This Months Techy Ramblings - By Clickster

It's another quiet month for the Tech world in terms of news but that is mainly because this is where the Christmas rush starts! September is where it's at people! There have been very few big announcements sadly just a few minor bits of news and a bit of mudslinging in the games world. As I said though, this is the month where we get to see the good stuff and not just hear about it.

Sadly most of that stuff hasn't come out yet and what has been released has received lukewarm receptions but I shall do my best to filter out some of the stuff that you should be spending your money on to help make life a bit easier for you.

The biggest release this month in the world of gaming is a tossup between FIFA 12 and Gears of War 3. I have spoken about FIFA before and I genuinely can't wait. The manager mode has been given an overhaul as has the defending in game. No longer are the hoover style tackling moves allowed that suck your defender to the opposition player and take the ball from him. Now you have to tackle using your own ability to time it correctly. This should mean for a lot more genuinely competitive matches, particularly online where people can no longer exploit this way to stop attackers running onto them. The other new feature this year is that during manager mode players can pick up knocks during the game that may fail to materialise an injury straight away and could rear their had later in the game or later, just like real life. This should bring a lot more realism to the game and not simply be a case of putting your best 11 on the field. Now there will be a tactical reason to rest player and make changes. It's going to be massive.

Gears of War 3 is also out and is destined to also be massive. This is the final chapter of the story of Marcus Fenix and look sets to be just as epic and bombastic as the previous two. Having loved the previous two you would probably think that I would be itching to get my hands on this one too but the truth is I am not. This may be because I have fallen out of love with my Xbox 360 of late and swaying more towards the PS3 but I would prefer to think that is because I have become tired of the same shooter games being released year in, year out without any innovation whatsoever. Call of Duty is the main offender here but Gears of War 3 looks to be doing the same thing as it did in both 1 and 2. The only changes seem to be a few different aliens to shoot and a new playable female character! A female character?!?!?! That's never been done before! Oh hang on it has. It may turn out to be an awesome game that didn't need to innovate but this apparent lack of change and the fact I despised the online mode of the second game has meant I do not feel compelled to buy this game on release. For me it will be a purchase further down the line when the price has dropped. That will inevitably annoy the big fan base that Gears of War has but it is my opinion and I won't apologise for it!

Other notable games this month are Bodycount (looking like an average shooter - yes another one), Warhammer 40k: Space Marine (guess what? another shooter that’s a bit better than average by the looks) and Formula 1 2011. Personally I enjoy F1 and love playing F1 games, driving the qualifying and then buzz of the big race is really enjoyable but the release of this game in September confuses me no end. The F1 season is currently drawing to a close, the winner is all but crowned and any hype surrounding F1 is mainly about what next season will hold. Therefore the decision to release a game that will be out of date, in terms of drivers and teams, in 2 months’ time seems crazy when they could have scheduled the release at the start of the season (like FIFA) and get the full season's worth of hype and excitement. Having said that it does look good and I look forward to playing it.

Aside from the games releases Sony and Microsoft look set to start their Christmas punch up early after someone at Sony accused Microsoft of deliberately holding back gaming with inferior technology. Their logic being that the Xbox is now out of date specification wise and developers, who are capable of producing so much more, are forced to ensure it runs on the Xbox 360 if they want their game to make more money. I haven't seen a response from Microsoft yet and I'm not sure we will, I think their response will come in June 2012 when it is likely they unveil the next iteration of the Xbox. 

Sony and Nintendo have also seen fit to drop the price in their hardware these past few weeks as well. You can now pick up a PS3 for around £170 if you shop around and a Nintendo 3DS, which was only released in March this year, for just over £115 in the supermarkets. The 3DS looks a good buy for that price but personally I am a little wary that dropping the price so soon in the life of a product spells problems and the 3DS could be doomed. It is certainly in a difficult market now that it is competing with Smartphones for the mobile gaming market. The PS3 however looks a steal at that price. You could easily pay that price for a decent Blu Ray player but you would also be getting the most powerful games console currently available which still has a good few years left in the tank before a replacement is released!

Elsewhere there is no official news still on the iPhone 5 but internet rumour based around the big mobile phone retailers stock levels, ordering systems etc. suggest an October 21st release date. Whether this is just America or Worldwide remains to be seen. 

As far as the iPhone goes though the big release this month has to be the hens.org iPhone app! Coded by yours truly for the UK's biggest provider of Hen Night packages it is a must-have App if you're attending a Hen Night! Just £1.49 and available from the AppStore. Just search for hens.org or BezzApps or have a look on www.clicktickboom.com for the link!