Sean Looi Says

Christopher Tan with his recorders as the lightsaber hilt.

Pastor Philip in a leadership camp

My uncle Poh Shyan

Credit goes to Jared Lim for doing this awesome effect!

This effect is inspired by the character Isaac Mendez (Heroes), who has the ability to paint the future. Peter Petrelli (image below) had the ability to absorb other people's abilities when he is in close proximity of someone, one of which was Isaac himself. This gives Peter the power to paint the future as well, as shown in the following shot in Episode 5 of Season 2.

Jared Lim used this screen capture as a reference

I have been on the Playstation bandwagon since the first PS was released back when I was just a kid. I later saved up enough to get myself a Playstation 2 and have no intention of letting this baby go. Those were some awesome gaming moments. Sadly I cannot say the same about a Playstation 3...

I have been persuaded countless times by PS3 fans that I should "join the dark side" and get a PS3 myself. The purpose of this post is to tell my readers why I prefer the Xbox 360 over the PS3 (anytime) and hope that it helps them in their decision on getting a gaming console... and to stop people from persuading me to get a PS3.


HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO COMPARISONS

The above link will show high definition comparison videos for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. Gaming consoles do not come cheap, so it is worth doing some research and making sure which console runs games better. When watching these videos, preferably in HD, notice the following points:

XBOX 360

• Smoother frame rates
• Better color saturation
• Sharper graphics

PLAYSTATION 3

• Lower frame rate
• Faded colors
• Graphics are blurry

XBOX 360 vs. PLAYSTATION 3 Graphics Comparison (Gamespot.com)

The games that were compared were:

1. Need for Speed: Carbon
2. Call of Duty 3
3. Madden 07
4. Marvel Ultimate Alliance
5. NBA 2k7
6. Fight Night Round 3
7. Tony Hawk Project 8
8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07

Conclusion:

"The Xbox 360 had better graphics in almost all the games we examined. The 360's biggest victories were in Madden 07 and Fight Night Round 3, where the differences in texture detail and lighting stood out in our comparison shots. We couldn't capture this in the screenshots, but the Xbox 360 games generally offered better framerates too.

We're going to give the PS3 the benefit of the doubt in this initial round since developers might need more time to figure out how to maximize performance from the Cell and the RSX. If you look at the Xbox 360's first Madden game, Madden 06, you'll notice that it doesn't offer very realistic stadium shadows, either. The trouble with buying a console at launch is that you often have to wait for the second or third generation of games for the system to fulfill its potential. The PS3 didn't beat the 360 in this first comparison, but the games do look fine for first-generation titles. The real graphics battle will likely come next year."

XBOX 360 vs. PLAYSTATION 3 Graphics Comparison Round 2 (Gamespot.com)

The games that were compared were:

1. Armored Core 4
2. Def Jam Icon
3. NBA Street Homecourt
4. Virtua Tennis 3
5. Oblivion
6. Spiderman 3

Conclusion:

"Our quick seven-game tour has shown that the PlayStation 3's game graphics are getting closer to the Xbox 360's. The Xbox 360 had an edge in texture quality and antialiasing in many of the games, but we didn't see any nasty lighting deficiencies like the ones we found in Fight Night Round 3 in the original comparison feature. Additionally, in what may be a hint of things to come, Bethesda's Oblivion proved that there can be a PS3 game port with better textures than the Xbox 360 version. The PS3's graphics win in Oblivion gives us hope that game developers will be able to produce competitive graphics if given enough time to work with the hardware. We can't wait to see how the games compare this holiday season!"

FINAL THOUGHTS

From the initial comparison videos, it is obvious that the Xbox 360 performs waay better than the Playstation 3. There are countless articles and arguments that the Cell processor of the PS3 is still underutilized and that developers have not figured out a way on how to harness that power (if it is present). Honestly I could not care less about these processor talks, to hell with those little features like Microsoft's awesome Live service, Sony's free online play and Bluray player. What REALLY matters is that we buy a gaming console for GAMES, and on that the Xbox 360 delivers.

The following video shows some random sections of the game. The newest Assassin's Creed footage: horses, death and sunsets from arabesque haunts. Ubisoft has put in a lot of effort, recreating whole cities such as Jerusalem and Acre. This is one of the most anticipated titles of 2007 along with some others!

ASSASSINS CREED GAME MONTAGE

Mass Effect is easily one of the most anticipated games of 2007 and is exclusively released for the Xbox 360. Sporting an enormous cast of characters, Mass Effect looks to have an in-depth story as well as exciting action. Take note on how the game has a cinematic approach. Everything is happening in-game!

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT - PART I



CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT - PART II



CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT - PART III

This is hillarious! Poor kid.. but still...

Date: 26 September 2007

I am in Australia for some engineering practical courses. After the student group meeting, the group decided to take a bus to town. I declined and made my way back to the lodge to rest.

30 minutes later I decided to take a walk outside the lodge. There was a public phone booth nearby and I could see someone inside. Thinking that it was one of the students, I started to make my way towards the phone booth. As I was making my way towards the booth, which was on the right, I started to hear moaning and groaning coming from over the hedges on the left!

I started running towards the source of the sound and just around the corner was an 80 year old man lying face down. He could not get up, he had blood on a side of his face and cuts on his hands. Immediately, I got another friend to help and eventually we got an ambulance to take the old man to the hospital.

Here's the weird part... there was no one in the phone booth when I looked again. I believe that it was an angel sent by God to lead me to that person in need.

I hope that whoever reads this will find it encouraging.

On May 7, there will be an update available for the Xbox 360 dashboard. The new features will include the following:

• Add MSN Messenger contacts to your friends list
• Text chat functionality
• Unlocked achievement details (name and points)
• Marketplace will have its own blade
• Low-power mode for overnight downloading
• And much more...

I am very excited and I cannot wait for this update. The service is getting better and better... good job Microsoft.

1. MASS EFFECT (XBOX 360)

Mass Effect is an RPG created by the company who brought us game of the year (2003) Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, which won more than 40 awards!

Dialogue will be dynamic in Mass Effect

In-game graphics look stunning

Scanning for your target on the rooftops

Social stealth in play

A friend of mine, Aswad, got a PS3 for his 11th birthday, that lucky arse... or is he?

For the first time I got to see the PS3 up close in person. Too bad the only games available at that moment were Ridge Racer 7 and Genji. Ridge Racer 7 was a natural choice.

LOOKS:
It looks sleek and elegant. I'm surprised as it actually looks smaller than the pictures that I've seen on the internet. It's pretty heavy too, but almost similar in weight to the Xbox 360 (of which I am a proud owner).

This PS3 was the 60GB so it came with the usual memory card readers. The slot in drive is really cool. It complements the PS3 look very well. I don't think it would have looked good on the Xbox 360, honestly.

POWERING UP:
It's simple, no adapters at all. Just a cable from the wall sock to the PS3 was all it took. It's the exact same cable that is used for computers, so if you misplaced it, you can just buy one from the PC shop.

FUNCTIONS:
The menu system is quite elaborate. Since I only had a brief moment with the PS3, I wasn't able to explore every aspect of it. I was able to help Aswad set the PS3 to receive Wi-Fi signals from his modem though.

The PS3's built in wireless adapter makes it really convenient. There is no need to buy a separate adapter (i.e. Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter) and this saves $$ (As if the PS3 isn't priced a little too high already).

It has an internet browser too, so you can surf the web right at the sofa. All I did was start it up and it directed me to the PS3 home page. I never went further than that.

CONTROLLER:
It's so light, it feels cheap. The weight is a put off, it seems so fragile. The L2 and R2 buttons have been replaced by triggers, similar to the Xbox 360 controller.

I tested out the motion sensors on Ridge Racer 7 and the results were pretty undesirable. I found them terribly sensitive. I really don't think a light controller and motion sensors go well together.

One thing I sorely missed is the rumble. I never did find motion sensor something as great as to sacrifice rumble. No more feeling your car vibrate as you drive off the road, say goodbye to feeling your hands tremble as you fire away with the machine gun.

RIDGE RACER 7:
The graphics were better than the PS2, but it was still average. I am puzzled as to what the developers crammed into the 50GB bluray disc. With so much space, the game could have looked better.

Extreme drifting is Ridge Racer's trademark

Frame rate was smooth when playing a single player game; however, when we started a two player game, the frame rate dropped to 30 or below (based on my experience). This drop is quite noticeable as the action isn’t very smooth.

With all the power in the PS3, it wasn’t utilized for this game. In fact I’ve read in a few places that game developers find it challenging to make games for the PS3 because of its technology. So hopefully developers will work out the kinks on this one.

GAMES:
The launch games were a joke. But the future of PS3 is quite bright because there are some spectacular titles coming. Some that I wish I could get my hands on include FINAL FANTASY XIII and HEAVENLY SWORD.

Final Fantasy XIII: The game looks THIS good

However, a few PS3 exclusive titles have made its way to the Xbox 360 i.e. Assassin’s Creed, Tekken and Virtua Fighter 5. I hope FFXIII and Heavenly Sword will make it too.

Awesome fighting, beautiful graphics, hot woman, etc.

If you're like me, then you're having trouble finding all the cog tags in the game. Or you are just too lazy to do it. Here's a video guide showing each and every location of the hidden cog tags. 60 achievement points will be yours very soon...

Just look at this guy!



I've got an Xbox 360 so I don't really care. Great vid though...

I was just surfing around and look what I found - a modified Xbox 360 crammed into a form of a LAPTOP computer! Ben Heckendorn is the genius behind this awesome mod and I am so blown away by his work.

The specifications are:

• Uses a 17" wide (diagonal) 1280×720 progressive-scan LCD VGA monitor (for HD-level resolutions) Thus you can actually read the text in Dead Rising.
• Water-cooled with custom-built radiator. Allows for a slimmer main body versus the mammoth heat sinks in a stock 360.
• Built-in keyboard and Wi-Fi.
• USB hub allows original number of 3 USB ports for user
• All-aluminum case, except for plastic keyboard / ring of light / screen control area.
• Uses single customized "expanded" power supply brick for both screen and Xbox 360.
• Breakout ports on back allow hookup to component TV, VGA monitor, sound system (analog or TOSlink) and even crummy composite video.
• Size: 16.75" x 10.75" x 2.8" Weight: 14 pounds (with water loaded)

And if you are interested in making your own, or finding out how Ben worked on this project, he has taken the trouble to detail each step from the start to finish. Here's a step by step tutorial he has put together.

Here'a vid showing that it works:

If you do not have the money to spend on the Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter (pictured), then the following steps will guide you on how to connect your wi-fi enabled notebook computer and (techincally) go wireless without connecting your console to a modem situated far far away.

This is from Ign.com's game of the year 2006 awards video. They created a rap from the name of each nominee game title.

What I did was compile everything together into one video. Enjoy!