Brits Know Best

Gears of War 2 confirmed for November 08 Release...

2008-02-20T19:20:00.002Z

...well in Italy although by the time i have cliked the 'publish post' button there is a good chance it will be confirmed properly. Games site kotaku.com posted:

Oooooh ho ho. This just in from Mike McWhertor, sitting two seats over. The official Gears of War 2 press release just hit... in Italian. It coming to the 360 this November. The release will be hitting the site in a second or two.

We just tracked down a Microsoft spokeswoman who told us no comment, but the look on her face when I told her that the press release had leaked out early said loads more. She said to watch the conference for any announcements.

Thats good enough for me. For more information from thGDC and any suprises happening head over to www.kotaku.com and watch the exciting 360 news unfold. NOW

Online Gaming Has a Long Way to Go!!!

2008-02-20T14:59:00.007Z

While browsing the Halo 3 forums i came across this very useful broadband speed test, it allows you to check your connection to around the world. It gives you download and upload results as well as your latency result to your chosen area. For instance i checked mine to the nearest which is Maidenhead and results were a ping of around 50, checking with results to New York which gave me a ping of around 120.

With these results it made me realise how far internet speeds have got to go before a real online experience can be found which will represent true gaming skill. So when someone won't die i suggest we don't jump the gun and blame the player for having a poor connection (unless your really annoyed)

On the other hand it seems Halo 3 has greatly improved with their latest update to the game which improves the melee system and some latency problems. For more info on that head over to bungie.net

For speed test website head over to www.speedtest.net.

Happy Gaming

Videogame Violence: Where's the harm?

2008-02-19T21:01:00.006Z

It seems hardly a day goes by nowadays without a report of some kid shooting up his school ‘because he played Counter-Strike’ or of how young minds are being corrupted by ‘triple x pornography in games marketed to teenagers’. It was only yesterday that the infamous Jack Thompson put the blame for the recent NIU tragedy where a 27 year old gunned down students supposedly because he played Counter-Strike 4 years previously (and had absolutely sod-all to do with the fact he had stopped taking his medication for mental illness).

Like it or not, violence in videogames is big news at the moment. Be it school shootings in the US or links to kids and knife culture here in the UK. Forums everywhere from xbox.com to IGN and CVG are full of gamers up in arms that their beloved pastime is being brought into disrepute. However, is there more to this than gamers realise?

The fact is that violent game, as well as violent books; films; images, cartoons or websites can, and will, have some form of effect on the individual engaging with them. The effect it has however is entirely down to the suggestibility of the individual concerned.

During the 19th century Antonin Artaud created the Theatre of Cruelty. This is a type of stage theatre that was designed to be so visually shocking and sickening in its use of violent imagery that it was meant to have a cathartic effect on the audience, cleansing them of their anger, aggression and fear. By witnessing others engaging in acts that a person is meant to subconsciously desire allows them to purge themselves of pent up emotions and thus lead a better and more fulfilling life. If we look at the popularity of public executions in previous times, and even to the present day in many countries across the globe, we can see how this may well be true.

People have an innate desire to witness suffering. It somehow makes ourselves feel better. We love watching Comic Relief and Children in Need with all their stories of third world suffering and we gain some warped satisfaction from viewing images of war on TV. We KNOW that what we are viewing is horrible; that what we are witnessing is distressing and sickening; but we still watch it. Why? Because deep down the only way we can feel better is by reminding ourselves of what we are capable of, and feel more powerful knowing that we have the restraint not to carry out the acts we see.

The same theory applies to videogames, horror films and almost all other forms of ‘unengaged violence’. We sit down with our 360 pads and tap the B button to unleash chainsaw hell on our unsuspecting foe and a grin spreads across our faces. We let stream profanity after profanity when we get our arse handed to us due to a lucky plasma grenade…and we LOVE IT. Not just because it’s entertaining but because we are fulfilling those subconscious fantasies we so desire everyday but that our consciousness, and society, forbid to us to engage in.

However, what would happen if your consciousness was affected in some way?
It is well known and documented by psychologists, doctors and psychiatrists that certain things can affect how a person’s conscious and subconscious mind interact.

• Age – as you grow older the border between the conscious and subconscious mind becomes more prominent and thus much easier for us to avoid acting on impulse. This is largely down to learning the ways of the world and the laws of the society in which we live. Children therefore are more prone to act on subconscious impulse than adults.

• Testosterone – the greater the level of testosterone in your body the more prone to act on aggressive impulses you will be. It becomes much more difficult for a person to restrict the extent to which they express their aggressive impulses.

• Drugs/Alcohol – the more under the influence of drugs and alcohol you become the more the border between conscious and subconscious blurs. The easier it becomes to act on subconscious impulse.

• Mental Health – if you are already suffering from mental health problems then the higher the risk of you acting on subconscious impulse.

Obviously these things alone would not necessarily mean that you are going to go out and shoot down a few pedestrians but if these things are combined with other catalysts such as bullying, peer-pressure or exposure to violent images etc then the likelihood of engaging in a violent act is increased.

Therefore a child who is being bulled at school, going through puberty, witnesses’ domestic violence at home and plays Halo for 13 hours a day is more likely to commit an act of violence than a 28 year old that has had three pints of Golden Boot and has spent 4hours playing Gears of War.

The fact is that videogames DO affect the people that play them. Are they the reason why Stephen Kazmierczak decided to walk into his old University on Thursday 14th February 2008 and shoot as many people as he could before turning the gun on himself? Of course they aren’t but there is the possibility that, due to his mental health issues, playing violent videogames could have increased the probability of him committing a violent act.

Groups and Fixtures announced

2008-02-10T21:28:00.001Z

The groups and fixtures have been announced for the up and coming xleague winter 08 tournament. The groups are as follows:

Group 1 Group 2

xP I XpLiCiT PrOjEx GOLD Horseman of Pandora

TSF Re-Dux TEAM EXILE

Natural Definition pR0 x GamerZz

Team eNigm4 Relentless Team infinity uk

Group 3 Group 4

THE BRUSHES ESTATE Team eNigm4 Inferno

True Velocity Gaming TSF Sheep

Tiuk: Infinity Second Squad XpLiCiT PrOjEx I Vanquish

Brits Know Best Team Raishuu Chikara Enkou

As you can see Brits Know Best have been placed in group 3. Best of luck to all teams and match play begins on the 17th of February. BKB's fixtures can be seen on the right hand side.

Gears Of War Xleague.tv tournament full

2008-02-06T01:46:00.000Z

Here is the complete list of clan teams that are in the Gears Of War xleague.tv tournament:

Natural Definition, Ultimate Punishment, True Velocity Gaming, XpLiCiT PrOjEx I Vanquish, Team eNigm4 Relentless, pRo x GamerZz, BRITS KNOW BEST, TSF Sheep, O, Team eNigm4 Inferno, THE BRUSHES ESTATE, Team Raishuu Chikara Enkou, XP I XpLiCiT PrOjEx GOLD, TSF Re-Dux, Team Exile, Horseman of Pandora

Good luck to all the teams, the fixtures should be announced soon.

2008-02-04T23:40:00.000Z

BKB are now looking for players to participate in games such as COD4, Halo 3, PGR4, The Orange Box and many more. If you have an existing team and would like to merge into the BKB brand we are willing to do so, this will involve your team having sole control on what leagues/tournaments to participate in and what matches to play (you will basically play under the BKB name)

If you think you/or your team would like to join BKB then the requirements are as follows. You must be 18 and over and willing to pay to join leagues and tournaments such as xleague.tv and be serious about gaming. If you meet these then please contact either Lees75 or mrteeps on xbox live, alternatively you can go to our gamebattles site and send us a message.

On acceptance of joining BKB the team will be monitored in a match involving the game you are playing to check for things such as cheating, as the last thing we want is a bad reputation. REMEMBER IT'S JUST A GAME!!!

Gameshare a proud associate of BKB

2008-02-01T13:22:00.001Z

I am proud to announce Gameshare as an associate of Brits Know Best. Gameshare is a brilliant website which allows you to swap your games with other gamers. All you need to do is register put what games you have online and add games that you would like, watch the offers flow in. You either reject or accept it's as simple as that. Head over to www.gameshare.co.uk now and register to get your first trade free. Trust me you won't regret it!

What A Performance!!!!

2008-01-30T01:47:00.001Z

BKB vs Deadly Irish Assassins

Last night produced the best performance from a Brits Know Best team to date. While mrteeps was busy watching Charlie's Anals, me, xMASTERPIECEx, Westy2k and daren brady took on Deadly Irish Assassins. We went on to win the game 3 games to 0, winning canals 5-0, fuel depot 5-0 and gridlock 5-2. With superb performances from every member of the team including stand in daren brady. Overall a superb team effort and a very special thanks to the opposition who were unlucky on several occasions.

Man of the Match - Daren Brady - Superb performance from daren which consisted of boom shot and torque bow kills of the highest quality.

On a sour note a match scheduled for 1:00am was cancelled because of a no show (something of a trend on Gamebattles)

4 Wins and a Reputation Star!!!

2008-01-28T22:10:00.001Z

So we bagged our 4th gamebattles victory of the season with a 3-0 win over delusion and therefore climbed up the rankings table and have now actually got a 1 star reputation. May the winning continue and let's hope it continues tonight when we play another Gamebattles match at 11:00pm

We would like to thank team delusion for the match last night which was thoroughly enjoyable. Remember if you are interested in playing against our GOW team then either challenge us on gamebattles or send us an xbox live message to Lees75 or mrteeps.

GTA IV release date confirmed

2008-01-25T13:07:00.000Z

Just a quick bit of news, Rockstar games have confirmed the release date of Grand Theft Auto IV is the 29th April. You can still pre order the limited edition version of the game on selected sites.

Lees75

Challenge Brits Know Best

2008-01-22T13:03:00.001Z

Do you have a clan that feels they have what it takes to defeat the best BKB has to offer? Well prove it!

To issue a challenge just send a message to (gamertag) mrteeps or Lees75 and get ready to die!

And the free game is.........

2008-01-19T13:39:00.001Z

UNDERTOW, yes your free game from Microsoft due to xbox live issues. Unfortunately those of you who already own Undertow get nothing which is bang out of order, Microsoft yet again follow up good news with bad. Customer care is something which they clearly lack match practice in. Undertow is available to download for free from Wednesday through to Sunday.

EDIT: I however feel you should all stop being miserbale bastards and just play gams...its 2 quid for christs sake...let it lie! Teeps xxx

Other news is that Brits Know Best have now entered the GOW league and tournament on Xleague. We are looking for other players to play other games such as COD4, PGR4, Fifa 08 and Halo 3. If interested please contact britsknowbest@btinternet.com, thanks.

Lees75

New Demos on Xbox Live marketplace!

2008-01-18T13:19:00.001Z

Two new demos flew onto our marketplace over the last few days, the first being the new Turok game. Now i have yet to play it but according to mrteeps don't expect to be entertained, i think the official words were "It's shit, it looks pretty but it's not very good" The other demo to hit the marketplace was Fifa Street 3, again i have not played this and i am expecting the worst to be honest. Westy however has played it and he loves it, he has even gone as far as pre-ordering the game. In my view it will be a waste of money but i will save my judgement until i have actually played the game. The big news regarding demo's however is the so called release of the Devil May Cry 4 demo according to Capcom's website the demo is due to come out on the 31st of January. I hope this is the case as i have really been looking forward to the game and have already pre ordered it from Game. For those of you contemplating the game please feel free to check out my demo review and full game review soon and also check out the side bar and videos of DMC4.

Happy Gaming,
Lees75

XLEAGUE.TV Tournament 2008

2008-01-13T21:32:00.002Z

Xleague have announced a new GOW tournament for 2008. BKB will be entering and competing against another 15 teams. Prizes have yet to be announced but more information will be available soon.

Diary of a 360 Widow

2008-01-02T19:17:00.000Z

Episode2 – Game Break Etiquette.

Hello again members of BKB and those of you who have stumbled across this site and are confused enough to be reading this in the hopes of discovering what this site is about. This month’s ponderings are on those moments where you have to put down your controller and irritate the hell out of the rest of your team.

Now the way I see it there are very few reasons why a hardcore gamer would leave his chair once he’s met up with his virtual companions. Now in our house things like Baby Teeps sticking lego up her nose/being sick/ smearing shit all over her room are dealt with swiftly and where possible by a singular parent (not always me) but not everyone in BKB shares our domestic set up (although there has been lodger talk) so this blog will concentrate on the 3 main reasons for game desertion.

Tea Breaks – Now certain members of BKB have more tea brakes than others and some have people who make them a brew which then goes cold while they sit blowing the faces off their rivals and occasionally their team mates. It is considered polite to inform your team that you will not be in front of the tv for a short period of time. This should be while you are waiting in a lobby rather than in the middle of a match. You should take your headset with you and offer to brew up for everyone. DO NOT under any circumstances try to drink any hot substance whilst playing a match as no good can come from it.

Comfort Breaks – It is important that you judge your timing right. There is nothing more unattractive than a man sat in his own piss. Also, if you know you need a shit and you’re the kinda guy who takes a 360 magazine to the toilet (Teeps) then inform your team and sit the next round or two out.

Spousal Abuse – Sometimes your life partner will wait until you have lined up an amazing head shot to begin an argument. This may or may not be purely to irritate the hell out of you but the situation needs to be dealt with before it gets out of hand and she/he costs you a whole night/week of gaming. For these instances it is not good idea to say into your headset ‘Hang on boys the missus is being a twat.’ As this may lead to you console flying out of a window. Instead your team should have a code phrase such as ‘I’m off before the Yanks take over.’ That way you team knows you may not be back for a while.

So the basic gist of my pondering is if you are going to disappear off for any reason TELL SOMEONE! That way your team mates aren’t left thinking you are dead/bumming sheep/shaving your legs.

Until next time.

Love and biscuits.

Mrs Teeps.

BKB VS pRo x GamerZz

2008-01-02T16:13:00.000Z

A Gears of War friendly match will take place tonight at 10:30pm between the two sides. Full match report to follow.

BKB team for tonight is as follows:

mrteeps

Lees75

Westy2k

xMASTERPIECEx

pRo x GamerZz are a team who have just finished in 6th place in the xleague GOW league and will be participating in the playoffs soon. This will be a stern test for BKB and will help gain some valuable experience that BKB need. Whatever the outcome only good can come from it.

A present from Microsoft!!!!

2008-01-02T15:00:00.000Z

Yes you read correct Microsoft are actually going to give us gold members a present due to the difficulties of xbox live over the last few weeks. What the present will be is unknown but speculation suggest they could be giving us all a free Playstation 3 (not true). It's good news to me as my George Forman has just broke so it's a perfect replacement.

On a serious note the xbox live service is better but still experiencing some problems so we just have to bear with it.

Other News

It is rumored that MGS4 will be coming to 360 but 12 to 14 months after PS3 release, this has given me some second thoughts as i was planning on buying a pS3 for that title alone. This can only be good news for 360 owners.
Unreal Tournament III is 90% complete for Xbox 360 so it seems it will be out earlier than expected.

Diary of a 360 Widow

2007-12-28T22:49:00.000Z

Episode 1 - The Teachings According to 360

Hi, I’m Emma (aka Mrs Teeps) and I am an Xbox 360 widow. Since that little black box (i own an elite - Tps) entered my house I have learned several things and Teeps thought I should share them with you and so every month or so I will chose a topic and give you my thoughts. Feel free to suggest topics for me to cover, I will happily talk about Americans and why they are lovely people really, small children and the X-Box or even the fact that Westy looks a lot like Penfold. So sit back and enjoy, or scroll past this whole bit because seriously what could a girl say about XBox that could be useful?

So apart from learning my husband is a really bad loser and unbelievably competitive what has the X-Box ever done for me? Well apart from the late night occasions where I’m woken by cries of ‘FUCK!! FUCK!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WESTY?’ and the constant feeing that I’m listening into somebody elses phone conversation I have learned several things since that little black box entered my house.

The first is that it doesn’t matter that our TV has a split screen mode which would allow me to watch CSI whilst Teeps plays, it would be stupid and inconsiderate for me to ask my game addict husband to sacrifice even the smallest amount of the 32” inch screen. This means I have to REALLY want to watch something and has resulted in me NOT watching Big Brother, X factor, I’m a Celebrity or any other reality TV which possibly won’t be repeated should I miss an episode. So the Xbox has cured me of reality TV.

The second thing I have learnt since the 360 appeared under our telly is that Microsoft are clever bastards. Not only do they come up with games people feel or think they want but Xbox live means that if you want to socialise with your virtual mates then you not only WANT to buy the latest games but you HAVE to buy them or risk being a social pariah.

I have also learned NEVER TALK TO SOMEONE WEARING A HEADSET! The reason is simply because he’s not listening. He is either concentrating on killing people, coming up with some witty insult like "i'd rather eat my own face than play with you again" or is more interested in what his team is up to.

Lastly for this blog I have learned that my husband tells stupid lies like ‘I live in Texas’ and he can’t do any accent other than a Bolton one. In fact I don’t like him very much when he plays. He’s a bad bad man. (she doesn't mean that...she loves me...loves me lots! - tps)

These are all observations from watching my other half over the top of my ds. In my next offering I will be writing about tea-break and toilet etiquette as observed by the non-gamer.

Love and cuddles

Mrs Teeps

Xleague.tv GOW League

2007-12-26T23:45:00.000Z

Happy returns to everyone this is just a quick update to tell everyone BKB will be entering season 3 of the Gears Of War league as soon as the details are announced. This doesn't mean we won't be needing new players if interested please contact the email address on the right hand side. Thanks

XBOX Live back up

2007-12-23T20:44:00.000Z

It's seems xbox live has been fixed and we can all get on with our lives again, don't know what the problem was but it's all good now. Still nothing from Microsoft though, it would have been nice to have been told. Oh well!!!!

XBOX Live down!!!

2007-12-23T01:08:00.000Z

Well i have just got home from work and decided to turn on my xbox to find xbox live is not working, of course at first my concerns were that my router was playing up (or i had been banned because of a stupid yank!) . After turning on my mac and checking the xbox live forums it seems most people have been down since last night and according to posts Microsoft are aware of the error and are fixing it. Lets all hope we get an extra day to our subscription, YEAH WE WISH!!!

It's at times like these i wished i had a PS3 like xMASTERPIECEx and then we could play top online games together, oh yeah we could play Motorstorm together my bad. I could always join Westy on the couch to watch the proclaimers in concert and even better i could go to Teep's and watch the Mighty Boosh. I think i would choose the latter.

Sneakers

2007-12-19T12:26:00.000Z

Here you can see a pair of trainers (or SNEAKERS as he likes to call them) young xMASTERPIECEx of BKB has had specially commissioned.

Made especially to accomodate his size 17 feet these 'sneakers' are the only pair of GOW footware in existance (as far as we know).

But will they make him any good at the game? Jury is still out on that one.

Please note...thre may be quit a few fibs in the above post...prize of a fictional pair of trainers to anyone who can guess what they are.

Member update.

2007-12-19T02:35:00.000Z

This is just a reminder that we are currently recruiting, if you are interested please email britsknowbest@btinternet.com

Thanks.

Return console for Sega?

2007-12-18T17:40:00.000Z

Rumour has it that Sega corparation has filed an application to protect the 'Dreamcast' name sparking a debate that they are to release a new console. The application contained protection against games consoles,controllers, memory cards and so on. Although i find this hard to believe you have to admit this news is quite exciting, the fact that we could see Shenmue 3 and house of the dead really is something. SEGA have been contacted and our supposed to have denied the rumour although this must be took with a pinch of salt. Never say never.

Is Microsofts HD-DVD plan a secret decoy?

2007-12-18T16:49:00.001Z

So with Blu-ray and HD-DVD battling it out many are wondering which will win. Rumour has it that neither will and the overall winner will be Microsoft, since bringing out downloadable HD movies it is slowly becoming evident that microsoft may not be truly interested in the HD-DVD after all. If many people begin to download these movies both disc formats will be irrelevant movie wise. The only problem is the Blu-rays capacity to store more data on game discs than normal dvd, but be warned people Microsoft are creeping up like Sam Fisher.