Yes my favourite topic is back. I have managed to ignore it recently but when I saw a news article this morning stating that Bioshock is going to have a mandatory 5 GB, 10 minute install I had to write about it. Now the only PS3 that has been available locally so far (for a while) has been the 40Gb …

Oddworld creator Lorne (Lawn) Lanning has been speaking about why he thinks that consoles are a step backwards and not what he was excited about years ago. Lanning has the following to say: "Personally, I think the consoles are a problem. Years ago I was excited about consoles, but anything that makes development more expensive rather than better, faster, cheaper, I think is a step backwards. When I look at what's happening, it's a bit disappointing because the consoles are running into a place where affordable games are having a rough time getting out there." I guess that all the big money and schedules are starting to add more and more pressure to a lot of smaller developers that aren't graced with huge budgets. Is he right though? A lot of us are all gaming fanboys, we love it all but we also love to see technology progress and get better. The main reason that I turned to consoles was because I was tired of having to keep my PC up to date so that I can play the latest games. Now I get home with my shiny new game, pop it in and run it the way that the developers intended. It seems that Lanning is targeting a market that is more interested in customisation and a lot of sharing options, saying: "PC games also allow people to build their game as they chose. There's a big difference between spending $50 or $60 on a game and hoping I love it and buying a game for $5 and then buying additional content for that game, so by the time I have invested $50 in it I really love it and I've personalized it a lot more to what I'm interested in." Hello. Hello. Follow me. Ok. [Who knows where that comes from?]

Nothing that 360 owners wouldn’t have seen before but it does help build the anticipation. It really is a game that everybody has to play at least once. Now, would you kindly watch the trailer. (See what I did there) source: Kotaku Last Updated: September 9, 2008

GamerChip.com has put together a list of the games that they think will be hits this christmas as well as all the games that will fail miserably alongside the hotly anticipated titles coming out at the end of this year. While a decent portion of this list seems spot on I have to say that I disagree with a whole bunch of titles on their list.... So here is the list that they have put up I have highlighted the titles that I think are a little out of place or just plain strange. HITS: Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway LittleBigPlanet Fracture Fallout 3 Fable 2 Dead Space Guitar Hero: World Tour Mortal Kombat vs DC Resistance 2 Gears Of War 2 Warhammer Online Left 4 Dead FAILURES: Spore Too Human S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky Mercenaries 2 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Crysis Warhead Silent Hill Saints Row 2 Bioshock (PS3) Rock Band (Aus release) Mirrors Edge Red Faction: Guerrilla Firstly, I find it quite strange that the creator of this list has decided to use him amazing powers of foresight to predict that games such as Too Human and Mercenaries 2 are not going to be hits after their low review scores have already come out. In fact the games are already out so I wouldn't even have them in the list, unless he expects some of these games to sell well into the holidays. In the hits list I don't fully agree with some of those titles. While Brothers in Arms is looking very decent, I still think that it is going to have a tough time getting its name in front of the new Call of Duty title (strangely not even in the list). Mortal Kombat vs DC is the type of game that we all want to root for, but deep down we know that the possibility of it being a good game and a great success is not very likely.... Even though there are many Warhammer fans out there and even though the game could be looking good, I still don't see any MMO being able to dethrone the King of the MMO genre, World of Warcraft. As far as the fail list is concerned I don't think I could ever agree with titles like Bioshock for PS3 being there. Bioshock was an amazing game and a fantastic experience and I think that any PS3 owner would be more the right to feel a good amount of anticipation for their own version of this creepy, yet incredibly engrossing experience. While Crysis was very popular it did suffer very badly from Piracy, the only reason this game would fail was if all of that nonsense had to happen again. Hopefully this time around the fans will realise that they are damaging the developer and will go out and actually buy it.... Sure its a bit different and a little strange and if you have to choose between it, Gears of War 2, LittleBigPlanet or the new Resistance then I could see it having some issues. I do however think that its new take on the first person genre is something quite fresh and different in an industry heavily flooded with mindless shooters.

I don't know what's up with all these developer diaries but I am glad to see more about Dead Space. This game has definitely had a boost by the fact that Resident Evil 5 has been confirmed to only be a 2009 release and also that Silent Hill: Home Coming is receiving little to no attention at all. I have had my fill of scary games lately but this is unfortunately looking really good so I might have to go and buy some more diapers. The zero gravity elements look like they can make or break this game, so they had better get it right. Dead Space will be available on October 27 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

MotorStorm was arguably the best PS3 launch title… okay Resistance most probably takes that crown but if you didn’t like FPS games then this was the one to have. Well the sequel is now coming out (7th October) and it is looking fine. I wonder what would happen if I strap a booster onto my bike and take it down …

It seemed pretty clear to me from the word go that Brothers in Arms is not quite the same as games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honour. It definitely takes a pretty different approach, especially with regards to the command system so I don't know if I should think of it as the same type of game. When not looked at as a contender to COD, I think that this game is shaping up quite well. I never really got into the previous BIA game but this could hold my attention a lot more. The new gore system in this game is pretty crazy, but at the same time its something that I feel necessary and to be quite honest it's about time that we see something like this. If you haven't yet watched the video or can't at work, let me explain. When soldiers are hit with explosives the gore system will try and simulate any dismemberment or damage caused by the blast (and will usually slow down to show the gory details in slow motion). "Brother without Arms" maybe? While I think that the slow motion camera is pretty unnecessary and hopefully optional, I find that it is more engrossing to see effects like this because it captures the severity and realism of explosive weapons in a realistic light. The video also goes on to talk about the use of tactics as well as what they have done to engross the player in the experience. Check it out, it may just be your cup of tea.

Activision announced today that that the multiplayer betas of COD:WAW are going to be hitting the Xbox 360 and PS3 in October. If checking out maps from Europe and the Pacific as well having a look at the games new squad system, perks and kill streaks sounds like your thing then you should definitely check it out. If you are an Xbox 360 user you can go now to www.callofduty.com and register to be apart of it all. There are currently no more details on the PC beta or when and how you will register for it. You may also be wondering where the PS3 beta is. There is no news whatsoever about the PS3 version at the moment. With no indication of whether or not it will actually become available. When asked about it, Activision said: "We'll have more details on the betas in the near future." What exactly is that supposed to mean? I guess we will just have to wait and see.