PSN Welcome Back: Dead Nation, Infamous

Since Sony have so kindly offered it's loyal supporters a choice of two free games to 'welcome' them back to the Playstation Network I decided to take them up on their offer and choose Dead Nation and Infamous. I've not heard much of Dead Nation but I played the Infamous demo and thought it was alright but not worth paying the full price for. I'll gladly take both for free though!

Dead Nation

Infamous

Dead nation is a game I'd definitely pay the full asking price for. I've played it for around 6 hours already and am just past the half way mark. It's a top down, twin stick shooter made by the same developer that made Super Stardust HD. The setting is just the same as most zombie outbreaks where you are one of the only survivors and you must fight your way through the infection to get to safety.

Expect to see lot's of explosions

Example of HUD

There is a story but it's not the reason you should play this game. You should play it because it's hella fun and extremely addictive. There's a wide range of zombie enemies to fight off each which need different approaches to combat and lots of loot to pillage! There's a main story campaign, separate mission modes, offline and online co-op. If you've got a PS3 and are still undecided on which 2 out of the 5 games your going to choose, I'd urge you to pick up Dead Nation as one of them.

As for infamous it's taking forever to download so I've not got much to say on that but I am looking forward to going on a rampage of destruction through the city!

Here's a video displaying some of the chaos you can indulge yourself in.

Amazing Photograph,

Apparently the above picture is actually real! It looks like a blatant photoshop creation at first, but according to National Geographic it's a raw photo with no filters or any effects used to manipulate it. 

On the National Geographic site it describes the photo as:

" Tinted orange by the morning sun, a soaring dune is the backdrop for the hulks of camel thorn trees in Namib-Naukluft Park."

The photo was taken by Frans Lanting who works for National Geographic. You can find more of his work on his website. 

And here's a random video of the week.

Brink

Has anyone played Brink yet? I was eyeing it with curiosity as the game play elements sounded pretty cool. Parkour kinda jupming and running while gunning.

I heard the class system feels kinda like Team Fortress 2 and the campaigns are like Left 4 Dead while the game play mechanics feel samey as Mirrors Edge. Sounds like they've put together loads of different elements that have been reasonably popular.

It's good that they've not copied the likes of Call of Duty as it's been done so many times it get's boring(plus, imo, no one can do COD like infinity ward - so what's the point in copying?). The review figures(pinched from kotaku) don't seem to indicate it's a very good game, but if I were to follow review figures I wouldn't be playing a lot of the games I play now.

Review Figures

1up, seriously?

Gaming Special Editions

I absolutely love getting the special collectors editions of games. They usually come with a significantly higher price tag but it's usually worth it. I'll go through a couple of the best I've seen and a couple of the worst. 


I'll start with the titles that I thought had neat collectibles

Arkham Asylum: Collectors Edition

I only seen this recently and am gutted. If I knew before I bought the game that this was out there I would have definitely snatched at it. It comes with a 14" batarang! Unfortunately it doesn't detach from the stand it's molded to but it's still awesome. 


It also comes with a making of DVD(blu-ray with the ps3 version), art book, and a store case that is bat-shaped. The game was epic and it appears it's special edition was just as epic. 

Fallout 3: Collectors Edition

I'm a massive Fallout fan and so this is probably my favourite of all collector's edition games. It comes with items from the game(duh!). Not just any items though. Frickin' awesome items. The main piece that made me salivate to the point of soaking my t-shirt was the pip-boy alarm clock! It's also packed with a lunch box and a vault boy bobble head. On a less epic note it's got a making of DVD and art book(which are both generally expected of collectors editions now).

I've been trying to get one for ages but even the editions without the alarm clock are £150 or more!

Now for what I felt were not so neat.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Prestige Edition

This came with the what you would expect from a special edition: art book, metal finish on game case, a download token for original COD. However, it also came with a pair of fully functioning night vision goggles and a mannequin head for you to display them on. At first I did think it was pretty cool but at the end of the day it is pretty ridiculous. And for £130 I hardly feel it's worth it. Now the RC car you get with the black ops prestige edition, that is cool! I just don't see anyone using the goggles. It would be better to have a non usable pair that could be for decoration purposes only. That would make more sense to me. 

F.3.A.R (or F.E.A.R 3)

The reasoning behind this one is pretty simple. You get a scaled down version of the creepy (pregnant!)girl from the series with her child inside her which glows in the dark. WTF. I would not have that in my house for a million fudge donuts. Creepy as hell. The sheer amount of times I crapped myself while playing F.E.A.R(only the original, F.E.A.R 2 not so much) prevents me from ever attempting another play through. I was proud that I got past that final level!

Honorable mentions for awesomeness: 

• Fallout: New Vegas - Collectors Edition
• Halo 3 - Legendary Edition
• God of War 3 - Ultimate Edition
• Bioshock 1&2 - Collectors Edition
• Call of Duty: Black Ops - Prestige Edition 

Honorable mentions for not so awesome:

• Grand Theft Auto 4 - Collectors Edition
• Mass Effect 1&2  - Collectors Edition
• Dead Rising 2 - Collectors Edition
• Splinter Cell: Conviction - Collectors Edition

Starcraft Papercraft, Sims 3 Sale, Random Video of The Blog

Gimme Now!

I know I ranted about how I thought making an Audi car out of paper and I know I'm about to kinda contradict myself by saying I love these Starcraft paper crafts!


There Just so awesome though! The detail is incredible and the colouring is fantastic. If they were on sale I would definitely by them. Sadly they were made by a South Korean(I think) blogger.

Also, If there's any Sims fans out there you'll be extremely excited to here that Steam are having a humungous sale on at the moment as part of the EA deal of the day. I know most would probably want portal 2 to be the deal of the day but I can't see that happening too soon. My girlfriend loves the Sims so I may just get her all the DLC at a bargain price. I'll be in the good books for weeks!

Oh and here's someone with waaaay too much time on their hands!!!

Paper Audi's, Knitted Ferrari's!! -

What is the world coming to when you have people putting all their effort in creating a paper model of a car. I can understand that people love cars and love designing, creating, and driving them. However, I cannot see the enjoyment of piecing bits of paper together to make a car. One woman even knitted a Ferrari!

And now on to Portal 2!!!

When portal 2 was released earlier than expected, albeit only several hours early, I couldn't wait to dive in and play the hell out of it. I knew it wouldn't be a fully fledged long hall of a game but I knew that the time I spent playing it would be moments of sheer happiness! I wasn't wrong. The game is sweet, even with it's loooong loading times, and I found it hard to stop playing. The only aspect of the game I didn't like was the dumbed down feeling of the puzzles. I remember Portal having more difficult puzzles. Not a massive thing to harp on about but I definitely expected more of a challenge.

Has everyone else who's played the game enjoyed the shiz out of it?

Alienware Laptop, Extreme Ironing.

I seen a new Alienware laptop is going to be released. Has anyone ever had a laptop or desktop Alienware? I was once tempted when I was naive and didn't realise how much you could save by DIY. The new Alienware laptop sounds pretty niffty though. Here's the specs:

# second generation Intel Core i7
# 3GB NVIDIA GeForce GT555M graphics
# 1600MHz DDR3 memory(couldn't find how many gigs!)

And the most wtf video I've seen today...

Milky Way.

Just seen this video and thought others should definitely see it. It's a time lapse video of the Milky Way shot from the tallest mountain in Spain. It's frackin awesome.

And also. Who is excited about Portal 2?? Only 2 days left or is it even going to be 2 days. If this potato stack thing goes down we could be getting it earlier!

Here's a nice little run down of what to expect from Portal 2 take from escapist magazine:

"The single player mode of Portal 2 takes place hundreds of years after the first, and it would appear that Aperture Science never came back to reclaim the facility, as it appears overgrown and almost jungle-esque. The personality cores that came online at the end of the first game have had plenty of time to set up their own little domains, allowing there to be a stronger narrative in the game without having to add in more human characters.

On the co-op front, you and a friend will be able to play as one of two robots, one made out of a turret, and one made out of a personality core, both equipped with a portal gun, and able to travel through each others' portals. Console versions will have a split screen mode, and PC versions will have picture-in-picture to allow for easy communication."

Films Films Films

I've had a lovefilm account for a while now and get really good use out of it. I would definitely recommend the service to any film fanatic. It's good for games as well. Most of the games I've bought in the past have been played once then shelved and never touched again. I got God of War 3 from lovefilm, completed it, sent it back. Instantly saving myself 40 quid!

I've been really getting into anime movies such as Evangelion, Ghost In The Shell, and Hellsing. One I watched recently blew me away called Tekkonkinkreet. I can't really describe why I liked it so much but it's definitely worth a watch for anime and film fans alike.

And to finish off here's a video of the top 10 most ridiculous anime attacks!!!

Throwable Fire Extinguisher, Crysis thoughts.

Just browsing the net and found that someone has developed a throw-able fire extinguisher.  Sounds pretty neat and from the video below it looks like it's effective.

I've been playing a reasonable amount of Crysis 2 lately and at first I did really think it was better than the original but after a while I really missed the freedom and beautiful sunsets of crysis. The multiplayer aspect of Crysis 2 hands down beats Crysis for me but the single player just seems very 'stagey' and linear.

Crysis, while being linear, allowed the player more ways to beat certain tasks and basically provided more freedom than Crysis 2 does. Also in the original I loved blowing stuff up, the physics were pretty decent. But with Crysis 2 I haven't even noticed any explosions where I thought "holy shit, thats good". I doubt I'll beat the single player again after one play through, but the multiplayer is a keeper.

No more essays, New Graphics Card?

No more essays!! Well for this year anyway. Only things left for uni now is group project(building a website) and  study for exams. Last essay was on the importance of firewalls in internet communication. It was boring as frack. I'm kind of stuck on what to add to my project website, I've not got the best of groups either so they're not coming up with much either.

Recess, oh the memories

I've been offered a ATI(AMD) 5850 by a work mate. He'll give it to me for a very fair price and as I've already got the same card at the moment I could go crossfire. But I don't know whether or not to go for a newer Nvidea card instead. Maybe a 480? All my games run great at the moment but when Rage comes out I want to get the best out of that baby.

Best of frenemies

Aliens, Crazed Sheep, Popcorn chicken.

It was birthday not long ago but my sister hadn't received the gift she ordered for me. She got it today however and it is awesome! I'm a huge fan of the Alien, Alien vs Predator movies/games. Sooo my sister got me a 18" motherfracking replica model of an Alein.

I'm finding it hard to find a place for it. It's currently sitting beside my desktop computer but I've got two monitors and the base unit on a small desk so it's all looking rather cramped. It's been scaring my niece as well so I'll need to find a more discreet place for it.

I went a walk up some hills local to me today. I was just sitting minding my own business reading a book when I noticed this herd of sheep congregating in the middle of the field. Then they started marching practically in single file towards me. It's fair to say I was freaked the hell out. They all just plodded on straight past me with each one glaring at me. I hate sheep as it is with their freaky tiny poo's and this was not helping. Eventually they all disappeared leaving me in complete confusion.

I've been doing essays, coding asp & c# non-stop today ignoring my rumbling stomach. I've got deadlines and eating is the least of my worries. But my resolve was broken after watching come dine with me! Went  looking for food preempting that there would be none as I can't even think when the last time I went shopping was. But at the bottom of the freezer I found an old, ice covered box of popcorn chicken. Freakin heaven on earth.

Cut The Rope Magic, New Sim's 3 Expansion

I was just informed of a new update to the amazing cut the rope. The update adds magic hats to the game play that act as portal type, well, portals. I've already had a love child with the game before this update but this will force me to spend countless more hours feeding that cute little creature!

Fun times to be had

Another game expansion I caught wind of is The Sims 3: Generations. There's nothing more relaxing than locking sims in a confined room with no doors, toilet, bed, chair, TV, shower, etc, and watching them become crazed! The new expansion adds more complexity to each generation that a sim can progress through, i.e., childhood, adulthood and being an old fart. Activities that the children can now do in the expansion are bringing imaginary friends to life, dressing up, playing pranks. Adults can through parties with "nector"(alcomohol) and go rides in pink limousines, among other(hopefully more interesting) activities. 

How Mature

With portal 2, The Witcher 2 and the afore mentioned games coming out it's fair to conclude that my productivity  shall take a tumble over the coming months.

Well...

Hello everyone, well at the moment there is no one apart from my laptop staring back at me so unbudgingly. I'm writing this blog to use as a sort of public diary to detail my daily life including hobbies, interests and general goings on I want to output.

I'll start by saying I'm 22 and was born and raised in bonnie Scotland, i.e., the United Kingdom. I'm currently embroiled in a University course(exams are approaching for which I'm not prepared!). A year left so will need to actually pay taxes soon!

I'm an avid sports fan. Love football, rugby, tennis, hockey and some others. Never play very much as I'm a lazy git and spend too much time playing on my computer. I do venture out once and a while and go hillwalking to various hills(generally Munros which are classified as such if they are => 3000 feet) around Scotland. Biking is another interest I have. I'm lucky to live in a town that has many country routes and bike paths that provide magnificent views. I onceattempted to combine my biking, hillwalking and sporting interests by cycling to a hill, climbed said hill, then played football straight afterwards. I was completely knackered after it and can guarantee it shan't be attempted again!

Anyway, here's to a long and prosperous blog.