Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD

This says it all:


Finally the format war is over. I can't see how Toshiba can climb/spin out of the grave they dug themselves into. I don't know about the rest of you but I've never seen a single HD-DVD player on sale here - or more importantly HD-DVD films. Because no one seems to be stocking them. It is a vicious catch-22 cycle.

Sony was clever in buying a major film studio as they knew it was all about content. I guess Ken Kutaragi was right after all by forcing Blu-Ray technology onto the PS3.

WipEout Pulse mini-review

WipEout Pulse is the eight Wipeout game to emerge from SCE Studio Liverpool (counting the N64 game developed when it was still known as Psygnosis) and is probably the best one, at least until the proper PS3 version emerge late this year or next year. It is the successor to the critically welcomed WipEout Pure. With two years to fine tune Pulse, you will find that latest Wipeout iteration has plenty of new content and most importantly, support for multiplayer via Infrastructure (online via wireless access point) in addition to Ad-Hoc (local wireless).

In addition to 12 circuits (24 tracks if you include reverse routes), a rather nice addition to the gameplay implemented is the new 'Mag-Strip' feature that allows ships to bind to tracks. This allows for tracks to feature loops and vertical drops, which gives a sensational high speed feeling. You can download new tracks and ships as well as customised ships from the Wipeout website, which should prolong replayability.


I won't bore you to death with the technical details of the game, those are best read at 'proper' gaming sites. You do suffer from load time issues when entering a race for the first time, so I guess SCE Studio Liverpool hasn't had time to take advantage of the PSP Slim's extra 32MB cache. But visually this is the best looking PSP game that I have had to honour to play. While it would look better with anti-aliasing filtering, the jaggies are not that noticeable during high speed racing, though at times they do stand-out. Ships are designed with detailed textures and suitable polygon count. The game does not suffer from slowdowns even during intense scenes.

Speaking of intensity, the A.I. ships are good. I spent a good one hour trying to get the hang of the controls and constantly getting my ass owned (didn't know I was playing it in 'hard' mode). It takes some getting used to because the analog pad control isn't as refined as I hoped. It is fortunate that mastering the controls on the d-pad was easy enough. Once you get the controls out of the way you will find racing an exhilarating event with places often swapping due to the intelligent A.I. ships as well as the return of the highly addictive Eliminator mode.


The soundtrack is made up of tracks by a variety of European electronica genre artists including Aphex Twin. This may disappoint some people, but part of the appeal of Wipeout has always been the electronic techno soundtrack. You can always pop in your favourite tracks (MP3 format) onto the memory stick and create a playlist if you prefer. Personally I am finding myself enjoying the soundtrack as it suits the very Tron-like psychedelic visual designs, but a couple of grindcore tracks didn't hurt.

As you would have probably guessed, I am loving my time with WipEout Pulse. It has finally displaced the two year old Mario Kart DS as my 'quick on the tube' portable racer of choice and that says a lot on the production quality, replayability and addictiveness of SCE Liverpool's latest evolutionary racer. Sure, it is the same old game we have all played a thousand times with not too many innovations, but what we have here is the definitive version and contains everything you could possibly want from a Wipeout game.

9/10

You can order WipEout Pulse from Amazon UK for a bargain bin price of only £18. Preorder for the US version is available here.

Indiana Jones feature

While a script by David Koepp doesn't inspire much confidence, I am still looking forward to the new Indiana Jones film coming this year. Yes growing up with Indiana Jones meant that I am a huge Indy fanboy. Though at a ripe old age of 65, Harrison Ford I think is still good enough to portray a bumbling Indy.

Anyway, Vanity Fair has a massive feature on the film production as well as interviews with the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the key people behind The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Also in the article is a picture of Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) inside what appears to be the government warehouse from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Very interesting. Plus the shot of the ever beautiful Cate Blanchett as Indiana Jones's Soviet nemesis is getting me even more excited. May can't come soon enough.

Sony PSP Slim & Lite review

The PlayStation Portable Slim & Lite (PSP-2000), dare I say it, is one hell of a lovely electronic product. Sure it doesn't seem to improve much from the original PSP (PSP-1000 now known informally as PSP Phat) hardware, but there are subtle key difference. The weight difference I really do like a lot. It's like having an iPhone thrown out from my jacket, which is only a good thing.


The PSP Slim is slimmer than the first variant, but only because Sony decided to carve out the two humps that used to adorn the backside on the original, which resulted in a reduction in batter size. The difference in thickness is barely noticeable and some may miss the bumps that allowed for prolonged comfortable gaming. I do hate the fact that the backside is now glossy, as I am no fan of these kind of finishes, especially when it is in 'piano black'. Like the DS Lite, the PSP and PSP Slim's finishes tends to scratch easily, offers less grip and are more prone to retaining smudges and finger prints. Keep a lint free cloth handy if you suffer from some form of obsessive disorder.


Further cost cutting measure is evident in the UMD slot. The original spring-loaded tray (that works similarly to those portable Sony MiniDisc players) has been replaced by manual UMD door, which in my opinion is a good thing. Personally I don't think having to manually pry open the slot is that bad a thing as having not to worry about a spring loosening is a huge plus in my books. Just open the tray, throw a UMD inside the compartment and close. The UMD doesn't rattle in its cage when I gave the PSP a good shake. It takes about 5-7 seconds to boot a game.


The face buttons are in the usual placement with an apparently improved analog pad. The d-pad has a nice 'clicky' feel to it and are well spaced. Like the DS Lite, the face button are not backlit - which could hamper nocturnal gamers. The industry standard miniUSB port on the top side now allows charging (but only via 'USB mode'), as well as other accessories like camera, GPS and 1seg tuner (Japanese only, not compatible with European DVB-H standard). The bottom side contains the headphone jack that allows you to output PSP/PS1 games, films etc. onto your big telly. I can see this as beneficial during prolonged gaming sessions. Unfortunately no TV-out cable is provided with a base pack PSP Slim, so you will be needing to buy this. It outputs in NTSC 480p resolution and supports either 16:9 and 4:3 tellies.


As usual what you get here is the exact same gorgeous and lovely 480x272 resolution LCD. I used to own Sony Clie PDAs with 480x320 screens and I am still wowed by the PSP's screen. The lack of extra digitizer layer used to power a touchscreen clearly allows for better colour reproduction and clarity. Watching films on this is a joy and the capability to output videos in 640x480 resolution onto a TV is like having a little Archos-like device. Very nice, especially when paired with a 4GB/8GB memory stick duo. Now if only Sony would hurry up and bring XviD and DivX support.


Not much has changed over the original PSP, but it is significantly cheaper now. While the size isn't friendly with your jeans pocket, the weight difference, TV-out and RAM upgrade in my opinion are worth ponying up for especially if you haven't already own a PSP. The RAM in particular has been upgraded from 32MB to 64MB which allows developers to cache game files to help speed up the loading in newer games. I didn't find battery to be an issue despite the smaller size (1200mAh vs 1800mAh) as I managed to play WipEout Pulse for a couple of hours and still had 50% of power left. Overall I recommended to those seeking to get into PSP gaming to try to obtain the Slim & Lite version.


With plenty of high profiled games out already plus new ones such as God of War: Chains of Olympus and Patapon due out soon, there is absolutely no reason not to own a PSP any longer. Sure the DS Lite still spanks it in terms of sales, but I see no excuses why someone should not own two portable consoles especially considering the strengths of each products. Bright sunny days ahead for mobile gamers.


The PSP Slim & Lite is available to purchase with free shipping from Amazon UK. None-EU based customers can import from Play-Asia.

04/01: Updated with extra pictures

Wii Remote Jacket

So this was dropped by the postman today. I originally derided Nintendo's decision to spend millions of dollars making this when they can probably spend much less translating MOTHER 3. Well after an incident last month when a over enthusiastic (none-gamer) guest almost broke our Wii remote by slamming it onto the ceiling, I decided to place an order for two of these silicon Wii remote jacket. Honestly my impression on this product is that these are still useless and fugly. It is fat and makes the perfectly weighted Wii remote heavy, making gaming a chore. And to further prove my point on how much money Nintendo is wasting on these, included in the package is a four page user's manual on how to use the jacket!

Anyway people with common sense need not use this, but we will still force newbs and guests to use them.

Pictures of the London Eye New Year 2008 fireworks display

Started from Bond Street station. Most stores were closed by 5pm. Below is a deserted South Molton Street at 5pm:


So was Regent Street at 6:30pm. The Christmas lights were sponsored by Nokia in collaboration with Wieden & Kennedy ad agency. These lights titled 'Unity' were designed by United Visual Artists in anticipation to Nokia's soon to be new flagship store on 240 Regent Street. The lights are also interactive with pedestrians capable to manipulating them through the touchscreen display outside the Nokia store. This and South Molton Street were the best festival light displays in London this holiday season and easily beats past ugly efforts tied to overrated Pixar films and other tripe.


7:30pm at Trafalgar Square. Note that the fountains have been drained to prevent revellers from traditional New Year's soaking. No fun.


Images promoting the Olympics were beamed onto the Shell Centre on the South Bank. Again no fun. The crowd were entertained by BBC Radio 1. And when I meant entertained, I meant just Pete Tong mumbling a few "This is Pete Tong, and you are listening to Radio 1" and then playing his music of choice. Mind you Pete Tong has never been much of a talker, but the track list does seems uninspired last night.


Countdown finally began after four hours of painful standing:



A smoky Happy New Year fireworks display:







Heading back, the police were of no help at all shepherding us into Trafalgar Square where a huge crowd of party goers awaited us. Piss poor crowd control, the police spent more time stopping tired revellers from going home with fascist metal gates and chasing us back into the crowd, than preventing drunks from throwing beer bottles all over the place. Perhaps a review of your priorities next year.



Thankfully, got safely home at 3am.

Anyway the fireworks were fine, if a bit too clustered. They should have spaced them out as the smoke was awful even from the Embankment. Disappointed with part of the crowds who tried to stealth push their way through. Even more disappointed with the heavy handedness of the Met Police force who set up blockades after blockades and actually chasing, jumping, shouting and pushing revellers trying to get home.

Happy New Year (Eve)

First, some travel information for those heading to Central London to party tonight. Tube, DLR and Tramlink, night and 24 hour bus routes will run all night today. There will be free travel on journeys starting between 11:45pm and 4:30am.

No East London line today - instead take the replacement bus service. After 10:00pm, there will be no Piccadilly Line service between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge. On the Hammersmith & City line, there will be no service between Whitechapel and Barking. And finally Victoria line trains will not stop at Victoria station today as well as the whole week (pity them South East commuters).

The following stations will be closed during the certain times:

Arsenal (1900-0700)
Boston Manor (1900-0700)
Cannon Street (2100-0730)
Covent Garden (exit only from 1900 till 0300)
Embankment (2300-0200)
Kensington Olympia (2350-0700)
Leicester Square (interchange & exit only 1900-0015)
North Ealing (1900-0700)
Russell Square (2100-0700)
Sudbury Hill (1900-0700)
Temple (2300-0200)
Westminster (2100-0200)
Wood Green (1900-0700)

Buses will operate on a Saturday timetable apart from certain routes. However these bus routes will operate throughout the night: 51, 66, 71, 92, 96, 103, 113, 114, 116, 120, 121, 123, 145, 157, 161, 163, 164, 169, 174, 178, 183, 209, 210, 217, 221, 222, 229, 248, 252, 261, 262, 269, 275, 314, 319, 340, 358, 412, 422, 444, C10, E1, E7, H12, U3, U4, W3, W7.

Anyway we will be out and about tonight. Hope to bump into some of you.

Finally, Happy New Year to all.

What the hell...

Wow. The new rich mainstream and media friendly Nintendo is one stingy one worthy of Yamauchi's blessings... You would think with all the cash they are pulling in they can at least spare us 50 Wii points worth, but no. They probably sneaked in this new downgraded VIP:24 points policy when they forced us to agree to the privacy agreement some months ago...