That brings us up to Warriors Orochi 3 – and the Hydra. Once the land has settled into a relative time of peace and everyone is learning to coexist, the Hydra shows up and brutally destroys just about everyone we know and love in the series. Just a handful of officers and a small army survive. This is the opening level where we take control of three characters in a desperate war that makes it very apparent we’re going to die quickly. Just when you thought you paid $60 for a game with one level, the series’ new mechanic is introduced: TIIIIIIIIIIME TRAAAAAAAVEL!

Our three warriors are ripped to the point in the story to just before the last battle with the Hydra and are introduced to Kaguya, the woman who has the power to make all this happen. She tells them to venture back to different points in time, saving their comrades and bringing them back to this time to fight the Hydra together. It’s a fairly cheesy gimmick that is surprisingly refreshing in the Warriors series.

There are several new characters exclusive to the Orochi games to make their debut here as well as some familiar faces from other games, most notably Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden. These new characters bring the roster up to a whopping 132 playable death machines, each with a fairly varied move set and specific quirks. We’re lucky we get to use teams of three in this series because picking just one person would be terrible.

As all the others, this Warriors game isn’t without its faults. Between armies full of clones and pretty bad draw distance, Warriors Orochi 3 really is a grind to the top. While it has been like this in every installment of the Warriors series, I find myself beginning to get tired of it, mostly because I feel like there is a lack of variety in all the things I’m killing. More than ever, those armies with nothing but thousands of people who look the same are starting to wear against me and make me go about things with a bitter mood.

But, when I stop to smell the roses, Warriors Orochi 3 truly is a wonderful game. We have so much more than we used to between small tweaks to the gameplay mechanics down to the new and interesting characters. Even something I once thought insignificant – how many enemies are on screen – has the ability to make me smile with murderous glee since it is now so easy to get several thousand kills in one level when I struggled with all my might in previous games to just hit that one thousand mark. It’s the small things that count sometimes and Warriors Orochi 3 is chock full of the small things that really add up and elevate it so much higher than almost any other Warriors game out there.

The absolute largest gripe I find with a lot of players that must be mentioned is the voice over work. There simply are no English voice overs in the game. See, we’re lucky this game made its way out of Japan at all. We weren’t supposed to get it. Ever. Luckily for us, we did – at the cost of English voice over. I know for a fact some people were completely fine with this since the English voices really do suck sometimes. I’m only a tad disappointed simply because there is a lot that happens in-game. There is a lot on the screen and sometimes, I can’t be bothered to look down at the speech bubbles popping up to understand what is being said. So I miss stuff from time to time, which kind of blows, but it’s something I take in stride since I’m grateful to be able to play the game at all.

Warriors Orochi 3 really delivers a powerhouse of a game that is set apart from the rest of the series. Hardcore fans and newcomers alike can find something here, whether it be the new battle tweaks, the tons of characters, the quirky story, or even the odd [and yet so fitting] soundtrack that every Warriors game boasts.

Xbox systems were exposed, by owners, to a great deal of physical modification to enable playing copies of games. The competition among hackers became almost riotous to see who could best figure out how to burn Xbox 360 games by overcoming the built in protections of both the gaming systems and the games themselves. The Xbox 360 system, according to these same hackers, posed a formidable challenge, but the hackers did manage to come up with a number of options.

One idea about how to burn Xbox 360 games involved making physical modifications to the Xbox 360 console itself. This type of modification requires opening the console case and soldering a new mod chip onto the motherboard. Making this modification has proven to give better control over some of the programming of the system, but it is not a guarantee that the mod chip can thoroughly override the copy protection scheme. This method, while done by some gamers, proved to be difficult to do properly without some level of electronics expertise. It also voided the owner’s warranty on the gaming system from the moment that the console case was opened. Better ideas of how to burn Xbox 360 games without mod had to be discovered.

A second, a far better option that does not carry the physical risks to the console, is to acquire game copying software from the Internet that can be used to copy your Xbox 360 games data onto the hard drive of your PC, from which it can be subsequently burned to a blank DVD or CD disk. These backup disks can then be used for routine game playing, while the original, and expensive, game disks can be stored away safely and used only to make new backup disks when necessary. The secret of the success of the game copying software is its capability to override the copy protection code that in integrated into the game software by the manufacturer.

If you’re a prudent gamer, you can undoubtedly see that the second option, software, is the better of the two choices with the least risk to either the game console or the manufacturer’s warranty. The software, which clearly explains how to burn Xbox 360 games, sells for around $30, which is dirt cheap when you compare that to the cost of replacing a lost or damaged game disk. With the game copying software installed on your computer, you can burn Xbox 360 game copies of your entire game collection. You’ll become one of the growing group of savvy gamers who no longer worry about the cost of replacing games. Your protected with the insurance provided by your game copying software and your knowing how to burn 360 games.

In the last ten years or so there have been numerous golf games being released on both the PC and a variety of different games consoles. These games are played by children and young adults alike, and since Tiger Woods burst on the scene there are many young people who are interested in this particular sport.

The games themselves have come on in leaps and bounds as well. I can remember a time when they were pretty poor to be honest, just like many other games. If you are a certain age and used to own computers such as Ataris and Spectrums, you will know exactly what the graphics were like, and how limited the actual gameplay was due to the low spec nature of these machines.

Thankfully those days are well behind us now, and with advances in technology we all have access to some much improved games, and golf games are no exception. I can remember getting bored with all of the golf games that I used to play very quickly because there was no real depth to the games. The graphics were woeful and it became quite tedious after a while, even if you played them with a friend.

In this modern era, though, we have things like the Kinect on the Xbox 360 which enables you to play golf like the pros. You can use this system to swing the golf club, doing away with traditional controllers altogether.

The old games used to involve pressing buttons to play shots, but now you are actually playing the shot yourself in your bedroom. So the result of this swing can be seen on screen in some of the games that you can buy, such as the new Tiger Woods game.

There is also the fact that these games have true to life graphics so that the courses look extremely authentic on your screen. In other words all the bunkers and features of every hole will be seen when you play each course yourself.

Furthermore in addition to this lifelike gameplay, you can really get the most out your golf games by playing against another human player. It is the case with all games that they are often better when played with friends, and this is certainly true with golf games because they can get a bit monotonous when you play them by yourself.

This game has official licensing which sets it apart. Players are designed with the latest uniforms and shoes. Imagine playing with your favorite player wearing the latest pair of Nike. Everything is realistic about this game. The interactive features allow the user to change everything from the players shoes to the tape that is used to support an injury. The players actually develop sweat that you can easily see as the game progresses. Be cautious not to overly use any player because they will tire. If you are not cautious the player can get injured.

The flow of the game is fantastic. Running a fast break can lead to some of the most exciting alley-oops. 2k13 does not give you the arcade experience that you may see in other video games. The player movement is natural and fluid. The fans in the seats actually look realistic and react to what is going in the game. The graphics for this game are amazing. They are such high quality that you can see reflections off the court. The resolution is so high that you can even see if a player has skin issues.

The online features are what make this game different from any other game out there. As long as you have service the game provides real time information. Everything from the latest schedules to injuries is updated via the net. The announcers even give current scores of real games that took place that day. The attributes will adjust to the real life performance of the players. So if your favorite player is going through a shooting slump, the game will adjust accordingly. The best feature is the ability to compete online. You can challenge anyone in the world with an internet connection.

Ever since playing and discovering Jetpack Joyride I have decided that Halfbrick Studios are synonymous with fun and quality – two key things I look for in mobile gaming. I’ll play my console games for the rich, absorbing experiences at home and tend to save the arcade style games for my iPhone travelling to work or whenever I have a spare 10 minutes waiting for something or someone. Halfbrick however have created such an addictive and absorbing game with Fruit Ninja that this line I used to have is becoming increasingly blurred.

As all great games tend to be, (Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario Bros.) Fruit Ninja is incredibly easy to pick up and play by almost any age group. The crux of the game is to slice fruit as it appears on the screen aiming for the highest score possible. That’s basically it. With a sweep of the finger you can slice and dice mango’s, peaches, limes, bananas and all sorts of fruit that gets thrown your way. Slicing through each of the fruits is very satisfying as both the sounds and the way the fruits split are realistic enough to give you a mini reward with each carefully executed slash – Coconuts have that splitting sound you would expect whilst oranges are a little more ‘squishy’.

Where is the challenge you may say? Firstly, in the main mode ‘Classic’ you are only allowed to miss three fruit with your sword and then it’s game over, so you have to have a keen eye. As time passes more and more fruit appear on the screen to slice requiring your eyes to track all the fruit quicker and quicker. The other main obstacle are the bombs. These will appear along with the fruits but you can’t hit them and must avoid slashing them – if you do it’s an instant ‘Game Over’. Avoiding the bombs while slicing the fruit can be very tricky indeed so luckily there are some power ups which can help you in your fruit slicing mission.

• Bomb Deflects allows you to deflect a bomb with one of your slashes allowing you to essentially avoid that immediate ‘Game Over’. These are available in batches of 3 from ‘Gutsu’s Cart’ which is essentially the Fruit Ninja store where you can spend in-game earned star fruit you’ve collected by playing.
• Berry Blasts are strawberries that appear at random and explode when you slash them damaging nearby fruits or bombs and are very helpful when you are feeling a little overwhelmed! They are also worth 5 points and appear throughout each separate game (depending how many you’ve bought) so are good for racking up the points.
• Peaches can be bought to increase your time in either Arcade mode or Zen mode allowing you to slice for longer and build up a higher score. For every one you slice you’ll earn another two seconds to your countdown timer. I’ll be explaining these other modes shortly.

Zen mode is a separate mode in which you have a timer of 1.30 seconds to slice as many fruit as you can. It’s more relaxing as there are no bombs to contend with and the fruit comes much faster at the beginning. I view this mode as a training mode of sorts to practice combos (i.e. slicing more than two fruits in a row with one slash) and they even have bird chirping to make it more relaxing. There are also no penalties for missing fruits.

The other main mode is Arcade mode with bombs but no missed fruit penalties. You only have 60 seconds to slice as much fruit as you can but whereas in Classic mode hitting a bomb would end the game, here it reduces time off the clock. This mode is probably the most fun as there are unique power ups that appear as you are slicing which can slow down time, double your score or cause a lot of fruit to appear at once – it’s a feast for the eyes at times. It’s worth noting that the power ups you buy from the store apply in all the modes.

A a reward for being the best ninja slicer in the dojo you get access to multiple swords which are aesthetic changes only but liven up your slicer. Some turn your weapon into a dragon whilst other give you an ice cool blade. You also unlock different backgrounds as well as in game achievements and trophies.