3 article inspirations
http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2011-12/21/2012-video-games-preview/introduction
3 article ideas
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Top 5 games of 2011
·
Nokia pureview 808 review
·
Netflix overview article
Top 5 games
5 – Deus EX human revolution
4 – Legend of Zelda – skyward sword
3 – Batman arkham city
2 – Elder scrolls V skyrim
1 – Gears of war 3
5) Deus Ex Human
Revolution
Deus Ex: Human
Revolution is fairly faithful to the original. Deus Ex is a first person
stealth shooter RPG in a cyberpunk dystopia.
The game puts the
player in the role of Adam Jenson, the cybernetically augmented head of
security for Serif Industries. Jenson is tasked with defusing a hostage
situation at one of their production plants. The player is then allowed to
choose their tactics, ranging from shooting their way through the plant to
employing stealth and avoiding detection.
This game is what
gaming fanatics have been waiting for – a near-future world that allows players
to explore and discover its secrets, but also lets them become a functioning,
creative part of the universe. But it is the freedom to play however you want
that really makes Human Revolution – you genuinely can be a stealth ninja,
creeping about using these skills to your advantage; or you can load up on guns
and blast your way through. You can also continually change your mind,
switching between the two, depending on your mood.
4) Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword
Zelda games have always been variations on a theme.
You know before you start that there will be dungeons, a Sword of Destiny
and a variety of other items that you will need to rescue the abduction-prone
Princess Zelda.
Everything about Skyward Sword is like the best of the franchise made better
(except, possibly, the graphics, which clearly test the Wii's
processing power). The combat is tighter and harder, the story and
characterisation are amazing, the music is symphonic and the dungeons are more
puzzling and supremely well designed. Skyward Sword is probably the finest game ever to appear on the
Wii and is definitely the best motion control game on any platform.
3) Batman
Arkham City
Where Asylum was all tight rooms and claustrophobic psychological
battles, Arkham City unleashes
Batman to roam the streets of Gotham, within which the mysterious Hugo Strange
has confined all of the metropolis's evildoers. Naturally, this includes most
of our hero's nemeses.
The sheer amount there is to do can be
overwhelming, as you tune into bad guys conversations and decide whether to
follow up new leads on the primary plot or focus on your enemies' latest scheme
Even if you choose to stay focused on the core action, the city lies there
waiting to be explored, the side missions still there once the game is
completed. And trust me, you'll want to complete them.
2)
Elder Scrolls V – Skyrim
Players can while away hours upon hours
creating weapons at a forge, mixing potions at an alchemy table, enchanting
weapons, chopping wood, practicing archery, investigating subterranean caverns
or simply pointing their character at the horizon and heading over the nearest
hill.
They can buy a house, join a guild,
marry an NPC or read every book contained in the library at a college for
mages. Around every corner and at every new town they wander into, there's a
monster to fight, a character to talk to and some new discovery to be made.
The amount of things to do in Skyrim
makes the player feel like they're a living, breathing part of its world. In
short, you need time by the bucket load to get to grips with Skyrim, because
once you enter its world, it becomes your world.
1)
Gears of war 3
Here is an Xbox 360
exclusive that is resolutely hardcore. It comes packed with gun-battles, ear-splitting
explosions, bucket loads of blood and you use a good old-fashioned control-pad
to play it. Oh, and it's also one of the best games released all year.
Committed gamers know
what to expect from the Gears Of War franchise, and Gears Of War 3 will tick
all of their boxes. Chainsaws, bayonets and blood spatters; Chest-high walls
and new and interesting ways to blast the Locust troops.
Gears Of War 3 is a
robust gaming package. Along with the multiplayer and campaign modes this game
is filled with un-lockable content; ribbons, skins, weapons, medals. Everything
players need to establish their online shooter profile. This really is one of the
Xbox’s essential titles.
Netflix Review
Netflix, the American movie rental service, has
finally come to the UK. Like the US service, it provides film fans with the
opportunity to watch an unlimited stream of movies and TV for a set monthly
fee.
Being the best thing since Blockbuster, we decided to
test it out and see how it compared with rival services here in the UK such as
Lovefilm and Packages on Virgin Media and Sky.
Streaming
Unlike Netflix in America, the UK service only allows
you to stream content rather than having DVD’s delivered to your door. This
means you need to have a running Internet connection to be able to watch the
content. You can do this on a range of different hardware. It’s available on
your computer/laptop as well as the Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 consoles. There are
also apps available on both Android and iOS devices are available so you can enjoy
movie entertainment while on the move.
Content
Netflix doesn’t specify how much content is on their
database; it simply states that there are ‘thousands’ of film and TV episodes.
There are definitely a lot of choices to decided from, such as popular TV
series like; Skins, The IT Crowd and The Inbetweeners.
One thing it does lack in is new film releases for
popular films. It has a lot of small named films that no ones ever heard of or
films that were incredibly obscure. The first 3 films in the action and
adventure section were Apocalypto
(2006), Battle Royale (2001) and Robocop (1987), which really made us
question the range of the Netflix library.
Pricing
The pricing of Netflix is fairly reasonable.
Customers pay £5.99 per month and in return get unlimited access for any movie
and TV series on their library they wish to stream. You can watch the same
movie as many times as you wish and you can use your account on as many devices
as you wish, making it possibly to watch multiple films simultaneously using
the same account.
Ease of use
Netflix couldn’t be any easier to use. To access the
website you simply enter your log in details and you are placed in front of a
grid full of DVD cover artwork. It will also show you what your friends have
been watching. It will also give you the option to rate the films you’ve
watched so it can recommend other programmes you may be interested in. you can
also tell Netflix the types of film and TV your interested in without having to
watch them first.
Another cool feature they provide is allowing you to switch
devices half way through a film/TV programme. Say you start watching a film on
your PS3 in your living room and you want to finish watching it in bed, you can
simply turn your preferred device and load up Netflix to continue watching from
the moment you stopped.
Picture
Quality
Picture quality on Netflix tends to vary a lot
depending on your connection speed. If you have a slow connection speed the
quality may look like the film was shot using an old camera phone. But if you
have a fast connection you’d be able to watch HD movies seamlessly. To keep the
films running smoothly, Netflix will vary the picture quality depending on your
bandwidth speed, so be prepared for a rise and fall in picture quality if you
have unstable connection.
Conclusion
Overall Netflix is a very impressive service for a
number of reasons. Its ease of use becomes very useful especially over a range
of different devices; the convenience of being able to have it on many devices
and the price they offer for their range is affordable.
Their only 2 downfalls is the lack of current
releases and the variable picture quality, as it becomes fairly useless on a
slow connection speed.
To summarise:
Good:
·
Instant streaming access to thousands of films
and TV shows
·
Low monthly cost
·
Some HD content
Bad
·
Picture quality and playback stability suffers
on slow connections
·
Limited selection of current content
Nokia 808 PureView Review:
The Nokia 808 PureView is definitely one to look out
for after its announcement at MWC2012, mainly due to its amazing 41MP camera.
Along with this gargantuan camera it also supports full HD 1080p recording.
Build:
The Nokia 808 PureView is available in a range of
colours and has a rubberised finish. The rubber finish adds a nice bit of extra
grip to the phone, which fits comfortably in the hand, despite the chunkiness,
especially at the camera end where it protrudes out slightly.
It’s more of a rugged handset rather than a slim line
smartphone, so f your looking for a svelte model then this probably isn’t the
right phone for you.
Camera:
The Nokia 808 PureViews party piece here is its 41MP
camera. This size of megapixel count hasn’t been seen on a phone, it’s normally
reserved for pro cameras. The Carl Zeiss lens is teamed with Nokia’s pixel
over-sampling technology, which has been designed to produce sharp pictures,
even in low light conditions. It has ha the ability to save the images in
compact file sizes for easy sharing.
Although a high megapixel sounds extraordinary, it
doesn’t mean the picture quality will be equally as good. It still remains to
see whether this camera is as good as it says, but we certainly can’t wait to
test one out.
Features:
As well as its camera, he Nokia 808 PureView also
offers Dolby headphone technology, along with Nokia Rich Recording Mic tech for
capturing sound with as little interference as possible. Although we were
unable to test out these features at MWC as it was incredibly busy we will
definitely be putting these functions to the test.
The Nokia 808 PureView has a 4-inch screen, which in
terms of present day smart phones isn’t all that much, especially as it only
has a resolution of 360x640. Although the resolution and the screen aren’t
amazing, the images are still clear and the hues are bright, but it still would
have been good to have a slightly larger screen to edit and compose your shots.
Performance:
It has a single core 1.3GHz processor, which is
typical mid range standard, but the UI appeared to operate swiftly. The only
downside we found was that the camera took a couple of seconds to start up,
which you wouldn’t expect to see in a phone that’s being marketed and sold on
it’s strong camera specifications.
Verdict:
With its gigantic 41MP camera it’s definitely an
interesting phone to lead Nokia’s Symbian range. It takes clear detailed
photos, has some good useful features and although its processing power and
screen are not as amazing as its camera, it’s still a good quality build and
most definitely a phone for those who love taking photos and videos and who
aren’t worried too much about being sleek and slim-line.
The Nokia 808 Pureview will be available on the 23
April 2012.
Hunger games
interview
If you haven't heard of the Hunger Games trilogy, imagine the
romance of Twilight combined with the murderous game show plot of The
Running Man and Battle Royale. With being the book being latest sensation
(over 16 million copies sold to date) it’s expected to be spring 2012's
must-see blockbuster. The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and
Stanley Tucci, but we're most excited about the prospect of Jennifer Lawrence
bringing both her serious acting credentials (Ree in Winter's Bone) and
statuesque physique (Mystique in X-Men: First Class) to the lead as
Katniss.
We were kind enough to rustle up both a trailer of the blockbuster and
an interview with Jennifer Lawrence, Enjoy!
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