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Hands Like Houses currently touring the UK/Ireland

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Hands Like Houses

Australia’s Hands Like Houses are currently here in the UK, and having kicked off two nights ago in London and followed this up with a show in Southampton, the band can tonight be found continuing the tour in Cardiff.

The band recently contributed a cover of Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn‘ for Punks Goes 90’s which is out now via Fearless Records, an album that also features covers from the likes of Falling In Reverse, Asking Alexandria, and Punk Goes series regulars Mayday Parade.

The following is a full list of the remaining shows on Hands Like Houses’ current tour of the UK/Ireland:

Thurs 24th April Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
Fri 25th April Birmingham Asylum 2
Sat 26th April Sheffield Corporation
Mon 28th April Glasgow Cathouse
Tues 29th April Manchester Sound Control
Wed 30th April Leeds Cockpit 3
Fri 2nd May Dublin Academy 2
Sat 3rd May Belfast Oh Yeah Centre

Black Lips – Funny Video

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Official video for the Black Lips track ‘Funny‘, taken from the band’s new album ‘Underneath The Rainbow‘, out now via VICE Records. The video has been directed by David Markey.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club (3DS) Review

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Drawing upon the same addictive qualities as the smartphone/tablet game Football Chairman, Nintendo Pocket Football Club is a game that sees you take control of a small time football club and attempt to progress and improve with them as you build them up to the big time. Whereas with some other football management titles having a detailed knowledge of what’s going on in football is pretty much essential to get the most out of the game, with Nintendo Pocket Football Club you’re not playing with real-life footballers and so it’s more of a pick up and play title where in-depth knowledge of real-life football isn’t really beneficial. People that know much about football can definitely enjoy Nintendo Pocket Football Club, it’s not a requirement though and even if you know very little about football you can definitely have fun with this game.

Unlike in Football Manager where you have to watch each match like a hawk, constantly making tactical alterations in an attempt to stay ahead of the opposition, with Nintendo Pocket Football Club you can only make major changes to the team before kick-off and at half-time unless you’re making a substitution, meaning that each match is a lot more hassle free and you can just sit back and enjoy things a little more; you’re more a football fan and less a stressed out statistical analyst. Whilst you may not be able to make changes as freely as you’re able to in Football Manager though, that’s not to say that you can completely ignore what’s going on in each match as you do need to work out where each players’ strengths and weaknesses lie so that you can determine which of their attributes need most work and therefore decide which areas to improve upon in the next training session. It’s not the same level of intensity as with Football Manager as there’s not the same sort of pressure on you to constantly make alterations to remain on the front foot, it’s certainly still a pretty important aspect of the game though and if you’re not really paying attention to what’s going on in each match then you won’t be in as strong a position as you could be when it comes to improving upon your squad.

With each match taking roughly 10 minutes to play through, there’s no option to simulate any part of a match and so each match must be played out in full. Friendly matches can be played in weeks when you have no competitive matches and these also last about 10 minutes, practise matches can also be played though and will only set you back about 5 minutes as they’re half the length of regular matches. With no ability to sim through matchess, if you want to skip past friendly/practise matches then you must therefore lose out on picking up training cards which are absolutely vital for improving your team. Player abilities are improved by applying training routines with cards that are picked up in matches, so whilst skipping practise matches may save you time and get you to your next competitive match more quickly, it won’t benefit you at all in the long run and will in fact set you back in your progress as you’ll miss out on the opportunity to gain hugely important training cards. Training cards can be applied singularly or in multiples, with the possibility to unlock special combos when applying particular training cards together. Getting the most out of your training cards is basically a process of trial and error, and attempting to hit upon special combos is all part of the fun of the game that helps make Nintendo Pocket Football Club such an addictive and enjoyable experience.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club In-Game Match Engine

Although you may not be able to appreciate it from looking at screenshots, Nintendo Pocket Football Club actually has an incredibly impressive match engine and the way that each match ebbs and flows is really gripping to watch. As you’re watching each and every match in its entirety you really get a feel for how your team is improving, and rather than just sitting there and watching the best/worst bits of how your team is playing, you get to see absolutely everything in Nintendo Pocket Football Club and this therefore allows you to know exactly where your team is at as you experience both the highs and the lows of everything that your players go through. It may be a little annoying at times that you have to play each match out in its entirety, by playing them this way you can certainly begin to appreciate how much work must have gone into the game to make each match play out so much like a real life football match though, with all the ugly scrappiness included as well as the free-flowing beauty that can sometimes be found in the sport.

There are only 10 matches in each league campaign, with a cup to play in as well though in addition to all the practise/friendly matches, a season can take quite a while to play through and this is therefore an area in which the game distances itself from mobile gaming and firmly presents itself as a more traditional football management title. Nintendo Pocket Football Club can perhaps be seen to situate itself in an awkward territory then as it has the addictive qualities and simplicities that would make for a fantastic speedy handheld game, yet pairs these qualities up with a fairly slow paced structure that requires many hours of gameplay and dedication in order to properly progress. It bridges the gap between mobile game and fully fledged management title and it’s hard to tell who the game is specifically aimed at as it’s probably too time consuming for the mobile crowd and maybe a little too casual for most Football Manager fanatics. There’s no denying that Nintendo Pocket Football Club is an incredibly fun game to play and it’s certainly an extremely addictive title, it definitely sits itself firmly between two markets though and this therefore means that many people are likely to miss out on the game thinking that it’s not really for them when truly they’d really quite enjoy it.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club doesn’t have the same depth or options that you get with Football Manager, Football Manager Classic’s introduction in 2012 demonstrated that there’s certainly a call for a less involved version of the game though, and Nintendo Pocket Football Club strips things back even further to provide a football management sim all the more suited to the casual gamer. There’s still enough tactical awareness required to make the game a fun management title, it’s certainly not as involved as Sports Interactive’s annual series though and although this may be quite off-putting for some, plenty are likely to be pleasantly surprised with Nintendo Pocket Football Club and happily invest a fair few hours in the game.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club is stripped back and in many ways rather basic, its simplicity is key to its charm though and its fantastic match engine is also at the very heart of the game’s success.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium Duels now available on PS3 and Xbox 360

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium Duels

Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium Duels is now available to download on PS3 and Xbox 360, an all-new video game adaptation of the multi-million-selling Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game.

With the ability to duel with the latest cards from the trading card game, there are more than 6,000 cards available in Millennium Duels as you compete against 80 popular characters across all four animated series, including classic Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, and Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

Online play for the title includes the Rank Match mode which will pit you against Yu-Gi-Oh! fans of the same rank and ability from around the world, Quick Match which allows you to jump straight in to the action and compete against anyone, and Custom Matches against friends can also be arranged where the rules of play can be adapted to suit.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium Duels is available now from both the PlayStation Store and the Xbox Live Marketplace at a price of £9.99.

Best Young Strikers in Football Manager 2014

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Football Manager 2014
Available now from Amazon

There are a lot of incredibly talented young players in Football Manager 2014, here’s a look at some of the best young strikers in the game though, young forward minded players can really add something to your squad, either straight from season one or at some point further down the line if they’re brought through properly. All players listed here are 21 or under at the start of the game.

Gabriel Barbosa

Football Manager has always been full of incredibly talented Brazilians, and Football Manager 2014 is no different with Santos striker Gabriel Barbosa standing out strongly as one of the series’ new heroes. Barbosa looks to be an incredibly promising player in real life, and at the start of Football Manager 2014 he’s yet to even turn 17 yet and still looks an incredibly promising young player. He’s very young so will have to be well nurtured to be brought through right and reach his full potential, if you’re able to get Gabriel Barbosa to reach anywhere near his full potential in the game though then you’ll certainly have a serious talent on your hands with this one.

Moussa Dembélé

Not to be confused with the Belgian Tottenham player of the same name who also previously played for Fulham, Fulham’s French forward Moussa Dembélé is definitely a player to take a good look at in Football Manager 2014. He’s extremely young and will take a good few years to fully develop, Moussa Dembélé is a striker with much potential though and a young player that’s well worth snapping up if you can persuade Fulham to part company with him. Fulham have had a serious goals shortage this season and Moussa Dembélé has been one of the players called up to the main squad to try and change that, so far he is yet to find the back of the net for Fulham in reality though but if you sign him for your side in Football Manager 2014 then you may just find that he ends up scoring a good number of goals for you.

John Guidetti

In the 2011–2012 season John Guidetti was lighting up the Eredivisie with Feyenoord, the 2012-2013 season was then a complete write off for the player though as he returned to Manchester City and was then not utilised. In reality the 2013-2014 season has again not been a great one for Guidetti and it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for the player, in Football Manager it is certainly still possible to get Guidetti finding the form that made him such a force for Feyenoord though, and as he’s only 21 at the start of play there’s still hope that you can help him improve further as a player and make good use of him for a top level team. He’s not a guaranteed success story, he’s certainly worth taking a punt on though as a low cost, low risk signing that could potentially be a real diamond in the rough.

Angelo Henriquez

19 years old at the start of the game, Angelo Henriquez is a young Chilean talent that can definitely add something to your squad in Football Manager and develop to become a valued member of the first team. Henriquez is on loan at Real Zaragoza for the first season of the game, he’s definitely worth keeping tabs on though and if you’re managing Manchester United then this is definitely not a striker to be overlooked. Henriquez may not be your first choice forward to begin with, give him time though, develop him properly and you could well find that you have an incredibly hot property on your hands with this one.

Romelu Lukaku

It varies from game to game whether or not you can successfully prize Romelu Lukaku away from Chelsea, if you can do though then he is certainly an incredibly powerful young striker that is well worth investing in. Two years running Lukaku has performed exceptionally well in the English Premier League, first with West Brom and then with Everton; showcasing a fantastic goalscoring talent with a wonderful eye for goal and a great turn of pace that has been the cause of much defensive pain for many clubs in England the past couple of years. Lukaku seems unfancied for whatever reason at Chelsea, which seems strange given their lack of a real consistent goalscorer, nonetheless Chelsea’s loss can be your gain though and if you sign Romelu Lukaku in Football Manager 2014 then the young Belgian international will no doubt be banging in the goals for both club and country for many years to come.

Aleksandar Mitrovic

Anderlecht is most definitely a club with a strong eye for spotting a young attacking talent, and having previously brought Romelu Lukaku through the ranks the club now has another very exciting young prospect on its hands in the form of Aleksandar Mitrovic. Mitrovic was brought to the club for a relatively low fee of €5 million, he’s already establishing himself as a Serbian international though and has taken well to the Jupiler Pro League with a good haul of goals in his first season in Belgium. Much like Romelu Lukaku, Mitrovic is a player that could before long find himself in the process of a big money move elsewhere, for now the teenage striker plays for Anderlecht though and a very good job he’s done there, too.

Alvaro Morata

Alvaro Morata will probably be sold by Real Madrid this summer in reality and is for most top level clubs a fairly realistic target in Football Manager 2014 as well. If you’re managing an elite club then Morata probably won’t be your first choice striker, he’s nonetheless well worth having around though and shouldn’t have too steep a price tag either. Morata’s wage demands probably won’t be that high and he’s unlikely to break the bank, so if you’re in need of a decent striker to add bulk and options to your squad then you can definitely do a lot worse than Alvaro Morata.

Neymar

Neymar has been a superstar of Football Manager for some years now and that’s definitely not something that has changed with Football Manager 2014 as he’s still an absolute beast on the left wing and also up top as a striker. He was a big money signing for Barcelona in the summer so unless you’re managing them then you may find it a bit hard to get your hands on him early on in the game, having seen Gareth Bale sold on to Manchester United for £24 million in one save just one season on from him becoming the most expensive footballer of all time anything is definitely possible in the game though and it’s therefore still worth keeping an eye on how he progresses at Barcelona. The chances of being able to sign Neymar are probably pretty slim unless your transfer budget is absolutely monstrous, every save in the game has its quirks though and if you keep an eye on Neymar in the game then you may just get lucky.

Jesé Rodríguez

Much like fellow Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, Jesé Rodríguez is likely to demand a fairly reasonable wage, unlike with Morata though Real Madrid will require a considerafble amount of money to be persuaded to let him go. Jesé is a speedy striker that plays with a good amount of flair; he has strong dribbling ability, excellent technique, and could potentially bring a lot to your team in Football Manager 2014. He has poor strength and there’s no denying that there are certain weaknesses in his game, if you sign him the good stats are likely to outweigh the bad or you though and you’re probably going to be fairly content with the contributions that Jesé makes to your team.

Timo Werner

Stuttgart’s Timo Werner is an absolute monster of a player in Football Manager 2014, a speedy striker that can certainly add a huge amount to your team and help turn your club into a real world footballing power. There are so many fantastic young players in Germany right now and Timo Werner is most definitely one of them. Werner has started coming through the ranks at Stuttgart this season, become an Under-19 international, and it’s surely only a matter of time now before he steps it up a gear and showcases his fantastic talent on an even greater stage.

James Wilson

He may only be 17 years old when you first fire up FM 2014 and you may not have heard of him until quite recently, James Wilson is a quite brilliant player in the game though and another Manchester United academy prospect that seemingly will have a bright future ahead of him in football. Having achieved a decent degree of success with this striker even in season one, Wilson is a player to look after within the game, a striker well worth snapping up if you can and one that’s definitely worth utilising when managing Manchester United. You might want to send him out on loan in order to get the very best out of Wilson, even if you keep hold of him at a top level club he can still do a job when called upon though and if he’s not already a player on your radar then you should certainly seek to scout this player and you’ll probably then begin to appreciate that this really is a player worth getting excited about.

Richairo Zivkovic

Whenever starting any new game of Football Manager 2014, my first port of call is always FC Groningen’s Richairo Zivkovic. He’s cheap and incredible of fantastic greatness, and if ever I miss out on the player I always feel as though I’ve missed a trick. It doesn’t really matter what sort of team you’re managing, most reasonably sized clubs will have a budget big enough for Richairo Zivkovic, and if you give him a few loan moves to help gain him match practise then Richairo Zivkovic should develop strongly and provide you with an absolute superstar by the time he enters his twenties. Zivkovic is without doubt one of Football Manager 2014’s biggest bargains and if you don’t already look to sign this young striker every save then you should certainly look to start doing so as soon as possible.

blink-182 tribute album ‘I Guess This Is Growing Up (Volume 1)’ now available for free download

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I Guess This Is Growing Up (Volume 1)

Enjoyment Records has put together part one of a three part tribute series to be released via the label. Volume 1 is available to download now from Bandcamp, and once all three parts have been released the tribute album is then to be pressed to vinyl in its full glory.

Invalids provide an interesting math-rock take on the ‘Dude Ranch‘ classic ‘Lemmings‘, We’ll Die Smiling meanwhile bring a fair smattering of hardcore to ‘Dammit‘, and all in all there are six very impressive covers here that are definitely well worth listening to.

If you’re a big blink-182 fan then the ‘I Guess This Is Growing Up‘ tribute album is definitely not one to be missed, and given that you can name your own price there’s really no reason not to download Volume 1 right now.

You can give Tir Asleen’s ‘Wendy Clear‘ cover a listen/download ‘I Guess This Is Growing Up (Volume 1)‘ below:

Boy George joins Black Lips to cover T.Rex’s ‘Bang A Gong (Get it On)’

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Black Lips

Black Lips were joined by none other than Boy George on Friday to perform a cover of T.Rex’s ‘Bang A Gong (Get It On)‘, with both artists performing their own individual sessions at WXPN’s Free At Noon concert.

The Black Lips/Boy George collaboration can be viewed in all its glory below:

Bentley Park’s ‘Innocence’ EP now available for streaming

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Bentley Park

Having recently toured with the Brighton based transatlantic pop-punk band As It Is, Bentley Park are now ready to release their début EP ‘Innocence‘ on Monday 21st April.

The new EP from the band consists of seven tracks in total and even features a guest appearance from With One Last Breath’s Sam Graves.

Ahead of the its release the ‘Innocence‘ EP has now been made available for streaming and can be listened to in its entirety below:

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil game released today for PS3/Xbox 360

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EA Sports 2014 FIFA World Cup

EA Sports’ 2014 FIFA World Cup game is released today for the Xbox 360/PS3, featuring gameplay innovations and new features to make the game look and feel authentic to the tournament.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup game features a brand new soundtrack complete with 34 tracks and provides the opportunity for you to bring World Cup success to your country as you work your way through gameplay modes such as Road to the FIFA World Cup and Captain your Country.

Mat Prior, Lead Producer of EA Sports’ 2014 FIFA World Cup had the following to say about the game:

This summer’s tournament in Brazil promises to be one of the most colorful and exciting FIFA World Cups we’ve ever seen. The game we’ve created will give fans a chance to feel the excitement, drama, and flare of the tournament whether they choose to play offline against friends or online against people from all over the world.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Xbox One release postponed

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game

With the game’s release only 2 weeks away, Activision has confirmed that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has been indefinitely postponed for release on Xbox One.

The game will still be released on May 2nd for PC, Wii U, 3DS, PS3, PS4, and Xbox 360, if/when the game is to appear on Xbox One is yet to be determined though, and it could be a while before further news materialises on exactly what is to become of the title on this platform.