Not An Apple-Head, But Still A Dreamer…


 
While I did have a (very) brief affair with a Macintosh back in the 90’s, I was never really an Apple fan or fanatic, despite the company’s many innovations and rather, er… obsessed user base. I liked the design of their products and their ad campaigns were amazingly clever and clearly made to grab one’s attention. But for me, most marketing flies in one ear and right out the other because I’m all about the end result of all those billions spent and frankly speaking, prefer products where I as the end user have total control over how I interact with them. When the iPod was released, it baffled me because I knew digital music would never sound as good as vinyl or even the few steps down CD’s did. Nevertheless, people sheeped right on up to the bar and made the player a superb success for Apple, changing the way we bought music probably forever, and for the worse some would say. Why buy an album meant to be heard in its entirety when you could pick and choose songs you like and play them OUT OF ORDER, thus destroying any actual meaning their creators intended? Eh, no big deal, right? It’s ONLY music, right?

And don’t even get me started on not being able to change your own damn batteries… Continue reading

CE Week Best of (1 of 3): “Get The Picture” With This Quintet of Snappy Tech Goodies

CE Week
Save for the restrooms, nearly everywhere you looked at this year’s CE Week, there was some sort of tech accessory being showed off, a dongle dangled in your face every ten paces and other high and low tech tech related goodies of all types vying for attention and coverage. I liked a lot of what I saw, so in a few parts today and into next week, here are a few photo-related suggestions for you potential gift givers out there or those of you looking to give a little or big something to yourselves at some point:

slideshow_5ZTYLUS Smartphone Camera Lens (iPhone 5/Samsung Galaxy S/Galaxy Note): If you take a lot of photos with that iPhone or Galaxy, you’ll definitely want a ZTYLUS sooner than later. Invented and designed by Tim Hsu, this lens attachment (with optional case that makes your phone look like something even more futuristic) has a 4-in-1 lens that expands your creative options, is relatively inexpensive and as the official site says, will help you take better smartphone photos. The Revolver 4-in-One Lens is $69.95 and the case is $39.95, but I say snap both up in a combo pack from the ZTYLUS web shop for $99.95 and get your friends wondering when you became a secret agent (who just so happens to take REALLY awesome camera photos).

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CE Week: Protection Is The Name Of The Game…

CE WeekIt really doesn’t matter at all how much you spend, have spent or will spend on that hot new tech gadget at all if you don’t take care of it, folks. Sure, there are those who dispose of stuff as soon as a new model ships out or if there’s even the hint of an issue with it, but I’d bet most consumers don’t have that luxury in this economy and would be more than happy to have their tech last longer and even work better in some cases. This year’s CE Week was packed with some really cool new and returning products I can highly recommend, so pull up a chair if you haven’t already and maybe take some notes or click away on the following links at your leisure…

stm-112-033P-16_largeSTM Bags: I’d only heard of STM about a year or so back from a friend of mine who said they were “the best made laptop bags you’ll ever see”, which I promptly took with a grain of salt, as I’ve seen plenty of well-made carrying bags in my day. Anyway, he showed me the new laptop case his wife got for his birthday gift and I had to agree after poking through it thoroughly that there was some merit to his hyperbole.

These Australian-designed bag, cases and sleeves just look like they’re going places, even if you’re just hoofing it a handful of blocks to the nearest coffee spot to grab a cuppa and work on that great novel you think will rocket you to fame and fortune. Of course, if you walk in with your gear in an STM, people may think you’ve already made it. I guess that’s a sign of accomplishment, that looking successful stuff, as some of us have trouble finding a pair of socks that properly match (raises hand and waves it around)…

STM actually gave away that same model this year as a freebie to anyone who popped up at their booth with either the postcard they’d sent out or a mention of the email they shot around to a bunch of lucky attendees. As my own laptop is bigger than the bag handed out, I ended up getting someone who’s birthday was coming up a little replacement for his bag when it finally needs replacing and I’m betting he’s going to be surprised. My eyeball is actually set on that STM Sequel bag in the photo above, as it’s got everything I’m looking for and then some.

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Gallery: Lumino City – State of Play’s Handmade Game Is Really Pretty Stuff…

 
Okay, I’d not heard of indie developer State of Play Games or their games until someone sent me a link to their site a while back and I was charmed by the look of Lume, a puzzle/adventure game (currently on sale on the Steam store) with sets made out of paper and cardboard with hand animated characters filmed against and around those lovely locations. While the game was short and some reviewers knocked it for this, the outstanding visual style and fact that everything was handmade made this one quite special. That and the game’s ending seemed to point to a potential follow up at some point.

Well, that follow up is coming and it’s called Lumino City. As you can see above and below, it’s a work in progress and looks gorgeous. The developers promise “a wondrous sprawling puzzle adventure game” and it looks as if they’re going to exceed expectations on a few fronts. Hopefully, those critics and players that beat up on Lume for its brevity will see the craft here and really appreciate all the work that is going into this new adventure. I know I’m eager to give it a go when it’s ready for some play time. It would also be cool to see this on consoles at some point, but I guess that’s up to the developer’s time and if someone gets them a few dev kits…

Lumino City – Teaser from State of Play on Vimeo.

 

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E3 2014: Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley – Not The Only Thing Natsume Showed This Year, But…

Alphadia Genesis Wii UYou wouldn’t know this by looking at their North American YouTube page. Now, I’m not singling Natsume out for anything mean here at all, folks. They’re a solid but much smaller publisher than some of the bigger and busier ones who show stuff at E3 and to me, that’s precisely why they NEED more updates on their main video page. Granted, they DO have a nice social presence on facebook with a page that’s updated fairly frequently. however, not everyone has or wants a facebook account and YouTube works quite well as far as letting potential customers see what’s coming (despite the pain in the butt that is Google+ hampering some basic functionality there).

Anyway, as I’ve been trumpeting, Alphadia Genesis is also coming (a port of an iOS and Android JRPG) and I posted about the rest of their lineup before the big show. Hey, I just want to see the little guys succeed, so if I can generate some thrills and hits for Natsume and their cool lineup of upcoming and already available games, I’m doing my job here.

E3 2014: Natsume’s Lineup Currently Has More Games Than Capcom’s. This Could Get Interesting…

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Let’s see now. Here’s Natsume’s E3 lineup:

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (Nintendo 3DS)
A-Train: City Simulator (Nintendo 3DS)
Alphadia Genesis (Wii U)
Reel Fishing: Master’s Challenge (PlayStation Vita)
End of Serenity (Sony PSP)
Reel Fishing Pocket 2: Ocean (iOS)
Gabrielle’s Monstrous Duel (iOS)
Hometown Story: Pocket (iOS)
Ninja Strike (iOS)

capcom logo huge
And here’s what Capcom is packing:

Dead Rising 3 (PC)
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (iOS)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Nintendo 3DS)
Ultra Street Fighter IV (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (Nintendo 3DS)

Ready? FIGHT!

little orbit logo blkOr not really. For that matter, new-ish publisher Little Orbit also will have more games at E3 than Capcom does. Granted this isn’t really astonishing news, as both small and large publishers have been condensing or expanding their lineups over the past few years in order to maximize profits and it seems that we’re at that stage where small and large games make the cut at these companies. Granted, Ultra Street Fighter IV or Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will easily sell more copies than Reel Fishing and End of Serenity combined. But for a guy like me who just wants to play good games no matter who publishes them, these leaner, meaner lineups are almost a godsend because I don’t need to wade through junk to get to the treasure.

Naturally, not all of these games I’ll get to will be great, but fun is a more important factor than anything else for me at the end of the day, as is enough QA (quality assurance) that’s occurred pre-release that keeps what I play playable from beginning to end without a patch in sight (or at least one that fixes anything that’s busted). Anyway, I’ll have a more complete list of E3 games from more publishers shortly.My inbox is filling up with official lists and I want to do them all in one post as opposed to dropping in multiples.

Back in a bit.

The Collectables Blasts Onto iOS Devices Today: Crytek’s Got You Good On A Few Fronts…

 
I was certainly surprised that I’d like a mobile game as much as Crytek’s The Collectables (as I’m not a fan of touchy-tappy gaming at all) when I saw it a few months back, but thanks to the combination of fantastic visuals and easy to get into gameplay (Okay, and stuff blowing up every few seconds), I can say this one’s worth a try. There’s also an addictive card collecting element (thus the game’s title) and some more fun to be had here, but this isn’t a review and I’m keeping it short because I think you should take this for a spin and see what you think. So, yeah- go do just that, I say…

Bacon Craze Gets People Stupid About A Dumb, Dumb Device…

Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer exec
That is who I truly want to be-e-eee…
‘Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer exec,
I’d put a halt to this stupidity!

Sooo, It’s apparent that some people at Oscar Mayer are either smoking that bacon a wee bit too much, as they have no clue as to what hell they’re about to unleash on themselves and a “lucky” few people who get something in the mail that may change their lives (and not for the better). It seems that the eggheads over at the “Oscar Meyer Institute For The Advancement of Bacon” have come up with a tiny device that plugs into your phone and when triggered using you’re phone’s alarm system, puffs out the scent of sizzling bacon along with an accompanying sound effect. What. The. Fork? Look:

Now, this is cute and all, but as soon as I heard about this project, my brain spit out its tea. Then when I saw that video above, my brain hit itself in the head with a cast iron fry pan. What. The. Fork? Continue reading

STRIPPED: Mr. Bill Is Back On The Boards For This Comic Documentary

Stripped_MP 

Ever since Calvin & Hobbes disappeared from newspapers in 1995, the great Bill Watterson has been missed by many fans of his work. However, as you can see here, the man is back with a funny poster for the serious documentary about the dying print newspaper comics business, STRIPPED, now available for pre-order (ironically) on iTunes. Me, I’ll hold out for a Blu-Ray/DVD release because I like owning my movies and holding them in my grubby little hands. I hope people watching this now on their small screens can appreciate what’s being said and maybe think about how they consume their media in the future. But of course, you can’t beat convenience and enforced evolution colliding as they squeeze out some who formerly made a decent living doing what they love. Ah, my old fogey card is showing here, I guess…

The Collectables: Crytek’s F2P Mobile Surprise WIll Blow You Away…

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To many fans of their graphically intensive game experiences on PC and/or consoles, the words “Crytek” and “mobile gaming” are probably not even seen as anything close to a reality, but surprise, surprise. DeNA and Mobage are about to knock many socks off with the developers first project, a phenomenal-looking free to play tactical arcade shooter called The Collectables. Yes, the name more than likely has your eyebrow now hovering way above your head, I’m betting, and you’re not alone. My own eyebrow did a back flip when I heard a few weeks back that Crytek was entering the mobile scene, but when I finally saw the game in action last week demoed by a broadly smiling Barry Dorf, I was not only convinced, but I’d go as far to say that this might be the game some “core” gamers who shun mobile and tablet games run out to buy a device to play it on…
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