A few weeks ago, I purchased a pair of Audio Technica ATH-ANC7 Noise-Cancelling Headphones. Over the July 4th holiday, my family and I went to visit my grandmother in Georgia, so I got a great chance to try them out. As the title of this post suggests, I really like them.

I attempted to take some pictures of the headphones, but they turned out really bad. Rather than horrify you with my pathetic attempts, I've decided to go with some stock photos.

As one might guess from the above picture, the ear pieces on these headphones are large enough to cover your ears. This design passively reduces any ambient noise, even before the noise-cancellation circuitry is turned on. Another plus is that active cancellation doesn't need to be enabled to listen to music (unlike the mega-expensive Bose headphones). Passive mode works well enough that, in a quiet place like my office, I don't really need to enable the active cancellation. However, it's worthwhile to note that, when in passive mode, any music played through the headphones sounds slightly muffled.

Enabling active mode is done through the flick of a switch located on the left ear piece. When enabled, any sound coming through the headphones is amplified, in addition to the added noise-cancellation. The difference between music quality in the enabled and disabled states is startling. What once was muffled becomes crystal clear. You literally have to hear the difference to understand what I'm talking about. Again, in a quiet enough location, I can live in passive mode. But active mode is good enough that many people may prefer to leave it enabled all the time.

So how does the actual noise-cancellation stack up? On our trip to Georgia, I used active mode the entire time to block out all the road noise. Needless to say, I was astounded at how well it worked. In the past, I ran my MP3 player at a volume level of 14 or 15 to hear the music over the noise. Now I can run the volume down to 7 or 8 and still hear amazingly well (even music with a high dynamic range). Great sounding music, and I'm saving my ears: win-win!

This second photograph showcases everything that you get with the package. The headphones and accessories come in an ultra-nice carrying case, which is rigid enough to prevent it from being crushed. A little zippered pouch holds the various accessories: the detachable headphone cable (5 feet long), a 6.3mm stereo adapter, an airline adapter, and a single AAA battery. Yes, this pair of headphones uses a single AAA battery. Shocked? I know I was. The battery lives in a tiny compartment in the left ear-cup, neatly tucked out of sight. I partially expected the included battery to be a no-name brand, but they actually shipped an Energizer brand battery. Time will tell how long the battery life is. I haven't been keeping track of how long I've used the headphones, but a rough number of "days" will suffice.

Several other points are worth mentioning. These headphones are extremely comfortable, and I find that I can wear them for an extended period of time without causing my ears to hurt. The adjustable band at the top of the headphones also allows folks with a large cranium (like myself) to wear them comfortably, without having their brains squeezed out of their head. Yet another plus is that the headphones are surprisingly lightweight. And I can even store my MP3 player in the case (in the middle of where the headphones themselves live). Score!

Overall, I couldn't be any happier with these headphones. Note that the availability (and pricing) of these is hit-or-miss. The ATH-ANC7's were recently one of two pairs recommended by a reviewer from the NY Times (his video review is pretty funny). Due to the upswing in demand, they disappeared shortly after the review was released. They used to be available at Amazon for around $135, but they shortly thereafter disappeared. I picked mine up on eBay for just under $200 (shipping included). Amazon now lists them again at $180 (as of this writing), but I know that Dustin recently bought a pair for around $160 at Amazon. So your pricing and participation may vary, as they say.

If you're in the market for noise-canceling headphones, I strongly suggest checking out the Audio Technica ATH-ANC7's. I've been thoroughly impressed, and they are quite a step up from my $10 Sony ear-buds. :-D

The latest addition to my Nintendo DS gaming library is Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Although the name is a little hokey, the game is incredibly addictive.

Built around the Bejeweled game play premise, Puzzle Quest is a puzzle / role-playing game combination (one of the first of its kind, to my knowledge). You build a character using one of four character classes (Wizard, Knight, Druid, or Warrior), and travel around the game's world taking on quests. The game purely makes use of the stylus, and it does a remarkable job in the process (though I might argue that the stylus controls aren't quite as finely tuned as I would have liked).

Combat with enemies takes place on a Bejeweled-style game board, where you must match 3, 4, or 5 items in a row by swapping two items (just like Bejeweled). There are seven game pieces: red, green, blue, yellow, purple stars, stacks of coins, and skulls. The four colored game pieces correspond to the four types of mana that are available to your character (red, yellow, green, and blue). As you match these game pieces, your corresponding mana reserves increase. Mana is used to cast spells in the game, which you learn over time (you can also learn the spells of captured enemies). Some spells can be used to alter the game board while others can be used to do direct damage to your opponent. Other spells affect other aspects of the game, such as taking an extra turn or healing the damage you have taken.

Matching purple stars provides your character with extra experience during a battle, which helps you level up faster. The stacks of coins provide money when matched, giving you the necessary resources to purchase additional items for your character, or to spend on leveling up your various attributes. Skulls provide the means for doing damage to your opponent.

Interestingly enough, the AI in the game is very challenging. I frequently lose to the difficult opponents, especially after they get lucky and deal 40 or 50 points damage in a single turn (thanks to the cascades that can build up). Since players cannot die, I happily retry the match, hoping to do better the second (or third or fourth) time around.

There's more to the game than just battling enemies. You can build up a citadel with various buildings, each of which gives you a new capability. For instance, a dungeon allows you to capture enemies that you have beaten three or more times. A wizard's tower allows you to learn the spells of captured enemies. And other buildings provide further benefits. Cities can be sieged, allowing you easy access to your citadel, as well as a monthly income.

Thankfully, the writing in the game is fairly humorous. A number of silly side quests provide a good chuckle or two, and some have interesting twists. Overall, the main story line is fairly entertaining (if a bit cliché).

A few mildly annoying bugs lurk in this game, but they don't mar the overall presentation. One particular problem stands out: the game doesn't remember the music volume between game sessions, but it does remember whether or not you've turned the music off. I got pretty tired of the uninspired music after awhile anyway, so turning it off was no big deal.

I have yet to finish this game, but I have already made up my mind about it. If you don't own this game, and you have a Nintendo DS, you should be sure to pick it up. My final rating: A+

Several weeks ago, I purchased Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, a role-playing game for the Nintendo DS. Though I have yet to finish it, I feel like I have a good enough grasp to give a short review.

I've never played any of the Dragon Quest games, but the protagonist in Rocket Slime is apparently one of the characters from that series. The story line should be familiar to every gamer in the world: an evil group invades a peaceful land, captures its inhabitants, and only the brave hero can save the day and restore order. Although formulaic, the story does have some charm. The writing is witty; puns are scattered all over the place.

There are two phases to game play: dungeon crawls and tank battles. The dungeon crawls are reminiscent of the classic Zelda games: top-down affairs where you run around battling bad guys and collecting items. Tank battles are somewhat different. Each team (yours and a member of the evil Plob) has a tank with a certain amount of hit points. Both tanks have two cannons, one which shoots straight out and one that shoots in an arc. Ammunition randomly spawns at a number of spots in your tank, and you must ferry it to the cannons to be shot at the enemy. The early battles are fairly easy, but the later ones (where I'm at now in the game) are very difficult. As such, this part of the game can get a bit frustrating. Every item you find throughout the game can be used as ammunition, and each one deals a differing amount of damage. The amount of strategy to be used in the tank battles is more than meets the eye; I have yet to master this part of the game. As the game progresses, you can even direct up to three other slimes in the tank battles, assigning them to various roles.

I can only think of two down sides to the game. First, the action gets a little repetitive, especially in regards to the tank battles. Second, the music isn't nearly as varied as it should be, nor is it as catchy as the music in similar games (such as Zelda).

I could expand further on Rocket Slime, but there are plenty of other sites out there that have done that already. Overall I'd definitely recommend this game to all Nintendo DS owners. My final rating: B+

Over the holidays I had the chance to finally beat Yoshi's Island DS. I also got Meteos for Christmas, and have had a substantial amount of time with it. As such, here are my two short reviews of both games.

Yoshi’s Island DS (A-) This 'sequel' to Yoshi's Island for the Super Nintendo is faithful to the original, while adding enough new features to feel fresh. Introducing multiple babies for Yoshi to carry around (subsequently giving him new abilities) was an interesting idea that works well. My only real problem with this game was that a number of the later levels are ridiculously difficult. I don't recall the original Yoshi's Island being so tough, but I played it a long time ago, so I only have the vaguest recollection. I had to play through several levels 20 or 30 times to get past them. Needless to say, this quickly got frustrating. Sounds, graphics, and gameplay are all top-notch, however, so this gripe pales in comparison. Overall a great game, and worth your time. I only wish one could trade their extra lives for red coins, stars, or flowers in each level; getting 100% in some of the levels is nearly impossible!

Meteos (A-) This puzzle game is reminiscent of Tetris (as are most puzzle games), but it's use of the stylus is incredible. In fact, I consider this a 'stylus-only' game, even though you can play with the D-pad and buttons. The goal of the game is to launch falling Meteos back into space by lining them up in groups of three, either vertically or horizontally. Each planet that you play through has different gravity and so varying strategies must be employed to succeed. For example, some planets require that you create secondary ignitions of launched Meteos by lining up another set of three or more in the air. This game is fast paced, fun, and highly addictive. For a few days after I got it, I actually spent time thinking about ways I could line up items in the real world in groups of three or more. It's been a long time since a game has affected me in such a way, which should be a testament to how addicting this game is.

Does anyone have any recommendations for games I should get next? Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is currently on my list. What else should I get?

For my birthday this year, I got a Nintendo DS Lite. Now that I've had some time to play with it, I'd like to give you my thoughts on the system, along with the various games that I have picked up so far. I've given each a letter grade, for whatever that's worth.

The DS Lite System (A+) What first wowed me with the DS Lite was the screen brightness. Having never seen an original DS, I can't make a comparison between the two generations. However, I can say that my Gameboy Advance SP doesn't touch the DS Lite brightness levels. It's literally like night and day. However, the brighter you run the screen, the faster the battery drains. I use brightness level 2 (out of 4, if I remember correctly, where 4 is the brightest). I have been very pleased with the battery life at this level; I charge the system after several hours of play (I haven't timed it, but I'm guessing somewhere between 6 to 10 hours between charges). And the sound in the DS Lite is incredible. I don't know how they packed such awesome speakers into a tiny package, but they are really crisp. The added bonus that there are two speakers, and that they utilize stereo to great effect, is even better!

The touch screen is a novel idea and works well, though I find it a little hard to use the stylus in a game that also uses the buttons. And while I'm on that topic, let me say that I am glad that Nintendo included the X and Y buttons. The lack of X and Y on the Gameboy Advance SP really hurt the SNES game ports. Hopefully the DS will help fill that gap. It's also nice that Gameboy Advance games can be played in the DS (though the X and Y buttons still aren't useful for those older games). It's nice to only carry one system around but have support for games from multiple platforms.

Since I'm the only one I know with a DS Lite, I haven't tried the multiplayer stuff (with built-in wireless). I hear it works pretty well, but I can't comment since I haven't used that aspect of it.

There isn't much negative to say about the DS Lite. Each time you start it up, you get a weird "Health and Safety Warning" that requires a tap of the touch screen to bypass. I find this odd, and a minor annoyance, but I guess Nintendo is trying to get people to be mindful of what they do. Also, the shiny casing is nice, but it shows fingerprints very easily (at least on my black model).

Overall, I nothing but good things to say. I highly recommend the DS Lite as a gaming platform.

The New Super Mario Bros. (B) This being my first game, I was highly excited about it initially. It evokes classic gaming memories from the NES days, and the game's action is as fun as ever. But, sadly, Mario's adventure is a little short. The levels are surprisingly small, and are rather easy (to say the least). New power-ups help ease that pain a little; the giant mushroom and tiny mushrooms are a blast to use. I dislike how worlds 4 and 7 are completely optional (and a little difficult to access; they are only available through secret boss-level exits). The included mini-games are cute, but they don't draw me back to them again and again. Final verdict? This is a fun game, and a must have for Mario fans, even if it is indeed a short endeavor.

Tetris DS (B) Six game types are available in Tetris DS, and most of them are decent enough. The only two game types that don't really excite me are the catch mode and mission mode. The other four (touch, push, puzzle, and standard) are really fun, and I would imagine are a blast with multiple players.

Kirby Canvas Curse (A) I've never played a Kirby game before this one, but I must say that this one is highly entertaining. It uses the touch screen and stylus entirely; you never make use of the game pad buttons. By drawing "rainbow bridges" for Kirby to roll on, you must defeat an evil witch who has turned the world into a painting. Artwork in the game is phenomenal, and the action is pretty intense in some places. The stylus is used to great effect, and was a great twist on gaming. I highly recommend this title.

Yoshi's Island DS (???) I haven't assigned this game a grade yet, because I only yesterday received it from Amazon. The original Yoshi's Island for the Super Nintendo was a blast, and this one looks like it will follow in its predecessor's footsteps. It uses both screens to show the game world, which is mildly annoying; there is a physical gap between the screens on the DS Lite, and so there's a "gap" in what the game shows you at any one time. Hopefully this "feature" won't be too much of a burden as I go forward. Time will tell.

It appears that I have written a lot on the subject, but hopefully you'll find this information to be of use. I'll be taking time off from my posting duties over the holiday weekend so until then, Happy Thanksgiving!

I recently ordered a Zalman VF900 VGA cooler for my NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT. As I previously mentioned, the temperatures I've been seeing on this card have been incredibly hot. It would probably be safe to say that this was the primary factor in my frequent system crashes, but only time will prove that theory. Well, yesterday the cooler arrived and I installed it. Read on for my thoughts on the card, the results I've seen so far, and more.

A photo set detailing the install process is now available. Much to my delight, I encountered no problems during the whole process. Removing the stock cooler took some time, mostly due to the number of screws that were holding it down to the card. After removing the stock cooler, I cleaned the memory chips and the CPU with a dry paper towel. I probably could have done better during this step, but it seemed to do the job.

Next up was the application of the Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease that I purchased along with the cooler. This was the step that I was most worried about, mostly because I had never done it before. It turned out to be quite easy, although spreading the stuff over the chip definitely required a steady hand and some patience. I then attached the cooler to the card, and plugged it in to my motherboard. It was time to test!

For a reference point, here are two screenshots of the stock cooler:

As can be seen from the first screenshot, the idle temperature is 71°, with an ambient temperature of 45° (all temperatures are in degrees Celsius). The second screenshot shows the card after a high load (specifically the Lost Coast level from Half-Life 2). Under load, the card reached 81° and the ambient temperature shot up to 54°. These temperatures were quite ridiculous. Let's see if the VF900 can correct this problem:

Wow, what a difference! The idle temperature has dropped down to 56° while the ambient temperature is now only 36°. Under load (the same test as before), the temperature only reaches 64° while the ambient temperature is 45°, which happens to be the same temperature as the idle ambient reading using the stock cooler! So we've come down a total of 15° on idle and 17° under load. Although the load temperature is still a tad warm, we've improved greatly. My next system will be even better in the cooling department, thanks to a lower power CPU and graphics card.

As one can therefore conclude, this VGA cooler works wonders. I'm very pleased with this product and will most likely purchase another one in the future (when I finally upgrade my system). Or I might reuse this one (I would just have to buy some new thermal tape for the RAM heat sinks). If you're machine runs hot, I highly recommend the Zalman VF900 (be sure to snag some Arctic Silver 5 as well). Again, we'll see if this corrects the crashing issues I've been seeing lately. In a few weeks time, I'll report back with the results.

I've now played through Episode One a total of three times, having just wrapped up the final run with the commentary system turned on. All I can say is wow! Having commentary really adds to the game, and provides some interesting insight into what challenges the developers at Valve faced when making certain decisions. Make sure to enable this at least once if you own this expansion (and if you don't own it yet, what are you waiting for?). My main goal for this post, however, is to focus on the "what-ifs" coming up in Episode Two (and possibly Episode Three). If you have yet to play Episode One, or if you haven't watched the Episode Two trailer yet, you may wish to avert your eyes from the rest of this article. A few spoilers lie ahead, so consider yourself warned.

The trailer for Episode Two makes it appear that Alyx meets a rather early demise. Is this true? Here's a quote from a recent Episode One review:

Half-Life boss Gabe Newell has revealed that "primary characters" will die over the trilogy of new Half-Life 2 episodes. "People need to feel that characters are genuinely at risk," he says. "Otherwise they lose investment and the significance of their actions is diminished."

If Alyx truly is the character who dies in the upcoming saga, I might literally break down and cry. After investing so much in character development over the past two installments, would Valve really snuff her out of the picture? She is the one realistic female lead in computer games today; hopefully that fact alone will prevent such a travesty. Or perhaps the developers have something else up their sleeves. Could Episode Two be to the Half-Life 2 episodic trilogy as The Empire Strikes Back was to the Star Wars trilogy? The dark note before the final, brighter conclusion? At this point, only the developers have that answer. I'm hoping that Alyx lives on for another day, at least so that we might have further opportunities to enjoy her flirtatious personality.

Other questions have also arisen in my mind. The alien beings which talked with Dr. Breen at the end of Half-Life 2 are clearly on Earth (residing in those pods you run across while in the Citadel during Episode One). What are they doing there, and what will they do now that the Citadel has been destroyed? Where is Judith Mossman, and what "Project" has she uncovered? And what does the G-Man have to do with all of this? According to Gabe Newell, he might be behind the demise of whatever primary character gets killed off.

Hopefully Episode Two will shed some light on all of this. Unfortunately, we have to wait another six months or so to find out. I haven't been this riveted in a long, long time...

After about roughly four hours of game play, I've finished Half-Life 2: Episode One. I fully intend to go back through the game at least twice: once on a harder difficulty, and once with the commentary system turned on. The following points are those I think most worth talking about.

The Good

• Incredible Atmosphere: Throughout the entire game, you literally feel like a refugee fleeing City 17. You never have enough supplies, the Combine are always on your tail, and it's literally one narrow escape after another. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire game.
• HDR: High dynamic range lighting in Half-Life 2 is simply awesome. This is the best use of the technology of any game I've seen, and it adds so much to the overall presentation.
• Excellent Level Design: This goes hand in hand with the atmospheric presentation. Each level, although shorter than the ones in Half-Life 2, is incredibly well designed. The locales feel quite realistic, and the attention to detail is astounding.
• Alyx: Nearly all of Episode One takes place alongside Alyx, and that simple fact adds so much to the action. Not only does she cover your butt a number of times, but you must look out for hers as well. And who could resist fighting to save a girl as sexy as her? Her AI is incredible; she never gets in the way during a firefight and she's a damn good marksman. Did I mention that she's really sexy?
• The G-Man: I won't spoil it, but the G-Man gets some much deserved comeuppance.
• Voice Acting: The voice acting is top notch. No other game that I've played in recent times comes close to the quality presented here; every actor is convincing to the last.
• Story Line Advancement: This goes without saying. Episode One answers a number of questions, asks a number of new ones (so exciting!), and advances the storyline considerably.
• Episode Two Trailer: A sneak peek at what's coming in Episode Two is included with the game (and it looks wickedly cool).

The Bad

• Incredibly Short: I want more Half-Life! Four hours just isn't enough (although I do still have the commentary system to check out, and I'll definitely play it through again).
• Too Expensive?: This is a sore point with a number of gamers on various forums that I peruse every once in a while. $19.95 just seems a tad too expensive for this amount of gaming. Make it $14.95 and you've got yourself a deal. (Will I continue to pay $19.95 for future episodes? Absolutely. Half-Life is just that good.)
• Stuttering: Maybe it's just my system (I wouldn't be surprised), but the game seemed to stutter more than I would have liked. Most of the time it seemed to be related to loading sound effects.

The Ugly

• Episode Two Trailer: Once you beat the game, the trailer for episode two is launched. At first, I thought my game had crashed. I tried to exit Steam and got a warning that a Steam application was still in use. A little notice on what they were doing would have been helpful.
• Character Appearance: How is it that Barney looks like crap but Alyx is still as hot as ever? Doesn't everyone get a little dirty in this deal?

If you enjoyed Half-Life 2, I think you would really enjoy Episode One. If you thought Half-Life 2 was just a mediocre game, I would recommend avoiding this next chapter. Plenty of people will no doubt complain about the length, but I don't think anyone can argue about the level of execution. The action is tight, the levels are well designed, and the story gets pushed along nicely, leaving the player with a number of new questions. If you're looking for a fun little action romp, I highly recommend Half-Life 2: Episode One. I for one am eagerly awaiting Episode Two.

Over the past several weeks, I have spent virtually all of my gaming time in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. As I previously mentioned, the game is so large that it has taken me this long to complete it. And now that I have completed the main story line, I feel I can better point out the game's highs and lows.

What I Liked My main praise for this game is the story line. San Andreas weaves an interesting tale full of twists and surprises. Character development is decent, but it's the voice acting that pushes it over the top. The developers of this game cast each character to a tee (Samuel L. Jackson is excellent as Officer Tenpenny). Likewise, the game environments are impressive. Not only is the game world gigantic, but it's well developed with plenty of detail. The number of vehicles available to the player is much larger than in previous GTA titles. This variety really adds to the overall experience. And finally, the game soundtrack really fits the overall 'gangsta' theme.

What I Disliked San Andreas is far from perfect, however. A few game missions are poorly designed, making them unnecessarily difficult. Several of the racing missions are near impossible, and the various driving schools contain tests that rely on pure luck to result in a perfect score. Enemy AI exhibits some severe flaws; often times during a gang war, the enemies will flee from the war zone. You inevitably have to chase them down, but then get penalized by leaving the war zone. Likewise, recruiting gang members to fight for you is an exercise in futility. They often get in the way of your line of sight, so you end up killing them instead of the rival gang members.

A number of people have slammed San Andreas for its graphics (and they are indeed sub-par). But given that the world is so large, and that there is so much to model, I can see why the developers chose to go with simpler designs. Fortunately, running at 1280 by 1024 with all the eye candy turned on helps in this regard (thank you GeForce 6800 GT).

So do I recommend the game? Absolutely. Just make sure that you are mature enough to play it (the 'M' rating is clearly warranted due to extreme language, intense violence, drug references, and sexual themes). If you are old enough, welcome to San Andreas. Grove Street baby - holla!

One week ago today, I received my Creative Zen Micro in the mail, and I've been playing with it for the past week. All I can say is that this device rocks! Having never had an MP3 player before, I don't have anything else to compare it to. But so far, I am very impressed.

Pros

• Excellent sound output
• Player is incredibly tiny and light
• 5 GB of storage
• Replaceable Battery
• Easy-to-use touch interface
• Works great in Windows Media Player 10
• Available in 10 colors (mine is red)
• Cool pulsating light when it's charging

Cons

• Tiny gap between album tracks
• Ear buds are a little too big for my ears