Silhouette Reviews - The Nintendo 3DS

Overview
The Nintendo 3DS was released in Europe March 25th 2011. As portable handsets go it is packed full of technology including Stereoscopic 3D and Augmented Reality camera technology. The devices themselves are fairly similar in design to the Nintendo DS or DSi with the only real difference being slight screen size changes and the addition of the Circle pad which is used much like an Analog Stick on a PlayStation controller.



A red Nintendo 3DS




A black Nintendo DS lite

 The Nintendo E-Shop

The Nintendo eShop launched eventually on July 6th and is an online marketplace for DSi Games, Game demos, Classic games, Trailers (including 3D trailers) and previews for all the upcoming or out in shops 3DS games that are available.

Unfortunately, this market is still growing and there is still very little in the way of major releases or overly interesting purchases available as of yet. The main sellers are, undoubtedly, the old Nintendo classics.

Stereoscopic 3D

The Nintendo 3DS' top screen is designed as, essentially, two screens layered on top of each other. The 3D effect that the 3DS uses is performed by using what's called a Parralax Barrier which is over the top of the screen designed to control the way light leaves the display and, essentially, sends different patterns of light to eaech eye creating the optical illusion of you looking into the screen and there being another room inside it.

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is a technology that is only just coming in to its own. The concept of Augmented Reality is where a piece of software, taking advantage of a camera and is not dissimilar to facial recognition software. In it's simplest form it is capable of identifying logos or particular buildings and then displaying information on the screen about what it is the camera is pointing at. 

Augmented Reality Cards

The 3DS uses this technology to identify 'AR Cards' that correnspond to classic Nintendo Characters along with a '?' Card. As you can see from the image above when using the AR camera software to look at the Kirby and Link AR cards the Cards suddenly spring to life with a 3D Model of the relevant character atop them. 

The '?' Card is used in many of the AR Games that come included with the 3DS including AR Shooting Gallery, where the '?' Card is used as a placeholder for the 3D and a platform for the 3D targets that appear on top when you initiate the game.

Silhouette Reviews - PS2 Classic - Devil May Cry 3

Overview

The 3rd installment in the Devil May Cry Series and, quite possibly, one of my favourite Ps2 Titles. DMC 3 is an action game set into missions separated with cutscenes telling the story of the unfolding events. With snappy gameplay and decent playtime along with upgradeable Weapons and Techniques makes this game an instant classic and, overall, a very fun game.

Plot 7/ 10

DMC 3 Takes place prior to the previous games before the protagonist, Dante, has named his shop 'Devil May Cry'. The game begins when a strange man enters the shop. He introduces himself as Arkham and tells Dante that he has been given an invitation from his brother, Vergil. With this the demons.

Once the demons are dispatched Dante leaves his shop only to discover that a great tower appears to have

erupted from the ground in the street ahead. Realising this must be what his brother is up to he quickly heads for the tower.

The game focuses on the two brothers and their relationship. As Dante progresses towards finding out the secret of the mysterious tower, the Temen-ni-gru, he encounters demons and bosses and several other challenges along the way.

Gameplay 9/ 10

Dante's weapons include his Sword, the Rebellion, and his two handguns, Ebony and Ivory. The gameplay focuses on a blend of swordplay and gunplay with a quick change system allowing for seamless combos with different weapons. As you kill demons you will pick up orbs. Red Orbs are the currency of the game and are used to upgrade weapons and techniques at statues throughout the game. Green orbs are instant health restorers that restore different amounts depending on their size. And White orbs are for recovering your Devil Trigger bar.

Devil Trigger is a technique unlocked very early on in the game that let's Dante access his demonic heritage by, quite literally, morphing into a demon. this mode is accessed by pressing L1 and quickly drains your Devil Trigger bar.

The game also features Style changing. Changing Style affects your entire combo set and it's always a good decision to mix it up by regularly swapping them out and seeing which one suits you best.



Audio/ Music 7.5/ 10

The majority of the game soundtrack is Heavy Metal. The atmosphere is also well represented in game outside of battle sequences by scores of orchestral music that fit the game perfectly. Althuogh, the lack of variety can mean that you hear the same music more often than you'd liek.

Graphics 7.5/ 10

The graphics of this game really show off what the Ps2 can do. It's not much by todays standards but I remember being fairly impressed compared to other games out at the time. No real complaints here.

Verdict 8/ 10

Although some people may not even know what this game is it, for me, was a true great of the Ps2. With fast paced action, combined with puzzles and bosses and a huge variety of weapons and combos this really was incomparable to most other games from the time. A definite one to remember for me.

Silhouette Reviews - Resident Evil 5 for PS3

Overview

This is the 7th installment into the Resident Evil gaming series developed by Capcom and was released on March 13th in Europe on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. This is also the first Resident Evil game to feature 2 Player Co-Op (Excluding the uncanonical Resident Evil Outbreak 1 + 2) including both Online Co-Op and Split Screen. The game features the return of Chris Redfield as a central character along with the introduction of a new character Sheva Alomar, his partner in crime in the game and, in 2 player Co-Op, the character that the 2nd player adopts control of.

Plot 7.5/ 10

The game takes place 6 years after the destruction of Umbrella Corporation in Africa as Chris Redfield, now a member of the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) meets up with fellow BSAA member Sheva Alomar to investigate reports of smuggling of BOW(Bio Organic Weapons) in the area.

The two of them are tasked with meeting up with the BSAA Alpha Team who are planning to intercept the supposed BOW seller Ricardo Irving.
During their journey Chris learns of the potential whereabouts of MIA BSAA member Jill Valentine and the plot thickens even more when they discover that Ex-Umbrella Researcher Albert Wesker may play a role in the events that follow.

As the game unfolds Chris and Sheva encounter old and new enemies and are tested to their limits.

Gameplay 8/10

Resident Evil 5 is the 2nd Resident Evil game to use the new Over-the-Shoulder style Camera View with the HUD (As seen in the above pic) represented in the bottom-right hand corner of the screen with a green circle representing Health and your current equipped weapon within that circle with Ammo off to one side. Because of the 2 Party System when controlled by the CPU your partner's vital statistics are represented just above the 1st Players in a smaller circle to make it easier to tell when she's in need.
All actions such as opening doors or melée attacks are initiated via a prompt that appears in the centre of the screen when these actions are possible.

When changing equipment there is a quick inventory that appears showing (in Single Player) both yours and Sheva's inventory. This allows for swapping items and weapons between characters (very handy if Sheva picks up the last Green Herb!). Each player has 9 Inventory slots.
The Game also uses the D-Pad as Item shortcuts mapped to the corresponding Inventory slots in your Inventory screen.

Audio/ Music 8/10
The game features an excellent soundtrack. Much like it's predecessors the in-game music is well crafted enough to create tension in the dramatic moments, get your pulse racing in the action scenes and still remain atmospheric the rest of the time.

Graphics 7.5/ 10
The graphics are definitely a big plus as they are stunning. Although the graphics aren't perfect they can most certainly hold their own compared to most over games they come across. Also, with a great draw distance and plenty of zombies on screen at once with no real complaints from the PS3 it is quite an impressive feat.

Verdict 7.5/ 10
Whether you're just interested in the story or the Multiplayer experience Resident Evil 5 really covers all the bases as a fun-filled action game with a compelling, but not overwhelming, story. An excellent installment into the Resident Evil series that features the return of characters from previous games along with the return of Mercenary mode. Both of which give this game replayability and that extra bit of fun for true Resident Evil fans. However, that's not to say that those who haven't played the previous games won't enjoy this one as any references are explained and the game serves very well as a standalone action game as well.

Tablet PC Technology: Gimmicks VS Real-World Use

The Problem
Within the last year Tablet sales have gone up 300% and tablet after tablet have, literally, been exploding into a market that alot of people didn't realise existed until Apple's release of the iPad. One of the problems that face anyone looking to get their hands on a piece of the Tablet market boils down to whether or not buying any kind of Tablet PC will provide them with any real application once they've gotten bored of Angry Birds.

Tablet Wars
Once you decide a Tablet PC is your best bet the question still remains: iPad? Android? Or the less likely Windows 7 Tablet?
Here's a quick look at the 3 main contenders in the Tablet market.
The iPad

 







Okay, so you've had a look at videos and rave reviews and decided Hey, this thing isn't half bad! The iPad is a very nice piece of technology and, once again, Apple didn't disappoint with build quality and, given 10 hours of battery life, it out lasts the best of Netbook batteries as well.
Let's take a closer look

Pros

• 10 Hours Battery Life
• Great as an eReader
• Very good build quality inc. scratch resistent screen (although, not smudge resistant)
• MultiTouch Compaitble (Not overly impressive nowadays but still a definite plus)
• Light-Weight (Weighs only 1.5 pounds)
• HTML5 Ready
• Third-Party App development possible (a definite necessity with the increasing popularity of Android)

Cons

• No Flash Support (Major Issue here in my opinion)
• Unremoveable back panel - The internal workings of the iPad appear to have been intended never to be seen by human eyes
• No USB Support at all (so much for portable media!)
• No simple drag and drop file management 
• The MS Office replacement Apps leave alot to be desired

Android OS

The second contenders in the Tablet race are the come-in-all-shapes-and-sizes Android Tablets. These abundant critters have prices ranging from as little as £60 all the way up to £800. On further inspection, however, is it really worth going for the cheap option? Do you get what you pay for?
Pros

• Android as an OS is capable on running on a number of low-end devices without too many problems
• Great as an eReader
• The user-friendlly Notification Bar means that things like switching on the Wi-Fi can be done from anywhere, even within other Apps
• because the Android platform is Open Source this means that developers can program apps for free! This really opens up the platform for all kinds of developers
• Honeycomb 3.0 boasts good battery life and Tablet friendly extras
• Higher end Android Tablets have comparable battery life to the iPad
• From 7 inch screens to 12 inch 1 Android Tablet out there somewhere will no doubt suite your size needs

Cons

• Hardware Fragmentation - Because of Android's Multi Platform deployability this means that compatiblility issues can occur causing problems with Apps or even overall stability
• Going for the cheaper Android tablet means you will suffer problems with low battery life and speed issues
• The number of Android Tablet specific games is still quite minimal
• Alot of the current generation of Android tablets are still running Android 2.2 or lower which is, essentially, a phone OS
• Similarly to the iPad if you wanted to use your Tablet for work the MS Office replacement Apps are limited and feel clunky

Windows 7 Tablet

Now, there is alot of negativity towards the Windows 7 Tablet in reviews stating that Windows 7 isn't a Tablet OS. Although this is a well known fact the fact remains that there are some (if not alot) of touch friendly features. In addition, you can still use all of your MS Office based tools and other Windows programs. But is the marriage of Tablet and Home PC worth it?

Pros

• As above, Windows means you can do everything you can on your Home PC
• Spec - Because Windows 7 requires faster hardware to run the spec of Windows tablets is usually higher
• Windows 7 Tablets are great for media sharing and storing (most come with bigger HDDs than other Tablets)
•  Multi Tasking is made alot easier with Windows and with better hardware this is smooth
• Best Of Both Worlds? - Thanks to the Android x86 Project it is possible to Dual Boot Android on any Windows 7 tablet (provided it's compatible) bringing Android and Windows together

Cons

• Battery Life - Unfortunately beefier hardware means less battery life (6 hrs+ is generally good going)
• Intel Atom/ AMD Fusion processors mean that these Tablets will only ever match up to the speeds of a standard Netbook
• Touch was still an after thought for Windows 7 and, therefore, it just isn't as responsive or user friendly as Android or iOS

Bottom Line
In the end the main reason anybody buys a Tablet PC at the moment is for that gadgety goodness and portability. If all you need it for is Bubble Shooter, to listen to some music or peruse the internet then it may be an idea to look into getting a cheaper-than-iPad Android Tablet PC. Although, you get what you pay for here so be wary.
If you can't live without Apple's quality control and customer after care then definitely look at the iPad or iPad 2. Again, this is a very stable and nice piece of kit that has a decent battery life and also has some Office or Business applications.
If you are, however, desperate to use your Windows programs on the go then don't shun the Windows 7 Tablets from the outset, take a good look, some of them are definitely worth that.
The final decision comes down to personal preference and, for me, which tablet looks the nicest in my price range. Happy hunting.