It’s 2012, in case you haven’t looked outside your window. If you have… it looks like a 2012 out there, doesn’t it?

My last post was about a gaming tournament, which was a ton o’fun – but unfortunately, I lost. I lost hard. But there’s always next year. And there’s even talk of throwing Tetris in the ring, so I should annihilate at something. Brian was mostly a good sport about it, and we both had fun, and our eyes were melted after the experience.

I’m not really one for New Years resolutions. I’m also not a fan of deadlines. Then you can never fail! But in all honesty, I have created a secret “List of Betterment” which I have stored safely in a notebook. I want to focus on expanding some horizons (ugh… cliche #1) and making 2012 unforgettable.

I turn thirty this year. While this is no more than another year passing, I do enjoy breaking my life down to eras (college, adulthood) and placing those eras into epochs. My twenties will be behind me. I generalize my twenties as “finding myself” or “soul searching”, essentially creating the foundation for who I’ll be going forward. I’ve found the person who I love, and who loves me for me (Not because I’m tough like Dirty Harry). We’ve bought a house, and “settled down” so to speak. As for my thirties, I see that as fortification and expansion, becoming stronger, and more versatile. These are all generalizations, I know. But it’s time to tackle some life goals, and to just do things.

Speaking of doing things. I’ve finally started something I’ve wanted to do for probably 5 years. It’s nothing life breaking, but it’s something I’ve had a lot of fun doing. I’ve started a podcast. This is something I could have done a long time ago. But who wants to listen to just me talk about organizing Legos, and the timeline in the Legend of Zelda?

A few months ago, I sent a tweet out if anyone would like to start a podcast with me. I didn’t expect an answer. However, I got an answer from Lindsey, KNITTING LEGEND, and legitimate adult. I honestly didn’t know if this thing was going to take off, or if we were going to start it and it was going to be one episode about organizing Legos. Fortunately, Lindsey and I have a similar sense of humor, diverse opinions, and we’ve had a lot of fun making it. I couldn’t imagine a better co-host. Our ninth* episode will go up next week, and while we may not be moving mountains with deep discussion on politics and society, we are pretty damn entertaining. We even have a mascot named Stallone, a unicorn who used to work in the rainbow mines. We’re listed in iTunes, so you know it’s LEGIT.

As for the future, I’ve got some things on my docket. Expanding my retro gaming collection, going to Dragon*Con, making some videos, and some home renovations. I hope your 2012 is what you want of it. The end is nigh!

*Yep, double checked, #9.

Old school arcade games were sort of before my time. I didn’t discover my love until Robotron, dare I say in 2005. Sure I played my share of Pac-Man, and Centipede, and Asteroids but I never got hooked. But fortunately for us, downloadable games don’t have to be AAA multi million dollar, over marketed, cut scene ridden “experiences”. They can be a simple goal. A score. XBox Live Arcade has brought some AWESOME modern takes on the arcade game.

That’s why a simple tweet I made turned into (hopefully) a gaming tradition. On December 30th, 2011 I’ll be facing off against one of the most old school gamers I know. So join us, and follow @4score7pongs on Twitter. We’ll be facing off for at least 8 hours, battling for the highest score of the day on some of the best arcade games available.  We’ll have a live webcam and tweeting all day. So you can root for team @jarbochov or team @morningtoast.

Check out http://morningtoast.com/fourscore for more deets.

So a while back, I got this crazy idea that I was going to make an album. An album of chiptune music that I composed using Korg-DS10 and WarioWare DIY on DS or on my iPad.

I’ve currently made three tracks that I’m happy with. Their mostly what I call the “chase music” genre. These are certainly just the beginning. I haven’t composed anything in a while. This is mostly just a personal project, but I’d appreciate to hear what you think.

Crusin’

Time Choppin’

I imagined if Time Chopper was a video game. This would be from the first level… obviously:

Cut ‘Em Off at the Pass

I love my iPhone, and I really love Hipstamatic. And I know that those apps that make your photos look… hipster-ish (even though that’s not what the “Hipsta” stands for in Hipstamatic). But even though the iPhone takes better photos than most cameraphones, it’s still pretty crappy, so applying an analog (digital) filter helps compensate for its inadequacies with an unpredictable touch. At least that’s how I look at it, and I like experimenting with it. But it’s time to move on to Summer, and some awesome pics.

When the iPhone game out, I don’t know how many articles I read that were predicting a huge rivalry between Nintendo’s DS and the iPhone. I can assure you that’s not close at all nor will it be anytime soon. A friend of mine wrote a very good article on smartphone games that you should definitely read. Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some Angry Birds. It’s a good time killer but it doesn’t have the depth of some truly wonderful handheld games.  There are some great games that are transitioning over to a smartphone platform that I recommend. Infinity Blade, and Superbrothers Sword & Sorcery are amazing and original.

Graphics are also cited as another reason that people don’t like handheld games. And I think that all goes back to when the Wii came out and people complained that it wasn’t in HD and didn’t have a chance. If it’s a good game, you won’t notice as much, and there are some Wii games that are much more artfully inspired than the other consoles (Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the Bit Trip Series to name a few.)  The PSP has tremendously better graphics than the DS, but hasn’t sold nearly as well. The PSP also offers a large number of ports or interquels of console games in lieu of original concepts.

If you like games but cite the reasons above for why you don’t play handheld games, give it another shot. With the 3DS out DS prices should drop more and more as time goes on, and there is a wealth of awesome games that you won’t find counterparts on consoles.

Now, I’ll go back to playing Pokemon White. Gotta catch ‘em all as they say.

Remember when people said “sup?”… *cricket chirps*… So yeah, I’m obviously behind the times in updating my blog. I’m not going to promise a blog post a day, or anything like that. But I will recap a few things that happened to me in 2010 in case it’s another year before I post here again.

First, on April 30th , 2010 I proposed to my best friend, with an elaborate plan to surprise her. It went off without a hitch. I wasn’t too nervous, but I did run a stop sign that day. If you haven’t heard the story, just ask me sometime.

Secondly, in August of 2010 Erica and I closed on a house, and are now homeowners. Our house is awesome, and I have a sincere intention of dying in it.

Other than that 2010 was a stagnant year for me in terms of creativity, and personal growth. I have plans to change that in 2011.

I didn’t post to my blog much in 2010 because I felt that I didn’t have anything to say about the world, technology, politics, etc that wasn’t already being said. I’ve since decided that was stupid. 2011 is go!!!!!!!

Ah yes. The iPad has come. I seriously thought the internet was going to crash just covering it’s announcement and release. So what is it? A tablet computer, a giant iPod touch, or a plate to make fresh salsa? A little of all those really.

When it was originally theorized that Apple was making a tablet computer , most mockups showed a tablet computer running the Mac OS X. In January when it was finally announced, and that it would be running the iPhone OS, and the reception was chaotic at best. Why would they release a giant iPhone? Doesn’t Apple know that people want to run Photoshop on a touch interface? I want to word process on it too!

Hype soon took over regarding how this was the future. This was computing going forward. I think that statement can be misleading. We aren’t going to abandon the keyboard and mouse anytime soon. Not when we’re working. But we will when we are consuming. The internet has so much media… and we must consume it all! This is the gap the iPad fills.

Surprisingly, a good number of people who have laptops uses them most of the time just to surf the web. Why do that on something that only has 2 hours of battery, a full keyboard, and a crappy trackpad (unless you’re on a MacBook). You could have 10 hours of battery life, something easy to hold, and very small and portable.

It’s a media consumption device at it’s best. You aren’t going to use this to write articles (even though Apple is bring iWork to it) , you aren’t going to do massive photo editing with it,  and it certainly won’t replace pen and paper.

Final thought. I got to play with one… it’s fast, nice to read on, and wonderful to hold. If you have a desktop computer, and want a laptop… mostly for browsing… get an iPad. Will this changes things? Yes. This is the newspaper/magazine of the future… and it’s here now!

Image Credits:
Armed And Dangerous - qwghlm via Flickr
Sky Light - Peter Kaminski via Flickr

I’m angry, why? Recently it was announced that Modern Warfare 2′s upcoming map pack would cost $15. Modern Warfare 2 itself costs $60.  And thanks to a new feature on Wolfram Alpha we can visualize the math here. Let’s give it a look.

With a little factorization, we come to the fraction, 1/4, or 25%. That’s right. Activision feels that this map pack consisting of 5 NEW MAPS!!! three new maps and 2 maps from the original Modern Warfare, are worth one quarter (another way of saying 1/4) of the game. People will still buy it, because the 16 maps included in MW2 get stale after a month or two.

DLC has become a joke. I can see why PC players resent console releases like these. They can mod their games and play any maps people have created for the game for FREE. Now don’t get me wrong, DLC has brought wonderous games like Braid, World of Goo, and Geometry Wars among several others. And DLC can make games better in rare (extremely rare) instances (i.e. Burnout Paradise). But when we are going to be charged for content that was originally part of the game, you can count me out. Game companies need to take the route of developers like Media Molecule, and Valve if the their consumers to come back again and again.

Because I’m me, I created a new theme for my blog. Check it out! The new site will allow me to feature posts, and make it easier to find things. I’ve got ideas man… ideas!

I like video games. You may like video games. However, it’s not always easy to afford gaming especially nowadays. That’s why I’ll have an upcoming regular feature on my blog called Cheap Cheap Gaming. It’s really easy and affordable to play a generation behind on gaming consoles. There are tons of great games for the PS2, Gamecube, and PC that you can find quite affordable. Hidden gems if you will. So if your interested, I’ll whisk you away to 5 years ago (and before), when the world was simpler, the grass was greener, and double jumping was NEW!

Stay tuned!

It’s young, and has plenty of room to grow. But it’s already ages ahead of where Twitter and Facebook debuted. I think you’ll find yourself using it more and more as time goes on.

Shadow Complex is a game entirely based on exploration, power-ups, and shooting mans in a base. The story of Shadow Complex is supposed to take place in the universe of Orson Scott Card’s novel Empire. While this may be true (there is not much tie in to the novel), story is not something you are going to get a lot of from the game. Some people like this, but when you are shooting armed guards in a base before unfolding the their evil generic plot to take over the United States, you don’t have much empathy toward your character. But when playing the game you will most likely have only one interest: finding ways to be come more powerful. By the end of the game you are a juggernaut of pain – that is what makes the game awesome.

The game is in 2D, but rendered in 3D. This allows for some very awesome graphics, and battles that go into the third dimension. Shooting enemies in the background is seamless as long as you are pointing in their direction. Enemies are pretty generic and there is not a wide variety. The boss fights are also pretty bland and are generally won with plain old brute force as opposed to any tactical prowess.

The game is not so much inspired by Metroid as it is a 3D clone. So if you are looking for originality you aren’t going to find much. In fact, almost every power-up in the game has an equivalent power-up in the Metroid universe. For example, doors and spaces are color coded when shining your trusty flashlight to discover what weapon will open it – just like Metroid. But there are also some things that are unique and fun. Moving with one joystick and aiming with the second allows precision aiming. The foam gun in the game is really cool and unique, but not utilized nearly enough. There are several other differences from Metroid, but ultimately, I’m pretty sure this is what Super Metroid would be if it came out today.

Overall the game is still awesome. While I mentioned that it is completely derivative of Super Metroid, I’m okay with it because Super Metroid was one of the best games of all time. The story is lacking, but you don’t need it too much as you’ll spend most of your time trying to find all the secrets. The last boss is lame, and not energetic at all (pending you found all of the power-ups by the end). But the game is paced well, and is a steal at $15. If you liked anything about Metroid or the Castlevania series, you’ll love this game.

I think the interview/evaluation with the kid was flawed. The kid didn’t strike me as an avid gamer. He listed three games that he plays: Halo 3, Call of Duty : World at War, and NHL.  Some first person shooters and a sports game. When we were kids we had friends like this – the friends that only played NBA Jam, or Mortal Kombat. Fighting and sports. But some of us played all kinds of games and subjected ourselves to such masochist games like Contra. All of this is anecdotal evidence. I personally overheard two kids at Red Lobster talking about Super Mario World for the SNES and how much fun they were having. This study also doesn’t include Erica’s cousin who plays Contra 4 for DS (not exactly the same, but the music, graphics, and difficulty are not much different from the original) and loves the game.

The point I want to convey is we shouldn’t make assumptions based on the opinion of this one kid. If someone were to provide me a valid poll with a proper sample size (1000 kids of varying demographics) then we could worry about kids and video gaming. There is a plethora of good video games today, and several opportunities for kids to play classics by way of DLC. The biggest problem is exposure to such games. Kids aren’t rocking out to Mega Man 2 or Tetris like we did. They aren’t advertised and aren’t sold on store shelves.

Two last things. I didn’t like Contra when I was a kid. The difficulty was too high for me. I didn’t appreciate the game until college. Also I know people that haven’t played half of this awesome list of 16 bit classics (the best generation in my opinion).

Google Voice is a service that allows you to keep one number and forward it to any phone you own. Google gives you one number for life, for free. Tons of features come with it, it’s essentially your own personal call center. You can block callers, screen calls, and set times for which phones ring. There’s tons more that I’m not mentioning. It’s absolutely amazing and it’s something that the Telcos should have come up with years ago. But they didn’t. Now Google’s got it and there isn’t even a competitor for this type of service, let alone one for free.

Google recently opened the flood gates for Google Voice to the public and has been sending invites like crazy. This must have what triggered the events that recently passed. Two apps were already available in the App Store – GV Mobile and VoiceCentral. They’ve been around since May. They were paid apps developed by third party developers. The main reason people want these apps is to be able to show their Google Voice number on outgoing calls, and to review all history on their Google Voice account. These apps also integrated with your iPhone address book. But these apps were pulled this week, and then Google admitted that Apple denied their official app that was submitted six weeks ago. Again, the apps were pulled for “duplicating functionality already on the iPhone.” You may want to re-read that. And come on, how many notes apps are in the App Store?

There are several reasons why this is and should be upsetting to iPhone users.

First, Apple is now aggressively blocking an incredibly useful app. Something that is new, that no one else has. Their acceptance to date has been pretty inconsistent. They’ve hindered functionality of apps like Google Latitude, and Skype. But this was a flat out block, and a retroactive one at that. The apps that were already in the store were APPROVED for months, then retroactively denied. People paid money for them, and now if they need to clear their iPhone, they won’t be available.

Second, Google has already released this app to all Blackberry phones, including those on the AT&T network. So AT&T already has this app functioning on another device on their network. Some have suggested that AT&T is not ready for the growth of the iPhone userbase, even though they’ve dropped the price of the phone down to a mere $99 to gain… more iPhone users.

Third, most people are placing the blame entirely on AT&T. AT&T is scared of Google Voice, even though to use the service… you have to have a wireless phone number to use it wirelessly. It’s not a VOIP app. I will be using my AT&T minutes to make calls on my iPhone. You can also text from Google Voice, which is maybe what they are afraid of. But most people are going to keep their texting plans too (because $30 a month is a reasonable price). So if AT&T thinks they are going to lose money on it, they are wrong. They will lose money by for blocking it, as a lot of people will move to the Android platform which has a much more open acceptance for applications developed for it.

Fourth, and last. Apple has been so inconsistent with its approval of apps that developers may not want to take a chance on any kind of application that “duplicates functionality already on the iPhone” or improves upon it. Why spend money and time developing an application if you have no certainty on whether that app will show up a month or two later? Apple and AT&T are blocking true innovation on an already innovative phone. Why not improve it and foster even greater unimaginable uses for the phone?

I am greatly upset with this new trend Apple is setting, and as a consumer I should be allowed to put whatever I want on my phone as long as it doesn’t interrupt with AT&T’s network. Android and the Blackberry will have time to catch up to the iPhone if this continues. Even if you aren’t a Google Voice user, you should still remain concerned. Hopefully these are just growing pains that we can laugh at in a year.

Looks for new content soon!
Thanks,

Jared

The latest hype revolves around a Twitter TV show. Seriously people? Are we so obsessed with Twitter that we need a TV show , about Twitter? Granted, Twitter provides an excellent way to communicate with listeners or viewers of programs (ex. CAVERadio*). Integrating Twitter can provide a new provocative way to combine our information overload, but this Hollywood focus, and celebrity oriented phenomenon needs to stop.

I think Twitter needs to start innovating with some new features, and stabilizing current ones, instead of relying so heavily on the API community to do cool things for them while they hold up the walls. If you haven’t yet, please check out FriendFeed. It’s everything Twitter is and more (stable, real time, feature rich), and you don’t have to completely abandon Twitter to use it. And seriously… a TV show?

^{* Unsolicited Shout-Out}

Anyhow, with the help of some friends we made a new video. Check it out.

Shower Time With Clark Kent from Jared Cherup on Vimeo.

I seriously couldn’t resist.