Twitter Can Save Lives

Not surprisingly, a 5.4 earthquake hit the greater Los Angeles area this morning, sending people to panic and clogging phone networks and making it unable to get in touch with loved ones. What would you do if you were caught in the shake?

How about "twittering" about it?

Some of you may chuckle, but that's what one Twitter account holding member did only minutes after the earth shook. As reported by CNET News, a woman by the name of Verdell Wilson was in the middle her gynecologist exam in L.A. when she decided to twitter about it. 

"As soon as I got dressed, I twittered my experience from my cell phone," Wilson said. "I usually twitter to 80 friends, but I have 274 messages from people commenting on it."

Twitter has gained a lot of press attention lately and is increasingly being recognized as a personal news-wire, with this earthquake event proving that point. With the ability to text twitter to update your status in a mini-blog format, it's becoming one of the most popular ways to stay in touch with family and friends. And yes, it could save your life:) CNET has reported that in times of emergencies, phone networks can be heavily congested, making it harder to make phone calls. They also state that texting may be the best way to communicate with others. John Britton, an AT&T spokesman, said that "if you're on a wireless network and you can't get through, often texting won't be as congested."

I'm loving Twitter more and more each day. 

Why So Serious? The Dark Knight Delivers

It's out and it's breaking box-office records as we speak. The Dark Knight has finally arrived this weekend and if you haven't seen it already, please stop reading and go right now. I'll be here when you get back. 

If I had to describe The Dark Knight in one word, it would be simply- wow. The cast and crew of The Dark Knight have not only made a superior movie from the original Batman Begins, but have also made a masterful artwork of a movie- something superhero films have yet to accomplish. Easily one of the most clever, ambitious, and horrifying comic book adaptions ever filmed.

Not since the Star Wars prequels has there been so much hype for a movie and The Dark Knight delivers on all counts and serves the viewers so much more. Christopher Nolan, director and screenwriter, manages to keep the audience enthralled in the movie with many surprises but at the same time making everything believable and grounded.

It's true. Heath Ledger steals the show as the Joker. In fact, The Dark Knight feels less about Bruce Wayne and Batman and more about the "secondary" characters that make up Gotham City's world. The thing is, it's not a bad thing at all. Instead of the Batman-centric role of Batman Begins, Wayne/Batman should be considered of equal importance with the other few characters in the film.

Simply, this action-packed, thought-inducing, morality play will rock your world for 152 minutes and leave you thinking about it for days... no weeks after you see it. No doubt this movie will be considered the best superhero film of all time.

I have to see it again on IMAX. Who's with me?

The "Big 3" at E3!

E3, the invitation-only trade show for computer and video games industry, is well underway, which started earlier this week! Thousands of journalists/bloggers are having the time of their lives at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles. (Not me, unfortunately) For those of you that don't know of this awesome convention, this is where video game developers show off their their upcoming games and other related products to the public. 

Many developers and publishers utilize the event to make ground-breaking announcements and get us gamers excited with anticipation. The "Big 3," or the top 3 gaming giants, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, have already had their press conferences earlier this week and here are the highlights:

Nintendo

After watching Nintendo's press conference, I was a little under impressed with what they had to offer compared to the other two power houses. They are definitely honing in on the "casual gamer" market, but what about the hardcore guys? Nothing groundbreaking, but they really don't need something to get the crowd excited because of the Wii's success, something Sony desperately needs. Even with the feeling of wanting more, there is some definite potential from the announcements. 

-Animal Crossing: City Folk will be released Holidays 2008. It will feature Wii Speak, which will allow players to speak with each other during game play.

-Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be released exclusively for Nintendo DS

-Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to Wii Sports, will come with Wii Motion Plus, which connects to the Wii remote for added motion sensitivity. Available next spring!

-Wii Music is officially announced! Much like Wii Sports, Wii Music will let players be able to play a variety of musical instruments like piano, drums, and string instruments.

Microsoft

What a press conference! Microsoft showed off many of its upcoming games for the next year to get many people excited and threw in a couple of surprises...

-NBC/Universal teams up with Microsoft to sell tv show/movie content on Xbox Live.

-Showed off demos of Fable 2, Gears of War 2, and Resident Evil 5.

-Resident Evil 5 is delayed until 2009 :(

-Microsoft announced a totally new interface for the Xbox Dashboard. This new interface will include "Avatars" which are Mii-like characters you can customize and take online.

-A new Geometry Wars game will be released exclusively to XBLA next month!

-New Banjo-Kazooie footage from Rare.

-Microsoft partners up with Netflix so you can rent and download movies through XBLA

-Guitar Hero World Tour announcements: more than 85 songs with many of them being master songs, exclusive songs from R.E.M., Van Halen, and Metallica.

-Rock Band 2: 84 master track songs, old Rock Band tracks will be able to play on Rock Band 2. Over 500 songs to be playable on Rock Band 2. Whoa.

-The biggest announcement: FINAL FANTASY XIII will be released for Xbox 360 alongside the no longer exclusive PS3 version. 

Sony

Sony has some hefty work cut out for them, with the success of the Wii and Microsoft's great press conference. While Nintendo and Microsoft's press conferences were littered with smiling faces having fun while playing video games, Sony's show had a totally different feel. Much more geared toward the hardcore gamer, featuring flashing screens, video shots of games like Metal Gear Solid 4 and The Force Unleashed, and the faint sounds of gunshots in the background. Overall, I was impressed but not sold that this year is the so-called "year of PS3."

-Preview of Resistance 2- the video was really impressive! According to the host, the scale of the game will be "huge."

-A new PS2 bundle for $149, including Lego Batman and the Justice League movie.

-Ps3 Greatest Hits games for $29.99: Resistance: Fall of Man, Assassin's Creed, Oblivion, and others.

-Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty will be released over the summer exclusively through the Playstation Network for only $14.99. It's a downloadable shorter game featuring the pace of a blockbuster movie.

-Downloadable movies and TV shows through the Playstation Network from Fox, MGM, Lionsgate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, and Turner.

-Playstation Home - the ultimate social experience for gamers, much like Xbox Live.

-Sony's news and weather service for the PS3, Life with Playstation, will be available at the end of the month.

-Resistance: Retribution for the PSP was announced and a trailer.

-God of War 3 officially announced and will be released this holiday season! Also with played a trailer for the game.

-80GB PS3 will be $399 beginning in September.

-MAG: Massive Action Game is announced. Developed by Zipper Interactive, this game with pack 256 players into eight-man squads in one map for an ultimate free-for-all. Hmm.. sounds very interesting and awesome.

E3 will be going on until tomorrow, check out G4tv.com for nonstop coverage of E3 2008. If there is any earth-shattering announcement, I'll be sure to blog at my best:)

Apple's App Store Now Open!

As reported by Gizmodo, Apple has opened the Apple Application Store a day earlier than expected as it was thought to be released tomorrow to coincide with the release of the iPhone 3G. The much-anticipated store will be compatible with the iPod Touch and the iPhone, and with 500 new applications to browse, there's something for everyone. 

Steve Jobs recently told the New York Times that out of the 500 new applications, a third of them will be games- great news for iPhone gamers. Also, 25 percent of the 500 apps will be free and the apps that have a price will be $9.99 or lower. Teh  awesome.

Once you open iTunes, you'll need to download an update, so go check it out. I've started looking around and I've already downloaded 8 apps. Can't wait to try them out!

EDIT: The OS X 2.0 update for the iPhone will not be available until tomorrow, to be released along side the iPhone 3G. I was a little confused as to why Apple would open the store a day early and not being able to play with anything along with many people on many different message boards. After some thought, it makes sense to let users browse around and buy applications now instead of waiting until tomorrow when servers are going to be packed with hungry iPhone users wanting apps. 

The Wii a Fad? Two Years Later...

As Nintendo's Wii continues to dominate the next-gen video game console war, their competitors continue to downplay the Wii's success. In an interview with video game site Gamasutra, Aaron Greenburg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, comments that casual gamers on the Wii will soon "graduate" to the Xbox 360 experience. 

"...there's a difference in the type of customer that is buying the Wii. When you think about it, there's a difference trying to be the number one console with nine year old gamers, and being the console that offers the most experience from 13 to 33.

Everyone says that eventually the novelty will wear off, right? ...[The Wii] is like something they break out when people come over, and it's maybe a fun thing, but it's almost like the same people that buy a karaoke machine, you know? They're not really buying it for games, they're just buying it as a novelty."

Wow, Mr. Greenburg. Way to insult generations of gamers who own a Wii.

To say that the Wii is aiming to be the number one console with "nine year old gamers" is just an ignorant statement and degrading to more mature gamers that also own a Wii. Maybe Mr. Greenburg made these comments to downplay the success of the Wii for the past two years. Before and after it's release in November 2006, many critics remarked how the console was gimmicky and soon the novelty would wear off. Let's take a look at a sales chart from this past January to May provided by local market watcher NPD:

The numbers speak for themselves. The Wii out sold the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined with around 675,000 consoles sold in May. Wii's are still being back ordered almost two years after its release. Is this a fad? Some analysts don't think so.

David Cole, analyst at DFC Intelligence, reported that the Wii "does not appear to be a fad and it has the chance to be one of the best selling systems of all-time." Pretty bold statement, but again, the numbers don't lie. This is definitely getting Microsoft and Sony's panties in a wad, who have been predicting the Wii's eventual lost interest since day one. The thing is, Nintendo has cracked into a bold, new market with its Wii, and interest will only grow.

The Wii introduced video games to the more casual market, ushering the popularity of the "casual gamer," or the gamer who plays video games more as a recreational past time, usually playing games in a shorter time period than hardcore gamers. Gone are the days that only nerdy fanboys were the only ones enjoying themselves. Now our girlfriends, parents, and grandparents are joining the fray. This whole new demographic is being introduced to the video game industry and their interest will only grow. Think about when you started playing video games. More than likely it involved mostly sprites and simple games. Now look how your interest in video games has grown from simple platformers/shooters to complex mechanics and novel-like story lines. I'm not saying your grandma is going to want to  bust a cap in some aliens in a first-person shooter soon (although it would be awesome), but a whole new world is opening up for many people.

I personally own both the Wii and Xbox 360 and I will admit, most of the time the Wii is pulled out when I've got friends over. This is something Nintendo has excelled at for the past decade, the "party game" genre, or playing with several people in a room together. From Mario Party to Smash Bros., they know how to bring people together. But their online presence is non-existent compared to Xbox Live. If I want to play with friends across the nation, there's no other service that provides the awesome quality and care in its online community. Also, no one can deny the awesome graphical power that both the Xbox 360 and PS3 hold. But graphics aren't everything.

Nintendo has been innovating the video game world for years. It was the first company to fully jump in the 3D world, it introduced the rumble feature to controllers, has been dominating the hand-held market for years, and after each new innovation, its competitors have fallen suit. Now Nintendo has reinvented the way we play video games with the Wii remote, sending shock waves through the industry. Mark my words- Microsoft and Sony will incorporate the same technology in their systems at some point in the future. 

No, Mr. Greenburg, you've got it all wrong. The Wii is not a novelty, it's the future of gaming.

Quality Over Quantity

I've been reading an awesome book called Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and it is jack full of amazing insights about building and managing relationships, networking (or in his words, connecting), and making the most out of every relationship you have. I'll post from time to time things that really stick out to me or things I remember while I'm on my mac. 

"Friendship is created out of the quality of time spent between two people, not the quantity." - Keith Ferrazzi

When I read those words, they rang so well with me and some things I personally have learned in the past couple of years. From a college student point of view, there are some good friends from high school that I tried to maintain a couple of years ago, but for one reason or another, I was unsuccessful. It was by no means malicious, or me giving up friendships, I was just on different tracks than others. Some friends grew angry with me, even when we did hang out, often complaining to other people. But then there were friends I wouldn't talk to for almost a year and when we met up, it was like we never parted ways. Those are the friendships, I realized, that were the ones that were going to stay true years from now.

Outside of your family and co-workers, you can probably count on two hands the amount of days in a month you get to see the people you truly care about. Surely, you don't gauge your relationships on the amount of times you chill with each other, but the quality of the time you have with them. That is why you should make the most of the time you spend with friends and family. Share your passions with them, whether it be working out, food, Guitar Hero, Grey's Anatomy- whatever brings you and your loved ones together. You'll gain more than you ever thought you could out of your relationships. 

Over and out!

Stop the Capitol Records Scam

Happy 4th!

Bert Hart, a friend of mine and amazing blogger, recently posted about Capitol Records and the contest they are holding for indie bands to win an opening act for Cold Play's upcoming tour. Looks as though Capitol Records is trying to scam and cheat local acts around the nation with this contest. It's a prime example that you always have to read the fine print. No more wasting time, check out his blog for more details and spread the word about this awful and ridiculous scam by Capitol Records.

[grab this banner]

Click the banner the sign the petition!

Shame on you, Capitol. 

UPDATE: Looks like we stirred up some of the folks at Capitol Records- in the past couple of days, they have since changed the rules of the contest to make it more legit... But I'd still be cautious of them. Check out Andy's blog for the complete update of the terms or Bert's blog for 

a nice overview.  Much love to everyone that helped! Aye aye, matey!