Hello all and once again welcome to Home Weekly, covering the latest updates and news for PlayStation Home.
Starting off this week's new content anyone visiting Home Square will be pleased to know they will be greatly rewarded with a very special Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodle costume. The costume comes as part of Pot Noodle's 'Easy Street' marketing campaign which up until now in Home has only included various posters.
Keeping on the theme of costumes, two new Novus Prime Mech Suits have been released. Both suits cost £5.49 and each come a unquie feature. The first, the Rogue Mech-Suit allows users to gather nebulon even while not playing Novus Prime, to increase their daily salary even further. The second suit, the Power-Mech Suit, comes with a 'Nebulon Magnet' which will help draw nearby nebulon towards the user's ship while playing the game. As already stated, both suits cost £5.49 and they can be purchased from the Novus Prime Store, the in-space vendor or from the Featured Items section of the Navigator.
Moving on and it seems that Lockwood once again bring new offerings, this time in the form of Drey, Home's first high-end, big-name clothing range. Shoes, hairstyles, shorts, headphones and tops are just a few of the items which make up both the Motorcycle Urban (male items) and Metallic Muse (female items) bundles. The Drey collection can be found in the Lockwood Store or the Featured Items section of the Navigator.
The final set of new content is again from Lockwood. Retronauts is an expansion of the already existing Fool Throttle collection. Retonauts includes guns, gloves, headsets, helmets, hair and other clothing with can all be purchased individually or as part of one of the various Clothing Packs; XE3A, XE3B, Z1726A and Z1726B. The prices of each single item varies, although the complete packs cost £4.79 and £3.99 for the A Type Pack and B Type Packs respectively. As with Drey, these can be found at either the Featured Items Section or Lockwood itself.
So, that's all for this week's latest content. Here is of course, as always, the links to both James Gallagher's weekly PlayStation Blog post with his rundown of this week's content and to an audio version of this post:
Living Life Without Limits - James Gallagher - EU PlayStation Blog
Pot Noodle and Other Costumes (Audio Version) - randomthings - SoundCloud
And also, the Home Weekly US Revamp Special is now to be released later this week. I am incredibly sorry for the delay to this, but I hope to have the post online by this coming Sunday.
So, now I just would like to thank for both listening and reading. I have been randomthings and I hope to be back again soon.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Home Weekly - Sodium2: Payback and More
Hello all and welcome one again to Home Weekly, covering the latest news and updates for PlayStation Home.
Following last week's major Revamp update it appears that Lockwood have now unleashed a new batch of content in the form on Sodium2: Payback. The Payback update has brought along a total of twenty eight reward items for working through the levels in S2. Any returning Project Velocity players will also be pleased to know that you will unlock any reward as you enter the space if you have already reached the relevant level.
As well as this, a new rival feature has been implemented, which is said to allow players to go head-to-head with any other player, whereas this could only be done with friends previously. The final new feature is that of Launch Boosting. As many may have previous suspected would soon be in place, players can now earn a boot off of the starting grid if they accelerate at the right moment.
Moving away from Sodium and towards the Shopping Mall, it appears that many of this week's new items are companions. Starting off in the Stuff store, Sackboy is the first companion and he can also be purchased from the LBP Pod space. The second batch of companions comes from the AAA store in Eastern Mall area. The new Devilrobot items, which includes six new lovable, yet strange companions.
Also on sale in the Eastern Mall is the latest content from MyDeco. A DJ mixing deck and a levitating chair are just two of the new items.
And final piece of content from within Home this week is the latest offerings from Ganzella, which includes both furniture, clothes and a golden retriever.
Also this week comes an extra item that is only available from outside Home itself. Any Facebook users can grab themselves a pair of 'thumbs up foam hands' from the Official Sony PlayStation Page.
That's all for this week's content, but here is of course all of the relevant links including a few more audio blogs by myself:
Massive Sodium2 Update - James Gallagher - EU PlayStation Blog
Sodium2 Payback and More (Audio Version) - randomthings - SoundCloud
Sodium2 Payback Information - randomthings - SoundCloud
As a quick note, I am hoping to next week be posting a special edition as well as the normal post which will be focusing on the new features and changes that the Revamp brought to Home in North America.
So, until then I just have time to say I have been randomthings, thank you very more for reading and I'll be back again soon.
Following last week's major Revamp update it appears that Lockwood have now unleashed a new batch of content in the form on Sodium2: Payback. The Payback update has brought along a total of twenty eight reward items for working through the levels in S2. Any returning Project Velocity players will also be pleased to know that you will unlock any reward as you enter the space if you have already reached the relevant level.
As well as this, a new rival feature has been implemented, which is said to allow players to go head-to-head with any other player, whereas this could only be done with friends previously. The final new feature is that of Launch Boosting. As many may have previous suspected would soon be in place, players can now earn a boot off of the starting grid if they accelerate at the right moment.
Moving away from Sodium and towards the Shopping Mall, it appears that many of this week's new items are companions. Starting off in the Stuff store, Sackboy is the first companion and he can also be purchased from the LBP Pod space. The second batch of companions comes from the AAA store in Eastern Mall area. The new Devilrobot items, which includes six new lovable, yet strange companions.
Also on sale in the Eastern Mall is the latest content from MyDeco. A DJ mixing deck and a levitating chair are just two of the new items.
And final piece of content from within Home this week is the latest offerings from Ganzella, which includes both furniture, clothes and a golden retriever.
Also this week comes an extra item that is only available from outside Home itself. Any Facebook users can grab themselves a pair of 'thumbs up foam hands' from the Official Sony PlayStation Page.
That's all for this week's content, but here is of course all of the relevant links including a few more audio blogs by myself:
Massive Sodium2 Update - James Gallagher - EU PlayStation Blog
Sodium2 Payback and More (Audio Version) - randomthings - SoundCloud
Sodium2 Payback Information - randomthings - SoundCloud
As a quick note, I am hoping to next week be posting a special edition as well as the normal post which will be focusing on the new features and changes that the Revamp brought to Home in North America.
So, until then I just have time to say I have been randomthings, thank you very more for reading and I'll be back again soon.
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Home Weekly: The Revamp is Here!
Hello all and welcome once again to Home Weekly, bringing you the latest updates and news for PlayStation Home.
This week's update has brought us The Revamp, a complete redesign on Home's main structure and areas, with Home's main focus very much now seemingly being on the services mini-games as well as to promote retail and PSN games outside of Home.
The main part of the Revamp is the inclusion of four main District areas, with a fifth to soon be included. Each District is based around a particular genre of game, with the genre's being Action, Sports, Indie games and Adventure. The four new Districts are named Action, Sportswalk, Indie Park and Adventure respectively.
Each of them is designed to fit the genre by including info and news about the latest releases, mini-games and an aesthetic style which is set to match.
Each District also contains a shop which is a commerce point for all of the personal spaces, clothing and other items relating to the games as well as a teleporter to even more spaces based around the games and genre.
Action District
The first of the four Districts, action is based around games such as Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Dead Island, Killzone and Resistance, just to name a few.
The District is designed to be stylised like a crossroads or intersection in a city-like area. Set at night, the space is also filled with what seems to be an the edge of an army quarantined area, including large metal fences, a security checkpoint and an army Jeep.
As well as this the District also includes links to the following mini-games:
Killzone Home Defender
Sodium: Salt Shooter
Resistance 3: Scavenger
Dead Island Zombie Survivor
Bootlegger '29
Sportswalk
Much as the name suggests, the Sportwalk is District designed to Home's sports hub. Set in a seaside sports bar, the Sportwalk has many similar things to offer to the Action District; all of the latest information and news, except related to sports. Also, instead of various mini-games, the Sportwalk actually offers a few leisurely activities in the forms of American Pool, Darts and Poker. The final individual offering from the Sportswalk is a link to an Game Space named PlayStation Home Hold'em.
Indie Park
The Indie Park is Home's area for all of the latest stand-alone mini-games as well as a rather individual and mixed visual look that combines aspects of many games and areas including a grass area that has binary digits shining from the floor. Even the Store design for the Indie Park stands out, with it Store being a giant stray can. The space also includes a link to the Bowling Alley.
The list of mini-games in Indie Park is as follows:
Los Penguini Brothers
Gnome Curling
Give or Take
Espionage 9
echochrome (Arcade Cabinet)
Savage Cosmos (Arcade Cabinet)
Ice Breaker (Arcade Cabinet)
Adventure District
The final new District covers games such as Uncharted and is in fact currently the Uncharted 3: Fortune Hunter Space. At the moment, I do not know if the space will soon change to a new permanent design, whether Fortune Hunter is the permanent design, or if it will be changed regularly to a more current and new space.
Home Square
As well as the inclusion of the four new Districts, Home Square has been redesigned to have links to all of the Districts, the Mall spaces (which are now named Shopping Mall East and Shopping Mall West) and five of the most popular other spaces, which are:
Novus Prime
The PSN Sphere
Lockwood Publishing Showcase
Audi Home Terminal
and the Cinema
The centre of the Square also contains a mini-game in a similar manner to the previous incarnation of Home Square. The current mini-game is for an Indie game titled 'Cogs', which is a puzzle game that was up until recently only featured on PC. The game in the Square is merely a demo consisting of three levels. Upon completing the levels the user is asked if they wish to travel to the Cogs space. The game also offers rewards for achieving various high scores.
The Cinema
The Cinema is the final area that has been redesigned, with the main cinema lobby now being rather different. Its appearance is more modern in comparison to the previous design, which followed the style of a more traditional and older fashioned cinema. The lobby now also includes an interactive map, which can link users to any of the eight auditoriums as well as to the Cinema Shop, where spaces, furniture and clothes relating to various films that have marketing within Home.
This week I have also been recording a number files in which I have created a series of audio walkthroughs of the Districts as well as giving a few of my thoughts on them. I have also include a few other audio blogs in which I talk about a few minor points relating to the Revamp.They can all be found via the links below and all of the files are hosted on SoundCloud:
Home Square
Action District
Sportswalk
Indie Park
Advenure District
The Cinema
New Navigator Layout
Maintenance - Friday 4th November
Things Still to Come...
Closing Thoughts
As well as them, here are a couple of other relevant links:
PSHomeEU - Twitter
Take a Fresh Look at PlayStation Home - Darren Cairns - EU PlayStation Blog
So, that's all for this week. Home Weekly will once again be back next Saturday. So, until then I'd just like to say a huge thank you for reading and listening. I've been randomthings and I'll see you again soon.
This week's update has brought us The Revamp, a complete redesign on Home's main structure and areas, with Home's main focus very much now seemingly being on the services mini-games as well as to promote retail and PSN games outside of Home.
The main part of the Revamp is the inclusion of four main District areas, with a fifth to soon be included. Each District is based around a particular genre of game, with the genre's being Action, Sports, Indie games and Adventure. The four new Districts are named Action, Sportswalk, Indie Park and Adventure respectively.
Each of them is designed to fit the genre by including info and news about the latest releases, mini-games and an aesthetic style which is set to match.
Each District also contains a shop which is a commerce point for all of the personal spaces, clothing and other items relating to the games as well as a teleporter to even more spaces based around the games and genre.
Action District
The first of the four Districts, action is based around games such as Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Dead Island, Killzone and Resistance, just to name a few.
As well as this the District also includes links to the following mini-games:
Killzone Home Defender
Sodium: Salt Shooter
Resistance 3: Scavenger
Dead Island Zombie Survivor
Bootlegger '29
Sportswalk
Much as the name suggests, the Sportwalk is District designed to Home's sports hub. Set in a seaside sports bar, the Sportwalk has many similar things to offer to the Action District; all of the latest information and news, except related to sports. Also, instead of various mini-games, the Sportwalk actually offers a few leisurely activities in the forms of American Pool, Darts and Poker. The final individual offering from the Sportswalk is a link to an Game Space named PlayStation Home Hold'em. Indie Park
The Indie Park is Home's area for all of the latest stand-alone mini-games as well as a rather individual and mixed visual look that combines aspects of many games and areas including a grass area that has binary digits shining from the floor. Even the Store design for the Indie Park stands out, with it Store being a giant stray can. The space also includes a link to the Bowling Alley.The list of mini-games in Indie Park is as follows:
Los Penguini Brothers
Gnome Curling
Give or Take
Espionage 9
echochrome (Arcade Cabinet)
Savage Cosmos (Arcade Cabinet)
Ice Breaker (Arcade Cabinet)
Adventure District
The final new District covers games such as Uncharted and is in fact currently the Uncharted 3: Fortune Hunter Space. At the moment, I do not know if the space will soon change to a new permanent design, whether Fortune Hunter is the permanent design, or if it will be changed regularly to a more current and new space.
Home Square
As well as the inclusion of the four new Districts, Home Square has been redesigned to have links to all of the Districts, the Mall spaces (which are now named Shopping Mall East and Shopping Mall West) and five of the most popular other spaces, which are:
Novus Prime
The PSN Sphere
Lockwood Publishing Showcase
Audi Home Terminal
and the Cinema
The centre of the Square also contains a mini-game in a similar manner to the previous incarnation of Home Square. The current mini-game is for an Indie game titled 'Cogs', which is a puzzle game that was up until recently only featured on PC. The game in the Square is merely a demo consisting of three levels. Upon completing the levels the user is asked if they wish to travel to the Cogs space. The game also offers rewards for achieving various high scores.The Cinema
The Cinema is the final area that has been redesigned, with the main cinema lobby now being rather different. Its appearance is more modern in comparison to the previous design, which followed the style of a more traditional and older fashioned cinema. The lobby now also includes an interactive map, which can link users to any of the eight auditoriums as well as to the Cinema Shop, where spaces, furniture and clothes relating to various films that have marketing within Home.
This week I have also been recording a number files in which I have created a series of audio walkthroughs of the Districts as well as giving a few of my thoughts on them. I have also include a few other audio blogs in which I talk about a few minor points relating to the Revamp.They can all be found via the links below and all of the files are hosted on SoundCloud:
Home Square
Action District
Sportswalk
Indie Park
Advenure District
The Cinema
New Navigator Layout
Maintenance - Friday 4th November
Things Still to Come...
Closing Thoughts
As well as them, here are a couple of other relevant links:
PSHomeEU - Twitter
Take a Fresh Look at PlayStation Home - Darren Cairns - EU PlayStation Blog
So, that's all for this week. Home Weekly will once again be back next Saturday. So, until then I'd just like to say a huge thank you for reading and listening. I've been randomthings and I'll see you again soon.
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Home Weekly: The Halloween Edition
Hello to all and welcome back to Home Weekly, once again giving you the latest news and updates for PlayStation Home.
This coming Monday is Halloween and Home is celebrating it in style with new makeover for Home Square. Complete with pumpkins, gravestones and an eery silence (except for the cricket that can be heard echoing into the night). Even the Lynx Fallen Angels fit in rather well. The Square also has a new vendor especially for Halloween, offering all matter of costumes for any virtual Halloween gatherings including an official 'Scre4m' 'costume.
Another vendor has also been added to celebrate the release of inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood, a stand-alone spin-off of the main franchise. While only the game itself can be purchased from the vendor, stopping by may prove to be useful as entering the shop will reward you with a limited edition item.
The final new addition to the Square is the Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One quiz. After answering a few questions you can find out which one of the game's four playable characters you are most like. Not only will you get to know that, but you will earn yourself a t-shirt and hat based on that character. Using the 'psychodeconstructotron' multiple times will allow you to unlock all items.
Moving away from Home Square and Aurora has also changed it's look to something more festive, yet it has managed to look more evil and twisted than the Square, with the islands now in darkness with the pumpkins giving off a gentle glow for even more effect. All of this and more is part of Aurora's recent update to version 1.3, which will include events within the space next week.
The last new piece of content comes from the Lockwood Publishing Showcase, were other six different days Lockwood will be offering six special rewards, all centered around the events of this coming Monday.
From the Community
A while back in a previous Home Weekly, I began the 'From the Community' segment, where I would comment on as well as voice the opinions of Official PlayStation community in regards to Home. The first time I did this, I commented on the seemingly unorganised and 'busy' state of the Square, as it features many teleportal.
After having seen many other temporary ones and some permanent and come and go since then, I feel that Lockwood have come up with the perfect design for a teleportal.The teleportal in question is situated near the exit towards the Shopping Centre. The portal is also conveniently multipurpose and can take players to both the Lockwood Publishing Showcase and Aurora.
Finally, here is a few links relevant to this all that has been covered in this week's edition:
Home Weekly (which includes From the Community section)
PlayStation Home: What Goes Bump In The Night - James Gallagher - EU PlayStation Blog
Celebrate Halloween In PlayStation Home - Locust_Star - US PlayStation Blog
So, I guess that is all for this week. Home Weekly will be back again next Saturday and should hopefully now be staying so for the foreseeable future. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
This coming Monday is Halloween and Home is celebrating it in style with new makeover for Home Square. Complete with pumpkins, gravestones and an eery silence (except for the cricket that can be heard echoing into the night). Even the Lynx Fallen Angels fit in rather well. The Square also has a new vendor especially for Halloween, offering all matter of costumes for any virtual Halloween gatherings including an official 'Scre4m' 'costume.
Another vendor has also been added to celebrate the release of inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood, a stand-alone spin-off of the main franchise. While only the game itself can be purchased from the vendor, stopping by may prove to be useful as entering the shop will reward you with a limited edition item.
 |
| The Psychodeconstructotron |
The final new addition to the Square is the Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One quiz. After answering a few questions you can find out which one of the game's four playable characters you are most like. Not only will you get to know that, but you will earn yourself a t-shirt and hat based on that character. Using the 'psychodeconstructotron' multiple times will allow you to unlock all items.
 |
| The current appearance of Aurora |
The last new piece of content comes from the Lockwood Publishing Showcase, were other six different days Lockwood will be offering six special rewards, all centered around the events of this coming Monday.
From the Community
A while back in a previous Home Weekly, I began the 'From the Community' segment, where I would comment on as well as voice the opinions of Official PlayStation community in regards to Home. The first time I did this, I commented on the seemingly unorganised and 'busy' state of the Square, as it features many teleportal.
 |
| The Lockwood Teleportal |
After having seen many other temporary ones and some permanent and come and go since then, I feel that Lockwood have come up with the perfect design for a teleportal.The teleportal in question is situated near the exit towards the Shopping Centre. The portal is also conveniently multipurpose and can take players to both the Lockwood Publishing Showcase and Aurora.
Finally, here is a few links relevant to this all that has been covered in this week's edition:
Home Weekly (which includes From the Community section)
PlayStation Home: What Goes Bump In The Night - James Gallagher - EU PlayStation Blog
Celebrate Halloween In PlayStation Home - Locust_Star - US PlayStation Blog
So, I guess that is all for this week. Home Weekly will be back again next Saturday and should hopefully now be staying so for the foreseeable future. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Home Weekly - SCE Announces Complete Revamp
Hello to all and welcome once again to Home Weekly, bringing the latest news and updates for PlayStation Home.
Latest News
Starting of this week's edition is a huge announcement from Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). An article posted on blog.us.playstation on Tuesday (August 23rd) announced news that the way Home is to be divided and sectioned will be changing and become far more focused around themes and moods to suit the user. Each of the main space's will now be classed as a 'district', with there being a total of four districts all being linked to the central 'hub'.
The four districts are 'Sportswalk', 'Pier Park', 'Action District' and 'Adventure District'. Each one offers a unique style and experience that is designed to be suited to the user's mood. For example, the 'Action District' is designed to have dark, urban themes that are based around the feel and style of horror, action, FPS and general shooter games. Being almost the complete opposite, 'Pier Park' offers a bright, light hearted area based around indie, puzzle and arcade games, which the district's aesthetic being styled around that of a sea-side fairground. The 'Adventure District' is said to be that of a dense jungle, presumably to be in connection with titles such as Uncharted. Finally, 'Sportswalk' is to be as the name implies, the area for all things sport. With sports based minigames as well as links and features connected to real life sporting events and games.
 |
| Pier Park |
As well as the areas all featuring their respective games and styles, they are also to include vendors and virtual stores relating to the district as well as other links to relevant entertainment and things of interest. As yet another added bonus, the central 'Hub' will also add numerous new features to the overall experience of Home. These features include, quests, community events and UGC (User Generated Content).
So far though, this has only officially been announced by SCE America, with no word as of yet from SCE Europe, but I am sure that Europe as well as Japan and other regions will likely receive the same revamp, if not, something similar.
Updates and New Content
Moving onto this week's latest update from Thursday, August 25th and the latest batch of content has been added. The first thing is the addition of a weapons store to the Dead Island space. Next up, Diesel have announced their next items to be offered on Home. The announcement itself can be read in a the weekly Home update post from SCEE blog manager James Gallagher, the link for which can be found below.
Following on from this, it appears that Lockwood Publishing have once again been hard at work to deliver their latest offering, the Silicon Lounge, a personal space which is designed around the Sodium universe. The new space is said to be a "neon paradise" which is perfect for meeting with friends and partying. The space also includes a number of unique features including an integrated Lockwood Gift Machine as well teleporters to Sodium2, SodiumOne and the Sodium Hub, making this a must buy for any fan of Sodium and the creations of Lockwood.
As well as this they have also just released the Double Time clothing range, which is styled around the madness of paintball warfare, with all items being available as being 'clean' or coated in paint.
Moving to more musical based releases and a set of both clothes and items have been released to celebrate the release of 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare', the latest album from rock and metal legend Alice Cooper. The items include various props and outfits as featured during his latest tour, all of which can be found in AAA.
Going back to game-focused releases and Konami have released new clothing items which have become part of their Retro Collection. The new clothes allow users to dress their avatar's as either Death, Dracula or Alucard as featured in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. All of these can be found in Threads.
And finally, for the last item on the list of updates and new content is that by popular demand, Baseline Battle has indeed returned to Home Square to coincide with the US Open.
Also, here is of course all of the links relevant to this edition of Home Weekly:
PlayStation Home: More Zombies and Alice Cooper - James Gallagher - EU Blog
The Next Evolution for PlayStation Home - Jack Buser - US Blog
Sony announces massive changes to PlayStation Home - The Gadget Show - Channel 5
So, that's all for what is now last week's news PlayStation Home. As an added piece of news from myself in the next month or so, I am hoping to begin to create regular video content for the YouTube Channel, including Home Weekly in a video format. You can expect more information about that soon. Once again it's time for me to sign off. So, I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I hope to be back soon.
Monday, 15 August 2011
We have moved (YouTube Channel) - A quick update
Hello all and welcome back. Firstly, I am sorry for not putting out Home Weekly over the weekend, but I've had a combination of the PS3 not connecting to my network and then having no internet all together (and the first problem is still ongoing). Regardless, I have been contemplating this for awhile and have now decided to follow through with the idea of removing the current YouTube channel and setting up a new one in it's place.
While there isn't anything wrong as such, there are a few minor things I would like to be able to change with can unfortunately only be done by creating a new channel. The first is that I entered by age wrong, so I couldn't display that without being frowned upon and the second is simply the channel username. "itsimplyrandomthings", which of course when broken down would read as "it simply randomthings" instead of "its simply randomthings". So, for those rather small reasons I have now created a new channel in it's place.
For the new username, I have dropped the "imply", making the new name "Itsrandomthings".
I unfortunately was not able to save the previous DiRT 3 videos before removing the old account (which was due to my stupidity) and I currently have no ideas on what I will next begin uploading or even when. In the meantime, I will still use it as a way of tracking any YouTubers I am interested in and follow and a way of you to see what I am following.
So, I guess that's all for this quick update. I have of course been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
While there isn't anything wrong as such, there are a few minor things I would like to be able to change with can unfortunately only be done by creating a new channel. The first is that I entered by age wrong, so I couldn't display that without being frowned upon and the second is simply the channel username. "itsimplyrandomthings", which of course when broken down would read as "it simply randomthings" instead of "its simply randomthings". So, for those rather small reasons I have now created a new channel in it's place.
For the new username, I have dropped the "imply", making the new name "Itsrandomthings".
I unfortunately was not able to save the previous DiRT 3 videos before removing the old account (which was due to my stupidity) and I currently have no ideas on what I will next begin uploading or even when. In the meantime, I will still use it as a way of tracking any YouTubers I am interested in and follow and a way of you to see what I am following.
So, I guess that's all for this quick update. I have of course been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Hackers runing older games - Bad experiences on Call of Duty 4 and World of War
Hello all and welcome once again to Analog Gaming. Now, as I mentioned yesterday, I do intend to cover this week's home content over the course of the weekend and I still plan on doing so tomorrow. But in the meantime, I want to mention something that has truly angered me today whilst playing online.
As I am sure some of you are indeed aware, I do have rather mixed opinions of the Call of Duty series, with varying thoughts on just about all aspects of the games, but while playing online today something struck and shocked me. The issue was that of the multiplayer portions of the games, more specifically for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War. I had previously heard of the current state of the multiplayer of World at War a while ago from various YouTube channels and directors, but it wasn't until today when I actually played the game for myself that I truly began to understand the state of the situation.
Moving to the point I am trying to make, I am simply shocked what has happened to the competitive multiplayer in both games. They now appear to be nothing more that a congregation of hackers, with a number of players now using in game hacks to give themselves various advantages, such as increased weapon fire rates (e.g. a grenade launcher attachment firing at the rate of an M4), increased player movement speeds and even some players flying around the map and others being invincible.
Now, of course, this is not the case with every match I entered and not every player was using such hacks and mods, but it was a number great enough to disrupt the gameplay for myself and others. In my personal opinion it appears that since both games have now become old and only played by a handful of people, that the developers and companies that were previously tasked with up keeping a modest, fair and enjoyable service and experience have now moved on to monitor new games in the series.
I can understand that this should be their priority to an extent, but I honestly do not expect to enter a team deathmatch on Countdown to find that four of the six opposing players are firing grenade launchers like assault rifles, not dying after using all of my ammo from an M249 SAW and a M9 only to find they had taken no damage and have also been able to accumulate a total of 137 kills between them, which is far over the score and kill limit.
After playing that particular match and then two others which were with honest, fair players, I then moved on to World at War only to find the situation was similar, with insane weapon firing, speeding tanks and flying Russian soldiers.
I can understand that this is most likely not the case simply with the Call of Duty series and possibly many other series have fallen under similar circumstances, but I feel that firstly, the players who are using such hacks and mods are little more than a disgrace to the gaming community and that the companies in charge of running such games have failed to deliver their product fully to many customers. I am sure that the older Call of Duty games in particular still generate great amounts of profit and money for Activision and it's developers in terms of first-hand sales, so I was to today have bought a copy of either Modern Warfare or World at War and then gone online to be met with the monstrous mess that is the multiplayer... Well, I would be discussed and conned out of my money.
I can further go on to say that Modern Warfare 2 also met a similar fate earlier into it's life, with 'speed hacks' and 'boosting lobbies' having been around not long after the game's release. It makes me wonder as to what should be done about such problems and as to when a developer should no longer actively support and monitor their game's online status after it has been released. Is a year after release too short a time period? Should online maintenance be later be passed onto another company perhaps?
To use the same analogy as used by YouTube gaming director Gunns4hire, 'console gamers all drink from the same watering hole'. We all use the same servers and services, whereas PC gamers have more freedom as they can host private servers and can actively use mods within such servers. On consoles though, we cannot really do that and if someone or even a group of people were to break rules, or not play the way the game is intended to be played, well, it simply ruins the game for everyone else.
Overall, I am just wondering that can be done about this, or even if something should. I just feel that events like this can ruin a game for new players, potentially effect long term first-hand sales and spoil the enjoyment for returning players.
So, I do believe that I have said everything I wish to on the matter and have put across my thoughts. I guess it is now once again time for me to sign off by saying that I've been randomthings and thank you very much reading.
As I am sure some of you are indeed aware, I do have rather mixed opinions of the Call of Duty series, with varying thoughts on just about all aspects of the games, but while playing online today something struck and shocked me. The issue was that of the multiplayer portions of the games, more specifically for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War. I had previously heard of the current state of the multiplayer of World at War a while ago from various YouTube channels and directors, but it wasn't until today when I actually played the game for myself that I truly began to understand the state of the situation.
Moving to the point I am trying to make, I am simply shocked what has happened to the competitive multiplayer in both games. They now appear to be nothing more that a congregation of hackers, with a number of players now using in game hacks to give themselves various advantages, such as increased weapon fire rates (e.g. a grenade launcher attachment firing at the rate of an M4), increased player movement speeds and even some players flying around the map and others being invincible.
Now, of course, this is not the case with every match I entered and not every player was using such hacks and mods, but it was a number great enough to disrupt the gameplay for myself and others. In my personal opinion it appears that since both games have now become old and only played by a handful of people, that the developers and companies that were previously tasked with up keeping a modest, fair and enjoyable service and experience have now moved on to monitor new games in the series.
I can understand that this should be their priority to an extent, but I honestly do not expect to enter a team deathmatch on Countdown to find that four of the six opposing players are firing grenade launchers like assault rifles, not dying after using all of my ammo from an M249 SAW and a M9 only to find they had taken no damage and have also been able to accumulate a total of 137 kills between them, which is far over the score and kill limit.
After playing that particular match and then two others which were with honest, fair players, I then moved on to World at War only to find the situation was similar, with insane weapon firing, speeding tanks and flying Russian soldiers.
I can understand that this is most likely not the case simply with the Call of Duty series and possibly many other series have fallen under similar circumstances, but I feel that firstly, the players who are using such hacks and mods are little more than a disgrace to the gaming community and that the companies in charge of running such games have failed to deliver their product fully to many customers. I am sure that the older Call of Duty games in particular still generate great amounts of profit and money for Activision and it's developers in terms of first-hand sales, so I was to today have bought a copy of either Modern Warfare or World at War and then gone online to be met with the monstrous mess that is the multiplayer... Well, I would be discussed and conned out of my money.
I can further go on to say that Modern Warfare 2 also met a similar fate earlier into it's life, with 'speed hacks' and 'boosting lobbies' having been around not long after the game's release. It makes me wonder as to what should be done about such problems and as to when a developer should no longer actively support and monitor their game's online status after it has been released. Is a year after release too short a time period? Should online maintenance be later be passed onto another company perhaps?
To use the same analogy as used by YouTube gaming director Gunns4hire, 'console gamers all drink from the same watering hole'. We all use the same servers and services, whereas PC gamers have more freedom as they can host private servers and can actively use mods within such servers. On consoles though, we cannot really do that and if someone or even a group of people were to break rules, or not play the way the game is intended to be played, well, it simply ruins the game for everyone else.
Overall, I am just wondering that can be done about this, or even if something should. I just feel that events like this can ruin a game for new players, potentially effect long term first-hand sales and spoil the enjoyment for returning players.
So, I do believe that I have said everything I wish to on the matter and have put across my thoughts. I guess it is now once again time for me to sign off by saying that I've been randomthings and thank you very much reading.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Back once again...
Hello to all and welcome back once again. I would like to apologise for not posting in the past month or so. There has been a few different reasons for that, with the main one being illness and the other being the fact that I am a self-confessed lazy bastard.
Anyway, moving on. During the past few weeks I have actually had the chance to play a few of the recently released XBLIGs, some of which I will cover this week. I've also been considering making a few changes to the posting schedule, including possibly posting every other day, which I hope would making things more manageable for myself as well as meaning I should be able to create more in depth and meaningful posting, being able to spend two days working on an article, instead of just one.
As well as all of this, I have indeed been playing a few retail releases although, none of them brand new. Firstly I have begun playing through Burnout Paradise on Xbox, having complete the game numerous times on the PlayStation 3. The second title I have been getting my teeth into is Crysis 2, which I can only comment on by saying it is simply a marvel and anybody who cannot see the point in, or justify the console version of the game is nothing more than insufferable idiot.
Lastly, I would like to give a few shout-outs to various people. Firstly, to Sean Doherty of Freelance Games, the creators of Starchon and now also of Trailer Park King, another XBLIG title. I hope that Trailer Park King is a huge success and I also look forward to giving my own opinion on the game.
Secondly, I would like to mention one of the latest up and coming YouTube channels I have come across. The channel, MrSpoonfool, is a mixture of both PC gameplay and recent gaming news. MrSpoonfool himself set up the channel only last week after deciding to move channels. Many of the video series featured on the newer channel having been continuing over from the older one.
And here of course is a few links relevant to everything:
Freelance Games
Trailer Park King - Xbox Marketplace Online
MrSpoonfool - Youtube
So, I guess that's all for today. I hope to be back at some point over the weekend to give a quick look at this week's Home updates and news. Then next week, I will likely be focusing in XBLIGs as I have a few I wish to look at. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Anyway, moving on. During the past few weeks I have actually had the chance to play a few of the recently released XBLIGs, some of which I will cover this week. I've also been considering making a few changes to the posting schedule, including possibly posting every other day, which I hope would making things more manageable for myself as well as meaning I should be able to create more in depth and meaningful posting, being able to spend two days working on an article, instead of just one.
As well as all of this, I have indeed been playing a few retail releases although, none of them brand new. Firstly I have begun playing through Burnout Paradise on Xbox, having complete the game numerous times on the PlayStation 3. The second title I have been getting my teeth into is Crysis 2, which I can only comment on by saying it is simply a marvel and anybody who cannot see the point in, or justify the console version of the game is nothing more than insufferable idiot.
Lastly, I would like to give a few shout-outs to various people. Firstly, to Sean Doherty of Freelance Games, the creators of Starchon and now also of Trailer Park King, another XBLIG title. I hope that Trailer Park King is a huge success and I also look forward to giving my own opinion on the game.
Secondly, I would like to mention one of the latest up and coming YouTube channels I have come across. The channel, MrSpoonfool, is a mixture of both PC gameplay and recent gaming news. MrSpoonfool himself set up the channel only last week after deciding to move channels. Many of the video series featured on the newer channel having been continuing over from the older one.
And here of course is a few links relevant to everything:
Freelance Games
Trailer Park King - Xbox Marketplace Online
MrSpoonfool - Youtube
So, I guess that's all for today. I hope to be back at some point over the weekend to give a quick look at this week's Home updates and news. Then next week, I will likely be focusing in XBLIGs as I have a few I wish to look at. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
LBP 2 Level Review - Escape the Sewers!
Hello to all and welcome to another LBP 2 Level Review, where today I'm taking a look at a level that involves a great amount of swimming in dirty water. Lovely.
Escape the Sewers! has been created by Holguin86, who should be known by members of the LittleBigPlanet community as being part of lbpcenteral.com and littlebigplanetarium.com as well as being the curator of the LittleBigPlanet Wiki. Escape the Sewer is just one of his thirteen published levels, all of which I have played though and found them rather enjoyable, but this particular level caught my interest.
The level begins and is set rather simplicity, with no story being tied into the level, with the focus being placed upon the level itself.From the outset it is clear (with the level's title being a big hint too) that the aim is to escape the sewer. Oh, course, getting out isn't as straight forward as finding a manhole cover to exit from. The Sackperson is required to navigate their way through what appear to be a sub-terrain maze of pools of water, wet planets and pipes.
One of the elements I feel that the level can proudly boast about is the imaginative use of water, with one particular puzzle requiring the water from that area to be drained and then filled again in order to move the items need to help the player progress.
As well as this the level's appearance have been cleverly thought through, with the level having an overall green murky appearance which adds to the experience.The combination of these elements help to really bring the level together in the end for a final boss battle.
Overall I feel that the level is incredibly enjoyable and much in the same way as Obscurity. All of the different aspects of the level flow together well, with the water being an amazing element to me, with numerous 'water park' and 'Wipeout' styled levels having previously used water horribly and in uninteresting ways.
I also feel that Holguin should be congratulated on this level reaching over 91,000 plays, over 11,000 hears and 29,500 'yays'. I would also like to thank Holguin for his contributions to to the LBP community, being part of so many great community groups and project. I wish him good luck with his future adventures on LittleBigPlanet.
I would like to award Escape the Sewers! 9/10.
Also here is a few relevant links:
Escape the Sewer - lbp.me
Holguin86 - lbp.me
Holguin86 - LittleBigPlanetarium
So, now it is again time for me to say that I have been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Escape the Sewers! has been created by Holguin86, who should be known by members of the LittleBigPlanet community as being part of lbpcenteral.com and littlebigplanetarium.com as well as being the curator of the LittleBigPlanet Wiki. Escape the Sewer is just one of his thirteen published levels, all of which I have played though and found them rather enjoyable, but this particular level caught my interest.
The level begins and is set rather simplicity, with no story being tied into the level, with the focus being placed upon the level itself.From the outset it is clear (with the level's title being a big hint too) that the aim is to escape the sewer. Oh, course, getting out isn't as straight forward as finding a manhole cover to exit from. The Sackperson is required to navigate their way through what appear to be a sub-terrain maze of pools of water, wet planets and pipes.
As well as this the level's appearance have been cleverly thought through, with the level having an overall green murky appearance which adds to the experience.The combination of these elements help to really bring the level together in the end for a final boss battle.
Overall I feel that the level is incredibly enjoyable and much in the same way as Obscurity. All of the different aspects of the level flow together well, with the water being an amazing element to me, with numerous 'water park' and 'Wipeout' styled levels having previously used water horribly and in uninteresting ways.
I also feel that Holguin should be congratulated on this level reaching over 91,000 plays, over 11,000 hears and 29,500 'yays'. I would also like to thank Holguin for his contributions to to the LBP community, being part of so many great community groups and project. I wish him good luck with his future adventures on LittleBigPlanet.
I would like to award Escape the Sewers! 9/10.
Also here is a few relevant links:
Escape the Sewer - lbp.me
Holguin86 - lbp.me
Holguin86 - LittleBigPlanetarium
So, now it is again time for me to say that I have been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Digging for Victory - My Opinion of Total Miner: Forge
At first, this does appear to be a clone of a particular mining game which has a 'blocky' appearance, but after looking closer Total Miner seems to be rather unique.
Developed by Greenstone Games, Total Miner: Forge is a block building game that at first to many (myself included) does bare a great resemblance to another block building game, one that is on PC. Sharing the same basic gameplay style and elements, Total Miner also offers it's own features which include it's two modes.The first is the Creative, which is the standard mode designed for building and offering the most straight forward experience. The second mode is Dig Deep, in which players are required to start merely with 1,000 coins, two obsidian blocks and a wooden pick axe. Dig Deep is essentially a survival mode.
Dig Deep is the first unique feature that the game offers. The second is that considering Total Miner is a console game, it allows for a great deal of save files to be saved on the game's two gigabyte data storage. The game also includes a 'world share' feature whereby players can sent any of their save files to another player and let them actively explore that world and use the file.
A formal currency system is another interesting feature, with the use of coins in comparison to simply using various forms of gold and other metals. Tied into this is the use of 'shop blocks'. These blocks allow players to purchase all matter of useful items.
Moving onto my own opinion of the game and I honestly have enjoyed playing Forge so far and I like the overall feel of the game. Firstly, the game does look interesting and slightly different, whilst still retaining a block-like appearance. Secondly I like the gameplay style from the Dig Deep mode, with players needing to find blueprints for items before being able to create them, which gives the game a great deal of purpose and focus, whereas not all players may enjoy the way that Creative Mode is entirely open.
Another aspect that I find interesting and enjoyable is the multiplayer, which allows for up to four player split-screen on a single Xbox console. The official Total Miner website notes that other multiplayer aspects are planned for the future.
Overall I feel that Total Miner is a great buy and can appeal to people of all ages as well as new and returning fans of what seems to be a new genre: block building.
Total Miner: Forge is available from the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace for 240 Microsoft Points.Here are a few links relevant to the game:
So, I guess that it is once again time for me to sign off. So, I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I hope to be back again very soon.
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Indie Game Summer Uprising - Information about it and my own thoughts
The Indie Game Summer Uprising, or IGSU for short, is a project designed to promote some of the top indie games and developers on the Xbox Live Indie Marketplace, whilst also promoting the XBLIG platform overall.
IGSU is set to show of the best creation by some of the best indie developers around.
The event has been organised by Dave Voyles and Kris Stelle and he Uprising itself is to take place between August 22nd and September 2nd, although the process for everything has already begun. Having started on July 4th (Monday) and running up until July 18th, indie developers can currently vote on the titles that they feel deserve to be listed as potential winners of the IGSU and shown off. By the 18th, the developers will have voted on eight titles. After that, from August 1st to August 15th, the public can vote for two additional games which will be added. Voting for this stage will take place on the official Facebook page. Then on Tuesday, August 16th (specifically at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time/ 1 am Greenwich Mean Time) the winners will be announced and a developer chat will take place on Twitter.
Finally after all of this, from August 22nd through to September 2nd the event will take place and will include promotion for the ten winning titles and developers. On the final two days of the promotion, the two titles voted for by fans will be released. This will be on Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd.
Currently the list of finalists has been narrowed down to just 25. Here is that list:
37 Days to Die All The Bad Parts AvaGlide 2 Battle High: San Bruno Blossom Tales Cell: Emergence City Tuesday Chester Cute Things Dying Violently Dirche Kart 2 Doom and Destiny Dragons Vs. Spaceships Katana Land Mega Shooter 11: Ladies and powerups P3 Raven Throne Redd: The Lost Temple Speed Runner T.E.C. 3001 Take Arms The Jump Hero The Hearts of Men The Spirit of Kohn, Ep 1 Train Frontier Express Volchaos
Moving onto my own thoughts, I think that this is a simply brilliant idea and credit should go to all of those who have organised the event. I hope that every developer who is part of the event has great success in one way or another. I simply love the community spirit that is shown IGSU and how close the gaming industry can be, despite it being another form of competitive business.
Also, here are a few links related to IGSU:
Indie Game Summer Uprising - Official Facebook Page
Indie Games Uprising - Official Website
Kris Steele - Twitter
Dave Voyles - Twitter
I do hope that you will vote in the public fan stage to show your support, as well as to spread the word about IGSU.
Another note is that in September I will be covering the ten winners in the 'My Opinion' series, so be sure to check that out.
So, that's all for this post. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Thursday, 7 July 2011
LBP 2 Level Review - Obscurity [Part 1]
Hello all and welcome to this week's LBP 2 Level Review, where I'm looking at one of the most compelling community levels I have come across.
Created by xSLEVENx, Obscurity is the tale of a Sackperson who appears to be lost within an abandoned factory. While lost, the Sackperson comes across a malfunctioning droid who claims to have previously known them and sets out to aid the Sackperson in navigating their way through the facility.
The gameplay combines elements of platforming and small puzzles while sticking to the level's theme and style, which is that of an the facility; a dark, dimly-lit place haunted by eerie noises and strange machinery. I personally felt that the level's difficulty was also something different, offering a slightly greater challenge than many other community creations.
The level's design is also exceptional, with the low brightness and sparing use of lighting helps to create a haunted feel to, which is further empathised by the background music, which is credited to Fading_monkey.
Beyond that the use of voice sounds is also used incredibly well, with the Droid's character being brought to life through it's voice. The Droid also adds a light-hearted level of humour to the story, which gives the level a somewhat charming and heart-warming feeling.
Overall I think that the level is simply an amazing creating and xSLEVENx and everybody else who worked on the level should be incredibly proud of their work and the fact that it has recently been chosen by Media Molecule as an MM Pick as well as achieving over 31,000 plays, over 8,000 'yays' and just over 4,500 hearts. Also as this is part one, it means that xSLEVENx and co. will be creating a sequel, which I personally will eagerly await.
For this LBP2 Level Review am going to give Obscurity [Part 1] a top 10/10. I personally think it is a great enjoyable level and I also think it offer a brilliant sense of depth.
And here is of course a few links relevant to Obscurity:
Obscurity - lbp.me
xSLEVENx - lbp.me (Level Publisher and Creator)
Fading_monkey - lbp.me (Music Creator)
So, that's all for now. Now, it time for me to say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I hope to be back soon.
Created by xSLEVENx, Obscurity is the tale of a Sackperson who appears to be lost within an abandoned factory. While lost, the Sackperson comes across a malfunctioning droid who claims to have previously known them and sets out to aid the Sackperson in navigating their way through the facility.
 |
| The Droid |
The level's design is also exceptional, with the low brightness and sparing use of lighting helps to create a haunted feel to, which is further empathised by the background music, which is credited to Fading_monkey.
Beyond that the use of voice sounds is also used incredibly well, with the Droid's character being brought to life through it's voice. The Droid also adds a light-hearted level of humour to the story, which gives the level a somewhat charming and heart-warming feeling.
Overall I think that the level is simply an amazing creating and xSLEVENx and everybody else who worked on the level should be incredibly proud of their work and the fact that it has recently been chosen by Media Molecule as an MM Pick as well as achieving over 31,000 plays, over 8,000 'yays' and just over 4,500 hearts. Also as this is part one, it means that xSLEVENx and co. will be creating a sequel, which I personally will eagerly await.
For this LBP2 Level Review am going to give Obscurity [Part 1] a top 10/10. I personally think it is a great enjoyable level and I also think it offer a brilliant sense of depth.
And here is of course a few links relevant to Obscurity:
Obscurity - lbp.me
xSLEVENx - lbp.me (Level Publisher and Creator)
Fading_monkey - lbp.me (Music Creator)
So, that's all for now. Now, it time for me to say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I hope to be back soon.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Oh No! More Updates
Hello all and welcome once again. This is just a quick update on a few various things.
Firstly, I would like to say that I will now be dropping Gaming News from the posting schedule. I feel that it simply doesn't fit in with the other posts and is more often than not either posted later or not at all and tends to cover random items that bare no relevance to everything else. In it's place I hope to post another LBP2 Level Review, as I feel that I need to post a slightly stronger focus on LBP otherwise I feel I will have to drop that too, but I do not wish to as it is one of the most popular topics on the blog.
Secondly, I sadly have to bring news that ShaneGBUK's Minecraft server is down and will most likely be for the foreseeable future. Due to his laptop now being little useful for little more than warming your legs as a result of a series of viruses, attacks and Trojans.
Thirdly, I am please to balance this out with news that Shane has now actually changed his online name from ShaneGBUK to ShufflingShane and has now also set up his own Blogger account where he hopes to cover news from the gaming industry as well as his views of music and his other general interests, all of which will feature Shane's unique twist and take on life. Shane's new blog can be found here.
That's all for this quick update. I'd just like to say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Firstly, I would like to say that I will now be dropping Gaming News from the posting schedule. I feel that it simply doesn't fit in with the other posts and is more often than not either posted later or not at all and tends to cover random items that bare no relevance to everything else. In it's place I hope to post another LBP2 Level Review, as I feel that I need to post a slightly stronger focus on LBP otherwise I feel I will have to drop that too, but I do not wish to as it is one of the most popular topics on the blog.
Secondly, I sadly have to bring news that ShaneGBUK's Minecraft server is down and will most likely be for the foreseeable future. Due to his laptop now being little useful for little more than warming your legs as a result of a series of viruses, attacks and Trojans.
Thirdly, I am please to balance this out with news that Shane has now actually changed his online name from ShaneGBUK to ShufflingShane and has now also set up his own Blogger account where he hopes to cover news from the gaming industry as well as his views of music and his other general interests, all of which will feature Shane's unique twist and take on life. Shane's new blog can be found here.
That's all for this quick update. I'd just like to say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.
Hyper Crazy Music Shooter - My Opinion of Beat Hazard
It's a bit like a cross between Super Stardust and Beats. Either way, it's bloody fun! So here goes, my opinion of Beat Hazard.
It seems that Cold Beam Games really have created a game that will sure enough have a cult following with this game that can easily be summed up by it's tag-line, "gameplay powered by your music". The game is a top-down duel stick arcade shooter, similar to Super Stardust, Geometry Wars and the famous XBLIG I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1. I personally would compare the game most closely to Super Stardust as it follows the theme of outer space and focuses more heavily on destroying asteroids as well as spaceships, in comparison to just ships.
Beat Hazard Ultra - Official Trailer (Copyright Cold Beam Games)
As, I have already mentioned, the game is a duel stick shooter so rather conveniently only requires the analog sticks as controls. Beyond that, the contents of the levels themselves, as well as the visuals are dictated by whatever song you use as a backing track for your gameplay. The game can use any sound file you have transferred to your console on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions and I believe the PC version can detect MP3. files. The game then configures the level depending on certain aspects of the chosen song, such as beats per minute and the chosen difficulty which is either easy, normal, hard or hardcore.
After each level is complete the player is shown their stats, while rather interestingly includes their completion of the song as well as the album it belongs to (providing it is part of an album or folder).
Moving onto my opinion and this is a game that I believe I will become addicting to. Many people now want various levels of customizability within video-games and I think that the use of personal music allows for that greatly within Beat Hazard. This gives the game a lot of playability, as the player will always be able to experience something slightly different as their music library expands over time.
I personally think that Beat Hazard has applied the use of music within a game in an interesting and engaging way. Something that I feel even titles such as Guitar Hero and Rockband have not even achieved. The aesthetic and graphical style is also another strong factor, with the crazy flashing lights and spectacular colours adding to the experience that is provided.
Overall I feel that the game is one that could potentially remain popular for some time and can appeal to both core and casual games as it could even conveniently be played in a short space of time, such as a lunch break or for a far longer period of time, such as for the length of an album.
Beat Hazard is available from the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points. The game is also available on Steam for £1.74 (which is 75% it's original price as part of today's Steam deals) as well as the newer version, Beat Hazard Ultra, which contains various additional features, which is priced at £0.87 (also 75% off). Finally from Steam, the complete Beat Hazard pack is 75% off for today only too. The pack includes the original game, Ultra and iTunes and m4a file support. The game is also available directly from Cold Beam's website for $9.99 (~£6.21).
Beat Hazard Ultra is also soon to be available on PlayStation via the PlayStation Store.
Cold Beam Games - Official Website
Beat Hazard - Xbox Marketplace Online
Beat Hazard - Steam
Also, Microsoft have recently rejected Beat Hazard Ultra for being published at an XBLA. Cold Beam Games are hoping to take the game and have it published by a developer later in the year though, but in the meantime you can show your support in the form of a Facebook 'Like', which can be found on Cold Beam's homepage.
So, now I guess it's that time for me to once again say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I'll be posting again very good. Bye for now.
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Sunday Special - My thoughts on what I've been playing
Hello to all and welcome to a very quick post. Since I haven't been very active, I thought you may be interested in what I've been playing recently and my thoughts on those games.
Beginning with XBLIGs, I've played quite a few recently (mostly today). One that particularly stood out was Avatar Without a Chute, which essentially consists of playing as your avatar while free-falling and trying to collect as many points as possible while avoiding numerous objects. I would consider it to be similar to Avatar Drop. For only 80 Microsoft Points I would recommend this as a small title which would be enjoyable when trying to kill time, although maybe more that you'd like to if you get too in to it like I did for an hour and a half.
Apart from that I have also played Solar 2, Total Miner, Rainbow Runner, Avatar Onslaught and The Impossible Game Level Pack, as well as a few others. I have also been playing a few Indie Games that I have previously played. Namely, Avatar Legends and Avatar Adventures Online.
In the way of Xbox Live Arcade Games, I today tried out The Fancy Pants Adventures and even though I have currently only tried the demo, I love it. The game seems fun and somewhat simple, while also having a sense of depth, as well as some great humour.
Moving onto PS3, as you may already know, I picked up my copy of DiRT 3 and have been loving it. I've done more of the multiplayer than the DiRT Tour so far. I'll definitely be covering that game more soon.
So, that's all for this quick post. I'd just like to end by thanking you for reading. I've been randomthings and I'll be back soon.
Beginning with XBLIGs, I've played quite a few recently (mostly today). One that particularly stood out was Avatar Without a Chute, which essentially consists of playing as your avatar while free-falling and trying to collect as many points as possible while avoiding numerous objects. I would consider it to be similar to Avatar Drop. For only 80 Microsoft Points I would recommend this as a small title which would be enjoyable when trying to kill time, although maybe more that you'd like to if you get too in to it like I did for an hour and a half.
Apart from that I have also played Solar 2, Total Miner, Rainbow Runner, Avatar Onslaught and The Impossible Game Level Pack, as well as a few others. I have also been playing a few Indie Games that I have previously played. Namely, Avatar Legends and Avatar Adventures Online.
In the way of Xbox Live Arcade Games, I today tried out The Fancy Pants Adventures and even though I have currently only tried the demo, I love it. The game seems fun and somewhat simple, while also having a sense of depth, as well as some great humour.
Moving onto PS3, as you may already know, I picked up my copy of DiRT 3 and have been loving it. I've done more of the multiplayer than the DiRT Tour so far. I'll definitely be covering that game more soon.
So, that's all for this quick post. I'd just like to end by thanking you for reading. I've been randomthings and I'll be back soon.
Saturday, 2 July 2011
The first few Youtube Videos!
Hello to all and welcome once again. I would like to apologise for not posting this week, but I have been incredibly busy and normal service will resume on Monday.
One good thing that has come about this week is that I have not started uploading videos to Youtube. I am currently upload numerous short videos of my adventures on DiRT 3. I have currently just two videos, but hope to upload a great deal more. Sadly, the game's 'direct to Youtube' feature only allows for short clips to be posted (a maximum length of one minute long). I am hoping to record longer videos via Fraps, which will most likely be whole events or maybe a series of events. I will then eventually be editing each video to include a commentary over the top of the video.
Below are the two videos I have currently uploaded.
So, that's all for now. I hope that you will find the DiRT 3 uploads interesting and I hope that it will just be the start of my videos. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading and watching. I'll be back soon.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Announcements! - Minecraft and Youtube Videos
Hello to all and welcome this very special post. Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who have ever and still do read the blog and also to those of you who follow the blog or follow me on Twitter.
Today's I'm pleased to make a few announcements that should interest a lot of you and you will hopefully find entertaining.
The first is that tomorrow I will finally be getting a copy of DiRT 3 for the PS3. As some of you may know, DiRT 3 has a 'direct to Youtube' feature which allows users to upload short clips or even full events onto Youtube without the need for video capturing software. I plan on uploading a good load of DiRT videos to my Youtube channel. These will initially simply be raw gameplay videos, although I had hoping to later edit some of them and begin to provide commentaries of my experiences. All of these videos will be uploaded to my channel.
My second announcement is that a friend of mine, ShaneGBUK has set up a Minecraft server which he is opening to the public. The server world currently consists of a small town which includes plots available to buy to built on, a few shops, a fishing hole and a mine.
All of this is protected so players cannot grief and disrupt others within the town, although beyond that and outside of the town walls players are free to built and destroy as they please (within reason). Shane hopes that the server will grow in popularity and can become a community project. But of course, he will need your help to do this, so checking out the server would be much appreciated.
To access the server you will first need to download a piece of software called Hamachi. It is free to download and is virus and malware free. Once you have downloaded the software you will need to join the server network.
The Network ID is: ShanesThingy
and the Password is: test
Once you have done that, you should contact either myself or Shane with your Minecraft username so you can be white-listed and be allowed to access the server.
One this is done, you will be able to access the server via the multiplayer section on the Minecraft main menu. The server IP you will have to enter is: 5.239.127.211
We hope that you will all respect Shane's work and hard effort, but for those of you who do abuse this will be punished and ultimately banned from the server.
Contacts:
randomthings -
e-mail - simplyrandomthings@gmail.com
Twitter - @iamrandomthings
Shane -
Website
So, that's all for today. I have been randomthings, thank you very much for reading and I hope to see you on Youtube and on the server very soon.
Today's I'm pleased to make a few announcements that should interest a lot of you and you will hopefully find entertaining.
My second announcement is that a friend of mine, ShaneGBUK has set up a Minecraft server which he is opening to the public. The server world currently consists of a small town which includes plots available to buy to built on, a few shops, a fishing hole and a mine.
All of this is protected so players cannot grief and disrupt others within the town, although beyond that and outside of the town walls players are free to built and destroy as they please (within reason). Shane hopes that the server will grow in popularity and can become a community project. But of course, he will need your help to do this, so checking out the server would be much appreciated.
To access the server you will first need to download a piece of software called Hamachi. It is free to download and is virus and malware free. Once you have downloaded the software you will need to join the server network.
The Network ID is: ShanesThingy
and the Password is: test
Once you have done that, you should contact either myself or Shane with your Minecraft username so you can be white-listed and be allowed to access the server.
One this is done, you will be able to access the server via the multiplayer section on the Minecraft main menu. The server IP you will have to enter is: 5.239.127.211
We hope that you will all respect Shane's work and hard effort, but for those of you who do abuse this will be punished and ultimately banned from the server.
Contacts:
randomthings -
e-mail - simplyrandomthings@gmail.com
Twitter - @iamrandomthings
Shane -
Website
So, that's all for today. I have been randomthings, thank you very much for reading and I hope to see you on Youtube and on the server very soon.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Shiny Red Button! - My Opinion of Block the Laser
This one reminds me of an old game that I can't remember the name of. That's helpful. Now, on to the post, My Opinion of Block the Laser.
Developed by just two people, game designer Joseph Christman along with programmer John D'India have been able to create Block the Laser. The game is a puzzle game where the objective is to get from the start of the level to the end by hitting switches to redirect lasers as well as to open gates, amongst other things.
The game does begin really quite basically, but after that and the mechanics have been laid out it does become incredibly complex. When while playing the trial, which covers the first thirteen or so levels I become puzzled by how to tackle the levels.
Apart from that I really cannot think of how else to describe the game, so I'll just offer my opinion and put simply, in my opinion this nothing short of great. The levels are interesting and truly puzzling, each making you think in a slightly different way to the previous one. The art style of the game is interesting too, fitting in perfecting with the gameplay style. I had a great deal of fun playing through the trail and although I haven't been able to get the full game yet, rest assured that I will.
I am really sorry that this is short, but that's all for today. I may keep my posts short for the next few days as at least then I know I will be posting something.
So, I would like to say that I have of course been randomthing and thanks for reading.
Developed by just two people, game designer Joseph Christman along with programmer John D'India have been able to create Block the Laser. The game is a puzzle game where the objective is to get from the start of the level to the end by hitting switches to redirect lasers as well as to open gates, amongst other things.
The game does begin really quite basically, but after that and the mechanics have been laid out it does become incredibly complex. When while playing the trial, which covers the first thirteen or so levels I become puzzled by how to tackle the levels.
Apart from that I really cannot think of how else to describe the game, so I'll just offer my opinion and put simply, in my opinion this nothing short of great. The levels are interesting and truly puzzling, each making you think in a slightly different way to the previous one. The art style of the game is interesting too, fitting in perfecting with the gameplay style. I had a great deal of fun playing through the trail and although I haven't been able to get the full game yet, rest assured that I will.
I am really sorry that this is short, but that's all for today. I may keep my posts short for the next few days as at least then I know I will be posting something.
So, I would like to say that I have of course been randomthing and thanks for reading.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
The final name! - It's another update
Hello to all. As some of you may be aware, that I did yesterday announce the blog's new name. After I did I received a few people didn't think the new name was good, while others did. So, after this, I then asked others via a Facebook page. The few that responded all gave the same answer. So, despite yesterday's madness the future title of this blog will be...
Analog Gaming
As I stated on Twitter yesterday, my final two choices was between either Analog Gaming or Remapped Gaming. I feel that both are individual in their own ways, but I effectively wanted to go with that more people would find an interesting name. I would also like to thank everyone who helped me yesterday with the new name decision regardless of which one they preferred. All of the feedback was useful. Also as a result of the change, the URL will now also be changed accordingly as well as other minor parts of the blog.
So, that's it for another short update. You can now all safely know I will not be renaming the blog anytime soon and that this will stick.
And now, it's time for me to sign off once again. I've been randomthings, thank you for reading and finally, welcome to Analog? Gaming.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Sunday Special - It's an update
Hello everyone, I just wanted to post a quick update. As I'm sure you can see, I have today again changed the blog's layout. The new layout now allows me to place a sidebar which makes everything more accessible thanks to the 'Blog Archive' and 'Most Popular Post' gadgets. As well as this I have now moved my Twitter Feed to the sidebar too and now use an official Twitter plug in, rather than a different one. Finally the sidebar also includes a Facebook 'share' button, so you can recommend the blog to your friends. As there is now a sidebar, this means that the main column for posts is now thinner.
I have also activated a mobile version of the blog to allow for better viewing and access from mobile devices. When the site is first loaded up a the list of posts will be shown and each post can be clicked on individually to bring it up in full, rather than seeing the whole thing initially. The mobile site doesn't work perfectly as some of the text doesn't appear to fit within the correct width, but apart from that everything seems fine.
I have also come up with a number of possible new names for the blog, but for the moment it shall still remain as Xenon Gaming until I have finally decided.
That's all for today's rather quick update. Tomorrow I shall be giving my opinion on a new Xbox Live Indie Game, Block the Laser. So, until then I'm going to sign of by saying that I've been randomthings and I'd like to thank you very much for reading. I'll see you again soon.
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