Is EA/NFL deal a touchdown or fumble for gaming industry? – Dec. 14, 2004
I nice overview of the downside of EA’s getting the exclusive license for NFL and NFLPA. And yes, once again I post the link weeks after the article went online! 🙂
The Way of the Moving Horse
I just finished my second, and probably not last, read through of volume two of Janice Kim’s ‘Learn to play Go’ series. It is, for a neophyte Go player, an excellent read. Her first book had to spend a lot of time on the mechanics of the game, but here she’s talking tactics, mostly.
Perhaps you’re a better student than me, but after a single read-through I knew I hadn’t absorbed it all. And even after a second, I think there are points I’ve missed. I’ll revisit the book again later.
Her first volume is a great start to learning the game, but if you know basically how to play, Volume II is the place to begin learning how to play well.
Star Wars: Heir to the Empire
This is the first book in what I’m told is one of the better Star Wars series. It takes place after the classic SW movies (Episodes 4-6). The Empire is shattered but still survives, and a new leader is rising to power there. In the meanwhile, the Rebellion, now known as the New Republic, is suffering growing pains of its own. The cast of characters includes those we came to know in the movies, which makes it all feel very solidly Star Warian. 🙂
I’m not really a Star Wars fan, so I’m going to call it a decent sci-fantasy read. Real fans of the genre (Can I get away with calling Star Wars its own genre?) would probably like it a lot.
Searching For Bobby Fisher
What a great film. Max Pomeranc will charm you to death with his portrayel of 7 year old Josh Waitzkin, who reveals an incredible talent for playing chess after watching some speed chess being played in Washington Square park. Laurence Fishburne plays homeless player Vinnie, who takes Josh under his wing, while Ben Kingsley plays Josh’s ‘proper’ instructor, Bruce Pandolfini. Joe Mantegna play’s Josh’s father, who like so many parents, gets too caught up in the competition and starts taking all the fun out of playing.
It’s a chess movie, sure, but it could just as well be a Little League (or insert any sport/activity with parents that get overly involved to the detriment of the children playing) movie in a lot of ways. In any case, it was very, very good. See it.
Giant robots in the backyard
Thanks to Benedict for pointing this out:
First it was privately built spaceships, now one lone inventer is building a mech in his backyard. These are fascinating times!
The new C64
Thanks to Irata for passing this along.
First, read the article in the NY Times about a young hacker that made a “Commodore 64 on a single chip” product and turned it into a plug & play video game system.
Then go and buy yourself one!.
Neat stuff!
LOTR: Return of the King, Extended Edition
Last night we sat down and watched the new Extended Version of Return of the King. It was incredible. Now, I really enjoyed the theatrical cut, but this version blows it away. Not only are there a few big chunks of new material (most notably a confrontation with Saruman) but all through the film were little snippets that just enriched the experience and smoothed out the pacing of the film.
There’re still things missing and in a few parts the added footage just raised more questions for people who haven’t read the books.
I’m looking forward to watching the 2 DVD’s full of ‘Appendix Material’ as well.
The only downside to watching this movie is knowing that this is it for the forseeable future. Hopefully at some point Jackson will release a super-extended version. 😉 But for now, the journey is completed. And that’s kind of sad.
EA = Evil Alliance
Check this out: ESPN.com – SPORTSBUSINESS – Shutout: EA Sports corners NFL video market
Basically, EA faced some competition this year from NFL 2K5, so rather than making better games, they just bought up exclusive use of the NFL & NFL Player’s Association licenses for 5 years.
Goodbye competition. Now EA can rest on its laurels rather than striving to make a better game every year.
Shame on the NFL and NFLPA for contributing to the squelching of competition in the marketplace.
Plant your phone
This is kinda neat: Scientists make phone that turns into a sunflower
Basically, a company developed a biodegradable plastic, and they’ve proposed a cell phone cover that has a sunflower seed embedded in it. So you toss the cover away, it rots, and degrades into nitrates that fertilize the sunflower seed.
“I’m not comfortable with this,” says Isabella Starbard (not her real name), girl on the street. “I don’t want a sunflower growing in my ear!”
Nintendo DS
I just realized I never wrote a post here about the Nintendo DS. Well, I bought one (actually I bought 3, but the others are gifts) and so far I’ve been very impressed.
Rather than re-write what I’ve already said, let me just link you to an article I wrote for Computerworld. They called it a ‘review’ but really its more of a first look.
Regular readers of this blog know I’ve been a PSP fanboy of sorts; frankly I wasn’t expecting much from the DS, but I’ve been very surprised. Its a sweet little machine.