Amazon Prime - A New Delivery Method

Last week, online retail giant Amazon revealed its potential ‘Prime Air’ service. This fresh take on the delivery system is designed to get packages to customers within 30 minutes of their order using unmanned aerial vehicles.

While the retailer concedes that the project looks like a science fiction film, it will make a full change for the future and looks to set a new online standard for product ordering.

Amazon expect to be ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place (as various rules and policies are being reviewed by the UK government currently)

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also currently determining the rules that will need to be in place in order for aerial drones to share United States skies with traditional aircraft. Amazon hopes the FAA rules will be set as early as some point in 2015 and promises that it will be ready at this time.

The retailer says that its vehicles “will be built with multiple redundancies and designed to commercial aviation standards” and that, at some point, seeing Prime Air vehicles in the sky “will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today.”

You can check the Prime Air system below – if the link breaks YouTube has plenty of concept videos (although this is the official 'Amazon' YouTube concept page).

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Levelling Up Pokemon Master Style

As most of you know; each and every Pokémon can reach a max level of 100. After a certain point in the game, it becomes really tough to gain the experience points required to boost through the higher levels but we have found a few techniques to speed this process up

Train a Pokémon received in a Trade:

The first obvious choice is training a traded Pokémon. Pokémon received from a trade with a different Trainer ID will receive more experience points than Pokémon you catch in your own game. This can speed up the entire levelling process and makes reaching that desired level 100 a much less time consuming process.

Increase your Pokémon’s affection in Pokémon-Amie:

Another way to get extra experience points from any Pokémon in your game is to increase that specific monsters affection using the Pokémon-Amie tool. Play games with it, pet it, and feed it until the hearts are filled up. You can check a Pokémon’s Pokémon-Amie stats when you try to switch to another Pokémon at the Pokémon-Amie menu. The happier a monster the more experience points it will receive.

Give your Pokémon the Lucky Egg:

This ‘hold item’ will dramatically increase the experience points given to your Pokémon during battle. It can be found in the Coumarine City Hotel.

Use Exp. Point Power:

If you use this O-Power, Pokémon will obtain even more experience points after battles, but only for three minutes after using the O-Power. This O-Power can be obtained in the Anistar City Pokémon Centre. 

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When you get into the later game, the techniques you use will have to change (or improve) as you obviously need more experience to go up each level as your critters become more powerful

The first option is the Battle Chateau. Battle a number of trainers each day to increase rank and find tougher trainers. You may even run into some Gym Leaders after becoming the Marquis (male) or Machioness (female) rank.

The second option is Restaurant Le Wow in Lumiose City. This restaurant cannot be entered until you become the Pokémon League Champion (which really is the end of the main story). It is recommended that you choose either a Triple Battle or a Rotation Battle. If you choose Double Battle, you'll only fight two Pokémon per trainer instead of 3, and you'll miss out on fighting Pokémon like a level 63 Audino, which gives a huge chunk of experience points.

The third, and more common, option is to challenge the Pokémon League again and again.

ONE FINAL NOTE:

Certain Pokémon will yield more experiences points that the average wild encounter, Luvdisc near Cyllage City (for lower levels) and Basculin, in the pond in Laverre City (for intermediate levels).

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Spike VGA Nominations 2013

This nominations for this year's Spike VGX (formerly Spike TV) Awards are in, led by big hits like BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto 5, The Last of Us and Tomb Raider – 2013 shows it hasn’t been  short of fantastic title.

Indeed, the shortlist for Game of the Year, which includes the above as well as Super Mario 3D world is very predictable (isn’t it always), but that’s because we love the games they nominate.

GTA leads the overall nominations, being mentioned in nine categories, followed closely by BioShock Infinite with eight and The Last of Us with seven. I thought I’d give my view below of my anticipated winner (in my opinion obviously).

The event will kick off on Saturday 7^th December – so not long to find out how your favourite titles fared.

Check out the full list of nominations below, along with my predictions/expected winners as mentioned before.

Game of the Year

•BioShock Infinite – Personal Winner

•Grand Theft Auto 5 – Expected Winner

•Super Mario 3D World

•The Last of Us

•Tomb Raider

Studio of the Year

•Irrational Games – Expected & Personal Winner

•Naughty Dog

•Rockstar North

•The Fullbright Company

Best Shooter

•Battlefield 4

•BioShock Infinite – Expected & Personal Winner

•Call of Duty: Ghosts

•Metro: Last Light

Best Action Adventure Game

•Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag

•Grand Theft Auto 5

•The Last of Us – Expected & Personal Winner

•Tomb Raider

Best Sports Game

•FIFA 14 – Expected & Personal Winner

•MLB 13: The Show

•NBA 2K14

•NHL 14

Best Independent Game

•Gone Home – Expected & Personal Winner

•Kentucky Route Zero

•Papers, Please

•The Stanley Parable

Best RPG

•Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn

•Fire Emblem: Awakening

•Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

•Pokemon X/Y – Expected & Personal Winner

Best Fighting Game

•Divekick

•Injustice: Gods Among Us – Expected & Personal Winner

•Killer Instinct

•Tekken Revolution

Best Driving Game

•F1 2013

•Grid 2

•Forza Motorsport 5 – Expected & Personal Winner

•Need for Speed Rivals

Best DLC

•Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep

•Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall – Expected Winner

•Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon – Personal Winner

•Mass Effect 3: Citadel

Best Xbox Game

•BioShock Infinite – Personal Winner

•Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

•Grand Theft Auto 5 – Expected Winner

•Tomb Raider

Best PlayStation Game

•Grand Theft Auto 5

•Rayman Legends

•The Last of Us – Expected & Personal Winner

•Tomb Raider

Best Nintendo Game

•Pikmin 3

•Rayman Legends

•Super Mario 3D World – Expected & Personal Winner

•The Wonderful 101

Best PC Game

•Battlefield 4

•Gone Home – Expected & Personal Winner

•Papers, Please

•The Stanley Parable

Best Handheld Game

•Animal Crossing: New Leaf

•Pokemon X/Y – Personal Winner

•Tearaway – Expected Winner

•The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Best Casual Game

•Animal Crossing: New Leaf

•Disney Infinity

•Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time – Expected & Personal Winner

•Skylanders Swap Force

Best Voice Actor

•Troy Baker as Joel in The Last of Us – Expected & Personal Winner

•Troy Baker as Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite

•Steven Ogg as Trevor Philips in Grand Theft Auto 5

•Willem Dafoe as Nathan Dawkins in Beyond: Two Souls

Best Voice Actress

•Ashely Johnson as Ellie in The Last of Us

•Courtnee Draper as Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite

•Camilla Luddington as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider – Expected & Personal Winner

•Ellen Page as Jodie Holmes in Beyond: Two Souls

Best Soundtrack

•BioShock Infinite

•Grand Theft Auto 5

•Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Expected & Personal Winner

•The Last of Us

Best Song in a Game

•"ADHD" by Kendrick Lamar (Grand Theft Auto 5)

•"Sleepwalking" by The Chain Gang of 1974 (Grand Theft Auto 5)

•"Survival" by Eminem (Call of Duty: Ghosts)

•"Will the Circle be Unbroken" by Courtnee Draper & Troy Baker (BioShock Infinite) – Expected & Personal Winner

Most Anticipated Game

•South Park: The Stick of Truth

•Destiny – Personal Winner

•Watch Dogs – Expected Winner

•Titanfall

•The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

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BioShock Infinite - Buriel at Sea (Part 1) Review

BioShock Infinite is a Game of the Year contender due largely to its impactful storytelling, complete with one of the most amazing and thought provoking endings ever created -- the result of over a dozen hours of character development, careful pacing, and, yeah, a whole lot of BioShock action.

However, the first part of its story driven DLC, Burial at Sea (Part 1), tries to get across the suspense and mystery without having the luxury of time and as such it doesn’t work quite so well. Totalling 90 minutes of gameplay time; this return to Rapture is still alluring. It’s the New Year of 1958, just before the fall of the underwater city, and the alternate timeline for Booker and Elizabeth is kicked off with a chance meeting within his detective office. Elizabeth quickly tasks you, playing the role of Booker, to find a lost little girl. Immediately your careful, knowledgeable minds bends to find likes to Infinite proper and this is the hook that drives you forward.

Booker seemingly hasn’t changed much since our skyline adventure whereas this outing does give Courtnee Draper (the voice of Elizabeth) to play and old, more sophisticated 50’s bombshell. In fact the real joy here comes from the underwater playground itself – Rapture has never looked so good. It’s not as dank and dark as before but knowing the savage environment – post it’s terrible downfall – means you know the secrets ahead.

Familiar locations are sprawled around the single player content, used to tug at your nostalgia, and the gameplay mechanics of Infinite – Skyhooks n ’all – make their way into the Sea. The only potential issue here is that gamers who didn’t get around to the previous titles may miss some of the excitement that grips the ones that have.

Splicers also make a triumphant return and the Adam induced psychos are as ‘dark’ as ever.

The ending got my excited about the next episode but because it is very familiar to Infinite in scope, gameplay and story I was already braced for the revelations (even if I wasn’t sure what it would be).

If you are a fan of the full Infinite game then this gives you a good opportunity to both expand the story and play something you haven’t experienced before. It’s clever, witty storytelling is a joy to watch unfold and the studio – Irrational – provide another reason for us to remember what really is the game of 2013.

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Sales Expectations - Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4

It has been predicted, my an analyst far superior to myself, that the Xbox One will enjoy higher launch window sales than its PlayStation 4 counterpart. Colin Sebastian of Baird Research had created this forecast of an industry insight.

He says, "While many forecasts still give an edge to Sony/PS4 in North America sales, we continue to expect similar or even slightly higher sales of Xbox One by the end of the launch window.”

The conjecture is backed up by data from eBay listings, which shows Xbox One mark-ups 60% north of the console's $500 price tag (in the US) whilst those of PS4 are just a tick lower at roughly 50% more than its respective $400 asking price.

The analyst divines the platform holders will collectively move between 5 million and 6 million units globally by the end of the year and that the earlier release date will give Microsoft a slight edge as well. He also foretells that retailers will have a hard time keeping stock on shelves.

"Retailers in our checks indicate there is consumer demand well in excess of supply, as evidenced by fast sell-outs of incremental unit allotments, such as at GameStop," Sebastian noted.

5 or 6 million units a month before Christmas would certainly be a feat for both hardware distributors. This result would easily surpass the expected volume of available consoles in store fronts across the planet.

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The Best Xbox 360 Games - 'A Golden Generation'

We’re nearly there; a new console generation is now less than a month away (at least the Xbox One is). After 8 long years the current console lifecycles are coming to an end. The Xbox 360 was released way back in 2005 and the hardware has definitely had a fascinating journey.

There’s been drama galore – the implementation of non-controller gameplay, online multiplayer through Xbox Live, application offerings and the meltdown of the console during the plague ‘red ring of death’. Microsoft are now focused on hitting the ground running with their new system, and with a handful of weeks to go, now is the time to rundown the top five games of this generation.

[To be honest – I started this as a top five with a specific order but they are all as good as each other – and I also ended up including franchises that really need to be played together in order to get the full experience]

Mass Effect

The entire Mass Effect trilogy is a must for everyone to play – however the second instalment is the crown jewel of the series. It streamlined the inventory issues of the original, improved the combat mechanics and has set the bar for all third person shooters that have been released since. Of course, what makes Mass Effect so great is the story, the characters and the personal investment that you get out of choosing how Shepard will react and interact with others. Not only can ME2 work as a standalone title if it must, but it also serves to connect you to the new and returning squadmates at a much deeper level than the first Mass Effect. It is the ‘Empire Strikes Back’ of any trilogy released within the last few years. In fact the only real disappointment within the whole franchise is the not-quite-what-you-expected ending.

Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls series has always been a favourite of mine and the fifth incarnation – released on the 11^th November 2011 went a long way to creating the ultimate sandbox. Bethesda created a living, breathing ecosystem for you to explore. Within the barren ice caps, the fern tree mountain and the soggy marshland where many fascinating caves, villages and ruins to explore – each with their own sense of individuality. It was a grand feat in itself and the dynamic quest system allows the game to continue for hundreds, if not thousands, of hours after the main questline is completed. Plus who doesn’t get a kick from bringing down a dragon?

Bioshock

It’s hard to argue that Rapture isn’t the most thought provoking and interesting location from any Video Game ever created. The underwater city was dedicated to scientific research that pushed the boundaries of what civilizations and governments would allow – and eventually broke into one of the creepiest, confined and disturbing locations many players have ever stepped foot in. BioShock may not be the best shooter in existence, may not be realistic at all but drew the player in through a variety of interest set pieces, clever storytelling ideas and detailed imagery. Ken Levine has an eye for aesthetic pleasure and gave us a similar taste when he created the floating city of Columbia (for BioShock Infinite) earlier this year. You owe it to yourself to play all of these games – even BioShock II housed an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable tale; despite clearly being the weakest instalment.

Fallout

This is one of those franchises that had a hardcore set of followers that had all but lost their fight for a return to the series when Black Isle died. Bethesda picked up the ownership of the series and their first outing Fallout 3 marked a return to the post-apocalyptic settings. Ok, maybe not in the way the long term fans would have hoped for as the coined the phrase ‘Oblivion with Guns’ but the commercial success of the title did lead to Fallout: New Vegas that brought back a lot of the original enemies and humour that the third instalment missed. There really is a true sense of discovery in this franchise; reaching the crest of a hill can unveil a small settlement devoted to some bloke called ‘Dave’, a wander through demolish underground train tunnels can reveal complicated physics based tire wire traps and adventures onto the Vegas ‘strip’ can leave you walking out a millionaire (be it in bottle caps). We would all own a PitBoy if we could and these very human takes on the nuclear apocalypse are even more interesting when you put it into ‘Hard Mode’. Sleeping, eating and rehydrating has never been so rewarding.

Battlefield 3

This particular choice may leave a few people annoyed – I’m talking to you Call of Duty fanboys (and girls) – as this is neither the most popular wartime FPS nor the most perfected but it is definitely the franchise to watch. DICE have done an outstanding job of building their own empire from a very saturated COD market. A little over 3 years ago everyone played Call of Duty and no-one thought twice about the alternatives – now people wonder whether Activision, who publish the series, will ever do something new to reinvent their title. Turns out these ‘reinventions’ are ideas already perfected and heavily in use within the Battlefield series. Ghosts is a little over two weeks from release on the current generations, will sell a tone of copies, but has only been selling itself on the destructible environments (and added Dog partner)  - otherwise it’s pretty much a repackage of what we all saw last year. DICE however are constantly improving their online offerings, adding in a solid single player campaign, and slowly breaching (excuse the pun) the market more and more. In five years you’ll look back and know the Battlefield 3 shaped the online modern warfare titles more than anything that came before it. The only downside is the server creations that pretty much allow admins to play the worst competition possible to make themselves feel good at a title they otherwise suck at.

I know a few of you won’t agree with the above assessments, or would have chosen a different franchise, and that is exactly the reason of the comments section below.

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What Is The Worst Pokemon Ever?

The internet has been buzzing since the release of Pokémon X & Y. The first instalment of the franchise to hit the 3DS and boy is it a great game. It’s at this that I have realised that, even with the new 60 or so critters, the series does have a few terrible creatures that need don’t really need to be included.

Naturally, as much as I love the series, I didn’t need to look far to find the god awful monsters you really need to avoid…

Generation I: Beedrill (runner up: Mr. Mime – because it looks like a drag queen)

Probably the most popular generation, even now, the adventures of Kanto did have its fair share of terrible Pokémon too. Obviously the ugly monsters spring to mind – Mr. Mime, Jynx – but the one creature that no-one will ever use is Beedrill. The counter to Butterfree, this flying bee (obviously) is pretty much as useless as any final form gets. The main games have never been difficult to get through but this monster at least makes it a struggle. By contrast, Butterfree has fared much better and has lots of interesting attacks and abilities that have made it a stable companion for, at least, the first few gym leaders.

Generation II: Unown (runner up: Cynaquil – because Charmander was so awesome)

Probably the worst Pokémon ever, this weird, multi-shaped creature is as irritating as they come. It’s so bad I actually don’t have much to say about it – except it also coincides with the worst side quest ever. The only reason you’d ever capture it is for completeness.

Generation III: Luvdisc (runner up: nothing is as bad as Luvdisc)

I’m only giving this a slight edge over Unown because it actually learns more than one move. However it’s arguably the weakest Pokémon from the weakest generation. In fact the designs in these games, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, were pretty much remakes of previous monsters (Beautifly) or completely terrible (Spoink). Going back to this creature however – it’s the worst looking and just useless in battle. Plus it is more common than Zubat – and that says something.

Generation IV: Lopunny (runner up: Garchomp – because IGN had a point)

I’m probably not the only one here, but, when did Game Freak decide a sexy bunny would ever be a good idea; let alone one that’s bloody terrible too. The animal version of Jessica Rabbit has a poor moveset and hasn’t been used by any trainer since the beginning of time (and probably never will). IGN went with Garchomp – who honestly is the most overrated and popular monster of all time. Its base stats are ridiculous and it is in the middle of every Pokémon argument ever. Still Lopunny takes top spot for me.

Generation V: Vanillite (runner up: Garbodor – because one Muk was enough)

When Black & White first hit the DS everyone was expecting new critters, interesting designs and new mechanics. What we actually got – Pokémon wise – was another hash like Generation III where every creature was either a recreation of something that had come before or completely uninventive. Step in the ice-cream Vanillite who is quite possible the same item taken out of Eddie Murphy’s stand up ‘Delirious’. It’s an interesting monster until you use it.

OVERALL LOSER: UNOWN (runner up: Luvdisc)

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GTA Online: Review Delay

As I’m sure most of you know GTA Online has been plagued with issues ever since its release last week. My plan was to review this section of the game separately, but these issues have caused me to hit a slight snag.

Rockstar appear to be ironing out the problems but – in short – their advice is that they have no guarantee that character progress will be successful.

To reiterate the advice given: playing GTA Online right now involves an eye-watering level of risk. Do not play this game right now unless you're okay with the possibility of losing everything you've done because of an accident with the cloud servers. It really stings I promise you.

Unfortunately - and I fully expect fanboy backlash for this - the worst part of this is that Rockstar know better than this. These sort of ‘massive’ issues are what your public beta’s are for and this release feels like alpha code still being validated as a gameplay option.

Don’t get me wrong, I know this was always due to have a few snags considering the sales figures and the game is ‘potentially’ going to be incredible. The vision of the project is definitely something to be admired but a launch in this state completely undermines their trailers and fancy words.

For the sharp-eyed and expectant readers you will have noticed that this is now 10 days after the release of GTA: Online. Sadly it took me some 7 days to get passed the first ‘tutorial’ race and this is exactly why I didn’t review anything for you. In fact even since my first run, and like most of the gaming population, my relationship with Rockstar's servers has not been amicable. The general wisdom at the moment is that your chances of successfully getting into a session are vastly increased once you're past the bottleneck of the tutorial missions, which are currently glitch-ridden and hugely oversubscribed. I mean I tried this maybe three, four or five times a day using various Online options and character creations without any luck.

Other ‘bugs’ I have experienced include: my character inexplicably changing his appearance, clothes, gender and high top shoes, or disappearing altogether; cash disappearing from my bank accounts; or just straight-up visual craziness (like those cannabis side quests from the main game without the guns, clowns or aliens).

Despite all that, and the risks involved with playing, GTA Online is a blast to play. Raiding shops, pulling off heists and general mischief has never been so much fun. Remember to deposit your cash though or you’ll likely lose everything you’ve worked so hard to get in the first place.

I’ll get a full review up shortly – with some tips on how to play the game once I’ve tucked some more time into this section of the game.

 

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What Should I Buy? PlayStation 4 or Xbox One?

The next Xbox and PlayStation hardware are a little over a month away from being released in the UK and if you haven’t already now is the time to pre-order them to ensure you’ve got one this side of the Christmas.

However, the real question is which one do you choose?

Initially I would recommend that, if you have one of the current consoles, then you stick to upgrading your favourite one. But the real issue is which one do you buy if you’re a first timer or if you can only get one and have no real preference on the current generation?

Controllers

Probably the most important thing to consider is the controller itself. Both consoles are relatively similar in their gaming quality, what will be offered and its features so consider the thing that will be strapped to your hands the majority of the time you’ll be using it.

If you have small hands or want something lightweight then the PlayStation 4 is probably where you should look first. The new controller has been tweaked to expand the space between each button, implement a touch pad but has also managed to maintain its standard ‘feel’. I’m a larger fan of the Xbox – obviously – but having played the PlayStation 4 regularly over the last few weeks I have to say the new style is a massive improvement.

On the flip side; if you have larger hands or want to feel like you are actually holding something then the Xbox One controller has tweaks all the is great with current generations offering. The new controller has been micromanaged in over – and I quote - ‘500 improvements’ to just perfect the formula already created. It’s smooth but at the same time it grips onto surfaces to reduce the likelihood of damaging the hardware from being dropped.

Incidentally the Xbox One also comes with Kinect; the motion sensor and body movement tool. All the consoles will automatically come with this piece of hardware and I can confirm, first hand, that this is a massive improvement over its predecessor. The system is even capable of reading your heart rate through your clothing by reviewing contours of the skin, colour, exertion and sweat. I played Kinect Sport Rivals at EGX last month and am happy to report that this is exceptionally responsive and clearly tracks everything from fingers to eye movement.

Games

Unfortunately, even when choosing a Video Games console, the actually decision in purchasing a specific option cannot be considered too greatly on the actual software offerings that are available. 80% of the games being released on the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One will simultaneously release on the other console anyway. However there are a few games that you can guarantee will only hit one or the other and these are the ones to keep in mind before purchasing the next generation hardware.

Halo has always been a Microsoft title and with the fifth instalment due some-point early in the lifecycle you can expect that this won’t be making its way over to the PlayStation. On the other hand Naughty Dog seem to have a glowing reputation with Sony and since ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Uncharted’ have been such massive hits I doubt they’ll give up their exclusivity too soon.

When it comes to release day titles the only ones that spring to mind are ‘Knack’ on the PS4 and Forza on the Xbox One. Neither of these, for me at least, are game changers – I’d look forward rather than what’s due to hit on the doorstep on day one.

What do you currently own?

Chances are, if you are a hardcore gamer, you will have a console already and would have a preference for which offer you’ll be going for. Most current generation owners that are thinking about switching are probably Xbox 360 gamers that are worried about the internet rumours that plagued forums following the Xbox One release. My advice – ignore it! Most of the hellish comments doing the rounds were completely wrong or incorrectly interpreted. Xbox One does not always need to be online and you can trade in your old games as normal.

Everyone has a favoured current generation console and the updated/next gen version from the same developer should be where you go next.  Have you ever tried playing FIFA 14 on your non-home console? It’s a nightmare. Stay with what you’re used to.

What are you using it for? Just Video Games?

This is probably one of the areas that will only affect some of you; but it is a valid consideration. Xbox One comes with a lot of additional ‘entertainment’ options compared to its PlayStation counterpart. Both will feature the standard apps like BBC iPlayer, Skype and Netflix but the Xbox One will come with quite a lot more.

Coming build with the standard panel features of Windows 8 you can snap applications to different sections of the screen. Xbox One lets you quickly jump from TV to a movie to a game. And then snap them side by side to do two things simultaneously. Music and games together or Skype video calls and live sports – it really is easy. Split your screen to do everything, you want, all at once.

You can also connect you cable, satellite or other HDMI hardware through the console allowing you to drop in an out of each to create your own personal hub.

PlayStation meanwhile will feature online options, applications too but not the hub that the Xbox One supports. Its primarily a Video Games console in the truest form of the word.

Overall

You probably know what you’re after, you probably have a favourite anyway – but, if not, follow the guide above and you’re sure to get exactly what you are after.

Comment below if you have already ordered your console, we want to know which you went for and why? Otherwise what are you thinking about getting? Do you want some advice? What games did you or are you going to pre-order? Let’s get this next gen discussion flowing.

 

 

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GTA Online Hints and Tips

GTA Online is an immense game and will add hours of fun to an already excellent instalment in the worlds ‘favourite’ franchise (ok, I don’t know if that last bit is true). To help you through this open world we have put together a few hints to get you going – or to keep you busy while you suffer the same problems as I am with getting involved.

Stealing A Car:

The first car you steal and fit a Tracker to is the car that you're stuck with – at least in the short term. Honestly this is not a joke, you’ll gain ownership of the first vehicle you commandeer and after that you will only be able to upgrade if you purchase something new. In other words take your time getting your first set of wheels – a few minutes wasted here will save you a lot of time later on.

Character Creation

Press ‘Y’ or ‘Triangle’ depending on your system to get John Marston as you father in the heritage menus. Also be vigilant in the ‘hours per day’ section as each will increase or decrease the statistics in the left hand column. Also your facial features are permanent so it’s better to have good ‘Genes’ than good ‘Jeans’.

 

Save Up For A Weapon

Ignore the temptation to spruce up your ugly day one clothing. Your cash would be better saved for a shiny new SMG or Shotgun. Though you can't buy one until your Rank climbs high enough, pushing through your early-game cash for any weapons that have become available will leave you much better equipped for success than a suit or a nice pair of high tops. On a side note you will quickly be directed to the clothes shop, and you must buy something, so get the cheapest thing you can.

Buy a Garage

After buying a weapon, the Garage might be the wisest investment you can make in the early game. With a Garage you can begin hoarding Vehicles and putting your new found online wealth to work. Garages are pricey so you'll need to save up, but the investment is well worth the cash.

 

Watch Out for Parked Cars

Experienced players with more money than they need can purchase Ignition Bombs, a sort of booby-trap that explodes when a Vehicle's engine is started. Watch out for suspicious-looking parked cars as these will no doubt cause you the world of pain. Even more insidious are Remote Bombs, remote-detonated explosives designed to punish carjackers.

Hospital Hell

Early word from those with GTA Online access is that in-game protocol is creating a self-correcting system of player discipline. Campers tend to sit near spawn points (Hospitals) so that they can rack up the kills. However many level-minded players are bonding together to keep the playing field even.

Bank Immediately

You're vulnerable after you finish a Job. If you don't deposit your cash immediately, you're open to robbery by opportunistic players. You can use the Quick GPS feature to find the nearest ATM or you can use your in-game phone to bank cash using the installed online app.

Complete Optional Mission Challenges

It pays to complete every Mission to perfection, like I’m sure you’re going to do in the main game. Optional Mission challenges add to your Reputation. And the better your rep, the better your online experience.

 

Join a Crew

Like above; joining a Crew adds to your Reputation. To max out your rep, team up with a Crew and work together to complete Jobs. Some of these will only be available to crews anyway and increase the opportunities for reputation points and cash.

Cheats Don't Work

Don't bother trying GTA 5 cheats in GTA Online. They don't work.

 

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GTA Online Issues

Most people are probably aware but Grand Theft Auto’s Online multiplayer mode launched yesterday. Unfortunately, and as Rockstar have acknowledged, there are several issues surrounding this actually being played.

A whole page on the Rockstar Support site lists all the known problems and promises updates as and when they are each sorted as it is affecting around 75% of players.

The vast majority of these issues are in line with one of the following messages:

·         An error message saying “cloud servers are unavailable” ahead of the mode freezing

·         Freezing on the first race with a message saying "waiting for other players"

·         A “failed to host” message appearing and not allowing for a ‘retry’

·         Problem’s with the first race marker not showing correctly

·         Matchmaking time out errors

·         General issues tied to the Social Club.

Rockstar conclude their page with the message, "We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this."

Hopefully the problems won't take too long to resolve, but Rockstar did warn that this would happen considering the intense interest in the game. I’m one of the ‘lucky’ ones affected and have not been able to get past the first race yet (last checked at 8:00am GMT this morning).

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Eurogamer Expo 2013 - Day 3 Overview

Today marked my third, and likely ‘full’ final day of the Eurogamer Expo in Earls Court; London. Unfortunately my day-to-day life is slowly creeping up on me along with my household chores, general clothes washing and boyfriend duties to attend too.

Luckily today was by far my most productive outing. Although I can't show you pictures of the booths as I either 'forgot' to take them or I was told not to.

To kick things off we all ventured up to the Titanfall stand where we go to play the campaign multiplayer. Out team were set out the duty of securing a prisoner, while the opposition were directed to get him free, in a Deathmatch scenario. The playable demo featured three classes of ‘solider’ and three others for the Titans. Honestly I can’t remember the names of the ones I picked but both versions, for me, had semi-automatic rifles (of sorts).

The game really has been balanced exceptionally well; soldiers are able to take down Titans, due to their quick movement speeds and anti-titan weaponry, but at the same time the giant mechs can crush any opposition not fluidly moving around their perimeter. The special traits of each Titan came into play as well as the fluid wall runs and vertical platforms of the battlefield that gave the whole experience a very unique feeling.

My favourite feature, if you can call it that, is the multiple animations used for entering each players Titan. Coming in from above means that your mech reaches out and grabs you, as the solider, to delivery you directly to the control seat; while entering from below sees your character climb and flip up into the same area. These minor, but important, movements are what separates Titanfall from its FPS counterparts (obviously as well as the Titan). The whole thing adds to the sense of immersion and excellently designed maps – you can get from one end of the terrain to the other in a matter of seconds, as a solider, if you plan your route correctly.

Finally the one feature I wasn’t aware of was the multiplayer epilogue. This is a bit of a meta game in which the losing team have to escape via a carrier jet. Once a game has been determined it is up for the winners to halt the opposition players escape. Again it’s an interesting idea and one that seems almost stupidly absent from any game that’s come before it – even though it’s so original. 

 

 

 

DEFINITELY GAME OF THE SHOW!

I also dropped in on The Elder Scrolls: Online. Taking place on in an area called Bleakrock Isle, an island off the north east coast of Skyrim. The foliage included big pine trees scatter in heavy fallen snow and reassembled the areas around Winhelm within Tamriel. You could be fooled into thinking you were actually within a section of TESV if it wasn't for the other players.

 

My quest started out with a trip to see an injured hunter who had used his boot as a tourniquet after coming worse off in a battle with the Deathclaw he had been hunting (nothing like the version of the enemy from Fallout). He asked me to go and defeat the creature for him and once the, very easy tutorial quest, was completed he gave me a new shield.

 

The world was also infested with Wolves and Skeletons who led me to Skyshroud Barrow, an old Dragonborn worshipping site. The interior was pretty small but required the full strength of a 6 character team to get past the final dragon priest. Along the way we fought through several small rooms filled with sword and bow wielding Skeletons to uncover three Skyshards (a fish, a snake and a whale - sound familiar?).

 

Overall I think fans of both MMOs or TES should definitely keep a keen eye out on this title. The graphics were good for such an early build and the functionality, on the PC version I played, remained very action orientated. The first person view was also a pleasantly useful additional that worked very nicely.

 

...a bit of the old short and sweet to follow, just to save some time...

My other adventures led me to

1) The new Ninja Gaiden looked lovely in it's new art style but was a little too hectic for me.

2) Wind Waker HD was graphically gorgeous and felt very much like the original and brought back fond memories

3) Qube is a little like Portal but with some fairly interesting puzzle mechanics involving coloured 'qubes'

4) Arkham Origins hasn't change much from the excellent Arkham City (even the world looks the same)

5) Mario 3D World is just a bigger version of the 3DS game

 

Finally I also got some time with the new Pokémon games and Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

 

I'll start here with the former, although there wasn't much to say as the gameplay demo playable was a very stripped back to the basics (and the gameplay time was a meagre 10 minutes). We did however get a chance to catch a few critters, for me it was Pikachu and Chespin, as well as viewing a new Pokémon called 'Bunnelby' (seen below). My teams started out with Froakie and Sylveon but quickly grew as the long grass and reduced gameplay mechanics gave be a good chance at catching even completely healthy monsters. After the timer ran out the game automatically pushed us to Professor Sycamore who gave me a Mewtwo who instantly Mega-Evolved before he challenged me to a battle - it's suffice to say I whipped the floor with him.

 

 

 

The game felt very much like it's predecessors but at the same time vastly new and 'better'. Animations were noticeably slow, but better designed, and although the overworld did take advantage of the 3D elements of the handheld device the battles lacked a certain 'something'.

 

ALTTP on the other hand was picked up, I believe at least, a little way into the demo itself. Set within a towering dungeon I had to guide link to the top level. The gameplay gave be a chance to use some of the new tools and experience the dynamic uses of the 3D screen. Hitting a jump block shot Link directly up at the top screen and the platforms gave the whole thing a distinct art style. Even the final boss, which if you haven't seen it, looked very familiar to a good old friend from 'A Link to the Past'. The demo I played look exactly like the version on show at PAX a few weeks ago and this can be seen on various publication or YouTube screens now so I won't bore you too much with the details themselves.

 

It is however easy to recommend this title to any Zelda fans and especially though looking for a fix of the old top down style. It's very much the sequel we were all hoping for.

 

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow but it'll be much short, and probably less sweeter, than today.

 

Adios Amigos!

 

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