Advantages: Clever little toy
Disadvantages: Limited amusement value

...One of my favourite shows on TV at the moment is Bravo’s In Your Face; this hidden camera show goes to lengths that no others dares to go. The host (guy with the camera) walks around the streets of the busiest cities in the country telling people to get off the street because they are ugly, attacking people with a variety of things, or just generally winding people up. I might be sick, but I cant help but laugh incredibly loudly while watching this show. The host wears a rather nasty pair of glasses with a hidden camera in them in order to film the antics, having shared the knowledge of this show with my staff they all started watching. Where on earth could you get such a device, the question was asked. And as if by magic 48 hours later these specs walked their way into my store. Spy Gear is a range of toys designed for kids... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Raises the bar for console visuals, perfect presentation
Disadvantages: Light on story, some repetitive gameplay

...Gears of War sold one million copies within days of release making it the fastest selling game yet for the Xbox 360. Does this mean it is a real contender for Game of the Year, or is it merely a testament to Microsoft's marketing hype? The short answer is the former. Pounding action has you diving for cover under a constant hail of bullets that really hurt. Although the over-the-top blood splatters will certainly be too gory for some people's taste (and this is certainly not a game for younger kids) the fact that bullets seem to hurt really gives you a reason for using cover to your advantage, consisting primarily of firing from behind concrete pillars. It certainly makes for some intense firefights where staying in the open will earn you a swift death, while hiding to avoid fire for a few moments will allow you to recover fully... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Non puzzle game, Great depth in storylin & Amazing Graphics
Disadvantages: Short levels & Long learning time

...of the guns is easy and planting of items like C4 requies you to hold down on the button for a few seconds. The game lacks MGS3's incredible 3D cutscenes which I feel is one of the games downsides. This dont effect the impact of the game as a whole but die hard MGS fans may be a bit disapointed. The other downside is that the AI except from the bosses look and act exactly the same. This is usually only a factor once the member has been recruited and is being used in the missions. The audio is excellent, particularly the cinematic music that sounds straight out of a spy thriller. The voices of the characters are excellent and give them distinct personalities. This adds to the atmosphere and the edge of the game. Though clearly best suited for Metal Gear Solid fans, it's one of the best, most ambitious games to date for the PSP & is highly... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Absolutely no swearing of any kind
Disadvantages: Absolutely no swearing of any kind

...I noticed that a couple of the “What I like to read” bits referenced this book, so I was amazed that no one had written a review. Set among the privileged wealth of New York’s private schools and private nannies, Harriet the Spy presents one of the most remarkable characters in children’s literature made even more remarkable by the context in which the book was first published. The book opens with Harriet M. Welsch teaching her friend Sport how to play ‘Town’. Harriet doesn’t actually have a middle name. She added the ‘M’ herself because it sounds more grown up. ‘Town’ is a game where you make up all the places in a town and then decide all the people who live there and what they do and who they know and what they think. From the start you know that Harriet has tried to teach this game to Sport before. You know that Sport puts up... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Countless hours of variable online gameplay - Can't get board
Disadvantages: Too many people who quit online!!!

...This is in my opinion, along with many others, the best game in the Xbox 360. It's........... Gears of War Background of Gears of War If anyone here is a gamer then you have probably heard of Gears of War, if you haven't then I hope you enjoy what I'm going to say. Gears of War was released on the 17th of November 2006 in the UK but as usual it was released 10 days earlier in the US, typical. Prior to its release it was the most hotly anticipated game on the Xbox 360 as most of the other games before it hadn't really succeeded. It sold over 3 million copies in its first 10 weeks, and that figure as now reached 4.5 million total copies as of January 2008. I was surprised to one day see on Xbox.com that Halo 3 had overtaken Gears of War and has now sold over 8 million copies, this is something I just do not get... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Fun, Fantastic Creatures, Gadgets
Disadvantages: Not much plot

...I'd got my 5 year old nephew all to myself for the weekend, which to me is the epitome of the double-edged sword. He's a wonderful, bright, loving, lively kid, but god, is he demanding. There's no shoving him in front of the PC, Playstation or DVD player and doing your own thing, even for 5 minutes. He likes be out and about, he likes to do things, he likes to have experiences. The only way to get him to sit down and shut up is to sit him in front of an ENORMOUS screen while all manner of monsters, kids and cartoon creatures entertain him. There were two films on at the cinema this week that I could take him to, and one (Scooby Doo) I'd already utilised the last time he was thrust into my care. So Spy Kids 2 it was, with neither of us having seen Spy Kids 1 or having the faintest idea what it was about. It turns out... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Wilson, Murphy and a great comic script
Disadvantages: It's not the world's most original piece of cinema

...Since the only review this film has so far received on ciao is less than complementary I feel duty bound to redress the balance. Though not usually a fan of the tired mismatched buddy comedy formula I genuinely enjoyed this little gem. The plot centres around Alex Scott (Owen Wilson) a rather bumbling secret agent. In order to recover a spy-plane being sold by an evil industrialist he has to team up with the arrogant and ridiculous world boxing champ Kelly Robinson (Eddie Murphy). The plot isn't great but as a device to allow Murphy and Wilson to spark off each other it's perfectly satisfactory. The real plus points of the film are the script and the two central performances from Wilson and Murphy. I have been fan of Owen Wilson since his great comic performance (and writing credit) in the Royal Tenenbaums. He gives... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great Plot, Characters, Boss Fights
Disadvantages: Shooting Controls

...Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake Eater in my opinion would have to be the greatest Metal Gear game, as it takes the story to its roots and shows us the birth of the series main Antagonist. Hideo Kojima once again out does himself and shows us that the greatest war story teller is not done yet. Plot - The story of Metal Gear Solid 3 takes place between the cold war in 1964. Where your character "Naked Snake" who is later known to become "Big Boss" is sent within the jungles of the Soviot Union to rescue Dr. Sokolov who had been kidnapped to develope a nuclear-equiped tank called the "Shagohod". Snake is aided by fellow fox members Zero, Para-Medic and is former mentor "The Boss". As Snake infiltrates and rescues Sokolov he is confronted by The Boss who says that he has rejoined with her old unit "The Cobra Unit". She fights with Snake... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Gorgeous Visuals, Fresh Tactics, Co-op
Disadvantages: Gory, Short Campaign, a few stutters

...With the original X-Box clinging to life early-on solely thanks to the success of Halo, it was surprising to see the 360 lacking a decent shooter for the first year of its release. Just before the competition joins the fray, however, Epic Games caters to that large fanbase. Gears of War brings a few fresh tactics into the mix, coats them with gorgeous graphics and great cinematography, but it basically gives the shooter demographic what it primarily asks for: A chance to slaughter aliens with chainsaws and satellite beams. ***The Story*** Every bit about Gears of War feels like a good sci-fi war movie and before delving into the excellent presentation, let's take a look at the script. Extra-terrestrials attacked Earth 14 years ago and a never-ending war rages on ever since, as one side tries to wipe the other out from existence... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Talks about cars 'n' stuff in a way that I, a girl, can understand!
Disadvantages: Hidden away on BBC2 on a Sunday night!

...Well, when I saw that "Top Gear" had not received a review based on its current format (i.e. Its re-birth after BBC decided that they DID need a car consumer programme after having previously axed it) I felt that one was long overdue. And to make it even more refreshing for you all, its from my point of view - that of a female!! You'll find Top Gear hidden away on BBC2 at the moment - 8pm until 9pm on a Sunday evening. Perhaps not the most ideal timeslot for all (I'll hold my hands up and say that I don't always remember to tune in - and then I'm gutted when I realised that I've missed it!). The show is now based from a hangar on an old airfield, with the runways at the programme's disposal to show us what the cars that they report on can really do! The main presenter is once again Jeremy Clarkson - who did have the same job... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful