Other than a brief stint on NFS Most Wanted, I haven’t really played driving games since Gran Tursimo on PS1. I’m too busy shooting people and trying not to get shot. However there’s only so long you can do that (5 years, 5+ hours a day) before you have to branch out again. I was fixing a customers 360 recently when I put NFS Shift in to ‘test’ it out. After about 10 minutes I was hooked and took home a copy for the PS3 (is it just me or does the 360 version play better?) and now MW2 has a serious contender for my time.

You race through 4 tiers of increasing difficulty until you reach the NFS World Tour (just reached it) and get to upgrade your car along the way. It’s pretty tough and exciting at first as you try to raise as much cash as possible until you get the car of your dreams. I now have a Lambo Murciélago LP640 and wouldn’t thank you for anything else, that includes the Bugatti and the Zonda’s. The excitement doesn’t end there though as you still have the online play and although I thought I was pretty good (due to the fact I was smashing all the times of everyone on my friends list) I quickly got my ass handed to me! However with a bit of tactic change I’m starting to win. A bit more practice and I may put out a challenge to you guys with perhaps a prize if you beat me?

I’ve been playing this for about a week now and it’s still holding my attention – I’m just wondering how much longer it will continue to do so. Any guesses?

The question is, are you willing to pay this? Not sure? Let me answer for you… yes! yes you are. As we’ve all shown we’ll pay a higher retail price for the original game and will then pay well over a tenner each time they bring some new maps out. Some of us will complain, others of us will curse but all of us will pay. Sooner or later we’ll all pay (Kotick rubs his hands together like Mr Burns… Exxxxxxccccellent

Could you imagine new DLC on a regular basis? Higher Prestige levels? I’m wetting myself just thinking about it. Another option may be to introduce micro-transactions… sick of getting your ass handed to you by 12 year old American boys? Why not dip in to your real life wallet and buy a grenade belt to hold 12 grenades instead of two? That way you can live your real life online and your pretend life at the office or school.

The leagues will be starting this Sunday – 11am for the PS3 and 12 lunchtime for the Xbox 360. The leagues will run for 16 weeks and the winners will receive a cash prize of £100 each with the people getting the most kills on either platform getting £50 each. There will also be a cash prize of £10 each week for the winner on each platform.

Although we’ve got quite a few people signed up I’ve got a feeling that not everyone will turn up to begin with so I’d advise you to get there for the first week and you’ve got a better chance than someone starting half way through.

We’ll be playing free-for-all on the original maps with no kill streaks (can’t have someone nukin’ the place up half way through the game). If you’ve joined the league and you haven’t already received a friend request then you will receive one shortly. You’ll be invited into a private match so make sure you’re online!

Luckily Unblock Me is exactly that, simple and fun to get into. The object of each level (400 levels in the free version) is to get the red block from the left of the screen to the opening on the right by moving the blocks around it. The blocks around it can only more along one plane, i.e. along their length, so a little bit of rubix cube style, lateral thinking is sometimes needed – though nothing heavy.

Absolutely great little game, very addictive and FREE. If you’re looking for a game to play or have never gamed on your phone before give this a try – you might be surprised.

Sleek New Design
A bold design and the glossy, black finish means that the new Xbox 360 looks every bit as good as it performs. (Apparently the red ring warning system has been removed)

250 GB Hard Drive
The massive hard drive is perfect for downloading and storing HD films, games, game add-ons, music and more.2

Built-In Wi-Fi
Simply connect to Xbox LIVE, play with friends all over the world and experience a world of entertainment.3

Whisper Quiet
The new Xbox 360 runs whisper quiet, allowing you to play games and watch films without interference

Experience a World of Entertainment
Total entertainment has never looked so good. Xbox 360 offers the largest library of games for every skill and style, plus HD films and TV.

Is anyone going to get one of these and if so why?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO10_IbDUBU

Admittedly it’s been a while since Mario graced any of my screens or consoles and perhaps that’s because I don’t own a Wii and my girlfriend’s DS is rarely used but looking at this trailer makes me think I’ll need to ‘test’ a copy when it comes in next week.

Part of me gets this, I really do, as publishers don’t see a penny each time us greedy retailers resell one of their games and for a long time I’ve been mulling over the idea of paying publishers a fee or percentage each time we sell a preowned game. However that would never really happen as most retailers would never agree to that and there would be too many complications in working it out – like what happens with situations when customers trade in a load of old football and wrestling games for a new title. Those games sit on a retailers shelves for a long time and perhaps never sell so the retailer would be paying a fee on a payment they’d most likely never receive.

So lets just say that publishers have it right and that they’re taking their cut by force to save us the bother of paying them directly. What then bothers me is that publishers are changing a long long long long long tradition in their favour and are giving nothing in return. Is UFC Undisputed 2010 being released any cheaper in light of the extra profits they’ll make through this venture? No, it’s not. Perhaps publishers will argue that they don’t know if they’ll make any extra profits so can’t drop the price. Fine, but will they then drop the price of their next release based upon extra profits taken from this one? No, they will not.

The whole top and bottom of this is that publishers are greedy and will ultimately harm the industry through their behaviour. When you’re in a take take relationship something has to give and personally I think it will be interesting to see how this all pans out.