Bad internet and E3 - Here comes another update!

Hello and welcome all.

As I am sure you are aware today should have been the day for this week's LBP2 Level Review. Unfortunately I haven't been able to review a level as my internet has been rather bad. I would go as far as to say it's a lot worse than that, but if anything, I will speak my mind about that on Twitter.

Since Sunday I have not been able to stay connected to Xbox Live for more than ten minutes and my usage of PSN has had to have been minimal.

I have however been able to get online today with my PC, so this evening I have been able to see the various E3 livestreams.

So, unfortunately I probably won't be able to post "My Opinion", "LBP2 Level Review" or "Home Weekly" this week, although if I can I will post them all later this week. If not I will try and use the time to try and record something for the Youtube Channel. I might try some Minecraft footage.

So, I guess that is all for now. I do hope that I can post something very soon. I've been randomthings and thank you for reading.

Home Weekly - The Return of PlayStation Home

Hello to everyone and welcome to Home Weekly, bringing you the latest news and updates.

Now, since the PlayStation Network is finally fully operational and running at full speed, it seems that SCE have been hard at work delivering the latest batch of content to Home users.

The first update that is noticeable is that Sodium TankTop has now been removed from the center of Home Square. The minigame is now only available as part of the Blaster's Paradise personal space, which can be purchased from either Estates or Lockwood, in the Shopping Centre for £3.99 in the UK and $4.99 in the US. In it's place now stands an exclusive minigame courtesy of SEGA Europe. The free-to-play Virtua Tennis 4 inspired Baseline Battle allows players to take on a team of robots on the tennis court, whilst using skills to try and amount the highest score possible to be in with a chance of winning a Baseline Battle personal space in July.

Another new release is that of the White Knight Chronicles event space. Containing information on both of the new titles, White Knight Chronicles II for PS3 and White Knight Chronicles: Origins for PSP as well as information about the original White Knight Chronicles. The space also displays some of the artwork for the two new games as well as having a quiz, which has the winning prize of an avatar Dragon Knight costume.

As well as all of that, the Stores have received many new and wonderful items. Beginning with the latest content from Konami. The first set of items are part of a Saw II: Flesh and Blood costume set, which allow users to dress up as Billy the Puppet, a well know figure from the series. All of the Saw II clothing items are available from Alter Ego. The second set of items is that of animated clothes which are based around DanceDanceRevolution, all of which are available from Threads.

Following on from that there has also been the Royal King and Queen bundles created, both of which can be found in Alter Ego and both tie in which the recent royal wedding.

The development team behind Space Ace also appear to have been busy recently, having created all matter of items to tie in with the game's release. Digital Leisure have created costumes so users can looks like either Borf, Ace or Kimberly as well as personal space items which relate to the game. All of these items can be found throughout various stores.

And finally as part of the new content update, Heavy Water have released a new set of seven tribal tattoos, which can be purchased from Threads.

Here is the relevant articles relating to this week's content update:
Baseline Battle, White Knight Chronicles and More - James Gallagher - EU Blog
PlayStation Home Update - Locust_Star - US Blog
Heavy Water - Heavy Ink Tattoos

So, that is the last of this week's blog posts and all for this Home Weekly. I am of course randomthings and thank you very much for reading. Have a great rest of the weekend and I'll be back Monday.

Ahh! Trolls! - My opinion of Avatar Legends

As always, I have once again been trying out Indie games that are available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. A few that I've tried recently include Pixel Man, Fluid and Angry Brainless Bovines. Although one game in particular has caught my attention.

Created by a team named Barkers Crest Studio, Avatar Legends is a RPG game, that as the title hints at, allows players to control their own avatar while playing. The game begins with the avatar awakening in a strange world. As the player begins to explore the world it becomes apparent that their avatar may be the prophesied Hero, who will be able to defeat the evil that has over run the world and will be able to help the avatars in returning to the comfort of the Dashboard.

The gameplay is that of a typical RGP, with the game consisting of various quests that have to be completed in order to progress. As to be expected, this can be achieved by exploring the world and speaking to various people. The game also has a rather varied combat system, with the game camera switching to a top-down perspective during battles. In combat players can use a combination of both melee and magical spells to defeat enemies.

As well as all of that, which is part of the roughly ten hour campaign, the game also features a create mode to make custom maps. This maps, as well as others created by players can then be used in the competitive multiplayer mode, which supports up to six players in one match.

Just one of the various fights throughout the game with Trolls being the main enemy.

I have currently played the game for around four hours and so far I have been greatly impressed with that I have seen. The thing that have amazed me the most with Avatar Legends is the variation within the game, with the combat being involving, the quests being well thought out and the environments being far from generic, it seems to have a great deal to offer.

At first I felt that I would not be impressed with the title at all, struggling with the combat system and attacking enemies. I initially thought it might have been that I had started on a higher difficulty. The multiple difficulties was another feature I did not expect. Once I did overcome the combat I did begin to find the gameplay incredibly enjoyable.

I would have liked to have been able to comment on the multiplayer, but after trying a number of matches I have yet to understand how it works. The other players appear to have been lagging rather a lot and the combat not working. This could possibly be an issue with the game or possibly just my own connection.
Apart from that the rest of the game runs very well.

I think that for a mere 240 Microsoft Point this is brilliant and offers a lot of things. The title is available from the Indie Games section of the Xbox Live Marketplace and can also be purchased via marketplace.xbox.com and as with every Xbox title, a trial is available from the Marketplace as well.
Below are links relating to Avatar Legends and the development team:
Avatar Legends - Xbox Marketplace Online
Avatar Legends - Xbox Forums
Barker Crest Studio

So, that's all for this weeks My Opinion. Next week's Opinion may possibly be Starchon, a title that I promised to check out a few weeks back, but as of yet I have not had a chance to play the game to a fair extent. I would like to sign off by saying that I've been randomthings and I would like to thank you very much for reading.

Gaming News: Second Post - 2/6/11 - Sony NGP Games List

Hello to all and welcome back to today's gaming news. As I said earlier today I would indeed post again if I came across another story that I felt worthy of mentioning, and I think I have found another. Like the last post, this one is again focused on Sony.

Throughout the day I have been keeping a close eye on the PlayStation Blog for further news regarding the Welcome Back package, of which there is no further information except that the 60 day Plus subscription for previous subscribers has been extended by a further 10 days to make up for the late reactivation of the Store.

So, it was that while checking the blog I came across a new post, this time from the blog manager James Gallagher. In the post Gallagher announces a number of games that will be released for the upcoming NGP handheld console.

Amongst those that were listed is Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a title that was shown at the original unveiling of the console back in January, although an official title was never given.

Another game that have been listed are another entry to the WipEout series in the form of WipEout 2048, which is to be, as with the rest of the series, developed by Studio Liverpool.

The third title that is listed goes the name of Little Deviants and will be developed by another British based company, Bigbig Studios, who have previously created the Pursuit Force series as well as the PSP's MotorStorm title, Arctic Edge. Little Deviants promises to contain a number of minigame which are designed to make use of and show the NGP's features, much in the same way as title's like Wii Sports, Kinect Adventures and Start the Party have showcased the features of their respective technology.

The fourth title is Super Stardust Delta. Very little is said about this game apart from it is set to make use of the NGP's dual analog sticks and touch screen. Is is not said who will be developing the space shooter, although it seems likely to be the original creators of the series, Housemarque as they developed both Super Stardust HD and it's PSP counterpart, Super Stardust Portable.

As will Super Stardust Delta, the next title has been listed, but with next to no information given. The game which is under the working title 'Sound Shapes' is said to be a musical side scroller, in which players create music using the touch screen.

The final two games that were also mentioned by Gallagher were both new additions to current series', as will Super Stardust. Both Hustle Kings and Everybody's Golf will have new titles available for the NGP and both presumable will use the console's features to their advantage.

The final thing that Gallagher did mention is Resistance: Retribution. Whilst this is already out for the PSP this is an example that the NGP will have backwards compatibility for PSP titles via the PlayStation store. The game will also be suited for the NGP's design and controls.


Finally, here is of course, the link to James Gallagher's post, which contains more information on the titles as well as various videos and screenshots. And here also is the respective posts for the US blog:
More NGP Games Officially Unveiled - James Gallagher - EU Blog
NGP Previews: Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Jeff Rubenstein - US Blog
NGP: Introducing Sound Shapes - Jonathan Mark - US Blog
WipEout Your PS3 Opponents On NGP - Rey Gutierrez - US Blog


So, that is once again for this post. I have been randomthings. Thank you once again for reading and I hope to post again soon.

Gaming News - 2/6/11 - PlayStation Store is back online

Hello and welcome to the gaming news for Thursday 6th May 2011.

Today's main headline is that Sony have now reactivated the PlayStation store. In a post on the PlayStation Blog this morning, Nick Caplin announced that the Store is indeed now back online. He did state however that the Welcome Back offer is not yet available but is in the final stages of testing and should be ready "very soon".

Following on from this there has since been another two posts on the blog. The first is from PSN Product Manager James Thorpe, who explains how PlayStation Plus will be be involved as part of the Welcome Back programme and what will be on offer. This includes an additional 60 day subscription which will begin upon the user reaching the original renewal date for their subscription, if they were already signed up to PS+ as well as Burnout Paradise being available for free. Thrope has also said that April's Plus content will remain active on the Store until May 21st, to allow time for users to take advantage of any offers they previously missed out on.

The third and final post has been created Ross McGrath from the PS Store team, who gives a full list of what is to be the first batch of new content to reach the Store. He makes it clear that the Spring Offers that were available before the outage will continue to be live until June 8th. As well as this, Thorpe says that fans of FIFA 11 should check out a special FIFA 11 Ultimate Team promotion from EA. As well as that he has also listed the new content that is now online.


As well as all of this for the main PS3 Store, the PSP Store has also received new content. I would like to point out though that both Stores do appear to be having some trouble, as I personally have be receiving ma error codes while browsing. This may be due the Store only just coming back online or possibly due to a surge of users accessing it, so do be patient while trying to use the service.

As I usually do, I will include links to the relevant articles, which can be found below:
PlayStation Store Is Available Now - Nick Caplin - EU Blog
PlayStation Store Is Available and Updated Now - Grace Chen - US Blog
Welcome Back To PlayStation Plus - James Thrope - EU Blog
'Heads Up' - Game Store Mega Update - Ross McGrath - EU Blog

Details of the Welcome Back Programme for SCEE Users


So, I guess that's all for today's Gaming News. I will indeed post again later today if I do come across any other big news. I have been randomthings and as always thank you very much for reading.