The geek in me likes WWE and all things pro wrestling so this out of character interview with The Undertaker after UFC 121 would be special even without the confrontation with Brock.
original source: http://www.examiner.com/pro-wrestling-in-flint/undertaker-lesnar-exchange-words-are-ufc-fight-video-inside
Cheers,
R.
Monday 25 October 2010
Sunday 24 October 2010
Warning: May Contain Nuts!
I saw this recently and had to post it as the most idiot proof warning since nut allergy warnings on peanuts. Well done BBC.
Cheers,
R.
Cheers,
R.
Saturday 23 October 2010
Keep watching this space!
As with all amazing genius types (ahem.) I'm having some serious writer's blog at the moment. Rather than write endless half-baked opinion pieces I've opted to go a bit quiet while I get the creativity flowing again. Don't worry dear readers there's plenty of exciting things to come. In the mean time follow @reverandglass on Twitter and you'll never miss a post!
Cheers,
R.
Cheers,
R.
Friday 8 October 2010
An Appeal To Console Makers
There's an episode in The Simpsons where Homer gets to design his ideal car, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" to be precise, and it all goes horribly wrong and bankrupts his brother Herb. This is clearly nothing like that and so I appeal to all console manufacturererers out there (and Sega and Atari too. Come on guys you can do another one!) to please make this awesome idea as your next console.
Ok, so I'm one of these people who can do anything better than the people already doing it. I even professed to that in an earlier post: http://cracking-glass.blogspot.com/2010/06/you-know-your-job-i-could-do-it-better.html. For a while now I've been working on an idea for my ideal games console. As well as being awesome it will also solve a few of the industry's problems too.
Firstly I thought I'd tackle the controller. It's important for the controller to be damn near faultless as this is the bit that the user will be clinging to for hours on end. If it wasn't for 3D gaming and the need for analogue sticks I'd be stealing the SNES pad in it's entirety but as it is I'll use that as a starting point. The L and R buttons are great and the way they curl slightly around the edge of the pad is nice. The Start and Select buttons win for me too as they need a definite press to work and can't be accidently bumped like Xbox 360's start. The D-pad is still a magical blister making machine but no-one's made a better D-pad since unless you like fighting pads but I don't. For triggers you need to strike a balance between an easy button press and a full trigger. The PS3 registers the press soon enough but is otherwise not great and the 360's triggers travel too far before they kick in. In essence I want the 360 pad to change it's clutch so it bites sooner. As for analogue sticks I've never been a connoisseur so anything will do. The 360's are a bit stiffer than the PS3's but are a bit smoother. The most important thing is placement. In my ideal world controllers must be symmetrical. That places the sticks below and in a bit from the face buttons and D-pad. 4 face buttons all analogue and fancy like on PS2 and the sticks should have L3 and R3 too.
That leaves the menu button like the xbox or ps buttons. Put it in the middle and leave it nice and simple. Wrap all this up with a Bluetooth transmitter and an internal battery which lets me stretch my spare fingers across the back and bob's your uncle.
Next up we need the console itself. I need my ideal console to be a lovely combination of form and function. It needs to sit near the TV and both blend in and jump out at the same time.
Over the years there's been some highs and lows in console design, the original xbox and NES at the low end, but in the end so long as it does the job it's not to important how it looks.
In the end it needs to have a place for games to go and all the usual sockets for cables and stuff. So, 4 USB sockets, 2 USB 3.0 sockets, 1 Ethernet port, 1 optical output, 1 HDMI socket and 1 A/V component output and at least 1TB of hard drive. As for the technical stuff on the inside I'll leave that up to the super developer who makes my console. I would assume a super next generation high power spec capable of running stuff more powerful than Crysis 2.
That leaves the most controversial part of my plan. The Games. For my ideal console the games themselves who be on cartridges. That's right, cartridges! The main reason consoles switched to disc based media is profit margins. CD's, DVD's and blu-rays are much cheaper than the solid state memory needed for cartridges but they are much easier to pirate. Cartridge based games would benefit from faster load times, flexibility with regards to capacity and other special perks like on board games saves and be able to store patches and DLC. Of course you could store these things on the console's hard drive but the option is there.
So that's it. SNES shoulders and D-pad and Start / Select, Xbox 360 triggers and sticks, PS2 face buttons, PS3 battery and Bluetooth for the pad. All the best tech for the machine and cartridges for games. But wait there's more...!
Firmware, is the curse of all modern consoles and as such it would need to be damn near perfect for my ideal system. I would want a quick and easy to navigate menu system that would allow the user to access games, videos, social features and online content from one place and without hassle. None of the current consoles do these things well enough. My console should feature a veritable best of of the features offered by Xbox Live as well as PSN and most importantly would allow online multiplayer for free. Video playback should allow for any codec to be installed and offer HD playback either from streaming, downloads or external media. Audio should offer the same as well as allowing music playback during games and cross game chat.
Unfortunately the intricacies of great firmware would take up way too much space but if any developer wants to take me up on building the best console ever I'll gladly help sort the firmware too!
So come on Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Sega, Atari, Amiga, Panasonic? Take me up on my idea for the greatest console EVER and make my dream come true.
Cheers,
R.
Ok, so I'm one of these people who can do anything better than the people already doing it. I even professed to that in an earlier post: http://cracking-glass.blogspot.com/2010/06/you-know-your-job-i-could-do-it-better.html. For a while now I've been working on an idea for my ideal games console. As well as being awesome it will also solve a few of the industry's problems too.
Firstly I thought I'd tackle the controller. It's important for the controller to be damn near faultless as this is the bit that the user will be clinging to for hours on end. If it wasn't for 3D gaming and the need for analogue sticks I'd be stealing the SNES pad in it's entirety but as it is I'll use that as a starting point. The L and R buttons are great and the way they curl slightly around the edge of the pad is nice. The Start and Select buttons win for me too as they need a definite press to work and can't be accidently bumped like Xbox 360's start. The D-pad is still a magical blister making machine but no-one's made a better D-pad since unless you like fighting pads but I don't. For triggers you need to strike a balance between an easy button press and a full trigger. The PS3 registers the press soon enough but is otherwise not great and the 360's triggers travel too far before they kick in. In essence I want the 360 pad to change it's clutch so it bites sooner. As for analogue sticks I've never been a connoisseur so anything will do. The 360's are a bit stiffer than the PS3's but are a bit smoother. The most important thing is placement. In my ideal world controllers must be symmetrical. That places the sticks below and in a bit from the face buttons and D-pad. 4 face buttons all analogue and fancy like on PS2 and the sticks should have L3 and R3 too.
That leaves the menu button like the xbox or ps buttons. Put it in the middle and leave it nice and simple. Wrap all this up with a Bluetooth transmitter and an internal battery which lets me stretch my spare fingers across the back and bob's your uncle.
Next up we need the console itself. I need my ideal console to be a lovely combination of form and function. It needs to sit near the TV and both blend in and jump out at the same time.
 |
In the end it needs to have a place for games to go and all the usual sockets for cables and stuff. So, 4 USB sockets, 2 USB 3.0 sockets, 1 Ethernet port, 1 optical output, 1 HDMI socket and 1 A/V component output and at least 1TB of hard drive. As for the technical stuff on the inside I'll leave that up to the super developer who makes my console. I would assume a super next generation high power spec capable of running stuff more powerful than Crysis 2.
That leaves the most controversial part of my plan. The Games. For my ideal console the games themselves who be on cartridges. That's right, cartridges! The main reason consoles switched to disc based media is profit margins. CD's, DVD's and blu-rays are much cheaper than the solid state memory needed for cartridges but they are much easier to pirate. Cartridge based games would benefit from faster load times, flexibility with regards to capacity and other special perks like on board games saves and be able to store patches and DLC. Of course you could store these things on the console's hard drive but the option is there.
So that's it. SNES shoulders and D-pad and Start / Select, Xbox 360 triggers and sticks, PS2 face buttons, PS3 battery and Bluetooth for the pad. All the best tech for the machine and cartridges for games. But wait there's more...!
Firmware, is the curse of all modern consoles and as such it would need to be damn near perfect for my ideal system. I would want a quick and easy to navigate menu system that would allow the user to access games, videos, social features and online content from one place and without hassle. None of the current consoles do these things well enough. My console should feature a veritable best of of the features offered by Xbox Live as well as PSN and most importantly would allow online multiplayer for free. Video playback should allow for any codec to be installed and offer HD playback either from streaming, downloads or external media. Audio should offer the same as well as allowing music playback during games and cross game chat.
Unfortunately the intricacies of great firmware would take up way too much space but if any developer wants to take me up on building the best console ever I'll gladly help sort the firmware too!
So come on Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Sega, Atari, Amiga, Panasonic? Take me up on my idea for the greatest console EVER and make my dream come true.
Cheers,
R.
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