The Void - Informing you on music, competitions, wwe, ufc, games and other cool things.

There’s no point in getting too attached to any of the characters in this book, most of them last no longer than two or three (incredibly brief) chapters, and there are dozens of them to take on board.

However, as only a handful escape a gruesome death and make it to the end of the book it sometimes feels like it’s hardly worth the effort.This tale started life on the internet and the regular installments built up a cult following. This explains why each chapter is so short and why most end on some sort of cliffhanger – a device which would work just fine in weekly episodes but is of little use when the following page instantly dispels what precious little tension has been built up on the previous two or three.

The plot centres on the hunt, by several characters, for The Eye of the Moon, a stone with mysterious powers. The author has chosen to remain anonymous and the book is copyrighted to The Bourbon Kid – the name of one of the characters. Is this because he or she is hoping to retain a sense of mystery or because they are a bit embarrassed by their literary efforts?

Probably the former but the latter would make a fair explanation because, although the book is relatively entertaining (even laugh-out-loud funny in a couple of places), the clumsy style of the writer makes reading it feel like wading through treacle.

You may well enjoy this if you’re after something quick and ultimately disposable to read, but you probably won’t remember or care what happens in the end.

I’ve already forgotten.

You can buy The Book With No Name here.

The last time Metallica toured the stadia of Europe, the acoustically- and atmospherically-challenged Earls Court was London’s unworthy host venue.

Fast-forward three and a half years, and the long-awaited shiny new Wembley Stadium faces yet another challenge. It’s already proved it can accommodate the professional Princess Di-mourners, the Muse-favouring 30-somethings and the immense ego of Al Gore, but can it handle the kind of rocking required by the ‘Tallica faithful? After a circle pit-inspiring support performance by Machine Head and a classy but under-appreciated set by Finnish love metallers HIM, the San Franciscan foursome take to the stage to definitively answer that question.

Kicking into a fast and uncompromising Creeping Death, the already rapturous crowd appears to be on the brink of spontaneously combusting. A series of classics including Sad But True and Disposable Heroes are fired out with the kind of effortless cohesion that can only be achieved through 25 years of relentless touring.

Grey-bearded frontman James Hetfield slows things down just a tad with the acoustic-led intro to The Unforgiven, before launching into …And Justice For All, much to the delight of the dedicated audience who have waited 18 years to hear the 1988 eponymous album track in the epic flesh. An equally rare live rendition of The Memory Remains follows, with the audience participation on Marianne Faithfull’s gravelly accompaniment visibly moving drummer Lars Ulrich.

The gurning Rob Trujillo takes centre stage with his throbbing bass-led intro to instrumental Orion, touchingly dedicated to fallen original member Cliff Burton, while the cool lead guitar stylings of the seemingly ageless Kirk Hammett tug further at the heartstrings for the rousing finale of Fade To Black.

The biggest surprise of the evening, apart from the outstandingly clear and eardrum-splittingly loud acoustics of the new national stadium, comes from the utterly unpredictable inclusion of No Leaf Clover; performed live for one of the only times since the foursome took to the stage with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra back in 1999. A pyrotechnically enhanced One and Enter Sandman bring the crowd to a simmering delirium, before the tens of thousands are sent out into the night with early thrash classics Whiplash and Seek & Destroy.

Yes, the hair is greyer, the tracks are familiar and faith in any new material has been shaken by 2003’s disappointing St Anger, but the new, cleaner and more mature Metallica are clearly enjoying playing live more than ever, and, as proven tonight, they still have the potential to be the most exciting live metal act you’ll ever be lucky enough to see.

Pikchu.com – snap, select, send!

Want to win an iPod Shuffle or a PS3? Then this is the site for you.

PikChu.com is a photo gallery for the pictures you’ve taken on your mobile phone. You take a shot and you simply send it to the site straight from your phone.

The big draw with Pikchu.com is that the picture with the most votes wins a prize. Having trialled Pikchu.com, it’s an easy and accessible site to use, and explains everything in a clear and friendly manner.

There are four galleries on Pikchu, covering most of the bases, so there is something for everyone; cute animals, awesome cars, things that can only be described as ‘yuckie’, random stuff in the street… anything – and if it gets enough votes, it can win you some top swag.

Throughout July pikchu.com is giving away iPod Shuffles for the weekly competition and a PS3 in the monthly prize draw. Next month, however, is arguably even better. August sees a Nintendo DS being given away each week while the monthly prize is an Xbox 360 with a copy of Forza Motorsport 2 and a driving accessories pack – pretty sweet huh?

Getting a picture on PikChu only costs whatever your network charges you for sending an MMS – and they won’t sting you by signing you up to anything or sending you unwanted texts.

Pikchu.com is a great site with great prizes but it deserves a larger audience, and with more hits and more pictures it can only get better.

Snap, select, send – it’s that simple.

Now, I’d better start by making an admission. I’m not a great gameplayer. I mean, I play games a lot, I’m just not great at them. Any setting higher than ‘child’s play’ and I’m struggling.

However, even for someone as inept as me, Shrek the Third was relatively easy to get to grips with. There’s a pretty straightforward opening sequence that helps you get to grips with the controls and then you’re on your way, with Donkey appearing occasionally to offer words of encouragement.

Initially, the game play consists of slapping people until they fall down, at which point they emit a kind of fairy dust. As you collect this fairy dust, you’ll see the power gauge in the top left corner of the screen fill up. Once it’s full you can use it to boost your, err, slapping power.

As the game progresses you find that you’ll swap characters, sometimes playing as Puss in Boots. Why he sounds like a horse trotting through the game I don’t know. He uses his sword to knock his foes over – no bloody sword fights here – and then, again, he collects the fairy dust to boost his power but, this time when he uses it, his enemies are blinded by love, temporarily at least.

The major flaw with this game is the way the camera sweeps through each scene. Instead of a fixed point behind each character, it changes viewpoint so often and so quickly, that it can make accurate control very tricky. On occasion, you can be jumping in one direction, then the camera sweeps through 180 degrees and, unfortunately, so does the direction you’re jumping in. Perhaps the creators thought it would look cinematic.

Another gripe is the way the characters, and that’s every single one of them, insist on swaying from side to side while they wait for your next move. It even goes on in the cut scenes. Is the whole cast of this game pissed?

And why does the game – which is an animated – look so poor when compared to the source material – which is also animated? It’s understandable when Superman is not being the spit of Brandon Routh in the game of the film, but is there really any excuse in a computer-generated game of a computer-generated film? Sadly, there’s no real humour in the game either – just playing as the characters from the film isn’t funny!

If, like me, you don’t fancy taking on anything too challenging, then you might (it’s a big might) enjoy this. It’s not totally unpleasant, and certainly younger children could have some fun with it. However these days, I expect my games to look, and go, much better than this offering.

Shrek the Third is available on the 360, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS and PC.

“Is Walls there?”

“Sorry?”

“Is Walls there?”

“No.”

“You’d better get out of the house then – your ceiling’s going to fall down.”

Most people with a sense of humour have prank called someone in the past. The exchange above is a personal favourite from years gone by, but it has been well and truly trounced by the wind-up calls dished out on Fonejacker, which aired for the first time last night on E4.

Fonejacker is a show built entirely from recordings of real prank calls, all performed by the same actor. If you have ever prank called a friend, you’ll know that it’s often difficult to hoodwink them for long, as they invariably pick your voice out from the fake one you’re trying to do. However, the Fonejacker is unlikely ever to have had that problem as he’s capable of a wide variety of convincing voices for his array of characters.

On its debut show, Fonejacker featured such characters as a mouse, who calls a pet shop to ask about ways of disposing of the family cat, George Adgdgdwngo, an African scamster hell-bent on getting your bank details, and Terry Tibbs, a diamond geezer with the gift of the gab. Terry wants your motor, and he wants it on the cheap. E4 viewers got a sneak preview of Terry when he called into Big Brother’s Little Brother shortly before Fonejacker started, harassing ex-housemate Jonathan on his dramatic eyebrows.

Each prank call is accompanied visually by a mix of cartoons, a hilarious way of flashing images up to give different meaning to random words, and video recordings taken through the window of wherever the Fonejacker is calling. It is these ways of jazzing up the conversations between the Fonejacker and the infuriated/bemused victim that will probably give the show a bit of longevity. It was bloody hilarious, so let’s hope that happens.

Watch a clip of the show here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4_duIXEzKI]

FoneJacker – Thursdays 9pm E4