Scooby1970

My 10 Most Useful Things I Do With My Mobile Phone

2012-02-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

Mobile phones are more than just mobile phones these days. I have realised that I do a lot more with my mobile phone now than I have ever done before. Thankfully, with my lovely HTC, I can do things more easily, frequently and more accurately than ever before.

So, here are 10 uses for my mobile phone. In order of which I use them...

01. Sending Text Messages - Ok, a simple one to start with, but one that is now more simple than ever before thanks to the HTC's stunning "real" keyboard. I can type faster and more accurate than ever before, even with freezing cold fingers! As I don't use text-speak (I prefer real English!), the addition of the real keyboard is brilliant, so much so I might never go back to a touch-only screen.

02. Make Phone Calls - Yes, phone calls are quite important on a mobile phone, and signal quality is always strong on the HTC handset. The handset is on the "3" network, and after being on all the other networks over the years, I can happily say "3" has not let me down like the others when it comes to call quality and signal.

03. The Internet - Thanks to a brilliant browser, and a host of bookmarks that I have stored, I use my phones browser for the internet as much as I use a PC for the internet these days. Pinch and zoom controls are superb, plus of course Android re-organises the text at any zoom level so that paragraphs are always super easy to use. Also, thanks to the keyboard I'm always on the forums!!! Simples!

04. Emails on the move - Thanks to Android,I get my Sky emails straight to my phone in real time (Sky use Gmail). I always get my Hotmail account updated at regular frequencies, so I never miss out on that important email. Again, thanks to the "real" keyboard, answering and writing emails is better than I have ever experienced on a phone before.

05. Social Networking - I have a "Facebook" button, so I'm updating my status at the touch of a button. I also have Twitter on one of my screens which is simple and quick to update. It really is a joy these days to be able to update so quickly and efficiently.

06. Take Photos - Thanks to a camera on the front and back of my phone, I am snapping more than ever with my phone. 5MB Camera on the front is great quality, while the camera on the front is ideal for social networking.

07. Playing Games - Angry Birds, Bejewelled and so much more at my finger tips. These days its hard to qualify being board when there is just so much to do! Games of all kinds keep me occupied when there's not much else to do.

08. Streaming TV & Radio - If all else mentioned above was not enough for a use for my phone, then I just love to keep up with my favourite TV programs and radio stations. Yes, thanks to "3" Networks unlimited data policy, there's no problem with this for me even when I'm out and about.

09. Results & News - We all love "Apps" these days, and I have plenty keeping up with Super Swansea FC, The Ospreys and a few News sites. This keeps me in the loop on all the things that matter in life!

10. Chatting - So, I don't chat as much as I can, but thanks to various chat applications I do now and again chat to people on Facebook. If I had enough time in the day I could chat more, but I really don't have the time. Thankfully, what time I get is of course made easier with the brilliant keyboard!

So, there we have it, I haven't even got to mention reading books on the phone or doing office work with Excel and Word! These are the genuine top 10 things I do with my mobile phone though. How things have changed in the last few years!

Mark
11 Feb 2012

Browser Review - Pale Moon

2012-01-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

You know I'm a bit of a geek, and today's review is probably one of the geekiest reviews I have posted. Hopefully though it will be helpful for those looking for a browser for their 64-bit Windows 7 environment.

First off, my browser of choice for as long as I can remember has been Mozilla's Firefox. It's a great browser, fast, highly customisable, stable and secure. So, when I heard about Pale Moon, I was mighty excited. Pale Moon looks like Firefox, acts like Firefox and is indeed 100% Mozilla Firefox code, however, before you ask "whats the point" or "what's different then" just let me explain.

Firefox for all its good points has been a bit bloated on the memory resource front these last few years. It takes what seems like an age to load up, and can hog huge chunks of valuable memory. What the Pale Moon project have done is gone through the code, taken out all the system processes that are not 64-bit, cut out all the unnecessary crap and turned a brilliant browser into an awesome browser.

What we have with Pale Moon is a browser much lighter on resources, much faster due to being aimed specifically at 64-bit users and compatible with all your favourite Firefox add-ons. Pale Moon also have a version for standard 32-bit processors, and I use this in the office in work, again its much lighter on resources which means my work PC doesn't grind to a halt all the time now compared to when it did with Firefox.

Overall then, if you're looking for something fast, secure, modern, light on resources and reliable, Pale Moon should fill your needs. You have to use it to really appreciate it, but those little tweaks really do make a huge difference.

Mark Adams
25-01-12

HTC Chacha Review

2012-01-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

Recently I was in the market for a new handset. Prior to buying this new handset, I had been using a HTC Hero. The HTC Hero was a brilliant Android based handset that won handset of the year a couple of years back, and was considered better than the iPhone 3GS.

Of course, time moves on and I wanted something different. I wanted an Android based system because of their customization qualities, I wanted a touch screen because of the convenience, but most of all I wanted a physical keyboard. I missed physical keyboards, there's something about them that just can't be replicated by even the best touch screen mobile phone.

I like the look of Blackberries, but of course they are not Android based, so a phone that has been taking my fancy since it was released in the later half of 2011 was the HTC Chacha.It's stunning to look at, with arguably the best keyboard on any mobile phone available out there now. It also fulfilled all my points I was looking for, which of course makes it perfect for me.

Inside the HTC Chacha is a 800mhz processor, pushing the 2.6inch gorilla-glass screen and latest version of Android (2.3.5). The screen resolution is superb, and images and text are crisp and clear, even more so that my old phone. The 800mhz processor is just the right size for the size of the screen, and everything is silky smooth. The buttons are nice and large enough for my huge thumbs to type accurately and fast!

What this phone has that really makes it useful in this day and age is a Facebook button at the bottom of the phone. One press of this button and Facebook appears on your screen, making it ideal for people like myself who use Facebook. You won't believe how useful the button is, and it will soon become an everyday part of your life. Its the simple things that really work and make this phone stand out from the crowd.

The HTC Chacha has seven screens that you can flick through. Mine has been configured for all the things I need, including pages for the Calender, Twitter, Facebook (live feeds) and more. Although you may think a 2.6inch screen is small by todays standards, it is larger than most Blackberry screens, and because of the resolution, looks bigger than it actually is.

Of course, for me, a phone wouldn't be a phone without the Internet, and the Android Browser that comes with the phone is simply stunning. I access websites and use the internet as I would on my laptop. The keyboard frees up all the screen, so when writing blogs or responding to forums, things are clean and simple and everything just works perfectly.

Battery life on the phone seems pretty good in this day and age of short life batteries. I usually charge it overnight and it runs all through the day until the next morning when I charge it again for about 30 minutes before leaving it charge overnight once again. Of course, because of its multimedia properties, I am always playing with the phone... which is not always a good thing.

For those interested, games play well on the phone. I have installed a number of games including Angry Birds Rio, and on the high-resolution screen they look lovely. For any retro-gamers out there, its easy to install emulators too, and I have a Master System/Megadrive emulator on the phone with many games, and control them with the keyboard. They all work fantastically, and it's a god-send when you need to kill those spare minutes.

Overall then, the HTC Chacha is a brilliant phone. Far better than I ever expected, it does everything you could possibly want from a phone, plus it has a brilliant keyboard making things so much easier.
If you want great call quality, brilliant HTC features, all the power of Android and a good little multimedia machine, then look no further!

Mark
14 January 2012

The riots in London 2011

2011-08-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

Well, not being from London or from a large city I'm not all that familiar with the attitudes of the people of London. In fact, I couldn't give a toss what their attitudes are. As an outsider looking in, I, and many people I know are in utter disbelief of the total and utter disregard these thugs and rioters have for the general upstanding population of the UK.

From what I can see on the news, over the internet and from other sources such as Twitter and Facebook, the majority of the people involved in these riots are black youths, many of whom started off protesting at a killing of an armed gunman. Since then, more youths have jumped on the bandwagon and are now rampaging the streets of London themselves on a journey of wanton destruction.

The weak Con-Dem Government we have seem to be letting the criminals get away with anything they desire, and the Police seem to have their hands tied by the lefty "Human Rights" activists who seem to have a hold on everything lately.

What we really need is to set an example to people who intend to brake the law. Rubber bullets, tear-gas and water cannons should be used in these situations, it works elsewhere in the World and it needs to be used in the UK before the criminal element take control of the streets. Every single individual involved should be prosecuted, with the ring-leaders being sent to prison and the keys thrown away.

Failing that, if the rioting in an area continues for more than two nights, I would have no objection to the army being called in, fully armed with riot-gear and mowing down scum who roam our streets. These people have no human rights when they blatantly disregard other peoples human rights.

I have nothing against protests, nothing against Police doing their jobs, nothing against people having their voices heard. But deliberate rioting needs to be squashed with an iron fist before it becomes the "norm" in this country.

Rant over. Just the views of a normal, everyday Welshman.

A new blog!

2011-08-02T05:12:00.000-07:00

I have started a new blog to run side-by-side with this blog. It can be found at http://linuxreviewsandguides.blogspot.com/ and will concentrate on me dealing with Linux issues and news etc.

This will free up this blog to be a more general blog again, and hopefully it won't bore-off all the regular readers!

:) Mark

The Cloud with Ubuntu One

2011-07-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

For all you users of Ubuntu and Pinguy OS (and any other OS who use this) then there has been some awesome news on the Ubuntu One front.

To celebrate One Million users, Ubuntu One Cloud based storage has now been upgraded to 5GB FREE cloud storage space! Previously this was set to 2GB which at the time seemed like a good deal anyway.

So, I know some of you will be wondering exactly what cloud storage is. Well, think of it as storing all your documents and file in space. As an Ubuntu derivative user you will automatically get an Ubuntu One account. All the files you place into the "Ubuntu One" folder get automatically synced to the Cloud, so you will always have your files available on any computer as long as you have internet access! Of course, if you've delved even slightly into cloud computing you will know that this is the future of computing, though for me its more a case of having somewhere to back up my important files and photos.

Why should you use Ubuntu One? Well, for starters 5GB is a huge amount of online storage, and its all free and seamlessly integrated into your OS. Unlike other online storage solutions, you are not tied to the size of your files either, so you can genuinely use the whole 5GB as you wish. Its a fantastic idea and one that every Linux user should be doing.

Ubuntu One is also available to Windows users, though I am not sure how integrated it becomes. That said, you can upload and download via their web-page should you ever need to do so anyway. There are also paid options of Ubuntu One, plus you can stream your cloud music to your mobile phone, how cool is that?

Get yourselves an Ubuntu One account today by visiting https://one.ubuntu.com/

:) Mark

Pinguy OS 11.04 review

2011-07-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

You may remember in April that I reviewed Ubuntu 11.04 and gave it my initial impressions and thoughts. Well, since then I have really used and abused Ubuntu 11.04 like no other OS before it. It has been a real work-horse and performed really well, however it did do something I had never experienced with a Linux distribution before... it crashed! Not a blue-screen error type windows crash, but a more subtle re-set to log-in screen crash, that while not serious, was just annoying and meant that sometimes some of my work was lost.

So, the search was on for another OS. I still wanted Ubuntu, but I wanted it to be a more stable version. At first my search took me to Linux Mint 11.04, but reading through the forums and watching various reviews I noticed there was a new distro in town, something called "Pinguy OS 11.04". Based on Ubuntu 11.04, but using Gnome 2.x instead of Unity, this distro mashes up all the best parts of Ubuntu and Mint and in a meaty 1.4GB download gives you an OS that has everything you ever need straight out of the box. This time, even the codecs are included in the download, so even a Live CD runs perfectly!

So, I installed Pinguy, and the first thing that blew me away was the speed of installation. It took no more than 10 minutes for the full install, that's the quickest I have ever installed an Operating System! On using the OS for the first time, you notice that Pinguy has a huge (and I mean HUGE) selection of software installed. The only tweaking I performed was to add UMPlayer and Banshee as they are my favourite players, and Pinguy uses VLC and Clementine as the two main music players (both are great, but just not what I use). And, for those worried about Flash Video, Pinguy OS runs full-screen Flash Videos perfectly out of the box!

Talking of installed programs, "Libre Office" is the main office suite, "Shotwell" is the photo management program, "Firefox 5" is the default browser, "Skype" is installed as standard, "Ubuntu Tweak" and "Ubuntu Software Centre" are present plus "Thunderbird" and "Empathy". This list just skims the surface though, as there is so much available.

"Wine" has been built into the OS, so if you download a Windows .exe file then Pinguy will just treat it as part of the system. No configuration or anything needed, and if you're coming from windows, this makes it such a doddle to use.

Considering everything Pinguy has to offer, you'd think it may be lacking in speed due to all the software, however, nothing can be further from the truth! This OS speeds along faster than any distro I have used before it. Things open up quickly and considering the age of my system (1GB memory, 3.2Ghz AMD Athlon) Pinguy really is fast!

The desktop of Pinguy is a little different to Ubuntu 11.04. There are two docks, one on the left of the screen and one on the bottom. Each one can be configured and added to/deleted at will and the use of "Docky" is excellent in this case.

One brilliant thing is that anything available for Ubuntu also works in Pinguy OS, so I still visit and use the "OMG Ubuntu" website for all my Ubuntu needs.

So, who is this Operating System for? Well, anyone who wants a great and easy to use Operating System with everything ready to go out of the box. Anyone experiencing problems with Ubuntus Unity interface, or anyone just wanting a change. Pinguy OS 11.04 is a new distro, and the first version was only back in 2010. As it stands they are already climbing the way up distrowatch, so its a real distribution thats making waves as we speak!

My Top 100 games of all time.

2011-07-13T04:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my top 100 games of all time. When I say all time, I mean since I first started gaming back in 1977. So, for the most part, that really is “all time”!

These are games that have had an impact on me, games that I have gone back to play more than once, games that have left me wanting more and games that are just so much damn fun!

In this top 100 titles you will find listed a single game or a game series. I have listed game series as a single entry when there is not much to choose between them. It may seem a little unfair, but with so many games to choose from it was the fairest way.

So, how do I qualify for making this list? First off, I've been an avid gamer since the mid/late 70's, secondly I've owned or had access to every commercially available console minus only a few minor releases and thirdly I love gaming on any platform as long as its a good game. Over the last two years I've been compiling this list, going back to old games, playing new games and re-examining what I think about each title. Its actually been hard work, but I've enjoyed it!

Please read and enjoy this list. It is meant to be a list of games that you just have to experience, and without these games in your life, your gaming knowledge and enjoyment is missing that little something.

As in all top 100 lists this list is my personal taste. Its ok not to agree with it! I'll tell you now I'm not a huge one for namby-pamby games and much more an arcade thrill type of guy... So, sit back, read and digest – the console/gaming machine mentioned in the brackets after each game is the version(s) I have played... let me know what you think.

100. Pong (Pong Machine) – The very first video game I ever played. Simple by today's standards, but I spent many hours on it and it is no doubt the game that got me into gaming in the first place. It needs no description as it is a complete classic.

99. Snake (Mobile Phones/PC) – Without a doubt, this game was played so much on mobile phones and PC's that everyone has a memory of it. Its simple, its fun and I have played it for many hours over the years.

98. Donkey Kong (Intelvision/Atari/CPC) – One of the all time classic computer games. Four stages of Donkey Kong platforming, the Amstrad CPC had an arcade perfect version called “Killer Gorilla” which was simply awesome!

97. Frozen Bubble (Linux PC/Mobile Phones) – This is basically a rip-off of Bust-A-Move although is so fun to play it itself it deserves a place in my top 100 games. It's bubble popping at it's very best with some great sound effects and graphics.

96. Scramble (Arcade) – One of the earliest side-scrolling shoot-em-up titles that really grabbed my attention. Scramble was insanely hard once you got past the first few levels, yet it had the one-more-go factor that has made me replay it now and again over the years. For its day it had great graphics and sound, and with a mixture of game play styles on each level, it really stood out from the crowd.

95. Alien 3 (Megadrive) – Based on the film of the same name, Alien 3 sees you take control of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weavers character). An impressive platform game with a huge play area, it looked and felt like something quite special. Even the sound on the Megadrive version was brilliant. The first level sees you trying to rescue prisoners from a great underground World, and although I never got much further, the game kept me coming back for more and more.

94. Space Invaders (Arcade/Various) – I don't think there is any game I have played on more systems than the classic Space Invaders. Although simple in design, Space Invaders still captures the imagination. You control you little spaceship at the bottom of the screen and the idea is to destroy the incoming aliens. Early versions of the game tend to look and play very simple, however some of the later versions still give you an amazing game today.

93. Highway Encounter (CPC/Spectrum/C64) – Highway Encounter was a 3D isometric view strategy/action game that seen me spend many hours of my teenage life playing. Its an unheralded classic in every way and has recently been remade as a PC remake. The game sees a continually moving robot advance up the play area while you use your character to unblock the way, shoot enemies and generally ensure that it gets to the end of the level safely. Fun, engaging and unique, sadly this type of game is not really seen anymore.

92. Micro Machines (Megadrive) – Two player top-down car racing in a minute car in a huge world has never been so much fun! The Micro Machines games were simple and addictive fun that could sometimes be frustrating yet always kept you coming back for more. One of the great series of games released that seem so hard to play today!

91. Thrust (CPC/Spectrum/C64) – You control a spaceship by simply thrusting its engines and turning left or right as it descends/ascends, the idea is then to latch onto its cargo (a big ball) and carry it through a maze of caves. Gravity of course doesn't make this easy, and later levels sees reverse gravity which makes it almost impossible! A simple yet brilliant game that supplies and supplied hours of fun.

90. Super Mario Brother 3 (Snes) – I know this makes a lot of peoples top 10's, but for me although it was fun, it just got on my nerves! Sure, there is plenty to do, and it looks fine, but it just doesn't grab me as much as it seems to have grabbed other people. All that jumping around, hidden areas, cute characters make it something that a certain kind of person really seems to enjoy.

89. Bubble Bobble (Master System/CPC/PS2) – If only for the fantastic theme tune, Bubble Bobble is an addictive game in both one and two player mode. You control Bub (and Bob in two player mode) and have to run around a maze bursting bubbles in order to progress to the next level. Its sometimes hectic, always fun and never boring.

88. Virtua Cop 2 (Saturn) – On rails shooters can be a hit or miss affair, however Virtua Cop 2 does it just right. Even without a light-gun Virtua Cop 2 is still fun to play. Almost arcade perfect, this game pushes the Saturn to it's maximum and each game draws you in for more.

87. WRC 03 (PS2) – The first of a number of racing games to be included in this list. WRC 03 is a fantastic rally game that really pushes the PS2 to do something very special. It's fun to play, the control is spot-on and the game just works as a Rally game should.

86. Populous (Megadrive) – I've never been one for “God” games, but for some reason Populous holds a soft spot in my heart. You play God, and have to control the entire world. You battle with foes, battle with the elements and generally do a lot of Godly things. Brilliant game that still is enjoyable today.

85. Zub (CPC) – Great theme tune, adequate graphics and just a fun game. Zub is a game not known by many, but a game I spent a huge chunk of my youth playing. Guide your character Zub to the top of the floating towers while shooting bad guys, transport to the next level and move on. Again, the simple things work best.

84. Donkey Kong Racing (Snes/N64) – This is one fun racing game that plays very well. Its got the typical Nintendo fun game play mechanics and some really great graphics that at the time pushed the machines to do something special at high speed.

83. Phoenix (Arcade/CPC/PC) – Not another Space Invaders clone? Yes it is, and just like Galaga this game takes the concept and improves on it. A great classic game in every way that is always fun to play.

82. Body Blows (Amiga) – THE fighting game for the Commodore Amiga was Body Blows. It came on 5 or 6 disks, was available in an advanced version (which I had), and at the time was the beat-em-up of choice for me. Playing the game today, it still looks good, however, it does not play as well as any of the other fighters in my top 50 list. Still, a classic game that gave me endless hours of fun.

81. Defender (Arcade/Various) – Another old game from the dawn of time. Defender is hard, it's unforgiving and it's a nightmare to play if you just dip into it. That said, it's a brilliant game that can reward if you have the patience.

80. Uridium (C64) – Playing Uridium on a 42” LCD now reminds me that even quite simple graphics and sound can be really addictive. This game is hard! But when you are on a roll you get a great feeling of reward. I've got to level 7 and it was a shear fluke, but I love this. The only C64 game in my top list, but what a damn fine game!

79. Wonderboy (SMS/CPC/C64/Arcade) – Side scrolling platform games don't come much more iconic than this classic game. Wonderboy has some great game-play and has some brilliant power-ups that let you explore the levels and have some great fun. Where else can you ride a skateboard and throw axes at enemies?

78. Virtua Tennis 2/3 (Dreamcast/PS3) – Some sequels are as good as each other, and Virtua Tennis 2 on the Dreamcast and 3 on the PS3 are both great tennis games. This is an arcade version of Tennis and thus is really fun to pick up and play.

77. Bejeweled 2 (Mobile/PS3) – This game is so easy to pick up and so hard to put down. Played mostly on my mobile, this game is seriously addictive. The only mobile phone game listed in my top 50, it's simple and effective and so very playable.

76. Sorcery Plus (CPC) – The 8-bit gaming generation give us many classics, but Sorcery above all else showed us then when pushed the Amstrad could be better than any other 8-bit computer out there. Brilliant sound and graphics and a great flying platform game theme, this game was the pride in my Amstrad collection. It took me ages to finish, and playing it now I forgot how hard games used to be.

75. Tomb Raider (PS1/PS2/PS3) – This is a series of games that I have never completed. Not one of them! They look brilliant, they play well, they just get me lost at certain points and I can never complete them. The series still gets into my chart though as they are damn good games.

74. Tempest (Arcade/PS2) – The first time I played this game I didn't have a clue what was going on. I was about 10 years old, and I did not get very far in it. Thirty years later I can get quite far, and although it does ramp up difficulty really fast this game is an all time classic.

73. Desert Strike (Megadrive) – 3D-esque graphics that we'd not seen before, Desert Strike showed a generation that 16-bit games could be original and awesome. Flying through the deserts in your little helicopter and destroying the enemy scum, this game somehow made you feel you were in the thick of the action. Great game and great action.

72. Cannon Fodder (Amiga/Megadrive) – The first point and click action adventure shoot-em up I ever played. This game is fantastic, and seriously needs a remake. You control your little guys who you can split up into little groups and basically you have to kill the enemy. Point at a player, click on him/them and point and click the part of the screen you want them to go. See an enemy and fire!!! Great graphics, great game play and an overall brilliant game.

71. Volfied (PS2/Megadrive) – Damn! This is one addictive game. The idea is to fill up the screen with basically a different background while avoiding enemies shooting at you and trying to crash into you. It's a cool game, simple and fun, which means its the best kind of game.

70. Geometry Wars (Xbox360) – A space shooter based on a single screen in classic mode and scrolling screen in modern mode. Think Asteroids but more emphasis on moving and firing in any direction. A great game, if a little hard at times.

69. Pang (Snes/CPC) – I was never a huge fan of the Snes at the time, however Pang was a game that caught my attention. I play this game a lot these day, and the Snes version is still the best version available.

68. Arkanoid (CPC/Amiga) – It's Pong! Ok, it's Pong with colour and add-ons, but it's still that classic game Pong. Arkanoid is as addictive now as ever, and has been released on almost every format. The CPC version was arcade perfect, and the version I have played the most.

67. Barbarian (CPC) – What can be said about Barbarian that can sum up the pleasure and fun that I had with this game? Probably nothing actually. This game lived in my Amstrad CPC, and more recently in my emulator probably more than any other game. It was my first real encounter with a fighting game. Ok, so it’s no Street Fighter, or Tekken, and it sure ain’t no Soul Calibur, however it was, and still is a great fun hack-and-slash-come-beat-em-up.

66. Rayman (PS1) – There have been a number of Rayman games, but the original 2D platformer stands out as one of the best platform games of all time. Pushing the Playstation to its limits, Rayman looks amazing, handles superbly and has game play mechanics that really make it a joy to play.

65. Rainbow Islands (SMS/Megadrive/NES) – A classic rainbow-em-up that is impossible to complete due to a bug, but still a classic game. Varied levels, great graphics and quirky sound effect make this game a real winner and one that you can come back to time and time again.

64. Pacman (Arcade/PS2) – Next to Space Invaders this is the Grand Daddy of all computer games, and believe it or not I love it! I've never been exceptionally good at the game but I still find in enduring. Simple graphics and brilliant game play make this the perfect game.

63. Halo (PC/Xbox) – For some reason the Halo universe has reached some odd glory that tries to put it in a place where it really isn't. Halo was a fun shoot-em up, although I did find it a bit easy. The follow up games were also fun, however it's the first in the series that makes my top 50. Great fun and technically brilliant, this game gave me a few good hours of game play.

62. Die Hard Trilogy (PS1/Saturn) – Three games for the price of one! You got a racer, a point and shoot and a platform game all in one package. The games remain huge fun to play, however, like some other PS1 titles graphics have dated and are quite blocky compared to other consoles and other eras. Still, this game represents the best value that was available at the time, and all three games are actually very good!

61. Ikari Warriors (CPC/Amiga) – The screen scrolls downwards, your little Rambo look-a-like takes on hoards of enemies, you fire your gun, you throw grenades... Two players mode adds even more fun to the game, which is just an absolute classic. It can get hard in the later levels by yourself, but with two players it is a little easier.

60. Peggle (Xbox360) – What an addictive and fun game Peggle is. It's simple in concept, you just drop a ball into various colour pegs and they disappear once they have been touched. It's kind of like the old drop-a-coin game in the arcade days of old. Simple and fun which is always a good thing!

59. Wolfenstein (PS3) – An FPS with supernatural overtones. Wolfenstein is a follow up to the classic early PC games but looks and plays a lot better. Some great action makes for a very interesting game that sometimes feels a bit clunky, but overall is fun.

58. Crash Bandicoot (PS1) – Crash Bandicoot was a platform game on the original Playstation that really impressed. It looked brilliant, played really fast and was fun and a challenge. One of the things many people forget, is that the original had no save points, so really was a challenge to play!

57. Crazy Taxi (Dreamcast) – Both Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2 are fun arcade games. These play as well as the arcade versions and are one of the few games that really put you under pressure and make you kick yourself when the time runs out just before you pick up a passenger. Yes! That's what you have to do, pick up passengers and take them to their drop-off points. It's simple but effective and really works.

56. Super Monaco GP (Megadrive) – At the time this game was in my Megadrive more than any other, by today's standards it's pretty light weight, however at the time we would play the game trying to get milliseconds off each lap. Still though, a great fun game with a great challenge.

55. Bust-A-Move aka Puzzle Bobble (PS1/PS2/N64/Dreamcast) – Puzzle games can be so annoying on times, however Bust-A-Move is an exception to the rule. It's just so much fun, and the sound effects and tune are just so annoying that you hum them for weeks after. Probably the best puzzle game available, all we need now is a HD remake!

54. Continental Circus (CPC/PS2) – My favourite racing game on the good old Amstrad CPC computers, this was a great conversion of the arcade classic. Even today this game plays well, and the Amstrad version plays as well as the arcade version. A real piece of 8-bit art.

53. Doom (PS1) – Those days when I remember two consoles and two TVs in the room, wow, and the motion sickness that also occurred! Doom is a classic, it's a masterpiece of gaming and one that holds the record of probably the most hours I have ever played on an FPS. Graphically good in the day, sonically scary and game play to die for.

52. Manx TT Superbike (Saturn) – Pure arcade motorbike racing. This game looks great for a Saturn game, and plays really well. There are not many courses, and it's pretty hard, but it has the fun-factor which is the most important thing in games.

51. Bomberman Online (Dreamcast) – If there's one multi player game that's always fun to play, it's the hectic Bomberman. The Dreamcast version is just awesome fun with one, and especially so with two or more players. Although the graphic and sound are brilliant, this game is not about either of those, it's about game play and having fun! It delivers in bucket loads, brilliant!

50. Rali-sport Challenge (PC/Xbox) – I first played this on the Xbox, and it blew me away! It’s the PC version that most of my time is spent playing now though. This game has the best of everything. It has superb graphics, playability of Sega Rally, huge amount of tracks and its difficulty is just right. It’s not often a rally game comes along that ticks all the tick boxes, but this is one of those few.

49. Ferrari F355 Challenge (Dreamcast/PS2) – Sandwiched between the uber-cool Rali-sport Challenge and Gran Turismo 5 is this Dreamcast classic. It's a tough game to play, but so much fun. The PS2 improved on the Dreamcast original by offering more game-modes and more car views, yet both games are a joy to play in every way. It's one of the few games that has the “just one more go” factor, and after a game you'll see why!

48. FEAR 2 (PS3) – It's not often a game comes along that is both scary and fun to play and also has all the controls working well. FEAR 2 does everything right, and has some quite scary moments with some great shooting action.

47. Unreal Tournament (PC) – One of the most enjoyable online shooters of all-time. The Unreal Tournament games were the Modern Warfare games of their day. With some great space-age weapons and some of the fastest game play you will ever see, Unreal Tournament deserves to be in everyone's gaming list.

46. Gran Turismo 5 (PS3) – For all the anticipation of Gran Turismo 5, it should have been a top 5 game. However, it is a brilliant racing game, but is a much more serious attempt than other racing games in this list. Graphically it is sometimes superb and sometimes average, the main let-down is the Rally mode, which just not race as it should for some reason. Still, and amazing game and one for every collection.

45. Lumines 1 & 2 (PSP/PS2) – Puzzle games of this calibre don't come along very often. Lumines plays unlike any puzzle game you know and is kind of like a Tetris game combined with something completely different.

44. Raiden Trad (Megadrive) – Both Raiden Trad and Varth are downwards scrolling shooters of extreme quality. Raiden Trad was one of the first of this games of this ilk that I really fell in love with. It reminds me of a thinking man's shooter, it's not too fast, so you can think about your positioning on the screen and you feel you can achieve quite a lot. Great fun, with great graphics and sound.

43. Forza 3 (Xbox360) – Although it's a close-run battle between Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5, at this point in time Forza 3 gets my vote as the better of the two. They are both simulations and for me Forza 3 shines through with slightly better graphics and a not-so clunky playability. Time might change this as GT5 gets more updates, but still, Forza 3 is a class game.

42. Super Hang On (Megadrive/Amiga) – How many hours I have spent playing this game has to be anyone’s guess. There’s nothing better than a great racing game, and Super Hang On is one of the great arcade racers. Basically this is Outrun on bikes, but to me it’s a little more than that. The nearest game to this in modern game is probably the Moto GP series, however, Super Hang On is far more playable.

41. Spyro The Dragon (PS1) – Sometimes the original are the best, and that goes for the mighty Spyro The Dragon. This game broke all barriers of 3D gaming when it was first released, and is as good as ever to play now. What's more, it breaks male/female boundaries and I know plenty of females who also enjoy this classic game.

40. Medal of Honour: Allied Assault (PC) – My first FPS experience where I actually felt as if I was in the game. Medal Of Honour Allied Assault featured you on the beaches of Normandy invading France in the Second World War. It was the start of me really falling in love with First Person shooters. The game not only looked better than any console game I had played before, but played better too. A brilliant game that should be remade for today's machines.

39. Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn) – The Sega Saturn is an under-rated machine, however games like this prove that the Saturn was a great console. An on-rails shooter this game is fun and addictive. Playing this game now you realise graphics may have got better, but the fundamental design has remained almost the same and you really appreciated games past and present.

38. Dirt 2 (PS3) – One of the truly great racing games of this generation. Dirt 2 is everything the original Dirt was and then some. When you throw your car around the tracks in various rally modes you really have full control of the vehicles. Rarely does a racing game bring you so much fun as this modern day classic.

37. Golden Axe (Megadrive) – This is the game I spent all my 10p’s on in my youth. We’d all go down the arcade and play this mighty game. The Megadrive version was almost identical, I remember seeing the very first time on my tv, and it blew me away! Arcade ports don’t come much better than this classic hack-em-up. And… Of course I was always the little dwarf!

36. Ridge Racer (PS1/PS3) – A classic racing game series that has some great high points. Ridge Racer 1 on the PS1 was a classic while Ridge Racer 4 also on the PS1 pushed the Playstation to it's limits. Ridge Racer 7 on the PS3 took the games, give them a lick of hi-def paint and kept all the game-play. Another classic series that just doesn't age.

35. Fight Night Round 4 (PS3) – Boxing is a funny game that was always hard to replicate on a games console. The Fight Night series of games though really changed that. Fight Night Round 3 was a classic in every way, but it was Round 4 that built upon that and made it one of the best fighting games ever released. So much fun when you are playing a human opponent, Fight Night Round 4 is simply satisfying!

34. Streets Of Rage (Megadrive) – Oh God! The music, the graphics, the silky smooth scrolling, the punching, the kicking, the special move. Yes, Streets Of Rage had it all, and then some. Probably one of the finest Megadrive games ever, and I played it to death. Still a great blast today!

33. Super Stardust HD (PS3) – This is just an incredible Asteroids kinda game brought kicking and screaming into the 21^st Century. Brilliant control, devious enemies and rock formations and adrenalin filled shoot-em-up fun. What's more, its a PSN downloadable game!

32. Daytona (Saturn/Dreamcast) – “Daytona Yeahhhhhhh!” Yet again the Saturn version of this game comes up trumps. Ok, the Dreamcast version looks amazing, but the Saturn version (actually that should be versions, as it was released as a Championship Edition also) plays just like the arcade. A brilliant game that you can play over and over again without getting bored.

31. V-Rally (PS1) – I remember the first time I set eyes on this game. For a PS1 game it just blew me away. It was super-fast, graphically stunning and had great game play. Some people found the controls a bit twitchy, but after a few minutes this game is just an amazing experience. There was a follow up on the Dreamcast and PC which was also a great game; however it’s the original I still go back to for the fun and thrill of a great rally.

30. Formula One (PS2/PS3) – F1 2003 on the PS2 and F1 Championship Edition on the PS3 rate as fine examples as racing games. Both are on the same level when it comes to game play, and graphically both games do a fine job. Rather than give them both different places in my chart, they are placed in equal position as they both achieve the same thing.

29. R-Type (Master System/Amiga/PC Engine) – Sideways shooters are either hard or very hard with no in-between. R-Type I believe is just at the right difficulty level, if you concentrate you can progress really far on this seminal sideways blaster. An amazing game on nearly all formats. Special mention to the superb PC-Engine version of this game, it's almost arcade perfect and plays like a dream!

28. Soul Calibur (Dreamcast/PS3) – Fighting with weapons has never been so much fun. Soul Calibur on the Sega Dreamcast is a beat-em-up of fantastic proportions. You fight with weapons, and each hit feels like it’s really had contact with the opponent. The PS3 game Soul Calibur IV brought back all the fun and flavour of the original. Sure, the graphics are better on the PS3 version, however both games play almost identical and are a pleasure to play.

27. Capcom Vs SNK Millennium Fight 2000 (PS1) – After playing the Street Fighter Alpha series of games for many years, I stumbled upon this classic fighter. Unlike the Street Fighter series, you get to chose three fighters in a team, and use them all in turn until you, or the other player have expelled all their lives. Graphically this game is way better than any other Street Fighter or SNK game, and it plays one hell of a brilliant game. I only have the PS1 version, but to play it you’d never guess it was on hardware that is now three generations old.

26. Varth (Arcade/PS2/PSP) – I got involved in this game quite late on, it's a downward scrolling shooter with a slight difference. You can collect a couple of orbs that you can choose to protect you by either staying in front of you, or moving around you stopping the enemies fire-power. Great graphics and sound and running at a good speed, this is one amazing blast that rewards you for time and effort.

25. Heavenly Sword (PS3) – Some people have slated this game, but they have obviously never played it. It has some stunning graphics, great sound and voice acting and a great story. The last boss is almost impossible, but apart from that this is one hell of a game. Combining different elements of game play, this game is a must for all PS3 console owners. It took me an age to complete it, but it was well worth it for the experience.

24. Beatles Rock Band (PS3/360) – If there's one music game that gets pulled out whenever friends and family are around, then this is it! Chock-full of classic Beatles songs, there is not a bad song in the game. It also features some great harmony modes and it feels really good playing the guitar or drums to Beatles classics.

23. Sonic The Hedgehog (Megadrive) – Any top 50 would not be complete with the brilliant Sonic. A great game in every way, Sonic was in everyone lives during the early 90's. This game was played to death by me, and I still enjoy a quick blast now. Sonic was king of consoles, shame he can not find his feet again.

22. Sega Rally (Saturn/PS3/PSP) – Rally games don’t come as iconic as Sega Rally. Ever since I played it in the arcade I wanted a home version which lived up to that experience. Sega Rally on the Saturn almost gave that experience. A great game in every respect, the Saturn version played just like the arcade version. The PS3 version has the same feel but is a new game altogether, and again gets a lot of gaming from me. The PSP yet again is another different version, and again has that great Sega Rally feel. Absolutely awesome in every respect!

21. Galaga '88 (Arcade/PS2/PC Engine) – The music, the sound effects and the shear brilliance of the game make this an all time favourite. It's Space Invaders with all kinds of frills, and so it's classic game play hides the fact that this is one mega-blast-feast of a title.

20. Super Street Fighter II (Snes/Megadrive/Arcade) – This is considered the finest of all the Street Fighter games by many people, however, I prefer the Alpha series for its game play and graphics. Whenever I play this, I really enjoy the bouts, yet find it a bit hard compared to the Alpha series.

19. Guitar Hero 3 (PS3/PS2/360) – Music games came of age with this game. For once I can play real rock guitar to dozens of classic tracks. And yes, it comes with plastic instruments. A really amazing game and a brilliant game to spend time with family and friends. Simply awesome!

18. Rock Band 2 (PS3/360) – It's too close to call as to which is the better of the two brands. Guitar Hero Vs Rock Band are two similar games, yet it's probably Rock Band that takes the lead due to it's better finger positions when playing the guitar, the better drum patterns when on drum, and the slightly better vocals section. As a genre, the music genre is a fun-filled one that the whole family enjoys.

17. Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast/PSP/PS2) – If ever there was a Street Fighter game that captured my imagination, it was Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the Sega Dreamcast. As much as I’d enjoyed previous Street Fighter games, when I picked up and played this, something just clicked like never before in a game. The controls were spot on for a beat-em-up, easy to pick up, yet a lot to master. This game I have played so many times over the years I have lost count. The PSP version was my latest addition to the SFA3 series, and it is the most complete version of the game to date.

16. God Of War III (PS3) – Huge battles, huge graphics, huge story... God Of War III takes the first two games (I have not included them in this list, not enough room!) and makes them bigger and better. Great puzzles, great action and a fabulous story, God Of War III just delivers what it sets out to do, and delivers it perfectly.

15. Racedriver: Grid (PS3/360) – Racing games come and go, but some stay forever and are next to perfect in the way of handling and game play. Racedriver: Grid is one awesome race-fest that just blows you away every time you play it. Graphically perfect, this is one of my favourite racing games of all time. It gets harder the more you progress, but it is rewarding when you finish top 3 in any given event.

14. Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition (PS3) – Wow! Resident Evil games have come and gone, but this one is more action than the rest and is all the better for it. It can be hard on times, but you do get rewarded by some brilliant game play and some of the best graphic touches of this generation. Resident Evil 5 blows you away with each game element, and has some truly huge and fantastic bosses that not only look great but are super fun to play against.

13. Need For Speed: Shift (PS3/360) – I've always enjoyed my racing games, and this game has shot straight into my top 20. It's a great racing game with brilliant control and some great race's to be had. It edges in front of “Racedriver: Grid” because it is a little easier and slightly more enjoyable to play at the harder levels of the game.

12. Batman Arkam Asylum (PS3/360) – Few games invoke a feeling of being in a TV show or film like Batman AA. The quality of the cut scenes, the quality of the voice acting and the shear quality of the game is just out of this world. Batman Is more than just a platform game, it's a game that gives you fun and excitement at every turn. It's full of wonderful action that keeps you wanting more. Simply put, this is one KABOOM! Of a game!

11. Crysis 2 (PS2/360) – It's not often an FPS game comes along and changes everything you know about the genre. Crysis 2 not only looks impressive but does things a little different. You can go invisible and sneak around, you can have super-armour and withstand many hits. Mix and match as you want, play the game your way and enjoy some of the best shooting action ever. Also, this game has some of the best gun noises and feel of using a gun in any game.

10. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3) – A modern platform game which shows off the PS3's potential well. This is a brilliant game, with the only slight downside being the aiming mechanism when firing your gun. Once mastered, it's just mind blowing. Some great puzzles, great action and a great humorous story. Uncharted is a AAA title that just shines each time you play it.

09. Singstar (PS2/PS3) – What seems like little more than a Karaoke machine, Singstar makes the perfect game to play with family and friends. No need to think about playing any instruments are pushing any buttons, simply sing into the blue ot red banded microphone and have fun. With each disc with between 20 and 30 tracks, and even more to download on PSN, this game has never tired. Kept alive with new editions every few months and those downloads for PS3 owners, this is a well worthy game for this day and age of hardcore and casual gamers. Perfect!

08. Outrun (Saturn/PSP/PS3/PC Engine) – Outrun was a great game in the arcades, however it’s the Saturn and PSP versions that I have played the most over the years. The Saturn version plays almost identical to the arcade and is a wonderful representation of the Saturn’s power. The PSP version is a home version of Coast to Coast 2006 from the arcades, which was the best of all the Outrun series. For me, these games give me some of the best pleasure in racing games, just simple arcade action at its best.

07. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3/360) – There were First Person Shooters before Call Of Duty 4, but it was this game that single handedly changed console FPS games forever. Great graphics and seriously solid game play, COD4 has eaten up many PS3 owners gaming time. Many regard this as the best game available, while I prefer Killzone 2 as the controls are heavier and more realistic than the rather floaty controls of COD4. Still, an amazing game and one of the best games available on any platform.

06. Tekken 5: DR (PSP/PS3) – The greatest Tekken of them all comes in the form of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. Not since the classic Tekken 3 had a Tekken game some magnificent in every way possible. Each character handles uniquely, and when mastered is the most dangerous fighting character of them all. This game is different to any other fighting game. It’s pace, it’s style, and everything else is a work of pure art. If there were no fighting games on earth apart from this one, I would be happy.

05. Left 4 Dead (360) – Taking the FPS genre and doing something different with it is quite hard, but Left 4 Dead just feels different. It feels like you are in a Zombie film, there's an urgency that you don't usually get I games when you are being swamped by Zombie Hordes. Graphically I love the animations, the way that there are different kinds of Zombies and the way that some of them run at you while you are re-loading. It makes it exciting and gripping in every way.

04. Wipeout HD/Fury (PS3) – The Wipeout series has always held my attention, although none has come close to the latest edition Wipeout HD on the PS3. It’s a stunningly beautiful game that plays perfectly. It can be hard to start off racing, but once mastered it entertains for hours on end. It offers an awesome online play mode also, which just adds to the depth. Unbelievable in every way!

03. Metal Gear 4 (PS3) – “Guns Of The Patriot” is stunning. It's beautiful. Never has a console been pushed so hard, and as such this is one of the best looking games ever. A lot of people say it's little more than an interactive movie, but it is so much more than that. This game took me quite a while to complete but it was well worth it. Yes, it has a lot of CGI movies telling the story, but they are very high quality and enjoyable. I've never liked Metal Gear games, but this game is outstanding in every way.

02. Killzone 2 (PS3) – This is the game for me that represents the pinnacle of first person shooters. Killzone 2 is a fine example of making a game feel different enough to have it's own identity. For all the Call Of Duty pretenders out there, Killzone 2 does it in a different way, with amazing graphics and sound and amazing enemy AI. Killzone 3 was the great follow-up, but although it looked stunning, it just didn't play as good as this game. Killzone is one of the true highlights of this generation of games, only bettered by...

01. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) – Everything about the first game has been improved ten-fold in the follow up. Graphically this game is nothing short of stunning, some of the levels are photo-realistic. Game play on the other hand, over the first game is far superior. There's more shooting, and a of of jumping. The whole narrative is fun and exciting and overall after completing the game I sat there knowing that I'd just played the best game ever. A feeling I only ever sometimes get, and a feeling that is still with me while updating this top 50 list over a year later originally compiling it.

Ripping DVDs in Ubuntu 11.04

2011-06-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu 11.04 and its variants such as Pinguy OS are great operating systems, and one of the things I thought I would miss from windows was the ability to rip DVDs. However, not only were my expectations met, they were exceeded with the quality of the software and the quality of the results.

I have used three separate programs to rip DVDs to my hard drive. I wanted to make a .AVI backups of a few DVDs with as little hassle as possible. The first program I tried was a program I had used on Windows, namely "DVDx 4". I downloaded the Linux distribution from the site and straight away upon loading realised that thankfully it was identical to the Windows version!

"DVDx 4" will rip any DVD, even if it is protected. You can choose the quality of the rip and the codecs it uses. You can also rip for iPod, PSP, Quicktime, 3GPP and of course Divx. On the highest quality rips the picture quality is excellent and can easily be re-ripped to DVD should you want to. The software is fast and reliable and sound keeps in sync, a problem that plagued my ripping using windows.

The second program I have used is called "OGMRip" and this also rips protected DVDs. The interface is much simpler on this one and at first glance it looks like a simplified version of other DVD ripping software. However, under the bonnet of "OGMRip" is a powerful ripping machine. You can rip to more formats than I have seen in any other ripping program, and the quality is a step up from "DVDx 4". It has various filters you can apply to make the picture better and it can rip to a specified storage amount or bitrate.

"OGMRip" is a killer app there's no doubt of that. However, it's simpler interface may put some people off. That said, because of the extra features it can be very slow... make that very very slow! Ideal if you need a HD rip, otherwise get under the bonnet and change those settings.

The third program I have used has been one of the most versatile and is called "DVD95 Converter". It seems to be the fastest ripping software I have used and has worked perfectly on all variants of Ubuntu. I know use Pinguy OS 11.04 since writing this review, and "DVD95" seems to be the most trouble free in that particular distro.

So, combined, "DVDx 4", "OGMRip" and "DVD95 Converter" are a lethal combination and a DVD copiers dream come true! The power of Linux just blows me away each day, and my next adventure will be into the world of Video Editing. Let's see what Linux can offer us then.

(c)23 June 2011 - Updated August 1st 2011

UMPlayer - Review

2011-06-20T05:32:00.001-07:00

It's not often I get really excited about a piece of software, but since discovering UMPlayer I've been spreading the word about this mighty bit of media player goodness.

UMPlayer stands for Universal Media Player, and for once Universal really means Universal! It will play anything you throw at it right out of the box, and what's more, that box is a free one!

You can download UMPlayer from www.umplayer.com and find out for yourselves what a great bit of software this is. It is available for Windows, Linux and Mac and I use it as the default player on both Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.04.

How does it perform? Well, the first thing you notice is that it is damn fast. No sooner as you click on a song or a video and it loads up instantly! This makes so much of a difference, not having to wait a second while the player loads up. Secondly, it looks really nice in its default "modern" skin and has all the buttons in all the right places.

UMPlayer will play anything, and its not let me down yet. I ripped a DVD in a wrong codec accidently and nothing would play it (I tried Windows Media Player, VLC, WinAMP, Quicktime, iTunes and Real Player) and that's when I fell in love with UMPlayer, because it played it perfectly with brilliant quality picture and the sound in sync. As far as audio codecs go, again everything is covered, even those .flac files that some people use!

Another great feature is the ability to search Youtube or Shoutcast from within the player. This is particularly useful in Ubuntu where fullscreen flash doesn't always perform well. With UMPlayer, fullscreen videos are perfect, and streaming radio stations from Shoutcast sound brilliant.

I can see no downsides to UMPlayer, other than the fact that it's little heard of at the moment. So, after reading this I'd like you to try it out and discover your media in a new, quick and reliable way that you have always wanted to.

Why Linux is now the perfect choice for an OS.

2011-05-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Why Linux is now a good choice.

I've been a Windows user since Windows 95, and I still own a Windows machine. Windows 7 is great, and if you're a gamer then Windows is the Operating System for you. If however you are like most people and use your system for downloading music or films, browsing the internet, writing letters or books, keeping a database of things or simply watching films or listening to music then Linux could easily replace Windows.

First question, why would I want to replace Windows? Perhaps it crashes constantly for you? Perhaps your computer has been ruined by a virus? Perhaps you just want to break free from Microsoft and save yourself some of your hard earned money. Either way, Linux is now at a place where it will make brilliant alternative to Windows, and this article will hopefully answer some of your questions that you may have regarding Operating System in general.

To many, it is perceived that Microsoft Windows is the only thing that works on computers. This a serious misconception and one that needs to be brought to the attention of the World. Windows is just something that lets you use your computer, you can do the same on a Linux system, only it doesn't cost you anything and once you pick up the basics, it's simple!

So, is Linux just a different version of Windows? No, it's different, it allows you to do the same things, but as I will show you soon, it's much more versatile than the Windows software you know and love.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, there are only a few things that most people really do on their computers, so I will now look at each of these and show you how and why the Linux alternative is generally the better option.

There are many different versions of Linux, but this article will deal with the most popular and one of the easiest to use called Ubuntu. Ubuntu is now at version 11.04 and overall the Ubuntu experience should be as smooth as using a Windows machine, but without the cost and the threat of virus etc. (more on that soon).

Browsing the internet.

The one thing that everyone does is browse the internet. On Windows you will have a version of Internet Explorer, plus many people download free alternative browsers such as Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome. Also, they recommend that while using the internet you use an anti-virus program to stop your Windows machine becoming infected, plus anti-spyware and firewall software.

This is where the Ubuntu Linux experience is far better than anything Windows can offer. Ubuntu comes with Firefox 4 built in as standard, and the difference in speed between this build and the Windows build is quite phenomenal, Ubuntu's Firefox 4 just flies along at an unbelievable pace. Of course you can also download Ubuntu versions of Opera and Google Chrome, plus a whole host of other browsers.

One thing that is different in Linux in general is that there is no need for any anti-virus! Because of the way the Operating System is built, Virus' are almost unheard of in Linux, and as such it is perfectly safe not to use one, it's also safe not to use anti-spyware and the option of using a Firewall program is up to you. This all means for the end user that no computer resources are being used elsewhere, so even on the oldest computers Linux is stupidly fast!

Those concerned about watching Youtube or streaming music can also be assured that Ubuntu comes with all the codecs needed to allow you to do all this hassle free. Youtube is smooth and fast when on full-screen, even on the lowest spec computers, and you can stream any kind of music file (whatever a radio station uses etc.) with ease.

Recommended Browsers: Firefox 5, Chromium or Opera

Downloading Music or Films.

Again, just as simple in Ubuntu as it is in Windows. If you're a fan of bit torrents then Ubuntu comes with Transmission, a great little torrent client that allows you to manage your torrent downloads.

Downloading paid for music or films can be done via the Amazon store on Banshee music player. There is no iTunes in Linux, so if you're a user of iTunes, Amazon Store is your new shopping place. Also of note, if you have an iPod, Banshee will be your new friend, and the software is much better than iTunes. When you first plug in your iPod you can rip the tracks off the machine and Banshee will transfer them to your computers hard drive. Quick and simple!

Recommended Download Software: Transmission

Writing Letters and Office Work.

Many people get caught in the trap thinking that they have to use Microsoft Office or Word etc. This is one of Microsoft's biggest sellers, and they'd have you believe they are something a bit special. Well, look no further than Libre Office which is bundled with Ubuntu (or Open Office on older versions – essentially the same program). It is a fully compatible software suite that includes writing, database, power-point and excel functions, and look almost identical to them.

Libre Office can read and write .docx files that the new version of Word uses. I have used the software in a work environment and shared with Microsoft users and they have never been aware I'm using different software. So many people get duped into buying Microsoft's Office programs, when there is a perfectly good free version out there.

If you use Outlook then Ubuntu comes with Evolution which looks and acts very similar to it. It's a great program that gets better with every release. In a lot of ways I prefer it to Outlook, it's faster, it's less cluttered and it just works when you need it to!

Recommended Software: Libre Office 3.x, Open Office 3.x or Abiword

Listening to music or watching films.

Everyone has their favourite program for listening to music or watching films on their PC. Ubuntu comes with Banshee for listening to music and Totem Movie Player for watching films. Both do a brilliant job of this, and Banshee is one of the best music management programs I have ever used.

Also of course there is VLC which can be downloaded. A favourite of many Windows users, the Ubuntu Linux version of VLC is perfect for your audio and visual needs. The cream of the crop though is the new UMPlayer. This little program plays anything you throw at it, it's super quick and is one of the slickest pieces of software you will ever use. I have written a full review of it on my blog for those of you interested in it.

Recommended Media Software: UMPlayer, Banshee 2, Totem Movie Player or VLC

Art and photograph viewing.

We'd all like to own Photoshop but it's damn expensive. We have all used Paint and now how primitive that is. Some of us have discovered the delights of Photfiltre, but sadly not enough of us. So that's the Windows side of things, but Ubuntu has a whole wealth of visual manipulation goodies that just work and are free!

Gimp is program similar to Photoshop. Many people say it's as good as Photoshop, but of course it's free and constantly updated so in my books that swings it for me! Gimp can be as complicated or easy as you want to make it, and once you get used to the way it works, it really is a cool piece of software.

For viewing your photos there is Shotwell, which is a great viewer program. And of course there is much much more...

Recommended Software: Gimp and Shotwell

And there's more...

The one thing that confuses many Windows users is where to download new software. A lot of time you can download free-trials, a lot of time the free downloads are limited use and of course there is always the threat of malicious software giving you a virus or spying on your every move.

Ubuntu has a download centre where almost every piece of software available for it is listen. It is all categorised to make it simple for you to find what you need. What's more 99.9% of the software is perfectly free and available for full use with no constraints. Think of it as an online shop, where everything can be viewed before you download, and with just one click it will be downloaded and installed on your PC.

It's not just that everything is free, it's that everything gets updated on a regular basis and each and every program you download has been tested by people who enjoy using computers as much as you.

You know when you want to use a printer with your Windows machine, you plug it in and it doesn't work. You then have to find the driver that allows it to work, and if you're using a Windows 7 machine it's really hard to find the driver that lets your printer work. Well, in Ubuntu Linux there are no drivers... you plug in your printer or camera or wi-fi stick etc and it just works.

In fact, the saying I like to use when talking to people about Linux in general is “it just works”, because it does. As I said, if you're a gamer then stick to your Windows, but if it's something else you are after the Linux is something you really should consider.

Mark Adams

14 May 2011.

[Updated June 23 2011]

Ubuntu 11.04 First Look

2011-04-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I have been a Linux user now for a while and I have been happy with Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10. Recently however, the Ubuntu 11.04 Beta has been released which has allowed me to try out the latest update of the wonderful Ubuntu Operating System.

The first thing I noticed was the new layout. 11.04 has gone for a new look, with a system bar on the left hand side containing icons that act as launchers for programs. I'm not going to get into the technical aspects, as to most people they won't mean anything, but these launchers allow quick access to every part of your system, including hardware and software.

It took me about 15 minutes to become accustomed to the new layout, and now I am running the system on a LiveCD on my laptop. As this is a live CD, it means that there have been no changes made to my laptop, and I am just testing the OS. Compared to the LiveCD for Ubuntu 10.10, this OS found all my hardware, including Wireless settings instantly. I had to adjust the keyboard to UK configuration, but that was quick and simple.

At the moment I have a main PC with Ubuntu 10.10 installed, and a laptop with Windows 7 installed. I intend to go fully Ubuntu Linux this year, and the only thing stopping me right now is that I can not find a program on Linux that allows me to write Dreamcast games using the .cdi format. I will soon experiment with WINE (Windows compatibility program) and see if I can get it working from there.

So, what are my impressions? Well, it's a BETA, so I had to manually install some bits and pieces (flash and CCSM to allow graphical effects of the desktop). Out of the box though it's pretty cool. First of all, it looks really nice! It has a stylish look that in my opinion makes it look nicer than Windows 7. The Ubuntu font is nice to read, and easy on the eyes and the whole OS is stupidly fast! Using Firefox 4 (Ubuntu's packaged browser) was lightening fast, and it seemed much faster than Windows version.

As I say, it's early days yet, but with the main release of Ubuntu 11.04 due soon, it's the time if you want to try a different and free OS. Free it may be, but second-class it is not. Ubuntu is a real alternative to Windows, and the software centre has everything you need for everyday use.

Top 60 Computer Games Of All Time

2011-03-09T04:20:00.000-08:00

Here is my updated top 50 games, now a top 6o and tweaked since I first published it in 2009. These are the games that changed my life, the games I played more than any other and the games that others around me have enjoyed. There have been a number of tweaks since the last time, because I forgot to include some games that really should have been included. It's also increased by 10 games as I could not fit everything I wanted into the top 50. I hope in the near future to up this to a top 100 of all time.

I believe thhat unlike most lists, this list actually does cover every decade of gaming and on most platforms. The platform listed in brackets is the main console/gaming machine that I played the game on, so it may be available on more platforms but I have not played it on them.

Enjoy the list...

60. Virtua Cop 2 (Saturn) – On rails shooters can be a hit or miss affair, however Virtua Cop 2 does it just right. Even without a light-gun Virtua Cop 2 is still fun to play. Almost arcade perfect, this game pushes the Saturn to it's maximum and each game draws you in for more.

59. WRC 03 (PS2) – The first of a number of racing games to be included in this list. WRC 03 is a fantastic rally game that really pushes the PS2 to do something very special. It's fun to play, the control is spot-on and the game just works as a Rally game should.

58. Zub (CPC) – Great theme tune, adequate graphics and just a fun game. Zub is a game not known by many, but a game I spent a huge chunk of my youth playing. Guide your character Zub to the top of the floating towers while shooting bad guys, transport to the next level and move on. Again, the simple things work best.

57. Phoenix (Arcade/CPC/PC) – Not another Space Invaders clone? Yes it is, and just like Galaga this game takes the concept and improves on it. A great classic game in every way that is always fun to play.

56. Body Blows (Amiga) – THE fighting game for the Commodore Amiga was Body Blows. It came on 5 or 6 disks, was available in an advanced version (which I had), and at the time was the beat-em-up of choice for me. Playing the game today, it still looks good, however, it does not play as well as any of the other fighters in my top 50 list. Still, a classic game that gave me endless hours of fun.

55. Defender (Arcade/Various) – Another old game from the dawn of time. Defender is hard, it's unforgiving and it's a nightmare to play if you just dip into it. That said, it's a brilliant game that can reward if you have the patience.

54. Uridium (C64) – Playing Uridium on a 42” LCD now reminds me that even quite simple graphics and sound can be really addictive. This game is hard! But when you are on a roll you get a great feeling of reward. I've got to level 7 and it was a shear fluke, but I love this. The only C64 game in my top 50, but what a damn fine game!

53. Bejeweled 2 (Mobile/PS3) – This game is so easy to pick up and so hard to put down. Played mostly on my mobile, this game is seriously addictive. The only mobile phone game listed in my top 50, it's simple and effective and so very playable.

52. Sorcery Plus (CPC) – The 8-bit gaming generation give us many classics, but Sorcery above all else showed us then when pushed the Amstrad could be better than any other 8-bit computer out there. Brilliant sound and graphics and a great flying platform game theme, this game was the pride in my Amstrad collection. It took me ages to finish, and playing it now I forgot how hard games used to be.

51. Tempest (Arcade/PS2) – The first time I played this game I didn't have a clue what was going on. I was about 10 years old, and I did not get very far in it. Thirty years later I can get quite far, and although it does ramp up difficulty really fast this game is an all time classic.

50. Desert Strike (Megadrive) – 3D-esque graphics that we'd not seen before, Desert Strike showed a generation that 16-bit games could be original and awesome. Flying through the deserts in your little helicopter and destroying the enemy scum, this game somehow made you feel you were in the thick of the action. Great game and great action.

49. Cannon Fodder (Amiga/Megadrive) – The first point and click action adventure shoot-em up I ever played. This game is fantastic, and seriously needs a remake. You control your little guys who you can split up into little groups and basically you have to kill the enemy. Point at a player, click on him/them and point and click the part of the screen you want them to go. See an enemy and fire!!! Great graphics, great game play and an overall brilliant game.

48. Pang (Snes) – I was never a huge fan of the Snes at the time, however Pang was a game that caught my attention. I play this game a lot these day, and the Snes version is still the best version available.

47. Arkanoid (CPC/Amiga) – It's Pong! Ok, it's Pong with colour and add-ons, but it's still that classic game Pong. Arkanoid is as addictive now as ever, and has been released on almost every format. The CPC version was arcade perfect, and the version I have played the most.

46. Barbarian (CPC) – What can be said about Barbarian that can sum up the pleasure and fun that I had with this game? Probably nothing actually. This game lived in my Amstrad CPC, and more recently in my emulator probably more than any other game. It was my first real encounter with a fighting game. Ok, so it’s no Street Fighter, or Tekken, and it sure ain’t no Soul Calibur, however it was, and still is a great fun hack-and-slash-come-beat-em-up.

45. Pacman (Arcade/PS2) – Next to Space Invaders this is the Grand Daddy of all computer games, and believe it or not I love it! I've never been exceptionally good at the game but I still find in enduring. Simple graphics and brilliant game play make this the perfect game.

44. Halo (PC/Xbox) – For some reason the Halo universe has reached some odd glory that tries to put it in a place where it really isn't. Halo was a fun shoot-em up, although I did find it a bit easy. The follow up games were also fun, however it's the first in the series that makes my top 50. Great fun and technically brilliant, this game gave me a few good hours of game play.

43. Die Hard Trilogy (PS1) – Three games for the price of one! You got a racer, a point and shoot and a platform game all in one package. The games remain huge fun to play, however, like some other PS1 titles graphics have dated and are quite blocky compared to other consoles and other eras. Still, this game represents the best value that was available at the time, and all three games are actually very good!

42. Ikari Warriors (CPC/Amiga) – The screen scrolls downwards, your little Rambo look-a-like takes on hoards of enemies, you fire your gun, you throw grenades... Two players mode adds even more fun to the game, which is just an absolute classic. It can get hard in the later levels by yourself, but with two players it is a little easier.

41. Super Monaco GP (Megadrive) – At the time this game was in my Megadrive more than any other, by today's standards it's pretty light weight, however at the time we would play the game trying to get milliseconds off each lap. Still though, a great fun game with a great challenge.

40. Bust-A-Move aka Puzzle Bobble (PS1/PS2/N64) – Puzzle games can be so annoying on times, however Bust-A-Move is an exception to the rule. It's just so much fun, and the sound effects and tune are just so annoying that you hum them for weeks after. Probably the best puzzle game available, all we need now is a HD remake!

39. Continental Circus (CPC/PS2) – My favourite racing game on the good old Amstrad CPC computers, this was a great conversion of the arcade classic. Even today this game plays well, and the Amstrad version plays as well as the arcade version. A real piece of 8-bit art.

38. Doom (PS1) – Those days when I remember two consoles and two TVs in the room, wow, and the motion sickness that also occurred! Doom is a classic, it's a masterpiece of gaming and one that holds the record of probably the most hours I have ever played on an FPS. Graphically good in the day, sonically scary and game play to die for.

37. Bomberman Online (Dreamcast) – If there's one multi player game that's always fun to play, it's the hectic Bomberman. The Dreamcast version is just awesome fun with one, and especially so with two or more players. Although the graphic and sound are brilliant, this game is not about either of those, it's about game play and having fun! It delivers in bucket loads, brilliant!

36. Rali-sport Challenge (PC/Xbox) – I first played this on the Xbox, and it blew me away! It’s the PC version that most of my time is spent playing now though. This game has the best of everything. It has superb graphics, playability of Sega Rally, huge amount of tracks and its difficulty is just right. It’s not often a rally game comes along that ticks all the tick boxes, but this is one of those few.

35. Ferrari F355 Challenge (Dreamcast/PS2) – Sandwiched between the uber-cool Rali-sport Challenge and Gran Turismo 5 is this Dreamcast classic. It's a tough game to play, but so much fun. The PS2 improved on the Dreamcast original by offering more game-modes and more car views, yet both games are a joy to play in every way. It's one of the few games that has the “just one more go” factor, and after a game you'll see why!

34. Gran Turismo 5 (PS3) – For all the anticipation of Gran Turismo 5, it should have been a top 5 game. However, it is a brilliant racing game, but is a much more serious attempt than other racing games in this list. Graphically it is sometimes superb and sometimes average, the main let-down is the Rally mode, which just not race as it should for some reason. Still, and amazing game and one for every collection.

33. Raiden Trad (Megadrive) – Both Raiden Trad and Varth are downwards scrolling shooters of extreme quality. Raiden Trad was one of the first of this games of this ilk that I really fell in love with. It reminds me of a thinking man's shooter, it's not too fast, so you can think about your positioning on the screen and you feel you can achieve quite a lot. Great fun, with great graphics and sound.

32. Super Hang On (Megadrive/Amiga) – How many hours I have spent playing this game has to be anyone’s guess. There’s nothing better than a great racing game, and Super Hang On is one of the great arcade racers. Basically this is Outrun on bikes, but to me it’s a little more than that. The nearest game to this in modern game is probably the Moto GP series, however, Super Hang On is far more playable.

31. Spyro The Dragon (PS1) – Sometimes the original are the best, and that goes for the mighty Spyro The Dragon. This game broke all barriers of 3D gaming when it was first released, and is as good as ever to play now. What's more, it breaks male/female boundaries and I know plenty of females who also enjoy this classic game.

30. Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn) – The Sega Saturn is an under-rated machine, however games like this prove that the Saturn was a great console. An on-rails shooter this game is fun and addictive. Playing this game now you realise graphics may have got better, but the fundamental design has remained almost the same and you really appreciated games past and present.

29. Unreal Tournament 2003 (PC) – An FPS of gigantic proportions. Unreal Tournament is a classic in every way. It's fast, furious and more fun than a barrel of monkeys. A must have for anyone's PC collection.

28. Golden Axe (Megadrive) – This is the game I spent all my 10p’s on in my youth. We’d all go down the arcade and play this mighty game. The Megadrive version was almost identical, I remember seeing the very first time on my tv, and it blew me away! Arcade ports don’t come much better than this classic hack-em-up. And… Of course I was always the little dwarf!

27. Streets Of Rage (Megadrive) – Oh God! The music, the graphics, the silky smooth scrolling, the punching, the kicking, the special move. Yes, Streets Of Rage had it all, and then some. Probably one of the finest Megadrive games ever, and I played it to death. Still a great blast today!

26. Daytona (Saturn/Dreamcast) – “Daytona Yeahhhhhhh!” Yet again the Saturn version of this game comes up trumps. Ok, the Dreamcast version looks amazing, but the Saturn version (actually that should be versions, as it was released as a Championship Edition also) plays just like the arcade. A brilliant game that you can play over and over again without getting bored.

25. V-Rally (PS1) – I remember the first time I set eyes on this game. For a PS1 game it just blew me away. It was super-fast, graphically stunning and had great game play. Some people found the controls a bit twitchy, but after a few minutes this game is just an amazing experience. There was a follow up on the Dreamcast and PC which was also a great game; however it’s the original I still go back to for the fun and thrill of a great rally.

24. R-Type (Master System/Amiga/PC Engine) – Sideways shooters are either hard or very hard with no in-between. R-Type I believe is just at the right difficulty level, if you concentrate you can progress really far on this seminal sideways blaster. An amazing game on nearly all formats.

23. Soul Calibur (Dreamcast/PS3) – Fighting with weapons has never been so much fun. Soul Calibur on the Sega Dreamcast is a beat-em-up of fantastic proportions. You fight with weapons, and each hit feels like it’s really had contact with the opponent. The PS3 game Soul Calibur IV brought back all the fun and flavour of the original. Sure, the graphics are better on the PS3 version, however both games play almost identical and are a pleasure to play.

22. Capcom Vs SNK Millennium Fight 2000 (PS1) – After playing the Street Fighter Alpha series of games for many years, I stumbled upon this classic fighter. Unlike the Street Fighter series, you get to chose three fighters in a team, and use them all in turn until you, or the other player have expelled all their lives. Graphically this game is way better than any other Street Fighter or SNK game, and it plays one hell of a brilliant game. I only have the PS1 version, but to play it you’d never guess it was on hardware that is now three generations old.

21. Varth (Arcade/PS2/PSP) – I got involved in this game quite late on, it's a downward scrolling shooter with a slight difference. You can collect a couple of orbs that you can choose to protect you by either staying in front of you, or moving around you stopping the enemies fire-power. Great graphics and sound and running at a good speed, this is one amazing blast that rewards you for time and effort.

20. Heavenly Sword (PS3) – Some people have slated this game, but they have obviously never played it. It has some stunning graphics, great sound and voice acting and a great story. The last boss is almost impossible, but apart from that this is one hell of a game. Combining different elements of game play, this game is a must for all PS3 console owners. It took me an age to complete it, but it was well worth it for the experience.

19. Sonic The Hedgehog (Megadrive) – Any top 50 would not be complete with the brilliant Sonic. A great game in every way, Sonic was in everyone lives during the early 90's. This game was played to death by me, and I still enjoy a quick blast now. Sonic was king of consoles, shame he can not find his feet again.

18. Sega Rally (Saturn/PS3/PSP) – Rally games don’t come as iconic as Sega Rally. Ever since I played it in the arcade I wanted a home version which lived up to that experience. Sega Rally on the Saturn almost gave that experience. A great game in every respect, the Saturn version played just like the arcade version. The PS3 version has the same feel but is a new game altogether, and again gets a lot of gaming from me. The PSP yet again is another different version, and again has that great Sega Rally feel. Absolutely awesome in every respect!

17. Galaga '88 (Arcade/PS2/PC Engine) – The music, the sound effects and the shear brilliance of the game make this an all time favourite. It's Space Invaders with all kinds of frills, and so it's classic game play hides the fact that this is one mega-blast-feast of a title.

16. Super Street Fighter II (Snes/Megadrive/Arcade) – This is considered the finest of all the Street Fighter games by many people, however, I prefer the Alpha series for its game play and graphics. Whenever I play this, I really enjoy the bouts, yet find it a bit hard compared to the Alpha series.

15. Guitar Hero 3 (PS3/PS2/360) – Music games came of age with this game. For once I can play real rock guitar to dozens of classic tracks. And yes, it comes with plastic instruments. A really amazing game and a brilliant game to spend time with family and friends. Simply awesome!

14. Rock Band 2 (PS3/360) – It's too close to call as to which is the better of the two brands. Guitar Hero Vs Rock Band are two similar games, yet it's probably Rock Band that takes the lead due to it's better finger positions when playing the guitar, the better drum patterns when on drum, and the slightly better vocals section. As a genre, the music genre is a fun-filled one that the whole family enjoys.

13. Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast/PSP/PS2) – If ever there was a Street Fighter game that captured my imagination, it was Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the Sega Dreamcast. As much as I’d enjoyed previous Street Fighter games, when I picked up and played this, something just clicked like never before in a game. The controls were spot on for a beat-em-up, easy to pick up, yet a lot to master. This game I have played so many times over the years I have lost count. The PSP version was my latest addition to the SFA3 series, and it is the most complete version of the game to date.

12. God Of War III (PS3) – Huge battles, huge graphics, huge story... God Of War III takes the first two games (I have not included them in this list, not enough room!) and makes them bigger and better. Great puzzles, great action and a fabulous story, God Of War III just delivers what it sets out to do, and delivers it perfectly.

11. Racedriver: Grid (PS3/360) – Racing games come and go, but some stay forever and are next to perfect in the way of handling and game play. Racedriver: Grid is one awesome race-fest that just blows you away every time you play it. Graphically perfect, this is one of my favourite racing games of all time. It gets harder the more you progress, but it is rewarding when you finish top 3 in any given event.

10. Need For Speed: Shift (PS3/360) – I've always enjoyed my racing games, and this game has shot straight into my top 20. It's a great racing game with brilliant control and some great race's to be had. It edges in front of “Racedriver: Grid” because it is a little easier and slightly more enjoyable to play at the harder levels of the game.

09. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3) – A modern platform game which shows off the PS3's potential well. This is a brilliant game, with the only slight downside being the aiming mechanism when firing your gun. Once mastered, it's just mind blowing. Some great puzzles, great action and a great humorous story. Uncharted is a AAA title that just shines each time you play it.

08. Singstar (PS2/PS3) – What seems like little more than a Karaoke machine, Singstar makes the perfect game to play with family and friends. No need to think about playing any instruments are pushing any buttons, simply sing into the blue ot red banded microphone and have fun. With each disc with between 20 and 30 tracks, and even more to download on PSN, this game has never tired. Kept alive with new editions every few months and those downloads for PS3 owners, this is a well worthy game for this day and age of hardcore and casual gamers. Perfect!

07. Outrun (Saturn/PSP/PS3/PC Engine) – Outrun was a great game in the arcades, however it’s the Saturn and PSP versions that I have played the most over the years. The Saturn version plays almost identical to the arcade and is a wonderful representation of the Saturn’s power. The PSP version is a home version of Coast to Coast 2006 from the arcades, which was the best of all the Outrun series. For me, these games give me some of the best pleasure in racing games, just simple arcade action at its best.

06. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3/360) – There were First Person Shooters before Call Of Duty 4, but it was this game that single handedly changed console FPS games forever. Great graphics and seriously solid game play, COD4 has eaten up many PS3 owners gaming time. Many regard this as the best game available, while I prefer Killzone 2 as the controls are heavier and more realistic than the rather floaty controls of COD4. Still, an amazing game and one of the best games available on any platform.

05. Tekken 5: DR (PSP/PS3) – The greatest Tekken of them all comes in the form of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. Not since the classic Tekken 3 had a Tekken game some magnificent in every way possible. Each character handles uniquely, and when mastered is the most dangerous fighting character of them all. This game is different to any other fighting game. It’s pace, it’s style, and everything else is a work of pure art. If there were no fighting games on earth apart from this one, I would be happy.

04. Wipeout HD/Fury (PS3) – The Wipeout series has always held my attention, although none has come close to the latest edition Wipeout HD on the PS3. It’s a stunningly beautiful game that plays perfectly. It can be hard to start off racing, but once mastered it entertains for hours on end. It offers an awesome online play mode also, which just adds to the depth. Unbelievable in every way!

03. Metal Gear 4 (PS3) – “Guns Of The Patriot” is stunning. It's beautiful. Never has a console been pushed so hard, and as such this is one of the best looking games ever. A lot of people say it's little more than an interactive movie, but it is so much more than that. This game took me quite a while to complete but it was well worth it. Yes, it has a lot of CGI movies telling the story, but they are very high quality and enjoyable. I've never liked Metal Gear games, but this game is outstanding in every way.

02. Killzone 2 (PS3) – This is the game for me that represents the pinnacle of first person shooters. Killzone 2 is a fine example of making a game feel different enough to have it's own identity. For all the Call Of Duty pretenders out there, Killzone 2 does it in a different way, with amazing graphics and sound and amazing enemy AI. Killzone is one of the true highlights of this generation of games, only bettered by...

01. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) – Everything about the first game has been improved ten-fold in the follow up. Graphically this game is nothing short of stunning, some of the levels are photo-realistic. Game play on the other hand, over the first game is far superior. There's more shooting, and a of of jumping. The whole narrative is fun and exciting and overall after completing the game I sat there knowing that I'd just played the best game ever. A feeling I only ever sometimes get, and a feeling that is still with me while updating this top 50 list over a year later originally compiling it.

We're off to New York - And more.

2011-03-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are off to New York this week. Really looking forward to it, and I will get loads of photos up on my Twitter or Facebook as soon as I can.

Also, I intend to get on top of this blogger! There are so many things I need to talk about, so will get to it soon!

:) Mark

Help me make a million dollars!

2011-02-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

Guys, gals, I need your help to make me a million dollars. Please visit This Site and help me out of my doom and gloom. Let's show the World that people still care about other people!

Thank you.

Mark

Starting to sell some photos...

2011-01-20T13:08:00.001-08:00

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A quick update.

2011-01-10T01:51:00.000-08:00

So the new year is here and it's all a new start. We are trying to concentrate on mobinsureuk.2u.co.uk in work. This is a great price comparison website for UK mobile phones.

Should anyone require mobile phone insurance, and your phone is less than 6 months old, then mobinsureuk.2u.co.uk will be just the site you need. We compare all the major insurance companies to ensure that you pay the less and get the best quality insurance.

Please visit mobinsureuk.2u.co.uk now and have a look around!

:) Mark

An update!

2010-10-02T08:23:00.001-07:00

It's been a little while since my last update, so I thought I would just update you on a few things! Don't forget to follow me on twitter.com/markyboyo for daily updates or facebook.com/scooby1970 for slightly less regular updates!

First off, Sara and myself went to Dublin a couple of weeks ago and had a brilliant time, sadly, Sara caught a chest infection from somewhere so was ill for a lot of the trip. We came back after our trip and found out that our house that we have bought will be ready to move in on the 21st of this month!!! It's going to be a busy time, but once everything is set-up it's going to be brilliant!

Gaming update: Yes, of course gaming is still an important part of my life, and I have bought a few games lately, but not as many as usual. I picked up the Megadrive Collection, and we have been enjoying some real classics such as Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe and Sonic! Also, I've been enjoying Dirt 1 & 2 a hell of a lot lately.

I've got back into radio, and I've been enjoying Big L radio quite a bit. The good thing is that I can stream it on my phone, so I can listen to it where-ever I can go... Talking of my Phone, I have come off the God-Awful T-Mobile and I am now on "3". Wow! This network has changed recently. I get a perfect signal everywhere, the internet speeds are super-fast and the tariff is unbeatable! I love my new HTC handset. I'd always heard good things about them, and they really are brilliant hand-sets.

That's all for now, but I will be back very soon!

The ultimate diet?

2010-08-06T01:39:00.000-07:00

For me, food is life. I love food in every shape and form, and I could eat endlessly without a thought to my weight. Except, as got closer to 40, and then finally reached 40 my weight had ballooned to just under 19 and a half stone.

I took a look at myself one morning, and really didn't like what I seen. I had bought a new XL t-shirt for holidays and it just wouldn't fit me. It was time to do something, and time to do something fast. The only trouble was I really enjoyed food, so I looked around at many diets and sites telling me what the best diet was, and I came up with a plan.

Firstly, I cut certain things almost completely out of my diet. Gone was the bottle or two a day of coke and other fizzy drinks. Gone was the multiple bars of chocolate, and gone was the dozen or so chocolate biscuits. Also, I cut out eating chips almost every day or so.

So, this is a typical weekly and weekend diet for me... And the good thing is the weekend diet plan!

Monday to Friday Breakfast: Cereal, half the size of my usual stacked high bowl.

Monday to Friday Day Time: I have called this "Day Time" as instead of having one huge meal, I have broke down my food intake. I'll have a snack at 11am, usually an apple or a diet-cereal bar. Then dinner time (usually around 1pm) I will have more some food, such as a sandwich and some fruit, and later in the day around 3pm I'll have more fruit or a small snack.

Monday to Friday Evening Meal: For this meal it's usually a cut down version of a meal I used to have (so half the potions) served with jacket potato instead of chips. Also, egg or beans on toast quite a lot. Later in the evening if I was hungry I would have just 2 small biscuits.

It's surprising how fast your body gets used to this, and by eating less, more often, you really do stay full longer.

As for the weekends... From Friday evening to Sunday evening... EAT WHAT YOU WANT!!! However, after a few weeks of cutting back you will instinctively eat less anyway. It's perfect!

Following this plan, with also a little added exercise (walking more, standing up in work etc) may be a help to anyone who really hates diet but needs a way to lose weight.

As I said at the start, I was just uner 19 and a half stone, now I am 16 and a half stone just by following these simple steps. If you decide to add more excercise to the plan, I'm sure that the weight will come off even faster.

One word of warning though, in your first couple of weeks, don't expect miricles. It took at least 2 weeks before my weight started coming off me.

Ubuntu 10.04

2010-06-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

I decided to take the leap and go for a non-Microsoft Operating System. I was just fed up with Windows, and the price they want for a legitimate Windows 7 is stupid! No product is worth that much, regardless of what it does, so I decided to look around for a comparable Operating System that would do everything I need. I made a list, and a new OS had to be able to do these things.

Browse the internet, download via torrent sites, use Open Office, have some fun games available, be able to use iPod with it, be able to rip CDs and be able to use my printers and other devices. Although all this sounds as if it should be possible, let me just say that Windows 7 had trouble finding drivers for my equipment, and it took me days of research to add my Photosmart printer!

I took the plunge with Ubuntu 10.04. A great version of Linux that you can try out by running it as a "LiveCD" - it won't install to the hard drive, you can run it off the CD! After just 10 minutes of using the LiveCD I decided to install Ubuntu onto my PC, alongside Windows 7, and it was the best move I ever made. All the drivers were found instantly and everything went smoothly.

The great thing about Ubuntu is that it is also highly customisable, and after a short while it looked and run brilliantly. Downloading software is a breeze through the software centre, and using the inbuilt applications is simple. The whole Ubuntu experience seems much more intergraded than Windows, and overall I have been finding it a pleasant experience.

For now I will keep my dual-boot system, but in the future I will never buy another Microsoft Operating System again. Ubuntu does all the average user needs and a lot more. I'll keep this blog updated on my progress of using Ubuntu.

Quick update

2010-06-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated the blog. I've been up to quite a few things, so let me just highlight a few items I will be blogging about in the coming week:

Ubuntu 10.04 - New Operating System I have installed instead of Windows on my PC.
Tenerife - We're going there in a weeks time for 8 days!
Cameras - My search for the perfect camera.
Games - General games update.

Call back soon and read the updates!

God Of War III - Just finished it. My review!

2010-04-14T07:34:00.001-07:00

I spent 15 hours on God Of War (GoW) 1, 14 hours on GoW 2 and now,after just under 9 hours I have completed GoW3. 2010 was the first time I had ever played a GoW game on a console, I had played the demo of GoW on the PSP briefly so when I bought my USA imported I only had a rough idea of what the games were about.

The first two God Of War's played brilliant, and they looked and sounded pretty impressive in their upscaled glory on the God Of War Collection, so I had very high hopes for the third and final game. Little did I know that I was about to play a game that would totally blow my mind.

First thing that impressed me was the shear amount of things going on on the screen at one time. The first hour or so of the game is just a pleasure to play, and a pleasure to watch other people play. The scale of the game play is just mind-boggling. The camera moves in and out of the playing field giving you a sense of scale never before felt in a video game. You feel tiny in a world full of giants, simply awesome!

The combat is a refined version of GoW 1 & 2, and it is all the better for it. It does not feel like a button masher, you actually need to fight with different weapons and different tactics. The special weapons all work well too, and for the first time you can switch weapons on the fly. The game also includes the quick time events (QTEs), and I found them paced pretty well, only missing the events once or twice.

The game throws quite a few puzzles at you too, and to be fair I managed to work them all out quite easily (though some took longer than others). Thankfully though, it's all quite straight forward and I did not need to look up any cheats to help me through it. Each puzzle adds to the gameplay, and adds to the whole fun of the game.

Sound in the game is just brilliant! The orchestral soundtrack rocks and the sound effects are superb. The voice acting is also brilliant, probably up to Uncharted 2's level. Talking of Uncharted 2, GoW3 is probably up there with UC2 as one of the greatest games ever made.

So, my final say on the game. Game play is enjoyable to the n'th degree, graphics and sound are just mind blowing and it's a fitting end for the trilogy. The ending was a bit of a shock for me, but I think it was about right (the dream sequence just before the end is freaky and techically very impressive).

Overall then, up there with Uncharted 2 as my favourite game ever! If you don't play this you are missing out on a part of gaming history.

:) Mark

Heroes Of Today - A Poem

2010-02-19T03:10:00.000-08:00

Heroes Of Today - A Poem

Each night I watch the evening news, the story's almost always the same,

Another Soldier's body returns, but how many have been badly maimed?

Mostly are just young boys in age, but they die heroic men in our hearts,

Fighting a war highlighted on TV, you forget it tares family's apart.

I hide my tears of sadness and pride,

A lump in my throat I fight hard to hide,

War is just a political game,

Our soldiers die it's such a shame.

Watching the crowds stand silent, lining the narrow street,

Wootton Basset the centre of so much loss, this country'll never face defeat,

Our young men and women so very brave, loosing life for you and me,

Without them fighting this atrocious war, we'd loose all our liberties.

A lump in my throat I try so hard to hide,

Holding back my tears of sadness and pride,

This was must be fought again and again,

It's more to us than Political gain.

The Military Hospitals are almost full, of casualties of this Afghan war,

No matter how much blood's spilled today, the enemy will always want more,

So whatever your Nationality, belief or religion please join when we say,

Our troops in the war zone fighting for you and me are our Heroes Of Today.

I can't hide my tears of sadness and pride,

Too many lives have been destroyed and too many soldiers have died.

(c)10/02/10 Mark Adams

It's been a long time since I've written a meaningful poem that is not about my life or the ones I love, but I have been so sick of seeing British soldiers coming home from Afghanistan in coffins that I had to let out my feelings in a poem. Whatever your thoughts on the rights and wrongs of this war, or previous wars, our troops are just doing their jobs and need to be supported. My father was in the armed forces, where he spent some time in Northern Ireland during the late 1960's/early 1970's, and from his stories of those times, I know how much hell he went through. So, I can only imagine what these men and women are going through now.

SMiLE - The Lost Beach Boys Album

2010-01-21T03:41:00.000-08:00

Once in a while there comes along so intense, so brilliant, so melodic and so life changing that it can make you appreciate music more than you have ever appreciated it before.

The first album to change my outlook on music was The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album, it took me months to listen to it and fully understand it, but once I grasped the concept I fell deeply in love with it's classical undertones and sweet sweet lyrics and melodies.

So then to "SMiLE". Brian Wilson released this unreleased masterpiece a couple of years ago, and everyone gasped at how beautiful it was, however, myself , just like many other Beach Boys fans knew that the real magic of SMiLE was in the unreleased sessions and fragments that can be found around the internet.

During my search for tracks from SMiLE, I compiled my very own 4CD box set. Disc 1 contained all the officially released SMiLE era tracks that were available from various Beach Boys releases. Disc 2 contained the Vigotone bootleg version of the album, a stunning concept that still blows me away. Disc 3 contained alternate versions of SMiLE tracks from various other bootleg albums, while disc 4 contained a mono version of the original track-list as found on the back of the original album cover, plus some bonus tracks of yet more alternate versions. I cased all these bootlegs into two double CD cases, re-created the SMiLE album cover (as seen above) and was more than happy for many years.

A couple of years ago I then came across a brilliant SMiLE bootleg known as the DJ Mic Love mix. It contained the most thought provoking mix of the album so far, and the mixing was of a very high quality. More recently I discovered the on-a-par, but different version from MoK (click on the post-title to view tracks and download). So, all in all these different versions and snippets have added to me wanting to hear a real, official Beach Boys SMiLE box-set from Capitol. They never will, so we will all have to enjoy Brian Wilson's released version plus the numerous official tracks and bootlegs.

So, what makes the album so great? Putting aside Brian Wilson's version (a great version, but lacking in emotion and creativeness when compared to the original unreleased/released versions from the original 1967 album), each track on SMiLE is just sublime. Starting with "Our Prayer", a prayer to God in pure harmony, you feel instantly that you are taken to some other World where music has taken a new dimension. "Heroes & Villains" and "Good Vibrations" are also on the album in slightly different forms, and as anybody with an ounce of musical knowledge will tell you, these are mind-blowing track in their own right. The other big track that some people would know is "Surf's Up". A stunning piece that just blows away almost every other song ever written by anybody in the World. It is that good.

Talking about the album can not do it justice. Either run out and by Brian's version or download one of the many bootlegs available on the Internet. You may not get it first listen, but you will be taken in by the shear brilliance and eventually realise your music life was empty without it.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-07T03:00:00.000-08:00

So, 2010 is here. The start of a new year and a new Decade. This time last decade I had a job I thought was safe for life, I had very few grey hairs and I was happy with Sara. A decade down the line and I'm still very happy to be with Sara, but the rest has gone down hill!

This year, in February, I will be reaching the big 40. It's strange, but I still feel the same as I did when I was 20 and 30, but somehow it's not the same. My bones are aching, I have this continous sense of "what next" and I just don't know what to do with my life. I'm in a great relationship, I shave all I need in life, so I guess it's just nerves of reaching the landmark 40.

One good thing, in my 40 years of life I've always had a passion for computers and music, and this has only grown with age. Thankfully, these days I can just buy whatever I want, whenever I want - or in the case of music, just download it! But I still miss my years of growing up into a teenager, there's something special about them that I will always remember.

Anyways! 2010 is here, a new job awaits me and generally speaking I'm happyier than ever. This year I am looking to twitter the same as ever and also update this blog at least a couple of times a month. So, keep following me, and enjoying my twitters.

Thank you for reading this quick update. More exciting blogs to come soon!

Mark

The Best Blogs of 2009 - Linking to the best!

2009-12-22T01:44:00.000-08:00

So, 2009 is almost over! This year I have posted quite a bit on my blog, and thanks to Twitter I've had some great feedback. So, here are the best bits of the year, all linked from this one post so you don't have to go through the little rants that I had!

20 reasons why you should own a PS3 This caused quite a bit of debate.It's 20 reasons why you should own a brilliant Playstation 3 console. I stand by it, and if you are thinking of getting a new console for Christmas or in the January sales, then get a PS3!

Why Uncharted 2 is the best game ever! Yes, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was a huge smash this year, and I believe it to be the best game I have ever played. Read why. Oh, and I'm going through the game yet again and still I'm being blown away.

The Beatles Remasters A little review of the hottest CD releases of 2009. I just can't get enough of these remasters, read and find out why.

The top 50 video games... ever! This is my selection of the top 50 video games ever made. Please note, it was before Uncharted 2 was released!

From Elvis In Memphis A review of the great Elvis album.

Top 5 games consoles of all time Yes, of all time... The best 5 consoles ever.

I hope that's enough for you to enjoy for now. 2009 was really a great year for a lot of reasons, and me combining my Twitter output and Blogspot was one of them.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

60's Surf Music

2009-12-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a young lad of about 12 I have had this fascination for 60's Surf and Hot Rod music. I remember watching a film called "Dead Mans Curve - The Jan & Dean Story" which I enjoyed so much that it got me into "the music".

At the time, during the 1980's though, it was almost impossible to get Jan & Dean records, so my first collections were the Beach Boys albums. These albums, although not Jan & Dean, were to me a part of growing up. By the time I was 15 or 16 I had quite a large collection, mostly compilations of Jan & Dean and The Beach Boys but nothing much in between except for maybe the odd re-recording of Hondells, Surafris and other tracks. It was in around 1986 that I received my first "real" Surf & Hot Rod compilation that featured real artists other than Beach Boys or Jan & Dean.

The album "Surf City Drag City" along with the large book that accompanied it was a revelation. I could now listen to The Super Stocks, The Hondells, Murry Wilson, Hot Rod Rog and more and know I was listening to the real thing.

These days my "Surf City Drag City" collection is pretty impressive, and through forums and emails I believe that I now have one of the largest collections of this kind of music in... in the World probably! If there are any tracks or albums people are after by Jan & Dean or The Beach Boys, they come calling to me, the same goes for other artists, you name them I've got them or can get access to them quickly!

So, what is it about this music? Those harmonies, the lyrics, the screaming guitar, I just love it all. It takes me to a better place, a place where, while I'm listening I can be bathed in glorious sunshine in a world full of cars, girls, surf and sun. Each track by each artist is a mini symphony of sun-drenched charm, a perfect listening experience that never fails to make me feel happy.

There are also sub-genres which most people never hear. There's The Revells "The GO sound of the slots" album that tackles slot-car racing, there's The Ghouls "Draculas Deuce" album that tackles Halloween ghouls and ghosts and there's numerous artists singing about skiing and biking.

For the all-time top 10 surfin' vocals, may I ask you to view my Youtube video here.

This is the music I listen to the most, the music I love, the music that is close to my heart. Of course I love other kinds of music, mostly pop and I adore Elvis Presley, so my music collection is vary varied.

Now I'm off to the beach, enjoy the music...

Killzone 2 - Not in some 2009 GOTY nomintions?

2009-11-20T02:54:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest, the gaming press in general has a short memory. Some nominations have been released for the Game Of The Year and they have not included Killzone 2. What on earth is going on? Oh yeah, sorry, my first line said it all!

Killzone 2 was more than a technical tour-de-force (indeed other than Uncharted 2, no other game on any other system comes close to Killzone's tech and graphics.) it was also one of the greatest FPS games ever released, no, let me rephrase that, it was THE greatest FPS ever released.

Taking all the best elements of any other FPS out there, Killzone takes them, mashes them up and comes up trumps. Those who moan about it's controls are just stuck in Call Of Duty territory, every game should play different, and once you realise that it pans out to be a stunning gaming experience. One player mode lasts a good 8 plus hours and there are some brilliant set-pieces, multi-player mode is just an invigorating experience of which is always a fun-fest to play.

Killzone 2 is a follow-up to the great Killzone on the PS2, and Killzone 3 is already in development, so the franchise is doing very well for itself, however... Back to the original question, why is Killzone 2 not in GOTY nominations and yet Uncharted 2 is? Surely, after racking my brains it just has to be the time it was released, either that or the gaming press are just a bunch of muppets?

Rant over, enjoy the rest of my posts!

20 Reasons Why You Should Own A PS3

2009-11-16T02:08:00.000-08:00

I've owned a PS3 since launch now, and since that time I have seen it go from strength to strength. For a long time however, a lot of people thought the strength of the XBox360 was enough to make it win this huge battle of the next-gen consoles, how times have changed! Since the release of the new PS3 slim and since the extreme price drop of the PS3 things have changed, and now there's also a huge advertising campaign helping the PS3 regain Sony's rightful spot at the number one position of the console market.

Before I list the "20 reasons to own a PS3", may I say we also have an XBox360 in the house, and I have had full use of a 360 many times. I view and play a lot of games on a lot of formats, and I have done since the late 1970's, so I have no real bias apart from wanting the best out of a console.

Here are my 20 reasons to own a PS3:
01: Uncharted 2 - Never has there been a game that has given so much. Uncharted 2 is at this point in time unchallenged in the console market as THE finest game ever released to console.

02: Killzone 2 - Forget Halo or the Call Of Duty/Modern Warfare series, or any other FPS for that matter, Killzone 2 set the target for others to beat on the graphics, sound, online and single player modes and of course the gameplay. It's just a stunning game.

03: Playstation Network (PSN) - It's free and it's brilliant. From here you play games online free, you can download demos, games, videos and much more! Some say it's not as good as Live on the Xbox, but that is so not true at this stage, PSN delivers everything you need to have a enjoyable experience.

04: Wi-Fi - Yes! No need to buy a seperate dongle, the PS3 comes with built in Wi-Fi!

05: Recharagable Controllers - You never need to replace the batteries in the PS3 controllers as they are rechargable, and they last a good 8+ hours per play when fully charged.

06: VidZone - A brilliant application that allows you to make your own playlists up for video streaming. Vidzone is fun, Vidzone is brilliant, and from what I can see on my friends list, everyone uses it!

07: The Internet - The PS3 has a built in web browser. As a general browser it is perfectly adequate, and allows us to access everything we need, from Twitter, Youtube and Facebook through to most any other site you can think of.

08: Bluray Player - Yes, the PS3 is a mighty Bluray player too! Which means 1080p hi-def films with lossless sound. It's something you have to see to believe, as the quality far surpasses any streaming HD that other consoles offer.

09: SingStar - The series that lets you sing to your hearts content! The PS3 has a great selection of Singstar games, from Chart Hits to Abba, Queen and Take That plus a lot more. What's more, you can download your favourite songs off PSN!

10: BBC iPlayer - A built in tab on the PS3's XMB allows you to access the BBC iPlayer, it's been fine-tuned to work perfectly with the PS3, and it's a great addition!

11: Remote Play with PSP - Connect your PSP and PS3 together via cable or via a network and your PSP can use your media and even some games from your PS3. Try watching Vidzone on your PSP while at a friends who doesn't have a PS3, or even play a game from PSN!

12: Wipeout HD/Fury - The classic Wipeout series comes to the PS3 and is better than ever. No-one would ever know this is a downloadable game, as it looks, sounds and plays better than most "normal" games.

13: Buzz - The greatest quizz on any console! Buzz allows you to play local or online against people you've never met. Huge fun, and another great exclusive.

14: Metal Gear Solid 4 - This is a game everyone should play. Only available on PS3, and you can see why. Some amazing gameplay, graphics to die for and the best FMV sequences you will ever see.

15: Little Big Planet - LBP is a cute game, it's a 2D platformer with a style of it's own. What's more impressive though is the huge social network it is built around, allowing you to create your own games or play other peoples attempts. Very impressive!

16: HDMI - All Sony's PS3's consoles have had HDMI for Hi-Def TVs, while other consoles only certain models have had HDMI support.

17: It's Quiet! - Yes, the PS3 is very quiet, especially when compared to the XBox360. Even at it's loudest the PS3 is quieter than the quietest 360.

18: It does not scratch your games/movies - The Xbox360 is renowned for scratching games with even the slightest movement of the console. The PS3 has no such worries.

19: God Of War III - Ok, I've only played the demo so far, but this game looks like it could one of the best games ever. It's a game everyone loves, and it's only available on PS3. Technically it's an awesome beast, which even impressed me!

20: MotorStorm Pacific Rift - One of the greatest arcade racers made. It's one that gets harder the more you progress, but it's worth it for to view it's technical prowess.

So that's just 20 random facts I could think of off the top of my head. Of course, there's a lot more to come in the near future, with the best exclusive games including Gran Turismo 5, Heavy Rain and God Of War Collection, plus they are adding new features to PSN all the time.

The PS3 is the way to go. It's also more cost effective, with no annual or monthly subscription that allows you to play online with friends, plus it has built in wi-fi and you can use any blue-tooth head-set with it (unlike the 360). Games are coming right down in price also, and the Platinum collection is simply unbeatable.

Thank you for reading.

Why Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the greatest game ever.

2009-10-23T03:06:00.001-07:00

I've been playing game for over 30 years. The first few years of my gaming life (1977-1982) I played simple Pong clones or Grandstand consoles with various football and tennis games. Then came my first real computer, the ZX81 which allowed me to play dozens of different kinds of games. Soon after my passion really evolved when I had my Amstrad CPC computer, ZX Spectrum, Sega Master System, Mega Drive, Amiga 500, Amiga 1200, Sega Saturn, Playstation, Dreamcast, PS2 and everything in between. I love game playing, and I can not deny it's taken up a huge part of my life. In total I must have played thousands of games, many of them only once or twice and not getting very far on them, and many of them to the very bitter end.

So, it takes a lot for a game to impress me today. In fact, it takes something very very special to even make me comment on ho good it is. This generation has given us some of the best games ever, my draw dropped when I played Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, the graphics were beyond beautiful, and the whole thing on both games was a technical tour-de-force. The original Uncharted was a great game, it looked amazing and played very well, and for once it brought me back in believing that games could become brilliant again.

Of course, games today are very different to the games I grew up with in the 1970's, 80's and 90's. Even games downloaded from the internet are something special now. Wipeout HD/Fury would have been unheard of a couple of years ago as a download, but once downloaded it's graphics and game play are enough to blow your proverbial socks off! So, everything taken into consideration, Uncharted 2 must be something really special.

So, what does Uncharted 2 have that makes it the greatest game ever made? First off, character. You play the game and it feels genuine, you feel for the characters and you feel for the script. It feels like you are genuinely part of a movie and you feel you are contributing to everything that goes on. Secondly, from a technical point of view the graphics, sound, script and acting are a million times better than anything that has come before. This is the most beautiful game you have ever seen, heard or had the pleasure of controlling. The cut-scenes are the best you'll ever see... sometime you think you're watching a movie and forget you're playing a game. It is that good.

They've taken the original triple "A" Uncharted, and added a further couple of "A"'s to it. Everything that was brilliant about the first game has been amplified and improved on. You now have the option to play the game with much more stealth, and there are some great stealth attack moves. Talking of moves, the way you go from gun-play to hand combat to climbing is just mind blowing, everything just feels so natural, you ARE the humorous lady's-man Drake.

So, I'll rate this game on completing it once and about to start playing it again, the review can not express how good the game is, it is that good. Anyone who has not played this game, or skips the cut-scenes really needs to get it, and play it right... It's a life changing game to play in the world of games.

Game Play: 10/10 - So many moves, so many treasures to find, so many things to unlock. Perfect for replaying... and I've not touched on the online play yet!

Graphics: 10/10 - The best you'll ever see on any console, with great animation and unrivaled details.

Sound: 10/10 - Simply stunning, I wish I could buy the soundtrack as a separate CD, it's brilliant! Sound effects and dialog are world class.

Overall: 10/10 - It's all but perfect.

It's Politics time again. Who to vote?

2009-10-09T01:38:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that I am neither a Labour nor a Conservative voter. I do vote in every election and bi-election, but I have never voted either of these two parties. There are other's out there that would do a better job, however sadly most people are too middle of the road to reach out and vote someone different.

So, yesterday was the Conservative Party Conference speech where David Cameron made his gripping speech. Of course, it was a strong speech, stirring and saying exactly what he wanted people to hear. And that is the point, I believe he was just saying what people want to hear. Now is the era of the actor in Politics, and David Cameron was acting as if he was a person for the people. Since when was Conservative Politics interested in the man on the street? Surely this would make them more Labour than Labour themselves?

Politics are changing, the World is changing, yet British Politics is stuck in the last Century. We need a party now who can deal with the troubles that are presented to us these days. Taxes, Immigration, Housing, NHS, Employment, Social Disorder and much much more. How can someone run the country if they have never experienced problems in any of these?

If I was Prime Minister for here are some of the things I would bring in:

Taxes:

We all have to be taxed, it's a fact that we can not escape. But having been on the low earnings ladder (less than £10,000 a year) and on the high end of earnings (£55,000+) myself, I could not believe that I was paying almost the same tax at both ends. What I would propose is a fairer Tax system, based on the area you live. Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland would have a high earners ceiling of £50,000, while England would have a ceiling of £55,000 and London £60,000. To be fair, if anyone has trouble living on more than this, then they need a huge grasp of reality. So, anyone below the ceiling would pay a standard low rate of tax (dependent on the current economic climate). Now anyone over the ceiling I'd enforce a 50% tax for the amount over the threshold, it's more than fair, and the extra money in the bank will help out those who really need it!

Immigration:

The UK is the softest target for immigrants and European migrants. I've visited Belgium and Holland on numerous occasions and they have it right. They place immigrants and European migrants into holding areas, they are only given vouchers for food and are not entitled to any financial aid. After 6 weeks, if they can not prove they are over in the country for a valid reason or if they do not have a valid professional job that could be of use to the country then they are shipped out of the country. It's an almost perfect example, though I would also organize immediate send-back of those already here, I know the current Party already does this, but it needs to be speeded up.

Housing:

Have you noticed just how many houses are empty? How many huge old buildings are just falling apart and not used? First priority would be to modernise these buildings, and create quick and effective housing for those who need it. WHY in 2009 are there homeless people? It's wrong, and it is so easy to fix. I'd also re-instate affordable housing, and also cap house prices so that anyone can afford them. A house is NOT a luxury, it's a need of everyone, and no-one on any scale of social ladder should be able to afford to buy or rent a house.

Employment:

Cleaning out the foreign immigrants will free up many hundreds of thousands of jobs. Now, some of these may be minimum-wage jobs, however the minimum wage is more than enough to live on, and live on comfortably. I know plenty of happily married couples and single people on minimum wage jobs who are more than comfortable so I see no excuse why anyone would not take a job with minimum wage pay. If they refuse a job that is offered to them, then simply stop any benefits. I'd also bring back two years National service in the army, for everyone between 17 and 21, it's something that needs to be done in this country and would ensure plenty of jobs and skills for jobs in the future.

Social Disorder:

As mentioned above, National Service would give youngsters a sense of being once again, I'd also start new clubs for children between 11 and 16 in which they would learn valuable skills for the future plus they would participate in more sporting and out-door events. This would be a process of ensuring that future generations learn to be part of society, be a human doing, not just a human being.

Young offenders would be placed into the military under strict rule, while degenerates over 21 would be used as hard-laborers on the new housing schemes. No prisoners would be aloud TV, and they would lose their human rights and only be given basic requirements to live, unless they prove themselves to be of any worth.

There are a lot more things I would change, and there is a need for the country to stop all this political correctness nonsense and get on with getting on! Modern politicians are just actors telling us things we want to believe, but rarely do they deliver. We need a change, and we need one now, we need a good clear out of the old and we need to put the "Great" back in Great Britain.

Now, who do I vote for?

Gaming update.

2009-09-30T04:39:00.001-07:00

It's been a good time for games recently. There have been some great games and game demos released, and I have spent quite a bit of time playing a variety of them.

My first new game is "Rock Band Beatles" (which I have mentioned briefly before). After hours of play, Sara, Karl and myself completed the game on Medium difficulty level. With 45 Beatles songs, the game is huge fun and a must for anyone who likes the band. Vocals are brilliant fun to sing, lead guitar is great and bass guitar is sometimes quite hard. We've only played it with drums once or twice, and they were actually quite difficult. Good old Ringo played a mean beat! If I was to rate this game out of 10 I believe it should get a 8/10.

Second new game is "Need For Speed: Shift". It's a racing game, that is split up into four different tiers, plus a fifth super-special tier. At first, I was a bit dubious. Graphics are more life-like and less colourful than other games of this genre, however the in-car cockpit view is absolutely awesome. Once you get a little way into the game, it becomes like a drug. Unlike many modern racers, you can actually throw these cars the track and have some serious fun. The track design is brilliant, and there's a great selection of cars. Anyone who knows me, knows I love racing games, and for it to be something special, it takes a lot. I think "Shift" is now my favourite racing game. It mixes old-skool throwing the car around, with modern driving physics and overall great control... and it's FUN! I'll rate this 9/10.

I'm also in the process of going through some older games. I'm replaying "Uncharted: Drakes Fortune" for the third time, and I'm loving every minute of it. I forgot how good the graphics, story and game play are in this game. This gets a 10/10 easy, and was probably the first PS3 triple A title. I'm also going through "Brothers In Arms: Hells Highway". This game takes some getting used to with the controls (as you have to command a couple of other teams as well as control yourself!), but once mastered it's a great WWII shooter. Graphics are nothing special, but the overall feel of the game is pretty good. So far then, over half way through it, I'll give it 7/10.

I spent an hour or so playing some classic Megadrive classics yesterday also, "Super Hang-On", "Golden Axe" and "Wonder Boy III". Wow, how games have progressed, and these games only managed to keep my mind occupied for a short time. I even completed "Golden Axe" in that short time I played the games!

So, next big game being released is "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves", which I have on pre-order. Review will be coming up soon!

:) Mark

The Beatles Remasters - A Review

2009-09-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

On 09/09/09 the entire Beatles back catalogue was re-released in brand new packaging and with totally revamped and re-mastered sound quality. On that day I received The Beatles Stereo Box-Set and I also managed to acquire The Mono set of CDs as well. Since that day, I have been listening to these albums and making some decisions on the sound quality.

First off though, some background. I had in my collection all the original 1987 CD releases, plus I had CD copies of the 24-bit remastered Dr Ebbetts editions of all the Beatles collection. The Dr Ebbetts selection gave us much improved sound quality over the original official Beatles releases so the new official releases had a lot to live up to.

The Stereo Box-Set comes in a lush black box, with all the albums recreated lovingly in fold-out reconstructions of the original LP covers. They all come with great quality booklets with notes and tons of pictures, and it looks like a lot of work went into these beauties.

So, the sound quality is where of course it matters most. These days I am used to listening to 24-bit digitally remastered classics by my other favourite artists, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley and The Byrds, so The Beatles remasters had a lot to compete with.

The stereo albums without a doubt sound far superior to anything ever released by The Beatles. They knock the spots off the 1987 CDs and they are superior to the already amazing Dr Ebbetts versions. There is a nice amount of bass, the mid-range is now much better and the top end is pristine. Never does a song sound like it is going to crack at any second, everything breathes and you can hear things in the recordings that you never noticed before. Guitars sound stunning, drums sound real and cymbals make the right noise. Vocals too sound perfect, and when yoy hear Paul sing "Yesterday", it's as if he is in the room with you.

The mono versions of the albums are sometimes regarded to THE albums to listen to. Yes, they have some subtle (and not so subtle) differences to the Stereo versions, however for those who have never heard the mono versions, this is the best they have ever sounded, only slightly better than the Dr Ebbetts releases, however better. For me as an avid fan, I would say listen to both versions when ever possible, however, for the first time ever I now say The Beatles in Stereo sound have that little edge on the mono recordings.

So, which version should you buy? Well, the only versions available of the albums that are sold sepreatly are the stereo versions, so for a casual fan these will be more than adequate... Infact, the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour are all must buy purchases!

:) Mark

General update

2009-09-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Life in general
So, it's September 2009. Time is flying by at an unbelievable pace at the moment and I just can't keep up with everything. I've been looking for work, and I've been enjoying my time off. It's a whole mish-mash of feelings at the moment, but I want a job that will do me for a few good years yet. I'm working on my own business, but I don't know how that will pan-out yet.

I got back from London yesterday. Sara and me had a good time, although Sara found it hard work with her bad knee and crutches. Everytime her leg seems to get slightly better, it then gets slightly worse. I do sympathise with her, and I wish that it would get better as I can see the constant pain that she is in.

My blood pressure seems to be ok at the moment (touch-wood), however, I'm getting worked up at stupid things, so I'll tell the doctor tomorrow when I visit him. I'll be just glad when everything is back to normal and we're all working and money is coming in again.

Gaming
I've not had much chance to do a lot of gaming recently, however I have installed the new firmware 3.0 for the PS3 and I think it's ok. The new sparkle effects are nice, and everything seems to be running that little bit quicker. I like the BBC iPlayer icon and I like what they have done to the internet browser. So, all in all not bad.

I have played a few demos, Dirt 2 being my least favourite probably. It looked nice don't get me wrong, but just doesn't "feel" right. "Wet" looks interesting, but I've not had time to fully explore this yet, as does "mini-ninjas".

I really fancy doing some old-skool 8-bit and 16-bit gaming over the next week or so, so I'll probably fire-up my emulators and have a good old blast of Zub and other classics.

Beatles Rock Band and Stereo Box-Set
So, this time next week I will hopefully have the above titles. I'm really looking forward to them and know I'm just going to have a blast. Although I have always been a fan of the Beatles albums in mono, I have heard great things about the stereo mixes on the forthcoming release.

So, I'll blog next week on the Beatles goodies that I should have... Until then... Chow!

My top 50 Video Games... Ever... Ever...

2009-08-13T02:34:00.003-07:00

So, it's been ages, but here we have my top 50 games of all time. It's a reflection of huge selection of games that I have played in arcades and on computers and consoles since 1977. It's been compiled over a couple of months and great thought has been put into it. I think it's a really accurate top 50 of the games I have most enjoyed.

50. Zub (CPC) – Great theme tune, adequate graphics and just a fun game. Zub is a game not known by many, but a game I spent a huge chunk of my youth playing. Guide your character Zub to the top of the floating towers while shooting bad guys, transport to the next level and move on. Again, the simple things work best.

49. Phoenix (Arcade/CPC/PC) – Not another Space Invaders clone? Yes it is, and just like Galaga this game takes the concept and improves on it. A great classic game in every way that is always fun to play.

48. Body Blows (Amiga) – THE fighting game for the Commodore Amiga was Body Blows. It came on 5 or 6 disks, was available in an advanced version (which I had), and at the time was the beat-em-up of choice for me. Playing the game today, it still looks good, however, it does not play as well as any of the other fighters in my top 50 list. Still, a classic game that gave me endless hours of fun.

47. Defender (Arcade/Various) – Another old game from the dawn of time. Defender is hard, it's unforgiving and it's a nightmare to play if you just dip into it. That said, it's a brilliant game that can reward if you have the patience.

46. Uridium (C64) – Playing Uridium on a 42” LCD now reminds me that even quite simple graphics and sound can be really addictive. This game is hard! But when you are on a roll you get a great feeling of reward. I've got to level 7 and it was a shear fluke, but I love this. The only C64 game in my top 50, but what a damn fine game!

45. Bejeweled (Mobile/PC) – This game is so easy to pick up and so hard to put down. Played mostly on my mobile, this game is seriously addictive. The only mobile phone game listed in my top 50, it's simple and effective and so very playable.

44. Sorcery Plus (CPC) – The 8-bit gaming generation give us many classics, but Sorcery above all else showed us then when pushed the Amstrad could be better than any other 8-bit computer out there. Brilliant sound and graphics and a great flying platform game theme, this game was the pride in my Amstrad collection. It took me ages to finish, and playing it now I forgot how hard games used to be.

43. Tempest (Arcade/PS2) – The first time I played this game I didn't have a clue what was going on. I was about 10 years old, and I did not get very far in it. Thirty years later I can get quite far, and although it does ramp up difficulty really fast this game is an all time classic.

42. Desert Strike (Megadrive) – 3D-esque graphics that we'd not seen before, Desert Strike showed a generation that 16-bit games could be original and awesome. Flying through the deserts in your little helicopter and destroying the enemy scum, this game somehow made you feel you were in the thick of the action. Great game and great action.

41. Cannon Fodder (Amiga/Megadrive) – The first point and click action adventure shoot-em up I ever played. This game is fantastic, and seriously needs a remake. You control your little guys who you can split up into little groups and basically you have to kill the enemy. Point at a player, click on him/them and point and click the part of the screen you want them to go. See an enemy and fire!!! Great graphics, great game play and an overall brilliant game.

40. Pang (Snes) – I was never a huge fan of the Snes at the time, however Pang was a game that caught my attention. I play this game a lot these day, and the Snes version is still the best version available.

39. Arkanoid (CPC/Amiga) – It's Pong! Ok, it's Pong with colour and add-ons, but it's still that classic game Pong. Arkanoid is as addictive now as ever, and has been released on almost every format. The CPC version was arcade perfect, and the version I have played the most.

38. Barbarian (CPC) – What can be said about Barbarian that can sum up the pleasure and fun that I had with this game? Probably nothing actually. This game lived in my Amstrad CPC, and more recently in my emulator probably more than any other game. It was my first real encounter with a fighting game. Ok, so it’s no Street Fighter, or Tekken, and it sure ain’t no Soul Calibur, however it was, and still is a great fun hack-and-slash-come-beat-em-up.

37. Pacman (Arcade/PS2) – Next to Space Invaders this is the Grand Daddy of all computer games, and believe it or not I love it! I've never been exceptionally good at the game but I still find in enduring. Simple graphics and brilliant game play make this the perfect game.

36. Halo (PC/Xbox) – For some reason the Halo universe has reached some odd glory that tries to put it in a place where it really isn't. Halo was a fun shoot-em up, although I did find it a bit easy. The follow up games were also fun, however it's the first in the series that makes my top 50. Great fun and technically brilliant, this game gave me a few good hours of game play.

35. Die Hard Trilogy (PS1) – Three games for the price of one! You got a racer, a point and shoot and a platform game all in one package. The games remain huge fun to play, however, like some other PS1 titles graphics have dated and are quite blocky compared to other consoles and other eras. Still, this game represents the best value that was available at the time, and all three games are actually very good!

34. Ikari Warriors (CPC/Amiga) – The screen scrolls downwards, your little Rambo look-a-like takes on hoards of enemies, you fire your gun, you throw grenades... Two players mode adds even more fun to the game, which is just an absolute classic. It can get hard in the later levels by yourself, but with two players it is a little easier.

33. Super Monaco GP (Megadrive) – At the time this game was in my Megadrive more than any other, by today's standards it's pretty light weight, however at the time we would play the game trying to get milliseconds off each lap. Still though, a great fun game with a great challenge.

32. Bust-A-Move aka Puzzle Bobble (PS1/PS2/N64) – Puzzle games can be so annoying on times, however Bust-A-Move is an exception to the rule. It's just so much fun, and the sound effects and tune are just so annoying that you hum them for weeks after. Probably the best puzzle game available, all we need now is a HD remake!

31. Continental Circus (CPC/PS2) – My favourite racing game on the good old Amstrad CPC computers, this was a great conversion of the arcade classic. Even today this game plays well, and the Amstrad version plays as well as the arcade version. A real piece of 8-bit art.

30. Doom (PS1) – Those days when I remember two consoles and two TVs in the room, wow, and the motion sickness that also occurred! Doom is a classic, it's a masterpiece of gaming and one that holds the record of probably the most hours I have ever played on an FPS. Graphically good in the day, sonically scary and game play to die for.

29. Bomberman Online (Dreamcast) – If there's one multi player game that's always fun to play, it's the hectic Bomberman. The Dreamcast version is just awesome fun with one, and especially so with two or more players. Although the graphic and sound are brilliant, this game is not about either of those, it's about game play and having fun! It delivers in bucket loads, brilliant!

28. Rali-sport Challenge (PC/Xbox) – I first played this on the Xbox, and it blew me away! It’s the PC version that most of my time is spent playing now though. This game has the best of everything. It has superb graphics, playability of Sega Rally, huge amount of tracks and its difficulty is just right. It’s not often a rally game comes along that ticks all the tick boxes, but this is one of those few.

27. Raiden Trad (Megadrive) – Both Raiden Trad and Varth are downwards scrolling shooters of extreme quality. Raiden Trad was one of the first of this games of this ilk that I really fell in love with. It reminds me of a thinking man's shooter, it's not too fast, so you can think about your positioning on the screen and you feel you can achieve quite a lot. Great fun, with great graphics and sound.

26. Super Hang On (Megadrive/Amiga) – How many hours I have spent playing this game has to be anyone’s guess. There’s nothing better than a great racing game, and Super Hang On is one of the great arcade racers. Basically this is Outrun on bikes, but to me it’s a little more than that. The nearest game to this in modern game is probably the Moto GP series, however, Super Hang On is far more playable.

25. Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn) – The Sega Saturn is an under-rated machine, however games like this prove that the Saturn was a great console. An on-rails shooter this game is fun and addictive. Playing this game now you realise graphics may have got better, but the fundamental design has remained almost the same and you really appreciated games past and present.

24. Unreal Tournament 2003 (PC) – An FPS of gigantic proportions. Unreal Tournament is a classic in every way. It's fast, furious and more fun than a barrel of monkeys. A must have for anyone's PC collection.

23. Golden Axe (Megadrive) – This is the game I spent all my 10p’s on in my youth. We’d all go down the arcade and play this mighty game. The Megadrive version was almost identical, I remember seeing the very first time on my tv, and it blew me away! Arcade ports don’t come much better than this classic hack-em-up. And… Of course I was always the little dwarf!

22. Streets Of Rage (Megadrive) – Oh God! The music, the graphics, the silky smooth scrolling, the punching, the kicking, the special move. Yes, Streets Of Rage had it all, and then some. Probably one of the finest Megadrive games ever, and I played it to death. Still a great blast today!

21. Daytona (Saturn/Dreamcast) – “Daytona Yeahhhhhhh!” Yet again the Saturn version of this game comes up trumps. Ok, the Dreamcast version looks amazing, but the Saturn version (actually that should be versions, as it was released as a Championship Edition also) plays just like the arcade. A brilliant game that you can play over and over again without getting bored.

20. V-Rally (PS1) – I remember the first time I set eyes on this game. For a PS1 game it just blew me away. It was super-fast, graphically stunning and had great game play. Some people found the controls a bit twitchy, but after a few minutes this game is just an amazing experience. There was a follow up on the Dreamcast and PC which was also a great game; however it’s the original I still go back to for the fun and thrill of a great rally.

19. R-Type (Master System/Amiga) – Sideways shooters are either hard or very hard with no in-between. R-Type I believe is just at the right difficulty level, if you concentrate you can progress really far on this seminal sideways blaster. An amazing game on nearly all formats.

18. Soul Calibur (Dreamcast/PS3) – Fighting with weapons has never been so much fun. Soul Calibur on the Sega Dreamcast is a beat-em-up of fantastic proportions. You fight with weapons, and each hit feels like it’s really had contact with the opponent. The PS3 game Soul Calibur IV brought back all the fun and flavour of the original. Sure, the graphics are better on the PS3 version, however both games play almost identical and are a pleasure to play.

17. Capcom Vs SNK Millennium Fight 2000 (PS1) – After playing the Street Fighter Alpha series of games for many years, I stumbled upon this classic fighter. Unlike the Street Fighter series, you get to chose three fighters in a team, and use them all in turn until you, or the other player have expelled all their lives. Graphically this game is way better than any other Street Fighter or SNK game, and it plays one hell of a brilliant game. I only have the PS1 version, but to play it you’d never guess it was on hardware that is now three generations old.

16. Varth (Arcade/PS2/PSP) – I got involved in this game quite late on, it's a downward scrolling shooter with a slight difference. You can collect a couple of orbs that you can choose to protect you by either staying in front of you, or moving around you stopping the enemies fire-power. Great graphics and sound and running at a good speed, this is one amazing blast that rewards you for time and effort.

15. Heavenly Sword (PS3) – Some people have slated this game, but they have obviously never played it. It has some stunning graphics, great sound and voice acting and a great story. The last boss is almost impossible, but apart from that this is one hell of a game. Combining different elements of game play, this game is a must for all PS3 console owners. It took me an age to complete it, but it was well worth it for the experience.

14. Sonic The Hedgehog (Megadrive) – Any top 50 would not be complete with the brilliant Sonic. A great game in every way, Sonic was in everyone lives during the early 90's. This game was played to death by me, and I still enjoy a quick blast now. Sonic was king of consoles, shame he can not find his feet again.

13. Sega Rally (Saturn/PS3/PSP) – Rally games don’t come as iconic as Sega Rally. Ever since I played it in the arcade I wanted a home version which lived up to that experience. Sega Rally on the Saturn almost gave that experience. A great game in every respect, the Saturn version played just like the arcade version. The PS3 version has the same feel but is a new game altogether, and again gets a lot of gaming from me. The PSP yet again is another different version, and again has that great Sega Rally feel. Absolutely awesome in every respect!

12. Galaga '88 (Arcade/PS2) – The music, the sound effects and the shear brilliance of the game make this an all time favourite. It's Space Invaders with all kinds of frills, and so it's classic game play hides the fact that this is one mega-blast-feast of a title.

11. Super Street Fighter II (Snes/Megadrive/Arcade) – This is considered the finest of all the Street Fighter games by many people, however, I prefer the Alpha series for its game play and graphics. Whenever I play this, I really enjoy the bouts, yet find it a bit hard compared to the Alpha series.

10. Guitar Hero 3 (PS3) – Music games came of age with this game. For once I can play real rock guitar to dozens of classic tracks. And yes, it comes with plastic instruments. A really amazing game and a brilliant game to spend time with family and friends. Simply awesome!

09. Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast/PSP) – If ever there was a Street Fighter game that captured my imagination, it was Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the Sega Dreamcast. As much as I’d enjoyed previous Street Fighter games, when I picked up and played this, something just clicked like never before in a game. The controls were spot on for a beat-em-up, easy to pick up, yet a lot to master. This game I have played so many times over the years I have lost count. The PSP version was my latest addition to the SFA3 series, and it is the most complete version of the game to date.

08. Racedriver: Grid (PS3) – Racing games come and go, but some stay forever and are next to perfect in the way of handling and game play. Racedriver: Grid is one awesome race-fest that just blows you away every time you play it. Graphically perfect, this is one of my favourite racing games of all time. It gets harder the more you progress, but it is rewarding when you finish top 3 in any given event.

07. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3) – A modern platform game which shows off the PS3's potential well. This is a brilliant game, with the only slight downside being the aiming mechanism when firing your gun. Once mastered, it's just mind blowing. Some great puzzles, great action and a great humorous story. Uncharted is a AAA title that just shines each time you play it.

06. Singstar (Ps2/PS3) – What seems like little more than a Karaoke machine, Singstar makes the perfect game to play with family and friends. No need to think about playing any instruments are pushing any buttons, simply sing into the blue ot red banded microphone and have fun. With each disc with between 20 and 30 tracks, and even more to download on PSN, this game has never tired. Kept alive with new editions every few months and those downloads for PS3 owners, this is a well worthy game for this day and age of hardcore and casual gamers. Perfect!

05. Outrun (Saturn/PSP/PS3) – Outrun was a great game in the arcades, however it’s the Saturn and PSP versions that I have played the most over the years. The Saturn version plays almost identical to the arcade and is a wonderful representation of the Saturn’s power. The PSP version is a home version of Coast to Coast 2006 from the arcades, which was the best of all the Outrun series. For me, these games give me some of the best pleasure in racing games, just simple arcade action at its best.

04. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) – There were First Person Shooters before Call Of Duty 4, but it was this game that single handedly changed console FPS games forever. Great graphics and seriously solid game play, COD4 has eaten up many PS3 owners gaming time. Many regard this as the best game available, while I prefer Killzone 2 as the controls are heavier and more realistic than the rather floaty controls of COD4. Still, an amazing game and one of the best games available on any platform.

03. Tekken 5: DR (PSP/PS3) – The greatest Tekken of them all comes in the form of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. Not since the classic Tekken 3 had a Tekken game some magnificent in every way possible. Each character handles uniquely, and when mastered is the most dangerous fighting character of them all. This game is different to any other fighting game. It’s pace, it’s style, and everything else is a work of pure art. If there were no fighting games on earth apart from this one, I would be happy.

02. Wipeout HD/Fury (PS3) – The Wipeout series has always held my attention, although none has come close to the latest edition Wipout HD on the PS3. It’s a stunningly beautiful game that plays perfectly. It can be hard to start off racing, but once mastered it entertains for hours on end. It offers an awesome online play mode also, which just adds to the depth. Unbelievable in every way!

01. Metal Gear 4 (PS3) – “Guns Of The Patriot” is stunning. It's beautiful. Never has a console been pushed so hard, and as such this is one of the best looking games ever. A lot of people say it's little more than an interactive movie, but it is so much more than that. This game took me quite a while to complete but it was well worth it. Yes, it has a lot of CGI movies telling the story, but they are very high quality and enjoyable. I've never liked Metal Gear games, but this game is outstanding in every way.

Note: Since making this list, two very influencial games were released. Both Need For Speed: Shift and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves would now be in the top 10 of my list. 2009 was a great year for games, and the thought that it can get better than Uncharted 2 really blows my mind!

From Elvis In Memphis - A Review

2009-08-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Elvis Presley. I could have said just “Elvis” and the chances are that you would have known exactly whom I was talking about. Elvis released some fabulous albums in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. He released a ton of out-of-this-world singles. During the mid 60’s though his output was mainly film-fodder, with hardly a decent tune between the cringe-worthy wobbles of rocks greatest icon.

All this was to change with the 68’comeback special, a great TV performance that quite frankly blew me away the first time I viewed it, and solidified Elvis’ place in Rock ‘N’ Roll history. After that show, Elvis was once again King of the crop, and his first major album after his “comeback” was “From Elvis In Memphis”.

What can be said about this album that has not been said before? Well, yes, it’s one of the greatest albums of the 1960’s, if not, since the dawn of time. But for Elvis, it was a time to get back to his roots, find his voice again and do what he done best, make awesome music for music fans.

“From Elvis In Memphis” originally contained twelve tracks; the new “Legacy” version of the album contains these twelve tracks, plus the ten tracks from the follow up album “Elvis In Memphis” plus 14 various other tracks from the same sessions including no fewer than ten heart-stopping mono single masters. It’s an Elvis fans wet dream, and the sound quality has to be heard to be believed… Simply soulful, heavenly bliss.

The original album itself contained the hit single “In The Ghetto”, but this is in no way the best track on the album. Every track is something special, and as soon as you hear the opening track “Wearin’ That Loved On Look”, you know you’re in for something special. My favourite song on the album is probably “True Love Travels On A Gravel Road”, the title in itself most un-Elvis like.

No amount of praise will prepare you for this sonic-boom of an album, so I’ll stop writing this review and you can go listen to the album somewhere. Buy it now, it’s a must have in anyone’s collection.

New month and a Job at last - or maybe two jobs?

2009-08-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went for an interview as an Assistant Manager in a small store in Aberystwyth. Today I heard that I was successful at applying for the job, and I can start the end of August! This seems like good news, and indeed it is, however for once in my life I am also driven to do something for myself.

Why work five days out of seven including Sundays when you can work for yourself from the comfort of your own home? Well, between myself and my friend Karl we’ve been working on our website http://www.karmdesign.moonfruit.com

Now, our job is going to be designing websites for other people. In this day and age it is vital that any business should have a web outlet of some kind, even if it’s just one page with name and address and directions on how to get there.

We intend to hopefully corner this part of the market. The one page, too five page websites. Simple, effective and affordable. What’s more, we’ll even promote the sites through various means, which we are working on.

It’s all about getting that first site. Once we’ve achieved that then it should be easier to get more as we build up a portfolio. For now, we’ve been working on a few page designs over at our site. It’s early days yet, but we’re getting there.

Please visit, and if you need a web site designed, we can do it for as little as £250, and than includes the site and domain, full technical and update support for a year and more!

PS3+PSP+PC=Loads Of Media

2009-07-23T02:36:00.000-07:00

So, I was talking to my best mate Karl about my PSP and PS3's integration and showed him that remote play enabled me to play any of the media files on my PS3 to be played on my PSP. I showed him some video clips, and played some music, all of which were being streamed by my PS3 in another room.

Then came a clever part. Some PSN and all PS1 games on the PS3 hard drive can be played on the PSP while in remote play. Awesome! So, for those who do not understand remote play, you switch your PS3 into remote play mode and just leave it in it's usual position. Turn the PS3 off, then go out with your PSP and either find a free wi-fi spot or use someone elses wi-fi. Turn on your PSP, switch to "Remote Play" mode and the PSP will link up with a wi-fi connection and connect remotely to your PS3 allowing all this goodness of running things from your PS3 on your PSP.

Taking this idea a step further, we turned on the PS3, turned on my main PC and set up a media Server with the PS3 and PC. This allows you then to play any movies, music or pictures from your PC on your PS3. Secondly, we set the PS3 into remote play mode. Our task was to see if we could use the PSP to stream movies, music and photos from the PC onto our PSP.

So, after a few seconds, the PS3 and PC were linked, our media server was set up. We turned on the PSP and connected via the Internet connection to start our remote play session. OH YES! As the PSP acts like your PS3, we could access the PCs content, and soon I was streaming Quantum Of Solace perfectly onto the PSP.

Of course, the possibilities for this are enormous, you could take your PSP on holiday or on a trip with you, and as long as you have wi-fi in your room or in the lobby etc, you could access games, movies, music, photos etc on your PSP. Your PSP's memory card can now be used just for games, and everything else can be left at home.

The times we live in are great! Who'd have thought that pairing consoles and PCs would be so much fun and so easy?

The BBC & the licence fee

2009-07-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

Introduction - The BBC licence fee.

Straight fact, the BBC makes over £3.1 Billion a year on the TV Licence fee in the UK. A huge chunk of this money is squandered and wasted needlessly on it's staff and expenses. So in this day and age, where we are all about to go digital, do we really need a BBC licence fee?

We are one of the few countries in the World that has this extra tax burden in our everyday lives, however, by most it is not wanted, and by many of us we feel it is not needed. As I said, the whole of the UK will soon become digital, which means there are no options that could be put into place that would allow us not to pay this unfair tax, should we wish not to. So, here are the three options that I would hope for in the coming years.

Option 1: Advertisements

This may not be a popular option, but that said it does not hurt the viewing figures of ITV or any of the BBC's other competitors. The BBC already shows advertisements for it's own channels within the BBC network, so there is no excuse why it could not be funded commercially by advertisements. During this current economic climate, every TV and Radio station is finding it hard, so why should the BBC be almost excluded from this? Putting Advertisements on the BBC would mean that they would have to use the money they obtain wisely, so therefore you could say they could revert to making better quality programming once again. It's an option, but there are two more I could suggest.

Option 2: Subscription

So, subscription to the BBC network of channels should you wish to view them, this could either be done as a network package, or simply paying a little extra on your Sky or Virgin bill. This is the way that I would really like the BBC to go should they wish us, the tax paying public, to fund them. I was counting up my viewing and listening time of BBC channels, it comes to 2.5 hours a week of BBC 1, 2 hours of BBC 2, 4 hours a week for BBC News, 2 hours of BBC Radio Wales and about an hour of BBC Radio 1. That's pretty low viewing and listening pleasure for the money I currently pay, so subscription would give me the option to subscribe certain months when there is perhaps sport on TV that I may want to watch.

Option 3: Pay As You View

A great option for almost everyone I know. In this world of multi-platform TV the BBC has a distinct unfair advantage on everybody else in that it gets an unfair and unjust tax paid to them for us to watch their inferior channels. If you want to watch documentaries, then there are now dedicated channels that do a far better job than the BBC, if you want to watch music television, again, there are dedicated channels. As for news channels, the BBC news channels comes a close second to Sky News and to be fair, news should be free to everyone regardless of what service carries it. So, Pay As You Go is a great option for those of use who rarely watch the antiquated BBC services.

Quality of BBC programming

For those people who say that the BBC is an institution and has quality programming then this is an incorrect statement that has more to do with snobbery than actually to do with the quality of the BBC's programming itself. As stated in the previous paragraph, if you want a certain genre of TV content then it can be found elsewhere in as good as quality, if not better. What does the BBC really offer the TV audience of the 21st Century? Antique selling programs, home relocation programs, cooking programs, ancient movies and the odd decent program in the mix. It's just not acceptable with the money they earn, and people have to stand up and say "NO" to this waste of tax payers money.

So, what are the options and where should we go from here?

It's now about time to stop the licence fee and I believe choose a better option for the viewer. There is no reason why daytime TV cannot be funded by advertisements, there are many companies who would give their left arm to show an advert on the BBC. For evening viewing this could be an option of Pay As You Go or subscription should you wish not to lose the TV programs you never watch. As for Radio, there is no reason why advertisements could not fund the radio sector.

If the BBC is to be a Public Channel with the peoples interest at heart, I would move across the nasty cheap property and antiques programs from BBC 1 to BBC 2 and concentrate on more high-brow items during the day. BBC2 could become a "living" type channel with all the cheap programming. BBC 3 and BBC 4 could be merged, at the moment they are both filled with endless repeats, so are just wasting tax payers money.

BBC News is the one place where they actually do a reasonable job, so I believe they should be allowed to bid to have their news bulletins placed on rival TV channels, just the same as Sky News supply Channel 5 TV.

Many of us forget that the BBC is indeed an enterprise. On top of their money they make from the licence tax, they also sell their programs to channels all over the World and they have a vast merchandise line. Where does all this money go?

British TV is not perfect, it's not even the best in the World anymore. That's nothing to be ashamed of, peoples attitudes have changed, and many people would rather just sit and watch the news or sport all day than the rubbish that the BBC and others offer. We do need a change though, and now, during this digital turn-on is the ideal time for this to happen.

Job Hunting

2009-07-01T03:51:00.000-07:00

So, just over six weeks since I started claiming Job Seekers Allowance and last night I attended a meeting for newly redundant people. The aim was to get us all back to work as efficiently as possible. Of course they went over the fact that you have to look for a job in other places than the Internet, this includes in the actual places of work themselves and through friends and relatives.

All this I believe is what most of us serious Job Seekers are doing anyways! So, just after the hour long session the persons conducting the meeting decided to go through the new vacancies this week for the Swansea area. The whole thing kind of fell apart at that point, as they only had three jobs to mention, and none of them were in Swansea!!! One was in Margam, one was even further afield and one of the jobs mentioned may be starting in the future - so not technically a fresh job to start there and then.

Of course, her main emphasis was on that we should take Voluntary work, which I and a few others found quite offensive as we'd just freshly joined the Job Market and were basically told "you have no chance as there's no jobs, so go do something for free".

The Worlds sucks, but if it didn't, then I guess we'd all fall off.

Farrah Fawcett & Michael Jackson... Deceased.

2009-06-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning and I was greeted by the news from Sara that Michael Jackson had died. At first I thought she was pulling my leg, however I turned the TV on and she was indeed right. It's not often I'm shocked or upset at celebrity deaths, but last night before I went to bed I heard the news that Farrah Fawcett had died. This shocked me as she was only 62 and I'd remembered her as a huge part of growing up in the 1970's and 1980's.

However, Michael Jackson's death has really astounded me. He was just 50 years old and during the 1980's I loved his music and ingenious videos. We all know that he had a lot of turmoil in his later years, however during his “hit” period he was damn good.

The last time I remember anything similar to this was the day that Elvis Presley died. Yes I was only 7, however today brought those memories flooding back. Of course there was comparing Elvis to Wacko, Elvis was a genuine hero, a genuine talent who changed music as we know it. Jackson came close, and I know a lot of people loved his music so, it's to all those people I say “Michael, Rest In Piece”.

Music, Games & Other things...

2009-06-19T03:36:00.000-07:00

How music listening has changed
Wow, I was not expecting those notes to the right to be so big! But in one way it's ok because that is the scale of things. This week I have started selling my music collection (and the odd DVD or game) to Music Magpie. The principal is you input the bar-code and it offers you a price. These prices per CD range from 30p to £3 so it's not too bad.

There used to be a time when I would sell music on eBay, however most of these CDs I am selling to Music Magpie are things I just do not listen to anymore, or I can listen to by other means (which I will come to later). The thing is, I have over 500 CDs cluttering the place up, so I was just going to throw them all away, on eBay most of them would not sell, and those that sell I would have to pay various fees to eBay, Paypal etc, and it's all too much like hard work with that many CDs.

Anyway, why sell? Simple answer, the way we listen to music has changed, and the way I listen to music definitely has changed. When at home now I stream most of my music on the wonderful Spotify free service, it has every track I can think of that I would ever want to listen to and there's always a PC on at my home. When I'm on my PS3 console, we have Vidzone which which is the video playing equivalent of Spotify (but with less selection), so of course that is ideal for a nice relaxing half hour. On the PC, Youtube now has a playlist feature which is also an ideal way to listen to any music you want, when you want!

On top of that I have my 80GB iPod only a third filled with over 250 albums, anything I download now goes straight on there and there's lots of room for much much more. The iPod goes everywhere with me and contains all my favourite albums, and then some! If I ever forget that, I have my Samsung Pixon phone with built in radio and an 8GB memory which is also used for my very favourite albums.

So, in general, the way I listen to music has vastly changed over the last couple of years. Of course, I will still keep my Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Jan & Dean, Beatles, Madonna and a few other artists collections on CD, but that will probably total around only 120 Cds or so that saves much more space. Ahhhh, how things have changed!

Personal gaming update
A lot of time has been spent on the Guitar Hero, Rock band and Singstar games lately, basically because they are fun and everyone in the family can enjoy them. Also, to be fair, I enjoy them to, though sometimes I do enjoy solitude and escape to my own world with games just for me.

I spent a few hours on Ford Racing 2 on the PS2, I only paid 50p for it, and to be honest, once I got into the handling of the cars I enjoyed every bit of it. I've unlocked loads, including all the rally stages. On top of that myself and Karl had a session of Motorstorm 2 and Dirt last week, which was highly entertaining... It's all racing games!

I was going to buy Fight Night Round 4 boxing, however, until they add back the buttons from Round 3 I think I will steer clear of it. It looks stunning, is really fast and is probably the closest a game has come to real boxing, however I will stick with Round 3 until they add the button changes or the price drops!

I'm still working on my top 50 games. I've actually typed them all out, I've just not ordered them into the correct order yet.

The best of the rest
I'm still enjoying using Twitter. I think of it as an easier way of blogging, basically I can say my little things, then a couple of times a week I can blog as I am doing now. This makes things a whole lot easier, and I am so addicted to it. People can not understand why I do it, but I know family and friends follow me so keep up with what I am doing, I know other people follow me and interact, and I also learn a lot from some of the useful Tweeters out there.

Time is getting closer to The Beatles box-sets. £169.99 for the stereo set (14 Cds and a DVD) and £199.99 for the mono set (13CDs & a DVD). This is the cheapest I have found them on Play.com. Luckily for me I had a voucher, so it knocked £20 odd off the price. Also, I am downloading "deluxe" editions of all the albums in the .flac format, these versions contain stereo, mono and sessions, however they are just an interim "fix" until the official remastered versions are released on 09.09.09.

My Internet connection is a funny thing. My home in Swansea is just outside the City Centre and my connection varies from 1MB to 2.5MB. It's quite odd, and as much as the government bullshits about making sure everyone has over 2MB lines, I think it will be many years before EVERYONE in the UK gets that. When in Aberystwyth we use a mobile broadband dongle which gives us speeds of around half a meg, it does the job, but it's not ideal.

Until next time, hope you enjoyed this longer than usual blog. More to come soon!

:) Mark

It's all politics

2009-06-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

First Politics
So, we had the European Elections this month. Sadly it was not the local or national elections, perhaps then Gordon Brown would not be with us. But it did give the every day person a chance to make their voices heard. Only a third of people voted though, which I find quite shocking. That's why, in the coming months I will be getting involved in politics, hopefully standing for a local seat in this area of Neath Port Talbot.

I was looking at the voting results for Wales (and especially Ceridigion where I reside for a lot of the time), and I was shocked to see BNP in fifth place! Bollocks to Labour and Conservative, and hat's off to UKIP and Plaid Cymru for doing really well. This country needs a change and it needs one fast. The economy is failing, the National Health Service and Public Transport are falling to pieces, Unemployment is out of control, and then there's the immigration and European migration problems.

The trouble is for myself when voting, is that I like huge parts of certain parties policies and mandates, yet disagree with other bits. Labour and Conservative are irrelevant to me, middle of the road policies that are just damaging the country. I like what Plaid Cymru stand for and I like a lot of their policies, the same goes for UKIP, though they would want to get rid of the Welsh Assembly, which is probably the only thing I disagree about that party. The BNP have it right though for a lot of what they say, however the press seem intent on destroying all they have to say by making up a lot of lies about them. So, what I would like to see is the best of the three parties that I have mentioned.

I have a wide circle of friends, of all ages and all colours, during this election process I talked to them a hell of a lot. I had to find out what the 18 and 19 year old working lads thought, I had to find out what my ethnic buddies thought, and I was shocked to find out that almost all females I know just did not care one bit about voting!!! The overall feel was that of major discontent with the way the country is now. The two biggest dis concerning topics were unemployment (and the thought they would not have a job in the near future) and immigration (and European migration). I was shocked to find that a number of my Sri Lanken and Pakistani friends would seriously have voted BNP if the BNP would just let coloured people into their parties. I was also shocked that no-one under 25 that I know wanted Labour or Conservative, and either did not want to vote or wanted to vote UKIP, BNP or Plaid Cymru.

Politics is a funny old game, all I know is who I voted and why. All I know is the UK, and Wales in particular need a huge change, pull out of Europe, make Britain for the British once again and yet again be a proud Nation.

It was my Grandfather who said to me in one of his last chats while he was alive... "I fought for this Country in World War II. I fought for freedom, for the British people, and now I can not leave my house for fear of all the foreigners in my town. I fought for nothing, my friends died for nothing, and I know that's how a lot of them feel. Mark, we were let down, use your vote to change Britain and make it a better place once more".

I voted every single opportunity since, and I will always vote to make this country Great Britain again.

Transport Routes In Wales
God! It takes me three hours to get from Swansea to Aberystwyth by bus (X40), and this is the quickest form of public transport available to us here in Wales. If I was to take the train, it would take between 5 and 9 hours depending on the day and time!!!

Public Transport Routes between North, Mid and South Wales are basically prehistoric. The main service is the X40 which has two journeys from Cardiff and three journeys from Swansea daily to and from Aberystwyth. Once in Aberystwyth you then have to change buses to the X32 service to reach North Wales (Bangor)!!!

Why in this day and age is there no train from South Wales to Mid and North Wales direct? Instead we have to go via Shrewsbury which is one hell of a detour! Surely a track from Camathern to join at Aberystwyth would make sense? And a track from Aberystwyth to Bangor via a coastal route for both tracks?

Seriously, as great a Nation as Wales is, it's public transport sucks! And if you think it's any better in a car you have another thing coming. Once you leave the main roads of built up areas, the roads are a hazard to even the best driver. Surely the Welsh Assembly could spend a little money on making the roads just a little bit wider so cars can actually pass each other without fear of certain collision?

Rant over for now... But more to come!

The Beatles

2009-06-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've always been quite a fan of The Beatles, "Rubber Soul" has been played by me on many occasions over the years, and I own the entire CD catalogue. However, recently I've really got into the sound and feel of this amazing band. I recently, for the first time bought a "real" copy of the "1" album, and boy have I enjoyed it. To complement it I've also bought the Red album 1962-1966 and the Blue album 1967-1970.

On September 9th 2009 the entire Beatles catalogue is being re-released as a stereo box-set with additional DVD and a mono box-set. Along with this they are also releasing Rock Band Beatles which includes 45 of thier hit singles in the game.

Now, for me, although I will get all of this as close to release as possible, it's probably the mono box-set that I am most excited about buying. There's something special about the mono mixes that are lost in the stereo transition. Of course, stereo is good, but The Beatles actually spent 90% of thier time making and mastering the mono mixes, and the other 10% was left to the engineers to fulfill the stereo mix of the albums or singles.

Take "Rubber Soul" for example. Stereo version (which is the one available on CD) is great, it's a new 1987 mix that appears on this version which is a nice listen. The original 1965 stereo mix has singing on one side and music on the other, and again is quite nice. However, the mono mix is a whole new ballgame! This is how it was meant to be heard, and you'll hear things in the mixes that were lost with the sloppy stereo mixing was done on the albums.

It's going to be a great year for The Beatles... and my next post will be "5 must have things in 2009", and right up there will be The Beatles re-masters. I've recently downloaded "The US Singles collection", a 3-CD collection of the single released in mono in the US, and that has been a great listen, so these new re-masters should be fantastic!!!!

:) Mark

Holiday over... Back to reality.

2009-05-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, we had a blast! First off Click Here for photos, there's plenty to see. Alcatraz, San Francisco Zoo, Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, Union Square, Haight and much much more. The whole experience was one we will never forget.

The funny thing about the journey back was California Border Control & Customs were very very easy going. We walked through the metal detector, but didn't have to take anything metal off! There were only one or two guards, and they didn't seem interested. What a change from Heathrow!

So, we're back in Wales, and the jet-lag is unbelievable. Hopefully tonight will sort things out and it'll all be back to normal. More to follow soon...

SF - So Far

2009-05-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

We're in San Francisco. We were searched 3 times coming here, the final time was quite a horrible experience by a guy who couldn't speak English! But after a 10 hour 12 minute flight on UA0931 we're here safely and enjoying. Through the window we seen some breathtaking sights, including snowy mountains over Greenland and The Rocky mountains. Outstanding.

Thursday night we had a quick look around Fisherman's Wharf, before hitting the sack at 8pm California time. We'd been up for 18 hours or so, so as soon as we hit the pillow we were out!

Friday we bought a 2 day tour bus pass and went on the 1 and half hour tour, seeing sights we never thought we'd see. We also stopped in the centre of San Francisco for a while. It was brilliant. Friday evening we went on a 3 hour tour of Alcatraz, this was truly an amazing sight and experience also, and one we'll never forget.

Today we've so far been shopping in San Francisco and getting even more sunburn. Thankfully we bought some sun cream which has really helped us. Our next stop is a meal this evening in an expensive restaurant called Aqua... Should be fun!

Will tweet and blog more in due course!

San Francisco

2009-05-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm off to San Francisco with Sara now for nearly 2 weeks. We've got our money, we've got our clothes, our gadgets and everything else. My last mission was to print off various "money off" vouchers for use while in 'Cisco so now it's less than 12 hours and we're getting very excited.

The only way to keep up with us will be to join me on Twitter. My Twitter address is listed on this page, so just add me and follow our exploits! Hopefully we'll have wi-fi for use with my netbook, if not in the hotel room, then I know there are wi-fi spots around SF area.

12.1mp Digital Camera... Check
720p Camcorder... Check
Netbook for Internet Use/Twitter... Check
Samsung Pixon Phone with 8.1 Camera... Check
Over $1200... Check
Passports... Check
Travel Documents... Check
Baggage... Check

Oh Yes! I'll catch you all on Twitter. Enjoy the updates!

:) Mark

Why Twitter?

2009-04-13T03:22:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of months now I've been using Twitter, I am following 43 people and 42 people are following me. But, who are these people I follow and who are the people who follow me, and why on earth would we want this to happen?

Firstly, if the 43 people I follow, around 7 are people I know such as friends and family. Then I have added people or sites that interest me. Sky News brings me the latest news via Twitter, PSXextreme keeps me up to date with latest developments in the console world, BBC Click keeps me up to date in the technology world plus I follow a few actual people related to gaming, news, tv and the arts.

Now comes the strange part, following me are 43 people, 7 of them are people I know, a few are following back from the people already mentioned, and the rest are just people or services who have added me! Now, 99% of those people or services just tick over and tweet just once in a while, some are just people advertising a service and some are just self-obsessed buffoons who advertise products or sites they are involved in.

There are also a few people who are genuinely interesting, and like myself just on Twitter to stay in touch with friends and family and to make new friends and discover new sites from the information passed on through Twitter. It really is a mixed bag, and I can see why people say that Twitter is like Marmite, you will either love it or hate it.

Personally, I use it because it's much easier than keeping a blog up-to-date constantly. My friends and family use it to keep tabs on me and I use it to share information and sites I have discovered, along with little updates on what I have been up to. Twitter, in this respect is very useful, especially when used in conjunction with a blog (I use Twitter and this Blogspot account for example).

So, after experimenting with Twitter, will I keep at it? Probably yes... 140 letters a post means I can do it quickly online or via my mobile phone which is pretty awesome. So, if you have not added me yet, please do and share your knowledge and your life with me.

:) Mark

Top 5 Games Consoles - EVER!

2009-04-09T02:57:00.001-07:00

Oh yes! You can tell I'm still not in full-time work because yet again I write another article/review to fill my time. This time we concentrate on the top 5 video games systems (ie consoles) of all time! Ignore the picture on the right as only 1 of those consoles makes my top 5!

Number FIVE Console: Nintendo SNES
A great console that during it's time came second to the Megadrive in sales. Over the years my love for the SNES has grown and I can now appriciate it's games and the technology that it was. An ideal way to experience this console now is to use emulation, and when you do, check out my top five SNES games... 1. Street Fighter II Turbo, 2. Super Mario Kart, 3. UN Squadron, 4. Super Mario Collection, 5. Rock'N'Roll Racing.

Number FOUR Console: Sony Playstation
The Sony Playstation cost me over £300 at launch, with just the one game! However, it was a jaw-dropping experience... and my gaming life would never be the same again. This was the first console to push 3D gaming, and it done that with style. Thankfully all following Playstations have been compatible with most PS1 games, so playing games from this beast of a console should be easy enough for anyone. My recommended top five Playstation games... 1. Wipeout 2097, 2. Spyro The Dragon, 3. Street Fighter Alpha 3, 4. Tekken 3, 5. Die Hard Trilogy.

Number THREE Console: Sega Megadrive
Whoa! Now this was THE 2D gaming console. It was the first console where I noticed a huge leap in graphics that made a difference to gameplay. The Megadrive's powerful 16-bit of processing power made it a powerhouse of a console and the huge catalogue meant that there was never a shortage of games to play. Playing these games is easy now through emulation, and my top five games for the Sega Megadrive are... 1. Golden Axe, 2. Streets Of Rage, 3. Sonic The Hedgehog, 4. Raiden Trad, 5. Super Monico GP.

Number TWO Console: Sega Dreamcast
The Sega Dreamcast was my number one favourite console for many years until the release of the PS3. It doesn't have the biggest catalogue of games, but what it does have is some amazing arcade ports, and the ability to play copies with modifications!!! Play some real classics with some great graphics, the way only Sega can make games! The best five games for the Sega Dreamcase... 1. Ferrari F355 Challenge, 2. Crazy Taxi, 3. Soul Calibur, 4. Dead Or Alive, 5. Street Fighter Alpha 3 Ultimate Version.

Number ONE Console: Sony Playstation 3 (Original 60GB Version)
So, a current generation console at the number one spot? This goes against everything I used to stand for, however in the two years of owning my PS3 it has shown that even owning other consoles, nothing compares to this amazing machine. The reason it's number one is that it really does have some amazing games that have changed my view on gaming, plus it plays the majority of PS2 games (hense the PS2 is not on my list). Forget the negative press, this machine is THE gaming machine of now and the future. My top five PS3 titles are... 1. Metal Gear Solid 4, 2. Killzone 2, 3. Fight Night Round 3, 4. Racedriver: Grid, 5. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune.

So, there we have it. Missing out on the top five was the PS2 as I now class my PS3 as part of the same machine (with its backwards compatability) and the Sega Saturn, which is a great games machine, however has a very limited games catalogue... Damn, need to play the definitive version of the original Outrun now I've mentioned the Saturn!

I hope you've enjoyed, and please check out the games mentioned. If you need a hand with emulation give me a shout and I'll gladly help you!

:) Mark

Free music - WHEN you want!

2009-03-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have just discovered Spotify, and amazing aplication supported by all the major record labels. It looks simular to iTunes, but is far far far better if you have a PC and an internet connection.

You see, if you type in an artist into the Spotify search engine, it will 99 out of a 100 times display a huge list of tracks from that artist. You then can simply click on a track and it will instantly play in amazing quality!

I tried it out with "Jan & Dean". Now, even the best engines and programs rarely have much J&D, but this program has the largest J&D catalogue I have ever seen! Infact, everyone I thought of showed up. Only The Beatles are not on there as they would not give thier consent to stream the music.

The idea is to stop people downloading music, and just let them listen to music whenever they want. It's a fantastic idea for people who have access to a PC. You can set the settings to listen to random selections, or you can listen to albums by an artist. Whats more, there's a couple of pricing options... FREE and £9.99 a month. The free selection is supported by on-screen adverts and the odd occasional audio advert which is really not intrusive at all.

So, what are you waiting for? Download it now by clicking the title link and enjoy endless music!

Ferrari F355 Challenge (Dreamcast/PS2)

2009-03-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Ferrari F355 Challenge is a racing game that was released in 2002 on the Sony PS2, and before that was released on the Sega Dreamcast. It is a port of the classic arcade version, which when run side by side look almost identical. The arcade version was split into three screens, so that you had a view simular to if you were driving the vehicle, where as the home versions obviously do not have this, they come pretty damn close to the feeling of the arcade cabinate version.

Some people complain that this game is too hard, runs too slow or did I mention already that, it's too hard? Well, forgive me, but those people ain't nothing but a bunch of wuss's! This is arcade driving with realistic physics. This is a game where you have to concentrate in order to progess. I have been playing it for over 10 years and the best I have ever achieved is second place in a full on race! But, working your way up the track is a rewarding experience. When you are engrossed it does feel fast enough, this is not a rocket ship, it's a Ferrari!

The PS2 version has more to offer than the Dreamcast version, it offers more tracks straight from the box, it offers an external view instead of just the internal view, and it offers different game modes (other than just Arcade mode). But overall, they're both worth getting your hands on.

Graphically, I love the way this game looks. Played through a PS3 and upscaled the PS2 version looks just sweet! The Dreamcast version through a VGA cable also looks very good. Differences between them both are few and far between, so if you ever decide to play this game, it does not really matter which version you pick up.

So, all in all one of my favourite racers. I can happily play this alongside Ridge Racer 7, Grid and other classics such as Sega Rally and Daytona. 8/10

Samsung Pixon Review

2009-03-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've owned this Camera Phone now for the last three weeks, and I can not find that many reviews about this great phone, so I thought I'd share my thoughts with you all.

The Deal
First off, this version of the Samsung Pixon is in Silver and on the T-Mobile network. For £31.50 a month I get 1000 minutes/photo messages/video minutes or 2000 texts, plus 1GB download allowance and 5 free international texts a week. Having used the Pixon a hell of a lot for internet I am still under 30MB's of my allowance!!! That is a bargain!

The Looks
The phone itself is a very good size. It's thinner than my old SE k850i and about the same height, width ways it is slightly wider than the k850i. To put this into perspective, it is a millimeter or so bigger all around than an LG Viewty, but thinner! In Silver it looks absolutly amazing compared to the black version of the phone. It is very light, no more heavier than a standard mobile phone.

On the front of the phone is a huge 3.2 inch touch-screen, and below the touch screen are three buttons. One dial button, one button used for going back during an operation and one button to end calls and go straight back to the main menu.

At the back of the phone, the 8MP camera projects slightly, so when you are holding your phone in your hand, it actally looks like you are holding a digital camera. The whole camera is very pleasing to the eye.

The Pixon in use
Firstly, this phone gives really good call quality. That is most important obviously, as first and foremost this is a phone! The conversations are very loud, so even in a noisy environment you will be able to hear the other person. So far, it's the loudest phone I have used, and it makes a huge difference. All calls have kept connected, and the phone can give excellent results even in the lowest signal areas.

Then there's the 8MP camera. This can be accessed through the menu, or simply by holding the camera button on the phone for a couple of seconds. The camera is ready for action as soon as it registers you want to use it, which is awesome for when you need a fast photo. Photo quality is very good, and the camera works well in low light. The camera has an LED flash, which, although not as good as a "proper" flash does a respectable job in most environments. The camera also supports GPS tagging of photos, so when you are out-side, the photos you take will be marked with the coordinates of where the photo was taken... Very useful for my trip to San Francisco in a couple of weeks!

There is a great photo viewer, which let's you admire and even edit the photos you have taken. You can drag photos accross the screen and touch up photos using your fingers to point out the areas that need refining. The phone comes with an 8MB memory card, so there is plenty of room for thousands of photos and videos. The video camera supports full DVD resolution and speed recording, plus there is a 120 frames per second mode which allows you to have super-slow motion. Every thing you could dream of is support in the photographic department.

The next most important feature to me is the internet. This is handled well by the Pixon, and with download speeds of over 7mps the internet is very fast compared to other phones. It handles "real" internet, so you can view pages as they are meant to look, and to be fair, they look very good on this phone. There is no wi-fi sadly, but again, with my data-plan this is irrelevent to me. If I want to use the internet that much while travelling I have my netbook with me anyway.

One feature that is overlooked by many is the GPS. Some sites wrongly state that only the Camera supports GPS tagging. This is incorrect, the included Google Maps and any GPS applications you download work well with the Pixon, so you need never be lost again! This feature has already come in handy for me when I forgot my GPS system in the car... Out came the phone and destination was found!

The phone is also a great media player, it handles .avi divx files and many more, it also handles almost every audio codec out there. Pictures are sharp and contrast is great while watching films on the screen. I have watched Transformers on it, and it looked and sounded great. The built in speakers are loud, and if you so which, the phone comes with a 3.5mm jack adaptor to add your own headphones, though the ones supplied are actually very good.

Other applications on the phone allow you to use Facebook, Twitter etc, and also there are some great to-do list and calender programs. There's also a great easy to use alarm on there and much much more. Programs can be installed easily if they are Java compatible, which can make the phone quite a formidable force.

Overall
The only thing that this phone is lacking is wi-fi. This may annoy some people, but with a great data-plan it is no real loss, definitly not as much as I thought it would be. To date, after using a Nokia N95 for work, a SE k850i for personal use and having spent a lot of time with the iPhone, the Pixon is easily up there with the iPhone and because of the camera and fast internet abilities is my favourite phone by quite a margin.

Battery life is now excellent, after a few initial charges I now get a good three days use, which includes around 2 hours of phone calls, internet use and GPS and photos.

Highly recommended.

Spots before my eyes!

2009-03-23T07:47:00.001-07:00

It's not moving!!! Honest, but if you stare at it then it is... This really freaks me out. Thank you to the guys at Twitter for that one.

GPS...

2009-03-19T02:35:00.000-07:00

My new Samsung Pixon is many things, however one use I have had for it which I didn't think I would is the GPS. It's a bit of fun, and to be fair we did get lost going for a drive on the weekend and thankfully the GPS on the phone made the journey a lot quicker and safer once we knew where we were headed (damn small country roads!).

Anyways, as standard, the Map Locations are usually brought in by Internet use over the phone, which, while accurate, can sometimes be a bit slower depending on connection. Today however, I am working on making a map of Wales and putting it into the phone so that the GPS can work without having to draw the maps from the internet.

Cross your fingers... All is going well so far, just hope it works on the phone!

:) Mark

Twitter Me!

2009-03-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, sometimes it's hard to get to the blogger, so I have joined Twitter! Please join up also and add me so we can all keep in touch with what we are up to in life!

Talking of which... Not working at the moment due to the current economic climate of the UK - make that THE WORLD! Not signing on, because if I do I know I will turn into a lazy bum. Looking for jobs, prefrebly part time at the moment, and prefrebly in Aberystwyth.

Add me Twitter... http://twitter.com/markyboyo

I'll still use this blog for major updates!

Back to reality

2009-01-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas and New Year are over, and GOD were they good! Probably the best Christmas I have had in years. Everyone had such a good time, it really was something special this year.

Now it's back to reality. I've got no money coming in at the moment as we have been working on the new business, but Monday it all kicks into full swing, so let's just hope all goes well.

Hope you all had a great festive season, and I'll be back here soon to bring you more news and gossip from my life!

;) Mark

Christmas is almost here

2008-12-12T07:08:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone. Christmas is almost here, so I thought I'd take some time out to write the blog now while I have time. Sorry I have not updated sooner, but it's been a rollercoaster and I've not had time to do anything.

First off, Merry Christmas all my friends in America (especially June!), Merry Christmas all my pals on Digital Spy, Merry Christmas everyone on Retro Gamer and Merry Christmas to the "real" people who I work with and see everyday.

January is going to be an exciting, yet nervous time as I delve into a new adventure at work. Starting my own business with two people I have known for many years, and taking a big gamble. If it pays off, I'll be a happy lad, if it doesn't, I'd have lost a few thousand pounds and life goes on. Please cross your fingers for me that everything turns out just fine!

I've been playing games as usual. Haze is in my PS3 a moment, and to be fair, even though it got slated during release, I am enjoying it. Also been playing a few other games, and completed Call Of Duty World At War. That's a fantastic game but WAY to short!

I've been enjoying my retro gaming too as always, and really been hammering away at Sega Rally and Outrun on the Saturn. Completed them both numerous times, but going for higher and higher high-scores. Of course, not forgotten the good old Dreamcast too, and been playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 amoung others.

As you all know, Christmas is soon here, so please contact me and say Merry Christmas! I'm free to chat to you on my mobile, and you all know my mobile numer or email address.

Chow for now my friends!

:) Mark

Hello... I'm still here!

2008-11-17T01:45:00.000-08:00

Nearly a month since my last post, sorry people! Nothing really new. Bought an Acer Netbook to take on my trip to Dublin last week, that was cool (both the trip and netbook). It just means where-ever we go we'll have a mini-computer with us so we can always have access to the internet or things we need.Comes in really handy when looking for local areas in a town you don't know etc, or for just keeping in touch with the family.

On the gaming front, not really done much, although played through Moto GP 08 before we went to Dublin, and awaiting for my copy of Little Big Planet to turn up.

One really interesting note, while in Dublin I bought the new Elvis Presley "Christmas Duets" album, where they have used modern technology to take out Elvis voice from his original songs, and lay down new contempory tracks and let him "duet" with a selection of top female country stars. The result is quite amazing. I was not expecting much, as I've seen all this doen many times, however this time the results are spectacular! Elvis and the dueting artist sound like they are together and having fun, the instrumentation is amazing, the female vocals are spot-on and the whole vibe is nothing short of out of this world. It's now on my ipod also, and is getting alot of play!

I'll talk again soon...

50 best all time games continued...

2008-10-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so there in the first list is 30 odd games, now gonna put some mor of my favourites. Then I'm gonna write up reviews on each one and place them in order from 50 to 1 on a new dedicated website I think! That should keep me busy for a while.

So, here are more games that could be considered for my top 50 games of all time:

Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast/PSP)
Pacman (Arcade/PS2)
Galaga '88 (Arcade/PS2)
Tempest (Arcade/PS2)
Outrun (Saturn/PSP)
Defender (Arcade/Various)
Phoenix (Arcade/CPC/PC)
Bomberman Online (Dreamcast)
Bust-A-Move aka Puzzle Bobble (PS1/PS2/N64)
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (N64/Dreamcast)
R-Type (Master System/Amiga)
Robocop (CPC)
Pang (Snes)
Continental Circus (CPC)
Raiden Trad (Megadrive)
Pure (PS3)
Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Capcom Vs SNK Millennium Fight 2000 (PS1)
Arkanoid (CPC/Amiga)
Body Blows (Amiga)
Super Hang On (Megadrive/Amiga)
Varth (Arcade/PS2)

Hmmmmm... Varth! Now that's a game!!! Anyways. Away to ponder I go again!

:) Mark

My top 50 games of all time...

2008-10-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's been ticking over in my head for a while now, and I might just publish a list of what I think are the best 50 video games of all time... Just for fun of course, and because I want to share with you all my favourite 50 games I have ever played.

So far, here is my list of game, in no particular order - Favourite Version(s) in brackets:

Metal Gear 4 (PS3)
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3)
Wipeout HD (PS3)
Tekken 5: DR (PSP/PS3)
Sega Rally (Saturn/PS3/PSP)
Daytona (Dreamcast)
Killzone (PS2)
Halo (PC)
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3)
Barbarian (CPC)
Zub (CPC)
Sorcery Plus (CPC)
Desert Strike (Megadrive)
Sonic The Hedgehog (Megadrive)
Cannon Fodder (Amiga)
Doom (PS1)
V-Rally (PS1)
Die Hard Trilogy (PS1)
Crash Bandicoot Racing (PS1)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn)
Soul Calibur (Dreamcast)
Uridium (C64)
Ikari Warriors (CPC/Amiga)
Bejeweled (Mobile/PC)
Zool (Amiga)
3D Star Strike (CPC)
Unreal Tournament 2003 (PC)
Battlefield 2142 (PC)
Super Mario Brothers (Snes)
Golden Axe (Megadrive)
Streets Of Rage (Megadrive)
Super Monaco GP (Megadrive)
Super Street Fighter II (Snes)
Guitar Hero 3 (PS3)

Hmmm... I'll be back with more later!

Summer's here! Wait... It's Autumn?

2008-09-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry I've been away for a longer time than normal, summer is here! Actually, as soon as the clock struck Autumn-O'Clock the sun came out and it's been like a very hot summer ever since. That's nt going to stay though, as they have given us heavy rain the next few days, but almost two weeks of glorious sun has been lovely.

I've been tied up in work. One of my managers has been on holidays, so I have had to do full-time work, which has been a pain, and kept me from sloping off early as I usually do. This is his last week off, so all things should be back to normal next week in theory.

I've been playing games in my spare time!I'm really addicted to Metal Gear Solid 4, which has to be one of the greatest games I have ever played. The graphics, sound and most of all the gameplay are out of this world and so far after 10 hours play I think I'm just under half way through it.

I've also been playing some Grand Theft Auto 4, usually when Karl is here. It's a fun game, with a great look, and I'll be concentrating on that once I have completed MGS4. I also have two new racing games. Pure is a Quad-bike ATV racing game, with some of the most beautiful graphics you have ever seen, and Wipeout HD is again, in a different way a stunningly beautiful looking game. This generation is really starting to kick in with the visuals and gameplay. Can't wait to spend more time on the games mentioned in this paragraph.

I eventually completed Killzone for the PS2. What a cracking gaming expereince that was. Concidering it was an old-skool PS2 game, I thouroughly enjoyed it.The gameplay was second to none, and now I'm really looking forward to Killzone 2 on the PS3.

In other events and news from my life. My father seems to be ok at the moment. He found out he had diabities as well as his other ailments. Of course I worry, so I do all I can to make him as happy as possible.

Things with me and Sara are great. I am currently hamster-sitting, as Sara will be away on a course so I will take care of Scoots. Sara needs to keep on top of her job by doing various training courses, hopefully in a few years time she will be running the Cardiology Department in the hospital. How cool would that be?

As for my health and job etc, everything is going alright a moment. I don't feel too bad, just got an achy knee now and again, nothing a bit of weight loss won't fix! Enjoying the job as mentioned above, and everything is just "swell" as they say.

Until the next time... Adios!

September is here...

2008-09-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

September is upon us then... Rain clouds and rain, the Rugby Season starting (Neath beating Pontypool in first game - Good start!), Neath Annual Travelling Fair, Kids going back to school for another year and more rain!

This last few weeks has been atrocious when it comes to rain, but that said, something really strange and yet beautiful happened the weekend. Sara and myself went for a drive through the Welsh Mountains, from Aberystwyth in the West right across to the border town of Shrewsbury in England. Now, along this long and winding road, it follows the woute of a river, vallys and the railway track. Normally, it's a beautiful site with green everywhere and animals dotted around the vast open fields. However, it was different this weekend, for there was floodwater everywhere. Fields were now giant pools of freezing cold water, which reflected the mountains around and actually was quite a beautiful sight. The dotted animals were now huddled in groups near the higher ground by the roadway, and in one particulaer patch of dry land there must have been around 2000 sheep and 500+ cows plus some Ponies and Horses and other farmyard animals all squashed into an area no bigger than perhaps 2 football fields! What a sight it was!

I got an email off Dean Torrence congratulating us on getting our website onto the new Jan & Dean Liberty Collections Liner notes. He also sent us a few photos for the website. It's always great to hear off Dean, a real rock star from when music was young.

I'm listening to the new Brian Wilson album. It's ok! Probably better than most of his solo stuff, yet he's no-where near as good as he was during the 1960's... and I don't care what anyone says!

I'll be posting soon with an update on my gaming and film watching. Talk soon friends.

:) Mark

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Directors Cut Bluray)

2008-08-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Oh Gee! I watched this film last night on Bluray... WOW! It blew me away, it's always been an awesome film, but this bluray addition is out of this world. The quality of the picture was stunning and the sound was ear-dropping.

For anyone who's not invested in bluray, do it! It rocks! Cheapest way is probably buy a PS3, but it's worth it just for the movies - just remember you need a hi-def TV too!

:) Mark

Sorry I've not updated lately.. Here's an update...

2008-08-07T03:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, first off, I apologise for not updating in a while, but it's been a hectic few weeks. Here's what's been happening...

On July 19th my father suffered a stroke, so alot of time was spent down the hospital, he's out now thankfully, but has lost all use of the left side of his body. It's been a pretty horrible experience for all of us, but thank's to Sara for taking us back and forth up the hospital things went kinda smoothly. It's horrible to see your parents ill, and he's only 57, so that is even worse. It's not like he's old or anything! How cruel is this life we live?

On lighter notes, I've been playing a few games, some are new, some not so new. First off I've been going through Killzone (PS2) on the PS3, it's a great first-person-shooter, and it seems like I've been playing it for ages, the game just seems so huge! When playing it, you forget it's a PS2 title, as it does look and play really really well.

Secondly, Soul Calibur IV has been getting alot of attention as that's a new title. I'm just playing around with it a minute, but will sit down and try and unlock all the unlocakable when I get the time. Also just re-started playing Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. This game has just had trophies added to it as an update, so I've been trying to collect as many as those as I can, and enjoying one of the best games ever!

Another couple of game I must mention are Pixel Junk Eden demo for the PS3 and Sega Rally for the PSP. Eden is a great little... erm... I can't describe it, as it's so unique. But it's a great, relaxing and enjoyable game. The PSP version of Sega Rally simply kicks ass. I got it really cheap, and it's given me hours of fun on the move. Rally racing at it's best!

For my father (and myself!) I picked up a couple of bargain DVDs. I got Rio Bravo, the John Wayne, Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson classic western, and I bought the amazing Kelly's Heores. I'm looking forward to watching these again myself, you just can't beat classics!

I just ordered Terminator 2: Judgement Day from Play.com on Blu-Ray disc. I'm sure that's going to be a great hi-def experience! Really looking forward to that one!

And so, it's time for me to pack up my stuff and head off to work. Work is going good a moment, has it's ups and downs, but really enjoying it.

Until next time.

Adios Amigos!

Wow! How time flies!

2008-07-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

Oh God! Has it really been a fortnight or so since I last posted? Time is really flying by at the moment. In work I have to actually "work" a minute as one of the managers are off and I have to fill in for them, so it's been taking up all of my time.

I've not done anything really exciting for the last couple of weeks, just been listening to music (bought a new pair of Sony Headphones that have amazing sound playback!) and playing a few games on the PS3.

Also, been spending alot of time with Sara, she's not been too well, so been enjoying her company. We've really had some relaxing and enjoyable days lately! And we've been looking at houses too, so that's been pretty cool nosing around peoples houses!

I'm working on a new mix of the Jan & Dean album "Drag City", been looking for some cool drag-strip sound-effects and some sirens etc to make the album feel like a complete picture as opposed to just an album filled with songs. It's a project I've been working on for ages, and one day when I'm happy with the sound I'll get it out there for all the J&D fans!

Anyways, until next time!

:) Mark

Famous at last!

2008-07-07T02:21:00.000-07:00

Oh yes! Famous at last! Well, maybe not really that famous, but my Jan & Dean website made the credits of the new Jan & Dean CD liner notes! Yey! It actually did make a difference as the "hits" of the site have been having some record numbers lately. How cool is that?

The new J&D CD is simply stunning, the sound quality is awesome, the liner notes are great and the single-mixes are absolutly amazing to listen to. Even if you're not a fan I ask you to check this CD out now!!!!

I'll be back soon, just need to do a few things before I make another post.

Another week about to begin

2008-06-30T02:57:00.001-07:00

Last week was a long week, but it's over. The weekend went well, Sara and myself had a good look around a couple of houses that we have our sites set to in Aberystwyth. We ate too much, as always! But that's what weekends are about.

I bought Battlefield: Bad Company for the PS3, so far it's a great game that I'm enjoying playing. We've also been playing the PSP alot, what a great machine that is!

On top of all that, I've been enjoying lots of music, all kinds! Alot of Dennis Wilson's POB album, plus loads of everything else. I got 101 Rock'n'Roll greats, which is fantastic, I got the new Bobby Vee album, which is "sweet" and I've been listening to the new Paul Simon "Essential" collection, all good stuff! On top of that, I've been listening to Jan & Dean, in preperation for the great mono collection which is coming my way soon.

I'm off to work now, so I'll be back soon with something else!

:) Mark

Jan & Dean - Carnival Of Sound

2008-06-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is interesting (thank you Mark - BB site). The above link has a review of Jan's Carnival Of Sound album, plus you can download the tracks by right clicking on them and "save file as".

It's an original acetate album recording, so a bit clicky, but still, good stuff!

Enjoy!

Pacific Ocean Blue... and then some.

2008-06-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming, but Dennis Wilson's awesome "Pacific Ocean Blue" album has just been released. This is an updated and extended version of the 1991 ultra-rare-CD release and it fills me with so much excitement!

POB is probably one of the greatest albums ever written, and is THE greatest album ever written and recorded by a solo Beach Boy member. Dennis' album is unlike any Beach Boys album however, and is full of warmth and feeling, the like your ears have rarely heard put to record.

This is one of only probably three albums (Pet Sounds and Rubber Soul being the other two) that are absolute perfection in every way. And, whats more, this version comes with loads of bonus tracks related to "Bambu", the unreleased follow-up album.

I will be listening constantly, and give you a fuller review on the sound quality when I get more chance to listen to it!

Also, there's the new Jan & Dean complete Liberty singles collection. For the first time ever, every A and B side of Jan & Deans singles restored lovingly onto CD in their original MONO state! YES! This is what we've craved for, sadly, can't get hold of it over here in the UK yet, but I will be keeping my eyes open (or begging some American friends to get it for me!!!)

Take care pals, I'm off to Aberystwyth for the weekend, if you want me... Ring or Email or just Knock Knock Knock on wood!

:) Mark

The week so far...

2008-06-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we got back from Dublin and I have been back in work. Not alot has changed in the last 9 days or so. I bought Independance Day and National Tressure 1 & 2 on Blu-Ray, all were bargains. On the games front, Sara and myself have been playing Guitar Hero II which she bought cheap, that's been fun, and I've been playing Pro-Evo 6 on the PSP and Bad Company demo on the PS3. So, quite a non-eventful few days.

Sorry not much news folks, but sometimes, that's the way it goes!

:) Mark

Back from Dublin!

2008-05-30T09:08:00.001-07:00

Oh Yes! We got back from Dublin on Wednesday night, and what a great time we had. It's a beautiful, huge city with alot to do and see, and we didn't half do some travelling! We must have walked miles, but it was very enjoyable.

The first three days we stayed just outside Dublin centre at a place called Tallaght, it was a three star hotel called Tallaght Cross and was amazing! Huge flat-screen TV, huge bed and was so fresh and modern. The only little problem we had was we had some food and drink that we had bought stolen from our room!!!! Those pesky Polish cleaners... We had them back though, plus we were given free breakfast for the rest of the stay!

The second hotel we stayed at was called Citi-Hotel in Temple Bar, the centre of Dublin. The room was a complete opposite to the Tallaght Cross, it was tiny, with a crap TV and there was an obscene amount of noise coming from the streets filled with bars and clubs below. That didn't detract though, and we still had an amazing time.

We spent a fortune, but we enjoyed it, every-bit of it! We didn't take many photos sadly as I forgot my camera!!!! Not to worry, everything of interest can be seen on the internet.

One good thing we took on holidays with us with the Sony PSP. Never have I owned such a useful gadget. On the way travelling there we used it as an MP3 player on the train. On the aircraft we watched some TV shows that I had recorded to put on there, and while we were there we played games in our spare time and even surfed the internet when there were free internet areas. Damn this machine is awesome!

I bought a great CD, "Guess I'm Dumb" is a great compilation of Beach Boys songs sung by other people, and had some real killers on there, what's more, I had it for a bargain price, which makes it even better value for money! Cooooooooooooool.

I'll write more soon!

:) Mark

Dublin here we come!

2008-05-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, quick not. From today until next Thursday, Sara and myself will be in Dublin! It's hopefully going to be great, just hope the rain holds off, the sun shines and we have a brilliant time.

See you all soon!

Traded in Wii for PSP

2008-05-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

Oh yes! OHHHH YES! After not usuing the rather mediocre Wii for a long time, I decided to trade it in for a PSP. The whole trade in consisted of a white PSP, 5 game and 1 film. I am happy, very happy...

Let's look at the games first:

Tekken 5: DR.... Exactly the same as the amazing PS3 version, awesome!
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max... Even better than the Dreamcast "ultimate" version, awesome!
Outrun 2006... Amazingly beautiful version of the PS2 game, looks amazing, runs super fast!
Megadrive Collection... Over 20 classic Megadrive games that look even better on the PSP screen.
Rainbow Islands... Ok, so that had to be one, gonna trade it in, was a stupid buy.

The film was "The Simpsons" and it is sooo cool. Also trading in though, as have it on Blu-ray.

The PSP has some amazing features, Skype built in, an internet explorer built in, plays audio and video, internet radio built in and of course you can use it in conjuction with the mighty PS3! I was even streaming games off the PS3 onto the PSP in real time! Its AMAZING!!!!!!

:) Mark

Blood Pressure and Games

2008-05-12T01:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, first off, I've not been too well recently. I've been having a bit of trouble with my blood pressure, and on Thursday I went to the Doctors for a check-up and it was sky-high! I've taken a few days off to try and get the thing down, and I have been put on two different types of tablets. Let's just hope it all goes down to a relativly normal level before I go on Holidays to Dublin in a couple of weeks time.

As for games, I bought a selection of games the weekend. I got 4 Saturn games and 1 Dreamcast game, all for £1.99 each at Cash Generators. I was duped a bit though, my fault really, one of the Saturn games (Fighting Vipers) was missing the game disc in the box! Can't take it back, as it wasn't a local Cash Generators. I'll keep you informed of what I think of the games when I get round to playing the things. Quite looking forward to Krazy Ivan actually, I'm sure I had this on the PS1 many years ago.

As for PS3 games, I am stuck on the third level of Devil May Cry 4... What a cracking game! Graphics are lush, sound is awesome and the gameplay rocks, however I am well and truly stuck and feel like I am running around in circles. I've been playing alot of GT5 lately as well, unlocked all the tracks and bounght many cars. I think I'm quite good at this game, and when I play online I usually finish top 3, which I am happy with.

Everybody's Golf is still keeping me going as well, unlocking more and more as the weeks go by, which is really cool. This has also been a week for PS3 demos, and I'll give you my feelings on three of them right now... Haze Demo - Awesome! A must buy in every way, surely a COD4 beater? Bourne Demo - Interesting, but I just don't know? GRID Demo - now, as much as I love racing games, this one doesn't handle quite right and the graphics have a wierd sheen to them... I really don't know!

Ok... My game of the Month.... Capcom Vs Marvel on the PS1, simplyy stunning!

Bye for now!

Quick update...

2008-05-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, just a quick update before I go up to Aberystwyth for the weekend:

PS3 news... Traded in Unreal and Heavenly Sword for "Devil May Cry 4". I haven't played it yet, but no doubt will soon.

Sega news... I got my 1p win on Ebay "Sega Ages Volume 1" which is basically 1 CD with 3 classic Sega games on it for the Sega Saturn. The games are all arcade perfect versions of "Outrun", "Space Harrier" and "After Burner 2". Only played "Outrun" so far, and it's damn damn fine!

Stay tuned for more...

Weekly update....

2008-04-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, first off, my Sega Saturn turned up on Thursday and Karl and myself had a huge blast with it! It actually came with 6 games (Manx TT, Sega Rally, Maddon 07, Actua Golf, Virtua Fighter and Point Break). It's a great console and works perfectly. For those who don't know, the console was released at roughly the same time as the original Playstation console. Graphically, it still holds well today, and after already spending many hours on Point Break, Sega Rally and Manx TT, I can tell you that the playability factor is well and truly there!

Watched "300" on Blu-ray this week. Such an utterly brilliant experience. The film is just brilliant, the picture was amazing and the sound was pure uncompressed PCM 5.1... What more could you want?

Work has been great, the easiest job in the World with the best pay I have ever had in my life. What more could you ask for? I just need to stop eating out every dinner time though, as it's not good for my svelt (cough) wasteline!

This Monday is my fathers 57th Birthday, so will get him something special, and then shortly after it's my parents 39 year wedding anniversary... Wow... 39 years! That has to be applauded.

On the music front, I am listening to Madonnas new album which is really really good. Also been listening to Byrds alot. This weekend I'm off to Aberystwyth, and my iPod has been loaded with the latest 1up podcasts, so I'm all ready to go.

Oh, one last thing... GTA IV is out, and I don't know what to do!!!! Shall I buy it or not? Answers to the usual email address please! - Also anyone out there want a copy of my Jan & Dean ultimate collection MP3 DVD (everything releasesd/unreleased on 1 DVD), just email me and for a small payment for p&p I'll ship it out to you!

Take care, and remember... Only YOU can prevent forest fires!

:) Mark

Sega Saturn

2008-04-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

Just purchased a Sega Saturn with 5 games off Ebay for an unbelievable £25 including p&p! Looking forward to it arriving next week I hope! Will let you know all about it. It's one of those consoles that I have always wanted!!! And... It comes with Manx TT and Sega Rally, two games I really really wanted, plus a further 3 games! Cooooooooooooooool (I hope).

:) Mark

Scooby1970 MD (Thats Managing Director)

2008-04-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yey! Finally, managed to get the business sorted out. As a side-business to where I work now I opened a new company and I am the Managing Director. Doesn't really mean I'll be earning much more money as it will all be invested into the company, but it's nice to have the MD after my name in letters!

It seems things in work are getting better and better. With the new company it means we're opening a new office so I'll be in charge of three company stores all togehter. Basically, it now means I can concentrate on saving more monies and Aberystwyth for me & Sara in a few years time will be the reality that I really want it to be.

Stay tuned for more...

Come on a "Safari" with me...

2008-04-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Oh My God!!!! My iTunes updated and asked me did I want to install Safari. Now, as you may all know, Safari is the Internet Browser for Mac computers, so I was quite shocked to see this. I installed it, and to be quite honest I'm blown away! This is a great Internet Browser, and I recommend it to anyone!

The test on web pages looks soooo clear, and you can actually change the size of text input boxes. It also checks your spelling as you type and seems much much faster than Firefox 2 and IE7! As far as security, it seems pretty secure from what I have read. I'll keep you all informed!

:) Mark

Another day, another Dollar...

2008-04-03T10:26:00.001-07:00

So, another week drifts past and a few updates. Sara and myself spent the weekend in Aberystwyth last weekend while Sara looked for a flat to live in. we found a nice listtle studio apartment and we've put down the deposit. It seems as every hour goes by we get closer and closer to eventually living up in Aberystwyth.

On the gaming front, I had Everybody's Golf World Tour and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Both are fantastic games. Alot of my time has been spent playing these, and also trying to destroy the final boss in Heavenly Sword, which is really freaking me out with all the attempts I am taking!

Musically speaking, I'm enjoying some Jonathan Ross Podcasts from iTunes and listening alot to Duffy and The Beach Boys.

I'll be back soon...

Goodbye Shep - Rest In Piece My Friend.

2008-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a sad day. Last night I went to bed in the knowledge that Shep, our faithful Rough Collie was not in good shape. He'd been ill for a while, but not in pain, just generally getting old. On March 20th he was 17 years old, old for a large dog, so we all knew he was literally on his last legs.

I awoke this morning in the early ours of the morning, and I remember a gut-wrenching feelings that something was wrong. His strange groan that he has started last night was silent, and I just knew what had happened. I couldn't sleep, so got up early, only to find that just a few minutes before Shep had died while sleeping... My father at his side trying to keep Shep company all night.

Goodbye Shep, you will be forever remembered by everyone who knew and loved you.

New Games Update...

2008-03-17T03:11:00.000-07:00

Just a quicky, two new games that I might not have mentioned that I have bought.

Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3, it's an amazing blast and a totally different experience to Call Of Duty 4. Anyone interested in adding me to your PSN, as usual it's scooby1970.

Buzz - The Pop Quiz for the PS2 (plays as usual perfectly on the PS3), is another Buzz game, but this time the series has been souped up and it plays and looks like a next-gen game. Alot of fun, and with over 5000 pop questions should keep us all going for a while to come!

:) Mark

Back from Belgium and Holland!

2008-03-17T02:58:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, it's good to be back in Sunny Swansea. We really had a good time in Belgium, the weather was great and the whole experience was fantastic. We had our hotel in Ostend and from there we visited various places each day. Here is a list of the places we visted and what I thought of them.

Ostend: First off, the place we stayed. We stayed at a lovely hotel near the beach front at Ostend. The room was nice and the food at the hotel was actually very good. Ostend itself is a little town in the North of Belgium, it is still experiencing majoy renovation works, but that does not distract from it's beauty and charm. There are some good places to shop, some great shoare lines and docks (topless and nude bathing on the beaches in summer) and it's generally well located with great transport links.

Brussels: This is a huge city, and of course the finacial capital of Europe. Although we visited mainly for shopping purposes, we did have alook around some of the historical buildings, and they were all very elegant. Flags are everywhere in Brussels, and there really is a carnival atmosphere about the place. One word of warning though, don't travel too far from the centre as it does get rather dangerous and rough.

Antwerp: Antwerp is a good 1 hour 40 minute train journey from Ostend, but it is well worth the train journey (and only 46euro for the two of us including free museum entry in Antwerp). Again, it's a huge city, but it's somewhat different to any other place I have ever visited as there is the new build centre and there is the old town centre which seemlessly join together to give you one bizzare experience. Again, a lovely place to visit yet don't drift too far out of the centre as it does get a bit rough.

Sluis: We visited Sluis, which is in North West Holland for an afternoon. Both myself and Sara enjoy the picturesque little Dutch town. It is a really small town but has alot to offer. Being Holland, it has of course got anything you need from a Dutch town... Which is quite interesting!

Sara and myself enjoyed ourselves greatly and will no doubt visit the countrys again in the future, however at the moment we are looking into visiting Ireland again in the near future, as our last visit there was brilliant.

Now reality has struck and I realise I have to be in work in a couple of hours... Oh how that sucks!!!!

Belgium this week! New Email address too...

2008-03-09T03:30:00.001-07:00

Hello! I just thought I'd pop you all a quick note to say I'll be quiet for a week as I'm off to Belgium and Holland with Sara, so will be away from the Playstation and PC. hopefully I'll post some pictures on here when I come back of my stay. We'll see how it goes, as they've predicted some really bad storms across Europe this week!

Anyways, my email address has changed, and anyone needing to contact me should now exclusivly use scooby1970@sky.com

Take care all!!! Untill next time.

My birthday soon! What a year already!

2008-02-18T01:56:00.000-08:00

Gee! It's nearly the 25th February 2008 which means I will be an old 38 years! Almost at 40, which is not very good. How the years have flown by, and how this year has flown by faster than any other year before it.

If you follow my blog, you'll know it can be quite irrattic on times, but I do try my best to keep it up to date. I do, honest!

Anyways, last night I watched the Blu-Ray version of "The Searchers". God damn it! What a movie, and what a sight it was in high-definition Blu-Ray. It was as if I was really there, and as if the film was only made yesterday. Anyone with Blu-Ray capabilities, buy this movie, you just won't regret it!

On the gaming front, I'm kind of addicted to "Everybodys Golf - World Tour" demo on the Playstation 3. Now this game is just sooooo addictive. It reminds me of Tee-Off golf on the Dreamcast which I played to death, and now it looks and plays better than ever before!

Until the next time.... Adios Amigos!

I'm in work... and bored.

2008-02-01T04:15:00.000-08:00

Hey! It's a Friday and as usual on a Friday I am bored. My assistant manager is being a lazy bugger as usual and has been distracted by Moon Bear and Ram-Man. It's been a shitty week but thankfully yesterday made it all a bit better.

Good news... Results came back from my dad and things are looking ok at the moment. The treatment is making the cancer receed a little, so that's got to be good.

Talk soon people.

Consoles... Computers and Emulators!

2008-01-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

I thought you'd all like to see my list of consoles and computers that I have owned in my time. I was also a huge arcade goer during the 80's and early 90's and spent many pounds on arcade machines. I still own from number 12 upwards.

01. "Pong" Clone machine
02. Sinclair ZX81
03. Amstrad CPC 464
04. Sinclair ZX Spectrum
05. Sega Master System
06. Commodore Amiga 500
07. Amstrad CPC 6128+
08. Sega Megadrive
09. Commodore Amiga 1200
10. Super Nintendo
11. AMD Athlon 750 PC.
12. Sony Playstation
13. AMD 64 3500+ PC
14. Sony Playstation 2
15. Sega Dreamcast
16. Nintendo Gameboy Advance
17. Sony Playstation 3
18. Nintendo DS
19. Nintendo Wii
20. Tons of emulators to play everything from 1-10 and alot lot more!

During the 8-bit era of the 1980's I had alot of access to the Vic20 and Commodore 64 machines also, but never owned either of them. Through the joys of emulation, I can now enjoy the machines I missed out on, and the machines I didn't own. Oh the wonders of modern technology! I'm particularly enjoying numerous versions of Phonix at the moment on various formats.

On Friday (25th January 2008) I bought a Nintendo Wii which is on the big TV downstairs. So far it's been fun! I had a few games with it, but will trade those in in time and get the new Mario Galaxy game. Also playing alot of the new Nintendo DS Lite that I got for nothing off a mate! Gee! I'd have never thought I was a Nintendo freak!

:) See you soon!