Windows 7 Installed!

Thanks to a friend who didn't want to mess around installing Windows 7 on her new laptop I now have a copy of Windows 7. Well the upgrade only. The draw back is that I can only install the 32 bit version and not go to the 64 bit version. I love how Microsoft squeeze every last penny out of you! So what's it like? Well for the most part it's pretty much the same as Vista appearance wise. But there are some minor changes which I am sure a thousand bloggers out there have written about in painfully minute detail. So considering that I am tired and need sleep I will just write for now about the installation. It was SO BLOODY LONG! I started this effort around midnight and was watching the screen not change much for three hours before I packed it in and hit the hay! It seemed to not require me at all except at the very start when I first attempted to install it was checking compatibility. It took 10 minutes before it decided that it was gonna need a re-boot before giving installation a crack! But I woke in the morning to find it asking for the Product Key to which I gladly oblidged. Then it awoke... looking pretty much like Vista but instead of a sidebar it simply throws the gadgets you had on the sidebar to the side of the screen as Windows 7 has foregone the sidebar.

 

So what do I think about Windows 7? Too early to tell. It seems lightning quick but I'll write more soon on this once I've done a few laps with it!

Windows 7 Release Cock Up

Microsoft never cease to amaze me. They succeed and progress in so many ways. Yet the more that things move forward the more it remains the same. Microsoft’s recent launch of Windows 7 was almost looking like it was going without a hitch. This was, after all, the OS that was to make or break their reputation if not their bank accounts. The idea to make their Release Candidate openly available to the ever hungry public was a terrific idea. Showing to the world that MS are a much more open company than Apple have been. Cynics may say that this was merely to test out their bugs on the bleeding edge market. They’d probably be right. But at least this gives the product a chance to be ventured out into the limited wild world of the ardent geeks out their who can go through any pains of error messages and failures before MR and MRS “I only check email” get to the OS. But this is another topic for another blog. Also the reviews coming back from the preview of their saviour OS was that this was pretty much Microsoft’s apology for Vista. Runs as simple as XP but with the bells and whistles of Vista. So Microsoft got the product right. All boxes ticked and even the biggest Microsoft haters had to agree that this was a good thing from Redmond’s biggest asset. But on marketing the goods… Microsoft… you’ve really dropped the ball big time! Here’s a snippet from www.cnet.com.au to highlight what I am talking about:

http://apcmag.com/windows-7-family-pack-for-australia-is-a-possibility-concedes-microsoft.htm

During the lead up to launch I kept hunting for someone to be able to give me a straight YES or NO on the question “can you install a single copy of Windows 7 on multiple PC’s?”. I mean it’s not the 80’s anymore. We don’t just have the single PC in the study these days in most homes. You’ve got the study alright but now there’s the laptop, netbook, kitchen PC and soon most folks will just get a PC to handle the main living room’s LCD (or LED) TV. But the answer is a complicated NO… unless you purchase a special pack of Windows 7. What’s so complicated about that? It’s not available OUTSIDE OF THE US. Fer fecks sakes! Windows 7 Family Pack allows the lucky owner to install Windows 7 Home Premium onto three PC’s in the house. Sounds great right? Especially when you see that it’s only US$149 as opposed to the US$129 single pack price. However MS Australia are hinting onto a big surprise to hit during November. Not sure what exactly this may entail but I’m hoping that this will be the Family Pack launch in Australia that is so much needed. Seems silly to me that considering MS are beating their chests about Window 7’s Home Networking capabilities are a major selling point that they wouldn’t have simply released this on day one as a big IN YOUR FACE to Apple. But if you’ve only got enough dosh to splash out on just one copy… WHAT’s THE BLOODY POINT?

LiveJournal Tags: Windows,Windows 7,Microsoft,Australia,Australian Market,OS,product,launch,2009,Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack,Family Pack

Acer Aspire One (KAV60)

This is a quick run down on not only the Acer Aspire One but also of the newer breed of Netbooks that have appeared and how they can benefit the average user. First of all the Acer was not that expensive. $479 with a $50 cash back. Not too shabby. This baby has an LED (not LCD) screen with a sharp image on a 10.1" screen. Much better than other first generation Netbooks I've seen previously. It's also got it's own 160G hard drive. This is perhaps one of it's biggest draw cards. Other netbooks have a Flash internal drive or no drive at all relying totally on SD cards. Other features are wi-fi (g network not n network) and Bluetooth connectivity. Also it has a half decent webcam inbuilt.

For the most part I was happy with this unit. It's actually for the other half and not so much for me. It's main use will be for typing out essays. We've installed Open Office into it and it handles that with no problems. The Aspire One we purchased came with XP installed. We were warned to wait till Windows 7 comes out but the missus is only interested in writing documents out and not in the complex issues involved in other PC related tasks. So with this as it's main goal the Acer has hit all goals and then some.

Netbooks are the fast food variety of PC's with people lugging Laptops about with CD/DVD drives and 17" screens when all they want is email, Facebook, internet etc. You DON'T need the fastest PC to do all that. But this is where this netbook surprised even me. It takes one minute to go from a cold start to being on the net surfing away. I was so impressed by this speed.

I'm now sold on Netbooks. I wasn't too keen on them leading up to my wife wanting one but now I'm warmed to the idea of a machine that just does the basics well. With Google Chrome OS on the way these Netbooks are going to be more than a challenge for Laptop producers to compete with. Expect to see more mini sized PC's to be dragged out on the trains and bus stops across the city!

Pros:

• Crystal clear LED 10.1" screen
• Webcam inbuilt
• Inbuilt Wi Fi and Bluetooth
• Quick boot up time
• Ridiculously light and thin.

Cons:

• XP not Windows 7 (but that's only as it's still not officially out yet)
• Keyboard is small and takes getting use to
• Mousepad can be somewhat tricky to negotiate (USB mouse can be used though)
• Great battery life with approx 3 hours usage on full charge and possibly longer with Wi-Fi off
• No real software. You'll have to scrounge the net to install the basics.

Acer Aspire One Netbook

I got a new netbook PC. More coming up soon…

Top 5 iPhone Tips

The internet is flooded with tips and guides on most things technology. The iPhone is one that seems to get the most coverage lately. But despite the millions of bloggers out there teaching folks how to get the most out of their gadgets there are still loads of people roaming about with no changes made to their iPhone and they are missing out on quite alot. Personally it shows that Apple have still got to get it right out of the box but till then here is my top 5 tips to getting more from your iPhone:

1) Enable Cap Locks - Amazingly... most people still don't have this changed on their phones. It was driving me nuts when I got my iPhone way back at launch. I wanted to send an SMS but when an acronym came up I'd have to Shift (add letter) Shift (add letter)... etc. So do the following:

Go to Settings> Keyboard> Enable Caps Lock.

Now when you need cap lock you just tap twice on the shift button. It turns blue, you get caps lock! So so simple.

2) Get Gmail - Getting Gmail means you can divert ALL you emails to the one account. Now that Hotmail have enabled POP3 support you can also divert all the hotmail deliveries to your Gmail and then view them in turn on the iPhone. All of the HOW TO's are on the Gmail help pages.

3) Set Up A Google Calendar - One of the biggest discoveries for me in the last couple of months is the ability to sync the iPhone calendar with Google Calendar. I use Google Calendar for setting up Indoor Cricket games. Now with the sync ability I can see on my phone who has clicked in as available and who is out. Now you can finally ditch Outlook as this removes all the shackles of being restricted to your home PC!

4) Get Skype - My wife use to spend LOADS of dosh on the phone calling her relatives overseas. Now enter Skype. Free PC to PC calls and super cheap to home lines as well. But now that the iPhone has a Sype app you can save money on buying a Skype compatible handset. You already have one!

5) Tomtom - Watch out for the new Tomtom app and the Tomtom car kit. This will save you from buying a dedicated GPS device and in turn mean not having to carry multiple devices around. Plus you'll get the most up to date maps and LIVE traffic updates. This will be the BEES KNEES! LOL

Microsoft Gets Rid of Money

This is more of an update than a blog. I just read today that Microsoft are no longer producing MS Money. This was a program I switched to after having used Quicken as it offered easier access to your financial info through your pocket PC or Palm. So to hear that they are chopping it is a bit sad. But understandably so, they are axing it in an effort to narrow down it’s focus as it faces continuing challenges from Apple and Google in ways that have never been so threatening to the monopoly.

MS are also axing Digital Image Suite which should upset a few folks out there but let’s face it, Photoshop is king in that department. But one loss that I think must be hard for MS is to say CAIO to MS Encarta. This was a product of there’s that you could tell Bill Gates himself was really behind since CD-Rom’s first started becoming available to the everyday PC user back in the early 90’s. I remember using MS Encarta to sell some PC’s back at the Gamesmen as there was no real internet to use as a selling point back in 1995! But now with Wikipedia.com being everyone’s first choice for 99% of the info they want you could see Microsoft’s reasoning.

Downloading Hardware

Yes I know. Hardware is the actual device. Hard to stream it down the phone lines to your device. But what if you didn’t have to? What if the functions you needed were able to be just added on via a download? Well it’s already happening. I currently have an iPhone. It, like many other smart phones, does games (fairly well), makes calls, takes photos and has a map app. I also have a Pocket PC for GPS in the car. But I don’t like having to lug the two around. I’d happily give up one to have only one device. Well, TomTom just announced that they’ll be selling an iPhone adaptation of their software and also a stand to mount the iPhone on your windscreen. Big deal you say? Well actually it is. It’s a very important leap in a lot of ways.

GPS in a Smartphone is not new. But what is different about this is that the iPhone was once a GPS enabled phone unable to do turn by turn. Apple addressed this and corrected it with a patch. Yeah I know they don’t like that term but that’s what this is. So what we have is a piece of hardware being changed by a software download.

You all by now probably have a video camera? Also a dedicated digital camera? Home phone? Laptop or PC? But the way things are going these items won’t be needed. You’ll just have the one device that does the lot… well! If the iPhone had a 12MP camera with 10X zoom and the ability to tag every photo with GPS data, face recognition so you know who’s in each shot plus it could get you home thanks to GPS turn by turn directions… you’d want that right? Not to mention be able to watch TV, record shows, get email… you see where this is going right?.

The next 10 years is gonna get very exciting in this way. We’ll be seeing more advances in gadgets and how multitasking they can be. In the meantime the next update for the iPhone (3.0 OS) is to be released next week on the 17th June 2009. It’s biggest update feature is the ability to gain turn by turn directions with the GPS among other things. TomTom haven’t specified when their app gets launched but it’ll be in the US summer which is another way of saying in the next few weeks. Will be interesting to see how other GPS manufacturers (a term that may in itself become outdated) react to this.

Mega CD RPG on iPhone

I don't know how I managed to miss this for so long but last December a new entry to iPhone snuck in there which was an instant no brainer for me to buy. $5.99 will get you a complete port of an old Mega CD RPG called Vay. Now back in the day I was one of the few loyal hardcore Sega fans that raced out and bought the bulky add on. I sold my Teac player at the time to help fund it! LOL But games were few and far between. Sega did a rubbish job of distributing titles and once again it was up to my contacts at the time to help me out with grey importing. One title that escaped me all this time was Vay. If I had of known of it's existance I would have snapped it up immmediately.

Vay is your typical Japanese RPG. I say that in a nice way as this form of gaming is my bread and butter. The game starts off with a video manga intro (not the best animation by far) showing a prince marrying his mysterious bride. But the whole shebang is interrupted the land is under attack and you lose your bride to be and your parents. Bummer eh?

So we start by trying to work out the controls. The original game was brought out by a little known company called SIMs. But this re-release has been modified immensely to bolt onto the iPhone. Controls are now achieved by tapping to where you wish to move to on the screen. Sounds clunky but it works surprisingly well. All text is retained from the original game but is now displayed in the iPhone font. You tap the message to scroll through dialogue. Also all menu screens, such as weapons, inventories, etc, are displayed via iPhone menu screens. Kinda strange at first and yes you do lose that 90's retro feeling when you see the iPhones crisp text. The in game screens are all the original Mega CD screens but the battle screens (turn based btw) are totally reworked by SoMaGa (the company doing this port).

Check out Youtube and type in Vay, iPhone and I'm sure you'll find a review or two there.

Personally I am wrapped that a company has taken on such a project with some attention to detail. It's a shame thay they didn't revamp the graphics in any way but the music from the CD, which was always Mega CD games biggest drawcard, has been faithfully brought over to the iPhone experience which is a real treat. All the video animation sequences play out via the iPhones video capabilities. You get to quickly get out of the game (say if a call comes in) and you can pick up where you left off with no hassles. HOORAY! Save points have always been a gripe of mine with RPG's. But you still need to save often as you'll only be able to return to your last save point if you should die in battle.

I hope Sega take a look at this game and get motivated to re-release some old Mega CD titles. Also I hope Lunar (which I have!) gets the iPhone treatment and Lunar 2.

Top points to SoMaGa for bringing back the old skool!

So Much To Do, Which Project First?

I’ve got so many side projects going on it’s hard to work out which one I should focus on first. First there’s my Japan/China 2006 DVD that I am editing. I’ve also got my dining table that I need to paint (it’s a natural pine lacquer but needs to be deep brown). Also I have my Blackout site that constantly needs updating. We’ve got a skylight to be installed. A heater that also needs installation. A shower that needs re-tiling. Not to mention all those unfinished RPG's and other games in general sitting in the storage room.

This got me to thinking how do people just focus on one thing at one time? I can have up to 10 things going at once as my attention span just plain sucks! My wife was talking about how she has Chinese friends who already have career paths set out for their four year old kids! I can’t even plan out what I will do tomorrow! Studying has never been in my vocabulary. I get so side tracked that I feel occupied and not bored in what I am doing… it’s just that I end up doing something else that is so non-related to my initial project that you’d think that my motive was to simply avoid that first task!

Motivation has a lot to do with it perhaps. I need to see an end result. If I get too many hurdles or if there is no clear path to get to my desired result… I’ll just meander off to another task that has a more obtainable goal.

So… my question is this. How do you remain focused? Or what tasks do you have that remained unfinished and can’t see doing in the foreseeable future?

Black Books - Procrastination in a Nutshell!

New Laptop (HP Pavilion DV7-1212tx)

So we finally got our new lap top and I don’t have to tell you that I am impressed. It’s a new HP Pavilion DV7-1212tx with a chunky 1T hard drive (that’s 1000 gigs) to fill with junk. In getting the new PC I face two major challenges… OK… make that three. Overall these are just challenges that I need to face due to my rather large comfort zone! Generally speaking when it comes to monkeying around with PC’s (or computers in general) over the years I have pretty much been against making too many changes in the way I move my folders, store my files and run my programs.

But now I’m faced with how to manage all my data. Photo’s, music and all that other junk that fills up your C:, D: right through to Z:. With the photo’s I risk doubling up everything I have as I have two programs used to store files. Problem is that if I just rely on one of them then I may not carry over not just the photos but lose the tags and other related items that I have placed on them over the years. Then there’s my on going battle with audio. I like to use Windows Media Player as it syncs with my Xbox 360 so I can play the music through the big stereo. But I have an iPhone which doesn’t like WMA files. So I end up doubling up my music to accommodate both standards.

But before I could get into any of that I have the challenge of just hooking up the lap top to the wireless network. I would have figured that this would be the least of my hassles as most new PC’s have wi-fi built in so no need to install wi fi adapter drivers etc. But it took about 30 minutes of tweaking settings till finally (and for no real obvious reason) it just started working.

My other hurdle is more for the sake of me being too use to a “proper” keyboard. Hey this keyboard is still pretty cool. It’s just that I’ve been use to my hands being on the desk and having to raise up to get onto the keyboard itself. This keyboard has your hands typing down onto a flat surface as your palms/ wrist rest on the laptop itself. Then the mouse itself is something to get use to as well. Try playing Bejewelled 2 Blitz with this mouse, touchpad. You see there is a scroll bar on the right of the touch pad. This kicks in by accident quite often in games so a more traditional mouse is more desirable to me.

But niggles aside this is a beast of a machine. Mind you I’ve been use to Dell bought in 2004 so it’s been quite some time between nerd fixations! It features a metallic shine to the keyboard with responsive strokes made possible with the high quality keys. Being wider than most laptops it also houses a dedicated keypad. My old laptop I had in 2001 was missing this and it was painfully absent when using Excel. Above the keypad resides a long speaker grill with the touch sensitive quick keys above that with the usual suspects being present such as mute, play, volume etc. It has two extra buttons though that I’ve never seen before. One is for HP’s own MediaSmart program (sorry HP but I’ll give that a miss). Also a quick button to activate the Wi Fi access. The monitor itself is surrounded by a highly reflective black casing which smudges like crazy. The outside also is black with the same material and it sports a HP glowing logo ala Apple style on the bottom right hand corner. No prizes as to who HP looks to for design ideas here.

It’s no light weight. 3.4kg’s of fun here but due to the widescreen and all the features that this bad boy contains then this is a given. It’s screen is of high quality for the most part being very vibrant and crisp but the viewing angle on it is not the greatest. I find myself having to move the screen up and down to get the optimal angle. Also I find the the colour is just lacking slightly and this is more noticeable in photo editing programs. Sound is quite beefy for a laptop but the maximum volume could have been perhaps a little more beastly as it is meant to be a “entertainment” device. I was expecting more when I noticed the word “sub-woofer” housed UNDER the laptop itself!

The software that come installed with the HP is quite generous for out of the box. True I would have liked a FULL version of MS Office 2007 for the drachma I forked out on this thing. But that aside, HP try to fill in some voids with a HP MediaSmart suite. For an in house effort they have managed to really put together a great looking package with MediaSmart. But I find myself wanting to know why they bother with MS dishing out for free this stuff already. I am tired of swinging back an forth between different software for this so I will most likely stick to Windows Media Player and the Adobe software I already owned. But for those wishing to stick with HP’s offering you won’t be left in the cold as it’s quite big and bold in it’s looks with many features you’d expect from expensive software. One bizarre but cool software called HP MediaSmart webcam is quite fun. It allows you to superimpose a range of cartoon or fictional characters onto your face. When you talk, they talk. When you move, they move too. It’s very strange indeed but certainly a conversation starter. Speaking of webcams, the cam is of good quality with a crisp image that adequately does the job but not the most hi def image you’ll find.

I was disappointed to learn that my wife didn’t order the Blue-Ray enabled drive and she also left out the TV tuner. I was looking forward to hooking this up to the Samsung TV for HD goodness. But looks like I’ll have to hunt a drive down later. One plus side for the DVD burner included however was that it features Lightscribe. A technology that enables you to BURN the labels onto the disc itself. Neat! Problem though is that you need specially marked DVD discs to take advantage of this feature. More on that later as I hunt them down on eBay.

It comes with 4G RAM and is upgradable to 8G. The 1T hard drive is partitioned into two 500G drives which I’ve never been a real big fan of but has it’s benefits for those wanting to install other OS such as Linux. The laptop also comes with a remote control which is neatly tucked into the left hand side for easy storage. Neat! Speaking of ports and connections being tucked away… it has 2 USB ports and Ethernet connection on the right (yawn) but on the left is a large array of different connections such as eSata, HDMI (for connecting to big tellies!), monitor outlet, Multicard inputs and direct digital camera connectivity. No connections or ports of any description can be found on the rear of the laptop.

I’m still getting my head around Vista but overall I’m finding Vista to be OK. The amounts of criticism I hear of the system makes me weary but so far I’m finding it to be quite good. Years of XP has probably spoilt me. Let’s face it. XP started off bad but in the end proved to be a great system. Vista is already going to be phased out with Windows 7 so I guess I’m not going to get too comfortable with Vista as I’ll no doubt be one of the eager few to jump to the new system. Anyone looking at buying a new laptop should give HP a looking. There are some good specials on at the moment with the financial doom and gloom still gripping the economy. But if you put Kev’s $900 towards this laptop you’ll be doing yourself a favour me thinks!

Facebook vs Neanderthals

""Some people are simpletons. Stooges who don't like change. If it were
up to them we'd be all still on dial up. No... scratch that... we'd be
still using tin cans with strings... no... scratch that... we'd be
dragging our knuckles along the ground.



I SAY BRING ON THE CHANGES! GO FACEBOOK! Make it happen!""

Seem like Facebook really do have a challenge on their hands. They try to be nice and explain their changes that are coming up. Really simply, small changes like a minor modification of their homepage. But the reaction is nasty. It appears that most folks on Facebook are mutants. But I know that not to be the case. These are just the ones who are triggered to react and reply. I believe that there is not enough study on internet behaviour. How the masses react to change. It's only been THANKS to sites like Facebook that when a change now occurs it not only sparks a backlash but that backlash is now heard. When sites changed in the past. That was that. It just was a change and the radifications went unnoticed. But Facebook have had it tougher than most sites.  Their critics are some of the harshest on the net right now. In fact it was the first time that a site making a change to their layout made news headlines thanks to the reaction online. People starting up groups, protesting by changing their status to say something negative about Facebook. I personally think it's been unjust. But not totally. Facebook should offer people what they want. If there is a large group of slow adapters who resist change then Facebook should offer a "Facebook classic". If they bitch and moan that they like the way it use to be then give 'em that option to switch back to retro mode.

Facebook will continue to change. Just like the internet has done so since my time online. But maybe it's time the guys making these changes also listened to the general public and offered that option to keep 'em quiet?

Personally I am happy with what Facebook are doing so far and hope to see them improve things more. We'll see.

My Top 10 Xbox 360 Most Played

Not my usual style of entry but I figured it may either interest you or make you curious as to what your list would look like. Here is my top 10 most played games according to www.360voice.com and their fantastic stat tracking, 360 blog making website. Now I've been a member of that site since almost day one of me owning a 360 so it's 98% reliable for numbers.

Before you say something... yes I know, Halo 3 puppet. But it's mostly a social thing. All my mates play it and send me annoying Social Slayer game invites while I'm trying to slug through an RPG or something.

What would your top 10 be you think?

Halo 3 1/15/2009 2:05:56 AM 930/1750 (53%) 124 days

Pinball FX 12/21/2008 6:31:59 PM 140/250 (56%) 36 days

NHL 07 1/28/2009 5:31:53 PM 750/1000 (75%) 35 days

UNO 2/14/2009 1:22:42 AM 145/200 (73%) 29 days

PGR 3 5/12/2008 1:29:37 AM 525/1000 (53%) 28 days

Puzzle Quest 5/21/2008 5:25:49 AM 100/250 (40%) 27 days

Blue Dragon 2/25/2009 4:07:03 AM 60/1000 (6%) 25 days

NHL® 09 2/12/2009 12:03:13 AM 345/1000 (35%) 25 days

Bejeweled 2 8/24/2007 6:17:43 AM 0/200 (0%) 22 days

Bankshot Billiards 2 7/14/2008 12:49:11 AM 50/200 (25%) 20 days

Games I'd Like to See in A Ultimate Mega Drive Collection Sequel

My pre-ordered Mega Drive Collection game arrived the other day for the Xbox 360 and I'm chuffed with it. The amount of feel good coming from this title is amazing. BUT... it's not EXACTLY the Ultimate as the name suggests. So... if having 40 titles is a standard number for an "ultimate" Collection. Then here's my 40 for the sequel:

1. Sonic CD (Mega CD) - it's pretty obvious that's a winner
2. Snatcher (Mega CD) - Most underrated title of the 90's
3. Speedball 2 (Mega Drive)
4. Sensible Soccer (Mega Drive)
5. Eternal Champions (Mega CD) - The CD version just had a little more to offer
6. Mortal Kombat (Mega CD) - Only because it had THE soundtrack sampled from the arcade... oh and the gory bits! LOL
7. Cool Spot (Mega Drive)
8. Wonderboy (SMS)
9. Wonderboy in Monsterland (ARCADE)
10. Wonderboy III (SMS) - One of my all time favs!
11. Wonderboy in Monsterworld (Mega Drive)
12. Micro Machines (Mega Drive)
13. Micro Machines 2 (Mega Drive) - Weirdo Four Player J-Cart which I have the original in my collection!
14. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Mega Drive) - Surprisingly good one on one beat 'em up
15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist (Mega Drive)
16. Virtua Racing (Mega Drive) - Most Expensive game in my catalogue!
17. Desert Strike - Return to the Gulf (Mega Drive)
18. Jungle Strike (Mega Drive)
19. Final Fight CD (Mega CD) - This was an awesome port from the arcade version
20. Earthworm Jim (Mega CD) - This version had many extra features which most of us missed
21. Keio Flying Squadron (Mega CD) - Obscure, zany shoot 'em up. Just think Samurai Pizza Cats with guns
22. Shining Force CD (Mega CD) - Ultra Rare RPG
23. Midnight Resistance (Mega Drive)
24. Revenge of Shinobi (Mega Drive) - Just sort out the copyright issues will ya!
25. Thunderforce 2 (Mega Drive)
26. Thunderforce 3 (Mega Drive)
27. Thunderforce 4 (Mega Drive)
28. Landstalker (Mega Drive)
29. Gunstar Heroes (Mega Drive)
30. Mickey Mouse in the Casles of Illusion (Mega Drive)
31. Shadow Dancer (Mega Drive)
32. Toejam and Earl (Mega Drive)
33. Toejam and Earl 2 (Mega Drive)
34. Outrun (ARCADE)
35. Choplifter (ARCADE)
36. Ghostbusters (Mega Drive)
37. Bio-Hazard Battle (Mega Drive) - Pretty cool shooter
38. Musha Aleste (Mega Drive) - Bloody cool shooter with best Mega Drive music
39. Twin Cobra (Mega Drive) - Great arcade port shooter
40. Sword of Vermillion

Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection - My Vinyl Has Arrived!

Today I recieved the first mail order game I have bought in ages. Well... it takes ages to be this good. To be this good takes Sega. Or at least it use to. But here is a game featuring a whole swag of titles that do rock. Personally I am here for the juicy RPG's that I know so many of you will just skip or play for the achievements. But I am even interested in Fatal Labyrinth. Warning... you can die from over eating in that game! LOL

As for the collection. Well in my previous entry I laboured to list them all but seeing them in a list and actually sitting down to play through them is entirely different. I must first say that I am really chuffed to see ALL the Phantasy Stars sitting there in that list and the Shining series didn't go un-noticed. But, I am a little sad to see Wonderboy V, Afterburner, Outrun, Toejam and Earl, Crackdown, Wrestleball and a few others didn't get a showing. Can I smell a sequel coming soon? While we are at it... where the heck is Sonic CD? That game didn't reach the audience that it deserved to.

Games in the list that may annoy some but I found fun were Flicky (I actually had the old old old SC-3000 Sega computer version) and Congo Bongo (known as Tip Top here for some odd reason and yes... another SC-3000 classic). Also Gain Ground was a favourite in my household with it's cool music and simply yet addictive nature.

Overall the game is well presented with a virtual Mega Drive type main screen, some quirky old school gaming generic music and tons of hidden extras to keep you plowing even through the less desirable titles (wise frum yor gwave!). The interviews will put you to sleep but seeing the creators of Sonic, Phantasy Star and all the old school Japanese classics give their (much glossed over) views on the past is interesting. Watch the one featuring the creator of Phantasy Star III and I challenge you not to throw something at the screen!

I am so loving this title and especially the vinyl album that came with my limited edition version. Now... where can I find a turn table to play it? LOL

NRL Season Just Moments Away!

Oddly enough I am really pumped for this up coming NRL season. As a Sharks fan I am letting the disappointments of 2008's late discharge from the season stay behind me and hoping that the Cronulla boys can finally get that monkey of their back. No premiership. It is embarrassing. But the Penrith Panthers proved in the late 80's you can turn things around. Although the league is a much different sport today then back then, the lessons are the same. With Trent Barrettat the helm I do believe he can add lots to the side in not only experience but a freaky revived form that is leaving people wondering just when will he cease to improve!

But this season will mark the fourth year of my tipping comp with Europcar. We are hoping to get at least 20 punters but I have found, for many various reasons, it is hard to get people motivated to join. It's really sad to see that some people just can't see how great a sport League is. Now I'm not going to draw direct comparisons to other codes and sports. But besides the speed, the historical background and the diversity of the teams involved in the sport my biggest drawcard to League is the courage and strength shown on field. No diving here thank you. None of this get taken off the field and come back on 2 minutes later after going down in a tackle. These guys, blood sweat and maybe tears, go to the sidelines after every game and thank their fans after most games. The media may beat them up on the sideline but it still doesn't ditract from the action on field.

I hope you wish to get involved and join in on the tipping comp. Just follow the link below and remember it's $25 to join for 2009. The comp ID is 162403 and the password is "green".

Europcar NRL Footy Tipping Comp 2009

Today I Went Nolstaga GAGA

I have been getting so hooked up with NHL 09 lately that I almost neglected all my other games in my collection. All I have been focusing on is #74 and his NHL career! But an announcement got my attention recently that stopped all that in its tracks... almost. Sega's new trip down memory lane with the SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection being released on dual platforms (PS3 & 360). Going down the list made me go a bit teary eyed. It reads like this:

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Dr. Robotnik's MBM
Dynamite Headdy
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
E-SWAT
Fatal Labyrinth
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Kid Chameleon
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Ristar
Shining in the Darkness
Shining Force
Shining Force 2
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic and Knuckles
Sonic Spinball
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 3
Super Thunder Blade
Vectorman
Vectorman 2

Now I know they can't all be gold. I cringe at the thought of playing one or two of these games ever again (WISE FRUM YOR GWWAVE!!!!) especially in hi-def. But I can't help but feel excited at the chance of having another crack at some of those RPG's! Plus having Vectorman (both of 'em no doubt) and also all the interviews, insights plus secret unlock-able games. Already Shinobi (ARCADE), Altered Beast (ARCADE), Congo Bongo (ARCADE) (it's an ancient title that I use to play on Sega's first computer/ console) and Fantasy Zone to name but a few. This is Sega's chance to really fly it's flag at today's iGen kids and show what made them big... and bust.

A couple of things come to mind with this compilation. Firstly... the omission of some titles. Revenge of Shinobi for starters. Man that game rocked with music that simply caned your butt whilst playing it thanks to the kicking bass thrown in. Herzog Zwei is another title that needed to be there. It was arguably the first console real time strategy game... but more importantly it rocked. I use to play this against my brother and we'd just like the fact it was all in real time, split screen and unforgiving. Building a mass army of boats to go bomb your opponents base in one big rush was awesome fun! Gunstar Heroes is another. Yes I know it's by Treasure and not Sega but surely... why split hairs? It had amazing visuals that were suppose to be not capable on the Sega console. It must have made some hardened Nintendo fanboys take note at the time.

Seeing this list has made me drag out my Gameboy Advance Micro and hit Phantasy Star again. That retro feeling is back and I'm enjoying it. Sometimes the newer titles, with all their realism and intricate plots... just don't get it. Gaming is meant to be fun. We don't want to know why we are suppose to plow through a platoon of soldiers and blow up their base... point is it'll be fun just doing it. I love new 7th generation console games and marvel at the technical accomplishments they set out to achieve and nail. But sometimes just watching your character's abilities raise and gaining a new, more powerful weapon or armour is more fun!