Sometimes you win

One of my favorite iOS games is "Infinity Blade". The same game is playable on both the iPhone and the iPad, so you don't have to buy it twice.
In the screen shot above, taken prior to the latest update, the "god-king" gets his...

(Infinity Blade and the characters depicted in the screen shot above are copyright Chair Entertainment and Epic Games, Inc.)

Originally Posted from Blogium for iPhone

Just a shout out

Just a shout out to GOG.com, who sell DRM-free "Good Old Games" at good prices.

I have to say that this is an unsolicited "promo" for them.

I've been happy with the games I've bought from them. They sell DOS games (Like Duke Nukem 3D, Redneck Rampage), and Windows games, but I haven't really looked into other platforms. Whats really nice is that the DOS games are wrapped in DOSBox so they run under Windows. Yeah, I know you can do it yourself, but then you have to get the DOS game and the latest official patches and tweak DOSBox.

They also have Myst, Riven, Serious Sam, the earlier Fallout and Unreal games, along with a bunch of others, ready for download.

Gaming machine

I didn't realize how long ago it was that I bought my latest (new) computer. March of 2008, wow. It still runs pretty fast, although that could have to do with the OS being Windows XP instead of Vista/Windows 7.

Anyway, because the machine was actually configured for Vista, it had a dedicated graphics card, something I would never have bothered with. Now I've discovered that it can handle PC games which are a few years old. Cool, because these older games are cheaper than PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 console games.

So back to PC gaming. I've started playing some of the GTA series. The operative word is started. The first "mission" in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (version 2), took me way too long, and when I finally got to saving the game, it complained about a cheat I'd forgotten that I'd used. Rats!

Playin' Games

Last night I played a side-scrolling flying game (Aera) on my iPhone until the battery gave a 20 percent warning. It must have been a good game!

Then I played on the Nintendo DS Lite for over an hour. Usually I get bored with Nintendo games quite quickly, but I was playing a 3D Duke Nukem GBA (GameBoy Advance) game.

A break and a warning label

First of all I'll be going away on an overseas trip and most likely won't be able to blog from there.

Secondly the warning label. I'm not sure if Sony is going to put this anywhere on the box of their lower priced 40GB Playstation 3 ($399 in the USA), but one of the things they have dropped from this version is backwards compatibility with PS2 games (according to Sony rolls out cheaper 40GB PS3 in InfoSyncWorld). Considering that there are very few compelling games for the Sony Playstation 3 this is a possible deal breaker. This especially so since there are a lot of Playstation 2 games still available (and still getting released). From what I understand, to get backwards compatibility you have to buy the 80GB Playstation 3, which is apparently due for a price drop - probably down to $499 - before Christmas. Hopefully Sony won't decide to remove backwards compatibility from the 80GB version when they drop the price.

Thought I wanted a Wii

(I could not resist the title, the alternate one is "Wii or Xbox 360 or PS3")

Last year the Nintendo Wii was on my Christmas wish list, but I choose the 8GB iPod Nano instead. I'd more or less intended to buy a Nintendo Wii sometime during this year either as a present or an entertainment appliance.
But after thinking about it, once the novelty of the motion sensitive play wears off, the selection of games do not really appeal to me. Nintendo-lovers relax – I’m not saying the games for the Nintendo Wii are not good, I’m just saying that they don’t appeal to me personally.

The most costly competitor is the Sony PlayStation 3, which seems a natural choice since I have the PlayStation 2 and the Sony PSP. The PS3 would even allow me to play PS One games on my PlayStation Portable. Almost 600 US Dollars for a gaming console is well out of price range though. Okay, it plays high Definition Blu-ray movies too, but I don’t have a HDTV. It also plays most PlayStation 2 games, but I have one of those. As for showing media, I have a Media Edition PC. I was almost tempted by a "trade in your working Sony PlayStation 2 and get $100 off the PS3", but then the rumors of a price drop began to surface. Now it appears that there will possibly be a price drop by Christmas. Since it is unlikely to be more than $150, I don't think I'd want to wait that long.

Then there is the Xbox 360, somewhere in the middle ground between the Wii and the Sony PlayStation 3 (although many may differ). It has been out for over a year and has a large selection of games. Generally the games appeal to me more than the Wii selection of games. There are also a large number of accessories, including third-party accessories, which are cheaper than official Xbox 360 accessories. Of course if you add enough extras to the Xbox 360 it is going to cost as much, if not more, than the PS3, but it also boils down to the games. The Xbox 360 is a year ahead of the PS3, and it shows in the wide selection of games. The latest games are so expensive I would be likely to rent to make sure I like a game before shelling out $60 for it. Another thing which intrigued me is that I could use the XBox 360 as a media extender for my Media Center PC . My main concern about the Xbox 360 was its reputation for failure. I researched this and figured that it should be an acceptable risk if I got a decent warranty.

One requirement I had was that I wanted to be able to play games in my study, where I don't have a television, but two PC monitors. That way I would have more chance of actually using the gaming console – the PlayStation 2 is in a spare room hooked up to a nice LCD TV, but I very rarely play it. That is no real problem since it is mainly used to watch DVDs. A PS3 or Xbox 360 are too expensive for use as mere (standard definition) DVD players. The decision was swayed by the availability of a VGA cable for the Xbox 360. So, after talking it over with my wife, I got the okay to get an Xbox 360 as a birthday present.

Hmmm...

Retro Gaming

Retro Gaming (or Retrogaming as wikipedia prefers to call it) is to quote wikipedia: "the hobby of playing and collecting older computer, video, and arcade games. These games are played either on the original hardware, on modern hardware via emulation, or on modern hardware via ports on compilations".

It makes me feel old to see Tetris and Duke Nukem 3D referred to as Retro or "Classic Games", but it is still a pleasure to be able to play duke Nukem 3D on a handheld, specifically a Tapwave Zodiac (which is almost on its way to becoming a classic handheld). There are two versions of Duke Nukem 3D available for the Tapwave Zodiac, one which is a stripped down version re-written specifically for the Zodiac (and not very good either), and the other a free one which uses the original DOS data files.


Aaah, the retro Tapwave Zodiac for retro gaming... (the one shown above is the silver 28MB Zodiac 1, not the black 128MB Zodiac 2)

Top 5+ List of 2006

Okay, I know it is already 2007, and I should be looking forward, but:

At the end of 2005 and 2004 I wrote a list of the Top 10 tech products and have been thinking hard about whether to do one for 2006 or to do something different. The problem is that I've previously limited this list to products I've actually used or own, and had to limit (or pad) my list to ten items.

So here is my slightly different top 5+ list for 2006 (I still may repeat tech gadgets from previous years if they - or their updated versions - still are worthy of mention):

iPod Nano second generation - the 2nd generation improves on the original with a less scratch-prone anodized aluminum finish, brighter screen and double the capacity.

Creative Zen Vision:M - this MP3 Player with video capability outclasses the iPod Video with a 262,144 color screen and support for multiple video formats.

Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) - there are even more games available now and some of the more recent ones have incredible graphics. Sony also continues to release firmware updates which add more and more features. Also, worldwide sales of the Sony PSP are more than Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Ubuntu Linux - Maybe I'm biased towards a product from a fellow (ex-)South African, but this free Linux distribution from Mark Shuttleworth's company is competing right up there with commercial Linux distributions. Although my main Operating System is Windows XP, I like to have a Linux distribution installed and handy. Right now Ubuntu Linux 6.06 LTS is it.

Mozilla Firefox browser - still my browser of choice. I'm slowly upgrading to version 2.0 (one machine at a time), while Mozilla still releases updates to version 1.5.x. Even with tabbed browsing, Internet Explorer 7 doesn't come close.

Honorable Mentions

Nintendo Wii - the gaming console Sony hoped the Sony Playstation 3 would be. The Wii makes gaming accessible to non-gamers, and is attractive as a second gaming console to gamers.

Giveaway of the Day website - I don't know how long this will still be around for, but it is a great idea. Mainly shareware software, the programs are available for download and free registration for one day. I've found some useful programs there. The catch - the software can only be registered in the 24 hour period, cannot be upgraded and doesn't have technical support.

VMWare Player and Server Even though Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 is now free, VMware still outclasses it with more powerful features

Dishonourable Mention
Motorola RAZR V3 cellphone - popular but flawed - the screen is impossible to read in daylight. If that and a slippery keypad is acceptable this isn't a bad phone.

More Lite

Of course after publishing yesterdays blog about the Nintendo DS Lite I remembered some things I had forgotten to mention:

As with most items called something Lite, there is of course a Nintendo DS. The Lite version is slimmer and lighter (naturally!) and with brighter screens which are the same size as the original.

So, how big is the Nintendo DS Lite?



(I know hands differ in size, but this should give and better idea than saying it is about as wide as a Tungsten T3 and a bit longer.)

The Nintendo DS and DS Lite have also sold more units worldwide than the Microsoft Xbox 360, and the Sony PSP (according to this wikipedia List of Best-selling video game consoles)

Micro, Lite

Although the Nintendo DS Lite was on my Christmas wish list, I was initially interested in the Nintendo (Game Boy) Micro*.



This gaming handheld was intended to tap the adult gaming market. It is as small as an Apple iPod Mini, and is extremely pocketable. It also costs only about $70.

Unfortunately it has a couple of problems and limitations:
The Micro only accepts GBA (Game Boy Advanced) game cartridges. There are supposedly 700+ games available in this format. I did some research and found a Nintendo website (Master Game List) which lists all the games for Nintendo and can be filtered by platform. A large percentage of the GBA games are aimed at the children's market (Pokemon anyone?). I also read that the GBA platform may be phased out next year or so in favor of the newer DS (Developers' System or Dual Screen) platform - "Nintendo sees at least one more Game Boy holiday" . This seemed to be confirmed by a listing of upcoming GBA game titles (on GameSpot.com). There are notably a lot more DS games scheduled for release in every category. Also, a number of games I had seen previously which appealed to me were Nintendo DS games and not Game Boy Advanced games.

The Nintendo DS Lite* on the other hand (excuse the pun!) supports both the older (GBA - Game Boy Advanced) and newer (DS) game cartridge formats. At first glance it looks like a handheld.



The bottom screen is touch sensitive, and the stylus is used for making choices and in-game control. Like the Sony PSP, the DS Lite has built in Wi-Fi, but it is primarily a gaming platform. The Opera web browser is currently available in Japan for the DS Lite, and should soon be making its appearance in the USA.

Oh, and the games... The graphics are not quite as detailed as the Sony PSP, but there are already almost 300 games available for the DS platform, and the DS Lite also plays the GBA games as mentioned previously. A number of games, like "Need for Speed:Carbon" come out for multiple gaming platforms (Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Gamecube, Playstation 2 and Sony PSP), although with slight variations on the title: "Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City" is its title for the PSP.

* Articles on wikipedia.org

What's in a name?

The December 26 issue of PC Magazine mentioned the "Worst Company Name Ever": Revoltec .

I guess the company may have been thinking "A revolution in technology - Revoltec(h) - cool!" and no-one stepped back and really looked at the name (or no-one understood English well enough).

It almost sounds like the project code name Nintendo had for their next generation gaming console - the Revolution. Then they renamed it the "Wii" (see "Nintendo Revolution renamed" at news.com). Fortunately people don't seem to be put off by this moniker - the Wii sold 600,000 units in the first eight days after its release (News.com and others).

Aliens beating PS3?

After seeing an article entitled "Gaming PCs Surpass New Consoles" on MyWay News I just had to comment.
The article says "The new video game consoles already look pretty wimpy compared with the latest gaming PCs", but then it turns out they are comparing Gaming PCs costing from $5000 to $9000 to gaming consoles costing a max of $600. The article admits that the high-end PCs have "an advanced 3-D graphics card from Nvidia Corp. that alone retails for $600 - as much as a high-end PlayStation 3", but still miss the point. Of course a $600 PlayStation 3 is not going to perform anywhere near as good as a $5000 Alienware Area-51 7500 mentioned in the article.

Six hundred dollars US for the Sony PlayStation 3 is expensive, but start charging five grand or more and there would be few(er) takers, although at that price Sony could probably include full PC functionality.

Oh well people will continue to compare apples and oranges I guess...

Other Wish List Items

I've been concentrating on the MP3 Players for replacing my iPod Mini, but what about the other Christmas Wish List Items?

I'd already eliminated several items from the list, but here is what's left:

The Microsoft Flight Simulator for PC with airplane controls or Nascar PC game (or Sony Playstation 2 game) with driving controls. I ruled out the Flight Simulator quite quickly - I find myself easily bored with flying simulators.
Racing is another story though. There are an amazing variety of driving controllers avaiable for the Sony Playstation 2. I priced some online - they range from $50 to $130. The problem is how much would I use them, as I tend tire of driving/racing games quickly (I'd also have to buy a couple of PS2 racing games as well). I could get a wireless joystick, but I really prefer playing the Sony PSP.

The Nintendo Wii remains tempting. With the motion sensitive controllers I might actually get some exercise. But I have a Sony Playstation 2 which gets more use as a DVD Player than a gaming console. Oh well...

Psst!... want a PS3?

No, I don't have a Sony PlayStation 3 for sale, but a lot of people seem to have them and want to sell them.

(Note - I've updated the following on November 22, 2006 as some of the links did not work and may not work for long)

Sony PS3s have been selling for around $1300+ on eBay (of course this will change depending on demand and the day of the week), and for $2000 on preorderonline (come-on, regular price $3000??) as well as on Craigslist (New York search link) for from $900 to well over $1500 (I've heard of one being offered for $4000). On Amazon Marketplace the 60GB version is going for upwards of $2000, and at Infinity Micro for $3,495. Just think, for $3000 you could get a mega gaming PC...

Of course if you wait for several months (until February or March next year!) you can pay the actual list price of $499 for the 30GB version and $599 for the 60GB version.

Zoom

According to iSuppli, the actual cost of the components for each PlayStation 3 is more than the official list price. The PS3 with the 60GB HDD costs around $840 to make. Sony is of course hoping to make back their money on games, and there probably is a break-even point when they hope to start making a profit. The interesting thing is that they are losing more on the cheaper model: $300 instead of $240. Of course Sony is not getting any cut from the price gouging which is rampant, except that the buzz may benefit the gaming console when the supply begins to meet the demand.

PS3 sold out, Zune Wars

Not unexpectedly, the Sony PlayStation 3 sold out within hour(s) of it’s release on Friday.

The Microsoft Zune, however, seems to be staying on shelves mostly and getting really bad reviews. Engadget said "Installing the Zune... sucked".
A News.com news blog sums it up as: "A rude awakening for Zune" - "Forget brown. The true color of the Zune is black-and-blue.".



Oooh, nasty, but there have been other nastier references to the brown colored Zune: "The only thing cool about the brown one is that the color is appropriate." from "Zune is out of tune, for now"
Others said that the Zune is actually quite good – notably the CNET.com review which concluded that "…intuitive interface and solid playback performance will please most users…" and gives it a rating of 8.0 out of 10 (the iPod Nano received a rating of 8.3 out of 10.)

And back to gaming:
Tomorrow the Wii gaming console is due for release in the U.S., which I'd almost forgotten about with all the PS3 hype.

It does seem like there may be some queues for the Wii too – I wouldn’t have thought so – but here is a site with tips for getting your Wii with the least amount of inconvenience- WiiLoaded.com and the exact same article, it appears, at theboxheads.com.