Video Game Reminiscing

I can still remember saving my money for months. Finally, when my parents would make the hour long trip to the mall, I'd purchase the video game for my Commodore Vic20 that I saw advertised in "Byte" magazine. I'd park my narrow buns on a bench and read the manual cover to cover if I was lucky. If I wasn't lucky, I'd get stuck having to try on pants at JCPenney or worse yet, shoes, before I could crack that box open. Looking back on it, those manuals weren't even a feast for the eyes.

I suppose it should come as no surprise then, that I still enjoy the thrill of getting a new game. Now it's much easier to just order the game and have it delivered to your home. But the anticipation is just as sweet,

Super Mario Galaxy 2 has just arrived and I'm making myself wait until my son gets home from school to actually play it, but after lunch I shall sit down and read the manual cover to cover. Just for old times sake.

Sometimes I hear people talk about there being "too much hype" about a product. I agree with that, but there is something to be said for self created hype. I love it.

Streaming Netflix to the Wii

I got my Netflix streaming disk for the Wii on Friday. I had a chance to mess around with it over the weekend, so I thought I'd share my observations.

The setup is incredibly easy, you put the disk in your Wii, and Launch it from the Menu. The first time it starts up it gives you an activation code. Then you just log into your Netflix account and go to the "Instantly on Your TV" button. Type in the code on your TV screen. Done. It's impossible to put into words how easy it is. My simple description actually makes it seem more difficult than it is.

I have a 1.5Mbps DSL connection, and I have my Wii hooked up to my TV via component cables. My TV is a 42 inch Sharp LCD. The Wii can only output in 480p resolution, so you are never going to get Hi Def from it; like you would from a Roku, PS3, or Xbox. None of the streaming options have any better sound quality than just stereo.

I watched a few different things to try and get the best overview. Bolt, Big Fan, and Neverwhere. The reason why I picked these was I was trying to get a good variety of video quality from the original source. "Bolt" definitely looked the worst. Grainy, and even though I only watched 30 minutes, I would have been disappointed (it's a bad movie anyway) in the quality. Grainy, and really pixelated during action scenes.

"Big Fan" was ok. I would compare it to the quality you might see from a VCR. Not great, but watchable.

"Neverwhere" looked just as good as it does from DVD. That show has the lowest original source quality. It's a standard definition TV show that originally aired in 1996.

The choices available from Netflix are decent, and include lots of kids TV shows and movies. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" looks  pretty good.

There you have it. My incredibly UN-scientific analysis.

To Sum Up, I really don't think there is any reason that anyone with a Wii and a Netflix membership should not get one of these disks, and fill up there "Watch Instantly Queue". It's easy, and it lets you watch something while you and your significant other are trying to find a time to watch that Netflix movie that's laying on your entertainment center, gathering dust.

SNOW!

I recently purchased a Kodak zx1, from Woot! and I LOVE it. I was able to get it cheap, because Kodak announced a new version of the Camera that is actually waterproof to 10 feet. These cameras are very cool for those of us that have kids and want to take videos in the rain and snow!

Of course this video has been compressed for web viewing, still the camera does a good job.

Great Review of The Phantom Menace

A somewhat sardonic, but incredibly true review of the Phantom Menace. You can find the other 6(!) parts on You Tube.

Under the Dome - Review

I have to confess that I was a little late coming to the party. I didn't read my first Stephen King Book until I was in College. Someone recommended "Misery". Of course I was hooked. I always thought he was a hack. He may be. With the speed that he puts out books, it's certainly easy to see him that way, but I think that is underestimating him.

His newest Novel "Under The Dome" weighs in at 1100 pages, and I have a hard time putting it down. It's one of those "What would happen if..." books. The concept is simple, an invisible force field strangely appears, covering only the town of Chesters Mills. Any other town in America, might make it for a few days without falling apart, but with "Big Jim Rennie" as one of the towns selectmen, it only takes two days before Martial Law is instituted and people start dying.

I know that some of the imagery in this book is a little trite, but the man wrote 1100 pages in 9 months. With that output speed you are going to have some ugly language, but it's so damn addictive. I think that counts for something.

If you are a Stephen King fan, pick up a copy of this book!

Also this month, there are new comic book additions to "The Dark Tower" saga, and also "The Stand". I'm pretty sure that his only role in the comics is to approve the story, and I've only ready the first part of the Dark Tower comics, but they were ok.

I just found out that there is also an free online game based on The Dark Tower, Discordia.

Busy guy.