So does anyone out there use Gamefly for game rentals? How does it work and what is the cost? I've used Netflicks before and enjoyed it, but I canceled my membership because I don't watch movies very much. Of course I've been spending about $20 a month on renting one or two games with the majority of that coming from late fees. I hate it and am looking for an alternative. Let me know what you think.

The Death of HD-DVD:

For those people who were not already aware HD-DVD is now dead. Toshiba, who has always been the biggest HD-DVD backer, is now bowing out of the hardware manufacturing. That leaves the consumers with Blu-Ray as their only choice for their Hollywood High Definition Movies. Of course most people aren't really concerned by this and have no idea about the format wars, but now with a dominant format, Sony is hoping that will change. People bought a PS2 to play DVDs way back when, didn't they? Does that mean people will buy a PS3 because it can play back Blu-Ray discs in addition to games? What does all this mean for Microsoft and their Xbox 360? I'm sure we will see for sure in the future, but I have my own predictions as to what is going to happen.

How Blu-Ray helps and hurts the PS3:

First, the Blu-Ray player in the PS3 has always been on of its major selling points and one of its major problems. The reason the PS3's launch was delayed and the reason its price is so high are both tied to the integrated Blu-Ray drive. While the ability to play Blu-Ray movies is a nice feature to have for someone who is already planning on buying a video game system, most gamers (like most people in general) don't really care to pay extra to step up to add the HD movie playback. The major concern for most gamers is which platform offers the game titles that they're wanting to play. The PS3 is still lagging behind in that because of its historically smaller install base (again... high price and late release).

Now, the PS3 is at a more acceptable price and with Blu-Ray seeming to be more valuable the system does seem to compete well with the Xbox 360. However, there are a few exceptions to this. The Xbox 360, for one, could easily have another price cut. Manufacturing costs for both systems have gone down, but my guess is that the Xbox 360 is the lower of the two and then could, in theory, cut deeper. The other thing is that the Xbox 360 could do a redesign. I actually think both of those will happen. First Microsoft will cut the price on the old models then release new models that are quiter, look for it this holiday season. A third thing that prevents the PS3 from being competitive is the lack of a "Killer App". The Xbox 360 has Halo 3, Gears of War, Bioshock, Mass Effect, and others. Though some of these are on PC (or will be coming to PC), the Xbox 360 is the place for console players.

How a Blu-Ray win affects the Xbox 360:

So, how does the death of HD-DVD affect the Xbox 360? It doesn't. Microsoft chose to include a DVD drive in their system, and it has worked fine to this point. The HD-DVD drive is an add-on. People who have bought an Xbox 360 and people who will buy one are aware that it only plays DVDs, CDs, and more importantly Xbox 360 games. That is all it needs to play. Of course should someone who owns an Xbox 360 they can still get their fill of HD movies by downloading them from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Also you can stream movies, even HD movies, from a Media Center computer on your network. You can even use services like Amazon unbox using the media center connection. Of course a lot of that can be confusing for anyone looking to buy a new video game system, but honestly, how much do they know about Blu-Ray?

A look into the future:

In the next 2 months I think we'll see two things, an increase in PS3 sales, and a closeout sale on HD-DVD add ons for the Xbox 360. The PS3 sales will be people who have been waiting for a winning format and now are ready to put their money into Blu-Ray. They will buy a PS3 because it is near the cheapest Blu-Ray player availible and that is the only reason. They might play one or two games on it, but they might not. For a while 360 sales will stay the same, then when Microsoft will start clearing out the old models there will be a lot of sales (maybe around April for GTA IV), and the same thing will happen when they release the new smaller quieter Xbox 360 (later in the year). The PS3 will get more sales when Metal Gear Solid 4 is released, which should be this year... but, Xbox 360 will maintain its larger install base and greater attachment rates and still be a favorite among developers. It is still all about the games, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray don't change that.

So for those who don't know NBC's new family game show, "My Dad is Better Than Your Dad" premiered last night. I was actually looking forward to this show, as I'm a Dad and I feel like I would be able to win. Of course since my oldest child is only just one year old this show would have to go on for at least 8 seasons for me to prove it on national telivision. Anyway, the Dads are tested on strength, speed, intellegence, and bravery. The tests are a simple but tailored for the typical American dad. The first test on the premier had the contestents smashing a desk with a sledgehammer and crmming the pieces of the desk in their "cube". I wouldn't need any more motivation beyond that and when given permission I would have gladly murdered that desk with great efficiency. The rest of the game relied more on the help of the children and the Dads were tossing the kid at a dartboard and answering quiz questions as the kids buzzed in. The final test had the kids hading the Dad's newspaper as they tried to break windows the oposing team was tasked with defending. It was all good Dad oriented fun, and the winning dad get the title of "Best Dad" for a week and has a chance at winning $50,000.

So, what is with the free Xbox 360? Well, every contestant on the show wins and Xbox 360 regardless of their performance. I thought it was a very fitting prize and would glady take a home an addition 360. Yes, I already have one, but if I had two I would use them both (LAN). Anyway, I want all of you to keep watching this show so it stays on for a good long while and I can get on it and win a new video game system and $50,000. If you could do that I would really appriciate it.

Thanks!

-Z

Like the title suggest I don't have the slightest clue what to do when it come to playing poker. Plus, there have already been several versions of poker games availible to download on XBLA and I've tried them all and lost plenty of virtual cash even on the demos. So, a game like Poker Smash probably has no appeal to a gamer like me, right? Wrong!

Poker Smash seems to be a near perfect application for all those poker hands I never really understood. I wouldn't be able to tell you the percentages of me getting a straight draw or flush in a poker game, but I can easily tell you what cards are required to make them. Poker Smash literally takes no poker skill and a lot of quick thinking and puzzle solving. It bears a strong resemblance to Tetris Attack of Pokemon Puzzle League, if you've ever played either. I've played them both and I can tell you the Poker Smash makes an improvement over them both. If you are a poker fan then consider this your personal invitation to try out this great game! I don't know what else you're waiting for.

I'm not going to go on too much about the game, but I want to let you know that if you're a puzzle game fan and you haven't tried this downloadable title you're missing out. Even if you know nothing about poker you will be able to understand and enjoy this game. Even if you're not a fan of puzzle games or poker, I would still recomend taking the time to try the demo. The great audio and visuals and the excellent use of the Xbox Live network make this one title that should not be ignored.

I could write about my own life in this blog and reflect on how much my son, Nathaniel, has grown in a year (he's only a year old)t, but that is boring. Actually, I was thinking about my computer. I bought it a year ago and a lot has happened to it over that short span. I was actually only able to afford my computer because of Tax Return Money, and I think my wife wanted me to put it somewhere esle. Even then I only spent $450 dollars on it when I bought it from Amazon, but that was and still is a good ammount of money for us. It was $579 less $30 for opening an amazon credit card account less two $50 mail in rebates. I still ended up paying $30 in shipping though so I guess it was more like $479 in total.

Upgrading my computer:

Anyway for what I spent I got quite a lot. My computer is a Compaq Presario and looks like the one pictured above. I've listed my computer specs several times in this blog, but here is the original confuguration: 2.8 Ghz Intel Pentium D dual core, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, Winodws Vista Home Premium, and a PCI-e slot. Of course it also came with the required bloatware installed too. It did pretty well out of the box, but there really wan't anything special about it (unless you want to consider Windows Vista Special).

So anyway I really wanted to use Media Center as my TV and for that I needed a Tuner. If anyone else is looking to do the same I don't recommend the Hauppauge Win-TV-HVR 1600. Thats is what I have and it works for what I need it to do, but not nearly as well as advertised (click here for my review). Once I had that going I realized that my computer had a lot of problems with running Media Center. I figured that since it was reccomended that you get a video card with Windows Vista that that might solve the problem.

I actually had no idea about video cards when I bought one, and I still think they're needlessly confusing to newcomers, but I wanted one so I did my research. Thanks to my magical abilities and the internet, I figured out that I could get one but had to consider that I only had a 300 Watt power supply. I also learned about PCI-e and AGP and PCI and was glad that I managed to pick a computer that was able to be upgraded. So I went out and picked the best video card I could find for my power supply. I bought an EVGA 7300GS for $100 in May last year from Circuit City. I slightly regret this purchase because the same item has consistantly sold for $50 at Amazon since 2 days after I bought it at the store (now it is only $40). I also wanted the Ego boost from a greater Windows Experience Index on my machiene. It went up from an original 3.0 to a whopping 3.2. I was always a little irked about that.

Sadly, the video card only marginally increased performance of my PC and I still had problems in Media Center. Well, this time I actually checked the CPU and RAM usuage to see where the problem was and sure enough it was the RAM. How did I not initially think that buffering several GBs worth of video so I could rewind live HDTV would use a lot of RAM, I don't know, but I've got some more RAM for it since then. I bought the two 1GB stick or 4200 DDR2 ram for $35 each ($70 for both) for myself for Christmas. It was probably one of the best gifts I ever bought myself. I would reccomend anyone who really wants to use Vista to go to 2GBs of RAM. You can do a lot more with it.

Conclusion?

So that has been the evolution of my computer over the first year. It is weird thinking about it, but in total I think I've spent $740, which seems like a lot, but I know I've gotten the use out of it. I've installed a couple games including Halo 2 for Window's Vista, which I've talked about before. Of course I've also used it to watch and record hundreds of TV shows in HD including the 6+hour MLB All Star Game , an entire season of Heroes, and several episodes of House. I've also spent untold hours on the internet and still use my computer to view and store all the pictures I take and all my music. It does a great job.

Of course I'm not done with my computer. I'm still considering upgrading the power supply and Video Card, but before that I need a new monitor. I'm still using an old 19" CRT (BIG and UGLY) which I got for free. I want to move to something bigger, maybe a projector? I was also thinking I might get a Blu-Ray drive. Currently I don't watch many movies, but I would like the ones that I do watch to be in HD. It would be nice to be looking back next year and thinking about how much my computer has evolved over 2008. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Console Vs PC

Anyway, I was thinking about cost of ownership for PC gaming. It is true that you can invest several thousands of dollars on a PC. Still, right now the games costs lest and my system proves that you don't need much in a PC. For $500 - $600, comparable to a PS3, you can get a very capable computer system today. Also there is always the option to upgrade desktop computers (which obviously I'm a fan of). So it is possible over a 5-10 year span owning a computer and buying and playing games for it will be cheaper. Still, I must admit it is much more confusing than the console world and if that is what is keeping people out I don't blame them. I just want to challenge the idea of the High Cost of ownership on a gaming PC. Feel Free to respond.

I really want it but and going to have to turn it down, but if you want the PC version of Orange Box you can get it at Amazon for $30.

You can use this link if you want.

Well I got my 360 back today. It is a different unit than the one I sent it. The one I recieved back had a manufacturing date of Jan 2008. So its new, but it still doesn't have an HDMI out. It probably has the new chipset and the added heatsink, but I'm not opening it to find out. Setting it up again was no problem, but for some reaon my profile had to be "downloaded". I don't know what it was downloading, but it took quite a while. I'm kind of upset that I missed out on the free undertow while it was gone, but I'm not going to worry about it. I've got it back and I have plenty to play.

Also, I've been playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympics on Wii and you will probably be seeing a review for that soon.

I played Rock Band for the first time this past weekend with a few of the people I work with. My fellow band members weren't too good at the game, but I must be a seasoned rythm gamer by now because I didn't have any problems with any of the parts. I started playing Bass and moved to Lead and then to Drums. Drums is the most unique insturment on Rock Bank and honestly is what sells me on the game. The guitar bassed insturments play just like Guitar Hero only easier, so I jumped right into hard on those and I though I could do the same thing on Drums, big mistake. I had to move back to easy to pick up what I was doing but was able to move back up to hard after a couple sets. The Drums in rock bank have 4 pads and a pedal and getting your hands and foot working together is a little bit more to wrap your mind around and a lot more fun.

One of the things that has been really improved is the way your band is built. I personally think all the characters in Guitar Hero are ugly and that of course has been remedied in Rock Band with Custom Avatars. That alone would be a big plus, but Rock Band doesn't stop there. They have you play sets instead of songs with your band. It is a little harder, but it feels more like Bands do in real life. Also there is the whole tour scene where you build up a fanbase and travel the world. On paper it sounds rather cheesy, but while playing through it with some friends it is a lot of fun. Rock Band is awesome!

I must be addicted to CNET and its Blu-Ray polls. I got another one in my email this week and thought its results were intriguing. The CNET members were asked if the HAD to buy Blu-Ray which choice would the make. Below you can see the options and the results.

You can view the results here. You can also discuss this poll.

There are actually quite a few reasons why people pick the PS3. The most obvious reason is price. Compared to stand-alone players the PS3 is pretty cheap and comes with a movie (and can still get the five more free movies if I'm not mistaken). Another reason is Blu-Ray 2.0 and all the problems that could cause. All the standalone players out now are 1.0 or 1.1 compatible. The 2.0 players add functionality for bonus content similar to what has always been available on HD-DVD. For most people it is a non-feature, future Blu-Rays will still play on the old players, but it is better to have it than to not have it. Sony has already promised PS3 2.0 compatibility so that is moving a lot of perspective buyers in that direction. Another reason might be because people figure that if they want to they could play games on it too. These could be two types of people, gamers who already want (or possible own) a PS3 for games, and people who would barely play games but consider it one more feature than other Blu-Ray players. For those reasons, the PS3 it seems is the Blu-Ray player of choice for people looking to buy in the near future.

Well, that is all well and good, but what does that mean for the PS3? Well, my take is that this can only be good for Sony. Not only does their video game system help solidify their current format in the market place, but it also helps them pick up a few people who would otherwise not buy a video game system. Still, it makes me question the validity of the PS3's system sales as any indication of expected game sales. If people are just using the PS3 to play HD movies then they probably wont be very excited about Devil May Cry 4 or Grand Theft Auto 4 or even Metal Gear Solid 4 (too many 4's).

Sony's main competition, the Xbox 360, has has notoriously high attachment rates and a larger install base (right now). I wonder with the problems Sony has had, and the strong competition from Microsoft, if Sony has enough to draw developers' attention to the PS3. One thing seems sure though, Blu-Ray early adopters are very happy with the PS3 and that should help to increase its install base. Is Sony on a roll, or sacrificing its games department to the Blu-Ray?

Well, since my 360 has died I've been dieing for some great gaming. I've thought about buying a new computer game but haven't because I have yet to find one I really enjoy. Another problem with a PC game is that a lot of the games I want are also on the 360, where they run better (than MY computer), have xbox live, and have achievements. Well, I got a $25 reward certificate for all my amazon shopping and figured it would be a good start toward that game purchase I wanted.

If any of you know me really well you would know I'm an Amazon junkie and have an extensive list of all the items I want there. Well, I looked over my lists and I had a lot to consider. I considered Command and Conquer 3 for a mere $30, $5 with the gift certificate. That was pretty tempting. Also, I had several new games I wanted: Mass Effect, Eternal Sonata, Orange Box, and Burnout Paradise. Any of those would only be $35. Also I had been considering getting some computer games including Gears of War PC, but this was less tempting knowing I should have my 360 back soon.

Anyway, its not often that I get to buy a new game so it was a tough decision for me, but I finally decided on the one that I want. I went ahead a put the money on Mistwalker's soon to be released Lost Odyssey. I haven't seen any reviews or know of anyone who's gotten to play this game, but I'm optimistic. I'm a sucker for a Japanese RPG. When I saw they were offering a free extra mission and free items with a preorder, I bit. I loved Blue Dragon and I don't think it is posisble for this game to be reviewed any worse. So that's the choice I made. It should be sent out on the 12th and I'll get it within a day or two after that. I'm looking foreward to it.