First of all the graphics are great and the variety of tracks and conditions are excellent.  The controls are accurate and responsive. My comments are mainly with the degree of difficulty.
  I am an older adult and been playing games since pinball machines and Pacman.  I find this game to be extreemly difficult even at Novis level.  My grandchildren cannot even finish the first race. All they end up doing is going backwards and crashing into the other cars.   I managed to get 2nd place in the first race after about 30 trys at Novice level.  Since then I am up to 38 events at Novice level with first in all of them but not till I had run each one of them at least 20 times to get to know the tracks.  At Novice level this is way too difficult.  I am here to enjoy a good race and have some fun.  This is not fun having your brain wrenched and your patience twisted and dragged thru the mud!  Who has the time to learn every last twist and loop and how the game was engineered? I'm not a computer technician or a racing engine mechanic. This game is only for a rare few people who not only understand computer engineering in order to trick the system to win but also understand the "shop lingo" to understand what all those terms are in the "options" box.  If I win a new engine or brake system or suspension system with different settings, there is no explaination of how those settings are made. Basically, there is no extended manual of definitions and how the game works and how to set up your car.
Also, the other cars seem to be operating on a different level.  If you wreck YOUR car and lose a lap you might as well forget it.  If the other cars wreck and lose a lap they somehow magically come back in the next lap and run you over.  In other races the opponent cars are somehow endowed with magical properties to take turns and twists that are impossible for your car make at those speeds no matter how good you are.  If your car crashes into a tree or something it takes a long time just to get it in reverse.  The opponent cars somehow manage to not only get in reverse but get back in the race in split seconds!! 
Also, in the Circuit Challange Class B you are given 2 cars that are both too slow to ever win the race.  I have tried over 100 times and have never even made it to 3rd place!!...and that is at Novice level!!..and I can't go on till I win that race. So, basically I have reached the highest level and I can go no further so that's the extent of the $19.95 I spent for the game and all that's left to do is go back and run the other races again to infinitum. I am thus cheated out of the other races that I paid for.
 There is more to it than winning.  There is the pure fun of driving in a new place with a new car and enjoying the scenery too.  So what if I lose? It's not right to block the other races that I paid for.  It has nothing to do with basic knowledge of how a particular car is controlled.  My grandson in the 2nd grade was able to win several races that I had to win to unlock first because he could not get past the first race!!!  In my opinion you have to develop an obsession over many long hours of brain wrenching compulsion to ever get past Novice level.  That's not fun. That's what people get paid for at a job somewhere.
Also, whoever you are that made this game, what's with the bogus phone number and the bogus email? I have to join your club to even get this message thru?  Now that you got my money who cares, right?
Also, with as much effort and time you put into designing this game and stuff like head movements of the driver that can't be seen anyway, why not show the driver being smashed up with the car and body parts flying thru the air?  Afterall, you are sitting there laughing at all those people sending you their money for a game that's rigged so you can never win, you might as well make it more fun to watch your avitar get beat up.  Also why not have a virtual bar or club along the way for the losers to get a drink and cry in their beer.     

Well I am thinking of maybe writing a fictional piece for here based on and around the events of Borderlands. Not sure how I'd do that just yet, something maybe along the lines of Wolf's excellent Skyrim journals I'd expect. Watch this space!
Not done much as of late with On Live, though got some more free stuff. A game called Edge which looks interesting and NBA 2011 to name but two. Also writing projects coming my way for other stuff other than computer games and for this site so I could well be a very busy guy! Hope it all pays off.
But hey if you don't try, then you can't get what you want. What's the worse that can happen eh? Beats sitting around doing nothing doesn't it?

follow up report. well now have 3 of the abe's odyssey series to play, bought bastion and got helldorado for free as well as a couple of other games. I am tempted to buy Dark Void, nice and cheap, for a game that yes, is flawed but has a neat idea behind it, a pretty good story to boot plus unique combat.
Most weeks we get something new added to the subscribers pack and I can happily say that for 6.99 a month this is a darned good service. I still strongly recommend that you at least go for the free trial (and don't forget, if anyone has NOT got borderlands yet, it comes FREE!).
Rumour has it that Body Count and Bullet Storm are coming and beat 'em up fans at last have street fighter 4 to play. Maybe more like that to come, I will keep you posted. I'm hoping split/second velocity is on it's way too the UK service, I can only hope so.
There are lots of games I have yet to try (Lego Batman being one) and will dip in and out of the service and keep you informed as to what's going on.
Happy gaming.

Well here I am again and have been now dabbling with more games other than Borderlands (got it on console yeah I know but love the game and it's FREE with the initial sub!) and an alien shooter, that's shaping up rather nicely as is the multiplayer Homefront game. I have experienced SOME lag at times but heck you can get that on the PS network and X Box Live so I'm not too fussed.
The games are constantly added too and updated so yes, I think I can see myself still using this service. Now I see the original Deus Ex is there so may well give that a go and again it was FREE with the initial sub. Not bad for 6.99 a month I think.
Anyone else out there using it?

and it's been a while since I last wrote anything for the blog. Since last time I have been blasting a path of mayhem and chaos through Borderlands but not just on the PS3. I have been trying out OnLive and playing it there. My opinion of OnLive?
 So far so good. For 6.99 a month I can gain access to a load of games that are not on the console and I don't have to worry at all about not having the resources on the PC to run the games.
I have heard people criticizing the system as suffering from lag and connection problems. Well I can say that so far I have not experienced any problems with that at all. Indeed Borderlands runs as smoothly as a very smooth thing indeed and once you get used to using the keyboard and mouse instead of a control pad then bob's your auntie. I can run games smoothly on the Mac and our main PC with no hassles at all. There are a wide range of games here indeed from the original Deus Ex right through to puzzlers and even Warhammer Space Marine. Bare in mind you'll have to pay for some stuff but the player pack gives you Borderlands and other classics such as Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl. With more titles to be added as time progresses I think this could be a very good system indeed. Will it kill console gaming? No, I think it will be an alternative that should exist side by side with no problems at all. Way I see it is, if I was on holiday abroad and was ill or the weather was crap, then I'd have something that would run via the hotel's or sites wifi, and I could be playing a top title in minutes with no downloads, no discs and more importantly, no hardware to take up luggage space. 
I'll keep you posted as to how things go.

The longest queue in Eurogamer this year (apart from the one to get in) was for something that really surprised me. For those of you that don't know Onlive is an online gaming service that started in America last year and has just made its way to this side of the pond. How it stands apart from console gaming is that all of the processing, saving, whatever happens on servers in Luxembourg and all you get to deal with is the input and output.

You know what this means? It means Deus Ex: Human Revolution as a browser game, Arkham City played on your tablet and - with a reasonable outlay of £69 - Homefront on your TV. Quite literally you will never need to upgrade your PC to play games again and, as a reviewer of PC games you can just imagine how much I like that idea! The games themselves look good too. The titles listed are hugely impressive if, I think, a little overpriced for just digital versions and if you just want to try you can rent a title for three or five days. If there is a demo it is free.

Add on to this the social aspects and the ability to watch other players play and you have an incredible service. To cap it off, apart form purchasing the games the whole thing is free and likely to stay that way. So how are they going to make money? Simple really, every second you are playing, every one of Joker's minions you kill, every other player's game you snoop upon is providing Onlive with information about you. And that information is worth a fortune to the right people.

Now, at this point I would expect most people to throw their hands up in disgust and walk away. Don't. At least not until you have thought about it. Do you have an Xbox, or a Playstation 3? Do you play steam games? Or World of Warcraft? Or Angry Birds? If you do any of the above, or indeed any of the millions of similar games, consoles and outlets then you are providing th same information hand-over-fist to just about everyone. And you had better believe they are marketing that information! Accept this fact, move on, and give Onlive a try.

Remember, if you aren't paying then you aren't the customer, you are the product. Not my words and often bandied about these days but true nonetheless. There are three types of people in the internet: those who try to hide and end up doing nothing, those who accept they are a commodity and live with it and those who, through ignorance or inexperience, get trampled by not understanding what they are doing. Make sure you know what camp you sit in!

Psst. Take a look at Rimelands: Hammer of Thor if you like turn-based RPGs. I really enjoyed it!

You know what? I am currently in a frame of mind that says, damn it I need to get some games clocked! So when not engaged in review mode, I am focusing on Drakes Fortune, Borderlands and Red Dead Redemption. I have already arranged targets for the next completion tasks (if you want to put it that way) Mass Effect, Fallout 3 and one other (which I have not thought about as of yet) Actually I might go retro here and try and finish an older game, Jade Empire is a tempter now I think about it. Resistance Fall of Man is another that I have in my sights at the moment. I'll keep you posted!

since I wrote anything for my gamer blog and too be honest, I haven't had much to say. And what I have written has hardly been earth shattering or had any breath taking revelations I suppose. (unless you count me as being one of the number that you can count on one hand that has said, "I like and use the Wii!) But now I might say something that may ruffle a few feathers. Here we go then.
What the heck is the fuss about Halo all about then? OK I admit I like Halo's one, two (although weaker) and three and then my opinions on the series became seriously soured thanks to the mess that is/was Halo: O.D.S.T  I don't like it when they decide to make a game with such a damned steep learning curve for the solo campaign thereby twisting your arm to play in co-op mode. I have just started playing Halo Reach and I already think this is the best since one and heck, maybe it could turn out to be BETTER in mind than the original. Reason? Because OK things get hectic on single player sure, but it's not seemingly impossible to get through without crying out for help or risk putting the control pad into near orbit with frustration!
And I'll be fair, the Halo series isn't the only culprit. The latest S.O.C.O.M has the same problem. A steep learning curve that rises (albeit due to different circumstances) in the stealth single player sections. OK I have friends out there on the X Box Live and Playstation networks but unless I can get something organized well in advance, meeting them online to play co-op is damned tricky. If I find them online I find them playing something I haven't got or maybe I am not in the mood for!
I hear that Killzone 3 has a similar idea behind it and I wonder how the latest Gears will play in solo mode. Then there's the flip side where a game like Bulletstorm that cries out for a co-op mode lacks one. Why??
Is it too much therefore, to ask that developers strike a happy balance? Surely with steep learning curves that are tagged onto title like O.D.S.T, some novice gamers may well be put off playing it and end up trading it in pronto. I know one young guy on FB, who had O.D.S.T for Christmas 2010. He could not cope with single player and had (too the annoyance of his parents who had hunted high and low for a copy) therefore traded it in for Fallout Vegas by the beginning of February. So come on developers, get your act together!

I didn't ask for any games for my birthday, which some folks who know me may be surprised by. However that of course, does not mean that there are not any titles that I am thinking of getting in the near future, heck no!
So here is my list of potential purchases coming in the next few months.
Batman Arkham City I mean any Batman fan must be salivating over this one. Have this on pre order as of two days ago.
Rage: A hybrid of Bulletstorm and a race game, looks like the closest we 'll get to Mad Max the game for a while, although Borderlands came close I suppose.
Forza 4: Love a good racer and this one looks great. Forza's predecessors still have me playing them so this one is a must.
Drake's Fortune 3 this has been a great series so far, and everyone who slags PS3 off, forgets that Drakes Fortune was a launch title.
Body Count is beginning to get my attention. There are some good shooters on the horizon, this one may just suffer from being overlooked as there are other titles looming and some of those are on my list too, such as;
Resistance Fall Of Man 3. Hale may be gone so step up too the plate with a new hero. Looks like this could be a cracker.
Killzone 3 another sequel but looks as if this could hit you right between the eyes like a sniper round. 
And despite the slight disappointment that was Metro 2033, the sequel looks a good one. Then there comes the third Bio Shock. This may be the block buster of the year. In other genres there is Final Fantasy 14, this could be a slumbering giant and should/could make up for any shortcomings served by FF13.
May seem I am after a lot but hey, variety is the spice of life! 

The above may sound like a no brainer for some people, as they say on forums left right and center. The Wii? It's a load of crap.
I ask them have you ever used one? Back comes the reply no. Then I ask then why don't you like it then? Back comes a regular list of answers.
a) The graphics are rubbish
b) There are only kiddies games on the machine.
c) control looks rubbish and doesn't work. (Oh and you know this without using one? How does that one work then?)

Well I have an X Box 360 and a PS3. And yes, we have a Wii. And I have to say I like it. Not as much as the other two granted but it has it's uses and I have no problem with it. Let's take the points one at a time.
Graphics are crap. Someone obviously has not seen Goldeneye in the flesh so to speak. OK it's not in HD but looks pretty darned good too me. No lag online and multiplayer is smooth and more than just functional. What's more it's a great little game. And obviously it is NOT a little kiddies title. Though not as gory as say Bulletstorm it isn't one for very young children,and
 has a decent challenge level. Controls are nice and responsive and what's more they are intuitive to say the least. 
So the graphics are not as cinematically beautiful as the PS3 or 360 but then it's NOT a next gen console for heavens sake.
And if it is so bad then why has it sold so many units? Sure there are kiddies titles on there but it's meant to be a family friendly console. Don't want one then don't buy it but don't run the machine down either especially if you haven't actually tried using one!
The controls I find to be easy too use and responsive. Motion is smooth when using it that way and as a general controller I have no problem with that. It's also backward compatible with the Game Cube and as there were some great games on that machine and they are dirt cheap on E Bay and Amazon..need I say more?
So the Wii is not perfect but then again neither are Sony's machine or the 360 (I'm on my third 360 in about four or five years whereas the original PS3 we have hasn't broken down once) but I say leave the Wii alone! Those that slag it off are surprisingly (for the most part) excited about the next one coming! 
Fickle tastes maybe? Anyway I'm off now to play Metroid the Other M in a bit, and then maybe see some of online for some Goldeneye multiplayer!