360° of Separation

Thursday was Mum's Birthday. So, we took her (with a care nurse) to Budleigh Salterton (an affluent Devon seaside town) and were treated to an ice cream courtesy of Uncle Allan. Next stop Dawlish.

For generations Budleigh has been favored by both sides of the family - my parents pencilled it in as a potential retirement destination. A most enduring memory was peering into the window of It's A Small World and spying a Speeder Bike, Biker Scout, The Emperor's Royal Guard, Leia Organa (Boushh disguise) and Jabba the Hutt Playset (1983).

Now that Microsoft has announced the price points of both Deluxe and Core Packs for Xbox 360, I'm in a consumer quandary! The proposition of a wireless PowerPC games console is most enticing; even one sourced from Redmond (just joshing Bill). The biggest pre-order hurdle is that I couldn't sell my original Xbox on eBay* (due to the 'fire' hazard) to offset the investment in new hardware. If Microsoft could broker a deal then Dead or Alive 4 may yet fall into my hands this upcoming holiday season.

Remember Super Cycle (1986) from hardware and software luminaries Epyx (creators of Atari Lynx)? The nearest the Commodore 64 got to Sega's Hang-On (1985). These days, whenever I'm in need of an arcade thrill ride (a la arcades at Britannia Pier, Great Yarmouth), nothing comes close to the exhilarating Super Hang-On (1987) courtesy of MacMAME. Asphalt-action ably underscored by Tangerine Dreams' theme from Street Hawk played really loud.

Roxio's Toast Titanium 7 debuts August 31st. Standout improvements include DivX HD and PSP encoding, Motion Pictures HD and iLife Browser. I'll be reviewing this updated application, which negates the need to purchase Roxio's Popcorn, in an upcoming post.

[*Since trading on eBay sales have been brisk. Thank you for your custom.]

Giving You Up

Kylie's next single reminds me of Madonna's Can't Stop (taken from the Who's That Girl soundtrack). And that's no bad thing in my considered opinion. The video is excellent and the online making of documentary features a prominently placed Apple PowerBook. Subliminal advertising doesn't get much better than this.

The XBOX replacement cord arrived in time to play Dead or Alive Ultimate, which is now part of the pantheon of seminal fighters. Ultimate includes DOA, but DOA2 is draped in the finery of DOA3 and, in many ways, outshines the second sequel. When Team Ninja turns its attention to DOA4 (XBOX 2?) Sega's Virtua Fighter better be prepared!

Now that the Skywalker family saga ends (theatrically) in May and Star Trek *YAWN* has been retired, what Sci-Fi franchise(s) will take their place? According to press speculation eyes are now firmly fixed on Joss Whedon's Serenity movie: the first part of a proposed trilogy!

Serenity is based on characters and situations from Firefly (2002). The short-lived television series took its toll on Whedon (arguably diluting both Buffy and Angel) and most likely contributed to the termination of his lucrative development deal with Fox. Having only watched a couple of episodes of Firefly, I decided to purchase the DVD box set (along with Roswell S1) in Exeter's Virgin Megastore. At £14.99 I didn't consider it an expensive outlay and it's nice to have Whedon's canon available for reference.

Don't Believe The Hype

Feeling that your literary needs are undernourished? Then read a transcript of the press kit for the new novel by my friend Nick Smith. Next stop the movie franchise. Personally I'm really looking forward to reading Nick's books to my Mother.

Watching last night's episode of The OC, I noticed classic arcade game machines in the Student Coffee House! Galaxians and Pole Position had pride of place on the set. Don't you just love it?

To anyone who has downloaded my MacMAME Xcode build, you are cordially invited to provide usability feedback here. Thanks for your time.

OK. I'm off to unwrap the gorgeous Dead or Alive Ultimate and bask in its 16:9 rays.

The Mercedes-Benz of fighting games

On Friday I installed Xcode 1.5 (Apple's developer suite bundled with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther) and compiled a test build of MacMAME in parity with the PC version. This was my inaugural Xcode project and, invariably, one is liable to make mistakes. In my case I set the Build Style to Development as opposed to Deployment (has to be set manually). Development culminated in myriad files, but no end user application! A total of 4 hours downtime, but educational nonetheless. Although the majority of developers currently utilize CodeWarrior, Xcode is an investment-free alternative for Mac-based hobbyists.

The ongoing improvements in Sega emulation are tangible and Dead or Alive++ is virtually playable. It was a joy to play as Kasumi (my favorite character) and best my opponents with stunning visual results.



The Dead or Alive franchise is not merely eye candy. However, the casual viewer would be forgiven for thinking so. I've ordered Dead or Alive Ultimate (for XBOX) and will post my review soon.

The Cable Guy

XBOX owners (circa 2003 and earlier) have been notified of a potential 'fire' hazard. In prolonged use the power supply cable can overheat. Kudos to Microsoft for alerting all registered owners (myself included). I was about to sell mine and am now awaiting delivery of a free replacement power cord. A damages claim from a private buyer would have been undesirable. And I'm now disinclined to part with XBOX as the new Star Wars and Dead or Alive franchise games look captivating!

Atari 2600 VCS fans can now download the latest Mac OS X version of sweet Stella. And if you're an avid Atari fan (and who isn't?) be sure to drop by AtariAge. There's an indepth Atari/Lucasfilm Games feature. This is a startling reminder of how innovative the Lucasfilm Games company was before concentrating too heavily on Lucas' Star Wars property.