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Gaming
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Hamilton wins the Australian GP. Yawn. How interesting. Yawn. Less than a yawn is the almost official fact that Gran Turismo is coming to the Playstation 3. Rather than be hugely disappointed by its non-appearance, as I was by the promised-but-never-seen GT for the PSP, I’ve waited with the purchase of a PS3.
Off course, the Prologue is just that: the demo of the actual game everyone is waiting for. Promised to be available by December 2007, it’s obvious that the Prologue is late to arrive. It is available for purchase. Fan-boys will no doubt buy the Prologue and the actual game too. The final version of the game should be available in late 2008, but who’s holding their breath? The screenshots look good, and if the past franchise is anything to go by, this should be a great racing game. Just depends how much longer we’ll have to wait for the real thing…
DreamChess
There are many open source games available, something most of us don’t consider. Many of these are multi-platform and various genres and categories of open source, free games ensure there’s something for everyone. If chess is your thing, you may want to have a look at DreamChess. DreamChess runs on Linux, Mac and Windows and has the ability to save games in PNG format, undo moves and play sound effects. A reasonable chess engine is supplied, but many XBoard-compatible chess engines may be plugged into DreamChess.
It’s nowhere near as feature-rich as ChessMaster or Fritz, but the basic options for playing chess are provided.
There are various difficulty levels to choose from. These are determined by the chess engine in use.
The greatest pity about the program is the fact that only one view of the board is available. It’s adequate, but it would be nice to pan, zoom and rotate, if only to a limited extent.
With the promise of a network play option to be included in the next release, DreamChess is worth a look.
Text adventure: Pac-Man
You awaken in a large complex, slightly disoriented. Glowing dots hover mouth level near you in every direction. Off in the distance you hear the faint howling of what you can only imagine must be some sort of ghost or several ghosts.
> look
You are in a long corridor. You may go forward or backward and there are glowing dots in every direction. There is a glowing dot hovering near you.
> eat
You have eaten the glowing dot!
> eat
You make a valiant effort to bite in the air, alas there is nothing there.
> forward
You have moved.
> eat
You have eaten another glowing dot!
It’s probably a bit tedious after a while 
Try Pac-Man with a bit of a twist.
Global Race
If you want some action on your S60 3rd Edition device, you could do a lot worse than downloading this gem. Global Race is a racing game, and a fairly decent one at that. The download is available from the Nokia download site itself and runs just fine on the N95, even though it is classified as an application for the heftier E90 Communicator.
Select one of three cars, each with different characteristics, then set off on a variety of tracks.
Races may be run in arcade mode or against a wireless opponent. Controlling the car is surprisingly easy and the controls are more responsive than I would have believed. There’s some decent sound, too. Obviously, the car handles better on tarmac…
…than on snow.
Visit Moscow, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Jakarta all from the comfort of your phone. If you’re fast enough
PSP 2001 details emerging
The Sony PSP model 1000 has been around for some time. A week ago at E3, Sony announced that the updated PlayStation Portable should be available by November of this year. Overall, the new model isn’t all that exciting, with some rather low-key enhancements, in my opinion. From what has been mentioned, the following are the main features the PSP 2001 brings:
- 64mb of RAM instead of 32MB to increase start-up and load performance
- charging via the USB port
- a promised 6 hour runtime off a 1200mAh battery. The current PSP has a 1800mAh battery and has roughly the same uptime
- WLAN switch on top of the unit
It doesn’t seem like much of a change to me. Since the UMD format will remain and there are few modifications to the actual hardware, there’s little reason for an upgrade.
There are some exciting titles coming soon, though. The public availability of God of War: Chains of Olympus in September should provide enough hype and eagerness for the actual release of the title.
Instead of a barely exciting PSP model, why not finally give us that PSP edition of Gran Turismo!
PS3 price cuts
Good news for those, like myself, who haven’t sprung for a new-age console yet. According to both Engadget and News 24, the price of the Sony PS3 will be reduced to bolster sales. Price cuts are expected to be in the region of USD 100, which is about ZAR 700. Not too bad. For a lower price, the Blue-Ray player alone is worth the price of entry, and there are guides on how to get Ubuntu to run on the PS3.
It’s all starting to become a better value proposition…
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
As a break from my usual Ridge Racer addiction on the PSP, I selected a fighter aircraft simulator. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception is another Namco title, so it seems as though I can’t stray too far from the Ridge Racer stable
Visually, Ace Combat X is a treat. In the same way Ridge Racer provides an incredible sensation of speed, Ace Combat X is able to impart the sensation of flight and movement in three dimensions. Thankfully, the controls are fairly easy to master and there is an option to make use of more advanced controls. There are numerous options for game play. I jumped straight into the campaign mode, in which one pilots an aircraft belonging to the Gryphus Squadron of the Federal Republic of Aurelia. There’s a storyline too, so it’s not just about senseless flying about. Pplenty of narration supported by detailed graphics tella the story of the war and provides a great entry point. Missions are planned and plans for attack provided. Given the requisite hardware, you’re ready for action.
You start off as a pilot in an F-4 Phantom with a small selection of weaponry. Most of the missiles are of the fire-and-forget type, but targeting is still required. There’s enemy fire to contend with and a time limit for each mission. A great feature is the ability to follow a missile to its target and watch the ensuing destruction. Or not… After each mission, the number of points earned permit the purchase of additional aircraft and weapons. As missions differ, the right type of aircraft has to be selected to ensure success.
The ultimate goal is to kill the enemy super weapon – the oddly named Gleipnir flying fortress. In between, you will battle air, ground and sea-based targets, both stationary and moving. Ace Combat X is a superb game with a wealth of options and appealing gameplay that should keep all armchair pilots entertained for quite a while.
Ridge Racer 2 for PSP
Ridge Racer is simply my favourite racing game. On the PSP, Ridge Racer kept me entertained for quite some time. Even though I’ve finished all but the last three races of the final tour I still enjoy playing it. News that Ridge Racer 2 is on its way was something to look forward to.
I’ve had Ridge Racer 2 for about two weeks and am already halfway into the second tour. Overall, nothing has changed. That’s both good and bad news: the stunning graphics, sensation of speed and sound effects are all there. But, they’re effectively the same. That’s not great. With only a few new tracks and a couple of new cars, Ridge Racer 2 provides little in the way of innovation. Sure, they’ve included some extra one player options. But these really don’t do much to add to the entertainment value. The lack of network play is disappointing. For someone who has played the first release, there’s really little to look forward to. The additional music tracks and few new tracks are hardly an incentive to purchase an almost identical release. This really should have been titled Ridge Racer 1.5, with an appropriate price tag.
For die-hard Ridge Racer fans it’s certainly worthwhile, as long as you don’t expect something you haven’t already seen. The difficulty level is low for experienced racers: you’ll zip through the first tour in no time flat. For newcomers, skip Ridge Racer and get release 2. That way, you have the same content plus some extras but won’t have to shell out any additional cash. Locally, the title should be available this month some time.
Overall, disappointing from an innovation point of view, but still a great game. 
E-Monopoly
This is not the Zulu or Xhosa version of the popular board game! Hasbro are updating the perennial classic and removing all cash from the game. Instead, players will make use of a debit card with a magnetic strip to keep track of their finances.
In collaboration with Hasbro, Visa designed and specified the debit cards and card machine that is included with the game.
Keep the wife away from this one…and make sure the kids don’t develop the habit of spending plastic too early on.
Free game
Fancy getting a free (well almost) copy of FIFA 06? The latest edition of G.E.A.R magazine is available in two versions – one including the magazine and the other including a DVD and full version of FIFA 06. I haven’t noticed the pack with the game in many stores, so it may be a limited, special edition. I can point you in the direction of CNA, Cresta Center…
The magazine is certainly nothing to write home about. They haven’t even gone to the trouble of updating their website in a while. G.E.A.R is another in a line of publications that has sprung up from the T3 and PCFormat stable.
For R32, a copy of FIFA 06 is not a bad deal, considering the game goes for R191 on kalahari. See the magazine as a freebie that comes with the game
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