ACTIVITY

My blog is back up and running however it will now be available at Giant Bomb. com and my user is tofford so find me and read it if you like what you see. Also check giant bomb out anyway it really is a blast

Development

I apologise for my recent lack of effort with this blog a lot has been going off MGS4 and sequels galore but do not expect much more until summer i am hoping to start a new project which i will post the results of on here. No it is not creating a sequel to the commonly played tits created by me all though that may develope on my next hike.

Bigger, Better and more Badass

Gears of War 2 gameplay footage has just been shown and it looks amazing. Several Brumacks and corpsers all fighting in a huge valley with locusts jumping onto your large vehicles in a very pirate style manner. Chain saw duels using locusts and human shields looks like Gears of War 2 is going to be Epic and possibly the best game of the year for shooter fans.

GTA IV

Sorry i havn't posted in ages because all i have been doing is playing GTA IV which is awesome by the way so anyway i have decided i am not going to talk about it much because everyone should buy it and experience it for yourself. Il be back if any major news comes up or i get to the end of this epic game.

Burnout with just the one wheel

That's right burnout is going down the same route as many other racing games and adding bikes to the mix. Thats pretty much the jist although many of you may be thinking bikes have two wheels you but actually they only burnout with 1. Anyway Burnout downloadable contents and bikes and some stuff at night anyway its worth a look.

Could UT3 make a turnaround

Unreal Tournament has never interested me I tend to prefer stories than multiplayer however, Gears of War got me interested in Epic and with Unreal Tournament 3 the graphics were looking good and i started to think about getting into it. The response to the PS3 and PC versions wasnt anything spectacular but now its coming to the 360 in summer. So my thoughts at the moment are can a better online service make this game into something brilliant.

Mario Kart Wii Review

Ever since Mario has been around there has been a group of sports which the faithful plumber likes to try his hand at. Some better than others he isn't the best at tennis or golf but he can kick some ass when fighting and drift like Paul Walker. The later of these is now out in the Europe and Japan so we have a little bit of revenge for the Rock Band pricing.
Anyway Mario Kart is back and put simply its Mario Kart but on the Wii so expect some motion contols. Mario Kart Wii is split into the usual classes/difficulties of 50, 100 and 150cc however, there is a few changes 50cc you can drive karts through 16 new tracks and 16 retro ones. So lets tackle that first the tracks. All 16 of the new tracks are up to visual standard for the Wii but nothing spectacular some new features such as ramps and a new half-pipe type jump add just enough to keep fans happy. The dissapointing thing is that while there are retro tracks some old tracks such as rainbow road and luigi's circuit have minor changes and yet are passed off as new tracks.
So onto 100cc for which you can only use bikes. Yes thats right Mr. Mario (his first name being super now) has gone down the PGR 4 route and thankfully it has payed off. Bikes keep handling very similar to that of the karts however they cannot get the full boost from drifting. This is compensated by there ability to wheelie on straights and pick up speed anyway there is just enough difference to allow people to define their favourite.
Its onto 150cc now you have your choice of bike or karts and so it all comes down to mastering the controls. You have three control schemes up for grabs the Wii Wheel which is my personal weapon of choice the wheel comes packaged in the box and just adds a bit of grip and an extension to the B button. This is followed by the nunchuck and wiimote which adds an analog stick if you feel the need but if you want to go for the retro look have a go with the gamecube pad or classic controller. All of these work and cater for everyones needs.
Multiplayer is as fun as ever with races and battles and online adds some fun with a lag free experience.
All of these new features mixed in with old make Mario Kart Wii a fun experience and keeps the series fresh the only issue for me is just how much further can this series go and so i give it a good 8.5/10