• 22Sep 09

  Third Eye

  So, my old man is a tech junkie, and though he only plays video games casually (what with being a full-time dad to my little sister, loving husband, amateur cook, and full-time artist) he upgrades his rigs (he has many, many, many) probably every month or too. The Jr. version of himself, me, get's the leftovers, which is beyond awesome. Anyways he bought an old (old?) 9800 GTX to double up with another one he had in one of his computers, and with it came a pair of 3D glasses, which the box claims to have a value of $60. Now this isn't the new NVIDIA crazy 3D explosion exelsior costing you $200 (and requiring you to buy a 120 hz monitor, specifally 22" in size, wierd, for another $400), but a taste of the ambrosia that NVIDIA is endeavoring to develop in its pursuit of absurdly fast development of goods you can't afford.

  I'm wondering, how good could this be? Obviously not worth the money until a large amount of games are developed or augmented to pleasure you in the third dimension, but even then, what really does 3D do? I've seen my share of 3D movies and I have to say, not so impressed. They're more like cutouts, which may make the already three-dimensionally rendered graphi in your favorite game look even more flat. Plus, unless your riding with the giants and have one of those REAL 3D holy grails, you're stuck with that flat red/blue, red/green, green/blue color palette, robbing you of, if I may opine, half of your visual experience. Mind you the off-the-hook NVIDIA 3D experience (NVIDIA 3D VISION) does NOT alter the color, the glasses are clear, but still. Is it worth:

  a) The 3D Kit

  b) Compatible 120 HZ Display

  c) Compatible NVIDIA graphics card

  d) VISTA or WINDOWS 7 ONLY (if you don't have them already)

  to have everything look like a pop-out book?

  I can think of instances where this would be awesome, and some where it would not. Among one of the many samples I supped upon I noticed that Empire: Total War, looks absolutely incredible (even robbed of it's color). The ordered ranks of soldiers in formation are perfect for this exercise in the motion pop-out book medium, and I would assume, experienced in other RTS's of similar ilk, would also be sublime. But take any first person shooter, theoretically the ideal platform for 3D, where the border of the screen is the border of your experience. The screen is your avatar, your eyes. Now if I saw bullets wizzing past me, or through me, I would get very, very confused. I would imagine it would greatly lower your immersion to see an enemy skulk out of your screen, then disappear, instead of just exitting your periphery as happens with our current, archaic technology.

  But, this is coming from a layman, an uninitiate, so don't even listen. Instead I'll turn my supple ears to you, and you guys can tell me what you think about this "next step" in the story of our favorite hobby.

  • Posted Sep 22, 2009 6:41 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 13Jun 09

  Aquaria Review

  So here is the Aquaria review for all you more sensitive folk. And some screens:

  

  moments like these, shooting demure tree dieties in the face, are the highlight of my forays into the 2D
  

  

  the light blooms within me. or is that just gas?

  If you've ever wondered what it was like being a british sub-human in a bathing suit, please, please give Aquaria a try. Like, really.

  • Posted Jun 13, 2009 1:44 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 8Apr 09

  Resistance 2 Review

  Hey all, after many Chimeran executions via bullet-in-the-face, my review of Resistance 2 is up and running. If you haven't had a chance to play it yet, it's absolutely superb. Everything is huge, shiny, or has many tentacles, which pretty much equals a great time for everyone. The review can be seen here. I won't be offended if you don't read the whole thing, it's a bit garrulous. Or will I?

  • Posted Apr 8, 2009 12:16 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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