Sherlock Holmes VS Jack The Ripper

Sherlock Holmes VS Jack The Ripper - 1DVD

The year is 1888, and the setting is Londons Whitechapel area, where a horrible series of crimes has taken place in this East End district. The bodies of several women who have suffered horrible mutilations have been found. The police have been having a hard time finding a serious lead as the murders continue, creating paranoia and terror in the streets. Sherlock Holmes sets out to find clues in the dark, gloomy streets of Whitechapel, following a macabre trail of the one that the press calls Jack the Ripper. During this terrifying adventure, Sherlock will attempt to shed some light on the mystery that shrouds the identity and motive of the one who hides behind this terrifying nickname.

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Nikopol Secrets Of The Immortals

Nikopol Secrets Of The Immortals - 1DVD

Based on the graphic novel "La Foire aux Immortels" by Enki Bilal and approved by author himself, the game is a first-person point-and-click adventure game. You play as Alcide Nikopol, an artist struggling with the authoritarian regime of Paris, March 2023.


The game begins, when a new electoral period is coming in the authoritarian, fascist, and decadent city-state of Paris, and one candidate for the governor post exists, and this candidate is Choublanc, current governor in power. The false hope of the improvement of electoral scheme exists due to the mysterious appearance of pyramidal shape space vessel over the astroport, because it’s believed that the occupants of the pyramid want astronomic amounts of fuel from the city of Paris.

The city is divided in two districts: central with standing army and the leading class and another, surrounding the first, with adventurers and extraterrestrials of all kinds deployed from astroport. Starting the rebellious actions from your artist's apartment located in the district of second kind, you will visit grand palace corridors, underground subway maze-like passages, fortified military towers, etc.

The visitors of pyramid-shaped vessel are actually Egyptian gods (Immortals) and one of them, Horus, decides to possess the body of Nikopol’s father imprisoned in a cryo-frozen camera for last several decades. Meantime, Nikopol has joined a religious resistance group, who, for some reason, asked him to bring his father's portrait. Not remembering the father quite well, Nikopol should find his father's image and enter the resistance group, but during his first steps in the game he will be attempted to put under arrest by lobster-like monster, and therefore should get away from the governmental militia. During the game he will be approached by the other gods and asked to find his father and prevent the Horus' plan. Set in futuristic surreal world, game plot integrates Egyptian gods, lobster-like monsters, flying cars with ordinary items such as rusty pipes, hammers, or cameras, etc.

The game mechanics represent standing in some location, spherical examination in first-person view of environment around you, action with the nearest items if possible, and movement to the next location. Inventory may be filled with found items and then they may be used with other items on the screen, but not in inventory. Different letters, newspapers, notes, etc. will appear during the game to untwist the story or propose you the next task, and special button to
read them is present in inventory menu. A number of puzzles should be resolved during the game such as to write a portrait with 5 kinds of colors, or to break all bricks in the wall with lesser number of hits, etc. Some actions take place in real-time. For example, when lobster-like monster is going to catch you, you should hide from him as fast as possible in your apartment forming a circle and lock him in one of the rooms or you will be dead. Animation sequences, representing the events in 3rd person view, are shown between the themed locations in some kind of comics-art style, while screen is divided on several parts, and events may flow in them consequently or in parallel way, or while focus is set for certain characters, and their actions are put in front.

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Ports

 Ports - 1DVD

Ports are the lifeblood of a country's economy, a cornerstone of trade and commerce. Ports places you firmly on the dock as you take charge of the hustle and bustle of loading and unloading a vast variety of goods in transit

With everything from cars to containers and bulk goods to be handled your organisational skills will be put to the test in a challenging range of missions, working against the clock to ship and store cargo

Will you use a forklift truck, a crane or other loaders? The choice is yours, but with frozen goods sitting in the sun, or a ship's Captain eager to set sail time is of the essence. In the world of busy international ports, cargo earns cash allowing you to invest in ever more specialist vehicles and tools but spend wisely as time and tide waits for no-one!

With 20 maritime and inland ports, painstakingly crafted in ultra-realistic 3D graphics, one thing is for sure, the cargo keeps on coming

Are you up to the challenge of shipping supplies or will you be left high and dry on the quayside?

Features:

6 true-to-the-original detailed machines and vehicles
20 different seaports and harbours
Different goods such as containers, bulk cargos and cars
Mission and career mode
Operate divergent vehicles & machines
Load and reload harbour goods fast and effectively
Learn about the work of a stevedore

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Complete Racing Games Collection

Complete Racing Games Collection - 1DVD

This collection offers the best of motor sport High speed action, crossovers, ramps, all this and more. You can drive Trucks, Drag Cars, Stock Cars, Karts, and Crash Cars. Drive in seasons or championships, or play against your friends via split screen. Complete challenges, or simply race against up to 16 unforgiving competitors. Have you got what it takes to be a race driver? Get in the car, start your engine, put in the gear, and find out for yourself

Games

- Truck Racer
- Super Truck Racer
- Kart Racer
- Super Karts
- Sprint Cars
- Drag & Stock Racer
- Crash Car Racer

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Skyrim

Thought I'd have a wee break from the coding to write a short piece pertaining to my favourite current flavour of the month Skyrim.

Yes, I honestly thought Dark Souls alone would tide me over for a long, long time, but I bought Skyrim on a lark not really thinking I'd get into it and what eventuated was Dark Souls gathering dust in the corner for the following 3 weeks.

Let's start with the shitty stuff so I can go out with the good.

Skyrim has bugs. The PS3 has a massive, game-breaking (and heart-breaking) lag bug. Your first 60-100 hours will go by smoothly and then you'll start noticing the game freezing consistently, and this gradually worsens until you can't play anymore. God it sucks. It's like having a free train pass that's revoked at half-day and you get kicked off.

As a programmer I can probably guess that the lagging issues are born from the constant fetching and organising of data properties of the zillions of random world objects as they're moved about during play. Tricky one to fix unless you want the game to reset certain objects back to their source points. I'm not holding my breath that they'll patch it efficiently.

The fighting is still absolutely shit. If you had to compare Dark Souls to Skyrim (even though they're chalk&cheese IMO) then this is where Dark Souls wipes the floor with it. It's so naff; you can't tell if you've landed a hit, strikes don't have real sense of impact, and it also seems like the collision detection is a bit off at times. It hasn't improved a great deal from the Oblivion days.

Now don't get me wrong, I still love Dark Souls and I have no doubt I'll be back trolling on it in due time, but Skyrim is ultimately a more lasting and engrossing game. You can't really escape the arcade feel of DS, and despite the best attempts of From to make it have a more open-world feel it's still pretty linear at the end of the day. Skyrim on the other hand is the pinnacle sandbox experience of the generation. A mission can be completed in many ways; the main quest can be abandoned in exchange for random exploration; live to be saviour or consume the world with malice. The replay value is insane.

Anyway enoug blathering on about the obvious bollucks most observers have plucked out in their reviews. We all knew what Skyrim was going to be; bigger worlds, better graphics/less stock dialogue, awesome character development perks. So I'll just talk a little about what impressed me.

The graphics are *so* much better. My Orc looks bulky and muscled without armour- someone put the artists through anatomy class this time round. The mountains look mighty impressive from a distance, with vapour whirling off the high peaks, if you couldn't actually go visit them you'd think they were prerendered animations. And generally the weather systems are very well-handled, beautiful particle effects. You'll want to get caught in a snowgale because it looks so damn *good*.

The audio is great. I mean it's legendary. I love the getting the dragon words, the crescending 'HWOAAH!!' as you approach and begin to absorb the power from them. Not to mention the soundtracks, that are so brilliantly composed with large choirs- so appropriate.

And on that note if I had to pick out the highlight of the game it would have to be the ambience and ethereal poetry of the graphics and audio together; it is simply jaw-dropping at points.

I mean there was one moment when I was running around the plains of Windhelm deep at night, the breeze was blowing serenely through the 3d grass, I looked at my gorgeous in-game wife Adele The Huntress and the incandescent red moon shimmering behind her, Kyne's Peace track playing in the background, and a kind of rush of awe swept over me like I was at DisneyWorld watching the fireworks. I felt at that moment there aren't many other games take me out of my boring life like this one. The game has some real celestial POWER that's hard even to verbalize. More game studio's should definitely aim for that. The guys at Bethesda have a kind of Steve Jobs-like grandiose approach to the atmospherics of their games that I truly appreciate. Craftsman to craftsman, I'm like an amateur magician awed by the skills of the masters playing and analysing the skill that went into making this one.

Anyway, that's what games are for me; portals to the imagination, founded not only on fun gameplay mechanics, they're also platforms for virtual world-building and the illusion of limitless possibilities. The better technology we work on, the closer we inch towards actually stepping into the fleshed-out creativity of people's minds. I can't wait to see what's on the cards for the next 20-40 years.

Last thing I wanted to say is- It's so much fun to be evil in this game. I love getting cheap thrills by robbing people and murdering innocent wandering cattle in the forest ranges. This is a fun troll game. It's a shame it isn't multiplayer, imagine what a laugh it would be to ambush people on the roads with a bunch of mates? I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later.

I'm also blown away by the epic dragon battles, they're cinematic, gripping events and mad fun. My only is that it can be a pain in the ass chasing the bastard until it lands, but it's a small price to pay for the fun of the event. Those dragons kick the shit out of anything seen in Monster Hunter, that's for sure. It just saddens me that my daily allocated time for playing Skyrim is essentially 'till it crashes'.

Okay, back to work. I'm hard at work with Insanity 3; designing the dialogue manager but at the same time I'm a little strapped for the old $$$ these days; therefore I'm power coding a couple of smaller games at the mo. 

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Japan Envy: Tie-in merchandising

One thing I inexplicably love about Japan its merchandise. I'm sure tons of essays have been written on the subject before, but as I haven't read any of them, suffice it to say I don't really know why it is they do merchandise so well. Just that they do. Leave it to Japan to create the cutest products out of the most mundane household goods and combine Hello Kitty with just about anything you can imagine.

Yup, that's Hello Kitty dressed as an anime character (source)

This latest Japanese tie-in merchandising scheme is close to my heart for a number of reasons: First, it's combining books and video games, which are undoubtedly two of my favourite things. New Love Plus, the sequel to everyone's favourite Nintendo DS dating sim that has you interacting with your virtual girlfriend day in and day out, has put a new spin on things. In the game, you will be encouraged to read a book alongside your virtual gal in a series of in-game events, and she'll even ask you questions about the material as a way to gauge your interest. The three books chosen include Anne of Green Gables and two contemporary Japanese titles. While anyone could go pick up a second hand copy of these titles for next to nothing, Konami and Kodansha have a better idea: they're marketing limited New Love Plus-themed copies of the books.

Anne of Green Gables featuring one of the New Love Plus ladies (source)

The New Love Plus art will be on a dust jacket, so you will be able to remove it to see the original cover art underneath.

Now, the other reason this is so interesting to me is albeit a personal one: My mom is a big fan of Anne of Green Gables, and often cites it as a reason why she named me Anne (with an "e," of course!). We even ventured to her house up in Prince Edward Island (or is it the author's house?) back when I was too little to remember much of anything and spotted a Japanese couple getting married there! If you haven't noticed, Japan is in love with Anne of Green Gables. I think this must be some sort of sign.

Anyways, I totally dig this sort of cross merchandising, and yet the Japanese seem to consistently be the only ones who get it right. Even though I'm not really interested in New Love Plus, I might have been drawn to purchase said book... I often think it's a very good thing I don't live in Japan, as I'd be wallowing in piles of useless stuff.

What do you think – is tie-in merchandise corny, or cool?

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X-Men Origins - Wolverine

X-Men Origins - Wolverine - 2DVD

X-MenOrigins: Wolverine will give you new insight into how much damageindestructible, razor-sharp claws can do to a human body. This is a gamethat revels in gore, with decapitations, eviscerations, and mutilationsdrenching the screen in blood. It may be derivative, a cakewalk, and attimes buggy, but the sheer visceral impact of the over-the-top violencein X-Men Origins is enough to make it a fun action game, as well as oneof the better movie tie-ins released recently.

It helps that theviolence in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is backed up by decent gameplay,and though it doesnt bring anything new to the third-person actiongenre, its still solid and satisfying at most times. You play as thetitular Marvel mutant, with the games muddled storyline mimicking andexpanding on events in the movie of the same name. Along the way, youtake Wolverine through the jungles of Africa, the hidden Weapon X baseat Alkali Lake, the interior (and exterior) of a massive casino, andmore. You have to take on groups of increasingly aggressive anddangerous enemies, solve not-too-taxing environmental puzzles, as wellas go up against several guest boss villains from the Marvel universe.Unfortunately, the game doesnt do a great job of introducing thesenefarious individuals--such as the Blob and Gambit--and often throwsthem in with little explanation of why Wolverine needs to beat on themin the first place.

Your weapons of choice for dispatching thesevillains are Wolverines claws, and even though the games jumpingtimeline means that youll be playing as both pre- and post-adamantiumLogan, the claws retain their indestructible ability to slice throughpractically anything throughout the game. You have light and heavyattacks that you can string together to perform various combos, and alsoan extremely useful lunge that lets you launch Wolverine at enemiesfrom a distance. These combos are easy to pull off if youve got agamepad, but as youd expect, theyre a bit trickier when playing with akeyboard and mouse. Nevertheless, the keyboard control scheme is quiteintuitive and is definitely manageable with a little practice. AsWolverine gains levels, new combos open up, as well as four differentfury attacks, which are supermoves that require you to build up yourrage meter before unleashing. These four attacks can be upgraded asWolverine gains experience, giving the game a very basiccharacter-customization element.

Although spamming the samecombos can prove useful early in the game, you wont be able to get awaywith mindless mashing for too long. The game does a good job of forcingyou to change your tactics, sending at you a wide variety of enemytypes that require different attacks and combos to dispatch. Forexample, though the lunge may work on low-level enemies, tougher foesand midlevel bosses will simply swat you out of the air. With a bit ofpractice, all of Wolverines moves can be chained seamlessly, making youfeel extremely powerful as the mutant unleashes his rage on groups ofenemies.

Minimum System Requirements

* Os : Windows@Xp/Windows@Vista
* Processor : CPU Intel Pentium IV 3.0 GHz / AMD Athelon 64 3000+
* Memory : 1 GB Of RAM (1.5 GB for Vista)
* Video Card : 3D 256 Mb (Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT / ATI Radeon X1800) Pixel Shader 3.0
* Sound Card : Compatible with DirectX@9.0c
* HDD : 8 GB Free Space Drive
* DirectX : DirectX@9.0c
* Keyboard/Mouse
* CD/DVD-ROM Drive 32x Fast Speed

Recommended System Requirements

* Os : Windows@Xp/Windows@Vista
* Processor : CPU Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.4 GHz / Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+
* Memory : 2 GB Of RAM
* Video Card : 3D 512 Mb (Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS / ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT) Pixel Shader 3.0
* Sound Card : Compatible with DirectX@9.0c
* HDD : 8 GB Free Space Drive
* DirectX : DirectX@9.0c
* Keyboard/Mouse
* CD/DVD-ROM Drive 32x Fast Speed

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NARUTO Shippuuden Gekitou Ninja Taisen Special

NARUTO Shippuuden Gekitou Ninja Taisen Special - 1DVD

On the game:
Continuation of a series of fights on the popular anime about a blond guy Naruto. The game can participate from 1 to 4 players.

System requirements:
• Processor: Core2Duo \ Core2Quad \ i3 \ i5 \ i7 \ AMD Phenom II
• Video: Nvidia or Radeon 256 mb
• Memory: 1 GB or higher.
• Operating System: XP \ Vista \ Seven
• Hard disk space: 2,3 GB

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Summer Challenge Athletics Tournament

Summer Challenge Athletics Tournament - 1DVD

Minimum System Requirements
1.8 GHz CPU or equivalent
1 GB RAM
3.5 GB free HDD
DirectX 9.0c
DirectX compatible graphiccard with 256 MB VRAM and Pixel-Shader 3.0 Support
DirectX 9 compatible soundcard

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