Hardware | Martin Crownover

On this day, back in 2007, this happened:

I was in the middle of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas and about to start the original Saints Row. My Xbox 360 was only about 6 months old!

I've been a fan of Xbox for a while now. I bought a copy of Gears of War on Xbox 360 for my brother, for his birthday - a game I thought looked pretty amazing.

While I waited to give it to him, I became more and more tempted to play it myself. After a few days I caved, bought an Xbox 360, and ripped that copy of the game open for myself. I bought him another copy later.

Overall I think I had two Xbox 360's "red ring" on me. I still have the third one, an Xbox 360 S, sitting under my TV, but it doesn't get much use - virtually all the games I own for it work on my Xbox Series X.

It's a little crazy that the Xbox 360 did so well for its generation, considering the technical issues it had. But the PlayStation 3 had a number of problems as well, and the Wii was almost in a class by itself.

I'm glad the latest slew of consoles are so much better, in any case. Having constant dread over the "red ring of death" was not a good way to be.

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It's been a couple of weeks since I picked up my HTC Trophy, a Windows Phone 7 handset, and I'm back to report how things have been.

The verdict so far? So far, so good. Only a few bumps in the road. Read on for more detail on what I like, what I don't, and how things have been!

Things I like

The interface. Though the WP7 UI (named Metro) looks simple at first glance, it is actually quite slick. Animation is used throughout and goes far to enhance the interactivity of the touch interface. Particularly nice are the Live Tiles (large, customizable icons on the main screen of the phone), which display animations while the phone idles, and fly in and out of the screen fluidly.

Text is also given a lot of good treatment in WP7, with menus using large headers that often extend off the screen, and smaller bits of text being animated as you flip through different screens.

It's actually kind of funny; though I've always liked the understated design of the WP7 interface, I've also felt that it would have a hard time competing with all the gloss, shadow, and animations used in iOS. After spending time with WP7 though, my iPod Touch feels very dry. The animation feels rigid, and all the gloss and shadow applied to the on-screen items just seems overdone. I'm not saying that iOS is bad, just that a lot of the things that made the OS shine have started to look stale to me after using WP7 for some time. Perhaps iOS 5 will change that, but that's how things stand to me for now.

Of course, the WP7 interface is a bit nuanced, and it's clear that while Microsoft has a good grip on how to lay out apps in an intelligent way while adhering to the design standards of Metro, third party developers still struggle with it. It's quite obvious when devs have made an effort to stick to the principles of Metro, however, and these efforts usually go far in making their apps seem more legitimate than others.

Integration of services. One of the prime reasons for owning a smart phone is to utilize the internet in various ways, and WP7 integrates social media and information services smartly in various ways.

For example, one of the first things you see on the phone is the People Hub, a Live Tile that shows you various thumbnails of the people you know (pulled from your Windows Live and Facebook contacts), and with a touch, gives you easy access to their status updates, allowing you to quickly see what all your contacts are up to. You can also pin individual people from your contacts to your menu as an individual Live Tile, which will automatically update now and then to show you snippets of their most recent posts, pictures, etc. I like this because it makes it easy to personalize the phone and keep up with people you're interested in talking to more frequently.

Another neat feature is that, like the Zune application for Windows, the Zune music player in WP7 also loads up supplemental information about the music you listen to (when available). Pictures of the current/last-played musician load up in the background of the app, and biographical information becomes available for you to read. Links to buy more content from the artist appear, of course. The Live Tile also updates to show pictures of the latest artist played, further personalizing the home screen's appearance, and with no additional effort from the user.

One of my few major gripes with WP7 also involves the integration of services, but I'll get to that later. Overall, the WP7 experience is highly enjoyable in this regard.

Speedy access to information. This isn't to say that other phones don't do the same job just as good, but I've really been impressed with the ease and speed at which I have access to the things that I find important to check, like text messages, email, and appointments/events.

Displayed prominently on the lock screen, available by pressing the hold/power button, is the time, date, and any upcoming events you've got in your calendar. Below that, icons are displayed for your text messages and various email accounts, followed by a number showing how many new messages you have. This makes it extremely easy to see if you've got any unread messages waiting, and quick to put away if you don't.

Care has also been taken to make the capturing of photos and video efficient, with each WP7 handset being required to have a dedicated camera button which, when pressed and held (even when the phone is locked) loads up the camera app and lets the user quickly start taking pictures. It's a small feature that's easy to overlook, but for me, most of the time when I wanted to take picture with my previous phone, it was a pain to have to unlock the phone and then wait a few more moments for the camera to start. By the time everything was ray, the ideal moment to take a good picture had often already passed. I suspect this will not be the case with WP7.

Build quality. I can't speak for other WP7 phones, but for my HTC Trophy, the build quality is great. The phone isn't heavy, but doesn't feel so light that it's cheap. All the buttons feel solid, and the rubberized casing feels good in your hand. The screen has a slightly different feel to it than my iPod Touch, but works well and generally feels good to touch.

The Trophy feels good in your hand, doesn't feel cheap, and isn't too big. There's not much else to say about the build of the phone, really.

Things that take a little getting used to

Internet Explorer Mobile. I understand this is going to get better this fall with the upcoming "Mango" OS update, which will include a mobile version of IE9, but for now, the current mobile version of Internet Explorer (resting somewhere around versions 7 and 8) is serviceable, but clunky at times. To mobile IE's credit, it's just about as snappy as Apple's mobile version of Safari for rooting around pages, but page rendering feels a bit slow sometimes, and some websites which seem like they ought to work simply don't.

I'm hoping that IE9 will help keep WP7's browser in a more modern space than the originally included browser. It'll help the platform keep parity with other mobile operating systems, and will help web designers by giving them a consistent mobile platform to develop for.

Still, even if IE9 doesn't turn out to be a game changer, mobile IE, in its current state, is definitely useable. It just takes a little time to adjust to it.

Context sensitive buttons. With most of my mobile OS experience centering around to my iPod Touch and its solitary hardware button, the addition of a dedicated Back and Search button with WP7 took a little bit of learning to get used to. Instead of using an on-screen button (typically in the upper left corner of the screen in iOS) for going backward, all WP7 phones are required to have a hardware button at the bottom left of the device for going back.

This, in itself, is not too hard a transition to make, since the functionality is very similar to that of other mobile operating systems. But then comes the tricky part: when you've reached the end of going backward through pages in the current app, pressing the Back button again will bring you back to the home screen, or back into whatever app you had open before. The Back button acts on a more global level than you might first think.

Once you get used to this behavior, it's actually quite easy to use it to skip around between what you're doing on the phone. It's especially useful in light of the fact that there's still no real multi-tasking support, though this is another feature coming in Mango.

The Search button has similar behavior, but since I don't use it that much, it hasn't caused me as many problems yet. It is handy to be able to access search in apps, like Marketplace (the WP7 equivalent of the iTunes App Store), but in almost all other situations, it merely loads the Bing search tool. The often-beautiful photography on Bing is a nice surprise as times, but I'd still appreciate more of an explanation now and then as to exactly what I'm going to get when I press the Search button.

Battery life. Other people who have been using smart phones for a lot longer than I have will probably think me silly for complaining, but if there's one thing I miss about my old LG Chcolate phone, it's the battery life. If I didn't make many calls, it would sometimes last two or three days without a charge. My new phone lasts a little over a day to a day and a half, depending on usage and where I take it. Sadly, my current work building, a steel and concrete industrial warehouse, seems to make the phone strain for a signal, and thus drains the battery quickly.

Even then, it's not been a huge inconvenience yet… but in the future, when I am traveling or when I am off hiking or something, it worries me that my phone might wind up dead rather quickly, and those are the situations where I would need it most.

Zune. Figuring out how the Zune music (and video) player works is a little confusing after having spent so much time using my iPod Touch, but I'm getting the hang of it. Generally, the functionality is identical to the iPod; the hardest part is just finding where all the same controls are.

I also find it a bit strange that Zune handles music and videos, but images are handled by a separate app. I'm not sure exactly why I find this weird, but it just seems like if it's going to handle more than one type of media, it might as well handle all of it.

Things I don't like

Missing apps. It seems that every few weeks we see another press release about the growing number of apps in the WP7 Marketplace. That's great, but I'm still missing a few of the apps that I've been using on iOS for a long time now, like Tweetdeck, and the small handful of financial apps I used. Sure, I can do most of this stuff via similar, lower quality apps, or through the web browser, but it'd be great if more companies would get on board with WP7 and publish official apps. Millions of people are using this OS, after all.

This isn't really Microsoft's fault, and I'm sure it'll get better over time, but for now it's still a little disappointing that so many companies out there are courting users on other platforms and virtually ignoring Windows Phone 7.

Marketplace content. This is a small gripe, but it's still something I don't much like, and feel is worth mentioning. The amount of adult content in the Marketplace, and the randomness in which it crops up in search results is stupid. Searching for "Twitter", the sixth result in the list of results is "Sexy Babes FREE". That's just idiotic.

I'm not some kind of prude, and I think people definitely be able to create and sell whatever kinds of apps they choose, but there needs to be some way to filter this kind of content out of search results, or even from the default view of the Marketplace to begin with. I don't think most people are going to the WP7 Marketplace looking for these sorts of cheap thrills, especially when they have a perfectly capable browser at their disposal.

I'm certainly going to have a hard time recommending WP7 to anyone with a vagina when even a casual visit to the app Marketplace involves sorting through dozens of apps showcasing "sexy babes". For the same reason that a bookstore doesn't place adult magazines between every other book on the shelf, the WP7 Marketplace needs to filter out this stuff and put it in its own special place, away from everything else.

The way the default Live ID is handled. Probably my single biggest annoyance with Windows Phone 7 so far has had to do with the way the OS handles your Live ID when you first activate the phone. Upon first startup, WP7 asks you to create or use an existing Live ID (a Windows Live, Xbox, or Hotmail account) for the phone. This is mandatory, and is used to sync contacts, get you an email account, make payments, etc. It makes sense, it's easy, and I like it. So far, so good.

But then, if you used a Live ID you've had for years (like I did) you'll load up your contact list and find that it's been populated with all sorts of random people- many of which are just casual contacts from Messenger or Xbox Live who you would never want to call, and really shouldn't be in your contact list by default. Once you've done this though, there's only one way to fix the problem: reset the phone to factory default and start over. Unwilling to do this, I ended up purging a lot of random people from my contacts… something I probably should have done a long time ago anyway, but which I still found annoying to have to do just to get the phone's contact list set up correctly.

If I were to do it over again, knowing what I know now, I would definitely recommend creating a new Live ID and using that for your new phone, rather than importing an old one.

Final thoughts

That's about all I have to rant and rave about for now. Windows Phone 7 is a solid choice for anyone who wants to "think different" from the Android masses, or who is looking for something flashy, but not confined to the Apple ecosystem. I would definitely recommend the platform, and as long as Microsoft continues to support it, I think there are a lot of good things in the future for Windows Phone 7. If you're in the market for a new smart phone, give it a try!

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Though I would normally shun someone who would buy an operating system on launch day, a week ago I bought, downloaded, and installed the newest version of Microsoft's OS, Windows 7. It's nice to have a modern OS on my recently assembled machine, and though the transition from XP was a bit jarring in some respects, any unexpected problems have been minimal so far. Overall, I'm glad I made the switch.

Of course, I went into this only after reading a lot about the upcoming OS and playing around with the beta version for a while. Despite its many criticisms, Vista represented a big leap forward in terms of the underlying systems of Windows, and a lot of growing pains for the platform were felt upon its release. Most of the issues that plagued Vista in its early days have been resolved however, and this makes for a far more comfortable Windows 7 experience.

Here's a quick run-down of how the (mostly painless) upgrade process went for me, from my old rig turning into a massive paper weight to the re-birth of Windows on my new machine.

If you completed the homework assignment, you've already read about my old computer breaking down, and my quest for parts to rebuild a new one. Gold star for you. If not, you can read about it here - there's no use in going into that much detail about it again.

Once the new computer was built, I put a minimal number of games on it, but held off on installing a massive amount of other software. My reasoning for this was twofold - first, I would save myself a great deal of time backing up data for the Windows 7 install, which was only a month away, as well, I would be avoiding any licensing problems that would arise from too many installations of protected software. This happened anyway, but I'll get into that later.

After a month of having only two major games on my computer, World of Warcraft, Windows 7 launch day finally came. I failed to find a copy of Win 7 Professional in stores (Best Buy only had upgrade copies, and Office Max/Office Depot had nothing but Vista), so when I got home from work I jumped onto Microsoft's online store and bought a digital copy directly. Since Win 7 Pro comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, I was given the option to download either. I chose the 64-bit version and started the 2.3Gb download. It took about two and a half hours to finish.

I burned the ISO file to a DVD and dropped the stuff I wanted to save onto one of the other hard drives in the machine, and then I restarted the computer and began the install.

Having so recently done an XP install, I am happy to report that Windows 7's install process is much more streamlined, and possibly even faster (I didn't time it, but it seemed to take about 20-25 minutes). Win 7's disk partitioning and pre-install setup is now done in a much more modern environment, with mouse support and a slick GUI. It asks only a minimal number of questions, and lets you set up the details later on once the install is finished. I was impressed by the speed and simplicity of the whole thing, especially compared to the old XP installer. Ars Technica actually has a great 15-page review of Windows 7 up, including a good portion on the new installer.

Once 7 installed, the system restarted one last time, and before long I was staring at a shiny new OS, all ready for my antics and exploits. Not too much had to be tweaked for the system to be the way I like it, either. UAC is relaxed in Win 7, so the interruptions aren't as annoying. The OS also seemed to find drivers for just about everything in the system, save for the GPU. That was really the only piece of system software I've had to install so far.

The only trouble I've really had with Windows 7 so far rests on the software side of things. On the first install of my Adobe software, something happened (I think I left the system waiting for the next disc for too long at some point) and the installation failed. All the programs seemed to install fine, but their licensing software was broken, so I had to re-install them. Then I had to call up the Adobe licensing support line because I'd already used my allotted two installs and wasn't able to de-activate my old computer's software before it died.

Aside from that, and a couple of times where a program crashed or froze, I've had no problems. Some of these issues may stem from the fact that I am running mostly 32-bit applications/games on a 64-bit OS, so I've expected a few hiccups.

Overall, however, things have been great. I'm finally able to use more than 4gb of RAM (I've got 6gb of RAM in triple channel mode now), and most everything seems to run solid. The improvements to the taskbar have taken me a lot less time to adjust to than I thought they would, and I actually feel like the new features, like Aero Peek, have helped me be more productive with my machine.

I'll probably have more to report as my collection of games and software trickles onto the new computer, and I start using it for other multimedia purposes - but for now you can consider me impressed.

And of course, glad that I don't feel like a sap for being a day one adopter.

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I got my new computer parts earlier this week, and after an hour or two of assembly, it gracefully sprang to life. And on the first try, no less. I'm proud of myself, because it's been a while since I've built a computer entirely from scratch.

Here's how the final build turned out:

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz Quad-Core CPU
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Diamond Radeon HD 4890 1GB (PCE-E 2.0 16x) GPU
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Motherboard
Western Digital Caviar Green 500Gb SATA HDD
HP 24X Multiformat DVD Writer SATA
Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W Modular Power Supply
Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

The only parts I didn't buy were two existing HDD's that I threw in at the end, for good measure (another 500Gb and my old 74Gb Raptor, both SATA). I was planning on adding the sound card from my old computer, but it won't fit well without blocking off the fan from the GPU, so I'm just going to roll with the onboard sound for now. Lastly, I'm currently only using two of the RAM sticks, because I'm running 32-bit XP, and I'm waiting for Windows 7 to release for the move to 64-bit.

The build went quite well and was fairly easy this time around. The power supply fit the case nicely and was easy to install. This was my first modular power supply, so the lack of cords (at least, initially) was a welcome addition to my computer-building experience.

The most difficult part of the whole build was easing the board into the box, as it was a snug fit. Antec makes great cases though, and there was plenty of holes for mounting the board properly.

The only other real problem I had with this build was just making sure I was grounded at all times - my current apartment has carpeting everywhere except for the kitchen and the bathroom, and neither of those places is a good place to build a computer. So, my hands were in contact with the case at all times, and no electronics were harmed in the production of this computer.

Anyway, back to the build... Antec also makes great sliding mounts for hard drives, so installing the drives was easy. Those had to go behind a separate door behind the front panel, so while they took a little more trouble to get in and out of the case than I would normally like, I don't do a lot of drive swapping, so it doesn't bother me much. Getting the DVD drive to install flush with the front of the case took some fiddling but wasn't difficult either.

To my relief, the GPU fit the space very nicely. The new Radeon HD 4890 is actually a tiny bit smaller than my old GeForce 8800 GTS. The only other large difference I noticed between the make of the two cards is that the circuit board of the Radeon seemed a tiny bit thinner, and more susceptible to bending, than the old GeForce.

Installing the CPU is always a harrowing experience for me. I'm always afraid I'm going to bend the connectors by placing the CPU in the slot the wrong way. Or that I'm going to accidentally rub off the thermal paste on the bottom of the fan (almost happened this time). Or that I'm not going to press hard enough on the fan mounts, and the fan will fall off later. Or that I'm going to press too hard on the fan mounts and crack the motherboard. Or... alright, I'll stop. It went smoothly. That's probably all I should have said about that to begin with.

RAM was similarly easy. Just pop it in the correct slots and snap it into place.

Once I got done putting all the parts in the box, I plugged in all the necessary cords and pressed the power button - which to my delight, worked. I hadn't closed the case yet though- I've built enough computers to know not to bother doing that until I know everything is working. I installed Windows XP. Installed some games. No problems. So far, I haven't even been hit by the notorious lockups I've heard about so many people getting from running 32-bit Win XP with more than 3Gb RAM.

Overall, this was a pretty straightforward computer build. I didn't have to consult manuals too often, and all the parts fit together well. Nothing got broken, nothing got fried. And now I've got a new computer that eats games for breakfast. Yayuh!

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I haven't been able to update the blog as much as I'd like over the last few weeks, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about things to write about. Instead of letting all of my random thoughts go to waste, I thought I'd present them here as a collection. If you're just looking for a few moments of entertainment, you like reading the musings of the slightly insane, or you're looking for something to spark your pent-up rage, the following list is probably for you!

Never Too Zune

Each time I plug my iPod (5th generation) into my computer and it freezes up, I secretly hope that it won't come back on, so I have an excuse to buy a Zune HD. From everything I've seen online, these things look pretty nice, and I'd like to try something different than iPod for a while. I have absolutely no interest in the iPod Touch or an iPhone; the 32gb Touch is $110 more than the 32gb Zune HD and being tethered to AT&T again just makes me feel sick.

But I digress; the Zune HD looks slick in its own right. Wireless streaming capabilities and built-in HD radio are great, and I also like the idea of being able to output HD video and, of course, web browsing. If Microsoft opens up the Zune to user-created applications, it will become an even great alternative to the iPod. They seem to be making an effort to get developers to consider their other mobile devices, so I don't think this is too far-fetched. So far, however, they've been pretty tight-lipped about it.

Marvel Comics Feeling a Little Disney

Though I am not a huge comic book buff, I still felt as though I could almost hear the collective groan of fans as Disney scooped up Marvel Comics for a cool $4 billion early this week. Though both companies are distinctly American, and I am sure DIsney will handle Marvel with care, I still feel like Disney is starting to (or maybe already has) hit that critical mass where a company gets so big, with a reach so broad, that it ends up losing focus on all fronts.

There are plenty of companies out there who handle the multiple prongs of modern media quite well, but Disney has already been in danger of losing its grip on things in the past, and with yet another large addition to their stable of interests, I can't help but wonder what the future will be like for both Disney and Marvel.

Will Disney change how Marvel presents its franchises?

Will we see Marvel characters integrated with Disney's other mainstays, in titles like the Kingdom Hearts games?

Will we see another feud in Disney's management as these things happen?

Who knows? It could be interesting to watch, but it'll be a shame if either brand is hurt because of this.

All-Out Fallout

When I got sick a couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days laying around my apartment, relaxing and recovering. My girlfriend had some things to do up at her mom's house, and didn't want to risk getting sick, so I was all by myself for much of that time. Instead of doing anything productive, I used the time to get re-acquainted with my Xbox; I decided that there was no better way of doing this than by collecting all the achievements in Fallout 3.

I did all that I could with my existing character (why did Bethesda choose to make one bobblehead impossible to go back and get?), and then made another so I could focus on slightly different talents to pick up a few odd achievements, like the one for 50 speech successes, and also so I could hit the appropriate levels with neutral and bad karma.

I've now gotten every achievement in Fallout 3, as well as in Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt, and have had a lot of fun in the process. I've seen a lot of things that I missed in my first go-round, and have grown to appreciate, for a second time, the vast world of Fallout 3.

Hackintosh is Dead

Though I usually get my fill of OS X at work, a few months ago I got OS X up and running on some old PC hardware I had laying around at home. I was mostly interested in trying my hand at iPhone App development, so I downloaded the iPhone SDK and got everything up and running without many problems. I didn't use the old rig often however, and I let it sit around for a while before firing it up again last week.

Though I've been told it isn't a good idea, I've used the system update on my Hackintosh before, and everything's turned out fine. When I booted up to find a 300+ mb system update waiting for me, I thought nothing of it as I proceeded with the download and installation. Unfortunately, the update broke my installation, and for some reason I haven't been able to re-install it since. Either something has changed on my box (something which sticks around after multiple hard drive re-partitions?) or I simply can't remember the settings I used to install OS X the first time. It's a drag, but frankly I haven't had time to learn to code iPhone Apps anyway. I'll probably dig into this a little deeper one of these weekends when I've got nothing better to do.

Can't Take the Heat

Recently, I was playing some World of Warcraft on my desktop computer, wrapping up a dungeon with a group of others, when the image on the screen stuttered, a strange dot pattern appeared around my cursor and the UI elements, and then the computer locked up. After a quick restart, and about a minute of play, the same thing happened. In a hurry to get back into the game (and in an effort not to be the reason for the deaths of my entire group), I threw open my laptop and loaded the game up there. In-game disaster was narrowly averted, but it left me worried about my desktop machine.

In my experience, most graphical glitches of this kind are attributed to overheating hardware – the bane of all computer gamers.

So earlier today, I opened up my desktop computer and dusted it out. Then I turned it on and started World of Warcraft again, and let it sit. About 10 minutes later, I came back into the room to find the screen flickering and the computer frozen. Not good.

I guess this is a good excuse to get a new GPU, something I've been wanting to do for a while anyway, but my existing motherboard doesn't have a PCI-Express 2.0 slot on it, so I'm back to the same conundrum as before I assembled my current desktop - upgrading one part means upgrading two or three others as well. And since these are all the most expensive parts (GPU, CPU, motherboard), I might as well just splurge a few extra hundred bucks and update the rest of the hardware. But if my apartment is getting too hot (it's hot here lately, but not that hot), I'm not too keen on buying and subsequently ruining more computer hardware either. It's a problem, I guess.

That's All For Now

Anyway, I think that's enough of this rambling for now. I've been a bit of a scatterbrain lately, and now the madness shall spread!

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The other day at work, I wanted to move around some of the items we have sitting on a table at the back of the room I work in. This included a monitor, a small printer, and a large flatbed scanner. The monitor and the printer were easy to move, but the scanner had run out of USB cord length, so I couldn't move it any farther away from the computer it was attached to. Thinking I had remembered seeing a USB extension cord floating around the office somewhere, I got out our box of random computer parts and started digging through it in hopes of finding something useful.

After only a minute or two, I came up victorious: one of our Macs had come with a USB extension cord for the keyboard that was about two feet long; perfect for moving the scanner. I put the box of junk away and dove under the table to add the extension cord to the mix of wires coming out of the back of the computer.

The male end of the extension plugged into the back of the computer alright, but then when I tried to attach the female end to the scanner's USB cable, I found that they wouldn't connect to each other.

I checked to make sure the connectors were the same size; they were. I flipped one end of the cable around, thinking I might have just made the mistake of trying to plug them in upside-down, but this didn't work either. Slightly frustrated, I pulled the cable out of the computer and brought it back into the light where I could examine it more closely.

And that's when I saw it. The female end of this otherwise normal USB cord had a small raised notch right down the center of one end.

This slight change to the connector does not exist for any functional reason – it was placed there solely to prevent the end user from using the cable for anything other than what Apple had intended it for. I unplugged the keyboard from my computer and checked the male end of its USB connector, and sure enough, there was the matching groove for the extension cord's notch.

What utter horse shit.

Forget, if you will, that Macs typically cost hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars more than their PC counterparts. Forget that none of my games will run in Mac OS. Forget that Macs have a somewhat limited library of software compared to Windows. Forget the throngs of imbeciles known as Mac fanboys. And, if possible, try to forget all those annoying and factually deficient Jason Long commercials.

This is why I will never get a Mac.

You'd think that a company who charges such a ridiculous premium for their computers would have the common courtesy to at least include a USB extension that follows industry standards and works with other devices, but no. After all is said and done, Apple sticks to its guns, follows the same path it always has, and makes a no-stop trip straight into proprietary hell. At this point, I'm honestly surprised that they haven't started releasing their keyboard/mouse with custom triangular USB plugs, to prevent people from using them on non-Apple computers.

This is the kind of bogus practice that will eventually hurt Apple's reputation with consumers, and they deserve every bit of criticism for it.

And don't even get me started on the new iPod Shuffle, which requires proprietary headphones to work.

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As a gamer, I'm not normally the type to look down upon the gaming habits of others. Sure, I'll make the odd quip about "freestyle" DDR players now and then, but generally I don't give my fellow gamers too much grief for doing whatever it is they choose to do.

This stance has led me to defend Guitar Hero/Rock Band, games which I have played very minimally, whenever someone brings up the "you should just learn a real instrument" argument. I've even argued this point with my dad, who is an actual musician (he plays bass guitar). I had an epiphany at a GameStop which changed my views on this slightly, and which makes me wonder about how far the rhythm games can go before they've gone too far. It also makes me wonder if I'm the only person who's ever had an epiphany at GameStop.

While I was at GameStop, they had a Guitar Hero III display set up. Instead of the usual speakers, the display was outfitted with headphones so interested players could try the game out without disturbing other shoppers too much. I was waiting in line to order a game. A kid who was obviously familiar with Guitar Hero walked up to it and - headphones on, guitar in hand - got set to play. The people in line in front of me were going back and forth with an employee about trading in games, so I curiously looked on as the kid began to run through a jam session.

Click-click-click. Click-click-click. Click-click-click. Click-click-click.

I heard the game in a way I'd never heard it before. Without the music to accompany the rhythmic input, the mechanical monotony of the whole thing was instantly exposed. And while I know that many games, some of my favorites probably, could be broken down into a series of infinitely repeatable hand motions, the illusion of Guitar Hero, nay all rhythm games, had been broken from this moment forth.

Enter Rock Band.

Guitar Hero got me used to seeing people rocking out holding small, plastic guitars with buttons instead of strings, but I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to accept the ridiculous menagerie that is the full band ensemble of Rock Band. Not only does this setup look completely ridiculous standing before the TV in anyone's living room, but it costs a small fortune, and so starts to encroach on the grounds of "you might as well just learn to play a real instrument." Feast your eyes on this piece of work:

All this for a video game? Really? Do I even need to say anything else...?

If you're going to put all the effort into buying, building, and learning to play these ridiculous game controllers, why not just put in a little extra effort and learn the real thing? It'll likely be more personally satisfying, and could even land you a career you'd always dreamed about, but never really considered.

Don't get me wrong though - I still don't wholly agree with the naysayers; I don't really think anyone is trying to substitute real musical talent with a game of Guitar Hero or Rock Band. There is definitely a place in the world for our beloved rhythm games. I personally think it's awesome that an entire family can rock out to tunes in Rock Band, with each member on a different instrument. I like that Guitar Hero is doing its part to revive interest in classic rock. And hey, even those DDR ~~freaks~~ dancers have impressed me from time to time. I just feel like these things have gone a bit too far (the drum kit above being a prime example), and if there's a possibility for some non-electronic achievements now and then, why not take them? I think that with the advent of more advanced (and expensive) "instruments" that argument is becoming more valid.

Alright, I'm done preaching. Public service time is over. Pick up the plastic guitar, and rock on.

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Back when the Xbox 360 was on its way in, I was convinced that Microsoft was making a huge mistake. The original Xbox never quite seemed to catch on, and with only a 4-year lifespan, it hardly seemed to have been given a chance. So in 2005 when the Xbox 360 was launched in North America, I looked on with only casual interest, with no intent to buy. I've always maintained a decent gaming PC anyway, so I never felt like I was missing out on much.

When Gears of War was released however, I stepped into Wal*Mart with plans to buy the game for my brother for Christmas and was so impressed with the game, I walked out with a brand new system instead - and I've never regretted it since. I've now got a solid library of games, and use the machine almost every day. Turns out that the Xbox brand is pretty good after all.

The console has been about for almost 3 years now, and the time is approaching to start thinking ahead. When the inevitable next version of the Xbox rolls into town, how can Microsoft ensure that it will be at least as big of a success? By following my list of suggestions, of course!

Better hardware

Not only should Microsoft work to ensure that the next Xbox has less instances of hardware failure than the Xbox 360, but it should also include a few upgrades to the current 360 hardware. These include:

Blue-ray disc drive (preferably a quieter drive than the 360's DVD drive as well)
Larger, mandatory hard drive for all SKU's
Built-in wireless (not essential, but would be nice for some

There's not all that much that really needs to be added, and if it makes the cost of the system skyrocket, I'd prefer they stick to the same scheme they used for the Xbox 360 - keep the extra components as add-ons which can be bought and used as needed.

Keep It Simple

One thing that I really like about the Xbox 360 is the fact that it works, and works well, right out of the box. There's no huge set up, and no need to configure the system much before you jump right into the games. This is a small, but important detail, and one which I hope Microsoft doesn't skip over for the next Xbox - especially if more advanced hardware is included in the package.

And even though I'd like to see some big upgrades to the innards of the next Xbox, I'd rather not have the machine try to be an all-in-one home entertainment solution. Microsoft has done well keeping their gaming box relevant and fun by making it primarily about gaming, and I think that's a smart course to take, especially considering how poorly all-in-one devices have done with consumers in the past.

Good Value

I believe that one major attribute to the success of the Xbox 360 was the fact that system prices were kept within a reasonable range, via price cuts and varying SKU's. Sony's initially ridiculous pricing for the PS3 didn't hurt either. If the next Xbox is to succeed again, it should be carefully priced to avoid seeming cheap, while staying within grasp of people who earn an average income, between $300 and $400.

Value also comes from what's inside the box, and the improved hardware mentioned above could mean additional worth. Backwards compatibility is also important to this - I'm a lot more comfortable with replacing my current game system with a new one if I can play most of my old games on the new rig. It should go without saying that Xbox Live Arcade games, Gamerscore, and Gamercard should transfer over to the next system with nary a hitch.

A good game lineup is also an important part of the value for any system, and as long as Microsoft keeps up a good relationship with quality developers, either via special treatment or other means, they should have no shortage of good games moving into the future.

Give It Time

The final important factor in making the next Xbox a hit has a lot to do with the current Xbox 360, and how long the system is kept alive. I think Microsoft should extend the life of the 360 well into 2009 or 2010. The 360 is currently having no trouble keeping up with rival PS3, and the extra time should give the Xbox team room for making good improvements to the next system's hardware and software, testing, and nailing down a solid, stable release. This could ensure that there's no console shortage fiasco (or at least, not such a big one), and could also give manufacturers time to get component pricing under control - which could mean lower initial prices.

Sony is Microsoft's biggest competitor right now, and they've pledged a 10 year lifespan for the PS3. This gives ample time for Microsoft to put together an awesome, inexpensive gaming rig without casting the Xbox 360 aside too quickly.

I'll be looking forward to the next Xbox, and because of the success of the Xbox 360, I'm sure many others will be as well. Here's to hoping for a bright future!

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Despite my having a girlfriend, a job, working on the Reflect Games website update, helping a buddy with his new blog, considering entering the 3rd YoYo Games competition, trying to finish GTA4, and various other real-world obligations, I've also started putting in a little bit of time on World of Warcraft again.

In my defense, it wasn't an idea entirely my own. My brother, Spencer, had a lot to do with it. He's just as addicted to games as I am, and his boredom led him to persuade me to play some WoW with him again.

"I'm thinking about playing WoW again," he mentioned to me one day. "I want to start a new character on a friend's server."

Being bored with my pre-GTA library of games, I expressed some interest. Soon, we had a plan set; we'd blaze through the game as the fantastic duo of warrior and priest. I'd beat the hell out of monsters while my brother made sure my health level was maintained. This is surely a strong combination of might against just about any type of foe... well, except one. Computer hardware failure.

Spencer's computer seems to be suffering from either a bad power supply or a heating problem, as best I can tell. After getting our characters rolling up into the bulk of the game, his computer began crashing WoW every few minutes. He's re-installed the game multiple times, and I've torn his computer apart and re-assmbled it, but the problem persists. He's due for a hardware upgrade though, so when that day eventually comes, the adventures of Ismashya and Autzen will continue. In the meantime, however, I was left with an active WoW account, and not much else to do.

I started an alternate character (a hunter) and began the game anew. After only a week I had leveled to 42, and already had my first mount. But leveling began to take longer, and I started looking upon the higher levels with envy. Every visit to a capital city reminded me that there was an entire world of upper-tier players riding around on their flying mounts, making ridiculous amounts of gold, doing player-vs-player activities, and raiding the high level dungeons.

I tried playing some of the battlegrounds (special PVP raid battles) with my hunter, and while I had fun and got a taste of the party the higher level players were having, it wasn't the same. I had to wait over 30 minutes to get into matches sometimes, and finding others to quest with was virtually impossible. Azeroth is a big place, and with most people on the server playing upper level characters, I was left to fend mostly for myself.

So did I persevere? Did my lonely hunter (and mountain lion pet) conquer all and become one of the elite of Warcraft?

Of course not!

Instead, I dusted off my long-dead level 69 paladin, grinded to level 70, and began partaking in all the upper-tier goodness a guild-less player can. I got my flying mount. I've battled the battlegrounds (with players who have alarmingly large amounts of health compared to me). I made over 1000 gold over the weekend. And I've started trying my hand at some of the daily quests.

I'm sure I'll get bored of it again eventually... especially if my brother can't get his computer running soon. But for now, I'm having some fun with it, and I'm still spending plenty of time with my girlfriend, on my own projects, Grand Theft Auto 4, and everything else, so I see no harm in it.

In the meantime, if you run into a companionless paladin (whose name reminds you of bite-size pizza) mining the earth of the Outland or getting slaughtered in Eye of the Storm, it might just be me.

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Martin Crownover

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