Game & Gamestation not stocking Mass Effect 3!

Retail giant announces it won't be stocking Mass effect 3 or any post-SSX Ea games

Click on the post to read more...

Gamers across the UK were in shock today as Game Group announced that their stores (Game & Gamestation) would not be stocking any EA games (post SSX) in the month of March (no news on after March either). This includes Bioware's much anticipated Mass Effect 3, Tiger Woods 13 and FIFA Street.

The statement from Game says that this decisions is down to supply issues and that they will refund anyone who has pre-ordered these games.

Does this mark the end for the retail giant or is it just a minor blip?

All we here at Modern Tat are gonna say is were off to pre-order Mass Effect somewhere else, because if stores like HMV, PC World and the supermarket giants (Tesco, Asda) run out of copies it's going to get messy! It'll be like the summer riots all over again just nerds instead of chavs!!

Peace

iPad3? iPad mini? Or ePad for education?

So ever since the iPads introduction in 2010 people have spun rumours of smaller, cheaper 7" iPads supposedly being crafted deep down in (sir) jonny Ives Apple laboratory. So far these rumours have not come to fruition.

However, next Thursday whereApple have set a media event focussing on education, we might just see something along the lines of "iPad mini" arise.

Steve Jobs and apple had their sights set on the digital textbook and education market for the last few years. Jobs had visions of every school kid preventing early lower back problems by carrying around an iPad instead of a rucksack crammed with heavy textbooks.

Apple alsohas had a generally good link with education selling and has a history of doing good deals; education discount (practically the only discount they do!), cheap bulk sales of hardware and software as well as specialised computers for education institutes such as the aptly named emac and the continuation of the white polycarbonate MacBook. Overall leaving the company in good steadings with education institutes and giving it a good position to enter the education market.

So back to the business of selling iPads....

Every family can't afford to provide their children with an iPad for school. And schools certainly can't afford to kit kit out every class with a set of iPads. Not at their current price however.

Taking all that into consideration I'm predicting a cut cost iPad offered to the education market and ONLY the education market. Maybe not from next Thursday's event, but definitely in the not so distant future.

It makes sense. Say the company announces some amazing digital textbooks next Thursday and starts offering normal iPads to schools. In the US alone if 10% of schools kit out just one class with iPads, that's somewhere around 300,000 sales not including the revenue made from textbook sales.

Of course that might be an optimistic figure but even if 5% equip a classroom, if the textbooks are good quality and generate enough hype, every school is going to want to follow suit.

Enter the cut cost 'ePad' if you like. Probably not with a smaller screen (the kids need to be able see the thing right?!) but with less memory, a slower processor (who needs a quad core A6 for textbooks?) and defunct of useless features such as 3G and Gps, apple could have a low cost product that causes every school to throw their cash at apple.

Of course Apple might just keep selling old generation iPads to the education market at a lower mark up. Or I might be completely wrong and we see no increase in interest from the education market.

Time will tell.

Assassin's Creed Revelations Review

Still undecided on Assassin's Creed Revelations? Read our verdict!

Click on the post to read more...

Old Ezio looks like he's been round the world and back at the beginning of Assassin's Creed Revelations, his grey beard and and grey hair are clear evidence that this is the last installment of the series to involve Ezio and after three assassin's games its about time.

Although this installment doesn't see you only play as Ezio, oh no you also get to play as series main stay Desmond and the lead character of the first Assassin's game Altair. Despite the three playable characters there's no confusion in the plot or the overall story of the game as all three have there own story-lines. The main plot of the game involves Ezio and his quest to find the five Maysaf Keys so that he may unlock Altair's library, and discover the secrets that lie within.

This quest see Ezio make his way Constantinople, which provides a brilliant playground of buildings to climb up and then jump off, shops that need renovating, templar dens that need taking out and the odd treasure to be found.

The Desmond missions are unlocked in the game by finding a certain number of collectables as Ezio. These missions are in first person and require you to solve puzzles and whilst being very stylish and intriguing they just feel out of place and not suited to the series whatsoever. However where the real fun in game lies is within the Altair missions. These unlock after certain points in the Ezio campaign and tell the story of (Spoiler) Altair rise and fall within the Assassin's Creed. These missions are an absolute delight, despite being much of the same as the Ezio they become something to really look forward to.

Despite being an excellent game, there are quite a few flaws to Assassin's Creed Revelations as well. The first of which is that it's all too short, after finishing the game there's still that itch that that there's more you could have played. Another problem with the game was the new characters that were introduced, all of which are forgettable except Sofia who plays a massive part in the overall story.

The only other bone I have to pick with the game is some of the additions on the game. The game now allows you to craft bombs and use them against enemies. These to me just seemed very pointless and I hardly ever used them. Then there's the new tower defence mini game, which I only played once in the tutorial and then it never appeared again. Why?

Despite these flaws Assassin's Creed still looks and sounds as fantastic as ever, the story/stories are as immersive as ever and some of the cinematic action missions are as epic as ever. Even the mulitplayer is very good, it's a great concept and it's actually fun to play unlike many multiplayer games these days. One game mode sees the player given a target who they must find and kill in the mist of other players and A.I. whilst watching their back because someone is targeting them.

Overall Assassin's Creed Revelations is an enjoyable yet slightly underwhelming experience that fans of the series will love but will make other gamers question how far and where the series is going.

7/10

Thanks for reading

Peace

Life without Modern Tat?

Whats the real meaning behind modern tat?

As I sit here in my cave, I realise even in the most basic of environments today's kids are surrounded by what we'd describe here at MT as Tat. Be it my iPhone, or the Sony CMT stereo I've got it docked into leaving my 
ears pleasantly occupied by Jimmy Eat World, it's all signs of consumer integration into today's lifestyle.

We buy things to make our lives easier. Everyone does; a house for instance, keeps you off the streets, a car to get you around town, or a bus ticket for a fraction of the price. An espresso machine that may save you a couple of minutes and all the effort. The list is endless.

So what am i rambling on about? Asking myself the same question I reach to refill my glass of Jack and contemplate where I'm going with this one.

Success.

I may have these gadgets in front of me, and yes they really DO make my life easier and in some parts bearable. So what would i do without them? I don't honestly know, which gives me a great idea. Beginning at 00:01 on the first of January for a week at a time I will go without a gadget or gizmo I use on a daily basis and document how or IF I manage to cope without.

Now I have many things I use for both business and personal reasons, that weren't always there to people whom did my job or lived the lifestyle I do. But they must have done it some how right? This ranges from the apps I use on my phone to keep myself punctual (as simple as the alarm), to items that offer a failsafe should I be late, Sky+ for example. In fact I use Sky+ all the time for programs throughout the day while i'm either at work or simply watching something else that I deem more entertaining at the time.

And so it shall begin, I think i'll make that my first. The first week of January minus my sky+. Now I know there is a wide variety of shows beginning come the turn of the year so i'll need to find a more primitive means of recording my evenings watch. Wheres the old VCR.

Apple Planning Completely Redesigned iPhone for Fall 2012 Launch?

The latest news over at Macrumors, here....

Touch OSC mixing

Fed up of using your generic, midi powered controllers with your favourite digital mixing software?

In need of a more bespoke set up without forking out what seems like millions for custom made hardware or specialised controllers like the JazzMutant Lemur Modular Control Surface?

If so then we may have a solution for you, providing you have a little know-how of music technology and own smart phone (practically everyone now-a-days right?)....

TouchOSC

On the left we can see a simple mix template.

According to developers Hexler, TouchOSC is a "modular OSC and MIDI control surface for iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad" and according to Music Radar "The best iPhone music making apps in the world today". Big claims, but we can definitely agree with them! Check the link to the TouchOSC site above or here and see for yourself what the big deal is.

So back to the topic, using TouchOSC to control mixing software, in particular Native Instruments Traktor. With TouchOSC's free layout editor it is possible to make practically any layout of controllers imaginable. Rotaries, faders, buttons, the lot. Making it possible to easily create a fully fledged touch screen controller with nearly every Traktor parameter mapped. Of course this is fine and dandy on a large screen android tablet or apples iPad, but on smaller smartphones having every possible parameter on one screen can be a bit overpowering, not to mention hard to use!

Here at Modern Tat we have created a basic, simple, streamlined template for use alongside a conventional midi controller like our personal favourite the Native instruments Traktor Kontrol X1.

The template features everything the Traktor X1 is missing. Dedicated EQ controls, filters, x-fader, monitor selection, EQ kills and BPM division. The most used controls have the most screen real estate, allowing easier control in quick situations (been to the toilet and not got a song cue'd and ready?!). Look out for a free download of the template, along with a quick how-to in a future post.

Heres a little mix we made using our Traktor X1 and TouchOSC on iOS.