Techno, Techno, Techno - Gadget & Games Blog - Mirror.co.uk

Review: The Wheelman

2009-03-27T00:33:46Z

Xbox 360, PC, PS3
£24.99-£44.99

This may come as a surprise to some, but Hollywood action man Vin Diesel is quite the game connoisseur.

In 2002, he founded Tigon Studios who brought us the superb Chronicles Of Riddick games - keep an eye out for another in the series in the next few months.

While Diesel's gaming credentials cannot be disputed, one can only speculate as to how the decidedly lacklustre Wheelman got through the studio's usually rigorous quality control process.

Starring Vin himself, The Wheelman attempts to set itself apart from Grand Theft Auto comparisons by putting a plethora of zany stunts into the player's hands.

Our Hollywood hero stars as an undercover agent who just happens to be a highlyskilled driver, charged with a mission to infiltrate the Spanish underworld to gather intelligence surrounding a covert heist.

As well as standard running and gunning segments, you're given the ability to battle with other cars, ramming them with the right analogue stick, and are also able to dive from one vehicle to another to 'skyjack' them.

With neither the depth nor the polish of similar titles, The Wheelman is difficult to recommend, not least because some elements of the game feel very unfinished.

From the generic characters and soulless mapping of the Barcelona setting to the repetitive game play, The Wheelman feels less a knock-off Grand Theft Auto than a knock-off Just Cause, which is nothing to shout from the rooftops about.

Review: Nintendo DSi

2009-03-20T00:00:09Z

£150
Released April 4th

Having now shifted a combined total of almost 100 million DS and DS Lite's, Nintendo have now seen it fit to release a third version of everyone's favourite handheld gaming device.

This overhaul features bigger and brighter dual screens, better sound, a faster processor, two cameras and a built-in MP3 player. To accommodate the new features, Nintendo have jettisoned the Game Boy Advance slot that featured on its predecessor, waving farewell to backwards compatibility with a large library of older games.

Slightly thinner than the Lite, there's 256mb of flash memory onboard for storing pics, sound recordings and tunes, and this can be expanded further via a new SD card slot.

The extra storage space also brings into play what is probably the key feature of the DSi - space for downloads from the DSi Shop.

Accessible via wi-fi directly from the console's menu screen, you'll eventually be able to download full games and apps direct to your console.

At present the only download available of note is a web browser which works fairly well, but lacks Flash support, therefore ruling out Youtube viewing.

The low-res, motion-sensing 0.3MP cameras (one above the top screen, the other on the back of the device) are unlikely to be up to replacing the snapper on your mobile phone, let alone a compact, but they should at least encourage some new original Eye-Toy style games.

Short-term fun can be had with the console's built-in software that's full of Nintendo's trademark playful charm. An image-manipulator similar to Apple's Photobooth lets you distort you and your friends' faces with a selection of effects, while a voice-changing program allows similar warping of the audio kind.

In short, the DSi is a logical refresh of an already well-designed handheld, with the changes now making it a genuine multi-purpose device.

That said, its pricey, and hard to recommend right now as an upgrade to DS Lite owners who are probably best advised to wait and see if the DSi Store lives up to its promise before parting with their cash.

Review: iPod Shuffle (3rd Generation)

2009-03-20T00:00:08Z

£59.99

Just when you thought the Shuffle couldn't get any easier to lose, Apple, have cut its size in half, shifting its controls from the front of the device to a remote control on the headphone cable.

As before, the new tie-clip sized device lacks a display, but this is now negotiated with via the new VoiceOver feature that reads aloud the names of tracks, artists and playlists in a computer generated robotic voice upon a button press.

Handily, the Stephen Hawkins soundalike also lets you know when battery levels are low. It's clever as well - if it finds a Spanish song, for example, it will automatically speak the title and artist in the said language.

Volume up/down buttons sit on either side of a multifunction center button.

Pressing this once plays or pauses a song; twice skips forward and three times skips back.

It takes some time getting used to, but the remote works well and feels responsive.

Headphones aren't usually the most durable of components, so it's questionable to have the device to be so dependant on something that notoriously breaks so easily.

A number of third-party companies are due to release their own remote adaptors, allowing you to use your cans of choice, but until then your left with the supplied ear buds.

Measuring 0.7 by 1.8 by 0.3 inches and weighing a scant 0.38 ounce, while you've got to admire the miniaturism, it comes at the cost of aesthetics as well as functionality - a criticism you wouldn't normally level at Apple.

Its predecessor's little click controls were both fun and cute, but the new brushed aluminum Shuffle looks a bit dull and is arguably less user-friendly.

On the plus side, the sound quality appears to have been improved, with a noticeably less tinny output than its predecessors, while the 4GB of storage is a generous boost in capacity.

If you're after a no thrills, gym-friendly music player then the new shuffle certainly fits the bill, but you can't help but feel the compromises that come with the new design outweigh the improvements.

Review: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

2009-03-20T00:00:05Z

Nintendo DS
£29.99

Seeing an 18 certificate plastered over the box for a Nintendo DS game seems just wrong.

But here we have it - the first game for Nintendo's wholesome family handheld to earn the unlikely honour.

Aptly enough, it's Rockstar's latest instalment of the rabble-rousing GTA series which picks up that adults-only badge for "very strong language and drug references", no less.

You take the role of Huang Lee, a wise-cracking rich kid who comes to the crime capital of Liberty City after hearing news of his father's death.

You're tasked with delivering a sacred family sword to his crime lord uncle in order to swing them back into favour with the city's Triads.

Going back to the game's PS1 roots, Chinatown Wars sports a top-down view and cartoonish cellshaded visuals, along with GTA's familiar missionbased gameplay.

Full use is made of the console's unique features, enabling you to use the built-in microphone to whistle for a cab, for example, while some ace wireless multiplayer options boost the game's longevity.

The touch screen is used to cleverly display maps, program GPS routes to your next destination and select weapons, while the top screen shows the playing field where most of the action takes place.

While the quart-into-a-pint-pot PSP outings for GTA suffered from long loading times, Chinatown Wars zips along with no such interruptions.

Playing to its top-down strengths, a fair chunk of the missions centre around the game's excellent car chase action.

Whizzing around the intricately illustrated city while taking out pursuers Burnout-style is as engrossing as anything you'll encounter in GTA IV.

The often cheesy gangster dialogue and plot can at times feel long in the tooth, but you can't argue with the engrossing action on offer here.

Chinatown Wars does justice to the series and should satisfy anyone looking for some darker thrills on the DS.

Just make sure it doesn't get mixed up with little Bobby's Nintendogs cartridge.

Review: Sharp AQUOS DH77 46"

2009-03-20T00:00:00Z

£999

With power-hungry large screen TV's coming under increasing fire for their lack of green credentials in recent months, Sharp are the latest firm to try and address the situation.

The latest models in their Full HD AQOUS LCD TV lineup feature a 'green eco-button' on the remote control, which lets viewers reduce the energy consumption of the TV by directly operating the Energy Save Mode.

Like recent Panasonic sets, the DH77 has a built-in sensor, which decreases power consumption by adjusting the TV's backlight brightness according to the lighting in the room.

A slower power-up option is also on hand to help you keep your bills down.

Sporting a USB input for viewing pictures and listening to Mp3s, (but sadly no video file playback) and a trio of HDMIs, the 100hz set is unsurprisingly at its best when supplied with a high definition source, with the BBC's HD coverage of the 6 Nations looking silky smooth during fast-paced tracking shots.

It doesn't perhaps compensate quite as well as recent Sony Bravia's sets when handling standard definition pictures, with some noticeable smearing while watching Freeview, but this is nevertheless a solid performer that has the added bonus of being carbon conscious.

Review: Grand Theft Auto IV - The Lost And The Damned

2009-02-20T13:07:23Z

Xbox 360
1600 Microsoft points (£13.60)
Requires the original Grand Theft Auto IV to play

For many gamers, last year's Grand Theft Auto IV was THE must-have title.

Now The Lost And The Damned expansion pack, available on Xbox-live, gives you a reason to get right back onto the seedy streets of Liberty City all over again.

While it's mostly comprised of similar driving, shooting and exploration missions, The Lost And The Damned introduces one major new feature, Convoy mode.

As Johnny 'The Jew' Klebitz, part of the biker gang The Lost, you can feed off the pack mentality of your allies and reap brutal benefits.

It's a great addition, and rewards gamers who play the loyal gang member role by the book.

This is a pretty meaty update and worth the wait.

Get your motor running, get out on the Xbox live highway and get this expansion.

Mobile World Congress 2009 round-up: Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung show off phones of the future

2009-02-20T12:49:31Z

Earlier this week, the great and the good from the world of phones descended on Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress.

Here are the pick of the big announcements from this year's dog and bone fest.

One of the busiest firms at the show were Sony Ericsson.

The new W995 Walkman (above) looks smart enough, with an 8.1 megapixel camera and Sony's new Media Go interface, but their real big gun was the Idou concept handset (below).

Set to be rechristened nearer its autumn launch, the touchscreen device has a 12.1 megapixel snapper as well as Wi-Fi and GPS.

LG got tactile with its Arena KM900.

The Korean firm's "flagship phone for 2009", it has a 3D interface and is big on multimedia with integrated Dolby/DivX technology.

Toshiba's wafer-thin TG01 has plenty of zip, being the first phone to boast a speedy 1GHz Snapdragon chip(below).

It also comes with a 4.1in beaut of a screen.

Samsung has updated two of its most successful phones from last year.

The new Tocco Ultra (above), now has a convenient slideout numeric keypad as well a touchscreen interface.

Meanwhile, the OmniaHD (below) is the world's first cellphone capable of recording 720p highdefinition video.

Elsewhere, the Memoir should be a snapper's dream with an 8 megapixel resolution, Xenon flash and CMOS auto focus and 16x digital zoom.

Perhaps more interesting was Samsung's green-conscious solarpowered handset which is made out of old bottles.

Called Blue Earth, the pebble-shaped device tracks how many trees you save by walking rather than driving.

It all sounds great, but how useful will it be in dull rainy England?

Review: Street Fighter IV

2009-02-16T00:00:00Z

Xbox 360, PS3
£39.99

Let’s not pull any punches; Street Fighter IV is amazing.

It doesn’t disappoint, it doesn’t let up on excitement, and unlike its arcade cousin it doesn’t cost a quid every time you crave a blast.

On the surface Street Fighter IV seems like a souped-up return to the classic Street Fighter II.

Firstly, the entire classic cast of Street Fighter II, one of the most balanced, memorable and enjoyable fighters of all time return.

Ryu, Ken, Blanka, Chun-Li, Guile, E-Honda et al are back to claim the title of World Fighter.

The game, while rendered in 3D and often giving the impression of an extra dimension, actually reverts back to the old-school 2D plane.

The six-button high, medium and low attack schemes of Street Fighter II also makes a return, making all of the classic special moves such as dragon punches and sonic booms instantly accessible to new-comers and hardcore fans alike.

While certainly Street Fighter IV pays service to its now twenty-year old fan base, it also caters for the new-generation of fans it aims to entice.

Ultra and Ex moves make outlandishly bombastic specials possible, whilst brand new focus attacks introduce a strategically defensive element, allowing you to absorb attacks at the expense of the power of your own specials.

New modes too have been added to the arcade staple, including time attack and survival modes (with high scores tracked on online leader boards) challenge modes and online play, with the option to be challenged by other fighters world wide at any moment.

The roster of fighters (including unlockable characters) is also boosted up to twenty-five, introducing new brawlers such as El Fuerte the Mexican luchador and returning fan favourite, the Bruce Lee-alike Fei Long.

With its combat so perfectly in check, the final cherry on the cake comes with the Street Fighter IV’s visuals.

Staggeringly stylish, the game uses some of the most strikingly rendered cell-shading techniques you’ll get to see in any current generation game.

Bursting with colour and beautifully animated, its almost as much fun to watch as it is to play.

Tekken, Soul Calibur, come in your, time is up. Highly accessible, full of memorable characters and with many addictive game modes, Street Fighter IV is quite simply the best fighting game of all time.

Review: The House of the Dead: Overkill

2009-02-12T18:59:59Z

Wii, £39.99

It’s often been a criticism of the Wii console that it does little to cater for those outside the casual game-playing audience, with too many family-orientated titles and too few action-packed ones.

This latest offering from Sega looks to drastically redress this imbalance.

For those unfamiliar with the House Of The Dead series, the games see players armed with light-guns mowing down screen after screen of zombie and monster foes across ‘on-rails’ levels.

With the gun and gore count high, it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing the Redknapp family sitting around for a quick session of Overkill on those ubiquitous Wii television adverts.

It’s riotously good fun and, thankfully, there’s not a cutesy Pokemon-esque mascot in sight. It is admittedly shameless in its violence, but this is delivered with just enough tongue-in-cheek candour to be as funny as it is gross.

Overkill sees the franchise taken over by a new developer, Headstrong Games, and with their arrival at the helm comes a welcome stylistic overhaul for the series.

The influence of Grindhouse cinema is apparent throughout, with levels dotted with exploitation posters and nice touches such as screen shakes and film tears, along with the hammy, profanity-filled script.

It’s a pity that all the action on screen can often cause the game to judder and slow down, although it’s rarely noticeable enough to be a major concern.

The game’s main story mode may be short, but Overkill’s simplicity screams out for repeated plays, each of which is necessary to unlock all the game’s weapons and secrets.

Also an excellent blast in two-player mode, House Of The Dead: Overkill is an horrific treat for Wii owners this Friday the 13th.

ULG Deluxe V3 Ultimate Game Chair

2009-02-12T18:54:55Z

£342.56 from www.thegamingcollection.com

Arguably the most girlfriend- bothering of all boys toys, gaming chairs aim to bring an arcade-like experience to your living room.

While most chairs of this type offer little more than audio support, this one has 12 built-in vibration motors alongside two headrest-mounted speakers.

Triggered by bass-heavy sounds, the chair rumbles when low-frequency effects such as gunfire and explosions occur. This adds extra in-game immersion and seems to work best with driving games.

Sporting a durable leather finish, the chair connects to any audio source, (not just consoles) via a supplied lengthy RCA-to-headphone jack cable, but although it offers a satisfyingly loud 10 watts of output, the speakers have a disappointingly tinny sound.

And while the vibration effect is meant to compensate for the lack of a sub-woofer, it doesn’t really cut it.

The gimmicky massage mode isn’t the soothing experience you might expect either, it’s teeth-chattering effect unlikely to gain favour with your neighbours.

This chair doesn’t come cheap and at this premium price you’d expect a fair bit more for your money.

Review: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

2009-02-12T18:04:35Z

PC, Xbox 360, PS3
£34.99-£39.99

Like the original Killzone, the previous console generation’s version of F.E.A.R. was a reasonably good FPS game, even if it was considered an also-ran when compared to the heady Halo series.

While F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin doesn’t do enough to be classed as a classic, it’s well worth playing and picks up almost exactly where the original F.E.A.R. left off.

Alma, a psychic young girl ravaged and abused by government experiments, has escaped and is intent on using her powers to wreak havoc on the world that has so wronged her.

As special forces operative Michael Beckett, you’ve been tasked with tracking her down and uncovering the truth behind her tortured past.

The game does a fairly good job of creating a moody tone, and the combination of the disturbed Alma and some devilish enemies leads to some genuine edge-of-your-seat moments.

Shoot-outs are also fun, with enemies cleverly taking cover. Also, a bullet-time psychic power makes precision aiming a piece of cake.

However, the head bobbing as your character sprints around can have a mildly nauseating effect.

The gunplay may not be as tight as the fantastic Killzone 2, nor its atmosphere as creepy as in Dead Space, but F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is an unsettling experience that is worth a look if you can’t wait for next month’s Resident Evil 5.

Review: Dell Inspiron 1545

2009-02-12T18:00:30Z

£429 from www.pcworld.co.uk

If you’re working on a budget, but are after a full-sized laptop, you could do a lot worse than this entry-level version of Dell’s 1545 which you can now buy from PC World.

Sporting a black or stylish navy MacBook-style glossy plastic casing, the first thing that grabs you is just how bright and vivid its LED-backlit 15.6in widescreen display is.

Able to run at 1366 x 768 resolution, the 16:9 aspect ratio screen is great for watching movies and is easily the machine’s most impressive feature.

Clearly not aimed at gamers, the 1545’s integrated Intel GMA X4500HD graphics will unsurprisingly struggle to play the latest titles.

But this aside, with a generous 3GB of ram and a very capable Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, things are pretty snappy under the hood.

A fairly standard-sized 250GB hard drive gives plenty of storage space, while there are also three USB ports, a memory card reader, DVD burner and DVI output.

Running on Windows Vista Home Premium, there’s the usual unnecessary preloaded media software which only serves to slow the machine down and is best uninstalled.

The big drawback, though, is the lack of Bluetooth and a webcam – two features you expect on even the cheapest notebooks.

Despite this, the 1545 still impresses, delivering solid performance at a price that many will find just right.

Review: Football Manager Live

2009-02-12T16:08:00Z

PC
£29.99 plus subscription

As Tony Adams and Big Phil Scolari will testify, the world of football management is an often ruthless one.

Would-be gaffers may therefore find a more welcoming environment in the form of this latest community-based version of the world’s favourite soccer sim.

Now a Massively Multi-player Online experience, FM Live adds fantasy football, online auction and social networking elements to the format.

Players can join game worlds made up of around 1,000 people.

Leagues are then formed, you christen your team, design its kit and ‘sign’ players.

Between games, you get to train your players, earn a wage for the squad and fund transfers.

In short, FM Live makes the transition to MMO fairly seamlessly.

Already a scarily addictive pastime, this new world is sure to eat even further into the leisure time of virtual managers.

CES 2009 video: Hands on with Windows 7 beta's new features

2009-01-08T08:41:55Z

Steve Ballmer used his first CES keynote speech as Microsoft chief to announce the release date for the first public beta version of Windows 7.

From this Friday, members of the public will get the chance to download and try out the successor to Windows Vista for free.

Click below to watch some of the key new features of the beta in action.

According to Microsoft, the eagerly-anticipated successor to Microsoft's much-maligned Vista operating system will streamline everyday tasks, cut boot-up times, extend battery life and make it simple to weave "smart" devices into home networks.

A "Play-to" feature enables easy streaming of music, video and digital photos in home computer networks, while the software is tailored to handle touch screen controls throughout.

Elsewhere, Balmer also revealed the next version of Windows Live will include Facebook integration, allowing members to link their profiles to their Live accounts and automatically share photos, video and other content they post on the social network site.

CES 2009: Careless parents rejoice as Lok8u unveil Nu•M8 GPS Child Locator Watch

2009-01-07T22:38:12Z

British firm Lok8u are over in Las Vegas showing off their "innovative new best friend for parents and children."

To a child the Nu•M8 may look like a humble digital watch, but is in fact a GPS tracking device.

The watch lets you set a safe zone for your little terrors to lark about in. If they stray outside the area the device will automatically send you an alert.

You can also pinpoint the exact location of your kids by texting Lok8u or on checking a special secure website.

No question its sounds like a great gadget for giving peace of mind to anxious mums and dads, but you can’t help feeling its also a depressing sign of the diminishing freedoms nippers today now have.

The Nu•M8 will cost a somewhat pricey £149.99 when its released in the spring.