The Long Awaited Return of the Podcast!

During the first podcast in weeks, the guys talk about everything from DRM and game piracy to review integrity and honesty.

This week's cast is a bit longer than the others have been (around 45 minutes) but we feel the content deserved that amount of time. Also, this week Flea apparently traded his "err" for a four letter word that starts with F. Unfortunately this causes the cast to be possibly NSFW. Parental discretion is advised. Flea will be beaten and advised to clean up his act next week.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

History tells us that there are some games that really should not be made into films as they just don't work. The result has seen some stinkers like Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Street Fighter The Movie, Tomb Raider (Did we really need a second film as well?) and the laughable House of the Dead. Then on the other hand there have been half decent films like the first Mortal Kombat film and Resident Evil, which proves that a good film can be made based on a game if enough thought is put into the film.

So just where does the Prince of Persia game sit? Is it in the steaming pile of cack corner or the surprisingly good corner. Well personally I think it is probably the best film that has been based on a video game, Which really isn't hard but its a decent movie in its own right as well.


The film really does the character of the Prince justice as it stays true to the character that we have played as in the past. Jake Gyllenhaal really made the character of the Prince come to life and did justice to the character. Gemma Arterton was also very convincing as Princess Tamina, (she is also very easy on the eye to say the least) along with all the other characters in the film and good script writing the film doesn't fail to impress.

I really did expect this to be a terrible film that would be laughable at best, yet I really enjoyed it as did Mrs Flea. If this standard of film making could be applied to all other game based movies then we could see an upturn in the opinion us gamers have of films based on the games we enjoy playing. If I had to rate the film I would give it a solid 8 out of 10, definitely a film worth watching even if your not a fan of the games.

Now we just have to wait and see if the forth coming Gears of War, God of War, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Kane & Lynch, Halo and Mass Effect movies can in turn be made into great films. Chances are a couple of these will suck, but you never know we could see something special from one of these upcoming films.

Games You Should Avoid In June 2010

Well another month and another list of shite games that you need to avoid. This month sees a lot of random DS and Wii accessories released. Wii lightsaber & Darth Vader sensor bar holder being some of the most retarded ones I have seen. I could do a whole 5 blog posts on some of that crap, but since this is "Games You Should Avoid" and not "Shitty Accessories You Should Avoid" I had best continue on. So what should you avoid this month? Well there is only one way to find out and that is by checking out the list below...

Now personally I think this is a good idea 3 games in one pack with the proceeds going to charity, the selection of games and the price however is a bad thing. (£30 for all 3 games) When you consider that you can buy the games for less than that brand new individually. (Fuel is £7, Sega Superstar Tennis is £5 and Tomb Raider Underworld is £9 giving a total price of £21) So for that reason alone this pack of games makes this months "Games You Should Avoid"

A game based on riding a bike with no engine can be fun as Paper Boy proved back in the day and er... BMX XXX?? (Really clutching at straws here as the only other games I can think of are Dave Mirra's and Matt Hoffmans games) Now a game based on the Tour De France may not actually be that bad ( It probably would be a steaming pile of poop though) yet a game based on managing a rider in the Tour De France? What the hell are they smoking to let this game be produced never mind seeing a release.

Games are supposed to be fun to play, if I wanted to exercise I would go swimming, ride a bike or do some other activity. I don't need a glorified fitness dvd on a console and neither do you. Just put down the burger and take the dog for a walk or some crap like that, you really don't need this game to exercise.
Do I really need to point out why this game should be avoided? If you want to play something like this then get Sim City for your PC and play a proper game.


I don't even know what Pilates is, it does sound pretty painful though and looks a lot like another fitness game. So once again avoid this pile of crap.

U Fitness? Yet more shovel ware for us all to avoid. How many more of these Wii Fit style games (I use the term games loosely as these clearly aren't games) are going to get released? Nintendo used to be a firm that demanded quality, it now appears that they don't give a shit what is released on their systems. Shame on you Nintendo, shame on you.

Bargain Bucket Bonanza

Over the last few weeks I have picked up games like Neir, Red Dead Redemption, Just Cause 2, 3D Dot Game Heroes and a few other retail and PSN games. Yet despite having all these brand new shiny games to play I find myself playing some games from the "Bargain Bucket" in stores.
Here are a few games I have picked up that I am enjoying playing or due to play and maybe worth you picking up as well if you missed out on picking them up on their original release.


What can be said about FIFA 08 & 09 that you don't already know, some people consider the FIFA series to be the best football games around and at £0.48 and £2.49 (In store @ Game) respectively they are really worth picking up. Great games to play when your mates come round as there is nothing like playing FIFA against an opponent in the same room.


Don't like FIFA? Then pick up Pro Evo 2008 & 2009 for £0.48 and £2.49 respectively (In store @ Game) From a personal point of view I can't decide which I like better out of FIFA and Pro Evo as it all depends on what mood I am in at the time. Bargain football games to get into the spirit of the upcoming World Cup.


Like blowing shit up? Well then whats better than Mercenaries 2? Well Just Cause 2 is, but if your on a budget then you can't really do worse than picking up this game for £4.79 with delivery from the Argos Clearance store.


Motor Storm costs £10 second hand at Game in the UK, yet for some retarded reason they are selling Motor Storm: Pacific Rift for only £7.99. Arcade type racing that's not to shabby to say the least.



Prototype came out at the same time as Infamous and they have received constant comparisons to each other. Any game that plays similar to the last Hulk game and expands on that can't be a bad thing. (£12.99 in store @ Game) This is one game I look forward to playing very soon although I don't really think I should have included it in this list due to the price being over £10.



Ridge Racer used to be the arcade racer that everyone wanted to play in the Arcades and on the original Play Station. So surely the latest version of the game can't be all that bad, this is basically Ridge Racer 6 with a lick of paint so that's either a good or bad thing depending on your thoughts of the last game, at £2.99 (In store @ Gamestation) though I thought I may as well pick it up.



The Tomb Raider series has had its ups and downs with some great games as well as some piss poor games that shouldn't have been made. Tomb Raider Underworld is a return to form for the series and is worth £5 (In store @ Gamestation) of any ones money for a fun bit of adventuring.



While the story line of the game is laughable to say the least (It's mainly just Capture the Flag and Team Death Match repeated over and over) there is still no denying that the game is still fun to play. This is not the best shooter but it's a nice change of pace when you fancy a break from Modern Warfare 2 of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. (£4.99 in store @ Gamestation)

Pay For The Play Station Network? WTF!

PS3 Subscription for Kitty?

Well there are rumours going around that Sony will introduce a premium service on the Play Station Network. The long and short of the rumours is that the subscription will cost you £50 a month and will include a free PSN game (rumoured to be selectable) As well as some other features like the ability to stream music that can run in the background while you play games. (Pretty handy for when your grinding on Final Fantasy XIII) If it's true then I can see myself parting with the cash for a 12 month subscription, heck it could be worth it just for the PSN games. (Unless it ends up like the First Play dregs that we have seen so far)

Source: VG247 Via Destructiod

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Due September

Square Enix have decided to release the date of the new PSP Kingdom Hearts game on the Playstation EU blog (It's September this year) Personally I am not a fan of Kingdom Hearts but I know many people that are, so this is good news for those people. Here is the trailer for the new game to keep you guys going until the games release.

Better Late Than Never? (Red Dead Redemption Launch Trailer)

Lost Killzone 2

Lost Planet 2 lets you use characters from other games online (Which personally I think is a great idea, unless everyone uses the same character such as Marcus Fenix) A few days ago Capcom announced that you will be able to use some Killzone 2 character skins in the game. So here are the latest 2 pictures of them that Capcom released sometime yesterday. I know this game is starting to peak my interest more and more, maybe after a talk with Code34 before todays podcast I could end up purchasing the game.

First Play Really Not Worth It?

I subscribed to the UK only First Play on the PS3 after being intrigued by the exclusive previews, reviews and downloadable content due each week. The series is now 6 episodes in and the the previews are really nothing that you can't see on youtube or any other gaming site on the net. The reviews I never bother with and the whole thing makes you sit through un-skippable adverts for games. (The first 3 episodes kept showing Just Cause 2, a game I already owned and have no intention of buying again)

The real reason that myself and most others subscribed to First Play though is for the downloadable content, which so far has been lack luster at best. In the first episode we got a Just Cause 2 treat in a Firestorm parachute (It has flames on it) to use in game. (Except it doesn't seem to work for some reason) Also thrown in was a First Play theme (It looks ok but with dynamic and better looking themes being available for free you really won't use it)


The second episode came with a Mini called D-Cube Planet (which isn't all that great to be honest) and something that I will probably never play after my first 10 minutes with it.

The third episode came with episode one's releases again for some strange reason.

The fourth episode came with episode one's releases yet again, so really wouldn't have been a purchase for me had I not subscribed.

The fifth episode was released with a new theme (Enslaved) and yet another new parachute for Just Cause 2 (The board meeting must go something like this, Boss: "If your a gamer what would you want as free DLC?" Marketing person: "Parachutes, everyone wants more parachutes for Just Cause 2 to really enhance the gaming experience" it's retarded if you ask me as that's the last thing I would want to receive)


The sixth episode came with surprise surprise the Just Cause 2 parachute released yet again and a Kane & Lynch theme.

The jungle drums are saying that the next 3 or 4 episodes will come with a free mini in each episode, personally I think this is a last gasp effort to keep people subscribing to First Play. I know that as soon as my subscription runs out I will be cancelling (Something you have to do as the damn thing auto renews unless you cancel it) and just picking up the odd episode here and there based on the content included.

Random Game Conversations FTW!

There is nothing worse than having to take something back and wait while the person at the counter ignores you while seemingly does nothing at all. (Well that is normally what happens when I take stuff back) This weekend I took a DVD player that stopped working back to a computer shop (Scan) to be exchanged for another one. When I got there I commented that the shop looked significantly different to when I used to go there.


The guy behind the counter said that they had done the shop up a few years ago, and asked me why I hadn't been in. I replied that I had been sat at home playing on my PS3 as a throwaway comment. What ensued from this was a 20 minute conversation on Demon's Souls with a bit of 3D Dot Game Heroes thrown in. As apparently the guy behind the counter had just imported it a month or 2 before hand and is loving every moment of the game.


We probably could have spoken about the games for quite sometime if it wasn't for the customers coming in the ship and queuing up behind me, oh and the fact that my missus and the kids were sat in the car for the entire time waiting for me to just nip in and straight back out of the shop. I know this isn't really a gaming related story, I was just pretty surprised to find not only another PS3 owner but also someone that had imported Demon's Souls in the UK. (Since the game doesn't see a release over here until June 2010) I guess I have learnt my lesson that not all returns need to be boring and mundane, you just have to take stuff back to a shop with another gamer working there that wants to skive for 20 minutes or so.

Resurgence Pack Screens

We didn't expect screens of the Resurgence Pack quite this fast, but here they are.

See if you can pick out which map is Carnival. Hint: It's the one with the GIANT clown head.

Better Late Than Never? (Steam for Mac)

Just in case you missed it, Steam is now available for Mac users. Rejoice and go play Portal. It's free until May 24th. Due to my internet issues I'm just now downloading it myself. So don't feel left out.

[Free Portal]

Next MW2 Map Pack June 3rd:

If there is one thing to be learned about Modern Warfare 2 fans it is this: They can take it like a man. When Activision decided they wanted to charge $15 for new maps a few months back, initially the community was in an uproar about it. Well, 2.5 million downloads of that DLC later, here comes another $15 (1200 MSP) set of maps for Modern Warfare 2.

Dubbed the Resurgence Pack it brings back two more old Modern Warfare maps and three new ones. The old maps are Vacant and Strike. The new maps are Trailer Park, Carnival and Fuel. I'm sure screens of these maps will surface sooner rather than later because the DLC is due out June 3rd on the Xbox 360. Yes PS3 and PC owners, you have to wait again.

This Week's Podcast (5.13.10)

Well unfortunately there won't be a podcast for this week as Cody is having issues with his internet, hopefully they will all be sorted out in time for sundays cast so normal service can resume. In the meantime go and buy yourself either Rocket Knight or 3D Dot Game Heroes to pass the time (Or both like I have done) until the next cast is ready for your listening pleasure. (or pain if you don't like it)

Little Big Planet 2 Unvieled:

If you thought the first Little Big Planet was awesome, prepare to have your mind BLOWN.



Catchy tune, right? In the first Little Big Planet Media Molecule gave us the tools to build our own levels. Now they're giving us the whole tool box and letting us do whatever we want with it.

A powerful new set of tools awaits you, tools that vastly widen the scope of possibility, and that hand you the power to create WHOLE GAMES.

Through a familiar but revamped Popit, you can bring your characters to life, compose your own music, direct cinematic masterpieces, wire controllers directly in to your contraptions, connect easy to use switches, microchips and circuit boards to build epic bosses, vehicles, machines, and puzzles.

Make your wildest dreams come true, yes, even that one.

Oh, the possibilities. It appears we'll be getting our hands on this before the year is out. Stay tuned.

LittleBigPlanet.com

Anarchy: Rush Hour Was It Worth The Wait?

Earlier this week I hopped onto the Play Station Network and watched a preview for the latest PSN game Anarchy: Rush Hour. After watching the preview I went to add funds to my account so I could purchase this awesome looking racing game. (The preview made it look a lot like Burnout Revenge) Only to end up sat there repeatedly trying to get the game for a few hours due to the PS Network meltdown caused by the release of the Modern Warfare 2 map packs. Eventually though I managed to purchase this awesome looking game and immediately jumped onto the multi-player mode of the game to end up being very surprised to say the least.

Why was I surprised? Well the press release on Gaijin Entertainments site says the following about the game...

Put the pedal to the metal in a no-holds-barred arcade racing game that will challenge even the most experienced virtual drivers! Gaijin Entertainment is proud to announce the release Anarchy: Rush Hour, a new action racing game for the PS3. The eagerly anticipated offering is available for online purchase through PlayStation Network USA for $7.99.

In Anarchy: Rush Hour, players take the role of Max, a street racer who came to Big City to visit his girlfriend, only to witness her kidnapping. Max goes underground in Big City and learns that criminals with ties to a local street racing club are responsible. With the help of his friend and fellow street racer ChaCha, Max sets out to rescue his girl. Race through winding city streets, participate in over-the-top racing events and smash your way through outrageous traffic jams using an arsenal of adrenaline-powered devices. As you pull off stunts and obliterate opponents, the explosive action and stunning visual effects will rock your world!

Well a game that promises as much as that really deserves to be reviewed. So when I eventually managed to purchase this awesome looking game I immediately jumped onto the multi-player mode for some instant racing chaos. I really don't know what happened in the time between watching the preview and actually getting my hands on the game, but something seriously went wrong. The cars turn like a double decker bus with flat tyres resulting in the handling being so bad that they are near enough undrivable. All the cool looking things in the game like ramming traffic don't seem to work, resulting in a lot of head scratching and shitty gameplay. The preview really promised so much and made the game look a lot of fun, which tells you that the marketing team really needs a big bonus to make this crap really look like a fun game and make people (Mugs like me) buy it.

I was planning to write a proper review on this game but it really is unworthy of anything other than a simple one line review. So here is my review of Anarchy: Rush Hour for your enjoyment....

"Anarchy: Rush Hour is a pile of shite so don't waste your money on it!"

Letter from the Editor

Hey guys/girls,

You may (or may not) have been wondering where we've been the past couple days. Well, we've been doing that whole "behind the scenes" thing again and we have some exciting news. At this point our page is still in the works, but playd-it.com is now ours and we will be moving in soon. We just have to round up a few more pieces of the puzzle and we will be on our way! In the mean time, keep checking back for more news/reviews and the podcast every Sunday. Be on the look out for a "sarcastic robot" as well. Everyone loves him.

Regards,
-Cody

ps - If you go to playd-it.com right now you'll get a taste of Flea's "wonderfully amazing" HTML skills. Like a kid with finger paint, we're letting him play for a while before the real thing is done.

Street Fighter Legacy Short Film

Well the Street Fighter Legacy short by Joey Anash is finally finished, so here it is for your enjoyment.

Coming Soon to the Xbox Live Marketplace

Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week:

May 17: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, 400 Microsoft Points

Xbox LIVE Games on Demand:

May 11: Tom Clancy's EndWar

Xbox LIVE Arcade:

May 5: Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition, 1200 points
May 5: RayStorm HD, 1200 Microsoft Points
May 12: Rocket Knight, 1200 points
June 2: Snoopy Flying Ace, 800 points

This Wednesday May 5th the next Game Room pack will be available which will includes: Super Breakout, Pitfall!, Megamania, Night Stalker, Rack 'Em Up, Realsports Volleyball and Basketball

Xbox Avatar Marketplace:

These are just a few of the collections scheduled for the Xbox LIVE Avatar Marketplace.

May 6: FF XIII
May 6: Game Room
May 13: Army of Two
May 13: A Kingdom for Keflings

Also, the following Xbox 360 Game Add-Ons are scheduled to be available:

May 7: Lips Miley Cyrus Song Pack, 440 Microsoft Points each
May 11: Forza Motorsport 3: “Exotic Car Pack” 400 Microsoft Points
May 13: Super Street Fighter™ IV: “Super Shoryuken Pack”, 320 Microsoft Points
May 18: Dragon Age: Origins “Darkspawn Chronicles”, 400 Microsoft Points
Spring 2010: Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers “Expansion Pack 2”, 400 Microsoft Points

*This is all (obviously) subject to change.

Any Dragon Age fan noticed the "Darkspawn Chronicles" DLC near the end. That one hasn't been announced yet and no info can be found on it. Interesting, no? Stay Tuned.

[source]

ReTweet'd: Halo Reach Edition

The Reach Beta hits sometime tomorrow morning (PST) and Xbox Live's Major Nelson has apparently been fielding a lot of questions as to the exact time of release:

@majornelson: The official Halo: Reach beta is expected it to go live late Monday (May 3rd) morning, Pacific time. No, I don't know the EXACT time. - via Twitter

A bit later he posted a visual guide for installing the Reach Beta via ODST. Just in case you need it, you can find it here.

There has been a delay.

(Podcast) Sunday this week has been delayed until tomorrow (Monday) in order to give us more time with the Reach Beta. That way I can give my impressions of it on the podcast. As we all know, the more we have to talk about the better. You can also expect things like minute reviews of FIFA World Cup 2010, Tecmo Super Bowl Throwback, our thoughts on the Reach Beta and the Call of Duty: Black Ops reveal trailer and more!

Did The Just Cause 2 Launch Go Wrong?

Either Square Enix and Eidos are planning to re-release Just Cause 2 already or Play.com love the game so much that they think it deserves to be released again. (Play.com FTL!) As a result Play.com win our dumb move of the month for letting you pre-order a game that is already available. Don't get me wrong Just Cause 2 is a great game but I don't really think that it is worth waiting for all over again, especially when you can just order the game now from Play.com themselves and get it now.


At least I got a kick out of their mistake and it gave me something else to blog about, so thanks goes to whoever made this mistake over @ play for making my day.

Games You Should Avoid In May 2010

May sees quite a few games being released on various systems with great games like 3D Dot Game Heroes, Red Dead Redemption, Mod Nation Racers, Prince of Persia and Split Second Velocity all demanding your hard earned money. That being said there is a load of crap on the way that you should avoid, we here at Playdit! have selected some of the best worst games being released this month that should never have been made.





What can be more exciting than flying a plane soaring through the Sky's? If you said being an Airport traffic controller then great news you can finally play the game of your dreams. Featuring an amazing 15 different international airports where you can give planes permission to take off and land! Who the heck thought that this would be a good game? the person who commissioned this pile of shite needs to take a good look in the mirror and think about what they have done. Avoid this mundane crap like the plague.







People like Quiz games, it's official with games like Scene It! and Buzz selling well on the 360 and PS3. There is a reason for this and that reason is they are fun to play while you have a few friends round (I.E. Mrs Flea has invited a friend and their partner round when you want to play games, so as a compromise you dig Scene It! out so you can keep playing something) One thing that makes these fun is because they have a good mix of trivia from entertainment to music to sport. So a game where the questions are all about retarded animals that you couldn't care about unless they were served on a plate with gravy and vegetables is a bad idea. Look at the box art at how much fun those people are having, that my friends is called bullshit marketing teams clutching at straws to sell shitty games to us by pretending they are fun.





Do I really need to say anything about this game? Apparently it also uses the balance board to play the game. Fatties need not apply though as you will probably see a message flash on screen saying "Your to fat to be a model!" or "Come back when your a size zero chubby!" More shovel ware for the Wii oh what a surprise! and Nintendo still wonder why the Wii is becoming the laughing stock among gamers.





Dancing on Ice is a game based on a shitty TV show that's broadcast over here in the UK. It is normally watched by women with no taste and men that more than likely bat for the other team. The game could probably give the worst movie tie-in game you can think of a run for their money. Yet another piece of crap to be released on the Wii. While I do applaud Nintendo for learning from the lack of the games released for the Gamecube, if the result of that is shite like this being released Nintendo need to go back to their stringent quality controls once again.





Games that just missed out on a place on this months list are..

• Petz Fantasy (DS)
• Fix It (Wii & DS)
• Sonny With A Chance (DS)
• Playmobil Knight (DS)

I'm in your base killing your doods!

Just the other week I ended up finally getting around to playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 that has been sitting on my shelf for the last few weeks, and I have to say there is just something about the game that is awesome. There is just something about the game that I am really enjoying online that seems me wanting to play the game over and over again. (Much to the annoyance of Mrs Flea, especially when she wants me to do something less fun!) Don't get me wrong she doesn't mind me occasionally playing games as she realises that it is something that I really enjoy, but this game is habit forming in the worst way.

Going to your base to kill your doods!

The game offers an experience that CoD: MW2 just doesn't offer, sure Conquest is just a variation of CoD's Head Quarters mode. (But then isn't that just a variation of King of the Hill?) Yet the variation on BC2 just seems a lot more fun as you don't just have one target to capture making the game a lot more tactical, instead of just standing back and grenade spamming the Head Quarters like so many CoD players seem to do.

Flea at the top of the after game scoreboard

The strange thing is I really liked the first Modern Warfare game and wasn't keen on the first Bad Company game. So why the sudden change? It could be that I am just bored of Modern Warfare's style of play so Bad Company gives me something different that I can now enjoy and appreciate that I didn't before. Then again it could be because at the moment I am normally finishing at the top of the leader boards (sometimes by quite a margin which is always a great experience)

And again? Wow he is awesome lol

Maybe one day I will return to Modern Warfare 2 and enjoy it just as much as I am enjoying Bad Company 2, if so it won't be for quite a while as Bad Company 2 remains such fun. (Especially the Rush mode which you really should play) If I am going to recommend one game to play online then it has to be Bad Company 2, just don't ask me what the single player mode is like as I haven't got a clue.