A quote taken from Warner Bros in relation to the weekend takings for The Dark Knight:
“The sequel took $155.3m (£77.7m) in North America, beating the record set last year by Spider-Man 3, which took $151.1m (£75.5m).
Batman, which opened on Friday, took $66.4m (£33.2m), which was also a single-day box office record.
Directed by Christopher Nolan, it cost $185m (£92.5m) to make.”
A lot of people didn’t think that The Dark Knight would stand a chance of beating any box office records, seeing as a) it’s a relatively long film, b) it’s a 12 (and therefore not kid friendly) and c) it’s actually a very dark movie. In fact most sites had pegged an opening weekend total of £100m tops…
Good for Batman :)
It also has to be said that it currently stands at a 94% rating on Rotten Tomato’s, which also makes it one of the best reviewed films so far this year.
Less than 2 weeks now and I’ll be watching it in the IMAX cinema in London (which I’m glad I’m booked, as they are now pretty much fully booked, weeks in advance).
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Heroes - series 3
A lot of people had bad things to say about series 2 of Heroes, I on the otherhand didn't find it as bad as people made out. I could understand why people disliked it, but at the same time, I can understand the approach taken by the writers.
Saying this, however, series 3 looks mighty impressive. Roll on September!
Saying this, however, series 3 looks mighty impressive. Roll on September!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
E3 my reactions (so far)
Microsoft
I didn’t watch the Microsoft press conference and therefore cannot comment too much about it. It is clear, however, from what I have read that Microsoft is trying it’s best to capture the casual market in much the same way that Nintendo has, with the likes of the avatars (by Rare) and games like Lips.
The BIG announcement from the press conference, however, was that Final Fantasy XIII was going multiplatform, and would be released on both PS3 and 360. A big coup from Microsoft, stealing one of the crowning exclusives from Sony.
I was also a tad disappointed (for me naturally) that Portal: Still Alive was announced as exclusive to Xbox Live – but what can you do!
Nintendo
Ah Nintendo… a show which I’m sure that will be remembered for many years to come… for all the wrong reasons.
Prior to the show, Reggie promised that a game would be announced which would appeal to the core gamer, ready for the holiday season… Maybe you can tell me what game he was talking about, because I sure as hell didn’t see any.
We have Animal Crossing – which looks just the same as the Gamecube and DS versions (and since I have played both, and there doesn’t appear to be much new here, I’ll likely skip). We have Wii Music, which, lets be frank, looks a little lame, especially compared to the much more proficient Rock Band and Guitar Hero series. Only Wii Sports Resort looked promising, and that’s not due until next year!
What’s more, the presentation itself was frankly embarrassing. Like an overeager school teacher talking to a bunch of children. I was cringing through pretty much all of it.
So for this year, it looks like there is next to nothing coming from Nintendo (apart from the new Wario game, which looks like good old-school platforming fun).
At least a port of Dead Rising for the Wii was announced a day later, to raise my spirits.
Sony
Sony’s presentation was a much slicker affair than Nintendo’s and what they showed of Resistance 2, DC Universe and Infamous looked very promising. Unfortunately they didn’t have too many big surprises up their sleeves and as such, much of what was shown had either been heard about before, or seen previously.
MAG was probably the only surprise of the evening, but much like the God of War 3 footage (of which I have zero interest in), this was all prerendered, and as such, was not exactly indicative of the eventual game.
I had, kind of hoped that the oft rumoured Final Fantasy VII remake might have made it’s way into the presentation to counter the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII for the 360, but no luck. Maybe at the TGS!
Even so, Sony still impressed.
Oh, and I love the Penny Arcade strip, which perfectly summarises the three conferences…
Penny Arcade: E3 strip
I didn’t watch the Microsoft press conference and therefore cannot comment too much about it. It is clear, however, from what I have read that Microsoft is trying it’s best to capture the casual market in much the same way that Nintendo has, with the likes of the avatars (by Rare) and games like Lips.
The BIG announcement from the press conference, however, was that Final Fantasy XIII was going multiplatform, and would be released on both PS3 and 360. A big coup from Microsoft, stealing one of the crowning exclusives from Sony.
I was also a tad disappointed (for me naturally) that Portal: Still Alive was announced as exclusive to Xbox Live – but what can you do!
Nintendo
Ah Nintendo… a show which I’m sure that will be remembered for many years to come… for all the wrong reasons.
Prior to the show, Reggie promised that a game would be announced which would appeal to the core gamer, ready for the holiday season… Maybe you can tell me what game he was talking about, because I sure as hell didn’t see any.
We have Animal Crossing – which looks just the same as the Gamecube and DS versions (and since I have played both, and there doesn’t appear to be much new here, I’ll likely skip). We have Wii Music, which, lets be frank, looks a little lame, especially compared to the much more proficient Rock Band and Guitar Hero series. Only Wii Sports Resort looked promising, and that’s not due until next year!
What’s more, the presentation itself was frankly embarrassing. Like an overeager school teacher talking to a bunch of children. I was cringing through pretty much all of it.
So for this year, it looks like there is next to nothing coming from Nintendo (apart from the new Wario game, which looks like good old-school platforming fun).
At least a port of Dead Rising for the Wii was announced a day later, to raise my spirits.
Sony
Sony’s presentation was a much slicker affair than Nintendo’s and what they showed of Resistance 2, DC Universe and Infamous looked very promising. Unfortunately they didn’t have too many big surprises up their sleeves and as such, much of what was shown had either been heard about before, or seen previously.
MAG was probably the only surprise of the evening, but much like the God of War 3 footage (of which I have zero interest in), this was all prerendered, and as such, was not exactly indicative of the eventual game.
I had, kind of hoped that the oft rumoured Final Fantasy VII remake might have made it’s way into the presentation to counter the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII for the 360, but no luck. Maybe at the TGS!
Even so, Sony still impressed.
Oh, and I love the Penny Arcade strip, which perfectly summarises the three conferences…
Penny Arcade: E3 strip
Monday, July 14, 2008
Boob power!
I just spotted this on The Independent (via Digg)...
The title says it all... why has nobody thought of this before?
Bionic Bra to Harness the Energy of Bouncing Breasts
Has the world energy crisis been averted?
The title says it all... why has nobody thought of this before?
Bionic Bra to Harness the Energy of Bouncing Breasts
Has the world energy crisis been averted?
Friday, July 11, 2008
Rambo, clan and Siren
Film watched:
Rambo
Rambo
Silly, pointless, needlessly violent and banal. With some slight fun.
5.5/10
Had our second arranged clan game last night, and once again we lost. I opted to step out of the last game so that a sub from our clan also got a chance to play, however prior to this I was really little more than cannon fodder and pretty inept cannon fodder at that.
All the same, it was still good fun and even if we NEVER win a single game, it’s still a great experience.
A demo for Siren: Blood Curse was also put on the US PSN store last night and as such I downloaded this, as it is a game I’ve been intrigued by. A had a go last night and was impressed, it is a very atmospheric game, similar in some respects to Silent Hill, but maybe with a touch more action (or at least that is what the demo seemed to suggest).
My only issue with the game is that in the US and Europe it is being released as a PSN only game, split over 4 chapters. In Japan you have the choice of either downloading or buying on Blu-ray. The problem with this is that the game, in it’s entirety, is rather big, weighing in at around 7gb. I do have room on my HD, but with a lot of games these days requiring a HD install, I’m reluctant to use up 7gb for Siren. It’s a shame, I might of considered buying it had they released the physical version over here, but as of now I’ll skip it.
Of course the only other option is for me to buy a bigger hard drive for my PS3. It is something that I have considered in the past, but really I’m a little lazy and can’t be bothered with the hassle of figuring out how to install this and also transfer the contents from my existing hard drive…
Thursday, July 10, 2008
R.A.G.E.
I've recently joined a group of people from a PS3 forum that I frequent to form a gaming clan called R.A.G.E. (play MGS4 for the reference).
This is a MGO and COD4 clan, but primarily I've been playing MGO. Anyway, yesterday was our first scheduled official game against another clan as arranged via gamebattles.com... and we lost... BUT, I thought that we did surprisingly well for a first attempt and I'm looking forward to the next game.
Anyway... back to sniping practice for me :)
This is a MGO and COD4 clan, but primarily I've been playing MGO. Anyway, yesterday was our first scheduled official game against another clan as arranged via gamebattles.com... and we lost... BUT, I thought that we did surprisingly well for a first attempt and I'm looking forward to the next game.
Anyway... back to sniping practice for me :)
Monday, July 07, 2008
Sunshine and MGS4
Film watched:
Sunshine
Initially promising, but ultimately disappointing soulless, cheap scares, Sci-Fi.
5.5/10
Game played:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
I thought it was about time that I put down a few words about this game.
I’m not going to repeat what has been said countless time on numerous websites, instead I’ll bullet point my impressions of the game:
* It is every bit as epic as I had anticipated.
* The control of the game is far from east and requires some practice to get used to, but once you do get used to it, it is clear that there is a massive improvement compared to the previous games in the series.
* Each of the 5 chapters brings something new to the game. Chapter 1 is based in a city warzone, where it benefits you to fight with the rebels. Chapter 2 brings in jungle environments and tracking. Chapter 3 is mainly stalking. Chapter 4 is classic sneaking in a familiar environment, but against non-human adversaries. Chapter 5 (whilst short) is a mixture of sneaking and action.
* MGO is also great fun.
* The briefings are long and fairly uninteresting and the worst offenders as far as cuts scenes go. They could have been easily condensed.
* For anyone not familiar with the background of the Metal Gear saga (any even those of us not 100% familiar) it is easy to get quickly lost as the plots twists and turns.
* The Beauty and the Beast unit were each absolutely fantastic (and disturbingly sexy), with each boss fight being both memorable and thrilling. Quite possibly the highlights in the game for me.
* This is not a game for everyone. Anyone who has enjoyed previous games in the serious will likely love it, but others will likely loath it.
* The epilogue of the game is way, way, way too long and totally unnecessary.
* Overall I think that MGS3 is still my favourite in the series, although much of MGS4 was better, it was spoilt slightly by an overindulgent, sappy and boring epilogue.
* It is still the best game so far for the PS3…
Sunshine
Initially promising, but ultimately disappointing soulless, cheap scares, Sci-Fi.
5.5/10
Game played:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
I thought it was about time that I put down a few words about this game.
I’m not going to repeat what has been said countless time on numerous websites, instead I’ll bullet point my impressions of the game:
* It is every bit as epic as I had anticipated.
* The control of the game is far from east and requires some practice to get used to, but once you do get used to it, it is clear that there is a massive improvement compared to the previous games in the series.
* Each of the 5 chapters brings something new to the game. Chapter 1 is based in a city warzone, where it benefits you to fight with the rebels. Chapter 2 brings in jungle environments and tracking. Chapter 3 is mainly stalking. Chapter 4 is classic sneaking in a familiar environment, but against non-human adversaries. Chapter 5 (whilst short) is a mixture of sneaking and action.
* MGO is also great fun.
* The briefings are long and fairly uninteresting and the worst offenders as far as cuts scenes go. They could have been easily condensed.
* For anyone not familiar with the background of the Metal Gear saga (any even those of us not 100% familiar) it is easy to get quickly lost as the plots twists and turns.
* The Beauty and the Beast unit were each absolutely fantastic (and disturbingly sexy), with each boss fight being both memorable and thrilling. Quite possibly the highlights in the game for me.
* This is not a game for everyone. Anyone who has enjoyed previous games in the serious will likely love it, but others will likely loath it.
* The epilogue of the game is way, way, way too long and totally unnecessary.
* Overall I think that MGS3 is still my favourite in the series, although much of MGS4 was better, it was spoilt slightly by an overindulgent, sappy and boring epilogue.
* It is still the best game so far for the PS3…
Also, as a side note... Have just booked my IMAX tickets to see The Dark Knight when I'm over in London in a couple of weeks time :)
Friday, July 04, 2008
PS3 2.40 and FFTA2
Firmware 2.40 was released yesterday for the PS3 and I managed to download this and install it successfully (the same cannot be said for a number of people). I am aware that some people have had some difficulties installing this and as a consequence this has since been taken down for “further testing”. For me, however, it work flawlessly (i.e. in game XMB, trophy support etc).
I also have a slight confession to make. I’ve always said that I didn’t think very highly of Xbox achievements (and in turn did not hold high hopes for PS trophies), however, after downloading 2.40 I also downloaded Super Stardust HD (which I’d been tempted to get in the past, as I enjoyed the demo) to give trophies a quick test run. Super Stardust HD is fantastic game BTW, I’d even go as far to say that it’s probably my favourite PSN game to date, a great old school shooter. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I now hold around 6 bronze trophies and 2 silver trophies and have found myself actively trying my best to obtain the remaining trophies… so consider me a slight convert on the whole trophies / achievements issue, although I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I would compete against others to beat there score, I can now see how it adds additional motivation and replayability to a game.
On a side note, I also got through my copy of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 through the post yesterday for the DS. I’ve had a chance to play through this a little bit and so far it has been absolutely fantastic, even better than the original. I’m in SRPG handheld heaven (which is a good place to be). All I need now is Disgaea DS (which is coming later this year) and I may never need another game for my DS ever again…
I also have a slight confession to make. I’ve always said that I didn’t think very highly of Xbox achievements (and in turn did not hold high hopes for PS trophies), however, after downloading 2.40 I also downloaded Super Stardust HD (which I’d been tempted to get in the past, as I enjoyed the demo) to give trophies a quick test run. Super Stardust HD is fantastic game BTW, I’d even go as far to say that it’s probably my favourite PSN game to date, a great old school shooter. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I now hold around 6 bronze trophies and 2 silver trophies and have found myself actively trying my best to obtain the remaining trophies… so consider me a slight convert on the whole trophies / achievements issue, although I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I would compete against others to beat there score, I can now see how it adds additional motivation and replayability to a game.
On a side note, I also got through my copy of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 through the post yesterday for the DS. I’ve had a chance to play through this a little bit and so far it has been absolutely fantastic, even better than the original. I’m in SRPG handheld heaven (which is a good place to be). All I need now is Disgaea DS (which is coming later this year) and I may never need another game for my DS ever again…
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Simpsons and Rocky
Films watched:
The Simpson Movie
Absolutely great. Better than I had expected. Real class comedy.
8/10
Rocky Balboa
Quite possibly the best since the original. Nostalgic, but good.
7.5/10
Have also finished a fair few games over the last couple of weeks, namely Apollo Justice, MGS4 and also No More Heroes. If I have time, I may blog about these a little more.
Also just read that The Godfather trilogy is going to be released, restored, on Blu-ray. Hell yes. A must buy for me, two of the greatest films ever (it’s just a shame that part 3 couldn’t live up to the originals)
Rocky Balboa
Quite possibly the best since the original. Nostalgic, but good.
7.5/10
Have also finished a fair few games over the last couple of weeks, namely Apollo Justice, MGS4 and also No More Heroes. If I have time, I may blog about these a little more.
Also just read that The Godfather trilogy is going to be released, restored, on Blu-ray. Hell yes. A must buy for me, two of the greatest films ever (it’s just a shame that part 3 couldn’t live up to the originals)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Dr Who?
Just a quick note to say...
Wow... Dr Who "Stolen Earth". What a way to end an episode... Nobody it seems expected that in the least! The question remains, how the hell did the BBC keep this a secret?
But then again he can't be.... can he? Can he!
Wow... Dr Who "Stolen Earth". What a way to end an episode... Nobody it seems expected that in the least! The question remains, how the hell did the BBC keep this a secret?
But then again he can't be.... can he? Can he!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Copying much?
Okay, we all know that the Wii is popular, but does that mean that this is an open invite for Sony any Microsoft to copy the Wii features...?
Lets see... Nintendo Mii's become... Xbox Avatars:
News channel and Weather channel become.... Life with Playstation:
Show a bit of originality guys!
Normal service…
Just a quick note to say that I’m still around… Normal service should resume again shortly.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Unhappy bunny
Just a short post...
Not been too happy as of late. First there was my incident on Sunday and since then I have been quietly panicking that the same thing will happen again. In addition to this there are also another 2 issues which have been bothering me, neither of which I can discuss on my blog. One is financial and the other health related...
Altogether I've been one unhappy bunny...
Monday, June 09, 2008
Not a heart attack (War of the Roses)
Well, yesterday evening was interesting…
Just prior to sitting down to Sunday tea at my parents I started to get a little indigestion. I seem to have had indigestion a lot recently on and off, especially near the start of this year and as such, I though little of it. I eat my tea and slowly the indigestion got worse and worse and started to get rather painful.
I asked my Dad if he had any paracetemol to take for the pain, which I did. Then things really got interesting… The pain got so bad that I could not stand without leaning on something, also, breathing started to become somewhat difficult.
At this stage my parents telephoned for an ambulance. They lead me to a chair and sat me down. By this stage the pain was almost unbearable, certainly worse than anything I have ever felt before. I had turn completely white, was sweating absolutely buckets and was literally rasping for breath and very, very close to passing out.
It felt just like I was having a heart attack.
Then suddenly (and certainly before the ambulance arrived) the pain just vanished. I still felt somewhat groggy and very, very drained, but otherwise not too bad.
The ambulance arrived, took my blood pressure, ECG and did other tests. They seemed somewhat puzzled by my condition (as my blood pressure and other readings were just fine and dandy), but took me up to the hospital anyway.
It was whilst I was lying in the back of the ambulance that I was suddenly reminded of the film The War of the Roses. Near the beginning of this film Michael Douglas’s character is in a restaurant and starts to get (what he believes to be) a heart attack. He is wheeled off to hospital in the full belief that he is about to die only to find out that it was nothing more than severe indigestion, which, if extremely severe can feel just like a heart attack.
It occurred to me that this is likely what had happened to me (bearing in mind that I wasn’t dead and that the pain had gone so suddenly), however the nurses in the ambulance seemed rather perplexed.
After being checked out at the hospital and speaking to the doctor, I was informed that this was very much what had happened to me. In effect the acid from my stomach travelled up my food pipe, which is what happens when you get indigestion. However, this in turn made my food pipe spasm, causing the pain and heart attack like symptoms. As I was now perfectly fine, they discharged me and sent me home.
So, all in all, an eventful evening… Which also goes to prove that you can learn something useful sometimes from watching films...
Just prior to sitting down to Sunday tea at my parents I started to get a little indigestion. I seem to have had indigestion a lot recently on and off, especially near the start of this year and as such, I though little of it. I eat my tea and slowly the indigestion got worse and worse and started to get rather painful.
I asked my Dad if he had any paracetemol to take for the pain, which I did. Then things really got interesting… The pain got so bad that I could not stand without leaning on something, also, breathing started to become somewhat difficult.
At this stage my parents telephoned for an ambulance. They lead me to a chair and sat me down. By this stage the pain was almost unbearable, certainly worse than anything I have ever felt before. I had turn completely white, was sweating absolutely buckets and was literally rasping for breath and very, very close to passing out.
It felt just like I was having a heart attack.
Then suddenly (and certainly before the ambulance arrived) the pain just vanished. I still felt somewhat groggy and very, very drained, but otherwise not too bad.
The ambulance arrived, took my blood pressure, ECG and did other tests. They seemed somewhat puzzled by my condition (as my blood pressure and other readings were just fine and dandy), but took me up to the hospital anyway.
It was whilst I was lying in the back of the ambulance that I was suddenly reminded of the film The War of the Roses. Near the beginning of this film Michael Douglas’s character is in a restaurant and starts to get (what he believes to be) a heart attack. He is wheeled off to hospital in the full belief that he is about to die only to find out that it was nothing more than severe indigestion, which, if extremely severe can feel just like a heart attack.
It occurred to me that this is likely what had happened to me (bearing in mind that I wasn’t dead and that the pain had gone so suddenly), however the nurses in the ambulance seemed rather perplexed.
After being checked out at the hospital and speaking to the doctor, I was informed that this was very much what had happened to me. In effect the acid from my stomach travelled up my food pipe, which is what happens when you get indigestion. However, this in turn made my food pipe spasm, causing the pain and heart attack like symptoms. As I was now perfectly fine, they discharged me and sent me home.
So, all in all, an eventful evening… Which also goes to prove that you can learn something useful sometimes from watching films...
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Power star!
I just thought I would post this picture on my blog.
Whilst in Southampton I managed to find this in a Forbidden Planet shop... A Mario Power Star!
It even has a switch on the back which lights it up and plays the distinctive invunribility music :)
As modelled by Elliot..
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