Killzone 2 Review (PS3)
Killzone 2 is a tactical, first person shooter carrying straight on from the first game. The story line is simple. After defending the planet against the evil Helghan, the ISA (the good guys) launches an assault back on their own planet which is where the whole game is based.
Back in 2005 a trailer was shown at E3 which blew everyone away. It was a trailer for Killzone 2 that showed possibly the best graphics in gaming history. The game trailer looked like something from full length CG movie being played in real time. Killzone 2 was one of the most hyped games on the PS3 before the console was even released. Unfortunately it was later revealed that all of the footage of PS3 games at E3 2005 was ‘running off video’, which was done to PS3 spec.
Continue reading »Google Labs Adds Similar Images and News Timeline Search
Just yesterday Ask.com brought back Jeeves in an attempt to fight back against Google, so it is very apt that today Google released two new experimental products that will hopefully change the way we search – and in the meantime add nails to the coffin the likes of Ask.com and Yahoo.
The two new ideas in question are ‘Similar Images’ and ‘Timeline’ both of which are very different from what we’ve seen before, and both of which should not only boost Google’s popularity but also raise awareness of the ‘Labs’ section of Google which has been given a little bit of a makeover.
Continue reading »7 Strange Google Street View Sights (UK)
Since it kicked off here in the UK a few weeks ago, Google Street View has courted controversy with the residents of a Buckinghamshire village, Broughton, who refused to be photographed, and the privacy lobby who say that the service is against human rights.
Here at Zath towers however, we prefer to focus on the fun and beneficial side of the mapping tool. Here’s the top seven strange sights we’ve found so far as you take a virtual stroll round these fair isles…
Continue reading »Ask.com Brings Back Jeeves
I think it’s fair to say that some of the search engines out there are starting to clutch at straws in their attempt to claw back market shares from Google, Yahoo going into talks with Microsoft being a good example. But Ask.com are struggling as well, so they have called on the person who made them the company they are – Jeeves.
Yes, our favourite online answer-retrieving butler is back – and although Ask.com hasn’t told us why, the answer is probably to try and increase traffic on the back of people visiting on the back of curiosity, or for the nostalgia.
Continue reading »The King of Fighters Collection – The Orochi Saga Review (Wii)
Another fighting game I hear you say. Well it has been a month a fighters I must admit. Street Fighter 4 then the Samurai Shodown Anthology and now this. But King of Fighters (KOF) Collection is a little bit different in the way you fight.
Normally you have one on one and go so many rounds, but with KOF, it’s more like a 3 man tag team elimination match. So instead of choosing one fighter, you pick a team of 3 and fight until you’ve beaten all 3 of your opponents.
Continue reading »Pirate Bay Four Found Guilty!
A decision on the landmark case against the people behind the most prolific file-sharing website on the web has finally been made, and it is one that has surprised many and been welcomed by thousands of artists across the globe – and it is one that sees all four of them sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay £2.5 million between them in damages.
The four men – Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi – have been found guilty of breaking copyright law in Sweden where the website was founded, but despite this have promised that The Pirate Bay will still continue to operate through the numerous computers across the world.
Continue reading »Is The Wii Drying Up?
Just perusing the Internet, as you do, and have been reading things about the Nintendo Wii that show that people are starting to realise that the Wii is starting to struggle.
Those views have been acknowledged by Nintendo themselves.
In Japan, the Wii has sold under 20,000 units each week for the past 6 weeks and although this may seem a lot, apparently, it’s bad news in the terms of console wars.
Continue reading »Samurai Shodown Anthology Review (Wii)
This is Street Fighter…….with big Samurai Swords and other sharp implements…….with a dollop of blood.
Now this isn’t as good as Street Fighter, but still a decent fighter.
The Samurai Shodown Anthology is a game I didn’t think I’d like, but only because I’m not very good at fighting games, a bit like Street Fighter 4 which I’m useless at. But with Samurai Shodown, I jumped straight in and really enjoyed it.
Continue reading »Virgin Media Customers To Use Google Mail
Virgin Media has today announced that it will be using Google Mail for its customers email service in future.
Virgin Media Broadband customers will still have email addresses which end with “@virginmedia.com”, however the actual system will make use of Google Partner Edition Apps – a collection of online apps that companies can use on their domains for improved online services, of which Google Mail is one – this will be the largest deployment of this system Google has done.
This service will initially be a pilot scheme, involving just the next 20,000 new Virgin Media customers, however assuming that proves successful, it will then be rolled out to its whole subscriber base – at no cost to the customer.
Continue reading »‘Gigapan’ Panoramic Photo System Used By Sky In Latest Promotion
What with the recent flurry of interest in the photography of our towns and cities since Google Streetview went live in the UK, now is perhaps an appropriate time for Sky to be using this kind of thing in its latest promotional campaign for their Sky Movies April action season.
Sky are using a system known as “Gigapan Photographic Technology” (the same system that was used to cover President Obama’s inauguration) in their latest promotion which consists of three distinct developments to create a very high resolution panoramic view of London’s South Bank incorporating a few famous action movie heroes out and about:
Continue reading »Call of Duty 6 Teaser Trailer
The Call of Duty 6 teaser trailer has recently been released and is very in keeping with the style of the ‘Modern Warfare’ game timeframe…in a rather cryptic sense!
The Call of Duty 6 teaser trailer maybe very much of a teaser with regards to the actual content that it is showing us, however what it does confirm is the Call of Duty 6 release date which we speculated about back in February and it has now been confirmed as being 10th November 2009.
Continue reading »‘SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1′ Review (Wii)
Old Skool games always go down a treat, and this ‘SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1′ title is no exception. All these games were released on the NEO GEO which is a console I never had the pleasure of owning, which is a shame as some of these games are really good.
What I found appealing was how they’ve not just put these games onto a disc and said, here you are, they’ve added little extras into the games to make you play them longer and have a reason for completing them.
Each game awards you with medals for completing certain things in the games. For example, complete a game on easy, medium or hard and you’ll get a medal. Each medal in every game unlocks something new. These extras include things like art work, music to the games, videos of secrets and move lists for the characters in the fighting games.
Continue reading »World of Warcraft Mouse Competition!
Regular readers may have seen that we’ve liked the look of the World of Warcraft Mouse since we first heard about it and following that we then got the chance to test out this latest must-have hi-tech gadget for WoW players in our WoW Mouse review – go check out the review for yourself, but in short – here at Zath having played our fair share of WoW in the past and we really liked this mouse!
As with any popular new product, initial stocks can be quite limited making it tough to get hold off, however we’ve managed to secure one of these rather cool looking WoW mice to give away to one of our readers, courtesy of the gaming peripherals retailer, Game-1 here in the UK.
Continue reading »Microsoft and Yahoo In Talks…Again!
You will remember that just under a year ago Microsoft launched a takeover bid of around £22 billion for the internet company Yahoo, which after a lengthy three month debacle resulted in the deal falling through and making many shareholders pretty unhappy. But less than a year on, and a new person in charge at Yahoo, they have started talking again.
This time around though they aren’t talking about any kind of takeover (directly anyway) – the main objective is to pool their resources in the aim of halting Google’s growing dominance on the internet market, something that will benefit both parties greatly.
Continue reading »Street Fighter 4 Review (PS3)
It has been over 20 years since the very first Street Fighter game and Capcom have added another edition to the successful series with Street Fighter 4. The Street Fighter series is arguably one of the most respected fighting series of all time and Street Fighter 4 is most definitely the best one.
The first noticeable thing with Street Fighter 4 is the character roster. Unlike Street Fighter Third Strike where Capcom discarded just about every character, Street Fighter 4 offers all twelve of the original world warrior characters that started the series.
Continue reading »Microsoft Releases Windows 7 Downgrade Plans
It is not very often that you decide that you would want an older version of anything especially when it doesn’t cost any less, but Microsoft seem to be anticipating this with the announcement that if you buy a PC with Windows 7 pre-installed you will be able to downgrade to previous versions.
Obviously this doesn’t install a lot of confidence in Windows 7, but more than that it shows that Microsoft may be conceding that Vista wasn’t as good as they made out as you will be able to downgrade not just to Vista but to XP as well offering the older O/S an extended lifetime in the public domain.
Continue reading »Tweetdeck v0.25b Update – Facebook Functionality!
Nicely timed to coincide with an announcement from Seesmic’s founder Loic Le Meur that they’ll be launching a desktop Twitter app, Tweetdeck have updated their offering. The new v0.25b version of Tweetdeck was made available at 5pm GMT on Thursday with a whole host of new features which look to, at least until Seesmic rolls out, confirm the platform as the premier Twitter desktop app.
New Blackberry Details Leaked! (Rumours?)
As you will remember from our stories on the Top Smartphones feature, Blackberry are a big player in the smartphone world, and have a pretty strong line-up with the Bold and Storm (as well as many of the older models like the Curve and Pearl). So the recent leaks on three new additions to RIM’s 9000-series have drawn quite a lot of attention, and look quite interesting.
What we know is confined to three codenames and a variety of specifications for each; unfortunately we have no idea what they will look like or when they will be released. The three phones are codenamed ‘Onyx’, ‘Driftwood’ and ‘Magnum’, all of which are pretty generic and give away very little as to what they will be like.
Continue reading »Ultimate Band On Wii & DS (Sponsored Post)
From the growing success of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Singstar, it should come as no surprise to hear that there is yet another adaptation of the virtual rock world coming to the gaming world.
This time in the form of ‘Ultimate Band’.
From the trailer is looks like a kids version, with High School Musical looking characters and modern day tracks, but nothing like Metallica I wouldn’t have thought, judging by the list I’ve seen on Wikipedia.
Continue reading »Sky+ iPhone App Review
Sky’s announced that you can now download their free Sky+ iPhone app from the Apple App Store which will give you control to “Remote Record” on your Sky+ or Sky HD box wherever you maybe be at the time.
The Sky+ iPhone App allows you to view the next 7 days worth of the Sky TV channel guide by day/time of either all the channels or by selecting a certain sub-group type (much like you would using your Sky Remote) such as Entertainment/Sports/Movies/Documentaries. You’re then presented with a TV guide much like the current one on your TV all be it, much more squashed horizontally – unfortunately you can’t rotate your iPhone to change the viewing aspect, I’m hoping that feature will be included as the Sky+ iPhone App is developed.
Continue reading »