Age of Empires online

AGE OF EMPIRES ONLINE -- With over 20 million copies sold, this long-running strategy series has earned Microsoft respect, cred, and gobs of cash. Perhaps that’s why they’re releasing a new version for the smashing price of zilch. The new free game plays out much like older AoE games – create a city, build an army, deal with your neighbors -- but for a few dollars less.

 AGE OF EMPIRES ONLINE -- With over 20 million copies sold, this long-running strategy series has earned Microsoft respect, cred, and gobs of cash. Perhaps that’s why they’re releasing a new version for the smashing price of zilch. The new free game plays out much like older AoE games – create a city, build an army, deal with your neighbors -- but for a few dollars less.

Game Spiderman

 The action of Spiderman in game.

The action of Spiderman in game.

The action of Spiderman in game.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Review

A world where apes are smarter than the movie they're in?
Watch out for normal, mild movie review-style spoilers.

The problem with creating intelligent apes is that they can wind up being even smarter than you... And if there's a problem with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it's that its apes are so much smarter than the movie they're in.

Check out IGN's handy Planet of the Apes infographic cheat sheet, tracing the characters and timeline of the series from 1968 to today!

According to Fox, director Rupert Wyatt's Rise is not a remake or a reboot or a reimagining (I'm looking at you, Burton) of the classic sci-fi series from the late '60s and early '70s. So let's just call it a new version, shall we? New not just in terms of story -- the film breaks with the old cyclical timeline that kept Chuck Heston eternally trapped in a loincloth -- but also in terms of the presentation of the apes. Gone are the monkeyshine make-up effects, apes who were seen as such mostly because we were told that's what they were, replaced by amazing motion-capture/CGI work by Weta Digital that represents an evolutionary leap forward for digital characters not unlike the seismic shift between the average, poop-tossing chimpanzee and Rise's main monkey, the hyper-intelligent Caesar.

My Top 10 SNES Games

Here is a list of the top 10 best SNES games ever, From the golden age of my childhood

10 - Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting - This game probably made it to number one on any best SNES games list that was created by someone who loves fighting games. It is arguably the best fighting game for the SNES. With the addition of the Super Turbo feature, this game took the Street Fighter series to a whole new level.

9 - EarthBound - Although not very successful in the United States, EarthBound was extremely successful in Japan. It was praised there for its humorous depictions of American culture (can't imagine why it sold poorly in the US) and parody of the RPG genre. Since then, it has become a cult classic.

8 - Final Fantasy II - By some, the graphics were considered outdated at the time of release. But FFII was praised for its length and bonus content and shipped over 1.28 million copies within five years of its initial release. It is considered one of the best Final Fantasy games and a great Final Fantasy game for the SNES.

2002 FIFA World Cup Game

It's coming home, it's coming home, football's coming home. This June sees the biggest sporting event the world has ever seen taking place in the land of the rising sun, the FIFA World Cup. And the Rising Sun is just where I'll be watching it. The Rising Sun pub, Bracknell. When I'm not in there though, I'll be taking England to glory myself, barring the dreaded penalty shoot-outs of course - which could see me back in the Rising Sun drowning my sorrows at yet another humiliating exit. To restore some national pride to our long suffering battered emblem, myself and resident FIFA convert Gary Foy took 2002 FIFA World Cup through its paces on the next-gen consoles, PS2, Xbox and GameCube. 

The first task to fall on our heavy shoulders was to make the all important team selection and the excitement of the opening match against Sweden had us both leaving Seaman on the bench, as according to the stats, Martyn is a better keeper! McManamanamanaman is placed in the starting line up by EA, and promptly dropped by us in favour of Bowyer, statistically a better player but an inferior likeness. In fact Bowyer has to be the worst player likeness in this game. Sporting a jet black barnet and not a single aggressive movement he's nothing like the Bowyer we know and love. Other higher profile stars however are eerie in their effigies, Beckham and Owen in particular. Unfortunately Beck's haircut will be at least three styles out of date by June.

The first thing that strikes you about this game as being different from FIFA 2002 is the crowd. They are far more realistic in terms of animation and sound, with individual chanting depending what team you play with. 'Come on England! Come on England!' could be heard echoing from the stands. Even Argentina's fans sounded good, though naturally we gave them nothing to shout about.


This crowd atmosphere is supplemented by a full on orchestral score that's more 'tasteful BBC coverage' than 'tacky ITV glitz'. It is perhaps a little over dramatic, but when it accompanies a golden goal winner by Beckham in the final against Italy you can't fail to be moved on an emotional level.
Important goals are also accompanied by a rendered celebratory sequence, such as the opener in a match or the late equalizer against Belgium in the Quarter finals. Paul Scholes milked that one for all it was worth, standing god-like on the advertising hoardings in front of the adoring Belgian fans. That was no mistake, you read correctly. Both sets of fans celebrate a goal. It is amusing to see the French going wild as Fowler nets an injury time equalizer - doubt that would happen in real life.