A Proud Apple Fan

Alright, I'll be the first to admit this; I'm a fan of Apple and their products. I currently own several (many) Apple products, and I plan to own more in the future, if I'm able. Right now, I have a Macbook (white), an iMac(orange), an iPod Classic (160 gig), an iPod Touch (2nd Gen, 32 gig), an iPhone (3G, 16 gig), and an iPad 2 (white, 64 gig). According to some of my friends and family, it's a bit excessive, but I disagree. Each and every one of my Apple devices gets used at least once a day (with the possible exception of the iMac, I use that less now that I have the Macbook). They each have different uses and I use them all.

No, I'm not one of the blind followers of Steve Jobs who just buys Apple products because he tells me to. I've shopped the market and tried plenty of other devices to find which will suit my needs the best, and Apple has always been the winner in the end. Up until a day ago, I was using an HTC MyTouch 3G with Android 2.2 installed on it. Everybody had told me that Android was the way to go with phones, so I caved and bought one. For the first week, I loved it. It was new and different and I couldn't stop talking about it. But, then all the issues entailed with Android started to get to me. There were too many glitches in the OS that I started to hate it. If I added a new contact to my list, the phone would delete it after about 30 seconds. I was unable to get into my photos folder to send pictures to people. When I wanted to scroll up a message thread, the phone was extremely glitchy and would keep pulling me back down to the bottom of the thread. There are many other problems I had with the phone, but I won't list them all here. So, after 6 months of using that phone, I decided to switch to a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone 3G. I've only been using the phone for a day, but haven't had any of the problems I listed above. That doesn't mean the phone isn't going to have other problems, but so far, it's leaps and bounds above the MyTouch.

I've also shopped the market when it comes to computers. Before I had my Macbook, I was using a Dell Inspiron 6000, and when I got it, I loved it. It ran everything I needed it to run, and it ran it all decently well. The issues I had with it were that it was quite large (15 inch screen) and it weighed quite a bit (almost 5 pounds, which is a lot for a laptop). There was also the issue with how easily it seemed to pick up viruses. It didn't matter what sites I went to, viruses always seemed to find their way onto my hard drive. The biggest issue, however was the fact that after a year and a half, the internal battery charger died on me. The only way I could use the laptop anymore was if I had it plugged into the wall. That's all well and fine for a desktop pc, but for a laptop, that's a huge inconvenience. After 6 months of only being able to use it plugged in, I broke down and bought a Macbook. It cost the same amount as my Dell did when I first bought it, but it ran so much better. I've yet to get a virus on my Mac, and I've been using it for almost 3 years now. Going along with that, I'm still able to get about 3 hours of battery life out of it before I have to plug it in again.

As for mp3 players, I just immediately went with iPods. I knew from playing with my friend's iPods that they were quality. I've still bought things other than iPods. I have an Archos 5 that I use rather frequently, mostly for recording TV, but my iPod Classic and iPod Touch get used more.

As for the iPad 2, I knew that I wanted a tablet, and before having owned an Android phone, I would have considered getting a Motorola Xoom. Sadly, Android has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't think I'll be going back to it. So, I went with an Ipad 2. I have to say, I use that device more than any of my other tech devices now. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. It's perfect for watching video or browsing the internet, which is one of the main things I use it for. I also love many of the apps for it. *cough*Pocket Frogs*cough*

In summation, I know this sounds like I'm just defending an obsession, but in reality, the reason I keep buying Apple products is because I know they are going to be of the highest quality, will last me the longest, and will give me the best user experience of anything else on the market.

My Personal Tech Wishes & The Words Of An Idiot

Alright, it's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog and I feel bad for that. I'm going to be better at it, I promise.

First off, I'd like to direct your attention to an article I found on cnet today that made me laugh. The article is Michael Pachter's thoughts on how well a Wii 2 will do in the market. "But wait," you may say, "Nintendo hasn't even announced plans for a Wii 2 yet. How could someone make predictions about it?" Well, if you asked that, you're thinking exactly what I and all the commentors on the article were thinking. No, Nintendo hasn't said anything that would lead people to think that a Wii 2 is on the way, but that hasn't stopped Mr. Pachter from giving his "professional analysts" opinion on the console. According to Mr. Pachter, the Wii 2 is doomed to fail no matter what the console includes. One of my favorite quotes from his analysis is this: "I just think Nintendo's blown it; I think by the time the launch [their next console] if it's Christmas 2011 it's 2 years too late, and for sure 1 year too late." Does anyone else find the humor in that statement? Is seems that Mr. Pachter can't decide how many years late a Wii 2 would be. If it's for sure 1 year too late, doesn't that mean it can't be 2 years too late. I've always thought that if something was "for sure" that meant it couldn't be anything else, but perhaps I was wrong all this time. If you read the article, be sure to also read the comments on it further down the page. I was glad to see that I wasn't the only person who thought Mr. Pachter was blowing steam hoping to sound intelligent. Predicting the doom of anything before it's been released or announced seems to be the way of Michael Pachter, though as we see in this article, also posted on cnet. Granted, Mr. Pachter isn't saying that the Nintendo 3DS will fail, he's just pointing out that it should be priced higher than it is and that we will see stores struggling all year to keep them on the shelves. To me, that doesn't seem like something Nintendo is going to regret. It may just be me, but I think Nintendo would want their newest handheld system selling so well that it is hard to keep stocked. As long as Nintendo has made enough 3DS units to satisfy the initial demand, I think they're going to enjoy a profitable year. I'd just like to end this section by saying that I look forward to reading more of Mr. Pachter's predictions for the gaming community, if for any reason, for a laugh.

Anyway, the other thing I wanted to talk about was some of my wishes for the tech toys I'd like to have in the future. It's tax filing season, which means that I'll hopefully be getting some extra money from the government in the next month or so. Last year I used my tax return to buy myself a 42" HDTV and I can honestly say that it was quite possibly one of my best purchases ever. I've enjoyed that TV every single day since I got it. Also over the year since I got the TV, I've gotten a PS3 and a Wii as well as a wireless set up for Rock Band. I've also finally entered the world of the smart phone with my T-mobile MyTouch. All in all, it's been a good last year for tech for me.

So, with some more of that government money coming my way, what did I want to buy for myself? The first thing that came to mind was an iPad. (If I hadn't bought a TV with my return last year, I was going to get an iPad with it.) I'd like to get an Xbox 360, but for now, that's not really at the top of my priority list. So, after I decided on getting an iPad, I was faced with several other decisions. Do I buy one of the current gen iPads, or do I wait to see what the iPad 2 is going to offer? If I go with a current gen one, do I buy brand new or refurbished?

I finally decided to wait to see what the iPad 2 is going to offer. I've waited a year to buy an iPad, so what's another couple months? Well, to be honest, with how much I've been wanting to get an iPad, another couple months could prove to be very difficult. Especially if it turns out that the iPad 2 doesn't offer anything that special. But, waiting until it's released will at least (hopefully) lower the cost of the first gen iPads so that I can afford a 64 gig one.

It's been rumored that the iPad 2 is going to have dual cameras, which I would really like, but isn't a tipping point for me. There are also rumors milling about that it will have an SD card slot or a regular USB port. The SD card slot seems more likely to happen than the USB port. Apple has always used their own USB connectors on their portable devices, so why would they stop now? USB would be nice for loading files from your Flash Drive, but you'd be able to do that with an SD card just as easily. If it turns out that the iPad 2 is going to have an SD card slot (regular SD, not micro) I'm probably going to opt for the it instead of the first gen. As a photographer, I'd love to be able to pop my memory cards into my iPad to view them and upload them to Facebook. The reason having cameras isn't going to tip my mind in favor of an iPad 2 is that I have cameras that I could use for taking pictures and a laptop that I use for Skype. Although, it would be entertaining to use the cameras if they included a Photo Booth app. I've always had fun playing around with pictures on Photo Booth, and I can only imagine that it would be easier with a touch screen.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm really going to try to be better at updating this blog.

Playstation Move & PSP2

To me, if the Wii's controller and the X-Box 360's Kinect had a child together, that child would look something like the Playstation Move.

Playstation Move is Sony's forray into motion controlling for games. It uses a remote that looks very similar to the Wii's remote to capture the player's movements and have them affect the game. From what I've heard, however, the Playstation Move uses cameras to track the movement of the remote, much like the Wii's motion bar.

The thing that gets me the most about Playstation Move and Kinect are the fact that Sony and Microsoft are obviously trying to play catch up in a game that they originally mocked Nintendo for joining. I think it's great that Sony and Microsoft are trying to reach a larger audience with their systems, I just hope they don't focus too much on the new players that they forget the old players who've stuck with them. As awesome as Playstation Move could be, I don't think I want to see Sony start making God of War games that use motion controllers. Some games just need to be played by mashing buttons. Can you imagine trying to play Halo on an X-Box using Kinect? I hope it doesn't come to that.

However, there are several games that I think would be great when played with the Playstation Move. Little Big Planet 2 comes to mind first. For some reason, I can just see that game being even more fun than it already is with motion controls. Another game series that comes to mind is the Gran Turismo games. (Or any racing games, really.) The motion controls worked great on Mario Kart Wii, so why couldn't they work just as well on a Sony racing game? I think it would.

On another Playstation front, Sony recently announced that it felt the PSP would have a 10 year life, much like they're hoping the PS3 will. You know what that means; it will be several more years before we ever see a PSP2 come out. Honestly,I hope Sony doesn't really wait until 2014 to release the PSP2, just to make a point. The PSP is a great system, but we could all do with an upgrade. There are all kinds of rumors and fake pictures cycling around out there of what people think the PSP2 will look like, and I hope that Sony will eventually release pictures of what it will really look like soon. We can only wait so long, Sony.

Here's just a few of the pictures of what people think the PSP2 will look like.

If I had to pick one for what I hope it will look like, it would be this first one, although I don't really see a UMD drive on it, which would turn me off of it. But this first one looks pretty sleek, eh?

This next one looks too much like the child of a PSP and a PS3 controller for me to like it. It's just too big and bulky for my tastes. Although I like the idea that the PSP2 could be a GPS.

This final one looks nice and slim, but it's just too... awkward. I like that there's two thumbsticks, but they're in such a weird place. It looks like it'd be hard to play with them. But that might just be because I'm used to the PS3's controller.

My final thoughts on the matter? I think the Playstation Move could give Sony the bump it needs to get out of 3rd place in sales. It has the potential to make the PS3 even more awesome than it is. As for the PSP2, it's nice and all that it's sticking around for so long so that we don't have to keep buying new systems, but I hope they aren't postponing the release just to make a point.

X-Box 360 "Slim" and Kinect

If you haven't heard already, Microsoft has released a new, slimmer version of the X-Box 360.

The new version has built in Wi-Fi, is Kinect ready, and was supposed to get rid of the RRoD problem that the older systems had. (RRoD: Red Rings of Death. A problem that occured when an X-Box 360 would overheat and crash.) Turns out, though, that the Slim version is already having overheating problems and it's only been around for a short while. Sad to hear, but no real surprise.

I think it's cool that Microsoft has slimmed down their system (the slimmer version does have a rather sleek, sexy quality to it.), and it's definitely about time that they added built in Wi-Fi. (The fact that you had to spend extra money to get Wi-Fi connectivity always seemed like Microsoft money grubbing.) But, you'd think they'd spend a bit more time trying to make the system less likely to crash. It's great and all that they're so good about replacing the systems that crash, but wouldn't it be a better use of their time to make a system that didn't need to be replaced so often? I think so.

In other X-Box news; Kinect has made an even bigger step into the spotlight. Formerly known as "Project Natal", Kinect is supposed to revolutionize the way we play games. Kinect is a type of motion controller that, instead of using a remote and motion sensor like the Wii, uses cameras to capture the player's movements and have the game react accordingly. The demo videos I've seen of it make it look pretty dang awesome. If it performs as well as it does in the videos, it might just succeed at it's goal.

I've heard tell that Kinect is going to need a pretty large room to operate in, which might be bad news for people like me. I live in a typical bachelor pad apartment and my front room isn't as big as it might need to be for Kinect to work. But, who knows?

All in all, I'm excited to see if Kinect can live up to the hype. It definitely has the potential to be very awesome. As far as the new, slimmer 360; I really wish we could get to the point that we can play our X-Box anywhere without worrying about overheating and the RRoD.

Nintendo 3DS

I'm sure most of you have heard of Nintendo's plan to release a new version of their supremely popular handheld gaming system, the DS. The new system, the 3DS, is supposed to destroy the PSP. (the DS's only real competition.)

The 3DS is going to have a screen that allows for 3D gaming without the need for special glasses. Honestly? I think it's a cool idea and I'm excited to eventually play with one. My only worry is that the 3DS is going to be just like the DSi. Don't get me wrong, the DSi is an awesome system, it just could have been so much better. As much as Nintendo wanted people to play with the cameras and the sound apps, they just weren't as popular, in my opinion. I think most people were more excited for the DSi Ware Store that was released with the DSi, the only problem with that is that Nintendo hasn't done a whole lot with the DSi Ware Store to make it stand out from things like Apple's App Store. There are so many great things that Nintendo could be releasing on the DSi Ware Store that they haven't yet. Things like a Virtual Game Boy console, or downloadable NES & SNES games. They could still do that, they just haven't yet.

But, that's not what I wanted to talk about here. I wanted to talk about things I hope will either be in the 3DS, or in Nintendo's next portable gaming system. My first hope is that the 3DS will have some sort of built in memory that can hold more than the DSi does. Sony released the PSP Go, which had a hard drive, but they removed the UMD drive, which made quite a few people angry and caused the system to not be as popular as Sony hoped. Nintendo could totally take that idea and make it infinitely better. Have a hard drive in the 3DS, but keep the ability to play DS cartriges. I've heard that the 3DS is going to be able to play video, so I can only hope that means there will be a hard drive, otherwise we'll all have to rely on SD cards to watch our videos, which could be a pain.

One other thing I'd like to see on the 3DS is, as I've mentioned, a better DSi Ware Store. The Store has so much potential on a system made by Nintendo. They have a whole catalog of Retro games they could release in the DSi Store that would make the DS sell even better than it already is. I mentioned my want for a Virtual Game Boy console. There are so many ways that could be awesome. Imagine downloading one of the Game Boy Advance versions of a Pokemon game, playing it, then being able to transfer Pokemon from there to one of your DS Pokemon Games. It could be pretty epic.

Back on the topic of the 3DS being able to play video, I'd like to see the DS system (any incarnation of it) be able to do the things my PSP does. With my PSP, I can watch videos, look at pictures, listen to music, browse the web and the Playstation Store, and play games. My PSP can be more of a portable media device rather than just a game system. Now, the DSi can do some of the things the PSP can do, it just doesn't do them as well, or as smoothly. I'd like to see the 3DS become more of an all-in-one system. It has the potential to be, it just hasn't yet.

My final thought on the matter? Nintendo has an almost flawless track record with their portable gaming systems. I think that, even if the 3DS doesn't do any of the things I've mentioned, it's going to be successful. I can still hope for some of my ideas to be used though, right?

Phantasy Star Portable 2

As I said in my intro post, I'm a huge fan of the Phantasy Star series. I remember playing the original games on the old school systems, and I've loved the recent games that have come out in the series, such as: Phantasy Star Online, Phantasy Star Universe, Phantasy Star 0 (Zero), and Phantasy Star Portable.

Phantasy Star Portable is easily my favorite game to come out on the Playstation Portable. I've played that game more than any other RPG I can think of. (World of Warcraft not included.) The game played a lot like Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) and took place in the same universe. You had the same races and classes to choose from and could visit the same planets. But, where PSU was an MMORPG, Phantasy Star Portable was more of a single player game. The game did have a multi player option, but it was only an Ad-Hoc multiplayer. (Ad-Hoc means that you could only play with people in the same room as you. There was no online play available for it.) But, for me, that was enough. I loved the game when it came out and still do to this day.

So, you can imagine my excitement a couple years ago when I heard they were making a sequel. But, that excitement quickly turned to dismay when I found out that there wasn't a US release date for the sequel. It was released in Japan quite a while ago, and I've been watching for a US release date ever since. But, it wasn't until a couple weeks ago that my dreams came true. SEGA has announced a US release date for Phantasy Star Portable 2! Game Stop has the release down as sometime in September of this year (2010). I've got my copy reserved already and I can't wait for it to get here.

My expectations are pretty high for this game. I can only hope that they make it better than the first. (Which, in my mind, is going to be hard to do.) I can hardly find anything I don't like about the first game, so I'm hoping SEGA doesn't screw up the second. There's just a few things that I'm really hoping are in the second game that weren't in the first.

First; in PSU, you had a storage box in each of your character's rooms that allowed you to transfer items between the characters. It was great because I was able to send fancy items from characters that couldn't use them to a character that could. Phantasy Star Portable got rid of that option, much to my dismay. I'm really hoping they find a way to bring that back in the sequel.

Second; I'd really like to be able to play online with people all over the world instead of just with the people in the room with me. Mostly because I'm not sure how many people I know will be buying the game. I've heard rumors that there will be an Online Multiplayer mode, and I'm really hoping they turn out to be true.

The third thing I'd like to see isn't really a change, it's more of an addition; I'd love it if they added a new race or a couple new classes. If they don't, maybe they could make it possible to level each class higher than level 10. And I wouldn't complain if they added a few new weapon types in there. Again, if they don't, they could always make it possible to level your Photon Art higher than 30. It may be a long shot, but maybe they could add a fourth planet to the roster as well. Just sayin'.

The final thing I'd like to see added to the game is the ability to create your own items. In PSU you were able to collect ingredients that were used for creating different weapons and armors. Phantasy Star Portable got rid of this as well, and I really hope they bring it back.

But, even if they don't take any of my suggestions, I'm sure I'm going to like the game just as much as I have the others, unless they decide to change everything and mess it up. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they won't.) I honestly can't think of any game coming out this year that I'm more excited for than this one. I've been waiting for a long time for it, and I have high hopes that SEGA will deliver another winner. They have such a good track record with this series, it'd be a shame if they botched it up now.

My final thoughts on the game? I highly doubt that SEGA would betray their fans and make the sequel a stinker. I think they know that the series has a pretty big following and that there would be mass rioting if they messed it up. So, I'm just going to sit back and hope that September will get here as soon as possible.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog about video games!

First off, thank you for checking it out. I hope you'll like what you read here.

Just a little bit of background on me; I've been playing video games for almost my entire life. I started on my Dad's old Atari with good old "Space Invaders" and "Preppie" and have tried to keep up with video games ever since. I love portable gaming systems and have collected quite a few of them over the years. I worked in a video game store for just over a year a few years back and loved it. I know that every gamer has one or two games that they consider their "video crack" and I'm no exception; I play World of Warcraft somewhat regularly, but the games that suck me in more than any others are the Phantasy Star games. I just can't get enough of them.

I'm planning to do reviews of games on this blog, but I don't want that to be all there is here. I'm going to have my first impressions, my hopes for new releases of games and systems, my thoughts on video game related news, reminiscing on old systems and games, and funny video game related stories that happened to me when I worked at the video game store. (Trust me, there's quite a few of them.)

Well, that's enough of an intro. Enjoy!