Speed.

Last night I wanted to play Gran Turismo 5 (thanks, John!).  I haven’t played it since it’s launch, and I’ve finally come to grips that I’m not going to use the expensive steering wheel that I bought for the last Gran Turismo.  The wheel’s really nice, but the game is just more fun w/ a SixAxis.

FOUR HOURS LATER, the ridiculous patching process finished.

It took about 1.5 hours to download the first 340mb patch.  That works out to a paltry 500kbps.  By today’s standards, that’s unusually slow for a major service provider and entertainment company.

Here’s the kicker:  after the download completed, it took another… 10 minutes to install?  Then there was an additional 40mb patch and then ANOTHER 340mb patch!?

I played my 360 for most of the night.  I played a TON of Trials HD and the Dirt 2 demo to try and satisfy my racing hunger.  Don’t get me wrong, 360-land isn’t perfect either; my woman’s 360 red-ringed Friday (AGAIN) and my 360 Elite’s optical drive is shot (both are out of warranty).

At the end of the night, when I finally switched back to the PS3 to see if things were patched, I was faced w/ GT5 telling me that my system clock was wrong.  By this time, I was so angry with Sony that I actually swore at my TV.  This particular situtation could arguably be self-inflicted because I, the neglectful racer, haven’t played GT5 in months.  I concede that point, but what argument is there for the other lost evenings of playtime when there was an OS patch?

The updating and patching on PS3 just causes too much friction.  It’s not a lot, and it’s all essentially automated, but it’s more than the other consoles in my house.  I admittedly have a LOT of devices vying for my attention at home, but when the one constant feeling I associate w/ PS3 is disgust, I naturally avoid the punitive experience it offers.

If updates were quick and effortless, I’d likely spend more time (and money) on my PS3.  Sony?  Are you listening?

…but seriously folks… I’m tired. It was grueling and lumpy. I was really disappointed w/ the whole affair and told my boss about it. He calmed me by telling me that the customer didn’t want to pay for the discovery & were happy w/ taking a few lumps.

That helps a little, but I still have 8500 customers who got less-than-my-best. That bums me out.

Snes9X has been around for ages, & I’ve toyed around w/ it for a grand total of about 15 minutes in the past. As entertaining as it was, there were always newer/different games to be had. My recent aquisition of the Macbook Mini (mbm) led me to reconsider Snes9X since the netbook isn’t powerful enough to play any modern games.

The first thing I realized was that the 10″ screen on netbooks is pretty well suited to playing 16bit SNES games. When I last tried SNES games on my other monitors, today’s monstrous resolutions make the blocky graphics start to look really ridiculous. They’re still as charming and innocent as you remember them, but it’s just not fair. After I smiled and laughed and tried out a few titles (Yoshi’s Island!), I immediately settled back into some Chrono Trigger. I’ve finished probably 30 hours of it on the DS, but my DS is currently on loan performing Animal Crossing duty for my woman, so I decided to start fresh.

After playing about an hour or so of Chrono Trigger, I realized I was hooked. The experience of playing SNES on the mbm is really satisfying! It’s a little tough playing twitch-based games on a qwerty keyboard, but the graphics, sound and emulation are perfect. Next up… a controller.

Sega Dreamcast

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the US launch of Sega’s Dreamcast. Bitmob’s commemorating the anniversary w/ some nice coverage of the console with some great content.

If you’ve never heard of Bitmob, that’s because it’s Dan “Shoe” Hsu’s new project after having left EGM. Give him a shot — he’s a great writer.

Harmony PS3 Adapter next to an iPhone (Photo source: Engadget)

I just read on Engadget HD that Logitech’s finally releasing their official PS3/Harmony adapter!

Pretty much every device I care about in my house is controlled through my Harmony 890:  360, TVs, stereos, lights, my bedroom fan… with one exception.  The PS3′s Bluetooth remote was the stumbling block; the 890 speaks infrared and radio frequency, but not Bluetooth.

Once I get this thing ($60, available this month!), the PS3 will feel less like a gimmick/toy.  I suppose it’s a little unfair, since the 360 already controls fine w/ the Harmony, but watching HD-DVDs on that thing (w/ the optional drive that you had to buy seperately) always feels juvenile because of the 360′s intentionally youthful UI.  The PS3′s Cross Media Bar (XMB) shows a lot more restraint, maturity and elegance.  Even the startup routines and sounds on the PS3 are more refined, avoiding the 360′s playful and cliche’ “I’M EXTREME!” attitude.  Wrap it up with a sleek, jet black piano finish (don’t forget the quiet fans!) and you’ve got one secksie beast!

Let’s face it:  Bluray is still so new to most people that it’s a treat for me to share the new tech w/ them.  Showing off your man den is a long standing tradition.  Today, tech is a huge part of the man den.  When you have a universal remote that bends all of your commands into one button press, deftly turning on all of your different devices, dimming your lights to just the right level and switching everything into GO! mode… you look like a tool when you have to pick up a Dual Shock to press play.