Softmii'd

Woot! I have officially softmii'd my wii! It took about 6 hours to finish and get everything up and running, but it's working great now. What does Softmii'ing your wii do? Simple: it modifies (without any hardware mods or chips) the wii so that the official homebrew channel is created giving you loads of options (that I'll let you discover) to install/operate with the wii that could never have been done before (example; music player). If anyone is interested here are some links to get you started. This does require some technical savvy though as about 3.5 of my spent hours were me figuring what to do on my own. The guide helps with most of the major work, but inevitably people will run into their own special glitches, ha.

Here's the guide. Follow and read it carefully. (Link)
Here's a site that helped with the installation of non-HB Channel stuff. (Link)

Comment with any questions and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction if any problems arise.

Note: My wii is currently v4.1U (NTSC-U) and I have a successful installation of Softmii. You shouldn't have to worry about downgrading.

Aion News

For all of those who have been following what is probably the future of MMORPG's, Aion's open beta officially closes tomorrow. So enjoy all the time you can on the serv today. Aion is nearing completion (woot!) and this is a nice taste of what it's all about. Aion will be on American shelves Sept. 22, 2009.

Here's a nice [HD] vid of what the game is shaping up to be. Its looking pretty different from the first versions. (video)
Here's a great look at all of the classes aion has to offer. (video)

System reqs as of now:

Minimum System Specifications:
Microsoft Windows XP SP2
2.8GHz CPU or equivalent
1GB RAM
NVIDIA 5900 Ultra with 128MB RAM / ATI x700 with 128MB RAM or higher
15GB Hard Disk space
DVD-ROM drive
Direct X 9.0c (6/2008 update)
Sound Device
Broadband Internet Connection

Recommended System Specifications:
Microsoft Windows XP SP2 / Vista
Dual Core CPU 2.0GHz or equivalent
2GB RAM
NVIDIA 6800 with 256MB RAM / ATI x800 with 256MB or higher
15GB Hard Disk space
DVD-ROM drive
Direct X 9.0c (6/2008 update)
Sound Device
Broadband Internet Connection

NCSoft is using fantastic coloring in their production. Check it out.



(credit for pics goes to aion.com)

Dual-(Full)-Screens

So, say that you're working on your laptop and think to yourself, "Dang. I wish I had two screens so that I could work and browse twice as fast...", say no more. gScreen has been working on a full-size dual screen laptop for a while now. Officially known as "The dual screen laptop company" (according to their own site, ha), gScreen gives some promising news to those of us who desire double the screens on our laptops. Now gScreen was not the first to come up with this idea of two screens. The Lenovo W700ds was one of the first dual-screen laptops. (see a photo of it here.) Weighing in at a whopping 11 lbs., the W700ds was no modern "notebook". Neither is gScreen's new creation, named the "Spacebook 2009". Weighing about the same weight, gScreen plans to ship with monitors coming in 15.4", 16", and 17". The screens also fold into one if you only need one for casual use. Awesome. This is gonna be perfect for software developers/programmers like me. But, not only does it have more viewing space than the bay window in living room, it has power. The Spacebook will be running a selection of Intel core 2 Duo 2.26Ghz processers, 4 gigs of ram, and a Nvidia 9800M GT or Nvidia Quadro FX 1700M graphics card, a 320gb, 7,200rpm hard drive, a nine cell batterie, AND will also be running windows 7 (optional XP pro) when it starts shipping, which will hopefully be this Christmas according to Gordon Stewart (founder of gScreen). Whether windows 7 runs well or not is entirely NOT up to them, ha. Stewart wanted to assure customers that, "It is absolutely the opposite of a netbook.", and it does seem that way. Stewart is hoping to keep the price of this beauty under $3,000. Mmm. I would honestly say that a price like that could be justified for this kind of art. The Spacebook 2009 brings power, viewing space, productivity and innovation to people like me who really need something like this. Having two or more windows is almost standard issue in the technical work environment now and I imagine many companies will be looking into this for their employees.

(Thanks goes to Gizmodo for the pic and some of the facts)
(Other facts like specs come from here)


Cheers!

OnLive Launching!

As of March this year, OnLive decided to unveil its new idea for video games. (The service has been in development for 7 years). It's not a new console. Instead, it is one of the best looking onDemand game services to be released in a long time.
Onlive is said to be releasing near christmas 2009. The won't be any costs for the console as it will be made available via a small plugin that will be downloaded. Whether or not the plugin will cost anything has yet to be decided though.
If you're wondering about whether or not your PC will be able to handle the (rather fast) increasing requirements for games worry no more. OnLive will be running the games on their servers, so all that will be required from the consumer is an internet connection of at least (1.5Mbps) (1). If you need to test your internet speed go here. However, for HD resolution on games, 5Mbps is required. Ha, that kind of speed isn't even available where I live. Plus side? Onlive is saying that downloading a full game will be "instant." That's because, for now, games will be streamed onto your TV or PC. Some people think that this could make the graphics go way down in order to keep the fps at 60. For those types of people I recommend this video. (Crysis Wars) I think that many people will still look into this, because of the flexibility of the system. Those with high-end internet connections can afford HD resolution on some great games without having to worry about buying a massive gaming rig that requires a down payment. Also, people who have standard broadband will be able to enjoy a much larger selection of games without having to shell out money for a new console.
System requirements so far:
-A PC running the current version of Windows XP/Vista
OR
-A Mac running the current version of OS X

That, I can do. Even on my laptop. But, that might not be what you, the customer, wants. OnLive made sure that they are not PC exclusive. With the Onlive MicroConsole, users don't even need a PC. The MicroConsole is a small box that has spots for 4 wireless/bluetooth controllers, 2 USB ports for a USB controller, mouse, or keyboard. It also has a micro-USB power port, a standard A/V port, an Ethernet port (woot!), and an S/PDIF op out. If you want to see pic of this rather sleek looking box, go here.
OnLive is looking to bridge the gap between Console owners and PC owners and it seems like they're doing a darn good job. As of now Onlive has 16 major titles that will be available for download. (see list here.) No announcement has been made about the cost of subscription or the price of the box yet, except that it will cost less than any one of the current consoles out.

For a video of the E3 presentation of OnLive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5oIr4o_MIk
(This mostly looks at how the browser works.)


1. http://www.onlive.com/service/faq.html
(credit for pic goes here.)

Cheers!

A Quick Non-Tech Note...

Hey! It's been a couple days since I wrote anything. Sorry 'bout that (College = intense). Just wanted to let everyone know about an awesome band (one of my favorites) who just recently announced their new album (due out in stores October 6th) and I had to give them a shout out. Relient K's new album "Forget and Not Slow Down" should be sweet. Be sure to check it out as I'm sure they'll post a song or two from it on their myspace soon enough. Laters!

Photo from here.

First Post! Woot!

Greetings to all you readers! Today, I'm looking at Microsoft's new idea to bring back the consumer: Project Natal. Some of you may be following this closely, some of you may not have heard of it. Then, there are those who, after receiving the " 3 red lights of doom" want nothing to do with Microsoft anymore. I understand how you feel. But have a little faith, because Microsoft is showing some serious promise with this new idea. Now, we can't forget that the reigning champion for motion controls is Nintendo, but this goes beyond motion controls. Project Natal, if done right, could bring video games (not to mention Microsoft) to a new level of respect. We all saw how successful Wii Fit was. (Scoring #3 in the top selling games of 2008 with 4.53 million units sold).(1) Natal has the potential to be an even bigger break through in gaming, coming closer than ever to putting players "on the battlefield" and "behind the wheel".
Microsoft announced Project Natal during this year's E3 (June 2-June 4). Paul Jackson, principal Forrester analyst, says that Natal will, "remove that final barrier between you sitting in your room and...what's on your screen."(2) Microsoft is definitely going to have to know what they're getting themselves into on this one, so that consumers aren't faced with another, later, and more expensive version of... you guessed it, virtual boy. "Want a self induced headache? Play this thing for an hour!" (3)
But, that does not seem to be the case. According to a report submitted by two testers for Gizmodo, things are coming along quite nicely. The Natal uses two cameras to create a very smooth working radar for movement from the user. One RGB camera, sensing facial recognition and one infrared camera, for tracking movement and depth, which is slightly more like the wii remote, minus the accelerometer (what's that? go here: [ http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/tutorial_info.php?tutorials_id=43]). However, Natal tracks the body in real time using 48 points it creates on you, the player. Natal also supports full voice recognition. Pretty sweet. It sounds like Microsoft is putting together a nice gift for its faithful xbox 360 owners, as well as hoping to attract some wii customers. Don't expect this on the market for you too soon though. G4 had an interview with John Schnappert, Microsoft's gaming executive and corporate VP, and he didn't want to reveal anything about the release date (if he actually knew). He did mention that they were shipping to developers, which points to some significant progress on Microsoft's part, considering we all know how much a deadline means to Microsoft... If you want to read the interview go to: [http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/696055/Microsoft-Wont-Discuss-A-Release-Date-For-Project-Natal-Yet.html]
Microsoft may not be the first in video games to come up with the motion sensor idea for it's console, (it's actually the last) but if things go well for Project Natal, it could be the best. We'll see what happens.
For more info on Natal (especially the E3 debut and the first video ads) : [http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/]
If you're looking for the Natal Spec sheet go here: [http://www.project-natal.net/project-natal-specs/]
Also, the Gizmodo report: [http://gizmodo.com/5277954/testing-project-natal-we-touched-the-intangible]

Thanks and enjoy!


Sources:
1. http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/npd-nintendo-drives-08-industry-sales-past-21-billion-/?biz=1
2. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10253892-235.html
3. http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/vboy/review/R50851.html

(credit for pic goes to: Gizmodo.com)

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