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Shopping online doesn't mean you have to skip the tailor
Before the end of the year, Macy's and Bloomingdale's will offer custom tailoring for clothes you purchase online. How does that work? Well, thanks to a new startup from Men's Warehouse founder George Zimmer, you just buy the clothes, and when they're delivered a tailor comes to you to ensure the proper fit. As you might expect, the on-demand option is only available in certain areas... for now. Los Angeles is the first pilot city, with other trials planned for New York City, San Diego, San Franciso and the states of Washington, Oregon and Florida. Don't live in any of those places? Fret not, the option is set to go nationwide this fall.
The Daily Grind: What game do you feel has changed too much for you to return?
We've all got games that we like, but sometimes even the games you want to play have to be placed on the back burner for a while. In the old days, it could be a matter of not being able to pay a subscription fee for a couple of months. That's less of an issue with free-to-play becoming ubiquitous, but there are still times when other projects, heavy workloads, or simple burnout necessitate putting a game down for a while with the intention of returning later. Unfortunately, sometimes later comes around and you don't recognize the game any longer. Obviously, no game will freeze in place as we take care of other issues; updates will happen and the game will change. But sometimes you turn to go back to an old favorite and find out that the game's entire progression method has been redesigned, stats have been altered, and your favorite classes or skills are nearly unrecognizable. You no longer see the game you want to return to, and you don't want to start the game all over. So what game do you feel has changed too much for you to ever go back, even if you might be tempted? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What have you taken for granted to your detriment?
For better or worse, human beings have a tendency to assume that things will stay more or less the same from day to day. We figure that all else being equal, the electricity will stay on, there will be food in the fridge, and the people we play games with will play fair. But these things aren't natural states -- the electricity goes off if you don't pay for it, the fridge will run out of food as you eat it, and the only way to find out a player is a cheater is to be cheated. MMOs are no different, and with the nature of each game being so mutable, it's very possible that we take something for granted that is easy to lose. You assume that your game's mechanics will stay largely the same until a patch comes along and changes many of them, a la Star Wars Galaxies. You assume that your endgame tank friend will still be in World of Warcraft no matter what, only to find out he doesn't like the latest expansion and is quitting. When have you taken something for granted in a game only to find out you were wrong to do so? Did you think a player wouldn't leave when he eventually did after all? Were you expecting mechanics or classes to remain unchanged when they weren't quite so permanent? Had you counted on having all the time in the world to achieve something only to have the criteria changed or outright removed? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What game would you change from the beginning?
Let's say for a moment that you have a time machine. Now, before you immediately start making plans to buy stocks and get President Kennedy to wear a helmet, it's a very specialized time machine. It will work exactly once, and bring you back to the development stage before a game has launched. You can't change the team or the studio, but you can have complete conceptual control over the game from the earliest testing until it finally goes live. With that in mind, what game would you pick? Would you go back to a game that's been canceled to see if better development early on could save it? Would you try and tweak something in your favorite game that always altered you? Would you try and make an older game more compatible with future design? Or would you go for a game that you never cared for and try to make it better?
Video highlights the differences in Final Fantasy XIV test versions
We're not done with the love for Final Fantasy XIV around here by a long shot, especially not as the game moves into the next phase of testing. Amidst secondhand reports, allegations, rumors, and the general wall of non-information Square-Enix surrounds the game with, it can be difficult to know whether the new phase of testing has actually changed anything, or we're just looking at the same build with a few names changed. There's a new video making the rounds, however, demonstrating exactly what has changed. It's easier to understand the changes by watching the video, but in brief: they've improved light sourcing, distance rendering, and a vastly different combat system. The latter is perhaps the most surprising, as the two systems sound similar but have significant differences when compared side by side. Any fan of Final Fantasy XIV is encouraged to watch the video not just to see the version comparisons, but to get a good sense of what the game will look like in action.
Combination Mac mini, coffeemaker and subwoofer stuck in an iMac
That's why, we're guessing, tinkerer Klaus Diebel put together this incredibly useful device that will make your coffee, play some thumping tunes, and do your computing tasks as well. He tells us it was something like that -- he really enjoyed the look of the gumdrop iMac, and has experimented with it a few times, creating both a mailbox and a birdhouse from the computer's case. And this one just sort of snowballed -- when he found that the Mac mini's optical drive slot fit perfectly with the iMac's slot, without any alterations at all, it had to happen. And we're glad it did. The iMac is an exceptional little computer with a very distinctive form factor -- if you have to put a coffeemaker in the thing just to keep it on your desk, so be it!
Slight alterations to the Wii controller
Somewhere in the land of Spain, Nintendo held one hell of an event without anyone else on the planet seeming to notice. RevoGamers.net were some of the lucky ones invited, and managed to chronicle the event with pictures and a short video.As we can see in the picture to the right, the Wiimote has once again gone through some minor design alterations. First, the + and - buttons have returned to their original "return arrow" and pause versions, as seen in hardware shots prior to E3 2006. The Wii logo on the bottom of the remote has disappeared, for reasons unknown. Finally, however, is the attachment of a wrist-strap for the remote, which is a wonderful idea considering the motions required in games like Wii tennis and the, ah...expensive TV sets around the room. With any luck, a similar strap will come bundled with the system and remote.But that's not all. There are pictures of the back of the Wiimote without batteries, some sleek sensor bar close-ups, and a bitchin' wall mural for Wii Sports. The event seems very classy and much more relaxed than E3. Wii. Jugar para Creer.
Cheaper PS3 loses HDMI, slots, Wi-Fi, 40GB
As you can see above, there are a few things different between the two PS3 SKUs planned. (Hint: the obvious alterations concern high-def output and wireless connectivity -- though Bluetooth controllers should work just fine with both, with or without any chrome case highlighting.)So what's HDMI, built-in multimedia card-reader slots, wireless internet connectivity, and an extra 40 gigabytes' hard disk space worth to you? $100? Now that Sony's gone with the 2-SKU approach with its next-gen hardware (a la the Xbox 360's premium and "Core" systems), we can expect some tough consumer choices after six months -- with console shortages possibly for another six months after that -- as $100 separates the base $499 and premium $599 versions of Sony's "Clear Black" hope.HDMI is important to those who want to take full advantage of Blu-ray high def and have the new screens to use it; MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash slots would be nice for the PS3 memory-card users and those will run multimedia on the system; Wi-Fi's the only way to avoid stringing ethernet cables for online access; and 360 owners might appreciate the full 60GB available to potential buyers of the premium PS3 model. Neither model comes with a second HDMI port; thankfully, one should hopefully be all most users need. The details are laid out in a feature-comparison table at the end of Sony's official PS3 hardware press release, available in both Adobe Reader and Microsoft Word formats. Determine what's most important to your PS3 ambitions there.[Image pieced together from the PlayStation.com forums; thanks, Guru]
