— -aam‘ a), ; g :-
Boxing Clever
With high definition TV on the way, Henry Northmore investigates which is better — plasma or LCD.
‘ l) Ready' seems to be plastered on every new TV these days. and H at the moment it‘s a bit confusing. as with no high definition (l-lD) receivers or DVD machines even available in the UK (the only way you can see true H l) at the moment is via games on the Xbox 360) it‘s hard to see what all the ftiss is about. In fact. due to their size these huge flat screen TVs can make regular broadcasts look worse than ‘normal’ TVs as they accentuate the imperfections in the current broadcasting system. But just wait until you see HDTV in full action: it is jaw droopineg beautiful. With four times the clarity. the sharpness and colour will blow you away.
If you are buying a new TV it needs to be ‘future proof“ (the other DUI]. phrase of the moment) and therefore llD ready. because when it comes you really don't want to be left behind. So which to choose: plasma or LCD‘.’
Both have their advantages and. annoyingly. both have disadvantages too. At the moment price is comparable (Argos is offering an ill) ready Bush
LCD TV from £499) and LCD is rapidly catching up with plasma in terms of
screen size (Sharp has just released a mammoth (iSin LCD with its LC- (i5(iDlli. retailing at £12500 approx). it's their idiosyncrasies that are the difference. Black levels (the contrast and darkness of true black) are far better on plasma as they can show near true black by blocking all power to particular pixels. whereas LCD models use the most power when displaying blacks so off axis viewing can display greys. Round one to plasma.
The term ‘screen burn-in'. which results in an image being permanently burnt into the screen. is likely to strike fear into any buyers. LCD is in the clear when it comes to this problem but plasma is still susceptible. New anti- bum tech is improving (as originally even l5 minutes of pause on a DVD could cause bum in) and now it would take about ten hours for permanent bum in — though this might still be a concem if you watch one channel with onscreen idents for extended periods. Round two to LCD.
Next up is longevity. It‘s depressing to think that your brand new TV has a built-in life span. LCD give on average 50000—65000 hours of viewing.
whereas plasma have a half life (by which time the screen will only glow half
as brightly as when new) of 60.000 hours. It’s close. but round three to LCD.
Lastly. while their response time is improving. LCD screens can still give a trailer effect on fast moving images. So plasma wins this round and the two formats end up roughly even.
The refining of the tech involved is solving some of these problems. Don’t get us wrong: they are both mighty fine TV formats. but be aware of the pitfalls (and in fact new drawbacks compared with conventional TVs) that these next generation TVs come with.
T'liL \t‘L‘Li
Revrews PS? X801; PC MARC ECKO’S
GETTING UP: CONTENTS
(Atari) 0000
This has to be one of the most blatant marketing exercises yet in the world of gaming. Appeal to the kids through vrdeogames then flog them a load of Marc Ecko clothing. But what at first glance looks like a high concept advert dressed up as a GTA clone is (whisper it) a damn fine gariie. sharing as much in game play as Prince of Persia and T he VVHUIOfS as it does the aforementioned GTA. You play as Trane, a young tagger trying to make a name for himself with some of the most audacious graff yet. The basic premise is you must ‘get up‘ where the sweet tag spots are and vandalise the hell out of them. The game play is constantly shifting, with some fantastic set pieces (spraying your tag on a moving subway train being a highlight). Some of the fighting seems unnecessarily drawn out. mainly because you want to get back into the graffiti side of the game. which is pulled off with real flair and a novel control system. Add to this some superb voice acting from the likes of P Diddy, Brittany Murphy and Talib Kweli (as Trane) and all this advertising; money has bought them a very cool
game in which to tlog their gear It‘s a surprise hit. but whether it‘ll make you rush out and buy Ecko Unltd T-shirts is another guestror‘. entirely.
(Henry Northinorei
ps2:
ATV: OFF ROAD FURY 3
(SCEE) 0.0
Sometimes when you
buy a product you want to know that it Will do exactly what it says on the tin. But is it the case With games? It's certainly true that Off Road fury 3 generally does what you expect You blast around the place on your all terrain vehicles. popping stunts and clearing time stages. Just as you'd imagined. Tony Hawks meets WRC as your giiads leap off ramps pulling heel clicks, can- cans and other similarly ridiculous but accurately branded moves. There's some nice seat of your pants action, some cracking races and a cool soundtrack but. overall, even though this is a solid game made Willi real panache. in the end it rust feels like you've seen it all before. (Henry Northmore)
PS2/XBOX BLACK (EA Games) 0000
The word ‘game' is weird. Deep down, the
ga'nirig t‘ornrnunih seems slightlv embarrassed fix it Ever wondered '.‘.‘h\ the Edinburgh lliit‘ll1.iiii)l‘..i Garner; lestrxal changed its name to f'dihhurtih Interactixe Entertainment l estival‘ it's like the. ruiard ‘garnr-s' as khildish,
of serious attention Yet {i illlr' like [i/aijk shows how wrong this (illlilltlt‘ :~. glorious first person
unWr )rthi.
lhisisa
shooter that “eletirates the Visceral fur-n single shot tired is rewarded With a reaction l‘i.ft-. )i dust, shattering glam. exploding tanks. everything exists sun; ‘1, to connect you With t’ir action. And it Works superbly. lherehas never l)t:(:ll a l l’fS that united the player Wlill the vrrtual fillyfilfiiil world so surressfully. It is a hugely (fllj( ivalile, exciting, volatile symphony of weapi )l .ry.
And that's it l(~l a few short hours. l neinier. never truly stimulate, With any squad members on your side acting in the same durrih but practical fashion. And the story is meaningless.
Which leaves an exercise in interaction. No highs and lows. so stand out inornents, It shows exactly why interactive entertainment is great, but not everything you need if) life. Black could be improved by some challenge. a plot that's worthy of the name. and most of all, an emotional as well as primeval attitude. All those things that make a ‘garne'. But in their absence, for those few short hours. there is honestly no better way to connect gut, eyes and simple bloodlust.
(Iain Davrdson)
The BBC is joining forces with Oxford
climate model for a massive project
by downloading a Simple programme.
University-led scientists. using the Met Office examining weather change across the globe. And you can help by devoting your spare
computer processing power to their research
bbc.co.uk/sn/hott0pics/climatechange/
ART
Knock out a couple of doodles and for every one you Submit you get a random sketch in return. You never know what you'll get. Some are crap, some are mini-masterpiec as. Very addictive.
sketchswap.com/
102 THE LIST 3O Mar—13 Apr 2006