Keanen's Blog » Video Games

Gunnar Glasses Review

Keanen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:14:05 +0000

I visited my optometrist before the end of the year to burn up my remaining flex dollars. After my eye exam and the good news that my vision is still good with no real reason to get prescription glasses, I explained that I have been suffering from headaches at work. Starring at my screen for a good part of the day and having florescent bulbs overhead tweaks my eyes out and I would go home with headaches a few times a week. The doctor told me to 'hear her out' and began to explain that there are glasses that were developed for 'gamers' who play games for many hours at a time and that they have had good results with professionals with eye strain related to computer use.

The doctor handed me off to a sales person who lead me to a case with a variety of glasses with a yellow tint to them. He began to explain to me a coating that blocks some of the light and how the yellow helps to soften the colors on my computer screen. I decided to pickup a pair figuring that anything was worth a try. I tried on a few pairs of these glasses and settled on the Emissary model. By default I was told that these glasses have half of the power of the lowest reading 'cheaters' but that they are also available via prescription as well.

After two weeks of use, I am happy to report that I have not went home with a headache! In fact, I felt a headache coming on during an all day meeting in a room with florescent lighting, I put my new glasses on and avoided it. I now find it interesting that when I take my Gunnars off at work, my screen seems very LOUD to my eyes.

While at the office, I do get plenty of questions about my yellow tinted glasses. Hopefully at least one person that I educate about Gunnars can help themselves avoid headaches.

UStream on my EVO

Keanen — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:44:02 +0000

I am using UStream Viewer Beta on my EVO to watch Sony and Nintendo presentations at the E3 event. Both 1up and G4 are broadcasting. Too cool!

Mainstream Mario

Keanen — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:43:26 +0000

As my buddy Don pointed out, it's fun that some of the video games are mainstream enough that you can purchase an adult sized shirt at Kohl's

Eye of Judgement

Keanen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:07:27 +0000

I played EOJ with my friend Jay from Alabama tonight. It's been a long time since I have played this game. Jay and I played two games and we split. He wanted the rubber match but I decided I should get some sleep Jay, we'll finish the series soon!

I recommend this game for anyone that enjoys strategic games. Don't let the look of the game deceive you. If you like chess, you'll likely get into EOJ.

The have seen the game and camera combo for under $50 on sale. I think that Jay bought it for around $40! It's well worth it even for the camera alone if you are interested in video conferencing on your PS3.

Motorstorm anyone?

Keanen — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:36:51 +0000

MotorStorm – Little Big Planet style!!

Keanen — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:47:07 +0000

I haven't played this game in weeks and so tonight I pop it in to find what new cool creations were out there. I decided on the monster truck (how can you skip it!!) and off I was racing through the level. I was laughing to myself as I was bouncing through the track much like the real game. Too much fun!!

I even got to try out the paint gun in one of the levels which is a lot of fun. If you haven't given this game a shot, you're missing out!!

The PS3 keypad

Keanen — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:20:02 +0000

I picked this accessory up last week as over the Christmas break with my 360 being dead I was putting in a lot of time on my PS3 (SOCOM, Warhawk, LBP and Pacific Rift). With the lack of being able to use voice chat with friends from the XMB while in game and people sending me messages asking which game I was in, etc I found quickly that a keyboard would save A LOT time.
Anyhow, it's nice to be able to rattle off messages quickly and the web browsing is much more desirable when going to non-bookmarked addresses. The cursor mode is really pretty cool, the keyboard becomes a touchpad like a laptop which again while browsing is pretty slick!
The only drawbacks are the price of $50 and the lack of backlighting on the keyboard that my XBOX Live! Messenger has.
This keypad can also be trained up with other devices as a keyboard. Hmm, I should try with my Touch Pro but I really don't know what good that would be except for geeking out

Make that my 4th Red Ring of Death…

Keanen — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:44:09 +0000

SOB!!! I have an open TV stand so my 360 is ventilated and I don't have any extra cooling fans that some suggest cause problems. This will be my forth bad 360. In the last year I have put at least double the time on my PS3 just gaming and not to mention my MANY hours of running the Folding application on my PS3 and have had NO problems on that system that sits right next to my 360. Carolyn was watching a movie tonight and we got the checkered screen. I kept getting the locked up checkered screen and finally it came, the RROD. I am on the phone with XBOX support right now and am going through the motions. "The process will take 2-3 weeks. I said that this is about the worst time of year for this to happen with Christmas a week away and she can't offer anything except for a WHOLE month of XBOX Live Gold. Wahoo!

Little Big Planet Fun!

Keanen — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:36:05 +0000

Tonight I spent some time on the PS3 playing some SOCOM, MotorStorm 2 and Little Big Planet.

I forget sometimes how much fun LBP can be. I jumped in and did some of the campaign but the real fun is in the community. I played some user created Batman levels, Halloween, Christmas, Mirrors Edge, etc. The most fun was this guy who must have spent a great amount of time on a Mario Bros knock-off level. As I went though I had to take some pictures to share and when I was done I was simply in awe. This game is really something special. I hope to find more holiday like themes that the kids will like. Too cool!!

Click on the images to see a bigger version.

Checkout "Bowser"

The detail is great...

The Koopa Trooper throwing spiked logs down on me...

A water level, just too neat...

So typical of Sony…

Keanen — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:14:02 +0000

Sony releases the Home public beta and I'm getting an error on my first attempt. Last night it worked just fine and as usual with Sony they probably weren't setup to handle the load.
They have a horrible track record online when it comes to game releases and stability. This goes way back to SOCOM on the PS2 and has plagued the PS3 online experience with WarHawk, LBP, SOCOM 3 and others.
I have complained about this on the Sony forums and the fanboys always get defensive and suggest to "give it a couple of weeks to get better". SOCOM 3 was dying with 20,000 concurrent users and Sony was almost bragging about it because there were so many people online I remember the Halo 3 launch, as we stood in line for the midnight release the east coast was getting home and starting to play. There were a million users on before midnight CST and Live had minor problems with matchmaking.
I know this is a beta and I am supposed to be forgiving but come on Sony! Get on it and move to a Live like model. This Christmas I have recommended 360's to anyone who likes to play online because you can't get it together.