This Week in Lumps
#28 [27/11 - 03/12]
· There are two games that look set to be the biggest sellers over the next 6 months, and oddly enough they are both music games: Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. Both games were first talked about on here many moons ago, Week 8 in fact, where I ran down what games would have what, and when to expect them. Even though both games are out in the US market, only one is currently available in Europe. So while I’ve seen the TRS guys rocking out on Rock Band, it would be unfair for me to review it so prematurely. However, the other massively popular party game is in shops, with a snazzier-than-ever guitar modelled on the Gibson Les Paul. The new developer hasn’t messed with the formula, which will be a wise decision, and in addition has added some interesting extras, including boss-battles where you earn power-ups and use them to put off your rival by triggering broken strings, overloading amps and so on.
As both games come with guitar controllers, the cost values add up, so in reality most people are only going to be able to afford one game (for now). With that in mind, I read an article on Seattle PI which covers everything you need to know. There is also a handy guitar guide that was found on Wikipedia with regards to previous guitars and other games. For a taster, the Xbox 360 summary for the games follow as such:
Guitar Hero III
Guitar : Wireless Les Paul
Guitar compatible with : GH 2, GH 3 and Rock Band on Xbox 360
Notable Features: An awesome game with an awesome track list. Has the best feeling wireless guitar that is compatible with the most games. This is the one version that I recommend the most. The guitar works with Rock Band on the Xbox 360 but there is no sound effect filters since there is no switch for them. However I love the feel of this controller and it’s my favorite Guitar controller.
Rock Band
Guitar : Wired Fender Stratocaster
Guitar compatible with : Rock Band on Xbox 360, You can NOT play Guitar Hero III with the Rock Band guitar on Xbox 360.
Notable Features: An completely awesome game. The only guitar that has sound effect filters and has two sets of fret buttons. A very realistic feeling guitar that looks great.
For a full list of games for the PS3, Xbox, Wii and PC/Mac, check out the above link. As mentioned earlier, Rock Band isn’t out in the UK until 2008, however Guitar Hero III is out now for all consoles, PC and Mac. If you’re still unsure about which console to buy, check out this article.
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· I do like to talk about gadgets as much as possible in this blog, for example, in Week 7 I compared the practicality of gismo’s in the modern world, asking if it was merely for fun and games, or they had some aspect of eyebrow-frowning seriousness as well. Even a few weeks ago I mentioned a couple of ‘must-have toys‘ in a rundown of presents to get the loved ones for Christmas, and today’s entry is no different. Recently, the lovely online journalists at the Telegraph compiled a bloody good list of 101 gadgets that you could consider ‘must-have’. Admittedly, I was a bit sceptical about this, expecting a run down of the usual suspects that make appearances this time of year, but in all honesty the lists (cleverly sorted and arranged between sexes and age groups) include some bargains for the stockings, all the way up to those ‘once-a-year’ type purchases, possibly even too much for some wallets and purses. The Telegraph article starts:
“We’ve pondered long and hard about what we think will be the biggest-selling gadget this Christmas. In all honesty, it should probably be the Wii, Nintendo’s wildly popular games console which uses a motion-sensitive controller to direct the movement of characters. But Wiis are again in short supply; desperate parents are forming console hit-squads to track down stock and distribute it among friends.“
Whilst summing up that the Apple Nano will be flying off the shelves, they also list 101 other items you should seriously look into. Here’s a handful:
Wii Sports Utility Pack: 6 attachable clips to make everything you do on Wii sports that little bit more realistic. It comes equipped with a tennis racket, baseball bat, golf club and steering wheel.
iKaraoke: Come on, it wasn’t going to be long before someone thought off this. Plug it into your iWhatever, and sing to your hearts content. Guaranteed to annoy the hell out of the grandparents after dinner.
Marshall Ltd Edition Digital Radio: Shaped like a small amp, this will be a big hit with any music lover.
A NuVo Robot: Who doesn’t want a robot for their home? Probably those who have seen the price tag.
With less than 3 weeks to go until the 25th, now is the time you should really start thinking about getting organised, unless of course you’ve mastered the art of getting everything on the 24th; kudos to you.
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· Depressing fact of the week: The Sun is the UK’s biggest selling newspaper, apparently. The vastly controversial and sensationalistic paper, owned by News media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, has gained many haters during it’s existence, mainly the vast majority of Liverpool and surrounding areas (some newsagents refusing to stock it after the report on the Hillsborough disaster). Some of the headlines over the years have turned out to be nothing but lies, gossip and scandal, jumping way over the point of libel and coming close to insulting. Those of you who may enjoy the tabloid nonsense and page 3 ‘beauties’ may wish to turn away now, however those of you looking for yet another reason to roll your eyes at tomorrows fish supper paper can read on.
The headline on The Sun website reads ‘Video Games Ruining Reading‘, and goes on to report on the recent story of how England and Scotland have fallen down the rankings in the league table of literacy. Over 6 years, England fell from 3rd to 19th, whilst Scotland fell from 14th to 26th, in a table which saw Russia land the 1st place spot. Where is the link to video games here? Well, according to The Sun, Schools Secretary Ed Balls (stop the giggling) said:
“Today’s youngsters have more choice than in 2001 (the last time the tests were taken) about how they spend their time. Most of them have their own TVs and mobiles and 37% are playing computer games for 3 hours a day. We all need to help our children of all ages to see that reading can bring fun to their lives.”
First of all, I’m struggling to find where exactly he got this percentage from. No statistical website from what I can find reports, or even backs up this information. Second of all, this just seems to be one in a long line of ‘digs’ at the video game industry, where previous accusations include ‘video games make you fat’ and ‘video games encourage violence’. It’s hardly a fair statement to make. Video games may not actively educate kids while they play in the same way reading a book might, but neither do many things, such as listening to music on iPods and eating unhealthily, both of which could also be included in the finger pointing sessions for the two aforementioned accusations. While they do not educate in ways that schools teach, they do keep the brain active, especially with games such as Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training for the DS, which has proved to be a huge commercial success in reviews, and with the kids (and adults) playing it. I’m not comparing the philosophical works of Immanuel Kant to Grand Theft Auto by any means, however the way some areas of the media gang up on video games is tantamount to bullying.
Gamer.tm also came up with another decent avenue to place the blame:
“In fact, if we’re looking to place blame, why not attribute the duncing [sic] down of our kids to the widespread availability of mobile phones and more specifically the nation’s sad embrace of ‘txt’ speak. Txt speak is surely the true evil, as it actually routinely conditions children to write in such a crippled manner.”
Here is where I would have to direct Mr. Balls (seriously, stop giggling) towards a fabulous book by Steven Johnson, entitled Everything Good is Bad for You. It was one of the best books I read last year, up there with the equally fabulous Mind the Gap. As the nation slowly but surely all adopts this horrible ‘dumbed-down culture’ attitude towards things they don’t understand (which also goes back to another Sun article I recently talked about: Elton John and the Internet), this book takes a refreshingly different stance, with his surprising message: mass culture is making people cleverer. The examples are obvious: young children, not yet in their teens can programme a DVD recorder, upload songs onto an iPod and take pictures on their mobile phones, while their parents can barely set a radio alarm clock. Mr Johnson notes:
“Over the last 50 years we’ve had to cope with an explosion of media, technologies and interfaces, from the TV clicker to the Internet, and every new form of visual media — interactive visual media such as video games in particular — poses an implicit challenge to our brains: we have to work through the logic of the new interface, follow clues, sense relationships.”
These, he points out, are the same skills measured in IQ tests by Mensa. “You survey a field of visual icons and look for unusual patterns.”
We may not be reading as much Shakespeare and Dickens as we used to, but it certainly doesn’t mean we’re less intelligent.
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That was the week in lumps, a week in which: Amy Winehouse is still moaning, Scotland splash out on a new slogan, The BBC interview the Pirate Bay, More than one billion trees have been planted around the world in 2007, and Christina Aguilera: naked and pregnant (be warned, it’s not even slightly attractive).
To finish off, a reminder that the XBox fall upgrade is coming later today, bringing an array of new features and enhancements to the console. Among the key new enhancements are the previously announced Xbox Originals game download service (which I’m seriously hoping includes GTA:SA), Family Timer parental control feature, and expanded social networking experiences. Xbox 360 owners can also look forward to enhanced navigation, profile and video features and Xbox Live Arcade Hits.
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