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GAMES TO LOOK OUT FOR

By Shaer Reaz

Tomb Raider: Yes, we've mentioned it several times, including last year in a very similar list, but it seems Tomb Raider won't be released till March of 2013, so you'll be waiting a while longer to survive the jungle with Lara Croft. As we said before, the game has epic promise, the developers scrapping the linear gameplay from previous games and introducing interesting new gameplay options. Waiting is hard, but wait we must.

Crysis 3: Crysis games are deeply dividing, you either hate them with a passion or love them to bits. Whatever group you fall in, the next iteration of Crysis promises to be a bundle of fun and, of course, incredible graphics. The game is set in New York two decades after the events of Crysis 2, as you take on the role of Prophet in a world left in ruins after a devastating alien invasion and viral outbreak. Whether it'll wow everyone or create new groups of haters, remains to be seen. Comes out sometime in Feb 2013.

Watch Dogs: Ubisoft's open ended game about hackers and a technology-reliant Chicago stirred up a hornet's nest of speculation and hype at last year's E3 convention. Due to be released in mid-2013, Watch Dogs will be the next in a series of alternative sandbox style games that will put even more pressure on GTA V. Don't confuse this with Sleeping Dogs however, since they're both similar games with “Dogs” in the title.

Dead Space 3: Releasing on February 5th, 2013, the third game in the brilliant survival sci-fi horror series puts you back into the shoes of Isaac Clarke. This time, you and Elite (from Dead Space 2) travel to a frozen planet called Tau Volantis, with more scares and thrills waiting for you. Turn off the lights and crank up the volume, you have some alien parasite zombies to kill.

Devil May Cry: Announced at the 2010 Tokyo Game show, the DMC reboot has divided opinions between fans because of the way Dante looks, but gameplay promises to be miles ahead of the older games in the series.

Rebellion, Dante's sword, and Ebony and Ivory, his dual pistols, survive the rebooting. Hopefully the PC version wont mess up the gameplay, as the console ported previous games did. Comes out Jan 15th.

Sniper - Ghost Warrior 2: Ghost Warrior was a fine game, albeit with a few glitches that marred its success. The World War II setting has been switched out in the sequel for a jungle based setting, which makes stealth action much more enjoyable. The main attraction, however, is still the sniping. The headshot count starts January 15th.

God of War - Ascension: Kratos returns as the God of War in Ascension, which is meant to be a prequel to the original God of War game. You control Kratos as he tries to break free from his bond to Ares, after Ares betrays him. The developers are saying the new game will feature a completely revamped combat system that makes the gameplay more fluid and enjoyable, but on the downside, the single player campaign will be much shorter than before. Releases on PlayStation 3 on March 12.


INTERVIEW

5 MOST ANTICIPATED MUSIC RELEASES OF 2013

By Sarah Nafisa Shahid

Now that the world hasn't ended and confirmed that we should be tensed about our university applications, we can rejoice about one thing for sure: new music releases of 2013. Here are few of the releases you should not miss at all:

1. “Amok” by Atoms For Peace
Radiohead's Thom Yorke formed this band with music A-listers like Red Hot Chili Pepper's Flea, Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich, R.E.M's Joey Waronker and instrumentalist Mauro Refosco.

Genre: Experimental Rock/Electronica
When: 25th February 2013

What to expect: Atoms for Peace worked together in Yorke's solo album “The Eraser” which came out brilliant. This album might have a touch of electronica as well and could be yet another great project coming from musicians of different genres.

Best time to listen to this album: Working early mornings. Electronic music gets you charged up.

2. Paramore's self titled album
This is the band's first album without two of their founding members but they brought in drummer Ilan Rubin from Nine Inch Nails to play for the album instead.

Genre: Punk Pop/Rock
When: 9th April 2013

What to expect: More raw and original tunes than software music. The producer of the album said it's more “1981 than 2012”. Interesting.

Best time to listen to this album: After a bad break up because the new songs are possibly full of spirit and optimism, perfect to lift you up.

3. “People, Hell and Angels” by Jimi Hendrix
The legend comes alive again through this 12track compilation of his previously unreleased songs recorded in the 1968-1969 period. Possibly the most anticipated album this year.

Genre: Rock. Classic Rock. He defines Rock.
When: 5th March 2013

What to expect: Something a little different from classic Hendrix. According to former associates, the songs are from a period when Jimi was experimenting with other forms and sounds.

Best time to listen to this album: Almost any time because your mood adjusts to the song rather than it being the other way round.

4. Dream Theatre's Untitled Album
While the band hasn't announced a name for the new album yet, they assured that there's an album in waiting for sure, a follow up to 2011's “A dramatic turn of events”

Genre: Progressive Metal
When: sometime soon, apparently.

What to expect: Guitarist Petrucci says jet lag opens his creative channels and the band's been traveling a lot recently. Hence, probably a good dose of Petrucci-ness.

Best time to listen to this album: When life gets too fast and you miss being pensive.

5. “Pedestrian Verse” by Frightened Rabbits
If you haven't heard of Frightened Rabbits before, then you're not the only one. They are a relatively new Scottish folk rock band but they sound amazing, almost like a mixture of Iron and Wine with Arctic Monkeys. Trust me, the mixture is good.

Genre: Indie Folk/Indie Rock
When: 4th February 2013

What to expect: A lot of folk guitar, great vocals and a promising new artist to follow.

Best time to listen to this album: One slow afternoon.

N.B.: All dates are given according to official press releases and the writer may not be charged with demands of cake or other monetary things if the artists mentioned decide to be lazy and pull off


MUSIC

MORE GADGETS THAT WILL SOON BE REDUNDANT

By Padya Paramita

2012 had Apple unveil the iPhone 5, Samsung toughen the competition with the Galaxy S3, as well as a few other smartphones from the likes of Nokia, along with new versions of the Kindle, Sony's Playstation Vita and Nexus 7 taking on the iPad Mini. This year promises much more for the techies out there, so here is a glimpse at a few gadgets that await us in 2013.

Making headlines as the biggest tech toy to greet the world in 2013 is Google's Project Glass. This will basically enable one to view what is happening in the digital world through spectacles. It provides information from the internet such as the weather, receiving messages from friends and is fitted with a camera. And of course you can see the real world, as with actual glasses.

Google is also supposed to be releasing its Chromebook - 13 inch, touch based notebooks that may hopefully wipe out memories of its previous failures in producing notebooks.

Microsoft is also busy this year. After Windows 8, it is time for them to work on a new gaming console, as they prepare to release the Xbox 720 this year. A lot of speculation and leaked information surround this Xbox, including Blu-ray support, the ability to record live TV, 3D gaming and a new Kinect device that would work with real glasses.

The Basis Band is coming out - a wrist watch shaped monitor which keeps track of heart rate, amount of calories burnt a day, blood pressure and apparently different sleep patterns as well!

HTC is rumoured to release its latest flagship phone the HTC M7, which is supposed to come with a 13 mega pixel camera and 2 gigabyte RAM.

Apple has been talked about, as usual, but this time about the Apple TV. A lot of reports concerning this have popped up, such as Siri integration, iCloud support and compatibility with other iDevices.

We may see Samsung release the Galaxy S IV and Sony's Xperia phone C650X Odin. Along with these, a thermostat by the name of Nest is being brought to us by two of Apple's former employees, Fujitsu is to release the very pretty Lifebook 2013 and who can miss out on this - Walton is releasing Bangladesh's very own Android smartphone (the Primo R1)! This should be an exciting year.


MOVIES 2013

By Orin


   
 
 

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