In the demo, the character wakes up to a dark forrest world. You are not welcome there — the world is home to natives who are trying to kill you with traps and spears, and objects that come careening at you, sometimes on fire. Not to mention gargantuan spiders just waiting for you to get close enough to stick you in the face. At first interpretation of this overly simple, black and grey game, you would never think the game would be violent. Be warned, it is quite gruesome at times.

Everything that happens around you is part of a puzzle that you must figure out to advance. Some puzzles are easily missed as you are looking around at the gorgeous black and grey surroundings, which can lead to your death several times throughout the game. My personal experience of this exactly, involved a bear trap closing on my body resulting in a restart and some irate language. For this reason alone, I will say the game get tedious. Do not expect to go through the game without dying, you will in order to figure out puzzles.

Limbo throws objects at you when you aren’t really ready for them. You will not expect a flaming rock to suddenly come loose and flatten your ass. Death is a necessary piece of the puzzle, allowing you to figure out how to control the various objects laying around for interaction. Will this box float with me on top? (The character cannot swim.) If I fall from this height, will I die? (Yes.)

In the end, Limbo is a great refresh from other games where speed and accuracy are necessary. On the contrary, Limbo rewards an articulate and careful player, and speed is not your advantage. If you are expecting something quick and dirty like Mario, this is not your game. Although the developers put secrets into the game to look for when you replay it, it would not be the same as the first play-through because you’ve probably figured out all of the tricks to beating the game.

What is my take? I liked it. It is challenging at times where there are a few “WTF?!!!?!?”-inducing moments. Though, it is always rewarding after you’ve figured out a puzzle. This game is different enough to easily become a favorite, classic game. It is a shame, though, that it is currently only on Xbox and costs a modest 1200 Microsoft Points (currently equal to $15 USD).

When you think of the government the words “fast paced” and “young” are not what you typically hear. Historically the government has a silly, bureaucratic procedure that is long and seems to never really get through to citizens, even on important topics information can be misreported and forgotten easily. Todays government seems different, however, with its ability to keep up with technology and allow for better reporting of issues and facts and has allowed much more people to understand the way in which the government is working for us.

WhiteHouse.gov has been redesigned to allow for up-to-date and important news, not only to be read more easily but shared and can be followed on many other social networks that have sprung up since the last administration. There is an abundance of official videos from the President, including a feature called “White House Live” where videos are streamed straight from Capitol Hill each day outlining new issues and talking about how the government is planning to address them. Compare this to the last administration, only news was featured when something had actually happened. It was more of a spotlight on where the President was that week.

During the transition period where Barack Obama was sworn into the government, a new group called the Technology, Innovation and Government Reform (TIGR) was formed to overhaul the mass amounts of media and data that the administration had been archiving and create innovative, technology driven applications that would help people understand it and make it accessible. This has since been translated into the Open Government Initiative and is alternatively called eGovernment.

As evidence to this, a perfect example of the way the new government is utilizing mass data in new ways is Recovery.gov, a web site that tracks the economic recovery efforts on a multitude of levels. The web site measures up-to-date information regarding job creation, where the money was distributed and even allows you to download primary source data for interpretations. It includes many FAQs and information for tax payers to make sure they understand how the government is managing the assistance money to minimize fraud and abuse of the system. An even more robust information center has been created at Data.gov, which allows you to get unprecedented amounts of datasets ranging from the locations of active mines and mineral plants and realtime worldwide earthquake tracking, to hate crime and foreign labor statistics.

Just last week (January 19), a blog post on WhiteHouse.gov announced its new iPhone/iTouch application available for free on iTunes. It will allow its users to download current blog posts, videos and photos, and even stream live video content as it is reported from the White House. Not to leave out non-iPhone users, a mobile-accessible web site for the White House is coming in the next few weeks. When you visit mobile.whitehouse.gov, you will get a web site optimized for all other mobile devices. The blog post outlines its commitment to openness:

As part of President Obama’s commitment to an open and transparent government, the White House App makes getting all the latest news and media from the White House easier than ever.  And of course, we’ll continue to look for new and emerging technologies to engage the American people and make information about the President and his administration easily available.

It is real-time government, and a step in the right direction as the Internet generation grows up and expects even more instant information than ever before. Currently, the United States is ranked number four in the UN’s e-Government Readiness Index, under Sweden, Denmark, and Norway which take the top three positions. The significance of this is that it leads the way to better information communication and delivery for people of many cultures to come together and participate in the globalization of knowledge.

Fashion Forward!

Entertainment companies are trying to push 3-dimensional video into theaters, full force. With an average of a new 3-D movie coming out every few weeks, it seems, the trend is going to continue. Is it really worth it?

First, images popping straight out of the screen and onto the faces of the audience is coming at a higher price to many consumers. Moviegoers are now being charged with extra surcharges, on top of a ticket into movie, for the use of 3-D glasses even if you have your own pair from a previous movie. Many people are unaware though, that the reason for this is mainly for the theater to use the 3-D technology and actually has little to do with the special glasses. Of course, you are able to recycle your glasses at the end of the movie if you so choose, which is probably a good idea to be happy given a fresh pair the next time you see another 3-D movie. Regardless of whether you keep your glasses, surcharges will stay for the theater to cover their costs.

Of course I’m all about the entertainment factor, but does 3-D take away from the experience? I would say it depends on the film. An action movie that is meant to “wow” you will be good candidates, but I hope to never have to sit through a 3-D romantic comedy because the technology would be too distracting. These are likely limitations to the 3-D trend. I will cry if there is a romantic comedy showing in 3D…

The technology is coming to the Blu-Ray player in your home, too. The Blu-Ray Disc Association (BDA) has approved a new specification on delivering 3-D content via disc that will begin to be implemented soon. The PS3 will likely have a firmware update to allow this specification. Whats even better about this, it is also backwards compatible for 2-D movies. Therefore, if you don’t have a 3-D capable display, it’ll just play in 2D.

Wait… 3-D capable device? Yes. As I said, this trend is coming at a great cost to consumers. Since we’re moving from DVDs to Blu-Ray now, 3-D is the movement of the future. Once the life span of your LCD or Plasma television has reached its limit, you’ll probably be looking at new 3-D capable displays to replace the old. More money to spend, more to look forward to in the future, we hope. I don’t think that 3-D is that important for people to be bending over backwards to consume, especially for new, potentially more expensive televisions.

Oh, and did we mention that 3-D imagery is likely also an answer to the much debated piracy issue. Since movies are to be in 3-D, people are more likely to want to go see it in the theater rather than settle for just a 2-D pirated copy. That is why Fox is not concerned with the leak of Avatar into BitTorrent — they argue that it will not impact revenue because people are seeing the movie in 3-D instead of pirating it. Sounds like a good all-around money maker to me, whether or not consumers really want 3-D movies.

It’s only a matter of time before we start seeing uber-”High Definition 3-D glasses!” selling for a fortune at Best Buy and stores alike. Are you ready for 3-D to come in the next generation of technology?

Lets start with the stupid mix of elements that this movie had. Yes, Megan Fox is the lead role as Jennifer and plays “the hottest girl in high school” which every guy drools over. She acts sex-addicted and falls for a band who is playing at the local bar. This is all accurate, but the story that follows is basic thriller-movie dumb.

From there, the movie takes a comical, unserious move to get the audience to laugh at the same time they are supposed to be at the edge of their seats. They throw in odd jokes for the hell of it, which turn out to be actually funny if you are quick enough to catch them while you are trying to pay attention to the real action. The comical aspects of the movie make you wonder what the movie is supposed to be accomplishing, do you laugh or be scared? I understand the movie attempting to be different, but this movie almost plays with your emotions in a dumb way; comedy and thriller just don’t mesh, and I don’t think they ever will.

The thriller elements of the movie were good at times, though they fall short when someone decided the movie should also be funny. I have to admit, I was freaked out when you first see Jennifer after her incident, and several scenes were scary enough for me to not want to talk to girls for two hours after the movie. They just weren’t good enough to have a lasting impression that I’ll remember. Being thrilled is what I went to see the movie for, after seeing the very creepy trailer, and it did the job alright.

The gore is non-existant except for two or three corpses that were chewed out. The fact that there was no gore, no “holy disgusting” moments made the movie a long bore. Moments of the movie felt tedious and time-consuming filler content. It felt like it was dragged on to be a full-length, 104 minute movie — they tried really hard… too hard. The movie got boring.

As for the storyline, there might as well not have been one. The story didn’t really matter and I don’t think anyone truly cared about it anyway, you know you just want to see it for Megan Fox. Clearly the producers realized this and pieced together the worst sequence of story imaginable and threw in jokes and a creepy aspect. It also tried to be mysterious — you are sort of brought to wonder what the hell is going on with Jennifer, but it still felt as if the producers didn’t care at all for the story. The movie sums up what happened in one scene towards the ending in the most basic, unemotional way. Yes, a good way to put it, this movie was emotional in an unemotional way, if that makes sense.

If you wanted to see this movie for Jennifer’s body, you won’t see it. Actually, you won’t see anyone’s body as there is no nudity whatsoever, although there is an awkward sex scene going on while someone is being eaten alive and having a creepy hallucination. Wild, no really, it is ridiculous. Go see this movie, or don’t. It is solely up to you because I can’t say its worth seeing. But on the contrary, I’d say you’d be missing out on what I thought was the weirdest movie-going experience to date. If you like that sort of thing, go for it. If you wanted a good, emotional movie definitely don’t see this.

I began using Snow Leopard, the latest release of Apple’s Mac OS X operating system, this weekend and have been messing around with it every which way that I normally do. I’m a heavy computer user so it’s important that everything works as it would and there has been enough talk about this release to make us all sick.

Firstly, the update will cost you $29 if you already have Leopard installed. Which means if you had Tiger, you’re out of luck and will have to pay the full $169 for a box set which includes Snow Leopard, iLife and iWork ’09. Not a bad deal if you haven’t yet upgraded to the latest operating system, and it’s certainly cheaper than purchasing Microsoft’s Vista Home Basic for $199.

Since this isn’t a movie review, I’ll try to be thorough with my explanations. There is a lot going on in Apple’s software already — they try to think of everything and make their features obscure at times. I would suggest looking over the manual so you can understand where these updates are and how to use them.

Good Feature Refinements

For example, one new feature is something that has been available to Window’s users since the beginning of time: window management. In the past if you had multiple windows open in a program, some could get lost in the background of numerous programs on screen. If you go to the dock, and click-hold the icon of the program which you’re trying to find a particular window that was lost, OS X will organize the windows for that program neatly in Expose. You should always find what you’re looking for.

I found this to be one of the more useful features because it was always a hassle trying to find windows, especially if you are running a lot of programs. Another useful feature can be found when using Stacks. Stacks gives you the ability to keep a folder of items on the dock, and when you click on the folder it will show you the contents of the folder, fanning out from the dock. But now, instead of only showing the first couple of items in the folder, you can see all of them in a scrollable Stack overlay. Apple went a step further and also added the ability to open a sub-folder inside of a Stack in the overlay display. Difficult to explain, but its just an easier way to navigate your computer without having to open window after window.

When you are going through folders and navigating your computer using Finder, you’ll notice the ability to display your icons twice the maximum size (now 512×512 images), and you’ll also be able to open PDF files and play videos through Quick Look. Simply highlight a file and press [spacebar] to use Quick Look to preview a file before you commit to opening it completely. A useful feature if you are unsure of which file you need to open. Again, now with PDF and video support, on top of document and audio support.

You’ll notice menu bar changes (if you look for them), such as Air Port will display signal strength to listed Wi-Fi locations and the “Services” menu will only show relevant options depending on which application you’re in. I also noticed that switching Spaces yields a much better icon display to let you know which space you’re in.

Fast as Lightning

Everything is a bit faster as well. The entire operating system has been revamped to allow for better 64-bit application support, and has been refined to allow for quick response from the operating system. You’ll experience faster start up and shut down times, as well as applications opening and closing takes less time. One thing I noticed (if I’m not going crazy) is that my trash bin empties much quicker. Everything is simply faster from opening folders to scrolling, to connecting to wireless Internet.

Safari 4, which has been out for several weeks before Snow Leopard, even got quicker under the new 64-bit capabilities. I cannot believe how fast it is at loading javascript and pages. I am completely, completely applauding them for this. Safari 4 must be the fastest browser available. Firefox has nothing on it (okay, except for maybe program add-on support). I have switched from Firefox to Safari recently because of this. I cannot say how cool it feels to be this quick.

Apple Meets Corporate

Another feature that has been widely announced is Microsoft Exchange support. Exchange support is a feature I had no idea anyone really cared about, but I’m assuming its more of a corporate business feature. I do not use it so I cannot offer any usage review, but I can offer some insights. It allows you to sync your iCal and Address Book and Mail with a Microsoft Exchange server/service. This way you’ll always have the same contacts and events no matter what computer you’re on, Windows or Mac. A great feature to mend the ties between a Microsoft business world, and maybe an upcoming Apple business world. The sole ability to be able to sync things between Microsoft and Apple is a great way for users to maybe have Windows at work and an Apple at home, where its better used. Or perhaps we’ll see more Apple corporate support in the future. We’ll have to see what comes out in terms of doing business with the Apple operating system.

Its good to get along in this sense… we the consumers are winners in the end!

Just a Few Gripes

With new things come new gripes. I noticed that several applications became broken after upgrading to Snow Leopard. The only explanation of this is the rewritten 64-bit compatibility support is to blame. My Logitech mouse software no longer recognizes my mouse! There have been several reports of small applications becoming dead after the update. I suppose we just have to wait for everyone to adopt to the new OS before developers start rolling out updates for their programs. If I cannot get my mouse to work, I’ll be really upset.

Adobe made a crude comment saying that its CS3 programs will not be supported on Snow Leopard. This made people fidget about upgrading, but its safe to say that these programs do work on Snow Leopard. Their comment was referring to no longer supporting CS3 updates, and intends to focus on its latest CS4 programs. As I said, don’t fret, Adobe programs still work fine.

For a fantastic list of which programs are supported and which are needing updates, consult with snowleopard.wikidot.com. My damn mouse doesn’t work, what the hell…

In the End…

I cannot stress enough that the sole purpose of this update was to make the current Leopard OS a notch better. It isn’t a major step in usability or interface, but it is a major step in accessibility and refinement. Snow Leopard will make way for an even better operating system somewhere in the near future. Apple made the right move in only charging $29 for this update, and even better: its only $25 on Amazon.com. I think it is a great update. I just wish my mouse worked…

District 9 takes on a style similar to Cloverfield with shaky-cam footage mixed in with documentary style commentary from actors. The style was not your typical movie, and it sort of took away from the great story that unfolded. This is probably the only issue I had with this movie because it made it difficult to stay immersed in the story about the aliens. They simply used the documentary shots too much to introduce too much story when it might have made more sense to go about the story ‘head on’ without the commentary.

From the beginning you are introduced to a character who you know nothing about and don’t care for at first. He leads around the aliens serving eviction notices until something goes wrong. How the aliens got to Earth is not explained, or not explained well enough for me to understand early in the movie; this makes the rest of the story dry because I felt it hard to see the point in why the human’s were being the way they were to the helpless aliens, “prawns” as they are derogatorily called.

The alien race, being stuck on Earth are treated terribly, forcing them to live in a slum known as District 9. The slum scene’s were very realistic. The alien’s had interesting characteristics unlike we’ve seen with other alien movies. They aren’t “all-powerful” or demanding. Rather, the aliens are living in a ghetto with no possessions and are socially frustrated and segregated from human contact. They don’t try to take over the planet. They don’t irrationally kill people. They just want to go home.

As I’ve stated, the story is very believable, but it makes me wonder why the humans wouldn’t be more hospitable or helpful. Maybe we are selfish and only think for ourselves. The reason is revealed (go see the movie) and everything somewhat makes sense. The way the story is outlined kept me at the edge wanting to figure out more — the film sort of had a mysterious feel to it. The audience was not flat out told what exactly was going on in District 9 and was forced to pick up little pieces of story to put the film together.

The movie uses great CGI that make the aliens realistic and even had my friend jokingly say “this isn’t real, right?” which I’d say is quite an accomplishment. The more realistic the CGI, the more believable the movie. For the nature of this movie, if the CGI quality was sub-par, it would not have had the same “wow-ing” effects. District 9 was a great example of how CGI should be used to enhance the realism of unreal subjects.

The gore and blood is really awesome, although it is not stomache-upsetting or nausea inducing. There is a lot of swearing, almost to the point of annoyance. District 9‘s actors are all unknown (due to budget) but, again, this makes the movie as believable as it is.

All-in-all the movie does an alright job at creating a visually appealing and emotional story about aliens. As Neill Blomkamp’s first true rodeo, he has done a good job. Hopefully his next movie will include a bigger budget and a better story for him to spread his wings into science fiction. District 9 was one science-fiction movie that is sure to be remembered among the likes of Alien. See it in theaters to have a great experience, for sure.

If you leave us a comment we will mention your name, and will, of course, be sure to answer any questions that you leave. Since we are just getting started at this we will not be taking any live callers until we get the kinks of our show worked out and perfect our format. The first episode will be a real test for us and we hope that our few readers can chime in and enjoy this new production along with us. Just leave a comment below to get mentioned in our show!

What have we got in store? A whole lot: We want to keep our readers in tune with the news and reviews that surround gadgets and entertainment, just like our sweet writing here. With that said, be sure to tell your friends about us and check back for more! Currently the show is scheduled for Tuesday, August 18 — again be sure to check back, and definitely leave a comment below.

Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, and is increasingly becoming the Head Wizard’s (Albus Dumbledor) extra-hand in fighting off the dark wizards who have been terrorizing the school. Harry feels compelled to help out and make sure that the evil wizard who scarred his forehead, Voldemort, keeps far away. Hogwarts has gone through intense security measures to ensure the safety of its students.

If you’ve read the book, you’ll understand the story right away because filmmakers worked hand-in-hand with the book to ensure that all plot points are covered and that the movie follows it closely. You’ll expect this movie to be just like the book. If you are an avid Harry Potter reader, you’ll understand the movie in even in greater detail.

Coming from more of a passive fan, who hasn’t read the books in a while, the movie was good. I didn’t feel left out or unable to follow along because I have not been keeping up on my reading. They did a great job to make sure that non-readers would be able to understand the movie. However, my only gripe is the movie’s length: 153 minutes. Very long, and I felt that the movie would have done just as good only a half-hour shorter. A lot of things happened in the movie but the slow points just seemed to be placed to stay true to the book and didn’t offer extra entertainment.

While watching, an odd phenomenon occurred to me: even from a non-readers point of view, the plot-moving points were no surprise. I felt as if I had known everything all along from people who have talked to me about Harry Potter, and little tidbits of information that had reached my ears that I seemed to remember. Everything came together to actually prevent me from being surprised during the movie, which was somewhat of a downer. I’m sure this has happened to other people as well, and be aware that there may be a few spoiled surprises. I’d love to elaborate, but I don’t want to spoil anyone’s experience.

Furthermore, the character’s once again play a vital role in the movie’s chemistry. The cast has been wonderful since the very first movie; nine or so years later, now on the sixth movie, the characters still feel like the same group of friends that brought the series to life. If no one originally loved the characters, I don’t think the Harry Potter movies would have felt the same. Anyway, it’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about that because the three wizards have done a superb job on screen, making for a believable and an adventurous journey through a fantasy of wizardry.

Go see the movie, it was exceptional. If you’re a true fan, obviously you wouldn’t care that you already know what is going on in this movie, it is exceptionally fun to watch the book played out in motion picture. For that reason, this movie was fun and entertaining, and I recommend seeing Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince in theaters. We’re waiting for the last movie which will be astonishing.

Michael Bay, who is known for his ridiculously fast-paced shooting of movies by his nickname Bay-hem (coined by Megan Fox in a Regis interview), should also be known for his speeding through movies at the longest length ever. Its difficult to explain because its quite a phenomenon. The movie is extremely fast-paced, relentless to give up any time to swallow any action that has happened and having a few “What just happened”-moments. At the same time the action is terribly slow and lengthy, and he brings the running time for the movie at a butt-hurting 150 minutes.

Transformers doesn’t accomplish much in terms of storyline. The basis is that there was a piece of the Allspark left with Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) by accident, and the Decepticons want it back, along with Sam in order to also find a world-threatening device that is hidden away on Earth. Simple to understand, but the movie drags on the action. Never in my entire movie-watching career have I been bored of action, until Transformers 2, when I said “Alright, get on with it!” The movie is long, and so is the action, but the important parts of the movie, what you’re supposed to be following, the story, happens so fast you’ll hardly believe.

I’ve noticed the movie get utterly terrible reviews from critics. Are they all wrong? Not necessarily, but they have been too harsh judging this movie on its over-the-top style and poor story execution. They didn’t realize that Michael Bay made this movie for a reason, that is, to be flippin’ awesome. And he does it two fold. Movie-goers will have to see this movie in a theater, no questions about it. The large screen and sound systems at your local movie theater is probably a lot more than what most people have set up at home. You will miss out on the experience of the awesomeness and huge-action scenes of Transformers 2 if you don’t see it the right way.

That brings me to the IMAX experience… shot in a similar fashion to The Dark Knight, an IMAX experience will bring full-HD to the plate with several scenes. IMAX film is unrivaled in HD quality and is definite eye candy if you see it on the largest movie screens ever. See it in IMAX for a ridiculous experience.

Just how LEET is this movie? Its good, but it was too long and lacked anything to care about afterwords (as in brain stimulation). See the movie in theaters for a great action experience. As for owning the movie on DVD, save your money unless your a loyal Transformers fan. No one will miss this movie.

5. Kitchen/Grill Dad

You may or may not realize that most daddies can cook. For many it is more of a concealed weapon, but others flaunt it by making killer dishes. Some may be better cooks than others, don’t get me wrong, but dads want to be considered good at whatever they make. If its pancakes they’re the best pancakes you’ve ever had, or the sandwiches he makes in the afternoon are to die for. A good idea is to recognize what your dad likes to cook and how, and maybe there is something to get him to make cooking easier, better, what have you. Think about a new spatula, a pan, a great seasoning for that special dish; these can all work out for cooking dad.

4. Tinker Dad

I have had a hole in my wall since my dad tried installing a new light switch, so I can imagine that “tinkering” dads are very different when it comes to fixing things and doing work around the house. Some are always doing something with a tool or looking to improve the gadgets they have (like their car), so it may be difficult to figure out what this dad needs. Perhaps these dads need to find a way to relax and not worry so much about the work they are always doing. Take them to do something with you or send them somewhere may be a good idea. Or, if you can think of a new tinker tool that your dad may need it is probably a good idea.

3. Sport/Entertainment Dad

Sport dad watches sports all the time. Whether he does so on his prized big-screen HDTV or has amassed a large collection of memorabilia these are two great areas to look for something to buy. You may not realize, but the big-screen HDTV is part of the “man cave” (more for the man cave later) and is off limits unless your gift idea compliments the “manliness” so-to-speak. A new Blu-Ray player if he hasn’t bought one yet, or some sports/movie DVDs, memorabilia, and even decoration (if you’re good at it) for the entertainment center is A-okay.

2. Business Dad

Your dad may be part of a business or own the family business and is constantly in his Blackberry, or a like device, checking his email, and on the phone with his business partners and clients. He doesn’t like to be bothered when he’s on call and may be in and out of the office/home office at any given moment. The best idea for you is to supplement his productivity. A nice personal timekeeper/datebook, new business card holder, Bluetooth device, you can get creative as there are many different businesses and various tools that could be of great use. Don’t be afraid to fuel the business because after all it is providing for the family, even if dad seems sort of unavailable at times. He’ll appreciate it more than you know.

1. “I don’t Need Anything” Dad

He is by far not making it easy for you by saying this and is definitely the most popular type of dad. It is difficult to think of ideas yourself, and is difficult to get any ideas out of him — so what do you do? Do anything but take the easy way (gift cards) and make it personal. He’ll appreciate something simple such as a handmade card, a photo frame, a new book to indulge in, or anything little that is not going to be over-the-top and says that you were thinking about him. No need to be fancy here, just personal.

What is a Man Cave?

Some dudeskis have room in their house where they like to veg or socialize. The man cave is the utilization of this extra space for his personal entertaining and socializing. Its a private space to those who feel as if they need a “no girls aloud” room to do whatever they want. It is important to respect the rules of the man cave. While many dads have gone above and beyond customizing their space, many use the space to tinker and let loose from difficult job stress and to be creative. The space can be small, even a small section in a remote part of the basement (cave-like) to fairly large, theater-sized spaces.

No, its not anti-woman (hopefully), but more of a getaway space. While a man gets a room, the woman may have the whole house. The man cave is marked territory. Watch the video below about the 21st-century man cave.

The term casual implies that a person plays a video game only once and a while. They buy a game and stick with it before moving onto another. However, with games priced in the $50 to $60-range these casual gamers aren’t being enticed to become more avid consumers. People become forced to make many more choices than ever before: “Do I buy Call of Duty, or Halo? I can only afford one, so…”

The video game industry is setting up for some sort of a downfall by leaving the casual gamers to make such expensive decisions. I’d love to own all the sweet games out there, but I cannot afford to buy any more than, say, three a year.

Oh but wait, have they found the alternative in used-game sales? Gamestop, once only showcasing new covered games in shiny plastic, is now displaying “Get it Used!” signs and allowing gamers to trade in old games for more old, reduced-price games. We cannot go into a Gamestop without noticing that there are more used games on display than there are actual new ones. This is why publishers are losing out on used-game sales: their new games are too expensive, and used games are a better deal.

This is a problem for us gamers. I, once a hardcore gamer purchasing 6+ games a year, am now only buying a measly 2 or 3 games… used! Why? Because a new one is too expensive for me and the rewards are limited. The system is thus, broken.

Will the issue of pricing ever be resolved, I don’t know. I’m hopeful, because I do want to buy more games and I feel this is not an isolated case.

Although the service is targeted at small businesses, the $99/month price tag isn’t so terrible for typical users that require a lot of bandwidth. Compared to Verizon’s FiOS service, customers have a maximum of 50Mbps download and 20Mbps upload for around $140/month, half of what Cablevision is going to be offering.

Seeing as this is a significant step toward increasing the country’s broadband capabilities, we’re wondering if other companies will soon follow suit. Not because of any recession, the United States lags in availability and speed of Internet access, yet pay the highest for service in comparison to other countries.

In the United States, we pay an average of $41/month for 2MBps, while Japan pays about $35/month for service 15x as fast, as reported by The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (itif.org). Ridiculous!

Cablevision’s newly directed business speeds are a foot in the door towards better speed and, hopefully, an invitation for competition down the road from other providers. Already, Verizon spokesperson ,Eric Rabe, has come out with a statement, according to NYTimes Bits Blog:

We can go to 400 mbps with the technology we are now deploying -– without giving up TV channel space. We can add higher speeds at the time of our choosing, but no announcement to make today.

This sounds like a challenge, Verizon, and for the sake of everyone we hope they fight it out to offer better broadband at better prices. It makes me sad that our momentous country gets the hand-me-down when it comes to Internet, a huge part of society and business together. We need our LOLcats and ROFLcopters at the speed of light, why are we paying so much for so little?

Each year, to fuel the car enthusiast in me, I attend the New York International Auto Show. So far, each year I am easily amazed by the new technology and sweet concept cars companies bring out, and it proves to be a good outlook on the future of transportation (much like other shows, but this one is closer for me to attend). The show lays down a road map for consumers to look out for in the future of automobiles.

This year was different, though. Given the current economic climate (very cloudy, and somewhat daunting), the auto show demonstrated just how hurt these companies are by the lack of new innovation that was shown this year — it has come over them like a virus. GM, as well as others, have been stunted completely. Still showing their relatively unchanged Volt concept, that is in hellish waters right now as the company runs into manufacturing problems. Overall GM’s displays were unpersuasive for me to purchase one of their 2010-modeled cars (with the exception of the Chevy Camaro Transformers display).

Other, more notable, displays came from companies like Volkswagen and Audi, and Hyundai had an unusually large crowd around its new line of really cheap cars, such as their heavily marketed (and well intended) Genesis. Audi had a subtly impressive display of their normal line-up. Each of their cars were a signature white with their powerful R8 and TT displayed in flashy red. Volkswagen showed off its latest pocket rocket that is the GTi.

Hyundai had a surprising amount of interest from the crowd. It seemed people were looking for information on the Genesis, and wanted to see it in person. Perhaps people are looking towards them as their cars are more affordable at this time. Who knows, but there was immense interest.

Toyota and Honda had a typical display showing their usual line-up. Civics, Accords, and an emphasis on fuel economy was apparent from these two companies. Lincoln and Cadillac, on the other hand, had lame, uninteresting floor of cars. It showed, no one crowded that area and there were no lines of people waiting to have a seat. Certainly sad. Ford had a good display of Mustangs and showed promising efforts through their new Taurus. I loved the Fusion as well.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz had their usual display of lovely cars. However, there was a noticeable skimp amount of high profile cars such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, who usually have something awesome to show, but c’mon, nothing? Ugh.

The Future?

Among the fog of economic downturn, ideas are still somewhat brewing. At a meeting of top automotive executives, a decision was reached to develop a universal recharging cable for electric cars. While I’m a hardcore conservative of gasoline automobiles, electric power is inevitable as more and more people need transportation. In order for consumers to get the full thrust of electric-powered cars, automakers need to decide how they will all be powered.

It’s certainly annoying having two of, essentially, the same product that has two different incompatible plug-ins to recharge them. If you need a quick recharge, such as the next-generation of gas stations, it is important that cars have the same method to be plugged in — otherwise efficiency is lost and money is wasted by everyone. Adapters, add-ons, a whole smörgåsbord of problems could exist in the future if automakers didn’t agree on this topic. But, most of them happily did.

Manufacturers including Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Fiat, Toyota, and Mitsubishi, have already agreed on the standard that will be used to charge electronic automobiles. Perhaps we can coin the term e-car… please no.

“Think about it, if you have no reservations or confusion about charging your vehicle, you’re probably going to be more likely to drive one,” says Gery Kissel on the GM FastLane blog. I completely agree. If you needed a square gas-pump and the gas station only had a triangle one that didn’t fit, you’d get upset and probably run out of gas before you could refuel. Same thing goes for electric-operated cars of the near future.

While a universal plug wasn’t shown at the auto show in NY, it will turn up eventually. Perhaps not this year, but next year — whenever the economy and people decide to make more purchases.

As for 2010 automobiles, there is still slow movement toward electric and more fuel-efficiency, and the downturn has stunted any type of innovation. Saddening, but I’m not ready to give up fuel just yet.

Fox will now be offering two versions of its DVD movies to consumers, a version for retail that will have the typical extra content and a different “bare-bones” version that will have nothing extra, only the movie (this comes from our friends at cnet’s Crave blog). Why would they do that?

Fox plans on using the bare-bones version to replace the regular extra-filled DVDs found in rental shops and try to seel to the people that really don’t care about the extra content. Why did they decide to do this? Recent reports show that more people have been renting movies rather than buying them in retail.

Here’s what Fox should ask themselves having been given that data:

1. Who actually cares about the extra features? Is it worth spending the extra money making two different products (features and featureless) for customers to buy something they are already getting on Netflix?
2. Why haven’t they started their own digital distribution methods to reap all of the benefits instead of paying a middle-man (e.g. Netflix)?
3. Are video games that much better? (Yes!)
4. What have we accomplished in our industry this year? (I’m not just talking about large profits, idiots.)

This goes for the music industry as well, who would rather sue their “potential customers” using gangster-like scare tactics rather than sit down and try to think about how to capitalize on our new digital revolution. Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, better known as the Youtube founders, are all billionaires for their big idea. Why didn’t the people in the actual entertainment industry do something when they had the chance?

They too busy trying to cover their ass when people first started downloading from the Internet. They took their customers to court instead of sitting down and actually giving a rat’s ass about the product they produce.

Lastly, piracy will never end. There have always been people selling bootlegged versions of movies, and the Internet is no exception and it will always exist. They are wasting people’s time and money fighting a system that has always been ongoing. Instead, focus on creating a better product. Do people that download movies get extra content, no. So why would they buy the DVD that doesn’t have extra content. Even if the bare-bones DVD costs $3.99 people will still pirate. It will have no effect.

The Fox situation reminds me of GM and Chrysler: both failed to notice their market on a changing path and are now being fed a “corporate welfare” by the government to stay in business. If they can’t offer a better product than competitors they’re no longer in luck.

The recent trend of failing award shows has got the producers of the “Oscars” in a fetal position. People are expecting the show to be just as grimly lit as the other award shows that have been featured so far this year, although show producers have been battling it out with heavy marketing and exposure of various colors.

They’re trying to differentiate the show from the others as well as trying to say “it’ll be good, we promise.” Truly, the show, as well as Hollywood, has been lacking the impedus it needs from viewers. There are more movies out than people are willing to see, let alone care about. While the awards ceremony aims to reach out to the actors who make entertainment possible, people just aren’t as interested as they used to be.

Awards don’t hold the same substantial message that they used to hold back when many more people went to the theaters. People want to see explosions, and sex — thats it. How do you give awards on that basis? Certainly there are great actors who should get their hard-earned recognition. But is all of this attention worth sitting through a long, drawn-out ceremony? Isn’t our dollar vote (going to see the movie, watching HBO, or renting) enough recognition?

Another way to look at the downfall of awards shows is how fast movies come out. You can’t possibly see all of them, let alone to judge them all against each other. Its much easier to do it Super Bowl style: you have a fovorite team, either they win or lose each year. Paying attention to all of these movies and caring about whether they get an award is too much for people who are now too busy playing video games.

It costs $20 to go out and see a movie, actually enjoying it in the theater is a separate value worth less than that. Seeing more than one movie is really having confidence in your local theater. We’re talking about annoying people, high price for candy, etc. Its not worth it; I’d pick my couch any day.

Heres an idea, why don’t they have a serious awards show for video games? Not to go off subject, but developing video games has gotten so bloated how could they not be introducing them into a more mainstream light, such as the Oscars of Video Games? Certainly video games have more retention these days than movies would ever have. Why haven’t they taken gamers seriously? I’ll justify spending the $65 (I include tax paid) for a single video game if the media took my hobbies more seriously. Har, har.

Putting the wild tangent aside, the Oscars cannot compete for viewers as much as they have in the past. I believe they offer a smaller significance to an audience that doesn’t care much about the movies they see. Today, DVD sales are most of the market — then again the only DVDs I have bought were of movies that I’ve already seen, classics, that were on sale at my local FYE for $6. Is this the same for others? Do you care about the awards? Why should you?

If you do tune in on Sunday, February 22nd for the 81st annual Academy Awards hosted by Hugh Jackman.

We're as tired of waiting around as he is...

We’ve covered Halo: The Movie many times before and ever since, we haven’t heard anything else. The movie has been rendered “dead” on IMDB.com, and there are barely any murmurs pointing to this movie being made.

Barely murmurs. One certain something has been making its way, via viral marketing, that may indicate some possibility of a Halo movie-under-wraps. That is District 9, a said film to be coming from the likes of Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp. However further investigation yields very little likelihood of any relation to Halo (e.g. Sony Pictures being a contributing company).

On a lighter note, the double-team of science fiction aficionados could mean the producers are preparing to make a full-sized Halo film in the future. This movie, District 9, may be some sort of a test to see how they’ll do. In reality, nobody knows what is true — at this point we’re hopeful of seeing a Halo movie sometime in the future… eventually…

Another look at the subject comes from one of our readers, Kevin, who believes that a Halo television series is also quite likely and very feasible. Why not? Battlestar Galactica, a similarly themed sci-fi action show, does quite well and has a similar fan base that its producers please with each episode. Is it safe to say that a new network television show, featuring one of the most favored action heroes in video game history, the Master Chief, could do as well as a feature-length movie?

The possibilities are endless so why is this movie taking this long? Any longer and the fanbase will give up, and the opportunity is lost for good. Shit.

Big Brother 10? We needed to have 10 seasons of Big Brother? I’m bored of that show, as well as the crap-load of others! Its not good anymore and certainly is not entertaining to me. I believe many other people feel this way as well. What happened to the great shows that we’ll be proud to watch in the future? Come 20 years down the road, what show is going to be the current generation’s fall back, nostalgic programming. Certainly even I Love Lucy reruns will slow down eventually.

Agony

What do we have to look forward to? Here’s a rundown of what its going to be like…

• 8 seasons of American Idol
• 7 seasons of Dancing with the Stars
• 10 seasons of Big Brother (and a new season on the way!)
• 11 seasons of Americas Next Top Model
• 13 seasons of Amazing Race

Or worse, all of these shows can continue to be produced and gain as many seasons as some competing Soaps, such as General Hospital, which has been running for a whopping 45 years with over 11,600 episodes so far. (I wonder if they make a complete box set…)

I bet most of our readers had no idea they sat through that many seasons of their favorite show, let alone remember anything prior to the current season. Currently, America’s Most Wanted is tied with MTV’s Real World for longest running reality shows, hanging strong at 20 seasons. Who remembers season 1? Nobody!

Ugh... No Thanks

We’re going to be watching reruns of Kelly Clarkson winning American Idol (she’s pretty much the only good singer I’ve heard of from that show so far)… does that sound very, very unpleasant to anyone else? What programming will be available for this generation that grows up. What shows are they watching? It will be the same shows that they’ve been watching. How many reality television shows are too much? Lets take away about half of them and we’d still have too much. Best yet, they’re all forgettable.

Here’s what really gripes me: a show titled “Momma’s Boys” actually being on television, and people enjoying it. This show is scripted, completely asinine, and totally forgettable. There are three mothers, and their boys who are “looking for love,” and want to make for an entertaining viewing experience by being stubborn, hardcore mothers. How many other shows can you name that have the same premise? About half of these reality shows are about “finding love.” Give me a damned break. I watched Momma’s Boys for 30-seconds before almost stabbing myself in the eye. Why do viewers give a damn about some of these people on TV? I certainly never will, not now, not anytime in the future; I have never cared for anyone on television reality shows.

So I ask this again: If our generation has one television show to carry over to the next generation, what would it be? When our generation is gone, what will people be watching? Which show will be our New Years Day marathon like The Honeymooners (1955)?

This current age of television is completely mediocre and boring. When I turn my television on 20 years from now, the only good, memorable reality show to come close to what I would want to watch would have to be: nothing. I haven’t got a clue because I already forgot which shows were worth watching. I don’t think any shows have made it long enough to be kept for future rerun consideration. In all seriousness, I haven’t turned on my television to watch a show since the Momma’s Boys incident. My next attempt will be after a much longer break between my cable box and I.

Sources: Wikipedia.org (Longest US Series), TVGuide.com (Top TV Shows), personal disappointing experiences.

Alright, so I’m planning on being trapped inside of my house today, on account of up to 9-inches of snow is on the way. I know this web site focuses on entertainment and gadgets (meaning movies and games, etc.) but there is a time to take it easy from reporting the stuff and do something fun. Today is that day.

Without adieu, here is my list of things to entertain you on a snow day.

1. Play Guitar Hero/Rock Band… On Expert

I know you usually only play for a couple of hours a week, probably with your friends. But today is the day you should attempt that hardcore song on Guitar Hero on expert difficulty. Not only should you do that, but you should get good at it. This could wind up taking your whole day (but who cares, you’re snowed in anyway!), just make sure you remember to eat some food at some point.

2. Watch a Complete Box Set of DVDs

The Ultimate Bond Collection

Last holiday season you got a shit-ton of box sets such as the entire Rocky Balboa series, Kung Fu movies, James Bond series, Star Wars trilogies, the list is long. Those box sets prove to be very handy in cold times like these. Pick your favorite box set, turn your DVD player on, surround sound, television, everything you need to get really comfortable. Now, start the movie, and don’t move — this is an all-day marathon. You’re only allowed to move to put in a new DVD. No pee-breaks (just kidding).

Need some more movies? Check out Amazon Boxed Set listing for some new stuff!

3. Read a Book

I haven’t read a book in years, but lets say I will today because of the fancy weather outside. Its snowing very hard, it’s relaxing. A good way to complement the relaxation is by reading a good book. Pick one out of that library of books that you have (c’mon, you have books, right?) and read it all the way through. We’ll make this less hardcore than our #3 suggestion so you’re allowed to take pee-breaks this time. Yes, we’ll allow game guides. Hey, if you have one of those Amazon Kindles, you’re probably reading a few books today!

4. Reach the Highest Multiplayer Level

Games such as Call of Duty and Halo 3 have some things in common when you play them online — leaderboards and levels. Get to the top by playing all day. You probably won’t, but its a good way to pass the day along nicely! Reach level 65 in Call of Duty, or 50 in Halo 3, or any other game that has a top. You’ll get there, just keep playing and don’t get too mad at the game. Seriously, its not good for your blood pressure.

5. Go Outside

How fun!

What fun is it if you stay inside all day when there is fresh powder on the ground? Go outside and mess up the snow by making a snowman, snowboarding, skiing, have a snowball fight. Who knew there was so much you can do with the stuff! Its always fun, no matter how old you are. I recommend going outside the most. Then, when you’re ready to come inside you can have some hot chocolate and then pop in one of your DVDs, or video games. How perfect!

6. Bake Something

Then eat it! Its as easy as that. If you know how to bake, I suggest making cookies or brownies on your snow day. They are warm, and delicious. You can enjoy them during your movies as well! Who knew DVDs were so convenient. Anyway, just remember to send me some in return for this great service I call WhatsLeet.com.

Enjoy your day, whether or not you were fortunate enough to have snow this weekend — these suggestions are always good. Stay safe, too.

People have been asking this question for the past 3 years: which console should I get? Is it the Sony Playstation 3, the Microsoft Xbox 360, or is it in fact the Nintendo Wii? How can I decide, there’re so many choices and I just can’t wait any longer!

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered from head to toe. First up, the Nintendo Wii.

Nintendo Wii

The Nintendo Wii is the ultimate console for family-friendly gaming. Built by Nintendo, the mother of the most recognized gaming characters to date. With a Nintendo Wii you’ll recognize Mario, Wario, Yoshi, Link, and an insane amount of other characters that have made their way to other Nintendo games.

The Nintendo Wii is feature packed with wireless, motion-sensing controllers and an easy-to-use interface. This console makes its fame by providing the most kid and family friendly video games available to you. You won’t find too many “hardcore” games that are gruesome or violent on the Wii, and if you do there are plenty of parental controls that will help you in determining whether or not a game is appropriate for your child to play.

One of the best features of the Wii is its wireless controllers. Unlike the other two main consoles (which I cover below!), the wireless controllers also use motion-sensing technology. A small infrared bar is placed on top of your television or somewhere nearby, that senses where the Wii controller is pointing in relation to the screen. There are also sensors in the controller that know whether its downside-up or upside-down, or shaking, and essentially moving in any direction. This capability make it really awesome to play some of the Wii-exclusive motion-controlled games.

Wii-motes!

The Wii’s controllers allow the console to have some really fun interactive games that have never been played in your living room. Bowling, baseball, golf, even racing games can be played using the motion-sensing controllers. Here is a great video of the Wii controllers in action. There are plenty of peripherals that will make the gaming experience unlike any other.

One of the most appealing aspects of the Wii is its price. The games are cheaper than its competitors, and the console itself is among the cheapest available. The cost of owning a Nintendo Wii is also much lower than others; you won’t need to replace it, and it uses much less energy while in use.

At a starting price of $249, it’s a great price along with its games. It comes with 2 controllers, and the necessary gadgets to make the system work. You’ll probably want to buy the add-on “nun chucks” that some games may use.

With every great thing there is a downside. It’s cheap, but most of the great games come with “attachments” to the controller. These will likely get lost, break, and you’ll probably need a box to put them all in! Peripherals will line your walls. On top of that, the Wii does not play DVD movies, so you’ll need to make room for it next to your regular DVD player because it isn’t going to replace it anytime soon.

Other media options are also lacking. You won’t be able to download movies, or watch Netflix like you can on the Xbox 360. Better yet, while the Xbox 360 and Playstation have downloadable video game content, the Wii does not have such an option. You’re stuck with the same Rock Band songs that came with the game from day one, while the other consoles already have over 200 added songs for the same game (granted you must pay for them).

Another thing the Wii is facing is its limitation of technology. Its graphics processor limits games, and theres only so much Wii bowling you can do. The last top-selling game is Wii Fit, and most people couldn’t get it because there just weren’t enough, let alone the fact that other games on the Wii just aren’t really quite as good as Nintendo’s own such as Mario Party, or Super Smash Brothers.

Great things about the Wii:

• Price: $249.99, check out Amazon.com’s Wii Store for some great online deals.
• Tons of fun and interactivity
• Wireless capabilities
• Great game selection
• Limitless peripherals to make your games feel more “real.”

Next we’ll take a look at the Microsoft Xbox 360.

Whats on your wish list?

Simply take a second to leave a comment below and tell us whats on your wish list! We want to know what YOU think are the gadgets and things to be looking for this holiday season.

Mmm...

What’s on my list?

My list is quite extensive… no, not really. This holiday season is tough for me, because the things I want most are also things I am in need of. Every few years I get an urge to hold back on wishing for the latest gadgets, and actually wish for more constructive gifts – socks, underwear, Xbox 360.

Its true. My Xbox 360 has hit a point where, I just want to get one of the new ones. I paid the price for staying in line on day one when it released three years ago. My Xbox 360 has been replaced once already, however my current machine has problems loading discs and opening its disc tray. Not fun, folks.

What else is on my list? A new iPod Touch would be lovely. Or even that new Blackberry Storm. I’ll accept anything, really. Just send your gifts to 30 Twenty-Fifth… just kidding.

Seriously, what is on your list?