Category Archives: News
Gaikai Makes UK Launch
Gaikai is a sort of online gaming company that currently specialises in game demo’s. The twist though, is the games are run from Gaikai’s data centres and played in your browser. It’s kind of a similiar idea to VNC where you are remotely controlling a computer from home.
This means you can play a game demo by simply clicking a button on a webiste, no installs or anything, and we’re not talking about small flash games either. Currently, you can play limited trials of The Sims 3, Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space 2.
Going forward, this opens up lots of clever uses, like being able to play a game demo at the end of a review, or playing on an etailers website before purchasing.
Of course, it’s not all great, I am currently on one of BT’s Infinity connections in the UK, ( for those unaware, it’s a fibre optic broadband connection with 40 mbps download and 10 mbps upload speeds). Whilst the games play quickly and feel like they are installed on my PC, you graphics quality is pretty low. Therefore, these can only be seen as game play demo’s and not a way of showing off graphics. There’s also still the problem of know whether you’re PC can play said game if you purchase it too, that can only be done by downloading and installing the game.
Gaikai is a great idea, and is a very easy way to find out if you’re going to like a game or not, without the hassle of downloads, but does have the couple of niggling problem’s I mentioned.
You can play Mass Effect 2 by going to http://www.gaikai.com/ , wait for your connection to be tested and you should see the play button appear in the bottom right. The Sims 3 is available here and Dead space 2 here.
You can read more about the service
Sony Announces the PSP2
Probably one of the most discussed mobile devices for some time has finally been announced by Sony, the PSP2. Spec wise, the new PSP will set some high bars, a quad-core CPU and quad-core graphics chip with run a 5 inch OLED touchscreen with 4 times the pixels of the previous generation.
Other specs include, for the first time, dual analog sticks (not the silly nub that was on the original PSP), a rear multi-touch capacitive pad for additional inputs, that’s the same size as the main screen. Sony’s Sixaxis motion control system is also present with front and rear facing cameras, stereo speakers and a microphone. Topping it off is WiFi (IEEE 802.11b/g/n), GPS, and 3G. Possibly one of the most complete spec sheets on a mobile device to date. It also looks like Sony is looking at the PSP as more than just a games console too. UMD’s are now long gone and been replaced by digital downloads and SD cards.
Sony reckons the new PSP’s graphics will be on a par with its PS3 system, and with such an astonishing spec sheet, I can believe it. However, it’s not all so rosy as Sony also announced it should be launched around christmas time. With the speed the mobile world has developed in recent years, and with rumours of some very good phones due this year, it may be the new PSP is only as good as the phone in your pocket, begging the question, are portable games consoles really worth the trouble? Are you really that bothered about having incredible graphics when stranding on a train or bus? I guess we shall see.
Check out Engadget’s review with videos at the following link:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/the-sony-psp2/
Bad Company 2 Update
Ok so DICE have released an update to Bad Company 2, which was automatically installed by steam a couple of nights ago. Incredibly it seems to fix nearly every gripe I had with the game. The server browser is massively improved, including working favorites, you now also get better search options for servers too. Alot of balancing has been done with the guns. Not that I had much of a problem with them in the first place.
Possible my favorite addition though is the color blindness option. Being very colour blind I was impressed to see a games company actually adapt their games for us!
I’m still struggling to enjoy BC2 as I have with the Call Of Duty series. I believe this is primarily down to the weapons not inflicting as much damage as they do in COD. Which for me is annoying, last night I thought I’d give sniping a try and was amazed at just how hard it is to pick out a player and shoot. Even when you do, get a lock on, your bullet either just goes no where or you hit someone but they just run off. Ok I currently have the lowest spec sniper rifle, but I can’t see why I’d want to play as a sniper if I can only get maybe 1 or two kills a game.
This may still be down to my not being used to the Battlefield series, so I guess I keep going!
Modern Warfare 2 Smashes Sales Records
The eagerly awaited sequal to Call of duty 4 has taken the crown of fastest selling game of all time. It’s estimated around 1.23 million copies have been sold in the first 24 hours.
This eclipses the previous record set by GTA 4 last year by I’ve double. I personally believe this to be a sign that gaming is becoming a much more accepted past time.
Industry analysts estimate the game will send 10 millions copies before Christmas and take around £400million. All pretty impressive numbers!
I’ll hopefully get a review of the game up soon once I’ve finished playing through the single player mission and had a dabble with the multiplayer!
