Ranting Kenya

So I loaded up a copy of X-Com on my computer yesterday (all hail the glory of steam!). X-Com, as many will remember, was the turn based strategy game published by Microprose in 1993. Even now, that game is truly something special. There are many games that I loved as a child that I simply cannot play now. Even going back to something like Goldeneye on the N64 is really hard for me to do, and Goldeneye is much newer.

X-Com really hits a lot of key points and levels with me. For one, I like the general theme, alien invasion. Add on base building, resource management, fighting UFOs and exploring their crash sites makes it a cluster of awesomeness for me. I always think about my idea of an ideal game (an RTS where I can then take part in the battles in FPS mode, basically act as a hero unit), and X-Com probably comes the closest to this reality.

In fact, this game is resource management to the extreme. You have to manage your personnel, actual equipment and artifacts, money, approval rating, movement points, aircraft, base facilities, multiple bases etc.

Another thing I love about this game is it’s difficulty. I have actually never beaten it. Even now on it’s 2^nd easiest difficulty, I’m being challenged on the second mission. And you are challenged across the board. On the missions, all the management, the aircraft battles, everything. Keeping your soldiers alive is really key for later on because they gain experience. If all you ever have is a revolving door of rookies, you won’t get very far.

But what it’s probably best at is creating atmosphere. The graphics are ancient by today’s standards (after playing it for a couple hours, looking at my iPhone felt like I was looking at the highest res display ever), but they’re good enough to make it work. The music is midi-like, but sets the mood of all the various sections of the game perfectly. And many of the background graphics elevate this mood. For instance, when you’re looking to sell some of your loot from successful alien missions, the background image is of a shadowy character in a trench coat holding open a suitcase of money towards you. And there’s a number of barely visible characters in the background.

The game really sets the tone of “secret government agency stopping extra terrestrial attacks”. It’s a really good game. I’m really enjoying playing this 17 year old game.

Is anybody kind of surprised that Apple has beaten Sony and Nintendo to the mobile “xbox live” service? Does this not strike anyone as a complete and utter failure on behalf of Sony and Nintendo. And I suppose also a failure of Microsoft.

I mean let’s review. Basically, the Xbox’s single best unique feature is xbox live. It isn’t new either. It’s been around for like 6 or 7 years now. It’s what pulled a good number of people off the Playstation 2 (the most popular console ever) and onto Microsoft’s new platform, the original xbox. It was and is a pay service. But still, people flock to it.

Now the xbox 360 is a true powerhouse in the console gaming space, and Sony’s playstation network is ok, but not great. It tries to copy the xbox features, but it lacks the community.

Nintendo’s literally pretending that online gaming doesn’t even exist (and what’s the HD everyone is talking about). Now Apple walks in with a phone, a mobile phone, announces their game network, and instantly it makes nearly no sense that Sony and Nintendo have missed this boat.

Nintendo isn’t really surprising because their history suggests that this thing would fly right by. But Sony. The very same strategy that Microsoft used to take a bite out of your console business should’ve been repurposed by you to take a bite out of Nintendo’s mobile gaming dominance.

Apple’s games are for the most part, cheap and of questionable quality. But in their vast library, there are quite a few gems. There are more gems on the iPhone than on the PSP. And there’s millions of iPhones and iPod touches out there. There’s going to be more of them too. It’s the hottest consumer device in years. The games will get better, and Nintendo and Sony will be left wondering out such an obvious enourmous business opportunity/threat looked them right between the eyes, and then moved on.

Microsoft has been touting that Xbox live will go portable (either on their crappy windows mobile 6 phones, or the newly announced Windows mobile 7), but their failure to create any device of note has truly let this opportunity vanish. An “Xboy” would’ve brought the console community over, but they haven’t touched on that either.

So in review, Apple didn’t come up with the idea of an online gaming network, they don’t pay publishers or developers, they have an online software delivery network (iTunes, hello no shipping and shelf space fees), a dedicated and expontentially expanding consumer base, and they’re going to put it all together and completely and utterly dominate the mobile gaming space inside of 3 years (my prediction). Add the quickly improving power of iPhone and iPad-like devices means that mobile games won’t have to be “mobile-like” games for long.

In my first impressions post, I had made a critical error in my setup. I had this sneaking suspicion that something was wrong. How could so many positive reviews be so wrong in my opinion? Simple, as it turns out.

While the mixamp can handle so many different connections and wires, it’s actually a pretty simple device. There are two knobs, and two buttons. There’s a knob for overall volume, and a separate one for voice volume. There’s a button for power, and a button for Dolby Headphone. I say this only to emphasize my initial mistake and confusion.

Dolby vs Dolby…

So, knowing that that the “5.1 sound” in the headset was virtual, and in part due to their documentation, I assumed that the mixamp must have Dolby Headphone enabled to create the 5.1 surround sound. In fact, the very first time to turn on the A40 system, Dolby Headphone is enabled. This however, was a major error for me playing Modern Warfare 2.

As you can see in the picture from the quickstart guide, the button was more simply labeled as Dolby On/Off. Strictly speaking, this is mostly accurate. While the Xbox hooked up via optical cable is outputting Dolby Digital 5.1 sounds, this button enables Dolby Headphone. What’s the difference you ask? In the end quite a bit in certain situations.

As I found out later, Dolby Headphone is the rough equivalent to Dolby Pro Logic. What’s Dolby Pro Logic? Essentially it’s the ability that many receivers have to make a 2 channel (left and right) audio source sound like it’s coming from all around you, even though it is not. This clearly is the problem I was having. Dolby Headphone will also “create” the surround effect even if surround sound is getting piped into the mixamp. So when I said it sounded like the footsteps were all around me all the time, that was actually a much more true statement than I realized.

In short, for a FPS like MW2, make sure this button is off. For a game that’s more cinematic where directional audio is not important, the Dolby Headphone will add a compelling spaciousness to the sound. This is part of the reason why it took me so long to try MW2 with it off. Once you’ve heard Dolby Headphone turned on, the regular and accurate surround sound seems quite flat. In truth, it is vastly more accurate.

Ok, now we’re rolling

So now that I’ve had my “duh!” moment, how does the headset sound?

Very very good.

The audio cues for me are important, and when I had the mixamp running in the wrong mode, my gameplay suffered considerably. Once I had it set up properly, I was right back up to where I left off. I could easily tell where people were running and shooting from. I’m not really sure what else I could say about the sound. Whether it’s a virtual 5.1 or not, the differences to me are extremely minor and make little to no difference. I found the directional sound to only be slightly and momentarily more ambiguous than a regular 5.1 home theatre setup. By this I mean that I felt sometimes I didn’t know exactly where the sound was coming from instantly, but a split second later I would. However, I believe this is made up by the fact that I’m wearing a headset. Footsteps and other directional audio are noticeable much sooner. So any possible delay in interpreting the sound that I perceive is in the end irrelevant.

Comfort

I can also attest to the comfort of the headset. I played for many consecutive hours without any comfort issues whatsoever. The cans are cloth, similar to a felt, and there’s no “heat” issues. Some headphone will make you feel like you have ear warmers on after a while, these do not suffer in the least from this effect.

The downsides

As nearly every review you will read about the astro setup, there are two downsides. The price and the cables. If you know the price, and you’re not immediately turned off by it (I believe a good headset is worth the money), then the cables are you’re only potential downside. I for one prefer aspects of the cables. For one, that means there’s no batteries in the headset. This means less weight, and no batteries that involve charging etc. The cables need to be managed. Once you have a good setup, you probably won’t want to move much. It takes a little getting used to.

The only minor gripe I have is the location of the mic’s mute button. Regular Xbox 360 users know that the mute is on the plug for the headset. Easily within reach when your hands are on the controller for quite muting. I used that a lot. Understandably, since the Astro also function with a PC, this location would make no sense. So the mute is where it needs to be, just not where I’m used to. I will say however, that when people see me with the headset on, they don’t even bother to try to talk to me anyway (I usually can’t hear them while in game), so I haven’t needed a mute button nearly as much.

In the end

In conclusion, if you’re used to a 5.1 setup for your gaming or want to experience quality directional audio, the Astro A40 audio system will not disappoint. You might not want to spend that kind of money on a wired headset, but if the price and cables aren’t deal breakers for you, you will not have buyer’s remorse with this system.

Lately, I have been playing MW2 on my computer monitor, with my awesome AudioEngine 5 speakers. I find the 24 inch screen and distance to my eyes to be the perfect balance for me. But I missed my 5.1 home theatre speakers that I had on my TV. So this was my final push to buy a 5.1 gaming headset.

While I know that the Astro A40 audio system is not a “true” 5.1 setup, all the reviews from every source imaginable on the internet said that every sound could be accurately placed in the sound stage, and that their virtualized 5.1 is excellent. So, despite the high cost (especially if you ship to Canada), I decided that I’m spending more than enough hours online play Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox 360 to justify the cost.

The headset arrived yesterday. The boxes that the product comes in are excellent. They really present the product. Unboxing was genuinely enjoyable. The cable selection is sizable, and the USB cable to power the mixamp is the thickest, heaviest, most beefy USB cable I’ve ever seen by far. I know it shouldn’t matter at all, but I liked that it was so rugged (and slightly rubberized).

Anyway, once setup, I had to “set” the cables, meaning make them usable at my desk. Astro is certainly generous with the cable length of all the cables (I would estimate the USB cable to be at least 10 feet, and the cables from the mixamp to the headset were at least 6 feet also). Since I sit probably 2 feet away from the mixamp, I re-bundled them to a more usable length.

Starting up the Xbox, the headset blew my mind with the regular xbox 360 startup noise. I started to get really excited. So then I fired up Modern Warfare 2.

This is where I feel I should clarify how I play and what I’m used to. I started playing MW2 on my 5.1 setup. I typically like my video games loud. I really like to hear everything, and sound is a huge part of my video game/movie experience, more than most of my friends. I consistently use the sound in MW2 to my advantage. I use the sound to locate enemies, keep track of my team, play stealthily and generally enjoy the whole thing. I probably put in roughly 100 hours on that setup. Then I moved my Xbox to my computer monitor and speakers.

So I lost my 5.1 setup playing the game on my computer monitor. As I said, my AudioEngine 5 speakers (only 2) now became my sound system (I really love these speakers, full balanced sound). At first, I really missed the full 5.1 experience. But over time (the next 100 hours) I’ve started to be able to pinpoint sounds from all around me again. I wouldn’t say I can tell where something is coming from every time, but quite frequently. I’m not sure if this is a testament to excellent sound design on behalf of the developer, or simply me adjusting to the setup. Knowing that I can’t see the sound source by default, suggests that the sounds is either to the side or behind me.

So, back to the headset. The actual in-game sound was basically too good. And I don’t mean that in a complimentary way. When they say you’ll hear footsteps, they’re not kidding. I felt like I could hear the footsteps of the other team from way too far away. If you’re around your own team, you’ll hear 12 separate feet hitting the ground everywhere all the time. I found that I wanted to ditch my teammates more than usual, just so I could make sense of the soundstage that I was presented. It’s not that I couldn’t tell there was footsteps to my left, right, front and back, it’s just that I was given so many that I couldn’t make use of all that information.

I also found the bass to not be the strong suit of the A40 headset. This however, does not differ from the other reviews I had consulted. If there’s a lot of air strikes, grenades, guns whatever going off at once, prepare to feel completely surrounded. This however is what you want I suppose. Again, I think I’ve just gotten really used to my 2 channel setup.

My first few games were very frustrating. I felt that the headset was overwhelming what I could handle. I tried extremely hard to “find” people using the sound. This was to the detriment of my score. To be fair, I was also quite distracted by other people at home and my dogs when I was playing. Once I stopped trying to actually “hear” everything and just started playing, things got better. I, on more than one occasion, pulled a 180 to shoot someone sneaking up on me.

All that said, I need some more time with them to form a valid opinion. My initial reaction would be categorized as good, but not great (as so many others have felt). I also believe, that I personally need some time to get used to this setup. I will continue to use them for the next week or so.

Funny commercial. And sounds WAY too familiar.

I probably most excited about this… strangely.

Secondary Weapons Replace Pistols. No more piddly sidearms. Well, not quite true; pistols are still in there if you want them, but you can pass up the lo’ Desert Eagle in favor of tactical shotguns, automatic machine pistols, and other nice gear to augment your primary rifle. All these secondary weapons can take attachments just like the primaries can, so if you want to throw a suppressor or digital camo on your shotgun, more power to ya.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/hands-on-with-modern-warfare-2s-multiplayer/1685/

The blog is really starting to look like a MW2 fan blog… Whatever, I’m excited.

MW2 can’t get released soon enough…

Holy sweetness.

The new iPhone 3G S

I recently picked up an iPhone 3G S 16GB. My three year contract on Telus was up so I was eagerly looking at the iPhone, Palm Pre, and some Android devices. I ruled out Pre mostly because it wasn’t out yet, and their app store would have a lot of ground to make up. I ruled out the Android devices mostly because I heard the battery life was terrible.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the whole thing.

Purchasing from Apple Store

I initially went to a Fido booth, and talked to the guy staffing the booth. Evidently nobody in the city had any iPhones, but I should keep calling back until they got some. Ok fine. So I walked around the corner to the Apple store where you can now buy the iPhone with a plan (something you HAD to do at either Fido or Rogers before). And what do you know, they proclaim proudly that they are the only retailer in Calgary who has any iPhones. Interesting…

So I said I wanted to get one, lady says I’ll have a iPhone sales guy meet you when someone’s available.

A couple minutes pass, and I’m greeted by a sales person, if you could even call him that. So I said I’m looking at getting an iPhone. He said “ok great”. This is where I paused for his sales spiel, or whatever praise he was going to bestow upon the device and myself. Nothing. He basically leaned on the shelf with one elbow with this arrogant hipster pose. I was already contemplating punching him the face. I really didn’t need him to tell me anything about the phone, but I was shocked at his sales tactics. I knew I was going to get one anyway, but his lack of effort was annoying. I would test him a bit later however.

So asked him to get a 16GB 3G S. He punches his fancy code into the computer to have someone else bring me the phone from the back. Henry Ford would be proud of his assembly line concept adapted so cleanly to retail sales. A little pretentious to say the least, but hey, I am in the Apple Store after all.

So we start going through the plans and the paperwork. This is when I ask him about battery cycles. What’s involved when the built-in battery is no good anymore? Seemed like a legitimate question to me since no cell battery I’ve ever had has lasted more than about 18 months max. Well, how foolish of me! This phone has a built in battery, I’ll “never” have to replace it. And, I can charge it whenever I want. I had no idea Apple had developed the magical rechargeable battery that doesn’t have a limited number of cycles. Strange, because I had read otherwise from what I felt was a reliable source. Clearly he had no idea what I was talking about so I moved along. I figure the geniuses will bail me out later on. Hopefully my faith isn’t misplaced.

The Keyboard

Typing in portrait mode

Coming from a Motorola Q, I liked the physical keyboard. This was basically my biggest knock on the iPhone. And I can say, I can already type basically as fast as I ever could on the physical keyboard. The text prediction/correction is quite good. My biggest gripe about it is when it does make a mistake and you’re already a handful of words ahead of that spot, getting the cursor back there to correct it is a pain.

I know many blackberry users, and they all rail on the on-screen keyboard. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Their heads are in the sand, and they’re hopelessly devoted to an excellent device that’s feeling a little more irrelevant lately. Physical keyboard or not, I don’t really think it’s an issue. I have the biggest, most sausage-like fingers around, and I can navigate that on-screen keyboard in portrait mode without issue. You have to type with a little more care for web page addresses, but taking the time to get those right the first time is no big deal.

The Secret Sauce

So I walked out of the store with the phone, looked at all the icons, and basically felt a little under-whelmed. At this point, I really just have a phone with good internet ability and a flashy screen. But then there’s the app store.

There’s an app for virutally everything. There’s excellent games (check out Flight Control, my favorite thus far), handy tools (urbanspoon/all recipes), good website apps (score mobile, giantbomb.com). There’s something for everyone. And most of the apps seem to be $2 or less. I have my eye on a more expensive golf stats app… but holding off for the time being. Nevertheless, I could track my birdies, driving distance with the GPS, handicap, sand saves, whatever. It’s the app store that makes this baby shine.

The iPod Headset Functionality

I also really like using the headphones with the built in mic. The experience of listening to music, and taking a phone call it unparalleled. So seamless and convenient.

Things That Could Be Better

Probably my biggest suggestion doesn’t go out to Apple, but to iPhone game devs. You all need to start thinking more about the phone as a device and how people use it when creating your games. The first person shooter ports and neat, and I like them, but you need to use the device in unique ways. The Nintendo DS took a few years for devs to really embrace the device properly to create unique experience, iPhone needs the same focus.

The GPS also needs to be improved. It’s neat, but it can’t really be used very well as a GPS without a second person. There’s no automatic re-routing, voice prompts etc. And if you’re on a long car trip, the spottiness of a connection on the Rogers network would lead to some huge map gaps inbetween major centres.

I expected not a lot from the battery. Most of my use on the phone so far has been data. I’d say I get about a day’s worth of battery life. No bad, but not great.

All In All

I’m quite happy with my new iPhone. It’s still really new, and it’s not perfect, but it’s so much better than everything else I’ve ever gotten my hands on. Maybe it doesn’t do email as well as a blackberry for some people, but blackberries lack that “special” quality. When you’re using the iPhone, you feel like you’re really getting treated to some different (more so than a Mac compared to a PC). So far, so good.

Just read this on an ARS Technica preview…

…You’ll be inside a space ship, and then briefly outside it. Thrilling stuff. Sadly, he doesn’t make it out alive.

That’s a possibility for the ending of the game, but not the only one. You need to survive this game as Shepard to play the third one… but it’s not going to be easy.

A possibility for ending the game?!?! Awesome. One thing about the first game (and basically all games), whether you go the “good” route or the “bad” one, you come out ahead anyway. Pissing off the wrong dude and him just flat out ending your game? That’s pretty awesome.

The game will also be awesome since it’s going to be darker. Makes me think of The Empire Strikes Back. Totally my favorite of the 6 Star Wars films. This game is going to rock.