GTA IV: Head to Head to Head Comparison

After searching for days for a reliable head to head comparison between the PS3 and XBOX 360 versions of the game, I came to the realization that no “reliable” journalist was going to point fingers at this game, especially considering the universal 10/10 marks.

There have been reports of texture pop in, frame rate inconsistencies, and longer load times for the XBOX 360 version ever since it was cracked. Most of these reports came from users of the cracked version available on torrent sites and 90% of these reports are found on forum posts so I won’t link them here. But if you read the reviews from Metacritic, especially the ones for the 360 that are scored below 100%, reviewers will mention such issues. One such review by MEGamers, mentions pop in to the point where “the pool table spawned right in front of the character, then the balls and then the texture details.” I can’t contest to the reliability to these sites, what build of the game they actually played for review or their machine specifications. While many reports across the net has stated that both versions of the game plays beautifully and the graphical glitches are few and far between. With that research under my belt, I decided to conduct my own head to head.

Before I begin, I will preface this article with a bit of background information to help you better understand my point of view:

• For the test, I used the following consoles:

o XBOX 360 Arcade Edition (no HDD) modified with latest custom firmware: DVD Drive speed 8X Benq, Falcon

o XBOX 360 unmodified Elite edition with 120GB HDD: DVD Drive speed 12X default Samsung, Falcon

o PS3 60GB Version: Last batch of manufactured 60GB with latest official firmware

• I am a PC gamer first, and I own a high end gaming rig that I built.
• I am used to a 24” monitor’s 1920 X 1200 resolution for gaming and daily work
• I run a 8800GT Overclocked by me, and a Core 2 Duo E6600 OC to 3.4mhz
• I am used to having my games take one hour to install (World of Warcraft anyone?)
• I am accustomed to load times taking between 1-10 seconds max.
• I play these games regularly and so my bias would be towards what I am used to seeing: World of Warcraft (PC), Team Fortress 2 (PC), Mass Effect (360), Rock Band (360), Guitar Hero 3 (360), Hot Shots Golf (PS3), Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Galaxy, God of War 2, Final Fantasy Tactics (PSP).
• I am not a fan-boy/girl as I do own all current gen, last gen, last-last gen, last-last-last gen, and portable systems. I believe that to be a true gamer, you must own all platforms where your creative media is publishes to receive the widest exposure

I have also 4 copies of GTA IV used during this test:

• Grand Theft Auto IV NTSC XBOX360-101 ISO burned at 2.4X with imgburn on Verbatim Made in Singapore DL disk using a Pioneer D212 Drive
• Grand Theft Auto IV NTSC XBOX360-101 ISO burned at 4X with imgburn on Verbatim Made in Singapore DL disk using a Pioneer D212 Drive
• Official Retail NTSC GTA IV PS3 Version
• Official Retail NTSC GTA IV XBOX 360 Version

Some additional background information:

• I have been playing the torrent version for the last week already
• I have spent a minimum of 1 hour with each version of the game
• I have not modified any of the default display settings
• The PS3 is connected via HDMI to DVI into a Sony Grand Wega Rear Projection displaying at 1080i on a 42” screen
• The Elite 360 is connected via component to the same Sony Grand Wega
• The modified 360 is connected via HDMI to a Samsung 37” LCD at 720P

I will begin to list the issues found on each version of the game.

Grand Theft Auto IV NTSC XBOX360-101 ISO burned at 2.4X:

• Load times from the first appearance of the Rockstar logo to the start of the cut scene was 36 seconds
• No pop ins were witnessed during the cut scene
• During initial drive back to your safe house, store fronts would pop in, textures of buildings would pop in and out, some cars were “floating” as the road beneath them did not load
• During cut scene in safe house, Roman’s hand would clip into the table
• Regular game play produced various pop in where whole buildings would not load in time. During a particular chase scene, I ran directly into a building because it didn’t load
• Tree textures would load one filter at a time (think from bare branches to fall colors layer by layer)
• Walking into the cabaret show, the entire room was white except for character model, then railings and structure started to load in wire frame first, then textures, and finally colors
• Cut scene during First Date mission showing the various entertainment locations took between 10-35 seconds each to load

Grand Theft Auto IV NTSC XBOX360-101 ISO burned at 4X (only difference from 2.4X are noted):

• Load times from the first appearance of the Rockstar logo to the start of the cut scene was 37 seconds
• Cut scene during First Date mission show the various entertainment locations was taking between 15-40 seconds to load

Official Retail NTSC GTA IV PS3 Version:

• Load times from first appearance of the Rockstar logo to the beginning of the HDD installation was 4 seconds
• Installation to HDD completed in 7 minutes and 25 seconds
• Colors of the PS3 version compared to the ripped ISO were more natural and less contrasted
• Aliasing was also noted to be smoother, you can tell the difference by paying attention to the ships various round openings during the cut scene, PS3 AA was much better
• Clipping was not noticed during any cut scene
• More detail was witnessed during initial cut scene for the road surface texture and the character models
• Pop ins were limited to the “shimmering” effect of building shadows and certain filtering of dense trees
• Loading time during First Date cut scene was between 2-5 seconds
• “white room” during Cabaret show was not witnessed
• Fast drives, explosions, crashes, and 3 star wanted rating produced no noticeable pop in

Official Retail NTSC GTA IV XBOX 360 Version (only differences between PS3 are noted):

• Load time from first appearance of the Rockstar logo to the beginning of cut scene was 7 seconds (no HDD installation was required)
• Colors of character models and scenery during initial cut scene were more contrasted compared to both PS3 and Ripped versions
• Anti Aliasing appeared the same as the ripped version but more jaggy lines were noticed on all curved surfaces compared to PS3 version
• During initial cut scene, building silhouettes as the ship approaches the harbor were noted to pop in and out for a brief second
• Pop in for shadows and trees were more frequent. For every one shadow on the PS3, there were 3 that popped for the 360 (average).
• Fast drives, explosions, and crashes produced no noticeable pop in
• 3 star wanted rating created pop ins at the same location (hospital) for surround trees and building surface textures across the street

So what does this all mean? It means that from a technical perspective, the PS3 version is the better of the 4. The burned ISO (I did burn this 4 times with 2 other friends also testing it out) faired the worst out of the bunch. The pop-in and load time makes that game barely playable compared to other games I’m accustomed to. I am not sure what the source was for this burned ISO but others have validated my findings, locally and on other forums. While there are those that have said their burned version did not suffer from these pop ins, but there is no way to validate those points as pop ins do not occur in the same place every time or for everyone. The retail 360 version holds its own very well, considering its limited technical power (compared to PS3 specs). The HDD install for the PS3 certainly helps, as it should, with the load times and frame rates. Texture pop in was also minimal on the PS3, but I cannot say if it is because of the HDD install. Colors were more photo-realistic in the PS3 version. It looked grimmer at night, and cleaner at dawn, and murky at dusk. That’s how I would imagine a place like Liberty City would be, think of The Wire and you will understand. Colors on the 360 were much brighter and contrasted and the lines on the faces of the character models were more pronounced, causing a harsher look. Primary colors were very noticeable on the 360 which lends to a more “cartoon” feel. Load times were slightly longer but negligible for someone not comparing this to a 6.5 GB install on a high end PC. These are actually very fast load times for a console game of this size and complexity. Load times were the worst for the burned version. There was actually a period during that First Date cut scene that I contemplated getting a drink and a snack because it took so long.

As for a recommendation on which version is the best you will have to look past the technological analysis. This is unfortunate because the PS3 is clearly (to me at least) the better programmed and performing version. However, the consumer has to take into account the following factors:

• PS3 user base is smaller than the XBOX 360; therefore, there will be a lower maximum amount of users online for multiplayer
• PS3’s PSN is free to play where XBOX 360 Live service is $59.99 (Canadian MSRP for 12 month subscription)
• PS3 control scheme differs from XBOX 360 control scheme. PS3 controls are more familiar if you have played previous GTA games on PS2
• Downloadable content is coming for the XBOX 360 version only (for the moment) and could arrive as soon as this summer
• PS3 60GB systems have been reported to suffer from game freezes (I did not witness this during my 2 hours with the game on PS3 60GB)
• XBOX 360 has online achievement points and a gamer score tie in

If I were to recommend one version over the other, it would depend on what you value most. If you don’t care about multiplayer with your friends (note: cross platform multiplayer is not available, so if you want to play together, you have to own the same version) or achievements/gamer score then choose the PS3 for its technical polish. If you do care about online with your friends, achievements and gamer score, then choose the XBOX 360 version. For all the 360’s faults, they are not so bad to the point it distracts you from the experience (unless you are playing the downloaded version). For myself, because I really value visuals and that I rare play online with XBOX Live (I can’t stand the kids!!) I am leaning towards the PS3 version. However, I am an achievement whore. I love the idea of having secondary goals to give incentive to people like myself that are not so story driven. There is also the promise of downloadable content, which may not be great, but with Rockstar’s history it should be the size of an expansion pack (let’s hope it’s not GTA IV: Pets!) I am still on the fence because of my personal preferences but if you are not in my situation, I would rent both before committing (if you have not already). I have both copies of the Special Edition still sealed but only one will be returning to the store…which one will that be? Tune in next week (or sooner) for the verdict!

UPDATE: As per suggestion, I retested both my burned copies at 8X drive speed with optional HDD installed to see if load times and pop ins would be comparable to the retail 360 version running on my Elite. I used the same 120GB HDD from my Elite 360 and installed it on my modified arcade. Here are my findings:

• Load times from start of Rockstar logo to beginning of cut scene was 31 Seconds (this is a 5 second improvement)
• The load times during the cut scene for First Date mission loaded from 7 seconds to 28 seconds (this improved from 10-35 seconds)
• Textures of shadows and trees were still popping in and the shimmering effect was still seen, although it appeared to occur less frequently
• AA issues still apparent
• There were no disappearing roads or popping in of trees during the 1.5 hours I played the game
• Garbage cans, picnic tables, and certain other destructible elements did suffer from pop in

The installation of the HDD did prove some slight improvement of load times, in some cases, this improved by 3 seconds. However, pop in and texture loading still occurred. There was a noticeable reduction in pop in compared to the first round of testing, and during the 1.5 hours of play, the road did not disappear on me or did a building pop up in my path. This does not mean that everyone should run out and get a HDD as the load times was not a significant increase and texture tearing and popping was already reduced with the retail version for the XBOX 360 compared to the burned version. On a related note, I noticed that the burned version had a slightly different cut scene than the retail version on the PS3 and 360. There is a part where a stripper is dancing on a pole, in the retail versions for both consoles, she is wearing a white bikini top. However, on the burned version, she is not wearing a bikini top and instead there is a black "X" taped across her nipples. I'm not sure if that means the ripped release was actually from a non-retail source or if the code was modified. As for my own decision of which version to keep, I will be keeping the XBOX 360 version despite the graphical improvement. I don't want to run the risk of the downloadable content being fabulous and having to replay the whole game again just to have access to it. I will eventually purchase a PS3 version due to its technical merits, but that won't be until it becomes less than $30. Too bad, I liked the PS3 Special Edition's box art better. Scratch one on the board for Microsoft and their foresight in securing some exclusive content. They made at least one graphics cynic look past its faults and choose 360 over the more polished PS3. EDIT #1: I will update tonight after a reader suggested that in all fairness, I should test the burned copies with a HDD installed on the modded box. I'll time the loads and see if there's a difference in load times and other issues.

GTA: Pets

GTA IV is almost among us!

For some, you may already be playing it. I won’t debate the righteousness of pirate software here (and we can just be honest, it is piracy – as defined by the law makers). But the truth is the versions that are floating out on the digital horizon may not be what you are expecting.

From my previous posts, you know I have modded my 360; therefore, these games are available to me. So in all honesty, I have been playing it over the last weekend. I must say that I do agree with most of the reviews out there but this game is not a 10. I’m not going to give a review here because I’m far from finishing it but initial impressions are that it has some work to do before I can justify giving this a perfect rating for games in this current generation. There are some technical issues with my cracked version, and being a pirate, you can’t always verify where the good were obtained from. You certainly can’t be picky if you are getting it for free. But this has led me to think about what video gaming as an industry is becoming.

I feel that gaming industry is slowly (or quickly depending on your point of view) becoming closer to the movie and music industry. It’s only natural because of the type of business and their shared forms of media. But this also means that there’s good and bad for the consumer.

EA is becoming a giant in the video games sector, both as a developer and a publisher. The good thing is that there’s at least one other (Activision/Blizzard) that can compete but this also means the little guys will suffer from higher levels of bureaucracy.

Imagine for a moment if EA successfully acquires Take2. With the cash cow that’s Rockstar and the GTA brand, EA will have no problems folding that into the mould of other successful franchises such as the Sims. Now fast forward one year and they announce GTA V. GTA V will technically be GTA IV with slightly higher frame rates, cleaner textures, and connectivity to the EA online store. EA Online will also require you to register to play, and in game ads will be implemented. While you can connect to EA Online to buy new clothes and accessories for your protagonist (a man named Woo Pang, from communist China, seeking a new life in Liberty City). Initial publication reviews will give it a 7.9-8.8 stating that it is more of the same with tweaks here and there, and the additional online content will out weigh the necessity of in game ads. Their tag line will be: More of the same and that isn’t necessarily bad.

Then in 3 months, the first expansion pack will be released both online and in stores, riddled with bugs, and crashed multiple PS3 due to install error. But it will still sell one million copies because it now comes with the ability of owning pets for your protagonist.

I’m being cynical of course but it could very well happen. Personally, I’m glad that there are still medium sized publishers that are still pushing the limits in terms of artistic design, technical design, and political boundaries. Know that GTA IV: Spin Off One will definitely be released for both platforms shortly after the PC version will be released. And the downloadable content from the 360 version will be included with the expansion pack for the PS3 version.

I will be renting both copies of GTA: IV to try on unmodified systems and see if I’m still experiencing any of the same issues as my cracked version. I will post again once I am able to reliability compare the two versions to my cracked version. Honestly, I’ll probably just end up getting the 360 retail version anyway just because I’m an achievement whore.

Is Crap Still Crap if it is Free?

Some of you know that I have jumped on the HD-DVD fire sales. I currently own 3 HD-DVD players – 2 Xbox 360 add-on drives and 1 Toshiba A30. Since the demise of HD-DVD, my collection has ballooned to 5 times its original size and it’s sitting at close to 35 titles and growing. The problem I run into is that they are pricing these HD-DVDs at close to $8 used and $13 new. At these prices, it’s so close to rental costs that it makes more sense to own them. I run into a problem with titles such as Shrek the Third. That movie received universally low scores and did not fair very well general audiences. I have seen it and I thought there were moments but certainly not a worthy title to own in ones collection. But at a price of $8 used (and in mint condition – I wonder why!) it’s almost a shame to leave it behind.

So I bought this piece of crap for the sake of it being a cheap.

The other thing that has been bothering me is with most of my consoles modded (PS3 is the only one still virgin), I have access to a whole catalog of crap that I would not have considered if my console was still virgin. The Wii is a prime example of this, where there are 8 crap-tacular games for every one good title. I have recently come across the game Elebits. That game was an average 7.5 score and was mediocre at best. But I was always interested in it so I decided to pick it off of my site. Once booted and I began to play, I realized that this would have been fun if I was 12 years old or if I had never played a video game before. The Xbox 360 also has its share of crap-tacular titles. I was playing Kane and Lynch the other day and was that ever a stinker.

I guess the point is when you have the ability to get free crap, most people that are predisposed to deals, will jump on it. I can personally list a few friends and family that have boxes full of crap because it was a good deal. In keeping with my “green” theme, I think I will save some “green” money and be more selective on my “purchases” from now on. Because even if I have access to these titles of my modded consoles, it is still costing me time, effort, and the price of media to play a piece of crap.

Not Easy Being Green

Green is the buzz word for 2008. I think we can all agree those in any modern field of manufacturing and commodities have been pushing “greener” living and consumption. Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Price for his work in the field of awareness. His film, An Inconvenient Truth, also generated two Academy Awards. Although I have yet to see that film from start to finish, and regardless of whether you agree with his point of view or not, it has generated a lot of discussion on the issue of global warming and the responsibility humans have as stewards of the Earth. This is why I was toying with the idea of building a secondary PC for the sole purpose of file transfer.

I have been know to occasionally torrent a few files and have had the need to keep my desktop (or more accurately “deskbottom”) PC on for extended periods of time (30 days and counting now). This puts a lot of strain on the electricity bill, not to mention the increased consumption of natural resources. Even though Calgary’s major power provider is committed to green energy, it is still a wasteful practice that I wanted to reduce. So in researching the actual consumption wattage of my PC, and without using a kill-a-watt type machine, I can say my system idle consumption is between 150-200W. So if my PC is online 24/7 for the last 30 days, I have then used, at worst case scenario:

Wattage x Hours Used Per Day = Daily Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption (1 kilowatt (kW) = 1,000 Watts)

200W X 24 = 4800/1000 = 4.8 kWh per day

My current provider is charging approximately $0.10/kWh so that’s costing me $0.48/day to run my computer and over a period of $30 days, that’s $14.40 I am paying for uploading.

My computer system is a fair beast, with 4 fans, 3 hard drives, 8800GT, 4GB of ram, and a CPU that’s overclocked by 40%. Do I need the power to bittorrent? No. So how much can I save by going to a HTPC style of a torrent server? Even at best case scenario, which is like a laptop usage, I would still be consuming around 80W by having a barebones system running instead of my main PC. That’s a savings of $8.64 using the same calculations from above. This amount to a total of $103.38 per year assuming prices per kWh remains the same.

The configured HTPC barebones system will cost at the least, $350 to build/order. That means I have to use this system for the next 3 years in order to break even. I can hear Al Gore saying now, “But think about all that intrinsic value you gain by saving the environment!” I’m sorry Al; I have to save my pocket book first before I can save the environment. Not everyone can be the ex-vice president and be independently wealthy when they retire. So for the moment, I will try and use my PC less, maybe cutting uptime by 25% at first and go from there. It would be interesting to see what it actually works out to be in real dollar savings.

And on a related note, Calgary was just hit with about 5cm of snow. Even the trees are having a hard time going green!

Whoa! Someone is wrong on the Internet!

Say, here’s a revelation, I’m pretty new to all this blogging and internet posting bit! Shocking isn’t it. Obviously there are those that have grown up posting on BBS and writing in web journals before there were blogs. I’m not one of those people.

This is my second attempt at up keeping a blog. My first was a personal blog post that was private and was more of an online journal than anything. That sort of died into the internet recycle bin after I started to work. Now, The Ikea Gamer is completely and unapologetically a digital soap box for me. Just refer to one of my first posts about Halo 3, the “feedback” I received from that piece was not fit for public viewing!

Being an opinionated person is good. It means that you know what you want and you are not afraid to voice it. Women in general like that in a man, someone who’s confident without being a bigot or chauvinist. Of course, my wife doesn’t read this blog. Not because I hide it from her but it’s because she thinks blogs are time wasters. She would much rather read a novel by an accredited writer or “someone with talent”. What can you say to that but “thanks honey”! HAHA!

Of course she jokes but she does have a point. If this is my digital soap box, then I should really be able to voice my opinion without prejudice. This leads me to the problem at hand; dealing with others that seem to disagree with you completely. If you have had any real mileage on the information super highway you know whom I’m talking about. This group of people, they are usually younger and immature in life (but don’t always have to be), will argue with you only to end arguments with a jest or personal attack. These people love to argue for the sake of arguing and not for a resolution. My issue is that I can’t seem to ignore these people as well as others may on the internet. I post regularly on other forums and have been for some time. Recently, there has been an influx of the previously mentioned people posting. Like myself, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and started a debate on the issue at hand. After a lengthy exchange, and researched evidence on my end, the other person simply just said, “There was too much work put into that post, whatever.” Obviously I was flabbergasted! All that work and not even an educated response.

So the moral of the story is that there is absolutely no point in having an internet argument. I don’t know these people from strangers on the street so any particular out come is non-consequential. Which is why I’m announcing a retirement of sorts. I’m nearing a post count of 2000 on this particular site. I will post sparingly from now on, only posting either questions I can’t answer myself or information necessary to obtain those answers. There will be no more sharing, debating, or discussion on these forums. I’m quite done with those sites. In fact, I will be updating the blog a bit more frequently not that there is more time.

Like a good comedian, I have to do things I don’t like and talk to the odd people in order to obtain material. So in this case, I will still read those threads of interest as it give good material for The Ikea Gamer. Until next time, peace.

Church and State (otherwise known as Publisher and Retailer)

Some of you may have read the coverage on joystiq and kotaku about how EB Games Canada is offering a pre-order promotion with HAZE on the PS3. The promotion is very simple, and has been done before (God of War 2 – PS2). They are saying if you pre-order HAZE before its launch date, you will be able to play it for one week, return it with receipt, and get full store credit towards something else.

Naturally, this is a pretty sweet deal. This basically amounts to a free rental on a new release game. What truly pushes this deal to Olympian status is it qualifies as a “Trade 3 get it Free” title. Which really mean you can trade three of your used games that have a trade in value of $8 or more and get HAZE for free AND get the full $60+GST back as credit after one week. Congratulations, you have just effectively more than doubled your trade in credit. There are whole sites and threads on forums devoted to how you can maximize your trade ins so I won’t elaborate here.

The rub here is not that EB is offering a free rental of HAZE, but it’s really because they are cutting into the bottom line of Ubisoft, the publisher of the game (and that the Americans aren’t offered this same promotion – that’s right, Canada is on top!) How this happens, as kotaku reported, is that EB games is profiting 100% from the used sale of this game. Here’s the math:

*Assuming taxes are all included and that wholesale cost per unit is $35, and cost of operation not included

Cost to you:

$24 ($8 games X 3)

Play HAZE for one week and refund for store credit: $60

Spend store credit for another $60 game

EB Cost:

$35 for HAZE from Ubisoft

Sell 3 used games for $20 each = $60 (at this point, they have made almost 2X their money back)

Give you another game they purchased for $35 when you return HAZE

Turn around and sell HAZE for $55 (which is 100% profit)

EB Net total: (-35+60-35+55) = $45

So why does Ubisoft care? Because they don’t get a bite of that $45 EB just made from you. Now why should you care? Because Ubisoft is trying to stop this from happening and if they succeed, it means that publishers and developers will now have a direct effect on the trade in values of a game, not just the MSRP (note that the “S” stands for suggested). This is bad for the consumer as prices will no longer be determined by the consumer and market competition will effectively halt. The end result of this promotion is that everyone BUT the publisher wins. EB makes money and you are happy because you got to play one game and return it for something else for more than you paid for.

What will be more likely is that Ubisoft will inflate the first week sales and pre-order numbers of this game, win some advertising dollars, and make Rainbow 6 Vegas 3 a clone of R6V1. They will get their supper, they just have to wait a bit longer.

EDIT: Thanks to M.Y. for the kind input on prospective volume pricing for new games. Values in calculations changed to reflect possible per unit pricing for EB Games from distributors. Links to original articles also updated.

Year of the Sony?

I was successful in modding my own XBOX 360 last week as previously reported.  Since then, I’ve modded my friend’s 360 and will do doing another friend’s later this week.  I’m wondering if I can’t make something of this.

 

I’ve always liked to tinker but no necessarily modding.  This is my first try at doing it and it has gone smoothly. 

 

After the initial mod, I’ve also done my PSP, however, the Wii was a tough one.  The soldering that needed to be done was a bit out of my league, which means getting a professional to do it for me.  Luckily I had met a fellow gamer during my technology school days that knew how to solder extremely well (like a machine it’s so perfect) so I commissioned him to do it for me.  Now the problem I face is the only truly unmodified console I have is the PS3.

 

In the past few years, PS3 has been slow to start and was steady at #3 in the current console race.  There were no AAA titles that had to be played, and those that were good either wasn’t great enough or was of second rate mascots, when compared to the behemoth of Nintendo’s roster.  But if the PS3 holds true and Sony doesn’t let the recent Blu-Ray win get to their heads, I believe this could truly be the year of the PS3.

 

Another thing that’s been brewing on the horizon is a certain electronics boutique store is having trade in promotions.  Those of you in the know will get the reference.  Trade in a certain amount of games and you get a free Nintendo DS or PSP or a pre-order towards a game.  Now usually when these promos pop up, I capitalize on a few pre-orders or a few new releases for cheap.  But with my recent modding craze, I found myself with a lot of games on multiple systems that I no longer needed to have.  So I purchased a few DS and sold them at a discount online.  This act of buying to sell for some people is almost evil in certain people’s eyes but I believe otherwise.  There was rumour of someone purchases large amounts en masse to sell or trade but in general, I’m speaking of small quantities. 

 

Nintendo DS, PSP, and the Wii are fairly hot commodities and for someone to actually benefit from selling these, enough to justify mass hoarding, is rare.  Let’s do a calculation:  If you were to trade in for example 5 games in order to gain one Nintendo DS, that would cost you roughly $40 plus tax and gas.  If most people are working at $15/hour and gas costs $1/L, that’s a cost of $60 in time and money just to obtain that DS.  This is not even taking into the time you spend listing said item, packaging it, and mailing it.  In the end, it really nets you about a 20-30% profit.  So what we are talking about here is scales of economy.  20-30% profit is huge when you are talking about selling a car.  20-30% profit on a gaming console isn’t so much.  So why do I do it?  I do for the benefit of those that are unable to obtain these items at a reasonable cost or simply do not have the time to search.  My cousin in Toronto has wanted a Wii and DS for the longest time but every time she looks at a Toys R Us or Futureshop, they are sold out.  So I get her one, sell it to her below retail and she’s extremely happy. 

 

Commodities brokering is what this is about.  Those that obtain commodities for others that are unable to obtain it themselves. The only difference is we are talking about electronic toys instead of barley.

 

Great Success!

My first mod job. I got my 360 Arcade today and decided to try my hand at modding it with a quieter fan, arctic silver and while I had it open, custom firmware *snicker*! Well, I thought it would be tough but as Keanu would say, "I know Kung Fu." I disassembled the system in 5 minutes. Had the NTFS Dos disk made in another 5. Hooked up the drive to the PC and the flashing was done in another 10. Total time about 20 minutes. And it saved me $100 from having someone else do it. Best $100 ever not spent I tell you. Anyway, just a quick one today and I'll touch on something else this weekend. Now, back to Lost.

How To Lose a Job in 10 Days

Okay, I didn't lose my job. But there have been two co-workers that have been "let go" in the past three weeks. I'm currently working on a high profile project, one that is surely a "lifetime" building. This mean that I will probably never in my career see another project of this size/scale/type again. This also means that there are lots of people involved and everyone is required to pull their weight. Which is also a part of the difficulty in understanding these firings. If we are so strapped for people, why were these workers let go and yet other that were even less productive are allowed to stay? I didn't know these two people very well so I can't satisfy my curiosity. However, it does put things into perspective for me. It doesn't really matter how hard you work for your employer, because when push comes to shove and they need your spot for someone better, you can bet that you will be asked to leave. Sure, you can put in your hours and be as productive as you possibly can be, but once they see that you aren't living up to their expectations of you, they will can your butt rather than see where you may be needing help or guidance. There's a saying in Chinese and I think it sums up how I've decided to deal with this situation. The saying was told to me again by a friend and I think it fits quite well. It goes, "If you have your hands and feet, you have nothing to worry about." Which is very true of most of the Chinese culture. We are usually very hardworking and dedicated to our jobs. The exceptions seem to only apply to the Chinese workers in my office which I find extremely odd and annoying. But in general, we work without much complaint. However, the western culture doesn't foster hardworking individuals, instead it punishes them by giving them more work and higher demands. I've ranted on this subject before so I won't dwell on it. But it's just becoming more and more apparent to me. With that bit of background information about my week. You know I am going to need this weekend. I'm hoping to get at least a few hours of solid gaming in somewhere in the next two days. I've started to swim everyday at lunch to try and get back into shape so that should boost my energy level a little bit. For the mean time, I'm still hooked on Lost and I can't seem to stop watching Season 3 even though it seriously lacks the tension and suspense of the previous two seasons. Lets see how Season 4 will turn out. Oh, and I'm still looking for a Macbook Pro. With the latest refresh being not that substantial, I'm probably going to wait until June or right before September to see what else Steve will bring to the table. Peace.

Oh the weather outside is....Nice??

So some of you know I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We're not really famous for much except for the Stampede, 1989 Stanley Cup winners, and the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the wicked chinooks that blows down from the Rocky's. Well this month, it had hit -45 degrees Celsius all the way back up to 7 degrees Celsius. Needless to say, my head is killing me. But it sure is nice to be wearing shorts in the middle of February. While I was starting to writing this draft (work is brutal this month, I'm writing these over a few weeks), I have purchased, and returned, a number of things. I recently got a new desk for the home office. Excellent set up and looks professional. But this proved to be a bit of a problem since I can no longer have my Logitech Z5500 set up in the optimal positions. With that note, I also recently upgraded my HT setup to a Denon AVR-788, so my old crappy Yamaha HTIB was sitting in the basement collecting dust. So I sold my Z5500 for $100 more than what I paid (YES!) and set up my Yamaha as my main PC sound system. Great choice since it's basically the Z5500 with more inputs. Takes up a bit more space and doesn't look as great but I didn't have to pay anything :) With the money from the Z5500, I got myself a Viewsonic Optiquest Q241wb 24" Widescreen monitor! Man does this thing blow all my previous monitors out of the water! Color is bright and accurate without calibration, awesome screen real estate, and decent 5ms for games. Simply can't complain, and I got it for only $50 more than what I originally paid for my 2240W gaming panel. Next time, I'll touch on the status of my WoW revival.

Of Mice and Achievements

Achievement Whore: n.

1. The act of accomplishing or finishing an Xbox 360 game solely for the purpose of gaining achievement points.
2. A person who plays Xbox 360 games, regardless of the quality of game, for the bragging rights to a higher gamer score.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up what I've been doing lately. Achievement whoring. Why you might ask? I can't really explain to you. It seems to keep me playing games thought, however, I seem to really be hitting the old crappy games first. But at least this give me the satisfaction of actually playing through some of my old games so I can trade them in and save some valuable shelf space. I'm officially finished all the 06 Sports games I have in my collection! I've been toying with the idea of playing PC games while sitting on my couch. HTPC's are quite popular, especially for the den/basement entertainment centers. My set up is in the bonus room of the house (which is usually code for the extra room they build over you garage). This isn't the best place for late night gaming, which is when I have time to game these days. My wife sleeps about 2-3 hours earlier than I do, she needs her beauty sleep, while I'm more of a night owl. I personally have always resisted getting multiple computers. I just find it wasteful to have more than one device that does the same thing when you hardly ever use it at the same time. That's part of the reason why I love Vista and won't be going back to XP unless I have to. Vista's user setup is so much more refined than that of XP. With both my wife and I using the same computer, it's PARAMOUNT that she and I have our own setup for fonts, screen resolutions, desktops, etc. My wife's a CGA so she's used to using a computer and is quite adept at it (as compared to most women that I personally know - that's not meant to be sexist but it's simply the truth). But she does still have her own preferences and complaints. One of them being "why does it take so long?". She gives me a somewhat hard time about the constant upgrades I do to my PC. But the thing she doesn't realize is that 30% of the upgrade decision is based on her complaints about the PC being slow at multi-tasking. Granted, the other 70% is games and bragging rights but that's another story! So, I'm toying with the idea of joining the dark side of Mac. I'm fairly certain that I will be getting the new Macbook Pro once it's been announced but for now, I'll just keep thinking about it. Boot Camp certainly is a HUGE reason for the jump since I can't live without Windows. It's like trying to walk with one leg in a two-legged world. Sure, the Segway is faster, more efficient, and flashier than your regular legs, but just wait until you have to go up stairs and you are screwed! But with boot camp, it's like getting a nice pair of crutches that you can stow away in your fancy segway for the times when you need to get up the stairs and need a little help. Ok, that analogy needs work but you get the point. PC will always be my gaming platform of choice, even over consoles, but these days, it looks like I will have to start to change with the times.

Salame Salami

So the new job is going fairly well. I think I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter where you work, if your priorities are not life, you won't be satisfied. With my industry, it's increasingly difficult to find an employer that will truly take care of its employees. Certainly there are ups and downs, monetary compensation is a large part of that, however; it's not the only determining factor. I'm on this train of thought since I referred a friend to my firm and this is his first week. It's a bit daunting when you own reputation is put on the line in front of that of your employer. Can anyone honestly say that their company has their back? If you can, stick with them and be thankful you don't have to look for another job because you've already found that perfect one. On a side note, some old co-workers have invited me to a weekend in Banff. These guys (and a few gals) are all from my old company. It's nice that they have stayed in touch but it's becoming harder to find common ground. I'm not in the everyday loop and without that constant interaction, conversation with co-workers quickly turns dull. These guys also love to ski/snowboard. I'm not a big winter sports person (hockey is an exception) so it's going to be a bit of a tough choice for going or not. I also feel bad for leaving my wife for the whole weekend. Plenty of time to think about it since it's not until March. This has been a bit of a weird week. I'm staying at my parent's house, taking care of their dog and my grandmother. Needless to say, I have more time on my hands. It's not so bad. I'm catching up on some old games (Madden 06 - yes, I'm just dicking around for some achievement points!) And I'm going to give WoW one more go before seeing if I will call it quits in March. Anyway, next post will be on topic and not random drivel. Ta.

Lost for 24

Ok, I’m 3 years behind the times.  But to be fair, I did give the show a chance when it debut in 2005. 

 

I am of course speaking about the show, Lost, that airs regularly on ABC.

 

My co-workers and friends have all raved about the “mysteries” of this show and gossiped about what may happen.  I just found the premise very surreal.  Crash landing on a deserted island while trying to survive didn’t seem like a multiple season show.  However, I was recently able to come by a steal on the Blu-Ray version of the complete third season.  Seeing how I can’t really sell it and the deal was amazing (I paid $26 Canadian for the complete, sealed, legit set), I decided to rent the first season and watch.  First of all, two words: Evangeline Lilly. 

 

SIDE NOTE: My wife and I have a pretty open relationship so, very similar to that Friend’s episode where Ross has a “list” of celebrities he’s allowed to sleep with; we have a list of Hot Celebrities (not a sleeping list, but just an attraction list).  After Lost, Evangeline Lilly is definitely is going on that list.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s an Albertan as well!

 

Ok, back on topic.  I’m on episode 15 of season 1 and I am officially addicted to this show!  My wife’s cousin said it best when she said this about Alias, “This show makes no logical sense and the situations are so outrageous that they are unbelievable.  Yet somehow you still believe they could happen.”  Seeing how J.J. Abrams also created Lost, the similarities in outrageous situations are certainly there.  The mysteries keep me tuned in after every episode and the flashbacks are very interesting.  With a possibility of 48 characters, that’s a lot of material for back stories.

 

The beautiful thing about watching shows on DVD is:

 

1. You have no commercials.
2. You can go as fast or as slow as you like.
3. And you can watch regardless if the writers are on strike.

 

Which is why I’m actually happy Battlestar Galatica, and 24 are not being released right now.  So here’s to hoping that they release season 1 and 2 on Blu-ray soon because I hate to double dip (which is another rant for another time).

Idiocracy

There was this movie released in 2007 called Idiocracy .  It starred Luke Wilson as a very average Joe, who volunteered to be cryogenically frozen in a study that was supposed to last one year.  However he was frozen instead for 500 year and awoke to a USA that was radically different.  Not the utopian future everyone dreams of but instead is a totally stupid society where the average IQ 50.  I often wonder if we will head towards that potential future with today’s social development.

 

Gametrailers has the clip of the abysmal FOX News’ coverage on the Xbox 360 game, Mass Effect.  I don’t believe I have ever heard of such unprofessional journalism as this piece.  FOX is certainly not known for their credibility nor are they watched for that purpose.  News on TV these days are more tabloid than fact and you will find more truth in Britney Spears story than the report on the Iraqi war. 

 

At one particular point during the “panel discussion” in FOX’s coverage on Mass Effect, a woman says that we are living in a society where children are not always supervised, which is a true statement.  But to use that as an excuse for failing as a parent/guardian is unbelievable.  A parent cannot be held responsible for the actions of a child because the child was not supervised?  The panel speaker goes on to illustrate her point with Playboy magazines and how video games are not as easy to keep from a child. 

 

The statements brought forth by this panel of experts, regardless if they had experience with video games or not, were simply false and were not thought through.  If you say that you are unable to control your child from watching or doing something such as playing a video game, then you have seriously failed as a parent.  Certainly I also have had experiences of doing something I wasn’t supposed to behind my parent’s back, were those things the fault of my parents, for the most part, yes.  My mom and dad were not the happiest couple in the world and they were certainly not ready for a child.  I was raised to sometimes think for myself but was usually told what to do without neigh an explanation. 

 

Video games, as anything else of stimuli in this world, require instruction and explanation.  If you don’t explain the reasons to a child, they are not going to value your experience and absorb that into their own understanding.  They require guidance, not just a yes or no answer.  Instead of blaming the developers of video games and other forms of entertain, how about actually doing your job and PARENT your child so they will be equipped to make educated decisions for themselves when they are old enough to buy a gun.

HD Fallout

I'm not one to be an early adopter. Sure, I'm usually the first of my friends to get the latest tech but I don't pre-order my bleeding edge video cards or the iphone. The only real early failures that my family has ever purchased was a Laserdisc player. But even then it lasted a good 4 years of use (since all orientals love to karaoke). That is why this current Warner Bros. announcement at CES this year really rocked my world. My name is Moe and I bought HD-DVDs. I fell for the superior specs and linux-like open source mentality and complete forgot that no major studio ever got to be a major studio by being open sourced. Hardware, yes. Software, no. Google maybe the only real exception to that but that's for another day. I didn't buy that many HD-DVDs, unlike some others around the Net. But I did have a fair share and certainly replaced some of my more loved classics on HD-DVD if I could. I was lucky to find a local buyer that was still interested in my player's up-converting capabilities and bought my set and movies for a decent price. However, this whole experience has taught me that nothing in tech is ever a sure thing, and in most cases, you are more likely to get struck by lightning than winning as an early adopter. Take a look at the Plasma VS. LCD battle. That's not even a format but everyone saw Plasma as a dying technology and segment for the personal home use but in 2007, there has been a resurgence AND Panasonic is now expecting to ship twice as many panels as they did in 2007 for this coming year. I'm going to stick to my guns and only purchase the cheaper DVD format (and used at that!) and spend $100 on an up-conversion player that won't take 30 seconds to boot up. For the exclusives such as Disney/Pixar films, that will be Blu-Ray. It was a great format on paper and in reality, but like the electric car, I think HD-DVD just didn't have a chance in the real world.

And it's now World of Guitar Hero

My plans for World (of Warcraft) domination was unsuccessful. I played for 3 hours on Christmas Eve and that basically led me to discover that I have somehow lost interest in the game during my time away. It was difficult as I found myself increasing bored the longer I stared at my character. I'm not sure if this is a lasting affliction but certainly for the next month I will not be logging in (which is too bad as I am paid up until March! Serves me right for signing up for extended membership!) Instead of playing WoW, I ended up finishing Guitar Hero 3 on the Xbox 360 on Medium setting. Now that's a game that I'm addicted to! Gets you off of the couch and lets you move around to the music. I especially liked the Halo Theme redux that you can download for the game (*gasp* yes, I don't hate all things Halo, the song is actually really moving). There's also a remixed rendition of the classic "Devil went down to Georgia". I also started into Mass Effect, which is the first Bioware RPG I have ever played. After a few hours, I immediately understood why people love their games. It's a very engaging experience, much more so than any Final Fantasy I have played. Instead of watch a story unfold, you are living the story through your character. This is "role-playing" that blurs a player's perception of their own reality. It's exciting to see it unfold, especially in 10 years when they look back at the "pioneers" of Immersions RPG (yes, I'm coining that term right now!) and lists Mass Effect and KOTOR, you can tell your 13 year old son/daughter that, "Yes, Daddy did play this game on the Xbox 360. I know the toaster has more processing power but that's not the point!" So, thus ends the reign of WoW over my life. What's going to happen as I move forward? Probably more Guitar Hero and maybe some Rock Band!

Merry Christmas!

Since this is Christmas eve, I hope everyone is enjoying their time away from work. For those of you lucky enough to get Rock Band in Canada, I wish all your drum pedals break! JK :) I wasn't lucky enough to find one, despite the hard searches. But I'm confident I will own one before the year ends. However, I am going to try and level to 40 before I have to return to work on Jan 2. I hope that the 100G my friend promised me will be a good enough incentive. Although I'm not hopeful about it. I wonder how many married gamers there are that fight with their spouses over when they get to play or stay up late. I personally have to get up and be out of the door by 7am at the latest during work days. And at this age, I require at least 7 hours of sleep to be semi-rested. Which means I have to be in bed and sleeping by 12am. This usually becomes a point of contention between my wife and I. She likes to sleep early and I like to stay up late. I have also come to realize that because I have troubles getting up early (and I mean a HARD time waking to my alarm), I feel guilty about staying up. If you think I should just man up and do what I feel, you obviously have not been in a long term relationship because that attitude will not get you anywhere with the women. So instead of playing games, which is the reason I was staying up, I read forum posts and look at websites. I believe that on a sub-conscious level I do other things so I won't have to justify doing what I stayed up to do in the first place. Anyway, I look forward to this holiday because I can finally just relax and not have to worry about staying up too late. I think there even maybe a few late night gaming sessions involved somewhere. I'll keep the blog posted and twitter will be updated with my WoW progress! For the Horde!

Two Teens Kill 7 Year Old Girl with Mortal Kombat Moves

What is wrong with society today? When kids get drunk and their natural instinct is to hurt someone more vulnerable than themselves. I have always advocated rules and laws against brutal behavior but the line is so fine between state control and good of the people that it's complete chaos. If you have ever seen the movie Idiocracy, you will know what I'm talking about when I say eventually, all the people on Earth are going to have the combined intelligence of an eggplant.

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Where's the F***ing Tree??

Merry Christmas everyone! Yeah, okay. I'll skip the pleasentries since I'm not a big fan of Christmas or, more accurately, what it's become today. I'm sure you've all heard the rants of other like minded individuals so I won't bore you. But rather I will explain my cyber absence since October. So my last few rants have been mainly about work so I'll continue the tradition: I quit my old job. Wait for it....And I got the same job, just at a different company. Remember that episode of Friends where Chandler quits his old job and then gets a new one, only having it be the same thing? Well, I'm doing the same thing but just getting more perks. Which is not to say that it's a bad thing, but it's not totally different. But I'm really looking forward to this year's Christmas time. It's going to be my first Christmas where I don't actually have to work! What are my plans? I plan on hitting level 50 in World of Warcraft, that's what! With the new experience patch active, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. /crosses fingers With the new job and trying to make a good impression, it's going to be tough to post. Well, it's not like I'm getting lots now anyway but I'll keep it short for now. I'm still planning on posting up those reviews I said I would, look for those before the year's end!

Death is a good motivator

You know those HR meetings where the bosses tell you that you must shape up, do your work well, work harder, and then gives you a reason why you must.

 

I just had such a meeting and the outcome is a very familiar sight. 

 

The difference between most companies is how you are compensated for taking the abuse and crap that is served to you.  Every company has crap on a plate that you are supposed to eat and love and say, “Thank you Sir, may I have more?”  The difference is how they treat you after it.  Similar to how you suck up to your wife or girlfriend after you just spend your month’s pay on the PS3 instead of taking her out this weekend like you promised.

 

Compensation is a tricky thing, because cash will only go so far.  The more money you have, the more expenses you have.  So you look for the silver lining in perks, such as flexible hours, friendly atmosphere, open doors, and company events.  These companies are very hard to come by unfortunately, and I have still to find mine. 

 

If you currently have such a place to work in, enjoy it and don’t lose focus.  Just remember, “if you are not being at least 80% productive, you are not make the company profitable”.

 

Wow, what do you say to that except, “Thank you Sir, may I have some more?”

 

 

Logitech Z-5500 5.1 THX Certified Speakers Review

I am not an audiophile. I prefer the joy of sight over the joy of sound, so naturally, you will have to read the following review with that rather large grain of salt. With that caveat aside, I will introduce you to what my experience has been with PC speakers. In ascending chronological order, here are the speakers I have been listening to with my PC for the last 3 years:

• Creative Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 surround sound system
• Logitech X-530 5.1 surround sound system
• Logitech Z-10 2.0 sound system
• Creative T20 2.0 sound system

And now I'm back to a 5.1 setup. The move to a 2.0 setup actually coinceided with my moving out and getting married period, where we lived in a small 600 sq. ft. apartment and real estate was limited. I do like to game in 5.1 and have missed it, but I also enjoy having a clean desk with little clutter (my wife would disagree but that's another story). I was very happy with my T-20's and they performed exceptionally well for a 2.0 system. I chose to try out the Z-5500 because my friend owns the Z-680 (the predecessor to the 5500) and he absolutely raves about them. That and the deal site I frequent had found these on sale for $250 Canadian. The price was just too sweet to pass them up so I took the plunge. Setup: The subwoofer that comes with this speaker package is a 10" sub enclosed in a wood housing with amplifier and a large aluminum heat sink. The box the whole set comes in is rather large and it was a challenge trying to get in into the trunk of my Mazda 3. However, once it was home and I started to set it up, it was a painless process. The Z-5500 uses regular speaker spring clips and speaker wires for its connection. It's not hard to connect these speakers but it does take a bit of patience and wire stripping. Just make sure you either have a sharp utility blade or a $10 wire stripper from home depot. After you have connected all 5 speakers to their inputs on the back of the amp (sub woofer), you should connect the massive, wired, desktop remote. The remote does more than adjust volume, all the appropriate controls are on there with the audio inputs. You can select which input, effects, and speaker levels all on the remote with the help of a 2 line LCD display. Performance: The Z-5500 accepts a Dolby Digital signal with support for Prologic II decoding and DTS 96/24 as well. You can hook up the speakers using direct 6 channel connection, Digital Toslink, or regular stereo input. I used both the direct 6 channel and Toslink to test these speakers. As most games do not output a encoded Dolby or DTS signal, you are forced to use the 6 channel (green, yellow, black) for positional audio. But for movies, such as the Matrix, you can switch the input to Digital Toslink and allow the Z-5500 to decode the DTS or Dolby track for you. I currently run a 5.1 surround system for my main TV and I really enjoy the loud bang that comes with all 5 speakers firing. And let me say my only complaint about watching a movie with these speakers is that my office chair doesn't transform into a Lazyboy! These speakers are the echelon of PC audio there is no doubt. The sounds from them are very clear, with great separation and well defined lows. The only thing I would like is a more distinct bass instead of a steady rumble, it would be nice if the bass could vary a bit with more life. Gaming is a joy with the Z-5500. You get a great sense of position with them. Bioshock is positively freaking when you can tell which direction a Big Daddy is in just by hearing it from behind....brrrr. Conclusion: I am very pleased with these speakers. They could be had for cheaper come Christmas time I'm sure and with the boxing day and year end sales, you should be seeing regular prices fall closer to the $200 mark. $200 for a set of speakers is expensive. But if you are someone that uses their PC for more than word processing and more for entertainment, then get yourself some decent speakers. There's a reason the majority of people out there call PC enthusiasts geeks and nerds, it's because we spend all this time and money oiling and greasing silicon chips in a box. So if you are going to be putting a HEMI in a Toyota, make sure you give it a good intake and exhaust so it can sound like a monster too.

What it's like to be on top

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Americans need not apply, your's is coming soon enough. I was hoping that this long weekend would be more relaxing and offer some extra time to crack open that PGR4 sitting on my desk. But like much of the time, I had something else to do besides playing my games. I had to work. Don't misunderstand my position. I am not belittling those hard workers in the service industry that has to work on Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays at minimum wage. I have been there before and it really grates on your nerves. But, I went to school, completed two degrees, and am now a professional. And why did I do all that? So I can have my weekends off and enjoy the successful life, or so said my University professor/counselors/social adviser. It's never easy to be at the upper echelon of professionalism. I am not a vice president of anything and I don't ever want to be. I am merely needed, just enough to require a long weekend work day, but not enough to be important. I'm not bitter, honest. I'm just wondering where the value in working your tail off is when mediocrity seems to be the battle cry for the majority of the work force. Well, I'll certainly chew on that for a while as I continue to show up to work this week, giving my 85.9% effort. Coming soon, reviews of: Logitech Z-5500 5.1 surround speakers, Spherex Xbox 5.1 speaker system, Creative Zen 8GB Media Player, Heavenly Sword - First Impressions.