24 January 2010
Can it play?
January 27, 2010
Today, 1-27-2010 Apple unveiled the iPad.
What can the iPad do for musicians?
We all knew it was going to be a tablet. We all had a feeling that it would rely on an altered version of the iPhone operating system, I was really hoping that Apple would impress us with something new. I am a serious Apple user with an 8 core Mac Pro Desktop and an iPhone both of which I really love. I was dreaming of an interface that would support multi-touch mixing, VST’s or even a serious multi-touch tool for editing audio. What we got seems to be a big iPhone - or is it? For those musicians out there thinking that this could have been “The next big thing” in surface control, don’t lose hope! The greatest asset of the iPhone is the ability for users to create App’s. Forums are already filling up with questions about what the iPad will do for musicians. Enthusiasts are speculating hack-ability and copy-cat devices specifically for the use of Virtual Synthesis but no confirmation. There is no doubt that multi-touch screens are the future of interaction with VST’s. It isn’t clear yet what the iPad will do to enhance the music-making experience. It was presented as a “media center” for the most part. There has been no mention by Apple about what this could do for artists or musicians. However, Apple won’t be creating the iPad’s most useful tools for musicians - that is up to us.
What can the iPad do for MMO Gaming?
Gaming isn’t Apple’s priority, we know this. However, World of Warcraft has been very successful on the mac platform and the question has been raised, why not WoW on the iPad? The data plans for the iPad staring at $14.99 would certainly appeal to the money-minded WoW player but there is not evidence that WoW can run on the iPad. YouTube is probably filling up with false hopes and dreams of an MMO running on the iPad. For the time being, those videos are just teasers of what could be. Imagine though what multi-touch screen gaming could be in an MMO. I can envision a much more active experience using touch screen than a mouse and keyboard. Touch screen technology is already changed the way we work as musicians on keyboards like the Korg Triton and of course Open Labs line of workstations. It isn’t clear whether touch screen will have a similar impact on gaming.
I never thought I would be working out drum patterns on my phone but Intua Beatmaker is as useful a tool as my NI Maschine when it comes to figuring out patterns. I never thought I would spend hours playing a game on my phone but c’mon... Sally’s spa is the bomb. It’s going to be a lot of “Wait & see” with what creativity comes out of the App creation for the iPad but I have to say, I am very, very excited about the possibilities for Musicians and Gamers.
What can the iPad do for musicians?
We all knew it was going to be a tablet. We all had a feeling that it would rely on an altered version of the iPhone operating system, I was really hoping that Apple would impress us with something new. I am a serious Apple user with an 8 core Mac Pro Desktop and an iPhone both of which I really love. I was dreaming of an interface that would support multi-touch mixing, VST’s or even a serious multi-touch tool for editing audio. What we got seems to be a big iPhone - or is it? For those musicians out there thinking that this could have been “The next big thing” in surface control, don’t lose hope! The greatest asset of the iPhone is the ability for users to create App’s. Forums are already filling up with questions about what the iPad will do for musicians. Enthusiasts are speculating hack-ability and copy-cat devices specifically for the use of Virtual Synthesis but no confirmation. There is no doubt that multi-touch screens are the future of interaction with VST’s. It isn’t clear yet what the iPad will do to enhance the music-making experience. It was presented as a “media center” for the most part. There has been no mention by Apple about what this could do for artists or musicians. However, Apple won’t be creating the iPad’s most useful tools for musicians - that is up to us.
What can the iPad do for MMO Gaming?
Gaming isn’t Apple’s priority, we know this. However, World of Warcraft has been very successful on the mac platform and the question has been raised, why not WoW on the iPad? The data plans for the iPad staring at $14.99 would certainly appeal to the money-minded WoW player but there is not evidence that WoW can run on the iPad. YouTube is probably filling up with false hopes and dreams of an MMO running on the iPad. For the time being, those videos are just teasers of what could be. Imagine though what multi-touch screen gaming could be in an MMO. I can envision a much more active experience using touch screen than a mouse and keyboard. Touch screen technology is already changed the way we work as musicians on keyboards like the Korg Triton and of course Open Labs line of workstations. It isn’t clear whether touch screen will have a similar impact on gaming.
I never thought I would be working out drum patterns on my phone but Intua Beatmaker is as useful a tool as my NI Maschine when it comes to figuring out patterns. I never thought I would spend hours playing a game on my phone but c’mon... Sally’s spa is the bomb. It’s going to be a lot of “Wait & see” with what creativity comes out of the App creation for the iPad but I have to say, I am very, very excited about the possibilities for Musicians and Gamers.
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Sweat-sucking in plaster pants
January 24, 2010
Let me say in advance that I am an avid gamer with a sweet-spot for free-to-play MMO's. I can play just about anything and get some enjoyment out of it. However, I have never felt so weak, low and incompetent as I felt in the first hour of playing Entropia Universe - and thats just the way they like it.
I downloaded the Soundtrack for Entropia Universe the other day and found it to be engaging. I thought I would give the game a try. I did the usual research before downloading an MMO. I checked YouTube for a few gameplay vid's and took a look at the screenshots. I jumped over the website and it really smacked me in the face with it's beautiful graphics and stunning landscapes. It looked like an incredible island getaway where you could explore, meet people and get in some epic battles with some cool looking creatures. That was all I needed - I was convinced that this was going to be my new obsession.
The first thing you notice immediately is that you are wearing plaster pants & shirt. Thats right! it look like you are covered in some kind of weird flour and water mixture. I thought it was strange considering you look pretty snazzy on the character creator. Oh well, I figured they would give me the opportunity to get some normal clothes soon so no worries. The only other thing I had on me was some kind of gun. So I head out a bit into the wild to see if I could find something to kill with this gun. Quickly you learn that this is no gun. This is a sweat-sucker! I died a few times trying to get the sweat out of these low level creatures. With no quests and only a sweat-sucker and plaster pants to my name, I thought I would check out the city near my spawn point. Looking around the city I couldn't help but notice that everywhere you look there is an ATM machine. I walked around a bit and found that everything was for sale and now way I could afford it.
During my time in the game, they bombard you with messages in chat "player x has just killed an x and earned x". These messages are constant and there doesn't seem to be a way to stop them. The pressure to get a gun is immense. There doesn't seem to be anywhere where you can get a weapon - you have to buy one with real money. You are also stuck in your plaster pants until you buy clothing with, you guessed it, real money. This game is designed to make you feel like a loser from the time you walk into it. The objective is to make you spend your real money. The dream is you will make real money. You see, Entropia doesn't only sell you stuff, you make money in the game - real money! You can make a lot of money, or so they say.
No quests, no weapon, and nowhere to go without getting my butt handed to me, I decided I would do a bit more research about the game. What I found out on the internet actually made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I read some reviews and watched a few videos and discovered that this game is really no different from gambling. I read the story of a man who spent about $60 to get geared up enough to actually kill something and found that the sweat he was sucking wasn't going to get him nearly enough money to break even so he spent more real money. In the end, he was sucked in for over $100. I read that your money is taken instantaneously when you buy items but when you cash out of the game it takes 90 days to get your money - why? This was sounding more like a scam with every forum post and article I read.
MindArk, makers of Entropia is no stranger to controversy. In 2002 the offices of MindArk were raided by 70 Swedish officials for not paying for the products they were using to make the virtual world of Entropia Universe. All this talk on the internet of scams, gambling, and MindArks claim of $180,000 spent on virtual property made me feel like I was way out of this league. This game seemed to be for people with money to burn or suckers with a penny and a dream. I figured I would break away from this game quickly before it sucked me into it's sweaty palms.
But wait, I said to myself. What happened to my rebellious nature? I had a thought. I figured I would play the game without spending a dime. There must be a way to be able to enjoy this game without having to part with real money. I thought about the time in World of Warcraft where my guild-mates and I charged players to see "Old Ironforge". We racked up some serious coin sheeping players behind the wall and letting them see what Blizzard never wanted players to see. There has to be a way to make money without spending real money in this game. In reading the guides I didn't find any information on how to make money without spending real money in the game or even how to get a gun without spending your real money.
The game for me has become "how to get money without spending real money". I am actually having fun trying to figure out this world and how to get something for nothing. So far, I still only have a sweat-sucker and a pair of plaster pants but I will let you know if figure out how to get rich in the world of Entropia without spending a dime of my own hard earned cash. This very well may be the shadiest game out there but it's still free if you don't get sucked in.
PacifierMusic.com
I downloaded the Soundtrack for Entropia Universe the other day and found it to be engaging. I thought I would give the game a try. I did the usual research before downloading an MMO. I checked YouTube for a few gameplay vid's and took a look at the screenshots. I jumped over the website and it really smacked me in the face with it's beautiful graphics and stunning landscapes. It looked like an incredible island getaway where you could explore, meet people and get in some epic battles with some cool looking creatures. That was all I needed - I was convinced that this was going to be my new obsession.
The first thing you notice immediately is that you are wearing plaster pants & shirt. Thats right! it look like you are covered in some kind of weird flour and water mixture. I thought it was strange considering you look pretty snazzy on the character creator. Oh well, I figured they would give me the opportunity to get some normal clothes soon so no worries. The only other thing I had on me was some kind of gun. So I head out a bit into the wild to see if I could find something to kill with this gun. Quickly you learn that this is no gun. This is a sweat-sucker! I died a few times trying to get the sweat out of these low level creatures. With no quests and only a sweat-sucker and plaster pants to my name, I thought I would check out the city near my spawn point. Looking around the city I couldn't help but notice that everywhere you look there is an ATM machine. I walked around a bit and found that everything was for sale and now way I could afford it.
During my time in the game, they bombard you with messages in chat "player x has just killed an x and earned x". These messages are constant and there doesn't seem to be a way to stop them. The pressure to get a gun is immense. There doesn't seem to be anywhere where you can get a weapon - you have to buy one with real money. You are also stuck in your plaster pants until you buy clothing with, you guessed it, real money. This game is designed to make you feel like a loser from the time you walk into it. The objective is to make you spend your real money. The dream is you will make real money. You see, Entropia doesn't only sell you stuff, you make money in the game - real money! You can make a lot of money, or so they say.
No quests, no weapon, and nowhere to go without getting my butt handed to me, I decided I would do a bit more research about the game. What I found out on the internet actually made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I read some reviews and watched a few videos and discovered that this game is really no different from gambling. I read the story of a man who spent about $60 to get geared up enough to actually kill something and found that the sweat he was sucking wasn't going to get him nearly enough money to break even so he spent more real money. In the end, he was sucked in for over $100. I read that your money is taken instantaneously when you buy items but when you cash out of the game it takes 90 days to get your money - why? This was sounding more like a scam with every forum post and article I read.
MindArk, makers of Entropia is no stranger to controversy. In 2002 the offices of MindArk were raided by 70 Swedish officials for not paying for the products they were using to make the virtual world of Entropia Universe. All this talk on the internet of scams, gambling, and MindArks claim of $180,000 spent on virtual property made me feel like I was way out of this league. This game seemed to be for people with money to burn or suckers with a penny and a dream. I figured I would break away from this game quickly before it sucked me into it's sweaty palms.
But wait, I said to myself. What happened to my rebellious nature? I had a thought. I figured I would play the game without spending a dime. There must be a way to be able to enjoy this game without having to part with real money. I thought about the time in World of Warcraft where my guild-mates and I charged players to see "Old Ironforge". We racked up some serious coin sheeping players behind the wall and letting them see what Blizzard never wanted players to see. There has to be a way to make money without spending real money in this game. In reading the guides I didn't find any information on how to make money without spending real money in the game or even how to get a gun without spending your real money.
The game for me has become "how to get money without spending real money". I am actually having fun trying to figure out this world and how to get something for nothing. So far, I still only have a sweat-sucker and a pair of plaster pants but I will let you know if figure out how to get rich in the world of Entropia without spending a dime of my own hard earned cash. This very well may be the shadiest game out there but it's still free if you don't get sucked in.
PacifierMusic.com
