As the library of games start to grow and mature for mac users so will gaming on mac. If Vavle brings out steam for Linux likes its been rummaged could this mean valve has a very strong standing in the desktop gaming world? While services like Games for Windows failed, could the killer combo of games like half-life, portal and Team fortress combined with steam  be Valves equivalent to Apple’s ipod and itunes?  Steam is not the only on-line gaming platform, nore is it the best designed one (though the new redesign is a step in the right direction), but its one of the most popular and it does have some great games and killer sales.

I for one welcome our “new” overload of Desktop gaming.

Steam Shop

I’m not going to talk much about Avatar other then worth watch but also worth watching in 3d. All this 3d talk to one said, digital projection isn’t all that bad for one the ads look a lot better. This is partly due to the fact the kind of projectors that your local cinema would be using would go far beyond the resolution of a commercial projector. If this is the level of clearly they provide I think I can give up iconic things like film grain and tell tail sings of ware and tare that come from an film based medium.

3D cinema has come a long way from the days of then silly glasses with the magenta -blue filters though you still have to put on a pair of silly black frame glasses. They now use polarized glasses. To quote Wikipedia:

RealD 3D cinema technology uses circularly polarized light to produce stereoscopic images. Circular polarization is preferable to linear polarization because viewers are able to tilt their head and look about the theater naturally with no loss of 3D perception. Linear polarization, on the other hand, requires viewers to keep their head within a certain degree of tilt for effective 3D perception, otherwise they can see double or darkened images.

The projector alternately projects the right-eye frame and left-eye frame 144 times per second, and circularly polarizes these frames, clockwise for the right eye and counter clockwise for the left eye. A push-pull electro-optical modulator called a ZScreen is placed immediately in front of the projector lens to switch polarization. The audience wears recyclable circularly polarized glasses to make sure each eye sees only “its own” picture, even if the head is tilted. In RealD Cinema, each frame is projected three times to reduce flicker, a system called triple flash. The source video is usually only (2x)24 frames per second (which can result in a subtle ghosting and stuttering on horizontal camera movements). A silver screen is used to keep the light polarized and to reflect back as much light as possible to counter polarization losses. The result is a 3D picture that seems to extend behind and in front of the screen itself.

Basically your bending light and playing with frame rates so each eye sees a slightly different picture giving your brain the illusion of depth…. and me one monster head hack by the time the movie is over.  it’s all so good to see Sigourney Weaver still hocking it in a movie.

The box art loudly proclaims the game is  Remastered in HD, while  the game does run at 720p (don’t get me started why this couldn’t have been 1080p) the in-game pre-rendered cut-scenes are still in their original lower resolution but are presented in wide screen. The game has a setting for compensating for over or under scan and the sound is still in Dolby Pro logic II (sorry no Dolby Digital). If your a fan or never finished the original games back when they where on the the PlayStation 2 this is a great way to get your God on before God of War 3 comes out.

Kratos

Two long nights latter and I was able to “easily” and safely soft mod my PSP. It was bit of a steep learning curve as I was trying to install Dark_AleX 2.71 Custom Firmware Revision A that had only just come out that night. Most information I found was tailored to users who where still using or had downgraded to the 1.50 firmware.

My PSP had the 2.50 firmware, after trolling the internet it finely clicked that Dark_AleX Custom Firmware only installed on version 1.50. So after install the official 2.71 firmeware from Sony I then used Dark_AleX 2.71 Downgrader, in conjunction with hen C, I was able to downgrade to 1.50. After that it was a simple case of using the tools that came with Custom Firmware to “upgrade” to Dark_AleX’s 2.71 firmware.

Ones that was all done it still took me another night to finally get device hook to load ISO of the Memory Stick and via the USB.

He’s main character Celo in the graphic novel Wet Moon is a neurotic, but sexy, girl embarking in the start of her college life. This first volume in an undisclosed saga introduces many colourful characters who dwell in the gothic, swampy southern town of Wet Moon. At first glance the comic seem like a “day in the life” affair, with many of its charming concepts been easily relatable to. However while a Lot of ground is covered in this premier installment, what parts of it’s underlining plot that isn’t reviled will help pave the ground for its ultimate susses.

I hope that Ross continues this style of storytelling, leaving the reader to second guessing its motives, while providing just the right amount of maturity and freedom when dealing with the comic’s more adult issues.

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The night was rather like entering a security society or some kind of a colt. Every one at the cinema, baring myself and friends seemed to know what was happening and what to do. I stepped up to the counter and asked for my ticket and after a secret and age old “hand shake” (that resulted in me departing with my money in exchange for a ticket) I was soon ticket in hand and seated for the movie.

Despite over 15mins of the movie being lost and/or damaged from age I really liked the movie and the experiences of seeing a silent movie. I was taken away by the sturdiness of the sets as they looked believable, unlike some thing out of a classic Star Trek episode. Metropolis certainly opened my eyes to an age old form of cinema and showed how we really are being feed some shit movies and cinema as of late.

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