Domino's On me 'ead game

At last a performance from England’s footballers that has not only lifted them into the knock-out stages in South Africa, but also lifted the expectations of the England fans , changing the mood of the country in just 90 minutes-and suddenly, once again we feel that we can take on the World.

On Sunday the first step to the finals begins and who better to come up against than our old foes Germany. It’s not just about football anymore its about England v Germany!

Whatever the outcome Domino’s Pizza are giving fans the chance to win their own cup, The Domino’s Cup in a simple online football game that is free for all to take part in.

Fans are invited to take part in the On me ‘ead competition with the chance of winning one of twenty five Pizza Parties, each worth £100.

It couldn’t be simpler to play the game online, where you must control Dom as he heads a football from one side of the screen to the other, without the ball touching the ground. There are some surprises thrown in and players need to collect vouchers and pizzas and avoid red and yellow cards.

Domino’s are also asking England football fans to take part in another competition, to find lookalikes for the current England squad.

To enter the Footballer Lookalike Competition, fans can upload a picture of themselves or their friends via the events tab of the Facebook fan page of Domino’s Pizza UK. Every week, Domino’s will hand out free pizza vouchers to the best Lampard lookalike, Defoe double or other imitation of one of Fabio Capello’s chosen 23. Meanwhile, Facebook users can vote for their favourite picture too by clicking ‘like’ under each picture. After four weeks, the public’s favourite will win a free pizza party (worth £100) for the final.

Good luck to anyone taking part in the fun and games and also to England in the upcoming knock out stages in South Africa 2010.

During this week Microsoft offers the game Football Genius – The Ultimate Quiz for 400 Microsoft points instead of 800.

Football Genius is an amusing mix of sporty quiz questions and challenging knock-out rounds. RTL Sports presents an entertaining multi-player family game about the most popular sport in the world. More than 3,500 different questions will test your expertise in everything related to the round leather. From general trivia to true insider knowledge, all kinds of topics from the wonderful world of soccer are covered in this quiz.

Football Genius – The Ultimate Quiz brings soccer fans together. Players can strive to become dribble king online, but there is also an offline mode that offers fun for the entire family. Supported by Xbox 360® Big Button Pad, your living room will be transformed into an arena with a true stadium ambiance. In several game variations, up to four soccer experts get to emulate their idols on the turf and score one goal after another. Timed play in kick-off mode or daring foul play… in much more than 90 minutes, soccer fans will experience nine different game modes with truly sensational features.

Sensational World Soccer is a 2D football game reminiscent of the 8-bit classics created by Oxford-based computer games company, New Star Games.

The game allows you to compete against the world’s best teams in the realistic international tournament and lead your country to glory.  One-touch passing, long range shots, bending free-kicks… it’s just like the real thing!

Trial and full versions are available for PC and Mac.

For more information visit www.newstargames.com.

As well as experiencing the Superbike championship, players can also participate in the Supersport series, testing the improvements of the Portimao circuit.

You can try out your riding skills in different weather conditions as well as riding against 15 other riders in the new Online Multiplayer Mode and you can also play both in Arcade or Simulation mode.

As well as the regular Regular SBK®X edition, there is to be a Limited Special Edition which features a list of 17 riders from the history of Superbikes plus a DVD documentary showing highlights of an exclusive interview with the 2009 Superbike World Champion Ben Spies.

Both versions of the game will be available for purchase from the 4th June.

You may have the original Sony Playstation stashed away safely in your room somewhere, but gaming on the go is the newer way to play, and if you haven’t yet caught on to the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable), where have you been?!

The stylish portable games console lets you access games, music, videos and photos at any time of day. The PSP also features a TV-out socket for displaying content on a television.  As far as Sony PSP games and accessories go, there’s a mountain to choose from.  If you like a good grapple, you can’t beat Sony PSP’s Tekken: Dark Resurrection.

If you’re not familiar with the Tekken series, it’s about time you looked them up. The arcade style games let you select from an impressive list of diverse characters each with their own fighting style, before you pick your opponent and try to knock their block off.  What better way to pass the time on an otherwise dull train journey, or the miserable morning bus ride to work?

Delivering everything that makes the Tekken series so popular, Sony PSP’s Tekken: Dark Resurrection is an impressive graphical game.   One for the lads, it’s a staple PSP game that ticks all the right boxes.

Fans of spiky-headed favourite Sonic the Hedgehog will no doubt love Sony PSP’s Sonic Rivals.  With high speed thrills, this simple yet staple PSP game combines the old school feel of the Sonic classics with modern graphics and updated features.  Bright, colourful levels with plenty of jumps and loops ensure a rollercoaster ride from start to finish. Providing an interesting twist to the original Sonic game, Sonic Rivals sees Sonic save his friends from classic rival Eggman in a series of one-on-one races.

You’ll be hooked almost as soon as you switch on your PSP.

A game made exclusively for the Sony Playstation portable, Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines, part of the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, is a real hit with the boys.  The action-adventure game allows players to free-roam an island at will, all while keeping out of sight of deadly enemies on the way.

Fantasy fans can get a load of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, based on the film of the same name. Set in the world of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII, the game sees Cloud tackle the mystery of the ‘geostigma’, which has become infected by being exposed to the planet’s life stream energy. Cloud and the remaining Final Fantasy VII characters are to lash back at the planet, while saving themselves from destruction. Gripping and addictive, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is already storming the gaming charts.

Little Big Planet is the latest Sony PlayStation craze to take the gaming market by storm. Widely regarded as one of the top 10 Sony PSP games, Little Big Planet gives you the chance to step into a world of endless possibilities, where your imagination is key.  You can enhance whatever you see, using your own creativity, while the graphics behind Little Big Planet provide the rest.  Set out with Sackboy and explore a wealth of environments, while overcoming frustrating obstacles in order to build your own creations. The power is firmly in your hands!

Everyone loves a good virtual car chase, so why not check out Grand Theft Auto? Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a favourite in the Grand Theft Auto series, where players navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind a tale of crime and corruption. Gran Turismo, the real driving simulator, also recently made its debut on the Sony PSP. Featuring over 800 car models and 35 tracks, there’s mission and arcade modes to choose from as well as a multiplayer racing mode.

Footy fans will love Sony PSP’s FIFA 10, with its improved graphics and enhancements. Featuring refinements based on responsiveness and intelligence, plus a new ‘Manager Mode’ including a whopping 50 major improvements, the game includes the 360° dribbling system, which provides finer dribbling control, as well as more accurate passing and authentic shooting.

But the Sony PSP is not just about games: there’s also plenty of films to be downloaded too, as well as a wealth of gaming accessories. Ensure you get a decent durable case and screen protector, first off. PSP accessories packs come in a variety of combinations, with carry cases and screen protectors often included. Save on batteries and get yourself a Sony PSP adaptor, ensuring you can play without the worry that your game will cut out half way through.

For games, movies and accessories, you’ll certainly be spoilt for choice with your PSP. Happy gaming!

Before the advent of online sports betting it was, more often than not, necessary to travel to the ‘bookies’ to place a bet on a sporting event, even then there was not the same amount of choice of sports to choose where you would place your bets.

Serious gamblers could always place bets by telephone assuming that they had an account with the bookmaker in question.

In favour of online betting is the fact that you do not have to leave the house or office to make a bet, you can do it more often, because you don’t have to travel. While it can be less exciting than onsite betting, it is, at least, more interesting than phone betting. You get to see data, and often you can see a streaming video of a live sports event. At home, you are less hasty, you have time to think your moves through, and so you are less prone to make mistakes.

However, online sports betting comes with its own unique set of problems. Apart from the fact that it is virtual and, therefore, less exciting, it can also be a place where you get scammed easily. Many of these betting sites are off shore, which means that they have little accountability if something goes wrong. They also often need you to sign up for paid accounts, and you only get premium attention if you pay an upfront fee. While that would have been fine with branded companies, it is dangerous with unknown online entities. So you have to be extra careful.

Besides this, bandwidth problems may sometimes become issues. Your network may not be fast enough for high traffic websites, and you may not be able to place quick bets in such situations.

So you pays your money and you takes your choice, but always remember never to gamble more than you can afford to lose!

The intergalactic bowling fun for the whole family on Wii™ with realistic physics and diversified game modes.

The Games Company (TGC) is releasing its Alien Monster Bowling League, the interstellar bowling game for Wii™ in the second quarter of 2010 across Europe.

Alien Monster Bowling Game or AMBL for short, opens up a whole new meaning to the traditional bowling alleys that we all know so well. Here you can compete against humans, aliens and monsters in a bowling competition unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It takes more than a good hook shot to compete in the AMBL: Power Moves, Special Balls and Whammies bring a whole new dimension to the lanes for a bowling experience that is out of this world!

If it takes your fancy, you may want to challenge the mighty count Dracula to a game, or the fearless Marsian in his huge robot or wily Kendra with her sexy outfit and many other diversified enemies.

Beat them all despite their individual skills and special moves to reach the winner of the interracial, international and interstellar Alien Monster Bowling League.

Beside a thrilling single player mode you can tempt human friends to encounter the highly motivating multiplayer mode for a fast paced split screen duel. Face your buddies and enter diversified bowling lanes spread around the galaxy.

The multilingual Alien Monster Bowling League will be released in a mid price segment in Q2 2010 exclusively on Wii™ in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German language.

For information on the amazing list of TGC titles visit The Games Company website.

There are some amazing machines featured here too. Ride the Ducati 996, Honda RC45, or a Kawasaki ZX-7RR and feel the power in the controls with world champion riders like Aaron Slight. These bikes handle and feel just like riding the real thing, so the smashes and crashes are equally realistic. Play against the computer’s aggressive overtaking and tactical manoeuvres and match it with your own skills. Move up a level as you control your bike better and pit yourself against the champions.

There are a whole load of different superbike versions available on various internet sites that let you download games and everyone has their favourite.

Superbike from EA Sports has a realistic soundtrack and 3D engines, and the simulation is really life like. You can change difficulty levels, or race in different conditions, so this is not a game which will quickly become boring once you have mastered all the levels.

New superbike video games are available for download all the time, so it is worth keeping an eye on your favourite download sites and magazines so that you don’t miss out on any fresh ones.

For some reason, superbike racing games never seem to go out of fashion, and they still attract video gamers even years after they are first released. They are great value in that players need a lot of skill to advance through the levels, so there is plenty to do.

Sadly, some of the real glamour events such as figure skating and ice hockey have been excluded, and you are left with, among other things, seven games involving racing down a mountain slope (ski and snowboard) and two sports, which involve racing down an ice chute at breakneck speeds (bobsled and luge). The other four events include sports such as ski jumping and aerials.

The games that have been included are aesthetically done and the controls are user-friendly and enjoyable. One of the most enjoyable features is the Challenges mode involves 30 challenges where you have to set your goals. Most of these involve participation in events as if you were completing in real life.

For example, you have to keep your speed above a minimum average in downhill skiing or go round corners perfectly in the luge. You can play the games by yourself in single player mode or with your friends in multiplayer mode.

Vancouver 2010: Official game of the Winter Olympics – Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• the simulation is highly realistic and provides an accurate impression of the actual speed and the difficulty of these events

• the overall presentation is slick and highly appealing

• the Challenges are lots of fun

Cons:

• not much variety with some of the most exciting glamour events being excluded

• some of the included events can be difficult to play

• not as immersive as one would have hoped

Overall, the Vancouver 2010: Official game of the Winter Olympics game is an enjoyable experience and should suffice until you can hit the slopes on your skiing holidays.

Superbike World Championship Racing Game

The new edition of the Superbike World Championship racing game is due for release in May 2010 for Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

SBK®09 offers the ultimate experience of the championship with every feature of the game improved-on from the previous year.

There has been a complete track overhaul, new teams, a new 3D environment, new gameplay structure and new game modes, even the pits have been revamped to look as real as possible.

Each player can now fine-tune his chosen race bike by changing the settings just like a real race engineer, using data collected from the real teams.

In addition, for the first time in a motorcycle racing game, damage caused to the riders leather or bike will also show up in the game, giving that extra feel of reality to the player.

The game features five single player game modes; Quick Race, Training, Race Weekend, Championship and Challenges and three online multiplayer game modes; Quick Race, Championship and Team Championship.

There are many Superbike and Motor Racing download games already available and it is worth checking around while you eagerly await the release of Superbike World Championship 2010.