Brian's Blog

Week of Android Wrap up

2010-03-01T04:20:00Z

Over the past seven days I have taken time away from work and family to learn how to develop an application for the Android platform. I bought my first android phone last fall and have become excited with the platform. I picked up a book, setup an IDE and started building a couple applications.

I would have liked to have gotten through more of my book but I only got though seven chapters of the book. I was able to build a handful of application ranging from a To Do List application to a Earthquake monitoring application. It's been interesting to see how to create UIs, capture data, load data from an online xml feed and persist the data to a local database.

I feel like there are a lot of possibilities available developing for the Android platform. I've got a couple ideas about building apps that I think would do well to fit a nitche not found in the android marketplace. I'm hoping to spend about five hours a week finishing the book I'm reading and then building a new application. I'd like to have an app on the marketplace by the end of the year. Hopefully this decision will open up some new opportunities for me.

Android Development: Day Four

2010-02-26T07:45:00Z

Today was a long day to not get much accomplished. I was only able to complete one chapter in the book but did finish four laps. In todays chapter we covered a few topics that didn't really flow together but covered a lot of functionality.

The book covered Intents, Broadcast receivers, adapters and internet connectivity in the chapter and we had labs for three of the items. An intent seems to be the way you launch a sub-view and retrieve data from that view. In the lab we created a simple app that had a button that launched the contact list screen. User clicks on a contact and their name is displayed on the original screen. This felt a lot like magic so I went back over this section to figure out how it launched the correct sub-view.

An adapter is just overriding the default display so you can customize the view. This was a simple change made for the to do list app adding task and created date onto the screen. We did not have a lab yet for broadcast receivers but it seems to be kind of like system wide event listener. Lastly we covered internet as the app I built in the lab parsed an xml http response and displayed the data in a list view. Besides some complex debugging, the application was easy enough to build. There was more code parsing the xml than anything else.

So far I'm seeing a lot more xml being modified than actual code in the apps. I'm curious how many actual lines of code some of these applications are actually requiring. It feels like a lot more xml is required. Debugging the app was extremely hard as well. I was not able to create a simple junit and had to run a special junit to test the code. I still have no idea where my debug statements end up as I do not see a log file being written anywhere. There is still a lot to learn about this platform I'm wondering what I can and can't do.

Android Development: Day Three

2010-02-25T05:45:00Z

Today was a slow but productive day for me. I was able to finish reading two chapters and finished two labs. I've got one more lab to finish for the last chapter but I'll punch that out tomorrow. Today's topics were UI design and Android life cycle which were big chapters with lots of reading.

Android is interesting in that it will keep processes alive in the background and starting killing applications as it needs resources. It's almost like thread processing where your app will flow through different priority levels as it switches state.

UI Design is not my favorite topic since it reminds me of Swing. The UI in android can be all laid out in java but the best practice is to use XML. Makes sense when your UI concerns are more about UI component layout than client side scripting. It is interesting to see how Android manages their menus. Their menus slide up from the bottom of the phone and can also act as popup windows. This can lead to a crisp, clean UI design if you want that look.

With only four chapters down and seven more to read I don't think I'll finish the book this week. I hope to get though enough of the topics this week to feel comfortable with Android development. So far I feel like I've only seen the tip of the iceberg. My next couple chapters deal with persisted data and more guts of the android framework. Hopefully we'll be adding some real good stuff to the To Do List app I've been building in the book.

Android Developer

2010-02-24T05:29:00Z

Well you might say I've decided to look for something new to play with but I am intrigued to start looking on writing applications that will run on the Android platform. I've been thinking a lot about it and I knew that if I didn't make a significant effort to set aside time to accomplish this, it would never occur. So I decided to take a week off of work and hunker down reading a book on Android development and punching out a couple simple applications from the book.

Day one of the exercise went fairly well with me reading the first two chapters and coding the first two example applications. It didn't end well because I was unable to get either application working via the emulator. Like any software project there is a certain amount of setup to be performed and it's always fun setting up a new environment you've never worked in before.

As it turns out my book, which was published in 2009, was written when there was only one version of Android (there are now four) and somethings have changed. I installed JDK 1.6, Eclipse 3.5, Android plugin and downloaded the Android SDK fairly easily. Everything went well until it seems Google decided to not actually provide the sdk but instead a setup tool. I think this is were things went horribly wrong about 9 pm Monday night.

Building my first application didn't have me writing any code because the Android plugin did all the work. This was fairly easy to do, name your application hello world and you're set. The problem came when I couldn't figure out how to get the emulator to start and then I didn't realize I'd have to wait five minutes for the device to actually start. Imagine me sitting at my desk looking at a window that looks like a picture of a phone....expecting something to happen.

By this point I'm cursing my computer that is horribly slow (P4 1.6 with 756MB of RAM I bought in 2000) because flipping from my browser to eclipse takes a minute and flipping between files in eclipse takes minutes. After banged my head on my desk and I started shopping for a new laptop. I had suddenly remembered why I hated working on code at home, it was painful to work in an IDE and I just wasn't interested in buying a new computer. Clearly that's no longer the case because I bought a new laptop this morning.

Talk about upping the ante, not only am I taking a week off of work for this but now I just bought a new laptop to develop on. After watching the kids this morning and trying again to do something on my dinosaur of a pc, I took Colin and Leah to Best Buy to pick up a cherry red Dell laptop. It's my second Dell and since the first one mostly survived the kids I felt safe buying another Dell.

Buying a new laptop means setting up a new environment again! Oh joy! This time I decided to skip the book's setup and checkout Google's online documentation. I ran accross it while trouble shooting all the issues I had the night before. This time I added the tool folder and jdk to my path and created my emulator via the command line. Now I have two working Android programs running on my fake phone!

I think part of my problems last night were CKI: chair keyboard interface. When launching the emulator, the program takes a while to get to the android home screen. I was expecting the emulator to pop up my simple apps immediately. Well that's not how it works. The emulator opens a fully operational android os that looks just like the core 1.5 build (which I chose) found on a phone. I can then find my applications on the emulator just like any other app.

Now that I have finished the basics I hope to dig into the rest of the book and learn to write mobile applications I will someday put on the Android Marketplace. I have a couple ideas bouncing in my head and one app I think would be killer but I'm holding onto it and I hope to see if it's possible. I'm really excited about this as an opportunity to branch out into something different. Feast or famine, I'll try to post my journey on the blog for anyone interested to follow.

Is it an iPad world?

2010-01-31T18:14:00Z

With very little suspense, Apple announced the their computing tablet: the iPad. For a couple weeks now we knew that Apple had something up their sleeve as many gadget sites had started reporting rumors about the device. It also makes sense that Apple would want to show of theirs soon since most companies were showing their tablets at CES a couple weeks ago.

So far the iPad has gotten a lot of criticism from it's competitors as just a "bigger iPod touch." In reality this is a fair complaint because at launch the device does not offer any real innovation. There is no camera, no phone capabilities and no flash support. This device is just a really big iPod touch.

What the device does have an extremely large upside. For the home there really isn't a need for a desktop or laptop computer unless you are working from home. The casual computer user is surfing the web, sending emails and post photos online...three things you really don't need a powerful computer to accomplish. In fact now that I have a smart phone I rarely use my laptop or desktop at home. I only use those for working from home or writing a blog post.

I can envision a future where you have tablets and cell phones linked together as communication devices in the home. Maybe you tablet sits on the wall in your kitchen with a dock for your phone and acts as a video phone. You can take the call their or transfer it to your cellphone. I can also see the tablet as a savior for the print media industry. Instead of spending money printing a newspaper or magazine, you'll be able to open an application and flip through the newspaper or magazine on your tablet. I can also see applications for a tablet at school where students can take perfect notes because their teacher's lecture will be converted from voice to text. Throw out your three ring binder and pick up a tablet.

So the question becomes who's tablet will win and can we handle a three operating system universe. Google has thrown their hat into the game with Android tablets coming out soon. Microsoft has always had an eye on the tablet industry and has never had a device take off. Apple wants to convert all their iPod users into iPad users but that might not be as easy as it seems. I think we are a very long way aways from my vision for tablet computing. Ten years from now we may very well be only using tablets and smart phones but more likely it will be twenty years before that all become common place. My recommendation is to not buy any of the first incarnations of these devices because in a couple years their you'll get so much more out of them. If you do happen to love gadgets, like me, you probably will pick one up to play with but don't be surprised when next years model has a camera and supports VoIP.

Finished up Bayonetta

2010-01-18T04:09:00Z

Now there are certain games that hit my sweet spot. Games like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden or even Ninja Blade fulfill my Highlander desire to kick ass and carry a sword. Bayonetta builds on the foundation of Devil May Cry and creates a story you'd expect to of came out of junior high boy. You play as Bayonetta, a hot witch, killing all kinds of angelic forms on your way to recover your forgotten past. To say the story is over the top is an understatement as you pull off maneuvers in a fighting style that is a mix of poll dancer, samurai and trick shot artist.

What Bayonetta does right is they make the game extremely approachable with an Easy and Very Easy setting available (I beat the game on normal). The game has a combination of sword play and shooting where you have guns in both of your hands and connected to your shoes. You will be asked to perform multiple combos kicking, shooting and slashing your way to killing angels and gathering halos. The combat is very enjoyable as you will be rewarded for learning the combos and mastering Witch Time. Witch Time is Bayonetta's version of bullet time which is activated by dodging an enemies strike at the last possible moment. This will slow down time and allow you to inflict as much damage as possible in a short period of time.

Even though Bayonetta is a Japanese developed game it does not fall into many of the pitfalls previous actions games have. The best thing I can tell you is you will not back track in any of the levels. This is a very welcome decision because in Devil May Cry 4 you essentially played every level twice and fought every boss three times. You will also be thankful the quick time action events are done well. You will have to hit keys but they flow very will with the existing combat in the game.

Now Bayonetta is not all roses. There are a few things the game does not do well. For the most part you will face some fairly moderate challenges in the game but some enemies will frustrate the hell out of you. I found that I needed to rely on making magic items to recover health, deflect damage or increase the damage of your attacks. In a very typical Japanese game attribute, you can get items from destroying benches, statues, potted plants and there will be items hidden in the levels for you to find. Over time you can gather enough elements to create items of either a weak or strong form. You will also collect halos to spend on items, techniques and accessories to help you become a better fighter.

If you do get stuck and need halos, there is an area to grind and get cheap halos and collect elements. At the beginning of chapter one you will arrive at a train station. Run around and break all the benches on the second level then hop on the train as it leaves the station. You'll get an easy 10,000 halos plus any items you find for breaking all those benches. There is also a nice reward sitting on the tracks after the train has left. This can be repeated indefinitely.

I can not express to you how good Bayonetta is as an action game. The game looks good, runs good the entire time and makes a fairly long game enjoyable. The game has 16 levels that took me around 14 hours to complete. If you can look past the crazy story, aggressive sexuality and occasional frustrating battle sequences you will find an enjoyable game that you won't finish in a weekend.

Quick Impressions of Bayonetta

2010-01-12T02:31:00Z

From the original creator of Devil May Cry comes Bayonetta: a action game involving a witch fighting Angels and other entities sent from heaven. The game play is fairly entertaining for a shoot and slash game in the mold of Devil May Cry. The combat doesn't feel as good as Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden but so far it plays a little bit easier then those games. The story in the game is a bit off center with a few missing parts. Hopefully they will clue us in more as the game goes on. I have this odd feeling that I will be playing as another character somewhere in the middle of this game. Lets hope this game doesn't start making me back track or face the same boss six times.

Nexus One Video

2010-01-05T20:42:00Z

Welcome to the new Google phone, Nexus One. The phone will come out on T-mobile to start but will be coming to Verizon and Vadafone later in 2010. The phone is fairly impressive with all the features it contains. I'm a little disappointed that Sprint has not joined the party but maybe they will eventually. I guess I now know why Verizon was off loading the Eris for so cheap. No one would want one of those if they could get a Nexus One.

http://www.androidcentral.com/googles-nexus-one-videos

A Decade in Technology

2010-01-03T15:48:00Z

The past decade has been amazing technology wise. We have seen so many new innovations in communication, computing and accessing media over the past ten years. I definitely think the 2000s will go down as the start of the information age.

Over the past ten years we've seen high definition TV, LCDs, DVD, BluRay, video on demand, digital video recorders and streaming video change the way we watch our TV. The idea of a VCR or VHS tapes has completely become irrelevant since we can now records shows with DVRs and watch movies with DVDs and BluRays. We are no longer watching TV on square tube TVs either as almost everyone now has made the move to HDTVs.

We are also no longer listening to tapes or CDs. We now have iTunes and MP3s to listen to music and podcasts. We started with Napster to listen to music free and ended up with services like iTunes and Zune Marketplace to purchase music. No one carries a Dicsman anymore, instead it's ipods and other mp3 players.

I remember buying my first cell phone in 1999 with regional coverage, roaming fees and all it could do was make calls and send texts. Now phones are practically replacements for computers with web browsers, apps and built in tools to help you be keep up with your friends. For some the past decade means their home phone service is no longer provided by the phone company. We now have voice over IP which allows us to not be locked into the phone company for service. We also have voice messaging so we are no longer reliant on answering machines.

At the beginning of the decade the communicating over the internet meant email and chat rooms. Now we have seen the rise of web 2.0 with social networking sites like MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We now read our new online instead of on a news paper or by watching the evening news. Digital media may not have completely taken over but in another ten years print will be dead.

We have also seen the rise of online stores like Amazon.com and retail stores expanding their presence with their own online stores. We have seen auction sites like eBay and Craig's List emerge as sites people can resell items. Shopping has really been changed over the past ten years by the maturing of the internet.

It will be very fascinating to see what new technologies will emerge in the next decade. Will we see the tablet make a roaring comeback to replace laptops? What will we see next out of cellphones? Will we even use desktop pcs in ten years or will they be replaced with something we can dock and un-dock as needed.

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-02T13:44:00Z

This year I actually do have some New Years resolution I want to share. In the past I have never bothered with resolutions because I felt they always get broken a couple months later. This time I'm going to pick some I should have no problems achieving.

1) Lost 25 pounds

2) Walk Rudy on days I don't do baths

3) Play 25 rounds of golf

4) Hit the range 50 times

5) Take golf lessons

6) Take Colin golfing 5 times

7) See 10 movies in a theater

8) Take Colin and Leah to a baseball game

9) Build an Android app

10) Buy a new car

By far I feel losing weight should be my top priority. Over the past couple years I've gained 25 pounds so I feel I should be able to drop this weight. By walking Rudy on a regular basis I think I can drop some of this weight. Before we moved to our current house we used to walk Rudy a lot but now that has dropped off.

Now my golf game is no where near where it used to be. Mostly this is because I'm not playing as often and not practicing as often either. I feel I should be able to play more this year now that I know about my Gout. I lost several rounds because of foot pain over the summer. I also want to get a pro to watch my swing, make improvements and keep me playing my best.

Part of my resolutions are to have more family activities. I feel Colin is probably old enough to go to the range and play on the mini pitch and put by my house. Colin can really hit the ball well so I think he's now ready to learn how to play golf. With the new outdoor baseball stadium I think it will be exciting to take the kids to a game. I've taken Colin to a game at the dome but Leah has never seen a baseball game. I'd also like to see more movies in theaters. We never go to movies and I think it's time to end that.

My last two resolutions are for me to buy a new car and to build an Android app for my phone. I've been looking at cars for the past nine months and will not buy a car till maybe this Spring. I've been driving my wife's old car for maybe five years now so it's time to get my own car.

I've gotten an Android phone so now I'm going to build an application. I have not decided on what that app will do but I'm definitely going to build something. It may be a golf app or maybe something I can't find in the app store. Who knows but it will be good to learn a new tech and make something.

A Decade in Review

2010-01-01T01:02:00Z

It's kind of bizarre thinking that the decade is almost over. By far it's been the best decade I've been a live but then again I'm not that old. The decade started out with me getting engaged and married to my wife Erin. I was working for a consulting company filling in spots using PL/SQL and C mostly. That job ended shortly after the tech bubble burster in 2001. I spent a few months unemployed but landed at a company that would make impacts on my career I'd never realize at the time.

I spent three years at Gelco as a software engineer where I met my first true mentor. What I learned at Gelco was to not just write software but ti think about writing good software. Most software developers just care about writing code without worrying if it performs, maintainable or simple. I also learned to never stop learning. You need to keep sharp by reading books and writing code on the side to make sure you can keep yourself relevant.

Over the past decade I watched my family grow from just Erin and I to adding our dog Rudy, then the birth of our son Colin and eventually the birth of our daughter Leah. Having Colin and Leah has really made this past decade the best times of my life. I love waking up with them and having breakfast together. It's been amazing to watch them grew up and see how neat they really are.

I realize I have been extremely lucky in life and have benefited from hard work. I realize I'm not the best software developer out there but I have a strong work ethic and the ability to explain technical issues to multiple audiences. I've found myself is a great place at my current company and can't imagine leaving. I hope the next ten years are as great as the past ten have been.

Revisiting my Smartphone vs Zune HD post

2009-12-29T15:08:00Z

So I'm kind of obsessed about my phone and anything Android right now. I'm thinking smart phones are crazy awesome with easy internet access and tons of free apps to make your life easier. The iPhone may have more apps than the Android market but with over ten thousands apps in the Android market place you'll probably find anything you need. I'd say that I use my phone more for surfing the web and using apps than I do for making actual phone calls.

I do realize I get a bit obsessed about gadgets when I get one. Just look at how I embraced the zune. I really like that device and service but its kind of a failure. The zune was advertised nowhere this holiday season. When I was in Best Buy holiday shopping I could barely find a points card and didn't even see a zune hd on display. Feels like either Microsoft is going to re-brand the zune or drop the device.

Microsoft just opened up the app marketplace for their Zune HD device with a whole whopping 16 apps. There are 12 games and 4 "other" apps. Seems Microsoft has seriously dropped the ball on the app department. Microsoft has decided to compete with the iPod touch with a mostly disconnected device that can play music and games. I think Microsoft is too concerned with matching what the competition has to offer instead of looking at the market space and deciding where the competition is heading.

One has to look at Google's vision for the Android to see the future is devices connected to data networks. It was over 20 years ago we first stated seeing tablet computers. Back then they didn't make much general consumer sense but now with the raise of the internet, social networking and online gaming, the idea of having a compact computer you can carry in your pocket makes does. These new smart phones are very close to the original vision of the tablet PCs.

I'm using my phone more as a hand held computer than an actual phone. I have access to email, docs, internet, social networks, news and games on my phone. The evolution of the cellphone is going to be a device connected to a data network that allows you to do Voice over IP. There will not be a need for an actual voice contract counting minutes because it will be transmitted as pure data. This makes me feel that the Zune HD is dated and will not have make much of an impact in the market place. Maybe Best Buy feels the same way since they aren't giving it decent shelf space.

Bayonetta Demo Impressions

2009-12-27T15:06:00Z

The Bayonetta demo is now available on the Xbox 360 and PS3 for free to try out. The developers of the original Devil May Cry games are behind Bayonetta. The games a violent action adventure game that is noted for the heroin shooting from her shoes. She also has a striking resemblance to Sarah Palin.

The demo is fairly short nut allows you to learn some combos and fight several enemies. I think I feel this game is extremely anti-western religions as you play a witch killing enemies with halos that look like Jewish and Christian symbols. So far the game has gotten very good reviews from the gaming media but probably isn't worth a purchase from the casual gamers. I'll be picking one up but this kind of game is in my wheel house. Mindless hack and slash games are tons of fun for me.

The Google Phone

2009-12-24T15:56:00Z

Over the past week or so several web sites have leaked photos of the next Android phone, Nextus One. This phone has been given to Google employees to start using and may very well be available at retail in a couple weeks. The phone is being advertised as a iPhone G3 killer with a flash camera, 4GB flash card that is upgradeable to 32GB, and it's thinner and faster that the G3.

There has been a lot of talk about what kind of phone this new device would be. So far it looks like it might run on the T-Mobil network but it may not matter. The phone may come unlocked so that it will be available for any phone network. There has been some talk as well of it be a Voice over IP (VOIP) phone with no need for a voice contract. I think this is probably the future of cell phones. VOIP has been made familiar by companies like Comcast and Vonage which offer phone service over their high speed internet network.

With the recent release of several Google Android phones it will be interesting to see how that platform grows. Before you could only get a android phone on T-Mobil but now they are available on Sprint and Verizon. If Google makes the Nexus One open to any network it could seriously cut into Apple's lead on smart phones. It will be interesting to see consumers will turn on Apple and move towards the Google phones that have an open app store and probably the best developers in the world.

Sources:

http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-one-specs-leaked-retail-sales-may-be-invite-only-intially

http://gizmodo.com/5432678/google-nexus-one-hands-on

Attack of the Gout

2009-12-21T04:21:00Z

So a couple weeks ago I suffered a sever case of gout in my right knee. Unfortunately I had no idea that I had gout, instead I thought I tweaked my knee and maybe teared a tendon. I ended up seeing a doctor and after an negative MRI it was discovered I have gout. Too bad it took about a week to make this diagnosis. I ended up spending several days in bed, in pain and unable to do much. Finally I saw a specialist and got a cortisone shot which helped relieve the pain.

Since that time I have not played any games on the Xbox and instead found myself reading more about the health care debate and cell phones. There are some good games out there but right now I'm not feeling compelled to play them. It's kind of funny then that when I finally started up my 360 to race a little, my Xbox died for a 3rd time. I got the E74 error on my system. I knew it was coming because the graphics started going crazy when I was playing some Forza. I shipped it off to Microsoft on Saturday so hopefully I'll get it back in time for Bayonetta's release.

I'm feeling that government health care is inevitable now. I expect we'll have the new health care bill signed into law by the end of the year. I honestly do not believe this will lower costs and will end up getting people dumped into a Federally run co-op. Once people realize this doesn;t lower costs there will be moves by government to run private companies out of the health care business. We'll still have private insurance but it will be the haves and the have not's as companies decide to drop health coverage as a benefit to improve the companies stock prices. Lets hope this doesn't happen.

Lastly I've been fascinated with the rise of the Google phone, Nexus One. I'll write more about this phone once I know more but I think we finally have a company that can kill Apple. I happen to hate Steve Jobs and Apple so seeing Google launch their Android phones OS has been fun. I'm enjoying the commercials attacking AT&T's data network and was pleased to hear SNL took a shot at Apple last weekend. Apple sells over priced items to trendy yuppies which makes me sick. Google has always made useful web applications and now it's clear they are ready top take on Apple and Microsoft in the phone, browser and OS.

HTC Hero Review

2009-12-07T11:55:00Z

A couple weeks ago I picked up a HTC Hero for my wife and myself. I've never used a smart phone before but was looking forward to the idea of getting to my Google apps from my phone. Since I was never going to go back to AT&T wireless after the way they over billed me at the end of our relationship, I've been looking forward to getting a Google phone from Sprint.

I was immediately taken back by how crisp the screen was on the Hero. The browser is excellent, the UI is easy to maneuver around and the ease of use with GMail, GTalk and Google Calender are excellent. The Hero has seven panels you can move though which you can place short cuts to apps running on your phone. For the most part I'm happy with the number of apps I've been able to find on the Google Marketplace. I've gotten a few free games, some oddball applications and utilities. As I find something neat, I've been adding apps.

I did notice that the battery life on the phone was poor during moderate use. This lead me to looking for several ways to improve the battery life by turning off features. I ended first turning off wifi and back light which helped slightly. I then downloaded a tool to monitor my battery life and suggest setting change to improve battery performance. What ended up making a huge improvement was turning off the "Enable always-on mobile" setting under Mobile Network Settings. By turning this off my battery life doubled which allowed me to not have to charge my phone every night.

The nicest feature I've used a lot is the easy access to Facebook and Twitter. The 5 mega pixel camera built into the phone allows me to take a picture and immediately upload pictures to Facebook or Flickr. I also just find myself using Facebook and Twitter more now that I can access them easily from my phone. The phone has become a hand held computer that I can check my email, IM, check my account balances, look for resaraunts, get directions and all kinds of other things. It a brave new world to explore and so far I like it.

Where have I been?

2009-12-05T09:13:00Z

It feels like I haven't written anything for the blog in a month or two. Well that will be changing now that work is looking a whole lot better. I notice that as work gets crazy I completely shut down this blog. Now my work isn't going to get easier but it should be more interesting and enjoyable going forward.

I just recently completed a project de-identifying all the data in our dev and qa databases. This basically means we scrambled all the data per some algorithm so that no one could use our customer data against us...again. The project wouldn't have been so tough if it weren't for the fact we also had to create a entirely new environment. That meant installing all the apps on this new box, configuring websphere and setting up several MQueues. All in about three weeks right as we rolled out my tomcat application. Stress levels were high.

With that behind me I have more time to enjoy the little things in life like movies, video games and my phone. I'll be writing about my new phone shortly. I'm pretty excited about the phone and use it a ton more than I ever used my previous phones. I've been mostly playing Forza 3 on the 360 but I'm in a bit of a rut with that game. It's great but it's beginning to feel like a grind to finish the current season I'm playing.

I'll probably also be writing more about technology then I had been on this blog. My tomcat app is now in production but we have three more phases to release. I've been working on performance tuning the application as well. It's amazing how easy it is to find bottle necks once you have the right tools. I'm excited to be heading to St. Louis for a couple days next week. I'll be presenting a few different slide shows to an group in my company. Hopefully this will help get them on their project and provide me with a little more visibility.

After thoughts on Modern Warfare 2

2009-11-22T15:39:00Z

While talking about Modern Warfare 2, I figured out why I'm not 100% sold on this game. If you've played a Call of Duty game before you know that the game likes to put you in the shoes of several different playable characters. In Modern Warfare 2 you'll play as either a US Ranger or a elite soldier in Task Force 141. In my opinion playing as the US Ranger completely sucks and all I'm doign is hoping those missions will end soon so I can be the kick ass British guy in Task Force 141.
I
n Task Force 141 you play as a bad ass British soldier infiltrating Russian bases, taking over oil rigs, fighting your way though Brazilian shanty towns and sneaking your way through a Afghanistan base built into the mountains. The US Ranger missions have no real connection to the main story line and are used just to throw you into action heavy firefights. The only cool mission in Modern Warfare 2 for the Ranger is the very last mission which is surreal.

The first Modern Warfare was exactly the same with the Ranger missions having little importance to the game's story. The stars of the game are really just the British special agents which are the ones fighting the real enemies in the games that are pulling the strings. The game's graphics are so good that it's action stands head and shoulders above the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games that have dominated this genera. In Modern Warfare 3 I just hope they have more missions fighting as the former SAS members than the US Rangers.

Finished Modern Warfare 2

2009-11-18T16:00:00Z

I have to say that the Modern Warfare games so far have been epic. This is a game with an excellent story, characters you'll care for and out of your mind action. People should be putting this game on the big screen not Halo. After completing this piece in what is sure to be a trilogy, I have to say the story and environments are awesome. The game play gets a bit annoying because you die so much but it is also very rewarding to get it right.

The Modern Warfare model of game play seems to be many fairly short levels that always seem to include some memorable encounter. For instance in the new game you will be in Brazil, Siberia, Moscow, Afghanistan and Washington DC fighting your way from kill box to kill box. I have to say shooting your way to the roof of a war torn White House was very surreal. Then again so was running on the roofs of the shanty town in Brazil to escape the local militia. Fighting the Russians in the suburbs of Washington DC was also a bit crazy.

After finishing the campaign I have to say I feel a but let down because it was so great. I really want more out of this game. I will most likely play the game again on the hardest difficult to see how far I can get. Playing on Hardened was crazy enough but playing on Veteran will test my skills and my patients. It does seem that there is a new mode in the game called Special Ops which I will try out. Sounds like more of the campaign scenarios that you can play co-op. Maybe this time I won't trade the game in after a couple weeks like I did with the last one.

ODST Sales

2009-11-17T15:00:00Z

The October sales data has finally come out and we can get a better look at how well Halo 3: ODST sold. In September the game launched selling 1,520,000 copies in North America and In October sold 271,000 copes. Microsoft has recently stated ODST has sold 3 million copies world wide. Considering this title didn't get nearly as much advertisement as Halo 3 received or feature the main character from the previous games, it's fairly impressive.

The game probably didn't appeal to most Halo 3 fans but did offer a new multiplayer mode and additional maps for Halo 3 multiplayer. It was clearly mentioned people could trade in their current Halo 3 game for ODST because ODST would contain all Halo 3 multiplayer maps. I think the core Halo fans picked this game up for the new campaign mode and to return to the Halo universe.

One still has to wonder how well this game would have sold if Firefight was open to multiplayer like Horde Mode in Gears of War 2 or Left 4 Dead. Instead they packed in a short campaign mode and packed in all the DLC already released (except for three new maps) for Halo 3 which most Halo 3 fans probably already owned. The gaming world has drastically changed this generation with the Halo franchise falling down a few notches in the FPS world with games like Modern Warefair and Gears of War taking large sections of the online shooter pie away from Bungie. Hopefully Bungie is working hard at releasing a true block buster game in Reach which should be released next Fall.