iPad might not be so bad...

l, not short of the norm, I was seen waiting in line this past weekend to get my hands on Jobs' coveted iPad. A short while later I was tapping and sliding my way around the new App Store as well as some of the other interesting features that it sported. I actually take back some of what I said in my previous post, in which I gave it a 2.5 out of 5.

Although the device doesn't support Flash, I was extremely surprised to find out that some of the internet had prepared for the launch of the iPad and well....Flash didn't seem to be too much of an issue. I went to the New York Times website as well as CNN's to find that they had already changed the way their videos are delivered. Instead of them being Flash, they're embedded MOV files that are easily played with no more hassle. Unfortunately, after checking the sites on my iPhone, (then checking for an update through iTunes to no avail), I found that the update was only for the iPad.

Although there still is no multi-tasking except between native apps, (i.e. music and texting or some combination) there are some bonuses to having such a big screen with only one app at a time. First off, its a big screen. Seriously, it's huge compared to the iPhone of the iPod Touch and its functional too. I discovered increased responsiveness and tracking when I scrolled and played games and such. Second, the screen is gorgeous. I personally would've went with a matte finish on it (for better viewing outdoors) but the gloss brightens all the images and movies I tested, as well as YouTube HD and a clip from Battlestar Galactica that was on the iPad by default.

The UI is definitely something I didn't expect to be so good. I literally had no trouble at all going from app to app, page to page and scrolling around at all. The new Mail layout is fantastic with the ability to delete multiple e-mails at the same time and see them as you queue them for deletion. The Photo app still requires that you use iPhoto for creating your own albums or if you use Windows to sync everything after you organize them in different folders. Getting past that, the Photo layout was simply delightful. You can look at them from a few different ways like usual; album, individual or slideshow. The slideshow has a new setting called Origami which has a fun folding effect and displays multiple pictures on the screen at once without cropping them at all. While going through albums, you can pull your two fingers apart over any of them and see the contents in the album without actually going to it; pull them apart completely and the album opens up and you can pinch to tuck it away and keep browsing. Definitely an improvement over the iPhone/Touch.

The reason the iPad even caught my eye as somehting I'd want to buy was because when I first heard of it, I was in the market for an e-reader and I was severely onsidering Amazon's Kindle DX model for the large screen and capacity. Mr. Jobs then dropped the news and immediately I wanted to see the reader in action and the store it would have to obtain the books from. I was not disappointed in the least. I tested the normal features of an e-reader; text/page color, bookmarking, and (because my favorite author Clive Cussler likes to use maps/diagrams) how well it displayed in-book pictures. Once again I wasn't disappointed. Not only were those items taken care of, organizing your collection and the layout were just great. The iBook store was well done as well. Search by whatever you please and you should find something; Apple has been aquiring publishers like there's no tomorrow. I was very pleased to see that all of Clive Cussler's books were readily available to demo and purchase as well as many others. One thing that caught my eye though was the price of said books, slightly more than Amazon's $9.99 or less for all books deal. Most of CC's were about $12.99 and some I saw were a bit more as well.

I play a lot of games on my iPhone. Right now I'm actually playing Simpson's Arcade and I was playing Call of Duty: WaW Zombies. A great concern of mine was how do I play my favorite games on the hugeness of the iPad. Well its not too difficult at all really. All of your apps that you've poured cash out for will still work on the iPad and most I've discovered have updated for the iPad. Some you may find have different versions with newer and better layouts specifically for the iPad such as Twitterific and I'm sure others will follow. I noted that while playing the Simpson's Arcade on the iPad that there was a little x1/x2 zoom button on the bottom right corner. Tapping that switches between the app's intended size which is iPhone/Touch size and iPad size; surprisingly on the games I tried there were no issues with pixelation from the zoom at all.

All in all I definitely raise my original review of the iPad from a 2.5 out of 5 to a 4 out of 5. I was expecting a lot more than what they had put out but at the same time they made up for their shortcomings with features that are definitely things that are functional as well as look good. I still wish it had a camera and mic for voice notes or just general recording, as well as multi-tasking. I don't know if I'll be getting the original one or if I'll wait for the price to drop but with the V1 being a good device I know I'll be waiting in line with cash in hand for the second one.

-Armand

HTC EVO 4G....can I trade in my iPhone?

You tend to hear a lot of negative comments towards touch screen phones that aren't iPhones; they have become the bar and have yet to be surpassed. "The touch is too slow" or "The keyboard isn't big enough", "Crap camera" or "The UI (user interface) is very unfriendly"; all familiar things you hear about the Droid or Blackberry Storm or Palms. Not the case with the HTC EVO 4G. I was legitimately impressed when I saw this phone in action thanks to Engadget's sneak peek of this marvel.
First and foremost, it will have a huge 4.3 inch LCD screen as compared to the iPhone's 3.5 inch. The keyboard is much larger and has cursor arrows for easier navigation through your composition. The UI on the EVO is great, very fluid, pull down menus and side scrolling are not glitchy at all from what I can tell as well. Get this now, it has two cameras. Seriously. One is an insanely huge 8 megapixel camera with flash that can take videos up to 720p! Its second camera is a front mounted 1.3 megapixel camera for those quick shots for your Facebook or whatever your fancy.

What's it run on you ask? Well let's see, just Android 2.1 with a Snapdragon QSD8650 1.0GHz processor, 1GB of built in memory and 512MB of RAM, that's what.

The phone even has a kick-stand. WTF? That's so awesome. Definitely helps when you just want to sit back at work and browse YouTube and such.

Here's a side-by-side with the iPhone and the Nexus One:

Definitely looking to hear more about this awesome piece of tech, according to Sprint "Summer" is the planned release window. Check out Engadget's article to see it in action with two videos and a gallery of comparison shots.

-Armand

"Repo Men" repo'd the idea! (Repo: The Genetic Opera)

Most of you I bet have heard of the new movie called, "Repo Men" that was released on the 19th of March this year. I also bet that not many of you have heard of Repo: The Genetic Opera which went straight to DVD in 2008. Uhm.......just cause it when to DVD doesn't mean its not there Repo Men, they did it first. After watching both movies and noting their differences and similarities. I can honestly say that Repo Men is just a slight twist off of Repo; a majority of the back story and content were almost copied.

Repo: The Genetic Opera is a musical that opens to a future world where a pandemic that causes organ failure has decimated the population leaving only a few million to try and live on. But there's a problem, those people are dying of organ failures too. A company rises boasting a cure for this death; genetically grown organs to replace your dying ones, at a price of course. This is where we see one of our main characters, the Repo Man. He's a masked servant to GeneCo., stalking victims who can't keep payments and literally cut the organs out while they're alive; he's also Shilo's dad. Shilo Wallace is seen reading in her mother's mausoleum after removing a gas mask; she has the same immuno-supressing blood disease that killed her late mother. In this same graveyard we meet the Gravedigger who pretty much narrates this story; he shows us what Zydrate is and also a literal body pit under the city. Rotti Largo and his kids are introduced soon after, Amber Sweet (played by Paris Hilton, don't worry, she ends up losing her face so its cool), Luigi and Pavi Largo; all four of whom are completely nuts. Blind Mag is a secondary main character, her story helps further the one about Shilo and Repo Man. Without telling you too much; this is one of the best written musicals I've ever seen and an instant cult classic in my opinion. Definitely a BUY if you're into a dark tragedy that you'll watch over and over.

Now that you know that, I'll tell you about Repo Men. Directly from IMDb:

"In the future humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called "The Union". The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you don't pay your bill, "The Union" sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its property... with no concern for your comfort or survival. Former soldier Remy is one of the best organ repo men in the business. But when he suffers a cardiac failure on the job, he awakens to find himself fitted with the company's top-of-the-line heart-replacement... as well as a hefty debt. But a side effect of the procedure is that his heart's no longer in the job. When he can't make the payments, The Union sends its toughest enforcer, Remy's former partner Jake, to track him down."

Let's compare then. Both have Repo Men. Both have a major company pulling the strings. Both have artificial organs with payment plans. Both have consequences carried out without remorse for the people who do which is death. Differences between the two are that Repo is a musical with substance and Repo Men is a typical action movie with guns blazing while trying to stay alive. Really. That's all. Good job Repo Men, you guys are totally original.

-Armand

Buy or Gamefly #1 - God of War Collection

Hey there, this is Buy or Gamefly, a piece that I'll occasionally have follow a "To Play or Not to Play." Today's is on the God of War Collection for the PS3.

Rather than restate everything I said that was awesome about this game in the previous post, I'll link it and rant a bit more about why you should definitely pick this up.

To Play or Not to Play #1 - God of War Collection

Well here's what my take on this game is:

For $39.99 you get two of the games that defined the PlayStation 2 as a system with updated visuals and sound that serves as an excellent segway into the now released God of War III. The its a must have for collectors and a definite by for fans of the series; I have two copies of God of War and God of War II as well as the Collection (the Collection and III are the only ones that can fit in my Pandora's Box though). Short, simple and to the point, this game is a BUY.

To Play or Not to Play #1 - The God of War Collection

Welcome to "To Play or Not to Play" where I'll give you the rundown on games that need your undivided attention or should be put under your table leg to keep it steady. Today I want to talk about The God of War Collection. Let's first take a look at where they came from.

Most of the people who have owned a PlayStation 2 or PS3 have played the original God of War and its sequel at least once if not more. Considering both of them made it to PlayStation's Greatest Hit's I'm pretty sure they did good in sales as well. But gameplay wise, what's there to back up the hype?

God of War one was a game that definitely pushed boundaries, both graphically and content-wise. It was positively gory, had a seamless story and graphics that were pretty damn good for a PS2 game. It followed the story of Kratos, a Spartan warrior general who is now in the service of the great Greek gods of Olympus. Slowly but surely as you work your way through the perilous levels and puzzles you begin to uncover more and more about the Spartan's past and why he's so tormented. The gameplay was just great. You could seamlessly go from just a small slice with the Blades of Chaos to a combo that could fell the biggest bosses with ease. It was a game that made you think outside of the box to find solutions for twisted puzzles occasionally involving something being reamed inside out. I won't say what happens but at the end of the game you help Kratos become the God of War which provides the link directly to the next game.

In the epic sequel, God of War II, Kratos is back with an even bigger bloodlust after being betrayed by the very gods he sat beside. Battered and bruised and pretty much dead Kratos now finds allies with the great Titans of old, the very same that hate the Gods of Olympus. Improved graphics and gameplay with more items, bigger boss battles and even more destructive weapons accompany your journey to the fight you have ahead of you. A key thing to remember about the God of War series is that they use the Greek's mythology to build around Kratos' life and quest, not the other way around. You encounter people you know to have a different part in Greek lore but they are relatively the same as they should be. An example would be the mighty Perseus, vanquisher of Medusa. You encounter Medusa very much alive in the first game, but find Perseus here in the second? You'll just have to play to find out how it all ties in.

Now back the God of War Collection. This compilation contains both God of War and God of War II Deluxe edition (just some bonus features separate from the game) which is made specially for the PS3. The graphics have definitely been upscaled and there is the added bonus of Trophies for the completionist in you as well as a code for the demo for the third in the series, God Of War III (already released but for those of you who are for some reason skeptical, definitely go for it). Other than that, its the same game you've come to know and love over the years and in my opinion, definitely a PLAY.

To Play or Not to Play?

I want to start doing a series of mini-reviews for different games that are out right now and some for those that soon will be. Normally if I do one of these you'll almost always see a Buy or Gamefly soon after for that game.

I'm going through a list of games right now to decide what my first should be...

-Armand

iPhone - To Game or Not To Game

Being a gaming blog you expect to see news here about multiple games, their systems and news; I'd figured that I would write about the 360 and PS3, DS and such but I never thought that the iPhone would be one of the platforms that I wrote about for serious gaming.

I've had my iPhone for almost 6 months now and I've browsed the App Store a lot more than I should have; but in doing so I'm starting to see an interesting trend. People like to game on their iPhones. Not just little farming games like Tap Farm or tapping games like Tap Tap Revolution but we're talking Call of Duty and Final Fantasy's on the device you're supposed to talk on.

I have several big name games myself: Call of Duty- World At War- Zombies, Final Fantasy I & II, a South Park game, Monkey Ball, and Where's Waldo to name a few.

As I'm writing this in fact, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is now available on the App Store. More and more game developers are seeing Indie games blowing up on the iPhone and they want in. Just browsing as I type this I see several games from Ubisoft and EA in the "Top Paid" section of the store. Even Street Fighter IV is on here....

My question in this, is it because people unconsiously want to game or do they just buy it to pass the time in a line; or maybe a little bit of both? Phones used to be just for talking; texting then made the scene, then e-mails, IM's and basic games. Now I'm playing Monopoly on my iPhone after I check my Twitter, G-mail and Facebook...(Everything I said goes for the iPod Touch as well). Oh well, progress is progress, right Skynet?

-Armand