SoulCalibur

I’ve been a fan of the soul series since Soul Edge, but its thanks to too many 3 hours plus sessions, and one good opponent on SC4 that it found a permanent place in my faves list. One of the best fighters and arguably the best weapons based fighting games available on console, but remember there is not allot of weapon based fighters so we can’t be giving to much cred for that! Soul Calibur offer something for all types of gamers, speed, power, range, technique, cheap/cheat, defensive, combos, and you're not limited to picking a style with certain characters and sticking to it. Unlike most other, if not all other, fighters that have a type of player they lend themselves too. You can be a casual gamer and still pull of the bad ass stuff; you can be too sick and know each combo and special but still get beat by a newbie! Does this happen with Tekken, Street Fighter or Mortal Combat? Blue moon type stuff. The control system can have you tapping, holding, rolling or sweeping your fingers over the controls at any time. I believe SoulCalibur has the versatility all other fighters I have come across lack.

SC5 has been the longest wait for a console since the original Soul Calibur on Dreamcast at 4 years if I'm correct. One thing about this latest release I noticed was the lack of hype. It was back in my school days that SC4 was released and I remember people I know for a fact never was a, will be a, or will ever understand a gamer, raving about it. It was all over gaming media, maybe thanks to the Star Wars fighters, but unless you looked for it you may have completely missed the run up to SC5, well compared to SC4 anyway. What makes me wonder this so much is that, SC5 is better, perhaps much better, than SC4...

I was a hard core SC4 player, and (no exaggeration) saying I’m good is a UBER understatement. You would think I would be displeased at any changes, but in fact even though the 2 major changes I have notice in the hour or so I have played disadvantage me, I'm preferring it! The first thing you notice is the slight slower pace, but this I think is due to you having to be slightly more calculating with your attacks. Imagine the Star Wars movies, the older made ones have slower more rigid looking saber fight scenes, but the attacks are less wasted, in the newer made moves you see the Jedi’s jumping and spinning all over the shop, looking as flashy as possible, SC5 is more like the older Star Wars... MORE like, NOT like. If you prefer to charge in attack crazy, you will still get on with the game, but it seems SC5 is aimed towards experienced gamers if not experienced SC players. The special attacks are far easier to pull off in SC5, and the controls have been changed slightly to make it easier for pad players to pull of those awkward moves, e.g. X+B (Xbox), instead now having to press a single shoulder button. Ring out physics seem more realistic, I'll be honest, I will ring out if needed, and I'm danm good at it too (yes... IT IS A SKILL), I haven’t yet decided if this is better or no. Combos are still there for you to pull off, but you don’t feel as if you’ve consciously input the command as much, maybe this is due to me not having enough game time yet? At times I've found myself stood there wondering what to try next, if the controls are over 95% the same why is this happening? There is nothing new that makes you think wow after 15 minutes of playing, and Ezio could have been a little more badass, that have got his stance just slightly off, but Ezios stand is part of what gives him so much badass...ness? No more handicaps or unlimited times rounds, even in 2 player. It really does seem that Project Soul have tried to please the more experienced players of the series. Ill probably be back to let you know how that goes.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

First KH title I'v played on handheld. If you've played the ps2 titles and haven't tried Birth by Sleep because you think the PSP may take away from the KH universe, you'll be happy to know it doesn't. Its not a major piece of the KH puzzle, but far from a let down. Set years before the events of KH1, the story doesn't answer any major questions posed by previous titles, but rather just expands your KH experience. Character design again by Tetsuya Nomura so gamers that like to feel emotion form the characters will be happy. Players find them selves playing as one of 3 specialised (power, magic, speed) main  characters, plus an extra unlockable character, that is in no way too hard to unlock.
Experienced KH'ers will have no problems playing this one after the first few minutes of real game play, the PSP controls lacking a second analogue (BRING ON THE VITA) is to blame for this, but as all handheld gamers know, this is not too horrid to get used to. The action side of things is not as fluent as one would like, but considering how graphically impressive this title is for the PSP I have no problem looking past this. Once I had the timing for the attacks down the combat became almost second nature. Lots of attack variations, and multiple 'super modes' which activations depend on the latest elemental attack you used which is something I haven't seen before. The RPG side is pretty basic, the more you fight the more your skills improve. you are able to 'meld' your abilities and skills, which is just combining them to create new skills, not too indepth but the alchemy fan in me was pleased.
When you tire of the main story (if you play in 8 hour bursts like me, it will) there are a few mini games which surprisingly work well! Board based, an extreme version of volley ball with fruit (only way I can describe it simply), and racing (think Mario kart 64).
TBH it was hope of new revelations in the KH universe that made me play the game. There wasn't anything too, jaw dropping in that sense, found. Even though I know I will eventually play this to 100%, even if the game was a fail, I feel its a solid game. Nothing new or too exciting happening in a critical context, but masses of that Kingdom Hearts/Disney magic if that's what your after. KH BBS is good.

Goldring NS1000

During this post I will be comparing the Goldrings against the NC7's.

I picked up mine from www.superfi.co.uk, through www.play.com, for £60 delivered. This was a bargain, I searched hard for a couple of days and £60 was the cheapest I could find for a spanking new set. Normally selling around £120 mark at many outlets.
First thing I noticed was the headband design, an unusual shape, not in a bad way, but not in a good way either. Keeps the set on my ears very nicely, I would dare say thanks to this headband you could pull of a gentle jog with these. Oval shaped cups, major difference to the simple circle ones used previously but, preferred straight away, could tell the noise leaking would be at a far lower rate without even turning them on! The feel of the plastic seems to be far nicer, but remember, these are brand new. Sponge padding to the headband, not very dense but very comfortable still. They stretch over my head with dreads out or under a hat, and there is tension when putting them on even, in a hurry. Detachable high quality left side only cable, very handy for swapping to and from your phones to speakers, computer etc... The design will turn a few heads, and I haven't seen another soul in them. Blackbox offer a set with the exact same design and a very similar spec in grey and blue, I prefer this to the safer option of grey, black and silver Goldring went for. The noise cancellation switch, is small and fiddly, especially with gloves on, I feel far less.... slick (for want of better wording) when turning these on as I have to play for a couple of seconds as opposed to a smooth swift swipe from my index finger. My favourite visual feature is how the cover for the battery, I had to look in the manual to find it! The outer of the right cup swivels out exposing the battery! 
If the difference in sound could be visualised as a brick wall, the Goldrings are a very neat well made wall. The NC7's are equally well made, but form older bricks of a slight lower quality (...LOL). The NC7s do cancel noise very well, but the sound coming from them is no way as clear and crisp as the GR's. The GR's are louder, I have the volume constantly 2 notches lower with them. Although I feel bass is more apparent with the NC7's but, is pronounced and clearer with the GR's. You feel as though your in more of a silent environment listening to music with the GR's, the NC7's simply keep out unwanted sound. I cant go into great detail on the difference in the noise cancelling tech between the two as I don't understand it any more that the Goldrings clearly have better cancelling properties.
Really and truly there is no comparison between these two, I feel a little harsh on the NC7's for putting them up against the NS1000s, they are in 2 different leagues. It would not be foolish to pick the NC7's over the NS1000s considering the almost £100 price difference, as the NC7s are a good pair of noise cancelling headphones. If you are passionate about your music, if you NEED to hear every wobble and hit, the go for the NS1000's. TBH I don't imagine I would have purchased them at the full price without trying the NS1000s first, you can get the VERY similar, but apparently slightly lower sound quality Blackbox M10's for £100 without looking very hard. If the NS1000's weren't on offer for such a good price I doubt I would have ever owned a pair.

Narutos Boob attack

 

does look like Naruto has pulled on a boobier version of the resangan

1000 years too early

What is is about this line that makes the person saying it sooooo badd ass??

Sony MDR NC7. A good set.

My NC7's are the latest and first well known branded noise cancelling headphones I've owned. I've had them for just over a year now. I have just purchased my self a set of Goldring NS1000's for £60 delivered from play.com and felt an fitting end to my relationship with my NC7's was to write a personal review of them.
 The head band is easily the worst part of these phones, simple plastic with a hinge at the top to allow for folding. Not completely cheap feeling plastic, but you would hope for more from Sony, even in lower end products. The cups are angled nicely to fit your ears, and the set had no problem fitting my massive head, with dreadlocks! It may feel like your stretching the headphones too much when putting them on, but after a week of being too delicate with them you'll see they have very good build quality. The sound from these is surprising when you consider the price. up to 87% noise reduction, using these walking, and during train journeys I had no problems with the quality of the sound. The switch on the side turns the noise cancelling on and off, to this day I still play with it in different environments just to see how much of a difference it makes. Not once have I been upset, even whilst standing outside a building with a sounding burglar alarm I could hear each hit of the dancehall and drum n' bass I regularly listen to. Of course I could hear the alarm also but not enough to make me want to just turn the music off. The cups themselves are a nice size and cover all of my large ears, but can be a little awkward if you have an ear expander/plug. This is the first and last set of phones iv seen with a flat pad, rather than the concave shape you would assume, at first I wasn't keen on them, simply because it was something I felt was un necessarily different, but they work well at keeping sound in and outside noise out. The foam us very comfy and very versatile, I used mine pretty much every day for at least 14 months (no exaggeration) and the padding is still has the same shape and feel as the day I got them. The battery life is quite good, Id need to change the AAA battery once every week and a half to keep the sounds crisp, that's with Duracell's. The headphones do get quite a few necks twisting, I had the black/grey set, but not enough attention to make you feel uncomfortable. They also come in white if you like to make a statement.
I've had 4 sets of noise cancelling headphones over the last 2 - 3 years. These by far were my favourite, and I am confident these would factually be the best also, aaaaannnnnd they lasted me the longest at over a full year. I paid £35 for mine, refurbished. At the time this was a bargain as they where going for around £80 new. You can now find this for around the £30 mark new online easily.
I have seen the interest in headphones increase over the last 6 months dramatically, even amongst the lesser music fans out there. I believe this is due to the marketing of 'Beats by Dre'. Now noise cancelling headphones seem to be taking off, I would suggest the NC7's for both quality and price, I would dare say easily the best set for under £50 out there.

Bleach

Bleach fans fear not!
Since Ichigo cut down Aizen in that epic 'your 1000 years too early, and I'm a complete and utter bad ass' manner, and we've been introduced to Ginjou’s Fullbring crew, and shown some of the secondary characters improved powers, I've felt the manga had become a bit... fillerish. As in like the episodes of the Bleach anime (and many other popular animes) that run in between the gaps of the main story. Until I read the last issue before a 3 week break (I assume after the break its back to the full swing of... zanpakutos, lol).
It has created a few interesting questions, why are some of the vizards now gotei 13  captains? Where are the rest of the vizards? How would the shinigami badge allow the gotei 13 to kill Ichigo? They've tried before when he was puny compared to now and couldn't do it! What's with Ichigo's new look and sword? Now some of the vizards are part of the gotei 13, I'm sure the secrets regarding their and Isshin (Ichigo's father), Kisuke, yoruichi's etc... history with Soul society will soon be explained AT LAST!
The ending to the fullbring saga, if this really is the end, was quite a shocker. No spoilers here but I will say a new age of Ichigo seems to have begun! They seem to have made him grow out of that urgent, rushing to save everyone, youth, and from what has been read thus far, into a calmer more calculating young adult. The secondary character have gotten stronger too, so hopefully no more reading pages explaining why Inoue feels so upset that she cant do much!
I was becoming concerned that bleach would turn into a manga that I would no longer be desperate to read every Weds when its released, but with the end of this story line, I'm happy to state, I am concerned no more!