Hello technology enthusiasts! For those of you following the Geek Show Podcast on a regular basis, you may have heard Leigh George Kade a month ago make reference to an “article” that I had written and sent him and Kerry to check out for a possible chat on the show. As I found out from Swankmotron, this material was talked about in depth… when they weren’t recording and apparently drunk. And since then he’s been asking for a published copy for the website for both users and staff to peep out and comment on. …How could I disappoint.

For context reasons, I’m must note that this was not meant to be written up as an article, and will not read like one for the most part. It’s mainly comprised of footnotes, references and speculation on what will happen down the road in technology as related to Entertainment. This was written up specifically as a list of talking points for the Geek Show to chat about on the podcast and hopefully have a swear-filled discussion over. So please, bare with the poor formatting as I didn’t have two hours to fix it up proper.

The word going about is that 2010 will be a year of crossroads for media in all formats, and supposedly serious talk will start happening between major companies about the future of what they intend to do with each other, in areas of cross promotion and reformatting media. Right now it seems as if television is competing with streaming video, radio with podcasts, newspapers with blogs, and various other combinations where traditional formats are having to fight for their audience with the new. So here’s brief points on the talk that’s happening, and some thoughts over what might happen down the road. As a side note, I know I can’t see the future and neither can any of these companies, a lot is just guesswork and theory, especially since a lot of it is talk and not much funding has gone into these ideas yet. This is meant more for discussion, which I hope you the readers will provide plenty of.

TELEVISION

TV as a format is looking to lose the most in the coming years. The idea that a box in your house that you have to sit in front of to see select media (and that’s all it does) is becoming a taboo. Unless a show is a must-see program, people have become used to the idea that anything they need to see can be found on YouTube or Hulu in the morning. It didn’t help that the only major advancement in the past ten years has been High Definition and that the “move to digital” turned more people off from the format than brought them in. Even though DVR services are now provided to replace the old VCR, the propositions of forcing commercials into the program and removing the fast forward button from remotes is making people warry of TV in general. (And please, let’s not kid ourselves, 3DTV is NOT the future, it’s a sidestep.)

There’s been talk for about a year now that in the next few years, Google or Yahoo will launch their own online television station. Web exclusive, original programming and news, streaming to the entire world on a set schedule with the ability to look at a library of shows for a limited time. Unlike networks, both services use news from all current news sources including the AP, so logically they could put together newscasts from other news outlets with the ability for people to click on that story as the newscast goes on using their services. Programming like soaps, game shows, dramas and comedies would be easy picking since the majority of shows get six episode deals and are killed. Picture “Firefly” living beyond Season One with the online community that supported it so heavily. Since neither have ratings trends to meet, any hits they get from viewership would be a plus with no competition to fend off and the ability to advertise on the wings of the browser during the show. If planned out properly, a single online network could have worldwide appeal without having to cater to the FCC. The BBC has been experimenting with the idea, but have been exploring a way to gain immediate profit, which is near impossible.

The future talk for current broadcasters is that a traditional television set will become obsolete, and that the monitor itself will only play a part in seeing it. Some stations are experimenting with iPhone apps and downloadable broadcasts, but those are only in trials and not much is being done on a serious front. More on that down below.

RADIO

While my experience with radio is only minimal, the idea of radio has always been a bit of an enigma. While viewed as a free service that can’t compete with convenience, the overloaded commercial breaks and limited program by area hamper it. Satellite radio has its place, but again, paying for a service that isn’t regionalized or sounds generic makes it feel more as a passing fad than something sustaining for decades. Plus with the addition of digital radio stations trying to establish themselves and podcasts becoming downloaded more and more daily, competition is building.

The new ideal is taking the best of both and combining them into one. With the soon to be re-launched service for Sirius XM there is a plan for possibly expanding the US coverage and including sources from around the globe. Down the road you may soon see additional stations added from Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain and Australia. Not a wide selection, but enough to have at least singular stations from different areas in the world from fellow sat-radio company Eutelsat. There have been companies like Viacom and Time Warner making rumblings that they may join in the competition, but nothing has been invested. The closest competition would be 1worldspace, which is looking into the idea of getting select stations from across the US and making them available on their service. Picture (for us locals here) X96 on its own channel, referred to as “X96 – Utah: Channel 142” or something to that affect, being broadcast around the world with little delay. If it were to be successful, it could set in motion the revitalization of radio across the country and world as all signals would eventually be transferred to sat, and you could literally listen to the entire country (and maybe more) on your way into work.

Nationally there are a few people exploring this idea, but the only major company looking at this is Apple. Podcast Radio Stations. Basing it off the idea of finding some of the most popular across the country (let’s take Smodcast as an example), and giving them a timeslot on a weekly basis. Why download the episode when you can “tune in” on your PC or iPhone and listen to a new episode, then download it later when its convenient. Making it a reality is probably a long time off, especially since only dedicated people can pull off a new episode weekly, but the idea is at least being explored. (Incidentally, for those of you in the Utah area, I’d love to see a local version with all our local podcasts. Someone wanna give that a shot?) The closest to mixing marketing, advertizing, podcasting and information together would be NPR, specifically in their iPhone app giving you the ability to check their info out directly, as well as EVERY affiliate across the nation and their digital channels. As Swankmotron himself said to me, “Sure it’s government subsidized, but it’s a model worth looking at.” I couldn’t agree more.

PRINT

Clearly print is getting hit the hardest at the moment. And its not just in newspapers. Magazines, comics and even books are taking a blow in the age of digital media. While there is still a place in people’s hearts for a hard copy, generations coming up are viewing it as more of an inconvenience as they’re now living in an age where anything worth reading in their eyes can be found on the net. Sony’s eReader and Amazon’s Kindle are making strides on the book front, bringing latest titles for a subscription fee, but its not including the vast array of material you could get. The idea that they’re a store, not a library, is a bit hampering. The digital comic service is a big boom, but only Marvel seems to be on top of its game, leaving vast libraries untouched.

The ideal situation to come is to take all those formats and make them available in a single format to fit iPhone and Blackberry forms. Which most everyone is on their way to doing except for two… libraries and newspapers. The problem with papers is that for one to make the great leap would be for everyone to. The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News both use a source like the NYTimes as a reference. If the Times were to jump from paper to webpage tomorrow, the notion is that suddenly their credibility would be lost as they’d just be another “online source.” And very few have taken the same leap. Most are waiting to see how those select cities that have dropped the paper format work out over the next few years. The big advancement on the way is going to be from libraries. One in particular from Illinois (Oak Park Public Library) are using iPhones as both a library card and a downloadable source for content. Entire books scanned in as a PDF format to read, that can’t be passed around to transferred, and will expire when they need to be “returned.” Its only for books, no audio formats set up yet, and probably won’t be doing films, but it gives way for multiple people to have the same book out at once.

GAMING

Video games are sitting on the cusp of complete digitalization. You still have to go to a store and buy the game, yes. But all other forms of media that can be found on there are now downloadable. Netflix, Gamefiy, gaming sessions, content, etc. All you need is the internet connection and most everything can be downloaded to you. The only issue standing in the way is the ability for different platforms to make the games purchasable the same way iTunes makes music available. Assuring that they sell the game and the consumer gets it without issue, while being able to make a profit on it. Mega Man 9 is probably the best example to date of a game that was download only and was a major success. The only issue afterward is that of storage. Finding an affordable addition (either attached or installed down the road) for people to store the games and all their content so they run just as well as they would off disc.

ALL IN ONE

The dream at the moment, or at least for companies like Apple and Microsoft, is taking everything and making it available all in one direct format. Which logically is what you’d want your computer to be, but its not. Very few hook their tower up to their plasma or theater screen and watch material from there. The ideal situation would be to have the internet, television, films, literature, gaming and whatever else people can cram onto there for a home device, and smaller versions of it all for on-the-go mobility. As I said before, game consoles are being looked at as the closest to that dream with a few technical issues. You can’t see brand new films on them, you can’t watch broadcast or cable television, and net access is very limited. A Skype app would give it a home video phone appeal, but still limited to a degree. The closest that isn’t gaming is the iTV from Apple, but its still got issues with websites it will allow you to visit and content it will allow you to view.

What should happen is for all media sources to combined their efforts into all platforms and make their content available to all consumers. Picture the cable or dish box you have right now picking up streaming television stations, being able to check the email, listen to a radio station or podcast, play the latest video games, carry on a phone conversation, read a book (or have it read to you in audio format)… all from the living room. A laser remote and keyboard controlling it all. And give hookups so that you can transfer whatever you’re doing to your iPhone or Blackberry and continue with it as you go about your day. We’re so completely on the verge of making all that happen its insane, but the competition and uncooperative sense of greed between companies often makes it difficult for anyone to make the dream a reality. A lot of formats either need a change or are due to be left behind as something else comes along and leaves it far behind.

I’ve been playing Megaman since right before it became cool. In fact I attribute a great deal of its success due to the fact that I gave it the green light— I’m not bragging, it’s just the way it is. I followed the series progression all the way up to Megaman 8. A great game for Playstation, that not only included animated scenes, but also the robot masters were given awesome voices. All the while maintaining the classic Megaman gameplay. This is what I would call, a step in the right direction.

Then Megaman 9 came out… And now Megaman 10…

Yeah!… Finally!… Just what we needed another 8-bit side scroller. Why did I even need to buy a next-gen system? I can have just as much fun playing games that were designed for the NES. A system that came out over twenty years ago. So thanks Capcom for forgetting to add graphics… again— If you couldn’t tell I’m being sarcastic. I mean it’s the year 2010 for Christ sake, give us a gun that makes enemy’s explode into something better than white pixels.

I’m one of the unfortunate robots that accidentally paid for this piece of crap, and I don’t know what I hate the most about it. Was it the stupid robot bosses? Such as Sheep Man, a fluffy ball robot that turns into a storm cloud?

Or maybe what I hated the most was the stupid selection of weapons? For example: Ice Spike. A weapon that ejects a small amount of ooze out of your Megaman arm cannon, and literally drips onto the floor in front of you. The worst part of this stupid weapon is that you can only shoot one at a time, and I estimate it takes 5 seconds to dissolve.

The actual stages leading to the bosses seemed to be put together fine, what was stupid about them was the gimmicks each of them had. For instance, in all the Megaman games they implement platforms with pits in between and if you fall into them, you die. A really basic concept that has worked since Megaman’s inception. But in Megaman 10, (Commando Man’s stage in specific) they felt that wasn’t good enough. They said, let’s add a never ending supply of enemies that jump out of the pits whenever Megaman goes near, but not only that, let’s also add sporadic bursts of a sandstorm that completely block the players field of vision, while moving Megaman willy nilly all over the screen.

At least in Megaman 9 there was some challenge, now in Megaman 10 they added an easy mode for gamers that happen to be pussies. (I only ran through easy mode for review purposes.) And if you don’t believe me about making the game for pussies, in Megaman 10, doctor Wily drives a pirate ship. Literally. Then, rather than having to fight three forms in a row after you beat the first two forms of him, he runs away, you go through a level that doesn’t have enemies, they refill your life, and then you fight the final form that’s weakness is the common Pbuster.

I know I already thanked Capcom, but at this time I feel it would be prudent to thank them again. Thanks Capcom.

Overall Score:

The Force Unleashed was one of the most revolutionary and groundbreaking games in the Star Wars franchise.  It was fun and brutal, the gameplay was immersive (at least on the Wii), the story was incredibly enlightening and it cast a new light on Vader during the Dark Times.

It is the last Star Wars property that would deserve a Lego game, but it did deserve this Lego animation. 

This is one of the most capably put together Star Wars animations I’ve seen in a while and it had a pretty intense kinetic energy that I enjoyed.

And it was kind of funny, too.

Enjoy it.

Yesterday afternoon ps3 owners started to experience problems connecting to the psn or even playing games that have tropy support getting various errors. Sony has identified the problem and issued the following statement on their blog earlier this morning:

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:

• The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
• When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following
  message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been
  signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
• When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears
  on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install
  trophies. Please exit your game.”
• When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the
  Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date
  and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
• Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the
  PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.

For the latest status on this situation please continue to check either the PlayStation.Blog or PlayStation.com.

Keep checking back here. We’ll keep you updated when this problem is fixed.

Heavy Rain : PS3 -

2/23 – Track your missing son through a twisted web set by the Origami killer in this Playstation must have.

Endless Ocean : Blue World: Nintendo Wii -

2/23 – Travel across the globe, dive in exotic locations, enjoy interacting with over 350 different species of marine life, and explore sunken ruins.

Borderlands : The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC – PC, PS3, 360 -

2/23 – More borderlands DLC!!!! WOOOO!

Last Rebellion S3

2/23 – More JRPGness?

Risen:Xbox 360 -

2/23 – A four chapter medieval RPG

Every once in a while a game comes along that redefines how we feel about a genre, system, or an art style. It’s rare that a game comes along that changes the way we feel about gaming. Heavy Rain is what I believe to be that game.

Playing as Ethan, a father who blames himself for the death of his son. You begin combatting rigorous trials set up by the Origami killer, who has kidnapped your sole surviving son. While Ethan struggles on 3 other characters are placed into play: a private detective, a high-end fashion photographer Madison, and an FBI agent with a bad habit Jayden. The game play progresses by moving you from character to character playing out their chunks of the story one piece at a time. Every decision you make, and every button press you mess up or miss directly change the outcome, and possibly that characters fate. If you happen to get a character killed the game doesn’t end, it simply continues without that characters presence.

Never before have I felt concern for my characters as seriously as I do in Heavy Rain, and the developers do an incredible job of putting you in the moment. There are scenes in the game where I felt emotionally strained or frustrated because I couldn’t find the person I was chasing, or get through the crowd as fast as I wanted to while trying to escape. Blending that with a compelling story, and characters who at times feel alive made this game something I could not put down. Every moment of tracking the Origami Killer was a heart wrenching experience, and to make it better, there are multiple endings. Once finishing the game you see how each decision you made will change the outcome and what you could have done better. I’ve heard the developer recommends only 1 play through but how could you?! The game is so exciting and compelling that multiple play throughs would be easy.  Every thing you do with Ethan in his Saw style massicistic adventure leads to multiple avenues, rooms simply suggest, “How will i perform this?” “with what device?” Without giving away story points or well grotesque horror that can be caused, one trial literally had 4-5 different methods you could utilize to perform the task, and you still have the choice to not do it!  You simply wouldn’t gain more information about your sons location.

Heavy Rain is a must have for Playstation Owners, leaving this game out of your library would be a huge mistake. Quantic Dream has shown us what high end technology and video games are capable of. After finishing my first play through of this game I immediately started again, and will definitely be purchasing every piece of episodic content released, starting with the Taxidermist which should be available immediately. Order from Amazon Here

Liked:

• Strong character design with gorgeous graphics, complete freedom to play the game how you would. Treat people how you would and once again feel guilty for your choices.
• Innovative contro scheme that made me feel involved in the action, more than just shooting and fighting, the controls actually made me feel the strain of gameplay during tough scenes.
• Beautifully mixed surround sound audio that makes you feel like you are in the game, rain falling from all speakers and voices coming from good screen placement, and a gorgeously composed soundtrack.
• Everything this game had to offer

Disliked:

• The thought that people won’t play this

Score:

• Graphics – 10
• Audio – 10
• Gameplay – 10
• Replay – 10
• Story -10

Overall : 10

Don’t miss this release

Star Ocean is an action RPG. It plays similarly to the Tales of Destiny games in that the level and battle systems are closely related. What I like about both of these series is that the high-action battles keep you involved in the game the entire time while giving you all the basic RPG elements. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth game in the series and is announced to also be the last. But don’t let that stop you from picking it up, because this is a prequel to the entire series and the story and world are easy to follow along with.

The other thing I like about this series is the science fiction elements.  You’re basically cruising through the Galaxy looking for new planets to colonize post World War III when the Earth was decimated. This is also where the game gets its title, The Last Hope. The main character ‘Edge’ becomes the captain of a SEED ship, and the rest of your party consists of the crew. You go from planet to planet, recruiting members, and saving the inhabitants of those worlds.

I thought the battle systems were done really well. You get four members at a time, and you choose any one of them to control yourself while the other three are controlled by an A.I. . They use an active battle system, that isn’t turn based at all. (You get to use special ability’s and attacks as often as you like provided you have the MP.) While this sounds really simple, there is still a lot of strategy required. (Especially on boss battles.)

Each of the characters has their own abilities and fights in their own unique way. For example, the main character is really good at close combat, whereas his second in command (A girl named Reimi) is an Archer and is better at fighting at a distance. The variations on how to use your party are virtually endless.

The first thing I noticed about this game is that it is incredibly vast. But with the active battle system, and going from world to world, it hardly ever gets boring, and it’s always a delight to look at. The models are some of the best I’ve seen, for both the characters and the enemies. I’ve mentioned in a review of Avatar recently that video games seem to be much more adept at populating new worlds with interesting creatures and environments. This video game was successful in filling many worlds with life and story, that I consider to be a much greater accomplishment.

The international version offers the ability to play in either Japanese or English, which as a Japanese language student I find to be be a really good feature. Also as a North American it’s refreshing to actually see the release of an International version in general because it is so rarely done. (I’ve been waiting for a FF7 international version since 1997.)

The voice acting was done better than some of the games I’ve played recently, and was completely acceptable. Which is saying a lot, because unfortunately now a days, bad voice acting can kill a game. Although I do have to say some of the characters mannerisms were slightly annoying, I am certainly willing to give it a pass. (Especially because the games sound-track was really good.)

Overall, this is a really good looking game that’s fun to play for many hours with a definitive ending point, and a cool story. I highly recommend it. It makes me want to pick up the other games in the series as well.
You can buy your copy from Amazon through this link!

Score:

• Graphics : 9
• Controls: 8
• Audio : 8
• Replay: 7
• Story: 9
• Overall: 8.2
  

Here’s what games are kicking around town this week.

Alien Vs. Predator – XB360, PS3, PC:

2/16 – Enter the world of AVP, featuring 3 different story modes, and multiplayer with 3 different angles. I’ll have the scoop for you later this week.

Tropico 3 – XB360

2/17 – PC strategy gone console!

Ragnarok ds:

The MMORPG hits the ds.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3- PSP:

2/16- More multi-player fun for the psp, woo!

Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce – PS3:

2/17 – I should have something clever to say… think…think…..uh…It’s Dynasty Warriors.

Everquest II: Sentinel’s Fate – PC

2/16 – Everquest II lives on.

Crime Scene – Nintendo DS:

2/17 – Solve crimes and investigate mysteries using the touch screen, microphone, and other DS functionality.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles EdgeworthAce Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Nintendo DS

2/17 – Phoenix is back in another crime solving party. This will be good.

DSI Ware:

Real Soccer 2010
Spotto
Scrabble

Available 2/9 – Explore Rapture again, this time as a Big Daddy unraveling the mysteries behind Sophia Lamb’s cult followers.

Dante’s Inferno: PS3, 360

Available 2/9 – Loosely based on the epic poem, take Dante into hell to save his wife from it’s grasp.

World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars – Xbox 360

Star Ocean: The Last Hope: International – PS3

Available 2/9 -Remade from the 360 version this game hits 2.9 loaded with Playstation only goodies!!

Scene IT!: Twighlight – Nintendo DS

Available 2/9 – this game doesn’t get a summary. Eff sparkly vampires.

The Daring Game for Girls – Nintendo DS

Available 2/9 – Be a girl and be…..daring?

Family Party: 30 Great Games Winter Fun – Nintendo Wii

Available 2/9 – More Shovelware!

Super Monkey Ball Touch and Roll – Nintendo Wii

Available 2/9 -More monkey-ball related mayhem, sounds dirty but it isn’t.

Shiren The Wanderer – Nintendo Wii

Available 2/9 – Epic adventure

Darwinia+ – Xbox Live Arcade

Sins of a Solar Empire – Trinity – PC

Available 2/9 – mmm Space RTS.