E3 Winds Down

So, the truncated E3 is down from 5 days to 4 since it shrunk in 2007, which means it's officially over and we have all the news updates to skim over and analyze from the previous week.  I saw a suprising amount of journalists lamenting over the short period since there were so many games to test, but too long of lines to get to them all.

Rather than try to be one of those blogging androids that covers all of E3 from all sides (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, independent hardware developers... and all the games being showcased), I will take the more humanistic approach and cover the highlights of the event.  Best thing is, since I'm not liveblogging the content, I can provide insight with the power of hindsight.

Not saying it wouldn't have been fun liveblogging the event, but that's what Twitter's for nowadays.  I'd also prefer to be at the presentations.  So we'll save those crazy antics for the day I get a press pass.

Now that you know my stance on the subject, keep your eyes peeled in the following weeks for updates on all the E3 announcements and their impact on how you'll be playing your consoles going forward.

Continue Reading E3 Winds Down

Since We Last Talked...

It's been a long, long time indeed! And since KuriNeko's last article, I've been there and back again in terms of gaming, visited Japan for a month and drooled over their game selection, and delivered Jimmy John's (but that's another story for another blog). I'll be more than happy to give you my story thus far- followed by some actual gaming industry goings-on.

Let's get started... after the jump, of course.

You might recall me covering the Wii. Quite a lot. I even sat outside a Toys 'R Us overnight after scouring tipster websites to get my hands on one.

Well, now my Wii has found itself a new home via eBay. Looking back on that little bugger, I realize how entertaining theory doesn't translate into extreme fun. After logging countless hours with Wii Sports, Super Monkey Ball, Wario Ware: Touched, and dabbling a bit into Zelda: Twilight Princess (never really did find the time to play this allegedly-awesome game, but there's always the Gamecube version), and flushing away some Wii Points on Ristar and Super Mario 64, I realized something.

I realized I wasn't playing the Wii. Heck, I realized I was avoiding the Wii.

I grew up on the controller and the couch-sitting that came with it. I also grew up on deep, complex games that entertained for more than 6 hours of fun, and had more depth than 3 repetitive hand motions.

Having to set up a sensor with line-of-sight to my couch? I can't just turn this thing on- I need to learn the art of "laser adjustment"?

Where were the beefy, console-defining Wii games? Mini-game inspired releases? That's what the online store is for. Spare me the ping pong simulators.

Eventual promises of Mario, Samus, and Leon? What about now? What's keeping me with you, Wii, while XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 get these revolutionary titles that not only look beautiful, but contain the whole package?

What about online connectivity? Friend codes- 16-digit codes that need to be traded person-to-person (unless you use some online communities which act as code mediums) are hardly my idea of "playing online with everyone, everywhere, on a revolutionary system"? I was expecting XBOX Live, and I got the equivalent of trading my driver's license information to even interact with others.

I was monumentally let down by my purchase, yet consistently impressed by the next-gen news bits that XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 were generating.

Long story short, I wanted a hardcore and cutting-edge gaming experience, and Wii positioned itself in the casual/low-tech market. It just wasn't meant to be.

A few weeks after Microsoft announced the XBOX 360's price drop, I jumped ship and shelled out $400 for a used XBOX 360 Elite. It's sexy, it's a powerhouse, and it's gaming I'm used to. I cannot recall how long it's been since I got "sweaty palm" while unloading machine gun rounds into clone armies- but man did I miss it.

Now, I have a (relatively tiny) game library that was the same size as my Wii's back last Christmas, and I log at least an hour a day on my sleek, black Box. I won't even guess how much that'll increase once Halo 3 arrives. It's going to be good times.

And, as expected, I've been playing my fair share of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. I've been cutting back lately due to burn-out and real-life reasons, but the game's still a staple in my gaming diet, and I have no intentions of stopping. I probably should, but it's just too dang fun.

And so ends the catch-up. Now let's move on to better, and juicier, goodies. I say we start with... Sony. Big Bang, anyone?

Continue Reading Since We Last Talked...

A Challenger Appears! / Burning Crusade Burnt

Well, it seems I'm getting my hands on even more blogging content for the next few months! From now until April, my time will be a little split between this blog and my new collaborative blog, Game Industry Weekly. However, since it's not a huge time commitment over there, don't expect to see any fewer entries here.

So, I guess this post is more of a plug. If you're more interested in seeing some game-only news- be it business or general nonsense- head over to Game Industry Weekly!

On another note, due to the hard drive wipe and all, most of my pictures for my Burning Crusade entry have been wiped. I've been fervently attempting to re-take all the pictures I can, but since most of my time is spent in the latter areas of the game, there's a large (and crucial) gap between levels 60-66. When I have the time, I'll attempt to re-do the shots.

That's all for this week. Hope you're enjoying KuriNeko's content, and expect more gaming-related entries soon!

Continue Reading A Challenger Appears! / Burning Crusade Burnt

HDD, R.I.P. [Update]

Today marks the end of a legacy for my (short-lived) 1 1/2 year-old hard drive. To be honest, it was doomed from the get-go- what with my 24-hour computer usage- but it makes me sad to part so soon. Aggravated, too- it couldn't have picked a worse time, because it just up and died with all my files on it during a hectic weekend.

For a few weeks, it emitted its pitiful cries for help in the form of high-pitched, data wheel-crying hums. Then the inevitable final moments were upon it, where critical-error BSOD's boxed me into having to manually power down the machine. Today, its motors decided to spin no more, and I was left with this nondescript error message: "A disk read error has occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart." Oh, and if those instructions are followed, you're entered into a never-ending loop of the same error message.

Hard drive of perpetual misery, ye shall be missed- until I get my new hard drive. Then I'll probably be the gladdest person to see you tossed in the scrap metal heap. You were buggy, slow, unreliable, and out of warranty. It was meant to be. I just wish the crew hadn't sunk with the ship, or this ordeal would be easier to deal with.

However, in this experience, I think there is a valuable lesson to be learned about technology in general. Even I, after experiencing many a hardware failure, accidental format, and fried motherboard am caught off-guard most of the time. Ideally, you'll take the early signals and make preparations. Alternatively, you can end up like me.

On to the words of wisdom (brought to you by pain and misery!):

How do you know if the hard drive is "dead"? Well, there's a few hints:

• Your computer errors ultimately reference some error with a "disk" (and doesn't mention CDs or floppies).
• You no longer feel a vibration where your hard drive is while your computer is booting up (and while confronted with an error screen).
• Your hard drive will blue screen on startup, while making certain noises (like the aforementioned shrieking hums).
• While booting, you can't enter anything but BIOS. If pressing F8 leads to blackness (or has no result whatsoever), you're probably in need of repair. It would normally give you options to boot to Safe Mode.
  

How to avoid my situation (which, trust me, you want to do):

• Keep an external hard drive nearby and make weekly back-ups while you sleep.
• Be proactive with hard drive malfunctions, not reactive. I didn't have the budget to afford a new hard drive, but after figuring in the cost of a drive, repair costs, and lost data, it would've been worth my while to just splurge while the old thing was alive.
• Search for your computer's symptoms via online forums and user groups. Google Groups is a great place to start, and from there you can peruse Google's search results (which usually bring up the forums that'll help you).
• Make sure to store smaller pieces of data online. $4.95 is a small price to pay to keep your files on a server (I recommend 1&1, or utilize your school/organization's server space). Just download SmartFTP and upload your files. It's a headache saver.
• Never think a computer issue can be put off for a few weeks until you're freed up. As denoted in Murphy's Law, things will inevitably go bad when you least expect- or want- it.

What NOT to do:

• This applies to seemingly-dead-but-still-alive drives: Don't think formatting is a solution to a screwed-up hard drive. This is one of the options the Windows Recovery/Repair tool recommends (unwisely!). You'll just end up with an empty hard drive that can boot Windows. Those projects and e-mails you needed? Well, if you want those back (and traditional recovery software fails), prepare to shell out some heavy sums to have professionals disassemble your hard drive and manipulate the magnetic waves to restore data. Rates usually start around $600.
• Do not think this is a do-it-yourself project. Fixing a hard drive is nothing to mess around with, especially if there's crucial data you want to save. I resorted to Geek Squad (not 100% recommended, but more reliable than your random tech store). Just pick somewhere you trust.
• Do not treat your hard drive like a football. Just because it's broken doesn't mean your data went into a black hole, and thus, you should treat it like it's still working. It's easy to want to smack it around to try and "knock it into compliance", but this comes at the risk of destroying your data.

So, my recommendation is to take my bad experiences and use them to your benefit. In the meantime, I'm forced to shop for a replacement drive while my dead one sits in a Geek Squad queue bin. I'm also forced to locate an alternative PC so I can continue playing World of Warcraft (level 70- oh so close!) and doing work. ...Don't mind how I arranged those two, I assure you they don't represent how I prioritize things.

[Update: So, I got my hard drive switched after being told the data was (you guessed it) unrecoverable without some crazy-complicated techniques (rates starting at... $500!). I'm still investigating options as to how I can restore the data, but next weekend will probably be dedicated to fishing through my GMail and servers for recoverable files. My music and iTunes library are lost forever. I'll need to download all my programs again, or attempt to find their CDs. And after all that, Geek Squad ran about $190 (travel included) for the hard drive and labor. This is the last time I'll ever ignore shrieks of pain from any hard drive.]

Continue Reading HDD, R.I.P. [Update]

New Link! - Wowhead

World of Warcraft enthusiasts, I'd like to shift your attention to the right side of this blog, right below the Firefox logo. You notice what's different? No?

It's Wowhead, a World of Warcraft database that has, in my opinion, overtaken Thottbot in terms of information available, intelligent and useful commentary, and overall up-time and server performance. It has transformed from a mediocre beta to a powerful database giant in little over a month (no doubt due to the surge of players returning for The Burning Crusade).

Let me explain a bit about these databases, and why this is a monumental achievement, after the break.

In such massive worlds as MMORPGs, there are countless quests, areas, monsters, items, and professions. Of these thousands of things, you're only one person with so much time available to play the game. To not be perpetually stuck and frustrated, you'll need help finding objectives, whatever they may be.

You have a few options:

1. Ask in General chat for help. This usually results in nothing, or sarcastic remarks... to use a WoW database.
2. Ask within your Guild. This also usually results in silence, as nobody wants to have to research stuff you can do yourself.
3. Buy a strategy guide. However, even this lacks in specific quest/item information, and is typically a waste of $20, especially when better information is available online for free.
4. Use a WoW database. And make sure to pick a good one.

Being a Thottbot user for years, I was always skeptical of new databases that came along (or ones that have been there forever), such as Allakhazam, WoW Guru, Goblin Workshop, and the like. They all had information available, but not in a convenient format. Most of the time, they were no help at all. The method they get this data is by data mining files and player kill statistics (via a program a user can opt to download to collect data). This, as you can expect, is only useful in so many ways.

If you need to kill 20 monsters of type X, then this data mining is perfect. However, if you need to use an item on a hill near Telaar in Nagrand, there's no way the program can tell you where to go. This is where the database's community comes in, and offers hints and directions to complete the quest to fill in the website's data-collecting gaps. In short, with no community, a database is bunk.

Even more importantly, a database is useless if it's constantly down, disorganized, poorly laid-out, or bogged down with traffic. A poor user experience can turn the contributing community away to other databases, and all you're left with is a slow, empty database that doesn't help.

So, now that we know what has to go into a database, how does Wowhead surpass the rest? Simply put, it manages everything perfectly.

• It has a very logical, well though-out layout.
• The appearance is appealing to the eyes, and doesn't look like a boring website full of data (Web 2.0, so pretty!).
• It has a great community (with a comment rating system) that self-manages itself to ensure each quest is accurately described.
• The information contained is complete- there's no missing quests or items from what I can tell.
• It's fast as an F1 formula car compared to most other databases, especially Thottbot.

All these elements make Wowhead lead the pack in WoW databases.

Give the search box to the right a shot. If you're playing, search for a quest you're lost on. If your experience is anything like mine, you'll be on your way to level 70 in no time.

Wowhead Search Applet:

Continue Reading New Link! - Wowhead

Upcoming- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Supa-Introduction!

As those who know me in real life have noticed, I've been a tired man these past few days. I have slumped back into a hermit-like existence, only coming out to answer nature's call and consume adequate subsistence. And I blame it all on Blizzard (and maybe a little bit on my time management), who decided now would be the best time to release their very first expansion for World of Warcraft.

Yes, the oft-lauded The Burning Crusade expansion is out in Europe and America, and will soon be released worldwide for everyone to lose sleep, friends, and skin color in numbers not seen since the last 400-hour Dungeons & Dragons Fest V.

I've been plugging away at getting my character leveled up on par with my guild, and in case WoW news isn't your thing, there seems to be a man who "ding"'d 70 after a scant 28 hours of playing the game. Now that's scary.

But if you're worried this expansion will be a $40 "added sword and a zone or two" type of expansion, fret not. Why? Well, you'll see when I do a more formal report (with pictures aplenty!) later next week.

In the meantime, you'll have to excuse me- I'm on my way to level 64. I'm also on my way to lowering my grades, but that's a much less news-worthy adventure.

Continue Reading Upcoming- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Supa-Introduction!

Back in Business

It's been a good, long vacation on this side... and I now announce my return! After trudging through exams, blog version transitioning, and holiday chaos, it's good to be back. I reckon it's about time to dust off the ol' cobwebs this blog might have accumulated and open the valve of blog updates. May they flow like water!

While I peruse the Interweb for newsworthy stories and gadgetry, you can kick back and chill. This blog's purpose always has been, and for the determinable life of this blog will be, bringing you information and technology releases in an interesting, reader-friendly fashion. "Information" is a general term, so let me categorize it as "digital culture-related information". This spans from software to websites to gaming- and beyond.

So, here I am again, typing up blog entries in hopes you enjoy (and learn). You learn from my posts, I learn from your wisecracking comments in respective posts, and as a whole... we benefit! Come join, won't you?

Image Credit: jane_britanico's Flickr Photostream. That isn't me at the resort- but I wish it was...

Continue Reading Back in Business

Blogger Beta GET!

Awriiiiiiight, I finally got my hands on the Blogger Beta that I've been dying to try out for quite some time. Fortunately, I joined right around the time they figured out little "tweaks" that made my blog look pretty to begin with, so the cosmetic transition should have been flawless.

Now, just a little more time, and I'll have a real entry update! A little more time...

Continue Reading Blogger Beta GET!

Mirai & You

If you've been following the updates on this blog, you'll notice I've been gearing towards being a more column-like resource. I've also been working with some code (which in my opinion should've been pre-built into Blogger) to reduce post length via "expandable posts", whereby clicking the "Continue Reading" link below each article will bring you to the full shablam. I also inserted a "Recent Comments" section, just in case visitors start to comment, to make viewing new comments easier for both you and me.

Please note, there may be expandable links where there is no further content. If you feel an article is over after reading what's present on the page index, it probably is.

Moving away from tech updates, I've been deliberating day in and day out what to do with this blog. Not to get all artsy with my thinking process, but I've come to a reasonable theme: e-culture. A broad (perhaps too broad) topic which expands past mere technology and gaming, and delves into the online culture that continuously permeates the society we live in.

While you will no doubt see a plethora of game updates & commentaries- it is my self-proclaimed forté after all- you should also see an increase of articles encompassing gadgetry, explanations of e-lifestyles and e-subcultures, question-and-answer themed articles, and much more. I will be doing my best to tie in the work I do here with a college-based publication I work with, so please bear with me if you see duplicates of my stories within anything entitled "SHEI". The majority of my work will be blog-exclusive, of course, but I see nothing wrong with contributing relevant articles to a great, evolving publication.

Galiene also has a World of Warcraft-themed article in the works, primarily aimed at Priests last I've seen, so check back soon to see the completed version!

As always, we strive to make your visit here informative and relatively painless, so let us know if any features we have annoy you, or if we are lacking something elementary.

And the blog moves on...

Above photo from Alen Lin: http://flickr.com/photos/alenlin/

To Recap:

• Expandable Posts
• Recent Comments Tracker
• "I Heart Kurineko" Mission Statement; Future Articles & Ideas
• Galiene's Upcoming WoW Priest Coverage
  

Continue Reading Mirai & You

Abandon All Hope, All Ye Who Enter... Ha Ha! Just Kidding. No, Don't Run Away...

Let me be the first to welcome our newest contributor, and my real-life object of affection, Galiene!

She'll be assisting me in updating, editing, and maintaining this blog. Since she brings a casual, newbie flare to MMORPGs, my hope is she can cover things from a perspective I cannot. Being around MMORPGs all most of my life, I may get a jaded (or entirely wrong) opinion about things. She's also helping me spearhead a Second Life business venture we're both working on initiating, so if you stick around, you're bound to see more of her.

Galiene also brings more of an artistic flare with her. Where I am one for technicalities and simplicity, she has an overwhelmingly better taste for visual content as a whole.

So without further adeiu, Galiene, make your presence known!
(Gal, by the by, reports on Second Life economic trends due by Friday)

Continue Reading Abandon All Hope, All Ye Who Enter... Ha Ha! Just Kidding. No, Don't Run Away...

Makeover & Purpose

It's rainy outside, I'm in a public computer lab, and I keep looking at gaming blogs. You know what that means right? Right?!

Yes, a slight blog overhaul.

You'll notice some mini-ads from Google AdSense at the top (feel free to click) below the header, a new footer with my e-mail and contact information (in case commenting just won't suffice), and some revamped links.

I'm still mulling over a specific purpose/focus for this blog, which is the most difficult aspect of blogging I've come across so far. I have no real niche in anything at this point, but every day I'm scouring the Internet looking for that elusive "focal point" of my thoughts which I can pull from for writing inspiration. I'd like to say I'm leaning towards gaming, and this may very well be the case.

So, whether you look here often or not, if you'll put up with my random commentary for just a little bit longer, maybe someday soon you will see a direct focus of this "news" outlet. If not, I guess you can expect to read my blog with a spice of randomocity.

Enjoy the changes. I will be thinking of a blog focus.

Continue Reading Makeover & Purpose

It's about Blog Time

Yeah, I might as well put this baby to some use, seeing as how I have it and have been dying to put content in.

This blog... will be about nothing in particular. I won't be a photographer or artist uploading my best artistic creations; I won't be a poet or writer posting new chapters of my upcoming collection; I won't be a music creator (yet) sampling out my sound clips.

I will be your every-man updater of things I find sparking with interest, from every facet of life. My personal concentration- gaming and technology. However, I'm all up for Asian culture, business, and an occasional brush with politics.

Heck, maybe you'll see some of my photographer/Photoshopper side come out in the upcoming months.

Point is, I hope this blog entertains as much as it'll serve for me to see my writing progress, myself mature, and the world evolve. Here's to new beginnings.

Continue Reading It's about Blog Time