The Rise and fall of Blackberry
Now some might say I’m an iPhone fanboi, so what if I am. We look at RIM (Research In Motion) the Canadian company which started the first line of blackberry back in 1999. Ok so they have been successful to this point but where does one draw the line when it comes to letting your consumers suffer the most. In September 2011, they face the biggest drop in their stock pricing that hit hard, which put them way under their all time high of what was just over $30 a share, to now where it settles at $22.57 a share.

The company is going to fall hard if they do not live up to the expectations of the consumer. Why charge a consumer to use a service, with which we as iPhone and Android users can get for little to nothing these days and still save a small fortune in the long run. I really think that RIM is looking for another cow to milk with them planning on releasing Blackberry X (BBX), the new OS that is said to change the way users see Blackberry. Right so now that RIM has FINALLY, decided to join the bandwagon of supply and demand when it comes to Smartphone, what’s next?

They have a lot to compete with, and if us as iPhone and Android users have full accessibility to our phones, what do you have to put on the table that we don’t already have RIM? I think it’s about time you guys really reconsidered your business strategy and start kicking people out, especially your “Market Strategists”, selling $100 (R700 give or take) worth of Apps is not enough, you can’t buy peoples’ loyalty. Yes so your stocks are falling quickly and people are pissed at you, maybe you should expose the truth, it may hurt but sometimes the truth does hurt, however you can still make a comeback from being honest to your most valued consumers globally.

In my humble opinion I would say to deconstruct that entire service you call BIS/BES, it’s pointless and is only costing money when instead companies want to save. Just open the service up to the world and stop charging for it, you make enough sales as it is from just selling the phone. Stop being so hard on yourselves for not meeting a target with which I might as was something ridiculous of and stop being greedy. The collapse of your network was Karma for being so damn greedy.

Google (Android) leads the worlds cellular market followed with iPhone standing at 27% and RIM down to 21.5%. You guys were the leading the cellular market and look at what greed has done to you. Change your style and give the people what they want, not what you want. This is how Apple and Google succeeded, by adjusting their ideas and using what the consumers had to add.

Howzit boys and girlz

Remember that movie as a kid about the guy who drove a bike with lights and stuffs. Ok so if you were born within the 80's or are older, you will definitely remember the movie of tron, where there was a game dev who designed this super advanced game and sure enough one lead to another and we found out that the game was re-designed to break into the pentagon. Then we found ourselves playing the game of Light Cycle, where you had to drive around on a bike avoiding your opponents movements, because if you crossed his light, you died...

Ok so now that we have covered the basics behind the story of Tron, I will tell you more about what you should expect to see from the game of today. Firstly the concept is pretty much the same however, this time you are able to race around with various RPG elements. Just from an interview which I watched on Game Pro, your character has the ability to level up during the game, and should you level up in the single player campaign, you are able to port your character with all his/her abilities to the Multiplayer games allowing you to level up further while playing with friends etc...

From what I saw there are a number of game modes to choose from in multiplayer from chasing your friends on bikes, to capture the bike (it's the alternative to capture the flag) and ja like Death Match styles etc...

So I guess there you have it FOR NOW!!

The game gets released overseas today, I'm keen to get my wallet out and go buy it.

In the mean time here is a vid to watch while you wait anxiously for the release. :)

Ciao
Syco

http://www.gamepro.com/article/previ...ution-preview/


Screenies can be found here :)
http://www.gamepro.com/screens/16425...lution/884768/

Ok so I get home yesterday after a long day at the office, rip open my package with Call of Duty - Black Ops begging for me to install it and get stuck into some intense action. I get the game installed only to find that I now need to sit and wait while the game updates, so I switch on a movie and patiently wait for my 384K line to super charge itself and download my updates as quickly as possible, while I twiddle my fingers trying not to eat the table :p.

The game finished updating and I decided it's time to get my game on in the Multiplayer side of things, and sure enough I get on fine, HOWEVER I get into a game, start playing around and I notice I have major lag but this isn't just any lag, I mean like lag with 350ms pings and I was like WTF. So I ask around and sure enough it's a GLOBAL issue not just local, sounds like GS are having a couple teething problems.

Eventually after about 1.4hrs give or take, it was time to head off to Single Player and check out the amazing story line that people have been raving about. Now there are bugs in single player as well. Here I'm thinking is it just me or are things a little fscked up, I noticed a couple issues that have been raised.

1. If you run your game at 1920x1080 some of the stuff disappears on the corners of the screen, but I'm using a 24" HD LCD Samsung that runs on 1920x1080.

2. I have to disable my antivirus everytime I want to play Single Player because my game ends up lagging if I don't. I checked my CPU Utilization and my memory usage and those are all normal when running a game, so now WTF has your antivirus got to do with the price of eggs when it comes to your game lagging. I would really like to know from Treyarch.

Ok now this is not so much me ranting, it's more about my experiences that I faced from last night's first hour of gameplay and ja, I'm impressed with everything however I am just a little unimpressed by the problems already starting and this is only day one.

So there you have it, that's my experience of playing last night. I really love the game and I am glad I got hyped up for it :D

Caio

Alright people, as you probably havn't noticed it's been a while since I wrote to you :p.

I'll be bringing you PREVIEWS!!! of games due to come out within the next year or so and spread the rumors too. So here goes...
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Remember those days of Black and white, Sims, Simcity, etc...etc... Well now comes along the game of "From Dust".

The story line is clear to those who have played Black and White mainly, where you are a god and you literally build your tiny little world from Dust (Hence the name of the game DUH!!! heehee). Anyway back on topic, You are to create the ultimate world, where your civilizations can survive.

Ok honestly I do not see this topping the A-grade games, but hey comeon lets give this one a chance at it's show and shine. I must say judging by the videos below I would give it a go........... I guess....... However it won't be one of those games I find myself playing over and over.

So now comes the question will these people (AKA the company supplying the game), advertise well enough to give this a good launch or do you feel that it might not even do well. Hey lets be honest here, I mean take a squizz at Split/Second, DAMN that game was good but, seriously WTF happened to the advertising and the hype to get us all Psyched and stuff. I guess in the end it got a nice 85% from the one and only Mr. Parmenter, I reckon this game was well worth the play and i'm still playing it :p.

Anyway I'll drop my A-grade and B-grade oppinions right here and you tjoon me what you think. In the mean time watch the vids below and enjoy :D.

Laterz

http://www.ign.com/videos/2010/08/18...scom-tech-demo

http://www.ign.com/videos/2010/06/15...onference-demo

Ok right so I'm back and here is another piece of insight to a game that looks promising and I have been following this title for a while now.

Split/Second puts you once again behind the wheel of an extreme machine where the player gets the opportunity to play a similar concept to Burnout, now for those burnout fans I'm pretty sure you felt bleak when a whole lot of changes were done to Burnout Paradise however giving you a little bit more here and there...

Now the fantastic features to look for in Split/Second are that you as the driver get to take out your opponents using various methods throughout the game whether its calling in an attack Helicopter or blowing up a power station to blowing up the hull of a ship and making it fall on top of your opponent.

This game is going to feel very unrealistic to most people but that is the whole beauty of it considering people are a little bored of simulations at the moment as they have been hitting the shelves left right and center. But now it's time to bring out the muscle and just tune up your cars and play until you entirely demolish them.

This game was due for release on the 31st May WHERE IS IT!!!! but anyway It is going to be available for Xbox, PS3 and PC and this looks like a very nice title being released from Disney. Lets just hope the gaming is as promising as it looks.

Check out some of the gameplay vids I have attached.

Laterz ;)

Ok so there has been one game that has been on my mind since completing Just Cause, and that is obvious when Just Cause 2 would be coming along. Well guess what after 4yrs of Development Just Cause 2 is finally here, taking the gamer to even more extreme heights and circumstances.

From Flying, grappling, driving, parachuting and many more other stunts. This is one game that has had a lot of people waiting eagerly for the next release and I for one and truly amped and ready to get stuck into this.

This Sandbox game is going to be a kicker and people will enjoy it, even for those who are not the biggest fans of sandbox games this is sure going to impress most of you :D. The new weapons that will be introduced into the game including the dual grappling hooks for you to attach to aircraft's and hitch hike. Included will be a Boeing 737 :eek: now lets admit it that is going to be pretty amazing flying one of those around the skies :).

Metacritic gave it an 81 Xbox, 84 PS3 and 83 PC when you play the game let us know how you feel it should be rated.

I leave you with a few vids to enjoy and get you as excited as I am for this :D





Caio

So I have watched the Interviews and the trailers... But speculations are that the game is bound to be just as a major fail as what it's predecessor was Ironman 1 with the game following straight after the movie.

Now I am sorry but for those who actually found the game all that interesting I feel sorry for you it was problematic from the get go. Now we see Ironman 2 coming out at the same time as the movie which is great but will we see the same flaws as the first one or will we see improvements and a drastic change to the dev team because I will not go out and purchase Ironman 2 after wasting money buying the first one.

However I did notice that there are some new people on board and I watched a few vids which I have attached here. The game looks promising, but we all know what looks can do.

I guess we will just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best :)

Enjoy.

To my children I cannot seem to afford to have.

I am writing this and apologizing on behalf of the gaming distribution companies that supply us with our lovely games in today's modern society. The reason why I apologize on their behalf is because they are what we can a bunch of gold digging sharks, who are out to have nothing more than our precious money when it comes to to wonderful games we play.

As they are the ones selling top AAA titles, I suppose you can say that they cannot help but charge us exorbitant prices especially our favorite console titles, in which prices currently sit anywhere between roughly R500-R800 per title.

Now lets say for example we purchase 2 games a month, approximately costing around R650 that equals to R1300 a month and say we get 2 titles a month by year end we are paying around R15600 for the great titles we are looking forward to. This all excludes the Subscriptions to the online stores, Birthday and Xmas presents etc... and not forgetting the DLC's

Now in total we are looking at spending for an average gamer R25000 a year all in all just on gaming equipment and titles. Now if our lovely publishing companies were to drop their pricing a little bit more I would be able to afford you as well as a fairly decent education for yourself.

I am sorry to say though that my addiction at the moment does come first in this regard, when the time comes to have kids.............. No wait not gonna happen haha...


Feel free to comment :)

According to a "senior UK trade source" who allegedly spoke with CVG, the next Call of Duty game from Treyarch will be set in Vietnam and arrive at retailers this November. "It's going to be November again - just as with World At War and Modern Warfare 2," the source was quoted as saying.

We heard as much back in May of last year, when Treyarch was said to be looking for "Vietnam War era tunes." Add to that the fact that Activision's Noah Heller explicitly said Treyarch would no longer be working on WWII-based Call of Duty games and you've got yourself a more reasonable sounding rumor. We've asked Activision for comment and will keep you updated as we hear more.

This is going to be interesting if they manage to pull this off I will be very very suprised... but IMHO I reckon the time of COD has gone... It is time that they move on to bigger and better projects. It will benefit everyone in the long run.

People are bored of the exact same concepts all the time... as we have seen the whole Call of Duty 1 and 2 being World war, Call of Duty 3 which was console based only, the famous and still most played FPS game Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare stepping into modern day times of war. We then found ourselves jumping back into the World War era again, adding a couple features here and there.

We jumped back forward to Modern Warfare 2 where we currently stand with the fantastic extras here and there, the problems that still sit with us on a daily basis. Now it is rumored that by November Call of Duty Vietnam will be coming out. Wouldn't you say that this is taking things a little too far and also taking into consideration that hearing rumors of COD 7 becoming a 3rd person MMO.

This is the reason why COD is finally coming to it's knees as we have had fun but now it is time to move onto bigger and better we want to see other concepts of gaming besides the whole war scene... tbh it's getting quite boring and it's been fun but there is a time to draw the line.

Please feel free to comment.

Caio
Syco

I recently came across an article which, at first I thought it was quite hilarious as the so called legitimate user decided that they were going to contact the gaming company to query why the character would not glide. This was due to the fact that the guy revealed himself to be a typical and everyday pirate. As I said before I found it quite amusing as that was one pirate who was brought to his knees and left to beg.
I then began to come up with an idea that could possibly help this company in a solution. I emailed them querying the following statement

Originally Posted by Originally Posted by [B]me

[/B]
Hi There Eidos Team

I would just like to query something I came across this site and read what a user did. http://gamerlimit.com/2009/09/eidos-...#comment-19100 I was hoping to be able to ask something regarding your anti-piracy code. I crack my original copies of my games in order to protect my games from getting damaged and I wanted to know would you guys Eidos be able to release a crack for Batman so that we do not experience that bug where batman cannot glide. Maybe as a suggestion if we register our game online with the PC version then allow us to download the crack directly from your website. Would that maybe be possible?

Thanks

I received an email a couple hours later obviously taking into consideration the amount of emails and requests these guys must get a day, so I could understand the late reply. This was their response which I am sure an automated system could do too.

Originally Posted by Originally Posted by [B]Eidos Tech Support

[/B]
Dear Sir or Madam

Thank you for contacting EIDOS Interactive Limited customer support.
Your customer number is xxxxxxxx

I'm sorry but we are unable to provide any support for circumvention of the copy protection systems in the game.



Please refer to case #xxxxxxx if you have any further questions.
Best Regards
Jamie D

Ok now this is the part which kinda had me going on the edge of my seat. I was shocked by their response. Yes I can understand that there would be legalities involved based on their answer, however as a customer of the gaming industry, should the gaming company you approach be able to give you a decent answer and not something that is short sweet and to the point? I even gave them a solution that would probably benefit them in the long run. So now I come to point where I question do these gaming companies really give a **** about their customers/consumers when it comes to selling their products. Why do companies keep asking themselves how they are constantly losing money from piracy and the general public?
I have 2 answers to that

1. The piracy problem is due to the content being so expensive.

2. The general public (Their legit customers) are turning their backs on companies like this that refuse service delivery and support.

If Eidos want customers then maybe they should treat their users like customers and not just some other person on the street. We are their income without us they would have nothing.
Please feel free to comment.
Thanks
Syco

Everyday we hear about games being advertised over the radio, on TV and obviously via the web for our cell phones. I recently read an article about a guy who managed to hook up his Samsung OMNIA to stream the game Crysis. Who would have thought that this would be possible to do, yet a company based in the united states going by the name of "OTOY" has now made it possible to turn a simple gadget into a power gaming console/<insert name here> phone.

What I believe is that with our phones and rapidly expanding technology, this could possibly be the new future of gaming, where for those who do not have the relevant gaming facilities to play on eg: Your Xbox or PS3 and everything else, people will soon be able to stream their gaming sessions and be able to play with their friends on their phones.

The only problem with this is, how will this impact the youth of today? Will we see this as a problem or could we see this as an opportunity for something where a person feels like taking 5 minutes of their hard working lives to quickly shoot off onto their phone and play their favourite MMO without having to worry about a graphics card or how much space they have left on their phone to do this.

I feel as this is a new way of improving the way we look at gaming in general, and take a look around to admire the brilliant minds that have come up with this fantastic way of improving the fun we want to have with our friends, just by simply logging onto a server and streaming your games.

There is another problem we face here in SA with the resources we have and the Telco sector that is going no where slowly, how long will it be before we can have something as great as this? How far do we have to go to push for our resources to expand a little bit more. I think that when the time comes and we are given that opportunity to be able to play HDres games on our phones just by using a few resources we already have, I wanna be the first person in line to say I AM A CELLGAMING FANBOI lol.

I have attached a video of this for those who would like to see how greatly this impacts gaming as we know it.

Feel free to comment.
Thanks