Irish computer games websites
We’ve updated our links page, mostly containing links to Irish games websites.
It now includes Irish news/review games sites, community and LAN
sites, Irish sites with games sections, games cafes/centres, game
retailers in Ireland, local official console sites, and links to games
companies based in Ireland. There’s also a selection of international
games sites.
Games Toaster’s links section can be found here, or by using the link on the side bar.
To make a suggestion of a site we’ve missed, use the comments section below, or the ‘email me’ link on the side bar.
REVIEW: King Of Fighters XI
Developer: SNK Playmore | Publisher: Ignition | Format: PS2
Reviewer: Brendan Tinnelly Get
‘em while they’re young. The cynical ploy oft employed by evil tobacco
companies also lends itself well to the 20 year old beat ‘em up genre.
I dabbled in the joys of Street Fighter II at a very young age, and
subsequently competing series were rendered unpalatable. For me, and
the many others like me, Street Fighter remains the de-facto choice
when it comes to 2D beat ‘em ups.
Others, however, hold different loyalties, and the genre boasts many
series held in high regard by its fans. One such series is The King Of
Fighters, which has now reached its 11th installment.
For fans of the franchise, it looks appealing. It boasts a total of
47 characters, including a handful entirely new additions. There’s
plenty of new abilities added, including the cryptic Quick Shift,
Saving Shift and Dream Cancel, as well as new stages and endings.
For those new to the series, however, those same facts and figures
are daunting. Where to start with 47 characters? It’s possible to pick
randomly, dive in, mash some buttons and come out on top, but the game
doesn’t offer up much in the way of fun with this approach.
The real rewards come from cranking the difficulty up and learning
the nuances of your chosen character and your opponents. Newcomers
could play the game solidly for weeks and only scratch the surface of
the game. In its 11th iteration, the series has grown into a finely
tuned but gargantuan monster of a game, and one that’s fairly
impenetrable to those who didn’t join the series earlier.
This extends not only to the sheer size of the game, but also its
presentation. While the stages themselves are well realised, the
characters and their animations are strikingly dated.
The localisation is also very no-frills, with a cheerful Japanese
woman enthusing “Leady? Fight!” before bouts. Long-time fans may more
easily gloss over these faults, some may even find them charming. Most
people will just find them off-putting.
Which brings us neatly to that old reviewing cliché: for fans of the
series, it’s worth a look - but for those on the sidelines, you’re
unlikely to get much mileage.
GAME: Ireland UK sales boosted by PS3
Retailer GAME says that the PS3 pushed sales up; pictured: a customer handing over cash at the PS3 midnight launch at GAME on Dawson Street in Dublin.
3 has accounted for over 40 percent in growth in sales at the games
retail giant GAME according to a statement released today by the firm.
GAME have stores around Ireland but it is hard
to tell what trends are exclusive to the State or the island as the
company treats the UK and Ireland as the one market.
“In the UK and Ireland, total sales were up by
71.1%” the statement says “The Sony Playstation 3 launched on 23 March
2007. If we exclude all sales of the PS3 product category the UK and
Ireland [like-for-like] sales were up by 24.6%”.
The retailer says it has also seen strong Wii sales, but did not expand on detail.
GAME say they are expecting a net profit
before tax between £1m and £3m (
World Cyber Games Ireland details
Regional heats of the World Cyber Games Ireland
are on in Dublin on the weekend of August 17, and in the Midlands on
the weekend of July 22. A third event in Galway is due to be announced.
The Irish qualifiers for the World Cyber Games in Seattle are to be
held again this year at the Digital Hub, and will take place on September 15 -
16.
Games in the Irish events are Counter Strike 1.6 (pictured) on PC with a teams of five,
Project Gotham Racing 3 on Xbox, and FIFA 07 on PC.
MORE: World Cyber Games Ireland announced
Ubisoft brings games to Oxegen
Gamers attending Oxegen this weekend who find they just can’t shake
off a game addiction can find Ubisoft at this year’s music
festival.
The Ubisoft outing at this year’s Oxegen is part of the games publisher’s Ireland and UK Summer Festival Tour.
Over the weekend they will be showcasing the Xbox 360 western
game Call of Juarez, their PlayStation 3 version of Rainbow Six Vegas,
and a Wii game ‘Surf’s Up’. They will also be giving way consoles and
Ubisoft-branded merchandise.
Previously,
Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland used the same kind of marketing to
promote the PlayStation Portable in Ireland, at the time they claimed
that over 20,000 people visited the PlayStation Dome tent at Oxegen.
Irish band Director to play on Live
Irish band Director are to play ‘Shadowrun’ over the Live mulitplayer network against Xbox 360 and Windows Vista gamers.
Getting bands to play Xbox Live users has been a long-term marketing
tool used by Microsoft to promote the mulitplayer gaming system, but
with the arrival of Live for Vista console and PC gamers can now play
over Live against each other.
After the long awaited Halo 2 for Windows, Shadowrun is one of the
first cross system games. Behind the scenes Microsoft are promoting the
idea of Windows and Xbox games to games developers using the cross
platform coding system XNA.
To be in with a chance to fight with or against band members Michael
Moloney, Eoin Aherne,
Rowan Averill, and Shea Lawlor, login to Live and add the gamer tags
sthwilliamvip1, sthwilliamvip2, sthwilliamvip3 and sthwilliamvip4 your
friends list. Then sign back on July 11 from 7-9pm and see if they have
invited you or not.
REVIEW: Harry Potter and tOtoP
Developer: EA | Publisher: EA | Format: PS2/Wii/PC
a series of disappointments which pandered to younger gamers and those
who traditionally were uninterested in video games. The latest addition
to the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is a pleasant
surprise which as something for pretty much everyone on offer.
The story follows the plot of the book and film, Harry is starting his
fifth year at Hogwarts and life isn’t exactly looking rosy. The evil
Voldermort has regained power and is buy preparing his come back, the
vast majority of wizards believe Harry is a liar and puberty is hitting
him like a ton of bricks.
For a game based upon a book the ingame story is particularly difficult
to follow. The story jumps from scene to scene at what seems like will
and the dialogue is at times almost impossible to decipher. For fans of
the books this may not be a problem, but for the rest of us it’s a
rather diverting nuisance, which seriously distracts from gameplay.
The linear path which hindered the previous titles has been tweaked to
allow gamers a greater level freedom. Players can now explore locations
from the book and film, which is rather more enjoyable than some of the
missions on offer. I always assumed Harry was being primed to be a
great wizard, but from evidence on offer in the game he may be more
suited to the role of school caretaker. Many missions involve you
fixing vases and other parts of Hogwarts. The wand battles are
extremely fun and well implemented, unfortunately there are only a
handful through out the game.
Spell casting is tailored specifically to each consoles controller. The
effect of this is felt most on the Wii. The Wii remote works as the
wand, while the motion sensor control casts the spells. The other
consoles make use of the right analogue stick for spells, pushing it a
certain direction casts a certain spell.
While a step up from previous titles, the Order of the Phoenix is still
a long way from perfect. Most gamers would be advised to rent before
buying.