Blog - Mark Mackay | bit-tech.net

My Experience With Jailbreaking So Far

Posted on 1st Feb 2010 at 13:23 by Mark Mackay with 24 comments

A few weeks ago a friend and fellow hardware enthusiast rocked up at my flat with his new iPhone 3GS. He'd jailbroken it and was naturally keen to show off his new toy. Like most of the iPhone owners I know, I was smitten with my iPhone as it was and had absolutely no desire to fiddle with it. That's what I thought until I saw what he'd done with his…

What will you put up with for a good storyline?

Posted on 28th Jan 2010 at 11:57 by Mark Mackay with 33 comments

After finishing my new gaming rig recently, I installed a few games that I’ve been meaning to get through. Mass Effect and Fallout 3 were amongst those titles. I’d dabbled in both before but found that the slow pace and masses of dialogue weren't really what I was looking for at that time. This is a pair of games that focus heavily on storyline. However, I always had the nagging feeling that I was missing out on some great games and so, with my new rig purring away, wanted to give them another shot.

Why I think Gran Turismo 5 is delayed

Posted on 14th Jan 2010 at 12:33 by Mark Mackay with 41 comments

Back in my unenlightened console-gaming days I once went over to my cousin's gaff in Scotland for some family visits. He had a Playstation, a console that I either wasn't interested in owning or didn't have the money to own - probably the latter. For that Playstation he owned Gran Turismo. As a car lover, I was suitably impressed and ended up buying a Playstation for GT shortly thereafter.

When the PS2 came out I had little to interesting in buying that. However, when Gran Turismo 3 was on the cards, all that changed and I played through GT4 with equal relish. Back in those days, there just wasn't any competition for Gran Turismo. It was king of hill. People forgave the fact that there was no car damage, horribly hard lighting, stiff and lifeless handling and engine sounds like flatulence problems.

Free Games I Like: Bushido Edge

Posted on 7th Jan 2010 at 11:33 by Mark Mackay with 5 comments

Fighting games are an odd breed. Moving from one such as Street Fighter to another such as Tekken is always a tricky business as you're so used to the controls - punch, kick, etc - being in certain positions, as well as the timing being a certain way and being able to kick your flatmate's butt in a convincing manner.

Fortunately, not all fighting games have reached the complexity of these two titles and there are some that can be taken up easily. They can be simple affairs, with controls that can be mastered by even the most inexperienced of gamers. One such a game is Bushido Edge, a demake of Bushido Blade on the Playstation.

First up, I should mention that this is a two-player game. Being a two-player game, you will need two people to play it, though not two computers...

Should I get a PSP Go?

Posted on 6th Jan 2010 at 13:21 by Mark Mackay with 36 comments

I've owned many a portable gaming console over the years. In fact my first ever console was a Nintendo Gameboy. Now that I think that about it, I wonder if it's that strong feeling of nostalgia that imbues me with the unshakable desire to run out to the nearest Game store and buy whatever portable console is the flavour of the month. The problem is that they invariably sit in the corner of my room and tease me for being silly enough for spending a three-figure sum of money on something I'll never use.

Games I Own - Colin McRae: DiRT 2

Posted on 16th Dec 2009 at 11:33 by Mark Mackay with 11 comments

I’ve been a fan of racing games since Wipeout 2097 which was the first one I developed a real obsession over. I was a big fan of the Gran Turismo series too and, back in the day, bought a PlayStation 2 just to play GT4. I was excited about GT5…until I played the Prologue on my flatmate’s PS3. Next to games such as Race Driver: GRID, the Prologue flat out sucked. Gran Turismo seems so stiff and formal compared to the Codemasters title. These days choosing Gran Turismo over GRID seems like opting to spend a Sunday afternoon taking a driving lesson instead of a track day.

Installing CPU Coolers: The good, The Bad and The Ugly

Posted on 2nd Dec 2009 at 11:24 by Mark Mackay with 22 comments

The first CPU cooler I ever installed was an AMD reference HSF when I upgraded my Athlon XP processor to a superior model. It was in fact my first ever PC upgrade. I remember carefully (and perhaps a little nervously) placing the blocky aluminium heatsink in position, hooking both sides around the socket, pushing the retention arm down and thinking, "hmph - that wasn’t so hard."

How are you getting on with Bing?

Posted on 22nd Oct 2009 at 13:10 by Mark Mackay with 39 comments

Since the release of Microsoft’s new search engine named Bing, it’s been something of a hot topic. The company’s previous attempt at a search engine, Live Search, was a woefully lacklustre addition to Internet Explorer and something of a non-event for the world of internet search.

Clive blogged his thoughts about Microsoft being on to a winner with Bing while Alex thought otherwise. But has Google gone unchallenged for such a long time that it’s possible the search giant could be caught unawares by a decent newcomer?

Do Actors Have A Place In Games?

Posted on 12th Oct 2009 at 11:36 by Mark Mackay with 31 comments

It would be true to say that there have been many a great game with actors in it. Actors (or celebrities, to be exact) don’t necessarily make games bad. It just seems to me that there are so many terrible games with actors in that you've really got to question why developers bother.

Let’s start off with Red Alert 3, a game which Joe liked, but I thought was an overworked load of pants. And then lets take Gemma Atkinson, for example. Now, most people that live in the UK will be familiar with Hollyoaks. It’s a teen-type soap opera of epically fail acting.

Games I Own: Street Fighter IV

Posted on 30th Sep 2009 at 14:25 by Mark Mackay with 10 comments

As anyone that has read my blogpost about why I don’t like consoles will know; I don’t like consoles.

However...

There was a time when console gaming was all I was interested in. When I was a wee tiddler (well, seven years old) I went over a schoolmate’s house. He had a SNES. He had Street Fighter II. That day was just shy of 20 years ago. That day was the first day that I fell in love with a game. I loved the glorified violence and being able to bring my wrath down on my opponent with my own tiny hands.

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Archive for Mark Mackay

My Experience With Jailbreaking So Far

What will you put up with for a good storyline?

Why I think Gran Turismo 5 is delayed

Free Games I Like: Bushido Edge

Should I get a PSP Go?

Games I Own - Colin McRae: DiRT 2

Installing CPU Coolers: The good, The Bad and The Ugly

How are you getting on with Bing?

Do Actors Have A Place In Games?

Games I Own: Street Fighter IV

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