Sims 3 on 360? Eh, I'll Get It.

Well its official, the Sims 3 is on its way to consolesand hand helds this fall. While I am a huge fan of the Sims franchise, (having played The Sims and Sims 2 and most of the SimCity's) I don't know how this one (which I haven't played yet cause my PC is garbage) will turn out on the console.

EA is apparently having a system called "Karma Powers" which will allow you to have instant control over your Sim for a "good or evil" type decision which will balance itself out in the end; it'll also have a "seamlessly integrated exchange" where you can build and share your creations with others as well as the now seemingly "required" Facebook connectivity.

I'm probably going to get it since it'll have achievements, but I don't know if I'll enjoy the game as much as I did the first one. I'll post more details as they become available but I'm guessing there won't be any until E3.

-Armand

Gears of War 3, you're so beautiful.....to me....

Not to sound like another drooling fanboy but....ZOMGOMGOMGOMG GEARS 3 TRAILER!!!!!

Alright, that's out of my system....let me wipe the drool off my mouth and get on with it. I've watched the amazing teaser roughly 23 times now, taking note of what appears to be new features as well as kicks into the story line:
 24*
First I noticed, and what everyone else probably noticed, was that everything was ashen. Literally, the bodies I assumed were oddly placed statues literally turned to dust when touched, or in the trailer's case slammed into. This is more than likely a new plot twist to the already amazing storyline that the Gears of War series has brought to the table. I also noticed that everything was ashen in place; as if it had happened without warning a la Pompeii. A cataclysm maybe? Something the Locust did? Something the humans did in an effort to save themselves?
 26*
Another thing I noticed was good ol' Delta Squad; they've had some upgrades that's for sure. Firstly a new squad-mate!!! Tell me that's not Anya! Marcus is totally getting some and she's killing Locust, sheer awesome. The armor seems a little less bulky in my opinion. Not only was Dom not rocking sleeves, Marcus and the rest of Delta weren't either. It seems that the full body suit is now just the leggings with a vest type upper body cover. Weapons seem to have changed as well. While "Anya" was sporting the typical lancer, you'll notice Dom was handed a rifle with a normal blade for a bayonet; the kind used during the Imulsion Wars where it was human vs. human. Marcus was rocking a "new" double-barreled shotgun (I say new because the barrels were horizontally lined up not vertically) and shot what looked like two separate blasts without cocking it.
29*
On the same note, Delta looks....older. Not literally, as if 10 years had passed but they look tired. Cole is bald and looks more muscular than before and Baird is rocking a cap n' goggles but I couldn't tell more than that. Marcus looks the same as he always has in my opinion; battered, bruised, scarred but never beaten. Dom though, looks more serious than he has in the prior two games. Where his face used to show a joking and optimistic individual now shows someone who seems apathetic and resigned. People who've played the first two games know **SPOILER ALERT** (for those who haven't but will) that Marcus and Dom found Dom's wife deep in the Locust Hollow and Dom did what he had to do and shot her. **END SPOILER ALERT** You even see him in the trailer gaze at a conveniently placed ashen figure of a mother and child as it gets run down by a Locust; he stares it for too long, stares at the Locust as it's about to kill him and just kind of accepts it. When Marcus blasts the creature away Dom winces as if he wished the Locust had killed him.
41*
Also very noticible in the trailer is the Lambent attacking both sides. It makes me wonder if the Locust are really as big a threat as they used to be and if some how the humans would be teaming up with them to exterminate the common threat.
42*
What I hope we'll see in this Gears is a much better multiplayer for one. I want a multiplayer where the Host isn't running around invincible. I want a multiplayer where stopping power on a gun actually works when it should (stopping some chainsaw-happy 8 year old) and when it shouldn't (making you flinch four times in a row after the person shooting you is already dead and you're just standing there unable to move). I also want bigger team choices, up to 8-10 per team would be AMAZING for larger scale fights but still retaining the choices of your typical 5v5 Warzone and such.

Something else I hope we'll see is 4-player (well 5 player now with the looks of the trailer) co-op for Delta Squad's missions. 2 player was great, but there's times when the scale could've been more enjoyable if there were three or four people helping. The Unreal Engine can put out thousands of enemies but can't handle 4 player co-op campaign? C'mon now.
53*

* = # of times I've watched the trailer

-Armand

iPhone OS 4.0....so many win...

Over a hundred new features. That's what Steve Jobs said when he began talking about the iPhone's new OS coming this summer (this fall for the iPad). After scouring his hour long presentation twice I finally found out the most deserving items to outline and discuss.

There are going to be several past-due improvements:

For the camera: We're going to see a 5x-digital zoom for picture taking as well as tapping to focus during video-taking. We'll also see places tagged in pictures you take; i.e. Taking a picture in Tokyo, Japan will be tagged as having been taken in Tokyo, Japan.

There will be the ability to gift apps to other people

FINALLY be able to change the Home Screen background
The ability to hook up a bluetooth keyboard and on the same note as typing there will be a spell-checking feature.

Now with those minor features spoken for, let's get to the main part of the presentation: The Seven Tentpoles. These are to represent the biggest innovations and changes to the physical OS:

Tentpole #1: Multitasking - That's right folks. Multitasking.

1.      Double clicking the Home button is what is used to bring up the multitasking dock

·         Boasts less battery consumption

·         No "sluggishness" when switching apps

·         Allows for Task Completion; i.e. Flickr app takes a long time to upload pictures; now you can go to a different app while that task finishes without interrupting it.

·         Fast App Switching leaves the app you were just in at its exact position; i.e. you won't lose progress in games or apps such as Tap Tap Revenge.

2.      Background Audio

·         Distilled the 3^rd party services used to make music apps like Pandora and made them party of the OS.

·         Will be able to run Pandora while using other apps

·         Will be able to run Pandora in “iPod mode” when your phone is locked.

3.      Voice-over IP

·         Skype used to have to be on the whole time for you to make and receive calls; now you can receive calls while doing other things

·         Shows up as a red call bar (green for normal phone)

·         Calls come in even when phone is locked

4.       Background Notifications

·         Using apps like Tom Tom normally require you to have them open so you get their notifications but now you get them even when you’re using another app.

 Tentpole #2: FOLDERS!!! - Yay!

1. Organize your apps

·         Press on an app as if to move it, drag it on top of another app and it creates a folder.

·         Folders auto name based on contents but you can rename them

2.      Expands number of viewable apps

·          If every space on every page was taken by a folder, you could increase the number of viewable apps from 180 to 2,160.

Tentpole #3: Enhanced Mail

1.      Unified inbox for multiple email accounts

·         Quickly move between different inboxes if you don’t unify them

2.       Open attachments with apps

3.       Organize messages in thread form instead of individual messages

Tentpole #4: iBooks!

1.      Same UI as the iPad

2.      Same iBook store as the iPad

·         Buy once, read through all devices

·         Syncs pages and bookmarks

Tentpole #5: Enterprise

1.      80% of Fortune 100 Companies use iPhone/iPad for business.

·         Encryption for email

·         Mobile device management

·         Wireless app distribution

·         Multiple Exchange accounts

·         Compatibility with Exchange Server 2010 and SSL VPN

Tentpole #6: GAME CENTER!!! - XBL Arcade for Apple?

1.      More than 50,000 individual game titles for the iPhone/iPad

·         Normally connected through services like OpenFeint and Plus+ gamers don’t really have a set matchmaking system or leaderboards.

2.       Social Gaming Network

·         Invite friends

·         Matchmaking

·         Leaderboards

·         ACHIEVEMENTS!!!

·         Only a “preview” during OS 4; more supposed to arrive later

Tentpole #7: iAd: Not a bad idea IMO

1. Mobile Advertising facts

·         Avg. user spends roughly 30 minutes in apps a day.

·         Based on the number of apps downloaded and individual users there are about 1 Billion ad impressions daily

·         Helps devs with making money on “free” or cheap apps

·         iAd will give Devs up to 60% of revenue.

2.  Mobile Advertising on a whole new level

·         Normally ads in apps are bland and take you away from your current task in a game or place in a news feed.

·         Now ads will be built to keep you in your place in the app

·         Will have more interactivity; i.e. downloads or sound bits

·         Will have more “emotion” than a typical plain text web ad

·         Will be in HTML 5 so videos will be embedded in the ads as well

3.  Bought out mobile ad company Quattro: “We are thrilled to let you know that Apple has acquired Quattro.” – Quattrowireless.com

Well thats about it for what was revealed at the conference. Also you should note that if you have an iPhone 3G or the original as well as the iPod Touch 2nd Gen or the original you won't be seeing all of these features due to the device's capabilities. So sad....oh well I get 'em all!!! I can't wait to multitask changing my background while playing EliminatePro while listening to Pandora while ignoring Skype calls while clicking a new movie ad and using that picture as my background. WOOT!

-Armand

Pokemon Black Version

Pokemon White Version