GTA Online I'm not a Hipster Update drops

GTA Online I'm not a Hipster Update drops

Express your incredible individualism and stand out from the herd with The post ironic, artisanal, organic, entirely independent, 100% re-claimed “I’m Not a Hipster” Update now available for Grand Theft Auto Online. This new content update features new retro print tees, skinny jeans, hairstyles, tattoos, animal masks and more, as well as additional enhancements to general gameplay to ensure the world is constantly evolving.

Choose from seven new vehicles including classic nostalgia rides like the Glendale, Warrener, Bladeand Rhapsody – affordable cars that seem casual on the surface, but have hidden potential to be unleashed with a few modifications. The environmentally conscious set can check out the Pantomicrocar, while those looking to roll with their Crew in more ostentatious style can add the massive 3-axel, 6-seater Dubsta (unlocks at Rank 100) to their fleet.

A tuned up Rhapsody and Warrener hit the streets.

Even Ammu-Nation is getting in on the latest non-ironic trends with the Vintage Pistol and Antique Cavalry Dagger now in stock. Make sure to try all these out in the slew of new Jobs, as part of your long arduous journey to become one of Los Santos' effortlessly cool.

Along with today's update, gear up for 12 new Jobs across an assortment of game modes, including Races that provide showcase opportunities for these new retro rides, a Deathmatch in Puerta Del Sol, two new Captures and more. There are also three new Gang Attacks in Chumash, East Vinewood and Mirror Park.

 Airwaves (Rank 15, 1-8 Players)
Students of style know that what comes up must go down. Drop 4,370 feet while imagining you're over all the bands you listen to on Radio Mirror Park, as you twist and turn sharply down to the pond below.

 Beach Odyssey (Rank 15, 1-16 Players)
Nothing says artistic credibility like a grainy image of trash next to a burnt out RV, so get your butt off a nice beach, and go to a nasty one. This is a Point to Point Race for Sports Classics starting in Chumash, ending in Sandy Shore, mainly on-road with opportunities to hit top speed.

 Before It Was Cool (Rank 15, 1-8 Players)
Any skinny jeans wearer will tell you, sometimes things just don't fit. Try and squeeze up to eight compact cars around the tight corners of this lap Race in Mirror Park.

 Caffeine Rush (Rank 1, 1-8 Players)
If your friends caught you drinking anything except a flat white at an independent coffee house it would be social suicide, but when you need java, you need java. This is a Point to Point Sedan Race from Del Perro to Mirror Park passing by four 'Cool Beans' coffee shops.

 Contend: Condo-monium (Rank 1, 2-8 Players)
Make a statement about late capitalism or income equality or art or pointless statements or something by trashing condos in Puerto Del Sol. This is a Contend style Capture going for the last of the party supplies in the courtyard between two identical apartment blocks.

East Vinewood LTS (Rank 9, 2-16 Players)
They don't know how it started, maybe two girls got the same tattoo, or reposted a Snapmatic without giving photo credit. What they do know is sides have been chosen and East Vinewood's gone to hell in this two team Last Team Standing.

 Embracing America (Rank 1, 1-8 Players)
All your friends are going East in search of the last un-gentrified patch of turf in the country, and you're heading West. Load up a so-uncool-it's-cool Sedan, and race toward Little Seoul. Lots of straights and a few tight turns at the end of this point to point track.

 GTA: Grab a Cab (Rank 1, 2-8 Players)
After twelve hours 'rolling' at your local post-industrial techno-house night, your tattooed friends will be too wide-eyed to drive themselves. Pick up some taxis for them in this two team GTA-style Capture based around the Downtown Cab Co depot in East Vinewood.

 Hip to be Cool (Rank 1, 1-8 Players)
Because driving around Rockford Hills in nice cars is too mainstream, and going through Vespucci Beach in low riders is kinda yesterday... This Compact class Race takes you back and forth over the Los Santos Freeway and in and out of the Casino parking lot.

 Legion Square Survival (Rank 25, 1-4 Players)
Freedom of speech is dead as the cops crack down on Legion Square protesters. Battle the police on foot, in SUVs, and eventually in Buzzard helicopters. And remember that the real bad guys are the bankers looking down on the action from their office windows.

 Puerta Del Sol (Rank 1, 2-8 Players)
Every artist wanted to die young, then they wanted to mock their predecessors with an ironic statement about dying young, now it's a post-ironic statement and they might end up actually dying.

Trend Setting (Rank 1, 1-16 Players)

A Lap circuit Race with muscle cars around Mirror Park for simple people who want to seem complicated.

The brand new Dubsta unlocks at Rank 100 and can accommodate up to 6 players, perfect for rolling out in force with Crew members.

There are also tons of tweaks and updates made to Grand Theft Auto Online as part of this update. A few notable ones include:

·         Ten existing GTAV vehicles have been added to the southernsanandreassuperautos.com website for purchase, including Story Mode characters’ vehicles:

·         Albany Primo

·         BF Surfer

·         Bravado Buffalo

·         Franklin's Bravado Buffalo S

·         Bravado Youga

·         Cheval Picador

·         Dundreary Regina

·         Trevor's Karin Rebel (clean version)

·         Trevor's Nagasaki Hot Rod Blazer

·         Michael's Obey Tailgater

·         Pure Gold and Brushed Gold paint colors have been added to LS Customs in the ‘Metals’ category. These unlock at Rank 100.

·         A new Pure Black window tint has been added to LS Customs, along with four new jazzy vehicle horns (including one which loops and speeds up / slows down as you drive).

·         Eight new individual player celebrations and four new paired Celebration animations have been added.

·         Players will no longer be charged Insurance costs if their vehicle is destroyed by another player who does not have enough GTA$ to pay.

·         Fixed an issue where, if an insured Personal Vehicle was destroyed, both parties had to pay the insurance costs.

·         Fixed an issue where some four-wheel drive vehicles had reverted to two-wheel drive.

·         Players are now able to bookmark Jobs whilst in a Playlist from the Pause menu.

·         Tear Gas now does more damage and lasts longer.

·         A small tick has been added to the first screen in the corona if a player has played a Job before, much like in the pause menu or Next Job Voting Screen.

·         The level of difficulty is now displayed when pressing D-pad down when playing Missions.

Destiny: Alpha Preview

Destiny: Alpha Preview

Platform: PS4
Released by Bungie

Released last week to much fanfare at the E3 expo, Destiny came like a bolt out of the blue with the Alpha being released to a select few who signed up in time and were lucky enough.

Fortunately, I was one of the ones to spend all of last weekend in the Alpha, and to appreciate what Bungie's got ahead of us for its September release.

And boy, if this is an indication of what lies ahead, sign me up in spades, because this Alpha left me wanting more and more when the weekend was done - and I'm not usually a fan of FPS games. Perhaps, also, though this may count against me, I've never really got into HALO.

Destiny though, looks to be a fully immersive experience, a game that takes you into its world and settles you in without your realising that you're in a different place. That's to say everything seems natural - from the Peter Dinklage voiced AI which drips out part of the history of the planet as you traverse through it to the combat and working with others, it just seems to fire from the very beginning. The Alpha gave you a choice of a story mission, exploration and a few other bits and bobs.

As the game begins, you get to pick your character - male or female - and choose what kind of person you want to be, both in looks and in game play style. Adding markings, eye colours and skin tones are all fun (even if they're obscured in combat by a helmet and also by the fact it's an FPS) but it's the choice of what kind of warrior you want to be that's the most interesting.

From choosing to be a warlock (magic being the main power), titan (guns a blazing) or hunter (speed), the game gives you the chance to decide how your combat will go. I took on Warlock to start off with and was promptly dropped into a warzone in old Russia on Earth, with a mission to head to the Tower and take on the creatures within. Within seconds of being dumped in, there were creatures known as the Fallen to take on with an array of weapons at my disposal - blasting them and their floating robots is relatively easy, but I chose to use the AI to summon a bike (a la Speeder in Return of the Jedi) to run past them all and avoid combat. Which seemed smart at the time, but after getting to the tower and having to fight a floating wizard and his horde of creatures, was a truly dumb move. Killing critters off helps you level up and boost your skill set, all of which was needed when it came to the final showdown, which took forever to complete and had to see me shooting a few of the creatures (known as the Horde) before retreating to power up my guns and get back into it as the forces of darkness take on the forces of the Light.

Combat's easy to get into but levelling up is the best way to go, as it helps you get to take down the Fallen and the rest of them with a bit more ease. Once the story mission's done, you get a chance to head back to the Cosmodrome and explore, giving you the chance to play with other players to take on various mini missions, such as defending oil wells, collecting scrap and recovering parts - one public mission saw me team up with 3 other players to try and defeat another major big bad who was hidden in an area below ground. Needless to say we didn't succeed, but the co-op play was certainly good fun and gives an indication of what could be going on once the game launches later this year and other players join. Though, I do wonder how they'll limit the numbers of Guardians involved in the game to prevent it from simply being a mess of players running around, going beserk. (Points though for the whole waving to others, as well as being able to dance which were activated with the D-pad)

Other elements of the game were in the Tower, the social area where you can head to collect items, ramp your collection up and tool up as well. Sort of like a space market, there was little real interaction, though, once again, if it comes to the whole multi-population, it could in reality turn out to be something a little like Mos Eisley spaceport... We'll see in September.

Graphically, Destiny is completely beautiful, with landscapes giving you the kind of look you'd expect from a great space opera. The level of detail is astonishingly good in the scenery and while you're ploughing around the Alpha, there was never really a lot of time to take it all in - but once in a while, there's time to stop and marvel and take it all in. When you're up in the Tower and peering down into the world below, I got a vague sense of vertigo as I marvelled at the work done around.

The Beta of Destiny is due on July 17th, but all the early signs are that this game is set to be massive - visually, it soars and when it comes to gameplay, it's actually redefined my approach to FPS and their ilk given how easy it is to get into. I personally can't wait for another session on this, so am hanging out to see if the BETA brings more of the multiplayer experience and a further tantalising glimpse of the story.

Based on early impressions, it looks like Destiny could be one of the titles of the year.

Brand new Guardians of the Galaxy trailer

Brand new Guardians of the Galaxy trailer

There's a brand new Guardians of the Galaxy trailer for you to enjoy...



Good news for Marvel fans - it's your first look at the Guardians of the Galaxy poster!

It follows the launch of the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer earlier this week.

The movie trailer for #GOTG Guardians of The Galaxy is the first full look from Marvel followingthe Collector's appearance at the end of Thor: The Dark World.

The Witcher 3 - E3 info

The Witcher 3 - E3 info

There's a whole heap of trailers from the E3 launch of The Witcher 3 for you to enjoy:

Collector's edition making of trailer Collector's edition unboxing featurette

12 Years A Slave: Blu Ray Review

12 Years A Slave: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Icon and Roadshow Home Ent

Lavished with Oscar nominations, SAG awards, PGA awards and Golden Globes, 12 Years A Slave arrives on our screens with expectations and in some quarters, a little dread over its subject matter.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (rightly nominated for glory) plays Solomon Northup, a talented violinist, living in Saratoga, New York in 1841 as a free man, with a wife and family. As his wife and family head away for an annual commitment, Solomon is offered work in Washington which he duly takes. However, after a night of partying with them, he awakes to find himself in chains, renamed and shipped off into slavery.

Northup's first master is a relatively benevolent one, William Ford (played with earnest bySherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch) but thanks to the racism on the grounds, he ends up nearly hanged and is sold on to Michael Fassbender's Edwin Epps, a cruel and sadistic man who is prone to breaking his slaves.

Thus begins Northup's quest to survive, his attempts to maintain his dignity and his desperate fight to win back his freedom amid betrayal, unexpected kindness, utterly repugnant cruelty and horrifying attitudes toward fellow human beings.

12 Years A Slave is a totally brutal film - perhaps inevitably so given its true life subject matter and that within five minutes of beginning, our hero is beaten to within an inch of his life by a paddle wielded by a new master.

Its strength though lies in the relative restraint of its film-maker, Steve McQueen and its lead actor,Chiwetel Ejiofor. While McQueen does not flinch from showing every second of the horror with the camera holding firm and forcing you to confront the violence, he shows a remarkably masterful touch at telling a story which gets so dark and sickening, you will find it hard to stomach in places.

Unlike many of his ilk, McQueen does not turn this film into a worthy piece about one of humanity's darkest days, choosing instead to blend together a movie that doesn't flinch from its subject matter, but also doesn't seek to make light of it, dish out platitudes or beset it with sentimental moments in among the bleak story.

Throughout it all, Ejiofor commands the screen, imbuing the real life Northup with a dignity and grace as he tries to survive that is all the more heartbreaking given what he had to endure. A remarkable long shot where Northup is hung out on a plantation leaves nausea in the pit of your stomach, as he scrabbles for air, looks around him and faces a desolate inevitability; but every moment of that horror is understated by Ejiofor and as a result, the audience is in total sympathy with him, aghast that around Northup, people are going about their daily business, untroubled by the life slipping away next to them.

Among the betrayals, the heartfelt pleas from a fellow slave to show her some kindness and kill her, the hardships that Northup endured, Ejiofor remains a presence throughout amid close ups and thanks to the dignity of his portrayal. While you get little insight into his psychological state throughout, his final scenes will reduce you to tears, a cathartic testament to a 2 hour portrayal that has showcased the best of humanity when it's pitted against the very worst.

Juxtaposed to such grandeur is Fassbender's cruel and sadistic Epps, a man who rapes his favourite slave and whose towering monstrousness is a blight on those around him. It's an ugly and repugnant role, which Fassbender commands and taps into something within to leave you utterly hating the man. Thanks to that unrelenting spirit and McQueen's lingering camera which circles around during some whipping sequences, you will find yourself questioning humanity and what we've done, but never find yourself brushing it off with a trite dismissal or tricked by a naively blithe moment deployed by the director to counteract the darkness.

That's really the power of 12 Years A Slave - the sickeningly visceral period piece has a way of inveigling itself under your skin, but has such a pull that it's hard to deny - if there's a more perfect, more powerful and more harrowing or sobering film up for an Academy Award this year, I've yet to see it.

Extras: Doco, featurette and the score

Rating:

Million Dollar Arm: Movie Review

Million Dollar Arm: Movie Review

Cast: Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Alan Arkin, Lake Bell, Madhur Mittal, Suraj Sharma, Bill Paxton
Director: Craig Gillespie

It's Slumdog Jerry Maguire in this latest from the Disney stable, which is based on a true story.

Mad Men star Jon Hamm is JB Bernstein, a sports agent whose repertoire of talent is waning and whose business is facing potential ruin due to a lack of big star names on his books. Along with his friend Aash (Mandvi), the two are looking at disaster.

But, when JB hits on the idea of merging a talent contest with the hunt for an Indian cricketer who could turn his arm to baseball, suddenly the world opens up.

So, heading to India, with a cranky retired scout (with a performance pretty much phoned in by Alan Arkin) in tow, JB's dream looks like becoming reality after initially disastrous try-outs when he comes across two with potential, Dinesh and Rinku (Slumdog Millionaire's Mittal and Life of Pi's Suraj Sharma).

However, shifting them back to the USA to be tutored by Bill Paxton's baseball coach, throws up more problems than JB could have predicted, leading him closer to the abyss - both on a personal and professional front.

Million Dollar Arm had some real potential as it came out swinging onto the screen.

It's your typical underdog, sports story and should, in theory, have hit a home run.

But it's marred by some incredibly lazy, borderline racist, stereotyping that leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. Its patronising and condescending Americanised view of Indian life and their habits is quite uncomfortable in places and provokes worry that it'll create unrealistic expectations of foreigners within some audiences and propagate some stereotypes.

That distastefulness aside, this way too long fish-out-of-water story does have its moments when it works; more notably in the quieter times and in the interactions of Dinesh and Rinku. There's a sentimentality and softness to their feelings and reactions to life around them that's entirely plausible and isn't milked by Gillespie for maximum effect (unlike anything else to do with their culture and heritage.)

Hamm's reasonable enough as the nonchalant facade begins to fade, though he lacks the powerwatt performance of Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire to keep you rooting for him. Perhaps, that's intentional, but Hamm doesn't overdeliver on the personal crumbling and falling apart path that he's inevitably got to tread. A romance with his house tenant (played by Lake Bell) starts off as a little implausible but gradually wins you over with her down-to-earth viewpoint cutting through his sports BS.

Skewing noticeably older, Million Dollar Arm is a queasy piece of film-making. Its sickly sentimentality rubs rather oddly up against the uncomfortable stereotyping within and left me feeling more angry than inspired.

Rating:

Murdered Soul Suspect: PS4 Review

Murdered Soul Suspect: PS4 Review

Released by Square Enix
Platform: PS4

Salem.

Famed for its witches and spooky goings on - and now in the latest game from Square Enix, famed for your death.

You play Detective Ronan O'Connor, whose day goes to very bad when he's thrown out of a window by the Bell Killer, a serial killer haunting the streets of Salem. On the cusp of surviving the fall, the killer shoots O'Connor point blank seven times, thus finishing him off.

Stuck between worlds and with unfinished business, O'Connor (who has a permanently ghostly cigarette attached to his lips) has to work out who did it, why and stop them, by investigating clues around Salem. Initially guided by a ghost called Abigail who gives you the chance to explore your abilities (walking through some walls, possession etc), the quest takes on a darker turn when various demons start appearing around Salem with the intent of sucking your soul dry.

Part of the mission of Murdered Soul Suspect is to avoid these, or to creep up behind them and exorcise them (a chillingly spooky experience all round) - avoiding them is done by leaping from one ghostly spirit trail to the next as they get closer; it's a freaky trip that's actually unsettling to watch and takes a wee bit of time to master.

A lot of the game though is spent examining crime scenes, possessing people at the scene to read their minds, get clues and further insights et al. It's this part which feels a little underdeveloped as you're relatively constrained with what you can and can't do at the scene - answers are needed to move on and in some ways, it feels like you're going through the motions to get there.

Possession can be relatively fun though - as you get to take on all manner of things to achieve your aims - but it's frustrating that you can walk through some doors, and not others. There's a lot of stealth needed in parts of the game and you require patience without always feeling like you're getting the reward at the end of it.

Graphically, the game is nicely put together, with the ghostly feeling evocatively done, and there are enough creepy moments to catch you out if you have the lights down and the sound up. Characters of the undead litter the world around you and give you side missions to be part of, such as trying to find where someone was killed etc, but it's the main narrative that will propel you along.

Murdered Soul Suspect has a great concept and is smarter title in terms of what it tries to achieve and how it brings it to life. In parts, it feels like this is slightly undercooked and could do with a bit more, but as a gaming alternative to the detective genre, it's a welcome - if not fully inspirational - addition.

Rating: