Song of the Week – Batman at the Disco

Batman Arkham City Screenshot 6

It’s a little known fact that Batman’s full title is ‘Batman : Gotham city detective, owner of invisible nipples (see picture above), purveyor of good music’. Strangely, that’s not listed on any of his Wiki pages so I wouldn’t bother looking that up…

Despite that not being the *real* pseudonym of DC’s most popular caped crusader, his superb taste in music does ring true. Case in point – the official Batman Arkham City Soundtrack, a selection of delicious alt-rock delights, which come together to form a fantastic listing of tracks that embody the dark, ill-lit streets of Arkham City, as well as the mind-twisting menaces that in habit them.

Taken from the soundtrack as this week’s Song of the Week is the song ‘Mercenary’ by the American alt/pop-rock duo, Panic! At The Disco. But don’t let that seemingly misplaced exclamation mark fool you, this band may be slighter softer and more radio friendly than past SOTW inductees, Metallica, but their strong guitar hooks and grown-up lyrics make them more likely to be found doing shots in a Vegas casino than on your teenage sister’s iPod.

Click ‘Continue Reading’ to hear the song.

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Uncharted’s Nathan Drake or Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft?

That’s the question for this month, JSX wants to know which of the two ridiculous good-looking adventuring protagonists is your favourite and at the end of the month the winner will get a special post featuring their finest moments.

Sound good? To vote look to your right for the poll in the sidebar and tell us who’s your favourite.
And of course you’ll want to subscribe via email to find out which beloved gaming hero is the victor when the winner’s post goes live in a few weeks!

The Ezio Auditore Guide to Being the Perfect Valentine’s Day Date

Ezio Tache Pic

According to Matthew Inman of ‘The Oatmeal’ fame, the only thing worse than Valentine’s Day itself is trying to avoid it altogether which is why I, Jasmine (woman of no fame whatsoever) am going to embrace it wholeheartedly with this list of tips that you can use to attract, be and create the perfect Valentine’s Day date.

And who better to take advice from than the smooth Mediterranean lothario, Mr Ezio Auditore da Firenze, known for his love of the ladies, and, on an incredibly unrelated note (thankfully!) his ability to murder groups of Templars before he’s even had his morning coffee.

With Ezio in mind, these *relatively* spoiler-free tips should provide some useful advice to perfecting the annual Valentine’s Day festivities, do feel free to add your own in the comments!

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Monday Musings #2 : Win Resistance 3 Goodies, Sony Worries and Microsoft Failures

People seemed to enjoy my last Monday Musings link round-up so I’ve gone to the liberty of compiling another one.

This week, the links include a chance to win a bounty of Resistance 3 prizes, an argument against the new trend of ‘online passes’ and a look at MotorStorm RC, the PS Vita version of the franchise.

I hope you enjoy what I’ve included and feel free to let us know your thoughts on this new feature in the comments!

What did you think of this week’s Monday Musings? – Love it or hate it, I want to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Own The Planet, See Antarctica in This New SSX Trailer

SSX Screenshot 1

I’ll be honest with you, the idea of snowboarders taking over the world absolutely baffles me ; do those woollen mittens and parkers come with built in uzis or will they simply deafen the world with Swedish house music before robbing all of our coin purses?

Like I said : baffling.

The one place where they do have the clear advantage is the slopes, the giant pale behemoths that put those Twilight vamps to shame (the mountains don’t have glitter, mind you…) In SSX, one of the places that they will attempt to ‘own’ is Antarctica, and this trailer of gameplay footage for the game has grabs, grinds and aerial dreams galore.

Click ‘Continue Reading’ to see the trailer.

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Take the First Look at Ghost Recon Future Soldier’s Single Player Mode

Ghost Recon Future Soldier Screenshot

In the 1900s when they said that the future would be all hovercars, floating buildings and weather-control machines (even more bizarre predictions here) they were wrong. Of course they were, our society’s inventors can’t even make un-rippable socks!

Instead, the future that we may be faced with actually bears a lot closer to the current futuristic trend in video games with invisibility cloaks, backpack missile launchers and nifty AR eye-patches being the norm. One game that embodies that perfectly is Ghost Recon Future Soldier which is based on some very real, very thought out predictions by top military types and today Ubisoft released the first look at the game’s single player mode.

Click ‘Continue Reading’ to see the footage.

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‘Self-Respecting’ Gamers, To Clarify

You know how it goes – post your opinion on the Internet, get a few people supporting your views, get even more people opposing them, that’s just how it is.

However, yesterday, when I posted 5 Games That Every Self-Respecting Gamer Should Avoid’, I got so roasted over my views that I felt I needed to address some of the complaints you made (*most* of which were just)

  • Define : Self-Respect – self-respect is how you feel about yourself. Do you value your opinions, thoughts and choices as highly as you would say, the President or the Prime Minister’s? That’s self-respect and it is not defined by what other people think about you and comes from within, therefore if you like those games and respect yourself, kudos to you, I shan’t challenge your opinion.
  • Who am I to Judge? – Like I said, if you like any of the games listed, fair enough. I understand that you may be incredibly fond of some of the games that I regret purchasing and without sounding like a clergy reject, that’s the beauty of human nature, we all have different opinions and that’s cool, I accept that, which takes me to my next point…
  • MY Opinion – That post was an opinion piece, I was judging myself. By which I mean ,that if I knew then what I do now about those 5 games and I was still willing to hand over money to buy or rent them, I would seriously take a look at my mental health as. after playing them, I am now fully aware that I would not enjoy them as much as I would other games and therefore I am wasting my time and money on them, hence the reason they are on the list.

Now that I’ve cleared all that up, can we go back to talking about games please? After all, that’s what we’re all here to do.

5 Games Every Self-Respecting Gamer Should Avoid

Kane & Lynch 2 Screenshot

Video games. They’re perfect pixelated products that only the best imagineers could have invented. Words, thoughts, images and dreams of an interactive game-playing future, all collated into a cluster of levels and missions, digitally processed onto a shiny plastic disc that is barely thicker than your fingernail.

They never fail to entertain, enthral and conjure up feelings that we didn’t even know we could feel.

Except, that is, for those times when they fall flat on their binary coded rumps. For each of those hidden gems and mega-rated blockbusters, there’s a small gaggle of games that has to sour the bunch and you must keep your wits about you if you want to be able to dodge the foul-tasting punches that these games are pulling, which is why I’ve put together a list of a few games that you (assuming that you are smart and have excellent taste) will want to avoid.

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New NeverDead Screenshots Show You Playing Head Basketball, Slaying Demons

NeverDead Jan Screenshot 4

Brain basketball – the hardcore sport for gamers, cannibals and recently escaped patients from your local mental asylum.

While not an official sport (yet), if it wasn’t supported by heinous, stabby crimes, NeverDead would be its governing body and the court upon which you’d play it would be your console of choice (provided that be PS3 or Xbox 360).

In the last Hidden Gems of the Gaming World column, I spoken about how NeverDead allows you to be completely dismembered yet still letting the fight rage on, namely by allowing you to bounce your own head through hoops should it ever be ripped from your torso. This gory (and rather humorous) way of getting through the game game is evident in the latest batch of screenshots for the game.

Click ‘Continue Reading’ to see the new NeverDead screenshots.

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New FIFA Street Trailer Challenges You to “Free Your Game”

FIFA Street Screenshot 4

EA : makers of good games, supporter of football rights. No, their wish to ‘free your game’ in their upcoming titles FIFA Street will not win them any points with PETA but it will definitely win us gamers over.

The new trailer explores the various different styles of play that each location in the game is home to. Handy if you’re a) interested in seeing what gameplay FIFA Street has to offer and b) if you’ve ever struggled to fit a ball in your suitcase next your flip-flops and vile floral print dress shirts.

Click ‘Continue Reading’ to watch the trailer

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