GTA IV Supplemental/Mini Review

GTA IV has once again set the standard in gaming for the open-world sandbox genre. The story, having just completed it, can set you back between 30-45 hours, depending on how you spend your time in the vast metropolis that is Liberty City.

GTA IV is, simply put, an amazing and in some times jaw-dropping game. The attention to detail is superb, and it is these small details that add tremendously to the overall opinion of the game.

I played GTA IV differently to the mainstream. I decided early on that I wouldn’t be an all-out, gun-ho, speed daemon that roars through the city wiping out every civilian in view. GTA IV is all about choices and this is the first of many that I was brought to decide on.

[Mini Review] Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a Space-oriented RPG set in the year 2183. The player takes the role of a Human commander; Commander Shepard. Mass Effect is the first in a trilogy, and has episodic content that fills in parts of the story between each of the main games. I have read, however, that these are not required to understand the main plot line.

Players take position of Commander Shepard and are able to customise them, using a number of feature editors in the character creation screen. Players may also opt to be a male or female Shepard. Once you have created your character, players see themselves aboard the SSV Normandy, under command of Captain Anderson.

The game, if all side quests are completed, takes about 40 hours and throws players through a roller coaster of emotions. Its in-depth storyline and decision making process help to engross you into the action, and become attached to the characters. When you see the choices you make, making a positive or negative impact on the people around you, including crew members, you start to realise how well this game keeps you on your toes.

Pretty. Odd. but Pretty Awesome

So as midnight hit yesterday, I downloaded the new Panic at the Disco album, Pretty. Odd. to my iPod, from iTunes, and had a listen through. At first I was a little skeptical, because the new album was very different from the first and I wasn’t completely sure I was liking what I was hearing.

I then played it through for a second time, and started to appreciate the style for what it was, instead of thinking how different it was to the first album. I really started to enjoy it by the second time, and the third time over I’d worked out which were my favourite songs. “We’re so Starving”, “Nine in the Afternoon” and “Mad as Rabbits” are probably the three best, but all of the songs have their own unique and quirky style. There are a number of instrumental mixes and genres, including folk and even what sounds like a renaissance-esque piece.

[Review] Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

Contents

• Intro
• Aesthetics and Build Quality
• Setting Up
• Functionality Overview
• User Profile
• Conclusion
• Rating

Note: Hovering over abbreviations will give a small descriptive pop-up, showing what they stand for.

Intro
After having the pleasure of a two week trial with the Nokia N800, I am, overall, pleased with what the device can offer. There are some things here and there that could be improved, but out of the box, it’s a nifty little device. The first question that immediately sprung to mind when I first looked at it was, “Now where does the SIM card go?”

After that, a sudden realisation led me to understand that it obviously wasn’t a phone… duh. To be honest, it came as quite a surprise as, up until now, the only N-Series devices I had seen were mobile phones and I did not realise that Nokia had expanded their N-Series product range with these devices.

I then thought about what the device really was – an Internet Tablet. Now, although this device may specifically be designed for this function, the device does have a dark side to it.

Christmas and New Year Update

Christmas and New Year

Ok, I’ve been quiet for over a month now, and this has been primarily down to the increase in my working hours before Christmas day.

It’s been a busy month and, having a job in the retail sector, you realise just how much it is. My job is going really well and I’m generally having a good time – it can get boring now and again, but it’s expected. Last month I sold 105 phones making myself a nice commission bonus, which will act as a nice birthday present when I get my January payslip. I’m currently waiting to hear from my manager, as to whether the head office, or human resources department have decided to keep myself and my pay as you go colleague, Rita, in the job. What happens is, firstly, our manager fills out reports about us, stating that we are recommended to stay working in our store. The reports are then sent off, and they will come back with a thumbs up or thumbs down. I’ll find out the result of their decision this Saturday, but if it were down to my manager, we’d both be good to stay

Now, back to Christmas. I had a really good Christmas this year, even though it started about 7pm Christmas Eve when my parents picked me up from work. I felt that Christmas went pretty successfully, leaving everyone happy and geared up for the New Year. My Mum was very happy with her present, an 8gb iPod Nano, which my Sister, her boyfriend and I had laser engraved to say Happy Christmas all year round My Dad is still, unfortunately, waiting for his, due to the Parcelforce being clever, mis-sorting the package and sending it to Newcastle. Good going Parcelforce. I have collected it, but now I just need to work out how to get it home He was happy with his replacement present – a well written IOU that had him giggling away. My Sister was also happy with her present, a nice set of desktop speakers for her iPod.

New Year came and went – I managed to shift around my hours to allow me to stay a few days longer, so I could be with the family. I had a good New Year’s Eve out with all my friends from sixth form, which was a good laugh, as all the photos showed. The good times rolled on, when I invited them over to my parent’s house for a day of XBox 360 gaming- possibly the first time any of them have visited since I’ve lived there, as usually, gatherings are in Wootton Bassett or Swindon, so it made a change for people to be heading over my way

Once they arrived, we hooked up two XBox 360’s and had a manic and fun-filled day of screaming and shouting at the TV’s when we won or lost in multiple battles on Halo 3. I did pretty well, coming about 2nd or 3rd, which made a nice change from when we used to play on the first XBox’s and Halo 2 was the first console-based first person shooter I had ever played

N95 8GB

My last post, primarily about my new N95 8GB, brought me some popularity today, as I was featured on http://www.womworld.com – “a Nokia™ sponsored resource providing latest news, comment and feedback on all things about the Nokia Nseries from the world of social media and beyond.” I took a look today and it seems like a good resource if you have a Nokia N-Series device. I also took the opportunity to contact them about their trialling program, whom one of their members, Rich, dropped me a comment about. Now, after receiving this publicity, I thought I’d follow up my review, with a second mini-review.

I’ve used my N95-8GB for over a month now, and the quality of this phone is outstanding. I have recently updated the phone to it’s latest firmware, after unlocking and debranding it, to allow me the extra freedom to use the phone how I please. It has been a quite lengthy process, and I lost a little data by not backing up properly, but I didn’t lose anything important. I did note that, after installing the firmware updates, I had lost my applications. However, after re-installing them, I could not access them. I found out that this was because traces of the applications were left in the phones memory, but, after much trial and error, I worked out that the easiest way to fix the problem, was to backup my contacts, images, music and videos (by directly transferring them off the device) and formatting the phone and memory card. I also performed a reset on the phone, just to be sure (by holding the 3, call and star buttons, when turning on the device).

This does erase your phone settings and everything that isn’t standard (including non-SIM contacts), but there was nothing that couldn’t be easily fixed. Note that transferring videos and music off the device may take over an hour and a half (due to the size capability of this phone).

After the latest firmware update is installed, expect to see improved phone switch on times, faster response times, flash video (flv) support built into the web browser, as well as a few other minor tweaks. I did note, however, that the messaging application is slower, but that might be down to me switching the messaging app’s memory to the flash memory, instead of the phone. (Just confimed this – using the mass memory, instead of phone memory, slows the messaging application’s start-up time.

Just like to thank WOM World again for being featured, it’s nice to have a little publicity