@allan, first I've heard of optional backseat blu-ray.
It's Jeep's version of the Land Rover, which means rugged and luxurious. Take a ride in our Editors' Choice, the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and check the tech.
While most fans of Square Enix should be rightfully concerned with some of the recentFinal Fantasy mobile offerings, one area competently executed are their ports of preexisting console FF offerings. Final Fantasy V [$15.99], the latest port to grace iOS, thankfully continues the trend of offering improved versions of the classic RPG series. Offering one of the better implementations of the main series’ job system, FFV is a great game in its own right, successfully makes the transition to iOS and should be added to the collection of any nostalgic RPG collector.
Originally released in 1992, Final Fantasy V wouldn’t grace the US until its inclusion in the PSX Fantasy Fantasy Anthology in 1999 (and wouldn’t see a mobile release until the 2006 GBA Version). It’s a shame that US FF fans had to wait so long, because Final Fantasy V was a pretty good entry in the series. The overall story, which centered on a sealed evil looking to destroy the elemental crystals holding its bond in place, features a lot of themes and character development that would be utilized in later entries in the series.
There’re a lot of folks that have probably played FFV in some previous iteration and are wondering what the differences are between this iOS version and previous ones. Content-wise, FFV for iOS features the same additions as found in the GBA version. This means that players will find an additional end-game dungeon as well as four extra job classes that weren't in the original. While the additional content is purely optional, the additional job classes add some variety for players that haven't experienced the GBA remake.
The one area that does change significantly in this iOS port is the art style. Instead of using the classic, highly pixelated models of the original, FFV on iOS has a very smoothed art style, with the game looking closer to the recently released Final Fantasy Dimensions. In addition, the game features more artwork from original artist Yoshitaka Amano at a much higher resolution than previous versions. While I welcome the additional Amano art, I'm on the fence about the rest of the visual improvements. There's a lot of nostalgia and charm lost in the move away from the pixel graphics and the current look feels a little bland.
The rest of the additions, meanwhile, are positive in my book. The music, which is classic Nobuo Uematsu, has been remastered beyond the chiptunes of old but still retains everything that made the original soundtrack great. FFV for iOS also includes an auto-battle mode, which speeds up the wait time between turns and automatically uses the previous commands issued for every character. This one little addition does a lot towards speeding up the grind, which is always a concern with these early RPGs. Little additions such as the ability to pinch-zoom the in-game map are also nice touches.
It's always hard to review these classic FF titles on iOS because they're always essentially ports of ports of the originals. Just as was the case with the previously released iOS ports, Final Fantasy V is a no-brainer if you're an RPG fan and have not had the pleasure of playing it. The story, job system, and classic Final Fantasy gameplay are strong in this title and showcase the golden age of Squaresoft 16-bit RPGs.
At the same time, the changes to the visual engine and minor gameplay tweaks probably aren't enough to justify a purchase for fans that have already completed the game (especially on GBA). Although, there's still enough nostalgic appeal that odds are you'll probably buy it anyways.
A new study attempts to determine the businesses that American consumers visit most often. Not surprisingly, the list is dominated by places that sell food; and that McDonald’s was by far the most-visited business in the U.S.
The study by Placed Insights uses data from more than 70,000 volunteers who have opted-in to sharing their locations with the company. And according to that data, nearly half (49%) of Americans over the age of 14 visited a McDonald’s location at some point in March.
In fact, six of the top 10 spots on the study were taken up by food-service chains — Subway (#3, with 37.8% of Americans stopping by), Burger King (#4; 24.3%), Starbucks (#5; 23.9%), Wendy’s (#6, 22.8%), and Taco Bell (#9; 18.2%).
On the retail front, Walmart was far and away the most-visited in the study, with 38.8% of Americans over the age of 14 visiting in March. The nearest non-food company was Walgreens at #7 with 22.7%, while Target barely cracked the top 10 with 14.2%.
Surprisingly, not only did Best Buy get beaten out in visits by both GameStop (#12) and RadioShack (#14), it didn’t even make the top 20 list, coming in at #35 of all U.S. businesses, and only the fourteenth most-visited physical retail chain in the country.
Better still have hockey on the back or I'll be mad.
Americans like to tease Canadians about their colorful (and often animal-themed) money, but we think the tables might just have turned. When the Bank of Canada issues a new $5 polymer bill this November, one side will include both the Canadarm2 and Dextre manipulator robots in tribute to the nation's work on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Let that sink in for a moment: a country's currency will reference space robots alongside the usual politicians. The only thing dampening the awesomeness is the irony of it all, as it's an ode to technology in a format that's being destroyed by technology. Still, we'll consider the $5 note a victory for geeks everywhere when we're buying a box of Timbits.
McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson (not to be confused with Ron Johnson) appeared on CNBC last week to talk about the company and be seen making an Egg McMuffin on camera. More importantly, he discussed the possibility that they could expand the breakfast menu to all day long.
The company treats overseas outlets as a sort of test lab for new products, and in some countries they do offer all-day breakfast items. Another enticing option that Thompson discussed? Expanding delivery, just as Burger King has.
The following post is brought to you by Chronicle Books. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.
The Art of Clean Up: Life Made Neat and Tidy, by Ursus Wehrli, is a recent release from Chronicle Books and, boy, does it appeal to my inner anal-retentive OCDness. Mr. Wehrli takes “messy” things, things that we don’t usually look at and consider to be in disarray, and rearranges them in beautiful, organized order. Have you ever wondered how many As or Bs there were in an average bowl of alphabet soup? Or the ratio of ketchup to your fries? You’re about to find out:
Process
We talked to Mr. Wehrli about his new book to find out what drives him to clean things up:
I hear you’re actually not as anal-retentive or as obsessive as we might think. Is this true?
Yes, that’s true, I’m afraid to say. I know some people are disappointed that this Mr. Wehrli is not suffering from OCD or a similar disease. However, I can get quite obsessive when it comes to an idea that I want to carry out. I drive my friends crazy if I have an artistic idea in mind. I’m only happy when it’s done.
How did you get started “arranging” things neatly?
I’ve always been interested in looking at things differently and turning things upside down. First, I started looking closely at modern art. I copied some famous paintings and put all the different forms, shapes, and colors in another place on the canvas. Then, I started to tidy up all the objects in the paintings and arranged them in a new way.
For example, I collected all the different squares in a modern painting and piled them up. The green ones in one pile, the red ones in another, and so on. What came out were fascinating new pictures. So my first books were about tidying up art. After that I began to devote myself more to everyday situations and I tidied up parking lots, fruit salads, and a lot of other messy things.
Was there one particular project that proved to be extremely challenging to tidy up?
Of course, there were a few. The parking lot, for example, took me a while. And the sunbathers. All the pictures with a lot of people involved were particularly strenuous. But fortunately I had a few people supporting me. A lot of planning was needed to get some of them done.
I didn’t get to finish my ultimate project, though: tidying up the Swiss Alps. That would be quite ambitious. I could rearrange them by size, perhaps. I’m still working on that one. Granted, the best way to make the Swiss Alps really tidy would be to iron them flat…
Before
Process
You must be a very patient person. How long does tidying up for one of your photographs take? Are there moments of frustration?
No, there are no moments of frustration—tidying up is usually quite satisfying.
Some ideas seem amazing when they first come to my mind but they turn out to be not quite as great as I had hoped. But that’s part of the process. Before I go for the real thing I start by doing sketches and drawings. Normally you see right away if an idea looks great or if it’s better to keep it in the drawer.
What do you hope people will get from your photographs?
There’s no moral or purpose behind my work. People see in my work what they like to see. And that’s ok. If my work supports the fact that our world needs both chaos and order, even better. We need both poles. It’s the balance that makes life worth living. It’s a way to learn to enjoy to look differently at our everyday world.
If you could live in a world of “before” photos or “after” photos, which would you choose + why?
Good question, and it’s not easy to answer. I normally prefer the chaos if it gets too tidy, and vice versa.
Normally you expect a comedy-minded artist to take something that is straight and turn it into a mess. What I do is exactly the same, but only the opposite. I love to question the prevailing state. So, when in doubt, I would go for – the opposite!
Have you ever stayed up really late, ingested some illicit substances, and wondered what would happen if a video game could, like, jump outside the TV screen, man? Microsoft Research is working hard to make that hazy dream a reality with Illumiroom, a project that uses a projector and a Kinect to make the wall and objects surrounding the TV into an extended display.
What really makes Illumiroom different from other projector-based displays is that it works with the image on a standard TV and with the geometry of the room surrounding it. While other systems usually require a flat surface for game image projections, Illumiroom uses a Kinect to sense the position and orientation of objects surrounding and behind the TV, like cabinets or an entertainment center. The system then alters portions of the projection that will hit those objects so they look natural and flat even on uneven surfaces. Illumiroom can also adjust for the color of those surrounding objects, saturating or desaturating the image in spots so the full image appears uniform and correct.
In the 28 years since Super Mario Bros. was released, and it's obviously been comprehensively beaten, thoroughly, many thousands of times in that time by players around the world. But have you ever made the game beat itself?
That's what computer scientist Tom Murphy has done. At SigBovik 2013, he presented a program that "solves" how to play Super Mario Bros., or any other NES game, like it's just another kind of mathematical problem. And for those who know that SigBovik is an annual computer science conference dedicated to spoof research, hosted on April 1 every year, Murphy stresses that this is "100 percent real."
Everyone seems to love "retro" 8-bit video games, but it doesn't get much more retro than a text-based adventure. If you've never tried one before, or you're just bored and have a Mac nearby, open up Terminal and give its built in MUD (multi-user dungeon) a spin.
You won't need to download anything here. Just type the following into Terminal, and the game will launch automatically.
emacs -batch -l dunnet
If you've never played a MUD before, you'll find that it's actually pretty intuitive. For example, you start the game standing on a road with a shovel nearby. Type "take shovel" to add the shovel to your inventory, and "go east" to walk down the road. Typing "Inventory" will show you what you're carrying, "save" and "restore" let you play through in multiple sessions, and "help" gives you some tips if you're stuck. I'd also recommend using some scratch paper to map out the area as you discover it. Check out the source link for a few other Terminal easter eggs to help you kill some time this weekend.
While most fans of Square Enix should be rightfully concerned with some of the recent Final Fantasy mobile offerings, one area competently executed are their ports of preexisting console FF offerings. Final Fantasy V [$15.99], the latest port to grace iOS, thankfully continues the trend of offering improved versions of the classic RPG series. Offering one of the better implementations of the main series’ job system, FFV is a great game in its own right, successfully makes the transition to iOS and should be added to the collection of any nostalgic RPG collector.
Nintendo
