87 Bazillion guns just got Bazilliondier – it sounds better if you read it out loud.

We haven’t heard much about Borderlands 2 since developer GearBox revealed that they were working on the game way back in August of last year, but that changed today with the announcement that Borderlands 2 will release September 21st, 2012.

The trailer gives a solid idea of what to expect, the 4 main characters seem to be Salvador, Maya, Axton and Zero.
It also promises an epic campaign, new vehicles, more skills and at least 2 player split screen.

‘Handsome Jack’ appears to be the main protagonist of the game, labeled a ‘tyrant’ by the VO and who, if you look closely, seems to be in command of some kind of Death Star-type base.

It’s definitely one of the better announcement trailers we’ve seen, particularly the music choice.

Plus it has a Claptrap dancing to dub-step. Yes, you read that correctly.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

With the nominations announced and the Oscar season upon us, we begin the countdown to the biggest awards show of the year. Why not make yourself familiar with great films from the list of nominees and previous winners, all available on Netflix.

Netflix has tens of thousands of hours to click and watch instantly – including loads of great Oscar winning and nominated movies and a huge list of great movies, previously starred in by this year’s Oscar Nominees.

If you enjoyed Clooney’s best actor nominated performance, checkout Good Night and Good Luck or O Brother Where Art Thou?  Enjoy Meryl Streep’s performance as Margaret Thatcher?, instantly watch her in the The Hours on Netflix.   If you were reminded of Woody Allen’s directorial talents in his return to form, why not check out his vintage Oscar winning gem,Annie Hall.

Or if there is nothing that floats your boat in the current batch of nominees, delve into the past and catch up on some of the finest Oscar winning films ever committed to celluloid. Netflix has 45 previous Oscar winners available to watch instantly, all for the one low monthly price of €6.99. Anyone can begin a free, one-month trial of Netflix by simply visitingNetflix.com.

Here are 10 must-see previous winners that you can watch instantly on Netflix:

•  Dead Poets Society
• Fargo
• In the Heat of the Night
• Lost in Translation
• Midnight Cowboy
• Some Like It Hot
• There Will Be Blood
• The Usual Suspects
• The Aviator
• Saving Private Ryan

Pop over to www.Netflix.ie to find out more.

Here’s the video, enjoy!

Across Ireland right now Sony fan-boys and fan-girls are queuing to get their hands on one of the first PS Vita’s in Ireland.

Knowing this, last night the  lovely guys over at  the PS Blog released a seriously comprehensive list of every PS Vita title that is available today.

The post lists all the downloads, DLC and other extras that are available as of this morning, as well as the prices.

I have to admit one thing, having seen many console launches in my time, the sheer size of the Vita’s launch line-up is seriously impressive and no-one can say Sony have gone into this launch half-heartily.

If your looking to get a PS Vita for yourself today, the console is now available to demo and buy in GameStop stores nationwide.

GameStop is selling PS Vita for just €99.99 when gamers trade-in a 3DS and a 3DS game! (Sweet deal)

They also have a number of PS Vita bundles including: the PS Vita Wifi Plus 1 select game for only €269.99 or PS Vita 3G plus 1 Uncharted Golden Abyss plus 16GB Memory card for only €379.99.

Check out the full list of downloads, DLC and other extras below and watch this space for our review of the Vita over the coming days.

PlayStation Vita Games

• Everybody’s Golf (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Little Deviants Trial & Unlock (£19.99/€24.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• Modnation Racers: Road Trip (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• Reality Fighters (£19.99/€24.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss (£39.99/€44.99)

Rating: PEGI 16
Availability: All Locales

• Wipeout 2048 + Network pass (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• Escape Plan (£9.99/€12.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Hustle Kings (PSN Only) (£6.49/€7.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Motorstorm RC (PSN Only) (£4.79/€5.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Super Stardust™ Delta (PSN Only) (£6.49/€7.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Super Stardust Delta & DLC Bundle (£7.99/€9.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Top Darts (PSN Only) (£6.49/€7.99)

Rating; PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Plants Vs Zombies (Soe) (£8.99/€11.25)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Cliff Diving (Ar Suite – Digital) (Free)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Table Football (Ar Suite – Digital) (Free)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Fireworks (Ar Suite – Digital) (Free)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Army Corps Of Hell (£34.99/€39.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Virtua Tennis 4 – World Tour Edition (£34.99/€39.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Asphalt: Injection (£19.99/€24.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• Lumines Electronic Symphony (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Rayman Origins (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• EA Sports FIFA Football (£44.99/€49.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Shinobido 2 (£34.99/€39.99)

Rating: PEGI 16
Availability: All Locales

• Touch My Katamari (£24.99/€29.99)

Rating: PEGI 6
Availability: All Locales

• Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend (£34.99/€39.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Michael Jackson The Experience HD (£24.99/€19.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (£39.99/€44.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Dynasty Warriors Next (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: Not available in New Zealand

• Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 18
Availability: Not available in New Zealand

• Ridge Racer Gold Pass (£5.49/€6.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Ridge Racer (£16.99/€19.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Dungeon Hunter: Alliance (£29.99/€34.99)

Rating: PEGI 16
Availability: All Locales

• A-Men (£11.99/€14.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: Not available in Australia and New Zealand

• F1 2011 (£44.99/€49.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: Not available in Australia, Belgium, India, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates

• Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack(£5.49/€6.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

Apps

• Facebook (Free)
• Live Tweet (Free)
• Flickr (Free)
• Foursquare (Free)

Downloadable Content

• Everybody’s Golf Network Pass (£7.99/€9.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Reality Fighters Network Pass (£7.99/€9.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Wipeout 2048 Network Pass (£7.99/€9.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• Hustle Kings

• • Hustle Kings Snooker Pack (£2.39/€2.99)
  • Time Savers Pack (£1.19/€1.49)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss (£0.79/€0.99)

Rating: PEGI 16
Availability: All Locales

• Modnation Racers Road Trip – Unlock All (£3.19/€3.99)

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• Super Stardust Delta: Advanced Star Fighter Pack (£2.39/€2.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Motorstorm RC (Dual Compatible DLC)

• • Access All Areas Pass (£0.79/€0.99)
  • RC Collection Pass (£0.79/€0.99)
  • Full Game Pass (£1.19/€1.49)
  • Rare Rally Car: Patriot Enforcer – Only available for 14 days (£0.79/€0.99)
  • Rare Rally Car: Italia Buttercream – Only available for 14 days (Free)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Touch My Katamari

• • Fancy Damacy x 3 (£1.15/€1.39)
  • Fan Damacy x 5 (£1.59/€1.99)
  • Fan Damacy Item (£0.40/€0.49)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

• Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3

• • Additional Character: Jill (£3.99/€4.99)
  • Animal Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • Brawler Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • Femme Fatale Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • New Age Of Heroes Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • The Evil Twin Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • The Rising Dead Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • Viewtiful Strange Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • Villain Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • Weapon Expert Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
  • Additional Character: Shuma-Gorath (£3.99/€4.99)
  • Costume Pack (£3.99/€4.99)

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: All Locales

• Ridge Racer

• • Add-On Course 01 ‘Old Central’ (£1.99/€2.49)
  • Add-On Car 02 ‘Elenie’ (£1.19/€1.49)
  • Music Pack 01 (Free)
  • Music Pack 02 (Free)
  • Music Pack 03 (Free)
  • Music Pack 04 (Free)
  • Music Pack 06 (Free)
  • Music Pack 07 (Free)
  • Music Pack 08 (Free)
  • Music Pack 09 (Free)
  • Music Pack 10 (Free)
  • New Songs Pack 01 (£0.79/€0.99)

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

Demos

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss Demo

Rating: PEGI 16
Availability: Not available in Germany

• Modnation Racers Road Trip Demo

Rating: PEGI 7
Availability: All Locales

• Dynasty Warriors Next Demo

Rating: PEGI 12
Availability: Not available in New Zealand

• Unit 13 Demo

Rating: PEGI 16
Availability: Not available in Germany

• Wipeout 2048 Demo

Rating: PEGi 7
Availability: All Locales

• EA Sports FIFA Football

Rating: PEGI 3
Availability: All Locales

Videos

• Hustle Kings In Action Trailer
• Reality Fighters Trailer
• Wipeout 2048 Trailer
• Escape Plan Trailer
• Everybody’S Golf Trailer
• Little Deviants Trailer
• Modnation Racers: Road Trip Trailer
• Super Stardust Delta Trailer
• Super Stardust Delta Gameplay Trailer
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss Trailer
• Plants Vs Zombies Trailer (Soe)
• Stardrone Announce Trailer
• Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition – Features Trailer

Tonight the boys over at EA are set to slap Microsoft.

In the last few hours a listing on the Xbox 360 marketplace has set the internet gaming community alight. The listing has inadvertently revealed one of the first pieces of downloadable content (DLC) for Mass Effect 3. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that in the process it has also spoiled a “MAJOR” plot point from the upcoming game.

Warning: Don’t read on as it contains spoilers about the nature of the DLC.

Mass Effect 3: From Ashes, has no exact release date and will apparently allow players to “unearth lost secrets from the past” and enlist a member of the game’s Prothean race.

Whether this is the same DLC we reported about recently but under a new name, or a second DLC that will be released alongside we don’ know.

When we tried to download the DLC, surprise, surprise we received an error message saying, “Cannot retrieve information from Xbox LIVE”. The DLC was even available on the website for a split second  -Mass Effect 3: From Ashes.

We’ve reached out to BioWare for comment and will update as soon as we hear anything.

Update: BioWare Associate Producer Michael Gamble went on to the company’s  official forums this morning to discuss the disastrous leak:

Hi all!

We’re happy to confirm that Mass Effect 3: From Ashes DLC will be available at launch for all platforms. For those of you who have purchased the N7 Collector’s Edition (including the PC Digital Deluxe Edition), you will get this content at no extra charge. We’ll have a lot more details for you later this week! Stay Tuned!

Following on from our Interview with Sony’s Managing Director Niall O’Hanrahan, we had the chance to pick another brain involved in the PlayStation Vita – John McLaughlin, producer from SCE Worldwide Studios.

Here’s what he had to say on the Vita and its’ Augmented Reality technology.

Q: What can you tell us about the Vitas’ Wide Area Augmented Reality, or WARR?

John: We’ve been working with Augmented Reality for some time, [on the] PS2, PS3 and on PSP with Reality Fighters.
With a single marker, your character is limited but by adding in more markers [with the Vita] we can make our play-space bigger, which gives us more opportunities to do more things with bigger and better games. 
We can also put markers on  different plains, so I could create a staircase that a character could come down, or a racetrack that I can adjust on the fly by moving the markers.

Every Vita can download the first three Augmented Reality games for free, they are Fireworks, Table Football and Cliffdiving. Reality Fighters is our first true Augmented Reality game [but] expect to see more throughout the year and in the years to come.

Q: Will you tell us what games can we expect to see coming down the line?

John: [Laughs] I can’t unfortunately! Expect to see more variety, expect to see games that aren’t really augmented reality games but may have an augmented reality section.

Q: Do you think there’s a valid future for Augmented Reality, do you see it growing outside the games industry?

John: I think it’s already grown outside [of] the gaming industry actually, there’s a perception of Augmented Reality because of these mobile phones and free apps, but we were there before that on the PS2 and PS3 and on portable with the PSP. 
With the emergence of smartphones, you’ve got a lot of these apps - whether it’s directions or flashes through your camera that there’s a restaurant nearby so it’s already there. 
We changed gaming on its’ head with Invizimals, you weren’t just a character running around a pretend forest looking for these creatures – you were you, you were the hero actually running around your home or garden looking for these creatures.
It’s things like that which changes the way we play games and I think Augmented Reality can help us do that.

Q:  Is there anything planned for the Vita that had to be cut before launch?

John: As a developer, we always want more time for more polish, but we didn’t really cut anything from Reality Fighters. We planned them efficiently and cut nothing from our Augmented Reality games. 

Q: A lot of the Vitas’ earlier reviews are citing battery life as the biggest weakness. Would you agree with this?

John: I think it’s fine, I use my tablet a lot and the battery life on that is probably less than the Vita. I think [you] get more value – at least from a gaming perspective –  with the Vita.
When it runs something like Uncharted which looks almost like a PS3 game with that kind of life span, I don’t think so.

Q: Are you looking forward to any game this year? And it doesn’t have to be a Vita game.

John: Because I’ve been so busy, the game I’m looking forward to this year is a game that’s been released last year – Batman: Arkham City. I loved the first game and I can’t wait to get started on [the sequel].

A big thank you to John for answering our questions and if you want to know more about the PlayStation Vita then stick around as our coverage continues with our review coming soon.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

Update – We’ve updated the post to include the full length cinematic version, shows a lot more than the original video and will blow your socks off. Enjoy.

Mass Effect 3′s newest trailer debuted last night during the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead in the United States, and it delivers all the epic and dramatic tension we’ve all come to expect from a Mass Effect trailer.

The trailer is quite impressive and shows the devastating power the Reapers have and how the Human race will come together to fight them off.
We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again – this will give you goosebumps.

At the end of the trailer we’re told to check back for the extended cut on Feb 21st, which would make this a trailer for a trailer… a bit silly but when it includes impressive CG visuals such as it does, we’ll let it slide.

Mass Effect 3 is released March 9th for Xbox, PS3 & PC and includes co-operative multiplayer and an iPad app – both firsts for the series.
The Mass Effect 3 Demo is also available now for download. 

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

We’ll Panasonic obviously couldn’t wait for MWC next week and decided to announce their brand new smartphone, the ‘Eluga’, here at their European Convention in Hamburg.

Here are all the specs I managed to get on the phone:

Screen: 4.3′ qHD OLED screen.

battery: 1150mAh battery (quite small in comparison to other smartphones on the market)

OS: Android Gingerbread 2.3.5 (ICS update is planned for the Summer)

Memory: 8GB built in, no micro SD card slot! The spokesman said this was due to the phone being water and dust proof so they could not implement a SD slot.

Processor: 1GHZ dual-core processor

Camera: 8 Megapixel, no flash and no front facing camera.

It also comes with all the usual connectiviity and also NFC.

It is a very nice phone in the hand and the screen is extremely impressive with it’s high contrast levels and thin bezel. The phone is extremely thin and also light so will suit those style conscious phone users out there. To note, this may or may not be one of the phones which I referred to in my MWC post.

Stay tuned for a hands-on video!

Having just returned from day one of Panasonic’s Press Convention here in Hamburg, I received information from one of the display team that Panasonic plan to announce 3 new smartphones at MWC in Barcelona next week. He was obviously very reserved with his information but he did go on to say that we ‘may’ see Panasonic’s own digital camera brand, Lumix, integrated into at least one of these new phones.That was all the information he was willing to give me and said I’d have to wait until MWC for more.

With one more day to go at the convention, I’ll try my best to get more info for you guys!

Good news for Android-toting Sky TV customers today with the announcement that Sky Go is now available to dowload on select Android handsets starting today.

For those of you unaware, Sky Go allows Sky TV customers to watch certain Sky TV stations on the go (As the name implies) and up until today, only if they were using an iPhone or iPad.

Really handy for anyone who spends a lot of time out and about yet doesn’t want to miss their favorite TV shows, the biggest flaw is that it’s only available to a select few Android devices at the moment.
And although Sky Go is available for iPad, there’s currently no support for any Android Tablets – we’ve been informed that this will change and Sky Go will be heading to Android tablets and more Android phones over time.

Alongside this news, Sky are debuting Sky 1, Sky Living and Sky Arts 1 onto the Sky Go Service.

The following Android Devices are compatible with Sky Go.

·         HTC Desire

·         HTC Desire S

·         HTC Desire HD

·         HTC Incredible S

·         HTC Sensation

·         Samsung Galaxy S

·         Samsung Galaxy S2

Download Sky Go from the Android Marketplace here.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

GameStop, Ireland’s leading games and console retailer will be stocking the highly anticipated PlayStation^®Vita (PS Vita), PlayStation’s revolutionary state-of-the-art portable gaming device in its stores across the country from next Wednesday 22nd February.  The highly anticipated hand held console is now available to demo in GameStop stores nationwide.

GameStop is selling PS Vita for just €99.99 when gamers trade-in a 3DS and a 3DS game! They also have a number of value for money PS Vita bundles to pre-order including PS Vita Wifi Plus 1 select game for only €269.99 or PS Vita 3G plus 1 Uncharted Golden Abyss plus 16GB Memory card for only €379.99.  GameStop are currently offering 25% bonus on hardware trade-ins when anyone pre-orders a PS Vita.

PS Vita boasts a wealth of features which have got gaming fans in Ireland and throughout the world excited about the new possibilities for portable gaming: a 5-inch OLED multi-touch screen and rear touch pad, dual analog sticks, front and rear cameras and six-axis motion sensing system. All these features deliver a truly powerful console-like gameplay experience which sets it apart from any other mobile gaming device in the market.

PS Vita arrives in Ireland with the biggest and best launch lineup of games in the history of PlayStation with some of the most popular franchises in gaming along with entirely new titles available for Irish gaming fans from launch. Software titles will be available via PS Vita game cards in GameStop stores nationwide or digitally from the PlayStation®Store

First party PS Vita launch titles include: Uncharted: Golden Abyss™; WipEout® 2048; Reality Fighters™; Little Deviants™; ModNation™ Racers: Road Trip; Everybody’s Golf®; MotorStorm™ RC; Escape Plan™; Top Darts™; Hustle Kings™; Unit 13™; and Sound Shapes.  Key launch titles from third-party partners will include, EA SPORTS FIFA Football, Virtua Tennis^™4: World Tour Edition, Ridge Racer™ and Rayman®Origins.The post-launch line-up is also full of promise with major titles, such as Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty and Resistance: Burning Skies™ all set for future release on PS Vita.

PS Vita is the first games console to utilise WAAR (Wide Area Augmented Reality) technology which will allow gamers to incorporate the world around them into gameplay in titles such as Reality Fighters. PS Vita’s WAAR technology unites real life and the best in gaming action and adventure in ways which enhance the gaming experience like never before.

PS Vita will draw Irish gaming fans deeper into the gameplay experience by providing both 3G/Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi only models, enabling them to connect and play with the world around them, their friends and other PS Vita owners for the ultimate ‘always-on’ internet experience. Vodafone is PS Vita’s preferred partner for 3G connectivity in Ireland.

Through a number of innovative social applications, PS Vita also allows gamers to be constantly connected to their PlayStation life, as well as those of friends and fellow gamers:

• ·         Party enables gamers to enjoy voice or text chat with their friends, not only while they play online, but also when playing different games or using different applications such as the internet browser;
• ·         Live Area™ is an interactive portal that enables gamers to connect to their contacts and PS Vita content. Players can check the latest news, receive instant gaming updates from their friends, and then comment back on what friends have said;
• ·         Near is a feature that enables gaming fans  to find out what their  friends in the same area are playing right now and share and discover gifts which can be used in game.
• ·         Cross-Play allows gamers to play head to head in real time across both PS Vita and PS3 platforms, offering multi-player gaming across both platforms and cloud-saving so consumers can play a game on one platform and pick up where they left off on the other.

According to Niall O’Hanrahan, Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (Ireland), ““PlayStation Vita is the ultimate portable gaming device and we are incredibly excited about its launch in the Irish market. PlayStation Vita offers Irish gaming fans everything they’ve been dreaming about and gives them exciting new ways to play the best games available in the market. The quality of the gaming experience is monumentally better than any other mobile device available and we are confident that once Irish gaming fans get their hands on it, they won’t want to put it down.”

For more information on PlayStation Vita, visit www.psvita.com.

Gaming fans will  have the  chance to try out PS Vita for themselves by visiting GameStop stores nationwide. For GameStop store locations visit www.gamestop.ie/stores

We recently got a chance to speak with the Managing Director of Sony Ireland, Niall O’Hanrahan at the Irish launch of the PlayStation Vita.
We’re still pressing him for an answer on that last question…

Q: You say that the Vita is set to revolutionise the portable gaming market, how do you feel this is going to happen?

Niall: The PlayStation Vita has been built around gaming and gamers. We’ve listened to feedback from gamers and they’ve always asked for dual analogues, multi-touch screens, even a rear touch screen – which they weren’t expecting alongside six axis motion control.

Features such as Near, Live and Party introduce a whole new element of social gaming to mobile devices that are not available on any other device and I think that is what’s going to revolutionise the market.

Q: The 3DS received a lot of criticism for lacking compelling titles on its’ launch, was this a focal point for Sony to be determined to offer a huge array of launch titles for the Vita?

Niall: Absolutely, six of those 22 titles are from our own in-house studios. That’s the difference between how Sony operates and other companies operate – we very much embrace the third party community and the third party community have embraced this product.
I’ve been involved in every PlayStation launch since the original PlayStation in 1995 and I have never seen any platform launch with the level of support that this product has.

Q: Uncharted Golden Abyss is Vita’s flagship launch title, is there any other big Sony Franchises that we may see coming to the Vita further down the line?

Niall: The most pre-ordered game at this point in time is Uncharted, but some other franchises from some of the third parties such as FIFA look brilliant, plays brilliantly [and] that’s gonna be a big launch title.
Of course, as we go through the year we’ll have the likes of Resistance coming, Call of Duty and Assassins Creed are coming too.

Q: You mentioned that you were involved in the launch of every PlayStation console so we’re guessing that you’re a gamer.
What’s your favourite game of all time?

Niall:  That’s an interesting question and I would probably have to say the one game I’ve played the most in all my years was the original Tomb Raider.
But Crash Bandicoot has always been very close to my heart, I’ve downloaded it from the [PSN] Store and I play it with my 7 year old Godsons and they absolutely adore it.

Q: What game are you most looking forward to this year?

That’s a very good question; I would have to say… [Pauses] A game that hasn’t been announced yet [laughs].

We’d like to give a massive thank you to Niall for sitting down and chatting with us, be sure to keep an eye out for our continuing PlayStation Vita coverage.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

Each week we’ll be highlighting one stand-out app per smartphone OS that we feel is worthy of your attention.

Let’s jump right in shall we.

iOS – Ghost Trick
Developer – CAPCOM 

The name doesn’t exactly leave a lot to the imagination but this little adventure does start quite uniquely as from the get-go your hero dies. Awakening as a “Ghost”, you don’t know who you are, who killed you or why you were murdered. Now time to start the game, you have just 24 hours to solve your murder before you pass into the great unknown. Ghost Trick has all the elements of a classic horror and as the protagonist you must solve murder after grizzly murder trying to shed light on your own demise. One of the most unique elements of the game is when you enter each of the victims, you gain brief insight into how they died and this just adds to the story and already head-melting puzzles.

Windows Phone – AppFlow App Discovery
Developer – Team Distinction

AppFlow App Discovery is, as the name would suggest, an app to help you find apps.
Windows Phone 7.5 is still a young and relatively unknown Smartphone operating system and although it reached over 60,000 apps this past month, the iPhone App Store and Android Marketplace have a thousands more to offer.

This is why a really solid app discovery app comes in handy, it not only brings the best and most useful apps to your attention but also does so in a really nice and easy way.
The apps’ Live Tile support even provides the current (unofficial) number of apps available in the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Every week or so the app will update with special categories too, such as New & Impressive, Most Popular Apps and even seasonal categories like the best Christmas Apps.

AppFlow App Discovery is free and we can’t praise it enough.
Download it here.

If you have any suggestions for an app to include in future App Highlights of the Week, don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

What can only be described as a unique marketing ploy, Bioware (the team behind the Mass Effect games) have decided to strap copies of it’s brand new game, Mass Effect 3 (you may have heard of it) to weather balloons and plan to release them a whole week before the launch date of the game in cities around the world.

Each game will have a GPS tracker attached and their locations can be followed on masseffect.com.The balloons will be released in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Berlin, London and Paris. When the games finally do come crashing back to earth, it’s a first come, first serve basis and whoever gets to it first becomes it’s new owner.

I have to say, this is a pretty cool idea but hopefully the games don’t end up in the ocean or leaving a ‘Mass Effect’ dent in someone’s car!

The game officially launched here on the 9th of March.

The financial guys in Ubisoft have gone and made a lot of gamers happy this week as they confirmed that not only is Assassin’s Creed III real but it will launch on October 30th this year.

During this week’s financial call, Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, announced that the game is in production but that’s all they announced. No screens or trailer were showcased but based on the outcry of gamers we expect a more formal reveal to happen in the coming weeks.

The big question is where will the game be set and what new features will we see? While Ubisoft has yet to reveal where exactly Assassin’s Creed III will take place, the game’s setting has been rumoured to be anywhere from Ancient Egypt to the American Revolution. Imagine performing Assassin’s Creed‘s trademark Leap of Faith off the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Ubisoft has not said what platforms for which it will release Assassin’s Creed III, but it will most likely be coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC (and maybe Wii U).

But more importantly, where would YOU like to see Assassin’s Creed III take place. Let us know below…

Sony officially launched their new handheld powerhouse, the PlayStation Vita in the Irish Market last night with a taster of what the Vita has to offer in the Button Factory in Dublin.

While the console itself doesn’t go on sale until February 22nd, members of press and media along with contest winners got a chance to get hands on with the device and try out some of the features that Sony hope will help the Vita knock the Nintendo 3DS off its’ handheld throne.

The Vita has some impressive tech inside and out, a 5 inch OLED touchscreen on the front and a touch-pad on the rear for an extra dimension of gaming alongside accelerometer support and beefy internal specs really help to give the Vita an almost console-like experience on the go.

To top it all off, the Vita is launching with a whopping 22 games at launch including titles from massive franchises such as Uncharted, FIFA, WipeOut and others like Call of Duty and Assassins Creed in development.

The Vita will come as a Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi and 3G model here in Ireland and will cost €249.99 (RRP) or €299.99 (RRP) respectively.
Vodafone Ireland are supporting the Vita as its’ preferred partner for the 3G model and each 3G Vita will come with €10 credit on the Vodafone SIM card.

If you’re curious about the Vita, you can head along to a Vita Vault and try it out for yourself .
The full list of PS Vita Vault locations can be found here.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

Itching to take the fight to the Reapers for one final time as Commander Shepard?

Today you can get a taste of what Mass Effect 3 will have to offer with the official demo now launched for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

From the official Bioware blog:

The demo begins in dramatic fashion with the spectacular opening attack on Earth, after which you’re thrust headlong into a mid-game section showcasing the groundbreaking interactive storytelling, adrenaline-pumping action, ruthless and intelligent enemies, and deep customization that make Mass Effect 3 the must-have title of 2012. Once you’ve finished the single-player section, jump into four player co-op missions with your friends – battle the enemies of Earth in two maps from the full game and earn a wide variety of perks and upgrades for your characters.

And while you’re waiting for the demo to finish downloading, why not check out the first official ‘FemShep’ trailer released earlier this week, the first trailer to showcase the ability to play the entire series as a female Commander Shepard.
We feel that it adds a whole extra level of class to the game, which Shepard do you play as?

We previously reported on Mass Effect 3′s purported DLC and its’ iPad-shooter tie in, not to mention that the game has been certified GOLD – meaning it’s finished and is ready for packaging/shipping.

Not long to wait now as Mass Effect 3 launches March 9th.

Download the demo from the Xbox Live Marketplace here and keep an eye on the PlayStation Network Store where the demo is set to go live later today.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

Source: Major Nelson, PSN Blog.

If the rumour mill is to be believed, we may actually see Playstation Suite certified HTC phones before the year is out. Coming from the Pocket-lint website, which was informed by ‘anonymous sources, Sony is looking into allowing the rival smartphone manufacturer  access the Sony Entertainment Network and the chance to play PSone games. Not much more info on this is known.

We should expect more light to me shone on this at MWC at the end of the month in Barcelona.

Would you HTC loving guys like to see Playstation Suite on your handset?

Source http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/44406/htc-playstation-certification-coming-2012

It’s Official! Development on the final game in the Mass Effect trilogy is complete and the game has gone GOLD!. Now you just have to wait a month to play it.

Bioware’s Executive Producer Casey Hudson on Twitter said:

“After an awesome effort by our team, I’m proud to announce #MassEffect3 is officially GOLD! Many surprises await you – this week and beyond”.

A demo for Mass Effect 3, containing both single player and multiplayer, hits Xbox Live, PlayStation 3, and PC later today.

Can’t wait that long? Well SFX-360 have published a video showcasing the very first 15 minutes of Mass Effect 3′s single-player campaign. Catch the video below.

Love the voices you hear but can’t place it to a face. Well, fear not because EA have revealed a brand new Mass Effect 3 video which shows some of the voice cast.

The video focuses on the current confirmed voice cast, which includes Martin Sheen, Seth Green, Keith David, Jennifer Hale and Freddie Prinze  Jr. Yes that’s right Freddie Prinze Jr.  The video also shows the debut of the amazingly cute geek girl IGN’s very own Jessica Chobot, who makes an in-game debut as Diana Allers.

Mass Effect 3 hits our shelves on the 9^th of March. Are you ready?