ReviewColumn’s rating :

For a whole decade, The Command & Conquer (C&C) series has brought to us much joy, entertainment and also frustration from battling against the AIs. From the first series of Command & Conquer, to Red Alert, to Generals and finally, after one whole decade, it arrived at what it is today, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Some of us only just started playing, others played it for a large portion of our childhood. It has changed its production company several times, from the initial producers of Westwood Studios, to Petroglyph Games and finally, to Electronic Arts (EA). Despite the change in game producers, RTS gamers like myself don’t really mind, as long as the game is still alive and running. Indeed, Command & Conquer had somehow emerged into our lives, becoming a part of the life of RTS players like myself.

In this version, the “good guys” are known as the United Nations’ Global Defense Initiatives (GDI) and they battle against the evil terrorists of a quasi state known the Brotherhood of Nod (NOD). Similar to Red Alert 2: Yuri’s Revenge, halfway through the mission of either faction, a third faction would be introduced. This time, this faction is actually extra-terrestrial lifeforms known as the Scrins. In this version, the tiberium is a precious material that could be harvested for energy or for the use of manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. The GDIs are trying to prevent the NODs from manipulating the tiberium to produce weapons while they themselves want to actually harvest the tiberium for their own good.

Tiberium had been alive for a long time in C&C for a long time already. Initially, it was a type of resource in C&C series. However, when Red Alert was released, it split the population of C&C players up. Red Alert had no mention of tiberium at all and hence, some players do not consider that as part of the C&C series. The other faction thought that since it was created by the developers who moved to Petroglyph Games (the same people who created C&C), it should also be part of the C&C series.

Command & Conquer 3 provides the players with the ability to somehow control how each individual mission plays out. For example, some acts allow the players to play a certain scenario before another. The stuff unlocked at the previous scenario would be able to work in the following scenarios of the same act. Also, the multi-player mode provides players to pit their strategy of C&C3 with each other. Some may prefer the defensive approach while others, the offensive. When battling against the AI, either methods would be able to work. Hence, this causes some players to often debate against each other as to whether which tactic would be a better one. Hence, with the multi-player mode, players could actually battle against each other to test out their strategies and to prove once and for all, which is the better one.

All in all, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is a game that allows people from all ages to play, as long as they could take up the pressure from the game and withstand the frustration of losing to AIs. For the C&C loyals, this is a must for you.

Click here to buy this game
Rate this game, give us your rating:
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

Here’s one those looking for a laptop to work with. Introducing the Tablet PC. For those who have no idea what it actually is, it is a laptop, except for the fact that it allows the user to twist the screen flat down on the keyboard and write on it using the stylus pen. This is not a new idea, in fact, this has been on the market for a few years already, just that it has not been popularized and given much attention to as compared to the other laptops.

The Tablet PC allows users, especially students to write down notes on the touchscreen as if on a piece of paper, except that there is no need for storage places. Everything here is done on the PC and all information is stored like any other digital data, inside the hard-disk. It provides handwriting recognition which allows the computer to recognize the handwritings of people and to convert them into digital format without actually making the user type using standard keyboards. However, as compared to the typing speed of standard laptops using the keyboard, writing on the touchscreen could be slightly slower unless one is already very used to writing and has configured his Tablet PC to accommodate one’s style of writing.

Taking down notes could not have been easier. With the stylus, users could use programs such as Windows Journal to take down precise sketches as compared to the old traditional method of using the auto-shape function of Microsoft Office. Also, Office has also integrated handwriting recognition in its programs such as Word and Powerpoint. It is now possible, using the stylus pen, to insert drawn diagrams into such documents. This could make the document much clearer by inputting precisely-drawn diagrams.

For all those digital artists out there, Tablet PCs are much more precise than the standard mouse movements. Using the stylus, artists could use the stylus and draw on the touchscreen, as compared to mouse movements which is more jerky. Hence, the Tablet PC is the PC of choice for professional digital artists and for those who want more precision in their work.

As for me, the Tablet PC is a tool used by my school for teaching purposes. As our nation gradually proceeds towards the IT era, things are being digitalized, including education. Thus, the Tablet PC was introduced to us to facilitate our learning in school. This brings the world to our classrooms and allows teachers access to more information. No more heavy textbooks, almost every single textbook has been digitalized and more often than not, the Tablet PC is the only thing we bring to school.

All in all, the Tablet PC has brought convenience for those who are learning and it is much more precise than standard laptops. With the precision of pen and paper, the Tablet PC provides a more natural form of inserting information. Hence, for all those students who have messy files full of paper and diagrams at home, this is the gadget for you, the one that could pack up your messy closets.

Buy HP Compaq 2710p Tablet PC
Rate this gadget, give us your rating:
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

To all those fans of FPS (First-Person Shooting) game, the newest sequel of the Call of Duty series is finally released. This time, it brings the world of FPS gaming to a new height, with much better graphics and missions that would allow the player to immerse himself in the realm of modern warfare.

When I first played the game, the first thing that amazed me was how close to reality the game was. The real-time graphics that made the game look so real would most definitely bring back memories of players who had experienced real-life warfare, ie. in the army.

The story begins with a young recruit by the name of “Soap” MacTavish joining the British 22nd SAS Regiment and continues on with another perspective of a member of the United States Marine Corps 1st Force Recon, going by the name of Paul Jackson. It brings the player to the Russia, where the Russian ultra-nationalist Imran Zakhaev tries to topple the current Russian government and seize nuclear weapons. Next, the player is brought to the Middle East, where the United States battles against a coup uprising brought together by Imran Zakhaev, led by his ally Khaled Al-Asad.

The game requires each player to team up with its AI allies to travel through the various missions. No matter how experienced you are in playing this genre of games, there are four various stages of difficulty for one to actually play through. This could be determined through a trial run held by your commander on the prologue mission. This allows everyone to play, from the people who just started playing FPS games to those who are season players to this genre.

There is also the online gaming option that allows players to pit their skills against each other in close combat with the availability to choose between different classes that could wield different weapons. Such classes include the Assault, Special Ops, Light Machine Gunner, Demolitions, and Sniper. Players could also create their own classes when they attained a certain level in the multi-player mode.

However, there is this slight drawback to this magnificent game. It has been rated Mature (excessive violence) by Activision themselves and would not be suitable for people of all ages. So for those lovers of FPS who are not yet qualified to play COD4, you would just have to wait a while longer then.

Despite being only released on 6th November 2007 by Activision, it has already been voted the Best Action Game by Gamecritics for the E3 2007 and also won other awards from various websites such as Gamespot and IGN. Indeed, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a game that would definitely capture the hearts of FPS lovers and this came at the right time for those searching for a suitable Christmas presents for gamers.

Click here to buy this game
Rate this game, give us your rating:
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

“Ah crap, I’m stuck at this part of the game again. Where should I proceed from here?” Ever encountered such a scenario before? The saviour’s here. GameFaqs.com provides game guides, FAQs and all the other random game information that one needs for the game. It is a comprehensive site which has almost every game’s information on the block. It serves games from all consoles, from the Xbox to Sony’s Playstation. It is, the information counter for all you gamers out there.

Gamefaqs works on the basis of peer-to-peer sharing of information. Players who have passed that part of the game post ways to solve that problem. With the interactive commenting ability, players could post question and comments similar to that of a forum. It also has links to the best deals, ratings from reputable gaming sites and to the official game site by the developers.

Players could also assist others by writing out guides and walkthroughs for all the other players who got stuck in some part of the game. Being part of GameSpot, GameFaqs get regular updates on the games, such includes game demos, official patches and demo videos for the masses to view and try out the game before actually purchasing them.

How about those other sites which provide cheat codes? Some of them may not be reliable and give misleading information which can cause players to screw up their games badly. GameFaqs provides many guides typed out by different players. This allows players to cross-check the information given by different players to ensure their reliability. Codes provided are also constantly checked and if negative feedbacks are received about the codes, they would be double-checked by the moderators and if found to be incorrect, they would be deleted. This ensures that the cheats provided will be as reliable as possible.

However, some games may not be in GameFaqs’ database. These games are mostly those that are not in English and hence, will not likely be very popular since the majority of gamers are used to seeing games in English. Nevertheless, even if the original copy is in other languages, as long as there is an English version, the game would still be featured on the website. Some games, although not in English, could still be found on GameFaqs because of its popularity and through popular demand, GameFaqs would still have them on their website.

For those who are not able to understand the English version, some games also had players posting guides of different languages to accommodate those who are not English-speaking. The availability of such foreign language guides makes GameFaqs a popular website even amongst those who do not understand English.

All in all, GameFaqs can only be successful through the constant support given to it by its members who frequently update the website with the relevant information and only through the users’ comment that GameFaqs will continue to improve.

GameFaqs can be accessed through: www.gamefaqs.com

Rate this website, give us your rating:
(3 votes, average: 2.67 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

Ever heard of myths that you never knew existed? Ever wanted to personally witness such myths being busted / confirmed? If you had such desires, this is the series for you. Mythbusters is a TV Series that shows you how true, or how fake a myth is. They don’t tell the myths, they put them to the test. Whenever the Mythbusters are around, there would surely be hilarious moments, jokes of such and often, blowing up of stuff.

Hosted by special effect specialists Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, the duo would attempt to solve and prove popular beliefs, internet myths and urban legends through the use of basic science and knowledge. This ensures that all audience would be able to understand them clearly. Due to the nature of some dangerous experiments, home viewers are not advised to try them out themselves without professional assistance. Between them are 30 years of special effects experience and would try to prove to the audience once and for all, the truth behind all those myths.

The show often make use of a dummy to conduct the experiments and they do have a long-term personal dummy known as Buster. Buster is a dummy similar to what you would see at seat belt test experiments. When it comes to dealing with high explosives and a dummy, Buster would probably be excused and in its place, a dummy made of ballistic gel. This type of gel dummy is usually used for myths testing for damage to humans, ie. is it possible to shoot through a sniper’s scope and kill the sniper behind it? That would require a sniper to shoot at. Hence, the unlucky sniper would be made of ballistic gel. Since ballistic gel reacts almost the same way and is similar to human flesh, it would be a useful tool to see the extent of the damage done to human flesh. Being able to see through it, it is an added bonus to be able to see how damaging something could be to a human.

After all said and done, Mythbusters is still my favourite show currently aired. There is no myth too tough for the Mythbusters. When I first watched it, I found the title already interesting enough and indeed, the show captivated many with myself included. It could possibly be the highest rated TV reality series shown on Discovery Channel. Anyway, Discovery Channel even created a fansite for fans of Mythbusters to post myths that they are interested in and also provides a platform for fans to discuss about possible scenarios and intriguing myths. A proof of its popularity is that currently, it is already in its 6th season and newly emerged myths still find their way into the fansite through word of mouth. Soon enough, if it is widely discussed on the fansite, it is going to find itself on one of its episodes.

All in all, Mythbusters is a very interesting series which serves to prove to the general public that not all myths are true.

For more information on Mythbusters, visit the fansite here

Click here to buy this DVD
Rate this tv series, give us your rating:
(3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
 Loading ...