Pads & Panels

#4 L.A. Noire (PS3, 360, PC)

Publisher: Rockstar Games – Developer: Team Bondi, Rockstar Leeds

Our Review

Every year, Pads & Panels list of top games is dominated not only by quality titles but also by a special few that try their damndest to reinvent what we can expect from mainstream games. It’s no surprise that Rockstar Games has found itself perennially among those special few. This year’s offering from the publisher is L.A. Noire. In addition to a ridiculously detailed recreation of 1940s Los Angeles and a plot worthy of its name, L.A. Noire works to reinvent what we can expect from gaming by pioneering facial technology that allowed its creators to add in-depth, emotional interrogations to what might have otherwise been a simple third-person action title. The DLC support for the title cannot be ignored, but even without it, L.A. Noire would stand out as one of the year’s absolute best. (more…)

Product: Bioplastic Phone Cover

Company: Bioserie

MSRP: $34.95

Review by: Sarah Kumley

Getting an expensive mobile device often leads to another purchase: protection for it. Often covers, screen films and carrying cases are bought to protect iPods, iPads and iPhones. Getting tired of one cover and purchasing a new one often means that the old cover is thrown out and ends up in a landfill. However, with Bioserie’s new Bioplastic Covers, when one is done with the case it is recyclable or compostable. It would also have a much smaller impact on the environment if it did happen to be taken to a landfill.

The covers that Bioserie is producing are the first in the world to be made entirely from plants rather than petrochemicals. Corn grown in the USA is used to create the biopolymer Ingeo, a renewable resource, unlike the oil and natural gases used to make regular plastic covers. Because of this, Bioserie covers contribute less greenhouse gases when they are produced and do not pollute the environment when discarded. Don’t take that to mean that these covers are flimsy or ugly. They are still incredibly lightweight, durable, functional and stylish. They are even washable (with cold water and mild soap) if they get dirty. Bioserie offers a variety of colors and also has printed styles available for the iPhone 4. (more…)

We love games, and we love writing about them here at Pads & Panels. We love it so much that no matter how much we get up on the site here, it’s never enough to quench the thirst of gaming journalism for some. That’s why our latest segment of Pads Around the Internet sees even more great articles published at other sites by our writers. Here’s the best of what’s related to Pads & Panels’ interests.

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