While I was out of town last week I received an e-mail from Electronic Arts (EA). The e-mail informed me that my old “EA” account would now be known as an “Origin” account. My initial reaction was, “why do I even have an EA account?” Then I remembered. The reason I have an EA account is because, after buying a used copy of the last Need for Speed game for the PlayStation 3, I was forced to create an EA account to play the game online. Then, after doing that, the game informed me that I was going to have… (read more)
Disclaimer: I passed on the opportunity to have dinner with Robb Sherwin back in 2007 when the two of us were (separately) attending the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. “He’s funny, you’re funny, come have dinner with us,” said a mutual friend of ours. Unfortunately I already had plans to visit the Pinball Hall of Fame with other friends of mine that evening, so I had to decline the offer. Their pack of nerds went one way, my pack of nerds went another, and fate was postponed for a couple of years. Since then, Sherwin and I became mutual… (read more)
My parents brought home our first home Pong console in the fall of 1977, shortly after I turned four-years-old. The following year we upgraded to a Magnavox Odyssey 2, and in 1979 we purchased an Atari 2600. I have literally been playing video games my entire life; I’m a grown up gamer that grew up gaming. I’ve watched the video game technology grow and expand infinitely, back from its humble monochrome roots in the late 1970s to the hi-definition graphics, digital surround sound audio, and online multi-player gaming experiences we take for granted today. When you’ve been around as long… (read more)
Last week at the 27th annual Chaos Communication Congress (CCC), a group calling themselves “fail0verflow” displayed the single-most important PlayStation 3 hack to date. A few months from now, when everybody who wants one has a modified PS3, you’ll be able to point your finger back to fail0verflow’s CCC presentation and say, “that is where is all began.” Just like the original Xbox, the PlayStation 3’s defenses didn’t fall to pirates, but to Linux experts. The quickest way to have your security precautions ripped out of your device, run up the flagpole and laughed at is to prevent people from… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on November 8th, 2010 in Console Video Games(Aren’t I the clever one!) Last year, a hack was released that allowed gamers to connect USB hard drives to their Nintendo Wiis, allowing them to store copies of their games (and play them) from the hard drive. While this sounded really cool, the last time I looked at it the instructions were fairly complicated, and I didn’t have any real incentive to get it working. Fast forward to this past weekend, when I found my copy of Rock Band had been chewed beyond repair by either the dog or the five-year-old (surprisingly similar bite patterns). After finding that, I… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 17th, 2010 in Console Video Games, MainWhen it comes to gaming, I’m not one of those guys (nor have I ever been) who is particularly loyal to any one single manufacturer. I buy what I like, regardless of who makes it. You could say in regards to specific gaming brands, I’m “gaming agnostic” — I own a PlayStation 3, an Xbox 360, and a Nintendo Wii. This is the disclaimer one has to give if a person plans on saying anything for or against a gaming company — and even then, most public responses will quickly spiral into a pile of fanboy mudslinging. Sony’s PlayStation 3… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on May 13th, 2010 in Console Video Games, MainYet another case of consumers getting screwed. This week, Nintendo released a new version of the Nintendo Wii. It’s just like the old Nintendo Wii, except it’s black. Apparently, that’s enough to get lots of Wii owners excited enough to buy a new one. The Nintendo Wii includes a Virtual Console. Games for the Virtual Console are purchased online and downloaded directly on to your Wii, where they are stored. There are approximately 350 games available on the virtual console, each one costing between $5 and $12. So right about now you might be asking yourself, “How do I get… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on May 4th, 2010 in Console Video Games(I’m not sure who I wrote this for or where I submitted it to, but I found it on my hard drive and decided to post it here before deleting it. Enjoy!) In one of the earliest copyright lawsuits involving video games, Atari Corporation sued Magnavox over the release of their 1981 game K.C. Munchkin, claiming it was a direct rip-off of Pac-Man. Although Atari had previously purchased exclusive rights to publish the first home version of Pac-Man, they had not yet released their (infamously bad) conversion for the Atari 2600 when Magnavox beat them to the punch. Magnavox won… (read more)
Sony’s decision to remove OtherOS from the PlayStation 3 could change the future of all electronic devices as we know them. You may not agree with or even completely understand that statement yet, but if you own anything (even a computer or a phone) that connects to the Internet, I urge you to read today’s post. Today’s story begins back in 2006 with Sony’s release of the PlayStation 3 (PS3). The PS3 was (and still is) the most advanced video game console ever released. In fact, the console was so powerful that not only could it also play both PS2… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on February 11th, 2010 in Console Video Games, MainFor the second year in a row, Mason decided to go with a Nintendo-themed Valentine’s Day box for school. Last year, Mason and I made this Nintendo Wii box: That’s his box on the right, and a real Wii on the left for comparison. Covering a box with white paper turned out to be a pretty good idea, as it lets you fill in all the details with a black marker. All we really had to add was a piece of licorice for a Wiimote strap which, if I remember correctly, had either been pulled off or eaten (probably both)… (read more)
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