Monday Night Man Meals #1

So, this is my very first post on GTAL and I am pleased to share with y'all something that's quite special to me. It's a little something I have dubbed "Monday Night Man Meal". Basically, for 3 out of 4 Mondays each month, my wife buggers off to one of her mate's place to watch her 'shows'. This allows for uninhibited bedlam in the kitchen. Let me stress, I LOVE to cook... moreover, I LOVE to eat! This'll be the first of no doubt many food-themed posts from this guy *points at self*

[BREAKING] Assassin's Creed: Revelations Unveiled! (New Screens and Trailer)

UPDATE: I just noticed that the end of this trailer mentions a Full Trailer release on the 7th June, which would put that pretty much in line with their E3 reveal... Coincedence? If I've learnt anything from Ezio, it's that nothing is true, everything is permitted...

We told you yesterday that Ubisoft was kicking things off in a big way this year, in celebration of their 25th Anniversary, and we've just got word in about one of the most anticipated games of 2011, AC:Revelations.

[BREAKING] Ubisoft Announces E3 Lineup, celebrates 25 Years of Gaming Awesome-ness

News just in! To kick off their massive E3 showcase, Ubisoft will be holding an invitation-only press conference (which will also be streamed live on Uplay and their YouTube channel), featuring unseen footage and demos of their 2012 lineup, and a few hot announcements. They'll follow that up with playable titles at their South Hall booth.

They've also just announced how hard they're hitting the market in celebration of their 25th Anniversary, with "titles spanning major genres and platforms..." including "action adventure, shooter titles, fitness games, online titles and casual games..." and I have to say, there's some big-hitters in the mix.

EA Australia's Alice: Madness Returns & Shadows of the Damned Preview

On a Friday evening, myself and the rest of the GTAL crew headed into Darlinghurst, in Sydney. We entered a quiet and unassuming door, walked down a set of stairs, and entered our own personal Wonderland. A room, split into two, black & white, walled with TVs and shiny Xbox 360 consoles. And on those, were two of the most beautiful games I've been lucky enough to see in a long time.

EA AU's Alice:& Shadows Photo Gallery

Update: Just added another slideshow featuring ALL the photos from the Event!

Hit the jump for a selection of the photos from an Awesome night, showcasing two of EA's upcoming titles, Alice: Madness Returns & Shadows of the Damned. 

[REVIEW] Unwrapping the Bandages: Fallout:NV's Honest Hearts

The second of Fallout: New Vegas' DLC hit Xbox LIVE's marketplace on the 18th of May. How does it stand up to Dead Money? Have they ironed out the (horrendous) kinks from the main game? Will I finally get to meet Joshua Graham, the feared Malpais Legate of Caesar himself? I asked myself these questions while I waited for it to download. And the short answer? Yes.

Cheese & Bacon Potato Skins

This one is definitely not for the overly health conscious, but perfect for those powering through a new game, or when your D&D session runs a little later than you expected...

[PREVIEW] The Hero Complex: Infamous 2

UPDATE! Just added the Gamespot AU Crosshairs video that features the info and interviews from the inFAMOUS 2 preview event. Keep an eye out for GTAL's own Jiggsy2Point0!

Thanks to the Guys (and Girls) at Gamespot AU, developer Sucker Punch and SCEA, I woke up bright and early on a Saturday morning and headed into the Sydney CBD to check out Infamous 2. I liked what I saw.

Alice: Madness Returns Intro Cinematic

Since the first American McGee Alice game was a PC exclusive, and i'd never heard of it, I haven't played it. I have, however, followed the news and updates about its cross-platform sequel, Alice:Madness Returns, and I have to say, this latest update is all kinds of awesome. It's not overly for the faint hearted, and a little graphic (albeit in a stylised manner), but i think it will really set the tone for the rest of the story.

Hit the jump for the video!

Laziness, Xbox LIVE dropouts and Winter

I've been a little lax lately with posting, and I want to apologise. Unfortunately, due to some (suspected) hardware issues, I haven't been able to stay connected to Xbox LIVE for more than ten minutes, seriously hampering both the amount of online gaming, and the amount of playtesting the Gears 3 Beta that i've been able to do.

It's also getting pretty Wintery in Sydney (okay, not quite like the Winters elsewhere in the world, but pretty cold for Aus.), and since I tend to do most of my writing at night, outside, I've slacked off a little. I've drafted my Infamous 2 review, set up a playthrough of Fallout: New Vegas in preparation for the 'Honest Hearts' DLC soon to drop, but I just haven't... finished aything. There's also a review of POTC4: On Stranger Tides to come, so I think it's probably about time I pulled my finger out.

In other news though, I FINALLY got around to playing Portal. Not Portal 2, that'll come soon enough, especially now that I know how awesome it's predecessor is. I've never had to think so much in a game before... aside from, well... everything else that Valve has made. So if you're still on the bench, give it a shot... It's in the XBLA Marketplace for 1200 points, or available as part of The Orange Box, which also includes HL2, HL2:E1, HL2:E2, and TF2. Very much a worthwhile purchase.

I thought I might throw out a call to you guys as well... What do you want to see? More recipes? More tech news? Or hey, have you got something you want to share? Drop me a line at jess.hodgson [at] guidetoawesomelivig.com, or sound off in the comments below.

Movie Review: Source Code

I need to preface this with two personal facts:

1. I LOVE Jake Gyllenhall movies. Always have, ever since Donnie Darko, and yes, including Prince of Persia.
2. The only movies I love more are Sci-Fi movies, in particular ones that make you think.

Luckily, Source Code fits both these categories. Originally, when I first saw the trailer, I thought it was going to be very much like Deja Vu without Val Kilmer, and it is, to a degree. It's a very similar style of movie: The protagonist is thrown into a situation with ludicroulsy advanced technology, and risks everything to save a girl, but that's where the similarities end.

What We're Checking Out - 4th May 11

The web is a massive place, so we've put together What We're Checking Out to bring it to you in an easy to digest package. Seen something you want to plug? Drop us a line in the comments, or on our Facebook Page, and we'll check it out!

R18AU. A Gamer's perspective.

We still don't have an R18+ rating in place for Video games in Australia. It's an industry responsible for around $1.3B annually, and home to some awesome developer studios (Played de Blob? Fruit Ninja? Yeah... made here.), but we're stuck using an antiquated system of classification... I've been wanting to have a rant about this for a while, so i'll warn you. I'm gonna let it all spill out onto the keyboard. I've (hopefully) been careful not to lay the blame on anyone too... I merely want to show how broken our system is.

I'm a Australian Gamer... and I support R18+AU.

Garlic & Rosemary Rack of Lamb

A well cooked Rack of Lamb, one of my all-time favourite dishes, is the perfect meal for the weekend. With minimal prep time, it's easy to impress friends, family, or that special someone with a dinner like this. Using the Rack rather than the Leg reduces cooking time, makes for much better presentation, and if done right, pretty much cooks itself!


You can also experiment with other flavour combinations, but I tend to go with Garlic & Rosemary pretty much every time. It's a tried and tested flavour, and works perfectly with Lamb.