Prologue
This is what I call version 0.1 of the review.  It will probably evolve over time depending on how much procrastination has invaded my schedule.

(more…)

Popularity: 21% [?]

Total miles: 149.74

Just a quick review on the Ergon grips (I have the Ergon GP1): These are the most expensive pieces of garbage I have ever used.  Yes, I installed them correctly.  The pain/numbness on the wrists/palms did go away…in exchange for additional pain on the elbows! Furthermore, you lose grip on the 3 outer fingers because of the bulge…so what happens?  more pressure on your thumbs…my thumbs still hurt from this morning’s 10-mile ride.  I need to get rid of these ASAP!  For the love of the kittens, do not listen to the positive reviews on the intarwebs…

Popularity: 25% [?]

AlienBees finally started shipping their much-anticipated CyberSync Strobe Radio Triggers.  Fortunately, I happen to be one of the first people who got their grubby hands on this product.  Unfortunately, I’m also one of the first ones to express disappointment on this not-so-well-thought-out-designed product.

(more…)

Popularity: 100% [?]

I finally saw “Kite Runner” on DVD after reading the brilliant novel.

One thing’s certain: the person who wrote the screenplay should be shot.  Literally.  How anyone could screw up writing a screenplay based on this novel is just beyond me.  I have a written list of what’s wrong with the screenplay, but it’s so damn long I’m too upset to write it here (yeah, even to *cut and paste*…leave me alone).  Not even Kubrick could have saved this trainwreck.

There are only two things good about this movie: the opening credits (i liked the calligraphy-style lettering), and
Shaun Toub’s superb acting (the rest of the actors could have been replaced with wooden planks).

This movie needs to be re-done.

Popularity: 20% [?]

I’m not sure if the game reviewers who gave this game a negative or a mildly-positive review actually played the game. As a gamer who have recently completed the game I can unequivocally that this is one of the best action games I have played so far. If you enjoyed “Resident Evil 4″. “Gears of War”, and “Chronicles of Riddick,” quit reading further and buy this game. You can thank me later.

Now, let me do a rebuttal on the common complaints with the naysayers of this game:

• It’s pretty much a “Gears of War” copycat. OK, so what? I would see it as a negative if it has worse controls than GOW…but the funny thing is, I’d go out on a limb and say that DS has better controls than GOW. With GOW
• Graphics is nice but not much better than anything that’s out there. DS IMO is so much better than any Unreal Engine game out there? Why? I got two words for that: consistent framerate. And while it also suffers with the “everything blue or brown” just like most Unreal-Engine-powered games, it has better textures and particle effects (for the most parts)…
• …and one other thing I have noticed: weapons physics is frighteningly accurate. Shooting with a rifle has lag and recoil that’s very similar to a real rifle, shooting with a gatling gun is so much different than shooting an uzi. And the best part: controlling the mech-like thing called the “Jackal.” Controlling that thing has never been satisfying since…Chronicles of Riddick (controlling the mech towards the end of the game)…NO! forget about that POS “Lost Planet”…not even close.
• They say there’s a “lack of compelling story.” Holy crap. This isn’t “Indigo Prophecy.” If this was an adventure game, I’d whine about that. But it’s not. GOW doesn’t have a compelling story, either…but I didn’t hear anybody bitching about that.

Negatives? Of course, there is…but not enough to keep you from thoroughly enjoying the game.

• Yes, I *somewhat* agree that there are some parts of the game that all you do is kill zombies and soldiers. But with the glaive, each kill is satisfying. I nit about this is that there’s not much animation for decapitations and finishers.
• It’s short.
• Boring multiplayer.

There you have it. It’s a very good game, but it’s a bit short of making it to “great game” status. At least it should keep you busy while waiting for GTA4, MGS4, and GT5P.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Introduction

 A few of the many questions that you may be asking as you read this review is “Why the D2x?  Why now?  Why even bother?”  I’m not going to lie: I was set on buying the D300 when I thought about casually browsing that famous auction site for the prices of the D2X and its slightly improved sibling, the D2Xs.  Lo, and behold!  I found auctions ending with prices lower than a new D300!

Then I realized that I need to reevaluate if I really need the new features of the D300.  As you read through the review, I would be outlining my frustrations with the D200 and as you get to the end, choosing the D2X over the D300 may make sense… 

Or maybe not.  At the least, you’ll be entertained…

Or maybe not.

(more…)

Popularity: 46% [?]

…is up at FredMiranda.com. I’m probably going to write a lengthy one once procrastination is no longer my favorite hobby.

Popularity: 19% [?]

For someone who almost lost his job playing the original Guitar Hero day and night, this installment of the franchise has been a major disappointment.  I’m gonna make it short because right now I still could not believe I paid $100 for this piece of crap of a game.

• The song selection.  The sub-title of the game is “Legends of Rock.”  The song list is laughable.  Some of the bands…never even heard of.  The game becomes increasingly difficult very quickly.  I’m playing this game on Medium…and I’m telling you this is HARD.  There’s no way a casual user can finish that battle with Lou on MEDIUM on less than TEN TRIES.
• Graphics suck.  I’m not a graphics whore…but there’s just no reason for these developers NOT to go 1080p with those simplistic polygonal characters.
• The Guitar controller suck.  There’s always a delay no matter how many times you calibrate it; the tilt is overly sensitive.  It gets VERY ANNOYING when doing battles…you will find yourself screaming “OMGWTFBBQ!!  I DID NOT WANT TO EXECUTE THAT BATTLE ATTACK YET!”
• Sound.  It’s not on all songs…but sometimes there’s no STRUM SOUND!  WHAT THE HELL?
• It’s TOO EXPENSIVE.  OK, so they made the thing wireless. BFD.  It’s not even Bluetooth on the PS3; you have to use some stupid dongle…and they packed AA batteries instead of rechargeables…what a bunch of cheap bastards.  Compare this with Rock Band that will sell for about $160.  Yeah, I know…HUGE RIP-OFF.

I’m so glad I pre-ordered Rock Band.  I should have never bought this game.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Popularity: 18% [?]

I usually use WHCC for all my digital photo printing needs (great company, BTW), but having prints for my recent snapshots made it impractical to use them since they charge about 5 times than your usual online photo printing services.  The last time I checked I’m not made of money so I started looking for alternatives. 

SnapFish turned out to be one of the better ones that the internets led me to believe (the free 20 prints for your first order didn’t hurt, either).  I’ve read a number of bad reviews but they’re pretty old (from two years ago)…probably before the time they were acquired by HP.  Costco happens to be using their services, too, for online photo services.  I figured not a lot to lose, since they’re not very expensive.

They have this Active-X based control for uploading photo, while easy enough to use, I can’t help but raise my left eyebrow: I have about 100 images to upload; I started around 9:30PM uploading and the estimator says it would take 18 minutes to upload them…it’s now 11:45PM and it’s still uploading (80% complete).

We’ll see what happens here.

-

The “‘can’t-get-that-tune-out-of-my-head” song of the hour: “Put your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae.

-

Update 04.25.2007: I got my prints and I think for the price they quality of the print is pretty good.  However, the prints weren’t packaged properly so some of them have creases.  I filed a complaint yesterday through their website and got a response today stating that they will re-send the same order.  I must say I’m…mildly impressed.  We’ll see if the re-sent prints are better (without the creases, that is).

-

Update 04.30.2007: I got the new prints.  I must say I am very impressed with the service: I wasn’t charge for the new set of prints AND they shipped it via FedEx.  I am definitely a repeat customer.

Popularity: 14% [?]

I found it hard to believe that most mainstream reviewers actually found this game good…instead of marginal at best. 

Are these reviewers on drugs?  Or have they actually not played a decent fighting game before playing DJI?  I would say both, and that they were paid by EA to give a positive review.  I mean, seriously, check out these reviews:

“…but it really shines thanks to its crazy story mode and healthy roster.” -Gamespot.  Is it me, or is the current line-up of Icon roster is so LAME compared to its predecessors?  If the highlight of fighting game is its story mode, we have a problem.  The last thing I care about in a fighting game is its story.

“A great entry to the series, combining a fluid control scheme, pulsating environments, and cool simulation features…”  -GameZone.  Unless you check the author’s name, you’d swear an employee from EA wrote this review.  Real impartial for somebody who sipped every drop of that Kool-Aid.

“In the end, Def Jam Icon is more like a bump-n-grind slow jam instead of the club banger that it should have been, but it still deserves merit.” -Team XBox.  Wait, that’s a negative sum-up, right?  And the game still received an 8.0?  Wait there while I pick up the pieces of my head that just exploded.

“But as pretty as the game is, and as great as the soundtrack might be, the game’s real draw lies in the eight amazingly detailed rumble locations. ” -Gamepro.  This one’s my favorite.  I always look for the amazingly-detailed rumble locations in a fighting game. Whoopee.

(more…)

Popularity: 14% [?]