Forget beginning... It's already upon us!

Remember when I posted that Wii games are starting to pick up speed and caliber? All the typical internet kiddies who think they know how the world works have been whining constantly about how terrible the selection of Wii games has been, and how Nintendo should have learned from the GameCube, and how they're going to fail again. (While, I might add, they don't even consider selling their Wii console... Got some double-standards there, whining and complaining about the lack of games and how worthless the console is, when it's still sold out nearly an entire year later, and you could see the thing on eBay and make all your money back.)

I would like to point you all to an article at Joystiq. Whiners and fans alike... This list of games being released or both the Wii and the DS should give you heart! Mind you, this is only a list of games being released between right now and March 2008. That leaves the rest of 2008 to keep propelling Nintendo to the clear and obvious winners of this chapter of the console war. And this, I might add, fits into what I've been projecting this entire time.

Let me break it down for you all once again:

GameCube considered a failure, despite the fact that Nintendo always, always, always made a profit off of every sale. Marketshare was low, perhaps, but they clearly won the race when it came to money. People conveniently ignore that, predicting the withdraw of Nintendo from future races.

Nintendo announces the Wii with the motion sensitive remote control that Sony shamelessly copies after denouncing it as a gimmick along with the rest of the internet. Honestly, how could something that stupid ever win against the sheer graphical power and popularity of the Playstation and Xbox console lines? Clearly, the winner was going to be Sony, if the PS2 was any indication.

Publishers and developers shy away from the Wii after hearing everyone's negative press. Some are still enlightened and smart enough to realize the ultimate potential of the Wii, but not a whole lot, and most continue to focus on the Xbox 360, after learning that the PS3 isn't really all it's cracked up to be.

Wii and PS3 are released more or less at the same time and the Wii lurches ahead, carrying the title of fastest selling console in the history of video games. Publishers and developers who were afraid of developing for the Wii suddenly wake up to their terrible mistake and rush to make SOMETHING for it. Anything! Just get a game out there on what's clearly the most popular console! They're losing money... Hurry, hurry, hurry!

This results in some pretty boring, hastily released games by third parties. Consumers are irate at this fact and declare that Nintendo is doomed to follow in the footsteps of their former glory, overhyping the console and failing to deliver. Some threaten to sell their Wii and spread the word of its failure, but none ultimately seems to sell it in the end.

One year rolls around, the amount of time that new console games start rearing their heads. The start of the amount of time it takes to make a game actually worth playing. Behold, a whole parcel of games by Nintendo is scheduled for release during the holidays. The masses rejoice, for finally, Nintendo has learned from their mistakes! (Actually, the masses just can't see the larger picture.) But sadly, some people are upset that there are no major third party games coming out.

No, see, this is because Nintendo clearly knew ahead of time that they would be making games for their own console, and started making games earlier than the third party developers. The third party developers jumped on the bandwagon only after it was such a hit, and thusly, they're still not quite finished. Happily, they're beginning to announce the new games and they're nearing completion, and the anti-Nintendo sentiment is slowly fading as people do complete 180-degree turns and conveniently forget that they were anti-Nintendo in the first place.

And all this time, we've had an example of exactly what the Wii would become in front of us. The Nintendo DS. Take a look at the Joystiq list again. The DS list of games is clearly longer than the list of Wii games. In the same time frame. The DS got started exactly the same way the Wii did, and nobody in their right mind can say the DS is a failure, can they?

If you want to know how the DS got started, just re-read the recap and replaced "Wii" with "DS" and "PS3" with "PSP" and drop references to the Xbox wherever they may be. Seriously. The DS was stamped as a gimmick because of the touch screen, and the PSP was heralded as the end-all handheld and nobody jumped on the DS bandwagon until AFTER it became popular. Now look at it!

Anyway, there you have it. The list of games scheduled for release for both platforms between now and March 2008, which I must stress does NOT include the REST of 2008. That makes the list of games they have right now HUGE. I can't wait to see what the rest of 2008 has to offer, if not only to use as ammo against the Nintendo haters who just can't seem to come to terms with the fact that the company that created the modern gaming industry is back on top and shows no signs of defeat.

With the latest World of Warcraft patch to 2.2.0, everyone was surprised (some, like me, pleasantly surprised) to see that Blizzard had decided to completely rework the audio engine for the game! Now, instead of hardware acceleration, they're using FModEX to provide a new software-level engine.

This, of course, reached the ears of Creative Labs. According to a very biased article at a place called WoWInsider.com (I mean, look: "So it seems Blizzard treats other hardware vendors the same way they treat their own players..." What's that supposed to mean? You think Blizzard treats their players poorly? Well, 8 million subscribers say you're entirely wrong, my friend.)... Creative had very little advanced warning in the matter (as if Creative thinks they need to be told about something like this) and they're hopping mad, trying to incite all the Creative sound card owners to riot against Blizzard for daring to do such a thing! (Okay, maybe not riot, but they're still trying to get players to speak out.)

As a not so proud owner of an Audigy 2 ZS Notebook sound card, I can honestly say that I think Blizzard is doing the best thing they could've done. Vista has been out for what, almost a year now, and Creative's drivers are still the horribly stripped drivers they are. You can barely get the microphone working. I was okay with some drivers acting up when Vista was released, but this is 12 months later, people. Everyone else has flawlessly working drivers... Everyone except Creative, who has been known to drag their feet on drivers. Now, they're complaining that Blizzard didn't consult them when Blizzard decided to rework the game engine in Blizzard's own game. Creative thinks they need to be consulted before anyone touches their sound card engines. Hmm...

Basically, it's this... FMod is new to Blizzard and there are some bugs, naturally. These bugs aren't huge, but they're annoying to some people. So far, the major issue is that the channels of sound have been cut down for the time being, so people are noticing some sounds cutting out when they're in an area with lots of sounds. Somehow, this is worth getting angry over. There are some other issues, sure, but Blizzard is trying to answer, correct and update any and all problems.

Some short-sighted players are asking why in the heck Blizzard decided to strip out a perfectly working engine for one that doesn't work anymore. To which Blizzard replied: "Understand that we have the source to all parts of our sound engine now, and will be working with the developer to continue to find improvements, a handful of which were checked in here just today for an upcoming patch (probably not the first patch to 2.2.0 as that one is already in mid testing, but very likely the one after that)."

Meaning, the engine they used to use did NOT give them access to all source code for it. Meaning what, exactly? Well... Clearly they couldn't do what they wanted to do, so they thought it was cost-effective enough to start using a NEW engine. One that they can change to their heart's desire... One that they can fix, by themselves, all the issues they may or may not run into! So, wait... What's this? Blizzard is trying to do something GOOD in the long run?

This is what humanity doesn't get... patience. Good things come to those who wait, but most people want everything RIGHT NOW, NOW, NOW! They complain when games are delayed, they complain when games are released with bugs, they complain the bug fixes are delayed, they complain about other bugs when old bugs are fixed. This new sound engine is for the better. Even now, on Vista, the OS that doesn't allow hardware acceleration because Creative hasn't bothered to fix that for Audigy cards, I've noticed a positive difference.

But, in short, only Creative sound cards are broken... Hmm. What does that mean? Does it mean that Blizzard is an idiot for changing sound card engines and breaking Creative cards, or possibly... just maybe... it means that Creative's drivers are crappy and don't work with software that other cards have no problem with? Hmm.

Think of it this way. If, say, a web browser decided to interpret things on it's own, disregarding what other browsers handle the same way, and you expect everyone else to cater to your programming anomalies... What would you, as a web programmer, do? Would you program for the web browser that interprets things non-standard, or would you program for the browsers that display pages properly and in a predictable and standard way? Hmm... I think I recall a massive amount of people NOT wanting to cater to Internet Explorer for this very reason.

But it's bad that Blizzard is inconveniencing you in the present, in an effort to make things perfect in the future, for this very reason? That Creative isn't good enough to just make their cards work? Kinda got some raging double-standards there, if you ask me.

I enjoy Creative. They're good cards. I'll probably buy Creative cards in the future. The drivers? Not so good... They'll get fixed, sure, but not very quickly at all. For those of you with Creative cards, don't bug Blizzard... Do what Creative is asking you and apply that force to CREATIVE. Make them fix their drivers! They have plenty of money... I think they can handle churning drivers as stable and as quickly as nVidia can.

The Wii nay-sayers are going to start having their comeuppance in the next few months, and I say... It's about time. Maybe everyone will shut up about how slow the Wii game market has been and how they're so bored with their Wii and how they're sick of bowling. (But aren't willing to actually sell their Wii for a hefty profit, I might add, seeing as how retail Wiis are still sold out, almost 12 months after release.)

I started college, so I was completely unaware of the fact that Mario Strikers Charged was finally released in the United States! I was aware of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption coming out a few weeks ago, though. But in addition to these two amazingly fun looking games, Super Mario Galaxy is slated to come out on November 12th, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl is coming out on December 3rd.

I am in a... very odd predicament. I am raising money for a new PC, while having preordered Halo 3 Legendary as well. In addition to that, I have four Wii games on my list, plus the Orange Box from Valve that's going to come out soon, too.

Brawl is a no-brainer. I may even preorder that soon with my new handy-dandy Amazon certificate I got in the mail a few days ago. I want Mario Strikers, too, but I have a feeling that nobody else will, and I'll be playing that alone. Metroid is high up on my list, but I didn't realize that all three Metroid Prime games were to make up a trilogy, so I'm going to have to find Metroid Prime 2 and play that. Mario Galaxy is pretty low on my list, though, much to the very oddly placed chagrin of Edrick. (What does it matter to him if I buy a single-player game at release or 2 years later? )

But anyway, the games are coming, people. All you need is some patience for just a little bit longer! Mark my words, after this year, more people will start announcing and releasing far better games. Remember! Nobody expected the Wii to do so well and they're all scrambling to make the next blockbuster for it.

Since Ed enjoys my daily updates:
Day 3 of 50 complete. $210 of $3250, 6.46% raised. Finish: November 1st.

So while everyone's been concerned with the menace of a Windows Automatic Updater that automatically updates itself without telling you (which, as the real techs understand, only happens because people were too ignorant to actually turn OFF the automatic updater), Apple pulls a fast one and has successfully locked out current generation iPods from any music player besides their monopolizing iTunes. (Nikiski was right. iTunes wanted a reboot because it was installing new iPod drivers... Not necessarily with locking out in mind, but with new technology in mind.)

This largely affects Linux users, since iTunes is obviously not available for that platform. This also affects people (of who I am beginning to consider joining) who despise iTunes and want to use another application to synchronize their iPod.

It looks like folks are trying to reverse-engineer this new "feature", which is made possible by some sort of special encrypted lines in a file that's stored on the iPod that nobody has been able to decode yet.

And people tell me Apple is better than Microsoft. No. No... They're really not.

So the world is feigning shock during these last couple of days after learning that Microsoft is automatically updating Windows even when people turn it off... Sadly, everyone's caught up in the age old pastime of railing on Microsoft to actually do some fact checking.

The article being used as "confirmation" for the "rumor" is some idiot from ZDNet. He goes through all the whiny drivel of explaining why Windows is downloading stuff even when told not to. But there's a critical error in his process of explaining. His copy of Windows is NOT set to "Do not automatically update"... It's set to "download and notify", a very, very key fact in this whole charade.

Here's the original rumor from the same guy at ZDNet, and here's the alleged confirmation. He yaks about how some people want to keep Windows at a certain patch level for development purposes and don't want Windows going around updating without knowledge. (Fine, but I have a question. If you don't want updates on a development machine, why are you telling Windows to download the updates and notify you they're ready for installation? You realize you CAN disable automatic updates completely and manually check for updates yourself, right? I would think that's far more controlled than getting notifications.)

In both cases, he lists the files that are being updated "without permission". See how they're all prefixed with the letters "WU"? (Except for the first listed file for XP.) Well, I don't know about you... But that kinda looks like it's a Windows Update component and not a critical system file. In the confirmation article, he shows screenshots of the updater in action! First shot is the Event Viewer... What happens? "The Automatic Updater service entered the running state." Okay, the updater is running. Since you set this to DOWNLOAD AND NOTIFY, this is NOT unusual. It's got to check for updates to download, after all.

Second screenshot: "Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: Automatic Updates". Okay, so even with download and notify, it installed an update! GASP! What is Microsoft tampering with without our knowledge?! Oh, wait... It's just the automatic updater and no version-whacking critical component? Ooops, my bad.

Third screenshot shows the file properties for "wuapi.dll", which is simply the Windows Update Client API. I think he's trying to show that this was a file that was indeed updated. But, honestly, who cares if the Automatic Updater is updating itself? What, are you developing a program to distribute that... automatically downloads updates? Sounds like you need to focus on a new project, seeing as how Microsoft kinda already has an automatic updater. And if keeping the exact save version of Windows is SO CRITICAL for you? Disable the updater completely! It's just another button on the configuration window!

Microsoft responds to this sudden baseless uproar, and a product team blog post is made to explain exactly why this occurs. Read it. It explains everything and reiterates the fact that if you truly disable automatic updates, then no updates will happen. The thing is, when at any time the WAU is set up to download things... It had to update itself to properly list new patches for you. Microsoft is always tweaking Windows Automatic Updater (WAU), too, and they release new versions! Remember several months ago when Windows XP suddenly had to download a new release of WAU?

Basically, the updater updates itself periodically. Just like any other widely used server/client service! Ever play an old Sierra game with the online updaters? Guess what you downloaded first, before the game? That's right... an updater update. So it could properly detect new updates for you programs!

The way I see it, these Fear-Uncertainty-Doubt spreaders break down into two groups. Insanely private people who are going nuts that Microsoft DARE automatically update the updater service that the people HAVE TURNED ON... And the daft programmers who are going nuts because WAU is somehow screwing up their development platform. (Seriously? If your program, whatever it is, relies so much on the WAU files? You need to fix something, unless it's an alternative to WAU, in which case, nobody needs it, sorry.)

If you people are so upset that Microsoft DARE tamper with your system without your knowledge (when you're too dumb to notice you gave "permission" for Microsoft to "tamper" with your system by selecting the "download and notify" option), then hey! I have an idea...

Turn off Automatic Update! Here! I'll even help you people out:

In Vista, click the pretty little Windows logo button in the lower-left corner of the screen, click on "All-Programs", and in the main list, find and click on "Windows Update". The screen will pop up, where on the side bar you click "Change settings". Look at it VERY CAREFULLY... There! See it? The flashy red shield with an X? That's the "Never check for updates" option. You want that. Click it, go ahead, it won't bite you. Be sure to click OK when you're done or it won't change! There, did you click it? Well! You're done! No more Microsoft spying technology operating without your knowledge!

In XP, click the ugly Start Menu button on the lower-left corner of the screen and click Control Panel. Click "Switch to Classic View", if that shows up in your side bar, to get a long list of things. Near the top of the list is an option called "Automatic Updates". Double-click that. Oh, look! There's that flashy red shield with an X again! You guessed it! You need to click that and press OK.

There. You have now actually disabled Automatic Updates and WAU will no longer keep itself updated to correctly list the updates available to you. Be aware that since it no longer updates the client, you will most likely have to do that next time you connect.

That wasn't so bad, was it?

I mean honestly... the guy on ZDNet is whining his precious over-paid little butt off about WAU keeping itself current when it's on the SECOND most automatic process. The download and notify option... Not even the "Notify, but don't download" option. He said himself it's the "DOWNLOAD and notify", as in... check for updates, download them, and tell me they're ready to install.

This has got to be the overreaction to end all overreactions...

Day 2 of 50 complete. $140 of $3250, 4.30% raised. Finish: November 1st.

Revised my numbers for 330 dollars a week. (Short day for Tuesday math class.) Doing pretty well, a bit tired, though, but I think that's just because I'm working, because I'm still getting 8 hours of sleep a night, like I have even when waking up at noon. (Actually, more like 7 hours, since I can't fall asleep at midnight, yet... I'm sure that'll change.) I actually plotted a finish date, too. November 1st! Maybe I will be able to do NaNoWriMo again this year... Hmm. Or I might be too busy playing Oblivion to care. We shall seeee.

Here's something I've been wanting to share for a few day, but never got around to it. The definition of irony. The definition of irony isn't seeing Microsoft Windows merrily booting itself on an Apple computer. It's this:

Irony is when Apple iTunes, a music player, needs to restart Windows... Windows Vista, I might add. The version of Windows that doesn't REQUIRE restarts anymore. (With the exception of OS update, which, I might add, requires that most OSes reboot after applying.)

I'm sitting here still wondering why in all heck an MP3 player needs to reboot Windows after installing. Especially since it's merely an upgrade. Is it because it can't restart the services? Lame. Apache2Triad can do that, and look, it asks me for administrative privileges in the first place! It certainly has the power to start and stop services. If services are the fault here, then chalk it up to lousy programming.

Is it installing a kernel-level piece of code that Windows can't start? I certainly hope not. It's a music player, for crying out loud, not a critical security update. If iTunes is installing kernel code... I'm going to be angry. If Winamp can upgrade without rebooting, certainly Apple's "glass of water in hell" (according to Steve Jobs) shouldn't have to. If it's installing kernel code, what do we chalk it up to? Lousy programming.

Fear not, Vista nay-sayers... For I have also updated my XP system and it also asked for a reboot. Perhaps it installs a driver? In which case, rebooting in XP would indeed be required. But in Vista? With the previously cried for, yet now oft-overlooked feature of user-mode drivers? Not required in the least bit. Not even my VIDEO CARD DRIVER asked for a reboot. It merely uninstalled, flickered the monitor a few times, and voila! Done deal. Why should iTunes ask for a reboot?

But what driver could it possibly be for? The iPod? No, I honestly don't think so. Windows XP and Vista can both discover an "iPod" when you plug it in... Without having installed iTunes. It's a built-in driver. Is it an iPhone driver? That would certainly be the pinnacle of irony. But still, let's not forget that Vista doesn't need to be rebooted for drivers.

Still, I find it oddly humorous. iTunes, a music player, asking for a reboot.

http://au.gear.ign.com/articles/799/799262p1.html

Sony is at it again! Take a look at that article. You don't have to read it... Just take a peek at the three pictures. Do you notice anything... Familiar? About this controller set that is being heralded as "innovative"? That's right. It's a mouse. A mouse for the PS3. Innovative means something new that changes the way you do something. This isn't innovative, this is a lousy attempt to get PC players to feel the PS3 is best to play first person shooters on now. (Face it, nothing beats keyboard/mouse for FPS.)

Okay, so the mouse isn't innovative, clearly. But what's that other controller? The black nunchuk. Oops, sorry, it's not a nunchuk, is it. It's an overclocked Wii Nunchuk. Just... Look at it. Joystick, a bazillion buttons. Bet it's not motion sensitive, though. So is the nunchuk half the part that's innovative? I mean, really, if the mouse isn't innovative, but you call this set innovative, then it must be the nunchuk. Which, I might add, Nintendo designed something similar FIRST, and everyone's laughing at the controller set that will become old and boring in 6 months.

So, okay. Judging by Sony fanboy rants, the nunchuk isn't innovative, either, since they're laughing at Nintendo's nunchuk (THAT CAME FIRST). So what does that leave? Hmm...

That's right, folks. The mouse pad. The mouse pad is innovative. See that little arm rest in the first picture? The mouse pad clearly sports a convenient cradle for the nunchuk. I've never seen anything like it before in my life! It could very well change the face of console gaming as we know it. Because... Uhm... You could... Like... Put stuff on there... Within easy reach of your other hand?

Ah, who is anybody kidding? This is a rehash of existing controller sets that Sony copied. It's not innovative in the least bit. Is it useful? Sure! I mean, if I bought a PS3 (like when hell has snow), I'd get this. It WOULD make FPS games easier to play... Maybe. It would take a lot of time getting used to. But it could be useful! But innovative? Come on, Sony... Innovative in your own little world, maybe. But you just copied everyone else... Again.