We have the technology to not only rebuld him but to build him better.

There's been advances in restoring and/or bettering sight for a few years now. I've even posted it about it here in this blog before but this is something not only brand new but makes sight better.

We have have seen the procedure of the Argus Retinal Prosthesis which hard wires the brain to an outside input device (i.e. small camera) where that device acts as your new eyes and provides images directly into the brain. Well "Cybersight 2.0" is here. The new version called the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis takes the first gen system, which has a resolution of 16 pixels, pushes the resolution to 60 pixels. There's no definite answer to what this 4x resolution will allow the patient to see but its not far fetched to think that they'll be able to see details in difference between or loved one's faces or whether they're grabbing a steak or salad fork at the table.
At this pace its not far fetched to think we'll have the full-on Steve Austin (of "6 Million Dollar Man" fame not the WWE wrestler or even dare I say it Geordi Laforge) bionic eye very soon. To hell with just seeing, lets zoom in and switch to "thermal".

I've lost track of time, quit eating and sleeping. Why? God of War 2!!

Yes there is a good reason for the length between posts even after I blew the trumpets of my return has to do with the sandal wearing, twin sword wielding, Gods of Olympus hating, Kratos!
Oh yeah, the God of War (GOW) is back. I can't think of any better way to get your "Spartan On" than by seeing "300" this past weekend and then getting GOW 2 on store shelves this week. I know the two have nothing to do with another and their close release is by sheer coincidence but it was a good week for us Ancient Greek Warrior lovin' fans!
GOW 2 is the follow up to the popular, award winning and critically acclaimed GOW but is does not play like a sequel. Rather it feels like a continuation of the first game through story telling. You don't need to have played the first game to enjoy GOW 2 but it sure does help in understanding our hero Kratos's plight and its a good 10-15 hours well spent butt kicking!

Kratos has left Olympus to fight on Earth because he's tired of the Gods' backbighting and manipulation. It is while fighting on Earth as the new God of War that he's betrayed by Zeus himself and left for dead. The Titans (and they are in scale and power in this game), forbears of the Gods of Olympus come to Krato's aide and guide him through the game. For the second installment you don't just play as Kratos either but you also get to take the reins of the legendary Pegasus for some awesome in air/free fall fighting. But what the game has become famous for is not just the great action but also the story that drives us through the game. The GOW series perfectly melds gameplay with cutscenes to keep you "in the game". The voice acting is spot on and never waivers or sounds flat. That coupled with the movie-like soundtrack make you feel less like you're playing the game than being a part of an experience.

During the game you'll run into/have to defeat about 8 bosses (compared to the 3 the first game came under much scrutiny for, there's even a battle against the man that started it all for Kratos in the first game). To be honest bosses is a loose term. Some of the larger enemies with the contextual requirements for defeat would rank as bosses in other games and the "big bosses" are so massive the game has a little "Shadow of the Colossus" feel to it. One boss is so gargantuan that you won't even get a shot if its head for a solid 10 minutes into the battle. Yet another (the first of the game) requires you to defeat him from the outside then burrow your way in the defeat him from the inside!
The levels are huge and beeeeautilful!! Looking at this game its hard to believe that its running on a PS2 and not a PS3. A nice addition is the Prince of Persia-like camera fly through at the beginning of each level that gives you an idea of how you need to progress. There are a few other nods to Prince of Persia and Lara Croft with a seamless grappling system that lets you swing around with your blades. But for the most part, the game's stayed true to its roots. There's also some puzzles but there worked into the story and the environment so well they don't feel like you're doing a puzzle at all. Its the small touches like that, rather than some un-needed "over haul" for a sequel that a true gamer can appreciate.
But let's get to the meat.........the battling. Its movie-stylish and brutal as Hades itself! There are some added combos that increase your butt kicking repertiore but it wasn't broke to start with so there wasn't any need to fix it. There are a few new weapons that have been added too in order to diversify your slaying but I like to stick with the tried and true "Blades of Chaos" (which when fully "powered up" provide hours of bloody deaths).

Hard to believe that they could top the original but Game Director Cory Barlog and his crew certainly took Mr. Jaffe's (original GOW Game Director) to new heights!!

You have GOT to go out and buy this game! And be on the lookout for yours truly on the extras DVD. That's right, I made it in there (may only be for 10 seconds but that's more than you suckas)!! New game, new story, new powers, new weapons, new monsters...oh my! I gotta get back to gaming.

Unleash the big haired guitarist inside (Poison will be so jealous)!

One of the things that has been taking up my time as of late is getting back on my "ax". Oh yeah baby, a 30 year old launching a garage band and picking up chicks...schweet!

The guitar is no tamborine my friends so its gonna take a little learnin'. Sure you could drop a few hundred dollars and have "Esteban" teach you his classic guitar ways through the miracle of DVD but who wants to start their rocker career like that. Instead, let me suggest the Tascam MP-GT1. Its a portable MP3 player that's also a guitar trainer which can help you learn how to play your favorite songs so you will be "Starway to Heaven" ready for that Zeppelin cover band.
The GT1 (yeah, like I'm gonna type that long name over and over) has a tuner, metronome, and rechargeable battery. The device is about the size of an ipod so its easy to take anywhere. The GT1 lets you slow down music so you can follow along or even completely remove the guitar part from a song so you can focus on getting it down. You can even loop said parts so you can get the rythm of the song and get your riff on.

The GT1 can store up to 240 songs with its onboard memory, uses a high-speed USB connection to load up MP3s and charge the built-in battery (giving you about 9-hours on a charge but an optional power supply is also available). Access to your tunes is easy with a data wheel, buttons and a graphical LCD display.

Aw yeah, I gotta go practice my Nickelback.

Yes its been a while but "300" has brought me back to the "blogging fold".

Yes my Digital Denizens its been a while since I've tickled the keys of the old wireless keyboard but for good reason. I've just been so damned busy!

Whether work or a couple of personal projects (that book isn't going to write itself) I just haven't found the time to sit down and update the blog nor put out a new podcast for that matter. Oh but that has changed. I had the chance to see what the advances if technology can give us and man was I blown away. Yes, I was one of the people that added my money into the $70 million pot that was "300" this weekend. Oh and I didn't just see it in a normal theater my friends I was lucky enough to take in all the movie's glory in IMAX.

So the reason for my post? One, it is truly technical marvel to see what can be done with digital video and green screen. The other is to tell all those people that critique the movie for all the green screen work to shut up!

For those of you that aren't Classical history geeks and need a refresher lesson, "300" is based on Frank Miller's (of Sin City fame) series of graphic novels that retells the story of how the Spartan King Leonidas led a force that might have totaled 3,000 to defend Greece at Battle of Thermopylae. The basis of the force was 300 war-hardened Spartans and the rest came from other contributing Greek city states. Leonidas formulates a plan that utilized his force to face a Xerxes' (google him) Persian Army whose numbers are estimated to have been anywhere from 200,000 to two million soldiers strong. Why has this story lasted through time? Because it is the quintessential tale of how a few men stand up to a tyrant leading many. Are there comparisons to the U.S. today? Sure. With lines like "freedom is never free", "freed people rule themselves" and "if we don't defeat the tyrant now he will become unstoppable" its easy to draw parallels. Was that the goal of Miller's retelling? I can't say but it is poignant nonetheless.

History has called the Battle of Thermopylae one of the greatest of all time. The tactics of the Spartans are impressive and are attributed to the honed skills of the soldiers. The soldiers could've survived had they taken Xerxes offer to surrender with honor. History shows that Leonidas sets the tone of the days to come when his response to a Persian Officer's request to drop their weapons was "Molôn labé!" or "Come and take them!". It is estimated that about 1,400 Spartans and allies died. Before the battle was over Leonidas and his man had killed upwards of 20,000. Yeah that ain't no typo folks, 20,000. Leonidas battles slowed the on coming Persina Army long enough that the other Greek city-states saw what was coming and united in their defense. But what strikes an even deeper chord than the history was a king's determination, while knowing he was going to lose, to make a stand for his City, and his freedom while making his foes pay for any win. His loyalty to his country and to freedom is the stuff of legend.

The unrivaled cinematography allows the story to be told in all its glory. Yes extensive CGI is used (it took two years in post production to get all the CGI scenes rendered) but the days of huge classic history battles told on film died with Ben-Hur. Zack Snyder and Frank Miller use the CGI to amplify the story while not detracting from it. IT is a perfect mixture. Let's not forget that we all thought the Matrix was a fantastic movie and story and it was the cutting edge in CGI at the time.

Gerard Butler plays King Leonidas as the thoughtful yet loud and charismatic leader we'd hope and Lena Headey plays a regal wife that's just as brave, stoic and passionate about Sparta as her husband. Vincent Regan and David Wenham are fantastic as the fierce and dutiful Captain and Lieutenant under Leonidas' command and Andrew Tiernan, who is hidden by mountain of prosthetics, plays the cast off Spartan showing desperation in how a man wants to be considered a true Spartan. Rodrigo Santoro (of Lost fame) has been transformed by make up and computer to what can only be described as "god-like" rounds out the cast as Xerxes.

I honestly can't say enough about the film. I got excited when I first heard that Miller's graphic novels got "picked up". Its been two long years for the finished movie to come out but it was more than worth the wait. I will stand in line to see the movie in the theater at least a few more (you're welcome Mr. Miller) and would gladly stand in line to buy the DVD if need be.

Forget Spider Man 3, this is the movie to see this year.