Downward Spiral

Is there anything to say that these three titles are going to be FF-related though? Don't get me wrong, I'll be as excited as anyone if we get more FF goodness on the way but Square Enix have been pushing through quite a few new game IPs recently.

According to Gamespot the DLC packs will be coming to the PS3 in June. X-Boxers: are they any good, as they seem to have gotten some mixed reviews. Link

Oh God if it was 9 there wouldn't be a question! Thanks guys, I think I'm going to stick with my gut instincts and pass on it :-)

This is the kind of dilemma which is caused by having a 10 quid HMV voucher with no idea whatsoever as to what to spend it on. Kirk, how accessible is the game for someone who's never really done the MMORPG thing?

Buying Final Fantasy XI - yay or nay?

Spoiler: Click here to viewNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! JULIET! If she is dead I will be completely and utterly pissed off. Melodrama aside - what an episode. The early stages turned me off somewhat but once the story got going, I found it absolutely fasinating - the twist with Locke at the end was genius and my boyfriend and I pretty much didn't sleep last night talking over what had happened. These 'new' losties from Ajira are a great addition, and I'm really interested to hear some more about their narrative now. But still... Juliet? Why the fuck not Kate? Gah!

This. Jack for me has got consistently less interesting as the show has gone on. Between them, Sawyer and Locke have the leader role covered, leaving Jack with nothing to do but hang on the sidelines. The only thing for him left to do is to be killed off, in my view.

1) Are you online? 2) Do you have a headset? If the answer to those questions is yes, let me know your PSN address and we'll play some time. Burnout is great. PSN username = jj7586. Sadly no headset

I'm going to throw a shoutout for Burnout: Paradise City as a recommendation - I hate driving games but I've really enjoyed it so far - it shows off what the PS3 can do graphically and is a pretty entertaining game to boot. Should be pretty cheap too (over in the UK it seems to be cropping up in quite a few pre-owned deals).

...Because Juliet is not only more interesting, but about x1000 more attractive as well? Honestly, I've never ever found Kate to be attractive. She's very bland. Which works, I don't think anyone else could've played the Kate role so well, but I just don't think she's good looking. I don't want her to leave the show, I just think that Juliet is the more interesting character and her narrative, her history with the island, and with Ben, are far more captivating than Kate's story. The worst thing they did with Kate, I think was make her part of the O6 - now we know she's been vindicated I have absolutely no reason to care about her, aside from what will eventually happen between her, Jack and Sawyer. Juliet, on the other hand, is a badass - and by far a more interesting character. Her mannerisms, particularly that calm, placid way she digests even the worst news, makes her such an engaging and interesting character

To join in the discussion of this week's episode, I thought this was genuinely one of the best episodes of the show so far. You FINALLY get the sense of the threads being woven together with all of the individual groups now embarking on their journeys towards the season finale. I am so excited for the finale - I seriously hope it lives up to its predecessors. The finales of Series 3 and 4 have set the bar extremely high. Oh, and as an aside, I nearly melted when Hurley tried to lie to Chang before giving up and saying "Dude, we're totally from the future". And if this season doesn't conclude with an almighty Juliet/Kate catfight (with Juliet winning) I will riot.

Spoiler: Click here to viewSLANDER! Sun fucking rocks. All the same though, poor Daniel, although, to be honest it isn't entirely unpredictable. The vast majority of people who aren't the Others who are brought in to the show usually die pretty quickly. Spoiler: Click here to viewBut that's usually because they suck and no-one likes them. Ana Lucia was killed because she was shit, and Libby had to die to make Ana Lucia's death mean anything. Eko is probably the only exception to the rule I can think of, and to be honest there's a limit to what they could do with him since he was essentially just a black Locke who believed in God. Ana Lucia rocked and I will have no word said against her. Libby, on the other hand, could gladly have fucked off this mortal coil. I think the Eko situation was brought about because the actor requested to be written out due to family problems but I absolutely agree with you - if there was any character that had to die, it was Mr Eko, and let's face it - what an awesome episode that gave us.

Spoiler: Click here to viewSLANDER! Sun fucking rocks. All the same though, poor Daniel, although, to be honest it isn't entirely unpredictable. The vast majority of people who aren't the Others who are brought in to the show usually die pretty quickly.

RE: -A- we only think Daniel was part of the camp because we saw him in the opening moments of this season. That may have been a flash forward to when he finally visits the orchid as the scientist from Ann Arbour? In any event thank God he's back. I am so pumped for the go-home shows of this series it's unreal.

That was the barracks, as far as I recall - where Sawyer, Kate, Juliette et al are currently living in the 1970s. I think the Others have several ex-Dharma hideouts on the island though, as well as dwellings of their own from the 'hostile' years.

Ive moved on from Uncharted to Metal Gear Solid 4. Is there a reason that MGS4 seems so far up its own arse? I mean seriously - the gameplay doesn't seem all that great. The camera constantly gets in the way of the action when you're sneaking around the place. And every 5 minutes you get "treated" to a ridiculously long, gruelling and dull cut-scene. Am I just missing something, or is this game really not worth the hype? Beautiful graphics do not a good game make.

I REALLY hope that we get further exposition of Ethan's backstory this series. The Ethan/Charlie/Claire saga was absolutely gripping television and now to find he, like Ben, crossed the Dharma/Others divide, I can't help feeling that there's an awful lot of mileage to be gotten out of Mr Rom's story yet.

I agree to a certain extent - the combat certainly began to get a little competitive, but I thought the game could perhaps have been shortened by a few chapters. I thought the game had done so well in creating this rip-roaring, but yet human, adventure and the twist just jerked slightly with the tone. It's being nit-picky because it certainly opened a new challenge to the game but it was just a little bit OTT for my liking. All that said, I'm really glad I picked it up - it shows off what the PS3 can do graphically better than anything else in my view.

I've just invested in Uncharted on Saturday and I feel that I'm at, or very near, the end. The game certainly is addictive and the scenery is utterly gorgeous, but now I'm approaching endgame, the plotting and the combat have really gone off the boil for me. The twist with the Spoiler: Click here to viewzombies just seemed a little too far-fetched for my liking and sucked a bit of the fun out of a phenomenally constructed level which preceded it. Overall, a great initial playing experience and a real departure from my usual gaming choices, let down by a fizzling out of quality control as the game went on. I also got the Orange Box for a great deal and I think it's probably one of the finest bargains I've picked up. Portal is absolutely stunning - one of the cleverest puzzler/platforms I think I've ever come across, with a wickedly dark sense of humour. I never played Half-Life previously, but the inluded port of HL2 has been relatively entertaining even if I've gotten a bit stuck 5 minutes in :S. I will perhaps try and have a go at Team Fortress tonight but short of COD5, multiplayer shoot-outs aren't really my thing (and even then, to be honest, borrowing a friend's CoD4 was the only time I genuinely saw the possibilities and potential in online FPS environments).

4. Picture of you - Boyzone

#1 is 'Get Rhythm' by Johnny Cash

8 (on RW's list) is 'The First Cut is the Deepest' by either Rod Stewart or PJ Arnold.

I thought silver too, but I tried to take one down with my trusty silver dagger - only to get the 'this attack has no effect' message. Hence the run like hell reaction. To be fair, it was decimating my HP so much I would have died instantly if I kept fighting.

On a related note to this, how the fuck do you hit will o' the wisps? Every time I encounter them I have t orun like hell to the nearest city just to survive - it makes exploring a pain in the ass.

Time to turn this list's credibility down a notch... 1. Meatloaf 2. Mariah Carey 3. Freddie Mercury 4. Aretha Franklin 5. Leona Lewis 6. Whitney Houston 7. Art Garfunkel 8. David Bowie 9. Matt Bellamy 10. Will Young I will happily stand by any/all of these decisions