The Next-Gen Media Format War is Over.

Today, Toshiba announced that it will be discontinuing any and all development and sales of their HD DVD players and DVDs.  They have officially switched to Blu-Ray only and thus hammered the last nail in the coffin of HD DVD.  Any of you who invested in a HD DVD player with hopes of using it for some time to come can chuck it out the window; it won’t even be worth the listing fees on eBay.  Although some 15% of the population in America actually owns some sort of HD playable equipment, it’s rather safe to say that HD will be picking up considerable steam soon what with the Blu-Ray functionality of the PS3 and the continuing dropping prices of Blu-Ray players.

Speaking of PS3, the NPD numbers were released last week I believe.  The PS3 actually outsold the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo DS.  Absolutely shocking.  Are we going to see a considerable boom in PS3 sales since this announcement?  I doubt it.  Is the Xbox 360 dead since it only has an HD DVD attachment drive?  Definitely not.  I can say with some sort of reassurance that PS3 sales will continue to go up as continually better games and movies come out.  That’s right, movies.  The PS3 is unarguably the best deal for a Blu-Ray player right now.  $400 for a 40GB PS3 that can play a presently small library of PS3 games and a select few PS2 games as well as the ever growing selection of Blu-Ray movies.

The question is on blogs and podcasts galore: will Blu-Ray be the number one selling factor for the PS3 for the months to come?  Probably.  The current information on upcoming games doesn’t show much promise for gamers.  But, go look at upcoming movies and you’ll see lots of great things on the road to our homes.  People want pretty graphics and even prettier hardware.  The PS3 is sexy looking and gives sexy graphics.  It’s a no-brainer.

Now, what about the ~85% of the American population without HDTV compatible hardware (me included)?  You’re not left out.  The DVD format is incredibly far away from being dead.  During the transition from VHS to DVD you could buy tapes for quite some time into the DVD age.  In fact, I can still find new VHS tapes in some stores around here.  We “poor” people without the HDTVs, PS3s, Blu-Ray movies, and huge surround sound systems can still enjoy our Indiana Jones 4, Batman, and other select big name titles.  Don’t fret, the prices continue to drop and the quality continues to go up.  That’s why I’m waiting, I want the best possible bang for my buck.

Well that, and the wife won’t let me.

Oh, I’m married now.  It’s so cool.

The one about Peggle

So yesterday went more or less entirely against any plan I had made up. The movie and shopping extravaganza turned into a day playing Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4, and Assassin’s Creed. Oh, and a brilliant little game called Peggle. But more on that later.

Sara had a bachelorette party with some friends, so she was gone from 9:00 p.m. until about 3:00 a.m. Of course by this time I was well asleep after a rousing solo viewing of The Count of Monte Cristo, a favorite movie of mine by the way. She seemed to have really enjoyed herself and had plenty of nice little “toys” for the honeymoon; more on that after the ‘moon.

Peggle is an absolutely remarkable game. How I have went so long without discovering it is well beyond me. The premise of the game is basically a mix between Puzzle Bobble and a game from The Price is Right called Plinko. You start by shooting your single colored ball onto pegs, there are many different colors of pegs and I don’t have all the details from the demo I played. It’s a very strategic game, giving you only ten balls to bounce around and clear more than two-hundred pegs. While that sounds incredibly difficult, trust me its not. You have different “powers” as well. Hitting a green peg or block will unleash one of ten “powers” available in the game, all based on animals like a turtle, unicorn, or squirrel. For the demo the unicorn power was unlocked, giving you a “guiding” power when picked up. If this sort of tickles your funny part then by all means, download the demo from here. Come back here and let me know what you think of it.

No movie review today, as I did not see any movies. Perhaps next week? Who knows.

I caught a glitch a couple of days ago in Team Fortress 2. I joined a server, chose a scout, and the game immediately ended. I was greeted with a small screen saying that I had been alive as a scout for more than an hour. This was unquestionably wrong, as I had just joined the server. I thought it would just sort of “not happen” but on the loading screen I was proven wrong by reading that I was indeed alive for a total of two hours as a spy. Very odd indeed.

Until next time, boys and girls =)

To blog or not to blog?

For those who know me, saying that I am indecisive is pretty much like saying the ocean is wet.

Deciding whether or not to start a blog, let alone set time aside for the upkeep of one was a rather long and tedious decision.   With that said, don’t expect this to become a daily blog saying “Oh wow!  I went and saw a tractor today!” sort of thing.  This will be more of a news that catches my eye kind of thing.

Expect this blog to pertain to games, movies, TV, my pets, my wife, or even my daily work life!  If that any of that sounds entertaining to you then by all means, bookmark this now and visit it weekly for all of the information you will ever need.

My thoughts will be sporadic, non-conformed, and  possibly make no sense whatsoever; only time will tell.

As for today, perhaps more will be posted tonight, perhaps not.  We’ll see, I suppose.

I’m going to see a movie today with Sara, my wife.  I’m sure that some sort of shopping/walking around will accompany said movie adventure s so I’m sure that I’ll post both a review of the movie and a review of stores and deals I might come upon.