Highlights
Latest Articles
Hit-Reset does PAXE
Feature posted by LycanGav
on the 14th April 2011 at 10:38
3 comments
Boston Massachusetts was the venue once again this year for the Penny Arcade Expo, East Edition! Created by the Penny Arcade webcomic authors in 2004 to allow them to attend a show that gave equal attention to more than just top video game titles, the show is widely regarded as one of the very best to showcase indie titles and developers. However, as the show has grown, so has the mainstream interest, with more and more AAA titles on show each year.
2011 saw Hit-Reset happen upon a stroke of luck, as we were fortunate enough to be able to have a representative present at the show. Ollie had never attented a show before so wasn't quite sure what to expect. After a little begging and pleading he agreed to provide us with feedback on the event and the title he was fortunate enough to get some time with. Below are his thoughts...
Read the rest of this article...
Valve details Steam features for Portal 2 on PS3
News Item posted by LycanGav
on the 14th April 2011 at 9:51
5 comments
Doug Lombardi, Marketing Vice President over at Valve has detailed how Steam will work on the PS3 when Portal 2 launches next week on the console. If we cast our minds back to E3 last year, Gabe Newell promised everyone that the PS3 version of Portal 2 would be the best console version and Valve have certainly done plenty to ensure that promise is fulfilled.
Taken from the press release...
Portal 2 for PlayStation 3 is the first title to support Steam on a console. Specifically, that means it offers cross-platform matchmaking, gameplay, friends, chat, and achievements, all powered by Steam. Steam on the PS3 also saves co-op game progress and single player saved games to the Steam Cloud, enabling players to pick up where they left off on any PlayStation 3.
Steam makes its appearance on the PS3 as an overlay within Portal 2. Here, the Steam overlay provides access to Steam Friends, displaying their in-game or online status and providing a quick pathway to text chats, player profiles, friend requests, and game invites. Steam Achievements are earned in lockstep with PSN Trophies and are also accessible within the Steam overlay.
Steam on the PS3 provides access to all of these features once the player has linked their PlayStation Network account with a Steam account, which is done right within the game. A Steam user can login to an existing account, and anyone new to Steam can create an account with the click of a button.
With all these features, Portal 2 on the PS3 is the best console version of the game, just as it was suggested it would be back at E3 last year. If you’re still hungry for more details, head over to steampowered.com and learn more about Portal 2 for PS3.
Coupled with the fact that buying a copy of Portal 2 on PS3 entitles you to a free download of the title from Steam on PC, I certainly know which format I'll be buying next Friday! de Blob 2 - Xbox 360 Review Gaming from a female point of view posted by suzib88 on the 11th April 2011 at 13:45
No comments
2008's quirky puzzle platformer “de Blob” has managed to escape the confines of Nintendo's Wii and now finds it's sequel splattered across multiple formats. For those of you that haven't had the opportunity to play the original game from Blue Tongue, you shouldn't have any problems getting to grips with the game as it is simple to just pick up and play.
Prisma City is holding an election and a priest called “Papa Black” (which is actually the villain from the first game, Comrade Black) is doing his best to strong arm the Raydians into voting for Blanc. This plan works and allows the Inkies to cause chaos in and around the city. The INKT Corporation run by Comrade Black have drained Prisma City of all its colour and trapped all the Raydians. Its up to de Blob, with the help of the Colour Underground, to save the city and all its inhabitants.
Read the rest of this article...
Mass Effect II on the PC for free if you bought Dragon Age II
News Item posted by LycanGav
on the 6th April 2011 at 14:53
1 comment
RPG developer Bioware have decided to reward those of us who bought Dragon Age II at launch, helping the title sell more than one million copies in a very short space of time with a free digital download of the award winning and generally all round awesome Mass Effect II for PC. This offer is open to all owners of Dragon Age II, not just those of us who forked out for the PC version.
To claim your copy, all you have to do is follow these steps, taken from a promotional email Bioware sent out yesterday...
To qualify and get your Mass Effect 2 PC download code, please follow these steps before April 30, 2011 at 11:59pm:
1. Activate the Online Pass content that came with your copy of Dragon Age II (The Black Emporium)
2. Start the game and log in using your EA Account or create a new EA Account
3. Visit http://social.bioware.com/me2offer and log in with that EA Account
4. Enter your Online Pass code and click "Submit". You will then be provided the code for Mass Effect 2.
5. Open the EA Download Manager and enter the code to commence download (if you don't have the EA Download Manager installed, it can be found here: http://eastore.ea.com/eadm)
For more information on this and answers to any frequently asked questions, please visit: DragonAge.BioWare.com/ME2Offer. Playstation Plus content for April and May News Item posted by LycanGav on the 6th April 2011 at 9:38
No comments
The ever helpful (and at times chatty!) James Thorpe over at SCEE has just updated us as to the content Playstation Plus subscribers can expect over the next two months. James was eager to tell us that a much requested feature, subscription stacking, has finally been added to Playstation Plus. This means that customers can finally buy mnultiple subscriptions as their finances allow, and they will simply roll into one another, allowing users to take advantage of the various special offers Sony roll out to tempt new customers over the course of the year. Right now, that offer is an extra three months subscription if you purchase twelve months! I know what I'll be spending my PSN credit on later!
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Augmented Gaming
Feature posted by Becks
on the 29th March 2011 at 20:48
1 comment
This year's GDC saw a whole wealth of news wash over the industry; cue countless blog posts and comments from eager gamers discussing Resistance 3, Guild Wars 2 and Battlefield 3. However one subject didn’t get as much interest as perhaps it should: augmented reality. But what is it, and how does it relate to games?
Augmented reality is the addition of graphics, sounds or other computer-generated images to pictures of the real world. Those crazy lines drawn on the pitch by Andy Gray that didn’t make any sense: that’s augmented reality. So in terms of gaming that might mean that if a camera sees an image of a monkey, it then conjures a monkey into the game. And now this technology is coming to the next generation of handheld devices.
Read the rest of this article...
Dragon Age 2
PC Review posted by SLO_Fila
on the 28th March 2011 at 16:03
No comments
Dragon Age: Origins definitely had plenty of faults for a game experience that was supposed to be "old school RPG" but it also came with plenty of positives and looked to be a step in the right direction for BioWare. Mass Effect 2 might be the bees knees but it is not a RPG, even though it is billed as one, so it was refreshing to have the company work on a serious RPG alongside their hugely successful sci-fi game. Dragon Age: Origins proved to be an unexpected hit and someone inside BioWare or Electronic Arts had the great idea that maybe Dragon Age 2 can do what Mass Effect 2 did, build on an imperfect first game in the series, streamline it for the masses and bask in the glory. The only problem is that Mass Effect 1 was a hybrid mess (RPG and shooter) which needed to go one way or another while Dragon Age: Origins knew very well what type of game it was and was pretty good at it. Streamlining it was definitely not the way to go
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SpellForce: The Breath of Winter
PC Review posted by SLO_Fila
on the 17th March 2011 at 17:14
No comments
The Breath of Winter is the first expansion for the RTS/RPG hybrid “SpellForce” created by Phenomic Game Development. The expansion requires the main game to be installed. Once you load it up you can access the “aryn campaign” from the main menu which leads to the expansion's single player campaign.
The story is not a continuation of the main game and your avatar cannot be imported. The player is forced to start a new one from scratch. The game’s mechanics have not been changed at all so the avatar is created the same way. If you managed to do an awe inspiring hero in the main game you can do it the same this time around as well if one is too afraid to spice things up (or is simply more comfortable playing with that type of character).
Just like in the main game the early levels are extremely difficult but this time around even more so. The game is shorter (it features about half the maps of the original) and thus the character levels up faster. In order to balance this, the monsters in the first map are balanced for a player that has already leveled up to level 3. Luckily the player gets help in the form of two unplayable characters throughout the first map. As with the previous game, in time the avatar becomes more powerful and the game gradually becomes easier and easier.
Read the rest of this article...
Out This Week!
Feature posted by Bazry
on the 17th March 2011 at 15:32
No comments
Tuesday 15th March
We start the week a day early with the release of Sega’s Total War: Shogun 2 on PC. The strategy game is the latest in the Total War series with this installment being set in 16th century Japan.
Wednesday 16th March
Its not that often that I mention any sort of social networking game on here, but this Wednesday BioWare makes Dragon Age Legends open to everyone on Facebook, so it’s worth a mention for all you Dragon Age fans who missed out on a beta code.
Full House Poker is the sole Xbox Live Arcade release this week. Players can take part in standard and tournament games of Texas Hold 'Em with wide verity of customable items to unlock.
On Playstation Network, Slam Bolt Scrappers is a mix of tower defense, puzzle and strategy. Up to four players can play the fast and frantic co-op campaign, and competitive battle mode.
With Resident Evil: The Director’s Cut put back until next week, we’re treated instead to the PSOne Classic Street Fighter Alpha 2. There are also three minis titles in the way of Enigmo, MiniSquadron and Pix’n Love Rush.
Hard Corps: Uprising was supposed to be out this week on Playstation Network, we’re not to sure why this has been delayed.
Read the rest of this article...
Editorial: The reasons Motion Control is important for gaming and gamers
Feature posted by Xandaca
on the 16th March 2011 at 17:32
No comments
Logic is a curious thing. When a selection of people are given an identical puzzle, the chances of them all resolving it in the same way is virtually nil. Several might not be able to get their heads around it at all, whereas others will be working towards a solution within seconds.
A frequently cited complaint among non-gamers as to why they choose not to participate in the medium is because it seems too complicated. Gamers retort that practice makes perfect, but this isn't entirely true: for many people, the process of pressing buttons (let alone combinations) on a controller to invoke specific actions from an avatar on-screen that all of us take for granted, seems to them unrelated and illogical. Why does one button make the character do one thing and another something else? This is why simpler games, which only involve inputs from one or two buttons, are often the most popular. Two-dimensional Mario games, for example, are the quintessential example of being easy to pick up but difficult to master. Members of my family who have never had much interest in gaming pick up early Mario titles without any trouble beyond the first few minutes when they're still getting used to where the jump and run buttons are. After that, they have all the skills that I have after twenty years of gaming, albeit with a few rough edges (timing jumps and whatnot) that experience quickly irons out. For us regular gamers, picking up any controller feels second nature and with a glance, we are able to move our thumbs to the right buttons without a thought. For non-gamers who have difficulty making the leap between button input and on-screen action, these are all things they have to memorise and the more things they have to remember, the more unnatural and frustrating the experience becomes.
Read the rest of this article...
3 comments
2011 saw Hit-Reset happen upon a stroke of luck, as we were fortunate enough to be able to have a representative present at the show. Ollie had never attented a show before so wasn't quite sure what to expect. After a little begging and pleading he agreed to provide us with feedback on the event and the title he was fortunate enough to get some time with. Below are his thoughts...
Read the rest of this article...
Valve details Steam features for Portal 2 on PS3
News Item posted by LycanGav
on the 14th April 2011 at 9:51
5 comments
Taken from the press release...
Portal 2 for PlayStation 3 is the first title to support Steam on a console. Specifically, that means it offers cross-platform matchmaking, gameplay, friends, chat, and achievements, all powered by Steam. Steam on the PS3 also saves co-op game progress and single player saved games to the Steam Cloud, enabling players to pick up where they left off on any PlayStation 3.
Steam makes its appearance on the PS3 as an overlay within Portal 2. Here, the Steam overlay provides access to Steam Friends, displaying their in-game or online status and providing a quick pathway to text chats, player profiles, friend requests, and game invites. Steam Achievements are earned in lockstep with PSN Trophies and are also accessible within the Steam overlay.
Steam on the PS3 provides access to all of these features once the player has linked their PlayStation Network account with a Steam account, which is done right within the game. A Steam user can login to an existing account, and anyone new to Steam can create an account with the click of a button.
With all these features, Portal 2 on the PS3 is the best console version of the game, just as it was suggested it would be back at E3 last year. If you’re still hungry for more details, head over to steampowered.com and learn more about Portal 2 for PS3.
Coupled with the fact that buying a copy of Portal 2 on PS3 entitles you to a free download of the title from Steam on PC, I certainly know which format I'll be buying next Friday! de Blob 2 - Xbox 360 Review Gaming from a female point of view posted by suzib88 on the 11th April 2011 at 13:45
No comments
Prisma City is holding an election and a priest called “Papa Black” (which is actually the villain from the first game, Comrade Black) is doing his best to strong arm the Raydians into voting for Blanc. This plan works and allows the Inkies to cause chaos in and around the city. The INKT Corporation run by Comrade Black have drained Prisma City of all its colour and trapped all the Raydians. Its up to de Blob, with the help of the Colour Underground, to save the city and all its inhabitants.
Read the rest of this article...
Mass Effect II on the PC for free if you bought Dragon Age II
News Item posted by LycanGav
on the 6th April 2011 at 14:53
1 comment
To claim your copy, all you have to do is follow these steps, taken from a promotional email Bioware sent out yesterday...
To qualify and get your Mass Effect 2 PC download code, please follow these steps before April 30, 2011 at 11:59pm:
1. Activate the Online Pass content that came with your copy of Dragon Age II (The Black Emporium)
2. Start the game and log in using your EA Account or create a new EA Account
3. Visit http://social.bioware.com/me2offer and log in with that EA Account
4. Enter your Online Pass code and click "Submit". You will then be provided the code for Mass Effect 2.
5. Open the EA Download Manager and enter the code to commence download (if you don't have the EA Download Manager installed, it can be found here: http://eastore.ea.com/eadm)
For more information on this and answers to any frequently asked questions, please visit: DragonAge.BioWare.com/ME2Offer. Playstation Plus content for April and May News Item posted by LycanGav on the 6th April 2011 at 9:38
No comments
Read the rest of this article...
Augmented Gaming
Feature posted by Becks
on the 29th March 2011 at 20:48
1 comment
Augmented reality is the addition of graphics, sounds or other computer-generated images to pictures of the real world. Those crazy lines drawn on the pitch by Andy Gray that didn’t make any sense: that’s augmented reality. So in terms of gaming that might mean that if a camera sees an image of a monkey, it then conjures a monkey into the game. And now this technology is coming to the next generation of handheld devices.
Read the rest of this article...
Dragon Age 2
PC Review posted by SLO_Fila
on the 28th March 2011 at 16:03
No comments
Read the rest of this article...
SpellForce: The Breath of Winter
PC Review posted by SLO_Fila
on the 17th March 2011 at 17:14
No comments
The story is not a continuation of the main game and your avatar cannot be imported. The player is forced to start a new one from scratch. The game’s mechanics have not been changed at all so the avatar is created the same way. If you managed to do an awe inspiring hero in the main game you can do it the same this time around as well if one is too afraid to spice things up (or is simply more comfortable playing with that type of character).
Just like in the main game the early levels are extremely difficult but this time around even more so. The game is shorter (it features about half the maps of the original) and thus the character levels up faster. In order to balance this, the monsters in the first map are balanced for a player that has already leveled up to level 3. Luckily the player gets help in the form of two unplayable characters throughout the first map. As with the previous game, in time the avatar becomes more powerful and the game gradually becomes easier and easier.
Read the rest of this article...
Out This Week!
Feature posted by Bazry
on the 17th March 2011 at 15:32
No comments
We start the week a day early with the release of Sega’s Total War: Shogun 2 on PC. The strategy game is the latest in the Total War series with this installment being set in 16th century Japan.
Wednesday 16th March
Its not that often that I mention any sort of social networking game on here, but this Wednesday BioWare makes Dragon Age Legends open to everyone on Facebook, so it’s worth a mention for all you Dragon Age fans who missed out on a beta code.
Full House Poker is the sole Xbox Live Arcade release this week. Players can take part in standard and tournament games of Texas Hold 'Em with wide verity of customable items to unlock.
On Playstation Network, Slam Bolt Scrappers is a mix of tower defense, puzzle and strategy. Up to four players can play the fast and frantic co-op campaign, and competitive battle mode.
With Resident Evil: The Director’s Cut put back until next week, we’re treated instead to the PSOne Classic Street Fighter Alpha 2. There are also three minis titles in the way of Enigmo, MiniSquadron and Pix’n Love Rush.
Hard Corps: Uprising was supposed to be out this week on Playstation Network, we’re not to sure why this has been delayed.
Read the rest of this article...
Editorial: The reasons Motion Control is important for gaming and gamers
Feature posted by Xandaca
on the 16th March 2011 at 17:32
No comments
A frequently cited complaint among non-gamers as to why they choose not to participate in the medium is because it seems too complicated. Gamers retort that practice makes perfect, but this isn't entirely true: for many people, the process of pressing buttons (let alone combinations) on a controller to invoke specific actions from an avatar on-screen that all of us take for granted, seems to them unrelated and illogical. Why does one button make the character do one thing and another something else? This is why simpler games, which only involve inputs from one or two buttons, are often the most popular. Two-dimensional Mario games, for example, are the quintessential example of being easy to pick up but difficult to master. Members of my family who have never had much interest in gaming pick up early Mario titles without any trouble beyond the first few minutes when they're still getting used to where the jump and run buttons are. After that, they have all the skills that I have after twenty years of gaming, albeit with a few rough edges (timing jumps and whatnot) that experience quickly irons out. For us regular gamers, picking up any controller feels second nature and with a glance, we are able to move our thumbs to the right buttons without a thought. For non-gamers who have difficulty making the leap between button input and on-screen action, these are all things they have to memorise and the more things they have to remember, the more unnatural and frustrating the experience becomes.
Read the rest of this article...
Latest Releases
Editor's Pick (this month...)
Nintendo 3DS
Released: 27th January 2012
All gaming releases this month...
27th Jan
Click here to view the release calendar
Top Rated Games
Final Fantasy VII
Playstation
Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (360)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (360)
Animal Crossing (GC)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
Grand Theft Auto IV (360)
Being Played
Mass Effect
Xbox 360
Mass Effect 2 (360)
1
Most Wanted
Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)
7
Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
5
Diablo III (PC)
4
Jumpgate Evolution (PC)
4
Infinity: The Quest for Earth (PC)
3
Crysis 2 (360)
2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360)
2
Driver San Francisco (PS3)
2
Global Agenda (PC)
2
Guild Wars 2 (PC)
2
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