With this year's 4 day CES event in Las Vegas coming to a close, the 2nd day of video coverage here on GS was... interesting, to say the least. I'm a tech nerd who loves getting new stuff, tinkering with it, breaking it, then spending sleepless hours trying to fix it. Thats my kind of weekend on a positive, yet with GS at a convention solely dedicated to terrible folks like me, it was tough watching them desperately search for videogame related content. Not saying I didn't appreciate the great floor coverage and interviews, it just sucks going to your favorite gaming site to see them interact with people who are clearly not interested in that part of the electronic industry. Then again, I got to spend some time in live chat (which was a 1st) with other GS members and found a few items worth mentioning...
Sony PSP expansions
For anyone who complains that Sony isn't taking care of their handheld is fooling themselves and likely trying to drag you down with'em. That isn't to say that everything they've done so far has been flawless either. I got the original PSP back in early 07' and had some good times with the gizmo. Yet, the lack of solid games and constant troubles with online features were too bothersome and I pigeonholed the poor thing. To my surprise, Sony just then decided to step up with better games and improved online support. The train kept on chugging as they recently announced GPS, camera and keyboard accessories for the handheld. With that, some icing on the cake offers Skype, a IP voice communicating service that will allow PSP users, cell phone owners and PC's to all communicate thru the V2 slim model. Kind of cool if your a hardcore investor in the PSP, but as for someone who wants nothing more than good games and online convience... all this seems unnecessary.
SanDisk SSD's
On the subject of portable goodies, laptop kids across the land can rejoice as major efforts in helping their machines work smoother than ever thanks to SanDisk's new line of SSD's. I may not own a laptop anymore, but anything that uses the SD card slot: digital camera's, PSP's, laptop's, and possibly even PS3's all have the potential to greatly expand in memory usage. I basically see these new SSD's as external sources of memory access rather than storage, meaning "solid state" drives on your computer can launch and run entire programs without ever depending on CD based content or the computer itself. My laptop friend has been raving about these for some time, so to catch some coverage on the GS end is very pleasing and gives me something to chit chat with him about :P
****** n52te
As you can see, this is no regular mouse meant for simple email clicking. Oh no, the ****** people are seriously aiming for the hardcore user who wants every ounce of power at their finger tip in the most literal sense. Its not my kind of party, but the list of specs and features are quite impressive for anyone who traffics LAN parties and favors such contraptions. Stated as such on the website, "nonslip rubber pads grip in place for aggressive fragging AND backlit keypad and scroll wheel for total control in dark conditions". Noobs will crap themselve when you log on, can't go wrong there!
~Side Notes~
The format war between Sony and Microsoft in the movie realm just got a little more serious as Warner Bros' made an exclusive pact with Sony for long term blu-ray business leaving Toshiba, who backs Microsoft and HD-DVD's looking silly at the podium. Taking much criticism for not having such functions built into the 360, a HD-DVD has always been available as a seperate accessory and recently mentioned the possibility of a Blu-ray player. All this may sound real funny to any early adopters of the PS3, since they figure blu-ray as the future of...anything disc related. Truth be told, if yer like me and purchased your console solely for gaming, this means nothing. Most of my movies are regular DVD's and the idea of purchasing over priced garbage films sickens me. Hopefully Microsoft keeps their wits about what matters most and doesn't get too distracted from improving LIVE and continuing to offer solid videogames.
Something told me Star Wars:Unleashed would make an appearance at this years CES, but sadly all I got from the GS crew were ear to ear grins about how awesome the game was and they couldn't say more. Kind of a bummer, but leave it to LucasArts to make an impression in numerous places. Soul Calibur IV, Namco Bandai's ongoing weapon based fighter coming in Q2 of this year offers some familiar characters from galaxies far far away... Darth Vader for the PS3 and Yoda for the 360 :roll:
A lot of gamers can argue about what seems fair in this character/console swap, but I'm honestly more concerned about the new gameplay mechanics, the revamped character creation (which was terrible in SC3), and the long awaited online function. No doubt would I love to wreak havoc as the Sith Lord, I simply see no harm in the developer using cheap tactics to make everyone feel a little special. It worked pretty good last-gen with the 3 major consoles, now its just 2 and a horrible Wii title... whats the deal with that?! :?
As for personal gaming, I had the privilege of sharing a few minutes of my favorite game with my favorite lady. Mass Effect might come off as a complete geek-fest, but with her working in the background I had the idea to play something that didn't sound like WW3. Besides the volume being low, she couldn't help but wonder what I was watching until she noticed it was a videogame. The visuals alone caught her eye, but I think navigating thru conversations is what really got her going. Not the kind of quality time I'm use to spending with her, but you'll find no complaints on my end as I play soldier and she works negotiations. Being a person who doesn't hate videogames but rather watch Maury and Peoples Court, I'll take this small adventure as a step in the right direction.