TechStuff

Hi there! Welcome to my little section on technology - be it mobile phones, video games or general internetty thingamabobs :)

As we know, technology plays a key part in our daily lives - from using mobile phones and e-mail to keep in contact with one another to allowing us the opportunity to alleviate boredom through the use of mp3 players and portable games consoles.

Feel free to leave comments on subjects you'd like to see covered - hope you enjoy.

It's getting -very- close to Christmas, and despite the credit crunch it is predicted that games consoles will be one of the most desired Christmas presents this year. And with so many available on the market now, the choice appears to be endless, but depending on your gaming interest you'll have to consider which is best for you.

For the family-orientated option it's best to look at the Wii. With games including Raving Rabbids and Carnival available to keep the kids occupied, and older games will get a kick out of the downloadable games from yesteryear - including Super Mario Bros and old Neo Geo shoot-em-ups. The WiiFit board also allows gamers the chance to work out whilst playing, just ensure that you have the Wiimote secured before playing to ensure that you don't damage your expensive televisions.

When it comes to handheld consoles, the Nintendo DS provides family-friendly games from everything from pet care to quirky puzzle games, and with a range of coloured consoles and novelty styluses available, there's something for everyone. If you're looking for a little something extra from your handheld console, the PSP offers more advanced games - such as driving simulators and football games - as well as the chance to view UMD movies and downloadable content whilst on the move.

When it comes to next-gen gaming, the battle this Christmas will be between Microsoft and Sony - with their consoles set to go head-to-head to attract us to buy. Both have online capabilities, allowing you to play against your mates at titles such as Pro Evo and LittleBigPlanet. If you're looking to combine gameplay with watching movies, the PS3 and it's Blu-Ray technology may be preferable, but with a selection of music simulation titles like Rock Band available on both consoles it could be difficult to choose.

With such a range of titles and consoles available, this Christmas could be rather a good one for gamers and techies alike, it could also be worth looking out for further reductions in the January sales.

God games have been a popular genre for PC owners for many years. The Sim series has given gamers the opportunity to alter the lives of digital characters, whilst Populous and Black and White gave you the chance to alter their environment and protect your village or tribe from outside interference.

And now, from the studios that brought you Sim City and other titles comes a life simulation game, creating organisms from the very beginning, seeing how they evolve and learn new skills, and even venturing to battle other tribes on different planets.

However, the game is not just limited to creature creation, but also environmental factors such as creating a planet on which your creatures will live, colonize, evolve and build new technology and ultimatly protect from invasion.

The game has been eagerly awaited for quite a while now, with previews and teasers at E3 this year, and the online multiplayer mode allows the chance to pit your creatures and their abilities against other players around the world.

The Creature Creator has been out for a while, with many celebrities adding their own creations to the mix on some websites, and with the eagerly awaited title just weeks from release, it's one this hubber has been waiting for.

There are certain series which will live on in the video games world. However, beat-em-up titles tend to have a relativly short shelf life, for changes that are made are usually small in order to satisfy the needs of the fans whilst also adding a couple of new little features to attract more to the series.

In this latest installment in the acclaimed Soul Calibur series, the fine line between old storylines and new characters has been carefully tread, with elements from previous titles remaining - fluid movement, gorgeous backdrops and a whole selection of weaponry - and it's all on show in this next-gen version.

The story mode has been trimmed down somewhat, with the quest mode of SC3 being replaced with the Tower of Lost Souls - making characters climb the hierarchy of a tower with different challenges along the way.

New characters also make an appearence - including Amy and Hilda, as well as guest appearences from characters from the Star Wars series - mixing it with old favourites like Mitsurugi and Taki. As well as the new characters, the developers have left the customisation aspect of the game wide open - allowing the opportunity to create new characters of your own or change the outfit of existing characters (although, be warned, there's no way to make a naked Ivy...although I'm sure someone'll find a way)

In short, this latest installment delivers the kind of fluid performance you'd expect from a next-gen console, the customisation aspect will keep you coming back for more - indeed, there are a whole host of videos of created characters up on YouTube - and whilst the storyline might still be a bit scrappy in places, added aspects such finishing moves (known as Critical Finishers) and armour destruction add a new level of depth to an already successful series.

5 out of 5

With the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in full swing in Santa Monica, gamers the world over are eagerly watching to find out what they have to look forward to in the future. Highlights so far for myself include:

• God of War 3 - as a fan of the series I'm eagerly awaiting the third installment - bring on the mythological hack'n'slash goodness
• Resident Evil 5 - Capcom's terrifying franchise takes a step into the next-gen market
• Guitar Hero: World Tour - Activision's successful series takes on the likes of Rock Band with a multitude of peripherals for budding wannabes to rock out with
• Street Fighter 4 - the SNES classic goes 3D in this latest installment - playtests in Japan have been well received, expect titantic special moves and fluid gameplay - SHORYUKEN!
• Prince Of Persia - A new direction for the prince as he joins with a spirit to battle an evil force. Cue plenty of acrobatics, wall running and intricate fighting techniques, as well as plenty of treasure along the way

• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - Imagine Sub Zero duking it out with Superman, playtests at the convention looked extremely promising
• LittleBigPlanet - take control of Sackboy and his friends as they race to the finish through huge, customizable levels

• Soul Calibur IV - another favourite of mine, old favourites return but there's also the chance to play as Yoda or Darth Vader!
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - MMO fans rejoice as Blizzard's successful online role-playing game gets an expansion - with imporved graphics, new characters and lots more spells
• Red Alert 3 - Command and Conquer goes Japanese in this latest installment of the popular strategy game, complete with Gundam-style units

There was a lot more there, I'll most likely be adding to this list again in future

We've all had those little messages in amongst our e-mail inboxes, usually promising the chance to increase the size of our manly bits or some message from a dating site you've never heard of. What started off as a marketing exercise has become one of the most annoying parts of owning a computer.

For years, spam (the e-mail kind - not the processed food product) has been the bane of computer users for many years. Indeed, in May 2008 the concept of spam 'celebrated' it's 30th birthday.

30 YEARS??? Yes folks, those annoying messages you get have been around for quite a while, most of which have some kind of malicious nasty attached, which can soon render your computer totally useless. Sure enough, if there's any kind of natural disaster or major event happening in the world, you can bet your bottom dollar there'll be someone looking to spread something nasty by using keywords that tie into something that's gotten our attention.

However, many of us just delete those annoying messages offering some form of medication for making you bigger or more attractive to the opposite sex. As ISPs come under pressure to stop spam messages filtering through to our inboxes - with the idea of seperate servers being suggested - many of are, luckily, becoming more aware of the dangers of spam - but threats such as 'botnets' and wireless hacking is still at large in the computer world.

The simple message: stay vigilant and don't open anything you don't trust

Let's face it, when you're at a music festival your phone is a godsend.It can help you locate your mates, take photos of your experience and even let you record your favourite songs being played live - albeit drowned out by several thousand screaming revellers - but it's still a memory.

However, what do you do when your battery runs out? Well you could hook it up to your car, but it's likely to be many miles from where your campsite is, and you're hardly going to find an accessible power socket in amongst all the mud and tents.

But fear not young festivalgoer! For help is soon to be at hand as one of the UK's leading mobile phone companies is making use of natural resources to generate power - and will pitch 'charging tents' during festivals in future - if the pilot scheme at this year's Glastonbury is deemed a success.

By harvesting wind and solar power to power small generators, festivalgoers will be able to connect their phones in special lockers contained within these 'charging tents' - keeping the key on them whilst their phones are on charge - ensuring they are safe while they're charging - revellers can then return to collect ready for the next round of snapping those happy memories.

And the best part? It's going to be FREE!

Haven't you ever dreamed of racing against legends of the track in a Formula 1 experience? I know I have, however the nearest we will ever get is through a video game - which may look impressive but still offer a set difficulty level that can be overcome with many tries.

But now a GPS firm is gearing up to help take the world of motor racing video games to the next level. By making use of satellite technology to keep track of the cars during a race, it could soon be possible to race against the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton from the comfort of our own armchairs.

The technology works by 'sucking in' data during a race, keeping track of where a car is, how fast it is going and even detecting when a collision occurs. The hope is that the lag factor will be about the same as a televised race (around five seconds) and gamers could also have the chance to store the data and play through races at a later date.

The technology involved could make for more advanced and realistic Formula 1 games in future, and with hardcore driving games fans crying out for a title that combines realistic graphics with the chance to pit their driving skills against the very best, this could be just what the geek ordered.

However, if the technology is deemed a success it could pave the way for a larger variety of sports - such as snowboarding and mountain biking - to cross over into real time competitiveness.

I'll admit outright that I'm partial to my retro games, so it seemed inevitable that one of the first games I purchased on Nintendo's Virtual Console shop on Wii was a game I remember spending hours on during trips to seaside arcades.

World Heroes involved a multitude of fighters - from more commonplace fighting game characters such as ninjas, martial artists and chicks with swords to more unusual ones such as a wrestler, a mechanical soldier and a man who could squeeze your energy low with his expandable hands.

Indeed, many of the aspects found in World Heroes take after the Street Fighter engine - with many similarities between the two with regards to characters and moves. However, the inclusion of the Deathmatch mode - where you'd fight in arenas with a variety of stipulations, such as oil, mines and electrified ring ropes - adds an element of difficulty to the regular matches.

Whilst World Heroes may lack some of the depth and challenge of other Street Fighter-esqe games of the time, it's a fun little title that spawned an improved sequel - adding characters such as pirates, Viking warriors, tribal medicine men and even football players into an already diverse mix.

3 out of 5

With the BeijingOlympics just around the corner, Nintendo and Sega join forces to bring a game based around Olympic events.

On first glance it may seem a step away from the traditional platforming titles we're used to seeing said characters involved in. Indeed, at some points you're left wondering why on earth characters could co-exist on certain events (such as Bowser verses Yoshi at...table tennis???)

The control system makes use of the Wiimote and Nunchuk, and whilst it ain't exactly the button-bashing extravaganza that fans of games such as Track'n'Field are used to it does add an element of authenticity to certain events - even if at times it can get a bit frustrating - such as the different swimming styles for each character that can take a bit of getting used to.

However, once you've played through it a few times and gotten the hang of the control system it's a fun little game. Whilst there's no online multiplayer mode, it's useful for when you've a few friends over - you'll most likely find yourselves endevouring to unlock the tons of bonus features within the game, as well as trying desperatly to beat each others' records.

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Advertising is a wonderful thing is it not? Everywhere we go we are presented with some form of campaign involving a celebrity in an effort to convince us to part with our pennies and buy their products.