Always Back That Thing Up

Yesterday's release of update 4.50 for the PlayStation 4 brought with it the console's ability to support external hard drive for game installation among other things. It's a feature that should have been there to begin with but we know Mark Cerny has never been that bright. Still, I was very excited to finally be able to install all of my games into my console with a 2TB external hard drive enclosure with plenty of available space to spare. I don't think my PS4 collection will ever grow to anything significant in number, an alarming evident that everything I need gaming wise is being fulfilled by Personal Computer gaming, so I should have enough space to last the system's lifetime, which I am sure is pretty close to an end if the PS4 Pro is any indication - I am hating the fact that developers are now intentionally gimping playing their games on the original system instead of optimizing the crap out of them. Thank you Guerrilla Games for not doing that with their recently released Horizon: Zero Dawn, showing the other devs of their utter incompetence and partiality. The only thing that should be improved when you are playing PS4 games on the Pro would be the addition of 4K-related features because the original PS4 is certainly capable of more than most of these developers are willing to do with it these days. Speaking of the original PS4, it's annoying that the console doesn't have USB connectivity in the back because the HDD has to be connected to the front of the system:

Why did they stick that tube into grandpa?

Plugging the USB cable to the front of the system made it look like it is on life support. A rather disturbing thought if you ask me.

Review: HTC Vive

I received my HTC Vive last Wednesday and as a person who had never experienced virtual reality before, I was both thrilled and nervous to try it out for the first time ever. I am one of those people who are very prone to motion sickness when playing first person shooters with horribly low field of vision - I always have to set it to 100+ to not get sick - so I didn't know how my body would react to being placed in a VR environment.

First things first however, I had to set it up to work with my Game Room, which has enough free space to accommodate room-scale VR. Getting the sensors up on two opposite corners of the playing space was very much a chore, plus it was a rather messy process. If you don't have tall cabinets lining up two opposite corners of your room, it's not going to be that easy. This process is made worse because proper drywall anchors were not provided in the box so you have to get them on your own. Instead of needing to have them plugged directly into a power supply, I wished they had rechargeable battery packs instead so that one could easily pull those out and recharge them somewhere else between uses. Hooking up the head-mounted display to the PC required plenty of wires as well, plus needing access to another electrical outlet but the link box that connects your PC to the HMD is so small and cute and you can easily set it in a forgotten space between things and out of your way.

The fusion of man and VR.

Once everything was set however, what came next was nothing short of mind-blowing. And no, I didn't get motion sickness at all*. I was literally stunned by the SteamVR tutorial. The virtual space looked real. Like convincingly real. Sometimes not as sharp but it felt like I was there. Without experiencing it for oneself, it's impossible to show how effective the VR experience provided by the Vive is but I believe the best way to describe it is that everything has depth and you can tell the relative distance of everything, whether those objects are moving or static. It's like you are really there and this illusion is further strengthened by the Vive's currently exclusive room-scale VR where you can walk around in VR space instead of merely standing or sitting in the middle of it. The HMD literally transported me to another place by replacing the view of my Game Room with a completely different, fully realized surrounding.

From Kaos to Absolute Chaos

Two weeks ago, I got the adorable Kaos figurine. That was supposed to be the last of it. What can I say, I was weak. Skylanders Imaginators for the PlayStation 4 is now a part of my collection. As if that was not enough, I also obtained additional sensei Skylanders and.creation crystals for the game. Amazon's recent Black Friday event is partly to blame for this. Knowing how devastating collecting new Skylanders can be, I will take things a lot slower this time around. But yes, I was weak indeed. Master Eon help me.

These new figurines are so vivid and detailed. I love them!

Causing Kaos in the Game Room

I am doing my best to try to avoid getting into Skylanders: Imaginators that was released on multiple platforms recently. This is because of two things: A) I prefer the Vicarious Visions versions of the franchise versus instead of those made by Toys for Bob, and B) Committing to any Skylanders game may easily lead to financial ruins. Unfortunately for me, I stumbled into... the Kaos figurine. I couldn't belileve it. Kaos. Sure, you can trap the poor guy in Trap Team but this is the fully realized physical representation of Kaos. I couldn't stop myself. I just had to get him, I couldn't say no, and he's quite beautiful.

A Kaos figurine. Toys for Bob is evil.

I am very impressed that the new figurines come in their own special, very collectible boxes. Though I do keep the cardboard backing from previous Skylanders figurines, I don't keep their plastic encasing. This new way of presenting these Skylanders to us is both fascinating - the box truly look spectacular - and horrifying - it's going to be very difficult to find space to place all these boxes if this is going to be the new packaging standard for the series. My plan here is to only just have the Kaos figurine from Imaginators so that I can use him when the next Skylanders installment from Vicarious Visions come out. We will see if I am able to stay strong in that conviction.

Caught Me Some Yokai

I don't think I ever mentioned that I got myself the New Nintendo 3DS XL in February of this year - I really like the stable 3D though the second stick sucks - and ever since I had it, I have never taken it out of the house. I own one of those carry pouches for the original 3DS that is of course too small for my new XL. I really miss accumulating play coins, collecting miis, and playing the Mii plaza games so I started looking for a nice case for my newer system. Since the New Nintendo 3DS XL is already pretty bulky, I opted for a different carry solution instead. I decided to get a Hori Duraflexi Protector:

A clear, translucent option is available but that's kinda boring, no?

I want to be able to just slip my system into my pants pocket but I want it to be protected from potential bumps and bruises. The duraflexi covering is rather thick but covers almost the entirety of the system except for the top part. I wish they would have included some kind of shoulder caps to protect the shoulder buttons but having this protector on my system makes me comfortable enough to finally carry it around outside the safety of my Game Room. The system definitely feels more sturdy with the protector on and the smooth, thick surface feels good in my hands. There is no reason for you to just be turned off and sit around anymore my New Nintendo 3DS XL... It's time to introduce you to the world!

The system is now ready to accompany me on my Target runs.