Twitter Three

This weeks follow suggestions:

@williamshatner - Needs NO introduction!
@Microsoft_Xbox - News and updates from the Xbox 360 team.
@RockstarGames - New and upadtes from Rockstar Games, makers of Grand Theft Auto.

This week @maycontaingeeks:

#StarTrek DS9 - The Alternate = 2Gs for condescending father figures, Odo the Fun Slime special effects and a suspiciously Dax.

#StarTrek DS9 - Armageddon Game = 3Gs for the start of Julian/Miles bromance, a harsh/logical way to prevent WMDs & coffee in the afternoon.

#StarTrek DS9 - Whispers = 3Gs for 2nd dose of Colm Meaney, suspicious friends and more coffee "Double strong, double sweet".

#StarTrek DS9 - Paradise = 3Gs for the 3rd Chief O'Brien in a row, space Amish and Sisko in the 'hot box'.

#StarTrek TNG - Bloodlines = 3Gs for sons found and lost, those damn Ferengi and "never looking at your hairline the same way again".

#StarTrek TNG - Peemptive Strike = 2 Gs for Ro <3s Picard & old men who have exactly the same history as your dad.

#DoctorWho (9th) - World War Three = 2 Gs for farting aliens, blowing up Downing Street & a promise of a Golden Age that will never come.

#StarTrek TNG - All Good Things (Pt.1) - 5 Gs for Picard back and forth, old friends & the trial that never ended.

#StarTrek TNG - All Good Things (Pt.2) - 5 Gs the future enterprise, for the unknown possibilities of existence and one last game of poker.

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Buy toys and merchandise @ Forbidden Planet

Halo 3: ODST

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Preview | Price: £34.99 | Due: 22/09/09 | Xbox 360 | Bungie/Microsoft

I'm a big fan of Halo 3 now even though I wasn't interested at all at first. I've never been a big fan of FPS games, as I prefer story over shooting, so my first experience was playing four-screen multiplayer on a friends version during our regular Tuesday Geek-night. A couple of games in and I was hooked.

Even then it was only the social play I was interested in. When I bought my own Xbox and copy of the game it was just to play Rocket Ball with my mates. At a loose end one night, I decided to try the single player mission. The next thing I know, I had finished without really understanding half of what had happened.

It's because of that I very glad to hear about Nathan Fillion appearing as Sgt Buck in Halo 3's sequel ODST. Not that I wouldn't be glad to see the Firefly star in anything, but I think this is a sign that narrative in ODST will go above and beyond what we saw in its predecessor. Another good sign is the games broken storyline, with play split between the main, starting character and playable flashbacks as other members of you squad.

Still not sold? What about the news that the game ships with a second disc featuring all the multiplayer maps from Halo 3, including those released as DLCs, plus three brand new ones as well as a standalone version of the multiplayer game.

Get ready to dance in Sep 09.

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Buy Halo @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

Well, Twitter Me!

May Contains Geeks has joined the Twitterverse! I'll be posting mini-reviews of my daily Geek intake as well as site updates and general Tweet foolishness.

You can follow me @maycontaingeeks.
If you are new to Twitter and want some help deciding who to follow to maximise your Geek related Tweets, Geek Dad has a handy guide to 100 Geeks You Should Be Following On Twitter.

Plus, as it is #FollowFriday here a could of my suggestions that didn't make the GD list:

@noobde - Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat.
@marcellerby - Marc Ellerby, creator and star of the Ellebrisms web comic.
@wossy - Jonathan Ross, presenter, film critic and comic book Geek.

I'll add some more suggestions next week and for those who fear the social networking side of the interweb like the Solanum virus I will also re-post the mini-reviews here on a weekly basis. Just like this:

Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire = 1 G for being the bastard child of Carry On and Robin Hood, and not he go episodes either.

Torchwood - Children of Earth Day 1 = 3 Gs for giving Jack & Ianto 'some' background, a double cross and killing Jack 3-times?

#Torchwood Children of Earth Day 2 = 3 Gs for the creepy Mr Dekker, decent build in tension and 'containing' Jack.

#Torchwood Children of Earth Day 3 = 3 Gs for A-Team style shopping, dirty politics and The Man.

#Chuck vs Tom Sawyer = 2 Gs for vintage arcade games, Dude Jeff but not enough Casey or Sarah.

#Chuck vs Tom Sawyer = 2 Gs for vintage arcade games, Dude Jeff but not enough Casey or Sarah.

#Torchwood Children of Earth Day 4 = 4 Gs for a chilling debate on school league tables, more deaths and the ominous 456.

1 vs 100 Live! (BETA) (Xbox 360) = 1G - I tried to play for an hour, crashed the box twice and only managed to answer 4 separate questions.

#Torchwood Children of Earth Day 5 = 5Gs for hard decisions & bloody politicians. Why couldn't all TW be have like this?

DLC Ups and Downs

Downloadable Content is one of the best features of the Next Gen consoles¹. This is especially true on my platform of choice the Xbox 360, with new content released daily, although PS3 is slowly catching up.



EA have announced two FREE DLCs for their recent and knockout game FIGHT NIGHT Round 4. The first will be a standard content style update featuring: a new gym, sliders, equipment and a Pizza Hut version of Sugar Ray Leonard. No, I'm not sure what that means either.

The second in more intriguing. They are releasing a game patch that will allow players to use the face buttons to punch, as in previous versions of the game. The analogue stick punch control seemed to be a main selling point for the new version so this add on seems both a boon for those players who prefer the old controls and back-pedaling for the games evolution.



Of course, the news can't always be good. It seems that there will be no DLC updates for MK vs DC. Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat co-creator, has announced on his Twitter page that the additional characters will now not be released. Mr Mxyzptlx, Harley Quinn and Quan Qui (above). MK vs DC is one of those average games that is slightly raised above the thrall by the history of the subject material, and in the Geek world few rank higher than MK and DC, so it's a shame that the book has been closed on that little crossing of the Realms.

¹ I am a little tired of the GH3 and Rock Band songs taking up all my screen space though.

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Buy Fight Night @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com
Buy MK vs DC @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers

Preview/Demo | Price: 800 MSPs | Xbox Live / Wizards of the Coast

Tap this!

I was never one of the Magic crowd. Sure I tried the game with every other geek when it was first released; I bought a couple of decks and boosters but was put off my the exponential increasing complexity of the rules and the sheer number of cards. But the final nail in my M:TG coffin was the killer decks that the uber-players could construct; essentially turning was should be an entertaining card game into 60-seconds of ass-whupping.

This demo I like though. Well laid out and attractively designed, with a nifty card zoom so you can see every detail, it feel like playing a proper card and table game. No need to collect and construct your killer deck here either, the demo features two-decks, a red fire deck or a green creatures deck, and two AI opponents to play them against, Chandra Nalaarand her (playable) red fire deck or Elspeth Tirel and her white flying deck.

With the Y button to confirm actions and the X button to freeze time you get a good control over the flow of the game. The full game will include 16-opponents, 8-decks, bonus cards, Xbox Live play and the obligatory achievements. Plus there's a two-player co-op game I haven't had chance to try. Sure the sound effects get a little grating after a couple of games but this is definitely tempting me to spend the 800 MSPs to unlock the full version.

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Buy Magic: The Gathering @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

30% off Operation Anchorage

Irony.

That is what they call it when one day you say that the first expansion for Fallout 3 is at the bottom of your to get list and the next day you discover there is a 30% discount on that very same title.

Each week Microsoft offer a discount to Xbox Live Gold Members, but this is the first that meshes with my game collection. Keep an eye on the official page for future offers.

P.S. The official Fallout 3 fan page on Facebook has also been known to post download codes their status updates! The first one to use it will get a FREE download!

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Buy Fallout 3 @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

Fallout 3: Point Lookout DLC

Preview | Price: 800 MSPs / $9.99 | Format: Xbox 360 / PC | Due: 23rd June | Fallout 3 | 4 Gs

Welcome to the Swampland!

So far I've not bought any of the DLCs for Fallout 3. Despite now spending over 150 hours walking the Wastes there's still things to do and discover in the basic game and I am determined to deal with those before moving onto the next chapter.

The first two DLCs, Operation Anchorage and The Pitt, were criticised for being too linear and too brief. The 3rd, Broken Steel, is a must so I can finally get past Lv 20 but the next expansion, Lookout Point, is the one I am really looking forward to.

It's the visual and story depth that sold the game to me; being able to look across that harsh yet gorgeous landscape and explore that strange building in the distance is what made the game for me. Although it is not set in the Capital Wastes, this interview from Go! Gaming Giant makes it sound like Bethesda have made this next DLC just for a Waste Wanderer like me.

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Buy Fallout 3 @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

Nothing says pizzazz like a paper smile.

from Paperkraft.net

I'm a B.I.G. Fallout 3 fan and occasional crafter, so this paper bobblehead makes me both Geekily happy and a little sad that I am so rubbish at fine-detail work. They also have designs for the Alien Blaster, Megaton bomb and Laser Pistol.

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Buy Fallout 3 @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

Preview
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS
Due: Fall 2009
Official web site: marvelultimatealliance.marvel.com
4 Gs



The story is a re-working of the Civil War major event from 2006. When a super-related tragedy shakes the nation the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe are forced to take side between Captain America and Iron Man over the new Superhuman Registration Act.

I've played a couple of the previous Marvel action/adventure games so I am fully prepared for that frustration point when my button-bashing fighting skills fail to get me past the end of level confrontation for the um-teenth time. But the graphics on this new version look great and re-working the excellent Civil War story gives the game a very strong narrative base, so I am very much looking forward to a playable demo of this one.

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Buy Ultimate Alliance @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com