A Geek's Dream Come True.....

I've got a new NintendoDS. It's the lite version that the big N released in Japan a few weeks ago. It's smaller, ligther, brighter, and just damn right cooler than the original DS. Tech specs are exactly the same though.
When this baby arrived, I gave the older DS to Kelly. I also popped over to her place and installed an old wireless router of mine there (for her DS and her laptop to use). I also convinced her to buy MarioKart (well, she took my copy and loved it so much she bought me another one and kept that one :).
This evening after a few hiccups (that old router I gave her is a crappy linksys, so the wireless signal on it is shaky. I'll get her a better one soon) we managed to go online and actually race each other remotely! I gotta say, it was AWESOME!
We had a few races and she's getting quite good at it, managing to whack me with a few shells and bombs here and there. All in all it was great. Nintendo, you rule!!

So, we've now also ordered (imported from the states actually) Tetris DS for both of us. Again, this supports local and remote multiplayer with frantic Tetris battling (she loves tetris). can't wait for it to arrive! We also play some local Yoshi Touch and Go races which are also really fun, with both players trying to out-race each other while blocking the other one's path by chucking eggs at them. Great Stuff.

So, that's my geek's dream come true. I have a girl friend that's beautiful, kind, really cool, plays games, and let's me do what i want, when i want, just cos she's great like that. Here's to her, a big LOVE YOU :)

and sorry for this sloppy post everyone, I just felt like it...... I'll be back to good-delicious SoB faster than you can say Koopa Troopa :D

Sigur Ros - Takk

First of all, one word of advice from the wise: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy any MAXTOR crap if your motherboard runs an nforce4 chipset. NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE MIGHT CLAIM, they just don't work properly together. Anyhow, the last 4 days of hardware hell are now behind me, and the PC is ticking again.

Back to topic. Sigur Ros, an Icelandic quartet, who in their words perform (Art Rock). If you've seen Vanilla Sky (American version) they feature in that soundtrack. I had only heard those 3 tracks from that OST, but yesterday as I had a £10 off voucher from Virgin, I bought their new album Takk...

All I can say is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get it. Everyone. Buy it, beg it, steal it, pirate the mp3s, I don't care. Just get it. It's a mix between soft rock, hard rock, new age, orchestral symphonies, lullaby tunes, and haunting vocals that mean nothing (they sing in Hopelandic, just vocals that make the song sound good. Just like Adiemus or Era).

An album for ambience, an album for loud listening, an album to scream with, or just an album to listen too on the way to work. Enjoy it as you want, but just get it. Now.

Oh and don't watch Inside Man. Stupidest film ever. The fact that a friend of mine thought it was better than Slevin is criminal. Watch that instead.

machine_check_exception BSOD

is what I'm getting for the last 2 days

FUCK YOU MAXTOR

i'll be back

The First 360 Hack!

Why is it I always find out about such things IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?
In a typical late-night-useless-browsing session, I discover that a guy called The Specialist and some of his very clever friends have managed to hack the DVD firmware of the Xbox360!
Just 4 months after the console's debut, the team have managed to hack the DVD firmware and let it fool the console by telling it that backup DVD is actually an original. The hack is not a modchip or anything, it's just a firmware flash to the DVD hardware.
And again in true first-hack style, they've released a video "just for fun", showing an open 360 booting a backup of PGR3.
The hack doesn't allow running of homebrew/unsigned code nor of out of region discs, cos all it does is make the DVD send the "original dvdxbox360" flag to the processor.
The team have not released the hack publically, cos they don't want it to be used for piracy (ironic cos they were running a pirated game on it). Even if they did, flashing it isn't easy, you need to disassemble your console, un-solder the DVD firmware chip, read it with a chip reader to get your personal DVD key, patch the firmware with your key, flash the firmware onto the chip, and then solder it back!!!

But, this definitely opens the door to all sorts of mods/hacks/cracks and maybe even just plain simple boot disks (like the good old Dreamcast). But in all honesty all of this worries me. As much as it's appealing to play free games (instead of paying £40 a pop), if the 360 were to be hacked succesfully (and with a modchip), then 2 issues arise:

1\ most likely you couldn't go online with a modded console, just like the original xbox. To go online you had to disable the mod, usually with an external switch. That in itself ruins half the enjoyment of the 360, the whole Live! business is amazingly fun and well done, so playing a pirated game offline and missing out on all the Live! options isn't worth it IMHO.

2\ Cheating! if the modded console could go on Live! then that marks the beginning of the end for fair play. All the spotty teenagers in the world would just cheat their way to high scores, and mega kills, and all that cos cheats are bound to be released for copied games, thus rendering both online games and the online leaderboards OBSOLETE.

I guess the best thing to do is sit tight and wait, oh and watch www.xboxhacker.net, www.xbox-scene.com, and www.maxconsole.net with a hawk's eye. How much longer till they release a public method of booting pirated games (be it modchip, firmware, or bootdisc)? anyone's guess but this SoB says sometime in the next 3 months. Prove me wrong Microsoft.

PS3 Release Date

Sony today has confirmed that the PS3 will launch worldwide in November 2006. Finally, they're realising that the .eu market is a significant one (last year video games made more money than movies in the uk!).
The console will also require a seperately sold 60gig hard disk that (not surprisingly) runs a linux variant o/s, and is used for retro compatibility, game saves/downloads, online functions, and as a home server (I presume for digital media).
Allegedly, Sony has told all it's developers to develop games "as if all ps3's have the hard disk installed".
So if you're thinking of grabbing the console in November, don't forget the HDD.

The PS3 will also feature an Xbox-Live! like function, that enables players to see their who's online and what they're up to, and can invite each other to games. VERY similar to Live! if you ask me, which IMHO is the best thing about the 360, it's Live! function is amazingly good.

So, excited yet? I for one am not. For some reason, I just don't like PlayStations. I know I've got a PSP, but that's a handheld, and to be honest I have yet to enjoy more than 2 games on it (Lumines, and Exit are the only good 2).
Do I get one? Do I not?
Well it all depends on May and E3 and what the big N has got to show us when it finally reveals the Revolution. I'm definitely NOT owning all 3, and last time I had the Xbox and Gamecube. So perhaps I should get the PS3, just for a change..... and to play those few classics I've missed out on from the PS2 era.

Decisions, decisions........

Sodom (whoever that is)

So Lik-Sang sent me an email the other day telling me that I had to redeem my "reward points". Turns out I was collecting some points without even knowing it, since 2001. Problem was, they were stopping the scheme and wanted me to use my points.
So what "rewards" were on offer? well silly things like mugs/mouse mats/cases/action figures etc, and some really cool things like consoles/games/mags that had already "sold out".
So I ended up getting a whole load of random shit, like the mug, a case for my nds and one for my psp, and a Sodom.
Sodom? yes. Apparently he's a character from one of the Street Fighter series. Beats me (pun intended :p). At least he looks cool guarding my PC from any potential threats (aka girlfriend).

My new Mickey Tie :)

Lucky Number Slevin

Have you seen Sin City? great. Have you seen Saw? great. And Pulp Fiction? cool. What about Leon? excellent. And finally, how about The Shawshank Redemption? very well.
So we've all seen those classics. Now go grab the proverbial blender, stick all those films in, and pour out the gooey mess. Add to that mess some big names, like The Freeman, Ben Kingsley, and Bruce Willis, and finally give them a cracking script and a very clever story.

The result? A master-piece called Lucky Number Slevin. I saw this film at the cinema today and it really is mind blowing. In trendy film noir style (becoming very popular this isn't it?), with enough violence to shame Sin City, Slevin tells the story of a man by that name that finds himself being mistaken as someone else by some very angry (and at war!) gangs. Within hours he has to not only assassinate someone, but pay off a big debt.

As stylish as Pulp Fiction, as breath taking as Leon, and as satisfying as Shawshank, this movie will really have you on the edge of your seat till the very last second. It's bloodily and graphically violent, but if you can stomach that then you're in for a beautiful treat. A must see movie by all accounts, 5 out of 5 sobstars.

And where does Saw fit in to all of this? well remember the last minute of Saw when you finally put all the pieces together and found out who really was The Jigsaw? if you thought that was clever, wait until you see Slevin, and find out who not only Slevin is, but who another 5 people are. It's that amazing.

Go see it. Please.