Toronto Thumbs

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Paul Hunter is a Dreamer

Have you ever had a dream that scared the crap out of you? You know the kind: you are trapped somewhere; you are surrounded by the undead; you have no weapons; you look remarkably like Shia LaBoeuf and Megan Fox is nowhere in sight! Overcome with terror, you wake up in a cold sweat, afraid to close your eyes to return to slumberland…

Well, you can choose to stay awake forever - or - you can be like Paul Hunter over at NextGen Player  and pick up a controller to do some advanced training that might have real results in dream land. Nicole Baute, from the Toronto Star, has written an interesting article about how high-end gamers have a good chance of controlling the outcome of those nightmare scenarios.

Check it out »

Posted in News, Scientastic | 3 Comments »

Calzo-NET
The State of Gaming On OSX

I’ve been running OSX for quite a while now. Probably since 10.2 came out. The reasons are largely work related, and I’m certainly not here to persuade anyone that OSX is any better or worse for your own personal needs which I know nothing about; but as a gamer, I have always had to keep a machine running some version of the Windows OS close at hand.

Read the rest »

Posted in Calzo-NET, Mac, News, PC | 1 Comment »

Breaking News
Halo Reach

Get ready to kick some Covenant ASS. While Halo: Reach won’t be hitting terrestrial shores till this Fall, the Multiplayer Beta will be accessible starting May 3rd via XBLA and the Halo: ODST Campaign disc!

Read the rest »

Posted in News, Previews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Announcement
Toronto Thumbs Fools You!

Happy April Fool’s Day!

Toronto Thumbs is not actually moving.

It’s hard to pull pranks on people these days, what with everyone being so savvy due to osmosis from being on the internet all the time. I had to try something, though! I actually got the idea from Shaun, who -hopefully- got my e-mail about the previous post.

Toronto Thumbs will remain at its current location, and will continue to bring you news and reviews as best we can. In the hopper are some reviews for God of War III and Pokemon HeartGold, as well as some interesting articles that we’re sure you will like.

Stay tuned!

Posted in Awesome, Humour, News | 2 Comments »

Announcement
Toronto Thumbs Has To Move

Toronto Thumbs has suffered an unexpected setback.

Yesterday, I just found out, was the anniversary of our Domain Name Registration. This is awesome. We have been around for a while now and have enjoyed bringing you reviews and commentary without the baggage of ads.

However, Shaun neglected to tell me that we were not paid up (until just a few minutes ago, after he got back from hanging out with some friends). So we have lost the name. The squatters (who I am not allowed to mention the names of) have given us a two week grace period to find something new, as they will not give up the name for a reasonable sum (and frankly, I don’t have that kind of money).

I have placed some reservations on some of the following names and I am wondering which one makes the most sense:

• ToronThumz.com
• CanadaThumbs.com
• TThumbz.com

Let me know what you think.

I apologize, as I have really dropped the ball here. We will still be a great site, however, we will have a different domain name.

Posted in Awful, News | 8 Comments »

CONTEST WINNER
Resident Evil 5 Original Soundtrack

Earlier this week, I launched a little contest for a three-disc Resident Evil 5 Original Soundtrack courtesy of the fine folk at Sumthing Else Music Works. The concept was a simple one: participants had to use their Twitter accounts to reply to us with either their best zombie grunt or their best zombie survivor scream.

Twitter user ryoji has come out as the winner. Rather than scream to draw attention to himself, he decided disguise was the way to go. His entry was “maybe-if-I-pretend-to-be-a-chicken-they-won’t-notice-me BAWK BAWK BAWKKKKKKKKK.”

Though I’m unsure if such a ruse would work on a zombie hoard, I do know one thing: It was the best entry we had. Congrats, ryoji!

Posted in News | No Comments »

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
New Xbox Experience Launches Nov 19

Microsoft is set to transform Xbox 360 consoles via next Wednesday’s automatic console update. If you’ve got a 360 and have it connected to the Internet, chances are you’ll want to upgrade.

The new interface is much cleaner, and a little remniscent of the new Zune interface as well – which is a good thing! Overall it really seems as if the Xbox will be embracing a more social angle in the near future.

Among the new features is Xbox LIVE Party, which will allow users to create a “party” with up to seven friends. The party consists of voice chat, playing games, and photo sharing. And to help facilitate the social concept is the introduction of customizable animated avatars. These have previously been referred to as Microsoft’s answer to Nintendo’s Miis, and in a way that’s a valid comparison. It does, however, appear that the animated avatars will have a greater degree of customization than Miis allow for.

I’m looking forward to the interface changeover. I’ve gotten used to the way the current UI operates but it’s an absolute mess when trying to scroll through the titles on my system and when looking through the marketplace. November 19 can’t come soon enough!

Posted in LIVE, News, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

BIGGER IS BETTER
Xbox Introduces 60GB Starter Pack

Today Xbox Canada announce the launch of the Xbox 60GB hard drive and Xbox LIVE starter pack, which is a handy way for Xbox Arcade owners to upgrade their consoles for a more engaging media experience. The bundle’s in stores today and retails for an approximate $109.99 CDN. It includes the new 60GB hard drive, a wired headset, a three-month subscription to LIVE and an ethernet cable (you can never have too many of these!).

And now, I am sad, for I only have 4 GB os space left on my now-outdated 20 GB Xbox hard drive. Technology is such a cruel mistress sometimes.

Posted in LIVE, News, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

OVERVIEW
Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals

About a month ago I had a one-on-one demonstration of Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals, the sequel to the only third-party Nintendo DS game to break the top ten sales chart last year. Ross Purnell, Associate Manager, Public Relations at Disney Interactive Studios and I sat down to go through some of the highlights of the game, in particular what new features were added to the gameplay.

Among the most noticeable of the new features is that the world is now a 3D environment with a wide degree of camera control. The game’s developer, Jupiter Corp. did have a 3D environment in the original title but found that the ¾ overhead view restricted the player’s view of what was happening around them; and enemy could be around the corner and the player wouldn’t know till it was nearly too late. The new camera is positioned behind Rallen (one of the main protagonists) and allows the player to scope out the environment to plan movements a little more strategically.

This time around, Rallen can also participate in field battles using a blaster, sword, or gauntlet. This doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of Spectrobes battles to be had, however. These fights take place in real time and the Spectrobe types (red, green, and blue) function as a rock, paper, scissors balancing device.

Read the rest »

Posted in DS, News, Overviews | No Comments »

LOL ZANGIEF

Capcom released a statement today regarding the still-upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix which started off with “Do you remember Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix?” and then went on to promise that the game is in fact on its way “very soon.”

They also provided a bunch of screenshots and character art of Blanka, Cammy, and Zangief. I’ve decided to not show them all here because I’m sure another game site has posted them with giant ugly watermarks already (cough*IGN*cough) but I did find this one particularly funny because Zangief is, well, funny!

Posted in Awesome, News, Pics, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | 4 Comments »