Playing With Power

Half Life 2 Logo Tagged on Bike Path

Dan Hamel — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:50:49 GMT

Since when did gamers cross over to the wrong side of the law? Some graffiti pieces are truly amazing works of art, not this one. Someone decided to tag a Half Life 2 Logo on a bike path bridge near my apartment. Maybe a new Half Life 2 gang is forming in San Mateo, and this bike path is the first official turf claimed! As you can see they did a fairly poor job of it and even got the top of the logo wrong. The top should be pointing to the left in the real logo, and its pointing to the right in the imposture.

[ The Real Logo ]

[ The Tagged Imposture Logo ]

Unpacking Rock Band Special Edition

Dan Hamel — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:50:15 GMT

Rock Band is out just in time for the holiday season, here are a few pics of the hardware.

When you pick up the large box you can tell right away that you are dealing with some serious hardware. It's big enough to be a little awkward to carry and a handle on top would have been nice. This special edition box retails for $169.99 and contains 1 guitar, a drum set, a microphone and a usb hub to connect everything to your Xbox 360.

The guitar is bigger than the Guitar Hero guitar and doesn't click as much when you play it. It's a Fender Stratoscaster clone and there is a set of buttons on the lower frets that are closer together for smaller hands. The end cap of the guitar comes disassembled and snaps in very securely. It comes with a strap that can be adjusted to be quite long. This guitar acts as the bass guitar as well.

The drum kit is a substantial piece of equipment. There are 4 drum pads, one foot peddle and a nice pair of drumsticks. The metal support tubes can be adjusted for height. Playing the drums is more difficult that the guitar. One interesting thing I noticed while playing the game with other people, is the drum kit makes quite a bit of noise while you're playing. So if your drummer is not keeping good time those clicks and clacks can distract the other band members. Playing the drums in Rock Band is a lot more like playing an actual instrument than playing the guitar is. Playing on Hard difficulty really feels like you are actually playing a real drum set.

The mic is a standard microphone connected with a long usb cable. This is a karaoke style experience. There is a pitch line to help you sing in tone.

So there is a quick look at the Rock Band hardware. As you can see Rock Band is really about the band experience. The great hardware, emphasis on team work and fun factor of this game makes it one of the best party games of all time. With plenty of songs and a steady stream promised for downloading, you can consider this purchase an investment in a music game platform. Supplies are supposed to be tight for Christmas so you may be challenged trying to score one.

Next Gen Console War Data and Latest Game Sales Data

Dan Hamel — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:11:02 GMT

I ran across this great website that shows the latest sales data for video games. It also shows the latest hardware sales data. VG Chartz has the most comprehensive video game charts in the world. You can see the latest sales data for free.

The latest next-gen console sales:

The latest portable console sales:

Visit VG Chartz here:
http://vgchartz.com/ngwars.php

Where Do Playing With Power Visitors Live?

Dan Hamel — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:24:02 GMT

Hardcore Gaming to Become an Expensive Niche Market

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:15:17 GMT

It’s a great time to be a gamer. The games that we have access to right now for relatively cheap on the Xbox 360 and PS3 are cutting edge. Microsoft and Sony are bringing them to us at a financial loss.

The currently standing console strategy has been to release a cutting edge machine, sell it at a finical lose, wait for hardware cost to fall and recoup your losses on high margin software sales. This has worked pretty well over the last few console cycles but has proven to be very challenging this console cycle.

In the past hardware speeds would increase very quickly. 10 years ago CPU speeds used to double year over year at about the same price point. A console would start to show its age pretty quickly. That trend is slowing. Hardware costs don’t fall off that rapidly anymore, and just adding more CPUs doesn’t scale the way increase CPU speed and memory size does. Going out on a limb and predicting that the console that could be manufactured today at $1,000 will cost only $200 in 5 years might be somewhat risky these days.

Working in the game industry for 7 years I have seen software development cost spiral out of control at the peak of the PS2 cycle and come back to reality in the last couple of years. The industry is starting to mature and take less risks, this all leads to a more conservative business, less exciting to the consumer.

Nintendo had the foresight to see this coming and opted to try to innovate in ways that did not force the company to operate at a financial lose while building a user base. Nintendo created the WII and actually sells it at a profit, out pacing Xbox 360 and PS3 sales. While this is great for Nintendo and casual gamers, it sucks for so called hardcore gamers. Console makers will surely take notice and I expect more conservative plays coming from hardware manufactures in the future. Third party publishes are following the console install bases and investing resources in products that will reach the most users. We may even see Sony does some serious back peddling and release a motion sensor controller to extend the life of its PS2.

Microsoft pushed hard to be the first to the market with its cutting edge hardware. The 360 is a powerful multi-core machine, possibly released before adequate testing. The Xbox 360 has seen a high rate of hardware failures forcing Microsoft to extend warrantees and lose millions. While it’s no fun for consumers to deal with these hardware failures, Microsoft has stood behind the 360 and is covering all the repair costs. I bet Microsoft will also be more conservative with its hardware release next cycle.

It makes me wonder if we will see another Neo Geo next console cycle. A high priced machine only for the hardcore gamers. In 1990 the Neo Geo console cost $649. At that price point it was out of reach to most gamers. I could see hardcore gaming become a niche market like that over the next couple of cycles.

I know a lot of people are going to say “$1,000 for a HDTV, $500 for a consol, $60 for a game, a relative bargain? Are you nuts?” But when you look at entertainment value in dollars per hour, you will find that Xbox 360 really offers very cutting edge entertainment at a pretty reasonable price.

So enjoy this holiday season it is sure to be a pleaser for the hardcore gaming crowd. Next console cycle will be shelling out much more of our hard earned to be on the cutting edge of gaming.

Forza 2 Xbox 360 Review

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:14:46 GMT

Forza 2 for the Xbox 360 is the best racing simulator that I have ever played. I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but being a huge Gran Turismo and racing sim fan, I can say it really delivers on a pure racing simulation experience.

Forza 2 nails the very core of a racing simulator. The cars feel absolutely real and you have to drive them just like real cars or you won’t win any races. Steering, analog acceleration and analog breaking are executed on well. The frame rate is a rock solid 60 fps and after many hours of playing I have never seen the frame rate drop. The car take damage somewhat realistically and that effects the performance of the car during the race.

In addition to buying a wide variety of upgrades, you can tune your car extensively. Tuning the car can have dramatic impact on the car’s behavior. I’ve seen a lot of users online tune their car for drifting and actually be able to run pretty good times while drifting their car around the track. There is not “drift mode” tuned into the game, so the fact that the simulation model is so good users can tune for drifting just the way you would in real life is pretty impressive.

There is a ton of game play, built into a huge variety of events, which let you experience driving many different cars. The different cars all feel complete unique.

There is a sophisticated car painting system that the Forza 2 community has used to create some amazing art work. There is an online auction house where you can buy and sell cars that you have in your garage. The online elements and the auction house really tie the customization and tuning together so you can share your work with others.

Online pay actually works in Forza 2. The last couple of racing games I have played on Xbox 360 have offered a very poor online experience. Forza 2 allows you to make career money playing online, blurring the lines between offline and online they way next generation gaming is supposed to be done. There are also exhibition races that have taken on an odd spin in the community. People don’t tend to race in these straight up, instead people will chat (talk smack) over VOIP, drag race, drift or smash each other. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, but I find it interesting the MMO kinds of feeling that have crept into these multi player exhibition races.

All in all I feel this is a must own for any racing fan with an Xbox 360. For future improvements I would like to see a rally mode in Forza 3.

Xbox 360 DVD Dead After 4 Months - Part 3

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:39:44 GMT

I made my first post about my dead Xbox 360 the night it happened on 4/23/2007. Yesterday I got my Xbox 360 back, (yea!) a full 2 months after it initially broke down. It seems to me that if everything goes pretty smoothly with the return process you can expect about a 1 month turn around time should you have to send in your console for repairs.

What happened to me is the initial empty box they sent me had the wrong name on it. I thought about just using the box anyway, since it did get to me in the first place. I called customer support, struggled to understand the broken English, told them about the name issue and they recommend that I get rid of that box and wait for a new one. Just to be double sure there wouldn't be any issues going forward. I said, ok, I'll be waiting for my new empty box then.

About 2 weeks went by and I never received my new empty box with the correct name. So I called them up and they told me that my order had been closed and a new one was never opened. Not sure how that happened, but whatever, I just opened a new order. About a week later I got my empty box, packed up my dead 360 and sent it away.

About 2 weeks later I got my new Xbox 360! So everything is cool and I am back up and running. Microsoft also included a copy of NBA Street (which I already have) and a 1 month membership to live. I thought that was a pretty cool gesture.

I have also heard rumors that MS is beefing up cooling and putting an extra bead of glue around the CPUs to keep them from peeling off the mother boards and causing the red rings of death. The whole thing did not cost me a penny so even though it took a little time, I am still pretty happy with the way MS handled all this.

Westinghouse 42" LCD Super High Res Image - W4207

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:40:25 GMT

Here is a high res picture of a Westinghouse 42" LCD that I bought. It's a great TV that can be had for around $1000 bucks.

[ click picture for super high res image ]

Will a $100 price cut light a fire under the PS3?

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:40:39 GMT

It's no secret that the PS3 is off to a slow start, but will this Christmas be the year of the PS3? There's a very good chance there will be a $100 price drop to bring the system down to $500 before Christmas. Would that be enough incentive for you to buy one?

Sony sold 82,000 units of its Playstation 3 in April. Sony's PS2 beat out the PS3 with 194,000 units. This situation has to reverse for Sony to get through the console transition.

The lack of software is also another problem for the console. This problem will correct itself with time, but those console sales numbers are not motivating for software makers. The Nintendo WII is selling like hot cakes causing software makers to scramble producing a plethora of titles coming down the pipeline.

Many of the problems the PS3 is currently having are parallel to the problems the PS2 was having back in 2000, and that system went on to become a huge success. High price, lack of software, hardware supply problems, hard to develops for, were all problems for the PS2 and are problems for the PS3.

Given the trends in console hardware sales this Christmas will be the year of the Xbox 360 and WII, but late 2008 will be the year of the PS3. It's easy to write it off on current sales but Playstation has huge brand loyalty and given the complex hardware design will have a long life time.

Instead of a strong launch Sony has limped into the PS3 launch with horrible development tools, little software, high prices and hardware supply problems. Also Sony seems to be lagging behind with their online service, and playing "me too" with their six axis controller. The good news is these issues are not problems with the base console hardware and they can evolve and grow with the life of the console.

So will a $100 price cut light a fire under the PS3? No. But the PS3 will go on to be a successful console, it's just going to take a couple of years.

Blizzard Anounces Starcraft 2!

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:40:53 GMT

Blizzard launched Starcraft 2 with an awesome website http://www.starcraft2.com/. In typical Blizzard fashion the website doesn't give any release date. The three original races are returning as well as the single player and multi player game. Blizzard says they are going to overhaul battle.net. This looks like the next game that is going to make my upgrade my system. It will be released on PC and Mac with no console support. I can't wait!

Hardcore World of Warcraft Mining

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:41:57 GMT

Is Microsoft Dropping the Ball With the Xbox 360?

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:42:10 GMT

What's the deal with the Xbox 360 marketing team? The Xbox 360 could be ruling this console cycle, but it's producing mediocre numbers. I feel like the average consumer just doesn't know the facts about the current batch of consoles.

Most consumers are under the delusion that the PS3 is an uber powerful piece of hardware that can blow away the 360. As a developer who has worked on both consoles I can tell you that it's not true. It's a little bit like comparing apples to oranges but in general the two consoles are similarly powered. The Microsoft marketing team needs to get this point across to the consumer.

The price of the 360 is too high. $199 is the magical number. MS is taking a loss on the console anyway, they need to figure out how to get a core system out there that can hit this price point. Believe it or not parents and other uninformed consumers base console purchases on price. If the 360 had a base system that was cheaper than the WII it would be out selling the WII.

Xbox live is my favorite part about the Xbox 360, and I didn't have a clue about it until I got it home and started playing with it. MS needs to create a marketing push to inform the consumers about Xbox live and what it really is. It's a great service that defines next gen gaming. MS has had a lot of time to refine the Xbox Live service and its leads and bounds ahead of the other consoles on line services. The consumer needs to know that on line gaming on Xbox Live is the future of how gaming will happen.

Things couldn't be falling more into place for Microsoft this Christmas. Halo 3 will be the killer app that the console really has not had yet. They need to lower the price and launch a factual, informative ad campaign. The PS3 will still be far too expensive to be a real contender, and if consumers are educated, neither is the WII. I like the WII, but I don't believe it to be competition for the 360 in the long run. Most consumers are going to end up with a WII and a 360, or a WII and a PS3.

Even thought I had to send my 360 back to MS because of a bad DVD drive, I still really like the system. MS has really delivered the hardware and software to win this console cycle, but the marketing team needs to come in and really drive this home.

Xbox 360 DVD Dead After 4 Months - Part 2

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:42:20 GMT

I called Microsoft Customer Support today to see what they could do about this broken DVD drive. It seemed pretty obvious to me what was going on, but I played along and went through all the sanity checks. The entire call took about 20 minutes before she went ahead and processed the order as a returned Xbox.

Here are the tests she had me run through to make sure that the hardware was actually broken:

1) Try some different games and DVDs to make sure it's not a scratched disc.

2) Set the clock to the correct date and time and reboot.

3) Fully power down the console, disconnecting the power cable from the console.

4) Remove the hard drive from the Xbox and reboot without it connected.

After running the above tests, she determined it must be a hardware problem. She told me they would ship me a postage paid return package in 3 days and once I sent in my 360 it would take about 2 weeks to get it back. So it looks like I will be without my Xbox for about 3 weeks. The good news is my console is still under warranty, so I won't have to shell out any cash.

Xbox 360 DVD Dead After 4 Months

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:43:01 GMT

It's Saturday night ... the wife is going out with some friends, and I've been planning all day to get in a serious Xbox 360 session. Everything is all set, got some Coronas chillin' in the fridge, brand new copy of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas. I pop it in and play through the first couple of save points, and then my DVD drive starts making a really odd grinding sound. I keep going ... and about 3 minutes later I got an error message saying it cant read from the DVD. So I hop online to see if I could find any info. I find hundreds of posts complaining about similar problems. Apparently Microsoft uses a cheap $12 Toshiba DVD drive. Pretty lame considering my wife shelled out about $500 for the Xbox 360 Costco bundle she got me for Christmas. One of the posts I saw said they were playing the same game I was when the drive went out, Rainbow Six Vegas. I have only had my 360 for about 4 months so this seems pretty ridicules to me. I do watch a lot of DVDs on the 360 because it's a nice up converting DVD player, maybe that is putting extra stress on the drive. So it looks like I will have to send my 360 to MS to get it repaired or replaced. I sure hope they fit it with a more reliable DVD drive. I'll make another posts with my experience with MS customer service.

Play Money Kick Off

Dan Hamel — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:43:20 GMT

This is a fun little web game from Totebo. My personal best is 2872. For max distance you need to click when the ball is down by the monkey's feet.

LCD vs Plasma - Which One Is Right For You?

Dan Hamel — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 22:17:45 GMT

Plasma and LCD TVs are becoming afforable and are an awesome addition to any room. There are lots of choices for TVs: CRT, LCD projection, Plasmas and LCD. If you are looking for a sleak flat panel TV you have to decide between LCD and Plasma. So what is the difference?

Screen Size:

In general Plasmas have an advantage here. If you are looking for something 50" or above, the cost of LCDs becomes more expensive than Plasma. LCDs are getting larger and larger, but at this time the Plasma TVs seems to be larger for the same amount of money. This is likely to change as the glass production needed to make very large plasma TVs is difficult. For extremely large TVs over 60" your choice of LCD models is very limited, while there are a handful of plasma TVs to choose from.

Resolution:

Plasma and LCD TVs both come in a varitey of resolutions. There can vary greatly so be sure to look at this closely. The choice you will have to make right now is 720p vs 1080p. Most of the HD content around is 720p. If you want to be prepared for the future you will want 1080p. Also if you are going to be doing be using your new TV as a computer monitor, the extra resolution of 1080p will be noticable. A lot of people I talk to say they can't really tell the difference between 720p and 1080p while watching TV and movies.

Brightness:

Plasmas TVs are in general slightly brighter than LCDs, however plasmas TVs have a special glass that can reflect light. So under non-optimal contions LCD TVs can actually apear to be brighter.

Burn-in and Dead Pixels:

Older Plasma TV are suceptable to burn in. Meaning if you leave a static image (like the HUD in a video game) on the TV for a long period of time a ghost of that image can perminately burn into the TV. This issue has been improved on newer models with 'pixel orbitor' technology. LCDs do not suffer from Burn In. Sometimes a pixel or two in a LCD TV can become "stuck". Pixels can become dead or stuct often with LCDs.

Lifespan:

People often think a Plasma TV's lifespan is short. This is not true, Plasma TV lifespans are 30,000 to 60,000 hours. LCDs are similar. On average if you watched TV for 6 hours a day your TV would last around 20 years.

Viewing Angle:

LCD and Plasma are about the same when it comes to viewing angle. LCD are a little better with a wider 175 degree angle than the plasma's 160 degree angle.

Refresh Rates:

Plasmas are slightly better at this as they were built from the begining for TV and Video, while LCDs were originally used to display data and adapted as TVs. But in gerenal there is no real difference.

Weight and Durabilty:

Plasma TVs are much hevier and more fragile than LCD TVs. If you are going to be moving the TV around a lot and weight is a concern, LCDs are the way to go. This is also a good reason to have Plasma TVs profesionally installed.

Cost:

When comparing the price of plasmas vs LCD TVs you have to take the size into consideration. If you are looking around the 37"-50" range the prices are pretty similar. For smaller TVs LCDs are cheaper, larger TVs Plasmas cost less.

My Verdict:

Serious Pro Install Home Theator - Plasma
Multi Purpose Stadard Home Use - LCD
Gaming - LCD

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Casualties Coming in the MMO Space?

Dan Hamel — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:34:10 GMT

After the huge success of World of Warcraft it seems like everyone wants to create an MMO. There is a ton of investment money going into MMO development.

Here is a nice list of new MMOs that are in development:
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/04/pre-e3-mmo-roundup/

Most people that I know only subscribe to one MMO at a time. One reason is the monthly fee, the other is the time commitment. To get the most out of a MMO you really need to commit to it. Quests and objectives tend to be time consuming and the world is often deep enough to support lots of exploration. So if you believe that most people will only subscribe to one MMO at a time, that will slow the growth rate of the MMO space.

WoW's timing was great to fill the valley of the console transition. There is a significant of gamers that play both PC games and console games. WoW filled a nice void in gaming between the PS2 and the Xbox 360 and WII. I always judge the console transitions buy what games my friends are playing, and lately most of my friends and playing Xbox 360 and WII. The consoles are going to compete for MMO hours for the next few years. That said there is no reason the a decent MMO could not be executed on the Xbox 360 and there are a few in development.
Another interesting thing about MMOs is something I would call a subscriber snowball effect. MMOs are social games, you want to play them with your friends. So as more people join a specific MMO they will convince their friends to join as well. The users of a MMO make the game, a MMO that has very few users is not that appealing. This effect supports a hand full of highly successful MMOs and discourages lots of small MMOs.

An advantage of MMO development is it's more scalable with success than a traditional game is. You can keep your initial development minimal and expand the game with success and income from subscribers. Great support is key for MMO development and that is something that Blizzard has done very will for all of its games. A good MMO evolves and adapts to what is happening in the MMOs community.

The market is prime for a good MMO to be released right now. World of Warcraft is starting to show its age and gamers are looking for something new. The WoW expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, adds a lot of new content but didn't satisfy the need for a new experience.

There is no question that the MMO market will continue to grow, but the competition to get a piece of the market is going to be fierce. If feels like there will be some huge causalities in this space.

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How to Download and Play DOS Games

Dan Hamel — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:55:31 GMT

The old Lucas Arts adventure games were some of my favorite games of all times. Indiana Jones, Monkey's Island, Day of the Tentacle just to name a few. Unfortunately many of the old DOS games won't run on modern hardware under Windows. There are ways however to run a DOS emulator under windows and play some of these old games.

The one that I tried is "Dos Box". This one seems to work well. Once you download and install it you will need to create a folder on your hard drive and mount it as a drive for Dos Box. I made one in c:\dos. In the Dos Box console you just need to type "mount c c:\Dos". Then you will be able to type "c:" and run the any games you have in your c:\dos folder.

Download "Dos Box" here:
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/

If you don't already have some old Dos games laying around the house you can download a few. I grabbed some off the website "Abandonia". Some of the games can't be downloaded because they are still available for purchase somewhere. I got Indiana Jone, Dune 2, Albion, Genghis Khan, Start Control 1 and Xcom UFO off this site!

http://www.abandonia.com/

It might just be a nostalgia thing, but these games are really fun to go back and play. Have Fun!

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Are Arcades Dead? I Hope Not.

Dan Hamel — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:52:55 GMT

With Next Generation consoles, HDTV and surround sound, is the Arcade officially dead? Last week I would have said yes without any hesitation, but I recently went to Dave and Busters. For those who haven't been there it's a big Arcade slash Restaurant. They have a big bar in the middle of the arcade where you can order drinks. The arcade games use a card system were you can charge points onto your card and then swipe it to play the games.

Playing games at D&B offered something you couldn't get at home. There really wasn't much in the way of traditional arcade games. Almost all of the game were specialized hardware. Driving games and shooting games out numbered all other types of games. The most popular games were the basketball hoops. The more baskets you make in a certain amount of time the more tickets you get. There was always a huge group of people surrounding the hoops and a few people were amazingly good at it. I had a lot of fun with Sega's 18 wheeler game. I remember playing the game for the Dreamcast, but having the huge steering wheel and the horn button really made you fell like you were driving a big rig.

The other quality that really set D&B apart from the home system was how social it was. There were tons of people there, they had pool tables, a karaoke room and other group activities. At most restaurants waiting for a table can be painful. At D&B the 45 minute wait seemed to fly by too quickly while we shooting zombies.

One of my friends got really good at one of the ticket games were you drop a ring around a little bucket. He was consistently getting 100 tickets per swipe. At the end of the night we had enough tickets to buy an iced out grill!

I personally hope that arcades do not die. I think that Dave & Busters has a good model for how to be successful in the arcade business. More clubs and bars should incorporate elaborate arcades into their entertainment offerings.

If you haven't been to an arcade lately and you have one of these in your area you should get a bunch of people together and check it out.

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Playing With Power

Half Life 2 Logo Tagged on Bike Path

Unpacking Rock Band Special Edition

Next Gen Console War Data and Latest Game Sales Data

Where Do Playing With Power Visitors Live?

Hardcore Gaming to Become an Expensive Niche Market

Forza 2 Xbox 360 Review

Xbox 360 DVD Dead After 4 Months - Part 3

Top Ten Video Game Related Movies

Westinghouse 42" LCD Super High Res Image - W4207

Will a $100 price cut light a fire under the PS3?

Blizzard Anounces Starcraft 2!

Hardcore World of Warcraft Mining

Is Microsoft Dropping the Ball With the Xbox 360?

Xbox 360 DVD Dead After 4 Months - Part 2

Xbox 360 DVD Dead After 4 Months

Play Money Kick Off

LCD vs Plasma - Which One Is Right For You?

Casualties Coming in the MMO Space?

How to Download and Play DOS Games

Are Arcades Dead? I Hope Not.