Issue 22 by PhonicaMagUK

The mobile phone and video gaming magazine www.phonicamagazine.co.uk

Issue 22

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

WHAT’S INSIDE ISSUE 22 2011

Three launches Facebook for every phone LG Op mus 3D Supremacy MMA comes to Playsta on Vita Dead Island Novel announced Alton Towers Resort launches mobile app Rugby World Cup 2011 gets three commentary teams PS3 and 3DS suﬀer drop in sales Redbox add videogames to 5,000 more kiosks

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Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Inversion Ridge Racer Unbounded Soul Calibur IV The Last Guardian

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RARITIES We dig into a treasure trove of uber rare videogames.

Top Gear Stunt School 9MM Alice: Madness returns FEAR 3 Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game Serious Sam HD: Gold Edi on Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edi on

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Mobile Phones

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WWW.PHONICAMAGAZINE.CO.UK EDITOR IN CHIEF Kevin Leonce

GAMING EDITOR Sco Tierney

CONTRIBUTORS Ma Foley

CREATIVE SERVICES & DESIGN Sco Tierney www.sco - erney.com

EDITORIAL editorial@phonicamagazine.co.uk

ENQUIRIES info@phonicamagazine.co.uk

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ANTIQUES… OLD RUBBISH OR NEW WEALTH? We all have them. Books, clothes, an aged object or device that holds much sen mental value… even video games. But how many of these memorabilia are worth more in £ than its sen mental value? In this issue we check out some of the video games that, if you managed to hold onto or have some extra £ lying around to buy, are worth a small fortune. Namco Bandai recently hosted an exci ng event to showcase a handful of games carded for release later this year and in 2012. We managed to get our hands on a few to preview, with our writers ﬁgh ng for the lot as always. (It’s like giving candy to kids…..just a tad older!) Have a read and see what’s on the horizon. On the mobile fron er Three con nues to receive accolades as it pioneers yet another innova ve launch in keeping with their ‘data for everyone’ campaign. Enjoy reading, Your Editor in Chief

Kevin Leonce

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THREE UK LAUNCHES FACEBOOK FOR EVERY PHONE NEW FACEBOOK APPLICATION BRINGS A SMARTPHONE EXPERIENCE TO JAVA FEATURE PHONES; NO DATA CHARGES FOR THE FIRST SIX MONTHS. Three and Facebook recently announced that Three has begun oﬀering their customers a new Facebook mobile applica on for Java-based feature phones. Three is also sponsoring the launch by enabling their customers to download and use this applica on for six months without incurring any data charges. The Facebook for Every Phone applica on provides a be er and faster Facebook experience for feature phones than other similar applica ons and mobile sites. It brings Facebook’s most popular features and user experience to a wide range of Java handsets, and is op mised for speed and performance on Three’s network. This applica on includes several new and unique features that enable people to stay connected and easily share through Facebook including: Faster browsing of News Feed stories and Photos Easy photo uploads from your phone Synchronize local address book contacts with Facebook friends One- me download of applica on Facebook for Every Phone is op mised to use minimal data while providing people with a fast and engaging user experience on feature phones. The applica on uses less data than other Java applica ons or mobile sites, enabling it to be much more aﬀordable for people to use when the trial period ends. With the UK’s biggest 3G network, Three gives its customers the ability to stay connected while on the go in more places than any other 3G network across the UK. The Three network has also been op mised

for high speed mobile internet access, so customers can stay in touch with their Facebook friends, and share their experiences, quickly and conveniently.

“THE APPLICATION USES LESS DATA THAN OTHER JAVA APPLICATIONS OR MOBILE SITES, ENABLING IT TO BE MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE.” Charlo e Spencer, Three’s Director of Products and Services, said: “Our customers love Facebook, which is why we are delighted to be able to offer them a new way to stay in touch and why we are extending the free offer to six-months rather than just 90-days. “Three is all about giving people high-speed mobile internet access, and although more and more of our customers are now using smartphones, this deal ensures that those on older handsets can s ll have a great Facebook experience on their phone – and can begin to see what the benefits would be of having All-you-can-eat data.” “At Facebook, we strive to not only provide a great experience on the website, but to also provide a great Facebook experience from any mobile device they choose,” said Javier Olivan, Head of Interna onal Growth, Facebook. “Through our collabora on with Three we’re thrilled we can offer yet another way for people to stay connected through Facebook and bring a high quality and high speed mobile applica on experience to feature phones in an affordable way.”

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LG OPTIMUS 3D NOW AVAILABLE ON THREE THE WORLD’S FIRST 3D SMARTPHONE IS AVAILABLE NOW ON THREE The LG Op mus 3D’s innova ve 4.3” ‘stereoscopic’ touchscreen is capable of screening 3D content without glasses, whilst two inbuilt 5MP cameras also make it easy for people to create their own 3D videos in full high-deﬁni on. Superior speed and power is also achieved with what LG is calling “tri-dual” core technology - a dual-core processor, dual cameras and dual-channel memory – enabling people to mul task, browse web pages, play the free preloaded games and watch movies more smoothly and speedily than ever before. Sylvia Chind, Head of Handsets said “The 3D trend is red hot at the moment which is why we’re par cularly excited about bringing this handset to our customers. Coupled with Three’s award winning network our customers will experience a quick and reliable experience when enjoying their 3D content.”

Some of the key features of this 3D device are:

GLASSES-FREE LCD PANEL FOR 3D VIEWING RECORD, WATCH AND GAME 3D ENABLING DUALCORE PROCESSOR TI OMAP 4 FULL HD 2D (1080P) / 3D (720P) VIDEO PLAYBACK 4.3” STEREOSCOPIC SCREEN DUAL STEREOSCOPIC 5MP CAMERAS MINI HDMI OUTPUT YOU TUBE 3D 3 PRE-LOADED GAMES

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SUPREMACY MMA TAKES THE FIGHT TO THE STREETS WITH PLAYSTATION VITA THIS FALL THE MOST BRUTAL AND ONLY MMA FIGHTING GAME OF 2011 SHOWCASES BROKEN BONES AND UNPARALLELED QUANTITIES OF BLOODSHED WHILE TAKING FANS BACK TO THE TRUE ROOTS OF MMA Begin the bloodle ng! Global videogame publisher 505 Games and Kung Fu Factory have announced that Supremacy MMA will break bones and smash faces on Sony’s next-gen portable pla orm, the PlaySta on Vita this fall. Supremacy MMA for PS Vita will come packing exclusive content including new ﬁghters, venues and features found only on the PS Vita, delivering all the brutality and fast arcade ac on of the most controversial MMA game in history on the ho est handheld of this genera on. “Supremacy MMA takes MMA where it’s never gone before, with unprecedented brutality and arcade speed, and now it’s headed for another new fron er

as the sole MMA game to go to handheld in 2011,” said Ian Howe, President, 505 Games, North America. “The arcade-styled gameplay is perfectly suited for quick handheld sessions, and the game looks amazing on Sony’s hot new tech.” Published by 505 Games and developed by Kung Fu Factory, Supremacy MMA raises the bar in the MMA space by bringing an unprecedented level of fast, fluid combat, intui ve controls and true-to-the-sport brutality. Domina ng the figh ng market this fall, Supremacy MMA will be the only MMA figh ng game this year when it bullies its way onto store shelves on September 20, 2011 for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microso and the PlaySta on 3 computer entertainment system and then onto PlaySta on Vita for Holiday 2011.

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DEAD ISLAND NOVEL ANNOUNCED BANTAM TO PUBLISH THE OFFICIAL NOVELISATION OF DEEP SILVER’S DEAD ISLAND Bantam recently announced it is publishing Dead Island, the official novelisa on of Deep Silver’s game, wri en by Bri sh Fantasy Award winning author, Mark Morris. Due for simultaneous release with the video game, Dead Island offers a terrifying glimpse into the horrors thrust upon the four individuals who have unwi ngly embarked upon the ul mate holiday from Hell. Exploding onto the scene with the most successful video game trailer of all me, Dead Island is set to become one of the biggest game releases of 2011. The official announcement trailer has already gained over 10 million views and 6.2 million Twi er men ons in just 4 months, and has won a flurry of awards, including ‘Gold Lion in Film and Film Cra Category’ at this year’s Fes val de Cannes. For guests of the five-star Royal Palms Resort it was supposed to be a once-in-a-life me dream holiday; an

escape to the stunning beaches of a tropical paradise unlike any other. But a mysterious zombie outbreak suddenly - and without warning - rips apart the paciﬁc paradise island of Banoi, and four individuals with dis nc ve backgrounds and abili es seem to be unaﬀected by the zombie apocalypse.

“FOR GUESTS OF THE FIVE-STAR ROYAL PALMS RESORT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME DREAM HOLIDAY.” As the zombie outbreak spreads, will they be strong enough to stand against the endless zombie hordes, to protect the remaining survivors from a horrible fate and to ﬂee the island? In the face of an unprecedented zombie apocalypse, they have only one thing le to do: survive. Welcome to the holiday paradise where your dreams should come true...but where a nightmare is about to begin...

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ALTON TOWERS RESORT LAUNCHES NEW FREE MOBILE APPLICATION The Alton Towers Resort has this week launched a brand new mobile applica on for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Free of charge, the mobile app has a range of useful features, fun facts and challenging games to use at home or whilst visi ng the Staﬀordshire Resort. Whilst on site, users can stay up to date with all the latest queue line and show me informa on ensuring visitors get maximum enjoyment out of their day at Britain’s Greatest Escape. Together with a host of ride informa on, images and videos of adrenalinepumping rides and a fully interac ve map, the app will ensure guests get the most of their day in Theme Park. Ahead of a trip to the Alton Towers Resort, users can explore the Resort via the app, as well as purchasing advance ckets for the Theme Park and Waterpark. To make sure visitors can experience all the Resort has to oﬀer, the app also provides a ‘plan your day’ feature where guests can arrange mee ng mes and choose

the order of rides they will go on. Addi onal features include the ‘G-Force your Face’ photo feature where users can become the new face of Oblivion, as well as a range of ‘Q-line’ games and challenges to keep visitors entertained. At the end of an adrenaline-pumping day at the Resort, guests can use the ‘ﬁnd my car’ tool where satellite technology will take visitors directly to their car. Katherine Duckworth, Head of Consumer Marke ng at the Alton Towers Resort, said, “With the increase in popularity of smart phone applica ons and as Britain’s Greatest Escape, we wanted to ensure our guests had the best and most exci ng me at the Alton Towers Resort and this free mobile app aims to do just that. Its interac ve features, as well as helpful informa on, means visitors make the most of their day out without ge ng lost in the Resort and more importantly locate their car a er a day of ac onpacked adventure.” The Alton Towers Resort App is available to download at h p://www.altontowers.com/events/app/

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RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011 OFFICIAL VIDEOGAME SET TO OFFER THREE SEPARATE COMMENTARY TEAMS SKY SPORTS COMMENTATORS MILES HARRISON AND STUART BARNES JOIN PHILIPPE SELLA AND ERIC BAYLE, AND GREG CLARK AND SEAN FITZPATRICK UK rugby fans should prepare for a mul lingual treat: Global video game publisher, 505 Games and developer HB Studios have announced that not only UK and French commentary teams, but also a team from the Southern hemisphere will grace the forthcoming Rugby World Cup 2011 Oﬃcial videogame. Naturally, Stuart Barnes and Miles Harrison head up the UK team. Well-known for their Sky Sports rugby commentary, they have been the voice of Sky’s Rugby coverage for the past two decades, covering all major Rugby matches and tournaments including previous

Rugby World Cup matches. Barnes is a former English Rugby Union fly-half for Newport RFC, Bristol, Bath; and represented England and the Bri sh Lions at interna onal level, while Harrison is the lead Rugby Union commentator for Sky Sports. Along with the HD broadcast quality gameplay – covering each pass, kick, tackle and try – Rugby World Cup 2011 will offer an unrivalled level of officialdom, capturing the game of Rugby like never before. Players wan ng a bit of Gallic flair on the commentary wings can opt for the French partnership of Philippe Sella and Eric Bayle. Sella, who once held the record for most interna onal rugby union appearances, was

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inducted into the Interna onal Rugby Hall of Fame in 1999 and the IRB Hall of Fame in 2008. Bayle is lead Rugby Union commentator for Canal+.

“NATURALLY, STUART BARNES AND MILES HARRISON HEAD UP THE UK TEAM.” Fitzpatrick, is considered one of the ﬁnest players ever to wear an All Blacks shirt and was captain of the New Zealand interna onal side for ﬁve years (from ’92-’97). Rather appropriately, he was a prodigious product of the Auckland provincial side whose home

stadium, Eden Park, will play host to the Tournament this year. Clark is FOX Sports’ host of ‘INSIDE RUGBY’ and is a well-respected journalist with 27 years broadcas ng experience. He is considered one of the best ‘callers’ in Australian sports television. The addi on of an unprecedented third commentary team adds yet another dimension of officialdom. The Rugby World Cup 2011 Official Videogame already promises to deliver every pass, kick, tackle and try to gamer’s finger ps - each of those will now be accompanied by the player’s choice of commentary from six of the most well-known voices in rugby.

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PS3 AND 3DS SUFFER DROP IN SALES SONY SALES DOWN 25%, WHILE NINTENDO CUT PRICES BY A THIRD Sony’s sales figures for ware’s so and hard are in, with the results being mixed with delight and disappointment. The good news for the entertainment powerhouse is that the PS3 was the top selling console when the first financial quarter ended on the 30th June of this year. With 1.8million PS3s going off the shelves, Sony’s headline act beat the PSP with a touch under 1.8million, Microso ’s Xbox 360 a smidgen behind on 1.7 million, Nintendo’s soon to be replaced Wii on 1.56million, followed by the DS, PS2 and 3DS with 1.44million, 1.4million and 0.71 million, respec vely. Sony’s videogame sales were also on the climb, with a steady rise from 24.8 million last year to 26.1 million this year. When you consider the dreadful me Sony have been having of late, with the hacking issues and PSN blackout, Sony’s shareholders must be le ng out enough sigh power to launch a fleet. The bad news? Well, both PS3 and PS2 console sales dropped by around 25%, while PSP so ware suffered a 28% plummet to 6.6million. PS2 game stats were

also halved to 1.5million, but to be honest, that’s to be expected from a console that le the party a long me ago. So for Sony, things are looking rela vely rosy, but Nintendo look to be going through a bit of a rough patch. The headline news is that due to unspectacular sales – or as Nintendo have put it, to “create momentum for Nintendo 3DS and accelerate its market penetra on toward the year-end sales season, when the lineup for the applicable so ware shall be enriched”...hmmmm... – prices of the 3DS will be slashed by around a third, worldwide, on August the 12th.

“BOTH PS3 AND PS2 CONSOLE SALES DROPPED BY AROUND 25%.” Nintendo’s ﬂagship Wii didn’t fare much be er, with around a 50% drop in sales: 3.04 million in 2010 to 1.56 million this year. It was the same deal for the standard DS, with 1.44 million units selling this year compared to 3.15 million in 2010.

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Sco Tierney

REDBOX ADD VIDEOGAMES TO 5,000 MORE KIOSKS 27,000 KIOSKS IN TOTAL Redbox have announced that more of their stateside rental kiosks will now carry games alongside films. Of the 33,000 Redbox kiosks across America, approximately 27,000 will eventually provide renters access to videogames. As these automated self-service boxes aren’t available outside of the States, here’s a quick sum-up: Redbox kiosks are about the size of a telephone box (if you’re below the age of 15, I should probably explain what a “telephone...box?” is as well!), and carry a large sec on of rental DVDs and games. They are used in a similar way as a drinks machine, with the customer selec ng one of the 100+ films available from the touch screen, using a credit card to pay, and then the disc is ejected for them to take home. Redbox charge $1 a night for films (games will be $2 per night), there

are no late fees, discs can be returned at any me before 9pm, and if the customer keeps the product for more than 25 days, charges to their bank account will stop, as they are considered to have paid enough to own the film or game outright. Some films are also for sale at a one-off price of $7. “Whether customers are playing a new game or genre, trying a game before they buy it or simply entertaining friends and family, they’re embracing the availability of games at Redbox,” said Joel Resnik, vice president of video games, redbox. We’ll be looking more closely at the videogame rental business in a forthcoming issue, but for now, it seems like our chums over the pond will now be able to get hold of their new games with greater ease.

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Sco Tierney

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ACE COMBAT: ASSAULT HORIZON PUBLISHER: NAMCO BANDAI DEVELOPER: PROJECT ACES FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360 GENRE: ACTION FLIGHT-SIM AVAILABLE: OCTOBER 2011

A FRESH STORY, AND A FIRST FLIGHT ON THE PS3 Many flight-sim fans consider Ace Combat to be the best when it comes to ac on-based flight games, and this is the general consensus when it comes to cri cs as well. The games may not be as in-depth as, say, Microso Flight Sim, but what it lacks in the complete feeling of being a pilot seen in Microso ’s counterpart, it makes up in drama c plots and fast-paced ac on. Luckily for both fans and cri cs alike, Assault Horizon seems to be no different! Set for a 14th October release date later this year, this is the first me for the Ace Combat series on PS3, and it will of course be available on Xbox 360 as well, and will also be the first me in the series’ 16 year, 11 game history that helicopters are available to fly. The plot is wri en by Jim DeFelice, a New York Times best-selling author, and takes place in 2015. The only loca on I saw in ac on was Miami, but all of the loca ons promises to be photo-realis c based on satellite imagery; so get ready to recognise some famous places! Some are calling this a reboot of the Ace Combat series, mainly because the developers, Project Aces, along with Namco Bandai, are looking to move away from the stereotypes of the previous Ace Combat games, where you could only destroy things from far away, and move into what they’re calling ‘Close-range Assault.’ As you can imagine, this means there’s a high concentra on on dogfigh ng in the game, and the damage you can cause to your enemies’ planes, or indeed have caused to yours, is incredibly realis c,

with shards of metal ﬂying from the chassis, the wings being peppered with bullet-holes and oil streaming from the engines.

“SOME ARE CALLING THIS A REBOOT OF THE ACE COMBAT SERIES, MAINLY BECAUSE THE DEVELOPERS, PROJECT ACES, ALONG WITH NAMCO BANDAI, ARE LOOKING TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE STEREOTYPES OF THE PREVIOUS ACE COMBAT GAMES.” The game will also have a variety of missions, whilst obviously concentra ng on the pilot missions, but these will include roles of door-gunner, wingman, helicopter pilot and an air warship mission that looks very similar to those seen in the Call of Duty franchise. There will also be online play, called ‘Capital Warfare,’ which will be 8 on 8 team ba les which see you team up with one other player in pairs. From what I played of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, it seems like it’s going to be an interes ng game, if not only because it’s a fresh start for the franchise, and looks like it could be similar to Call of Duty or the Ba leﬁeld games, but with more planes. Either way, when 14th October comes round, there will be carnage!

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Ma Foley

INVERSION PUBLISHER: NAMCO BANDAI DEVELOPER: SABER INTERACTIVE FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360 GENRE: THIRD-PERSON SHOOTER AVAILABLE: FEBRUARY 2012

GEARS OF WAR MEETS INCEPTION...OR SO I’M TOLD

When I ﬁrst heard about Inversion, billed by some as ‘Gears of War meets Incep on,’ I was a li le scep cal to say the least. Gears is a great game, and Incep on was one of last year’s best movies, but how similar can this game be to either, given how genre-deﬁning both were, and more importantly, how good can this game be?

You play David Russel, a cop who ﬁnds himself thrust into the very heart of inter-galac c warfare when gravity-controlling aliens invade Earth, resul ng in the death of his wife and kidnap of his young daughter. David has to stand up against the invading enemies, with the help of his partner, Leo Delgado, and embrace the very essence of what he’s ﬁgh ng against to emerge victorious.

Well, in answer to the ﬁrst ques on, Inversion doesn’t really conform to any stereotype, but does borrow elements from Gears of War, given that it’s a third-person semi-on-the-rails shooter, and Incep on, with the gravity element, or lack of therein, but to describe it as either one would be an insult to the game. As for the second ques on, well, by the looks of it, very good indeed!

“YOU CAN CHANGE THE EFFECTS OF GRAVITY ON THE ENEMIES YOU’RE FIGHTING.” Early on in the game, you realise that normal bullets do nothing against a race of creatures that can

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manipulate physics, and you manage to obtain one of their weapons that helps you also change the effects of gravity. Now without going into too much detail, and spoiling the plot for those of you that enjoy a good plot-based game, let me just say that here is where the real fun starts. You can change the effects of gravity on the enemies you’re figh ng, or their surroundings for that ma er, and the game includes good use of environmental destruc on. There are also some parts of the game that are completely zero-gravity, and the best part is that the game is coop as well, though this is only online and not split-screen. The release date that we have been given is February 10th, 2012. This may change, but Namco Bandai suggested that it was concrete. Either way, circle the date in your diary, as this is going to be a great game! Ma Foley PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED PUBLISHER: NAMCO BANDAI DEVELOPER: BUGBEAR ENTERTAINMENT FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, 3DS, PC GENRE: RACING AVAILABLE: 2012

THRASH AND BURN Namco’s Ridge Racer has been the pinnacle of arcade racing games for almost twenty years now, da ng back to the original arcade game, released in 1993, but it’s been ﬁve years since Ridge Racer 7, the last non-handheld game in the series, and fans are ge ng a li le impa ent. Namco knew that something needed to be done to spice up the franchise a li le bit, get the gamers’ interest back up, and Ridge Racer Unbounded promises to do just that! It’s been described as a ‘new breed of arcade racer’ looking to ‘carve its own destruc ve path’ through Shu er Bay, a huge metropolitan city designed to be a combina on of New York and Chicago, and by the me you’re ﬁnished in the city, it won’t look the same! The plot is simple: you play an up-and-coming street racer (the game focuses heavily on street racing, not too dissimilar to the Need for Speed games, showing how Namco is really looking to distance itself from the arcade feel of previous games) who’s looking to join the ranks of the Unbounded, an underground street gang lead by Kara Shinodo. Whilst details of the game itself are s ll sketchy, with a release date of any me in 2012, what we do know is that the game will have dynamic damage capabili es, as seen in the Burnout series amongst others, and this damage has been really well designed. Whilst it can’t really be described, and is something that you need to see in ac on, the way the cars, and environment, are going to be destroyed is pre y spectacular. As Namco themselves have said, get ready to crash through near enough everything! Ma Foley

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SOUL CALIBUR V PUBLISHER: NAMCO BANDAI DEVELOPER: PROJECT SOUL FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360 GENRE: BEAT-EM-UP AVAILABLE: 2012 Soul Calibur is probably the first thing that comes to mind when ‘weapons-based fighting games’ is men oned, and 2008’s Soul Calibur IV is largely considered one of the best figh ng games of all me. Loved by fans and cri cs alike, it was meant to be the swansong of the Soul series, ending the franchise on the biggest of highs, a huge success, allowing Hiroaki Yotoriyama, who is the series’ creator, for those of you who don’t know, to wander off into the sunset. But the fans didn’t like this, they had other ideas! When they heard that Soul Calibur IV was to be the last, they pe oned in their thousands to stop this award-winning series from ending. The developers heard this, spoke to the fans about where they thought the game should go from there, how they could progress if, and only if, Soul Calibur V was made. They took all of their feedback, both posi ve and what li le nega ve there was, on board and started on the sequel, which, though s ll very much in development, looks like it could be even be er! This game is set 17 years a er the events of IV, with a new storyline and mostly new characters, in fact only a few favourites return. The gameplay of the previous tles has been renewed, with an innova ve 8-way run system allowing for full 3D-movement when figh ng, and an increased level of strategy which will mean that experienced players will s ll feel that the game offers them a test, but novices of the game will s ll be able to simply pick up and play. Soul Calibur fans have always been a tough bunch. With so many of the games in the series being so very good, disappointment doesn’t come easily, and luckily, I don’t think they’ll be disappointed with V. It’s just the agonising wait! S ll, Soul fans, 2012 is the year for you! Ma Foley PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

THE LAST GUARDIAN PUBLISHER: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT DEVELOPER: TEAM ICO FORMAT: PS3 GENRE: ADVENTURE AVAILABLE: 2012

A BOY’S BEST FRIEND Come the 30th of September, hardcore gamers up and down the country will be punching the air with delight, as two of gaming’s most pres gious, precious, iconic and unsung adventures get a huge welcome re-release. With the arrival of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collec on for the PS3 - complete with HD visuals, 3D capabili es, trophies and plenty of digital spit and polish - those who truly love videogaming will be able to relive the tear-jerking highs and controller-smashing lows, while newbies will either fall in love with the dis nc ve art style, or turn away in disgust at the user-unfriendly difficulty. Regardless, it’ll be great to see both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus back on our screens, and if anything, they’ll act as a pleasant appe ser to the forthcoming tle from Team Ico: The Last Guardian. Set in the same style of musky wonderland as Ico and Colossus, The Last Guardian sees a boy and a giant creature, Trico – a griffin like animal that’s a cross between a puppy and a parrot - a empt to escape a massive castle. Although the two characters first start out as enemies, as the story progresses, each learn that they have to work together to progress, forming a deep emo onal bond between the compatriots. Along the way the unlikely team will have to solve puzzles to bypass sec ons of the castle, with the player taking control of the small boy, and Trico being AI controlled, responding to your commands.

How you manage Trico will be en rely up to you, as it’ll respond differently to the individual gamer. Early play-tests have indicated that this gigan c puppy will be exactly that: it’ll do what it wants; sleep when it wants; disobey your orders, and wander around the levels on its own free will: house-trained it ain’t! So, you’ll have to coax Trico into ac on, offering barrels for it to play with, tasty treats, concise commands and occasionally a gentle reminder of who’s boss. Once you have a handle on your feathered chum, you can use it for all manner of tasks. For instance, just like in Colossus, Trico’s vast frame can be climbed; ideal for reaching high pla orms. Also, if the going gets a bit nasty, with the shadow guards that patrol the castle spo ng your escape, Trico can simply squelch them under its massive talons. Be wary though, as the boy has no real means of defending himself for the vast propor on of the game, and if a guard manages to capture him, it’s game over. Looks like that trademark Team Ico frustra on is s ll going to be in abundance... if you’ve ever had to drag the princess around one of Ico’s levels, you’ll know the pain... The bond between the boy and Trico will be at the epicentre of The Last Guardian, effec ng the tone, plot, controls and gameplay. Team Ico have a vast experience of this type of rela onship-based

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“THE LAST GUARDIAN LOOKS LIKELY TO BE ONE OF THOSE ICONIC TITLES THAT COULD DEFINE THE GENRE.” gaming: the bond between the young adventurer and the fragile princess was key to Ico, and although it was literally overshadowed by the vast Colossi, the camaraderie between Wander and his horse Agro in The Shadow of the Colossus played an integral part. Team Ico have always made their tles emo onal to the extreme, and with The Last Guardian, we’ve got a horrible feeling in the pits of our bellies that either the boy or Trico aren’t going to survive beyond the castle walls...we’ll have to wait and see, but it’s probably worth stocking up on ssues. The Last Guardian was originally sla ed for a late 2011 release, but as of now it looks as if we won’t be taking a ride on Trico’s back ll at least 2012. Shame, as The Last Guardian looks likely to be one of those iconic tles that, although likely to sell as swi ly as a Will Self novel in Ne o’s, could deﬁne the genre. It’s going to be emo onal... Sco Tierney PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

RARITIES A RUMMAGE THROUGH THE RAREST OF VIDEOGAMES; DO YOU OWN ANY? You may have heard the news that a super-rare copy of Tetris is on sale on eBay for a super-expensive $1million. The Mega Drive copy of Tetris, already valued in the tens of thousands for this factor alone (a er a legal dispute, Nintendo obtained exclusive rights to the Tetris series, meaning that Sega could not put their version on sale – as of now, only 10 copies are known to exist) is adorned with a signature from Tetris’ creator, Alexey Pajitnovm making it a truly unique, even iconic item. So, if you have a cool million lying around, now’s your chance to buy a slice of gaming history. In rela on to this slice of extravagance, now seems as good a me as any to have a trawl through the pages of the interweb, and in a vain hope of discovering that anything in our gaming collec on is worth more than rusty pennies, lets have a look at some of the rarest videogames in the world. Do you own any of these?

KIZUNA ENCOUNTER For a rela vely unimpressive beat-um-up, 1996’s Kizuna Encounter has amassed one hell of a reputa on for its remarkable rarity. If you own the Japanese version of this Neo Geo puncher, you’ll do well to make enough of a sale to aﬀord a night out.

But, if you happen to own one of the only ﬁ een copies produced for the European market, you’re looking at a price tag of at least £10,000. As we said, this tle packs a punch!

AIR RAID Air Raid for the Atari 2600 is a bit of an enigma, a mystery, as despite being enormously sought-a er by gaming collectors, no one really knows the full story of it’s crea on. To be honest, no one even knows Air Raid’s actual name: there’s no official tle on the box or cartridge, and Air Raid was only used as an explana on to the Missile Command-style gameplay. No one really knows who made the game (Menovision is o en men oned, but never confirmed); no one fully understands why the cartridge is a funny shape and made of bright blue plas c; no one can even claim to own an original copy. It’s all of a bit of a puzzle, but one thing has been clarified: the price - £1000 minimum.

STADIUM EVENTS Why can one version of this later eigh es NES tle be worth less than a Ginsters pasty, but another copy as much as 20,000 of the petrol sta on pastries? In 1987, Bandai released Stadium Events along with

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their newest contrap on, the Family Fun Fitness mat: a Wii Balance Board for 1987. In 1988, Nintendo brought the rights to both the game and the mat, re-branding them as World Class Track Meet and the Power Pad controller. To capitalise on this purchase, Nintendo amassed all 200 of the original copies of Stadium Events, and like videogame Nazis, had them all destroyed. Now, only 10 or so copies exist, and if you have a factory sealed version, you could be coun ng £20,000+ into your bank account. And bear this in mind: even if you have just the box, that’ll get you up to £5000...pesky Nazis.

DARXIDE Despite Sega’s 32X churning out some truly excellent tles (Blackthorne, Knuckles Chao x) in its rela vely short lifespan, it was never a major – or even minor – commercial success. As such, the majority of its tles are now rather rare, with 1995’s Darxide being one of the most treasured. A visually impressive 3D shooter, Darxide was one of the last 32X tles, and was also des ned to become a launch tle for the Sega Neptune, before the ill-fated console vanished into the history books. A clean copy will set you back around £600.

1990 NINTENDO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS In the early 90s, gaming was growing worldwide. To publicize this, Nintendo held an event across 30 American ci es, sta ng that they wanted to ﬁnd the best gamer in the world (or America...). The challenge was simple: score as many points as you can within six minutes, on three demo versions of Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris. If you made it into the ﬁnal three in your city, you were awarded a grey copy of World Championships, which can now be sold for around £2000. Along with this, Nintendo Power magazine ran a compe on with the prize being one of 26 copies of a special Gold edi on of the cartridge. For one of these, there’s a price tag reaching the thick end of £12,000. Who said gaming doesn’t pay? A few years later Nintendo ran a similar compe on: Nintendo Campus Challenge. Same rules as the Worlds: six minutes to score as many points as possible on Super Mario Bros. 3, PinBot, and Dr. Mario. A er the event, all but one of the cartridges was destroyed, with it going on sale several mes over the years for $20,000.

ATLANTIS II Atlan s is a bit of an unsung tle, which despite packing the arcades out in the early 80s, is rarely revered alongside the other top tles of the me, such as Pac-Man, Missile Command and Donkey Kong. If you happen to own a copy of Atlan s, don’t start splashing out just yet, as they sell for as li le as a single £1. But, if you own a copy of Atlan s II – a special, tougher version which was sent to only a few world-class players of the original game, featuring faster enemies as a truer test of skill – you could be looking at £3000+. But how do you tell Atlan s from Atlan s II? The only iden fying mark is a white “Atlan s II” s cker on the front of the cartridge, and if this has been removed, you’ll have to contact an expert to provide details of authen ca on.

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Sco Tierney

TOP GEAR STUNT SCHOOL PUBLISHER: BBC WORLDWIDE GENRE: DRIVING FORMAT: iOS AVAILABLE: NOW

A TOP GEAR GAME WHERE YOU PLAY AS THE STIG. CAN IT REALLY BE AS FUN AS THE SHOW? Top Gear, the BBC motoring television show, is watched by approximately 5 million people in the UK every week, and much more worldwide, and has spawned various videos and spin-oﬀs, including other iOS games, for example, Top Gear: Where’s S g? so another S g-themed iOS game was inevitable. Somewhat surprisingly, this is more than just a tacky e-in game, this has strength and depth, and whilst it doesn’t compare to the stand-out iOS driving games, Real Racing, Asphalt or Need for Speed, to name but 3, it’s certainly a fun game. To men on it in contrast with these games would be an injus ce, given that this, although a motoring game, is deﬁnitely not a racing game, the concentra on is on challenges, with some standard fare from the show, for example

jumping over caravans in a car, and some absolutely ridiculous, doing 5 loop-the-loops in a rocket-powered car being a standout example for me. The customisa on element to this ﬁlm is surprisingly in-depth, where you can change your cars in order to complete later challenges. The pieces will vary from normal chassis, souped-up engines and spectacular exhausts, to rockets, parachutes and car-mounted ma resses! Fans of the series will be pleased to hear that the somewhat hard-hi ng comedy style that makes the show famous, or should that be infamous, remains for the game, and there’s no mistaking that this is a Top Gear branded game, with the Test Track available to drive around, and various diﬀerent references to the S g, including the op on to create a car through

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the customisa on op on, and see how it fares being driven by S g around the track, which is a welcome introduc on to the game.

“FANS OF THE SERIES WILL BE PLEASED TO HEAR THAT THE SOMEWHAT HARD-HITTING COMEDY STYLE THAT MAKES THE SHOW FAMOUS, REMAINS FOR THE GAME.” That’s not to say that the game isn’t without its ﬂaws. You can tell that the concentra on has been more on making insane stunts than actual driving technique, and as a result you can’t help but feel that pre y much every car feels the same, there’s no real

dis nc on with any of them. Also, there’s no con nuity with the physics involved, a wall will destroy your car on one try, but when you retry, and happen to hit the wall again, your car will go straight through it this me. Graphically, the game leaves a li le to be desired too. The cars look clunky, and almost like they’re built from Lego, so you never really feel as engrossed in the driving as you would like. All in all, this is a fairly decent game, especially considering the price (at the me of wri ng, the game was £1.49) and Top Gear fans will probably love it, whilst others would certainly get some enjoyment out of it, and the challenges at hand are quite varied, once you get through the dull introduc on ones. Ma Foley

RATING: 58%

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9MM

PUBLISHER: GAMELOFT GENRE: ACTION FORMAT: iOS AVAILABLE: NOW

“GTA MEETS MAX PAYNE,” THIS CERTAINLY ISN’T A GAME FOR CHILDREN! More o en than not these days, a game’s pre-release descrip on is much be er than the game itself, and so I, like most, was scep cal when I heard a game described as “Grand The Auto meets Max Payne,” as 9mm was described before its release. However, this is a surprising excep on to the rule, as that tagline describes this game perfectly! In the game you play John “Loose” Kannon, a cop on a mission who isn’t afraid to break laws, or bones for that ma er, to get to his arrest. His language is foul, his opinions on the gang-members are worse, and this game is definitely not aimed towards any younger genera ons! He’s portrayed as a flawed an hero, but you find out fairly early on that one thing that he does care about is his family, especially his daughter, and you don’t want to get in the way of him and his daughter! The pre-release descrip on aside, 9mm is not just GTA with slow-mo on. It’s not a sandbox game, and is in fact much more linear than Rockstar’s open-world classic. In 9mm you go from A to B without much scope for explora on, or ge ng lost for that ma er, but this doesn’t mean that the game is boring; far from it, this is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played on a mobile phone in a long me. The shoot-outs are without a doubt the highlight of this game. The selec on of weapons available to use is surprisingly extensive including, without a doubt my favourite, dual-wielding pistols. The AI is refreshingly realis c, with enemies circling you, spreading out over the room and flanking you. Things have changed massively since enemies used to a ack you one at a me in games!

The main point that sets 9mm apart from the compe on in terms of being a ‘run-and-gun shooter’ is the slow-mo on op on, which would be at home in a John Woo movie. Ac vated with a secondary, smaller on-screen s ck, Kannon can dive in slow mo on in any direc on, meaning that you’ll o en dive sideways through rooms, shoo ng gang members as you fly. Mul player is an op on that Gamelo have started introducing in their games, and it works very well in 9mm. Not too dissimilar to the online op on in Rockstar’s afore-men oned classic, it’s a basic death match, either team or free-for-all, and will offer up to 12 players at any me. Whilst the mul player isn’t quite as good as, say, N.O.V.A. 2, it’s s ll very good, and will give any players who complete the story mode a li le more replay value. 9mm isn’t perfect though. The linearity, though understandable, gets a li le tedious at mes, and the game is some mes not as responsive as you’d like, especially when opening doors, or during a firefight, which is without a doubt the worst possible me for something to happen! Also, and this may not be a downfall to some people, but the game is really difficult at mes. I found myself retrying, and retrying, and retrying, every me ge ng shot by another gang-member un l finally I succeeded. Whilst not flawless, 9mm is a very enjoyable game, and one that I will con nue to play for a long me. Without the slow-mo on, it would be fairly similar to most shoo ng games currently available on a mobile phone, but the slow-mo on really sets it apart from the compe on. Ma Foley

RATING: 86%

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ALICE: MADNESS RETURNS PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS DEVELOPER: SPICY HORSE FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PC GENRE: ACTION-ADVENTURE

THROUGH THE LOOKING PAST In 2000, Rogue Entertainment and EA released American McGee’s Alice. Despite lacking a certain edge in the gameplay department, Alice was a massive hit on the PC, mainly due to its advanced visuals and splendid re-imagining of Lewis Carroll’s meless novel. Alice was grim, gothic, nightmarish and macabre, grabbing the magical charm of the books, drowning it in LCD, and then stabbing it through the heart with a rusty knife. It was a cap va ng, bloody adventure, and now, eleven years later, we have an equally as fantas cal sequel to dive into, in Alice: Madness Returns. Set directly a er the ending of Alice, Alice: Madness Returns sees the noir-haired heroine spending her

days at a London Victoria orphanage under the care of psychiatrist Doctor Angus Bumby. Although her recovery seems to be progressing, a casual wander around the downtrodden backstreet leads to Alice inadvertently returning to the scene of her nightmares: Wonderland. A er reacclima sing herself with the magical kingdom she hoped to leave behind, Alice learns - from the ever unnerving Cheshire Cat that there is a new, corrupt ruler in Wonderland, and once again, the rivers are running red with blood. And so the adventure begins... As you progress through the central game, Alice will uncover fractured memories – conversa ons with her psychiatrist, quotes from her parents, ﬂashbacks etc - which give you a slit-sized glimpse into the mind she struggles to comprehend, and the past she is trying to forget. It’s a bit like pu ng together a puzzle piece by

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piece, and although these li le snippets of mangled informa on aren’t impera ve to your enjoyment of Madness Returns, they s ll give a fresh angle on proceedings. The landscape of Wonderland has never looked be er. From the early strolls through a luscious ﬂowering forest, to the steam-powered domain of the Mad Ha er and the chequered garden of the game’s ﬁnal stages, Madness Returns is a stunning game to behold. It’s not the detail or sheer scale of the levels that impresses, but more so the style. The whole game has this wonderful, charming, almost handmade feel to it, as if a pre-90s Tim Burton had made the startling revela on that colour existed.

“AS A VISUAL EXPERIENCE, IT’S RIGHT UP THERE WITH ANYTHING WE’VE SEEN THIS YEAR.” The music also plays a major part in crea ng the twisted daydream ambiance of Madness Returns. Although it’s hard to describe a vast selec on of music in a few short words, the best I can say is that it sounds like a broken music box – the type of chest

your nan used to keep her jewellery in, with a rota ng fairy in the centre that would dance whenever you opened the lid. Although the background tunes are gentle and comfor ng, they have a dis nc ve sinister undertone, with the occasional note being out of tune and mis med. The gameplay Madness serves-up is brash, barbaric and bloody. During the course of the adventure, Alice will arm herself with all manner of savage devices, such as the classic carving knife; a Gatling gun pepper grinder; miniaturised rabbit bombs that waddle around before blowing the limbs off any nearby enemies, and a rather unpleasant circular saw on a s ck. With these to hand, you’ll have to defend yourself from a mixture of crazed baddies – robo c flies, giant teapots, trolls - all the while keeping an eye on your health. To be honest, the figh ng sec ons of Madness Returns are pre y resome, and o en frustra ng due to the frequent aiming and camera issues. That’s not to say that these gory interludes aren’t enjoyable, and let’s be frank: there’s nothing funnier than seeing a goblin’s head roll around the floor like a salad bowl, or pounding pure pepper into the weeping re na of a giant Cyclopean teapot. But overall the ba les leave you a li le cold, with no amount of claret spray ever compensa ng for the repe veness of it all.

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“IT’S FAIR TO SAY THAT ALICE: MADNESS RETURNS IS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY.” With the combat failing to deliver anything but gore-based jocularity, we come to the other part of Madness’ gameplay: pla orming. With the architecture of the levels domina ng proceedings, bouncing and leaping is a pleasant experience, if only to have a be er look around the landscape. These sec ons of bounding also feel seine, and more in keeping with the overall magical, drug haze ambience of the tle. One par cular pleasure is gliding Alice from ledge to ledge, using only the cushion of air beneath her dress as a means of carry (there’s material for a Chubby Brown joke in there, surely?). It’s quite a beau ful moment, with the maiden ﬂoa ng gracefully through the mist, to the backdrop of a world distorted by imagina on gone mad. Alice can also use the magical powers of the Drink Me po on, allowing here to shrink-down to the size of a thimble. While at this size, Alice can also see hidden direc ons scrawled on the walls, as well as secret bridges that can only be used when shrunk. It should be noted that traversing Madness’ levels isn’t par cularly diﬃcult nor exci ng, and disorganised signpos ng can o en lead you to a dead-end. To uncover hidden areas and goodies, hovering pig’s nostrils will snort when you are close by, with a cavity full of pepper from your gun unveiling a pathway. This is great, apart from when the insen ent sound of invisible oinking becomes close to deafening. As an extra incen ve to purchasing Madness Returns, and as a way of familiarising yourself with the plot of the previous tle, each new copy of Madness Returns comes with a one- me coupon for a free download of the original Alice. If you don’t have this code, you can s ll download the 2000 PC classic either online, on

XBLA or PSN for around £10. That’s not a bad price, as you’ll do well to get an original PC copy off eBay for the same money, and that doesn’t include HD upscaling, so ware updates and trophies. Alice: Madness Returns is one of those tles that we really want to love. As a visual experience, it’s right up there with anything we’ve seen this year, due purely to the wondrous, fantas cal charm it packs into every footstep of its design. But, as a game, it’s suffers the same flaws as its predecessor: it’s let down by sluggish gameplay and fundamentally technical issues. In a way, Madness Returns feels several years out of date, behind the mes for the current genera on. Sweeping through the magical levels is a treat, but you always get the feeling that you’re never more than a few steps away from ‘another’ ba le or ‘another’ boss fight. Despite its maze-like world, Madness doesn’t disguise its inner workings par cularly well. It’s fair to say that Alice: Madness Returns is a missed opportunity; a flawed masterpiece launched by beauty but let-down by mediocrity, and despite dragging you deep into a world of genuine wonder, as a game, Madness Returns is a ring slog down a well-trodden path. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 18/20 STORY: 17/20 CONTROLS: 15/20 GAMEPLAY: 11/20 DURABILITY: 13/20

OVERALL

74/100

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F.E.A.R. 3 PUBLISHER: WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE DEVELOPER: DAY 1 STUDIOS FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PC GENRE: ACTION-ADVENTURE

IF YOU KNOW IT’S COMING, WHAT’S THE POINT...MAN? Have you ever walked into a rough pub, alone, and instantly felt uneasy? You know the kind of place: there’s beer (and blood) stains on the wall; an old man with one eye and no legs is giving you the evil; the only available bar stool is embedded in some guy’s cranium; the bartender is on fire and a man you’ll come to know as “Mad Frank” is crunching snooker balls between his teeth and spi ng the remnants into an ashtray made from the knee cap of the last guy to spill his pint: not a place to take the kids. But, a er you’ve been in a couple of mes and brought a few friends along, the place feels homely, and not even the occasional elbow in the groin or dousing in gasoline can put you off your quiet pint. Sure, there’s s ll apprehension when you walk through the door, but now you’re at ease: you’re a regular...and you know what...it’s all a bit boring now. So what has that got to do with anything, you may ask? Well, let me explain, as we go for a quick half in gaming’s tavern of terror: F.E.A.R. 3. F.E.A.R. 3 takes place 9 months a er the events of the first two F.E.A.R. games. With the Point Man – the gun-to ng hero of the first tle – locked in an asylum

and being interrogated Sweeny-style, his supernatural brother, Paxton Fe el, turns up and breaks him out. As Point Man put a bullet in Fe el’s head at the end of the first game there’s a dis nct lack of brotherly love in the air, with the duo forming an uneasy double act of dead-eye shooter and telepathic sadist. A er breaking out of the asylum in a flurry of fire, Point and Paxton (“Coming to HBO this Fall”) make their way through the downtrodden surrounding slums, before pinching a helicopter and flying back to the genesis point of the whole series, Fairport: a secret test site for all experiments mental. As you can expect, the always spooky Alma (the sinister black haired girl that adorns the F.E.A.R. covers, who o en pops up to give you the willies) is on hand to add a li le tension, and as she’s with child this me out, don’t expect a warm handshake and cuppa on mee ng.

“THE SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN CAN BE PLAYED AS EITHER THE POINT MAN OR FETTEL, OR IF YOU WISH, WITH BOTH AT THE SAME TIME VIA SPLITSCREEN OR ONLINE CO-OP. WITH POINT, IT’S ALL GUN-BASED LIKE IN THE EARLIER TITLES, BUT WITH FETTEL, YOU CAN PULL-OFF A HOST OF NEW MOVES.”

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The single player campaign can be played as either the Point Man or Fe el, or if you wish, with both at the same me via splitscreen or online co-op. With Point, it’s all gun-based like in the earlier tles, but with Fe el, you can pull-off a host of new moves, such as possessing a baddie’s body and using them as your personal puppet; or more simply just hit them with a bolt of energy and explode them like a melon. Playing as the P Man is probably more fun, but there’s s ll a chuckle or two to be had with Fe el. It’s a shame that in order to play as Fe el, you have to complete the level beforehand with Point Man. In all honesty, replaying again as Fe el adds nothing to the experience besides the occasional different cut-scene (Fe el’s ending scene has to be seen to be believed!) and as F.E.A.R. 3’s tension is built on shocks, once you know what’s coming around the next corner, what’s the point...man?...thank you. It would have been nice to have seen a different pathway for the secondary character, and even either character being CPU controlled for a bit of co-op ac on on your lonesome. F.E.A.R. 3’s gameplay is rela vely unchanged from the previous tles, although there are a few minor tweaks. For all you gorestars, Point Man can s ll use slo-mo to get the jump on his enemies, and also (more importantly) blow chunk a er chunk out of a baddie’s torso, all in glorious slow mo on. A new addi on is the ability to get in cover behind areas of the environment, allowing you to avoid fire in ght spots, and also pop-up for a quick shot. In our PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

experience we found this system rather frustra ng, as although ﬁnding cover gained us an advantage from me to me, more o en than not we struggled to make the concept work. A er a few hours of trying to play safe – and also having Point Man either ignore the cover, stand in plain view, pop out without warning and try to use a sha ered lamp post can as a shield – we lost pa ence, and spent the rest of the game going gun-ho crazy. It’s a nice idea, but it doesn’t really work. The faults in the cover system are exaggerated by the fact that F.E.A.R. 3 is surprisingly tough. Sure, all the F.E.A.R. tles have been pre y unforgiving, but in this third tle, even on easy peasy, the enemies are dangerously smart. If you’re not on your guard you’ll spend a lot of the me being blown around the levels by a typhoon of bullets, and if your aim is even slightly suspect, you’ll do well to hit the enemies from more than a few feet. All the nasty’s, from hardened soldiers to crazed psychopaths with bombs strapped to their chests, are challenging to take down, and even a point-blank bullet to the forehead is o en not enough (how can anyone survive that; even Fe el?). Playing F.E.A.R. 3 is like running through an exploding ﬁreworks factory while in a torren al hailstorm: you’re going to get shot to bits whatever happens, so just try to dodge as much as you can and hope for the best. Despite producing a single player campaign that is

tough but a li le limp wristed, F.E.A.R. 3’s mul player is surprisingly good fun. The co-op ac on is nothing more than mindless carnage, with you and a buddy barely exchanging glances as bodies explode and heads go a’ tumbling, but elsewhere there’s plenty to enjoy. There are four online game modes to choose from: F*****g Run, in which you and up to 4 friends have to plough through waves of baddies while ﬂeeing a chasing wall of death; Contrac ons, where your teams tackles 20 waves of F.E.A.R. nasty’s with limited ammo; head to head Soul Survivor gives one of your four chums the chance to possess an enemy and kill the other 3, and Soul King allows all 4 players to possess baddies and shoot at each other. All in all, plenty of fun to be had.

“THE SHOCKS F.E.A.R. 3 PROVIDES ARE SO OBVIOUS YOU CAN SET YOUR WATCH BY THEM.” A quick note should be made of F.E.A.R. 3’s visual, which in one word is...disappoin ng. As you move from sweaty slum to run-down laboratory to crumbling train line to smelly sewer, it’s all a very depressing pale e of greys and blood spla ers. A lack of visual enterprise has always been a cri cism of the

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F.E.A.R. series, with the second tle at least providing a few drama c set-pieces to back-up the overall lack of graphical quality (the city of ash corpses was tremendous for both atmosphere and style). But overall, F.E.A.R. 3 is terribly plain and sombre. As an actual game, F.E.A.R. 3 is pre y decent. It’s not a world-beater by any means, but it supplies a pleasurable mix of FPS blas ng and fun- me online op ons. But, for this horror-based adventure, there’s one major flaw: it’s not in the slightest bit scary. To be blunt, it’s about as frightening as diet lemonade in a Tommee Tippee The shocks F.E.A.R. 3 provides are so obvious you can set your watch by them. You walk down a dark corridor, there’s blood on the walls, a light is flickering, it’s gone silent...3, 2, 1. TOOT TOOT, here comes the scare train, right on me. There’s just no sense of tension, no terror; no sweaty palm moments where you beg for an escape route. It’s all unremarkable and expected. In F.E.A.R. 2, you’d creep around the levels, view dar ng from shadow to shadow, terrified at what was about to happen next; but in F.E.A.R. 3 you walk straight past everything as if it were a Sunday morning stroll through a shopping centre, on your way to buy a raincoat. Zombie banging on a door? Who cares. Madmen screaming while holding a severed limb? Big deal. 20 blood-crazed mental pa ents running at you with death in their eyes? No problem: you’ve got an Uzi

in each hand, and when was the last me you felt scared when you had a pair of Uzis? And that’s the main problem: F.E.A.R. 3 is just too ac on heavy, which ul mately floods the scares. F.E.A.R. 3 is a real let-down, as it simply fails to do the one thing we’d expect: scare us. Sure, the ac on is OK, the mul player is a laugh, and overall there are probably worse ways to spend an evening than popping zombie heads with an Uzi. It’s just an OK tle, but that’s not good enough for F.E.A.R. 3. F.E.A.R. 3 should be box office, a thrill ride in the same class as Dead Space, not a placid stroll through poncey scares. F.E.A.R. 3 is like that pub I men oned at the start. When you first came in, it was a scary, imposing place, but now you know what to expect, it’s all rather dull. We know what to expect from F.E.A.R. 3, and if it can’t scare us, not even in the slightest, we’ll find somewhere else to drink, thank you. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 12/20 STORY: 14/20 CONTROLS: 15/20 GAMEPLAY: 14/20 DURABILITY: 14/20

OVERALL

69/100

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

LEGO PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE VIDEO GAME

PUBLISHER: DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS DEVELOPER: TRAVELLER’S TALES FORMAT: ALL FORMATS GENRE: ACTION-ADVENTURE

X FINALLY MARKS THE SPOT You know the feeling when you’ve spent all day ding up your Lego, making sure that every last block is oﬀ the ﬂoor...and then you tread on a piece? That agony. That blinding pain. A feeling not dissimilar from steeping on an upturned plug, or plan ng your foot slap-bang in the centre of a rusty bear trap (I imagine). But, it’s not just the pain that hurts, but also the feeling that you’ve been cheated. You were me culous with your cleaning, taking every conceivable care to sweep the carpet of stray plas c cubes, but s ll, you get hurty footy for your troubles. Lego bites back, cheats you; kicks you when

you’re down, without telling you what you did wrong. Playing the recent Lego videogames, with their appalling signpos ng and repe ve gameplay, is not a dissimilar experience to this, and with that, we present the latest pixel incarna on in the series: Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game. There’s no real need to dive into the plot, as with all the Lego tles, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean creates playable parodies of its namesake film. From the first adventure, The Black Pearl, to the more recent On Stranger Tides and the two naff sequels in-between, fans of the films will not be disappointed. It is swashbuckling ac on all the way, with over 70 playable characters, a vast selec on of loca ons, that classic Pirates theme tune, and plenty of childish in-jokes. Sadly, there are only 20 levels to complete (5 per movie), and although there are literal tones of hidden characters, items and trinkets to collect, we would have liked to have seen a li le more treasure in this proverbial chest. Across all the formats, with the PS3 taking top marks, Lego Pirates is visually solid, elegantly mixing together a living world of Lego, with some delicate ligh ng and real-world visuals. Lego Pirates feels more realis c than previous tles, as if the Lego characters have walked onto the original film’s set, crea ng chaos

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whether they please. Produc on-wise, Lego Pirates is impressive, and as representa on of the film, spot on. Also, look out for Lego Captain Jack’s flimsy run: a lovely highlight! The first few levels in Lego Pirates deal with Captain Jack recrui ng his old deckhands, which when found, become fully playable. This is a very important sec on, as the new characters all possess different abili es, more so than any other Lego tle. For instance: Will Turner can throw axes; the female characters can double-jump, giving access to higher pla ormers; a deckhand can mend mechanical items; there’s even a fella with a massive gun. With all these plas c chaps in your arsenal, you’ll have to use the merits of each to complete the levels. Splitscreen mul player is also available along with online features, so you and a co-op chum can tackle the levels together.

giving you an indica on of where said piece of puzzle is, and more importantly, what you’re supposed to do with it. Also, while playing as Captain Sparrow, you can use a compass to find the next objec ve. Of course there are s ll a few problems, with the solu on to opening a pathway or reloading a cannon being occasionally stumbled upon rather than solved, but overall, Lego Pirates is less complex but ul mately a more enjoyable experience. We like Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game. It’s a da li le pla ormer that takes the best features of the sea-faring popcorn movies and adds its own sprinkle of parody-based charm. And now, with a more intelligent signpos ng system, it’s not as painful to play. With Lego Pirates, rather than the agony of a brick in the sole, it’s like stepping on a fluffy marshmallow, and finding a piece of earth underneath. Sco Tierney

Lego games, despite being ruddy good fun, have always had dreadful, dreadful signpos ng. If you’ve ever been stuck in a par cularly vague level, you’ll know that the best solu on to the problem is to simply cla er around the area, smashing every block in sight like a whirling dervish un l something happens. Thankfully, Traveller’s Tales have taken control of this issue with Lego Pirates, making it a much easy and more straigh orward tle to play. During gameplay, a pointer will appear on screen,

PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 15/20 CONTROLS: 16/20 GAMEPLAY: 15/20 DURABILITY: 13/20

OVERALL

76/100

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

SERIOUS SAM HD: GOLD EDITION

PUBLISHER: MASTERTRONIC LTD DEVELOPER: CROTEAM FORMAT: XBOX 360, PC GENRE: FPS

YOU STAY STUPID, SERIOUS OK OK OK, hold your horses: I know that the Serious Sam shooters are nearly ten years old, and yes, I know that this spit-glossed double-pack has been readily available for a good few months, but please; let me make my case. In the wake of Duke Nukem Forever’s rather pathe c arrival, gamers were sta ng that as both an industry and an audience, advances had been made that rendered Forever’s dumb, cheesy, repe ve and crass gameplay, obsolete. It’s a fair point, as although we wanted to high ﬁve his Dukeness and congratulate his triumphant return to our screen, Forever was an embarrassingly outdated tle. But have we, as gamers, really grown up? In a modern era of sophis cated, mul faceted, intellectual videogames such as Heavy Rain, Fallout: New Vegas and L.A. Noire, have we migrated beyond the simple joy of shoo ng baddies and cracking funnies? Have we simply grown up? To discover, let’s turn our a en on to the not-so-Serious Sam. Even in its 2001 pomp, Serious Sam was never what you’d class as a sophis cated tle. With more authen c, true to life games such as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Max Payne, Grand The Auto III, Red Fac on and Opera on Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis hi ng the shelves within the same year, gaming was

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con nuing to mature with its audience. But, this didn’t stop Gathering of Developers releasing Serious Sam: a da , back-to-basics FPS that did away with realism, and instead opted for big guns, never-ending herds of baddies and moronic gameplay. In 2002 came Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, with a few more weapons and a few more baddies, and in 2005, Serious Sam II released to a rather less apprecia ve audience. Serious Sam 3: BFE has been penciled in for this year, but news is rather thin on the ground. Serious Sam: Gold Edi on packages together the first two Encounters, which are about the best of the series. There is a plot, but as it doesn’t involve you or I pounding our trigger fingers un l bone is showing, it’s not worth going into much detail. Basically, both tles deal with an armed to the teeth Sam traveling back in me to obtain an ar fact that will save future Earth’s fate from an alien race. The first game takes place during the me of ancient Egypt, and the second throughout the era of the Mayan ...that’ll do.

“YES, IT’S DATED, REPETITIVE, DUMB AND UTTERLY STUPID, BUT WHO CARES; IT’S FUN!” Serious Sam features shoo ng that is old school at its most blatant. During each level you’ll be provided with plenty of ammo, weapons, health, and hordes of nas es – ranging from gigan c scorpion-people with Gatling guns, to charging bull skeletons and suicide bombers. At any set moment, it’s not uncommon to be faced with more than 30 enemies at once, and during one sec on, where Sam is trapped in a ght alleyway, you’ll have to deal with over a hundred charging targets – luckily you’ll be armed with a rocket launcher at this point! It really is pure point-and-shoot-and-shoot-and-shoot gaming, with no me to catch your breath and even less me to consider how repe ve the whole encounter is. Sam does occasionally chip-in with a li le gag, usually

poking fun at “lesser” ac on heroes (keep an ear out for Sam whistling the Indiana Jones theme tune a er being chased by a massive stone boulder), but all in all you’ll barely be able to hear him over the sound of gunﬁre and the dreaded “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” from another wave of 70 suicide bombers. So, as gamers, have we grown up? Do we have a more sophis cated pallet these days? Is this why Duke Nukem Forever failed; because it was simply too dumb for a 21st century audience? Personally, I doubt it. DNF failed partly because of the massive hype surrounding its enormously delayed release, but more so because it was...rubbish. Sure, gaming is more “high-brow” than ever before, but that doesn’t mean we can’t and don’t enjoy the simple pleasure of basic gaming. Put it this way: I postponed cracking a par cularly complex case on L.A. Noire, because Serious Sam was just too much fun – I’d rather shoot than shoot the breeze. Videogaming has always been a laugh, a jocular pas me, and that will never change, no ma er how many morality points are up for grabs, or how many intellectual decisions the gamer has to make. We haven’t grown up, we just expect more from our games, and that’s why Nukem felt so out of place: he just wasn’t up to it anymore. Thankfully, Sam s ll is. Serious Sam HD: Gold Edi on is cracking box set that for under a tenner on most online stores is well worth a place on everyone’s shelf. Yes, it’s dated, repe ve, dumb and u erly stupid, but who cares; it’s fun! In the case of Serious Sam, sophis ca on can wait. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 15/20 STORY: 13/20 CONTROLS: 15/20 GAMEPLAY: 18/20 DURABILITY: 14/20

OVERALL

75/100

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV ARCADE EDITION PUBLISHER: CAPCOM DEVELOPER: DIMPS/CAPCOM FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3, PC GENRE: FIGHTER

FOR THE HARDCORE ONLY Before we start, a quick ques on: do you own a Street Fighter Tournament Edi on Fights ck? If the answer is no, please skip ahead to the next page, as there is nothing for you here. However, if you do pride yourself with the fact that you have the 8 bu on full-on joys cked beast, and you’ve got the indents in your lap to prove it, then read on ﬁght fans, read on; as this is the update you’ve been wai ng for...probably.

“SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV ARCADE EDITION IS A CRACKING LITTLE UPDATE TO AN ALREADY SUPERB TITLE.” Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edi on isn’t a brand new tle, but more a collec on of tweaks and treats to the always reliable face kicker, Street Fighter IV. Released earlier in the years as a single download for those who already owned the previous game, this disc-based version features everything from Street Fighter IV, plus the Arcade addi ons, in one neat package. Basically, if you don’t already own a Street Fighter game, this is the one to get. We all know what the gameplay is about – side-on figh ng with all the iconic stars of the series – so let’s focus on the good stuff: the updates. First off, to add to the 35 characters already available in the standard version, there are 4 new fighters to choose from: Yun, Yang, Oni and Evil Ryu. Oni is a blue-blazing beast in the same style of Blanka, featuring a vicious bicycle kick, a dynamite uppercut and enough electrical energy to power Coventry; Yun and Yang, twin brothers, rely on speed and agility to win their bouts;

and Evil Ryu, who takes all the best bits of a friendly kindred, and adds a li le more thump and hair. All four of the new fighters also have their own Anime-style cut-scenes to complement the single player campaign, but if you enjoy these, frankly, you’re insane (no offence). Most of the updates to the Arcade Edi on are aimed at improving the online features, making mul player more accessible to both the newbie and the hardcore, as well as offering up some replay func onality. With the Replay Follower, you can keep tabs on up to five players’ replays; with Elite Channel, you can tune in to watch the best fights from those fighters who have truly mastered Street Fighter (only those with over 3000PP need apply) and with My Channel Advanced, you can distribute all your new replays to up to 50 other players. Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edi on is a cracking li le update to an already superb tle. It may be aimed solely at the hard core Street Fighter, and unless you’re an expert of the series, you’ll be hard pressed to pick-up the minute character balance updates and visual tweaks. But, this is s ll videogame figh ng at its best, and a worthy addi on to your collec on for both the raw of knuckle and pink of palm. But, if you just want a bit of simple figh ng ac on, £5 will probably get you a pre-owned copy of Street Fighter IV...only spend £20+ for the Arcade Edi on if you really have to. PRESENTATION: 18/20 STORY: 16/20 CONTROLS: 18/20 GAMEPLAY: 18/20 DURABILITY: 17/20

Sco Tierney

OVERALL

87/100

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

Nokia 7230

Nokia 6730

Nokia 5530

Nokia E75

Nokia 6210

Size weight Frequency Screen Pixels camera resolu on memory/compa bility bluetooth GPRS WLAN Browser Java Messaging Radio Music downloadable games downloadable ringtones Ba ery talk me - mins (max) Ba ery standy - hours (up to) bluetooth carKit compa ble

98 x 48 x 14.8 mm 100 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 3.15 MP 45 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

112 x 46 x 12.6 mm 83 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 3.15 MP 48 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

104 x 49 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 3.2 MP 70 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/AMS Yes

111.8 x 50 x 14.4 mm 139 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 240 3.2 MP 50 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

103 x 49 x 14.9 mm 117 g Tri-band 320 x 240 3.2 MP 120 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

MP3/MP4/WAV/WMA

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA

MP3/AAC/WAV/WMA

MP3/WAV/AAC/WMA

Yes MP3 300 370 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 600 500 Yes

Yes MP3 340 264 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 222 244 Yes

Sony Ericsson Spiro

Sony Ericsson XPERIA

Sony Ericsson W395

Sony Ericsson C903

Sony Ericsson Aino

92 x 48 x 16.75 mm 90 g Dual band 240 x 320 2 MP

119 x 62 x 16 mm 175 g Quad-band/3G 854 x 480 5.1 MP

97 x 47 x 14.9 mm 96 g Quad-band 176 x 220 2 MP

97 x 49 x 16 mm 96 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 5 MP

104 x 50 x 15.5 mm 134 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 420 8.1 MP

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 294 351 Yes

Play

5 MB/Micro SD

400 MB/Micro SD

10 MB/Memory S ck Micro

130 MB/Memory S ck Micro

60 MB/microSD

Yes/A2DP/Micro USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA No WAP/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/MP4/AAC+/WAV

Mp3/MP4/AAC

MP3/AAC

Yes MP3 270 475 Yes

Yes MP3 505 425 Yes

Yes MP3/AAC 420 480 Yes

Yes MP3/AAC 600 400 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 270 360 Yes

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

Nokia E63

Nokia N97

Nokia 3720 classic

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

Sony Ericsson Cedar

113 x 59 x 13 mm 126 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP 110 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm 150 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 5 MP 32 GB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Wi-Fi WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

115 x 47 x 15.3 mm 94 g Tri-band 320 x 240 2 MP 20 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 11 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm 109 g Quad-band 640 x 360 3.2 MP 81 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML/WML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

111 x 49 x 15.5 mm 84 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 2 MP 280 MB/Micro SD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA No WAP/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/WAV/AAC/WMA

MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WAV

MP3/AAc/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

Mp3/MP4/AAC

Yes Polyphonic & MP3 660 432 Yes

Yes MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MIDI/Real Tone/MP3 420 450 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 528 406 Yes

Yes MP3 750 420 Yes

Sony Ericsson Yari

Sony Ericsson Naite

Sony Ericsson C901

Sony Ericsson C510

HTC Desire

100 x 48 x 15.7 mm 115 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 5 MP

108 x 47 x 12.6 mm 84 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP

105 x 45 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band 240 x 320 5 MP

107 x 47 x 12.5 mm 92 g Quad-band 240 x 320 3.15 MP

119 x 60 x 11.9 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP

60 MB/microSD

100 MB/microSD

120 MB/Memory S ck Micro

100 MB/Memory S ck Micro

ROM:512 MB/RAM:576 MB/microSD

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes HMTL Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email(Push)/IM Yes

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAC/MP4

MP3/AAC/MID/M4A/WAV/WMA

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 600 450 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 564 380 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/Aac 420 400 Yes

Yes MP3 400 360 Yes

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

Apple iPhone 3G S

Apple iPhone 3G

INQ Chat 3G

BlackBerry 8520

BlackBerry Bold 9000

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 3.15 MP 16/32 GB (internal)

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2 MP 8/16 GB (internal)

114.5 x 61 x 12.8 mm 93 g Tri-band/3G 176 x 220 3.2 MP 120MB/Memory S ck Micro

109 x 60 x 13.9 mm 106 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP 256 MB/MicroSD

114 x 66 x 14 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2MP 1GB/microSD

Yes/A2DP/USB

Yes/A2DP/microUSB

Yes/A2DP/USB

Yes/EDGE Wi-Fi HTML (Safari) No SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/USB

Yes/EDGE Yes HTML (Safari) No SMS/Email No

Yes Yes Net Front Yes SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/EDGE Class 10 Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

MP3/MP3 VBR/AAC/WAV

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC

MP3/AAC/WMA/AAC+/MP4/WMV MP3/WMA/AAC+

Yes

Poly/MP3

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/MP3/WAV

Poly/MIDI/MP3

Poly/MP3

720 300 Yes

600 300 Yes

480 170 Yes

270 408 Yes

300 310 Yes

Samsung B3310

Samsung Jet

LG GD510 Pop

LG GM750

Dell Streak

91 x 54 x 17 mm 101 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

108 x 53.5 x 11.9 mm 110 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP 2/8 GB (internal)/microSD Yes/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Wi-Fi WAP/Dolphin Yes

97.8 x 49.5 x 11.2 mm 87 g Quad-band 240 x 400 3.15 MP 42 MB RAM/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 12 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

109.8 x 53.5 x 12.9 mm 120 g Quad-band 240 x 400 5 MP

152.9 x 79.1 x 10 mm 220 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP

128 MB RAM/256 MB ROM/microSD

16GB/512MB ROM/512MB RAM/microSD

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email No MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA Yes MP3 580 400 Yes

SMS/MMS/Email/Vidoe/MS Exchange

Yes

MP3/MP4

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA/AMR

MP3/MP4/WMA

MP3/MPEG4/WAV/eAAC+/WMA

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 300 380 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 492 422 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 200 360 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 380 450 Yes

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK

BlackBerry 8300 Curve

Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung Pixon 12

Samsung S5600V Blade Samsung Genio Touch

107 x 60 x 15.5 mm 111 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2MP 64MB/microSD

122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 119 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP 8GB/16GB/microSD

108 x 53 x 13.8 mm 120 g 480 x 800 pixels 240 x 320 12 MP 150 MB/microSD

102.8 x 54.8 x 12.9 mm 92 g 240 x 320 pixels 240 x 320 3.15 MP 50 MB/microSD

103 x 56.5 x 12 mm 90 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD

Yes/USB

Yes/A2DP/microUSB

Yes/A2DP/USB

Yes/USB

Yes/EDGE No HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Yes HTML Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/EDGE Class 12 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+

MP3/MP4/WMA/eAAC+

MP3/WMA/AAC

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMV/WMA

Yes

Poly/MP3

Poly/MP3/WAV

240 408 Yes

803 750 Yes

180 250 Yes

120 250 Yes

480 730 Yes

HTC Desire HD

HTC Magic

HTC Hero

Apple iPhone 4

BlackBerry Torch

123 x 68 x 11.8 mm 164 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 8 MP

113 x 55 x 13.7 mm 118.5 g Quad-band 320 x 480 3.15 MP

112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 480 5 MP

111.5 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm 137 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 960 5 MP

111 x 62 x 14.6 mm 161 g Quad-band/3G 360 x 480 5 MP

1.5 GB/Micro SD

288 MB/microSD

16/32 GB (internal)

4GB/MicroSD

Yes/A2DP/Micro USB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA Yes Poly/MP3/Aac 550 420 Yes

Yes/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Wi-Fi HTML (Safari) No SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

MP3/MP4

MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA 9

MP3/MP3 VBR/AAC/WAV

MP3/eAAC/WMA/WMV

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 450 420 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 420 750 Yes

Yes MP3 420 300 Yes

Yes MP3 330 430 Yes

PHONICA MAGAZINE UK