The Falcon is a futuristic-looking PC game controller from Novint that can provide a greater sense of realism to your favourite FPS game. Using a pistol attached to the main base, gamers get feedback from gun recoil, when getting hit, and environmental feedback from collisions and vehicles. It supports all the main FPS titles you are likely to care about too. At £165, this is probably for hardcore gamers.
I am a big fan of using the mouse for FPS games with its fast and intuitive control but I would love to try this out. I can’t imagine it being comfortable for hours of gaming, which is irrelevent now as I am lucky to get 1-2 hours a week these days.
Looks like everything our mothers said about spending too much time in front of the TV was true. Check out this poor soul who spent too much time on his Xbox 360. Don’t feel too sorry for him though, with his 37″ LCD head, he has become very popular amongst his peers.
As it turns out, Microsoft weren’t making rubbish hardware that died after a couple of days gaming after all. The infamous Xbox 360 RRoD is actually a failsafe switch added to prevent us all from ending up like this guy.
With the gorgeous Sony Reader being launched this Friday, it is starting to make some headlines. The Times is questioning whether it signals the death of the paperback. Though, I think that a 70 year old librarian might not be the demographic that Sony are going after. Asked for her opinion, she brings up a good point “If you dropped it in the bath it would do terrible damage”. That’s right people, be warned. If you drop your Sony Reader in the bathtub, Civilisation as we know it will come to an end!
It has been a long and painful summer for many Man Utd fans. After the giddy highs of Moscow, we have had to endure a never-ending stream of rumours and hearsay. For three long months nothing really happened. Ronaldo succumbed to Fergie’s iron will. Spurs complained bitterly about Utd’s pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov, with some justification. That was it!
Finally at midnight last night, it all came to an end. The final hours of the final day were the complete antithesis of the rest of the Transfer window. Man City threw the cat amongst the pidgens yesterday morning. Their new billionaire Oil Sheiks, who make Roman Obramovic look like a second hand car dealer, wanted to announce their presence with £300m worth of bids, including an accepted £35m offer for Berbatov.
City had permission to speak to him, Utd didn’t! Were Utd’s biggest rivals going to gazump them at the last minute? Then it emerged that Berbatov was picked up by Fergie from the airport and had a medical, even though Utd still didn’t have permission to talk to him. The minutes ticked by and still no announcement. Then the news broke of City’s £32m purchase of Robinho from Real Madrid. What was going on?! He had spent the last fortnight begging to be sold to Chelsea. It had become a complete farce! City fans were dancing in the street, claiming they were going to win everything. The deadline passed with nothing more of a dodgy sighting of Berbatov walking alongside Fergie in Old Trafford. Finally, at 20 minutes past midnight, Utd announced that the £30.75m deal was complete.
City had done to Chelsea what Chelsea had done to so many other teams over the last 4 years. Utd had finally got Berbatov, 2 years later and for £20m more than they initially wanted to. Ronaldo was still a Utd player. Utd had finally gotten rid of the man with the glass knees, Louis Saha. Real Madrid, after all their attempts to steal Ronaldo from Utd, ended up being bullied into selling Robinho. Let’s just hope the rest of the season can be as exciting as transfer deadline day.
As for Berbatov, he will be a fantastic buy for Utd. A tall, skillfull, classy forward was just what we were looking for to try and retain the Premiership and Champions League. He reminds me of the great Eric Cantona in the way he struts around. He turned down higher bids to play for the Reds, which is a great sign. His signing has more than made up for our summer of discontent. Come on the Reds!
Last weekend was a bit of a film-fest for me. I managed the grand total of 3 films in 3 nights. Lately, I have struggled to find the time and desire to watch movies. I record them on my Sky+ box, and they sit there for 3 months until I either force myself to watch them or delete them to make more space for newer ones.
These days, I have a very small window of opportunity for entertainment/hobbies. So, its not easy to sit down for 2 1/2 hours to watch a film when you have so many other things vying for your attention (PS3, learning, working, blogs, surfing, exercise, photography, Heros, etc etc).
So on Friday night, I decided to watch Shooter (Mark Walhberg). Its a good old fashion action movie in the mould of Rambo/Jason Bourne. An ex-army sniper, recruited by a government agency to help foil a Presidential assassination, but is set up to take the fall. He goes on the run and sets about clearing his name and getting bloody revenge. If you like action films then you should definitely check it out.
On Saturday night, we picked another film that had been on the planner for a while, Lords of Dogtown (Heath Ledger). The film portrays the group of kids from Venice, CA who revolutionised Skateboarding in the 70s and went on to become superstars overnight. It is a fascinating look into the origins of extreme sport as we know it. Ledger was excellent as the hippy surf shop owner and mentor of the kids, but its the skateboarding that steals the show. I wish I had heard of these guys when I was a kid
On Sunday night, I finally got the chance to see The Dark Knight (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger). I don’t think I need to explain this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the film (though maybe not as much as Batman Begins). Ledger portrayed a darker and ultimately more sadistic and believable Joker than Jack Nickolson. I would have liked to see his character developed more though. I also think the film could have used a bit more of a storyline, especially with Bruce Wayne. The love triangle between Bruce, Harvey Dent and Rachel dawes didn’t exactly set the screen on fire. The emergence of Two-Face was a real highlight of the film but was almost a side story.
So 3 nights, 3 great films. I am in the process of changing how I get my movies. Now that I have a BluRay player, I am going to trial the LoveFilm.com rental service instead of Sky Movies/Extra Vision. They have a bigger selection of BD titles and are possibly a good trade off between the convenience of Sky and choice of a video shop. I will let you know how it goes.
