London riots escalate

ONLOOK: Riot police watch a fancy dress shop on fire in Clapham

FEAR, astonishment and disgust are amongst the emotions for many British citizens after the dramatic pictures and videos last night.  For the third successive night, the police were fighting a losing battle against hundreds of violent gangs, simply intent on causing as much destruction and damage as possible.  Hundreds of arrests have been made as London begins to count the cost of the damage.  Homes and businesses have been looted and set ablaze as British society faces upto its biggest problem for many decades.  Prime Minister David Cameron has had no choice but to cut short his summer holiday in Italy and make pleas for calm.  Tonight, 15,000 policemen will be out on the streets of London, but the trouble has now also descended outside the capital.  There were major disturbances in Birmingham last night, along with minor skirmishes in Liverpool, Nottingham and Bristol.

     The trouble began at the weekend in Tottenham, after the shooting of Mark Duggan by police last Thursday.  It spread to Ealing and Brixton on Sunday, with cars being smashed up, shops looted and set on fire, with police seemingly standing back and allowing the mob to take whatever possessions they felt like.  Yesterday, the initial trouble began in Hackney, as hundreds of youths attacked riot police and looted stores in broad daylight.  As the Hackney situation was brought under control, fires began in Peckham, with a Greggs store and a local electrical shop set ablaze; the gangs having no regard for the safety of innocent bystanders.  As YouTube footage came in of a man having his bag pack ransacked, dripping blood on the pavement floor, more London boroughs were targeted.  Gangs flooded the high street at Lewisham, once again, torching cars and looting stores at almost freewill. 

     At Clapham Junction, remarkable footage came in from a Sky News reporter close to the scene of a Ladbrokes store being robbed, with windows smashed, cash points targeted and a plasma TV being hauled off the wall.  Amazingly, it seemed like these idiots were being cheered on by people who found it funny!  The spread of violence has come through organised rumours on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, as well as the BlackBerry private messenger service.  Research in Motion, the Canadian company that owns BlackBerry has promised it will help police to catch those responsible.  In Croydon, a large local furniture store was set on fire and destroyed in one of the most dramatic images of the evening.  The owner is devastated, as it was a business that had gone through four generations of his family.  168 years of graft all burnt out in less than half an hour.

     Prime Minister Cameron has faced a barrage of criticism for his lack of response to the dire situation.  CNN figurehead Piers Morgan wasn’t impressed on Twitter; “Now Cameron’s finally woken up, he should recall Parliament NOW.  This is a national emergency and the British public need protecting.”  This morning, the PM held a meeting with the police and under-fire Home Secretary Theresa May, before revealing in a statement that parliament will be recalled on Thursday for one day.  London Mayor Boris Johnson and Labour leader Ed Miliband are also returning home early from their summer breaks. 

     May went on BBC breakfast this morning to refute claims that heavy-hitting police tactics should be the order of the day, rejecting calls for the army and water cannons to be used, which would be a first in this country.  Yesterday, she pledged that those responsible will face strict action;

“I want to be clear – those responsible for the violence and looting will be made to face the consequences of their actions.”

     The outrage on social networking sites was clear from many shocked onlookers watching on their television screens.  Journalism student at the University of Northampton Chris Ola told me via Twitter the implications will be felt for many; “I can understand the outrage over the police killing the man…but this is ridiculous…it’s going to hurt the taxpayer.”  Another student at the University of Northampton, Stef Ventura fears the worst; “I fear for our country, we might be rewinding to the 1980s.”

     The blame game has already started, with some of the blame being laid at the Metropolitan police, who were over-stretched massively last night.  They made pleas for parents to know where their children were and get them inside as the mayhem continued.  From the skyline, London looked more like a disaster movie, not a bustling capital city that should be looking forward to host next year’s Olympic Games.  Former Labour mayor Ken Livingstone blamed the coalition’s dramatic spending cuts, telling the Daily Mirror; “The economic stagnation and cuts have inevitably created social division.”  Ex-deputy Prime Minister John Prescott expressed his viewpoint by setting-up a Twitter hash tag #where’sthegovernment.

BURNING: The Sony warehouse in Enfield burns to the ground

     However, it isn’t now London where this is happening now.  Birmingham saw trouble too.  Over 50 businesses were targeted by yobs in the Bullring shopping centre.  Melissa Hicks gave me a quick update of the situation on Facebook; “Birmingham City Centre is being smashed up and the big Primark shop has been burnt down.”  In Liverpool and Bristol, it was a similar, if quieter story.  This morning, the large Sony CD warehouse store on the corner of the M25 in Enfield was still burning to the ground, after it was set on fire in the early hours.  The FA have cancelled tomorrow’s night international friendly at Wembley between England and Holland and Carling Cup matches at Crystal Palace, Charlton, West Ham and Bristol City have been postponed on police advice.  The Premier League is also in contact with the police on a regular basis, with significant doubts over the fixtures taking place on the opening weekend involving Tottenham, QPR and Liverpool.  However, despite the Birmingham trouble, the third Cricket test at Edgbaston between England and India is set to go ahead on time tomorrow morning.

     As the cleanup began this morning, the whole country has to reflect on the trouble and the damage it has done to our society, with fingers crossed that tonight doesn’t bring the same amount of carnage and chaos in the country that last night did.

Video games - An addictive, but not excessive hobbie

By Simon Wright (Personal piece)

AS I sit in my place in Northampton, counting down the days until I go home to Milton Keynes for the best part of two months, I think a bit more about one of my hobbies that I have enjoyed and have entertained me for a long time, the video game.  However, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, it’s only an addictive trait of mine – I’m not one of those freaks who drink gallons of coffee, stare into the TV screen excessively and do permanent damage to my eyesight.  If you have that life, then that’s fine, but it must cost an absolute fortune in prescription glasses, so I hope it’s worth it!

     I remember my first console machine, which was the Sega Mega Drive.  Playing classic games like Sonic the Hedgehog, NFL 93, running rings around American football teams with the Miami Dolphins and the early FIFA games, which let’s face it, were terrible, as the players looked like mushrooms and the football was a paper ball, when you could make a better version in nursery!  Nevertheless, the Mega Drive was a great breakthrough in gaming technology and ultimately, Sega’s best attempt at a console.  The Dreamcast was an utter disaster and as for Sega Saturn, I don’t have any words to describe that are nicer than rubbish!

     My view of gaming changed in 1997, through one of the most powerful slogans I can remember and one of the best TV commercials I ever saw.  The ‘Double Life’ Playstation ad really spoke to me.  Sony had created a monster as far as I was concerned and what I mean by that, that’s a monster of beauty.  I mean, who couldn’t be appealed by ‘Do Not Underestimate the Power of PlayStation.’  I certainly didn’t and through the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 – I was blessed with Sony games for the next 12 years.  I have every single Formula One title, got appealed by Crash Bash, drove like a maniac on Crazy Taxi and The Simpsons Road Rage, became a legend on the WRC rally games and of course, the football battle between FIFA and ProEvo, which in those days, FIFA was winning hands down.

     What were my favourite PlayStation memories?  It’s difficult to choose actually, though I remember one of my friends commentating on some football game which I think involved Ronaldo (the chubby Brazilian that is!) and Barry Davies, the legendary BBC voice actually telling him to shut up!  Whether it was an error with the game or the console, I don’t know, but quite impressive I thought!  Then, there was Murray Walker, who’s excitement was crystal clear on the early Formula 1 games, with terms shouted out like; HE’S JUST HIT DAMON HILL! OR FISI-C-H-ELLA, Martin, it looked like he hit the wall there.  I like Murray’s dedication, even for your finish.  Say, if you had finished 19^th, he’d mention it.  “19^th; Shinji Nakano (Another Japanese idiot who had no credentials btw) – well his team boss won’t be happy with that result!”

SMART: My clever collection of XBox 360 games in my flat

     Ultimately, the PlayStation 3 never quite appealed to me, but the Xbox 360 did.  I often would trial the Xbox in Zaavi (an entertainment store before it went bust during the recession.)  I got a taste for the new type of gaming; the better graphics, the more virtual reality experience and I wanted a machine to myself.  In 2009, my brother and I got one of the Arcade versions and I bought a newer, 4GB elite version for myself last summer to go into my room whilst at University.  My greatest achievement on the Xbox has to be either winning the FA Cup on World Class difficulty with the legendary Coventry City (hope Farida’s still proud haha!) on FIFA 11 and winning the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship with Virgin Racing, the ultimate backmarkers in the sport in real life!  So I guess, this proves I’m a king of racing games.  I’ve even taken the plunge into karaoke and been trying my art at the Lips singing games.  Sadly, I can’t sing but it’s still a laugh to perform classics like ‘Karma Chameleon’ and ‘Tubthumping,’ then also embarrassing songs such as ‘Barbie Girl,’ and ‘Wannabe,’ by the Spice Girls!  Oh dear!

CONTROL: The XBox 360 is the console to have at the moment

     For me, I like to play at least an hour a day if I can, because it means I can escape into the virtual reality world, especially if I have had a bad day.  I can have bad days on the Xbox and not get anything right on the game I’m playing.  For people who know me, they know that I can get really competitive.  I simply hate losing to the computer!  For me, it mocks me when that happens.  Sometimes, I can accept it and move on, especially when the computer beats you fair and square, but it gets frustrating when you batter an opposition with 36 attempts on goal, yet still lose 1-0!  That’s when you do think, Grr!  And don’t get me near a tennis game, because when I play a bad shot, the profanity that comes out of my mouth, because I’m annoyed tells its own story!

     So, as you can see, I love the video game and can have addictive crazes to certain games (The Sims 3, how sad am I!) but, I know when to stop and not carry on.  The most I’ve ever played without taking a serious break ever is around four hours.  Normally, an hour a day (two when I have nothing to do) is enough for me and gives me the satisfaction without becoming excessive.  Plus, it might be gripping, but how can playing the likes of Halo, Call of Duty etc like non-stop for 30 hours straight be entertaining, interesting and healthy!  Those who do that, its your life, but you are wasting away.  Enjoy your gaming in moderation and it will feel better is my tip.  I mean, it’s worked for me for the best part of 15 years, so why shouldn’t it for anyone else.  

     If you say to me ‘I love excessive gaming and it’s my life,’ then your need your brain testing!  Forget scoring an attractive girl if that’s the case, because she can do much better!  Balance is an important asset of life, so don’t go down the excessive gaming route.  I lot of people will just reject you, it’s as simple as that.  Good afternoon and goodbye!  

TV classics - ITV F1

BERNIE Ecclestone caused a real stir in 1996, when he announced that BBC was losing its coverage of Grand Prix, which they had screened since 1978.  He gave the contract to ITV, in a £60million deal.  This was a real boost for the commercial channel, especially as they were receiving a traditional battering in the Sunday afternoon rating battles.  ITV F1 remained on the air from 1997 until 2008, and although things started strongly, they rapidly went downhill.  Despite this, their new angle of Formula One racing changed the way one of the golden jewels in sport would be broadcast forever.

FIRST: The opening F1 logo for ITV in 1997

     ITV wanted to bring a fresh appeal to the viewer and this meant the controversial decision to drop the iconic racing music; ‘The Chain’ by Fleetwood Mac.  Instead, they gave Jamiroquai the chance to create a new racing theme for their coverage.  It went down fairly well and had a racing feel to it.  The best music theme was the second change in music, ‘Blackbeat’ by Apollo 440, first used in the year 2000.  Although Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Moby’s versions of ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ and ‘Lift Me Up’ can’t be faulted for their quality, they simply never suited a Grand Prix theme tune.  Ultimately, despite ITV’s best efforts, nothing can beat ‘The Chain’ for Formula One.

     When ITV started out, they hired almost a brand new team to bring the action to the homes of millions of British television viewers.  Jim Rosenthal, despite not having a prime passion for motorsport, was given the responsibility to anchor the show.  He was joined in the studio by Tony Jardine, who moved from the pitlane on the BBC’s Grand Prix team to being a regular pundit.  Simon Taylor was also hired too, though he was dropped at the end of ITV’s first year of covering Formula One.  In the pits, in-depth coverage was brought by former ESPN reporter James Allen and the ex-Jordan press officer Louise Goodman.  In the commentary box, the ‘Voice of Formula One’ Murray Walker was retained and he was partnered with the ex-Tyrrell, Jordan and Brabham pilot Martin Brundle.  Brundle, having taken part in over 160 GP races and won Le Mans for Jaguar in 1990 was the perfect foil for Walker and his technical expertise, humorous grid walks and analytical approach won him many fans and awards.  In 1997, ITV bought live coverage of every single qualifying session.  This was a new formula, as the BBC had only ever shown live qualifying of the British event at Silverstone.  If fans wanted live qualifying before 97, they had to buy cable and watch it on Eurosport.  The race was as ever, live, with suitable Sunday late highlights and also, a 30 minute Saturday preview show, called Murray and Martin’s F1 Special, which rounded up the earlier afternoon’s qualifying session, had more interviews with the key personnel in the paddock and previewed the following day’s race. 

     To begin with, ITV’s coverage of Formula One could not be faulted, but for one exception, the annoying commercial breaks.  Five advertising breaks were scheduled during every race, and this was never the strongest portray in ITV’s portfolio.  In its debut season, UK viewers were treated to dog food commercials, rather than the extraordinary overtake by world champion Damon Hill on Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher for the lead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.  Later that year, the two simultaneous engine failures for the leading McLaren cars at the Nurburgring weren’t broadcast live, due to another commercial interruption.  As years went on, ITV’s timing for a break got worse.  Amongst other moments missed by viewers were Michael Schumacher’s tyre explosion at Suzuka, which ended the 1998 championship and Fernando Alonso’s spectacular engine failure at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix.

     The worst moment came at the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix.  Schumacher, in an inferior Ferrari, hunted down Alonso’s faster Renault in a gripping and tense scrap at Imola.  Unbelievably, with three laps to go, ITV went to its specialist subject, an advertising break!  Fans were incensed and fortunately, the break ended before the last lap of the race.  Afterwards, an embarrassed Rosenthal was forced to apologise and the final three laps were shown again in it’s entirely, but the damage had been done.  Media regulator OFCOM fined ITV Sport for its damming lack of timing at such a critical part of the race.  Could you imagine the storm if Schumacher had managed to find a way past Alonso!

     Rosenthal quit ITV F1 at the end of the 2005 season, to focus on his main love, boxing.  Four years earlier, Murray Walker had decided to hang up his microphone and James Allen was promoted upstairs into the commentary box.  He was replaced in the pitlane by a former producer of the programme, Ted Kravitz.  Kravitz’s lack of meaningful pit reports, combined with Allen’s general dull commentary voice and the dominance at the start of the millennium by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari led to an alarming decline in viewer ratings.

     The cost of ITV producing Formula One, at the time where it was expanding its boxing, rugby and football coverage was because tough to sustain.  This was also highlighted by the amount of advertising sponsorship it relied on.  Petrol giant Texaco were a solid and trusted partner of ITV’s F1 coverage for its first five seasons.  After that, Toyota, the Daily Telegraph, LG, Swiftcover.com, Shell V-Power, Honda and Sony all took turns at sponsoring F1 on ITV.  With every sponsorship contract signed, the fee was far less than the previous one, which meant cutbacks had to be made elsewhere.  And at the end of the day, who wants to see Clucking Chickens before the start of a Sunday lunchtime race!

     Steve Rider joined from the BBC in 2006 and was partnered by former Ligier and Tyrrell driver Mark Blundell.  The studio element was dropped, as the presenters opted to do their build-up show from down in the paddock, which was a poor move.  Hiring Blundell was a disaster too; as he struggled to come up with any meaningful sentences.  Half the time, he seemed to agree with Rider’s questions and the lack of a second pundit hurt ITV in its later years.  So too, was its bias of Lewis Hamilton.  Hamilton’s emergence onto the Grand Prix scene in 2007 was good news for the viewing figures and won ITV F1 two Sport BAFTA awards, but soon, fans got tired of the constant Hamilton interviews and references, almost forgetting about anyone else on the grid!  Considering there were the likes of Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard, Felipe Massa, Giancarlo Fisichella and Robert Kubica on the grid, this was dismal ignorance from ITV.  As far as they were concerned, it was Hamilton v 21 other idiots! 

WHAT!: A bird in the 2006 titles showed ITV's failings in latter seasons

     Days before the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix, Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that the BBC had won the rights to Formula One coverage in the UK from the 2009 season onwards, in a new five-year deal.  ITV confirmed their F1 exit was down to cutting costs at the height of the worldwide recession, and they had just signed a new deal to hang onto UEFA Champions League football.  Michael Grade, the then chief executive of ITV decided that football was a bigger prize for the broadcaster than Formula One.  After 206 races, ITV F1 bowed out with the dramatic 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw Hamilton win the title on the final corner of the season, so it was a fitting end to its groundbreaking and at times, farcical coverage of the sport.

     There can be no doubt that ITV did put a new spin on how to do sports broadcasting, but over the 12-year stint it held the F1 rights, there were far too many missed opportunities.   

2010: A year of the best TV adverts

Here is my favourite selection of TV commercials from 2010.  Included are the likes of dogs, bees, Homer Simpson, Little Britain and Nigel Mansell.  Enjoy watching!




































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Kinect is launched and makes a good start

KINECT, the next step in video game technology was launched across Europe at midnight on Wednesday.  The device, which has been launched by Microsoft and will consequently work for the Xbox 360 is set to compete with the Playstation Move for the PS3 and its main rival in this department, the Nintendo Wii. 

MACHINERY: Can the Kinect change video games forever?

The Kinect system allows gamers to take part in computer games without the need for any wires or controllers.  It overtakes the Wii in this form, as you are likely to require some form of extra device to play games, such as dance mats and steering wheels.  Kinect can detect various gestures and body movements that are made by players and with a camera installed inside the device, upto 48 points on the body of an individual can be picked up.  Whilst this is a fantastic idea, it will be interesting to see what happens when a player needs to make a unnecessary movements – such as stroking your hair or scratching your rear end!

The Xbox 360 menu has also been changed for Kinect users, as the console can be controlled via means of speech instead of touching buttons and using a degree of different battery manufacturers.  This is a major move by Microsoft, who has usurped Sony in recent years for gaming supremacy.  Whilst Xbox Live has been a major success, as have exclusive titles such as Halo and Forza Motorsport, Microsoft have struggled to attack the Nintendo Wii’s dominance of the family, party atmospheric game.

If Kinect does turn out to be a huge success and personally, I think it will be – the longetivity of the Xbox 360 could be increased by at least another three years.  19 titles have been launched with the Kinect and most focus on the fitness and party games that are familiar with the Wii.  Further developments however will be required in this area by the publishers and creators if they are going to outsell the Wii on its strongest area.

Initially, the early signs are good with consoles selling out in various stores across London in its early hours and Microsoft has upped its sales expectations to 5million units between now and the New Year.  Kinect costs £130 to begin with, though it will be more if gamers don’t have the updated version on the Xbox 360 machinery.  It’s a good start, let’s see if it continues.

Sony ends the cassette Walkman era

JAPANESE electronics giant Sony has closed a prestigious chapter in technological history, as it recently finished production of its groundbreaking Walkman.  It is now likely to be stored into museums as precious exhibits.

Sony has confirmed that the last models of the Walkman in Japan were shipped out in April this year, and no more will made.  To meet the required orders from Europe and Asia, the final productions will be made from a factory in China, though this is only thought to be a short-term measure.

The Walkman stepped upto the global scene in 1979, and has been a major success for Sony, with only the PlayStation’s birth in 1995 has come anywhere close to being a major sales figure for the giant.  Worldwide, over 200million walkmans have been sold, but as time and technology has gone on, so the Walkman has begun to age.  First, it was overtaken by the portable CD player, then the mini-disc player and lastly the MP3/I-Pod generation, which hit the headlines back in 2001.

It may look bulky to many now, but the Walkman was a pioneering piece of electronic kit, at a time when technological advances were far slower than what they are in today’s world.  Some ‘vintage’ editions have been sold on for thousands of pounds, and despite lacking the features of today’s music players; the Walkman has made its impact and with it, provided many fans and memories.

It may be out-of-date and soon to be out of production, but the Walkman’s legacy on our technology world will never be forgotten.

F1 2010 (The Computer Game Review)

BY JASON WRIGHT

Although the support of Formula 1 has grown in recent times, for several years now, its place in the gaming market has been very much in the doldrums.  The axing of EA Sports’ take on the series in 2003 meant the titles became PlayStation exclusive as they were made by Sony.   Though these games still were massive bestsellers, Sony hardly developed and improved the format and with the titles became boring and repetitive, finally having its contract terminated in 2007.

It wasn’t until March 2008 when the FOM decided to award a new contract.  Codemasters was given the rights to restore F1 to its former glory in the games world.  The decision was soon taken to only release a 2009 version of the game on the PSP and Nintendo Wii, intending to put all its effort into 2010 for it to really attract the likes of Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, the former of which has never had an F1 game until now.

Utilising their self-titled ‘EGO’ games engine, which has made the Race Driver and Colin McRae DIRT titles such a success, the task was simple but as always, complicated.  To not only give the player the experience of racing in F1 but to live the life off the track as well.

As expected, the game is mainly built around the career mode.  Unlike in the Sony versions, the player jumps straight into the championship, without having to go through the daunting task of earning a super license, compete in a shoot-out for a race seat or take part in pre-season testing.  Starting with one of the three new teams on the grid for this season, Hispania Racing F1 Team, Virgin Racing or Lotus Racing, it’s the player’s ultimate task to be successful, rise through the ranks to the point that they are eventually racing for a championship challenger like McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Racing.  The player has the choice of stopping after their third of fifth season in the sport but after having done seven seasons (in this case, the year 2016), that’s it, they will have to retire.

It is what’s off the grid that adds excitement to the game.  Never before has the player been able to talk to media, which varies from whatever language the game is in, (the English version allows you to speak to BBC Radio 5 Live’s David Croft and Holly Samos.)  These interviews can seem innocent but players have to watch out, just the small word of criticism spoken can land the player in hot water with their team.  Performances in races also matter, out-race your more experienced team-mate and you can get first call in technical upgrades on the car.  You also get an agent, named Gabriella, who sounds Italian, who will handle contract negotiations and transfers to a new team.

Sony’s ultimate letdown in recent years was its tedious AI (Artificial Intelligence) system which usually had the cars racing around in a straight line with no action, changes in order only happened in pit-stops.  Codemasters has been extremely careful not to repeat this mistake and bases each circuit and weather condition on deciding whose best in those particular environments.  Good examples are that Felipe Massa may be the one to beat in Turkey as he’s won three times in the last five years there and Lewis Hamilton could be the one to watch out for in wet weather because of his strong drives in these conditions in real life.  It actually also has cars crashing into one another at any time.  Players have to also watch out for hazards such as bits of bodywork on the track or a stranded car on the racing line.  This does though have a downside that this game does not have any mechanical failures or a Safety Car.  Codemasters has had the decency to admit this before its release and has already confirmed it will work to bring back mechanical retirements for the 2011 game, although whether the safety car will also return remains to be seen.

Advanced technology in games has allowed the opportunity to provide the best wet weather racing yet.  Skill and nerve is what’s required now, just like in real life, in order to master the tricky conditions.  The dynamic weather setting will allow to automatically selecting the most common conditions for each circuit.  Malaysia, Belgium and Japan are perhaps prime examples of where it is most likely to rain.

Other missing features include no race commentary, instead receiving constant feedback from your race engineer via team radio.  Some players though might consider this as a good thing as in-race commentary could distract their progress in trying to listen to it.  After all, who wants to listen to the tedious Jonathan Legard!  It is also not possible to watch live footage of either practice or qualifying when in the garage, instead relying on just the live timing page.  Also, there is no World Championship mode this year though the grand prix weekend mode allows up to all 19 races on the F1 calendar to be contested at any one time, auto saving in between, so players can race the full championship calendar, or for the first time ever, ability to mix up the order of the races (e.g. you could possibly want to go to Singapore first and have Britain as the season finale).

In conclusion, the gamble that Codemasters in rushing through 2009 and fully committing to 2010 has well and truly paid off.  As long as they make significant improvements year after year, this completely heralds a new dawn for F1 games.

Microsoft Reveal XBox 360 Is Coming - Will It Continue It's Gaming Domination?

On Tuesday, Microsoft finally confirmed the rumours that have been persisting for a while, that the Xbox 360 will be coming out in a slim, lighter format.  What was more surprising was the news that Microsoft was already shipping consoles to several stores in America, and consequently, it will make its debut tomorrow.  European stores and UK users will be waiting until late August before the Xbox heads to these shores.

The new model will directly go head-to-head with its major rival, Sony and its slim PlayStation 3 version, which debuted last August.  Since the slim version was released, Sony’s sales for the PS3 have slowly been rising, after a stuttering start, which saw the console being plagued by a hosts of technical problems.

The Xbox 360 Slim edition will have a Wi-Fi connection installed in the hard-drive, which will be a major boost to its users.  On the previous Arcade and Elite versions, Wi-Fi connection had to be used through an Ethernet cable, or by buying packs that cost upto £70.  The hard-drive will also store upto 250GB of space, allowing plenty of space for users to store the many games, programmes and music that they will want to use.

Microsoft wouldn’t reveal much more at the launch, and probably will wait for the feedback from potential buyers and other gaming experts.  However, they did leave another jaw-dropper by announcing that the Slim version will be available at a much similar price to the older, reliable version.  Consequently, in the US, it will be available from $299.99.  In the UK, prices will begin from around £195, making it at least £40 cheaper than its Sony competitor.  This will make it an absolute bargain, and shows Microsoft are taking full consideration for its many consumers, and the problems that some maybe facing with costs as the world begins to slowly recover from worldwide recession.

Microsoft also went onto say, that they will be producing a knockdown sale of its older Elite and Arcade versions, making it a very tempting proposition for many, who are after a decent, popular games console.  The Xbox 360 already has access to Sky Player, Twitter, Facebook and Skype, and there are plans for the BBC I-Player to become an extra ingredient on the new model.  I-Player’s capacity is a big unique selling point for the PS3.

So, will this Slim Xbox 360 version continue to see Microsoft on top of the gaming establishment?  I think it will.  Sony’s PS3 got a lot of criticism on its delayed release, and it hasn’t really recovered.  After failed attempts by Sega and until the Wii, constant letdowns by Nintendo, Microsoft might have well and truly taken the mantelpiece and the crown from Sony as the new ‘Gaming King.’