Happy Holidays!

I would like to start out by just thanking everyone who sent me their well wishes on my birthday a couple of weeks ago. Whether they posted to this blog, to MySpace, or spoke to me in person or on the phone, I would just like to thank everyone for their wishes. It always makes my birthday special.

I would just like to say that I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Yule, etc. I wish you all the very best!

A light in the darkness

This has been a bad couple of weeks. I won't elaborate on this, just know it as fact. But today I found some small rays of light in the dark.

First off, I now want to get a Nissan Pathfinder. Or at the very least I understand the concept of front independent suspension.
http://www.toxicjunction.com/get.asp?i=V1364

Secondly, I just liked this. I guess this means I have no redeeming qualities as I'm sure some people would be offended that I post this. I don't know yet who those people are, but I'm sure they are out there. Oh well ...
http://www.toxicjunction.com/get.asp?i=V1317

Not only is it my birthday, but ...

... it's the Annual Day of the Ninja! Yes!

Date: January 8, 2007

Site: University of Phoenix Stadium (73,000)

Kick-Off: 6:30 p.m. MST (8:30 p.m. EST)

Television: Fox (Thom Brenneman, Barry Alvarez, Charles Davis and Chris Myers)

Radio: ESPN Radio
Ohio State Sports Radio Network (Paul Keels, Jim Lachey and Jim Karsatos)
Gator Football Radio Network (Mick Hubert, Lee McGriff and Steve Babik)

Image and text taken from this story.
Now, I only wish I could get tickets!

Go Gators!

To paraphrase Steve Spurrier: "God smiled upon the Gators!"

Florida Gators SEC Champions!

Arkansas 28 - Florida 38
It's great to be a Florida Gator!

Images taken from http://www.gatorzone.com/.

To quote Stephen Colbert: "I gots me one!" - the PS3 post

Following below is an e-mail conversation I have been having with a friend of mine regarding the PS3. He got his earlier this week, and I got mine last night. I will be posting pictures at the bottom and I hope to have more impressions of the system and its games soon. I will also have some impressions of some new Xbox360 games I have (like Gears of War and DOA Xtreme 2).

On 11/30/06, wrote:

Well.. I got one!

And now, so do I!

Gamestop did not come through but a friend of a friend got a couple from Costco's online ordering with the intent to flip but decided the hassle of Ebay wasn't worth a couple hundred dollars. He sold it to me at cost and voila.

The costco bundle came with a controller and Genji. Controller = great. Genji = meh.. I am leaving that unopened on the off chance I can return it for credit to walmart or something. Failing that I'll throw it in for a few minutes to see if its good or bad myself and trade it into Gamestop for credit.. its worth $30 to me to have the system now. Gamestop still has 3 (including me) preorders to fill. Its been like that for a week.

Well, as you said in a later e-mail Gamestop did get more stock yesterday so I have my 60GB model. I can't blame Gamestop for this whole mess, as Sony really screwed up with not having the stock they promised. But I gots me one!

I took the $110 I put down on Resistance, Madden and the PS3 and used it all to get Madden and Resistance.

I'll just repaste my impressions to you that I've been sharing. One thing I'll say is my online ID is *******. Add me when you get the system :)

My online ID is "Dracos3442". I already sent you a friend request, so look for it.

System is solid. Very heavy. I have it on the ps3 box since I don't have room for it on my tv stand yet (was not prepared to get it last night) and its denting the box haha. Very very sleek looking. I love the touch sensitive buttons.

I have mine in my TV stand, and I will post pictures on my blog (which will be posted at the end of this post). I also love the sleek look of the PS3, but I don't like the fact they used the same material that the PSP uses. I don't want to see my fingerprints and dust on my PS3. So I'll just have to keep it extra clean or get a Decal Girl cover (like my PS2 and Xbox360).

Controllers charged quick, I am so happy they are wireless. I have always been a fan of sony's controllers and this one is no exception. I did miss the rumble but not as much as I thought I would.

First thing I did was set up the video and audio settings. I started the system with my PS2 component cables since they were already plugged in and plugged in the HDMI after the system started up. I have optical out into my receiver and HDMI into my 720p native TV. Optical out was perfect. I set that my receiver can handle DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 (and linear PCM 2ch but that's default checked). HDMI was successful. One blink and it was using the HDMI instead of the component. I set it to 720p and it was flawless from there. I had no issues whatsoever with the HDMI. No flickering, no blacking out, system turned on and off a few times with no difficulties.

I also set my PS3 up using my PS2 component and digital audio cables. Just like you I went into settings and set it up for 720p, DTS 5.1 and Dobly Digital 5.1. There was an option for AAC in the audio that I checked, but I'm not really sure what that is. I will look online for some information on that one.

Set up my userid and updated. Update off the Madden disc was quick. Played a game of madden and decided to get it on the internet. Set up my wireless (need to get a USB keyboard.. a 128bit WEP key with the controller is a PITA). Downloaded the update very quickly. They must be improving their network. It took less than a minute to download. Took longer to actually install the update.

I set up a userID for myself and X on the PS3. I am the master account and it will auto login to the Playstation Network with my ID. I have my PS3 plugged in to a switch by cable so I am not using the wireless just yet. But I want to see if I can connect my PSP and PS3 through the wireless. I updated mine just by downloading from the PSNetwork. Took only a few minutes for download, install and reboot. I am going to buy a Bluetooth headset to link with my PS3 for chatting. That way I can justify it in my mind since it will be usable with my PS3 and my cellphone.

I added a single friend and while I was playing Madden, I saw the notification that he signed on and saw a notification that he sent me a message. I couldn't reply without quitting out of the game though.

Sony store was nice. Easy to use, little sluggish. Downloaded the motorstorm demo. That took about 10 minutes. Pretty slow for 500mb. The demo itself was worlds better than the kiosk version. Faster gameplay and no framerate issues.

I agree that the PSStore looks nice, but they need to start getting some content on there. Xbox360 had the same problem when they started too, so I know it will take time. But I have heard rumor of Neo Geo games going to appear on the PSStore for download and I would love me some Fatal Fury, King of Fighters and Samurai Showdown. Other than that I tried downloading the Motorstorm demo last night but it crapped out at 73%. I will try again tonight.

I set my online profile to autologin and that worked perfect. Also each time I restarted the system it auto logged me into my primary userid. I haven't added any additional ones yet so no idea how that will work after I have multiple. But I LOVE the fact that it logs in and I don't have to do it manually.

The games were good. Madden was very much like the 360 version. The menus were more sluggish and occassionally I noticed some jaggies but for the most part the graphics were great and the gameplay was smooth. I'm overall not a big fan of the new menus and I can't believe they didn't include a fantasy draft. Big disappointment EA.

Resistance was great. Had an initial install that took less than a minute. Load times during the game were quick.. ~30 seconds. The first thing we did was split screen co-op. I love the vertical split. GoW was a fantastic game but I hated the horizontal split for the same system co-op. The game was fast paced and the weapons were awsome. I also liked how you could actually headshot things for faster kills. Big plus in my book. The AI was pretty dumb for the average enemy. I'll have to see what Hard is like. I popped in a quick Ranked game. Not a lot of people playing out there. Ended up in a server with 6 people. The round score was set way too high for 6 people and I ended up playing that single round for almost an hour. I didn't want to quit as I heard that affects your ranking. A lot of fun though even with just 6 people. I love the pace of the game. Nice and quick.

Popped in the bluray movie Talledega nights. People are talking about it being a single layer and not as pretty as it could be. We'll see the comparison when I get superman returns. Its being shipped to me Monday from Amazon. Overall it looked just as good if not better than the better high def channels. It looked a little more crisp to me in 1080i over 720p. Makes me wish I had a 1080p TV to get the most out of it. I am disappointed that there is no auto setting to use the maximum resolution though. I had to switch it back and forth manually outside of the movie. I'll live with it but I'll be switching back and forth too much and I hate having to look up what a game is. I'll probably just end up leaving it on 720 because I'm lazy. Load time on the bluray movie was faster than my DVD player by a significant margin. I do have an older DVD player (really good for its time though) but I was impressed nonetheless.

I have only tested the system browser (went to Google; that was nice and it helps having the keyboard) and played some Resistance. I like Resistance and it plays smoothly and the graphics look great for a launch title. Tonight, X and I will try some Marvel Ultimate Alliance and I will most likely pop in Talledega Nights for a spot check. I heard another rumor that Sony will be implementing DVD upconversion in a future firmware update. I already have an upconverting DVD player hooked into my DVI port on my TV, but that is a nice gesture if Sony goes through with it. I leave most of my HD devices (upconverting DVD, HDTivo, Xbox360, PS3) at 720p because my TV manual says that is the best and most natural resolution that my TV displays. I have put things up to 1080i before but I don't really notice a difference and I think fast-moving action (like sports) show better in 720p on my TV. So I will most likely keep the PS3 at that resolution as well. I also plan on plugging in my WD 500GB external harddrive to the PS3 USB port to test if it will recognize the device and let me copy pictures and music off the external drive to the PS3. And if I can afford to and there is a title I want, I would love to import a PS3 game from Japan and see if it works. Supposedly, the games are no longer region coded on the PS3 so it would be worth the test.

Also, as a closing observation, I had the system on for over 5 hours and the vents were warm but not super hot. Its pretty close to what I would expect from a computer. I don't see the PS3 overheating unless you cover up the vents or put it on carpet.

Here's hoping for some quick future updates:

- Background downloading
- auto switching to maximum TV resolution
- controllers charging while system is off
- (really wishful here) ability to background a game or movie and bring up the crossbar for messaging and the like.

I agree with you on every point made, but I would also like to add that I want to place a background like I can on my PSP.

I hope you get your system soon. Over xmas I'll bring my controllers if you don't have 4 yet so we can play some 4 player games.

Do it!

-Dracos

So, those are some of our impressions. Here is a picture of my entertainment area before the PS3 was added.

Now, the obligatory picture of the PS3 box.

And now, pictures of the PS3 installed in the entertainment unit and a closeup of the PS3, respectively.

News from the South

So, it has been a long while since I last posted. Sorry about that. Hope everyone is doing well. I see Ammy had a good Thanksgiving. I had a very nice one as well. I spent the day with my parents and enjoyed a very good dinner prepared by Mom. I always enjoy spending time with Mom and Dad, so it was a wonderful day.

I did take a vacation back in October. I went with my family to Las Vegas, and some of my friends joined me as well. JerseyStrangler and his girlfriend, X, Ammy, myself and others all met up and I have to say we had an excellent time. I spent most of my time taking everyone all over the strip, kind of being the tour guide. I actually did not gamble much at all, only $100 at a blackjack table in the Las Vegas Hilton. I stayed at the Wynn Las Vegas, which is an absolutely beautiful hotel. Tried to take some pictured of my time there, which I hope to post sometime soon.

Otherwise, things are about the same here in Tampa. I'm just trying to start my Christmas shopping early this year so I am not scrambling later on. My sister and her family will be coming down here for the holidays this year, so it will be nice to see them.

Hmmm ... I have more to talk about, but that will probably make a seperate post. Talk to everyone again soon!