Non-FFXI news

Pretty bored of FFXI, so here is some non-FFXI news!

Other Games

I've been playing a lot of Valkyria Chronicles these days xD This is a turn-based strategy/3rd person shooter hybrid game, where you have to position your units carefully, then when it comes to your turn to move it, you take control in a 3rd-person shooter perspective over the character's shoulder and move/shoot in real-time.

It's quite a fun game, with lots of subtle little tactics that you can try, including trench warfare, snipers, cover fire and defensive positioning all playing a part in it.

And the funny part is that right now, there's a Valkyria Chronicles anime that is based on the game that is coming out in Japan. I had picked up the game months ago, but I didn't have time to play it due to school... at first I started out playing the game to match what was going on in the anime... which turned out to be a huge mistake as the two have just subtlety different details... like, in the game one of the main characters breaks out with the a tank on his own, then destroys a gate, while in the anime the tank goes on a rampage and blows up a ton of enemy tanks xD Keeping the difference between the two straight quickly became confusing.

Still, the anime has been pretty faithful to the game so far... only 4 episodes of the anime are out so far and they seem to be covering every major engagement, and spending a lot more time on character development.

What else... oh, also picked up Virtual On on the 360's XBLA. Haven't played that game in... erm... over a decade now :o Used to be good in the arcades, which always surprised people who would underestimate me :) Of course... there aren't any more good arcades in this country >.>

New compute environments

Let's see... a few changes to my compute environments...

For home, I've upgraded at last to a 24" 1920x1200 monitor, specifically the Dell 2408WFP. This is a more expensive monitor compared to other monitors out there, but has a few advantages:

- Better color reproduction - uses true 8-bit color instead of the typical 6-bit/color with dittering

- Much better viewing angles... have you seen those Samsung panels? >.>

- No dead pixel guarantee

Came close to buying a cheaper TN-type panel from a local store, but in the end, I decided that the extra premium was worth it. The only downside is that this type monitor has a slightly lower response time compared to the cheaper TN panels, but I can't tell the difference.

Also upgraded speaker system to a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 surround sound system. Yes, I know FFXI doesn't have 5.1, but with Dolby Pro Logic II, at least it sounds good :) I also have an alternate 4.1 system hooked up to a laptop that I use to watch anime and various TV shows during boring events like Dynamis and Limbus... I mean... erm... listen to music?

At work, I decided to go overboard and see what I can get away with. I'm now using 3 monitors with a total resolution of 5120x1200... definitely overdoing it! I can't see the side edges of my monitors anymore!

Looking for toys

Fun part about having disposable income is... disposing of it! This year was the first year that I don't have something lined up to buy during my birthday... in the past it was easy! PS3, etc... I was toying with the idea of building or buying a new computer to play computer games on, but I realized that I don't actually play PC games anymore, at least none that would tax a computer. My Macbook Pro can play FFXI just fine at 1920x1200, so there's really no reason to upgrade.

Instead, now I'm looking at a cute little computer or "Mobile Internet Device" (MID) called the Viliv S5. In more civilized parts of the world such as Europe or Asia, these MID devices are becoming extremely popular as you can easily take them out and do some computing, instant message/email, Skype, etc. when you're traveling on the train or a bus. This one is extremely impressive as squeezes a fully-featured Windows XP computer into a tiny device that's less than 1lb and can actually fit in a pocket!

There's a really good overview of this tiny little toy at http://www.pocketables.net/2009/04/review-viliv-s5-premium.html

Currently not QUITE available, but I'm considering picking it up... not sure what I'd actually do with it... at the very least get the GPS working so I can easily take it traveling, or even just use it in my car... Now the only question is whether I should try to get it now, or wait for a SSD version to be released...