My Xbox Live account was comprimised: A customer service success story

This Saturday just gone was maybe the darkest experience possible in today’s world. I was locked out of my Xbox Live profile! Unable to hunt for achievements, level up my Battlefield 3 profile or even cyber-stalk my friends – life was suddenly confusing and void of reason.
After having my account compromised by some nefarious individual, seemingly on Friday evening, I have now regained full access to my account. Thank you to Microsoft Customer Service and Fraud teams for a quick turn around. Continue reading »

Battlefield 3 Pre-order DLC bonuses – not so exclusive now!

Battlefield 3 had a variety of exclusive extras available to those who pre-ordered via various specific retailers. The most notorious of these was the “Physical Warfare Pack” which was available to Game/Gamestation customers only. Fan lashback was so strong that EA relented and said it would be available to all (for free) at a later unspecified time. That time has been and gone, you can download the pack now, but you can now also acquire all of the other content too. At a price. Continue reading »

Worms Ultimate Mayhem: Comparison to Worms 4

This one slipped by me.

For a few years now, Team 17 have been updating and re-releasing Worms on various downloadable game services. They have always been the more successful 2D offering. The one title that really got me hooked though was there third 3D Worms game – Worms 4: Mayhem. An absolute blast in multiplayer it is an unusual but thoroughly entertaining night in with a few friends. How does Worms Ultimate Mayhem on Xbox 360 stack up? Continue reading »

Review: ORB Thumb Grips for Xbox 360

I recently picked up the Black Ops branded Madcatz PrecisionAim Xbox 360 Controller and found the thumbsticks to be very slippery. They don’t feature any rubberised grip at all.

A pack of these did just the trick. Continue reading »

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning ~ Quick Demo Impressions

I intend to get Mass Effect 3. Playing the demo for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning unlocks an exclusive weapon and set of armour for Mass Effect 3. Therefore I played and completed the Reckoning demo.

In a nutshell – a better, more open and enjoyable Fable I, minus the humour. I initially just wanted to plough through the thing to unlock the ME3 gun, I ended up delaying the demo’s completion for some hours because I was having a fantastic time. Continue reading »

Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360: Please DICE take onboard MY opinions

As always, I’ve found nit-picky holes in my new favourite online game-em-up, Battlefield 3. Maybe, one day, the holes won’t be there.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Preview: Xbox 360 Demo Impressions

I learnt this time. After playing this demo for about an hour or so – I stopped. I was thoroughly enjoying it but realised I would have to play through this bonkers, story-dense section again when I got the final game. A fair few hours of Final Fantasy XIII was soured for me in the … Continue reading »

RETROspective REview: Dragon Age: Origins – yes there is life after Oblivion

Dragon Age: Origins… I love you and I hate you. “Love” and “hate” are powerful words, but they are key here, as BioWare’s first fantasy foray into the next-gen range of consoles takes the familiar mold that we’ve come to expect from Canada’s finest RPG developer, and stuffs it full of the kind of mature … Continue reading »

Most Wanted: Batman Arkham City

Batman: Arkham Asylum didn’t exactly set a fire under fans during pre-production, but it was Rocksteady Studios and Warner Bros. who had the last laugh as their now groundbreaking title went on to win several Game of the Year awards, and our highest possible praises. This time things are different: the eyes of industry are … Continue reading »

MW3 vs BF3 – Activision Publishing CEO speaks out

The multimedia juggernaut that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and its nemesis Battlefield 3 may be several weeks away, but the war has well and truly begun. Employees from each title’s publisher have been attributed to some interesting comments, the latest of being EA CEO John Riccitiello’s prediction that Modern Warfare 3‘s fan-base … Continue reading »

RETROspective REview: Medal of Honor (2010)

The recent remake of Medal of Honor was not a title I purchased based on review scores. As an unashamed, newly-converted addict to the brilliance of Battlefield, I couldn’t resist the pull of a free Beta trial for the upcoming Battlefield 3. However, I was pleasantly surprised by a thoroughly entertaining single player campaign. Although … Continue reading »

They’re heeere! F.3.A.R. Review

Pick up gun. Shoot everything that moves. Rinse and repeat… It’s the standard formula for a vast swathe of first and third person shooters out there, each with their own unique little twist on an otherwise very familiar (and very profitable) formula. We’ve been following the hype around the F.E.A.R. franchise’s third instalment, and a … Continue reading »

Mass Effect 2 – Xbox 360 50% Sale now on

So the sale is finally live. You can pick up Arrival, Lair of the Shadow Broker and Kasumi – Stolen Memory all for half price. It’s a shame that Overlord and the other auxiliary packs weren’t on offer too – but I’ll be picking up all three anyway.

Catherine – When Katherine just isn’t enough

An adult storyline combined with block-shifting, tower-climbing gameplay and more than a few stray sheep. Thank you Atlus. Continue reading »

Mass Effect 2: Power-Play your way to ME3

Mass Effect 3 is due to be released worldwide on March 6, 2012 for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. I’m really looking forward to this, I’ve played through number 2 but skipped over the first. The series provides a top-notch story setting, told well and with superb dialogue interaction. I was put off the … Continue reading »

Mass Effect 2 – List of all DLC / July 2011 50% DLC Sale

Last week on Xbox Live, we were given the chance to vote for our favourite game to receive a 50% discount for it’s Downloadable Content. Mass Effect 2 won – just knocking out Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (which won a similar vote last year). I haven’t purchased any of the DLC for Mass Effect 2 … Continue reading »

Xbox Live Reward Scheme: Keep it Up!

So, two months in and I’ve already forgotten to keep up to date with the Reward Scheme! I’ve just signed in again to complete my June survey, so another 20MSP should be on its way to my account. If I had checked in June, I would be sitting on 80MSP in a few days – … Continue reading »

Devil May Cry Reboot

Amongst all the announcements and teasers at E3 this year, I must admit that I completely missed the latest teaser trailer for what appears to be a Devil May Cry reboot. Having been a huge fan of the series up till the last installment, it would be good to see this franchise get a fresh … Continue reading »

I want to go and live on a Minecraft floating island

Browsing around the swamps of user-generated Minecraft its hard to find a good one sometimes, so I thought I would share this time-lapse video with you all. Hopefully when it hits Xbox 360 later this year there will be plenty more projects like this for every one to enjoy.

Nyko Zoom Allows Kinect to Work in Smaller Spaces

Not fortunate enough to live in the 10ft x 10ft clear box that is required to play Kinect, neither are we, so Nyko have come up with a little lens adapter that should allow mere mortals to experience what Kinect has to offer without bringing in the furniture removers.

Duke Nukem Forever: Review

Pure, simple, fun. For a game that has taken 15 years, multiple court hearings and four developers to complete, Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) is a glorious throwback to classic 1990′s first person shooters, and as stated by the Duke himself, “forever takes a long time” but thankfully not much has changed.

E3: Spec-Ops returns with a bang in Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has been arguably the most hotly anticipated game at this year’s E3 show in Los Angeles, and exactly as expected, long-standing franchise developers Infinity Ward and newcomers Sledgehammer Games were keen to show off all the action and carnage in what’s expected to be the final title in the series’ … Continue reading »

Another Battlefield 3 update from E3

DICE have announced that Battlefield 3 will have 3 times the amount of DLC that Bad Company 2 had. Here’s hoping we get the map packs included in the price of a new game too.Don’t forget that co-op is being included on disc this time, although it is for 2 players instead of 4. The … Continue reading »

Battlefield 3: Multiplayer Gameplay @ E3

DICE have unveiled the first piece of public footage of multiplayer in Battlefield 3. Entitled “Operation Metro”, we are treated to all of 30 seconds of very exciting gameplay, in the same manner as the teasers earlier this year.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 New Trailer at E3

Square Enix have released another trailer for next year’s Final Fantasy XII-2, the sequel to a game I grew to love. I’m excited at the possibility of continuing in the vein of the latter part of the first game. At worst, the upgrades to the battle system look exciting and the presentation overall seems better … Continue reading »

Brink: Video Review

It’s finally here, our thoughts and feelings on the recently released Brink from SplashDamage.

Minecraft heading for Xbox 360

The multi-million selling hit, that still hasn’t been released, is now making it’s way on to the Xbox 360 and will feature Kinect support. Although FortressCraft has been doing well on the indie marketplace, I can imagine that this will sell very well. I’m not sure how the controls will work out, but Notch had … Continue reading »

Battlefield 3 at E3: Beta due in September

A game that pretty much all of us are waiting for. All of us are new converts to the series, being impressed by the open aspect of Battlefield: Bad Company 2‘s multiplayer. Personally I’m not particularly bothered by these type of games, but BF:BC2 replaced Street Fighter IV as my online game of choice. For … Continue reading »

UFC + Xbox = sign of the times?

Still playing a video game console? Pfft. That was so last decade. Things have moved on since then. If you take just one thing away from Microsoft’s announcements at this year’s E3, it’s that they want you to be doing a lot more with your “video games console” than just playing games. Some of us … Continue reading »

Call of Duty:Elite- Beta testing and features from E3 Press release

Well, it sounds like we’re late jumping on this bandwagon already. In its five days since announcement, the beta testing for COD:Elite (Activision’s new online multiplayer service be be released with Modern Warfare 3 on November 8th 2011)  has already surpassed over 1 million registrants. That’s a whole thousand thousand Call of Duty:Black Ops gamers … Continue reading »