Tis the Season for PS3 Games

"personal shoppers - optional"

5 PlayStation 3 games to add to your Christmas list…

Matt Adcock

Gran Turismo 5 might be delayed (again) and there are tons of excellent looking games hitting the PS3 in the run up to Christmas - Call of Duty Black Ops, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Fallout: New Vegas and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit... For those who have the new MOVE controller you can add SingStar: Dance, TV SuperStars and The Shoot if that's you're kind of thing.

Here though are some more titles to consider of looking for cool games for that special PS3 owning someone in your life...

1. Prince of Persia: HD trilogy

Three classic PS2 games, all re-engineered in high definition – on one Blu-ray… all for less than £30? Bring it!!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

Your chance to relive the critically-acclaimed and Prince of Persia trilogy, remixed in high definition graphics and stereoscopic 3D.

2. The Fight (Move)

The most realistic motion controlled fighting game released to date ‘hits’ the PlayStation 3 with the brutal world of illegal underground fighting utilising the PlayStation Move controller and the PlayStation Eye camera. Together these two seamlessly translate the player’s realistic physical actions to those of the character on the screen, allowing the players to fight however they choose. Keep it clean with standard jabs and punches, or fight dirty with headbutts, headlocks and more...

I played this at the PlayStation BetaRooms event and have to admit that it really packs a punch – can’t wait to take this bad boy online!

3. Time Crisis Razing Storm (Move)

Pew, pew… BOOM The PS3 is set to redefine home arcade shooters with the a new ‘Razing Storm’ Time Crisis game which will see you shooting-baddies-up in a massively destructible environment to fight futuristic terrorists and renegade soldiers in a South American country under a bloody revolution as part of a special forces unit called S.C.A.R. (Strategic Combat and Rescue), sent to capture the leader of the rebels, who masterminded an attack on the United States.

Also in this package is Time Crisis 4 - A re-release of the fourth game in the Time Crisis series, the game follows Military Intelligence Official William Rush in a mission to stop terrorists from utilizing biological insect-like weapons and any hidden agendas they may have.

And to round off this stellar package – you also get ‘Deadstorm Pirates’ where you’ll be shooting pirates like you’re Captain Jack Sparrow himself!?

4. Sly Cooper Collection

More brilliant PS2 classics getting the ‘God of War Collection’ treatment – so the Sly Cooper franchise get HD graphics , trophies and silky smooth refined gameplay. Get ready to enjoy:

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racconus

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

and Sly 3: Honour Among Thieves

The games will also have mini-games designed for the PlayStation Move and Sly 3 will also support stereoscopic 3D.

5. The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (Move)

The Lord of the Rings makes the jump into motion control - Aragorn's Quest let’s players become the legendary Aragorn and embark upon a quest reliving the hero's most valiant battles from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Wielding a sword, shield, bow and spear (through the PS3 Move Controller) players will battle enemies and journey through Middle-earth where they can switch between spear and sword on horseback, taking down evil foes in a truly action-packed gameplay experience. Two-player co-op gameplay featuring Gandalf allows players to work together in the heart of the orc-slaying action.

- of course these are just a few suggestions... And with LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, Mass Effect 2, MotorStorm Apocalypse and SOCOM 4 all hitting early next year there's lots more to look forward to!

DJ Hero 2 hit King's Cross

"check the blonde 'human stylus'..."

DJ Hero 2


Previewed by Matt Adcock

Next Friday the world will throb to the launch of DJ Hero 2 – as thousands of DJ gamers take to their decks – on PS3s across the globe. Today, to mark the anticipated release the World’s largest turntable was installed at King’s Cross St Pancras International station.

Early morning commuters were provided with a musical treat as they danced their way through the station to some of the world’s biggest tunes. Former DMC world champion and radio 1Xtra mix master specialist DJ Blakey was on the decks whilst members of the public lived-out the fantasy of being a superstar DJ, scratching and mashing up tracks in front of a huge audience.

I got to give one of the plastic decks a spin and was impressed with the new game – the graphics are sharper, the mix of tunes sweeter and the gameplay has been cranked up a notch or two from the fun original.

The good news is that if you have the first game, you can use your existing deck to play DJ Hero2, the cunning buggers at Activision though are releasing a two deck party pack which comes with a mike so you can shout “let me hear you scream!” etc… in your own front room and have people passing in the street turn to stare!?

DJ Hero was a lot of fun, but DJ Hero2 looks to be better in every conceivable way – if you’ve ever wanted to mix, scratch or spin some tunes, mark 22nd October in your calendar and get ready to make some noise!!

Check out the DJ Hero 2 site

LOVEFiLM hits the PlayStation®3

PlayStation 3 loves LOVEFiLM

Matt Adcock

Sony Computer Entertainment UK (SCE UK) and LOVEFiLM, everyone’s favourite European film subscription service, today announce a ground-breaking partnership to bring LOVEFiLM to millions of PlayStation®3 (PS3™) users across the UK.

Yes - LOVEFiLM becomes an official PS3 integrated subscription film service partner which means that LOVEFiLM subscribers will be able to stream the UK’s largest choice of subscription titles directly to their TVs, through their PS3s and open a new world of interactivity with LOVEFiLM.

"Your perfect film delivery box... also plays the best games around!"

The partnership will soon take LOVEFiLM, currently with 1.4 million subscribers and approximately a million billion movies, into PS3’s three million-and-growing UK households. It is the most significant extension to date of LOVEFiLM’s direct-to-TV rollout which began in March when LOVEFiLM launched on SONY BRAVIA Internet Video TVs, Blu-ray players and Blu-ray Home Theatre kits.

LOVEFiLM Chief Executive, Simon Calver, said,

“This is game-changing for LOVEFiLM and transformational for the UK home entertainment market as a whole. PS3 already has a very large installed customer base of all ages, all of whom will soon be able to benefit from our unique combination of instantly available content, streamed through their PS3, as well as DVD, Blu-ray & Games rental by post. To become PS3’s partner for our service is a tremendous endorsement of the value, choice and convenience offered by LOVEFiLM.”

"Coming to a PS3 near you soon - films like Twelve which sees the lovely young Jessica (Emily Meade) hooked on designer drug 'Twelve'... don't do drugs kids!"

The LOVEFiLM service will become available on the XMB (Xross Media Bar) on all internet-connected PS3s, providing most members of LOVEFiLM on subscription packages access to thousands of titles from major studios and independents, streamed instantly to their TV via their PS3, in addition to the rental by post services. Members will be able to scroll through titles on the page, also search through categories including ‘Pick of the Week’, ‘Most Watched’ and ‘Highest Rated’, view ratings and search through the LOVEFiLM instant offering by title, actor and genre. LOVEFiLM will offer any PS3 users who are not already LOVEFiLM subscribers, exclusive incentives to join the service, including free trials.

“We know there is a huge interest within our audience for film, and so the addition of LOVEFiLM to our current range of services is a very natural fit and one which significantly enhances the value proposition of PlayStation 3,” said Ray Maguire, MD of Sony Computer Entertainment UK. “LOVEFiLM has a proven track record of success and innovation in the film distribution field and is a very welcome addition to the PlayStation family that I’m confident PlayStation gamers will embrace enthusiastically.”

About LOVEFiLM

• In a little over 6 years, LOVEFiLM has become a leading European film subscription service, combining the benefits of DVD rental by post and, more recently, watching movies online via the LOVEFiLM Player (on the PC or streamed to the TV). Customers can therefore choose how they want to watch from a selection of over 67,000 titles, including HD/Blu-ray DVDs, video games and digital streaming.


• LOVEFiLM has over 1.4 million members and operates in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany


• LOVEFiLM weekly newsletters reach over one million members


• LOVEFiLM was a pioneer in digital film delivery in the UK and has recently launched the LOVEFiLM Player with thousands of digital titles available for members to watch on their TV or PC. The LOVEFiLM Player is available to all users of LOVEFiLM. For those on an Unlimited package the service comes at no extra cost. Premium titles are available to everyone on a pay-per-view basis, and a number of titles are available to all site visitors for free with advertising support


• The LOVEFiLM Player is becoming available through a range of internet-enabled devices - including Sony and Samsung - taking LOVEFiLM directly into members’ living rooms through their TV sets


• LOVEFiLM customers have generated 80 million ratings, 843,000 member reviews and generate around 2 million trailer views per month – information which helps LOVEFiLM to promote the most relevant titles for customers to choose from


• LOVEFiLM also sells DVDs, Blu-ray and video games through the LOVEFiLM shop


• LOVEFiLM is Hitwise’s 2009 Number 1 website based on market share of visits among all UK websites in the Entertainment - Movies industry (ranked 4th in the Shopping and Classifieds - Video and Games industry)


• LOVEFiLM offers a range of rental options in each market with free postage and no late fees. In the UK these include £3.99 a month allowing members to have one DVD at a time (limit of two per month. Does not include online viewing), £5.99 a month for one DVD at a time (limit of three per month plus 2 hours online viewing ), £7.99 for two DVDs at a time (limit of four per month plus 4 hours online viewing), £9.99 a month for one DVD out at a time (Unlimited DVDs by post and online viewing), £12.99 for two at a time (Unlimited DVDs by post and online viewing) and £15.99 gives the option for three DVDs at a time (Unlimited DVDs by post and online viewing). Members on an Unlimited package have access to the LOVEFiLM Player at no extra cost


• LOVEFiLM also offers a range of video games rental options in the UK market to support gaming across XBox 360, Xbox, PS3, PS2, Wii and DS. These include £5.99 a month for one disc at a time (limit of three per month. Does not include online viewing), £9.99 a month for two discs at a time (limit of three per month plus 4 hours online viewing), £14.99 a month for two discs at a time (Unlimited discs by post and online viewing) and £18.99 for three discs at a time (Unlimited discs by post and online viewing), all with free postage and no late fees


• LOVEFiLM UK awards include: British Video Association's award for the UK's Best Rental Service in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, won the fast-growing media company Media Momentum award in 2005, 2007 and 2008, UK technology – Innovation & Growth award for Mediatech Impact of the Year 2008, Home Entertainment Week awards for Rentailer of the Year 2007 and 2008, the 2008 Fast Growth Business Award for Retail/Leisure business of the Year, featured in The Sunday Times top 100 fastest growing private technology companies in 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007, awarded 3rd place in The Sunday Times top 100 private equity-backed companies with the fastest-growing profits in 2010, a finalist in the National Customer Service Awards 2008, finalist in the Retail Week awards 2009, awarded 5th place in the Deloitte Fast 50 UK 2009, awarded 22nd place in the Deloitte Fast 500 EMEA fastest growing public and private technology companies and named Company Of The Year at the Growing Business Awards 2009


• The group currently works with major partners in the UK including Tesco, easy Group, CD Wow, Guardian News Media, Odeon and Vue Cinemas, some of whom offer a fully white-labeled online DVD rental service


About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 38 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 146.1 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 62.7 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 54 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 1.1 billion items have been downloaded.


More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com .
PlayStation, the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Darkmatters Review: Wall Street Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps


Dir. Oliver Stone

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“Someone reminded me I once said "Greed is good". Now it seems it's legal.”

This week we welcome back to the big screen the world’s favourite ‘80s financial scumbag Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). Last seen dastardly taking Charlie Sheen’s profit-hungry apprentice for every penny he could and getting sent down to serve some white collar incarceration as a warning to all for those seduced by turning a quick buck through insider trading in the original Wall Street.

Now Gekko is released back onto Wall Street and his shark-like nature for a financial killing has not been dulled. Emerging back into a very different global economy to the one he left his path is crossed by a new hot shot young Wall Street trader named Jake Moore (Shia ‘Transformers’ LaBeouf) who is dating, and plans to marry, Gekko's daughter, liberal website editor Winnie (Carey ‘Public Enemies’ Mulligan).

It isn’t long before the young gun Jake is under the spell of the mighty but fallen corporate raider Gekko and planning a scam to rock the financial community and to find out who was responsible for the death of his mentor.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps could be seen as a needless rehash of the first film but thanks to the quality cast and some genuine affection for the old renegade Gekko (who for me is the financial equivalent of Hannibal Lecter). Unless you’ve been directly involved in the short-selling and subprime mortgage market collapse, you will probably be more interested in the human nature aspects of tale. It all cooks up nicely enough interest to hold your attention and make you care what happens – even if you can probably see the plot twists coming a mile away – everything looks good and will probably encourage a few impressionable wannabes to try for a career in the financial markets.

Jake is an idealistic crusader, trying to secure funding for a green fusion-energy company, whilst fending off his sponging mother (Susan Sarandon). You can almost hear Gekko licking his lips in anticipation of taking down his potential son-in-law who is unaware that his fiancé is sitting on a cool $100 million of her dad’s cash.

**Spoiler Alert** Unfortunately this sequel goes for a very unsatisfying ending – making it all sweetly sorted in a cloyingly sentimental ‘feel food’ cop out, which would have been infinitely better if left in the dark place that the plot takes the viewer to. **Spoiler Ends**

If you enjoyed the original Wall Street, then ‘Money Never Sleeps’ is worth checking – just don’t stake too much of your cash on it delivering everything you want it too!?


UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

Gordon Gekko has his conciousness transferred into a virtual world in a 'Tron' style simulation - his avatar form has to battle random financial irregularities in the system from the insider!?
Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 financial takeovers out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 5 / Style 6 / Babes 6 / Comedy 5 / Horror 3 / Spiritual Enlightenment 2


Things that made me happier than watching Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps this week:
 
1. Finding out that Darkmatters is quoted on the front cover of this DVD...

2. That people love Kick-Ass so much that they dress up as the characters - like this 'Hit Girl'...

Darkmatters Review: Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Review (18)


Director: Werner Herzog

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Drugs, sex, violence… Terrence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) loves em all because he’s bad – a wrong un, a dodgy geezer who thinks nothing of killing, extorting and forcing sexual favours from whoever he pleases, oh, and he’s a cop.

Yes, the ‘Bad Lieutenant’ in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a very very bad cop. He’s not Dixon of Dot Green, that’s for sure… So our hero rogue detective goes ape in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina blowing second shockwave of drug addicted fury through New Orleans.

Eva Mendes stars as Frankie Donnenfeld - the high class hooker / love of his life for whom McDonagh will do pretty much anything. She makes an interesting foil to Cage’s over-the-top-and-then-a-bit-more-over-the-top with her drug craving but more moderate existence.

Director Werner ‘Rescue Dawn’ Herzog drives the movie over the edge of sanity at a million miles an hour and the engine is Cage's central performance that is mesmerising.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans's script might be fairly run of the mill bad cop on a self-destructive whirlwind but Cage succeeds in giving Terence McDonagh a heart and even in making you root for him despite his wrongness. Seeing him rescuing a prisoner from certain death at the beginning (and moaning about ruining his expensive underpants as in the process) sets up his credentials as guy with some goodness left in him.

So when you see the Bad Lieutenant promoted to Captain whilst still hopelessly addicted to cocaine and painkillers – most of which he steals from police property repository you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The film goes nicely surreal at points too with superb ‘iguana and alligator’ POV camerawork as McDonagh starts seeing things and freaking out. E.g. after a bad guy is shot he shouts: “Shoot him again.” When asked “What for?” he says: “His soul is still dancing.” and sure enough we see the man’s soul dancing manically whilst McDonagh laughs hysterically. I found it all very very pleasing and was surprised to be loving every moment.

The DVD extras include some cast and crew interviews, but pick of the bunch is a very unique and interesting ‘making of’ documentary that tracks the shooting of the film and highlights some rather wacky elements of production.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is on the streets now and is necessary viewing for anyone who likes their cop thrills, dark, funny and freaky. Make your next port of call New Orleans!!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 criminal actions out of 10)

Darkmatters Review: Takers



Takers (12)

Dir. John Luessenhop

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“We're takers, gents. That's what we do for a living. We take. “

It seems as society breaks down, people will look for ways to ‘take’ from the system, to get rich quick and walk away to live the dream… Takers is a film that follows a quality ensemble cast doing their action movie / heist-em-up thing. Matt Dillion stars as Jack Welles, a do right cop on the trail of a slick bunch of robbers – he’s on a mission to take them down and is closing in despite his partner Eddie Hatcher (Jay Hernandez) having some major issues.

The bad guys, well, I say bad guys but the robbers here are actually a mixture of criminals – some a lot worse than others - who range from the ‘nice guy’ Gordon Jennings (Idris ‘The Losers’ Elba) through to loose cannon ‘nasty guy’ Ghost (Tip T.I. Harris) who has just been released from prison.

If this feels a little familiar – chances are that you might have seen (or read my review of) The Town which opened in the UK last week. The two films share a lot of common ground, the bad news for Takers though is that where The Town delivered a massively engaging experience – punctuated with stunning shootouts and a real sense of danger, Takers stumbles around trying to make you care for a wealth of bit part characters and succeeds only in making you wish you were watching The Town again.

"I think we're 'takers-ing' the piss out of the audience!"

Think elements of the crime classic Heat crossed with an FHM men’s lifestyle feature entitled ‘Crime does pay’ as the robbers who also include John Rahway (Paul Walker), A.J. (Hayden Christensen), and brothers Jake (Michael Ealy) and Jesse Attica (Chris Brown) revel in the proceeds of another successfully heist and get ready to disappear for a year off to enjoy their lives of luxury. Things go awry when Ghost turns up with a possible easy $12 million hit from an armored car. The only problem is that some very nasty Russian hoods also have designs on the same target…

You can probably imagine the rest as the crew fall out, the ‘easy’ job goes fatally wrong and the cops close in. It all sounds pretty exciting and to be fair there is an ok shoot-out towards the end but because director Luessenhop has fudged all the character development you never really know who to root for / or care who makes it to the end credits. For cinematic crime thrills in 2010 – you should certainly visit The Town before taking a trip to see Takers.

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

The crew from The Town are challenged to a 'heist-off' by the 'Takers' see review next week...

Darkmatters rating: ööööö (5 stiff lifestyle montages out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 7 / Style 6 / Babes 6 / Comedy 5 / Horror 3 / Spiritual Enlightenment 2

Things that made me happier than watching Takers this week:

1. Seeing Hayden Panettiere in I Love You Beth Cooper...

2. Beating Mafia II on 'hard' on the PS3...

3. Getting my film reviews added to The Hemel Hempstead Gazette...

"Front page billing... on the Hemel Express too"

Darkmatters Review: Dead Rising 2

Dead Rising 2 (18) PS3


Developed by Capcom

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth… Except this time the dead are in for a bit of a beating, and that’s after being made to star in a new TV game show!?

Dead Rising was a well-received Xbox exclusive but for the sequel the PS3 has been drafted in to up the ante for a slaughter-em-up of epic proportions!

Dead Rising 2 takes you to a near future Vegas-ish place called ‘Fortune City’ and you play Chuck Greene – a regular guy who will do anything it takees to protect his young daughter who has been bitten by a zombie but not yet turned… After losing his wife to the zombie scum, now Chuck has to fight his way through a freaky Running Man style game show - called ‘Terror is Reality’ for the prize money. This he will use to purchase medicine for his daughter who requires regular injections of the drug Zombrex which will prevent her from joining the undead plague. Now as zombies break loose and overrun the city, Chuck must survive for 72 hours before the military arrives to clean up.

But don’t worry too much about the plot – basically it is just a backdrop for some serious violence as Chuck has to battle the zombies with, well, anything he can find actually!? Find a baseball bat (which works ok as a brain beater anyway) but mix it with a box of nails and create a new much more ‘kill-friendly’ tool of spiky death!? Your imagination will be well served when it comes to creating weapons – go nuts with some power drills and a steel bucket to make a DIY brain masher or tape some chain saws onto a canoe paddle for some double ended chopping!? There are lots of combos to find and they are supplemented with some nice guns and other stand-alone tools of destruction. The good news is that as well as being lots of fun, building and using custom weapons gives you extra experience points which allow for new fight moves etc to be unlocked. Sweet!

"That's one good looking zombie!?"

It might not be a complete GTA style sandbox but you don’t have to follow the main plot too carefully either, Capcom in their infinite wisdom have given gamers freedom to just kill, run around finding and building mad zombies killing weapons, and still get back and save your daughter in time for another play-through…

Dead Rising 2 is choc full of black humour and sexism, which makes death-bringing to one and all a huge amount of fun! Sure it’s sick and very playable – it is also meant to be played through several times – so just kick back and enjoy it to begin, not worrying too much about trying to save all the side mission folk – you’ll be much more effective when you come back beefed up!!

Multiplayer drop-in co-op is a blast too and feels great when you and a pal are fighting off hordes of zombies back to back… There is also a multiplayer mode too where you can friends can play ‘Terror is Reality’ for money and prizes which you can use in the main game.

Overall if you’re in the market for a madcap does of over the top zombie carnage insanity – forget Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising 2 is the game to go for!!

Darkmatters rating: ööööööööö (9 rampaging zombie deaths out of 10)

Buy the 'Zombrex Collectors Edition' HERE

Enjoy the madness over at: http://www.tapeitordie.com/agecheck?destination=home

EA Sports brings the pain to PS3 with MMA

EA Sports brings the pain to PS3 with MMA

Matt Adcock

The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be traced back to various mixed style contests that took place throughout Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. The combat sport of Vale Tudo that had developed in Brazil from the 1920s was brought to the United states by the Gracie family in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Professional MMA events had also been held in Japan by Shooto starting back in 1989. In due course the more dangerous Vale Tudo style bouts of the early UFC's were made safer with the implementation of additional rules, leading to the popular regulated form of MMA seen today. Now EA SPORTS MMA brings the authenticity of the world’s most intense combat sport home like never before.


Choose from the world’s top fighters or climb the ranks of the worldwide circuit with your created prodigy to become the ultimate MMA champion.

Travel the globe and learn a multitude of fighting techniques and skills from masters in each discipline.

Select from various weight classes, rule sets, and take on all challengers in multiple cage types or a ring. The challenge continues online with the most robust offering for any MMA videogame, including the ability to create and share custom fighters, prize fights, and more.

Are you ready? Let’s get it on!

PlayStation® Game Runners Public Open Day

PlayStation® Game Runners Public Open Day

Matt Adcock

If you read the original info about PlayStation® Game Runners you'll be wondering when and where the public can get to try this cool new gaming experiecne...

I can now confirm that the date has been chosen, the place decided and the awesomeness cranked up...

Friday October 8th at Ely's Yard, The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 will see things happen that you will not believe...

Following on from the announcement that BLOCKS has been chosen as the winning social game for the Game Runners project we are pleased to announce details of the public open day.

Anyone can drop in and try BLOCKS and take part in our competition. Please register your attendance online via our Facebook fan page or on event site between 12pm and 6.30pm.

We would love to hear your thoughts about BLOCKS via our Facebook fan page, we would also like to announce the Twitter hashtag #PlayStationGameRunners where we welcome your tweets on the day.

Throughout the afternoon an exciting live paint session will be conducted by End of the Line; a collective of skilled aerosol artists, designers, illustrators, photographers and producers who create breathtaking large scale commissions and conceptual designs. You can see them in action here.

ITINERARY:

Open play and live paint session 12pm to 5pm
Free play on small BLOCKS format @ 30 stations

Final tournament from 6.30pm
Groups of people in heats (heat 1 - groups of 8 people x 30 = 240 players, heat 2 - groups of 4 people x 30 = 120 players and heat 3 0 groups of 2 x 30 = 60 players)

Finals from 7.30
Knockout (32 players to 16 players to 8 players to 4 players to final top 2 players)

Event finishes at 8.30pm


NOTES:

Game Runners is an experimental project where PlayStation, members of the public and young people from diverse backgrounds have come together to create social games; PlayStation believe the best games are played as a group.

The project has been developed by PlayStation and Hide & Seek with a team of 8 initial Game Runners who PlayStation have picked to train as game designers to work together to make the games relevant to the public.


About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd


Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 38 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 146.1 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 62.7 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 52 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 1 billion items have been downloaded.


More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com .

PlayStation, the PlayStation logo and PSP are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

"Kratos uses the new PlayStation Move..."

Film Challenge - Darkmatters vs The Guardian

Film Challenge - Darkmatters vs The Guardian

Matt Adcock

As part of the Guardian and Observer Film Season 2010, we're giving you a challenge: name the films referenced in our short video and you can win all 26 on DVD.




Good luck!

Need some clues? Find out what others are saying and join in the discussion about the hidden titles on the film blog. The full list of answers will be revealed on the Guardian Film blog on 25 October after the prize draw has closed.

"Keira loves The Guardian film challenge!"

Darkmatters Review: The Loved Ones

The Loved Ones (18)

Dir. Sean Byrne

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“You've got 10 seconds to go or Daddy's gonna nail it to the chair…”

The Loved Ones is a delirious Aussie mash-up of various horror films that include Stephen King’s Carrie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Prom Night – with maybe a dash of Mad Max thrown in by director Sean Byrne too.

I’ll state straight away that I’m not the biggest fan of ‘torture films’ but The Loved Ones brings a new dimension to dealing with rejection, being psychotically insane and the longing for true love that all small town teenagers probably feel at some time!? It’s a funny, nasty and eye-poppingly disturbed fairy tale that sees young hunky Brent Mitchell (Xavier ‘Road Kill’ Samuel) spurn the advances of the slightly odd Lola (Robin McLeavy).

Big.

Mistake.

The Loved Ones takes the high school prom to a new dark dimension that delivers a horror movie experience in the vein of ‘Drag me to Hell’ – just with less demons and more psycho nut job wannabe girlfriend – backed up with a power-tool packing father.

"she'll take your heart... literally!?"

Its tense stuff as the ‘who will survive and what will be left of them’ mantra kicks in hard. If you’re at all squeamish then you’ll want to give The Loved Ones a miss as it features drills to the head, injections to the neck, hammer blows and nails to the feet… And that’s just the dinner scene…
It works better than many of its schlocky horror kin due to having a delicious dark sense of humour and a great cast.

The Loved Ones is a roller-coaster screwball horror fest that will leave you breathless and quite possibly disturbed. Just be careful the next time somebody asks you out – saying ‘no’ could be murder…

"This secret blue love potion / cleaning product - just the job!"

The Loved Ones takes a claw hammer to your frontal lobe and beats you until you're dazed, confused and totally thrilled!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 seriously 'wrong' dates out of 10)

Darkmatters Review: Road Train

Road Train (18)

Directed By: Dean Francis

Cast: Xavier Samuel, Sophie Lowe, Bob Morley, Georgina Hai, David Argue

Reviewed By: Matt Adcock

The Australian outback can be an unforgiving place at the best of times. It’s worse if you have the demonic big brother of Spielberg’s Duel truck trying to ram you off the road and drag you to hell.

Road Train (Road Kill if you’re in the US) features a fearsome truck that is basically 18 wheeled death to any who cross its path… And this heavy weapon of a vehicle is driven by diabolic forces beyond the comprehension of your average bunch of cute teens – which is why it’s not really a surprise when a young, dumb but cute looking bunch of teens run afoul of the smoke spewing beast.

Meet Marcus (Xavier Samuel) and Craig (Bob Morley) – two mates who have some girl issues – you see Marcus’ girlfriend, Liz (Georgina Haig), couldn’t resist getting it on with Craig and although in theory the two dudes are cool, there is still tension. Throw Craig’s hot new girlfriend, Nina (Sophie Lowe), into the mix – the film starts with them going for it hammer and tongs in their tent – and you know that things might go a bit awry.

However when the massive Road Train rams the teen’s jeep deep in the middle of nowhere – their life and death struggle takes over from their sexual politics. One thing leads to another and before you can say “that’s not a good idea” the teens climb aboard the supposedly driverless Road Train… That’s when the bad things really start to happen.

"Did you turn off on 'we're all going to die lane?'"

This isn’t your average straight to DVD horror effort; Road Train is actually gorgeously shot and boasts some truly stunning vistas / visuals which just add to the surprisingly compelling peril-em-up plot. Be prepared for some nasty surprises that take the movie out of pure road thriller and into a disturbed reality that wouldn’t be out of place in films like Jeepers Creepers et al.
The main star of the film is the monstrous rig itself – forget its crazed psycho driver, this Road Train lorry is a horror icon in the making. There are some seriously grim secrets about the inner workings of this beast – and it packs a driver / vehicle connection not normally seen outside of Top Gear and The Stig…

Ok so the plot calls for the random horny teens to make highly stupid decisions but they do look good and some of the death scenes are nicely worked. You get the feel that the director is a little bit in love with his savage truck hero though and none of the human cast get anything like as much character development!?

Road Train is a fun thrill ride that will please horror fans and road movie lovers with strong stomachs alike. It might make you look twice in your rear view mirror next time a huge HGV pulls up behind you too!!

Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 bad mofo trucks out of 10)

Darkmatters Review: The Town

The Town (15)

Dir. Ben Affleck

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Even in Luton it’s not everyday that you see a speeding carload of nuns packing heavy-duty combat machine guns making a desperate getaway from hundreds of furious cops. But this is exactly the kick-ass sort of scene that The Town delivers – making it easily the best cops and robbers action thriller for some time.

If you’re looking for a quality heist-em-up then you might not necessarily think Ben Affleck is your ‘go to’ guy, but with The Town he follows up his excellent Gone Baby Gone with another superbly watchable film.

Affleck himself takes the lead role as Doug MacRay - the loveable ‘crook with a heart’ leader of a slick crew of bank robbers who are working their way through the armored-cars and financial targets of Boston. He’s on top form too, oozing stubbly charisma and scoring a genuine connection with viewers, perhaps Mr ‘plank’ Affleck is finally making amends for his earlier crimes against cinema such as Gigli or Pearl Harbour!? But it’s not just Ben who delivers here because The Town boasts a uniformly great cast including Rebecca Hall as Claire Keesey, the manager of one of the banks that Doug’s crew hit. Doug falls for her which leads to some very fraught situations as he begins to get torn between his heart and his loyalty to his friends.

Up against the bank robbers is hot shot FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm – who you’ll see again in next year’s hot tip ‘Sucker Punch’). He’s a good nemesis which makes the dangerous game of cat-and-mouse he plays with Affleck compelling viewing. Pete Postlethwaite also pops up as crime lord Fergus 'Fergie' Colm who may just hold dark secrets about Doug’s broken family.

The wild card in the mix is Doug's dangerous best friend Jeremy Renner (James Coughlin) – he’s a natural-born killer who likes to shoot first and worry about doing the time later. When Doug says: “We gotta do somethin'. I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it after we're done, and we're gonna hurt some people.” James simply replies “Whose car we takin'?” He might be a thug but James is loyal to the crew and his sister is still in love with Doug which also complicates matters.

Take a trip to The Town for a full on, exciting, nerve shredding romp, packing some seriously cool shoot-outs which rival those of the crime epic Heat.

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

The crew from The Town are challenged to a 'heist-off' by the 'Takers' see review next week...

Darkmatters rating: ööööööööö (9 quality shootouts out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 9 / Style 8 / Babes 7 / Comedy 6 / Horror 6 / Spiritual Enlightenment 3





Search Amazon.com for ben affleck

Darkmatters Review: Tears for Sale

Tears for Sale (15)

Dir. Uroš Stojanoviæ

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


"Carlston za Ognjenku or a Serbian 'Amélie'?"

Tears for Sale is a phantasmagorical rom-com which does have elements of Jeunet's film but Uros Stojanovic brings a powerful new fantasy voice to the cinematic world.

We’re in World War I where a Serbian village is starved of men due to the war… We meet two feisty sisters - Ognjenka (Sonja Kolacaric) and Mala (Katarina Radivojevic). Their job are to be professional crying / sobbing providers who wail at funerals for money.

Things don’t look good when the last man in their village – the two sisters have to go on a quest to find and bring back some new men for the ladies. Oh and the spirit of their late grandmother (Olivera Katarina) haunts them – and will never be at peace until they complete their mission.

On their travels the girls find Iron Man Dragoljub (Nenad Jezdic) and his smooth dancer pal Arsa (Stefan Kapicic). Can these two men revive the village or might they actually fall in love with the sisters?

Tears for Sale is a fun romp stacked with crazy characters and situations from writer Aleksandar ‘A Serbian Film’ Radivojevic. But unlike that shock-em-up this film is funny and sexy with a very dark sense of humour.

"The girls on their mission for men"

Sonja Kolacaric and Katarina Radivojevic work well together – with sparky chemistry that makes this weird and wonderful fairy tale world that Terry Gilliam would be proud to call his own. It gets pretty saucy at points too (as I found out while watching this on a packed train!?).

The DVD looks excellent and the quality of the picturesque visuals are pin sharp. Everything about Tears for Sale is just the right side of the genius / madness divide.

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 freaky Serbian scenarios out of 10)

Darkmatters hearts TUMBLE PS3 Move

Tumble PS3 (Move)

Developed by Supermassive Games

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The first PlayStation Move game to give you a massive erection to play with…

Tumble is a building block game, where players use the funky new PS3 Move controllers to pick up, rotate and generally manipulate the various building materials in order to erect towers, blow them up with mines, puzzle the hell out of some dastardly challenges – all in stunning 3D HD (if you have the necessary TV).

Yep, building towers either against a target, an AI competitor or trying to beat a human adversary is much more fun than I thought it would be! Tumble uses the Move motion controller really well, it feels very natural and you’ll soon be stacking bricks like you’re a pro. Simply point at the block you want to pick up, use the trigger to grab and when you have it in the desired position - release it and hope that it doesn’t cascade off to oblivion…

"There she blows!!"

And here’s a thing – you can play Tumble no problem at all sitting down, which might not sound like a big deal but it is more than you can do if you choose to go the Xbox 360 route of Kinect which is a standing only experience.

Puzzling your way through the devious Tumble challenges begins very easy – e.g. build the tallest tower possible. But soon different materials come into play and so you’ll have to watch where you put that slippery ice block or the genius ‘stick to anything’ cubes.

As the traps become more SAW like you’ll find fans trying to blow your bricks over, swinging pendulums and beams, even antigravity areas or mirrors that bounce light.

Each puzzle comes with bronze, silver and gold targets for medals plus hidden bonus ones such as time challenges. It all makes for an excellent gaming experience. Especially fun if you choose to play through the levels cooperatively using a second motion controller, this led to some heated ‘discussion’ with my wife when we tried to work together.

For PS3 Movers with brains, Tumble is an excellent game – which will keep on giving for a long time. Buy it!!

Darkmatters rating: ööööööööö (9 falling blocks out of 10)

"Rumour has it that Emma Watson likes a tumble"

Darkmatters Review: The Other Guys

The Other Guys (12a)

Dir. Adam McKay

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

When New York’s finest hero cops (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson) have their careers and lives cut tragically yet stupidly short – who is there to step up and take on the high profile criminals? Well, how about The Other Guys – these are the humble desk jockeys such as Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) who loves nothing better than paperwork and his permanently angry partner Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) – who has been desk bound since accidentally shooting NYC’s top baseball player.

So we have the latest mismatched buddy cop comedy and it has a fantastic pedigree being from the makers of Anchor Man, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers. The writers pull no punches in this Dirty Harry on acid – highly comic tale, often venturing into risqué territory that will hopefully go over the head of the 12 years who can see this.

Prius driving, gentle cop Gamble is reluctant to make the jump into the high risk front line action, much to the disdain of his partner Hoitz who has all the moves but no opportunity to use them.

Steve Coogan turns up as David Ershon a slimy investor / main bad guy, who is planning an illicit scheme to somehow pay back billions he owes to some very shady characters. All manner of craziness ensues as the ‘other guys’ try to trace the missing cash and bust Ershon, and whilst the film delivers tons of funnies, it also has some nicely kick ass action to back it up.

"The old 'ball and chain' - if only!?"

Will Ferrell can’t help but be funny and he is great value here, Wahlberg has to play the straight man (albeit a very angry straight man) and the pairing works well with some likeable chemistry worked up between the two cops.

If you’ve seen the trailer – you’ll know that Ferrell is married to the smoking-hot Dr. Sheila Gamble (Eva Mendes) but treats her as if she was a plain ‘ball and chain’ other half. It’s a great gag that really works but for me the funniest scenes are the flashbacks to Gamble’s college career as a pimp named "Gator."

Add in Captain Gene Mauch (Michael Keaton) who keeps inadvertently quoting TLC songs and a show stopping argument about who would win in a fight between a lion and a tuna and you’ve got more than enough comedy genius to put The Other Guys on your ‘to see’ list.

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

The Other Guys get into a street battle with rival goofball cops - Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan for COP OUT, the only way to find out who are the 'top dogs' is a laugh off... The COP OUT fellas take the honours...

Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 cases of police stupidity out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 8 / Style 6 / Babes 8 / Comedy 9 / Horror 5 / Spiritual Enlightenment 0



Darkmatters faces The Horde

The Horde (18) or 'La Horde'

Dirs. Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher

Reviewed by Matt Adcock.

"The Die Hard of Zombie flicks" says Empire magazine… Well that got me interested right from the off (Die Hard is still one of my top 5 films of all time and I’m partial to decent zombie films e.g. 28 Days / Weeks Later).

The French have been making some strong horror films recently (see Martyrs or Switchblade Romance)...

This is a full on zombie-em-up with added gangsters, hard ass cops and a gnarly ‘Assault On Precinct 13 meets Dawn Of The Dead’ feel. The Horde brings satisfying edge-of-your-seat, no-one is safe danger that sees the titular zombie ‘horde’ attacking a decaying tower block as Paris burns around them.

"The Jehovah's Witnesses massed sensing potential converts..."

The human menu of talent include Claude Perron (Amelie), Eriq Ebouaney (Thirst), Aurelien Récoing (Intimate Enemies) and Doudou Masta (MicMacs), as the gang of criminals and their cops nemesis’ but when the zombies turn up it becomes an uneasy alliance in order to survive.

The Horde (Momentum Pictures) hit the UK cinemas on 17th September and DVD this week (20th September) where it comes with Special Features including: ‘Making of’ featurette; ‘Rivoallan’; zombie concept art; storyboards; teaser trailer; Easter Egg – rehearsal of a scene.

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 undead shoot-outs out of 10)

Darkmatters hearts PlayStation Game Runners

PlayStation Game Runners

Matt Adcock

PlayStation Game Runners is an experimental project where PlayStation, members of the public and young people from diverse backgrounds have come together to create social games; PlayStation believe the best games are played as a group.

The project has been developed by PlayStation and Hide & Seek with a team of 8 initial Game Runners who PlayStation have picked to train as game designers to work together to make the games relevant to the public.

There have been three games in development: Flags, BLOCKS & Hoops.

After a series of play tests to develop the games it was decided that the most popular was BLOCKS.

Now that BLOCKS has been announced as the winning game it will be put forward into development and the public will have the chance to check out the game on Friday October 8th in London during an open day where anyone can drop in and try BLOCKS followed by a competition in the evening.

For more information on PlayStation Game Runners and to get involved see http://www.facebook.com/playstationgamerunners - where fans are invited to comment on BLOCKS and support The Game Runners.

Quotes:

"Thanks to the community for voting for BLOCKS" says Carl Christopher-Ansari, Sponsorship Manager for SCEUK. "In all our personal plays and community sampling play testing we found BLOCKS to be an intense game of strategy and precision. BLOCKS is highly competitive and social. People really get their game face on to play this.

"I look forward to seeing BLOCKS going into full production for the live event. It will make for a visual spectacular and a great social night out as we will be playing with very tactile small and large Blocks. It will be an awesome challenge of brainpower and dexterity."

Alex Fleetwood, Director at Hide & Seek says: "Hide & Seek are thrilled to be a part of PlayStation Game Runners. Working with this inspirational group of young people to develop amazing new social games has pushed our creativity to the limit. BLOCKS is a worthy winner - it's an incredibly addictive battle of precision, movement and nerve, we can't get enough of it in the Hide & Seek studio... Niamh, Rodney and Haroon must be stoked! We're really looking forward to taking everything we've learnt from the process so far to help create an incredible event in October - it's going to be a heap of fun."

About BLOCKS:

BLOCKS is a three-dimensional game of strategy and precision movement.

Two opposing players take it in turns to place the blocks in a 2 x 2 tower. Every face of the block has a PlayStation symbol on it. When a player places a block the symbols on all touching faces
must match.

Here's the tricky bit: all the blocks are a little bit uneven, and so stacking a high tower gets harder and harder. The player who lets the tower topple, or who runs out of time to make a move, loses the game.

You'll need a logical mind and a steady hand to triumph!

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd


Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 38 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 146.1 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 62.7 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 52 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 1 billion items have been downloaded.


More information about PlayStation products can be found at http://www.playstation.com/.


PlayStation, the PlayStation logo and PSP are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Darkmatters: Top Gun PS3

Top Gun (PS3 Exclusive)

Developed by: Doublesix Games

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to ensure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world. They succeeded. Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it: TOP GUN.

Top Gun is a not just a film, it is a classic, genre defining classic that put Tony Scott on the map as a director and cemented the iconic status of Tom Cruise.

Now PS3 owners have the honour of enlisting in a virtual Fighter Weapons School, taking to the skies as call-sign ‘Maverick’ and shouting “I feel the need, the need for speed!” at their HD TV…
Are you good enough to be counted amongst the best of the best? It’s time to strap in and find out!

"This bogey's all over me..."

Top Gun is an arcade air combat game – don’t come here thinking that this is a hardcore flight simulator… This is a hardcore shoot-em-whilst-singing-along-to-the-official-soundtrack-em-up!! Homo-erotic volleyball games are not included…

Doublesix Games have gone ‘right into the danger zone’ with this one because if you mess with classics you mess with the massive devoted fan base (I’m one of them)… So the big question is – does it work?
In one way it really does – the basics of jumping into a jet, take to the skies and dogfight the living daylights out of enemies (first trainers such as the iconic Jester and Viper whilst at Top Gun), because those darn Russian MIGs are waiting to blow you out of the sky. The flying / aerial combat of the game works very well, it takes seconds to master the flying, and being an arcade game you get weapons that reload in flight and armour that mends itself!

"All the girls love a Top Gun!"

While playing – fans will be taken aback by the bastardised dialogue e.g. when Iceman somes over the radio saying “You two really are cowboys” and Maverick (you) should reply: “What's your problem, Kazanski?” – what happens here is you get Goose mumbling a half assed re-written version of your lines!? So when you’re expecting Iceman to follow up with: “You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.” You have to take matters into your own hands and shout over the rubbish that ‘Goose’ is responding to with: “That's right! Ice... man. I am dangerous.”
There are some really nice touches to the gameplay too such as CFI camera which allows you to track enemies as they turn and burn with the aim of getting a missile lock on your ass. You’ll soon be pulling things like ‘the gutsiest move I’ve ever seen man’ – if you do find yourself on the wrong end of a missile lock you do have counter measures which can be launched.

In addition to the main campaign, Top Gun also has a wicked ‘Horde’ mode where unending waves of enemies will come at you until you finally succumb to their bombardment.
There are even some multiplayer modes including aerial death matches and capture the flag, where sixteen players can take each other on. Good times!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 missile locks out of 10)

Top Gun shoots down other arcade flight sims like the much more expensive HAWX 2 and gives the classic Warhawk a run for its money. For me this might not be the ‘best of the best’ but it is a great fun blast “Great balls of fire!”