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Electricpig music download polls: is there room for another service?
Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers DLC: hands on preview
Best LCD TV
First video tour of Apple Store Covent Garden
Batman Arkham City: Arkham Asylum sequel named and dated!
Apple Store Covent Garden: 5 reasons you should stop by this weekend
Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions: First play
Facebook: privacy settings go mobile
iPad mini rumours hot up: will Apple shrink the tablet?
Sony and Channel 4 talking 4OD on PS3

Electricpig music download polls: is there room for another service?

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 11:27 AM PDT

Last month we broke the news that Pure would be launching its own cloud based music download service. Then just a week or so ago, HMV launched a download site, HMV digital, powered by 7digital. With a cross section of new and established services knocking around, we thought it was about time we put it to you.

In the midst of all these new options, we find ourselves asking whether there’s actually any space for a new service, and wondered how much iTunes had managed to carve out a market monopoly for its convenience and penetration.

This poll will be the first in a short series of three, to gauge what you’re using and what you think is missing. Firstly, we want to know the answer to the questions that brought all this about: is there room for another service? Click and tell…

Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers DLC: hands on preview

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:00 AM PDT

The Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers DLC pack isn’t the first set of extra levels and goodies for Rockstar’s magnum opus, but for this batch, the studio is expecting you to pay for them. Is what boils down to a set of maps and a new weapon worth saddling up for once again and drawing out your credit card? We got an early preview to find out, so read on for our impressions.

Red Dead Redemption is unquestionably one of the finest games of the year, and on the Xbox 360 and PS3, perhaps ever. That’s down to a haunting story as memorable as the dusty landscape setting, but compared to the Odysseon scope of Final Fantasy 13, it’s not particularly long. Luckily the game’s comprehensive multiplayer modes will keep you playing long after Marston’s own story has been concluded, and the Read Dead Redemption Legends and Killers DLC pack is a welcome extension, if not quite as much of a bargain as the first free co-op DLC pack.

The Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers DLC introduces eight new playable characters in multiplayer, including some from prequel Red Dead Revolver. That’s not what you’ll be forking over £7.99 (Or 800 Microsoft points) for though: the core goodies are nine new multiplayer maps (Of which we were able to test six, on the Xbox 360), and one hilarious thematic weapon, the tomahawk.

None of the new multiplayer maps will come as a surprise to anyone who’s completed Red Dead Redemption’s single player saga in full – they’re all wilderness spots and towns from the three different territories. But they’re so well picked and primed for each type of multiplayer game, they may well wean you off the superb Free Roam mode and into the more typical 10 minute deathmatch/capture the flag games Red Dead Redemption also offers.

For one, the new levels no longer feel like spots where any type of tactics will work so long as you’re quick on the trigger, as some of the flat town levels in the initial multiplayer map offerings do. Each of the maps in Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers DLC requires a markedly different approach.

Take Escalera. The mansion HQ of the vicious Colonel Allende in the single player game becomes a brilliant team deathmatch level. Its crumbling hilltop turrets prove an excellent place to rain death down on anyone in the town square below, but you’ll need to watch your back if they make it into the shanty buildings at the foot of the slope. From there, it’s an enclosed run up steps to the fort, so if your team coordinates well, it’s possible to oust the snipers.

Or Tall Trees, an expansive, snowy forest in West Elizabeth. It proves a perfect setting for Hold Your Own (Team capture the flag). You can summon a horse in this level, and while it’ll get you across the map to the enemy base quickly, the dense forest means anyone could pop out from behind a tree and shoot your steed in the face at any second.

It’s possible to nab the flag in Tall Trees on your own, if enough of your team approach from different routes. But the same mode in Thieves Landing requires some serious formation, as there are just a few bridges across the level, and deadly water preventing stealth (In Rockstar’s world, fully clothed Eastern Europeans can swim, but cowboys can’t). Finally, the modern town of Blackwater mixes up high apartment blocks and rat runs of alleyways to create a tense, square map in which there’s never a guaranteed route to the enemy base.

Read our Red Dead Redemption review now

Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers also brings one new weapon to the mix, the tomahawk. It works just as you’d expect, dipping down from the target cursor if you aim too far off and clattering to the ground. You’ll know when you hit your target as the axe will either cleave the unfortunate hoodlum’s skull in two, or stick painfully into a limb, causing them to limp.

It’s not just a humiliation kill weapon however: throwing one won’t reveal your position on the radar as firing a gun will, so you can crouch and sneak around unnoticed. One particular map in Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers, Rio Bravo, is especially suited for this type of gameplay, as it’s a labyrinth of mountainside ravines, nooks and crevices.

And more to the point, it causes massive damage from up close – certainly much more so than a pistol. You could experiment with longer range throws: one Rockstar rep told us he’d pulled off a perfectly executed (literally) lob from more than a hundred yards, though we suspect that’s the game’s equivalent of fluking a three pointer from underneath your own basket. It also brings with it new single player Achievements/Trophies to unlock, for score obsessives.

The question is, will Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers be worth it? £7.99 is a lot more than £0.00, especially when there are Modern Warfare 2 packs to be bought. We wouldn’t blame you if you held off until the Undead Nightmare pack for Red Dead Redemption hits later in the year, bringing as it does a whole new single player challenge.

But for those still playing the multiplayer modes two and a half months after launch, the Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers DLC pack brings much more than just new walls to duck behind.

Out 10 August | £7.99 (PS3) or 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox) | Rockstar

Best LCD TV

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:44 AM PDT

Buying a new gogglebox is a tough decision, and all the more so since you may only do it once or twice a decade. If you’re on the hunt for the best LCD TV, never fear, as we’ve got the very finest of the flatscreens at any one time lined up for you in our Best LCD TV Top 5 list right here.

While we’re always on the hunt for gadget gossip and news, here at Electricpig we also review all the biggest kit on the planet, letting you know what’s worth whipping your wallet out for and what’s not. Our Best LCD TV list you see on the right hand side there is constantly revised.

We go back and evaluate for every new panel that comes through our doors, and decide whether it’s earned a place on the Best LCD TV podium: any that do get our Recommended award, and you get an easy way to snap them up right here and now with our simple Buy It button.

If you’re on a mission for a monstrous TV in your living room, have a gander at the Best LCD TV Top 5 list to the right, and if you disagree, we’d love to hear your thoughts – just jot them down in the comments below. We love a good debate!

No related posts.

First video tour of Apple Store Covent Garden

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:59 AM PDT

We've shown you the first photos of the Apple Store Covent Garden, liveblogged its official launch, and now we can take you on an exclusive video tour of its sprawling innards. Come with us as we explore the world's biggest Apple Store, right in the heart of London.

From the stretch Genius Bar to Apple's brand new Pro Labs education areas, the Apple Store Covent Garden is the most comprehensive Apple Store to date, and the Mac-maker promises it'll be well-stocked too, with more iPad and iPhone 4 stock than any other retail location.

Read our top five reasons you should stop by the Covent Garden Apple Store

Get yourself along to the store at number one, The Piazza, Covent Garden, London on Saturday and if you're amongst the first 4,000 people through the door you'll receive a spiffy Apple t-shirt, custom designed to commemorate the opening of the Apple Store Covent Garden.

Batman Arkham City: Arkham Asylum sequel named and dated!

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:55 AM PDT

Batman: Arkham City has been revealed as the official name for the Batman: Arkham Asylum sequel. The batch of Batman domain names uncovered last month were the real deal and Warner Bros has now slung up an official site for the game and revealed a taste of what we can expect. Deploy your Batarang and swing past the break for details…

As we expected, Batman: Arkham City moves the action to a new location, Arkham City, a new maximum security home in the heart of Gotham. In the kind of move that should get the city planner fired, Batman's most famous foes plus a healthy glob of anonymous gangsters and thugs will be placed within the sprawling district.

Warner Bros hasn't officially announced which villains will be included in Batman: Arkham City but as well as the return of the Joker (who appeared in the Arkham Asylum 2 teaser video) roles for The Penguin, Mr Freeze, Talia Al Ghul, The Riddler and Two-Face have all been hinted at. Catwoman will definitely make an appearance as shown by Game Informer’s September cover.

Batman: Akrham City is set to hit Xbox 360, PS3 and PC but we've got a bit of a wait on our hands. The game isn't due to be released until Autumn 2011. Hit the link below to sign up for updates.

Check our Batman: Arkham Asylum review if you haven't played the first game yet and let us know what you want to see in Batman: Arkham City. Which villains would you add to the cast list?

Due Autumn 2011 | £TBC | Batman: Arkham City

Apple Store Covent Garden: 5 reasons you should stop by this weekend

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:46 AM PDT

In case you haven't noticed, we've been blown away by Apple's new Covent Garden superstore, and since we know a lot of Electricpig readers are based in the UK here's 5 reasons you should hot foot it down there when it opens this weekend.

1. You'll get some freebies
Apple always gives away freebies to celebrate its new store openings. The first 4,000 through the doors at the Covent Garden Apple Store will receive a free T-shirt, and we wouldn't be surprised if there're a few more surprises on the day too.

2. It'll be easier to get served
The Genius Bar at the Covent Garden Apple Store is huge. If you've had problems being served at Apple's always-overcrowded Regent Street store, then you'll be more likely to solve your problem at Covent Garden.

If you're making a purchase, that'll be easier too. The Covent Garden Apple Store is the first to use iPod touches to scan purchases without a till, while chip and pin machines on almost every table top mean forking over your cash will take just a few seconds, and with absolutely no queueing.

See our exclusive video tour of the Covent Garden Apple Store

3. Get free professional training
Apple stores often hold training sessions, but the Covent Garden Apple Store is the first to feature the company's new Pro Labs training programme. You'll be able to undertake a course in Apple's more advanced creative software, lasting eight hours in total. There's a full curriculum, and you can stop in for an hour or two at a time until you're up to speed.

We were told customers will leave the store able to use the likes of Logic and Final Cut Pro to a "professional level" without once reaching for their wallet. Considering courses for Apple software usually run into the hundreds of pounds, this is the Covent Garden Apple Store feature we're most hyped about.

4. Get set up before you leave
Whether you're buying an iPad or a new Mac, the Covent Garden Apple Store is the first to feature a dedicated "set up room." It's a private, relaxed place where an Apple employee will help you transfer all your content and settings from an old PC or Mac onto your new machine before you leave the store. You can have your iPad or iPhone set up for you in there too.

Check out our Apple Store Covent Garden sneak peek liveblog

5. Access Apple's business brain
The Covent Garden Apple Store has a Briefing Room for small businesses to get together with Apple employees for help integrating iDevices into their working environment. We don't imagine Steve Jobs will be holding personal management courses in there, but if you've been itching to get an iPhone and have an employer pick up the bill, this is the place you'll come to arrange it.

Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions: First play

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:27 AM PDT

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is the latest arachnid-shaped entry in the Spider-Man game franchise. It sees players take the reigns of different versions of the spidey superhero from four Marvel universes. It’s not out till 10 September, but we got our non-mutated hands all over it. Is it looking like the web slinging wonder fans are hoping for? Read on to find out.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is almost four games in one, comprising web-based combat featuring four different types of Spider-Man. Players will play as Spider-Men from the Amazing, Noir, Marvel 2099 and Ultimate universes in a story penned by Marvel comic book writer Dan Slott. It has players on a mission to capture the ominously sounding Tablet of Order and Chaos that has conveniently scattered across multiple universes.

At a secret preview in a Soho basement in London we were demoed some of the game by Stephane Gravel, producer at Shattered Dimensions developer, Beenox. We got treated to a run through of each Spider Man universe and what makes each special before getting hands-on with the Noir and Ultimate universe.

But first, Gravel first introduced us to the version even non-fans will be familiar with – Amazing Spider-Man. “He’s the one we all know”, Gravel reiterated. The Amazing Spider-Man is based on the old comics fans will be familiar with featuring the arachnid hero in his familiar bright red and blue garms. The universe features washed out colours and a fighting style based on web strikes, hammer and web-constructed ball attacks.

Spider-Man Noir is the second dimension and as non-fans would have noted a “lesser known version of Spider-Man” Gravel noted. Set in New York in the 1930s, stealth is the name of the game here. You’ll be climbing up walls rescuing hostages without so much as a peep. “You can fight close, but it’s easier in stealth”, it’s more fun too, but more on that later.

Spider-Man 2099 is the Spider-Man from the future in a Bladerunner style New York city where you’ll find yourself against a “mega corporation that run the police too” making way for three-way battles.

The last universe to be unveiled was Ultimate Spider-Man. Here Spider-Man makes use of long range attacks using his long tendrils to inflict damage over a larger distance. One of its unique features, Gravel pointed out, is the Rage mode. A meter in the top of the screen fills up, when it’s full you can unleash rage -fuelled attacks to inflict maximum damage.

Fans will be glad to know that the voices of each Spider-Man will be the voices from the cartoons: Neil Patrick Harris, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Dan Gilvezan and Josh Keaton respectively. Don’t know who those guys are? Gravel reassured us that even non hardcore fans will gradually be brought up to speed with the story behind each dimension as they play though it.

We soon got hands-on, firstly with Noir Spider-Man. It was just as stealth focussed as Gravel said it would be. You start off in what looks like train yard littered with empty carriages. Empty but for hostages stashed away in them. And it’s up to you to sneak around without alerting the enemies to your presence. The black and white colour scheme makes spotting enemies difficult, but turning on Spider sense lets you heat-seek them to aid you in picking them out, and the hostages.

Making your way around is easy thanks to an easy control layout and yellow arrow-shaped on-screen icons letting you know where you can web swing to at the touch of the right trigger (we tested it out on an Xbox 360), making it easy to launch yourself into the air and swing around the level at will. The basic, most used controls are X for fast attack, Y for strong attack, B to grab, A to jump and right trigger to web swing – pretty much the same for each version of Spider-Man you’ll play. Gravel told me this was a deliberate decision to make each version of Spider-Man as accessible as possible so that players can focus on the action rather than having to remember different configurations for each Spidey.

Back to the action as you creep around the Noir level you can take out enemies by marching up to land a few web-shaped haymakers, or you can play it on the sly and ambush them with some dramatic takedowns. Once you’re close enough to an enemy an on-screen prompt will alert you when a takedown is possible. Pressing B activates the takedowns, which differ according to your distance away from the enemy and angle you’re facing him. Attack from above and you’ll rope up your foe, trapping him in a web high up in the air and out of enemy sight. Attack nearby and you’ll use your web skills to stun the enemy before knocking them cold. Played properly, it’s great fun. The part we played could have been a little more challenging but we thoroughly enjoyed the Noir section.

We later got to play as the Ultimate Spider-Man in a level packed with enemies. We started off in what looked like a more colourful crimson dominated spaceship hangar and base where things were are a little more nuts than in the Noir universe. With enemies firing at you from all angles the Rage mode is a real lifesaver. You’ll meet large machine gunning robots too. Without the Rage mode they take forever to kill, but fire it up and they’re gone in no time as your strikes become more powerful. Throwing explosive barrels is another good way to aid you in clearing levels here. Press B to attach a web to an object before pressing X to launch it at an enemy. If you have time that is. Most of the time I found myself dodging enemy fire before getting in up close parrying the enemy with a combination of fast and strong attacks.

A month ahead of its release Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions looks like being a real treat for Spider-Man fans, and even non-fans. It’s action-packed mix of dimensions lends a much welcome change of scenery during play. Whether the different dimensions prolongs the sense of variety enough throughout to stave off any sense of repetitiveness will be key to how fans take to it.

Out 10 September | £TBC | Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Facebook: privacy settings go mobile

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:00 AM PDT

Facebook has upped the accessibility of its privacy tools and added the ability to alter your privacy settings on its mobile site. While it's another way to monitor your privacy, the real need for controls like this is on Facebook's multi-platform apps.

The new Facebook mobile settings will sync to your profile, so if you change something on the mobile settings, it'll change on Facebook.com too. You can view a preview of your public search profile, keep check of blocked lists, alter your basic directory listings, and set some basic sharing controls, although, as highlighted by the 100 million basic user info security researcher Ron Bowes pulled off, your Facebook name, profile pic, gender and networks are open to everyone.

The controls aren't available on any Facebook apps yet, iPhone or otherwise, but we’re waiting on news as to whether we can expect it soon. The Android app has recently had an update too, just a couple of weeks after Zuckerberg reportedly swapped his iPhone for an Android device. The Facebook for Android update has only just been outed, and so it might be w while until those updates make it through to the Android platform.

To take a look about the privacy settings, go to: m.facebook.com/privacy

iPad mini rumours hot up: will Apple shrink the tablet?

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 06:35 AM PDT

It's the height of Apple rumour season and the latest unconfirmed object of desire is the iPad mini. In a batch of new tantalising tittle-tattle, talk of a smaller 7in iPad is the most intriguing prospect but there's also renewed talk of a touchscreen iPod shuffle and, improbably, the early arrival of the iPhone 5…

iLounge which has a pretty good history when it comes to Apple predictions says a 7in iPad mini is on the cards and set to arrive later this year or early in 2011. It claims Apple has been building prototypes packing the smaller screen for ages, a claim backed up by the evidence in our Apple tablet history feature from before the iPad’s arrival.

Other rumours around the iPad mini suggest it'll come packing similar Retina Display technology to the iPhone 4 and will introduce the front-facing iPad camera we've been gagging for in the current iPad.

See our exclusive video tour of the Covent Garden Apple Store

Meanwhile talk of a touchscreen iPod shuffle has sparked back into life. The new device would allegedly come packing a 1.7in screen. A mysterious Apple screen was leaked online last month and definitely seems to fit the bill.

Finally, there's some wild speculation that the iPhone 5 could drop in January as a result of the iPhone 4 antenna issues. We're filing all the new Apple rumours in the folder marked "Wishful Thinking" but this one should probably be thrown out entirely.

Hit the comments and let us know what you make of the latest batch of Apple rumours. Are any of them on the money? Or should we take them with considerably more than an pinch of salt?

Due TBC | £TBC | Apple (via iLounge/9to5Mac)

Sony and Channel 4 talking 4OD on PS3

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 06:03 AM PDT

Sony and Channel 4 are hatching plans to bring 4OD to the PS3 according to new reports. The BBC iPlayer hit the console back in 2008 but if 4OD makes the jump, Channel 4 will be the first commercial broadcaster to offer its shows via the platform. It's also said to have a 4OD iPad app in the works…

Whispers of talks to bring 4OD to the PS3 come via TV industry bible Broadcast. It says the deal is at an early stage but features an enthusiastic quote from a Channel 4 source: "We're looking to launch on PS3. 4OD is becoming a platform-agnostic product and will be successful because of the quality of the content."

The appeal for Sony of getting 4OD on the PS3 is obvious. Combining Channel 4's strong stable of shows with its current iPlayer offering would give it one up on the Xbox 360 and Sky Player.

Channel 4 has been expanding access to 4OD and became the first British channel to offer full length shows on YouTube in October 2009.

No details on the 4OD iPad app have emerged yet. However, with a BBC iPlayer app on the way to the iPhone and iPad as well as the dedicated iPlayer iPad version, Channel 4 obviously needs to get in on the action.

Let us know: are you eager to see 4OD shows like The Inbetweeners and Peep Show on your PS3? And what do you want features do you want to see in a 4OD iPad app?

Out TBC | £TBC | 4OD (via Broadcast)

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Friday, 6 August 2010

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