Monthly Archives: January 2010

iPad – Apple’s Latest Creation

iPad, the name of Apple’s latest creation, is a tablet. A touchscreen device, which is essentially a large iPod. There are plenty of websites out there with the specifications of the product, so I won’t bother going into detail regarding that. Instead, I’ll give my views on it.

The iPad is a 10″ tablet screen. Steve Jobs described it as something “magical” when he was introducing this new product. He also said that he wanted to address the gap between iPods and MacBooks, and felt netbooks did not really address it. Hence, we have the iPad.

Quite frankly, the iPad is a heap of disappointment. When I say it’s a large iPod, it really is just that. It does not contain Mac OS X, but rather the same interface as the iPhone or iPod Touch. Therefore, you can only run one application at a time, and you’re extremely limited with what you can do. That means no plugging USB devices in and multi-tasking. There’s also a lack of webcam or any camera on the device.

So what exactly are Apple aiming for with the iPad? They feel they can appeal to people who read eBooks a lot. And also to people who want to be able to browse the Internet on the go, as some models have a 3G modem built-in. The price plan for these in the USA seem somewhat baffling, $15 for 250MB bandwidth? 250MB bandwidth is miniscule, although it’s $30 for unlimited. I’m sure there is some fair usage policy with that.

So on the whole, no multi-tasking, same iPhone/iPod Touch interface, a few new applications (office suite available, but for purchase through App Store), native support for all existing applications, mobile Internet. That’s the iPad.

I just hope in the future they can put Mac OS X onto it.

Army of Two: The 40th Day PSP Demo

I’ve been using my PSP a fair amount these days, since it’s been great for picking up and playing in short bursts. I have Vice City Stories to play as well as Little Big Planet, but I thought I’ll give the demo of the new Army of Two a try.

It doesn’t try to be a straight up third person shooter like it’s siblings on the PS3 and 360. Instead, it’s a top down shooter. The controls are very straight forward, you simply use the face buttons to shoot in that corresponding direction. Therefore, it really is a very dumbed down version of the big console iterations.

Despite that, it still is an enjoyable game. It plays fairly well, although there are a few glitchy moments. You have to rely on auto-aiming a lot so your character shoots at the enemies who will not be in only the four directions that you aim in. This doesn’t always work and can often leave you frustrated as they seem to have no trouble shooting at your with exact precision.

It’s certainly worth a download (the demo that is), however I’m not sure if it’s worth a full purchase, unless it is on a big sale!

Wha?

Wow, it has certainly been a very long time since I have updated the website. I always keep planning to update, but just never get around to it. It’s not like I haven’t been playing a few games here and there, over the Christmas I finished Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and also played through the campaigns in Left 4 Dead 2, both extremely enjoyable! Then my 360 broke down… :(

I’ve also been playing a bit here and there on my PSP, mainly The Bigs 2 since that is such an awesome game and great to pick up and play. I’ve also purchased GTA Vice City Stories, since never completed it before, and also Little Big Planet, so I have a bit of gaming to do.

Regarding the website, I have just been so busy with university since it’s my final year that I haven’t had the chance to update it at all. I do have plans for the future for the website and will begin further development in the Summer, after I finish uni, so that’s something to look forward to! :)

In the mean time, I will definitely try to update this now and then, fill in with some gaming stuff when I do play. For now though, all I can say is that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic still stands up as an amazing game even today! If you don’t know what it is, go and check it out! It’s available via Steam on PC.