Monthly Archives: April 2006
Electronic Arts – Black
You’d be hard pushed to find a first-person shooter that takes quite the same delight in wanton destruction that Black does. Within ten minutes of its company, you’ll have seen environments shot to shreds around you, intense gun battles, heard an opera of explosion and just about had time to catch your breath. It’s therefore…
Samsung – YP-Z5
Those looking for 2GB and 4GB portable music players now have something new to add to their list of possibilities: Samsung’s YP-Z5. Available in silver and black, the 2GB player will cost you around £130, the 4GB one around £170. There is a certain familiarity in a thin, rectangular player with a screen and front-based…
Sony – 24: The Game
The person who votes for 24 as their game of the year needs to straddle two camps. Firstly, they need to be fans of the series, its fast plot trickery and the occasional, sizeable plot holes it leaves in its wake. Secondly, they need to be proper students of the old Ocean Software school of…
Canon – PowerShot A540
The PowerShot A540 is a 6-megapixel camera with a quick Digic II image processor, a new, more sensitive CCD sensor, a large 2.5-inch screen and 4x optical zoom. It’s pretty much the same size as the outgoing PowerShot A520 and takes the same two AA-sized batteries. These don’t last a very long time, so you’ll…
Pinnacle Systems – Studio 10 Titanium
Pinnacle Systems has clearly been looking at Electronic Arts’ balance sheet. Only half a year has passed since the last release of its Studio software – Studio 10 – and already a new version is out, with the mighty suffix ‘Titanium Edition’. Whatever that means. The core proposition, you won’t be surprised to hear, is…
New Star Software – New Star Soccer 3
If you’re a little tired of your football menu consisting of a mixture of Pro Evolution Soccer, FIFA, Football Manager et al, then help is at hand. Yet, as is increasingly the case in the PC software market, you won’t find the antidote to brand dominance on the shelves of your local software emporium, nor…
Sapphire – Blizzard X1900 XTX
If you’re looking to spend more than £350 on a gaming graphics card then we applaud you, but we also acknowledge that you have a dilemma on your hands. The big decision is whether you should choose the GeForce 7900GTX or the Radeon X1900 XTX. Of course both chips are very good indeed, and if…
Orange – SPV M600
Orange’s SPV M600 is a Pocket PC with SIM support, and is the latest addition in a large range of SPV devices, both Pocket PC and Smartphone. There are three things that make it stand out from the rest of the SPV range – and from many other Pocket PCs with SIM support too. Number…
Take-Two Interactive – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls are indeed an aged vintage. It’s hard to believe that the original Elder Scrolls: Arena RPG was released in 1994. And today the basic philosophy remains the same: construct a huge game world and give the player total open-ended freedom to explore and quest. There’s a main storyline, of course. The emperor…
LG – Flatron L1732P
What are the factors that distinguish between LCD monitors? They all display PC output, take up comparatively little room on your desk and consume much less power than an equivalent CRT monitor. All these things are true of LG’s Flatron L1732P, but there are a few extras as well. This 17-inch monitor has classically simple…