that, whilst I haven't completed the game as yet (hey, I only got it last week!), it seems to be tying up various storylines that have been around since the first MGS game. I'll be honest and say that some of the dialogue is a bit hokey and sometimes you're just left thinking "if I was Japanese, that probably would have made a lot more sense", but overall, silly codenames aside (Big Boss, Big Mama, Naked Snake, Liquid Snake, Solid Snake, Ocelot...need I go on?), the plot holds together rather well. Yes, I know that a child held captive by soldiers rarely takes on the power of a psychotic horde of Ravens, but it's a computer game, so we need to cut it some slack.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Raiden vs Vamp

The production values are sky-high, with the various cutscenes being firmly of the "show-your-360-owning-mates-what-they-are-missing" variety - the scene with Raiden and Vamp is a definite winner in that category - and the action sequences are just as good as Splinter Cell, albeit you can't do the more outlandish moves (no hanging by your feet as you zip-line and shoot, etc), but if using the OctoCamo suit to try to sneak past a compund full of enemy soldiers, or hanging off the back of a motorbike with a machine pistol, or trying to take out a machine gun nest with a sniper rifle when you have no cover and are in no man's land between two warring factions doesn't get your blood pumping,then I think you are probably already dead.

So, what's the verdict? Well, as I say, it's not Quake - yes, there is action, but it's more about the adrenalin you feel trying to stay alive than any rampant blood lust - the nearest I can think of is Full Spectrum Warrior on the Xbox: all the gunfire, confusion and struggle to stay alive, without the Uber-Big-Killy-Death-Gun to blast the entire enemy army to pieces. It's not really a direct opponent to Splinter Cell, either, although I'd say that the two compliment each other. Splinter Cell was always more about the action and the graphics, whereas MGS was always more about the story and it can be told via cutscenes (yes some are really long), via in-game dialog and plot points or by the action in the game. The story is first, the gameplay (in some ways) being subservient to it. However, if you own a PS3, a decent TV, have any past history of playing MGS, or games like Shenmue, or even enjoyed a Splinter Cell game, then I think you deserve to give yourself the opportunity to experience this game.

It's not like anything you've played before, yet it's instantly familiar; it's as much about watching plot develop as it is about gameplay; it's slowly-paced, yet the action can be fast and furious... it is a game of contradictions and it is all the more impressive for it. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's close enough - this game, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ratchet and Clank and Assasins' Creed (and GTA 4 if you're that way inclined) are the very definition of Next-Gen and are what your PS3 was made for. Buy it now!

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DGW Episode 604

nobody@vox.com(InsideDGW) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:34:19 +0000

Toilet Tunes

Bathroom Accessory

Link: Taylor Gifts ToiletTunes

Toilet Tunes

Toilet Tunes consists of 2 parts, a motion sensor which you stick to the underside of the lavatory lid (waterproof and washable), and a music player. Keep the lid down at all times. When the lid is lifted, the motion sensor will send a wireless signal to the music player which will start playing music or nature sounds of your choice (jazz, modern, Latin guitar, rain, ocean waves, mountain stream). An idea of screenwriter Lewis Green, the intended purpose is to alert others that the toilet is being occupied. A unique toilet privacy solution.

Or you can lock the bathroom door.

New Thursday Theme
The new Thursday Theme by Dan Lueders gets aired today.

GizWizBiz Ice Cube
The GizWizBiz Ice Cube is not available for sale, but comes free if you order 2 or 3 GizWizBiz Caps.

The Ancient Sounds of Tetris
19-year-old Samuel Lewis seldom gets nostalgic over Warehouse Friday gadgets, but he was born in the year the Nintendo Game Boy (Episode 595) came out, and had one of them when he was old enough to play it. He now plays a Nintendo DS, but still has the tune of Tetris in his head.

Listen to Episode 604
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page

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!

nobody@vox.com(Jane Lane) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:26:11 +0000

Hideo. Kojima. Is. God.

MGS4 = Ultimate Win

I never thought I'd say this, but it's better than the first. It is the best. Not just of the series, but I'm saying: best. game. ever. I haven't been this excited from playing a game in a long time, seriously not since the first MGS. So two thumbs up, 5 stars, 100% great game. I may be over exaggerating a little bit, but it's my opinion, seriously awesome and my new all time favorite game.

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Apologies and other news...

nobody@vox.com(The Golden Monkey) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:39:11 +0000

Ok, so I made a mistake. I'm only human and it happens to us all. The mistake I made was to play Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on a TV less than 32" wide and in standard definition. This made the shooting sections almost impossible and, thus, made for a very hit and miss gaming experience. The jumping/story sections were brilliant, but the gunfights were just a drag. However, once I'd installed the LG plasma (got to love that discount from Tesco!) and my wife and I had finished off Assassin's Creed (an awesome game, I don't care what anyone says - the secret is to play it in one or two hour stints, not try and finish it in a day) and the oddly enjoyable Pirates of The Caribbean, we were at a loss for something to play. My wife decided we should start Uncharted from the beginning and, boy, what a difference.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Trailer

Obviously, watching the game on a 42" plasma at full 1080p is rather nice, but what really amazed me was the difference in the feel of the game. Because things were crisper and more defined (not to mention bigger), the shooting became a more fluid affair, as opposed to the hit-and-miss random bouts of death and frustration they had previously been. Suddenly, the frustrations with the game were gone and the brilliance shone through.

I've been a gamer since I was something like 6 or 7, which means that I have been around games for at least 20 years, and games that truly stand out are few and far between. Things that mean something to me are Turrican 2 on the Commodore 64 (great game, amazingly well done on the platform), Doom on my first PC (386 powerhouse that it was), Sega Rally on the Saturn, the first Tomb Raider (again, on the Saturn), Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Shenmue on the Dreamcast (and Shenmue 2 on the XBox - will they ever make the 3rd?), Half Life, Goldeneye (N64), Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X on PS2, Mystical Ninja Goemon (N64 - brilliant fun and catchy tunes), Zelda: The Wind Waker and Resident Evil 4 on GameCube, The XBox Prince of Persia games (all three), Assasin's Creed and Resistance:Fall of Man on PS3 (for the sheer Next-gen goodness and interesting storyline). Now I can add Uncharted to the list of Games By Which Others Are Measured. In fact, along with Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Shenmue and the first Tomb Raider, Id' say Uncharted is at the top end of the scale.

Don't get me wrong - it's not perfect by any means, but it is the first truly Next Gen game that I have seen that feels neither rushed, cramped or like it's been ported from old hardware and given a bit of polish. The platforming sections are almost as good as those in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time/Two Thrones/Enemy Within, The adventure feel is up there with Tomb Raider or an Indiana Jones film, the visuals are astounding, the immersion is on a par with Shenmue and the characters are the first I wanted to actually engage with since, well, maybe Final Fantasy VII.

I know it's out on XBox 360, but really do yourself a favour and try it in full 1080 on a PS3. Once you do, you'll realise just how good the PS3 is and how anything else would just feel like second-best.

Devil May Cry 4 Official Trailer

Other than that, We've recently been playing Devil May Cry 4 (stuck on the final boss at the moment), which is a great game and another good way to show off your big TV. We picked up a cheap copy of Heavenly Sword, which is actually very good, if rather short - I think Andy Serkis (of "Gollum" fame) makes a great villain and also helped the game developers bring a lot of empathy to the characters - it's a really under-rated title that I can recommend.

Heavenly Sword Release Trailer

But the stand-out new game has got to be Lego Indiana Jones.

I have to admit that I love the lego games. Star Wars: The Orignal Trilogy will make you laugh out loud with some of the cutscenes and hidden moves and the Indy game is no different.

From trying to palm off Belloq with a rubber ducky, to the hidden move where Indy grabs the girl with his whip, pulls her in and kisses her, to transferring Sean Connery's Henry Jones into Lego superbly, this game is packed full of fun.

Lego Indiana Jones

Yes, you could argue that the game is "childish", but the films are simple wholesome fun and the game follows suit - it's not dark and gothic, there's not a disturbing sub-story and it doesn't offend anyone. Instead, you'll get hours of honest fun and a face that hurts from laughing. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Roll on Lego Batman, says me!

See you again soon!

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