Bonsai Blog

Let’s take a break from political rantings and overreactions (I’m not quite as serious as I seem) to look at the newest tech pieces in my life!

PLAYSTATION 3 ::  It’s amazing.  I bought this awhile ago, back in the beginning of June, but I never really updated on it.  I had a huge thing about PS3 vs 360 ecetera.  In the end I decided to go with the newer console, a lot to do with the fact I had been waiting since January for the Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle pack to come out.  I never wanted the 40GB model because of no backwards compatibility.  I have no PS2 so I wanted to access to (most) of that library.  Plus the pack came with a DualShock 3 vs SIXAXIS (lacking rumble support for games).  I could’ve cared less about Metal Gear Solid 4, but just the hardware that came in the deal… it was $500 though.  I got it at Target though so that saved me $100, after employee discount and opening a credit card.  Hey, gotta get my credit score up as well, so mindaswell.  Only a $200 limit because it was my first and such, but not to bad considering I got approved.  Already payed that off, I had all the money just wanted the extra discount.

After playing the included game, Metal Gear Solid 4, I fell in love with it.  That game is pure genius.  Yes, it is more like an interactive CGI movie than a game, but WOW.  The storyline (I went in knowing nothing about the previous 3 games) was so enthralling.  I actually cared about what happened to the people.  Deep storytelling lead to emotional involvement from the player.  So anyways, that was amazing.

The PS3 is also amazing in my opinion.  The main selling points for me were the wireless (pay an extra $100 on the 360?! No thanks!) and the Blu Ray support.  Now that Blu is the standard for the next gen disc based media I don’t need to wonder if I’d have a useless pile of junk on my hands.  Plus obviously the games can be huge and only need 1 disc.  Final Fantasy XIII may be coming out on the 360, but who wants to switch discs?  =p

In short I consider it one of my best purchases.  Online support is great too.

New laptop! With my graduation gifts I put it together with my parents to buy a new laptop for college this fall.  My last one was nice but was a bit bulky and getting slow.  I needed an upgrade.  So I got a wonderful new HP which has an amazin bit of art coveringm well, all of it.  Outside…inside…it’s really snazzy and themed after Asian art, so it looks fantastic.  Plus it has bluetooth, wireless n support, webcam, etc.  The new 14.1 size is SO MUCH BETTER for portability too!  I don’t actually feel like using it for a desktop anymore because it’s so nice and light to carry around.

Oh, and it has Vista.  Honestly…don’t believe all the crap people give it.  I knew it wasn’t bad, hasn’t treated me badly, and really just takes some getting used to (as do all new things).  It is a step in the right direction for Microsoft’s OS.  Whether or not that’s what goes down in the history books is another matter, but mainstream media rarely has anything positive to report on.  That’s not what sells.

E3 - Electronics Entertainment Expo What can I say?  Wholly underwhelming.  Microsoft by far did the best job, but even that wasn’t like OH MY GOODNESS AWESOME.  Nintendo gave a lackluster showing focusing mainly on casual games appealing to the ‘whole family’.  Frankly, Ninty needs to hold back a bit and make some new games for people who actually bought the Wii to play things that DON’T involve personal avatars you created.  Wait, buying a Wii for actual gaming?  Yeah…that is silly.

Sony really didn’t reveal anything amazing either.  It was mostly just trailers, nothing too new.  HOME still needs to be released, as does LittleBigPlanet.  On the horizon we’ve got Resident Evil 5 to look forward to, as well as the Final Fantasy XIII game(s).

Yep.  That’s it on the tech horizon right now.  Waiting to upgrade my phone until Google’s Android software makes its official debut.  Yes…I still save money too after all these gadgets.  My boyfriend thinks I work too much.  I probably do.  Target does expect a lot out of you for really very unimpressive pay.  I’m constantly looking for new jobs, probably going to go into Web design soon which is much more profitable because of the specialized skills needed.

OH!  Almost forgot.  Bought a book on game programming for XNA Studio, which is sweet.  Got one for beginners because I know very very little about C++ and nothing really about C#.  That’s my career of choice though, so I really want to begin learning on my own.  Little steps.

Next blog: religion.