Shaw digital TV network upgrade

I'm pretty depressed today.

Got this letter in the mail with big bold letters saying YOUR CABLE SERVICE IS CHANGING TO DIGITAL TV

And it goes on to say how my cable provider, Shaw, is basically taking away my analog TV service. I have no choice but to switch to digital unless I only want "basic cable".

Basically, "DIGITAL TV" is a digital box that Shaw forces people to use. This box plugs the "analog hole", making it impossible to tape TV shows with a VCR..... or in my case, my Neuros Recorder II+.

I love my Neuros Recorder II+ ever since I got it in Nov. 2007. It records in .MP4 simple profile format which is compatible with my PSP, giving it a lot of functionality for me. Not only do the files play on PSP, but also my Play-Yan Micro (Game Boy Micro, DS Lite) and my current fave handheld, my HTC Legend phone. I tape TV shows all the time for watching on my handhelds when I'm away & bored.

And it looks like that's coming to an end. Shaw sucks. I'm really pissed off about this because there's NO reason for them to remove features from "cable" TV. The truth is that the cable signal I'm getting, the channels are ALREADY broadcasting those in digital. They're just using the mandated switch from analog to digital as a cover to force people into the plans Shaw wants them to have.

Looks like I need to learn up on torrents or something.



later
don

Sims 2 GBA

Man.... way back when I started this blog I fully intended to talk about GBA games & my Game Boy Micro. I don't play it all the time but I've had some intense few weeks of gaming on it here & there. But I bet that if I clicked on the Game Boy Micro link tag under the site header I'd find very few posts about my little Micro. I think I played it more just before I started Handheld Addict & for some reason not much since.

So right now I am playing the hell out of The Sims 2 on it. It was actually part of the bundle when I bought my Game Boy Micro from Future Shop in 2007(?) They packed in 2 GBA carts: Sims 2 and a Pokemon movie cart which I think is actually 2 episodes from the tv show. I still haven't watched that yet. And back then I tried out Sims 2 a bit, just to make sure it worked but then put it away until I was in the mood.

So fast forward a few years to a couple days ago, and I'm rooting through my box of GBA game carts looking for something to try. "Hmmm, Sims 2? I have no idea what this game is like... oh what the hell-- let's give it a shot!", I said.

And I've been playing it like crazy ever since.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I have also been playing tons of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town on my phone. I have the GBA cart of that game too but I loaned it to my nephew & he's been completely addicted to it for months. I'm probably not getting it back, so I acquired a ROM of it for my phone. Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town is a slow-paced game but it is surprisingly addictive... I'm really getting into the sim-genre right now.
The Sims 2 is a nice fit in that genre, and I'm really surprised now good the graphics are. It's a huge ROM; most are like 3MB, but this one is like 24MB!

I forgot how nice the d-pad on the Game Boy Micro is. I tried playing it on my DS Lite, and the mushy d-pad really turned me off, so I went back to my Micro. But I am just not a fan of the tiny TINY Micro screen. Even though it makes GBA games look good.... it's still damn small.

So I have it on my phone and have been playing it on both devices, basically just playing the same levels on each.

It's a weird game... basically you're an actor on a sort-of reality show? But the others don't know they're on a show? I'm not sure. But you directly control your sim & complete levels which are episodes on this show.

To me it's fun in the some of the same ways that Harvest Moon is, that you can wander around I explore/discover things. The graphics are better but the exploration is much smaller than Harvest Moon.

I'm using this game to help me wait out the final week before the 3DS release on Sunday....



later
don

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

Picking up my DS Lite again got me trying out some GBA games... I'd pulled out my Ewin Rumble Pak out of my DS Lite's GBA slot-- it's a tight fit, so I've been rocking my DS with the slot exposed, no cork...... I thought I'd get some GBA games play time before I cork the slot back up since it's not easy to pull that thing out once it's in.

Been catching up on Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land... bought this awhile back, I think used off of eBay?

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land is a pretty cool platformer. The Kirby series of games have a reputation of being on the easier side of the platformer scale, but I'm finding Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land to have a few challenging, even frustrating moments. The campaign seems pretty long, I've read reports that it can be done in a few hours, but there seem to be alternate paths & doors to try out, so I think there are a lot of different areas to explore. I really like Kirby's gimmick: he swallows his enemies, and can either spit them out or absorb their powers (if they have any) it's a great gameplay mechanic.

Overall, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land is pretty fun if you're new to the platformer genre of games.

Yesterday I picked up Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS) and I've played an hour of that... maybe it's early but I'm finding that one to be MUCH EASIER than Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land... I'm wondering if there's much main game to Kirby Super Star Ultra (there are a few minigames) and it seems like Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land has more game to it. So right now I have both DS slots filled with Kirby games, but I'm more compelled by the Kirby GBA game.......



later
don

console icons

Found this really awesome work on Flickr by artist Axel Pfaender...



He has icons for all the major systems, and they look really cute & great! Very cool.



later
don

Game Boy Micro: just checking

Today I fired up the ol' Game Boy Micro, just to make sure the battery hadn't completely died. I should play with it for a bit & charge it up (same with my DS Lite) since I haven't played them for a long time.....

Game Boy Micro has to be the most portable handheld console available. It's flexible in that it plays all GBA cartridges, as opposed to the "10 games in 1" type of consoles that are found in places like Wal-Mart that have no expandability with game selection. The screen is tiny, but so bright that it can be played outdoors (unlike the PSP... we'll have to see if the screen improvements for the PSP-3000 will really make it viewable outside during the day)



I really like the Game Boy Micro, it's so tiny & cute. The only thing I don't like about it is after playing it for awhile, it makes my PSP & DS Lite feel HUGE. And that is just so wrong.



later
don