iPad vs The World – Tablet Comparison

I spend many of my mornings each week volunteering as a Teacher’s Assistant for the multimedia teacher at our local college. While sometimes I spend hours compiling spreadsheets and spellchecking brochures, other times I get to have a load of fun. Recently, our college got a grant to purchase tablets for the multimedia program. An iPad Air, iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Google Nexus, and Kindle Fire HDX. I’ve had the fun time of adding screen protectors, buying apps, and getting to know the tablets. The longer I play with them, the more I see their strengths and weaknesses. Want to hear my thoughts on all 5 of these tablets? Keep on reading.

Watch Dogs Graphics Downgrade – But is it?

There’s been a lot of fuss surrounding the recent Watch Dogs trailer. The few gameplay clips we saw appear to have downgraded graphics from the E3 gameplay we saw back in 2013. Has Watch Dogs seen a graphical downgrade? Has Ubisoft been lying to us about how good this game is? Is Watch Dogs worth buying? Are the aliens behind this?

Let’s take a breath, and go over why the graphics appear to be lower quality than in previous videos in a rational method. No need to hyperventilate.

Why is there still violent Xbox One hate?

The Xbox One had a rocky start. At E3 in 2013, they announced a boatload of mistakes that nobody, including me, wanted. The console also was $100 more than it’s competitor, the Playstation 4. Considering the PS4 technically had better RAM, why would anyone pay for such a failure of a console? Problem is, Microsoft has fixed many of those problems, and PS4 and developed even more problems. I don’t understand why there is still such violent hate against the Xbox One, despite it becoming the better console over time. Want to read all the reasons the Xbox One is now beating the PS4? Keep on reading.

Knowing Geometry for quicker Call of Duty kills

Geometry. Boring, right? Right. Except for the few, most of geometry flew over our heads and into the “where will I ever use this in real life” category. While most of Algebra is there for me, Geometry actually has a lot of uses, particularly in gaming. I’ve talked about hixboxes before, and that’s a great use for geometry. However, that’s a bit specialized and most gamers don’t need to know about hitboxes. However, what about something simpler? Such as, when if it just as accurate to hip fire a Call of Duty gun than to aim down sights? Don’t be scared away, this won’t be filled with boring math. Keep reading to see!

Xbox One Impressions

It’s no small feat to look at an entire console and summarize it in a single article. The Xbox One has been in development for years and years, and is an extremely detailed machine. I’m not going to do a strict review, because I don’t have a PS4 to compare it to, but I’ll talk about what I’ve liked, disliked, found interesting, and more.

DR3 Combo & Strategy Tips

Impressive combos, right? But would you like to learn how to do those exact combos, too? Do you want to hit level 50 as fast as possible? Or want to get tons and tons of PP? Combos are the way to do that. Killing a lone zombie can yield, oh, maybe 25 PP. But once you get a high combo going? That one zombie could be worth upwards of 250 PP. When you mow through dozens of zombies at that pace, you’ll level up in a matter of minutes–even near level 50 and above. It’s tricky to learn, but once you get the technique down, somewhat easy to excecute. Here’s a few tips and ideas to help you get the most out of your combos!

Ghosts Launches Tomorrow

One of my most anticipated games, Call of Duty Ghosts, releases tomorrow. It’s been a long wait since the June announcement (or May, depending if you were following some YouTubers) but it’s finally here! Knee sliding, Extinction mode, Marksmen rifles, better snipers, nukes, destructible maps, what else could you ask for? Of course there are new things we’d all like, but Call of Duty Ghosts looks like an impressive improvement from Black Ops 2. I’ll be picking it up tomorrow (no midnight release, sorry, I have college class) and will be playing it.

So the question is, what would you guys like to see or know from Ghosts? Are you curious about a specific multiplayer weapon? Or how the new ACOG sight looks? Or if C4 is still an airbursting OP device? While I don’t have professional grade screen recording software, I can record some footage or just post information about certain topics. Leave a comment, and you’ll probably see your personal question answered tomorrow!

What is Bukkit doing?

In case you’re not familiar with Minecraft servers, it’s a bit of an odd dynamic. In the vast majority of multiplayer games, there are one of two things: dedicated servers, or console-hosted rounds. In Call of Duty (in the past, this is changing now), one of the consoles in the multiplayer lobby would be chosen, based on ping speed, location, and latency. That console would host the match. It puts that particular console under more stress, but it ensures everyone else runs at a faster pace. Or, there are dedicated servers. Built for only that game, they are the fastest and most reliable way to play online. Problem is, dedicated servers aren’t cheap, so services like Xbox Live have to be made to pay for that.

Then there is Minecraft. Since there aren’t rounds or matches, the server has to be online 24/7. Mojang can’t possibly hope to create enough dedicated servers to house them all, and no one wants to sacrifice their computer’s RAM and never reboot it for a console-hosted server. Both of those, interestingly enough, are in the works or are in use, but are not the most popular option. The most popular option is to purchase a server through a hosting service, like MC Pro Hosting or Fragnet. And unless you want a totally vanilla, no plugins, no modifications server, you’ll probably want Bukkit. Bukkit is a free software that allows plugins, modifications, and easy API for developers to use. It’s a super slick piece of software, and is most commonly used by servers. Sure, there’s Tekkit and Feed The Beast, but they are significantly less popular and serve a different purpose.

With the recent release of 1.7.2, Bukkit hasn’t been getting on the development train like most people want them to. In fact, they’re still releasing and working on 1.6.4 versions instead of 1.7.2. Why is that? Keep reading to hear my speculation.

Call of Duty Ghosts: Extinction Mode Details

Wow! All kinds of new information has blown up about Extinction mode! As I’ve speculated earlier, Extinction mode is the Infinity Ward alternative to Zombies. Instead of Zombies, you have to kill off aliens instead. So, I was right about aliens! I’m very glad to see it wasn’t dinosaurs, and that these aliens look and act pretty awesome. Destroy the various alien hives around the map, survive the crawling, shooting, biting aliens, and run to your helicopter for freedom! Want more details? Keep on reading.

iOS 7 Beta Expire

So, I’ve been using iOS 7 beta for months now, since beta 3. I’ve really enjoyed it, the new features and such. I’m used to dealing with bugs, glitches, issues, and random crashes. What I wasn’t prepared for was a total iPhone lockout. This is the quick story of how my phone became 100% unusable and I had to completely reformat the darn thing.