Playstation Network Down

After a long night of hanging out at the bar with my buddies on a Sunday night, I came home late and just wanted to veg out on the couch and enjoy my alcohol buzz while rocking out to another chapter of Heavy Rain. Unfortunately for me, the Playstation Network is down and I can't log online with my Playstation 3.

I thought something was wrong with my internet network, but my computer works fine. After a bit of web scouring, I found out that quite a few users are experiencing the same problem and losing data as well, such as game saves and trophies they've earned. They recommended that anyone experiencing the problem should keep their Playstation 3's off until a fix was announced. The problem is also only affecting the early adopters of the Playstation 3 and is debilitating the "fat" models. The recently released "slim" models are working fine. There are rumors stating that it has something to do with the early programming of the Playstation 3 clock and calendar and how it wasn't prepared for a leap year. It reverted my calendar to an earlier date in 1999 for some reason. Way to screw the pooch Sony.

Weekly Xbox Live Review: Darwinia+

Charles Robert Darwin proposed the theory that all species descended from common ancestors in a branching pattern of evolution. This idea is the basis for the real-time strategy game of Darwinia+ by Introversion Software. Darwinia was initially released for the PC in 2005 and was popularized as cult classic. The game has been improved upon visually, expanded with new content, and has now been ported over to the Xbox Live Arcade.

A vicious group of viruses called "virii" have taken over the once peaceful land of Darwinia. Players control a group of sprites called Darwinians in attempts to recapture bases and recoup their world. Players are tasked with the mission to reclaim their bases which are able to churn out more Darwinians and improve their armies' numbers. With more Darwinians, the fight to eliminate the virii becomes more feasible. When virii are destroyed, they drop resources called "souls" which the Darwinian engineers are able to scavenge and bring back to base and used them to build even more Darwinians or other military weapons and vehicles such as transports and grenades.

The game is broken up into stages where players must travel from one area to the next via a branching map to places such as the "mine," the "yard," and the "generator." Dr. Sepulveda is the programmer of this digital world and serves as a guide for players. He brief players at the start of every mission and provides updates through the game. Darwinia contains varied colorful environments from the deep crimson hues of the mines to the lush greens of forested areas. At the start of every stage, players begin with a meager set of troops and slowly capture bases while killing off the virii, collect souls, and build their Darwinians to tackle bigger and badder virii that are scattered throughout the stages. As the game progresses, players are introduced to more items and units to wreak havoc on the evil computer virii.




The developers of the title took a humorous approach to Darwinia+ and it shows. The game doesn't take itself seriously and surreal feeling of the worlds and Dr. Sepulveda's presence set the mood of the game. The Darwinians are a two dimensional green sprite that just glide around the surface of the world with no realistic movements. Still, it's awe inspiring to see a horde of Darwinians bunched up toward the end of a long bout. The game developers gave them much personality too. In between stages, the Darwinians will pop up with signs telling you how they're feeling with smiley faces or thumbs down depending on efficient you were in the last mission and you're decisions for the next mission. It made me chuckle.

Darwinia+ looks like a title that was produced in the 80's, but it was done like that on purpose. It harks back to the early days of video gaming and works well with the whole Darwin theory of evolution. The worlds surface is usually a shade of one color with three dimensional topography. There are plains, hills, and valley which affect battles and strategic placement of troops help to overcome odds. The world is drawn in grids to add to the purposely rudimentary feel of everything. The maps are surprisingly large and the actual design and layout of structures is intelligent and pretty.




The music is an eerie mix of 80's electric funk and techno which works well with the art styling of the rest of Darwinia+. Coupling with the old school styling, the sound effects of squad guns are the generic "pew-pew" of lasers and the digitized howls of dying virii which sound like a mix of babies crying and elephants trumpeting. There is an added multiplayer mode in this iteration of Darwinia and it is well done. Players who need to take a break from the campaign can hop into a skirmish with up to 7 other players to duke it out on any of the plethora of stages. The same game mechanics apply to the multiplayer mode, except players are now dealing with tactical and strategic humans. The gameplay is more competitive and challenging and makes it highly rewarding to know that you've beaten another person.

Darwinia+ is a bizarre game that infuses a retro 80's art style with military real-time strategy gameplay. Its creative world and gameplay is fun and intriguing. The story behind the world is interesting and the new multiplayer mode brings strong replayability to the game. If you're willing to invest yourself into a strange world with odd technological references and tongue in cheek humor, Darwinia+ is a solid purchase.

Weekly Xbox Live Review: KrissX

Games involving words such as word jumble or crossword puzzles are fun and potentially help improved player's abilities to recall upon their vocabulary. KrissX, pronounced "criss-cross", by developer Regolith Games Ltd. has just been released earlier this week for the Xbox Live Arcade. It's a word game that combines both letter jumble and crossword puzzles into a new and unique package.

In KrissX, words are already set up in random crossword puzzle formation with all the letters jumbled up except for a few that are set in their proper places. During the first few words of a game, there is a glowing cloud that points to a particular word and gives players a hint to what the word may be. Players then swap out the letters in the word until the correct word is created. The crossword line is then locked into place and will net you points. Also when this happens, color coded "tokens" pop out with buttons linked to them. Players can then hit the corresponding button on their controller to collect the "tokens" which yield bonus points, automatic letter swaps, or extra tips and hints for other words.

The objective is to finish the KrissX puzzle as fast as possible with as few swap errors as possible to combo up as many points as possible. In between finishing a word and moving onto a new word, the "token" collecting adds as filler as with incentive to help you. The game becomes challenging in the later stages when there are blocks of jumbled words placed adjacent to each other in to grids and the mixing of one word begins affecting two other words. There are points when the player no longer gets hints for certain words and requires player to plan out their layouts. It'll eventually require players to put on their thinking caps.




KrissX's mascot comes in the form of a wise and helpful owl who belts out tidbits of information, chuckles and frowns when you make errors, and cheers when you complete words. He'll also snore and get bored when you take to long to make a word. The owl's voice sounds a tad muffled and his tone seems condescending when he does speak to you. The voice acting for him could have been better.

There is just a simple 2D backdrop of either a forested area or a snow covered plain behind the main focus point of the crosswords. The words and puzzle set ups are straight forward and change in themes alongside the backdrops. The words burst into a bright flash of stars when players finish words and explode into a supernova when the entire puzzle is complete. The game is broken up into stages and reward players with badges after each stage, such as finishing without swap errors or within a certain time frame.




There is a varied soundtrack to the music in KrissX. The majority of tracks are peaceful and lull in the background while players pick their brains completing words without much distraction. There are sounds of crickets and birds chirping every so often to break the uniformity. There is also a track during the pause and main menus which sound like a low-quality awkward mix between Arabian music and Asian string instruments. It made the menu experience seem cheesy.

This game is not action oriented at all. It is geared to those who enjoy word jumbles and crossword puzzles. If you hated one or the other, then I wouldn't recommend this either, but if you wanted a new type of game that combines these two ideas, KrissX should have a spot in your Xbox's library of games. If you don't like word games or a slower pace, I'd recommend skipping this title.

All Your Data Are Belong To Us

Imagine spending two weeks writing a paper or report and saving it to a computer only to find that the file was deleted by a shared user or corrupted and lost forever. Hard drive reliability is vital so that work done can still be recalled upon 10 years down the line. In steps the external hard drive. There are few things less exciting when it comes to computer hardware than a hard drive. Its only function is to sit and store data files. Still, the pragmatic purpose of a dependable hard drive cannot be denied.

Just this past weekend I came across a LaCie 500GB external hard drive designed by Neil Poulton and boy is it sexy. It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. My computer was running low on space from all the files I've accumulated over the years. I couldn't find any way to pare down any of it. The LaCie hard drive does its job by storing all my data. By simply dragging and dropping all the extra file folders I had over to the new hard drive, I freed up tons of space on my computer. That means all my essays, mp3 files, and multiple seasons of The Simpsons have a fairly permanent and safe home to hibernate in until I need to call upon them again.

The LaCie hard drive is sophisticated and super sleek. It is encased in a glossy black rectangular shell with no markings beside a LaCie logo etched on the rear of its exterior. There is a clean bright blue LED light emitting from the bottom front of it that makes it scream cool. The LED serves as two functions. When the light is on, it shows that the hard drive is on. When the LED flashes, it indicates that the hard drive is currently being accessed and it shouldn't be disconnected. The hard drive as a whole also runs as quiet as a tip-toeing ninja. There are plenty of options for external hard drives available, but none provide the same level of charm as the LaCie.


500GB can hold up to 550,500 images, 135,000 songs, or 710 movies. There is a 750GB and a 1TB flavor available which is roughly double the capacity. The LaCie is compatible with PCs, Macs, and any laptop for an on-the-go backup of indispensable data. The LaCie runs at 7200RPM which the fastest speed available for data saving and accessing speeds. It uses a USB 2.0 connection for decent data transfer rates, however there are faster connections available. A downfall to its glossy black exterior is that it is prone to smudges and fingerprints. It also requires its own power supply. Regardless of those issues, it is still a solid hard drive. The LaCie 500GB hard drive can be picked up at retail for about $129. I found it on Amazon.com for $75.

Chime for Charity

A new Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) game was released this morning called Chime and it seems pretty interesting when compared to the usually weekly fare. Chime is a new puzzle game that has players placing blocks against time while remixing famous artists' music. Its gameplay is heavily influenced by its music. Artists such as Moby and Philip Glass are featuring their tunes for this game.

The developer of the game, Zoë Mode, states that over 60% of the profits made from this title will be going to the charity, OneBigGame, who in turn intend to donate over 80% of their income towards their chosen charities, Save The Children and Starlight Children's Foundation. I'm looking forward to playing this game and giving my impressions of it.

Geek Chic

I've always been a fanatic when it comes to technology, gadgets, and gizmos. Anything tech related gets me excited. I'm usually treading on the bleeding edge of all the new geeky toys being released. The simplest of inventions intrigue me from an automated home hand-soap dispenser, to the Roomba, to the integrated bluetooth to cellphone connections in a car.

Technology, electronics, and digital innovations are at its peak at the present. There are constantly new tidbits on tech news to keep updated with. The latest in the hype at the moment is the recent unveiling and imminent release of the new Apple iPad in March. There will be plenty of tech news to come that I'd love to keep up with.













A simple idea I had is to assess the new Xbox Live arcade game that is released every Wednesday. Xbox Live is the internet service that the Xbox 360 video game console provides. Every week a new casual game is released on Wednesday morning that ranges from an old-school game that is revamped and released for the modern gamer to new casual games that are completely designed from the ground up.












Hopefully I can accomplish my task of making geek, well, chic.