- Mario Garcia

09 was definitly affected by the economy as we all were, but the way that some companies came out, you couldn’t really tell.  So with that in mind, here are “Chris’s off the top of my head awards”

Biggest booths were still Sony and Panasonic.

The booth that wins the ‘most like a night club’ awared goes to LG again.

Favorite swag goes to Samsung who provided me (and my roommates who also had samsung phones) 2 gig SD cards and new phone batteries.

Favorite bit of entertainment goes to 2XL that had an 8 lane slot car track (which yours truly once again won with a quick time on the second day of the convention)

The booth i spent way to much time at award goes to the active car wing mounted on an R35 GTR.  the left and right halves of the wing move independently via servos to provide proper downforce adjustments while driving.

and finally:

Favorite new product.  Actually this goes to Motorola.  Who developed a background noise filtering system for your cell phone, that actually works.  This system will even make it so you can be heard while in a night club.  Of course YOU still can’t hear anything over the thumping bass, but at least the person on the other end will be able to hear you screaming at them crystal clear.

Thanks CES.  You weren’t as good as last year, but its hard to be a bad show when you can fill the entire Las Vegas Convention Center with electronic toys.

- Chris Hori

The thing about SkullCandy is that their products combine both quality audio equipment and a unique urban styling that makes their products stand out.  Personally i have two of their products and have found them to be excelent quality.

2XL is being launched as their mass consumer brand.  This doesn’t mean that the quality will go down, but instead it means that it will be marketed to the general public and be available at retail outlets such as Best Buy and Target.  (rather than the more speciality stores that SkullCandy can be found in)  Look for 2XL product line to have both the same quality and unique styling of its parent company.

- 2XL Website

- SkullCandyWebsite

- Chris Hori

But really, why not be allowed to pay for that item. Really all you are buying is someone elses time. The main reason is because when you spend real money for an in game item, it disrupts the game itself. You are using an out of game object (money) to pay for an in game item. But what if you could convert real money into virtual money, and more importantly vice versa.

Entropia is an MMO that has taken this concept and made it realty. In this game, you can pay real money for in game credits, and then convert those credits back to real money. In this way, not only is paying for items allowed, but its an important part of the game system itself.

Interestingly this has 2 interesting effects on the game.

The first is that the game has an impressively mature player base. Because the virtual money has an actual real world value, players are more conscious of the economy and their actions that affect it. The second, and more interesting is the resulting ‘professions’ that have risen from this type of game play. For example, charismatic players (people with real charisma, not avatars with a high charisma score) are able to play the game as item brokers, being paid for connecting the farmers with the best buyers (rather than relying on the auction house). High level players can pay event promoters to spread the word in a reliable fashion to get others to show up to their player run events. Of course players themselves can run these events, not only for the enjoyment of other players, but for their own profit as well.

In fact a large portion of the game seems to be heavily influenced on player driven content; be it wealthy guilds or well known individual players who organize, sponsor and run the events.

the best way to put it, is there are 2 key elements to progressing in this game. Time and Money. And the unique thing about this game is that money is not only an acceptable option, but one that is built into the game.

Don’t worry, it is entirely possible to play this game without paying a single cent. There is even no monthly fee to play and no cost for the game or the patches, and when you are done playing, you can literally cash out your hard earned (or paid for) character by selling the equipment or skills you have obtained.

For those worried that free MMO’s look bad, they are currently working on a graphics update which will use the same graphics engine as Crysis. (the same Crysis that upon its release there weren’t any computers that could play it at full specs.)

check them out at – http://www.entropiauniverse.com/

While i might be acting a little over critical, i can’t help but be a little dissapointed.   I did not pay 500$ for a PS3, so the 7 or however many processors, and much talked about blue ray drive, could sit there woefully under used as i play a pixley looking group of low budget mini games.  Thats why i own a 360.

While i will be more than happy to remind everyone that the PS3 online network is still free, and each year i pay for Xbox Live it makes the 500$ cost easier and easier to look at, i can’t help but sigh at the fact that all the PS3 has done with this launch is make it similar to the 360.  One could argue that the PS3 will do it better, but really who cares.  For a system that was said to be the most powerful of its generation and built for the hardcore gamer, a bunch of low budget mini games are hardly ‘hardcore’.  For low budget games, i have a DS.  (i also have a Wii, but i’m not going to get into that).

I suppose it doesn’t hurt, but then again perhaps i was a bit overtly hopeful that i would get a glimpse of something with Final Fantasy in the title, or some other major launch title that would give me a reason to appriciate owning a PS3.

- Chris Hori

I got to try it out playing Farcry2.  The vest weighs roughly that of a normal hiking or fishing vest and is not particularly bulky nor does it get in the way while playing.  I was standing up when i was trying it out, but i can see that it might get uncomfortable for you gamers who like to lean back while playing.

All in all, it did help out as you quickly can tell if you should turn left or right by which of the air bags inflates, which is particularly useful when you are getting shot at from behind.  I ran into a big crowd and the bag didn’t seem to have to many problems inflating multiple spots at a time (for you people who tend to get hit a lot).

Retailing at 169$ is a bit of a steep price for a gaming add on, but the vest does support roughly 40 PC shooter titles with more being added as the drivers for those games update.

All in all, i would recomend it for the hardcore FPS fan, though a pass for the casual gamer.

check them out at-  http://tngames.com/

- Chris Hori

We all remember a time when CES was the premier show where event the Video Game junkies would go to preview the latest releases from the publlishers and developers.  Then they ended their relationship with the consumer show and seperated to form E3.  Since the recent developments of the E3 trade show, I’ve noticed more of a presence this year of companies such as Capcom, EA and others at this year’s CES. 

Here is a preview of a new game called Prototype that looks sick!

Stay tuned to see what the developers have at CES!

We are excited as the show begins tomorrow to see what is the latest and greatest!