We here at XTR* strive to bring you honest reviews,newest,err,news,and other activities relating to gaming or whatnot. We strive for a better future and for better blogging all over the world.

Yeah,I should totally work for XTR.

Anyway, this blog isn’t going to be a rant or some helpful advice. Nah, today, I’m going to show you,the reader,t he process and development behind the XTR blog.

So here’s my process of making a blog

Step 1: First, I have to consider who my target audience is, what will they be expecting from me,the blogger? What will they want to hear about?

Step 2 : Now that I’ve considered this, what will the blog be about? What will the title be? Remember, it has to be catchy!

Step 3: Consider what the message behind this blog post is. And remember, quality is more important than quantity! In other words, no 200 page novels about a yoghurt.

Step 4: Now start with a starting point eg My First blog!!!

Step 5: Write up my beautiful captivating story/news/whatever it is

Step 6: Submit for review

Change of plan, this sucks. This isn’t how I roll. Here’s how I really do it.

Step 1: Stay up till 3 in the morning, brainstorming ideas, trying to do something different. I’d say coffee helps but that’d be lying. Besides, 2/3 in the morning is when the crazy ideas kick in due to lack of sleep.

Step 2: Now that I have a few ideas bouncing around, I pick them off one by one until I find one that sounds good in my head.

Step 3: Failing the previous steps and unable to think up ideas, look at the forums, new articles, see what the latest debate is or what the latest news or latest article is.

Step 4: Now, just improvise and make something up cos I don’t want to get sued or lose my job as blogger for copying other peoples stuff.

Step 5: Write it up, then submit for review, go catch some sleep or go on Youtube.

That’s it from me folks. Hope you enjoyed this blog and see ya around

*And by we I mean basically everyone but me, I’m just some guy who happened to be here

Simple title I know,but it’s something that sprang to mind when I was writing up a journal entry in my clan’s forums.

If you’re reading this,chances are you’re in a clan aye? Ever wonder about how it started sometimes?

I know how my clan started, sure, but what I’m thinking about about is what the very first gaming clan must have been,and when it began, because for some reason, I always imagine a group of people at a arcade machine, playing Pac Man probably, then one of them thinking suddenly, “Y’know, we could play this game against other groups! And have tournaments and stuff!”

Mind you, I can also imagine how the clan matches against other clans would have went…

Whoever gets the most points without dying once wins the round! God, that could drag on for hours…rather much like infantry only matches can on certain maps of Battlefield 2142, ( Shia Tubia I’m looking at you, you life-sapping fiend!)

So, have a think about that,
it’s food for thought if you’ve nothing better to do

So…does anybody actually buy and enjoy games that are directly based on movies?

I remember buying and playing King Kong which was okay but it was a bit restricted in where it could go because of the movie. I found that the movie was a great thriller, and in my opinion the game let it down.On the other hand I found the LOTR films quite boring (ok hate mail to my usual p.o. box please) but the game was a totally different, it was a great, exciting and enjoyable game to play.Another example is the Harry Potter series…these games were good but the movies were far better.

Now the thing is, that if the target audience of a movie is under 12’s then that means the game has to be targeted to the same audience. Unfortunately this means that some movies are turned into what can only be described as drivel due to the limitation on what can be included in the game, no gore, not much fighting and no violence in general. I believe that this is a big downside on what the games could include, although they are usually a direct copy of the movie and a few wanted extras may not be included because of these restraints.

So why then are most movie games shockingly bad? Is it the lack of individuality or is it the limitations to change and adjust? Or is it simply due to the fact that they are nothing more than cheap cash-ins?

Anyway you’ve heard my opinion, now lets hear yours…

Hey guys

Has anybody else noticed how expensive gaming mouses are? I looked on the internet for a couple of minutes and I found a gaming mouse at a staggering price of £314.31, and some of these expensive ones look so hi-tech they could be the main gadget in a James Bond movie, but is it really better than a cheap, ugly looking mouse?

After another few minutes searching I came across a £1.87 ordinary, everyday mouse. Comparing both mice I found that they both had scrolling wheels, they were both optical and they were both wireless which makes it impossible to get tangled up in the wires.

I can understand that a gaming mouse will be needed for the gamers amongst us that need pinpoint accuracy and a reliable mouse that moves to were you want it to but is £314.31 a bit excessive? I use a normal, everyday mouse and it seems to cope ok, just ok.

I don’t see the point in having a mouse that is probably worth more than my laptop is (because i’ve had it a couple of years). Anybody want to defend the unbelievably high priced piece of plastic? or are you on the side of the cheap side of things?

Pc games hardware have reported that “A possible tech demo of Ubisoft’s current game was said to be seen at the Chinese website pczilla.net. Screenshots and system requirements are included.”

According to pczilla.net the demo is a “Game Engine Test”, so it is not a playable version. It contains an ingame sequence, too. Far Cry 2 is said to need at least an Athlon 64 X2 4000+, a Core 2 Duo with 2.8 GHz is recommended. For the graphics acceleration you should have a Geforce 9800 or a Radeon HD 4870.

With this Far Cry 2 joins the exlcusive club of hyped games that had to suffer from leaked versions in advance of the official release. Half Life 2 and Stalker: Clear Sky had to endure the same fate. Even Crysis was available over illegal channels before it was officially released to the market.

We cannot link the article because of legal reasons.

Further screenshots (sourced from tiscali.games) are below:-

…read full article…

A metal click fills the air, its distinct sound ringing amongst the shining metal sheets in the kitchen. A look of despair spread across the face of the old man, as a howling gurgle filled the room and a screaming cadaver leapt forward into the man. Clawing and scratching at his face for what seemed an eternity. A low ‘pumh’ rung from a distant barrel, shattering the deathly cadaver.

This is Left 4 Dead.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Left 4 Dead is Valve’s / Turtle Rock Studios’ upcoming cooperative zombie shooter. With roots hailing from 28 days later and dawn of the dead, the zombies in this game aren’t the shuffling bulks of flesh of the past. Instead charging towards the player at high speed, flailing and ravenous! Intended to be high speed, objective based and cooperative based fun, Left 4 Dead is the online teamplay game many of us have been waiting for.

…read full article…