After the resent devastation of hurricane Dean, NASA has announced that the space shuttle Endeavour will land tomorrow.
Meteorologists say that Hurricane Dean, having already taken 8 lives, might gain speed though Mexico and become a category five Hurricane. Which is why NASA is bringing the Endeavour down early.
The Endeavour is scheduled to land at 12:32 p.m. Eastern but in case it has troubles there are back up plans to land at 2:06 p.m. It could also be diverted to Edwards Air Force in California to land at 3:37 p.m., 5:11 p.m. or 6:48 p.m.
There have also been worrys about a small gouge in the heat tiles on the Endeavour’s bell. Whilst this presents a problem, NASA says that the risks of sending astronauts on a spacewalk below the shuttle to repair the gouge outweighed the benefits. Scott Kelly commander of the Endeavour said:
“We agree absolutely 100 percent with the decision to not repair the damage,”
It now appears that Hurricane Dean will make landfall in central Mexico, hundreds to the miles of the south of Houston.
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Microsoft has announced that as of Monday the European price of its Xbox 360 will be reduced by £20 and will retail at £179.99. These drops were made after the Nintendo’s Wii console proved incredible popular. Sony’s PlayStation 3, also not doing to well in this console war, is reviewing its prices in Europe and has already cut prices in the U.S. With the Wii out selling on both sides of the Atlantic, is there really any chance for Microsoft and Sony?
Microsoft has also announced the launch of its new Xbox 360 Elite which comes with 120GB Hard drive, Wireless black controller, Xbox Live Headset, HDMI port, HDMI cable, Composite AV cable, Component HD AV cable and Ethernet cable all nicely brought together in a Black with chrome trim box 
The Xbox 360 Elite is looking to retail at £299.99 and will launch on Friday.
Technorati Tags: Game Console War Review
From Red Alert to Submarine Titans everybody loves a good Real-time strategy. Age of Empires III revolutionised these games when it came out and I think it might do it again. The Asian Dynasties, an expansion pack for Age of Empires III, is one of the latest games soon to hit the shelves. After WarChiefs brought the Native American nation into the game, Microsoft now wanted to go to the far east and add nations such as India, China and Japan. These Nations, like all others, have there own unique units and traits.
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties is going to be released later this year and for Age of Empire lovers like me it is going to be a long year Here is the official trailer.
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Another mod I just had to check out was DragonBall Source. This mod was influenced by the popular TV series DragonBall Z. So far this mod is in its “Saiyan Saga” stage. In this stage it contains a variety of characters with there own unique attacks, some multi-player maps and two games, “Capture the Dragonballs” and “King of the Hill”. DragonBall Source was originally going to be a single player mod but the creators got rid of the idea and made it multi player.
Now most mods are still growing, the DragonBall Source team have made plans to build a “Namek Saga” which will include 15-20 extra characters, better power transitions and a bunch of new maps. Like all mods there always seems to be no tutorials or they just don’t work. DragonBall Source is no exception. With the range of abilities to use and no tutorial this mod really does take some getting used to.
This is another Half Life 2 total conversion that requires Half Life 2 to play. DragonBall Source and the latest patch is around 220 MB big and can be downloaded here. As always these mods are totally free.
Technorati Tags: DragonBall Source Review, Mod Review
After two days, Skype finally got back online after last weeks incident. Skype has announced that the reason for their downtime was due to millions of users simultaneously restarting their computers after downloading an update. Roughly 220 Million people could not make Internet calls on Thursday as a result of this bug. Skypes blog had this to say.
“however this event revealed a previously unseen software bug which prevented the self-healing function from working quickly. Regrettably as a result of this disruption, Skype was unavailable for to the majority of its users for approximately two days”.
Analysts were surprised over Skype’s reason, explaining that even if the amount of active people (around 6 million) performed updates simultaneously no problem would present it self. Skype - brought by eBay for $2.6 billion - strongly stated that there down time was not due to a cyber attack.
Skype is now back online, despite many people still saying they are having problems with multi-billion dollar company.
Technorati Tags: Skype News, Skype’s Down Time
One of the first mods I stumbled across on Mod DB was Hidden Source. Hidden Source is a Half Life 2 total conversion and is currently in its fourth beta stage so luckily most bugs have been sorted out. No mod is perfect but Hidden comes very close.
In Hidden Source players start off on the I.R.I.S team, this team has the majority of players in the server and they are fully equipped. The I.R.I.S have a selection of weaponry which include an assault rifle, shotgun, P90 Sub-machine gun and a less lethal launcher as well as a choice of two pistols. There objective is to go off and kill The Hidden. Now the Hidden is a one man team equipped only with a knife and a few pipe bombs. By now your probably thinking what is this mod, the whole server versus one man with a knife. Well the Hidden is….Hidden. He is partially invisible, not only this but when you are the Hidden you can go into “Aura View” which lets you see though the walls and track the other team. This also gives you an indication of there health. Sort of like the “Predator”.
Hidden does have a few down points. As well as the shotgun looking like a piping, the tutorial does not work. Not only does it not work but when you click on it, it crashes your game and displays a few warning messages. These are minor issues because Hidden is a great mod jam packed full of excitement, maps and weapons and has deservedly got a 9/10 so far on MOTY.
Hidden : Source Beta 4a is about 152 MB including the latest update and can be downloaded here. It is also totally free, enjoy.
Technorati Tags: Hidden Source Review, Mod Review
To open up my new category I wanted to start off with the mod site I would be using. It is called Mod DB also know as MOTY. This site provides a wide range of game mods from stand alone games to total conversions of Half Life 2. Mod DB offers literary hundreds of mods but which ones are the best?
Over the next few weeks I will be going though these mods and will be separating the best from the rest. For those of you who don’t know what a mod is, it is basically a game made and designed by people for fun. They do not ask for money, sponsorship, or any compensation of any kind. All they like to do is make mods and try and make these the best mod out of them all.
This is the perfect way to get and play games for absolutely nothing. Of course because these mods are not made by professionals there will be a few bugs in them etc. But, with a free game, who can complain?
Any excuse to play games.
Technorati Tags: Mods, Mod Reviews, Free Games
Whilst I have been playing BattleField 2 for a while I was never really tempted to get this Game. But what a game it is. Whilst BattleField 2142 incorporates most BattleField 2 points, there is just something about futuristic warfare that really gets you going. Not only that but with its advance online ranking and medal system you are bound to be playing this game for long times just to get the next rank.
In BattleField 2142 you can select your own class with their own personal weapons. So if you wanted to rush in there and kill a few of there infantry, the assault is for you. Now some people might say that having four classes in BattleField 2142 when BattleField 2 had seven is a bit of a backwards step. But, it is not. The classes in BattleField 2142 are more compatible, the Medic and assault have combined as have the Special Forces and Sniper Classes.
One of the main problems i have with Battlefield 2142 is that it is near impossible when you first start off to get online. You try so many different things, turn your firewall off, create an account countless times, try to log in but it still says you do not have an account. For less determined players they might just give up there and then but, with the epic war game BattleField 2142 is, they would be missing out on a lot. With jeeps, tanks, helicopters, planes, walkers and many other stationary gunnery posts it will be difficult to not find a situation you don’t like.
The final point i will make about how BattleField 2142 out does BattleField 2 is it’s unlocks. You will be able to unlock equipment for each class. So for the assault as the heaviest and as a front-line troop, it can unlock a defibrillator as well as it already having a health pack and a shotgun.
Now i just need to…err… go tidy the house, yea that’s right 
Technorati Tags: BattleField 2142 Review, PC Game
After the success Lost Planet: Extreme Condition had on the Xbox 360. Capcom has opted to move its action packed shooter to the PC. However, all is not well with Lost Planet on the PC. Right from the go there are problems. All pop-up tutorials on the PC refer to the Xbox 360’s controller making them inadequate. Also due to Lost Planet’s requirement to connect to the Internet via Steam, this will cause problems when you are half way though a mission with no save point. As soon as you lose your connection, the client quits and causes you to start from the beginning of the mission again.
Even though the game experience may be short and easy, it is still a lot of fun. With its brilliant and creative designs it really brings this game alive. Something that the Xbox 360 could never contend with. As Lost Planet is based on a frozen world, E.D.N. III, the game play focuses around thermal energy or T-Gen for short. Your energy level drops continuously so you need to obtain T-Gen often. You can do this in many ways from shooting bugs, and there are lots of bugs, to simply finding it on the floor. T-Gen also affects your health. If your health goes down you can gather T-Gen to restore it and since there is so much T-Gen dying is a vague possibility.
To some it all up, Lost Planet is a game with unlimited potential, fantastic designs and mind blowing fun. But with a few technical glitches, it is bound to boil your blood every so often.
Now where did i leave my Bug Spray…
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Too many online games pass us by when we are surfing the net. One of the best, however, is Tribal Wars. Tribal Wars incorporates most RPG characteristics but also has that little edge. Like most RPGs you build up your own village, army, clan and make new friends. But with Tribal Wars there is so much more.
Tribal Wars’ layout is one of the most impressive thing about this RPG. Unlike most conventional text based RPGs Tribal Wars has its own automated overview, this means that when you are looking over your village, you can see what is being created, you can experience what troops are being built and generally get a better experience of the game.
When you first start off Tribal Wars your village is pretty basic but due to the amount of worlds and space on these worlds you are always near people around the same strength. This is were the fun starts. Meeting new people is easier than ever, with their map overview you can literally see who is around you. You can issue commands to attack, support or fund other villages. As well as all this Tribal Wars’ clan system (Tribes) is one of the best. With its in-built forum and activity monitor for players you can really manage hundreds of players that reside within your tribe.
Here is a look of what Tribal Wars is like:
Looks like a few more sleepless nights for me.
Technorati Tags: Tribal Wars Review, Online RPG
