Consolation Prize

A demo of the forthcoming racing game Racedriver: GRID, the next game from Codemasters, the developers behind the really rather good off-road racing game DiRT, is now available to download from both Xbox Live Marketplace (795mb) and Sony Playstation Network (962mb).

The demo offers up a few juicy morsels of racing action. “Grid World” looks like the main single player experience as you pick and choose from driver offers which will reward the player with both money and a number of reputation points. Each offer also has a bonus condition (team objective), for example finish no lower than third to get an extra £1000. The three driver offers available provide a good example of the diverse racing that may be available in GRID and the game mixes things up nicely with some touring car racing at the Jarama Grand Prix circuit in Spain, drift racing around the docks in Yokohama, Japan, and finally partaking in a pro muscle car series event on the streets of San Francisco.

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I’ve been having a few problems with my Xbox 360 over the last few months, it’s been locking up on games and even more worryingly scratching game discs. It’s a refurbished unit, the original one was
replaced when it was sent back to Microsoft for repairs when it
RROD’d.

So yesterday I decided to upgrade to a shiny new Xbox 360 Elite. I was quite tempted to upgrade when they were first released but I didn’t want the older “Zephyr” chipset which was still being used in early elites, preferring instead to wait for the new and hopefully more reliable “Falcon” chipset. I also wanted the larger 120gb HD which will come in very handy due to the fact that I download a lot of demo’s and arcade games from Xbox Live Marketplace.

Replacing hardware is not something I usually do. In fact apart from having to buy another Sony PS1 (I sold the original so that I could afford an Nintendo 64) I’ve never previously had to replace a piece of console hardware. One advantage I always used to tout about consoles compared to say a PC was that you never have to upgrade or replace your hardware, you buy your kit and you’re set-up for the life of the console. I don’t however think this is the case any more, especially in the case of the Xbox 360. Every new hardware variant that’s introduced is not only going to appeal to new adopters but also to the devoted followers whom will want the best kit on offer. I wonder how many Core (arcade) or Premium users have bought replacement units or upgraded to an Xbox 360 Elite? I somehow don’t think that’s a statistic that Microsoft would be willing to divulge.

Mario and friends are back for another fun packed bout of racing in Mario Kart Wii. Although this is the sixth instalment in the series there aren’t really any drastic changes to the tried and tested formula. This isn’t a bad thing as by and large the series evolves with each generation of Nintendo hardware and introduces some new features.

So what’s new this time around? First and foremost is the introduction of motor bikes as vehicles rather than just karts. Instead of just being an afterthought however the bikes handle significantly differently from the karts to make them a worthwhile addition to the game, generally being faster and more responsive, but feeling a bit more unstable (twitchy). Bikes also tend to be lighter than there karting brethren and thus it’s easier to get bullied off the track while riding a pocket rocket, especially if coupled with a very light character.

Another new element this time around is the ability to perform tricks on jumps. A quick jerk of the wheel upwards at the right moment and you get to see Mario or Toad pull off a random smile inducing trick which upon landing gives you a speed boost for a few vital seconds.

There’s a wide variety of characters to choose from, in fact Mario Kart Wii boasts the largest character roster of the series to date spoiling the player with 25 in total, including the ability to use your Mii. Although half of these have to be unlocked during the course of the game most of the best known characters are available from the start.

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Although Universe at War: Earth Assault, a science fiction RTS game, wasn’t given an overly impressive reception when it was released I thought it was worth at least playing the demo so I could create my own impressions about the game.

The demo is quite extensive and allows you to try out a few different options from the game. Firstly it’s worth playing through the “Tutorial” mission which will guide you through the controls and the basic principles of unit selection and grouping as-well as some rudimentary building and unit production.

After playing the tutorial you can either jump into a single player game via the “Skirmish Battle Setup” or jump online using the “Conquer the World” option. Both offline and online modes allow you to pick from two maps, Kamchatka or Turkestan and play as either the Novus, a sentient machine race, or the distinctly alien Hierarchy. Each faction has there own inherent strengths and weaknesses and felt comparably different to play.

Universe at War uses what now seems to be an RTS “standard”; An isometric view of the battlefield which can be panned, rotated, and zoomed as the player sees fit and familiar game mechanics (that haven’t changed much in over a decade) which start the player off with a command centre and a construction unit with which to establish a base. The player divides their time managing building and unit production as-well as scouting the battlefield not only for the enemy but also to secure more resources to be converted into credits (when harvested), which are required to purchase everything from new buildings and units to technological advancements.

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Just a quick note to mention another aesthetic change. The standard Wordpress category listing has been replaced by a “Tag Cloud” which I think gives a more immediate visual representation of categories and the weighting of posts withing each category. I will also start introducing tags to posts to further help navigation.

I’m pretty happy with the changes that have been implemented over the last couple of days and I now feel I can take a break from the “site maintenance” and refocus my efforts on gaming once more!

I’m not sure where the time has gone this week but I’ve not really had the chance to sit down and play games. I have however managed to add a couple of new plugins to Consolation Prize.

Gravatars have been added to the post comments section. I will probably mess around with the layout a bit more, moving and resizing the Gravatar when time permits.

In addition the single post page now has the additional section Similar Articles at the bottom of the post, which should hopefully list up-to five similar posts.

Well readers if you hadn’t already have guessed I’ve been thoroughly engrossed in GTA IV since its release last Tuesday and I’m pleased to say that so far it’s lived up to my expectations. It’s been a while since I’ve been so totally immersed in a game to the extent where I’ve lost track of the time, but every time I’ve loaded the disc into the 360 over the last week the entire evening has just melted away into Liberty City.

The in-game counter informs me that to date I’ve been cruising the streets for about 20 hours and completed just 23% of the game and I’ve only just opened up the second island. Man, this game is epic! Granted there’s nothing stopping me from just concentrating on the story arc and condensing the experience just to say “I’ve completed the game” but what’s the point? For me GTA is also about the exploration, the side quests, cruising the streets, and just soaking in the sights and sounds of Liberty City as much as its about the story.

I love the attention to detail in this game and could wax lyrically about all the little things that have made me smile and say out loud “that’s cool!”, but I’ll save that for another day as I’m sure there’s more surprises to come. Previously the crown for the best (personal preference) GTA game was worn by GTA: Vice City but it looks like in all probability there’s going to be a new monarch in town… The king is dead. Long live the King!

Whilst agonisingly waiting to get hold of my copy of GTA IV earlier this week I thought I’d check out what the PSN store had to offer. There were a couple of PSP demo’s which I wanted to try out, namely Patapon and God of War: Chains Of Olympus but I thought I’d give the Everybody’s Golf: World Tour demo a whirl.

Before getting into the nitty-gritty it’s worth mentioning that this title is also known under a couple of different names. In Japan it’s known as Everybody’s Golf 5 and if you’re reading this on the other side of the pond from the UK it’s Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.

Although initial impressions suggest this is going to be a lightweight golf game with its large headed cartoon-esque characters once you’re actually in the game it becomes apparent that there’s a serious golf engine running behind the scenes.

The demo allows you to pick from a couple of characters, either “Jasmine” or “Felipe”, each with their own set of stats such as power, control, and spin and once chosen the character can be customised using the limited number of outfits and club types available. It’s apparent that more outfits, clubs and ball types will be selectable in the full retail game but the few on offer here provide an adequate taster of things to come.

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