E3 - The Second Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yes, this very important event took place last week, and some very important things happened this year. In honor of E3's 20th Anniversary (yes, I can't believe it either, but read it and weep -- 1995-2015), Nintendo held an event that hasn't been held since 5 years before E3 existed: "Nintendo World Championships". For more on that click here

There was another E3 moment that I felt was noteworthy as well, and that was the release of the new video for a game called "Mario Maker." Besides the introduction of the new video, the game's title was updated to the name of "Super Mario Maker" and my only guess for this is that if they had went with the original working title, then the level creation feature of the game would have had to include some features from the original Mario Bros. game as well. Honestly, though, this isn't too much of a trade-off and I have watched every new video that Nintendo has released for it, and each time, I get more and more excited about it.

Initially, the first video only showed footage from Super Mario Bros. However, when the Game Awards ceremony appeared later, they also showed footage from Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3. This got me even more excited, and I wanted the game even more. I then went on IGN to see when the game would be released, and their speculated date was New Years' Eve 2015, which felt like too long to wait. However, at this year's E3, the new trailer said that the release date would be on September 11, which means, if the price is right, that I can look forward to it for this holiday season.

I have also included a game-play video from E3 that can be viewed here.

Gotta Catch 'em All

Another hobby I have taken up since moving to Colorado has been the Pok'emon Trading Card Game. I had been interested in it since its inception during the late '90's. However, between card cost and not consistently having someone else to play against, I had fallen out of interest with it. 

This all changed when I discovered they had an online version for the computer. Initially, I had tried Hearthstone because my brother recommended it. However, this game proved to be outside my level of understanding when it came to complexity. After discovering this by playing it for a couple of weeks, I remembered how much fun the Pok'emon Trading Card Game was, and thought I would check to see if there was an equally-featured online version for the computer.

As it turns out, this happened to be the case, and so I gave it a try. Not only did it play just like the original, it was great for collecting cards that I would need because I did not have to spend any physical currency on cards that would either lose their value or get lost in a nook or cranny of a house or apartment. 

Over time, I have had opportunities to check out the game's various features, and for the most part, the "story mode" (they call it Trainer Challenge) is straightforward. The main downside to this is that the user is only allowed to play with one of three preassigned theme decks, much like the original Pok'emon RPGs for the GameBoy. There are other Vs. modes that allow the user to play with other decks, including custom made ones. I recently made my own deck last week, and apparently there are certain card rules (besides the 60 card limit) that apply to a standard deck now. One of these is that Trainer cards like the Pok'edex are no longer allowed in a standard deck, and there are also certain types of colorless Pok'emon that have a caveat for this rule. The upside, however, is that the computer version has a card called the Double Colorless Energy which not only can be used like a basic energy card, but, as its name suggests, it counts as TWO energy cards. Given facts like these, the game as a whole is very well balanced and fun to play. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend rectifying that terrible wrong. I also have a screenshot for doubters.

  

Academics?! Khaaan!!!!

When I moved to Colorado, I was not immediately able to attend a college or University. Before all of this madness, however, I took the SAT and a few months later, received results in the mail that confirmed my suspicions. After a few weeks of extended stays in a hotel, Emily had me sign up for an "online school" called Khan Academy. Despite the title of this article, this online program has nothing to do with Star Trek 2 or its titular villain. Instead, it's a "self-paced" (when compared with Sinclair, there really isn't a time limit!) online school that provides exercises in areas of remedial math and other subjects, up through at least the high school level.

Initially, I was resistant to the concept, because prior to moving, I had enrolled in an online class through my community college back home. However, when compared with an online course from an actual college, there were no grades or transcripts, so there was also less pressure. I also struggled with it initially, because I thought that the videos were optional. However, I soon found out later that not only were they helpful, but most of them earned me additional points in the programs I was studying. As of writing this post, I have been able to achieve over half of the goals set in three of the five assigned math programs I have enrolled in, and I have felt better about the program as a whole. 

In short, if you need it, sign up. Most of my regret with my enrollment is gone and I'm starting to feel better as a whole.

A general view of Khan Academy's main menu. It vaguely resembles Facebook, which helps with its ease of use. There are also examples of different programs to study that I am enrolled in. Some of them spawn off of others. For example: the 4th Grade-level math also managed to spin-off the subjects of Pre-Algebra and Basic Geometry.  

Childhood Restored -- Part Two: Windows 3.1

About a week or two ago, I was browsing around on the internet, and I came across an article that said it was possible to use DOSBox to install old versions of Windows. I read the article and initially I brushed it off, figuring that the only way to put old OSes on a new PC was VMWare.  Boy, this was a good time to admit that I was wrong.

The first step is to download a program that will UNZIP an ISO file. Now, normally, if one were burning a CD or DVD, the first step would be to use a program like Nero or Disc Juggler. However, seeing as we will be extracting Floppy images, I went with a different piece of software called 'MagicISO,' because it also works with the above type of file, that has extensions such as *.IMG, as well as others.

Once the program is installed, the next step would be to download a set of Windows floppy images (use Google for this). When the images are acquired, then MagicISO can be used to extract them to a directory where a user's DOS games are stored when they start DOSBox.

After the images are extracted, the user can start DOSBox, and mount the C drive to their DOS games directory. From there, use the cd/ command to switch to the directory that you extracted your images to. If all goes well, type SETUP at the prompt and wait for the fun to begin:

Whether a person chooses Express or Custom Install is entirely up to them. One is obviously for inexperienced and impatient users, whereas the latter is for experienced or meticulous users whom have too much time on their hands. Either way, pick one by pressing the corresponding letter on the keyboard (yes, keyboard--We're not installing Windows 8!) to continue.

Normally, if the user is trying this for the first time, they will not see this screen. However, by the time I took these snapshots, I had already tried this experiment once, and succeeded. Despite that, I did not have the photographic evidence to prove it. Therefore, I had to delete the directory and start from scratch. This caused the installer to assume that I was performing an upgrade. If this occurs, just press enter and let the computer continue installing the OS.

When you do this, the installer will give the user some flack about not doing a clean install, but go ahead and press Enter like it says to continue. Remember that the goal is to get Windows installed without any hiccups.

After the progress bar finishes (which there was no need to get a picture of--we all know what it looks like!, Setup will ask the user for a name to associate with that particular copy of Windows. Just type something in and press continue. This isn't a major issue.

After the registration name is completed, Setup will ask the user whether he or she would prefer to restart the computer, or return to the DOS prompt. Because we are using DOSBox, pick the second option. this will take you back to the C:\>_ prompt that the user initially created when they started DOSBox.

Next type CD\WINDOWS (lower case will do) and then type WIN (again lower case is acceptable). After the Windows splash screen, depending on how the user got their copy of Windows, the interface should look something like the picture below, but the program group items may vary depending on what came with the Install image:

Everything has an IP address

A few months ago, I walked into a Burger King back home and discovered a new type of soda fountain. There was only one nozzle and a roughly four-inch computer screen that had touch capability. Besides having flavors that I haven't had in forever (such as Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper) and new flavors I've never tried (including Vanilla Sprite, which, by the way, was amazing!), it led me to realize that everything we use is slowly having a computer integrated into it.

Since then, I have made an uprooting journey from Ohio to Colorado, and yesterday, I finally tried a new restaurant called "Firehouse Subs" (which coincidentally has Ohio locations) and I came across the same type of machine there as well. Between devices such as this, as well as smart phones, I have come to the conclusion that describes the title of this article.

How to Make Pixel Art

Making pixel art is simple. First you need an image of a video game. This can be obtained by creating a "screen shot" of a game via a video game emulator, but the easier method is to find a website where someone has done this already, such as The Spriters' Resource.

Once you have found a sprite sheet to work from, pick your image and copy it into MSPaint or another image editing program. If you choose MSPaint, the next step will be to choose the "Stretch/Re-size and Skew" option.

The trick with this is to make sure that you only set the re-sizing options. If you skew the image you are using, not only will it stretch the image, but it will also angle it incorrectly. At any rate, set both of the top attributes to four hundred percent.

Once the attributes are set, you will need to find the original colors from the image, and add three more colors from the NES palette. It contains several different color options to choose from. The best option is to find matching colors of a slightly different hue than the original colors in the picture.

Next, the artist has to edit the picture to change it into a work of art. This is best done with the Pencil tool because it delivers the most precise results. Eventually, depending on the artist's perception, with this example, it should turn out something like the large picture on the left. Again, bear in mind that results may vary. 

Burn baby, burn!

First off, let me set one thing straight. This is NOT a review for the song "Disco Inferno." As part of an upcoming move, I have been sorting and purging stuff that I do not plan to take with me. Part of this has included elimination of stuff that, quite frankly, I just don't need. Since I acquired a laptop last semester that contains a DVD burner, and I realized that my desktop TV tuner can rip VHS tapes to digital format, I decided to buy some blank DVDs and start creating my digital collection.

To start my process off, I connected an A\V switch box to my desktop using a standard RCA video cable and a headphone to Stereo RCA audio cable. Next, I used a standard RCA A\V cable to connect the A\V switch to the VCR that I would be using to copy my VHS tapes.

Second, I opened my TV tuner software on the desktop. This allowed me to take the physical VHS cassettes and make video files that a computer could read.

Third, I used a utility that is included in Windows Vista/7 called "Windows DVD Maker" to burn my discs. This was another utility that streamlined the process considerably well, with only three steps to its disc creation process.

Once the disc was inside the computer, there was a slight waiting process. Eventually the bar filled up to one hundred percent and the computer decided to return the disc to me.

Eventually, once the disc was finalized, I was able to label it, (and not by the color of its label, but by the content of its characters!) - that is to say, I gave the disc a clever name, and described the video footage contained therein.