CrankyCarter's Gaming Blog

Saints Row: The Third Preview

2011-09-21T21:22:00.002+01:00

Saints Row: The Third plays very much like the other Saints rows games with both on foot and driving controllers feeling very similar which is definitely not a bad thing, the big change in the series is the graphics that look a lot more realistic than previous games.

The customization looks to have been improved with loads of new clothes that would make anyone look stupid. The ability to buy shops featured in the demo and the activity's will also be making a return. Weapons feel similar to the other games but the melee combat has greatly improved From the very short time I am very impressed and will be buying on launch in November.

Oh BTW there's a new trailer featuring one of the new gangs called "The Deckers" a gang that look very tron like and from the trailer looks like the Saints will be under attack from these guys online as well as off.

Game Fest

2011-09-17T12:25:00.007+01:00

So on Friday I went to "Game Fest" (a convention organized by the UK retailer Game) with my good friend James. The convention had a great number of games on show from Battlefield 3 to Just Dance. Predictably the big games such COD and Battlefield had very large queues so we decided to keep to some of the smaller titles, than just to play a couple of big games. I really enjoyed Game Fest and met gaming personality's such as Dan Maher aka MrPointyHead from inside Xbox.

The show in all was really good and we got to play I fair few games and get lots of freebees in the process. I will be uploading more in depth previews of the games we played in the next couple of days, other than that I really enjoyed the show and I wouldn't call a money spinning venture, although this is certainly not the last we've seen of Game Fest as it has been confirmed for next year and will probably grow year on year.

The Angry and Cranky Podcast

2011-09-03T19:12:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone some of you may know that me and my friend Kurt have been producing a gaming podcast called The Angry and Cranky podcast. The first episode of which is up on thegamerstudio.com the podcast consist of gaming news our thoughts on the latest games and old games that we recommend playing. The podcast will be released a biweekly and I will be updating when it's released on my twitter page. Hope you like it and enjoy listening.

Mac Gaming

2011-09-02T20:59:00.002+01:00

As some of you may know I own a imac, I primarily use it for video and photo editing for uni where I use specialist programs. Although I use my mac mostly media I use it occasionally for gaming, I started with games from the humble indie bundle, as almost all these games work with mac. Games such as braid and penumbra work very well and look great on the imac's high res screen, I really enjoyed penumbra and decided to purchase the 2 sequel's, the penumbra games are first person adventure games so no skill is involves just puzzle solving.

More recently I downloaded TF2 for my mac, the main reason was to see how it ran compared to my aging PC that was getting around 10fps when there was any kind of action. TF2 on my mac run reasonably well with me getting around 30fps in heavy action and about 60fps out of action.

The issue I have with playing TF2 on my mac is the fact that I have only the standard keyboard and and the dreaded magic mouse, the the mouse is definitely not built with gaming in mind with the mouse being one large surface that detects both both mouse click and stroll wheel, technically impressive but very hard to game with.

In short mac is getting more and more games released for it and is more than capable of handling them although at the moment PC's and consoles are better platforms for gaming.

Driver San Francisco Demo

2011-08-27T14:24:00.001+01:00

In the last week 2 demos have been released for the upcoming game Driver San Francisco as I am fan of the driver series having owned the previous 5 games I fell well prepared to give my opinions on both the multi player and the single player demos of Driver San Fransisco.

The single player player demo was the first one I downloaded it includes 3 different missions of varying in type. The first mission called "" sees you trying to convince your partner that you have the special ability called shift, this ability allows you to shift in to the body on an other person allowing you to therefore drive their car. The mission is the convince your buddy of your power by using it to manipulate a driver and cause him to do very unusual things such crashing in to police cars. The shift mechanic is fun to use and this first mission is just to show the simplest of its capability's.

The second mission in the demo sees you using the using the sift mechanic to help a father, daughter race team win in both first and second in a race. The mission see you using shift to keep both the races in the top 2 positions by jugging back to forth in each car.

The last mission in the demo is a getaway mission at the start you shift in to the car of a criminal driver where your goal is to earn the respect of your passenger by losing the cops.

The single player missions all very enjoyable but short as you expect from a demo. One criticism I have with the demo is the driving it's self, I feel that the handing on the cars was very difficult and I found my self using the the hand brake a lot to get round corners, it seem the devs have gone for a realist approach with the player having to slow down a lot before turning a tight corner although when 5 police cars are after you slowing down is the last thing on your mind.

The demos are definitely worth a download and I will most likely be getting the game once it has gone down in price a little.

It's Over 20,000!

2011-08-23T19:14:00.000+01:00

So today I passed the 20k Gamerscore mark a achievement that has taken me also most 3 years and somewhere around 30 games to complete. The game that pushed me over the 20k mark was Splinter Cell Conviction where the achievement was for completing the final mission and the game on realistic difficulty ( yes I'm hardcore lol). Splinter Cell Conviction is a really solid game, one that I really want to play co-op.

So how do I feel about about this milestone, honestly not a awful lot at the end of the day they are just numbers on a screen and do nothing to show how much effort you put in to getting the achievements in the first place, so really am not that bothered, although I do like to be ahead of my friends a little =).

Battlefield 3 leaked Screenshots!

2011-07-18T22:54:00.000+01:00

First it was the turn of Activisions best selling fps franchise MW3's information to be leaked now it's the turn of Battlefield 3. Although no-where near the scale of MW3 leak, screenshots of Battlefield 3 alpha have been released.

A user that goes by the name 'GOLD.i3DGwendoline' on the tek-9.org forums has posted a number of screenshots of the multiplayer alpha. As these are alpha screenshots this is not what the game will look like on release but it gives us a good idea of what we can expect Menu and HUD wise.

The game still has long time to it's release in October and by that time the game with no-doubt look alot better. We will be seeing more test footage of the game when the public beta is released for medal of honor owners in September.

Looking at the HUD the left corner features map and the mission objective's but also a compass, something that was missing in Bad Company 2. There also seems to be both the vehicle and player health displayed in the right corner, whether this will feature in the main game is still unknown.

What do you think of these screenshots and will you be getting the game in October tell me in the comments below.

Blog Redesign and New Serious Sam Episode

2011-07-17T15:09:00.001+01:00

So I've redesigned the blog to make it look better and more unique hopefully you like it, if you think it could be improved at all please say in the comments. Watch out for the next episode Angry's and Cranky's gaming podcast were we will be talking about thing that I haven't wrote in this blog which is a lot of stuff with game-play from Dirt 2 :D.

Also be sure to watch the next episode of our Serious Sam lets play it's more of the same no stop action with stupid amounts of enemy's with near god mode health. If your new to this series I recommend watching the first episode as it is a good example of what to come.

Holiday, Steam, TF2 and Sales!

2011-07-13T19:05:00.002+01:00

Holidays and sales, my excuse for not updating.

So yet again I have neglected to update my blog or even YouTube this time though I kinda have a good excuse. The last week I have been on Holiday so the internet and gaming news have been hard to come across thankfully the only thing that seems to have happened in the last week is the steam sale, which yes I have brought off :).

That is kinda my excuse for not updating this week too as I have been playing the games that I brought of the sale these are all exclusive pc games Trine , Torchlight and Amnesia. These are all great games that I will probably be talking about and recommending on here soon.

As I have been on steam alot I decide to have a go on TF2 to see what it's like now it's free. I have played alot off TF2 especially when it first came out, but more recently I have not played it in about a year. The game has changed greatly since then but its still as fun as I remember. I have made use of the new replay editor and you can see the results below.

Not to great but will hope fully be able to come up with something better soon.

Oh yeah and also new Serious Sam and Cranky and Angry podcast soon.

Serious Sam HD Playthrough!

2011-06-26T18:01:00.000+01:00

I've uploaded another YouTube video this time it's the first in a series of episodes of a co-op playthough of Serious Sam HD with 400% enemy health 0_0 .

Click below to see the first episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgT8f-v68o

E3 Podcast!

2011-06-19T19:15:00.000+01:00

You may have wondered why i haven't been updating my blog during E3. The reason is you could get all the news from E3 from thousands of different websites and I felt I would be just repeating the news and not able to expand much more.

Now E3 has been over for a while me and my friend Kurt decided to do a podcast on what we thought of E3 from the games to the conferences.

Click below to watch the podcast a accompany some Nazi zombies Gameplay or click in the link in the description the the video to download the mp3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmzuAhbHpgI

Duke Nukem Demo Gameplay Review

2011-06-03T23:00:00.000+01:00

I played the new Duke Nukem Demo today and I decided to do a little video review on my thoughts of it. Check it out below you know you want to :).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EWOoZ3bjgs

Saints Row 3 and Mw3 Details!

2011-06-02T17:15:00.000+01:00

Saints Row 3 got a new trailer today although it does contain any Gameplay the trailer has some very impressive cgi, and shows off what we can probably expect from the game when it's released this November, I'm definitely hyped for this game. If your interested watch the trailer here.

kotaku.com have yet again released more details of MW3 this time they have details of the multiplayer aspects of the game that can be seen here. They talk in detail about they will be 20 maps in Mutiplayer but they are still unsure about how many will be released with the disc.They also mentioned some details of the perks and Killstreaks that may feature in the game. Infinity ward have rubbished some of these rumors but we will have to wait for the release in November until we know all the details.

Call Of Duty Elite

2011-06-01T18:18:00.001+01:00

Money money money money, Cod Elite!

As you may have heard Activision whats your money, but this time they what it in easy monthly payments right to their bank account. This is where Call of Duty Elite comes in. Elite is a new service for new call of duty games such as black ops and the upcoming modern warfare 2.

The services allow you to track your performance in the game on a external website, a lot like bungie.com's Halo Reach stat pages. The news that has people upset is that some of the features of this website will cost a monthly fee of with estimates of around £9 a month which is frankly horrible in my opinion.

What do you think of the Elite service and Activision attitude towards it's best selling series?

I Made A Video.

2011-05-27T18:42:00.000+01:00

Hello everybody, as you can probably tell by the title I've made a new video. Now I haven't made the video public yet, thats because I want to see what you think of it and what things i could do to improve it. Hopefully if you like it i will make a series of videos about the games in my collection.

Click the link below and tell me what you think of the video in the comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfwQFEhjlG8

Dead Island Gameplay!

2011-05-23T11:20:00.000+01:00

Screenshot from the Gameplay.

Game Trailers have a whole 11 mins of game play of Dead Island on their website. In the video the game is played and explained by a developer of the game deep silver. Game play looks great with it more than living up to the hype, I could talk about what happens in the Game play but a strongly recommend that you watch it your self here.

ARMA 3 Announced.

2011-05-19T17:13:00.000+01:00

ARMA 3 takes place on a large island.

ARMA 3 has been Announced today by the developers of the game Bohemia Interactive. ARMA 3 will follow the format of its predecessors providing a very realist simulation of war. If you are unfamiliar with the series the game puts your into realist combat situation where you are to use teamwork and tactics to win games.


Vehicles will play a big part in the game.

ARMA is also know for having a wide range of weapons and vehicles that all have unique realistic characteristics that makes it unique in the genre of FPS. The only thing second to ARMA in terms of realism is the real thing. No release date has been set for the game but screen shots and key feature of the game can been seen here. If you interested in how ARMA plays try ARMA2 or if you have Battlefield 2 the Project Reality Mod offer a similar experience for free.

Oh Dear Sony: New Firmware Causes PS3's to Overheat

2011-05-18T23:05:00.000+01:00

Bad times for PS3 owners.

When you just thought it was all over for Sony and the PlayStation yet another problem arises. The new firmware update that completely over hauled the PSN to help prevent further hacking attempts is having negative affect on some consoles. The 3.61 is reported by Rockstar Games to be causing PS3's to overheat freeze and even die. This is very early news so expect to hear from more trusted sources in the hours.

Duke Nukem Gameplay

2011-05-14T14:59:00.000+01:00

He he look at the ammo count.

If your quick you can take a look at a Gameplay video of the first level of Duke Nukem forever, I say quick as there is a good chance that this footage will be taken down in a few hours.

Anyway it looks like Duke Nukem Forever is already finished in development terms, so if you like what you see the game is released on the 10th of June.

MW3 Leaked!

2011-05-13T19:22:00.001+01:00


Leaked!

Looks like someone at IW will have some explaining to do as almost all the story details have been leaked on the popular gaming website kotaku. The Single player story for MW3 has been almost fully relieved in in great detail along with detailed art work of all the locations that feature throughout the game. Robert bowing the official community manager for infinity ward has confirms that some of the details are correct and some not not but he does not specify what parts.

One of the possible mutiplayer maps.

Mutiplayer character models, guns models and map screenshots and names with over 20 maps have also been leaked. Spec ops will also be making a return, with a horde mode style game type known as survival. If you want to learn more about this huge leak click here for more although be warned it is one HUGE SPOILER. All these details of the game are subject to change in the coming months as the game is not due for release until November.

Team Fortress 2 Update!

2011-05-06T23:19:00.000+01:00

Everyone's favorite hat similar got a update recently and quite a major one at that. The update now comes with the ability to record replay's much like halo's theater mode. To celebrate this release, valve are hosting a competition to record the best clip of one of the 20 different category's 20 category's = 20 winners. The update is free so start up steam and get downloading. http://www.teamfortress.com/replayupdate/

PlayStation Down!

2011-04-30T13:44:00.000+01:00

Hacked and Down.

I've been on holiday this last week but I didn't even need the internet to hear about this story. The first I heard about PSN being down was on Radio 1, the UK's most listened to radio station, it was the top story for a day on their news segment. When something gaming related is on national radio you know it's quite serious.

To say this was a bad week for Sony would be the understatement of the year, the PSN network has been down for almost a week and reports say its could be Tuesday until it is fixed not only do Sony have to put up with the wrath of PS3 owners but now also government organizations looking at taking legal action for not keeping peoples personal data safe.

Portal 2 PS3 sales affected by PSN downtime.

PSN being down has effected one game in-particular Portal 2, being released just before the network went down players can't play online but they also can't use the integrated Steam that allows players to talk and play with people on both PC and mac. This problem is tipped as one of the reasons for Portal 2 not selling as well on PS3 as on the Xbox 360.

PSN is expected to be back online on Tuesday, PS3 owners will be hoping it is and no serious damage as been caused, for Sony the story will be far from over.

Sonic Generations!

2011-04-20T13:39:00.000+01:00

2 Different generations 2 different gameplay mechanics.

Sonic is game franchise that as pretty much has just declined over the years countless attempts to reboot the franchise have fallen flat with games such as sonic unleashed and Sonic colors for the wii getting mediocre review scores.

Sega is yet again trying to reboot Sonic with Sonic Generations, the main hook to the game is being able to play the old school style of sonic with super fast side scrolling gameplay but also the added function of being able to play as the modern Sonic with levels in 3D much like the Sonic Adventurer games. The concept sounds good but will Sega be able to pull of a great Sonic game, something that they have been able to achieve for years. Mega64 don't think so and have made a video about it so don't get your hopes up to high.

If your interested to see what the game may look like have a look at the trailer below you might be pleasantly surprised or maybe not seeing as it looks like every other sonic trailer, although the games is looking very nice and there is a good choice of music for the trailer.

What is your favorite sonic game and what do you think of the new game trailer, leave your comments below.

Xbox Rewards!

2011-04-18T20:29:00.000+01:00

If you didn't already know Xbox.com have started a reward system to thank their uses, although they don't seem to reward us that much as there is almost no advertising on the service. The rewards are basically just Microsoft points but they don't come free and are quite hard to come by for example I have had a Xbox rewards account since December in that time I have only gained 100ms points and that was by answering one survey every month that gained me 20ms each time.

Now that I have 100points they can then be transferred to my Xbox live account but it may take up-to a month for the transfer. They're other ways you can earn points but these involve buying certain things of the market place so really it's more of a discount there are also daily competitions to win ms points by answering gaming trivia. Although the service in still in it's early stages it is still well worth signing up for any Xbox gamer. Click below to go to the site.

http://rewards.xbox.com/

Street Fighter X Tekken

2011-04-17T22:45:00.000+01:00

Street Fighter X Tekken was announced a while ago and since then there hasn't been allot of news some gameplay and a new trailer a couple of weeks ago. Now some of the characters that are going to feature in the in the game have been announced these are pretty obvious such as Ken, Ryu, King and Kazuya but if you wanna see the full list click here and below is the most recent trailer for the game.