What an amazing experience!

The few photos I took with my Nexus One are on Flickr and the videos are on Youtube.

Met some great people, played some fantastic games and ate some bloody good food in LA! Make sure you tune into the next episode of GodisaGeek Podcast to hear our thoughts on the games and our ‘Game of the Show’.

As far as conferences go, I think Nintendo won it this year, with the launch of the 3DS and a bunch of great titles to go with it. Closely followed by Microsoft, who also have a load of brilliant titles and some shiny new hardware (I must get an Xbox 360 Slim). Sony flopped on the conference front this year. Although they had some decent title announcements for their existing franches, they had no new hardware and they lost huge points for the disrespecting of both Microsoft and Nintendo during their conference. This wasn’t funny, and it only highlighted Sony’s insecurities.

The Playstation Move  is essentially an advanced Wiimote. There’s no denying that. I must say, what it does, it does well. This to me, is exactly what the Wii should have been. I didn’t buy a Wii because of the poor graphics and the rubbish responsiveness of the infra-red system. With the Playstation 3′s graphics and some epic responsiveness with the Move, we now have something that could actually interest me.

Xbox Kinect is another kettle of fish altogether. Now this is something new and innovative. Although it came in response to Nintendo’s motion controller, it’s not a direct copy like the Move. This is something new and refreshing. I think Dance Central showed off the Kinect’s potential best, with a dance game that requires you to actually dance (rather than stomping on pads). With dance/yoga/martial arts titles on this platform, gamers will get a lesson or two while playing.

Myself and GodisaGeek‘s Asim Tanvir were asked out thoughts on the Microsoft Kinect at E3:

Xbox Kinect Impressions One
Xbox Kinect Impressions Two

Nintendo did it again with the 3DS. This is why they’re on top. It’s innovation after innovation with this company. There’s no doubt the 3DS will sell well and keep Nintendo at the top of the handheld market for years to come. This is just what they needed, with Apple’s iOS devices creeping up, having already overtaken the Sony PSP. The 3D camera alone is enough to make me want to buy one – fantastic piece of kit! The games may give users a headache after a while, but the 3D aspect can be turned off/down. Nintendo also announced the option of partnering with movie studios to release 3D titles on the device. Interesting!

EA were probably the publisher with the most to offer this E3. Especially with upcoming come-back title Medal of Honor. Their booth was one of the most interesting places in the whole expo, with a whole range of big titles including Crysis 2, Need for Speed, The Sims 3 (for console) and Tiger Woods. I’m not going to talk about their shameless marketing scheme at the event (the Raybans were a lie!).

Don’t forget, tune into GodisaGeek Podcast for our Game of the Show.

After six seasons of nail-biting cliff hangers Lost has finally come to an end. No more edge-of-the-seat moments, yelling at the TV for more answers – we’ve been given all we’re going to get!

Continue Reading »

This story has been published on Sporkings.com.

It all started with a ~£300 graphics card. Me being me, I had to get hold of a GeForce 9800 GX2, back in April ’08 – when they were the first graphics cards to offer 1gb of memory. The card promised ridiculous speeds.

Unfortunately what I was not to know at the time, was that this graphics card suffers over-heating problems.

Continue Reading »

When Twitter founder Jack Dorsey first announced Square mobile payment system, I thought it was a brilliant idea – and it still is. Being able to accept credit card payments on the go, no matter where you are, with an iPhone/iPod/iPad – fantastic.

Square officially launched yesterday (on the iPad, initially) and the technology is already outdated. Square relies on the old fashioned ‘swipe and sign’ method of accepting credit card payments, which while still accepted in the US, is practically non-existent in the rest of the world. Most countries have either already switched to ‘chip and pin’, or are in the process of adopting this more secure method of accepting credit card payments. The US seems to be lagging behind – but I suspect it won’t be that way forever.

So what does this mean for Square? Does Jack have an ace up his sleeves, or is Square simply going to remain a US-only product, until America joins the rest of the world, with ‘chip and pin’ technology? As brilliantly designed as the Square app and device are – is there a plan for this business to survive in the long-run?

What brands do you love?

Google. Always innovating!
Apple – I love Apple’s products

What brands do you hate?

Apple – Yeah, I have a love/hate thing with them. I really can’t stand their company ethics. The way they restrict everything and practically force you to use their products in the way they dictate.

Microsoft. I know it’s cliché, but I can’t agree with the business tactics they’ve used over the years, and their products do tend to suck. To be fair, I’ve been hating Microsoft long before it was cool – I’m by no means an Apple fanboy.

Motorola – They’ve always made really ugly products, I’m a fan of good design.

3 (Three.co.uk) – Worst mobile network, poor signal coverage, incredibly poor outsourced customer services

Sega, for what they did to Sonic.

What brands CARE about you?

Google. They’re the only company I know that’s truly out there trying to make a differece, at their own cost, without looking for profitability.