Most avid gamers would think, ‘another Mortal Kombat’ game? That’s exactly what I thought when i heard about the release of Mortal Kombat 9.  They’ve made some pretty horrendous mistakes in past versions – so we take a closer look to see if the latest release is a cop of a flop.

It’s very clear from the opening screen that Nether-Realm Studios (formerly known as WB Games) have spent some serious time on this game. The opening scene shows how gory this game is by a simple uppercut; one of the trademark moves of the game.

The first thing you notice is vast amount of options available. Where to start! There are plenty of features in this game to keep even the hardest gamer going for months. Among the 1player mode, there are options to play the usual tower, the challenge tower, 2×2 player (which I talk about a bit later) story mode and online.

The traditional story mode has you combatting various fighters before facing 3 final bosses: which is usually Shang Tshung, Goro or Kintaro depending on your character and then Shao Khan.  Story mode has you following the story of Mortal Kombat and playing the role of whoever is in the spotlight of the story. The Challenge tower is made up of 300 specific challenges of various difficulties. Throughout the game you collect the in-house Kombat points which can be exchanged for goodies in the Krypt; unlock more fatalities, artwork etc…

Bonus stages have been expanded from previous versions to now include: test your might, sight, strike and luck. And finally it goes without saying that in true MK style there are loads of hidden features and secrets that have been kept hush hush for you to find out.

Graphics
MK9 has boldly stepped up in terms of the graphics. The players in some cases look real (check out the story mode for this). The characters, stages and cut scenes all look flawless and showcase the MK characters and story in their true light. But the little details such as the blood stains and scuffs that stay on the character throughout the fight add hugely to the overall gory feel. The moves and fatalities all showcase the depth of detail in the graphics – showing blood, bones, tendons – the whole lot.

Gameplay
The gameplay is superb. 3D graphics with 2D gameplay seems to be the way forward for most beat ‘em ups. You can see the game has been inspired by the new Street fighter 4 game, and so it should. It seems there’s finally a perfect balance between moves, special moves and combos. What’s more notable about this game is the super bar at the bottom – which allows gamers to perform super or ‘enhanced’ moves as the bar builds or perform a ‘X-Ray move’. Each character has one and it’s the bloodiest move they can perform next to a fatality and takes a helluva lot of damage.

Along with all the usual special moves, the newly added Super Bar and X-Ray move, the rest of the combos, fatalities and stage fatalities are still present along with the option of 1×1 or 2×2 battles.

Online
Unfortunately the Playstation network was down and still is, so online gaming has not been reviewed yet. Sort it out Sony!

Overall
The reboot is probably the best MK release so far. It’s dark, bloody and showcases the story and characters at their best.  It is the same old stuff made over again but It has depth in the gameplay and keeps you engaged enough with many different modes and options. Definitely worth a purchase. Mortal Kombat is now available on both PS3 and Xbox.

mwob gives this an overall 8/ 10. Enjoy.

So what did you think to the new Mortal Kombat game? Did it meet up to the hype?  Let all your gamer friends know and leave a comment below or tweet us.

On the 17th April mwob visited the Gadget Show Live exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham. There we got to see all the latest and upcoming new gadgets looking to come up in the near future as well as current technology available. Needless to say it was an awesome day. Plenty pics to see after the click – come in and take a look.

Games Arena

Although we attended the final show on Sunday, it was still very busy. The first arena we entered was the games arena – with various sections and hubs showing off their 3D games, Xbox had their impressive Kinect on display, Sony PS3 had a 3D Move arena, and Nintendo had a hub area for the 3DS (which had the biggest queue!).

Most games were available to play, with even an old retro arena with some classics available to play. The most impressive however had to be the Mortal Kombat arena – displaying a number of arcade machines with the demo and a live tournament of the new game to be released – it truly does look like the MK series may be revived with this new release.

Gadget Arena

Was good to see many independant companies promoting their products  as well as the usual  big corporate brands. Looking past all the eye candy (you know all the pretty girls wearing next to nothing, handing out flyers to entice you), the freebies, and specticles there was some pretty awesome stuff: The AR Parrot Drone and the original Batmobile from the TV-series being only some of them.

Robo Challenge

Robo Wars eat your heart out – all the fans of the program had their own little battle arena to compete against each other along with some familiar faces, which was very entertaining to watch.

All in all, a very informative and enjoyable day out. Will definately be making time out next year to attend also. The future of technology looks bright, with lot’s of touchscreen and 3D!

Did you attend the Gadget Show Live? What did you think?
What was your highlight? We  would love to hear from your – don’t be shy – leave a comment below.

So is the new Nintendo 3DS all it’s cracked up to be or is it another handheld flop? We go deep to find out if Nintendo deliver on their new product.

When the first Nintendo DS model was launched it was met with mixed responses. My first response was “two screens, does a gamer really need two screens?” However  Nintendo managed (somehow) to use this to their advantage and have made really good success with the Nintendo DS models.

More popular with the younger generation but still appealing to the older less ‘hardcore’ gamers, but now we bare witness to the new improved Nintendo handheld gaming model – the 3DS.

So what’s different?
3D gaming without the 3D glasses is the main plug of this machine, and so it should be. The top screen displays the beautiful 3D imagery, enough to convince you otherwise if you were in doubt. You can actually see the depth and levels when playing, and managing this without glasses is quite mind boggling yet still very very enjoyable while playing surprisingly!

Another remarkable feature is the little 3D slider on the right which let’s you decide the depth of 3D – great for people with poor eyesight or for any gamer who still wants the 3D experience but just toned down. Whatever you preference it’s a very convenient feature.

The next big improvement with this model is the analogue stick. (Cue dramatic music!) yes the Nintendo 3DS comes equipped with it’s very own analogue stick.

Placed above the D-Pad, this makes the gaming experience not only more pleasure but means less blisters for all those with big fingers and thumbs. It does seem a little bit on the clunky side compared to the analogue sticks on the Wii for example, but however is still a huge plus.

With built-in Wi-Fi you can also download classic Gameboy content and new 3DS specific games. A definite win!

Another impressive feature is ‘Streetpass”, which is where if you set your Nintendo 3DS to sleep mode and carry it with you, whenever you pass someone else who has a 3DS also you automatically exchange gamedata such as Mii characters, high scores and much more. Obviously this data is controllable and you can set whatever you want to share on private, but still a very innovative and clever idea to get people interacting. Genius.

Technical specs:
Width: 135mm
Height: 74mm (when closed) 148mm (when opened)
Depth: 20mm
Weight: 8ounces
Top Screen: 3.5 inchs
Bottom Screen: 3 inchs
Camera: Front and rear facing camera
Connectivity: SDHC slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi, motion sensors, gyroscope
Battery life: 3-5 hours (3D) otherwise 5-8 hours (2D)

Overall
The gaming experience is somewhat lacking when compared with the likes of the Sony’s PSP models but the glasses-free 3D is a huge step and innovation in portable gaming. Just another example of how Nintendo are unafraid to take risks with something different and innovative, just like they did with the Wii.

What do you think of the 3DS?
If you own, we would love to hear from you and what you think?

It’s been a while since our last Friday Fun post and seeing as the iPad 2 just got released in the UK, what more fun could you ask for then to see this exquisite piece of kit get shredded into bits! Gotta love the Steve Jobs parody!

Enjoy!

All those who shop with Play.com may have woken up to a serious email in there inbox’s this morning. Play.com have revealed that they have suffered an email breach with the company that handles their marketing communications. Read on for more info.

They assure the incident happened outside Play.com and ensure they are taking security and privacy of all their customers very seriously, and are also taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future.

They have also issued for further advice to customers:
“Please do be vigilant with your email and personal information when using the internet. At Play.com we will never ask you for information such as passwords, bank account details or credit card numbers. If you receive anything suspicious in your email, please do not click on any links and forward the email on to privacy@play.com for us to investigate.”

What do you think?
Do you shop with Play.com, will you continue to shop with them? Let us know what you think below and share this message to let your friends know.

In a bid to help the victims of the earthquake / tsunami in Japan, Sega and Capcom have slashed prices of most of there iPhone games as of March 15 and will donate profits to charity reliefs.

Top notch games titles including most (if not all) versions of Sonic The Hedgehog and Street Fighter 4 are available for slashed prices starting from 60p. This is only for a limited period so go get downloading.

It’s an awful tragedy with what’s happened in Japan. Our thoughts and prays are with the people. Please help however you can. A big orange thumbs up to Sega and Capcom!

Yes you heard right. After much delay the iOS 4.3 software update is now available to download via iTunes for all you iPad/ pod/ Phone lovers. We take a little look at what the new update has to offer. Take a look…

It’s a pretty heavy update, so you may be waiting there a while – but some of the key features of the  iOS 4.3 update include :

Improved Airplay enhancements
Allowing you to get more out of streaming your content both ways.

Faster Safari Performance
Faster page loads means a more faster, smooth web surfing experience.

iTunes Home Sharing
You can now connect your library to other iTunes around the home.

Customize Side Switch (iPad Only)
You can now customise the switch on the side of the iPad to lock or mute in the settings.

Personal HotSpot (iPhone 4 only)
While on the move, you can now make your iPhone 4 into a Wi-Fi device and share connection with up to 5 devices.

This is now available to download via iTunes for all your iPhones, iPod touchs and iPads. Pretty slick, all in all.

Apple are gonna have a big year this year. Look out soon for our iPad2 review, and more news updates regardig the iPhone 5! Enjoy

What do you think to the new update?
Let us know…

Comic and gaming enthusiasts around the world must be walking around with Cheshire cat smiles as this February saw the release date of the eagerly awaited ‘Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate of two worlds.

The first two editions of the series were legendary in the gaming field – combining the best characters, moves, super-moves and storylines of both worlds. After months of teaser trailers and built-up hype, we take a look at the third installment on the PS3 and see whether its just ‘another fighting game’ or if it lives up to the hype?

First off, I’m a big comic book and street fighter fan. I can recall back to the good old days of college, I used to spend most of my time (and money) down the local arcades. The arcade of choice was of course Marvel vs. Capcom so I’m familiar with the fast paced game play.

A long time has passed since then. Gaming has dramatically advanced within the last 10 years: graphics are now 3D and life like, game-play is also very much in-depth and easier,  and also online gaming plays a huge factor in today’s gaming. So that’s what we’re judging this game on: Graphics, Game-Play and Online gaming.

Graphics
Visually, this game is stunning. From the intro movie, to the comic book style and 3D graphics. The characters look prime, and even when there’s many people on screen doing moves you still have a sense of clarity amongst all that havoc. Some really nice effects and touches and overall it successfully pulls off the combination of comic book style, bright vibrant colours and smooth 3d graphics.

Game-play
The third installment in the series maintains the traditional 3×3 tagteam format, alongwith 36 iconic characters to choose from. For all those new to the MVC game, the game-play is unlike any other combat game, you literally can do anything, from 80 hit plus combos to having all three of your characters on screen doing super-moves.

The fast past gameplay still remains, so the expert players still get to enjoy stringing large combo’s together and novice players can get their button bashing on.

All the classic characters from both worlds still remain such as Ryu, Chun-li, Akuma, Wolverine, Spider-man, Dr.Doom etc. as well as some noticeably new faces to the roster: Dante from Devils May Cry, Deadpool, Phoenix and more, which all help to update the game to modern day times.

One player or ‘Offline mode’ includes the usual story mode, versus for two player mode and a training area to practice moves. One great feature that has been added is the ability to save three of your own preset teams, great for saving you time choosing and setting up each character. Other little add-on’s such as ‘wall and ground bouncing’ all add to the gameplay.

There’s plenty stuff to unlock such as icons, tags, characters, movies etc.. which all help to keep you engaged. But once you feel that’s not enough you have ‘Online Mode’.

Online
Running off the back of the new street fighter 4 engine, the options are very similar. Play ranked matches, create your own ranked and lobby matches and pit your team against someone else’s. With all scores from each match automatically added onto your profile, this does get a tad annoying as after every match it does take a few seconds each time to save (this may just be the PS3 version).

Overall
The MVC3 is a solid game and successfully give the series a facelift for modern times. With new characters, a upgrade on gameplay and stunning graphics this should be enough to keep die hard fans as well as newcomers entertained. However, you may get a little bit bored of all the fast-paced gameplay so you’ll probably find yourself going back to the likes of Street Fighter to get your dose of online combat.

mwob gives this an overall 7.5 / 10. Enjoy.

Kmwob, our hardened gaming veteran welcomes any newcomers to a challenge – Gamertag : ksruprai

How are you finding the new Marvel Vs Capcom 3 game? Let us know below or over on twitter.

Buy Marvel Vs Capcom 3 from Amazon and save money:
Xbox – £32.99 | PS3 – £32.99

Something a little different for you this fun friday. We know you love tech, well that’s why your here aren’t you? Good, then here’s your chance to win some great gadgets an it’s damn easy.

Our friends over at e2save have just launched a competition and are giving away, here it comes:

A Sony Xperia X10 smartphone
Asus X5DC Notebook
Nokia X6
ZTE F102

Not bad hey. 3 phones and one is the beautifully stylish X10. And just because they’re feeling nice the notebook is thrown in out of goodwill. So thats £700 in total. Nice. So what do you have to do? Just go over to the competition and fill in your name and contact. Then go follow them by newsletter, Youtube or Twitter. Not hard, not time consuming and it’s worth a go.

Get yourself kitted out for nothing. We’ll be having a go.

Find the competition here.

The competition is only open to UK entrants. So our worldwide friends you will have to wait for the next one.

So you like to take pictures? Ready to step up your photography game? With so many camera’s which one is best for you? We give you a break down of 3 great camera’s and what they are good for so you know exactly what to look for.

If you’re a beginner… Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 is a light, compact camera which is very user friendly making it a joy for beginners. Only weighing a mere 336g it won’t tire your hands out on long photo shoots.

Packing a 12 megapixel camera brings you a crisp image quality that maintains sharpness and colour vibrancy and with a large 3″ LCD display screen, this means you won’t be squinting when looking back at the snaps you just took.

The only downside to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 is that it doesn’t come with any anti-shaking features. However, for a camera that comes with loads of other features and only costing around the £350 mark, that makes it the cheapest in it’s range.

Overall a good price for an all round camera with loads of great features to get you started.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 is available to buy here from Amazon

If you’re in need of crisp, quality images… Canon EOS 500D

The Canon EOS 500D is 15 megapixel camera, for all those who need that perfect, quality image. It’s a great camera to take pictures on in all levels of lighting, as the Canon’s CMOS sensor / High ISO  range of up to 3200, it makes it great for low level lighting shoots. This can obviously be expanded with the use of a flash light as well.

In addition, the Canon EOS 500D is also able to shoot full HD videos at up to 20 fps, and also comes with a 3″ LCD screen for easy playback viewing.

You can tell the from the chunky grip, overall build and extra little features such as a HDMI port that it is a quality camera, a definite notch up to the Panasonic Lumix DMC G10. However it too doesn’t come with any anti-shake functions. Costing in at around £550, it’s a very well built camera that’s easy to use and producing high quality images in all levels of lighting.

The Canon EOS 500D is available to buy here from Amazon

If you’re after no nonsense… Nikon D3100

Nikon have always had a good reputation when it comes to camera’s. This model is a compact, rugged digital camera with 14 megapixels comes with good sharpness quality, ISO options and is able to record full HD video at up to 24fps.

The highlighting features are that it is fast, responsive and has a nice user interface making it very easy to use. It it is very clear it has been designed to provide no nonsense, hassle  or complications to those who just want to take good photography

Coming with 18-55mm zoom lens, the camera, it has all the necessary features of the Panasonic and the almosts matches up to the quality of the Canon, allowing it to  fit inbetween the two models above.

It costs around the £500 mark, and although the small compact frame may be alittle awkward to get a grip with, it really does have some really good features for ambitious beginners.

The Nikon D3100 is available to buy here from Amazon

Well there’s are recommendations – hope they help you choose the camera for you.

Do you own any of these camera’s? Or do you have a difference model that could match up?
Let us know your thoughts.