eurogamer 2012

Last Friday we went to Eurogamer Expo at the Earls Court Exibition Centre in London

When I got there I had a look at the Playstation area which was rather big.  There were several areas where you could play the demo games like "Harry Potter Book of Spells" and "When Vikings Attack".

Nintendo are releasing new console soon called the Wii U.  It comes with a large tablet device that allows you to play the game even when someone wants to watch TV.  They are also making a new game for it called New Super Mario Bros U which i had a chance to play.  The Wii U area had the longest queue in the place!

The whole atmosphere of the building was just amazing, the building was huge and it was dim and there were coloured lights.

If you remember my cosplay and Comic Con blog posts you know I have a Minecraft cosplay.  I brought that with me to London once again. 

There were not as many cosplayers as I expected but a few people recognised me.  A lot of people shouted "Steve!" and a few took my photo.  I think more people took my photo than at Comic Con.

I had a good time there and I think any gamer would like to go to this show and I hope to go again net year.

2 free idevice app reviews

Today I have reviews for two of my favourite iPod apps that are both free.

1)

I heard about this app because at the time I got it, it was 1# top downloaded free game and so I gave it a shot.  The story is Homer was not paying attention to his work playing a Farmville clone therefore BLOWING UP Springfield - and you have to rebuild it.

Throughout the game you need to collect money and experience (XP) to build things and level up.

When you level up you can build more stuff depending on what it is as most of the buildings are tasks.

You also have to provide a few other things to increase your confirm-o-meter.

I have been playing this game for at least a week now and I do believe I am addicted!

I am quite into tap and wait types of games and with the Simpsons its even better.

Of course as it is a free game you have to pay for something...

In-game donuts can be used to speed up time on building something or to plant a crop; they can also complete a task that you cant be bothered to do and/or buy premium things if you have enough and the nice  thing is you get near 20 at the start at the game.

I would recommend this game to casual gamers who like either Farmville OR the Simpsons.

SECOND REVIEW YEAH!

2)

I found out about this app because one of my friends was playing it via a Skype call and told me the name of the game.

I have been playing it for at least a month now and I was addicted to this, but not so much now but I do still play it.

In the game you have to travel with your jetpack as far as you can whilst collecting coins.

With coins you can buy new gear and clothes in the stash...

As I said before as its a free game you can buy a few other things...

Something here that is not listed thought is a tool that duplicates every coin you collect for a price of £1.49

The best part about the game in my opinion is the ability to transform into various different robots.  

The robots are in order:

1. hog bike
2. crazy teleporter
3. lil stomper
4. profit bird
5. gravity suit
6. mr.cuddles

And all of them can be upgraded at the stash.

Also in game you can collect slot tokens used to get any of the following:

1. coin bonus - 100 extra coins
2. coin prize - 500 extra coins
3. coin jackpot - 1000 extra coins
4. small blast - takes you a small distance
5. big blast - takes you a long way away
6. atomic blast - takes you VERY far away
7. second chance - revives you
8. extra spins - gives you 3 more spin tokens
9. double coins - on next try every coin is worth 2
10. head start - gives you a 750m headstart

Or you can trade the tokens in for 50 coins each.

I would recommend it to action gamers who like platformers OR distance games.

farewell to Nintendo gamer (Ngamer)

So recently my favourite magazine (unofficial) Nintendo Gamer has ended.

I found out by a letter sent to me informing that the magazine is being cancelled and giving me an option to transfer my sub to the (official) Nintendo Magazine.

I then remembered that they stopped putting free gifts with the issues at a certain point, it was obvious now.  I never noticed the lack of items until the previous issue, they used to give a game guide book at the very least.

I am kind of sad now I know the magazine is cancelled now but I'll get over it.  I have around 60 old issues to keep me going.  Its not that good of a collection as I missed one of the issues (this was before I had a subscription).

I got my first issue in 2008, at this time the magazine was called Ngamer.  It gave me ideas of what I did and did not want on my Christmas list and it was funny.  There was a top 50 of Wii games and Super Mario Galaxy was always first.

Most of the free gifts they put in the packet were really good like a 3DS case or fridge magnets something like that.  The only disappointing one was a free ice cube tray, it may not seem that bad but the thing was made of SOLID PLASTIC and it broke when we tried to get the ice out.  I also have a large collection of their game guide books that I mentioned earlier.

One of my favourite things about Ngamer is page 89.  Page 89 was a part of the magazine that was always different.  One time it was an art competition and another it was a remake of the 12 days of Christmas.  It was always different and we did not know what was coming.

Another thing I liked about Ngamer was the final gags they put on the last page.  In the first Ngamer I got  they put five last gags at the side of the last page and they were both silly and clever like the ocarina of time carrot.

Also when Wario Ware DIY was new they made a load of levels and put them on a few issues and put game play on their YouTube channel.  A couple of games were movie references and they were funny.

The final magazine that I got the other day was rather good and it had the odd review but it mostly focused about how long they have been going for, first being called Super Play to N64 magazine to NGC magazine to Ngamer then finally Nintendo Gamer.

(Official)Nintendo Magazine will be different but I think I will enjoy it just as much as Nintendo Gamer as I have read it before and it is good and so I will happily make the transition.

Nintendo Gamer was certainly a magazine worth subscribing to, with its humour and good reviews, and I will miss it.

computer club

I go to a club on Saturdays at the Museum of Computing in Swindon and I have been going for nearly 2 years.  It is a club for young people who like computers and we do a lot of programming.  We use a program called Scratch which is a programming system that lets you make games and other stuff.


The most recent thing we did is multi player games using IP addresses to connect to each other.  This Saturday I am bringing in my Raspberry pi for someone to help me with.


I like going to computer club because I have made a few friends and there are a lot of interesting things you can do there. 


http://www.museumofcomputing.org.uk/

robotics end of summer thing

If you do not know, I go to a club called LEGO Robotics which is a group of people trying to build a robot for First LEGO League.  FLL run a competition with LEGO robots where you have to do certain tasks to earn points

I have been going for about a year now and it is held in Swindon on a Thursday.  Around 8 or 9 people go to robotics.  We use NXTG which is the default software that the NXT comes with, what we do is we write some code and install it on to the robot, if that code does not work we change it a bit and try again, we then keep doing that process until the code works.

The competition happens every year with a different theme.  This year was food factor, next year is helping the elderly people and the previous year was medical stuff.  You need to put the themed mat on a special table and that's where the robot carries out the tasks.

While we're not programming and stuff we just sit on the sofa, eat our lunch and have a laugh.  If we have the guts we sometimes challenge Aidan (lead programmer) to a game of SSBB which always ends in tears.  A lot of the people who go there are in my Skype list.

The first time I went to robotics I wasn't very keen on the idea, but when I got there I found out straight away a lot of people like minecraft and so naturally I felt right at home.

The reason I'm posting this is because tomorrow is the last day in Swindon and the last time we meet until September, so were having a bit of a party with chocolate and pizzas.

Olympic torch

these photos were taken on a 3DS so they may be a bit low quality.


Yesterday I went to the Olympic torch relay in Salisbury.  We got up early and set off and it was a really nice day.  When we got there we found the coke truck.  In front of it there was the bus with the torch holders in it and behind the coke truck was the Samsung lorry.  Then music started playing from the coke truck and everyone in the truck got out and did exercises and the torch holders joined in!

They then got back into the truck and started moving, but just after they passed us they started giving away cola.  I ran after the truck and eventually I got a coke.  This one was coke zero Olympics edition which is good because I already have a coke regular Olympics edition bottle from the last time I saw the torch.  Then the police came on motorbikes and with their lights flashing to make sure the road was clear.  Then the torch holder came!

We found out later his name is Will Copp who enjoys wheelchair basketball, tennis, and downhill skiing.

Just after the torch holder left this coke car set off after them, we think the rest of the coke is in the trailer.  only problem was I forgot my crowbar!

Then we went to the park where I ate my breakfast and drank my coke, and after that we went back to the car and drove home.  On the radio they were talking about the Olympic flame going through Wiltshire.

To finish off here is a picture of me when we went to see the torch the first time in Trowbridge (we had to wait a bit longer for that) .

welcome to comic con!

We went to London film and comic con on Sunday.  We had a good time!

This is the third time I have been to London film and comic con and only this time have I been in a costume.  

Lots of people like my costume and a lot of people took pictures of me.  I did not see any other minecraft costumes but I did see:

• People with Lego head
• Jack Sparrow
• Green Power Ranger(?)
• Several Batmans
• etc.

Also someone with a microphone came up to me and did interview but I don't know who they were doing it for yet

I also got a playing card with myself on it for free

I also got a lot of street passes on my 3DS

All in all, I had a really good time and I cant wait till next year!