Quote:



Bahahaha, suck it, Comcast!


-b0b
(...Team America!)

As a band geek, a gamer chick, and a resident of Kalamazoo, I present you with this link and nothing more, as words would do it no justice.

http://www.newspaceentertainment.com/kalamazoo/videogameslive/

Marie wrote on Dec 8^th, 2008 at 9:22pm:



I love video games as much as the next gamer geek, but that's downright treasonous!

-b0b
(...is listening to "Night Enchanted" right now.)

I am interested!

When it comes to leaving a bad taste in our mouths, Vista has nothing on your mom.

My boss was kind enough to let me go home a little early yesterday because of the lovely weather we're having, so I only got to spend 20-25 minutes with Windows 7 after the install completed. 

I'll say this, it was the fasted and cleanest install of Windows I've ever done.  They've improved on the Vista installation process even further, and I have to give them serious kudos for that.  Once you boot from the DVD, you're taken straight into a clean graphical interface at a reasonable resolution.  You can add drivers for RAID controllers right off the bat, and the process doesn't screech to a halt if it doesn't have the right drivers.  It will simply prompt you to install drivers from a floppy, CD, DVD, or USB key (verah nice!) instead of exiting out of the install phase like XP/2000 and prior.

It also asks you for all of your relevant install information right up front, so you can enter the information and let the PC do the rest.  That way, you don't have to babysit your PC throughout the entire installation, inputting random information throughout the whole process.

Once you get into the OS, it really feels like a slightly modified version of Vista, although it seems to run much, much better.  That alone is worth the cost of admission if you ask me.  I won't use the vast majority of the interface upgrades.  It's a bunch of reorganized hoohah, like an improved start menu (I still use the W2k "Classic" interface) and task bar.

You can now turn all of your windows transparent with the click of a button, which allows you to see the desktop.  You can't click on anything, though, without minimizing the windows... so it seems rather useless.  I don't put much on my desktop, though, so it might be more useful for others.  They've also improved that annoying UAC program that pops up "Are you sure?!" messages every time you click anything.  I always turn off UAC in Vista, so I doubt it will be all that useful for power users like us.

I'll post some screenshots on Monday if I get a chance.  I might install Windows 7 on a virtual machine on the Bobulator, too.  We'll see!

-b0b
(...needs to play with it some more before passing judgment.)

By the way, you can download the public beta here.

Availability is limited to 2.5 million downloads, so don't wait too long.

-b0b
(...still wants to install it at home.)

Marie wrote on Dec 8^th, 2008 at 9:21pm:


Meredith and I went to see Video Games Live on Friday, and I came away with only one word to describe it: Amazing.

The concert was incredible.  I can't believe how many big names were part of the show.  Christopher Tin, the composer of "Baba Tetu" for Civilization IV, participated in a live Q&A via Skype.  Michael Salvatori, composer for the Halo series, talked to the audience for awhile and met with the crowd after the show.

One of the emcees, Tommy Tallarico, was the composer for Earthworm Jim, Messiah, and Advent Rising.  The other Emcee, Jack Wall, composed Mass Effect, Jade Empire, Splinter Cell, and the Myst series.  Both of them were incredible, and the orchestra and choir really rose to the occasion.

The concert covered an incredible amount of ground.  Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, Sonic, Tetris, and Metal Gear solid were all prominently featured.  The Kalamazoo concert was one of the first events that featured a medley from the "number one most-requested game," Chrono Trigger!  As you guys know, Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time, and I went absolutely nuts with the rest of the crowd when it was announced!

More later!


-b0b
(...is still psyched.)

We were in the center of the floor section, in row 12.  We had really good seats, which was a pleasant surprise.

I picked up tickets to Distant Worlds, too.  We'll be sitting in the orchestra section in front of the stage, row A.  Can't get much better than that!


-b0b
(...is psyched.)