Tech

Gadget reviews: Issue 11

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:30:24 +0100

Garmin FR 70: The evolution of fitness TBA www.garmin.co.za It’s hard to stay motivated when you’re trying to up your fitness levels, but it sure helps when you have a FR70 on your wrist to keep you company throughout your workout. It has wireless ANT+ technology that pairs with other ANT+ compatible devices, like the included heart rate monitor and foot pod. It’ll track your time, heart rate, calories burned and more, helping you stay in the fat-burning zone. Then it sends all this i...

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception - PS3

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:54:07 +0100

It’s every boy’s dream; the pursuit of lost treasure! In Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception you find yourself slung straight back into an enthralling adventure, on the quest of long lost treasure in a mystical land. Part of the adventure requires you to scale walls, climb cliffs and search tombs in order to uncover what has been hidden for ages. Once you have done the hard work, there are riddles and puzzles to solve, and people to fight, shoot or just avoid altogether. Uncharted junki...

Reckoning – Kingdoms of Amalur - PS3

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:51:30 +0100

Reckoning, Kingdoms of Amalur is a beautifully constructed world filled with fascinating characters, telling interesting stories that send you on harrowing adventures. Your whole adventure is based on the premise that you were a soul raised from the dead, with a blank slate to your name and no fate. Because the laws of fate no longer apply to you, you can change your destiny in any way you wish....

Gears of War 3 - Xbox 360

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:49:30 +0100

This was our game of the year for 2011, but because it is so good we are still playing it now. Finishing the engrossing campaign is just the first part of the hundreds of things gaming enthusiasts can look forward to when playing Gears of War 3. The game picks up where the first two left off and here you’re whipped into the action from the very first second. We don’t hide the fact that we love games where friends can play together, and Gears of War 3 has mastered the co-op game-play ...

Spider-Man: Edge of Time - Xbox 360

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:42:16 +0100

In general super heroes are cool and then there’s Spiderman — the hero of all heroes. We were lucky enough to be given a chance to put the new Spider-Man Edge of Time game through its paces. In this game you are given a chance to play as two super different Spider-Men — present day Peter Parker who is the Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man Miguel O’Hara, the future superhero of 2099. The two join forces to undo damage caused by time travel and strange discoveries....

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Xbox 360

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:36:40 +0100

Donning military regalia to go to war would instil nothing more than pure fear in the heart of regular men, but suiting up in the new Call of Duty is a pure adrenalin rush. The latest version of this award winning franchise takes the first person shooter to a whole new level —proving that games in this genre can actually get better, even if we swore the last one was as good as they were ever going to get. The third instalment in the Modern Warfare series is Call of Duty through and thr...

DVD Review: The Conspiritor

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:21:09 +0100

The payoff line from the movie says it all: One bullet killed the president, but not one man. The movie explores the conspiracy behind the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and the trail behind those accused of the crime. James McAvoy is superb as lawyer Frederick Aiken in this gripping period drama, based on true events.

DVD Review: Boardwalk Empire

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:14:04 +0100

Boardwalk Empire is set in Atlantic City during the prohibition where Illegal liquor, gambling, gangsters and a burgeoning drug trade are all supported by corrupt politicians. In true HBO style, this series offers a splendid mix of raw violence and a gripping storyline.

DVD Review: Hangover Part 2

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:05:05 +0100

It happens again! The first Hangover movie was a rip roaring success and in this, the second instalment, we once again join the four guys for another bachelor party but this time on the streets of Bangkok. In a nutshell this is a rampage of partying, drinking, fornicating and missing persons. It’s hilarious again, albeit very similar to the first version.

Car Review: Ford Kuga

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:52:25 +0100

Ford Kuga, Grrrrrrr! When I heard a “Kuga” would be delivered to me, I didn’t quite know what to expect. So I looked up ‘Cougar’ (the obvious way it should be spelt) on the Net and the first definition I came across was that of a large American wild cat. But, there was another definition that caught my eye: Cougar (noun) - a woman, aged 40 years or older, who preys on younger men. Suddenly Demi Moore in a leopard print number sprang to mind. When the Ford Kuga finally arrived, I realis...

Defending The Land Rover

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:28:50 +0100

Brad McCreedy explores the hardest of hard core Land Rovers — the Defender 130 — and in doing so is inspired to take up game ranging, or at the very least farming. Some things have been around forever, like the sea, mountains, Hugh Hefner and the Land Rover – especially the original series one that morphed into the Defender over the decades. It has become an institution since its debut in 1948. As I’ve always been a Land Rover fan, have owned many, I was sad to learn that the current...

DVD Reviews: Thor

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:00:48 +0100

Thor is Marvel at its very best! After being banished from his place with the Gods of Asgard, Thor (Hemsworth) finds himself thrust into life amongst the human race. He finds love in the arms of a beautiful human researcher (Portman), and this love teaches him about life and responsibility. However, his new home is thrown into disarray when a villain from his old world sends dark forces to Earth to destroy him.

DVD Review: The Perfect Host

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:56:38 +0100

Scratching your head with a smile on your face is how you’ll find yourself at the end of The Perfect Host. It’s a clever crime mystery with as many twists and turns as a Formula 1 race track, and like a good race, you can never be sure what the result will be until the very end.

DVD Review: Source Code

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:54:57 +0100

How much do you really know about what’s going on in the world? Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens, a military helicopter pilot who wakes up in the body of a strange man on a train that explodes eight minutes later. And as if that isn’t enough… he keeps waking up on that train again and again and again.

Rage (PS3)

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:40:07 +0100

There is something beautiful about an asteroid gliding silently through space, stars twinkling in the background. Unless of course it’s on a collision course with Earth. This is the harsh reality that faces you in the opening scenes of Rage. You’re in preparation for a state of cryostasis (which means what?) in an attempt to save a few people before the cataclysmic event that threatens the entire existence of the human race. When you awaken, the world is a wasteland of dusty roads, destr...

NBA 2012 (Xbox 360)

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:38:28 +0100

Five seconds left, ball in hand, game on the line. You make your move… four seconds left. There is a six foot nine guard blocking your way… three seconds left. The world seems to be moving in slow motion as you turn the defender to shoot… two seconds left. You stand up and take aim. The hoop seems smaller than the ball… one second left! The ball leaves your fingertips. It takes an age to reach the net, the crowd rises, the crowd roars in celebration! Suddenly you are a new basketball lege...

Forza 4 (Xbox 360)

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:36:24 +0100

Ferrari! McLaren! Bugatti! Aston Martin! Lamborghini! The mere mention of these names sends shivers down our rev-happy spines. But being able to actually drive any of them is the stuff dreams – or games! – are made of. In Microsoft Gaming’s newly released Forza 4, driving these beasts gave us heart palpitations and sweaty palms. In fact, this could be the best racing simulator we have ever played! It has everything you could ever want in a game and more. It has the best cars, the most reco...

FIFA 12 (PS3)

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:34:01 +0100

Calling FIFA the best game in the world is not entirely true, but it is the best sports game of all time, and we’ve always been a fan of the football franchise. If there is one game we give a thorough run-through, it’s FIFA — after all, we play it for 12 months! You’d think it is hard to give a complex review to a game with no storyline, but we could tell you how amazing FIFA is for a full magazine and still not get through it all. This year EA Games have added a few new elements to th...

2011’s Finest Games

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:30:38 +0100

1. Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360) – Score 98% The first two instalments of this game sold five and six million copies worldwide respectively, and in the first four weeks of the launch of this third instalment, sales reached four million copies already. 2. FIFA 12 (PS3) – Score 98% Regarded as one of the most successful franchises of all time, FIFA 12 sold more than 2.3 million copies for PS3 in its first two weeks and 1.6 million copies for Xbox. With Christmas around the corner, who knows the ...

NHL 2012

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:39:31 +0100

This is another one of those American Sports that has become a global phenomenon. Five grown men skate on ice against each other, decked head to toe in padding, helmets, gloves and sharp skates in a mission to destroy each other. You would be forgiven for thinking that that is actually what ice hockey is all about, but you actually need to score goals in little nets with a black flattened ball called a puck using long thin stick. But that is the boring part of the game, ice hockey is really fun b...

Madden NFL 2012

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:36:59 +0100

Believe it or not, we here at Gtribe understand the rules of NFL. I know that sounds unbelievable that anyone could understand the complexity of this hard hitting American sport, but we do. That’s because we have been playing the Madden franchise since it came out on Saga Mega Drive back in the mid 90s. As far as we can tell, this is one of the longest running sports franchises ever, and its success is based purely on delivering a winning formula. The game is able to capture the sport’s impac...

Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:20:07 +0100

So rugby is on everyone’s lips at the moment with the World Cup in New Zealand. It is a clever strategy then to release a new version of the 90s classic, Jonah Lomu Rugby into the market at this time. On Playstation One, this was my most played game of all time. Its archaic graphics, easy game-play and all round good offering made it a hit with my friends back when we first got it and we played it until the day we packed the Playstation One away for a Playstation Two. Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge...

Driver: San Francisco

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:14:10 +0100

I remember way back in the day playing the very first Driver game. Back before I had a serious appreciation for the complexity of the storyline, I used to play Driver day after day simply for the free world reign you got and the chance to outrun the police. In the new Driver San Francisco, you play a cop, John Tanner, who has an eerie driving ability (obviously based on your driving ability) and an uncanny capability of being able to take over the bodies on San Francisco citizens in a quest to co...

F1 2011

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:05:40 +0100

I wasn’t sold on F1 2011 when I first got it. I have however found myself addicted to it in recent weeks. I would hasten to say it is my most used game. The graphics are superb; the game-play is complex and complicated, making it a real authentic F1 experience. Starting a career, you find yourself thrown into the deep end, in my case with Williams, and expected to ride your way to some semblance of glory in a championship packed with a talent pool of some of the sports greatest. Competing aga...

Block Notes

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:33:11 +0100

For a little splash of retro colour in your stationery drawer, check out these Tetris-inspired sticky notes! Not only are they clever and delightfully nerdy (Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory would love these in his Christmas stocking), but they’re downright handy – especially if you need to make notes that require more than a few colours of stickies.

SMEG Colour Strip Refrigerator

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:31:00 +0100

Now this will certainly add a sploosh of colour to your kitchen! It’s the iconic SMEG retro-style refrigerator all dressed up in candy stripes! It’s not just awesome-looking, it’s also practical with 222 litres of storage space inside.

Rainbow in my Room

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:28:30 +0100

From manufacturer Uncle Milton comes the Rainbow in my Room light, which transforms any living space into a rainbow-coloured wonderland – at the flick of a switch. All you need to do is pop in four AAA batteries – and let the light fantastic begin!

Graffiti Cocktail Shaker

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:25:17 +0100

Kikkerland held a design competition in collaboration with the Philadelphia University Industrial Design Department. Young designer William Kellogg came up with this graffiti-inspired gizmo. How does it work?

Zoku Quick Pop Maker

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:22:00 +0100

Now you can make colourful fruity pops, yoghurt pops and even pops with a flavour in the middle. And get this, the Zoku Quick Pop Maker will freeze your ice pops in seven minutes. You don’t even need to find space for it in the freezer! It works without electricity. When you’re not using it, you simply store the compact base in your freezer, ready for the next batch. It can make up to nine pops before the unit needs to be re-frozen....

Unknown

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:13:00 +0100

The new king of action movies, Liam Neeson delivers another superb performance in his latest movie, Unknown.

He plays Martin Harris, who wakes up from a coma after being involved in a tragic taxi accident only to find that his life, his identity and even his wife have all disappeared. Nobody even knows he exists.

Hall Pass

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:09:58 +0100

Imagine being given a week off from life, including marriage and all its responsibilities.

In this new comedy from the Farrelly brothers (Dumb and Dumber), Rick (Owen Wilson) is given a week off from his marriage to revisit his younger, more “exciting” single days without any consequences.

The Eagle

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:03:44 +0100

Hooray for history! We’re great fans of epic films based on great events in history, and in this “classic” offering, Channing Tatum delivers a stellar performance.

Fear 3 (PS3)

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:53:22 +0100

A gust of wind, a bottle lying on the ground and a ghost of a little girl are all things set to terrify you in the new Fear 3. In fact, just about everything in the game is terrifying, and you are so on edge while playing that you feel gym-class stiff afterwards. Prior to the release of Fear 3, we had heard great things about the franchise, so in preparation we played the first two instalments – and we were gripped!...

Alice: Madness Returns

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:49:11 +0100

Wonderland is a demonic and dark place – not the kind of fairytale we remember! This eerie world that has been created by Alice’s imagination is nothing short of creepy. In it, Alice has lost her parents, and her mind, in a fire. You, as Alice, need to solve a variety of puzzles, negotiate a host of obstacles and defeat an enemy different to any you will find in other games… we’re talking about squirming leeches and fire-breathing dolls....

Gaming: Dirt 3 (Xbox 360)

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:18:56 +0100

We love the sound of a purring engine on a start line, and the tinny knocking sound of gravel on the underside of the car as it slides sideways through corners. Hammering the throttle down on a road no wider than your car and taking corners at break-neck speed is par for the course with the new Dirt 3. We were afraid that the new title in the franchise would get a little old and that the developers would struggle to find fresh things to keep the avid gamer coming back, but we were wrong. The con...

GAMING: SBK 2011

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:16:54 +0100

Ah, the thrill of racing on two wheels! Maybe it’s the speed at which you can go from zero to hero or the high potential at which things can go wrong, but either way, we loved the new version of SBK.

We weren’t the biggest fans of the previous instalment in this franchise, but the 2011 version reignited our interest. We enjoyed learning how to compete in a sport that really is only for the brave.

Gadget Reviews: Issue 9

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:54:20 +0100

H-Racer 2.0Who says that driving an eco-friendly toy is no fun? Check out this awesome radio-controlled car that runs on... hydrogen! It runs 100 percent clean fuel produced by a miniature solar-powered refuelling station that transforms water to hydrogen. What you’re looking at is a miniature version of the car of the future. It’s an assemble-it-yourself gizmo that is made completely from “green” materials and it falls into the zero-emissions category, of course. A great gift for kids wh...

Anyone Want To Buy My Wife?

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:36:41 +0100

A very wise man once said that if you want a reliable man servant, buy a Porsche. But if you want a fiery redhead mistress, get a Ferrari. This was what passed through Brad McCreedy’s mind as he stood before the mistress of his dreams.Before sliding behind the wheel of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, I considered how the Ferrari mid-engine V8 has evolved over the years. The 308 GTS Quattrovalvole, the one Magnum PI made famous, was really the first V8 mid-engine Ferrari since the V6 of the Dino 206/2...

DVD Reviews - Issues 8

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:38:04 +0100

HungerStarring: Lori HeuringThis is a story about the lengths human beings will go to to survive. Put in a do-or-die situation, would you do the unthinkable to others to protect yourself? Five strangers find themselves trapped by a psychopath in a well with enough water to survive 30 days but no food. With weakening bodies and weakening minds they need to decide if life is more valuable than death, and whose life is more valuable. A gripping, if not gory plot. Rating: 7/10Price: R60+...

Sports Champions: (PS3)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:41:06 +0100

Beads of sweat on your forehead and shortness of breath are not something you would normally associate with a PlayStation game, but I had the fun of playing PlayStation Move’s Sports Champions over the weekend, and what a jol I had! This game is a simple yet challenging introduction to PlayStation Move and its capabilities. I played frisbee golf, a strangely addictive game where you throw a frisbee from tee to specially designed holes in an attempt to stay under par....

Operation Flashpoint: Red River (Xbox 360)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:36:56 +0100

This is not a game, it’s a wartime simulator! This is not fun, it’s intense combat. It was too difficult to get the hang of the first version of this game fast enough before you lost interest in the game altogether. Is Red River any better? Absolutely yes! It’s still a hard game to play. The AI is still terrible compared to what you’re required to do, but the game itself goes above and beyond and delivers a war simulation that’s second to none. You control a team of four soldiers tracki...

Socom 4: Navy Seals (PS3)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:22:32 +0100

Navy Seals, the elitist form of soldier and every young man’s dream to be. In Socom 4 you take charge of an elite crew of Navy Seals as you set out to complete 10 complex missions requiring an array of skills that range from sniping to stealth attack in its most brutal manner. The missions require dexterity, patience and quick thinking but are easily completed without too much fuss. Where this game gets interesting and becomes a real winner is in the use of the PlayStation Move system with the ...

Tiger Woods 12: The Masters (PS3)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:04:55 +0100

To tap in a put for the win on the 18th hole at Augusta National is every golfer’s dream. That dream is now a reality with EA’s latest offering in the ever successful Tiger Woods franchise. Tiger Woods 12, The Masters was released recently, and I had the time of my life getting from tee to green in this exhilarating game. The fact that the game is fully playable on PlayStation’s Move platform meant Tiger Woods went from being a brilliant game to being a nearly perfect one. So real is the ga...

Toy Reviews: Issue 8

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:10:26 +0100

SchweebIt’s the world’s first human-powered monorail racetrack! The original Shweeb is in Agroventures Park in New Zealand but you’ll soon see them around the world. The concept came to creator Geoff Barnett while he still lived in Tokyo, cycling everywhere in the bustling city. He thought: “Hey, why not ride above all this traffic on rails?” And so the Shweeb was born!The concept is simple: you’re encased in a plastic capsule, and use pedal power to get yourself from A to B. Thanks t...

Gadget Reviews - Issue 8

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:38:47 +0100

Garmin Marine Echo 150Now here’s a little gadget that’ll really float your boat. Well, help it navigate safely to a great fishing spot, at least... The Garmin Marine Echo 150 from Garmin Distribution Africa is a fisherman’s dream! It’s dual-beam technology at a single-beam price.It features 200 watts (RMS) of sonar power, which lets you accurately scan to depths of up to 396m in freshwater and 154m in saltwater. And with a viewing angle of up to 120 degrees in shallower water, the Marine ...

The Sporting Age

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:51:21 +0100

It’s long. Really, really long! In fact, it’s as long as a man’s arm, and his leg put together — which is exceptionally long for a waiting list. There is approximately a six month wait for the new Kia Sportage and even getting one to test was a tad tricky. Not even Kia’s Head Office was able to help me with a road test vehicle or a demo car, purely due to the demand. I suppose that’s testament to the Sportage’s popularity and how KIA in general has turned itself around over the past...

Nintendo 3DS

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:17:17 +0100

Out in late March, the Nintendo 3DS is big news. It has a 3D screen that you don’t need glasses to view, and you can turn off the 3D effects should you wish. The stereo cameras (640 x 480 resolution each) allow you to take 3D photos that you can view on screen. The new interfaces include a circle pad, motion sensor and gyro sensor. SpotPass allows you to detect Wi-Fi hotspots while StreetPass allows you to find other 3DS units close to you. You’ll also have access to the Nintendo e-shop, wher...

Sony Vaio

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:13:02 +0100

Just out, the new Sony Y series notebook features an AMD dual-core processor E-350 with AMD Radeon HD 6310 discrete-class graphics. What this means is smoother high-definition graphics on your 11.6 inch screen, which you can also plug into your HD TV with an HDMI cable. The notebook weighs only 1.4 kilos, making it lightweight and portable. It also comes loaded with Windows 7 as its operating system. The new Sony Y series is available in black, bordeaux, silver, pink and green from Sony ce...

Dell Streak

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:10:59 +0100

The 5 inch Dell Streak tablet runs on Android 2.2, with a multi-touch display with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. Make phone calls, email and SMS or enjoy rich media content. It features a rear-facing 5MP camera with autofocus and dual LED flash or the front-facing VGA camera for video and stills. You can easily upload content to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and you have access to the Kindle store and more than 700 000 e-books. The display detects your facial proximity and adjusts its...

Hawx II (Xbox 360)

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:07:42 +0100

If it is this hard to operate a fighter jet on Xbox, then I have a new found respect for pilots who do this in real life. I must have spent half a day trying my luck at the tutorial in the beginning of the game, but once I had it waxed, I never looked back. There were a few comical moments of disorientation during the game, where I found myself doing a roll straight into the ground, but other than that, I had a blast completing the missions in this Tom Clancy fighter jet game....

F1 2010 (Xbox 360)

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:05:08 +0100

Sunday afternoon and I’m watching 22 cars speed around a track at a rate of knots and think ‘what a cool job that would be’. That’s until I’m offered the opportunity to race myself to glory in Nu Metro’s latest offering F1 2010. There have been a multitude of changes made to the game since CodeMasters took over and those changes go way beyond just adding in all the new rules that have made Formula 1 the complicated sport it is today....

Enslaved: Odyssey To The West (PS3)

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:59:50 +0100

This isn’t a game, this is a story! This isn’t their story, this is my story. So detailed is the plot behind Enslaved that you feel like you’re living it. The central characters are Monkey and Trip, two slaves on the run. As they (you) battle through this beautifully constructed environment in search of home and freedom, you feel a keen sense of loyalty to them. You develop with them and are bonded to them, making the game a little more personal and the adventure a little more epic. The two...

Fortuner Favours The Brave

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:58:09 +0100

Motoring speak is often like a foreign language—what with all the acronyms! So it was with great interest that I accepted an invitation to drive a “B-SUV”. Now, we all know and understand the term Sports Utility Vehicle and we’ve come to accept the Americanism (SUV) to describe these station wagon 4x4’s that mostly populate the car parks in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. But a B-SUV? I thought back to my early days as an employee of Nissan, when we cut the rear cab off a “bakki...

DREAM Beamer! (BMW X1)

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:55:19 +0100

It was with some trepidation that I approached the BMW head office in Midrand to collect the X1 allocated to me to test for three days — after all, I drive low range 4x4s in mud and dirt. How was I to cope with this high level of sophistication? Badly, it would seem. I sat in the car park for a full five minutes trying to work out how to start the car. It was only after being assisted (embarrassingly) by a passerby that I finally hit the highway back to Johannesburg. The mass of gauges and tech...

An American Icon!

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:49:41 +0100

It’s undisputedly rough and ready and the complete antithesis of all things opulent and yet it is commonly found in some of the most affluent parks in South Africa. At this beautiful time of the year, I spend much of my time in the parks and of late have noticed this impressive beast gathering in droves around the waterholes at sunset. Oh, by the way I am talking about the well-known “parks” of Northern Johannesburg: Parkhurst; Parkview; Parkwood and of course, Parktown. And the beast in qu...

Halo Reach (XBox 360)

Thu, 19 May 2011 20:49:20 +0100

This is where it all began. Before everything else, before all the wars, there was this… the defence of Planet Reach. Halo Reach is the prequel to all the other Halo games, and what a prequel it is. The best part of any game, on any platform, is its ability to play with friends. Put simply, Halo’s co-op campaign rocks. Teaming up with a mate (or three) to complete the intricate and beautiful story within the vast and expansive environments had us all glued to our screens for hours, day...

FIFA 11 (PS3)

Thu, 19 May 2011 20:35:14 +0100

You’d think after several years of the same old thing, I’d no longer get so excited about FIFA. But, there’s still no game I anticipate more than EA Sports’ football offering every October. Being such a FIFA fanatic however also makes me a tad biased towards the franchise and at the same time highly critical of any faults. The game itself has improved on several levels, with the dynamics and game-play nearing perfection. The players have an authentic physical presence and the ability to c...

Mini Maximus

Thu, 19 May 2011 20:33:35 +0100

Is it a car? Is it a 4x4? No, it’s the Mini Countryman. This is a crossover vehicle with more height, a chunkier body and drool-worthy anthracite rims that got Glyn Demmer’s pulse racing.I was offered the Mini Countryman to test drive for a week. I thought I’d be done in two days so offered to return it quicker. I then took it through its paces on a stretch of road up to Hartbeespoort Dam. The trip up was good, but it was the return trip in the dark that was even better. I was blown away by...

Kodak PlaySport ZX3

Thu, 19 May 2011 20:30:42 +0100

Waterproof up to 3 metres, the Kodak Playsport ZX3 will film under-water action in 1 080p HD. It is capable of shooting stills in 16:9 widescreen HD with its 5MP camera, and it’s rugged enough to withstand the occasional bump. The ZX3 comes in a variety of funky colours – white, black, blue and purple – and has a high-contrast 5.1 centimetre colour LCD screen. You can increase its storage capacity to 32GB (SD/SDHC card slot), offering 10 hours of footage that you can screen with the HDMI ca...