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News Opinions - System Attic

What is HAPPENING? PS3 Games Just Not Cutting It

March 16th 2009 02:39
Anyone who has read this blog before knows that I'm an avid PS3 gamer. In fact, I have owned every Sony produced console since the original Playstation. This, in my opinion, is by far the most advanced system on the console market. The 360 is close, but since HD DVD is a dead format, it has lost a lot of clout. HOWEVER, I use GameFly.com as my main source for game rental since I live in Podunk, USA and don't have ANY place within 50 miles to rent games, and I must say that the selection of titles on the system is not that great.
I have never been very good at first-person-shooter games either (I was the laughing stock of every Halo LAN party in college) so that really limits my ability to rent or purchase games I'm going to get a lot of enjoyment out of. In fact, since buying my PS3 in November of 2007, the only two games I have gotten significant enjoyment out of that were worth the sixty dollar price tag are Bethesda's two giants, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Fallout 3. Little Big Planet is a hoot. An amazing game, IF you have more than one person.I also loved Assassin's Creed, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Grand Theft Auto IV, but they didn't quite immerse me in the same way as Oblivion and Fallout.


It just seems to me that Sony is lagging behind in acquiring quality titles for their system. I can't really think of any titles on 360 that jump out right away as something that would sway me to purchase the console, but that doesn't stop me from being dissatisfied with the selection on PS3. I'm sure there are a lot of 360 fanboys and girls out there who would think that my distaste for their system is unfair, and they would be right. It is unfair. I have an ingrained hatred for anything Microsoft puts their name on. I mean, I could throw a low blow out there and mention that Windows Vista and 360 Red Rings have been a huge blemish for the company, but when I turn off my bias, I do have to admit that overall, they do produce quality products and have been a driving force in this technology industry that I love so very much.

The spark that inspired this piece though, is an article I read on Arstechina.com about online gaming. In that article they reported that not only is the 360 still the king of console online play, but that the Wii has surpassed the PS3 and taken second. Good lord. It looks like the honeymoon Sony enjoyed through the holidays has finally had the final nail driven into its coffin.
For the benefit of my journalistic pursuits, I've often thought of buying a 360 and possibly even a Wii so I could give an accurate opinion of all three systems and their games. I might just do so now, but, it has seemed so far that every time my faith in my beloved console gets humbled, Sony shocks the world with some big development that launches them back into the forefront. Maybe this time they'll finally develop a way to play my PS3 games on my PSP at work over Remote Play. Hey, I can dream.
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As the World Turns: the Hulu/Boxee Soap Opera

March 10th 2009 14:06
If there's one thing I hate in this world, (actually, there are quite a few) it's when a decision is made with no apparent motivation other than to show that the "deciders" have the power to do so. Hulu's decision to block access to it's site through Boxee certainly qualifies. Boxee, an open source media browsing application designed to provide quick and easy access to streamable video and music content, had been the savior of my home entertainment system. Where I live, cable TV is very limited. I also work nights, so I miss a lot of the shows I could watch. I really would rather not utilize Bit-torrents, or shell out the bucks for better cable, satellite or DVR, especially if an alternative is staring me right in the face.

Sure, I can still get Hulu on my PS3, but it's not just a simple click away like it was with the Boxee hack on my Apple TV. And even if I could get past the frustration of navigating the PS3's web browser, it doesn't provide true full-screen like I was getting on my Apple TV.
The folks at Boxee are still fighting with workarounds to remain Hulu accessible. In fact, as I'm writing this post, the Twitter feed ishuluonboxee reports that Hulu is working. But no one has yet to offer a reasonable explanation as to why this is even an issue. I found stories on PC World, Engadget and CNET, all reporting on the absolute absurdness of the whole thing with no leads to answer "why?"
Ads are still shown, everything is exactly the same as it would be on a computer, just easier and more appealing to access, so it makes no sense. When record companies started suing P2P users last decade, at least that was understandable on principle. But Boxee is safe, legal and convenient.... I could ramble on and on, but it just makes my media-deprived brain throb relentlessly.
Fortunately, I have hope via Dan Moren over at Macworld.

"Some of you may remember my cardinal rule of technology (never bet against the hackers)--like many corporations, the content providers here (or, well, 'content witholders' in this scenario) don't seem to have realized that they're on the losing end of this battle."

Thanks Dan, let's hope the good folks at Boxee and those poor, confused NBC-Universal execs can settle their differences soon.
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Posted By: derek - Category: News Opinions, Web World Opinions
   


Sony Releases Firmware Patch, Writer Inserts Foot In Mouth

July 9th 2008 08:20
This is how it goes sometimes isn’t it? Sometimes the Gods of Journalism spin the roulette wheel and choose a single opinion blogger to whom they will serve a freshly peed in bowl of Cheerios. Maybe I’m too bias. Maybe I’m too one-sided. I don’t know.

For those of you who are wondering what I’m talking about, it has to do with this fancy new firmware Playstation released last week that I basically wrote an advertisement rather than an article about. I was baffled today when I switched on my PS3 and saw the “Update Required” message pop up. With a little bit of investigation (courtesy of CNet.com) I found out that the update has caused a few consoles to nearly crash. Well, I must have been granted immunity, because my system has been problem free, but it doesn’t make the fact that I talked the update up in excess of 500 words sting any less.

Sony was quick to release a patch, and although I haven’t been able to find any statistics, CNet reports that the problem only affected a small number of consoles. It also doesn’t appear to be a fatal bug. According to CNet, a simple call to Sony support has been able to fix many of the major issues. So I can still report a small victory in the quick response time of my beloved Sony, and the fact that no consoles were completely ruined. Plus, v2.41 includes an updated replacement to the bland trophy icon. Yippy.

I was write a review of the newly released Batman Begins Limited Edition Blu-Ray Gift Set, but this development has humbled me and I’ve decided to take a day to gather my confidence before I can write a worthy review. In the meantime, make sure not to fall off of the edges of your seats in anticipation. That would only further compound my guilt.
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Technology Has Taken Over My Life!

July 5th 2008 11:41

Tonight, as I was surfing the web looking for something to write about, I came across an article about how Time-Warner has begun to initiate bandwidth caps on their cable internet users. Now, before tell you what happened, I want to go point out that this will have no affect on me whatsoever because I’m not a Time-Warner customer and I use DSL (Also, I don’t think I consume near enough bandwidth to constitute a cap). But regardless of those factors, a tiny inkling of panic still rose up from the bowels of my technology-reliant soul. “Oh NO! They’re cuttin’ me OFF!” Eventually though, I regained my common sense and the panic subsided. But this got me thinking. What if all of the technology that so many of us have allowed to be ingrained in our daily lives was suddenly in limited supply, or worse, disappeared completely?

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Posted By: derek - Category: News Opinions, Tech Opinions
   


New Firmware Makes PS3 Social

July 2nd 2008 12:39
One of the major weapons of PS3 bashers since it’s inception has been the almost total lack of social compatibility online. Compared to the 360 (Or so I’ve been told since I don’t play one) the PS3’s online experience has been very lackluster, not even allowing you to invite someone into a game while playing. But, the greatest thing about the Playstation 3 is it’s almost creepy ability to adapt to the ever-changing needs of its users, and this need is no exception.

On Monday, Sony officially announced the newest firmware update, 2.40 which is due for release today and will answer the cries of online gaming junkies everywhere. You know that nifty Xross Media Bar (XMB), the user interface of the PS3 and the PSP’s home screen? Well, the new firmware update will allow you to access the XMB and all of its features in-game. That's right, you can scroll over to the Network option and shoot an invite to a friend, and on some titles, you’ll even be allowed to access your music collection in place of the game default music


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Is Lossless Encoding Worth It?

July 1st 2008 09:31
As an avid reader of Rolling Stone magazine, I’m aware of the music industry’s struggle since the advent of P2P networks and digital music. Do I feel sorry for the record companies and artists? Well, in a way. I still don’t buy the whole sob story that Metallica and other bands were polluting MTV with back in Napster’s heyday when they all tried to convince us that they would go broke. It’s obvious now that it’s a more serious problem than I originally thought, with thousands of record company employees losing their jobs, but that’s not the main reason I feel bad. That has to do with the quality of product we’re subjecting ourselves to because we don’t want to pay.

MP3, WMA and AAC files are so compressed that you’re likely losing 75-90 percent of the quality of the master tracks. (Kind of like pissing on a Picasso.) Like many of you, for years I was perfectly content with my MP3 files on my 2-channel stereo system while I was doing my homework, or (more likely) playing video games or glued to the computer. It was when I got older and obtained this wonderful thing called income, with which I could invest in a 5.1 channel surround system that I started to wonder why this sounded so weak


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The Joker Looks To Revamp Movie Villainy

June 26th 2008 09:59
Back in 1989, Jack Nicholson sported a purple fedora and a load of lipstick and slapsticked his way to the bank as everyone’s favorite killer clown, the Joker, in Tim Burton’s Batman. Nearly two decades later Hollywood decided to give the Clown Prince of Crime another shot, this time with Heath Ledger behind the face paint in Christopher Nolan’s followup to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. I loved the first Batman movie mostly because of Nicholson, and his portrayal has already gone down in movie history. It was perhaps my favorite Nicholson performance prior to The Departed. (Although the Shining is close.) But in a time where movie villains have become more sly, greedy slime balls than sick, darkly demented killers, the Joker needs to make a comeback.

For those of you who haven’t seen the trailer to this film, check it out. Ledgers voice is somewhere between Richard Dawson and Charles Manson and the splotchy face paint and grungy hair are ideal for the new incarnation as opposed to the sleek and pristine mask and slick gangster do that had Nicholson looking more a pimp than a murderer. In the trailer when Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) asks if they found any identification on the Joker a policeman responds “Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint.” The perfect teaser to prepare us for this new breed of bad guy. I’m going to say right now that Ledger's Joker could do for villains what Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man did for heroes


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YouTube Screening Room, RIP George Carlin

June 23rd 2008 06:46
On June 19th YouTube debuted there very own Screening Room. I haven't spent much time there yet, but I did have time to check out one of the films currently showing. It's called Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody? and consists of John C. Reilly (Magnolia, Talladega Nights) standing on the sidewalk administering a one question survey. It's a somewhat uplifting, somewhat thought provoking effort, and I must say I enjoyed all four minutes and three seconds of it. If you have four minutes to spare, check it out.


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