The original cover featured a diving-suited giant, the Big Daddy, one of the toughest opponents to face. So too does two, only this time the cover character is you. Subject Delta, an alpha series big Daddy. Overuse of the Greek alphabet aside, you are one of the first successful models and were assigned to protect a Little Sister. A genetically-modified little girl who sings about angels while harvesting genetic materiel from corpses. Waking up after years of inactivity, you begin hunting for your lost Little Sister.

There are several new features from the original. Subject Delta’s enormous strength and size enable him to wield the rivet gun, drill-arm and many other heavy weapons that in the previous game you were on the receiving end of. Each one has a very different feel, and unlike many other shooters, each continues to be useful right until the end. The biggest improvement however is the research camera, which has been upgraded from a snapshot to a film reel, and gained unlimited ‘ammo’. Rather than trying to line up a shot of an enemy for maximum points, you simply start the film running and try to get in as many different attacks as you can before it dies.

You also have access to new plasmids, genetic tonics granting the ability to throw fire and lightning, or more unusual things like bees or mind-control tomatoes. All the originals are present, with a handful of new ones and a much better upgrade system. Previously, an upgraded power would deal more damage but now an upgrade lets you charge the power for new effects. Upgrade the Incinerate! Power, and your fires become explosions or flamethrowers, lightning bolts chain between targets, frozen enemies shatter into deadly shards and many more deadly effects await. Another nice touch is that each upgrade requires the previous level, so you don’t feel punished for upgrading early.

We also see some new enemies, along with the original cast of splicers. Special attention should be drawn to the Big Sisters, a new model of protector for the Little Sisters, they actively hunt you and other than a few scripted sections could show up almost any time. A shriek in the distance warns you when one is after you, giving you a short time to prepare before the fight starts. As she leaps around you, firing the same plasmid-powered attacks you have access to, you feel much more like a Big Daddy lumbering in it’s diving suit than at any other time.

The diving suit itself is a point of interest. Trailers promised us the ability to leave the underwater city of Rapture and explore outside, the sea-bed. This does indeed happen, but it is something of a disappointment. Delta puts away his guns and fistful of lightning, the diving helmet becomes more pronounced, restricting your vision, and water rises in an airlock. Then the door opens, and you step out into the ocean. You wander through a threatless valley of coral to another airlock, and reverse the process. Sometimes a small cliff prevents you from turning back, and later on you can loot drowned opponents or sunken crates for supplies, but the sections feel pointless.

Exploring the indoor areas feels much the same. Any game with a story to tell has a linear plot, but Bioshock 2 doesn’t even try to hide it. You take a train from one location to the next, solving the problem preventing you from driving further. Railroad plot has never been more literal, and for all that Delta’s allies call him a freed slave, you never seem to have an agenda of our own. You feel less in control than in the previous game, which is something of an irony. To say more would spoil it though.

Overall, this is a great sequel. It has it’s flaws, but they are minor in comparison. The combat is challenging, the story captivating and the atmosphere just as perfect as before.

OnLive could be the service that makes this all come true, and it is set to be released later this year. The service uses remote servers to render the game (with 1ms latency) and then transfer the data over the internet to any Windows (XP or Vista) PC or Mac. Over a 1.5Mbps connection you would be able to get graphics similar to that seen on the Wii, with a 5Mbps or higher connection speed offering a true High Definition gaming experience. The hardware in the machine you play on would only need to be enough to connect to the internet, the rest is dealt with by the servers.

But what if you dont want to use a PC for gaming? You dont have to. OnLive are also releasing a games console using this service, called the MicroConsole. This machine will give you all the stuff you need to play the games, including bluetooth for voice chat, optical audio out for HD sound, and HDMI for high definition video. All of this is supposedly going to cost less than a Nintendo Wii. Mix this with 9 signed developers already, and the potential more and you have a very cool platform that could see the future of video gaming change forever.

No high-end hardware, no upgrades, no endless downloads, no discs, no recalls, no obsolescence. With OnLive, your video game experience is always state-of-the-art

Steve Perlman, Company Founder

So, we have a cheap way of playing brand new games on a low end computing device, that connects to your TV for high definition gaming. There must be a catch, right… And there is (kinda), the service is subject to a monthly subscription. Available at different levels and tarrifs at a price level competitive to retail. We just hope that this service delivers on all that it promises, and that we will be able to try it out for real in the second half of 2009.

The DSi is the second refinement to the Nintendo DS that we have seen since it’s initial UK release in March 2005, and the UK launch of the Nintendo DS Lite in June 2006. The i after the name brings with it a lot of new features and changes, including:

• A 12% reduction in thickness
• The addition of two cameras (one inside, and one outside). The DSi boasts a 0.3 megapixel digital camera for 640 x 480 pixel pictures, and a camera in the hinge that acts as a webcam. You can even edit pictures on the DSi touch screens!
• A built in web bowser. That’s right, you can surf the internet straight out of the box on the DSi, no more needing to buy a DS/DS Lite browser game pack.
• Download and play games onto the console. The DSi features DSWare, a new online store that uses the current Wii Points system to allow you to buy games over the internet.
• SD Memory Card capabilities. The DSi loses the GBA slot and replaces it with an SD card slot, allowing you to download all the games you want.
• Longer Stylus. When it comes to Styli size does count, and this new one is 4.5mm longer than previous generations.
• Improved aduio features, and speakers. Means you get more advanced pitch and playback options, as well as better quality sound.

The DSi also sees an improvement in hardware, with 16MB of RAM (4x that seen in the DS and DS Lite) and 265MB of internal flash storage (1024 times more than the original DS!!!!, and only half of what the Wii has). But limitations also have been implemented, and these include the hardware prohibition of homebrew software, as well as region locking some software (due to internet services customised ot each region).

Overall this seems to be a huge leap forward in the DS range, and could give a clue to what Nintendo are likely to release in the future, adding even more functionality to their consoles.

Fallout 3 has been released alongside Fable II, Gears of War 2, and Farcry 2, That’s a far from easy line up to compete with. And with Christmas looming ever closer how will you choose what to buy? Does saying that Fallout 3 is an absolutely massive open plan RPG that strongly resembles Oblivion but with lasers, rocket launchers, drugs and power armour entice you?

Fallout 3 is here! Having said that there’s a very good chance that the 3 at the end of this games title means nothing to you. If that is the case then prepare to be enlightened.

The graphics, and cars, have vastly improved since the last game.

The original Fallout games were PC only RPGs set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that used to be America, their top selling points were the massive scope of the games and the ability to do almost anything you wanted. For example you could become a prize fighter, leader of the mob, an x-rated movie star or a slaver. This was all along side trying to complete the main storyline of saving your small tribe from disease and starvation. If that sounds good to you, and if you enjoy a bit of old school gaming then I would actually recommend Fallout 2. I got that game for my birthday when I was a kid and I still play it now and then!

There’s nothing like blasting the head off a feral mutant at close range with a sub machine gun, except for maybe blowing it into tiny pieces!

The Production of Fallout 3 was taken on by Bethesda who were the producers of Oblivion. The game starts with you as a baby in a sealed vault, which has been your people’s protection of the nuclear war. The game quickly speeds you through early life and along the way you determine what you will look like and what your initial stats and skills will be. When you finally leave the vault at age 19 to find your father you are left alone and unprepared in the wasteland. Ultimately you can lead you character to glory, by saving prisoners from super mutants and by purifying the worlds water supply. Or you can become a super villain, by blowing up entire towns and murdering innocent people and eating their corpses (nice!).

Fallout 3 uses the Oblivion engine and within Fallout 3 is a heart of dungeons, loot and death. At times when your in a cave fighting a giant wolf-bear hybrid with a Chinese sword, you could actually be playing Oblivion.

Shoot it first, ask what it was doing on the train LATER!!!

Graphically Fallout 3 is very impressive, as you would probably expect from the producers of Oblivion…
For example there’s nothing like blasting the head off a feral mutant at close range with a sub machine gun. Except for maybe blowing it into tiny pieces by sneaking up and putting an active mine or grenade down its trousers. Cresting a hill often reveals some fantastic eye candy, and due to the size of the world there are plenty of hills to crest.

Speaking of the scale the game is massive; coming in at about 70% of the size of Oblivion this game is big. It takes about 20 hours to complete the main story line, but anyone who can play it without being sucked into the fabulous side plots is very single minded. Unlike Mass Effect the side line missions and stories don’t feel like they were written by a 10 year old child. Some of the side missions include, a scientist who wants his renegade android recovered, slavers who will pay a lot of money for anyone you manage to drag to their hidden city and saving (or not) a small town built on a highway overpass from a strange nocturnal gang.

However you choose to play this game combat will always be a big part, from battling creatures and robots in the wasteland, to obliterating a giant mutant ambush with a “mini nuke”. Keeping this in mind there are two ways that you can do combat. Firstly, as an FPS. In terms of an FPS Fallout 3 will never match up to Call of Duty 4 or another such dedicated shooter but it does the job adequately, keeping the combat fun by often ending with the separation of the last limb hit from the body of your enemy.

Do you wanna play the odds?

However the main talking point in the combat of Fallout 3 is VATS. VATS or the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System is Bethesdas concession to the old turn based Fallout games where you could pick a part of your opponent to target. VATS allows you to pause the game and spend action point on shots or hits aimed at a specific part of your opponent. Attacking different parts of different enemies will result in a different outcome. For example attacking the feelers of a giant fire ant will send it crazy killing friend and foe alike, whereas attacking the head of most creatures will often result in the most damage. VATS also gives you a percentage likely hood of a direct hit to that part of the body and gives you damage estimation so that you can plan your attacks carefully. Depending on your character, your weapon and what drugs you may have taken before combat you can get up to about targeted shots or hits in one go. However if you are in combat for a extended period you may use VATS again because action point recharge slowly over time.

I would also like to praise Bethesda on the perks that they have included in this game. Perks are a special trait that you gain for your character every time you level up. Some of the perks are both inventive and funny and can become an important part of your characters game. For example the ability to eat corpses to heal yourself, the Sandman kill (I’ll let you find out for yourself), the Animal friend and the Ninja training are all fantastic perks that improve the game that little bit more.

After playing a lot on this game and comparing it with many others I would recommend it if you are a shooter fan or an RPG fan but ideally both. The game holds a lot of surprises and is a long source of entertainment. I do have one or two negatives to add though. You can’t kill children! Which might not seem much but is really really annoying trust me and secondly the game doesn’t or rather won’t make it to classic status. It’s a very good game but in my opinion people won’t still be talking about it in a few years. It just lacks the spark that makes it different from all the other games, and whilst I would recommend it, if you’re not an avid RPG/shooter fan I wouldn’t put it at the top of your Christmas list.

Score: 4.5/5

The much hyped and potential system-selling PS3 game is upon us. First unveiled at GDC (Game Developer’s Conference) 2007, the game stood out from the crowd and has since been one of the most popular and hyped games for the PS3. Around 18 months later and the game hit stores around the world (after several delays I might add). Delays aside however, the hype has been completely justified, and LittleBigPlanet is one of the most original, fresh and enjoyable gaming experiences around.

Good Points:
Beautiful visuals fill the world with charm
Simple controls make gameplay fun and accessible
Creation system is deep and allows for imagination to run wild
Replayability potential is high with the focus on community content

Bad points:
Automatic switching between layers while playing can become a pain
Making a great level can take days so a lot of players won’t bother with it
Single player mode is quite short

“Play. Create. Share.” That’s the way LittleBigPlanet works, and it’s one of the taglines used for the game. I’ll start with Play, as that’s mainly what you’ll be doing. You take control of an adorable little being called Sackboy (or Sackgirl), and his main role in life is to navigate his way through levels using what starts off as simple platforming, but eventually gets quite complicated. LittleBigPlanet is essentially a platform game, but it’s a game based entirely on a brilliant physics engine.

After loading up your game for the first time, you’ll be greeted by an introduction. You’ll be shown the very basics of movement, showing emotions with your Sackboy and how to dress him up, all wonderfully voiced by Stephen Fry. You run through this intro left to right, and as you do the Media Molecule team will pop up behind you in a manner of different ways. It’s essentially part mini-tutorial, part playable credits. Soon after this you’ll be dropped into your Pod, which is the hub where you’ll spend some of your time. It’s here where you can access the three planets that’ll you be spending the rest of your time in. First off is the InfoMoon, which contains the basic things such as your favourite levels as well as ones you’ve made, your friends list, and the news page. The next planet I’ll go to is My Moon, which is where you go to create your own levels. Finally, the third planet is LittleBigPlanet, where you can choose to play Story Levels, Cool Levels (online stuff), and Quick Play, which joins you up with some people online, picks a random level and lets you do whatever you want.

The Story Mode is where the game makes you go first, as you have to finish a few levels before the game lets you access the InfoMoon and My Moon, which to be fair was something I found slightly annoying. The Story consists of 54 levels in total (not including the Introduction which you can repeat at any time), and although there were originally supposed to be 60+, 54 still doesn’t seem too bad, right? Well, technically there’s even less than that. While there may be 54 levels, 29 of them are actually mini-games/challenges designed for quick bursts of play with friends. While that’s fair enough, having over half of the final amount of “Story” levels as mini-games was more than a bit disappointing in the end. That said, the full length story levels that are present are so wonderfully crafted and great to play that in the end, that would have been worth the £40 on their own. The imagination shines out from the screen when you play through these levels, and the most impressive thing is that all of the levels in the game were made in the creator which is included in the game. It’s only when you go into the creator yourself and try to make something good where it really hits you how much time and effort was put into making those levels. The levels are designed on three different layers, which allows for some interesting landscapes. You may be running on the back layer and then the back and middle layers are blocked off, and you have to move forward on the front layer. If you just carry on running right into the wall for a split second, the game will work that out and automatically put you into the front layer. Useful yes? In most cases sure, but there’s a few situations where you try to jump a gap and expect the game to put you onto the layer with the bridge in it, and it doesn’t do it, sending your Sackboy into a fiery death. There’s also other cases where you may be on the front or middle row, and someone has made a ledge for scenery on the back row. You want to continue running right, but when you try and jump across, the game puts you onto the ledge on the back row where you don’t want to be, so you have to manually get back to the front row and try again. It doesn’t happen very often, but it’s usually quite annoying when it does. Still, that doesn’t tamper with the fact that the levels are brilliantly imaginative and fun to play.

To get through these fantastic levels though, you’ll need to know how, and luckily the controls are simple. The left analogue stick is used to run left and right, and it’s also used in conjuction with X in some situations to move between different layers. X is used for jumping, and R1 is used to grab onto things. That’s it really in terms of playing through levels. The only other button you’ll be using is the square button, which brings up the Popit menu. This little thing is where all of your stickers, accessories, favourite items and costumes are kept. You can also type out text messages and they’ll pop up at the top of the screen (useful if you don’t have a PS3 headset in multiplayer). There’s also a retry button, which means that if you get stuck, hold in this button with X and your little Sack friend will get all angry and explode, and you’ll be sent back to the last checkpoint. Another thing you can do is use the directional buttons (D-pad), to controls Sackboy’s emotions. There are four different emotions, Happy (up), Angry (right), Sad (down) and Scared (left), and each one has three varying degrees of intensity. Tap up once and your Sackboy’s smile will get a bit bigger. Tap it again and he’ll have a big grin on his face with his mouth open. Tap it a third time and he’ll have his mouth wide open with his tongue sticking out. Tap up a fourth and final time and he’ll be set back to the default expression. One final thing to do with controls is being able to slap other Sackboys. The L2 and R2 buttons control Sackboys arms if you hold them in, and at this point you can use the left and right analogue sticks to wave Sackboy’s arms about. If there’s another Sack person standing to your left, grab hold of your left arm with L2, pull the left analogue stick to the right, then flick it over to the left. It’s sounds overly complicated to do, but it’s quite simple, and done out of nowhere can send laughs through a group of friends.

Speaking of friends, this is what LittleBigPlanet was built around. Sure you can play through the story levels on your own and it’ll still be a great experience, but playing through them with three other people over the PlayStation Network, or even better in the same room, is simply much more fun. You can also play through the levels online with random people, and while the company is still appreciated, it doesn’t beat the fun of playing with a group of friends in the same room.

Moving on, the next thing on the list is Create. My Moon is where you’ll find the creation tools, and when you decide to make a level, you can choose a template if you want. Most people won’t use a template, and I’d recommend not to actually because in a way it hinders you. The main reason people pick a template is because they may want a certain background. When you play through the story levels, once you get to a new area, you unlock the background for that area in the creator. So if you want to use that background and you haven’t got there in the story yet, you’ll have to pick the template you want and delete everything in the level first, which is quite a pain to do. When you first go into the creator, if you try to place practically anything, you’ll have to go into a tutorial on how to use it. The good thing about this is that most people will actually want to do the tutorials as they’re incredibly helpful. The downside is that they compulsory, so if you want to use that particular object or tool, then the game won’t let you until you’ve done the tutorial for it. It seems odd, but it works out better in the long run because then you’ll know how to actually use everything when you get to properly start to make a level.

It’s hard to explain the creation tools because they’re just so deep. With the right mindset, enough time, and a big imagination, the things that you can make in the creator are limitless. As shown in the story levels, variety of things you can do with one simple tool, if you think outside the box a bit, are astounding. There have already been some fantastic levels made by people in the LittleBigPlanet community, and I’m sure the day will come when some levels will be of such a quality that they rival the story levels. While this may make you think “Wow, once I’ve done the story levels there’s hundreds more great levels to play online made by other people!”, that’s not strictly true. Sure there’s hundreds of levels, but only a handful are brilliant, which in a way is to be expected, but also could eventually be the downside to the LittleBigPlanet community.

Share is the online experience, and as I say, one of the most promising things about the game may eventually be its downfall. Having to sift through all of the short, boring and dull levels made by bored players for the sake of it can get tiresome, and the small amount of great levels worth playing doesn’t really make up for it. The community can only hope that the certain users that have made brilliant levels so far continue to make great levels, or better yet, new users follow suit and spend the time making levels too. This is partially resolved in a way though. Whenever you finish playing a level, you have to give the level a rating out of 5 stars, and as an option you can then ‘tag’ a level with a word that you think fits the level. The highest rated levels get pushed towards the front pages of levels, and the lower rated stuff get’s shifted back into the abyss of bad levels. The 3-4 most popular tags selected for the level will then show up in the level description, which gives people a basic idea of what to expect. You can also “heart” levels and users, who then get put into your hearted list, which is essentially your favourites.

It’d be wrong to expect everyone to come out with some high standard levels, but a few more would certainly liven up the selection of levels a bit. I myself have spend many an hour in the creator only to come out with quite poor stuff, so it just depends really. The variety of levels that people have made though is great. Obviously there are the standard platforming levels, but one of my favourite types of levels are the musical levels. The basic idea is that you go into the level and get onto a slow-moving vehicle with a sensor on it. As this sensor goes past some switches, those switches activate some music sounds, and some people have managed to recreate some amazing instrumentals using this design. It takes a long time, but the end result is worth it.

The actual graphics of the game itself are astounding too. Everything in the world of LittleBigPlanet is made out of real-world materials that have been beautifully rendered and put into the game for everyone to see and use. It gives the game a really organic feel, and that’s definitely a good thing because it doesn’t appeal to any key demographic. The physics engine in the game really gives the world a great feel, as everything has its own weight, and it’s all incredibly convincing. The soundtrack is also of very high quality, with some songs that will just play from start to finish, but also some original songs composed by the team who made the game themselves. The best thing about those songs is that, in the creator, the songs themselves are split into about six parts. Rather than just having a song that plays from start to finish, the team have made it so that you can pick and choose what parts of the song will actually be playing, so you can customise how the songs plays throughout your level while still maintaining the overall theme.

Overall, LittleBigPlanet is a triumph. It manages to succeed in what it tried to achieve in trying to create an accessible game for all ages. On top of that, it then allows people with a bit more time on their hands to create more content for everyone to enjoy. Top that off with a variety of incredibly enjoyable story levels, and multiplayer orientated challenge levels and you’ve got a winner. There’s also weekly downloadable content, which although is only new costumes for your Sackboy at the moment, there’s no reason why they couldn’t add new story levels or items for the creator into the mix. The potential for replayability is definitely there. While the story levels won’t last overly long if you just run through them, there are lots of prizes to collect throughout the levels, some of which you can only collect if you are playing with two, three or four players. There’s also trophy support for this game, and one particular one wants you to finish every story level without dieing, which is a lot harder than it sounds.

LittleBigPlanet is the first of its kind, and I hope that it keeps on going and going. Whether that be in the form of a sequel, an on-disc expansion, or extensive downloadable content, this is one game that really shouldn’t be missed, and most definitely shouldn’t be left behind.

Score: 4.5/5

The release date has been set back from Friday 24th October, to Wednesday 5th November over fears of causing offence to Muslims and members of the Islamic faith.

One of the background songs in the game containt 2 verses from the Koran, set to music. This is found to be very offensive by Muslims, who see the Koran as coming directly from God.

Sony has apologised for any offence that it may have caused from the use of this song, and has recalled all copies and issued a new version that no longer contains the afrementioned Song.

This comes after similar trouble in June of 2007, where Sony had to apologise for part of it’s PS3 release title, Resistance:Fall of Man, featuring a gun fight within the walls of Manchester Cathedral.

Good Points: Retains the charm, innovativeness and challenge of its DS predecessor – Fantastic and gripping plot – Plenty of new operations to try your hand at.

Bad Points: Some levels are hard enough to make you tear your hair out – One level has you breaking a mechanical lock with surgical equipment.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 is the sequel of the surgical sim which hit the stores in April 2006. In a nutshell, Trauma Center puts you in the role of Dr. Derek Stiles – a genius surgeon who leads the fight against the outbreak of bioterrorism. In this second instalment you must once again face the deadly man-made disease GUILT and solve the mystery of who is behind it all. This game, whilst simplifying the complicated art of surgery to a near absurd level is probably one of the most addictive and well made games for the DS, and uses the handheld console to the maximum of its capabilities.

The story this time begins in the African Republic of Costigar, where a war is being waged and Dr. Stiles and his faithful assistant Nurse Angie Thompson are volunteer medical staff helping to treat casualties of war. Soon you meet a new and (later) significant character, Dr. Adel Tulba who is a rookie surgeon sent help Dr. Stiles and Nurse Thompson. After various war-related surgeries, the main plot kicks in and we see the return of GUILT, and thus the stage is set for a thrilling battle which will no doubt keep you hooked throughout.

For those unfamiliar with the gameplay of Trauma Center, it is basically a medical themed puzzle game where you must use a variety of tools to combat different afflictions. It is not “gory” or graphic in any way and at times (especially when fighting GUILT) you almost forget it is a virtual human body you are operating on. The primary objective, quite obviously, is to keep your patient alive and this is done by keeping the “vitals” which is a numerical representation of the patient’s condition, above 0. There is also a time limit on every level (normally 5 minutes) in which you must complete the surgery. Let your patients vitals hit 0 or run out of time and you will get the most depressing game over screen ever (trust me, you WILL see this at some point and you WILL cry). One of the main features of Trauma Center’s surgeries is the “Healing Touch” the divine gift that Dr. Stiles possesses which allows him to slow down time and perform surgeries at incredible speeds. In Trauma Center this is done by selecting the Healing Touch from the game’s interface and drawing a star on screen, and while this does not make the time limit go down any slower, the patient’s vitals will decrease slower and whatever is causing the patient harm will be slowed in its attack.

For fans of the previous game (and perhaps the Wii counterparts) you will pleased to hear that while new features have been added, the surgeries play out in much the same way as before. Before each surgery you get a briefing of the patient’s condition and an objective and then you must get to work. A lot of the same tools return as well as a few new ones such as the defibrillator (the electric shock thingies they shove on your chest) which is used to resuscitate patients who go into cardiac arrest. But you can still inject stabiliser to raise your patient’s vitals, stitch up wounds with a small scribble and burn off nasty tumours with a laser. There is also a fair amount of new types of surgery to perform, such as putting broken bones back together as well as various new strains of GUILT to deal with. The token “fluff level” returns (if you recall the bomb disposal of Trauma Center 1) and this time you must disable a mechanical lock using your surgical skills and tools – as ridiculous and needlessly hard as ever.

Trauma Center 2 is still devilishly difficult at times but unlike the original you can change the difficulty of each surgery, and there is an “easy” option this time (however I never resorted to this and neither should you). The X missions also make a return once you have finished the main plot, in which you replay all the forms of GUILT at “extreme” difficulty – not for the faint of heart.

The game’s design is very similar to the original – reasonably realistic 3D organs in the operation screen and 2D anime backgrounds and characters in dialogue screens (of which there are a lot). The plot is one of the major parts of Trauma Center and these screens are well animated and even include the occasional bit of voice acting for emphasis. The characters have been slightly toned down from the somewhat wacky style of the first game, but you will recognise all your old friends easily.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 takes what made its predecessor so addictive and fun and expands on it, resulting in a much better game. The difficulty has been calmed down (somewhat) making it far more accessible to the casual gamer, but it still has the difficulty options for it to pose a serious challenge to more hardened gamers. The plot is more exciting and deeper than the previous game and will keep you thoroughly entertained for the good 12-15 hours it should take you to finish – and for those of you flying through the first few levels thinking you’ll be done in an hour or two, trust me you’ll find one operation that will have you tearing chunks out your hair soon enough. Overall Trauma Center 2 is one of the best uses of the touch screen you will ever see, and unless you instantly hate it you will get completely addicted to this game and enjoy every second of it. For the time being there is no European release date, so if you can’t wait to see if it ever hits our shores then you can import it, but if not you might have a long wait to play this fantastic game.

Score: 4.5/5

A Quick Overview:

It may not be the best hand-held media product on the market, and the games lack the innovation of those for Nintendo’s portables, but as an all-in-one device, the Sony PSP is king of the hill. After a decade at the top of the home console industry, Sony decided to tackle the portable system market — one heavily fortified by Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance and the DS. Sony sought to take down Nintendo by adopting the tactic that made the Playstation 2 such a runaway success: by offering sophisticated, graphically intensive games and a heavy dose of multimedia functionality. The Sony PSP was first available online in a number of bundles. Two of the most common were the base model pack, which is just the console, battery and the AC adaptor, for around £150, and the Giga pack – which usually has a carry case, a pair of headphones and a 1GB Memory Stick Duo – for around £200. Games are around £30 and UMD movies around £17 for the latest titles

Design:

From an aesthetic perspective, the Sony PSP is a gorgeous device. It was one of the gadgets that I knew I had to have. It was the sort of thing – like with a new laptop – that you love to use, but are scared to break; fortunately, a simple neoprene slip cover was included with the £180 Value Pack. Weighing essentially the same as the Nintendo DS (176g, including removable battery) and measuring 170 by 74 by 23 mm, the body feels well built and solid in your hand. Although not a lightweight, it was by no means a brick, nor was it especially durable in a fall; you’ll want to treat the PSP just as gingerly as an iPod or a Palm-style PDA.

The centrepiece of the hand-held is especially impressive with a 109mm (4.3-inch) wide-screen display (480×272 pixels, 16.7 million colours). The screen is flanked by controls that are immediately recognisable to fans of past PlayStations: the directional keypad is to the left of the screen, and the familiar square, triangle, circle, and X buttons are to the right. Sony managed to include an analogue ‘joystick’ below the directional keypad. The stick wasn’t raised like the analogue controls on a PS2 or an Xbox, but it conveyed that multi directional element that gives it a joystick-like feel. The PSP only has two shoulder buttons but – due to the redesign of all the games for the new disks, and the fact that most companies simply brought out an exclusive PSP version of their games – this is not a problem.

The PSP uses Sony’s recently created ‘cross media bar’ interface. You use the directional keypad to horizontally navigate through Settings, Photo, Music, Video, and Game icons, and each section has other icons attached to it on a vertical axis. All in all, it’s a simple and elegant way to access the PSP’s many features.

The Slim & Lite:

In keeping with both the PlayStation and the PS2, 2 years after the release of the PSP Sony announced the new Slim and Lite.Sony decreased the weight of the PSP by 33% and made it 19% smaller.

33% is a reasonable weight decrease but 19% smaller? 19%?! Surely Sony could do better than 19% – and if not, why did they bother to develop the ‘Slim and Lite’. It doesn’t get better, either. Theres no longer a slide release for the UMD drive and the back of the hand-held is now made of plastic instead of the cool metal. The only new addition to the PSP is a TV out port – but no cable is supplied.

Personally I would place the PSP above the Nintendo DS any day, but in the reduction of their consoles’ size, Nintendo did a great job turning the DS into the DS Lite putting Sony well and truly in the shade with their attempt. If I were to look at buying a PSP now I would take myself to the gym and pump some iron so I could suffer the 33% extra weight and the insane 19% extra size (18% of which is the loss of the slide key) and save myself £70 with an original PSP from our favourite website ebay.

Summary:

Normally I’m not someone who rushes out to buy all the latest things like iphones and PS3′s, being a typically poor student with stingy parents I prefer to wait until the price is lowered. However with the PSP I bought it within a few months of it coming out. I know I’m not the only person who did that and now after over 2 years I am still not disappointed with the PSP. Its value in long journeys is unparalleled, the freedom to simply pass away the hours in a car or plane journey by sitting back with a few hours of Burnout or GTA, followed by a good film is fantastic – especially as it all fits in your coat pocket (trouser pocket would seem a tad risky what with the aforementioned fragility of the device).

The Sony PSP is in a class of its own and I would recommend it to anyone (except for maybe Satoru Iwata) and as much as I think it could be better in many small ways, for its sheer breakthrough genius at the time it was released. I give it a full 5 out of 5

Score: 5/5

Styles: 40GB.

Release date: Out Now

Creator: Sony

The Sony Playstation 3 had a shaky start when it was released back in March 2007. It had missed the perfect launch ramp of Christmas 2006, and as such, had a depleted game base to start with, something that hit it hard when compared with it’s main rival’s, the Xbox 360, game library. The 360 had been out for a year, and the motion sensing of the Wii had created unimaginable hype amongst casual gamers. On top of which, the high specifications of the PS3, whilst meaning an amazing future ahead, slowed it down considerably with a weighty price (£425), and a system that developers needed to get used to before they could create some real gaming gems.

Luckily, the PS3 has found its feet and is really starting to show what it can do. Many argue that whilst advertised as predominantly a gaming machine, it is a multi-media station. Whilst this could have been said to be true during the game drought of summer 2007, this is no longer true. The console is bringing out a whole lot of new games, and this started back around September, with the arrival of Heavenly Sword. The game was too short but had high production values, and was a fun game. Insomniac’s new Ratchet and Clank soon saw daylight afterwards, followed by Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, from Insomniac’s rival/friend Naughty Dog, a stunning game that is recommended for anyone who has or is planning to purchase the console. Lair was also released, disappointing to some, but it was the first game to be playable on the Playstation Portable, via the Remote Play feature of the PS3. These were just the exclusives, as the Multi-Platform stunner Call of Duty 4 was released, along with Assassin’s Creed, Guitar Hero 3, The Orange Box and more recently, Burnout Paradise.

The PS3 is now running it’s race, as a console that I believe will last for many years to come, a future-proofed, multi-media gaming platform. So lets discuss features. What are these multi-media effects that people are getting excited over? The console features the ability to play music and movies, either through CD, DVD or the High Definition Blu-ray Disc (more later). On top of which, it can play them via a USB storage device, such as an Ipod, MP3 player, phone or flash-stick. The original 60GB model also had memory stick slots to make transfers from cameras, phones and PSPs easier, although this has been dropped in favour of a lower price. It can also store photos, which can be viewed normally, or through a stylish, but ultimately pointless, ‘tabletop’ slideshow.

The console has full Internet access, either through an Ethernet cable, or through it’s built in Wireless (WiFi) receiver. Web pages can be viewed through a browser, and it has capabilities to go on sites such as Youtube, and play the videos competently. On top of this, it can connect to the PSP through ‘Remote Play’. This allows the user to connect to their PS3 from anywhere in the world over the Internet, provided you’re near a WiFi hotspot. It can even be turned on. Saved data can be accessed, i.e. movies and music, although games, saved or on disc, cannot. However, Lair has been the first, and so far only, game to be playable through Remote Play, and hopefully games will pick up on this. The Remote Play feature’s main benefit at the moment however, is that you can watch as many movies and listen to as much music as you can save on your PS3, effectively expanding the size of your PSPs memory, if you have one of course.

Now, one of the console’s main features is its online service, the Playstation Network. Many have argued that it doesn’t provide as much as the 360s more established Live service. You can’t chat to friends during games, or access the main menu during a game, without having to leave. However, Sony is working on changing that, with goals such as an in-game XMB (the main menu), in-game music and in-game chat. Currently though, the PSN is fine for what it does, and considering it’s completely free, unlike Xbox Live, it’s not like you can lose out. Friends you pick up in games will stay friends in other games, and can be mailed and talked to, albeit out of game. On top of which, there is the Playstation Store. Updated with new offerings every Thursday, the Store features free downloads, in the form of demos, trailers and wallpapers (for your main menu), and downloads you pay for, such as full games (like Warhawk, a genius online multiplayer) or items for games already owned, (like new songs for Guitar hero 3). Such content keeps games fresh, and gamers entertained, and it will only continue. Sony also plans to bring out movie downloads too, although the extent of this is unknown. What is known is that they plan to launch a Youtube style service, with user created content.

User-created content. This is key with Sony’s plans for the console. Coming soon to the PSN, is Playstation Home. This free download is like The Sims and Second Life. Players are given a character they can design, and an apartment, to furnish and update over time. They can invite friends over to watch movies, or listen to music stored on their hard drive, or go out into a special area for recreation. This will feature mini games, such as bowling and pool, as well as a cinema, with trailers, and potentially full movies and the ‘Sony Youtube’. People can chat, over headsets or through keyboards, and plans to fund through in game advertising could lead to building of new areas to play in, such as maybe an Adidas sponsored shop, with shirts for your avatar, and so on. There will also be a Trophy Room, or Hall of Fame. This will work a lot like Xbox’s Achievements, with gaming records being rewarded with trophies for friends to see. Potentially, you could win new shirts, wallpapers, furniture, or even apartments by doing well in games, depending on how Sony sees things. This should prove a great addition to PSN.

So, lets hear more about user-created content. Sony is touting it, and putting a lot of work into showing they support it. Microsoft’s refusal to let players ‘mod’ the game Unreal tournament 3 on their console, has meant that Sony is ahead, as they plan to embrace the idea. So much so in fact, that their game LittleBigPlanet, due this year, is based around it, with users creating and sharing levels with each others, to be played and rated.

Now then, games. PS3 received a lot of stick at first for their meagre releases of two major games, Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm, before a long drought of any real noticeable games. This year however, may as well be called the Year of the Playstation. The sheer volume of games on release are shocking, especially when contrast with last years stark offerings. There are a ton of exclusives, and plenty of other games to sate anyone’s hunger for gaming madness. Here’s a small list of some major games, these are all due for 2008, but they may take more time to do, so don’t blame us:

• Metal Gear Solid 4
• LittleBigPlanet
• Gran Turismo 5
• Haze
• Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
• Resistance 2
• Area 51: Blacksite
• Killzone 2
• Grand Theft Auto 4
• Final Fantasy 13
• Just Cause 2
• Mercenaries 2
• Afrika

And there are many more besides, some believe over 150 will be released. I don’t know if the number is only the disc based games, but there will also be plenty of downloads coming, hopefully some more games like Warhawk.

My final point is Blu-ray. Some believe this is the key to the Playstation’s success. It is now almost 100% certain that it will win the ‘format war’ against HD-DVD, making it the new format for entertainment. Like DVD replaced VHS, Blu-ray should be the new format for all movies to be based on. Currently, PS3 is the cheapest Blu-ray player that can upgrade itself (a feature needed for some extras on BR discs). With this, and many other features, it is popular amongst those who like their films in the best quality available. The firmware updates that keep Blu-ray up to date, also let Sony upgrade your machine, so features that people want, people may get.

The point is, that this console is future proofed, in every way. Games can be improved, features can be added constantly and it can play the latest media format to be released. It features top end graphics and power, and developers say that so far, even the best games have only tapped 30% of it’s power at most, meaning quality should rise continuously, something we can see when we compare games from the start of the Playstation 2’s reign, to those released at the end. Some will say that £300 is still too much for a console, but this is so much more than a console, and it has the potential to get better and better for years. It’s also worth noting, that recent decreases in hardware cost could mean another price cut, so keep eyes open for any news on that front. All in all, I thoroughly recommend this console, and all it has to offer. It does so much more than play games, and it’s games are still amazing, with huge room to improve over time, until the PS4 is released. If you haven’t already, go and buy one. If you can’t afford it, remember, that may not be for long. Thanks for reading.

Nintendo are a well known, well established video games company who’re well over 100 years old. They were at the forefront of video gaming, producing one of the first home entertainment systems, the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Since their first console back in 1985 Nintendo have been one of the major leaders in video game development, stretching the boundaries of how video games are played and enjoyed over and over again.

This time, with their latest console, the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo have completely smashed the boundaries, allowing players to actually control video games through physical actions using the specially developed technology contained within the controller of the Wii.

Summary of the product

The Nintendo Wii was first released in UK on December 8^th 2006 (USA November 19^th 2006, Japan December 2^nd 2006) at the price of £179 ($249.99, JP¥25,000). So far the product is only available in pearly white, but hopefully multicoloured Wii’s will be available for future purchase.

The console itself is no bigger than a stack of 3 DVD cases and fitting sleekly among your other home entertainment devices or below your television set. It can operate horizontally or vertically, but includes a silver stand to suggest that it looks best vertical, though it’s orientation does not make any difference to the actual hardware. The console simply has a power cable which plugs directly into the wall socket and a multi AV connection (red, white and yellow cables) but also includes a SCART socket connection. Furthermore, the Wii is also backward compatible and is able to play Gamecube games and other Nintendo past console games via an online download shop.

Features

The Wii has a vast array of features, many of them new to most in the gaming world. First of all it features true backward compatibility. Now you may be wondering what true backward compatibility means; simply put, this simply means that the Nintendo Wii can play any Nintendo game ever released. This is thanks to the Nintendo online service, which features a downloads shop where, for a small sum, users can download a past Nintendo game and play it on the Wii using either a Wii or Gamecube controller. The disc drive of the Wii is also capable of playing Gamecube discs, so you can dig out your old Gamecube classics  and play them on the Wii using a Gamecube controller.

The disc tray is self loading, meaning there are no external moving parts and therefore less likely to break than a conventional disc drive. It also features a tasteful blue light glowing around the disc tray when a disc is inserted, when the console is turned on, and when you receive mail via the online service supplied by Nintendo.

The console also features an SD card slot on the front, so that the internal memory may be upgraded by SD card flash memory. In addition, there are two handy USB ports on the back so USB devices can be plugged into the console, for example a charger for the Wii controllers etc.

On the top of the console are two white, hardly visible flaps that hide the 4 Gamecube controller ports and the 2 Gamecube memory card slots enabling the user to play and save Gamecube games on the Wii.

The controller itself, also known as the ‘Wii Mote’ because of its resemblance to a TV remote rather than a conventional game controller, is by far the biggest selling point of the Wii and the main feature of the console. Contained inside this small hand-held device, which is slightly larger than most modern phones, is motion sensing technology, this means that the controller can understand where you move to in relation to a sensor plugged into the Wii. The ‘Wii Mote’ can sense when you move, either left, right, up or down and can also sense how far/close you are to the sensor. The Sensor Bar is a very small black bar that sits on top of or below your television so that the ‘Wii Mote’ can detect where you are in relation to your screen.

Another feature of the controller is a small speaker which produces sounds in relation to certain features within the game, for example if you fire an arrow in Zelda: Twilight Princess, you can hear the arrow leave your bow (‘Wii Mote’) and arrive at the television speakers.

Furthermore, its optimized for pointing and clicking, and shooting games as it features a trigger-style B button on the bottom of the controller.

The controller is lightweight and runs on 2 AA batteries. Nintendo have not yet released an official battery pack charger for the ‘Wii Mote’ yet but there are many unofficial versions available for purchase.

The ‘Wii Mote’ also features a Home button so the user can return to the main Wii menu any time they want to, even during a game, and an off button so the console can be turned off remotely.

The motion sensing capability of the ‘Wii Mote’ means that it’s a step closer to virtual reality; you control what happens within a game by physical movement – you can fish by casting a line with the ‘Wii Mote’ like you would in real life! Or you can fight an epic sword battle as if the ‘Wii Mote’ is your blade. The possibilities are endless!

There is also a Nunchuk attachment which can be plugged into the bottom of the ‘Wii Mote’ and features a joystick, meaning that the controller can be used for looking with a character while the Nunchuk can be used for moving the character.

The console also has an intuitive operating system, featuring online services, called Nintendo 24/7, which allows users to play Wii games online or to browse the web with the Opera web browser. Nintendo have also created mini applications, called channels, such as Weather and News so the user can check out whether it will be sunny…but then stay inside anyway to play the latest Wii titles!

There is also the feature of the loveable Miis, which are small simplified versions of yourself, the player, which can be used in main games as ID’s or used to interact with other Nintendo users. You can design these in the Mii channel to resemble the users’ own appearance.

Advantages

One of the best points of the system is the new and innovative design of controlling games. You are now actually able to draw out your sword and fight that evil baron in a sword fight to the death! Ok, a little exaggerated, but in the future who knows? Games such as Red Steel already feature the idea of using the ‘Wii Mote’ as a sword and a gun. Other games, such as Link’s Crossbow Training including the ‘Wii Zapper’ (a gun adaptation for the ‘Wii Mote’), take this idea further and the ‘Wii Mote’ can be made into an actual physical gun. This new technology is an amazing advantage that the Wii has over the other next generation consoles and makes gameplay that much more enjoyable.

Another advantage of the Wii is the backward compatibility which means you don’t have to dig that dusty old Nintendo 64 out of the loft every time you want to play classic older games. Instead you can easily go online, pay a small sum and download that Nintendo classic that you want to play and you get to keep that game forever after. It also means you don’t have to have a Gamecube and Wii set up at the same time and if like myself, you’ve got a rather nice collection of Gamecube games, you can play them without the hassle of setting up a Gamecube. Better yet, as Gamecube games are currently on the market relatively cheap, this could be your chance to start a classic collection of Gamecube games to play on the Wii.

A minor advantage is that the Wii is very quiet in operation, as well as being very cool and rarely heating up much – making for a cool, quiet game play session. The Wii also comes with a built in wireless connector (inclusive), which for some other consoles is quite expensive to buy.

As well as that there is the debatable attractiveness of the console. In many people’s opinions it is seen as the most visually appealing console and is, unarguably, the smallest of the three ‘Next Generation’ consoles and fits almost anywhere.

Disadvantages

The largest disadvantage of this console is that, technically speaking, it isn’t ‘Next Generation’ but it can be argued that it is in fact more ‘Next Generation’ than either of the other two. The ‘Next Generation’ of gaming is the best in a gaming experience for the user from the newest consoles out on the market. What I am trying to say is that it isn’t ‘Next Generation’ on the basis of hardware – it cannot compete graphically with the power of either the PS3 or the Xbox 360 (in fact it is only slightly more powerful than an Xbox), but readers, do not let this deter you from it! This leads to my other point: it is more ‘Next Generation’ than any of the other consoles because you physically control the game itself with real life physical movements, taking you that one step closer to actually being in the game in virtual reality.

Another disadvantage is the lack of an Official Nintendo Battery Pack Charger for the ‘Wii Mote’, but as mentioned before unofficial versions are available so this is only as minor fault.

There is also the limited amount of memory available. Although game saves don’t take up much space, memory is needed for game downloads, so if you are planning on heavily downloading games from the online Nintendo game store then you may wish to invest in a large SD flash memory card as the 512MB of internal memory will be sufficient enough to hold games saves and most other things, but if you want a lot of downloaded games from the online store you will need to expand memory. Though this will only be the case if you have a large quantity of downloaded games; the regular user probably shouldn’t see the need to buy an SD unless they’re downloading Nintendo 64 games which take up much more memory space than the older Nintendo consoles games.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would have to say that the Wii is a fine piece of technology, giving the user a taste of virtual reality. It makes for hours of fun, whether it be bowling your way to a perfect game, defeating your enemy in an epic sword battle, or watching as your friends and relatives flail about, enjoying themselves with the intuitive control system.

The Wii is a great product with very promising prospects for the future, and many useful features that can be developed and manipulated, giving this console fantastic potential versatility for the future.

This is a console which can be enjoyed by anyone of any age, as Nintendo has intended it to be, whether it’s your Grandma or your 10 year old nephew.

With this control system being so new and intuitive there are many developments just waiting out there in the minds of game creators, making the only limit their imagination! I would highly recommend this console, and only the future can tell what wonders it will produce!

Signing Off

Thanks very much for reading my review of the Nintendo Wii. I hope it has both informed and helped you on the subject of the Nintendo Wii, and in deciding whether it is a worthwhile product or something you’re going to pass by for now.