Giving us the final proof that videogaming is truly a deep, scary and toy-obsessed hobby, Konami have released some details of japanese toy company Medicom's forthcoming Solid Snake toy. And my word is it just a little too odd.

What scares me more than the grotesquely muscly physique is the mustache.
It haunts my dreams, with it's colourless, slug-like glory

So a lot of you know about the hosting problems we've had on and off for the past 5 months or so - Recently this has manifested in Podcasts not downloading properly.   After spending a rather unbelievable amount of time with our current host (Bluehost) trying to work it out, I've finally (after receiving my 15th email in the past two days saying the podcast only downloads 5 minutes) picked up a subscription over at LibSyn and will be hosting all our podcast files there.

The site is still being wonky, I know.    Looking at the next month, it looks like I'll be able to afford to put us on dedicated hosting by the end of March - No more shared hosting = Happy GA.com and severely reduced lag/downtime.

I'm open to any suggestions?

Anyhow, heres the download info for the podcast again, fixed to reflect our new hosting arrangement.

Speaking to C&VG, Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon has revealed that he wants Mortal Kombat 8 to achive the same level of graphical accomplishment as Gears of War. During the interview, he states that "When I saw Gears of War, I was like, "Holy s***! That's the look that we've been talking about". If I'm frank, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Mortal Kombat would have achieved it's own graphical style, it being in it's eigth incarnation.

Over the years (the few years, I might add) of listening to developer types, and publisher types, and all manner of marketing types, I think it would be fair to say that I have quite a good skill for noticing when said types are being a mite shallow. When you hear a former EA employee talking about Gears being devoid of originality, you prick your ears a little, and with good reason. The same should apply here. What this man, this Ed Boon, is doing is trying to dissasociate himself with any failures the previous games have had. How can it have taken 15 years for a game to 'find itself'? At what point does Mr. Boon think "Shit! We haven't been doing what we talked about for 15 years at all! Maybe we should try something new!"? If a series really does need such a kick up the arse that it requires an entirely new approach really deserve a new title? MK has endured so many changes, each of which meant to do "something ... that's unbelievably unexpected" (thanks Mr. Boon), and revitalise the genre?

Boon proceeded to pour words further, adding that MK8 will have brand new fighting system (for the umpteenth time) - "We're not going to have three fighting styles, we're not going to have the same punches and kicks and the same kind of control scheme. Everything is getting trashed. We're reinventing everything from the ground up. We really think that's needed". Wait, didn't he say that with Shaolin Monks, or whatever the last bastard child of MK and Zelda was? Or was that Deadly Alliance? Or is it the forthcoming TableTop MK - Which I've titled "Mortal Dear God Why Are We Still Playing Tabletop Games Kombat"?

Boon gave a vague sounding (because Christ knows it won't come out on time) "Novemberish time" release date.

Ubisoft have released the Ghost Recon AW 2 demo on Xbox live, the demo weighs in at 625.54 mb. So what is my overall impressions of the demo, well honestly the demo is pretty horrid. XBL demo's have improved considerable recently with the release of Crackdown and Rainbow Six Vegas which where praised as pretty decent but it seems like GRAW 2 has just lowered the bar with its poor design and awkward controls.



More impressions after the jump

Hey all!

Andy here with a special episode of Gamer Andy Live!  -  Edie and I spent the last two days living the Crackdown Life(tm) in the city by the bay (SF).   A dinner with the devs, and a full day of play-time (plus take-home copies) with one of the most hotly anticipated titles of the new year, and we've brought YOU all the deets in a 69 minute podcast Crackdown blowout.

So check it out, lots of talk, lots of stories, lots of opinions bout the good and the bad.

Furthermore, if you have ANY questions about Crackdown, hit up our forums and post your question - we'll answer it!

To download you can use one of the links below with your favorite podcast/blogcast tool.

Speaking to Computer And Videogames, Crysis developers Crytek claimed in an interview that details on joining the multiplayer beta would be coming soon, presumably to the public.  While I blasted the limted standard-fare single-player demo that Crytek has been showing off at various media events, I could certainly see how some of the features might shine in multiplayer such as deflatable tires, demolishable buildings, and a number of interesting powerups.  Crytek's announced plans for detailed strategic team multiplayer sound very fun.

Expect more details on this as they become available.

I figured this was worth mentioning.  Dominic Nguyen, Megatokyo editor and freelance writer for a number of tech and nerd magazines and websites, has written up a review of the Japanese arcade sensation The iDOLM@STER.  A sort of managerial sim-slash-minigame-slash-teen fetish arcade game where players try to make Japanese teen idol stars out of high school girls.  His account gives a fair appraisal of what I suspect wil be an XBOX 360 hit, but I think the fact that every photo of the game during play features a middle-aged man in control tells me more.

Some of the readers from the UK (there has to be one other than me), and even some from across the pond, may have heard of MP Keith Vaz, outspoken critic of violent video-games, and, crucially, politician. He is essentially the UK's Tank Flompson, minus the outright lunacy, and plus the traits that usually come with politicians.

MP Keith Vaz's name will now be humorously changed to prevent him gaining any ill-deserved credibility

MCV has 'obtained details' from a meeting that the Rt Hon Vazmobile has had the displeasure of sitting through, regarding game legislation, and how bleeding well the industry is regulating itself within the (rather loose) confines of the UK's PEGI ratings system.

It has long been the opinion of Sir Keith Vazbury III that the ratings system over here don't do enough to "protect children". You have to keep in mind that it is illegal to sell somebody underaged an 18 (or 15, or even 12) rated game, punishable by the full force of the law, and that finding out this helpful nugget of information would have taken little more than a click of the mouse (or in the case of His Majesty Pope Vazzington IV, a click of the fingers to hail a researcher) to the PEGI's website, this one right here.

In the meeting, both the Minister for Trade and the Minister for Creative Industry, Margret Hodge and Shaun Woodward respectively, stated that they "respected the steps the industry and PEGI had already made", and that "the games industry had been very successful on the matter".

In what may have been the final, crushing blow to Vazwang, President of Sealand, a spokesperson is reported to have said "that a change in Government policy couldn’t come about because of one MP’s concerns". Having studied British Government and Politics for just 9 months, I'm almost afraid to say that this would be a little obvious, and for King Vazpin, an embarrasing wake-up call.

In all, it was a remarkable step in the right direction for British government, which for all too long has been stuck in the Mary Whitehouse, BAN THIS SICK FILTH, Sensationalist phase.