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GTN needs YOU!

Posted by AJ on September 12, 2011
Posted in: Blog. Tagged: Articles, Gaming, Opportunity, Position, Staff, Technology, Writer, Writers, Writing. 4 Comments

Are you passionate about games or technology?

Are you passionate about writing?

You may well have come to the right place then.  Gaming and Tech Network are currently looking to expand the team with new writers.  This is your opportunity to write for a site specialising in gaming and technology looking to expand and drive development further into the industry.

You might be a budding writer looking to gain some experience to enable you to get into the industry or perhaps you just like writing in your spare time as a hobby because you want to share your passion about technology or games. Continue Reading

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F1: The game I’d like to see

Posted by AJ on September 7, 2011
Posted in: Gaming. Tagged: Codemasters, F1 2011, Formula 1, Gaming, Racing. Leave a comment

With F1 2011 on its way on the 23rd September 2011 and with F1 just coming back from their summer break now seems like a good time to pick up on the series by Codemasters and highlight what I’d like to see in future iterations.

I’ve played F1 2010 now for 47 hours since its release which in my eyes is a staggering amount but just proves how captivating the series can be. I’ve put it aside now though as I wait patiently for this years game which will see the introduction of KERS, DRS and the new pirelli tyres. I’m excited about all of them after having seen how different the racing has been so far in the current season. Continue Reading

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On Pre-Order Bonuses.

Posted by Jonathan Hill on September 4, 2011
Posted in: Gaming. Tagged: bonus content, hats, pre-order, rant. 1 Comment

Do you know what they really are? You could be forgiven for thinking that they are a way to reward their loyal fans. They are not. There are two types, first is the general pre-order bonus and the second is the retailer specific bonus, both have their motives and both are malevolent practices that are hurting the games you love.
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Terraria Review

Posted by John Mahoney on August 20, 2011
Posted in: Gaming, Review. Tagged: Action, Adventure, Armour, Biomes, Bosses, Enemies, Inventory, Magical Items, Materials, Minecraft, NPCs, Side-Scroller, Terraria, Weapons, Workbench. Leave a comment

“Dig, fight, explore, build! Nothing is impossible in this action-packed adventure game.” – Is the slogan for this lovely little indie game, a slogan which sums it up pretty nicely.

On the face of it, there is some resemblance to Minecraft (have you heard of that?  Little game by some guy called ‘Notch’?), where you build a shelter and then dig down into the world for resources. But Terraria is a little more completed than Minecraft, with NPCs, more enemies, bosses, and a large assortment of armour, weapons, and magical items.

The world of Terraria is separated into biomes that are each host to their own variety of monsters and loot. The first you’ll find is the basic surface of Terraria where there is little loot, and the only monsters are slimes (unless it’s night time). When you dig far enough down, you will encounter skeletons that only appear deep underground. And when you reach the bottom, you find hell, where there is lava, big skeletal worms, and lava imps that don’t like you. There is also the jungle biome which can be harder to find, though on small worlds it is often near to or even on the surface of the world, here you can find great treasures, but there are some of the nastiest creatures on Terraria here. Continue Reading

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The Global Offensive for Counter-Strike comes 2012

Posted by AJ on August 12, 2011
Posted in: Gaming, News. Tagged: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, FPS, Gaming, Multiplayer, PC, PS3, Steam, Valve, Xbox 360. 2 Comments

There have been rumours flying round all day about Valve announcing a new entry into the Counter-Strike series and it’s just been announced.  Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been announced for release in early 2012.  Here’s the full press release from Valve below:

Next Gen Console, PC, and Mac Release Targeted for Early 2012.

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO).

Targeted for release via Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam (for PC and Mac) in early 2012, CS: GO will expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched exactly 12 years ago (CS beta 1, August 1999).

CS: GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more.

“Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999,” said Doug Lombardi at Valve. “For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS’ award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac.”

CS: GO is being developed by Valve in cooperation with Seattle-based Hidden Path Entertainment. The title is targeted for release in early 2012 and will be playable at this year’s PAX Prime and London Games Festival.

For more information, please visit the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Steam page.

AJ

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Judge orders BT to block Pirate Site.

Posted by Jonathan Hill on July 29, 2011
Posted in: News. Tagged: Disney, Fox, ISP, MPA, Newzbin, piracy war, Warner. Leave a comment

Source

I can’t condone piracy, but each step like this to curb it is one step closer to a government/corporate controlled internet. Carry on like this and you will only be able to see the news that they want you to see, personal websites and smaller concerns will disappear as only corporations will be able to afford the inevitable fees that will have to be imposed so the ISPs can enforce these things. The internet will end up like your cable TV package, with only the channels you paid for.
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Sanctum

Posted by John Mahoney on July 13, 2011
Posted in: Gaming, Review. Tagged: Endless, First-Person Shooter, FPS, Game Modes, Sanctum, Skye, Tactical, Televators, Tower Defence, Turbo. Leave a comment

You play as Skye, and you have to protect the core from strange alien creatures who don’t like your core-e ways. Starting off in the building phase, you prepare for the attack by placing various blocks and ‘towers’ to stop the aliens before they reach the core.

After the recent update allowing up to 4-player co-op, in Sanctum there is 5 maps, one that is exclusive to Endless mode and three which you have to unlock by simply playing the game. Difficulty ranges from “Easy” to “Insane” and the aforementioned ‘Endless mode’ does exactly what it says; you play until you die, rather than up to 25 waves in the regular mode. On top of that, you can also use “Turbo” mode which basically gives you everything from wave 1, which means the enemies are more difficult from the outset, too, as they get progressively more difficult in every game mode.

What makes Sanctum interesting is that it’s an FPS (First-Person Shooter) tower defense game. To build towers, you run around the map placing the blocks and then place the weapons inside/on them blocks, and then you can upgrade them up to level 6. To make things a little simpler, you can bring up a tactical map by pressing TAB which shows you where enemies spawn (where they are, if the wave has begun), where the core is, and you can also quick-travel to various televators you have placed on the map.

And, by the way, televators are a kind of tower you can build (or are already set if you’re playing on Mine), these work as teleporters as well as elevators (or ‘lifts’) for getting on top of your towers for a vantage point. Continue Reading

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8pen

Posted by Jonathan Hill on July 9, 2011
Posted in: Review, Software, Tech. Tagged: 8pen, Android, keyboards. Leave a comment

image

As you might know from my article on the subject I have a physical keyboard on my Android phone, this was something I insisted on when I bought it as typeing on a touchscreen, as we all know, is a pain.

Well 3qubits have tried to change that by designing a new input method aimed at mobile devices. The 8pen.

The best way to understand the 8pen is to have a look at the video on their site, it takes the basc concept from Swype that you don’t lift your finger during a word but takes it further with a system that is based on gestures rather than the absolute position of the keys.

It takes a lot of getting used to, I am still slower on this than I am on the default keyboard after a week of use and much slower than on the physical keyboard, but I am getting faster so who knows? With a bit of practice I might not be insisting on a slide out QWERTY for my next phone.

8pen is available for free in the Android Market.

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Duke Nukem finally gets released with some Balls of Steel

Posted by AJ on June 13, 2011
Posted in: Gaming. Tagged: 2K, Balls of Steel Edition, Collectors Edition, Duke Nukem Forever, Gearbox Software. 2 Comments

On Thursday last week I received my copy of Duke Nukem Forever: Balls of Steel Edition.  I’ve had, up to now, 2 collectors edition games of this calibre which have been Far Cry 2 and most recently Total War: Shogun 2.  Far Cry 2 included in the package a t-shirt, map and art book as well as other items. and my Total War: Shogun 2 collectors edition contained a handpainted bamboo chess set.  This is incredible and I think both collectors editions were great for the asking price and both contain items I can put on display or use.  I much prefer a collectors edition which contains physical items than an edition which mostly comprises of digital extras and whilst you normally do get a few digital items I mainly spend the extra money because I feel I’m getting something worthwhile out of it and not something I have to keep playing the game to appreciate.

So, to not only celebrate the release of Duke Nukem Forever and for my love of collectors editions with some meaningful goodies in them I am sharing with you 4 pictures of the boxing in it’s packaging before ever being opened and it’s contents:

Continue Reading

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Frozen Synapse Review

Posted by John Mahoney on June 7, 2011
Posted in: Gaming, Review. Tagged: Frozen Synapse, Froznapes, Strategy, Tactics, Turn-based. Leave a comment

It’s a turn-based strategy game in which you decide on the tactics of a squad. You control your troops and send them around with simple clicks of the mouse, and this works because you can give really simple commands, or keep clicking to give really complicated commands to ensure victory.

The story is interesting, mildly amusing but it isn’t the most creative or hilarious story you might have heard. In Frozen Synapse (also now known hereby as “Froznapes” – pronounced ‘froz-naps’) you have to give commands to the people on the field and somehow complete the mission, which is sometimes as simple as “kill the enemy”, or you might have to escort or protect someone, as well as other game modes that just add to the hours you will spend on this.

Gameplay-wise, you are basically shown the positions of all people on the map (unless it is dark mode, and you will only see the enemy positions that your team have actually seen) and what weapons they have, you then click and drag to give commands for your team. You can then test the turn to see what happens, but you can never be sure exactly what the enemy (AI or player) will do, so you can’t always account for everything. This is what gives the multiplayer such replayability, the fact that you don’t know what the other player is planning his troops to do, so while you can move his just to see whether yours might win the fight, he may then go in the opposite direction to hit a different troop.

Without showing an actual video, the only way to describe the gameplay is to compare it to the planning phase from Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, in which you would direct your teammates where you want them to go, and they will follow the lines you drew for them. Froznapes is also more technical, almost mathematical, in that there isn’t really much luck involved, if you and an enemy go in the same direction and start shooting each other, the outcome will be the same every time no matter how many times you run the simulation before you prime your turn.

In conclusion, it is an excellent indie game, good fun and the multiplayer really makes it, as you can work your way on the leader boards and it is just perfect for competing with friends, as it not only tracks your total win-loss ratio, but also will tell you your win-loss ratio for whatever player profile you might be looking at.

Mr. Akardo

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