Mmm Pizza....

One of the things I miss the most about not eating wheat (apart from
just about every pastry product out there) is Pizza. Last night though
we went to Pizza capers for one of their Exotic Potato Pizzas...
Divine... I think we'll be making a few more trips out to Chermside in
the near future.

Pizza, Last episode of the Glass House and a storm hanging around, all
in all a great night in!

The Wiinfection in spreading

So not only are most of Ness's family on the pre-order list. One of the guys I'm on a project with Pwii-ordered and even Gabe pre-ordered today!

Nice work!!!!... Just about everyone I know ordered from Myer so I guess I'll see you there bright and early Thursday Morning as they're not having a Midnight launch. At this rate we'll be heading to US 600K sold in the first 8 days sort of figures.

Not only that Nintendo have been pushing hard on the TV ads... I've seen ads for the DS during the Simpsons and "I've heard" there were Wii ads during the final of Idol.

It's gone...

The car is gone... really new it was gone when Tom saw it heading westward on his trip home... Goodbye blue car!

SOLD!!!!

It's a sad and a happy start to the week... Happy: Turns out my exam results were better than I thought and I managed to top the state and have to sing at an award ceremony next year (I really don't know more than that at the moment). HAPPY: Got a new Toy to play the consoles on the PC.
Happy: SOLD... the Blue car got sold today! SAD: SOLD... the Blue car got sold today!
Although it's great that it sold so quick I can't help but be a bit sad that it's not going to be my blue car anymore. It sold very quickly, although not quickly enough (as Ness had put up the deal that if I could sold it on Saturday I'd be picking up a new TV the same day). I put the ad in on Saturday and got a call Sunday arvo. After a look this afternoon and a drive they went away to thing and I got a call tonight and the deal is all but done they are due to pick it up on Wednesday... Good bye blue car... we will miss you.

How to turn you laptop into an XBOX (or any console) display

Step one... buy a Adaptec AVC-1400 USB 2.0 GameBridge from anywhere (this one was pretty cheap $30.
Pretty small piece of kit considering what it does. Some shots of it on my xbox and next to my Dell Inspiron 6000.

Install the Drivers (about a 30 sec job) restart the PC and it's ready to roll.
It runs windowed (pictured above)
or full screen...

Works like a charm.. there is a little bit of LCD smear but that's most likely my panel. You can record straight from the input. And it's not just console based... It will work on any video input so you could use it for transferring your home movies from that old tape camera etc.
The end product is pretty good this is a capture from a video.

Works like a charm and will be great for making your Xbox portable for LAN Parties or if you have trouble securing the TV all the time.

It's official... the blue car is for sale

Despite some issues getting it in the Courier Mail... it's now on carsales... Anyone want a blue car?

My birthday 2029

So I know I'm thinking ahead a little but I discovered a couple of things about April 13th 2029.
First of all, it's a Friday so therefore a black Friday...  The other thing is asteroid 2004 MN4 ... not hitting Earth.

It's an asteroid that's headed for Earth on the 13th that will be passing at an altituted lower than most of our satelites! Cool... The only problem is 7 years later... it may come back around and hit us...

Asteroid 2004 MN4 will come scarily close to Earth on April 13, 2029

Some New Wii Facts

There are a whole host of Nintendo Wii Easter Eggs or tricks posted up here. My favourite is "In Wii Bowling, you can release on the back swing and throw the ball backwards. It scares all the Mii's behind you"

 

Also there is a post about emulation on the Wii using an Action Replay from a Game cube and the SD card!

 

Rayman's mulitplayer minigames are on an unlock basis so it won't have any multiplayer right out of the box.

 

But the most exciting thing.... ONLY 13 DAYS TO GO!

How do you hard reset an iPod?

Ok, I'm faced with an odd situation... My iPod is locked up...

I went to listen to a podcast this morning, selected the desired entry
as usual, hit play and.... hang....

Currently it's still hung on the almost playing screen... still
brighlty shining away... I figure by the time to go home it will be
completely flat and that will be enough of a hard reset.

It hasn't been a good week for the Apple hardware in out house with
the iMac starting to hang on boot....

I got my exam results!!!!

I was expecting them to take about a month (at least that's how long I remember them taking last time I did a music exam) but I got a call from my singing teacher, ironically just after I got home from my lesson.

The news was better than I could ever hoped for..... 93/100!!!!!!

This is going to be a short post because I'm too busy jumping around the room!

I've Wii-ed! (ok so that's probably the worst pun I've used)

So I've actually got my hands on a Wiimote and played some games of Wii
Sports (Tennis specifically). Let me just say it's great.. Or to coin a
Mario Hoops phrase "Fantastico!"

I managed just enough games to make a set but it was enough to know why so
many people in the US are raving about Wii sports after launch.

I discovered it was a Myer at lunch and had one quick game of tennis. It was
so easy to pick up the controller and play just like tennis. Learning
curve... almost zero, well except for this guy I watch tonight but more on
that later.

Popped back with Valavien after work for another 3 games (would have been
more if we could have). So with one game up I was a little bit ahead and won
the first game. Game two Valavien had the hang of it and the trash talking
started. Game three we're both fully into it. Overhead smashes, long
rallies, chip shots and volleys from the net. Great fun.. and most of all we
just wanted to play more and we both had a smile on our face. I can see how
people have played it for 7+ hours without a break! Multiplayer is
definitely the key and the mapping to the controller is fantastic.

Then with Myer having a special VIP sale tonight the store was open until
9pm Ness and I popped back after some shopping for a go. First time there
the (somewhat useless) Nintendo girl was endlessly trying to get one guy to
hit one ball. The guy was not terribly co-ordinated, but really how hard is
to work out Tennis!? Has the guy lived under a rock... the ball comes toward
you, swing the racket, hit ball. Is it that hard? For this guy... yes... I'm
only ranting so much because I watch the girl serve ball after ball after
ball only for it to hit the wall with no swing. So after watching 3 sets
worth of serves we gave up (along with many other bystanders) and when back
to shopping. A few purchases later we stopped by and got our go. Game one:
With the extra practice I won, but ness was starting to put up a good fight.
Game two: Ness was on serve and after her second serve she'd worked out the
power serve a few aces later and the game was hers. Game Three: I tried for
the power serve but failed. Went to Deuce, a few advantages and in the end I
won.

Awesome fun, we both loved it. I think Nintendo have come up with the good
packing in this title. It might not be the worlds deepest game but it's
going to be the best party multiplayer for a while!

Like I needed an excuse to want this console more but I think today was it.
The best thing is the console will be there until the 26th November.

So in light of the Multiplayerness and the Looming Launch I think I'll be
having a Wii Play party after launch for sure! Bring your Wiimotes!

I've Wii-ed (Ok so probably the worst pun I've used so far)

So I've actually got my hands on a Wiimote and played some games of Wii Sports (Tennis specifically). Let me just say it's great.. Or to coin a Mario Hoops phrase "Fantastico!"

I managed just enough games to make a set but it was enough to know why so many people in the US are raving about Wii sports after launch.
I discovered it was a Myer at lunch and had one quick game of tennis. It was so easy to pick up the controller and play just like tennis. Learning curve... almost zero, well except for this guy I watch tonight but more on that later.
Popped back with Valavien after work for another 3 games (would have been more if we could have). So with one game up I was a little bit ahead and won the first game. Game two Valavien had the hang of it and the trash talking started. Game three we're both fully into it. Overhead smashes, long rallies, chip shots and volleys from the net. Great fun.. and most of all we just wanted to play more and we both had a smile on our face. I can see how people have played it for 7+ hours without a break! Multiplayer is definitely the key and the mapping to the controller is fantastic.
Then with Myer having a special VIP sale tonight the store was open until 9pm Ness and I popped back after some shopping for a go. First time there the (somewhat useless) Nintendo girl was endlessly trying to get one guy to hit one ball. The guy was not terribly co-ordinated, but really how hard is to work out Tennis!? Has the guy lived under a rock... the ball comes toward you, swing the racket, hit ball. Is it that hard? For this guy... yes... I'm only ranting so much because I watch the girl serve ball after ball after ball only for it to hit the wall with no swing. So after watching 3 sets worth of serves we gave up (along with many other bystanders) and when back to shopping. A few purchases later we stopped by and got our go. Game one: With the extra practice I won, but ness was starting to put up a good fight. Game two: Ness was on serve and after her second serve she'd worked out the power serve a few aces later and the game was hers. Game Three: I tried for the power serve but failed. Went to Deuce, a few advantages and in the end I won.
Awesome fun, we both loved it. I think Nintendo have come up with the good packing in this title. It might not be the worlds deepest game but it's going to be the best party multiplayer for a while!
Like I needed an excuse to want this console more but I think today was it. The best thing is the console will be there until the 26th November.
So in light of the Multiplayerness and the Looming Launch I think I'll be having a Wii Play party after launch for sure! Bring your Wiimotes!







 

WiiCade is up.

Wiicade is a site dedicated to Flash gaming for the Wii Console which
is now online in time for the US Wii Launch. They have heaps of games
to play for free in the Opera browser on the Wii console some
specifically designed for the Wiimote.
Check it out www.wiicade.com

May have been a little premature in the healing

With my boast about my immune system last night the bugs have come
back with avengence today. Ness has already gone home sick and I'm
starting to really feel the effects. Unfortunately I have a pretty big
week at work this week so there really isn't any space for a day
off... Looks like I'll be relying on the Cold and Flu drugs to get me
through.

Still on a Musical High

After possibly the best performance I've ever given in a Musical Exam/audition on Friday I was (understandably I think) still on a bit of a high about the exam (the fact people keep asking me about it also helps). Regardless of the mark I come away with I at least now know how to deal with recital nerves!

On another upside (and a surprising result given my immune system's history) I managed to get over the cold I succumbed to just after my exam. After going generally down hill on Saturday followed by several sneezing fits on Saturday night I have pulled through today. Ness on the other hand is still suffering from the cold having succumbed on Thursday. It's a rather strange turn around but I'm not complaining!

On a disappointing note I managed to miss playing with the Wii on Saturday. I lined up for about 30 mins at EB in the city only to have them pack it up as I got to the front of the line over an hour early then scheduled! Not happy Nintendo! On the upside I did run in to a good friend from school who I hadn't spoken to in years! (Hi Chihiro!) He'd popped into EB for the new Guitar Hero II. (which incidently combined with singstar are almost enough for me to buy a PS2... almost)

With all the talk about the wii I got back to some old 'Cube games I hadn't played in ages. F-Zero GX (which I actually thought I'd traded) filled the whole that I have without a new Burnout Title at the moment. Great lack of Physics racing... I do have a bit of a Love/Hate relationship with the game so we'll see how long it last this time.

Also spent a bit of time mulling over the size of my next TV (technically the Loewe is aNess's as she picked it). I'd set my sights on the new Sony 60" SXRD display, but after a little measuring and discovering it takes almost my entire AV cabinet it might be a little on the large size. So we think it will end up being around the 50-55 display that the Loewe get's replaced with. Not that's happening any time soon but it was nice to dream for a little :)

All in all it was a great weekend, had almost every meal out and caught up with quite a few people. Well It's back to the work week tomorrow... but another sleep is another day closer to Wii Launch day :) (It's almost like having 2 Christmas Days this year)

Exam Over!

After a less than perfect (and somewhat stressful) rehearsal last weekend I spent a lot of this week (most with coaching from Ness) on preping my nerves for my Singing exam. Fortunately it all payed off and it went of without a hitch (well with only one small mistake... I started the words of one song in the wrong order, fortunately the examiner wasn't looking at the music so I don't think he noticed).

I actually enjoyed the whole exam (I know it sounds crazy). I was still nervous but I managed to remain relaxed and still enjoyed the songs... The strangest thing was how quickly it was over... I'd been preping for this for the better part of 9 months and in 30 mins all done...

Now all I have is the wait until the results!

My First Mii

About a 30 sec play at creating a Mii... (not sure it has any resemblence) 

Sorry for not blogging

It's been a big week with my Singing Exam tomorrow and being fully booked until the end of Jan. Unfortunately it hasn't left much time for blogging...

Although I was sad to see Gabe go onto greener pastures especially after I'd convinced him to buy a Wii!

And this was too good not to post... Create your own Mii now!

Hands up who's getting a Wii

With Amy on the pwii order track and Ben not too far away who else is looking at getting the Wii? (really I just want to know so I can add you to my Mii Channel)

Turns out not all is happy with blogger and opera...

As you can see from the post below... opera didn't seem to be happy with the blogger post page... oh well... looks like I need to do a bit of editing

So much xbox so little time...

I was going to give an update of what happened on the weekend but Ness has done that pretty well in her post so I'll concentrate on all the gaming stuff (A surprise I know).First of all, for a confessed puzzle gamer Ness is surprisingly addicted to New Super Mario Bros on the DS. I was about to trade it in on Mario Hoops (more on that later) but Ben and Mandy were so addicted to the mini games the other day I decided to hang onto it. After Ness played the mini games until she beat Ben's high score she started on the platformer and is now completely addicted. She's not quite at Diablo stage but definitely a new Tetris or Bust-a-move stage. The most amusing thing is the shrieks of "Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!" ever 5-10 mins :) Mario Hoops 3 on 3 is heaps of fun. Reminds me a lot of NBA HangTime64 on N64 (obviously). Not to hard to beat the opposition but doing stupidly impossible moves to get a basket just keep me coming back for more. Its heaps of fun... would be great as a multicart multiplayer. With the impending release of the Wii the Xbox has got a surprisingly large amount of attention. Today (somewhat resembling the Tupperware night) saw a few guys and a few Xboxes turn up to my house for hours of Battlefront-ing. Despite some small set backs (1. being late back from choir 2. Holding up ness from the trip to Ikea and generally taking over the house for gaming... Sorry 3. My Xbox (which is live enabled) refusing to talk to any of the non live Xboxes) the games got into full swing with 5 of us going hard at it until 4:30 when I had to head back to choir. I was planning on missing tonight but I got a last minute solo on the way out of this morning’s service.5 players worked pretty well... I had a few drop outs which would have made the number a bit better... I think 8 would be a nice optimal number but I might need to find a few more displays/Xboxes before then. Honours have to go to Ben though for his outstanding 147 point match. I don't think he won the map but 147 points is outstanding!
So as I've been typing this I think Ness has died a few more times in New Super Mario Bros the language when she dies has started to decline... Nothing like a platformer to pull out you best behaviour. Well that's about it for the Gaming update... oh except for some Wii stuff... It has been confirmed that games like Excite Truck will support custom soundtracks from the SD card not unlike the Burnout series. And there is even more Virtual Console Goodness on the way...Well I'm off to give the DS some love... with all the Xboxes in the house my Nintendo Fanboy halo might be slipping (and I need to keep the halo to detract from my blogger's hairstyle)

1.03am and I'm finished rebuilding... sort of

My PC all but completely crashed today. It slowly over the course of the day got slower and slower with a few hangs here and there culminating in a Blue Screen of Death at 4:30. Because it's been having troubles for so long I bit the bullet and rebuilt it tonight. Well I've finished, and by finished I mean enough that I can continue Dev work tomorrow.
This time I'm giving Opera a go as an alternate browser. so far so good. Seems to load much faster than Firefox.

Heaps of new Wii news not least of all is Ben getting to play it today at Garden City. By the looks, it's going to be a lot of fun.

Sunday has turned into a massive gaming even with a cast of thousands and several xboxes making their way to my house... I think I'm going to start running out of TVs soon!

Anyway I think I shoudl head to be as I'm going to be up again in 5 hours... (Stupid windows... why can't I have a Mac book pro!)

Long night ahead

This afternoon, I carelessly hit the "Revert to Snapshot" button on my
VM that I was working on today. Although it was cup day I had
installed the new version of the product and made some serious inroads
into the design of the main interface. However after the careless
button clicking BLAM back to the previous version and bye bye to all
the changes... And yes... all my backups of the system design were on
the VM...

1.03am and I'm finished rebuilding... sort of

My PC all but completely crashed today. It slowly over the course of the day got slower and slower with a few hangs here and there culminating in a Blue Screen of Death at 4:30. Because it's been having troubles for so long I bit the bullet and rebuilt it tonight. Well I've finished, and by finished I mean enough that I can continue Dev work tomorrow.

This time I'm giving Opera a go as an alternate browser. so far so good. Seems to load much faster than Firefox.

Heaps of new Wii news not least of all is Ben getting to play it today at Garden City. By the looks, it's going to be a lot of fun.

Sunday has turned into a massive gaming even with a cast of thousands and several xboxes making their way to my house... I think I'm going to start running out of TVs soon!

My favourite part of the rebuilding process has to be this....

1.19Mb/sec is about the fastest download I've had on my current ADSL Plan...

Anyway I think I shoudl head to be as I'm going to be up again in 5 hours... (Stupid windows... why can't I have a Mac book pro!)

 

Long night ahead

This afternoon, I carelessly hit the "Revert to Snapshot" button on my
VM that I was working on today. Although it was cup day I had
installed the new version of the product and made some serious inroads
into the design of the main interface. However after the careless
button clicking BLAM back to the previous version and bye bye to all
the changes... And yes... all my backups of the system design were on
the VM... I think I'm going to swing past EB and trade some old DS
game for Mario Hoops to console myself...

Huge night out...

Had a huge night out tonight... got home a bit early from Toowoomba and headed out for a bite to eat with Dev (a mate who I don't catch up with nearly enough). Had some great Lebanese food at place in Morningside, headed out to Ty's Album launch, home to an online survey resulting in more myer vouchers for my Wii console and now to some quality time with the xbox!

Pwii ordered!

It's official i'm the proud owner of a $40 Myer voucher. At least I got something tangible with my pre-order. Despite some earlier confusion with the store telling me that getting the free game as a Myer one customer was with forefit of the $600 in vouchers. A quick call to the very helpful customer service line cleared it all up including giving of the barcode I needed for the transaction. I thought I was going to skip the pre-order but the promise of a free game was too good to pass up.

Now all I have to do is wait... And as Eric Cartman said "It's like ... waiting for Christmas ... times a thousand."

Nintendo have posted the official Launch details for the Wii in Australia

Nintendo have all the launch details here. The Virtual console stuff is a bit more expensive than I'd though...

Virtual Console games will be available to download using Wii Points.  For the titles available in 2006, NES games will be available for 500 Wii Points (approximately $A7.50), Super NES games will available for 800 Wii Points (approximately $A12.00) and N64 games will be available for 1000 Wii Points, (approximately $A15.00).  SEGA MEGA DRIVE games will be available for 800 Wii points.  Wii points required for titles available in 2007 may vary.

and we're not getting as many games as some other regions....

NES
Baseball, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Ice Hockey, Mario Bros., Pinball, Soccer, Solomon's Key (Tecmo), Tennis, The Legend of Zelda, Urban Champion, Wario's Woods.

SNES
Donkey Kong Country, F-Zero, SimCity.

N64
Super Mario 64.

SEGA MEGA DRIVE
Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Columns, Gunstar Heroes, Ecco the Dolphin, Space Harrier II, Toe Jam & Earl, Ristar, Dr. Robotonik's Mean Bean Machine.

Not all bad... though... and only 34 days to go!

New Haircut

Got my hair cut today, not exactly a world shattering event.. but I did get it done at a new Salon that's just opened around the corner. They were great so I thought I'd do my bit to plug the new business.

They are called Pureman and they are on Albert St. just down from the corner of Charlotte. The place is decked out really well with mini LCD panels in the mirrors showing of various DVDs. As the guy said to me "If your stylists conversation sucks just tune out and watch the show" can't get much more of an incentive to ignore them than that. (It is a bit distracting though if you are trying to be polite and talk to them while you're getting your cut) It also makes it easier if you run out of "local sporting team" type conversation topics (without having to resort to my current spout of Ninty Fanboy conversation).

Admittedly the cool little toy like things in the window got me in (yes I know, I'm always a sucker for a gadget). It's a head shaver for those going for the skin head look (where I'm destined). Makes it easier to shave your head, just like combing apparently. The Headblade comes in a Classic and Sport version.

Hair cut was great, a little more expensive than the last place, but included a cut throat shave and facial hair shaping. They had the hot towel at the end which just makes it all worth while... lemon scented and all!

If you're around town and need a cut... may as well check them out... (the also have a full online store for grooming products and a compolation of useless PureGenius facts)

Wii Virtual Console List

This is the list of Virtual Console Games that will be available on the Wii by the end of December (at least in Europe and the US)

NES

• Mario Bros.
• The Legend of Zelda
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Ice Hockey
• Pinball
• Soccer
• Tennis
• Urban Champion
• Wario's Woods
• Baseball
• Solomon's Key

Super NES

• F-Zero
• SimCity

Nintendo 64

• Super Mario 64

SEGA Genesis

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Altered Beast
• Golden Axe
• Columns
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Gunstar Heroes
• Space Harrier II
• Toe Jam & Earl
• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

TurboGrafx-16

• Bonk's Adventure
• Super Star Soldier
• Victory Run
• Bomberman '93
• Dungeon Explorer

My Wii Launch Lust List....

It's getting close... so here's my top 10 games that I'm looking forward to for the Wii

1. Red Steel
2. Rayman Raving Rabbids
3. Wii Sports
4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
5. Wii Play
6. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
7. Splinter Cell: Double Agent
8. Marvel Ultimate Alliance
9. Need for Speed: Carbon
10. Rampage: Total Destruction

Games that would be on that list if they were being released on Launch day in Australia

Excite Truck
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Metal Slug Anthology
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Elebits

You can check out the full game list on IGN here.

And finally what I'm planning on for Launch Day

Wii Console + Wii Sports
MyerOne Pre-Order Bonus - GT Pro Series
Wii Play (including extra controller)
Red Steel
Rayman Raving Rabbids

Hi, my name is Cameron and it's been 2 days since my last game

Well it's the end of day two of the gaming drought and so far the withdrawls are not really hitting me. I've been keeping up on the Wii gossip but mostly from podcasts and being out me the office has meant most of google reading has been a nightly activity long after the announcement is old news. I have a new appreciation of the podcast now i'm game free on the bus. I think the iPod has seen most of it's time in either podcasts or music practise. Even on the plane I was catching up on Movie reviews and the Abc Star Stuff. It will be handy for the two long trips I have to toowoomba later in the week.