The brand new South Park DVD, Imagination Land, is out now and to celebrate we have two copies to give away, along with a shiny iPod Touch.
We’ll get to the competition in a moment, but first, some information:
In this never-before-seen director’s cut, the doors of the world’s imagination are thrown wide open and the boys of South Park are transported to a magical realm in their greatest odyssey ever. Stan, Kyle, and Butters find themselves in Imaginationland just as terrorists launch an attack that unleashes all of mankind’s most evil characters imaginable.
With the world’s imaginations spinning out of control, the government prepares to nuke Imaginationland to put an end to the chaos. Racing against time to prevent nuclear annihilation, the citizens of Imaginationland realise their only hope of salvation lies in the mind of the unlikeliest hero: Butters. Ignoring the impending apocalypse, Cartman goes all the way to the Supreme Court to get justice for his case of dry balls.
So, onto the competition. The first name out of the hat will win a copy of Imaginationland on DVD along with an iPod Touch. Second place wins a copy of the DVD.
Self-styled as The Job Interview From Hell (and spoken at a volume that makes you wonder if you haven’t accidentally found Masterchef instead), The Apprentice is one of Auntie’s few success stories of the last few years. From its humble beginnings as cult favourite on BBC2 to its prime time explosion on BBC1 (complete with a post-game spin-off on the latter to keep everyone happy), the show is now five series’ strong and shows no sign of the declining popularity afflicting its Stateside predecessor, presided over by Donald Trump, a man whose hair threatens to defy all the known laws of physics.
In his place, Sir Alan Sugar (the business empresario behind Amstrad) and a healthy dose of brittle English greed. The whole production is in sharp contrast to the zip edit gold-washed frenzy of Trump’s US version. Instead, it’s all muted greys and blues and a boardroom decked out in Ikea’s premier range. Not for the UK Trump’s oil-slick charm. Sirallun (as he is known now in the collective conscience) is gruff, foreboding and quite clearly enjoying every bloody minute.
If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, here’s how it goes: Sirallun sets two teams made up of hapless wannabe Richard Branson’s and reality tv miscreants an entrepreneurial task with the winning team being the one that has managed to turn the most profit.
The losers return to the boardroom amid sweeping aeriel shots of Canary Wharf and the Gherkin to give the impression that all the firing (and eventual hiring) takes place in London’s glittering business districts when in fact they’re only trooping back to a warehouse in Essex. Sirallun’s aides Margaret and Nick under whose auspices the task is carried out generally sit looking smug before Sirallun yells at the stupidity of the losing team (even when they’ve fallen victim to bad luck or faced impossible odds) and delivers his zeitgeist-friendly catchphrase, ‘You’re fired!’ to that task’s weakest link. Repeat x 12 weeks all in the name of a £100,000 a year job in one of Sirallun’s organisations.
And it works. Oh god, it pains me to say this but it works. It works so well, the format has remained unchanged for five years now. While the US version has spun itself silly reinventing the wheel, the UK edition knows what works, sticks religiously to it and lets the contestants do their worst. Huge ratings ensue.
This DVD (or ‘Sirallun’s Greatest Hits’) revisits Series 1 to 4 and it’s interesting to note not only how psychologically damaged the contestants have increasingly become (the prize should surely now by default include one month’s psychiatric therapy) but also how the show has started making more use of the rapid-fire editing from America that puts expressions alongside actions that clearly don’t belong together.
The biggest negative is that this DVD lacks any of the dramatic tension, manufactured or otherwise, that the series has so much of. It’s all too easy to forget that when The Apprentice begins each year, it usually takes four to six weeks before you can distinguish one candidate from another. Until then, they’re very much one amorphous blob of monetary parasite.
The Apprentice is high-grade disposable reality tv, designed as such. It’s not there to be revisited, replayed or analysed in anything other than weekly doses before it’s on to the next episode. If you’re an Apprentice Super Fan who knows just how many hairs are in Sirallun’s beard (Answer: They’re not hairs but the residual energy from the souls of the candidates he eviscerates each week) or it’s Christmas (when this sort of DVD gets played once on Boxing Day and never again), this is mana from heaven. Otherwise, this is very much for completists only.
The Apprentice: The Best of Series 1-4 is out now. Get your mits on a copy by clicking here.
Everyone’s favourite serial killer is back on DVD this month and we have three copies of Dexter Season 2 to give away.
Anchored by an intelligent, quirky and eerily subversive performance by Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, Dexter tells the story of a man leading a thrilling and horrific double life as both a likable forensics expert for the Miami Police Department and a vigilante serial killer living by his own strict moral code – only killing murderers who can’t otherwise be brought to justice.
To win one of these boxsets, just answer this question:
Which Dexter cast member is Michael C. Hall married to?
Leave boredom behind you and prepare to make the mundane extreme with the new Sony Ericsson F305 Walkman® phone, exclusive to The Carphone Warehouse.
Waiting for a bus, queuing for a coffee and hanging around for a mate could become the most exciting part of your day, thanks to the new gaming handset from Sony Ericsson.
The motion sensitive F305 phone allows gamers to test their bowling, fishing and riding skills as they swing, swoop and gallop using the handset to replicate real moves. This attractive handset is also bursting with over 50 free games, including favourites like Sims 2, Racing Fever 2 and Asteroids.
To be in with a chance of winning this ultimate motion-sensitive gaming handset, just answer the following question:
Nine years after Street Fighter III: Third Strike took the one-on-one beat ‘em up to the next level (and isolate all but the most dedicated fan), Capcom’s legendary fighting franchise is undergoing something of a renaissance. First, the original Super Street Fighter II Turbo was given a high-definition facelift and tweaked to become the definitive edition of the superlative fighter. And now the big one: Street Fighter IV.
Let’s get it out of the way: the rehabilitation is complete. Few people would deny that the third instalment has a high barrier to entry. Ninja technicians still pour over frame rates and move priority years after its third update (hence Third Strike) to the point that everyone else quite rightly felt a bit left out. Wary of killing off the golden goose before it has even had a chance to lay another egg, Capcom have gone back to basics and overhauled the entire game mechanic.
First impressions are that this is not so much a sequel as an update: Street Fighter 2: Reloaded. Or Ultimate Street Fighter 2. But look closer and there beats the heart of a brand new game. There’s plenty of advanced fighting techniques to keep the pros busy but crucially, SFIV is nuanced enough that anyone can pick up and play without first having had memorise the manual. If all you’re after is chucking Fireballs and Sonic Booms, there’s plenty here for you but seasoned pros will still the perquisite amount of depth they require by default.
The anticipation surrounding Street Fighter IV reached fever pitch in the weeks leading up to its release with legions of gamers speculating on characters, tactics and those all important arcade sticks. The highest possible compliment one can pay to Street Fighter IV is that the whole experience feels just like it did in 1992 when you and your mates were playing the original SF2 on the SNES, running home from school to get a few rounds in before dinner and frustrated that you couldn’t yet select the same character (it was always a race in my house to see who could get to Guile first).
The starting line-up is instantly familiar: all eight original World Warriors plus the four Shadaloo bosses sit alongside four new characters designed especially for the game with a further nine to be unlocked in the course of the game. The end result is that you immediately feel at home with the combatants, all old friends you lost touch with back there at the tail end of the 90s but now ready to pick up where they left off as all the best ones can.
The original arcade hardware was never the most powerful kit in the world and so while SFIV does look gorgeous, it isn’t as immediately overpowering as you might think. Indeed, there are moments when you would be forgiven that it was running on a Dreamcast (hardly the worst crime, like most of the best DC games, everything looks lush). Nonetheless, every last frame is packed with detail and there are wonderful touches – every fighter is always on the move and even their faces react to the action on-screen, eyes bulging at the thought of an unblocked Ultra combo. It’s how you always thought Street Fighter should look and sound, with dialogue snippets peppering the fight.
How it plays is where SFIV differentiates itself from its predecessors. Immediately, you’ll notice that it’s much slower, no ten stars of speed here. Eventually you’ll slip back into the groove and become convinced that Street Fighter has always moved like this but it can be quite jarring as you get into your first fight. Soon it becomes apparent that there is a now a real emphasis on reading your opponent and getting your tactics in shape to exploit any weakness that just charging in blind will reveal and that’s what opens the game up for the casual masses. It’s a far tenser affair, each player looking for a vital opening and trying to seize on the initiative. Can you fit in an Ultra at the end of that latest attack? Is it worth saving your Super Combo bar for the inevitable or should you use a block and power-up a regular Special Move?
The Ultra combo is one of the key additions to the game that can be The Great Equaliser between two opponents of differing skill sets. As the fight progresses, your Revenge meter slowly builds the more damage you take. When it starts flashing, this means that you’ve stored up enough to pull off an Ultra Combo, a devastating combination attack that can wipe out an otherwise healthy energy bar and put a fight on more equal footing. Naturally a lot of these attacks are able to be perfectly blocked but if deployed right, they suddenly prolong the longevity of a fight and give a weaker enemy a chance of survival. Of course, should it connect, the price you pay is that your Ultra then fills your opponent’s meter leaving them ready to attempt their own. It’s checks and balances – how much do you want to win?
The other new technique is the Focus Attack, which is a split-second haven from an attack that allows you to absorb one move and if you’re within striking distant, recover and crumple your opponent to the floor. Again, the idea behind the Focus Attack is to give any new players the necessary tools to take on more experienced players while giving the latter something to get their teeth into as they progress deeper into the game. It’s not just hyperbole, the Focus Attack is remarkably easy to get the hang of and useful in a pinch.
Elsewhere, the game builds on its Arcade Mode with a series of solo Time Trial, Survival and Challenge missions. While the first two are self-explanatory, Challenge mode sees you trying to perfect a series of your chosen character’s moves and combos. Some of these rely on split-second timing that can become frustrating. It’s a useful way of learning a character but a video reply of the required moves would assist no end. Your mileage will vary. As an added incentive, you can add new costume colours for the roster as you work through these missions although it is disappointing that you’ve got to sing for your supper so comprehensively.
And what about those controllers? Articles have already been written at great length about the various options available. Does the game work with the standard 360/PS control pads? Yes. Just about. Don’t expect minor miracles but the d-pads are perfectly functional and are no hindrance to unlocking the characters missing from the outset. A much better offering is the MadCatz Fightpad, a dedicated controller that does away with the analogue sticks littering both standard pads and has a lone d-pad modelled on the nigh-perfect Sega Saturn controller. There were a few teething problems with ours, it is a very loose d-pad and in the beginning it felt unwieldy but its advantages rapidly become apparent and you appreciate how useful it is to have access to all of your kicks and punches across one face, mapping other operations to the shoulder buttons.
MadCatz have also released two dedicated arcade sticks for the release of SFIV too – a standard edition Fightstick and a premium Tournament Edition. At present, there seem to be a few issues with the entry-level Fightstick and so we’d recommend finding the cheaper Hori EX2 as an excellent starter stick at least until the problems work themselves out. The Tournament Edition Fightstick is another thing entirely: a stick that uses the best Japanese parts and comes in its own special presentation case (and for £150, it should make you breakfast too). Reserved for only the most ardent fan or arcade wizard, the Tournament Edition Fightstick is a thing of real beauty which oozes quality from the second you open the box. Is it worth £150? Arguably, yes (critics will only go and cite Rock Band and Guitar Hero to demonstrate good value but pay them no mind). It’s an extremely satisfying piece of kit that deserves your attention and look at it this way, you’ll never need to make the outlay again.
SFIV represents everything you’ve ever wanted from a new Street Fighter. Comparisons between this and SF2 are to be expected given the game’s use of its rich heritage but that’s just to draw you in. This is Street Fighter IV, ready to make you fall in love with the genre all over again. Practice makes perfects, gentlemen. Hail to the King.
Street Fighter IV is available by pressing “Punch, Punch, Kick, Up, Left, Block, Punch” on your keypad now, or clicking here.
You may have caught our previous feature on Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic, but if not click here and read what we said back when it first appeared on TV – it goes without saying though that it’s aces.
Anyway, it’s out now on DVD. The most sensible thing you can possible do is grab a copy by clicking here.
Kurt Hennig – aka Mr Perfect – could have been the biggest star in the WWE. Not only was he brilliant in-ring, but he was excellent on the stick and a was an all-round charismatic entertainer.
You only need to watch one match to see that Hennig was one of the best there ever was when it came to selling. Watching his fights, you truly believe that he’s putting his all into every single move, and when he takes a bump, he makes sure you know about it. Yes, sometimes it’s a little too much (will one chest chop really send someone skidding across the ring?) but it’s all part of Perfect’s appeal – he gave his all in every match. As if proof were needed, chuck in the second disc which contains a selection of his classic matches. The epic hour-long battle against Nick Bockwinkle in 1986 is here in full, and to be honest is worth buying this DVD for even if you’re not interested in watching the documentary – it’s that good.
But there’s a problem. This is a very, very short documentary. It’s not as his career was so brief there is little footage to use, so why the first disc is so lacking is a mystery. A few more talking heads from the current WWE roster would have been welcomed, as would a deeper look at the darker side of Hennig’s life.
The fact that this much-loved family man died in a hotel room in Florida, alone, after a cocaine-induced heart attack is barely mentioned, and the producers should be ashamed of themselves.
Combine this with the miniscule running time, and even though there is a lot here to recommend this release, it’s far from perfect.
It’s extreme rules all the way in One Night Stand, and for the most part, the gimmick pays off.
John Cena taking on JBL in a first blood match is probably the weakest part of the disc but is still far better than most moments in other PPVs. The failure to legitimately draw blood is a bit of a let down, but the guys get around it in a way that doesn’t scream ‘fake’ too much.
Edge and The Undertaker have been producing strong matches for a while now, but this TLC match is everything you hoped it would be – including a huge bump from the top of the ladder and through four tables by Taker. As usual, Edge’s acting is second-to-none and the unexpected ending is sold 100% by the announce team as well as both performers.
The last-man-standing match between Triple H and Randy Orton doesn’t look like it’s really going anywhere, but then Orton takes a dodgy spill over the top rope and landed badly on his shoulder. He can clearly be heard telling the ref that he has broken his collarbone. Following this real-life injury, the match grinds away to a quick finish, and Orton is clearly in a great deal of pain.
As you would expect, the stretcher match between Shawn Michaels and Batista is solid fare. Michaels would be able to turn a bout against The Great Khali into something worth watching, so seeing him against the rapidly improving Batista is one of the disc’s highlights and manages to spring a few surprises.
In what could have been a complete abortion of a match, the ‘falls count anywhere’ scrap between Jeff Hardy and Umaga is great fun. The pair brawl outside the ring, backstage, near the merchandise stands and finally in the parking lot where Hardy pulls off an insane Swanton Bomb. The best bit of the match though comes midway when Hardy slides down the bannister of a long staircase and converts it into a cross body block on Umaga.
Another legit injury comes during the Singapore cane match featuring Tommy Dreamer, Chavo Guerrero, John Morrison, and Big Show. After hitting his head on the ring steps, the deep gash above his eye clearly pisses the big man off, and his destruction of everyone else in the ring has a ring of genuine aggression to it.
The best fight of this PPV though, was provided by the women, with Beth Phoenix and Melina proving once again that when Vinnie Mac takes his mind off bikinis, mud wrestling and other middle-aged wank fantasies, the Divas can produce matches as good as anyone else on the roster. It goes without saying that Beth Phoenix’s domination of the women’s division continues, but Melina gives as good as she gets and sells the Glamazon’s submission holds like her life depends on it.
At the very least, One Night Stand deserves a second date.
A great concept for a PPV. One night, every WWE title on the line – meaning the fans get to see a series of big names stars in matches that really mean something. Or at least, that’s the idea. In reality though, Night of Champions is just another hit and miss DVD.
Yes, the big titles are contested, but so are the pointless ones that even the wrestler’s themselves struggle to get excited about. Who cares about the United States championship? Certainly not Chavo Guerrero or Matt Hardy who produce a decidedly lacklustre match.
These days the tag team titles mean nothing, and the art of tag wrestling is virtually dead, but we are nonetheless presented with two tag team title matches which test both patience and the boundaries of credibility. Clearly there is no one on the planet who buys Finlay and Hornswoggle as a credible partnership, but we are still presented with the pair taking on John Morrison and The Miz in an abysmal contest for the WWE Tag Team championship.
Even worse, however is the farcical World Tag Team championship match between Hardcore Holly, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase Jnr, and Cody Rhodes. No, that’s not a typo. And no, it’s not worth watching.
Elsewhere there are middling bouts involving the likes Y2J and Kofi Kingston and a meandering triple threat match between Kane, Mark Henry and The Big Show.
But the DVD isn’t all bad. British wrestler Katie Lea Burchill produces a really good battle against Mickie James – marking herself out as a Diva to watch. Let’s just hope that she’s given a decent enough push. An angle with her and Beth Phoenix would be brilliant.
The award for best match however, has to go to Triple H and John Cena (narrowly beating Edge and Batista’s epic battle). Although it was hyped to within an inch of its life, this was still an exciting contest with a strong storyline. The result will be of no surprise to anyone au fait with WWE politics, but the journey there is hugely enjoyable.
Once again then, a generally poor value release, but with one or two great matches peppered throughout.
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With the world’s imaginations spinning out of control, the government prepares to nuke Imaginationland to put an end to the chaos. Racing against time to prevent nuclear annihilation, the citizens of Imaginationland realise their only hope of salvation lies in the mind of the unlikeliest hero: Butters. Ignoring the impending apocalypse, Cartman goes all the way to the Supreme Court to get justice for his case of dry balls.
Self-styled as The Job Interview From Hell (and spoken at a volume that makes you wonder if you haven’t accidentally found Masterchef instead), The Apprentice is one of Auntie’s few success stories of the last few years. From its humble beginnings as cult favourite on BBC2 to its prime time explosion on BBC1 (complete with a post-game spin-off on the latter to keep everyone happy), the show is now five series’ strong and shows no sign of the declining popularity afflicting its Stateside predecessor, presided over by Donald Trump, a man whose hair threatens to defy all the known laws of physics.
To be in with a chance of winning this ultimate motion-sensitive gaming handset, just answer the following question:
Anyway, it’s out now on DVD. The most sensible thing you can possible do is grab a copy by clicking 
You only need to watch one match to see that Hennig was one of the best there ever was when it came to selling. Watching his fights, you truly believe that he’s putting his all into every single move, and when he takes a bump, he makes sure you know about it. Yes, sometimes it’s a little too much (will one chest chop really send someone skidding across the ring?) but it’s all part of Perfect’s appeal – he gave his all in every match. As if proof were needed, chuck in the second disc which contains a selection of his classic matches. The epic hour-long battle against Nick Bockwinkle in 1986 is here in full, and to be honest is worth buying this DVD for even if you’re not interested in watching the documentary – it’s that good.
The last-man-standing match between Triple H and Randy Orton doesn’t look like it’s really going anywhere, but then Orton takes a dodgy spill over the top rope and landed badly on his shoulder. He can clearly be heard telling the ref that he has broken his collarbone. Following this real-life injury, the match grinds away to a quick finish, and Orton is clearly in a great deal of pain.
