BEAN
Latest
Dead Nation debuts on PSN Nov. 30
Dear PlayStation, It has come to my attention that you intend to launch a new downloadable PlayStation 3 game, dubbed "Dead Nation," on Tuesday, November 30 in North America (and December 1 in Europe). Based on what I have read on various video game blogs and e-podiums, the Housemarque-developed game offers the opportunity to annihilate necrotic ne'er-do-wells in a collapsed and imbalanced society. Since this video game has not yet launched, I'm sure there's time yet for you to examine my exciting proposal! Indeed, I hope to correct the imbalance within our own society caused by the cultural overexposure of the living dead, who are now present in television shows, novels, comic books, talk shows and a handful of video games. Isn't it about time you challenged gamers with a worthy foe, and one that doesn't simply covet brains for its nutritional benefits? I'm talking about The B.E.A.N. Replanting Initiative (T.B.R.I.). Why pander to your players with pale, unintelligible humans -- with whom they are intimately familiar with! -- when you could send in the: Bugs! Equipped with monstrous mandibles, thrilling thoraxes and loads of legs! Extraterrestrials! They came to boil our oceans, disintegrate our cities and zap our way of life! Aliens! I guess we covered this one! Nazis! History's most hated villains and most reliable, no-strings-attached targets for unrepentant violence! As you can see, the classic monsters have a lot of life left in them, which is more than you can say for zombies, because they aren't alive at all. With your cooperation, we can put them back in the spotlight. If you'd like, I'd be more than willing to consult on your enemy replacement initiative. Everyone at the B.E.A.N. Replanting Initiative would be more than happy to introduce bugs into your game, or help German-ate your assets. Kind regards, Leonard K. Trubb -- Outreach Manager The B.E.A.N. Replanting Initiative (T.B.R.I.)
My favorite Mac apps: Giles' picks
Everyone else has had just three choice Mac apps, but I'm going to claim four because two of my choices live in the Menu Bar, and are therefore very small. Only you and I need to keep count, though, eh? Bean This marvelous little rich text editor is an excellent tool for writing to word counts, something I have to do very often. Bean packs in a lot of great features, and the developer is responsive to feedback and suggestions. Either TextMate or BBEdit When I'm not writing to word counts, I'm usually using Markdown to write for the web. Until last week I'd been using TextMate for this, exclusively, for a couple of years. Now, with the release of BBEdit 9.0, I'm wavering between the two. Both are wonderful, and writing with Markdown just isn't the same without one of them to help me out. I Love Stars I'm one of those weirdos who likes to keep the Dock out of sight most of the time. I don't use it for launching or switching apps, and I don't use it to keep minimised windows in either. But there are some functions that I like to have in easy reach from anywhere, and that's why I'm a big fan of Menu Bar applications. That said, there's not a lot of Menu Bar to be had on a little MacBook screen, so I'm very picky about which ones get the honor of a place up there. I Love Stars earns a spot. It does nothing but let me assign ratings to songs, but in my opinion it does it very well and, most importantly, sits in the best place for doing it. Jumpcut Another one from the Menu Bar, and this time it's a clipboard history utility that saves my backside 27 times every week. At least. It only saves text, but that's fine for me because that's what matters most in my line of work. With Jumpcut running (and it's always running), I can merrily copy umpteen things from a dozen different places and be sure of pasting them easily, and in the correct places, in the text document I'm writing at the time (see Bean and BBMate raves above). OK, that was five. Sorry.
iPhone apps we crave
Well, Merlin, you did ask. Having listed some imaginary iPhone apps he'd like to see, Merlin Mann asked the world: "What's the iPhone app you crave?" Hmm, let me see now - I've got a little list. Avant Go: A fantastic portable newsagent, in which you could download whole chunks of your favourite magazine and newspaper web sites for offline reading. I used to read dozens of articles in Avant Go on my train commutes in and out of London, back in the days when I commuted. It was an absolutely essential app and I'm very much looking forward to it - or something similar - arriving on iPhone. Yojimbo or Notational Velocity for iPhone: See yesterday's rant. If this, or something like this, isn't right round the corner, I shall eat my router. TextMate or Bean: This is dependent on Apple opening up Bluetooth to other devices in a future software update. If I could use a full-size external keyboard to quickly write text, I'd want a decent editor to write it in. What iPhone apps are you craving? Let us know in the comments.
Puyo Puyo screenshots, no Bean Machines to be seen
Sega's Puyo Puyo franchise is heading to the Wii, to be released in Japan on July 26. It actually exists on the Wii right now in the form of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine on the Virtual Console. So why would you want to buy a full-priced Puyo game when there's a perfectly serviceable entry available for cheap? We actually have an answer for this one (the best kind of question, we think): sumptuous four-player Puyo-ing. Check out some screens and decide for yourself if that and the wacky new play modes (co-op, a single-player dual-Wiimote mode) are worth the price of admission. Of course, there's another possible motivator for wanting this version over the Genesis version: fear of Dr. Robotnik and his foul machine.
VC Monday: Plus Four!
Nintendo promised something like ten a month, but at this rate, we'll be seeing sixteen. Nintendo dropped yet another four vintage goodies on us at noon EST today, and here are the pickings: Ice Hockey (NES) - a much-loved hockey sim that, unfortunately, is beginning to show its age. Where is the ever-revered NHL '94 for SNES? Gunstar Heroes (Sega Genesis) - If Jack Thompson had been as retarded in 1993 as he is now, he'd certainly have gone after this game. Much-lauded for its frenetic and gleeful gut-ripping gameplay, GH is considered one of Sega's best games. Check this 2-D shooter out. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Sega Genesis) - some beans are falling, or something, and you have to match them...whatever. We got Columns last week, didn't we? Alien Crush (TG-16) - a rather odd pinball-sim involving scary aliens with a multitude of eyes. If you're into the pinball scene, go for it, if not, settle for some extraterrestrial orange soda. (Zing!) We still, of course, anxiously await the previous announced Toe Jam and Earl. We wantsssss it!
Sony ready to take on the iPod ... again
Sony senior vice president Takao Yuhara met with reporters yesterday to announce that the company is working on -- drum roll, please -- a new digital audio player, software and download service to take on Apple's iPod. Yuhara didn't provide a whole lot of details, though he did say the player would be "typically Sony," by which we assume he meant it would be hobbled by intrusive DRM, poor support for formats other than ATRAC and prices that will make it completely uncompetitive in a market where you can get a decent 512MB flash player for well under $100. Still, we wish Sony luck. We really would like to see the company come up with an audio player that could return this pioneer to its early Walkman-era glory (we have an idea: hand the division over to the team that designs the Walkman phones). But we fear that what we'll be seeing will instead be this year's answer to the Bean.
