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Top 5 Games of 2006 & Top 5 Most Anticipated of 2007.

December 30, 2006 Jordan 4 comments

5. Lumines 2 (PSP)

Although it’s essentially a sequel with additions, Lumines 2 provided me with hours of portable amazement. The vibrant skins and furiously addictive gaming deemed this title worthy of number 5. You can check out my review of Lumines 2 here.

4. The Legend Of Zelda : Twilight Princess (Wii)

Another year, another Zelda game. I’m not the only sucker to the series out there. Twilight Princess introduced unique elements that contributed to both story and gameplay, making another Zelda story seem fresh again. The Wii version specifically stood out, introducing a new control element to give the series even more life. Why fix something that isn’t broken?

3. Viva Pinata (XBOX 360)

A wonderful combination of simulation, atmosphere, creatures, and� gardening. The world of Viva Pinata is colourful, fun, interesting, and shouldn’t be missed. Simulation games often need their own sense of atmosphere, their own world for you to immerse yourself in, which is abundant in Viva Pinata.

2. Gears Of War (XBOX 360)

Action, action and more action. Not only did Gears Of War pack a punch, it boasted some great characters and is one of the most visually advanced XBOX 360 games to date. It certainly got enough publicity to boost itself up the sales charts. It’s now a reason for a lot of people to purchase a 360. The co-op and multiplayer modes are the main features.

1. Okami (PS2)

My reason for choosing Okami as game of the year, is due to sheer creativity. Okami is a visual delight, hindered only by the now apparently dated technology of the PS2 (Tekken 5, anyone?). The white wolf has some great abilities, mainly the tail brush, adding something beyond your standard 3rd person action/adventure. Okami is the last game we’ll see from Clover Studios (now a subsidiary of Capcom), and is certainly a worthy farewell.

Honorable mentions:

Dead Rising (XBOX 360)
Zombies! So many zombies!

LocoRoco (PSP)
Literally fun for the whole family. Most can’t resist the warm fuzzy feelings derived from rolling that little smiley guy down hills. This didn’t make the list due to it being a bit short and unrewarding once complete.

5. Halo 3 (XBOX 360)

With the amount of hype Halo 3 is getting, it�s hard not to get involved whether you’re a fan or not. Halo 1 and 2 completely dominated the XBOX, and Halo 3 will be the reason for many 360 console sales past and future. Hopefully it won’t suffer from the over-hype Halo 2 received. It’s getting to the point where it’ll end up being excellent, but won’t impress to a level the hype is presuming.

4. Spore (PC)

Spore is coming to us straight from the brain of Will Wright (Sim City, The Sims), master of simulation. Featuring a seemingly unlimited array of lifeforms to manipulate, hopefully Spore will re-invent simulation into something we’ve never seen before.

3. Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Pure party action. Nothing says a gaming party like Smash Bros. This’ll be the 3rd episode in the series, following on from the N64 and Gamecube counterparts. Not only is this another episode in a fantastic series, but it’ll also be interesting to see how the Wii controller is implemented.

2. World Of Warcraft : Burning Crusade (PC)

Whether you play it or not, this will be HUGE for gaming. The World of Warcraft has already sucked in 7 million players around the world. With the upcoming expansion, this will change the life of many addictions, or enhance a passing hobby for others.

1. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)

With all the flak the PS3 has been receiving, hopefully MGS 4 will make it all worthwhile. Considering the quality of the series to date, I think we can be sure of this. Known for being a movie as much as a game, the MGS series continues to blend a perfect story and sneaking action.

Honorable mentions:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) – Samus is back, but this may just be more of the same under a new control system.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – Nothing says video games like the Italian in the red hat. Never failing to impress, this’ll surely be a revolution.

Supreme Commander (PC) – This RTS is looking impressive indeed. Coming from Chris Taylor (Total Annihilation), this title will have a few nifty features such as dual-monitor support.

Fantastic Four 2 teaser.

December 27, 2006 Liam Reply

The teaser trailer for Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer has been released onto the internets through apple.com and frankly I doubt it will be very good but it could at least be better then the first one (not hard to accomplish).

Check out the teaser trailer here.

RIP: James “Godfather of soul” Brown (1933 – 2006)

December 25, 2006 Liam Reply

The legendary Godfather of Soul himself James Brown passed away today at the age of 73. Brown was hospitalised after a dentist noticed he was suffering from severe pneumonia, he died the next day due to unknown circumstances. Sad news to get on Christmas day.

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Top 5 Movies of 2006 & Top 5 Most Anticipated of 2007.

December 24, 2006 Liam Reply

With Christmas now upon us and New Years only a stones skip away it’s that time to both look back at the year and also look forward to the next. So we have decided to outright tell you peeps what to watch, listen to, and play from this year and next. Using nothing but our own personal opinions, advanced mathematics, and a time machine made of double choc Oreos and a calculator watch we have comprised these amazing lists.

Now I’m first up to the plate with my top 5 movies of 2006 and my top 5 most anticipated of 2007 which you can check out below but also make sure you keep coming back because Jordan will be listing his top games and Ben will be listing his top Albums sometime before January 1st.

This year has had some big movies but it has also had some big flops. Superman Returns had everyone leaving the cinema thinking something along the lines of “WTF? Was that good or not?” and while Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was a lot of fun it was missing some of the charm that made the first one so great and really nobody likes an unfinished ending. So what was good? Well this was the year of the late comers and under dogs, with two of my selection coming out in the last couple of months of the year, one a small cult flick, one a kids animation and one a highly controversial film. So here is my top 5 must see films of 2006.

5. United 93
Trailer: QuickTime

The first major motion picture to focus on the September 11th attacks United 93 has a unique directing style similar to re-enactments. Superior to World Trade Centerin many ways, United 93 differs mainly due to its realistic style where as World Trade Center just feels like another disaster movie.

4. Monster House
Trailer: QuickTime

Monster House is a 3D animated family film that does an amazing job of not feeling like a animated film. With a great 80′s feel it echoes such great films as the Goonies and the Burbs and you would be hard pressed to find a better family film within the last few years.

3. Casino Royale
Trailer: QuickTime
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James Bond rougher, tougher and ready to kick more arses. This is 007 more realistic with less stupid gadgets and a Bond who actually makes mistakes. Casino Royale is a complete revitalisation of the series and superior in many ways to the Pierce Bronson 007 films.

2. Brick
Trailer: QuickTime

This little film that came out of nowhere blew me away with it’s incredible dialogue and Joseph Gordon-Levitt superb acting. Not to mention the original and interesting style which involves a murder and high school full of students who talk like 1930′s gangsters.

1. The Departed
Trailer: QuickTime

Martin Scorsese’s best directing since Goodfellas, a brilliant script and a cast that only comes along once a decade adds up to make The Departed the best film of the year.
Check out my review for a full critique.

This list was just as hard if not harder then this years movies simply for the fact that not only do I have to whittle the selection down to five but I also have to worry about picking a movie that ends up rivalling an Uwe Boll production. So with that in mind here is my selection of the top five must see films of 2007.

5. Hot Fuzz
Trailer: QuickTime

Ah the converted last spot, this was really hard to pick but ultimately I went with Hot Fuzz for three reasons: It looks piss my pants funny, it�s the only comedy on the list and it�s made by the guys who brought us Shaun of the Dead.

4. Smokin� Aces
Trailer: QuickTime

Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia, Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven, Jason Bateman, and Joel Edgerton (wtf?) the cast reads like a who�s who of awesome and considering the movie just seems to be them all shooting the shit out of each other in a casino you should understand completely why this makes my list.

3. Transformers
Trailer: QuickTime, Windows Media, QuickTime HD

Children of the 80�s everywhere prepare to either change your pants or coil up into a ball and cry as your childhood memories are destroyed. Whether or not the film turns out to be worthy of the name Transformers this movie is a massive deal, though with the recently released trailer being suprisingly awesome I decided to give the film the benefit of the doubt. Now we all know Transformers have the power, we just have to wait and see if Michael Bay has the touch.

2. 300
Trailer: QuickTime

The lord and master of the epic comic mini-series is Frank Miller and with his previous film Sin City being as huge as it was he will soon be the lord and master of the epic ancient war film as 300 is looking to bend Troy over and make it its bitch.

1. Spider-Man 3
Trailer: QuickTime
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As expected your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man has yet another sequel coming out and with the two previous movies being such comic genre defining films it is no surprise that the 3rd in the series would make the list. What is surprising is how easily it almost didn’t make number one, with so many fantastic films to look forward to this titan among comics was almost taken down by the young up and comer.

Honourable Mention:

Blood Diamond
Trailer: QuickTime
Even though I still think Billy Zane blew him out of the water in Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio has grown some titanic acting chops and the fact he can pull off a South African accent that doesn’t make me giggle like a school girl says something.

Live Free or Die Hard
Trailer: QuickTime, Windows Media, QuickTime HD
The original Die Hard is in my top five movies of all time, yes that�s right up there with The Shawshank Redemption. So to say this is a big deal is an understatement but with the so-so trailer released recently you may have to start preparing for my massive rant of bitching now.

The Simpsons Movie
Trailer: QuickTime
Five to ten years too late.

Surf’s up.

December 23, 2006 Liam 1 comment

That sexy silver CGI stud up there is the Silver Surfer star of the upcoming sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. The character is being animated by WETA the same company that did the Gollum (The Lord of the Rings) and Kong (King Kong). He is voiced by Doug Jones (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) and Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad say’s, “He will look somewhere between gun metal and fluid metallics so you can see the body motion, the breathing, the muscle tone, the mood”. I wonder if he knows “metallics” isn’t a word.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer premiers June 15th 2007, but if you can’t wait long next week in the U.S the teaser trailer will premier before Night at the Museum and probably show up online soon after.

Grindhouse trailer.

December 22, 2006 Liam 1 comment

The new trailer for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature has been released and damn does this movie look cool. You gotta love the old school corny action horror and no one does it better than Tarantino and Rodriguez.

Check out the trailer at Yahoo Movies in both Quicktime and Windows Media.

IGA to hit Counter-Strike.

December 21, 2006 Jordan 5 comments

Following straight from the Battlefield 2142 ad propaganda in October, the same advertising company In Game Advertisements Worldwide (IGA), have now hit an agreement with Valve Software.

IGA weren’t a very well known company until pre-packaged warnings about their advertising techniques were included with EA’s Battlefield 2142. Ever since then, their #1 name in gaming advertising has become a little more clear, as customers get a little less tolerant. The group always had a unique way of getting their clients ads into games, such as Worms Blast and Judge Dredd. Instead of merely inserting ads into a complete game, they would work with developers by finding a way to incorporate the products image into the game world itself.

These days, IGA are getting alot flak for their new alleged “spyware” method, “Dynamic In Game Advertising” (DIGA). This involves the installation of third party software which monitors certain responses from players, which then determines advertisements to use in the future, maximizing ad relevance.

Now there’s a deal with IGA and Valve, so soon we’ll be seeing the same technology in the world’s most popular online shooter, Counter-Strike. I didn’t know Valve were so desperate for funds to stoop to such a level.

Hopefully IGA will edit their DIGA system so it doesn’t set off too many spyware alerts this time?

Transformers trailer.

December 21, 2006 Liam Reply

*Update* The trailer is now avaliable at Yahoo Movies in QuickTime and Windows Media.

The trailer for the first ever live action Transformers movie has arrived and it looks awesome. The trailer is hosted by Vividas a high speed and high quality streaming program. If you have a high speed broadband connection it should play non-stop, though for you slower ADSL users you might have a bit of a jumpy ride.

You can stream the trailer using Vividas here.

Shooter trailer.

December 21, 2006 Liam Reply

This trailer is the first I’m even hearing about Mark Wahlberg’s new action thriller Shooter but that doesn’t stop it from looking like one hell of a fun action movie.

Check out the trailer here.

Live Free Or Die Hard teaser trailer.

December 16, 2006 Liam Reply

The new teaser trailer for one of the most anticipated sequels ever has been released and even though it does look cool, the trailer makes it look more like the action packed adventures of Jason Bourne then of John McClain. Die Hard is all about the gritty action not the big car chase action sequences.

Check out the teaser trailer here.