No! My PS3 is Dead!

Morning all. A very glum, despair-filled morning, may I add.

My PS3's Blu Ray drive packed in last night.

It's the 60gb, fat PS3 that I have, purchased from Comet (UK) in December 2007.

Although I'm not a hard core gamer, it gets reasonable use, and I hardly ever use it to watch blu ray films.

So here's the thing. I turn on the PS3 to play Fifa. It doesn't recognise that there is a disc in. Strange. Turn it off, turn it on, still doesn't recognise it.

Take the disc out, check it, clean it, pop it back in. Still nothing.

Hmm.

Try Avatar. Nope.

Try a mp3 CD. Yes, reads it.

Try Digger Demo - takes AGES to start, get an error message:

An error occurred during the start operation (80010006)

Tried it again, it worked. Still no game discs though.

After writing an email to Sony, outlining the above, I went to bed, very frustrated.

Got up this morning, still wouldn't read game discs.

Anyone else had this problem, know of a solution?

I've Googled it, and a lot of the answers are "Folding at home corrupted".

I haven't installed folding at home.

I can HEAR the drive struggling to read discs.

HELP!

Pure

When I was 17, I got my first PC. With it, I got my first PC game - Microsoft's Monster Truck Madness. It was fantastic - I absolutely loved it. I loved how when you crashed, you could call in the massive helicopter to take you back to the track. I loved the way that if you drove off the track, you could just drive and drive and drive, without being forced back onto the track. I loved the way you could type in a cheat, and your Monster Truck would turn into a T Rex. It was all fantastic fun, but, you know, if I were to boot it up now, I would think it was absolutely rubbish - poor graphics, poor gameplay - poor game full stop.

My curiosity was aroused at the prospect of playing Pure, an ATV quad bike racing game. I downloaded the demo from the PlayStation Network and started it up.

The demo consists of a training mode, which you need to complete (which is handy, because you can get used to the controls), followed by a three lap circuit around Lake Garda, Italy. The controls are simple - accelerate using X. When approaching a hill, pull down on the left analogue stick, and then push up when at the crest of the hill (in the same manner that a trick is performed in EA's Skate). To perform a trick, press X. Then, a 'Trick Meter' is filled - you can then progress to pressing triangle to perform a trick, or circle to perform a trick. You can also forfeit your trick meter by boosting - i.e., using boost will drain the boost meter, but not by a considerable amount. When the trick meter is full, pressing L2 and R2 will unleash a special trick.

Once I had mastered the controls (it is very easy to do so), I was ready for Lake Garda. I was pleased to see that there were 8 racers in the game - it's no fun racing on your own

.

The game is very fast paced, and it is often difficult to realise where the track is going, particularly as in a few places there are forks in the track. There are some fantastic drops, giving the gamer ample opportunity to perform more than one trick per jump.

Playing the game, you feel as if you really are in control of a quad bike, and the feeling of speed is fantastic. Graphically, the game is a work of art - the visuals are stunning, and even though the majority of the time the scenery passes at a blur, there are moments - like when you are soaring through the air - that you can actually take in the breath-taking surroundings.

The three laps that you participate in are frenetic, no doubt about it. The tricks that you can perform are great, but if you don't land properly, the trick doesn't count. Also, repeat tricks are a no no - you've got to keep it original.

Of course, there are more advanced tricks to perform - depending on the direction that you press, as well as the combo of buttons that you press.

I was a bit disappointed that I came in first place on my first attempt, but to be honest it was such a struggle that I enjoyed it - I actually feel that I deserved to come in first, not that I breezed over the finish line way ahead of my opponents.

Overall review: 8/10

Would I buy this game? Most probably.

Will you buy this game? It's up to you, but here's the Amazon link:

Comments, as always, more than welcome.