Commodore128's blog

Faster please Mr. Geohot

January 26th, 2010 |

Alright so the big news coming out of the weekend for folks like me was this little posting by famous iPhone hacker George Hotz (known as Geohot). http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/

Folks, the Commodore is into system hacking. I’ve never done it myself mind you, as myself hacking a system like Xbox360 at my skill level would be akin to breaking into Fort Knox with a toothpick. But I enjoy the thought of making systems like these that are designed with specific feature sets in mind, do completely different and arguably more fun things like say homebrew software, APIs for web-facing applications like Pandora or Youtube, or even emulators that allow me to play games of old, reliving precious moments of my childhood. I’ve had an Xbox that’s been hacked for years and I use it for just about everything media center related. But for awhile now I’ve been looking for a replacement. And Mr. Hotz might have hit the target here.

Login or register to post comments |

Tags: PS3, videogames

Post-Christmas memories post

December 28th, 2009 |

Commodore128

A late Merry Christmas everybody! So it's all over and Christmas Day came and went. Now of course Christmas isn't about vidogames... but let's face it, it's the biggest videogame holiday of the year. Here's hoping you got all the games/hardware you were looking for. I know for myself I got an HD webcam so I can start on some video work of my own for the site! I've got a few ideas that I hope to start poisting right here on the blog section so stay tuned. Also I need to work my way through Resident Evil 5 finally... We'll see how those two prioritize themeselves. :)

Now Roo got me thinking about some Christmas memories in gaming. I realize that all of us probably have more than a few favorites from years past that bring warmth to our hearts. I have to say my favorite Christmas for gaming was probably about 12 or 13 years ago. A few months before the holidays my family had purchased a Philips CD-i. We mostly used it for movies and music with a few games but nothing really in particular. Well that Christmas, we got a crapload of CD-i stuff that just made myself and my two brothers go ape. We even got the digital video cartridge which gave the machine the extra horsepower it needed to run FMV like a champ. Armed with our new(er) games like Lil' Devil, Kether, and Who Shot Johnny Rock?, my brothers and I were in an FMV induced coma for the next three days. We also gained great expertise in positioning the IR sensor for the light pistol just right so you could actually hit something in the shooting games.

Login or register to post comments |

Tags: video games

Some relief from DS Lite's pain

November 24th, 2009 |

Commodore128

Looks like Nintendo got that letter I sent them about 3 years back.

There I was, playing Star Fox Command on my shiny new black DS Lite. As I'm attempting to follow a missle by flying though some boxes in the sky, I get a terrible cramping pain in my hand. Why? Because the DS Lite is so friggin small. Just holding on to the thing during more intense game moments makes my pinky look like a question mark as it's the sole load bearer for the considerable weight of my button-mashing right hand. Not exactly ergonomic. It was my duty to let Reggie know. Surely someone out there was suffering like I was while trying to beat the notoriously difficult Order of Ecclasia. No luck. I was left to suffer. Thanks Reggie... You beautiful bastard you.

Maybe I just have big hands (settle down ladies), or maybe I hold the DS like Popeye holds a can of spinach (settle down Roo). In any case, my marathon sessions of Puzzle Quest have become quite a challenge to my metatarsal dexterity.

Login or register to post comments |

Tags: video games

Google Doodle questions

November 9th, 2009 |

Commodore128

It's no secret. The Commodore grew up with an almost unhealthy love of Sesame Street and the Muppets. In fact Sesame Street was an integral part of my early education. I mean the only reason I can count past the number 5 is because of the Count (ah ah ahhhhh), and my cynical, semi-crotchety nature that you enjoy in this very blog is directly related to my childhood adoration of one Oscar the Grouch. (on a side note, this would also explain my affinity for animal facsimile, squeaky, bathtime toys. Rubber ducky, you're the one... Thanks Ernie.) You see Sesame Street means a lot to the Commodore and I'd never try to diminish the importance of it's significance in the education of youngsters. But I have to ask... Google, two weeks of celebrating the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street? Really? Lemme take a step back for a second.

Perhaps you are one of the 17 hundred billion people (approximate value) that use Google on a daily basis? Well the Commodore sure does. In fact, I've found it extremely helpful for any number of applications. I use it for email, chat, calendar, searching, research, todo lists, documents, group management, and any number of other various and sundry purposes that just make my life easier.

Login or register to post comments

Why??? Why is this so funny???

October 22nd, 2009 |

Commodore128

Somethingawful.com has a slogan that they’ve used since 1999; the internet makes you stupid. Well I certainly see their point when I look at the deluge of the total crap out there on the interwebs. But for one reason or another I’ve always kind of thought of myself as being above it all. I don’t go to TMZ.com, I don’t live and die on Twitter, I find it fun to laugh mockingly at posted comments on Joystiq, and I don’t post self-help status updates looking for pity about life’s challenges on Facebook. I like to think I’m better than that. I’ve always liked to think that. Until now.

Now before I tell you why, I have to give a bit of background. When I was but a wee lad, my family had a Philips CD-i. Go look it up if you need to. The great gaming advantage of the CD-i was the fact that it could handle full motion video (FMV) which was mostly used for cut-scenes in between rather mundane and otherwise ordinary game play. Such was the case for a few Nintendo licensed games, namely Link: The Faces of Evil, and Hotel Mario. Two entries into their respective game series’ so horrendously bad that they are not even acknowledged any longer by Nintendo. They all just pretend these games never happened and went on with their lives. Well, my friends I have not forgotten. And this has made me susceptible to the curse of the dreaded You Tube Poop (YTP).

Login or register to post comments |

Tags: video games

Movies that will help you hate Microsoft... or not.

September 29th, 2009 |

Commodore128

Some of you might not know this but the Commodore hates Windows. I love my Xbox, and I’m not really anti-Microsoft. In fact I give credit where it’s due, when it’s due. But not for Windows, because it sucks big time. So recently, I took in a few decidedly anti-Microsoft films in order to prepare myself for the release of Windows 7. I figure this way I can’t lose – if Windows 7 is Vista quality, then watching these movies has helped me stock up on my anti-Microsoft ammunition. If it’s actually worth a damn or (gasp) even good, then my watching these movies amounted to little more than an informative pep rally for myself against the inevitable wave of Windows related products and coverage on the horizon.

The two movies I watched were Revolution OS, and Welcome to Macintosh. Both are available to watch instantly on Netflix which, somewhat ironically, I used my Xbox 360 to view. While neither of these films are quite objective (understatement… trust me) about their respective topics, I have to say watching them was rather invigorating as a geek. Then again so is watching Modern Marvel marathons on the history channel, so take that with a grain of salt.

1 comment |

Tags: software, technology

Leave that ancient PC alone!

September 17th, 2009 |

Commodore128

For awhile now I’ve been thinking about upgrading my PC since the poor thing was built while the earth was still in diapers. No problem right? I’ve been building computers since I was in the 7^th grade (I’m beginning to think the dinosaurs were still around then). But every time I head over to Newegg or check out a new hardware review over at Tom’s, I begin to ask myself the same question… Why the hell am I doing this?

I remember 10 years ago there being a tremendous PC arms race. Everybody wanted the new videocards, the greatest memory capacity, or even the biggest CPU cooling fan (How big was your ZIP drive?). But back then, the reason we wanted all of those things was to play games. Pure and simple. Sure I had an occasional thought about how quickly I could run a Photoshop function (you know when digital photos and desktops ran at an astronomical 800x600 resolution) but most of my thoughts focused around how fast or pretty I could make games like Tribes or Quake.

What happened?I remember thinking that PC gaming was just going to keep getting better and better with the technology and that console videogames were just doomed as PC technology was advancing so rapidly. Seemed like a logical conclusion. WRONG!

Login or register to post comments |

Tags: technology