Well. That’s it

Thought I’d make a post chronicling the day that I trade my Wii for an Xbox 360.

Yeah.

To be honest, I looked at what games were coming out for the Wii, and then I looked at what games were coming out for the 360, and I had to choose.

Did I want sequels to games that had never interested me?
Did I want drought after drought month after month?
Did I want to stay offline?

The answer to all of these questions was no.

I didn’t want Super Smash Brothers - that game makes me barf. Nor did I want Metroid Prime 3 - that games make me feel like I’m trapped in an elevator. And I have to kill freaky bug things. Also I can’t look around very fast.
I didn’t want a trickling (or sometimes nonexistent) stream of games. I want to have choices, and a wide breadth of them.
I didn’t want to be in the dark anymore. I want to download cool little arcade titles, chat and video chat with other gamers (and family members with an Xbox), play games with those of a similar skill set as I, and…you know…enjoy the game to its fullest.

So there you have it.

I used to have an Xbox Live account, and I’m going to reactivate it shortly. If you’d like to add me to your friends list, or just keep an eye on me, my Gamertag is Blue Vertex.

Or you can check this link.

[i/o]

Just thought I’d direct your attention to the video of someone…well…”cleaning up” a photo.

Just makes you wonder how real certain things are.

Here’s the link.

[i/o]

Dear Wii:

Please, sit down. We need to talk.

Remember…remember the days when we used to have fun? Every day I would wake up wondering what new ways you would make me appreciate gaming? You gave me such a fresh perspective on how games should be made, as well as how games should be played. You made games more immersive, and showed us that gaming doesn’t have to be a “sit-back-and-watch” type of affair.

I was engaged.

But now. Now Wii?

You seem to be just be making all of the same sweet promises that you made back when you were my Gamecube. Yes, you had heady goals…but, let’s be honest, you never lived up them. Now your words - now nothing more than bitter orange wax in my ear - have become pallid and transparent.

You keep promising me new games and new ways to play…but Wii, those games are games I’m not looking forward to, and those “new ways” are simply old ways but just placed in a new, shiny package. Sure, Madden ‘07 made me waggle left to buttonhook, but now Madden ‘08 makes me waggle right? That’s not progress, Wii, that’s shameful development.

Super Smash Brothers? Played out.
Metroid Prime? Terrible, repetitive gameplay, and a claustrophobic interface.
Raving Rabbids 2? Please, Wii. We both know I was done with that game when I put it in your slot.

I have a confession to make.

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Ah, recognition.

A fellow Joystiq commenter and I were going back and forth over some image we had worked on. The game itself is called BioShock, and it was a hot topic this morning because Toys ‘R’ Us had been selling them.

A week before the release date.

Major hijinks ensued, and it’s possible the the almighty hammer of Justice (as Matlock says) will come down on TRU for a possible $3,500 per infraction. Ouch.

I understand hype can help a game…but if you’ve got a game in stock…why not just sell it?

Either way, thought you’d just like to see the little guy.

Or big guy.

Big Daddy.

Whatever.

[i/o]

Grab your copy of Photoshop folks, it’s time for another Photoshop Phakeout!

Sorry for the small delay, I hope you’ll understand.

I think today’s Phakeout is at least somewhat relevant, what with Apple introducing those new Aluminum iMacs and all.

I’ve seen this done many different ways, with many different tools, but this one is the quickest. The only problem is that you have to start out with a canvas bigger than what you want the end result to be, as one of the filters you’ll use ends up creating a bit of waste.

Ladies and gentlemen: Brushed metal. Read more

New iLife ‘08 has been announced today from their media event.

• The first new feature talked about is “Events”.

Essentially you set an event, such as a birthday party or wedding, and instead of looking through 5000 photos, now you just look through 100 events. And once you find the event you were looking for, you only have to look at those specific photos. Neat!

• Can hide photos and see only ones you like, but then later bring them back and view them, i.e. - only see photos with a certain amount of stars.

• Copy photo adjustments for a single photo and paste them into the rest of the pics you’ve taken at the same time.

• New books and calendars. Dust cover on the front. Calendars have been popular, offering ones that are 75% bigger at the same price.

Read more

Today at about 10:06 a.m. (PST) Apple unveiled their new iMac redesign. Constructed principally of Aluminum and Glass, the new iMac keeps lots of the old charms, with a lot of new flare.

You may at first notice the razor thin bezel around the edge - nice touch.

The insides are smokin’ hot as well:

• Up to 2.4GHz Core 2 Extreme processor

• Up to 4GB of memory.

• ATI Radeon HD graphics card

• Up to 1TB of hard drive storage

• 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0 built-in

• 24-inch model dropped $200 from previous price

• 20-inch model at same $1499

• Second 20-inch model with slightly slower processor (2.0 instead of 2.4) for $1199

[Note: I think this is my next computer.]

[i/o]

Welcome to a new weekly feature I’m trying out here at BrokenJpg: Photoshop Phakeout.

It’s essentially for those who want to know how to do all the cool little effects that you may see every day, but are never sure how to accomplish them. That, or if you’re bored and looking for something to do. Whichever.

Anyway, for the Super Special First Edition we’re covering an Apple-favorite: Glossy buttons.

Read more