I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish Darran a very happy birthday, who turns one year older today. I can’t for the life or me remember how old he is, but I believe his new age falls somewhere within the late thirties threshold.

Anyway, to celebrate Darran turning a year older here’s a creaky old picture of him I found in his drawer. It shows a young melancholic looking Daz (circa early-Nineties judging by that Blur bootleg album on that draw unit) sporting a Morrissey haircut.  

iPhone Tips, Tricks, Apps & Hacks Volume 5 is the perfect book for anyone looking to unlock the full potential of their iPhone. With step-by-step guides showing you how to record guitar tracks, test your eyesight, measure your heart rate and much more, this book will open up a wealth of new functions. There’s also a full guide to jailbreaking, answering all your questions and explaining the benefits, along with tutorials to show you what you can do with your jailbroken device. On top of all that there are reviews of all the best apps to extend the functionality of your device.

Aaron Asadi, Editor-in-Chief, stated: “This book is ideal for any iPhone owner. With top guides to help you discover just what your iPhone can really do, along with ways to get the most out of all the default apps, you’ll be amazed at all the extra functionality this book brings to your device. Add to that a round-up of all the latest and greatest apps and a complete guide to jailbreaking, and there’s something for everyone here.”

iPhone Tips, Tricks, Apps & Hacks Volume 5 is on sale now (8/9) from www.imaginebbokshop.co.uk and all good newsagents, priced £9.99.

Bounder’s World, the first game to come from Ian Stewart’s newly resurrected Gremlin Graphics label, Gremlin Presents, now has a release date.

It will be available to purchase for iPhone and iPad this coming Bank Holiday Monday, the 29^thAugust, and will sell for £0.69p (iPhone) and £2.99 (iPad).

This new version of the top-down platform puzzler is a complete reimaging of the original that has been rebuilt to pander entirely to the touch-screen platform. In addition to snazzy new retina display visuals and touch-screen controls, Bounder’s World will also feature new levels and a remixed soundtrack too.

If you’re a fan of the original (and who isn’t?) and have nothing planned this coming bank holiday then why not treat yourself to this new take on an old classic? In all seriousness, 69 pence wouldn’t even buy you half a tennis ball these days.

Yes the above logo says it all. Sonic CD is back and it’s heading to a number of digital services. Widely regarded by many fans as being one of the best games in the series, it introduced Metal Sonic to the world, featured a cool time-travel theme and had some truly excellent music. Providing you had the Japanese version…

Fortunately, Sega has seen amends and has added the excellent sound track to this new release. Expected later on in the year it will be available on digital platforms such as iOS, PSN, XBLA and Steam. We can’t wait!

As some of you may or may not know from our recent board game feature, I like board games. In fact I love them, almost as much (or maybe a little more than) videogames. I’m been slowly amassing a collection of new titles, as well as picking up some of my old favourites.

One such classic is MB’s Hero Quest, which was a collaboration with Games Workshop. Designed as a low-entry introduction to Games Workshop’s own products, it’s a highly enjoyable fantasy romp that has you descending into an ever changing dungeon and fighting the ever monsters found within.

Team play is essential in order to win, but that didn’t stop my eldest daughter form running off and doing her own thing on her first play through. Getting hammered by a zombie soon put a stop to that though, and it’s quickly become a firm family favourite, despite the fact that it’s now over 20 years old.

I’ve just picked up Descent, which is Hero Quest on a larger, far more dangerous scale, so don’t be surprised to see a blog appear in the not too distant future about it.

Finally, after a lengthy wait, Capcom’s super brawler, Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition, is finally with us. We’ve been waiting for this update for many months now and are delighted with the end results. Get past the horrible smoothing options (why can’t company’s do HD properly?) and you’ll discover that Third Strike is still an amazing fighter. The parry system remains one of the best examples of risk and reward, the roster of characters is full of variety, while the animation throughout is simply glorious.

Fast and furious as a fighter, it has been enhanced by some genuinely solid online bonuses that range from letting you upload fights to Youtube, to playing in 8-player lobbies, and participating in 8-player tournaments. The ranking matches aren’t working as well as we’d like, but that’s bound to be fixed sooner rather than later. If you love fighting games you need to own Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition. It’s that simple. Download it for XBLA at a cost of 1200 points or buy it from PSN for £11.99

Fans of Retro Gamer’s hardware bookazines will be pleased to hear that they are now available to buy for Kindle. The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide is available now for just £5.81 and features in-depth guides to some of the best computers and consoles of all time. The Amiga, Super Nintendo, PC Engine, Atari 2600 and ZX Spectrum are just a few of the machines featured, and all come with the fantastic in-depth information that only Retro Gamer offers.

Editor in Chief Aaron Asadi said: “This eBook is a fantastic resource for all retro videogame fans. Offering in-depth information on some of the iconic consoles from the last 50 years, there are also run-downs of the best games from each piece of hardware, allowing readers to relive the classic videogame moments from days gone by. The is the perfect trip down memory lane, and represents excellent value for money.”

The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide eBook is available now from Amazon (http://amzn.to/iZODFT).

We’re massive fans of Capcom’s 2D fighter, so we’re counting down the days to its PSN arrival (23rd of August). In addition to being an absolutely astonishing fighter, Capcom has included a number of additional features, many of them based around playing online.

You’ll be able to save all your replays, upload them directly to YouTube, live stream the replays of others and even take part in 8-player tournaments.

A number of new challenges have been included, while Capcom has also included hundreds of new challenges to master as well. This is shaping up to be the definitive version of the world’s best 2D fighter and we can’t wait to get our hands on it.

So the finalists for this year’s Games Media Awards have been announced and Retro Gamer is really pleased to be up for Best Magazine again.  

If you somehow missed last year’s awards, we managed to scoop the award for Best Magazine – something that’s still yet to fully sink in.

We just want to say thanks to everyone that nominated for us again this year. By our maths (which isn’t great), if everyone who voted for us to win last year picks up the phone and does the same again this year there’s a really good chance we could come away consecutive winners.

Also, as an added incentive, if we do win again then Darran has promised to change his name to ‘Mr. I romance Strider Hiryu’s handsome smooth face Jones’, via Deed Poll.

…To be honest though, he’s been toying with doing that for a while anyway.  

So with that pathetic attempt at trying influence the vote over, here’s a full list of the categories and respective finalists for the awards ceremony which takes place at the Vinopolis on October 26^th.     

THE FINALISTS ARE…

GAMES MAGAZINE

* Edge
* GamesTM
* NGamer
* Official Xbox Magazine
* Official PlayStation Magazine
* Retro Gamer

GAMES WEBSITE

* GameSpot
* Videogamer
* Gaming Union
* Eurogamer
* The Sixth Axis
* God is a Geek
* IGN
* CVG

SPECIALIST WRITER PRINT

* Matthew Castle – NGamer
* Chris Scullion – Official Nintendo Magazine
* Steve Hogarty – Official Nintendo Magazine
* Jon Blyth – Official Xbox Magazine
* Christian Donlan – Freelance

SPECIALIST WRITER ONLINE

* Jane Douglas – GameSpot UK
* Mark Walton – GameSpot UK
* Keza MacDonald – IGN
* Gillen McAllister – Game Reactor
* Gwynne Dixon – Total Video Games
* Wesley Yin-Poole – Eurogamer

COVERAGE IN A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER

* The Guardian
* The Observer
* The Telegraph
* The Sun
* The Star Sunday

COVERAGE IN A MAINSTREAM MAGAZINE

* BBC Focus Magazine
* Shortlist
* T3
* Nuts
* Wired
* Front

REGIONAL GAMES COLUMNIST

* Steve Wollaston – Sunday Mercury
* Dan Slingsby – Syndicated Regional
* Dave Cook – The Scotsman
* Ed Hill – Derby Telegraph
* Ian Crump – Southern Daily Echo
* Phil Harris – Craigmillar Chronicle
* James Harvey – Cardiff & South Wales Advertiser

GAMES BROADCAST/PODCAST

* Gamesweasel
* GameSpot UK Podcast
* Saturday Edition 5live
* Start/Select
* Gamewank
* SentUAmessage
* OneLifeLeft

GAMES BLOG

* London Calling
* XboxGameZone
* VG247
* Rock, Paper, Shotgun
* Ready Up

RISING STAR

* Johnny Chiodini – GameSpot UK
* Seb Ford – GameSpot UK
* Martin Gaston – Videogamer
* Andrien Gbinigie – XboxGameZone
* Jamin Smith – Videogamer
* Hollie Bennett – Destructoid
* Dan Webb – Xbox360Achievements.org
* Matt Lees – Official Xbox Magazine