So after the massive success of Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare what would follow, could anything be reproduced to that standard? From the beggining of the year we knew that we were heading for Call of Duty World at War which would be developed by Treyarch not Infinity Ward. People have specualted that Treyarch are not up to the task when it comes to Call of Duty. So the story goes like this you start off as Private Miller of the US Marine Corps, who is captured by the Japanese and about to be executed when he is rescued by Corporal Roebuck, and you join his unit in a series of incursions through the islands under Japanese control. The second setting is focused on Private Dimitri Pentrkove of the Soviet Army, whose unit was defeated, and the survivors executed by German soldiers. Along with Sergeant Reznov, he takes revenge on the Germans by sniping their commander, and three years later, they meet again on the eastern front, fighting through Germany until the final battle where they help capture the Reichstag building in Berlin. A third character is played during a single mission in the US campaign as Petty Officer Locke, attacking a Japanese Naval fleet and rescuing survivors of a sunken US vessel. I won’t tell anymore, so you can play for yourselves. So by now you know that this Call of Duty has gone back to WWII. I think that Treyarch has made a pretty good job although they used the COD4 engine it certainly works well. Bare in mind that Treyarch could not go WWII soldiers and ask them to show them how they breached a door for example which Infinty Ward did when developing COD4 with the US Marines. The online multiplayer is very confusing at first which feels like a maze. The maps have a lot more open areas, open interiors for the player to explore and probably get lost in. As for weapons don’t expect any MP5s with red tiger because there isn’t none, back to basics in this one! Plus forget helicopter support and air strikes which you will find are cannons being shot from a neighbouring field and dogs running at you. Another feature of the new Call of Duty is the veichles, believe me they do get frustrating when there is one person hogging the tank and blowing everyone up with it in a very very close proximety town, probably very fun with mates! Call of Duty World at War gets an 8.3 of IGN and I think I am agree with them 8.5. Must buy!

The Oscars of the gaming world took place this week, the Golden Joystick Awards that is. Meanwhile the BAFTA Video Game Awards have been postponed until 2009, but not to worry because we have got some results from the GJA right here. There are 16 catergories overall which held host to over 850,000 votes casted by the worlds gamers. Here are the results…

So you might be thinking after the withdrawl of trophies from COD4 for the time being, what rewards stand in place for Call of Duty 5? Well, here they are…

There always has been and always will be one question in football games… FIFA or Pro Evo? Many people have debated, reviewed and analysed these two games, but has anyone come up with a winner? Well, this year I think there might be one… FIFA 09! So for all the Pro Evo fans out there you might be thinking rubbish, but with all the features EA as packed into its latest installment of FIFA you might think twice. So EA have always had all the licenses for their FIFA games, which means offical kits, balls, stadiums etc. have all been included in FIFA games. That may not seem like a big thing and you might think that gameplay counts the most which it does, but I think realism plays a big part in football games, because say for instance you are playing as Man United it doesn’t feel like Man United if you are not playing at Old Trafford or wearing the kit?.  Now onto gameplay, people might have said that Pro Evo had the best gameplay in the past, but in FIFA 09 things are very different. EA have made 250 improvements to gameplay this year including actual substitutions, more realistic tackles and more. Now onto the features, FIFA is jam packed with excellent features available to gamers. Adidas Live Season stands out from the crowd. This year real time players performance affects how they play in FIFA! Just by downloading (and paying for) Adidas Live Season you can have Adebayor scoring goals left, right and centre and Ronaldo losing the ball with every dribble, depending on how each player plays in real life. 10 v 10 online play stand out aswell. EA has stared with this and has enabled gamers across the globe to create their own teams and play against other teams. The lobbies have been improved and basically the whole online experience has been upgraded to a class of its own.

So a FIFA has earnt itself a excellent 9/10

 Here are a few statistics about sales of the 3 biggest consoles on the planet.

Nintendo Wii – Released 19th November 2006 – Total Sales Worldwide: 29.62 million

Playstation 3 – Released 11th November 2006 – Total Sales Worldwide: 14.41 million

XBOX 360 – Released 22nd November 2005 – Total Sales Worldwide: 19 million

I think the main reasons for these figures are:

Nintendo Wii – Big hype about the gameplay technology, so everybody had to get one. Most of the people I know own one. Nobody could get their hands on them for christmas 2006 and 2007. Most shops had sold out completly and didn’t expect stock for 6 weeks whilst Nintendo tried to keep up with demand.

Playstation 3 – The price affected sales big time! The hefty price tag kept sales low, people opted for the less expensive option either the Wii or 360.

XBOX 360 – The gaming market wasn’t as big and didn’t have many competitors as it does today. Also not as many people wanted games consoles which kept figures low.

So the total number of sales for all 3 consoles is 60,030,000. Not bad! Most people know the world’s population is around 6 billion. We have worked out that this means that 9.6% of the world’s population own 1of these 3 consoles. 60,030,000 is nearly enough for every single LEGAL person in the UK to have 1 of these 3 consoles.

If you was amazed by the prowess of MGS4 you may have been sad to know that this was the last game in the series. Or is it? When IGN interviewed Konami Production’s assistant producer, Ryan Payton he mentioned his reasons for leaving the company and memories of developing the acclaimed title. At the very end of the interview, he revealed something that all Metal Gear fans wanted to hear. “It’ll be hard not being involved in MGS5, but I’ve got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game. I’ll be cheering from the sidelines” Did he slip up or did he mean to say this? Who knows? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Back in 2006 everyone went crazy because of Sony’s unveiling of the PlaystationPortable (PSP). Now the only people going crazy are the directors at Sony. Following on from the PSP Lite comes a very unpredicttable PSP2. At this moment in time the PSP2 is very skeptical. According to various sources Sony are packing in a video camera and gb’s of flash memory plus lots of other high tec features to keep gadget obbessed gamers happy whilst on the move. According managing director Ray Maguire from Sony UK, the new machine is much more sleek and lighter than past editions, but not ready to be introduced just yet. Stay tuned for more news on the PSP2.

You probably thought with a name like Guitar Hero, only guitars would be involved in the game? It has been for the past few years but now it isn’t, it’s about the full band! Following on from GH3 Legends of Rock, GH World Tour takes a leaf from Rock Band’s book by allowing you to use 3 instruments, make a band and belt out those lyrics from the mic. As of 2nd May 2008 Rock Band had sold 3 million units across all platfroms, that’s not in the UK because it hasn’t been released yet but gamers in the UK could still buy the bundle from the US over the internet. Will GH World Tour be as successfull? Here is some features and extra info about GHWT you need to know! GHWT will be released in the US on 26th October 2008, the UK release date hasn’t been authorised yet. The Band Kit for the game will include a wireless guitar, drum kit with elevated symbols and a mic to sing your heart out in! All instruments will have new features so check out YouTube for instrument lowdowns. 56 have been confirmed for GHWT but more a probably yet to come. The game will feature an awesome recording studio where you will be able to record your own music and upload it to the online service where other players can download and listen! In career mode you will be able to choose which instrument you want to play but the mic has not been certifed as an item that can be used in career mode.

Guitar Hero World Tour Photos

Drum Kit

Guitar

Mic

Recording studio

Gameplay

As part of the Playstation Networks’ development Sony have created Home. Home is an amazing 3D virtual world that will be implemented into the Playstation Network as basically the core of the PSN. Here you will be able to roam the 3D virtual world talking to other gamers, sharing video and pictures and get invited to gamers personal virtual apartment, which you can hang out in. This will be filled with custom chosen furniture and style to suit the gamers taste . These are just some of the awesome features which Home will play host to. You will also be able to create your own custome character which when you walk around other gamers will see your online ID name above their head, making it easy to identify people. Gamers will also be able to take part in mini online games via Home against other players on the network.

Home will be available to download for free from the Playstation Store . Home will have it’s own tab in the XMB menu and would you believe that companys from the real world will be able to advertise in Home. The release date is unknown but the beta version is being released soon so go to www.homebetatrial.com and sign up for a chance to take part in the testing of Home. Is this really the future of online gaming? Look how far we have come from, for instance the SEGA. If you think that online gaming is big now, get ready for it to get a whole lot bigger!

www.PS3News.eu

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SOCOM Confrontation is a third person shooter set to be released in early October 2008, which is being developled by Slant Six. The game is based purely on online mode which will be able to cater for up to 32 people playing one match, but there is no evidence of single player mode yet. The game will host 7 North African maps and 5 squads to choose from. The squads are SEAL’s (USA), SAS (UK), KSK (Germany), UOE (Spain) and 1er RPIMa (France).

The game will be compatible with the SIXAXIS controller which will allow you to take cover and change view by shaking or moving the controller. The game is only going to be released on Playstation 3 like Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots and will be availble to buy on the Playstation Store or on Blu-Ray disc. If you want to see some gameplay click here. Also I have to warn you that the gameplay is square and very straight. The soldiers move either forward, back, left, right in a very square manner. I personally do not think this is good, but take a look and see what you think. I would love to see hear some of your thoughts on this game, so leave a comment.

www.PS3News.eu

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