Photos of using Virtusphere at AMD event at Comic-Con 2011

The giant sign at the San Diego Convention Center advertising the AMD event at the Omni Hotel

Comic-Con 2011 is finally over and I have been going through my photos.  During the AMD promotion I was able to use a virtual reality product called Virtusphere.  I posted about it describing it as a "Hampster Ball" since that was my first impression of it.  The Virtusphere was a little difficult to get into for the first time.  The sphere is very well balanced and it only requires a little bit of force to move it.  A first time user like myself needed a little help to get in but after a few times people would be able to get in fairly easily. They had the Virusphere set up to play Fallout New Vegas.  Once inside with the virtual reality goggles on you were "inside" the game.  You could move in all directions.  You could also move in one direction while looking in another which was a different experience for me in a video game.  The gun was set up to only act as a trigger mechanism for the in game weapon.  It felt natural to point the gun in the direction you were firing but you were actually aiming with the goggles.  Where you were looking was where you were firing.  I am sure this could be changed to make the gun independent of the goggles and foot movement but it may have been a choice that the exhibitors made for the show.  Some people are naturally very good at orienting themselves and others are not.  The people who are good at this become Olympic divers and fighter pilots and others like myself walk into a pool and stay away from flight simulators.  By eliminating the independent gun orientation it helped new users like myself to have a little more fun.  It takes a bit of orientation to get used to the sphere's movement while using those goggles.  I was in the Virtushpere for maybe five minutes and by the end I was starting to feel comfortable and was forgetting about the controls and getting into the game.  Too bad I couldn't have spent the day in it!    The AMD people working at the exhibit were nice enough to offer to take pictures with your camera of you in the Virtushpere.  Except for the Convention Center sign the following photos were taken with my camera by one of the women working the exhibit.

Comic-Con Not The Best Venue for Personal Computer Technology or Me

Well, five days of Comic-Con is over with and I have come away with some impressions about Comic-Con as a personal computer technology venue.  Comic-Con is becoming  a "Movie-Con" geared towards younger fans who are there to see celebrities.  I don't think that personal computer oriented companies will find Comic-Con a good venue for their products.  Consoles and console games will do better but even they may find Comic-Con less of a venue for themselves too.

Comic-Con started off as a comic book convention.  Comic books have become a very influential medium that other industries have tapped into.  Two industries that have really profited recently have been television and movies.  Movies and television shows that are based on comic books and their characters have been very profitable.  Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and the X-Men are just many of the examples of characters that have been used to great dramatic and profitable effect.  Movie and television studios have figured out that many of the fans that drive the demand for these movies and shows can be found at Comic-Con.  For very little money and a short drive from Los Angeles to San Diego studios can get a very cheap publicity event that will reach thousands at one location that will reverberate way beyond the San Diego Convention Center walls.  The bringing in of actors has brought in ticket buyers to Comic-Con that really aren't there for the comics.  Many people are there to see their favorite actors in person even it is from fifty or two hundred rows away.  The attendance at Comic-Con has swelled and tickets sell out quickly.  This year when batches of tickets were sold on site people camped out at least as early as five in the morning. 

Comic-Con has a panel at the end of the show that allows people to complain about or praise Comic-Con.  Many of the people in attendance were self identified as fans that had been going to Comic-Con for years and were on the older side of thirty.  Many weren't able or willing to camp out for tickets and just had a miserable experience in general.  In all fairness, this was a group of people who were motivated enough to show up at the end of the show on Sunday to complain.  But several years ago I attended this same panel and the complaint and suggestions were of a much more minor variety.  What were the usual complaints a couple of years ago about long lines had morphed into comments about not coming back to Comic-Con at all during this meeting.  Basically you were seeing the over thirty demographic leaving the convention.  Comic-Con will no doubt be sold out next year but the people going will be a little different.  They will be younger and likely not a long time attendee of the event.  Their motivation to attend will also be more about seeing a celebrity than about strictly wanting to go to a convention about comic books. Well, wouldn't this be even better for personal computer based companies?  Wouldn't younger people be more receptive to a more technologically driven convention?  I don't think so and this is why.

One of the things that has made personal computer (PC) games different from consoles have been its users.  In the past most PC users were older by virtue of the expense of the PC.  A basic PC with a back and white screen that only displayed text could easily cost several thousand dollars.  Games were geared to an older and more affluent crowd.  Consoles on the other hand have always appealed to a younger crowd.  This younger crowd are using their console for the one thing it can do well which is play games.  The PC is not only a platform for people who are older but also for people who are doing things on it other than playing games.  So how does this apply to Comic-Con?  When the older demographic leaves Comic-Con, which I think it will, so too will be the audience that will stop at a PC product booth. 

This year I went to the demonstration that was being put on by AMD.  As an older PC user I could appreciate an APU that had integrated graphics in a processor.  I saw a technological solution that would allow me to purchase or build a PC that would allow me to play some games in a cheap and functional multipurpose PC.  The fact that this PC would not play the latest and most demanding games wasn't as much of a concern to me.  I don't thing the younger crowd will really care about this type of product.  When I went to the AMD demonstration it was not as busy as some of the game booths featuring gaming consoles.  Yes, these gaming consoles were on the convention floor and the AMD exhibit was in a hall in a hotel across the street but I don't think that was the real issue.  Last year when Intel set up an exhibit for the Atom processor for Google TV on the convention floor people quickly lost interest and kept moving.  I didn't see Intel this year and I don't expect AMD to come back either. 

The console area was busy but it wasn't packed like it used to be.  I was easily able to get to a game station and play a game or talk to a representative for that game.  People were walking by for the most part compared to earlier years when games were more of a novelty at Comic-Con.  I think Consoles and console games will still be a draw at Comic-Con but less so as Hollywood takes over.  I also think that this younger crowd isn't as interested in console demonstrations.  There are plenty of demos and reviews and younger people are easily bored with this sort of display.  This is something they can do at home so why should they spend a lot of their convention time at a console game exhibit?  If console exhibits got a luke warm reception then PC hardware and software companies shouldn't even bother with doing exhibits.  This year there wasn't a computer game magazine on the showroom floor and software vendors were largely ignored.  People were there for the movie stars, less for the comic books and hardly interested at all about personal computer hardware or software.  

I had seen a trend in the past of computer companies making appearances at Comic-Con.  It appears that some computer companies thought that they could tap into the Comic-Con market the way the television and movie studios have.  I think that trend of computer companies coming will be stopping as Comic-Con is changing because the demographic of the people going to Comic-Con is changing.  As the reaction to computer companies and even consoles diminish these technology companies presence will diminish.  Computer companies just haven't found that formula to get a real amount of buzz for their products like the television and movie studios have. 

I wasn't able to get tickets during the convention for next year.  I will have to try to get tickets when they are released online through Comic-Con.  It will be nice if I can go next year and see if AMD comes back and if computer software and hardware will have a greater presence.  But all things change and maybe next year I will not be going to Comic-Con and it will be a good thing.  I will just have to find another convention that caters more to my demographic and interests.  It has been a fun fourteen years going to Comic-Con but maybe it is time to try something new.  Maybe some of the technology companies will come to the same conclusion.

"Hampster Ball" and AMD APU Demo at Comic-Con was Impressive

This year at Comic-Con AMD is one of the convention's sponsors.  They set up a demonstration area in the Omni Hotel across the street from Comic-Con.  In that room was some really interesting things I think all gamers and tech people should check out. 

I asked the usual "when will  X come out" questions.  Everyone was tight lipped about when the Bulldozer CPU, future consoles, and the 7000 series of video cards will come out.  The best answer I could get was, "they will come out soon."  But they had two main things at this exhibit that turned out to be just as exciting. 

The first experience I had was the "Virtusphere."  It is a giant ball that you walk inside of  like a giant  "hamster ball/wheel" for humans.  The wheel acts as a controller for games.  It was set up to play Fallout New Vegas.  When you walked in the ball you "walked" through the game.  Instead of using a screen you used "virtual reality" goggles.  So you felt like you were in the game moving around as if you were there.  The ball allowed you to walk in all directions and you looked around and aimed your gun independent of your foot movement with the goggles.  Well, I don't think I will be able to afford this for my home but it was a very cool experience.    

The second experience I had was using AMD's new A series "APU.  APU is AMD's term for a  CPU with a graphics  processor integrated inside the CPU.  There were several APU equipped laptops loaded with games for people to try out.  I used the Lenovo Z575 laptop with Shogun 2 - Total War installed.  In a previous post I had lamented that it was time to upgrade my system.  Well, after playing with AMD's  A6-3400M  APU I was impressed.   The game play was smooth.  This demo finally made my "high" end computer at home feel old..  When your old system finally feels slow and new hardware is at a reasonable price that is the time to upgrade.  The Lenovo Z575 is a fairly reasonably priced computer and the APUs for desktops from AMD are too.  (For example, at the time of this post NewEgg.com is selling two of these processors for under a hundred and forty dollars)

I think my next computer build will be with an APU and I will experiment with how well it plays all my games.  I have always had two computers at home.  One computer has low power consumption that can play old games and that I can do my day to day chores on. The other computer has higher power consumption (usually because of the video card) and can play my  newest games well.  I could see myself buying an APU to replace both my aging low and "high" end computers now and build a higher end Bulldozer CPU based computer in the future.  The APU would get me through the upgrade I need to do until Bulldozer comes out and prices fall enough for me to afford the newer technology.  I wasn't excited at first about the laptops that were set up and almost just walked out.  But I gave them a try and was very surprised and walked away thinking about buying an APU based computer.  I guess the "hamster ball" did its job in bringing me in long enough to give a new technology a try.   

My Comic-Con Coverage and GameSpot Comic-Con 2011 Preview

For about the last fourteen years I have been going to Comic-Con here in San Diego.  I found out about Comic-Con indirectly.  I was never a huge comic book fan as a kid.  I liked Spider-Man and some of the old Star Wars comics but I never really read them consistently.  Back then comics were just too expensive for me.  My interest in Comic-Con happened by chance.  It was around fifteen years ago that there were many computer conventions.  About every couple of months there would be a "convention" at the Shriner's hall which was more of a giant swap meet for computers.  Once a year there was a big convention at the new San Digo Convention Center here in San Diego.  The ground floor was filled with booths selling and promoting all things related to computers.  Upstairs were rooms where there were panels that were either seminar like classes on software or discussions about different computer topics.  Well, this yearly show died off and the little swap meets became more and more infrequent.  When the big show decided to go "more corporate" many of the booths were gone and those seminars upstairs started to cost big money to attend.  Gone were the little booths dedicated to local computer clubs and gone were those free seminars that educated new computer users like myself.  I remember noticing that there was this thing called Comic-Con being promoted at the San Digo Convention Center .  Back then you could just walk in and buy a ticket the day you wanted to go.  I was surprised and amazed.  This convention had the same format as the computer convention.  The were vendors were just selling comic related products instead of computers products.  Upstairs there were panels where people discussed comic related topics rather than computer related topics.  It was essentially the old computer convention that I enjoyed but with comics as its focus. 

Follow up to the Future of Gaming Post or The video game she play me...

In the previous post "The Future of Gaming The Future of Computers" I mentioned a video put out by Eurogamer.net.  The video was called "The Future of PC Gaming Pt.1" whose follow up "Pt. 2" I was able to get back to and finish. In the previous post I concentrated more on the style of the article and the website that this video was on and the site that was linking to it.  My goal for this post is to give a general review about what I took away from the actual video.

Apple One to One Bento First Impressions

Bento is one of those programs that I have seen on the wall at the Apple Store that I was curious about but didn't want to buy.  At $49 (the list price quoted on their web site at the time of this posting) I couldn't justify a purchase for something that I thought I would never use.  After taking a One to One session at the Apple store it made me think twice about purchasing it.  By the middle of the hour long session I was sold but by the end I decided to put my purchase off.  My recommendation is a mixed one for this program.  Like most of Apple's products, I think this is a great program but I don't like the trapped feeling I get .

iPod Purchase on Hold

Last Saturday I went to the Apple Store for a One to One tutorial and with the intention of buying a new iPod touch.  I signed up for a One to One session to learn more about iPods and iTunes.  One of the things that I like about the One to One trainers is that they answer all your questions, not just the ones that are on the lesson "script".  After the hour was over I decided to put off my iPod touch purchase.  It wasn't the trainers fault but it was because of my own needs and personality.  In fact, I was more convinced to buy an iPad than an iPod in the future so Apple doesn't have to worry about losing a sale.

The Future of Gaming The Future of Computers

One of the things I like to do is follow different web sites to keep up with what is going on in computers.  One part of the world wide web that is always looking for the newest in computer hardware and what is going to come next are the gamers and the computer gaming sites.  One well put together site is Rock, Paper, Shotgun .  It is visually easy to scan but catchy enough to make you stop and read.  Some of the articles are original but they aren't afraid to "review"/link to another article on the net.  The article that caught my attention was, "Mark Rein Says PC Has "Shot By" Consoles" by John Walker".  It linked to the original article by Johnny Minkley called, "Rein: PC gaming has "shot by" consoles by a very good web site called Eurogamer.  Included in the original article is an excellent video showing interviews of people in the gaming industry talking about how consoles rely on computers to design the games for consoles and point to the future of consoles and games in general.  This is a two part article/video where part two is promised "next" Friday (7/15/11?). 

After Using Numbers I Think iWork Should Be Bundled with Macs like iLife

Yesterday I went to a One to One tutorial and got my first glimpse of Apple's spreadsheet program called Numbers.  There were some things about Numbers that I think Excel is better at.  First, there isn't the collaboration support that Excel has.  You can't make comments about comments and from the first look I had there wasn't a compare documents feature that Excel has.  Because Numbers doesn't use a grid but a "workspace" I don't think it would be great for spreadsheets with thousands of entries that corporations or scientists might use.  But...for the other 95% of the people who own a computer it is an easy to use program that integrates well with a Mac and the other programs in the iWork suite like Pages and Keynote.  In fact, the iWork suite would probably be all that the average person and small business would need.