2015 | Gear Diary

2015 LEGO Game Announcements

LEGO Maniacs have a full slate of video game releases coming this year including a surprising LEGO set announcement decided by fans. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group have set LEGO Jurassic World, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin plus LEGO Batman: Beyond Gotham. The LEGO Movie Videogame iOS versions are available now. LEGO Jurassic World starts a new game series ahead of the upcoming film of the same name (June 12, 2015). This game will combine the storylines of Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, and Jurassic World. Available in June on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation…

Music Diary, Reviews

Kandinsky Effect Shines on Somnambulist

It’s been two years since I reviewed the album Synesthesia by The Kandinsky Effect, heaping praise on it saying “musicianship and communication throughout are stellar, there are free elements without being too far ‘out’, and the trio keeps the modern elements at the forefront without sacrificing the jazz foundation.” Now they are back with Somnambulist … and it’s even better.

Editorials, Game Diary, News & Features

Games Get First Real Super Bowl Feature, Was it Worth the Money?

Surprisingly based on overlapping demographics, video games have not featured widely in Super Bowl commercials in years past – maybe because the big franchises launch in late summer through the fall, maybe they were unwilling to spend the big money on the ad space, or something? But this year three ‘freemium’ mobile games spent big – but was it worth it?

Game Diary, News & Features

Haunting Sci-Fi Adventure Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock Coming Feb 17th

After taking us to the peaks of humour with Supreme League of Patriots, Phoenix Online Publishing teams up with Red Herring Labs to announce the upcoming game Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock. Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock is a chillingly alien and atmospheric sci-fi first-person point-and-click adventure, will make its debut for PC and Mac on February 17th!

Editorials, Game Diary

Amazing Madden NFL 15 Super Bowl Sim Prediction Thoughts

As the New England Patriots celebrate their victory today, it’s time to look at another related feat – the spot-on prediction of the simulated Super Bowl game in the Madden NFL 15 video game.

Game Diary, News & Features

Battlefield Hardline Open Multiplayer Beta Begins

PC, PlayStation 3/4 and Xbox 360/One gamers go to battle today in the free open multiplayer beta for Battlefield Hardline – releasing on March 17. Do battle with other players amid urban settings and action packed scenarios. This beta ends on Sunday, February 8.

Music Diary, News & Features

Spotify Predicts the Grammy Award Winners — with No Taylor Swift!

Each year Spotify has sent out predictions of the Grammy Award winners based on their streaming patterns. This year is no exception, though the absence of Taylor Swift – who famously pulled her catalog from the streaming service – makes the predictions a little less credible this year! Read on and see what you think!

Editorials, Game Diary

New to Gaming? Which System Should You Buy?

It’s easy to assume that everyone out there already has a favorite gaming system, whether it be Xbox, Playstation, Wii, or something else. But what if you are totally new to gaming? What if you want to play, but you have little experience with any of the available gaming options, and you have no idea where to get started?

Editorials, Reviews

When Do You Give Up on a Company? The Pivotal Living Story

A few weeks ago I reviewed the Pivotal Living fitness tracker, and I concluded the following: “Pivotal Living is a company to watch, and I think if the bugs and kinks get ironed out, the Pivotal Life 1 is a very cool product.” I wanted to give them a few months, but here’s the truth: Don’t buy it. just don’t.

Editorials

Starting Over At Midlife: A Gear Diary Diary Entry

At 49 years old, I find myself on my own and “starting over.” I want my new place to feel like home. Fortunately I know what I like and, within reason, I can afford what I need. This post series will look at some of the gear that come into play as I start my life … at midlife.

Game Diary, News & Features

OUYA and Alibaba Creating Gaming Partnership for Chinese Market

The OUYA open game platform made an important partnership with the Alibaba Group that will bring OUYA’s game library to Alibaba’s YunOS platform. OUYA also received an investment from Alibaba Group.

Reviews

ShotTracker Review: Improve Your Hoops Game

As a high school coach, I know the world of athletics has become incredibly competitive. In order to succeed, young athletes have to be willing to put in much more time than the allotted practice hours for a week. ShotTracker has developed a wearable device that assists basketball players to get workouts and track progress. Let’s take a look.

Game Diary, News & Features

Games Galore Boost the Final Club Nintendo Rewards Cache

Nintendo has totally boosted their game cache and physical rewards as the Club Nintendo Rewards program (North America) winds down. Members can also find their free appreciation download code for Flipnote Studio 3D. All worldwide program will end by September 30, 2015 to make way for a new loyalty program.

Music Diary, Reviews

5 Reasons I Love the Amazon Echo, and 3 Reasons It Might Not Be for You!

When Amazon announced the Echo connected speaker, there was speculation about how it would work in terms of integrating with Amazon and the larger web. Reviews came out after the Echo launched, positive or mixed depending on the source. For me that confirmed it was based on personal usage, so after using the Echo I wanted to report our findings.

Game Diary, News & Features

‘The World Ends With You’ Broken on iOS 8, No Update Coming [UPDATED]

One of the best, most original and unique games for the Nintendo DS was “The World Ends With You”. Square Enix delivered excellent single-player iPhone and iPad versions called ‘Solo Remix’ in summer 2012 for an audience-limiting $17.99/$19.99. Now a game-killing iOS 8 bug has been identified, and it isn’t clear if it will be fixed.

Vehicles & Gear

2015 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X Pickup is Comfortable, Yet Oh So Capable

When initially developing the latest generation Frontier pickup, Nissan chose “More” as its marketing mantra – more size, more power, more off-road capability, more towing and cargo capacity and more comfort and utility. More size put Frontier squarely in the new middle-sized class of pickups that feature performance figures rivaling those found in full-size pickups just over a decade ago.

Game Diary

Sony Online Entertainment Sold, Becomes Daybreak Game Company

In a stunning surprise move, New York-based investment firm Columbus Nova announced that it has bought Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) for an undisclosed amount and reformed it as Daybreak Game Company, and seems set to begin expanding game releases beyond PC and Playstation-centric MMO (massively multiplayer online) games, possibly moving to XBOX and mobile platforms! The news appeared first in a forum post and was later confirmed. SOE is best known for creating EverQuest, PlanetSide 2, DC Universe Online, H1Z1, Landmark, and the upcoming EverQuest Next. The company has been renamed Daybreak Game Company and is being headed up by…

Music Diary, News & Features

Roland Brings the Classic Sound Canvas Synth Module to iOS

Much of the big noise from the recent NAMM show was about bringing back the classic analog synths of the 60s and 70s. But what about the workhorses of the digital era? Those tools for those of us starving for polyphony on a budget? Roland is answering this with the introduction of the Sound Canvas module for iOS.

News & Features

Raspberry Pi Model B Version 2 Now Available — if You Can Find It

The RaspberryPi is the darling of the maker and hacking culture. This little tiny computer is great. However it is slow. That’s where version 2 comes in and it’s now available today. Version 2 ups the specs so that the RaspberryPi will maintain interest for years to come and it will ALSO be able to run Windows 10.

Game Diary, Reviews

Supreme League of Patriots Brings Zany Episodic Humour to PC Gamers!

It is ironic that I started playing Grim Fandango as I was writing up this review. Why? Because it allowed me to compare this game with one of the absolute classics of the genre. The revitalized adventure game genre provides plenty of comparisons, and allowed me to see both good and not so good elements in Supreme League of Patriots.

Game Diary, News & Features

Spacetime Studios Drops Support for Older iOS MMO Games

While I am constantly amazed at the long-term support iOS game developers put into supporting their customers, I also know that it cannot last forever – revenues for old games diminish, and new projects need the time and resources. So while it is sad that Spacetime Studios is dropping some older games, it isn’t surprising – or even bad!