This is a map which will make sense to Demon's Souls players, read it quick and revise the geography, for me as a complete noob I will be looking at this map for a few days and meditating on it. You never know, it might help!

I just got back from London where on Sunday I visited ExCeL for the London Comic Movie Media EXPO . It was great fun, a lot of Cosplay, and entertainment. I was there to meet an actress from Battlestar Galactica. I did not manage to find time to play any pre-releases that were at the show although they looked fun if you can stand playing a game with so much entertainment all around you. I decided to mingle, and took loads of pictures. Here is one of my posing next to a Life size replica of a WartHog. Its even made me want a console again.

I've been busy away from Gamespot the last week. Just on IMVU creating. Looking at PSP UMDs in the United Kingdom. Working and getting ready for a new year of study. I've just seen the advert on gamespot for Unchartered 2. Looks hot ! But suddenly I get this idea in my head about a gameplay which I haven't played so far.

The game

Needs a good storyline like Unchartered 2. With a story that reads like a book or movie. Now the catch is when you die you continue where you left of dead, perhaps at the begining of the stage. Now where this game idea could come in is that the death is recorded and because it is a storyline this makes a difference. The difference in my game idea is that once you die the death is recorded onto your hard drive and later in the game you are given choices (via some magic, or cyber ware, or some simular essence in the games background) that lets you replay your death in the hope that you can not die. If you avert your previous death then the storyline is changed in your favour. This could all be fit into the storyline via some "cyber future time travelling" system, somewhat like Minority Report. This could really be used in an engine and used in several games. Well thats my 10 cents for today.

The PSP using comic books isn't genius but Marvel have decided to expand their Digital Comics to be available on the PSP Playstation store across the world.

"Digital Comics will be launching on the UK, US, Irish, Australian, New Zealand and South African PlayStation® Stores this December, with other PAL territories to follow, and with more and more comics and graphic novels arriving every month. To find out more, visit www.eu.playstation.com. "

Personally my opinion is that whilst its nice to see comics on my PSP. I don't think downloading from the Playstation store is going to make the experience fun. UK Playstation store has recently failed to bring out a few games released in the USA, so why would I decide to forgive them and buy anything from them? I would much rather support my local comic store scene and purchase something which embodies what a comic is rather than just a digital comic thats pointless.

If marvel, tokyopop, darkhorse, image and DC want to release comics for our PSP then they should have done this last year ! Way too late in my opinion !

I'm just blogging to no body here but I might as well record my daily musings. Lol. Today, like much of the summer, I have been doing nothing interesting, just waiting to get back to college and finish my last year, then I'll have an excuse to do things after that. At the moment tho I would just rather do nothing.

So I am hyped for Starcraft II and not particulary bothered about rumours about no LAN, I've used LAN twice in my life time as a gamer, one on Jedi Knight and once on Command and Conquer. I agree its fun, and SC would be better for including it, but to me it makes no difference in the slightest.

I've been debating whether to get Starcraft and brood wars because I am so low on cash right now it seems like an impossibility. But 4 months time and I should have some money coming in from work and so Christmas is a great time to invest in a PC. My computer I use was purchased in 2002 and is slowly dying on me, I will expect it to last 4 months at the most. There are some great deals on computers with much highers specs than mine right now. I look forward to SCII and may even be forced to wait until (or a couple of weeks after) its release date till I purchase my computer just so I can make sure I have the right specs! A PS3 is not ideal because as my computer is dying I still need a PC. A PC is a PC. A PS3 is not a PC.

Well I am going finish this blog with this highly amusing picture!

The same games studio who brought you the Empire Universe 2 who I complained of about their support staff . Admitedly I still play the game and the staff aren't all that bad really. Has brought their German Desert Operations to the English speaking front line, so to speak.

I haven't been playing very long but I can see that its another multiplayer game with the emphasis on building your war mongering nation and destroying the opponent all in glorius 2d with sparse animation. But if community gaming for free is your thing then at least try out Desert Operation for the PC.

If you not English speaking, and I am wondering why you are reading this, then there are badly translated versions available in your language. Well the "main" ones anyway. German, Spanish, Portugeuse, English and French. I mean who needs other languages!

Head over to THIS WEBSITE TO PLAY NOW. The account will also be able to be used for Empire Universe 2.

Today I went to the fun fair and arcades, mainly the arcades which comprise of quite a few gaming machines, aswell as gambling machines, different activities and cafe. There are two main sites for arcades where i live on the sea front, these have arcade machines in. So this morning i visited and was lucky enough to have some money to play 'Big Buck Hunter Pro Hunting' which was a really fun shooting game. It was simple yet enjoyable. Then I went home and went to sleep.

So I've been playing a few too many games I think because I am starting to get interested in crop circles. Seems like a lot of work for a piece of art that is destroyed weeks later, plus you need a plane to take the picture, unless of course you know when Google Earths next update is. Well among searching I thought I would look for a PSP wallpaper, I usually go for darker backgrounds so the icons stand out, but I have downloaded some themes with black icons too. Looking on the internet it wasn't hard to find website about crop circles and I did find this one, which with some Photoshop editing might make a good PSP wallpaper.

Hello there from where you have surfed from. I hope you are having a wonderful day on the world wide web.

Electric storms and a north easterly lag today forecast. Its going to be a little bit of a large blog today. Playsation Network and my PSP. The joys of PSP. Online internet web browser games. Photoshop Tutorials on youtube. Noobs and how we were all one once.

Firstly I'll admit I couldn't live long without a console. I did play Dawn of War, Worms, Commandos, and looked at a couple of web browser games in the period of having no console and just my PC. Dawn of War online is not as good as I expected. It is quite easy to find noobie games and more challenging to find longer war games, I'll report back on another day once I have explored all expansions. In the meantime I suggest you visit .Thats Gamespots DOW page! I enjoyed playing the other games but really just hit a moment of spontenaity and decided to purchase a Playstation Portable.

The PSP comes in three versions (1000,2000,3000) not including individual regions. A long time a go in a website not so far away an Italian hacked the 1000 and 2000. His name was 'Dark Alex'. My name is Alex also, but it was not me! Sony was against this hack, fearing law suits would be aimed at them rather than the pirates who copied games and distributed them onto PSP via this Hack (firmware ver?) So Sony released the 3000 in huge quanities and new games and more marketing. The underground backed off happy to squabble between who should own a hacked PSP capable of playing emulators and a vast variety of games. Other like myself, went on in the gaming life, not really affected by Dark Alex and his emulator minions. It was until last week I decided I needed a PSP. I personally felt against the piracy and copying of games, all in all it just leads to arguments and games being delayed, cancelled and communities full of people claiming they can hack when in fact they have no clue. When also I know the paid proffesionals at Sony are making an honest living, and supporting the future of gaming, not just tarnishing the past.

So I got set up, avoiding all things non Sony. I even went and brought Sony headphones! So I went to the playstation network.

There is no real problem with the network, but for ease of use, its could be made simpler for the novice or professional. Again you start with no real place in the world and are forced to accept that you are again a registered newbie. This ends up feeling like my gaming career is one Dungeons and Dragons campaign after the other. The player grows in experience, but the character constantly is reset to level 1 Fighter with low HP. Thanks to the Gamespot dominion I can find a sort of refuge in this craziness. Although I would like to point out that I do update my collection so certain emblems are causing me grief. I hope that one day I can get an e3 or something cool on my profile. I like start select video cast. Rock on Gaming.

Call me a little of cautious but I now have gone through one mirror protector (couldn't work out what it actual did because I couldn't see the screen) one normal screen protector (cus I tried and failed to pop the bubbles with a small needle) unfortunately that was the best screen protector! I now have 7 screen protectors, one fitted right now (TIP. Use a little window cleaner don't smear it but slide the screen protector on with the wetness of the screen and squidgy. This is what they told me in GameUK). So that would be a total of 9 screen protectors. I've had the PSP a week so far! I also have two straps, two silicon covers, only3 games, and a subscription to a rental service. I also have a carry bag, UMD cases, three silkly wipes and a great movie formatting system, oh and the sony headphones I mentioned earlier.(they are the mdr-ex35lp and I give them a rating of 82%. They have a problem of really catching outside friction when you are moving around. If you intend on running or working with headphones look for adifferent pair)I also set up MediaGo with no problem and registered for the GoView! TV service which is run by Sky and its a bit rubbish tbh.

I have two games Resistance Retribution which awed me (love the multiplayer on Wireless network via other PSP members) . And the great Star Wars that continues in unleashed. Its has some handling flaws but is great fun.

Between the purchase of my PSP and the loss of my Xbox 360 due to e74 swine flu. I wasn't really in a rut, I explored again the web games. One I recommend is Battlestar Galactica Battleships. Firstly its free to play, its single player, and its short and sweet, and not very time consuming. I also played a few other games that didn't look finished and went on to play Empire Universe 2 for some time. It a good concept that has been done before in Eve and Homeworld. But actually plays on my PC. The bad side is, and its quite a steep bad side. It still feels like it is in beta, many problems, loss of resources have plagued people. Mod support isn't so supportive yet more instructive and bossy. The tech support is slow. It took me 2 weeks to get lost resource I purchased on paypal. All in all Empire Universe 2 is like the gamers version of promising your girl a dinner in a restaurant and buying her something on ebay instead. Also the final version was released 2 weeks after the original planned date, and yet nothing had changed. A few members have spent over £100 possibly £500 on purchasing the "cheats" which makes it less competitive and more frustrating. I'm ranked 70 and have played it since beta. Spent around £20 on ikolium, its getting less attractive the more I play and unfortunately I have put so much work and effort into it I don't want to quit. Anyway, the game is also translated from German and all the servers, main site, and full support is run my German speaking people, so don't expect anything great to come out of that unless you speak German. On the other hand its makes life interesting! One game I have posted and recommended is Mafia Wars The game is shorter and sweet than Empire Universe 2 and has more originality and interaction. It looks better and feels better, its also quite fun to spend your money but again be careful as you can make the wrong choice. Its a Romanian based game, so expect a lot of foreign speakers in the chat room. But if you like Habbo crossed with the Godfather, then check that game ! I have also been playing Cyber NationsI enjoyed making a nation doing a little trade and that felt like the game in roleplaying terms was over for me. I didn't want to be on that site too long as it also looked very time absorbing and no REAL benefit to my real life.

Pox Nora is quite an interesting game. It invloves collecting an army like you collect little toys. Each one has a power and certain weaknesses. The main strategy is to memorise your army and learn everything there is to know about their abilities. Then the strategy is implimented on a nicely generated game board, with lovely sprites. The animation are sweet and the game quite interactive. I would term it a single player RPG set against Multiplayers online. Its quite easy to grip the basics but seems to have a very long learning curve. Again its a web game, but uses installed software to your PC to run the full game. It also is free to play but there are charges if you want to collect armies and get more involved in the community. Fun though!

Adobe Photoshop, Imagine FX, Gimp, Corel Paint, Artrage, model reels and tutorials, concept art, and various interviews withthe pro graphic designersare all words that you need to search in youtube if your toes tingle when you look at your game and wonder where the ideas for the art came from, needless to say you could love or hate the art. But all these tutorials on youtube will help you understand what process was used to create. There are many videos from different countries, many good videos and tutorials will be available from the MajorNorthAmericanUniversities. An artist I really like is Chester OCampowho was featured on the front cover of ImagineFX 43. I also give kudos to the search parameter "Vancouver Model Reel" into youtubeAll the advice I can give you is, try to get to university and buy yourself some good software and a Graphics Tablet.

The next thing is about noobs, newbies and nubs. The way the world works is that people have babies, and those people grow up and a certain time in their life they will use a computer for a first time. We have all used a computer for a first time and nobody was gifted. People like the graphic desginers all started somewhere and most are still getting to grips with technology as it progresses. Its wrong to call a person a noob, its insulting because you are mocking everyones intelligence in a chat and personally its really dull and unoriginal. There is a saying which should be used more on the internet "If you have nothing good to say, then don't say it".

Just because your PC works at high speeds, doesn't mean there is any advantage of you working at high speeds, it ends up being dangerous for you and other users, you can not monitor what you post and people do have feelings and get hurt by what is said. Good advice is treat everything like a project. Take your time with it, make sure its correct and add a personal touch.

The difference between humans and bots should be drawn.

I have just designed a new banner as above . I used photoshop and it took 30minutes. Mainly cut and editing and lucky to get some nice photos straight from the net.

Background : Ultima Online Box Art and First release "Economy" Art.

Left to right : Top left is the moose head found in Sierras Kings Quest and in Leisure Suit Larry Land of Lounge Lizards

Left to right : Ghost Recon Emblem behind the Unreal Tournament (chrome) Logo

Left to right : Gordon from Half Life. Played this game around the same time as UT. I loved it ! Completed it too !

Left to right : Colin McRae Dirt menu. Couldn't think what I wanted to put in, so just a little honour of the late Colin McRae

Left to right : Shining Soul II for the Gameboy Advance on my SP. Loved this game still can't get past the fire Golem.

Left to right : Queen of Spades. Used 'The Spades Lie' as my gamertag on Xbox Live. Great times !

Left to right : The Late Gary Gygax, Co founder of the Dungeons and Dragons empire. Didn't fare to well against mainstream gaming but has a dedicated fan base.

Hoped you like my new banner. I was going to do a Starcraft one but I thought I better make it more general. If you want a banner created like mine or slightly different PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK.

I still don't have a console except my GBA. So I have been playing a few web browser games and recommend this one

http://bgmafia.com/?affuid=13884

I found a very interesting gangster game - BGMAFIA.COM! You can conquer streets that brings you money. You can fight with the other gangsters. You can make a gang with the other players. There are many weapons, cars and dogs and you can arm them. Register at

Avaiable for the Nintendo DS

I stumbled across this on the internet whilst searching for comics, believe it or not, a great piece of software for your DS if you are a fan of making music . All the features are available to look at on http://www.korgds10synthesizer.com/

I'm sure I'll be recommended this to a few people in the music industry.

I was watching a British tv show on television the other day , and I have also been into Dixons and today into Tecoes to look at some of the small (around 10") laptops that are available. They are known as web books because they have no DVD drive, but you can actually fix one through USB if you buy an external DVD Drive and I think the small screen can be displayed on larger monitors. There are pretty sweet , I would love one, but I am trying not to be selfish recently so lets see how that pans out first.

The Gaming list. Okay so its not going to pack a punch for gaming, and you will have to note that without a external DVD drive it may be difficult to install games unless you can transfer them through two computers via network settings, or even perhaps through an external hard drive or memory card.

I have heard reviews of the laptops that you can play Counter Strike multiplayer and Unreal tournament (obviously not the two games at once, like d'uh ) but I think a game like Runescape, Sid Mieres Pirates, Starcraft, Warcraft, perhaps even Dawn of War, would be pretty neat to play. But I can also see Fallout Tactics being fun and perhaps some with plug in a USB joypad and find it cool to play emulators.

The internet watch foundation is a charity that is very important !! Iwf.org.uk is the address and home to the most prized resource the UK has at the moment to helping kids and adults to live together over internet connections.

So founders and programmers at Runescape are donating money raised from their auction on ebay of a singed Runescape novel and 12 months paid membership. I am currently highest bidder of £20 but I would have thought this would be an international auction, and possibly a chance for Nigerians to besold something on ebay.

I do not think I am going to win at a £20 bid because the book is worth £10 unsigned and the membership for a year is worth £42.

Check out this forum link on JaGeX http://forum.runescape.com/forums.ws?73,74,163,57739718

I was having a great day of Street Fighter IV and also enjoyin the joys of merc life in Far Cry 2 as well as playing a host of other games I really enjoy. Unfortunately a bit like Steve Wiebe I haven't been to lucky with work and got laid of work for a month whilst the ship I work on is in for repairs. I love Street Fighter IV and between a quick session and turning off my 360 I turned it back on to play and got a bad E74 show up on my screen, contact customer support it told me. Damn ! I was also getting in to my new purchased GTAIV Lost and the Damned. So I was seeing the humourous side of it all, my sisters computer exploded also whilst reading an email I sent her telling her what had materialised of my 360. Damn that El Fuerte character was really making me happy too. This happens and now it all sucks so much, so much I have put every item of Xbox 360, games, wires, leads, pads, adapters on Ebay, hopefully to get money back from my stint of a month and a half without a single pay (even the governmment refused to pay me unemployed allowance, because I go to college and am getting an education) I can't fix my 360 due to lack of funds. This news sucks all so bad.

I am looking for games to play now, crossing off every console off my list. I do have a nintendo SP so it might be time to purchase another RPG and slot my Street Fighter Turbo into it, no el fuerte tho and no super combos, focus, or the sort. I hacked back into my Runescape account and well thats the only solitude I have for the next couple of days apart from getting excited about how much money I make (and they charge me) on Ebay.

utter poo.

The King of Kong is a dvd that I watched around about a week ago and it is a real life documentary, and much better than the mass of tv ones around. It centers on a man who was made redundant and went to buy a Donkey Kong original arcade machine to reach a personal achievement and feeling of reward whilst he was unemployed. What the movie shows is real life background to video gaming competitions and high scores, moving from kong, joust, pac man, ms pac man, q-bert, and many old school classics some of which are available on xbox live.

The guy called Steve Wiebe (and even i can't remember how it is pronounced.) meets up with a gaming community which are world recognised for setting records, most notibaly in the Guiness book of records. You know the book that some people ruin their lives to get into. Well he meets up with Billy Mitchell (the reigning world high score record holder for Donkey Kong arcade) and things do not go smoothly for all, which actually makes up for a good ending and some friendships being bond.

The DVD was released on 6 June 2008 in the United Kingdom and has old footage and plenty of info for the casual or hardcore gamer amongst myself.

film footage courtesy of New York times online

So your not really interested in soccer, but you really are and you know it, but you wonder why the Brits call it football and what is the fuss, what is more that you are interested in the leagues and how they work. Well it actually really simple, but theres always a good place to start your new interest and the wrong place. For example watching a UEFA Cup match and knowing how that team got seeded is a bit like watching a NCCA match and wondering why they are actually playing and for what. So there is a good place to start, and thats usually with a Friendly, oh but the teams must matter, you don't really want to follow a team you never hear about again, like Southampton, yes raise the bar and just stick to an international team, and not the USA, frankly their league is what I am advising against if you are a soccer newbie.

Well tonight Spain vs England

Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville Spain v England, 14:00 CTR 16:00 EST 12:00 PST

ha !

Suprisingly you don't need a lot of money to customise a Xbox 360. Although I am looking at LEDs for my controller which means going in to college to use the electricians department, and also looking at a clear casing and inside LEDS. Let me know of what you have done to, and feel free to give some creative critisism or any ideas of what you think I should add in terms of graphics to the casing.

I went about this project with the aim of keeping most things in tact. The hard drive and faceplate have been painting a matt black with the buttom bolt metal silver and the surrounding in gold glitter. This goes with my Spades theme and my love of gnomes (especially the ones that like Garl Glittergold the gnomish god in D&D).

The only itme I spent money on for my customisation was the vinyl decal on the sides. The skulls ripping through the white exterior look good and this is a proper motorbike decal. All I would do is suggest you make sure its exactly what you want before purchasing on ebay but I used a seller called "Rock Artist Studios" www.rockartiststudios.co.uk and they were v.helpful.

I also customised the controller by taking the back of and painting it black i have also used some vinyl from the stickers to add to the pad to give it more character. I have just purchased a silicon grip from Hong Kong and a scorpion charm that will be added to the controller. The charm will work like a mobile phone charm just sitting around the back of the pad for extra bling. I've also ordered a small metal charm from Brighton thats a ace of spades card. Now I am really stuck as to where I want to superglue this so I will look at a few designs and decided on placement as it arrives and when I buy some super glue.

I am pretty happy with my custom xbox . Its stylish, simple and more to the point reflects my gamertag on the plates. The username The Spades Lie is a anagram for something but you will never guess what, so I might as well let you in and tell you... later