Having reached the 100-follower milestone, it’s as good a time as any to reflect on my my thoughts and experience to date.

On Followers and Following

Who I Follow: For the most part, the only people I follow on Twitter are those that I have an ongoing relationship with (about 15 to 20 people) and thought leaders (about 35 people). In order for me to continue following someone they must have a high wheat-to-chaff ratio. Meaning, most of their tweets must be about topics I am interested in – not what they ate for lunch.

Loyalty: I am a rather loyal sort. If I follow someone, I follow them. The reason the list of people I follow is small (by Twitter standards) is because I read/scan most every tweet that they make.

The Kawasaki Exception: Early on I followed Guy Kawasaki. He was/is an enormously interesting Twitter user. But this guy (pun intended) doesn’t know when to stop! He sends out torrents of tweets each day. I couldn’t take it any more. He is the only person I unfollowed because of too many interesting tweets.

How I Found those I Follow: I found that the best way of finding interesting people to follow is to mine the following list of the people that I already respect and follow.

Who I do Not Follow: Anyone else. I know, this makes me an anomaly on Twitter.  I don’t have the time to follow many more people. If I follow someone new and stick with them, I’ll usually remove someone else.

I Do Not Follow to be Followed: Most people that have huge follower lists also follow a huge number of people. How can someone follow 10,000 people? 1,000 people?  Really!? I can barely keep up with the 50 people I follow.

I Do Not Use Filters: Yesterday Mashable posted: ‘20 Ways to Filter your Tweets’. I’ve said, from the first time TweetDeck (pictured to the right) became popular, that the only reason someone needs it, is to filter out people they shouldn’t be following. To me, following people for the purpose of obtaining followers in return (most people seem to follow-back anyone that follows them) smacks of mutual fraud. There is no way anyone can realistically follow more than 100 or 200 people. For me 50 is about right. Filtering software, it seems to me, is only needed to filter out those that a person follows but has no intention of actually following. To users of TweetDeck (and similar filtering software) I say, the only people you should be following are those that you add to your ‘favourites’ filter list. You are misleading everyone else you are ‘following’. Am I missing something here?

Crowd Sourcing Exception: I do acknowledge that people like Guy Kawasaki, Robert Scoble and Paul Thurrott follow tens of thousands of people to use them for crowd sourcing. They say as much on their podcasts. They can ask a question on Twitter and have hundreds answer it in seconds. But these same people are the first to use Twitter filtering software the second their questions are answered. Most who are followed by these tech celebrities are fooling themselves if they think their tweets are being read in return.

Few Real World Friend Followers: None of my family (close or extended) use Twitter. Virtually none of my real-world friends use Twitter. My nephew’s good friend Jarel Villarroya follows me. On my suggestion, two close friends set up twitter accounts, followed me, but were never heard from again.  Some clients and former clients follow me. A squad of people I have never met but have become virtual friends with over the years follow me. Beyond those 20 or so people, I do not know the remaining 80 or so people who follow me.

Related Services

Friendfeed: As you can read here, I joined friendfeed in early January 2009. I dabbled there for awhile. It is a compelling service – better than Twitter in most ways. I have had an ongoing dialogue with Davis Freeberg about this. Davis has largely abandoned Twitter for friendfeed and makes compelling arguments about why I should do the same. But, most of the world uses Twitter. Most importantly, most of the people I follow use only Twitter. If most of the people I follow used friendfeed, I might make that leap. But for now, Twitter remains my primary streamed social network feed.

Found Others through Mr Tweet: On the advice of Mashable, I used Mr Tweet in December 2008 to source some of the people I followed at that point.  Taking a look at Mr Tweet today, it seems to be a very different service. It now requires that you disclose your twitter ID and password to use it. It didn’t back then. I refuse to use any service that makes this demand.

Hash Tags: At the advice of Kevin Rose (Ten Ways to Increase Your Twitter Followers) I started using hash tags on February 9, 2009 (see how hash tags work here). Using hash tags really does generate followers. I would say that most of my followers have found me through my use of hash tags. I know this because most new followers follow me within minutes of my posting a tweet with a hash tag on a topic that interested them.

Bio & Customized Profile Page: I also took Kevin Rose’s advice and filled in the bio pages on Twitter and added a customized profile page. Why not? I want people to know who I am. It ads to my overall Internet ‘brand’. I made my Twitter profile page look similar to the Daleisphere branding and the branding on my primary DaleDietrich.com website.

Quitter: In March 2009, I joined Quitter. Quitter emails you when someone stops following you on Twitter. It tells you what tweet you wrote just before you were dropped. I soon quit, Quitter. It was kind of a downer. I’m not about to arbitrarily tailor my tweets to maximize followers. If people aren’t interested in my tweets, I understand why they would stop following me. After all, I stop following people for lots of reasons. I’d guess 30 or so people have stopped following me so far.

Blocking Spam Followers: Part of the reason my follower numbers are low is that I actively block followers that seem to be spamming. I look at the profile of each person that follows me and block them if they appear to be following me for some nefarious reason. I can’t understand ‘followers’ that follow 50,000 people and are being followed by 50,000 others. When I see those kinds of ridiculous numbers I block them (I’ve blocked dozens like this). Other times you find followers with a single tweet that is some kind of marketing scam or sales pitch. Alternatively, these folks have an unending stream of sales pitch tweets and nothing else. They get blocked. Those with no image (ie: the brown image with blue circles pictured above) tend to get blocked. Most of these folks have no tweets. I’m not sure what to make of them.

What Twitter Means to Me

Twitter Changed How I Use the Internet: When I joined Twitter, I simply didn’t ‘get it’. I had low expectations. Today it is an indispensible service. Much of the blog surfing and RSS-feed subscribing I did a year ago has been replaced by my Twitter feed. Those I follow are so good that news and blog posts on most every topic I care about now flow in to me effortlessly.

Tweeting Comes Naturally: Like blogging, tweeting comes naturally to me. If it felt like work, I wouldn’t do it. I am the kind of person that sends links in emails to friends and family if I find something on a topic that I know a friend or family member is interested in. Twitter is an efficient means of doing the same thing, with the added advantage that every recipient has chosen to receive my tweets – unlike friends and family members that may have felt spammed when receiving more of such emails than they would have liked.

A Means of Connecting with Like-Minded People: Virtual friendships have started and old one’s have become stronger because I tweet on topics my followers are interested in and I follow the tweets of those that have common interests with me. The symbiotic relationships that flow out of Twitter are terrific.

A Constant Companion: Thanks to my iPhone, PC and laptop, no matter where I am, I can check in and see ‘what’s happening’. I am rarely bored. Twitter provides a never ending stream of thought provoking information on the topics I care about.

Thought Leader: I want to be a thought leader. I work hard at providing interesting, relevant and original tweets to those that follow me. Thought leaders rightly earn high follower to following Twitter ratios. If they haven’t, they are not thought leaders.

The Next 100 Followers: I’m hoping it takes less than 13 months to garner my next 100 followers. To those that follow me, I’ll continue to try to post interesting and thought provoking tweets with links to articles on the topics I am, and hopefully you are, passionate about. Thanks so much!

All went well. The total download/install time was about 4 minutes on my iMac – 2 minutes on Windows 7 RC.

This isn’t a particularly important release for me. I was happy with Firefox 3.0.1. But they promised more speed so I gave it a whirl.

• Snappier: With its new JavaScript engine – TraceMonkey, it does appear to be snappier, but not a whole lot more snappier as some had suggested.
• New Tab Icon: I like the new tab ‘+’ icon. They are imitated  an IE feature here.  This is useful, especially for news.
• Moving Tabs Between Windows: Now you can drag a tab out of the browser and a new window will open with that page. Or drag a tab from one window to another. For multi-monitor users like myself, this is a terrific new feature.
• Addons – Extensions: All my extensions except 1 migrated nicely. I needed to do a manual update to my Tab Extensions 1 extension (discussed here and available here) but that was to be expected.
• Open in Tabs’ Overwrite Bug: This ‘bug’ still persists in Firefox 3.5 (discussed here ). Alas, as long as the Tab Extensions add-on is available, this is not a problem for me.

See also:

• Firefox 3.5: The Technologizer Review (Harry McCracken)
• Top 5 Killer Features in Firefox 3.5 (Mashable) Me: a bit of hyperbole in the title!
• First Look: Firefox 3.5 released, ready to “upgrade” the Web (ars technica)

Below are tables showing the preorder and retail pricing available to Canadian and American consumers with links to Amazon.com and Amazon.ca where Windows 7 can be pre-ordered at the discounted price until July 11, 2009.

Note: See Paul Thurrott’s ‘Windows 7 Product Editions – A Comparison’ to see a detailed chart comparing the features of each. While I purchased the Vista ‘Ultimate’ edition in 2007, this time I will be purchasing the Home Premium edition for my PCs and laptops. I’ve been loving the Windows 7 beta and release candidate and heartily recommend it.

U.S. Windows 7 Upgrade Pricing (with links to Amazon.com)

Canadian Windows 7 Upgrade Pricing (with links to Amazon.ca)

There is no pre-order discount available for the Ultimate Edition.

Understand that these are ‘upgrade’ versions only. They can be used to upgrade Vista or an XP machines only. There are no pre-order discounts available for the full, non-upgrade, versions.

By way of full disclosure, if you pre-order through the links above, as an Amazon affiliate I get a small percentage referral fee. Alternatively, Microsoft provides a list of other online retailers that you can pre-order from: American’s click here – Canadian click here.

If you know of any better deals, particularly if there is any multi-unit licensing for the home deals, please let me know in the comments section.

See also:

• Microsoft Holds the Line on Windows 7 Pricing, Launches Limited-Time Promotions (Paul Thurrott)
• Microsoft’s Windows 7 Editions Comparison Chart

[Note: Rogers is somehow still blocking Pandora and Skype even when I removed the SIM  card. Grrr! Here’s a Skype iPhone App workaround for Canadians – I haven’t tried it yet.]

Setup is a breeze. It took me about two minutes. You essentially set up a VPN connection to the U.S. through the HotSpot Shield servers. This, of course, would also be useful for safe surfing at coffee shops and other wifi locations.

Once you have set up your account, configured and activated the VPN (see instructions below), navigate to the App Store on your iPhone. Search for the app you want and (if its there) download it. It’s that simple.

Survives Desktop Sync

I was concerned that if I downloaded apps this way, they would be wiped out after I synced my iPhone with iTunes to my desktop. Not so. The sync went fine and the apps remained on the iPhone.

No Need to Keep VPN Turned On

You only need to activate the VPN to download the app. Once downloaded, you can use the app with the VPN shut off.

SETUP INSTRUCTIONS

These instructions were cribbed from the Hotspot Shield site here. See that site for pictures and any updated instructions. You’ll need to go there anyway to get an account (with only one mouse click) as described below.

Configure iPhone

Make sure that Wi-Fi is marked "OFF" in: 
Settings -> Wi-Fi

Then find the VPN settings in:
Settings -> General -> Network -> VPN -> Add VPN Configuration:

• Select the L2TP tab/pane
• Description: HotspotShield
• Server: 64.55.144.10
• Account: [insert account number – see below]
• RSA SecurID: OFF
• Password: [insert password – see below]
• Secret: password
• Send all traffic: ON

Get Account & Password

Getting an account is easy. Click on the GetAccountID button on this page. With one click you’ll have your account and password. You’ll need to fill them into the appropriate place as indicated above.

Save Settings

You are now done. Save the settings and hit the "HOME" button to quit. Make sure to turn Wi-Fi back "ON".

Activate

To activate Hotspot Shield on your iPhone, the VPN setting needs to be turned on. From "HOME" menu, go to Settings and click the "On" tab for VPN. Your Status will change to "CONNECTED" and the VPN icon will appear on top in the iPhone Tray when complete. If you cannot connect to the VPN immediately, power down your iPhone, turn it back on, and turn the VPN to "ON".

If you cannot connect to VPN immediately, power down your iPhone, turn it back on, and turn VPN to "ON" in "Settings".

Unfortunately, Wimbledon’s 2009 licensing regime makes it so that honest viewers from many countries, including Canada and the U.S. (see complete list below) can no longer access the service for any fee.

Amercian’s can watch online through NBCSports or ESPN360.com. Unfortunately NBCSports must be using the same proxy-shield blocking technology as hulu because Hotspot Shield users can’t access the site outside of the U.S.

Below, I include links to several bootleg services offering 2009 Wimbledon matches live streamed. Some are fantastic. Some less so. When I clicked around I could usually find the match I wanted to watch in English.

Of course, these only work when Wimbledon matches are underway. To schedule your viewing, the play schedule is here.

Channelsurfing.net

As far as I know there is no legal way for me to watch streamed Wimbledon matches in Canada. Fortunately there is at least one bootleg service available where Canadians, and anyone else, can view live matches – Channelsurfing.net.

Once on Channelsurfing.net scroll down to the Wimbledon logos and click on one of the several available streams – available in different languages. As I’m watching now (June 24, 2009 at 3:00 pm Eastern) there are 7 available live streams. I am watching the ESPN stream on both my iMac and PC and both are working fine.  [Update: The ESPN stream cut out midway through a Roddick match and hasn’t returned as 11:30.am Eastern June 25]

MyP2P

MyP2P is another place to find dozens of online streams. You may have to click around awhile to find one that works and/or is showing the match you want in the language of your choice. Some links require a plug-in to be downloaded. I don’t trust them so I only accessed those that played through without a plugin.

ATDHE.net

I had very mixed results with ATDHE.NET. It looks easier than MyP2P because it lists actual matches underway. Unfortunately I could only get a few of the listed streams to work from Canada. [Update: Hum… now all the streams are working. For awhile I just got a red X in a big box. Maybe it takes awhile for it to start?]

Justin.tv:

If you click here, there is a constant stream of major matches.  Though there is a scoring system onscreen that makes no sense at all to me.

If you know of any other place where Wimbledon matches can be viewed online in Canada, the U.S. or any of the other blacklisted countries below, please let me know in the comments and I’ll update this post.

Countries No Longer Eligible for Wimbledon Live Service

Live streams are NOT available in the following Countries:

• United States
• Canada
• Germany
• Japan
• Hong Kong
• Spain
• Mongolia
• Bangladesh
• Nepal
• Bhutan
• New Caledonia
• North Korea
• Pakistan
• Papua New Guinea
• South Korea
• East Timor
• Singapore
• Sri Lanka
• India
• Taiwan
• Laos
• Maldives

Once again, content creators and broadcasters have screwed honest users who are willing to pay for their content!

See also: 2009 Wimbledon Live Streaming Sources

Windows has not provided .iso file burning functionality before. Rather than use a specialized tool, I have, until now, used my iMac to burn iso files. This morning I discovered that with a couple clicks of the mouse, Windows 7 users can now burn .iso files. 

Here’s how:

• In Windows Explorer double click the .iso file you wish to burn
• Windows 7 opens the following dialogue

• Choose the DVD burner you wish to use (in my case Drive F:)
• Select whether or not you wish to verify the disk after burning
• Click the ‘Burn’ button and you are off:

That’s it. I’m surprised it took Redmond this long to finally include this functionality.

As I described in my ‘Analyzing My First $100 from Google AdSense’ post, for this last three month period I dropped footer ads in lieu of what I hoped to be a more lucrative ad type – inline text ads. I was right. Some how I also benefited from higher per-click revenues (see details below) for the second $100 than I did for the first $100.

Ad Structure

For the last three months each of my sites used the following three primary ad types (channels in AdSense parlance) – each as depicted in the image below:

• tower ads (120 x 600 down the right column);
• cube ads (250 x 250 in the middle column); and
• inline text ads (468 x 60 in-post text ads – below the title, categories and tags fields and above each post entry).

Below is the AdSense report showing exactly how much was earned from each such ad/channel type on each of my three blogs:

When I aggregate the totals for the three ad/channel types across my three sites, the results for the second $100 earned, were are as follows:

For the first $100, cube ads generated 51% of my revenue. This time, its down to 25% with tower and inline ads taking up the slack. Last time tower ads paid the most, with an average per-click revenue of 17.5 cents. This time all of the ads have a higher per-click average. But, as you can see, tower ads are still the highest paying at an average 31.8 cents per click through.

Other 2nd $100 Statistics

Aside from the in-line text ads more than taking up the slack for dropped footer ads, my average per-click revenue inexplicably jumped up by 48% from 16.5 cents to 24.4 cents per click. This resulted in the number of pages served to generate $100 falling from 1,100 to 631 pages. My traffic has also risen month over month, but has stabilized around 800 to 1,000 page views per day.

Amazon Ads

In the first 10 months of The Daleisphere I generated about $50 in Amazon.com affiliate ads. In the last three months The Daleisphere generated approximately $71.11 in referral fees, once again, mostly from the iPhone App books I recommend in my ‘iPhone App Development – Where to Start’ post – by far the most popular post on The Daleisphere. My generic Amazon ads generate revenue from a hodge-podge of other sold items. I might break that down at some point if I can find a way of making a sensible blog post out of the data.

Moving Forward

As you can see I make almost nothing from home-page ads – $2.11 in three months (see bottom three rows in ads/channel table above). I’m thinking I’ll drop the under achieving cube ad there and add another inline-text ad on that page.

I want to look into the other advertising options that Dave Zatz mentioned in the comments section of my original $100 AdSense post. If my site qualifies for any of them I may give them a try.

short of new advertising possibilities, I’m not expecting similar revenue acceleration for the next $100 period because my average daily revenue seems to have leveled off some, in tandem with my average daily page views.

• $199 for 16 GB in U.S. – $299 for 32GB version (on contract of course)
  • pricing only available to new AT&T customers
  • $700 Upgrade fee for current AT&T iPhone users
  • [June 10 Update: Rogers has announced that Canadian pricing will be the same as U.S. pricing – in Cdn $. So, $199 and $299 Cdn for the 16 and 32 GB units respectively. Only available on 3 year contracts again. No pricing for un-subbed units announced – un-subbed 3G iPhones still cannot be purchased in Canada. 8-GB, 3G Units will be decreased to $99. No word on 16GB units]
• Available June 19 (U.S. & Canada)
• $99 for prior 16 GB iPhone
• “up to” two times Faster
• Voice Control:
  • voice dialing
  • ask iPhone what song is playing and it will tell you
  • tell iPhone to play a song, or songs by an artist or a playlist and it will play it
  • developers can integrate into any app

• Does Video & Video Editing: at 30 fps at VGA resolution

• 3.0 Megapixel Camera
  

  

• Built in Digital Compass
• Battery Life improving – 9 hours wifi, 12 hours 2G talk-time, 5 hour 3G talk-time – 10 hours movie – 30 hours for video

• Seamless PC Tethering supported (including in Canada)
• Tom Tom turn by turn navigation app available (price & date not yet announced)

• Supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA to support next gen wireless

See also:

• Apple’s WWDC 2009 Keynote Address video
• iPhone 3Gs Guided Tour
• Official Apple iPhone 3Gs page

More Info:

• Apple Insider
• ars technica
• CrunchGear
• Engadget
• Gdgt
• Gizmodo

I admire Arrington as well, but I too have grown a bit weary of his bullying. In light of their history, to my mind, Arrington’s calling Leo’s integrity into question crossed the line – especially when he followed up with a childish ‘… what are you going to do about it” comment.

Normally this kind of thing would have been laughed off by Leo. But I’ve heard Arrington go after Leo’s/Gilmore’s guests unnecessarily hard in recent shows and its time someone called him out on it. It would be one thing if Mike didn’t know Leo well. He does. Leo assiduously discloses all conflicts of interest at every opportunity. Michael knows this.

Good for you Leo! 

[June 9 Update 1: A few hours later Leo recorded a 2nd Gilmore Gang where apologies and explanations were proffered. Click here to access it. It doesn’t start until about 13 minutes in. As you’ll hear, there is a real issue as to whether the Gilmore Gang will continue to be produced by the twit.tv network. I’m of mixed opinion. I fear that Gilmore’s personality and the kind of show he produces is not a match for the rest of the Twit network content.]

[June 9 Update 2: It seems the Internet mob has been tearing into Mike and he has shut down his Techcrunch account on Friendfeed. As I read through the comments against Mike and Leo, too  many in the crowd have been unnecessarily abusive, mostly towards Michael. While I was upset with Mike’s cavalier attack on Leo’s integrity, Michael doesn’t deserve all this grief either. He made a mistake, he apologized. Leo accepted the apology. That should be enough. I’m now feeling sorry for Michael.]

See also:

• John Dvorak covers it
• Michael Arrington’s apology
• MP3 of full show
• Surprised comments on Friendfeed from those watching live
• The LaPorte/Arrington Blow-up is Keyboard Catted

Tying Pete Sampras’ 14 slam titles, and with a career grand slam under his belt (only the 6th man in history to do that – Sampras never won the French), Roger Federer is now, undeniably, the best tennis player – ever!

Federer beat Robin Söderling (6-1, 7-6, 6-5) easily. Söderling took down Nadal the prior Sunday, paving the way for Federer’s historic win. In the three sets Roger:

• lost just 17 points on his serve
• wasn’t broken
• served at 66%
• hit 41 winners
• suffered only 24 unforced errors

It was fun to watch my all time favourite men’s tennis player, Andre Agassi, present the trophies. Having won the French Open 10 years ago and being the last man to win the career grand slam, he was a fitting choice. It was nice to see his wife, Steffi Graf present the woman’s trophies.

The next picture is a humorous picture of Federer hauling away his trophy collection after winning the French. It was in a congratulatory West Jet commercial.

(click on images in post for larger view)

In yet another lack-luster women’s grand slam final, the world’s number 1, and my current women’s favourite, Dinara Safina,  was soundly beaten by Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2.

This is Kuznetsova’s second grand slam title (the first being the 2004 U.S. Open). Safina has still not won a major. Good for Kuznetsova! But it’s hard to cheer for someone who doesn’t seem to have much of a personality.

On the up side, it was really nice to watch a women’s grand slam final without the Williams’ sisters. It was also nice to see Steffi Graf again!

I miss Clijsters, Davenport, Henin and Hingis!

Sony’s 2009 E3 Press Conference can be viewed here.  See also my 2008 Sony E3 coverage. Click on images below for larger views.

Exclusive PS3 Games Shown

 God of War III:  (demo’d – coming March 2010 ) Looks terrific! Except, that is,  for Sony’s continued reliance on quick time events in boss battles. Grrr! But I still can’t wait GoW 1 and 2 were terrific games.

Gran Turismo 5 (polyphony – teaser trailer – still no ship date) – photo realistically gorgeous as you’d expect – first time cars show damage in this franchise – still a SIM that is likely only playable by extreme racing gamers.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (demo’d – naughty dog – no ship date – multi-player beta starting immediately) I’m looking forward to this one! Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is still my favorite PS3 game to date. Demo looked terrific but the female lead has changed. Elena Fisher seems to be gone  

MAG: ‘Massive Action Game’ (demo’d – zipper interactive) – 256 online players can play at once – was announced at last year’s Sony E3 press conference – It looked impressive! I wonder how they’ll ever get teams of 126 people to work together under a few commanders. In my experience, everyone wants to be the commander in online shooters.

Final Fantasy XIV (trailer shown – square enix – 2010) – This being an exclusive was a surprise as was a scheduled 2010 release date – has online play – to be released in the same year as FF13.

MODnation  Racer (demo’d) A customizable cart racer that embodies the play, create, share philosophy of Little Big planet. Users can create and share race tracks, carts and players. They created a track onstage in minutes.

Last Guardian (trailer shown – by Fumito Ueda, creator of Shadow of the Colossus – no date).  A little boy befriends a gigantic dog-creature and take on the world together. That was one compelling trailer!

Agent (Rockstar – announced only) A third party spy thriller coming exclusively to PS3 but not demo’d. No date announced.

Non-Exclusive PS3 Games Demo’d

Assassin’s Creed 2 (ubisoft – holiday 2009) – Set in Italian Renaissance,  in Venice – 30 weapon types – now with guns (or at least ‘a’ gun)! Includes a ‘flying machine’ invented by DeVinci – Looks good. I’m looking forward to playing it on the Xbox360!

Final Fantasy XIII: (teaser – no game play shown – square enix – spring 2010) Looked good – pretty much the same as it looked on the 360 yesterday.

New PS3 Motion Controller

New PS3 Motion Controller: The controller has a glowing sphere that the PlayStation eye-toy can track. The demo was more impressive than the Nintendo Wii Motion Plus demo and much  more realistic than the Microsoft motion control demo.

PSP Announcements:

PSP Go: (no surprise – was leaked days in advance) Will not replace PSP 3000 – slide-out controls – integrated wifi & bluetooth – plays same games as earlier PSPs – 50% smaller & 40% lighter than original PSP – 16 GB flash memory – expandable memory – movie and game downloads – $249 U.S. – available Oct 1. in U.S./Europe

Media Go: PC app store for the PSP Go – used to transfer pictures, music and movies to PSP – All PSP titles to be available via downloads going forward. ‘Sense Me’ application to create custom music playlists on PSP

Movies & TV on PSP: PS3 video delivery service announced last year coming natively to PSP. Note: It’s still not available in Canada  

PSP Trailers Shown

Gran Turismo PSP (polyphony – Oct 1, 2009) 60 fps – 800 cars – 35 tracks – 65 layouts in tracks – single and 4 person multi-player modes – trading and sharing cars.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (konami – 2010) 10 years after MGS 3 – true sequel on PSP – set in the 70s – Kojima writing the script

PS3 Notes

• 22 million PS3s sold globally in 2008 – anticipate 13 million PS3s to be sold in 2010 (I’m not sure if I have these numbers right)
• 35 Playstation exclusives coming this year (presumably including on PS2 games)
• 6.5 million ‘Playstation Home’ users (85% return users) – though I don’t know why. Home bites!

PSP Notes

• Games Coming in 2009: They showed a video of many PSP games coming in 2009 including Resident Evil, Little Big Planet, Socom Fire Team Bravo 3,  Motorstorm Arctic Edge & Harry Potter.
• 24 million users – 11 million in North America
• 200 titles on PSP so far – 90 are exclusive
• Adding Final Fantasy 7 to PSP lineup as of June 2, 2009
• Decreasing price of PSP development tools

PS2 Notes

• Intend to keep PS2 alive beyond 10 years
• sold 9 million more PS2s in 2008
• 100 new PS2 titles coming out in 2009

Live Blog Coverage

• 1Up.com
• CrunchGear
• Engadget
• Gamasutra
• Gizmodo
• Joystiq

My Thoughts

The press conference and list of PS3 exclusives shown were better than I expected. I’d put the press conference on par with the Microsoft press conference.

I was impressed with their marrying of a motion controller with high-end graphics. Though, as with Microsoft’s Natal, they are still only in the prototype stage.

I was a bit surprised that Sony did not announce any social networking functionality like Microsoft and Nintendo did.

The modding functionality of the MODnation game was terrific. The question is, of course, how easy will it be for users to share their mods and what will the limitations be?

The two PS3 game exclusives I’m most looking forward to are God of War III and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Nintendo’s 2009 E3 Press Conference can be viewed here. This has to be the most boring E3 conference I’ve ever watched.  See also: My 2008 Nintendo E3 coverage.

Announcements

• Multiplayer Mario co-op: (holiday 2009 – yawn)
• Wii Fit Plus: 6 new exercise modes, 15 new balance games, available as software-only (fall 2009)
• User Generated Content: Some user generated DS content initiatives discussed:
  • FlipNotes Studio: animation drawing app (this summer)
  • WarioWare DIY: Microgame creator
  • Mario v. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again – level editor and online sharing (DSi – June 8, 2009).
  • Will be able to upload DSi pictures to Facebook this summer.
•  Wii Vitality Sensor: Monitor health, pulse. Some kind of health / relaxation / stress diagnostics tool (no release date)
• Super Mario Galaxy 2: New 3D Mario game

Retreads

The following were previously announced but demo’d at the show.

• Wii Motion Plus: Provides more precision control. This was announced at last year’s E3 press conference.
• Wii Sports Resort – archery and basketball shown (July 25, 2009)

DS Games Shown

• Kingdom Hearts
• Mario Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (this fall)
• Golden Sun
• Women’s Murder Club: video book brought to DS and DSi
• Cop, the Recruit (Ubisoft)
• Style Savvy – (girls fashion game)
• Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

2009 Third Party Wii Exclusives

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (RPG – Square-Enix)
• Red Steel 2 (exclusive to Wii with Motion Plus controller)
• The Conduit (shooter – Sega – June 2009)
• Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (shooter – Capcom)
• Deadspace Extraction (EA)

Just One New Nintendo ‘Hardcore’ Wii Game

 Metroid Other M  (2010) That’s it! No other new Nintendo ‘hardcore’ games announced

Platform Numbers

• 15 Million Wii fit balance boards sold
• 100 million DS’s sold
• 1 million DSi’s sold in 2 months in America

Live Blog Coverage

• CrunchGear
• Engadget
• Gamasutra
• Gizmodo
• Joystiq

My Thoughts

This was slow and boring compared to yesterday’s Microsoft press conference.

Their focus was, once again, on audience diversity – bringing gaming to everyone. Little of interest to hard core gamers.

I appreciate their getting into the user-generated content space.

The third party exclusives and their one new ‘hardcore’ game were the only games that were somewhat interesting to me. Enough to purchase a Wii? Not even close.

I find this particularly interesting because I do not recall ever seeing traffic driven from Live.com in the past. Until now 95% of my search engine traffic came from Google. Yahoo!, perhaps, drives 2%. I’m hoping bing refers more traffic in the future.

So far I like what I’ve seen of it. But I’m not ready to give up Google just yet.

In summary, he defines, Web 3.0 as:

• Applications that are pieced together.
• They are relatively small.
• The data is in the cloud.
• The application can run on any device, PC or mobile phone.
• Applications are fast and customizable
• Applications are distributed virally via social networks and email.

In my opinion, the biggest Microsoft announcement at E3 today was made after their press conference was over. They announced a new Games on Demand service (coming this August). It has two important features:

1. Full Games Available for Purchase on Demand: Microsoft will start selling full games on-demand via download through the Xbox Live Service starting this fall. Following in the footsteps of Steam (and to some degree Sony), this may be a critical inflection point on the path away from retail game sales. The 30 announced games are all older games (eg: Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed and Bioshock). Games are to be sold at regular retail prices (no disk-free, Gamespot/E.B.; disintermediation discount). Nothing was said about the future availability of new titles day-and-date with retail releases. With the service in place there is, of course, no technological reason why this couldn’t happen. It’s just a matter of time.
2. A Step Away from Microsoft Points: Anyone who is a regular reader of my blog knows that I am a critic of Microsoft Points (see this post, for example). Games purchased through the Games on Demand service will be purchasable with a credit card. No Microsoft Points required. Amen! Let’s hope this is the beginning of the end for Microsoft Points. 

For details see:

• E3: Microsoft Announces ‘Games on Demand’ at Xbox Live Luncheon (Gamasutra)
• Games on Demand Bringing Digital Retail to Xbox 360 (1Up.com)
• Good-bye Games in boxes? Xbox 360 to get full game downloads (CNet)

The Microsoft Press Conference can be viewed here. See also: My 2008 Microsoft E3 coverage.

Big Announcements:

• Halo Reach: Bungie teased this new Halo game, set for a fall 2010 release. Whoo hoo! If its a Bungie shooter, and it has the name Halo on it, I’m in! Is ‘Noble 1’, Will Master Chief?
   
• Metal Gear Rising: The next Kojima / Konami Metal Gear game is coming to the Xbox!!! Holy Cow! The final coup de gras against Sony.  Kojima seemed genuinely happy to appear on stage for the announcement.
• Project Natal: A ‘controller free’ , full body motion capture, item scanning, facial and voice recognition. Will work on every 360. See demo here. I’ll believe it when I see it! I don’t believe the Lion’s Gate Milo demo pictured on right. It had to be heavily scripted (click for larger view).

New Console Features (coming this fall)

• last.fm coming to Xbox Live free (globally available)
• Netflix Queue on 360 will be manageable from Xbox Dashboard (no need to do it on PC anymore)
• HD download library being upgraded to full 1080p
• Instant 1080p HD Movies/TV – Worldwide: Faster movie downloads. Higher high def. Doubling number of countries where HD TV/video content will be available from 8 to 18
• Facebook on Xbox 360 (very much an Xbox 360 look)
• Titter coming to Xbox Live

Microsoft Exclusives Coming

• Shadow Complex – An Epic Games Xbox 360 exclusive arcade – reminds me of Little Big Planet. A side scroller. Bizarre!
• Joy Ride – a free Xbox Live bumper car-type game that uses your Xbox 360 avatar (next winter)
• Crackdown 2 (can’t wait – crackdown 1 was a big surprise when I first played it)
• Left 4 Dead 2 – zombies in the daylight! (Nov 17, 2009)
• Splinter Cell Conviction – Wow! looks very different from prior Splinter Cell games (fall 2009)
• Forza Motorsport 3 (Oct 2009)
• Halo 3 ODST – is it me or are the Halo graphics starting to look dated? (Sept 22, 2009)
• Halo Reach (fall 2010)
• Alan Wake (spring 2010 – looked interesting). This game is from the makers of one of my all time favourites – Max Payne. Can’t wait!

New Skateboard Peripheral

Non-Exclusive Demos Shown

• Beatles Rock Band. Likenesses of the Beatles sing and play along as you play the game.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward – looked great!)
• Final Fantasy XIII (spring 2010)
• Tony Hawk Ride – using new skateboard peripheral (see below)

Live Blog Coverage:

• CrunchGear
• Engadget
• Gamasutra
• Gizmodo
• Joystiq

My Thoughts

I enjoyed their focus on games and not things like console sales or attach rates.  I’m most looking forward to Halo Reach, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Halo ODST, Crackdown 2 and Alan Wake.

I don’t believe that Project Natal will do all that it is promising. It seems to be more a ‘vision’, ‘proof of concept’, or ‘goal’. As far as I know, no actual shipping product was announced.

I’m delighted to see that Microsoft has finally got the last major PS3 third-party exclusive franchise (metal gear) coming to the 360.

I was disappointed that there were no more details about Zune HD integration. I continue to be sad that Microsoft continues on with its ridiculous Microsoft Points system.

 [Update: Post press conference Microsoft announced FULL game downloads for real money (not Microsoft Points) via credit card. This is a big deal! Coming in August. See this Gizmodo post. Still sketchy on details – whether it will apply to other content like HD movie downloads.]

While Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm are nice, I won’t use them on the 360 – especially without a keyboard.

When Rafael Nadal’s tripped in the third set, Mary Carillo said this picture will be famous if Nadal goes on to loose – even suggesting a title – “the Champ goes Down”. How prescient! I’m doing my part to fulfill her prophecy.

In what was a surprising and yet terrific match, Nadal’s 2007 Wimbledon nemesis,Robin Soderling (they played a 5 setter lasting 5 days due to rain delays), did something nobody has ever done before – beat Nadal at the French Open. Amazing!

This sets Federer up to accomplish three big things next Sunday:

1. winning his first French Open;
2. thereby giving him a career grand slam; and
3. tying Pete Sampras’s 14 major title record.

Assuming, that is, that Federer makes it to the finals next week. This is Federer’s big break. I’ll be cheering for him.

On a related note, Azarenka defeated the 2009 French Open women’s champion, Ana Ivanovic, in straight sets. That isn’t much of a surprise to me. I have thought for some time that Ivanovic was over-rated. Go Safina go!

These are the Nike, Max-air, LunarLite tennis shoes Rafael Nadal was wearing today when Robin Soderling took him down in the quarter finals at the French Open 2009.

Note the four tennis-ball-with-flame insignia’s for each of his 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 French Open titles.

Click on all images for larger views.

Reference: |

Reviews: Roger Ebert (2 of 4) | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 34% | Metacritic 51%

I loved it! Having listened to Ben Mankiewicz’s review I was expecting it to be terrible. Fortunately I had not read Roger Ebert’s rather ill-informed review. I hold his opinion in such high regard that I may not have seen it at the cinema. And, this kind of movie is best viewed on a big screen.

Let’s be clear, I am not a die-hard Terminator fan. But, I did faithfully watch and enjoyed the now cancelled Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series. I suspect that that was a factor in my enjoying the movie as much as I did.

Ebert’s biggest criticism is that there is no story. To someone that is not a fan, that is a valid criticism. The movie makes no effort to fill the viewer in on the back story. It assumes you know it. Both Ebert and Makiewicz contrast Terminator to the recent Star Trek and how it was approachable by regular movie goers. There is validity in that argument.  

But anyone who is a fan of the Terminator franchise or the TV show will enjoy how Terminator Salvation fits into the overall story arch. It shows how John Connor becomes the leader of the resistance and, ultimately, the beginnings of why the machines spent so much time in the earlier Terminator movies going back in time to try to kill him. That is the main story. There is an important side story involving Sam Worthington that I also found interesting. Indeed, the side-story’s plot is the basis for the use of ‘Salvation’ in the movie’s name. To explain why would be to provide a spoiler. 

Christian Bale was good as John Connor. I agree with Ebert, and most other reviewers, in so much as I thought the previously-unknown-to-me, Sam Worthington, was terrific. However, I didn’t think Worthington overshadowed or outperformed Bale. Clearly John Connor is the lynch pin of the franchise and Bale served that character well. Helena Bonham Carter’s character could have been played by anyone. She played it well enough. But, it was a small part, not terribly worthy of her considerable talents.

Reviewers quibble about inconsistencies in time travel. Frankly, after years of trying to make sense out of the infinite possible anomalies of time travel in Star Trek, Lost and the Terminator series, among others, I’ve given up. I just enjoy.

Reviewers, including Ebert, downplay the special effects and action sequences (well, perhaps they account for 2 of his 4 stars – he isn’t clear on that point). But the effects and action are top notch, very satisfying and part of why the series is so much fun. It’s a roller-coaster ride from beginning to end. To dismiss the action and special effects it is to miss the point. Part of why the Terminator franchise is what it is, is precisely because of its state-of-the art effects and action.

I noticed in the opening credits that the movie was directed by McG. Huh? Who dat? I had never heard of ‘him’? before. Looking him up on Wikipedia, the director’s real name is Joseph McGinty Nicol. Odd as his choice for screen credit is, he did a terrific job here. The movie kept me at the edge of my seat and engaged from beginning to end.

Conclusion

If you are a regular Terminator movie or TV series fan, go see it. You won’t regret it. If you enjoy thrilling action and top notch special effects, see it in the cinema. If you have invested no time into the Terminator story arch, and you want a self-contained story to satisfy you – skip it. Or, at least, go back and watch the prior movies and/or TV series before seeing it.

I unabashedly enjoyed the movie. It was a terrific start to the summer block buster season.

Where do you diverge from the pop culture consensus?

—- MOVIES —-

Jar Jar Binks

I liked Jar Jar Binks. What else is there to say. I thought he was an amusing character. I was happy to see him return in Attack of the Clones and the Clone Wars.

  Gigli

I didn’t think Gigli sucked. It was far from great. It would probably rate 2 out of 5 Dale-heads if I were to review it formally. But it doesn’t deserve to be the butt of all jokes and one of the most lambasted movies of all time.

The English Patient

If there ever was a more boring, self-indulgent, overly-hyped movie, than The English Patient, I don’t know  what it is. It was cathartic to see the fictional Seinfeld character Elaine Benes hate on the movie in the English Patient episode!   This is probably the only thing I ever agreed with the Elaine character on.

Citizen Kane

I’m a classic movie fan. Citizen Kane is consistently at the top of the AFI 100 and other top movie lists. I vehemently disagree. While Orson Wells had some interesting moments, not only should it not belong on any ‘best movie’ lists, I consider it to be in the bottom 20% of all the movies I’ve seen – and I’ve seen a lot. I’ve sat down to review it twice. If/when I complete it, I’ll post my review and link it here.

 —- MUSIC —-

Michael Jackson

Yes, he’s a little wacky. Aren’t most geniuses? If he molested boys, that cannot be condoned.Whether or not he ‘did it’, he’s still one of the most dynamic and interesting performers I’ve ever witnessed.

Beatles

I have never thought the Beatles were any better than your average band. I have never understood why they are so beloved. I don’t like many of their songs.

 —- TV —- 

The Office

The few times I watched this show, it made me cringe. It’s one uncomfortable moment after the other. You couldn’t pay me to watch this show.

 —- SPORTS —-

Sharapova and Kournikova

Tennis is my favourite professional sport to watch. It drives me to distraction to see the media focus so much attention on Maria Sharapova and her predecessor to the tennis beauty-queen crown, Anna Kournikova. It particularly disturbs me that the networks will cover the tennis matches of the cuties over the better player matches. I want to watch quality tennis – not pretty faces and accentuated curves at the expense of the sport.  I’m concerned that Ana Ivanovic may be falling into the same beauty before athletics trap.

3 Set Matches in Women’s Grand Slam Tennis

Sticking to my belief that tennis should be about fitness and athletics, I can’t understand why women’s grand slam tennis matches are limited to 3 sets when the men’s matches are 5 set matches. Women’s hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball etc. teams do not play on smaller courts or for shorter amounts of time. Fitness and endurance should play as much a role in deciding who the best women players are as they do on the  men’s side. The recently retired Justine Henin is the poster girl for fit and athletic women tennis players. I want to see more players like her. We need 5 set women’s matches for them to rise to the top. I firmly believe that one of the reasons women’s tennis matches are typically not of the quality of the men’s matches is because 3 set matches hold women to a lower standard.

Hockey

I’m a Canadian and I don’t like hockey. There I said it. If there was anything that American’s found surprising about me when I lived in California, this is it. My opinion would change somewhat if fighting was removed from the sport. But not by much. In my opinion, any player that starts a fight should be banned from hockey for 1 year. If he does it again he should be banned for life – period!

Reference: |

Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes 89% | IMDb External Reviews

The Trouble with Harry (1955) is not your typical Hitchcock movie. It is, to some degree, a who-done it, but it is hardly suspenseful. IMDb calls it a comedy | mystery | thriller. I agree with the comedy part and, perhaps its a bit of a mystery. But it is hardly a thriller. Rather its a small, sleepy, madcap of a movie (if a movie that slow can be called a madcap) with a good ensemble cast.

Edmund Gwenn finds the rather dead (‘Harry’) while hunting. He thinks he shot the man. Remarkably, multiple residents of a tiny hamlet trundle by the ‘scene of the crime’ , even though the scene is a remote hilltop in the woods. Confusion, cover-ups, mix-ups and new-found love ensues.

This was Shirley MacLaine’s film debut. At 21, she was at her buttoned-nosed cutest. She was terrific from the start, playing a recently widowed, single mother. [My all-time favourite Maclaine movie is probably The Apartment (1960), with Jack Lemmon].

What struck me most, though, was how contemporary actress Julianne Nicholson is a dead ringer for Shirley MacLaine in this film (see photos below). If this film were ever re-made, Nicholson would be the spot-on choice to play her role. Better yet, if a movie required a young and old version of Shirley MacLaine, these two would be a perfect match – not just for their remarkably comparable looks but for their similar personalities

Jerry Mathers, two years before he found fame as ‘the Beaver’, was the first to stumble upon Harry. This explains how Shirley MacLaine, who plays his mother, finds her way to the corpse. Mathers provides a terrific performance for a 7 year old. It’s understandable how he got the title role in Leave it to Beaver.

As much of a classical movie fan as I am, I can’t say that I remember too many other John Forsythe movies. I was never a "Dynasty" fan. For the first 40 minutes or so, all I could think of was the voice of Charles Townsend over the speaker-phone in "Charlie’s Angels. Nonetheless, I enjoyed his role as a quirky artist, seemingly oblivious to everything happening around him.

For the Alfred Hitchcock cameo hunters (click here for a full list of his cameos), he can be seen (circled in red) strolling past, as the ‘millionaire’ examines Forsythe’s paintings (click image for larger view). Despite this being anything but a typical Hitchcock film, Hitchcock’s remarkable filming techniques are very much present. It is, unmistakably, a Hitchcock film.

Conclusion

I first saw this movie when I was 20 (some 24 years ago) – just after it was re-released. A local cinema was showing the ‘5 lost Hitchcocks’ back-to-back. It turns out I had forgotten 100% of the story save for the living room closet door’s penchant for opening by itself (odd the things we remember). I did recall enjoying it then and I enjoyed it about as much 24 years later.

For anyone wanting to experience all that is Hitchcock, this is a must-see. For anyone else, If you are in the mood for a relaxing, well made, slow madcap, ensemble piece revolving around a surprisingly bothersome corpse, its good fun.

Varietal: cabernet sauvignon | Price: $20.95 Cdn | Winery: J. Lohr Estates | | Wine Website: Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon | Vintage: 2007 | Region: Estrella Hills, Paso Robles California | LCBO No: Vintages 656561 | Bar Code: 89121 28812 | Alcohol: 13.5%

Description

I am not particularly a fan of cabernet sauvignon wines. This one is an exception, and one of the better cabernet sauvignons I’ve tasted. It has a nice, subtle nose. I enjoyed its intense, yet creamy, spicy, vanilla texture and taste. Like most low priced cabernet sauvignons it initially had a wee bit too much alcohol flavour in the finish for my taste. But that disappeared over time (see ‘story’ section below). According to the label it:

… has aromas and bouquets of cherry, blackberry, violets and vanilla.

The LCBO Website describes the wine as follows:

Every time Vintages released this wine, it disappeared from store shelves at lightning speed! So we decided to make it an Essential to ensure that it’s always available and you’re never disappointed. Aged in oak for more than a year, this densely coloured red is packed with intense aromas of black cherry, blackcurrant, cedar, vanilla, and spices. Full-bodied and sweet-centred, this Cabernet will pair beautifully with roasted or grilled red meats.

Note: This wine is not to be confused with the pricier $39.95 2006 vintage of the same name. I have not yet tasted it. That wine was originally sold in Toronto for $19.95 (see this Toronto Life review). Perhaps it would be a good idea to purchase a case of the 2007 vintage if the price rise for the 2006 vintage is any indication.

Story

This wine was recommended to me by my nephew Michael Kalistchuk. Because it is an LCBO Essential, it is easy to find in any LCBO at the moment. It was smack dab at the front when I walked into my local LCBO last week.

Like other wines, it may need to decant a tad to lower the initial, mild alcohol after-taste. After the first glass I used the inert argon gas preservation technique described in my ‘How to Preserve Opened Bottles of Wine’ post to keep it overnight.

When I reopened the bottle the next evening, it tasted better than it did the first night. I compared it (taste-tested it side by side) against my [Yellow Tail] Shiraz touch-stone wine. Admittedly an unfair comparison but, since I drink more [Yellow Tail] than any other single wine, this gives me a good basis to compare wines. It was significantly better the second day in every measure – spicier, deeper, smoother.

I then poured the remaining half bottle into a smaller wine bottle (another preservation technique described in my ‘How to Preserve Opened Bottles of Wine’ post). I tried it once again on the third night and it was better still than the prior two nights. This wine is a winner.

In the coming days I intend to taste-test it against my go-to cabernet sauvignon – Wolfblass Yellow Label. I’ll update this post after I do.

Conclusion

This is quite a good cabernet sauvignon for the price. I could, of course, recommend it even more highly at a lower price – perhaps around the $16.50 to $18 mark. At $20.95, it is still worth investigating – particularly if you enjoy cabernet sauvignon and wines similar in taste to California zinfandels as I do. Perhaps we’ll see a price decrease given the recently rising Canadian dollar.

Reviews: Metacritic 89% | Game Rankings 89.17% | zero punctuation 
Reference:  | Achievements
Walkthrus: Mahalo | WikiCheats | GameFAQs
Developer: Valve Corporation, Engine: Source 

This is not my normal style of game. I hate zombies. I hate zombie games. I fully expected to hate this game. However, given its stellar reputation, I rented it, expecting to play it for an hour, and toss it. That almost happened.

At first I played the single player campaign. I didn’t know what was going on. I was frustrated. I kept dying  repeatedly. The game provides no in-game save option. Consequently I kept getting sent back 20 minutes to the last (rare) check point – a game construct that annoys me to no end.

After a couple hours of futility I was about to return it to the rental store. But, I had heard that it must be played online to be enjoyed. Having no friends with the game I loathed the thought of going online with unruly 13 year olds running off in every direction telling me how much I suck at it. But an amazing thing happened. I had fun.

I was into a game within 30 seconds. At first, I didn’t put my headset on. I expected to hate it and didn’t want to hear others berate my ineptitude. Strangely, 30 minutes later I noticed I was having fun – a lot of fun. At one point I was about to die and then someone came by and healed me. What? That never happens? Where did this sudden benevolence come from?

I put the headset on and found adults and teens playing. They were actually helpful. To succeed they needed me and I needed them. This was my first experience of online play with strangers where we all worked co-operatively together.

Amazingly, I spent the rest of the afternoon (about 4 hours) finishing the campaign with a changing set of adults (and teens). The game was uniformly fun from beginning to end.

Game Play

In single player, the game opens by setting the stage with a terrific back-story (Metal Gear style). I wish more games did this. I’m talking to you Prince of Persia.

The game consists of four longish levels (referred to as ‘scenarios’) where you and your team must make it from point A to point B alive (additional scenarios can be downloaded for an extra fee). Since the scenarios can be played in any order, there is no difficulty ramp – its uniformly tough all the way through – especially if you attempt to play it alone.

You are besieged by hordes of zombies of varying kinds. Your four-person team must work co-operatively to stave them off. At the end of each level the team must hold a zone for 5 to 10 minutes as they wait for extraction. This last part was always the hardest as the game tosses everything it has at you with only teeny breaks to give you an opportunity to regroup.

Game Encourages Co-operation:

Valve did four very smart things to both eliminate griefers and to pull-off a quasi-miracle – getting strangers to work co-operatively online:

1. Achievements: To heal a team mate a player must give up their health packs or pills. In most games, these would be horded. But the game rewarded players by way of Xbox 360 Achievement points for healing team mates. Beyond that, if you lose a team-mate the game gets much harder. Players want to save a dying team mate to increase their odds of survival.
2. Your Dead on Your Own: In every other game, playing co-operatively with strangers online is like herding cats. Invariably, your ‘team’ runs off in different directions and they rarely communicate with each other – let alone stick together. In Left 4 Dead, if you go off on your own, you will die – very quickly and very violently. To succeed players must stick together.
3. Ability to Vote Users Off: Typically only the host of an online game can boot off an aberrant player. In Left 4 Dead, any of the 4 players can initiate a real-time vote to boot a team-mate. If the majority agree (and cast concurring votes) the miscreant is booted off. The AI (or someone waiting in a lobby) instantly takes their place.
4. Leaving Them In the Closet: This is the best idea of all! If a gamer dies, they’ll respawn in a closet somewhere necessitating another team member to let them out to keep playing. However, if someone has been naughty, the rest of the team can, err, assist in their death, and then let them rot in the closet. It was hilarious to hear the jerk screaming from the closet to be let out, while the rest of us carried on without him. Other games must pick up on this ingenious idea!

Game Play Video

Below is a YouTube Video of  game play. You can get a handle on what the game is like here. But I wouldn’t watch too much as it shows a a good chunk the ‘Death Toll’ level/scenario and is, ultimately, a spoiler.

Limited Replay Value

As I said above, the game was not at all enjoyable in single-player mode. Having successfully played through all four scenarios of the campaign online, I had no desire to play through them again.  If, perhaps there were a dozen levels on the disc, I might have recommended this game as a purchase. That said, the scenarios were a bit longer than a typical game level.

There is a competitive ‘versus mode’ where you can play as a zombie trying to stop other players from successfully achieving their goals. I didn’t try that mode as it didn’t sound like it would be much fun to me.

Conclusion

Apart from Halo, I have rarely enjoyed playing video games over Xbox Live with strangers. This game, and my recent experience with 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, are delightful exceptions. This game, in particular, is made for online co-op and literally forces gamers to do something that, experience has shown, most are otherwise  incapable of or unwilling to do – work together.  I imagine that this is what raiding is like in an MMoRPG. I hope these games portend more enjoyable online co-op to come.

While I had a lot of fun playing what I played, my score reflects the lack of on-disc levels and, ultimately, its limited replay value. This game is not fun when played alone. But, for a weekend rental, if you have Xbox Live and are otherwise a shooter fan, I heartily recommend it.