Xbox 360

Play, Want, Bin: July 2008

I plan to post a Play, Want, Bin at the end of every month to show what I’m currently playing, wanting, and binning. Seen a few other people including Rockers Delight which I’m borrowing/stealing the idea from.

Play

Super Mario Galaxy - This is still one of the best games for the Wii and I’m playing through it right now. Me and Mario go way back and this game never disappoints. It is one of those games that you must play on the Wii. Great use of the controls and the whole flying between planets/stars is a great addition to the normal Mario levels.

Halo 3 - I have no clue why I keep coming back to Halo 3 but I always do. I binned it awhile back and here it is back in play. I had a break from gaming (the reason there was no play, want, bin last month) for the past few weeks and have been in the mood to shoot some people in Halo. Maybe I’m just looking forward to Halo Wars also.

Want

Soul Calibur IV - I was a fan of Soul Calibur II on the original Xbox. It was also my first time with a Soul Calibur game. I have seen and heard great things about the game so it is at least worth a rent but I might end up buying it. Either way I’m checking it out.

Nintendo DS - I have wanted a DS for awhile and finally going to buy one soon. My son is wanting one for Christmas so it is the perfect excuse to get myself one as well. I have several games on my list that I want to check out and my son has already been looking at games for him. What games are a must have?

Bin

Nothing has really been binned recently. Most of that is because I haven’t spent a lot of time gaming the past month and with our upcoming move into a new place, my gaming time will be limited again.

There you have it. My current Play, Want, Bin list. Feel free to post your comments or your own list.

Play, Want, Bin: May ‘08

I plan to post a Play, Want, Bin at the end of every month to show what I’m currently playing, wanting, and binning. Seen a few other people including Rockers Delight which I’m borrowing/stealing the idea from.

Play

Mario Kart Wii - This game was on my Want list last month so of course I had been looking forward to it. Finally two nights ago I got to play the game at some friends house. I’m a huge fan of Mario Kart (as well as just about anything with Mario) and was glad to finally play it. Lots of fun. So, yesterday we went and bought Mario Kart Wii as it was about time I get it. The game is lots of fun even though I haven’t really put much time into it yet but I have done a few races, battles, and got online for a few races which is great. Overall, this is the top of my play list right now (Sorry GTA IV).

Wii Fit - Since I bought Mario Kart yesterday the wife wanted to buy Wii Fit. So, we went ahead and purchased both games. We spent a little bit of time with Wii Fit last night after dinner and it was fun, more then I expected. We will see how it goes and I’ll give it a few more days.

Want

Boom Blox - I hadn’t heard of Boom Blox (an EA and Steven Spielberg Game) until a friend asked me about it. I had to look it up and watched some videos and the game caught my attention. Then I noticed on the Nintendo Channel that they had a video of Boom Blox so let Melissa watch it. I think we will be buying this game.

Lego Batman - Everybody knows how great Lego Star Wars is and a lot are looking for to Lego Indiana Jones but personally I’m waiting for Lego Batman. I’m not sure which platform I’ll get the game for as I would like to get my son into the Lego Games and he is used to the Wii Controller and it fits him better vs the Xbox 360 Controller (he is only 5 right now). Who knows, I may not purchase anymore Xbox 360 games until the end of the year for End Wars and GoW2.

Bin

I haven’t really binned anything since last months post, the plus side to the bin being empty is that I don’t have to take it out.

There you have it. My current Play, Want, Bin list. Feel free to post your comments or your own list.

Play, Want, Bin: April ‘08

I plan to post a Play, Want, Bin at the end of every month to show what I’m currently playing, wanting, and binning. Seen a few other people including Rockers Delight which I’m borrowing/stealing the idea from.

Play

Grand Theft Auto IV - Okay, so last night I spent about two hours in Liberty City doing missions and the game is awesome. Remember that I have never played another GTA as I’ve never owned a Playstation before so this is my first time on a GTA game. It did take a little to get used to it and I’m still learning things but it has been great. I’m mostly doing missions as freeroaming has never really grabbed me. Of course maybe because I haven’t spent any time exploring the city yet as I’ve been doing only missions, I will need to explore a little and see how it goes. I also haven’t tried MP yet as I wanted to get the hang of things first but plan to do a little MP tonight as honestly that is what I got the game for. I enjoy SP but for me every game is about the MP. As I doubt I will be on any other game for about a week this is my only ‘Play’.

Want

Mario Kart Wii - I am a huge Mario Kart fan and have been looking to it coming to the Wii since I got my Wii at launch. It is finally here but I don’t have a copy yet. I hope to pick it up by the end of the month along with an extra wheel/controller and start racing. Chase is looking forward to the game as he loves Excite Truck but has been playing it since the Wii launch so it is getting a little old. I know several people that have the game and love it so I’m looking forward to it the most.

Wii Fit - I know a few people who bought Wii Fit and love the games involved in it. The wife and I have been looking at it and I recently watched some other videos and reviews on it and will be glad to get it. It doesn’t seem to be an ‘amazing’ game but still looks worth the buy so hope to get it real soon as well.

Burnout Cagney Update - I still love Burnout Paradise and even with GTA IV it remains my favorite game right now. The upcoming update in 50-something days will be great and will draw me right back to it for several weeks. The update include night-time driving, motorbikes, online freeburn modes including Stunt, Marked Man, and Road Rage, and plenty more. I’ve watched videos and read up on the update and just can’t wait for it. Also, looking forward to the new island later this year as well which will just draw me into it even further.

Bin

Halo 3 - I really enjoyed Halo 3 but between RS Vegas 2, Burnout Paradise and now GTA IV it just hasn’t gotten any play for months. I never did finish the story (am about half way through the last level) but since I’m not a GamerScore Whore like somebody else I know it won’t bother me to bin this game and not have all The G’s.

There you have it. My current Play, Want, Bin list. Feel free to post your comments or your own list.

Play, Want, Bin: March ‘08

I plan to post a Play, Want, Bin at the end of every month to show what I’m currently playing, wanting, and binning. Seen a few other people including Rockers Delight which I’m borrowing/stealing the idea from.

Play

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - Yes, the game I have been looking forward to most of all is finally here. Got my copy of RS Vegas 2 on Wednesday (nobody had it Tuesday) after driving to 5 different places (for the second day). I ended up getting it at Gamestop (which I never go to, just don’t care for them much). I gotta say its awesome. Gone through the first two levels on Story (gotta find somebody to do co-op through it though), play some Team Leader (which is pretty cool), and of course the great Terrorist Hunt which is always fun. I love the ACES system and the new weapons and maps. Overall this game will be taking up plenty of my time in the coming months.

Rock Band - We’ve been spending more time on Rock Band recently with family and having friends over for some ‘jam sessions’. Its always lots of fun. Had some drum and guitar battles last time when some friends brought their drums over. Need to purchase some new songs though.

Want

End War - This was on the ‘Want’ last month but as RS Vegas 2 came with a sneak peek bonus disk for End Wars it is back. The disk showed the trailers and finally some gameplay footage of the Fragdolls playing. Granted it didn’t show much as it spent most of the time showing the dolls instead of gameplay but from what I saw and they talked about the game will be an awesome RTS for the 360. This is my most wanted game of the year now that I have Vegas 2.

Army of Two - I love Co-Op games and this one looks awesome and everybody I know who has it just love it. I didn’t get it yet because I was waiting to see if my brother in law would get it as we do pretty good on Co-Op. However, as right now everybody is doing other games I have passed on this… For now anyways. Would still like to pick it up.

Bin

Mighty Mouse - I’ve been on a Mac for only a short time and the Mighty Mouse was okay at first but as I work from home and the amount of time I spend on it the Mighty Mouse just wasn’t doing it. I am now back to using my Logitech mouse which just feels much better after hours of use and my hand relaxes more with it. Sorry Mighty Mouse.

Halo 3 - I’ve been on Halo 3 since just after its launch and its time to bin it. RS Vegas 2 has taken its place. I will end up getting on it a little as my brother in law won’t get Vegas and plans to stick with Halo and we do a lot of gaming together. I might get on it if the first Map Pack goes free soon to check them out since the new Map Pack was announced already.

There you have it. My current Play, Want, Bin list. Feel free to post your comments or your own list.

Play, Want, Bin: February 08

To add a little more gaming posts to the blog I plan to post a Play, Want, Bin at the end of every month to show what I’m currently playing, wanting, and binning. Seen a few other people including Rockers Delight which I’m borrowing/stealing the idea from.

Play

Poker Smash - I haven’t really been interested in XBLA but Uno is a great relaxer and Poker Smash is a little addicting; or at least for me.

Burnout Paradise - I’ve always been a gamer but never much into racing (besides Mario Kart back on SNES/N64). In fact most find it surprising that I have never played any GTA games. However, after checking out the Burnout Paradise demo in December I knew it was on my buy list. So, shortly after its release I ended up purchasing it and love it so far. Haven’t spent much time online with it but have been exploring the city and events.

Want

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - What’s better then Halo? Rainbow Six that is. I have always been a huge RS fan since the N64 and then again on the Xbox with RS3 and Black Arrow. I haven’t played Vegas though as I waited until recently to purchase my 360 and knew that Vegas 2 was on its way so it was worth the wait. This is by far the game I’m looking forward to and one of the main reasons for me purchasing a 360.

End War - I am really wanting to see some actual game play video soon instead of the teaser trailer but it still looks awesome. I loved Full Spectrum Warrior on Xbox and this looks to be a huge improvement over that. Granted this isn’t supposed to be released until September the teaser has gotten me interested in it.

Bin

Windows - Although this isn’t really on gaming (although I did game on Windows in the past) I made the switch to a Mac earlier this month so Windows is out. However, I do have to purchase a copy of Vista (as my XP disk is 64bit) for boot camp to do browser testing when designing.

Guitar Hero III - This was my first GH game and I loved it. However, 2 weeks after buying it we bought Rock Band and I honestly haven’t touched GHIII since. However it was still worth purchasing because it gave us a 2nd guitar for RB. In fact had some friends over last night to do some jamming and its always fun.

There you have it. My current Play, Want, Bin list. Feel free to post your comments or your own list.

The Switch [Mac Apps]

It has been a little over a week since I made the switch from Windows to a Mac. The switch itself was pretty easy as I did a load of research and came across tons of great resources plus having several online friends who have Macs helped as well. This post is basically listing some of my favorite apps so far and what they replaced on Windows.

When I first started thinking about making the switch the first thing I looked at was the software that I use for work. I spend all my time in a code editor and FTP client and needed one with the features that I already used and maybe more. On Windows I had used Notepad++ for over 2 years and never had a problem with it. In fact I recommended it to lots of people as it had been great to me. I also used FileZilla for FTP for several years which has had its ups and downs but has made several great improvements over the years. Looking at Mac Apps I started looking at not only free apps but also shareware as I wanted the best. I did test a few text editors but as most recommended TextMate has been great and at only $59 it isn’t that bad. Loads of great features and several new ones that I didn’t have in Notepad++. For FTP I ended up going with Transmit from Panic for $30. I had thought about buying Coda (the all in one) which includes Transmit but in the end as I had already been messing with CSSEdit and TextMate I only needed an FTP client and it has also been great. Lovin’ the features and the look. No problems with either. I also got a copy of CSSEdit (through the MacHeist 2 Bundle) which runs for $30 as well. I feel more productive with CSSEdit and how it organizes the sections in a side bar. Between TextMate, CSSEdit, and Transmit I have a perfect setup and have been very happy with the purchases.

I of course have checked out other apps that don’t relate to working and so far love the Mac Community and the apps it offers. Most of the apps I have were bought through the MacHeist 2 Bundle. 1Password ($30) is a great password manager. I had used a few things on Windows including KeePass and 1Password is a must have. Adium is a free messenger that supports a ton of protocols including AIM and Google Talk. As GTalk isn’t available for Mac I gave Adium a try and don’t think I will be using any other (are there others?). CoverSutra ($22) has been the app that has gotten the most use. It allows you to control iTunes via shortcuts, support for Last.fm, displays CoverArt on your desktop, and more. If you spend a lot of time listening to music on your Mac then this app is a must have period. Skitch allows for screen captures and image sharing directly from your Mac desktop. It is simple and fast when you need to share a screenshot without any hassle. Snapz Pro X ($70) is a screen capture and movie capture app to not only capture screenshots but also doing screencasts. I have played with it a little and will more soon as I prepare to do some screencasts for a client but so far it has been great. Transmission is a bit torrent client which so far has worked perfect. It would be nice if uTorrent would just release an OSX version but for now they haven’t. The last one that I just recently started using is Connect360 ($20) which allows you to network your Mac with your Xbox 360. Before I did it through the laptop running Vista however after testing Connect360 recently it does exactly what I need which is stream shows to the 360. Plus it is nice having my iTunes library available on the 360 instead of having to move music via the iPod in the past. Will come in handy on Burnout Paradise (which doesn’t have the greatest soundtrack).

There are a few other apps that I haven’t had the time to fully explore so those have been left out. They include OmniFocus, VectorDesigner, Pixelmator, LaunchBar, iStopMotion, Cha-Ching, and Anxiety. Of course I left out the iLife suit which is awesome on its own. iPhoto has been great when importing recent pictures including Rachael’s 3rd Birthday Party yesterday and although I haven’t fully played with iMovie or iDVD from what I did explore they are going to come in handy in the future. Some of the apps can get kinda pricey but for what they offer they are worth it or at least for me they were (granted the MacHeist Bundle helped a lot with pricing). There are also plenty of opensource apps for the Mac keeping things free. I will have more Mac posts during the week of my thoughts on not only OSX but networking it and other features.