Blastoise has dark secrets..

Now we all know what that grin is for...

Gliese 581g

Check this out!

Best shooter video game series.

I've compiled a list of various very popular shooter series, spanning across many platforms and garnering very large fan bases over the years.

Now its time to choose your ultimate shooter series, albeit because of its gripping story line, immersive gameplay, visceral graphics, theme, weapons, opponents, or any other reason you'd love a game! You can vote in the sidebar now.

If your game isn't here, then drop it in the comments and please still vote on your favourite from the list!

Half Life

Counter Strike

Battlefield

Call of duty

Quake

Unreal Tournament

F.E.A.R 

Metal Gear Solid

Resident Evil

Halo   

Let the voting begin!.. And probably a discussion-turned fanboy war.

Thank you, Trashcanman!

Epic Craigslist prank

I was just reading The Mental Masochists blog and stumbled across an amazing little prank he pulled... I've never put in this much effort to troll someone, but he did look as though he deserved it, so I'll give him that ;).

I hope you don't mind me linking you here Maso, if anything I'd probably say your glad.

Share any similar stories in the comments, links if you can! I've read some amazing stories like this where people have gone above and beyond extreme lengths to troll, so I'm sure you have some to share.

Pirate Bay appeal begins in Stockholm

"The appeal of the four men accused of masterminding The Pirate Bay file-sharing website has begun at a court in Stockholm.

The world's media was captivated in early 2010 by the trial of men -- Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundstrom -- were accused of assisting the making available of copies of a selection of music, movie and videogame content via The Pirate Bay.

Following a large chunk of the charges getting dropped and a lot of legal to-and-fro-ing, the quartet were found guilty, and ordered to pay about £2.5 million to the entertainment giants pursuing them. They were also given a year each in prison. Almost immediately, however, questions were raised by the fact that two of the judges ruling on the case belonged to a pro-copyright organisation.

So the defendants vowed to appeal, and that appeal has now begun at a court in Stockholm. Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundstrom all appeared at court to demand they be acquitted with little or no damages. A rumour circulated that Neij responded with an IP when asked for his current address, but Sunde denied that on his Twitter feed.

Gottfrid Svartholm was unable to travel from his home in Cambodia to the trial due to medical reasons. His lawyer, who was present, argued that the case should continue without his presence, while the entertainment industry's lawyers said that his appeal should be voided and that the earlier ruling should be made permanent. The court decided that the appeal should continue, but that Svartholm would need to present a medical certificate from a doctor by 7 October.

The prosecutors then went over their version of history of the site, establishing how each defendant knew each other, and how the investigation into the site took place, including the raids in 2006 and how the evidence was collected.

The case continues, and is scheduled to be completed by 15 October." Wired.com

The Flagship Has Returned

 

 "One of the greatest strategy franchises of all time is back, and it's replete with addictive new enhancements. The brains behind the whole operation shared a few key insights on how the latest chapter in this groundbreaking franchise came together.

"We mined art history to arrive at the blend of classic and cutting-edge art style in Civ V. For the game world, we were inspired by the Hudson River School painters. The leader scenes are influenced by the epic films of both the past and the present. We wanted to make sure that when you entered into the presence of one of these giants of history, you felt the immensity of it. During the rise of the great American cities coming through industrialization, art deco architecture became a symbol of American optimism. This seemed to match the excitement and anticipation we wanted our game to embody."

- Dorian Newcomb, Lead Artist, Civilization V

"We really wanted Civ V to be accessible to everyone, newcomers and hard-core players alike. All the depth, the options, the variety of play, everything our fans have come to expect is in there. If you're new to the series, the interface system will work with you, helping you learn as you play. When you're ready, you can adjust the settings to fit your play style and skill level."

- Dennis Shirk, Producer, Civilization V" Wired.com

I used to love the civilization games, looking forward to this one too. There is currently no ESRB rating so we'll have to wait for that.

Poll results and news

Sorry I haven't been around much the past couple of days, I'm off to work in 10 minutes and then I'm at a party tonight, then work all day tomorrow!

I'll be sure to swing by for a little while but I won't be back properly till sunday.

Leave me plenty of lovely comments to reply to and I'll get back to you =P.

The poll has finished with 12 votes for ATI and 21 votes for Nvidia, this isn't suprising and actually quite a typical result since according to Valves hardware survey 59.11% of its users are Nvidia users.

Thanks to all that voted and we'll have to see what the 6xxx generation from ATI and Nvidia's next gen bring us!

How to Do (Almost) Everything With a Kindle 3

"Amazon’s Kindle can do a lot more than just buy and read Amazon-sold e-books. This is often a surprise. I usually wind up in conversations where someone says “I’d like to try a Kindle, but it can’t _______.” Usually, it can.

I was actually surprised when I bought my Kindle not just by how much it could do, but by how well it did it. The Kindle suffers from two things: 1) it’s never going to do everything that a full-fledged computer or even a color touchscreen tablet can do; and 2) the Kindle 3 has improved on a whole slew of features that were either poorly implemented in or entirely absent from earlier iterations of the Kindle.

Here I want to gather up knowledge generated from and circulated by many of my favorite e-reader blogs, just to try to give you an inkling of all the things that a new Kindle can do. For organizational purposes, I’m going to do it as a Q&A. Most of these questions I’ve actually been asked (some of them frequently); others are rhetorical. (There are many features you wouldn’t even think to ask about.)


Q. Can the Kindle read PDFs?

A. Yes — and it actually handles them very well. You don’t need to email yourself copies; you can hook up your Kindle to your computer through a USB cable, mount the Kindle’s drive, and drag-and-drop.

One big suggestion. Just because of its screen size, viewing PDFs on the Kindle is much better if they’re oriented in portrait rather than landscape, and if they’re single-page documents rather than spreads (i.e., where a book is scanned/photocopied two pages at a time). Printed office documents, downloaded journal articles, maps, etc., all look great. They’re monochrome, obviously, but they read as well as an e-book. You can even highlight and annotate them just like you can Kindle books — that is, assuming they’re real text PDFs, not just bundled images.

Q. Can I read free/public-domain books on the Kindle?

A. Yes, and you should. Amazon “sells” a number of public-domain books for $0 through the Kindle store. You can also download public-domain books from Project Gutenberg and Google Books. In fact, that’s where a lot of Amazon’s free books come from.

At TeleRead, Kindle World blogger Andrys Basten points out that Project Gutenberg actually has a mobile version of its website where you can download Kindle-compatible e-books directly. Just fire up your Kindle’s web browser and go to m.gutenberg.org.

Virtually all mobile-optimized web sites look terrific on the Kindle’s web browser, and Project Gutenberg’s is no different. You can search or browse by author, title, subject, release date, or popularity, and download Kindle books with or without images included.

Select a book, scroll downwards (using the “next page” button allows you to scroll quickly), and select the “Kindle” version. (There are also HTML, EPUB, and TXT available, usually.) Your Kindle will show you a scary message, saying “Do you really want to download pg###.mobi? It will be available on your Home screen.” Don’t worry. “pg###” is just the Project Gutenberg internal title of the book. It will still show up on your Kindle by its proper book title. And it’s GOOD that the book will be available on your home screen; that’s where all of your other books are kept.

Q. Wait a minute, you just said something about Google Books. Can I read EPUB files on the Kindle too?

A. It’s true: Google Books allows you to download public-domain books not in Kindle’s AZW or MOBI formats, but in the competing EPUB standard. But there are a couple of good ways to convert EPUB files without DRM (like those you download from Google Books) into Kindle-compatible formats.

If you are For Real about digging into e-books, I advise you to download the multi-platform e-book management app Calibre immediately. Among its other virtues (e-reader client, e-library manager) Calibre is an e-book-converting monster:

Input Formats: CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, EPUB, FB2, HTML, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC**, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, TCR, TXT

Output Formats: EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, TCR, TXT

If you are like 90% of Kindle users, the important input formats in that list are EPUB, and the two comic-book formats CBZ and CBR. The important output formats are MOBI and PDF — either of which your Kindle can read without a problem.

What’s more, Calibre will sync these files to your Kindle, either through USB or by setting itself up as a server. Mounting the Kindle and dragging and dropping files to it is pretty easy already, but since your library of converted/downloaded books is already in Calibre, this can make it even easier.

If you don’t want to bother with Calibre — for some people, the sheer scope of the application is overwhelming, and even I haven’t tried everything it can do — there’s also RetroRead, a free site/service that converts EPUBs from Google Books to Kindle- and iOS-friendly formats.

Q. I don’t like using a USB cable, and some of these sites say they’ll send books to my Kindle wirelessly. But don’t I have to pay to have documents sent wirelessly to my Kindle?

A. You do have to pay Amazon to have non-Amazon docs converted and sent to your device IF they’re sent over 3G. The key thing to avoid charges is to always sign up for services using your username@free.kindle.com email address. If you do this, then your device will only add documents when it’s using Wi-Fi — and that’s free.

Q. What’s my username?

A. It’s often identical to the username of the email address that you use to sign in to Amazon. If you’re not sure, go to Amazon’s “Managing Your Kindle” page, which is a great resource for all of this.

Q. Can other people send things to my email address to spam me/make me pay for document delivery?

A. You have to authorize every user who can send a document to your Kindle. I’ve actually never used this to authorize a group of trusted friends to share and convert e-books, but that’s a great idea.

Q. How can I read blogs and websites on my Kindle?

A. The new web browser — based on WebKit, the same rendering engine as Safari and mobile Safari — is so much better than previous instances that usually you can use this to read blogs without any special conversion.

For some reason the web browser is still listed under the “Experimental” menu, but this thing is ready to go. Among friends, we suspect that Amazon doesn’t actually want to advertise how good the web experience is, because it’s on the hook for all the 3G data its users consume.

Again, I prefer the mobile versions of most websites to the standard ones; you don’t have to pan/zoom, but it’s not hard to bookmark your favorites. (Liberal use of bookmarks also saves you from repeat typing, which is improved but still not fantastic.) Mobile versions of text-heavy websites (like mobile Twitter, Instapaper, Google Reader, etc.) look and function the very best.

The other amazing improvement in the new Kindle browser is something called “Article Mode.” This is identical to the new “Reader” button in Safari, or the Readability bookmarklet. Basically, if you go to an ordinary web page, and it’s cluttered with images, ads, or laid out in a way that’s hard to read on your Kindle, click the “Menu” button and then “Article Mode.” Instantly the web page will be laid out in an easy-to-read text column, just like if you’d sent it to Instapaper.

Q. Instapaper? I love Instapaper!

A. Me too!

Q. How can I send web articles I save in Instapaper to my Kindle?

A. Ah. Well, you can navigate through the web interface, which is pretty good. Or, you can have Instapaper send articles to your Kindle device. Now, instead of being in your browser, your Instapaper articles will be grouped with and formatted like Newspapers and Magazines. Instapaper’s Marco Arment has said that using the Kindle is his “favorite way to read content from Instapaper.” And that was on the janky old Kindle 2.

Unfortunately, for reasons I’m not smart enough to understand, Instapaper can’t automate delivery to your @free.kindle.com address. Arment, though, recently CTO of Tumblr, has recently announced that he’s going to start working full-time on Instapaper. Might a Kindle Instapaper app be in the works? Methinks quite possibly yes.

Q. I’d hate having to scroll through a long home screen. Can I sort my books, articles, PDFs, or whatever into folders?

A. Yes. They’re called “Collections.” From your “Home” screen, click the “Menu” button — there are a lot of keys on the keyboard, but “Menu,” “Home,” the directional keys, Return, Select, and the page turn buttons are your friends — and choose “Create New Collection.” Once you’ve created it, you can add/remove items, change how you sort through them — the works. Great way to group by kind, genre, category, or even levels of attention.

Q. How can I share books I read with my friends and family?

A. Ah. This is a sore spot, as Barnes and Noble’s Nook has promised some limited ability to lend out e-books. Kindle doesn’t really have that. However, there are some clever ways to get the same functionality.

First, you can share an Amazon account with another person and authorize both of your devices to download e-books purchased from that account. This is probably most obvious for families, who often buy from a single Amazon account anyways. But there’s no reason why you couldn’t do the same with a group of friends. The trouble is that each Kindle is tied to one account. So if you’re reading e-books in a group account, you’re only reading e-books in that group account.

With free books, it’s not a problem to share either. As I mentioned above, every user can authorize a number of e-mail addresses to send documents to their Kindle. This is a great way to share PDFs or free books you’ve converted in Calibre.

Q. I read a little bit in English, but my first language is German. Can I change the default menu/user-interface language?

A. Aha. As far as I can tell, definitely not on the Kindle itself. The only way you can change the “country” setting is by entering in an address on the web site. I think this is a huge disadvantage to the device, and shows some of the limitations in how Amazon thinks of its user base. Even in the United States, there are plenty of readers who would prefer to have their menu language displayed in Spanish, French, or other languages.

Q. Can I use Twitter on the Kindle?

A. Yes. Kindle’s 2.5 update added a feature where you could share passages or tweet about books. As for working with Twitter itself, again, I recommend the mobile site, mobile.twitter.com. New Twitter is translucent and beautiful in an ordinary web browser, but that beauty if totally lost on the Kindle.

Reading mobile Twitter on the Kindle is a blast. You can even use your page turn keys to quickly scroll up and down. You can easily favorite or use the built-in retweet.

The biggest problem — and this is a giant hole in the whole Kindle browser experience — is following links out on Twitter. It tries to open links in a new window. Kindle’s web browser doesn’t support multiple windows. It tells you: your browser doesn’t support multiple windows. Does it let you click through to the link anyways? No, it does not. It’s hateful. The browser should either redirect all tweets to open in the same window, or give you a nag prompt with the option to open or not open the link.

Typing tweets on mobile Twitter… Hmm…

Well, I’ll say this. I don’t like writing tweets using Twitter’s web page anyways. And the keyboard on the Kindle 3 is much-improved, but still no champ. If you’re used to either a full keyboard OR a smartphone’s software typo corrections and autofills, the Kindle is bound to disappoint.

The Kindle excels as a reader, not a writer. Really, the keyboard is there to enter in search terms, not to compose. It doesn’t have number keys, for example — although you use those to enter in URLs or email addresses all the time. (You have to press the “Sym” button to get access to numbers, @-signs, etc.)" Wired.com

So what do you all think? I used to rate this as a stupid gimicky gadget and thought if people want to read books, they'll prefer the paper stuff! But maybe with these features too it will be able to swing your hardcorest of bookworms.

Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comment section.

Researchers close in on six petabit hard drive

  

"Computer scientists in China are close to creating the next-generation of computer storage devices, capable of holding more than six petabits of data on a single five-inch disc. The only hurdle is making the tech fast enough to write data at the speeds such a drive would require.

Current hard drives are capped at around three terabytes, with manufacturers such as Seagate and Western Digital constantly trying to push that envelope further, every year. This new drive would allow for a storage space of around 768 terabytes. That’s enough storage for around 31,000 Blu-rays, 200,000 DVDs or, if you really wanted to, 500 million floppies.

The technique records on ultra-thin, ferromagnetic films, and rapidly reverses the film’s magnetisation with a laser. Such reversal could take less than a nanosecond to achieve, meaning that the new magneto-optical drives would be faster, by up to thirty times current drive speeds, as well as much bigger.

However, magnetised ferromagnetic film is just one of many different technologies that have purported to make drives bigger, faster and one step ahead of the solid state memory that threatens their existence. But creating new storage tech has been notoriously hard to achieve.

For example, take proposed holographic data storage solutions. These work with light instead of magnetics, utilising non-linear recording and reading to enable massively fast data transfer rates. Researchers concentrating on this technology believed holographic hard drives could store data for more than 50 years, far exceeding magnetic drives life expectancy.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest holographic storage creators, InPhase Technologies, was shut down earlier this year. Despite working on the tech for over nine years, and spending upwards of $100 million (£63 million), the company closed its doors without ever shipping a product.

Another theoretical storage solution would see discs coated in light-sensitive proteins, produced by a genetically altered microbe. Such organic-tech could see up to 50 terabytes being held on a single disc. However, since prototypes were made in 2006, and promises for commercial USB drives and DVDs were made, we haven’t seen any info since.

It’s a hugely tough market to enter. With drives increasing in speed and capacity at meteoric rates, year on year, releasing a new type of storage technology is like trying to jump onto a speeding train." Wired.com

VW puts talking ad in newspaper

"Readers of The Times of India heard an audio advertisement when they unfolded the print edition of the newspaper yesterday morning. (You read that right.)

Volkswagen paid the publication to fit an audio chip inside the pages (above) that plays in an endless loop until you close the paper, according to tech blog Digital Inspiration. For power, the chip appears to incorporate a photodiode, a photo detector that converts light into current or voltage. That’s pretty clever.

Not a believer? Check out the video below showing the audio ad in action.

It’s clearly a publicity stunt on VW’s part, and it seems kind of creepy, but most readers are reacting positively to the ad on Twitter. And we’re sure The Times is enjoying the extra cash from the eccentric ad, like any print publication would these days.

“One of those rare days when ppl in #mumbai will buy Times of India to see (also hear) the Volkswagen advertisement and not for news,” tweeted Moulin Parikh." - Wired.com

Here's the ad in action:

Music Blog

Thank you to everybody that reads and follows my current blog, you've made it extremely successful and worth the time and effort I put in.

This blog can become extremely off topic at times, not that thats a bad thing - I've just decided to create another blog, entirely dedicated to music.

It's called Music of the Moment and spans all sorts of genres. As it is new there is currently not a whole lot of content up, but thats going to change soon.

My taste in music is extremely broad, so I'm sure you'll be able to find something you like. Feel free to share your opinions and your own favourites over there too.

I will keep my updates as often as I can - whenever I put together a nice little list of music, find that one stand out song, or recall something worth sharing.

I would extremely appreciate it if you could check it out, follow and drop a comment!

Today

Started animation at college today, finding it quite fun actually even though I had a few hilarious and at times frustrating hiccups, definately one of the better if not the best subjects we'll be doing at college.

Last year I trounced all over computer systems, being a massive nerd and all =P, so that was fairly easy.

Need to step up my effort this term and go for all merits and distinctions, I want to get myself into a pretty decent university.

Anyway, what about yourselves? What have you all been up to today? =)

500 followers

Thank you everybody that followers my blogs, I've hit my goal of 500 followers and I'm currently at just under 10,000 hits after starting my blog a few weeks ago.

Thank you all and to celebrate I'll post something a little.. special.



This kid spent six months of his life and over 25,000 pokémon encounters to catch this pokémon... A shining example and life long achievement we should all aspire to.

Or not.

Heres the YTMND mix.

If you hadn't seen this before.. well you have now. Post your thoughts below, thanks!

Hungarian designers debut Stringbike, a chain-free bike

 

"Bicycle designers from Hungary have revealed the Stringbike in Padova, Italy, a bike design that drops the common chain in favour of a wire and pulley system.

While it might seem like a complicated answer to a non-existent problem, the Hungarian creators assure that their symmetric system lends itself to an extra level of comfort and efficiency.

Typical bikes, of course, have a chain and gears on just one side of the bike. The Stringbike creators, at bike manufacturing company Schwinn Csepel Zrt, write that “asymmetry has been the source of lots of problems”. However, other than slipping chains and oily jeans, they’re mostly “unnoticeable” problems, until you’ve tried a symmetrical system first hand.

The new design’s mechanics are considerably more complicated than the traditional chain, and is possibly best left to the video (embedded below) to explain. In the most basic terms, the movement of the pedal forces a swinging arm to move about its shaft, pulling a taught cable around a pulley system. With each push, the task is swapped from the left side to the right.

The Stringbike offers up a few extra advantages over its chain-driven predecessor. The pedal system can be replaced with different discs for separate purposes, for example. Racing and touring could use different shaped and sized parts, to alter performance and function. Plus, the rear wheel can be removed in seconds, for portability.

You’ll also have no grease or oil to deal with, but it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to fix this quite as easily as replacing a knackered chain. The official website mentions that while you will be able to take it an appropriate service location, you can repair a Stringbike at home. Although, that would presumably be the least of your worries if a fast-moving, taught, metal wire lashed off its piston next to your leg. Ouch." Wired.com

Big Daddy carved from wood

Crazy talent and passion for Bioshock right here from someone you probably wouldn't expect - a crazed looking Japanese tree surgeon/sculpter wearing a hocky mask... yeah.

Kevin Butler E3 2010 Speech

I'm not going to lie. This is a pretty awesome speech.

Crazy nintendo table

This thing doubles as a coffee table and a game controller.. watch the whole thing to see how it was made.

Anatomy of a Pikachu

Nuff said

Crazy halo 3 hammer slam

Epic prediction or just luck? I'm going with the first one to be honest.

AdSense snippet

I have solved my issue finding the html snippet, for those of you who are in the same situation as me, you can find the guide here

 

I hope this was helpful to those of you that need it. 

Jackass 3D trailer

I'm not the biggest Jackass fan, I prefer the rawness of Dirty Sanchez, but this movie looks to be pretty good =D

Don't mess with this SC player

M83 - You Appearing

A friend linked me this, its a nice smooth song.. I can't explain it, makes me feel relaxed and harmonic.. just one of them songs, as soon as I heard it - it became an instant reflection song, one of those songs you look back on, I could just tell, you know? I know you know ;)

Enough of me going on before I make myself look a little mental, just listen to it below :)



Songs like this just make me feel relaxed and at peace.. and at times ecstatic.

Please give it a listen and let me know what you think in the comments..

Adbrite help

Can somebody who also uses this on their blog explain to me what my "html snippet" is? :)

Thanks in advance <3

Intel wants to charge $50 to unlock stuff your CPU can already do

"Hold onto your hyperthreaded horses, because this is liable to whip up an angry mob -- Intel's asking customers to pay extra if they want the full power of their store-bought silicon. An eagle-eyed Engadget reader was surfing the Best Buy shelves when he noticed this $50 card -- and sure enough, Intel websites confirm -- that lets you download software to unlock extra threads and cache on the new Pentium G6951 processor. Hardware.info got their hands on an early sample of the chip and discovered it's actually a full 1MB of L3 cache that's enabled plus HyperThreading support, which translates to a modest but noticeable upgrade.

This isn't exactly an unprecedented move, as chip companies routinely sell hardware-locked chips all the time in a process known as binning, but there they have a simpler excuse -- binned chips are typically sold with cores or cache locked because that part of their silicon turned out defective after printing.

This new idea is more akin to video games that let you "download" extra weapons and features, when those features were on the disc all along. Still, it's an intriguing business model, and before you unleash your rage in comments, you should know that Intel's just testing it out on this low-end processor in a few select markets for now." Wired.com

WTF is this BULLSHIT?!?!

I think my next processor might just be an AMD, purely because of this. CUNTS.

MMO shooter APB shut down after three months

"Only three months after its catastrophic launch, following negative reviews and financial woes, troubled online game APB has been shut down by its Scottish creators.

Ben Batemen, APB’s community officer, wrote on the game’s now-shuttered forums, “Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone's best efforts to keep the service running; APB is coming to a close.”

The game, a massively multiplayer online shooter that pitted heavily armed cops against street-racing robbers, a little like an online variant of GTA IV, met financial failure upon its launch on PC, in June this year. Said to cost over $100 million (about £63 million) to create, and with a lengthy development period of five years, it was a risky game to put out in a troubled economic period.

Worse still, reviews lambasted the game for being plagued with broken systems, outdated play mechanics and being generally unfinished. Gamers, too, weren't impressed with extra-money making systems, on top of the monthly fee, like audio adverts over the voice chat.

Realtime Worlds, the Dundee game studio made famous by Xbox 360’s Crackdown and headlined by Grand Theft Auto creator Dave Jones, went in to administration just weeks after releasing APB in shops, and made 60 staff redundant.

Now, with the game’s servers switched off, the developer's office has been emptied of its last few staff members. Only seven employees, out of the 250 who made the game, remain on a temporary basis to completely close down the game and studio, then turn the lights out and shut the door.

APB has been pulled from both retail and digital shelves but Paul Dounis, joint administrator of Begbies Traynor (the businesses rescue agent dealing with Realtime Worlds) said that disappointed players should contact their retailer for a refund.

However, the latest chapter in this dismal saga offers a faint glimmer of hope. Epic Games, creator of Gears of War and Unreal, has hinted at snapping up the MMO and continuing to develop it. UK spokesperson Dana Cowley said that Mark Rein, Epic's vice president, absolutely loves APB, but said any talks would be confidential.

APB follows in the footsteps of a long line of unsuccessful MMORPGs to be killed off within a scant few months of opening, following dismal sales and failing to capitalise on the success of MMO behemoths like World of Warcraft. The Sims Online remained online for about six years, Tabula Rosa got a couple of years in and Auto Assault barely scraped a year. None have closed as fast as APB." wired.com

Best video game villain post 4

We are now into the 6th round with Kerrigan and Darth Vader.

The votes are down to the wire at 50.4% and 49.6% 

  
As always you can vote, here.

Gran Turismo 5 screenshots

Check out > these < bad boys! View them in their original size for high quality.

I'll probably be missing out on the spoils of the latest GT, as I took a turn away from consoles a long time ago. However that doesn't make this game anything short of amazing - I hope the game all-round can live up to the graphics.

 

(Click to view in original size)

 The levels of realism look crazy, as always leave your comments below :~) 

Amnesia: The Dark Descent Video Review by ElderGeek.com

This game looks dark and awesome, I would love to play it.

With the lights off, in the dark, watching clips of this game - feels EXTREMELY immersive.

What do you all think? Opinions, impressions, your own reviews? Leave it in the comments below :)

In Japan, Gamemakers Struggle to Instill Taste for Western Shooters

[Takeshi Kitajima, 37, plays Just Cause 2 in a Sofmap store in Akihabara. "When I started the game, I wasn't sure what to do," he said of the open-world action game.
Photo: Robert Gilhooly/Wired.com]

"TOKYO — Japanese publishers looking to import American games face a daunting task in a country that hasn’t warmed to next-gen graphics and first-person shooters.

“Japan’s never been very receptive to foreign games,” says Gwyn Campbell, who works for a major game publisher in Tokyo and is the host of a gaming podcast with other expatriates. “The term ‘foreign game’ is traditionally an insult — it means ‘low quality.’”

The anti-Western prejudice is deeply ingrained in the minds of Japanese gamers, who traditionally favor handheld devices like the Nintendo DS over high-powered consoles like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

Yo-ge, kuso-ge, goes the saying: “Western game, shit game.”

Still, partly because high-def game development is so expensive and partly because they see an undeveloped market just waiting to be tapped, Japanese publishers are pushing foreign games with increasing vigor in their home country, even though the domestic audience has historically been loath to try them.

“These companies want to make money,” says Campbell. “They’ve got these games, these assets that exist, and they’re trying to bring them over.”


At the Tokyo Game Show, which runs from Thursday to Sunday here, many of the big games on the show floor are being developed outside Japan. Square Enix’s most popular franchises — like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, games that move millions of units in Japan alone — are relegated to a small corner of the company’s massive booth.

Instead, the majority of Square Enix’s show-floor space is given over to Western-made games it is publishing this year under the label Extreme Edges, a new brand for “mature” titles. The games include Call of Duty, Deus Ex and Lara Croft, the kind of high-end titles that do well in the United States but haven’t taken off in Japan.

Many other games at Tokyo Game Show, Japan’s biggest videogame expo, are developed here with an eye on the Western market. Most are shooters, a genre that dominates the U.S. charts but is not popular here. It’s all an attempt to reach a broader audience with next-generation games, something that Japan hasn’t been able to do yet.

“The classic, traditional Japanese formula is not a moneymaker anymore unless you have “Monster Hunter,” “Dragon Quest” or “Final Fantasy” in your game title,” says James Mielke, a game producer at Tokyo-based Q Entertainment. “It’s a real risk for a developer to make a game that’s designed specifically for (Japan). That’s not a safe strategy.”
What Japanese Gamers Want

Japanese gamers have very specific tastes, often embracing the polar opposite of what sells in the rest of the world. Open-world games like Fallout and Grand Theft Auto emphasize the player’s freedom to do whatever he wants, which doesn’t fly in Japan.

“They want a guided experience,” says Campbell. “They want their hands held. They want the familiar. They don’t want new. When you go against that, they get angry.”

Some companies attempting to sell Western games in Japan are attempting to turn that negative into a positive. Bethesda’s advertising campaign for Fallout: New Vegas features a group of Japanese youths protesting the linear, on-rails nature of traditional Japanese role-playing games.

But sales numbers don’t lie. Of the top 100 games sold in Japan in 2009, you have to go all the way down to No. 77 to find the one title not made in Japan — Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

This does seem to be changing somewhat: On the top 100 list for the first half of 2010, Call of Duty is joined by Electronic Arts’ Battlefield and Sony’s MAG and God of War.

But these are minor victories at best. The portable PSP and Nintendo DS dominate the market with games like Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest while high-definition, next-generation gaming struggles to get a foothold in Japan. Sony has sold just more than 5 million PlayStation 3s here, and Microsoft barely limped past the 1 million mark with Xbox 360. The only next-gen game that sold more than 1 million units in 2009 was Final Fantasy XIII.

[A display for Halo: Reach goes all but unnoticed in the Sofmap electronics store in Akihabara.
Photo: Chris Kohler/Wired.com]

The lack of success so far doesn’t mean Japanese companies are going to quit trying to woo gamers to Western-style games.

Stop into the PlayStation 3 section of any electronics store in Tokyo and you’ll likely find that most of the titles on display are either from outside Japan or designed to appeal to Western tastes.

In the next month, two Japanese publishers are gearing up to launch third-person shooters that crib from Epic Games’ Gears of War. Sega’s upcoming sci-fi shooter Vanquish adds a decidedly Japanese over-the-top flair: The main character in his superhuman robot suit can slide around the battlefield like a base runner coming in to home plate.

But one critic I talked to who had played Tecmo Koei’s forthcoming third-person shooter Quantum Theory said it was almost indistinguishable from Gears. The thrust of the criticism around the game thus far seems to be that it apes the outward form of the popular shooter, but not its intrinsic appeal.

Part of the problem seems to be a total lack of exposure among Japanese gamers — and, perhaps more importantly, among Japanese game developers — when it comes to high-end videogames like Halo and Grand Theft Auto, with their lush graphics and open worlds.

“I’ve come across Japanese development companies as recently as two years ago where the engineers, the designers of the game, owned a PS2, a PSP, a Wii and a DS,” says Campbell. “I’ve sat people down with a next-gen game, and they thought they were watching a cut scene until I gave them a controller. I was like, ‘No, this is what people in the West play.’”

Such experiences are not unusual in a country where next-gen consoles have so far failed to catch on the way they have in the West.

“The other day,” says Q Entertainment’s Mielke, “I was having lunch with a friend and I said, ‘Have you ever played StarCraft?’ And he said, ‘What’s StarCraft?’ Sometimes it’s just really shocking that their gaming vocabulary isn’t as extensive as it could be. I think Japanese game developers need to start playing other people’s games to open their minds, just like a writer might want to read classic literature to be inspired.”" - wired.com

Mommy & Daddy song

You must have seen this by now, but just incase you haven't - here it is.



I find this video so addictive and I don't know why, its just hilarious and sounds awesome :D

Dancing..

This time we have a dancing performance from our favourite all singing, all dancing internet star.



Leave your comments below ;D

France bans 5 million Muslims from wearing the burka with 246-1 vote

"France banned 5 million Muslims from wearing the burka last night in a final, decisive vote by the parliament.

Protest: Members of the French association 'Ni Putes, Ni soumises' walk toward the right political party UMP headquarters dressed with burka

Women who repeatedly offend will be sent to prison after lawmakers in the senate rubber-stamped an earlier vote by MPs.

In a nation of 5million Muslims, the full Islamic face veil is now officially ‘an insult to the country’s values’.

The 246-1 vote result means the controversial law is now in force, despite threats from al-Qaeda leaders to seek ‘dreadful revenge’ if it is ever enforced.

Following the vote, Muslim women now have a six months ‘grace period’ to adapt to the new rules without facing prosecution.

If they persist in wearing it after that time they will be fined £125 or ordered to attend citizenship classes. But some warned they will refuse to obey any law telling them how to dress, whatever the consequences.
Men who force their wives to wear the garb, viewed by some as a sign of fundamentalism, face a year in jail and a fine of up to £25,000.

France is now the second country in Europe after Belgium to outlaw Muslim head wear that hides the face.

The law will also apply to Muslim tourists – including the thousands of Middle Eastern visitors to the French capital every year.

French Muslim property tycoon Rachid Nekkaz has said he will set up a fund to help Muslim women pay ‘burka fines’."



I think this is awesome progress, what do you all think?

Alice in Wonderland song

Saw a clip on somebody elses blog that reminded me of this legendary song, enjoy.

It's time again...

For one of them perculiar YouTube videos..

Best video game villian post 3

As we move onto part 2 of round 5, we have Darth Vader vs General RAAM.

As you can see Vader has a huge lead of 64.2% over RAAM's 35.8% 

Go here to help decide the best video game villain of all time.

3 short CS:S clips

These are 3 little clips made of me playing CS:S competitively that have been made over the last couple years. I have farrr more really good quality demo's (the recording file from the game) that somebody could edit, I just can't really find someone too.

I could probably pester my friend who edited the last 2, but nevermind, enjoy!

Remember to change quality to 720p.

1v5, AWP on de_cpl_mill.



Pistol round on de_nuke.



Short de_nuke compilation from 1 game at i37.



Please let me know what you think, and leave your comments below.

By the way, in the last clip the majority of the kills were scoped, but my friend decided to remove the frames from the clip where I was scoped :/

Anyway thanks for taking your time to watch!

College

As it turns out, after we went in for the Monday start in terrible weather.. we just sat around and were given our timetables and left after half an hour.

It's all good, though, as it just gives us another week holiday and time to get work done, extending our holidays to 14 weeks. Yes, 14 - WEEKS.

Not bad, so I'm not complaining. How are you all doing?

Best video game villian post 2

Gamespot is at its next stage, to find the greatest video game villain of all time, as chosen by you.

In this match up we have The Joker vs. Kerrigan.

This match is similarly tied up, with a slightly larger gap at 54% & 46%

  

You can vote for your favourite, here.

Fragbite Cribs: Visiting WeMade FOX in Seoul, South Korea

Fragbites visit professional gaming organisation WeMade FOX, in South Korea. In this video you will see the life styles of the gamers and where they live.

Chris' random blog

I'd appreciate if you would check out my friend Chris' blog, he has an exellent taste in music and I'm sure you'll enjoy it, ta! <3

The man with the mutton chops ;), Chris!

Funky particle flash

You should check out this punky particle flash.. (game..?) I'm hesitant to call it a game, because it's not really a game.. However it is a pretty funky little toy to mess around with.. I hope you enjoy it and give me some feedback.

You can find it here.

I'm a little busy right now, but if my super dedicated readers can drop me a comment and an opinion then I'll be sure to get back to them :)

Woman eats pole..

combine THIS with this... VVVVVV

Woman Eats Pole After Slipping In Floodwaters

She usually has more fun wrapping herself around a pole.

Get humor videos at NothingToxic

leave feedback in the comments section :D

First day of college..

Well.. the first day of my second year, anyway! So yeah I don't have any of the nerves of the first FIRST day haha, however I am tired.. hopefully today at college I will uncover that blogger isn't blocked by the filters!.. we'll see haha. Oh and I forgot to mention the weather is pretty bad today.. prettyyyyy bad.

So wish me luck and I'll be back to check all your blogs later tonight, in the mean time I leave you with...

A chicken on a raft!.. god its addictive :D

Best video game villain

Gamespot is at its next stage, to find the greatest video game villain of all time, as chosen by you.

In this match up we have  General RAAM vs. Dr Breen.

 So far the matchup is pretty evenly tied, at  48.9% & 51.1%

You can vote for your favourite, here. 

One world trade center

Freedom Tower / One World Trade Center from 4B5PR1T20R on Vimeo.

Portal 2 - Full Co-op Trailer

This was released 2 days ago by valve.. if you haven't seen it yet.. check it out.. its awesome is beyond what I could ever imagine they would have done with Portal :D



Heres 2 little clips from Portal 2.. showcasing even more awesome :D

Propulsion gel..



Repulsion gel..

An interesting look at Nintendo

Click to enlarge :)

A little bit of dub

Posting a few more songs, this time from the dubstep genre.

Cragga - Please Mr Postman OFFICIAL (Dubstep Refix)



Cookie Monsta - "Optimus Prime" (worth watching in 1080p, better sound quality.)



La Roux - Bulletproof (CHRISPY REMIX)



Rihanna - Rude Boy (CHRISPY REMIX)



I personally think this song is better than the original... let me know what you guys think in the comments section <3

Headhunterz - MF point of perfection

Yes hardstyle <3

Did You Know? "We are living in exponential times" (A Must Watch, Really)

An awesome, really informative video with one of my favourite tracks of all time. :D



ALOT more video game related stuff coming your way soon. :)

In Russia, women rape you!

Just read this story, it's lulzy.

Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

One of the wisest and greatest men who ever lived...

He's climbing in your windows...

You must have seen this by now.. or atleast the original, the song is kinda catchy haha :D

Good afternoon!

I think if you haven't seen this.. It's about time you did :D



The one I saw the other day had a much better soundtrack.. made it funnier, but nevermind, If somebody can find the 5 minute version showing the damage in the bays under the decks and stuff then please do post :) <3

Good morning Bloggers

Unfortunately this morning I don't have enough time to post anything interesting, I'm going to work in about 15 minutes and I'm working all day. Well, I get a few hour break later, so I may swing on by to see what your all up to then. :)

Oh and by the way, I work as a pot wash in an Italian restaurant, which I shall keep doing when college starts again on monday, providing I'm not finding everything too chaotic and stressful, should be okay though!

Nom nom hope I get some free foods, I'm hungry x]

In the mean time, enjoy this picture of a cat <3

(oh and check out some of my older content too ;])

Absolutely amazing...

heres a little clip a friend showed me a monthish ago, totally forgot about it - thought you guys may appreciate it, about half way through you'll realise how he's making the music :) enjoy!


Ben Dowden -Beatbox Dub -FX 18042009 -Step on my Trip-
Uploaded by sonik_kaos. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

CL65 AMG: Drive it like you stole it

This is a cool video I saw sometime ago, and thought was worth sharing.. crazy guy haha, but he must have alot of money to back him up with the cars he drives, check out his other vids :D



Same car, different guy - smoking a lambo :)



Enjoy <3

Just listen

Heres a classic song from LMFAO, before he got largely famous because of his rubbish "LA LA LA" bollocks.

In loving memory of mouz|cyx (Antonio Daniloski)

I found this cool video showing some of the highlights of Antonio's Counter Strike gaming career, made by his gaming organisation (and friends) after his life was sadly cut short due to a car accident.

R.I.P Cyx, you legend, you will be missed!

My friends blog

I'm posting a good friends blog, as I'm sure he could do with some followers and comments to inspire him.

His blog is pretty self explanatory, so head over there and introduce yourself if you have a moment, thanks!

Simons Blog.

 

Freddie Wong

As it turns out the guy in the Rocket Jump video makes tons of videos, just like that one.

Below is my favorite.



And heres how he made it.



Be sure to check out his youtube channel, he has tons of other videos, with behind the scenes clips, tips and info on using after effects and the other methods that he uses to make his videos.

I actually found his channel from the steam recent news space on Counter Strike 1.6, from which this video was featured - pretty relevant I think!

Much love!

VBS.TV travel to Chernobyl

Now, this guy is your typical American, loud and a bit of a drama queen, blows stuff out of proportion - but its still a good watch. He's pretty poorly informed actually, just sort of going into the fray.. I'm jealous, lucky guy.



Thought I'd post this up as a friend stumbled across it as we're planning to visit the zone ourselves within the next year. Which is a bit weird really as I don't like the idea of most normal holidays and see them as a bit of a waste of money and they don't really excite me, but this has got me really intrigued and looking forward to it - it'll be a hell of an experience, thats for sure. :)

Prince Zimboo - Zimboouicy!

A hilarious and amazing Notorious - Juicy cover.

My creative project

Over the next couple of months I'm aiming to build a computer case from acrylic.

I've contacted vendors about supplying hardware for my build and sponsoring it (I'm far from rich), where I initially planned to keep a blog on www.psycotic.co.uk.

However for the most part I got my email "forwarded to the appropriate department who will deal with your request."; or a polite decline.

I'm saving up for the materials (a little more expensive than I originally anticipated), and it looks like components now also, the problem is I need my components so I can cut the materials to the correct size and shape.

I can source most of the tools I'll be needing, I may have to buy a few little bits but on that front I'm pretty much set.

The hardware for the project itself doesn't need to be particularly high-end, obviously it would be good to have great hardware for something like this, but such is life. I do however plan to watercool the system, as I was lucky enough to get a pretty decent watercooling kit together - which has actually been sat on my shelf for over a year.

I obviously don't want to be watercooling mediocre hardware, as thats just a bit silly and a waste of money - so wish me the best over these coming months as I try and put this beast together!

I'd like to hear about any of your watercooling experiences, and any troubles you ran into.

You can read updates about the project here as I progress, or if you would like to give a helping hand with my project then you can find a donation button a little further down my blog, on the right hand side.

Any help would be appreciated. I've set the donation automatically at £5 as I don't want to ask too much from any of you individually, however you're welcome to send any amount you wish to my paypal - big or small, which again you can find by clicking donate. All the money will be going towards my project.

Thats not the only way you can support the project either, by reading regularly and commenting on my posts is a great help too. Any comments, suggestions or help is greatly appreciated, so why not get involved? :)

This is more about the art and overcoming challenges, than it is about building a computer.

Thanks for taking your time to read <3

You'll love it..

Does somebody know something I don't?

Theres a count down, which ends tomorrow.

"IT STARTS WITH THE FLU"

"WILL YOU SURVIVE"...

http://www.itstartswiththeflu.com/


Hmm.. maybe a game viral or something, wouldn't be suprised! What do you guys think? :)

You may have already seen this...

But its too good not to share!

100 followers!

I've hit my 2nd landmark, and I'm going to be keeping my blog updated regularly to keep you guys entertained, which will hopefully speed me along to my 3rd landmark of 500. This only took a day to reach it after my last one, 500 may take a littttle longer ;D

All the best and happy blogging!

My first landmark

I've hit my first 50 followers!

Thanks to everyone that reads and supports my blog, your all helping me grow.

Next target: 100.

Psycotic needs YOU

Do you think your team is what we need?

If we're missing your favourite game from our rosters, and you think we should pick it up - are you the perfect match? Whatever your game and platform, we'd like to hear from you.

You can drop an application in our forums, or just go over there and get involved!

www.psycotic.co.uk

This couldn't really be more true...

Just throwing some controversy out there...

So go on, which one and why?

0.o

Oh yeah cool... OH GOD THE FACE.

Play The Gamer Launch

Play The Gamer, the UK's first national live action console gaming league, officially launches on the 2nd and 3rd of September. The launch will be held in the Empire Casino in Leicester Square, London and will feature a whole host of events over the course of the two days.
These will include Poker in the Park, the annual international poker event and several free-to-enter micro-tournaments for members of the public to compete in, with some great prizes to be won.

Play the Gamer (PTG) the UK's first national live console gaming league, will be officially launched on the 2nd and 3rd September in the stunning surroundings of the Empire Casino in Leicester Square. Run over 2 days in parallel with Poker in the Park, the annual international poker event, there will be a 2 day free-to-enter micro-tournament for members of the public, with some fantastic prizes on offer. The poker event alone will attract 20,000 players and at the event there will be a guest appearance from former heavyweight boxing champion Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield.

The PTG tournament area will be open from 10am until 4:30pm on each day with gamers being able to walk in, register and then play for their chance of winning one of the superb prizes on offer. The world champions of FIFA, Need for Speed and Call of Duty will all be attending, and may even be available to play selected members of the public.

All attendees should be aware that the casino is an over 18 venue and operates a strict challenge 21 policy (anybody suspected of being under 21 will be asked to confirm their age) so be sure that you bring ID with you if attending. Kick Energy will be providing free drinks in the tournament area and there are likely to be freebies on offer too with the Kick girls being on hand as well.

Tournament gameplay will be organised by Multiplay, which is their next project after the i40 event that was held at Newbury Racecourse this bank holiday.

All players registering for the event will receive 2 hours free play (worth £8) in the Trocadero Gamerbase which is just along the road in Piccadilly Circus. PTG representatives will be available in the Trocadero Gamerbase, so if you would like to stop by and get directions, they will be able to assist.

The prizes on offer will include copies of Call of Duty (for PS3) and FIFA 11, which will be sent to winners just before the public launch of the game. Steel Series will also be providing a number of prizes including three professional gaming headsets. There will also be two brand new Xbox 360s, a year's free supply of Kick Energy and, a drive with Craig Breen who, on 21st August, recorded his first BRC win with his International Rally Northern Ireland victory.