Oh god. Why?
So yesterday I decided to take a look at DICE's new game - Battlefield 3
It's no secret at all how I felt about Battlefield : Bad Company 2. It was, put simply, the finest feat of FPS/warfare gaming ever. When compared to Modern Warfare 2 in single player there was no comparisson.
This is something I would like my viewers to understand. I don't do competitive multiplayer gaming because, quite frankly, I am shit at it. I could probably be better at it if I knew how to hold my temper and channel my frustration, but I don't and I can't. Many pads have met the wall during a gaming session vs a friend and I become irate and annoyed very quickly, especially when poked at for being a noob.
So when I buy or play a game I do so with the basis that I want to play it either alone or in co op mode. Co op mode is very nice because it channels more positive energy. You work with people, not against them. So I like games like Left 4 Dead very much. The anticipation of a hoarde, the working together to cover all areas. This is constructive to me.
So when I compare Modern Warfare 2 to Battlefield : Bad company 2 the differences are night and day.
MW2 is a multiplayer game with a sperm stain on the mattress afterthought of a single player campaign. They did take the time to add the stupid shock value level (the airport one) to bolster sales, but for the most part you can walk through it with your eyes closed in five hours.
Bad Company 2 however? Well it takes much longer than that. It is meaner, bigger, badder and bolder. It also looks stunning.
So imagine my excitement at all of the BF3 commercials on the TV. Then, imagine my dissapointment when I load up a game that has totally forgotten what made itself so good, and instead rips off and tries to "Out COD" COD. From the moment you begin the game feels like a rolling sort of interactive Hollywood movie. You (well not you, it's all done for you) leap onto the roof of a moving train and from there you basically play "Simon" for a while, pressing the button that comes up and flashes.
Now whilst this may "look" good, it doesn't pan into a game. Infact, it kind of reminds me of something like a point a click adventure at the beginning. Assuring myself that I was wrong I decided to look around and see how the game was scoring in reviews. It's not terrible, but it's not great. I see 7-8 scores typically. I see lots of mixed reviews. I see a lot of people saying "Hey, it's very similar to MW2/Black Ops !".
This simply isn't good enough. It's a lame cop out.
Sigh. Oh well, at least there's still Skyrim to come this year, and my money will most certainly be spent on that.
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Monday 24 October 2011
Call me a snob - I don't fucking care.
So the time came. I finally own an Xbox 360.
It's probably very early for me to be typing this up, but I don't even know if I will ever use it again. There is a small backstory with this. Basically the last gaming console I owned that actually got used was a Nintendo Game cube. This was many moons ago, and I clearly remember camping outside of Walmart all night in my ex wife's Ford Taurus only to find that no one really wanted any so the shelves were piled high with them.
And that was it. For years after that I either had a PC that could run games or simply didn't bother.
For years people have tried to convince me that consoles are (to name a few of the quotes)
Just as good as a PC graphics !
Not loaded with problems and bugs !
Easy sit down gaming without the hassle !
And so on. Now not at any point did I actually believe any of this but recently the opportunity came along for me to own an Xbox 360 and I thought fuck it, why not? Well, there are many reasons why not, and my eyes are the main one of those reasons.
I do look around me and I have had a good look at many comparisson video and screenshot on the net. Of course the PC always looks better but I will admit that recently the 360 games look pretty much identical. Well, today I found out that it just isn't true.
Finally I was perfectly armed to compare the two systems head to head, face to face. Infact, better still I was even able to do so using exactly the same implement to display the picture !
I have my Xbox connected into the HDMI input of my 1080p monitor, and my PC connected to the DVI input of my 1080p monitor. Now I know that most comparissons will basically butter up the differences, but they never quite explain them in the way I would. I decided to compare the game Fallout New Vegas across both formats, switching inputs as I went. The first thing that struck me was that the graphics on the Xbox 360 are very sparse. The games do resemble one another of course (given that they are like, the same game) but the 360 is so terribly inferior that I simply could not bear to play it for more than 30 minutes without feeling rather ill. Why? Well, it goes a little something like this.
The 360 has absolutely and utterly no anti aliasing. So what is anti aliasing? well, it's basically (to put it very crudely) - blur. On the PC you get levels of anti aliasing that you can set to smooth things over. The thing is, it doesn't just smooth things over it smooths them out completely. So some will say I am being anal or being an idiot? not so. Within thirty minutes of playing the game I had to switch off. You see, on Fallout New Vegas there is a huge expansive world in front of you. This world is made up of layered scenery like rocks, buildings, wells, abandoned cars and so on. Now what I did not realise was that when not anti aliased each one of these objects looks sharp. Worse still, though, the edges of them sort of 'glisten' and before long my eyes were shooting all over the place to try and decipher the images in front of my eyes. It was like trying to watch an old grainy movie and before long I began to feel like my eyes were crossing, straining them, and causing me to feel rather dizzy.
Now I admit I do have a problem with my eyes (and I can also tell the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS, thanks) but to me it isn't something I am prepared to continue to do to my eyes. The reason I wear glasses is because of gaming. Between the ages of 8 and 17 I was a heavy, heavy console gamer. By the time I was 18 I needed glasses.
So, that pretty much rules me out of the console race before I have even gotten started.
To conclude, then, the 360 is not a fucking patch on a decent gaming PC. Sorry, it just is fucking not. It never was (discovered from a comparisson when it first came out) and it never fucking will be. It's a raw, cut down, cheapened gaming PC with shit graphics and expensive games.
Sorry to burst your bubbles, like.
It's probably very early for me to be typing this up, but I don't even know if I will ever use it again. There is a small backstory with this. Basically the last gaming console I owned that actually got used was a Nintendo Game cube. This was many moons ago, and I clearly remember camping outside of Walmart all night in my ex wife's Ford Taurus only to find that no one really wanted any so the shelves were piled high with them.
And that was it. For years after that I either had a PC that could run games or simply didn't bother.
For years people have tried to convince me that consoles are (to name a few of the quotes)
Just as good as a PC graphics !
Not loaded with problems and bugs !
Easy sit down gaming without the hassle !
And so on. Now not at any point did I actually believe any of this but recently the opportunity came along for me to own an Xbox 360 and I thought fuck it, why not? Well, there are many reasons why not, and my eyes are the main one of those reasons.
I do look around me and I have had a good look at many comparisson video and screenshot on the net. Of course the PC always looks better but I will admit that recently the 360 games look pretty much identical. Well, today I found out that it just isn't true.
Finally I was perfectly armed to compare the two systems head to head, face to face. Infact, better still I was even able to do so using exactly the same implement to display the picture !
I have my Xbox connected into the HDMI input of my 1080p monitor, and my PC connected to the DVI input of my 1080p monitor. Now I know that most comparissons will basically butter up the differences, but they never quite explain them in the way I would. I decided to compare the game Fallout New Vegas across both formats, switching inputs as I went. The first thing that struck me was that the graphics on the Xbox 360 are very sparse. The games do resemble one another of course (given that they are like, the same game) but the 360 is so terribly inferior that I simply could not bear to play it for more than 30 minutes without feeling rather ill. Why? Well, it goes a little something like this.
The 360 has absolutely and utterly no anti aliasing. So what is anti aliasing? well, it's basically (to put it very crudely) - blur. On the PC you get levels of anti aliasing that you can set to smooth things over. The thing is, it doesn't just smooth things over it smooths them out completely. So some will say I am being anal or being an idiot? not so. Within thirty minutes of playing the game I had to switch off. You see, on Fallout New Vegas there is a huge expansive world in front of you. This world is made up of layered scenery like rocks, buildings, wells, abandoned cars and so on. Now what I did not realise was that when not anti aliased each one of these objects looks sharp. Worse still, though, the edges of them sort of 'glisten' and before long my eyes were shooting all over the place to try and decipher the images in front of my eyes. It was like trying to watch an old grainy movie and before long I began to feel like my eyes were crossing, straining them, and causing me to feel rather dizzy.
Now I admit I do have a problem with my eyes (and I can also tell the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS, thanks) but to me it isn't something I am prepared to continue to do to my eyes. The reason I wear glasses is because of gaming. Between the ages of 8 and 17 I was a heavy, heavy console gamer. By the time I was 18 I needed glasses.
So, that pretty much rules me out of the console race before I have even gotten started.
To conclude, then, the 360 is not a fucking patch on a decent gaming PC. Sorry, it just is fucking not. It never was (discovered from a comparisson when it first came out) and it never fucking will be. It's a raw, cut down, cheapened gaming PC with shit graphics and expensive games.
Sorry to burst your bubbles, like.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Ipad VS Android? Sort of.
Before I begin this I want to express my heartfelt sadness at the passing of Steve Jobs. Such an innovative genius of a man who will be sadly missed. It's a very sad goodbye to an icon of my life.
I'm really in a tough position here. Either way I go about this I am either a U-turning cunt, or, I hate my own product.
Recently as some of you (IE - none) would have read, I got an Android tablet. The particular model was a Hannspree Hannspad and that will be sort of important as I go on. Any way, I dropped said Hannspad breaking it irrepairably in a completely freak accident. That then spelled the end of that and I was left with the most vile and horrid withdrawl symptons imaginable. Loss of sleep, boredom and sadness to name but a few. It was like losing a personal friend, because that is what it had become in its short life. So it was time to consider either leaving the idea completely or getting another one. I decided on the latter.
At least my £145 and Ryan's £8 hadn't completely gone to waste. Usually when I buy something along these lines it's either hit or miss and very quickly I end up with something that just sits there gathering dust. A Wii and numerous other items over the past couple of years failed to make the grade and I am now stuck with them. I know I could sell them but Ebay isn't an option with Paypal's stoic treating of those who sell things on Ebay. Inanimate objects I have had no problem with but electronics are a nightmare. Phones, computer parts, Ipads ; you name it. Basically I am sad to confess that our world is full of nasty greedy cunts who will fuck you over in a heartbeat to use your product to repair theirs and then use Paypal to force you to refund them, even if they have broken the law.
Paypal are a law unto themselves, who brag about your money being safe with them and insured actually offer no such service. Basically as a friend of mine found out recently (when he got ripped off and a bricked phone returned to him) there is no insurance. Paypal will first try and perform a snatch refund from your account (if you verified it) and if you didn't they will simply put your account at -£ amount and then send a bailiff after you to recover their money. They lose nothing, they leave that down to the seller to do.
So, it's quite obvious to see why I refuse to sell electrical items on there, and why I end up stuck with them unless I find a friend of family member looking for said item. This is all caused by my owning three personal computers that are so powerful and able to perform pretty much every life function that I simply don't need anything else. Pop over to my recent write up about tablets and you will see why I find them necessary.
Any way, let's get into this now shall we?
Firstly the Ipad is better than my Hannspad. That is going to be blatantly obvious because it is a superior product in every way. However, before you accuse me of an unfair and unbalanced bashing of said Hannspad let me just mention that it is also superior to the Motorola Xoom Android tablet also. When Ryan was here his tablet weapon of choice was said Motorola Xoom and I can now say it is inferior due to said reasons.
The Xoom is heavy. Very, very heavy. Infact it was heavier than my Hannspad, making prolonged use very uncomforable. The screen viewing angles on both Android tablets (both the Xoom and Hannspad) were terrible and if you wanted to show a buddy what you were up to (show off that new app or background) you literally had to hold it right in their face. This is somewhat a good idea, because these tablets are a personal device so you wouldn't want prying eyes peering into what you are doing in public, but a real annoyance when watching, say, a video in bed. Trying to hold it in the perfect position to see it properly is a chore.
Now I didn't use the Xoom too much so I can't really offer opinion on the touch part itself, but what I do know is that the Ipad is better in everyway when it comes to interracting with the screen. Ryan will tell you himself how much I growled and became annoyed at the clunkiness of the Hannspad's screen. It required quite a lot of force to get it to do what you wanted it to, so you couldn't prop it up and use both hands to type on it with. You had to hold it in one whilst poking at it quite roughly. The Ipad is also about half the weight yet doesn't creek and feels rather sturdy.
So that's the hardware part out of the way. Let's look at what is important - the GUI or OS.
There are a few things I don't like about either, but I will put across the good and the bad on both. Let's start with the OS used on many tablets -
Android 3.X Honeycomb
My first harsh criticism is the Google Appstore itself. Something it did made me very fucking angry indeed. When I set up my tablet I signed up for a Google account using my Zen ISP email address. I was browsing the store and saw Worms for 69p. I thought "hey, fucking bargain I will buy that" so I clicked buy. At which point a message came up thanking me for my purchase. FUCKING WHAT? where did it get the money from?
After a lot of panic and worry I realised that about a year ago I used Google checkout when making a purchase online (for a computer fan). Somehow Google had stored my credit card information for that long and then synced it with my Appstore account with no warning or even a mention of where it was getting the money from. I could have gone fucking overdrawn - NOT COOL.
Not only that but every time I opened up the store I could just download willy nilly and it asked for nothing. What would happen if you lost the device? well some cunt could simply clean your bank account buying apps.
The actual system of Android is very good though, but the flakey security and way it stores your details are just totally fucking whack.
Apps on Honeycomb are very good, with lots of amateurish stuff on there. I particularly liked an erotic storybook I downloaded free that was full of filthy stories. I'm into that kind of stuff, see. I like how it is laid out and it works rather well, though I did have some issues with apps not working. I also noted that older apps not designed for the Tegra chip it was running did not work very well and were prone to crashing. I guess this is the price you pay on a device that will constantly change and evolve.
Apple Ios
Is better. Sorry, it really is as simple as that. What sucks though is that to create an account for it (and download anything) you must register a credit card. What is annoying about this is that it takes £2.40 from that card to make sure it's genuine (even though it uses Verisign !) and my card of choice did not have £2.40 on so it kept rejecting it. In the end I got there, though.
The OS itself is more dumbed down in appearance, but that's fine. This is, after all, a dumbed down computer so I really don't want piles of stuff to tweak. It runs smoother, apps run perfectly (due to the hardware being the same across the board) and the Apple store itself is very nice. It is missing all of the third party stuff though, and that definitely goes against it. However, as usual Apple really do know how to make an operating system and this is no exception on the Ipad. I have owned several Apple computers, and each one was bought literally for the operating system. Clean, simple to use, no fuss and most importantly it works - unlike Windows.
It also allows for theft reporting, which then nukes the Ios and all of your precious data. This is absolutely crucial on a device like this IMO. It also asks for your password every time you download anything (even if it's free !) and so I must admit I feel far safer in the hands of Apple.
So that pretty much sums it up folks. I prefer my Ipad in every way. Not just because it looks nicer than any Android tablet I have experienced, nor that it is lighter and better quality, nor that the screen is incredible or the sound is fantastic, or that the software is better.
But simply because it is better. Not from a fan boy stance, not from a "I own this so it's better ner ner ner" but simply because in the cold light of day it is a superior product in every way.
This doesn't mean that Android devices are redundant, because they are wonderful things (if you can get over Google stalking the shit out of you) and in most cases they can be considerably cheaper than an Ipad. But the cold fact is that the Ipad is better.
I'm really in a tough position here. Either way I go about this I am either a U-turning cunt, or, I hate my own product.
Recently as some of you (IE - none) would have read, I got an Android tablet. The particular model was a Hannspree Hannspad and that will be sort of important as I go on. Any way, I dropped said Hannspad breaking it irrepairably in a completely freak accident. That then spelled the end of that and I was left with the most vile and horrid withdrawl symptons imaginable. Loss of sleep, boredom and sadness to name but a few. It was like losing a personal friend, because that is what it had become in its short life. So it was time to consider either leaving the idea completely or getting another one. I decided on the latter.
At least my £145 and Ryan's £8 hadn't completely gone to waste. Usually when I buy something along these lines it's either hit or miss and very quickly I end up with something that just sits there gathering dust. A Wii and numerous other items over the past couple of years failed to make the grade and I am now stuck with them. I know I could sell them but Ebay isn't an option with Paypal's stoic treating of those who sell things on Ebay. Inanimate objects I have had no problem with but electronics are a nightmare. Phones, computer parts, Ipads ; you name it. Basically I am sad to confess that our world is full of nasty greedy cunts who will fuck you over in a heartbeat to use your product to repair theirs and then use Paypal to force you to refund them, even if they have broken the law.
Paypal are a law unto themselves, who brag about your money being safe with them and insured actually offer no such service. Basically as a friend of mine found out recently (when he got ripped off and a bricked phone returned to him) there is no insurance. Paypal will first try and perform a snatch refund from your account (if you verified it) and if you didn't they will simply put your account at -£ amount and then send a bailiff after you to recover their money. They lose nothing, they leave that down to the seller to do.
So, it's quite obvious to see why I refuse to sell electrical items on there, and why I end up stuck with them unless I find a friend of family member looking for said item. This is all caused by my owning three personal computers that are so powerful and able to perform pretty much every life function that I simply don't need anything else. Pop over to my recent write up about tablets and you will see why I find them necessary.
Any way, let's get into this now shall we?
Firstly the Ipad is better than my Hannspad. That is going to be blatantly obvious because it is a superior product in every way. However, before you accuse me of an unfair and unbalanced bashing of said Hannspad let me just mention that it is also superior to the Motorola Xoom Android tablet also. When Ryan was here his tablet weapon of choice was said Motorola Xoom and I can now say it is inferior due to said reasons.
The Xoom is heavy. Very, very heavy. Infact it was heavier than my Hannspad, making prolonged use very uncomforable. The screen viewing angles on both Android tablets (both the Xoom and Hannspad) were terrible and if you wanted to show a buddy what you were up to (show off that new app or background) you literally had to hold it right in their face. This is somewhat a good idea, because these tablets are a personal device so you wouldn't want prying eyes peering into what you are doing in public, but a real annoyance when watching, say, a video in bed. Trying to hold it in the perfect position to see it properly is a chore.
Now I didn't use the Xoom too much so I can't really offer opinion on the touch part itself, but what I do know is that the Ipad is better in everyway when it comes to interracting with the screen. Ryan will tell you himself how much I growled and became annoyed at the clunkiness of the Hannspad's screen. It required quite a lot of force to get it to do what you wanted it to, so you couldn't prop it up and use both hands to type on it with. You had to hold it in one whilst poking at it quite roughly. The Ipad is also about half the weight yet doesn't creek and feels rather sturdy.
So that's the hardware part out of the way. Let's look at what is important - the GUI or OS.
There are a few things I don't like about either, but I will put across the good and the bad on both. Let's start with the OS used on many tablets -
Android 3.X Honeycomb
My first harsh criticism is the Google Appstore itself. Something it did made me very fucking angry indeed. When I set up my tablet I signed up for a Google account using my Zen ISP email address. I was browsing the store and saw Worms for 69p. I thought "hey, fucking bargain I will buy that" so I clicked buy. At which point a message came up thanking me for my purchase. FUCKING WHAT? where did it get the money from?
After a lot of panic and worry I realised that about a year ago I used Google checkout when making a purchase online (for a computer fan). Somehow Google had stored my credit card information for that long and then synced it with my Appstore account with no warning or even a mention of where it was getting the money from. I could have gone fucking overdrawn - NOT COOL.
Not only that but every time I opened up the store I could just download willy nilly and it asked for nothing. What would happen if you lost the device? well some cunt could simply clean your bank account buying apps.
The actual system of Android is very good though, but the flakey security and way it stores your details are just totally fucking whack.
Apps on Honeycomb are very good, with lots of amateurish stuff on there. I particularly liked an erotic storybook I downloaded free that was full of filthy stories. I'm into that kind of stuff, see. I like how it is laid out and it works rather well, though I did have some issues with apps not working. I also noted that older apps not designed for the Tegra chip it was running did not work very well and were prone to crashing. I guess this is the price you pay on a device that will constantly change and evolve.
Apple Ios
Is better. Sorry, it really is as simple as that. What sucks though is that to create an account for it (and download anything) you must register a credit card. What is annoying about this is that it takes £2.40 from that card to make sure it's genuine (even though it uses Verisign !) and my card of choice did not have £2.40 on so it kept rejecting it. In the end I got there, though.
The OS itself is more dumbed down in appearance, but that's fine. This is, after all, a dumbed down computer so I really don't want piles of stuff to tweak. It runs smoother, apps run perfectly (due to the hardware being the same across the board) and the Apple store itself is very nice. It is missing all of the third party stuff though, and that definitely goes against it. However, as usual Apple really do know how to make an operating system and this is no exception on the Ipad. I have owned several Apple computers, and each one was bought literally for the operating system. Clean, simple to use, no fuss and most importantly it works - unlike Windows.
It also allows for theft reporting, which then nukes the Ios and all of your precious data. This is absolutely crucial on a device like this IMO. It also asks for your password every time you download anything (even if it's free !) and so I must admit I feel far safer in the hands of Apple.
So that pretty much sums it up folks. I prefer my Ipad in every way. Not just because it looks nicer than any Android tablet I have experienced, nor that it is lighter and better quality, nor that the screen is incredible or the sound is fantastic, or that the software is better.
But simply because it is better. Not from a fan boy stance, not from a "I own this so it's better ner ner ner" but simply because in the cold light of day it is a superior product in every way.
This doesn't mean that Android devices are redundant, because they are wonderful things (if you can get over Google stalking the shit out of you) and in most cases they can be considerably cheaper than an Ipad. But the cold fact is that the Ipad is better.
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