Lots More in Video Games

I found out that I got an A- on my Theory in Programming Practice final, which puts my average just 0.6 points from an A! He may curve that up, which would be sweet because that's the class I was most likely to get a B in. Anyway, just moments ago (or at least at the time I started this post), Sony announced that the price of the PS3 will be $500, and it'll be released on November 17. What do you get in that box? The PS3 (a Blu-ray player), a controller (now looks much like the DualShock 2, but with Bluetooth), and a 20 GB internal hard drive. For $100 you can upgrade to a 60 GB hard drive. Many pundits were expecting this price point as the hardware inside is quite expensive. They'll have 2 million at launch, 2 million more by the end of the year, and 2 million more by late Spring. What about the HD output? Some sources claimed that it wouldn't be 1080p, but apparently Gran Turismo 4 will be so the console can definitely support it. So what's next? Nintendo will be showing off the Wii tomorrow. The Times spoiled the surprise of the neat games that will come out for it, but we'll talk more about that tomorrow, I'm sure. I will mention that the Wii controller does have a little speaker in it, which sounds nifty for sound effects. I do have a few pictures for you to accompany this Pre-E3 madness. IGN has a look at the PS3 dev kits, which aren't spectacular, but now you see what the developers see. A random game site has first pictures from the convention center, and the excitement continues to build up. I'll try to keep you updated as the week goes on, but you can see some videos first hand over here.

The Apple Corps battle is over: they lost. As I was secretly hoping, the court decided that the Apple logo is only associated with the music shop, not with actually creating music. Steve Jobs actually invited them to sell Beatles music on iTunes, but I'm not sure that their wounded pride will allow it (especially since they have to cover Apple's legal expenses). While I'm on Apple, one blogger claims to have corroborated with sources inside Apple that the Aperture debacle was really just a bunch of project members leaving rather than getting the axe. I believe these new comments as I think it's more likely that Apple would take out some bad managers rather than a bunch of probably quite able-bodied engineers. The project was never destroyed or even on the verge of being canned, apparently. Intel has announced that their next generation of Core processors (i.e. based on the Core microarchitecture) will be Core 2 Duos. This is an umbrella name for both the formerly codenamed Conroe (the desktop PC chip) and the Merom (the notebook chip). The high-end version will be known as the Core 2 Extreme, and will be released next month though not in stores til July and August. I suspect the reason for the name change is that the original Core line was mainly for notebooks, but this unites desktop and notebook under one name now, though I'm sure both feature cache and power improvements. AMD will be announcing their answer to these chips in a couple of weeks. Lastly, if you find yourself needing a To Do list when you're away from home, then you should check out your possibilities over here. I'm trying out Ta Da right now, and it's quite easy and quick, which is the most important thing for to do lists, in my opinion.

I have to run in 10 minutes, so get ready for a whirlwind tour of today's movie news. Chris Weitz is back as director of The Golden Compass, which is the screen adaptation of the first book in Phillip Pullman's fantasy book series, His Dark Materials. I'm a fan of the book, and I hope that Weitz will do it justice. Latino Review has read the latest revision of Ocean's 12, and they seem to think that it's going to be real fun movie. I didn't read much for time reasons and to not have it spoiled for me, but I trust El Mayimbe. AICN got word of a screening of Look, Up in the Sky, the documentary on Superman, and it sounds like a Superman fan's wet dream. I'm guessing it'll only come out in limited release, but I'd be game to see it when it does come out. Lastly, Paul Bettany has laid to rest any rumors that he's in competition for the role of The Joker in the sequel to Batman Begins, and I'm getting tired of all these Batman rumors turning out to be total crap.

I'm gonna go with just doing the Lizzie Quizzie today since I would've done it anyway whether or not I posted it here:

1. How much tv do you watch a day?
No more than about 90 minutes since that's how much time I spend sitting down and eating in a day. I do snack, but I don't watch tv while doing that, and don't watch tv otherwise since I don't have time with all my school work.
2. On a scale of 1-10, how "handy" are you around the house?
Probably about a 5 or 6. I really have a lot to learn from my dad! But I suppose I could teach him a lot about computers, myself. Not that he'd care to learn being as old as he is getting to be now.
3. Do you use air freshener, incense, or other smelly things in your home? :)
I really want to get some air freshener here, but nope. My mom does, and I don't mind using them myself, I'm just a lazy, poor college student though.
4. Approximately how many days are you sick a year?
Maybe 7? I usually only get seriously sick once a year. Other times it's just passing sore throats or allergies, and go by quite quickly. I'm blessed in that way, though my brother got the sickness genes as he was very sickly as a youngin.
5. If you could redo any room in your home right now, which would you choose? Why?
I'll count this as referring to my parent's house and say my room. It's not that I have a vested interest in it since I don't stay there much anyway, but the wallpaper is ugly, though I think it came with the house when they bought it.
6. Have you ever had a nice fish tank? If so, fresh or salt water?
Nope. My dad wasn't fond of having pets.
7. Would you ever want to get a makeover?
Sounds a little metrosexual (or homosexual, I suppose) on a guy. I don't think I'd be really averse to it though if someone wanted to give me one.
8. What is your favorite thing to do on weekends?
Sleep! I also like to party. I prefer parties where I can dance freely, but that hasn't happened much in a while. Overall though, it's just really nice to spend time with family and/or friends after those crazy weeks.
9. Send us to a cool webby!
Pick a site from my post or a blog I've linked on the right side that you've never been to :)
10. The _________ _________ gets the ___________.
The early bird gets the most sleep.