Google Chrome
I just download Google Chrome, and I have to say that Google has done it again. Gmail is the best, and this new browser is fantastic. It is easy to use and has some cool features that the other bro
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PSP to finally get Gran Turismo
I have been waiting for this game to come out on the PSP since the PSP first came out. It was one of the reasons that I wanted a PSP. I like many fathers in this world don't always have exclusive access to the household TV. Most of the time there is Wall-E or Monsters Inc. playing on the television that is hooked up to the game systems. So the answer has always been for me to play some of my games on a portable unit. The PSP is the best portable unit for people that love games. The DS is much better for the casual gamer, GTA China Town Wars excluded, but the PSP always had the feel of being a full size system in your hands. To be able to have Gran Turismo finally come to the PSP is one of the best announcements at the 2009 E3 show in my opinion.
Not much is known about the game. It looks like there will be a good selection of cars 35 different tracks and probably many other features that we have come to love about Gran Turismo. It comes out in October, so I am guessing that there will be much more quality information coming out in the up coming months. I will be pre-ordering this game as soon as Amazon puts it up for sale. Amazon has made a link available to sign up for when the game will be available for pre-order. You can get to it by clicking below.
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New Super Mario Brothers E3 2009
Nintendo released the New Super Mario Brothers game at this years E3 (2009). It is a 2d platform game that can be played with up to four players co-operatively. It looks like a good title, but I was hoping for something more like Mario Galaxy 2 because in my opinion that game was a real ground breaker. You be the judge. Here is a YouTube Video showing off the action.
This just in, Super Mario Galaxy 2! Ok, now they have my attention. You must say that Super Mario Galaxy was one of the best games ever. If there was ever to be a sequel to a game I would pick this as my choice. Way to go Nintendo.
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Wii Motion Plus Wii’s Next Big Thing?
Nintendo announced that Wii Motion plus will revolutionize the revolutionary best controller in the entire galaxy. I had the feeling from watching the press conference that it was almost hard for Nintendo to boast about this new controller add on that is built for precision after Microsoft just laid the NATAL bomb on everybody. Wii's new controller add on is built for precision but from watching the video it seemed to work almost exactly as the old Wii remote has always worked. This left me a little confused and wondering if the Wii motion plus was not just a clever way to milk $30-40 bucks out of everybody. I was left saying to myself "great, in order to play some of the new Wii titles I will have to buy yet another piece of hardware". I have to have the Wii Remote, the Nunchuck, the Balance Board, and now the Wii Motion plus. I am going to own more hardware than games for the Nintendo Wii system if it keeps going like this.
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Xbox 360 knocks them dead at E3 with NATAL
I just finished watching the E3 show on the new Xbox releases for 2009. They really are coming out with some great stuff. There were some decent games coming out and it was good to see Metal Gear finally hit the Xbox console, but the real news was with the new controller. That controller might just take a huge chunk from Nintendo. It looked amazing. It recognizes who you are, and allows you to interact with the screen without a controller. That will be huge for some of the games like Oblivion for instance where you come up to characters at different points in the game. Using this controller you will be able to talk directly to the characters and have them communicate back. Plus they will recognize you when they see you a second time. Very cool technology.
The other thing that I am excited for is the ability to watch a movie with your friends over Live. You can hang out and talk with them while watching a flick. That is a really cool feature that I think many people will enjoy. Also it is great to see that they will expand on the Netflix system and get rid of the need to use the computer to select movies. That has always been a bit of a problem.
Good job Xbox.
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Sony Go Just Doesn’t Make Sense
I have been reading some online articles on the Sony Go. It is a cool looking device that is similar in style to the old N-Gauge system a few years back. For years I have loved my Sony PSP because it allowed be to play full console style games anywhere I want. There have been times where I have watched 3-4 movies a week on it as well. What bothers me about the new Sony Go is that it seems to take a step backward. The design is cool, but the lack of dual analog controls is a little strange. If I didn't know better I would say that Sony was trying to compete with a cell phone rather than just making a super cool portable game unit. The beauty of the old PSP was never in its size, but in its ability to play real games, not those tiny little apps that you can get for $4.99 on Xbox live. This newly designed PSP Go looks like a cell phone without a touch screen.
I like the fact that they went to the digital download system. I think that this is the way of the future. I am thinking however that the hardware needed to be upgraded to where bigger and faster games can be played on the unit. This system seems to be just a revamped PSP with a smaller screen and slightly different controls. I think that despite my love for the PSP, this will be an upgraded version that I will skip out on buying. I will wait until it comes out to make my final judgment, but this new PSP really leaves lots to be desired and has me thinking about getting a DS sometime in the near future.
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Kindle DX
So here is what I think about the Kindle DX. Let me start by mentioning that I really love the idea of an e-book reader. That is not because I am a tech nut, or that I think everything is better with electricity but rather because I have shelves of dusty books that I am tired of looking at. In a perfect world all books are available on an e-book reader so I can get rid of all my book shelves and dedicate that space to something that doesn't collect as much dust. Lets face it, you probably buy a book, read it, and then put it on the shelf. Maybe 2 years later you read that book again. In the mean time it is collecting dust and creates an eye sore in your room. It would be one thing if all books were the same size and shape and looked awesome in a room. But now a days books are every different size and they have bright colors that are made to pop them off the shelf so that you purchase them. The idea of keeping 1500-3500 books in a single machine that is the size of a small stack of papers is super appealing to me. So right from the get go, I am gung ho for these Kindles.
This brings up the question about Kindle vs. all the other potential book readers. I have heard rumors of Apple working on an e-book and I have even seen Sony's version in the store, but those just don't have the same magic as the Kindle series. Sony has a way of trying to make everything more complicated than it should be. Books are simple. I like what Amazon has tried to do with the Kindles. Keep it Simple Stupid must be pasted in their office. Apple might come out with a Tablet PC, but that would be a back lit screen with short battery life that would run $34,000. I am just not sure that these other companies would be content having a machine that just shows words on a page. Even now many people are screaming for the Kindle to surf the web and do other things which makes the Kindle a laptop which makes it not good for books which brings us back to the start. In my opinion we should keep the Kindle a book reading device only.
So what about the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX? I have been buying books on palm pilots for years. I am an early adopter of this technology. I have read books on very small screens and have had no problems. I have never read a textbook on such a device however. I can see where a textbook would be something that is not easily viewed on a small screen. So for textbooks the Kindle DX looks like an excellent choice. Long battery life, excellent design and the ability to download books without using a computer make it an excellent choice for schools. I hope that many colleges adopt this and start requiring that the books are purchased this way. The amount of resources that are saved by not printing a 1000 page monster textbook is huge. Why be wasteful in this day and age where we have the technology to get the job done? The standard Kindle is great for most readers. Those of us that read standard books that come in paper back form. The DX is awesome for anybody that wants to read textbooks and newspapers and doesn't want to carry textbooks and news papers. So really it is just a question of how it will be used.
I have read online that many people don't think that the $489 price tag is very kind. I agree it seems steep, but last year I paid $1500 in textbooks for my senior year in school. I now have an entire shelf of books that I would like to keep because someday I might want to return to the information. If those books were half as much on the Kindle as they were in the book store I would have saved $300 in the first year. I would have less clutter in my home and I could archive those books to use them whenever the need came up. So in my case I think the Kindle DX would have been a great value for me.
Now if I didn't read textbooks the Kindle 2 would be the way to go. I have an entire shelf of Stephen King books that have about 2" of dust on them. I would like to read "The Stand" again sometime so I keep the book around but it is amazing how dirty the book has become over the last several years. This doesn't even take into account the fact that using the Kindle 2 I could access new books in minutes. No more driving to the store or making the UPS guy deliver a tiny book using 4 gallons of gas to my door. It is just more efficient and that is why I love the concept of it.
Here are the comparisons:
Kindle 2 6" Screen
Kindle DX 9.7" Screen
That may not seem like much, but it would make lots of difference when viewing full page documents. Add an inch of screen size and you really increase the viewable area of a screen by a larger percentage.
Kindle 2 holds 1500 books.
Kindle DX holds 3500 books.
I don't own 1500 books so the Kindle 2 would be good for me. I only know one person that owns 1500 or more books, but I don't think he reads them all at the same time. So 3500 books seems like more than enough even for the person that only reads books all day long.
Kindle 2 supports PDF through conversion, while the Kindle DX supports PDF right from the box.
Again this has something to do with screen size anyway. I don't think I would read many PDF files on a Kindle 2 but that is because I would be reading mostly books and novels on that device. So the PDF feature really isn't a big one. On the other hand if you are a student you will definitely make use of this feature in the DX. So again it depends on the type of reading that you are doing.
Things for the Future:
I can really see this Kindle thing catching on like MP3's. Now that the DX supports PDF I can envision a day when papers in college are to be saved in PDF, and then posted so that they are automatically delivered to the professors Kindle. Maybe they will have a professor version? The balance in all of this however is to not have the Kindle cross the line and become a laptop computer. It needs to be a niche device that is made specifically for reading. The minute that the Kindle becomes an "all in one" device it will loose its appeal because of the complicated nature of the laptop. The more a machine can do the more knowledge is required to use it and the more things that can go wrong. You can pick up a book and read it. That is what the Kindle needs to stay true to. You must always be able to just pick up this device and start reading within seconds. As long as Amazon keeps this in the back of their minds I think there is a really strong future for e-books.
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jasontiacross’ Xbox – Mar 7 2009
Have you ever wondered what it was like to play games with someone who has a gamerscore of 1,065? Well guess what... you will never know, and I do! jasontiacross is mine! All mine! No touchy! That is an improvement of 20 points over last time! He rallied Banjo Kazooie: N&B acquiring 1 achievement, and then it felt like he threw my controller and I was like, TAKE IT EASY SHEESH and we stopped.
Did I mention the gamerscore challenge that jasontiacross is competing in? Check out the progress right now! 13 other competitors are racking up achievements and powering up their gamerscores, hoping to secure a victory! Currently jasontiacross is hanging on to the number 8 spot. However there are still 14 days left to score achievement glory. Let's get to the top of that challenge board! Go!
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Group Gaming – Mar 7 2009
Let's hear it for Hardcore Christian Gamers! Good job! 13 out of 14 members got a little bit of gaming in... good times. After yesterday, the total group score stands at 255,150 climbing by 30 achievements which is roughly 570 points. Recognize!
That is it for now! Leave us a comment if you like! Comments are good.
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jasontiacross’ Xbox – Mar 6 2009
There are people out there who think video games are violent. But after jasontiacross played yesterday with his gamerscore of 1,045 points, there wasn't any violence at all. A little drooling maybe but definitely no violence. That is an increase of 20 points over last time! He played Banjo Kazooie: N&B gaining 1 achievement, and then I told him to keep playing but he didn't... out of spite I think.
Oh, guess what? Our gamerscore challenge is going strong... Don't take my word for it! See for yourself! There are 13 other people playing along as well... they better watch out. Out of all those people, jasontiacross is currently parked at number 8. And while we have 15 days left, let's not procrastinate. Pick up that controller and get to unlockin'!
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Group Gaming – Mar 6 2009
Yay for Hardcore Christian Gamers! What a group! 12 out of 14 members got a little bit of gaming in... so that was good to see! After yesterday, the total group score stands at 254,580 increased by 21 achievements totaling up to around 1,330 points. Isn't that awesome?
So yeah... good stuff... check back tomorrow for more info.
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Group Gaming – Mar 5 2009
Yay for Hardcore Christian Gamers! What a group! 9 out of 14 members got a little bit of gaming in... so that was good to see! After yesterday, the total group score stands at 253,250 climbing by 14 achievements which is roughly 880 points. Isn't that awesome?
That is your update. Catch you on the flip side.
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jasontiacross’ Xbox – Mar 5 2009
I was sort of hoping to game... but eh... no big deal. Whatever... maybe tomorrow right jasontiacross? Back me up!
And..... guess what? I will reveal the latest gamerscore challenge status to you as a matter of public record. If you want to see how good I'm doing, check it out! 13 other people are also involved... which is madness. Out of everyone, jasontiacross is holding on to the number 8 spot. We just have to keep plugging away at it for these next 16 days... insert game... push buttons... get points.
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Group Gaming – Mar 4 2009
Can I get a cheer for Hardcore Christian Gamers? 14 out of 14 members managed to get a little gaming in... It is good to see that even when people are busy! After yesterday, the total group score stands at 252,370 climbing by 42 achievements which is roughly 1,115 points. Isn't that awesome?
That is your update. Catch you on the flip side.
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jasontiacross’ Xbox – Mar 4 2009
I thought jasontiacross just wanted to listen to music or watch a DVD. Turns out he was there to game. With a gamer score of 1,025, I should have known that was the case. He rocked out to Banjo Kazooie: N&B, and then... oh wait... no and then!!
Oh BTW, did you know that jasontiacross is competing in a gamerscore challenge? If you want to see how good I'm doing, check it out! 13 other people are throwing down in this challenge. If I do the math correctly, it means that 13 players X 30 days means a whole lot of trash talk! Out of everyone, jasontiacross is holding on to the number 8 spot. However there are still 17 days left to score achievement glory. Let's get to the top of that challenge board! Go!
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Group Gaming – Mar 3 2009
Let's hear it for Hardcore Christian Gamers! Good job! 12 out of 14 members got a little bit of gaming in... good times. After yesterday, the total group score stands at 251,255 made possible by 35 achievements adding up to around 820 points. Isn't that awesome?
That's all for now... keep following all these wonderful gamers here!
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jasontiacross’ Xbox – Mar 3 2009
Have you ever wondered what it was like to play games with someone who has a gamerscore of 1,025? Well guess what... you will never know, and I do! jasontiacross is mine! All mine! No touchy! He opened up Banjo Kazooie: N&B, and yeah... wow... my processor hurts...
I always like to end with a little bit about jasontiacross and the ongoing gamerscore challenge status. Check out the progress right now! There are 13 other people playing along as well... they better watch out. jasontiacross has the number 8 spot... And while we have 18 days left, let's not procrastinate. Pick up that controller and get to unlockin'!
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jasontiacross’ Weekly Recap – Mar 2 2009
This entry is a little different than the others. It is a recap of the last week of gaming. Check it: jasontiacross played 6 days last week... pretty solid I guess... I'm not feeling that picky lately. I was looking for gamerscore, but the total gain was zero. Also, I think we can all agree that jasontiacross' favorite game last week was Banjo Kazooie: N&B. He played it on 6 of the days.
And that's it... short and sweet, just like my power cord.
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jasontiacross’ Xbox – Mar 2 2009
I heard someone tell jasontiacross to go play outside and he was like 'screw that!' so we did some gaming. Our gamerscore is currently 1,025 points. He rallied Banjo Kazooie: N&B, and then the lightweight went to bed. Freakin' wuss.
I always like to end with a little bit about jasontiacross and the ongoing gamerscore challenge status. There's so much action in this one, you may pay for the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!!111! Witness the spectacle. 13 other competitors are racking up achievements and powering up their gamerscores, hoping to secure a victory! Out of all those people, jasontiacross is currently parked at number 8. However there are still 19 days left to score achievement glory. Let's get to the top of that challenge board! Go!
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Group Gaming – Mar 2 2009
Yay for Hardcore Christian Gamers! What a group! 13 out of 14 members got a little bit of gaming in... so that was good to see! After yesterday, the total group score stands at 250,435 increased by 50 achievements running up 980 points. Neat huh?
That is your update. Catch you on the flip side.
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