Twitter: is now an Infrastructure Architect. 1 week ago
At a cost of less than $2.00 per case, I find that these Altoids chewing gum cases are the best thing for storing my precious Nintendo DS games. I currently have two cases, both of them full of 8 games each. I have a “must have games case” and a “keep in the game drawer case”. Go on, head on down to your local mini-cart and buy some cases!
8 comments June 14th, 2006
The DS Lite is everything I hoped it would be. The screen is stunning and the feel of the machine is much lighter and comfortable than the previous design.
I’ve been neglecting my Nintendo DS lately, I’ll admit it. With the advent of the Xbox 360 I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on Xbox Live. But since getting my DS Lite yesterday morning I’ve been playing it a lot. Seeing the beautiful colors of the graphics brought out by the brightness of the screen has been amazing.
Add comment June 12th, 2006
One of the handy dandy features of the Xbox 360 is being able to play music while playing any game. Be it an Xbox Live Arcade game or a regular game, you can always pick your own music to play with which automagically replaces the in game music.
So one day I’m playing with my custom music which I’ve either added via ripping my own CDs onto the console or via streaming from my Mac. Yes, I said streaming music from my Mac to my Xbox 360, I’ll talk about that in a second. Anyway, so I decided to listen to some of the free tunes that is given with every Xbox 360 hard drive. I happen upon this song Happens All The Time from Cold. I’d never heard the song nor have I ever heard of the band. So, I hop on iTunes and check them out. I wind of spending $20~ on new music all because of my 360. Ironic I know. And of course, I now ripped that music back to my 360 for later enjoyment.
Mac to Xbox 360 music streaming. There is a great shareware product out there called Connect360. Turn this puppy on and you’ve got instant access to all your music and photos stored on your Mac (limited to 100 songs/photos before you register) as well as the ability to stream internet radio. There is one small problem of course, you can’t play purchased music from the iTunes store due to the DRM (Digital Rights Management). So, the fix for that is to burn a CD with the songs and rip them directly to the 360.
Add to this that the Xbox 360 supports playing music from any attached USB storage device, I think I’ve found my new music playing device for the home theater.
Add comment June 1st, 2006
So just because I was one of the first 5 million buyers of the PS1 and PS2, I’m going to buy a PS3 eh Sony? Apparently some cocky Sony Europe CEO thinks so. Let me make this really simple Sony. I’m not buying a Playstation 3 at launch or within the first 10 million units shipped.
First, I refuse to pay $600 cash dollars for any video game console. I don’t care if it can read my mind or store images of my kids. If it doesn’t wash the dishes or do the laundry I don’t understand why it costs more than any video game console ever, including the 3DO for which I did own.
Second, I own an Xbox 360. Seeing the error of my ways previously, I decided to dive head first into the Microsoft multimedia belly. You know what? I’m loving it. I absolutely love the Xbox Live Arcade. I have to admit… I’m actually playing those casual puzzle games on a frequent basis. Why? I’ve been a gamer for a long, long time. 28 years and counting. I’ve always had to have the latest and greatest, the fastest, the uber graphically, completely backwards control scheme, super hyped yet disappointing games. Always. Casual games focus on one aspect and nail it really well: easy to pick up yet difficult to master gameplay. I can play for 15 minutes before dinner and have it save my spot for later. I don’t have to learn some new control scheme to play. And when I don’t feel like playing with hyper-active 12 year olds shouting words that even I won’t say through a microphone, I play a casual game on the arcade.
Third, Sony is betting on the aforementioned “super hyped”, “uber graphically”, “latest and greatest” games to make in the next generation. We’re talking “ALL IN!” folks. I’ve yet to see anything from Sony that shows me what they’re going to do to crater to the casual crowd but also the family oriented gamers. Honestly, as much as I’d hate to admit it, I’m a family oriented gamer now. I have to lock myself in a dark, musty room to play violent games now days. My 3 year old is really into the whole “gaming” thing but I’m sticking to the staples of Mario and Sonic as long as I can get away with it. My 9 year old isn’t quite there yet either nor do I except her to be. She’s not been interested in shooter games or anything close to violent. She herself is in fact enjoying the Xbox 360, playing a lot of the casual games. Her current favorite is Feeding Frenzy.
I’ll point back to the $600 price tag of this beast. What parent in there right mind would spend that kind of money on a game console for a kid? Perhaps Sony forgot but me being in my thirties now, I’m actually the median age for a gamer these days. Most of us core gamer crowd has been there and done that. I’m looking for something old and something new. I think the Xbox 360 is delivering on both of those for me right now. Once the Nintendo Wii is released I see no reason for purchasing any console from Sony.
1 comment May 31st, 2006
Taste. It’s what makes the world go round. We all have our own favorite flavors. Some people enjoy blue while others may prefer orange (me). An interesting quote from the Cranky Gamers made me think that Animal Crossing may perhaps share some negative aspects of gameplay that one might find in your average MMOG.
“Animal Crossing is a philosophy. It’s preaching that life is nothing but a bunch of work for pointless trinkets, just so you can survive and interact with other people, all of whom are frauds anyway who don’t give a damn about what you say. And it doesn’t end until you decide to stop playing.”
However, I’d prefer the quote read like this…
“World of Warcraft is a philosophy. It’s preaching that life is nothing but a bunch of work for pointless trinkets, just so you can survive and interact with other people, all of whom are frauds anyway who don’t give a damn about what you say. And it doesn’t end until you decide to stop playing.”
The difference here is that Animal Crossing is self contained, can easily be played in short 15 minute bursts and does not require you to talk to anyone, NPC or otherwise. You’re also not required to collect, fish, dig, plant, shake, write, walk, donate, net, design, payoff, or play in Animal Crossing.
You can read the rest of this guys rant over at Hardcore Gaming 101… I honestly think he misses the point of the Animal Crossing “philosophy” but again, it’s an acquired taste.
Speaking of which; I have PSP Me & My Katamari and PSP Densha De Go! Pocket on the way from Japan. Perhaps he finds those games pointless too?
5 comments January 4th, 2006
Completely out of left field, unexpected, and totally AWESOME, one of the premier Macintosh software developers and just a great group of people out in Oregon, Panic, has obtained the holy grail of t-shirts.
The one and only official licensee for Katamari Damacy apparel is now Panic. I’ve always loved their shirts. From the first time I got a free one at Macworld Expo SF for purchasing a license to their ftp software, Transmit. Steven talks about how this came to be in his personal blog, very interesting indeed! I’ve already placed an order for two shirts (elephant and feeling [army]) and you should too. Buy these t-shirts now!
2 comments December 14th, 2005
The dream has ended for the fine folks at Working Designs. Per Victor Ireland’s thread on the WD message boards…
It’s a tough road ahead for games that aren’t of the least-common-denominator variety. The choices you make with your hardware dollars are more important than ever for the generation that is upon us.
Working Designs had been publishing niche games for what seems like forever, I use to play a lot of them on my Sega CD and Sega Saturn; games like Lunar and Dragon Force are at the top of my list. They also helped bring over Alundra and the better late than never PS1 release of Arc the Lad Collection.
What shocks me is that while it appears these niche titles aren’t being allowed to be published on the PlayStation 2 platform, why are we starting to see games like Popolocrois and The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion on PSP? Heck, there are a bunch of recent niche Japanese RPGs for PS2 like Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, La Pucelle: Tactics, and Phantom Brave. Something is amiss here.
Thanks for all the great memories Working Designs, you’ll be missed greatly.
1 comment December 13th, 2005
I’ve been traveling quite a bit lately, visiting friends in their towns all over the world. Joe is hanging out in Adamsvil, cobie is chilling in shelton, and even my wife has a new town, Honutown. With all the traveling, I’ve managed to grab all the standard fruit; apples, oranges, peaches, and cherries. Now I must wait for their painfully slow growth so I can grow more and then sell them all to Nook for a quick buck.
I’m very impressed with my town so far. I currently have 7 live-in villagers, which means I have room for 1 more. Hopefully I’ll get that last townie soon. I’m also excited to have learned that after sending a lot of letters to the villagers in other towns I’ve visited, I received letters with presents back from them in my own town! Talk about a reason to visit the outer world more often.
Nook upgraded his store to Nook’n'Go thus improving his supply. He also upgraded my house, strapping me with a massive debt of $120,000 bells. I currently have paid that new debt down to $60,000 bells.
Crazy Redd made a surprise visit to Kauailia today. I was shocked to learn that in order to even enter his tent I needed to obtain the secret password. I was able to strong arm a local villager to give me the password. However, attempting to purchase an item from Redd resulted in having to pay a $3,000 bell membership fee…
Today, to my surprise, Nook is upgrading his store again! This makes it increasing difficult to pay off my loan as I have to visit other towns in order to sell my fish and shells. The town next door, HonuTown, is also experiencing a Nook upgrade so it looks like I’m stuck with traveling far away in order to sell.
I picked up a wardrobe yesterday and much to my surprise… I’m able to store 90 extra items inside! When I was living in Traverse way back when I was only able to store 3 items in each wardrobe. These upgraded models sure are wonderful for the pack rat in all of us!
The snow is falling more regularly now across Kauailia, hopefully the snow will start to stick to the ground soon. I’m looking forward to making snowmen!
6 comments December 10th, 2005
I arrived in Kauailia by taxi thanks to Kapp’n, who appears to have abandoned his island boat services. I was asked the standard new citizen questions and of course, was asked to verify that indeed his cabs clock was working on the current time.
The ride was smooth although it was dark outside so I don’t think I’ll be able to find my way back. No matter I suppose, once I arrived I was greeted by the Kauailia crook, Tom Nook. After exchanging short pleasantries, Nook informed me that I was now indebted to him for his kindness of providing a most uninhabitable shack for me to dwell in.
I was short some note paper for writing a message back home to Traverse, so I headed down to Nook’s Cranny looking to pick up a stack. Not two seconds into setting my foot in the door I was roped into working as his errand boy in order to buy down my debt! Gah!
After withstanding the onslaught of running all around Kauailia looking for Rob, Olivia, and Gabi I was set free to go about my personal business with one exception: Pay Nook back 18,400 bells or get my knee caps broken!!!!
Thankfully, before the night was done I was able to successfully fish up enough “football fish” and “sand dollars” to pay off Nook. He mentioned something about upgrading my house tomorrow, great… I foresee an even large sum of debt in my near future.
Oh, I almost forgot! Pears appear to be the native fruit of Kauailia, not bad if I say so myself. Nothing finer than sampling a ripened pear on a hot summer day. I did however make a short trip to visit a friend in the town of Cayn and was able to procure a Peach. Georgia would be proud! Now I just need that blasted Nook to sell me a shovel so I start my own cottage peach industry.
Till next time, travel safe and don’t forget to visit me in Kauailia!
7 comments December 6th, 2005
