The Tech Stuff

Security company uncovers huge cyber espionage operation

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:09:15 -0500

Experts from software security company Trend Micro revealed today that they have uncovered an enormous cyber espionage operation that is active around the world. So far the operation has attacked and compromised computers operated within government agencies, while media outlets and tech companies have also been hit.

Trend Micro has dubbed the operation SafeNet and said that it has affected possibly hundreds of thousands of stations in over one hundred countries. The company has now published a paper that shows its findings but the main reason for the attacks and the operation is to steal information. While not directly accusing anyone, Trend Micro says the attacks are consistent with other from the Chinese cybercriminal underground.

"While determining the intent and identity of the attackers often remains difficult to ascertain, we determined that the SafeNet campaign is targeted and uses malware developed by a professional software engineer that may be connected to the cybercriminal underground in China," the Trend Micro researchers said in their paper. "This individual studied at a prominent technical university in the same country and appears to have access to an Internet services company's source code repository."

Giving Yourself an Edge in Poker Night 2

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:01:13 -0500

Poker is a game that works the best if you know how to bend the rules. Some of the things you do may not be cheating really, but you are looking for a weakness not only in the game but in the people you are playing against too. You have to understand the person and know their weaknesses, if you can crack their poker face then you can tell just how good a hand they have.

In Poker Night 2 the people, robot and animal you are playing against are fairly easy to read and you get to know just how their game is going, Sam for example is a fairly laid back character but he knows when to fold and save himself some money. Claptrap is a fairly big mouthed character who spends more time flirting with GLaDOS rather than playing the game, but when push comes to shove is quite a keen player. Ash and Brock tend to go all in and to hell with the consequences.

Giving Yourself an Edge in Poker

The art of the game of Poker is to know when to fold, when to gamble and when your hand is going to give you the pot, but when push comes to shove why not cheat a little to get what you want? When playing the game Poker Night 2 saves your tournament after ever hand, this works in your favour. If you have a really bad set of cards then instead of folding pause the game and exit right out. Then start the game up again and you’ll find yourself getting a new set of cards. This makes it quite easy to win every hand you play. It should be noted though that if you try this during your first hand then you’ll be seen as re-entering the tournament meaning that $20,000 will be taken off your balance, so try not to do that.

Are you having problems with finding out the character “tells”? Well there is a simple solution to this, get them drunk. In the game it's possible to buy drinks for your opponents, and this is not only out of kindess but to also loosen them up abit. You’ll be asked which one to give the drink to, so choose wisely based on who you are having a hard time "reading". As they become more relaxed and start to show their “tell”, this is when to pounceand use your knowledge against them. Be aware though that buying drinks will cost you 5 inventory tokens so spend them wisely.

All of these tips should work on both the console versions of the game and PC, and by using these tips you’ll find that you probably complete the game in no time, but the fact is Poker Night 2 is a game that has a high re-playability factor and will keep you coming back. Yes, you’ll hear conversations repeated quite a few times but if you just want to be able to relax and play some cards, and annoy the other characters by taking all their money, Poker Night 2 is a lot of fun.

Google’s Nexus Galaxy S4?

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:13:29 -0500

One of the surprise announcements from Google at the I/O event on Wednesday was the Galaxy S4 running a stock version of Android 4.2. The handset will be a Google Play exclusive and will cost $649, but how does it differ from the regular Samsung Galaxy S4?

Well in terms of design and specs both devices are identical. The Google Galaxy S4 packs the same Snapdragon 600 chipset, 13MP camera, 16GB of internal storage, 1080p display and LTE support that are on the regular version of Samsung’s flagship.

Of course, the major difference is the Android platform. This version will run a stock Android Jelly bean 4.2.2 firmware, a stark difference from the normal S4 that comes with a load of Samsung bloatware and design kinks thrown in.

Google has not confirmed whether the handset will be dubbed a Nexus device, but at the moment it seems likely that it will become a part of the Nexus range. The Google Samsung Galaxy S4 will go on sale from June 26^th.

iTunes 11.0.3 adds mini player album art, clean views, and multiple album views

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:07:33 -0500

Fresh from celebrating its 10^th anniversary, iTunes has received its latest update courtesy of Apple. The update to iTunes version 11.0.3 is not an ordinary patch either as it brings with it a bunch of new features for the media player/library.

iTunes was given a major facelift for its 11^th version and the update to 11.0.3 continues to refine and enhance that complete overhaul. Apple has improved the view for the songs tab when looking through a library, making it a cleaner experience, while it is now possible to view multi-disc albums as a single album piece.

iTunes mini player has always been lacking, at least in terms of aesthetics, so it is pleasing to see that Apple has updated the mini player to finally include album art. On top of the big differences, Apple has also done the standard bug fixing and performance enhancing tweaks we expect from any update.

Poker Night 2 - Telltale Games Invite you to a Night of Poker with Some Fairly Odd Characters

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:04:19 -0500

Poker is a game of chance, where the cards you are dealt determine the success of your game. On top of that though is the human aspect of the game, even if you are dealt a bad hand you can lie your way through to victory all by being able to bluff your opponents and forcing them to fold. It takes a cool hand to be able to do that though, and true masters of the game can tell when a person has a good set of cards, or trying their best to lie through it. This is part of the fun of Poker Night 2, along with the chosen characters for the game.

What Telltale Games have done with Poker Night 2 is to take popular characters and “invite” them all to a friendly game, although with the amount of guns and rocket launchers added to proceedings sometimes the atmosphere can be quite tense. With Mad Moxxi from Borderlands 2 at the bar though the drinks are flowing and high stakes are on offer, if you are good enough to play.

Poker Faces

At the start of the game you are introduced into the Inventory by Captain Reginald Van Wislow from Tales of Monkey Island and led to the table. The other characters are slowly introduced as Brock Samson from The Venture Bros., Ash Williams from The Evil Dead, Sam and Max and Borderlands 2’s Claptrap. As mentioned Mad Moxxi tends to the bar and GLaDOS from Portal acts as the dealer and overall abusive commentator.

As you play you’ll find that GLaDOS is not the only one to give cynical comments as you play, as the other characters chat together too. Fans of all the characters will enjoy listening to Claptrap getting asked about Pandora, Sam getting asked various questions about himself and his partner and Ash having a conversation about his Evil Dead problem. It’s all full of in jokes and actually gives not only the characters some depth but also fleshes out the game to much more than just a poker game.

Gameplay

The game of Poker in Poker Nights 2 comes in two forms, Texas Hold-em and Omaha Hold-em. Omaha is a more enjoyable variety of poker and there is little to worry about if you don’t know how to play as the rules are explained to you. You’ll soon be learning how to bluff the characters and will learn their “tells”. If you’ve not played Poker before, a “tell” is the players reaction to the cards they have been dealt. There are plenty given to each character, and part of the fun is to work them out.

To add some longevity to the game you are given various challenges to do, these range from showdowns with characters, losing a game, or winning. There are quite a few of these available and on winning these you’ll be given points that can be used to unlock not only Poker Night 2 unlockables but also items for other games like Borderlands 2 and Team Fortress 2.

Graphics and Sound

In terms of graphics each character has been created with a focus of recreating their look from where they originate. This means that where Sam and Max tend to look more basic, Ash looks more beaten up and abused after his battles with the Deadites, Claptrap is as you would expect from Borderlands (pretty much identical in detail) and Brock Samson is cartoonish. The Inventry itself fits the latenight bar look where everything is quiet and relaxed, though this can be changed through unlockables to furnish it based on the players choice. A highlight of this is Mad Moxxi’s bar from Borderlands 2, where Steve (heyoo!) pops up from time to time to cause some chaos.

Verdict

Poker Night 2 is a game that is created to take your time with and relax, so if you don’t have the patience it may not be for you. If you want to just sit down and relax though and listen to conversations between some of your favourite characters then this may be for you. Telltale Games have created a game which is a good Poker simulator in its own right, but it’s the setting for the game and the characters that make it special and for 800 Microsoft Points? It’s great value for money.

Tim Cook discusses Apple’s U.S. production strategy

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:44:33 -0500

Apple CEO Tim Cook has given us all an idea of what the company’s new production plans will be during an interview with political website, Politico. Apple confirmed several months back that it would be moving some production back to the United States, and Cook dished out some details in the interview.

Apple has relied on Asian and manufacturers based in China and Brazil in recent years but the company has said that it will start building its Mac computers in the United States. The good news for Apple fans is that Cook confirmed that the production would be for a new Mac.

Although, it is worth mentioning that the U.S. produced Mac will not be an entirely new product, instead it will be a new version from an already existing family. Cook also said that many of the parts will also be sourced from within the United States and not from overseas markets.

Google puts entire I/O keynote on YouTube

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:42:28 -0500

Google really had a lot to discuss yesterday during the keynote of the company’s I/O developers conference. The talk went on for nearly four hours and highlighted plenty or interesting new features and products within the Google ecosystem.

Luckily it was a well thought out and interesting keynote and just in case you missed it, Google has placed the entire event on YouTube. If you are a tech fanatic who simply must know all the details, it is really worth a watch, likewise if you have some time to kill then this is something interesting for Google fans.

The video is just shy of four hours long and covers all the key moments from yesterday, such as Hangouts, Photo editing for Google+, the Google Maps update, Google Play changes, and a whole lot more. Check out the keynote from Google I/O below.

Kawai CA65 a great digital piano with a good price tag

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:55:45 -0500

When buying digital pianos, many people look for two things: feel and sound. A digital piano is good when its sound and touch resemble those of an acoustic piano, the closer the feel and sound to an acoustic piano, the more convincing the player becomes that they are actually playing an acoustic piano.

There are simply tons of digital pianos from several brands out there trying to achieve this resemblance to an acoustic piano, but not all of them have the technology and means to do so. However, this is where Kawai digital pianos stand out from the crowd and especially the Kawai CA65.

Build

The Kawai CA65 is a gorgeous piece of piano tech, it has a beautiful compact cabinet with two front speakers just above the keys that match in color the finish of the cabinet. The CA65 is available in four finishes: Premium Satin Black, Premium Rosewood, Premium Cherry, Premium Mahogany.

From all those finishes, I find that the Satin Black in digital Kawais look quite cheap, unlike the Roland HP500 series in black which look way more stunning. However, this is just a personal taste/opinion and many people will certainly differ on this.

One big let down in its design for me is the menu being on the left hand side of the keyboard rather than above the keys. The reason for this is that I find it very awkward leaning my body far to the left every time I want to change the settings, especially during practice when I record-stop-play constantly. It can be quite tiring.

Also, having the menu on the left hand side has another huge disadvange which is the lack of dedicated buttons. Due to space issues many features, which have dedicated buttons in other models with the menu above the keys, are not found on the Kawai CA65, so you can expect to navigate the menu quite a lot.

However, I do understand why Kawai designed the menu in this way. In its marketing, they did mention that the menu is on the left of the keyboard in order to give the CA65 a more acoustic piano look and this is understandable as acoustic pianos have no menu, but acoustic pianos do not have 2 visible speakers neither. So what's the point?

Features

The Kawai CA65 has 60 internal sounds to choose from, including several piano, string and brass sounds. Although, cheaper models like the Kawai CN34 which has 324 sounds may seem better at first, trust me, the 60 voices from the Kawai CA65 are so far superior in quality and authenticity that it is far better to have a few high quality sounds than hundreds of unrealistic ones.

This digital piano is also feature rich in effects and settings: from several types of reverbs which are really nice to effects like chorus, classical chorus and an amp simulator. Another set of features which is also very nice on the Kawai CA65 is its virtual technician.

The virtual technician is a set of settings found in many Kawai models (not just the CA65) which allows you to change many aspects of the sound. Ok, I know this is not new and digital Yamahas and Rolands all have that, however, the Kawai has far more settings in its virtual technician to customize the sound than the Roland HP500 series. In fact, just far more expensive digital Yamahas can beat the Kawai CA65 in terms of sound customization.

In terms of conectivity, the Kawai CA65 has all the plugs a serious piano player needs: LINE IN (L/MONO, R), LINE IN Level Adjust, LINE OUT (L/MONO, R), Headphones x 2, MIDI (IN/OUT), USB to Host, USB to Device, and the ability to record to USB flash drives your music in either MIDI, MP3 or WAV. These are all good but nothing new, they are the basic things that a modern digital piano needs to have and most digitals do come with those anyway.

However, one feature that does stand out from the crowd on the Kawai CA65 is the pedals. All the pedals on the Kawai CA65 are weighted, meaning that they have the same weight of real acoustic piano pedals. Nothing innovative here, many other brands like Yamaha and Roland have weighted pedals too. What it makes the pedals on the CA65 stand out is the fallback noise.

When playing an acoustic piano, due to being a mechanical machine with lots of moving parts, the pedals make some noise each time you release them. I remember when having piano lessons, my teacher always said: Don't release the pedal all the way up, just half way to minimize the noise.

Ok, you may think, if you are trying to minimize this noise in acoustic pianos, why have this simulated in digitals? Because this will make the crossover from digital to acoustic a lot easier. Many digital players who play digital pianos very often or even just digital pianos, do find very difficult to cope with acoustics afterwards, due to their mechanical parts. Mimicking every characterisc that affects the sound of an acoustic piano, even the bad ones, is essential in digital pianos and the Kawai CA65 is very good at it.

Sound & Feel

This is the most important section of this review and I have to be honest here. The Kawai CA65 has one of the best sounds and feel I have ever experienced in a digital piano. The wooden keys boosting 3 sensors and Ivory surface are very nice, and, the whole feel of pressing those keys are very similar (if not identical) to an acoustic piano.

The piano sounds are so realisc and expressive on the Kawai CA65. In fact, the main piano sounds have Kawai's newest sampling system: the Extra Long standard of Harmonic Imaging technology that they say it extends the important attack portion of the piano sound by up to 120%. This is so much more expressive than previous models, even more expressive than the Roland HP500 series and many Yahamas, in my honest opinion. I believe it would fool many people including pianists into thinking this is a real acoustic piano.

The CA65 speakers are very powerful (2x 50W) and crystal clear when resonating those string sounds from higher notes to lower ones. The sound and feel are so believable that I would say you could replace an acoustic upright piano with Kawai's CA65 without major losses in terms of piano authenticity. (Bear in mind, I wouldn't say the same about grand pianos. Grand pianos are irreplaceable, obviously).

Verdict

The Kawai CA65 is a solid, beautiful and realistic digital piano, priced at around US$3,000/£1,800, this is a very good price for the amount of features and quality you get with this beauty.

If money is not an issue, for some more, you can buy the Kawai CA95 which features a real soundboard at its back, making the sound even more realistic, beautiful and much more powerful.

To sum this up, I totally recommend the Kawai CA65. It's very good value for money feature-wise, and its piano sound and key feel are quite comparable to Yahama's CVP flagship range.

Getting an Unlimited Water Supply in SimCity

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:41:26 -0500

SimCity is a game all about controlling resources and making your city the best in the region. To do this you have to keep your people happy and keep them under control, and this includes finding a fine balance between policing them, keeping them happy and keeping them alive. This means that the city has to be strong and have one of the main things that all living creatures need, and that is water.

Water is one of the most basic needs that the Sims will have in your city and it’s probably for this very reason that it’s one resource that is not in constant supply, unless you know the secret of course. The fact is there is a way to get all the water you want, but in reality it’s not that nice a thought when you see just how to do this. The important thing is though you want your city to be the best it can be, and to do this sometimes you have to be willing to get your hands dirty.

Getting Infinite Water into Your City

This workaround is actually a bug in the game if you think about it, so one day it could be fixed. The secret to securing your water supply actually lies in sewage. The fact is that your sewage treatment plants not only clean the sewage your city creates but it dumps the water back into your water table. What this means to you? Well there is the secret, to obtain an unlimited water supply simply put a water pumping station next to your sewage plant.

There is a safeguard you will have to put in place though and this is to make sure that your pumping stations have water filtration pump modules. If this is not the case you may find that the population of your city may start getting sick as the standard water pumps won’t do. As long as your filtration system is up to full strength and you don’t think too much about the water that is being pumped back into the system, you’ll have an unlimited supply of water without much worry at all.

It’s worth noting that you’ll have to experiment with the perfect placing of your sewage and pumping stations but the best place to place them is in a central location in your city. The most important thing to make sure though is that the two buildings are side to side as the water dumping has a small radius, and it’s important that your water pumping station can collect the much needed water.

Google tells Microsoft to remove YouTube app from Windows 8

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:23:09 -0500

With the Google I/O development conference well under way and throwing up interesting news, it is surprising to see Google making the news away from the event. However, the Mountain View company is doing just that as it has been reported by tech website The Verge that Google has asked Microsoft to remove YouTube from the Windows Store.

Only recently did YouTube appear for Windows 8 as a fully-fledged Windows app. However, Google is looking to make its life span a short one after documents revealed the company asked Microsoft to remove YouTube from the Windows Phone Store and disable installations on devices. Google has given Microsoft until May 22^nd to remove the app.

It seems that the Windows app of YouTube did not actually get the final go ahead by Google before going live. In its current form the app blocks ads, which of course is an important part of YouTube’s and indeed Google’s revenue stream. Another problem is that the app allows users to download and stream restricted content which both violate YouTube’s terms of services.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Blade Wolf - The Wolf Gets it's Turn to Play

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:08:15 -0500

When I took a look at the Jetstream Sam DLC for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance it was noted that the next content to be made available may actually be the most interesting of them all. Now that it’s released we have the chance to see just how Blade Wolf, or as he is known in this game LQ-84i does in his own prequel to Revengeance.

As you’ll know if you are looking to purchase this DLC, LQ-84i is in fact a talking robotic dog, so this is going to be somewhat of a change from playing as Raiden or Jetstream Sam. With a focus more on stealth rather than all out action, this could be quite a change in the gameplay for Revengeance playing, so is this what they are looking for? The fact that LQ-84i has a chainsaw attached to its tail must be some incentive to give it a try though.

The Blade Wolf

LQ-84i isn’t actually a wolf inside the robot shell, he’s an artificial intelligence put into the robot form. The change in body shape and manoeuvrability means that he has is he is different to control than the other two characters previous played and he’s more fragile. This means that his playing style is more stealth. This means that LQ-84i has to stalk his opponent before moving in for the sneak attack.

In Blade Wolf LQ-48i is still working for the Winds of Destruction mercenary group who are working with the aim of bringing down the government of Abkhazia. The big drawback though is that there is not much content to the DLC, you’ll find that you’ll complete it in about an hour. There are some new VR missions added, for the fans of those but enjoy it while it lasts.

Gameplay

The main change to the gameplay is having to get used to being on four feet instead of two. The fact that LQ-84i is quite fragile is quite a problem too, and for people who aren’t really a fan of stealth gameplay they may want to give this one a miss or pay the price when trying to just run straight into battle. It takes some time to get used to controlling the Blade Wolf, but with practice it does become easier.

LQ-84i like his two legged counterparts has his own range of light and heavy attacks as well as its own Zandatsu. For the Blade Wolf this includes the ability to cut his enemy into two then feed on their insides to recharge on. As expected for defence there is the ability to dodge and parry, and also throw heat daggers, so even if weaker LQ-84i does have quite an arsenal to fight with he’s just not as tough as Raiden or Sam.

The Familiar Graphics

As with Jetstream Sam the textures and backgrounds have all been reused from the main game and made to fit the DLC storyline. Everything tends to feel quite samey if you compare and constrast the two, but it would be better to just enjoy the experience while it lasts. The graphics fit their purpose and to be fair it’s not unexpected to find that this would be the case as we already know that Jetstream Sam used the same method.

Verdict

There is something quite novel about the ability to play as a robotic wolf in the DLC, but with gameplay that lasts just over an hour it’s debatable whether this should have really been something you should pay for. This is something that maybe could have been an unlockable level or just an unlockable character. For the most part it’s quite fun to play as LQ-84i and if you don’t mind paying for it it’s worth a try, I just feel that most people may find having to pay for it something that may put them off.

Apple celebrates 50 billionth downloaded app

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:33:48 -0500

Google announced today that the Google Play store has seen 48 billion apps downloaded for Android devices. Not to be outdone Apple revealed today that the App Store had been responsible for 50 billion app downloads, beating out Google Play by a massive 2 billion.

Apple has been counting down to the figure for some time, and it seems the gods smiled upon the company today as the 50 billionth download happened the same day Google boasted its own figures. Apple will also point to the fact that it monetizes its App Store around three times as much as Google Play, which of course means far more money has been made for Apple through apps than Google has achieved.

There are also signs that the App Store is still growing, while Google Play is also showing exceptional growth. It took 12 weeks for Apple to jump from 40 to 45 billion apps downloaded, but the leap from 45 to 50 billion has taken just 4 weeks. To celebrate hitting 50 billion, Apple gave a $10,000 App Store voucher to the person who downloaded the 50 billionth app.

Google updates Maps and makes the map the interface

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:03:51 -0500

We already knew that a Google Maps facelift was on the way, but nevertheless it was still great to get that confirmed by the company at the Google I/O event today. The search giant unveiled its new desktop Google Maps version today while also giving a nice glimpse of the future of Maps on iOS and Android.

Starting with the upcoming mobile versions; these will put the emphasis on the personal touch, for example with a new rating system for major brands, while the Experience feature for tablets will allow users to take a look indoors at venues such as cinemas, shopping centres, and other locations.

Google also showed the new desktop version, which looks fantastic and is currently live and available in preview form. One standout feature is “immersive imagery” which makes the map the whole experience. In other words, the map is now the entire interface and all tools previously seen on a side bar have now been integrated into options within the map.

Google I/O: Highlights and Auto Enhance beef up Google+

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:43:15 -0500

A few eyebrows were raised when Google purchased photo editor Snapseed last year, but today the internet giant showed what it had come up with during the Google I/O conference. The company announced Auto Enhance and Highlights for its Google+ social network.

Essentially Auto Enhance does what it says on the tin, and easily and instantly allows you to edit photos within Google+. It is a fairly advanced suite of tools too, which shows exactly why Google acquired Snapseed. With Auto Enhance it is possible to adjust for exposure, soften skin, minimize wrinkles, remove red-eye and reduce noise in low-light shots.

There are also auto tools packed with Auto Enhance, including a panorama creator, collage creator, and most interestingly Motion, a system that puts together concurring photographs into an animated GIF (think along the lines of HTC’s Zoe shot). The main selling point of all these features is they are free, and for the most part instant.

Highlights is perhaps the most standout new feature announced for Google+ today, although with 41 confirmed changes to the social network we will surely find other gems. Highlights makes album creating and organizing easier by selecting the best images from a collection for you. The system uses algorithms to weed out poor image quality and to hunt for related content to what has come before, while it also searches for landmarks.

Google has been kind enough to throw together a video (below) that highlights all the new features surrounding photos on Google+. On top of all that the company has now upped its standard free cloud storage amount from 5GB to 15GB. These photo features really put Facebook in the dark in terms of organizing and editing albums, it will be interesting to see how the company responds in the future to Google.

Google I/O: Google+ Hangouts

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:24:00 -0500

Google today revealed a complete overhaul of its Google+ social network and so far it all seems extremely slick and could have Facebook looking over its shoulder in a cold sweat. The stunning new design was highlighted first and is in keeping with Google’s pleasing aesthetics of late. However, it is the features that are the most interesting talking points, including the new Hangouts feature.

Hangouts will be available on desktop and mobile versions as a standalone application. Hangouts put the emphasis on conversations, and allow them to be continued across devices and indeed platforms. Google also keeps track of conversations throughout history, so you can always go back and check what was said and when (this feature can be set off).

Google Hangouts also now brings live group video chatting, for free and the service is already up and running on iOS and Android. Those with Gmail and Google Chrome will have to wait a little longer before getting their hands on what is admittedly a very good looking system.

Google launches Google Play for Education

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:17:07 -0500

Google has been showing off its mega overhaul of Google Play today at the I/O developer’s conference. The company has continued its Google Play revamp by releasing Play for Education, a dedicated area of Google Play that is set up specifically for Educators.

This new storefront on Google Play will catalogue apps, books, and media by education type, age and various other criteria to make finding content easier. The process for education organizations such as schools to download content has also been simplified.

Google Play for Education also makes use of Google +, the company’s social network. Schools and universities can push content such as apps, books and other items across all students on a Google+ group and pay via one central account that does not need credit card confirmation but instead uses a central payment fund.

Poker Night 2 - The Borderlands 2 Unlockables

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:06:16 -0500

When Telltale Games released Poker Night 2 one of the biggest revelations was that Claptrap would be a part of the game. Although he’s one of the most annoying characters from the Borderlands universe he also brings some fun with him, so he can be forgiven a little for his attitude problem. What he also brings as well though are unlockables not only for Poker Night 2 but for Borderlands 2 as well.

One of the first things you’ll see from Borderlands 2 is that Mad Moxxi is the bartender this time around and while she hasn’t got much to say, she also has an unlockable secret if you can win it in the poker game. In ways this is more fun than having to listen to Claptrap and his constant complaining about having bad cards.

The Borderlands Unlockables

The Inventory (where the game takes place) can be made to look like scenes from the characters game. For Borderlands when you unlock this reward you’ll be able to change the scenery to become Max Moxxi’s bar from Sanctuary. This includes an appearance from a character called Steve, mostly famous for saying “Heyoooo!” who fires rockets at eliminated players, as well as Claptrap changing his appearance to look like he did in the Spike TV Video Game Awards.

As well as these unlockables for Poker Night 2 there are also unlockable heads and skins for Borderlands 2 itself. This includes the Portal skin for the Assassin, a Poker visor for the Siren, Brock Sampson’s hair for the Gunzerker, a Max Mask for the Necromancer and for the Commando an Evil Ash head. Other unlockable skins can also be unlocked for Team Fortress two, but these are exclusive to Steam where Borderlands 2 unlockables are available to all machines that can run the game.

As well as the unlockables in the game you’ll also find nice little Easter eggs happening during the game. This includes mentions of Pandora in conversation, and Claptrap’s failed attempts to flirt with GLaDOS who is not amused, in fact she at first acts ambivalent before later saying that he makes her nauseous. Poor Claptrap has no real luck, not even in the game itself as he’s probably the worst bluffer in the whole game but this is down to his tendency to not know when to shut up. As he’s got no facial expressions though it’s hard to find a “tell” to his game, unlike the more humanoid players.

Google I/O: Google Play Game Services brings gamers together

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:31:05 -0500

Google Play gamers are getting a major overhaul of their gaming experience today thanks to a quartet of new features. Real-time multiplayer, leaderboards, cloud saves and achievements are all now available on a number of Google Play/Android games.

Much like Apple’s mature Game Center, the "Google Play Game Services," feature brings gamers together in scoring systems, and real time multiplayer events. However, unlike Apple’s closed service, Google Play Game Services will be available across platforms.

In many ways, this makes Google Play Game Services more like a third party service like the now defunct Open Feint as opposed to an in house system like Games Center. We suspect the list of games compatible is set to grow, although it is worth mentioning that multi-player gameplay will not be available cross platform.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - A Preview of a Game from the XCOM Past

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:26:02 -0500

The sixties seems to be a popular time for films, television shows and games to use for a time period for the historic alien invasions that started it all. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is yet another game to travel back to these times and puts you in the role of William Carter, a man who will become important in the XCOM world.

The year is 1962 and Earth has been invaded by the “Outsiders”, Carter and two other squad members have been given the job to travel to New Mexico to investigate the death of an agent. In a mixture of strategy game and shooter, can this game that has been in development hell actually deliver, or should it be abducted to never be seen again?

Story

As mentioned the game takes place in 1962 and as William Carter you are taking part in the historic time which is seen as the origins of the XCOM organisation. This is their first encounter with an alien force which is not only a mystery but appears to be taking over the world. As Carter you must create a strategy in battle so that you can not only defeat the aliens, but also hide the very fact they exist from the general population.

Gameplay

Carter is the main strategist of the group, and the man you control. Using a menu system you must command your team mates as to where to position themselves and what their priorities are and use their special abilities to aid you in the battle. When the strategies are in place you’ll then be tasked with taking down the opponents with gunfire.

Your team come with different abilities based on their class, with the Engineer class for example they can set up turrets to distract foes, and even kill some low level baddies. Each of the different classes have their own special abilities based on alien tech that has been stolen by the Bureaus scientists and reverse engineered for your use into wearable tech. Failure is also quite unforgiving as death can be permanent for your agents, so if you lose your best then you may have problems later on in the game with harder opponents.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified looks to be quite possible in that you can’t rely just on having a big gun, this is not your average shooter. The game is much more about the strategy element and planning before having to move into battle. The fact that you’ve also got to handle agent losses is also something that will make you have to think about future missions, in some ways it’s more like Mass Effect than just a normal shooting game.

Graphics

It’s fair to say the graphics to the game are not really that spectacular at the moment, but there is an attempt to give the surroundings an early sixties feel. Clothing is designed to look like from that period, as is the architecture on display on the buildings, so even if it’s not as good looking as something like Metro: Last Light The Bureau: XCOM Declassified at least makes an attempt to get the atmosphere right, and seems to have managed it.

Verdict

We still have to wait until August to get our hands on the finished version of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified but from what we can see so far the game has turned from what was just a typical first person shooter into a game of strategy where planning out the battle before you go in guns blazing is the most important part. For fans of XCOM: Enemy Unknown this is shaping up into a nice prequel of sorts for the main game so it’s one to keep an eye out for when it’s released. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified will be out for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC in August.

Google I/O: Galaxy S4 with stock Jelly Bean revealed

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:16:34 -0500

It has been a very busy day at the Google I/O developer’s conference. Perhaps the biggest surprise has been the unveiling of a special Samsung Galaxy S4, one that runs on a stock version of Google’s own platform, Android Jelly Bean.

The handset under the hood is the exact same Galaxy S4 you can already get, but that stock Jelly Bean really is a selling point for Google. Samsung currently wraps Android in its own interface and bloatware but this S4 variant will pack the normal untouched Android experience, just like on Google’s own Nexus devices.

Both Google and Samsung have kept this very quiet, making for one of today’s true surprises. The handset will come unlocked and will be LTE compatible. It is a Google exclusive and will go on sale via the Google Play Store June 26^th for $649.

Time Warner joins growing live streaming crowd

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:31:30 -0500

ABC announced two days ago that it would begin showing live streaming content on its iOS app. Not to be outdone, rival TV giant Time Warner has followed hot on the heels of ABC by announcing its own live streaming plans, although they do differ slightly from ABC’s.

Steve Koonin, head of Turner Entertainment Networks confirmed the changes today and said that the live streaming will be available for the TNT and TBS networks. However, unlike ABC’s iOS app only approach, Time Warner says the live content will be available across a number of platforms.

Of course, unlike the free to watch ABC (with an internet connection), the Time Warner content on TNT and TBS will require a cable subscription to be viewed. The company said the live streaming will be heading our way this summer.

Google to reveal music streaming service

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:49:13 -0500

Google is on the verge of revealing its own music streaming service in the vein of Spotify. The company could even unveil the service at the annual Google I/O which starts today, but some rumblings from inside the company say that the event has come a little too soon to reveal Google Music.

Google has tied up deals with the three major record labels (Warner Music, Sony Music, and Universal Music) for two streaming services. The first will be wrapped around Google owned YouTube while the other will be on the company’s Android music store, Google Play.

The internet giant will be going up against established streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora and could eventually find Apple in the mix too when the company releases its iRadio service. Google will feel with its internet reach and established music connections with YouTube that it will have the upper hand in the growing music streaming market.

UPDATE: Google has indeed introduced its own music service called Google Play Music All Access. The service will cost $9.99 per month in the U.S. although there will also be a free to user version.

Windows Blue goes official and become Windows 8.1

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:20:33 -0500

Windows Blue has gone completely official and is now known to all as Windows 8.1. In reality neither the existence of Windows Blue, nor the fact that it will be called Windows 8.1 comes as a surprise, it has been one of the worst kept secrets in tech.

Tami Reller, the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the company’s Windows division made the announcement earlier today. The good news is that Windows 8.1 is just that, an update, and not the complete new build that many thought Windows Blue would be. It is good news because it means that Windows 8.1 will be available to existing Windows 8 users as a free update.

The update will be made available through the Windows Store, although Microsoft has not confirmed exactly when Windows 8.1 will be available. A public preview will be launched in late June, but we expect the actual update to come later in the year.

Blackberry launches the BBM Channels social network

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:11:33 -0500

It has been a busy day for Blackberry. The Canadian company has been holding its BBLive event in Orlando Florida today and introduced a new smartphone (the Q5), and revealed that BBM would be available on iOS and Android in the summer. However, Blackberry also shocked many by launching BBM Channels, a new service that is essentially a social network.

The BBM Channels service will allow users and brands to track each other much like on Twitter by creating a profile. The feature will include social media standards, such as notifications for new content and the ability to like a post. Blackberry is hoping its service will succeed where others have failed, such as Apple’s Ping.

Blackberry is saying BBM Channels will work because of the 60 million Blackberry Messenger users sending 10 billion messages per day. CEO Thorsten Heins says most messages are read within 20 seconds, which certainly falls into a Twitter style social network.

The Full Metro: Last Light Achievement List

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:03:08 -0500

Now that we can play Metro: Last Light we have the chance to fully complete the game. This means that we need to know exactly what achievements need to be obtained, and in a game like Last Light prepare for it to be quite a rough ride. These achievements will take you through hell all in the name of getting that full game score, if you are up for the challenge of course.

With tasks that will take you up into the destroyed streets of Moscow and take you through the dark tunnels that your character calls home you’ll be pushed to do some pretty monotonous tasks, from reading Artyom’s hidden diary pages to disarming traps. There will also be some more fun one like lighting two people on fire at once, so get your gas mask on its time to get working, oh and beware of spoilers in the list.

Full Metro: Last Light Achievement List

Soldier - Kill Over a Hundred Human Enemies
Antibiotic – Kill Over a Hundred Mutants
Shadow - Stealthily kill Fifteen Enemies
Inferno - Set Two Enemies on fire at once
Tesla - Break Fifty Lights
Edison - Turn off Fourty Lights without breaking them
Ever Vigilant - Disarm Ten Traps
Businessman - Make a Hundred Purchases
Walking Bank - Collect a Thousand Military Rounds
Musician - Use all Musical Instruments in the game
First Draft - Write Ten of Artyom's hidden Diary pages
Published - Complete all Fourty Three of Artyom's hidden Diary pages
Rabbit - Complete training sequence
Not A Rabbit - Finish the ASHES level without taking a hit
Freedom! - Free the Prisoners
Clean Escape - Escape the chasing Nazis on the REICH level without being caught once
Invisible Intruder - Complete the Separation level without killing or raising alarm
A Present - Take the Custom Pistol from the Locked Box
Invisible Savior - Complete the FACILITY level without killing or raising alarm
Tortoise - Make Ten Spiders flip belly-up
Mouse - Complete the ECHOES level undetected by the Watchmen
Patron of the Arts - Watch the entire Theater Show
Within a Hair of Death - Escape from the Red Line
Derailed - Kill all armed enemies on the REVOLUTION level, including all reinforcements
Invisible Soldier - Complete the REVOLUTION level without killing and raising an alarm
Scram - Kill all Watchmen before they reach the Railcar
Commando - Rescue the Women and Children on the BANDITS level without raising alarm
Soup - Kill Five Shrimp with Grenades
Reunion - Find and return the crying child's Teddy Bear
Diver - Fall in the Swamp Ten times
Equipped - Find all Equipment Stashes in the swamps
Big Momma - Kill the Rhino
Savior - Remove your mask when Lesnitsky demands it
Forgotten - Find the Hidden Ammo in the abandoned part of the station on the QUARANTINE level
Nobody's Home - Ignore the Phone Call in the Anomaly
Bloodlust - Kill all the Reds on the THE CHASE level
Van Helsing - Kill a Demon with the Helsing
Rain Man - Complete the BRIDGE level without a kill
Secret - Find out about the Reds' plans
Back to the Past - See all Visions in the Dead City
Revenge - Kill Pavel
Forest Guardian - Save the Bear from the Watchmen after the fight
Revelation - Make Moskvin tell the truth with help from the Dark One
True Spartan - Hold the Platform without dying
C'est la vie - Destroy D6
Redemption - Save D6
No shooting allowed - Kill Ten enemies in a row with Throwing Knives
Gunslinger - Kill at least one Enemy with each Weapon available in the game
Weapon Smith - Install all possible Customizations for a Weapon
Shadow Ranger - Complete the game without killing any Humans unless forced to

As you can see there is plenty of work to be done in the game to fully complete it. Some of the achievements are easier to complete than others, some are part of the story so you'll find yourself getting them just by playing the game normally but the best way to actually achieve them is to pick the ones you know are achievable then doing what is required. You may also that some require more than one playback so that you can play through different scenarios, so be prepared to have to go through the ordeal of completing the game again.

Blackberry launches the budget Q5

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:52:17 -0500

Blackberry has said that this year it plans to launch a number of devices as it looks to cover all bases in the smartphone market. We told you in April how the Blackberry R was the company’s future budget device, a replacement for the current Curve model. Today at BBLive the company launched the Blackberry R, or how it is now known, the Q5.

The Blackberry Q5 follows the already released Q10 in that it is a portrait device with a full QWERTY keyboard. Unlike the high-end Q10, the Q5 is a budget smartphone that is targeting emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins was brief when discussing the phone so no specs were given.

What we do know is that the Q5 will launch this summer in red, black, white, or pink. It will be very much in the vein of the Curve, the company’s last budget smartphone. The Q5 boasts a 3.1-inch touch screen as well as the keyboard and we think much like the Curve it will find an audience with teenagers, especially with Blackberry Messenger on board.

Metro: Last Light - Post-THQ Has Metro Managed to do Done Enough to Survive?

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:35:50 -0500

After the closure of THQ it was questionable if Metro: Last Light was ever going to make it into gamers hands. With Deep Silver picking up the game for distribution though we finally get to play the follow up to Metro 2033. Luckily for us it looks like the developers 4A Games didn’t let all the uncertainty get in their way and have handed over the finished product.

What 4A Games have managed to provide us with is a dark tale of post-apocalyptic Moscow where World War 3 has ravaged the land leaving all kinds of creatures to take over the streets. The surviving humans tend to stick to the underground for survival where it’s not much safer. With threat from the creatures and the radiation from the nuclear fallout every day is a struggle to survive.

Story

You play the part of an elite Ranger called Artyom, and you are also a citizen of Metro. One of the real beauties of the game is the people themselves who tend to all have differing reasons for being in Metro. Some have taken refuge away from regimes like the Nazis and Communists who have their pockets of power in the new world. As well as the living, there are also shadows of the past who whisper to you from the darkness setting a dark tone for the game.

Gameplay

The element that lets Metro: Last Light down slightly which is a disappointment is the gameplay. Because of the amount of time you’ll be in the tunnels the style of play often feels quite linear. This isn’t a game that is as open world as Fallout 3 for example. Another issue is that the human enemies tend to quite stupid at times, the AI of the characters maybe could do with a little work.

When above the ground you’ll also have the problem of constantly having to search for gas masks in order to stay alive, this is obviously going to be more complicated when an enemy moves in for the kill. This give a constant feeling of dread as death is never really that far away. If you can get used to the feeling of having your ability to explore stifled and the slightly stupid humans then you can get back to enjoying the game.

Graphics

To get the most out of Metro: Last Light it’s best to play it on a PC, which has the power to push out some amazing visuals. Whether it’s above ground with the destroyed streets of Moscow or the darker tunnels below ground this is definitely a visually stunning game. To get the best out of it of course you’ll need a PC with some high specs but it still looks good with some of the settings turned down.

Verdict

The overall feeling of Metro: Last Light it that it has potential and does look very impressive, especially on the PC but it’s just a shame that it feels like it doesn’t live up to the potential that is there. With a world that is almost screaming out to be explored and the knowledge that there are survivors in more “stations” it feels a shame that everything feels so controlled. For fans of survival horror, this is well worth a try, and was definitely worth the wait.

Blackberry Messenger coming to iOS and Android this summer

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:20:14 -0500

Blackberry has been saying for some months that it would move away from building software just for its own products, and would look to build third party apps. The company followed through on its promise today by confirming at the BBLive event that its Blackberry Messenger will be available on iOS and Android this summer.

We were a little surprised that the company chose BBM as the software to first break past its walled confides, after-all the free to use messenger is one of the key offers on Blackberry devices, especially in the teen market. However, the emergence of services such as WhatsApp has meant Blackberry has had to set BBM free to compete on other platforms.

The Canadian company confirmed the launch of BBM on other platforms for this summer, and the service will be available on iOS 6 and Android device running Ice Cream Sandwich or higher. At first just messaging will be available, but Blackberry has ensured that BBM Voice and BBM Channels will be made available within the year.

Nokia launches the Lumia 925 aluminium flagship

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:21:10 -0500

As we predicted yesterday, Nokia’s big announcement in London today was indeed the Lumia 925, the latest handset in the company’s flagship range. The new device is a progression from the Lumia 920 from last year, and unlike the recently launched 928, it will be available worldwide.

The biggest difference between the Lumia 925 and its stable mates is that the new device does away with the glossy polycarbonate on earlier Lumia handsets in favour of a new aluminium shell. The result is a smartphone that is much lighter than the previous Lumia 920 and will likely feel of a much higher quality in hand.

With a slimmer profile the Lumia 925 still manages to pack the same specs as the flagship Lumia 920. That means a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 1GB RAM and an 8.7-megapixel OIS camera, while of course it will also run on Windows 8.

Total War: Rome - A Few Cheats to Get the edge in Battle

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:28:12 -0500

While we wait for Total War: Rome II to come out in September to prepare for battle it can be fun to go back to Total War: Rome and see where it all started. The graphics may have aged slightly but the action has not. Based in the early Roman Empire (270BC – AD 14) you took control of one of three Roman families. Outside of the main campaign though you could work as other factions.

To gain an edge during gameplay though there were ways to cheat. These codes could give you money, make your general invulnerable during combat, meaning your army was undefeatable and even bring down walls during sieges. These cheats as always made the game easier and took away some of the challenge of the game but they were still fun to use.

Total War: Rome Cheats

To enable the cheats within the game the first thing to do is to press the tilde (~) key to bring up the console. Once this is up then one of the codes below could be entered:

invulnerable_general – Stop your general from taking any damage during the battle
kill_character [name] – Where the name is the character you want to kill
oliphant – makes elephants that are part of the battle 40% bigger in Lord of The Rings style
jericho – bring the walls down
force_diplomacy – Force your opponent to accept diplomatic proposals
capture_settlement [settlement] – gives control of the settlement to you
gamestop or bestbuy – units are ten percent cheaper.
add_money # - (where # is the amount to add)
auto_win <side> - give either attacker or defender the win

These cheats will give you the extra edge during battle, allowing you to hopefully win the war. Total War games though are more about strategy so chances are you’ll choose to not cheat at all but use your superior battle intelligence to defeat your opponents and be able to hold your head up high as the true winner, right?