PREVIEW - Nintendo 3DS



Whatever happened to Catdog? Did it's/their inability to poop cause him/her/it/them to come to a somewhat sticky end? Did one argument go too far, ending in a fatal argument? Are they living in retirement in Mallorca, celebrating a successful TV career by the pool with a chilled Margarita at each end? (No, I've not been smoking - I've just woken up. Feels similar.)

Why the fuss about Catdog? Was just an amusing thought I had when I found out that one of the launch games for the Nintendo 3DS would be Nintendogs + Cats. Having never played the original Nintendogs, I have put myself at a good advantage over other gamers who may already be sick of the feed/bath/frisbee/repeat routine, as by all accounts, there's nothing groundbreakingly new here, apart from the cats, who seem to be tweaked dog AI wrapped in a cat skin. Can you imagine a realistic cat sim? "Here Tiddles!" *no response* "Fetch!" *no response* "Go away Tiddles, I'm doing something important!" *sits squarely on laptop keyboard, looks smug* Cats with pure and accurate cat AI = no goddamn fun at all.

So yeah, anyway, before I was distracted I was about to mention the Nintendo 3DS, which as of yesterday has a release date for Europe - Friday 25th of March. A price was not released at the press conference, Nintendo stating that retailers could "set their own prices". A quick google search reveals major games retailers such as Game, Gamestation and HMV will be selling the 3DS at £229.99, Play.com at £219.99 and some smaller retailers offering prices as low as £159.99 - unlikely that they will be able to deliver on this price, but only time will tell. Gamesbasement.co.uk has already been caught out by this - This morning, their price has jumped by £60 to the £219.99 price point as more and more retailers put their official prices up. No word from the supermarkets yet, but I would guess that they will be priced around the 219.99 point.

So what of the technical aspects of this new toy that costs more than a brand new 360? Well, it's in 3D, obviously. Thankfully, it's backwards compatible with the DS, since I can't imagine many people being able to afford to buy a whole new catalog of games straight away. The emphasis seems more than ever to be on community, with lots of multiplayer options and a new feature called StreetPass, where your DS can exchange information whilst in sleep mode in your pocket/handbag/whatever with whoever else happens to have a DS in the vicinity. Cue rude greetings galore. This is of course, only going to become a big thing if lots of people have one. (And those people get out and about with them - My DS has sat next to my sofa for probably around the last six months or more.)

Another completely new feature of the 3DS is the news that Nintendo have teamed up with Eurosport and Sky with the idea of bringing 3D sport to the handheld, an idea which has excited The Husband greatly. If this signifies a shift to more of an entertainment system rather than a purebred gaming system, I think this can only be a good thing.

Other sensible new features include a wireless switch on the machine, so you don't have to exit your game to turn it on, a home button that seems to promise some form of multitasking for the machine, a 3D "slider" switch that allows the amount of 3D depth to be adjusted, or turned off completely. There is also an extendable stylus (finally!), the ability to transfer your purchases from your DSi (finally!), an analog control (finally!), and motion control (well, I suppose every other platform's got it now).

All in all, I'm looking forward to the 3DS, despite the seemingly overinflated price - the US gets the 3DS for $249.99, which converts to approximately £160, but the damn things are region locked. I'm not bitter. I'm not, honestly. Well, maybe a little bit quite a lot, really. But I've got five paydays between now and then - Provided I don't need to buy anything for the next sixty-odd days, I should be fine.



REVIEW PREVIEW: Fallout New Vegas - Dead Money (DLC) (Xbox 360)

Anyone who knows me personally will be WELL aware of my Fallout obsession. Seriously. Check out my personalised nametags at work, or the selection of Fallout-related tat in my house, or my rather large collection of bottlecaps which I'm saving  up for when the end finally comes. I am quite proud to say that the majority of my 360 gamerscore is made up of achievements from Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. So obviously, we got the Dead Money DLC as soon as it came out.

Dead Money is the story of a long abandoned casino called the Sierra Madre, outside of the main map of the Mojave Wasteland. Simply getting to the entrance has been a drama so far - I'm approximately halfway through the main storyline and have just pissed off one of the major factions in the game, the Legion. The Dead Money pack raises the level cap to 35, but I don't have to worry about that just yet - level 20 seems like it might be enough to start the additional content.

Upon getting to the entrance, a dialog box pops up warning that you are about to leave the Mojave Wasteland and will not be able to return until the Dead Money story is finished. Fine by me, but I create a fresh savepoint anyway. (A good habit to get into - Who knows how many Deathclaws/Super Mutants/pissed off Legion boys are round the next corner) The dialog also recommends being at least level 20 before proceeding - Fine, says I.

The story begins with a shot of gas to the face, and waking up in front of a rather shifty looking hologram chap, who's fitted you with a collar  a la Battle Royale, which will explode if you're naughty. You're stripped of all your hard earned weapons and gear, told some VERY worrying things about dodgy electrics which might interfere with your collar, and the toxic atmosphere surrounding the Sierra Madre known as the Cloud.  This stern looking chap wants you to head into the old casino, find the treasure, avoid the traps and then everyone can go home and have a nice tea. Only problem is, the aforementioned death lurking at every corner.

First on the agenda - meet up with three other prisoners colleagues who have the same aims in mind, and convince them to join forces with you. At this point, I reloaded my previous save, and ran off to Black Mountain to play with the Muties. I'm not surprised by this one bit, as I found all the DLC for Fallout 3 to be ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING as well - probably due to being removed from the comfort zone and relatively easy life of the Wastes. I'll be levelling up a little more before I give this another go. I need to grow a pair, you say? Nah, I'm just sensible, THAT's what it is...

*curls up into a ball and rocks gently*

Scoring: Well, it's Fallout, so it's hard to imagine I'd give it any less than 4/5. Watch this space!

REVIEW: Blood Drive (PS3)

Blood Drive (PS3)

The box reads: "Welcome to the most ruthless modern-day gladiator arena this world has ever known. This is the entertainment sport for a new age, and you are the franchise player."

In fact, the world's known a few similar entertainment sports in this vein, the most notable being Carmageddon, Twisted Metal and Destruction Derby. Therefore this game looks pretty promising. For those not familiar with the genre, the idea is to compete in a series of events amongst which are Squish Zombie Things, Race To Checkpoints and Smash Shit Up. By being the best at these events, points are earned and trophies won. There are even Bonus Zombies to squish, a variety of weapons with which to cause havoc and a whole host of fun and exciting characters to play as, all with cars/buses/tanks with different attributes to try.

So far, so good, you say, until the countdown to the first stage begins. Around three seconds after this, you will discover that the vehicles handle like a hovercraft on crack. This may be interpreted either way - that the hovercraft itself has been smoking crack, or that you're trying desperately to steer one after sucking down a lungful. (Disclaimer: I have never driven a hovercraft or smoked crack, but it's not hard to imagine how either one of those might go for me) The controls make this game pretty much unplayable, which is such a shame when you see how much hilarity there is to be potentially had.

Fortunately one of the perks of my job means that I'm allowed to borrow games to increase and improve my product knowledge. I must say, I'm really glad I didn't pay for this game!

2/5