Friday, February 29, 2008
100 hours????It’s always disappointing to get a brand new game that kicks ass right up until the end of the game, which is only a few hours away. Sure, it’s great that the game kept you completely entertained the entire way through, but only getting 5 or 6 hours out of a game really sucks. Like with the other Grand Theft Auto titles, you aren’t going to have to worry about polishing off GTA 4 in just one all-night gaming session.
According to a spokesman for RockStar Games “if you’re not in a rush and you answer the phone when it rings it’ll take about 100 hours to complete.” Of course that likely doesn’t even take into account the many hours spent randomly driving around trying to do the craziest stunts possible.
I’m glad to see a title like this which will really get me the most bang for my buck. I love games that I can put down for a while and pick back up later, and I think GTA 4 will be one of those games. The only problem will be actually putting it down.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market. As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.Friday, February 22, 2008

There's a huge amount to cover with Grand Theft Auto IV. In many ways, Rockstar have left the world of video games behind, and have invented a new world - one with real characters, whose faulty lives you get to examine at a microscopic scale, against the backdrop of a city bursting with a level of detail simply never seen before. It's dark, it's gritty, and it's a world of black humour and subtle references, with the added benefit of extreme violence. It provides you with the ability to build a life in a world just different enough from real life to make you want to stay, yet similar enough to make you watch your speed around cops.
It’s all of the little things combined, such as taxi drivers who have their own personalities and are capable of executing flawless three-point-turns, or getting into arguments with other drivers. From the soundtrack to the ambient noise, which is well and truly the sound of a real city, to the character dialogue from random pedestrians on the street. It’s your cell phone that won't stop ringing because you've stood up your friend for a drink. It’s the animated physics that actually imbue people with a centre of gravity, accurate posture and even gait. It’s the condensation on Niko's breath after he's killed twenty mobsters. It’s drifting around a corner and taking out a power pole, but above all else it’s your Liberty City. You make the rules, and every action you take has a consequence.
I suspect I’ve just witnessed what would happen if Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie made a video game together. This is Grand Theft Auto IV, and it's here on the 29th of April.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Ok...The Format War Is Over .
Gaming's biggest diversion of the last year has finally come to an end. Today, after the stock markets in Tokyo and Osaka closed, Toshiba announced that HD DVD was no more. The company will cease developing, manufacturing and marketing HD DVD players and recorders. Yes, the format war is finally over, and Sony's Blu-ray has emerged victorious. From the press release:
Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.



