The Big Video Game Delima

I've been playing video games for a LONG time, since the beginning of Pong in the home I've played and owe many a game system and many more actual games. I've always been a gamer yet there are times when I question if I really am a gamer. Nowadays I can go long stretches without buying a new game unlike times gone by when I would buy a lot more but now it seems its either feast or famine with games.

Here's where I'm at lately. I haven't been wondering around the lands of Azeroth in Warcraft as much as I used to and my friends forgot who I am in Halo. Yet I've added such games to my collection like Call of Duty 4, GTA IV, Mario Kart Wii, Smash Bros Brawl and just today I bought Wii Ski and I'm waiting for Wii Fit next week.

Yet lately when I get free time I just want to sit and either read or watch TV, heck today I just wanted to sit outside for awhile. In all of this however the most recent fun I've had was playing Mario Kart Wii with my two year old son.

Why is it then that these games catch my eye, I must have them but then there's no time to actually play them? Or is it just that I'd rather not? Perhaps I need a vacation to catch up on all this gaming!

Well I haven't blogged in awhile and now I'm back with a ramble about how I have no time to play games. I guess its good, I have alot going on and I'm also starting to delve back into my creative side as well. I guess the ultimate question is will I ever not be a gamer, I guess the answer to that question will come someday, but for now I'll just try to buy a little less and play a little more.

Until next time!

Simplifying the Media

My greatest home improvement work resides in the ever changing and growing face of my home media.  The hardware and network that allows me to work with and share my media throughout the home.  Some of those pieces are connected and some are not, some are automated and some require a bit of help.  Although technically and financially I am far from the complete package I have never been quite as close as I am now.

For all the work that I put into this, simplification seems to be the greatest tool for me.  At times I will admit I try to make it complicated but its all a part of determining what works and what doesn't.  Sometimes things work but long term are just not really cut out to continue in service.  Case in point my iBook and Linux computers, the Linux box will soon find itself departed from the overall network as a computer is moved and replaces it.

Over the weekend I purchased a TV which was placed in the bedroom, well I soon found out that it indeed fit in the living room entertainment center and was much more fitted for that location, that in turn put a few other moves in place such as a new added job for my Zune in the bedroom to watch things like podcasts (podcasts are automated to the Zune, movies and videos are not in my settings).

Another thing I did today was remove two 5 disc DVD changers from active service, and I've done something I almost never have done, I am for the first time relying on game systems as DVD players.

Its all a part of the changing landscape of a media environment, one that needs to work for me and not against me, and the key is simplification, otherwise my wife will never use any of it!

del.icio.us Tags: DVD,Blu ray,ibook,Linux,DVD Changer,Home Network

The New View of My Vizio

I was planning to get a new TV for the bedroom, if you've read any of my past blog posts you know that.  I wasn't planning on getting one this weekend.  My biggest problem was price and size weren't working out for me, but guess what they did this weekend.

Vizio is a brand that I probably wouldn't check out all that much but this past year it seems the brand really took off and I can already see why, its a pretty darn nice TV.

Sure I haven't spent that much time with it and it is a TV for the bedroom but I really think its going to work for what it was purchased for.

My biggest problem was getting my dang PS2 hooked up to it, I use my PS2 for watching DVD's in the bedroom because its small nice size is nice.  But I will tell you it was SO freaking hard to get that thing to display 16x9 progressive scan properly and once I figured out how to adjust the "hidden" settings I still had to manually set the TV to "wide mode" since apparently the PS2 doesn't send the right signals.  I guess I may be asking too much of an age old video game system but really, why do I always have to jump through hoops with Sony?

In any case my digital home is moving closer and closer to what it should be since now I can finally use my Zune in the bedroom for podcasts and photos and such since it can finally be hooked up to a TV!

Now if you've excuse me I have to go watch some TV!

Backwards Time?

So I'm at a training today and we look over at the wall and there's the clock right, no big deal. Until we realized the clock was backwards, completely backwards. Let me tell you how interesting that makes the day when you're looking at the clock.

Everytime you stop and look at the clock you have to wonder for a second where you're at. Although it was backwards it told correct time.

Luckily the training was interesting enough that the day went by rather quickly but I just couldn't leave without taking a quick photo of the "backwards clock" before heading out for the day!

Making Friends on the Wii is NOT Easy!

I've had my Wii for probably over a year now but never really did much with it online other than the normal web browsing or Everybody Votes channels but recently that changed.  I picked up Mario Kart for the Wii on Sunday when it was released.  I decided to try out the online component of it and boy was I surprised.  At first I thought I was going to be hit with a lot of disconnected errors but that went away and I was playing Mario Kart online!

What I will say is that even though I've only won once and I've had to fight just to stay at the front of the pack (2nd place feels like a win mostly) its been a TON of fun.  Having made some friends on the Comic Forums I decided to trade some "friend codes".  That's where the trouble lies.

Its not bad enough that Nintendo requires you to swap Wii codes for friends but then you have to swap codes for Mario Kart then if you want to play some Smash Bros. its time to swap codes again.  UGH if that's not bad enough once you send a friend a code they have to send you there's back! I can't even tell you if on the other end it tells you the name of the person who's sending you a code or if anything happens at all on the other end?

Its kind of like for Live your telling someone your name, but on the Wii you have to swap Social Security Numbers, how often would you make friends that way?  That's what I figured too.

del.icio.us Tags: Wii,Nintendo,Mario Kart,Live,Super Smash Bros.

What Did We Do Before DVR's?

Well the weather is getting warmer and more time is being spent outside, and its being spent outside later.  So what that means is that while the shows start at 8 p.m. I am nowhere near ready to watch them.  Its especially needed on a night like tonight because I'm a big Survivor fan, an office junkie, and I'm still trying to figure out Lost.  The DVR makes sure it takes care of it all for me, one after another they get recorded and prepared for viewing.

So I ask, what did we do before the DVR, well I can tell you at times what I did and it was utilize multiple VCR's to get everything recorded at times. Yet even with the VCR it really mattered how well you set the darn thing, not clearly as easy as preparing the DVR.

Although it's funny that the DVR is still not as prevalent as the cell phone or email, there are actually people out there that still don't have them.  While it was a short time ago that I remember the excitement of getting my first DVR, it seems like everyone at least should have one these days.

If you still don't have a DVR and you're still struggling with that VCR, perhaps knowing that you'll not have to deal with that blinking 12:00 anymore might finally set you straight!

del.icio.us Tags: DVR,VCR,Lost,Survivor,The Office

Pennsylvania Representative, Me?

Well that's what I'm going for at least, hey I've been blogging, twittering and podcasting now for awhile (okay I've only been podcasting for like two months) but still if a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, well you get the idea.

Anyway I'm submitting this truly wonderful blog of mine to 50 Bloggers in 50 States and hopefully I'll get some notoriety!

I've never been one for politics so this is the closest that PA Representative and Daytona24 will likely ever come!

del.icio.us Tags: Theres a Blog in my Soup