Tech Journal #1
Alright, this is something I've thought about for a while now, and just never really got around to doing it.
I've always had an interest in tech (read: gadgets, computers, etc) and I saw these guys making podcasts and tv shows about it all on the net, and I thought to myself "hey, that'd be a damn fun thing to do"... and promptly went back to playing on my Xbox 360. But, as I sit here watching the Thanksgiving edition of dl.tv, I figured, why the hell not?
So, today, I'm gonna talk mostly about the "next gen" consoles- for those of you who don't know, that's the Xbox 360, the Wii and the ubiquitous Playstation 3. In fact, PS3 is probably a good place to start.
Playstation 3
The beast hit the shelves on the 11th of this month in Japan, and the 17th in the US, and has SOLD OUT- looks like Sony managed to produce a meagre 200,000 units for the entire western world- which of course excludes Europe. Two hundred thousand is NOT a lot of units, Mr Sony. I know a console release can be difficult, but come on- the PS3 is a Big Deal(r).
And get this: Sony's been preaching the PS3 as THE high-def gaming console, yet they don't even ship the damn thing with a high-def capable cable. Come on, guys, even the 360 came with a component cable (with the Premium pack), which gave the user the option of using a standard definition TV or one of those shiny HDTVs. No, instead, we get a COMPONENT cable, only (the yellow plug, people). This means that if you want to take advantage of that 1080p output, you'll need to buy your own HDMI cable- and lets face it, you don't wanna be buying a £9.99 cable. Thanks for another expense, Sony.
EDIT: monoprice.com have a gold-plated, 28GA HDMI cable for under $2, for all you Americans currently searching for a cheap, decent HDMI cable. Send me one, please!
It might sound that I'm totally against the PS3, but that's so not the case. As soon as I can afford one (read: next Christmas, considering the supply issues we've seen so far) I'll have one in my grubby little hands. For a start, it's a CHEAP (with a captial CHEAP) Blu-Ray player. £425 as opposed to the initial standalone players which are costing close to or over a grand. That alone is reason enough to buy a PS3 if you're in to movies or home cinema. Secondly, Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming out on the PS3 exclusively, but I'll save that for another day.
The new controller has caused a bit of a storm with the removal of the rumble function and the addition of the "motion sensing" capability. The SixAxis controller isn't supposed to be fully motion sensitive like the Wii-mote, but gives you six axes (duh) which you can flick the controller on to give you that little edge in a game- yawing an aircraft, peeking around corners or over walls... once the developers properly get their heads around it, we should see some pretty innovative games coming out- and it's the perfect basis for a Battlestar Galactica flightsim-type game *cough*. Any game developers reading?
Nintendo Wii
This sweet little piece of kit launches over here on the 8th December, and has only just today been restocked over in the States, so it's safe to say that- even though it's not an HD console- it's an awesome piece of kit. Safe to say, I want one, and shall be buying one asap.
Also, the Wii has sold more games per console than the PS3 thus far. This may be to do with the fact that games are much cheaper on the Wii, or the fact that the games are better- only time will tell.
Xbox 360
I looooooove my 360. Had one since release (although it suffered an inexplicable hardware failure a few weeks ago, Gameplay.com were more than happy to replace it for me :D ). Great library of games out, with some stunners like Gears of War, Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (I know it's a 2nd wave game) still holding it up there with the new big boys. Prices are dropping for the Premium Package, and they're sure to drop even more now that the PS3 is out (or soon to be launched, depending on your locale.
The big thing for me though has got to be the HD-DVD add-on. $199 or £129, this thing is apparantly as good, if not better, than the standalone set-top players. Robert Heron of dl.tv seemed to be pretty impressed with it, despite the lack of digital HD outputs- it connects to the 360 via USB, then to your HDTV via component- citing it much faster from disc load to feature playback than the much more expensive Toshiba players... Again, needless to say, I want one, and I'll post an in-depth "review" once I get it. £129 is too good to pass up for HD content in my eyes, and that puts it at roughly £390 for an HD-DVD system if you buy it with the X360. Superb.
Alright, I've probably gone on much more than I have wanted to, but hey, its my first time- be gentle. I'd welcome any comments or suggestions any of you might have, as I'd like to make this a kind of regular thing. Do get in touch :)
I've always had an interest in tech (read: gadgets, computers, etc) and I saw these guys making podcasts and tv shows about it all on the net, and I thought to myself "hey, that'd be a damn fun thing to do"... and promptly went back to playing on my Xbox 360. But, as I sit here watching the Thanksgiving edition of dl.tv, I figured, why the hell not?
So, today, I'm gonna talk mostly about the "next gen" consoles- for those of you who don't know, that's the Xbox 360, the Wii and the ubiquitous Playstation 3. In fact, PS3 is probably a good place to start.
Playstation 3
The beast hit the shelves on the 11th of this month in Japan, and the 17th in the US, and has SOLD OUT- looks like Sony managed to produce a meagre 200,000 units for the entire western world- which of course excludes Europe. Two hundred thousand is NOT a lot of units, Mr Sony. I know a console release can be difficult, but come on- the PS3 is a Big Deal(r).
And get this: Sony's been preaching the PS3 as THE high-def gaming console, yet they don't even ship the damn thing with a high-def capable cable. Come on, guys, even the 360 came with a component cable (with the Premium pack), which gave the user the option of using a standard definition TV or one of those shiny HDTVs. No, instead, we get a COMPONENT cable, only (the yellow plug, people). This means that if you want to take advantage of that 1080p output, you'll need to buy your own HDMI cable- and lets face it, you don't wanna be buying a £9.99 cable. Thanks for another expense, Sony.
EDIT: monoprice.com have a gold-plated, 28GA HDMI cable for under $2, for all you Americans currently searching for a cheap, decent HDMI cable. Send me one, please!
It might sound that I'm totally against the PS3, but that's so not the case. As soon as I can afford one (read: next Christmas, considering the supply issues we've seen so far) I'll have one in my grubby little hands. For a start, it's a CHEAP (with a captial CHEAP) Blu-Ray player. £425 as opposed to the initial standalone players which are costing close to or over a grand. That alone is reason enough to buy a PS3 if you're in to movies or home cinema. Secondly, Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming out on the PS3 exclusively, but I'll save that for another day.
The new controller has caused a bit of a storm with the removal of the rumble function and the addition of the "motion sensing" capability. The SixAxis controller isn't supposed to be fully motion sensitive like the Wii-mote, but gives you six axes (duh) which you can flick the controller on to give you that little edge in a game- yawing an aircraft, peeking around corners or over walls... once the developers properly get their heads around it, we should see some pretty innovative games coming out- and it's the perfect basis for a Battlestar Galactica flightsim-type game *cough*. Any game developers reading?
Nintendo Wii
This sweet little piece of kit launches over here on the 8th December, and has only just today been restocked over in the States, so it's safe to say that- even though it's not an HD console- it's an awesome piece of kit. Safe to say, I want one, and shall be buying one asap.
Also, the Wii has sold more games per console than the PS3 thus far. This may be to do with the fact that games are much cheaper on the Wii, or the fact that the games are better- only time will tell.
Xbox 360
I looooooove my 360. Had one since release (although it suffered an inexplicable hardware failure a few weeks ago, Gameplay.com were more than happy to replace it for me :D ). Great library of games out, with some stunners like Gears of War, Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (I know it's a 2nd wave game) still holding it up there with the new big boys. Prices are dropping for the Premium Package, and they're sure to drop even more now that the PS3 is out (or soon to be launched, depending on your locale.
The big thing for me though has got to be the HD-DVD add-on. $199 or £129, this thing is apparantly as good, if not better, than the standalone set-top players. Robert Heron of dl.tv seemed to be pretty impressed with it, despite the lack of digital HD outputs- it connects to the 360 via USB, then to your HDTV via component- citing it much faster from disc load to feature playback than the much more expensive Toshiba players... Again, needless to say, I want one, and I'll post an in-depth "review" once I get it. £129 is too good to pass up for HD content in my eyes, and that puts it at roughly £390 for an HD-DVD system if you buy it with the X360. Superb.
Alright, I've probably gone on much more than I have wanted to, but hey, its my first time- be gentle. I'd welcome any comments or suggestions any of you might have, as I'd like to make this a kind of regular thing. Do get in touch :)