Category: General

I’ve been planning to write about how music in games are more important to the experience than we give them credit for, but that will have to wait.

I’ve just found this video of an Australian guy playing the same 4 chords over and over on a Roland keyboard, and weaving together an impressive medley of recent pop hits (with a few classics thrown in), singing a line or two from each, while his hands never stop playing the same thing. Not that they perfectly match what the actual songs were, but it’s easy to see how you can sing any number of pleasant melodies over that progression. An unpleasant reminder that no matter what you do, there are always formulas.

Edit: Love where this came from: The 2006 Sydney University Arts Revue: ‘The Complete History of Everything That Ever Happened Ever. On Ice. On Fire.’

4:54:29 PM david: http://www.sitex.com.sg/2006/
4:54:58 PM brandon: think there’ll be a wii counter
4:55:07 PM brandon: there was a ds lite one last year long before it came out
4:55:14 PM brandon: i went and played with one
4:55:43 PM david: Let the Gaming segment transform the way you think about games. No longer just limited to bulky consoles and expensive performance computers, gaming today can come to you in many forms with each offering a different level of entertainment and enjoyment to temporarily relieve your mind from conventional worldly issues.
4:55:57 PM brandon: WTFFFFF
4:56:01 PM david: LOL
4:56:29 PM brandon: i have unconventional worldly issues!
4:56:38 PM david: We know mobile entertainment is BIG and so to meet that huge multimedia appetite you have, we have carefully assembled a galleria of nothing but the latest in MP3 and MP4 gadgetry just for you
4:56:46 PM brandon: HAHAHAHAHA
4:56:48 PM david: man that game one is just gold seriously.
4:56:54 PM brandon: MP3 and MP4 gadgetry!
4:57:23 PM david: yeah wtf
4:57:30 PM david: Simply walk down the isles of Photo Imaging booths and start discovering tips and tricks you never knew about videography and photography that will soon propel you to the next level of creativity.
4:57:38 PM david: must employ this guy
4:58:00 PM brandon: can’t propel me soon enough!!
4:58:04 PM david: i think he kop from some cult religion’s webpage
4:58:05 PM david: Propel your imagination into the stratosphere as learn about the amazing software and hardware behind the creation of your favorite anime and manga.
4:58:11 PM david: another use of propel, same page
4:58:30 PM brandon: man i am so pumped for sitex now
4:58:35 PM david: http://www.sitex.com.sg/2006/highlights.shtml
4:58:41 PM david: just read it. man. its all gold.

More Wii goodness: How the Wii Was Born [ars technica]

I missed this a few days ago, but it’s a nice primer to the most interesting of the 3 new consoles which will be out in the US in a few days. I don’t think we’ll be seeing it in Singapore till after January, but fingers crossed. Is anybody out there considering importing a Japanese edition? Will they be region-locked?

Wii display stand – Akihabara, Tokyo
Originally uploaded by sangsara.

While I get my other photos developed and stuff, here’s one of the *least* exciting things I saw in Japan. And I am very excited about the Wii.

Accidental partial multiple-exposure
Originally uploaded by sangsara.

I’m off!

I’ll be in Japan on a company holiday from this Thursday till next Monday. It is in some ways the promised land for most of my friends, however this opportunity has caught me at a bad time. I am too busy with work to even properly pack, let alone do enough research to ensure a meaningful and productive visit. So I am not counting on having a complete experience. My goals are to eat well, take a lot of pictures, and make the most of not having an agenda.

I will be staying in the Shinjuku district, and that may be as far as I get with the list of must-see neighborhoods. Maybe I will make it down to the place where the loligoth girls hang out over the weekend, but that’s it. The rest of my time, if I follow my more experienced and Tokyo-oriented colleagues, will likely be spent off the tourist path. But that’s ok. I’ve got to leave some things unseen for when the rest of the aforementioned find time for a pilgrimage.

*

I unboxed my Horizon Kompakt this evening after about a half-year of sitting on my shelf, waiting for the small possibility of it selling itself to some passerby. It’s quite awesome, and demands the most complicated loading procedure I’ve ever seen a 35mm film camera involve. I’m going to go out tomorrow and shoot off a roll for the sheer heck of it. And then it’s off to Tokyo to capture what should be some incredible peoplescapes. Look out, salarymen! Beware, schoolgirls! Look busy, fishmongers!

Funny picture that made it to digg’s front page today. Well. That’s all for now.

And while I’m blogging again, here’s something I was supposed to mention a month ago.

I have a Sony DSC-T30 (T30) for sale. It’s maybe three and a half months old and in perfect condition with a good, solid screen protector put on. It comes with a 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo card (Sony brand), the original box and everything else, along with a Sony carrying case I bought for it.

Tech specs:
– 7.2 megapixel CCD (3072 x 2304).
– 3x optical zoom.
– Continuous video recording (640 x 480) in MPEG-4 format, with zooming.
– Mechanical/Optical Image Stabilization (Sony Super Steadyshot).
– Very pretty.
– High sensitivity up to ISO1000.
– Sliding lens cover.
– Ultra closeup macro mode (1cm).
– OMG IT’S BEAUTIFUL!
– f3.5/f4.3 min aperture.
– Very long battery life (440 shots CIPA rated).
– Exposure bracketing mode.
– You can’t stop looking at it.
– Only 169g in weight.
– That’s less than most phones.
– What, are you certain?
– Which phone are you using?
– You must be kidding.
– I’d get a real phone if I were you.

Recommended Retail Price: SGD$799

My Awesome, Loss-Leading, Faith-in-Humanity-Restoring, Sanitarium-Official-Visit-Inspiring, One-Time-One-Piece-Only sale price: SGD$599

Write me an email or leave a comment if you’re interested. Singapore buyers preferred because the post office is ohhhhhh soooooooo farrrrrr away from me.