Tech Update

Every now and then, I find it a little disturbing how addicted Andrew and I are to our technology. A couple of days ago, we were building Andrew's new computer desk, which took all afternoon and necessitated unplugging both of our computers. (I inherited his old computer desk.) Andrew commented on how strange it felt not to have internet access for even just a couple of hours. Of course, he uses his computer for work as well, but I felt much the same. We both spend a lot of time on the computers and a fair amount of time with the TV, either watching shows, watching DVDs, or playing video games. Even when I'm out walking the dog, I make the longer walks more interesting by listening to a podcast on the iPod. We end up kind of at a loss when the modem malfunctions, let alone when we're without power for a while.

Nonetheless, I generally like our various technology. Andrew and I each have a MacMini, each with an additional storage drive. Andrew just recently purchased a new Cintiq tablet monitor, which allows him to use a stylus to draw directly on the screen. Hopefully, he'll be able to do more work at home that way. I still have the iPod mini I got about three years ago. It's not as nice as Andrew's, which plays videos and has the nice full color screen and everything. But it still works. I mainly listen to podcasts these days, as they tend to be longer than most music I have and help me to pass time and stay interested while I'm doing something better than a bunch of short songs taking up the same amount of time.

If the internet is something of an addiction for me, video games are even more so, though I try to keep it under some level of control. I got three games for Christmas this year. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games is pretty much what it sounds like: the characters from the Mario and Sonic franchises competing for the gold in the summer Olympics. It's for the Wii and actually provides a pretty decent workout. Also for the Wii is Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, a kind of puzzle-adventure game which has been getting hugely positive reviews. However, I've only played "Mario and Sonic" a few times and I haven't even opened "Zack and Wiki" yet. Why? Mass Effect.

We bought an XBox 360 over the summer, largely so Andrew could have the version of the "TransFormers" movie game that came with a bonus disc. I appreciated the system's capabilities and even joined in the occasional Halo online battle. But I wasn't really playing a game seriously on the system until "Mass Effect". "Mass Effect" is a huge RPG from BioWare, makers of the popular "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic". "Mass Effect" is more of an homage to the great science fiction movies of the 80s and early 90s. You play as Commander Shepard, the first human to join the ranks of the Spectres, an elite group charged with maintaining order in the universe with carte blanche to act as they see fit. Your character's appearance is highly customizable. You can choose to be male or female, make up a first name (the game gets around this in dialogue by having other characters call you by your last name), change your hair, eye color, and facial features, and even select from a couple of different back stories. Unlike in many RPGs, your character does talk, with male and female voice actors recording hundreds of lines of dialogue for your character's various response options. Like the best games of its kind, "Mass Effect" gives the player tons of freedom. You can behave virtuously or demand payments from those you help or refuse to take on their problems. You can charm people in to seeing things your way or intimidate them into doing what you want. You can work on your main mission of saving the universe from a threat against all life, take on side missions on various planets, talk people through their problems, or just waste all your money gambling at the casino.

I was playing yesterday while waiting for Andrew to get home and came to a point where I had to make a call. Now a lot of the choices I make in this game are pretty clear cut, like "help this person" or "ignore this person". Some are less so, like siding with one person or another in an argument where both make good points. But this was a really difficult call. Though I couldn't be sure of the outcome, it seemed like something bad was going to happen either way. I made my choice and there were consequences. And I really felt it. I kept wondering if I had made the right decision, if things might have gone better if i had gone with the other choice. Then I realized that I was feeling exactly what I should have been feeling about that situation. If I really was a military commander who had to make a hard call with no clearly "right" choice, I would probably be second guessing myself and wondering if I had done the right thing. I was in love with the game already, but that was the point where it gave me something I had never experienced in a video game before: a real feeling of owning my actions and their consequences. It's an amazing game that I'd recommend you try if you get the chance.

We Got A WII!

I know I haven't posted here in a while, but this is a pretty momentous occasion. The title, coupled with the date, says it all.

We weren't able to get a preorder due to the limited numbers and a couple of preorder related fiascoes. We had decided to arrive at what we though was a very early hour (roughly 5:30 AM) at our local Target, which we had heard had at least 100 Wiis coming in, probably 120. But when we got there, contrary to our expectations of low turnout, at least 120 people were forming a line that went around the side of the store. Tents and opened cars told us quite a few people had been there a very long time. Disheartened, we left, and decided to try a few more places before resorting to ordering online. We decided to go with a less likely store. I hesitate to even name it as we may need to rely on the trick of going there when the next generation of consoles comes out. Friends can e-mail me if they're curious. Anyway, this store initially had no line. We went to check another nearby store quickly, found it did have a line, and returned to the previous store to find two people waiting. We quickly secured our places waiting for two (we had a friend with us) of the 6 available Wiis.

I'm very happy to say that the people we ended up waiting with were a great group. Everyone was really friendly and as far as I could tell, not one of them was looking to resell the system. We chatted, checked out a new DS game, held a spot for the mom of a twelve year old while she went to retrieve her son from the nearby Circuit City line. (She later repaid us with a cofee and donut run.) We had arrived around 5:30 and the store wasn't supposed to open until 10, so we were prepared for a length wait. But one of the managers decided to let us in around 7! The only downside was that our friend had gone home to grab some warmer clothing. Fortunately, since Andrew and I still count as two people, we were able to pick one up for him. The signage outside had indicated that the store was only selling bundles. None of us knew what this meant and we were pretty nervous, having heard tales of $600 bundles of crappy games. But we were in luck. The bundle here was the system, and extra controller of your choice (remote, nunchuk, or virtual console controller), and either "Excite Truck" or "Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess". We, of course, picked the latter.

So how is it? FUN. Thw controls work extremely well and the whole interface is a joy to use. The game included with the console, "Wii Sports" shows off the controller functions very wel through a number of fun little sports games. There's not much depth, but you can customize your characters and all the games are pretty fun. "Twilight Princess" would be a great game without the Wii functionality. I've been waiting over a year to play it. But I do dearly lover aiming my slingshot with my remote and hearing it emit sword slashing sounds as I swing it to slash away at my foes.

All in all, this was a surprisingly good experience, and the real fun is just begining. I'll try not to neglect my social contacts, but if you hear me talking about triple bogeys and triforces as I talk to you with one hand holding the phone, you'll know what I'm up to.

Console Wars: Why the XBox 360 Will Be Stupid

I will almost certainly get a PlayStation3 when it comes out.

I might get a Nintendo Revolution when it comes out.

I was not planning on getting an XBox 360 when it came out (have to draw the line somewhere), but someone online just pointed out a factor that makes me even more certain of my decision.

I don't think I've ever been outright down on the original XBox. There are, in fact, a small number of games that make me very jealous of XBox owners (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic being a major one.) But as compared with the other two consoles, there just weren't that many XBox only games that I really wanted. The system had a direction that didn't include quite enough of the kind of games I like to make buying it worthwhile.

Considering this, buying the 360 was never really a consideration. The other two systems will be able to play all of my current game library, plus a number of oldies if the Revolution's retro library pans out. Unless something very odd happened, like Final Fantasy suddenly going exclusive to XBox, there was just no reason to pick up the 360. But after what I've learned, I wonder if a lot of people who actually have XBoxes now might feel the same way.

We've known for a while that there will be two versions of the XBox available at launch. One is a "value priced" version, with only the basics included, pretty much system and controller. The more expensive premium package has some extra bells and whistles, like a headset for talking online, an ethernet cable, and a hard drive. Now you might be thinking that all this extra stuff is fun but fairly unnecessary. Think again. If you have a pile of XBox games sitting around and you want to play them on your shiny new 360, then you NEED that hard drive. That's right, the XBox360 is backwards compatible ONLY IF you have a hard drive for it. The hard drive can be bought separately if you have the core package for about $100. (If you are considering getting a 360 and want it to be backwards compatible with your XBox games, I would recommend the premium package, since the price difference equals the cost of the hard drive by itself and you get some extra goodies as well.)

But wait, it gets better, by which I mean worse. Y'see, your new system will be able to play only SOME of the XBox games you have now. As best I understand it, the hard drive of the 360 contains an XBox emulator much like the emulators for older console that I'm sure none of you have on your computers because it's illegal. The XBox emulator, however, can't handle every XBox games as is. Tweaks to its code will be needed to allow many games to be played. And because this takes time and work, Microsoft is going to have to pick some games for the honor of being playable on the 360. Isn't that nice?

Now to be fair, I checked the stats for the PS3 while writing this article to make sure there wasn't a similar thing going on. And in the interests of honesty, even the people at Sony are saying that the PS3 may not be 100% backwards compatible. Some PS2 and PSOne games just may not play on the new system. Given people's problems with some PS2s not playing various games and DVDs, we may well see the same thing in the new system. But at least they are able to aim for total backward compatibility, as opposed to the "array" of original XBox games you can play on the 360, according to the display ad in Toys R Us. I pretty much knew I'd be staying brand loyal with my consoles, but now I'm absolutely certain.

The Revolution Starts Now

Yeah, I know, I should really be doing a write-up on my trip to Portland or finishing those two unfinished entries I still have bumming around my blogspace. But before all that, I did want to do a quick follow-up to one of my earlier entries. I did say that I'd let you know if I heard anything new regarding the Revolution, Nintendo's entry for the next battle in the Console Wars. Well, we have some news. At this year's Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo revealed the much anticipated controller for the Revolution. (As usual, I'm overcautious about grabbing images, so you'll have to check out the link to IGN.)

"So," those of you who are too lazy to click the link are likely asking, "What is this industry defying new controller?" Well at first glance, it looks a lot like a rather skinny TV remote. It's vertically oriented and designed to be held in one hand. Not impressed? Well, I haven't got to the good part yet. The controller comes with a sensor which you place near your TV. This sensor is used to translate movements of the controller in your hand into movements on the screen. The sensor apparently reads not only up, down, left, right, movements, but also forward and backward as well as various twists and tilts.

So what does this mean for actual gameplay? Just imagine exploring a 3D room by simply waving your controller in the direction you want to go. Consider what it would be like to steer a plane by tilting your controller left and right. The demo shown at Tokyo Game Show included a few generally crude demo games suggesting other uses for the controller. One was a crude fishing game suggesting how the player would use the controller like a fishing pole to cast and pull in a catch. (The standard controller is reportedly rumble ready, which should add to this experience.) A slightly more polsihed demo showed how the controller could be used for aiming in a first person shooter.

It's certainly an innovative idea, not what I was guessing at all. (Though to be fair, that dumb hint about the controller having to accomodate games from all Nintendo's past systems didn't help at all.) I'm certainly interested, but I do still have some concerns. The most notably absent feature on the standard controller is an analog stick. I imagine this is designed to force both gamers and designers to use the "point and move" feature to get around 3D spaces, rather than just ignoring it for the more familiar control. Still, the lack of an analog stick out of the box may well put off some gamers. Nintedo has designed two addon peripherals for the controller, one of which is an analog controller with two trigger buttons. Dubbed "the nunchuck" (I'm pretty sure the fans came up with that), it attaches to the main controller via a short cord that plugs into the bottom of the controller. The demo suggests that in a first person shooter, for example, this would control your movements while the pointer would let you aim. The other scheduled add-on is a shell resembling a more standard controller which the remote-styled one can be plugged into. This is probably intended to allow for easier play of your games designed for the earlier systems. Please note that the picture IGN has of this is their own mock-up and not necessarily what the actual controller shell will look like.

My other big concern is on that's been voiced a lot by gamers: Is the Revolution too revolutionary? For various reasons, the GameCube was left behind on a lot of cross-console games. I'm a little worried that the Revolution may suffer the same fate, in part because its creators freely admit it's a less powerful system, and in part because it's just too different. I know virtually nothing about game programming, but I imagine configuring an exisiting game to respond to a pointer-style controller is going to be trickier than just switching the functions of a few buttons. Developers may just ignore the feature, require the anaolg add-on, or skip the Revolution altogether. If Nintendo wants this to work, they're going to have to woo some big developers and/or get a lot of first-party software out there. Hopefully in a timely manner. ("Twilight Princess" is DELAYED?!?? I'm upset, but hardly shocked.)

I haven;t really come to a conclusion about the controller yet. I feel generally positive towards it, but it's not a "i'm sold" or "No way" situation. A lot may depend on me getting my hands on one of the new controllers and seeing how it feels, how easy and intuitive it is to use, and whether the button placement works. Once again, I'll let you know when I know more.