Community Round-Up: 28/01/12

While Gazza is busy writing essays and taking exams, or at least that’s what he tells me, I’ve had to fend off Steven to be able to do this week’s Community Round-Up. So, that’s another week with that crazy, Red Menace stayed at door.

A touch quieter from the completely packed week of meets we had last week, or it will be until the cacophony of Bolters and Chainswords fill the halls, with tonight’s Warhammer 40K meet, starting at 7PM.

Equally loud, the sound of highly revved rally cars gently skimming past trees and lamp posts in tomorrow’s revived Dirt 3 meet. Shenanigans have been promised…

Check your mirrors before pulling out onto the roads, with Monday night’s Gran Turismo 5 meet at 7PM. Be prepared for silly games like Cat & Mouse, which is sure to be insane in a 12 man lobby. Alternatively, don’t bother, hop in your Monster Truck and join theberzerka’s Monday Motorstorm Madness at 8PM for some car smothering fun!

The last meet advertised, at the time of writing, is my very own project, the Uncharted 3 meets. Every week like a big, clockwork cuckoo at 7PM on a Thursday.

That’s all there is, so far, but there’s almost always a Battlefield 3 meet on Friday evenings, and several other things that pop up during the week. Don’t forget that you can bake your own delicious meets if you have 250 TSA points or more.

Whilst there’s no new competitions this week, we do finally have fresh intel on what’s happening with the postponed Modern Warfare Master competition!

Gazza has asked all the previous people that signed up for the competition when they were available, and Tuesday 31st of January at 8PM was the consensus. There may be an extra space or two that you can sign up for, and Gazza would also like you to sound off if you received the new details in this forum thread.

There’s been quite a lot of fresh content this week, with some reviews of DLC tidbits. Greg, ever Watchful, has taken the time to delve into GT5′s Speed Test Pack, with a look at the 3rd Car Pack that was released alongside. Jim has also been going online and playing the rejuvenated Uncharted 3: Flashback Map Pack.

The world of previews saw a hands on with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and Blair took a look at Resident Evil: Revelaitons. Not “Revelations”, as many boxes say, that’s a clear typo… Rayman Origins is also getting a second chance on the Vita, with a couple of new features over the home console editions, and reworked controls to suit the new console. Finally, a whole gaggle of our Scotland oriented staff and members headed to Glasgow’s Vita Rooms, which Alex summed up quite nicely.

Onwards we trek, to the catalogue of weekly features we have. This week’s WeView sees the opinions from Driver: San Francisco summed up, and sets us off to review Batman: Arkham City. Once you’ve done that, you can indulge a little PC gaming on the cheap with Terraria getting a revisit, as does The Last Guy, which is this week’s Playback. Finally, you can discover all of the games that the staff have been playing this week in the 37th edition of the feature. Still going strong!

The more editorial side of things saw Kris discussing Open World games, and whether they are an avenue still ripe for exploring. Peter then took to his soap box, and talked about using games consoles for anything but… The watching of streamed TV, no less!

Let’s have a gander at the forums for a while. There’s been an influx of new threads, I feel, so hopefully there’s something for you:

• Boomshanks and Yogdog both had almost exactly the same idea, with one asking what music you found relaxing, and the other asking what music gets you in a good mood.
• CC_Star thinks he’s found simply the best animated gif on the web… Do you agree?
• The F1 2012 pre-season show continues, as cars are starting to be unveiled… Could probably use a nose job.
• Fake Tony is wondering if anyone else in Europe is going to get that most US-centric of PlayStation franchises, Twisted Metal.
• Are there any games you just couldn’t finish? Was it because you also lacked commitment with eating all your greens, and your mum confiscated said game? You should eat your vegetable. They’re good for you.

I’m glad to say that Saturday Showdown was quite a popular addition last week, and so we’re going to end it on a high…

Only kidding!

There was quite an overwhelming victory in favour of the man with muscles bigger than your head, the totally compensating, Chris Redfield. He took home 10 votes, whilst Leon Kennedy’s lacklustre police career, floppy hair and babysitting duties left him adrift on just 3 votes…

So who, or what, will Chris Redfield face this week, in an attempt to hold onto his World’s Most Out-of-Proportion Man title? Well, I thought that the news of Aliens: Colonial Marines evasive release date might give Chris an interesting challenge.

So, to recap Chris:
Pros:

• Beats up silly emo-looking presidential bodyguards.
• Military training.
• Front runner to be California’s next Governor.

Cons:

• Should really pick on someone his own size.
• Totally compensating for something…

The Colonial Marine:
Pros:

• Slipperier than a jellied eel wriggling out of your buttery hands.
• Military training, and comes in big groups. Space Marine!
• Motion trackers, flamethrowers, machine guns… What’s not to like?

Cons:

• You never quite know when he’s going to turn up.
• About as likely to survive as your average Star Trek Red Shirt… Face hugging might sound nice, but it’s honestly not a pleasant way to go.
• No concept of duct tape, for that killer motion tracker-machine gun combo…

So, get your votes in, and see if Chris can be dethroned after just a single week, or if he can cling on for a while longer.

Until next week!