Breaking News: Guitar Hero III coming soon to your PC (or Mac).
It’s been established earlier in this blog that we will not be gracing the plasma with an Xbox 360 anytime soon. But now I won’t have to miss a riff … if I can get this super-hot game for our future big and powerful desktop. Yes (said with the pump fist) !!
For the longest time I couldn’t fathom watching TV or videos on a 2-inch screen. It’s so tiny. What can you actually see? Why would anyone do that?
Today I did it. I downloaded an episode of “Firefly” from iTunes, and I watched it on my new Nano. Nevermind that we own the DVD of season one. And we own “Serenity” (the Firefly movie, for you non-browncoats out there). And, Universal HD is showing the series Saturday nights. Now I can watch it on a 2-inch screen, wherever I go.
And I was watching it today. The picture looks incredibly good on such a small screen. I was impressed. Even outside in the sun, the glare was not terribly bothersome. My mind has been changed.
This weekend, I watched a television episode of “Drive” online. Fox on Demand’s service was impressive. I was able to skip through the boring parts, and find the scenes I wanted to watch. The resolution was sharp (available in small, medium and large screen sizes). Buffering time was negligible. Advertisements not terribly offensive (a 15-second AT&T clip probably every 10 or so minutes). My only complaint was the rather poor user interface. There were two episodes of “Drive” that I hadn’t seen. Because the navigation wasn’t actually pointed out to me (i.e. verbiage somewhere that says, more or less, ‘this is a link that will show you all of the episodes of this show’), I watched the last episode before watching the penultimate episode. Which was a shame, because the last episode ended GREAT, and I was looking forward to seeing what was going to happen in the final episode, only to be disappointed that I had just watched the final episode.
By the way, what is UP with Fox giving up on shows so early? Drive got something like four episodes before getting the axe. Yeah, it started slow but there was some potential. I wonder what their online traffic is for shows that get cut. I wonder if any of it is like a “d’oh!” moment for them (a la “Firefly”).
I’ll be curious to see what the future holds for online episodes. How the advertising will pan out. How networks will win over YouTube (and if they should bother). How have they determined royalties? Will any network take a television show straight to online (have they already?). What shows perform well online and why? I may have to spend a little more time figuring this one out.
And, if you haven’t already seen the pattern of shows I’m downloading and watching online …, these are shows that star the flavor of the month, Nathan Fillion (Month? the husband would say. Try flavor of the year. Yum). I am getting my fill on Fillion. Nice.
Speaking of which, I also watched online a ‘sneak preview’ of “Desperate Housewives,” the show that Fillion will be joining this fall. I’m a little bummed, because, well, based on this 2-minute preview, the show is sorta, well, sucky. The writing, ugh. The comic timing, missing. Chemistry among actors, nonexistent. The two minutes I watched was just. plain. flat.
Oh, I’ll still be watching, because of the aforementioned Fillion (who appeared in the sneak preview for all of three seconds). Just thank goodness for the 30-second skip on my DVR.
I’ve been playing with my new toy all day. New toys are fun. Up until now I’ve been the sometimes-proud owner of a 4th-gen iPod, which the husband got as a Christmas gift for me in ’04. That was before color and video. The iTunes Store is a whole new world now that I have a device that can play video. The funny thing is, I never wanted video. I had planned to purchase a Nano months ago as my next MP3 player. I need something I can take to the gym with me, that is smaller and more portable than my current iPod (funny, right, that I want something more portable than an already very portable player). I wanted a flash drive. I figured I’d get sick of display-screen-less Shuffle. So, I figured, Nano for music, and maybe a Zune for video.
When Apple announced a press conference for this week, I decided to wait and see (as I mentioned in my Nintendo DS Lite post. More on this in a bit). When I saw the Nano, I was like, um, I don’t know. At first glance, from the images, it looked kinda ugly. I loved the slim and narrowness of the old. They also got rid of pink (they had pink for the old Nanos, didn’t they?). I love pink. I am a girl.
But. They added video. I suddenly became very intrigued. I finally decided that, if at the Apple Store the Nano looked better than how the pictures seemed to show them, I would get one. In the minty green.
The husband and I arrived at a crowded Apple Store. I made a beeline to the Nano counter. Played with it for a few seconds. Asked one or two questions to the sales guy. Then said, I’m getting it. I figured I had to act fast with less over-thinking or else repeat my Fry’s episode (see aforementioned DS Lite post. Again, more on that later).
So. I’ve been playing with it. I had to upgrade iTunes which took a while. After restarting Windows, iTunes found my iPod and immediately began synching up with “Tina’s iPod Playlist” which contained nearly 2,000 songs from iTunes. How they decided which songs to upload I wasn’t sure. Just kept uploading. Unfortunately, the husband and I share the Library. So, you’ll find stuff we both enjoy, like the Beatles, Police, U2, Billy Joel. You’ll find my Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake (yes. I own Kelly and Justin. I’m not afraid to admit it). You’ll also find his Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers and Psychedelic Furs. So, it synched for the longest time then when it was done I went in and removed over a 1GB worth of tunes. Sorta wished I was able to choose the playlist to add to it. On the other hand, it was pretty neat that Apple’s intention is to get music on the new device ASAP.
I then went to the iTunes Store to check out the Movies and TV Shows. Searched for, what else, Firefly. And it carries Season One (the only season, of course). I will have to download an episode. You never know when you have 43 minutes to spare. And for $1.99 … what a bargain.
Here’s the kicker. After re-organizing the playlist and tooling around iTunes, I checked out the games. The Nano comes with a trivia quiz game, solitaire and something called Vortex. I ended up playing Solitaire for like 30 minutes. iTunes has several other games, some of my favorites including Bejeweled. Funny. I turned away from the DS Lite because ultimately my favorite types of games are pretty limited. I don’t need a powerhouse gaming device to play Tetris. But the Nano, it’s perfect for that kind of game. My kind of game. It was the right decision to leave the DS Lite on the store shelves. Sometimes my overthinking does its job.
Right now I’m listening to Snow Patrol, enjoying that “Cover Flow” thing. I mentioned my previous iPod (which I was using all the way until yesterday, seriously). A few improvements that I love (that, for all I know, have been on each and every iPod generation since mine). One, you don’t have to keep the pause button pressed down for ages to turn the device off. Also, the screen goes black when it’s not being used, but very lightly it shows the time and battery life. Perfect, as those are the main reasons I activate the screen. The letter of the alphabet appears that matches the alphabetical artists list as you are quickly scrolling down, a la the Zune. I can play games and still play music at the same time. As I’m in different screens and modes I can still hit ‘pause’ to pause and play the tunes.
There is much more I’m sure I’m going to love about this thing. I’ll keep you posted.
Hooray!
(and hooray for the 6% discount I received because I am an employee of the firm!)
The new iPod Video Nano, which Apple announced earlier this week.
One quick observation. When I saw the press coverage and photos, I thought, “Boy, I hope it looks better in person than it does in the pictures”.
Fortunately, it does. Will report more later.
I got permission from the husband to get a Nintendo DS Lite. Not that I need permission, but I sort of do. For the most part, I get what I want. It helps that I don’t want much. I was reminded this week, however, that I couldn’t get an Xbox 360. Well, I could, but wouldn’t be allowed to play it on the plasma (burn in). So the husband said if I wanted the Xbox we would need a new LCD, preferably in the bedroom, hanging on the wall. I decided then, that I didn’t really need an Xbox. What I need is a good friend with an Xbox who will let me come over and play Guitar Hero (insert air guitar motions here).
But, back to the Nintendo. As with every year since I joined the firm, I get my annual bonus in September. It’s like a ritual, and one can get very obsessive about it. For a sense of the obssessiveness visit this blog post. I try to avoid the obssession and just appreciate the fact that I work somewhere that gives a bonus.
So, with the bonus. We tend to have to deal with bigger things, like mortgages, and outrageous heating bills, maybe a trip to San Francisco. This year we’ve got more home improvement stuff in the future, but nonetheless I’ve been given the go-ahead to get the DS Lite.
I was at Fry’s, staring straight at one, even in the color I want, coral pink. It came with Space Invaders and Sudoku. I was holding it, in my hands. Brain Age 2 was just $20 and on the shelf up above was Nintendogs, what I’ve been dreaming about. To take care of a dog.
Wait a minute, I already take care of a dog. A real live one, that barks for real and eats for real and goes to the park and plays for real. OK. So, guess I don’t really need Nintendogs (can’t you just imagine me forgetting to walk Max because I’m spending quality time with my Nintendog?). And Sudoku, well, to be honest, I’ve sort of lost my taste for these puzzles since I’ve gotten back into my crossword puzzle phase. So. When am I actually going to play this? Not at work. And home is tough since I spend time at home working. I don’t travel all that much so it’s not like I’m on a plane with a lot of time on my hand.
So after much thought I put the DS Lite back on the shelf and walked away. And that’s my flaw. I think things through too much. And by the time I leave a store I’ve got nothing and the husband is carrying the Special Edition DVD of his favorite movie. How did that happen? Didn’t we go to Fry’s so I could get the DS Lite?
Hmph.
Oh well. Rumor has it Apple will be announcing a new line of something this week. Maybe new iPods? I’ll have to head to the Apple store to get myself the other gadget I’m coveting.
Or maybe not.