Interscription

Quick note: The Developer Diary #4 for Too Human is now on the Live Marketplace!  Special thanks to Rob Semsey from Microsoft Game Studios’ Global PR for following up on this!

Being bitter about the lack of a 2008 Spring Dashboard update is a full-time job, but I guess it’s OK for me to take a moment to stop my seething hatred for Microsoft’s dumbest decision this year to let y’all know about the Xbox 360 License Management Tool.  Have fun…or whatever.

I was going through the motions of setting up my new windows mobile phone (an AT&T Tilt, upgraded from my aging Verizon 6700), and got to the part where I… install funambol on the phone to sync with www.scheduleworld.com to let me keep my PIM info synched between my home and work pc’s outlook and thunderbird, and of course, my phone. If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it is.  It’s always been a much more functional than it is pretty. The kind of thing that made people think it was an ordeal and recommend the still-unreleased mobileme for $99.00 instead.

• Read more: My.Funambol now with less headache

I remember my stepbrother and I pooling our money and buying a Dreamcast (before the appearance and eventual dominance of the PS2).  For us, it was a great purchase, since we were dropping $5 each a couple of times a week on Soul Calibur in the arcade.  The other title we picked up with the system was the Sonic Adventure launch title.  I distinctly remember the opening level, especially the pier-smashing killer whale and insane THREE-DEE loop-the-loops!  Since that time, no other Sonic game has really captured that sense of whimsy and fun that the original had.  It would seem, though, that the new Sonic Unleashed title is a return to form.  Judge for yourself:

• Read more: A return to fun, it would seem…

Who knew I’d be privy to heretofore unavailable Fable 2 information just by moving to Austin, TX!  I went out on my lunch break today, and as I drove past the local businesses on my way back to the office, a beacon of understanding of Lionhead’s new masterpiece called to me.  As is my journalistic duty, I HAD to stop by a grab screencaps for it.

• Read more: BREAKING FABLE 2 NEWS!

So, for those of you who have either been living under a rock, or just afraid of trans-dimensional travel (or cake) your list of excuses for not checking out Valve’s Portal just got shorter.

Valve is offering an extremely generous demo of Portal, which includes the first 11 levels. For you number crunchers, there are 19 levels in the game, so technically, that’s more than half of the game.

So, go get steam if you haven’t already an get your puzzle on!

A quick update before the weekend (albeit a week late!)…

The 4th Too Human Developer Diary is on the Intertubes, continuing the story of “The Goblin Man of Norway”. (See my previous post to check it out if you missed it). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU LOOK OUT FOR AN HD DOWNLOAD OF THIS!

• Read more: Way Too Human

So after reading this article on lifehacker.com, it got me thinking.  As anyone who knows me is aware, I’m a subscription entertainment junkie.  I currently have a Rhapsody subscription for my music, a Gamefly subscription for games (an awesome service, use this link to try it out, and send me some love!), and I’ve been demoing Netflix for it’s watch now product, which I’ll probably review at some point.  I also subscribe to every premium cable channel under the sun for their generally high level shows.

The theory of the article is that subscriptions are generally not the value that they seem to be as most of us actually consume far less than we think.  The argument doesn’t quite resonate very much for me on most things.   Let’s go through a couple of the subscriptions in my life:

• Read more: To Subscribe or not to subscribe…

Ozymandias wrote an interesting article awhile back regarding co-op and how it should (and should not) be implemented in this age of connected experiences.  Recently, 1UP interviewed him and explored this idea further.  Check out the interview for a more rounded explaination.