Though I have not played many of the red faction games I was always intrigued by the way in which they attempted to add terrain and building destruction to games to make games feel a little more real world. There’s nothing stranger than firing a massive energy weapon at some enemies obliterating them but leaving the world around them completely intact.

There have been a few red faction games touting the destructible world mechanics and as the march of technology moves on so too does the ability to destroy. Other games have started adding features like this, most notably Battlefield Bad Company, which although has great destruction is limited by the fact that destruction has to be synced to everyone and so can’t be too complex. The destruction in Red Faction Armageddon is exrtemely complex and sometimes looks stunning to watch.

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If there’s one game I love playing on my tablet or phone it’s Angry Birds… The only problem is when I’m at work playing on my phone I’ve got different progress to what I have when I’m playing at home on my tablet. Angry Birds Sync has the answer, just like other Angry Birds backup apps it will backup all three current games to SD. Unlike other backup programs however you can backup to Dropbox making it a sinch to keep your Angry Birds progress persistent across all of your Android devices.

It also makes switching devices just as easy, all you have to do is pop your Dropbox credentials into the program and the rest is a doddle. As above it supports Angry Birds, Seasons and Rio and with just a few clicks you’re on your way. The program works perfectly and just as important the dev is friendly and helpful. The only feature I would like to see added would be a one click backup/restore and to be able to create a desktop shortcut to initialise these.

More info from the market and a link below:

Perfect for those of you who have a new Android Tablet, running Honeycomb or otherwise, such as the Motorola Xoom, EeePad Transformer or one of the Galaxy Tab’s! Install this app on both your phone and tablet, and you will be able to sync your progress from your phone to your tablet! Carry on from where you left off! Features: - Local Backup (SD Card/External Storage) - DropBox Backup - Backup Type Selection - Angry Birds Application Selection (Backup and Restore) - Clear local Backups and Restores (Cached) - Share the App!

So, I’m going a bit Honeycomb crazy this past week or so with reviews and I’ve also spent quite a bit on the Android Market.

Riptide GP is the latest Tegra 2 exclusive title to hit the market and has already had a lot of positive press. As you have probably seen from screenshots Riptide GP is a water racing game vaguely similar to Waverace… The similarity ends there however, from the futuristic jet-skis to the varied course locations Riptide GP is a game of it’s own.

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I have had my Tablet for less than a month and it is already apparent that Android Tablet apps are in their infancy, there are plenty of non-tablet apps on the market that work well on a large high res display but most of them are games… There’s quite a lack of non gaming apps that make full use of the full screen real estate offered by today’s honeycomb tablets.

Obviously the situation will improve and it’s only a matter of time before the Android Tablet scene explodes and with the recent release of the full Honeycomb SDK those days are coming closer. Until that day here’s a nice list of some of the best Tablet optimized apps I’ve found on the market, please feel free to add your finds in the comments and I’ll probably end up adding them to the article. Also keep your eyes peeled for a new post in the next few days for a new android games article…

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It’s been a quiet but rewarding road for Tegra 2 Tablets over the past few months, with little optimised games being released but most being great to play, the wait for the next big game is almost unbearable and I have been waiting for this game to come out for Android ever since I heard about it, the game looks crisp and fresh and definitely one of the most promising looking Tegra games to be announced.

There is still a long way to go for gaming on Android Tablets and Tegra could do with another feather in it’s cap, god knows it needs more like Bang Bang Racing…
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I love those little animated gifs around the web and especially like the ones derived from videos, either used as an animated avatar or as a quick movie that you can embed anywhere. So I had a little search around but I couldn’t find a fully formed guide on how to convert video into an animated gif… So here it is, a relatively quick and easy guide on how to convert video/movie files into animated gifs.

Programs you will need:
Virtual Dub Mod (Download the all inclusive zip)
Microsoft Gif Animator

Both of these are free and available to use without even installing, great Read on for the full guide on how to prepare your video file, how to convert it into an animated gif and how to get the best results. Read more…

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In the third Halo Reach post of recent weeks I bring you a comparison featuring the original blood gulch from Halo and Hemorrhage from Halo Reach. I dug these screenshots out of my old files, apologies for the watermarks on the old images I used to run a site many years ago called futurecube and I didn't keep the original images. Anyway, I thought I would recreate the old images in the new game :D

One of the interesting things about the comparison is to think that this is only one generation of hardware, from the xbox to the xbox 360, but you can see the massive difference in quality and detail. You'll also notice the pallete change from orange and green to a much greener and cleaner map. It still feels the same when playing and is still my favourite map ever. So behold xbox vs xbox 360 (more after the break):
 

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This is a little guide I’ve put together so you can make Halo Reach panoramas using free programs as not all of us can afford or even like Photoshop. I assure you it is simple and not as time consuming as you might think, just make sure you follow the guide fully or you may get strange results.

Programs you need:
Hugin – Program for making panoramas.
Paint .net – If you don’t already have an image editing program.
Halo Reach –

Read on for a full guide on how to take the screenshots you need, how to add them all together into a panorama and how to get the best results for your panoramas. Read more…