Tretakoff Musings

Yeah, Amazon's getting in on the video game trade-ins. They excitedly emailed me to suggest I trade in my 2009 copy of Madden for the new 2010 version. Curious, I clicked through to see the whopping trade in value of...$1.50. Yes, that's right: $1.50. Towards a $40 game. Save the e-mail costs, Amazon: it just cost you a customer. Next time, offer me the trade in if it gets me at least 25% of the way there!

GameTap , an online videogame service, recently emailed me with the subject line you see to the left, "Wow! Some Serious Guns!" Open up the email, and what do you see? Lara Croft, in all her tightly clad, barely contained glory. That's it. Yes, get the crude reference here. I am anything but a prude, but I expect tactics like this from spammers sending fake Viagra ads or Nigerian bankers. A real company people pay real money to? Please. Grow up, kiddies; I have to think that anyone with such childish sensibilities should probably not have access to my credit card account. Thanks; no business coming your way from me!

I have a confession to make: I am now officially a fugitive. Last weekend, after a cross-country trip, I vowed to Jailbreak my iPhone. Not familiar with the term? It refers to a process that unlocks your iPhone so you can install programs on it, extending the functionality. Now, Apple is already moving this way with the release of the SDK, and I will be very happy to reap the benefits, but I'm a tinkerer at heart. My PC's always have custom skins, I have hacks and shortcuts in my browsers, and more. That, combined with the need to have local games (not a lot of WiFi at 30,000 ft.), sent me on a collision course with Steve & Co. First, how do you Jailbreak an iPhone? It's surprisingly simple. First, I downloaded ZiPhone , a Windows application that made it as simple as double clicking. A couple of iPhone restarts, and I was free as a bird. The unusual part of Jailbreaking is how you get the applications after you've Jailbroken: you can really only download them with ...

Yep, today's the big game. My beloved and undefeated Dallas Cowboys play host to my hometown (and also undefeated) New England Patriots. Tom Brady vs. Tony Romo. Randy Moss vs. Terrell Owens. Jerry Jones vs. Robert Kraft. All amazing matchups, but none compares to the biggest blood feud: Amy vs. Me. Yep, my wife has blossomed into a full out Pats fan, and we're going to the nearest sports bar to watch the battle unfold. Why? In the Bay Area, the biggest game of the season thus far is trumped by the Raiders vs. the Chargers. As part of NBC's whopping $3.6 billion dollar contract with the NFL for Sunday Night Football, NBC wisely got a concession out of the NFL: "flex" scheduling to allow them to select the best game for the Sunday Night national audience. So why are we not enjoying the "Highlander" ( "There can be only one" ) game in the comfort of our own home? Alas, flex scheduling does not start for 6 more weeks. NBC has to be grinding their...

Since the major consoles and all PC's are almost sure to be connected to the Web these days, I've always been surprised that there have not been more developers taking advantage of the connected nature. EA, the largest maker of video games, finally has started to play in the space, introducing the ability to have the real-world weather affect the conditions in a game you are playing. While limited to NCAA Football right now, "EA is encouraged by the weather feature's popularity and will add it to Madden and the entire sports portfolio soon." More interesting are some of the other areas EA has been playing in this regard that I was unaware of, including the ESPN sports ticker running live along the bottom of the screen, displaying real-world realtime information, and...gasp...automatic roster updates!!! But take this further: Grand Theft Auto could advertise upcoming movies on billboards, and have them change as the release dates change. Need For Speed could in...

Ooooh....it's here. Madden '08 for the Wii! I'm looking forward to a Madden to truly enjoy for the first time in years...and one that actually (thanks to the Wii) getts you truly into the game. See what I'll be looking for:

Now, I'm a Madden fan, but this is insane. Jostens is making available a custom made Madden Championship ring for you to order to commemorate your completely imaginary accomplishment. Life may imitate art, but does it need to celebrate it? Ladies, please note: this is the new universal symbol of men to stay away from.

My normal Saturdays usually start with a catch up of my favorite blogs and sites, followed by a blog entry or two. Yesterday's passed without this. Today, my arms are sore as I type this. The reason for both? We are now the proud owners of a Wii , thanks to Charles' serendipity. See, on Friday, as he took the day off with his family, he was wandering around Berkeley and saw a store that not only had the Wii in stock, but at it's list price! He frantically tried to get a hold of me to see if he should pick it up, and I gladly agreed. Forget the iPhone; this thing is sold out everywhere, months after its release! He delivered it Friday night, and my weekend was officially shot. It's rare when a device's performance lives up to the hype, but the Wii is one of those that absolutely blew me away.I know, you're thinking, "Oh God, another geeky videogame rant," but trust me, it ain't. Hardcore gaming performance wise, the Wii is the weakest of the 3 ...

Just a random post to share, of some great tidbits. - I always like to use this blog to share the new and cool online applications I find. Well, today I've found a blog that does nothing but this: I bring you MakeUseOf , a directory/blog of some of the coolest sites on the web for free things to make your life interesting. Although the visual style is closer to a wiki than a blog, it definitely offers a great, constantly updating collection of some of the more interesting sites that provide useful services to the consumer. Think Original Signal without the (ahem) noise. - Yahoo has released version 4 of Yahoo Widget Engine , promising less memory hogging, and new mini-docking, to allow your widgets to be displayed in an intuitive collection, for neatness. It also introduces a drag and drop upload widget for Flickr , as well as support for just about all old widgets. Seems like a worthy download, and is definitely sucking less of my precious resources. - Speaking of Flickr , they mi...

'Tis the holiday season, and the video game console wars are in full swing. Last year, Microsoft made a savvy move and released the XBox 360, the next-generation platform. There were no other new consoles out, so the Market was theirs. And, as it takes about a year for software to start taking advantage of the new hardware, this holiday their game Gears Of War is set to be a smash. And in this corner...weighing in a 600 lbs., the Champion, the Monster, the Overpriced Sensation...Sony's PlayStation 3. Yes, inspiring fanboys to riot at the short supply and spend thousands on eBay (of over $700, if you wait for it to actually be in stock next year), the new PS3 is the sound of Sony going All In for their claim to the #1 console. Packed to the gills with every gadget and technology possible, it is clearly the most advanced console...and possibly too advanced. At $600 to start, only the elite will want it. The surprise? The Nintendo Wii. Under $300, it does not blaze new graphics p...