GeekwithEnvy

Discussions

World Of Warcraft Mists of Pandaria Picks Up Steam

by 1 Comment

When World of Warcraft Mists of Pandaria first hit store shelves it seemed that excitement for the game was a bit lacking. Many game shops throughout the country did not have a midnight launch of the game due to a low amount of pre-sales.World Of Warcraft Mists of Pandaria Logo

Sales of the new expansion seem to be picking up though as a press release from Blizzard Entertainment indicates that approximately  2.7 million copies of the game have sold and the overall subscriber base has surpassed 10 million, which is great news considering the company saw a rather large loss of subscribers around the previous Cataclysm expansion. Blizzard also pointed out that these sales figures do not take into account a Chinese release of the game which is expected to push sales even higher.

I have had some time to jump into this new expansion and I really feel that this is something to be excited about. The introduction of so many new ways to play the game along with a noticeable, back-to-roots feel, makes this expansion stand out from the rest. Mists of Pandaria was met with early criticism by some members of the community for introducing the Pandaren race into World of Warcraft lore in such a dramatic way. As time has gone on, and the game has finally been released, players are starting to see all of the hard work that Blizzard has put into this title.

Hearing about certain features and gameplay dynamics is one thing, but experiencing them first-hand with your favorite characters is totally different. The beauty of the continent of Pandaria alone is striking and the music and sound of each new area pulls you deep into this new land. Challenge modes bring in a whole new reason to run instances and with the challenge mode leader board, you have a whole new reason to brag about your guild. Even I was unsure about some of the new features, like pet battles, which turn out to be very entertaining and offer up a good challenge. You can see the beauty of the new, simplified, and less static talent tree in action and your character has never felt so uniquely customizable. With new challenges for us even after level 90, this game has plenty of content to chew through and a ton of replay-abillity value.

I hope that as time goes on, those of us who have wrote off Mists of Pandaria will re-consider and jump into the new world. Although World of Warcraft has changed quite a bit since the “Vanilla” days, it is still created by the same great company who, from what I can see, really cares strongly about the community that supports them. As always, I’m sure we will run into some issues that need to be addressed and I’m sure further balancing of classes will become necessary but Blizzard again will respond to these issues in the next update and we will move on as we always do.

So let’s embrace what Blizzard has worked so hard on and let’s get into a war that’s actually fun, a war between Orcs and Humans, the driving conflict of World of Warcraft.

Xbox Music Looks To Be a Great Move For Microsoft

by Leave a Comment

Zune wil be rebranded as Xbox Music in the relatively near future and I like the direction Microsoft is taking it’s re-imagined entertainment app. Xbox Music will not only be available on Xbox but also on Windows 8 PCs,tablets, and Windows Phone as well.

The new service will allow existing subscribers to migrate through the rebranding with ease and users will still have access to the same content they had before the switch. The buzz surrounding the new application is getting louder as we draw closer toward the end of the year and we hope to hear more official details on the new service soon.  Our best guess is the app will be released along with Windows 8 and could feature ad-based music streaming similar to Spotify, but it’s only a guess.

I have always liked the Zune player but I have preferred the iPod over the years mostly because I owned an iPod first and didn’t want to figure out how to transfer everything over to a new system, not that it’s overly complicated, but because I have really never had a good enough reason to switch. I have however have used Zune software for Windows and generally liked the experience. With the release of Xbox Music I will gladly jump right in as I plan on doing a review of the app as soon as it is available.

The Xbox itself is really my favorite Microsoft experience as it combines all of my entertainment needs into a simple, easy-to-use interface. Although many argue back and forth about whether PSN is better than Xbox Live, I still think that Xbox Live is done really well, even when you consider it’s faults. With my solid library of games and media on my Xbox, having a well integrated Music service, especially one with free streaming music, will complete my media experience on the Xbox.

The Xbox is really more than just a gaming console, it really has become a media hub, this was Microsoft’s goal and they have done a really god job with it. Thinking ahead to the next obvious direction for Microsoft’s console, I can only imagine that this new music service will be integrated with SkyDrive to allow for a complete cloud solution to allow you to access your media from any other device running Windows 8. This should line them up pretty well with Apple and their cloud services, with the exception of not having a gaming console.

As Windows 8 rolls out we will be anticipating the release of Xbox Music and hopefully we will be rewarded with a solid media library and music streaming app.

Looking at The Business of Tech and How To Make a Smart Purchase

by Leave a Comment

Cellphone with dollarsHave you ever just stopped and looked at the technology around you? Take your smart phone for example, it’s pretty amazing how much power these little devices have. Gaming on your phone was virtually non-existant 10 years ago and now we can do just about anything including having a face-to-face conversation with someone.

When we first get our new shiny device home we feel great about our purchase and can’t wait to use it. However, with todays tech culture we quickly lose this good feeling as internet buzz and advertisements start to roll in featuring a new product that outshines ours. This phenomena isn’t anything new, it’s been going on like this forever, but it’s the pace at which change is happening that really makes you feel left out.

It used to be that when you bought something it would last you for a few years or more before you needed to update, now it only takes about a year or sometimes even just a few months before we feel pressure to buy the latest and greatest. Were are told our current gadget is inferior and won’t be able to have this feature or our current device won’t work with this version of new software, then we are asked to shell out the big bucks again to play catch up.

So, what are we going to do about this? Is this ever going to change?  No, quite honestly it will probably get worse if anything. Is this really a bad thing though? I’m not so sure. I think that keeping the industry moving forward does drive the economy and can breed innovation, although I think that most of these updates are mostly cosmetic to begin with, but I digress.  It’s really about the consumer (us) and how we decide on what to buy and what not to buy. Even if you can afford it, upgrading every year can really put a hurting on you financially.

The idea here is to really think ahead before you make a purchase. Think about what you need the device for and consider all of the features it offers and how it will fit in with your life. Remember, these devices are here to work for you, not the other way around. Also, take the time of year into consideration as many deals can be found earlier in the year, and make sure you’re not buying a product right before a company is about to release it’s next big thing. Making your purchase should be a planned event and not spontaneous, do your research at home where theres no sales person trying to push you. Walk into a store well informed about the devices your interested in and that way you’ll have some confidence when it comes to making smart decisions on what you’re buying.

A little research can save you big headaches later on, look into the details like storage space for example. Do you have enough space for what your doing? Can you upgrade the device later on if your needs change? Answering these questions only takes a few minutes and the benefits are huge.

What’s not so great about the latest and greatest? Well, if you have ever bought something when it was just released you will most likely have figured out that waiting might have been a better idea. Rushing out and buying the latest can leave you to deal with all of the new bugs that come with your device. Although most new products go through varying amounts of testing in-house, the biggest test comes along on launch day. Sometimes it’s best to wait a month or so after a new product hits the market then check online forums to see and any undesirable functionality has been occurring like things failing or major glitches.

Reviews have been an extremely popular way to help you decide on what to buy next, but I caution you to take these reviews with a grain of salt. Firstly, many manufacturers will submit their own positive reviews on a product and can mislead you into thinking they are fellow consumers. This happens on more then just electronic devices, these fake reviews can pop up anywhere, like for apartments.

Sometimes you can get someone who has has a bad experience but it’s only limited to one bad unit. These people have had a truly poor experience because they happened to be unlucky enough to get the oddball defective unit. The best way to jude a review of a defective unit is to see how easily their problems were resolved, find out how their customer service responded to the problem.

Good customer service is unfortunately very rare these days and should also be considered when choosing a particular brand over another. Good customer service should be considered as a feature of the device. Look into device coverage, you may even find that you can receive discounts towards new products by sticking with that brand for the next upgrade, this happens with video card companies quite often.

Resale value is another thing to consider here, the smart phone market is a great example of how easy it is to save money on your upgrade by selling your old device. Chances are that old Android device or iOS device will sell really well, mostly because consumers have realized that they can get a great “last generation” phone for a great price from those who absolutely have to have the next best thing. This means that you too can get a great deal, look on online auction sites around the time a new product like the new iPhone is released and I’m sure you will find a ton of great deals.

The best advice that I can offer is to take your time when making decisions. Don’t be the should have, would have, could have person, be the, I planned ahead and made a smart buy person.

It is Time for More Star Trek or at Least Better Science Fiction on Television

by Leave a Comment

Star Trek The Next Generation was a great show and I think it’s about time that we bring Star Trek back to television. I was sitting at my computer thinking about the hit television series The Big Bang Theory after I watched this seasons first episode, and then I started thinking about Wil Wheaton and the rest is history. I want the sci-Fi series back and I think as long as it’s done well it should be able to gain an audience.

Michael_Dorn_by_Gage_Skidmore
Michael Dorn by Gage Skidmore

In a recent interview with Wired, Michael Dorn -who played Worf in the Star Trek series- mentioned that todays science fiction television lacks the optimism that previous television series like Star Trek The Next Generation had. Dorn talks about how we need a show that can help us escape from all of the day-to-day crap that goes on in the real world and that can leave us with a positive feeling.

I believe there is a large audience out there for a new Star Trek project but as Dorn mentions in the interview, sci-fi has taken on a different look and the original formula that made Star Trek work back then will not work now. The series would most likely need to take on a new approach in order to get a green light and gain viewership. Dorn also mentions how it would be nice for Star Trek to be a catalyst for change, which I think we need desperately.

I’m not saying that there isn’t any good sci-fi out there, I am just saying there isn’t enough. Many new shows fail to hold my interest and the quality of the storyline and production effort are just laughable. In a day and age where reality television has dominated the air waves, I believe it’s time to move on toward better writing.

There are so many great sci-fi stories out there could easily make for great television, it just seems that networks don’t care to look for them, especially if they don’t all involve some type of post apocalyptic storyline. Again, there are a few good shows out there including one that I think is done really well,  the Fox series Fringe. Fringe pulled me in right away and I love the idea of playing around with parallel universes and trying to understand complex issues with time.

For now we can only hope to see something come together that will inspire us and capture our imaginations. Don’t forget that we don’t have to wait for big television networks to bring us a good story though, there’s plenty of great sci-fi out there to read and if your looking for a place to start I would like to direct you toward the science fiction and fantasy themed book club, Sword and Laser.

 

The Windows 8 Desktop and Moving on From the Mouse

by Leave a Comment

The desktop computer has been number one in homes around the world until recently. We demand portability and technology has forever changed because of it.  Laptops and tablets have replaced our big box desktop computers and it seems very few are missing them. However, desktop computers are still necessary for many things and are still widely used by businesses and those who just need a little more than what a laptop can offer.magictrackpad_handWEB

For the longest time companies like Microsoft had been trying to emulate the Windows desktop experience on portable handheld devices, which was ok but not ideal for a touch screen. Eventually, things began to change and the mobile OS began to stand out on it’s own.

Apple’s iOS  and the iPhone changed how we thought a mobile OS should work. Mobile operating systems began to be developed and designed primarily around touch input . These changes worked so well that software companies started creating OS software for desktops that integrated many of the UI features of mobile operating systems into the desktop experience, and it worked.

OSX is a great example of how bringing mobile features to a desktop UI can work really well. Many iOS users will likely find it very easy to get into OSX as it has a similar feel to it. Microsoft has done the same with Windows 8, which looks and feels a lot like Windows Phone.

So, we have a touch based UI on the Windows PC and this is where the main disconnect for Windows 8 comes into play. I have mentioned before that Windows 8 overall looks pretty good  and should work very well with any tablet but it feels downright weird to use with a mouse in a desktop environment. One of the features of OSX that I really like is the ability to use gestures on the touchpad and this is exactly what I think Windows 8 needs in order to feel right.

The mouse has long since been a part of our graphical user interface experience and never before have we needed to move away from it, until now. The touchpad with gestures, in most scenarios will make your interaction with Windows 8 on both desktops and laptops much smoother. With the exception of maybe gaming, I can’t see why I would need a mouse when you can have a touchpad that offers everything you need and more.