Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 PS 3 Review

Tiger Woods 09 PS3 Review

Tiger Woods 08's touchy controls, iffy online play, and a general lack of
new content made for one disappointing game. But just as Tiger didn't let torn ligaments and a broken leg keep him from winning the US Open, EA Sports hasn't used the short development cycle associated with yearly games as an excuse. Instead, it has worked to make the controls more user-friendly and further integrated the online gamernet feature. The result is a game that's worthy of carrying the Tiger Woods name.

Tiger Woods 09's controls aren't vastly different from TW 08, but they're much more forgiving. You start your swing by pulling back on the analog stick and then strike the ball by moving the stick forward. A more traditional three-button-press option is available at any time by clicking the right analog stick. Last year, the slightest deviation left or right during your swing would result in a terrible shot, particularly if you were using a golfer with low skill attributes. This year, not only are you punished less severely if your swing isn't perfect, but you also get instant feedback via an onscreen meter that shows exactly how you moved the stick. By monitoring this feedback, you can learn how to straighten your swing or compensate for your natural swing by adjusting your aim or by adding a draw or fade to the ball with the press of a button

The addition of Tiger's own coach Hank Haney to TW 09 makes hitting the ball easier as well. You can now head to the driving range and adjust each of your clubs to best suit your playing style. For example, if you're struggling for accuracy off the tee, you can increase the sweet spot on your driver. This will help ensure that your drives stay on the fairway, but you'll sacrifice some distance. This level of customization is often intimidating in sports games, but here, the process is simple and worthwhile.
TW 09 includes 16 golf courses, which is the same number as last year. New courses include Wentworth, Sheshan, Wolf Creek, and Bay Hill. The Gary Player Country Club in South Africa is an excellent addition to the mix, but it's disappointing that there aren't more courses--especially when you consider how quick EA was to charge for downloadable courses in 08. The roster of male and female professional golfers is about the same as before, but there are a few new faces, such as Se Ri Pak and Darren Clarke. Like previous iterations, you can create a golfer using the game's deep customization tools, and you can even import your own photos to make a truly lifelike version of your mug (you can even add eyebrows this year).
Money is earned by playing on the PGA Tour or by completing events, such as beating golfers head-to-head, driving the ball a certain number of yards, getting a particular score on a group of holes, and more in the Tiger Challenge mode. Cash can then be used to buy new gear, some of which carries a small skill bonus. Unlike in the past, you'll actually have to earn most of your attributes on the links with the new dynamic skill-progression feature. After each round (and most challenges), coach Haney will raise or lower your driving, accuracy, short game, and putting attributes based on your performance. Rather than punish you for playing poorly (though he still does that), Haney gives you the chance to earn a few points back with brief challenges where you try to hit the ball into a large circular target. The new system isn't perfect--sometimes Haney will tell you to drive into bushes, put you in an impossible lie, or lower your putting attributes even when you set a course record--but it's a great way of making character progression feel organic.

No dramatic changes have been made with regards to online play, but a few tweaks and additions go a long way. The most notable change is that you can now play with up to three other people at the same time online. Being able to all hit at the same time really speeds things up, even if the colored trails that show other players' balls are sometimes distracting. With the gamernet feature, you can quickly upload a shot, hole, front or back nine, and even a whole round with the press of a button. You then are able to go online and play a nearly endless stream of challenges. You'll have to filter through some ridiculously easy and impossibly difficult shots for the best experience, but even if you don't feel like searching, you can still enjoy the feature thanks to periodic challenges (long drives, closest to the pin) that pop up during single-player rounds. Last year's game had a ton of problems when it came to playing online, downloading photos, and uploading gamernet clips, but so far, all of TW 09's online features work great.

Friendly controls and excellent courses, as well as a plethora of challenges and game modes, make for outstanding gameplay, but there are a few areas that could have been better. Putting is still a bit easy, although you are punished a bit more than before if you go left or right with the stick. For some unknown reason, you still can't skip the turns of CPU golfers, which makes head-to-head play take forever--especially if the AI can't figure out how to get around a tree, which happens from time to time. Courses and golfers generally look fantastic (especially the water, which is gorgeous), but nonexistent preswing-to-swing transitions and some glitchy load screens are unsightly. A new announcing team takes to the microphones this year, but it's about as dull as its predecessors and will lull you to sleep in a hurry. You're better off just listening to the game's soundtrack, which is excellent.
The real-time swing meter, club tuner, and advice of Hank Haney make getting the perfect swing easier than ever. Dynamic skill progression, while not perfect, is a welcome addition; not only because a new system was needed, but also because it makes every swing important--even if you're winning or losing by 10 strokes. Some more courses would have been nice, but otherwise, there's very little not to like with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. It's amazing how a few small changes can make a game so much better.

By Aaron Thomas, GameSpotPosted Aug 26, 2008 6:57 pm PT

Diablo 3 Interview with Jay Wilson

Interview with Jay Wilson about Diablo 3

Jay Wilson - portly, laconic, in a black Diablo t-shirt, in a black briefing room, in Activision Blizzard's black business suite at the Games Convention - is in Leipzig to talk about the game he left Relic Entertainment and joined Blizzard to make. At Relic he worked on fan favourite Dawn of War and critic's favourite Company of Heroes, but he's jumped from RTS to action-RPG now, as the lead designer on Diablo III. As we saw at its June unveiling, it's a sumptuous, visceral update, whose traditional isometric camera belies some deceptively subtle twists in its design - all of which has been overshadowed by the fan-created brouhaha over its brighter art style. We sat down with Wilson to find out how he goes about making the old new, and the new old again.

Eurogamer: You've come fairly recently from outside Blizzard to work on a quintessential Blizzard game. Is that intimidating?

Jay Wilson: Yes, it was very intimidating. It's funny, when I first arrived, they had somebody they were trying to hire and he was really nervous about it, he wasn't sure if he was good enough to be working at Blizzard. And they were like: if we're trying to hire him, of course he's good enough. If you knew their interview process you would know that he must be.
For me, when I first interviewed with Blizzard, I was just trying to get information about how Blizzard worked. I wasn't actually trying to get a job, because I didn't think they would hire me. So yeah, it was intimidating to come in and work there and take over something like Diablo which is so precious to me. On the other hand, I would have hated to see somebody else take it over and not do it right, or I would have hated to see it not get made. So it felt like this weird sense of, almost, responsibility - like I needed to go do it because maybe somebody else wouldn't.

Eurogamer: You're a fan of the Diablo games?
Jay Wilson: As my wife likes to joke, Diablo was always said in hushed tones in my house. I remember seeing the first ad for Diablo on the back of the Warcraft II CD and thinking 'what is that?', and wanting to play it so bad. I was at day one for Diablo and Diablo II and [Diablo II expansion] Lord of Destruction, and I took days off of work for each one of them. At this point I think I've taken pretty much every class to Hell difficulty in Diablo II, and a few of them I've capped out. I only did one Hardcore character and I lost her, it was a Sorceress. I was grieving. Couldn't do it again, it was so painful.

Eurogamer: Notwithstanding your affection for them, was there stuff about those games that you wanted to fix?
Jay Wilson: Uh-huh, yeah, there's a lot of things, and I think a lot of those are evident in what we showed at WWI. I look at the Diablo series as an interesting mix of an action game and a role-playing game; and I felt that as a role-playing game, it really sold itself short, and as an action game, it really sold itself short. What it did right was the addiction, the drops. But as an action game, we really felt that it lacked some things. You have a character class that has endless health, endless resource, they can run faster than almost anything in the world. When you combine speed with endless power and endless health, really, the only way you can challenge that player is to kill them. And you see that with Diablo II - you'll be running through the game having a great time and all of a sudden something will walk up and just step on you. That's the only time the game ever feels challenging. But that's also the time when you're most likely to lose the player, with such harsh penalties. So a lot of our focus has been, can we set the game up so that we can have a higher barometer of challenge for the player without making the early game hard?

So we rein that [health] system in, and having basically a little bit more challenge to recover health means that we don't need to make the monsters as gruelling - which is a good thing, but also means that a monster that can pin you down or slow you down or trap you in some way is suddenly way more threatening, even if he doesn't do as much damage. We've tried to get away from damage as the big scary thing; we've tried to get towards restricted movement, and having a health system that actually plays into placement, where where you're standing makes a difference. That really opens things up.

From www.eurogamer.net

Buy Cheap Karat Platinum Murano Glass Slider Pendant w/ Singapore Chain, 18"

Karat Platinum Murano Glass Slider Pendant w/ Singapore Chain, 18"

Editorial Reviews
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A 13mm ball of shimmering aqua-blue Italian Murano glass slides along a 585 platinum Singapore chain in this exquisite pendant. This unique piece is infused with pure platinum leaf allowing the rich luster of platinum to shine through. Its silvery aqua color draws the eye, and its simple design really brings out the beauty of both the glass and the chain. The slender 18-inch Singapore twist chain is crafted in Karat Platinum™. Made from a combination of 58.5% platinum and other alloys, this metal has a look and feel that's indistinguishable from conventional platinum, with the same rich luster, beauty, and durability. Like conventional platinum, Karat Platinum™ is also hypoallergenic and ideal for those with sensitive skin.

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Grand spectacle closes Beijing's Olympics

Olympics 2008 Closing Ceremony

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Grand fireworks and spectacular choreography brought to a close the Beijing Games Sunday as one of the most remarkable Olympics in recent history were declared at an end.

Fireworks across China's capital as a crowd of more than 90,000 at the landmark "Bird's Nest" National Stadium watched the pyrotechnics.
The ceremony marked a climax to a Games that has delivered many world-breaking sporting performances and redefined the international image of the communist nation.
"Tonight, we come to the end of 16 glorious days which we will cherish forever," IOC President Jacques Rogge said.
"Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world."

"These were truly exceptional games," he said, declaring them formally closed.
Joining the sportsmen and women at the event were a delegation from London, host of the 2012 Summer Games, including soccer star David Beckham who rode into the stadium on a red double-decker bus. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was also in attendance while London's mayor, Boris Johnson received the Olympic flag from Beijing Mayor Go Jinlong. Watch preparations under way in London »

China had invested more than $40 billion in the games, which it viewed as a chance to show the world its dramatic economic progress. Unlike previous Summer Olympics, logistics appeared to run smoothly for the Games.
Also impressive was the emergence of a new world sporting superpower -- the host nation. China, which won its first Summer Olympic gold medal in 1984, clinched first place in the gold medal standings long before the final hours of sporting competition came to a close. The United States led the overall Medals table.

Other spectacular sporting accomplishments were recorded at the Beijing Olympics: U.S.swimmer Michael Phelps became the face of the Games, winning a record eight Olympic gold medals in a single Games. See a timeline of daily highlights » Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won three golds -- in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay. Watch a gallery of Olympic moments » However, questions and criticism remained about China's stance on free speech and political protest. Objections were raised over certain Web sites being blocked. And although Chinese organizers had created designated "protest zones," people allowed to protest appeared non-existent.

Demonstrators at unauthorized protests were detained. On the final weekend of the Olympics, U.S. diplomatic officials raised concern to Beijing over eight Americans arrested the previous week for planning or staging protests.Nother shadow was cast during the opening weekend when grisly attack at a Beijing tourist site saw U.S. volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law fatally stabbed by a Chinese man who then committed suicide. Watch as two elderly Chinese women face detention »

Worries over pollution and its impact on athletes seemed to fade away. Distance running events ran smoothly, and while the air was thick with smog on many days during the Games, foreign media did not report widespread health concerns by the tens of thousands of foreigners attending the Games.

Celebrity Makeup Artist Paul Starr Found Dead in his apartment

Celebrity Makeup Artist Paul Starr Found Dead in his apartment

Make-up artist to the stars, Paul Starr, was found dead Tuesday in his Los Angeles apartment, Women's Wear Daily reports. The cause of death is unknown. Starr's body was discovered after knocks at his residence went unanswered, and authorities reportedly broke the door down. A friend tells the daily that the make-up artist had been out of sight for several days.
According to his web site, Starr has worked with celebs Madonna, Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani.

Source: www.etonline.com

Woods, Nishita Shah among Forbes' next-gen billionaires list

Woods, Nishita Shah among Forbes' next-gen billionaires list

India origin Nishita Shah, the managing director of Thailand’s diversified GP Group and Or 32 year old Tiger Woods have made their way into the list of next generation billionaires compiled by American US business magazine Forbes.

Nishita Shah Next Generation Billionaires28 years old Nishita Shah is one of the richest people in Thailand. Nishita Shah and her family had earlier featured in the Forbes ‘Thailand’s 40 Richest’ People ranking with an estimated her net worth at $375 million in last month. Nishita Shah is planning her upcoming fashion line.
American magazine said “the average age of the 1,125 people on Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest is 61.” magazine said for Tiger Woods “When the golf champion returns to the links from a knee injury, he’ll continue a financial rise that could crown him the first billionaire to make his money through sports.”
Other names in the list are Elon Musk (37 years old), who is the co-founder of online payment processor PayPal, Kenji Kasahara (32 years), the creator of Japan’s leading portal Mixi, venture capitalist Roelof Botha (34 years), Chase Coleman (33 years), who runs Tiger Global fund, Michael and Xochi Birch, the founders of social networking site Bebo and Hollywood actor Tyler Perry (38 years).

By: Gary Singer

Abdirahman Runs in Memory of His Best Friend (Ryan Shay)

CHARLEVOIX — That Ryan Shay would be honored by a mile race must seem fitting to some area track fans, who recall his high school battle with Charlevoix’s John Bush in the Buckmaster 1600-meter run at Petoskey’s Curtis Field in the mid 1990s.That was one of the rare races Shay didn’t win, as he was a four-time cross country state champion and six-time track state champion at Central Lake, and a nine-time All-American at Notre Dame.Shay, then 28, died last November from a heart attack during the Olympic marathon trial in New York City. A select field — 10 runners in the men’s race, 11 in the women’s — gathered for the first Ryan Shay Mile, to compete in the sport its namesake gave his life to, Saturday in downtown Charlevoix.Grant Robison of East Lansing won the men’s road race in 4 minutes 3.2 seconds, while Dot McMahan of Rochester Hills was first in the women’s race with a time of 4:35

“In 2005, I was a teammate of Ryan’s on the half-marathon national team,” McMahan said. “I remember what an intense competitor he was. This is a great way to honor him. It was a fun race.”McMahan, an 800-meter runner at Wisconsin-Milwaukee who now does distance for elite Detroit-area running club Hanson-Brooks, took home $1,000 for winning the race, plus $250 for leading at the halfway point.“I haven’t been running middle distance, but I got off to a nice start, then the last quarter mile was downhill,” McMahan said. “In a mile race, you just do what you can.”Former Grand Valley State star Mandi Zemba was second in the women’s race in 4:37.55, followed by former Arizona State runner Desi Davilla, 4:42.31; former Michigan State runner Lisa Senakiewicz of Davison, 4:47.30; and Andrea Parker of Livonia who ran at the University of Michigan, 4:49.15.Second in the men’s race was Jeremy Doherty of Missouri, 4:04.21, followed by Ben Rosario of Missouri, 4:06.98; Derek Scott of Indiana, 4:07.77; and Clint Verran of Hanson-Brooks, 4:08.96. Rondell Ruff was the half-mile leader.“Rondell took it out pretty fast, and then by the three-quarters mark there was a group of three of us up front,” said Robison, a 2004 Olympian and 1,500-meter NCAA champion at Stanford. “Then I just started sprinting with all I had.”Robison had competed almost solely on the track during the spring, so a road race took a little adjusting.“The biggest difference is on the track, you always know where you are,” Robison said. “In a road race, even though there were quarter-mile markers, you don’t have as accurate a pace. And, there are no spikes.”Also on Saturday, Stephan Shay, Ryan’s younger brother, who runs for BYU, won the Jeff Drenth Memorial 10K in 31:23. Justin Zanotti was second, 32:22, and Tyler Noble third, 35:18. Andrea Osika was the women’s winner, in 42:19.Stephen Fuelling of Milford won the Drenth 5K, in 16:30. Ben Wynsma was second, 16:38, and Tecumseh Adams of Harbor Springs third, 17:02. Ashley Casevant was first among women, 18:15

Canon Pixma iP4500 Photo Inkjet Printer Review

Canon's PIXMA MP600 has been the mainstay of its all-in-one range, so it'll be a hard act for the newly introduced PIXMA MP610 to follow. Both machines are intended for the small and home office markets, as colour all-in-ones for printing plain paper pages and photographs.

The MP610 continues the look of its predecessor; a sort of irregular octagon in black and silver, with elongated sides at front and rear. At the back is a near-vertical, 150-sheet paper feed tray and there's a separate paper cassette, again 150-sheet capacity, which slots in underneath from the front. The front cover folds down to make a paper-out tray and there's a CD/DVD carrier which can also be slotted in - though it's a bit fiddly - once an internal flap's been lowered.

A 62mm LCD folds up from the front lip of the scanner lid so you can view photo thumbnails from any memory card; there are slots behind a cover to the right of the output tray for all formats except xD, an odd omission. The control panel the LCD display reveals uses Canon's intuitive, rotating finger-disc for selecting menu options and there are context-sensitive function keys, too.

This multifunction printer, scanner and copier connects to mains power and a PC via a USB connection at the back, so there's very little difference from the MP600, so far. There are worthwhile improvements, though. For a start, the optical scan resolution has been increased fourfold from 2,400 x 4,800ppi (pixels per inch) to 4,800 x 9,600ppi. Then there's Auto-Image Fix, which can correct for brightness, contrast and saturation in images you load and print directly.

The MP610 comes with a good suite of software, including PhotoStudio and OmniPage, and prints commendably quickly in most modes. A five-page text document took just over half a minute and, although we couldn't match Canon's claim for a borderless 15 x 10cm photo in 21 seconds, we did manage just under 40 seconds in standard mode, which is still good. The only fly in the speed ointment is the machine's duplex speed. Our double-sided print test took nearly nine minutes, due to enforced drying time between sides.

Print costs are reasonable, at around 1.8p for a black ISO page and 5p for a colour one, and print quality is excellent on both plain paper and in photos. There's plenty of image detail and colours are both natural and vivid when you need them to be. The device has separate black inks, tailored to text and photo prints

Canon - PIXMA MP610 features - Verdict
While there's not a huge difference between Canon's PIXMA MP610 and the MP600 it replaced, the increased resolution in the scanner and improved automatic photo fixing are both welcome. Canon's range of all-in-ones remains one of the best on the market and the well-priced MP610 takes its place well.

Michael Phelps Wins Record-Breaking 8th Gold Medal at Beijing Games

BEIJING — Cheering from the pool deck, Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games on Sunday to become the grandest of Olympic champions.

Jason Lezak held on to the lead Phelps gave him, anchoring the United States to a world record in the 400-meter medley relay against an Australian team that did its best to spoil history.

But Phelps, with a big hand from three teammates, would not be denied. He eclipsed Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games, an iconic performance that was surpassed by a swimmer fitting of this generation: a 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves hip-hop music and texting with his buddies.

Click here for photos.

"I don't even know what to feel right now," Phelps said. "There's so much emotions going through my head and so much excitement. I kind of just want to see my mom."

Debbie Phelps was sitting in the stands at the Water Cube, tears streaming down her cheeks, her two daughters sitting with her.

Even though the Americans have never lost the medley relay at the Olympics, the latest gold was hardly a breeze. When Phelps dived into the water for the butterfly — the third of four legs — the Americans were third behind Japan and Australia

But Phelps, swimming the same distance and stroke that he used to win his seventh gold a day earlier, powered back to the front on his return lap, passing off to Lezak with the Americans in front.

Phelps has lived and trained in Ann Arbor, Mich. in recent years.

Australia's Eamon Sullivan tried to chase Lezak down and appeared to be gaining as they came to the wall. But Lezak touched in 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds — Phelps' seventh world record in his personal Great Haul of China.

The Aussies took silver in 3:30.04, also under the old world record, while Japan held on for the bronze.

"Nothing is impossible," Phelps said. "With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination, and that's something I learned and something that helped me."

Phelps patted breaststroker Brendan Hansen on the head and threw his arms in the air after Lezak finished, though the Americans still had to wait a couple of tantalizing minutes for the official results to be posted. Aaron Peirsol swam the leadoff leg for the Americans.

Finally, it flashed on the board.

World record.

Gold medal No. 8.

On deck, a beaming Phelps slapped hands with his teammates and thrust his arms toward the Water Cube roof. The winning swimmers locked arms as if they were in a football huddle about to break for a play.

Phelps, meanwhile, couldn't stop smiling.

"Without the help of my teammates this isn't possible," said Phelps, who won five individual races and three relays in Beijing.

"I was able to be a part of three relays and we were able to put up a solid team effort and we came together as one unit," he said. "For the three Olympics I've been a part of, this is by far the closest men's team that we've ever had. I didn't know everybody coming into this Olympics, but I feel going out I know every single person very well. The team that we had is the difference."

Source: Foxnews.com

Georgia men defend Bigfoot body claims from CNN news

(CNN) -- A pair of Georgia men faced more than a half-hour of skeptical questions from reporters Friday as they defended their claim that they stumbled upon the body of Bigfoot while hiking in a remote North Georgia forest.

3 of 3 Introduced by a publicist and beside a man who promoted what turned out to be a fake Bigfoot discovery in 1995, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer repeatedly said that their claim is not a hoax and that scientific analysis will prove it.

"We were not looking for Bigfoot. ... We wouldn't know what we were doing if we did," said Whitton, a police officer on leave after being shot in the hand while making an arrest. "I didn't believe in Bigfoot at the time. ... But you've got to come to terms with it and realize you've got something special. And that's what it was."

The men say they were hiking in early June when they discovered the body of a 7-foot-7, 500-pound half-ape, half-human creature near a stream. They also claim to have spotted about three similar living creatures -- and showed reporters video stills of what they say is one of those creatures shadowing them through the woods. Watch report of scientist skeptical of Bigfoot claim »

The announcement, which the men first made on the Internet radio show "Squatch Detective" several weeks ago, has been greeted with healthy skepticism, even among some Bigfoot enthusiasts.

Scientists, including the head of North Georgia College and State University's biology department, have said it's unlikely a tribe of 7-foot-tall creatures would have avoided discovery in a region popular among hikers, hunters and vacationers.

Several Web sites have popped up questioning the claim and comparing a photo that the men say is the creature's body inside a freezer to a widely available Bigfoot costume.

On Friday, Whitton acknowledged creating a pair of videos posted on the Internet video site YouTube, one in which his brother poses as a scientist and another in which Whitton briefly seems to admit that the body is a fake.

"It seems that the stalkers have busted us in a hoax," he says in the video. But then adds, "we still have a corpse. We just wanted to give you something to do for the weekend."

At Friday's news conference, Whitton first said that no video existed in which he calls the discovery a hoax.

But after speaking to Tom Biscardi, the self-described "Real Bigfoot Hunter" who has been searching for the creature of legend since 1971, he said the video was made "to have a little fun with it" and was originally intended to throw off the "psychos" who had stalked him and his family since the men first made their claim.

The two also promoted a Web site registered to Whitton on June 16 and said they plan to write a book about their experience.

Friday's news conference was held in Palo Alto, California, near the home of Biscardi. About 100 reporters and onlookers attended the event, in a hotel banquet room, including a man who shouted questions while wearing a gorilla suit.

Dyer and Whitton said they were carrying a video camera during their hike to film wildlife.

They said they handed the body over to Biscardi, who is keeping it at an undisclosed location until a team of scientists can examine it.

One of the two photographs the men gave to reporters Friday showed what appears to be the creature's mouth, an effort to disprove allegations that what's in the photo is a costume.

"I want to get to the bottom of it," Biscardi said. "I'll tell you what I've seen and what I've touched and what I've felt, what I've prodded was not a mask sewed onto a bear hide, OK?"

Biscardi acknowledged that he promoted a fake Bigfoot discovery in 1995, saying the woman who claimed to have the body convinced his staff members before he visited her and discovered that she was mentally

Alleged Bigfoot sightings have surfaced from time to time for years, dating to at least the 1800s. The most famous was the so-called Patterson film from 1967, which is purported to show a tall, furry, apelike creature walking along, at one point looking over its shoulder at the videographer.

Most scientists who have studied the film say there's no way to authenticate it, and many say the creature appears to be a man in a costume

Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Preview by Gamespot

First look at Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Preview by gamespot.com

It's been quite a while since we last checked on the Command & Conquer: Red Alert games, but maybe the time is right for a new chapter. The classic formula of real-time strategy games is built on harvesting resources, constructing a base, and churning out armies to crush your opponents before they can do the same, but this unusual strategy series was built around an alternate history. This is a world in which the so-called Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States never ended, and in which all the potential of experimental technology from that era, from the Manhattan Project to Tesla coils, was actually realized as devastating (and in some cases, fantastical) weapons on the battlefield. The series is set to return with Red Alert 3, a new game built on the modern Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars engine, but with all the over-the-top enthusiasm of a summer blockbuster popcorn movie. We recently had a chance to take a look at the game in motion.

Like with the previous games in the series, Red Alert 3 will take place during the extended Cold War--in this case, just after the Soviet assassination of one Albert Einstein by means of the recently discovered technology of limited time travel. Yes, time travel. As lead producer Chris Corry explains, the Red Alert universe is much more of a humorous and playful place, perhaps because all of the outlandish technology that was being researched at the time seemed plausible. What if time machines had worked? And if they did, why not circus cannons that launch armored, parachuting bears over walls into enemy territory? No, we're not making that up. Yes, parachuting bears are actually in the game, and they're supposed to be very powerful units, because they are bears, after all.
Along with the bears will come more than an hour's worth of full-motion video cinematics featuring the kind of Hollywood talent you might expect from a C&C game. Considering the setting of the game this time around, the actors (who have not been revealed yet) may be given a little extra leeway to chew the scenery a bit, along with a colorful look and feel that's suitable for the game's lighthearted tone.
Yet although the game will attempt to maintain its ties to classic C&C conventions such as full-motion video cutscenes and the "fast, fluid" style of gameplay that characterized Command & Conquer 3, Red Alert 3 will still be going in some very different directions. For starters, the conflict will no longer be confined to a two-sided war between the armies of the Allies and the Soviet forces. Yes, Red Alert will now have a third playable faction: the Empire of the Rising Sun, a faction inspired by World War II Japan, which we saw in action briefly. In addition, the game will not only feature a full campaign and competitive multiplayer, but also a cooperative mode that will let you play through the game with either computer-controlled allies or a human friend.

The game will also feature a tweaked pace that perhaps won't end as quickly as some top-level matches of Command & Conquer 3 do, perhaps to let players explore more strategic options and get a chance to research the most powerful military units and superweapons at the very top of the line. In addition, you'll probably need a little extra time for exploring, given that Red Alert 3 will also distinguish itself from most other real-time strategy games by having a highly integrated naval game. Interestingly, the naval game will be crucial to victory in Red Alert 3. Not only will the game feature units that are seafaring-only as well as amphibious (can operate on either land or water), but it'll also include resource nodes in water and will even let you build bases in water. As such, if you decide to not get your feet wet, your opponents may be able to develop larger and richer holdings than you by seizing water-bound resources, and you may not even be able to reach your enemies to attack their base if they're out in the water and all you have are land-bound tanks.
We were able to watch a brief demonstration that showed the kind of back-and-forth gameplay you'll see in a typical match. It began with Soviet forces using a standard MCV (mobile construction vehicle) attempting to build up a small, landlocked base. The Soviets will apparently be able to develop new bases very quickly, but their unfinished structures will be especially vulnerable to damage while they're still being built. We watched the Soviets build a refinery to harvest a nearby resource node, as well as a handful of energy generators, and then move on to an infantry barracks. The barracks were used to commission the infamous C&C engineer unit, which has the ability to seize buildings. In Red Alert 3, the engineer unit is also equipped with an amphibious raft. The engineer hopped into the nearby water to take control of a lighthouse on a small island, and control of this structure opened up a massive line of sight that revealed a huge enemy installation. The Soviet faction then built a handful of sickles, which are mechanical walker units with antipersonnel armaments, though these units were quickly plastered by allied air units that bombed out the base.
Undaunted, the Soviets rebuilt their base, this time churning out bullfrog walkers with antiair flak cannons that shredded the returning Allied flyers. What followed was a constant back-and-forth struggle as land, air, and sea units from all three factions took each other on in a grand game of rock-paper-scissors--a balance philosophy that will clearly be at the heart of the game's unit design. We watched as antiair vehicles took down flyers, while getting trashed by antivehicle units, only to be bombed back into the stone age by naval destroyer ships. The remaining units on each side got mopped up by huge King Oni mechs from the new Empire faction, which we saw very little of otherwise.

Interestingly, Red Alert 3 will also feature multiple terrain heights. Units on high ground will enjoy a tactical advantage in terms of line of sight and offensive advantage, whereas units on low ground won't even be able to see their elevated enemies. This makes leaping units such as the Soviet bullfrog walkers extremely useful, as well as the aforementioned parachuting bears--who will, incidentally, be vulnerable to antiair fire while they're falling from the sky.
It's clear from what we've seen that Red Alert 3 won't exactly offer the kind of buttoned-down, deadly serious experience you might have seen in other, more straightforward strategy games, but it should still clearly offer plenty of strategic depth, especially given the new naval gameplay. Even in its early state, the game looks excellent visually and has a bright, colorful appearance that works well with its humorous tone and over-the-top units. Keep an eye on GameSpot for more updates as we approach the game's release later this year.

PRE ORDER COMMAND & CONQUER RED ALERT 3 HERE

At-A-Glance 76-11-05 Quicknotes School Yr Appt Book Ruled 1 Wk/Spread w/Hrly Appts, 8 x10, Black

At-A-Glance 76-11-05 Quicknotes School Yr Appt Book Ruled 1 Wk/Spread w/Hrly Appts, 8 x10, Black

Product Description

Quicknotes Schol Yr Appt Book Ruled 1 Wk/Spread w/Hrly Appts, 8 x10, BlackMonthly overview for long-range planning Yellow highlighted QuickNotes® section on each spread for priority data Julian dates Telephone/Address section 5-month calendar reference blocks on weekly spread and 8-month on tabbed monthly overview. Binding: Wirebound; Construction Material: N\A; Calendar Term: N\A; Closure: N\A. - AAG 761105, AAG-761105, AAG, 761105 - 0.834 lbs

Quicknotes Schol Yr Appt Book Ruled 1 Wk

Product Details

• Color: Black
• Brand: At-A-Glance
• Model: 761105
• Dimensions: .85 pounds

Features

• QuickNotes® Weekly/Monthly Appointment Book, Hourly Ruled, One Week Spread.
• Monthly overview for long-range planning. Yellow highlighted QuickNotes® section each spread for priority data.
• Monthly overview for long-range planning.
• Yellow highlighted QuickNotes® section on each spread for priority data.
• Julian dates.
• Quicknotes Schol Yr Appt Book Ruled 1 Wk contains telephone/Address section.

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Boom Blox (Nintendo Wii) Review

Product Description

Fun for kids and the entire family, BOOM BLOX offers action-packed interactive activities that takes Wii play to a new level of creativity and fun with single player, co-op, and versus gameplay. Players can explore the visceral gameplay that keeps them destroying their way through brain-twisting challenges. They can interact with entertaining characters such as the Blox-laying chickens or the baseball-throwing monkeys, who bring personality to the Tiki, Medieval, Frontier, and Haunted themed environments. Additionally, players can remix any level of the game in Create Mode using props, blocks, or characters that have been unlocked during the game. Players can also virtually build anything they can dream up. Plus, their designs can then be shared with friends or used to challenge others to solve their newly created puzzle via WiiConnect24.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2008-05-06
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Dimensions: 2.00 pounds

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Limited Two-Disc Edition w/ Deatheater Mask and Collectible Art) Review

Product Description

Harry Potter is back in the fifth installment of J.K. Rowling's hugely successful series! This limited edition set includes the 2-disc widescreen version of the film, plus an EXCLUSIVE "Deatheater Mask" Replica in a special oversize package, plus limited edition art! An awesome collectable for any Harry Potter fan!