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Rainbow Six Siege
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Guy 2104 Views , , ,

Rainbow Six Siege – The State of the Game 2020.

We love the occasional guest spot from Nina, especially when its about her ass kicking abilities in Rainbow Six Siege…

A few years ago, I wrote an article for Koru-Cottage titled ‘Rainbow Six Siege: Why I Love it so Damn Much’. Since that article, Rainbow Six has seen a lot of dramatic changes.

So with this generation of gaming coming to a close, I thought now would be a good time to revisit my musing on my beloved Siege. To reflect on how the game has changed, discuss the state it is in now, and theorize about the game’s future.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire
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Richard Armitt 1490 Views , , , , ,

Cyberpunk 2077 – Night City Wire, episode 5

If you’ve been living under a rock, you won’t know Cyberpunk 2077 is coming in hot.

Currently slated for December 10th launch and it seems this is the one the game will hit, which is a relief. New Generation updates will be following in the new year for free, but take a look at the latest trailers. Its running very nicely anyway.

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PES21 Season Update
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Richard Armitt 2109 Views , , , ,

PES 2021, Online Edition, PS4 Review

PES 21 or more accurately Pro Evolution Soccer 2021 has arrived in an unusual year.

Historically 2020 is going down in flames and across the world sport is no stranger to lockdowns, delays and cancellations. What better way to get the rush of live soccer when you can’t, than to fire up a crisp new game and kick a virtual ball?

This year’s Season Update to last years very good PES is the answer.

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Lifestyle photo for Fitbit Inspire 2.
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Guy 2262 Views , ,

Fitbit: Inspire 2 – Review

The Fitbit Inspire 2 sits in the mid-level device slot of the 2020 Summer range, but it is by no means limited in features.

Back in May, I reviewed the Fitbit Charge 4 and found it a great tool to help in my training. Over the following months I have come to really rely on it for exercise goal setting and feedback.

The new range of Fitbits are dropping for summer,  so it seemed fitting for me to take some of the new devices for a test run…(yep, I meant that pun)

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Street Power Football
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Richard Armitt 1407 Views , , , ,

Street Power Football, PS4 Byte Size Review

Street Power Football is a mixed bag of soccer stuff. Delivering six distinctly different game modes to  a pumping beat, while they are somewhat linked it feels at times like an identity crisis.

It’s soccer Jim, but not as we know it.

That’s the crux of it, the core of the game is about 3 vs 3 Street Soccer, end to end short and snappy games. Most often decided by who made the fewer mistakes, like NBA Street the game is quick, chock full of power-ups and “character”.

I love a good soccer game, having spent my formative years in the U.K. it goes without saying. While I can appreciate the niche for flashy moves, lycra and the odd Panna. I find the game lacks subtlety and doesn’t hit my sweet spot, which is obviously  touch slower.

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JBL Quantum
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Richard Armitt 1893 Views , , , ,

JBL QUANTUM Wireless 600, review

JBL ANZ very kindly supplied us with a set of Wireless 600 headphones to celebrate their Australian launch last week. Over the course of this year they have made a big impact in New Zealand with their gaming range and we have been able to review some of the range previously.

Of course JBL are not only known for their Gaming Headsets, as part of the Harman Karman Group they are responsible for a range of lifestyle audio devices too. Some of which will be finding their way to Australasia soon.

The Wireless 600 is a set that is easy to put on, the packaged (braided) cables make it simple to swap out from PS4, to Mac, to Xbox to Switch. I am happy with it and will be making the most of them.

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Descenders - All Downhill From Here
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Gerard Campbell 2129 Views , , , ,

Descenders, Byte Size. (reviewed on PS4)

There aren’t a lot of video games like Descenders about mountain biking, a sport that I like to partake in as often as time allows.

Perhaps my favourite mountain biking game – and I’m slightly biased here because I backed it on Kickstarter – is Lonely Mountains Downhill, which was made by a small German development studio and it really is marvellous fun, with a gorgeous visual aesthetic and “Just one more go” game play.

Descenders comes from Dutch development studio Ragesquid and while it’s not much in the looks department – to be honest, it wouldn’t look out of place on the PlayStation 3. It does have an addictive quality about it as you test your mountain bike mettle on a variety of downhill mountain bike tracks.

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Gerard Campbell 2100 Views , , ,

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020: Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away

I didn’t expect to love Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 as much as I did when I first started playing it but I do. I love it.

There’s just something therapeutic and relaxing about taking to the skies in a Cessna or a Daher TBM930 single-engine and just flying from point A to point B. Heck, often there is no point B involved at all. I often just found myself taking off from an airport, be it Christchurch, in New Zealand, or Tekapo or Brisbane or Melbourne and just flying around, looking at houses and seeing how close I can get to the ground before the plane’s warning klaxon does my head in.

I’ll be completely honest: I’m a hopeless pilot. My first few take-offs were sketchy af. They still are sometimes, actually.

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Guy 1523 Views , , ,

Relicta, PS4 Review

Relicta does not make a good first impression.

The opening puzzles which serve as the tutorial feel very, “seen that sort of thing before”. The tutorial then leads into a fairly drawn out story delivery sequence told by disposable radio chatter. I will admit, I rolled my eyes and did not have high hopes for my next few hours of gaming.

But poor introductions aside, when the gameplay proper kicked off and some headscratcher puzzles where unleashed upon my brain. I completely changed my views on Relicta. It’s actually a super solid wee puzzler.

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Ghosts of Tsushima
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Guy 2291 Views , , , , , , ,

Ghost of Tsushima, PS4 Video Review

Ghost of Tsushima is an open world, action, Samurai RPG-lite with a 70/30ish mix of ‘toe to toe’ sword fighting and stealth gameplay. All set in 13th Century Japan.

There are a few issues which I cover in the Video Review, but what makes it a game worth experiencing  is its beautiful art style, its music and audio design and the story beats in the later parts of the game.

If you like Japanese culture as I do, the recreation of 13th Century Japan is what made Ghost of Tsushima go from a fun game. To what is personally quite a special video game experience.

Guy was supplied a pre-release copy under strict embargo for the purpose of this review. Thanks to PlaystationNZ and Suckerpunch for the opportunity.

Watch, Like and Subscribe to the youtube review from @nzbrowncoat after the link.

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JBL Quantum 400
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Guy 3538 Views , , ,

JBL Quantum 400 Headset – Review

JBL have been a mainstay of the home audio fraternity since 1946. They have in recent years been brought under the Samsung Electronics umbrella, which may explain why after so many years, they have finally taken the leap into Gaming Headsets see what we think of the Quantum 400.

They have certainly jumped in boots and all too. The new ‘Quantum’ range boasts seven different models. Spanning entry level headsets through to models with head-tracking, noise cancellation and wireless surround sound.

The JBL Quantum 400s are a great headset. If the rest of the Quantum range have had this much thought put into them, then safe to say JBL are not here to muck about, Gamers!

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