Friday, October 14, 2011

3D is so overrated

I'm quite good at backing the wrong horse. I had this shoved in my face in big, neon letters when I went to the dog races for Heather's Grandad's birthday (now there's an awkward sentence - moving on!).

I bet on about four or five races, and did I win a thing? No. There's a reason why I don't gamble: I never win.

Turns out, I do the same with tech, too. First it was the Gamecube. Not many games. Most were good - brilliant even, when you get things like Metroid Prime - but there weren't many. I bought one.

Then HD DVD. There I was, thinking the tech was just as good, if not better than blue ray, except Sony, being the (mostly) smart buggers they are, bunged a blue ray played in the PS3. So most people instantly had a HD drive. And voila, blue ray won (fortunately, I bought a blue ray player after the dust had settled).

Now it's the 3DS. When it came out, I was justifiably excited. Having played on one in game, I could see how amazing it was. Then I bought one, with ghost recon and pilotwings. After a while, I forgot the 3D was even there, so I wasn't getting much of a benefit. Every now and then, I'd go, 'oooh,' but they got less frequent. I got Zelda, and hardly played it. It's one of my favourite games, yet I can't be bothered. In seven months, I've barely touched my 3DS. I took it on holiday with me, then spent most of my time playing games on my iphone.

The problem is twofold. There aren't many games. Yes, I know it's only been out for seven months, and the DS took a good couple of years to pick ip (hell, even the xbox 360 only had a few games for a year), but there's hardly anything in development that I'm interested in. Then there's the price. 3DS games cost around £30 - £40 each. I could buy an xbox game for that! The great thing about DS games was that they at most cost £30, but you could always find them for £20 or less.

These days I'm limited in my games buying, so I can only pick up a full price game once every couple of months. Inbetween, I might splash on an XBL Arcade game, or a pre-owned or sale game, but I can't justify paying out for a lot of games any more.

So that's it. I'm selling off my 3DS, and the money is going toward an iPad instead. It's got plenty of games, and there are often sales, where games go for dirt cheap (I recently picked up a couple of Gameloft games for £0.59 each). Plus, if I get a keyboard case, I can use the iPad for productivity.

I still have my Xbox 360, and that's my go-to machine for most of my gaming these days (Akham City next Friday!)

I think devices like the iPad are the future of mobile gaming - but what do I know? I always back the wrong horse!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

A visionary has been lost

I was shocked to turn on the news this morning and learn that Steve Jobs had passed away, aged 56.

Say what you will about his business practices, his draconian ruling of Apple, but the man was a true visionary, and should be remembered for the technology he enabled. without him, would we have today's smartphones, or even tablets like the ipad?

I find it incredibly touching that even his greatest rival from the 80s and 90s, Bill Gates, passed on his condolences, saying that he was honoured to have known him.

My heartfelt condolences to his family for their loss.

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011.