So, WipEout HD has been released on the PSN. I got it, and needless to say, I’m prety impressed with it. It runs in full 1080p, 60fps and it looks absolutely beautiful. My TV only supports up to 1080i though. For those who aren’t familiar with the WipEout series of games, basically, it’s a racer with mega-fast gravity vehicles and weapons. Kinda similar to the F-Zero games.

About the only criticism is that all the tracks are rehashed from the two PSP WipEout titles. But I’ve never played them, so that doesn’t affect me in the slightest. And apart from that, nobody seems to have a bad thing to say about the game. And it also has trophies.

It also has a rather cool new feature: Photo Mode. You can pause the game at any point and use a virtual camera to take a photo of the scene. You can move around, zoom in and out and tilt the camera, as well as take pictures from inside the vehicle and a fixed point looking down on the track. And you can then get some cool post-processing effects like editing the saturation, motion blur, speed blur, and mess around with the focus and aperture settings. And you can then export them as full 1920×1080 JPEGs. Here’s a few I did, which are completely shit compared to some of the ones I’ve seen floating around the net.

I also watched the new Rambo film last night. I managed to pick it up on Blu-Ray for a tenner, and since I loved the originals and heard good stuff about the new ‘un, though I’d give it a go.

OMGWTFBBQ!?

This movie is AWESOME. There’s not much in terms of plot (as to be expected with Rambo. Basically - missionaries go into Burma, get caught, Rambo goes and gets them out, killing half the Burmese army in the process), but the sheer amount of action and violence more than makes up for it. I lost count of the many times I went “Whoa, that is fucking awesome!”, because someone got ripped in half or their head blown off or their throat ripped out. There is so much violence it’s unbelievable, yet, it doesn’t at any point seem to feel over-the-top.

Apparently, Rambo V is in the works. Lets see how that turns out.

OH YES. Another blog by me. this must be, what, the twentieth by now? Most likely. But whatever. Again, I promise to make an effort to keep this one afloat, and to post stuff semi-regularly at least. I’ll try.

Anyway, I’ve recently started college. It’s not too bad. Shame I have to get the bus there and back, which isn’t particularly cheap, even with my student concession. Still, it’s not bad (better than school) and I’m only in twice a week, so it doesn’t exactly eat up your entire week. Hopefully, it’ll be fairly easy as well. I seem to be getting on pretty well so far, especially in Software Development. But it’s only been a couple of weeks. It’s undoubtedly going to get a lot more intense in the coming months.

I’ve bought a couple of Blu-Ray films as well recently, mostly to see what the quality was like. I got Superbad, Full Metal Jacket and Spider-Man 3 (Yeah, I know it’s shit but it was only a fiver :P). The quality is pretty damn good, but not quite as good as it’s being hyped up to be (even Full Metal Jacket is really good quality, which surprised me seeing as it’s like a 20 year old movie). It is noticeable to begin with, but you’re not sitting through the whole film thinking “OMG, the quality pwns!” It’s definitely a lot better than DVD, but not good enough to warrant paying £20 a pop for.

I also recently got Soulcalibur IV (PS3), which I am mightily impressed with. Very fun game, especially when you play it with a mate. My only real complaint is the difficulty of Arcade Mode. The Apprentice is so overpowered it’s absurd. Took me absolutely ages to unlock him. Doesn’t help you have to use Darth Vader, who’s quite a slow character. Still, great game. Just wish they’d hurry up and released Yoda as DLC.

I also managed to get Call of Duty 4 recently as well. Finally. I managed to find it quite cheap, so I snatched it up. £39.99 pre-owned at Gamestation (and just about anywhere else that sells pre-owned games)? FUCK THAT. I got it new in Argos for £30. I could’ve got it for PC, except I don’t really like playing PC games. I’d much rather lie on my bed, playing games in glorious HD on my lovely TV. That’s why I’m looking forward to BioShock on PS3 so much. Hunched over a keyboard and mouse, staring into a 17″ PC monitor mere inches from my face doesn’t really appeal to me. Why does video gaming have to be such an expensive hobby. Sooner I get a job, the better.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say for now. Welcome back to the site. Again.