Articles by Michael Anderson

Borderlands: PC/XBOX360/PS3 Game Review

Late last October Gearbox software launched a game called Borderlands. I played it quite a bit at launch, and since then there have been a few DLC add-ons and other attempts by the developers to keep the game fresh in the minds of the typically short-attention-span target audience for this sort of game. As I was revisiting the games of 2009 I thought it would be worthwhile to give this one another go. The Hype: A sci-fi/action RPG from acclaimed developer Gearbox, Borderlands combines the best in first-person action gaming with elements of a traditional role-playing game (RPG). The excitement…

News & Features

5 Ways iPad is Better Than Netbook … and 5 Ways it is Worse

Prior to the release of the iPad, there were a multitude of articles – some touting 15 ways the iPad was better than a netbook, and others talking about the 42 ways the netbook was better than the iPad, and so on. As my Netbook Gamer series indicates, I am a netbook lover. I am also a proud iPad owner, and have had a few weeks using them both to look at the strengths and weaknesses of each. So here are 5 ways I feel each is better than the other … and I leave it to you to decide…

News & Features

On the 30th Anniversary of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, Relive the Original Trilogy …

… In 2 minutes … and in LEGOS! While for many May 4th is ‘Star Wars Day’ (because of the ‘May the fourth’ pun), for me it is a celebration that lands on the release dates of the original films. It might be hard for younger folks to get their mind around, but in 1977 seeing a film on the opening weekend wasn’t such a big deal as it is now. Sure you wanted to see cool movies soon after release for the usual social reasons, but my dozen or so viewings of the original Star Wars release were spread…

Game Diary, Reviews

Drakensang the Dark Eye PC Game Review

Games from European PC developers and publishers often have an uphill struggle to begin with: they lack the entrenched network of marketing and promotion, often struggle to get a community base built up of native speakers on popular game forums, and of course are strapped with an image of lacking polish and suffering from poor language translations. As a result they often fail to gain shelf-space at major retailers, making it even harder for them to gain new fans. So you are forgiven if you have never heard of this game, let alone knew that it has been out for…

Game Diary, Reviews

Eschalon Book 2 RPG First Impressions

A few weeks ago I noted the upcoming release of the sequel to the indie game Eschalon Book 2. As noted, the release was May 12th – same as Steam for Mac … so I’ve been quite busy with all of these new gaming opportunities! I’ve only had a couple of hours to get started, but wanted to give some early thoughts. If you played Eschalon Book 1, the new game will immediately feel familiar. Which is a wonderful thing for me. As background, I thoroughly enjoyed Basilisk Games Eschalon Book I (in fact, if you look on the link…

Game Diary, Reviews

Steam on Mac First Impressions (also Portal and Torchlight)

At long last Steam has officially arrived for the Mac – and rather than just announce it, I figured I’d give you some quick impressions after using it to download and play a few games. For those who are not aware, Steam is a digital download, automated patch management, and multiplayer matchmaking service … and more. From Valve’s ‘About Steam’: Steam, the world’s largest online gaming platform. Steam turns any PC (and soon any Mac) into a gaming powerhouse by providing instant access to a huge library of titles, and by automatically keeping a user’s games completely up to date….

Editorials

Why Won’t iWork Work With iWork?

Image from YouTube After getting my iPad, one of the first things I did was to buy the three components of the iWork suite – Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. They cost $9.99 each on the App Store, and I honestly went into the purchase expecting that these apps would integrate nicely with the Mac desktop suite. I mean, $30 for the iPad version isn’t too much less than the $79 Apple charges for the full desktop version. I knew there would be compromises, to be sure. Printing would be gone, as would direct transfers of files and so on. I…

Editorials, Game Diary

Does the iPad FINALLY Give Apple a Viable Gaming Platform?

Wait … WHAT?!?! I know what you’re saying: what about the 150 trillion games in the App Store? What about the massive growth in the sales of games for the iPod Touch that I talked about here? I know about all of that, but I still believe this: the iPod Touch business model as it exists today is not one that is sustainable for the game industry, and therefore the iPod Touch will NEVER be a viable ‘major tent-post platform’ based on that business model. OK, you have probably noticed I’m already starting to nuance my phrases in the first…

News & Features

WB Offers DVD for Blu-Ray Movie Trades for as Low as $4.95 Per Movie!

Have you made the switch to Blu-Ray movies at home? If so you probably still have a load of DVDs lying around. Sure they still look great upscaled on your Blu-Ray player … but not as good as a true HD Blu-Ray movie. Well, if you were thinking about upgrading your library but the high cost was holding you back, WB has a new option for you to consider: DVD2Blu! This program currently features >90 movies from the WB catalog, and has you send in the disc only and then get back a brand new Blu-Ray copy of the same…

Editorials

Tech Bloggers Prove Obama Right Within Hours

Image from XARKAGANDA Did you hear? President Obama is threatening to regulate the tech industry in the name of ‘protecting democracy’! President Obama is putting technology on his ‘axis of evil’ list! President Obama is calling all new technology ‘dangerous diversions’! President Obama has declared war on technology! President Obama is warning of ‘iPad Perils’! Actually … none of that stuff is true – but I bet you have read something similar today in a hype-titled post at some tech blog coupled with some out-of-context portion of a speech given by the President to the graduating class of Hampton University….

News & Features

Rumor: Apple to Make Mobile Me Free?

As is true for many Mac users, I remember not-so-fondly back in 2002 when the nifty and free iTools became the very similar but not-even-close-to-free .Mac … and then later got renamed to Mobile Me. While many users find the tools useful and therefore subscribe, there is nearly constant discussion about the pricing model and comparisons about the services offered compared to free or inexpensive alternatives. Many folks hope that Apple will price the service more competitively, or perhaps even make it free. According to MacDailyNews, that day might be approaching: We have received a tip that we cannot confirm,…

Game Diary, Reviews

50 PC RPGs That Defined a Decade

As we enter a new decade in 2010, it is worth taking a look back at the last decade and what has been happening in the PC role playing game genre (and no, we won’t debate whether or not 2010 actually starts the new decade). Certainly the 2000’s have been a decade of change for PC gaming in general, as the decade started with the PC as the only real place for shooters and large open-area games, went through a perceived crisis in the middle of the decade based on a large impact from piracy and DRM and the advent…

News & Features

Need Something Small for Amazon Super Saver Shipping? Try This!

Have you ever been shopping at Amazon.com, have exactly what you need, but then realize that it you could only find something for $4 you would get free shipping? I know I have … and typically end up over-spending as a result! But now with FillerItem.com all you need to do is figure out how much you need to add to make free shipping, enter that amount into the search box, and you will get a rather massive list of possible items. For example, I was looking at the excellent Picross 3D, which is $19.96, meaning I needed $5.04 in…

News & Features

850 Meter Beaver Dam 20 Years in the Making!

When most of us think of a beaver dam, the image above comes to mind. But CBC News brings us the story of what is reportedly the world’s biggest beaver dam – 850 meters long (~2800 feet!). Check out the satellite image from Google Earth: Image courtesy of FreshBrainz Apparently the massive dam was first found in 2007, but has gotten even larger than before, and the ease with which it is found on Google Earth is stunning. Researchers estimate that the dam has been under construction for 20 years! “[Beavers] are one of the few species that really leave…

Game Diary, Reviews

Greed – Black Border PC Game Review

Game reviewers play so many games across various platforms and genres that it is often easy to forget one important detail – we all got started with a love of games and a passion stoked by games we loved playing to the point that we began sharing our thoughts with others in written form. So when the sci-fi shooter action-RPG Greed – Black Border came along, it was right up my alley as a PC shooter and RPG fan … so I had already pre-ordered it even before the review version came along. That adds some benefits as you’ll see…

News & Features

The 20 Richest Comic Book Characters of All Time

Most everyone immediately thinks of Bruce Wayne / Batman when they think of wealthy comic book heroes, but a new list at Ranker.com tells a different tale, looking at the Top 20 wealthiest comic book characters. It is amazing how some of these characters manage to run multinational corporations, have illustrious love lives, and still keep cities safe from crime! Heck, most of us have a hard enough time balancing work and family while finding a few spare minutes for fun … but I guess that is why THEY are superheroes and WE are not! Looking at the list we…

Music Diary, News & Features

1000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die

OK, so who is crazy enough to put together THAT sort of list? Apparently the folks at Groove Notes! The image I highlighted was of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 recording The Inflated Tear. This is my favorite recording of his, mixing free jazz elements, traditional hard-bop, and soul-flavored pop elements he’d later explore on Blacknuss and Volunteer Slavery. If you haven’t heard of it, don’t feel bad, because while it was a big hit for a non-mainstream jazz recording it wasn’t exactly setting the charts on fire – as stated in AllAboutJazz, “Roland Kirk won over the masses with this…

News & Features

40 Ways People Still Use Floppy Disks

Last week Dan relayed the announcement by Sony that they were killing off floppy disk production in his article So Long 3.5? Floppy… We Hardly Remember You Anyhow…, and we all had a good chuckle. But for some folks, using a floppy is part of their daily reality. The BBC brings us a light look at folks still using floppy disks. But while many focus on silly things such as: 15. I buy about 100,000 floppies per year as I have a business that makes them into drinks mats, fridge magnets and toast racks. Ken Pork, London The reality is…

Game Diary, Reviews

Dragon Age: Origins Mac Game Review

Not too long ago I did a review of Dragon Age: Origins, looking at the PC and console versions. Back when I was first playing the PC version the Mac version was announced and released, and I started playing – knowing that I would come back to provide a review on the port at a later time. The Hype: From BioWare, the makers of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Baldur’s Gate comes Dragon Age: Origins. An epic tale of violence, lust, and betrayal, Dragon Age: Origins is a single player role-playing game (RPG) set in…

Game Diary, Reviews

FastCrawl (2006, RPG): The Netbook Gamer

Got any plans for lunch hour? Let me show you one of the best dungeon crawlers you can start and finish before going back to work! It seemed that 2006 was the ‘year of the casual game’ … everyone was attributing the success of the DS and the allure of the Wii to the desire for quick, simple and fun gaming experiences. That isn’t a new thing, really – just ask anyone who has missed lunch playing Bejeweled or Zuma or Minesweeper. Now you can add FastCrawl to that list. FastCrawl is a simple concept – quick ‘dungeon crawling’. A…

Game Diary, Reviews

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess Review

The Hype: Take control of the aristocratic demon known only as The Duke in an upwards-scrolling platformer and chase down fleeing monsters. The Reality: Let’s face it – if the title of the game “Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess” doesn’t immediately intrigue you … you need to inject more whimsy into your life. And once you jump into the game you will find that same sense of style and whimsy pervades the entire game. You see a castle, a sleeping monster known only as The Duke who dreams only of his captive princess … and then he awakes to find…

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