The Musings of Dale Dietrich
On November 3, I wrote about my Xbox 360 experiencing the Red-Ring-of-Death (RRoD) (original post here). Today, twenty-five days after shipping my unit out for repair/replacement, I received a replacement unit. Replacement Unit: The manufacture date of the replacement unit is 2008-05-29. I presume it is a Falcon. I did not receive a new power …
I recently read Brent Evans’ ZNF post on Vista Media Center’s (‘MC’) new MSNBC video on demand service. As with virtually every-other Internet-related video distribution announcement these days, I fully expected this service not to be available in Canada. Here’s a typical message I get when I try to access this type of MC functionality …
Continue reading “XBox 360 Teases with Temporary MSNBC iVoD in Canada”
Yeah! My Xbox 360 finally experienced the dreaded Red-Ring-of-Death (RRoD). Over the last few weeks my 360 experienced random freezing-up while playing “Dead Space”. It crashed/froze more and more frequently until I couldn’t run the 360 for more than 10 minutes without a freeze. Many times it froze on the boot screen. Initially, I didn’t …
Continue reading “Yeah! My 360 Experienced the Red-Ring-of-Death – Just on Time!”
This week, Netflix launched its long awaited and much coveted Netflix Canada service. Unfortunately, the content selection cupboard is mostly bare. The limited offerings (and lack of DVD service) explains the $7.99 Cdn per month price. The minimum monthly fee that Americans pay for their Netflix service is $9.95 U.S.. For that they get a …
Continue reading “Netflix Launches in Canada–With the Cupboards Bare”
What are the cost components that make up the retail price of a typical video game? Put another way, how much does each participant in the video-game development / distribution chain get? I get this question all the time. In this presentation to Columbia University students, Steve Perlman, OnLive’s founder, both demos the OnLive system …
Continue reading “Cost Components that Make up a Typical Video Game’s Retail Price”
In my opinion, the biggest Microsoft announcement at E3 today was made after their press conference was over. They announced a new Games on Demand service (coming this August). It has two important features: Full Games Available for Purchase on Demand: Microsoft will start selling full games on-demand via download through the Xbox Live Service …
Continue reading “Microsoft Games on Demand Service – One Step Away from Microsoft Points”
The Microsoft Press Conference can be viewed here. See also: My 2008 Microsoft E3 coverage. Big Announcements: Halo Reach: Bungie teased this new Halo game, set for a fall 2010 release. Whoo hoo! If its a Bungie shooter, and it has the name Halo on it, I’m in! Is ‘Noble 1’, Will Master Chief? …
Continue reading “Microsoft E3 2009 Press Conference Summary”
(3.5/5) – shooter – zombie – survival horror Reviews: Metacritic 89% | Game Rankings 89.17% | zero punctuation Reference: | Achievements Walkthrus: Mahalo | WikiCheats | GameFAQs Developer: Valve Corporation, Engine: Source This is not my normal style of game. I hate zombies. I hate zombie games. I fully expected to hate this game. However, …
This is an updated version of the earlier ‘Best Video Game Podcast’ post I made on April 18, 2008. I have listened to, and abandoned, many video game-related podcasts. Those listed below have survived the culling and, with one exception, are recommended without hesitation. At the bottom I list the deadpool – formerly good podcasts …
Data files on each of my web server, laptops, primary computer and iMac are regularly and automatically backed up to my networked Drobo. I also use the Drobo as a primary repository for 100’s of Gigabytes of centralized data – accessible from any device on my home office network, including my Apple TV, TiVo, PS3 …
Continue reading “Drobo Recovers from Drive Crash as Promised”
It’s time to create a whole new category for the Wii phenomena. Holy cow– more than 2 MILLION in sales in North America in November is crazy. Yet, to this day there still isn’t a single game on the Wii I’d want to play – not one. Yet you can’t deny those sales numbers. Video …
Three days ago I pulled the power chord on my TiVo Series 3. As I have done several times recently, I was taking my Series 3 to take it to a friend’s house to see how many over-the-air HDTV channels TiVo could receive in his neighbourhood. Embarrassingly, when I got to my friends house, plugging …
Continue reading “Had to Replace My TiVo Series 3 Power Supply”
In the early days of console gaming, about 25% or so of all games made me nauseous, dizzy or gave me headaches to the point where I couldn’t play them. A prime example was Deus Ex: Invisible War. I enjoyed the game and wanted to continue playing it. But I couldn’t play for more than …
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(3.5/5) Reviews: Metacritic 72%| Game Rankings 72% | zero punctuation Reference: Achievements| Walkthrus: Mahalo | WikiCheats | GameFAQ Developer: Lucas Arts Genre: Action-Adventure Engine: Ronin, DMM, Havok and Euphoria Pros: engaging story – music – excellent auto-save points – genuinely fun – first rate physics – achievable achievements – fair Cons: some camera issues …
(3/5) sci-fi, thriller While I enjoyed Vin Diesel in Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Boiler Room (2000), I became a fan after watching his unexpectedly good performance in xXx (2001). In 2004 I discovered, Vin Diesel’s cross-media Chronicles of Riddick franchise after playing the terrific Xbox video-game Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher’s Bay …
Continue reading “Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (2000)”
Diary: Entry #1, Reviews: Metacritic | Game RankingsReference: GameFAQ | Developer: EA DICE, Engine: FrostbiteStatus: Finished “Welcome to Bad Company” (the intro level) Pros: Boat load of shooter fun – Immersive – Humorous – Destructible environment – Terrific death/penalty system – Save points therefore a non-issue – Very good graphics/character models – Difficulty Level is …
Wimbledon 2008 starts this Monday June 23 and runs to July 6. I just discovered (ironically through an adsense ad on The Daleisphere) that Wimbledon provides a two week ‘Wimbledon Live‘ service where, for a flat fee of $24.99 (approx. £12.65) you can stream live matches to your PC or download up to 250 matches …
Continue reading “Wimbledon Live – Stream or Download Wimbledon 2008 Matches”
Starting today (press release), Apple Canada is making movie (and some TV show) downloads available to Canadians through the Canadian iTunes store. Apple says 1200 titles are available at launch, including 200 ‘high-def’ titles. Despite Canadian dollar parity, as usual Canadians will pay more per rental ($4.99 for new releases, $3.99 for older titles) than …
Below is, in my opinion, a list of the best video game podcasts ordered by preference. I have listened to, and abandoned, many video game-related podcasts. Those listed below have survived the culling and, with one exception, are recommended without hesitation. 1. The 1Up Yours Podcast: This is my favourite video game podcast. It ‘airs’ …
I recently listened to the March 31, 2008 EGM Live Podcast (download) where Garnett Lee interviewed Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Director of Product Management for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Among other topics, Aaron had the unenviable job of defending the concept of Microsoft Points (time index 17:40). [Update: June 1, 2009: Today Microsoft announced …
Continue reading “Are the Days of Microsoft Points Numbered?”
(4/5) – shooter Reviews: Metacritic 86%| Game Rankings 87% Reference: Trophies – none| Walkthrus: WikiCheats | GameFAQ | IGN Developer: Insomniac Games Engine: Insomniac Engine Note: The pros and cons portion of this post was written in April 2008. I am posting this entry on November 4, 2008 – the day I purchased Resistance …
Grrr….. Why does Sony make simple things so complicated? I’ll start with the answer to the titular question. After firing up the PS3 with your new Dual Shock 3 (DS3) controller: start Resistance Fall of Man (RFoM) choose “Multiplayer” choose “online game” – the following notice will appear: “An update to Resistance: Fall of Man …
Continue reading “How to get the Dual Shock 3 to Work with Resistance Fall of Man?”
Sony’s 2009 E3 Press Conference can be viewed here. See also my 2008 Sony E3 coverage. Click on images below for larger views. Exclusive PS3 Games Shown God of War III: (demo’d – coming March 2010 ) Looks terrific! Except, that is, for Sony’s continued reliance on quick time events in boss battles. Grrr! But …
(2.5/5) – shooter Reviews: Metacritic 71% | Game Rankings 72.47% | zero punctuation Reference: | Achievements Walkthrus: Couldn’t find any – you won’t need it! Developer: Swordfish Studios Engine: Unreal Engine 3 In 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand, rapper Curtis Jackson (aka ‘50 Cent’) was to be paid for an African concert with …
(3/5) – action – adventure Reviews: Metacritic 81%| Game Rankings 80.68% | zero punctuation Reference: | Achievements Walkthrus: Mahalo | WikiCheats | GameFAQs Developer: Ubisoft Montreal, Engine: Scimitar / Anvil Game Synopsis In Prince of Persia (“PoP”), an unnamed prince, who isn’t really a prince, travels with Princess Elika to each of the 24 regions, …
