Turtles at the Computer Museum

No, we're not talking about Testudines here. Sometimes, at the Personal Computer Museum we end up getting donations that include things other than just computers. Like in this case, someone dropped off some disks inside of a box of Turtles Chocolates. The Smiles'n Chuckles Ltd. company made these way back in the day, which I am guessing is the 70's. I say that because it looks old but it does have a barcode, which puts it into this era.

I just had to share this with you because I thought it was cool. And it's not everyday you find turtles at the Personal Computer Museum.

Windows 7 Launch Party

Say what you want about Windows Vista. Say what you will about Microsoft. One thing is for sure: they are trying to shake the bad image and doing whatever they can to do it. Is it working? So far. Someone came up with the great idea of having Windows 7 house parties. In my case, I decided to have ours at the Personal Computer Museum on October 24th. Will it work? It has already peaked the interest of many people who want to come out and take a look. It's always better to get a product view from someone you know directly and trust, than to read a review from a stranger online.

The other thing we are going to do is show Windows 1 (and just because they are already there, Windows 2, Windows 3 and Windows 95). The entire slew of early Windows programs will be there, just to show how far we've come. Which is a lot in some ways.... and not that much in others.

Don't take my word for it, come out to the museum from 10-4 on October 24th. At the very least, have a coffee on me.

Getting Ready for the Competition

The Guitar Hero Competition is next weekend. I'm starting to feel the pressure pretty badly as I get prepared for what is definitely going to be Brantford's largest gaming event of its type - ever. In a lot of ways, it's actually more stressful than running a Guinness World Record challenge like we did last year with Tetris but in other ways it is not.

It's been great working with the City of Brantford - Parks and Recreation and Lori-Dawn Cavin. It's nice to have someone else taking over responsibility for various aspects.

As we sit - a week out, my major concern is that we don't have a lot of players in the 35+ category. Where are you guys? Worried about getting your butts kicked by 12 year olds? Remember, you'll be competing against others in the same age range so....if you don't come out and play, then nobody will and there will be no body to take that prize money!

Anyways, make sure you register at the official website and see you Saturday August 22nd from 10am to 4pm at the PCM!

First of all - the news. It looks like I'm signing back on with Rogers Television after a bit of a hiatus. Yeah, sure, I do the JCI Brantford Santa Claus Parade every year but other than an occasional appearance on First Local, I really haven't been around much.

That is all going to change in September.

First of all, I'm going to be part of a brand new show called "Inside Brantford". I hope this isn't a secret, because now I'm posting about it. Oops. I didn't sign anything saying I couldn't talk about it. On this show, I'll be appearing once a week during a live segment talking tech.

Then, you'll also see me weekly doing a video game segment on First Local which is going to be a lot of fun!

Finally it looks like Rogers is returning back to its community roots and I'm excited to be part of it. Not only because I think it will be good for the community but it will reunite me with Jason Souliere and Patti (Dickie) Berardi - whom I've had the pleasure of working with in a previous life.

So look for these all new shows in September on Rogers 20 - BRANTFORD!

Welcome to the New Promotion

When my PS2 collection recently went over the 1,200 mark I thought it might be a good way to draw attention to the museum. I know this sounds strange, but this is how my brain works at times. I thought I'd post the story to Kotaku, and I wasn't wrong about the idea of promotion. It turns out, the story has drawn a lot of attention and a lot of heat.

At this point, almost 47,000 views and a couple of hundred comments. It is somewhat surprising the negative comments (like it's "sad" that he has so many games) like it's a problem to have that many or something. I just laugh. Whatever. It's all good.

The thing is, those that know me will realize I didn't post the story to brag. I posted it to draw attention to the museum and it's doing that. Close to 20,000 hits on the museum website in 3 days is a record and I'm proud of it. Let's spread the word!

On a completely different tune, I wanted to point out how the soda pop industry must really like computer geeks. There are at least two major brands that I think have been created to cater to the programming geeks of the 80's for sure.


First, we have Sprite. If you worked on computers like the Commodore 64 you know that it had 8 Sprites built into it. Sprites are special graphic elements that can be moved around the screen independently of the background and essentially "on their own". In games, this translated into enemies or the player themselves. Atari computers had sprites too, except they called them "player/missile" graphics which was just a narrow way of saying the same thing. So Sprite, as a pop is going to be favoured over it's rough equivalent, 7-UP, by computer programmers every single time. I can't explain why - it just happens.

The other pop conspiracy with computer geeks is Hires Rootbeer. We don't say "hires" like hiring for a job, but rather, we call it "HI - REZ" rootbeer. As in "high resolution". In the good old days on the Apple II computer for example, you could put the computer in various graphic modes. Some were low resolution and some were high resolution (or hi-res for short). So again, the geek in all of us is going to be drawn to a higher resolution form of Rootbeer than say, a low one. Honestly, I can't make this up.

Holy media, Batman

I've been very fortunate to have had lots of media attention lately. The Museum has been featured in two pieces on the butterscotch.com network. The first piece is an interview with me, and the second one has Matt Harris, Andy Walker and Sean Carruthers.

Also, my new coffee table received some great coverage on both Destructoid and was also picked up on TheAwesomer.com so that's pretty awesome. If you are looking for a cool coffee table or custom piece, please talk to the artist directly, Erin McFadden from DameDecor. She's wonderful to work with.

On Wednesday, June 24th I'll be brought before the judge to raise money for Crime Stoppers. Please consider donating to Crime Stoppers to keep me in or get me out! Thanks!

Being Star Struck

So Kevin Smith was in Brantford this past weekend and I think he's really cool - and would have loved to have met him. However, with everyone pawing at him on the weekend I decided to respect his space and be one less person doing the pawing.

But this weekend, at the Personal Computer Museum, I've got Andy Walker, Sean Carruthers and Matt Harris coming. Although you might not have heard of them before, I'm actually a bit star truck at them coming (especially Andy) who I have watched on my television for years.

There is a Joshua Jackson piece on butterscotch.com that mentions the museum and you can view it here.

So come on out, to 13 Alma Street on June 13th from 10am to 4pm---50 free t-shirts to the first people that arrive.

The Solution for Road Rage

I think I made an amazing discovery today - a possible solution for road rage. All you have to do is buy a new car or find some new music that you like. I have made this discovery after many years of research. You see, every time I have a new album or group of songs I like I put them on a CD and play them in my car. I find myself not feeling as much of a need to get to my destination when my experience in the car is more enjoyable. Yesterday, I picked up my new car (2009 Sante Fe) and this morning I was actually grateful when the light turning onto my work street turned amber. My thoughts that usually amount to "bastard!" turned to "Sweet...." as I soaked in the new car smell.

So really, that's it -- the solution. Get a new car every week. Doesn't even have to be new - maybe if we all just swapped cars with each other every week then we'd still be in the honeymoon phase, plus it would have the upside of car anonymity. You know, so the person you cut off last week can't easily hunt you down this week because you're now in a different car.

I think I'm on to something.

Blue Meanies from Outer Space

Someone called me a meanie today and for some reason, my mind turned to one of my favorite named games of all time - Blue Meanies from Outer Space. You can see from the screen shot it really wasn't a great looking (or playing) game but the name has just stuck with me over the years. I think I'll do an article on the best named games of all time - because I'm not sure anyone else has done that. Somebody liked the game enough to do a remake but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to download it.

My game room is going to be on SPACE: THE IMAGINATION station on Friday, April 24th at 7:30 PM EST and I'm looking forward to it. A number of my Internet friends have never seen the place (and I've never shared video of it) so this will be interesting.

Game Night is Saturday and there is just not enough time to get ready for it. Oh well, it comes whether I am ready or not. Kind of like the ocean.

It's been a good week though. We collected over 50 pieces of recyclables from S.C. Johnson and Son for Earth Day, I exchanged e-mails with War Games director John Badham and I'm probably going to call a Hollywood celebrity tonight. Cool beans.

Why Inkheart the Video Game is like my cold

Well, I finally got it this year. If I hear one more person say "Yeah, there's a really nasty bug going around right now" I will shoot them. Can you honestly remember, in the past two years, when you didn't hear someone say "there's something nasty going around?". It's the nature of the nasty.

Speaking of nasty, I played "Inkheart" for the Nintendo DS yesterday while waiting at the doctor's office so she could tell me about it "going around". You can read my full review at the Armchair Empire sometime in the next week or so, but until then, here's a summary.

Much like my nose this morning, this game blows. The animation of the main character sprites reminded me of the Amiga computer from 1985. When I say it reminded me, I meant that it reminded me that the animation that came out on the Amiga was better than this 2009 release. I wish I was joking.

So like my cold, this game made me ache. It was painful. Like a train wreck, I couldn't help staring at the animation to make sure what I was seeing was real. It felt like a dream. A dream from 1983.

Germans made this? I stared in disbelief. I like Germans, they usually make good things. I was thinking German, so when I sneezed on my DS, I said "Gesundheit!" and the sad part is that my screen looked better after the sneeze. Unbelievable.

Wendy's and the ELANS

I know it's not directly related but what game room hasn't seen some Cheeseburger action? Well I'm here to give you some advice on ordering at Wendy's if you are super hungry and want to save a bit of money. Some friends and I were having a discussion about how to order things at Wendy's. My brother taught me a number of years ago to order a "#4 Combo" with an extra patty if you wanted a better sandwich than a double (a #4 in most of Canada is a Bacon classic combo). So you get two patties, bacon, cheese and the better bun at a cheaper cost than doing the same thing to a double. It was pointed out to me recently that perhaps a better way to order this is get the new "Baconator" combo with "everything on it". The default way the Baconator comes it essentially has the cheese, meat, and ketchup (and mayo I think). I like the lettuce, tomato and pickles so I've tried ordering it with everything. It turns out that so far, they've got it right 50% of the time. To some people "everything" that is on a Baconator includes just what is normally on a Baconator. It depends on whether they trust you, as the ordering party, to say what you want and not what you mean. It's a tough call at times. The upside of going the Baconator route is that it's $0.10 cheaper, and you get more bacon.

Bottom line - if you're hungry and willing to risk the possibility of getting a burger that you're not 100% happy with, go the Baconator route. You'll save that $0.10. If you're not much a risk taker, stick to the #4 with an extra patty. If you didn't know about these options, now you're just a little bit of a smarter consumer.

Talking about games though, I've been selected to be a judge of the ELANS - which is basically like the Oscars only for video games, animation and special effects. It's based out of Vancouver. You may not have heard about it before, but it's a truly up and coming event. The first year was hosted by William Shatner. Last year, it was Seth McFarlene. This year it's Tom Kenny (AKA SpongeBob SquarePants). Victor Lucas of Electric Playground, Reviews on the Run and now EP Daily is going to be talking about the nominees at a press conference.

It's a real honour to be part of this process and I enjoyed it. Although I can't talk about who I chose, the process was interesting and perhaps more challenging than it should have been. But that's what learning is all about.

Visit http://www.theelans.com for more information.

PS2 Collection

Well it was great to have my post about my Xbox collection hit Evil Avatar, resulting in a massive amount of traffic to my sites. Probably the best part was connecting with other Xbox collectors who are in the same situation as I am trying to determine what games are really out there. I'm working with a buddy to sort out these things and we'll be presenting our findings to the world through one of my web properties.

The whole situation with the Xbox list - and the surprise in the manufacturer not even knowing what is available - leads me to realize it's true with other platforms too. My PS2 collection is at something like 1130 now but I'm not really sure how far I have to go to get them all (and more troublesome is the fact that new PS2 games continue to come out as we're knee deep in the time of shovelware). 1600? Just a guess. A scary, nasty guess. Why do I feel the need to have them all? I guess when you get so far you might as well keep going.

I constantly get asked if I actually play all the games I have. Well, having over 5,000 games makes it near impossible to play all of them. Of course I don't. But I do play games ... just not all the time. If I played one game every day (and assuming I never added anything new to my collection) I could play for around 14 years. Yep. 14.

It's great to see gaming become more mainstream. I guess I never really realized it wasn't -- when you are so immersed in something it's often difficult to see the perspective from the outside.

I also wanted to share with you a great site I've been visiting lately. Video Game Price Charts is a great tool to figure out what your games are worth, so make sure you check it out.

That's it for now - talk to you soon.

Xbox Collection Hits 713 - but how many left to go?

So I picked up a few more original Xbox titles today, bringing my grand total to 713 (but this includes some variants like the Mortal Kombat Deception variants but NOT Platinum Hits versions unless they were unique). So I'm thinking I'm getting pretty close to having them all now - something I'd love to achieve.

According to xbox.com, there are only 799 original Xbox games - yet I keep hearing there are over 800. When I look at Wikipedia, they list everything - North American, Japan and other territories. I want JUST North American titles.

So why is this so hard? There hasn't been a new game out for years, you'd think someone would have this list handy. I've looked different sources - Wikipeida, xbox.com, Video Game Collector magazine and Digital Press. Everyone has a different number.

Does anybody know? Can anyone tell me, definitely, how close I am? I've got most of the rare ones and a bunch of what I'm missing is common sports titles....but I have been a bit reluctant to kick this collection into overdrive until I can actually see the end goal.

So...if you know, please post it here. If you're curious - my Xbox collection isn't even my biggest (I have over 1,100 PS2 games right now) and I use Game Collectorz (www.collectorz.com) to keep track of everything. Here's a photo of my collection and you can also browse the parts of my collection that I've actually managed to catalog (original NES and Atari 2600 have not been tackled yet, and I'm scared--very scared).

Google, Vinegar, and Dents

I received a gift in the mail yesterday. A beautiful calendar from the Computer History Museum. I've actually been planning on creating a vintage computer calendar with the computers from the Personal Computer Museum. The gift is nice, the calendar is great, but I'm more excited about the card that came with it. It's a Google card. If you've ever received one of these cards then you know how I excited I am. Why? Well first of all, it's from Google - do I need to say more? It's also completely Google in terms of simplicity. No copyright notice, no ISBN or UPC code. Just "Google", in colour, with a little "TM" symbol. I have it at my desk. I'm showing it to co-workers like I did when I got my first 100% perfect test in grade school. I'm such a geek.

I've also been playing around with Balsamiq. Like the stuff inspired by its name, Balsamiq Mockups are intended to help improve the flavour of your designs. If you've ever designed a web page or software user interface on a napkin, then you know exactly what this tool does -- only better. I never thought anything could be better than paper but this actually trumps it. Not only that, but you don't need to go through the process of scanning your napkin or paper into the computer you simply tell it to produce a PNG file.

Yesterday I felt better after getting the Google card but not before I realized I dented my car. I was putting away my original tires after getting the snows installed and I dropped the one tire. It fell, "grazing" the back quarter panel of my car leaving a dent around the size of my fist which should soon follow anyways. Hate that.

My week of hell with the JCI Brantford Santa Claus Parade is soon coming to end - and it couldn't be soon enough.

3D Gaming, Swap Meets and Toes

I like free stuff - heck who doesn't? So that's why I was excited to find out my buddy Neil had managed to arrange some great free prizes from the likes of AMD, iZ3D and Blitz Games (among others). Of course, nothing is really free right? But all he's asking is that you fill out a survey. Call The U-Decide Initiative, the survey is catered to either regular old 2D gamers (like I used to be) or those folks that own true 3D hardware (like me now). Check it out!

So I had a few bucks to burn this past weekend and headed into Brampton for the annual (sort of) CGCC Swap Meet. This group of Canadian Gamers is quite the bunch and I blew my wad in under 15 minutes I think. Wow. It went fast. Got some great Genesis stuff - my collection is taking up more room than I have now. So sad.

And finally a note of caution. Because I'm a computer programmer and casual gamer by trade, you'd think that I'd be out of harms way for any kind of physical mishap on the job, right? Well ... running the Personal Computer Museum means lugging around old things and yep, you guessed it - I dropped a 19" CRT on my foot. The worst part? I left it to its own devices and now it's infected. Doctors, pills, bone scans and a bit of radiation later and I'll be fine ... but don't be a dolt like me and leave it. It got so bad a few weeks ago I took a drill to my toe. But you don't want to read about that here.

Tetris, Prince's, Booty, and Pee

It's been too long since I've written -- sorry about that. Just hasn't been a lot to talk about but now there is almost too much!

First off, we're planning a Guinness World Record attempt for the Most Participants in a Tetris Tournament on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at the Personal Computer Museum. Interested people can find out more and pre-register at TetrisTournament.ca. Where else can you be part of a World Record?

I finally got around to playing Prince of Persia. Yeah- the first one. Oh no -- that's not right. The second incarnation - on the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube. I actually played most of it on my PS3 but anyways, it was interesting. Frustrating at times-- enough to almost make me want to quit but glad I continued and finished the bugger.

I moved right onto something brand new - Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty and that was a great 4 hours.... but that was it. Now I have to wait over a year for more. :( Oh well, love that series.

Nothing to do with games but man did this morning suck. First, I go to take some letters to the post office--but the one I go to that is closer to me is not open until 9am (and it's 8:23 at this point). I take care of that, and go to drop off a 24 hour urine sample to a clinic....yeah....the thing was fine until I put it on the counter and then LEAKED all over....yeah. Talk about embarrassment. I would say I'm peed off, but that's just wrong.

Games for Windows

Microsoft loves to win in every business they are in. When they moved into the video game console space with the original Xbox they knew they weren't going to win right away, but they did manage to sell something like 24 million Xbox's. Not bad for a first outing. Then, they leapfrogged the competition to get the Xbox 360 into the hands of consumers and it has worked--despite hardware problems. The games are there, and people are loving it.

What they don't seem to be loving these days is PC gaming. We've all read articles spelling out the "Doom" (pardon the pun) of gaming on your computer, and yet many people still play games on their computers. Why not? Computers and gaming go together like marshmallows and Rice Krispies. I'm personally a console gamer, but as curator of the Personal Computer Museum I know the importance of gaming on a computer over the years and that it's still quite strong today.

When Microsoft came calling us looking for help in creating a retrospective view of gaming and computers over the years I was both surprised and honoured. So we're going to be part of the Games for Windows event occurring on June 27, 28 at Toronto's Interaccess gallery at Queen & Ossington.

Computers change quickly. Gaming is changing quickly. It's important to preserve the history as it unfolds---because before you know it, it's gone. These are your memories and your good times. We just help you remember them.

I'm through trying to help out! Incompetence wins!

If you know me, you know I'm a pretty mild mannered man. I was brought up to be polite, hold doors open for anyone and say please and thank you. Further to that, my incredible "green" personality means that I'm curious about how things work. I tend to give too much information to people at times but I have found it has helped me more than hinder. Until the last little while. By the way -- this post is NOT about games! :)

The first example is at the movie theaters. In my area, we have something called "The Scene" card. It's a loyalty program that gives you 10% off concessions and eventually, after buying 12,500 regular tickets you get a free admission. Being a person who likes to save time and is also "technology oriented" I usually use those machines to buy my tickets. I swipe my Scene card and get my tickets and I recently bought two combos and received my discount. When you present the "pre-paid" voucher at the Point of Sale (POS) the cashier has always asked me for my Scene card. Why? I think. Then I realize they need to swipe it AGAIN in order to get the transaction total down by 10% to match the value of the concession voucher. If the till says you sold $30 of crap and there is a voucher for $27.... it makes extra work for the bean counters. The first 5 times this happened to me, I had put my Scene card back into my wallet and had to bring it out to present when it was asked for. I finally wised up ... I would bring the card out AHEAD of time to save everyone the grief of me fumbling around in my George Costanza sized wedge that protrudes out of my ass.

SOOOOOOOOO the last time I'm at the theater, I present my card to the little Avril Lavigne look-a-like behind the counter and she looks back at me and says "Are you buying something else because it's too late for me to take this...". HUH? I explain to her that every other time (and I'm talking at least 20-30 times) I've used an ATM voucher I needed my card. "Nope....nope you don't". I explain about the funds not matching. "They fix that in the back". Of course they do. Just don't try and upsize your drink or add a hot dog ... because then the Scene card comes out and a look of horror, shock and confusion will come over the cashier's face as they try and figure out how to take an ATM voucher and cash. It's called SPLIT tender .... 10 years in the POS business will do this too you.

So that wasn't SO bad, only arguing with Avril was not that fun.....so now we go to my constant coffee fix: Tim Horton's. Lately I've had a thing for the Toasted Coconut donut. Don't know why -- I don't ask. As quickly as this fad came on for me, it will go away but for now I like to have one here and there. As far as I know there is only ONE Tim Horton's in the area that carries them. "I'll have a coffee and a toasted coconut donut please" I ask.....I get my coffee and some weird yeast donut with maple topping and then toasted coconut on THAT. NOT what I wanted. So the next time I specify: "and a cake toasted coconut donut". Now ... call me STUPID but I worked as a baker for Mr. Donut when I was a teenager and we made primarily two types of donuts: yeast and cake. I know the difference, why don't they? "What was that?" I heard back on the speaker. A toasted coconut cake donut. So then, I end up with a chocolate cake -- white coconut donut. GEESH!!! So the next time I go back, I get to asking for just "and a toasted coconut donut". Now I am getting "White or chocolate sir?"....ah ha...progress. However, I'm the type that wants to specify to a waitress my "sides" and choices ahead of time to save time and energy for all concerned. So now I say "coffee and a white cake toasted coconut donut". Now I'm getting "Sorry, was that a coconut donut? Filling?".

GRRRRR. I give up. This is why getting an apple fritter is easier, it's hard to screw up what you are asking for. Or skip the donuts, it's what I should be doing in the first place.

Moving on up

My blogging is changing a bit and I'm now writing for Ospreyblogs.com and also Torontothumbs.com so make sure you check me out on those sites! I am also continuing to write for Armchair Empire and Brantnow.com and each site has different content because apparently I have too much to say.

I'm currently playing the original Half-Life on the Playstation 2 and other than that, just playing some games I need to review -- nothing too exciting at the moment but there are some upcoming titles that I can't wait for so stay tuned!

Halo 3 - Finishing the Fight

Well you know that I'm a gamer. I have more video games in my house than some people have brain cells, and yet surprisingly I have never REALLY played Halo before. Sure, I own all of them ... but it wasn't until Halo 3 arrived that I finally took the plunge and decided to play the single player campaign. I had only played the first level or two of the original Halo and of course have experienced some multiplayer (even played at the Mothership-Microsoft itself when I was there a couple of years ago). So what did I think of this release? I thought it was great. I'm not sure I buy into the incredible hype about it but then again, I'm not a big first-person-shooter fan. I found the story quite interesting and I did feel immersed in the experience. The AI was good - but certainly NOT perfect. Sometimes my guys would drive backwards and I found myself stuck in one place for WAY TOO LONG. These shortcomings did not take away from a great gaming experience however. The music was amazing, the graphics were very good and the game was filled with enough "HOLY CRAP!" moments that I walked away feeling pretty darn good about it. Now the "Legendary Edition" is what I had to have ... but seriously, $150 for the Helmet? Somebody's making too much money. Oh yeah, Microsoft is really good at that. 9.0 out of 10.