Category / Editorial

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

E3: The Preview

E3 is just around the corner, so we thought we’d give you a peek at some of the stuff that we’re looking forward to this week.

The Last of Us

The Last of Us is the latest title from Naughty Dog, famous for the Uncharted and Jak & Daxter games. This PS3 exclusive is set in a post-pandemic world destroyed by a plague, and players take control of Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave young girl, as they try to survive across America. Think Dead Island but better.


Tomb Raider

Lara Croft is back, and she’s determined to get her crown back as queen of action games.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Dawnguard

Skyrim came out late last year to almost universal acclaim, including our own game of the year award. Now, Bethesda is set to give us more information about the recently-announced Dawnguard DLC.

Lego Lord of the Rings

Lego games are always awesome, and the minifgure take on Lord of the Rings promises to be no exception.

Hitman: Absolution

The Hitman series returns with death, death and even more death.

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

Despite being an obvious attempt to cash in on the ongoing Sherlock fever, this LA Noire-esque detective game seems intriguing.

Far Cry 3

The Far Cry series returns to an isolated island, and this time you get crazier the longer you stay there.

Assassin’s Creed 3

With a new protagonist and a new continent, AC3 promises to be epic, but can it differ enough from its predecessors to make gamers happy?

Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments, and get ready for the biggest week of the gaming year. E3 here we come!

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Why I love spam

When you have a website with a comment section, you will undoubtedly get a few comments that are out and out spam. You soon realise that the world has no shortage of generic email addresses and random letter strings attempting to pedal Viagra, SEO optimization techniques and ‘free’ iPads to the people of the internet. Because you don’t want this kind of crap to spoil your website, many people choose to implement spam filtration technology to clean the place up. Being a WordPress site, we get access to Akismet free of charge, and with that comes a spam prevention success rate of 98.22%. This means most stuff gets hidden away, but something always seems to escape, as pointed out on The Verge’s forums by user smackel.

Seeing smackel’s post inspired me to dig out some classic spam from our own Akismet filters, so here you go. Please note that links to discount Viagra etc. have been removed for your own safety.

Author: flash games
Article: Why Minecraft is awesome

The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.

Author: Your Question Is Now Answered About: Graco Baby Products
Article: Birdwatching: Is Assassin’s Creed starting to dull?

[…] in Modern Warfare 3 Step by Step GuideEdison, consultant spar over blame for San Onofre shutdownBirdwatching: Is Assassin’s Creed starting to dull body.custom-background { background-color: #ffffff; } jQuery(document).ready(function($) { // […]

Author: Asus M9 Battery
Article: Is Facebook looking to buy Opera to make its own web browser?

Pausing to catch a little F1. Just showed a bit about Ron Howard’s Rush. Hemsworth as James Hunt? Interesting! I miss 6 wheeled cars thou

Author: Free US iPad.com
Article: Techslice: The new iPhone rumour mill

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Spam never fails to make me smile, and that is the reason I love it. Not even @Horse_ebooks could make this stuff up, and that’s really saying something.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Why reviews need honesty

Reviews exist for a reason. You read them to find out opinions about products, and, as such, you want people to be honest about the stuff that they are writing about. Reading David Pogue’s review for the New York Times of the Samsung Galaxy Player 4.2 made me angry as, like Buzzfeed’s Matt Buchanan pointed out all too well, the author is trying too hard to be nice. Being nice about something will make it seem good. If it is not good, don’t try and fool the reader with your feigned attempt at praise.

The Player 4.2 is beautiful. Its plastic shell, with comfortably rounded edges, can’t hold a candle to the mirror-finish metal back of the Touch, but of course it doesn’t hold fingerprints, either.

You’ll probably need to buy a memory card, in fact, since the Player comes with only about four gigabytes of free memory for your files. But the point is: the capacity of your Player is up to you. Choice is good, right?

In the end, the Player should hold special appeal for a significant customer niche: rebels. The technologically sophisticated. People who would enjoy the freedom of removable cards and batteries. Parents who might like that peculiar business about making phone calls through a cheaper phone. People who own recent Samsung televisions (the Player doubles as a remote control). Anyone with a dominant anti-Apple gene.

Otherwise, it’s not entirely clear who would benefit by this slightly thicker, slightly heavier, slightly less refined iPod Touch. Until that question is answered, it’s hard to imagine Samsung’s latest becoming a significant Player in the Galaxy.

Once again, as much as it pains me to say it, I find myself in agreement with Mr. Massive Greatness himself, MG Siegler.

I don’t know about you, but when I read my favorite technology writers, I want an opinion. Is the iPhone 4S the best smartphone, or is it the Galaxy Nexus? I need to buy one, I can’t buy both. [Josh] Topolsky never gives us that. Instead, he pussyfoots around it. One is great at some things, the other is great at others. Barf.

Fucking pick one. I bet that even now he won’t.

This is the problem I have with most technology reviews these days. Everyone seems so afraid to say how they really feel about the device. And more often than not, that’s exactly what readers want.

Reviews need opinion, not horseshit. If something is good, the review should make that clear. If something is crap, the review should make that clear. That’s why I respect Josh Topolsky. He reviewed the Nokia Lumia 900 and people went mad when he gave it a 7.0. He was totally wrong on a few things, but at least he was honest. And that’s what we strive for at Digixav. As Paloma Faith once sang, do you want the truth or something beautiful? I know what I’d rather have.

by Jasper Edwards

Why Battlefield 3 is awesome

Since October last year, half of my life has been devoted to one amazing creation that is Battlefield 3. Getting mostly 9’s from the critics, the only real competitor to this huge FPS is obviously the CoD series. Since both series have been going on for over half my life, they both certainly have the experience and knowledge to nick £40 out of your pocket and make you feel good about it, but Battlefield 3 does it in a way that nobody would’ve ever imagined before. Using the Frostbite 2 engine and the multiplayer element of the Medal of Honor reboot as a warm-up, DICE made this game the most epic and awe-inspiring game of, well, ever. With 5 million sales in the first week, I am going to explain to you why you should get this game if you haven’t already.

I will start with the part of shooters that is dying a slow and painful death: the campaign. Having completed it in a day on hard difficulty about 4 months ago, it remains a sweet memory in the heart of my mind. You start off as a foot soldier in the middle of some war-torn Iranian city as part of a small squad of soldiers. After a short while of the atmosphere consuming you, quick fire-fights and realistic situations begin to steal your mind and eyes from the real world. You are quickly shown the amazing destruction engine and realistic sounds as well as things like suppressive fire which makes killing the enemy a lot harder. With all the realism intact, you are still left feeling like you are a super soldier, until of course you get cocky and take a bullet to the face. Skipping on a bit as, although I’d love to, I can’t take you through the whole campaign, you are put in the shoes of an F-18 pilot, an M1A2 Abrams (i.e. a big tank) and a Russian guy trying to help the world – for once. After the mind-blowing good lengthy missions that lead up to the finale, some good twists and revelations give that grin a widening and leave you feeling as if you’ve just completed the BF3 campaign because there’s nothing really that compares to it.

The next part of the game to explain is the ground-breaking multiplayer that wins most people. The multiplayer has been patched and tweaked and added to constantly to maintain its beauty. From DLC’s to sounds that literally are real, I bow to DICE for giving this brilliant game the upkeep it needs, as any good game does. Analogy alert: nice cars cost a lot to run. The multiplayer is for pretty much anyone. If you are an adrenaline junkie crazy guy you can enter the close quarter maps and game modes which allow simple quickly changing games, but if you like a tactical teamwork inspired game that includes vehicles for land, sea and air then jump into Conquest. As well as the game mode you’re looking for, the type of player you are is taken into account as well. From mounting bipods and massive scopes and keeping your gun on semi-auto to using nothing but your fully auto side-arm and fear to kill your enemies, you can pretty much do anything, use anything or be anything you want to. With plenty maps, weapons, attachments and vehicles the multiplayer is almost flawless. However every game has its bad points and Battlefield 3 is no exception. On large maps against a skilful enemy you may find yourself spawn-trapped with no escape apart from the AA gun that’s being hogged by Brian Peppers’ downy brother. Another problem that may occur which has happened to me twice in total (in my 100+ hours of game time) is when your guns or menu do not appear so you find yourself useless and stuck. The last problem is that you find hours of your day vanish in front of your eyes, although I’d rather that than watch parts of your controller sprinkle across the room after your latest venture on to Modern Warfare 3. Another small part of the game for extra fun is a co-op mission strand consisting of 6 missions that you complete with your friend to unlock some extra guns for online games. The co-op does not need much explaining apart from that it is fun and fulfilling.

A problem however that people have with the game however is that it constantly wants your money to rent a server, buy a new map pack or get access to online features. First of all, most of these are avoided if you preordered or bought a limited edition (which costs no more than a regular copy), both of which give you codes for online play and free DLC. Secondly, you cannot blame DICE or the game for this as all the previous stuff was originally going to be free until EA stuck their big, money sucking noses into it and persuaded DICE to let them charge for it. No wonder they’re the worst company in America.

Overall Battlefield 3 is a great game and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that is a new gamer, an FPS fan or just anyone with a PC or console. With things like a never-ending achievement list, upgrades to get, people to shoot and wallet-melting DLC combined with other things like dozens of maps, completely customisable weapons and orgasmic sounds and graphics, for me this game couldn’t be better.

Cue epic BF theme tune.

by Hannah Marsh :)

I have 122 friends on Facebook and this is why

The majority of people I know on Facebook have way over 400 friends. This is ridiculous. I know that the average person will not care about half of his/her ‘friends’ posts, comments and statuses. So why have them? Does it seem cool to have a load of people you could possibly speak to if you ever might need them? Or do you just add people for the sake of adding them?

Facebook now lets you rate your friends too. By default you have groups for your work colleagues, local friends, acquaintances and school friends and you can make even more if you desire. If these people are really your friends, is it really fair to rate them? Do any fall into the acquaintance category, and if yes, then why are they labelled as a Facebook ‘friend’? Maybe it’s just me, but this whole thing seems really messed up.

Also I think accepting people you don’t properly know is actually quite dangerous. I’m not saying that they’re going to steal your identity and spend all your money, but the more ‘friends’ you have that aren’t your friends, the more you are open to different forms of cyberbullying and online threats. About a year ago I would have never have thought of this but on my old Facebook account I saw some pretty nasty comments that really upset people. Behind a screen people are brave.

I must say that I have so far been through two different Facebook accounts. On the first I had nearly 600 friends, but on my new one I have just 122. When browsing the old one, I used to get so much random crap appearing in my news feed that I did not care about at all. Now I only see what is relevant to me and the people that I care about. Of course I accept the fact that a few people will be the exception, and will actually speak properly to every 400th person they have as a friend, but do you?

by Henry Hunt

No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop hating Microsoft

The title of this article is a little misleading, as those of you who read my posts, follow me on Twitter or know me in person will know that I love Microsoft. Windows Phone is my phone platform of choice, I would never consider using anything but a Windows computer, and the thing that I want most in the world right now is a 15.6″ one of these. But even with all the love I bear for the love-child of Ballmer and Gates, there are a large number of things about them which annoy me.

The first and foremost of these annoyances is with Zune. As a Windows Phone user, I am forced to use Zune in order to update, add music and video to and do a large number of other things to, my phone. This is fine, I can add and take away music to and from my phone quickly and easily, and updates will automatically commence if they are available. But when I got my HP Pavilion dv7 with Beats Audio, I began to play music through my laptop, whereas previously I had been using speakers connected to my phone. It soon dawned upon me that Zune, a beautiful piece of software, is one of the buggiest pieces of crap since Windows Media Player. Quite often while playing music, the song will randomly pause, move to a different point or just skip altogether, and on occasion I have closed Zune to find that the song that was playing doesn’t stop playing, much to my teacher’s dismay. When this is Skrillex, chemistry lessons can be quite awkward. What the hell is up with that? A company whom incorporated software into its very name can’t be bothered or is unable to iron out the bugs in their music software. Even iTunes, something which is essentially designed to work on a different operating system and much maligned on Windows, is nowhere near as buggy. This being said, with the Zune name being dumped, and the software being incorporated into the OS, I surely hope that for Windows 8’s sake that at least some of the bigger glitches will be ironed out.

And secondly, what is the point in Windows Media Player any more? The whole thing is utter crap and nobody in their right mind would ever use it. I mean seriously, software that causes computers to blue-screen (I speak through personal experience) through use is not right in any way. And if any person out there does use this utter piece of crap, please explain to me in the comments below why you would put yourself through it. Please.

My final point is the most obvious one. Internet Explorer. This is in every way the single most hated piece of software out there. It is crap, it crashes, freezes and is only there for sane people to download either Firefox or Chrome. And, to make matters worse, you have to have specific permission from Microsoft to be able to uninstall the software. Of course, you can do what both I and Xavier (our EIC) have done and bury it deep within our program files, but it will always be there, taunting you with the possibility that you may one day, have to use it.

So those are the main reasons that Microsoft pisses off even myself, a true Microsoft fanboy. Despite the wonders of things like the Arc Touch Mouse, SkyDrive and Windows Phone, Microsoft isn’t perfect, but by ironing out the bugs and listening to consumers, they could get pretty close.

by Jordan Davis-Bernier

PS3 vs. Xbox 360: The final battle

Now, before you can say that I am biased towards one console I just want to point something out. I have BOTH consoles. I will obviously include my opinion where necessary. The way this will be working is that I will be using a scoring system out of 10 on each category as follows:

  • Controller
  • Game quality
  • Online play
  • Online features
  • Durability
  • Costs
  • Size/power comsumption
  • Units sold
  • Technical problems


Controller

To be honest, you can’t really say which controller is better, as you can easily get used to either one. For example, I had a PlayStation for about 10 years before I got an Xbox, and, within about 2 weeks, I was easily able to pick up the Xbox controller and use it and vice versa. After using the Xbox for 2 years, I went and got a PS3 and I was easily able to switch between the two.

Xbox 8/10
PS3 8/10

Game quality

Without boring you with all the techy stuff (sorry), the Xbox and the PS3 have virtually the same graphics card. The processor on the PS3 is better, but it is extremely hard to make a good game for it (from what I’ve heard) while the Xbox has a slightly worse processor, but it is much easier to program for (again, from what I’ve heard). That would explain the higher game count on Xbox.

Xbox 9/10
PS3 7/10

Online play

Let’s start on a bad point for both consoles. Xbox has this stupidly annoying feature called region lock, which is literally what it says. You can’t play some games hosted in other countries. I have come across countless hackers on the PS3 as in, one in every 20 games will be hacked or modded in some way. Now this thing with the PS3 might just be me getting unlucky, but I truly doubt it. Now on to the good stuff. PSN/SEN is FREE! I love it. I can make countless accounts, go and use the first gun and go and pwn some of what I consider the ‘easier’ opponents or ‘n00bz’. On the Xbox, however, you have to pay, but it is a measly £39.99 per year. For actual connectivity I would say that it is the PS3, but for security I would say that without a doubt the Xbox.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 8/10

Online features

I’m going to make this clear. By online features I actually mean chat and the online store ie. the Xbox Marketplace and the PlayStation Store. Regarding chat, Xbox is definitely the winner. With cross game and single player chat it is superior. When you do get to finally talk to people on PS3, I don’t think it is of as good a quality. That is my own opinion, but don’t say anything unless you have actually experienced both consoles. Now onto the Xbox Marketplace and the PlayStation Store. I find that downloading from Xbox is significantly quicker than PS3. However, trying to find things on the Xbox is a nightmare. Do you want the DLC? No. The demo? No. How about the trailer? NO! Then you will – eventually – find the game. On the PS3, I think that the Store has a significantly better layout, but poorer download speeds.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 7/10

Durability

I know this may sound like a stupid category, but I think it is important. I am not going to give this one a rating however, because the two consoles were designed for a different audience. The Xbox, with its tougher design, means that it is more suited to a family environment. The PS3, with its sleek design, is more designed for the careful gamer. Sounds stupid, but it’s true. I have dropped both my Xbox and PS3 (like a boss) and the Xbox definitely fared better. Anyways, enough of this stupid topic on to the next.

Costs

I’m going to do this in a HDD capacity to Amazon cost ratio. I will take the highest capacity of each that is currently available, and not include the prices of motion controllers ie. Move and Kinect.

Xbox = £160 ÷ 250GB = 64p per GB
PS3 = £229 ÷ 320GB = 71p per GB

As you can see, the PS3 is marginally more expensive per gigabyte, which is probably due to the Blu-ray, but what can you do about it?

Xbox 8/10
PS3 7/10

Size/power Usage.

The PS3 is definitely the bigger model and this is because of the massive power brick that sits outside the Xbox is actually inside the PS3 which essentially makes it sort of portable. Microsoft decided that the Xbox’s power brick outside. This makes the model smaller than its counterpart. All of this said, you may be surprised to hear that the PS3 uses 30W less energy than the Xbox.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 9/10

Units sold

Simply put, the Xbox has sold 65.8 million units and the PS3 has sold 62 million. This may be down to games, or availability.

Xbox 9/10
PS3 8/10

Technical problems

Many people say that the Xbox has the red ring of death, but what they don’t know is that the PS3 has the yellow light of death, which means exactly the same thing on both consoles. They’re screwed. It does have to be said, however, that the PS3 has significantly less reported incidents of the YLOD than the Xbox’s RROD.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 8/10

Conclusion

To conclude, I will count up the points of each console and total them below.

Xbox 62/80
PS3 62/80

Please note: I did not go back and change any of the results, I left them how I thought they should be.

As you can probably see, there really is no clear winner. So you can go and have your petty comment wars, but as Rowan Dinwoodie says:

I don’t give a fuck

by Jordan Davis-Bernier

Why Minecraft is awesome

If you haven’t heard what Minecraft is yet, then please go away and look it up on YouTube. The game, made by indie Swedish studio Mojang, has taken over the world in recent years. The reason that I do this is because whenever I am sitting around and just playing Minecraft, many people will come up to me and say things like:

Why are you playing Minecraft? Its gay and it has really bad graphics.
What’s the aim of the game anyway?

If I had enough time to explain to them without them still saying it’s ‘gay’ then they would get the answers they desired.

Anyway, on with the argument, however one-sided it may be.

Many people, who haven’t played, will give reasons for Minecraft being a bad game like:

  • It has really bad graphics, so pixelated.
  • What can you actually do? There’s no aim to the game.
  • It’s boring.
  • It’s childish.
  • It gets really repetitive.
  • It’s outdated.
  • It’s gay.

And for people that have played:

  • It gets really laggy (slow) sometimes.
  • You can’t ever find diamonds. Why not?
  • I always get killed by a creeper.
  • A creeper always blows up my house.
  • I always die.
  • Whenever I “get” diamonds I have to say I fell in lava to make people think that I actually got some.
  • Even when I don’t have diamonds I still fall in lava.
  • When you do finally get to the credits they take so long!

But the game is still absolutely amazing. Let me explain why, by dismissing the most common arguments that I have come across that are against it.

It has really bad graphics, so pixelated.

Seeing as the game is made by a few Swedes and is based around blocks, it is only right for the game to be all blocky. How would it ever work if you were continuously taking out spheres out of the Minecraft ‘world’? I mean, I think the designers of the game would have thought about graphics if it wasn’t part of the game. There is actually something you can do about this. You can design you own or get someone else’s texture pack which will give the game of Minecraft a completely different look, and in some cases make it HD quality.

What can you actually do? There’s no aim to the game.

If you had decided to pay attention, the game has been updated and now has a start to the aim of the game. It will take you a while to do, and a lot of preparation, but when you finally find the portal to get to the “end” then you can kill the only (at the moment) boss. Again, that might take you a while if you haven’t prepared properly, but it is still achievable.

 It’s boring. It’s childish. It gets really repetitive.

That’s your problem. If you get bored of computer games then don’t play them. I personally have been playing Minecraft for two years, for the plain reason that it is being continuously updated. If you really think its childish then, I’m sorry that you have grown up so fast. Seriously, did your guardians just not let you have a childhood? Did they just deprive you of games and instead make you read books all the time? If they did, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, then I feel for you. It gets really repetitive. This is stupid. There is so much you can do. You can make potions, build massive houses, build a farmhouse for all of your sheep and pigs, go and find a dungeon, get a saddle and go and fly a pig off of a mountain! There’s even an achievement for that.

It’s outdated.

You may say this because you don’t like indie games (refer to above) or you may say it because it is never updated. Well, Minecraft is updated so often that you have to read Twitter every day to check that there isn’t an update coming out with new features. I managed, within a week, to download a new Minecraft three times because of bug fixes and general updates.

IT’S GAY!

I know you are, but what am I?

It gets really laggy (slow) sometimes.

Get a better laptop. Or, you could even use the functions that have been implemented into the game to make it better/worse.

You can’t ever find diamonds. Why not? I always get killed by a creeper. A creeper always blows up my house. I always die. Whenever I “get” diamonds I have to say I fell in lava to make people think that I actually got some. Even when I don’t have diamonds I still fall in lava.

The simple answer is get better. The more complex answer is on the way.

When you do finally get to the credits they take so long!

Try the escape button. It does wonders for the impatient.

Conclusion

Minecraft is a really good game and there is always a valid reason why something is the way it is. There is always a forum, mod, texture pack or even multiplayer server that can answer all your prayers. If you have any questions or qualms then feel free to express yourself in the comments section below and I will be happy to reply, when I’m not digging for diamonds, of course.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Android phones caught stealing names from condoms

We all know how ridiculous Android device names can be, but this chart from the Intercom Blog really alarms me. To quote the author:

If your product isn’t a condom then don’t name it like one

Don’t know what I mean? Have a look below.

Android Condom Chart

NB: There is actually a phone called the LG Rumor Touch, but it is a dumbphone so it doesn’t count here. This is an advert for it:

Eva Longoria LG Rumor Touch Advert

by Luke Walker

Why I love the PlayStation Vita

I am a PlayStation fanboy, and, when I heard about the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s new handheld, I knew it would be the console for me. Now I have had a few weeks with one, I love it even more.

As soon as I got it, I was struck by just how big the Vita was. I had seen pictures and renders of it beforehand, but not until it is in your hand do you actually realise how big it is compared to the older PSP models. See these comparisons with the PSP-3000 for a taster.

On older PSP models, only one shoulder button was located on either side, instead of the two that you would find on a traditional PlayStation controller. However, the Vita compensates for this oversight, having a rear capacitive touch panel in place of another trigger. Many people will say that they would have preferred to see two triggers rather than the capacitive panel and I did not feel too enthusiastic about Sony’s choice. However, having actually used the device, it can add greatly to the gameplay experience, providing the developers use all their resources to optimise their games for the Vita. One fantastic implementation of the panel is on FIFA Football, where one has the ability to shoot with quick taps on the rear of the console. To shoot at the bottom right corner of the goal, tap the bottom right. It could not be simpler, especially for penalties. In Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a Vita-exclusive launch title, different gestures result in different actions, such as climbing walls and slicing through the jungle and, as developers learn to take full advantage of what the Vita has to offer, things can only get better.

Furthermore, the the addition of dual analogue sticks to the Vita is also great as it gives you a proper feel of being just like a PS3 controller too. The old PSP had one analogue ‘stick’, but I could hardly regard it as that, due to the fact that it was just a little nub that was uncomfortable to use even for five minutes. Admittedly the sticks do protrude a fair bit, but they are 100% worth the added bulk.

The remote play is a lot better for the Vita and a lot easier to access and a lot more reliable. There are also a load of options to connect your Vita to your actual PlayStation Network/Sony Entertainment Network account to see who is online and talk to friends on party chat, just like you would if you were on your PS3. There are also better online connections to play against other people and, with an 802.11n WiFi chip, internet connectivity is much improved over that of the PSP. Also, with certain games available on both the Vita and the PS3, if you save the game to the cloud on your PS3, one can carry on with a Vita from your previous save point. This means you can play at home or out and about, which is a well thought out new feature to enhance the experience for the hardcore gamer.

The software on the horizon for the Vita is mouthwatering. Not only will great PS3 games such as FIFA 13, the inevitable Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, F1 2012, Grand Theft Auto V and Resident Evil be ported across and optimised for the dual touch panels and analogue sticks by developers, but a number of Vita exclusives are on the way from Sony and third parties, such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Touch My Katamari. Also, the prospect of downloadable PlayStation classics like Crash Bandicoot and Final Fantasy will give another dynamic, not only for the younger ones who will probably never have played the games before to give them a good experience, but also to the older ones who would of grown up playing these games and would probably love to revisit the classics of PlayStation gaming.

The PlayStation Vita is a great device and is well worth its price tag if you can afford it. I feel Sony have taken great time and effort to make it the best portable console ever and it certainly exceeds even my high expectations. The introduction of a new dimension to gaming makes it a better experience for hardcore players, who, up to this point, have been left out in the cold when it comes to gaming on the go. However, as most of us don’t have that sort of money at the moment, I suggest that, when the inevitable price drop occurs, you grab it because it will be a bargain that you can’t miss. I am sure that, if the price was about £169, they would fly off shelves like hot cakes, providing a large boost to retailers. If you do buy it, you will not be disappointed. You can take my word for it.