I got a great question the other day from Josh Tilton who wanted to dump his Dish and go with internet only for TV and Movies. Josh I envy you sir. I have wanted to dump U-Verse for awhile now. It has nothing to do with the service. U-Verse is awesome, but I find myself ... Read more]]> Posted in AppleHome Theater

I got a great question the other day from Josh Tilton who wanted to dump his Dish and go with internet only for TV and Movies. Josh I envy you sir. I have wanted to dump U-Verse for awhile now. It has nothing to do with the service. U-Verse is awesome, but I find myself more and more getting my video content from the web. Not to mention the cost benefits you can gain buy dumping your service provider.

Josh’s question was if anyone had got Boxee running on a 360:

Hi!

Thanks for posting this article! It’s been helpful in my quest to get rid of Dish Network and only use internet tv. Are you going to cover the steps/software needed to get boxee to run from my mac to my xbox360? If I could get hulu on my TV… All would be perfect! I’m open to any suggestions!

Thanks!

Josh

Boxee Options

It looks like Josh will need a standalone unit to get Boxee to his TV. There are lots of ways to get Boxee up and running on many different systems. In my experience its easiest on the Mac however Boxee supports Windows and Ubuntu as well.

Boxee on the 360?

I know that it is technically possible through hacking, however not many people hack their 360 as MS bans most people who hack their system from using LIVE. Live is by far the best service for playing games with your friends, so it’s hard to give up. There have been discussion on the Boxee forums discussing this however I don’t think the Boxee developers are in a hurry to get hacks running on the 360. They are fully busy adding features to the supported system now. You never know, Xbox may just support Hulu in the future. They already have Netflix up and running so why not add Hulu (if the moneys right).

Get a PC

Wow, I typically never say those words. I usually say "get a Mac" however depending on your situation a PC might be just what the doctor ordered.

Old PC

If you have an old PC lying around you can put it to good use instead of putting it in a landfill. Install Ubuntu on it and then install Boxee. This is possibly the most cost effective solution depending on the condition of your old system and what it may take to get Boxee up and running. I have had good success with old Dell dimension systems. Note that just because you can get it up and running doesn’t mean you can get it up and running well. Your video card and processor will determine whether or not HD video will play well or not at all. If you system is too underpowered Boxee my not install or may crash. Check the Boxee forums for help with your setup. Connect your VGA or DVI to your TV and Rock It!

Buy a PC

You can go two different routes with this one. You can go for awesome specs and really turn it into a full fledged HTPC or gaming rig, or you can go with more cost effective route and get a system that will run HD with now problems while still begin affordable. I go for the cheaper option, but if you are a gamer, well nuf said. Pick up a powerful rig. For cheaper methods you can find desktop for cheap on TigerDirect and Newegg. I personally suggest at least a core 2 duo however a nice Pentium could work well. I wouldn’t spend over $400 as your starting to get into a different category. Want to go ever cheaper build one. If you have the knowledge, and a free weekend you can put together an awesome system on the cheap. With any of these routes you should be able to install Boxee no problem. I suggest running Ubuntu over Windows as the Boxee version is more robust and stable on Ubuntu. Or better yet make it a hackentosh!

Apple Options

Of course you can go the Apple way, which of course would be my first choice. Apple has several different routes and in my experience is the most straight forward. At the same time Apple products can be a bit more expensive at the lower end. Let’s take a look.

AppleTV

Yup Boxee can run on the AppleTV. All you need is a thumb-drive and atvusb-creator. It’s actually really easy to do however I do want to let you know that the AppleTV is not a powerful Mac. It’s actually perfectly specked for what it does and it does it well. Boxee runs much better on a more powerful system. With that begin said Boxee adds the extra functionality that makes this a dynamite combo. You can also run everything from the apple remote which is super simple and easy for anyone to understand. If you’re interested here’s a quick video on getting it installed.

Mac Mini

Ahh, my favorite solution. However this solution can be a little more expensive depending on what you want. Best option for a standalone unit is by far the Mac Mini. Also since this is a real computer you can do infinitely more. If you pick up a little app called RemoteBuddy it will let access and navigate ever application on your Mac by using only your remote. Talk about added functionality. If this interests you check out the HDTV Podcast over using a Mac Mini as a video server.

MacBook or MacBook Pro

This is an option that I use. If you are looking to switching to a Mac why not just get yourself a Laptop? When you want to run Boxee or FrontRow, just plug in your laptop to the TV and your set. You can do the same things with a laptop that you can do with your Mac Mini. Add an apple remote or program your harmony to control your laptop and your set.

Boxee Extras

If you have an iPhone you have to check out the Boxee remote app. It is a much better way to navigate than using a traditional remote. And since it uses Wi-Fi you don’t need line of sight. Change songs, podcasts, or movies all from the other room. It takes a bit to get used to but is really worth it once you get the hang out it.

In this run down I am going to go over what it takes to share this content freely through my house with no fuss. If you didn’t check out my post on the nuts and bolts of my system, check that out first. That post explains the wiring and how everything is ... Read more]]> Posted in AppleHome TheaterReviews

The Basics

In this run down I am going to go over what it takes to share this content freely through my house with no fuss. If you didn’t check out my post on the nuts and bolts of my system, check that out first. That post explains the wiring and how everything is connected. This post will tackle the software.

What I’m Streaming

Content gets distributed through network. The content I am sharing is pretty standard, its HD videos, photos, and music. I access this content via two different methods. The first method being the Xbox360 & PS3, and the second being Boxee.

The Nitty Gritty

We are an all Mac household, so If you’re on a PC you’re 360 connection solutions should be much easier. Since Xbox 360 is built by Microsoft it is set up out of the box to play nice with Windows, not the Mac. The 360 does not connect to my Macs by default. Thus lies the first problem with streaming video content from the Mac to the 360.

Connect360

Connect 360 is a third party app that makes the 360 play nice with my Mac. It is a very simple application that only makes minutes to set up (depending on your network configuration). I have also heard many people mention Rivet (but I have never tried them myself). If you’re using a PS3 try out Medialink. All these applications get us about halfway there, as you should be able to see the media on your 360 now and access it.

The Content

This next section mainly concerning video content as music these days is mostly DRM free and should play just fine on your 360. I’ll assume you already have video content on your computer. If you’re looking for content ideas stay tuned for part 3. Sharing video files can be a bag of hurt if you have the wrong file type, codec, bit rate, etc. These are the settings I use to get my stuff up and running on my 360′s. The 360′s should be able to stream H.264, DIVX, XVID, MOV, AVI, WMV, ASF. Check the Xbox support site for more details and limitations on each file type. If your video doesn’t meet the specific criteria for playback, you will have to get all fancy pants and convert your video files. If you have a video format other than MKV skip to the Visualhub section, else keep reading or (If (videoFormat != MKV) { $(‘.VisualHub’).show(); } else { $(‘.nextSection’).show(); }; //he he he).

MKV Files

MKV files were the trickiest files for me to wrap my head around. MKV files, like most video types, are just wrappers for your standard video and audio files. These MKV files are not supported by the 360 and will not play by default. You will need to convert your content to one of the supported formats listed above to play it on the 360. I use awesome application called MKVtools. It takes the guess work out of converting your files for the 360. Select the device: "Xbox 360", video: "Pass Thru", and audio: acc. I use "Pass Thru" to give me the original video quality. The conversion is fast and works pretty much without a hitch. If you buy the full version MKVtools allows batch conversion, which is a really great feature. However, if you’re trying to convert a movie you’ll be out of luck with this application. MKVtools has trouble with files longer than an hour or more.

VisualHub

VisualHub is the Swiss army knife for video conversion. Unfortunately VisualHub is no longer supported or sold. If you don’t have a copy check out VideoMonkey which is trying to become the Open Source answer for VisualHub as it uses much of the same source code. Another option is HandBreak to which I speak to below. For those of us lucky to still have VisualHub: you can simply drop your movie into the queue, select MP4, select "go nuts", go to advanced options, select at max bit-rate of "3600", and convert away. I have found this is the optimal settings for streaming movies to the 360. It is a fine science however, so you may have to tweak the settings every now and again for certain encodes. I use "3600" as my bit-rate as anything higher seems to cause major problems for the stream and in some cases won’t even play.

HandBrake

HandBrake was originally a DVD ripper/converter. It would take your DVD and rip it to many different formats. Today it’s the same program but now it has built in presets to help you convert easier. Also you can now load videos such as 3GP, AVI, FLV, MKV, MOD, MOV, MP4, MPG, and WMV. Select the 360 preset and start converting. Even with the presets selected you can still muddle around with the settings to get optimal performance. I love this program. It is heavily supported and they add stability and features with every update.

Video Exhaustion

Getting your content to the 360 can be more than a little time consuming. However, with the right tools you can view almost any video on your 360. I have a wired gigabit connection from my computer to my 360′s so it makes streaming HD video a breeze. If you are new to this whole video from the internet idea you will be interested in part 3 which will deal with getting content on your computer.

UPDATE Part 2 is here!!!

My wife and I host a Super Bowl Party every year. Each year the party seems to get bigger and bigger. I get a lot of questions at and after the party regarding my set up. “How do I do this”, type of questions. I thought it would be great to ... Read more]]> Posted in Home TheaterReviews

UPDATE Part 2 is here!!!

My wife and I host a Super Bowl Party every year. Each year the party seems to get bigger and bigger. I get a lot of questions at and after the party regarding my set up. “How do I do this”, type of questions. I thought it would be great to write up a detailed guide on how I set everything up. Let me give you a quick run down of what I have and what I wanted to accomplish. My system as a whole is very cheap, but I get a lot of bang for my buck. Here’s what I got; I have U-Verse, featuring the Total Home DVR system, but I also have a large collection of DVD’s that I have started to backup. I wanted this content on all my TV’s. I have a Projector, a Plasma, and Projection LCD. Ara from the HTGuys podcast chose to make Mac Mini’s the heart of his set up. Xbox 360′s are at the heart of my set up.

Visual Wiring Guide

First off I want to apologize for everything sounding very elementary, I wanted this to be easily understandable to everyone. Let me also say that the wiring diagram does not include surround sound wiring, nor does it include the wiring for my U-Verse setup. However, the surround sound wiring is pretty straight forward, I just ran the wires through the walls and out through the celling. The U-Verse part simply used my existing cable wiring and phone lines to connect the U-Verse system. All of the cables and wires were purchased from monoprice.com. If you are buying cables anywhere else, STOP. I opted for a wired connection to most of my devices I stream to. All of the ethernet wires are run through the wall, so there is no mess.

Media Room

As you can see in my wiring guide, I have a Dell 2400MP projector and an 80″ homemade screen. The screen itself is MDF with several coats of primer and paint. The surrounding frame is painted flat black and wrapped in felt. The screen is very smooth and I get great results. I am about to add some ScreenGoo to give me even more contrast. I have a 360, a PS3, and U-Verse box all using component and optical cables. These cables run into a switcher which allows me to easily have multiple devices on one input. The Harmony 520 remote makes it easy to press one button and have everything turn on. These remotes are cheap, easy to use, and I have one in every room. The optical out from the switch connects to my surround sound system. I can stream Netflix movies, and access content on my computer, all through the Xbox 360. Not to mention playing Gears of War 2 on an 80″ screen is not too shabby either. I can also access most of the same content on the PS3, but I primarily use it as a Blu-Ray player.

Living Room

There is not as many wires running through the walls in this room. I got a 52″ Panasonic Projection LCD couple of years ago, and it only has 1 HDMI input. I have an HDMI switch that takes care of the multiple inputs for me and handles all the switching. This is the most complicated part about this system as I have my U-Verse DVR and Sony Blu-Ray player both running into the the switch. The optical runs out of the TV and connects to my surround sound system. If I want to stream from my computer, I just hook up the MacBook to HDMI switch and fire up Boxee. Boxee is a great media center program that also gives me access to my content as well as other great content available on the internet (I’ll talk more about it in Part 2). Again, this is all controlled with 1 Harmony Remote. This room is my only room that is wireless. I was worried about the streaming ability of the wireless connection, but to my surprise it works just as good though.

Bed Room

This room has the least going on. I have an awesome wife that bought me a second 360 for valentines day. This 360 is primarily used for streaming my content, and streaming Netflix movies. This is a great way to add media center like functionality with very little cost. This 360 is the arcade unit, and it also has HDMI built right in. If I want to play games I just pop my 360 hard-drive from my other 360 in, and start playing. The 360 and my U-Verse receiver are running into another HDMI switcher. It is all being controlled by a Harmony Remote.

Baby’s Room

This room is my project room. I have got and old Dell lying around, so I loaded Ubuntu on it (Windows is outlawed) and loaded up Boxee. I also have a PowerMac G4 that I’m not using. I might end up swapping the Dell with the Mac. I have a 19″ monitor hanging on the wall. We will use this as a TV for that room. Again this is my project room, so things will probably change several more times before the baby comes, but I enjoy figuring out solutions.

The Office

The office is the central hub for this little setup. The content on my network is being shared from my MacPro. Again, the direct connection to the AirPort Extreme makes it easy for me to share 1080P videos over the network with ease. I wanted to have all the devices that I don’t need to see, well outta sight. So all of the network devices are in the closet. I have room in the closet, so I can continue to add pieces to the mix and have space for them.

What I want to add next

Of course one of the first things I want to upgrade is my surround sound systems. I am partial to Onkyo, and I want a 7 speaker surround sound system with multiple HDMI inputs. Next I want to pick up a sound bar system for my bedroom. I really don’t want to deal with surround sound speakers and wires in the bedroom, so a sound-bar is really tempting. One of the next big items I am going to add to the house is speakers in every room of the house. This would be great to play my iTunes library over the entire house. My plan is to place the main receiver in the office closet, but I still haven’t figured out exactly what I need and how much control I need in each room. If anyone wants to weigh in, feel free. The baby’s room is going to eventually contain a webcam that is always running. That way we can easily video monitor the baby through our computers. I might end up adding a MacMini to that room to make it easier for a much cleaner solution. However I still haven’t decided between using a webcam/iChat, or an IP network camera solution.

Conclusion

Using 360′s are great ways to extend media center functionality on your network without costing an arm and a leg. If you shop right and do all the wiring yourself, then you can have a system like mine for a small price too. For example I only paid around 2400 for everything in my media room.

Part 2 is coming soon here. In part 2 I will discuss the software I use for video sharing, conversion, torrenting, and network configurations. Questions? Add a comment below or send me an email.

A landmark event has happened. For the first time ever we can see actual game play footage of Duke Nukem Forever. The game could hold a record as it has been in development for 12 years now. The game is begin developed by our own Dallas based 3D ... Read more]]> Posted in Video Games

Duke Nukem Forever: 12 years and still counting

A landmark event has happened. For the first time ever we can see actual game play footage of Duke Nukem Forever. The game could hold a record as it has been in development for 12 years now. The game is begin developed by our own Dallas based 3D Realms. I keep wondering how this company stays in business. I mean I know they released Prey a couple of years ago, but they don’t have regular release schedules like most video games companies.

About the footage

The footage is contained in the very first episode of The Jace Hall Show. The segment with 3D Realms begins at 2:33. Just fast forward trust me. I loved it when Jace asked them the hard question: “What the f*** is taking so long?” The actual game play footage begins at 4:18. From what I saw it looks to be alright initially. But who can tell this early on. You can judge for yourself.

Sony’s Qore starring Veronica Belmont

Sony announced Qore, an interactive, monthly original program that covers the world inside PlayStation. Sony Qore is only available on the Playstation Store for the Sony PS3.

I would have hoped for more portability, but not a deal killer. This is an awesome idea if it is don’t correctly. Let’s just get into the details shat we?

Qore episodes will be available the first Thursday of every month in coordination with the weekly PLAYSTATION Store update. Sony actually expects you to pay for this show. The first show sells for $2.99. An annual subscription sells for $24.99.

Errrr, what? They expect me to pay $25/year to view Sony promotional content? Am I missing something here?

Annual subscribers will receive thirteen episodes of Qore. In addition, for a limited-time-only, annual subscribers will also receive the Playstation Network game, Calling All Cars, for free. Sony Qore features exclusive multimedia news, developer interviews, in-depth game previews and behind-the-scene looks at the hottest PLAYSTATION games. Subscribers will also have special access to game demos, betas, add-ons and other downloadable and game-related content. Qore is the first in a series of planned original content for the PLAYSTATION community by PLAYSTATION Network. Via PS3 Fanboy.

Qore is ridiculous.

First off let me start out by saying Kudos to Sony for picking Veronica Belmont as the host of Qore. She is a brilliant personality and seems to draw a buzz wherever she goes. She was great on Buzz Out Loud, then Mahalo Daily, and now Tekzilla. I have subscribed and followed all of her podcasts as they have all been very entertaining. So let me leave her out of what I think about Qore.

Qore could be exactly what Sony needs. I mean when you compare PSN to Xbox LIVE there really is no comparison, other than the price. Microsoft is leading the online gaming space hands down. However MS charges a yearly fee for the use of Xbox LIVE. Sony’s PSN is free. The Playstation Network is not as feature rich as the well integrated LIVE service. Basically their store is a glorified web page that you have to navigate awkwardly on a game controller. When I go on the store I really don’t feel drawn to purchase any of the products like I do on the 360.

A free HD show/podcast could be exactly what Sony needs to help market the new products and games to their users. I know I would be very excited to what a show like this, IF IT WAS FREE. There is no way that I am willing to pay $25 for a season pass to this show. I feel that others will agree with me. I mean at than price you can almost by a season of Lost, or the Sopranos. You want to tell me that the same effort went into making Qore as a regular TV show? I don’t think so.

What do you think? Make up your own mind. The promotional video is below and you can see hi-res stills as well. Also, if you want a well produced video game show check out the 1UP show. Its is an excellent show, and yes its FREE.

Strong title for my strong feelings. The watch it now feature has been festering inside me for a long time, but it has just finally reached boiling point.

Before I get into my rant let me first sing the praises of Netflix so you can see my perspective. I have been a Netflix subscriber for almost ... Read more]]> Posted in AppleHome Theater

Strong title for my strong feelings. The watch it now feature has been festering inside me for a long time, but it has just finally reached boiling point.

Before I get into my rant let me first sing the praises of Netflix so you can see my perspective. I have been a Netflix subscriber for almost 2 years now. Not once in my 2 year history have I even thought about switching to Blockbuster or other movies by mail offerings. Now that I get Blu-Ray movies for no additional charge makes me even more happy. I typically ask my wife as soon as I get home, “did my Netflix movie arrive yet”? It really is the best service out there for online movie rentals.

With that begin said, I have had a huge problem with Netflix’s watch it now feature ever since it came out. First off let me say that if this feature was available for an extra charge (and it worked for me) I would be more than willing to pay. It is not a matter of me complaining about a free service. My complaint is strictly about Netflix’s apparent “screw you” attitude when it comes to Mac users.

Netflix’s watch it now feature only works with computers that are running Windows. It must be watched in Internet Explorer (the absolute worst browser on the planet). Watch it now, won’t even worn on Firefox on the windows side. It is highly DRM’d so you need all the latest firmware, and the DRM ridden Windows Media Player 11.

Netflix, for some time now, has mentioned that it is working on support for Apple users. However, It has been over a year and we haven’t still seen any progress regarding Mac support. Last week Netflix announced “MyNetflix (beta) Vista Media Center plug in with Watch Now streaming”. There is also rumors that Netflix will be adding watch it now to Xbox 360 and PS3.

This infuriates me, as an avid Mac user. while I will finally be able to use this feature on ether my 360 or my PS3, I still won’t be able to watch it on my Macs. Why would Netflix go out of their way to screw over Mac users. Instead of working on a Mac solution they decide to focus on a fragmented video game market, (most the users probably won’t even have a Netflix account) and also focus on the even smaller market of Window Media Center users.

I am not saying we need an a full blown solution or media center functionality, just get it working in the browsers. The Mac developers will take whatever you put out and make it more feature robust, and or write plug ins to additional applications. Apple may be closed to putting this feature on the AppleTV or in front row, but it doesn’t mean you can’t develop a watch it now application. Netflix, don’t abandon your mac users. Look at your site numbers, I’m sure you have many users of your site who use other browsers, are on the Mac, and an even greater number of users who would love this feature on the iPhone.

While I mention it, the iPhone would be perfect for this feature. I could watch a movie at work with ease. Studies just showed that 50% of all smart phone searches are done from an iPhone. Basically people using iPhones are using the web. Netflix’s watch it now feature would fit in great with the iPhone. Netflix, be the company I want to love. Make your watch it now feature available to everyone!

I wanted to write a post about gaming. Believe it or not. :) There have been so many great games that have come out and I’ve been so busy working and playing that I have neglected to talk about them. So without further exposition I present my mini review of my favorite games of 2007 ... Read more]]> Posted in ReviewsVideo Games

I wanted to write a post about gaming. Believe it or not. :) There have been so many great games that have come out and I’ve been so busy working and playing that I have neglected to talk about them. So without further exposition I present my mini review of my favorite games of 2007 as well as my vote for game of the year. These are in no particular order. FYI these will be all great scores because I loved these games.

Halo 3

This was obviously one of the biggest game releases of 2007 if not ever. Halo 3 has a huge following around it because it pretty much is the grand daddy of first person shooters. Sure there are other shooters that are better out there, but none of them have a true whole package that is strong in every area. If you read my VS. post pitting Halo 3 against Orange Box you saw some of my gripes. However the fact is that Halo 3 will probably always dominate XboxLIVE usage. It has an unparalleled multiplayer that no one has in my opinion come close to replicating or beating. For me its a solid 9.5 out of 10

Bioshock

This is my pick for game of the year. I have never had more fun or passion for a games’ story-line more than I have for Bioshock. What some consider a sleeper success I consider "The best single player game I have ever played". The game dynamics were so rich that cut scenes were not needed. You experienced the world and story of Rapture by moving through the different environments, and finding small clues that help you gain an understanding of what is going on. The whole 1940′s art deco design paired with the insanely creepy splicers make for a truly iconic game that I’m sure many will try to mimic. We are already hearing rumblings of a Bioshock movie. Your first encounter with a big daddy and a little sister make for an internal moral battle that is hard to forget. I will continue to pick up Bioshock and play it many more time through. Its a 10!

Heavenly Sword

This is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. This was just like watching a movie. The cites and environments were beautiful, and the Digital actors were better than I have ever seen. Andy Serkis made this game truly shine. He performed the motion capture and many of the voices in the game. Each character he voices felt truly real while some of the other voice actors really looked bad next to him. Time for the flaws. The game is too short. The game play consists of button mashing. While you can pull off some crazy moves when your mashing you felt less in control of what was actually happening on the screen. I love games that are precise like Halo, or GRAW. Still great story. I hope they make another one. 8.5 out of 10.

Orange Box

I still haven’t completed the entire Half Life series but I got to say, this is one of the best shooters of all time. This box is the best value in video game history. You are getting 5 games in 1. What I played of half life 2 & Episode 1 has been great. I’m really looking forward to playing Episode 2. Portal sells this game for me. This game was so much fun. I caught myself laughing out loud several times. Its very rare that a video game can make you laugh. I would have paid $60 to to play Portal. I haven’t got into Team Fortress 2 yet. I’m waiting for some of my other friends to get the games so we can all play together as noobs. Now for the downside. Portal is short, really short. Half life could use some more polishing graphics wise. I still can’t believe this all comes on one disc. It’s a 9.5 of 10.

Mass Effect

I don’t want to give a full review yet as I haven’t finished it. What I have played I have really loved. I really got to say that some of the games that have come out this year have been truly revolutionary. Mass Effect is one of them. I think its is really a hybrid of so many great games. It really gets its right. Downside so far, the combat is less responsive that I would have liked, and what is up with the lack of rumble. The interaction as another level in the game that you you don’t really get in any other games. However it’s really not a choose your own adventure because some of the responses lead to the same conclusion regardless of how your react. Right now its a 8.5 of 10. It is a long game and if you play it how I do you will stretch it out.

Call of Duty 4

This is Infinity Ward’s follow up to the critically acclaimed Call of Duty 2. Call of Duty 2 was the first title I picked up for my 360 on launch day. For being a launch title it was surprisingly a very well put together game. I even found myself going back to replay it later on in the year. Call of Duty 4 goes one step further. They get out the WWII era and move into modern combat. While the war games seem to dominate the market, most do not even come close to the almost perfect game that is Call of Duty 4. It has been reviewed by much more eloquent personally than myself so I will leave it for those guys. But let me just say that Call of Duty 4 came extremely close to becoming the game of the year for me. One of the best quotes I have heard describing the game is this, "This is not a game, it’s a bad ass simulator." – Jeff Cannada The Totally Rad Show. This game is a solid 9.9 of 10.

So I have been wanting to write a post about my review of Halo 3. But as the weeks went by and the number of reviews about Halo 3 went up it felt futile. However now that The Orange Box is out I can kill two birds with one stone. I love cliché’s.

So ... Read more]]> Posted in ReviewsVideo Games

So I have been wanting to write a post about my review of Halo 3. But as the weeks went by and the number of reviews about Halo 3 went up it felt futile. However now that The Orange Box is out I can kill two birds with one stone. I love cliché’s.

So lets compare value first. They both are well worth their retail value. Halo 3 has unbelievable multi player abilities. You can play 4 player online coop through the campaign mode and even more players in online multi player battles. You can use the new Forge level editor to make the online play even more fun and customizable. There is also virtually thousands of customizable games to can utilize during online play. The new Theater mode allows you to capture all the games you’ve played forever. You can also record clips and send screen shots to your friends.

Now look at The Orange Box. You are getting 5 full featured games in one box. Half Life 2, Half Life 2 Episode 1, Half Life 2 Episode 2, Portal, & Team Fortress 2. This is unbelievable. IGN was quotes on the box as stating it was “the best value in video game history.” For anyone that hasn’t played Half Life 2 before, you are in for a treat. How many games can you think of that have given you the previous game as well. I didn’t find a copy of Halo 2 on the disc with Halo 3. You have your multi player with Team Fortress 2. You have your brilliant story, and game-play wrapped up in Half Life. You have a 2-4 hour mini-game with portal.

You may already tell how I’m leaning. The Orange Box is the winner in my book. Let me go into a little explanation on how I derived at this conclusion. When Halo came out we were all so impressed at how big the levels were, the graphics, and the fluid game play. When Halo 2 came out it extended the fun by adding more weapons and what I would consider the standard for online multi player game play. Halo 3 came out and I felt like what I got was a nice patch for Halo 2. More maps, more weapons, a few features here and there but no big jump. The story line is ok, but nothing after you get done playing Bioshock. The online features are excellent and I feel like I will continue to jump into Halo 3 from time to time. But thats also how I fell about Halo 2.

It has been funny to watch my friends habits while playing Halo 3. When it first came out everyone was online playing Halo 3. After a couple of days I started seeing the number of friends playing Halo 3 dwindle and now it is mixed. People are playing other games now. I have even seen a couple of my friends back on Halo 2. Don’t get me wrong. I love Halo 3. I just don’t think it was all I have been waiting for. Where is the big jump? I wanted better graphics, and I wanted the epic story the final chapter of a trilogy should bring.

If you have only one game to get right now the choice is clear. You will get much more value and entertainment from The Orange Box. The good thing is most people are not going to buy just one game. There are so many good games out right now and on the horizon. I mentioned Bioshock earlier. Bioshock is probably one of the best single player games I have EVER played. Halo 3 and The Orange Box are both out now. Pick them both up and you can decide which is better. Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4 will be here soon, so right now is a great time to be a gamer.

So my Xbox 360 died on me this last weekend (pictured above). Click here for a larger image. This is the second time this has happened to me. The first time I had to pay $140 to get it fixed, and I had only had the console for less than a year. I did receive ... Read more]]> Posted in Video Games

So my Xbox 360 died on me this last weekend (pictured above). Click here for a larger image. This is the second time this has happened to me. The first time I had to pay $140 to get it fixed, and I had only had the console for less than a year. I did receive a $60 refund a few months later from MS from their first warranty extension. I have had my 360 since launch, but I have purchased many other game consoles through out the years at launch and have never had another system die on me.

Microsoft has had so many problems with their consoles that they have been forced to extend their warranty for 3 years. This means most people will be covered until November 2008. This also means MS will spend around $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion for 360 repairs. I have several of my friends that have received the red ring of death. Their was also the story about one man who had 11 Xbox 360′s die on him. Also this week fellow game enthusiast Matt Brett wrote a post about his 2 360′s that died on him. He is currently contemplating purchasing a PS3.

This all this begin said I am very happy with the console (when it works). It has become an integral part of my HD set up. I also am very excited for Bioshock, Mass-effect, COD4, and of course Halo 3. But heed this warning: If you are buying a 360 purchase a warranty. So far I have been lucky, but I’m not chancing it anymore. I’m buying the extended warranty as soon as I receive my new 360. I received my return box today so I will keep you posted on the progress.

So why haven’t there been more games on the Mac in the past? There have been many factors throughout the years that have crippled Mac gaming. I will not go into all of them right now as this post will become long winded. Instead I will focus on what is helping Mac gaming.

As you ... Read more]]> Posted in AppleVideo Games

So why haven’t there been more games on the Mac in the past? There have been many factors throughout the years that have crippled Mac gaming. I will not go into all of them right now as this post will become long winded. Instead I will focus on what is helping Mac gaming.

As you know last week was E3. Their were several announcements that I am very excited about, but one announcement stood out for me. Gears of War and UT3 coming to the Mac. If you couple this with the recent news that EA, id back gaming on the Mac from WWDC this is big news.

Epic is the company behind Gears of War and UT3. All of their games run on their proprietary Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine is also used in many of the top games on the market. This port of their engine over to the mac will help other game developers who are using Unreal Engine make their games for the Mac. Something I am very excited about. id has also made a new game engine called"id tech 5". This will bring their new game and also pave the way for others to use their engine for Mac game development. EA has taken different approach to porting their games by relying on TransGaming Technologies and the Cider portability engine. Here is how it works.

Cider is a sophisticated portability engine that allows Windows games to be run on Intel Macs without any modifications to the original game source code. Cider works by directly loading a Windows program into memory on an Intel-Mac and linking it to an optimized version of the Win32 APIs. Games are "wrapped" with the Cider engine and they simply run on the Mac. This means developers have only one code base to maintain while enjoying the flexibility of targeting multiple platforms and, therefore, multiple revenue streams. Cider powered games use the same copy protection, lobbies, game matching and connectivity as the original Windows game. All this means less effort and lower costs. Cider is targeted to game developers and publishers.

Another credit for the recent attraction to Mac gaming to Apple’s move away from IBM’s Power PC Processors and move to Intel based processors. This move has been great for the Mac community as a whole. I personally run windows on my Mac through Parallels at work. This has really be a help for people who work in a windows dominant PC environment, to have the best of both worlds. This is all due to the move to Intel processors. Many Mac gamers with Intel processors also turn to Apple’s Boot Camp to to run their games at full system capacity. For this same reason we are seeing more and more people move to Mac’s since they are able to run several OS’s on one machine.

There was the announcement that Apple tied Gateway for third in US PC shipments. This is huge news as Gateway sales are on the decline and Mac sales are on the up-rise. Apple is poised to take 3rd place next year if things keep going the way they have been. Leopard is shipping soon and we will see another bump in Mac sales around christmas.