Some other DSi Stuff... because let's face it, I'll be on this for a bit

There are some comparisons start to appear on the old vs new DS.

I do like the fact that the whole unit isn't much bigger even with the screen increase. I must admit that the biggest draw card for me though is the built in browser combined with the SD card over anything else. I've wanted a small factor laptop like the Asus EEE PC but really have no reason to get one. I've considered the browser for the Panda DS a few times but it's a little expensive at $70.

I think I might be ording one of Play Asia when the release date rolls around.

On other gaming news, the DS has been falling behind in the most popular console at moment simply because I'm not doing any travel and I've been walking to work or cycling so there is no bus love for the DS either. I've been clocking a few hours up on the 360 though mostly with CoD4. I've been playing a little online and can see how it became the most online title on the 360. I've moved the 360 to a dedicated setup now with a set of gaming headphones so I can play without disturbing the rest of the house. It's not quite the size of the projector or the samsung but it's quite playable on the 19" monitor and reminds me a lot of gaming many moons ago on my PC.

Can Haz new DS?

Can I pre order yet? Surely someone has it....

http://gizmodo.com/5057873/nintendo-dsi-adds-camera-larger-screen

The Panda is dead to me...

IT LIVES!!!!!

Ok, first I know I said I wasn't going to blog but this was worth it...

A few weeks ago (as some of you may recall) my DS met with some foul play and ended up not looking in the best of health.

Amaya gave me the idea (and link) to recase my DS instead of shopping for a new one... So I order a black DS case and the plan for the Panda DS began...

The case turned up during the week so this afternoon I canabalised the old DS, combined it with the new DS and the Frankenstein Panda DS was born!!!!

The whole thing took only a couple of hours and apart from one small hickup with a connector that took a little trouble shooting it's back together and working. (the pics of the whole process are below)

DS Panda Frankenstein

Studio 54 Gold Class: Now in HD for your viewing pleasure

Well I'm back in Sydney, my flight was delayed (unusual I know) and I've got a few things to finalise before tomorrow so it's just a quick update:

• The LG Super Blue player has made it's way into the home theatre, I was surprised at the increase in picture quality.
  
• Saw the Roar beat Sydney FC to get closer to the A League Final (took my camera but forgot to check that the batteries were charged
  
• Watched Transformers in HD on Saturday morning, the image transfer is just spectacular.
• Took another trip to the motor show with Tom, he took some great shots with the new camera
• Had a gaming day with a PS3, again more HD picture impressiveness
• My DS finally Died

I've got 3 weeks away straight away (not flying back for the next couple of weekends), but I'm gaming less for the moment so I've brought my camera, might try and take some touristy shots of Sydney while I'm away this time.

Tragedy!

On the flight home last night I slipped into my normal flight home routine.

• Magazine during take off (I did find the exact hifi cabinet in a copy of POL Oxygen Magazine that someone kindly left in my seat pocket)
• Switched to What Hifi Magazine (after I flicked through POL)
• Seat Belt light off and out comes the DS

This is where it starts to be a bit odd. I only had Ultimate Mortal Kombat with me because I left the rest of the games in my checked in baggaged. I seemed to be losing an unusually large number of times. (Not that MK was ever my best fighting game). I figured I was just tired and my reactions for blocking were a bit slow.... No turns out the right sholder button on my DS (the block button as it happens) doesn't work any more. Not sure what the exact cause is, athough there is a chance that there was a beer realated incident in it's past that may have contributed.

Clearly I need to get another DS although it's hard to justify on the grounds that only one button is faulty... I might have to find someone who only wants to use it for brain training etc and give it to a new home

Crawling through the back catalogue

I haven't blogged for a while (as with Ben and Mick) one of the problems is working what to blog about (other than the fact that I'm travelling... it's hardly news any more). The other problem is trying to find time to do it. I've been clocking in a lot of over time so sitting in front of my PC to blog hasn't been high on my list. But here we are... so... the blogging...

With all the travel I've got in the coming months I've been working on some gaming to do to fill in the hours away from home. I considered taking the new console to the family (the Xbox 360) with me but it's weight and bulk are too much to carry back and forth on a plane every week. I have the DS with me obviously but was looking for some gaming not just on the small screen. Due to it's small form factor I packed the PS2 with me. I haven't played much on the PS2 , I bit of God of War 2 for a review and some (PSOne) NFL Blitz with Tom. So there is plenty of PS2 gaming out there to be had.

Playing through the back catalog of games certainly has it's merits. First of all I looked up all the titles with reviews of 8/10 or more and started working down the list. As a result I've picked up Grand Theft Auto III and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for the princely (pun intended) sum of $20 (combined). Both are great games and have clocked a few hours in both. As far as the graphics are concerned they certainly fall short of the 360 but on a 34cm TV it's hardly a concern. I'd never played any of the GTA series, my closest exposure was it's poorer cousin True Crime: Streets of LA. GTAIII is quite addictive, my driving skills need some improvement but it's a lot of fun. There are plenty more in the series (still at cheap prices) to go and that's even before the new GTAIV is released (something I wouldn't have considered on the 360 until now).

On the home gaming front I've been quite addicted to Oblivion on the 360. It's a great implementation of a Traditional RPG on a console, it's a pity the prequel Morrowind wasn't a PS2 game otherwise it would have been one of the first titles I picked up. I was tempted by Everquest on the PS2 (along with WoW on my Laptop, but I'm not crazy) for some RPG love but the ongoing subscription and net usages have put me off so far.

The DS won't be left out though. One of my favourite titles from the GBA and the initial DS (PHAT) was the Advance Wars Series. The latest incarnation Advance Wars: Days of Ruin has just popped up on Play Asia and straight to my order's list. The thing I'm most looking forward to is the Online Battles (with voice chat) a disappointing omission from the first title.

Other than that I almost dipped into the HD Format with a combined player but managed to talk myself out of it (Thanks Ness)

Well that's enough procrastination for one night... back to the overtime

And a year of travel comes to an end.

Yet another year is almost over and I'm in the Sydney Virgin Blue for my last flight of the Year. The last few weeks have been a nightmare of travel and long work hours but it seems to have paid off with a host of happy customers taking me to their Christmas parties this week. Unfortunately I haven't got any holidays left after the Europe trip so I'm working through the Christmas, New Year period but at least with work in Brisbane.

The airport is a bit crazy here today. I've been here since 3:30pm and my flight isn't until 7pm. I tried for an earlier one but there wasn't a seat to be had anywhere. Probably not helped by the fact that quite a few flights have been cancelled. They are starting to run later and later and there are rumours of a closure due to storms but I will get home eventually.

The lack of Internet this week has been a bit of a struggle but it's left something to entertain myself with at the airport (as well as the free alcohol).

In a bit of a change I've done all my Xmas shopping in Sydney. I had planned on a few presents from stores only in Brisbane but it would be cutting it a bit fine to organise once I got back so I found a few things in Sydney. I broke my budget as usually but I supplemented a little with the technology fund so I figure it doesn't really count.

I also had a bit of a trip down retro lane and picked up a copy of NFL Blitz for the Playstation. It was an arcade staple for Tom and I after NBA Hang Time (which Tom still has a N64 to play).

I attempted to look for a DS title after finishing all the new ones I brought with me but decided to replay Mario Kart DS (after I lost all my save data). There are quite a few titles on the Wii and 360 that I'll be looking forward to catching up on once I get a bit more time back in Brisbane.

If I don't get around to blogging again before hand hope you all have a Fantastic Christmas, Santa brings you everything you want and 2008 is even better.

Time for a Gaming post

My update is cugging away in the background so I thought it was a bit of a time for a gaming update (for those who are interested, phase one was going better than expected, phase however got held up by some reporting services but has finished...).

There has been some pretty big gaming changes in the last week. I finally entered the next gen arena with an XBox 360. The graphics do look impressive especially off the HDMI feed in 720p.
Even Ness made comment that the poor Wii looked 'fuzzy' after the 360 dashboard. The 360 has started to make it's way into the stereo as a media streamer. I downloaded the trial (and subsequently payed for) Connect360 application for the iMac and it's been fantastic. It instantly discovered my 360 and indexed my iTunes and iPhoto library and once searching for music on the 360 was available for streaming. I haven't run with any movie streaming as yet but so far it's done everything I would have wanted an AppleTV to do. It's even usable from the harmony which makes it a breeze to use.

On the Nintendo front we've started again on Galaxy and it's just a fantastic game everyone who picks it up loves it. It's far and away the title to own if you have a Wii. The DS has had a fair bit of work the last couple of weeks. I finished the single player campaign of CoD4 last week but had a chance to play some of the multiplayer games tonight during the load phase and it was great fun even with 2 players. The Hunt/Prey mode is a great variation on the standard deathmatch and the maps have been well made to handle the draw distances for the DS console. They also have an unusal setup that allows you to pick your start weapons, which can make for some interesting sniper vs rocket battles. I've also managed to finish Orcs and Elves this week so I'm going to be on the look out for another DS title in the not too distant future. Orcs and Elves was a good game but really only appeals to those who are a fan of the Ulitma Underworld games.

I've got a few more hours to go here and my next phase has finishde so I might have to add some more gaming later

All the way to work..... on a Saturday....

All the way to work!

Last night I managed to get the rest of the changes and fixes in by a semi reasonable hour and back to my hotel by 8:30. Fortunately this meant I wasn't too late to catch up with Amaya for a few pints and discussion on work pain, games, gadgets etc. (and some how the differences in the treatment of native inhabitants of Australia and New Zealand during their European invasion and how you store Antimatter).
Of course, as with everytime I catch up, I discover there are now a whole series of gadgets and toys that I simply have to own.

I'm still in Sydney today and am heading back to work for hopefully the final testing phases in acceptance.

Leg one finished..

Townsville to Sydney isn't one of the easier routes I have to fly. As it happens I get to make a pit stop in Brisbane for an hour. This isn't so bad because at least I get to have some breakfast and much needed caffeine. Again on the plus side with all the flying I've reached Gold Velocity status which means I'll have lounge membership until April 2009 (at least)! It's only a short stay with about another 30 mins before I board... provided nothing is delayed

Flight one was fairly uneventful, I managed to carve my way through a few more stages of CoD4 on the DS. Judging by the number of times I'm getting shot only to duck back behind cover and the number of enemies in each room there can't be too many left. It is definately one of the best FPS on the DS. The variation in the levels from standard FPS to manning chopper guns to night missions manning cannons in air support is strong point of the game.

Also I've been reconsidering my position on owning an Xbox 360. The release of the new Arcade edition for $399 with an included HDMI port has sparked my interest again. (Ness having a shoe shopping spree yesterday didn't hurt either)

Well not long until flight two now...

Up before the sun

6am flights aren't the best fun... the least fun part is the getting up before the sun!

I'll be back in Brisbane today and the flight should give me some time to get a few more missions done in Call of Duty 4 or finish a couple of quests in Orcs and Elves.

Most of my gaming at the moment is on the DS with all the travel. Orcs and Elves is a nod back to the old skool RPG (when it was a few people sitting around a table) genre. It incorporates a grid based move system and completely turn based combat system but that's what gives the game it's charm. The graphics are very remenisent of Doom 1 (&2) but again adding to the charm of the games retro feel. Probably only worth picking up though if you remember the old RPG days or every played the first D&D PC games (like Eye of the Beholder).

Call of Duty 4 for th DS though pushes the console to produce another good FPS. Still not as polished as Metroid Prime: Hunters, but still a great title. The graphics are great and the action is frantic pushing you to press on to each new mission. It's turned into a hard title to put down. The only real disappointments is the lack of online for the game or co-op multiplayer, it does support 4 player deathmatch from a single cart though.