Bomb Watch Starts Here

Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann today e-mailed anyone who had sent an e-mail to one of the Giant Bomb addresses (Notable the Beta Signup Address). It formalises the site's launch as being imminent, a fact already made abundently clear by the blog having been replaced with a teasing image and a "Landing shortly" message.

The most important part of the message reads:

This e-mail is being sent to let you know that we're getting very close to the beta launch of giantbomb.com -- if you want to be extra-certain that you secure your username of choice, you should start taking occasional looks at the site to see if it's up yet. You will not receive a second e-mail from us, as we're solely focused on the site itself.

So what will you be able to do on Giant Bomb?

Explore a database that already contains...
Entries for over 72,000 releases.
Pages for nearly 90,000 people involved in the creation of video games.
Almost 600 character pages!
Something like 580 pages for gaming franchises!
Dude, I don't know, how about I just write "and much, much more" here and we move on?
Don't forget, you'll be able to edit and add to all of these things!

And of course, we'll have message boards. Tens of thousands of message boards! Way too many message boards! Everything from the PlayStation 3 to hamburgers will have a message board associated with it. In fact, every single page in the database, including consoles, franchises, games, objects, characters, people, and concepts will all have a friendly message board right at the bottom. But don't worry about getting lost or missing out on a conversation. Messages from all boards are easily found in our forum index.

This extract of course excludes the instructions, but they're fairly obvious anyway.

So now, we begin the Bomb Watch. I have arranged for my browser (Firefox 3, Mac OS X 10.5.4, a rock slid and generally excellent browser and platform) set up to reload Giant Bomb (dot) com at set intervals, so excited am I to get into the site.

Unfortunately, I'm also way too excited. I'm afraid to sleep in case I miss it. I mean, even tonight, I really don't want to risk it, even though I'm almost 100% the site won't launch until something like 6PM BST on Monday the 21st of July (At the earliest).

And so, for as long as I'm awake, I'm going to be updating round the clock. I'll Tweet status updates at regular intervals and come the launch, I'll tweet my progress registering, then writeup impressions of the site her on All Your Time.

And yes, I fully intend to contribute as much as I can to anything Disney-Related (Exception: Chronicles of Narnia, we'll get to that little mistake someday).

Speaking of, how awesome does Pure look? For some reason, I'm all-the-way pumped for that game. Maybe cos it's a Disney-made insane off-road racer. We all know I love Disney and Excite Truck, Pure combines them. Naturally, I'll be nabbing the 360 version.

Anywho, where was I? Oh yes, The Bomb. I gotta tell ya, I really need this site. As it stands, the only gaming community I frequent is all but dead in the sections I read. I mean, I visit 1Up and GameSpot, but not their communities (Forums). 1Up's folks were very hostile (Generally, they were some kind souls) to those of us displaced from GameSpot (The site as a whole, not just the forums) after The 29th. GameSpot's forums I just found insular and not very fun.

Wow, I really want to make a movie about Gerstmann-gate...It's a great story for the screen. I saw a YouTube video which recast a JFK (One of my all-time favourie movies) trailer as a traler for JFG, a ficticious movie about Gerstmann-gate (Using JFK footage and dialogue for illustrative purposes), and it was very cool. I definitely think Jeff's story would be good for the screen.

Perhaps a book first, that's howit typically works...Oh well. If it's not been done by the time I can do it, I will. If anyone else is planning to do it and wants help (Writing, directing, any creative stuff really) drop me a line, I have some ideas how it could work.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Onward to The Bomb!

Jens Has Blown

Pinging you

Hey guys, sorry I missed the blogging my impressions of the conferences. I was going to move it all to Tuesday, but I had to wait to watch the Sony and Nintendo ones and I didn't get to do so until I got up earlier.

I'll be posting instead about my impressions of all E3 on Friday. I'll get to it either between the two F1 Practice Sessions or after the second one. As a tiny preview: there's nothing I'm absolutely pumped to hell for...Like, at all. Certainly nothing new. Not that there's nothing new I want, just nothing has me as excited as some of last year's stuff.

My MobileMe code came and I'm now a full subscriber, so that's pretty cool. It's a nice service, I like being able to get at my stuff on my Mac, in a browser or on my iPod. Speaking of my Mac, I had a few software problems, but I managed to fix them just by trashing some files. Very happy, in Windows I'd probably have had to reinstall the OS.

Speaking of Windows, the box is gone. My only computer is the Mac mini, my favourite of all the computers I've owned, followed closely by the Eee of course. With it's 750GB external Hard Drive, iTunes and EyeTV (Which is fantastic by the way) it's also a fantastic Media Centre, an entertainment powerhouse.

But without my PC, my consoles are gonna be my focus in terms of gaming. Yes folks, that's right, another player has abandoned the PC Platform. And I'll tell you why: it doesn't work. Games are increasingly supposed to be a pervasive expereince, PC just fails to deliver that.

So, to ensue I have access to games not available on the Wii, I'm getting a 360, as you know. Torturously, I'm relatively certain I have to wait until I get my GCSE results and to make that worse...I got given a copy of Unreal Tournament 3. Which I really want to play.

It's agonising, seriously.

I saw Hancock the other day, and as I expected, that film kicked ass. I loved it, Hancock is officially my second favourite super hero behind Spider-Man now, it's that good. Only thing is, it's crying out for a game.

Someone needs to get on that.

Jens Out

On Macs

So, recently I've been using the generic "Mac" rather than referencing a specific product when talking about my nex computer. In all honesty, it's because I've been spending a lot of time assessing the pros and cons of the current models and several now defunct ones.

It's no secret that I got pissed at Apple and decided not to spend the money on their MacBook Air. At any rate, my Asus Eee PC is serving me well as a lightweight portable computer, so it would be redundant.

Then I thought about going back to the MacBook for a while, but I scrapped that idea for financial reasons - that is, to free up money for a Halo 3 Xbox 360, which I'll need for once I'm no longer living with my brother.

So then I started thinking about going for a used Mac. I spent a while looking at prices on the old sunflower iMac (Scrapping it for logistical reasons in the end) before focusing on PowerBook G4s. I was very close to deciding for sure on one of them, then I realised I really wanted Leopard, and I wanted it to run well.

So, I thought to myself, how can I get a cheap Mac which will still run Leopard well?

Simple. For just £80-£100 more than I was lookign to spend on a PowerBook, I can get a Mac mini Base Unit. I know what you're thinking, but I've studied the specs and it's perfectly adequate for what I want to do with it. It'll sit happily atop my Windows PC and it's main jobs will be iTunes and making Multiplayer.

That said, it's easy to imagine me switching over to the near-silent Mac mini as my day-to-day computer, only powering up the noisy Windows box for games or watching TV or Blu-Rays. The Mac will certainly be my iPlayer/YouTube box though, thanks to an as-yet unacknowledged bug with Flash Player which prevents full screen FLV playback under Vista (Business) under certain conditions.

In order to finance the Mac, I'll be doing overtime to ensure my next 2 paycheques are in excess of £200. The one coming is already overtimed to about £180, and I've got a £44 overtime shift a week on Monday. Helping out is a £49 tax rebate I'm owed. That's £273 right there. That means I only need to work enough to earn £181 the following month in order to buy the Mac and iWork '08. But I'll probably once again try and push it over the £200 mark to ensure there's a bit of overflow and to prepare for the Xbox - itself necesitating £220. But since my exams will be over by then, I'll be abe to do more overtime.

Well that's the plan as it stands now. I'm eagerly anticipating the move now. I can't wait to pt together an all-new rig. The changes to this one since the Dell was installed are virtually 0, despite adding the Wii. Basically the only changes not related to the devices are the onitor and moving the Hi-Fi speakers.

I've got to get to work coming up with a complete new setup. Honestly, I expect to need to buy a TV as a second screen. On a bigger desk with more shelf and desktop space. Ths one's already cramped.

Thing is though...Like most men...For me, buying a TV is way awesome.

Jens Out

On Magazines

Updates on The Crowd-Sourced Video Gaming Magazine. Resurrect the Print Media this Christmas.

New and likely final title is Multiplayer Magazine. Still shooting for release around December, but work is not scheduled to begin in earnest until after GCSEs are over, maybe even slightly later than that to allow time for a relocation to Scotland my end (Though partners could easily start work then). I do aim to have a more elegant setup in the North so production will be regular.

By that I mean, when the Mac (More details to follow) is installed here (Shortly after June 13. Likely June 18, 1 day after my final exam), there will be three video inputs going into this monitor, 2 audio and a third audio feed into the Hi-Fi. A month later I need to fit an Xbox in. The move will allow me to redesign the entire setup in line with the number of units. Bear in mind, this setup is jury-rigged from an original standard desktop setup.


Now, although full production on my end is not due to begin until after the move, I will be producing at least one Graphics-free/Layout Only issue before the end of July, labeled as a beta/betas. They will however likely feature screenshots. I'll be hoping to get some feedback on the layout from you guys and if a graphics guy hasn't joined the team by then, hopefully it'll encourage one to.

Now then, some information exclusive to the blog. It's about content. Multiplayer Magazine is Cross-Platform, or Multiformat if you prefer. But it's not multiformat like EDGE or EGM are. It's completely multiformat. Any platform you can play games on living or dead is fair game.

Columns will feature in Multiplayer Magazine. Users can submit Editorials to the Editor for him to Review for Inclusion just like any other content. But I will also be giving recurring slots to people of interest, including website owners, developers or journalists. Anyone who might have a story.

Obviously, some people are going to submit reviews of games which differ and both may be valid. A solution to this is going to be present in the Multiplayer Content Specifications (Little bit more on them in a mo). A system called, uncreatively, Second Opinions will give summaries of other writers' views in a side-panel alongside the main review. Readers who want to will be able to read Second Opinion reviews in full on a special section of the Multiplayer website.

Finally, the Multiplayer Content Specifications. Significant portions will be available to the public for the purpose of ensuring content meets publication standards. Sections which only relate to layout and editing will be omitted from public release. The Specifications will include the review scoring system from the reviewer's point of view, which will also be explained from a reader's point of view in each issue.

Any questions, drop me a line at the usual addresses.

Digital Print Media

More details on the project for which I am currently recruiting talent.

I'm looking to launch a successor to GizzedUp. Wanna Play? Magazine (Working Title) will be a multiplatform, digitally distributed video games magazine, exceeding the pages per issue of GizzedUp by a wide margin.

The magazine is to be laid out and exported to the widely used PDF format on industry standard Mac hardware running OS X (Version 5) Leopard, the OS for creative professionals and publishing using the successful publishing software Pages '08, a component of iWork '08.

Most exciting of all, the content of the magazine will be crowd-sourced, opening the pages to anyone to have their review, news coverage, editorial, recurring feature - whatever they choose to write - published for all to see, with their name or handle proudly displayed alongside.

The magazine will be issued no fewer than six times per year and up to thirteen (Content permitting).

Readers and contributors will be able to hit up The Work Board on the magazine's website to see what writing needs to be done (In a general sense, the work board will simply list "Review for Issue X" or "News Writeups", with contributors choosing what specifically to write about. The board will be updated to include a list of which games or news items or so on have already had articles selected for publication) and with any luck discuss the magazine and gaming in general on the forum.

This winter, I'm getting back into the (digital) print media.

And yes, I know. About time too...

(PS: This Blog will live on though)

Only the inevitable

The trend in computing recently spells the end for the humble desktop, the old king of the personal computing world. Usually running Windows, it is a familiar sight.

But users increasingly need more customisation, better asset management and are more and more taking their computer on the road. In the coming years, OS X/Darwin and Linux are going to lead notebook and handheld computers on a charge into dominance at the expense of Windows and its natural habitat, the desktop.

These are the beginnings of a sea change for computers, and the poster children are two radically different solutions to the same problem.

Apple answered changing user needs in the portability market with MacBook Air, the device which aims to be to the notebook what the iMac was to the desktop a decade ago.

Asus answered cries for more portability and customisation with the Linux-focused Eee PC. They further addressed the need for the cost of computing to plummet and the difficulty of it to decrease rapidly.

Apple and Asus are just two companies who are seeing a new way forward.

In the year 2015, the desktop will be relegated to the realms of the pros and a role as a base. In the home, users will freely roam around the house wielding notebooks tailor made to their needs, running Wi-Fi at speeds unthinkable at present to connect to internet up to 30 times as fast as it is now.

On the road, uses will take their computers with them and connect to fifth generation mobile networks, true mobile broadband, at speeds up to half of that available over fixed lines, blitzing current-spec third and conceptual fourth generation networks by an order of magnitude.

When a computer is unnecessary, phones like Apple's iPhone Air or any one of the millions of phones running Google's dominant Android will connect to those same networks and provide users with speedy, intuitive access to communication and information.

Social networks like MySpace and Facebook will have given way to more tailored content sharing communities, linking users with content and its creators based on interest.

Microsoft, its monopolies long forgotten as the once dominant computer company sells its operating system and becomes a solutions and consultancy firm.

The buyer? A bit player looking for the fast track to marketshare in the OS space.

They're still working the dead weight out of Windows 9.

These have been visions of the future,
With Jensonb

Eeek

Well, what a difference a day makes. It turns out I'm not going to need to buy a PS3, my dad's getting us one. Which saves me basically £300 hard cash. Some of you might expect me to go back to buying the Xbox, but I decided not to.

Instead, I decided to get a hold of a computer. The geek in me was getting antsy. Of course you've guessed, the computer I'm getting is the Asus Eee PC. I'm getting the white one with 4GB of Flash and a webcam. It probably has a specific name, but I can't really be bothered to find out what it is.

Does this mean I'm not getting the Air? Not necessarily. What it does mean is whether I get the Air or a different Mac, I will still have a nice, light notebook for writing in bed and so on.

In other news, I got some really great news today, between moving operations from Petrograd (Peterborough), the heartland of English mediocrity to somewhere in Scotland, which by the way kicks ass, we're taking a slight detour for 2 or 3 weeks.

To the Everglades.

Yeah, Florida. It's awesome. I've been waiting to go to America for years. Finally I'm going to get to go to Disney World, see the awesome American food and purchase consumer goods at rock bottom prices (AKA exploiting the USA's shitty economy).

We intend to rent a villa over there and take in all the stuff we want at a leisurely pace. As a geek, I'll be taking at least one computer and my camera(s) and updating the blog on what we're up to as we go. As a part of that, I expect I'll be taking a fat USB HDD and several big SD cards.

Then we'll return, not to a house but to a boat. My dad really wants a boat. We were going to get a smaller boat and a camper van, then decided that was stupid and merged the two into a bigger boat.

Then we'll redo the house we buy to have it just the way we want it.

Well that's the future for me.

Live free or Die Hard,
Jens

Passing the 7th Position in the Rule of Doubling

In a brief follow-up to the previous post, I have now definitely decided on the iPhone. It was the web that won it.

Now then, to the issue of the day. Portal. Hot freaking damn. Way back when Portal was newly announced and everyone was drooling over Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2 Episode 2 (I'm sorry, that is such a mouthful), I myself was more interested in Portal.

And man was I right to be. This game kicks ass. It's funny, crazy, quirky and above all, original. Truly it is the class of the Orange Box, as many have conceded in the time since the Box was unleashed.

Incidentally, what a freaking dumb name. Orange Box. It's so...Meh. Mind you, the box art is far worse.

Another great game is Metroid Prime 3 Corruption. Easily the best controls ina first-person shooter to date. I can't wait for an online game with similar controls - which I am reliably informed is inbound in the form of the 32-Player online Medal of Honor Heroes 2. Finally a reason to play a Medal of Honor game.

I know I can't wait to be blasting fools with my Wii. EA, I salute you.

Speaking of the Wii itself, my Remote Jackets showed up. I have my spare Remote in one - so newbies to Wii can't kill me - but my own personal Remote, with a rechargeable battery, is Jacket free. Well, it has one. I just don't put it on it.

The Writer's Guild is on strike stateside. Wowsers bowsers. That shit is real. I hope it gets resolved properly and fast - imagine the turmoil if the actors and directors went out in sympathy.

iPhone is out this Friday at 6:02PM. Yes, that's right. 02. O2. Get it?

Clever...But really lame.

Tomorrow I'm off to an interview for a job. Assuming I get said job, it should bring in moneys to buy all the things I'm wanting - starting with such games as Super Mario Galaxy, Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Guitar Hero 3 and some maybes like Geometry Wars Galaxies, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and a Disney game I might pick up to review for All Your Disney dependent on how much I earn.

And then later, of course, the iPhone, ahead of the MacBook a couple months later.

I should probably also upgrade my Desktop. I'll do that after the MacBook though. Things that need doing:

Replace Graphics Card with a higher memory DX10 number
Replace Pentium 4 with Core2 Duo
Replace one Optical Drive with Blu-Ray capable equivalent
Replace one optical drive with HD-DVD capable equivalent.
Maybe add another Half-Gig of RAM

That'll bring it in line with the peripherals and its peers - read, my brother's media centre monster.

Lastamly, I'm soft-announcing a delay in Six's development owing to other commitments the team has. I can however just about promise a 2008 launch. We may launch, however, with some of our niftiest features not in place yet. The content uploading and everything will be there, it's just of the flashy stuff like in-page notifications may be released in our 1.0.6, 1.1.2, 1.1.8 etc. updates.

"We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Jens

PS: Anyone else think an open, multi-platform competitor to Xbox/Games for Windows LIVE would be a great idea? I sure do. And I have some ideas for it.You better believe it. Anyone who would like to see that happen, get in touch.