Winners of the hard drives!

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Paul

Last week, we covered the E3 entertainment expo, right here on the Novatech Blog and we offered a ton of goodies at ridiculously low prices (which you hastily snapped up!). Alongside this, we also gave you the chance to get involved in our E3 coverage and offered up a 320gb mobile hard drive for one lucky customer.

We felt so generous, that we extended this to give away not just one Intel branded 320gb mobile drive, but three! So without further ado, here are the lucky three winners of our E3 Intel hard drive competition, drawn at random from all of the comments and tweets posted last week. Thank you to everyone who took part and if you didn’t win this time, don’t worry, we have plenty of competitions planned for the rest of the year.

Congratulations to all three winners, your prize will be winging its way to you right away!

Don’t forget to keep on eye on our Twitter account @NovatechLTD for more competitions, deals and general computing goodness

Intel Mobile 320gb Hard Drive Winners:

Abigail Rollison

Jen Boucher

Joe Finnigan

E3 2011: Sony Conference Announcements Round Up

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Alex

Sony’s conference was the second of the major trio for E3 and after CEO Jack Tretton apologised profusely for “any anxiety caused” by the recent PSN hacks, many titles were discussed which aimed to prove that there is still some life left in the PS3 console, which he argued offers its players a “unique gaming experience.”

Games discussed included the aesthetically wonderful Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (which comprised the seamless cuts between live play and cut scenes that the series has become known for, as well as some impressive “boat physics”) and the PSP Gods of War titles re-mastered for the PS3 (dubbed God of War Origins Collection) which is playable in full stereoscopic 3D.

Uncharted 3 E3 Video:

Resistance 3 was also showcased. The narrative of R3 is set in 1957, four years after the events of R2 (which disappointed many fans) and judging from the hectic, alien laden and action packed game play demonstrated, R3 is likely to put the once popular sci-fi shooter series back on track.

Other games which were showcased (many of which comprised the use of the motion sensitive Move controller) included:

Starhawk (successor to 2007’s Warhawk)
Medievil Moves - includes a novel inventory-less motion control weapon switching
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Dust 514 – a free to play exclusive for the PS3, set in the EVE online universe (“One Universe, One War”)
Bioshock Infinite
Star Trek
Battlefield 3
Need For Speed: The Run
NBA 2K12 – Lakers player Kobe Bryant was invited on stage to demonstrate just how simple this point and click simulator is to play.

Many of these games were demonstrated with the use of 3D videos. 3D technology seems to be becoming quite the focus for Sony who also announced the imminent arrival of a Sony branded 3D television set, as well as widely compatible, branded 3D glasses.

Sony’s biggest announcement by far however was that of the corporation’s latest portable device. Previously known as the NGP, the device has now received the (arguably better) name of PS Vita (“Vita” meaning “Life”).

PS Vita E3 Video:

Here are some notes regarding the features of the new handheld:

The console will be Wi-Fi and 3G compatible allowing one to undertake many online tasks using the device. Sony claims the Vita is particularly good for social networking and there was a brief mention of a new Sony service named ‘Near.’

Vita has two cameras (one to the front and one to the rear) allowing Augmented Reality game play (similar to that which the Nintendo 3DS has provided previously)

Vita also has a duo touch screen (again, one to the front and one to the rear) which could provide intuitive controls for future game play.

Touch screen controls and regular button controls are interchangeable so that players can “play the way [they] want.” This was demonstrated using content from the Vita exclusive Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Leading man Drake can punch enemies with a direct tap to the front touch screen and swinging across monkey bars is a breeze thanks to the ability to draw your path.

Other games announced for the PS Vita was action role playing game Ruin and a Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken.

It is thought also that Sony’s announcement of Playstation Suite – Sony’s gaming platform for Android – will act to tempt more gamers over to the PS Vita side.

Check back to the Novatech blog soon for a round up of the announcements made at the Nintendo E3 conference.

Early (and very improbable!) E3 Predictions

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Alex

Everyone is speculating what exactly will be revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles next week. Key announcements regarding new videogames hardware and software are expected (see our previous E3 blog post) but these are just a few of our own (admittedly ridiculous) predictions…

PlayStation 4: Lose the disks (and your data!)

Someone has got to take the lead in the suspected all-digital future of video games consoles and we predict that Sony will be at the forefront. With a secure, reliable online gaming network like PSN they’re already demonstrating that they could handle the data required to switch to a disk-less software model…oh wait…the hacking…

Maybe not.

StartendoBucks: Literal Nintendo Cafe

Many rumours have been circulating regarding Nintendo’s next console for 2012, which is currently only known as ‘Project Cafe’ but we’re convinced that E3 will reveal that the console will actually provide its players with coffee to keep them gaming for longer – well, their recent novelty based consoles did tire the serious gamer sect all too quickly! *WINK*

All that’s left to do is to decide whether the device would look better in your living room or kitchen!

Games are supplied on Tassimo T-Disks for both style and your convenience.

Kinect Klassics: Motion Madness

Microsoft is keen to keep tempting female casual gamers over to the manly 360 side and they feel that the motion sensitive Kinect peripheral is just the tool to do this! Title predictions included Superstore Sweep which provides housewives with the perfect opportunity to practise-run their weekly shop before heading to their local supermarket proper. Practise reaching for the goodies on the top shelves, be sure to tick off items from your shopping list as you go and for God’s sake, don’t let your trolley collide with that of another shopper! I unfortunately cannot promise that the orange-faced Dale Winton will not make an appearance during the game.

Gamers can choose between European Tesco and Americanised Wal-Mart editions.

Loose Women: Kinect meanwhile makes it feel as the British day time magazine show (which favours all topics that are of interest to middle aged women desperately attempting to cling to their youth) is being hosted in your very own living room! Lucky you! Tasks include flicking your hair every twenty two seconds, making a sexual innuendo out of every single comment uttered (using the 360 headset) and ensuring to incessantly stroke every male guest until you’ve convinced yourself that they just might climb into bed with you (the ‘Convinced’ bar makes this task easy).

It’s not just an oestrogen fest however with Toilet Seat Flip Down landing just for men. Practise the apparent daily struggle that is putting the toilet seat down after having a tinkle. Failing to do so will see you receive a rolling pin smack to the back of the head from your angry wife and spilling urine will see beastly germs pop out of the bowls and attack you! Work your way up from the singular bog in your home to levels containing an endless “stream” of cubicles, akin to those you would find in a city train station.

Power ups include “The Barry Scott” in which the Cillit Bang aficionado arrives to eradicate the current wave of enemies on your behalf.

Please note that these games are the result of a twisted imagination and they will never actually see the light of day.

Hopefully.

Even if TSFD does sound incredible…

Be sure to check back to the Novatech blog throughout next week for the real announcements from E3 as well as some special promotions from Novatech to celebrate the event.

E3 2011: The Novatech Introduction, Coverage and Special Promotions

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Alex

The Electronic Entertainment Expo – or E3 as it is more commonly known – falls next week at the Los Angeles Convention Center between Tuesday 7^th and Thursday 9^th. E3 has long been recognised as the ultimate expo in the industry of video games and is the preferred event for developers to reveal upcoming titles and game related hardware.

After nearly 70,000 people turned up to the event in 2007, E3 was made invite only and now it is restricted to industry types and a few lucky individuals alone. Gaming enthusiasts need not worry however; we will be keeping non-attendees informed of the biggest announcements made during the expo via numerous blog posts over the next week.

We also invite you to take advantage of a number of special promotions we will be running in celebration of the event – check back to the blog regularly for more details!

Who is exhibiting at E3 2011?

The list of games developers showcasing at E3 this year is endless but includes Square Enix, THQ, Ubisoft, Atari, Activision, Capcom…and this really is just a handful! Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo also have their own conferences within the expo, in which the biggest news for the gaming industry is expected to be revealed.

So what announcements can we expect?

Microsoft have been very quite regarding the contents of their symposium but it is thought that plans to inject new life into the popular (but relatively title-lacking) motion sensitive Kinect system as well as some developments related to the heaving Xbox Live service will be announced.

Nintendo meanwhile is highly rumoured to be showcasing their new console for 2012 (currently known only as ‘Project Cafe’) which is meant to be “significantly more powerful” than the current Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles. Let’s hope touch screen and motion novelties have been ignored in favour of game play with longevity, to welcome back the ‘serious’ gamer sect into the Nintendo fold!

We are very interested to see what Sony has up their sleeve for the next year in light of criticisms regarding the recent hackings of the Playstation Network! Sony already showed their NGP – the next in the series of their portable consoles – to a number of journalists last fall but E3 should mark its official unveiling. Also a catchier name for the console too (hopefully).

What about the games?

We reckon the long awaited, no-longer-a-vapourware title Duke Nukem Forever will continue to be plugged during E3 for it is finally sees its release the day after the expo ends but there is a plethora of other titles – both currently in development and rumoured for future release – that we would like more details regarding…

Diablo III (PC)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PC, 360, PS3)
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (PC, 360, PS3)
Street Fighter X Tekken (PC, 360, PS3)
Metro: Last Light (PC, 360, PS3)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, 360, PS3)
Thief 4 (PC, 360, PS3)
Rage (PC, 360, PS3, iOS)
Mass Effect 3 (PC, 360, PS3)
Disney Universe (PC, 360, PS3, iOS)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
Halo HD (360)
The next title in the Half-Life series…though this looks unlikely since Valve are not attending this year’s expo.

Be sure to check back to the Novatech blog regularly over the next week to be kept informed of everything E3!