Hijinks Inc.

Month: July 2010

  • Hijinks Movie Reviews: Toy Story 3

    I’d like to begin this review by saying I actually went to the 3D version of this movie. This was my first experience with the new digital 3D movies and I must say, I don’t see what the big deal was. Maybe this movie just didn’t take full advantage of the 3D (it seems everything is hyping the fact that they are in 3D these days, do we really need this many?), but if this is what a regular 3D experience is like in the theaters, it’s totally not worth the extra money. Yeah, the movie trailers at the beginning were really cool because it was this brand new experience and my eyeballs were all like, “Whoa! I can see things in a whole new way, this is fantastic!”, but as the movie went along it quickly started to look like the regular version. It was at this point that my eyes were like, “Alright, why did I pay the extra money for this? I can hardly remember this thing is in 3D in the first place until I pay attention to the added depth, but then I’m not paying attention to the actual movie anymore, just the novelty of the 3D.” Maybe I just missed it, maybe I’m not evolved enough to truly enjoy the 3D experience, but I digress.

    The movie itself was fantastic, but what I really walked away from the theater with was an appreciation for the short that Pixar included before the movie, as they do with all their flicks. This one was called Day & Night, here’s the official write up for it:

    “When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other’s unique qualities — and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world — the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective.”

    At this point, my eyes were still on their visual joyride and I was really digging the 3D experience. It was such a simple little film and I was busy laughing at how these two animated little guys were showing off and trying to one up each other, and next thing I knew I was being hit by this really touching, meaningful story about friendship and overcoming each other’s differences to grow as individuals and work together. It was pretty cool.

    But anyway, on to the actual review of Toy Story 3 after the jump. Possible spoilers included. (more…)

  • What You Need to Know About FroYo

    Android 2.2The talk in the Android world right now is about Android 2.2, codenamed FroYo.  FroYo will build on the improvements made in the last major release, Éclair by increasing speed and adding some great new features.  More on that in a bit.

    Google has been releasing builds to Nexus One owners already, but as for the rest of us, we’re still waiting for phone manufacturers to build their versions and release the official builds for our phones.  The source code was released a few weeks ago, so we should start seeing releases by the end of the month.  There are rumors that the release for the Motorola Droid will be coming as soon as mid-July.  The Droid should be one of the first phones to receive the update as it doesn’t require any major changes to the interface.  In contrast, HTC has said that they will have FroYo released to all of their latest phones by Christmas, so you Sense users have some waiting to do. [Phandroid] (more…)

  • What Dave’s Playing: NCAA Football 11

    I threw in a quick “What I’m Playing” blurb at the end of my first post announcing my return to the blogging world. If any of you were paying attention you might have seen NCAA Football 11 at the bottom and thought to yourself, “Hey, wait a minute, that game isn’t even out yet! How is this idiot playing it now?” Well, to be truthful, I’m not. But I am very much looking forward to it.

    I don’t like to publish a review about a game until I’ve had a chance to really explore the game. Because of that, you won’t be getting a ton of “breaking news” type game reviews about the latest and greatest games. So you can expect a review of this game, but probably not for a week or 2 after it’s release, which is July 13, one week from today.

    They (and by they I mean EA Sports) have really packed in the awesomeness this year, so if you haven’t purchased this game in a few years, I would suggest you consider it this time around. Team specific entrances? This game’s got ’em. Numbers on the side of the helmet? Got ’em (although you might have been like me and didn’t realize we didn’t have those all along. Probably only Alabama fans saw that glaring weakness). Refs on the field? They’re back, and I didn’t know how much I missed them!

    I’ll cover a few more features after the jump. (more…)

  • Hijinks Reviews: Pocket Legends (Free Version)

    Publisher: Spacetime Studios, LLC
    Platform: iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
    Cost: Free [iTunes Link]
    Release date: April 02, 2010
    Version Reviewed: 1.2.1

    Quick background on me. I started playing EverQuest in 2001. I switched to World of Warcraft in 2004 and have a couple 80s laying dormant right now. I’ve also played Lord of the Rings Online enough to get a max level character, and Eve Online enough to get bored ( 20 minutes). Now that I’ve established myself as a MMO junkie (or whore, in Aaron’s terms), lets begin.

    Pocket Legends is a 3D MMORPG for the iPad. Its not menu driven like everything else that calls itself an MMO on the app store, it is an honest-to-goodness massively multiplayer online role playing game. Spacetime Studios is now the Lord British of the iPad and iPhone MMO platform. If we had review scores, that would be plus five, right there. I could wax eloquent about the possibilities the game opens up for hours, but I think it’ll be better for all involved if I shut up and review the game as it stands.

    Pocket Legends is not a open world per say. There’s a hub zone (the ‘Towne’) Where all the players on the server can go and socialize (read: spam the chat channel with trade chat). The vendors are in this central hub, as well as a bank where you can stash your spare gear.  The actual fighting takes place in instanced levels that are part of a larger campaign scenario. The free version comes stock with the Forest Haven campaign, in which you rescue three orbs that protect your village from evil (but can be stolen by evil people at any time evidently). The free version is also capped at level 13.  If you want more, you have to pay for it. (more…)

  • Hijinks Reviews: TuneUp

    Are you one of those people who rip CDs without taking the time to name each track? Or maybe you are one of those individuals who doesn’t exactly buy most of your CDs, you simply acquire them from various locations online, which can lead to a very jumbled messed up music library. Perhaps you have a friend who gave you a large collection of music, but he labels it all differently than you do.

    Whatever the case, there’s a number of ways your digital music library can get screwed up beyond all recognition. I know mine is, and it’s due to all of the reasons I listed above. Enter TuneUp.

    I don’t remember how I stumbled across this iTunes plug-in (now also for WMP), but it’s freakin’ awesome. I threw everything I had at this thing and it probably fixed over 90% of it with ease, some of the albums were ‘Unknown Artist – Track 01’ and it still found the right CD, correctly updated the metadata, added the cover, and even gave me a few YouTube links about the artist. I emphasize the word correctly because I tried other programs and ended up having a number of my CDs mislabeled, which only complicated matters. The few times TuneUp missed on it’s first try, it gave me a few options of possible matches, and I was able to get it set straight right away.  You can even customize the program to fit your desired naming system. I haven’t gotten through my entire collection yet, but it was almost unmanageable before, and this makes pretty quick work of it, all with drag and drop ease.

    You can try out the demo, it will help you through 100 song clean-ups and up to 50 cover art saves. I can safely tell you though, if you have a library that needs some work, you will fall in love with this plug-in before the demo runs out. I don’t like paying for computer programs, but this is definitely worth the price. They’ve even provide quick and timely customer service.

    I can’t imagine how long it would have taken me to get through my entire music collection, if you want to whip your music collection into shape in a hurry without the headache, don’t bother with anything else, go get TuneUp for PC or Mac.

    TuneUp Media