GTA V Distraction

After Rockstar premiered the initial trailer for GTA V I got very, very excited, I could wait for the day when I could play what looks like one of the greatest games ever made. Alas, it was postponed from sometime in spring to September. So while thousands of gamers around the world cried themselves to sleep I decided to just look for another game that could keep me occupied until the 17th of September (when it finally comes I'll be locking myself away for a week).

What better than GTA IV? The next best thing. However I had already sort of played it and was bored with the storyline  So instead I picked up a copy of GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City. This consists of 'The Lost and the Damned' and 'The Ballad of Gay Tony'. Both manage to look at Liberty City in a new way complete with updated radio stations. TLATD focuses on a biker gang whose leader has just returned and the tension that follows. This means a lot of riding about on choppers in gangs and heavy metal. TBOGT is pretty much the opposite, you play as Lois Gay Tony's business partner and reluctant henchman. In TBOGT you get to see a lot of clubs as well as having a lot of memorable times in gold-plated helicopters; the 'Electro Choc' radio station is now a mix from the Crookers which soundtracks some pretty amazing moments.

Both add new elements to the original GTA IV game play as well as having very unique and different characters to Nico Bellic. What I also like about it is that Liberty City is open from the start, so no five stars for going over a bridge. Another nice touch is that both these two stories and the original overlap; however riding around the whole time on a motorbike is a bit of a pain in TLATD especially during chases, the last thing you need is to fall off your bike. Also bear in mind that these two stories are shorter than the original, though you will have the city to mess about in afterwords.

The 'Liberty City Stories' can be picked up for only a tenner which is hard to beat considering when your getting two great games for one. Hopefully it'll keep me distracted till September..

Tweet

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

The other day I saw a trailer for the most utterly insane video game ever, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. The makers Ubisoft describe it as "an 80s VHS vision of the future" where you must "get the girl, kill the baddies, and save the world". In this 'post-apocalypse, apocalypse' you take on the role of Sargent Rex 'Power' Colt, part man, part machine, all cyber-commando.

Far Cry 3 is pretty much the best game to come out on Xbox 360/PS3/PC - or at least until GTA V finally comes along - and this looks like its taking it to a whole new level. Everything about it looks awesome, the story, the characters, the gameplay, music, look of it; it just looks unbleivably fun to play. I can't wait, fortunately it come out May 1st as a DLC!

It was originally announced on April 1st, so nobody was sure whether it was real; fortunately it turned out to be true. Check the trailer below and this mad live action version. 

Tweet

Camridge/Slab of Blue Cheese Burger

After the morning of flying we decided to have a look around Cambridge. I've been to Oxford (known as 'the Other Place' to Cambridge students) before which is pretty similar except quite a bit bigger. Both are stunning old English towns that are home to two of the best universities in the world. I was forced to take a tour round the university which was pretty dry apart from the impressive buildings.

Shame, was looking forward to a picnic..

There were more photos but I somehow managed formatted my entire memory card, it was an absolute nightmare! All the photos from the flying lesson had been on there. I took it to a camera shop that was going to take a week and charge me around £60 odd. I decided that I could do much better job myself and I found a free program that solved all my problems.

Anyways, after the epic -two hour long- tour I was left thoroughly hungry. We went to Byron for lunch, the perfect antidote. Now I know there are a million blog posts on burgers, even an entire blog dedicated to them, so I won't go on. However, it was amazing (big fan of a blue cheese burger) as was the milkshake and brownie I had (on a clear health drive here ahah). Aside from the amazing food I've always found the Byron chain to have great staff and good looking restaurants, as well as cool branding.

Phwarrrrrrk

Vanilla (always add the malt btw)

See..

..cool branding

Indeed it does

Cambridge is well worth a visit, even if its just for that hamburger. A Proper Hamburger.

Tweet

Shotgun Cufflinks

Now I'm not one for novelty cufflinks, but these shotgun-shell cufflinks are pretty damn awesome. They manage to walk a fine line between novelty and actually being good looking. They come in a variety of colours, but what really makes them is not only the fact that they cost a mere £8 but the fact that they come in a shotgun shell case (even more awesome).

They're made in England by a company called Christopher Simpson who have a really good range of cufflinks, its worth taking a look at their website.

I picked these up at Wyken Vineyards in Suffolk. I went there for lunch, which involved a fantastic pork and chorizo salad. I found the cufflinks in their shop but they also have a farmers market as well as gardens. All of which are really well done, the shop has a really great variety of clothes, home-ware  food, drink and so on.

Usually I don't like these sorts of shops as they tend to be filled with pointless crap, however at Wyken they've done a good job. Their restaurant has a fantastic menu, of which its mostly locally sourced. And of course their Leaping Hare Vineyard produces some of the best English wine about, I didn't have any but I did have a 'Good Dog Ale', mainly because I'm a sucker for Labradors.

Tweet

Come Fly With Me

'Where we're going, we don't need roads'
  

For my Dad's birthday he was giving an hour long flying lesson at Cambridge Airport (who knew they had an airport). I decided to tag along on the off chance of getting a go, and also because my step-mother was too terrified! Unfortunately I didn't get a shot, however armed with my camera I got a lot of really great pictures from the back seat.

Our instructor was a nice guy called Ed from Cork in Ireland. He actually started flying in his spare time and is now a part-time instructor. We were taken up in a little Cessna 172, and when I say little, I mean tiny. Flying in one of these is an entirely different experience to a commercial plane. Firstly there's even less leg room than the cheapest seat Ryanair offer, and you really feel every wind that hits you. Its strange as you are literally in a tin can, there's really not much between you and the outside. Don't let that put you off though, as its great fun and you get much better views, fortunately we got one of the rare sunny days in March.

Really don't think it was necessary to turn so sharply, fortunately sick bags are provided..

Dad taking the controls..

..not the most relaxing moment

 We took a trip down to Clacton, on the way I got loads of shots. We even got to circle where my Dad and Step-Mum stay in Suffolk which is pretty cool, with a full tank you can take one of these planes down to the south of France easily (sadly we didn't have enough time..). I don't think that I'd like to take up a career in aerial photography as it isn't the most fun because you're blown about constantly.

Clacton-On-Sea

Back on solid ground

Dad and Ed

You can also take one of these little bad boys up, the Extra EA-200, and do all sorts of aerobatics. Sadly this did not appeal to Dad

It was a lot of fun, really quite amazing to be up there. However its definitely not a poor man's game, to gain a basic pilot's licence it requires about 45 hours of flying time which translates to about ten grand. I'll leave it to Alan Sugar and John Travolta then.

Tweet

Its been a while..

Okay, I know, its been a while. I have been super busy as of late, but that's a pretty poor excuse. So now I'm back, more focused, more driven and most importantly with lots of exciting posts to bring you!

- Charlie, CDGS

Tweet

April Fools Day: Best Of

The 1st of April comes along with many funny moments -unless they're at your own expense. There's the classics: swapping salt and pepper; leaving pins in inconvenient places; cling film over the loo and so on..

My favourite pranks over the last couple of years has been the on-line ones, whether it be from newspapers or big companies such as Google's 8-bit map service last year. Below are the best from this year:

Glass Bottomed Planes

Richard Branson's personal blog announced this morning that it would be introducing the world's first glass bottomed planes.

Twitter's New Twttr Service

Twitter are now charging $5/month for the use of vowels. Fortunately the use of consonants is free, and they have even thrown 'y' in.

Youtube Was Really a Competition (My personal favourite) 

After 8 years in service, Youtube is shutting down and one video will be crowned winner by an expert panel including big names such as Charlie from 'Charlie bit my finger'.

Tweet