Here’s a quick update on my uninteresting life:

- Broken a life-time habit, and bought a Microsoft product – the XBox 360 – very impressive – most impressive part is ‘Live’ – especially the marketplace and the downloadable demos – currently very much enjoying ‘Geometry Wars’ and ‘The Outfit’ multiplayer demo….

- Meanwhile – in PS2-land – Loving ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ and ‘Black’ – both fine examples of farewell salutes to the platform…. Especially ‘Black’ – which has humourous mission objectives and Matrices-esque destructible pillars in large (soldier-filled) rooms.

- Became 30 – sigh…. on the upside – got an HDTV for my birthday – very nice – just need Sky to launch their HD service…

- If by any chance you are reading this because of my software – - – yes, a Universal Binary of ‘More Internet’ is forthcoming – soon…..

Yikes!

It’s good that Sony is beginning to realise that the PS2 should not be the exclusive access point for Central Station.

Online dropped from Gran Turismo 4 so that it hits Christmas release.

Apparently there will be another version next year with Net Play….

Very disappointing – I suppose Sony’s Quarterly results rather depend on a GT game actually leaving the garage…

Meanwhile: Are they really going to put the monkeys from Ape Escape into Metal Gear Solid 3? – See here for hot monkey/snake shots.

“While inheriting the basic functions and design philosophy of the current PlayStation 2, the internal design architecture has been completely overhauled, resulting in a slimmer and more lightweight design. Internal volume has been reduced by 75%, overall weight has been halved, and thickness trimmed down to 2.8 cm (thickness of current model is 7.8 cm). Its size is almost as small as a hardcover book, making it easier to carry around and enjoy games and DVD videos anytime, anywhere.

Equipped with an integrated Ethernet port for network gaming, the new PlayStation 2 sets new standards in the fusion of design and functionality. In North America, approximately 40% of the PlayStation 2 on-line game users connect their PlayStation 2 to the networks through analog modem and reflecting the American users’ preference, the North American model is equipped with both Ethernet and modem ports. The launch of the new network ready PlayStation 2 will further expand the universe of on-line gaming, as more and more on-line titles become available worldwide.”

(BBC News article states that it’ll be the same price as the current model (i.e. £99 / €150))

Interesting pics:

Flip-top Disc Lid:

External Power adapter:

Nice size comparison:

They bought Bungie – and Halo went from a Mac game to the XBox game.

They Bought Connectix’s Virtual PC – and the new version is delayed (again) to October.

Then they bought Rare Games – who wrote the famously brilliant Goldeneye on N64.

Now it seems that the curse of being acquired by MS strikes again: Rumours of Walk-outs at Rare abound…

Well – Sony have unveiled the PSP. It looks very much like the concept shot that came out a while ago.

Nice round-up of the details here.

Built-in 802.11b is interesting.

I can’t see myself buying one though – I simply don’t use portable games any more – I got a GameBoy as soon as they were available in the UK, and I loved it. I’ve got a GBA but never use it.

The PSP will apparently be available in the UK in 2005.

Great Slashdot comment:

My N-Gage just scuttled back into the comforting environment of my pocket. I think it’s crying.

Nintendo have also shown their upcoming mobile hardware:

Game & Watch 2004… um, I mean the Nintendo DS.

Hey, Hey 16k.

I’m very angry with Royal Mail – Royal pain in the Arse more like. Post that doesn’t turn-up and a bag of other people’s post stuck through my door does not impress. Other people seem to be having the same experiences.

And now some real EyeToy news:

EyeToy Chat – is a video chatting app for the PS2 – Alas I can guess that it’s a proprietary protocol, wouldn’t it be nice if everyone just used open standards?

And while we’re on standards and interoperability – wouldn’t it be nice if I could use my existing (better quality than EyeToy) FireWire Cam with my PS2? Ditto for hard drives (even though you’d probably have to reformat the File System)

Meanwhile here’s one of my bad-tempered rants about minor imperfections in life:

Why is it that some PS2 game developers are still making games that can only use the first memory card slot? It’s rather irritating, and when the game requires that the PS2 network config must be on the same card – it means duplicating your net settings on all cards.

Then you discover that the Net Config is Copy Protected – so you have to go through the whole IP set-up doo-dah again. Which is no fun, because entering IP addresses with a Dual-Shock controller is about as usable as Windows 3.1

Gah!

in Totally Unrelated News: The London Underground is going to allow GSM operators to put their networks into the tube, cool. BBC London News Link.