In 2007 Valve Software released The Orange Box, which included all of the Half-Life material to date, as well the new games Portal and Tem Fortress 2. Portal was the surprise hit, but Team Fortress 2 had generated loads of high expectations during its nearly decade long development – and met them! Team Fortress 2 remains one of the most regularly played shooter games years after release for several reasons – constant attention from the developers, loads of fun add-ons, but mainly due to a fundamentally sound gameplay system. Now Valve has announced that the game will be ‘free to play’. This means that rather than buying the game separately for $19.99… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I hardly think that I was the only person in the world to be disappointed to find out that, unlike the iPhone, the iPad would not charge when plugged in to the USB port on my PC.  I didn’t believe it, honestly, and like probably a bunch of people, I tried it anyway, only to see the “Not Charging” indicator up next to the battery icon in the upper-right corner of my iPad  A funny thing happened the other day, though . . . I bring my iPad to work with me regularly.  My work station, in fact, is a plethora of screens of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m not one of those parents who is totally panicked by the idea of all the kinds of scary things that are made available by new tech like cell phones, social media, and the like.  Yes, there are a lot of scary things kids can access or be sucked into via new technology.  But as a guy who spent his childhood in the late 60s and 70s, it’s not like it was a non-stop, safe party for us, either.   Yup, you can get talked into stuff by strangers over your cell phone, or via Facebook, or Yahoo IM, or some such; no question.  In my day, it was “talking to strangers” and whack jobs prowling the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The weekend is finally here, and in this area this is also high school graduation week, and yet another reason that the digital download sites are featuring some awesome deals! I am highlighting the Good Old Games ‘Staycation’ Sale which features the entire 32-game Interplay catalog at 50% off! Again this week I have abandoned my rule of no more than 50 deals from all sites … there is just way too much great stuff out there at insane prices!! However, I am sticking with the >50% savings rule. We are now seeing more and more publishers launching their own stores with deals – UbiSoft joins the fray this week … but sadly none of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Big Fish Games makes some of the best casual games available for Mac, PC and iOS devices – from hidden object to match three to adventure and strategy games they have long been a huge part of the scene for right-sized, right-priced games! And now it gets even better – they have put all 23 of their games for the iPad and iPhone on sale at 80% off. So a game like Awakening: The Dreamless Castle HD for the iPad that would normally be $9.99 is now $1.99! There isn’t a clear time frame on when the deals end aside from ‘sale ends soon’, so I would hurry to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image from Lytro Digital photography seems to be stagnating a little.   Yeah there is High Dynamic Range photography, but that requires either an iPhone or some photo editing skills that are above the skills of most people.  Other than that, little has changed other than megapixel ratings.  Lytro aims to change that soon with their new light field camera. What makes Lytro’s camera so special?  Well imaging taking a picture and not being concerned about having to actually focus?  That sounds like it may make for a bad picture.  So when do you focus?  You focus after.  That’s right I said after.  This is possible thanks to the software Lytro… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Storing information in the cloud is all good and well but with tiered data plans becoming the norm the idea of constantly streaming music and video becomes a bit problematic. After all, depending upon your plan, streaming just a couple of movies could all but do in your monthly allotment. That leaves just three possibilities. You can either constantly juggle the content stored on your mobile device (a royal pain), you can buy the largest capacity device possible And be selective about what goes on it (expensive and the iPad tops out at 64GB) or you can find some way to access a large hard drive on the go. That’s what Seagate wants you to do… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We’ve looked at a number of different offerings that help turn your iPod nano into a wrist watch. Some of those “nano-bands” include the iWatchz, the Speck TimeToRock and the TikToc, a product that emerged from the KickStarter product incubator. All of them serve the same function- they turn the diminutive MP3 player into a watch. All work well enough but none can match the style and class of HEX’s Vision Metal Watch Band for iPod nano Gen 6. With all metal construction and a strong clasp, the Vision stands out as a quality way to wear your nano. Here’s a look-… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Jaguar is celebrating 75 years of luxury automaking. Sure there have been some bumps in the road along the way, but they have also turned out some of the most sought-after road warriors in the industry. And have you seen Jaguar lately? Heralding their three quarters of a century is an all-new flagship XJ sedan lineup, with my driveway seeing the new XJL saloon recently. For 2011 the XJ has been given a new face, a new body and a new heart – all of which work in harmony to deliver one of the best Jags yet. My favorite time… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  Loving the new version of Final Cut Pro? Conan and his team do too! NOT! Here’s a look at them showing some love to Apple’s newest editing software. Via Cult of Mac Continue reading on Gear Diary …

An issue with most of the external battery pack cases for smartphones is they use built-in battery cells, meaning when the pack is dead it needs plugged in to be recharged. Not so with the new QYG Power Case FC13 available from USBFever.com. The QYG unit features a replaceable 1700mah lithium-ion cell allowing for extended device time away from the restraints of wall outlets. This makes an ideal travel companion. The system itself is composed of three parts: Bumper case, back cover and battery cell. The phone (my test unit was for the iPhone4) fits into the back cover and then… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Sims – one of the biggest franchises in video game history – is coming to Facebook. Called ‘The Sims Social’, the Facebook game allows you to do many things you would traditionally be able to do only in the full game. Here is the basic info: The Sims Social brings the fun and creativity of The Sims to Facebook! Create unique Sims and live out their dreams—or stir up trouble by pulling pranks. Develop deep relationships to unlock new features and advance: befriend and fight, date and cheat, love and betray. Play with life in a whole new way—with your real friends, for free! If you ‘Like’ their Facebook Page you can… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy wikispaces) By now you’ve probably heard that JK Rowling has revealed the “Pottermore” website, with the kicker that the Harry Potter series will be available in eBook form. Sold directly through the Pottermore site. DRM free. Yea, this definitely qualifies as a bit of a shocker. But is it a game-changer or an anomaly? Read on for my thoughts! Direct author-sold eBooks JK Rowling wisely held onto the eBook rights for the Potter series, and it’s paid off handsomely, as she is able to directly sell her eBooks to readers in multiple formats. Independent authors have had this ability for some time, but obviously Rowling has a great… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love all of these ‘indie bundles’, even if I already own the games or never seem to play half of them. Why? Great games, great price, and the money goes straight to the folks who are the lifeblood of creativity in an industry that has quickly become stagnant in recent years. Now we get one with an interesting hook – $5 would buy you a pair of socks, so skip the socks and buy this game bundle instead! All games are DRM-free and all proceeds go directly to the developers! The games include: Delve Deeper, Digitanks (Lunar Workshop), Mactabilis, Spring Up Harmony, and Steel Storm: Burning Retribution. The whole set Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal brings us the Kinect for Xbox 360 bundled with Kinect Adventures. Normally $149.99 with this deal you can save $30. That means it will be on its way to you for a low price of $119.99 AND it will ship for free. That’s more than $20 less than our Gear Sponsor has ever seen it going for! You can order yours right here. Gear Deal: Kinect for Xbox 360 w/ Kinect Adventures via LogicBUY Continue reading on Gear Diary …