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.

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

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

• 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.

Cons

• 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.
  

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
• DepthQ® HD 3D Projector by LightSpeed Design, Inc.
• DQ-3120 by LightSpeed Design, Inc.

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 9800 GX2
• GeForce 9800 GTX+
• GeForce 9800 GTX
• GeForce 9800 GT
• BFG GeForce 9600 GT
• GeForce 8 Series
• GeForce 8800 Ultra
• GeForce 8800 GTX
• GeForce 8800 GTS
• GeForce 8800 GT