Tec-Knowledgy: where technology and knowledge duke it out cagematch style

Bug Status: Closed

2009-06-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

Reasonable enough assessment..

From XKCD.. http://xkcd.com/583/

Xbox 360 "Black Screen, No Video, No Sound" Problem

2009-02-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I think my Xbox 360 has died again. Far as I can tell, this is the exact same problem I encountered in December. I was playing a game and out of nowhere, the graphics got all weird and discolored, with phantom red and green shades of color added to everything (like when you change Windows to display in only 16 colors, but worse). For a few days, it would go through this routine and I could play for an half an hour or so before the graphics would go haywire again (on the dashboard, in-game, the works), like a precursor to the unfortunate events to come. Eventually the system failed to work at all, turning on and making the familiar hardware boot-up noises and spinning green controller lights, but showing only a black screen and offering no sound output at all.

I did some research online and found that this is some kind of new hardware problem, similar in nature to the infamous "Red Rings of Death" (RRoD), or "3 Red Rings" problem. Apparently the system gets so hot that over time the motherboard can bend and warp. This can cause the X-Clamps (pictured above) that hold the heat sinks in place to flex, popping off the soldering points and jeopardizing the CPU and GPU. I don't how this is different from the previous RRoD errors. Maybe the repairs Microsoft made have caused the system to be vulnerable to this new problem. Maybe they changed the way the hardware handles the RRoD error to some new symptom, saving them the costs of repairing the many overworked systems that still fall under the extended 3-year warranty.

Conspiracy theories aside, the hard simple facts are this.. My system was repaired once in the summer of 2007, after only 5 months of ownership. The system Microsoft returned to me was a refurbished 360 (not my original console), and it seemed to work for another 18 months or so, before giving up the ghost again. This new error I received was not the same RRoD-related problem, and so my now out-of-warranty system would take $140 for an official repair from Microsoft. Instead, I decided to get my system repaired at my local Play N Trade for much cheaper, and it worked fine for 2 months before succumbing to the same sorry fate once more. I am fed up with paying any more for repairs on a game system I enjoy using, but loathe servicing.

I have decided to roll up my sleeves and take the plunge into repairing the system myself using this free tutorial or others like it on the site. Since I've already had it repaired once and have probably already voided my warranty because of that, I feel like it's either this or buying a brand new system (cheapest model, 360 Arcade, costs $200), so I figure it's worth a shot. Wish me luck! I'll post more details as the situation unfolds.

Organizing the SocNet Mess

2009-02-06T01:40:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, you have a pension for joining your fair share of social networks, but have trouble keeping track of it all. Take twitter for example. It's a great way to trade status updates with your friends and maybe even a web celebrity or two, but once you start adding more than a handful of people the feeds can get downright noisy. And if you have a particularly active friend (I'm not pointing out any names here) locating a particular post can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. So what on Earth can we do to stop this mess of social madness How about a feature that's just about as old as email

Folders, Lists, Labels, or whatever you want to call it. It's really very simple. Just like in your Inbox, your default view displays a global listing of all the updates you choose to follow. For Facebook it would be everyone on your friends list. For YouTube, it would be every channel you subscribe to. Then, you could create your own lists or rules containing whatever specific subsets you would like to track individually. For example, you could add your closest friends to one list and call it BFFs. Label another one Podcast Updates. Another one could be Online Deals. Then you could check whichever update feed you had the urge to inspect, prioritizing certain ones over others, just as one would do while perusing a well-organized email account. Unread counters, content search capabilities, the whole nine yards.

Organizing things might just make sifting through the online social jungle a less daunting. And less time monitoring your online social life means more time for a real social life. Or possibly more online social interaction for some.. Well, whatever makes you happy!

Far Cry 2 Dizziness and Burnout Paradise Love

2009-02-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

So, after hearing everyone praise it so much, I decided to throw Far Cry 2 into the Gamefly queue. Never have I had a game give me dizziness this bad since hovercraft races in Diddy Kong Racing on the N64. Modern games have been pretty good about making 3D motion feel more natural and less fluid, adding momentum and weight to your movement and head turning. I dunno what it is about this game though. Occasionally a game will make me dizzy, but this game literally made me nauseous.

It's a shame. I really admired its cool game concept and new take on the series. Open-world FPS game set in Africa, with optional side quests, lots of vehicles, AI buddies to save and bail you out, and alternate ways to solve each mission. I just don't know if I can play this game w/o reaching for some Dramamine.

Guess that just gives me more time to enjoy Burnout Paradise then. Criterion is supposed to release a pretty big patch tonight, but as of this writing there are some problems. Apart from Blizzard, Bungie or Valve, I've never seen a dev support a game this much, post-launch. They totally redid the driving model, overhauled the graphics, introduced bikes, added a DLC party mode, and are even giving people what they've been bitching for.. event restart. It might not be the most lucrative way to churn out the profits, but that kind of support builds customer loyalty that tends to garner a fan following. Kudos to any developers who takes a similar stance.

That Thing Creeps Me Out

2008-10-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

So Thao recently bought a red wig for her Halloween costume this year. I won't say exactly what she's gonna be dressing up as, but she did braid the hair into two separate pig tails that hang neatly off the sides. Since Halloween isn't for a week or so, she had set the hair prop hanging on a cabinet handle near the bathroom. Later that night, as I made my way toward the bathroom to empty the tank, I nearly jumped backward in horror at the sight of something I'd never thought I could be afraid of. Now, keep in mind, the hallway was dimly lit and I didn't know it would be there, but yeah, I was a bit unnerved at the time.

Funny thing is, even now, as I pass by the thing, it's still a little creepy, and for some reason I can't help but think, "Kill it, kill it, kill it". I don't know what it is. Maybe it's that the short strands of braided hair that almost appear to form a pair of furry legs or claws. Maybe it's some weird undiscovered fear of small, furry, mutant animals that I've repressed until now. Maybe it's just the idea of a disembodied head of hair. Or perhaps, it's that when viewed from the proper angle, with your eyes squinted just right, it has the look of a headcrab. You know those super-annoying staples of the Half-Life series that lunge at your head at every opportunity? In any case, Halloween will be over before I know it. That pillow wearing the Lambda Team scientist uniform will hopefully buy me some time and distract it until then.

Music in Games

2008-10-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

So yeah, haven't been posting much on this blog anymore.. since I've been busy w/ another site. Not gonna make any more promises though. The posts will just come when they come.

Anyway, I've been playing a lot of Rock Band 2 recently and have enjoyed it pretty well, as you can see here. Something's been nagging me though. Namely, that some people have a problem with others liking music due to it being in a game. Even if they really only get into that one song and don't dig much deeper into that band's discography, the fact that someone was exposed to some new music they wouldn't ordinarily listen to is really all that matters. Naturally, you develop a sort of positive association with a game's music, much like you would with the composed pieces from a Final Fantasy game or from any orchestrally scored movie. Regardless, the fact remains that you did open up your palette just a bit to something new. Who cares where that motivation came from?

The way I see it, it should make no difference whether you hear about a song from a friend, uncover it on the iTunes music store, find it on some Pandora playlist, listen to it on some classic rock radio station, discover it in your dad's old collection of vinyl albums, catch it playing in some movie's soundtrack, or play it in a video game. After all, music is about discovery. It's an art form that can be easily shared with others in many ways. The more mediums, the greater reach it has. And since the recent Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game has made them more money than any album of theirs ever has, you should probably get used to it.

New Directions

2008-09-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I last published anything remotely resembling a post, but I'd like to begin anew. Recently, I began work on a joint-venture, with my friend Van, on a new gaming-centric blog, http://www.sleepygamer.com .. plug, plug. I've also spent more time using social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to share smaller tidbits, which has, it seems, made me a lazy blogger. With the new focus away from gaming life, I'll try to post a bit more regularly, with perhaps more emphasis on personal thoughts and experiences. So, hello again world! So much to do and so little time to do it in..

Splintering The Market

2008-07-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

The current console generation has been defined in numerous ways: next-gen gameplay, motion control, high definition graphics, and online gaming. These new aspects are all inherently good for the industry. However, there's one trend gaining in popularity this generation that could potentially hurt gaming.. The ever increasingly, common practice to introduce new hardware accessories and peripherals.

Granted, this is nothing new to gaming. From the early days, Nintendo has been pushing out crazy new peripherals to augment players' gaming experiences. From the NES Zapper, to R.O.B. the Robot, to the Super Scope 6, and even the Donkey Konga drums. Most of these hardware add-ons were designed to be used by only a handful of games, much like the Guitar Hero and Rock Band instruments are today. You had no reason to expect that you'd be using the Power Pad to play the next version of Super Mario Bros or embark on the next Zelda adventure. But more and more, the trend is moving toward incremental improvements to the hardware via "optional" accessories that detrimentally fragment the market.

Let's start out with Microsoft. They were the first to reach market with Xbox360, but this also forced them to compete with much cheaper consoles: PS2 and Gamecube. Their decision to release two main hardware configurations--one with a hard drive (HDD) and one without--allowed them to debut at a much lower price point. Unfortunately, this resulted in a splintering of their hardware options from day one. Game developers would not be able to utilize the HDD to optimizing the game experience, whether it be speeding up load times or using much larger textures. This remains a problem to this day, especially with multi-platform titles that are allowed to use the PS3 HDD, yet Microsoft still won't allow developers to touch 360 HDD for fear that "Arcade" SKU owners won't be able to play. In addition, it's a very confusing message to send to consumers when you tout your superior online service, which also requires the 360HDD.

Sony was smart enough to include a HDD in every PS3, but their foul up was in not including the Dualshock 3 in the box from day one. This is mainly because Sony decided to fight the Immersion lawsuit, which involved a patent violation for the use of existing rumble technology in their controllers. Microsoft decided to settle out of court, but Sony was adamant they would win. Long story short, they went ahead and released their new Sixaxis controller with the PS3, which included motion control, but sans any rumble capability. Less than a year later, the legal problems were over and rumble was back in the newly labeled Dualshock 3. In a move akin to Apple's 3G-less iPhone launch, they had revised their hardware with a major new addition shortly after their initial launch, and consumers had to pay for it. Not that any game really requires rumble-enable controllers, but the fact that no game designer can incorporate that as part of their essential game design is a little limiting, to say the least.

Nintendo seems to introduce the most hardware peripherals out of anyone, but most are closer to the gameplay augmenting NES peripherals, rather than outright necessities. They add optional gameplay experiences or are designed solely for only a handful of games; with some examples being: The Wii Zapper, the Mario Kart Wheel, and the Wii Fit balance board. But with the recent announcement of the Wii MotionPlus add-on, which offers true 1:1 motion control, I can't see this doing anything other than splinter the market. Unlike the other accessories mentioned above, it's not something that can be used for specific game experiences. It redefines the way motion control works for the default wiimote controller. From the consumer perspective, will we be forced to buy 4 of these new devices, one for each wiimote? And from the developer perspective, do you decide to base your game around this new technology, shrinking the potential market of people who can buy and play your game?

The problem with fragmenting the hardware market for your console is that you never can truly utilize these new devices, since you can't guarantee that everyone that owns that system has them. It then becomes more of an optional gameplay element, rather than a something that adds to the core experience. The way I see it, you should never introduce a fundamental hardware accessory after your product has already gone to market. Software upgrades are fine, since they are free and easy to push out to customers. But I guess we live in an age where we always want the best product all the time, so I submit to you the lesser of two evils. If you're going to "upgrade" hardware for a console, make sure that every new version of the hardware has these improvements going forward, and make sure there's a cheap and affordable way for existing owners to "upgrade" as well. The nature of technology is such that it is always changing, but if you are building a platform that software can run on, make sure you don't end up screwing over your existing user base.

I Suck At Metal Gear

2008-06-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

Every time I sit down to play a Metal Gear Solid game, I initially attempt to play the game the way I envisioned I should play it. Using every article of stealth you have at your disposal. Hiding amongst the shadows, sneaking up on soldiers and performing ninja-like take downs. It works out alright during the first few encounters, but I inevitably get caught. The music becomes heightened, a rather imposing timer appears at the top of the screen and suddenly I've got two left thumbs and can't perform even the most basic movements of evasion because I'm knee-deep in guards who are shooting my ass full of lead. The screen fades to static as Snake's life flashes before his eyes and I start again, careful to note where my last attempt went all to hell. This time, I knowingly avoid the guard I couldn't see coming around the corner, I crawl past him while he's not looking, only to come face to face with a buddy of his and the whole affair begins again. I manage to hide in a dark area of the next room, and I'm forced to wait in silence for, no joke, a matter of minutes before the guards return to their more casual search patterns.

Eventually this gets old, real fast, and I decide "screw this," I'm gonna play this how I damn well feel. For better or worse, that basically amounts to gameplay straight out of the "Call of Duty" series. Soon, I'm running and gunning just like all the other infinitely respawning cloned soldiers I'm fighting alongside. We take cover when necessary, charge forward, guns blazing like the canon fodder that we are.. but it's a bit unsatisfying, given the game that I'm playing. I'm Solid-fucking-Snake, for crying out loud, not just another PMC soldier out there on the battlefield for his next paycheck. I'm a damn hero. The local militia I'm helping out should lift up their guns and cheer my name every time I make an appearance like I'm Master Chief or Gordon Freeman or something. But no, not if I keep dying over and over again like I do. Those nanomachines can really only do so much, you know.

I suppose I could start all over on a lower difficulty (I stubbornly choose the default North American difficulty, Solid Normal, which happens to be the third of 5). But seriously, I'd sooner play this game wearing a pink leotard than chew up my pride and do that. No, I'll get through somehow, even if I have to rocket launch every last bad guy into orbit. Cuz even though I've never really finished any of the previous games, I'm still enjoying the interactive manga aspect of it. The distopian, yet unique perspective of the war of the future. The little bits of comedy and fourth-wall breakage that really surprise you. Obviously, this is an extremely polished title that the Kojima dev team has produced.

This whole experience has got me wondering though.. Does a reviewer have to be "good" at a game in order to objectively rate it properly? And what's the point in having a wide spectrum of difficulty settings if I'm so reluctant to acknowledge them. Something to think about I guess.

Know the Signs

2008-06-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Classic 1Up Yours podcast discussion about.. well, you know..

John Davidson: Have you ever turned down sex in order to play a videogame?
Shane Bettenhausen: No
Garnett Lee: Negative.
John: Bryan?
Shane: Bryan?
Garnett: Ohhh! ohhh! Confirmed!
Shane: Bryan? What were you...... your fiance would not be pleased.

Bryan Intihar : I didn't know she wanted to have sex, alright?

-----------------

Bryan: And the next morning she was like... you know.. I wanted to you know, do it. And I was like... *sighs*
Shane: I wanted to beat Ganon..

April NPD Tea Leaves

2008-05-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Every month, we get detailed analysis of the sales figures provided by the NPD Group for the video game industry from just about everyone on the internet. Well, this month I thought I'd join in on the discussion with my very own armchair analysis based on silly numbers and my own experience as a gamer and consumer. So here goes..

The Raw Data (taken from Joystiq)

- Wii: 714.2K (previously 721K)
- DS: 414.8K (previously 698K)
- PSP: 192.7K (previously 297K)
- 360: 188K (previously 262K)
- PS3: 187.1K (previously 257K)
- PS2: 124.4K (previously 216K)

The Hardware

Nintendo has demonstrated month after month the unstoppable power of the Wii, and April was no different. Selling an impressive 714K (in a non-holiday month, no less), the Nintendo Wii was way out in front of its current-gen counterparts, Microsoft's Xbox 360 (188K) and Sony's PS3 (187K). To put that into perspective, for every Wii sold last month, there was one Xbox 360 or PS3 sold. While the high-def consoles only had GTA IV to count on for pushing hardware sales, Nintendo had the wave of both Super Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart Wii to ride through the past month or so. Also, the people buying Wiis are doing so in a much more viral way than the other consoles, with friends and loved ones being the main stimulus for families and couples to buy. Perhaps all these people going to parties and seeing Smash Bros and Mario Kart are keeping the momentum going for Nintendo. I also feel like "price" is a huge factor in the continuing overall month-to-month sales. The hardware sales chart shows that the top 3 selling systems are all under $250. And since every platform now has enough decent games to warrant a purchase, it really comes down to that affordability, and for the mass market the line has been drawn fairly clearly.

Finally, for the second month in a row, the Xbox 360 has maintained the hardware lead over the PS3, albeit by an almost imperceptible margin. These two consoles will continue to duke it out, but I can't see either one really making too significant an impact over the other during the rest of 2008. GTA IV and upcoming games Metal Gear Solid 4 may offer a slight edge to the PS3, but just like Halo 3 did last year, it will generate a very gradual adoption rate. We already know a great deal about Sony and Microsoft's 2008 lineup, and I doubt there will be anything truly Earth-shattering announced at E3 his July. Nintendo has been relatively quite about its upcoming titles, but with hardware sales like April, does it really have to?

April Software Numbers

1. GTA IV – Xbox 360 – 1.85 million*
2. Mario Kart Wii – Wii – 1.12 million
3. GTA IV – PS3 – 1.00 million*
4. Wii Play w/ remote – Wii – 360K
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Wii – 326K
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue – PS3 – 224K
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness – DS – 202K
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time – DS – 202K
9. Guitar Hero III – Wii – 152K
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Xbox 360 – 141K*
* includes bundles, collector's editions, GOTY editions

The Software

I know it's getting a little redundant, but GTA IV has easily claimed the top spot in April software sales, with the XBox 360 version alone beating out Mario Kart Wii. With a combined cross-platform release of 2.85 million units in the first few days, it's obvious why it broke so many entertainment sales records. Mario Kart also debuted the same week (2 days earlier) with a respectable 1.12 million units sold. No offense Mario, but nothing (not even Master Chief) can stand up to Rockstar and company's marquee title. Hard to believe that GTA IV almost outsold Nintendo's mascot racer on 2 separate platforms this month (especially when you compare the install bases of the PS3 and Wii). Chalk some of that up to there still simply being a lower amount of compelling titles on the PS3.

Other things to note.. Super Smash Bros Brawl continues to sell well (going on month 3 now) coming in at #5. It seems Wii Play is like the software pack-in that won't ever go away. I doubt that controller pack will ever disappear from the software charts, since everyone needs an extra wii-remote.. but should we really consider it a software title? I could see Nintendo transplanting the Wii Play game with another similar mini-game collection title to continue to sell those $40 controller bundles. Two more Pokemon Mystery crap DS games also show up, which just goes to show how powerful the Pokemon brand remains. The $40 Gran Turismo demo (*ahem* I mean Gran Turismo 5 Prologue) shows up at #6, though I'm not sure if that also counts the digital download version as well as retail copies. Rounding out the list are Top 10 mainstays, Call of Duty 4 on 360 and Guitar Hero III on Wii.

Not much else to say except a heck of a lot of people bought GTA IV and Mario Kart Wii. I noticed Microsoft touted their incredibly high attach rate (games sold to consoles sold ratio), but they always do that each month. I guess it's not much different than NBC shouting about how great their numbers are in the much sought after 18-35 demographic for The Office. You might say that this data is even more valuable to publishers than claiming overall sales figures, because at the end of the day, it's really the highly targeted audience that matters. Just like knowing exactly who watches your shows can help advertisers get more for their ad dollars, so too can making games you know will sell well on certain platforms. Like for example, I'm sure the karaoke American Idol game sells much better on the Wii than the 360, which is exactly the right platform for that crap anyway.

So, What Did We Learn?

End of story, Rockstar and Take-Two win, Nintendo definitely wins. But as for who will triumph in claiming second place in the console race, Microsoft or Sony.. you're going to have to look beyond the NPD tea leaves for that particular bit of wisdom. Maybe wait for what Michael Patcher has to say on the matter. He always has an interesting comment for times like these. The main takeaway comes from a Kotaku post: "Total software sales reached $654.7 million for April '08. That's a 68% boost over the previous year." On the whole, the industry is doing very well regardless of the state of our economy at the moment. As always, it's a great time to be a gamer!

Mario Kart Wii

2008-05-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Played one, you've played 'em all

If you count both the handheld versions, then Mario Kart Wii is the sixth entry in the Mario Kart series, and I've played and enjoyed every one of them. This latest entry is no exception, but I must stress the fact that, just like Super Smash Bros Brawl, this game was meant to be played with a group of friends.

Not a lot has "evolved" this time around. All of the classic weapons are still there (annoying blue shell included). The rubber band AI is back in full swing and seems to have reached new levels of elasticity, with first-to-last and last-to-first shenanigans being the rule, not the exception. This time, the newest gameplay additions are the inclusion of bikes (that can usually corner better and have the unique ability to pull up a wheelie for slight speed boosts on straightaways) and the tricks system (where a quick flick of the wiimote during a jump adds bit of nitro upon landing).

A few things have been actually removed from the last few iterations. The move from Double Dash to Mario Kart DS took away two-characters per kart, so keeping an extra item to block incoming red shells requires an extra button hold. Also, the special character-specific unique items are gone as well. Drafting, which was introduced in the DS version makes a comeback, but noticeable gone is the traditional powerslide mechanic. You can still drift around corners, but the sparks will form automatically over time, preventing anyone from performing the infamous snaking-technique down straightaways.

The Control Schemes

Just like Super Smash Bros Brawl, this game comes with 4 different controller options, and here they are in order from best to worst:

#1 - Wiimote + Nunchuk. You press A to step on the gas, B to initiate a powerslide, Z (nunchick) to use items, the analog stick (nunchuk) to steer, and shake the wiimote to pull off tricks in the air. This control scheme gives you the ability to do everything along with the tactile feedback of traditional analog stick control. Hands down, the only way to play.

#2 /#3 - Gamecube controller/Wii Classic Controller. Both these are more or less the same as the wiimote + nunchuk combo mentioned above. The only difference is that performing tricks are activated by pressing any direction on the d-pad. The problem here is that on both these controllers, the d-pad and analog stick are used by the same finger, your left thumb, making it impossible to steer while pulling off stunts. Major oversight by the design team, in my opinion.

#4 - Wiimote + Wii Wheel (aka the Motion Wheel). Apparently, this is the recommended control method by Nintendo, since all copies of the game include the plastic shell in the box. I for one hate this control method. It makes driving equally bad for everyone, which might have been Nintendo's intention.. To set everyone on the same learning curve, no matter if you've always been a fan of the series or are starting out for the first time. And to anyone who buys additional Wii Wheel plastic shells ($9.99 each), I hope you throw your wheel into your TV screen.

Changes Needed

So it's probably too late for Nintendo to make any changes to Mario Kart Wii, but perhaps the next title can incorporate some of the following concerns I have..

- Make every power-up attack avoidable or addressable in some way. Just like you can hold a turtle shell behind you to block incoming homing red shells, why can't you block every attack somehow, at the cost of maybe an item or speed decrease. The POW Block evasion is a good example of this. When you see the POW block counting down, you can time it just right to minimize your damage by pulling off a stunt at the right moment. What if you had a Smash Bros-like block button, that would allow you to put up your shields in Mario Kart?

- Give a brief few seconds of invulnerability when you are damaged. In some ways I can tolerate the cheap attacks launched upon those at the front of the pack. The thing I can't stand are when you are continuously ass-raped for 10 seconds, by a blue shell, then a lightning bolt, then a couple red shells and then a guy running you over with a star, especially when it happens during the last leg of a race. How about giving the player immunity from damage for a few seconds after an initial attack, at least until you can build up a bit of speed to actually avoid the subsequent attacks. I could see the danger of this being used for shortcut exploits, but I'm only talking about item attacks here. You'd still be slow down when off-road and still be susceptible to falling off ledges into fiery pits.

- Group online matches by skill levels. Great Nintendo.. You actually made an online game that works (sorry, Smash Bros didn't), that has online leader boards, friend list comparison, and a decent party system. How about making it so my skill ranking doesn't fluctuate by hundreds of points each match? I understand that the system takes into account if you win over a player with a higher skill or lose to a person with a lower skill. That makes sense. But since in this game, you can go from first to last in all of five seconds, and vice versa all due to a single, well-executed item, I'd be happy if I could at least be grouped more frequently with players of a similar skill rating. This might actually be irrelevant because this game can, at times, become so random that skill and the item roulette are one and the same.

- More online options. The dev team did a great job in adding several customization options for offline multiplayer (tweaking the available powerups, adding AI opponents, etc), but these features are sorely lacking in online play. A custom-game mode would have been a nice addition to the online component here, so friends from all over could enjoy a varying selection of match-types, maybe turn off some of the more brutal items.

Just like Super Smash Bros Brawl, Wii Sports, and other Nintendo offline-multiplayer games, Mario Kart Wii makes for a great party game when friends come over, but that's probably the only time I'll ever decide to play it.

Jott

2008-05-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

I just signed up for a Jott Account (jott.com) and I thought I'd briefly explain the what, how and why of it all. It's basically a speech-to-text web service linked to your cell phone. You record voice messages and they are automatically sent to your inbox as plain text messages. These can be great for leaving yourself friendly reminders or acting as a virtual tape recorder for those moments when an idea strikes and you're without pen and paper. The really interesting stuff comes when you start linking your other web services to this, like your Twitter account, your blog, or even your personal Google Calendar. So having a Jott account and a cell phone handy means you can post updates to almost anywhere while you're on the go, as easily as leaving a voicemail message.

I'm sure there are other more creative ways to use the service, but for right now, I'm just testing the waters and feeling the service out. I've already made a few Google Calendar events from the convenience of my own phone and they worked more or less. Most of the menus are accessed via various voice commands from the 1-866-JOTT-123 phone number. It does require a bit of online setup though, so you can't just sign up for an account and jump right in. After you link your cell number to your account, you also need to link any other web services you'd like to use as well. You can also create lists (think del.icio.us tags or gmail labels) and add contacts (up to 5 max) for organizing your "where" you will send the message. The first thing you're asked when you call the Jott number is who you'd like to send to.. Me? Grocery List? Reminder? Steve? Twitter? Easy enough, but remember that each of these keywords must be set up on your computer prior to you ever using them.

Sometimes after recording a message, you will have the opportunity to re-record your message or cancel it completely. Although I'm not sure why it doesn't give you this option every time, so far I've found it to come up for Google Calendar posts, but not when I'm simply sending something to myself. This can be kind of annoying if you're like me and have grown heavily reliant on the re-record button for voicemail menus. Also noticeably absent is the ability to listen to what you just recorded before posting a message. I'd actually prefer a "Microsoft Sam" type program to read back what I just said to me, but even replaying the original recording would be a nice option. I should note that the service is still in beta, so maybe these are things that are still being developed.

As for the quality of the speech-to-text itself, I've found it to be fairly reliable for the half dozen or so times I've used it. I don't know if I'd use it to post an entire blog entry (sans any post editing), but for simple notes and updates it seems to be adequate. I am a bit surprised that there isn't any way for you to fine tune the speech-to-text interpreter to your own voice. I remember using the built-in Windows application in the past and I had to spend a good 10 minutes reading to my computer like a father reading a bedtime story to his kids. It'd be nice if services like these at learn from your personal use as well (can you please make predictive typing learn my last name?), but perhaps that technology is not here quite yet. So far it's a very neat tool. We'll see if I come to rely on it more in the future.

The web operates a bit like a free market, in that if something is useful, people will use it. Simple as that.

Why I Don't Spend More Time On Facebook

2008-04-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

I've been sort of neglecting my Facebook account lately. Sure, I'll add the occasional friend here and there, but as far as actively doing stuff, updating things, interacting with people, I've been on sort of a hiatus period. Which is really unfortunate, because when I first signed up (way back in Oct), I was genuinely excited about being able to add custom applications to my profile and share them with others. Apps like Scrabulous and Super Poke, which allowed me to casually interact with my friends at my own leisure. But as the site began to hit critical mass (amongst my friends), and I started to see more and more requests coming my way, I guess I sort of lost interest. That fresh new feeling wore off and it stopped seeming less like leisure and a little more like work.

Well, it's been almost six months since I joined Facebook (a little over a year since it was officially opened up to everyone), and that time has given me the insight I needed to understand exactly why I left Facebook, and every other SocNet before it..

Give me something meaningful to do. Every website needs something to draw the user in. For most sites, the web traffic is usually driven by page views to various bits of content, be it news, articles, videos, interactive forums, or the like. With social networks, it's a slightly different can of worms. Usually the main draw is in either joining existing friends or making new ones. And the content that continues to bring you to the site is largely user generated from your inner-circle of acquaintances . But apart from spending virtual time with friends, there's not much more you can do that you couldn't do with a good email and IM client. What about combining the draw of content from blogs and other sites into the mix? The closest thing I can think of is Google's RSS Reader. You can funnel all your daily web content into one place and still share interesting stories with all your friends. But what if you could also leave comments on those stories so your only your friends could see? This would certainly help me stay connected and still get my daily RSS fix.

Make adding custom apps effortless. I really admire being able to add my own Facebook apps, share them with friends, etc., but I really hate having to "install" them. It's the web, the whole point of having an online web app is to not be bothered by some invasive installation process. I know, it only takes a few clicks, but why force me to add something to my profile before I've even tried it out yet? The internet is all about instant access, previewing things beforehand, and the freedom to view short snips before reading the lengthy text. Why not give me the option of checking whatever it is my friend sent me on some sub-domain page first, then I can decide if I want to clutter my personal profile page later.

Give me more ways to post content. Just like Reason #1 up there, I don't always want to be bothered with logging in all the time. Sometimes I've on the go and am not near a computer. Sometimes I'm busy and simply don't have time. And sometimes I'm just lazy, or all of the above.. So give me options here. Let me change my status message via text message, email or even link my Twitter account. Allow me to check on my updates and possibly my friend's updates in email, an RSS feed, heck even simple text messages, but give me lots of options for exactly how much or how little I want to know. Maybe even allow me to setup automated scripts that check other web sources I contribute to, like maybe posting that I've updated my blog, beat a crazy song in Rock Band, posted a new YouTube video, or shared new pictures to my Flickr account. The main thing here is that I want these things to just show up on my profile. No hassle. No having to post things twice.

I guess what I'm really looking for with all these changes is a social network that's also an aggregate service, able to cull my entire web experience into one place, neatly and easily. One that works for me, and at the same time keeps me connected. So that I don't have to worry about the content updates, and can just spend that time actually interacting with my friends instead. Well, look at it on the bright side.. at least now I have more time to spend enjoying games!

I Love Vending Machines

2008-04-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

So I walk over to the main building at my work to grab a Pepsi from the cafeteria vending machines. There's a Coke machine fairly close by, but I firmly align myself on the Pepsi side of the cola war, so I've gotta take a walk. Now that I've got my wallet out, counting up the $1.35 in small change, I realize that I only have 5 quarters, a nickel and 13 pennies. Naturally this makes $1.43, a more than adequate amount.. but since I'm dealing with a vending machine here not a person, I'm unfortunately out of luck. Seriously, what good is a penny if I can't spend it?

Anyway, I walk all the way back to the break room by my desk and swap 10 pennies for a dime from our community snack drawer. By the look of the endless sea of pennies and nickels, I can tell a few others have done the same. Finally, I trek all the way back to buy my ice cold 20-ounce, insert every one of my silver coins, and jab at the top button on the Pepsi machine. I look down, and instead of a dark blue bottle, I see something bright and white. Ummm.. Wtf? I glance back at the machine and look closely at the selection buttons.. This is what I see:

Diet Pepsi
Pepsi
Diet Pepsi
Diet Pepsi
Orange Slice
Root Beer
Iced Tea
Mountain Dew
Water
Diet Pepsi

..Figures.

Car's in the Shop

2008-03-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

About a week ago my car decided to stop working halfway back to my apartment on the 405. Up until now, I hadn't really had any major problems so far (7 years old and still going).
So it can as a shock when I found myself unable to accelerate, while the car was uncontrollably downshifting every few seconds. Thankfully, I was able to pull off to the shoulder safely and call AAA for a tow. As I was waiting patiently in the driver's seat, cars whizzing by at what seemed like Mach 4, I thought why not try to start her up again. Sure enough it worked and I drove home at a cautious 60 mph (fingers crossed the whole time) back to my parent's house.

Well, I'm lucky enough to have an uncle who used to run my family's auto repair shop, because he forwarded us a reliable contact who could work the repairs himself. Only problem was he wouldn't be able to work on my car until the following weekend. The timing worked out fairly well though, since my Mom recently retired from her long time Northrop job, and graciously let me borrow her car for the week. I wasn't all that used to her "big ol' Camry" (hey, I just happen to think my Civic is the perfect size, okay?) at first, but I got used to it. I still couldn't really adjust to how it always felt massively wide though. And I'd always feel 10 feet high in that seat (I don't even want to know how it feels driving a truck or SUV), like I could see over traffic or something. I guess I just never felt comfortable in that thing.

Now that the week's over, I had to drive back down and swap cars with my sister (she and my Mom went up North for a basketball tourney my sister helps coach). So now I'm driving her Corolla and it's still feeling awkward, like it's the first time I've driven a car before. Nothing reckless or anything like that, but it taking me a lot longer to do things than I'm used to, like starting the car, checking the blind spots, that sort of thing. I kinda feel like Goldilocks and I'm driving the Three Bears' cars. I seriously can't wait until I can finally get my car back so everything will feel "just right"!

Mass Effect: First Impressions

2007-12-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

I finally got my hands on the new sci-fi, tactical RPG, Mass Effect; the game many view as the spiritual successor to Bioware's other sci-fi epic, Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR). And after having played a decent amount (about 12 hours of play time, and 15 if you counting reloading), I'm finally starting to "get" this game.

To everyone who enjoyed KOTOR, this has every bit of role-playing charm that that game offered, despite the lack of a Star Wars license. Having said that, you should be aware of its stark differences in combat. While KOTOR was billed as a turn-based, yet optionally real-time RPG, Mass Effect is much more the latter. You can still pause the game, but only to issue each party member to use an offensive/defensive power. None of these actions can be queued up and you have very limited influence over the movement of your other party members. After I had a few battles under my belt, I discovered that I was approaching the combat all wrong. If you look at it as more of a tactical shooter withRPG elements, you'll find yourself reloading your saved game much, much less.

Just as BioShock straddled the shooter genre line, so too does Mass Effect. For starters, you actually need to utilize cover. Don't worry, it's placed everywhere, with loads of crates and rectangular-shaped rocks. But instead of the "stop 'n pop" Gears of War gameplay, you'll need to strafe behind cover like in most other FPS games. Shields also work very similarly to those found in Halo, where you're can simply wait behind cover for them to reactivate. Circle strafing during the vehicle combat is also quite useful. For example, you fight your fair share of giant, Dune-inspired, sand worm creatures, and this tactic seems to work every time. But like I said, this game has it's fair share of RPG elements, though most of them won't hit full stride until you unlock more of the Biotic and Tech powers (let's just call 'em what they are.. Force Powers). Now that I'm at a much higher level, the combat has improved significantly over what I started out doing in the game's prologue.

The game does have some issues (namely, technical problems), most of which can be read about here. But my main problem with the game stems from the its failure to simply teach me how to play it. I'm not looking for a mandatory boot camp segment that holds my hand, but I was hoping for something more akin to Oblivion's brilliant first hour of play. Since you're being introduced to a huge game world with rather complex gameplay, I'd hope for a few pointers now and then. Instead I end up having to hunt through the manual or painfully learn the game's systems through trial and error. For example, the first time you come to a locked storage container, the game tells you little about how to overcome this obstacle. I must have reloaded my save 5 times trying to figure out that you needed to tap each face button fairly quickly to match the onscreen buttons. I also couldn't understand why I could only useMedi-Gels (ie: health packs) sometimes and other times I couldn't. Since there was no tooltip or visual cue on the HUD to inform me, it wasn't until I was 10 hours in that I learned they had a 60 second cooldown timer. I admit, the game does a great job documenting lots of information on the various alien races, technology, and history of the game world. However, I wish some of that effort was actually spent on helping the player learn how to play the game as well.

The nice part about this flaws is they're immediately overlooked once you've played enough of the game to understand the ins and outs. I'm well into the main story arc now, and it's been one of the best gaming experiences I've had this year. I'm already thinking about how I'll play it differently as a Renegade (ie: Dark Side) character on my second playthrough. So if you own a 360, you enjoy deep and engrossing gameplay, and don't mind a bit of a learning curve, then this is a must-buy, much like I'd say Super Mario Galaxy is a must-buy for all those Wii owners who are tired of playing Wii bowling. Even as I write this, I'm thinking I could be leveling up my party and exploring some uncharted worlds like a bad-ass Jedi Knight.. I mean Spectre.

If that didn't sell it for you.. How about a tastefully done alien love making scene?

A few other things to note:

+ New game plus
+ Absolutely gorgeous visuals
+ Huge game world
+ Lesbian romance
+ Brilliant voice acting and dialogue

- Money not very useful
- Most off-world side quests aren't too interesting
- Lots of loading, lots of pop-in graphical problems
- Inventory system could use a tweak

The Bleep Button

2007-11-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Listening to this week's IGN's Podcast Beyond, I was reminded of the South Park episode "It Hits the Fan," where the word "shit" is used so much, a little counter is displayed at the bottom of the screen. It wouldn't have been so bad if they had just stopped using the expletive bleep button and just let it slide. After all, podcasts are more like Internet radio, so they don't have to abide by ridiculous FCC regulations. But when you have to hear that loud high pitched noise over and over, to the point where your ears are ringing, it just acts to highlight the actual use of the profanity, not hide it. Then it becomes a fun guessing game and vocabulary builder for little kids.. Try to fill in the blanks, given the context and the sometimes obvious first letter.

On the other hand, I understand that some shows (online or not) should not be casually dropping the f-bomb. There are some great podcasts out there that you might wanna share with your kids (The Word Nerds is a good example), so maybe leaving the foul language out altogether might be better.

So how about a compromise? If you must censor the audio, how about using the same technique network television stations use when they're rebroadcasting Die Hard on TBS. Simply redub the racier lines over with hilarious, toned down versions of the phrase. For example, instead of "Yippee-kay-aye, motherfucker!", use "Yippee-kay-aye, Mr. Falcon!". Win-Win-Win!

Rock Band: First Impressions

2007-11-20T18:00:00.001-08:00

They weren't lying when they said it would be hard to find a copy of Rock Band. The morning of its release, I went to my local Target, thinking they'd have a bunch of them stacked up. The guy at the counter said they only had a few left from the initial shipment of 20 Xbox360 and 15 PS3 versions (might wanna take that with a grain of salt). Lucky for me, I was going home happy, clutching a big, huge ass box in both my arms. Seriously, you could probably use those boxes to smuggle small children inside the country. Once I got home, I proceeded with the epic unboxing ceremony. It took nearly 20 mins to unpack everything, and set it all up in the living room (drum kit, guitar, mic, USB hub, and yes they're all shackled with plastic wires on the 360). At one point, I had what seemed like 2 "extra" metal pipes.. But after a quick glance at the manual (I know.. RTFM), I found a home for those parts.

As for the peripherals, the drums were my first instrument of choice (obviously). They're pretty solidly made, but all the instruments felt heavier and more realistic compared to the Guitar Hero controllers. The drum stand is adjustable in height, so it should work from the comfort of any sized couch or chair. The addition of the bass drum foot pedal certainly mixes the gameplay up a bit compared to the regular guitar experience. Best of all, they actually included real Ludwig drum sticks with the game, keeping the authenticity quotient high. Overall, the hit patterns are much more demanding on the drums. I'm usually pretty comfortable on the Medium difficulty on Guitar Hero, but I had to demote myself to Easy when I tried out the sticks. Once you get the hang of it though, the experience is definitely the most satisfying of the bunch. I can't wait to work my way up to the harder difficulties, where the notes begin to match, beat for beat, with the real songs themselves.The guitar has been redesigned quite a bit. Mostly taken from the many criticisms by gamers over the past few years. The strum bar no longer makes a clicking sound, but I found myself missing that lack of feedback. The fret buttons are now totally flush with the guitar neck, which can make positioning your fingers tricky when things get hairy. The addition of extra "hammer-on" buttons at the bottom of the guitar neck and the effects knob, add a little extra variety. Lastly, the mic is your standard, metal-tipped karaoke bar instrument. It's got some weight to it, same as the guitar, and a really long chord, so you can dance around the room like a possessed rock vocalist. I gotta say, the karaoke aspect is pretty addicting, and if the drum and guitars are already taken, I'd gladly rock the mic.

One great feature they added to all the instruments are freestyle sections. These allow everyone to add their own flare to the song, like a glorified cover band would. For the mic and drums, these sections are actually the only way to activate your "Overdrive" (think "Star power") and add a multiplier to your score. Since each person (drum, mic, guitar, bass) has their own life bar, using your Overdrive is also the only way to revive a band member who has failed their portion of the song. Just like in a real band, it's a team effort, although some will obviously gain more groupies than others (sorry Mr. Bassist).
I have to say, the hit detection in this game is much more harsh than in past Guitar Hero games. I often find myself getting really into the rhythm, only to miss a note I was sure I'd hit perfectly. This could be due to the learning curve of the new game and hardware, but I think Harmonix should think about releasing a patch to make things a bit more forgiving. Especially considering that this is going to be more of a party game, and everyone knows parties are supposed to be fun, right?

One last note (pun intended) to cover is the new Band World Tour mode. You start out in one city and slowly branch out across the globe, gaining fans, managing your shows, even recruiting roadies. It's a great change of pace from the boring, incremental setlist progression of previous Guitar Hero games. Only thing is, this mode is only available in offline co-op. Why this isn't offered as a solo experience with A.I. band members is beyond me. One can only hope this gets added eventually.

Black Friday

2007-11-20T00:11:00.000-08:00

Like a hungry, zombie mob, consumers can't resist the delicious savings!

It's the one day every geek loves to hate. Loves, because you're never gonna find more consumer electronics deals on a larger scale (every store, every type of item, one crazy morning). Hates, because it's one of the worst days to shop due to the crowds, pushing and shoving, and the absolute need to "camp out" in line for the really good stuff.

Every year, I vow never to put myself through the ordeal and every year I prove myself wrong. But it's hard to resist the promise of good deals. Only thing is, everyone else seems to have that very same problem. So, since you're going (yeah, quit fighting it.. you already know you're going), here are some tips to get you ready for Black Friday this year..

1. Bring a friend. If you're going to sit outside in the cold, darkened night, squashed up against a crowd full of electronics geeks of all shapes and sizes, you gonna want someone else there to share in the pain. See, you're misery and their misery now cancels each other out, thus balancing the universe. And if one of you starts dosing off, the other person can be there to poke them back into consciousness. What are friends for anyway? Besides, who are you gonna trust to hold your place in line while you go pee behind that bush? Getting them to make a quick Mickey-D's run at 6am is another good reason to bring someone else.

2. Bring stuff to do. Unlike most other waiting games, this one kinda requires consumer electronics. Unless you're waiting under a bright street lamp or you bring amaglite w/ extra batteries, you're probably not gonna be able to read anything or solve any sudoku puzzles. Sure, if you followed my advice in step #1, you could simply talk to your friend for your entire wait, but we all know that's only gonna take up a good 20mins, maybe 30 mins if you're lucky. If you want to prepare for the long haul, you'd do well to bring a handheld gaming system or two. Rack up the high score in that Bejeweled clone you've got on your cell phone. How about renting a mobile power generator and bringing an LCD with you? Now the guy behind you in line has got 2 things to be jealous of you.

3. Have a gameplan. This is like the big show, so preparing is everything. Maybe it's because I'm a guy, but when it comes to shopping, I never go just to go. What the hell is the point of just looking? I came for a reason dammit, and I've already memorized the fastest route to get my 5 items and then get to where I calculated the tail of the line should be by then. Hesitate even a moment and then little Timmy is gonna have one less overpriced gadget to brag to their friends about come Monday morning. Check the websites early (link1, link2, link3), so you're not waiting for the Thanksgiving newspaper. Also be sure to prioritize everything. Your gifts > Other people's gifts >USB Memory Sticks. Just remember to keep it realistic. Chances are you're not likely to get a shopping cart, so make sure your eyes aren't bigger than what your arms can carry.

4. Hit up multiple stores. If you're got the energy left, you might be able to grab a few more items elsewhere. Naturally, you camp the store where you can strike themotherlode , but don't forget that most people forget about going to those second tier stores like Sears, Comp USA, or even Costco. I know you're probably gonna be in zombie mode, but if you can just hold out a few hours longer, you can be soaking your feet in that brand new foot bath or relaxing in a new gaming chair. Trust me, you'll be glad you sacrificed your body in the name of electronics.

5. Be safe.

You don't wanna be those people on the ground when the shit goes down. One way to make sure you avoid the craziness and mayhem is to pick stores that you know will be handing out vouchers. I know Best Buy usually does this and I'm sure others do as well. Many stores only let groups of people into the store in controlled waves, but it's probably best to ask the store manager before hand. On the flip side, a class action lawsuit is always a good Plan B.

Let's Play Spot the Difference!

2007-11-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

Completed Map:

My Map:

If you wanna know how crazy I am, take a look at the above pictures. See those two diagrams of the Castlevania Symphony of the Night map? If you look very closely, you can see them begin to mock you as you try to spot the differences. I was only missing 4 rooms (if you're feeling up to it, try to find them yourself). 4 little squares away from gaining 100% and satisfying the completionist part of my gaming brain. But as miniutes turned into hours, I quickly found that might not be so easy. I started questioning myself. I started questioning God, Allah, Santa Claus, as to why they'd put me through such pain and agony?

Then I thought maybe I should stop attacking this problem like a caveman and learn to use some 21st century tools. So I whipped out Thao's digital camera, loaded up my copy of Photoshop Elements, and like a CTU agent working on terrorist intel, I got to work! It was actually a nice little exercise, because until now, I had never used a Photoshop application before. I've used other, smaller apps like SnagIt to do simple modifications, but never anything that involved multiple layers. I think the hardest part was adjusting both images to match well enough for the whole thing to be useful. Once that got taken care of, it was fairly easy to modify the completed map's opacity (37% worked pretty well) to a point where the overlay of my map bleed through quite nicely.

The best part of the whole ordeal was that, almost instantly, a light went on and the all the secrets of the Universe were revealed to me. It was like finally fitting in that last piece of the jigsaw puzzle. Well.. now that I'm halfway done with the game, I might as well get moving. This castle map isn't gonna reveal itself.

Btw, if you're interested in the solution to the above challenge, look below.

A Big Misunderstanding

2007-11-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, but this really cracked me up as I was listening to it..

Taken from EGM Live - 11/12/2007, talking about the classic 1996 blockbuster, Independence Day.

I think that we're the bad guys in that movie. Cuz if you think back on it, when the aliens first come to Earth and they try to make contact with us, we send up a helicopter that's got all these lights on it. The scientists say it's like Close Encounters. they show all these lights and the aliens will understand it. So the helicopter goes up and shows its lights to the aliens and the aliens shoot green lasers and blast us all to hell. But how do they know we didn't just say the most degrading insult in the universe to these aliens? Like, "We're gonna find your homeworld and we're going to ass rape your mothers!" So of course the aliens are gonna blast us and then they start this whole war.

And then there's the whole chase sequence where they're chasing Will Smith and Harry Connick Jr. But I think that was another alien trying to catch up with him and say it was all a mistake. But Will Smith pulls out his parachute and blinds the alien and the alien crashes. And Will Smith opens the alien's hatch. The alien's all flailing around and it's probably saying, "Stop! Stop! We don't want a war! We think there's a misunderstanding!" Will Smith punches him in the face and says, "Welcome to Earth!"

At that point of course it's a downward slide. If you look at it from that point of view, it's all a big misunderstanding and in the end we send a virus through their firewall and kill them, and good riddance! And if we ever do go to their homeworld, we know how to kill them with our computer virus.

Why do we gotta kill everything we don't understand?? What they really could have used at the time was a babelfish. Or maybe not go to war with everyone that doesn't sing the Star-Spangled Banner.. Just a thought.

Phase

2007-11-12T18:19:00.001-08:00

So I just bought the $5, Harmonix-developed iPod game, Phase, and I'm highly recommending it to all fellow 5th gen and up iPod owners. Harmonix being the developers of the original Guitar Hero 1 and 2 games, as well the upcoming peripheral extravaganza, Rock Band. To be honest, it's not really fair to compare it to any of its console siblings. I'd view it more as a cell phone game, since it's relatively cheap and simple. The gameplay basically consists of hitting 3 buttons (rewind, center select button, fast-forward) in time with the constant scroll of dots, while also sweeping your fingers along the scroll wheel to follow any series of dashes. It's not really different than any other rhythm game out there. But where Phase really shines and where it will likely earn it's replay value is its ability to play any song you own.

Yes that's right, you can convert any song on your ipod to work with this game and it'll automatically generate the proper hit patterns. That said, I'm sure some genres of music may work better than others. Fast-paced dance mixes and techno J-Pop songs come to mind as ones that might make for some challenging hit patterns. I've already taken the liberty of playing some Guitar Hero classics (eg: "More Than A Feeling".. my personal favorite guitar hero song). I also couldn't resist playing some Ouendan and Elite Beat Agent songs, to see if the DS-tapping games translated well. Keep in mind, the game does come preloaded with some 7 decent songs already.

I just love the idea that any song I want is available for this game. I really hope this is where the future of rhythm games is taking us. Imagine if you could convert any song you own to play with a guitar, drum set, piano, or even karaoke machine. You never have to buy any new songs, because that's a library you have full control over. Buy once, play anywhere. That's the system we need to adopt. Instead, we've got music stores that only play on a limited number of players. Movies that aren't easily made portable, or worse, you're forced to buy multiple versions. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Update: I noticed that there might be a issue with this game if you use multiple computers to update your iPod's content. The game can only be installed by syncing all your games from one PC/Mac and it creates a special playlist called "Phase Music". However, if you manually modify any of your iPod playlists on a different computer, the game won't run at all and you'll need to reinstall it using the original computer. It's unfortunate and hopefully this bug will be fixed soon. This could be why Apple is reluctant to allow third-party apps on the iPhone.

The One About Anatomy

2007-11-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Old Penny Arcade post..

This is today's comic, which represents an authentic conversation between my son and I. There really should be some kind of licensing requirement for procreation.

Kotaku post..

Excerpt from tonight's conversation with my son:

Mini-Bash: (coloring in a coloring book) What happened to mommy's penis?
Me: Huh?!
Mini-Bash: What happened to mommy's penis?
Me: Mommy doesn't have a penis. She's a girl. Girls don't have them.
Mini-Bash: Did it fall off?
Me: She never had one.
Mini-Bash: Did it fall off because she didn't take good care of it?

Nope, not looking forward to the where-do-babies-come-from conversation in the least. NOT IN THE LEAST.

~

I was gonna call this post "The One About Penis Envy", but instead I went with my better judgment. I just find it funny how fascinated we are, as little boys, at our own reproductive organs. I guess even at that age, we're constantly trying to categorize things to make them more identifiable. And back then, girls and boys were just about the most different things I can think of.. come to think of it, that's still kinda true now.

The Ramifications of the Writers' Strike

2007-11-07T17:15:00.001-08:00

Well, the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) strike is in full effect. The first ubiquitous protest from the group in almost 20 years. I can't say I blame the Writer's Guild for fighting to gain proper compensation for their work. The truth is that the entertainment industry is evolving and the television networks and movie studios are not properly keeping up with the recent change in climate. Reality shows have become a dominant slice of programming pie, requiring dirt cheap production costs and virtually script-free programming. In addition, many TV networks are experimenting with newer forms of media like time-shifted Internet clips and webisodes, excluding writers from earning royalties off these new ventures, along with the highly lucrative DVD business as well. Obviously, both sides clearly recognize that having a dominant position among these new media types is where the money will be in the future. But the group that will be ultimately lose out the most from this strike are the millions of viewers across the world this Fall and next Spring.

Most likely, the shows that be affected the earliest will be the late-night talk shows and weekly news programs (like The Tonight Show and The Colbert Report), since these are usually daily offerings that are highly topical in nature. The scripted comedies and dramas that started in September will likely have enough episodes in the hopper to cover up till X-mas hiatus, but I predict many of these will opt for shortened seasons. No doubt a few may have even been scrambling to hammer out season finales early. And I can't imagine what will happen to shows like 24 and LOST that were slated to begin in January or February of next year. How can you produce a proper serialized show when you've only got half of the episodes finished? And with LOST and Battlestar having a finite set of remaining episodes to go, I hope they don't get compromised in the end.

Even if the strike only lasts a few months, that could carve off nearly half the episodes required to finish most of the seasons this year. After all, producing a high quality program takes months. It's not quite as simple as filming the actors and sending it off to press. Just like a threaded process running in parallel, it quite costly to abort an instruction midway through. Even worse, networks will have to come up with something to fill those empty time slots. Whatever they decide, it's not gonna be pretty folks. I've heard everything from an onslaught of reality and game shows, to lots of reruns, to an influx of foreign programming (think UK imports). Mostly, I'm concerned that the jarring season endings will hurt the ratings of many shows out there, simply due to viewer apathy. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but too much may leave you wanting something new, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a huge reboot across the board of high profile programming in the Fall 2008 lineup.

So enjoy those episodic gems of TV goodness now, while you still can. I, myself, am looking forward to catching up with as many DVD box sets as I can get my hands on. I'm currently working my way through Battlestar Galactica. Next up is Twin Peaks. As for anything beyond that, I'm welcome to take recommendations..

WTF Moments in Halo 3

2007-10-27T23:52:00.001-07:00

So apparently, Bungie is making the infamous Recon Armor permutation available to a few "lucky" individuals outside of the Bungie studios. You see, Halo 3 offers you the ability to uniquely customize your appearance in the game. By changing your helmet, shoulders, and body armor of your space suit, you can hopefully distinguish yourself from the other 50 million Master Chiefs running around online. One such customization is the rare (previously Bungie only) Recon Helmet armor type that displays a flaming particle effect around your skull (which I've heard still persists even when you pick up the invisibility powerup). Naturally, this makes you a bigger target than a fat guy at a comedy club, but I guess exclusivity has its benefits.

So how might you obtain this honor, you say? Well, experience something that's both depressingly unfair to you, and yet hilarious to everyone else on the Internet..

Explosion + Cone = WTF!?!

Sniper Rifle + Real Time Physics = WTF?!?

And here's one more that's worth checking out..

Plasma Grenade + Blind Luck = FTW!

And thus, we finally understand the awe and beauty that is the Saved Film. Never again will you be able to dispute an unfair kill with your friends and/or loved ones. The Saved Film has spoken and it never lies (or so Bungie would have us believe). And although I have yet to experience a WTF moment myself, such as the ones above, you can bet I'll have that replay saved, edited, and posted on YouTube if I ever do.

Guitar Hero III vs Rock Band

2007-10-26T17:03:00.001-07:00

Update (10/27): This just in from IGN's latest playtest session.. So as of right now, the Les Paul Guitar Hero 3 controller apparently DOES work on RB. However, on the flip side, the Fender Strat Rock Band guitar DOES NOT work on GH3. My guess is that this was an intentional, lockout move on Activision/Red Octane's part. It makes business sense that they'd allow their controller to work with other games, yet not vice-versa. But underhanded moves like this are rarely accepted by the gaming industry with open arms. I really hope this comes back to bite them in the ass. Karma, karma, karma..

I was gonna write a diplomatic bit about how Guitar Hero III and Rock Band are both equally good, but with the recent news circulating, Guitar Hero III has lost my vote entirely. If you're somewhat confused right now, I'll try to straighten things out for you.

In the beginning, the rock gods known as Harmonix, developed the Guitar Hero games and Red Octane published the ridiculously popular series for them. After making a retarded amount of money from the sequel, Red Octane was acquired by Activision and they went on to create the next Guitar Hero sequel, GHIII. Meanwhile, Harmonix partnered up with MTV and began work on the multi-instrument follow-up game, Rock Band. This month, the stage is set for both of these guitar games to come out, and go head-to-head "Battle of the Bands" style.

Now both games have their strengths and weaknesses. Guitar Hero III is really all about a great guitar experience with a top-notch song set. Rock Band is promising to deliver a much broader experience with the extra inclusion of the drums and microphone. I had thought (actually everyone on the Internets had thought) that either guitar controller would work with either game. But apparently, Activision and Red Octane are keeping the Guitar Hero III peripheral in a more proprietary state. In contrast, Harmonix has stated that they are abiding by the open standards set forth by Sony and Microsoft (you know, for all those other guitar games out there).

In other words, Activision and Red Octane are a bunch of greedy, money grubbing bastards that wanna force people to choose between one game or the other. Fuck you Red Octane. Fuck you Activision. Fuck you Neversoft for letting your publishers force us consumers into that decision. It's bad enough a guitar game costs over $100 now, but to have to buy two separate bundles containing plastic guitar controllers is nothing less than a travesty. A travesty that must be avenged! The bizarre part of this convoluted mess, is that EA, Rock Band's publisher, seems more likely to pull this kind of crap on us. Well, if there's already a Rock Band 2 out nine months from now, you can be sure I'll be back bitching and moaning about the situation again.

The Office - Local Ad

2007-10-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, a lot of great moments tonight, but it was the ending really lifted this episode up into the stratosphere for me. I've been waiting all season long for that one act of Michael Scott brilliance, where he manages to redeem himself despite his constant failures. From the moment I heard that Chariots of Fire song, I had a smile on my face and I'm anxious to see that "Great Scott Production" again on YouTube.

I also loved the whole Dwight playing Second Life thing. I totally bought that he would make his character would fly around the world like some creepy Heroes side character. And I'm glad they included Jim's jab at the sorry excuse for an online community. Guess the WoW reference has already been done already. I still like the concept of an office playing Call of Duty as a team-building exercise better though.

Dwight: Second Life is not a game. It is a multi-user, virtual environment. It doesn’t have points or scores, it doesn’t have winners or losers.
Jim: Oh it has losers.

Man, Daryl and crew can really sing one heck of a jingle. You've got Andy rocking the a capella harmony, Kevin adding his wedding singer vocals, Creed lending his musical talents, and Kelly in there for good measure. Almost as good as the teleconferenced serenade of "Take a chance on me" to Angela a few episodes back. As the guys at the That's What She Said podcast say, whatever they're paying Ed Helms, it's not enough.

I had planned on writing more, but really those are the only things that stuck out in my mind from my first viewing. But like other great shows out there (Lost, Simpsons, Futurama), The Office is one that really benefits from repeat viewings. Those subtle, unspoken jokes are ones that make this show one of the best on TV.

Things I've Learned From Kid Nation

2007-10-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

Every new season of TV shows begins kind of like a new sports season. You start out with some fresh new blood, and that group slowly whittles down to only the best and brightest. Some shows barely make it through the season and usually find themselves on the chopping blocks come next Spring. Some turn out to be break-out hit sensations that go on to last 10 solid seasons, ending in a "better-late-than-never" sliver screen treatment. Well, rounding out my list of new shows this year that I'm keeping an eye on (along with NBC comedy/drama--or cramedy--Chuck) is the controversial new CBS reality show, Kid Nation.

Now, I know a "Survivor" type show when I see one, and this is definitely not one of them. Sure, it may look like "Survivor with braces", but trust me, there is so much more here than artificially engineered friction among the kid-aged ~~contestants~~ town residents and competitive ~~mini-games~~ physical challenge events. These kids are trying to recreate a better society through their own means and that's no easy task, if you ask me.

So here it is. The list of things I've learned from watching Kid Nation:

- Kids cry. A lot. Judging from the footage, you'd think they're always playing that Bambi's Mom death scene every time they point a camera at these kids. To be fair, I also frequently cried at times when I was younger. But that was because clowns are evil. Also, that Greg guy can be really hurtful sometimes.. Fuck him. That's right, he's on TV now, so I can say whatever I want about him and it's perfectly fine. Like criticizing that YouTube Britney sympathizer chick.

- People who do volunteer work will always do their work more willingly than those that are required to do that type of work. Like when the lower class kids are forced to do their jobs, it feels to them like a bunch of chores to them. But when the upper class team pitches in, they're making a difference for the community. Therefore, if you want to get a bunch of work done, just tell them it's volunteer work for a good cause. That way, they feel good about themselves and you get the job done at little to no cost.

- The kick-ball method of picking teams is the best way to divide people into groups. Like a fantasy-basketball draft ritual, the best people are picked first, leaving the real losers of the bunch to be picked by a random number generator. Oddly enough, these seemingly random divisions usually spawn a healthy amount of rivalry. Which explains why in multiplayer First-Person Shooter games, the people on the red team are usually bitter enemies of the people on the blue team, and vice-versa.

- "Deal with it!" is just about the most effective thing you can shout at people to get things done. In fact, simply yelling out "Quiet!" at the top of your lungs can solve practically any dispute. I think the folks in the Middle East could really learn a thing or two about diplomacy from these brave young souls. Settling their differences, despite the difference in color of their designated teams' neckerchiefs. Just think, someday these kids will be the ones running this country when we're on life support in some hospital. Who am I kidding? Old people run this country, and by that time, it won't matter too much to us who's running what.

- Incentives will only push a person so far, but it's what's in your heart that really determines a person's motivations. Take for example, the $20,000 ($10,000 after taxes) gold star prize that is awarded each episode. Based on the show's current recipients of this honor, it's really more about doing what's right, not about the positive reinforcement that's being shoved down their throats to get them to do shit. It's just like that "Leave Britney Alone" chick, who I hear is getting her own show of some kind. She's doing it because that's what she believes in, no matter how backwards and twisted that may be. Wait a minute.. That's not a chick, that's a dude? No way.

Browser Issues

2007-10-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

So apparently, my blog has a slight problem with Internet Explorer.. Try it out (don't hold your breath though). And by "slight", I mean it doesn't fucking work. At least it hasn't worked for me on 3 of the PCs I've tested so far (all using IE 6.0, of course). I'll research the problem, but I just don't get it. It's Blogspot for crying out loud, not some crazy Web 2.0 shit I pieced together from scratch. I don't even know if it's a individual blog post that's violating the whole deal or if it's a template issue, but I guess figuring that out would be a good place to start.

So far, the page seems to load just fine using both Firefox (ver 2.0.0.7) and Opera (ver 9.23). I've yet to try out Safari, but I don't have a Mac so I'm gonna need some help on that one. I know having any type of website (I suposed your Myspace page is a "tyep" of website..) means you should check for browser compatibility, but I guess I just forgot about IE. But it's still the mass market choice out there (more like default choice), so it's still important to cover all your bases.

It's just that IE seems to be the worst offender out there. I can't even go to Google without getting some kind of debug error, which is just sad. It really goes to show how continually adapting an existing system can be a burden over time. Every once in a while, you have to stop iterating on the same old ideas and leap forward to keep up with the changing times. Sure, you'll face security hurdles initially and people may not be willing to quickly adopt the new ways, but change is good, and that extra robustness really pays off in the long run. Especially when your web browser is bombarding you with a million dialog boxes complaining about run time errors.

RSS Backlog

2007-10-02T17:52:00.001-07:00

Well, since we're still without internet at the new apartment (actually there's one computer that I'm using to "borrow" wifi from a very generous neighbor.. thanks, btw, whoever you are). But yeah, for the most part, it's been hard to keep up with my podcasts and various RSS feeds. I don't know why, but if I fall behind in checking my email or if the articles in my RSS feed reader start piling up, I can't just let them be. It really bothers me to leave them unread. But things are getting so bad that I may need to do the unthinkable.. "Select all and mark as read" (a travesty, I know). The last time I had to do this was when I went on vacation, and believe me when I tell you it was a difficult few mouse clicks.

Usually I can get by with just listening to my weekly list of podcasts (since they usually do a good job of covering the major stuff), but it still bugs me--maybe I do have a problem. The news tid bits are like my marijuana and Google Reader is like my bong. Each time a feed is updated, it's like taking another tiny hit of digital bliss (no hits for Jesus?). Just like a smoker trying to quit, I think I should maybe try to cut back, trimming my RSS feeds down to only the utterly necessary. If only there was a way to filter out the good stuff, saving my eyes the trouble of sifting through a never ending scroll page, but sadly, that alien technology is still very far off. For now, the best way to stay updated is to cram in as many feeds as possible and click, click, click.

How's Your iPhone?

2007-10-02T17:05:00.000-07:00

So I just heard about the bricking iPhone fiasco on TWIT this past week. To those of you who fought the good fight against AT&T, I'm sorry for your loss. But good news, I heard there might be a class action lawsuit in the works. I wonder if this is coming as a result of pressure from Apple's business partners. Certainly, Apple knows they're not winning many popularity votes with this kind of recent behavior.

Let's just hope they make good on this in the near future. I suppose the true Apple loyalists out there have already made the telco switch. For everyone else.. Be careful what you put in your iPhone, or risk turning it into a ~~$599~~ $399 paperweight. But sexy paperweight nonetheless!

Weeky Radar - Week of Oct 1st, 2007

2007-10-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

This Week in Gaming
10/1 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
10/2 NBA 2K8 (PS2/PS3/PSP/Xbo360/Wii)
10/2 Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox360)
10/2 Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC)

This Week in Movies
10/5 The Heartbreak Kid (Ben Stiller)

This Week in TV (All times in PST)
10/1 Chuck - Chuck Versus the Helicopter (NBC 8pm)
10/1 Heroes - Lizards (NBC 9pm)
10/3 Bionic Woman - Paradise Lost (NBC 9pm)
10/4 My Name is Earl - The Gangs of Camden County (NBC 8pm)
10/4 #8 Kentucky at #11 South Carolina (ESPN 4:30pm)
10/4 Grey's Anatomy - Love/Addiction (ABC 9pm)
10/4 The Office - Dunder Mufflin Infinity (NBC 9pm)
10/6 #1 LSU at #9 Florida (CBS 5pm)
10/6 Notre Dame at UCLA (ABC 5pm)
10/6 Stanford at #2 USC (TBD 4pm)
10/7 Family Guy - Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air (FOX 9pm)

The Office: Back from Summer Vacation

2007-09-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

The Office returns this Thursday (9/27) at 9pm for a full-hour of office hilarity. Lots of new developments to follow and tons of new possibilities based on the aftermath of the Season 3 finale ("The Job").

If you haven't caught up with the funniest show on television.. what are you doing!?! Get out there and join "the Dwight Army of Champions".

*** SPOILER WARNING ***

So.. I'm really excited about Season 4 of The Office. Oh course you've got the JAMers (Jim and Pam 'shipers) going crazy. I'm just glad the whole "will they or won't they" part of the show can finally take a backseat. Sadly, I was a proud member of "Team Karen" and I will miss Rashida Jones' character. But out of all the cool twists that happened at the end of last season, I'm most interested in seeing where the Ryan story arc will take us. You know he's going to be a power hungry bastard and I can't wait to see how the show handles him in his new gig and inevitably, his fall-from-grace back to the Scranton office (c'mon, you know this won't last more than Season 4). At least we have Steve Carrell for another season of Michael Scott antics. And can we please see more Creed?? That guy is awesome!

Taking a Second Look At Review Scores

2007-09-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

I know that aggregate game review scores (such as gamerankings or metacritic) should generally be taken w/ a grain of salt. They're helpful to weed out the wheat from the chaff, but that's really all they do. You're not going to base your purchasing habits on a single averaged number. It's more of a consumer tool, but the final say will ultimately be yours.

I know this, yet I still cannot get over the fact that (as of this writing) Halo 3 is the overall gamerankings #4 best game of all time, unseating BioShock with an average score of 95.7%. That literally places it right behind Resident Evil 4 for the Gamecube and right above Goldeneye for the N64. But taking a step back, does Halo 3 really deserve to be set amonst the pantheon of great gaming titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Metroid Prime? From what I've played of the co-op campaign and multiplayer modes, I would have to say "No". Though I'm not trying to say that it's not a great game, because it's absolutely a great game. There's enough content here and creative tools for the community to enjoy this game for 3, 4, 5, heck even 10 years to come. But I have to question the gaming critics out there who may be inflating their reviews solely because it's Halo.

Sure, it's a well polished game, but isn't it just offering more features with the same solid gameplay. It's a shame that certain game series' aren't faulted for playing it safe and essentially making the same game over and over again. Halo 3 does offer new features (4 player co-op, Forge map editor, interactive saved film replays) that console shooters have never seen before, but I think Half-Life 2 and BioShock have done a much better job moving the needle forward. And isn't that what a great game should be doing? Sure a game might be an extremely well polished product that does everything right, but does that automatically make it a great game? Shouldn't we expect developers to bring something new to the table and, in addition, do it well?

I guess I'm just worried that games like Halo will continue to overshadow the truly refreshing titles coming out, like BioShock and Mass Effect. Worried that the popular will win out over the more deserving titles once again.

Motion Control and the Future of Gaming

2007-09-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of debate recently on the use of motion controls in video games. But the more I play games that use it and the more I hear about games that rely on it, the more I'm convinced that motion control is not the future of gaming.

With all the buzz surrounding Wii-waggle and the PS3 sixaxis controller, you'd think motion control were the second coming of Mr. JC himself. But for all its novelty and innovation, the control scheme is not quite where it needs to be yet. There are a number of games that use it well, but for each of those, there are a dozen more that fail to use the control scheme properly. I don't fault Nintendo or Sony for trying to push the hardware technology forward in creative new ways (improved graphics, larger digital media, and faster CPUs are getting rather tired). I do think that developers should make a better effort to include these new controls in more appropriate ways that don't bog down the gameplay.

Having motion controls in a game for the sole sake of using every part of the hardware is the the worst way to add a feature to the back of the box. If it works, use it, if it doesn't, please give us the option to turn that shit off. By far, the most notorious example of this so far has been Lair, for the PS3. Fresh off of developing all those nifty Rogue Squadron games for the N64 and Gamecube, Factor 5 (or Factor 4.9 as they've come to be called) decided that controlling your Dragon rider via sixaxis motion controls would be the best way to make this beautiful PS3 title appeal to a broader audience. Only problem is.. the controls don't always work. Now I haven't played it yet, but the general consensus online is that in the later stages of the game, when your precision is required to pull off complex maneuvers, you end up unfortunately flinging yourself the wrong way, or speed boosting into a wall, or doing any number of things you didn't plan on doing. This is a little disconcerting, because I figured the next generation of games would actually be more precise and intuitive. Now I understand games have learning curves, but if you're constantly dying by no fault of your own, I'd say that game has a bit of a problem.

I guess I come from the old school of gaming where if you push a button, you expect it to do the action you intended. But with many of the games coming out on the Wii, that function has shifted from pressing the X button to instead waggling your right wrist. Which is fine with me (a little wrist exercise couldn't hurt), but it gets frustrating when I'm trying to make Link do a spin attack and I get ass raped by 5 goblins because the damn thing didn't pick up my waggle at the proper time. Granted this doesn't happen a lot, but I remember it happening far less when all I had to do was spin the analog stick around on the Gamecube and N64.

It's also a shame that motion control on the Wii has not given us a game with good 1-to-1 movement in areas like sword fighting (c'mon lightsaber wii game) or any other type of quick and precise hand movements. When I first heard about the wiimote, this is what I envisioned. Some games, like Warioware: Smooth Moves and Wii Play, have some mini-games with this type of control scheme, but when the action gets too fast, that little sensor bar has trouble keeping up with your wildy flailing wiimote. Likewise, when you use the cursor like a mouse on your giant HDTV set, a little lag is noticeable, which may just be an indication that these are simply the first generation of consoles that are using this technology.

There are some exceptions that seem to work really well. Warhawk (PS3) gives you the option to fly futuristic jets and a number of other vehicles with or without motion control. Wii Sports (and esp. Wii Bowling) gives you simple, yet direct control over your actions. Heavenly Sword (PS3) allows you, at certain times, to steer canon balls in slow-motion toward your enemies with the use of your sixaxis. What I'm getting at is that in the right situations, motion control can be great. But a developer doesn't necessarily need to utilize them for everything. In fact some things are better without them. At least give us the option to waggle or not waggle.

I just can't see motion control becoming the sole control method for games any time soon. At least not without a vast amount of improvements in the technology. The 19-button gamepad will continue to remain in some form, albeit maybe scaled back a notch, with a bit of waggle added for good measure. Heck, maybe 10 years from now, some form of the PS2 Dual Shock controller will become the new "classic controller". For now, I feel comfortable knowing that if I get beat down by a melee attack in Halo 3, I have only myself to blame.. or our horrible internet connection. Yeah, that was probably it. Damn packet loss!

An Erector Set For A New Generation

2007-08-30T16:39:00.001-07:00

Growing up, we had toy chests full of Lego blocks for building anything and everything. We molded Playdough into custom-made action figures, reshaping the dough over and over again. Today, toys seem much less malleable, focusing more on the consumption of various types of media, rather than creating your own. Lego sets now come with instruction manuals explaining how to create elaborately designed replicas. Branded action figures come with built-in sound bytes and voice commands. Well, at leastvideogames are finally stepping up to the creative plate by offering players ways to not just play the game, but change the way games are played.

It's about time that level editors, previously exclusive to mod makers and prospective level designers, are finding their way into the hands of the broader audience. Though these PC tools have been around for ages, the addition of a more collaborative environment has opened the door for everyone to add their own creative touch in ways never before seen on a console. Games like the cute,platformer, Little Big Planet include a simple, easy-to-use interface that promises to make the level creation experience just as fun as the levels themselves. Halo 3's new mode, Forge, plans to offer infinite ways to modify your favorite multiplayer maps, by allowing you and 7 other friends to join in on the creation process all in real-time.

But collaborating to create new content is only the half of it. The part that makes this special is the ease at which these games allow you to share your content with everyone else. The social networking aspect of sharing among friends' lists and community picks will do forvideogames what Youtube did for videos. It's collaborating on a meta-level, with people around the world contributing their own part to the whole.

Just like the erector set, the fun is only limited by what your imagination can dream up. What you put in is ultimately what you get out of it. Looking are some of the great games that still have communities developing maps for them, such asStarcraft, Warcraft III, Half-Life 2, and countless others that have faded into the background. Yet they all maintain strong communities and that is what keeps these games active. Offer a community the right tools and it can go a long way toward it's longevity.

The sky--or sky box--is the limit!

How I View Game Reviews

2007-08-28T14:50:00.001-07:00

So recently, there have been several debates over game reviews and the scores tied them. Everyone has their own idea of what they should be for a particular game, since we're all armchair critics when we analyze our favorite forms of media. However, BioShock has proven that no matter how good the review scores are, they're never good enough. When Gamespot gave it a 9 out of 10 (currently its lowest score so far), fans decried the review as a ploy to get more net traffic. They claimed that if BioShock could finally dethrone The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time off the top spot (avg 97.7%) on gamerankings.com, it would encourage devs to make more art house masterpieces with richer stories and better gameplay. The fact is, one score isn't going to change anything. The game has already received a great deal of well-deserved praise. The positive buzz even helped 2K Games, its publisher, enjoy a nice 20% bump in their stock price, filling the void of that the GTA IV delay left behind.

I just think it's funny that people are mad at Gamespot for giving Metroid Prime 3 an 8.5. I think it's cool that they're not afraid to point out a game's flaws, and not just talk about the good parts. Long time fans of the series are still sore over the 8.8 that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess received by Gamespot. Sometimes, I think when a sequel come out for a classic series, people expect a certain review score. However, the legacy of a series should in no way factor into a game's review. Originality counts for a lot. So does innovation. You could make the best game of Madden ever, but if it's a hair better than last year's version, it doesn't deserve the same praise.

Personally, if I'm interested in a game, I usually check out the reviews from sources like IGN, 1Up/EGM, and Gamespot. I know I can trust them to provide a fair, unbiased spectrum, that actually uses the whole 0-10 scoring range. There are too many publications that view 0-5 as a bad score, 6-8 as okay, and 8-10 as good. This, unfortunately, seems more in line with an American grade scale than a professional review scale. If the video game medium is to be taken seriously, this type of thinking has got to stop.

Top 10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Get Excited About BioShock

2007-08-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Joystiq is doing a little contest to give away a free copy of BioShock (ends this Friday). All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this post, citing a reason for NOT being excited for BioShock.

Here are the top 10 comments so far...

10. Not enough minigames.

9. No pirates, zombies or ninjas.

8. It's an affront to Objectivist Utopians everywhere.

7. The water effects in Ecco the Dolphin are better.

6. The many hours you will spend playing BioShock, will likely lead to a Red Ring.

5. Hot coffee between the Little Sisters and Big Daddies.

4. There are no motion controls.

3. None of the nearby Toys 'R Us stores were selling it early.

2. It has the same frame rate as the PS3 version of Madden NFL 08.

1. The game opens with a plane crash survival, but this game has nothing to do with LOST.

Update: The accolades continue to roll in for BioShock. Check out this YTMND page!

BioShock Early Impressions

2007-08-15T02:03:00.001-07:00

I'm apologize in advance for the enormous amount of hyperbole I'm about to spew, but BioShock is, by far, the best game demo I have ever played. From the moment the demo began I felt totally immersed in a world real enough to touch. From the initial elevator ride down into the city to the first visceral murder happening right before my eyes, and myself helpless to do anything about it, my thoughts kept returning to the first Half-Life game and how a part of the game world it made me feel. The detailed, art deco environment, the moody atmosphere, the chaos around you every step of the way, everything about this game draws you further in for the entire hour.

As you make your way down into the underwater city, you get a real sense of the dire state of the society. Rapture (named for the utopia of brilliant minds "left behind" in the city) is falling apart and its citizens have all gone crazy. Enemies frequently mumble to themselves, refusing to accept the reality in which they live in. The areas themselves are painted with the evidence of a once prosperous city. Discarded party favors and masks litter the room of an abandoned New Year's masquerade ball. Audio diaries clue you into their troubled lives. The clever use of "mise en scène" promotes the player to search every crevice of the world for answers to just what went wrong with this place.

From what I've seen in the demo alone, I believe this could be the game changer for the shooter genre. After this, I'll be sort of let down if I play a shooter and I can't loot the bodies of my enemies or I can't interact with my environment in meaningful ways. Within the first hour ofgameplay , I was able to hack a bunch gun-wielding security bots into fighting for me, and sent them to preoccupy my foes as I clubbed them with a wrench. At another point I lit enemies on fire, stood in awe as the fire spread to the rest of the bathroom, then watched as they ran to a pool of water to douse themselves which allowed me to shock them like a toaster-in-a-bathtub. I've seen more surprises in the first half hour of this demo than most movies throw at you. And this is just the tip of iceberg. There's the item crafting system, weapon upgrading, and character development via genetic modifications. It's really part horror FPS, part RPG.

Oh yeah, and the water is un-freaking-believable. I'm not joking when I say I literally stood by a window just to stare out into the ocean. August 21st can't come soon enough. Like Cartman and his quest for the Wii, please cryogenically freeze me until the release date..

Internet Meme of the Week: Meh

2007-08-13T21:32:00.001-07:00

This week's phrase, "meh" combines two very common Internet traits: a smug, air of superiority and a sense of indifference to everything. The word has several meanings, but the one context I hear the most is that of "a vocabularised sigh, commonly used in the online gaming community to represent indifference, or lack of enthusiasm at a certain proposal." Kind of like the response, "Eh," but with a more pronounced emphasis on your indifference. The beauty of this particular meme is that it can sum up, in 3 letters, your entire opinion of a particular issue, claim or situation; pure apathy.

Let's face it, people on the Internet are lazy. They concatenate or abbreviate everything. Emoticons can convey, in an instant, what might take a paragraph to describe. Leet -speak, or whatever you wish to call it, saves us time when we're chatting online or posting on message boards. If we could have a second keyboard (like this for example) filled with commonly used Internet phrases, we would (sounds like a perfect use for the customizable LED Optimus keyboard, actually).

The specific origins of the word are unclear, but sources seem to credit The Simpsons as an early adopter of the slang term. The following scene comes from the Season 6 episode, "Lisa's Wedding," in 1995.

    Bart: [whining] Oh, these renaissance fairs are so boring.
  Marge: Oh, really?  Did you see the loom?  [camera turns to it]
          I took loom in high school.
          [Marge hums, quickly weaves "Hi Bart, I am weaving on a loom"]
  Bart: [pause] Meh.

The Simpsons writers have since used the phrase many times throughout the show's existence. It seems only natural that the term would eventually slide into popular usage on Internet forums and the like. Many other terms used by the show have, to a lesser degree, also gained notoriety in various online communities. Some of these include: "Jebus", "Yoink", and "My eyes! The goggles do nothing!"

Here are some examples you can use in your everyday activities.. Feel free to drop them in, under the proper conversational context, to pick up women, attempt to leverage that raise with your boss, or just plain flame that asshole back into his place on that Harry Potter message board you're trolling.

What'd you think of that movie last night?
"Meh.. it was better than Catwoman, I guess."

How do you think is hotter? Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan?
"Meh.. it doesn't really matter to me that much."
You guys wanna hang out tonight?
Meh.. I guess so, although I could be playing WoW.
Isn't this just the most perfect place for our wedding?
Meh.

EDIT: Interestingly enough, there was an article about this in the Guardian early this year.. Meh, you can read it if you want.

Beach Games

2007-08-12T23:59:00.001-07:00

I went the beach at Corona Del Mar today to get some sun and squeeze in some much needed summer reading (yes I know, I'm getting old). It's getting close to mid-August, so I figured I'd make the most of a beautiful summer day before the seasons begin to change. I guess everyone else in the South OC had the same idea, because it was more crowded than a Costco on the weekend. As I walked past various families and other groups of beach goers, I started to remember all the many things I used to love about going to the beach.

Well, there's the obvious swimming in the ocean activity. That one's always fun. The salty water makes floating a whole lot easier and the modest ocean waves are great for body surfing, boogie boarding, or whatever floats your boat. But unlike a wave machine at a water park, the waves that nature produces are always random and unpredictable. You're not always gonna get a monster wave, but when you do catch one and ride it all the way back to shore, it's truly amazing.

Building sand castles is one of those past-times that never gets old. You always end up picking a build site too close to the water and inevitably find yourself fighting the incoming tide. Remember those days when digging a hole in the beach sand was all you needed to make your day? Unfortunately, your digging effort would never end though. Either the walls would cave in on the sides, or the tide would fill it like a reservoir, or you'd dig far enough down to hit water. Burying people was also an option if you got your hole big enough. The best part was finally seeing if a person, buried up to their neck, could climb out all by themselves. Ending their constant boasting and trash talking by finally giving your friend a helping hand.. Priceless.

It's the simple things I really miss about being younger. Like hunting for tiny sand crabs and then depositing them in your own personal hand-dug pool. Or staying out in the ocean for a while, only to find that when came back ashore, you had drifted a good ways from where you started. Or standing in the sand, sinking slightly every time a wave washed past your feet. And yet, out of all the fun beach ideas I could think of, I decided to bring a book. I guess for me now, the beach is really nothing more than a place I go for relaxation. It's a shame really, because digging holes is actually quite relaxing.

MS Announces Maintenance Reminder Service

2007-08-12T00:51:00.000-07:00

In addition to the recent announcement of the new Xbox Support website , Microsoft has taken quality assurance one step further. In order to aid those customers with potentially faulty Xbox 360 hardware, the upcoming Fall firmware update will add an important maintenance feature. An annual maintenance alert, indicated by an orange ring of lights, will be triggered on all Xbox 360 consoles to remind users of a recommended maintenance order. The Xbox owner can then opt for a preemptive repair order on their console, thus avoiding any potential "three red rings of light" errors or any other hardware failures that may occur.

The timing of these maintenance alerts will be made to coincide with traditionally slow periods of the Xbox 360 release schedule. This feature is there to ensure that customers will not be without their console when the really important games are released (such as the award winning title Gears of War or the upcoming title Halo 3). Instead, the complimentary maintenance service will focus on sending out notifications near the projected release dates of less distinguished software products (such as Bullet Witch or Vampire Rain).

This new policy is an industry first and sets the bar for customer dedication and support. For more details on this initiative, see the official press briefing.

Gooooooaaaaaalllllllll!

2007-08-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Taken from this week's Digital Unrest comic

For those of you that are familiar with or interested in the new Mario Strikers Charged game for the Wii, the following video will be of some interest to you.

And to anyone else who's never heard of a video game exploit before, watch the reel...

Video Game Conspiracy Theories Part 1

2007-08-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd take a closer look at some of the more fascinating conspiracy theories out there in the video game world. Keep in mind, none of these are confirmed. Nothing more than reasoning drawn from rumors and speculation I've heard in one place or another. On the other hand, they might be so ridiculous, they're the most ridiculously perfect ideas that you never thought of. Think about it..

Nintendo Wii Supply Shortages

Background: The Nintendo Wii has been constantly selling out everywhere since its debut in November of 2006. At the same time, the system has also been supply constrained in every major retailer in the country, essentially since launch day.

The Controversy: Many have speculated that the relatively static supply amounts have, in fact, helped Nintendo generate additional buzz and mainstream media coverage of the Wii. Just look at how quickly demand can rise for a consumer electronic device when they're impossible to find. Yet, it's hard to believe Nintendo is having trouble ramping up production on technology that is so conventional, for so long a period of time. Neither the accelerometer, infrared detection, GPU or CPU components are expensive or necessarily difficult to manufacture. So what's keeping these things from reaching store shelves?

The Conspiracy Theory: Nintendo, in an effort to raise public awareness of their new console, have intentionally kept supply relatively constant. By keeping a tight control over the retail channel, they are limiting units in order to create an air of intrigue to reach the common household, and their target demographic.. Aged 8 months to 80 (minus the 18 - 35 range, or anyone with an HDTV).

Verdict: Somewhat likely. If Sony were towing the "Our supply can't meet the demand" line, we'd understand. Blu-ray diodes are tight right now, and we know production will ramp up eventually. But this is definitely not the case, so something is obviously going on. Iwata, stop printing money and spill the beans!

The Rockstar/ESRB Deal

Background: In June, 2007, Rockstar's controversial sequel, Manhunt 2, received an AO-rating by the ESRB (which for the industry, is a mark of death, much like the NC-17 rating is for movies). The original, which involved a released death row inmate killing people in grotesque ways, was given an M-rating (essentially an R rating for movies) and early previews have indicated that this next game contains about the same level of violence as it's predecessor.

The Controversy: At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to a developer known for controversial titles like Grand Theft Auto, almost akin to a Rasheed Wallace effect. This is evidenced by judging the public's reaction to Rockstar's previous PS2 game, Bully, which was perceived as encouraging bullying, but in reality put you in much the opposite role. Some also thought the Wii version's violent gestures were to blame for the AO-rating, but the official reports indicate that none of the Wii controls were taken into account (which of course could silently be the actual reason).

The Conspiracy Theory: The ESRB and Rockstar completely engineered the Manhunt 2 controversy. On the one hand, it makes the ESRB look strong and competent. Then, when Rockstar takes a month or two to tweak a few lines of code, they release an M-rated version of essentially the same game. Rockstar manages to get a whole lot of extra press and the ESRB remains happy, and (after a short delay) we get to strangle people like a psychopath using our Wii-mote and nunchuk. Now that's "Win-Win-Win!".

Verdict: Unlikely. As great a story as this would have been in corporate espionage drama, Rockstar seems like the last company in the industry to give into such demands.

Stay tuned for Part 2..
Video Game Conspiracy Theories Index

Video Game Conspiracy Theories Index

2007-08-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

Part 1 ... Nintendo Wii Supply Shortages, The Rockstar/ESRB Deal

Part 2 ...

Online Purchases: It All Adds Up

2007-08-08T00:20:00.001-07:00

As a corollary to my recent Xbox 360 console repair, I finally decided to stop being lazy and set my downloaded DRM content straight. I called MS support one final time and they asked me to make an auxiliary Xbox Live Silver account Gamertag (I chose "nuka kola" and if you get the reference then props to you). Then the guy started verifying my entire list of online content purchases, such as downloadable content (DLC) for retail games and full versions of Xbox Live Arcade titles, in order to quantify the amount my account should be credited.

Let's see, I've got.. Crackdown "Gettin' Busy" DLC pack, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, TMNT The Arcade Game, Alien Hominid, Bomberman Live, Marble Blast Ultra, Geometry Wars, Assault Heroes, and Contra.

I started adding up the values in my head and wham, it hit me. Not counting the free copies I received of Contra, Hexic HD and Aegis Wing, I realized I've spent $70 on content on the Xbox Marketplace. I guess when it's only $10 here and there, the hit on your wallet feels less substantial. But out of all those titles, I've really only returned to a few of those arcade games after the initial purchase. I'll admit, some of those were impulse buys. I mean, $5 for 4-player online Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action is hard to pass up. Oddly enough, many of these transactions were relatively painless and I always felt like I got my money's worth from them.

When you make large purchases, your mind goes through a process of justification. You almost feel like you're trying to get your worth out of it. If a retail game lasts 12 hours and costs $60, that experience is essentially worth $5/hour to you (equivalent to the price of a movie ticket). Depending on how much you enjoyed it, you may play the game again another time through, or you might play the online multiplayer to squeeze more entertainment hours out of it. In some cases, even if your experience was mediocre, you'll still rationalize that you paid $60 for this and it was a damn good purchase.

However, with these smaller downloadable games, you could spend 2 weeks playing a game and feel considerably good about the $10 you spent. Heck, even after 2 hours, it might seem worth it to you almost instantaneously. Since the price is low, it tends to fly below your consumer threshold and you tend to forget about it. Like picking up a pack of gum at the supermarket check-stand or buying that bottle of Coke at work in the afternoon, you don't really think twice about these little transactions, but they do add up.

I guess the good news is that since my new account will get credited with 5600 points (or $70 in the real world), I can pick and choose which of these games deserve to stay on my HDD and which ones I can do without. This is rarely the case in life and I suppose I should cherish that freedom. With all those virtual points at my disposal, it'll be hard to remain reserved in the online marketplace.

Internet Meme of the Week: Rick Rolled

2007-08-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

As a tribute to all of our most beloved and hated Internet Memes, I've decided to dedicate a place for all these fade-based phrases, trends, and sayings that sweep across the internet and yet are just as quickly forgotten. I'm assuming anyone reading this blog (or any blog out there) knows their fair share of net lingo, so for now I'll gloss over the obvious stuff. However, if you're particularly fond of a specific meme, leave me a comment and I'll try to work it in. So without further ado..

My first pick is the term "Rick Roll" or "Rick Rolled", as in "You've been Rick Rolled!!" This refers to a practice on Internet forums where a poster creates a new topic or replies to an existing one and provides a false link within their post, and instead linking to a youtube video of Rick Astley's song, Never Gonna Give You Up. The forum post usually consists of promised evidence of an enticing claim or outrageous news story, which is why it's even funnier when your hopes come crashing down to reality after the reveal of the bogus link.

The first occurence of this phenomena can be traced back to the 4chan imageboards, where phony links were made to a picture of a duck on wheels, hence the phrase "Duck Roll" (source). The deceptive technique later evolved to youtube links and is still used occassionally in various game-related forums. So beware of suspicious posts like "Hey, check out this new 1080p gameplay vid for MGS4!!!! PSTriple Owns All!!!!"

Slightly similar to phishing in technique, but nowhere near as dangerous, it's mainly just plain annoying. Since forum posters are essentially anonymous, the frequency of this type of behavior can be quite common in certain communities. Essentially, the problem stems from people on the Internet being too trusting (myself included). We read random news stories, pass around odd facts about almost anything, and trade web-based online videos like bacteria spreading through a 2nd grade classroom. Like Michael Scott from The Office, we're all the "King of forwards!" Because of this, we always have to be prepared to flip our judgment of something obtained online at the drop of a hat. Rumors are incredibly easy to start online so they keep us skeptical about everything we encounter via mouse and keyboard.

Edit: Looks like I was incredibly insightful in picking this particular meme, as Merriam-Webster has recently included it among the ranks of words like "google" and "podcast" as an official part of our common lexicon.

The Bourne Ultimatum

2007-08-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

Just checked out a free screening of The Bourne Ultimatum tonight and I gotta say, it was pretty solid. I was kinda bracing myself for the fast-cutting edits, super close-up action and shaky cam shots that remember so much from the first movie. But despite sitting in the front section of the theater, the action seemed to me at least, a bit easier for me to follow in this third Bourne movie. The overall premise involved a clever cat-and-mouse game, much like the previous installments. The CIA vs Bourne. Pretty much your standard action hero fare.

Each clever twist was incredibly enjoyable. I don't know if it was because no one in the theater had paid for a ticket, but there were several moments when the audience cheered out loud for Bourne, myself included. There were also a LOT of chase scenes too. It never felt stale though, and I always got the sense that we were being offered something new. For example, as soon as the rooftop chase scene began, I immediately thought of Altair in Assassin's Creed, skillfully jumping from rooftop to rooftop, tracking his target across Jerusalem. By the end of the big car chase, I didn't know what else to expect next, it was that jarring.

About midway through, I got this connection to an old favorite game of mine, Planescape: Torment. If you've seen either previous Bourne movies, you know about his past and how he's almost trying to right his past wrongs. I couldn't help but think about how in Planescape, you were this immortal, blank slate with no memory, who was continually discovering atrocities committed in your past lives. What kinds of responsibility do you take when facing the demons of your past, when you can't even remember them? Anyway.. that's a lesson to us all, I guess, in case you ever get amnesia. Actually, amnesia in movies is very strange in that you always end up being a completely different person post-amnesia than you were previously. Maybe we all deserve amnesia every once in a while, so we can all start fresh from time to time. Tabula-rasa, baby!

Overall, the movie seemed to deliver a decent action movie with enough mystery and underlying intrigue to keep you going. It's not going to be the deepest movie you'll see this year, but it's certainly a lot of fun. There was one part of the movie that have to complain about which was toward the end. It almost felt like they were trying to put you to sleep. In a movie full of action, you should never slow it down to such a crawl for so long. I suppose, since this movie was the third in a series, you had that Lord of the Rings effect where you were wrapping up plot from 2 movies back. Since I had knowledge that there was a fourth book, part of me knew this wouldn't be the end.

Plot-wise, the movies are quite different from the books, but that doesn't really bother me much. I hate when people complain that a particular movie veers too far from the original source material, whether it's a book, comic or whatever. Different mediums call for different things and there's no one right way to tell a story.

Obon This Weekend

2007-08-01T23:35:00.001-07:00

This weekend, I'll be at the Gardena Obon, which is basically a traditional Japanese festival to honor the deceased spirits of one's ancestors. Mostly I just go for the food though. There have Okinawa dangos (fried donuts), spam musubi, bbq chicken and beef teriyaki, snow cones, and tamales.. Wait, what? Actually, those tamales are pretty good, especially with chili and onions.. If you've ever been to an Obon, it's pretty much the usual fare as most other ones in Southern California. There's food, bingo, carnival games, dancing, and did I mention food?

I'll probably be there Saturday night with the family. The traditional dancing is sort of the main attraction, and that starts at around 6pm, i think. The live taiko drum performances begin a bit earlier than that. What's cool about the dancing is that the crowd is usually very diverse and everyone is encouraged to join in. Kimonos and hapi coats are welcome, but most people just wear whatever they want. And since the Gardena Obon is one of the bigger ones, it's easy to blend into the large crowd.

So I'll be there, but we'll see if I can avoid being dragged into participating in that dancing stuff. It's funny, my family mentioned that they were planning on placing their chairs on the street outside the Gardena Buddhist temple at 9am to secure a good seating area. I told them if it gets any crazier, they may as well camp out over night.

Halo 3 to Feature 4-Player Online Co-Op

2007-07-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

It's funny how the gravity of an announcement can be altered by previous knowledge or expectation. Take for example, the iPhone. There were so many rumors and news stories floating around speculating on its debut that when it finally was announced, the fanfare made less of an impact. True, the hype still grew, but I was less blown away than I would've if it had been a total secret.

On the other hand, hype can have a huge impact on expectations. But, if your expectations are low, the treat of good news can often be blown out of proportions. About two weeks ago, Bungie announced that Halo 3 would not release with online coop. Since games like Gears of War and Crackdown already showcased online cooperative play, gamers have come to expect it this gen. Like most I shrugged this off as an acceptable sacrifice for an early Fall release. Then, when the announcement came that Halo 3 would feature not 2, but 4-player online co-op play, my brain had trouble fathoming the news. I'm sure the dev team was still busy working on this feature and it just happened to pan out, but because of the timing, it just sounded that much better to my ears.

On the flip side of things, expectations can be a nuisance to live up to. It's hard for any developer to justify removing features from a product. When you have something and then it gets taken away, your defensive tendency is to complain, shout and moan. Add something great that people weren't expecting and it's smiles all around.

Comic-Con 2007

2007-07-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, this past Saturday was my first Comic-Con and I gotta say, it was pretty awesome. Last year I went to the Anime Expo (AX) in Anaheim, which is kinda similar, but Comic-Con was a way better experience IMO. For one thing, they had a lot more content and events that I was personally interested in. I'm only really into a few anime series', so this seemed like a better fit for me. There were plenty of manga and anime vendor booths, but there were also some live game demos on the show floor and many sci-fi and fantasy TV shows and movies prominently featured. The panel events were what actually won me over though and I think I had the most fun attending those.

Can you see him?

Like the Anime Expo, there were a fair amount of people participating in cosplay, but it did seem a bit less common at Comic-Con. Early in the morning, Van and I spotted Waldo in the Simpsons line. Then you had your obligatory handful of Star Wars costumes. A good number of various Naruto characters. Video game characters of Final Fantasy type. Superheroes and villains. Basically anything anime, sci-fi or fantasy, and everything else in between. But on the whole, it just felt like less people were geeked out in full garb, and considering the E3-sized crowd at the San Deigo Convention Center, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

This happy guy is from a peaceful game called Alien Hominid

The Q&A panels were pretty cool. At the Simpsons one, Matt Groening, and various writers, producers, and animators fielded fan questions like "What was your favorite Homer injury?" and "What's your favorite episode you wrote?" Several questions were aimed directly at the man himself, Matt Groening, but most everyone on the panel got in a witty comment here and there. We got to see an exclusive clip that was deleted from the movie, where Homer rides in a truck filled w/ sausages, but mostly the event consisted of fans have fangasms and then asking random questions.

One of my main gripes I had about Comic-Con was the insane schedule planned for Saturday (actually, someone mentioned that it was basically like this all weekend). Late Friday, I printed out the schedule for Saturday off of the official website. It was 12 pages long, with loads of overlapping events. Factor in hour+ wait times for more popular shows and you get an idea for how chaotic it became. Naturally, the Heroes panel was less than an hour after the Simpsons one. So even when we left early, we had zero to no chance of getting in there, when people had been waiting since 9:30am.

"Don't forget to bring a towel!"

The Futurama panel was by far the most entertaining hour of the day. It was held in the same 4,000+ person auditorium as the Heroes panel, so I just barely got in. The cool part of it was that four of the major voice actors were there, along with Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. They started it out with the announcement of the 4 new DVD movies coming (the first one in Novemeber) and the move from Cartoon Network to Comedy Central. Then they showed us a 5 minute trailer of Bender's Big Score. Initially, everyone was given a nifty little Futurama comic book detailing what occurred between the final episode and the first upcoming movie, which the cast later acted out completely live on stage. Even the Q&A was interesting, with each actor detailing how they created the voice for each of their characters. You could tell that everyone was having a lot of fun with it and the crowd was really getting into it.

Futurama voice talent (left to right): Katey Sagal, Billy West, John DiMaggio, and Maurice LaMarche

If the Futurama event was the most entertaining, then meeting the guys behind the Lost Podcast w/ Jay and Jack was my favorite experience on a more personal level. These were guys I'd listened to for almost 2 years, and now I got to participate in one their podcasts live. They led a Q&A session and we got to discuss some of the theories on Lost as well as what was just talked about at the Lost panel on Thursday. I was kinda bummed about how, at the last minute, Comic-Con switched days on me for the Lost panel, but for me this turned out even better, since the room was so much smaller and the sense of community was much more tangible.

Picture of me w/ Jay and Jack from the 'Lost podcast with Jay and Jack

We didn't stay too late, just until around 5, when the Joss Whedon panel was over. Even though I didn't really buy anything, I thought I got my money's worth out of going though. If anyone wants to go with me next year, lemme know. Overall, I had great experience. Thanks Van, for driving us down to SD. Hope you guys had as much fun as I did. And what story would be complete without a display of all my personally collected free crap. Some notables include some manga books, a giant spiderman magnet and a playing card with Obi-Wan Kenobi on it.. Freaking sweet!

Behold my Comic-Con swag

Comic-Con LOST Q&A Panel 2007

2007-07-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

Direct from Day One of the 2007 Comic-Con in San Diego, CA. Below are videos of the entire Lost Q&A panel with executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Dharma Initiative Station 6 "Orchid" (the video quality isn't too great..)

So.. here's what we learned:
1. Both flashbacks and flashforwards will be used from now on. The announcement of the sixth season end-date enabled the writers to finally reveal this new "flashforward" device.
2. The scene with Jack and Kate at the end of season 3 does not represent the end of the show. We will see what life is like for the survivors off the island, possibly in flashforwards.
3. Micahel will be back this season. Where, when and how are still a mystery.
4. Ben's capture in season 2 will be definitively explained this season (and it wasn't his intention to get caught).
5. Jack and Claire's family relationship will be revealed.
6. Libby's story will be returned to soon, and she may also be involved in the Dharma Initiative.
7. Rousseau will get her flashback story in the next season or two, and it will be important.
8. The smoke monster is known as "Cerebrus" (one of its names), and as the lockdown map revealed, the CV markings represent "Cerebrus Vents".

Of these , I think I kind of knew about 6 of these already.. but, in any case, it was nice to get a few more definitive answers from Damon and Carlton. I think with the remaining 3-season, 16-episode story arc established, the show will become more focused and be better for it. Hats off to them for doing something completely unprecedented in television industry, with maybe the Harry Potter series being the only other medium to do something on a similar scale.

I'll be at Comic-Con tomorrow (Sat), so I'll probably check out the Heroes Panel. San Diego, here I come!

Absurdity: New Windows OS Ready in 3 Years

2007-07-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

Looks like Microsoft is already readying up it's next killer OS. Maybe by the time Windows Vienna (or whatever it is they're calling the next Windows) comes out, I'll be ready to switch over to Vista. Seriously though, you don't wanna upgrade until at least the first service pack is released.

Generally speaking, there are rules you should follow when early adopting certain products. These rules are set in stone and are never up to interpretation. The first one is this: Never buy a new Apple product until the 2nd gen version comes out (iPod, iPhone, Macbook Pro, take your pick, it doesn't matter). You already know a better one is coming in less than a calendar year. Sure, you might seem like the cool guy among your friends, but when the "real" version comes out in nine months, with a respectable battery life and more features, you're gonna have to pony up the cash yet again. Why? Because Steve Jobs owns you and you love it.

The second rule is: Never upgrade to a new Windows OS until the service pack comes out. You don't want to be part of a statistic on zero-day exploits, because the network code hasn't been fully beta tested yet.. and by "beta test", I mean the first 18-months of a Windows release. You wouldn't wanna be the one to test out the food to see if it's poisoned. And trust me, Windows security is oozing with poison early on. Simple as that.

10 Changes Console Gaming Needs

2007-07-24T01:14:00.001-07:00

10. Have more open-beta tests. If you've played the Halo 3 beta, or gotten into a Blizzard game beta, you know it's great to try out a game ahead of time. What's great about this is that it's also mutually beneficial, since extra play testing is always good for a game's development, especially if you're going to have a multiplayer aspect. I've read that some ppl would even pay for the opportunity to beta test big games, but I think that's going a little overboard. Of course, if a game really sucks, this could work against a game in its early development stages.. so I guess it depends on the game.

9. Allow user-generated content. They have no problem covering their ass with the ESRB disclaimer: "Game Experience May Change During Online Play." Why not use this loop-hole disclaimer and then allow us to create maps, mods, player skins, etc? Console gaming has always been a closed system, compared to the PC. Hopefully Sony can do this w/ private areas in Home, user-made levels in Little Big Planet, and mods in Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3. Letting a game build a community around itself is vital to the longevity of a game and its sales. If you're friend's really into a game, chances are you'll want to join him.

8. Ditch the "Save Point" mechanic. This has been a staple of console gaming, but I think it's about time for it to go the way of the dodo. Forcing players to use save points is a way for developers to create a artificial layer of difficulty. I also hate it when you have a limited number of save slots. Xbox360 profiles represent one way this is done right, since you see only the game saves associated w/ your gamertag. I guess I come from the PC school of saving, where you can save wherever and save often.

7. Get rid of the load times. This isn't just a console gaming problem, actually, but one that should still be addressed. I thought with the advent of the HDD and muti-core processors, load times would be a thing of the past. I could see the PS3 hard drive being used for a lot of caching.. although the core system (sans a HDD) will always hold the 360 back. Dynamic data streaming has certainly done wonders for open world games like GTA, but you still have that super long, unavoidable, initial load. When you think about games like Killzone 2 for PS3, which has 2GB of art resources, I guess the problem will always be there as textures get larger and environments get more detailed.

6. Acknowledge the fact that there are older gamers out there. Obviously I'm one of them and there are many more gamers like me. I can tolerate the kiddy stuff and movie tie-in games. I was a kid once. But the sterilization of more adult-oriented gaming by stores like Wal-mart, the ESRB, and government legislation has got to stop. If an Unrated DVD can stand on store shelves, why can't games have realistic violence and sexual themes? If developers want to make it andppl want to buy it, I don't see what the problem is. As it stands right now, games are heavily regulated, with no outlet for truly "mature" content. Remarkably, according to the ESA, the average gamer is age 33, but you wouldn't have guessed it by all the restrictions put on developers and publishers.

5. Work to make online a better experience. As of right now, there is no online system that has everything. Xbox Live is very well integrated across all games and friends, but it still lacks dedicated servers and it still costs $$. Sony's PSN service supports dedicated servers and more open content, but is still behind in it's overall structure and integration. They both have their flaws, but together they'd be brilliant. And imagine if there was cross-platform play between 360 and PS3 games. All those damn EA games are the same anyway. This way it'd make it easier to find servers with actual players on them. Really though, all I'd like is to be able to hop online and get into a game quickly and easily. Is that so hard?

4. Stop Nickel and Diming Gamers. Seems like we're on a very slippery slope, with the growing number of micro-transactions available to modern gamers. Map packs are very common now for console games, but unlike their PC counter-parts, these content updates are not free. More and more, it seems like games are being released unfinished, with that "extra" content being sold a month or two down the road. And simply choosing to boycott these micro-transactions doesn't do shit when idiots keep buying them up (just look to the Guitar Hero II song packs for an example of this).

3. Provide a more consistent release schedule. Everyone knows most big games are released around the holiday season (Sept - Dec). It doesn't have to be this way though. This summer has been somewhat of a drought. If only some of those games had come out a bit earlier, it would've given those games more breathing room to sell, and would've given us gamers more time to enjoy them. Instead, this holiday, I'm gonna have to balance all those incredible titles, and some of those gems will get lost in the shuffle. Having a more balanced software release schedule would also help push hardware numbers all year round. Why can't we have the "summer blockbuster" game like the movie industry??

2. Innovation, plain and simple. It seems like the most innovative products are coming from the downloadable games and handheld fronts. These games are usually much cheaper to make and take less time to develop, allowing the designers to take more risks and create truly unique experiences. I like to see this creativity trickle down into the $20 million games as well though. But it's hard when you've got developers like EA that pump out the same carbon-copy games every year. As it becomes harder for companies to turn a profit, less and less developers are looking to unproven game ideas. Sometimes, when you take a chance, the results are truly wonderful, spawning games like Guitar Hero, The Sims, Shadow of the Colossus, and Katamari Damacy.

1. Stop the casual game market trend. I might be alone on this one, but I feel like this is the most important item on this list. The game industry seems to be evolving, morphing to meet the needs of an expanding market. Take a look at this past month's NPD numbers and you'll see what type of game dominates the Top 20 list. Mini-game collection and mass market crap. Publishers are seeing the changing tide and they are responding with things like the EA Sports family mode. And as more PC games slide over to the consoles, in attempt to cash in and get some $$, they seem to be designed with less customizability and simpler game mechanics in mind. I mean, it's okay to make games more appealing to the mass market, but this can also be done without losing the hardcore audience. Blizzard is very good at this approach of making their games very accessible while still keeping them deep and rewarding to those that make the effort. Sadly, it feels like many developers are simply looking for ways to water down the game experience so that "Alpha Moms" and their kids will enjoy themselves.

Absurdity: Jesus to Kick Ass, in Action Figure Form

2007-07-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this story and my thoughts immediately turned to how perfect these toys would be for little Rod and Todd Flanders. You know what would make this even more educational? If you could squeeze his hand to make him spout bible verses or something.

He could say things like "An eye for an eye" or "God hates fags!".. something to that effect. Maybe throw in a suggestive phrase or two, on important topics like abortion, capital punishment, or even the 'War on Terror'. You know, to start them on the 'right' path early. But you may have some trouble tracking these toys down at your local Wal-Mart.

Only about one-sixth of stores will carry the toys.

I have a hunch which states these might be in.. I'll give you a hint. They're probably the red ones.

The company targets parents who would rather their children play with the faith-based toys rather toys rather than other super hero action figures, the report said.

Well, it's about time kids were taught who the real "superheros" are in this world. Sure, the Transformers are great and all, but can do they have the ability to turn water into wine?? Let's see Spider-man pull off miracles like that. Yeah, that's what I thought. Those "super hero toys" are more like dolls compared to the mighty Jesus action figure. Thanks to Wal-Mart, we can praise the lord, and everyday low prices!

Maybe this will help bring back the kick-ass faith-based video game movement. Be on the lookout for religious gems like these that graced the NES and SNES..

Blizzard's Other Project?

2007-07-14T00:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.destructoid.com/blizzard-has-something-else-up-their-sleeves-35214.phtml

"Our global headcount is 2,700," said Pearce, "And most of that is customer service for World of Warcraft! In terms of development staff it's probably around 350. World of Warcraft is about 135 people, 40 for Starcraft II, 40 for team 3, our cinematics team is about 85 guys. Then there's sound and Q/A and that sort of thing."

3rd dev team?? What are they working on besides wow and sc2?? I bet we'll hear something at Blizzcon this august, cuz they didn't say jack this past week. Could sc ghost be vaporware no more? But maybe it's just another wow expansion. I doubt they'd make another diablo at the same time as starcraft.. I'd actually like to see them try something new though..

...Cuz whatever they make usually has a good art style and laser-honed gameplay. They're pretty much batting 1000, like the pixar of the video game industry. Time to take some risks.

E3 Press Conference Reviews

2007-07-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm only grading their press events on their merits alone and not the consoles themselves, the health of the platforms, or their overall showings at E3 so far. I'll try to come back to each at the end of the week to take a look at the rest of the show. So let's start it off in the order they debuted.

Microsoft:

The goal for them was to keep the buzz going of all the great stuff coming out this fall, and I think they did that pretty well. There was the constant reminder that Halo was coming, with a live processional, live action film teaser, and the single player footage at the end. Yes, we get it.. Master Chief owns all.

There were a few faux pas moments, like Peter Moore pausing the Rock Band game while playing or the hilarious unveiling of the new Halo 3 Special Edition Xbox360 to the sound of crickets. You almost expect something to go wrong at a Microsoft event.

Throughout the entire presentation, their message was clear: we've got tons of big games coming. That was shown literally by the massive amount of live demos being played in front of the crowd. From Rock Band, to PGR 4, to Madden 08, to Call of Duty 4, to Gears of War PC, to Assassin's Creed, they let the games speak for themselves.

Unfortunately, there weren't any real surprises either. The Resident Evil 5 trailer was nice and the Call of Duty demo was interesting, but I never once thought, "OMG WTF?!? That's crazy!!"

Apparently, Microsoft is trying to do a better job breaking into the main stream market, with more Xbox Live video marketplace partnerships with companies like Disney. The upcoming Scene-It and Viva Pinata party games are also examples of this. But whatever, this crap doesn't really affect me, and I could care less.

Overall, they had an okay showing, but they could've shown us some more 2008 stuff like Alan Wake, Fable 2, Halo Wars, and maybe even tease us with a little Banjo Kazooie 3. Instead, they mostly banged the Halo-2007-drum and played it safe with stuff we already knew was coming. Grade: B-

Nintendo:

Nintendo certainly spoke to their phenomenal numbers and with good reason. It was nice to see Reggie "taking names" Fils-Aime smiling so much, as he elaborated on page after page of Powerpoint slides with positive sales figures. Fair enough. With all the profits you're making, you deserve to celebrate a little. The user-generated fanvids were a bit annoying after a while, but still spoke to their core fanbase.

Next they showed off the new "Zapper" and "Steering Wheel" Wii controller attachments, with both Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Mario Kart Wii. It sorta reminded me of all those horrid Cooking Mama and Wii Sports plastic shells and I wondered how Mario Kart Wii would handle with Wii controls. Then I was reminded of how I at first dismissed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, with it's wii-motion sword slashing, but then warmed up to the idea. I guess when you love a series so much, you often see any drastic changes as negative.

Well, online is still kinda up in the air for Nintendo. So far only a few games will be out this fall that allow online play, but with cock-blocking friend codes, I don't think it'll be a big selling point.

They seemed to gloss over some DS stuff (again with the massive success), but besides the demo of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, Brain Age 2, and the trailer of Ninja Gaiden DS, there wasn't much to see. I just don't understand the lack of games on a system that sells a fuck-ton of units every month. Where's New Super Mario Bros 2? Where's the Elite Beat Agents sequel? The currentDS lineup is not looking too hot.

They did make some much needed announcements, like proper release dates for Super Mario Galaxy (Nov 12th) and Super Smash Bros Brawl (Dec 3rd). And the footage of Mario Galaxy was pretty amazing (too bad Metroid looks the same). So I was hoping Shiggy would drop a bomb at the end of the show. A new franchise maybe? Something, anything to get me up and rooting for Mario and co.

So what did he unveil..? Wii Fit (ie: Fitness) was their big reveal. After some dance aerobics videos, yoga exercises, and soccer ball dodging, I was done with this event. Again, I'm not surprised something like this happened.. I'm only disappointed. Disappointed for all the hardcore Nintendo fans who are getting covered in an avalanche of non-games and mass market crap. I'm sure the "Alpha-Moms" will love it, and if so, congratulations on reaching your target audience. Good job leaving your loyal fans behind! Grade: C+

Sony:

After Nintendo's event, I didn't know what to expect from Sony. They started it off with a quirky showing of Home and it was nice to see some of that system-wide integration coming together. Being able to meet up in Home, like an in-game lobby, and play anything you wanted was a pretty cool feature. The price drop mention was brief (as it was already leaked), but necessary.

They also finally revealed a revised design of the PSP (ppl are calling it "PSP Slim") and showed off several games coming out for the system. I think they're starting to understand that portables should not just play dumbed down versions of existing console games, but unique titles that are tailor made for on-the-go play. Echochrome looks interesting, and will even be available for download on PSN as well, which is nice. Chewbacca was probably the weirdest addition to the show, complete w/ his signature growl and special edition Star Wars Battlefront PSP.

Despite their current lack of exclusives, they managed to bring it up a notch with their acquisition of NCSoft (makers of Guild Wars and City of Heroes), as well as the PS3 timed exclusives of Haze and Unreal Tournament 3 for 2007. Unlike Microsoft, Sony didn't many live demos during their press conference (was Killzone 2 being played live?). What they did have were plenty of impressive videos of upcoming titles.

Oddly enough, Lair and Warhawk for absent from the show. Sony did show many others though, including: Heavenly Sword, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Infamous, and many great looking PSN games. The MGS4 trailer kicked ass, as everyone thought it would. Final Fantasy XIII was sadly absent, as was rumble, but we know it's coming (they'll probably show more at TGS).

As the conference winded down, we knew there was one more final announcement. That would be the Killzone 2 trailer. Since I had already seen this the night before, posted on some website, the footage was not quite as powerful, but the game did look great. Maybe not as good as the CGI-trailer from 2 years ago, but finally, the PS3 had something they could stack up next to Gears of War graphically.

Overall, I'd have to say Sony had the best conference, with nothing really to complain about. They had some decent surprises and a good showing of 2008 content as well as 2007 stuff coming soon. Nothing jaw dropping like in previous E3s, but even with the different format this year, Sony was able to do what they needed, and that was "sell this console". Grade: B+

But E3 is far from over, and there is still a lot to see. I hope more is shown of Fable 2, Mass Effect, Mario Galaxy, and GTA IV. For now, I can only wait, and prepare my wallet.. September is right around the corner and the games are coming.

Red Rings of Death Epilogue

2007-07-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

I'm finally able to say I've got my Xbox360 back safe and sound, after my "Red Ring" ordeal. All in all, the whole process took nearly a month (including all shipping and support ). Initially, I held off the repair because the hardware had failed exactly midway into the Halo 3 beta at the end of May. I emailed support, tried troubleshooting it myself, surfed message boards and FAQs, and read up on several "towel exploits", until finally I conceded defeat and made the call to 1-800-4MY-XBOX. The polite man with the noticeable accent said he'd ship me my very own Xbox coffin.. I mean prepaid shipping box. It actually took over a week for that damn UPS shipping box to arrive.

I promptly sent it back, with my dead Xbox fit snuggly in place, rigorously following their directions to a T so that nothing would impede my repair. I made especially sure not to write "Xbox360 repair" on the outside of the box so as not to tip off sticky fingered UPS workers (Blockbuster and NetFlix should really find better ways to camouflage those envelopes).

Then, for two and a half weeks.. dead silence. No confirmation emails. No updates. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to borrow a fully functional 360 console from one of Thao's very generous coworkers (btw, thanks Derek!). For the most part, I was still able to satisfy my healthy gaming addiction with some Halo 3 beta, Halo 2 and Oblivion. It was just shocking the lack of feedback from a company so wired into the computer world.

After going through this ordeal, I've decided I'm definitely buying a 3rd-party cooling accessory, probably the Pelican Fan Stand. It's a shame that a $400 piece of electronics needs an accessory to keep it functioning properly. Seeing how widespread this problem has become, I think it's pretty obvious there's an inherent design flaw the the 360 hardware. Microsoft wanted to get to the next gen early with a decent head start, so they ditched the Xbox1 and brought out a system that could compete with the upcoming Playstation. They built their lead based on software and ultimately nabbed the hardcore audience. When compared to the PS3, it was a great bargain, as it had decent software with some great looking graphics. But maybe this was just a case of it being "too good to be true". There's a reason the PS3 costs $200-300 more. You can see that in the Xbox 360 Elite's whopping $479 price tag.

Update: I have some good news though. After using my reburbed 360 this past weekend, it did feel like the system ran a little cooler than before. From what I remember of my last system, it would get quite hot to the touch on the outside. Even with my new 3rd-party fan stand turned off, those new heatsinks seem to be doing their job. Well, let's just hope this is the last time I have to deal with this crap (*knocks on wood*).. In addition, the complimentary 1-month Xbox Live membership was a nice gesture, but an extended Halo 3 beta period would have been even nicer.

Also, I should note that I did have to call up Microsoft Support one last time, to reauthorize the DRM content on my Xbox360 HDD. This is because any content you buy is locked to the original Xbox360 hardware you bought it on, as well as your online Gamertag profile. So as long as you're signed into Xbox Live, you can access your DRM content on any system (yours, your friend's, etc). But if you're not signed into Live, all your content is locked if you're not using that original system. Take it from me, DRM sucks, and I've had the experience to prove it.

The Summer Blockbuster

2007-06-07T16:00:00.001-07:00

There's something awe-inspiring about the summer blockbuster movie. The term has become part of our culture. A buzzword for the over budget, action packed, usually sequel driven, Hollywood mega movie. The actual genesis of the term stems from the fact that a particular movie has become so popular that movie goers can be seen standing in long lines that literally wrap around the block. Summer 2007 is no different, with a host of extremely hyped-up movies to enjoy. However, I have yet to be won over by any of these.

I think the problem with the movie industry is that they are relying more and more heavily on "hitting it out of the park" with their big budget blockbusters. But the production and marketing costs are getting up into the stratosphere, which ups the risks even further. The sad part of this whole model is that these seemingly mediocre titles continue to do extremely well financially. Just look at how much "Spider-Man 3", "Shrek 3" and "Pirates 3" raked in this past month or so (I've seen both Spider-Man and Pirates and have yet to come out of the theatre with any sort of overwhelming satisfaction). I think it's safe to say these movies have their incredible hype and developed branding to thank.. that, and a couple hundred grand in marketing dollars.

I like to think of it as the American Idol-effect. People will watch or buy what is being talked about. Commericals are talking to them. Giant billboards speak to them. Friends and family talk about how promising these epics will be. The associated, licensed shovel-ware games scream from their Wal-mart boxes at you. Message boards debate about the particular super hero's suit to endless detail. If you really step back and admire it's beauty, the marketing machine can be virtually unstoppable. But when something has this much hype, you're essentially building it up to unachievable heights. Naturally the reviews are going to be bad (and sometimes these are well deserved). The problem is that the hype-machine has already done its job and done it well. No matter how bad a movie is, by week 2 or 3, it's already earned back the production and marketing costs (worldwide or sometimes even domestically) and then some.

This is when those studio executives stop reading the negative reviews and start eying those bags full of money rolling in, and visions of even more sequels begin floating around in their heads. Unfortunately for us, this seems to be an endless cycle, and a vicious one at that. We are the solution to and cause of it all. So if you're wondering why DreamWorks is already planning to make a "Shrek 4" and "Shrek 5", don't blame them, blame yourselves. Or maybe just go out and see "Knocked Up" instead. With a production cost of only $30 million, it's just the opposite of a summer blockbuster.. which means it might actually be good.

How the Wii Could Change Everything

2007-06-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Recently, my family decided they wanted to a get a Nintendo Wii, and so I spent some time looking for ways to find one. So far I have yet to even see a boxed unit in stores. Six months after launch, eBay auctions are still priced higher than retail. This Wii-thing has become a cultural phenomenon, like the DS Lite before it. But what does that mean exactly for the video game industry and your average gaming enthusiast?

Judging by current sales trends, the Wii looks to supplant the Xbox 360 as market leader for this video game generation by 2008 or maybe as early as this Fall. Nintendo consoles are continually at the top of NPD numbers, pointing to a shift in the video game market. Third party publishers like EA and Ubisoft are investing more of their development teams on the Wii. So far, we've seen development of new games fall into two main camps: Next-Gen (PS3, Xbox360, and PC) and New-Gen (Wii, PS2 and PSP). But the rising cost of developing hi-def games is making the risk even greater for game companies who wish to aggressively tackle the Next-Gen.

I think what Nintendo has done successfully is tapped into a market that never significantly existed before, which I'll unfairly refer to as the "non-gamer". Instead of only targeting teenage boys and adult males (which Sony and Microsoft are clearly catering to), Nintendo is focusing on snagging the female gamer and, remarkably, the middle-aged consumer. Games like Wii Sports or Brain Age have a way of drawing in everyone, no matter the age, gender or background. By adding several new groups of users to the mix, Nintendo has really capitalized on broadening the market and helped the industry grow in ways it has never done before.

My only concern is how will the rest of the industry react to this growth? We all know the industry tends to follow suit when a fresh, lucrative idea breaks through (can you say GTA-clone?) but what cues will the publishers take from Nintendo's recent success? So far, many of the highly successful Wii games have been largely minigame-based. Despite their flaws and in some cases cripplingly awful reviews, these games have been selling incredibly well. Perhaps these new consumers do not typically read game magazines or view online game reviews. But to be honest, this type of consumer behavior scares me (amazingly Wii Play is still selling like hotcakes) and I shudder to think what Third-Party publishers will do with even shorter development cycles and more derivative game play.

Not to say that all Wii games aren't for the hardcore gamer. Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess was definitely a solid gaming experience and Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy are on the way. But other than the classic Nintendo series', where are the other games of this caliber? And will this trend trickle onto the other two platforms? As the epic gaming experience becomes more and more costly to make, will developers end up turning to these smaller, more casual, mass-market games? I guess only time will tell.

What I hope will happen is that these new casual gamers will decide they like a certain genre or two and maybe transition into more savvy gaming experiences. Developers might decide to add more accessible game modes to better ease a larger audience into their games. In turn, they could produce improved game interfaces that are more usable and intuitive. Perhaps developers will come to the conclusion that improving graphics should only enhance game experiences, not be the game experience. If these improvements come to fruition, then maybe grandma-gamers aren't so bad after all.

Red Rings of Death

2007-05-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

Seriously, it couldn't have been a better time. I was just about to play some Halo 3 beta tonight, and while it was loading my 360 crashed to a weird brown screen with black vertical lines (the kind you get when you set your PC to a rez that's higher than your monitor can handle). So I turned it off. When I tried turning it back on, I got the infamous "Red Ring 'O Death". It's actually 3 red segiments of death (missing a red segiment in the upper right). So I did this test to figure out the secret error code related to my problem. Turns out it was a general hardware failure due to overheating (error code 0012).. game over!

I guess I should call the Microsoft support line and ask for a repair, but I'm thinking of doing the "towel fix" in the meantime. If it works, I might be able to stave off a repair until after the beta ends and there's nothing to play (I mean, it can't get any worse right?). This sucks. I'm also sending in my DS Lite this very same week too (I think that warranty ends on the 6th of June). What marvelous luck I have!

At least I can still play Starcraft on my PC.. good, old, made-in-1997 Starcraft. Well, it's gonna be a blurry, 640x480 couple of weeks for these spoiled, HD-adjusted eyes.. Maybe I'll just read instead.

More like read about that towel fix..

Lost 3x22 "Through the Looking Glass" Initial Reactions

2007-05-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

Well, Season 3 has just come to a close, ending with a definite "wtf" moment. All the Lost junkies out there will have to wait 8 long months before we get our next fix.. Of course, there will still be a few podcasts to listen to, forums to keep the theory pot stirring, and Comic Con in July, but for the most part that's it until 2008. But let's not focus on that deep void that is we've affectionately come to call the "hiatus". Here's my initial reactions to tonight's episode, "Through the Looking Glass".

The big reveal (a.k.a. the "rattlesnake" or top secret scene of season 3) was that future flash-forwards are now fair game. Apparently, Jack and Kate (possibly others survivors) get off the island alive, safe and sound. Will we see more of future-Jack and future-Kate in future seasons? I'm assuming this type of plot device will take the place of flashbacks for a portion of the remaining seasons. We'll probably still see flashbacks as they've become a staple of the Lost formula, but maybe only for new or less prominent characters.

In conjunction with the final scene is the possibility that only Jack and Kate survived until the end. Perhaps they must sacrifice the rest to save themselves or maybe most of the losties got swept away in that tidal wave of xmas 2004 in the Indian Ocean... only Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse know for sure.

Charlie had to die. Most thought it would happen early in Season 4, but I think having it happen now made it more significant. You had a good run there hobbit. Like most central character deaths on Lost, you served your purpose and resolved your story arc.. you had to go.

Damn, that Mikhail "patchy" guy just refuses to die. I think he could out live Jack Bauer in a fatal wounds contest. We haven't seen the last of him. Maybe we'll find out he was also one of the original Dharma employees that, like Ben, converted over to the hostiles' side.

This was the most off-balance I think we've ever seen of the utterly controlling Ben Linus. He's scrambling to remain in power, but that shift is inevitable. Right now, he's the main villain, but I could see Locke taking over being the "man of faith" that he is.

And what was up with Locke seeing a teenage version of Walt? Growth spurts aside, was that a manifestation of the smoke monster, or was Walt projecting himself through "special" means. The creators has said his rapid growth would be explained should he ever return to the show, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

So, now that Rousseau and her daughter Alex have reunited, will they join the camp or remain mysteriously out in the jungle? I'd like to see them join, but my gut tells me the French lady would never go for it. It would explain the indicated Rousseau flashback for next season, but I don't really know what purpose the two would serve besides helping them fight the Others.

Coming back to the flash-forward.. whose funeral did Jack attend? And why did he mention that his dad, Dr. Christian Shepard was still alive? Is this a hint that Christian Shepard is far from deceased? I sure hope so. How awesome would it be if Jack finds his dad on the island somewhere (can you say Jacob?).

Well.. my biggest question is "What can we expect from Season 4?" Season 1 was the all about survival after the plane crash. Season 2 was about the Hatch. Season 3 was about the Others. What's in store for the next chapter of Lost? Will it revolve around the search for the island by the outside world? Can we expect Penny to play a more important role next year? Will we come to understand the forces that the Others are fighting?

As you can see, I've got more questions than answers, but I guess that's Lost for you. Not that that's a necessarily a bad thing. If this show didn't make me think, I wouldn't be half as addicted to it. Well, that's all I have for now. Stay Lost!

Happiest Place on Earth

2007-05-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

I recently had the good fortune to get free tickets to both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure theme parks, thanks to Thao's best friend Baothy. I hadn't been to the tourist capital of Orange County for at least a few years now, so it was nice to go on a hot summer day and just have a good time.

Oddly enough, I always felt betrayed by my fond childhood memories of the park's size. When I look at it now, Snow White's Castle is tiny and the Matterhorn mountain seems easily scalable. Many of the things I remember have changed to fit the modern era (Chevron Autopia cars, Finding Nemo submarine, Pirates of the Caribbean w/ Jack Sparrow, etc). But some of these changes were a welcome edition, most notably, the remodelled Space Mountain was a much faster blast! It's nice that many of the older rides have remained, albeit, in a new form. As an entertaining attraction, most of the park's glitter has worn off on me, but the nostalgic aspects of the Disneyland of yesteryear still remain with me to this day.

This was also the first time I'd ever been to the "other" Disneyland park, California Adventure. I'd heard the stories and was aware of the identical $63 price tag, but I was surprised to find a handful of enjoyable rides. The California Screamin' rollercoaster was a real treat. One of the most enjoyable rollercoasters I've been on in quite some time, actually. It pretty much has it all; Superman The Ride style start-off, plenty of fast-turning G-forces, a loop, a drop, zero-G bunny hops, and surprisingly, a soundtrack you can hear the whole way through. The Big Foot Rapids-type ride was dizzying fun. The Soaring Over California ride was pure relaxation, and a fine way to end the night.

It might have been the fact that our tickets were free, but all in all, we had a great time. Here to hoping our Disney World trip in August will be just as enjoyable.

Why the Emphasis on Sales Figures?

2007-04-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Can we please stop with the constant barrage of consoles sales figures being tossed around the Internet. It seems like the only thing that makes news headlines these days seem to involve market analysts and NPD numbers. I mean, do people really find this kind of news exciting? Yes, sales numbers are important, but honestly, we shouldn't base our decisions solely on how many Wiis are selling this week or how well Sony is doing in Japan.

Look at it this way... are you ever excited to hear about the latest number one movie in America? Does the fact that millions of people flock to the theatres mean you're going to love this movie? I would have to say no, the collective mob is not a good barometer for what should be considered "good" entertainment. Imagine if the stock market were covered in the media this way? But it's not, because it changes every week, every day, even every hour. Instead, financial analysts focus more on the trends that appear over time. This is what matters. The big picture.

If you're going to announce sales numbers, do it right. I mean seriously, please explain the significance of declaring the top 10 highest selling games in Japan or Europe or any other geographically isolated region of the world. Different regions have different tastes, so the success of a product shouldn't be tied to one country. It's nice to have market penetration in every region, but that's clearly not necessary in order to be successful. If you're going to post sales charts, post global numbers. Otherwise, they're utterly meaningless and only stand to fan the message board flame wars that will inevitably ensue.

You Might Call This a Post-Modern Problem

2007-04-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Is there a 12-step program for internet addiction, because if there is, I need it. Okay, maybe that's a little bit over dramatic... But it wouldn't be a stretch to say that I like to check my RSS feeds like a madman (thank you Google Reader!). The whole Twitter thing doesn't really help the problem either, which is why I will say "goodbye" to Twitter. The whole micro-blogging thing is a bit too ADD for me.

I'll admit, it's nice to use blogs and sites like digg to get news and information as quickly as humanly possible, but the updates get to be like crack, and when that happens it's certainly not a pretty sight. In all seriousness though, I'm getting a bit jaded over this whole "information-fix" mentality that sites like digg and gamerblogs like joystiq and kotaku provide. Mark this day on your calendar folks, because from now on, I will be limiting my time on sites like this, and relying more on podcasts to keep informed on all things tech (hey, it's still better than watching the news!).

~

We'll see how long this actually lasts. I'm curious to see if I can even go one day without opening my Firefox browser... even I have my doubts.

Whatcha Been Playing?

2007-04-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy playing a variety of things these past few weeks. I'd say the majority of my free time was spent on completing Zelda Twilight Princess for the Wii. Clocking in at just over 45 hours, Twilight Princess is by far the longest Zelda experience I've ever had. Not that I'm complaining -- on the contrary -- the game was top notch. I'll admit though, those last 3 dungeons were a little unncessary. IMHO, I would have liked it better if the other dungeons were better and more developed. I'm guessing that the delay to Wii launch actually afforded the developers more time to add the last few and make it a longer game, but longer is not always better. Nine times out of Ten, quality beats quantity. Overall though, the game definetely lives up the Zelda legacy. Here's to hoping the next iteration breaks the mold, and does for the Zelda series what Resident Evil 4 did for that series. Some more Zelda II-style RPG elements would be nice!

I also just started Super Paper Mario. I'm on Chapter 2-1, and so far, it's pretty fun. I'm curious what other interesting gameplay mechanics this game has to offer, but at the very least, the 2D/3D switching is very clever.

Over on the 360, the new (and free) Gears of War DLC (downloadable content) was released last week. Most notably, this added the much awaited new multiplayer game mode "Annex." More Unreal Tournament 2004 than Counter-Strike now, the new mode allows infinite respwans (every 15 seconds) and a capture point system that makes it more strategic and much faster paced. I played online and was immediately reminded how rusty I've become at the whole "stop and pop" gameplay of Gears. The good news is that a few kind souls bumped my 3 star Xbox Live rep status up a bit. Now if only the free Crackdown DLC would arrive already, I could dust off that game and get back to lunging 50 feet in the air again.

I got to try out the new Boom Boom Rocket Live Arcade game demo, but I'm pretty disappointed with how that game turned out. I think those Geometry Wars guys should go back to the drawing board and give us what we really want... a Geometry Wars sequel w/ onlnie co-op. I did enjoy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles Arcade xbox live arcade port though. The infinite lives feature sorta limits the game's replay value, but it's hard to beat 4-player ninja turles nostalgia (...and Donatello still kicks ass!!!)

Next month should be pretty crazy. Forza Motorsport 2 is coming out for the 360, but I'll probably wait on that one (the first game was pretty good actually). But the big thing in May would have to be the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, coming May 16th. It's only gonna be 3 weeks long, but let's be honest here.. any amount of face time with the as of now unreleased Halo game is something to get excited about. And with Mass Effect just around the corner and Ouendan 2 lined up for a DS release, my spring and summer are basically set.

8 Points of Revelation - Exposé

2007-03-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a cue from one of my favorite Lost podcasts, Get Lost with Scott and Steve (sadly, it's no longer active), and starting my very own list of the "8 Points of Revelation" for the latest episode of Lost, Exposé.

So, in no particular order...

1. Billy Dee Williams is still awesome. He was awesome as Lando. He's apparently awesome in Command and Conquer 3 as a GDI director...

2. The underground tunnel system has been confirmed. We've seen hints of a tunnel system on the lockdown map, but now we see the Others have obviously used them to get to the Pearl station. There's also hard evidence now that the Others have been monitoring the Swan station via the Pearl.

3. Charlie cleanses his soul and confesses his sins to Sun. It took him an entire season, but at last Charlie is finally free from the guilt of kidnapping Sun. Why do the Other's always gotta be the scapegoat, anyway? So is this it for Charlie, now that he's come full circle? I guess only Desmond knows.

4. No one on this island shares any information. Fans have always complained about the writers for not portraying the sharing of information amongst the "losties," but this episode clearly shows that no one share much of anything with each other. Paulo could have warned them of Ben's plan or revealed the Others'walkie talkie. Either one would have helped when the A-team decided to take on the Others.

5. Winter is coming. It's now day 81 (that's Dec 12th, 2004 for those of you keeping track). Thanksgiving was 2 weeks prior, and so the winter season is finally here. We'll soon see the impact the seasons will have on our survivors, if Locke's revelation to Paulo of the rising tide is any indication. I was gonna say the "2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami" is coming, but it doesn't look like it really affected the eastern-side of Malaysia as much, where it's assumed the island is located. I guess we'll see.

6. You should wait 9 hours before burying dead bodies. I'm sure Nikki and Paulo would agree with me on this one. 8 hours just isn't enough time to be 100% certain a person is really dead. 10 hours is a ridiculously long time. No, you should always wait 9 hours, just to be sure.

7. Nikki and Paulo weren't good people. As far as we've seen from their flashback, these two might have genuinely deserved to die. Negative fan reactions aside, even after we "knew" who these characters were, it didn't cause me to like them any more (unlike Shannon and Ana Lucia). Hopefully we'll see more info on these two that'll shed some light as to why we were even introduced to them at all.

8. The writers of Lost enjoy adding easter egg references to their fans. Hurley's misplaced insistence that the "[smoke] monster" is the only logical answer to what happened to Nikki and Paulo, is a playful jab by the writers that there is no Dues ex machina device that will explain all the island's mysteries.

Twitter

2007-03-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to finally try out Twitter, so I created an account (twitter.com/Nukem945). So far, I can't really think of any cool uses for the web service, other than using it as a more versatile "away message" with RSS support. I could see if being very useful as a public live blogging tool for relaying bits of news very quickly (it refreshes about every 2 minutes), like at a keynote or trade show.

As for using it on a daily basis, it's really only useful to the people who might be checking in on you. It's really more like a undirected, public instant message that your friends can see. I suppose if you subscribed to a bunch of people's twitter RSS feeds and fed them into an RSS reader like Google Reader, then you could receive updates from your contacts without using email at all. The problem with this is that it's almost too much work to set up and email is already standard-practice for most people.

I guess I'll have to play around with it some more and see if it is indeed useful, or if it's just another flashy web app that becomes lost in the infinite sea of web apps.

I actually did a bit more looking around, and apparently, there's a lot more text message and AIM integration invovled. I'm not really into either of these, but there's potential there, I guess. Like many things on the internet, it's only as good as the community of users who use it.

Weekly Radar - Week of March 26th, 2007

2007-03-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

This Week in Gaming
3/26 Command and Conquer 3 (PC/Xbox360)
3/27 Oblvion: Shivering Isles expansion (PC/XBox360)
3/29 Calling All Cars (PS3 Network)
3/29 Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer @3pm PST (check it out)

This Week in Movies
3/30 Blades of Glory (Will Ferrell.. figure skating.. need I say more?)

This Week in TV
3/26 24 - 8PM-9PM
3/28 LOST - 314 - Exposé (Paulo & Nikki flashback)
3/28 Naruto Shippuuden - 006/007 (no more false alarms)
3/29 Grey's Anatomy - 319 - My Favorite Mistake
* no new episodes of Heroes, The Office, Desperate Housewives

FYI.. The Office returns next week!!!

Fanboys Whine Over Nothing

2007-03-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

This past week, a very vocal group of Sony fanboys created another one of those meaningless Internet petitions games to boycott Capcom games, due to the fact that Capcom has decided to make Devil May Cry 4 into a multi-platform game for the Xbox360 as well. Now, I could understand gamers' frustrations if their favorite series moved to a different platform and remained exclusive for that new system, but this is obviously not the case. If you bought a PS3, you can still enjoy this game. But this console war seems to go beyond the normal rivalry of the "my team's better than your team" mentality. Fanboys are taking stances more akin to crazy, religion fanatics who no longer use reason and refuse compromise.

The fact remains that Devil May Cry 4 will still come to the PS3. In addition, there has been no indication that this will be a timed exclusive (like Virtua Fighter 5), where one version is released earlier, or will offer less features (a la GTA IV). In the end, it comes down to simple economics. At this early point in the PS3's lifecylce, a game like Grand Theft Auto IV cannot hope to sell enough copies to remain exclusive to one platform. With skyrocketing next-gen development costs reaching $20 million, the risk becomes great. By releasing their games on multiple platforms, third party-developers can lessen the burden.

As for me, I'm just excited that all these great, previously PlayStation-only IPs are coming to the Xbox360. All I need now are for Kojima (Metal Gear Solid 4) and Square-Enix (Final Fantasy XIII) to make the jump to multi-platform developer status, then I might not even need to get a PS3.

Capcom Responds to Fanboy Petition.. (see Christian Svensson's post)

Btw, here's a list of recently announced games that were originally PlayStation properties that are heading to both platforms (PS3 and Xbox360) in the near future:

- Grand Theft Auto IV (next-gen GTA)
- Assassin's Creed (next-gen Price of Persia?)
- Resident Evil 5 (where's the Wii-love?)
- Devil May Cry 4
- Beautiful Katamari (coming to all major platforms)
- Ace Combat 6 (right now, only Xbox360)
- Unreal Tournament 3
- Guitar Hero II (also coming to Wii)
- Virtua Fighter 5 (timed exclusive)
- Mercenaries 2

Weekly Radar - Week of March 19th, 2007

2007-03-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

This Week in Gaming
3/20 Cooking Mama: Cook Off (Wii)
3/21 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (XBox Live Arcade)

This Week in Movies
3/23 TMNT (for the kids)
3/23 The Last Mimzy (Raine Wilson's in it..)

This Week in TV
3/19 24 - 7PM-8PM
3/21 LOST - 313 - The Man From Tallahassee (Locke flashback)
3/21 Naruto Shippuuden - 006/007 - The art is a bang/Naruto Shippuuden Special
* no new episodes of Heroes, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives

RPGs Infiltrate the Puzzle Genre

2007-03-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is a bit out of left field, but I've been noticing recently that some puzzle games have been assimilating various Role Playing Game (RPG) elements in them. Two upcoming DS games, Zendoku and Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, both incorporate battling and experience-gathering into traditional puzzle games (Sudoku and Bejeweled, respectively). The popular PopCap word-game Bookworm has also received a similar treatment with last year's Bookworm Adventures, which adds many game mechanics that RPG-veterans will immediately recognize. This latest PopCap installment goes so far as to feature turn-based combat (using words as your weapons), potions to heal you, and damage-modifying gems.

Personally, I welcome any game that decides to blend elements of different genres together, as long as it's done well. Games that incorporate RPG elements are especially great, because adding that sense of growth in power and accomplishment can be extremely addicting. If you've ever played the Diablo series you will know how addicting this concept can be. The game play wasn't incredibly deep, nor was the story very involving, yet the game drew you in and always kept you saying, just one more dungeon, or one more experience level.

In a way, the different genres are bending more and more towards one another. I think what we will begin to see is blurring of the lines between what is hybrid and what is traditionally a separate genre. It's happening in many subtle ways, but eventually, I don't think you will be able to easily classify games as Shooter, or RPG, or Racing, or RTS, etc. Mass Effect has Shooter elements within it, Gran Turismo is part RPG and part driving sim, and then you've got games like GTA that encompass a little bit of everything. This is the direction gamnig is headed, and I'm exciting. In the end, when it really comes down to it, does it really matter what genre a game is if you enjoy playing it?

Weekly Radar - Week of March 12th, 2007

2007-03-13T02:54:00.001-07:00

This Week in Gaming
3/13 God of War 2 (PS2) ~ 95% metacritic
3/14 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade game (Xbox Live Arcade)

This Week in Movies
3/13 Casino Royale (on DVD)
3/14 Shooter (free screening)

This Week in TV
3/14 LOST - 311 - Par Avion (Claire flashback)
3/14 Naruto Shippuuden - 005 - As the Kazakage...!
3/12 24 - 6PM-7PM
3/15 Grey's Anatomy - 318 - Scars and Souvenirs
* no new episodes of Heroes, The Office, Desperate Housewives

You Don't Know Jack is Back in Flash

2007-03-13T02:13:00.001-07:00

Man, You Don't Know Jack was awesome back in the days. It still throws me off how the first part of the question and the second part usually have nothing in common, but they're always joined together in a wacky way. Hey, kinda like a Simpsons episode. The website even has a daily "Dis or Dat" (rss feed), which is cool, cuz the Jack games are fun in bite-sized pieces. So check it out. Play the first few episodes for free.

Stop the Presses! Cue the Positive PS3 News

2007-03-13T01:35:00.000-07:00

The Sony spin machine got a little break last week during the Game Developer's Conference (GDC), mostly because their products actually spoke for themselves. Among them were the newly announced Playstation Home community and indie game Little Big Planet. For the first time, since last year's E3, the hailstorm of negative comments and criticisms have subsided.

So.. Step 1, Make good games. Step 2 ??? Step 3, Profit. Easy as pie!

Oh and another thing.. Maybe the PR department at Sony should keep their executives quiet. Otherwise, they may say something they might regret later.

Screen Time

2007-03-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how much time we spend in front of screens every day. On top of the 8 hours of the day at your work computer, there's the home web browsing, not to mention TV watching, world of warcraft pwning, netflixing, myspace surfing, digging, movie going, and microwaving. Then, when you throw in time with your PDA, cellphone, or other device, possibly a portable gaming handheld or some sort of ipod (i think today, it's actually simplier to classify all devices as either "ipod" or "non-ipod"), that all adds up to a whole lot of screen time.

Granted, most of these devices I use are flat screen-based LCDs monitors, which are supposed to be easier on the eyes. Still, I would venture to say that I spend about 70 to 80 percent of my waking hours with my eyes glued to some sort of screen, and that's a little bit frightening.

You know, I really should read more. And not just blogs and websites and email (they don't really count), but real paper with real printed text. You can't replace paper-based books. Well.. actually, maybe you can. Nevermind. Paper's heavy and overrated anyway. Poor trees. Okay, I think I've made my point: Don't hurt trees.

So.. how much time do you spend looking at screens? Is it greater than zero? I bet it is..

Get Ready... GDC Is Coming!

2007-03-03T17:40:00.000-08:00

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is set to begin next week in San Francisco, CA. With E3 seemingly on the way out, or at least scaled down considerably, other gaming trade shows will have to pick up the slack. While E3 was much more oriented towards the press and game enthusiasts, GDC gives the developers the spotlight and allows them to share their ideas in a more creative environment.

This year, some notable guest speakers are scheduled to give keynote presentations. Namely, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Sony's Phil Harrison. But it's not all campfire songs and motivational speeches either. Expect to hear some big announcements next week, as the Big 3 try to position themselves for the coming year's releases. Personally, I'm hoping for an official Halo 3 release date (we've got one for GTA) and maybe some more info on titles like Mass Effect, Bioshock and Assassin's Creed.

There are a number of predictions going around, some plausible, some long shots. I think the announcement of the HDMI-enabled XBox360, with larger HDD, and 65nm CPU is very possible. I hope we'll see what Killzone 2 really looks like. I'm also interested in seeing more of Super Paper Mario (releases next month) and Super Mario Galaxy. Maybe some GTA IV details before the game actually ships. I just want to see the rainbow on the other side of this Winter drought, because I know there's a lot coming this year. It's just a matter of having enough time enjoy all the gaming goodness, with each megaton game conveniently spaced apart.

Also, I hope this is the last year we're gonna hear more about the upcoming phenomenon known as Spore. I know it's gonna be amazing and groundbreaking, but how many E3's do we have to hear about that game? I swear, I think I knew about that game before it came out longer than I knew about Diablo 2 and Half-Life 2 combined.

Apple iPhone Looks Down on Inferier Products

2007-03-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Apple's Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook launched a rather arrogant comment at a recent trade conference in Vegas, citing that:

"A lot of people pay zero for the cell phone. Guess why? That's what it's worth.." "If we offer something that has tremendous value, that is sort of this thing people didn't have in their consciousness -- it was not imaginable -- then I think there's a whole bunch of people that will pay $499, $599.''

So we should want to spend our hard earned cash on expensive devices?? Funny Apple. See, I had this crazy idea that cell phone service providers like AT&T were subsidizing the cost of new phones in exchange for your contract to pay them for at least 2 years of service. But I guess those phones are actually worth NOTHING because they're free. Boy was I wrong!

Now, I don't want to be speculative here, but doesn't this strike a similar cord to Ken Kutaragi's (Sony Computer Entertainment Inc) famous quote concerning the then unreleased PS3:

"[Our goal is] for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."

It is a fact, Apple charges a premium for their products. Look how the ipod single-handedly inflated the mp3 player market. Trust me, hard-drives don't cost that much. Now I'm not willing to argue whether their products deserve that margin. It's slick, I'll give them that. But, I do feel there's a difference between 'confidence' and 'arrogance' and right now Apple is walking that thin line.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=AAPL:US&sid=ayU3qJTMZ62w

Arcades Find a New Home

2007-02-28T21:04:00.000-08:00

Although physical arcades have pretty much gone the way of the dodo (Boomers, GameWorks, and mini-golf places are just about the only arcade hot-spots in North America that I can think of), those quick, "pick up and play" experiences have pretty much shifted to handheld systems and Downloadable Content (DLC). I'm here to elaborate on the latter method of gaming.

Historically, downloadable games have been around for a long time on PCs. Back in the 90's, "shareware" was a new concept for letting people try out a game with the intention of purchasing the remaining two-thirds if they really enjoyed it. Today, companies like Popcap Games make flash versions of their games available for free, and offer downloadable deluxe versions for sale. Now, this business model is making it's way to the consoles in a big way, with each company taking their own unique direction towards dominance of this new market.

Can you even tell what's going on in this Geometry Wars screenshot?

Microsoft's XBox Live Arcade, a carry over from the original XBox, offers a creative canvas for smaller, independent developers to create $5 - $15 gaming experiences, while also providing revisions to nostalgic classics like Frogger and Street Fighter II. This double dose of content offers a nice balance of alternate gaming experiences like the addicting Geometry Wars, while fleshing out the library with high-def remakes like Caslevania Symphony of the Night, Ikaruga, and Alien Hominid. Also look for some new upcoming titles such as Boom Boom Rocket (from the makers of Geometry Wars), Castle Crashers, and Mutant Storm Empire.

PS3 owners were treated to Gran Turismo HD for free.

Sony's Playstation Network (PSN) takes the downloadable games concept in a whole new direction with their "Download Initiative." In addition to offering smaller independently made games like the revamped flash game flOw, Sony has assigned many of its key first-party development studios to make slightly meatier download-only games. David Jaffe of SCE (God of War fame) is working on fun new title called Calling All Cars. Recently, Sony also released Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection and the concept game Gran Turismo HD as download initiative titles. With talk of the new Warhawk game possibly being download-only, the Playstation Network could provide a new avenue for game companies to push scaled-down versions of troubled products for less than half the price of store bought games. If anything, it gives the PS3 a way to distinguish itself from its competitors.

Cult classic Alien Hominid is coming to Xbox Live Arcade in high def.

Finally, Nintendo, although not fully embracing online yet in the traditional sense, has their own system of offering downloadable games. By offering titles, via the Virtual Console, from their own immense back catalog of software, along with games from Sega Genesis, Turbo Graffix 16, and Neo Geo, it seems Nintendo has potentially the strongest collection of classic games. The fact that they only debut between 1 - 4 games a week (every Monday) only works to keep up demand and anticipation for these titles you probably already own. Though they don't yet support original downloadable content, I feel this is a space they will soon occupy. Who wouldn't want to create a small, yet clever new way to use the Wii-mote?

This is yet another example of why the 3 way competition (or console war, if you prefer) works. If you were to take one of these away, you'd really be missing something. The third wheel in this race is just as essential as the other two, plain and simple.

Naruto Drinking Game

2007-02-26T23:33:00.000-08:00

After watching the first 3 episodes of the new Naruto Shippuuden series, I thought I'd create a Naruto drinking game, to celebrate the end of crappy filler storylines. So raise your preferred beverage of choice... And here's to a new season!

Take a drink if...

- Naruto proclaims that he will "definitely become Hokage."

- During the middle of an episode, we see a flashback of a scene that has already been shown before.

- The flashback depicts the scene where Naruto and Sasuke attack each other with their signature finishing moves while Sakura tries to stop them. (take 2 drinks)

- Anyone makes a perverted remark towards women.

- Naruto shouts to world that he "definitely won't lose."

- Any ninja attacks another ninja, only to find out they used the Replacement Technique to escape, leaving behind a log in their place.

- Naruto eats his favorite food, ramen.

- Another never before seen method of using Chakra is demonstrated.

- A new Intro or Outro song and segment are introduced. (take 3 drinks!)

PS3 Song: "How You Killed Your Brand"

2007-02-24T12:34:00.001-08:00

Crackdown is Here...

2007-02-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

And the flavor of the month is... Crackdown!

Created by Realtime Worlds (founded by David Jones, creator of Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings), Crackdown is basically a sandbox GTA-type game with super hero-like abilities which make it a blast to play. Jumping from building to building is incredibly satisfying. The whole "skills-for-kills" aspect of leveling up your character by fighting the enemy gangs in specific ways is great RPG convention that I think you'll see most games will adopt or continue to use going forward. The cell-shaded graphics are refreshing and much better looking in the actual gameplay. I also can't wait to try out some more creative things in the Live Co-op mode.

However, the missions are a little repetitive, with most dissolving into the generic "kill this guy and all his minions" goal. Since I'm only at the second island (out of three), hopefully I'll see a little more variety in mission objectives later on. The targeting systems seems a little unpolished, sometimes locking onto a dead corpse instead of an attacking enemy. Still, I think this game has so much potential. I am really looking forward to seeing what free additional content they will add in the near future (the game only ships with 900 achievement points).

I've still got a ways to go in the single player and my guy is only about 40% leveled up, so I still haven't seen everything yet. But this game could definitely use some additional side quest activities. Other than scaling buildings, buffing your character and taking on car/rooftop races, there's not much else to do. I'd like to maybe see some "kill frenzy" challenges (a la Grand Theft Auto 2) or maybe some other interesting and useful collectibles added via downloadable content.

As a Side Note: Building scaling (and searching for agility orbs) has become one of the most enjoyable parts of this game for me. I actually just got the achievement for climbing the tallest building in the game and then another for jumping into a tiny pool of water beneath it. Seriously, I think this is the first time I've ever experienced a real sense of vertigo in a videogame before... and it was awesome!

Oh yeah, and it does come with the Halo 3 beta.. but that's just icing on the cake!

Double Your Viewing Pleasure

2007-02-21T21:18:00.000-08:00

No, that's not really a picture of my desktop setup. But that would be awesome. You see, I recently bought a 19" LCD display, despite the fact that my current Viewsonic 17" CRT hardware is working perfectly fine. Now granted, I'm not usually much of an impulse buyer, but the President's Day deal at Microcenter was just too good to pass up. So what's the solution, you might ask? A dual-display setup. You know it!

But since the monitors are different sizes, it might seem odd to stick them side-by-side. The beauty in this setup is that the 19" LCD is widescreen (1440 x 900), so they're actually both about the same height. Still.. why two monitors??

Though I'm still figuring out creative ways to utilize this, here are a few things you can do w/ a dual display setup.

1. Dedicate one monitor for the web (ie: the secondary monitor on the right). This way you can watch movies/tv shows on the other screen, while simultaneously looking up stuff or checking email. Keep in mind, in each of these scenarios you can set either display as the primary monitor, whichever is more convenient for you.

2. Keep one monitor for gaming. In truth, I have yet to find a fullscreen game that allows effortless display switching once the game is running. I have found that you usually have to alt-tab out of the game to access your web browser on the other screen. This doesn't mean you can't open a read-only gamefaq webpage or word document on the other screen.

3. Multi-task. Multi-task. Multi-task. This one is pretty obvious, but worth pointing out. The main reason for doubling your desktop area is to increase your amount of simultaneous applications running. Turning your head a few degrees is often much faster than tediously alt-tabbing to get to the other programs you're using, and especially more efficient than shuffling taskbar items around.

4. Two is better than one! What's better than one beautiful display?? Well.. having two displays, obviously. Now I know you're gonna eventually get diminishing marginal returns. Much like the damn "Mach 3" razor blades and ridiculous quad-core CPUs coming out. I know, it's quality over quantity, but c'mon, I'm sure you could use it for something. If nothing else, you can enjoy watching the Windows defrag screen on that second screen.

On a side note, I was disappointed to immediately find a "stuck pixel" on my brand new LCD screen. In the past, I've been lucky enough to never encounter this problem, but now I was faced with how to fix said pixel. First though, I'd like to clarify that there's a difference between a "dead pixel," a "hot pixel," and a "stuck pixel". A dead pixel is defective and always appears black, a hot pixel is always lit and appears white, while a stuck pixel means that one or more of the sub-pixels (red, blue, green) are permanently turned on. In my case, I had one tiny pixel that was always blue, which was only noticeable in an all black screen.

I was able to fix this quite easily through some of the links on the Stuck Pixel Wikipedia entry. Using a special video file of flashing red, green and blue, the stuck pixel was gone rather effortlessly. I ran the video, found on this website (linked here), directly over the pixel for about half and hour and that was it.

In addition, I also found a great third-party application called UltraMon (Windows only) for extending the taskbar over to the second screen, not to mention several other great features. So check it out if you've got a dual setup for Windows.

2007 = Gaming Bliss

2007-02-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

It's 2007 and it is great to be a gamer! With so many major release slated to come out this year, 2007 is looking like a golden Renaissance for gaming.

On the XBox360 front, we're going to see AAA titles like Mass Effect, Halo 3, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto IV, Forza Motorsport 2, Assassin's Creed, Too Human, Alan Wake, Unreal Tournament 3, and Virtua Fighter 5. We'll also definitely get some incredible new and original Xbox Live Arcade games from smaller developers, while the first party studios will continue to release heavy hitting AAA titles. Also look for Microsoft to launch their "Live Anywhere" service which will add Xbox Live features to Windows Vista and mobile communicators.

On the Wii side of things, you can look forward to Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros Brawl, and Super Paper Mario. Hopefully, Nintendo will finally announce plans for original game content on the Virtual Console and keep us busy with plenty of classic VC releases and some interesting new Wii Channels. And let's not forget about the "money-printing" DS , which is sure to continue breaking records with titles like Pokemon Diamond, Dragon Quest IX, and hopefully, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

Looking over the to PS3, we've got Virtua Fighter 5, MotorStorm, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Lair, Heavenly Sword, Killzone 2, GTA IV, Assassin's Creed, UT 3, and, should the video game gods smile us, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The Playstation Network is also aggressively pushing their "Download Initiative", to release major titles for download only, such as the recent Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. However, the PS3 is not alone, because unlike Sony's competitors, they have not ditched their previous gen system and don't plan to any time soon. The PS2 may still have a bit of life it in, with the monster that is God of War II coming out this March.

Finally, the PC will make a strong showing this year, with the simultaneous launch of Windows Vista and DirectX 10 video cards. And although the next-gen systems are still brand new, these new graphics cards will rival anything seen on the PS3 and XBox360. Look for games like Crysis to take full advantage of this new technology. Command and Conquer III will bring the series back to its roots, while others like Supreme Commander, Quake Wars, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and expansion Oblivion: Shivering Isles will keep your gaming rigs useful. And the gaming event 5 years in the making.. Spore, will likely see its way into your Sims-obsessed lives. There are also a slew of newMMORPGs out there, but don't count on anyone overtaking the King that is WoW any time soon.

If you have any of these systems this year, you are gonna be one happy camper. But know that delays will occur. It's inevitable. Don't be surprised if Metal Gear Solid 4 slips to next year. Also, considering that we have heard zero information fromRockstar since E3 2006, I wouldn't be shocked to hear of GTA IV being delayed. And fans of the Final Fantasy series will probably have to wait until 2008 to see the XIII franchise emerge, but a demo may be in store for this year.

Keeping all that in mind, there are titles that I think their platforms will greatly depend on this year. These are titles that could potentially cripple the system if they don't make it in 2007. For starters, Halo 3 needs to ship, as promised, in Fall 2007. Microsoft is depending on Bungie, just as the XBox 1 ("Halo Box") did. Sony also desperately needs a monster title to hit the PS3 this year, and that title should be Metal Gear Solid 4, but who knows, maybe something else will come along. Whether Kojima will make this happen remains to be seen. Lastly, the Wii needs its mascot to make a triumphant return in Super Mario Galaxy. Where are the awesome first-party titles we've been promised that will set this system apart from the Gamecube??

However, games are only going to be half the battle. If this year is to be successful, the Big 3 will need to get their supply lines in order and ship units. Sony and Microsoft will also need to give new gamers an incentive to buy with a price drop this year. Regardless, 2007 is guaranteed to be a landmark year for the industry. No matter who wins this console war, the true winners will ultimately be the gamers.

Lost S03E07 Not in Portland

2007-02-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

Well, the 3-month 'Lost' hiatus ended last night and it brought the season back with a bang! Lots of jaw dropping moments, some great insight into our first 'Other' back story, and yes, lots of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. I won't discuss the entire episode, since Lost is better watched than read. However, I do want to delve into some of the reveals from this episode.

I think the most intriguing reveals actually centered around Juliet. Judging from the brief appearances of Ethan Rom (aka "Other Man") it seems like he could be some sort of recruiter for Dharma. We'll definitely see more of him in future flashbacks. One of the bigger reveals came via Jack's continued insistence in knowing what Ben had said to her in the operating room. I think most of us had assumed that Juliet was one of the more notable members of the Others. She's always seemed bent on overthrowing Ben, and now we understand why (assuming she's not outright lying to Jack). Simply put, she just wants to get off the island. If this is true, then she's not much different than the our Lostaways.

This also changes our perspective on many of the events of the past 6 episodes. In the opening scene of Season 3, her breakdown during the song "Downtown" might have been attributed to her longing to get off the island. The same could be said about her continued resistance to the Others and to Ben. Maybe her plot to have Ben killed at the hands of surgeon Jack was really what she wanted after all. When all is said and done, she's just doing what is necessary to break free of her imprisonment and get back the life she once had. Here's to hoping for a Michael-like betrayal in the near future.

What's got me puzzled is why Dharma/Hanso Foundation would need a fertility doctor with her research knowledge. Could it be that the Others are sterile? Or are they messing with scientific experiments that cross the ethical boundaries no man was meant to cross? Something can certainly be said about their questionable recruitment practices, however. I mean, you can already see the extent they are willing to go to get people on this island (or pair of islands). This really reinforces my previous theory that all the survivors on the island were influenced in finding their way on the island somehow.

And how about the fact that Ben is Alex's father (most likely surrogate). Does she even know about her French Mom, Rousseau? Well, at least she'll be a more regular character moving forward. On the other hand, her boyfriend Karl has definitely had his fair share of brainwashing ('Clockwork Orange' anyone?). It's kinda disturbing to think, but could the kidnapped children from the tail section have received this same treatment as well? Or are they off marching the island like the Lost boys of Peter Pan, hiding in holes in the ground like Alexandra? I think the "Two groups of Others" theory works well in this case. Perhaps the children are with Cindy (the flight attendant) and her group of Others. Maybe the "Tale of Two Cites" references these two Others groups and their constant conflicts.

At any rate, there's so much more to uncover this season. We haven't even seen our beach-dwelling Lostaways since the Fall pod of episodes. Will Locke and company "look North" and find answers?? Where are Sayid, Sun, and Jin?? And what's the deal with Desmond's newly uncovered mystic ability??

Angry Nintendo Nerd

2006-11-02T23:29:00.000-08:00

This is hilarious!! Just to give you a warning though, it contains some strong language and extra nerdiness. Watch at your own risk!

Watch more awesome videos of awesomeness at www.screwattack.com/

What's Taking Up All That Space?

2006-11-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

Have you ever sat down and checked to see what was taking up all your hard drive space? And then you find out it's some random files that you don't even use anymore.

Okay, so I was looking through the contents on my iPod in iTunes and I was curious how much space each type of digtal media was taking up to fill my 60GB HDD. I was shocked to discover how much space has become dedicated to various podcasts over the past year or so.

First off, my 60GB ipod really only has about 55GB of usable space... you know, because of taxes. Haha, okay bad joke. It's funny though, I actually remember a news story about someone who sued a HDD manufacturer because they said it was false advertising, since their hard drive didn't actually come w/ all 200GBytes or whatever.

Here's the breakdown:

° 3.87 GB is free space
° 15.14 GB is actual music
° 18.91 GB is Audio Podcasts
° 2.34 GB is Video Podcasts
° 5.31 GB is Audiobooks
° 8.42 GB is Video
° 1.69 GB is photos

Now, 19 GB seems like a lot of podcasts, until you actually break down how much I listen to each week. Here's a breakdown of the average number of hours of new audio content I get each week:

° 4 hr Best of the Left
° 45min Diggnation
° 1hr DL.tv
° 90min Filmspotting *
° 90min Lostcasts *
° 45min NPR Wait Wait Don't Tell Me *
° 45min Sidescrollers *
° 1hr Security Now! *
° 1hr That's What She Said *
° 1hr Dharmalars
° 2hr Jay and Jack *
° 30min Official Lost *
° 30min Word Nerds *
° 1hr TWIT *
Grand Total: 17 hrs 15 mins each week. Maybe this is why I never get to all of them each week. Or usually, I have regulars that I always listen to (signified by an asterisk*), and then I will play catch up on 1 or 2 extra podcasts for several episodes at a time.

A Look Back at the Past Five Years

2006-09-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

Since the 5-year anniversary of 9/11 is already here I thought it might be nice to take a positive look back on all the progress we have made since that tragic day in 2001. For starters, I would like to thank George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and all the other important contributors in this current administration for the work they have done in fighting terrorism and keeping our nation safe. Without your unrivaled intelligence, never-ending dedication and diplomatic grace, we would never have brought the terrorists behind 9/11 to justice. When on May 1st, 2003, Bush proudly displayed that glorious banner stating "Mission Accomplished ," he spoke the truth.

And as we have moved forward, riding on such waves of success as the immediate response of FEMA to Hurricane Katrina victims and, of course, capturing those responsible for bringing down the Twin Towers, we continue to provide our citizens with the freedoms that are their birthright. Freedoms such as free speech and privacy without being hindered by a spying government, the protection from unreasonable search and seizures in airports or on subways, and also the protection from cruel and unusual punishments in situations where they were never formerly charged with crimes. We should be proud of America and all that it now represents to the rest of the world. An infallible beacon of Democracy, whose formula should be applied to every nation in the world, Third World or otherwise.

The attacks on September 11th may have been devastating and emotionally shaking to many of us, but our government has certainly proven that it can stay focused when it has the appropriate motivation. In this respect, our nation's "leaders" have done everything its people have asked them to do. We brought Saddam Hussein to justice for his terrorist acts against this nation, we found the honest connections linking him to Al Qaeda, which is exactly why we justifiably invaded Iraq. And now, we want to bring the "miracle" of Iraq to other Middle Eastern nations like Lebanon and Syria.

In looking back at these last five years, it makes me glad to think of all that we have accomplished as a nation. Thank you George W. Bush for all the hope you have given us. If I could name but one flaw in our governmental system, it is that we do not have the power to re-elect you for a 3rd Presidential term. A pity that is.

Jesus Camp

2006-08-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/
(watch the videos on the website)

"I wanna see young people you are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I wanna see them as radically laying down their lives for the gospel as they are in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine...because we have the truth!"

This documentary is amazing. It's only showing in a limited number of theatres, but it will be playing in a few theatres in CA on September 29th. The film investigates a summer camp that Christian parents send their born-again kids to, where they are brain-washed into believing all sorts of radical ideas, turning them into war-mongers who will die for their religion.

Theatre List and release dates:
http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/theatreList.html

Loose Change

2006-08-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

With the 5-Year Anniversary of September 11th on its way, I thought I'd share an extremely controversial video regarding a conspiracy theory plot perpetrated by our own government. "Loose Change" is a mind bending argument that is definitely worth a look. Despite all the propaganda and Bush administration anti-sentimentality, the fact that no hard evidence of a Boeing 757 was found at the site of the Pentagon certainly makes you wonder what other lies were told concerning 9/11. However, when the video went into the details of doctored cell phone calls, my disbelief began to settle in. Naturally, everyone is entitled to their own opinion of what happened. The sad reality is that we may never have conclusive proof of what actually took place on the event many have called the "Pearl Harbor of Our Time".

My only suggestion is to never stop asking questions of our government or anyone else in a position of power or authority. I find it completely ridiculous for anyone to be labeled as "Unpatriotic", "Treasonous", or "Un-American" just because they don't agree with those currently in power. After all, the citizens of these United States need only be loyal to this country, not our President. Government is supposed to support its people, not the other way around.

The Emmys Were Lost On Me

2006-08-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

At the start of the Emmys last night, the show opened with this skit about Lost:

http://www.lostlinks.net/videos/emmyskit.htm

My favorite line:

Conan: "I've gotta get to the Emmy's. You wanna come with me?"
Hurley: "Well.. we weren't exactly invited."
Conan: "But you won last year! Nothing makes sense anymore."

It's apparent, the process of Emmy nomination is in need of some serious tweaking. Unfortunatley, shows with a more serialized approach were penalized since the voters were only required to watch one hand-picked episode by each show's producers. As a result, programs like Lost were snubbed and ignored due to its inherently complex storyline.

Ironicly, this is one of the main reasons why I like this show so much. Since Lost has so many interweaving storythreads, one episode could never do it justice. So much depends on your understanding of the characters' past experiences and internal struggles. On top of that, the mythology of show adds even more layers to the convoluted puzzle that is Lost.

But then again... we don't watch it because it gets Emmy's. We watch because we appreciate it for what it is: One of TVs smartest dramas on television today. But I can't blame the Emmy nomination committee for not getting it. Their loss. Besides the ratings and online fan community speaks for itself.

Article: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4141476.html

Stay tuned for Wednesday, October 4th, 9pm.

The Ethics of Stem Cell Research

2006-08-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

A new scientific study has found a way to extract stem cells from human embryos without destroying the embryo itself. This is obviously a notable breakthrough that will hopefully turn the tide of legislature concerning stem cell research in this country.

Link to article

However, the response from the White House indicates that they are ignoring its findings, stating:

Response in the New York Times

"Any use of human embryos for research purposes raises serious ethical questions.
This technique does not resolve those concerns.”

How can they say this when the primary argument against this research conveyed by opponents of stem cell research is no longer an issue?!? This reaction reminds me of a child who covers their ears, and repeats the phrase "I'm not listening!" over and over so they can avoid providing a cognitive rebuttal.

Vote Now for the Stephen Colbert Bridge!

2006-08-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

This is a funny story...

There's a contest to vote for the name of a bridge in Hungary. So Stephen Colbert of the "Colbert Report" urged his viewers to name it the Stephen Colbert hid (hid is bridge in Hungarian), after himself . The first phase of voting concluded with Stephen Colbert as the leader with over 17 million votes. In a distant 2nd place, the Nicholas Zrinski hid had 4 million votes. And the Chuck Norris hid was bumped from 1st to 5th. The funny thing is, Hungary only has a population of approximately 10 million.

Now they're asking people to vote in a second phase, for one of the 25 top choices so far. The Stephen Colbert hid currently leads the pack w/ 8000 votes, with the Jon Stewart hid trails in 2nd w/ 3000 votes. You can view the current tally here.

The truth is, this isn't the first time Colbert has rallied the blogosphere into a public prank. On the July 31st, 2006 episode concerning Wikipedia, Colbert made outrageous claims that "the population of elephants tripled in the last six months," causing many to alter elephant-related Wikipedia pages, which ultimately led to the temporary lockdown of all these pages.

Recently, Colbert provided a "Star Wars Kid"-like video of himself in front of a green screen. He proposed a contest to submit the best modimodified version of this video, complete w/ lightsaber effects and anything else the creator might like to include. Update: Here is a list of notable entries.

Honestly, I think this type of audience involvement creates a fun, inclusive form of entertainment. Just like how taking part in message boards, blogs and providing podcast feedback allow us to extend our voices further than tradional media outlets has allowed in the past, Tso too does this style of television. The fact that Stephen Colbert does a wonderful portrayal of Bill O'Reilly is also a plus.

So in order to join in on the action, use the link below to vote for the bridge, the Democratic way...

To vote, go here:
http://www.m0hid.gov.hu/

UPDATED! Phase II Voting instructions: Walk-through of the voting process

Click on the "Regisztráció" link on the top left-hand corner of the page.
Write in your email, and your password, and a repeat of the password (your password confirmation) in the three blank fields (IN THAT ORDER).
In minutes, you get a mail with a confirmation link and your password. Click on the link included in the e-mail.
When you click on the link in the e-mail, you will get redirected to the voting page.
Type your e-mail in the E-mail cim field, and your password in the Jelsó field.
Select the radial button by "Stephen Colbert híd" and click the Belépés button. You will be taken to a screen with the vote tallies. To vote again, click on the Kilépés button.
"Belépések száma" means "Number of logins". It does appear that you can vote unlimited times, but you have to be registered to do so.
"Összesen" on the bottom means "All votes", and the Toplista tally page seems to be working again if you would like to see the tally of all of the votes.
And, in case you're wondering, yes the Colbert Nation has already found a way to ~~cheat~~ stuff the ballot box on this round of votes, too. But Colbert has requested (via the ColbertNation.com forums) that everyone play nice so that we don't block out all of the other people from around the world who might want to vote. In other words - don't cheat. Do it the long way.

We're Not Leaving...

2006-08-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Video: http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/21/bush-not-leaving/

Well, you heard it straight from the horse's mouth: "We're not leaving So Long As I'm President". Up until at least January of 2009, we are literally screwed. It's time for the impeachment proceedings to begin! The NSA Spying Scandal, the unwarranted detainment of Guantanamo Bay prisoners; the constitutionality of these offenses needs to be examined much more closely and this administration must take responsibility for it's actions.

Cuz let's face it, do we really want these people running our government for the next two and a half years?

Now and Then

2006-08-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Just a word of warning, this is going to be less about Technology and more about Knowledge..

So, I was listening to The Best of the Left podcast this morning and this one overarching theme of the Bush Administration's policies hit me: "Terrorism is the new Communism". Just like how, in past decades, the US has taken a vicious stance against eradicating Communism from the face of the Earth, we now take that same stance against Terrorism today. The evils of Communism that forced us to orchestrate uprisings and quell political dictators have been given a modern face-lift, a new "Terrorist" branding, and a Middle Eastern spin. We are chasing the same ghosts today as we did during the Vietnam War. Terrorism is being used today as a scapegoat for nearly everything. It has clearly become the magic word used as political ammunition for obtaining anything our government desires. Are we still so blind with rage from an attack that happened 5 years ago that we should stumble into a conflict we have no business interfering with? The war mongering has got to stop.

...At least until we can deploy large mech armies to do the fighting for us. Okay, so I sprinkled a little technology in there. I couldn't help it. Come to think of it, here's what would be ideal... Instead of mounting our forces for that inevitable WWIII, what if, alternatively, all the world's superpower leaders join in a Battlefield 2 game. It can even be that one Middle Eastern map. See this way, at the end of the day, we can all go home to our respective houses/huts, watch a little tv, and remain breathing.

Problem solved!

Lego Star Wars II

2006-08-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that the first game was a little kiddie and also wasn't based on the greatest of movies, the nerd-friendly combination of Star Wars and Lego-everything was almost too good to be true. Now, they're applying the Lego Star Wars treatment to the original trilogy. I'll probably play this just for the wonderful memories of the Empire vs the Rebels. When The Force was still just The Force, not some midichlorian crap! When Darth Vader was the badass of the universe, not some whiny show-off who misses his mommy. Maybe they should really think about making those Indiana Jones and Rocky sequels...before they tarnish another perfectly good movie franchise. Matt Dameon as Captian Kirk, anyone?

Free Music from Google

2006-07-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not really "from" Google. That was just a ploy to catch your attention. But the part about free music was correct. Bascially, just enter the following search into google (replacing "ARTIST SONG_NAME" with whatever search criteria you want), and viola...free mp3s!

intitle:index.of "mp3" +"ARTIST SONG_NAME" -htm -html -php -asp "Last Modified"

Recently, I got a song stuck in my head and I wanted to hear it, so I used the above search method with the string "be sedated" as in The Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated"... When I finally got to the mp3 link, this is what I heard: link to mp3.

Turns out there's a website that has a bunch of these songs, called Dictionaraoke. All the songs sound like horrible midi cell phone ring tones with added Microsoft Sam vocals. It's hilarious! Try listening to "Bohemian Rhapsody" without laughing out loud! I dare you!

For some reason the phrase "boom shakalakalaka" comes to mind right now...weird.

310 Area Code Woes

2006-07-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

If you have a 310 area code, be prepared to dial it from now on. Effective today, July 26th, 2006, this new change will affect all those living in Westside, South Bay, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Compton and Inglewood. Here's an excerpt from the LA Times:

Residents of the 310, get your fingers ready. Starting today, everyone who lives within the boundaries of the 310 area code will have to dial 11 digits — 1 plus 310, then the seven-digit number — when making a local call.The new dialing procedure is another step toward implementation of the state's first area code overlay. Service providers are scheduled to begin distributing numbers with the new 424 code Aug. 26. Existing customers will keep their 310 numbers.
(taken from the LA Times article here)

This is just ridiculous! I feel sorry the people who didn't store their cell phone or phone directory numbers this way. Hopefully no one in that area has had to deal with blackouts too.

The Real News

2006-07-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I left my iPod in my desk drawer at work, so I decided to listen to a little AM talk radio (my FM doesn't work) on the drive home. I was immediately overwhelmed by the various US and World news stories. Suddenly, the more superficial tech news stories from Digg and Twit seemed trivial and small. Don't get me wrong, I'm still interested in the next rumor about the new ipod or the next mud slinging critique on the console war, but those things have seemed less interesting recently.

These days, I find myself salivating more on tidbits concerning stem cell research, mapping the human genome, net neutrality, nano-technology, digital rights management, global warming, the energy crisis, and petroleum alternatives. Granted those last three are all linked together. But these are the issues much more likely to affect us in the future.