Just a curious question..
who prefers HDR over Anti-Aliasing?
Reasons for HDR - amazing light effects that are just beautiful if done well.
Reasons for AA - Crisp smoothed edges and sharper detail.
what are your setting? and why one over the other??
*sigh* i know i'll only get like 1 response... prolly from ian... but hopefully mr. corpsebag here will also comment....
Friday, March 23, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Electronic headache
SPRING UPDATE FROM ALEX!!
My xbox troubles have been sent upstream to hopefully be fixed... (metaphorically)
IE, i unfortunately will be replacing it and keeping my hardrive and for a birthday gift giving it to my cousin so he gets a 360 for only 160! which is awesome fer him and in a way me cause then i'll have a friend on live... oh sadness.
PC troubles being fixed.... i am slowly hating norton more and more...
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Review hopefully to come.
Silent Hunter 4 Review (in transit)
Ian Review (partially complete)
Plan to rule the world...
yeah well that is about it...
Venturing to chicago to run 3D Mark on an Alienware computer to see how "sweet" it really is..
oh and i guess to see family... but this is an electronic blog so...
I HAVE ONLY DIGITAL FAMILY!!
and my best selection of gothic industrial music...
My xbox troubles have been sent upstream to hopefully be fixed... (metaphorically)
IE, i unfortunately will be replacing it and keeping my hardrive and for a birthday gift giving it to my cousin so he gets a 360 for only 160! which is awesome fer him and in a way me cause then i'll have a friend on live... oh sadness.
PC troubles being fixed.... i am slowly hating norton more and more...
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Review hopefully to come.
Silent Hunter 4 Review (in transit)
Ian Review (partially complete)
Plan to rule the world...
yeah well that is about it...
Venturing to chicago to run 3D Mark on an Alienware computer to see how "sweet" it really is..
oh and i guess to see family... but this is an electronic blog so...
I HAVE ONLY DIGITAL FAMILY!!
and my best selection of gothic industrial music...
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Dia De Los Muertos... Black Sunday... The Day My 360 gave up on me...
There is definitely a curse upon my head... My consoles don't love me... First my DS bights the dust on the WIFI stuff and i had to get it replaced.. before that my ps2 died on me... and now my sweetest child of all... my 360... i'm going to the coroner tomorrow to see what the process is to get her buried and get a new one in my hands.. i just hope to god that i don't lose all my saves...
Dear God....
Please watch over my baby as she ascends into your land of electronic heaven.
Oh Sadness... Such sad sadness
Sunday, March 11, 2007
CBS Launches "Innertube"
I've been watching a TV show called "Jericho" on CBS's "innertube" system which is essentially a proprietary version of youtube that features commercials. You can read a full article here: CBS Launches Broadband Channel
It's not bad, and the ability to watch any shows entire season (with commercials of course) makes it a bit like On Demand cable. The shows may be lame, cliche, American Cable Teledrama, but it beats watching another Asian poop on herself, or some kid shoot bottle rockets out of his ass...okay well...sorta.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure this is a trend we'll be seeing more and more. TV channels are well on their way to the obvious next step which is on demand services offered free via broadband internet with the usual TV style commercials. Plus, it will make some people feel less guilty as that seems to be a problem with the older generations.
Despite how cool it is to get this ability, the service is nowhere near as nice as youtube, or google videos. You just can't beat those two as far as buffer times, etc. CBS inntertube tends to be slow buffering, and with alot of glitchy video play, but that could be on my end.
It's not bad, and the ability to watch any shows entire season (with commercials of course) makes it a bit like On Demand cable. The shows may be lame, cliche, American Cable Teledrama, but it beats watching another Asian poop on herself, or some kid shoot bottle rockets out of his ass...okay well...sorta.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure this is a trend we'll be seeing more and more. TV channels are well on their way to the obvious next step which is on demand services offered free via broadband internet with the usual TV style commercials. Plus, it will make some people feel less guilty as that seems to be a problem with the older generations.
Despite how cool it is to get this ability, the service is nowhere near as nice as youtube, or google videos. You just can't beat those two as far as buffer times, etc. CBS inntertube tends to be slow buffering, and with alot of glitchy video play, but that could be on my end.
Friday, March 9, 2007
The State of PC Gaming
I couldn't avoid this topic any longer.
Recently a lot of people seem to be asking the question "Is PC gaming dying?". Since at one time I could've simply listed 5-10 good games coming out in the next year, it has always been easy to defend the PC gaming market, until thepast few years. Now it seems that despite all of the sucessful and ground breaking titles that have come out on PC first and changed the way we look at gaming, in the end nothing beats the all powerful buck. Licensing may be pricey, but in the end more than twice as lucrative as creating a PC title. Take the hundreds of lame console titles you see on the shelf at Wal-Mart, for example. A movie inspired game will outsell all but the MOST popular titles on just about any console you've ever seen in stores. The ease of developing shitty games for those easy to afford console systems means that consoles do indeed outsell PC games by a huge margin.
"In 2001, 65.3 million PC games were sold, compared to 110 million console games. While PC game sales increased 3.6% from 2000, console game sales increased 9% in the same period."
-Geek.com
But I digress...the question "is PC gaming dying" is far far different than the question of PC vs Console and it almost 100% comes down to preference and price-tag. There are countless reasons why PC gaming is losing buck for buck to consoles but quite frankly, gamers have never been concerned with sales numbers and licensing bullshit. What makes a game experience great is unrelated to the price tag.
The first way in which I think PCs are superior, is the hardware. I don't mean specifically one persons graphic card versus the Ati Xenos monster that the 360 uses. I'm talking about the basic idea and set up of PC hardware versus Console hardware. Mouse and keyboard, for example, is a much better peripheral for First Person games, Simulation games, Role Playing Games, and Strategy games. Perhaps you can argue First Person games with a game pad as being just about on par, but ask any serious high ranked Counter Strike player, and I can bet you a million bucks hes not using a 360 controller hooked up via USB. Furthermore, the mouse and keyboard are much better for surfing the net and talking online with people using a chat program like AIM or MSN messenger. Even if you plug a mouse and keyboard into a console for those purposes, ultimately your lap and couch aren't the best place to have your keyboard and mouse, nor is reading the screen that could be as far as 15 feet away. Computer hardware is hugely versatile making your gaming rig so much more to the experienced user than simply a gaming machine. Editing movies, photo shop, 3D animation, business applications, anything you want to run, your box can handle in addition to playing some hot titles.
Also monitors, in general, draw the gamer in simply by proximity in contrast to a tv which sits generally much further away from the gamer. The average desktop gamer tends to sit at the most 3 feet away from his monitor, while most console gamers play on a tv stationed further away. That's exactly why people still go to the movies. Nothing like a dark room and a large screen. Unless you can afford the 1500+ pricetag on a huge plasma screen, its most likely your stuck with a 20 inch or so TV. Sparing you the math, a 21 inch monitor viewed 3 feet away will be more immersive than a 21 inch TV viewed from your couch. Even if you're lucky enough (like my buddy Alex) to have a 20 inch HD tv/monitor crossover, anyone whos been following the latest HD developments knows that a computer generally has a much better resolution than even the best HD tv. I, for example, am running games at 1680 x 1050. I only dream of the day I can watch a DVD at such monster resolutions....then again maybe i don't want to see that much detail. Resolution and proximity all mean the same thing...heightened gaming experience.
Last but not least, gaming rigs are always on the cutting edge of performance. With Vista boasting the direct x 10 platform, and with Nvidia and Ati already prepping to release DX10 capable cards we can only imagine what the next-gen pc titles are going to look like. I can garuntee, however, they will give 360 a huge run for its money within only the first year, and within 2 will blow it away by far. The ability to run games in SLI or Crossfire also gives PC hardware a huge one up on Consoles, not only that but faster 64-bit processors, dual core, liquid cooling overclocked rigs, and the general one-upping of PC gamers means that a well built gaming rig will eat consoles for breakfast.
That said, all of the cutting edge sweetness that is PC gaming will run you a couple G's easy. The highest performance rigs just topping 5 grand. Granted, that machine will be a true beast handling even the most demanding tasks with ease, but still...who can afford that much computer? The answer is, not many. A console tears PCs a new one especially in that area. Not to mention the technical know how to build a computer, install software, trouble shoot countless shitty releases by Ubisoft (you fucking assholes), etc etc etc...suddenly you see why so many kids, technically challenged teenagers, and adults choose console gaming.
There it goes again: money. The same thing that makes consoles so great, also makes it nearly impossible for smaller game developers to grow and flourish. Putting a game out for 360 means millions of kids willing to buy your game no matter how good or bad it is. Still, Console games cannot boast a better community of 3rd party development than PCs. How many mods for half life are out? Hundreds, and of that a good 30% are still being played. Every game that comes out on PC has a wide base of technically capable fans willing to take on the role of tech support, or even developing patches to fix problems the game developer has overlooked and will probably never fix. Oblivion, for example, has numerous glitches in both the pc and console releases, all of which were fixed by third party programmers on PC, only about 3 of which ever got fixed on console (often times with the unfortunate side effect of having to start over in order to use the fix).
Lastly I'll mention internet play, because its such a huge part of gaming. You cannot beat the online community of the PC. A true dedicated community doesn't just help keep the game working well, but also offers dedicated players who are willing to do things like start clans, make new maps, run dedicated server 24 hours a day, and more. Add better voice chatting capability, and extensive clan/guild style communities, and you get a very impressive PC community. In general my experiences on Xbox live where negative, lots of young kids, lots of bad players, and even more talking trash than I ever got playing Counter Strike. In general PC gamers strive to build communities they will enjoy over the long term, while a console gamer may only play a game for a few weeks before moving on entirely and never looking back. Why would a console gamer playing in such a fashion be encouraged to help a newb, write a patch, or start a website? The answer is they wouldn't and typically don't. The one exception I can think of is SOCOM 2 for PS2.
Anyways
The PC, in my oppinion, is highly underrated in the world of gaming which has lately become console dominated. The PC game sales may continue to drop, but to those who are willing to put the time and effort in...PC gaming will always dominate certain areas of the technological world. Don't get me wrong, Consoles are sweet and any experienced gamer knows some great experiences are to be had playing consoles, and for the price tag its a totally sweet deal. Still, I think that pc gaming has a lot reasons to continue to exist, and quite frankly, why PC gaming is in many ways superior to Console gaming. Over time, I believe that this situation will only benefit PC gaming, as shittier titles get moved to console for money reasons, the good shit will filter through and continue to provide us select few PC gamers some really amazing experiences.
Nothing has been more fulfilling than building my own computer, over clocking it, upgrading it, and generally taking care of it the last 4 years I've owned it. It may be getting slightly dated, but it still runs all but the most cutting edge games at full specs and usually runs newer games within a completely respectable realm. Sometimes I look at Alex's 360 with my fair share of lust, but for my own budget, needs, and interests a PC gaming rig will give me hours and hours of enjoyment that is highly personalized. If i had only 600 dollars to spend, and needed a good gaming experience, I would obviously recommend a 360 or similar next gen console. If i could afford everything I wanted, I'd have a console right here next to my PC, but if I needed to pick just one or the other I would almost always pick a gaming PC over a console.
Recently a lot of people seem to be asking the question "Is PC gaming dying?". Since at one time I could've simply listed 5-10 good games coming out in the next year, it has always been easy to defend the PC gaming market, until thepast few years. Now it seems that despite all of the sucessful and ground breaking titles that have come out on PC first and changed the way we look at gaming, in the end nothing beats the all powerful buck. Licensing may be pricey, but in the end more than twice as lucrative as creating a PC title. Take the hundreds of lame console titles you see on the shelf at Wal-Mart, for example. A movie inspired game will outsell all but the MOST popular titles on just about any console you've ever seen in stores. The ease of developing shitty games for those easy to afford console systems means that consoles do indeed outsell PC games by a huge margin.
"In 2001, 65.3 million PC games were sold, compared to 110 million console games. While PC game sales increased 3.6% from 2000, console game sales increased 9% in the same period."
-Geek.com
But I digress...the question "is PC gaming dying" is far far different than the question of PC vs Console and it almost 100% comes down to preference and price-tag. There are countless reasons why PC gaming is losing buck for buck to consoles but quite frankly, gamers have never been concerned with sales numbers and licensing bullshit. What makes a game experience great is unrelated to the price tag.
The first way in which I think PCs are superior, is the hardware. I don't mean specifically one persons graphic card versus the Ati Xenos monster that the 360 uses. I'm talking about the basic idea and set up of PC hardware versus Console hardware. Mouse and keyboard, for example, is a much better peripheral for First Person games, Simulation games, Role Playing Games, and Strategy games. Perhaps you can argue First Person games with a game pad as being just about on par, but ask any serious high ranked Counter Strike player, and I can bet you a million bucks hes not using a 360 controller hooked up via USB. Furthermore, the mouse and keyboard are much better for surfing the net and talking online with people using a chat program like AIM or MSN messenger. Even if you plug a mouse and keyboard into a console for those purposes, ultimately your lap and couch aren't the best place to have your keyboard and mouse, nor is reading the screen that could be as far as 15 feet away. Computer hardware is hugely versatile making your gaming rig so much more to the experienced user than simply a gaming machine. Editing movies, photo shop, 3D animation, business applications, anything you want to run, your box can handle in addition to playing some hot titles.
Also monitors, in general, draw the gamer in simply by proximity in contrast to a tv which sits generally much further away from the gamer. The average desktop gamer tends to sit at the most 3 feet away from his monitor, while most console gamers play on a tv stationed further away. That's exactly why people still go to the movies. Nothing like a dark room and a large screen. Unless you can afford the 1500+ pricetag on a huge plasma screen, its most likely your stuck with a 20 inch or so TV. Sparing you the math, a 21 inch monitor viewed 3 feet away will be more immersive than a 21 inch TV viewed from your couch. Even if you're lucky enough (like my buddy Alex) to have a 20 inch HD tv/monitor crossover, anyone whos been following the latest HD developments knows that a computer generally has a much better resolution than even the best HD tv. I, for example, am running games at 1680 x 1050. I only dream of the day I can watch a DVD at such monster resolutions....then again maybe i don't want to see that much detail. Resolution and proximity all mean the same thing...heightened gaming experience.
Last but not least, gaming rigs are always on the cutting edge of performance. With Vista boasting the direct x 10 platform, and with Nvidia and Ati already prepping to release DX10 capable cards we can only imagine what the next-gen pc titles are going to look like. I can garuntee, however, they will give 360 a huge run for its money within only the first year, and within 2 will blow it away by far. The ability to run games in SLI or Crossfire also gives PC hardware a huge one up on Consoles, not only that but faster 64-bit processors, dual core, liquid cooling overclocked rigs, and the general one-upping of PC gamers means that a well built gaming rig will eat consoles for breakfast.
That said, all of the cutting edge sweetness that is PC gaming will run you a couple G's easy. The highest performance rigs just topping 5 grand. Granted, that machine will be a true beast handling even the most demanding tasks with ease, but still...who can afford that much computer? The answer is, not many. A console tears PCs a new one especially in that area. Not to mention the technical know how to build a computer, install software, trouble shoot countless shitty releases by Ubisoft (you fucking assholes), etc etc etc...suddenly you see why so many kids, technically challenged teenagers, and adults choose console gaming.
There it goes again: money. The same thing that makes consoles so great, also makes it nearly impossible for smaller game developers to grow and flourish. Putting a game out for 360 means millions of kids willing to buy your game no matter how good or bad it is. Still, Console games cannot boast a better community of 3rd party development than PCs. How many mods for half life are out? Hundreds, and of that a good 30% are still being played. Every game that comes out on PC has a wide base of technically capable fans willing to take on the role of tech support, or even developing patches to fix problems the game developer has overlooked and will probably never fix. Oblivion, for example, has numerous glitches in both the pc and console releases, all of which were fixed by third party programmers on PC, only about 3 of which ever got fixed on console (often times with the unfortunate side effect of having to start over in order to use the fix).
Lastly I'll mention internet play, because its such a huge part of gaming. You cannot beat the online community of the PC. A true dedicated community doesn't just help keep the game working well, but also offers dedicated players who are willing to do things like start clans, make new maps, run dedicated server 24 hours a day, and more. Add better voice chatting capability, and extensive clan/guild style communities, and you get a very impressive PC community. In general my experiences on Xbox live where negative, lots of young kids, lots of bad players, and even more talking trash than I ever got playing Counter Strike. In general PC gamers strive to build communities they will enjoy over the long term, while a console gamer may only play a game for a few weeks before moving on entirely and never looking back. Why would a console gamer playing in such a fashion be encouraged to help a newb, write a patch, or start a website? The answer is they wouldn't and typically don't. The one exception I can think of is SOCOM 2 for PS2.
Anyways
The PC, in my oppinion, is highly underrated in the world of gaming which has lately become console dominated. The PC game sales may continue to drop, but to those who are willing to put the time and effort in...PC gaming will always dominate certain areas of the technological world. Don't get me wrong, Consoles are sweet and any experienced gamer knows some great experiences are to be had playing consoles, and for the price tag its a totally sweet deal. Still, I think that pc gaming has a lot reasons to continue to exist, and quite frankly, why PC gaming is in many ways superior to Console gaming. Over time, I believe that this situation will only benefit PC gaming, as shittier titles get moved to console for money reasons, the good shit will filter through and continue to provide us select few PC gamers some really amazing experiences.
Nothing has been more fulfilling than building my own computer, over clocking it, upgrading it, and generally taking care of it the last 4 years I've owned it. It may be getting slightly dated, but it still runs all but the most cutting edge games at full specs and usually runs newer games within a completely respectable realm. Sometimes I look at Alex's 360 with my fair share of lust, but for my own budget, needs, and interests a PC gaming rig will give me hours and hours of enjoyment that is highly personalized. If i had only 600 dollars to spend, and needed a good gaming experience, I would obviously recommend a 360 or similar next gen console. If i could afford everything I wanted, I'd have a console right here next to my PC, but if I needed to pick just one or the other I would almost always pick a gaming PC over a console.
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