Up Close with Blackberry Playbook
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The BlackBerry PlayBook is just about the smallest high-profile tablet to come out for 2011. Measuring at 5 x 7.5 x 0.4, the Blackberry PlayBook's sleek design is more along the lines with the Galaxy Tab of 2010 rather than with the current iPad 2 supply breaking into the market for 2011. So far, the Blackberry PlayBook has been the most powerful 7-inch tablet tested on the market today, and the most lightweight design which comes in at under one pound. The first thing to notice about the Blackberry PlayBook, is the complete lack of clutter in buttons on the front of this device. Like the Motorola Xoom, all of the PlayBook's navigation is handled using on-screen controls. A 0.7-inch grooved ring frames the 1,024x600-pixel-resolution screen for the Playbook, as it is also bordered by a pair of slender stereo speaker grilles. Above the Playbook screen, is a 3-megapixel camera along with a newly designed ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts for screen brightness. When you flip the tablet over you will find another camera, and this one is a 5-megapixel addition that can capture video at 1080p quality. There are, although, small cracks in the flawless design by RIM for their breakthrough invention for the Tablet PC market for 2011. One problem consumers encountered with the Blackberry Playbook is the power/wake button, which is so small and recessed that some users needed to file down fingernails to use it. When the Playbook is then placed within the extra layer of a case, the power button again was almost impossible to press. It's a real problem to get to these small buttons on the Playbook, especially since the power button is the only means to wake the Playbook screen from sleep. Syncing media also became a burden for the Blackberry Playbook, this time around, as this is not as easy as the drag-and-drop experience as on an Android device. Instead, when you connect the Blackberry PlayBook to any PC or a Mac, a preloaded installer will pop up and the consumer will have to run through the BlackBerry Desktop software installation. You cannot sync media files to your Blackberry Playbook without this installer software. But, a primary reason to having a Blackberry installer on your PC or Mac, is because the setup on your computer is supposed to maintain a wireless connection to your PlayBook over your home network and allows the user to send files to the device from the virtual drive on your computer.
Tags: Blackberry Playbook, iPad 2
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The Sims 3 Generations PC Review
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The Sims 3: Generations is good – but not a game-changer. The Sims 3: Generations is not expansive enough, as previous Sims 3 expansion packs have come with more substantial gameplay material. Those features may include world exploration, hands-on professions, and even vampire nightlife. However, The Sims 3: Generations value proposition fell short as these new “Generations” enhancements are subtly integrated into the game, but don't have the overall impact of transforming the game and do not match up to the impact of previous expansions. The additions to The Sims 3: Generations package include children getting tree-houses and playground equipment, as well as teens learning to drive and going to prom and adults have midlife crises. As the game progresses, you also begin to unlock other features to this game. Children don't just live with all of life's amenities; they can actually play in their tree-houses and sit on their seesaws. Maybe, you would like to play a prank on the school as a teen growing up in Sim City and release a science experiment in the girls’ locker room. Other closely watched elements within the game, do not call for a complete loss on this expansion for the Sims 3. Players can now actually throw bachelor parties for engaged Sims and videotape their experiences to store away in their personal video stash. Builders and buyers, especially, will appreciate spiral staircases and new family-oriented novelties. These changes to the entire game from Sims 3 are great, but this time around there is a lack of impact which ceases to wow the overall audience and people are not buying into it. The Sims genre has always been one to fascinate everyone, by the all-incorporated and strategically in-depth approach it has taken to connect all people from around the globe on one simple and manageable piece of astroturf. The highly anticipated changes introduced by The Sims 3: Generations game does not move forth more enveloping depth into life-stages that are supposed to freshen material in order to make it worth reinvesting into your Sims world. As Generations does not help bring the same level of sweeping changes found in the last few expansions, The Sims 3: Generations comes across as a weaker link in the chain.
Tags: The Sims 3: Generations, The Sims 3
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The All-New Motorola Xoom
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The all-new Motorola Xoom first arrived in Ireland, weighing 730g about the same as the first-generation iPad. It has a 10.1-inch wide-screen display and is quite bright. It also supports up to 720p HD video. The Motorola Xoom still looks fairly similar in style to many of the tablet pcs out there today, with the standard black, glass assembly. The back of the casing is made mostly out of aluminum, though it has a strip of black running across the top. The on/off switch is at the back of the Xoom, which is a weird place to put a toggle switch for the avid PC Tablet fanatic who is used to looking for any on/off switch at the top or at the bottom of any device. This button is slightly indented to reduce the risk of the tablet actually turning on while in your bag. The Motorola Xoom has a 2-megapixel camera on the frontside and it works best when held horizontally. Plus, the Motorola Xoom comes with an additional 5-megapixel camera added to the back, with dual LED flash. The Motorola Xoom also contains a micro USB port, a micro HDMI output, a 3.5mm jack for headphones and SIM card slot. Like on the Android smartphone, the five main home-screens to the Xoom can be customized to place your favorite app shortcuts and widgets onto them. These home-screen rearrange themselves to be viewed horizontally as well as vertically, just like in the iPhone and iPad there is a slight lag in the display toggle. You can also switch to “quick controls” on the Motorola Xoom, which lets the consumer access menu options by holding their thumbs up at the side of the screen and making the top bar only accessible for tabs. While many still want to judge the Xoom on its own breakthroughs, reviews are not hard to make iPad comparisons, but there are things the Motorola Xoom does better than the iPad, such as browser and home-screen customization. However, this desperate attempt by Motorola to surpass the iPad will not be enough to become the much anticipated “iPad Killer”. Many critics would still go for the iPad today, as the starting price for the iPad is much cheaper and the number of apps available today for the iPad still outweigh those available on the Android tablet. The Motorola Xoom is on display, right now, for Euros €629.
Tags: Motorola Xoom, iPad, Dual Cameras
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Magic The Gathering – Duels of the Planewalkers 2
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The latest frenzy for card-based wizardry starts off with a climatic sequence, in which an epic story is told filled with conflict and chaos. But, in turn, the setup for Magic this time around never delivers on its promise, as there is no storyline between the three different campaign modes. This cannot bode well for a vote of confidence among the many Magic aficionados.
The rules of Magic are simple. Players draw magic power from varied sources, casting environment-altering spells, summoning creatures and fighters big and small, to defeat the opponent or person playing against you. Of course, the game gets a lot more specific than that for PC as there are several different "colours" of spells with varied strengths and weaknesses, as well as an array of many monsters and items with special traits and abilities. Magic is mostly a strategic and competitive game based on a great deal of forethought and reaction.
Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, simplifies things to a certain degree from the original game dated back 20 years by making the structure of the card game more comprehensive to newcomers and casual players. Rather than carefully choosing and constructing decks of tricks card by card, there are now choices between several different pre-constructed decks with distinct styles, advantages, and drawbacks for each player.
As you play through single-player mode, you begin to unlock new decks of cards to use, you also begin to earn additional cards to augment each deck. Picking from among all of the decks you've unlocked, the player gets to play out matches against A.I. opponents. Each side takes turns laying down land cards, tapping mana, casting spells, and summoning creatures, as well as working with the game's complex rule system to defeat your enemy at his/her own game.
Going up against the computer is a lot of fun in multiplayer mode, since you can see friendly player's hands and piggyback your strategies. In contrast, friendly A.I. players are far inferior in these matches, since the computer fails to capitalize on obvious opportunities and can cost the avid Magic player the battle. There is also a lot of fun in Magic, jumping into one-off matches against the CPU or taking your skills online to take on other human opponents in multiplayer combat. You will find that in this game, there are some hardcore Magic folks cruising the servers waiting for fresh meat to fry. Online gamers, get out your hard-hats.
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Hunted The Demon's Forge PC Review
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Hunted: The Demon's Forge, is set in a murky fantasy world and acts as a third-person action video game. The game was developed by inXile Entertainment and then published by Bethesda Softworks for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows consoles.
In Hunted: The Demon's Forge, you have the option of entering campaign mode as Caddoc or E'lara. These “mercenaries” are a lively pair, as Caddoc is packed with the most melee power and E'lara supports Caddoc with a bow. A sacred mission has been bestowed upon our heroes, as saving the world from evil sends these two characters on a quest that was actually in the making for generations.
The first hour in this dark world of Hunted: The Demon's Forge, is never going to be a pleasant one. The preface free introduction does not exactly instill a sense of literary excellence. Combat is limited to a raw mix of “plain ol' shooting and plain ol' stabbing.” But, one of the best things about Hunted is the actual relationship between Caddoc and E'lara. Big, bad Caddoc is known as the coolheaded member of the team, while the sensational E'lara is the brash and hasty one. Their personal quarreling and frivolous in-fighting with each other, as well as disagreements on almost everything is enjoyable and comes to life with some solid voice acting.
When playing with friends, it is important to always coordinate your attacks especially when using your special abilities. Caddoc and E'lara share a set of three spells, but each hero also has their very own unique set of three weapon-based abilities that play off the other character. Caddoc can lift enemies up in the air, with a combination set base for E'lara to finish off. Alternatively, E'lara can freeze bad guys while Caddoc can smash them to bits.
It is a real shame that the cooperative dynamic breaks down once you are paired up with the computer. For those players who are ready to rock out with this adventure solo, you are missing out on a lot of what makes Hunted fun. The A.I. Partner isn't very good as a suitable replacement for another player. We might be stuck with it, too, because online communities are limited.
Despite many of Hunted's flaws, there is a handful of brilliantly executed ideas that make Hunted a difficult game to ignore. Role-playing/shooter hybrids are not a new invention by any stretch of the imagination, as most if not all of these hybrids, simply borrow and transpose the best elements of their amalgamated genres. For better or for worse, Hunted is yet another great hybrid with so much potential still locked under its belt, creating a unique, exciting and promising genre of its own design.
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Bug-Squashing Good Time w/ Red Faction Armageddon
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Red Faction: Armageddon is the fourth game in the Red Faction franchise. This game is really on point with all of its other predecessors, but if you really want the freedom of all-encompassing mayhem Red Faction: Guerrilla offered, you may be unhappy with the direction in which this game is headed.
The game starts off with Darius Mason, who is the grandson of the protagonist Alec Mason from Red Faction: Guerrilla. Darius is not the self-proclaimed warrior his grandfather once was, as if that weren't enough, Mason then gets manipulated into saving the world from Mars' terraformer and, several years later to fight an alien menace that has unleashed on the planet Mars in a struggle to save the few surviving Martians. Something game-lovers and diehard fans of the genre will take away from Red Faction: Armageddon, is its use of environmental destruction. Other games allow the players to solely blow single objects to pieces, but in Armageddon, the environment becomes a weapon in itself as the player manipulates and contorts his/her environment to help slay the enemy. You can sling enemies into walls and crash them throughout the landscape in Armageddon.
There are also two extra modes to play in, once the gamer is done with his single player missions. Infestation is an online four player survivor mode, and the Ruin mode can be activated only through a key that comes with a new copy of the game or purchased as DLC. The upgrades a player earns in any game mode, are transferred over and you can go back to lobby between waves in order to purchase more upgrades for Darius. Armageddon also likes to keep its fans busy while in campaign mode, so the developers decided to add in all-inclusive vehicle missions that help alleviate the mundane pacing of getting to the end of campaign mode. Darius gets to pilot mechs, as this becomes a great way to showcase the extensive development that went into the fourth game.
So then, as many gamers and aficionados are fighting their urges to take a chance on this corridor-sweeping fourth release of Red Faction: Armageddon it is guaranteed to provide a destructive, bug-squashing good time. After playing the game a while, the aliens all start looking the same, but the fans understand that they were made to look that way because they are all supposed to be related to each other. Even if being funneled down caverns sounds rather unappealing to you, the ability to still tear apart and put back together Darius's environment, strikes a major key in game development within the Red Faction team, as combining this attribute with other gameplay modes in Red Faction grants future prospect a run for his/her money.
Tags: Red Faction: Armageddon, Red Faction: Guerrilla
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Episode 4 of Back To The Future The Game
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Back To The Future has, so far, been hailed by many game reviews as a masterpiece when it comes down to the development of the characters and featuring well-crafted voice over work for the characters. Telltale decided to make a “point and click” adventure game based on the classic Back to the Future universe. Doc is stuck in the past, and Marty now must round up his resources to save him, as the pair messed up the timeline and have been trying to fix it ever since. The main character in the game is Marty, and you will have a ton of items to choose from in your inventory so that you can interact with different people in different ways. As far as visuals are concerned; Episode four did not have too much to add. Most of these environments are no surprise to any player who is coming back for a fourth time. There are, however, small additions to the inside of the citizen plus facility in alternate 1986 and to the front lawn of the Hill Valley High School, which has been decorated for a forthcoming science expo. Although the first three episodes of Back To The Future were very entertaining, to those who were actually risky enough to go in and purchase the genre, Episode 4 can come across a bit boring at times. The previous installments were a bit of a scavenger hunt in themselves, but Episode 4 stretches this concept for gameplay throughout the entirety of the release. This episode stalls and stays on the lawn of a science exposition and in young Doc's lab. By the time the game is really over, everyone has felt like they haven't done anything much at all. To promote the title, Telltale brought a mockup of the DeLorean time machine as part of their booth display to the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo which occurred shortly after the game's announcement. Prior to this release, Telltale Games published their first Facebook game entitled Back to the Future: Blitz Through Time, with mechanics similar to Bejeweled Blitz. Free copies of the first episode of the series were included in the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray release of the Back to the Future trilogy on October 26, 2010. Back To The Future: The Game got positive reviews across the board as many who’ve watched the movie starring Michael J. Fox, can relate on some level to the video game now out on release for the PC. Most reviewers were critical of the episode's puzzles as being too simplistic and easy. Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the episode an average review score of 74/100. Now consistency goes a long way in the world of gaming as action, adventure, and spontaneity does not always cut the red tape for a decent release at the cash register.
Tags: Back To The Future, Episode 4, Michael J. Fox
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Court Strikes Down Violent Game Law
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The U.S. Supreme Court this morning, ruled in favor of the videogame industry in a case that called for the ban of violent video games for children in the state of California. A 7 to 2 decision over the State of California solidified opposition against the law, reiterating that video games fall under the First Amendment. The majority opinion, in clear terms, states: “Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas-and even social messages-through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player's interaction with the virtual world). That suffices to confer First Amendment protection. Under our Constitution, ‘esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature . . . are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority.” Justice Scalia wrote this decision alongside Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan. Justice Alito felt very strongly that the issue must stand, as he disagreed with the court and wrote his own opinion with Chief Justice Roberts agreeing with him. "Reading Dante is unquestionably more cultured and intellectually edifying than playing Mortal Kombat. But these cultural and intellectual differences are not constitutional ones," wrote Justice Alito in a footnote to Scalia's opinion. "Crudely violent video games, tawdry TV shows, and cheap novels and magazines are no less forms of speech than The Divine Comedy, and restrictions upon them must survive strict scrutiny." This announcement is a major victory for the videogame industry. A case like this has scorned the faces of many in the industry for years, and in turn, has branded the gaming world as a scapegoat for all the ills of our society and our nation’s youth. The law proposed by California representative Leland Yee holds part of the blame, as he claimed violent games were more harmful to children than movies or magazines alike and did not deserve protection under the First Amendment. This decision also falls in line with other decisions of the lower courts regarding video game banning in such districts as the Northern District of California Court and the Ninth Circuit of Appeals. “The practices and beliefs of the founding generation establish that ‘the freedom of speech,’ as originally understood, does not include a right to speak to minors (or a right of minors to access speech) without going through the minors' parents or guardians. I would hold that the law at issue is not facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment, and reverse and remand for further proceedings.”
Tags: U.S. Supreme Court, Videogame, Industry, First Am...
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Toshiba Introduces Another Tablet in the Market T
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While other tablet companies are focused on things such as bettering performance within their tablet operating systems or attempting to grab some market share from Apple, Toshiba was struggling to come up with a name for its all-new tablet. That is, until some marketing genius came up with the Toshiba Thrive. Identity issues aside, the Toshiba Thrive is ready to take on the iPad and other tablets with the Google empowered Android operating system. And, for the first time, Toshiba will feature customizable colours and graspable rubber backs for their tablet PCs. Also setting the Thrive apart from the iPad's “Hey, it’s a bigger iPhone” mystique, is that the Thrive is built more like an actual laptop complete with an HDMI port and an SD card reader. The rubber rear surface is a great departure from other PC tablets, not only because it helps protect the device but also provides extra stability especially while holding this thing with one hand. The custom colours to the all-new rubber grip will also appeal to a younger user in the ever-changing OMG techniverse. Weighing in at 1.6 pounds though, it seems like the Toshiba Thrive tablet really needs to go on a diet. How else can it compete with the skinnier, sexier tablets in the industry today if it is not sleek and lightweight? But, being the only fat kid in town is not all that bad. Not solely relying on Android apps, Toshiba has a few apps of its own which you can get at... wait for it... yes the App Place. Toshiba might have a few problems down the road as many of these same apps directly compete with the existing Android market, providing a possible overcrowding of options for Toshiba. The Thrive is well priced, and time will tell on whether Toshiba can become David to the Apple Goliath, or if the iPad itself just stomps Toshiba into oblivion as it has done with most of its other competitors. Godspeed, Toshiba.
Tags: Toshiba Thrive, Tablet Market, iPad, Apple
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The New HP Slate 500
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The HP Slate 500 tablet runs Windows 7 Professional, so this tablet is focused more on productivity than anything else. The Slate 500 is getting along as a highly customizable business application for various standardised markets such as education and hospitality. The Slate does not sell itself too well as a touch-based hardware experience, as there is a digital pen which is included with every HP Slate as a necessary input device. The HP Slate is smaller than the iPad at 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.6, yet the HP Slate weighs about the same as the iPad weighs right now and feels bulkier than the iPad aside from the smaller touch screen. The 1,024-by-768-pixel display is surrounded by a brushed-aluminum frame. The back of this device is covered with textured rubber that helps make the tablet feel sturdy and less likely to slip out of the consumer's hand. There's no 3G connectivity and the Slate 500 integrates 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. HP explained that in many business settings like schools, hospitals, or hotels, for example, always-on connectivity wouldn't be necessary because Wi-Fi would almost likely be available. Typing for the on-screen keyboard was great, but the integrated Bluetooth means that the consumer can attach a wireless keyboard or a mouse to their Slate. Something new; the HP Slate 500 comes with Evernote, which is a new cloud-based memo software as users will be able to easily add Microsoft Office to their Slate. Unlike Apple's iPad, the HP Microsoft Explorer browser supports Flash. The Slate 500 will not be the only tablet from HP, as HP is confirming a WebOS-based tablet with a consumer focus coming late in 2011. Right now, the industry-focused Slate 500 retails for $799 (under £500) and is available now at HP's site. The Slate 500 is a pesky yet affordable device with too many input drivers for consumers to bear with. The HP Slate 500 is well designed and has two cameras for commercial use. The Slate is bundled with useful accessories, including a carrying case and a dock/stand with additional USB ports. Since this is a Windows-based device, you can install most PC software onto your Slate. This is really not an Apple iPad killer.
Tags: HP Slate 500, Windows 7 Professional, iPad, 3G, W...
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