Today, me and Anand met for the very first time in podcast history. Nearby, a chorus of whales burst forth from around us, singing hymns so decadent the sky wept. Diamonds fell from the sky, like expensive hail. Somewhere, a man with a guitar strummed a lone chord. Perhaps it was an A minor. Or just maybe it was a B flat.

Oh, and there was a whole lot of echo.

Those of you who’ve been following the ‘cast know that me and Anand have been doing this here project completely over the inter-tubes, packing our melodic voices into small little packets, and shooting them between us with the power of modern technology. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, it seems fitting that, for our tenth episode, we finally do one in person. And just like our humble beginnings, this too posed problems.

There was a whole lot of echo.

Despite being in the same room, we still used two mics. While this wouldn’t normally cause a problem, some funky discrepancies within audacity meant that things didn’t quite sync up. But just barely! Things are still listenable, for the most part, but we’ll understand if you don’t want to hear us repeat everything twice – albeit, with a very minuscule delay. And in our opinion, that just makes the podcast all the more interesting; you get to hear us discuss the Wii, the Zune, and pigeons.

Yes. Pigeons.

Listen here, or at the Not-So Much News!

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A quick glance outside my window revealed that pigs were flying, and the denizens of hell were enjoying a few cold ones. Much to the chagrin of internet users, it seemed as if Facebook was becoming Twitter – the introduction of @tagging having drawn the ire of each networks most loyal.

But let’s step back for a second. Amidst the hyperbole and seeming rage is really just a subtle and logical change that’s been a long time coming for Facebook. The social network first carved an online niche for itself with the ability to tag friends in photos. Then came notes, and later on, videos. Naturally, the only piece of original, user created content left untouched by our Facebook-tagging overlords were status updates.

What seems to be drawing all the attention is Facebook’s implementation of tags, and it’s very superficial similarity to that of Twitter. So, let’s break this down, shall we?

MATTHEW’S HANDY GUIDE TO SOCIAL NETWORKING AND LIFELONG TEXTUAL RELATIONSHIPS.

1. Twitter’s @ system makes up for the services’ inherent lack of threaded replies. In other words, it’s the only means by which to converse back and forth with someone. Facebook, meanwhile, actually has threaded replies to Tweets. I mean, updates.
2. Twitter allows you to mention anyone. Facebook, as always, will only allow you to tag your friends.
3. Facebook tags are NOT searchable. This is, arguably, one of the most powerful features of Twitter’s mention/hashtag system, and really what separates the two services.
4. And finally, Twitter let’s you tag as many people as you’d like, within the 140 character limit. Facebook limits you to six tags, however. This may be a good thing for Matt Demers.

In a nutshell, Facebook continues to improve and evolve, as it should, and gives a nod to one of its so-called competitors. Far from game changing, I think.

A Twitter clone it is not.

The state of gaming hardware on the PC nowadays is a bit of a mystery to me. I remember a time long ago, when Bill Gates was praising the wonders of Plug-and-Play; it was a magical world where devices would just work, with little-to-no user intervention. And for a while, they did just that. Scanners, printers, cameras, and practically any other obscure device I could find were immediately usable via the wonders of PnP. The distinction between Mac, PC, and even linux, was practically nonexistent – drivers were everywhere.

Now, I might sound like a bit of a nut, because all of this is still largely possible today; that is, until you enter the wonderful world of computer gaming.

The one thing console’s have always had going for them is their relative status as gaming’s walled garden. Console hardware has, historically, been strictly controlled, with but a few official and third-party licensees churning out a steady stream of peripherals for the end-user. This is great for console manufacturers like Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, because the ability to strictly control and ensure a good user experience is always present. More so, it ensures that companies can maintain this walled garden approach, which ultimately separates the Sony from the Microsoft, and so on. It’s an atmosphere where intermingling is sacrilege – something that any console fanboy can attest to.

And so we arrive at PC gaming. Moving away from this walled garden ideal, it’s probably already obvious that such an approach is near impossible in the world of PC gaming. The likes of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are obviously the only ones to make their respective consoles, and as such, control the flow of peripherals as well. But PC’s are manufactured on a far more fragmented scale, split between innumerable companies worldwide. The big three gaming companies have little to no hold over the PC gaming world – and that’s where things get weird.

Games For Windows Live is Microsoft’s pet project to bring the world of Xbox Live-like connectivity to the Windows Platform. Therefore, it’s only natural that Microsoft provide superb support for their Xbox 360 controllers within PC games like Street Fighter, or Arkham Asylum. The problem arises when this controller is the only controller allowed – as is the case with Arkham asylum. I’ve discovered first hand that Sony’s Sixaxis just doesn’t play nice. I don’t want to infer that this is some particularly devious act on Microsoft’s behalf, but there’s no denying it’s a clear annoyance.

Other Games for Windows titles, like Street Fighter IV, however, are perfectly  content allowing third party devices. But even that is marred with issues – me and a friend were incredulous to discover that Mad Catz’ official Xbox 360 SFIV fight stick, doesn’t even work on AMD or nVidia-based platforms. Say what?

The PS3 controller, meanwhile, is easily recognizable by Windows 7 platforms; the only caveat is that the buttons don’t work. Third party support has been hacked in, but it’s often less than desirable, leaving end-users with a madenning set-up experience. There aren’t even third party drivers from Sony. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 controller, while official drivers are available, often doesn’t work as planned, with some users even flocking to third party solutions in response to the poor remapping and functionality of Microsoft’s software solution.

In each case, what worked flawlessly in the strict constructs of a console world is struck down by the unforgiving nature of the PC environment – a world where manufacturers need to remember that us PC gamers like choice.

To me, it seems as if many of the big developers are forgetting the very simple notion that computers are not consoles. Consistency between machines and manufacturers is only an illusion, and are there are no guarantees of functionality from one to the next. But as the console and PC gaming worlds continue to collide, it only seems as if we’ll be seeing more and more of issues like these. Gaming hardware that, while may appear to use similar PC standards on the surface, is found to be near-unusable on it’s PC brethren. Or there may be other cases, where devices are simply not as Plug-and-Play as we might like.

The iPhone is dead. The iPhone remains dead. And we have killed it. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was fastest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our Palms: who will wipe this circuitry off us? What Recycle Bin is there for us to clean ourselves? What websites of atonement, what sacred apps shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

This week is a most glorious week, as myself and Igor plot the demise of the industry leading iPhone. There will be Palm Pre’s involved. Possibly new Samsung devices. Point is, it’s going to be a party, and there’s tons of great things to talk about, SUCH AS:

• Apple introduces some fancy, schmancy new devices, which really aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Spec bumps and a sub-par camera sensors? Count me in!
• ATI turns heads with a whole new line of 5xxx series Radeon graphics cards – cards that can power up to six displays at once.
• Bell and Telus continues to screw us poor Canadian broadband users, with a large rusty rake. The rake also has spikes, and is possibly coated with battery acid.
• Palm release something called the Pixi. It is like a Pre but smaller, and tastes like chocolate.
• Anand sings 50’s showtunes in the style of Robert Plant which is being streamed on Youtube right now

Listen here, or at The Not So Much News!

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I’m convinced that, in the video gaming world, there’s some giant love affair for crowbars. It’s as if the sight of a rusting metal shaft is just the sort of thing that gets game producers all hot and bothered, to the point where the item is hastily coded into the game while the rest of the development team goes for a cold shower. Somewhere – and probably in Australia – this is actually true.

And so we arrive at Bioshock, a game that was released some two years ago, and that I am only getting to now. The latest in a long line of crowbar-porn titles, Bioshock sends you, as the protagonist, into the heart of an underwater empire, constructed by the mysterious Andrew Ryan. Why is he mysterious, you ask? All moustached men are.

But really, Bioshock is another one of those games that tries to illustrate a once-ideal society thrown into dystrophic decay. It’s not a communist society, nor a capitalist one, but some twisted, hypocritical invention of this elusive Ryan that you must piece together as you plumb the city’s depths.

Without spoiling the game all too much for those who’ve yet to play, your ultimate goal is to figure out what’s brought you to this undersea maze in the first place, a role which becomes increasingly obvious as the story progresses. It’s during the third act, upon which the true nature of your arrival is revealed, does Bioshock truly shine.

It’s also the point at which I had to move my firmly-dropped jaw back into place.

The problem is, while this is the main plot-point, it’s not the most interesting. Rapture has so much depth and promise, and yet it is ultimately squandered by the decision to make the game’s story secondary to its game play. While both the fate of the city and your own often intertwine, the clues and records that tell more of the city’s past are largely optional, and easily missed.

It’s one of those instances where forcing players to further immerse themselves in the game’s lore isn’t such a bad idea, as it makes the final reveal all the more stunning.

Instead, we get to fetch a lot of items, all because the voice on the short-wave radio told us to. Story be damned.