Countdown to PSVita

In 9 days time the PlayStation Vita will be released in the UK and there is much competition in regards to prices.

Last week Vodafone announced that they will be offering a Pay as You Go deal in regards to the price plan for the 3G sim card included in the 3G version of the console. For just £5 top up aswell you will get to download Wipeout 2048 for free and if bought from a Vodafone store you will recieve a free memory card aswell. Much like GAME you can trade in old  phones and consoles towards the cost of the console.

The most impressive deal is with Shopto.net and they offer for the Wi-fi version on the Vita for £218.84 with a choice of six games. the choices are as follows

• Rayman Origins
• Asphalt Injection
• F1 2011
• Lumines
• Dungeon Hunter
• Ridge Racer

Or if you want a super bundle Shopto.net offer that aswell

A PSVita Wi-fi with Asphalt Injection, Michael Jackson Experience and Lumines with a 4Gb Memory card for £264.85

If you do pre-order with them you get the pre order pack which includes headphones, discount of a psn game and some avatar outfits.

Here is the link for their Vita page

Review: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

My first experience of the Metal Gear Solid series was back in 1999 when the PlayStation 1 game was released and was so excited about it with all of the great reviews and the fact that it seemed like a big game spanning over 3 discs and did not have a great game to play since Final Fantasy 7.

What struck me about the game the more I had played it was the brilliant voice acting and how much the Hideo Kojima made the story evoke our emotions and get us to cry at the death of some of the characters and the whole aspect of Solid Snake being a clone and having a brother called Liquid Snake a battle of good vs evil if you will. I would almost guarantee that most people would cry at the ending and the fantastic music score.

Since the first game on the PlayStation there have been sequels and three of them make up this High Definition version. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker all for around the £25 mark and well worth it too! Konami have even included the MSX versions of Metal Gear 1 and 2 in the Metal Gear 3 game. The collection does not include the PlayStation 1 Metal Gear and nor does it contain the Metal Gear Solid 4 but those games are worth buying on their own and I would imagine that it would take forever and a day to upgrade the PlayStation 1 version due to the very outdated graphics.

Graphically you would not have expected the games to have aged well since the PlayStation 2 or even the PSP but in fact they have been vastly improved and in Metal Gear Solid 3 you would not know that it was on an older console. The boss battles and the FMV cut scenes are just fantastic to watch and the final battle of the game with the flowers just make the HD collection a must buy for that alone.

The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection includes Trophies and Achievements and are worthy of multiple playthroughs and are progressive so no camping and reloading saves after deaths as you would not be able to unlock. They also encourage watching the cut scenes as pressing the R1 or RB button at certain moments nets you rewards. Cut scenes have been a staple to the Metal Gear Solid series for quite a long time now and can last for up to half an hour and depending on your concentration level you could end up just skipping them and missing the story behind the gameplay and that is a shame but compared to Metal Gear Solid 4′s cut scenes the HD collection is not as bad as you might think.

Are You Ready For Mass Effect 3?

In just less than a months time Mass Effect 3 will be with us all to play and was one of Microsoft’s exclusives until EA made Mass Effect 2 multi-platform

Mass Effect 2 on the PlayStation 3 was the Game of the Year version and had every bit of DLC available at a discount cost AND you did not need to play the first game either as it had a comic book style mission summarising the first game with choices to make that effect you later on.

After playing through the Mass Effect 3 demo I can safely say that this game is going to be one of the best this year. Two missions are on this demo and for those people who have stuck with the series since the first game back in 2007 the demo makes you feel like you never left the game even though Mass Effect 3 has been two years in the making.

You start the demo on earth with some basic choices in which you pick some of your old team to stay alive if you did so in previous games and with a situation where the Reapers have now invaded earth and you have to get out of there and back onto the Normandy to try to save the human race. Graphically this game is stunning through all of the action and there is no slowdown. Right from the start as you are escaping, ships in the background are getting destroyed and left in awe at the quality of it all.

You get a sense of how determined Commander Shepard is in the demo so far and with the team mates aswell. With it being just a demo it remains to be seen how all the choices made from the previous game saves will affect relationships and consequences in the full game and gives us something to really look forward to.

DiRT 3 Complete Package out soon

I have been a massive fan of the DiRT series and DiRT 3 is the most complete package of the whole series.

So it is fitting that Codemasters are releasing the complete DiRT 3 package on March the 9th with a suggested retail price of £29.99. This includes all of the DLC that was released.

Here is the list of that content

• The Monte Carlo Rally Pack: eight breathtaking Rally stages featuring dramatic climbs, descents and hairpins of snowy mountain roads. Race through the Alps and conquer the legendary Col de Turini pass.
• The X Games Asia Track Pack: four new routes set across two new tracks in Shibuya, the neon heart of central Tokyo, where spectacular mud-spattered Rallycross circuits weave beneath towering skyscrapers.
• The Power and Glory Car Pack: stars five cars including the BMW M3 Rally, Lancia Delta S4, Ford Focus ST Rallycross, Scion tC and Chevrolet Camaro SSX Concept, each with a range of liveries.
• The Mud and Guts Car Pack: features five cars available for single-player, split-screen and online multiplayer events. Race the Lancia Stratos, Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2, Citroën C4 Rallycross, Saturn Sky and Ford Mustang GT, each with a range of liveries.
• The Colin McRae Vision Charity Pack: access the Ford Escort Mk II, a 70s rally classic with five liveries.
• The Ken Block Special Pack: features a customised and upgraded Ford Escort Mk II, an Open Class Rally car sporting a killer Ken Block livery.
• The Mini Gymkhana Special Pack: access the mid-engined Mini Cooper S Gymkhana, customised and tuned to become an outrageously responsive Gymkhana car.

 

New Modern Warfare 3 “Overwatch” Elite Map for this month

This months Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Elite map is “Overwatch.”

Overwatch drops you into a construction site atop a New York City skyscraper. The battle takes place along two levels in a near symmetrical layout, with the central bridge and side routes open to attack from multiple angles. Watch your every step, as a lack of safety barriers surrounding the perimeter leaves nothing between you and a 70 story fall to the ground below.

This is ahead of next months big three piece for Elite members first so take a look at this image to wet your whistle