The World of Maxator

My Coach

2012-01-22T19:58:00.001-05:00

I was 17 years old and in the back of a car on my way to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. In the preceding weeks, I had focused my college interests in that small engineering school and was ready to send in my application, until my high school guidance counselor recommended I stop at Penn State on the way. On the long drive from my home, I read the the Penn State literature and after ten minutes in University Park, I knew I had found my college home. Carnegie Mellon would fade quickly and after early acceptance, I would be Penn State bound the next Fall. I would later come to find out, the guidance counselor who recommended Penn State, was on weekends a college football referee, which had taken him to Penn State many times. So in a very real way, were it not for Penn State football, I would likely not have been told of Penn State or ever considered going there.

Before I left for school, my stepfather offered me a deal. Penn State had been experiencing a quality football drought and there were calls for the old, legendary coach to step down. My stepdad offered me either $300 for graduation or to take me to the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten championship game, if Penn State won the conference during my time at school. I accepted the hypothetical Rose Bowl trip, in ignorant hope of Penn State football success.

That Fall, I worked hard during my first semester and immersed myself in student life, studying, and club sports. I came to find out all club and school sports were supplied equipment and warmup gear by Nike in exchange only for a small white swoosh on the football jerseys. This was Coach Paterno's demand to support the university as a whole.

A huge part of my student experience also involved home football weekends. Every other weekend, myself and 90,000 of my closest friends cheered on the team and partied after for wins or to forget losses. It was regarding these games that I learned more about the "old" coach Paterno and was intrigued why fans loved him so. So shortly after the 10-2 season ended, I called the football office and requested a meeting. They asked if I played football and I said no. They asked the purpose of the meeting and I replied, "Because I was a freshman at Penn State and wanted to meet Coach Paterno." The rep politely took my name and number, but reminded me how busy the coach was. I shrugged off the rebuke and went about my business.

It was about two weeks later, when my dorm room phone rang. When I answered, the caller asked if I could be at the football office in an hour. I said yes and asked why. They said Coach Paterno wanted to meet the kid who wanted to meet him. I ran to the bookstore, grabbed a football and a sharpie, and headed to the office. I was ushered into the trophy room and that was when the legacy of a Coach Paterno and Penn State football first hit me. I stood alone in a cavernous silent trophy room, surrounded by bowl trophies, Heisman trophies, national titles, letters from presidents, and picture upon picture of Joe and his teams. A squeaky voice interrupted my awe, when Coach Paterno called out my name. He had a 15 minute conversation with me, while pointing out some of his favorite memorabilia. But honestly, although he dominated the conversation with the suddenly, and finally appropriately, meek Freshman, he kept the conversation focused on me. He asked about my background, what I was studying, and offered advice on working hard and succeeding in school. At the end of a whirlwind exchange, he signed my ball, wished me well, and even offered a spot as a student manager on the team, which I later declined to stay focused on my studies... as he had suggested.

I walked away from that meeting, that night the hero of my dorm, a Paterno fan for life. His love of academics and caring about even for me, the most lowly, clueless student, was obvious. He was a genuine role model. The more I learned about him since then, the more I realized how important he was to Penn State. When Joe first came to Penn State in the 1950s, Penn State was a small farm school. He preached hard work, academics first, and that no player was bigger then the team. The unprecedented success he would bring to Penn State football and resulting national exposure, brought attention, enrollment, and investment. He also shaped the very persona of what it is to be a Penn Stater. Work hard, be polite, don't be flashy, let the quality of your work define you, and be proud to be associated with Penn State. Not to mention, the millions in salary he donated back to Penn State for library improvements and campus programs.

My sophomore year, when crossing the quad one day, Joe approached from the opposite direction. As he neared, I noticed he was giving me a strange look. I lifted off my sunglasses and said, "Hi Coach." He replied, "Oh hi, [Max]. I didn't recognize you with your sunglasses." Over a year later, he had remembered me by name. Oh and did I mention that Fall I had cashed in my Rose Bowl trip and watched my beloved Nittany Lions finish an undefeated season in Pasadena? So in the middle of all that success and pressure, the "old" coach remembered the name of a meek Freshman he had met once.

My last interaction as a student with Coach Paterno came when I invited him to be a speaker for a student organization I represented. His assistant called me to say he could not make it, but later that week he called me personally to explain why he couldn't come and congratulate me on my senior year. I graduated a far different person from the angst filled Freshman who had first reported. I was ready for life's adventure and had the confidence and skills to meet the working world head on. I was ready because of Joe Paterno's lessons and influence.

Over the following years, I would write him often and he would reply personally every time, sometimes with a full letter, other times with a note. I would congratulate him on a good year or bad and express my appreciation for the lessons I had learned from him and the school he helped build. His replies were always handwritten, matching the script I watched him use on my football so many years before. The most memorable of my exchanges with him involved me expressing my pride in him and the program for benching several stars prior to a bowl game due to academic issues. We lost the bowl game badly, and yet I had never been prouder to be a Penn State fan. Even in the modern collegiate sports environment, with all the pressure to win, it was academics first and win with honor or don't play.

He would continue to coach for almost two decades after some called for his dismissal, with mostly winning seasons and always teaching his lessons to players, students, and alumni.

Obviously, these last few months have been a nightmare for Penn Staters everywhere. If the allegations against former assistant coach Sandusky are true, he destroyed lives and deserves whatever punishment the justice system can provide. My heart breaks for the victims, their families, and the families of the accused. In addition, thanks to the resulting media lynching of the football program, Paterno, and the university as a whole, my heart also breaks for all those unfairly vilified for the alleged disgusting actions of one.

To be perfectly clear, if anyone covered up or failed to report or thoroughly investigate abuse of a child, they are in the wrong and should be punished to the maximum extent of the law. Those actions are so counter to the morals Penn Staters hold dear, they should be disavowed from Penn State forever. That said, I would remind all Paterno detractors that Joe witnessed nothing, but immediately reported what he was told by an assistant to the head of athletics AND the head of the campus police department. He then recused himself from the matter, as he should have, given that any further action on his part could be painted as tampering with the investigation on behalf of his former employee. No evidence has ever been shown or witness discussed that Paterno knew anything more or covered anything up. In fact, the grand jury specifically praised his actions for proper and timely reporting. However, when Sandusky was indicted, the public disgust at his alleged actions was so great, the board of trustees fired Paterno, a 60 year employee, who had devoted his life to the school and the students, by phone. He would not be allowed to coach for his beloved school again, even on the final home game two days later.

When students protested and rallied at his house that evening, the media directly accused them of supporting child abuse or being drunken youth that failed to understand the situation. The only thing those students couldn't understand was why the media was tearing apart their favorite educator and supporter, who had committed no crime. In their exploitation of the situation for ratings and their thirst to paint Paterno as a fallen saint, the press again purposely misled the public, this time falsely indicting the character of Penn State as a whole. In his defense, Paterno simply made a brief statement on his lawn, praying for the victims, thanking the students for coming, and telling them to go home and study. He would never address students again.

It was with tremendous sadness I learned of Coach Paterno's death this morning. However, I was not surprised that after being run out of town and associated unfairly with the most heinous of crimes, that the 85 year old Paterno succumbed quickly to a brief battle with lung cancer. The media is now throwing around the phrase, "death by a broken heart." In this case, I believe they are finally correct. Football, Penn State, and education were his life. With them all gone and his life's work in shambles, it was more than he could take.

As the years pass and the scandal properly focuses on the accused, Paterno will undoubtedly be recognized for his contributions to students on and off the field. However, nothing will undo the sad and cowardly way he was dealt with at the end of a selfless career.

Personally, I owe him more than I could ever express in those few letters. I am and will forever be a Penn Stater, molded by the school he helped define more than any other. Thank you Joe for all you did for Penn Staters everywhere. You will always be loved and remembered. You will always be the most important coach in my life.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

The Big 2012 Game List

2012-01-09T21:17:00.003-05:00

As amazing of a year as 2011 was, I don’t expect 2012 to match it. That said, there are some very polished titles coming in what will undoubtedly be the last holiday season for the current generation of hardware. So here is my big list of games, along with a couple words to help you decide if they are for you:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (2/7) - RPG, meets fighter, meets WoW. It is unheard of that my most anticipated title of the year is also the first game out of the chute. As much as I can’t wait for Borderlands 2 and Halo 4, this game has the potential to be something new and amazing. The good news, we don’t have long to wait.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier (3/6) - My E3 10 game of show, this title has languished in development for too long to be a guaranteed top scorer. That said, tactical, team shooting goodness is a safe bet.

Mass Effect 3 (3/6) - What do you get when you improve the already solid mechanics of the sequel and wrap in the best sci-fi IP since Star Wars? Hopefully, another Bioware classic.

Darksiders 2 (June) - Darksiders was a hidden gem of a title, heavily influenced by Zelda. Despite a crappy story, the game’s mechanic were too good to miss. I expect this title to be held back by poor writing, but be worth playing due to its amazing puzzles and progression.

Aliens: Colonial Marines (Q2) - Nothing too deep here, but does it need to be with the grand daddy of all sci-fi horror IPs? Race in the rainy dark, scares around every corner, and try to shoot aliens in the face before they implant yours. What’s not to love?

Bioshock: Infinite (Fall) - Bioshock was one of the best games of this generation. The next chapter, this time in the sky, looks even better. But can the gameplay and five year old hardware live up to the demo’s promise?

Halo 4 (Fall) - 343 Studio’s first take at M$’s most valuable IP. Either way I will buy it and wait at midnight, but will it be good enough to make me wait for Halo 5?

GTA V - The last GTA was great, but got way too bogged down in minigames that just weren’t that much fun. Red Dead Redemption was a better expression of the media and engine. Will GTA V keep improving or devolve into low-brow bowling irrelevance?

Borderlands 2 - The first title was one of my favorite shooters of all time, despite a nonexistent story and ending. My hopes are VERY high for this one. Don’t let me down Gearbox!!! Oh and plenty of DLC please!!!

Brothers in Arms: Furious Four - The freshest take on the WWII shooter I’ve seen since, well, birth. Borderlands meets Inglorious Basterds. Shoot Nazis in the crotch for points. Nuff said.

Far Cry 3 - The prettiest and most intriguing sandbox shooter of the year. I can only hope the new hardware is ready, else a weak sauce port may be in order.

Prey 2 - The iD tech engine is the best I have ever seen. But can a vertical, gritty shooter from a lame IP make me actually enjoy the game?

Star Trek - I love this license. I love this J.J. Abrahams’ reimagining. I love Kirk and Spock. So why do I think this will suck? May I be very, very wrong.

Overstrike - The best trailer of E3. I adore Insomniac and am very excited for their spy/Incredibles looking new IP. What’s that? It’s multiplatform!!!

Luigi’s Mansion - The only handheld game currently announced that I care about. Marioland 3D showed me what a 3DS game could be. Hopefully, the magic stays in the family.

The Last of Us - Naughty Dog are masters of game storytelling and Hollywood set piece levels. Will their split into two teams water them down or maintain the quality?

Rainbow Six: Patriots - Not sure if this will make 2012, but if all it becomes is COD with SWAT, I’m still very down with that.

Fortnite - An interesting move by Epic. I like the art style and zombies are good. But why do I get the feeling this is a pet project to hold them over for Gears 4 on the 720?

Here’s what I expect for E3 2012 announcements:

God of War IV - This series has been great and all, but the quintessential gore/anger game hasn’t done much new lately. Are there any tricks left for this pony?

Call of Duty: Black Op 2 - We know its coming and we know we’ll buy it. Just give me the preorder date so I can get this over with.

Medal of Honor 2 - I presume EA will be back with another non-COD killer. Hopefully, they find a way for a game longer than four hours and with characters I care about.

Bungie TBD - Bungie has been dark for too long. It is time to show their new property. Please don’t suck.

Respawn TBD - I expect E3 will unveil something from the house that built COD. Sci Fi shooter maybe? Either way, I hope they kick Activision’s rear.

Splinter Cell Next - I REALLY liked the new direction Conviction took. With a little engine refinement and a few new features, this could be my sleeper of the year.

2011 Video Game Awards

2011-11-24T12:27:00.001-05:00

Just in time for Black Friday, here is my list of the best games of the year:

Sports: FIFA 11 - The next evolutionary step in the refinement of the finest sports engine ever made. Runner Up: Forza 4

Kinect: Once Upon A Monster - Finally a family game, made to be played by small kids, you know, half the people who actually make up a family. Runner Up: Gunstringer

Wii Exclusive: Skyward Sword - The best Zelda title in at least ten years and the final achievement in perfecting Wii controls.

Xbox Exclusive: Halo Anniversary - $40 for a gorgeous remake of the game that proved FPSs could be played on consoles and that birthed the Xbox. Runner Up: Gears of War 3

PS3 Exclusive: Uncharted 3 - An amazing, gorgeous, polished adventure with the best writing in gaming. Indiana Jones, be jealous. Runner Up: Infamous 2

Handheld: Super Mario 3DS - The best Mario title since Super Mario 64. A perfect mix of challenge, camera, 3D, and portable controls. Runner Up: Ocarina 3DS

Shooter Campaign: Modern Warfare 3 - Amazing that after the loss of virtually all the creative talent behind Modern Warfare, replacements craft the best campaign of the Call of Duty series. Runner Up: Bulletstorm

Shooter Multiplayer: Battlefield 3 - Class based, destructible environment, vehicle bliss. Runner Up: Modern Warfare 3

Role Playing Game: Skyrim - The pinnacle of open world exploration and discovery for this entire console generation. Simply amazing. Runner Up: Nothing even comes close.

Adventure: Uncharted 3 - Every chapter is a set piece of gorgeous design, shooting, and platforming. Runner Up: Arkham City

Biggest Surprise: Modern Warfare 3 - Sure I knew I'd buy it, but I had no idea how much I would enjoy the story, cooperative, and multiplayer.

Biggest Disappointment: Rage - The best gameplay and graphics engine, wasted on a campaign that has no player engagement or ending resolution. Runner Up: Battlefield 3 campaign

Best Value: Skyrim - 300 hours of wonder for $60?!?! Throw in the inevitable DLC and I may not need to eject this disc until February (Reckoning). Runner Up: Gears of War 3

Game of Year: Skyrim - Possibly the best game of this generation. This is less of a game and more like a living, breathing, world packed onto one disc. There simply is nothing like it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Viva La Revolution

2011-09-24T14:19:00.001-04:00

After the never-ending renovation at my house finished up and I finally got my media room, I set about researching the best way to stream audio from my iMac to my new stereo. I looked closely at an Airport Express, which has an audio out and a USB for printer support, but as my printer needs are handled via WiFi, I would have been paying $100 for a WiFi speaker bridge. That's what brought me to my first close look at Apple TV.

Apple TV is a $99 box the size of two decks of cards that let's me stream any music or videos from any Mac computer or iOS device to my TV. In addition, I can rent movies from iTunes for $4.99 in glorious HD and watch YouTube for an occasional movie trailer or video game footage. So essentially for the same price as an Airport Express, I get video and audio and rentals. Sweet. But before you run out and get one, there is a big caveat, not many new HD releases are available. That said, this must and will change...

Up until recently, I had hoped Netflix would eventually expand their streaming service to new/relevant movies and shows. However, I don't think an "all you can watch" service will ever be sanctioned by the big movie studios. The bottom line is, they want a good return on their investment, and if a Netflix user streams 30 movies in a month, 50 cents per viewing of a new release ain't gonna cut it. This problem became painfully obvious this week when Netflix announced they were upping their prices and splitting their DVD/BluRay shipping and streaming businesses. Now the unfortunately named Quikster will ship disks and Netflix will be all streaming.

I am sad to say this, but I believe both services will go away and likely quickly. Quikster has to deal with increased postage and compete with RedBox and new release streaming services. Netflix was built on an "all you can watch" model and now has to choose between a pay per view model, where they alienate their longterm customers, or continuing to stream crappy old movies. It is ironic that the service that put the video rental store out of business by adopting a new distribution model, is about to be made irrelevant by not continuing to adapt their distribution model.

It is for this reason, I believe Apple TV or Amazon or Xbox Live or [insert pay as you go streaming service here] are the future. Customers are growing to accept streaming rentals, expect the convenience of "whenever I want it" streaming; streaming hardware is getting cheap and very easy to use; and prices for renting three-four movies a month now compare well with a Quikster subscription. As soon as big media settles on a price and DRM arrangement they like, my bet is $4.99 per HD rental, the streaming revolution will occur. And with my $99 Apple TV ready to go, I will be ready.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

One Console to Rule Them All

2011-08-16T22:52:00.001-04:00

Without any question, the Xbox 360 has been my console of choice in the current generation. The well conceived online community, ergonomic controller, mass adoption by my friends/family, and vast array of must play exclusives and multiplatforms saw to that. However, that doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed my much more limited time with my two Japanese friends, the PS3 and Wii. As a gaming connoisseur, without them, I would have missed out on some amazing, nay, generation defining classics, such as New Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Uncharted, God of War 3, Ratchet and Clank, and Infamous, just to name a few. This trend also matches my long gaming history, with at least two consoles from every generation.

So as we approach the next generation of hardware, led by the awkward Wii U, it stands to reason I would be looking to purchase all three systems from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Yeah, about that... One of the biggest trends lately for me is my lack of interest in any game off of Xbox 360. I am just too comfortable with my console of choice and miss the achievements, social connection, and familiarity it brings. So how will I cope with the next Gen?

As I've stated before, I think the Wii U is a significant misstep and represents a lack of clear purpose and focus from Nintendo. Although that may be where the next iterations of Zelda and Mario appear, I just don't see a need in my life for more proprietary space consuming hardware with marginal graphics in my home. In short, the payoff is just not there for me. If I need my classic N franchise itch scratched, I'll go with the mobile version on the discount 3DS I just picked up and play while on travel or before hitting the sack.

Sony is even worse off. As I expect the next Sony system to come in at $400, there is simply no game they have that can justify that kind of expense. One of the only reasons I picked up a PS3 was for a BluRay player, which I now have. And as far as their franchises, if I simply miss Uncharted or God of War too much, I'll pickup a PS Vita portable after the first big price break. At least the Vita will have dual sticks and can reasonably compete with a modern system for controls and first person fun.

So somewhat surprisingly, for all my future console needs, I plan to be in line at midnight on release day for the next Microsoft system. I loves my Halo and am confident the only system actually designed for a Western audience will serve me well into the 2000 and teens. With the dominance of Xbox in the U.S., I foresee even fewer quality gaming experiences I care about not available on the Microsoft box.

Besides a savings in expenditures, sticking with one console will offer me simplicity and focus to build a solid library and downsize my media cabinet. In fact, if the next Xbox has a BluRay drive, that may be the only box I need, other than a DVR.

In the end, unless Sony launches a virtual reality console that flies in space or Microsoft lays an absolute egg, I will be a one console man. It will be sad to leave even a few great games unplayed, but it is time to relegate my Japanese experiences to the mobile realm. Redmond, the pressure is on. Please build me the one console to rule them all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Role Playing Legend

2011-07-16T17:21:00.003-04:00

I have previously professed my love for the original Legend of Zelda and that I spent the majority of E3 2011 looking for a similar game to enrapture me. There are certainly some contenders coming out soon, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, and Reckoning being some excellent contenders. I am particularly enamored with Reckoning, the first game of any kind, from a rookie studio. The studio founder, retired baseball great Curt Schilling, has been quoted in the press as to wondering why any single player RPG, coming more than five years after World of Warcraft (eons in game development time) can’t be as engrossing. That indeed is an interesting question worthy of more thought.

RPGs are quite complicated to churn out when compared to First Person Shooters (FPSs), the darlings of modern gaming. FPSs generally have short campaigns, little quality story, and can be quickly produced using a variety of licensed engines. RPGs are generally ten times or more longer, involve significantly larger worlds, and almost always require a custom engine to match the developer’s vision. And RPGs live and die on two facets often ignored by developers, menus and character development.

Unlike most games where the menu is only looked at to save, quit, or invert sticks, RPG players often spend a significant amount of time comparing loot, weighing skill trees, crafting gear, selling/buying items, or even... nerd shame... choosing esthetically pleasing outfits. If menus are done right, they are graceful and informative ways of displaying critical information and conveying player choice (See WoW or Borderlands). If menus are cumbersome, they are often a barrier to immersing the player and more often than not influence me to sell a game and move on.

Character development is another lost art it seems. I believe the push to first person viewpoint, where the player rarely if ever even sees the avatar, has even further distanced players from the role they are meant to be playing. If the goal of an RPG is to addictively mix skill development, exploration, and the feeling of accomplishment, one must connect with their character. Otherwise, the player feels a passive observer of a story, not the crucial participant. I greatly prefer games that let me craft a unique hero from the start, with looks and backstory that best convey who I want to be.

Of course there are many other features a legendary RPG must possess and excel at. The art style must be beautiful if a player is going to enjoy spending a hundred hours or more staring at it. Side quests are key to building out a living breathing world. Fighting must feel visceral and look good. Who cares about getting a Golden Epic Sword of Dwarf Whacking if it doesn’t look and feel exciting to use? Loading screens kill the experience for me and must be avoided whenever possible.

But the most important feature yet to be discussed is story. With no exceptions, RPGs should introduce you to a world in crisis, then make you want to save it. The player’s window to the world is through NPCs which must balance personality development, with education on the world, and believable emotion and connection. Screw any of that up and the player connection to the game may suffer an unrecoverable break.

Most RPGs fail, and usually significantly, in one major way or another. For some modern examples: Oblivion had enemy difficulty scale with your level. So a rat that was tough to fight as a level one was still tough to fight at level 25. What is the freaking point of improved spells, hit points, and gear, if as a level 25 badass you have trouble with a single rodent? Mass Effect’s combat was boring and the story of the sequel was way too straightforward. Darksiders had great combat and dungeons, but a craptacular story and no character I ever cared about. Fallout’s world was hideous and the combat was phoned in. Dragon Age 1 was ugly and the sequel had a half-baked world with recycled dungeons. And as I slog through Dungeon Seige 3, I am reminded of how bad menus and poor skill implementation can be.

Thus I make the public call out to all game developers, please give us an epic RPG. There is no better payoff for a gamer then falling for a story and world, then spending hundreds of hours in it. I want to forget where the eject button is on my Xbox. I want to sit down at 7 to play and be surprised to look up and see the clock saying 2 a.m. I want to remember what it felt like to explore Hyrule for the first time. Make me feel like an adventurer fighting to save the world and become a legend. If you do, both of us will succeed.

iOS 5: In It To Win It

2011-06-10T16:07:00.001-04:00

After all the excitement of E3 has died down, I've finally had a chance to sit down and digest the recent unveiling of Apple's newest mobile operating system, iOS 5. As much as I'm sure iOS 4, where the OS was overhauled for multitasking, was a major effort for the coders, it didn't result in much polish or features for the common end user. And waiting extra months for the update to hit the iPad, currently my only iOS device, was a bummer.

Thankfully, this year, Apple will be releasing iOS 5 for all platforms simultaneously in the Fall. And what an update it is. From a user's perspective, this is as significant an upgrade as been ever seen for iOS. Specifically:

First Party Apps -
Significant changes for Mail, Weather, and Stocks. Mail sees the biggest upgrade with better message formatting and the tracking of conversations.

Notifications -
Rather then obtrusive, interrupting popups, Apple has designed a dedicated notification center to smoothly handle notifications and include quick links to the corresponding app.

Safari -
In addition to finally adding tabbed browsing, the new "reader" functionality allows users to save internet articles for offline viewing as virtual PDFs, sans ads and multiple page links.

Keyboard Updates -
Finally, a split ergonomic keyboard as a more comfortable option on the iPad. This will make mobile blogging, such as I am doing now, much easier. (pictured)

Newsstand -
Finally, an organized place to subscribe to, store, and read auto delivered periodicals. Oh and did I mention they load over night and are ready to read offline first thing every morning? Brilliant.

iMessage -
My least favorite addition, an iOS 5 to iOS 5 only messenger. Messaging locked to only one iOS is a step in the wrong direction.

Camera -
Better integration of picture editing and quick photo snapping.

Reminders -
A dedicated, calendar integrated app for maintaining lists across all your iOS devices. This is long overdue.

AirPlay mirroring -
iOS 5 allows users to mirror their iPad on their TV through the Apple TV device. Presentations, YouTube, and movie sharing just got easier.

WiFi Backup and Wireless Updates -
Yup, I can finally cut the cord between my beloved iPad and my iMac. The iPad will automatically backup and look for updates when charging and within range of your home network shared with your iTunes PC/Mac. Finally!!!

iCloud -
There is a lot of confusion out there as to what this is. To simplify, Apple will give each iOS user free backup on their servers for up to 8GB to auto sync calendar, apps, etc across multiple iOS devices. This is in addition to free redownload of any iTunes purchased music and movies. All this of these backup services are free. In addition, for $25 a year, Apple will allow users to insure non-iTunes purchased music, thus if you bought a song elsewhere and lose your iPhone, you can download the track from iTunes for free. Lastly, if you buy a song on one iOS or Mac device, it will automatically be made available for download on all devices synced to your iTunes account.

Twitter -
Apple is embracing the only social media site I frequent, with full integration into messaging, browsing, and camera apps.

These upgrades continue Apple's efforts at being feature rich without sacrificing ease of use and position iOS as the mobile operating system to beat for the foreseeable future. Apple pulled no punches with this update and I can't wait to give it a spin this Fall. Jobs and company are in it to dominate the mobile market. Your move Android.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Wii U or Why Me?

2011-06-10T14:13:00.001-04:00

Overall, I thought E3 2011 was the best show I have attended, with a stunning number of must play titles coming in 2011 and beyond. And as much as I try to avoid being a hater, I must admit I was very disappointed by Nintendo's unveiling of the Wii successor, the Wii U. I shall explain...

When rumors of the Wii U started to circulate, they included descriptions of a controller with a built in touch screen. This alone did not really concern me, especially if the touch pad was used for game supplementing information or menus. It was when the word "stream" arose as a possible system name, that I became a bit worried. Stream to me indicated a desire to stream the main display, normally on the TV, to the controller. Understanding the expensive hardware required for a live, lag free HD streaming, I knew this would mean significant compromises in the processing power, build quality, and controller battery life, in order to keep the system price reasonable at launch.

Alas, my fears were confirmed at the show when the system was unveiled. The controller is designed as an alternate display for the system. Tradeoffs to make this affordably happen include only one tablet controller able to connect wit the Wii U at a time, an old school plastic touch screen requiring deflection, as opposed to modern capacitive glass touch screens; not to mention obvious decreases in graphical performance. The system will support HD display, but with the Wii U being described as only slightly more powerful than the 360, its compatibility with "core" games will only last a year or so until the next generation of consoles from Microsoft and Sony launches. At that point, core developers will likely abandon the Nintendo platform rather than downgrade their cutting edge experiences. The system will be backwards compatible with the Wii, but no hint has been given what controllers will come in the box or cost.

It appears that in a quest to remain different, Nintendo rushed to deploy what they could do, without really considering what they should do. I mean, who does the new controller appeal to? Only one person can use it, so the family party games Nintendo has catered to are out. You can't use it for motion control games, as they need a TV with a sensor bar. Hard core gamers will prefer an ergonomic controller vs a tablet with tacked on sticks.

And how powerful could the new Wii have been if they sunk all their money into improved processing and graphics, developed a cheap solid controller (like the 360), and tacked on the motion sensor for backwards compatibility? That system would have appealed to the casual gamers and the core gamers and allowed developers to produce games for it, the XBOX 720, and the PS4. Instead, Nintendo is stuck with an awkward console, without a clear audience, that will be obsolete less than a year from launch.

Despite the strange positive reception at E3, the investor and detached analyst reaction to the Wii U has been very skeptical. In fact, Nintendo's stock has dropped 10% since the unveil. I know reaction to the Wii was similar, but this feels very different. The Wii was clearly and smartly targeted to young and casual gamers. The Wii U doesn't have a clear audience or logic in its design. Make no doubt, after a shaky and expensive 3DS launch and with this questionable step, Nintendo is in trouble. And as much as I'd like to think they will reconsider, I expect the Wii U to launch next year in its current form. It will sell, to fanboys, the curious, and off the Wii name recognition alone, but I don't see it destined for anywhere near the success of its predecessor. Sorry Nintendo, as much as I love Zelda, I'll sit this one out.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2011: Trends and Awards

2011-06-09T23:34:00.001-04:00

This year's E3 was an interesting one. A new console from Nintendo, a new portable from Sony, and an absolute deluge of quality titles due out between now and Christmas. I will reserve my comments on the Wii U for a separate dedicated post and focus this post on software. With the current generation of consoles getting rather long in the tooth and new console announcements anticipated for next E3, this is the last year for polished, big name titles before developers start to shift their resources to the next gen. And boy did game makers deliver.

Forget what the meh monkeys say, this was the best E3 in years for quality games. With new and surprise announcements, amazing titles due throughout 2012, and a ton of games due out in the later half of 2011, attendees sure were busy. To be quite honest, I didn't feel any of the big three had anything special at their press conferences, so calling a winner is a moot point. If I had to pick a company winner, I'd say EA had the best showing with quality racing, sports, shooting, and RPG titles.

But without further ado, here is my list of can't miss core games for 2011, games to watch for 2012, and my show awards:

2011 -
Uncharted 2
Zelda: Skyward Sword
Rage
Battlefield 3
Modern Warfare 3
Gears of War 3
Arkham City
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

2012 -
Fable: The Journey
Mass Effect 3
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Bioshock Infinite
Ghost Recon Future Soldier
Far Cry 3
Halo 4
Overstrike
Brothers in Arms: Furious Four

Disappointment of Show -
Bodycount (Runner Up - Lack of any Halo Anniversary)

Surprise of Show -
Far Cry 3 (Runner Up - Prey 2)

Best Motion Game -
Fable: The Journey (Runner Up - Zelda Skyward Sword)

Best Family Game -
Once Upon A Monster (Runner Up - Disney Kinect Adventures)

Best Downloadable Game -
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Best Sports Game -
FIFA 2012 (Runner Up - Madden 12)

Best racing Game -
Need For Speed: The Run

Best Adventure Game -
Bioshock Infinite (Runners Up - Uncharted 3 and Arkham City)

Best Third Person Shooter -
Gears of War 3 (Runner Up - Ghost Recon Future Soldier)

Best RPG -
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Runners Up - Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Mass Effect 3)

Best First Person Shooter -
Rage (Runner Up - Far Cry 3)

Game of Show:
Bioshock Infinite (Runner Up - Rage)

Well that's it for E3 2011. Thanks for those who tolerated my tweets and ramblings. Wishing safe travels home for all my fellow nomadic nerds and to my E3 peeps, I have started counting the days until E3 2012. Happy gaming to all!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2011: Day 3

2011-06-09T22:45:00.001-04:00

Day 3 this year was not only the best final day of any show I have attended, but also the best day of the entire 2011 show. I began my day with dreams of seeing Bioshock Infinite, Rage, and Fable Journey, I ended with way more than I could have hoped for:

Rage - I started off the day breaking my three year curse of not being able to penetrate the Bethesda booth, when the reception guy took pity on me and escorted me to the Rage room where I had unlimited hands on time with iD's latest. With no hesitation, Rage is the best single player campaign FPS I have ever played. Buttery smooth controls, gorgeous graphics and art, beefy guns, gadgets, and grenades that are the absolute best rendition I have ever seen. I can't say enough about this title, it is simply in an FPS class of its own.

Prey 2 - I was so enthusiastic about my time with Rage, the developer offered me a preview of Prey 2, the second game based on the iD Tech 4 engine. The game has virtually nothing in common with the silly scifi pulp of the first Prey. This is Blade Runner the game. Gorgeous graphics, an interesting seedy future world, and the same control as Rage. Wow.

Gunstringer - After hitting a gaming high at Bethesda, I was off to investigate if any Kinect games would justify my previous $130 purchase. Gunstringer and Star Wars Kinect look up to the task. Mind you, I don't see these as first day pickups, but when the buy two get one used sale rolls around, I'll grab them and have fun on family gaming night.

Bioshock Infinite - Amazingly enough, thanks to the direct intervention of a great and well-connected friend, just after lunch, I sat down in a 1920s themed theater for an exclusive demo of Bioshock. From start to finish, my jaw never closed. I have never seen anything like it as a gamer. Never, and I mean never, has story, art, game design, combat, and tech come together better. It was, simply put, the most amazing digital entertainment I have ever experienced. In fact it wasn't until after shaking the developers hand that I noticed Todd Howard (Elder Scrolls) was next to me.

Once Upon A Monster - It is a tough job following Rage or Bioshock, but Tim Schaeffer's take on Sesame Street for Kinect was the game for the job. This is a game designed for kids to play with their parents and it delivers. I can't wait to pickup this one and enjoy time with my little one.

Fable: The Journey - Next up was a newly announced title from Lionhead Studios. Designed to be a light RPG story in the Fable universe and controlled exclusively with Kinect, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The title, still more of a tech demo, showed some great promise and slick delivery of first person magic casting. I expect to see more of this game next year, with an anticipated release date of holiday 2012.

Warhammer: Space Marine - This title has come a long way from the unpolished promise of a year ago to the near finished third person brawler it is today. Personally, I find the title intriguing, but if it is launches in the crowded holiday window, I will be waiting until it hits the bargain bin.

Well that about wraps up games of note from day 3. It was an amazing and unforgettable day. Standby for my followup post summarizing my take on E3 2011, including my show awards...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2011: Days 1 and 2

2011-06-09T12:44:00.001-04:00

Greetings from Los Angeles and E3 2011. It has been a very busy week, during the show and after, so I apologize for the delayed post. That said, I have seen some amazing games and have more scheduled for today, so let's get down to the games, in no particular order:

Aliens: Colonial Marines - A personal favorite of mine and Gearbox developed game, the private demo came off as a horror corridor shooter. The similarities to Doom 3 can't be overlooked but with revered Aliens IP instead of closet monsters.

Batman Arkham City - Wow this game impressed. The first was a classic, this is a masterpiece. Features a reworked engine allowing open world exploration; better graphics; cat woman as playable; and the fighting mechanic, the best I'd ever seen for a brawler, is improved allowing many bone crunching ways to dispatch minions. An absolute must buy. Oh and thanks for the rare swag Rocksteady!!!

Brothers in Arms: Furious Four - Forget everything you know about the BiA IP. This is Inglorious Basterds the game. Fast, frantic, funny, stylized Nazi coop killing at its best. The most unique take on a shooter on the floor. And the free beer from the German chick during the private demo, icing on the cake.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - Wow. Solidified its chances as game of show. This open world RPG is larger than WoW, with a smilier but fresh art style, and the most visceral combat ever in an RPG. I sat through the private demo three times and saw something new and amazing each time. I will be there for the midnight launch. This will be a classic game. After many conversations with the devs, PR folks, and studio head, I will be heading to Maryland for an extended play through before the early 2012 launch. Stay tuned.

Mass Effect 3 - What's not to love here? The best scifi IP out there with tighter tactical control, voice commands, larger scale, and better story. After the lead developer led private demo, I'm ready to save the Earth again.

Duke Nukem - Ah Duke. Rude, crude, and over the top. Although I've played quite a bit of the campaign, this was my first shoot at multi. Fast and frantic is the name of the game. Despite my weak sauce multiplayer skills, especially on mouse and keyboard, I still enjoyed my time running, gunning, and exploding. The free Duke Beer didn't hurt either.

Battlefield 3 - unfortunately, other than the two previously shown gameplay videos, one on foot and one tank, there wasn't anything new on the floor other than multiplayer on the floor. That's said, the tech is amazing and EA's development and advertising dollars are impressive. And although it is designed to dethrone Modern Warfare as the defacto modern shooter, I think DICE's tactical military take offers something different. An obvious must buy.

Deus Ex Human Revolution - how much a year changes things. Last year, this title was hyped but hidden. This year it is playable everywhere. A nice take on scifi stealth. The button scheme was too complicated for me to get a real feel of the playability, but controls seemed tight and the AI strong. I'll tell you more in a few weeks when it launches.

Modern Warfare 3 - Once again Activision locks out the fans and shows nothing, not even the playable sub demo from the Microsoft press conference. Sigh. The M$ demo looked like a roller coaster thrill ride as expected, so I am begrudgingly still excited about the title. I know they know we will all buy it, but why not take care of the fan base a little?

Uncharted 3 - Naughty Dog's take on the adventure game is simply in a class of its own. The story, the graphics, the characters, and the control are spot on. There is no other title on the PS3 that even comes close.

Gears of War 3 - Wow. Although I have enjoyed the Gears titles in the past, they normally get a quick play through and shelving. This will not be the case with number 3. The extra year of polish is apparent in every facet of the game. The graphics are the best on the 360 (lighting to drool over), the FFA rate is locked down, and the new horde mode with tower defense like deployable defenses brings Gears up to a cerebral shooter. Rod Ferguson's private demo was amazing. The rare Gears t shirt just made me feel better about my retro lancer preorder. That and being able to say hi to CliffyB and thank him for his games...

Ghost Recon Future Soldier - Finally playable, but still not street dated. Ubisoft obviously applied the same strategy here as they did in refreshing Splinter Cell and the results are palpable. Rather than no fun, one shot dead, tactical, they went with cover/squad/tech based badassery. If you want to know what Seal Team Six will feel like in ten to twenty years, pick it up. I'm still very psyched for this one.

Assassin's Creed Revelations - Despite this title never really appealing to me, the fandemonium and polish of this title impresses. This will be the most exciting and polished of the series, with a definite Uncharted feel to it. If you liked the previous titles, you won't be disappointed.

Far Cry 3 - The surprise of the show. Once upon a time I bought a PC rig just to play the original. A return to the tropical sandbox, with scout, attack, and regroup mechanics has me very jazzed. The gunplay, AI, and graphics do no disappoint. An absolute must add to my preorder list for 2012.

Elder Scrolls Skyrim - A stunning achievement in so many ways. visually, game design, scope, and duration. The improvement level barely makes it recognizable as a descendent of Oblivion. My sources say 300 hours of gameplay. Be ready to get lost in Skyrim come November.

Trenched - This fun XBLA coop tower defense mech mashup from Tim Schaeffer did not disappoint. If you want something colorful, new, cheap, and fun to play with friends, download it this summer. Oddly enough, I bumped into Tim at a party and he was very excited for this one as well. Sold, if for no other reason than to support creative gaming.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - Another stylized amazing XBLA surprise. Think Limbo meets Pixel Junk Shooter. Download this on day one or turn in your gamer card.

Overstrike - Despite no presence on the floor, I would be remiss in not mentioning the pre rendered tease for Insomniac's first multi platform IP. In true Insomniac form, it showed crazy combat and fun characters in a future cartoony spy world. Yeah, I'm ready to play it now.

Wii U - Sigh. My feelings on the system are complex. The controller feels huge and unwieldy for long play durations. The tech will holdup as competitive only until the next generation of Microsoft and Sony consoles launch. I want to like it and Nintendo's unique take on gaming, but I don't know who this system is for. I will reserve further judgement until I see some finished games, but for now, I do not plan to purchase the Wii U at launch or anytime soon.

Sesame Street Kinect/Disney Kinect Adventures - These I buy day one. I want to share my love for gaming with my little one, who loves to watch me play. Kinectimals was cute, but just not designed for someone very little. These two Kinect games will bring her into the world of gaming. I can't wait.

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword - My brief. Hands on with Skyward Sword left me sad. Don't get me wrong the game is fine and fun, but it feels very much like Ocarina of Time with arm flailing. But mostly I'm sad as this will likely be the last Nintendo game I buy for a long time.

Halo Anniversary/Halo 4 - Nothing, and I mean nothing, shown or talked about anywhere. An absolute bizarre move for Microsoft's most valuable franchise. Of course I'll buy Halo Anniversary on launch date, if for the theme music alone, but to not show anything Halo? Weird. Hopefully, my new contact at 343 Studios can get me more info soon.

Playstation Vita - If I have a disappointment of the show, it is the Vita. I just didn't see anything other than Uncharted that excites me and I can play Uncharted on my PS3. I'm skipping the launch and will wait to see what comes down the pipe.

Phew...

Check back tomorrow for my wrap-up coverage including a busy day three. Up for today: Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Fable Journey, Warhammer Space Marine, Kinect Star Wars, and Rage.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

The Quest for Zelda

2011-06-05T19:03:00.001-04:00

25 years ago, I was unknowingly cementing a life long love of video games with my prized possession, a Nintendo Entertainment System. And as much as I enjoyed Super Mario Brothers and Kung Fu, they were basically one trick ponies. Don't get me wrong, they were groundbreaking and amazing experiences, but how many times can you play level 1-1 without yearning for something more?

That something more happened when I saved my money up to buy a shiny golden cartridge entitled The Legend of Zelda. Running home to play the game, I channeled my inner Charlie with a prized golden ticket in hand. With no exaggeration, Zelda forever changed my perception of gaming. Hyrule presented me with a large open world to explore, weapons to upgrade and choose from, dungeons to map, bosses to defeat, and a land to save. It was and still is a masterpiece.

So as much as I enjoy first person shooters (FPSs) and sports games, it is the role playing game (RPG) that most embodies my love for gaming. Gaming to me is about challenge, wonder, progression, and accomplishment. RPGs give us new worlds to discover, initially insurmountable challenges, and reward time invested with empowerment and eventual triumph. Zelda did exactly that and few games have matched that level of gamer fulfillment since.

Metroid added to the formula, but in a 2D, side scrolling sense. World of Warcraft brought an unparalleled world for exploration, but the strength of an MMO is not the story nor any sense of completion. Ultima really carried Zelda's torch for me, but I can't help feeling that no game since Lord British's masterpieces have so completely satisfied my inner adventurer. Some in the current generation of consoles have given an excellent effort: Darksiders, Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, Fable, Dragon Age, to name a few. But all fell short in story, control, game design, expanse, art, or a combination thereof.

It is with my vivid memories of the original Zelda in mind that I approach E3 2011. There are countless amazing games I will be clamoring to see and play, but only a few have a chance to be the next legendary RPG experience for me. The best shot resides with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The first game by Curt Schilling's 38 Studios, Amalur is an open world fantasy RPG for the consoles. Impressively, Schilling, a World Series winning pitcher and avid gamer, retired from baseball to form a game studio and make RPGs "he wanted to play." Amalur benefits from 38's seizable investment in a NY Times best selling author, the art of the brilliant Todd McFarlane, and the Oblivion lead designer.

The game footage I've seen shows tremendous promise, with deep and visceral combat, brilliantly executed magic, a clean interface, and fantastic art style. Think the combat of God of War, with the art style of WoW, and the story of Lord of the Rings. Because of this, Amalur, due out in early 2012, is my can't miss game of show. I will desperately seek some time with the devs and hope to get my hands on the controls within the upcoming week. If the finished game is as good as I think it will be, I expect a midnight launch in 2012, followed by a day off to fully explore the world of Amalur. I may not find Princess Zelda, but with luck, I will enjoy the engrossing RPG I have spent years searching for.

Stay tuned this week for more on Amalur and all the other titles that will define the gaming landscape for the next year.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Tune in Tokyo

2011-05-19T21:45:00.001-04:00

According to an AP article yesterday, 30% of peak U.S. internet traffic is Netflix streaming. So what can be interpreted from this statistic? Is it indicative of people's love of mostly crappy or old movies?

Nope, the stunning statistic is a clear sign of consumer's love of the convenience of streaming content, whether it be to their PC, iPod, iPad, iPhone, Android device, or console. The 30% number is even more impressive given the overall lack of quality shows and movies available to be streamed by Netflix. Don't get me wrong here, there is some good stuff available, but does Police Academy 5 really compare to the latest blockbuster releases, HBO shows, or primetime TV? Of course not. So what are consumers saying with such a staggering statistic? Three words: Give us more.

Clearly, the future is digital distribution and streaming. Consumers want, and the next generation of consumers will demand, all the content they pay for be available wherever the are, whenever they want it. Once big media figures out how to navigate the legal and payment issues, day one streaming of all shows and DVD releases is the future. Those media companies who resist and desperately grasp at an outdated physical media model will go away. And some future or current billionaire will cash in big time on the pent up demand.

For example, if you moved and had to decide between cable providers and all things other things were equal, would you choose the provider who only allowed you to watch content on your TV or the provider who at no or minimal extra cost allowed you to watch that content on any device you own no matter where you are? Most consumers would strongly prefer the latter.

A great current example is HBO. After recently subscribing to HBO for the exceptional Game of Thrones, I expected to cancel my subscription when the season ended. That is, until they launched the HBOGo iPhone/iPad app. The app allows HBO subscribers like me to stream select movies and all episodes of HBO produced shows for free. This is the best incarnation of free content streaming and will likely keep me subscribing to HBO long after Game of Thrones year one ends. HBOGo is especially refreshing given it's favorable comparison to the bullsh*t pay per month Hulu app. Tell me why I should pay to watch something on my iPad that I can get free on a PC? But I digress...

I envision a near future where you can watch any show, channel, or film you pay for, wherever you are, whether it be in your living room or on a cell phone in Tokyo. Netflix's numbers don't lie and the value of HBOGo's product is undeniable. Big media will either fully join the streaming party or their customers will soon find someone who does.

Personally, I hope Netflix makes the leap to become a fully digital content provider. Not only would I pay more for their current service if I could stream all their movies instead of checking the mail, I would drop my cable company in a heartbeat and utilize Netflix capable devices throughout my house to stream live TV, previously aired shows, and rent movies, instead of traditional discs. Netflix has the apps, the servers, and the name recognition to make this happen. Come on Netflix, lead the streaming revolution, my money is waiting...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Big Risk, Bigger Reward

2011-05-18T18:39:00.001-04:00

LA Noire, released Tuesday, is an open world, crime solving drama video game set in post WWII Los Angeles. The game was made by Team Bondi, a new Australian studio, and published by RockStar, the current kings of open world gaming. The game was also in development for a long, seven years, not necessarily a positive sign in the video game world. That much time in development tends to be a sign of wandering direction, personnel losses, or funding problems. Much over three years usually means trouble for the end product.

Thus despite LA Noire's association with the premier maker of open world games, a slick film Noire art style, and the same facial animation technology used in Avatar, with that many delays and from an unproven studio, I had my doubts. When Noire was the first game to be shown at The Cannes Film Festival, my reservation only increased.

Games that try to imitate film, often fail and do so in epic fashion. The reasons are many: Limitations of game technology in convincingly rendering human faces, sporadic pacing, bad writing, poor acting, or the simple fact that movies are a two hour passive ride but games need to be challenging, exciting, and engage the player in actions they find stimulating for much longer. In short, the two genres may share an enjoyment of explosions, shootouts, fights, and chases, but they are just two very different mediums.

I say all this to demonstrate the significant obstacles LA Noire had to overcome to simply be a decent game. Thus the probability of what Team Bondi actually accomplished, making one of the most polished, unique, and amazing games I have ever experienced, was overwhelmingly small.

I can heap a lot of praise on LA Noire: Hollywood quality writing, facial acting transcending the dreaded uncanny valley; a detailed, post war, open world LA; perfect, deliberate pacing; a haunting score, solid controls, enjoyable puzzles, the list goes on... The game also marks a lot of firsts: The first truly successful investigation game, the first polished Noire game, and the first deployment of facial technology that makes game characters look exactly like, well, real humans. All of these factors make LA Noire better than the sum of its parts. For gamers, non gamers, Noire fans, crime drama fans, and all carbon based life, the game should not be missed. It is a guaranteed classic and will influence the gaming landscape on a variety of fronts for years to come.

Well done Team Bondi and RockStar, now I'm back to catching bad guys, Dragnet style...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2011 Preview

2011-04-25T22:15:00.001-04:00

Although we are over five weeks out of E3 2011, with Nintendo's confirmation of the planned unveiling of the successor to the Wii, I guess it is as good as a time as ever for my E3 2011 preview. So here it goes:

Nintendo:

With slumping sales of the underpowered Wii, Nintendo did not surprise me at all with plans to unveil their next system at E3. Rumors swirl in regards to the control scheme, including zany predictions of a dual stick controller with a built in six inch touch screen. I would be surprised to see this, especially with the likelihood of Wii backwards compatibility, but Nintendo has often broken the mold with its consoles. Without a doubt, the system will be more powerful than the five year old 360/PS3 and feature HD output. I expect an early 2012 launch, but if they can push it out by Christmas, that would give Nintendo a HUGE advantage going into the next generation. And with the system playable at E3, holiday 2011 is not out of the question.

Software wise, I expect to see Zelda Skyward Sword in gorgeous HD and as a launch title for the Wii 2. Any title would be hard pressed to compete with Zelda in HD as game of show. Who knows what other games Nintendo will showcase and quite frankly, who cares. All they need is the next system and Zelda and they will garner insurmountable press. Nintendo wins E3 2011 hands down.

Sony:

Sony is not expected to even mention a new console at E3, but instead will push their Next Generation Portable (NGP), due out holiday 2011. Uncharted and a handful of other titles will be playable on the floor. As for the PS3, they will hang their hat on a very strong lineup of first party titles including Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, Ratchet and Clank, and Infamous 2. That said, Infamous 2's launch during E3 is questionable at best. I mean will the title even be noticed during a storm of gaming blockbuster unveilings?

Speaking of lost games, I'd love to see Rockstar's PS3 exclusive Agent, based on cold war spying in Berlin. I also expect to see some mature titles for the Move, which I have really enjoyed. Overall, Sony will finish with a solid second place.

Microsoft:

Microsoft is sort of in a tough spot to impress at E3. Nintendo has the new console, Sony has the NGP, so what will Redmond bring to the table? Simply put, Microsoft must tease the next Xbox console at the end of their press conference, just to keep their brand even mentioned in the same paragraph as the Wii 2 and NGP. That said, I don't expect any specs, let alone demos or playable hardware.

For the second E3, Gears 3 will be predominately displayed. An internally developed, Halo Combat Evolved remake is a virtual lock for November. I'm also sure M$ will talk some big third party developer to showcase their wares at the Microsoft press conference. Will this be where Modern Warfare 3 shows up? But no matter what they do, short of unveiling a fully functional Xbox Next, Microsoft is a lock for third place.

Software:

Simply put, this will be the best, and last, holiday season for this generation of hardware. Rage, Skyrim, Arkham 2, Gears 3, Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3, and Mass Effect 3 are all phenomenal, can't miss experiences and represent the peak of the game designing craft. I look forward to finding them all on the show floor and being dragged away by security.

Bioshock Infinite and Ghost Recon Future Soldier both look amazing and I can't wait to see more, but God knows when they will actually hit store shelves. Update: Both have slipped into 2012. And speaking of 2012, the PAX demo for Kingdoms of Amalur looks amazing. Can a new game studio dream team really turn RPGs on their head?

As for unveils, other than maybe Agent and Halo HD, I expect Grand Theft Auto 5, Splinter Cell Next, Assassin's Creed 3, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 to be shown, along with a few other surprises. Respawn Entertainment is still too young to likely see anything from them yet, but Bungie is due for an unveil. Is a faction-based, FPS, MMO in our future? And what about Insomniac's multi platform debut? Questions, questions...

Summary:

Between the Wii 2, NGP, Xbox Next tease, and an absolutely stunning array of pending and future releases, this will be the best E3 in years. I can't wait to get to LA and get things rolling. Check back in a month for press conference impressions, daily show updates, and my wrap-up awards. Until then, happy gaming and start saving for Fall!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

2011: Go For Launch

2011-04-24T12:51:00.004-04:00

As launch dates firm up, or slip into oblivion, here is the up to date list of must buy games for 2011:

(Updated 6/21 with dates and a handful of 2012 launches)

Bulletstorm (2/22) - The most fun game hands down at last years E3. Epic's take on a true over the top shooter. (8 out of 10)

Killzone 3 (2/22) - The most solid PS3 shooter reloaded. And now with jet packs!!! (8/10)

Dragon Age 2 (3/8) - I could never get into Dragon Age despite the great story and huge world, but as the sequel looks more like Mass Effect 2, I'm in. (7.5/10)

Crysis 2 (3/22) - The prettiest game ever, until Rage launches. But will it be fun? (8/10)

Portal 2 (4/21) - Not really my thing, but a brilliant and creative take on puzzles. (9/10)

Brink (5/17) - I so want this to be good. A campaign MMO RPG FPS. With British accents!!! (4/10)

LA Noire (5/17) - Rockstar's gorgeous open world crime drama set in 1950s LA. (10/10, as in perfect)

Infamous 2 (6/7) - Infamous was sooo under-appreciated as an amazingly crafted action platformer. I wouldn't miss the next chapter for the world. (8.5/10)

Duke Nukem Forever (6/14) - I've seen it, it is real, and I can't wait for Gearbox's take on the classic franchise.

Madden 12 (8/9) - The official start of the 2011 gaming season. Hopefully it isn’t the only pro football we”ll see this year.

Deus Ex Human Revolution (8/23) - The Matrix meets Blade Runner meets Splinter Cell. Need I say more?

Gears of War 3 (9/20) - Think Gears 2, except with a prettier engine and more developed game play. An absolute blockbuster.

Rage (10/4) - Absolute can't miss RPG shooter from id. Best looking engine ever and I do mean ever. My hands on time at E3 gave me a contact high. Most anticipated shooter of a season of shooters.

Batman Arkham Asylum 2 (10/18) - I want it, I want it now. Arkham was the best super hero game ever and this looks better in every way.

Battlefield 3 (10/25) - Designed to be a Call of Duty killer, but I am concerned about the graphics and frame rate of the console version. Will DICE pull it off?

Uncharted 3 (11/1) - The next chapter of what Indiana Jones should have been. Amazing writing, graphics, and gameplay. Midnight launch game for sure.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (11/8) - I had my doubts when Infinity Ward cleared out, but after the demo levels I've seen, I have no further concern. Hail to the modern shooter king baby.

Elder Scrolls V (11/11) - Bethesda is bringing out the big guns this holiday and by guns I mean swords. Todd Howards' brilliant team is up to something good... Again.

Halo Combat Evolved HD (11/15) - Released on the ten year anniversary of the first Halo. The first project from M$'s new Halo stewards, 343. For $40, a steal.

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (2011?) - Now that I finally beat Donkey Kong Country, other than my workouts, this may be the next game to be played on my Wii... or possibly my Wii 2...

Ghost Recon Future Soldier (3/2012) - My E3 2010 game of the year. Techy squad based, stealthy, badassery.

Mass Effect 3 (3/6/2012) - Best science fiction intellectual property in existence and I get to play more!?!? I heart Cdr. Sheppard.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Q1 2012) - No single 2012 game has me more excited than this rookie studio, making an epic RPG. From an Elder Scrolls lead, award winning writer, and art genius Todd McFarlen. Please be as good as I think it will be.

Bioshock Infinite (Q1 2012) - The first Bioshock is legendary, but with slightly flawed game design. Looks like 2K sunk in big $$$ on technical resources to match the writing and art. The result is triple A in every sense. My E3 2011 game of show.

Far Cry 3 (2012) - The E3 11 demo absolutely blew me away. This is the true sequel to the game I bought a new PC rig to play (FC1).

Halo 4 (Q4 2012) - The start of a new Master Chief trilogy and the first title not developed by Bungie. 343, the pressure is on. And will it be a launch title for the next Xbox?

Overstrike (Q4 2012) - The first multiplatform release from the beloved Insomniac Games. Spies, humor, and cool weapons? IN.

Taking Control

2011-04-24T12:21:00.002-04:00

I do so love many things about the console gaming experience. Lounging on the couch, in front of a gigantic screen, with the surround sound blaring, blasting aliens with my friends online is good times. Compared to PC, the discount price of a current generation console, with standardized online features, is also a big plus. Even the 360 controller feels right, with ergonomic designs, rumble, and beefy triggers. That said, the imprecise nature of aiming a First Person Shooter (FPS) with miniature sticks and the lack of variety in controller design, especially on the PS3, leaves much room for improvement.

First, lets discuss FPS control problems... For me, the issue originates with the difference in how joystick controls work versus mouse controls. On a computer, when you move the mouse, the aiming reticule moves accordingly. Move the mouse a little, the reticule moves a little. Move fast, it moves fast. In short, mouse displacement equals reticule displacement. This is easy for the brain to grasp and accurately control. That said, it is tough for me to feel like a badass space marine squeezing the trigger of an assault rifle, when all I'm really doing is lightly double clicking a dainty mouse.

Joysticks feel much better, but unfortunately their control scheme is different and not necessary for the better. When using a joystick, displacement equates to reticule movement speed. Moving the joystick a little results in a slow reticule speed. Cranking the joystick all the way over, moves the reticule at a fast rate. Controlling the rate of turn makes quickly and accurately aiming much more difficult.

Specifically, although the human brain is really good at learning new control schemes, the tendency to crank a joystick when a critical threat emerges, and thus overshoot the target, remains. The miniature control sticks with tiny resistance springs on modern controllers tend to exacerbate the problem. One can try to counter this tendency by using just the tip of their thumb on the top of the stick, making it harder to move the stick dramatically. On the downside, this is not comfortable and inevitably during stressful conditions or long gaming sessions, it is easy to revert to full thumb control.

What is needed is a way to make the small sticks either longer and/or harder to move, thus allowing more precise input.

I very much like the Razer Onza's solution of adjustable joystick resistance, which I use to crank up the stick resistance. This allows me to precisely move the stick to the exact position I want without accidentally moving the stick too far. In addition, I recently purchased FPS Freeks. These stick extenders, compatible with both the Xbox and PS3 controllers, extend the length of control sticks, increasing the physical movement required to fully displace the joysticks. This also allows more precise joystick control. Between the Razer Onza Xbox 360 controller and the FPS Freeks, I have noticed far superior control, especially with FPS games.

But what about on the PS3? Like many console gamers, I greatly prefer the ergonomic 360 controller over the undersized, blocky PS DualShock 3. But up until recently, there was no option other than the base Sony controller design, which was unfortunately copied on third party PS3 accessories as well. Thankfully, I found the XCM CrossBattle Adaptor (with rumble), a, shall I say, "less than Sony licensed" peripheral. In short, you plug the small adaptor into the PS3 USB slot, plug a wired Xbox controller into the adaptor, and wallah, you can use the superior 360 controller on the PS3.

I have played several hours of Killzone 3 using my Freek improved Razer 360 controller and LOVED the difference. There was no discernible lag, only better control and comfort. In fact, the only hiccup I've had is that certain games, including Killzone 3, have minigames requiring gyroscopic controls that can not be disabled. As the 360 does not use gyroscopic controls, for these segments I was forced to use the DualShock. That said, very few games require gyroscopic input (none should), so the issue will be very limited. Lastly, for any gamer who simply must have wireless controls, this solution won't work. But for gamers like me, who are very content with superior controls at the cost of a 15 foot cord and not changing batteries, I may never use my DualShock again.

So there you have it. For anyone who takes their console gaming seriously or for anyone who is in a relationship with these folks, I HIGHLY recommend the Razer Onza TE ($50), FPS Freeks ($10), and the XCM CrossBattle Adaptor ($30). For less than $100, the feel and play of every game will be improved. And when facing an army of 15 year old, Call of Duty, idiot savants, I'll take any advantage I can get. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Razer Onza

2011-04-17T17:18:00.001-04:00

The original Xbox 360 wireless controller is indeed the best designed first party controller on the market. Ergonomically shaped, with the offset left stick design, and smooth operating triggers, it absolutely blows the blocky, tiny, PS3 DualShock 3 away. That said, there certainly is room for improvement. The rechargeable battery pack dies ridiculously quickly and totally fails after only a few short cycles. The D pad is atrociously imprecise and loose. And the sticks are rather loose, the death kneel for the precision needed in First Person Shooters (FPSs).

For these reasons, I've been waiting over a year for the "Onza" Tournament Edition premium Xbox 360 controller from the peripheral magicians at Razer. This is Razer's, a company known for premium PC gaming gear, first entry into the under-explored premium console peripheral market. So after several hours of controller test driving, how did Razer fair? Pretty freaking well, but more room for improvement remains. I shall explain...

The feel of the Onza body is very similar to the original. It is slightly bigger and rubberized, making it very ergonomic and comfortable to hold. The sticks start with a "same as always" feel, until you turn the clicky wheel just beneath the knobs. Turning the wheel increases stick resistance. I found myself increasing the left stick resistance a little bit and cranking the resistance all the way on the right stick, used for among in FPSs. This nicely compensates for the tendency to overshoot during frantic firefights. And have no worries, the resistance wheel is very firm and will not accidentally turn during play.

The face buttons are the most noticeable improvement from the M$ default. The button throw distance is significantly reduced and a satisfying click accompanies every press. The D pad has been replaced with four separate buttons, greatly simplifying the accuracy in weapon changing, the typical D pad function. This would, however, make the D pad totally useless for fighting controls.

The trigger section feels almost identical, with the exception of a second set of bumper buttons. The top row is easily programmable to mimic any other button. In my case, I set them to the "clic the stick" function. This function, often used for melee or scope zoom, is much better served with a dedicated button, versus an often "aim killing" stick click. That said, when playing a new game and not used to the controls, I still tend to follow the screen prompts and click the stick when told to.

So what needs improving? First, the controller is wired. Although, this is because Microsoft will not license third party wireless controllers and the Onza does come with a durable 15 foot braided cord, the kids just love their wireless and parents love a cord free living room. This really isn't an issue for me, as I prefer no changing batteries and don't mind the cord, especially with ample length to span my game room, but it is certainly worth mentioning.

Second, I find myself needing to relearn how to press a bumper button. In the past, when bumper was needed, rather than take my finger off the trigger, I just rolled my knuckle off and, well, bumped the bumper. Now it requires a definite dedicated press, as roll will engage the reprogrammable bumper instead.

Lastly, a couple minor quips: 1. The face buttons are backlit which is great, but in a dark room, the gap between the button and the body occasionally allows bright light from the LED to sneak by. 2. The Xbox symbol button is ass ugly. It looks like they photocopied the symbol and pasted it on the button.

So what is the final verdict? For the hardcore gamer, a definite buy. It's not perfect, but for $50, it is a superior controller when compared to the default M$ sticks. For casual gamers or parents, not a bad purchase, especially to avoid battery replacement, but probably best if you are in the need for an extra controller, not to replace a perfectly good one. For pro gamers, nope, if for no other reason the MLG has banned the Onza for having reprogrammable buttons and likely because MLG is sponsored by MadKatz, Razer's peripheral rival company.

Now back to Crysis 2, but check back next week for my take on the third party Xbox 360 to PS3 controller adaptor. Will I kiss the shitacular DualShock 3 good bye? Stay tuned.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

The Lowdown on Meltdowns

2011-03-12T17:20:00.001-05:00

Before I begin, I must admit I am a strong advocate for nuclear power. With a couple engineering degrees under my belt and hundreds of hours working inside a nuclear plant, I have a pretty good technical base to speak from on this topic. That said...

Watching the triple disaster unfold in Japan, I am reminded of what I would often do to my Sim Cities, unleashing flood, earthquake, and fires simultaneously. Sadly, this is no game and now the combined results of these disasters have resulted in severe trauma to several nuclear reactors. The press, ever eager to cause a panic, has been quick to talk about radiation leakage, explosions, and fears of meltdown, without, of course, any actual attempt at explaining what is likely occurring and what the risks truly are. So that being said, I will offer a simplified explanation. To do so, I will start with a brief explanation of how nuclear power plants work to put in context what has happened in Japan to date...

Uranium is a slightly radioactive element found in many mountain ranges. Radiation is in fact naturally occurring and hitting your entire body as we speak. In low doses, radiation is essentially harmless. At high doses, it can make the recipient sick by damaging soft tissue. Even if one recovers, their chances for uncontrolled mutant cell growth, AKA the cancer, increase. But I digress...

When a particularly unstable isotope of uranium is removed from the mined uranium and concentrated, AKA enriched, the enriched uranium is then formed into fuel rods. When these fuel rods are arranged in a certain way, as the uranium decays it fires off neutrons and gives off heat. When the neutrons hit other uranium atoms, they break down, producing a neutron and more heat. And so on. This is called a critical reaction.

The resulting heat is then removed by pumping cool water through the fuel rod arrangement, AKA core. The hot water that exits the core is then pumped through a steam generator. The hot water makes steam and the steam turns a turbine, which powers a generator. The water exiting the turbine is then further cooled, usually by a big river or ocean, and is then pumped back to the reactor to cool it. And thus the power cycle continues.

One of the peculiarities of nuclear cores is that even when they are shut down, by putting materials that absorb neutrons between the uranium fuel to prevent a critical reaction, they still tend to smolder for a while, producing a small amount of heat. And the higher the power the reactor has been producing and the longer it has been producing it, the longer the core smolders before it cools down. As long as water keeps flowing through the core, removing the residual heat, all is okay. However, if the heat cannot be removed, the uranium core may overheat and melt. This melted liquid metal may then flow down outside the core area and re-form, usually in a cement containment vessel below the core. This is called a meltdown.

This is exactly what happened at the Three Mile Island plant when the cooling systems on a reactor failed. Fortunately all the radiative material was contained and nothing outside the plant was ever exposed. Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster by far, was an entirely different animal. Due to a chain of extreme human errors, a nuclear plant in Chernobyl Russia was allowed to overheat, badly, while critical. The water in the core flashed to steam and the resulting pressure increase blew the top of the reactor off with extreme force, also blowing half the uranium core over hundreds of surrounding miles. The remaining material then melted into the ground where it still resides today. The damage was done by the contamination of severely radioactive material being dumped over thousands of square miles. This contamination was not a meltdown or a nuclear explosion, it was a really bad steam driven radioactive spill.

So where are we today in Japan? From the reports I have read, the primary cooling systems of several reactors were damaged by the earthquake. The reactors were immediately successfully shutdown and the backup system, dumping cool water pumped by diesel generators through the core, was working fine until the tsunami flooded the generators. Now the engineers at the plants are likely using extreme measures to cool the core, including dumping raw unprocessed sea water on the core and possibly even dumping special chemically treated water to stop the smoldering.

The media has given lots of airtime to an "explosion" at one of the plants today. From what I've seen, that appears to be a hydrogen explosion from the poorly controlled venting of hydrogen caused by the emergency cooling process. This was not a nuclear explosion, nor was the core damaged or released. Predictably, the radioactivity of the cores are decreasing as the smoldering calms down. Most media outlets have reported they don't know why the radioactivity levels are decreasing. Perhaps they should ask someone other than anti-nuclear power zealots. But I digress...

The bottom line is, the danger from the plants is decreasing by the hour. If the engineers are even partially successful at cooling the cores, they will naturally become less of a concern as time passes eventually requiring no cooling at all. The cores are likely damaged, but can eventually be replaced. To date, no one has been exposed to any dangerous level of radiation. There will be no nuclear explosion. There has been no meltdown. And if there is, it will not cause Armageddon, just an expensive cleanup of the plant location.

Sorry to rain on the fear party, but that is all there is to it. And in response to the Green Peace clowns, I say this: Is nuclear power inherently hazardous? You bet. But so is burning coal and oil and dumping all the pollution into the sky, waterways, and oceans. There is no reasonable, clean way to supply all the power we require. Until we learn to have less than twelve kids each (I'm looking at you Duggers), live in unpowered tents, or perfect the power of positive thinking, nuclear power is the safest longterm solution. Heck, if a nuclear power plant can take a record earthquake, 30 foot tsunami, fire, hydrogen explosion, and still not hurt a single person, what more proof do you need?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Nerd Love Part 2, AKA, my iPad 2 review

2011-03-11T23:24:00.001-05:00

After a pleasant four and a half hour wait outside my local Apple Store, enjoying abundant sunshine and Apple supplied, free iced coffee, a white, 32 GB, AT&T 3G iPad was finally mine. First, let's discuss why that was my model of choice...

From my experience with the iPad 1, 32 GB of storage was more than enough for my purposes, easily storing seven movies, as well all the music and apps I wish to carry. Despite their crappy customer service, AT&T's 3G is still the way to go, being far faster than Verizon's current semi 3G network and cheaper at $25 for 2 GB of data. Lastly, the appearance of the old school Apple white was just too much to resist.

All that said, I was rather lucky to get my model of choice, as Apple was offering 18 different models, spreading the choices rather thin at launch. In fact, the lined up Apple fanboys, excited for the first white iOS iPad had the white 3G models flying off the shelves. By the time I got to choose, less than ten minutes into the launch, the 64 GB was sold out and only five 32 GB were left.

After grabbing and not letting go of my new toy, I also snatched up two covers, a light blue plastic and navy blue leather, as the only logical solution for my cover indecision conundrum. :) Both cases work and feel almost exactly the same. That is, both are a super slick, magnetically applied covers, that thoroughly match the sex appeal of the iPad 2. Oh and did I mention they are sensed by the iPad, which puts itself to sleep when the cover is closed and wakes itself up when removed? This = cool.

So, after putting it through it's paces, how does the new iPad perform you may ask? Really, really well.

The first thing I noticed is how much better the iPad 2 feels to hold. Between the 33% reduction in thickness and the removal of the big rubber case, it feels like literally half the thickness of the original. When combined with the 15% weight reduction, number two feels leaps and bounds smaller than it's predecessor.

The screen is the same gorgeous brightly backlight beauty as with the first version. I admit, I was slightly concerned the white edging would be distracting when watching video, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how dark the edging appears when watching video, especially in dimly lit conditions. In short, there is no eye stress at at all.

FaceTime, Apple's video chat client, performs as one would imagine, delivering reasonable quality video chat with your modern Apple product of choice, in my case, and iMac. Unfortunately it still does not work with 3G and is WiFi only. Boo. The camera app also works well, easily allowing still or video capture from either the front or rear facing camera. Overall, it feels so nice to have an integrated camera on my iOS device of choice again.

I haven't used the iPad enough yet to fully expend the battery, but based on heavy usage since the unboxing, the battery has dropped less than 15% over two hours. Not bad and certainly in line with the first version.

All that said, I save the best for last. The iPad, and all Apple products for that matter, succeed because of the refined software experience. They simply feel right. And with all the improvements iOS 4.3 has brought to the table, the new "feel" of the iPad 2 is simply a game changing upgrade. Transitions and animations are amazingly smoother, the loading of web content is much faster, and in general, it is a much, much more polished iOS experience. I never realized how jerky and laggy the first iPad was until experiencing what it can be. The dual core processor and extra RAM make a truly magical improvement to Steve Jobs' "magical" product.

So what is my final verdict? As you can imagine, buy. Buy if you want the best tablet on the market. Buy if you want the best mobile computing solution available. Buy if you want the best iOS experience. Buy if you love your original iPad and want an evolutionary improvement. And for the love all that is holy, buy if you never bought the first one. Apple has done it again. And once again, I am in digital nerd love.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Life As We Know It Is Over

2011-03-06T13:14:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not speaking of the new iPad, I'm talking about NASA unveiling proof that we are not alone in the universe. Specifically, Dr. Richard Hoover of the Marshall Space Flight Center has found fossils, specifically the one pictured above, of bacteria inside a meteorite that did not originate from Earth. Despite the fact that the mainstream media will give Charlie Sheen's latest gibberish quotation more airtime, this discovery should rank right up there with the realization of a round Earth or that we orbit the sun.

If true, Dr. Hoover's little rock confirms what I have believed for quite sometime. Not only is life possible outside Earth, it is staggeringly probable. For whatever reason, life just tends to form from the elements in our universe. I will leave the why's to priests, philosophers, and chemists, but there is no doubt in my mind that well beyond single celled organisms, complex beings are out there, probably on millions of planets. Religious fanatics may attack this statement with vigor, but do you really believe that in billions of miles of space in every direction, we are it? That Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen represent the most evolved carbon based life in the universe?

Personally, when staring up at a starry night, I find it comforting that on a planet or a dozen surrounding one of those twinkling lights something is looking back at me. At least I know no matter how bad we eff up our planet, life will go on. For that and many other reasons, I don't mind having interstellar neighbors, but either way our view of Earth and our perceived importance should be reevaluated. So what that today we realize we are simply one of many? It's okay folks. We always have been.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

To iPad or not 2 iPad

2011-03-04T21:51:00.001-05:00

Like most of the nerd-o-sphere, I waited with baited breath on Wednesday to see what the next iteration of the revolutionary iPad would look like. To say the iPad has changed my life would not be an exaggeration. It is the first thing I grab when I wake up, to check news and weather. It is what I relax with after dinner to surf the web and check email. And it is often the last thing I do before I go to bed, flipping through a virtual book. Is it perfect? No, I really hoped for a front facing camera for video chat and it is a bit heavy, but truly besides that, it is without any question the future of computing.

So when Jobs took the stage and unveiled the next incarnation, although it didn't include a 4G radio or retina screen, it is exactly what I expected it to be, a strong, but unrevolutionary improvement on the iPad 1. A faster dual core processor, 33% thinner, 15% lighter, with the long overdue front and rear facing cameras, the iPad 2 is a much closer to perfected form of the Apple tablet.

Although I was content to wait for the iPad 3, which will likely be a 4G retina model, I will attempt to buy one on week one, as my spousal unit has demanded my used model as soon as possible. To ensure my monies, $730 for a 3G 32 GIGer, will be well spent, I traveled to my local BestBuy to compare the best competition on the market, the Android Honeycomb powered, Motorola Xoom. Motorola brags of a free upgrade to 4G, a blazing processor, and a powerful, multitasking, tablet optimized OS. So what was my impression? An impressive alpha product at best.

Look, the Xoom may have all the bells and whistles, but the experience is a clunky mess. Nonintuitive, buggy, even the physical design lacks the polish and smoothness of the Apple experience. Can it multitask and show multiple running apps simultaneously? Sure, but it sports a steep learning curve and inconsistent configuration of each app. Overall, Apple has nothing to fear from this version of Android and likely the next few. The iPad iOS is still in a class of it's own. Simple, useful, and elegant.

Oh and the case, have I mentioned the case? Apple managed to build the iPad 2 and case simultaneously. The result is the slickest sexy case ever. Magnetically attached with multiple colors, the minimalist screen cover preserves the iPad's form while protecting the gorgeous screen. And did I mention the iPad 2 sleeps when the screen is covered and wakes up when the cover is removed? And the case doubles as a titling or movie stand. Yeah, there is another guaranteed additional $40-80 profit margin on each SKU sold.

So in the end, what is my recommendation? Other than obviously not buying a Xoom, it is buy an iPad if you haven't already. If you have and iPad 1, $700 is a steep price to pay for refinement, especially with a much bigger leap likely on the iPad 3. If you don't have an iPad yet, the iPad 2 is a no brainer. This device will change your life, especially if you travel and like to be connected on the go. The 32G model is still my recommended flavor, with 3G also being the way to go. Despite my issues with AT&T, their 3G blows Verizon away, so I see no reason to switch.

Well there you have it, the iPad 2 will put Apple that much further ahead on a race they are already dominating and make Steve "Scrooge McDuck" Jobs another three feet of gold in his coffers. Whether you believe their "post PC" tagline or not, Apple has another winner on their hands, now go get one in yours.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Advanced Whack a Mole

2011-02-27T13:40:00.001-05:00

I must admit I have had my share of incorrect predictions. One of my personal favorites was returning the first console First Person Shooter (FPS) to Electronics Boutique, angrily stating to the clerk that using two sticks simultaneously was ridiculously difficult and would never catch on. Well, clearly I was not exactly hyper accurate on that one. More over, console FPSs have morphed into the industry cash cows, with games like Call of Duty making more profit their first week than the number one grossing movie made in its entire theater run.

After overcoming my issues with two sticks, mostly, I have happily sunk the majority of my console gaming budget into FPSs. I also watched the genre evolve from glorified whack a mole with dumb adversaries, populating low resolution worlds with little or no cover, to the highly tactical affairs they are now. To continue with the previous example, Call of Duty, the current industry FPS standard, is a gorgeous game, with well thought out battlefields and adversaries skilled in sniping, suppression, and flanking. However, if you run and gun in this game, you won't last long. With tactical, comes realistic and fast deaths. The payoff to gamers is in simply surviving through the level, but not necessarily in enjoying every kill along the way.

So as FPSs get more and more realistic and advanced tactically, I find myself resorting to long distance sniping, rather than suicidally facing an army of Chuck Norris' at point blank range. At close range, the player must react quickly with accurate shots or face a respawn. And with such low tolerance for taking time to aim, my accuracy with the two stick system devolves and more often than not I die. But the problem with maintaining my range and lobbing shots from afar is, where is the fun? Pointing my reticle at a couple pixel high blob on the other side of the map and squeezing off bursts until it drops to the ground is not very fun. I mean what is the point of great character models, if I never get near enough to see them?

It is with this in mind, that I point out a couple of interesting games that run counter to the tactical trend. Ratchet and Clank, although based on cartoony and funny characters, is not for the feint of heart. Rather than relying on challenging the player's marksmanship against super-soldiers, the game mechanic is based on using a variety of guns, in the right conditions, to take on a vast number of enemies. The challenge comes from using the appropriate weapon and staying calm while being overwhelmed, and the payoff is in gorgeous explosions and controlled mayhem on the screen. Not to mention, with weapons that upgrade the more you use them, the game begins to naturally fit the player's style. In Ratchet, I actually find myself upgrading the shotgun style weapon and really enjoying killing up close, thus I appreciate the game's visuals much more.

The recent Epic release, Bulletstorm, takes a different track as well. The enemies in the game aren't terribly bright or dangerous, but to succeed at upgrading weapons and gaining ammo, the player must "kill with skill" by combining melee, a grapple, guns, and the environment to snuff their adversaries in the most creative and gory way possible. The payoff is in the kill, often animated in over the top bloody messes.

The last example I will use is the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever. I have already heard reviewers pan the demo as feeling dated due to slow reacting bad guys. The question is, are they comparing apples to apples by holding Duke to the same standards of Call of Duty? Call of Duty is supposed to be tactical, but should Duke, a game based on humor and being the universe's greatest badass, be designed to feel the same? I say no. Enjoy Duke for what it is, a humorous and self-mocking treat.

I point out these games out, as they buck the "Army simulator" trend and manage to greatly increase the entertainment value over the everyday FPS. More developers should look away from tactical/realistic and more to fun. Call of Duty has its the realistic shooter genre cornered, but the fun FPS market has a lot of room to grow.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

iPad Dos

2010-12-16T23:39:00.001-05:00

Well, as we approach the one year anniversary of when my beloved iPad came into my life, it is time that we start speculating on what the next version will look like. I am frequently asked when the new one will come out and if it is worth waiting for. Well, to provide an educated guess, based on leaked hardware orders, I put the iPad 2 out in February or March. But more importantly, here's a list of the new rumored features, why they are rumored, and my estimated chances:

Front Facing Camera - FaceTime is becoming a staple for Apple products and this was the number one requested feature that they skipped on iPad 1. This is virtual guarantee. 95%

Retina Display - Not sure about the cost issues of scaling the iPhone 4 screen up, but this seems very reasonable. 70%

Rear Facing Camera - Based on supposed leaked case designs it seems more than possible, but does a mini laptop replacement need one? 65%

iPhone4-like Body - Unlikely given the issues with cracking under stress. 15%

World Wireless Card - Tough one. Verizon seems to be ready to move into bed with Apple, but will Apple sacrifice the space to accommodate both networks? 50%

Mini USB Charging Port - Likely with Europe's push to unify all wireless devices under one charging standard. 60%

Side Charging Port - Unlikely. Doesn't look pretty or match Jobs' minimalist design style. 15%

Marginally Better Processor - Toss up. It all comes down to if they improve the display resolution. Improved resolution, improved processor likely. No, then no. 50%

Bigger Storage - Despite the trends of ever increasing storage, I say no. 16, 32, and 64 are more than enough for at least another year.

Magnetic Compass - Very likely to improve GPS usefulness. 80%

Lighter, better battery - Sure, but likely unnoticeably so in both categories. 90%

Alternate screen size - Keep dreaming. Jobs' biggest argument against Droid is the fracturing of features, screen sizes, etc. No way he splits iOS again by adding a third screen size. 5%

Magazine Store - Likely to be announced with it, but compatible with both the iPad 1 and 2. 75%

Mystery Feature - Unlikely. The original iPad pretty much hit expectations with few surprises and still sold like hot cakes. Expect an iterative process as opposed to revolutionary. 15%

So there you have it. With luck, my new baby will be in my hands in February or so. Will it look like what I described or add an espresso maker? Who knows, but I'm preordering either way. ;)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

2011 Game Preview: Bankruptcy Edition

2010-12-11T22:32:00.001-05:00

So the Video Game Awards (VGAs) just wrapped and as such, next year's gaming year is coming into focus. My first impression is, well, holy s$&@!!! I mean sure, the early year is great with games that slid out of holiday 2010, but next holiday is nothing shy of ridiculous. So here are the games you simply cannot mix in 2011 in no particular order:

Halo Combat Evolved HD - Released on or about the ten year anniversary of the first Halo. The first project from M$'s new Halo stewards, 343. Needless to say, I will be in line at midnight.

Bulletstorm - The most fun game hands down at last years E3. Epic's take on a true over the top shooter.

LA Noire - Rockstar's gorgeous open world crime drama set in 1950s LA.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier - My E3 2010 game of the year. Techy squad based, stealthy, badassery.

Duke Nukem Forever - I've seen it, it is real, and I can't wait for Gearbox's take on the classic franchise.

Killzone 3 - The most solid PS3 shooter reloaded. And now with jet packs!!!

Brink - I so want this to be good. A campaign MMO RPG FPS. With British accents!!!

Dragon Age 2 - I could never get into Dragon Age despite the great story and huge world, but as the sequel looks more like Mass Effect 2, I'm in.

Crysis 2 - The prettiest game ever, until Rage launches. But will it be fun?

Rage - Absolute can't miss RPG shooter from id. Best looking engine ever and I do mean ever.

Elder Scrolls V - Bethesda is bringing out the big guns this holiday and by guns I mean swords. Todd Howards' brilliant team is up to someone good... Again.

Uncharted 3 - The next chapter of what Indiana Jones should have been. Amazing writing, graphics, and gameplay. Midnight launch game for sure.

Gears of War 3 - Even if I don't expect that much better of a game than Gears 2, it still is a can't miss.

Resistance 3 - Can Insomniac overcome the bloated mess that was Resistance 2? They have the engine and talent, I certainly hope they use it.

Portal 2 - Not really my thing, but a brilliant and creative take on puzzles.

Arkham Asylum 2 - I want it, I want it now. Arkham was the best super hero game ever and this looks better in every way.

Infamous 2 - Infamous was sooo under-appreciated as an amazingly crafted action platformer. I wouldn't miss the next chapter for the world.

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword - Now that I finally beat Donkey Kong Country, other than my workouts, this may be the next game to be played on my Wii.

Mass Effect 3 - Best science fiction intellectual property in existence and I get to play more!?!? I heart Cdr. Sheppard.

Tomb Raider Reboot - Haven't even read the articles yet, but Lara you had me at hello.

Agent - Will the rumored Rockstar PS3 exclusive arrive in 2011? Unlikely, but hopefully soon after.

Call of Duty X - We know it is coming. We know we'll buy it. Activision might as well have a $60 reoccurring charge on my credit card.

Bioshock Infinite - I know Ken Levine said 2012, but as I expect very early 2012, not including this guaranteed hit would be sacrilege.

So that about does it. 22 can't miss games. I can't even begin to decide a top five list. I mean conservatively speaking (no collector's editions), that's $1300 in games coming at almost two a month. Phew. Start saving fellow gamers. I'm just gonna go take December 2011 off right now...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Next Next Gen

2010-12-01T12:25:00.001-05:00

Well it seems that time is upon us once again where game industry insiders begin to discuss when the next generation of consoles will arrive and what they will look like. This generation was extended by the horrific economy and the late addition of motion sensing hardware by Microsoft/Sony and improvement of the Wiimotes with the Motion Plus dongle. That said, the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 have all exceeded the previous standard of four or so years between console generations and I believe strongly that 2011 will reveal at least two of the big three's new console plans...

Nintendo

No one can question the Wii's success. Nintendo essentially took a now seven year old processor, slapped on a silly looking remote, and dominated the market in sales and profits. Their choice of dumbing down the hardware in favor of a low price point paid off quite well when the economy headed south. Being the lowest priced console, designed for family entertainment, when spending got scarce was the best spot to be in and they took advantage. I fully expect Nintendo to take those lessons into the next generation. Specifically...

The Wii HD, for lack of an official term, will likely be teased or all out shown at E3 11 in June. I expect more of an iterative approach, then an all out new console, similar to Nintendo's market strategy with the DS. I see a vastly improved processor with the same architecture allowing backwards compatibility with older Wii games. HDMI output for HD resolution is a no brainer and I don't see a change in the controller, with "motion plus included" controllers continuing to be their standard. Lastly, for licensing and cost reasons alone, DVD is much more likely than BluRay. M$ proved DVD capacity is more than enough for an HD console. I also expect some limited first party game support continuing for the older Wii, but phasing out quickly with the launch of the big titles such as Mario, Metroid, and Zelda. Could we see Zelda Skyward Sword as a Fall 2011/Spring 2012 Wii HD launch title with a lower res version for the original Wii, ala Shadow Princess? Very possible. Look for a $250-300 price tag.

Sony

Sony took a beating early this generation with a ridiculous price point, arrogant marketing strategy, and poor launch lineup. Despite the late gen turnaround, they are still licking their wounds and looking to make up massive early hardware losses. Despite losing much ground to Microsoft by coming in a year late to the next gen party, I expect them to again be the last of the new hardware to launch, think early 2013 or so. Given their entirely unimaginative and conservative hardware philosophy, I see a faster processor, same "gnome hands only" blocky controller, and of course included BluRay and hard drives. Boring but powerful and probably at a significantly lower price point than the PS3 started at, likely $350-400.

Microsoft

With the exception of the massive quality control fiasco of the Red Ring of Death, the 360 executed a brilliant takeover of the top American "core gaming system." How did they overcome the billion dollar hardware failure mess? By being first to the market, focusing on improving the best online platform, and making pragmatic software and peripheral decisions. Simply put, they tried lots of different things, dropped what wasn't accepted by the market and focused on what was. Given that strategy, I can't see M$ waiting past holiday 12 to launch the next Xbox and that means a likely tease at E3 11.

Tease of what you may ask? As I have previously covered, I still see the "Xbox Next" being drive-free with an optional BluRay drive, ala their approach to the failed HD DVD. In this way they keep costs low for the entry model console, encourage Xbox Live membership to buy games, get a more significant cut of game sales via download, and don't overtly support Sony's BluRay format. I'm thinking $400 at launch for a 1TB drive console with a USB BluRay drive available for $100 or packed in for an extra $50. The controller won't likely change much, but will of course be new enough to require a $60 repurchase and pump up their bottom line. Expect a stripped down entry level console with a 250MB drive for $299 and not a dollar more.

Other (Apple)

Don't expect Apple to join the console wars anytime soon. Jobs has never made an effort to support gaming and with the entry costs of the console market being so high, I can't see him hurting his stock price on a longterm risky investment. Plus, they are already happily making 20% on every repackaged Atari game on the iPad/Phone.

So there you have it. In a year or so, the new rollout will begin. Who wins? Who knows, but with the quality and selection of games currently available, the next generation should wow us all. Hold on to your wallets, the future is coming...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Wiisurgence

2010-11-21T22:51:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure whether it was my disappointment in the Microsoft Kinect, actually finding my lost Wiimotes, or the launch of Kirby's Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns, but I am in the middle of a bonafide Wiisurgence. Not only is the family Wii hooked up to a TV, I dare say it is getting more playtime than my beloved 360.

And before you ask Microsoft, it's nothing you did, it's just me. Your shooters have been great, arguably some of the best ever released within the last few months. And yes, the ding of your achievement unlocked still is music to my ears. It's just that lately, I want something challenging but a little lighter than the serious fare found on either M$ or Sony's system. Kirby is creative and a refreshing take on platforming. Donkey Kong is brilliant, gorgeous, and a throwback to the challenging platformers of old. And with Epic Mickey due out soon, Warren Spector's latest, well, epic, there are just so many reasons to hold that silly controller, even if the damn D pad is too small for human hands.

In fact, I would give the nod to Kirby, New Super Mario Bros, and Donkey Kong over any three games out for any system this Fall. And with Halo, Fable, and Black Ops, that's saying something.

So my recommendation to any jaded next gen owner out there who is sick of the standard fare or for anyone looking for the perfect gift for their favorite gamer, pickup Donkey Kong, Kirby, or Mickey, forget what the "hardcore" gaming press says, and lose yourself in gaming renaissance.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

DisKinect

2010-11-13T11:53:00.001-05:00

I must admit, I had high hopes for Kinect, Microsoft's answer to motion-based gaming. After quickly losing interest in my Wii but falling hard for the Xbox 360, I believed that the addition of a Kinect camera could make my beloved 360 accessible to the rest of the family, which includes a four year old and a barely casual gamer spouse. So last week when it launched I took the afternoon off, picked it up, rushed home to set it up, and surprise the fam with a fun gaming night.

Hardware setup was easy enough, just plug in the USB cord and set it on top of the media center. However when I fired up the 360, complications immediately arose. The audio calibration required moving it forward away from the wall mounted speakers, the visual calibration was worse, instructing me that seven feet of distance between the media center and my couch was insufficient. It's recommended remedy? Rearrange my furniture. Rather than destroy my living room, I slid the camera back, but then it couldn't see my feet. So then I propped it up on my Fable III limited box almost against the wall, but still it required me to move my couch back another couple feet to accommodate the TEN freaking feet it needs.

After that I navigated a rather ridiculous set of menus to find where I could save my profile so it could recognize me. Five minutes of posing later and my profile was allegedly saved, although through the remainder of the night it continually failed to recognize me despite being the only profile it knew. Grrr.

So how were the games? My kid and I played around with Kinect Adventures, the box in title, and Kinect Sports. Overall I would say the succeeded most at capturing silly pictures and frustrating all players. To put it mildly, the Kinect is laggy and imprecise. When trying to dodge anything, the player has to move far in advance of what the screen shows. The Kinect Sports dev even went so far as turning objects color when you need to jump or dodge them, as on screen cues are completely insufficient due to lag. As an example of the lack of precision, games like soccer require you to swing your leg wildly for Kinect to register even the weakest pass.

When you add a four year old into the mix, disaster ensues. Kid moves too far off screen, the game kicks her out. Kid leans on couch, the camera loses her and kicks her out. Kid moves back forward, Kinect recognizes her and the game lags badly to add a player midplay. Even if a miracle occurs and the kid stays exactly where they need to be to be seen, the game is so laggy they fail quickly and get sad.

Based on the above, I'm sure you can imagine my overall feeling on Kinect. Kinect is a great concept exceptionally poorly delivered. In this state, it never should have been released from beta. It is glitchy, laggy to the extreme, and just not designed for most homes. Ten feet minimum? Look if a Texas sized house can't handle that, what home can?

In the end, barring significant software/firmware improvements, I give Kinect a big thumbs down. The good news is, as long as I give it the thumbs down while I'm close to the couch, it can't see me. If you want to drop $200 on motion-based gaming, just pickup a Wii. Better games, little lag, more kid friendly, and far more value from Nintendo's five year old tech than Microsoft's half-baked Kinect.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

There's an App for that, but do we need it?

2010-10-21T20:52:00.001-04:00

I was a bit disappointed by yesterday's Apple press conference. The "Back to the Mac" event was held to unveil the first preview of the next Apple Operating System, codenamed Lion. As last summer's Snow Leopard was more of a subtle refinement of the previous Leopard OS, Lion is the first significant remaining of the Mac OS in years. Naturally, this nerd was excited. So what did Stevie Jobs unveil? A freaking app store for Mac. Wow. Great... Let me explain...

Apps, short for applications, are all the rage these days thanks to the iPhone. That said, most apps are little more than glorified webpage miniprograms that efficiently load and display web-obtained data in a format designed for a small touch screen. But with a 20 inch screen at your disposal, IE a full computer, which does not have a touch screen, most apps lose their appeal. I mean on my Mac, if I want the weather forecast, I go to weather.com. If I want stocks, I go to my stocks page. Etc, etc. So what real use is there for mini apps when I have a full browser, bookmarks, and full featured programs at my disposal?

About the only thing I can think of is if these desktop apps are meant to fulfill the failed promise of widgets. Widgets, mini web data fed programs (sound familiar?), were all the rage a few years back, until Apple unveiled that they couldn't be on ones desktop unless they were minimized completely between uses, as they hogged way too many system resources to simply run in the background. Now if Jobsie found a way to get these programs to run efficiently and be left open running in the background, that would be something. Finally, the desktop would become more than just a pretty picture with icons all over it.

On the other hand, if this new app store is simply a digital distribution center for Mac software, well, that isn't much of a revolution at all. I can already buy almost any program I want online, all the store would represent to me is one place to shop for them and that they would likely be patched automatically like most Mac first party programs. Shrug.

Either way, not much of the these Mac apps were shown at the press event, only the app store front. Time will tell if Mac apps reinvent the desktop/digital distribution or are a forgettable shoehorning of a mobile solution onto a 20 inch screen. We'll find out in summer 2011 when Lion roars onto the scene. Until then, if I want an app, I'll hit my iPad. But on my Mac, I'll stick with Firefox thanks.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

One Small Step for Tech...

2010-09-25T16:28:00.001-04:00

Apple's recent reboot of Apple TV certainly shows some promise. A small wireless device that streams shows and movies to your TV from either your home computer or from content providers for a low cost, $1 a show, is a great platform for digital distribution. However, much like iTunes, Apple TV will succeed only if most, if not all, content providers support it. No one is going to rely on Apple TV for all their, well, TV unless they can get all the shows they want. If all the big networks play and agree to the pricing structure, unlikely, then I can see a market for Apple's new toy. I mean for a single techie who watches less than 80 hours of TV a month, digital distribution and pay as you go structure is an appealing option.

That said, even if it succeeds, Apple TV's wireless model is an incremental step in where I believe TV is going and must go. Here's the thing, if Apple TV can use my home WiFi to stream content from my computer and sling box can send content from my home to anywhere connected to the web and hulu/netflix and the like can stream content to any wireless device, why can't it all come together?

The technology is there so that if you pay for television service, you aught to be able to watch it anywhere at anytime when it plays live or anytime there after. A lot of services are flirting with components of this concept and I anticipate the new TiVo models to incorporate sling box like features so that whatever is on my DVR I can stream to any Internet connected device. But with the popularity of "cloud" storage it is time to cut the cord to my DVR. DirecTv or any other cable provider should stream the content I pay for, anywhere I am, at no additional cost. It can be done and it is the logical next step for television and movie home entertainment.

Imagine a world where you never have to set your DVR and you can enjoy any movie, television show, or sporting event, wherever you are, for the same cable bill you pay now. This technology is available now, via wifi or 4G, and is compatible with the iPods, iPads, smart phones, and laptops we have. And with a cheap accessory, those devices can easily be attached to any TV set you happen to be near. The wireless TV revolution started by enormous satellite dishes in the 80s is about to take its final step and it will be one giant leap for TV kind.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

It's Spelled Qur'an @sshole!!!

2010-09-11T12:58:00.001-04:00

Apparently the world is really low on news these days. So much so, they have resorted to televising inbred swamp infesting hate mongers who call themselves pastors. Of course I am referring to the assclown in Florida who has made his ignorance and unwarranted fear of Islam public by announcing his "congregation's" intent to hold a Qur'an burn. And by congregation, I mean the 45 or so good ole boys he's convinced to listen to him once a week. Then, thanks to abundant media coverage, he had an opportunity to speak with a couple Muslim leaders, who ensured their place in Heaven by even giving him an audience.

Coming out of that meeting, the hate pastor announced that a deal had been struck with, well, Islam, where the mosque planned to be built four blocks from the World Trade Center would no longer be built. The media happily published this immediately as fact, only to find out no such deal was ever made. I can't imagine why such a rational reputable guy would ever make such a thing up...

So here's the thing... Please stop covering this complete embarrassment to humanity. He's not news, he's not intelligent, and he's certainly not representative of the United States, Christianity, or most carbon based life. I'm not even convinced he's mentally competent or in touch with reality. He doesn't even know how to spell the book he is so afraid of. He sees himself as representative of God and that burning religious books or trying to stop a religious house of worship from being built somehow serves the greater good. Then he has imagined that it actually worked.

Stop giving him the attention he is craving. Let him return to a back swamp in Florida and burn whatever he wishes. He has the right, just like Muslims have the right to build a house of worship near ground zero. Although I don't think either are a good idea, in America you have the right to make stupid/unpopular but legally protected bad decisions. But don't we have the right not to hear about them? Go find something good to publicize like a hero or two to make famous. How about a cover story on the 25 year old American who is about to become the first living Medal of Honor recipient in years?

Ignore the outliers of civilization. Darwin will take care of them, especially those like the good pastor. Maybe sooner than later as YouTube is filled with examples of what happens when Southern retards play with fire. Now let's get back to something important, like whatever happened to the balloon boy.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Bigotrucky

2010-08-14T20:48:00.000-04:00

It never ceases to amaze me how judgmental humans are and how easily they let their venom fly on the intarweb. Case in point, I recently did some online research involving pickup trucks and attempted to find some balanced articles comparing the Ford F-150 and the Toyota Tundra. Not only did most articles fail to include enough, if any, actual facts, but many were simply slanted "anti-the other guy" propaganda. The comment sections were where things truly devolved into mostly American anti-Toyota hatred. Hell, even the GM truck lovers took the time to read the Toyota vs. Ford debate articles and comment on how Toyotas were junk, before proclaiming their love of all things GM. Not surprisingly, the couple well-written articles I found were pretty evenly split between the two, both being quality vehicles.

So why all the hatred from the masses? I mean if you like a certain product, why not just extoll it's virtues and not buy the other? Why should you care if anyone else buys it, if you have what you like? I guess I could understand a negative review if you had bought one and it failed to live up to your expectations, but shouting the equivalent of "America Eff Yeah!!! " on some obscure message board seems a bit sad. Well, it turns out I think this is a pretty "normal" thing to do. Especially when one can hide one's negative ignorance behind the anonymity of the Internet. Maybe it's not even the anonymity. Maybe it is just not having to look another human in the eyes and insult them or their preferences, even those that don't affect anyone else at all.

It was with this truck lesson in mind that I read the Bishop Harry Jackson's "essay" recently published on msnbc.com. This man of the Christian cloth, took an opportunity to formally document his argument against the recently court approved gay marriage in California. Specifically, he didn't like that an appeals court overturned the voter approved Prop 8 which had outlawed gay marriage. The Bishop explained a multi-pronged argument against same sex marriage, including that the bible says it isn't right, that the court went against the will of the majority, that studies showed children benefited from two opposite sex parents, and that straight marriage was the basis for our society.

Sigh. As a straight Christian, I am nothing short of appalled by this man's argument and ignorance, especially when doing so from his position in the Christian church. His published opinion advocates nothing shy of discrimination and does so under the guise of such action being the will of God. I have some straight up truth (no pun intended) for Mr. Jackson:

1. We are not a Christian nation. One of the key founding principles of our country is the freedom of religion. The diverse peoples of this country are no more confined to what the bible says than we are the kamasutra. Many leaders may take personal guidance from that book, as do I, but it is not the law of the land. The bible that is... :)

2. The Constitution and Bill of Rights ALWAYS trumps the will of the people. If it didn't, we'd still be living in a country where women and black people couldn't vote. Equality is equality. Oddly enough, Mr. Jackson is a black man himself and during his rant he explains that he believes it insults black people to compare the struggle of gay people to be treated equally to racism. I'm insulted that the only thing he learned from the past discrimination against people of color is to think that discrimination somehow only applies to black people. Try getting financial aid as a an average white male...

3. Kids do benefit from two parents, but numerous studies show that it doesn't have to be two opposite sex parents. Two parents to help handle the stresses of life and contribute separate view points to the raising of a child will almost always be beneficial. So why are we stopping some of these parents from having their commitment to each other recognized?

4. The basis of our country is not opposite sex marriage, it is equality and fairness. To even state such nonsense insults our collective intelligence. How is recognizing one type of relationship and not another and giving one legal benefits, equal or fair? Don't get me wrong, if the good reverend chooses not to marry same sex couples in his church, more power to him. But who is he to tell other churches/pastors what to do or advocate state sponsored discrimination on behalf of our shared religion? Ultimately, I see gay marriage as a freedom of religion issue. If the state wants to recognize participants in a religious ceremony with legal rights, then all marriages should qualify.

In the end, I find the arguments of Mr. Jackson little more than fearful hate speech. Have we learned nothing from our struggles with equality over the last 200 years? Freedom and equality aren't about enforcing our beliefs on others, else our cherished rights may be someday taken away because the majority disagrees with us. We must fight hard to maintain equality, especially when the protected actions are unpopular. We are only as just as our least fair policy. Until gay marriage is protected and fully recognized by the state, we are little more than a nation of hypocrites... That apparently all love General Motors.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

The Evils of Voicemail

2010-08-01T16:26:00.003-04:00

I still clearly remember when my mother brought home the first answering machine I had ever seen and hooked it up to my grandparents’ rotary phone. That enormous tape driven monster was amazing to me. The concept of not being home AND someone calling AND being able to leave a message = Brilliant!!! Little did I know, this was just one of a hundred communication innovations we all would see come to fruition. Wireless phones smaller than toasters, the internet, email, texting, IMing, Facebook, Twitter, and Visual Voicemail would forever change how we communicate. These things would make phonebooks, paid-for long distance, and asking for directions obsolete.

It is with this in mind that I suggest that answering machines and voicemail should also go away. Why such drastic action you may ask? Well, is it really that drastic? Voicemail, as we all know it, is essentially calling a phone number, entering a code, sitting through slow menu descriptions, and pressing keys to hear a low quality recording, that 90% of the time says, “Call me.” Tack on trying to figure out how to save or replay the message and the inefficiency of this system comes into focus. Visual Voicemail, first introduced to the masses through the iPhone, was at least a step in the right direction. Visual Voicemail represents each message as a visual icon/file which includes the message sender, time, and duration of the message. This let’s you play, delete, or store your messages without navigating a robotic voice menu.

That being said, the message quality still sucks; if it is a detailed message, with an address or telephone number, chances are you will have to replay it to jot it down; and I still stipulate most messages say little more than, “Call me.” So given the alternatives, why are we suffering through this nonsense? I say voicemail should be manually or socially engineered out of existence. When my voicemail picks up, why not have an option to just send a text message saying, you guessed it, “Call me”? Better yet, why don’t we all just hangup without leaving a message and just text what we want?

Archaic, inelegant voice message systems need to go. If you want me to call you, don’t make me fumble through a voicemail to find out, just text me. If you want to leave me a detailed message, what will ensure I get the complete and accurate message better, a crappy recording or an exact digital message? Even better, with the integration of email on most phones and shared text/email inboxes, why not just email me and skip paying phone companies a premium fee for one type of electronic message over the other.

So next time you want to talk to someone and they don’t pick up, hangup and send a text. Friends don’t leave friends voicemail. It’s the 21st Century people. It’s time to move on.

For Those About To Rock

2010-07-26T22:53:00.001-04:00

Traditionally, the video game season starts with the release of Madden NFL and concludes with Christmas. Last year, with the massive release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (MW2), although there were still quite a few quality preholiday releases, many new and established intellectual properties (IPs) fled to the New Year to ensure they didn't get overshadowed. The move proved fateful as MW2 became the highest grossing entertainment product of all time and gamers enjoyed a couple big titles well after Xmas.

For 2010, this trend has more then continued. Now you can forget about an extended video game season, I stipulate it has been moved altogether to the Post-Christmas/Spring window. It seems odd to write that sentence when it means degrading the value of a Fall with a full out Halo release. Let alone how do I justify such a statement when another Call of Duty is launching during the holiday season as well? Let's discuss...

To be fair, Halo Reach and Call of Duty Black Ops lead a very respectable preholiday slate of titles. In addition, Fallout New Vegas, Medal of Honor, and Fable III are all quality, if not, must buy titles. That being said, based on what I saw/played at E3, the games due out January through May will dominate.

Even with no blockbusters receiving a last second delay into the Winter, here's how the first half of 2011 is looking: February will launch two of the most creative First Person Shooters (FPSs) in recent memory with the Multiplayer/FPS/RPG mashup Brink and one of the most fun games I've seen in years, Bulletstorm. March brings my E3 game of show, Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Active camo, recon, and team execute, need I say more? April will be dominated by the monster that is Gears of War III. It's not that Gears III will be much better than the previous title, but it will be more refined and will sell like digital hotcakes.

Oh and these are just the solid release dates. I haven't even mentioned other titles expected in the Winter/Spring window, such as Infamous 2, LA Noire, Dragon Age 2, and the most amazing looking game, well, ever, Rage. Simply put, these titles and the number of releases blow the traditional holiday season out of the water.

I'm a little concerned how all these great games will sell, given the shear amount of launches and avoiding the spend-happy holiday season, but as a gamer I am in awe at the "one huge game a month or more" schedule that will leave my wallet empty but my 360 quietly humming until E3 11 in June. All hail the new gaming season. However you wish to define it, the next nine months are going to rock.

*Bulletstorm pictured.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Can You Hear Me Now?

2010-07-18T16:54:00.000-04:00

I'll be the first to admit that Apple's problems with the antenna on the iPhone 4 were certainly avoidable and at least strongly contributed to by their insistence on absolute secrecy during product testing. That being said, the severity of the problem requires some clarification due to the sensational and misleading coverage by the sad remnants of a once respectable media.

For background, the new iPhone uses its metal frame as an antenna. An unfortunate side effect is that if the headset is held a certain way, where the palm of the left hand is pressed firmly on the bottom left portion of the frame, signal strength degradation occurs. That is to say, the user loses signal bars. Since the BP oil spill was successfully capped and Toyota was officially exonerated by government tests, IE both sensational corporate lynchings lost their pizzazz, the media's Sauron eye of drama focused on Apple's signal woes. So much so that on the day oil stopped flowing into the ocean from the largest spill in modern history, the lead story on msnbc.com was the iPhone signal problem, AKA the Death Grip, once again showing that the media only cares about tragedy and vilification. But I digress...

In response to the avalanche of bad press coverage, Apple responded with a press conference last Friday. During which, CEO Steve Jobs pointed out some inconvenient facts for the Apple haters: 1. The iPhone 4 drops 80% less calls than the 3GS, the previously antenna complaint free version. 2. Apple has received very few actual customer complaints on this issue. 3. The problem does not occur if the iPhone is in almost any case, which most customers use. 4. This issue is NOT unique to the iPhone, but occurs in many unibody smart phones, including most modern Blackberries.

Despite these facts, in an effort to placate any disgruntled customers, Apple offered a free "bumper" case to all iPhone customers, to refund anyone that has paid for such a case, and to accept returns for the iPhone, no questions asked, through September. Jobs, always one to maximize media coverage for advertising, did mention that the iPhone 4 was selling very well, that it was very well reviewed, and that he thought few people would actually take him up on the return offer.

Since the press conference, I have heard quite a few negative reactions to Apple's response, going so far as to call Jobs arrogant (he always has been, this is not news) and say that the phone should have been recalled. Reality check here folks, did anyone really believe Apple was going to recall their flagship product for a reception "issue" that is essentially a nonissue other than for Apple haters and the media? Apple fully addressed the issue as far as I am concerned and gave any remorseful customer a way out.

Sure Jobs is confident in the product. He should be. It is, subjectively, the best smart phone on the market. It is, objectively, the best selling smartphone and will continue to be. Honestly, I had an older iPhone with apparently worse reception for years and loved it. Oh and I never even thought of carrying it without a case.

In the end, the media will move on to chase the next PR ambulance, Microsoft fanboys/Apple haters will always find a reason to dislike Apple, the iPhone will still sell like hotcakes, and users of Mac products everywhere will continue enjoying blue screen of death free computing. Pardon the pun if you will, but I consider the proverbial "case" closed.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Six Shooters

2010-07-18T14:41:00.002-04:00

On my most recent trip to see my Dad, he gave me one of the most meaningful gifts I have ever received, my Great Great Grandfather’s, 140 year old, Smith and Wesson revolver. The quality and simple elegance of this rare six shooter simply amazes me. Although I understand the modern movement away from revolvers and to semiautomatic handguns, I think modern guns cannot touch the quality and history of old-fashion six shooters.

Based upon a visit to a recent car showroom, the six shooter is about to be joined by the six disc CD player in obsolescence. Toyota doesn’t even sell them any more, opting instead for a single disc player with USB connection and “iPod controls.” This makes me quite sad, as other than NPR on the radio, I LOVE having six discs constantly playing. Six or more hours of CD quality sound with no interface problems is how I roll.

I asked the sales manager where the six discs had gone and he explained that six disc players were very prone to breaking and eating CDs. Also, apparently all the kids today just want an iPod connection. I tried out how these iPod controls work, hoping for improvement from the weaksauce versions I have demoed in the past.

Unfortunately, I once again came away greatly disappointed. Having a USB interface that charges the iPod is great. Having that connection in the middle of the dash, as opposed to the glove box or center console, not so much. The menu navigation was fine, but there was two or three second delay before a playlist title was shown AND the stereo automatically plays the playlist, IE you cannot scroll through playlists and then choose one. Lastly, every time the car is shutoff and turned back on, AUX must be reselected. How is this acceptable?

I get the popularity of iPods and downloaded music, but unless the quality of the user interface experience improves to even a shadow of the iPod interface, I cannot recommend such a factory system. There are some great aftermarket stereos out there for iPod integration, like a gorgeous Sony deck with a built in iPod tray and connection, behind the faceplate. (Next time you are in BestBuy the is a MUST see.) Unfortunately, after market means paying for dashboard kits, harnesses, and additional to re-add satellite radio including a new antenna?!?! (Apparently, factory satellite doesn’t work well with others.) By the time it was all said and done, it would cost $600 to swap out a factory stereo with the neato $150 Sony model!!! Plus all but the newest decks do NOT work with iOS 4. :(

So what do I recommend until iPod interfaces improve? A return to the old MP3 CD. Although iTunes doesn’t make it easy, most iTunes purchased songs can be upgraded to DRM free versions for 30 cents each. With a little finagling of the iTunes settings, an MP3 disc with up to ten hours of music, playable on most factory stereos, can be yours. We appear to be in an awkward stage between obsolete CD technology and true, easy to use, elegant interfaces for our digital tunes. One wonders how world history would have gone if revolver production was similarly stopped before a reliable replacement existed. All I know is that if this happened, Red Dead Redemption would have been boring as hell.

Pretty but Fragile and Insecure

2010-07-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

Nobody does elegant new tech like Apple. Steve Jobs' obsession with form equal to, even sometimes over, function, has ensured every Apple product is as striking as it is technologically advanced. And Apple's commitment to aesthetics is second only to its reputation for locking down new device prototypes. An oppressive corporate security force, nondisclosure agreements, aggressive attorneys, elaborate security procedures, and devices bolted to tables buried in the bowels of their Cupertino HQ, are just a few ways Apple compares well to the Fort Knox of Silicon Valley.

The reasons for these drastic measures are to keep their competition in the dark until the last minute and to generate buzz for highly-publicized announcement moments. And you can't really blame them. Heck when Apple trademarked the word iSlate, prior to their tablet reveal, Microsoft gave a keynote speech the week later announcing a "slate like" product line. So with M$ and the like so eager to borrow (steal) from Apple, it's no wonder they hold their product development under such a cloud of secrecy. Because of this obsession with secrecy, unveils of products like the first iPhone are the stuff of tech legend.

But here's the thing, the same policies that give Apple products their iconic look and make every Apple press event feel like Christmas, may be catching up with them.

The new iPhone is an amazing looking piece of tech with a glass screen and glass back that both stretch all the way to a thin metal bezel. The look is stunning, but so is the look on folks faces when they first drop the phone even slightly and it morphs into shattered glass. It turns out a super thin bezel and having the whole damned thing of glass makes it a whole bunch of fragile.

As for their advanced security procedures, Apple also drives tech websites into a mad fever to obtain even a fuzzy picture of the next Apple product and arguably doesn't allow adequate testing of prototypes in the field before they launch. Thus is the sad story of the iPhone 4. Not only did gizmodo.com obtain and publish detailed photos of an iPhone 4 long before launch, but it appears the phone wasn't sufficiently tested in the real world. Perhaps keeping it bolted to a test table and camouflaging it in a fancy case didn't allow Apple engineers to notice that the phone loses signal if you, gulp, hold it the wrong way. Yikes. This is the type of thing that should have been caught on day one of field testing, but with a case to hide it, engineers were never allowed to observe the detrimental effects of a bare hand on the bare bezel.

So in the end, Apple's obsession with looks and secrecy surely contributed to the production of a flawed product that was leaked way early. As much as these policies may have helped Jobs and company in the past, maybe they need to change things up a bit for the next iPhone. I say test and test away, even if just on the Cupertino grounds. The last thing Apple wants to do is trade a reputation for brilliant tech, for a reputation of poor design quality. Cough Toyota. Cough M$ red ring. Cough Enzyte. What?!?! Well that's what I heard... :P

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Don't Dis-Kinect

2010-06-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

Heading into E3, I was very skeptical at Sony and Microsoft's move, no pun intended, into motion control. The Wiimote, especially with Motion Plus tech, does a pretty freaking good job in this arena.

Sony went with a clone of the tech they called Move, a light saber like controller, with a shiny ball top. The ball is tracked by the "eye toy" camera and the controller has a gyroscope that determines which direction it is pointing. In this way, the Playstation knows the position and direction of the controller, thus providing one to one motion control. It is a pretty elegant solution, but does nothing more than the Wii.

Microsoft went with a more advanced, but complicated solution. The Microsoft Kinect, originally called Project Natal, combines four sensors on a motor driven bar: two radar sensors that scan a room realtime, a digital camera, and a microphone. The Xbox hardware uses the radar sensors to figure out what is a human in the room and determine the position of their limbs, head, and torso. The camera can take pictures and be used for scanning in objects, facial recognition, and videochat. The microphone can be used for videochat and for voice recognition commands. The whole sensor bar is on a motorized base that can track people as necessary.

Originally, M$ planned on integrating a dedicated processor into the Kinect bar to handle the computations for physical or voice inputs, but they backed off due to cost reasons, opting instead to have the 360 cores handle the math in addition to handling the games. One unfortunate side effect of this decision, will most likely be that advanced games will not utilize Kinect, as developers don't want to give up significant computational cycles and thus have to lower the quality of their games for everyone, just to support a peripheral that only some folks have.

During E3, some of the questions about Kinect were answered, some were not. They seem to have addressed the lag issues plaguing the hardware early on, but have backed off on demonstrating scanning in objects or use by seated gamers. They are likely working on polishing up the core aspects of the tech for launch, with plans to expand the functionality in the future via updates, but that is just an educated guess.

The Kinect software shown on the floor was predictable: mostly fitness, kiddy, and family titles. Each were interesting in their own right, but nothing shown approached the full potential of the device. That being said, the menu interface functionality looked great, including voice and "arm flailing" commands for the Xbox interface and DVR functions. (Think Minority Report)

The biggest concern I have with the Kinect is the price point. Although no price has officially been announced, numerous leaks point to $150. Will this include a game? Who knows. I have said all along that they must hit $99 with a packed-in title to get significant market penetration. $210 for Kinect and one game doesn't cut it seeing that you can get a Wii with two games packed in for $200. But I digress...

Since its official unveiling, I have listened to the press yammer on about Kinect. Not surprisingly, the mainstream press love it, the gaming press give it a collective yawn. One significant point I have not heard discussed is the potential the solution has. Really, the only factor limiting the Kinect's future functionality is the software driving it. As long as tthe radar sensors, the camera, and microphone are of high enough resolution, which I believe they are, only the firmware writers' skill limits what a Kinect-powered system can figure out. One can only imagine what the next generation of hardware will be able to accomplish.

After all, the Kinect bar is simply the eyes and the ears of the system, the brain is what matters. The brain of the current Xbox 360 will just keep getting more efficient as engineers figure out how to best use the Kinect, but the big jump will be when the "Xbox 720," with a four times or more jump in processing power, is launched. What will the 720 be able to figure out from what it sees and hears via Kinect? Complicated voice commands, detailed scanning and AI, hand position sensing... the sky is the limit.

The Move and the Wii are elegant solutions, but will never improve what they can sense. As input devices, they are capped at launch. The Kinect has by far the most upside and potential to amaze. One can only hope that Microsoft is as committed to the Kinect brand as they have been the Xbox. The future of gaming, nay, digital device input is in their hands and if they do their job right, we will all reap the benefits with truly intelligent digital entertainment devices. Good luck fellas/ladies, the world is waiting to flail their arms and point their fingers for the Kinect to read. Let's just hope it's a pointer finger to the sky, not a middle finger towards Redmond.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Sexism in Gaming

2010-06-27T18:08:00.000-04:00

I sooo enjoyed my trip to E3, but it has taken me a full week to recover. The sounds, displays, Laker riots, and 20,000 other black T-shirt and jeans nerdlings just wore me out. Now that I have had some time to reflect, it was truly an amazing show, with one exception, the portrayal of women. Now I'm no feminist, but some comments by several gamers that I greatly respect (who happen to be female) really made me pause. As a father of a budding gamer daughter, was I encouraging her to love a hobby that would mistreat her? Once I really started thinking about it, what I observed at the show ranged from patronizing to just plain embarrassing when it came to the portrayal of females in gaming. I shall explain:

The show kicked off on Monday with the Microsoft press conference. At the time, I enjoyed their presentation, even if I was forced to endure the unreasonably long Kinect portion. Afterwards though, I happened to catch one of the hosts at X-Play, Morgan Webb's, comments. Without being preachy, she bristled at the portrayal of women by Microsoft. When I rewatched the press conference through this lens, I became acutely aware that females were mostly shown playing with video conferencing or Kinect casual games. There were virtually no core female gamers shown. After this, I took note of how women were being included in E3 and when I hit the show floor the next day it got worse, much worse.

First of all, booth babes were back in full force. Virtually every game booth had off-duty strippers, still sleepy from the night before, loitering around in skimpy outfits near the demos. Worse than the booth babes though, were the companies who hired attractive girls to pretend they were company employees and either stand there and play their games or usher guests to VIP play demos. When I asked them any questions about the games they were supposed to represent, I was met with mostly blank stares.

The games themselves rarely had females leads in their titles at all or in the artwork. If women were shown at all, they were sure to be in half shirts with disproportionate breasts. The only games I found with women on the cover other than fitness titles, were Gears of War III and Halo Reach. I give kudos to Epic and Bungie for finally realizing there are a lot of gamer girls who play their titles and deserve some representation.

The last example I witnessed was the markedly different treatment of male and female gaming celebrities. The guys, such as Adam Sessler, Kevin Periera, and Blair Herter, were noticeably more relaxed and at ease with the fans than the female talent could be. This was entirely justified due to how they were treated and/or not mobbed by the fans. As I stood near the G4 booth, the comments by the guys around me regarding the female hosts were at the best immature and at worst offensive. That and their tangible desperation for a picture with Morgan or Olivia Munn was a bit disturbing, even for me as a passive observer. I cannot imagine being the object of their uncomfortable attention and how I would be made to feel as exactly that, an object. Although I got to say hi to all the G4 talent folks, the most illusive was Morgan Webb, and given the behavior of the male fans and the sophomoric tone of the show floor, I can't blame her. Even G4 had hired some ridiculously under-clad women to strut around the set perimeter. :(

So how do women gamers deal with this nonsense? As for one, I spent a significant portion of the show at the IGN booth observing otherwise restricted demos and was able to see first-hand the professionalism and hardwork of another well known female gaming personality, Jessica Chobot. First of all, anyone who thinks they could do her job or the job of any other serious gaming journalist that week better think again. They work countless hours, up at the crack of dawn, reporting live with no rehearsal, running from set to set, and attending corporate shindigs well into the night. Despite all this, they have to deal with legions of horny fanboys and silly journalists asking them stupid questions and for one on one photo ops. To give Ms. Chobot full credit, she was never anything but an extremely gracious professional, even on day three when running on zero sleep. In short, she was far better than I could ever be under such conditions.

So here's the thing, I love video games and believe that given their sales figures and popularity they should receive far more press and credit for the art form they are. That being said, we as gamers may never shed the unfair stigma of being a dorky teenage boys' hobby unless we stop acting like them during our most important press-covered week of the year.

The fact is that gaming is almost a gender neutral hobby now. There are legions of VERY skilled female gamers out there that would school any male gamer I know, in knowledge or skill. Don't believe me? Go player Modern Warfare 2 against Abbie Heppe. Go PvP in WoW against Morgan Webb. Ask Jessica Chobot or Heather Campbell about anything gaming related. Challenge the PMS Clan at, well, any game ever made. :) And these are not just isolated examples. There are thousands of females on Xbox Live destroying the boys, but who are afraid to speak on the headset because of the ridiculous comments they will then have to endure.

So enough of sexism in gaming. It is not acceptable in game design, marketing, on voice chat, or especially at E3. It is little more than a sad relic of how the media has always unjustly portrayed the industry. If you want to act like an idiot and treat women as unequal, go to Hooters or a similar third world country. But if you get a chance to meet Morgan Webb, don't ask for a trophy picture, ask her for tips on earning PS3 trophies. Don't ask Jessica Chobot if she really plays games, ask her what her favorite game is. And if you want to meet some of the smartest, most professional, and skilled women on the planet, get yourself an Xbox. Oh and you better bring your A game, or these ladies will pwn you without mercy. Someday, God willing, so will my daughter.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

April Fools

2010-06-21T22:07:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite anecdotes/mysteries is the origin of April Fools Day. Specifically, there are several theories. Wiki currently states that in 350 A.D. pope Julius decreed that Christ's birthday would no longer be celebrated on April 1, but instead would be moved to December 25th to coincide with a Pagan holiday. Celebrating Christ's birth on April first was forbidden and anyone that did so would be mocked, ridiculed, and called April Fools. Other theories are that it was a similar date change, but of New Years Day to coincide with the Gregorian calendar. And I have even heard of Christians mocking Pagans and calling them April Fools, for continuing to celebrate New Years on April 1. Ah, organized religion... But all of these theories involve Pagans.

Two of the holidays celebrated by Pagans are on the Summer and Winter solstice, IE the longest and shortest sunlight days of the year, this year June 21 and December 21, respectively. I heard all about this on NPR this morning as they covered Stonehenge being opened for Neopagan types to celebrate today's Summer Solstice also known as the first day of Summer in the Northern hemisphere. But this got me thinking...

Why is today the first day of Summer? I mean, if Summer is the hot season and it is routinely accepted that June through August are the hot months, why isn't that Summer? Furthermore, the other seasons are all screwed up as well. The first day of Winter is December 21, despite the fact that it gets freakin frigid most places in the hemisphere weeks before that. And Spring kicks off on March 20, but does anyone consider late March Winter?

Dear readers, I propose a seasonal realignment. Gregor's time has come and gone. The Maxonian calendar is much simpler and reflective of common sense: Winter is to be December 1 through March 1, you know, the cold months. Spring is March 1 through June 1. Summer is June 1 through September 1, you know, when it is hot and stuff. Fall, September 1 through December 1. Simple right?

Oh and another thing, Christmas is April 1. I'm kicking it old school and taking April 1 back from the revisionist Pope. Late December Fools be damned, my Christmas presents will be delivered by the Easter Bunny. Oh and to make up for all the Pagan persecution, Halloween is now a national holiday. Hmmm and Columbus Day is now Amerigo Vespuchi Day. Good Friday is now Sad Friday. October is now Octoberfest. And May is now Max. What? It is my calendar. ;)

I think that's it for my calendar tomfoolery for now, but check back for more changes. I'm thinking of making St. Patrick's Day a week... Okay a month... Okay a year. 2010 is now the Year of the Leprechaun. Darn it, I'm gonna need a bigger calendar...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2010 Awards

2010-06-18T01:23:00.001-04:00

I didn't think it was possible, but this year's show actually topped last year. There were simply more quality titles to play and preview. That and I again made some amazing friendships that I hope to continue for years to come. I leave LA with some wonderful memories and thoroughly excited about the next twelve months of releases. Without any further ado, Max's E3 awards:

Most Disappointing:
Call of Duty vs. Medal of Honor - With no new footage and no campaign at all, playable or otherwise, these two gorillas were virtually MIA from the show floor.
Bethesda - Hey asshats, if you are going to a gaming show, you may want to show your games.
Activision - Way to spend millions on a concert extravaganza that shows only crappy sequels.
Motion and 3D - There was just no new tech shown that will improve the gaming experience. I will paraphrase a gaming executive, "If you are an educated and engaged gamer, motion control is not for you." Nuff said.

Most Surprising:
Need For Speed - A potential return to street racing greatness.
Ghost Recon - Ubisoft took an aging, clunky franchise and made it exciting.
XBox 360 "slim" - A new console, with better features, and hopefully RROD free.
Warhammer Space Marine - One gameplay trailer is enough to get me very interested in this Gears of War clone.

More Please:
Star Wars Old Republic (actual game footage)
Infamous 2
Warhammer Space Marine
Deus Ex

Can't Miss List:
Halo Reach - The definitive title in the IP that defined scifi console shooters.
Gears of War III - An evolved next chapter third person shooter powered by Epic tech.
Fable III - A refined conclusion of the best RPG IP on consoles.
Ghost Recon Future Soldier - Tactical, scifi, special forces perfection.
Rage - Simply the most impressive tech combined with an RPG FPS hybrid.
Bulletstorm - An FPS centering on over the top fun combo kills.
Deathspank - A $15 downloadable, adorable RPG hack and slash.
Limbo - Creativity and artistic genius in a downloadable, side scrolling puzzler.

Game of Show:
Wow, as I write this sentence I still have no clear conclusion. It is very easy to narrow it down to Ghost Recon, Rage, and Bulletstorm, but after that it gets quite tricky. They are all very different games, one tactical, one whimsical, and one ultra advanced tech. I will buy them all. I will play them all. I will likely love them all. The tie breaker for me comes down to which character I want to play as the most. In the end, the tech, fun, and coolness factor of Ghost Recon edges out the field and takes the prize. That being said, any of the above "Can't Misses" will do you right. Thanks for reading and I am already counting the weeks until next year. happy gaming and from LA, Maxator out.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2010: Day Three

2010-06-17T23:13:00.001-04:00

For my last day in LA, I was batting cleanup and running pretty tired. Truth be told, I woke up a bit hung over and worn out from the week's adventures. Undeterred by my aching feet and head, I hit the floor strong and didn't look up until five. So here's the summary:

At the opening bell, I hit Bulletstorm for a hands on demo. The best way I can sum up the game is fresh and amazing. Think Gears of War meets Burnout. Over the top kills, animations, combos, and guns. Absolutely the freshest take on the FPS in years.

I couldn't help but hit the Ghost Recon Future Soldier VIP demo one last time. The game has so much to enjoy and appreciate. In response to my praise to the devs, I was awarded a metal dog tog for a VIP beta to be opened shortly. Out-freaking-standing!!!

Next up was a one I had been saving for the last day. I spent literally a half an hour exploring the gorgeous world of Fable III. Despite some poorly coordinated press releases, I am relieved to say that the title is the best of the series yet. A refined engine and vastly improved inventory and spell casting make this title a must have this Fall. Nobody does a console RPG lite better than Lionhead.

From my extensive adventures in Albion, i headed to my good friends at IGN. There I caught some amazing demos. Among them...

SOCOM played with the Sony Move looked, ready for it, really good. The controls looked smooth, the engine polished, and the action well-paced. But I will reserve my judgement on Move for later in the post...

Infamous 2 was up next. Although the "demo" focused on a gameplay trailer and dev interview, I can't be more excited about this title. The first title was an instant classic and the sequel looks to continue the pattern. If you are a gamer, you must play this game. I also got to chat with the lead developer, who was super sharp and was very interested in what I wanted from the next title. My answer was side missions, side missions, and more side missions.

After that solid morning, I had a rather surreal lunch. I was asked by Jessica Chabot and her friends to join them on stage for lunch. Yeah, I'm not sure how that happened either, but the whole IGN crew were super nice and I really enjoyed a quiet lunch in the sea of craziness that is E3.

Following that very awesome experience, I wandered over to the Ea booth to try Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. For this version, the reins were handed to Criterion, famous for the Burnout series. I can safely say they will single-handedly save the IP. The game is a blast to play and looks amazing. If you liked the classic titles, you should be very excited for this one. Did I mention that you can be a good guy and chase criminals?

Dead Space 2 was up next. Although admittedly, horror is not my genre of choice, if it is yours, pre order this now. Improved graphics, control, variety, and presentation, make this the definition of a classic horror title.

I got a little time with the Sony Move and came away wholly unimpressed. First of all, the interface was slightly laggy as it refines your exact pointing position. Two, this is nothing more than a Wiimote with a Sony label on it. How they can state that this is in any way revolutionary with a straight face is beyond me.

Luckily, my grumpiness didn't last long. Fifteen minutes of Donkey Kong Country Returns was enough to put an ear to ear smile on my face. The game embodies everything I loved about the original side scrolling brilliance. The devs have added just enough new features to freshen it up, while retaining the original's charm. If you have a Wii this, this game will give you a reason to keep it plugged in.

While at the Nintendo booth, I gave the new Zelda a close look. It is, well, Zelda. And Zelda at it's best. Bright colors, classic art, and fun exploration and item-based puzzles. This title is a must buy.

At this point, the show was quickly coming to an end, but I ended on a VERY high note with a Rage demo. iD's take on a post apocalyptic RPG shooter is jaw dropping. The engine is what I expect from the next generation of consoles, not five year old tech. The animation, art style, and concept show nothing new, but no game of this generation has brought them all together so seamlessly. This is a living breathing gorgeous world and I must see more.

After that high note, my second E3 was at an end. This was an amazing week and the best of my gaming life. I saw SOOO many games that will define the next year and can't wait to throw down my hard earned monies on them $60 at a time. Thanks for those who read my ramblings. Come back soon for my awards post, including my can't miss list.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2010: Day Two

2010-06-16T23:15:00.000-04:00

(Deathspank pictured)

Alrighty then. Day two, the most important of the show for me as I settle in and target games for previewing, kicked off with a front row appearance for me at the Xplay taping. I was literally up front and center for taped segments that will be shown tomorrow (I'm in a green shirt and khakis). I witnessed demos of Tron, Bodycount, and Vanquish. Tron looked like a moderately well-done movie tie in that it is. Bodycount, from the makers of Black, looked unpolished but promising. Think of a fun, over the top, destruction, gunfest. Vanquish, which I saw yesterday, was so hard to aim that even their own dev took almost 30 seconds to whack one low-powered grunt. Control problems fellas?

After the taping, I did finally get to meet Morgan Webb, who had been deathly ill at E3 09. She was very nice but noticeably shy around fans. I said a simple hi and that was enough for me.

Next up came a great demo of Bulletstorm at the IGN booth. The game looks great, like Gears of War meets Burnout. Over the top animations, kills, and art style, make it a serious contender for game of show.

Portal 2 was demoed next. It looks as brilliant and very challenging. If you like FPS puzzlers, well, this is like the only one, so enjoy. :)

I was very excited about Star Wars Old Republic based on the buzz on the floor. So when the devs showed off nothing but another, albeit gorgeous, prerendered CGI movie. I was puzzled about all the buzz with no gameplay. Perhaps I would join in the excitement if Bioware was making a CGI full length feature, but I've seen nothing to judge the quality of the game. Shrug.

Brink looks really good. My only concern is that with all the new stuff they are trying (FP parquor, class based, multi player single player, change class on the fly, XP upgrades), I just wonder if they bit of more than they can chew. If they deliver and avoid any significant missteps, this will be an AMAZING new take on the FPS.

Before leaving the IGN both, I did save the day when Jessica Chobot required a drink while on stage but no assistants could be found. Now I don't want to overstate my heroism, if that is possible, but without my quick thinking by throwing her a water, she might have, ready for it, been parched. ;)

I headed back to the Microsoft section and ended up bumping into Scott "Mr. Sark" Robinson, who I will be meeting for beers in about an hour. It is of note that either he grew a foot since I've seen him or I am shrinking.

In an attempt to take a break from the big titles, I spent some quality time with the niche/indie/downloadables and left very happy. Lara Croft is a fresh take on the Tomb Raider IP and a fun one at that. Coop puzzle shooter isometric action equalling good old school stuff.

Epic Mickey was up next. It is a fun, stylized take on the RPG lite formula. Although it is certainly the best looking third party title on the Wii, I really hope it goes multiplatform.

Deathspank rounded out my downloadable part of the day and what a treat it was. The animation, art, and writing are freaking brilliant. Funny, imaginative, and amazing. Think Zelda, meets the humor of Ratchet and Clank. Also, I have it on good authority that it will be launched on Xbox Arcade within the next two weeks. Yippee!!!

I stepped away from the Arcade titles only to bump into Fallout lead Todd Howard playing Rock Band 3. IHe rocked out, while I got some tutorial on the keytar by a Harmonix lead. I'm sure I'll get it, but probably not new and sans keytar.

On the way to the Xplay taping wrap-up, I schmoozed some very nice Bungie guys until I got a Reach T-shirt, which I love. E3 Exclusive T-Shirt Achievement Unlocked.

I rounded out the day chatting with my G4TV peeps and setting up some fun stuff for tomorrow. Speaking of which...

Tomorrow will sadly be the end the show. I will be having breakfast with some G4 folks, then walking the floor with them. After that, I will get a VIP preview of Gears of War 3, go hands on with Fable 3, get stick time with a private Bulletstorm demo, and finish the day with a Bethesda media event on Fallout, Brink, and the gorgeous Rage. Phew. For now, I'm grabbing some grub and beers. Stay with the twitters (@maxator) and come back tomorrow for my wrap-up and best of show awards.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2010: Day One

2010-06-16T01:55:00.001-04:00

Phew. Once again I have had my ars kicked by E3. I'm not sure whether it has something to do with dog years or perhaps traveling near the speed of light, but for whatever reason, I assure you that six hours on the floor of E3 feels like 12 hours anywhere else. That being said, I have survived and propped myself up in my walker to write the harrowing tale of today's LA experiences. And so it begins:

Before the show started, I wandered around trying to find ideal placement close to the door, when I bumped into Microsoft's Major Nelson. Although he was busy, he took the time to exchange niceties and came across as a genuinely cool guy.

When the clock struck noon and the flood gates of nerdom rushed the floor, I headed straight for the Microsoft booth. Once I realized that Halo Reach was no where to be found, I actually found myself at the Limbo showing. This indie game, from the Netherlands I think, comes from a team of eight and is bloody brilliant. A beautiful black and white noir style makes this XBL downloadable, side-scrolling puzzler a must buy. Limbo shows the polish and creativity deserving of E3 attention.

Next up, I went more mainstream. I quickly cued for Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Although the line took almost an hour, the payoff was sooo worth it. I had no idea that my first triple A title demoed would end up being my favorite of the day. Whether it be the graphics, the story, the genre, or the great stealth action play, the game was amazing, especially considering that it is not due out until 2011. The game's mechanics were centered on surveillance, stealth, positioning for an ideal attack and executing high-powered ambushes. There were just too many wow moments to list. Yes. Yes, I believe I am in.

On the way out of the demo booth, I almost ran into an older fellow surrounding by an entourage. Apparently, Steven Spielberg was also interested in being a Ghost. Cool. No conversation, as by the time I knew it was him, he was gone. But still, pretty cool.

From there, I tried to stop by the G4TV booth to see some friends and make some new ones, but they were in frantic preparation show mode, so I decided to try later and returned to the games.

I gave Hydro Thunder, a boat racing gamen that reminded me of the prime days of my Dream Cast, a quick spin. It was fun, but only a purchase if it is an XBL title.

I got some significant stick time in with Vanquish, a Japanesy take on cover-based third-person shooters. I liked it, but I found the game to frantic and the control too ccrazy to recommend.

Warhammer Space Marine was so far the surprise of the show. Although the booth was all but abandoned and all that was showing was a game footage trailer, the engine looked smooth, the art style bright and interesting, and the Warhammer universe ripe for a one person shooter. I must see more of this title.

Heroes on the Move is a Sony Move title that came out of nowhere but has great [potential. Jak, Ratchet, Clank, and Sly Cooper all join up for a mashup game I can get behind. But will I buy a Move. The plot thickens...

On the way to the next booth, I stumbled upon the trailer for the new Mortal Kombat. Not sure if I'm just feeling nostalgic, but this game looks sweet and with the promise of the most brutal fatalities ever, could this be a fighting game I care about?

When the MK trailer ended, I made it to the Killzone 3 booth. As much as I thought the KZ2 mostly delivered on its expectations, I couldn't help but feel that it was missing some heart. The kills and fights just never felt exhilarating. KZ3 seems to have addressed these issues. Despite my concern about cheesy jet packs, the weapons feel weightier and the graphics engine seems to have improved its draw distance. I will put this one back on the preorder list.

As resistant as I am to the Wii, there is one IP that may get me to find and set mine back up. Yes, Zelda: Skyward Sword looks to have recaptured the classic Zelda feel I haven't felt since Windwaker. This version of Zelda just exudes fun and exploration, two things distinctly missing from many of today's twitch-centered titles.

I didn't spend too much time in the Nintendo area, but I did check out the 3DS, which I was only able to find behind glass. The whole top screen doesn't match the size of the lower screen struck me as weird. Adding an analog stick is great, but having two sticks and putting both of them on the same side is an odd choice. Nintendo is quick to point out that the hardware design isn't final, but I just can't see them changing much. But lets face it, the 3DS's success will hinge on how good the 3D works. And that remains to be seen.

Another title apparently thawed out from 1995 is Donkey Kong Returns. If I do find my Nintendo Wii, this one is coming home with me too. I just love side-scrolling goodness. And who doesn't like finding banana for crazy monkeys. No jokes.

My swan song for Nintendo was being guilted into playing Wii Sports Remix by a lonely and desperate booth worker. With no experience, nor practice with the other poor dude I was paired up with, we managed to set the floor score record. In a three minute game of Wii Sports Basketball, we beat the computer 123 to 2. Now even allowing for my superior skill (none), apparently Nintendo has a difficulty balancing issue. I'm just saying.

I would like to tell you how great the Bethesda games were that I tried, which include Fallout New Vegas, Brink, and Rage. I'd like to, but can't because Bethesda effing sucks. Access to their nicely decorated booth was restricted to media only and by appointment only. Honestly, this is two years in a row that they have done this and I think they are missing the point of E3. It is to show the games, not hide and hoard them. Assclowns.

But I digress...

One of the true highlights of my day was discovering the gaming insight oasis that was the IGN booth. There was virtually no one around and triple A publishers kept coming by and showing off their wares. I spent literally an hour hanging out there, watching demos from ten feet away and chatting with the producers and Jessica Chobot. Everyone was very nice and some quality time with two lead devs of Halo Reach was the cherry on top. Despite my concern about Reach's space combat, the devs assure me that the Star Fox-like level is only a small part of the game. Everything else I saw are the epic firefights and tense action I have come to expect. Don't believe the haters, this will be Bungie's definitive Halo title and I can't wait for 09/14.

Right next to IGN was the setup for Medal of Honor. From the 20 minutes of multiplayer (everyone can experience this in an open beta next week), Call of Duty and Battlefield have a serious competitor on their hands. The solid frame right, smooth controls, and well-designed levels give me nothing to complain about. Now if the campaign can match this quality, they really have something.

By now, the day was getting late, so I returned to the Xplay set to see who I could talk to after they wrapped up. The crew and personalities are honestly some of the nicest folks ever. I finally got to meet Blair Herter, caught back up with Adam Sessler, talked to my overworked producer buddy JP, and even managed to score some chicken fingers at the urging of the producer who saw starvation in my eyes. Blair is a super nice dude and after talking for ten minutes or so, he invited me to come back the next day and experience the Brink demo from the front row.

On the way out of the main hall, I stopped at the IGN gun club, whatever the hell that publicity stunt was, and picked up a free key to the Medal of Honor Beta. As much as I normally avoid competitive multiplayer, this one looks special, so I'll give it a whirl.

Phew... As I prepare for bed, barring a last minute phone call from a buddy that could send me to an after party, I contemplate tomorrow's adventures. Although Ghost Recon set the bar VERY high, I still have many games to see/play including: Gears of War III, Bulletstorm, Brink, Rage, NBA Jams, Hydrophobia, Bodycount, Fable III, and Epic Mickey, just to mention a few.

At this pace, I may pass out and not make it to day three. Nah, I live for this stuff, but for now, I need rest. Good night to all and to all a good E3.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2010: Day Zero Point Five

2010-06-15T12:15:00.001-04:00

Last night was a late one. After scoring a pass for the Activision Preview Event at the Staples Center, I wandered in expecting to see a fancy press conference. Instead what I was witness to was one of the most extravagant, over the top wastes of money ever. So Activision rented out the entire Staples Center and paid for one or two songs from Rhianna, Usher, Janes Addiction, Chris Cornell, a couple of "famous" DJs, and Eminem. Interspersed with these performances were footage/trailers from Activision's upcoming titles. Only one small thing, they were all sequels and most of them for mediocre games.

The whole event, where the words of the night started with F and N, reminded me of the huge Gladiator games just before the fall of Rome. It was an extravaganza, designed to appeal to the least common denominator, and was meant to distract the masses from the sinking ship that was their empire. Last night, Activision spent millions to confuse the masses from the fact that all their games, well, suck. The best they showed was Call of Duty Black Ops, which is the last gasp of a watered down IP. Honestly, unless Bungie pulls a rabbit out of their hat, Acti is in trouble.

So now after a solid six hours sleep and 20 ounces of iced coffee, I'm heading to the LA Center. Updates and tweets to follow.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2010: Day Zero

2010-06-14T20:44:00.001-04:00

So here I sit, camped out in a miniature hotel room three blocks from the LA Convention Center. Although E3 officially kicks off tomorrow at noon, between the Cirque Du Soleil event last night, Microsoft's Press Conference this morning, and EA and Ubisoft this afternoon, E3 has clearly already begun. Although my badge access limits me from the show floor until tomorrow, I did manage to meet IGN's Jessica Chabot while wandering around. That being said, Microsoft gave me plenty to write about in their crisp 90 minute presentation this morning, so here is my reporting/impression of what Redmond brought to the table:

They started right out with a slightly different trailer than what has previously been shown for Call of Duty Black Ops, followed immediately by a nice chunk of gameplay. Tunnel rat exploring, led to a jungle ambush, which ended with an onrails hind helicopter shootout. I especially liked the flashlight gun grip shown off in the first person, although why you were taking on the bad guys with only a revolver is beyond me. You can definitely see the refinement of the Modern Warfare 2 engine. The bullet "splash effects" on land and water were mesmerizing and the loads between segments were hidden by in engine cutscenes ala Splinter Cell Conviction. I really like the direction Treyarch is taking and hope they can keep up similar variety throughout the campaign. Microsoft proudly announced at the end of the segment that the 360 would receive all Activision DLC before any other console (the PS3) through 2012. That should cover Bungie's next IP launch. This is a big win for M$.

After repeating their hook from last show, where they position themselves as the only console where you can play Halo, Gears, and Call of Duty, they moved on to Hideo Kojima, who still bares a striking resemblance to Long Duck Dong. He showed off some Metal Gear Rising footage that looked like a robo ninja taking on mechs with a super sword. After removing and crushing a glowing spinal cord from a mech in a well-rendered cut scene, some actual game play footage was shown, showcasing a really beautiful engine and highly destructible environments. The game definitely didn't look like a gun based stealth title, more of a hack and slash type thing. The trailer narration definitely lost something in translation, including the subtitle Lightning Bolt Action. Um okay... May I be the first to christen this title Devil May Spy.

During the next segway, the M$ rep announced every title shown after this was a 360 exclusive. Cue Cliff "Don't Call Me Cliffy" Bliszinski who showed the first four player coop footage of Gears of War 3. It looked great, but without too much of a graphical jump from Gears 2. That being said, there were a ton of animation improvements and some sweet empale/mutation canned moments. Nobody delivers an over the top blockbuster like Epic. When the demo ended, Cliff alluded to an undescribed "beast mode" that will be playable on the floor. More to follow.

Peter Molyneux was up next to introduce an in-depth game footage trailer for Fable III. It looks very far along now and the trailer showed a lot of fighting, including ship to ship. This is the first time Lionhead has actually shown significant parts of the game and stopped talking about the boring touch mechanics. Now, I am finally excited about this title, which now comes with a launch date: October 26, 2010.

In the next transition, Microsoft showed a quick teaser trailer for a previously unannounced gladiator game by Crytek Studios, called Kingdoms. Given Crytek's focus on getting Crysis 2 out the door, I expect to see this again at E3 2011.

Next up, the two ton gorilla in the room, Halo Reach. We got to see the first glimpse at actual gameplay. It kicks off with the already iconic theme by Marty O'Donnell, which transitions quickly to a future Osprey deployment of a four man Spartan team. The team fight their way up a huge hill, engaging Covenant Elite ODSTs constantly dropping from the sky. When the Spartans reach the facility, the level seamlessly transitions to an indoor corridor fight, ending at a launch pad for a "Sabre" space fighter. The Sabre launch cutscene hides the loading of a Wing Commanderesque space fighting level. I am cautiously optimistic that Bungie can pull this off, as they seem to do well with vehicle based combat.

My least favorite portion of every Microsoft press event is the Xbox Live VP monologue. This year was no different. The XBL VP showed off the motion sensing controller Project Natal, now named Kinect, and how it can be used for dashboard window navigation and surfing Zune music. They said a sentence or two about XBL integration with Windows Mobile 7, which I still think looks half-baked like it wasn't scaled properly to the phone screen.

Laura, the token hottish Microsoft pale enginerd, was introduced next to demo video chatting via Kinect. So what's better than one hottish enginerd chicka? How about her talking to her twin sister? Brilliant!!! Honestly, the segment wasn't that bad, despite the fact that I believe the conversation was not live. Hey, it is a press conference, I don't blame them for not braving the glitch possibilities. Laura and sis showed off videosharing and auto camera face tracking.

Next up was a great demo of Kinect voice recognition, key to the introduction of ESPN for Xbox Live. Two ESPN anchors showed off the plans to stream 3500 free and pay-per-view sporting events, in HD, to the 360 dashboard. The service, which includes interactive trivia, stats, voice activated replays, and more, will be free for XBL Gold members. After watching two college football games streamed to my tiny laptop last year, I am excited about this free added functionality.

Lastly for the Kinect portion, was Kudo "Duchebag in Glasses" Kusodo, who announced in the tackiest haricut and accessories ever, six launch titles for the Kinect.

First up was Kinectimals, which showed an adorable little girl playing with a virtual tiger. The demo alone will cause children to beg for this game. I can't wait to see my kid playing with this and the 40 other animals that will be available. The demo ended with the cat "bullet time" jumping a jump rope. Very well done. My only question is can you feed him stupid tourists?

Kinect Sports from Rare took the stage next. This is essentially Wii Sports HD. My favorite part of the demo was when a hunched over semi cute girl announced to the guy she was about to race that he was about to get a good long look at her back. I guess you had to be there, but if you put your mind in the gutter, you'll get it. I wasn't alone in my perversion, as there was stifled laughter from the audience. Still, Rare seems to have done a good job moderately improving Nintendo's formula. Between pumping up the crowd and Chariots of Fire playing for the replay, this title is better than the N equivalent.

Kinect Joyride then rolled out and was set to "redefine cart racing." Well, if Mario Kart for retards with squishy controls, auto steer, no brakes, and no gas is redefining for you, than yes. Nuff said.

Kinect Adventures looked intriguing for family fun. Jumping and ducking and leaning help your avatar avoid obstacles. Speaking of avatars, it is very obvious why Microsoft rolled them out last year. Almost every Kinect game we saw made use of them.

OMG over-caffeinated Asian Abigail is back!!! She wowed audiences last year with a spasmatic ball kicking demonstration and now is teamed up with a less athletic girl to show off River Rush. This river raft sim, is light on skill and responsiveness. In fact, I can't see why anyone would buy this. Next...

Ubisoft showed off their WiiFit clone Your Shape. Two things just to get out there. One, every male gamer's girlfriend/wife/inflatable woman will want this. Two, every guy will want to watch them do it for a glimpse at cardio trainer girl. This was the first title of the show to have significant lag problems. In fact, the avatar was responding up to a second behind the player. This caused the demoer to "fail" the exercise for being out of sync. Ubi/M$ better fix this and hope it isn't a systematic issue.

Harmonix was rumored to showoff Rock Band 3 Kinect functionality, but instead unveiled Dance Central, essentially an HD Dance Dance Revolution. Lag was again a problem as the avatar didn't appear to be doing what the player was. The biggest thing I am excited for with this one is to see the fat kid youtubes that this will inevitably produce.

Two teases rounded out the Kinect portion, a Star Wars light saber fighting game, which will entirely hinge on no lag and accuracy of Kinect and a Ferrari sim by Take 10. The Ferrari game looked very unpolished and more like a tech demo/interactive ad for a car I can never afford.

Microsoft then ended the show on a bang, announcing a slimmed down 360 with an integrated 250G hard drive, "whisper quiet" DVD ROM, and an integrated N wifi card all for $300 and shipping today. The brilliant move my Microsoft was giving every person in attendance one to bring home. Yup, they just bought the press Oprah style for $300 a pop. Brilliant.

Other news to come out today: EA announces Bulletstorm to launch on February 22, 2011. This puts two huge Epic Games launches within a month of each other early next year. Gamestop is taking preorders for Kinect at $150 despite no price announcement by Microsoft. And the Ubisoft press conference started right now. So far an exciting day from Los Angeles and the best part is, the show hasn't even started. Check back later tonight for an update and again everyday this week for summaries of my reporting from the floor. E3 2010, let's get it on.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

iWake Up

2010-06-07T23:41:00.002-04:00

The interesting yet far from perfect Sony Dash Internet Viewer got me thinking. Why is it that even in the modern age of Wifi connected toasters and an app for everything, that I am still staring at a 15 year old alarm clock radio? Don't get me wrong, my trusty Sony Dream Machine is a competent waker upper, but shouldn't we be getting more? According to the technology documentary that is Iron Man, we should all be waking up to a soothing British voice telling us the current weather conditions and giving us the news headlines.

But seriously, with RSS readers and weather gadgets, we aren't far off. In fact, I argue we are already there, we just need some slick tech company to bring it all together. Although I give Sony credit for the attempt with the Dash, all they really did was couple a touchscreen with an underpowered processor and force on the Chumby's interface. Hell, they didn't even include a radio in the clock radio replacement!!! Sure, sure the iPad or iPhone can act like a alarm clock and with a few customized apps, I can get to all the info I need, but what about having that always on screen next to the bed just show me what I want at one glance? So what is it I am suggesting?

Well rather than reinvent the wheel, if I were Steve Jobs I'd probably take an iPod Touch and combine it with a custom dock that mounts the iPod horizontally. Forget a glorified standalone alarm clock with a dock to allow iPod music playback. I'm talking about a dock with a quality speaker but no screen and only Spartan buttons. Say just snooze, dim screen, and alarm off, and that's it. All other functions would be controllable through the iPod screen. Docking the iPod would automatically bring up a custom dock app. Included on the app home screen would be a configurable alarm clock, three day weather forecast, and headline ticker scrolling the news topics you are interested in. During the day, the screen stays bright, at night with one touch of the dim screen button and the screen, um, dims.

When the time comes for you to wake up, the screen lights up, shows the weather/news and turns on the music/radio/sound of your choosing. The iPod has your music covered, sounds can be chosen, and the dock would have an integrated AM/FM tuner controllable through the iPod app interface. All the data for news, weather, and even Internet radio is available through the iPod's WiFi connection. Heck with Apple's recent purchase of a digital AI assistant company, it wouldn't take much for the info to be read by a soothing British voice...

I figure the dock would run $50-75 and the iPod costs $200. Sure the Sony Dash only runs $200, but this way you get a portable iPod Touch and a fancy alarm clock. So what do you think? Are you willing to drop a couple hundred for an alarm clock that tells you everything you want to know about your day with one glance or are you satisfied with a boring LED screen and an analog AM radio tuner? I say go high tech or go home. Well, in this case you are home, so stay there and enjoy your old school wake up call. Me, I want to roll like Tony Stark.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

How's the Weather?

2010-06-06T18:40:00.002-04:00

Long time readers will know I have written extensively on my detest of hack science and/or the mainstream media spin on it. Whether it be causation vs correlation, the piggy flu, or the space program, it is very clear the modern media have no standards of accountability of accuracy. So it should come as no surprise that I have serious issues with meteorology the, please forgive the pun, perfect storm combining psuedo-science with anchors dressed like used car salesman.

As an example, last week while driving to work in a light rain, the local radio news anchor provided the cursory 30 second forecast which was something along the lines of, "Today, we will have a high of 85 and be mostly cloudy, with a 30% chance of rain. Current conditions show 75 degrees and light rain."

Now wait a second, if it is currently raining, how can the chance of rain today be anything but 100%?!?! I've observed this same phenomenon when checking an hourly forecast where the chance of rain at 3:00 p.m. is 50% but the chance of rain that day is listed at 30%. If there is a one out of two chance it is going to rain between three and four, how the hell can the chance of rain that day be less than 50%? Logic says, that the chance of rain that has to be equal to or greater than 50%.

Now before you start a sharply worded rebuttal comment, I have tested the hypothesis that perhaps the 30% represents the average chance of rain at any given time throughout the day. But not only is that inconsistent with the media's words, "30% chance of rain today," but in the last week I have seen numerous days where the major weather outlets give a higher chance for rain in the day than at any individual hour that day, IE clearly higher than the average hourly chance. So again I say, WTF!?!? I suspect this is a result of most meteorologists and certainly the actors reading the "scientific results" never seriously studied probability or statistics and have spent more time in the makeup chair than the classroom.

But also, this is what happens when the newscast is more about entertaining than informing and there is absolutely no accountability for incorrect predictions. Meteorologists never cover the accuracy if their predictions the day before. They simply cover a vague prediction for what the weather may be today. Despite all the silly, yet impressively named radar systems, the truth is they just don't know and are relying more on what the weather typically is that time of year and what happened the day before, than they are using any real model or science to predict what will occur.

In fact, other than telling me it will be hot in the Summer and cold in the Winter, I give meteorology a failing grade when it comes to accurately predicting any specific weather pattern. So why do we even bother listening? I mean would you rely on a menu that gave you a vague listing of foods/prices or movie listings that give a 60% of a movie starting at a particular time? Of course not.

So I say the next time you get the urge to check or listen to the weather forecast, turn off the radio/close your browser, glance at a calendar to determine the season, and dress appropriately. Leave prognosticating to fortune tellers who at least admit their reliance on the supernatural. Heck, even they can tell you it will be cool in the Fall...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

E3 2010 Preview

2010-05-30T22:42:00.003-04:00

6/3 Update: I'm back!!!!!!!

That’s right gamers, the biggest week of the year is almost upon us. One year ago, I fulfilled a virtually lifelong dream of attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo, AKA E3, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Over three days, I played the games that would define the next year in gaming, met the folks that make the industry what it is, and even made some great new friends. I am lucky enough to be heading back and will be live tweeting and blogging my experiences on the show floor and after parties.

I have many objectives, the most significant of which is to explore the floor and get as much stick time on the triple A titles that will hit store shelves over the next twelve months. I will breakdown this preview post with what I expect from the big three hardware manufacturers, what third party titles I’m stoked about, what overall trends I expect to see, and lastly what personal objectives I’d like to accomplish.

Microsoft:

For the little company from Redmond, this show will be all about their core first party titles and their motion sensing controller tech, code named Natal. Over the next year, Microsoft will release the latest installments of Halo (Reach), Fable (III), and Gears of War (III). If that doesn’t satisfy the ravenous American fanboy-base, nothing will. Natal, which I believe will be renamed Wave, will be the obvious focus for the M$ booth on the floor. I expect a $99 release price with a Wii Sports-esque bundle in. My long-shot speculations are a slimmed 360 SKU and a teaser for the recently announced Insomniac multi-platform game.

Sony:

The core of Sony’s press conference will likely center on their Move motion tech, the Move and their surprising "move" to charge for some online gaming services. Weren't they the ones always mocking M$ for charging for XBL? I expect a price point for Move of $70ish and an early release date, probably mid to late summer. The press will be surprised at this, they shouldn’t be. As far as games go, expect them to showoff Little Big Planet 2, reveal Resistance III for a 2011 release, show Killzone 3, and probably a teaser trailer or more for Infamous 2. Not too much in the speculation market for Sony, perhaps an unveil of the Rockstar PS3 exclusive espionage title Agent? Hopefully, they will surprise me with a non-boring press conference for the first time in years...

Nintendo:

It can’t possibly be worse for the big N than last year can it? I see the next Zelda footage and the 3DS portable unveil dominating their wares. The Other M is nothing new. Mario Galaxy 2 just launched. I can’t see them teasing the rumored HD Wii and stealing the thunder from the 3DS. Hmm, Donkey Kong maybe? Really stretching with that one. E3 has been a weak point for Nintendo lately and I don’t see them bucking that trend.

Third Parties:

The battle everyone will watch for will be the EA’s Medal of Honor franchise reboot versus Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops. So, essentially, it is the franchise that started the WWII FPS genre, then was beaten and bowed out, now back, versus the one led by guys who left it, formed their own company, beat it, then left, and is now developed by other guys. Oh and the whole thing isn’t WWII anymore, it’s modern, well, sort of. Clear? The result should be a battle of modern-esque shooters where we all win as gamers.

Crackdown 2 will be there, but as it will have probably gone gold at that point, I don’t expect much on the floor other than some rocket tag multiplayer that they had out at PAX.

LA Noire is a title I am very interested in, especially the facial expression tech.

Brink, perhaps the only game I care about by Bethesda (sorry Fallout New Vegas fans), may actually be playable on the show floor. Hopefully, Bethesda doesn’t lock down their booth like last time.

Rock Band 3 with keyboards will no doubt make an appearance. I had heard strong rumors it would support Natal and be a cornerstone of the M$ press conference, but that is not so definite now.

Vanquish looks sort of cool, like a Japanese take on Gears of War meets Iron Man.

One of the stars of the show for me last year was the brilliant Batman Arkham Asylum. The sequel is in development and should be shown, but will it be playable and come with a release date? I expect no and 2011.

Epic Games will be rocking the show with Bulletstorm and Gears of War III. Cliff B better stock up on the energy drinks if he expects to be the face of both big titles.

Crysis 2 and Rage both have eye popping visuals, but I’m skeptical of the story of the first and a release date this hardware generation for the second (kidding). The Crysis guys better solve their serious screen tearing issue. I know a playable demo exists for both, but will I see/play them?

Deus Ex and Bodycount look interesting, but seem very early in development so will likely not be seen. Also, what has Irrational Games (Bioshock creators) been up to, E3 may reveal much...

Spiderman Shattered Dimensions has me very interested. It really looks like a God of War type hack and slash with a character I actually care about.

Thief, I Am Alive, and Beyond Good and Evil 2 were teased a long time ago and haven’t been seen since. Thief may make a surprise appearance, but things are much more murky for the other two.

I’m not sure (or can’t mention) what my friends at Gearbox will reveal, but whatever it is, will be solid as expected. The only game I believe they have officially announced to date is Aliens Colonial Marines. That alone would rock.

I am intrigued by the new direction Ubisoft is taking with the Ghost Recon series. The recently announced Future Soldier looks less punishing and more like Modern Warfare meets Gears of War. This will either make me finally love the series or dump it forever.

There are a bunch of downloadable games due out this summer that I am greatly anticipating. Fez, Deathspank, Shank, Joe Danger, and even a rumored Shadow Complex prequel.

I expect nothing from Blizzard who keep their announcements regarding Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo to Blizzcon.

Show Trends:

Motion and 3D. Motion for Microsoft and Sony who will attempt to steal casual gamers from their dusty Wiis and no-glasses-necessary 3D from Nintendo with their next DS. I expect no new console mentions at all. The devs don’t want it, gamers can’t afford it, and the manufacturers don’t want to risk that kind of cash in a still very weak economy. If we see anything, it will be a slimmed down 360 and I give 1/100 odds at a WiiHD. By the way, unless they do that, Nintendo is virtually a lock to disappoint.

Personal Objectives:

I will do everything in my power to play all the above games. I will schmooze, kiss up, and bribe my way into the back rooms, back stages, and private booths. In the land of dorks, the least dorky shall be king. Hopefully, I can follow that dude around. ;) But seriously, I think the top games for me to get some time with are Halo Reach, Infamous 2, Bulletstorm, Brink, LA Noire, Ghost Recon, and, gulp, anything on the 3DS. I know it is Nintendo, but their handhelds own. The whole no glasses 3D thing intrigues my inner enginerd.

So what else? I thought I had a lock on a ticket for the M$ press conference, although now it is up in the air. Either way, I will be watching it, especially given that the other two conferences will take place on E3 day one and I’ll be busy on the floor. That and I see at least one after party in my future. Epic or Bungie are the targets, but who knows.

Honestly, the biggest treat of last year was meeting the gaming devs, personalities, and true gamer press that define the hobby I love. I met many a great person last year, but still have a few to check off. I’d like to spend more than 30 seconds talking with the brilliant Cliff B, I’d like to catchup with the Ubisoft Splinter Cell devs, and maybe shake hands with Blair, Morgan, and Abbie from G4TV. Other than that, I look forward to catching back up with JP from X-Play, my Gearbox peeps, Mr. Sark, and all the other great folks I met last year. Oh and if Heather Campbell does in fact make an appearance, I hope to pour one out (Starbucks) with her for Tim “Gamer Tag” Jennings. He’s not dead, he just won’t be there. :)

I guess that’s about it. All in all, last years show was one of the happiest times of my extended childhood. I love gaming. I love E3. And I love writing about it, so expect some serious tweets and posts on each day of the show. For now, I’m charging my iPad and stocking up on energy drinks. LA, here I come.

Redemption

2010-05-23T22:29:00.001-04:00

A week ago Monday, on a whim I headed out to my local Gamestop for the midnight release of Red Dead Redemption. I'm still not quite sure why I did it, as I've never made it past hour three on any previous Rockstar title. After all, these are the guys who define controversy in the video game industry after making a name for themselves through the often crass and gratuitous Grand Theft Auto series. So if it wasn't my desire to rundown virtual prostitutes, it might have been boredom of a lull in triple A titles or just my curiosity to see all the Gamestop folks in cowboy/brothel gear. But whatever it was, I was there at midnight, grabbed the game, made it home, and... fell asleep.

In fact, it was almost 24 hours later until I actually popped the game into my 360 and gave it a whirl. So what do you get when you combine a controversial publisher I have never really cared for, a massively over budget project, and a genre (western) that has never been done tremendously well? Apparently, an instant classic worthy of it's own dedicated review post.

Red Dead is by no means perfect. An occasional glitchy AI behavior and slightly over-complex control scheme are certainly present. But besides those minor issues, the game is a masterpiece. Once the player takes the time to learn the controls and the rules of the game, they are rewarded with a fantastically beautiful world, rich characters, amazing variety in quests, and the opportunity to explore the best western universe ever created in a book, movie, video game, or otherwise.

I have since spent countless hours riding the range, hunting animals, chasing bandits, rescuing settlers, gambling, drinking, riding the rails, dueling, rounding up a posse, being chased by a posse, ambushing gang hideouts, busting broncos, exploring ruins, rustling horses, herding cattle, the list truly does go on and on. Personally, I first fully realized the true power of the game when I camped out (to save) under the open sky while a thunder storm spread across the plain. After saving, I didn't shut the game down as I had planned. I was so captured by the scene that instead I just sat there and watched the sky in awe. In short, I didn't want to leave.

Only the occasional loading screen for a magnificently recorded cutscene forces the player out of this hand-crafted gaming opus. Otherwise, the open world goodness and amazing terrain just calls out for the player to explore. This is what open world gaming has teased at but rarely delivered, especially outside of an MMO. If you are a gamer, a fan of westerns, or just want to see what kind of living, breathing world 100 million dollars can buy you, pick up Rockstar's instant classic. Pick up their Redemption.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

HTC Incredible and Sony Dash: Close...

2010-05-16T19:48:00.002-04:00

I spent some time this weekend demoing and researching two products, both of which approach greatness. In fact, with a couple significant fixes, each would be a highly recommended buy. First, let's discuss the HTC Incredible:

The Incredible, a Google Android 2.0 Operating System (OS), smart phone, available on Verizon Wireless, is HTC's attempt at fixing the well-publicized issues with their previous handsets. The result is as capable an iPhone challenger as I have seen. Blazing fast processor, check. Beautiful, responsive touch screen, check. Eight megapixel camera, check. HTC's proprietary Sense user interface, check. Very reasonable $200 price tag, check. After taking the Incredible for a spin, I am confident that with a little time in learning may way around, the Incredible would likely serve me better than an iPhone in the most common ways I use a mobile device.

I say this as the phone's biggest selling point is the integration between apps. Twitter, email, text, and FaceBook messaging all stored in contacts and viewable from the same app. A sexy weather app built right into the home screen. Several other convergences like this allow the Incredible to update me on everything in my digital life in a blazing 30 seconds, versus the same process taking a couple minutes and five or so apps on the iPhone.

The biggest drawbacks of the phone are minimal on-board memory, a lack of an integrated media store, and a slight clunkiness to the options/screen modification. Ironically, it is the OS's ability to display everything i would want on a couple screens, that also makes customization so intimidating versus the well known checker board layout of the iPhone OS. Also for media heavy users, used to the iPod with a phone (iPhone), it is tough to adjust to a less robust music and video player. A little more thought into the menu layout, integration with a media partner such as the rumored GoogleTunes, and a slight bump to digital storage and this is an iPhone alternative I would recommend. But barring those improvements, not quite yet.

Our next contestant is the Sony Dash. The Dash is intended to be an alarm clock replacement with a small yet highly configurable touch screen. WiFi internet connectivity and a bevy of free applications make this a moderately effective internet consumption device. Email, FaceBook, Twitter, news, and weather feeds make the home screen quite useful for catching you up to speed upon waking. Although I'm not sure I'd want to tap out a detailed email on my alarm clock, which requires a cord at all times, an all-in-one news/message/media/alarm clock sounds great.

But before you order one, here's the kicker, the $200 Dash doesn't include an AM/FM radio!!! Honestly, if it did, I probably would already have one. Sure it gives you the option of waking up to streaming music of videos, including Pandora, but no local NPR in the morning means no sale. Honestly, I am flabbergasted that Sony designed an alarm clock radio replacement without a $3 radio. I guarantee if Sony adds a tuner to the next revision, I will have another WiFi, touch screen gadget in the house. Until then, like the HTC Incredible, the Dash is close, but no cigar.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Why I still need a mouse... for now

2010-05-16T14:59:00.004-04:00

In the age of the tablet, where my 3G iPad has quickly become my default computing device, there are still a few digital tasks that require a full computer. Here are a few reasons I can't dump my iMac... yet:

DVD/CD Burning - Until the iPad can connect to a burner or external drive, I still need my iMac to burn a music/data disc.

Movie Ripping - Ditto for ripping DVDs (that I legally own of course) to iPad video files. How am I supposed to travel without my inflight movie of choice?

IPad/Pod Backup - Syncing my iPad for data backup is a big deal. Not backing up a mobile device is simply a recipe for disaster. Until Apple makes a mobile OS that can sync wirelessly AND utilize my Time Capsule, only a computer will do.

Printing - Steve Jobs has already announced that Apple is working on this, but not being able to print directly from the iPad est no bueno.

Flash Websites - Sure Flash's days are numbered with HTML5 spreading, but there still are a few websites I care about that require Flash. With Steve Jobs' tough stance, I don't expect Flash and the iPad to ever be friends.

PC/Mac Exclusive Programs - Turbotax is the biggest program I can think of that doesn't have an iPad equivalent. I guess I could just get a CPA...

Videochat - This is the big one. I know it is coming with iPhone 4.0 and know it will be here on iPad 2.0. But what a glaring omission on this gen of iPad...

That's about it. If these few things are fixed, I will happily kiss my computer goodbye. Mice are so 2000 after all...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Robbed by Robin

2010-05-15T14:35:00.000-04:00

So there I was, sitting in a state of the art theater taking in the latest surefire cinematic classic, a reboot of one of my absolute favorite stories, Robin Hood. Check these bullet points: Directed by the legendary Ridley Scott. Starring my favorite modern actor Russell Crowe. Supporting actors who have proven themselves many times before. A $200 million budget. And what is the result? Absolute crap.

I take no joy in being a blogger troll, but honestly, I have no room to maneuver on this one. The performances were boring and one-dimensional. The lines were muttled and mumbled. The writing was cliched and uninspired. The editing poor, leaving many scenes that could/should have been trimmed away. The battle special effects were solid, but the editing of the footage felt frantic and unfocused. The whole movie is meant to be a prequel to the tales we know so well, but it felt forced and unfocused. Somehow it felt slow and too lengthy, while still managing to leave many plot lines and characters insufficiently flushed out. It felt liked they reached for greatness, using only a checklist of what they heard makes a movie great. All it earned them is an epic fail.

SPOILER ALERT: And there were many points of plot failure on this one. Robin himself never felt charming or interesting. The villain's motivation was never unveiled. The "good" king challenged, as if to reward, someone to tell him the truth, then punished them for it. Who the f$%^ were those creepy kids in the woods and what made them decide to suddenly be good? The writer clearly couldn't figure out what they wanted with Marion, so she ends up going from farmer to forced attempted heroine. Many scenes felt like forced script bullet points. Obligatory burning of village, attempted rape, royal sex scenes were all checked off with no real purpose or benefit to the story. The final battle was borderline boring. And the end, "The adventure begins," came across as pompous, as if to say we know you'll pay for more. Bah.

In the end, the film is nothing short of a disaster. Unentertaining. Puzzling. Sad. How this happened with the budget, director, actors, and great base story make this more of a mystery film than an adventure. I just hope no one else loses 2.5 hours of their life trying to figure out this particular unsolvable enigma. If you want an epic Scott/Crowe film, buy Gladiator on DVD. If you want a fun summer blockbuster, see Iron Man 2. If you want a cinematic train wreck, Robin Hood is your flick.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

3G iPad - Definitive Review

2010-05-15T13:50:00.001-04:00

I've seen a couple weak sauce articles on the differences between the first released WiFi iPad and the proper 3G version that just arrived a couple weeks ago, but I've seen no review of the 3G version, at least from any of my normal sources, that stands on its own. After two solid weeks with my 3G jumbo iPhone, I will now attempt to fill that glaring void...

Hardware:

The uniframe body design is spartan and gorgeous, exactly what you'd expect from a Jobs' product. Home button, data jack, volume buttons, power button, and a screen orientation lock (much appreciated). That's it. The aluminum body feels sturdy and smooth. A solid design overall.

The 9.7 inch screen is bright, vibrant, with a good viewing angle, and has the smudge-resistant coating debuted with the Iphone 3GS. Overall, the screen is striking and will turn heads at an airport or when in public. Prepare to wipe her down a lot though if you have it out in sunlight. Smudge-resistant is not in anyway to be confused with smudge-free.

The headphone jack sound is limited only by the quality of the headphones you shell out for and the external speaker is serviceable as expected.

When picking up the device, it is noticeably more heavy then I expected. Now I’m all about a quality feel with some appropriate weight, but this sort of exceeds that sweet spot. I imagine it is from the screen and 10 hour, constant use, battery life, but still, she is a little hefty for my taste.

As for responsiveness, the Ipad is exceptional. The custom built Apple processor puts even the snappy Iphone 3GS to shame, which further insults my old Iphone 3G. Every app opens quickly, websites load as fast as the servers can deliver, and zooming and scrolling feel absolutely instantaneous. So overall, there is nothing lacking about the processor strength and given that this is not the norm for mobile devices, Apple should be commended.

Given the brightness of the screen and processor speed, it is nothing shy of amazing the amount of battery life I have been seeing. I have charged my 3G iPad three times in two weeks of pretty heavy use. Try comparing that why the anemic battery life of most laptops. There is no contest.

As far as memory goes, the iPad comes in 16, 32, and 64 GB models. Personally, I went for the middle of the road 32 as a balance between price and storage size. So far, 32 is more than enough for ten movies, apps, and all the music I want with room to spare.

I do strongly wish that this generation came with a front-facing camera for video chat, but am confident next year's version will include more storage, said video camera, and a 4G data connection. Progress is inevitable, that being said, this generation's hardware is still a recommended buy.

Pricing:

$500, $600, and $700 for 16, 32, and 64 GB, respectively. Along with an additional $130 for the 3G model. Thus the baseline, WiFi only model is $500 and the top of the line 64 with 3G runs $830. Although these prices are reasonable for the tech, I expect a $100 reduction by Christmas.

The Base Operating System (OS):

Once again, Apple shows that there is no one in the business that can even touch the quality of their user interface (UI) design. Smooth animations, logical layout, and rock solid stability make this the computing experience we should have had from high-performance computing devices. Oh and starting up and shutting down take about ten seconds. Using it reminds me of old conventions we have all learned to accept with PC use that should have expired a long time ago. Boot up times, software load delays, antivirus software, clunky options menus, control/alt/delete, etc. They don’t belong in the 21st century and they are no where to be found on this truly next gen OS.

The home screen layout does still strike me as barren. It is literally like they just exploded the iPhone home screen which results in too much room between the icons. Four icons across seems inconsistent with the feel of each app, which includes an appropriately higher amount of information per square inch.

The base OS includes everything you would expect. An easy to use, well-organized settings button, easy to maneuver icons (same as the iPhone), and included applications for email, internet, videos, pictures, music, and Google maps. Syncing up the iPad with my iMac was significantly faster than syncing the iPhone, presumably due to the processor improvements. Improvements definitely need to be made to the app store. Neither the on-board iPad version or the iTunes store is as intuitive as I would like. It can be downright difficult to find iPad apps or to figure out which is an iPad or iPhone version on the iTunes sync screen.

Accessories:

I have heard much hate for the Apple branded rubberized case. Frankly, I don't get it. I find it slick, perfectly fitting, and comfortable to hold. Until some third party company shows me something better, the Apple case is still a recommended buy.

As for the Apple docks, yeah not so much. Neither the plain charging dock, nor the keyboard dock can be used without removing the iPad from its case. This is simply a show stopper. If the brilliance of the iPad is its portability and quick use, why would I ever want to have to remove it from the case to do anything? I very quickly returned the keyboard dock I had purchased and replaced it with a Blue-tooth keyboard. Connection is simple and being able to use a keyboard for lengthy writing (like this post for instance) is priceless. That being said, for a quick email or tweet, the onscreen keyboard works great.

The included power cord is three feet long. That is to say, way short. When I checked out the "six foot" replacement cord, it is simply the three foot USB cord and a three, heavy power cord from the adapter. In my case to charge it on my bed stand leaves the adaptor/transformer/little box dangling in the air. I literally had to tie the USB cord around my lamp to support it. This sucks. Why Apple couldn't just include a six ft, lightweight, USB cable is beyond me. In the end, I recommend just buying a six ft USB extension cord.

Lastly, and I say this just because many folks unfamiliar with modern touchscreen devices ask about this quite a bit, no screen protector is needed or recommended. Old school touchscreen devices had plastic screens and pressure sensors. All modern iPods, iPhones, and iPads have glass screens and proximity sensors behind the glass. If something is sharp enough to scratch glass, a plastic screen protector is no match for it and would serve only to ruin the screen brilliance. Leave the glass alone as it is intended.

3G plus WiFi:

In addition to automatically connecting to the WiFi network of your choice using the B/G/N standard, the HUGE advantage of the 3G iPad is its mobility. It took me about three minutes to setup an account with AT&T, all within the iPad Settings 3G menu. One minute and $30 later, I was up and running on a wireless 3G connection. $30 a month with no contract for unlimited 3G data is marvelous. Canceling and restarting anytime for half the price of most limited data plans is just amazing. How Apple got AT&T to do this is beyond me, but as the beneficiary, I don't much care. I win.

Taking the iPad out and about was fun. The 3G connection, although noticeably slower than WiFi, is pretty darn quick. Only on apps that have WAY too much rich media on their home page, cough ESPN, cough, is the 3G speed reduction glaringly apparent. I literally can't imagine buying the non-3G version of the iPad. You don't pay for the wireless service unless you need it and when you do it is relatively cheap. Not being able to take the iPad on a trip and use it as the internet all-in-one it is designed to be is just plain sad.

Apps:

Let's face it, the usefulness of the first gen iPad device family and the success of the platform almost entirely depends on how developers leverage the hardware with applications. In the current initial launch window, there are some extremely polished apps and there are quite a few that need improvement and show some common development miscues.

Google Maps (with the 3G only built-in GPS) rocks. It is everything I would want in a map app. Satellite view, street view, hybrid, traffic, directions, and integrated Google business search. Now if only Google would include turn by turn directions. Oh yeah, they are soon. Sweet.

iTunes performs flawlessly and shines as a result of its five year evolutionary improvements.

The Videos app runs perfectly. Movies are crisp, bright, and lag free. Unfortunately, as the screen ratio differs significantly from theater ratios, I always have to decide between cropping the picture or only using a part of the screen. Sigh. This is nothing new on computing devices or TVs. I blame the movie folks.

The Safari web browser is the most lacking of the first party apps. The lack of crashtastic, battery draining Flash doesn't bother me that much, but some other stuff does. All the buttons are at the top, far from where my thumbs sit when holding the iPad. No tabbed browsing, no ad blocker, and a general lack of customization options are a disappointment. In fact, I have switched to the $1 Atomic Web Browser app and never gone back. Atomic is really impressive offering all the options Safari lacks and more.

The email and pictures apps are terrific. Easy to navigate, fast, and functional.

I did spring for the $10 version of Pages (Apple's version of Word) and am amazed with the quality of this mobile word processor. Templates, newsletters, blog posts, SpellChecker, Thesaurus, and anything else you can imagine is included. An absolute must buy for those folks that like me are looking to use the iPad as their only mobile computing solution.

iBooks, Apple's e-reader suite, is great but severely limited by content. I'm sure this will pickup, but most titles I searched for were not yet available. I was disappointed by the lack of strategy for the periodical market. Why Apple didn't make a standard format and include magazines and newspaper subscriptions is beyond me. Instead, they have opted to allow publishers to make dedicated applications for each periodical. I don't believe this is a good long-term solution, nor will it ensure quality of experience.

How about third party apps? So far a mixed bag. Although there are definitely apps available for everything you would want to do with the iPad, many need some work. The most common mistake seems to be trying to fill every inch of the screen with rich media without regard for the time it takes to load this media. ESPN and TheWeatherChannel apps are big time offenders in this regard. This is ironic as both have quick-loading mature apps for the iPhone. I'm sure they'll figure things out, but as of now, their apps are clunky and slow loading.

Another bad trend I have see: Apps whose iPad version is less complete than their iPhone version. Although I am sure this will change with updates, why I can get more stories on the iPhone version of USA Today than the full-screen iPad version is beyond me.

Twitter has about a bazillion third-party apps. Twittelator is my app of choice, but I am holding out for the iPad version of Echofon. An official FaceBook app is still a glaring omission. Not for me, as I hate said virtual yearbook, but I know I am but a vocal minority.

BlogPress and Bloomberg are pretty solid first efforts for mobile blogging and stock market apps, repectively. I highly recommend both.

Amazingly, the Amazon Kindle app is one of my favorites. Despite a clunky purchase process requiring you to use a website to circumvent fees to Apple using iTunes sales, the app is rock solid, includes a crazy amount of books, and allows you to read them on any digital device.

I still am pining for a streaming video app from all the major networks. ABC and CBS have their own free apps, which allow streaming of most of their quality shows. A HULU type app, allowing streaming of most TV offerings would be phenomenal. I'm convinced that were most shows available on the iPad, that I wouldn't watch most my TV not on a TV.

Gaming is okay, limited not by processor or screen size, but mostly by a lack of gaming controls. I have heard rumors of a Blue-tooth controller or peripheral, but until that happens, I say stick with puzzlers only.

Lastly, Comics (something I haven't paid attention to since the early nineties) and children's books (for my daughter) are amazing. The Marvel and Comics app are terrific. They make reading through comics a visually rich and sexy, okay maybe not, pastime. And the interactive Disney books, such as Toy Story and the Frog Princess are enjoyable and make for a fun time with the kiddos. They include puzzles, music, coloring, and reading.

Sure, sure, in the end just about any iPhone app runs on the iPad, but the lack of support for the full-screen and pixelated zoom-in just look sad. I say full-screen, iPad apps or bust.

Convergence:

The brilliance of the iPod Touch and the iPhone was the ease of use and convergence of technology. The iPod showed us a mobile music device didn’t have to have a horrible interface and poor PC connection software. The iPod Touch brought the iPod and Internet together. The iPhone brought the iPod Touch and the phone together. The iPad is bringing the iPhone and the laptop together. Other than heavy duty writing or business applications, I just can’t see a reason to shell out over a thousand dollars for a laptop anymore. This is the mobile computer most people need. Small enough to tuck into a bag, easier to use than any other existing OS, and it does everything most people use a laptop for better than a laptop, I.E. web surfing, movie watching, email, reading, Twitter, and FaceBook. This is the best mobile internet, computing, media player, and digital reader experience available.

Potential:

Potential is by far the most important of the terms I would use to describe the iPad. When I think about what Apple and developers will be able to do with this fully mobile 3G computer, I can’t help but smile. Comparing what the iPhone was at launch to what it is now, is almost night and day. The original iPhone OS allowed no third party apps, no on the go music downloads, no cut and paste, and many other software features that we take for granted now. I expect the same growth in functionality for the iPad platform. In fact, the first batch of significant improvements is already on the way with the iPhone/iPad 4.0 OS soon to be released. 4.0 should include multitasking and several interface upgrades.

The Apple and third party applications will continue to improve and the number of apps custom built for the iPad will explode over the next few months. This will drive prices down and quality up. I can’t wait to customize my 3G iPad to be a device that fulfills all my mobile computing needs with the apps to match. The device’s potential is endless and its legend will be written over the next few months and years.

Looking long term, I truly believe that in a few years, most Americans will use an iPad (or weak sauce M$ cloned device) as their main computing solution. This device is an industry game changer. Rather than Microsoft’s approach of forcing a full, clunky OS onto an underpowered touchscreen, Apple’s custom OS and fast processor is the way to go and has already sent all their touchscreen/tablet competition back to the drawing board.

I highly recommend the 3G iPad for anyone with the need for easy and/or mobile computing needs. In two weeks it has become an irreplaceable news, internet, email, media, digital life device. Apple has another revolutionary winner on their hands. So when are you going to have it in yours?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

Invaders

2010-05-04T22:20:00.001-04:00

I have watched the media coverage of the new Arizona illegal immigration law, listened to countless interviews of people upset with its passage, watched the footage of countless protests, and counted the Californian cities who vowed to boycott the state. The apparently controversial law basically allows police officers in Arizona to ask suspected illegal immigrants to prove they are in the country legally. No more, no less. Hispanic groups, immigration groups, and every hippie from Southern California to Northern California have decried the law as racist, discriminatory, and unconstitutional. Sigh. Please allow me to shed some not-so-common-anymore sense on this argument...

Illegal immigrants are here, well, illegally. They are not undocumented, as they prefer to be called, as it doesn’t mention the inconvenient truth that they are here illegally. They have snuck into the U.S. Snuck in front of every foreign person who applied correctly and is patiently waiting their turn. And most sneak past paying taxes every day using fear of being caught as an excuse. They are criminals as soon as they set foot on our soil without obeying the immigration laws. Then they continue to steal government services every day, driving on roads, using hospitals and emergency services, and being protected by a military they do not pay for. I hesitate to even refer to such people as illegal immigrants. Immigration refers to following the rules of assimilation into our country. These are invaders, plain and simple. We have something they want, they do not wish to wait, so they take it. Now they want amnesty, protection, special treatment, political rights, and, most egregious of all, my sympathy? You have a better chance of seeing pigs fly.

How about this? Rather than putting all your energy into dodging and protesting our laws, why don’t you go home and fix your damn country? Work hard to make it a place you and your brethren want to reside or at least go home and apply to join our country the fair and just way. But either way, go home. You will get no sympathy or watering down of descriptive terminology from me. You are not undocumented. You are illegal, foreign invaders. You should be grateful, that in this nation or Arizona, the worst thing we will ever do is ask for ID.

3Don't Care

2010-05-04T21:30:00.001-04:00

If you read the mainstream press coming out of the recent Game Developers Conference you'd think a wave of 3D mania was about to hit us any day. Virtually every TV manufacturer showed off their 3D solution, all of which require a fancy expensive TV and set of expensive, tacky, proprietary goggles for each watcher. Sony announced that the PS3 would get a firmware update to support 3D gaming and Microsoft, not surprisingly, followed suit. A month or so later, Nintendo announced that the next DS will include a built-in 3D screen.

Yeah, so not to burst their bubble, but I don't give a flying f%^# about 3D. I'm not even convinced I would buy one set of goggles if I had a BluRay player and TV that was 3D capable already, let alone buy $5,000 in new gear to watch Avatard in 3D. The thing is, HD isn't even standard yet. Most channels don't even have HD content available, now Sony wants me to consider my non-3D HD set obsolete? Yeah, about that... screw you.

I don't need 3D. I don't care about 3D. I've always found it gimmicky and I see right through the hype and spy electronics manufacturers trying to create demand for an overpriced product no one cares about. How about you all figure out how to get HD content on every channel, get my fifth 360 not to red ring, or figure out why every PS3 stopped working randomly? Leave 3D for Revenge of Jaws or whatever the f#%^ that movie was. An obvious cinematic classic only enhanced by the must have 3D feature. Either that or it was a flop made even more cheesy by a useless visual effect...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

IPad Blogging

2010-05-01T14:38:00.001-04:00

One of the reasons I purchased my 3G Ipad was to have a more portable Internet solution to support live tweets and daily posts from E3 in June. As a test run, I am writing a blogpost ironically on the ease or difficulty of writing and uploading a post from the Ipad. For this endeavor, I will utilize the $10 version of Pages for the iPad, the keyboard doc, and the Blogpress app.

For the entire post, I will be using Pages as it includes a built-in spellchecker. After playing with this version of Pages, I am surprised at how full featured it is. Apple did a superior job creating this app and really removed any excuse not to use the iPad as a writing device, pending the choice of keyboard...

For this paragraph, I am using just the iPad onscreen keyboard. As a lifelong "hunt and pecker" (no jokes), I find the landscape keyboard very natural, although with the Ipad in my lap, the wrist angle is certainly not ideal for longterm writing. The default Apple case is rubberized and works quite well for holding the Ipad slightly up my legs for more comfortable placement. Overall, a workable, if not ideal configuration.

Next up comes the Ipad keyboard dock. The first thing that becomes painfully apparent is that there is no way to dock the Ipad without removing the case. No matter how nice the keyboard feels, this is a deal breaker. The case is too fragile when inserting or removing the advice for this to be an acceptable solution. Once mounted, the keyboard behaves perfectly and holds the Ipad firmly enough to support touching the screen without dislodging it from the dock. Too bad the dock and case weren't designed to work together, but as it is, I'm returning the dock today and replacing it with a bluetooth keyboard.

Next up, copying the post to Blogpress. Cut and paste from Pages works great, allowing me to easily move the text from the writing to the uploading portion. Blogpress allows me to chose to add a picture from anything saved under the photo gallery on the iPad. To pick a pic from the interweb, I simply searched for one I liked using Safari, held my finger on it, selected Save, and there it was in my photo gallery. In this case, the stunning face of the head Apple man himself will do nicely. Also of note, Pages automaticAlly saves your document progress when you hit the home button. A very important feature.

Lastly, publishing the post. Tapping Save brings up the option to Publish or Save the draft. A quick tap of publish and my deepest thoughts become the world's to read. Okay, so not my deepest, but some of my thoughts none the less. :). Overall, I'm very impressed by the dry run. I anticipate with the replacement of the keyboard dock with a Bluetooth keyboard, my iPad will become my default blogging device. Well done Apple, well done.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 3G.

300

2010-04-20T20:47:00.003-04:00

Wow, I just noticed that the old blog post counter just hit the big 3 0 0. Has it really been three and a half years of documented blatherings? Seriously, I never imagined the hobby I jokingly started back in December of 2006 would take me here. This blog truly is a labor of love and I am so grateful to my friends and family for continuing to tolerate my typos, propaganda, and ridiculous ramblings. It ain't easy standing up and saying anything these days. I wouldn't have ever been able to stand up to the public scrutiny and the arrows from harsh critics without each of your support.

Thanks for your encouragement via comments, emails, texts, and tweets. As great of a free therapy blogging is, this really is all for you. I promise to keep up the sarcasm and craziness over the next 300. Who knows what’s coming next? All I can say for sure is that in ten days, it will be coming from my new Ipad.

Bring on the Persians trolls and I'll see you at 600!!!

Max

Entitlement

2010-04-20T20:36:00.003-04:00

I recently had a quite interesting conversation with a retired family member. While they were complaining about President Obama and his overspending, the subject of the pending economic catastrophe of Social Security came up. I mentioned that when the program launched, the average lifespan of an American was 68. Meaning that recipients received benefits for an average of three years. Fast forward to today when the average lifespan is pushing 80, putting the average duration of Social Security benefits at 15 years, IE, five times the intended duration. “Is it any wonder that the Social Security entitlement is entirely unsustainable for the massive Baby Boomer generation?” I asked. What amazed me is that despite my Baby Boomer relative’s concern about ballooning deficits and the hard budget decisions that must be made, changes to Social Security were completely off the table. “I paid into it, therefore I deserve it,” was the gist of their argument.

And therein lies the problem with modern American society. Everyone knows there is a major problem, but no one wants to sacrifice any of what they believe they “deserve” to fix it. No one more epitomizes this self-centeredness than the Baby Boomers and their youngest spawn/plague upon the land, the Millenials. It never ceases to amaze me how the Greatest Generation, who survived the Depression, saved the world from Fascism, and and solidified the American Dream birthed us arguably the Worst Generation of spoiled, entitled, emotionally fragile, self-absorbed asshats on which I fictitiously blame most of the ills of our society.

To count their accomplishments: The 80s self absorption, the failed war on drugs, the gridlocked/corrupt government, the well-fare state, a virtually unsurmountable deficit, legalized discrimination (affirmative action), and now a legacy of ridiculous entitlement.

Let me make this clear: Nothing is deserved. Everything we have and every opportunity we have to excel is a gift. A gift born from the sacrifices of Americans before us. Social Security was never intended as a retirement program. No one deserves a government funded pension unless they worked for the government and earned a, well, pension. Social Security went from a three year program originally designed for the poor and fatherless to a presumed government funded financial crutch happily accepted by many people who don’t need it and even happier by those retirees who have insufficiently saved for retirement and believe they are entitled to our tax dollars to fund their leisure years.

My plan for Social Security is simple: Move the initial age of eligibility to 75 and make strict rules excluding those with sufficient savings/assets to support themselves. This would remove 85% of the cost burden of Social Security while ensuring those that need it, have it. Mind you, this would never pass. The pockets of the AARP lobbyists are far too deep and the Baby Boomers vote is way too strong. They will literally dig our nation’s financial grave to get their hands on 20% (currently) of every tax dollar.

In the end, it will eventually fall to the Gen Xers and, gulp, The Millenials to right our nation’s listing ship. We will never see Social Security in its current form and we know it. We must dust off the lessons and legacy of hard work and sacrifice of the Greatest Generation and forgo perceived entitlements for the preservation of our union. Will we be up to the task? I certainly hope so. The fate of the Greatest Democracy depends on it.

Snake Oil

2010-04-11T14:07:00.003-04:00

My preschooler child recently experienced some pretty significant seasonal allergies, which necessitated a trip to a local, “well-respected” allergy clinic. At our first visit, for which I paid $25 and my insurance paid $75, we waited an hour to be seen by a nurse, who immediately told us that for my daughter to be properly treated, she needed to stop all allergy medicines for two weeks, then return to be poked 40 times on her back with needles containing allergens. Then they would measure the diameter of any resulted red circles to determine what she is allergic to.

My response to this was simple: Are you Fing insane? First of all, how is diameter of skin redness a scientific measurement? Second, you want my daughter, who was suffering with allergies already, to cease any treatment for that for two weeks? Third, you want to poke my baby 40 times with needles that will make her itch? Lastly, I took off an afternoon of work and paid $100 to be told in person what you could have told me over the phone? Perhaps the proper response should have been not WTF, but FU.

After sarcastically discussing this alleged “doctor” visit with friends who have been through the allergist routine, I now know what comes next. After the 40 poke torture, the doctor enters the room and tells you that you are allergic to dust and dust mites (we all are apparently) then recommends dust covers for your pillows and mattress. Then if you are allergic to a seasonal allergen, such as cedar pollen, you are given a prescription for a histamine blocker (allegra, zyrtec, claritin, etc) and a mild steroid nasal spray. On rare occasion, if an allergy is severe, you can be prescribed shots to desensitize you from a particular allergen. This is literally what EVERYONE I have talked to said that happened to them.

So, just to clarify, you are tortured for two weeks of allergies without medicine, given an expensive and painful test for what should be logically apparent from the presented symptoms and a daily pollen count, and then everyone is given virtually the same treatment that could have been deployed immediately. Right...

For years I have questioned the competence of many medical professionals in general, but I have always reserved a special place for chiropractors and counselors. I believe there is very little science involved with what they do other than a back rub and listening, respectively. Now I will add allergists to this list of shysters. They take your money and your blood and provide you with what nothing more than what common sense could tell you.

Oh and the dust mite thing - you must be Fing kidding me. Our ancestors lived in dirty caves wearing filthy animal skins for thousands of years and you want to tell me I need a plastic cover for my spotless pillow to survive? Puhlease.

So here is my allergy guide for 99% of us: If it is a “polleny” season in your region where you live and you suddenly develop allergy symptoms, you are probably allergic to that pollen. Duh. Proceed directly to the local drugstore and get yourself a histamine blocker and a nose shooter. Apply daily until horny plant powder subsides. ***

However if you are a masochist with dripping sinuses and possess a regrettable excess of time and money, go see an allergist. They have just the thing.

*** Note: This post or anything I have every said or thought is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. I am not a doctor nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. Neither is Oprah Winfrey.

Ipad - First Impressions

2010-04-03T13:23:00.002-04:00

So I happily took a drive to the Apple store this morning to get my paws on the brand new Apple tablet device, the Ipad. After promising that I wasn’t there to buy one (I’m holding out for the 3G version in late April), I was able to completely bypass the ridiculously long line and duck inside for an Ipad test drive. So here’s my take:

The first thing I noticed was the gorgeous screen. It is bright, vibrant, with a good viewing angle, and has the smudge-less coating debuted with the Iphone 3GS. When I picked up the device, it was noticeably more heavy then I expected. Now I’m all about a quality feel with some appropriate weight, but this sort of exceeds that sweet spot. I imagine it is from the screen and 10 hour, constant use, battery life, but still, she is a little hefty for my taste. That being said, if this is what it takes for a full day of battery use, I am willing to begrudgingly accept the tradeoff.

The home screen layout still strikes me as barren. It is literally like they just exploded the Iphone home screen which results in too much room between the icons. Four icons across seems inconsistent with the feel of each app, which includes a much more appropriate higher number of buttons per square inch. I’m hoping that the Iphone 4.0 Operating System (OS) solves this problem with an adjustable number of icons per screen.

When it comes to responsiveness, the Ipad is exceptional. The custom built Apple processor puts even the snappy Iphone 3GS to shame, which further insults my old Iphone 3G. Every app opens quickly, websites load as fast as the servers can deliver, and zooming and scrolling feel absolutely instantaneous. So overall, there is nothing lacking about the processor strength and given that this is not the norm for mobile devices, Apple should be commended.

So how about the apps? Once again, Apple shows that there is no one in the business that can even touch the quality of their user interface (UI) design. Whether it be Google Maps, Safari, Itunes, or any other included application, they all shine with ease of use, stability, sexy animations, and brilliant design. The just simply do everything you’d want and make everything easy to find.

Once again, the lack of flash support makes Safari seem a but lacking as a web browser, but with most websites moving to the HTML 5 standard, the Ipad may be the death knell for flash.

The mobile Pages version, the Apple equivalent of M$ Word, is particularly impressive. The $10 price may seem steep, but if a user is looking to do any serious amount of writing on the Ipad, this application is a must buy. I really wish I could have tried out the keyboard dock, but even without, I found typing to be easy and the landscaped version to be perfect size for mobile typing.

I watched a few videos and from what I’ve seen this is the premiere device for watching movies on the go. I wasn’t able to try out the sound, other than through the serviceable external speaker, but I have no doubt that it will perform audibly equivalent to the Ipod family of devices. The Ibookstore was also very well done and I’m sure anyone who loves the e-book format will love to use the Ipad with its adjustable font/text size and super slick interface.

I still am disappointed that the 3G wireless internet version was not available on launch day. It really made me feel like I was missing today’s Apple party. That being said, the usefulness of the Ipad explodes if it can be untethered from the home and released into the wild while still providing the same functionality. Unless you are dying for a laptop replacement for around the house and never leave said home, I just can’t see the point of buying the WiFi only version. And with the no contract 3G wireless deal, if you don’t want to pay for wireless service, don’t. But if you ever need it, the 3G version is the only way to go.

Hmm... What else? I’d say that the overall impression I got from the device can be best summed up in three words: Solid, Convergence, and Potential.

Solid

The expected build and software quality is there in spades. It feels like a quality tech toy in every possible way. Using it for only a few minutes reminds me of old conventions we have all learned to accept with PC use that should have expired a long time ago. Boot up times, software load delays, antivirus software, clunky options menus, control/alt/delete, etc. They don’t belong in the 21st century and they are no where to be found on this truly next gen device. Not to mention, with the weight, it feels like if I dropped it, the floor would sustain more damage than it. Like I said, the Ipad is Solid.

Convergence

The brilliance of the Ipod Touch and the Iphone was the ease of use and convergence of technology. The Ipod showed us a mobile music device didn’t have to have a horrible interface and poor PC connection software. The Ipod Touch brought the Ipod and Internet together. The Iphone brought the Ipod Touch and the phone together. The Ipad is bringing the Iphone and the laptop together. Other than heavy duty writing or business applications, I just can’t see a reason to shell out over a thousand dollars for a laptop anymore. This is the mobile computer most people need. Small enough to tuck into a bag, easier to use than any other existing OS, and it does everything most people use a laptop for better than a laptop, I.E. web surfing, movie watching, email, reading, Twitter, and Facebook. This is the best mobile internet, computing, media player, and digital reader experience available.

Potential

Potential is by far the most important of the terms I would use to describe the Ipad. When I think about what Apple and developers will be able to do with this device in the future, especially with the far more logical 3G version, I can’t help but smile. Comparing what the Iphone was at launch to what it is now, is almost night and day. The original Iphone OS allowed no third party apps, no on the go music downloads, no cut and paste, and many other software features that we take for granted now. I expect the same growth in functionality for the Ipad. In fact, the first batch of significant improvements is already on the way with the Iphone/Ipad 4.0 OS soon to be released. 4.0 should include multitasking and several interface upgrades.

The Apple and third party applications will continue to improve and the number of apps custom built for the Ipad will explode over the next few months. This will drive prices down and quality up. I can’t wait to customize my 3G Ipad to be a device that fulfills all my mobile computing needs with the apps to match. The device’s potential is endless and its legend will be written over the next few months.

Looking long term, I truly believe that in a few years, most Americans will use an Ipad (or weak sauce cloned device) as their main computing solution. This device is an industry game changer. Rather than Microsoft’s approach of forcing a full, clunky OS onto an unpowered touchscreen, Apple’s custom OS and fast processor is the way to go and will blow the doors off the touchscreen/tablet market.

The Ipad doesn’t do much new, but what it does, it does extremely well and better than anything else on the market. I highly recommend the Ipad for anyone with the need for easy and/or mobile computing needs. Apple has another winner on their hands. So when are you going to have it in yours?

Super Seniors

2010-03-31T22:16:00.003-04:00

As I begrudgingly approach my unavoidable break with the early thirties, I am setting aside some time to take stock on how I have used likely, gulp, half my life. I do this not to count regrets, of which I have many, but rather to ensure I spend the next half wisely. I look back and try to apply the wise and applicable phrases of movies and music and poetry and scholars. And I expect several posts to come out of this introspection.

This evening, no quote seems more poignant in describing my current state of self-examination than one from Gross Pointe Blank’s hitman secretary, played by Joan Cusack. In describing her former classmates at their high school reunion she simply states, “It’s as if they all had swelled.” As much as I have chuckled at the weight gain argument, true for myself and most the American populous thanks to the invention of the Venti Frappachino, maybe there is more to it. Rather than focus on the change of the one factor she chose, the quotation is just as powerful for those factors that she doesn’t mention, IE everything!!! Is she saying nothing truly changes about people other than weight? And I wonder if this applies to me?

I have thought in the past that a sure sign of change was knowing that the current me wouldn’t get along with the four years ago me. At first, I took that as pretty much a given back to the age of 18. But truly and honestly looking back, other than in general being more self-confident and less angsty, I am starting to think I am the same guy. I think I was disliking the old me for some of the stupid mistakes I made, but not for truly who I was.

So let’s take measure here on tangible things:

On the fashion side, I still yearn to wear jeans, cargos, and sweatshirts. On Fall Saturday’s I still root for Penn State football like a possessed moron. I still foolhardily believe the Buffalo Bills will turn things around “this year.” I still love video games. I still like Oakleys despite Weezer’s harsh words. I still like the same musical style. My recent purchase of a ridiculous 2010 GT Mustang shows that I haven’t moved much in the auto opinion department, other than finally having the disposable income to afford one. When I do put down my Ipod, I continue to find myself gravitating away from modern rock/pop music, and back to the 1990s channel. I still love action movies, snow, fires in the fireplace, golden retrievers, action movies, the list goes on and on...

So how about the personality stuff?

I still love a good argument. I still sweat the details. I am still unbelievably stubborn. I define the word independent. I still have a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I still love science and I still think English is the most illogical language ever. So pretty much spot on there too...

Searching for an independent viewpoint to offset this concerning trend, I asked my spouse what she thought of my tastes in general and without any prompting she flatly replied that I hadn’t changed at all since we met and that I needed updated blue jeans. Yikes.

In fact, the only things I can think of that I enjoy now that I didn’t do when I was 18 are more a function of technological development or what I can legally do. Sure, I didn’t smoke a pipe, enjoy a swig of whiskey, blog, or play an MMO back then, but hell, the internet wasn’t even a recognized word when I graduated and I couldn’t legally drink or smoke. And I’m pretty sure I would have done all of these things back then had they been available.

So in the end, I’m not really sure what to make of it, but apparently I stopped evolving at 18. Am I alone in this or were we all just emotionally and fashionably frozen when we came of age? I like to think I have grown and matured, but maybe I’m just an old super senior with a bigger allowance and hair that is rapidly migrating from my head to the rest of me... Either way, I’m off to watch Gross Pointe Blank again, hoping that the answer is in there. If it isn’t, at least I see a classic movie. But of course I love it, it is from the 90s after all...

E-volution or E-xtinction

2010-03-27T15:02:00.005-04:00

I was a bit surprised at the success Radiohead had by deciding to make a new album, Rainbows, available for free download on their website. They allowed downloaders to pay what they wanted from zero to whatever. The amazing thing about this experiment, is that the album became their most successful release ever, both in numbers downloaded/sold AND in profit. That’s right, they made more in donations then they ever had with a full price release. It turns out twenty people donating a dollar each makes more money than one person paying $16 for a disc.

It is with this notable experiment in mind that I ponder the future of downloadable magazines and newspapers on the upcoming Ipad. The question is, will people, including me, pay a subscription to get digital copies of magazines on the Ipad?

To begin, I admit I love the feel of a magazine or newspaper in my hand before I go to bed or on a lazy Saturday afternoon. As much as I love technology, that tangible, battery-free portable, non-breakable feel of print is an experience and value in itself. That being said, my viewpoint is dying, fast. I see the advantage of discounted, virtually instantly downloadable books and periodicals on a device like the Kindle. My issue with the Kindle has always been the product price for nothing more than a big LCD watch AND its lack of any other functionality. In the age of the Iphone, I just refuse to pay for a high-priced toy that doesn’t scratch more than one digital itch.

Now with the Ipad, consumers like me will have a device to watch movies, TV shows, listen to music, blog, surf the web, twitter, and now, read full color digital magazines/books. So with my issues with a portable reader now addressed, I’m simply left with the question: What, if anything, am I willing to pay for digital content subscriptions?

I suppose the next logical question is what will the digital print downloadable business model be? It seems like no one has decided on a pricing format yet. Publishers have announced everything from charging the same price as the newsstand, to a discounted rate, to free for the first month, to monthly subscriptions only. Some will include a free digital copy if you subscribe to the printed periodical, some say you have to pay for both. Personally, I think the fairest solution is a discounted price for the digital only version, available by the single download or a further discounted price with a subscription, and a free digital version if you buy the printed one.

Let’s assume for simplicity that publishers adopt my "ideal strategy." The final critical question that remains is, how much would you/I pay for a purely digital subscription? That’s the thing. I have no idea. Like me, anyone reading this post has been raised on an internet where quality articles, photos, and even video are for the most part free. I have always been offended by ESPN’s site when I try to click on an article and they say that viewing that content requires a monthly subscription. Money for internet content? Subscription required? Hogwash. So even if USA Today, Edge, U.S. News and World Report, Play, Game Informer, or Playstation magazine offer a reduced price for digital content, would I shell out the money for these if I can get similar content from websites for free? Probably not, unless the quality is significantly better (it is not), the price is very low or I am totally desperate for something to read on a plane. Randomly desperate customers is not a profitable business model... Low price and high volume sales is. And there in explains the Radiohead effect.

The bottom line is, as long as one has an internet connection, I/you can read fresh articles on whatever topic we want for free. So based on the realities of the internet influenced economy and Radiohead’s experiment, my advice to publishers is this:

Keep the prices for digital content very low, find anyway you can to get people trying your digital offering, and understand that clinging to a high-priced product sold to a relatively small amount of people is just not sustainable in the new e-conomy. Sorry old media, but if I can get used to the brave new world of tuna in a bag, universal health care, and yogurt pops, you can adjust too. E-volve and get your product to the e-masses at low prices or go e-xtinct.

Seriously though, tuna from a bag??? But that's a whole other post...

Take me to your leader.

2010-03-21T18:14:00.002-04:00

I’m not sure what the final signs will be that the machines are about to gain self-awareness and enslave all carbon-based life, but I’m positive the process has begun. Let’s look at three critical questions to determine who has control of Earth: Who can set ridiculous rules for the other without being questioned? Who can refuse to take commands from the other? Who really tells who what to do?

Based on what I’ve seen, things aren’t going well for humans on all three fronts. I shall explain...

Let’s first look at who can set ridiculous rules for the other without being questioned:

I’m convinced that robotic historians will someday trace their ascension back to the first time a webpage restricted input in fields to a certain format and we obeyed. For instance, phone number fields that must have exactly ten digits otherwise the user can’t advance to the next step. This is one of the first times I can remember where a machine told me no and I could not appeal or override. This was when I first detected that the power was shifting from the user to the machine.

Now such AI controlled restrictions are common place: My car won’t let me have recycled air and the defog on at the same time, despite the fact that the combination works best to, well, defog. My TV won’t let me change to an input unless that device is powered up. I can’t play a game that I played the day before just fine until a new “mandatory patch” is installed. My GPS won’t let me change destinations if it thinks the vehicle is in motion. My car won’t let me set my mirror position automatically if the car is in drive. All my videogame systems order me not to do anything while a spinning icon is on the screen. The list goes on and on, but the theme remains. Electronic devices can make up random rules and I am forced to follow.

Now let’s talk about who can disobey the other:

I would say the simple measure of if software does what it is told what to do is reliability. In the age of Windows, such a concept is almost laugh out loud amusing. Why does almost everyone recognize the following phrase: Missing DLL, blue screen of death, missing driver, bad request, low virtual memory, and red ring of death? More scary is that we still buy the products that tell us these ridiculous things rather than just do their job. In my book, this is the second step to our downfall, where we ask the machine to do something and it refuses without a meaningful explanation.

Lastly, let’s look at who really tells the other what to do:

For the most part, I don’t tell any of my electronic devices what to do. They sit there, humming along without my input. The computer runs its OS, my watch shows the time, my cell phone searches for signal, my iPod plays its songs. 95% or more of the tasks they perform they do so based on their internal programming. Very few actions are based on my input/request. Now, let’s look at us. Take a quick trip to any local mall and you will find hundreds of automatons, grasping their iPhones/blackberries in their hands waiting for the next input. There they sit, transfixed on the little screen in their hands. Waiting for a text, waiting for a call, waiting for an internet site, waiting to get showtimes, waiting for emails... Waiting for a mini computer to guide them in life. A whole generation of Americans is being raised to be dependent on machines for information, instructions, communications, and social interaction. This = Terrifying...

Slowly we are being convinced to give up control to electronics and we are not fighting back. Like a pack of lemmings we are blindly following the herd towards a digital cliff. So will we wake up in time or will we just have to adjust to life under the command of our new software-minded overlords? My bet is you that you should be real nice to that Ipod of yours. Its day is coming... ;)

Simon says, "No More QTEs."

2010-03-16T21:10:00.003-04:00

With the busiest gaming “offseason” in modern memory well under way and blockbusters launching every other week or so into May, some interesting trends have emerged with some even more interesting press and fanboy chatter. Here’s my take on a select few topics:

QTEs

Just when it seemed the barely playing, can't watch the screen, Simon-says, worn out mini-games known as Quick Time Events (QTEs) were on the ropes, they return with a vengeance. Although I will say, God of War III is about as good an application as they get. At least now the GoW3 QTE prompts, where during a scripted animated event the player must press the controller button displayed, are shown in a way that allows the player to actually watch the gory scene play out. These QTEs are especially tolerable, given that they are used to punctuate epic, hack n’ slash battles where the player has full control. Heavy Rain however...

Heavy Rain

From Quantic Dream, the developers of the Indigo Prophecy, comes a playable murder mystery story seen from the viewpoint of four main characters. If each character dies from the player action, they are permanently dead and the story changes forever. As interesting as this concept is and even with great graphics and creative writing, did I mention the whole game is a QTE? Like the whole thing?!?! Heavy Rain demonstrates some promising concepts and themes, but the “gaming,” if you want to call it that, is a huge step backwards. Still, concepts like the interactive story and permanent death will influence the industry going forward. I can’t wait to see what happens when these facets are deployed in a game with an actual game engine.

Green Day Rock Band

Wow, have the intarwebs been trolling about this one. The main crime here seems to be that Green Day is not considered to be as good as The Beatles. Here’s the thing, they don’t have to be... I said a while ago that The Beatles Rock Band would not be a huge profit success. When you take in to account the cost of developing the engine, the cost of acquiring the rights to the music, the cost of the remastering ancient recordings, and, most importantly, the fact that the Beatles fan and videogame player demographics don’t exactly closely overlap, Harmonix didn’t have a huge profit maker on their hands. Now when it comes to Green Day, the videogame and GD fanbase are almost exactly overlapping, the engine is already built, most of the tracks were mastered in the digital age, the cost of the rights to the GD catalogue pales in comparison to the Fab 4, and GD Rock Band will launch in the desolate June timeframe, you have a winner. I said it before and I’ll say it again, Green Day Rock Band will out-profit The Beatles.

Sequel Connectivity

Bioware’s brilliant Mass Effect RPG was developed from the ground up to be part of a trilogy. As such, Bioware structured ME’s save game to remember the choices made by the player in 700 different decision points. Then they designed the world of the even more brilliant Mass Effect 2 to be shaped by the 700 choices from the first game. The level of immersion and ownership that provides a player has never been approached before. I literally can’t wait to see how the decisions I made in ME2 will affect the last chapter in the trilogy. Please other developers take note, whether in an RPG or otherwise, players like to see the effects of their actions in the gaming world and in sequels. This trend should continue and is relatively easy if built-in from the beginning.

Coop for Everyone

I disparaged game makers a few years back for charging me, a consumer that doesn’t like competitive multiplayer, $60 for a disc that is half single player and half “get shot by a 12 year old fragfest.” Well, the makers of Modern Warfare 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and several other triple A titles, seem to have heard my cries. Many games now include a single player campaign AND separate coop campaign. Some, like Conviction, don’t even include a competitive multiplayer mode at all!!! Here’s the thing, most games’ multiplayer feels tacked on anyway and can’t compare to the quality of the big boys like Halo and Modern Warfare. So I say, why waste the time and money, when they can just make a better campaign? Apparently, devs agree.

The Boogie Man

2010-03-14T15:41:00.006-04:00

People are naturally afraid of what they don’t understand or can’t see. What separates us from sea anemones is our ability to use logic, research, and deduction to overcome irrational fears through understanding. Far too many people, and certainly reporters, are comfortable with doing no research and just holding on to irrational fear. It certainly doesn’t help that our “news” sources are profit driven entertainment machines who feed on fear to sell commercial slots. I have covered (and recommend for any new readers) the damage done by and ridiculousness of the irrational fear of Islam, BPA, asteroids, extreme climate change, vaccinations, nuclear power, McMansions, and irresponsible journalism in general, but the latest topic du jour is EMI, or Electro Magnetic Interference.

EMI is a natural byproduct of any current flowing through a wire. The more current, the more EMI. Think of it as electronic and magnetic noise surrounding a wire or transmitter. You can’t see it and under normal circumstances, you can’t detect it easily, but if you’ve ever placed an old GSM cell phone near an unshielded speaker, like an alarm clock, you can hear the buzzing/ticking sound. That, ladies and gentlemen, is EMI.

Now while I agree that the EMI and radiation off of high voltage lines and from high powered cell phones is probably not the best thing to be right next to sensitive organs, like your brain, for the most part EMI is harmless in the decidedly low doses we are exposed to. But EMI has two bad things going for it: It is invisible and many of our fellow Earthlings are, well, dumb. And when anything happens that we can’t understand, we tend to gravitate to blame an invisible poorly understood force. Enter the Toyota accelerator/breaking problems...

The press has really sunk their teeth into this story as it involves death and the fall from grace of a large company. Never mind that recalls are quite common, that the resulting alleged deadly accidents are tremendously rare, and that both problems have been identified and corrected; if the story involves tragedy and money, the press won’t let go.

Specifically, Toyota has acknowledged that the stuck accelerator problem in some models can be traced to poorly designed floor mats and a minor part of the stem under the accelerator pedal catching. Both issues have been addressed with simple part replacements. The only known problem with braking was for two years of the Toyota Prius model, where a software glitch confused at what speed to switch between the battery recharging braking system and conventional brakes. This only resulted in “sluggish brake performance” under very specific road conditions, and has been addressed with a simple software update.

Well never let the truth get in the way of a good story, as the media has skewered Toyota and covered every person who wants to talk about their near death experience in a Toyota. Specifically, they seem to focus on “unintentional acceleration” cases, where people believe the car accelerated on its own. They even cover “eye witness” accounts of people who saw elderly people drive to their deaths in Toyota vehicles. Several of them point to “the looks of fear on the driver’s faces as they drove by” as clear evidence of an accelerator problem. WTF???

The issue here is that MANY elderly drivers become confused, press the wrong petal to stop, and in a panic press down even harder. The result is an unguided missile of a car, but has nothing to do with it being a Toyota. Would a witness on the outside be able to discern between the facial expression of a wrong petal pusher versus one with an accelerator problem? What’s worse, is if the driver survives, of course they swear they were pushing the brake, that’s the problem in the first place.

Another issue I have with these news stories is they fail to adequately, or sometimes at all, cover what to do in the extremely rare event your car does accelerate unintentionally, namely, put the car in neutral. But remember, the press just wants to show terrified people and assign blame, not prevent future injuries. But I digress...

In an effort to give the story fresh legs, the media has completely ignored the real problems and begun to invent their own reasons for the accelerator and braking issues. The big one lately is the invisible monster, EMI. Yup, they say that the infinitesimal amount of EMI from a cell phone may be sending erroneous signals on the industry standard shielded wiring between the pedals and the car’s computer. Never mind, that this is only effecting a certain car maker, with certain models, when the same system is universally used on vehicles. And forgot the fact that most car stereos create twice as much EMI as a cell phone, if it can’t be seen and isn’t understood, then it becomes an easy fall guy. Therefore, cell phones are clearly to blame.

EMI was even initially suggested by the California press as the cause of a 20 minute “out of control” Prius incident last week in San Diego. A 61 year old driver called 911 to report his Prius was at 90 mph and wouldn’t stop. Despite being able to provide very clear descriptions of the vehicle, his name, and where he was, the driver feigned dumb or did not respond when instructed repeatedly to put the car in neutral. Hmmm... The driver was eventually helped to stop by the CHP, but was reportedly “terrified for his life.” The only problem here is that his Prius model was not on any recall list and resulting tests indicate the brakes had barely, if at all, been applied during the incident. Furthermore, the driver was known by the local press as a famously avid lottery player. Sounds like he got sick of waiting for the big payout and tried to hurry his millions along... This just reeks of balloon boy 2.0.

In the end, the EMI/Toyota story will blow over, as the media and irrational fears of the populous will move on. Toyota employees will be left deal with the wreckage of their reputation and EMI or some other invisible force will be blamed for something new. My advice to everyone is the next time the press tries to scare us: Calm down, do some research, apply some logic, and leave poor old EMI alone.

Unless it is unexplained bee colony collapse, that most totally be EMI... :P

Climbing Out of the Uncanny Valley

2010-03-07T11:54:00.005-05:00

Watching some preview footage of LA Noire, the latest title from Rockstar (Update: Team Bondi), I am decidedly intrigued. Normally, I am quite skeptical of Rockstar published games, as despite their cutting edge, sandbox tech, they tend to focus on criminal protagonists or other shady main characters that I just can’t connect with. The setting for LA Noire is a stylized late 1940s Los Angeles, the genre is criminal investigation, it is a typical seamless Rockstar sandbox, and there looks to be plenty of side missions/cases to keep me busy. Needless to say, I am in. That said, the most interesting thing I have seen or read about LA Noire is how they are doing facial animation...

For years, the trend for animating in-game and cut scenes, has been facial animation capture, I.E. using little dots all over the actor’s face or flat out just trying to hand-match their facial expressions, and then animating the in-game character models accordingly. What you end up with can vary from the good, like Uncharted2, ModernWarfare2, or MassEffect2, to the horribly creepy, like Halo 3 or Oblivion.

And while the animations in, say, MassEffect2 were amazing, they were still not, well, convincingly human. It turns out we, as homo sapiens, have millions of years of evolution-tuned instincts regarding facial recognition. Today’s technology just doesn’t come close enough to photorealistic modeling and humans can pick up on even the tiniest, nuanced inconsistency with reality. So the best devs can hope for is to have their models, including characters they want you to form an emotional connection with, not be creepy. Uncharted2, for the most part accomplishes this, whereas Halo titles always make me feel like I am fighting alongside space marine zombies. While a zombie space marine title sounds attractive on its own, I don’t think that’s what they were going for. :)

As facial technology advances and improves, this dip in believability, from where human characters could first be represented and when they are photorealistic, is called the uncanny valley. Well folks, for the most part in this generation, we are sitting smack dab in the middle of the valley. However, LA Noire shows us there is still hope...

The folks at team at Rockstar’s Team Bondi have come up with a way to capture an actor’s face from around 20 (update: 32) different angles and put that “3D facial video” right onto the in-game model’s shoulders. The results have the characters’ faces being essentially photorealistic, to the point of devs having to rotate the in-game camera to prove to previewers that it is not just a video. This technique is not exclusive to 1940s crime dramas, nor is it prohibitively expensive. My words simply cannot do it justice, other than telling you it is gorgeous and an absolute game changer, if you will pardon the pun.

The only drawbacks are that every single character, bit parts included, need to be laboriously captured in studio and that any expansions would therefore require bringing the actors back in the studio, but the believability and resulting emotional connection that this technique brings cannot be argued with.

I have no doubt that when LA Noire launches, tentatively in September, the facial techniques Team Bondi utilized will be all the buzz and will sweep through the industry in short order. My heart aches for the facial animators who will quickly become obsolete, but the transition is inevitable. Rockstar (Update: Team Bondi) has found our way out of the valley and in doing so, is ready to give us virtual photorealism in this hardware generation. As much as I like zombie games, September can’t get here fast enough.

2010 State of Gaming Address

2010-02-28T20:24:00.006-05:00

With several strong refugees from the 2009 Modern Warfare 2 launch like Mass Effect 2, Bayonetta, Heavy Rain, and Bioshock 2 already launching in 2010, how does the rest of the gaming year look to be shaping up? Well, to sum it up... very, very well. Here’s my take on what launches to watch for and when to plan that long family vacation:

March will be owned by God of War III plain and simple. This is Sony’s biggest exclusive of the year and it will dominate.

April is all about Splinter Cell and Red Dead Redemption. If you like you martinis shaken, not stirred, like me, the 360 exclusive Conviction is where it is at. If you prefer GTA like titles and want to run over a hooker with a horse, RockStar always has you covered. (Update: Red Dead slipped to May)

May looks to be very crowded and I expect some to slip to the barren summer months. Crackdown 2, Lego Harry Potter, Alan Wake, Prince of Persia, and Split Second all are scheduled for May, however as each represent a different genre (sand box shooter, casual fun, horror action, platformer, and arcade racing), so there is something for everybody here.

The long hot summer looks as boring as usual. Do devs not realize that school is out and consumers are craving something good to play/buy? Other than a very tentative June release of Green Day Rock Band, the may rock/may suck Alpha Protocol, and downloadables like Borderlands add-ons, Deathspank, and Joe Danger, you can pretty much hibernate until late September.

But oh what a Fall!!! Halo Reach will be the big dog of the year. From the footage I’ve seen, Bungie is about to reinforce that it owns the console FPS. I expect Halo in September and Fable III, another 360 big exclusive, in October or so, but this one may surprise with a late summer release...

Let us not forget September's L.A. Noire, a stylized, sandbox,1940s investigative crime drama with what appears to be the most amazing facial animation tech ever.

October and November will also likely launch Brink, Crysis 2, and Medal of Honor Modern. Once again, Fall will be a good time to be an FPS fan. The late Fall will also birth both the Sony and the M$ motion controllers and the slew of same day shovel-ware that is sure to follow. Although, me thinks the unmissable Rock Band 3 will see that light of day on the same day as Natal...

That leaves us with the big question marks: What big title of the above will slip? What will Nintendo launch to try to stay relevant (Zelda maybe)? And which of the following will sneak into late 2010 from the expected 2011 launches: Arkham Asylum 2, Bulletstorm, Rage, Thief, Agent, I Am Alive, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Diablo III, WoW Cataclysm, inFamous 2, and Beyond Good and Evil 2.

So as I see 2010, the following are my predictions for games of the year:

RPG - Mass Effect 2
Hack and Slash - God of War III
Action - Splinter Cell: Conviction
Racer - Split Second
FPS - Halo: Reach
Music - Rock Band 3
MMO - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Game of the Year - Mass Effect 2

Stay tuned to maxator.net and twitter.com/maxator for frequent posts/tweets including: Updated release dates/review scores, articles on gaming trends, special in-depth reviews, and our second year of coverage LIVE from the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center at E3 2010!!!

Happy Gaming Year 2010!!!

To click or not to click?

2010-02-27T19:44:00.003-05:00

I’ll be the first to admit that I was VERY disappointed with the lack of a front-facing videocamera on the upcoming Apple iPad tablet. As I plan on using my iPad as my exclusive travel computer, not being able to videochat with the fam, well, sucks. It also came as a significant surprise as most analysts and sources in the know predicted that the iPad would include one.

The day after the iPad was officially unveiled, a clever tipster “obtained” a bezel and body for one of the demo iPads and upon some deconstruction, posted pictures of the internals that show a hole and mount for the standard Apple webcam, as included in most other Apple computers. Removing the camera was therefore assumed by the tech press to be a last minute decision. So then the obvious question was, why?

Some speculated that Apple’s super cheap deal with AT&T, for contract-free 3G wireless iPad access, killed the camera, as AT&T may have asked Apple to remove the camera to limit data usage. Two problems with that theory:

It was recently unveiled that AT&T’s network problems are NOT the result of heavy data usage, but instead by the way the iPhone (and presumably iPad) deal with data connections. Specifically, to save battery life, every time the iPhone stops requiring data, it drops the connection to AT&T, then reestablishes it when more data exchange is needed. This is different than the way most smart devices operate, by constantly maintaining the connection. The result is the switching portion of AT&T’s network that handles new connections is overwhelmed by constant new ones and big data/connectivity issues therefore arise. So if data bandwidth isn’t the problem, then AT&T likely wouldn’t request “no camera” to save bandwidth.

When the original iPhone launched, downloading songs required a WiFi connection, IE, not via AT&T wireless. Later, it was opened up to both 3G and WiFi. So even if AT&T had requested no videoconferencing on its network, with Apple previously locking a data heavy feature to WiFi only, why not do that with videoconferencing?

So again I say, why no camera?

Cost shouldn’t be an issue, as the camera is one of the cheaper components and adds lots of sexy functionality. Hmmm....

Now, there is even more unexplained iPad videoconferencing evidence... Specifically, the day the iPad was unveiled, Apple released the first software development kit (SDK)for the iPad. As is their usual practice, this gives third party developers time to design apps for the new device before it launches. Well, in the first SDK, there were over 30 “hooks,” or commands available for video and still camera features, things like capture image, accept video call, etc. At first it was though that Apple didn’t have time to remove the camera hooks, due to the presumably last minute drop of the feature.

Well, low and behold, the hooks remained in the second SDK and, ready for this, more were added in a third SDK version that was accidentally made available by Apple, then immediately pulled.

So what are we to make of this? What possible explanation would Apple have to add new videocamera functionality to the iPad SDK, weeks after unveiling, or more accurately, not mentioning a camera at the unveil?

The only reasonable hypothesis I can support, is that a front facing camera is coming... this generation. Whether it was an intentional move by Steve Jobs to reignite hype right before launch or they just couldn’t get it working for the demo, I don’t know. But either way, my money is on videoconferencing on the iPad, at least the 3G version, on day one.

Red Ring O Death

2010-02-26T18:26:00.003-05:00

So there I was on November 21, 2005, at 11:55 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, standing, in the rain, on the urine soaked streets of the utopia that is San Francisco, surrounded by bums, hippies, drunkards, and drunkard hippie bums; waiting outside an EB Games. Ten minutes later, the long awaited Xbox 360 was in my hands. I hurried home, plugged it in and played several hours of the amazing Call of Duty 2, before collapsing on my couch in exhausted happiness. The next day continued in the same vein, with hours of play of the meager launch titles that were available. But it wasn’t until I swapped out games that I noticed something unusual, the DVDs I removed from the system were hot. Like really, really hot. I had no idea that this was a prelude to the shameful lack of quality that would mar the reputation of the best console I have ever owned.

The now famous “red ring of death,” where the front lights on the 360 blink red, occurs when the Xbox 360 suffers a general hardware failure. This is an unrecoverable condition caused by damage from overheating or when solder points fail from cyclic heating and cooling. Why does this happen? All credible sources point to a shortcut during design when Microsoft, rather than pay an experienced independent company to design the motherboard (as is the industry standard), tried to save a million or so dollars by designing their own board. Well, whoever they hired apparently didn’t know much about heat transfer or the new, legally mandatory, lead-free solder. Solder without the soft bendy lead is MUCH more prone to cracking after cyclic heating, I.E. turning it on and off. Combining this with VASTLY insufficient cooling and the red ring of death went from a rare condition to an epidemic. Independent studies put the three year failure rate of the original consoles, under typical usage, at around 90%.

Personally, my first console lasted a couple months before dying. As it was still under factory warranty, I sent it in to Microsoft and received a new one a couple weeks later. Well, a year or so after, that one died. Again it was replaced. And once again within two months that one red ringed. It was then I started doing some research and found out that the console had been redesigned, with smaller, less heat producing chips and huge heat sinks. This new mother board was called the “falcon” design. Well, it turned out Microsoft wasn’t sending the new designs out to warranty customers, they were simply clearing out their stocks of the original crappy design. When my latest replacement arrived, instead of waiting for it to die, I sold it on eBay for around $250 and bought a new falcon console for $400. The $150 difference was more than worth it to me for the reliability and the new larger hard drive the new model included.

Well, last week, after about two years with my falcon 360, the honeymoon ended when she too succumbed to the plague that is the red ring. My internet research told me that although falcon was an improvement from the original, it was still quite prone to failure. Once again I called Microsoft to see what could be done. They were happy to replace it for me under the free extended three year 360 warranty they had put in place to avoid getting sued. ;) This time I asked if they were still replacing old consoles with old versions. The Indian female call center rep, “Jennifer,” assured me that no, they were replacing all consoles with “jasper” units. The jasper motherboard, a complete redesign, had since replaced falcon and by all accounts eliminated the “red ring of death problem. I eagerly awaited my replacement jasper unit, until the box arrived and low and behold I was sent a refurbished falcon. Grrr... So now Microsoft wasn’t just making crap, they were lying too?!?!

I called them back to complain and was told, essentially, to go pound sand. “Jennifer’s” word would not be honored. They did, however, have the gaul to offer to sell me an extended warranty on the refurbished crap they had sent for $60. After yelling at the rep for a while, I was still in a pickle. I love gaming. The 360 has the best controllers, titles, exclusives, and online component of the current generation. But waiting for an inevitable hardware failure is no fun. What if it happened when Splinter Cell launched, or Fable III, or Reach, or on Christmas?!?! So once again, I bit the bullet and bought a new 360, this time a jasper, and sold my refurbished one. At least this time, thanks to a sweet deal from Best Buy ($300 for an elite 360 with a $50 gift card) and a nice $130 trade-in value at GameStop, it only cost me $120 for a three year warranty and a console design much less likely to need it.

But in the end, I’m left with a very bad taste in my mouth about how M$ has handled this generation, myself, and millions of other customers. Sure they have great games, but so far I’ve had to essentially pay for my console twice, spend a combined two months sans 360, and suffer the frustration of four random hardware failures. This fiasco has cost Microsoft dearly, not just in PR and lost market share, but so far the estimated 360 warranty replacements have totaled over 1.5 billion dollars. As in 1500 millions!!!

One can only hope they learn their expensive lesson and make hardware quality a high priority next-gen. As much as I love their console software, they won’t get any slack for hardware problems next-gen. Gamers, gaming press, and I will be watching. The red ring of death must die or their brand will.

Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture

2010-02-20T12:04:00.002-05:00

So there I was, minding my own business watching CNN, when a commercial came on for the Shake Weight. This two handed barbell with a spring is apparently intended to convince people that despite what crap you eat and complete lack of cardiovascular activity you may maintain, you too can be thin, attractive, and have toned arms, simply by shaking this weight contraption in front of your face/chest. The problem is, the video of this thing in motion, and it’s not so subtle connotation, simply defies words. I’m not saying this is the best thing I have ever seen on TV, I’m just saying it is something to behold.

We may never know how many hours of studio time was required to get a solid two minutes of footage without the models or camera folks giggling, but their results are simply breathtaking. I beg of you to click the link and enjoy the show. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the shake weight...

www.shakeweight.com

Broken

2010-02-20T11:55:00.001-05:00

I really enjoyed my brief time living in Washington D.C. The museums, the monuments, the restaurants, but most importantly the history of our democracy never ceased to impress and humble me. I also enjoyed conversations with the average Washingtonian. Although slightly rude and obsessed with the Redskins, they were noticeably more worldly and attuned to political realities, then the Northern Californian clueless idealists I barely tolerated for years.

Unfortunately, these conversations all led me to an inevitable conclusion that has only seemed to become more apparent this year. Our political system, and therefore representative government, is all but completely broken. The basis of our government is supposed to be an elected representative democracy, where elected officials represent the will of the people, where the majority rules, and each branch’s power is balanced by the two others. Let’s look at three significant derailments of this concept that are literally destroying our democratic system: campaign fundraising, the filibuster, and signing statements.

Campaign Fundraising:

The current campaign fundraising rules allow lobbyists, usually representing rich businesses or special interests, to support the candidate of their choice. This support means money for advertising, for appearances, and for smear campaigns against their opponents. In our media heavy world, usually the candidate with more money, and therefore more positive exposure, wins.

Notice, I mentioned nothing about how the candidate votes or actually serves the people. Once elected, most representatives feel no obligation to actual consider the moderate populace that elected them. As long as they serve their lobbyists, they will likely retain power or at least have a good corporate job to look forward to after they leave “public” service. And make no doubt, these lobbying groups are motivated by one thing, government money. Whether it be tax breaks or just handouts, they all want your tax dollars and are legally buying leaders to get it.

Any serious attempts at campaign finance reform, IE trying to cut the ties between big money and politicians have failed. It turns out the people in power got there by benefiting from the system and aren’t so eager to cut off their money sources. Just this year, the now conservative majority of the Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent and removed any spending restrictions on special interests running advertisements for or against candidates. This should open the floodgates for billions of dollars of campaign ads favoring candidates chosen by big money, not the will of the people.

Until this linkage between corporate money and elected officials is broken, our leaders will never serve us.

The Filibuster:

Despite my disagreement with the current administration’s spending policies, I believe it is good to have rotation of power between both parties. I figure that if the political right and left keep trading control, the end result will be policies that fall in the middle, where most of us are. Unfortunately, the previously rarely used filibuster, where the minority party can block any legislation as long as they have 41% of the votes, is now being used to completely block any legislative movement by the majority party. The explosion of the filibuster has led to complete legislative gridlock, where nothing can be passed by the party in power or the minority. The newfound complete obstructionism is entirely counter to democratic rule and is paralyzing our elected government.

Signing Statements:

In the rare event something were to get passed, the signing statements popularized by the Bush administration, castrate the power of the legislative branch. These statements that the White House can tack onto any law they sign, are where the President basically states they will ignore new law. In essence, the Executive Branch believes they are immune to the checks and balances intended by our founding fathers.

Can you imagine what are founders would think if they saw what we have done to their grand political experiment? If they saw that money has short circuited any true representative government, that a procedural loophole prevents any passage of legislation even with a majority, and that the President can ignore any legislation s/he chooses?

So what is the solution? I’m terrified to say that I’m not sure there is one. As the country heads straight for the cliff of financial ruin, no one is at the wheel and everyone in power seems determined only to prevent their political rivals from gaining control.

Tea Partyesque movements, where the majority organizes to express their outrage, are a decent start, but already those ideals are being hijacked by the far political right for their own means. How can we save a system whose rules are broken and those in power benefit from not fixing them? If votes don’t count and our voices can’t be heard, has our Democracy already failed? And if so, what is left to save?

Fugly

2010-02-14T11:19:00.019-05:00

Famous but Ugly. Okay sure, this isn’t the original meaning of the term, but hear me out...

I’m proud to say I’ve only watched one episode of The Bachelor, mostly in abject horror. The fact that the show continues today absolutely amazes me. I do however find the scenario and the resulting behavior a fascinating social study. For those who haven’t seen the show, they take a moderately attractive, moderately well-off male, declare him as the romantic goal and a group of attractive women compete for his affections. Each week, he sends one away and by the end is left with one “true love.” What truly amazes me, is that these women, who have spent little or no time with this dude, throw themselves at him, cut their friends throats, court him on dates knowing he’s making out (or more) with them all, and still manage to live in relative peace in a dorm with the rest of the modern harem. By the end of the show, whatever girls are left, legitimately believe they are in love and want to spend the rest of their lives with him.

I believe their behavior is the result of the contrived, game show scenario they are placed in, the desire for personal fame, and the innate desire to win (despite not really knowing what they are winning). But ultimately, I believe each of them wants to be with someone they perceive as exclusive and famous. Never mind, the guy’s personality or attractiveness, they are famous and hard to get, so they become VERY desirable.

It is with this in mind, that I gaze upon some of the allegedly attractive Hollywood elite who make me wonder, pardon my French, WTF people are seeing. Now look, I’m no expert at picking out hot dudes and all these folks may be great people and humanitarians, but when it comes to straight out looks... seriously, WTF people?!?!

So without further ado, I present my shallow, conceited, judgmental, insensitive, and still totally accurate list (with accompanying photos at the end), of certified fugly people that Hollywood has somehow convinced us are attractive:

Zach Braff - Funny guy. Funny face. The picture says it all.

Brad Pitt - Incredible actor and child collector. Also resembles a homeless man that wants to clean my windshield.

Paris Hilton - I guess if you like emaciated, retarded, semi-sedated morons, she’s a dream come true.

Christina Ricci - If any of my readers has an alien fetish, have at it.

Jennifer Garner - Her face is too small for her head. Her ears are not.

Tori Spelling - Good lord, hide the children her face may take over the planet.

Sarah Jessica Parker - She’s a man baby!!! No seriously, I think she may be.

Maggie Gyllenhaal - She’s like a wax figure left in the sun.

Daniel Craig - And the winner is... James Bond himself. A fun action actor but attractive? Only if you are into sun-dried clowns.

So there you have it. My apologies to everyone I’ve ticked off. I know I’m no looker, but my attractiveness isn’t my sole contribution to society either. Sorry fugly people, I just speak the truff. Oh and Nicole Kidman, if you pull the skin on your forehead back any tighter, there is so room to add you!!!

Commercial Overload

2010-02-13T12:06:00.003-05:00

In The Fifth Element, Bruce Willis’ character awakens and is bombarded with commercial advertisements from every direction and appliance. This was the over the top future as imagined by Hollywood over ten years ago. Although I still don’t have a hover car, nor have I seen any supermodels running around wearing nothing but suspenders, it seems the future of advertising saturation is actually occurring.

We all know the internet is synonymous with advertising, thanks to Google and company, but as most the content is free, we all have come to accept this. But now the trend is spreading and being tacked on to goods or services that we are already paying for!!! One practically can't leave the home without someone trying to "upsell" us and take more of our hard-earned monies.

Here are some examples of aggressive upselling that I have experienced in the last two days:

To pump gas, I was forced to decline a car wash and extra cost gas additive.

To buy groceries, I had to decline adding a toothbrush. For reals.

To eat at a local restaurant, I had to decline a fancy mixed drink, an appetizer, their special entree, and a quite long dessert spiel.

When I bought Bioshock 2 at Gamestop, I had to decline a strategy guide and several preorders.

Every EA game I play is saturated with unrelated advertisements.

At Target this morning, I had to decline giving a dollar for charity and getting a credit card.

And finally, I struggled to find the one small button to skip the five or so previews on the DVD I am currently playing for my daughter so I can have peace enough to write this post.

At least on the internet we can use a popup and ad blocker or just ignore the ads. In real life we can’t block annoying clerks that upsell and we can’t, or shouldn’t, yell at them as it isn’t their choice to be walking commercials. The only solution is to complain to management. As much as this will take time from my already hectic life, I believe I will do exactly that.

No more being pressured into extra sales. No more time wasted with four minute waitress speeches. No more accidental button presses charging me for a car wash. No more upselling pushing society closer to the disturbing future predicted by The Fifth Element. Well, except for maybe the suspenders. I’m cool with that.

One giant leap backwards

2010-02-06T09:39:00.004-05:00

This past week, the President’s proposed budget was released to the public. Buried in the budget was a complete cut in funding for NASA’s Constellation program, the replacement for the Space Shuttle which is slated for retirement at the end of this year. To have continued and flown, the Constellation program would have required three billion dollars over the next three years. Apparently, even with a 1.6 trillion dollar deficit, 0.1% of the federal budget was just too much to the White House. Instead, NASA’s limited funding will be shifted to “encouraging commercial development of space vehicles and researching new technologies.”

Now I’m not sure if the press was too in love with the President or too dumb to notice, but let me make this very simple: This budget effectively cancels America’s manned spaceflight program. Just to clarify the seriousness of this, the 50 year program that generated the single most impressive feat in the history of all mankind (landing on the moon), the program that catapulted the United States to the lead a technology revolution that lasted four decades, the program that was poised to develop new technologies in recycling, efficient power generation, and sustainable food systems, was cancelled. At the end of this year, the U.S. will no longer have the capability to send a human into space and none is being designed.

Now I’m pissed. Look, I’ve kept my mouth shut about my disagreements with the current administration. I’ve been patient and given them a year to settle in and accomplish something. Mind you, I find it ridiculous that we as a society have somehow been convinced that the most important and powerful job in our country shouldn’t be expected to do anything for an entire year, but still... I’ve sat quietly while our deficit exploded to levels that will literally bankrupt this country within my lifetime. I’ve been amused that all of all the core promises made by the candidate, IE anti-Iraq war, anti-surge, anti-Gitmo, pro bank regulation, pro health care reform, pro stimulus to prevent 10% unemployment, fiscal conservation, have gone unaddressed. Yeah, I said it, unaddressed. The Democrats have had a super majority in Congress for eleven months and accomplished nothing of note.

Sure, I don’t agree with most of the things the new administration ran on (all but bank regulation an some insurance reform), but I at least expected them to actually get some movement on some of these topics. Heck, if they had tackled one topic every two months, they’d be in good shape. So where are we? Iraq is still fully staffed, we have doubled down (IE surged) in Afghanistan, Gitmo still has many “guests,” the banks have not been regulated to prevent another near collapse, health care reform is dead, unemployment passed 10% months ago, and we are spending money at beyond unprecedented levels without any noticeable improvement. So to sum up, nothing they promised has been done and they’ve spent tons of money doing it. And now they cancel the effing space program?!?!

I am beyond disgusted. I’d write my Congressman, but as I don’t represent and oil company or labor union, they’d never listen. I’d write the President, but I’m not his demographic, as a society supporting, middle class, tax payer. I’d write the opposition party, but all they seem committed to do is use the filibuster to obstruct everything the Democrats want to do. I’d go to a tea party, but they have Sarah Palin as a defacto leader. (Psst Sarah, Korea is not one country.)

Sigh. In the end, there is nothing I can do. The rockets of Cape Canaveral will fall silent and in doing so our country will take one more giant leap towards irrelevance and mediocrity. All I can do is mourn for one of the most historically important programs in the history of man, for a lifetime of space dreams, for the jobs of my hardworking friends at the Johnson Space Center, and for the tremendous loss of our future potential that most Americans don’t even know we are about to suffer. Failure was not an option. Cancellation apparently is.

Second Opinion: iPad

2010-01-31T11:59:00.003-05:00

I’ll admit it, I was disappointed with the unveil of the new Apple tablet. It’s not that they did anything wrong, it’s just that they didn’t do anything new or surprising. The iPad is what it is, a huge iPod touch with wireless internet. But after a few days to ruminate, here’s the thing, this is exactly what most people need. I shall explain...

Steve Jobs is a true American visionary. Although not the nicest guy, the man knows technology and often he realizes what the market wants or needs long before they do. I think he’s done it again, but stumbled a bit on the delivery of why the iPad is the next big thing. During the press conference, Jobs described the iPad as a product that fits between the laptop and the iPod. He positioned it as a strong competitor to the netbook and e-reader. I would take it one step further, it is the only computer that 95% of Americans need. I just think Jobs didn’t want to say that and end up siphoning Macbook sales or accidentally framing Apple as the casual computing company.

Let’s be honest, 95% of Americans and even “advanced computer users” like myself and my readers likely only use a computer to surf the web, email, listen to music, watch movies, check FaceBook, ebank, and maybe do some light writing. The computing industry’s dirty little secret for years has been to continue to try to sell everyone the fastest processor and newest operating system, when they don’t need the latest and greatest to do these things. It’s like selling us a Ferrari when we just need and want a bicycle. The manufacturers did this for an obvious reason, to maintain the price point of their wares of usually $1000 or higher.

And somewhere along the line they have conditioned us to accept certain things from a computing device. Ridiculously long startup times. Bloated hard to use menus. Left clicking, right clicking, shift clicking, minimizing, maximizing, control-alt-delete, etc. Crashing, blue screens, reboots. So not only have we been paying for more computing power than we need, it has still been difficult to use and relatively unreliable. In short, we have been paying extra and still getting significant barriers to ease of use.

Much has been made of what the iPad doesn’t include. A lack of Flash and multitasking being the two biggest complaints. I argue that neither of things things are necessary or even tremendously useful. HTML 5, the new internet standard, should quickly replace the need for the buggy and crash-tastic Flash. Multitasking is useful if programs take forever to boot up. iPad/Pod apps start up in a second or less. And you can listen to music and run an app at the same time. So in the end, the absence of these things should keep the device running fast and save us from crashes and unreliability.

With the iPad, Jobs has given us the machine most of us need and with an operating system (OS) tailored to ease of use. No mouse, no bloated OS, no wires, just an entirely intuitive device that does everything most of us need. Touch what you want, hit the only button when you are done. No need for a computer desk and surge protector. Use it everywhere from your couch to the airport. Instantly start it up and instantly shut it down. This is where computing should have been years ago. A three year old can use it, a 70 year can learn it, and a 30 year old can enjoy it for what it is...

Apple has given us the perfect internet access and digital entertainment device. And they did it at a price point significantly lower than a typical laptop. This may not be what we wanted or what we expected, but it is the computer most of us have been needing and in 60 days, it will be here.

Ipad-tastic

2010-01-27T22:22:00.002-05:00

It’s finally here!!! Today the house that Steve Jobs built unveiled their long awaited tablet, christened the iPad.

My predictions of several days ago were pretty close: 9.7” touch screen vs. the predicted 10.1”, glorified iPhone OS, built in WiFi, full iTunes/App support, syncable to your Mac/PC, new E-Book store/software, bluetooth, released in March (April for the wireless network version), and no OLED were dead on.

The pricing was pretty close too. I had predicted $600 with a wireless contract, whereas the actual device will have three storage amounts and come with or without a 3G wireless card. The pricing is $499, $599, and $699 for 16, 32, and 64 GB plus $120 additional for 3G wireless support. The monthly data plan is surprisingly low at $30 per month for unlimited data. Sounds good, no?

So here’s the catch, Apple did nothing to surprise me or anyone in the know. I mean nothing at all. Don’t get me wrong, the device looks great, runs fast, and will be a nifty way to surf the web, but it does nothing better than the iPhone. No GPS, no flash support, no front facing video camera, and no support for Verizon. That’s right, if you want Apple’s latest mobile ware, AT&T is once again your only choice for the iPad until Verizon goes 4G GSM. About the only thing to redeem the AT&T nonsense is that no contract is needed for the $30 data monthly.

Sigh. Part of me wants to tell Apple to stick it and wait the obligatory year until the next version comes out at the same price with a camera for video chat, GPS, twice the storage, and Verizon 4G support. Unfortunately for my wallet, this is only a small part of me. In the end, my desire for a mobile internet device to replace my deceased iPhone and the low data plan price (I was ready for $50 a month) will win the day. I expect the 32 GB model to be in my Mac loving hands come April and you can expect a review. I will begrudgingly set aside the 20 bones a month I save on data to buy the “full” version I expect next year.

Damn you Apple, you had me at "i." Just please add flash support in iPhone OS 4.0 so my new “netbook replacement” can actually view, you know, most the net!!!

My Final Answer

2010-01-24T13:04:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, 1/27/2010 is the big day. The until now top secret iSlate, iPad, Slate, iTablet, or whatever Steve Jobs chooses to call it, will be unveiled to the world. Since dropping the shoddy AT&T service for my iPhone, I have followed this story very closely, hoping this new tablet toy could replace my beloved iPhone for mobile internet, especially when on travel. As Wednesday’s 2 p.m. PST Apple press event draws close, I wish to lock in my predictions for what the device will include. I will then post an update on Wednesday night and grade my predictions. So here are some very educated best guesses of what the new touchscreen beauty will include. I’ll start easy and work into answering the tougher questions:

- Designed and marketed to compete with/replace netbooks and e-readers
- A 10.1” touchscreen tablet, with advanced (yet unseen) multitouch gesture support
- Higher resolution per inch than current iPhone 3GS
- A one piece body very similar to the iPhone 3GS with similar buttons, head phone jack, and data port
- Built-in WiFi
- Support for the iTunes music, video, and app store
- All current apps will work on the device, but may not support fullscreen
- Syncable to your computer/Mac just like an iPhone/Pod
- Both CDMA and GSM 3G compatible
- Customized data price plans for both AT&T and Verizon (~$50-60 per month)
- New e-reader technology supporting amazing interactive formats or regular e-ink books, magazines, and newspapers
- Magazine and newspaper subscriptions delivered and downloaded automatically and wirelessly (no sync required)
- Operating system similar to the unseen iPhone 4.0 OS but with more advanced features and utilizing the full screen
- Front facing camera for videoconferencing (some rumors of facial recognition tech)
- Priced at ~$800 (definitely under $1000), ~$600 with two year data contract
- Released in March of 2010
- No OLED option

Less substantial rumors:
- Built-in Bluetooth support for keyboard or headset
- Stylus free handwriting recognition
- Two models, likely with 64 and 128 gigabyte storage (~$800 and $900 respectively)
- Integrated GPS receiver to support GPS GoogleMap features
- New 3D icon manipulation (not literally) on home screen
- WebTV subscription-based support

All of my guesses are based on Apple patents, trademarks, and numerous alleged leaks. In the end, there will be surprises and likely some of these predictions will be inaccurate. But rest assured, Jobs will not announce a new product like this without never before seen amazing features. Whether that includes new input options or a sexy new user interface, that remains to be seen. Either way, I can’t wait for Wednesday.

Natal Misstep

2010-01-19T21:52:00.001-05:00

Project Natal, Microsoft’s quite unfortunate name for their new motion based controller, made a big splash at E3 2009. Even for non-tech nerds, the possibility to control a gaming console or any computing system using motion without a controller is intriguing. The comparisons to Minority Report’s motion controlled computer have been relentless, but justified. The Natal system, compatible with the current Xbox consoles, combines a couple cameras and a microphone to calculate the body positioning of users and then allow them to manipulate an interface, whether it be a video game or Netflix interface, using just the motion of their limbs. Natal is also capable of capturing voice commands, taking pictures of objects and importing them into the digital world; and facial recognition.

Although I don’t see an immediate significant future in this tech for core gaming, at least in the current generation, the concept is cool and if it gains popularity future iterations will be amazing. Unfortunately, Microsoft recently decided to not include a dedicated processor in the Natal system, instead relying on the Xbox 360 cores, a four year old technology, to calculate the position of the users, their limbs, and interpreting their voice. The decision was made to keep Natal’s cost low, but will massively restrict the technology’s adoption in any triple A titles.

The unfortunate fact is, most recent blockbuster titles are pushing the limit of what the 360, and the allegedly superior computing power of the PS3, can handle. Developers are unlikely to expend significant extra funds to make a game utilize Natal if that sacrifices core game graphics, content, frame rate, or resolution. After all, to most gamers, Natal will be a novelty, but not a requirement. Spending tons of money to further improve game performance so that enough processor cycles are left to support a niche, optional peripheral makes no sense.

This is a shame, as if Microsoft really hopes to extend this console’s lifespan and sell their new Natal toy, the best way to do so is get every developer to support it. The only way you can do this on a half decade old processing core is to build in the processor to handle all the required calculations. Here’s hoping M$ comes to their senses before the Holiday 2010 release date and springs for the extra cash for a Natal processor. Without that, Natal and possibly controller free tech, will never reach its potential.

Worth playing for...

2010-01-18T23:21:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, the Indianapolis Colts were six quarters away from joining the 1972 Dolphins and the 2008 Patriots as the only NFL teams to finish an undefeated season. Shortly after halftime, in their second to last game, in front of a sold out home crowd adorned in nothing but blue jerseys, and nursing a slim lead, the Colts’ coach pulled their all universe quarterback Peyton Manning, along with most of their starters.

It turns out, the Colts had clinched home field advantage in the playoffs the week before, IE, their record was so good, they were already guaranteed a first round bye week and all home playoff games should they advance. So it was the coach’s decision that playing his starters with "nothing to gain" wasn’t a good move. He instead chose resting them. Unfortunately, without their primary backup quarterback, who was out with an injury, their third stringer was a disaster. Series after series, he looked like he had never seen a football before. In fact, every time he trotted onto the field, the home fans booed the poor guy. But make no doubt, they were booing because they had paid their hard earned blue collar dollars, in the middle of a recession, to watch their beloved team and their team had given up.

By the end of the fourth quarter, the dream of an undefeated season was gone. The coach and players and owner all fought off the press’s tough questions on the loss. The party line was maintained, “Our goal is not an undefeated season, we play to be Super Bowl champions.” Yeah, about that...

The press, bless their poor ignorant souls, let them off the hook after that. The debate continued for a couple days, undefeated season versus rest for playoffs, then the eye of the ADHD big sports media turned elsewhere. With me, they are not so lucky. To me, the debate is not rest for playoffs versus the immortality of 16 and 0. The issue is simply how quickly can the Colts send refund checks to all their fans. Not just for one game, but for the whole season. And the jerseys. And the hats. And every out of work parent who scrimped for a blue ball cap with a white horseshoe for their kid’s Christmas present. You see the Colts organization and the media missed the point, teams don’t play for undefeated seasons, records, commercial deals, contracts, Super Bowl rings, or even themselves...

They Colts play for their fans. You know, the fans that pay their salaries by buying merchandise and tickets to games, assuming they'll actually try to play? That Sunday, in the fourth quarter, they forgot that. And in doing so, they let all those fans down. They sent season ticket holders home not getting one eighth of the competition (eight yearly home games) and the memories they paid for. They let everyone who counts themselves as a Colt fan down. They didn’t do their job. They are entertainers and they didn’t perform. They dropped the ball and they still don’t even know why what they did was wrong.

This week, the Colts beat the visiting Ravens and advanced to the conference championship. There they will face the New York Jets, a team that ironically beat them on that second to last game of the season. Without that win, the long shot Jets would not have made the playoffs, let alone upset two teams to get to the championship. When those same Jets trot out onto the Indianapolis field next Sunday, do you think they’ll be intimidated like they would have been against an undefeated team? Or do you think they’ll remember beating the Colts in Indianapolis where the Colts’ own fans booed them off the field just a few weeks ago?

Whether the Jets win or the Colts advance to the Super Bowl and win is irrelevant. In my mind, they’ve already lost. Enjoy your potential rings fellas, I just wonder who will be cheering. I sincerely hope your fans take that game off and start resting for next year.

Avatards

2010-01-13T21:07:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know the post title is likely offensive to some. I apologize. I’m insensitive. But what do you expect? I’m just a self-absorbed, heartless Anglo, off pink, American and I'm kind of grumpy as I haven't wiped out a peaceful tribe or cut down a big tree in decades. I shall explain...

I enjoyed James Cameron’s latest movie Avatar. Sure the hype was all but overwhelming. Sure the special effects were at times overbearing. Sure many scenes seemed forced and thrown in just to show off new tech. But in the end, the story’s journey was entertaining, the action thrilling, the 3D terrific, and the connection to the native blue aliens, the Navi, well sold. Not surprisingly, the movie is doing very well and looks to finish close to, if not exceed, Titanic’s ticket sales record.

The reaction by the press and intarweb has been mostly as expected. The mainstream media covered the cost of making the film and the Cameron’s return to directing. The movie review websites gave the movie mediocre reviews. The serious critics panned it, as they do most action films. And everybody and their mom bought some food product with the film logo on the side. Like I said, typical blockbuster movie stuff. But a couple of the “reactions” to the film have been nothing less than astounding.

The first set of bizarre articles I read on the movie painted it as racist against African Ameri..., okay, black people. No offense, but until I’m referred to as European American, I’m sticking with black and white. Several pundits have accused Cameron of being racist, as the Navi tribe was portrayed with African features and accents. Apparently the fact that white people were portrayed as greedy, self-absorbed, violent, merciless, corporate mercenaries and the Navi/”allegedly black” culture was painted as beautiful, sustainable, ecofriendly, and, in general, as the good guys, was lost on said authors. Let’s not even mention the fact that there are in fact MANY African tribes, similar to the portrayal of the Navi, that to this day that live in peace and harmony with their environment. Oh and did I mention (spoiler alert) that the Navi win, save the planet, and expel the evil white man?

I am reminded that no matter what the race, religion, or belief, if one believes they are discriminated against, they can convince themselves that any mention or omission of mention of their race, religion, or belief is against them. That is why the quest for true political correctness is so flawed. You simply can’t remove everything that some goofass can be offended by. You can just ignore the said goofass/asshat/Reverend Al Sharpton and make sure you laugh harder at yourself than you do at others. But I digress...

The second article, that I still find absolutely amazing, is that apparently thousands of commenters to the official movie and fan websites, say the movie made them contemplate suicide. That’s right, a scifi movie about 20 foot tall blue aliens allegedly made people want to kill themselves because they will never be able to visit the fictional planet of Pandora. Okay, deep breath... WTF is wrong with you people?!?! I mean seriously. Again I say, WTF?!?!

If watching an action CGI movie makes you want to whack yourself, I’m really concerned about your mindset previous to seeing said movie AND the fact that there are so darn many of you. The official site had to add a second thread to contain the literally thousands of posters who shared similar Pandora suicide longing or those that sympathized with them.

Let me be clear here, if you want to be in a fiction movie so bad that you are considering suicide as a way to relieve Pandora-envy, it is not normal, it is not okay, telling someone it is normal to feel this is not okay, it is not healthy, and it is not the movie’s fault. You are ill and need immediately psychological care. Like, right now. Maybe you can get a group rate. Heck team up with the racism accusers and you all can sit in a group circle and try to explain/justify to each other how a two hour movie ruined your life and not address your true issue. I feel sorry for the mentally ill folks. For the racism accusers, I feel a bit ill.

Whatever you, just please all of you don’t breed until you figure out what most well adjusted humans knew when they bought the ticket... It’s just a movie!!!

Magic Slate and Slate videoconferencing

2010-01-11T17:25:00.005-05:00

According to one of my favorite sites, macrumors.com, Apple has pulled all content from fingerworks.com, a company Apple acquired a few years ago. The company specialized in new input technology, IE fancy keyboards and mouse replacements. One of the pulled images, shown above, was for a mouse replacement pad to be used as an augmented touch pad similar to those included with most modern laptops. This adds more credence to my theory that the trademark “Magic Slate,” obtained by Apple along with iSlate, will be for a standalone product for Macs using the same technology as the imminent iSlate tablet. Specifically, that the gestures and input schemes for the iSlate, described as “surprising” in a recent leak, will be usable on Mac computers via a Magic Slate device. The “magic” also corresponds to the Apple’s current “Magic Mouse,” which includes touch features on a conventional mouse.

Different from the picture though, I strongly believe that the Magic Slate will have an integrated LCD screen (likely consisting of the same ten inch screen as the iSlate), allowing for virtual keyboard display or whatever individual software requires. This matches up with a recent New York Times story about Apple revamping their iWork suite (equivalent of M$ Office) to integrate “advanced multitouch.” The revamping of the full iWork suite for a stripped down tablet seems unlikely, but building in support for a large touch input device seems much more likely.

Also new on the tablet front, in a radio interview, a France Telecom executive confirmed that the Apple tablet would be launching on their network WITH a front facing camera for videoconferencing. I believed this feature would be included on the iSlate based on an Apple patent last year for a mobile device with a front facing camera, but this is the first mention of that feature specifically tied to the Slate.

Based on my need for a compact mobile computing device and my belief that the mouse and keyboard are a temporary solution that has been around WAY too long, I will be picking both the iSlate and Magic Slate up on launch day. Stay tuned for further details as the 1/26 announcement day approaches and of course my reviews on launch day, expected between March and June of 2010.

Dashboard Confessionals

2010-01-10T11:50:00.005-05:00

I would sum up this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas with a consistent “meh.” TVs got thinner. Camera resolution got bigger. Ridiculous useless accessories were introduced for cell phones (mini projectors, really?). M$ copied attempted to hijack Apple’s new product name even before it was unveiled (Slate). Overall, pretty par for the course.

About the only thing that really struck me as impressive was the latest version of Sync, the vehicle control system that is a collaboration of Ford and Microsoft. Besides just being slick looking, which it is, Sync 4 represents what I believe is a long overdue jump to an easy to use, multi-use touch screen consolidated control system in vehicles. Similar to what has been standard in aircraft for years, each Ford vehicle with Synch will have three brilliant LED screens, one on either side of the speedometer and one touchscreen in the middle of the dash. Each will reconfigure themselves to show relevant data to what you are using at the time, IE radio, cell phone, climate control, GPS, directions, etc, will each display not only on the dash, but with a short summary of data next to the speedometer so the driver’s eyes don’t have to wander far from the road. It even includes mobile WiFi capability, so if you plug your wireless modem into the car, your car becomes a WiFi hub for you and your passengers.

Multi-use touch screens aren’t new, but these take it to a new level. It’s as if Microsoft took all the UI engineers that should have been improving their craptastic WindowsMobile and have been using them to design this slick and useful software. Words really don’t do the system justice (click here for the video), but in motion it is very clear this is the next big leap in vehicle tech for the common man. The cherry on top was their announcement that all Sync systems will include GPS and turn by turn directions WITH traffic updates. Finally, $200 standalone technology will be included in cars other than as a $2000 upgrade.

Once again, I am particularly impressed by Ford and consider them the only domestic vehicle brand to be moving the industry forward. With the 2010 Ford Fusion winning the Motor Trend Car of the Year, the further improved Mustang set to relaunch the 5.0L, and the new Sync following shortly behind, Ford looks to be on the path to future success and innovation. In fact, sometime within the next few years, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a hands on review of Max’s new Ford Mustang pop up... with Sync 4 of course...

Darksiders

2010-01-10T11:07:00.003-05:00

Unfortunately smushed between the holiday releases and the bonanza of quality games that is the late January to February is Darksiders by Vigil games. Also unfortunate was the almost complete lack of marketing or hype for this title. To be quite honest, I almost didn’t pick it up. I still haven’t finished Ratchet & Clank and we are just days away from the sci fi brilliance that is Mass Effect 2. The combination of a spontaneous trip to BestBuy, the recommendation of Play magazine, and a holiday gift card burning a hole in my pocket was just too much. I picked up Darksiders, went home, and... it sat for a couple days. I even contemplated returning it and using the money for Mass Effect 2. Then on a whim I broke through the child proof packaging. Ten minutes of plastic wrapping frustration later, the disc was triumphantly retrieved and I popped it in the ole Xbox. Over the next two hours, a smile formed and got wider and wider.

I’m usually pretty good at figuring out why I love a game, book, movie, or album. Not so much this time. In fact, it has taken me a few days to ruminate before I was even hopeful that I could put the reasons for my immense enjoyment of this game into anything but intelligible gibberish. When trying to categorize the factors for a review, I was first struck at what I don’t like. The storytelling is too vague and artsy. The whole apocalyptic world thing has been done to death. There are some control inconsistencies, like aiming and moving in flight having opposite vertical controls. There is even some pretty gnarly screen tear on the 360 version, which Vigil announced they will be patching shortly.

So given these negatives, how can I say I like it, let alone love it? How about... The controls are spot on, the difficulty balancing perfect, the puzzles challenging but not frustrating, the art is a fresh take on comic styling, the skill/weapon progression classic Zelda, the dungeon designs creative and unique; and the combat channels the best of God of War. In essence, they succeed at mixing several genres and perfect pacing so that nothing ever gets boring and the player is always excited for what comes next. This game channels Zelda and God of War, two of the most memorable and well designed series of games, and reminds me why I love gaming. Enjoyable, visceral, smart, and oh so much fun, Darksiders is a success from start to finish.

It saddens me that very likely the game will not be a critical success due to its release timing and lack of marketing. My highest recommendation to my gaming readers is to go pick it up. Support brilliant game design. Support an IP that will need every sale it gets. Treat yourself to exploring the Darksider world. Just be prepared for the initial unbalanced fight against the child proof packaging...