Posts
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Empire Craft
Empire Craft is a newly released game that has generated a HUGE notoriety among the internet community for it's very unethical advertising - breasts. That's right, most of the ads around the internet including facebook have scantily clad women laying around in lingerie. Does this have anything to do with the game and is the game adult oriented? Nope. It's just a sleezy gimmick. If that doesn't prepare you for my review then nothing will.
The game came out of beta and is *free* in the fact that you can play in a limited amount without the purchase of the in game currency called Diamonds. In fact, numerous quests require diamonds. Even though it says you can actually earn them by doing various quests and events, you can't. It's a lie. In fact, the prices for these diamonds in US currency are so outrageous that noone even considers buying them unless they earn over $3000 a month. They did recently lower the price for Diamonds due to many many complaints, but it is still outrageous. $1 for 10 diamonds. Some of the quests require purchase of items which are 70 or 80 diamonds a piece. You are constantly encouraged to "spend diamonds" in order to accomplish simple tasks faster.
Now that you've read the important stuff, I'll delve into the game basics.
You get to choose between dwarf, orc or human for your alliance against the forces of the Devils. You start with a city with a level 0 city hall, a lumberyard, quarry, iron mine and farm (food).
Upgrading is basically a matter of having the correct amount of wood, stone, iron and food in order to build the structure to the next level. In many respects, the game mimics the game Travian. But what really drives this game is Heroes which are hired at a Tavern for about 50-70 gold. Heroes are important because you can't control your troops or attack or do quests without them. But getting the gold is another matter entirely. You can't sell everything, you are limited to what your hero has on or very rarely some of the items you get from a rare chest (typically wooden). Quests you complete with your hero on a daily basis will earn you a leather key which are almost never used.
There are quests for your union (in game alliance of players), military status (your efforts in attacking the devils), hero status, or for developing your character (beginner line of quests for learning the ropes.) By the way the final quest in the beginner line encourages you to "Charge" your account by purchasing diamonds. Sleazebags.
Upon reaching a certain population size (or more specifically commerce points) you can build a "sub city". A sub city can be occupied but you cannot lose your capitol city. For your cities besides the mines and lumberyards and farms, etc inside the city you can also occupy ones outside your city, up to 5. A lot of times these will be occupied by other players and you will have to send your heroes to claim the resources and defend them as necessary.
For some of the more advanced parts of the game, crystal mines are required and allow upgrading the Union shops as well as other things in the game allowing you to acquire better items. No, these do not give you Diamonds. They are protected by huge numbers of Devil troops and require join effort of Union players or a player with an enormous....army and huge...cities and well trained in the arts of....heroism.
Besides that, the ultimate goal is to be the biggest jerk with the largest set of balls in the game so no one will mess with you. I'm not sure the game ever ends. At least with Travian, there is a end of game sequence with the Natars where you have to complete a World Wonder. Then it restarts.
In summary, I give my this game two fingers up. Or rather the game creator does. Yes, that was fingers not thumbs. They are not here to entertain you. They are here only to make money off of you. Did I mention that he was sued by Microsoft for click fraud? Yeah, that's the kind of person you're dealing with. I hope you don't supply him with your paypal information. He is Chinese businessman Eric Lam who is also the person behind Evony. And now you know the rest of the story.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Eternal Lands Beta
Eternal Lands is a free MMORPG that is now in Beta based in what seems to be the middle ages with magic and fighting. The graphics, while not premium content, will apparently not run well on computers over 5 years old, which is a shame due to the small footprint the game takes up on the harddrive. My computer constantly registered 59/60 FPS during my trial.
The character creation process is still a bit clunky. At the sign-in screen you have a button to create a new character, but it doesn't automatically pop up the character generation screen. You have to click the button on the bar at the bottom to rename and set up your character.
After creating my guy, I proceeded to follow the tutorial. It's a pretty decent tutorial and if you need any help along the way there are plenty of people to talk you through it. Just join the newbie channel in the upper left corner and type "@" and your question.
Along your travels you can harvest vegetables, sticks, and eventually ore and other items. The graphics are about the quality you can expect from Runescape but that's an acceptable sacrifice for the payoff in game size. While World of Warcraft folders can take up to 10-12Gb of space for the high quality graphics, the download for this game is about 20Mb, plus the separate download for sound.
Movement in the game is a bit tedious. I couldn't find a run option and targeting the rabbits and beavers is laborious in the extreme. Not only do they move as fast as you do but they move almost constantly and unless you are with in range to attack it, you still have to worry about terrain obstructing your view (and thus your attack).
Healing can take a while as well unless you can afford a good healing potion, but for the first 15 attack levels (while you are learning to fight) you can use the tutorial dude to heal your character instead of eating to increase your regen and sitting down and waiting for 10 minutes.
Items while easy to obtain are nearly impossible to sell at the early areas unless you happen to have rabbit furs which you need for the fighting quest, or vegetables from the garden.
All-in-all, I found it a generally fun free game to start playing and would recommend giving it a try if you're looking for a free alternative to World of Warcraft.
Google Chrome OS?
In an article on the NY Times, Google announced last night it's plans to replace Windows in the smaller netbook laptops. For an OS that is bound within a web browser, I guess it depends on how it is able to interface with the hardware on how it will affect gaming on those computers. Microsoft has already lost a lot of OS share to Linux, especially on the server side and gaming has been gradually taking off on the Linux side as well with increasing gaming support utilizing WINE, now on version 1.1.25, which includes many virual memory and game fixes, including a sound fix for WoW.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Blizzard on LAN gaming
Just in case you were excited about the new Starcraft II game and playing with your friends and family, Blizzard's official stance is they have no plans to include LAN play at this time. Click here to read the article over on Kotaku. For most of us out there tired of joining online multiplayer servers is the players who have pirated or hacked the game kick our butts, making the game absolutely terrible to play. Most of the time the multiplayer games I play, I play with my close friends and family. That's it. So while I have enjoyed the Starcraft series, I will say I will most likely NOT be purchasing Starcraft II. I'm sorry Blizzard, but you can never stop piracy, and this move hurts the people who honestly purchase your software. Pirates and hackers will always find another way and those of us who pay to play the right way are now penalized. Thanks a lot.
Blizzard Beta Testing
If you are interested in trying out the latest games for Blizzard, you have to sign up for a Battle.net account.
If you have a World of Warcraft account, you can merge that with Battle.net in order to sign up for beta-tester status - you have to have at least one game associated with your Battle.net account. After you have created your profile, under the section Manage My Games, click on Merge a World of Warcraft® Account. Follow the instructions and make a note that you are changing your login for World of Warcraft to your email address.
On your Battle.net home page click on Beta Profile Settings. Accept the user agreement and download the appropriate system profiler software which sends your system specs to Blizzard to help them determine if they want you to help beta test a specific game. Make sure that you have check marks to all the universes you want to be in the beta pool for. These include Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo.
If you have a World of Warcraft account, you can merge that with Battle.net in order to sign up for beta-tester status - you have to have at least one game associated with your Battle.net account. After you have created your profile, under the section Manage My Games, click on Merge a World of Warcraft® Account. Follow the instructions and make a note that you are changing your login for World of Warcraft to your email address.
On your Battle.net home page click on Beta Profile Settings. Accept the user agreement and download the appropriate system profiler software which sends your system specs to Blizzard to help them determine if they want you to help beta test a specific game. Make sure that you have check marks to all the universes you want to be in the beta pool for. These include Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Current firmware
Nintendo Wii
Current firmware is 4.0 released in March 2009, the primary feature is allowing the use of the SD Card to store save game data (or move from the system to the card, recovering valuable space) and launch downloaded games from the SD Card. As long as your Wii is connected to your wireless router, you should have a message from Nintendo if you haven't upgraded your firmware. Just follow the instructions.
Playstation 3
Current firmware is 2.76 with 2.80 supposed to be released tomorrow. According to Eric Lempel, PlayStation Network Operations, the "playback quality of some PS3 format software has been improved." Whatever that means. Come on guys, give us some detail.
Xbox 360
Current firmware was released in December, 2007. They are currently working on their new redesign of the Xbox 360 console so I doubt there will be any upcoming releases prior to the release of Project Natal.
Current firmware is 4.0 released in March 2009, the primary feature is allowing the use of the SD Card to store save game data (or move from the system to the card, recovering valuable space) and launch downloaded games from the SD Card. As long as your Wii is connected to your wireless router, you should have a message from Nintendo if you haven't upgraded your firmware. Just follow the instructions.
Playstation 3
Current firmware is 2.76 with 2.80 supposed to be released tomorrow. According to Eric Lempel, PlayStation Network Operations, the "playback quality of some PS3 format software has been improved." Whatever that means. Come on guys, give us some detail.
Xbox 360
Current firmware was released in December, 2007. They are currently working on their new redesign of the Xbox 360 console so I doubt there will be any upcoming releases prior to the release of Project Natal.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tomorrow's game releases
The Conduit (Wii)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, DS - Autobots, DS - Decepticons)
Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires (Xbox 360, PS3)
This game is rather unique and seems a combination of risk and card-play for powerups.
Overlord 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, DS - Minions, Wii - Dark Legend)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, DS - Autobots, DS - Decepticons)
Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires (Xbox 360, PS3)
This game is rather unique and seems a combination of risk and card-play for powerups.
Overlord 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, DS - Minions, Wii - Dark Legend)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Protect your gear!
Surge suppression, power conditioning and battery backup are often the most neglected but most critical parts of any technology investment. In this article I'll discuss the necessity of having them.
For my computer, I use a Belkin F6C1500 1500VA 830 Watts 8 Outlets UPS. It runs my high powered computer, wireless router, 22" monitor, etc for at least 5 minutes in case of a power outage.
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
A UPS is important because most PCs have problems if they are not turned off gracefully. This is especially so because information is constantly being processed in volatile memory (RAM) before being stored to the hard drive. There are chances your critical system files could become corrupted, your game files, etc if it happens in the middle of a write operation. What if it happens while the computer is updating the file allocation table (FAT)? I have had computers require a repair of the OS in order to run again but you never know what open files have lost. I hope you saved that MS Office or OpenOffice document before the crash because it might not be recoverable.
The UPS isn't designed to run your system for 2 hours. You would need a generator for that. What the UPS will do is give you ample time to shut down your programs and turn off the computer system before your battery runs out...assuming of course you are at your computer, or with software that can be installed, you can tell your computer to initiate a shutdown when you have a set amount of battery time left even if you are away.
What to look for in a UPS and how much do I really need?
That will be determined by the power rating of each component inside your computer, your monitor, router and anything else you are plugging into the UPS. There are devices you can use to measure this exactly and it will change depending on how heavily you are using your power supply and video card and processor especially in heavy graphics oriented games. The Power Rating on the individual components is very conservative and can be a good place to start.
If you can get a UPS that conditions the power coming in as well, you are good. Most UPS's will handle power surges and brownouts, etc.
I recommend this beast which will run even a high-end system for about 3-5 minutes. It is currently on sale for $30 off with free shipping. Shipping on these things can be very expensive because of the weight of the batteries so that is very nice.
CyberPower Intelligent LCD Series GreenPower UPS CP1500AVRLCD UPS
For my computer, I use a Belkin F6C1500 1500VA 830 Watts 8 Outlets UPS. It runs my high powered computer, wireless router, 22" monitor, etc for at least 5 minutes in case of a power outage.
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
A UPS is important because most PCs have problems if they are not turned off gracefully. This is especially so because information is constantly being processed in volatile memory (RAM) before being stored to the hard drive. There are chances your critical system files could become corrupted, your game files, etc if it happens in the middle of a write operation. What if it happens while the computer is updating the file allocation table (FAT)? I have had computers require a repair of the OS in order to run again but you never know what open files have lost. I hope you saved that MS Office or OpenOffice document before the crash because it might not be recoverable.
The UPS isn't designed to run your system for 2 hours. You would need a generator for that. What the UPS will do is give you ample time to shut down your programs and turn off the computer system before your battery runs out...assuming of course you are at your computer, or with software that can be installed, you can tell your computer to initiate a shutdown when you have a set amount of battery time left even if you are away.
What to look for in a UPS and how much do I really need?
That will be determined by the power rating of each component inside your computer, your monitor, router and anything else you are plugging into the UPS. There are devices you can use to measure this exactly and it will change depending on how heavily you are using your power supply and video card and processor especially in heavy graphics oriented games. The Power Rating on the individual components is very conservative and can be a good place to start.
If you can get a UPS that conditions the power coming in as well, you are good. Most UPS's will handle power surges and brownouts, etc.
I recommend this beast which will run even a high-end system for about 3-5 minutes. It is currently on sale for $30 off with free shipping. Shipping on these things can be very expensive because of the weight of the batteries so that is very nice.
CyberPower Intelligent LCD Series GreenPower UPS CP1500AVRLCD UPS
Monday, June 15, 2009
3D Gaming Rig
As a follow up to the 3D Vision article on NVIDIA's new 3D stereoscopic technology, I have compiled components for a mid-range system. I have not built it, but this is merely my idea of what an ideal game system would be at this level. Of course, this is just a list of parts and would need to be assembled. If you don't have experience doing that, you shouldn't be building your own system as some of these parts can damage very easy if you don't know what you are doing. I have been building my own computers like this for over 7 years and know about the "gotchas" associated with doing that. Perhaps there will be a follow-up article on that if you guys and hot gamer chicks are interested in building your own custom gaming rig. :)
Here is a mid-level system, which will run great for most games, under $2000. I have included gaming keyboard and mouse, which are of course optional if you want to keep cost down.
I have not included speakers, but if you do not have surround sound, I highly recommend you invest in it, especially for a realistic 3D gaming experience. Onkyo offers a great product with 7.1 surround sound for under $500, the HTS5200.
Here is a mid-level system, which will run great for most games, under $2000. I have included gaming keyboard and mouse, which are of course optional if you want to keep cost down.
I have not included speakers, but if you do not have surround sound, I highly recommend you invest in it, especially for a realistic 3D gaming experience. Onkyo offers a great product with 7.1 surround sound for under $500, the HTS5200.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Memory of Light
For those of you who follow the Wheel of Time series written by James Oliver Rigney aka Robert Jordan, you know that he passed away on September 16, 2007 after finally losing his battle fighting the disease Amyloidosis. At the time of his passing, he was working very closely with his wife Harriet who was also his editor. He knew his time was short and made sure to leave ample notes and instructions with her. He wanted to finish the story he began so many years ago.
After his death, there was a huge outpouring of sympathy for the family. But Harriet is a very strong woman and responded to Jim's fans on the Dragonmount site simply saying "Onward." After a short time of grieving and the funeral, she set forth to complete the task of finding an author to take the summaries, outline and writing that Jim had already completed to finish A Memory of Light, the last book in his Wheel of Time series. This was the single most important thing that she wanted to do to honor Jim. She chose Brandon Sanderson.
I have never read anything so compelling and engrossing as Jim's stories. When you read his stories, he draws the world around you. You feel the wind. You see the trees, the land and the cities. It's as if you truly are there and watching the story unfold. Thank you Harriet for your strength and perseverance and Brandon Sanderson for your hard work in the insurmountable task of filling Jim's shoes. I know the books will be wonderful and look forward to reading them as they come out. It is truly Jim's final memorial, the best way we all can remember and honor him, by finishing his story.
Brandon has been working on the book, while still keeping his commitments for his books with his publisher. Jim had originally wanted the last piece to be one complete book, regardless of how long it would have to be to finish the story. But it seems that it is indeed so big, that they are breaking it apart into 3 separate shorter stories. The first to be released on November 3rd, 2009, a little less than 5 months away. It can currently be pre-ordered through Amazon.com and is called The Gathering Storm. By pre-ordering, you can save a little more than $10 off of the MSRP of $29.99.
There is no timeline in stone and the titles of the final 2 books are not yet set in stone either. Dragonmount has the latest on all of this news.
After his death, there was a huge outpouring of sympathy for the family. But Harriet is a very strong woman and responded to Jim's fans on the Dragonmount site simply saying "Onward." After a short time of grieving and the funeral, she set forth to complete the task of finding an author to take the summaries, outline and writing that Jim had already completed to finish A Memory of Light, the last book in his Wheel of Time series. This was the single most important thing that she wanted to do to honor Jim. She chose Brandon Sanderson.
I have never read anything so compelling and engrossing as Jim's stories. When you read his stories, he draws the world around you. You feel the wind. You see the trees, the land and the cities. It's as if you truly are there and watching the story unfold. Thank you Harriet for your strength and perseverance and Brandon Sanderson for your hard work in the insurmountable task of filling Jim's shoes. I know the books will be wonderful and look forward to reading them as they come out. It is truly Jim's final memorial, the best way we all can remember and honor him, by finishing his story.
Brandon has been working on the book, while still keeping his commitments for his books with his publisher. Jim had originally wanted the last piece to be one complete book, regardless of how long it would have to be to finish the story. But it seems that it is indeed so big, that they are breaking it apart into 3 separate shorter stories. The first to be released on November 3rd, 2009, a little less than 5 months away. It can currently be pre-ordered through Amazon.com and is called The Gathering Storm. By pre-ordering, you can save a little more than $10 off of the MSRP of $29.99.
There is no timeline in stone and the titles of the final 2 books are not yet set in stone either. Dragonmount has the latest on all of this news.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wii MotionPlus on June 8th - followup
Ok, so yesterday was the big release date. How are things looking out there for the Wii MotionPlus?
Walmart is selling it as a bundle only with Tiger Woods 10 for $59.82.
Target is selling it with Tiger Woods 10 for $59.99.
Toys "R" Us is selling it on it's own at the MSRP of $19.99.
Best Buy is selling it individually at MSRP of $19.99 and also as a bundle with Tiger Woods 10 for $59.99.
Gamestop/EB Games is selling it for $24.99 individually.
Amazon.com is selling it for MSRP ($19.99)
Amazon.com is selling the Tiger Woods bundle with $3 savings for $56.99, with Grand Slam Tennis on sale with $3 savings for $46.99.
Wii Sports Resort isn't released until July 26th so you'll have to keep waiting on that.
So for my summary, stay away from buying it at Gamestop. They are infamous for stunts like this. The cheapest place I found from the main e-tailers and retailers is Amazon.com and some of the bundles are eligible for their free "Super Saver Shipping."
EA Grand Slam Tennis
Walmart is selling it as a bundle only with Tiger Woods 10 for $59.82.
Target is selling it with Tiger Woods 10 for $59.99.
Toys "R" Us is selling it on it's own at the MSRP of $19.99.
Best Buy is selling it individually at MSRP of $19.99 and also as a bundle with Tiger Woods 10 for $59.99.
Gamestop/EB Games is selling it for $24.99 individually.
Amazon.com is selling it for MSRP ($19.99)
Amazon.com is selling the Tiger Woods bundle with $3 savings for $56.99, with Grand Slam Tennis on sale with $3 savings for $46.99.
Wii Sports Resort isn't released until July 26th so you'll have to keep waiting on that.
So for my summary, stay away from buying it at Gamestop. They are infamous for stunts like this. The cheapest place I found from the main e-tailers and retailers is Amazon.com and some of the bundles are eligible for their free "Super Saver Shipping."
EA Grand Slam Tennis
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
The newest Harry Potter game is almost here! Release date is set for June 30th and can be pre-ordered for the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS and PC, and is supposed to be available for the Mac as well. It's rated for 10+ except for the handhelds where it's rated for everyone. Here is the trailer from EA Games:
Pros
Pros
- It looks like they are trying to make it available for everyone as the video requirements are low...i just hope that they include higher quality video graphics for those of us with pimped out systems!
- Duel your friends on the handhelds!
- I've always enjoyed flying in Quidditch. I can't wait to test it out.
- The video if the graphics are too wimpy for my beefy card
- The requirements checker on EA Games lists Windows Vista but passed my XP MCE PC.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
NVIDIA 3D Vision
This is a new technology that Nvidia announced in January 2009. This technology works with over 300 games out of the box and will immerse you into a 3D world.
Straight from their press release at CES 2009,
"Forming the foundation for a new consumer 3D stereo ecosystem for gaming and home entertainment PCs, 3D Vision is a combination of high-tech wireless glasses, a high-power IR emitter and advanced software that automatically transforms hundreds of PC games into full stereoscopic 3D experiences."
How it works:
A high-powered USB attached infrared transmitter sends out the 3D data directly to the wireless shutter glasses, up to a maximum of 20ft and up to 40hours of charges. The glasses offer free range of motion and allows for 2x resolution per eye as well as an ultrawide viewing angle, but you have to view the game on a 120Hz monitor, projector or HDTV.
Costs:
This depends on how much technology you need to buy. Chances are high that if you aren't a hardcore gamer and even if you have recently purchased a PC, your system is not up to the minimum requirements. You'll have to factor in the costs of upgrading your PC as well as the added cost of purchasing the glasses and display. The glasses themselves run about $200 and a 22" monitor will run you about $400.
Minimum system requirements
- Microsoft Windows Vista
32/64-bit or Windows 7 32/64-bit
- Intel® Core™2 Duo or AMD Athlon™ X2 CPU or higher
- 1GB of system memory. (2GB is recommended)
- 100 MB free disk space
NVIDIA 3D Vision-Ready displays devices
- Desktop Displays
- Samsung® SyncMaster 2233RZ 120 Hz LCD display
- ViewSonic VX2265wm FuHzion 3D/120Hz LCD Display (Black)
- 100 Hz and higher analog CRTs
- HDTVs
- Mitsubishi® 1080p DLP® Home Theater TV: WD-57833, WD-60735, WD-60737, WD-60C8, WD-60C9, WD-65735, WD-65736, WD-65737, WD-65C8, WD-65C9, WD-65833, WD-65835, WD-65837, WD-73735, WD-73736, WD-73737, WD-73833, WD-73835, WD-73837, WD-73C8, WD-73C9, WD-82737, WD-82837, L65-A90
- Generic DLP HDTV mode
- Projectors
NVIDIA GeForce GPUs
- GeForce GTX 200 Series
- GeForce GTX 295
- GeForce GTX 285
- GeForce GTX 280
- GeForce GTX 275
- GeForce GTX 260
- GeForce GTS 250
- GeForce GT 140
- GeForce 9 Series
- GeForce 8 Series
- GeForce 8800 Ultra
- GeForce 8800 GTX
- GeForce 8800 GTS
- GeForce 8800 GT
Saturday, June 6, 2009
How to set up a television or projector as a 2nd monitor for your computer.
First of all, it is important to determine what TV you are going to hook up and the connections that will be required before anything else can be done.
I am using a Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS video card which can send video, using a supplied cable, as component video or using an adapter on the DVI interface, as HDMI.
First, ensure you have the latest settings for your video card by visiting Nvidia.
In your system tray in the bottom right of your screen, right click on the Nvidia icon. When you move your mouse over it there is a popup that says “NVIDIA Settings.” Left click the option for NVIDIA Control Panel.
On the left menu, left click Display top open the menu if it's not expanded already. Then left click “Run multiple display wizard.”
Left click “Next” then select how you are connecting to your 2nd screen. The computer should detect the video connection as long as you have your cables connected. In my case, I'm using component cables to connect to my projector. The computer detects the connection and marks it as component.
Left click “Next”and select the standard for your connection. Component will handle 1080i, but your TV or projector also has to support it. In my case, my projector can support up to 1080p so I select 1080i since that's the highest option available to me.
Now you select whether you want your main display to be cloned (use the exact same screen) that your TV will use or if you will have them configured separately.
If you use Clone, both screens must be the same resolution so if you are running 1680x1050 for example and your tv runs at 1768x992, both of them will run 1768x992 (1080i HDTV). If you select “Clone” and left click “Next”, everything is set up and you can click “Next” then “Finish.”
If you use Dualview however, you can keep your main screen at your higher resolution and create a custom resolution for your TV. If you select “Dualview” and left click “Next”, select the resolution that your primary screen should (or is currently) running at. Mine is running at 1680x1050 so I select that and left click “Next” twice and then click “Finish” to close the multiple display wizard.
Now, you should be set to use your 2nd screen. After the wizard runs, you will have your screens configured already in dualview mode with your primary screen on the left and your secondary screen (TV) on the right. What that means is in order to do stuff on your new TV screen, you move your mouse cursor off the right side of your main monitor and it will appear on your TV screen. You can move windows or applications from your main screen to the 2nd TV screen by clicking on the title bar and while holding down your left mouse button, drag the entire window or application over to the new screen. If you double click the title bar, it will maximize. This is especially handy if you use Netflix to watch online movies. Then you start your movie and click the full screen button on the Netflix movie viewer. What happens now is that the video will show on your new TV screen while the audio comes out of your computer speakers. That's because only HDMI transports audio along the same cable. You will need to run a separate audio cable to your TV in order to have the sound come out from it. Or if you use a sound system, you can run the audio to that. My motherboard has digital coax audio S/PDIF so I run that to my home theater system for 7.1 surround sound.
Now the other trick is that when you do NOT want to have the second screen active, you can disable it easily through the Nvidia system try icon. Left click the icon, select either video device, nView Display Settings, Single Display then select your primary monitor – the one not listed as HDTV probably.
- 1. What inputs does your TV or projector have?
a) Composite
b) Svideo
c) Component
d) DVI – this link usually sends only video but is capable of sending audio if used with an HDMI cable/converter from the source side to an HDMI input.
2. What outputs does your computer's video card have?
a) Composite
b) Svideo
c) Component
d) DVI – Sometimes common more-so in projectors, this link usually sends only video but is capable of sending audio if used with a HDMI cable/converter from the source side to an HDMI input.
3. Connecting the video card to the TV or projector.
a) Composite to composite
b) Svideo to Svideo
c) Component to component
d) DVI to DVI
e) DVI to HDMI (with HDMI adapter on the computer's DVI interface)
I am using a Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS video card which can send video, using a supplied cable, as component video or using an adapter on the DVI interface, as HDMI.
First, ensure you have the latest settings for your video card by visiting Nvidia.
In your system tray in the bottom right of your screen, right click on the Nvidia icon. When you move your mouse over it there is a popup that says “NVIDIA Settings.” Left click the option for NVIDIA Control Panel.
On the left menu, left click Display top open the menu if it's not expanded already. Then left click “Run multiple display wizard.”
Left click “Next” then select how you are connecting to your 2nd screen. The computer should detect the video connection as long as you have your cables connected. In my case, I'm using component cables to connect to my projector. The computer detects the connection and marks it as component.
Left click “Next”and select the standard for your connection. Component will handle 1080i, but your TV or projector also has to support it. In my case, my projector can support up to 1080p so I select 1080i since that's the highest option available to me.
Now you select whether you want your main display to be cloned (use the exact same screen) that your TV will use or if you will have them configured separately.
If you use Clone, both screens must be the same resolution so if you are running 1680x1050 for example and your tv runs at 1768x992, both of them will run 1768x992 (1080i HDTV). If you select “Clone” and left click “Next”, everything is set up and you can click “Next” then “Finish.”
If you use Dualview however, you can keep your main screen at your higher resolution and create a custom resolution for your TV. If you select “Dualview” and left click “Next”, select the resolution that your primary screen should (or is currently) running at. Mine is running at 1680x1050 so I select that and left click “Next” twice and then click “Finish” to close the multiple display wizard.
Now, you should be set to use your 2nd screen. After the wizard runs, you will have your screens configured already in dualview mode with your primary screen on the left and your secondary screen (TV) on the right. What that means is in order to do stuff on your new TV screen, you move your mouse cursor off the right side of your main monitor and it will appear on your TV screen. You can move windows or applications from your main screen to the 2nd TV screen by clicking on the title bar and while holding down your left mouse button, drag the entire window or application over to the new screen. If you double click the title bar, it will maximize. This is especially handy if you use Netflix to watch online movies. Then you start your movie and click the full screen button on the Netflix movie viewer. What happens now is that the video will show on your new TV screen while the audio comes out of your computer speakers. That's because only HDMI transports audio along the same cable. You will need to run a separate audio cable to your TV in order to have the sound come out from it. Or if you use a sound system, you can run the audio to that. My motherboard has digital coax audio S/PDIF so I run that to my home theater system for 7.1 surround sound.
Now the other trick is that when you do NOT want to have the second screen active, you can disable it easily through the Nvidia system try icon. Left click the icon, select either video device, nView Display Settings, Single Display then select your primary monitor – the one not listed as HDTV probably.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Microsoft Natal
Microsoft wow'd this years E3 with their demo of project Natal, a game and multimedia system without a controller. That's right, no remote. Built on technology used in recently acquired 3DV Systems' ZCam, the camera for the Xbox 360 will be able to scan you or an object you hold and relate to them real time or use them as shown in this video.
Next to come will be the purchase of code to extrapolate the object's DNA from the scan and using cloning technology to take over key people in the US government and the business sectors, Microsoft will be in a position to take over the world!!
Next to come will be the purchase of code to extrapolate the object's DNA from the scan and using cloning technology to take over key people in the US government and the business sectors, Microsoft will be in a position to take over the world!!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
My top 10 multiplayer games
My family and friends love to play games together. Here is a list of games I have found and enjoy playing. It is not in order and not dedicated to a specific gaming platform.
1) World of Warcraft (PC)
Ok, a little background on this. For many years, we would only play games together that absolutely did not require any kind of payment. Period. I flat out refused. Then my friend brought his PC to my house with this game and was showing us how it worked and how much fun it was questing. Yeah, we were hooked. I set up my trial account which lasted a day before I realized I couldn't get mailed items
and ended up purchasing the game. That wasn't enough though. I didn't have the same version that he did so I had to upgrade to the Burning Crusade expansion. Now there is Wrath of the Lich King. This game, although pay-to-play at about $15/month, is so massive that when they take servers down for maintenance every tuesday, sometimes it takes them over 12 hours to finish. I can't even begin to imagine how many servers they have and how many people they have managing them. I hope for their sake they are running this all on vmware clusters, or the like.
So this fun *little* game is fun because I can play in groups with my friends, we help each other quest, fight in PVP together against the swarms of horde, or just waste the day away trying to accomplish all of the strange and mostly worthless achievements that came with the latest expansion.
The boring part is the grinding and farming. Grinding experience is where you go and kill a bunch of stuff and complete quests as fast as you can trying to get to that next level where you can get more fighting skills and train more profession skills. Farming is where you do the same thing but in order to raise your reputation with different factions (groups), gather green, blue and purple items (and orange sometimes), or to get certain materials or gold, or stuff to put on the auction house for the highest bidder.
Some people just socialize, dancing on the fountains in the cities, or doing a line dance while making train noises in the auction house (they must be REALLY bored).
2) Scorched Earth 3D (PC)
For those of us that have used the old IBM clones or early DOS based PCs, we know that this comes out of an archaic cult classic game where a gorilla tosses an exploding banana at another gorilla in a city. That was 2D.
Then there was Scorched Earth, the mother of all games. My roomate in college and I would play this after class, before class...when we weren't playing Warlords. In those days, not many people had a computer, or we would share one in our dorm. So, hotseat games became very popular. Many people would take a turn on one computer which would play out before the next person's turn. Then they added simultaneous mode where everyone would tell the computer what they wanted to do and it would do EVERYTHING at once. Wow, where'd my shot go? How'd you get your baby missle inside my heavy shield?
So what is the obvious progression from this wonderful game? Why, 3-dimensional warfare of course. New weapons, new environments and beautifully FREE! They made their project opensource and anyone can develop MODs for it (gaming environments, weapons, tanks) Any you can play with up to 24 people...holy crap. Some of the weapons you can buy take out half the map on their own when launched by 1 person. The graphics, sounds and gameplay are fantastic for a free game.
3) AdventureQuest (PC)
Ok, this game isn't truly multiplayer, although many sites look at it as such. It's a unique game that is kind of fun to play where you can buy unique weapons, armor (like ninja, mage, berserker) and spells, go on quests and the buy-in for lifetime gameplay as a Guardian is $25. My son and I enjoy this one.
4) Mario Kart (Wii)
This game is fun to play online, but it's a pain to connect with your friends. We gave up after a while since it took so long. However playing it in the house on the Wii and big screen is a real blast. Zoom around taking out the computer players or each other, battle to gather coins, or just race. You can set the teams, chose your ride and your famous Nintendo cartoon characters.
5) Halo (Xbox, Xbox 360)
This game has come far and is a cool series to play for people who enjoy a good frag like in the gold old days of computer games such as Duke Nukem and Rise of the Triad as well as the Quake and Doom games. You can fight against each other in multiplayer with grenades, highpowered guns and rocket launchers. Halo 2 ads the ability to use a one-handed weapon in the off-hand. Watch out for those needlers! You can also play in co-op mode where you help each other defeat the bad guys. Just don't run into your partners friendly fire...
6) Metal Arms (Xbox)
Glitch! You rusty bucket of bolts! This game is a blast to play. If you have kids, you can tell that the main general is swearing when he's giving Glitch his orders, but everything is always bleeped out. The weapons are so much fun, but where it really gets fun is using the robots that you can take control of or even get into and fight with! I enjoy grabbing myself a rivet gun and amassing an army of robots to follow me, which works well until someone makes them think I'm on the wrong side...
7) ExciteBots (Wii)
Online or split-screen, this game is so much fun to play. Playing as a animal/bug shaped robots, you drive on a course and score soccer goals, knock down bowling pins, smash your competition, chomp them in the butt and you soar so high into the sky you can't always see where you are going to end up.
8) MafiaWars (Text game on Facebook and many other social networking sites.)
A little bit of harmless fun where your mafia family battles against other mafia families. These families are merely friends you have invited to join you. With forums dedicated specifically for that purpose, it's fairly easy to get your mafia up to the 501 max allowed for you to fight with. However, the higher you go the more special items you can buy (1 for every 2 levels) and properties such as Mafia Mike's. You have jobs that you have to repeat in order to master a job tier before moving on to the next set of jobs. You have special loot that you collect and store in your vault for bonuses.
9) Texas Hold-em (Facebook, and many others)
I like playing this on Facebook because it's totally free, unless you choose to buy in with extra cash, but it's totally unnecessary. The graphics are wonderful and so is the gameplay. There are even drinks or gifts you can give to fellow players, which is nice to do when you have all of their money.
10) Perfect World (PC)
This is an anime based mmorpg similar to World of Warcraft but free with extra pay options. The first thing you notice when playing this game is that you can really jump far...and fall far without taking damage. The quests can be a little difficult to figure out at first but people are very helpful. The graphics and audio on this game are stunning and provide a very relaxing atmosphere.
ExciteBots: Trick Racing for the Wii
ExciteBots is one of the most exciting games I've seen for the Nintendo Wii for a long time. It's the sequel to their release of ExciteTrucks and is a lot of fun for me, my wife and kids. My wife played it for a few hours and she doesn't usually play racing games. She likes games like Mario Party. She's an animal lover so I think the bugs as vehicles really appealed to her.
Pros
I love the bugs. It's cool in the middle of the game when my bot ends up walking on its legs after picking up a wrench and stomp on the competition, or soar through the air on wings with tons of air time and skip huge chunks of the course to catch up to the leader. My son loves the huge choice of bugs available and the different colors to choose from.
The zany games such as soccer, bowling, darts and the tambourine all add to the skill involved with staying on the course while trying to complete these challenges.
I really enjoyed the graphics. Such bright and vivid colors give me the feeling of being outdoors on a sunny day even if it's stormy outside. Connecting to my screen through component video probably helps a bit with the graphics. You can't get me to go back!
Cons
Yeah, you guessed it. The remote/sensor has a hard time of telling sometimes when I want to turn, especially when I get excited about my flip into the air and my power boost off of the pink bar into the tree just off of the path when I land while I try to frantically turn my bot and steer it away. Argh.
The red bar is a pain in my frogs nitro butt. Really. For some reason, the computer bots land on the bar and are already half way through getting off of it by the time my frog has gone up 2 marks. The idea is that you're supposed to move your wheel (or just your remote) in a circle in time with the bot as it goes around the bar.
Turning is also kind of hard in this game. Especially in the air, while I can see that my frog isn't very aerodynamic and has no wings to be able to ride the wind, with the game being designed for you to boost off of every hill, bump, rock or mountain, I believe there should be better turning. And while you're on the ground, you end up getting tons of drift for the most turns instead of just turning. Maybe I just get carried away about turning because of my frustration with the remote...
Thoughts
Well, what could make this game better? Certainly improved controls, but what is it missing? Really, not much is missing at all. There are very few weapons involved in destruction which is good for kids. Who needs to blow the competition away with a tactical nuke anyway? Ok, well the idea appeals to some of us gamers. Vehicles with flame throwers, drop some tacks on the road, throw up a smokescreen to blind them, razor sharp shredders to tear apart the tires and chassis of the cars you are rubbing with. Well, ya know...it could be fun, but it's out of style with this game. Maybe a sequel to this game might do just that :)
Pros
I love the bugs. It's cool in the middle of the game when my bot ends up walking on its legs after picking up a wrench and stomp on the competition, or soar through the air on wings with tons of air time and skip huge chunks of the course to catch up to the leader. My son loves the huge choice of bugs available and the different colors to choose from.
The zany games such as soccer, bowling, darts and the tambourine all add to the skill involved with staying on the course while trying to complete these challenges.
I really enjoyed the graphics. Such bright and vivid colors give me the feeling of being outdoors on a sunny day even if it's stormy outside. Connecting to my screen through component video probably helps a bit with the graphics. You can't get me to go back!
Cons
Yeah, you guessed it. The remote/sensor has a hard time of telling sometimes when I want to turn, especially when I get excited about my flip into the air and my power boost off of the pink bar into the tree just off of the path when I land while I try to frantically turn my bot and steer it away. Argh.
The red bar is a pain in my frogs nitro butt. Really. For some reason, the computer bots land on the bar and are already half way through getting off of it by the time my frog has gone up 2 marks. The idea is that you're supposed to move your wheel (or just your remote) in a circle in time with the bot as it goes around the bar.
Turning is also kind of hard in this game. Especially in the air, while I can see that my frog isn't very aerodynamic and has no wings to be able to ride the wind, with the game being designed for you to boost off of every hill, bump, rock or mountain, I believe there should be better turning. And while you're on the ground, you end up getting tons of drift for the most turns instead of just turning. Maybe I just get carried away about turning because of my frustration with the remote...
Thoughts
Well, what could make this game better? Certainly improved controls, but what is it missing? Really, not much is missing at all. There are very few weapons involved in destruction which is good for kids. Who needs to blow the competition away with a tactical nuke anyway? Ok, well the idea appeals to some of us gamers. Vehicles with flame throwers, drop some tacks on the road, throw up a smokescreen to blind them, razor sharp shredders to tear apart the tires and chassis of the cars you are rubbing with. Well, ya know...it could be fun, but it's out of style with this game. Maybe a sequel to this game might do just that :)
Firefox 3.5 Beta release 4
The new Firefox is almost here! In fact, I'm testing it right now. It is pretty fast. For those of you who use Firefox as their primary browser like I do, you'll have noticed that it has been getting pretty slow over the past year. I've even tried Google's Chrome browser which is lightning fast...I just couldn't get used to it. They are boasting a 2x improvement over the speed of 3.0 and 10x over 2.0. The other changes are rather unimportant to most users. For a full list of changes, you can visit the beta site at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html. You can also download and test the beta from that site, just remember that it's still beta and is still being worked on.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Wii MotionPlus on June 8th
Nintendo is getting ready to release their long awaited and MUCH needed InvenSense multi-axis gyro based wii remote attachment named Wii MotionPlus. It will be work with the upcoming title releases of the Wii Sports sequel, Wii Sports Resort, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Grand Slam Tennis, Red Steel 2 - (MotionPlus with swords!) and Virtua Tennis 2009. All coming to the store on June 8th!
Why is the MotionPlus important for the Wii game sytem?
When Nintendo first released their Wii system at the bargain price of $249.99, that was their price point that they had to meet. In order to make it, they had to make a sacrifice on the number of gyroscopes - the little weighted electronic components that determine which way you are moving your remote and how fast (accelerometers). If you have noticed playing different games such as the very competitive challenge games on Mario Party, the games have a hard time of determining exactly what you are doing when you move the remote (flip the chimp!). The additional ingredients in the MotionPlus, which plugs into the bottom of your Wii Remote, is merely what they didn't include in their original design. It allows true 1:1 movement between your hand movements and the movement on the screen.
Ok, so why again is that important?
A lot of people have expressed frustration at the quality of titles released for the Wii gaming system that take advantage of what the Wii is meant to offer - True interactivity. We want to use the remote like a lightsaber in Star Wars or a sword while fighting as a ninja or samurai. It just doesn't work with the stock remote. The sensor can't tell most of the time when you raise your sword up above your head, how fast and what direction you swing it or how exactly it's being held. I can imagine right now the looks of consternation of the faces of the people at LucasArts when they released their game Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. I bet they would have held off releasing the game until this summer if they had known Nintendo was going to release this! Perhaps there will be a sequel...
So now, with the release of this attachment, the hope of all Wii action gamers hangs in the balance. We are hoping that with this release, the big powerhouses will release the type of action games we have been waiting for. PLEASE!
Why is the MotionPlus important for the Wii game sytem?
When Nintendo first released their Wii system at the bargain price of $249.99, that was their price point that they had to meet. In order to make it, they had to make a sacrifice on the number of gyroscopes - the little weighted electronic components that determine which way you are moving your remote and how fast (accelerometers). If you have noticed playing different games such as the very competitive challenge games on Mario Party, the games have a hard time of determining exactly what you are doing when you move the remote (flip the chimp!). The additional ingredients in the MotionPlus, which plugs into the bottom of your Wii Remote, is merely what they didn't include in their original design. It allows true 1:1 movement between your hand movements and the movement on the screen.
Ok, so why again is that important?
A lot of people have expressed frustration at the quality of titles released for the Wii gaming system that take advantage of what the Wii is meant to offer - True interactivity. We want to use the remote like a lightsaber in Star Wars or a sword while fighting as a ninja or samurai. It just doesn't work with the stock remote. The sensor can't tell most of the time when you raise your sword up above your head, how fast and what direction you swing it or how exactly it's being held. I can imagine right now the looks of consternation of the faces of the people at LucasArts when they released their game Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. I bet they would have held off releasing the game until this summer if they had known Nintendo was going to release this! Perhaps there will be a sequel...
So now, with the release of this attachment, the hope of all Wii action gamers hangs in the balance. We are hoping that with this release, the big powerhouses will release the type of action games we have been waiting for. PLEASE!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Computer on the Big Screen!
Ok, so I have my big screen with my projector hooked up, my sound system integrated into my room...why not hook up my PC? When I first bought my PC parts, I did so with the intent that eventually it would be a media and gaming PC. I built it with parts from newegg.com, tigerdirect.com and frys.com. With an ASUS crosshair motherboard, 4gb of ram, 1.5 TB of harddrive space, an Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS video card and an AMD Athlon 64-bit FX-62 dual-core processor, this thing rocks. Well it's getting old now, well over a year. But it still has no problems at all with the latest games.
One of the features of my video card is a converter that came with the video card for component video out which with a 25 ft component video cable plugs right into the back of my home theater system. Well, not quite... I also have a Wii and an Xbox both with component video connectors. So I bought an autosensing component video switch with 4 inputs on it. It hides well behind all of the components and I never need to mess with it.
So I plugged my computer video into there and in my nvidia control panel, I set up my new display through my component video as a dualview, so I had a different desktop on the bigscreen. For my audio, my computers motherboard has a wonderfully handy coax audio output that I ran to one of two in the back of the Onkyo HTS.
For my test, I launched my Netflix account in Internet Explorer. Since I had my dual-view on, I dragged my browser over to the big screen, maximized the browser window, selected my movie and ran it full screen. Everything was wonderful, just like watching a DVD from your own DVD player. Of course, don't try it if you don't have high-speed internet. A full movie download will take you many hours.
So now I came to a problem. After my movie was over, I decided to watch a DVD. Now there was no audio! Apparently what is happening is when my computer audio is hooked up to the home theater system, the audio from the DVD player, as well as the Wii and Xbox will not play. So my fix, at least for now unless I find a better solution, is to unplug the coax for the computer audio fromt he home theater system when I'm not using it. Not the best solution of course, but it's a start.
Another thing that I did is whenever I'm not specifically using my big screen, I use my Nvidia settings icon in my system tray to set my nView display settings to Single Display (for my primary monitor) so that my mouse would not go off of the right side of my screen, and it also will not send video out to the home theater system.
Now, if I want to...I can use my bluetooth mouse and keyboard and use the big screen as my primary monitor! Not very practical at the moment, but possible :)
One of the features of my video card is a converter that came with the video card for component video out which with a 25 ft component video cable plugs right into the back of my home theater system. Well, not quite... I also have a Wii and an Xbox both with component video connectors. So I bought an autosensing component video switch with 4 inputs on it. It hides well behind all of the components and I never need to mess with it.
So I plugged my computer video into there and in my nvidia control panel, I set up my new display through my component video as a dualview, so I had a different desktop on the bigscreen. For my audio, my computers motherboard has a wonderfully handy coax audio output that I ran to one of two in the back of the Onkyo HTS.
For my test, I launched my Netflix account in Internet Explorer. Since I had my dual-view on, I dragged my browser over to the big screen, maximized the browser window, selected my movie and ran it full screen. Everything was wonderful, just like watching a DVD from your own DVD player. Of course, don't try it if you don't have high-speed internet. A full movie download will take you many hours.
So now I came to a problem. After my movie was over, I decided to watch a DVD. Now there was no audio! Apparently what is happening is when my computer audio is hooked up to the home theater system, the audio from the DVD player, as well as the Wii and Xbox will not play. So my fix, at least for now unless I find a better solution, is to unplug the coax for the computer audio fromt he home theater system when I'm not using it. Not the best solution of course, but it's a start.
Another thing that I did is whenever I'm not specifically using my big screen, I use my Nvidia settings icon in my system tray to set my nView display settings to Single Display (for my primary monitor) so that my mouse would not go off of the right side of my screen, and it also will not send video out to the home theater system.
Now, if I want to...I can use my bluetooth mouse and keyboard and use the big screen as my primary monitor! Not very practical at the moment, but possible :)
Saturday, May 30, 2009
There might be a lot of people that have heard of facebook, not know quite what it is and what it is about. Facebook.com is a social networking site where you can keep in touch with family and friends, upload pictures from your cell phone, or play hundreds of different games, all for free.
Some of the ones that I've played include Mafia Wars, Farm Town, Texas Hold-em and Bejeweled. Many of these games require you to invite your friends to play in order to gives you bonuses such as a bigger mob to fight with you, bigger armies to fight by your side, neighbors to help tend your fields, or in the case of Bejeweled, the amount of points your team (group of friends) earns gives you chances to earn prizes such as a laptop. In Texas Hold-em, your friends can give you daily gives of coins to help you on your way after you inevitably lose all of your coins after going all-in on a hand.
The list of games is huge, but the number of quality games is limited. I really enjoy the premade games that have been brought into facebook such as Bejeweled Blitz, Scramble - a hidden word challenge game. It's just a one-minute diversion, well depending on how many times you attempt to beat your friends score and then brag about it. I've found most people to be friendly and help you out when you need it.
Some of the ones that I've played include Mafia Wars, Farm Town, Texas Hold-em and Bejeweled. Many of these games require you to invite your friends to play in order to gives you bonuses such as a bigger mob to fight with you, bigger armies to fight by your side, neighbors to help tend your fields, or in the case of Bejeweled, the amount of points your team (group of friends) earns gives you chances to earn prizes such as a laptop. In Texas Hold-em, your friends can give you daily gives of coins to help you on your way after you inevitably lose all of your coins after going all-in on a hand.
The list of games is huge, but the number of quality games is limited. I really enjoy the premade games that have been brought into facebook such as Bejeweled Blitz, Scramble - a hidden word challenge game. It's just a one-minute diversion, well depending on how many times you attempt to beat your friends score and then brag about it. I've found most people to be friendly and help you out when you need it.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wii Active Personal Trainer from EA Games
Well I bought this for the Wii this past week. The first day I didn't get through many of the exercises and my knees absolutely killed me. It took me a few days to recover. I bombed on the squats with sharp pains and a grinding in my knees.
Attempt number 2 was today. I worked out for 14m 55s, burned 85.8 calories and did all 15 exercises. I have a good sweat. So here is my initial review while on my goal towards my 30 day challenge.
The exercises are fairly difficult, but in a good way. The most challenging thing though is technical. While running I found the strap for the nunchuck sliding off of my thigh, and also occasionally the nunchuck itself would escape it's precocious pouch on my front thigh and flail wantonly through the air in slow motion before whipping itself back at my head trying to decapitate me. Luckily for me though, I have a strong grasp on the obvious and just stopped for a second and reattached it before it happened again. The problem being the cord being loose gets caught on the wiimote while pumping your arms hard. I may have to go buy the wireless attachment for the nunchuck...or perhaps i'm trying too hard :) I'll have to run to the store for refreshments later ...
The other technical difficulty is the constant pulling out and insertion of the nunchuck in the pouch in between exercises. Ok, so this shouldn't be such a big deal right? Well it isn't unless you forget which way the nunchuck actually goes into the pouch. While doing the inline skating, I found that when i squatted to gain speed, nothing happened, so I had to pull the nunchuck out and turn it around. It's very particular about that.
There is the bicep curl, arm lift and back row which all affect your shoulders and upper back. My shoulders, neck and back are still weak after an accident on the interstate a few years back which forced me into temporary retirement from my taekwondo activities (I reinjured my neck and shoulders enough times attempting to do minimal exercises for the year following my accident that I had to stop all upper body workout altogether with the exception of my clubswinging.) These, while hard are manageable on the easy level I started out on. There is plenty of time inbetween motions for these.
The squats could not defeat me this time, I was on a mission! Without pain in my knees today I totally annihilated my trainer. Ok, so I didn't go ALL the way over to the sides on the lunges, that was tough on my knees so they were more like squats as well. The biggest thing I ran into on these is that the first time through on easy, you have to keep waiting for the next move or it thinks you are retarded and aren't doing the movements.
Attempt number 2 was today. I worked out for 14m 55s, burned 85.8 calories and did all 15 exercises. I have a good sweat. So here is my initial review while on my goal towards my 30 day challenge.
The exercises are fairly difficult, but in a good way. The most challenging thing though is technical. While running I found the strap for the nunchuck sliding off of my thigh, and also occasionally the nunchuck itself would escape it's precocious pouch on my front thigh and flail wantonly through the air in slow motion before whipping itself back at my head trying to decapitate me. Luckily for me though, I have a strong grasp on the obvious and just stopped for a second and reattached it before it happened again. The problem being the cord being loose gets caught on the wiimote while pumping your arms hard. I may have to go buy the wireless attachment for the nunchuck...or perhaps i'm trying too hard :) I'll have to run to the store for refreshments later ...
The other technical difficulty is the constant pulling out and insertion of the nunchuck in the pouch in between exercises. Ok, so this shouldn't be such a big deal right? Well it isn't unless you forget which way the nunchuck actually goes into the pouch. While doing the inline skating, I found that when i squatted to gain speed, nothing happened, so I had to pull the nunchuck out and turn it around. It's very particular about that.
There is the bicep curl, arm lift and back row which all affect your shoulders and upper back. My shoulders, neck and back are still weak after an accident on the interstate a few years back which forced me into temporary retirement from my taekwondo activities (I reinjured my neck and shoulders enough times attempting to do minimal exercises for the year following my accident that I had to stop all upper body workout altogether with the exception of my clubswinging.) These, while hard are manageable on the easy level I started out on. There is plenty of time inbetween motions for these.
The squats could not defeat me this time, I was on a mission! Without pain in my knees today I totally annihilated my trainer. Ok, so I didn't go ALL the way over to the sides on the lunges, that was tough on my knees so they were more like squats as well. The biggest thing I ran into on these is that the first time through on easy, you have to keep waiting for the next move or it thinks you are retarded and aren't doing the movements.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Nintendo DSi
So my 12yr old son's Nintendo DS was getting pretty worn and my 5yr old didn't have one yet and we were getting married so we thought we could buy the boys the new DSi for a wedding present, something to keep them occupied during the goings on and keep them from getting into trouble. Well it kind of worked...mostly :)
Anyways, we brought them home from the store and I went to work on them. It's pretty simple to use out of the box, but the first thing my son mentioned was that it doesn't have the old Gameboy Advanced port on the back. Not a huge deal, he'll just have to trade those in. Let me tell you though, if you get just one game for the DS, get Mario Kart. My 5yr old has a BLAST with it and they can play it together without owning 2 copies using system link.
So after they were done playing them for the day, I sat down at my computer, logged on to my Nintendo.com account and registered them online. First of all, let me say that one of the draws of these new fangled devices was that fact that you could download games online. I set up the wireless on the devices to match my router, which was actually quite simple. I have a DIR-655 that allows setting up devices using WPS - wireless protected setup. You activate it on the router and on the device, and it sets everything up for you. It's quite slick. After no time at all I was online with Nintendo. I was VERY disappointed by the lack of games available for download. The highlight apparently was the free internet browser, much like the one advertised for their Wii which was only free for a limited time. So the offer was, purchase a new Nintendo DSi™ system and access the Nintendo DSi shop by October 5, 2009 to receive 1000 points to spend online at the shop....on a grand total of 6 games. Although, they are supposed to come out with some new ones. My 12 yr old will like Brain Age: Sudoku.
Another complaint of mine about Nintendo is their support or general lack of it for existing wireless technologies. They are constantly way behind the times for wireless security. WEP was outdated when the DS came out originally, replaced by WPA and WPA2 for home wireless security protocols. Since WEP transmitts your key in plain text anyone with a wireless sniffer can access your wireless network without bothering with decryption. Now the DSi finally offers support for WPA and setup using WPS, but not as default, you have to use the advanced setup. The initial options still assume you are using WEP. In fact Nintendo's games that allow connection over Nintendo WiFi only allow WEP keys. So while now I can connect our DSi's to my wireless WPA protected network, I cannot connect their DSi Mario Kart to my Wii Mario Kart game if I chose to. Get with the technology Nintendo! Now that we can download stuff from the internet over wireless, how about downloading patches to our games to allow higher levels of wireless encryption?
Anyways, we brought them home from the store and I went to work on them. It's pretty simple to use out of the box, but the first thing my son mentioned was that it doesn't have the old Gameboy Advanced port on the back. Not a huge deal, he'll just have to trade those in. Let me tell you though, if you get just one game for the DS, get Mario Kart. My 5yr old has a BLAST with it and they can play it together without owning 2 copies using system link.
So after they were done playing them for the day, I sat down at my computer, logged on to my Nintendo.com account and registered them online. First of all, let me say that one of the draws of these new fangled devices was that fact that you could download games online. I set up the wireless on the devices to match my router, which was actually quite simple. I have a DIR-655 that allows setting up devices using WPS - wireless protected setup. You activate it on the router and on the device, and it sets everything up for you. It's quite slick. After no time at all I was online with Nintendo. I was VERY disappointed by the lack of games available for download. The highlight apparently was the free internet browser, much like the one advertised for their Wii which was only free for a limited time. So the offer was, purchase a new Nintendo DSi™ system and access the Nintendo DSi shop by October 5, 2009 to receive 1000 points to spend online at the shop....on a grand total of 6 games. Although, they are supposed to come out with some new ones. My 12 yr old will like Brain Age: Sudoku.
Another complaint of mine about Nintendo is their support or general lack of it for existing wireless technologies. They are constantly way behind the times for wireless security. WEP was outdated when the DS came out originally, replaced by WPA and WPA2 for home wireless security protocols. Since WEP transmitts your key in plain text anyone with a wireless sniffer can access your wireless network without bothering with decryption. Now the DSi finally offers support for WPA and setup using WPS, but not as default, you have to use the advanced setup. The initial options still assume you are using WEP. In fact Nintendo's games that allow connection over Nintendo WiFi only allow WEP keys. So while now I can connect our DSi's to my wireless WPA protected network, I cannot connect their DSi Mario Kart to my Wii Mario Kart game if I chose to. Get with the technology Nintendo! Now that we can download stuff from the internet over wireless, how about downloading patches to our games to allow higher levels of wireless encryption?
Buying and Setting up a Home Theater System
Have you ever wanted surround sound for your video games, movies, music? Have you wanted that big screen TV in high def 1080p, 7.1 digital surround sound? Here is the setup that I used, and I did it for about $2,000 with my tax refund. Thanks uncle Sam!
Ordering the Parts
I ordered the Onkyo surround sound, projector, VisionMount ceiling mount and component/dvi cable from ProjectorPeople.com. I got a package deal which took about $80 off of the price of the Onkyo system. Total cost from them with tax and shipping, $1,809. I decided to go with the ceiling mount projector due to cost, and to save space. I actually build my own screen from some cheap lumber and $8 in fabric. But it could be used on any clean white wall. It gives me an 80" diagonal screen in 16:9.
I ordered the Remote Control and DVD/VCR player from Newegg.com - I've actually had it for a while and they don't sell it anymore but it is one heck of a remote. I had it learn all the codes from my projector remote, DVD remote, and Home Theater remote.
The DVD/VCR player I got because of the upscaling to 1080p and to take my VCR out of the build, not to mention it's cheap for an upscaling DVD player and it will also play my CDs.
7.1 Surround Sound - Onkyo HT-S5200B ($479)
Projector - Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector, ceiling mount ($949)
3yr warranty w/lamp replacement ($125)
Projector ceiling mount - Sanus VisionMount ($79)
Video Cables - Dual Component/HDMI 25' cable ($107)
Shipping - $70
Belkin 3' HDMI cable ($27)
Audio Cables - Dynex 6' Optical Digital Audio Cable ($28)
DVD/VCR - SAMSUNG DVD-V9800 Upscaling 1080p DVD Player & VCR Combo ($100)
Remote Control - Home Theater Master MX-500Learning remote with backlight ($79)
Here are some pictures of my setup.
Setting Up the Projector
The projector was picked due to it's ability to shift my image up to 30 degrees. With the projector ceiling mount though, I was able to aim the projector at the center of my screen and adjust the keystone to square out the image. The mounting brackets easily release the projector as it screws on to tighten. However it is a pain to remount as I had to work above my head without easily seeing what i was doing. I had to have my wife hold the ladder as I tried to put it up and twist it on and tighten the 3 locking screws.
I set it's aspect to 16:9, keystone to -18, installation type to front/ceiling and I decided to let it run in economode (eco-mode under lamp power) which increases the life time of the bulb, and is still plenty bright for my living room.
I ran the dual HDMI/Component video cable along with an extension cord up to the projector along the wall and across the ceiling. They are plugged into the component out and HDMI out from the Onkyo system and component in and HDMI 1 of the projector.
Setting Up the DVD Player
I ran the HDMI and Optical audio cable from the DVD player to the HDMI DVD in and the DVD coaxial in on the Onkyo. For the settings I had to manually set the TV aspect to Wide under display setup. Since I have my Onkyo up at the front of the room, I needed only short cables for all of the devices on top of my game cabinet.
Setting Up the Home Theater System
Ok, this was by far one of the most time-consuming aspects of the setup. I had to run the wire for the speakers along the corner of the ceiling and the wall and then down to the receiver in the front of the room. Some of the supplied wires weren't long enough so I had to purchase longer wire and run it instead. For the length of wire included they must think most people set this up in their bedrooms! For the time being I just used some clear scotch tape to hold them up. Then I attached the wire to the speakers and mounted them. two in the back, two on the sides and 3 up front. The front speakers were easy as they were at floor level, or close enough the center speaker sits right on top of my game cabinet. The more challenging of the speakers were on the right side of the room (stage left) where I had to take the wire past the front doorway. I had a metal piece which covers the side of my carpet where it meets the linoleum and i ran the wire under that and reattached it. Attaching the wires to the back was simple enough. Just unscrew the fasteners, insert the wire - make sure you know which is the positive and negative, and retighten the fastening screw. Then I attached the subwoofer from the corner of the room, it has a special plugin.
The Moment of Truth
Then came time to test the system. After about 4 hours of running wire, mounting the projector and a few breaks, I turned on the system and heard nothing out of the side speakers. So, I reluctantly opened up the manual and found out that extra little microphone that came with it needed to be plugged in to start up the installation for the surround sound. After sending the kid out of the house for a few minutes and making sure all was quiet ( I shut off my computer too), I went about positioning the microphone in the 3 spots so the system could do it's sound checks. Then I turned on the tuner for the radio and it was amazing! I tried out a DVD which also worked very well. My son and I watched Monster House for our home theater debut.
How Many Remotes?!
Ok, I have a pet peave about needing more than one remote control in the living room. I don't want to have to search for which of the 5 remote controls I need in order to do something. So with my MX-500 I put it into learning mode by pressing the MAIN+ENT buttons for 3 seconds, pressing P-PRO and select the device to program then all I had to do was in turn select the button to program on my universal remote and with the other remote facing (IR sensor) press the same button on the it. It was very painless and worked perfectly. The only thing that I changed was for all of my devices, I programmed the volume button for the volume on my home theater system remote so I could control volume no matter what device I currently had selected. The backlight on the remote is very handy and make changing things in the dark easy without ruining everyones eyes during a movie.
Ordering the Parts
I ordered the Onkyo surround sound, projector, VisionMount ceiling mount and component/dvi cable from ProjectorPeople.com. I got a package deal which took about $80 off of the price of the Onkyo system. Total cost from them with tax and shipping, $1,809. I decided to go with the ceiling mount projector due to cost, and to save space. I actually build my own screen from some cheap lumber and $8 in fabric. But it could be used on any clean white wall. It gives me an 80" diagonal screen in 16:9.
I ordered the Remote Control and DVD/VCR player from Newegg.com - I've actually had it for a while and they don't sell it anymore but it is one heck of a remote. I had it learn all the codes from my projector remote, DVD remote, and Home Theater remote.
The DVD/VCR player I got because of the upscaling to 1080p and to take my VCR out of the build, not to mention it's cheap for an upscaling DVD player and it will also play my CDs.
7.1 Surround Sound - Onkyo HT-S5200B ($479)
Projector - Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector, ceiling mount ($949)
3yr warranty w/lamp replacement ($125)
Projector ceiling mount - Sanus VisionMount ($79)
Video Cables - Dual Component/HDMI 25' cable ($107)
Shipping - $70
Belkin 3' HDMI cable ($27)
Audio Cables - Dynex 6' Optical Digital Audio Cable ($28)
DVD/VCR - SAMSUNG DVD-V9800 Upscaling 1080p DVD Player & VCR Combo ($100)
Remote Control - Home Theater Master MX-500Learning remote with backlight ($79)
Here are some pictures of my setup.
Setting Up the Projector
The projector was picked due to it's ability to shift my image up to 30 degrees. With the projector ceiling mount though, I was able to aim the projector at the center of my screen and adjust the keystone to square out the image. The mounting brackets easily release the projector as it screws on to tighten. However it is a pain to remount as I had to work above my head without easily seeing what i was doing. I had to have my wife hold the ladder as I tried to put it up and twist it on and tighten the 3 locking screws.
I set it's aspect to 16:9, keystone to -18, installation type to front/ceiling and I decided to let it run in economode (eco-mode under lamp power) which increases the life time of the bulb, and is still plenty bright for my living room.
I ran the dual HDMI/Component video cable along with an extension cord up to the projector along the wall and across the ceiling. They are plugged into the component out and HDMI out from the Onkyo system and component in and HDMI 1 of the projector.
Setting Up the DVD Player
I ran the HDMI and Optical audio cable from the DVD player to the HDMI DVD in and the DVD coaxial in on the Onkyo. For the settings I had to manually set the TV aspect to Wide under display setup. Since I have my Onkyo up at the front of the room, I needed only short cables for all of the devices on top of my game cabinet.
Setting Up the Home Theater System
Ok, this was by far one of the most time-consuming aspects of the setup. I had to run the wire for the speakers along the corner of the ceiling and the wall and then down to the receiver in the front of the room. Some of the supplied wires weren't long enough so I had to purchase longer wire and run it instead. For the length of wire included they must think most people set this up in their bedrooms! For the time being I just used some clear scotch tape to hold them up. Then I attached the wire to the speakers and mounted them. two in the back, two on the sides and 3 up front. The front speakers were easy as they were at floor level, or close enough the center speaker sits right on top of my game cabinet. The more challenging of the speakers were on the right side of the room (stage left) where I had to take the wire past the front doorway. I had a metal piece which covers the side of my carpet where it meets the linoleum and i ran the wire under that and reattached it. Attaching the wires to the back was simple enough. Just unscrew the fasteners, insert the wire - make sure you know which is the positive and negative, and retighten the fastening screw. Then I attached the subwoofer from the corner of the room, it has a special plugin.
The Moment of Truth
Then came time to test the system. After about 4 hours of running wire, mounting the projector and a few breaks, I turned on the system and heard nothing out of the side speakers. So, I reluctantly opened up the manual and found out that extra little microphone that came with it needed to be plugged in to start up the installation for the surround sound. After sending the kid out of the house for a few minutes and making sure all was quiet ( I shut off my computer too), I went about positioning the microphone in the 3 spots so the system could do it's sound checks. Then I turned on the tuner for the radio and it was amazing! I tried out a DVD which also worked very well. My son and I watched Monster House for our home theater debut.
How Many Remotes?!
Ok, I have a pet peave about needing more than one remote control in the living room. I don't want to have to search for which of the 5 remote controls I need in order to do something. So with my MX-500 I put it into learning mode by pressing the MAIN+ENT buttons for 3 seconds, pressing P-PRO and select the device to program then all I had to do was in turn select the button to program on my universal remote and with the other remote facing (IR sensor) press the same button on the it. It was very painless and worked perfectly. The only thing that I changed was for all of my devices, I programmed the volume button for the volume on my home theater system remote so I could control volume no matter what device I currently had selected. The backlight on the remote is very handy and make changing things in the dark easy without ruining everyones eyes during a movie.
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