Things to Expect For 2014

Technology always changes. It’s a known fact. Remember when CDs used to be the rave? Now, CDs are only good for, things that I can’t name at the moment. Our music became digital, software became downloadable online and movies are also becoming more popular in the digital format. I can say that the CD is the floppy disk of our generation.

Of course, as technology changes, our society changes. The world changes either for the better (email, social connection through the Internet) or for the worse (terrible websites, unnecessary activities) and we need to adapt to it. Personally, I’m still waiting for the hoverboards from Back to the Future, but that seems farfetched (yet achievable).

One of the technological feats that will change the world, specifically this year, would be the implementation of the robotics in our daily life. Amazon is trying to push their idea of using drones to deliver purchased merchandise to the home of the customer in 30 minutes or less. Think of it as delivery pizza – but with a four propeller machine instead of a human. It’d be nice to have a drone for yourself but you’d have to have some kind of next level security clearance just to learn how to fly one. Amazon thinks it will benefit not only the company as a whole but also the customers. I don’t know – it seems unsafe and difficult to set this idea up. AI technology has to be completely revolutionary just so that the drone can navigate. Also, building a mass of these drones will not be a walk in the park.

Wearable technology will also be popularized. Google started with this trend with Google Glasses. I still think a person wearing a pair will look like an idiot. However, if they can implement this into normal prescription glasses, I might give it a shot. Watches are also becoming technologically advanced. The Samsung Galaxy Gear and the Pebble are big competitors in this market, although I’m sure Apple will make some sort of “iWatch” and send it out and every single Apple lover will get one. Once again, Apple gets their money and everyone has a useless, hardware and software proprietary device.

Gaming will also change this year. Valve and their infamous Steam Box are rolling out this year, according to Steam. There has been no announced release date. Instead, Valve said “2014” and that’s it. This means that both the PS4 and the XBOX One will have another competitor in the contest (face it, the Wii U can’t really compete). There are so many games that are anticipated this year like Watch Dogs and Destiny. Watch Dogs has been delayed to a later date, but Destiny has be destined to be released on September 9, 2014. I cannot wait for Naughty Dog to start talking about the next installment of Uncharted.

2014 is going to be a wonderful year for technology (and gaming). The power of computing will definitely continue to evolve and progress. All we have to do is watch out.

Who knows, maybe we’ll finally get Half Life 3?

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XBOX One vs. PS4 – Games

This is a three part series on the XBOX One and PS4. Part 1 will be Specifications, Part 2 will be Features and Part 3 will be Games.

After looking at specifications and features, we finally enter the final stage of the battle: GAMES

Let’s talk games. Both consoles and companies seem to have a good grasp at their main focus: games. But the real question is who will have the best?

The XBOX 360 and PS3 have amazing games to choose from. Although most games are cross-platform (meaning each console gets the game), we’re actually here to talk about EXCLUSIVES.

XBOX have their HALO series to thank for putting them on the market. HALO, being an exclusive only to XBOX, is one of the most popular first-person shooter games in this generation. Usually, when someone thinks XBOX, they begin to think about HALO.

Then, Call of Duty comes to mind. Activision signed a contract with Microsoft so that all the DLC (downloadable content) would come out first on the XBOX consoles. This was also confirmed for their next-gen console (XBOX One). Call of Duty, being a loved and hated franchise, is also very popular with the gaming community. It is, however, a cross-platform game.

XBOX also offers XBOX Arcade. It has not yet been confirmed with the Microsoft whether or not XBOX Arcade will be featured on XBOX One (at least according to my research). In the arcade, oldies are offered for players who just want to game for the fun of it.

Other than that, XBOX offers great exclusives, such as:

• HALO series
• Alan Wake
• Gears of War series
• Fable series
• Forza series

Playstation offer an HUGE amount of exclusives (far greater than XBOX exclusives). Probably the most popular (currently) would be the Uncharted series.

Uncharted follows the adventure of Drake. It is, by far, one of the most popular video games on the market. But, recently it has been topped by another PS3 exclusive, Last of Us. Last of Us is “post apocalyptic” game where a dangerous virus infected many civilians, causing them to turn into hideous, disgusting, scary, filthy zombies. Yes, it is another zombie game, but who cares? It truly highlights how human emotion can get the best of us. The characters are very easy to connect to. Last of Us will surely take GOTY for 2013.

Then, there are those that are not exclusives, but have connections with Playstation. Games such as the Battlefield series (CoD’s opponent) are not exclusives, but offer DLC earlier to PS3 gamers. Ubisoft also signed a contract with Sony to assure PS3 gamers that they will get extra content for the Assassin’s Creed series. This will also more likely happen with Watch Dogs, where DLC will be offered earlier or extra content will be given.

The PS3 (and surely, the PS4) offer a large amount of exclusives, like:

• Infamous series
• God of War series
• Uncharted series
• Last of Us
• Little Big Planet series
• Ratchet and Clank series

Overall, I think it’s a tie. Both consoles offer different games. Some may like FPS on the XBOX while others love murder dash (AC3 joke) on the PS3. In other words, there is no clear winner. Games will always be games and cannot change under the situation of differing consoles.

Thank you very much for reading the series XBOX One vs. PS4. I appreciate the support!

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