PS3 Focus/Manhunt 2/Video Game Controversy

Part 1: Seeing as we’ve been so fabulously rotten about the PlayStation 3 from our first show onwards, we decided to spend a good portion of this show bigging it up. So the first bit is all about the good things that are coming out on PS3 soon.

Part 2: Focuses on the recently UN-released Manhunt 2 on PS2, PSP and Wii. We talk about why everyone from the BBFC to the ESRB have decided to make it pretty much impossible for anybody, mentalist or otherwise, to get hold of a copy of this grisly Rockstar escapade.

Part 3: Discussion about controversial video games in general, and why when you look at the content that people are making a fuss over, it seems to be by and large infantile, tawdry or just really poor taste, rarely connected with any real games of quality, and, when it is – like the infamous "Hot Coffee" incident – it could lift right out of the game without issue. Apologies for our screenshot this week, it was simply too gruesome to miss sharing with the world.

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Sequels and why they suck!

This week, we figured we’d take a look at the mass of new sequels emerging onto the big screen this year and why if you examine past efforts it is in fact statistically unlikely that a sequel to a great film will match it, and if it does, the likelihood of a third or fourth being any good at all is almost nothing.

Alex examined 57 trilogies and quadrilogies and found that there were only five that were consistently excellent, six more that lasted to two great films in a row, three that returned to form after a poor second movie, thirteen that only managed one great showing and a remainder of thirty that never even managed that final accolade. If you include all 57 trilogies, this gives a whopping 87% likelihood that a sequel will be worse than it’s predecessor. The pie chart above represents only the trilogies which have at least one great chapter.

We cover most of the classics and some of the oddballs and make a few predictions on upcoming threes and fours.

If you’ve never listened to Digital Cowboys before, this is a great one to start with, as far as putting across the group dynamic goes.

Drop us a line at digitalcowboys@googlemail.com

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The Hi-Def Special

HD-DVD and Blu-Ray/Forza Motorsport 2/Ocean’s 13

For over a year, the public have had access to movies in the high definition formats HD-DVD and Blu-ray, but most people aren’t too familiar with them. The bulk of our show is Alex, Paul and Tony discussing what HD discs mean to the movie-going public and which format might win the war. If you love seeing movies at their absolute best, this show is essential listening.

Part 2 is Tony’s review of Forza Motorsport 2 on the Xbox 360. Fans of serious driving simulators will be salivating over this one right now.

We round off with a brief review of Ocean’s 13, because it doesn’t deserve a long one frankly. We also discuss other things you could buy with your Â7.50

OPPO DVD players, as mentioned in the show, absolutely ROCK and can be found here: 
http://www.crtprojectors.co.uk/

Digital Cowboys are of course not affiliated with either company, we just like ‘em a whole lot.

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The 80s Special/Guitar Hero sequels/Favourite 80s movies/Marie Antoinette

The imminent release of Guitar Hero: Rocks The 80s, coupled with an increasingly acute sense of nostalgia as they near their third decade has left the cowboys in a bit of an 80s mood today.

So after discussing what hot and tasty riffs they want to hear in the new installments of the oft-vaunted, jam-centric video game series, Alex, Paul, Tony and Sam chew over their favourite movies of the 80s and debate whether all the best of them were aimed at kids.

After this, Alex’s wife Sharon makes a special appearance to discuss Sofia Coppola’s latest cinematic offering, Marie Antoinette. Will the air-headed, pastry-munching, bewigged, despot measure up to Scarlett Johansson hanging out with Bill Murray and examining their unfulfilled aspirations in the perpetually jetlagged Tokyo nights of Lost in Translation? Let’s face it, it’s not bloody likely!

Listen out for special 80s musical treats.

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