Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Christmas has come early!

I've been spending my money again, this time on another handheld console to add to my ever growing collection - a GP2x.

I've got its predecessor, the GP32, but this little beauty can do so much more. It can be used as a multimedia player and can play most common music file types, view pictures, watch XVID, DIVX and other movie types all on the go (useful when on those long journeys!!) Of course, the main reason I purchased one was for its ability to emulate so many old computers and consoles.

Already on my 1gb card which is installed inside it, I have the following emulators (plus countless number of games) -
Commodore 64
Commodore Plus 4
Commodore Amiga
Sega Megadrive
Atari ST
Atari 800XL
Archimedes (Yep Dan, Stunt Racer 2000 on the go!!!)
Gameboy
Gameboy Advance
MSDOS
SNES
NES
PlayStation (albeit a little sluggish, but I got Resident Evil running fairly well on it).

It can even emulate the very first computer I had - the Philips G7000!!

Specs :-

Dual-core CPU: 240MHz ARM920T host, 240MHz ARM940T NAND
Flash ROM: 64 MB
RAM: SDRAM 64 MB
Operating System: Linux-based OS
Storage: SD Card (Mine currently has a 1Gb card installed)
Connection to PC: USB 2.0 High Speed
USB Host: USB 1.1
Power: 2 × AA battery or via AC adapter
Display: 320×240 3.5 inch, 260,000 colors TFT LCD
TV output

Thursday, October 26, 2006

I'm too sexy....

I took this photo of Kieran posing earlier today and thought I would share it with you.

Kieran, showing of the latest Autumn, Winter fashions!!

Resident Evil 4 PS2 on PC?

I like emulators.... Great little things they are! I have a reasonable spec PC which can play all of the latest games, and a good GFX card too, but I tend to spend most of my time emulating Commodore 64s, Spectrums, Philips G7000's, Atari's etc.

I thought I'd try this one out... A PS2 emulator on the PC. I've got loads of great games on my PS2 which I'd love to play on my PC............


Yep, thats Resident Evil 4 running on my PC!! I downloaded the latest build of the PS2 emulator PCSX2, not expecting it to work as I thought we were still far away from a working emulator only to watch the opening sequence run, and then the title screen, and then the actual game, and it plays pretty well too!!! The sound isn't 100% (no speech) though, but the game runs at an ok speed... Playable at least!

I'm well chuffed!

I long for the day when we just have one system, rather than having to go out and buy different consoles and computers just to play certain games.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

The USS Enterprise NCC-1701


Ladies and Gentlemen.... May I present the finished model!!
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Amazingly I was able to finish the model this evening (well, Michelle is at a nightclub with a friend and Kieran is fast asleep in our bed!)
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I've taken some low-light photographs of the model (above) to show just how fantastic the ship looks in the dark with all the lights switched on. The photos really do look like the real model used in the movies but HONESTLY, its the actual model I built!!
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It wasn't a difficult model to make to be honest, except for the wiring for the lights, but it all worked fine in the end and I'm really pleased with the result.
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Now.. maybe I can just finish the model of the original series Enterprise which I've had sitting in its box since before Michelle and I got married....... :)

These are the voyages....

Well, my first day of half-term is nearly over, and while Michelle has been at work, I've been at home with Kieran. Infact, he has been such an angel for me today that I've been able to make good progress on my USS Enterprise model kit. The model is an extremely hard to find Bandai model which apparently has been discontinued for quite some time. Although slightly smaller to the well known ERTL AMT model kits of the USS Enterprise NCC1701, the detail on this kit is incredible, right down to the aztec patterns found on the hull of the ship. It also lights up, and I've had right fun and games with the cabling. Still, as you can see from the pictures, I'm slowly getting there. The picture at the bottom is a shot of a finished model and I hope mine looks the same when its finished.

Beam me up Scotty!

Friday, October 20, 2006

I'm on holiday... again!

Well, the half-term holiday has begun at Evesham High (and most other schools around the country), which means I am officially on holiday from work for a week.. YIPPEEE

Not quite sure what I am going to do with myself mind you. I bought a fantastic model of the Starship Enterprise on eBay the other day, and that came through the post this morning, so I think I might work on that, assuming Kieran lets me. Might even fire up the ol' Gamecube and have a good round of Resident Evil as I haven't touched it in months (or the PS2 for that matter).