pg - Slashdot's "72% of US Adults Support Violent-Game Ban For Minors"

They say it's because adults don't want minors playing violent or sexually mature video games... Let me tell you the real reason why.

Minors are ANNOYING. They absolutely ruin the mature on-line experience of games like Modern Warfare 2 to the point that I feel the need to use private chat with my friends and mute everyone else. I feel like I can't make mature jokes in a mature game and I feel like they sound absolute idiots when they try to talk smack.

Tirade.

Reference: 72% of US Adults Support Violent-Game Ban For Minors

UG - Samsung UN65C6500 Review

Just picked up this TV and I am really loving it. It isn't perfect, but the big screen is awesome. Now I am a Samsung TV fan through and through so I have a bias towards them. This TV is replacing my 46" Samsung that I bought ~5 years ago. Some great things about this set is that it doesn't suffer from the white ghost aura that my 46" set suffered from. For those of you that don't know what I am talking about, when viewing an all black scene, there are white ghost lines and greyish light around the edges of the screen, especially around the corners. This set doesn't have that at all. A testament to that is when I was watching a movie last night with the lights off, all I could see was the movie and I couldn't even make out the black bars. The apps are nice and I really enjoy being able to have Netflix and Amazon VOD all built-in to the TV. I have Netflix on all my game systems, but I love not having to fire up another system to watch it.

For the negatives of the set, I am sure plasma/DLP fans will still say those sets produce better blacks. I won't argue that point, but I am willing to trade that for the size difference. This set measures in at 1.2" thick and that is awesome to me. Another con for some is that the set doesn't have 3D; however, I am not a 3D fan so I have zero interest in this feature. The last con I can think of is that I have to go through the Yahoo! app to access the Amazon VOD. I wish that I could install that app as a standalone to save me one more click that I have to do. Another con is that the default setting out of the box sucked. The only way I can describe it is that it looked too real. I started out watching Indiana Jones and the original settings made it look like I was watching a live screenplay. That sounds like a good thing, but it wasn't for me.

Overall, I am loving this TV. It was time consuming to go through all my inputs and do the necessary configuration changes, but it was worth every second now that I have it going.

Quick update notes:
Controller is pretty cheap and no thrills (I use a harmony so I didn't really think about this before)
Set isn't too heavy. Weights in ~90 lbs. but will require two people to move around
I don't like the apps that you can't remove, who the hell needs Facebook on their TV

9/10

UG - Madden 11 (Full game)

Ok, EA ended up getting my $60 for Madden 11. I have played it a few times and I am happy with my purchase. Some of my complaints from the demo are fixed like the replays at the end of quarters are actually good plays. The running is still awesome, but the passing can get a little weird with some receivers watching the ball go right by them while others grab passes about 5 yards too far. The jerkiness/parkinson's disease still exists when players are in the huddle and quarterbacks can still get off amazing passes no matter how much pressure I hit them with. But overall, the game feels like a greatly enhanced version over past years. Now, I just hope for easy ways to update rosters in my franchise mode when Brett Favre signs and he is added to the Vikings roster.

pg - PlayStation Move Epiphany

"It's the SAME THING!!"

I just realized the PlayStation Move is the EXACT SAME CONCEPT as the Wii-motes. At first you think - "Oh.. motion control just like the Wii" - neat.

Consider this. The PS3 uses a camera to track a ball on your PS3 "wand". The Wii uses a camera to track the infrared light your Wii-mote emits. It's the SAME concept. The Wii one is actually done more elegantly. This is horrible! I bought my PS3 to get AWAY from the Wii. Now they're doing the same damn thing! EXACT SAME THING.

The PlayStation Move Navigation controller even looks the same as the Wii's. The control of both looks like it'd be nearly identical.

[update]
Here's an awesome link to the Onion about this thanks to my awesome fans and followers. Wii Video Games Blamed For Rise In Effeminate Violence. Thanks UG.

UG - Madden 11 (Demo)

Don't call it a comeback, I've been here ... just the other week ... saying I would be back ... screw it. Like my previous post said, I was going to compare the demo of Madden to NCAA to decide which one I would want to buy. I have now had the chance to play both and must say that NCAA has proven to once again be the red-headed stepchild.  Even with NCAA receiving improvements, Madden still just feels like it is further ahead in mechanics, graphics, attention to detail, and on and on.

The first thing that scared me was I found out that Chris Collinsworth is one of the announcers and my first thought was holy schnikes, I hate that guy. After playing many games, I came to the realization that I might have been too quick to judge and I changed my mind about him...I despise him. However, the other announcer (some new guy) spoke the most often and he wasn't that bad so I will call this an improvement over previous years; however, I will still mute them.

The graphics are improved again with better use of lighting and shadowing to give a more realistic feel, but if you read my previous post you will know how I feel about graphical improvements (hint: those are supposed to happen). However, there were some issues with the graphics still. For example, when your players are in the huddle and they have their hands on their knees, they look like they have Parkinson's disease with their hands being all jumpy and vibrating.

pg - Google Talk Follows You!

Here's a fun fact about Google Talk. It follows you! ... Just like a creepy stalker!

Seriously, though, try this out. Sign in to Google Talk on your Android phone and start chatting with someone. Then sign in to Google Talk from your computer and continue talking with them. You'll notice that Google will stop sending responses to your phone and send them only to your most recent Google Talk session. Kind of cool. It definitely saves you from receiving tons of notification alerts on your phone.

p0w BitchZ I'm out!

UG - 3D jumps the shark

I admit I am not the biggest fan of 3D. I find it to be more of a fad and that media creators are already over using it (except maybe the porn industry who is under-utilizing it so far). I refuse to sit in my house wearing dorky glasses, hell I am already dorky enough and sure don't need any assistance. It also doesn't help that I tend to get headaches whenever I watch 3D. However, I have to say when "Step Up 3D" tells you to come see 3D like never before, then I think 3D has already officially jumped the shark. This could mark the end of 3D. Well, that might be extreme, maybe just the end of civilization as we know it.