And we thought Sony couldn't hurt its reputation anymore.

In what apparently looks like yet another oppurtunity for Sony to shoot itself in the foot and alienate us even more (the first being the $599 pricepoint of course), Sony will not allow customers to resell games to other players or stores like GameStop and Electronics Boutique.

Sony will require users to purchase a license in order to play the game rather than own the game. Thus, Sony will retain ownership of the game which will then make it ILLEGAL to sell it secondhand. Most of us live off of second hand games and their sales are a huge market. Sony however sees it as revenue lost when someone pays a shop for a used game rather than Sony directly for a new one.

That might make some sense on a power point slide at a business meeting but that idea is NOT going to fly with gamers. Especially after we have to pay $599 for the PS3. I am truly amazed that Sony is making this many blunders and the console isn't even near coming to market.

Yes I'm still focused on my Xbox 360, but there are OTHER next gen platforms.

Okay, I have played my 360 almost non-stop over the long weekend. But there will be other next gen consoles coming and Nintendo recently announced the cost of their entry into the console wars (the console formerly known as the Revolution) the Wii. We can go round and round about the new name but it's coming nonetheless.
Nintendo says that we can buy the system for under $250 when its released later this year. What will the $250 get you? A sleek new console for upcoming games and also give you access and ability to download EVERYTHING in the Nintendo game library up until now. Nintendo has stated that their focus will not be on next gen graphics and DVD capability (hence the lower price) but rather making a console that everyone in a household wants to play. Young or old, hardcore gamer or novice. Oh, their also throwing in one of the most if not the most revolutionary controllers known to gaming. To top it off, Nintendo also said they plan to ship 6 million units by March 31, 2007, which is the same prediction Sony made about its $600 PS3. Although there's no release date for the Wii yet, we can expect it to hit the stores before the holiday shopping season.

Now, back to gaming.

Xbox 360, there so much to do!

Considering that I'm the king of the 10 second attention span, the fact that I can do nothing but play with my Xbox 360 means alot. I've been ripping through the Xbox website and the Xbox Live stuff on my 360 non-stop. You'll even notice that to the right I found a place on the Xbox website that gives the html to post my "Gamer Tag" card. That is the card that's used in Xbox Live to track my game playing stats. I thought that was pretty cool that Microsoft/Xbox realized gamers would want to put that info in thier blogs or websites.
I should state that I bought the premium Xbox 360 package (at a deal I'll talk about later) not the core so wireless controller, headset, and hard drive for me! I suffer sticker shock over the high price of new tech so I do sometimes get on board late.

That being said, I've spent the last week trying to catch up on all that is Xbox 360, Xbox Live and subsequently I've gotten very little sleep. I picked up GRAW and new Lara Croft to be the cornerstones of my 360 collection and they did not fail! GRAW is gorgeous and Lara Croft is in her old form. I also rented Kameo, PGR 3 and Perfect Dark Zero. So you can see why I haven't been posting, there's just not enough time in the day!

Here you can see where I've spent most of my time when not at work. That's Perfect Dark on the screen. Cool shirt, huh? More to post later.

Oh Xbox 360, hallowed be thy game!

Well it finally happened. I broke down and got an Xbox 360 (at a greatly reduced price but that's for another post). Let me just say that now I know what all the buzz has been about.
Nothing like connecting the 360 to a 52in. HD TV and watching all the video goodness come to light.
Not to mention its cool iPod-like white curvey design compared to the "57 Chevy" styling of the original Xbox. Why did I do it? Why did I succumb to the next gen? Well first off I just got back from E3 and was still feeling all the 360 goodness there, secondly the price was impossible to refuse and thirdly I wanted to get on the wagon of next gen and play a true next gen game in all its glory like GRAW(Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter).

Well fellow tech heads, the 360 did not dissapoint. Within 10 minutes the box was all set up and my Xbox Live account was transferred to my new machine. The "Blade" menus are easy to navigate and provide a clean intereface for tracking your game progress, what's going on in Xbox Live and what your friends are doing.
I was truly surprised at how easy the set up was. I probably spent about 20 minutes just going through the much hyped "Live Arcade" and found tons of games worth trying and then buying. I really like the fact that you can download demos to see if you like playing the game and THEN you can buy it. I'm currently hooked on a Bejeweled clone. Yes I know, all that gaming machine and TV and I'm playing a modified Tetris but its great fun I swear. And I mentioned downloads? There's everything here: new games, game trailers, news, even E3 coverage.

Then it was time to throw in a real game so in went GRAW. And there went the next 6 hours of my life. Oh yeah, another reason why I haven't been posting? Most of my time has been spent in front of my 360 playing games. GRAW is absolutely gorgeous and after a few minutes its very easy to forget you're playing a game. The physics engine the Ubisoft uses (their proprietary "Yeti" engine) has such fluidity for characters movements that its like manuevering real people. Very cool I tell you. And I also picked up the new Lara Croft which is a great game in its own right. I mean weren't we all waiting for a good new Lara Croft game all this time? This one is great! Just wathcing the new Lara jump, run and gun in these new rendered environments are great. Not to mention the good 'ole Lara is back gathering antiquities like the hot female Indy Jones we all love. Between the two games and live arcade I've probably got a grand total of 3 hours sleep a night but man its worth it.

Its great to see a technology live up to our expectations. Well I just wanted to throw a post up, there's tons more to come. But now....I must sleep.

Its been a while, I know. But now I'm full of E3 goodness.

Holy cow the last 2 weeks have flown by! I'm extremely lucky that I got to go to the Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles CA for my day job. For those of you not in the know, it is THE gaming industry trade show stretched out over 300,000 sqaure feet of the LA expo center (which equals Valhalla for gamers).

I was hoping to get a "Pre-E3" podcast up before I left but I was running around trying to take care of stuff in the office and get all my stuff ready for E3. Then while at E3 last week I was hoping to post but the internet connection is my hotel was terrible and I couldn't deal with the latency so I figured I'd do it when I got home. But after arriving home at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, I spent most of day sleeping off E3.

So a few quick things from E3:
1) I was lucky enough to open E3 as the emcee for the America's Army game. We had the U.S. Army's Golden Nights jump in for the opening (and then jumo in twice a day after that). It was pretty cool and I'm now getting to be known as "the voice of America's Army". I can't thank those guys enough for letting me participate in their display. Here is a photo that appeared on the Army Times homepage.
2) I met Cory Barlog who is the game director for God of War 2 which is the upcoming sequel to one of my favorite all-time games. What a nice guy! He took probably about 20 mins to talk in depth about the changes in the game and wanted to get my impressions. The picture below is from his blog and that's me in the lower left corner waiting to play the demo (which oh by the way I never did, bad for me but great for the game). The game looked stellar and I can't wait to get my hands on it when it comes out Feb '07. Although I'm hoping to get a copy of the demo (Cory, wink-wink if you're reading this)

3) I met Robin Williams, and he was such a nice guy. He took the time to take pictures with some of the soldiers with me and of course I didn't think to jump in front of the camera to get my own picture but it was great nonehteless. Really great, personable guy and pro-military. Who'd a thunk it? I also met former NBA star John Sally and the comedian Sinbad (of all people). I just couldn't get over how nice they were.

4) The show floor at E3 is a shotgun blast to the senses. I'll post some pics and video later but suffice it to say that you can't just talk to another person on the floor, you have to yell in order to be heard!

5) Had a great meeting with the game company I'm going to do some consulting for. More news to follow and I'll post all about my upcoming trip to a far away land.

6) Last quick item was that I got invited to a private party where after a year touring hiatus and while currently working on their next album (some of the new songs we got to hear for the first time) the band Incubus played about a 2 hour set. How stoked was I?! I was standing about 8 feet in front of lead singer Brandon Boyd. They hit all the songs we know and love; Nice to Know You, Stellar, Drive, Pardon Me, Wish You Were Here and we got some new songs of the soon to be released album. Gotta tell you it was the best concert I have ever been to. It allows you to have a real appreciation for the artists and their music.

Alright this is one thing off of a 100 item to do list. I'll post again soon and be on the look out for an E3 wrap up podcast.

Dick Tracy, calling Dick Tracy. Well, more like watching Dick Tracy.

Remember when as kids we were all fascinated with the idea of having any electronic gizmo on our wrists? I'm not that old but I do remember the Dick Tracy comic strips in the paper. As electronics shrink we're starting to see those very gadgets come to reality.
With everyone running out to buy huge flat-panel high-definition TVs nowadays, it's easy to forget about how cool the small stuff can be. This wristwatch TV would make Mr. Tracy jealous and its pretty cool to boot. Sporting a 1.5-inch display, it's more portable than your video-enabled cell phone. Ever wanted to watch "Numbers" while laying in that hammock in the yard? Now you can. Because there isn't a way to shrink a cable TV card or satellite dish to fit into your watch, you're stuck with only being able to pick up UHF and VHF signals right now. Its only a matter of time before you can watch TV off the cable or satellite box in your home over the network.

Having the cool gadget has never come cheap either and this is no different. This watch TV will set you back in the neighborhood of $200. But hey, it is also a watch.