Category: Gaming

[Update 1] Keep It Clean… Halo 3 reinventing itself?

Posted on by admin

For anyone having a hard time with Bungie.net, here’s a mirror for the “Large” Windows Media version of the new “teaser trailer.”
KeepItClean_Teaser_ESRB_720p30_ST_6300kbps.wmv. 47.9MB.

The teaser shows an interesting art style, different from the Halo 3 universe we’re used to. But it still doesn’t tell us much. Halo 3, prepare to drop – that’s about all it says. Let’s wait for the ultra fanboys to pick it apart. 😉

Update 1: Just like I said, wait for the ultra fanboys to do their job. And in about 1 hour, they did. Xbox Live advertising of some form has confirmed that this is a campaign expansion for the game, and the “video analysts” may have already found a release date for the project. Sadly, if they’re correct, we won’t see any new action until after the new year.

My sister taking part in a 10k AIDS walk… got a dollar?

Posted on by admin

A few days ago, I received a message from my sister. I’ve cut it up a little bit, here, but I wanted to deliver the general information in pretty much the same way she presented it to me. It’s a little humorous, that’s our writing style, as siblings. Anyway, the deal is she set up an account with AIDS Walk Los Angeles. She set a simple goal of $150. I would like to see her exceed that goal. After Edith’s Goal (more on that later), I think us helping her attain that $150 should be simple.

Now, I know this isn’t my traditional “gaming for charity” sort of thing, but keep in mind, that my sister is most certainly a gamer. And as always, it’s for a good cause! I don’t do these things for tax breaks, I barely do my taxes – I do these things for the sake of charity! I want to thank anyone who can give, any little bit helps reach her goal. So then, here’s what my sister had to say:

Once an while I get a charity thing in my head and… here it is.

The organization has provided me with a form letter to follow as a guideline so I’ve annotated it with a little extra information. Read on:

I am writing to let you know that I have registered for AIDS Walk Los Angeles and am very excited about the event [This is true]. This is a very important issue to me so I have set an ambitious fundraising goal [the ambitious thing is not so true]. I want to do as much as I can to make a difference in the lives of men, women, and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Even though there has been a lot of publicity about drug treatments which are prolonging some people’s lives, they don’t work for everyone and there is still no cure in sight [good general information]. Moreover, young people are still getting infected at alarmingly high rates [also true, but the old folks homes are another place it’s a big problem and I’m not kidding].

I want your help [Yes, need it]. Will you please sponsor me for the AIDS Walk [pretty please?]? Just click on the website address below to enter my personalized web page and charge your donation [They’ve assured me it’s secure]. Thank you, in advance, for supporting this important cause and for showing that you join me in wanting to end this epidemic [and if you do you rock, seriously].

And that’s that. Thanks for real if you can help out and if you can’t, send the link on to someone who can.

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support AIDS Walk Los Angeles.

On her personal web page for the AIDS Walk, she also notes: “If you guys could kick down a little I’d really appreciate it. It’s a good cause. And yes, I’ll really walk it.” 😉 It’s a 10k walk, and you can get even more details here.

Life with Playstation: a bigger disappointment than I envisioned

Posted on by admin

For those not paying attention to real websites, but somehow stumbling on mine: Life with Playstation has officially launched. I need to watch the video that I just embedded here, but from all of my accounts, it’s not that great. PS3 Fanboys are complaining that it’s being compared too much to the Wii Weather Channel and News Channel. That’s not fair. It doesn’t have near the locality that the Wii’s Weather Channel has, and the news reading feature is impossible – even on a 42″ TV, everything I tried to read was far too small, and there is no “Zoom” feature like there is with their web browser.

I like what Sony is trying to do, here – just a little something extra for the PS3 owners. This sort of feature (at least weather) has been something I’ve been hoping for in the 360 for a long time. It’s a nice bonus. But I don’t care what the weather is like in Washington, DC, or New York City – I live closer to Philadelphia – but that’s not even an option! Let’s also not forget that this isn’t an RSS driven mini-browser, it’s just basically a web browser going through Google News. Thus, if a link takes you to a random third party website, and you get the “not enough memory” error that the PS3’s browser is famous for, too bad, chum. You don’t get to read that story. It’s a start, but here’s hoping for the next version, soon.

If you want to give it a try, it’s free and simple. From the Playstation Blog: “Life with PlayStation is now available for download by selecting the Folding@home icon under “Network” on the XMB.”

360 Getting Renamed? Or is it the Next Xbox?

Posted on by admin

A picture showed up at the doorstep of your favorite CAGCast, suggesting that the Xbox 360 was in for a name change.

Other news sites have picked up the story, suggesting that it may be the code name for the “Next” Xbox, others think it could be the revised name for the New Xbox Experience. Remember, when it was announced, it was hailed as the first time a console would essentially relaunch itself, entirely through software. Why not give it a new name, when you do?

The memo does note something about “metal plates” – an easy way to cover one name up with another. And calling this one “Xbox Pure” may alleviate the console naming and numbering scheme down the line (we’ve all heard 720 and all of that jazz…). Still, I’m more inclined to agree that it’s a working name for the next generation of hardware. We’ve all grown fond of the new Xbox Experience – if they really wanted to brand it as an entirely new thing, they would’ve been hyping up that name long before now.

I’m sure the discussion is well under way at sites like CAG, so rather than asking what you think, I’d say go join the discussion over there! Think of this as a PSA, helping to spread the word, and let’s thank places like CAG for being able to uncover some of the things they do!