Vega
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PA ditches GOW for Vegas, will you?
In their latest update, Penny Arcade informs the world that they have switched from Gears of War to Rainbow Six Vegas as their game of choice -- though Tycho admits he was against the idea. The reasons for the switch are about what you would expect: Vegas is what some would call more "hardcore." Kills are near instantaneous, weapon choices are numerous, player counts are higher, the cover system is (arguably) more flexible than Gears, and Vegas has a robust persistent online structure. I had a feeling after playing the Vegas multiplayer demo that it might become the hardcore game of choice, much like Rainbow Six 3 was on the original Xbox. However, just because it's more hardcore does not mean that it will be more popular. If that were the case, Halo 2 would have been knocked from the Live top spot long ago. Will Vegas topple the new Gears behemoth? Well, no. No it won't. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is that Vegas simply isn't as accessible as Gears. Even if pressing "A" can have undesired results in Gears -- diving from cover instead of rolling around the edge for instance -- it's still a more friendly setup for the masses (compared to Vegas' use of the left trigger). Also, the weapons of Vegas can be daunting to the uninitiated, as the advantages of one machine gun over another may elude the average gamer. And of course, there is the quibble that Vegas looks nowhere near as good as Gears, despite the fact that they run on the same engine. It seems minor, but graphics alone were enough to turn many of our readers off of the demo, despite how fun it is to play. What are your thoughts? Will the hardcore, fast tactics of Vegas lure you in, or do you prefer the polished, simpler destruction of Gears?
Raon Digital Vega UMPC reviewed
Even though it's been just a week since we saw a hands-on with the Raon Digital Vega UMPC, the first complete review has already come in from Carrypad. As a quick refresher, the Vega has an admirable compact form factor, a 4.3-inch screen, a max resolution of 1,024 x 768, 256MB of RAM, 30GB drive, and will stay juiced for three to four hours. Carrypad liked the Vega overall, but was deeply dismayed at the lack of WiFi and Bluetooth on the device, something that many of its rivals, including the Catcher, the Sony UX and the Asus R2H all have standard. The Vega does have a standard WiFi dongle that connects via USB, but that's not a very elegant solution, now is it? The site was also miffed at the missing stylus slot (which attaches via a lanyard?) and no key backlighting. That said, we can understand this panning, but it's probably worth noting that this is one of the most inexpensive UMPCs that we've seen thus far. No word on if like its namesake, the Vega either has a nuclear fusion core or has a fist-mounted claw. If not, we're pretty sure that Raon Digital is working on combining those features -- along with WiFi -- into the next version.Update: Carrypad now reports that official prices for the Vega have been announced. MSRPs for Oceania are AU$1300 ($978) for the 256MB RAM version and AU$1350 ($1016) for the 512MB version. For Europe, Vegas will start hitting the streets by late October or early November and will cost €815 ($1033).
Raon Digital's Vega UMPC unboxing / impressions
While a full-on review of a finalized unit has yet to surface, the folks over at CarryPad have withstood the lengthy customs holdup to give a once over to the oh-so-small Raon Digital Vega UMPC. Rocking a footprint and screen smaller than the already tiny OQO and Sony UX, those lucky testers were taken aback at just how minuscule this thing really is. They admired the sleek, black styling, and praised the LCD quality, but felt the maximum resolution of 1,024 x 768 was too microscopic for actual use, and found the native 800 x 480 option much more pleasing on the eyes. Windows responsiveness wasn't blistering, but did exceed their expectations, and ran several basic applications without putting too much strain on the 256MB of RAM; two other nifty features were its ability to boot into Linux successfully, and be accessed as USB storage when off or in standby. Possibly the most satisfying report comes from the battery life -- while not quite matching the longevity of the Newton MessagePad, the test unit survived three hours of active use, a few hours of standby, and still showed 20% of juice remaining. The biggest digs (and potential deal killers), however, are its apparent lack of WiFi without the style-hindering USB attachment, and the perplexing decision to omit Bluetooth entirely. While there are certainly areas of concern, CarryPad felt the Vega UMPC was "more impressive" than expected, especially in areas of size and battery life -- but if your plans involve heavy internet surfing or pairing it with the endless amount of Bluetooth possibilities, you may want to hold off.
The Vega Ultra Portable
Hard to believe that anyone would willingly stare at Windows XP on a tiny screen (the five-inch display on the OQO and the 4.5-inch display on the Sony UX are already pushing the bounds of XP's usability), but some info and images have turned up over at AVING about one with an even smaller display, the new Vega Ultra Portable. No slide-out QWERTY keyboard like either the OQO or the UX, but the Vega does sport what looks like a full numeric keypad on the front, as well as a 4.3-inch touch screen, an AMD Geode LX800 processor, 30GB hard drive, 256MB of RAM, and integrated WiFi. Should be out sometime next month, at least in South Korea.[Via jkOnTheRun and MobileWhack]
