Digital Input

Project Reality

2009-05-03T10:42:00.001-06:00

I’m not sure on how many of you are or were huge Battle Field 2 fans / gamers? But I stumbled across a really cool mod that goes by the name Project Reality.
I have been playing it for over a week now and enjoy the team work that it takes to succeed in winning.
But like most things in life it has a lot of bugs that need to be addressed like random memory crashes etc. But it is still worth the big ass download to give it a try.
The site is Here..

Info:
Project Reality is a free to download game modification for the Battlefield 2 (BF2) retail windows game. The Reality Mod installs alongside the existing game installation allowing both the original game and Project Reality to be played separately without causing conflicts.

The Mod developers aims are to rework the original game engine developed by Digital Illusions of Sweden (Dice) within legal and feasible constraints to create a more realistic combat environment for the gaming community. This includes adjusting various game play elements including physics, visual effects and overall game play formats. Along with changes to how the game handles, the PR team has been introducing British and Insurgent factions, plus a number of community assisted factions are currently in the works to introduce Canadian, Russian and IDF forces to the virtual battlefields.

Project Reality has won second place two years running in ModDB.com annual Mod of the Year competition. The competition is the definitive event that showcases the best mods and indie games in the world and recognizes the teams behind them.

The Project Reality team comprises a group of dedicated individuals, several of whom have backgrounds in armed services and whose sole task is to provide researched material, including statistical information to the developers. These are in turn tasked with coding and creating the mod itself. If you are looking for a fact based first person shooter from the perspective of a combat soldier, we feel Project Reality will provide for your gaming needs.

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PS3 and Wii = Netflix anyone?

2009-04-14T21:23:00.001-06:00

Looks like everyone’s favorite online movie provider may be coming to a PS3 or Wii near you.
I think the developers of the gaming consoles are turning up the heat on incorporating the Netflix experience that will bring the latest movie delivery technology into our consoles.
From a consumers standpoint, Netflix is a no brainer for the PS3 even though Sony already has a existing video offering. Take a look at Microsoft for example, they still offer certain TV shows apart from the Netflix service and it all works out.

I’m not sure how the Wii will hold up considering it only supports 480p EDTV output. I hope all 23 million U.S. owners are fine with the SDTV streams.
So forget about High definition Wii fans and besides there is more to grapple with per the Wii’s MIA hard drive.

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Next-Gen Consoles Beware.

2009-04-10T12:16:00.001-06:00

It looks as if Crytek is ready to take on the world with CryEngine 3. I guess the game engine will be able to tackle whatever technology next generation has in store for them.
While game developers are comfortable working with current generation consoles as it stands. Crytek says, “Bring it on!”.

It has been rumored that starting 2011 and so on we the public will probably be seeing next gen consoles hitting our stores. And Crytek cannot afford to get caught with their pants down. Considering it takes many years to build a triple A title.

CEO Cevat Yerli stated that they are going to push the boundaries of the Crytek engine so they will not be hindered with in development by the arrival of new consoles.
Crytek will stay ahead of the rat race by continuing enhancements to their game engine.
When a game engine is designed for a certain console, you develop for that console but once the next gen consoles arrive then a new game engine will need to be redesigned for that particular hardware.

With PC experience only, Crytek has a bright future and maybe one day come out with a console game of their own having much success due to a studio already preparing for the next generation.

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PSP2 - Rumored to be out by next Christmas.

2009-04-09T17:43:00.001-06:00

Photo Source: BluezPS

Looks like if true that Sony has made plans to come out with a new hand held game system by next Christmas. The name has not been introduced yet but some say that it could be named PSP2 or PSP 4000, who knows.

It has been speculated that Sony accelerated the development on the new device after the success of iPhone and the arrival of the Nintendo DSi.
Nothing official has been announced from Sony, but I have a sneaking feeling that they will announce something at the E3 conference in June.
And at that time it is possible that Sony will announce the release date as well. I think it is about time Sony decided to introduce a new design with much needed features.
Here is a list of things to expect:

    A bigger screen.
    Faster loading times.
    A touch screen.
    Built in camera.
    8 GB of internal flash memory.
    Improved button configuration.
    No UMD drive.
    Dual-analog thumb sticks.
    Sliding screen.

Another feature I would like to see would be phone capabilities.

Stay tuned..

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Why not fix the YLOD on your PlayStation 3, here’s how.

2009-04-07T14:36:00.001-06:00

If your one of those unfortunate PlayStation 3 gamers out there and you have been playing for a few hours already. All of a sudden the T.V. screen goes black and the once was blue and green light has now turned in to the dreaded blinking yellow/red light.

You have just become a victim of the YLOD (Yellow Light Of Death) and it could stem from a number of reasons:

    Over heating of the CPU or GPU. <--- 99% of the time.
    Over heated faulty PSU (Power supply unit).
    Faulty hard drive.

Now you have several options at this point:

    Ship to Sony to have it fixed. (No warranty = $150)
    Fix it yourself.
    Or convert your PS3 into a George Foreman Grill.

If you decide to fix the unit yourself due to not having the money to shell out to Sony, we have a solution for you.
Below is a couple of videos made by djwhetzel of YouTube.

He has a two part video of which I will display for you here, he does a very nice job at demostraighting on how to take the PS3 apart and how to fix it. So if you have a PS3 and it works fine and all is bliss, I would still reconmend adding his video to favorites for future reference incase such measures might have to be taken with your PS3.

Part 1

Part 2

Here is a link to a written guide by a gentlemen that goes by the name gilksy in PDF format: Click Here !
Now if you can get access to a thermo compound called, “Arctic Silver”. You would be better off using that instead, you can typically find that at your local computer distributor or online somewhere.

If your interested on knowing exactly how “Reflowing Soldering”, works then check out this link Here.

This concludes another blog from your average Joe.

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Ubisoft Assassin's Creed 2 is starting to make headlines around the net.

2009-04-06T18:41:00.001-06:00

On February 24, 2009, tipsters who were involved in a Ubisoft focus group reported to Joystiq that they were shown early footage of the sequel that appeared to indicate that that the game takes place in 15th century Italy with an Italian protagonist, similar in appearance to Altaïr but more colorful, named Ezio. Game play updates include abilities to swim and the use of gunpowder. The game is expected to be released by March 2010.

This is really good news concidering the first edition was simply awesome, a little repetative here and there but overall it was
really nice as far as game play and storylines went.

A teaser site has appeared for Assassin's Creed 2, along with a host of clues about the future of the franchise.

You have just been fed.

Joe ;)

View Full Album

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Photoshop Anyone ?

2009-04-04T19:33:00.001-06:00

So here I am bored out of my skull and at the same time I was feeling creative, it happens time from time. I went searching for things to do on the internet.

I came across a few Photoshop tutorials on various techniques and form and what have you. Just to let you know I'm not a NOOB to Photoshop but there are areas that I needed improving on and one of those area’s happen to be using the “Pen Tool”.

So I figured, it’s a weekend and I’m not up too to much besides sipping back a tall glass of Crown Royal and coke, enjoying the sunshine which by the way was much needed.

Anyways I invested around 45 minutes doing this tutorial learning the ins and outs of the pen tool.
Once I felt comfortable getting to know the pen tool, I then began the scavenger hunt for a subject picture to apply my newly found skills.

I found a picture of a fighter jet in the sky, pretty straight forward with mostly straight lines, simple colors and minimal detail.
Here is the before picture:

As you can see the picture is a normal fighter jet flying in the sky with the vast landscape and clouds behind it.

Nothing special really but a simple picture for me to practice with.

Now here is the finished project, this badboy took me an hour and a half to complete through trial and error but I think I have a pretty good handle using the pen tool in Photoshop now. I used Photoshop 11 CS4 extended version, and I must admit this project had me use over 460 separate layers to complete it. I can’t remember the last time it took me that many layers do anything in Photoshop.

Here is a direct link for a close up of my project if your interested.
Click Me !

Well this concludes another blog at Digital Input, thanks for stopping by.

Joe ;)

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Quebec enforces bilingual game law.

2009-04-03T20:46:00.001-06:00

Quebec… Oh Quebec…

Starting of April 1st the Canadian Province Quebec finally puts a decade old measure prohibiting the sales of English only games when French versions are available.

The law had been sitting dormant in the books for more then a decade and went into effect April 1st. Quebec has what they call, Charter of the French Language that was established back in 1997 and added the games restrictions to this Charter.

It’s no secret that that the Canadian governments in the past tried to ban games due to explicit content and violence.
Now Quebec is really slamming the hammer down on games for being too English.
I was told from a friend of mine they other day that Quebec has language police and that one could receive fines for speaking English in parts of the province. “Are you kidding me?” I replied while laughing at the same time.

Local business owners were saying the the move will put them out of business for good because gamers wanting the latest titles on day one will rather buy online or from a different province than wait for a French edition of the game to arrive.

For example games such as Rock Band would have been affected by this law back in 2007 because only the English version was ready for sale in time for the Christmas rush and the French versions didn’t make it to the stores until six weeks later.

Personally I got nothing wrong with a country, province, state or what ever the case might be to be proud of their native tongue, but to enforce it with laws is over kill.
I say let the people decide as to what language they are comfortable using or in this case buying.

It feels as though our freedoms are slowly being restricted and being taking away from us here and there. I mean you can’t even walk down a street these days with out being on camera due to all the cameras at intersections and corner stores.
What will 5 years from now have in store for the average citizen?

Time will tell I suppose but the future does not look too bright from where I’m sitting.

I’m out!
Joe ;)

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Next-gen Xbox confirmed by developer

2009-04-03T01:26:00.001-06:00

Well it’s about time a game developer stepped in to offer some advice on what the next gen console should include.

{Quote}

Exciting news for gamers - Microsoft is deep in the development process for the successor to the Xbox 360 games console, it's been revealed.

One of the first credible reports on the topic, Blizzard's Rob Pardo has confirmed that his company has taken part in talks with Microsoft about the next-next-gen console.

That Microsoft will launch another console at sometime in the future isn't exactly rocket science, but this news suggests the company plans to replace its current 4-year-old system soon.

Speaking at a lunch at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Pardo did not provide hardware details - only that Blizzard is "actively in discussions with Microsoft" about the new gaming hardware.

Blizzard is the publisher behind the World of Warcraft games, and Pardo reported that he suggested to Microsoft that the next model should have improved input devices that would allow real-time strategy games (and the like) to be better ported to consoles. via Amy-Mae Elliott

So if Microsoft gives the go ahead as to include keyboard and mouse support then this PS3 fan might be making a swap over or maybe have the best of both worlds.

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PLAYSTATION 3 - 2.7 Update = FAIL

2009-04-02T11:16:00.001-06:00

Well it looks like Sony really screwed up this time, they have got the whole PSN community in an uproar.
The update which only has taken them around four months to publish has become a total nightmare to their systems.

The said update that I would like to refer to it as “An Abortion”, has really done a number on PS3 systems.
Here are just a few examples:

    Some systems will not start up / boot up.
    No more Acc / Divx support.
    No more controller adapter support.
    Friends list does not display properly.
    No media server support.

The list goes on and on, so what is Sony’s next move you wonder?
Well time will tell I guess, they actually have not made a public response as to why this happened or what they plan to do about it.
I myself would like to have the controller adapter resolved as soon as possible as that is what I use for my keyboard and mouse configuration.

If Sony plans on keeping a decent relationship with the gaming community then they need to step back a second and have a look as to why these events are happening. Two words come to mind, “BETA TEST”!

Well you have just been fed…

Sincerely,

You average Joe.

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PlayStation 3 and my setup.

2009-04-01T14:57:00.002-06:00

If any of you are like me and love to play the Sony PlayStation 3 but cannot get used to the controllers as they are, well I have found and written a solution to that problem.

I have written a tutorial on how one can run any game for the PlayStation 3 using their PC keyboard and mouse as you would on the computer.
You can find the tutorial Here.. (Note: you might have to register in order to view my tutorial)

Under tutorials / 8 Step PS3 - XIM1 Guide – When I first looked into finding a way to play my games using a mouse and keyboard, I was totally on my own through trial and error. I bought a pre made XIM kit off of ebay for $90.00 not knowing exactly what I was getting my self into and then I had to find software that would run with the said hardware.
Well let me tell you it was not fun.

Anyhoo I finally got it figured out and experimented a little with different configurations and what not and decided to write up that tutorial for my fellow PS3 owners and today I have reached over 3400 views.

So there is light at the end of the tunnel people, if you have the funds and know how, you too can play like the rest of us hardcore gamers.

Happy fragging!!

Sincerely, Joe ;)

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Free MMO

2009-04-01T00:31:00.005-06:00

Well today I went searching for the perfect Free MMO.. And so far all I found was a game by the name of 4 Story, it really is close to World Of Warcraft if you have ever played WoW then you would understand where I'm coming from in terms of game play and eye candy.

Now back to 4 Story, I played the game for the last few days and it's not bad at all, I created a Warrior, Hunter and Wizard. I got them all to level 12 and that is basically where the buck stops.

I had a chat with a player that is at level 50 and I asked him/her, "Once you hit level 12 where do you go next because I ran out of on going quests to do?".
He/she replied that you need to do repeatable quests until you reach level 14, now keep in mind that at level 12; you need to accumulate over 40 thousand experience points in order to level to the next level.
So right away I was instantly turned off of the game and un-installed it. Don't get me wrong, if your into grinding for hours on end then be my guest.

So now the search continues for the ultimate free mmo, is there one out there ? I don't know but we shall see.

Well this caps off another blog post by one bored Internet user. I think it's time to hit the gym..

Later daters ;)

Joe