I know everyone must have, at least once in a lifetime, a reason to wish for everything to stop around him/her, and in most cases, this is also involving someone they love. For me, one of the many reasons to have the entire world frozen in time around me is Civilization, the brilliant game series forged by Sid Meier. Anyway, before Civilization, there was another great game, called Colonization, and now it seems we're going to be able to enjoy it once again, in the full glory of the Civilization IV graphics engine!



According to Sid Meier himself, now holding the director of creative development position at Firaxis Games, "We've received many requests from fans over the years to bring back Colonization and now seemed to be the perfect time to do that."

The Civilization IV engine provided a fantastic foundation for a new Colonization experience and allowed us to create something great for both new players and long time fans of the game," he concluded, and the countless hours I've spent with Civilization IV are a proof to that, as well as the feeling of emptiness I get by the lack of time for playing it anymore, because for me(and a large part of my friends), Civilization is one of those games I will never get tired of, never-ever!

Colonization will get 2008 graphics, a new interface, improved diplomacy options, modding tools, and will allow you to "lead one of four European nations on a quest to conquer and rule the New World."

Expected to arrive this fall, Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization will surely be a great addition to any Civilization fan, as well as a game surely worth buying for those strategy fans that didn't grab any of Mr. Meier's games!

Feelin' ready for a contest? No, it won't be a wet T-shirts contest, although summer is raising hell all over around me, and if you're not living in Alaska, Siberia or another really cold area, I am sure you are going to face hellish temperatures pretty soon, if it didn't happen already. Just as a side note, global warming is real, and is caused by human activity! Those denying this are welcome to drop their comments at the bottom of the article, but now I'll have to leave that aside and talk about the upcoming Overlord: Raising Hell game from Codemasters...

<-250x250 Square - left->Overlord: Raising Hell is expected to arrive on the 20th of June, and today, Codemasters started its quest for the worst boss in the UK. Do you think you're up to it? Well, let's see what is this all about first, shall we?

"Codemasters wants to find out if UK employees have been forced - just like Minions - to do the bidding of their mean manager and is asking them to anonymously submit their own stories and bizarre boss experiences,” reads today's press release."

Now, the prizes...while best entries will be published on the page created on Codemasters.com for this purpose, the best submission will earn its creator a PlayStation 3 and the copy of the Overlord: Raising Hell game itself.

Oh! Missed reading the details but want to participate as soon as possible, so you want to know where to send your stories? Well, Worst.Boss@Codemasters.com should be fine. Good luck!

Do you like to play with animals? Big cats, especially? Well, when I say "Puma Games" I am not thinking about such things, so those of you who were expecting such things will be disappointed. Anyway, to make a longer story short, "Puma games" is about the world renowned sportswear brand Puma, who just got involved in the first MMOG that is trying to "recreate the game of football and its accompanying luxury lifestyle." Sounds interesting enough to read on? Well, here we go...

<-250x250 Square - left->According to the (boiling hot) press release I have here, Football Superstars, a game created by a UK based company, called CyberSports, "features thousands of human players online in a virtual world competing with and against each other."The big deal is that the game is completely free to download and play, since "PUMA products and branding incorporated interactively in the game play courtesy of IGA Worldwide, the leading provider of in-game advertising. Players will not only have the ability to experience the awesome speed of the PUMA v1.08 Speed Boot but also visit a virtual facsimile of London’s Carnaby Street concept store in-game, to kit their avatar out with the latest PUMA lifestyle apparel."

Just great! Free game with in-game advertising. I don't know about others, but I have nothing against it. Just look at what these people have to say about the entire "operation":

"We are very excited about our new partnership with Football Superstars as it provides us with a unique opportunity to communicate the brand and it’s benefits to a wider audience." (Richard Callaway, Head of Sport PUMA UK)

"We are proud to facilitate the execution of this campaign, which aligns a leading sports brand with one of the most innovative community-based football games. With the engaging opportunities available within Football Superstars, we believe this is the first of many. This strong integration between both parties will set the standard for other brands looking to get in the game."(Giuseppe Bellanca, VP Ad Sales Europe at IGA Worldwide)

These being said, I think that "Puma games" just got a whole new meaning. A better one.

GTA 4 cars, reloaded! Yes, that's right, today we'll move on with our GTA 4 cars marathon, since everyone in the game seems to use a car, not only Niko Bellic. Most of time, I am not using a car, since I try to protect the environment as much as possible, but when talking about GTA 4 cars, I would gladly use all of them, and not only because Liberty City is too large to walk around without using any vehicle, but because you can't listen to those great radio stations while on foot! What about the radio stations? I told you about them yesterday, when we talked about the highlights of GTA 4, but now I'll leave those behind and get back to our GTA 4 cars, as promised!

<-250x250 Square - left->Now, where were we? Emperor is the next in line, and it's amusing to say that when my geek friend told me "do you want me to show you how cool is Emperor," I was thinking about the Norwegian black metal band. As you can see in the image above, it's a car, so let's continue listing the specifications of the GTA 4 cars I found about so far, shall we?- Emperor - 4 gears RWD, 2100kg, $25000, 234 km/h (145 mph), 10.9 seconds
- Emperor (Rusty) - 4 gears RWD, 2100kg, $25000, 234 km/h (145 mph), 14.2 seconds
- Enforcer/Stockade/Securicar - 5 gears RWD, 6500kg, $40000, 204 km/h (126 mph), 19.3 seconds
- Esperanto - 5 gears RWD, 1600kg, $18000, 204 km/h (126 mph), 16.4 seconds
- Faction - 5 gears RWD, 1600kg, $18000, 266 km/h (165 mph), 8.6 seconds
- Feltzer - 5 gears RWD, 1400kg, $30000, 282 km/h (175 mph), 6.9 seconds

Just one thought, before we move on - what do you think about the Feltzer(see picture above)? I know, its name is strange, and I can't think about any car in the real world that looks like it, but I think it delivers quite a punch for its money in the game. The suspension is very hard, the brakes are extremely strong, and despite the fact it doesn't go from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 5 seconds, I love it. Unfortunately, I can't enjoy it enough...and I won't say again why.

- Feroci - 5 gears RWD, 1600kg, $18000, 266 km/h (165 mph), 9.6 seconds
- FIB Buffalo - 5 gears RWD, 1550kg, $25000, 300 km/h (186 mph), 5.7 seconds

The evil FIB Buffalo, exactly the car in the picture above, can be easily obtained using a cheat code. What's the code? Well, that's what you will see in our GTA 4 cheat codes article, of course!

- Firetruck - 5 gears 4WD, 7500kg, $40000, 266 km/h (165 mph), 10.9 seconds
- Flatbed - 6 gears RWD, 12000kg, $40000, 189 km/h (117 mph), 27.8 seconds
- Forklift - 1 gear FWD, 500kg, $25000, 50 km/h (31 mph), 3.1 seconds (this should be acceleration to its maximum speed, I guess)
- Fortune - 4 gears RWD, 1900kg, $16000, 275 km/h (170 mph), 9.6 seconds
- Futo - 5 gears RWD, 1400kg, $14000, 266 km/h (165 mph), 6.9 seconds
- Habanero - 5 gears 4WD, 2200kg, $32000, 234 km/h (145 mph), 12.3 seconds
- Hakumai - 5 gears FWD, 1700kg, $15000, 249 km/h (154 mph), 12.3 seconds
- Huntley Sport - 5 gears 4WD, 2900kg, $40000, 282 km/h (175 mph), 6.9 seconds

Whatta sexy piece of metal, don't you agree? Well, that should be all for today, but don't worry - there are still enough GTA 4 cars for us to check this weekend, and I am sure my friend will (not) be delighted to help...but he'll surely do the right thing, in the end! After all, it's for a noble purpose...

Where are you going? It doesn't matter if it's a date with Joe Black, Britney or Shrek himself, but it surely can wait. Why? There's still a lot to say about Grand Theft Auto IV, and today I'll leave aside the cheats and cars, because I want to tell you about the major features of the game, and highlight those reasons that make Grand Theft Auto IV a "must play" game, but before anything else, I must add that despite the fact I only played Vice City for a few hours, I will surely spend a lot of time with GTA 4 when I'll get my hands on it...

This time, your character comes from Europe, and that's the first reason for me to feel closer to the game. Niko Bellic, an immigrant from Eastern Europe with an ominous past, arrives in the US in the search of the "American dream." Unfortunately for him, things are not as bright as expected, so instead of having a peaceful life on American soil, he gets back to doing "dirty" jobs that he thought now will be able to leave behind.

<-125x125 Button - left->The best part about Grand Theft Auto IV is that, while GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas had the same graphics engine, similar characters and mission style, being parts of the GTA III trilogy, now we're talking about a whole new game. Why? Everyone seems to consider Grand Theft Auto IV a fresh start for the series, and that becomes pretty obvious once you start playing the game, because Grand Theft Auto IV is heavily focused on realism and storytelling, and since I mentioned "realism..."

...think about pedestrians that don't simply walk around, but smoke cigarettes, read books and newspapers, drop litter, talk on mobile phones, walk in and out of buildings, acting like any normal real-world pedestrian. The story is less linear, and you have plenty of choices to choose from.

Arriving to the technological part of the game, it's enough to say that the RAGE game engine takes weather effects a few step further, also bringing more varied textures, model pixel shaders, while characters can hang on to the back of vehicles, and those falling down are more than lifeless ragdolls.

At last, I must tell you something about the official soundtrack of the game. As a side note, you should know that the Grand Theft Auto IV special edition also includes the soundtrack, and while some of those names are completely new to me, here you have the most notorious artists and songs I spotted: "Take The 'A' Train" - Duke Ellington, "Move" - Miles Davis, "April In Paris" - Count Basie, "Injustice System" - Sick Of It All, "Victim In Pain" - Agnostic Front, "1979" - The Smashing Pumpkins, "Heaven And Hell" - Black Sabbath, "Jailbreak" - Thin Lizzy, "One Vision" - Queen, "Where's My Money" - Busta Rhymes, "Dirty New Yorker" - Mobb Deep featuring Havoc & Prodigy from H.N.I.C Part 2 Sessions, "So Much Trouble In The World" - Bob Marley & The Wailers, "Bump N' Grind" - R. Kelly, "It's Only Love Doing Its Thing" - Barry White, and many others, since Liberty City has 18 radio stations, most of them having at least 10 tracks, and going as high as 22, for the LRR 97.8 LIBERTY ROCK RADIO "Hosted by DJ Iggy Pop."

Do I have to say more? I love this game already, and I hate my geek friend more and more for playing it all day long, but don't worry - I'll go visit him one of these days, and apart from playing GTA 4 myself a few minutes, I'll get some new car information from him, I am sure he does more than just playing with that game...