Why there was no Spring Update

Rumours are currently coming out regarding an"avatar" system coming to Xbox Live.

Ever since it was announced that there would be no Spring Update this year there was speculation that Xbox Live would be getting a massive overhaul come Fall, and here it is.

Ever since the announcement of the Playstation Home it was always thought that Microsoft would respond with something similar, however as shown by the picture this more a response to the Wii's "Mii's", pair this with news of a "Newton" motion-sensitive controller and it seems that Microsoft wants a piece of Nintendo's casual cake.

Is this the right decision?

Although in terms of business it seems blindingly obvious, and it seems that both Microsoft and Sony are going after the casual market, yet I feel that with over 500,000 Wii's selling in May that it's too little too late. Of course from Microsoft's perspective it makes sense : go after a space you've been chasing after but have failed horribly at (see - "Scene It"), with what seems to be the new craze. The systems are already under the TV, why not let the whole finally get in on the Xbox action?

Details are scarce but it will be interesting to see what they say about it at E3, thus giving us a hint at who it will be marketed to.

4 -year-old football management sims for the win?

Recently, my life has been taken over by the supreme Championship Manager 4. I have now been sacked from Liverpool and am currently scouting teams such as Port Vale and Ipswich for a job. Sims aren't really my thing, like RTS' their something I absolutely adore the idea of but the simple thing is my shot attention span cannot host these games for long. CM4 is totally different though, it's so engaging and becuase it's four years old you see players who are famous now starting out.

I saw Dawn Of The Dead (2004) and I was really impressed, it didn't take itself too seriously whilst still being serious enough to laugh at ( I have never seen Ving Rhames excel at anything than playing such a stereotypical badass). Even though there completely different genres it gives me hope for the Watchmen movie. Here are some shots below:



These are pretty cool, but still kind of boring. However the set shots from The Spirit are absolutely enthralling. Have you ever seen Samuel L. look cooler.




On that note I leave you.

PS. Red Dragons are murdering me on Ninja Gaiden

He's got jungle fever; they've got GTA fever

So as GTA fever grips the internet, I feel, well I feel unamazed. Don't get me wrong, the game looks amazing, the multiplayer wll surely grip Xbox Live and PSN like a gorilla does a banana, yet as the final trailer hit I got a great yearning for GTA:San Andreas.

Grand Theft Auto 4 (IV): TRAILER 4 VOSTFR
Uploaded by WORLD-STUNT-GTA

The last, last-gen installment of the franchise, was no where near my favourite, but all of a sudden I remembered the casinos, the pool, the altogether cartoonish touch that made it my most played game on the Playstation 2. The way the new GTA is shaping out is great, I am sure it will be perfectly cinematic; the Scarface-esque storyline seems interesting, as do the stereotypical characters such as the eccentric, gangster black guy.

However I feel that there is a gap in the market for that all out fun, kooky open world experience; Crackdown was close to getting it right, yet it lacked a certain amount of polish, maybe Saint's Row 2 can fill the void.

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I heard the most ridiculous rumour today; a rumour so absolutely enraging that I'm struggling to write these very sentences.

Hayden Christensen:


Is being touted to play Superman in the Justice League film.

The cast for this movie was never going to be amazing, but I thought that Adam Brody as the Flash was good, btu I feel that this is such a delicate project one that needs perfect execution for it to even be mediocre, that this would be an omen from the start; thankfully it's just a rumour at the moment, but as I've said above, a Justice League movie has to be done just right, and having an actor who looked annoying even next to Jar-Jar Binks is not a good sign.

Gt5 Prologue came out 2 days ago; I've seen a few videos, and a GamerTv special, and I think the graphics look amazing, but the city environments aren't the best I've seen,nevertheless GT is an amazing series and although Prologue does look like GT4 with this gen graphics, I'm going to try and get a hands on, check out the AI et al.

Finally Desktop Tower Defense 1.5 has come out with few improvements, it's still bloody amazing though.

Why this summer is going to wicked sick.

This summer is going to be amazing, not only am I fortunate to have 3 months off but:

Iron Man

Iron Man Superbowl Trailer
Uploaded by ginfarang

Hulk

The Incredible Hulk trailer
Uploaded by UrulokiBlog

TDK

The Dark Knight Official Teaser Trailer in HQ Video
Uploaded by anil31

I am so hyped for those three movies it is so unbelievable, out of the three I expect Iron Man to be the worst, Iron Man has never been a favourite chracter of mine and even though I think Robert Downey Jnr. is amazing, the humour in the trailers was a tad too cheesy for me.

Also coming out in time for this summer:

GTA IV












Ninja Gaiden

I am so hyped for this game, especially after the GDC presentation (below) I just feel that this game will be so crazy and considering I'm playing through the first one ( if you call being stuck on Chapter 3 playing)

MGS4 is also coming out this summer and whilst I don't have a PS3 I will find some way to check it out.


Also Batman Gotham Knight is coming out sometime this year, that looks really interesting especially with all the eastern influences, I am scared that some of the Japanese directors might stray too far from original Batman art, however I suppose where would Batman be today without McFarlane's drawings, sometimes change isn't so bad.

Batman Gotham Knight - [Prequel] Seconde Vidéo [VO]
Uploaded by Lyricis

Finally word on the street is that if you head on over to noob.com you will see a countdown. The interesting thing is that this site has a Mortal Kombat logo, and in 27 days (from now) there is a Midway event, so I'm reckoning that a new next-gen Mortal Kombat will be announced. I'm a big Mortal Kombat fan, I acknowledge that Street Fighter may be technically more advanced/astounding whatever you want to say, but I've always preferred MK, it's way more fun and I even found that the last gen MK's too were crazy fun if not good games.

Sayonara