I'm totally pumped for the Street Fighter IV launch, and I want to complete the experience by procuring an arcade stick. Having one is quintessential to the Street Fighter experience, and it's just not right I don't have one yet. It's just not right.
There's a pretty sweet new line of arcade sticks coming from Mad Catz. This baby here, for example, costs US$150:
But finding the damn thing has been frustrating. The shops I've contacted and visited either have no idea, or do not plan on bringing it at all. I've been to EB Games and all other retailers in the city, but I've been drawing blanks the whole way. It's disappointing to be sure. I'm hoping I'll be able to pick one up while I'm back in Singapore. Hopefully.
This here is the laptop that I got myself yesterday. I managed to get a pretty sweet deal from JB Hi-Fi: A substantial discount, plus a portable HDD thrown in as a freebie. So overall I'm very happy with my purchase.
HP Pavilion DV5-1007TX Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53 Ghz) 4Gb DDR2 800Mhz RAM 320Gb 5400RPM SATA HDD Nvidia 9600M GT 512Mb VRAM DVDRW Combo Drive Bluetooth/WiFi/Ethernet 15.4" Display
We just moved into a new place, and spent most of the weekend packing, moving and setting up. And we also got a new TV, which I promptly hooked my Xbox360 into. I'm getting some mixed results, and I'm not sure if I did everything correctly, or if I'm missing something.
Bionic Commando: Rearmed looks really good on it (I've been playing that alot recently). But the improvement on GTA IV wasn't great. I'm not sure if it's because 1) now that it's in HD, I notice the flaws more easily, or 2) I haven't hooked everything up just right to fully take advantage of the TV.
There's a bit of 'ghosting' and motion blur when I pan the game camera quickly, and much of the background has taken on a slightly diffused look, with ambient bloom lighting all around. Is this the price of clarity? Am I now seeing the game in all its true technical detail? If so, someone please pull the wool over my eyes once again.
I've been thinking about getting a new computer for a while, and I've still torn between getting a desktop or a laptop. The benefits of getting a laptop is that I can use it in bed, and I am entitled to salary sacrificing (some odd procedure that allows me to pay lower tax or something?). I'll probably not be getting a mac... OSX is pissing the shit out of me. I use it at work, and I suspect it hates me as much as I hate it.
So I've got my eye on a couple laptops. And I'll qualify that by saying I really want to do some massive gaming on the machine. There's a slew of PC games I'm keen on, and I want a small monster to play it on. So my current choices are raw power versus even more raw power. A tough choice, really.
ASUS G50V Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53 Ghz) 4Gb DDR2 800Mhz RAM 500Gb 5400RPM SATA HDD Nvidia 9700M GT 512Mb VRAM DVDRW Combo Drive Bluetooth/WiFi/Ethernet 15.4" Display Approx. AU$2499.00
HP has just announced a fairly interesting device, one that seeks to blur the lines between the real world and the virtual world, and I think that this is a very innovative idea.
The device renders real world images into digital landscapes, with images, sounds and textures. Overlaid on top these landscapes would be additional information, such as GPS markers which would in turn affect game play. So you could conceivably convert the real world environment into any game world, complete with goals/objectives/targets. Imagine visualising a street, rendered into any scenario you like (medieval, sci-fi, etc). And now imagine it being done in real-time, as you are walking down that same street. Imagine turning real life into a game! Turning the world into a virtual playground!
That idea blows my mind.
Each piece of technology that can continually blur the lines between real and virtual excites me, because it can affect the way in which we percieve the world. It's like seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses, if those glasses included targetting reticles.
I am doubtful about the technical aspects of this device, because I'm not so sure I want to be carrying a clumsy device in front of my face the whole time I'm walking somewhere. But imagine if these were far more portable, or existed as implants, and you could see them straight with your eye. The very nature of percieving would forever be changed.
Everything you percieve is entirely up to you. And you can once again view the world as a child would; a world that is full of wonder and discovery.
