Diversions

XBOX 360 Elite Portability Mod

Frank — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:19:00 GMT

Do you travel a lot and can't bear to be away from your game system? Do you wish you could play Halo 3 on your next long-haul flight? (Just make sure it doesn't get seized.)

Then here's a case mod for you: an XBOX 360 crammed into a laptop form factor.

Watch the demo video and drool.

[found via Andrew Duthie via Gizmodo]

Technorati Tags: XBOX 360,Ben Heck,XBOX 360 Laptop Mod

ActiveNick on XNA on the UMPC

Frank — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:59:00 GMT

Nick Landry (aka ActiveNick) is presenting a session on XNA and the Ultra Mobile PC here at DevConnections.

Any topic about the UMPC gets my attention. Any topic that talks about video games also gets my attention.

Bringing game development to the masses.

Professional game development, while not beyond the reach of the ordinary coder, is not for the timid. There's math, and plenty of it.

If you wanted to target a console like the Playstation, up until recently, you had to get a license to develop for the platform. I don't have the exact numbers, but it's beyond the practical budget for most hobbyists.

This keeps console developers to a limited population of folks who work for game publishers.

The gaming industry has ridden a great wave, but they're in a creative rut.

Sequelitis runs amok and most games are clones of other titles.

This is indicative of the same set of people doing the same thing year after year. It's hard to keep things fresh unless you have a healthy amount of new ideas and talent.

The gaming ecosystem is a closed loop, until now.

However, XNA changes the dynamic:

350,000+ downloads as of August 2007
-- that's roughly 10 time the size of the existing professional game developer population

That means that there are roughly 10 times the number of developers playing around with XNA than there are professional game developers.

Think about that.

Think about what that means for the gaming industry.

Some interesting facts about XNA:

XNA is the term for all game development tools at Microsoft: both managed code and unmanaged code.
XNA targets Windows and XBOX 360.
XBOX 360 is actually a customized version of the Compact Framework.

Networking stack is not present
Next version will have network stack to XBOX Live.

Windows side has full access to the network stack
XNA Framework sits on top of .NET
Currently, only works with Visual Studio Express

it's free
2.0 will run on VS2005 or later

No more VS Express installs

Colleges are using XNA to teach fundamental computer science concepts
Math functions are built-in

Game development is all about mathematics
Math helpers are there, but you need to understand the fundamentals

Starter kits exist

Complete Games

Space Wars
Racing Games
More

Technorati tags: XNA, UMPC, DevConnections, MobileConnections, Games, Game Development

BluRay Display

Frank — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:17:00 GMT

Last weekend, we were at Tyson's Corner Mall (a huge Northern VA/DC suburb mall).

In front of Starbucks and Macy's stood an elaborate Disney/BluRay display, touting the wholesome goodness of Disney and the enhanced quality of BluRay.

Disney has gone exclusively BluRay for HD content, as has Blockbuster.

It's clever, actually, to get people excited about a technology and pitch the family angle just before the mad rush of the holidays. The marketing folks behind BluRay have definitely got the marketing angle covered.

After early November, the malls (Tysons especially) become madhouses and this really was the last chance for a tranquil living-room like display.

As for me, I'm staying out of the Hi-Def DVD format wars until there's a clear winner, though it appears that BluRay is winning.

Having separate formats only slows adoption rates in consumer technology.

Anyone remember Sony Betamax?

Technorati tags: BluRay, Tysons Corner, Disney, Hi-Def, HD-DVD

Photochop of the Day

Frank — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:20:00 GMT

Apparently, MySpace is adding games to its repertoire to keep the site fresh amidst competition from the less maligned Facebook and more up-to-date Twitter.

The article's crowning achievement isn't the news on the new gaming feature, but this doctored image that made my day.

Technorati tags: MySpace, Twitter, Photochop, Facebook

Office Convention

Frank — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:05:00 GMT

Fans of the NBC show the Office are organizing a convention in, where else? Scranton, PA.

There's also a Washington Post article on the big get-together as well as a write up on what the show has done for Scranton.

Technorati tags: The Office, Office Convention, ScrantonPA

Halo 3 Launch

Frank — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:15:00 GMT

Last night, I saw a line forming outside the local video game store and that could only mean one thing: Halo 3 was going on sale at midnight.

If you missed out on the fun of some of the regional Halo3 launch parties, then you can always check out the photos on Flickr.

Technorati tags: Halo3, Halo3 Launch Party

We Got a Pool Table!

Frank — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:48:00 GMT

Over the Labor Day weekend, I was very excited to bring home and set up a pool table in the basement. :)

I've wanted one of these since I was kid and now I have one. :)

Technorati tags: Billiards, Pool

Game Console Sales Chart

Frank — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:25:00 GMT

This kind of says it all, as does this Apple commercial parody comparing the Wii to the PS3.

I'm really surprised that the PS3 hasn't sold so well. I figured it would at least be on par with XBox 360 sales.

Looks like the Wii really stole Sony's thunder.

As for me, I'm glad I waited out the first round of the console wars, to see who the winner would be.

[found via Connected Systems Chilled Out Blog]

Technorati tags: XBox 360, Wii, PS3, Console, Games

Engagement Party

Frank — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:00:00 GMT

My friend Raj always knew how to throw a party and his engagement party this past weekend was a spectacular shindig.

We're talking great music (band and a DJ), excellent food, and even belly dancers!

Best wishes for him and his lovely bride to be!

Technorati tags: Indofunk, Belly Dancers, Engagement, Party, Engagement Party

Zune to Get MTV/VH1/CMT Content?

Frank — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:13:00 GMT

Who knows what evil lurks in the resource dll's of software? The Shadow knows.

So does anyone with PE Explorer.

Apparently, there are indicators in the ZuneMarketPlace.dll file that the Zune will be getting MTV, VH1 and CMT content.

Engadget has more information.

[found via Chris Williams]

Technorati tags: Zune, Zune Marketplace, PE Explorer, MTV, VH-1, CMT