Thursday, October 25, 2007

If anyone wants lightsaber effects added to their photographs, feel free to send me a copy of that photograph and include the preferred lightsaber colour. I will do the rest. It has always been a childhood fantasy of mine to hold a lightsaber and this is one way to re-live that fantasy. The following shots show some of the results:


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


Wednesday, October 24, 2007

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