Silent Hill Photography by Yiyo-no-Shashin

Photographer Yiyo-no-Shashin (aka Yiyo Chan) is fond of taking video game inspired photos. Her collection, including the 'Silent Hill Treasures' series is aimed at video game props and recreations of video games.

She has covered a variety of games, but I have decided to show what I feel are her best collection thus far-her Silent Hill photography.

Check out some below, and be sure to like her Facebook page to check out more! https://www.facebook.com/FlaurosGeekPhoto

My Lara Croft Makeover for Pages and Panels!

Artist and pal James Stayte kindly drew me for my comic blog, Pages and Panels!

Being a huge Tomb Raider fan, I was chuffed to see that he had drawn me in Lara's classic costume! I am actually planning to review the latest Tomb Raider comic for Pages and Panels shortly (the comic that was released to coincide with the release of Crystal Dynamic's excellent Tomb Raider reboot), so this was rather fitting. I was also unaware that he was going to draw me again, and in that suit, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Check out the illustration below. Thanks James. Once again, you've created a winner!

Please show him your support by checking out his blog: http://www.stayteoftheart.blogspot.co.uk

Pages and Panels: http://www.pagesandpanels.blogspot.co.uk

Music Monday: Datadyne Central Infection (Perfect Dark)

Yes, Music Monday has returned! I'll be posting some excellent game music every Monday once again on 8-Bit Girl.

To kick things off, I've decided upon 'Datadyne Central Infection', from Perfect Dark. Originally released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000, Perfect Dark got the HD treatment for the Xbox 360 in 2010.

This track starts off slow, but gradually picks up the pace. In the game this is the perfect track for moments of quiet exploration followed immediately by an enemy encounter.

Have a listen below.

Review: Full House Poker

I was never a huge fan of card games, but the past few years changed that. As I learned to play the basics, I then moved on to try the longer, more complex games. During my Uni years, Poker was one of them.

Now for someone who is living in an incredibly small flat (thankfully only for another two and a half weeks), it's pretty impossible to play board or card games, so I started sourcing out the same games online and on my Xbox 360 instead.

This is where I found Full House Poker. Essentially the same game, but with the added fun of seeing the Xbox Avatar version of you pulling it's best Poker face (believe me, my virtual counterparts is much better than my own).

There can be plenty of rules for Poker, but thankfully Full House Poker has a helpful text and video section to guide you along the way. Once you have made yourself aware of the rules, it's time to try the actual game.

Whilst the rules definitely help you to get to grips with the gameplay, it's not completely plain sailing. AI opponents can be rather ruthless, so the first few games may seem a little tricky. However, Full House Poker rewards those for playing well, even when your chip stack is dwindling. However, unfortunately the AI players can often take the 'all or nothing' approach, taking huge risks that will more often than not see them fold before the end. Online play allows you to play against fellow real life players of varying difficulties if the AI becomes a little unbearable though. In general though, AI opponents can be fun, albeit a little challenging at times.

For those still struggling to remember what types of hands will be to your advantage, luckily there is a handy tip. Press the left bumper to see a list of possible hands in order of their strength. Using this feature stops you from throwing in a hand at random, just because you are unsure of what to play next.

Whilst Full House Poker is a great alternative to playing with actual playing cards and poker chips, it's only winning you virtual money. However, some of you enjoy playing numbers to win cash. For example, there are a great range of betting games from Paddypower, with a whole variety of Poker and other card games available to try out.

Overall, Full House Poker is a lot of fun. Whilst it may seem a little harsh for the most part, this version of Poker does reward players from any skill-set, allowing even for the amateur players who are still learning the ropes. Seeing your avatar play Poker is also a lot more fun than playing as a random computer generated player. Through their expressions, these avatars bring a little more fun to the proceedings. 

So if you are looking for a fun card game on Xbox Live Arcade, Full House Poker is definitely recommended. 

Gaming Birthday Gifts!

I turned 25 on the 29th April, and I got a whole bunch of excellent gifts. Here's the three gaming related goodies I received. 

My Tetris light! You can remove the blocks and re-arrange to create different looks!

An example of how it looks when you change the blocks around.

Portal Sentry Turret Figure

Valve hardcover comic collection!

Miracle of Sound: Level 3 Album Review

Miracle of Sound is back once again with an album full of songs written about games, TV programmes and films. 

Composed and written entirely by Gavin Dunne who releases under his band name, Miracle of Sound, Level 3 features gaming tracks based on games such as Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Borderlands 2 and Assassins Creed III.

As with the previous two albums, Gav embraces and experiments with plenty of different genres to fit with the tone of the game, programme or film he is singing about. For instance, 'His Father's Son' resembles a sea shanty blended with Native American influences-exactly like the game itself. 

Stand out tracks on the album include the newest release, Dream of the Sky, which is based on Bioshock Infinite, Breaking Down The Borders (Borderlands 2), The Savage Side of Me (Tomb Raider), The Best I Can (Telltale Games' The Walking Dead), and His Fathers Son (Assassins Creed III).

The non-gaming songs are just as great, with 'Halfman's Song', about Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, is one of the best tracks on the album. 

For me though, no Miracle of Sound album is complete without a tongue in cheek ditty, and thankfully, Level 3 delivers on this too. 'Wigglesticks' is a brief track mocking Resident Evil 6's over-reliance on Quick Time Events (I enjoyed that game, but come on, it was a little too much at times!), 'The Call of Duty Circus' explains the typical type of Call of Duty gamers you'll encounter whilst playing online, whilst 'Doorfighter' is based on the plethora of door opening sequences in Medal of Honour. 

The Miracle of Sound: Level 3 album is available to buy as a digital downloaded copy via his Bandcamp page now. 

Alice: Madness Returns Fanart from Omri Koresh

I always enjoy featuring an artist who has captured the look and feel of a game perfectly. Israeli artist Omri Koresh demonstrates this with his artwork based on American McGee's Alice and Alice: Madness Returns.

The pieces below show his interpretation of Alice, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter, and demonstrates the creepy but vibrant Wonderland landscape from the games.

This is just a small fraction of Omri's Alice art on offer. I urge you to check out the rest here. Also, sadly my blog does not let me resize images larger than this (they start to navigate off the page if I do), so the full size, high resolution versions can also be found via his site. 

Lynx2Games: An Interesting New Way of Buying Games

Naturally, the majority of us would prefer to hunt around and find a game for the best price before committing. How many times have you gone ahead and bought a game at the full price and found it for more than half the price cheaper elsewhere the next day? It's a frustrating, 'kicking yourself' type feeling, especially for those of us on a tight budget.

This is where Lynx2Games, a relatively new game trading/purchasing service, steps in. 

In their words, their mission is to create a more intelligent video game renting and buying experience. The service provides three payment options to allow you to get your chosen game in the best possible way to suit you. These are:

1. Instant buy: Get your games immediately for the regular price
2. Three week rental: Rent brand new games for a 1/3 of the price.
3. Delayed buy: Pay 2/3 of the price, wait three weeks, then keep the game forever. 

Not all stores give you the option to rent a game bang on the release date, especially smaller game stores, and some others have limited amounts of discs for rental on release, which can be disappointing if you decide to impulse rent later on that day. The great thing about this service is that the disappointment and huge charges are both pretty irrelevant.

Teaming up with a friend and using their 'Buddy Buying Service' allows you to split the cost even further by sharing a game between the two of you. 

To explain the payment options further, check out this handy diagram/guide:
https://www.lynx2games.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Lynx2Games-Final3.jpg

Currently available to US residents only, the kind folks at Lynx2Games have are offering a 10% discount to readers of 8-Bit Girl to use on their first game purchase. 

At the checkout, type in 10OFFPROMO to qualify for your discount!

Go through to Lynx2Games and browse the games on offer here: https://www.lynx2games.com

Lara's Evolution: Ingame Comparison 1996-2013

What a difference more than a decade makes! Since bursting onto the gaming scene in 1996, Lara Croft has gradually transformed as graphics have progressed and advanced.

Youtuber BonicStudios has put together a great video showing off thecharacter model of Lara in each game in the Tomb Raider series, from 1996 up until the most recent entry, the Tomb Raider reboot in 2013. Have a look below.

Review A Great Game Day: Tomb Raider

So today is Review a Great Game Day, which I decided to take part in. You may remember I also participated in Review A Bad Game Day last year too.

Anyway, I'm actually rather pleased about this one. For the most part, I enjoy the games I end up playing. It's very rare that I come across a game that I have absolutely hated. 

My Review a Great Game Day entry is about (not a surprise to those of you who follow me on Twitter...), Tomb Raider. The reboot was a pleasant surprise for many, and I have absolutely loved playing it. So, presenting...

Tomb Raider (2013)

Lara Croft has been dominating our screens ever since the original game was released back in 1996. Ever since then, Lara has become something of a gaming icon, spawning not only a successful game series, but two films (starring Angelina Jolie as Lara), advertising deals (who can forget those Lucosade adverts?), merchandise, comics and more.


As much as I love the Tomb Raider games, there was no denying that the series was close to becoming a little tired. Thankfully, the news of a reboot came along and fixed this.

Released in March 2013, Crystal Dynamic's Tomb Raider takes us back to the beginning, showing us how Lara becomes the archaeologist adventurer we know and love, whilst also changing her history that we have grown to learn from the previous games.

In Tomb Raider, we are introduced to a 21 year old Lara Croft, a University graduate who is on board a great ship called Endurance, for an archaeological expedition led by Captain Conrad Roth. When a sudden storm destroys the research vessel, a young and inexperienced Lara finds herself stranded on a mysterious and remote island hidden off the shores of Japan.

On first glance the island appears to be deserted, but soon enough Lara not only comes up against dangerous animals, but human enemies too. Shipwrecked, stranded and alone, Lara begins to re-discover her fellow crew mates, but the only way off of this island is by resolving the secrets within alone. Tomb Raider sees Lara not only battle the elements, animals and enemies, but uncover secret tombs, whilst all the while fighting to look for a way off of the island and back to safety.

Many people have compared the gameplay of Tomb Raider with the Uncharted series, which is a fair point-it does indeed have a lot in common in relation to the action sequences at least. However, do not let this put you off. This origin story is great blend of exploration and high-octane action, enough to keep you playing until the end. Both forms of gameplay-the exploration and action sequences, are definitely fun to play, especially when using Lara's bow and arrow. As you level up, all the weapons you have collected can be improved to create brand new attacks-the napalm arrows are by far one of the most enjoyable. 

How you play the game is entirely up to you. If you enjoy stealth play, there's plenty of opportunities for this.I never was a fan of stealth gameplay before Tomb Raider, but I ended up adopting it at every opportunity. The fact is, it really works in this game, particularly if you can pick off enemies at a great distance with the bow and arrow-it's rather satisfying. The other way of playing this is to make your presence known to the enemies whenever possible. This often warrants a much larger fight, with enemies throwing molitovs, and closing in on you to create a more personal, tougher fight. 

Through the course of the game, we see Lara turn from a scared, inexperienced but intelligent history buff into a much stronger, agile and battle-worn woman. This transition is an interesting one to experience. You will find yourself wincing every time Lara is beaten, attacked, sent hurtling down large cliffs,slamming into structures, to cheering as she learns the motions of becoming a full blown survivor. 

Emerging as a strong, confident, agile survivor, it has been a real pleasure getting to know this new Lara, and you will be yearning to see what lies in store in the future for her.

Also worth mentioning is how fitting the soundtrack is-a blend of feudal Japanese style tracks, with a jungle flourish. Lara's new theme is constantly referred back to in most of the tracks, creating a true heroic score. Whilst the gameplay is satisfying, the game also boasts impressive visuals, which you can see via the textures on the scenery, and on Lara's increasingly battle-worn body and clothing. 

Whilst this is supposed to be a great game review, not every game is perfect. Tomb Raider unfortunately suffers from some slight repetitive moments of gameplay (still rather enjoyable though), but the biggest disappointment is the multiplayer mode. Really, the multiplayer feels rather unnecessary  as this game has a strong enough single player mode on it's own. The multiplayer modes are in fact a little forgettable, offering us game types we have seen time and time again, such as a variant on Capture the Flag. Whilst this may be enjoyable for plenty, I personally just got a little bored of it, turning my attentions to Lara's main story instead. Another slightly disappointing aspect is that it feels like the game bows out lightly. I was expecting a full-on boss battle, but it never fully comes. 

Still, despite those criticisms, Tomb Raider is a brilliant game. Crystal Dynamics have successfully rebooted the series with an enthralling origin story that firmly places Lara back in the limelight after what feels like forever. Bring on the sequel.

In closing, take a look at this comparison screenshot of the old and new Lara to see how much she has evolved. No more pointy boobs for one!

Great Bioshock Infinite Elizabeth Cosplay

Looking around on the internet, it seems that everyone who has played Bioshock Infinite loves Elizabeth. This reminded me that I had seen a fantastic Elizabeth cosplay recently.

Cosplayed by deviantART member Ormeli, you may recognise her as Alice from American McGee's 'Alice' games, which I featured in the past. 

Check out a few of her as Elizabeth below. The rest can be seen here: 

http://ormeli.deviantart.com/gallery/32019776

Tomb Raider Art Feature

Crystal Dynamic's Tomb Raider reboot was released last month and was met with great critical acclaim. Fans also loved it, with the game selling an impressive 1 million copies in just 48 hours.

I've been a Tomb Raider fan from the beginning, and have always found Lara Croft to be a strong, likeable character. The latest game is, in my opinion, fantastic, and is a welcome, and much-needed revamp for a series that was sadly in danger of becoming tired.

If you like browsing art online, you may have noticed that a lot of fan art and cosplay has been created for this latest Tomb Raider instalment. Here's few of my favourites below. I had so many more to include, but then this post would have gone on forever!

By Remoraz 

Cosplay by JennCroft

By hamsterfly

By Sophia-M

By Gigei

By Terribilus 

By Deivcalviz

Beetlejuice-A Minecraft Rollercoaster!

Minecraft's Creative Mode often shows the huge amount of time and effort that players are prepared to put in to their creations.

This Beetlejuice Rollercoaster is by far one of the most epic I've ever seen.

Created on the Xbox 360's version of Creative Mode, this project spanned several months, and was completed by two gamers/YouTubers-RiverGrl21 and Nuropsych1.

Check out the video below:

October Brings A Month of DLC For Sleeping Dogs

Square Enix has announced that Sleeping Dogs will be getting a bunch of DLC throughout October. 

The game will be receiving four packs, including the SWAT Pack, Tactical Soldier Pack, Street Racer Pack and a free surprise community gift pack. Details of the games first story add-on will also be revealed at the New York Comic Con on the 14th October. Like the DLC packs, this will also launch in October too.

Square Enix revealed the details for each of the DLC packs, which I have put up below. Also, check out the trailer at the end of the post. The packs release dates and prices will be announced shortly. 

Street Racer Pack

• Brand new cars, motorbikes and a speedboat. 
• Three new street races await across the streets and waterways of Hong Kong Island.
• New car race: Kamikaze, a race around the city's Victoria Peak. 
• New motorbike race: Cross Island Enduro. 
• A Sting superbike, Dragon Helmet and Racing Jacket which provides extra protection against gun fire. 

SWAT Pack

• Twenty new and replayable cop missions, featuring a unique SWAT outfit & SWAT van.
• Patrol the streets of Hong Kong in an armoured van and respond to multiple emergency situations across the city in the SWAT pack. 
• A Super-SWAT Tactical Uniform, which will allow you to take twice as much damage. 
• 20 new missions and 4 different mission types.

Tactical Soldier Pack

• New weapon (promised as the "most destructive in the game) and armour. 
• The Assault Rifle from ‘The Funeral’ and ‘Civil Discord’ missions (with its under-barrel grenade launcher) will be readily available at each of your apartments alongside the Tactical Outfit. 

Sleeping Dogs community members will also receive the free Community Gift Pack that will give loyal fans some extra, undisclosed goodies.

Resident Evil 6: Demo Review

The Resident Evil series has undergone several transformations since it's beginning in 1996. Resident Evil 5 saw a shift in gameplay, adopting more of an action stance than the slow, tense gameplay of the previous titles. Resident Evil Revelations, a 3DS exclusive, introduced the original RE horror once more whilst still embracing this new action-heavy style, creating perhaps one of the best games in the series so far.

And now, we have Resident Evil 6. Due for release in November 2012, the game is split into three campaigns, all offering different experiences. Thankfully, the demo, which was released today on PS3 and Xbox 360, allows a taster of all three, making this essentially three demo's in one. Good stuff? Well, read on to find out! 

Leon Kennedy's Campaign

Leon's demo takes place at Tall Oaks University. The opening cut scene shows  Leon being confronted by the President...in zombie form. Hesitant to kill the President of the United States, his finger wavers on the trigger, but of course, we all know what he must do. After killing the President with a headshot, it's down to business. 

This segment of Leon's campaign felt very much like an old Resident Evil setting. Zombies are how they used to be-slow, shambling and moaning. It's also incredibly un-relentless. The undead crowd around you constantly in hordes, and there is barely enough ammo to go around. Like the earlier Resident Evil games, ammo conservation is a neccessity here. 

A new addition is the melee system, which helps to offer Leon and his partner Helena a chance to recover when ammo has depleted entirely, or a reload is in order. Knife kills are gory, satisfying and essential, especially as the ammo is quite sparse here. Like Resident Evil 5 before it, 6 will allow both players to share items together. This means that every time one of you picks up ammo, both of you will receive it. Also, online co-op is supported as well as offline, which I found out when a random player took over the NPC as Helena (sorry, I had to play as Leon first time round!) halfway through the demo. 

The aim of this portion of the game is to simply escape the campus. Leon's campaign combines the traditional Resident Evil style tension with a few "on the rails" style sections (most notably when driving the police car). 

Chris Redfield's Campaign

Chris' campaign appears to be completely different from Leon's.  Set in a war zone in Eastern Europe, Chris and his team are tasked with taking down the virus ravaged enemies in a series of winding streets. You'll notice straight away that unlike Leon's campaign, Chris's is an all-out action assault. Adopting more of the action gameplay of Resident Evil 5 than the slow tension that of the previous titles like Leon's campaign appears to be, you'll be using plenty of ammo on a colossal B.O.W., as well as gun-wielding zombie enemies. Also, these are different enemy types this time, which helps to keep things refreshing. 

Whilst Leon's campaign was incredibly low on ammo, Chris's one has plenty. It's quite enjoyable going from one extreme to the other, actually. This does mean that the suspense felt in Leon's campaign isn't really that present. When ammo is in full supply, and you've got a buddy playing through it co-op with you, the difficulty does not really show too much. 

Jake Muller's Campaign

The third and final demo is Jake "Wesker Jr" Muller's campaign. Whilst Leon's had the traditional Resident Evil feel, and Chris's went for action, action and more action, Jake's feels like the middle ground. 

In this demo, you are introduced to a new character, Wesker's son, whose blood contains the cure to the vastly spreading virus. Teaming up with Sherry Birkin, who fans may remember from Resident Evil 2, the duo are working on escaping a desolate city. 

Like the other two campaigns, Jake's also features it's own enemy type. Grappling with g-virus style enemies, whilst battling tar-like creatures and pouncing beasts, the demo certainly keeps you on your toes. Jake also seems like he will be a pretty interesting character, so I am looking forward to finding out more in the full game. 

My Favourite Demo?

Whilst I highly enjoyed the action in Chris' campaign, I'd definitely say that Leon Kennedy's demo was by far the most enjoyable. It packed the most suspense, and harks back to the earlier days of the series when the slow, shambling zombies were just as, or perhaps more than, creepy than those seen in recent instalments. 

So there you have it, over 60 minutes of gameplay to try out! As a Resident Evil fan, I was bound to like at least a little aspect of it, and thankfully I was not disappointed. Whether you're looking for old Resi gameplay, or the new action heavy format, both are present here. It's worth downloading and playing all three just to get a taster of things to come. 

Mass Effect 3: Firefight DLC Now Available

Firefight brings as many as seven new weapons for use in the single-player campaign: the Indra and Krysae sniper rifles, Reegar Carbine, Harrier battle rifle, Geth SMG, plus an all-new Blood Pack Punisher SMG, and Adas Anti-Synthetic rifle.

Firefight Pack is now available on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, priced $2.00 or 160 MS points, BioWare announced.