I purchased Boom Blox last night because it looked like a simple fun game. I’ve been watching videos of gameplay for months and with Steven Spielberg creating it, I thought it must be fun. I’ll tell you this, it is. The story line for Adventure mode is very simple and something kids will enjoy a lot more than me. The true fun lies in the levels and not the in-between story line. The control with the Wii remote is very simple and easy and I’ve enjoyed the different types of play, whether it be strategically knocking down blocks, pulling blocks (think Jenga), or knocking away enemies. There is quite a bit of strategy involved in the game, on some levels more than I expected. I think this will be a great game for kids to think outside the box and strategically plan their moves. One thing I wish I could do, and maybe I’ve not figured if you can do this yet, but when you are exploding the blocks, I’d like to freeze the action so I can get a great angle to see the blox blowing away. I know you can switch angles while it’s happening with no problem, but a lot of times the action is almost done by the time I switch views. This is definitely one of those games where you can play a few levels when you have a few minutes of free time and then come back to it later. It’s a great casual game that makes you think critically of your every move. It’s worth picking up, or at least playing, if you’re looking for a solid Wii game.
I love letting other people see what tracks I listen to and I love being able to find artists similar to what’s on my playlist, that is why I love last.fm. Even though I don’t use my MacBook for listening to music much, when I do I still like to scrobble, or submit, the tracks. My problem has always been finding a good Mac client to do this. I used to use Menuet, but every time I right click the icon in the menu bar it crashes. So, I’m saying goodbye to that. I downloaded and installed the official client from last.fm and that was deleted almost instantaneously. The client gives you the option to place an icon in the menu bar but doesn’t give you the option of hiding it on the dock when it’s open. I don’t want it on my dock. At all. Deleted. So, right now I’m trying iScrobbler. We’ll see how I like this one when I’m actually able to listen to music. Does anyone have a suggestion for a last.fm app? Do you use something you think is better? If so, let me know.
I got Mario Kart Wii on launch day. This was one of the titles for the Wii that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I loved Mario Kart 64 and couldn’t wait to see what Nintendo would come up with for their motion control Wii remote. This is old news by now but the Wii remote sits in the center of a miniature steering wheel and you steer just like you would a car during your game play. After playing it for more than a week, I have to say, this is a fun game. The courses are fun, and in cases such as the mines or the rainbow track, they are beautiful. The scenery is filled with pictures, drivers, statues of all the Miis stored on your Wii. You can even unlock your Mii as a racer. One of the big frustrations for me is the addition of the new blue turtleshell bomb thing. I hate that one. The online play is fun and lag free. It is much more difficult than the regular racing against the computers because you have real people running you off the road and throwing things at you. That aside, it is still a game with a lot of fun. The 50cc tracks are great for beginners (perhaps too easy for most), the 100cc tracks are a little more difficult, but manageable, and the 150cc tracks are even more difficult. It’s definitely a great addition to the Wii. The next game I’m excited about, Steven Spielberg’s Boom Blox.
I love my MacBook. I love it more than my previous Compaq laptop. It’s so much lighter, thinner, and well, OSX is much better than Windows. The reason I went with a MacBook and not a MacBook Pro was because I didn’t want a laptop that was as large as my old one. I wanted it lightweight and compact. The problem I see now, and it’s not so much a problem as a minor annoyance, is that I miss the larger screen. My old laptop had a 17 inch widescreen. My desktop has a 21 inch widescreen, and the MacBook has a 13 inch. The only time I really need it is when I’m working on website stuff. I like to have multiple windows open, along with IRC and instant messenger, and be able to move stuff around. More screen space equals more productivity for me. With a 13 inch screen Firefox or Smultron or Transmit take up the entire screen. Oh well, I still prefer working on my MacBook to my Windows Vista machine 99% of the time and I have no regrets in buying this over the MacBook Pro. I really can’t wait for my next desktop. I do believe that will be a Mac too.
I installed the Ubuntu Hardy Heron release onto my desktop via wubi. This isn’t a how-to on how I did that. You don’t need a how-to, the installation was that easy. You burn the cd, put it in the tray and follow the installation procedures that follow. It’s like installing any other program in Windows. Once you’re done, you reboot and choose which installation you want to run, Windows Vista or Ubuntu in my case. The install doesn’t touch your Windows files, doesn’t change your boot record, and if you want to get rid of your Ubuntu install when you’re done trying it out, you just remove it from Add/Remove Programs in Windows’ Control Panel like you do with any other program. I’m quite pleased by all of this.
As for Hardy Heron, there isn’t much new to talk about. It’s very similar to Gutsy Gibbon that came out 6 months ago, with the addition of some new program defaults (Transmission for Bit Torrent, among others) and some under the hood changes that a casual desktop user won’t notice too much. Ubuntu is definitely making it easier and easier to transition from Windows to Linux with each release. If you were ever afraid to take the plunge, now is your best time. You have nothing to lose by installing it via wubi and trying it out.