Why a D90 over a D60

Like just about every crazy purchase, you must have your excuses. (I won't say reasons, since they are indeed excuses.) There is are quite a few reasons why I bought this particular model, and I am quite sure many people, even Canon users can come up with them too.

1. Access to more lenses - the D90 comes with the AF motor needed to drive many older design lenses - using them could save you a fair bit of money over the equivalent newer ones. If you buy plenty of lenses, this pays for itself bloody fast.

2. Wireless flash system - the D90 comes with the ability to use wireless slave flashes - no need to lug around an extra flash like on the D60 to do the same commanding. (the extra flash can now be a wireless slave too!)

3. The ability to keep ADR on Auto at all times - this might not matter to most people, but this is a lifesaver on many occasions for a newbie like me. The overhead of ADR on the D60 is just way too high to bother.

4. Live view - no need to go blind when taking those high angle shots - you can now see what you're doing.

5. More buttons - the nikon D90 has plenty of buttons so you can change just about about setting that matters to you. No more weighing pros and cons of assigning the Fn button - instead you'll be busy looking for something to assign to the Fn button instead.

6. The screen - the 3 inch screen gives dSLRs what would probably be the biggest gripe of upgraders from p+s a big kick out the door. The screen is brilliant, sharp and shows you so much more. It's less a matter size than it is resolution.

7. Faster autofocus - it ain't the D300, but the AF system is faster than the D60, it is however more confusing to use. Coupled with a fast focusing lens - the camera feels crazy fast compared to the D60's occasional hiccup. (Of course, while it is indeed more confusing - it's faster - and actually means you can just point and shoot  - less recomposing required. )

8. Movie mode - not really a reason for me, but it does mean i don't have to bring a p+s around to take the occasional video - i can just go all over the place with merely my D90 and 18-200 VR.

9. Better battery life - unlike the D60, the D90 does have an official battery grip for it, in addition to having a longer battery life to begin with.

10. Sensor - the sensor is ISO 200 to 3200, more sensitive than the D60. This essentially means better lowlight performance, not to mention this sensor should be highly similar to the D300 - giving us plenty of bang for our buck.

Scheduling Problem

Apparently, my site had a problem with whatever new scheduling implementation is in Wordpress 2.7. I didn't notice until today when I realised the post I wrote for 2 days ago didn't show up. Grrrr...

The Value of a Video Game: Part 3 - Multiplayer

Here's Part 1 and Part 2, in case you were wondering, or need a refresher after so many months of me having writer's block. Here's Part 3. Now, I don't particularly care much for multiplayer components of games, especially console ones. Having online multiplayer is new to me - and it'll take a while before it sinks in. For one, I'm not accustomed to having Internet connection on my consoles. This generation, everything seems to come with wireless. Except the XBOX 360. No surprise I still don't have an XBOX Live account. It's not like I didn't try - I did indeed try out playing Warhawk and Unreal Tournament III on the PlayStation 3 - it's just not my style to go off and play multiplayer games.

I'm not particularly competitive - so I won't go and practice an hour a day just to get good at killing random people online. I'd rather be reading a good book or solving a math problem.  I didn't train up my FPS skills - whatever little I have is whatever little I'm going to have for a while. Sure, I used to be able to headshot regularly in Counter-Strike - doesn't mean I'm gonna go try and do the same in Left 4 Dead.

Speaking of Left 4 Dead, there are many games like it where the multiplayer counts a lot. Games like Left 4 Dead and Rock Band really shine when you've got friends to play co-op with. These games were built to be played with multiple players working together and they are a whole load of fun with friends and family. There are many other games like this - local multiplayer changes the game entirely - Nintendo makes plenty of these - Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii are prime examples of what Nintendo is capable of.

Arguably, that's kid stuff. MMO and most FPS games shine online in multiplayer. What's so funny? FPS games used to be one of the few things PCs did great - they still do great, just that console multiplayer is doing so well - not to mention, sales are way better too. This, of course, translates to more players - and more fun online than people with PCs have now. MMOs are still mostly domain of the PC gamers - and rightfully so: with so many free betas, free-to-play games - and the huge disk space requirements (ahem, WoW, for example) have put them off the console and their expensive certification requirements - for now.

The ability to patch games has made multiplayer a lot more possible for consoles now and in the future. Of course, this has led to us getting bugged versions of console games - but often, even buggier versions on PC. We could blame the fact on being able to patch - but I think the problem is less on being complacent due to ability to patch - and more that the games are getting more difficult to debug every day as they get more complex and difficult to make. (Although Fallout 3 was absolutely abhorrent to anyone except maybe the developers for crashing like a newborn baby trying to drive a jet plane.)

Well, there have been numerous efforts to bring another multiplayer favourite, the real time strategy genre of games to the consoles. Halo Wars, Endwar - and even console versions of C&C3 and Red Alert 3! Without a question, RTS games are most certainly multiplayer domain - although most of them come with a great and rewarding single player campaign to play through all by themselves. Let's face it - the point is to pummel your opponent with your massive (or occasionally, reasonably sized) army. And the best opponents? Other humans.

There's no doubt multiplayer holds loads of value for a gamer in a video game - not to all of us - but most certainly for most of us. And yes, in case there was any doubt - there will be a part 4. ;)

Aftermath: XBOX 360 vs PlayStation 3 Part 2

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time - and now the time has come to for me to write and post it. In case you were wondering where in the world Part 1 was, here it is. This isn't a true part 2 -  being nearly 4 years (wow, it's been that long) since I last thought about it. Many years later, many console revisions on each side later, who is winning? Well, we all know Nintendo happened to win, in a manner of speaking. (I still really am struggling to find a use for my Wii besides gimmicks. Fun is seriously lacking for me on the Wii.)

Considering what I said then about the PS3 possibly having heat problems, lo and behold - Microsoft did it first. First, it had the burning AC adapter problem for a while (real short while, if I remember correctly). Then, it had what I would call the worst mistake Microsoft has made so far. The heat problem that caused - you guessed it - the 3RROD.

A friend of mine had his XBOX 360 die on him - and so he bought a PlayStation 3. This was a guy who was singing praise for the XBOX 360 and hoping for loads of PS3 exclusives to jump the boat (of which a lot did - which despite my sentiments, I know are for sound economic reasons). Of course, he is indeed planning to buy an XBOX 360 again eventually for those games he is going to miss. Although he tells me that day is probably some time around the XBOX 360's EOL. (Although, considering Microsoft's aggressive price cutting strategy on the arcade unit, coupled with the fact that he still has his hard drive unit - tells me it probably won't be all that long before he gives Microsoft a little money for the system he abandoned all too quickly for a brand-new PlayStation 3.)

Speaking of which, interesting fact: I know more people who own PlayStation 3 units than I do those who own XBOX 360 units. Of course, I don't know a lot of people who have anything beyond a PlayStation 2 to begin with. What's worse? I know more people who plan to buy a PlayStation 3 too (not counting those who plan to blow their money on a Nintendo Wii and leave it to gather dust after the first six months).

Are we any wiser in 2009 about how powerful the XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3 are? No, we aren't. We've established that both of them are having difficulty pushing the full 720p resolution and that games coming out are still (as with the PlayStation 2 previously) trumping those before them in just about every department. Just as Gears of War 2 is setting a new bar for the XBOX 360, Killzone 2 is setting the new bar for the PlayStation 3 - and something tells me that this is going to happen quite a bit until the end of their product lives.

As for the Wii, well, graphics don't seem to be getting any better - and it seems that going for the cel-shaded look is the 'in' thing now for Wii developers. And curiously enough, a few new games aren't going to be supporting 480p - seems suspicious to me. I haven't played a new Wii game in months - and it's hardly my fault for not liking the games: seen the last 9+ score games on IGN? Realise something? THEY ARE ALL OLD STUFF. Old classic stuff that's indeed good - but old stuff is old stuff. The ones I like, I've played, the ones I don't, I still pass on. It's looking amazingly like another console we know that happens to still be around. That's right - the PlayStation 2. It's around in abundance, currently has plenty of junk still being released for it (with a few exceptions), the newest iteration is small and comes with previously nonstandard accessories (when I was in Australia, it practically came with Singstar or Buzz - take your pick).

That may not seem scary to you, but would you venture to guess when the last IGN 9+ (and mind you, IGN is pretty generous in my opinion) came from? Rock Band 2 in December 2008. Before that? Okami. In APRIL 2008. No wonder my Wii hasn't been doing anything much! (Mind you Okami came out on the PS2 way earlier, if I wanted to be mean, I'd say something like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which would've been in March. And yes, Mario Kart Wii is not a 9.) This from the company who claimed to still care about hardcore gamers sometime back.

I know, I know, there's always a good chance IGN will be biased and love new, shinier things - but I too love new, shinier things. The XBOX 360 has offered Halo Wars, Street Fighter IV, Prince of Persia, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty: World at War, Gears of War 2 and Fallout 3. Oh wait, I missed out Grand Theft Auto IV. On the PS3, we've got a similar list, Killzone 2, Street Fighter IV, Prince of Persia, Call of Duty: World at War, Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Valkyria Chronicles and Grand Theft Auto IV. (If you can't tell, yes, the PS3 has a slightly longer list - to me, it did indeed win 2008 as far as games were concerned.

There are loads of games I play that aren't on this list - maybe not many that I finished (I don't have as much time as reviewers do, after all) - but certainly something interesting to note is how I liquidated most of my XBOX 360 games to fund PlayStation 3 games this year.

The verdict for 2008 to early 2009? I'd say the Sony PlayStation 3 is winning in my book, even if sales numbers don't agree. For 2009? We'll see about that. We've got Resident Evil 5 and Guitar Hero: Metallica to lead the rest of the way - although I'd say the behemoth this year is on the PC. I'm hoping. (Come on Blizzard, StarCraft II this year plz. :P)

Studying and Interviews are Taxing Time

Updating the blog is becoming an uphill battle, with studying and going to job interviews consuming a lot of my time. Hopefully - this will lead my life somewhere interesting. In case you're wondering, I'm still working on getting out that D90 article. I intend to eventually write a review - even though I know nowhere close to enough about dSLRs.