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An 83-year-old Indian holy man who says he has spent seven decades without food or water has astounded a team of military doctors who studied him during a two-week observation period. Skip Prahlad Jani says he was blessed by a goddess, which gave him special powers Enlarge photo

Prahlad Jani spent a fortnight in a hospital in the western India state of Gujarat under constant

surveillance from a team of 30 medics equipped with cameras and closed circuit television.

During the period, he neither ate nor drank and did not go to the toilet.

"We still do not know how he survives," neurologist Sudhir Shah told reporters after the end of the experiment. "It is still a mystery what kind of phenomenon this is."

The long-haired and bearded yogi was sealed in a hospital in the city of Ahmedabad in a study initiated by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the state defence and military research institute.

The DRDO hopes that the findings, set to be released in greater detail in several months, could help soldiers survive without food and drink, assist astronauts or even save the lives of people trapped in natural disasters.

"(Jani's) only contact with any kind of fluid was during gargling and bathing periodically during the period," G. Ilavazahagan, director of India's Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), said in a statement.

Jani has since returned to his village near Ambaji in northern Gujarat where he will resume his routine of yoga and meditation. He says that he was blessed by a goddess at a young age, which gave him special powers.

During the 15-day observation, which ended on Thursday, the doctors took scans of Jani's organs, brain, and blood vessels, as well as doing tests on his heart, lungs and memory capacity.

"The reports were all in the pre-determined safety range through the observation period," Shah told reporters at a press conference last week.

Other results from DNA analysis, molecular biological studies and tests on his hormones, enzymes, energy metabolism and genes will take months to come through.

"If Jani does not derive energy from food and water, he must be doing that from energy sources around him, sunlight being one," said Shah.

"As medical practitioners we cannot shut our eyes to possibilities, to a source of energy other than calories."

Remember this guy? He passed the tests!

Agnates said:

I don't have a save there, I haven't played it much as I've finished it on PC and it's not mine, I tried various MP maps, the level with the ghillie suit and the level you escort the tank in the day after you defend it in the night. It just doesn't happen or is too slight to see. Maybe it will get worse or it's something with these two Capcom games for me to only notice it in RE4 (and not always) and only a few places in Tri as well. Maybe it's a combination of the shity TV and cables and games and whatever, I dunno. Hopefully it doesn't get worse and won't show in more games than these, Tri doesn't have many such caves so far. I didn't notice it in the cave in the first area, only now in the Tundra so I guess something is different with it. I did e-mail Nintendo to see what they'll say so I guess if it's smooth sailing with no charge I'll send it in anyway, otherwise I'll keep it until it hinders enjoyment by being obvious.

I lived with the problem for a couple of years. It manifests itself in varying degrees depending on the game and what's going on in the game. In bright vivid colours it tends not to show up so  much. Any kind of smoke or particle effects, it goes nuts. Red and greed dots peppered all over the screen.

Dvader said:

yeah but that is like buying CoD just for the campaign, why do that.

Hey, that's me!

edgecrusher said:

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on the way from Gamefly!!! This game better impress the hell out of me. Haven't played a Wii game in awhile actually, will be nice to fire it up.

If you have problems with the chase sequences, check the thread for tips.

Dvader said:

What is this shit?!

EA's new Online pass system:

WTF is this shit?

aspro said:

No way.  That's bull.

It's true. From now on I don't eat, drink or poo. I sit there cross legged in the sun and absorb the suns rays. Ahhhhhhhhh.

Oh shit, I live in England. There is no sun!

Dvader, you getting this?

aspro said:

Iwata knows his audience, ""I can't say if there will or will not be surprises. If, for example, I said, 'there will be a surprise,' there wouldn't be any meaning, as everyone would be disappointed because of anticipation being exceedingly high.""

Still a cop out

American newspaper USA Today has gained an exclusive look at a level of this year's Call of Duty: Black Ops, and has confirmed that the game's co-op mode will support four players.

The level, previewed in the paper and on its games blog, is called "WMD" and is set in Russia's Ural mountains in 1968.

Players begin by looking down on the action from an SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, directing a group of four black ops soldiers on the ground to guide them past a convoy of Russian troops. You won't be piloting the plane directly.

Then the action switches to the team on the ground as the four operatives infiltrate a Russian radar station. A scoped crossbow provides a stealthy sniping weapon, but by changing ammo on the fly - a new feature for the Call of Duty series - it's used to accurately place explosives.

Despite these touches, Treyarch's game isn't going to rewrite the series' rulebook. "The firefight that ensues is textbook Call of Duty," says USA Today, chaotic and intense, and cinematic moments include a dramatic rappelling scene and a cliff-hanging close.

Confirmation of four-player co-op comes in USA Today's interview with Treyarch head Mark Lamia. The article, ambiguously, describes this mode as "beyond the single-player story".

The game's story will encompass "at least two main characters in multiple covert international conflicts" over quite a long period of time during the Cold War. "We are not getting into the exact period of time, because it is part of our story that we are going to reveal later, but it does cover a longer period during this era," said Lamia.

Lamia revealed that it has done extensive research into the secret warfare of the period, consulting with a veteran of the innocuous-sounding Studies and Observations Group, a CIA-led black operations unit that fought in the Vietnam War. A former Soviet special forces soldier also contributed to the game. The modified crossbow, and its use to place explosives, is an example of a gameplay element that came directly from their accounts.

"Variety of gameplay. Variety of setting," are Treyarch's watchwords for Black Ops, Lamia said.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is due for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on 9th November.

Gamecentral review of the day

http://www.teletext.co.uk/GameCentral/Features-Reviews/default.aspx

Static page that refreses content daily, read it today or miss it review posted below yada yada:

Lost Planet 2 (PS3)

Lost Planet 2

Review by David Jenkins - The first Lost Planet was Capcom Japan's big attempt at an American style shooter.

Despite touting influences from Halo and other Western shooters - the rather shallow game that resulted was an only half successful compromise between Japanese and Western styles of design.

As Capcom have boasted everything in this sequel is on a larger scale, including those very same problems.

One of the first issues with the original was the awful storytelling, which sad to say has not improved here - with little coherent explanation of who anyone is or what they are doing.

All you really need to know is that the ice planet from the first game is melting and you now hunt giant bugs in a greater variety of locations using an even wider range of robot suits.

Sounds like gaming heaven, eh?

Despite the confusing and poorly paced introductory levels it's hard not to be impressed by the game as it sports some of the most impressive graphics ever.

The new backdrops, from lush jungle to industrial wasteland, look amazing and the size of some bugs is staggering.

There is some slowdown, but a more serious impediment is the clunky controls and canned animation that robs your movement of any sense of fluidity.

The controls are in turn relatively minor problems compared to a series of other truly baffling design decisions.

The first thing to realise is that Capcom clearly doesn't want you to play this alone, but as a four-player Monster Hunter style co-op adventure.

Even if you do go solo, victory or failure depends on a "Battle Gauge" - a number in the thousands that ticks down whenever you (or an ally in co-op) die.

That probably doesn't sound too bad at first but as a consequence there are no save or permanent checkpoints at all.

So just a few late game mistakes can instantly wipe out an hour's work.

This is frustrating enough when you lose because of a human ally but the game features perhaps the most obtuse and downright useless computer-controlled allies ever. That enemies are just as thick is no compensation.

It's also often very unclear what you're actually supposed to be doing in any given mission, which is not helped by an often useless map.

As if this wasn't frustrating enough the game delights in constantly throwing you to the floor, or otherwise immobilising you, and then kicking you when you're down with more attacks.

The inability to use your grappling hook when in midair is frustrating too.

The upshot of all this is that the game becomes essentially unplayable, or at least entirely dependent on luck, not far into the single player mode.

Damningly though it's not actually much more fun with friends, it just takes you longer to realise there's still no real finesse or nuance to the game.

Every battle boils down to a war of attrition between your Battle Gauge and the enemy's colossal health bar.

Ultimately the various competitive multiplayer modes prove more entertaining than the main co-op mode.

None of them are particular unusual in themselves but it's a far more enjoyable way to play around with the otherwise entertaining weaponry.

But considering the potential of the idea and how good the game looks it's shocking how comprehensively Capcom have sabotaged their own efforts.

IN SHORT: It looks amazing but baffling design decisions suck every ounce of fun out of this disappointing sequel.

PROS: Excellent graphics, especially in terms of art and variety. Lots of options and fun competitive play.

CONS: The basic game structure is deeply flawed. Atrocious artificial intelligence and poor mission design.

SCORE: 5/10 Out: Now (UK)

Right, updates done.

Played GTA Episodes of Liberty City last night.

Playing Lost and the Damned. Stupid GTA design. Stooopid!

I rode all the way to this construction site, blasted all the bad guys. Then it said get back to your bike. I jumped on the nearest bike to drive back to my gang bike. As soon as I got there the rest of my crew took off like a rocket exploded in their asses, so I had to follow them immediately using the bike I was already on.

2 minutes later a message flashed on screen "you abandoned your bike" then a cutscene where I got a ride on Billys bike back to headquarters. So okay, I thought, they might dock me some cash or tell me not to do in the future. So I go to the next mission and it's the same mission

And I have to repeat the whole thing, because R* made the AI ride off as soon as I was in the general vicinity of my bike.

So I started Gay Tony instead. Only done like 2 missions but already it's more fun than both GTA4 and LATD.

Foolz said:

gamingeek said:

Remember this guy? He passed the tests!

2 weeks? People can surive that long without sustanence.

Test failure.

People can't survive 2 weeks without water.

Anyhow, 1 minute 30 into this video is a Prince of Persia Wii feature.

gamingeek said:

People can't survive 2 weeks without water.

Anyhow, 1 minute 30 into this video is a Prince of Persia Wii feature.

I've seen 12 days mentioned. Close enough. There's really not much proper information on this sort of thing for obvious reasons.

Foolz said:

gamingeek said:

People can't survive 2 weeks without water.

Anyhow, 1 minute 30 into this video is a Prince of Persia Wii feature.

I've seen 12 days mentioned. Close enough. There's really not much proper information on this sort of thing for obvious reasons.

I just saw that you can only survive 6 days without water.

Agnates said:

Well I'm gonna send my Wii to Nintendo, idk if they will charge me or not yet, I'm sending it for them to look at it and see if that's the problem or what for now. In the e-mail they already said it sounds like the GPU issue and that they'll likely replace the whole Wii. They said I'll need to back up my saves as they won't transfer them but that I won't lose my WiiWare/VC game licenses. So, homebrew is a godsent cos MHTri save files (among multiple other games, mostly those with online functions to avoid cheating via save editing) cannot be copied normally so I'd lose all my progress, but thanks to the save manager I backed it all up! Now I'm uninstalling all the homebrew just in case and will stick it in a box and send it off sometime this week. I already miss MHTri, I just beat the Gigginox

Also, in the letter I'm including I'm asking if it's possible to replace it with a black Wii since their value is the same anyway, if it comes down to a replacement. I hope they'll say yes

They transferred all my saves on a replacement console but I had to re-download all the VC and Wii ware stuff.