Picture of the Moon
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Last night the moon looked really cool in the Seattle night sky, so I used my Dad’s telescope to take a few pictures. This is what I got:
And since I’m apparently swimming in extra bandwidth, here’s a hi-res jpeg you can download.
I’m curious about your gaming habits
I don’t have time to write the stunningly awesome post I had planned for today, so here’s a quick poll instead.
I have no way of cross-referencing these results, but, indulge me.
Loading … Loading …Master Chief n Me
In the category of things that are way too cool, I give you:
Newer, slimmer, lighter, silverer PSP
I’m interested to see what Brian at Kotaku is going to think of his new PSP.
I saw one on Saturday when I was cruising around the PAX main floor, but it was being proffered to passing gamers by an incredibly gorgeous woman, so while I stopped to check out a few minutes of whatever Madden-year-game was loaded on the thing, I wasn’t really paying that much attention to the game or the PSP.
Regardless, the thing is supposed to be a lot quicker on the load times, which is one of the things that really killed the PSP for me the first time around. Gotta love the practically load-less DS Lite.
I also find it ironic that Sony switched to a DVD format ages ago so that they could stuff more data onto their game discs, but now “cartridges” (also known as flash cards maybe?) can hold more data than a DVD, and, I’ll wager, more than UMD.
Check out The Mediasphere
Today my lovely co-worker Teresa was the guest on The Mediasphere, a cool new show from Tris Hussey and Jim Turner, discussing yesterday’s announcements.
It’s a great episode with a bunch of people calling in, including myself, Jeremy Pepper, and Christian ??? (who are you? shoot me an e-mail, I’ll ad the link!).
It turned in to a great discussion of Facebook as a business tool, privacy in social networks, and where social media tools are headed in the future. At some point I started waxing poetic about how Facebook is the future “platform” of the web, and I’m pretty sure I also borrowed some ideas from Fred Wilson about finding and adding people in social media services. But that’s what happens when you just let me talk.
I know that’s a lot of links I just threw in, so I’ll make it simple. Here’s the really important one - it should click directly to the archived show so you can listen in:
Thanks again Tris and Jim for including me in the discussion!
I’m declaring a no Bioshock spoiler zone
Looking around I’m noticing that people are finishing BioShock all over the place (didn’t read past the first line).
Now I’m normally a bit slower to finish games (and books) than other people. I claim it’s because I like to pace myself and enjoy it rather than rush through, but really it’s because I can’t sit still for more than two hours at a time. It’s a defect.
Long story short, I’m not done yet. And I don’t know ANYTHING. Nothing. So. No effing spoilers. Or I will kill you.
Announcing the Web Community Forum: Seattle, December 5th-6th 2007
Today has been a hectic day. The announcements over on the BBS blog should be explanation enough of that.
But the good news is that we’re announcing what amounts to be a really cool event: 
.
The site will say it a whole let better than I will, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the future of the web is social. (The social web? Anyone? Anyone?)
This new blog and this new event are focused on that, and the exciting new opportunities we’re seeing in this space.
The first 25 people to register get to attend at cost, and those sign-ups are already coming in. I have no idea how long that price will last, so go grab yourself a seat.
Also, that logo? That’s what I made this weekend. How cool is that? I know it’s about 10 times worse than any decent, actual designer could churn out, but I think it’s pretty sweet.
Snapshot of Gabe’s Assassin’s Creed Comic
At PAX yesterday, the coolest thing I did was go to the panel where Tycho and Gabe did 1/3 of their work for next week in about an hour and a half on stage.
The whole process looked so damn easy it makes me want to start a webcomic. (OK, well, I’ve always wanted to start a webcomic. I’m only held back by the fact that I’m not funny and I can’t draw).
About 2/3rds of the way through, though, Gabe stopped to give us a quick look at a page from the Assasin’s Creed comic book he’s working on. We’re not supposed to see it yet, so he only had it up for a second or two.
Luckily, he decided to give a sneak peak at the comic to a room full about 3,000 people with cameras. I nabbed a snapshot of the page. Click the image to biggie-size.
I really like his drawing style, so I’m sure that even if the comic itself sucks, it will be very cool to look at.
Earlier in the day, I watched a live demo of Assassin’s Creed, where the creative director Patrice Désilets got up on stage with a controller and ran around for a bit. To be honest I was disappointed.
unlocked iphone. when can i get mine?
Engadget has the scoop. I want one. Now.
A great idea for cell phone stores
With the exception of a very few phones for a very few people, buying a new cell phone is always a bit of a gamble. You’re switching up the device that you keep with you and use almost every day, all day. And it’s one hell of an expensive device (getting more expensive - I’m looking at you, iPhone).
One of the biggest reasons I wait on buying cell phones is that I can never know how well I’ll actually like it. Sure, i can go into the store and futz about with it, but that’s not really using a phone, and everyone knows it. It’s about having in your pocket for a week, picking up calls with it, making it sync with your computer (if it’s a smartphone), adding ringtones…is it really worth $600?
So cell phone stores should have loaners.
The number one most important aspect of a computer game
What is the number one most important aspect of a computer game? What is it that a gamer invariably uses 100% of the time she is playing a game? In every game?
The mouse.
Get it right folks. If the mouse feels weird or works funky, it makes even the best games frustrating.
I’m looking at you, BioShock.
August Round Table: Casual and Hardcore Games
Even though I rarely get around to writing an entry for Corvus Elrod’s monthly Round Table discussions, they’re always thoroughly good reads, and interesting topics.
This month, the discussion surrounds the growing split between “casual” and “hardcore” games. What can be done to bridge these two worlds that seem to be drifting apart?
I find myself in the middle of it, actually. Moving from a school-based life (WoW in the morning, class in the afternoon, Counter-Strike at night, followed by midnight food runs..) to a real-life based lifestyle (get up early, work, work, see friends for an hour, sleep, wait, wasn’t I going to play Bioshock?), has been an odd transition for me.
Running Commentary on the first 20 minutes of BioShock
Every now and then I get lucky. There’s a game that comes out that I know is going to be good without having to watch all the pre-release videos and read the three-hundred page preview-reviews. I followed the twittering of the demo, and decided BioShock would be sweet, and that it would be sweeter if I knew absolutely nothing about it going in.
I was so right. Here’s me, first 15 minutes of gameplay:
- I wonder if this is going to be like HL2 where I can move around in the cutscenes. Nope.
- Oooh, film noir
- Holy crap, are those dots of water on my screen? Am I in-game already? Is this what DX10 looks like? How is my computer running this?
- Oh, it’s not, really. I guess I need to dial it back from all settings maxed.
- OK, let’s get in this weird submarine thingy then. What is this game about, anyway?
- OMG RAPTURE! A f*#cking WHALE!
- This game looks kinda freaky
- Oh shit this thing is crazy, it’s beating the crap out of my sub
- And apparently they’re all cockney. Brits. Figures.
- Always inject yourself with strange glowing vials
- OH NO WAY!! NO WAY!! Did everyone else know about this Palpatine shit? That is the coolest thing EVER. Right up there with the Gravity Gun. OK give me something to electrocute.
I’d say Steam botched the BioShock release
I don’t know how many big-time releases Steam has put out besides Valve’s own Half-Life games, but this one hasn’t gone particularly smoothly for me. Don’t get me wrong—I’m still glad I picked it up on Steam, because it means that I don’t have a game disc to lose, which I inevitably would.
But I would have liked to play the damn game.
The first sign of trouble was the confusing release time. Supposedly, I get to play the game as soon as it’s “officially released.” But it turns out that’s not midnight last night. Nor is it 9am when all the retail stores open and people can pick up a physical copy. In fact, it wasn’t even noon today, when the press release officially announced that the game was released.
Square-Enix store open in the US…oh boy
I spotted it on Joystiq last night, but I only clicked through to the store today to see what kinds of things you can pick up. It reminds me of all the stuff you can buy from Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter - there are little figures, jewelry, and of course, weapons.
If I wasn’t being careful I’d have probably accidentally bought, oh, I don’t know, all of it.
Note to self: don’t go to this store.
In an unrelated note, Bioshock isn’t unlocked on Steam for another hour. WTF is lunch break for?
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