My First Non-Kindle Tablet: The Nexus 7!

Despite working in the technology field for the past 15 years or so, I'm admittedly a slow adopter of new technology.  I love my tech toys, don't get me wrong, but you'll never catch me waiting in line at midnight at an Apple store (or any other retail outlet for that matter) forking over big coin to play beta tester just so I can say I had something first.

I've had my eye on Tablets for some time, but I refuse to be Glen, the guy from THE WEDDING SINGER, bringing home his $500.00 CD player simply because it was a shiny new toy he couldn't live without, even though he had no real use for it.  I don't NEED a tablet.  I have been content to sit back with my Kindle, my PC and my smart phone and watch everyone buy their $800 iPads, only to turn around and get pissed off when the new, improved model comes out a year later.

Well, I've waited long enough.  After much deliberation, I finally went out and bought my first Tablet this week...a Nexus 7!

I've been reading about the Nexus 7 for quite a while now and I had high hopes for it.  I love my Android phone and the Samsung Galaxy Tabs were (and are) really nice, but as I said before, I just couldn't justify spending the money on a tablet.  That's why the deciding factor for me with the Nexus 7 was the price...just $249.00 for the 16 GB model.  Awesome!

I had a bit of trouble finding one.  It seems everyone and their brother went out and bought one when it was released.  I went from store to store for weeks trying to find it in stock, but every place was sold out.  It reminded me of the old days, before the Internet and eBay of hunting from store to store for certain comic books or toys from a wave of action figures.  It was both exciting and frustrating!

Finally I happened to go to Microcenter and the manager suggested I check the website on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for inventory and then do a store pickup option.  I checked Monday and there was nothing, but Wednesday I hit the jackpot!  By Wednesday afternoon, the Nexus 7 was mine!

So far, I love it.  The display is beautiful.  It's fast and responsive.  It has great battery life.  It doesn't run too hot.  It's sturdy and not cheaply constructed.  As with all Android devices, it has tons of cool apps and games available for it.  AND, it came with $25.00 in Google Play money to buy new premium content!  What's not to love?


It's great, but don't get me wrong...it's not perfect.  I started writing this post using the Android BLOGGER app, but I was getting frustrated with their picture integration, so I decided to finish the post on my PC.  Now that I'm an early adopter of the Nexus 7, I have no doubt the Nexus 7 2.0 will feature a better Blogger app to go along with more memory, a rear facing camera, more storage and an SD Card slot. 

Unlike the $800.00 iPad, though, if a newer, better Nexus 7 comes out in a year, I'll actually be able to afford an upgrade.

I'm hoping to use it to get organized at work.  There seem to be a ton of productivity apps, so I've been testing them out, looking for the best ones.  If you have any suggestions for great apps, productivity or otherwise, please e-mail me or post them in the comments!

Words With Friends = Rage Against Friends

Zynga's WORDS WITH FRIENDS has become a cultural phenomenon in the past few years. It's got millions of users and fans and it even got Alec Baldwin kicked off of an airplane. It's basically electronic Scrabble. You can play up to 20 games simultaneously with your friends on Facebook or on your smart phone. Sounds awesome, right?

Well, I hate it.

Why, you ask? I have an English degree with an emphasis in writing and I've been a writer my entire life. I have a vocabulary that's larger than most. I love to read every day and my spelling abilities are far above average. So why can't I win when I play this stupid game? I've been trying to figure it out.

When I play WORDS WITH FRIENDS, I try to make the biggest words I can with the letters I have. I generally start out the games pretty well, but inevitably my opponent kills my six, seven and eight word masterpieces with a bullshit word like "Qi" played on a triple word or triple letter score.

Do you know what Qi means? Of course you don't. No one does. It's a variant of the word "Chi," as in Chinese energy. I'm telling you, no one knows that. But the game does. And so does every WORDS WITH FRIENDS player who's had it dropped on them. It also allows other B.S. two letter words like "El," and "En," and "Lo," and "Et."

Why does that matter?

Because it allows people to basically play random letter combinations in order to nail a Triple Word Score in another row. That's what's happening. People sit there and play random letter combinations until they find something the game will allow, legitimate word or not. It's crap.

I've learned that to keep games competitive with these "I'll just try the letters until something works" players, you have to strategically try to keep the game in the center of the board as long as possible and away from the Triple Word Scores. But what fun is that?

It isn't.

It's only a matter of time before the punk you're playing gets a break with a two or three letter word no one's ever heard of that allows him to make a big Triple Word. I've won about 30% of the games I've played, lost 30% and rage quit about 40%. I've decided it's just not worth it anymore.

The final straw? I was playing a friend of mine from college. He had a 30 point lead on me in the middle of the game, but left me an opening. I played "JIVE" on a Triple Word and Triple Letter score for 97 points and felt so guilty about what a bitch move it was, I wanted to kick my own ass.

I haven't seen him online since. I get the feeling if I ever see him in person, he's going to punch me in the face.

I think that's enough WORDS WITH FRIENDS for me, thanks.

Bomb Up! Bomberman Live: Battlefest Arrives On Xbox LIVE Arcade!

As many of you know, I've been working as the developer side Producer/Project Lead on Bomberman Live: Battlefest with Pi Studios and Hudson Entertainment for some time now. The game released yesterday, December 8th, 2010, on Xbox LIVE Arcade and I have to say, I'm very proud of what we accomplished with this title!

Bomberman Live: Battlefest is the sequel to 2008's Bomberman Live and it features improved Artificial Intelligence, Completely Re-Written Networking Code and a host of other improvements, enhancements and fixes to go along with a s*** ton of new content and gameplay features!



If you decide you want to check out Bomberman Live: Battlefest, here's what you can expect...

* Up to 8 Player Multiplayer
* 15 New Arenas!
* 17 Power-Ups (Including 5 Brand New Power Ups)!
* 9 New Game Modes!
* All New Team games!
* Tons of New Costumes!
* Play as Your Avatar!
* New Music!
* AWESOME: Mix and match gimmicks with game modes to make your own custom matches!!!

Interested? Check out this early preview and download the FREE trial mode before you buy! And when you DO buy, you get all this for a mere 800 Microsoft Points (that's ten bucks to you and me)!

What are you waiting for? Grab some Bomberman Live: Battlefest and have a (*ahem*) BLAST!