June Channel Update


We’ve got a busy month coming up throughout June, with videos twice every week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7pm BST (GMT+1).  We finish off our ‘How Not To Heist’ Grand Theft Auto V series with the final setup ‘convoy’ before attempting the Pacific Standard Job in spectacular fashion, before moving on to what will become our racing themed month.

We begin with an unbelievable qualifying session on Assetto Corsa, as Alan takes on Pete head-to-head in small Fiat cars to see who takes pole position for the upcoming race the following week.  Later we tackle some of the meatier cars and try to get to grips with the Shelby Cobra with hilarious consequences, and then for reas13320413_620385024786392_5007785422826933010_oons that make no sense we switch to Formula 1 in F1 2013, first in a lighting qualifying round and then a race, followed by a more detailed qualifying session later in the week which causes Alan to lose his temper more than once.

Finally we finish June with Project Cars, first blazing through the American country in Pagani Zondas and then we switch to the slightly less glamorous Donnington Park in the UK for probably the best race we’ve had to date, as a Mitsubishi Evo takes on a Ford Focus in a nail-biting race to the finish.

Below is a calendar of everything we’re doing this month, if you’d like to keep track of our schedule please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, or you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter where we post everything as it happens.

Calendar

I Never Knew A PC Steering Wheel Peripheral Would Be So Awesome


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PeteI like to think I have a broad and varied interest in various computer game genres.  There are very few I won’t play, perhaps the most obvious being fighting games as I haven’t played anything since Tekken Tag Tournament back in the Playstation 2 days.  One genre I do enjoy on a casual basis is vehicle simulation (something which Alan berates me over whenever the subject is mentioned), ever since I first played a game called Aviator on the BBC Micro computer in the late 1980’s – you can see it was primitive, but I loved it.  From there followed space simulators and eventually came Microsoft Train Simulator in the late 1990’s, and Flight Simulator at around the same time.image

I adored them all, and in today’s market where simulators’ popularity is still enjoyed but somewhat over-saturated with crap like Street Cleaning Simulator available there are still a few gems out there, most of all perhaps is Euro Truck Simulator 2.  This is a game I can’t describe to anyone who doesn’t already have at least a passing interest in the genre, but for me it’s a relaxing way to unwind and just get lost behind the wheel of a truck, selling goods and making money for my fledgling haulage company.  I can picture a few people reading this with one eyebrow raised but that’s how it is for a lot of people who play these games, and as someone who doesn’t drive in the real world it’s as close as I’m going to get to doing that too.

Speaking of driving, that’s another genre I’ve always enjoyed to an extent, particularly arcade racers like GRID, the Burnout series and the Need For Speed franchise.  I’ve never truly appreciated the simulation racers like Gran Turismo, Forza and Project Cars, and until this week I couldn’t quite work out why.  Aside from being utterly useless at them.

I can’t quite remember why, but a few weeks back I developed a burning desire to own a steering wheel for the PC. I think it was while reading a review for Project Cars, as it looked like a game I’d enjoy – great graphics, a progressive career mode… Oh but wait, it’s a simulation racer, I’m terrible at those, never mind.  I couldn’t shake the thought that I’d probably otherwise enjoy the game as you can tinker with the cars themselves and race in true-to-life events at real circuits, but I’d spend more time bouncing off safety barriers and rear-ending my opponents than screaming down back straights at 200mph in something vaguely considered to be a straight line. I decided to read up on some player opinions rather than those of professional reviewers, and one verdict was pretty much unanimous – to get the most out of Project Cars it’s damn near essential to own a steering wheel.

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