I'm just worried that AESF continues to put some considerable thought into Ashley Cole yanking down his box...sorry, underpants.

Enjoying Madden 08 but I have to say the pro difficulty level is just ridiculous. The coverage that your opponents somehow manage to maintain on every single passing play is just silly and the amount of interceptions the CPU pulls off is beyond funny.

Could some of the NFL buffs explain to me how to use the weapons system on Madden. I've gotten as far as accessing it (pull the left trigger) but beyond that I'm lost. Or perhaps that's it.

I finally bit the bullet and bought Madden NFL 08. I'm slowly beginning to understand what's going on, though the sheer number of plays is baffling and the defensive options are crazy. It's very playable however and the graphics are fantastic. Since I have no real previous NFL interest it's a nice education. Abbey will be pleased to hear I'm particularly impressed with Jay Cutler and his beloved Broncos. There's a nice touch in the way it allows you to see the routes your players will run on offense, meaning you gain a better understanding of what play is needed and where. I admit though I've had to start on rookie difficulty since pro was a little above me. I wasn't getting my ass kicked but it's very difficulty to score from advantageous positions.

Over Curb Your Enthusiasm? I hardly think so.

Oh come on. Are you serious?

I saw Jumper last night. It's pretty pants save for the awesome effects and Rachel Bilson's sheer loveliness.

*cough*Mininova*cough*

Even if you ignore all the side/rescue missions and stick to the story mode (which is surely a natural thing to do at the very least) it proves overly difficult and thus ruins an otherwise fun game.

Yeah I know but getting to that point was difficult enough and the save points are so sparse that they are in fact useless. The problem with the game is that you can't explore due to the real-time setting.

No idea what most of that means but I've gotten quite into college football and the NFL recently so I was thinking of giving it a go.

Just sold Dead Rising on ebay. While initially quite compelling, the ridiculous lack of checkpoints and the sheer amount of real-time objectives quickly drain any enjoyment. Also, the fact that you can't aim a weapon and move at the same time means that battling armed characters is nigh on impossible. Oh and I'm thinking of getting Madden NFL 08. Can anyone recommend that?

I've been playing Dead Rising for a while now and I have to say it suffers terribly from both a lack of checkpoints and a host of objectives that clutter the experience and stop you from being able to explore the cool setting fully.

To be honest Col when I was 12 I knew all about the birds and the bees thanks to the information super-highway known as 'the playground'. My parents just assumed I knew and never actually sat me down to explain. In any case it saves you having to have an awkward discussion with your kids.

No it isn't. It isn't libelous to say that you like chocolate when in fact you don't. The untrue statement must be of such a nature as to lower the subject's reputation in the eyes of the world.

It's Newcastle though, they're just being passionate and not thinking.

Ah so you can't support the Rovers from abroad. That means a huge swathe of this MB's members are imposters. No it isn't.

A good quality version of the new Indy trailer can be seen here.

Listen Bongo-Bongo Land laid on a cracking tournament full of attacking flair, undisciplined defending and jungle drums. I simply won't hear a word said against it. Nothing AESF writes about dar...sorry, 'lack of quality' will convince me otherwise. Anyway, Chimbonda is no worse than anyone else in modern football. Outside the top band of players who can probably afford to be loyal to the G14 club paying them a fortune every week, there are a lot of players simply scrabbling around for all they can get. Different characters will show more commitment and class than others but to make out that Chimbonda is the 'most despicable man in football' is preposterous.

Very much. The X-Files has been gone too long.

Movie thread?

Why is it a joke?

I picked up Lupe Fiasco's The Cool last week and it's very, very good. It's a different (and, in my opinion, slightly inferior) record to his debut Food & Liquor but that set the bar so high, it would be difficult to reach it again.

I've only just stumbled on this. It could be good though.