Thursday, May 11, 2006

E3 Almost Over

This time tomorrow, 90% of my stress will dissipate. I may or may not be happy with how I do on my last two finals, but by then there'll be nothing I can do to change it. Just one more day of E3 left, and you can tell things are winding down since rabid new game announcements have ceded. As expected though, Nintendo is definitely stealing the show. Reporters are citing long lines to try out the Wii compared to just a few minutes to play a PS3 or Xbox 360. After watching a booth tour at IGN (Joystiq linked one, too) and comparing it to the other two, I can see why. In fact, Microsoft is slyly deciding to promote Nintendo in what I'm sure is an effort to join forces to take down Sony. They're claiming that you can get an Xbox 360 and a Wii for the price of the PS3, even though the Wii price hasn't been released yet. Click to enlargeIt's not like the Wii is a direct competitor for the Xbox 360 anyway, so it wouldn't be such a bad idea to join forces, though I can't see it taking that much effort to knock out Sony with all their missteps so far. Only one thing really blew away people for the PS3: the extended Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer. Oh, Nintendo also announced a new Mario game for the Wii called Super Mario Galaxy, and I don't quite understand it, but I'm sure it's fun. It definitely knocked my socks off, but I'm not sure that's enough to convince me to get a PS3. What about the booth babes? CNet, among other outlets, has compared this year's to last year, and the changes don't seem so major. Maybe they were just feigning to care about it when they imposed their "new rules"? Back to Nintendo though, the Gameboy may be dead as they're considering focusing all their efforts on the DS. This would make sense since I rarely see GBAs anymore. Lastly, they've also showed off Duck Hunt, but without seeing the people playing it, it's hard to get a feel of how good it is. Oh, and they took out the chuckling dog! What's up with that?!

I do still have some regular news, though. Pictures have surfaced of Google Notebook, and it looks pretty much as you'd expect. I wonder if they'll integrate it with Gmail and Google Calendar? Google is still keeping a quiet eye on Vista, but I think they're more concerned about search features in the new Windows than they're letting on. Meanwhile, Yahoo has opened a patterns library, which looks like just another way for them to be more developer-friendly. They're trying to create a rich API to compete with Google since you hear about Google hacks so much more than Yahoo hacks. Why is Mac OS X believed to be so secure? A Mac fan site claims that it's because of all the isolation it features. There's no doubt that their opinions are biased, but they bring up some good points. Apple shouldn't think that it's perfect though, because there's no way that it's impenetrable. Lastly, in case you read about Sony supporting the AAC format and how they're bowing down to Apple (the article has spread like wildfire, for some reason), then don't believe it. AAC is not Apple's format, and this doesn't imply that Sony's players will be able to play songs purchased from iTunes. If it was that easy, everyone would be able to support iTunes music.

As X3 approaches near, we're seeing more PR for it. Yahoo Movies has a few exclusive clips from out, and they're actually pretty decent. By the time you read this, the Dell site will have a seven minute preview of the movie, because it'll be up at midnight. Don't ask why they're doing this, they just are. Not sure how much you should care though since AICN has received another negative review of the movie citing awkward dialogue at places and small glitches that seem to add up to become irritating. So sad to see so much talent wasted. AICN has the new TV spot for Superman Returns (it just premiered tonight), and it's little more than what we've already seen. I wish I could see it in IMAX, but I'll probably be in Dallas when it's released and I doubt that they have IMAX theaters there. All my other stuff is actually multimedia, as well. Apple has another trailer for Cars, but this one gives you much more insight into the plot than the previous one did. It's much better than the previous one, though I still can't tell whether or not this one will really be worthwhile. Lastly, Ellen had a short clip from Snakes on a Plane, and I just love how Sam Jackson talks about it. You can tell he had fun making this one.

Now for 3x Thursday:

1. Nobody likes hospitals, but can you handle them? Why/why not?
I can, because they're just hospitals. Why wouldn't I be able to handle them? They're not fun places to be at, but it's not like your head explodes when you stay in one for too long.

2 .Have you had to be admitted to the hospital lately (last 10 years)? How come? What was the turnout?
Yes, but it was just a quick trip to ER when I had a stomach virus. I kept throwing up until I had nothing left to throw up, and I felt extremely weak and was worried that I would pass out or something. It was pretty bad, but I got some IV in me and I was alright (though the bill was totally inflated).

3. What's the worst thing about being in the hospital?
That smell they all have. It does nothing but remind you of past visits to the hospital.

Bonus Question: If you could change one thing about being in the hospital (comfort wise), what would it be? Why?
I'd put a Wii in there. It'll be cheap and a good way to keep your mind pre-occupied if you're waiting on a loved one. My mind is pretty much fried right now so that's really all I can come up with at the moment.

1 comment:

Mathieu said...

Give ME A REVOLUTION!!

heee..

a WII, I mean ;)