AJB123644

My Southern Ireland Tour with Biker Spirit - 1st-5th June 2010

2010-10-16T17:30:00.026+01:00

I knew Steve and Pete who run Biker Spirit from before I went on the tour. They did some tours in 2009 and this year have just started running the company full time. They invited me to come on a tour to see how they ran and to have my first taste of touring. I decided to take my Honda Hornet 600 as I feel this is a much better touring bike than my Virago 535. Having attended the Virago Star Owners Club (VSOC) Centre 13 Rally and coming back on the Sunday I felt that unpacking and repacking the 535 would have been a nightmare in an evening. My aim with this article is to give you an honest and independent account of my experience. I know this can be difficult but I wouldn’t
recommend anything bad to anyone even if I knew the people who run the service.

Day 1 – Monday 31st May 2010 – Lincoln to Ross-on-Wye:

There were 7 of us going to Ireland; Barrie, Jackie, their daughter Emma, Dave, Steve, Pete and myself. 6 bikes in total with 5 being sports tourers and Barrie bringing his Harley. As we were all from around Lincolnshire Steve and Pete offered to take us down to Fishguard, Wales in a group instead of just meeting up there on the Tuesday (1st). Once we all met up and had the introductions it was time to head off. Steve headed up the small column with Pete taking ‘tail end Charlie’ and we set off. We were travelling down to Ross-on-Wye in Hereford and so as to vary the riding and scenery we avoided the motorways and dual carriageways. Long winding roads which always make brilliant riding on and thankfully the weather held out for us.Upon arriving in Ross-on-Wye we went to our rooms, showered, changed and met up in the lounge in the B&B. We all made our way into town to get some food and came across a Weatherspoons. Great food at great prices and the beer too wasn’t bad! We intended on having one or two pints as we had to be up the next morning fairly early in order to check in at 13:00. Several rounds later and more beer than we intended on drinking we made our way back to the B&B for a comfortable nights sleep.

Day 2 – Tuesday 1st June 2010 – Ross-on-Wye to Enniscorthy:

Unfortunately we woke up to rain which we knew was inevitable considering the day before had been overcast and threatening to rain all day. We had breakfast, got the gear on and the waterproofs out. Time to mount up and with Steve leading us once again we set off. We avoided the motorways and dual carriageways again and went on some brilliant roads up hills and down valleys. Having only been as far into the South of Wales as Swansea this was all pretty new to me.

We arrived at Fishguard well in time having breaks and fuel stops roughly every hour to hour and a half. We stopped to refuel and then made our way to check in. Typically by now the sun had come out just as we had finished riding! Having checked in we boarded the ferry straight away. This was a nice and simple procedure just riding into position, leaving the bike in gear and then taking any items with you. The staff tie down the bikes for you!

The ferry crossing itself was uneventful and a chance to relax and get to know one another more. Steve and Pete supplied us with water and some sandwiches free of charge as well.

About 3 ½ hours later we docked in Rosslare. Beautiful sunshine awaited us which was a nice start to the tour and my first time riding abroad. The roads are pretty much the same as in the UK where you drive/ride on the left. The only difference being that the speed is measure in KPH and not MPH.

We made our way to the hotel which was in Enniscorthy and I was very impressed upon arrival. The place we were staying at was very snazzy and comfortable. We even had secure parking round the back which was great. I did however have a slight incident involving an inclined hill and a u-turn. Upon halfway to completing the u-turn I lost my footing and hence dropped the bike. Nothing I could do in that situation but hope that I hadn’t done too much damage. Thankfully I only lost the right hand mirror and the brake lever snapped. Ok so they are pretty essential but both Pete and Steve were very comforting and made every effort to make sure I was alright. It was decided having put the bikes away, showered, changed and met in the bar to do a temporary repair job on the brake lever. Having eaten dinner we ‘borrowed’ a fork from the hotel and cable tied and taped the two pieces together. We swapped the left hand mirror over to the right hand side for preference. Steve asked round to see if there were any motorbike shops round which we could go to but in the end as it was late we decided to leave it until the morning to deal with.

We had some brilliant food in the restaurant downstairs and my first pint of Guinness. In Ireland you have to wait for the Guinness to settle before drinking so somewhat different to here then.

We lads decided it would be a good opportunity to go and see what other pubs were round town and eventually settled upon a quaint pub. This was a small room no larger than most people’s lounges however it had a lovely atmosphere. Upon finishing that pint we wandered across to another pub which was larger and had another pint. This market town did have a large selection of pubs and although it was quiet it was pleasant to be able to relax in such a traditional setting after a long day’s riding.

Day 3 – Wednesday 2nd June 2010 – Enniscorthy to Clonakilty:

As all of the hotels we were staying at on the tour included the breakfasts we had a nice full breakfast to start off the day. The discussion turned to fixing the bike as Steve had been told there was a motorbike shop in Wexford. So we made a detour off the usual route to go through Wexford. Unfortunately the shop was closed due to it being a Wednesday so we decided we would continue along the next route as there was another motorbike shop along the way. Fortunately a mile or two down the road there was one which was open. Having bought two new mirrors (the one we had left broke when taking it off to move) and the brake lever (which came off an R6) and feeling the sting of about 80 Euros we set off.

I feel that both Steve and Pete did a fantastic job in dealing with this matter and many thanks to them. It just shows how dedicated they are to customer service and the riders on the tours.With Steve leading us along some fantastic roads with amazing views of the countryside, tranquil villages and the sun shining brightly in the sky we were all in good spirits. We came to our first ferry crossing at Ballyhack which although only a short trip across to the other side meant we could stretch our legs and get some brilliant photos of the surroundings. This was also included in the cost of the tour.

After going through Tramore we continued along the coastal road which showed off some fantastic sea views and beaches. We made another stop at Annestown beach so we could take some more pictures and see the start of the Copper Coast.

We continued onto Dungarvan, a lovely market town dating back to the 12th Century. It was here we parked up and went to a café for a quick drink and then off to the supermarket to grab some lunch. I was still shocked at how nice the weather was considering it was only the day before that we were riding in heavy downpours.

Having fuelled ourselves up with food and drink and the bikes with fuel we continued on to another ferry crossing at Ballynoe and stopping on the way again for a rest and drink. This was a much shorter but busier ferry crossing than at Ballyhack but a nice crossing anyway.

Our next major stopping point was Timoleague Abbey. This dates back to the 13th Century and it still has a lot of the architecture remaining. Sitting right on the water’s edge it also had some great views looking out.

From here we rode to Clonakilty a town founded by the Great Earl of Work in 1588. The hotel we stayed at was once again top notch and run by the O’Donovan family since it was built. A warm and homely feel here and we again ate and had a couple of pints. Steve, Pete, Dave and I later on in the evening decided to go to a small bar down the road which Steve mentioned had live music on. This was a small and traditional Irish bar and we had quite a few pints in there chatting the night away. We never managed to see any music but as I said the beer was flowing! I think we got back to the hotel about 1am…

Day 4 – Thursday 3rd June 2010 – Clonakilty to Killarney:

So having spent most of the previous night drinking you would have thought most of us would be feeling it that morning. In truth I was rather excited about the day ahead so any sluggishness was gone by the excitement and the rather large cooked breakfast which again was fantastic. Having loaded up the bikes we headed off to Bantry stopping off for a few pictures and a stretch around a small bay which a town had grown round. Upon arriving in Bantry we pulled up in a car park and had some time to stretch our legs, get a drink and take a wander round. This is another lovely coastal town and the last one before you go round the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry includes spectacular scenery of the coastline which then leads up into the hills with perfect curves and corners. Once at the top there is a great stretch winding down to the bottom with some fantastic corners in. At this point I decided to have a little blast and sped off trying out my new tyres and the corners. Steve had gone on ahead to take some pictures of us riding. In all this was one of the best roads I have so far travelled upon. Not just the corners but the breathtaking scenery is amazing at every turn. Even more amazing is how underappreciated the road up the hill was, we encountered no traffic on the climb or the descent!

We stopped off in Sneem, a small village, to have lunc and all went to the café off the main area in the village and I had a great toastie.

Continuing along the coastal route around Carrauntoohill we stopped off along the road to take a look at the stunning coastal view just before Glanbeg. Barrie, Jackie and Emma had come on the same tour last year but the weather had been heavy fog so they didn’t see any of the views around the Ring of Kerry. Thankfully we had perfect weather!

Following the coastal roads around the base of Carrauntoohill we finally came to our hotel in Killarney. Again a lovely hotel and once we had settled in we headed out to find some dinner as the hotel did not have a restaurant for evening meals. There were a lot of Harley’s around as the annual Ireland Bike Fest is here. This was originally an event for Harley owners but quickly grew to include other bikes. It was a shame that we were leaving the weekend it started but we were unaware of the event until we arrived.

Having eaten we wondered into the centre and stayed in a bar for a few hours drinking. Much to our delight they had a jukebox which we poured money into and stood round enjoying ourselves. Barrie even found another Harley to sit on the bar! As it was getting quite late when we left the bar (we being the last ones to leave) Steve, Pete, Dave and I decided to continue on with our drinking. We went off to bar where live music was playing and had cheap Guinness although this tasted like it was watered down much to our dismay! So upon finishing we headed next door where a rock band was playing live. They were great and it was so nice to be able to listen to some live music in a bar for a change. Another late night as we staggered back to the hotel in the early hours after Steve’s kebab.

Day 5 – Friday 4th June 2010 – Killarney to Wexford:

Having been right across the South of Ireland it was now time to come back across to Wexford. The breakfast again was another great start to the day and having laden the bikes up we once again set off to a glorious day. The next major stopping point was Blarney Castle at Blarney. We stopped here for over an hour in order to get drinks, look around and go into the castle and grounds if we wished. It is here where the famous Blarney Stone is and the story goes that if you kiss the stone you will have the gift of the gab. I am pleased to say that I decided to take a quick look round the castle and even kissed the stone!

The route then took us North away from Cork and after a while we came to Binnia and Carrigeenamronety. The road took us between these two ranges of hills and round the North of Binnia. The views were spectacular and we stopped on a couple of occasions to take pictures and to soak up the scenery. It was amazing how different the landscapes were in Ireland.

Coming out of the other side of these fantastic hills we eventually came to the route which we had a couple of days earlier travelled along in the opposite direction. Although this may sound repetitive it is far from it as I hardly noticed the same route and it wasn’t until later on we realised we had been along that road before.

We arrived in Wexford with heavy hearts knowing that the next day we would be catching the ferry back to Fishguard. Still we decided on having dinner and a few beers before heading off to bed and getting an early night due to the tiring week!

Day 6 – Saturday 5th June 2010 – Wexford to Fishguard:

We woke up early on the last day as we had to catch the ferry in the morning and in that time have breakfast and load up the bikes. Unfortunately just as we were all set to go Jackie found out that she had a flat so Steve set to work pumping up the tyre enough to get the bike onto the ferry. Whilst this was happening Pete, Dave and myself went on ahead and waited at the port for Steve, Jackie, Barrie and Emma. Having strapped down the bikes on the ferry Steve and Pete stayed down in hold to take a look at repairing the tyre with plugs although to no avail. They believe one of the valves went on the tyre so Jackie phoned the AA to come and pick her up when we arrived in Fishguard. Apart from the tyre issue we encountered no other problems and had a pleasant crossing back and the ferry this time was much busier.

Having disembarked from the ferry we went to go and wait for the AA for Jackie. We had to wait an hour or so for them to turn up instead of them waiting at the port when we got there but it was a lovely day so we stood round talking. Jackie and Emma both got transported home on the back of the AA wagon whilst the rest of us made the long ride back home. We went up through the middle of Wales through some fantastic scenery then straight across England to Lincolnshire again avoiding motorways and trying to keep to the back roads.

In all this was a fantastic holiday and tour. For my first tour I felt comfortable with the distances covered, the comradeship from my fellow riders and the helpfulness of Steve and Pete. Their dedication to the job and to the tour astounds me in the way that they obviously want the very best for their customers. If you have any problems on your tour I know that they will do everything they can to fix these be it broken brake levers, mirrors or flat tyres. The accommodation was top class with every hotel being clean, having excellent food and facilities. The routes and roads were fantastic and the places I visited and the fun I had will never leave me. I will be booking another tour with Biker Spirit next year and I would invite you to join me on one of their many tours. Visit their website at www.bikerspirit.co.uk.

Backing it up

2009-07-31T20:10:00.001+01:00

Ok so recently I have run into a huge mess. Basically losing the entire contents of your computer is a really bad thing, as I not so handily found out a couple of weeks back. First a little background as to what happened:

So I was sat there about to do a job application, talking to friends on msn and steam and all of a sudden the screen froze. Whilst I re-booted the computer I sat there thinking how typical that the computer chose to do this right when I have something important to do. Admittedly if it had been a simple crash then it would not have been a big hassle as Word would have auto saved the file at a previous point but the hassle of having to re-boot your computer (especially with Vista) always takes away valuable time anyway. Well the boot screen loaded up telling me the hard drive was damaged and needed backing up and replacing. Oddly enough the most amusing part of it all was that I couldn't get past the boot up screen as it kept telling me to re-boot the system therefore making me unable to physically back up any data. How annoying. Perhaps in future some sort of device to tell you when your hard drive is about to pack in would come in handy.

I ordered a new hard drive from dabs.com and fitted it and it runs like a dream. The computer is now in the hands of my brother as I patiently await to get my new competition win computer fixed.

I decided to go for the Western Digital 500GB Caviar Black SATA-II with 32MB cache. The drive runs really well. The OS with a few games installed on the computer, Steam and a few other programmes such as anti virus etc boots up pretty fast which is brilliant! Also there is practically no noise coming from the drive which again is perfect. Western Digital drives have clearly developed a little way since the previous Western Digital in the rig before hand which even though it was fairly quiet could still be heard when involved in taxing tasks. It will be interesting to see how the 1TB hard drive I got for my new computer compares to the 500GB and how they run a year from now.

Anyway onto the main section of this post I would seriously recommend backing up all of your data on your computer once every month at least. There are many different methods of backing up data out there including software which will take an image of your drive or my chosen method of just backing up all my documents, music, pictures etc onto an external hard drive.

I would definitely do at least a monthly back up if not a weekly one. It is definitely amazing as to how much data you can lose just after a week of adding files etc to your hard drive.

Anyway I hope this has proven a help to you readers. I am heading off into the glorious sun and heat of Turkey tomorrow evening for two weeks. Hoping to have my replacement graphics card when I get back so I can finally make a start on playing those games again! That and building a website. Amazing how much can be disrupted just by not having your own computer to use.

AJ

David Cameron's Slip Up

2009-07-29T20:43:00.004+01:00

So quick post today. Another huge one which I have slowly been working on tomorrow. So searching round the internet doing the usual thing I came across the hilarious news post about David Cameron swearing on live radio. Brilliant to be honest because who better to have as someone in Parliament representing us as the Public than someone as down to earth as him! Brilliant fun and another comment was made by Clarkson this week too about our PM. How he gets away with it I will never know but it seems he is the only one to actually be able to say the truth about things. Why does no one else state we have a country run by idiots? Well maybe they are afraid of the comebacks but end of the day we do. After all what other Countries have let their finances run into the red as much as ours? In fact I do say we would be declared bankrupt were we a company.

"Cameron added: "Oh, yeah, pissed, sorry about that, I'm really sorry. But he said people are pissed off with politicians, which they are. I think that is choice language well used personally, from my point of view."

The Tory leader's press secretary responds: "No, it was the twat."

Cameron pleaded: "That's not a swear word."

His press secretary replied: 'It is.'"

Guns loaded? Better be because BF3 is confirmed...

2009-06-11T22:19:00.003+01:00

Yes you read right. Finally they have decided to announce the inevitable sequel and next in the series for the multiplayer PC gaming title. It would seem that EA Chief Operating Officer, John Pleasants told everyone the following at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference:

"I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at Dice in Sweden and was highly impressed by the way the team is working on that product," he said. "Of course, that's not [coming out] in the fiscal year, but that is a product that is looking very good."

Excellent stuff now we just need more details and a release date. Considering the so called 'leaked documents' from two years back I think we could safely say things will have changed since those were revealed in the design plans. That said I do believe the release date would be from Q3 2010 to Q1 2011 although they will probably try and hit the Christmas rush much like most games companies. I think we can also safely say the game will be set in the present day or a couple of years before or after much like Battlefield 2.

We shall just have to wait for some more details though before we speculate much more!

Need for Criterion:

At the same conference as mentioned above John Pleasants also mentioned that Criterion, the developer behind the highly successful Burnout series, have taken over the Need for Speed series from Slightly Mad Studios.

I do wonder if this is a good thing judging by how unrealistic the Burnout games are and I hope that they can turn Need for Speed into a better series with a more realistic touch to the games. I just hope they keep their Burnout series out of Need for Speed for having two of the same would just be too much. Let's hope they can push the series forward though to new heights considering the past few years lows.

Not much more news today. What with E3 having just finished it would seem not much gaming news is out there at the minute. Must say though E3 was a bit of a disappointment for me. Not a lot of PC games getting announced there apart from the already controversial Left 4 Dead 2 and most of the other news from E3 was on the consoles. That said Project Natal has huge potential and not just in gaming terms. That hardware could in years to come become the focal point of our living rooms.

AJ

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG).

Sorry for the lapse of posts... Plus an explanation!

2009-06-07T18:12:00.006+01:00

Well as the title suggests I am about to make an apology for the recent lapse in posts to the blog. Looking at the last post it would seem I stopped in March. Not very good considering I said I wanted to do daily blogging however since then there has been a hell of a lot going on and from now onwards there will be the odd post (probably a big one on occasions when i do get time to blog) at least once a week. It seems taking on post as a rep for motorbike group really takes up a lot of your time as well as other issues.

Then the worst thing happened to me on Thursday last week. I was sat at my computer trying to write an application form for a job I was applying for and all of a sudden everything on the desktop and in Word freezes. Uh oh... To put it short I restarted the computer and I find my hard drive died. Great I lost the application form and everything up to the last back up I did. Oh well more of that in a article this week I hope.

So on to the other reasons for not being able to post as much as I hoped in the future. Basically The AAA Partnership is going to take priority over the next couple of months, basically throughout the summer whilst the development process once it gets started (waiting for programmes can delay things). Obviously it would make sense to make this a number one goal for you readers and new readers to the site once we have it up and running.

Well enough of all that hopefully an article or two this week on some subjects I have been meaning to write about. These being thought up rapidly since Thursday and the beginning of E3.

So stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled back for more interesting posts coming your way soon.

AJ

P.S: By soon I do actually mean soon not like 2 months from now...

Are EA feeling alright?

2009-03-20T23:48:00.010Z

Odd this. EA have announced that they will be releasing a new multiplayer mode as DLC for The Godfather 2 on the day it ships which will be free. Free, what from EA? Yes apparently so. The new DLC which will enable Don Control in multiplayer.

Wow along with all this they have released screenshots which can be viewed here.

Damn good of a company who only half a year ago were polluting us all with DRM games which they have relaxed a little on, charging for DLC and releasing poorly made games which felt only half finished. Perhaps this will turn out to be a new page in the history of EA. Would be nice to think so.

The Godfather 2 is set for release on April 7th 2009 on PC, Xbox 360 and the PS3.

Starcraft 2 beta sign-up begins:

Blizzard have recently relaunched their online hub for their games www.battle.net and for anyone who signs up to the new site you will have the option to be able to participate in their Starcraft 2 beta. People will be chosen at random from this however as of yet there has been no date for either the beta or the release of the game. If you remember earlier on this year it was mentioned about how only one game in development would be released this year. Judging by the beta only just starting with sign-ups I would suggest this would be Diablo 3 as I previously mentioned (You can view the post here).

No co-op for Bioshock 2:

2K have dispelled rumours which have been flying round the internet about there potentially being a co-op mode for the sequel to Bioshock by stating:

"There won't be any spliced-up rhinos, Soviet invasions, or co-op, but you may very well see a Big Daddy or two."

Interesting there was speculation about all of those mentioned but nice to see that the Big Daddy will be making a return to the game as there were at first doubts as to whether the Big Daddy was to be replaced by the Big Sister.

Blizzard have also confirmed that they will be releasing the game simultaneously on all platforms these including the PC, Xbox 360 and the PS3. Nice of them to do it in once go unlike with the first game where they delayed the PS3 version until later although that did provide us with a nice teaser for the sequel to the second game which can be viewed below.

You can also view the video here in case it does not show.

Riddick 3:

On a side note quickly. For those of you who saw Friday night with Jonathan Ross tonight you may have noticed that Vin Diesel was being interviewed. In the interview he mentioned that the script for the next Riddick film has been completed and that they are hoping to start filming early next year! Brilliant news in my opinion and let us hope that it will follow through with the atmosphere of the first two films yet still keep the unique aspect of the series.

AJ

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG).

You might be wondering...

2009-03-19T23:34:00.005Z

As to why this week has been a bit on and off with the blog posts. I do have a fairly good reason/reasons but I shall put those off and just let you know what I am hoping to do in the short future dependent on time.

Basically I am planning on doing the normal week-day posts which will involve the round up of interesting news items as found on the internet. These will be gaming related for the foreseeable future. The weekends or at least one day over the weekend I am hoping to start doing a weekend feature of sorts on a specific topic and my thoughts on it. As ever the week-day posts will also have this attached to them too.

If you have previously seen in a previous post (or if you have not please click here to view it) you may remember be mentioning about the You Tube project I had in mind. This should surface over the summer however it will again be dependent on the amount of time i have between now and then.

That is actually all for now. This is as I said due to varying reasons why I have not posted recently but please be sure to check back tomorrow for more news!

AJ

Why so serious?

2009-03-17T20:09:00.010Z

Stealth! That is the main subject of the next video to come from Eidos (being developed by Rocksteady Studios) for their upcoming game, Batman: Arkham Asylum. This can be viewed below.

Now onto the subject of the video. As I stated above the video focuses on the element of using stealth to kill or incapaciatate your enemies inside Arkham Asylum which has been overtaken by the Joker. The graphics look brilliant, the game play looks brilliant and the moves which you seem to be able to perform look oddly like something Riddick would do. Strange but it looks pretty good coming from that perspective.

So if you like the look of the video below then be sure to pick up the game coming soon on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360!

You can also view the video here in case it does not show.

Operation Wolfenstein gets leaked:

22 screenshots which have been claimed to be taken from the multiplayer side of Wolfenstein which is currently being developed by Activision. The screenshots look surprisingly good however the only thing which confirms they are from the next game in the Wolfenstein series is the Wolfenstein logo in the bottom right corner. Does this confirm that they are from the game? Potentially although Activision have seemingly denied that these have been approved by them or distributed.

You can view the screenshots here.

DLC Achievement now unlocked for Steam:

Today Valve have announced that developers can now add DLC to games using the Steam platform. Wow this is a big step you might suggest. I think so too and in all honesty probably a good move for them as it may push for more developers to put their games and DLC onto Steam. Constantly expanding Valve are providing more and more services, the majority of them free of charge, to both developers and gamers alike available for use on Steam.

The celebrate this next advancement in the development of Steam, The Maw will be the first game to release DLC via Steam.

Valve also had the following to add about the DLC:

"DLC can now be added to any game on Steam, regardless of whether it was originally purchased via Steam, at retail, or via other digital outlets. It is also a feature of Steamworks, the suite of free tools and services available to game developers and publishers."

Again a pretty damn interesting proposal for the leading digital platform for PC gamers. As I said before this could see more developers heading towards Steam and let us all hope so too except with lower prices than they currently are putting games on there for...

AJ

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG).

The weather today in fuel...

2009-03-11T22:34:00.011Z

Looks pretty damn amazing. Codemasters have released a weather gameplay video for their upcoming open world racer, Fuel as well as some new screenshots. They show us how lightning, rain, snow and tornadoes will look in the game and how they could impact on how you play the game. Look pretty good to me so far and so do all of the previous Fuel videos we have seen. This could be a damn good racing game and let us hope that Codemasters deliver on this one just as much as they did with Grid.

You can view the video below and the game is coming out on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on 15th May 2009.

You can also view the video here in case it does not show along with the new screenshots released by Codemasters.

You be the Don:

According to the new video which has been released by EA for The Godfather 2 you can be the Don and you choose how you want to play the game. This shows you a little more about how the game will work without having to read any text on their website. Looks pretty interesting and the explosions somehow look awesome compared to the rest of the game graphics. Mind you looks like this is getting to be a game which we may not want to miss after all...

Also just wanted to add as to how ironic it was that M_the_C commented on the post yesterday about The Godfather 2 and today they released another trailer. Brilliant timing or what!

You can also view the video here in case it does not show.
Tonight it is a short post but you can blame that on Blood Diamond being pretty good and so long. A damn good film but it is late however hopefully I shall do a small article for you all to enjoy on Friday as I have the day off!

AJ

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG).

Riddick is back

2009-03-10T22:50:00.013Z

Starbreeze have released a developer diary video today on their upcoming game Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. This looks fantastic so far with the game play elements looking to really put you into the game and feel immersed. This could be a giant leap for the series as not only are they releasing in one game the Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena but also the re-worked original Escape from Butcher Bay which is just fantastic. To top it all off we even get to hear the voicing from Vin Diesel himself. A bargain!

Play as Riddick on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 from April 24th 2009.

Empire Total War has marched to number 1!

Congratulations are in order to Creative Assembly for making this superb game. The latest title in the series has just made it number one in the sales charts beating Killzone 2 by a whopping 1600 units and it only came out last week! Also another milestone achievement for the Developer is that this title is the fastest selling one in the series to date.

The chart has not had a PC exclusive game at the number 1 spot for a year and a half before today too.

No 2009 release for Rage:

Todd Hollenshead, CEO of ID Software has today announced that Rage will not be released this year. Perhaps they will be looking for a 2010 release?

We do know however that ID Software will not release any games until they are finished to perfection. This is brilliant of a Developer to still do this. Mind you they never really put a release date on the game so we probably were not expecting it this year anyway.

Godfather 2 has gone gold:

EA have announced that their sequel to the Godfather, Godfather 2 has gone gold and will be released on April 10th 2009. The game which sees you playing as a mobster who is recruited by the Corleone family to set up business in New York, Miami and Cuba by any means necessary will introduce a different kind of gameplay element to the original and play out more like the PSP version of the Godfather game. This involved you having to take over rackets in order to become the most powerful Don. Sounds interesting and hopefully it will deliver to be another great game in EA's U-turn of quality for games.

AJ

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG).

More The Wheelman screens drive our way

2009-03-06T23:12:00.009Z

Ubisoft have released 11 more screenshots of in game footage for The Wheelman which is due to come out on the 27th March 2009 on PC, Xbox 360 and the PS3. The game stars Vin Diesel voicing the main character whom you play as. The screenshots look pretty good to me.

You can view the screenshots here courtesy of CVG.

Play as the band to Guitar Hero 1, 2 & 3:

Activision have announced another expansion type game called Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits. This will include 48 famous and infamous songs from Guitar Hero 1, 2, 3 and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. Nothing has been released yet as to what the tracks will be but considering there are 4 games prior to the release of Guitar Hero: World Tour it sounds like only a few from each game will make it into the latest game by Activision. This is however good news for those fans who want to rock as a band playing along to some of the songs features in previous games. So far Activision have not released any of their back catalogue of songs from previous Guitar Hero games unlike the Rock Band series which has made all tracks playable on all titles in the series.

Personally I think this is great news as having played Guitar Hero 3 I would love to have some of the songs available to play on Guitar Hero: World Tour as a band. This will most probably be one of the few 'expansion packs' to the series I will actually get.

The trailer looks a little naff to be honest as all it shows us is some writing on screen and no in game shots or sequences. At the end though it does state to visit the website (http://www.guitarhero.com/) to choose which songs are revelealed next. Perhaps this means we will be able to choose as to what we would like to see in Greatest Hits.

Along with this announcement Activision kindly released a debut trailer for the new title too which is viewable below:

You can also view the video here in case it does not show.

The game is coming out in June 2009.

AJ

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG).

Bullshit says Bowling from Infinity Ward

2009-03-05T22:52:00.008Z

Yes you read it correctly. Bowling from Infinity Ward had the following to say about the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 leak yesterday:

"It didn't come from anyone who has access to our internal builds and indeed contains several features that are already in CoD4 such as grass camo for snipers. In short, it's BS".

Nice of them to come clean about it. To be honest though when you looked at the list it all looked like guesses anyway plus the information in that 'leak' made the game look more like Call of Duty: World at War to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare than another leap for the series which would be a shame. I hope that Infinity Ward deliver as much development in the gameplay as in Modern Warfare 2. This would surely cement itself for yet more awards and they have already promised us it will be the most anticipated game of 2009.

All aircraft for PC are grounded for another week:

Ubisoft have just announced that Hawx for the PC will be delayed by another week and instead be coming out on the 20th March 2009. They have offered no explanation for the sudden delay. If you remember they also delayed the PC version of Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway in order to fix a bug so perhaps this will be the reason for the delay.

New Screens hit The Pitt:

New screenshots of the upcoming DLC, Fallout 3: The Pitt have been released today from Bethesda. These look pretty good to me and the DLC is set for release on the 24th March 2009. See the screenshots below.Bioshock 2 first news has risen from the sea:

The teaser website for Bioshock 2: The Sea of Dreams has emerged showing us some of the first details about the second game in the series. Bioshock 2 is to take place 7 years after the first game and is a pleasant surprise as there was a lot of speculation that Bioshock 2 would instead be a prequel.

The site shows a world map with some scribbled writing. Above the writing there are a series of 3 items which once selected show a picture of a doll which looks very similar to a Big Daddy but improved. Another is a newspaper cutting about the disappearance of a 7 year old girl. An extract is provided below:

"Local fisherman Eamon Clune, 44, and his wife Charlotte (32) were awoken by the sudden shattering of a window in the front room," a document on the site reads. "Moments later, his daughter Maura, age 7, screamed. Mr Clune rushed to investigate the noise only to notice the unknown attacker racing out of the broken window with incredible speed."

It goes on further to describe the attacker:

"Due to the moonless night, Clune was unable to provide a description of the assailant. He notes that the attacker was thin, above average height and wore some kind of red light."

This description seems to provide the basis for perhaps an evolved Big Daddy and this is further backed up by the picture of the doll resembling what appears to be a Big Daddy. In the original game the Big Daddy's were large and rather slow.

The third item is a letter from a J. Lynch with some red writing on the letter written by another person. No clues as to who this could have been.

You can visit the teaser website here.

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG) for providing the screenshots.

Warning: Quake Live is Packed

2009-03-02T21:14:00.013Z

Well apparently the free to play online in your browser remake of Quake 3 Arena has been a pretty big success for ID Software. When the beta went live last week there were queues of people waiting to play the game anywhere between 20,000-50,000 people. Wow all that for a free to play game? Wonder if Battlefield Heroes will have the same effect on people. Which apparently should be released sometime this year although that has not been confirmed yet.

Anyway back to Quake Live: ID have stated that they will be making their top priority the reduction of the queues. Clearly this is a huge problem for potential players as no one wants to spend all their time waiting for a game to load, even a free one.

This brings me nicely onto the subject of online free to play browser games. How do they work you might ask? Well let me answer you. Basically by micrpayments and in game advertisements. As this is a relatively new way of delivering games to people this is still quite a new thing for the games industry. The way that these in game purchases of items for your characters and the advertisements is something which has yet to be fine tuned and as to whether it will ensure the game is successful is another matter altogether.

We have however already seen in game advertisements for games, for example the most recent one I have come across is Burnout Paradise. They have billboards dotted round the city usually depicting adverts for 'Real Life' products/services as you would normally see when driving around in 'Real Life'. This works great in a modern game however would be work in the fantasy genre or WW2? If they could disquise it all to that era/setting then it could work rather well.

Need For Speed: World Online:

Today EA have released the first image of their new title Need for Speed: World Online which is set to be released in the far East by the end of the year followed by us Westerners shortly after. Well please find the image below which shows us some of the interface, the world, an in-game map and some other features. Looks rather snazzy to me although we shall have to wait and see as to whether this will sell as the recent Need for Speed games have not exactly been the best of games but time will tell and I would be interested to see as to how this will compare to other racing games at the time.

Hawx - Flying the skies with your friends (or foes):

On Friday Ubisoft released the video viewable by clicking here showing the multiplayer aspect of their new game in the Tom Clancy franchise: Hawx which is an air combat simulator coming out on the PC on the 13th March 2009 and Xbox 360 and PS3 on the 6th March 2009.

AJ

With thanks to Computer and Video Games (CVG) for providing the screenshot.

The Don is back

2009-02-28T00:12:00.003Z

First of all for today's blog post I have to apologise for not writing here in a few days. Had to do job application and also spent the last 2 days unlocking scout achievements in Team Fortress 2 so I can report back to you about what the new weapons are like. More on those later.

The Don is back:

As mentioned in the title the Don is back in the form of The Godfather 2 coming from Electronic Arts (EA). This is due to be released on April 10th 2009 on PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC. They have released a new trailer viewable below today and this basically shows you how the business rackets work. How to take them and buy gaining them what benefits you get from them. Quite interesting video and actually makes you want to consider getting the game unlike the previous videos we have seen from EA.

EA beam down another video:

EA have also released another video today which is from their upcoming expansion Spore: Galactic Adventures for their 2008 title Spore. This video shows us just some of the many missions which will be available from the purchase of the expansion to play and is basically an add on pack to the space age section of the game. Interesting video and it just shows how much the space age could have been improved from the start but this look like it could be a good buy if you felt you did not get the best out of the space age in Spore.

Rock from March:

Last year saw the release of Guitar Heroes 4 on the Wii and all the other major platforms and we also saw the release of Rock Band 2 on the Xbox 360 too. Today Rock Band 2 has been dated for the PS3, PS2 and the Wii.

PS3 and PS2 owners will see the game released on March 27th with the game coming to the Wii on April 24th.

Will it be worth the wait? Well we shall just have to see but from a knowing a 360 owner who has the game it should be.

Boink!

With regards to the new Scout update for Team Fortress 2 please check back to the blog tomorrow and see what it is all about. See the pros and cons of the new update for Team Fortress 2.

AJ

New You Tube Project

2009-02-22T22:25:00.003Z

For those of you who have visited and viewed my You Tube channel AJB123644 you may have noticed that I have not updated it for a while now. I wish to change this and have a project in mind however I am going to below detail a few ideas in the hope that you readers will be able to give me some feedback on my idea.

The Pitch:

Basically the show will be posted once a week on a day as yet to be decided on You Tube. The show is to be themed round a news based programme where all the weeks news is rounded up into one place with the odd comedy added in for good measure. The show would be mainly based around gaming although would at times if something interesting came up have highlighted topics from general news items.

The show would also feature parts dedicated about upcoming games, viewpoints on these and more.

So any more thoughts you could suggest or maybe just give an opinion on the whole pitch. Would love to hear what you all have to say about the idea and I would like to get it up and running in the summer by doing a couple of one off videos with which to see how people react.

Also just a quick note that there will be no post tomorrow as I am off to a concert tomorrow night therefore will have no access to a computer from home until Tuesday.

AJ

Codies Friday Frenzy!

2009-02-21T22:58:00.006Z

Yesterday Codemasters had a huge release day for new screenshots and videos for various games coming up in the next few months. Considering we have so far for all the releases had very little in the form of media up until yesterday it seemed like it was a good day to be releasing everything and with the games coming out between now and the end of summer this year things are looking set to be a good summer. I say shut out the sunlight and turn on that PC or console. So let's take a look at some of the games coming out from Codemasters this summer.

For the official Codemasters web pages for the games please click on the game name to go there.

Overlord 2:

Codemasters have released a trailer and a bunch of screenshots for the sequel to Overlord which came out in 2007. This time round it sees you taking control of a new Overlord commanding an army of even more powerful minions. You are taking on the might of the Glorious Empire. A Roman styled faction.

The trailer is available to view here on the CVG website along with the new screenshots. The trailer looks pretty good and it looks like once again you will be causing a lot of mayhem. Overlord 2 is set to be released in June this year.

Jumpgate Evolution:

New trailer out for this space MMO along with more screenshots of the game. This is set to be different to Eve Online in the way that it is a lot more simplistic. You control your ship in real time much like a driving game. It is in effect designed to have the FPS characteristics of a shooting game but set in an MMO universe. This looks set to be ery exciting indeed but as to whether it will be able to compete with Eve Online only time will tell although there should be no real problem there as Eve Online is a highly complex game when compared to other MMO's on the market.

Jumpgate Evolution is set to be released in June this year. You can view the trailer and screenshots here.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising:

Sequel to Operation Flashpoint this is set to go up against Arma 2 this year which in itself be interesting to see how the two games compare and as to which one will come out on top. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a military conflict simulator which Codemasters have enabled to be as sandbox a game as possible. You can choose from many different roles to play in the Modern US Army which is the faction you will be playing for in the game where you are assaulting an island held by the Chinese.

They have made this game incredibly detailed. The trailer shows you the lighting effects, the character models and the day/night cycle and it looks really impressive. This is one game not to miss if you are into Military Combat Simulaters.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is going to be an intense shooter but as to how well it will perform when it compares to Arma 2 we will only have to wait and see.

New trailer has been released along with screenshots and these can be viewed here and is due for release in March this year.

FUEL:

This 5000 square mile open racing game is set to create a unique driving experience like no other. No other game has tried to create such a large environment and on top of all of that they even have real time weather effects which can and will affect the way you race!

I did more on the game in a previous post which can be read here.

They have released a new trailer not long after having released one a few weeks back along with more screenshots. The details again look brilliant and with a draw distance of 40km this should be breathtaking. View the trailer and screenshots here with the game due to be released in May this year.

In all looks like Codemasters have a pretty good line up of games due to be released over the summer which might I add is a brilliant time to release as so few new games are coming out at this time of year. Codemasters have thus far delivered well with games such as Racedriver Grid and hopefully these releases will rocket Codemasters into a league of its own and with the quality a gamer wants.

AJ

Boink! It's almost here!

2009-02-19T23:02:00.003Z

On Tuesday Valve announced the next update for the Scout will be released next Tuesday (24th February 2009) via their Team Fortress 2 blog. As is the case with previous TF2 updates they are releasing a sneak preview of what is to come day by day until the launch.

So far they have told us about the Sandman which is a new kind of bat. This bat is pretty special and adds the ability to smack baseballs at the enemy team which in turn he gets stunned however the drawback is that you cannot double jump whilst this is being used.

Wednesday (yesterday) they announced the release of another two community maps. One being a new Arena map called Watchtower which basically is high up combat and with a lot of sniping potential, something which is lacking in the other Arena maps. The second community made map is to be a Control Point map and is based around sharop corners and short lines of sight. Both of these maps should be interesting to play.

Today Valve have announced the 'Bonk' Energy Drink and a list of the names of the 35 new achievements for the Scout. The Energy Drink will give you a few second rush of energy. Presumably by energy they mean speed. Again another interesting weapon.

So far it looks like the new Scout update will change the way the Scout is to be played entirely. By introducing a long range weapon it could make the matches interesting and by stunning people even more so. The rest of the updates we can expect to see will most likely involve a new game mode which Valve have promised us.

Tonight I have a little story for you all. I was on my way to my guitar lesson tonight when all of a sudden the motorbike broke down a mile from home. Deciding it was not worth the hassle of calling out recovery I decided to push it home. I must say it was rather amusing but ultimately it is a good work out. If you wish to get fit I would recommend pushing a 120kg motorbike plus fuel!

AJ

Modern Warfare 2 needs you!

2009-02-18T23:18:00.004Z

Recently Infinity Ward, the developers of the highly successful Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched their Twitter page. So today they have asked people the following:

"Name one thing you'd like to see in Modern Warfare 2?"

Seems like they really want to get Modern Warfare the best they can this year and with the previous statement saying that this is "to be a very exciting year for the franchise as we expect this year's launch is likely going to be the most anticipated title of all of 2009". Perhaps they will be right after all. Most game developers which get involved with the community such as the Team Fortress 2 team for their updates. These are great and always play well with the community because they listen to some extent as to what their fans want. Hopefully Modern Warfare 2 will be more successful than Modern Warfare 1 and that was pretty damn good anyway!

My question though is whether they will be updating the graphics and engine for the game and introduce new features like the last time. It will be interesting to see whether they do or not as the direction they took with that for Modern Warfare 1 was what made it so popular with the new innovative features sending fans crazy.

You can view more details on this here.

In other news it seems that Microsoft are in talks with the Israel company 3DV Systems. They are a 3D video imaging and motion-sensing technology company. Microsoft are reportedly going to buy the company for 35 million US Dollars. Hefty sum of money if you ask me!

This all seems to have stemmed from the Wii's brilliant use of the Wii controllers and this is something which made the console sell so well in the past and continue doing so because no other console does anything such as what it does.

It seems that now Microsoft want in on the action too but with a twist. 3DV does not use controllers but rather a motion capture device which then translates your movements in game. How widely this could be applied to the majority of games would be intriguing but anything is possible as the Wii has already shown us with the likes of Call of Duty: World at War on the system and other games.

The big question for Microsoft is as to whether they will be doing this as a add on for their current console system, the Xbox 360 or whether they will incorporate this into a new console.

My guess would be towards the latter as the 360 is now coming up to 4 years old it would make sense for Microsoft to start investing in a new console. Also by the time Microsoft got 3DV working hard and into a serious project the timescales would fit. This big step forward for Microsoft could put them ahead in the game but only time will tell as to how both Sony and Nintendo will react to this move made by Microsoft.

AJ

Is GTA 4 PC Lost and Damned?

2009-02-17T20:58:00.002Z

So with the release of GTA 4: The Lost and Damned just passed on the 13th February 2009 I wonder whether the content will stay exclusive or whether it will eventually pass onto the PS3 and PC. Recently Microsoft seem to be buying up these exclusive DLCs which is basically a huge tactical marketing tool. They say you get all this extra content by having a 360 and then get the extra money through the sale of the consoles. However it seems a little harsh to leave the PS3 and PC out from the DLC. After all we bought the game just as everyone else did (well apart from the pirates that is). So is it really fair to presume that by Microsoft limiting the DLC to only one console they are in effect tunneling people to their one console. The PS3 is still in it's early stages rather much comparable to a baby at the minute. It is just starting to learn how to walk and pick up its pace in the gaming industry.

We PC Gamers do seem to get the DLC occasionally that the consoles get however not all the time. Again what is it that makes us as a platform different to the PS3 or the 360? After all we all pay for the game in the first place and we all would pay for the DLC if they were to provide it.

This all actually leads onto whether the Lost and Damned would be released on the PC and PS3. I read that GTA 4 is getting sold and traded in by people due to having finished it and the lack of things to do round Liberty City once it is complete. Sure you could go on the multiplayer but even that has only a certain amount of time before that too gets a little tedious. So reading from people's posts on the Computer and Video Games (CVG) website it seems that people would be willing to go back to Liberty City if they had the Lost and Damned DLC. After all it adds a fair few hours to the game and changes a few aspects such as the style and story, guns etc. Surely this move would create even more revenue for Rockstar and also increase the second hand market with people buying back their copies of GTA 4 having sold them on due to finishing them.

In all a good move by Microsoft for snapping up the exclusive content but as I said it is not overly fair on the thousands of other gamers and it could seem like Microsoft and Rockstar are punishing for not owning a Xbox 360. I would contact Rockstar to see if they could comment as to whether the Lost and Damned will be coming to the PS3 and PC in the future but I do not have any direct contact details for them. Thus meaning I would just get through to customer support.

You can read the review produced by CVG for the Lost and Damned out now on the Xbox 360 here.

The lengthy post: You might ask as to why I did a huge post today. This is largely due to not posting yesterday. Something which I am deeply sorry about. I had a Parish Council meeting to attend and by the time I got back and had dinner there was little time left for me to write to the blog.

Other news:

Last night Criterion Games, developers of the brilliant Burnout Paradise announced that they will be releasing the Legendary Cars DLC for the PS3 on Thursday 19th February 2009. As you might be able to tell only two days time! They also announced the following:

"PC players will need to be a little more patient. We'll announce the release data for PC Legendary Cars in the near future."

Once company then that will not be ignoring the PC for DLC!

AJ

There will be an uprising coming this Spring!

2009-02-14T23:03:00.002Z

EA are going to be releasing the expansion C&C Red Alert 3: Uprising this Spring but what is most intriguing is that they will be releasing it as a download only. So far they have not commented as to where it will be hosted etc but we can probably guess at it only being made available on the EA Download Manager which is a great shame. We all know that the EA Download Manager lets you download the game for free at any point within 6 months of purchase. You can opt to have this extended if you desire but after that time expires you cannot download the game anymore without purchasing it again. A great shame as the EA Download Manager could be bigger if they removed this feature especially as they do have some good deals on there.

I have added a new blog to the "Blog's To Visit!" list down the sidebar to the right of this post. The blog is run by M_the_C and is also trying to do a post a day blog also. His posts are brilliant and he is currently doing a 7 day stint in Children of the Nile. A great blog and I highly recommend you to take a look at it here or you can click on the blog via the list in the side bar to the right.

I was also planning on doing a written version of a new project I am planning for You Tube which will hopefully be seeing the light of day in the form of a few pilot episodes later in the year. Unfortunately a huge list of stuff to do crept up so I shall work on it for next Friday. It is a work in progress so it may change over time.

AJ

That Blizzard must be delaying some games...

2009-02-12T21:38:00.003Z

Blizzard have just announced today that their Beta for Starcraft 2 is still months away and with Blizzard confirming that only one frontline Blizzard game being released in 2009 it looks like we may not see either Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2 for a little while yet. The games were supposed to be released this Spring but now they do not have release dates. It will be a matter of time before they announce which one will be released this year but my guess is it could be Diablo 3 due to Starcraft 2 no doubt undertaking a rigorous beta to cater to their fans.

This could be seen as a good thing what with some games companies releasing games half finished so it is good that Blizzard are stepping out from the rest in order to release good quality games. EA also seems to be following the same trend recently by postponing some of their titles such as The Sims 3 for a later release.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has also been confirmed by Activision and is set to be released in the holiday quarter with Activision claiming 2009 "to be a very exciting year for the franchise as we expect this year's launch is likely going to be the most anticipated title of all of 2009". Hopefully this means that Infinity Ward are hard at work creating yet another excellant game.

Have played Burnout Paradise and I must say it is brilliant. Criterion have done a splendid job with the way the game presents itself and also the conversion to PC. My hat goes off to them and EA for a brilliant job there. Should also be seeing yet more content being released for the game in the coming months.

Other than that it started snowing here in Lincolnshire this afternoon which is great. It has since stopped the last time I checked. No more havoc for us then!

AJ

Free 4 Dead...

2009-02-11T21:44:00.002Z

Valve have just confirmed that their 2008 Zombie Horror Survival, Left 4 Dead, will recieve the content which is promised this Spring for free on both the PC and Xbox 360. Wonder how they managed to get that for free unless they had to pay Microsoft some money of course!

"The recently announced Left 4 Dead Downloadable Content (L4D DLC) will be delivered to Xbox 360 and PC gamers free of charge.Due for release this spring, the DLC for 2008's best-selling new game property on the PC and Xbox 360, is dubbed the L4D Survival Pack and introduces a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode (Death Toll, Dead Air). A Critic's Choice Edition of the game will be heading to retail stores this spring, and will include access to all the content introduced in the L4D: Survival Pack."

Sega have also just today confirmed a new Aliens Versus Predator game set to be released in 2010 and is currently in development by Rebellion who were responsible for the 1999 AVP game. More on that here.

Not really any other news which is of great interest today however yesterday was the start of my promised blog a day. Will do some more meaningful posts about other stuff later in the week.

I also today have received my copy of Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box so shall be loading that up tonight and hopefully having some good fun! Will report back on that ASAP.

AJ

Fuel plus the gaming BAFTA's

2009-02-10T21:16:00.005Z

Today Codemasters have released the latest video featuring in game footage of their upcoming racing game, FUEL which will see gamers racing over stupid amounts of varying terrain in a fictional present and racing in a multitude of vehicles from 4 wheels to 2.

This looks set to be the racing game of 2009 if they can deliver, it looks amazing and with "100,000 miles of roads, tracks and trails and hundreds of race events FUEL’s epic world demands to be explored" this could be one racing game. More on that nearer to its release date which has been confirmed to be this May. View the amazing video below!

You can go to the official web page for Fuel here.

In other exciting news we have the gaming BAFTA's for this year with the shortlists available to view here. You can also vote for your favourite game of the year here and be in with a chance of winning some prizes!

Odd though that included in those lists is the likes of Call of Duty 4 when that was released back in 2007. I know it was good but did it really need to top 2008 too? Maybe they are counting the recent release of the game of the year edition as a 2008 release.

AJ

We are coming back...

2009-01-20T23:02:00.002Z

Well what a great start to 2009. Well kind of seems like the year has started somewhat rather bleak what with Woolworth's shutting and so many other businesses announcing job cuts however have not fear for...

Hello all AAA Fans!

Just to announce that the site will start to become active once again over the coming weeks. What with the Christmas period and the mad rush of games released by developers in the fourth quarter of last year and Akardo bogged down with Sixth form and myself bogged down with other things we seem to have neglected the site a little bit.
So we are going to bringing to your attention some reviews as mentioned over the coming weeks so please come back and keep checking as to what will be happening!

See you all soon,

The AAA Partnership

Yes you read it right me and Akardo will be coming back pretty soon with the AAA Partnership and shall be updating as regularly as possible in light of trying to get the site up and running again and being more productive with it. What with the fourth quarter rush of games having also gone hopefully we shall be able to look back on some of the releases of last year and review them along with some of the major upcoming games for this year. Most notably for myself Empire Total War and Dawn of War 2 at this minute in time.

Also planning on keeping the blog updated a lot more with varying topics either every day or perhaps every other day depending on time schedules etc. At this minute in time I have been a little lax due to other demands.

AJ

A World of My Own Public Beta Released

2008-12-21T22:49:00.005Z

Well CVG just reported that the A World of My Own (AWOMO) Public Beta has just been released in the past couple of days. This is potentially quite exciting news but there are a few things which have changed since they seemingly dissapeared from the web a couple of months back.

They orginally were intending on releasing this platform with it's high speed download for games and the innovative feature of a 3D avatar world where you could meet and socialize with other gamers. This was a brilliant idea and recently we have seen the Home Beta come out for the PS3 which show cases the same kind of thing.

After all these months of no news from the AWOMO team they have come up with this beta but no 3D world on release however they do state that they will be adding this in a future update. Presumably before the platform gets the full go ahead. Currently they are offering Rome Total War to play for free and state that you could "get Rome: Total War in as little as 5 minutes"! This is pretty amazing but obviously it would depend on your connection speed but non the less impressive.

Not sure how this platform will do in the beginning as it has the potential to become quite big and perhaps compete with Steam but in its current state and without the release of their 3D world I suspect that this will be another platform which will be under Steam. If they can get the 3D world and implement it without any problems I can see this platform potentially taking off rather well. Not many places where you can meet and greet people with 3D Avatars whilst your game downloads with lighting speed.

Well time will tell and I shall be keeping you posted on updates to the platform.

AJ
"I'm still in 2D, what the heck is 3D?"

Phase Two - Layout and Colour Changes - Complete

2008-12-21T22:42:00.005Z

You may notice a huge difference to both my blog and You Tube channel (AJB123644) in the form of a re-design. I has orginally done a very odd scheme for the You Tube channel which was not really that pleasing on the eyes so I have changed it in light of a upcoming announcement in the New Year.

Hopefully the new colour scheme of which are both on my You Tube channel will be a lot more user friendly and be more appealing to all you visitors out there!

With regards to Phase 3 which is now what I am classing as the final transfer of all You Tube videos to my main channel. This has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances and will be merging the musicajb123644 channel over the next fortnight.

AJ
Upgrade near completion

Phase One Complete

2008-12-14T22:28:00.003Z

As it says in the title of this blog post phase one is now complete of my You Tube Channel merger.

After some hard thinking I have decided that having three seperate You Tube channels made life too complicated and meant clicking on far too many links in order to see the different range of videos I have on offer at the minute. Now you will be able to view all my videos that were on the GuruAJB123644 You Tube channel on the AJB123644 Channel. With them all eventually being merged into one place it should make life a lot easier for all you out there to enjoy my videos in one central place.

I shall be moving the musicAJB123644 channel's videos over the next week so keep an eye out and if you are wondering where they have gone then just check out my main You Tube channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ajb123644

That is all for now. Soon it will be Christmas but enough of that until later!

AJ

"The Land of Brothers"

2008-12-08T22:47:00.006Z

I happened to be in Wales for a friend's wedding at the weekend. Nice place too and having been once to the North of Wales where by I travelled through it I found it a pleasant change of scenery to our flat landscapes. Well I say flat but in comparison to Wales it makes our various hill ranges in England look flat.

Anyway I met a few guys from the friend's wedding who are now part of his family who happened to be Welsh. Now having never really spoken to a Welshmen I was very shocked to find him and his brother (also his family) very welcoming. I tell you I have never been somewhere and had as good a conversation with someone I hardly know before. In fact I have had less interesting conversations with friends who i have known for 5 years!

Well anyway what I actually meant to point out was how deceiving little names such as 'sheep shaggers' can be for the Welsh. I can honestly say that if someone said that I would chip in something about there being more sheep in England than in Wales. This is true for as soon as you enter Wales you see no sheep and yet when you enter England you see sheep everywhere.

So that is the end of this post. Hopefully things will start to look up in Greece and these riots will get quelled quick. Seems rather messed up to be honest and not really sure why the Greek politicians are not calling in more support via their Police or Army but perhaps they do not want to escalate things too much.

AJ

Reactions!

2008-12-01T22:29:00.005Z

Hello all!

Well I have just logged onto onto my blog after having spent a little while away from it to find this new feature they are providing where you can vote as to what you think to the articles! Well I have added the following options for all you readers to view:

Cool
Interesting
Not for me

So now you can all get voting! Plus do not forget to leave comments on the articles too.

So today being the first of December that means that Christmas will be upon us in a mere 23 days!

GTA 4 (www.rockstargames.com/IV) for the pc is out on December 3rd and this looks like it is going to be a real treat. Will it really be worth the wait though? Only time will tell! Looks like it could be good to finally get our hands on this award winning game.

The majority of the major games scheduled for this year have been released now but it looks like we will be getting a few huge treats next year. Will come back to that in the before New Year blog post.

Wow it has gotten cold out. Maybe even a white Christmas is in order this year. Or not, we seemingly have not had one for so many years in England (unless you happen to be on a mountain top Christmas day but then that would hardly be fun would it?).

Take care

Weapons cocked, safetys off...

2008-10-07T22:39:00.002+01:00

This Friday we will be seeing the release of Brothers in Arms Hells Highway for the PC at long last! Hopefully this will be a moment worth waiting for and not another disappointment unlike some of the game which has so far come out this year.

While I sit here waiting for my copy of the game (which shipped yesterday from HMV.com) you can all be busily awaiting the release of Far Cry 2 which is shipping out in two weeks this coming Friday. This looks like a contender for game of the year and certainly looks like it could show us a thing or two about free form shooters and war! So far the development team have started to release every Friday up to launch some character bios. Check these out here!

AJ

“Gentlemen, today we will not be going to war”

2008-09-26T13:51:00.003+01:00

Well it seems that Operation Market Garden will not be starting today, nor tomorrow for us PC Gamers because it invariably seems that they have put back the release date of Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway for the PC until 03/10/2008 according to HMV.co.uk.

Ok I understand that games do have their release dates moved but this close to release? Seems a bit strange why the 360 and PS3 owners still get to go to war today while we seemingly are stuck at the Air Base waiting because our aircraft is still being fixed. Well who said the war wouldn’t wait? Seems like this time it will have to!

Well even worse news is that according to Game.co.uk they have the release date as the 10/10/08. Two weeks today. Wow what exactly are they doing to the PC product that means it needs more time before it is released.

Well only time will tell as to what will be happening with the release date of this game. Shame because I was hoping to play it tonight and get a fair few hours in alongside Crysis and Warhead but alas looks like it will come out too close to Far Cry 2 for me to truly enjoy it.

AJ

A bargain... on Steam!

2008-09-14T17:50:00.008+01:00

Well you can now get quite a few bargains on Steam now. EA seemingly are introducing some of their games starting with Crysis and Crysis Warhead both in a package for $79.98 which works out about the same price as buying the disk in the shops. They are also releasing The Witcher: Enhanced Edition this month for an unknown price at the time of writing this article.

Amongst all that there are still the multitude of older games getting released slowly via steam and this month we have also seen the release of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures for $59.99 which again is about the same price in the shops if not a little higher due to the exchange rate being worse than before.

There is a really good bargain available though. This happens to be the upcoming Multiwinia which you can get for a mere $19.99 and you also get Darwinia for free! Talk about a deal.

This leads onto the exchange rate situation. We have thus far seen the exchange rate for US Dollars to British Pounds slip and if this continues it makes me wonder if it will affect the sales on Steam for the British and indeed the rest of Europe. After all people buy from there now due to it working out so cheap yet if the exchange rate were to get gradually worse then it would be cheaper to buy from stores or online.

It makes you wonder if Valve will reduce the price of games on Steam for European users thus making the same amount of sales or whether they will keep it at the same prices. In this situation, only time will tell.

Well that is all for now and until next time!

AJ

My 'Heavy' Heart...

2008-08-12T23:27:00.004+01:00

Valve have announced yet another major update coming to Team Fortress 2. This time round they shall be updating the 'Heavy' Class in what they are claiming to be the biggest update yet (yes even bigger than the pyro one!).

This new update will feature three new unlockable weapons for the Heavy, 35 Achievements, a new game mode, a new Payload map and finally another community made map. Phew, what a long list!

This could be an amazingly good update for Team Fortress 2 and more information can be found at the Official Team Fortress 2 Blog or by visiting this 'day by day unlock' Heavy website where every day up until next Tuesday (the release of the Heavy update) you will be able to see the new updates features being unfolded!

As for the reason behind my 'Heavy' heart this is due to the fact that from Thursday evening I shall be going away on holiday to France until the 24th (My Birthday!!). So I think we can officially blame the French for making me miss this amazing update ;)

Hopefully I should be able to post another blog before I go but if not I shall write when I get back from France!

AJ

Is Lincoln Starting to Attract the Wealthy?

2008-07-23T13:44:00.003+01:00

I just saw a Ford Mustang this morning on my way into work from the car park. What a sight to see. Amazing car but then it struck me. What the hell is it doing in Lincoln? Not very often you see a Jaguar let alone a Mustang.

Then I remembered that I saw an Aston Martin DB9 last Friday. That itself is another nice car but the costs of buying these cars is immense so what is happening? Is Lincoln finally starting to attract some more Wealthy people. I mean in times like these would you own a Ford Mustang with the petrol costs etc?

So I have decided to do some research as to how much these cars cost to buy and came up with the following. Just to compare prices I have also added in the cost of buying the Jaguar X-Type S (the most basic version of the X-Type):

· Ford Mustang - $20,000 works out at around £10,000.
· Jaguar X-type – £21,500.
· Aston Martin DB9 V12 Coupe - £110,850

Ok so we can see here that the Mustang doesn’t cost as much as we think but the fuel that it uses must cost a lot. The DB9 however costs 10 times the Ford Mustang, so really, what is a DB9 doing in Lincoln?

AJ

The AAA Partnership Website to go Live...

2008-07-02T18:57:00.004+01:00

…On this Friday, 4th July 2008, at 20:00 hours (8:00pm GMT) at the following web address:

http://theaaapartnership.wordpress.com/

To celebrate we shall be hosting a Party in our Steam Group Chat so why not pop along and meet the people behind The AAA Partnership and take a look at our shiny new website while you are at it too?

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/theaaapartnership

I look forward to seeing you all there!

AJ

British Troops on Standby for Zimbabwe

2008-06-27T10:01:00.007+01:00

I have just heard from a colleague that someone she knows in the RAF has just been put on a 14 day standby to be shipped out to Zimbabwe. Presumably to stop President Mugabe. Not heard much else on the subject however I shall be doing some more research into this and seeing what comes up on the internet.

I personally think if we decide to go to war with yet another country we will yet again be involved in another fight and do we really have the manpower or resources to cover another war, especially with the state of our economy? If they say it will be a quick operation they are wrong. Iraq was supposed to be quick and yet after all this time we are still out there.

The opposition in Zimbabwe will stretch our forces even more due to them having a properly trained army unlike the insurgents in Afghanistan or Iraq.

So will we jump in with two feet again and struggle to pull ourselves out by messing with affairs that don’t really concern us? In fact when the crisis with Tibet happened we had mass people trying to extinguish the Olympic Torch, why did we not say we were going to war? Perhaps because China is an upcoming superpower and to go to war with them would be chaos. So we decide to go to war against a country which no one is moaning about, no protesters taking the streets just oh we shall go and possibly attack them.

I think a saying will come in well at this point: "Be it on their heads". I cannot imagine the US getting too involved either due to the Presidential Elections going on soon.

More information hopefully coming soon!

Major Update and Regular Posts Update!

2008-06-21T00:41:00.002+01:00

Pretty soon there will be a huge change to the way things will be working which will include a lot of new posts and reviews etc.

Until about July or August time when these will be going 'live' I shall not be posting as often on here as I have been although at the end of the day it will definately be worth it in the long run!

AJ

Update for Wordpress 09/06/2008

2008-06-09T23:43:00.003+01:00

I have added a new page under the Latest Videos Tab and you can now view the latest video on MusicAJB123644 on Youtube on Wordpress so go and check it out!

So far that is all I have managed to do however a huge, huge, huge update is coming very soon.

AJ

Logo in the making! Plus other news!

2008-06-06T23:41:00.005+01:00

Well sorry I have not posted for a little while, have been really busy, and by busy I mean busy! Haha!

I am getting a logo created for me, well I say created but it is basically done, and also a banner for my Wordpress account. Soo this means that you will be able to see both once they are completely finished on all my things from now onwards. There shall be a big launch day however at some point in the near future where as well as announcing my logos etc I shall be unveiling the Competition! So you guys could say you have a lot to look forward to :D

In other news the poll has finally finished! After all that hard work running it I had four results, not bad as in previous times I was getting 1. So yeah the results are as follows:

Do you like the new Colour Scheme?

Yes: 2 Votes (50%)
No: 1 Vote (25%)
Undecided: 1 Vote (25%)

More about the Competition will be coming soon, this is actually proving harder to think of than I last expected. So please stay tuned and I will stay true with my word, it was not a lie :)

Thanks for your patience with that anyway,

AJ

New post on Wordpress

2008-05-28T19:05:00.004+01:00

I have put a new post on Wordpress for you all to view with regards to the competition so make sure you go and check it out!

"I am going to be spending the upcoming weekend looking at the competition and what will be happening with regards to it. I shall be coming up with the rules and what it will be about too.
So just make sure that you pop back Sunday evening to take a look and see what it is going to be all about."

AJ

BMF Tailend

2008-05-22T19:26:00.006+01:00

I mentioned in my last post that I had been to the BMF show last weekend and I decided over the weekend that I could have done a couple of items about it all or rather just talked about what was there.

I was rather disappointed that I did not take anything with me to be able to do anything with however in September at the Tailend BMF I shall definitely be doing it! So be prepared to see a couple of videos and pictures coming up as well as a write up in September!

So keep your eyes peeled ;)

Doomsday!

2008-05-21T22:46:00.010+01:00

Just come back watching Doomsday at the cinema. Wow what can I say? It is an amazing film to say the least.

One of the few films out there that actually has action round every corner and the story is simple enough to keep along and still enjoy the action. The ending is rather good with the cliff hanger they leave which makes you hungry for more!

So would I recommend this to people? Of course I would! Get out there and watch it god damn it!

P.S I would do a larger review however I am short for time due to going away at the weekend and also being at the BMF last weekend. That by the way was awesome too! Hopefully in the future I should get more time to Blog and then that will mean a few more reviews of films etc coming your way!

AJ

New Page on Wordpress!

2008-05-16T11:15:00.004+01:00

I have created a new page on Wordpress for competitions I shall be holding.

The first competition shall be coming out soon and the basic details are already on the site so why not go and take a look, it might even encourage you to enter in it! Just make sure you keep coming back and checking for the updates on the competition as pretty soon you will be able to know what the rules of the competition are and also what it will be about!

So what are you waiting for? Click here today to be in with chance of winning!

AJ

PC Gamer June 2008 out now!

2008-05-11T12:02:00.004+01:00

The latest issue of PC Gamer (Issue 188) is out now!

Articles included in Issue 188 include:

Previews:

Reviews:

Plus many more!

So head on out to your local newsagents and buy buy buy!

Or alternatively click here to subscribe to the best PC Gaming magazine in Britain, perhaps the world!

Update on Wordpress

2008-05-10T18:12:00.005+01:00

I have just finished a new page for Wordpress. This can be accessed by clicking the link in the bar at the top of the page underneath the image.

This new page has all of the latest videos on it from my Youtube accounts, so please enjoy.

I must warn you though that it is not quite finished yet as there is still another two sub pages for GuruAJB123644 and MusicAJB123644 to go on there however I shall update you when these are finished.

AJ

New Decor!

2008-05-02T00:32:00.005+01:00

I have updated the decor for the blog so hopefully it should be a little bit more user friendly and easy to read from now onwards!

How ever if anyone does have any problems reading it please let me know.

I have also posted another Poll so you can vote as to whether you like the new colour scheme!

Stay Tuned,

AJ

Another Website Added to The AJB123644 Project

2008-04-29T20:49:00.005+01:00

I have finally signed up to Wordpress. I shall be using that site as a website for the time being and you will also be able to view all of my blogs etc on there too. It will basically be the main 'hub' for everything I do within the Network.

I have now also decided to call this the AJB123644 Project. Seeing as there are a few sites up and running now I thought maybe it was time for a collective name/term to be used and so came up with that while on my Wordpress site easily viewed here. It is still under construction but it should hopefully have a few more pages added to it soon (ish)!

In other news the colour scheme on here and on my Youtube accounts will be changing shortly to make everything a little more user friendly and easy on the eyes.

AJ

The long awaited TF2 update is nearly upon us!!!

2008-04-28T19:01:00.006+01:00

So after having waited for well over a month now after Valve told us the original release date was to be sometime in March and now it has fallen back to the week of the beginnind of May.

Well hopefully this means that it will not be too much of a dissapointed, saying that Valve never delivers anything on time but when it does get delivered we know for sure that it is going to be one of the best things to happen since, well sliced bread!

Haha. Yes this is going to be yet another big update from Valve however we have not been told yet as to whether this update will be bigger than the last update which was released by Valve not so long ago.
I do however have a feeling that it will be, after all it will have around 40 new achievements, new weapons to unlock and a new, huge map. Wow what a mouthful!

Anyway seeing as the update has been promised by Steam to come out this week I took the liberty of taking two screenshots to show everyone that it is to be released this week and that basically if Valve go back on their word we have evidence to prove otherwise!

Anyway here are the two screens:

Will keep you posted,

AJ

Who has the better informant?

2008-04-21T22:59:00.006+01:00

While on PC Gamer's website the other day I noticed this article (can be viewed here) having seen it regarding Team Fortress 2.

I actually nearly fell off my chair with laughter because to my amazement I had actually reported on the preview for the new Goldrush map 5 days before they had! They previewed it on "Thursday 17-Apr-2008 11:12 AM" and I posted my preview notice with a lot better explanation than them on "Sunday, 13 April 2008".

Wow that just shows how good my information is and just how much you should really pop back here to see what is going on!

AJ

Team Fortress 2 - Goldrush Preview - Courtesy of GameTrailers.

2008-04-13T22:09:00.009+01:00

I was surfing through You Tube looking for help on how to make Team Fortress 2 maps when all of a sudden I saw this video stating that it is a preview for Goldrush. So intrigued I have a look and wow. It looks amazing and it does not look anything like the community made it so this could be the first real preview that we have of Goldrush!

It was actually added on March 17th 2008 on this guy's You Tube Account so it could be a little older than that however it could be good news for us Team Fortress 2 fans as maybe it will mean the next major update will be coming out soon(ish).

From what we can see in the video it looks pretty much finished however they could just be perfecting the whole Medic classes new debut for unlock weapons.

So enjoy the video (See below):

If you cannot see the video above then please click here and this link will navigate you away form this site to the video page where you can then proceed to view it.

From what you can see on the video it looks like the map will be split into different sections and run in one of two possible ways.
It could run through like Hydro or I have a feeling it will run like Dustbowl.
Although there is also the possibility that the map could just run on one whole turn which is likely as the video does not pause to change into another map. But if it does run like that it is going to be one hell of a big map. Could be a very long map indeed.

Dustbowl seems to be more of a realistic run because it looks like the map is aimed at the attackers trying to get past the defence like in Dustbowl where you have the map split up into sections and you progressively get closer to the final target much like this.

It also looks, but there is no definite suggestion, that there will be multiple routes for the cart to go on. Now how these will work it is unknown and not made very clear on the video.

Another key feature are the control points where it looks like you will have to get the cart to in order to get to the next stage. This could possibly mean that the opposing team will be able to push back the cart as well but again there is nothing to suggest this.

Well I shall update more on Goldrush if any more news comes out before the release and it looks like it could be one hell of a release.

AJ

With thanks to Gametrailers and also kocha65900 for providing the video.

J-Server Custom Map Test - 11/04/2008 (GuruAJB123644).

2008-04-12T19:56:00.009+01:00

Last night (11/04/2008) a whole load of us piled onto the Java Server on Team Fortress 2 so that we could all have a quick bash on some custom maps that had been created by members of the server.

So having decided to record footage of the evening I have somehow aquired 20 gigs worth of video that I shall be sifting through tomorrow and then uploading onto You Tube tomorrow (hopefully).

Plus I have now also joined www.photobucket.com so you will be seeing a lot more images on the Blog from now on!

Blog Campaign 27/03/2008

2008-04-06T19:45:00.005+01:00

Well I have decided to do start every so often doing campaigns for my blog so that it will make people more aware of this. So I have created a video for all of my accounts.

The video can be viewed at all of the following locations:

The video shall shortly be posted onto www.metacafe.com once my PC Screen gets fixed and I get it back so that I can actually use my own PC where the files are stored.

Here is the campaign Video:

Poll - Do you think it is a good idea to do written reviews?

2008-04-06T19:41:00.004+01:00

The poll for 'Do you think it is a good idea to do written reviews?' has now ended and the results are as follows:

Yes but do not continue with video reviews
0 (0%)
No but continue doing the video reviews
0 (0%)
Yes and continue to do the video reviews
1 (100%)

1 vote was all I got from this poll. However as much as this is disappointing I need to look forward to future polls etc where hopefully more people will be voting in them so that we can eventually get a little community involved in everything I do.

AJ

10,000 BC

2008-03-19T18:56:00.012Z

Notice:

This review has been stalled for the time being.

This review shall come out in the near future. Please keep coming back for more information.

AJ

Waterstones Book Reviews

2008-03-16T21:00:00.005Z

Well a few months ago I did a review on the Waterstone website for the book 'Sky Masters' by Dale Brown.

Now I also did a video review on the book which can be viewed here. As I do not always get time to make the videos and so do the reviews I thought that it would be a good idea to start writing them and also doing video reviews once I get the time to do so.

Anyway so here is my review that I put on Waterstones:

This book really draws you into the story and at times you just cannot bare to put the book down due to the excitement and action in the story line being too much to want to wait until the next time you can read it again.
Dale Brown has used a lot of military terms which are effective in making you feel a lot closer to the action and these probably stem from his career in the US Air Force.
If however you do not know what the terms mean he has provided a very helpful glossary which can be found at the beginning of the book and explains everything.
The tension between China and the US has raised after China laid claim to a long contested island and because of this they decimated a Phillipine Oil Platform. The Phillipines responded by sending warships and the Chinese Navy launched a tactical nuclear weapon claiming it to be 'self defense'.
The US is forced to step in after recently pulling out of the Phillipine Island's and try to put the power of the Island's back into Phillipine control.
The book is also centered around Lieutenant Patrick McLanahan who has the chance to fly a new high-tech B2 bomber. You may recognise Patrick from other books by Dale Brown.

You can also view it on waterstones by clicking on here.

I have also decided to add another poll to see whether you like this new idea (basically it will mean me being able to write to my blog more often) or whether I should just keep up with the video reviews.

As well as that poll I shall be putting up another one about whether reviewing books on Waterstones is also a good idea or not.

I shall be getting a campaign going on my You Tube accounts for my blog shortly. Hopefully these will materialise in the next few weeks. I shall be posting those on here as well anyway.

Until next time.

It is closed!

2008-02-11T12:52:00.003Z

Yes that is right the voting has now closed for my blog as to whether I should keep it or not.

The results were as follows:

Keep it - 50%.

Delete it - 50%.

Because of the split I shall be keeping it up and running for now and will do another vote in two months time.

Hope that is ok for everyone, if you have any queries regarding the results or anything please dont hesitate to comment on this post.

AJ

4 days left to vote!

2008-02-05T22:20:00.003Z

Yes that is right with only 4 days left to vote as to whether I should keep the blog or not you should hurry up and vote if not done so already! With only 3 votes so far (one of which is mine) it could mean I will have to redo the poll at a different point in time.

Coming soon...

Yes a coming soon, I am going to be doign a few short videos advertising my blog and also my email address. They will be posted in due course to my various channels, that is if You Tube will work and let me upload them.

Still having problems uploading my latest video for my AJB123644 channel but am going to contact You Tube and see what they think to it.

Have not yet started on my video for DOD Source but am going to do so tomorrow night. I do have the videos prepared so it should just be a case of putting it all together and tidying it all up before I upload to You Tube (with luck it will work) and Meta Cafe.

AJ

Day Of Defeat Source Weapons Videos (GuruAJB123644)

2008-01-29T23:13:00.004Z

Ok coming in the next week as requested by a fan on my channel GuruAJB123644 will be two videos, or one depends whether I get time to capturing all of the video for the second, coming out showing all of the available weapons in Day Of Defeat Source (DOD Source).

Hopefully this will give people a bit better knowledge of what the game is like.
Anyway will keep you all posted.

AJ

Problems... (AJB123644)

2008-01-28T23:08:00.003Z

Well I am having a few problems with trying to upload my new video for AJB123644 on YouTube so in the next few days I will be attempting to upload to MetaCafe instead. If that goes well then I shall continue to try and upload onto YouTube. Just hopefully it will work next time!!

Also will be doing a few more short videos so you know where you can email me at on YouTube and to advertise my blog, should generate some interest!

AJ

Coming Soon... (GuruAJB123644)

2008-01-24T21:36:00.004Z

Well having just had a request put in by a viewer for guruajb123644 to make a Day Of Defeat Source video showing all of the weapons I thought that it would be a good idea to let you all know about my ideas for the video.

I am going to be doing it so I do US Army as one video and Nazis as another. It will then be split up with the guns being shown and then some footage of them in action!

Well stay tuned for those videos!

AJ

Welcome!

2008-01-23T20:53:00.002Z

Welcome to my 'Blogspot'.

Well that is really just the above really.

Ok I lied, basically check out here often as from now onwards along with my videos you will be seeing more of me here as well as on my video channels so stay tuned and well be ready for some serious blogging!

One more thing here is a video from one of my channels you can watch!

Visit my You Tube channel here where you can find this video and many more!

AJ