 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Fans holler for more ‘Boxing Hour’
>With the recent crumble of underrated sports channel, Setanta, a hole has been left in the sporting schedule, but not where you may think. Sure, the loss of live IPL cricket, Premier League Football, Athletics, UFC and occasional darts has left sports fans reeling, but the loss that has been felt on the biggest scale is the untimely demise of Steve Bunce's Boxing Hour. For an hour on Thursday afternoons, tearing through the revolving mediocrity that was Setanta Sports News like a rapid pit-bull, Steve Bunce's Boxing Hour was the staple news diet for boxing fans, and sports fans alike. Hosted by the passionate and wildly erratic Steve Bunce, and anchored by the excellent and unflappable Andy Kerr, this pokey little one hour show was crammed to the very rafters with guests, interviews, highlights, news, opinions, exclusives and controversy. You dare not look away or even blink during transmission, as Bunce would explode into a wild-eyed frenzy of rage and unadulterated love of his sport, usually aimed at a startled studio guest or a deafened caller who’s ears where bleeding by the time they’d hung up. Thankfully the reliable Kerr was always on hand to steer the show in the right direction and keep things flowing, without stalling the pace or drawing the limelight away from Bunce. If Bunce was a racehorse, then Kerr would be the jockey, letting the beast run wild but always in control and knowing when to pull on the reins (a powerful image I know). The show was as close as you could get to a causal afternoon chat in the pub, with your closest mates, Steve and Andy for company, Steve always happy for a natter about anything while Andy kept the conversation and drinks flowing. Sadly though, this rough diamond of a show could be no more. With the collapse of Setanta, where next for Bunce and Andy? There have been rumors of the Boxing Hour jumping to Channel 5, hopefully getting the prime time slot it deserves, but as yet nothing concrete has been announced. Luckily though, the Boxing Hour faithful have come out in their droves in support of a return to air. An ever growing army of loyal fans have already started bringbackbunce.net, a site dedicated to the task of returning the Boxing Hour to its rightful place on our screens. They’ve also created a twitter page and a facebook group which has gained over 500 members in the space of three days, testament to the popularity of the show. They’ve also been lampooning heads of channels with emails, pleading for more boxing news with Bunce. Will we see the Boxing Hour again? Well, with an almost never-ending list of channels, all with airtime to fill but not the budget for more than two host and a studio, it would come as a surprise if Bunce isn’t back on our screens soon, foaming at the mouth, while Andy Kerr, grinning from ear to ear, straddles his back and calmly leads us into a commercial break. Here’s hoping anyway. Scott Tierney |
|
Halo 3: ODST (Xbox360)
Halo 3: ODST has a lot to live up to. Not only is it the natural successor (or prequel) to the hugely praised Halo 3, but it also the last game before the hotly anticipated, Halo Reach, is released next year. But, judging by the hugely positive reviews Halo 3: ODST has received; you’d think Bungie had pulled another laser blasting gem out of the bag. Well, let’s take a look, and see if all the hype is truly deserved. Instead of playing as the Master Chief, the noble and all concurring hero that took centre stage in the three previous games, in Halo 3: ODST, you play the roles of a group of average solders (the ODST or Helljumpers), as they try to cope with the events that take place after a disastrous drop into enemy territory. Obviously, these soldiers don’t have the strength or speed of the Master Chief, so you’ll have to employ different tactics to take down your enemies. The game takes place in two main sections. Firstly, as a rookie; who after being knocked unconscious during the drop, finds himself alone in the centre of a war torn city, hours after the main battles have taken place. As the rookie, you have to piece together what happened to the rest of your squad, by following your squad’s footprints and finding clues that have been scattered around the city. When you find a clue, the second part of Halo 3: ODST takes place, as you find out what happened to a member of the squad, by playing through their section of the story. It’s a very clever way of playing, and it gives a much needed depth to what could have been a very dull story. The mix of two stories continues into the visual side, with the rookie sections taking place in the city at night (with a style reminiscing of Blade Runner) and the other sections mainly taking place during the day, over a variety of levels and environments. It’s a well balanced mix, and although the nighttime rookie sections all look the same, Halo 3: ODST does look fantastic. There are some superb set pieces also, with one of the best being the destruction of the bridge later on in the game. Not to be missed, I assure you! Gameplay is a bit up and down though, and at times very dull indeed, mainly due to the lackluster rookie sections. The other sections involving your lost team mates are superb, with a classy mix of theatrical set pieces and explosive action, but once each is finished, you’re back into a dull Rookie section, as you trudge across the deserted city finding clues. Overall, Halo 3: ODST is hit and miss. If the dull rookie sections were a bit more exciting, or at least had some surprises or variety, Halo 3: ODST would have been a classic, and a great stop-gap until the eagerly awaited Reach. But sadly, Halo 3: ODST is a bit of a let down, and nowhere near as good as some reviews have made out. Overall: 8.0/10 Scott Tierney |
|
HTC Hero
As Bonnie Tyler once screeched “I need a hero, I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night. He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight.” Well, it looks like the new HTC Hero could be the phone - not only to satisfy the shrieking Welsh diva, but also the phone most likely to compete on the same level as the iphone. Let’s have a look, and see what the HTC Hero can do, dooo DOOOOO! The first thing that strikes you about the HTC Hero is the design. With a sleek and smooth body, it looks very cool; and the little lip at the bottom is not only funky, it’s also very functional for handling and during use. The screen is very clear as expected, and thanks to a special film layer, the HTC Hero doesn’t pick up as many smudges as its rivals. All in all, the HTC Hero looks great, and with superb build quality, it fells like a quality product. As Bonnie Tyler said, ‘it’s gotta be strong’, and the HTC Hero truly is. Features wise, you’re spoilt for choice. The HTC Hero offers a 5MP camera (with video calling), web browsing, 3G, video and music playback, Bluetooth, and countless other applications. When compared to the iphones user interface, the HTC Hero’s is superior, as you can totally customise the control panels to suit your needs. Thanks to this, using the HTC Hero is a painless and smooth process, although at times the Android platform can drag. But thankfully, a wifi update is to be released shortly, fixing any issues you may have. So it’s fast; that’ll please Bonnie. So can the HTC Hero really take the fight to the iphone, and succeed where Nokia and LG have failed? Well, as has been mentioned before, the iphone will always have that cool vote, and no matter how hard any other manufacture tries, they’re never going to be able to compete with that. But the HTC Hero might have come as close as any phone is going to get, as it’s sleek yet funky design is a real eye catcher, and it’s interface is superb. Also, the HTC Hero is probably a better phone than the iphone, as it’s far easier to use, fully customizable, and most importantly, features internet Flash. So, after a fight with Apple, the HTC Hero is still fresh. Another plus for Bonnie. To merrily sum up; the HTC Hero is a brilliant phone. It’s everything you’d ever want in a phone, it has all the cool features that make mobile phones fun, and it has finally give the iphone a bit of competition. Fingers crossed it’ll sells well, as it’s a mobile that deserves every accolade it gets. And if Bonnie Tyler likes it, that’s good enough for me! Dooo DOOOOO! Scott Tierney |
|
Is the Ashes still the pinnacle of Cricket?
The Ashes series is undoubtedly one of the biggest events in world sport, rightfully perched beside the UEFA World Cup, The Monaco Grand Prix and The Baseball World Series on the branch of majestic sporting events. But is The Ashes still the pinnacle of Cricket? Well, let’s look at The Ashes, and Cricket as a whole, from all the relevant angles and see if that tiny terracotta urn is still the biggest prize in world Cricket. Since 1882 England and Australia have been battling it out for The Ashes, metaphorically tearing each other limb from limb in an event that’s as much about tenderizing your opponent as it is winning. Of the sixty four series that have been played, Australia lead the way with 31 wins, with England, surprisingly, only three behind on 28 with the remaining five series drawn. For fans and players alike, The Ashes is a huge event, occasion and privilege to be involved in, and is a dominating highlight of the Cricket calendar. But, outside of England and Australia, is The Ashes as big a thing as we make out? For a sporting event, or anything for that matter, to be the pinnacle of its field it has to have and therefore be the very best of everything that sport encapsulates. In terms of racing, F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, with the best cars, tracks, engineers and drivers involved from all over the world. F1 is the top step of the racing ladder, the aim and dream for all drivers as soon as they put on a helmet for the first time, and winning the F1 championship is the biggest prize any driver will ever achieve, as they can then rightfully call themselves ‘the best driver’ in the world. But is this the case for The Ashes? Can the triumphant Ashes victor say that they are the best team in the world? Arguably you’d have to say no, as without competing against all the teams in the world, how can any side claim to be the best. Also, surely for an event to be the pinnacle of its field, the teams competing have to be the best in the world. In a major tournament, say the 50/50 World Cup, the two remaining teams that meet in the final should, technically, be the best two teams in the world, having remained unbeaten for the duration of the tournament. So, in the case of The Ashes as the pinnacle of Cricket, are England and Australia the two best teams in the world? At present, you’d have to say no, as although Australia could be classed as one of the best, England are no where near the other top teams in World Cricket, such as South Africa and India to name just two. One factor that The Ashes does have in its favor is its rules. Test Match Cricket is widely regarded as the ultimate ‘test’ for deciding which is the better team. After five days of grueling play, the cream should have risen to the top and all elements of luck and fortune should have been eradicated. When compared to 50 Over Cricket, and the relatively new addition of 20 Over Cricket, although it may not have the commercial pulling power of the shorter game, Test Match Cricket is the purest and most challenging version of the game that all other forms are judged on. >Continuing with the F1 analogy, is The Ashes the ultimate achievement or dream for a Cricket player? If the player in question is of Australian or English blood, then there’s a case that The Ashes is the biggest event they’d want to win, as it’s an historic and prestigious event that can take a player from nothing to a household name in a matter of an innings. But what about a player from Pakistan or New Zealand who, due to their place of birth, will never get a chance to compete for The Ashes? Can an event not featuring all the worlds’ best players be the pinnacle? Again, sadly not. Furthermore, can a series that only features two teams really be the pinnacle of its sport? Take an event such as the Ryder Cup, is it the pinnacle of Golf? Probably not. Is the Mosconi Cup the pinnacle of Pool? Probably not. Is the Lions Tour the pinnacle of Rugby? Probably not. Surely a sporting event can’t be classed as the pinnacle unless it’s the ultimate prize of its respective sport. Surely for any country that’s not involved, although they’ll take a passing interest, it’s unlikely that the back pages of their native red-tops will be coated in Ashes euphoria. It’ll no doubt be covered by the press, and hardcore Cricket fans will be watching avidly, but ‘Ashes Fever’ will not spread to every person in South Africa for example. It’s hard to class something as the pinnacle of its sport when only a small percentage of the world will be taking a major interest. If The Ashes was, (and I’m not suggesting this should ever happen) instead of a series exclusive to just England and Australia, a worldwide tournament that featured every team with every player in the world, and was fought out using the Test Match game, then yes, it would be the biggest and best event in Cricket, but as its not, The Ashes can’t be classed as the pinnacle of Cricket. To conclude, and to answer whether The Ashes is still the pinnacle of Cricket, on reviewing the evidence, you’d have to say no, and also ask if The Ashes has ever been the pinnacle of Cricket. Although The Ashes is an epic monument of greatness for Cricket, and a prize that has been highly sought after for over a hundred years, it simply can’t be classed as the pinnacle its sport. A superb occasion and match yes, but not the pinnacle. Scott Tierney |
|
Need for Speed Shift
The Need for Speed series has taken a tire-shredding drive up every avenue since the first game arrived back in 1994. What started out as simple thrash-about arcade racer has gone on to become a high speed pursuit game, a highly technical sports car racer, a rally game, an underground racer and then back to high speed pursuit game. So, what is Need for Speed Shift, arcade racer or simulator? To be honest, I haven’t the foggiest. Need for Speed Shift has a lot in common with the TOCA race driver series, or the current Colin McRae game. You start out as a novice driver, competing in minor warm-up races against weak opponents, picking up prize money to upgrade your car and gain entrance to higher prized events. As you get better and gain recognition within the motorsport community, you are given the chance to move up to bigger and faster vehicles, culminating in the NFS World series. It’s a simple and much used format, and to be honest it hasn’t been put to its fullest use in Need for Speed Shift, but it keeps the game rolling. An odd absence though is the quickplay option. On start-up, you can only select the options of start/continue the career mode. Very strange… Just an in previous NFS games, you pick up bonus points depending on how you drive. If you diver like a nutter, smashing into other drivers and generally being a crash on wheels, you’ll pick up points in this category. But if you drive smoothly, you’ll pick up these points. These point tallies make for interesting reading after the race, although it is irritating when you win a perfectly driven race, but only receive half the points than if you’d smashed your way through the grid and finished third. Oh well, it’s not the winning that counts. Visually, there’s nothing in Need for Speed Shift that’ll blow you away. The cars and tracks all look reasonable, and the effects - such as tire smoke – are well detailed. The crashes are quite impressive though, and when you injure a particularly server shunt while using the on-board viewpoint, you’re vision become blurred on impact, making for a highly realistic experience. The thing that stands out the most though, is Need for Speed Shift’s peculiar handling; it’s neither delicate nor precise. Each car seems to handle in a way that feels like an oil tanker, on ice. The steering is heavy and numb, but also uncontrollably twitchy. It’s really hard to describe, and it brings us back to the original question; is this supposed to be an arcade racer or simulator? The controls aren’t realistic, far from it, but they’re not accessible or direct either. They’re an odd, incomputable mix of both, and this makes racing a truly infuriating experience. To answer the question of what Need for Speed Shift is, a racer or a simulator, the answer is neither and both; it’s confused. On one hand you have the realistic damage models and ‘realistic’ handling, but then you have the rewards for smashing other drivers off the track and the comical car control. It’s very, very odd. What this game really is though, is a quick racing snack until the main course arrives in the shape of Forza 3 and Gran Turimo 5. Now those two games aren’t confused! Overall: 6.0/10 Scott Tierney |
Spyborgs (Wii) Review Spyborgs
Publisher: Capcom Developer: Bionic Games Format: Wii Available: Now Run around and punch stuff, it’s as simple and as brilliant as that. I don’t want to sound like an old man when I say this, but games today have become too complex. In some of the games on today’s market, you have to form relationships, control a multitude of settings, manage vast inventories, keep defensive tactics in mind and play via an overly complicated control system that incorporates far too many buttons. What happened to the good old days, when games were basic, gameplay was simple and the only premise was about having fun? Well, Spyborgs takes us back to a simpler time, and I for one am more than grateful. Spyborgs is a 3D beat ‘em up that sticks to a very simple premises; keep it simple. There’s nothing here that will over-complicate the gamer, all you have to do is run around and kick stuff in the face. Also a friend can join in the action, and this only goes to punch the gameplay up a notch. Controls are taken care of via the Wii remote and the Nunchuk, and they are very simple indeed. You move around with the nunchuk’s joystick, and punch and block with the buttons; job done. The controls are very smooth and precise and are a relaxing pleasure to use, especially when you consider the punishment they’re bound to receive during play. For a game on the Wii, Spyborgs look surprisingly good. The graphics are very crisp, the effects (mainly explosions) look wonderful and even in the most intense and crowded battles, the frame rate is still maintained at to a supremely high level. It’s a great looking game, and a great demonstration of what the Wii, when actually pushed, can achieve. >Spyborgs has been criticized by some, mainly on two counts. Firstly, it has been said that the gameplay is repetitive and the whole package lacks innovation. This is true, but frankly it’s a welcome change to see a game stick to the basics and not try to over complicate things. Yes it repetitive, but who cares, it’s fun. Secondly, the challenge Spyborgs provides has been said to be too hard; this I do agree with. Even on the standard difficulty setting, you’ll be hard pushed to get beyond the second level, and even with an experienced buddy helping, Spyborgs is a seriously tough cookie. To sum up, Spyborgs fondly reminds me of Streets of Rage and Golden Axe. Classic games that, although repetitive and blatantly simple, were fantastic fun when played alone and even better when played alongside a school yard chum. They had no real story or hidden message, all they had was roughly twelve levels of nonstop enemy-punching, culminating with a big boss at the end of each. Simple, no nonsense gaming. And Spyborgs is exactly the same; it’s not big or clever, it’s just good old fashioned fun. Presentation: 17/20 Story: 10/20 Controls: 17/20. Gameplay: 15/20. Durability: 15/20 Total: 74/100 Scott Tierney |
|
Third place play-off game: Contest or Cash-in?
For the 2010 PDC World Championships, PDC Chairman Barry Hearn has announced the inclusion of a third-forth place play-off match, due to be played alongside with the final on Sunday January 3rd . With a grand share of £100,000 up for grabs (£60,000 to the winner, £40,000 for the loser) the match is being billed as a huge clash, and could be decisive in who gains entrance into the highly prized Premier League. But is the addition of a third place play-off worthwhile, or will it play out as a drab and ultimately pointless exercise? There’s a case to be made that the third-forth place play off match (often referred to as the bronze medal game or consolation game) has rarely been an exciting or wholly contested match. The system has been used both in the FIFA World Cup and Rugby World Cup for a number of years, and though occasionally the matches have been genuinely compelling (usually due to the inclusion of a lower ranked team) they are usually damp affairs with neither protagonist caring to engage their maximum. The PDC have included a play-off match before, from 1994 through to 1998, though if you can name a single winner from these matches, or even the matches themselves, more power to you. Whether the incentive of the £60,000 is enough to make the players fully compete on the night, will be decisive in the manner this match is perceived, before, during and after it occurs. Of course all the top professionals are competitive, and in theory they’ll fight for every scrap available, but there’s a distinct possibility of the player agreeing to split the purse before hand, essentially nullifying the match as a spectacle. Why? Because the original prize fund states that each of the semi finalists will receive £50,000, but now there’s a chance of only going home with £40,000, even after having to endure another match. So will the players agree to split the prize money before hand, and just treat the match as an exhibition? >Another factor that has to be taken into consideration is the effect the match will have on the final. The final is the culmination of 12 days of hard fought knockout play, where the winner moves forward triumphantly to the next round, while the loser, bedraggled in sweat, goes home. On the night of the final, there is one match, featuring the two best players, both unbeaten, both vying for a shot at the prestigious winners trophy, cheque and a place in the history books. This as a spectacle should be enough for one night, so why the need to tag on another match, featuring the defeated players from the previous night, playing for what could be nothing? The obvious answer is money. With two matches on finals night instead of one, it’s double your money time for the bookies and one more round in the pocket of the bar facilities. And the best part for the sponsors is that all this extra income comes at no cost. With £100,000 already put aside for the losing semi-finalists, the extra play-off match is essentially a freebee. Will the inclusion of a third-forth place play off match be a positive or negative for the 2010 PDC World Championships? It depends who you are. If you’re a sponsor, then it’s a great big yes, it’s a chance to make free money after all. But for the fans, it’s yet to be seen, though there are more negative than positive aspects at this juncture. Some fans say that it’s great to see another match, the more darts the better, but after 12 days of non-stop darts, and with Lakeside due to start shortly after, will they really want to see another match, especially if it’s a meaningless cash-in? Scott Tierney |
|
