I Want One

Well, seeing as my birthday's coming up I'm gonna start a list of wants soon...
But before then... I just saw this on Digg and it looks freaking AWESOME!!!!

The LEGO Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon

Now how phucking cool is that shit!!!!! I wants one NOW!!!

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F@ck the iPhone - HTC FTW

Why is there so much hype about the iPhone??!?!?
It's just a phone that uses regular technology and puts it into a shiny apple casing!! The Nokia N95 is better when it comes to hardware features! I mean, who the hell uses EDGE in the UK?

Seeing as I need a new phone, it's time to start shopping around. Shame that there aren't any nice phones out, leaving me to seriously ponder about buying the iPhone... but £280 for a current generation phone isn't too appealing. I mean who buys hardware phones and then gets the contract separately? Isn't that the whole point of subsidising the cost of a phone with the contract? Imagine how much apple are making off you, especially if they are getting that reported 40% cut from O2 for 18 months...
I have played with an iPhone on my recent trip to the USA. It was in the apple store in Vegas, and I have to say, the interface is freakin' sweet. But then that's about it. There was a recent "study" on the usability of the iPhone, HTC Touch, and Nokia N95. Guess who won? The iPhone of course!! It's interface is cool and very usable. But note that the Touch uses a custom wrapper around the Windows Mobile framework (the TouchFlo), and N95 uses its S60 interface. I haven't read the specifics of the "experiment", but I remember it was something like doing common tasks or navigation... but I bet there wasn't a copy/cut and paste test...
The lack of hardware features seriously make it not worth the wait. The fact that they aren't supporting 3G yet (due to battery life according to the Jobs), is silly. In fact the EDGE technology (2.5 or 2.75 tech depending who you talk to) it uses, will actually disable the phone function when in use. I'm not too sure about the details, but I do know that when EDGE is transferring data, all incoming calls will be diverted to answer phone. Whether EDGE transfers data constantly is another issue. I haven't really been looking into the iPhone technology (or lack of it), but that joined with the proprietary hardware and software is really pushing me away from this G1 iPhone. There is also news that any third party apps or unlocking (from crappy O2) will void the warranty. I wonder how long it will take for apple to issue an update that will brick unlocked iPhones or those with third party apps?
Oh, and have you heard about the debacle that was music/mp3 ringtones? Apparently you can't make one yourself, you have to get iTunes to do if for you, then you have to pay to download it even if you've already paid for and downloaded the whole song!! This feature has subsequently been disabled in firmware and iTunes update. How come apple never tell you what's new in an update? Sneaky much?
Oh yeah, don't forget about the fee to replace the battery after about a year. It should only be £50.

But if you're interested here is Stephen Fry's views about his beloved iPhone.
Beware initial G1 buyers in the UK. Apple have pretty much confirmed the 3G enabled iPhone for 2008. So faster inter-webbing without call divert is around the corner, but don't be too confident that Steve will let you upgrade or cancel your contract that easily. At least by the time your contract is over you can get the G3 or G4 iPhone...

For those that aren't interested in the iPhone, there's been an announcement that there is an upcoming HTC press event in London on October 1st. Engadget are theorising that they may announce the Kii, Omni, Polaris, and the Juno.
But if you're impatient for an iPhone beater, take a look at the HTC Kaiser or, as it's otherwise known, the HTC TyTN II (that's supposed to read "Titan").
And if you're really impatient, buy one here. Like I'll probably do, once I have the funds...

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XBox 360 or PS3

Well, almost a year since I acquired a Nintendo Wii, it's coming close to that time when I upgrade my gaming to the "Next-Generation" but the choice is a tough one. Let's weight up the Pros and Cons (in my view) for each:

XBox 360
Pros

1. Cheaper Than PS3
   Currently the XBox comes in 3 flavours: Core (the stripped down crap), £179.99; Premium £279.99 (but £250 from Play.com); and the "Elite" edition £299.99 (which is basically £50 for an extra 100Gb on the hard drive... oh, and a black paint job)
2. Bigger Game Library
   This is only because it was launched into the market a year before the PS3. I was tempted to say "better games", but that is likely due to the bigger library as I'm sure there are some stinkers in there.
3. 360 Controller
   This is probably the best game controller I have ever used. Seemingly Microsoft learned their lesson after the original XBox controller, you know the one that required the hands of a colossus to use. I have one to use to play games on my PC (it is Microsoft after all). Sadly there are no more 'real' PC games that are any good, most being crappy ports of 360 games.
4. Better Game Performance
   According to most reviews, games on the XBox 360 usually perform better than its PS3 counter-part.
5. XBox Live/Live Arcade
   The online component of the XBox 360 is an unprecedented success, there ain't no two ways about it.
6. Gamer Achievements
   Pretty cool. You get points and badges for doing things in games, increasing replay-ability of a game, and of course bragging rights to all your friends on Live. But then there is the story of one gamer who amassed the largest amount of gamer points and then sold his account... to pay for a PS3!

Cons

1. RROD
   The infamous Red Ring of Death. This is basically a critical fault that causes the console to stop functioning. It is caused by the graphics card/chip becoming separated from its contacts on the motherboard. This overheating of the motherboard is due to poor cooling/airflow design by Microsoft, users putting the console somewhere where it will overheat, and a bad heat sink attachment choice. This is possibly the greatest issue with the XBox 360, so big in fact that all consoles now have a 3 year manufacturer's warranty (even those bought at launch nearly 2 years ago). The fix, namely the Falcon 65nm core, is hopefully out by Christmas, smaller transistors = small chips = less heat.
2. DVD Drive
   There's been a lot said about the different DVD drives bundled in the 360. Issues like it scratching discs, sometimes rendering them unreadable. The one I encountered after playing my cousin's 360 was the noise it made. Seriously, it sounds like a jet engine is taking off. It's so loud that actually interferes with playing games or watching movies, that is unless you have your amps set to 11.
3. Power Brick
   Once again, from my experience with my cousin's 360, the external brick is HUGE. It's probably the size of a forearm, that's how big it is. It has also known to get extremely hot, and even to burning down houses. Frankly, my PC and a 360 could heat my room for winter (maybe that should be a Pro?).
4. XBox Live
   No matter how fun it is to play with people around the world, you shouldn't have to pay for an online gaming service, hence my lack of playing World of Warcraft. Once I've bought a game for £30/$60, I don't want to keep paying for an online service right? Also, there's the pain of listening to pre-pubescent (and some post-pubescent) gamers screaming racist and derogatory crap that while you pwn them, or when they pwn you. Oh, and don't forget about those losers who are constantly complaining about cheaters just because they're no good at a game.
5. Lack of Next-Gen Optical Drive
   The 360 ships with a regular DVD drive, but no Next-Gen optical to truly make it a "Next-Gen" machine. There is the (reduced price) external HD-DVD attachment, but who really wants an external disc drive, especially when it costs £114.99?
6. Lacking Hardware?
   To continue the issue of only having a DVD drive, it seems that the 360 is lacking in the hardware department both in quality and the amount of "accessories" that are available. Where is the WiFi? It's part of an external module that is connected via USB. So adding wireless connectivity and a HD-DVD drive will add £114.99 + £59.99 = £174.98!!! Meaning that, comparatively, the 360 is (hardware-wise) the same price as a PS3
7. A New Version Next Month?
   One of my biggest qualms is with Microsoft's market/pricing strategy with the 360. There have been an alarming amount of SKUs for the 360. Seemingly, Microsoft, having skimped on the hardware in the 360, are continually "upgrading" the 360 every 6 months or so adding and replacing hardware but keeping the price point the same. The worst is the silent releases where a hardware update will not be announced to the general public, the current HDMI update and the upcoming Falcon upgrade. The thing is that all those people with launch consoles are now missing out on the HDMI output, which has been available on the PS3 since launch. There is also the recent "Elite" edition release, which keeps the 360 price point at £300, but it's only improvement is a 120Gb hard drive instead of the regular 20Gb. It was originally touted as the only 360 to have HDMI output, but then this was included in current Premium 360 only 2 months later, although the Elite comes with the official MS HDMI cable, meaning that Premium HDMI owners will need to buy it as another accessory.

I'm sure there's more stuff for the Pros and Cons of the 360, but I guess these are the main problems. Now for the PS3, I guess I'll try to make it comparative....

Playstation 3
Pros

1. No Major Manufacturer Faults?
   Well, I haven't heard of many issues with the PS3 compared to the 360. This is either because of the actual lack of major issues, or because there are few and far between show stoppers.
2. Next-Gen and Hardware
   Well, it comes equipped with a Blu-ray drive, giving its optical media a 5x boost over the 360's DVD and a 2-3x boost over HD-DVD. They also come equipped with WiFi and media card readers (except for the cheapest 20Gb version, but these aren't available in the UK).
3. Backwards Compatibility
   Being a PS2 owner, it would be nice to be able to play my old games on the PS3. Current reports are that 71% of European PS2 games are playable on the PS3 (about 1,700 out of 2,400). Also these games should be upscaled from their old school 480 to 720 or 1080!!
4. Exclusive Games?
   There has been talk in gaming circles that certain PS3 titles may make it onto the 360, purely because of the fact that the 360 has a greater install base, and the game companies need to make their money back somehow. But I'm hoping that the two games I'm waiting (Metal Gear Solid 4, and Final Fantasy XIII) for are at least exclusive to the PS3 for a while. Well, some Konami peeps have been saying that MGS4 may be ported, but it was made for PS3 and so will stay that way, meaning that a 360 port could well be the inferior version. I could have included this in the 360 Pros m, but I don't really feel that there are any games that I would be too fond of (Gears of War is PC bound and doesn't really interest me, and Dead Rising has it's own problems like a broken save function and no non-HD support).
5. Potential Longevity
   The PS3 has great potential in my view. It includes "Next-Gen" hardware that could possibly increase it's shelf life (compared to the 360 which will need to introduce new SKUs to keep up). The cell processor is possibly one of the most powerful chips on the market, all that's needed are developers willing to learn how to use it instead of complaining that the new architecture is harder than the 360.
6. Folding@Home and Linux
   Currently the PS3 allows users to install Linux distros. Which is nice for the open-source community. Also the PS3 has it's own Folding@Home client, which will max out the cell processor. PS3s have contributed the most teraflops to F@H when compared to all other systems. Funnily enough, someone are Microsoft said that they could implement F@H on the 360, but they were shot down by Stanford saying that the 360 isn't a powerful enough system.
7. It's Black
   What else is there to say?

Cons

1. Expensive
   Yes, it's bloody expensive compared to the vanilla 360s which are at my magic price point of £300. But when you take into account the cost of the hardware in comparison, both consoles are comparative. That said, there is a rumor that a new "entry level" SKU will be released for £300 in the UK, which will include a 20Gb hard drive. It's not as bad as comparing the US prices for a PS3, which is $600 compared to the $800+ that UK gamers pay.
2. Same Old Controller
   "If it ain't broke, don't try fix it" right? Well, Microsoft fixed it by releasing the best controller to date, and Sony? Well they were left behind with the same on controller design, but missing the rumble and throwing in some odd motion sensing controls. I was hoping to test out those boomerang shaped controller designs, but alas it was panned. At least now they've got the rumble back, but (according to Sony) we will not experience these until Q1-Q2 2008, and of course they won't be bundled with the consoles. But EVERYONE at Sony has been know to outright lie to everybody, so you never know... a £300 PS3 with rumble by Christmas?
3. Games!!!
   Or the lack of them. There aren't many games out for the PS3 at the moment, bringing the close of their first year from a crawl to a near stop. Heavenly Sword wasn't that awesone, and Lair was panned by everyone. There aren't even any games being hyped for the holiday season. For those games that are in the wild, there aren't really and that are outstanding, and most multi-platform games are just poor 360 ports with bad/worse framerates. I'm sure the PS3 version of EA's Skate is worse than the 360 version
4. Online Experience Lacking
   The online component of the PS3 is sorely lacking when compared to XBox Live and Live Arcade. And now the Playstation "Home" project has been pushed back until Mid 2008.

Hmmm... so which should I get? I'm looking at the PS3 but the XBox just seems to be more attractive right now. Maybe a few more months of waiting will help me make a decision. But then come Christmas, it may be down to a Falcon XBox or a £300 PS3....

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F*ck Halo 3!!

Yeah!!! Seriously fuck Halo 3!! And not because I lack ownership of a seXbox 360 or a PS3, but because they're releasing it at the same time as Cabela's Trophy Bucks!!! Well... maybe because Halo 3 is also one of those new fangled "Games for Windows", i.e., Vista and Dx10 only, although I'm sure there'll be an XP hack soon enough, just like the one for Shadowrun.
So here's a call to everyone to boycott Halo 3 and get Cabela's Trophy Bucks instead. Here's a video showing an re-enactment of the exact day that Bungie ruined everything:



Thanks to JoystiqM for the 411.

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