Eddie on "HULU"

Hulu or HuluPlus is online service that let’s you stream instantly TV, Movies, and Trailers. But on Hulu you can watch shows that aired 24 hours prior, on regular television. Wait… isn’t that called On-Demand. Hulu also carries movies that you can watch instantly…Wait…that’s called Netflix. And on top of that Hulu lets you watch movie trailers, ok…wait… what, you can do that anywhere on the Internet. You can also stream these movies on your Xbox and PS3, when they get that one working again,..son of a ….. That’s it…. what the hell is going on here?

Well I decided to give it a shot and try their one-week free trial to see what this was all about, and they didn’t ask for a credit card number.

T.V. Shows: You get pretty much the same as On-Demand except you get more shows and a few other channels that aren’t available there. Also during commercial breaks they throw in a quick 30-second spot for whatever. But as i see it, if you already have a DVR or cable, it’s useless.

Movies: Same exact thing as Netflix, except for one big, really big, No-No. They place commercial spots in the movie every 15 minutes or so, with no real place to put them. They just drop the commercials at a random time placement with no consideration for plot points. So you are immediately pulled out of the movie, to watch a 30 second spot for, I don’t know,,.. life insurance, or something like that. While they do have a few movies that aren’t available on Netflix, it doesn’t matter. If I wanted commercial to appear in the middle of a movie, I’d just watch T.V. Also at this point there are only a small amount of films available.

Trailers: Useless,.. Enough said, I don’t know what to say about this. There are thousands of sights online, and on consoles, to watch trailers.

Another quick note they do have things they call Clips. These are specific items such as movie scenes, T.V. scenes etc, it’s pretty much a Youtube, kind of gimmick. So what ever.

While this service is free for a limited time, they have another special offer. If you do join after the week is up you only pay $7.99 a month “For a Limited Time”,..wink,..wink,.. for the service.

All and all, this for someone who has Wifi service on their laptop and they're never at home. I personally wouldn’t use this, because I have a DVR and I already subscribe to Netflix. Also if I’m paying a fee, I do not want to see commercial littered throughout any movie, TV I don’t care about, but the movies,.. really. I think this is just the big studios trying to figure out how to jump on the streaming instantly band wagon, and if it works out in the long run, then good for them. But this is one pony that ain’t following the trail.

But who am I judge, it's only my opinion, if you want to try it, give it a shot, and leave some comments on blog to tell me what you think.

Eddie on "PORTAL 2"

The original game Portal came out a few years ago, and I just didn’t get it. Now I know it had a fan base, and people raved about it. Well I decided to bypass the original completely and try the sequel called, you guessed it, “Portal 2”.

Available for the PS3, XBOX 360, PC and OS X.

VALVE has taken me by surprise with this inventive, yet simple game, just as they did with the Left 4 Dead series. Basically this is a First Person Shooter puzzle game where you use a portal gun to teleport throughout the level to solve each unique puzzle.

You awake after a few hundred years in stasis at the Aperture Science Facility and meet Wheatley played by Stephen Merchant (The Rick Gervais Show, Extras, An idiot Abroad) a nervous little paranoid self-conscious robot.  It seems the facility is in major neglect and disrepair, and Wheatley wants to help you escape. Right at the beginning you awake GLaDOS, sort of like a mean mother system robot of the facility, who is not happy you are there, and makes you solve these puzzles all the while verbally tormenting of you.

Quick side note about the voice-over work, Stephen Merchant is brilliant as Wheatley. I don’t if his dialogue was scripted or just improvisation, but it is hilarious. He seems to be so enthusiastic and having so much fun working on this game, that it fits perfectly to the character. All the dialogue throughout the game flows nicely and doesn’t seem forced, as some games do. Also great V.O. work of J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson from Spider-man) as Aperture Science CEO and Ellen McLain returning as the cruel GLaDOS.

Stephen Merchant aka Wheatle

The graphics are excellent, deep and more richly detailed than they need to be for this game. The puzzles are inventive and addictive, they are also somewhat complex, but simple, and not at all frustrating when you look around in the game. At no point did I want to pick the game console up and throw it through a window, like I do with many others. You'll have to drop through holes on one end to catapult you to other areas, launch pads to other areas, so it's kind of a inter-dimentional game. I know my words are not doing it justice. But once you are able to wrap your brain around this game you will know what I mean.

Also another thing that is great about this game is that, kids and adults can totally enjoy this game. Your not running around blowing peoples heads off and spraying blood everywhere like most games out there today, I’m talking to you Call of Duty. It also as split screen & online Co-op missions, so this will also keep you 2 kids occupied for awhile. The excellent music and especially the ending credits song "Want You Gone" by Jonathan Coulton, fit the games sarcastic tone perfectly. See the video below.


Well I have finished it yet I just had to say something and spread the word one on of the most enjoyable games out there for everyone.

Overall I give this game a 5 out of 5, it’s a blast.

Trailer

 

Want you Gone by Jonathan Coulton