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Today I installed Windows 7 on my netbook. I had heard that Windows 7 runs good on netbooks, better than XP even, and I must say it sure feels snappy while adding a shine to my desktop. New taskbar is neat too.

Installation went relatively smooth, considering netbooks don’t come with any disc drive. I had to make a bootable USB key. I then had to install all of the various Samsung tools and drivers to get all the peripherals up and running again. This was trickier since most of the installers wouldn’t recognize Windows … Continue Reading

Killzone 2:

“Decent shooter with some pacing issues”.

Mirror’s Edge:

“Spring-spring-spring-spring-HOPPA!”

Trash Panic:

“Fun but traditionally unforgiving”.

Bionic Commando:

“A completionist’s nightmare”.

Resident Evil 5:

“As good as four except there were two of us”.

I’ve touched before on the importance of prioritizing the end user when designing any kind of user interface and in my work with Novelty I’ve gained a keen interest in the science of GUI design. Coincidentally, I’ve recently stumbled across a few examples of really bad GUI. I first intended this post to be an attack on what I can easily say is the worst interface ever, but instead I opted to write a list of all the things I’ve learned and then it’s up to you to decide whether or not a particular piece of software abides to it or not.

So if you’re not a GUI nerd like me or even know what I’m talking about, spare yourself the trouble and stop reading. There be dragons ahead. A lot of the things I’m going to go through are the very basics, but you’d be surprised to see how some applications fail at even that.

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I bought myself a netbook to make myself a little bit more portable. A white Samsung NC10. I like it.

Lately I’ve refrained from playing SFIV online, to play against the CPU instead (on hardest, mind you). On that difficulty the CPU is extremely aggressive and it’s a good way to find weaknesses and traps.

Unfortunately, the CPU is too predictable and can’t compare with a real human player. Given a certain distance, Zangief will always do the same (futile) attack. Cammy always performs her ultra when her life is low and I’m crouching. It doesn’t take long before you find yourself exploiting the AI rather than fighting an honest match.

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Have you ever had your friends over to play some fighting games? Ever had that one friend whom always picked the cheap boss character and spammed the dirtiest move over and over again until he won? You know, that guy who is more concerned about his own victory than about having a good time with friends?

Well, that is how the Street Fighter 4 online experience is like. I’m starting to get sick and tired of people who will only play Akuma and spam fire balls from across the screen.

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The peeps over at SGA ran a concept art contest and I decided to give it a shot. The theme for the contest is Antagonists and I chose to draw a norse alternative to the typical dark angel: The Fallen Valkyrie.

Karoliina entered as well, with a much more thought-out design than mine XD

Update:
I didn’t win but received an honorable mention. The winning entry was really good.

In my observations I’ve noticed a clear distinction in the western and eastern cultures’ use of youtube. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which culture each of these clips represents.

Actually, in retrospect I don’t think my culture argument is valid. It has more to do with the Western joy of what can be best described as “stupid fun” and the Japanese fascination with anime and music based memes.