Video Games

R4 Banned in UK

Gamers, generally, are not the wealthiest of clientele. By this logic, a large portion of gamers would, if they had the opportunity, rather play many games for the price of one. Unfortunately, the quick solution to this problem is our good friend piracy. Arguably, no piece of piracy software is more popular today than the R4 for Nintendo’s DS. Unless that is, you live in the UK where the R4’s popularity will undoubtedly start to wane do to officially becoming illegal to sell, advertise and import the device as of today.

Madden 11 Preview

First of all, huge props to EA for being the first sports game that I know of to ever release a demo featuring a full game, 5 minutes, 4 quarters. It is almost August time which mean it’s almost Madden time which means it’s time for a Madden demo that makes me ooze absolute excitement about the game. Every year this happens, and this year is no different.

First change you see in Madden 11 is the new kicking system. Instead of using the right stick, you now have a bar that on one side says “power” and on the other side says “accuracy.” You then use A to set your power and accuracy via a meter that goes in and out. At first, this change was a little daunting as I had no idea what in the world I was doing but once you actually think about it for a second, it makes much more sense and you come to feel much more comfortable with it. It’s a nice improvement to a feature that has been the same for many years.

Valve Sorry, Gives Away L4D2

Valve’s anti-cheat software know as VAC, recently banned over 12,000 users(mostly Modern Warfare 2 users) due to a false positive. Now, instead of sweeping the fiasco under the rug, company big chin Gabe Newell personally wrote a letter of apology to all affected by the bug. He also decided to give each affected user a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2. Kudos to Valve and Newell for owning up to the mistake and compensating everyone involved. Here’s the letter, in case you weren’t lucky enough to get your own.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine Confirmed for PC

THQ announced today that upcoming Third-Person Shooter, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, will be released for PC as well as PS3 and Xbox 360. The player will be thrust into the role of Imperial Space Marine inside the vastly dark and depressing 40k universe.

Sly Collection retailing at $39.99

Sly Cooper fans rejoice! The Sly Collection will bring Sly’s exploits onto the PS3, via a HD remastering of the 3 iterations that first appeared on the PS2, in much the same way as the God of War: Collection released earlier in the year, and the Sly Collection will be available for $39.99.

The three Sly titles in case you didn’t know are Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus, Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honour Among Thieves, and will be transferred to lovely HD, but as well as this Sanzura Games will add 3D support for all three games, also there will be some Playstation Move support for mini-games in the titles.

And of course PSN trophy support will be enabled for the three games, with platinum’s for each, like with the God of War: Collection.

More on the Sly Collection will be shown at Comic-Con from the Playstation booth, and of course in the coming weeks and months leading up to its release.

Alpha Protocol Review

In a crowded marketplace, it is essential to separate yourself from the pack to garner any type of fiscal reward or recognition. Alpha Protocol leaps onto the genre-splicing bandwagon and dresses itself in a shiny new spy theme that not enough games experiment with. Having received several accolades in the past as a promising new IP, many have wondered about the menacing delays and secrecy surrounding the final days of the game’s development. Apparently nothing has changed between its preview build and retail release, and that is not necessarily a good thing.

PS3 Users Reporting in on HuluPlus

Hulu Plus, the new subscription service from Hulu.com, has been available to invited PS3 users since July 16, and the reviews are rolling in. It seems that the invitations did not go out all at once, though, so more are to come. Users generally report that Hulu Plus runs beautifully on the PS3. Everything loads quickly, the menu is easy to navigate, and transitions are smooth. JackieChiles007 has been kind enough to share his experience on YouTube. As seen in the video, the menu scrolls quickly and smoothly. The video he/she selects, an installment of Great Museums, plays without a glitch.

Technical drawbacks include the lack of comparative clarity on HD TVs, and the inconvenience of searching via an onscreen keyboard. (USB keyboards are incompatible.) Another complaint—this one in common with Hulu on PC—sound volume on the commercials is louder than the shows.