The Mass Effect Series has got to be one of the greatest in the history of Sci-Fi Games. The third instalment was released last week and I have already managed to rack up 10 hours worth of play time and would of put plenty more in if only the day was longer! I have been very impressed so far with Mass Effect 3 although the jump from 2 to 3 was not like the Warp from 1 to 2 where the game was completely redefined and brought thousands more gamers to the Mass Effect franchise. However it still feels like a new game with plenty of improvements, additional features and of course a new fully immersive story.
ME3 continues the story of Commander Shepard and his Normandy crew out to save the galaxy from the reapers. Many of your previous choices from the earlier games come into play and it is a truly remarkable feat for the number of paths that you can take to virtually write your own story.
The Cinematic scenes in Mass Effect 3 are the most impressive thus far and I often found myself forgetting I was playing a game and leaning back in my chair to take it all in. The brutality of the reapers and there technological achievements is portrayed brilliantly and make you want to play more and more.
The Combat system is much the same as the second mass effect with an over the shoulder camera view, a choice of two companions which are usually selected at the start of a mission. Their is a great number of weapons to find and mods that you can add to your weapons to suit you.
If you haven’t played any of the Mass Effect series and are a fan of Sci-Fi games then this is a must have game, we have done some digging and found the best Xbox 360 deals and PS3 deals that are bundled with Mass Effect 3.
Xbox 360 250GB Bundled with Mass Effect 3
Playstation 3 320GB bundled with Mass Effect3
There are plenty more deals available if these two don’t sound appetizing enough just take a look at all the otherXBOX 360 deals and PS3 deals
Today, EA releases its much anticipated SSX on PS3 and XBOX 360, the latest in a 12 year old series of the snowboarding video games. The game has been totally refined and the HD graphics are quite breath taking and poses the question if we have yet got the most out of our current gen consoles.
The new SSX is set across nine mountains where each mountain has different challenges to be completed before moving onto the next mountain. With three types of level including races, tricks and survive it sticks to its roots and provides endless re-playability and fun. The story follows a group of nine boarders, some old school faces and some new characters to. as you tackle each mountain you work your way to the final challenge where you need to purchase special equipment to help overcome some of the problem whether it be a wing-suit to sky dive or a headlamp for tunnels and caves.
The game is incredibly fun but the lack of multiplayer is a major flaw, the current interaction between players is leaderboards and to chases your friends ghosts in an attempt to beat there best run.
You can pick up SSX for £37.47 from Amazon.co.uk on both XBOX 360 and PS3.
if you haven’t got yourself a console that can play the game but are desperate for some crazy SSX fun then gamestation have solved your problem!
Tell us what you think of SSX, does it keep to its roots? Or are the changes to significant from the old school “what the?!” to vast to be another in the series?
Japanese giant Sony are preparing for the release of their latest gaming console the Playstation Vita which is officially released tomorrow. The latest in portable hand held consoles had a shaky start in Asian territories but Sony believe it will be very popular in Europe and US. The Vita retails around £230 around the same price as the Nintendo 3DS was tagged at launch, it features dual analogue sticks, front and rear touch screens that allow to a player to control multiple actions all at the same time.
Not ordered your PS Vita yet? Take a look at some of these great launch deals: Amazon are offering both versions of the PS Vita, the Wi-fi for £209.99 and 3G versions for £259.99 both with a Free 8GB Memory Card and a selected game of your choice for £15 from the following options:
Virtua Tennis 4
Rayman Origins
Asphalt Racing
Lumines
Dungeon Hunter
Our pick of the bunch would definitely have to be Rayman: Origins, having played this on the Playstation 3 it is a beautiful and creative game that provides hours of fun!
Game have got some brilliant deals on the more popular and iconic games for the Vita and also include a 8GB Memory Card, Although slightly more expensive than the Amazon deal, the Wi-Fi with a game costing £259.99 and the 3G 309.99. The selection of games is much better:
Wipeout 2048
Uncharted Golden Abyss
Fifa Football
A Great selection of games and maybe just what is needed for a successful launch! There are plenty more brilliant deals out our PS Vita Deals Page and find the perfect deal for you!
The British Academy Video Game Awards have released the shortlist for the nominations for the Audience Award today for games from last year. This award is one that is chosen by the general public for game of the year. The winner will be announced at the ceremony March 16th. Last years winner of the award went to Call of Duty: Black Ops beating Mass Effect 2, Red Dead and Limbo, with over 110 thousand votes cast.
The shortlist is compiled by a panel of industry experts and the Nominees Include
Battlefield 3:
developed by EA Digital Illusions and published by Electronic Arts it is the 11th Installment of the Battlefield Franchise. Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3:
developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, with Raven Software, the 8th Call of Duty instalment. Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
FIFA 12:
developed by EA Canada, and published by Electronic Arts and is the nineteenth in the series! Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword:
Developed by Nintendo Entertainment and is the 16th entry of Zelda games. Available on Nintendo Wii
L.A. Noire:
developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Game. Praised for its impressive detective work. Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. the Fifth installment in the Elder Scrolls Series. Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Portal 2:
developed and published by Valve Corporation, sequel to the multi-award winning Portal. Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
Minecraft:
Developed and Published by Mojang. The sandbox world game, only available on PC, android and iOS.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception:
Developed by Naughty Dog and Published by Sony Computer Entertainment, the third in the drake series. A Playstation 3 exclusive.
Over the last few years Call of Duty has dominated the award since 2009 has won every year since. I have a feeling though this year its going to fall flat on its face as there are a couple of huge contenders. So if you want to vote for your favourite game you can do so at the BAFTA Game Award webpage
Why not leave a comment and tell us what you voted for?
As it seems very unlikely that we will see a new console from the Sony team, all eyes have turned to the Xbox 360 successor. If you have had trouble keeping up with all the speculation around the XBOX 720 then here is a round up of the stories released over the last couple of weeks.
Oban Chipset and ATI Graphics Card – 18 Jan
SemiAccurate.com have claimed that they heard from reliable sources that the chipset for the XBOX 720 (or what ever it is going to be called) went into production around Christmas time. they claimed that Microsoft would be using a IBM-built power CPU with an ATI HD7000 GPU named Oban.
However less than a weekly Later IGN reported that their sources claimed that the GPU was in fact based on the older Radeon HD 6670 card, which retails at around £60 for the PC version.
Blu-Ray, Kinect 2 and Anti pre-owned game tech
Sourced from Kotaku reported on some findings the most interesting that the latest console will prevent any pre-owned games being played, not a very popular move amongst gamers. This could be achieved quite easily such as a one time activation code that ties in with the XBOX Live account. Microsoft have dismissed this as just rumours and speculation and what about gamers that don’t use XBOX live?
Many retailers also make a large income on selling and buying pre-owned games and this move would have a large impact on such companies as Game.
Eurogamer revealed that Two version will be available of the latest Console, much like there is on the XBOX 360. A basic stripped down version and a full featured version which will have Kinect 2 functionality and Blu-ray Player. There has been no definitive announcing whether we will see anything at this years E3 as there are many conflicting sources out there.
We do know that the XBOX 720 will not be released this year but the rising anticipations has made the XBOX 360 plummet in price, which is still a great console and still looks visually brilliant with games such as Battlefield and Mass Effect Really Pushing it to the limits. So check out our XBOX 360 deals page to compare the best XBOX prices
Definitely one of the most anticipated games for Microsofts motion sensor “Kinect” is Kinect Star Wars. Although we have not seen a great deal from the developers of the game but estimated are for an April release.
The Kinect Definitely has the potential to produce a brilliant interactive star wars game with its no controller motion sensor capabilities it is the perfect match for a light sabre wielding Game. Where can swing your arms and jump around the living room like a Jedi or even a Sith! Since the launch of the Kinect it has sold millions of units and was a much bigger success than originally predicted.
The latest glimpse we got at the star wars project was at the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas where they showed off a new pod racing event. It was very similar to the old Pod racer arcade games or the Nintendo 64 version but only in the sense of gameplay, e.g. a lap around the Tattooine track that whiny Anakin racers round in episode one.
But that is where the similarities end, the visuals for Kinect Star wars are very impressive and the much more intense and detailed environment with fellow pod racing exploding and sand people trying to snipe you with blasters. Remember this has the potential to be played in 720p 3D and the results are stunning, combined with the pod racer steering controls, where you hold your hands out in front of you and bend your elbows back and forth to steer you it is incredibly immersive.
While that is all we have really seen of Star Wars Kinect since the poor demo that was showed at E3 last year, our minds have been put at ease a little with this much more impressive demo.
For the release of this game Microsoft have announced a brilliant limited edition Xbox 360 Kinect Bundle Star Wars Edition and it looks absolutely great. The console itself being R2D2 and controller C3P0 its a must have for any star wars fanatic!
We have also been treated with this frankly brilliant advert
HMV have got a brilliant XBOX 360 Deal on offer and if your in the market for an XBOX 360 250GB then this is a definite recommendation! The bundle includes the latest XBOX 360 250GB console – the number one selling console this Christmas, and a whopping FIVE games thrown in to sweeten the deal!
So here is what you get!
So an Xbox 360 250GB , Forza 4, Battlefield 3, Need for Speed the Run, Fifa 12 and Gears of War 3! If by some miracle you did manage to miss all these jaw dropping games because you don’t have an XBOX 360 then now is the time to buy one and be entertained for months! This is brilliant value for money, an 250GB Xbox costing around £200 alone and each game individually priced at around £40 you would be definitely making a sound investment! Just click the picture or head over to our Xbox 360 Deals page to compare the prices of lots more deals!
Game and Gamestation have just announced there first PS Vita Bundles and we have already updated our PS Vita deals page to show you just what they are offering! These are the only game bundles that we have come across and will hopefully spur some of the other competitors into action to bring us some better bargains!
There are currently five Vita bundles available from both Game and Gamestation offering the PS Vita Wifi only model with an extra game and a free 4GB memory card.
PS Vita Wifi model
4GB Memory Card
Uncharted:Golden Abyss
Wipeout 2048
Touch My Katamari
Everybodys Golf
Click any of the above links to be taken to the PS Vita Bundles page and compare the best prices.
It seems Sony has kept their promise of having a good selection of games when the Vita is released, if they keep up a good game selection the Vita may beat its main rival the 3DS on sales.
AT&T changes data plans
The data provider for the Vita have changed there price plans for vita customers and has been deemed rather expensive for what you get. The new 3G plans feature 250MB of data for £10 or 3GB of data for £20
We don’t yet know if there will be any special offers for families or how AT&T will handle data over use. But there has been speculation that they will offer a service that when you reach your download limit it will not let you download any more therefore not incurring any more charges.
Check out our PS Vita Deals page and find the latest bundles and offers
Well its the second day of this years CES (Consumer Electronic Show) and while yes, many of this years items were predictable there have been some big surprises too and here is just a few of them:
Polaroid Introduces Android Camera
This is no ordinary digital camera, the Polaroid SC1630 looks like your standard digital camera but it is quite the opposite. Instead of a traditional LCD display on the back the device has a fully operable version of android! So it can do all the usual digital camera stuff like, scroll through images and change lighting etc, but it also means you can run apps, games, connect to internet and share pictures directly to the net through Facebook and any method your choose. Its primary function as a camera is not flawed by its multifunctional purpose, it has a 16-megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom. I want to know why they didn’t just make it a mobile phone too!
LG 55-inch 3D OLED TV
LG were showing off there 55-inch OLED TV that is due to be out later this year. The entire tv is estimated to be 4mm thick and provides the best colour contrast and clarity on any TV. However the TV is estimated to cost a whopping £5000!?!?! They were also showing off an absolutely huge 84-inch 3D TV screen. They did not estimate a price for the giant screen but will also be out later this year.
The LG will also has inbuilt Google TV that will feature In built Cinema 3D technology, Magic Remote allowing control using motion gesture, voice commands and full keyboard input. But does all this justify the £5000 price tag?
There is still a day left at CES so make sure to check back tomorrow to read about any more surprises at CES.
So just after a week into the new year the rumours have already started about the reveal of new consoles from Microsoft and Sony. The Vet games news site “MCV” believe that the next generation console will definitely be shown at this years E3 in June, however the console manufacturers are still unsure.
The chief editor of MCV Michael French told the guardian that the information regarding the showcasing of these two consoles had come from a highly trusted source.
“A lot of people have suspected that Microsoft would show something,” he said. “And what Sony has realised is that launching PS3 so long after the Xbox 360 meant that they were on the backfoot. If their closest rival steps up and does this forward thinking stuff, they need to be there too. If not, their industry partners will be asking, well, what about you?”
The only console that is 100% surely going to be at E3 is Nintendo’s latest entry the Nintendo Wii U, although initial reactions to the console have been very mixed but Nintendo are packing it full of impressive features such as an app store, a supposed E-reader suggests Nintendowiiu.co.uk
Sony rejected commenting on this report but said that there priorities were on working with the PS Vita and PS3 (which has only recently become a profitable console). Microsoft were unavailable for comment
The PS3 and Xbox 360 are now over five years old but are still very powerful and have aged very well. Both still have stunning HD visuals and the new Nintendo console will have comparable but slightly improved “New HD” graphics perhaps proving that the console still have a bit of juice left in them. There are some great after Christmas January bargains so head over to our PS3 Deals page and XBOX 360 deals page to find some brilliant bundles
