Max Payne 3 is the long awaited sequel to the franchise this time published by Rockstar games and is the first game in the series not to be developed by Finnish game developer Remedy Entertainment. Also the game has not been written by series creator Sam Lake which may unsettle hardcore Payne fans.

The game has been written by Dan Houser who has worked on both the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption games. Fans will be pleased to hear that Max Payne 3 will retain its famous “bullet-time” mode making it easy to see those incoming bullets. According to Rockstar’s Sam Houser, it is their intention on starting a new chapter of Max Payne’s life with the game. “This is Max as we’ve never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever.” Since the last game, the press release states Max has left New York City behind and has “drifted from bad to worse.” The press release then goes on to say Max has been double-crossed in this new city and he is searching for the truth and a way out. The game will be set in São Paulo, Brazil, where Payne is working in the private security sector for a wealthy local family and set eight years after the events of the second game.

Max Payne now works in executive protection for the wealthy Rodrigo Branco in the hopes of escaping the memories of his troubled past. When a street gang kidnaps Rodrigo’s wife, Max is pulled into a conspiracy of shadowy, warring factions threading every aspect of São Paulo society in a deadly web that threatens to engulf everyone and everything around him. Rockstar have worked on the physics behind the game so that Max interacts with his surroundings more appropriately in game play action.

Rockstar also boasts that through utilisation of the graphics engine Euphoria, killing enemies will be more realistic than any game Rockstar have produced. Additional new features to game play include interactive cut scenes during game play that will allow Max to kill enemies in one striking blow. There is a Multiplayer experience that will see teams go up against each other to gain XP for gamers who prefer to play against others. Max Payne 3 is set to hit the shelves in May of this year and despite not being produced by the original creators’ looks to be a great addition to the Max Payne franchise.

The Playstation Vita released in February this year is the next generation in Sony’s portable gaming experience. There have been two different versions released one of which has the inclusion of 3G, much like the Kindle on its release, giving hardcore gamers access anywhere whilst on the go. This is through the use of a pay as you go sim card from Vodaphone (the 3G model is additional costs to the stand alone Wi-Fi version).

To existing PSP owners the Vita should not fail to disappoint as the layout of the console is very similar to previous consoles, with the inclusion this time of an additional analogue controller, which should give that traditional Playstation controller feel. In Sony’s attempt to re-capture the handheld market they have also included a OLED touch screen boasting over 16 million colours, and backplate that is also a multi touch surface making almost the entire console interactive.

Although the Vita has both front and rear cameras, don’t expect to be ditching your camera with only VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels), with video footage showing similar characteristics. However what Sony has got right is the graphics, with the introduction of a Quad core processor and increased RAM help the Vita create some of the best hand held graphics known to date. With the introduction of the new Vita card slot, don’t expect to be able to play your existing UMD games; however PSP games can be downloaded via the Playstation store and will be upscaled to give a smoother experience.

Overall the Vita looks to be a great improvement to Sony’s handheld collection, but will be tough on the wallet, with Wi-Fi models starting out at £230 without additional accessories and games at £39.99 it’s not that far off from purchasing a Playstation that doubles up as a Blu-Ray player.

Specifications for PlayStation®Vita

Model Number

PCH-1000 series

CPU

ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)

GPU

SGX543MP4+

Main memory

512MB

VRAM

128MB

External Dimensions

Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)

Weight

Approx 279g (3G/Wi-Fi model)

Approx 260g (Wi-Fi model)

Screens

Front touchscreen: 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, approx. 16 million colours, OLED multi touch screen, capacitive type.

Rear touch pad

Multi touch pad, capacitive type.

Cameras

- Front camera.

- Rear camera.

- Frame rate: 120fps@320×240(QVGA), 60fps@640×480(VGA).

- Resolution: Up to 640×480(VGA).

Sound

- Built-in stereo speakers.

- Built-in microphone.

Sensors

- Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer).

- Three-axis electronic compass.

Location

- Built-in GPS (3G / Wi-Fi model only).

- Wi-Fi location service support.

Keys / Switches

- PS button.

- Power button.

- Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left).

- Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square).

- Shoulder buttons (Right/Left).

- Right stick, Left stick.

- START button, SELECT button, Volume buttons (+/-).

Wireless communications

- Mobile network connectivity (3G / Wi-Fi model only).

- 3G modem (data communication): HSDPA/HSUPA, GSM/GPRS/EDGE.

- IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode).

- Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP).

Slots / Ports

- PlayStation Vita card slot.

- Memory card slot.

- SIM card slot (3G / Wi-Fi model only).

- Multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In].

- Headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In]).

- Accessory port.

Power

- Built-in Lithium-ion Battery: DC3.7V 2210mAh

- AC adaptor: DC 5V

Operating Environment Temperature

5°C ˜ 35°C

Supported AV content

Music

- MP3 MPEG – 1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM).

Videos

- MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC). H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC).

Photos

- JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG.

The Wii U is the next instalment in Nintendo’s arsenal in the gaming world, and the second generation of the Wii console. The console’s appearance does not differ greatly from that of its predecessor; it includes a new curved design with the inclusion of the sync button on the face, now hidden away behind the SD card cover.

Nintendo have also caught up with Microsoft and Sony and are now including Full HD 1080p to give gamers a high quality display. So what’s different from this Wii to the old? Well with the development of the motion controller that could involve gamers physically in the games, Nintendo would need to step up their game competing with the likes of the Kinect and Move alike, and I don’t think they will fail to disappoint.

The new controller sees the splicing of a Wii motion controller and the DSi. The controller has a 6.2 inch touch screen with camera that gives additional functions in game to the combination of motion controller and traditional gaming buttons. The camera will also allow for video calling. With multiplayer action, the screen also gives gamers alternate views to what is displayed on screen to give that additional angle. Also with gamers will still be able to play the console on the screen without the use of the television, perfect for families who have to share the living room. It is great to hear that the Wii U will also be backwards compatible with all existing Wii titles and controllers alike, which if like me you like to still play your older games you will be able to thanks to the backwards compatibility feature, things that really lack in other systems.

The Wii U can support up to four motion controllers in addition to the Wii U controller to increase the multiplayer experience. With the announcement the console will be released in time for Christmas 2012, with no Xbox 720 or official word on the Playstation 4 will this be the number one selling console for 2012? With an estimated price tag of £399 only time will tell.

It’s due for release in the UK in July for around £200

We’ve wanted to offer this service for such a long time and now it’s available.

The PS3 console comes with quite a small hard drive considering the amount of data that most people have stored on their computers, digital cameras, music CD’s, DVD’s and so on.

Upgrading your PS3 hard drive is one of the cheapest things you can do for your PS3 and ultimately gain most benefit from.

Why you ask? Because the PS3 console now supports a huge bunch of media types and because it’s quick and easy to transfer from your computer or digital device to your console. Imagine having all your photos on your PS3, just put them on slideshow for a great laugh at the next house party.

Another reason to upgrade your PS3 hard drive is because more software is being developed for the PS3 that allows you to directly download films, t.v programmes such as the BBC iPlayer.

So, if your looking to upgrade your PS3 hard drive get Consolewerks to do the job.

It’s expected to be sold for around £149.

Colours are to be confirmed but black, red and dark brown are know to be available at the time of release.

Nintendo DSi XL specifications:

4.2″ screen, TFT color liquid crystal (260,000 colors)

2 VGA (0.3) Megapixel cameras

R.A.M.: 16 MB Flash Memory: 256 MB

CPU Clock Speed: 133MHz

Wireless 802.11 b/g connectivity

Width 161.0mm

Length 91.4mm

Thickness 21.2mm

Stylus length: 96.0mm

Large stylus length: 129.3mm

Weight: 314g

Battery life: 4-5 hours maximum brightness, 13-17 hours lowest brightness

Charging time: three hours (For fully charged)

Input: DS card slot SD memory card slot AC adapter Stereo headphone/Microphone

Damn it!

Please just give us the good stuff we have been waiting so long for.

The game was first announced in 2006 but Sony does not consider the game as delayed but there was never an official release date.

Ohh well, in the meantime I’ll have to stick to playing Forza 3 on the Xbox 360 which is awsome and in all honesty I don’t think Gran Turismo will be that much better.

1) If you’re not playing your wii, turn it off.  Many people leave the console on whilst doing other things such as having dinner, turning your console off will reduce the stress on the laser and other components which mean your console live for longer.

2) Keep your discs clean and free of scratches, using dirty or scratched discs puts a lot of extra stress on your wii laser which will cause the laser to fail earlier than normal.

3) Remove discs from the console when not in use, take your disc out of the console when it’s not being used as this helps reduce the chance of disc jams.

4) Use the wrist strap on the wii controller, for the saftey of your T.V, mums expensive vase or somebody’s face.

5) Keep the Wii well ventilated, try to give your wii a little room to breathe as they can get quite hot and the fan needs to push all that hot air away from the unit but it can’t do it if you have stuffed the wii into a cabinet and jammed your games all around it.

6) Ask your mum to be careful with the vacum cleaner (Hoover), I can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard the “my mum hoovered up the infra red sensor bar” story.

7) It’s not a money box, try to keep your Wii away from children under 5 years old without supervison as there is something very appealing about that slot in the front of your console “I wonder what happens if i put all these coins in there?” we have found money (most common), sky cards, lolly pop sticks, spagetthi, photos and all sorts of other random things.

Give your wii a service, Wait Stop! put the screwdriver back. Just give the wii a hoover every few weeks, to make sure the vents are clear of dust and dirt.

That’s about it off the top of my head, I’ll try to add some other suggestions to help keep your wii in top condition in the near future.

Let us know about your experiences with the Wii?

This month were playing Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox 360, currently were at lvl 20 but note that we don’t have all day to play games because were busy fixing peoples games consoles. So Be gentle with us

To play with us just add us to your friends list, our Xbox live tag is RiskyF1re (note the 1 in fire)

In December we’ll be playing Forza 3 on the 360.

For all the PS3 fans, we have not forgotten you. I’ll do something special in the New Year.

Looking forward to playing with you.

Lee

….Arrggghhh

Don’t worry it’s Consolewerks to the rescue, send it to us or visit us if you live locally and we can fix the problem.