In a new study about how much energy video game consoles consume, the Natural Resources Defense Council found that consoles in use today consume “an estimated 16 billion-kilowatt hours per year,” which, the report goes on to translate, is “roughly equal to the annual electricity use of the city of San Diego.”

Link to full story: Consumption Study Takes Aim at Game Consoles – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com.

Downloading: That Other Way to Get a Video Game
By Joe Hutsko
Game downloading services have been around for years and are only just beginning to make a dent in sales of packaged game software.

The New York Times: More Memory and Quicker Loading in a Thinner and Lighter PlayStation Portable
By Joe Hutsko

On MSNBC.com: Take your gaming from good to great: Five cool console gadget combos
By Joe Hutsko

Amazon links to products described in story:

The Bad: Actually, there may be no tomorrow for supremely talented players because the game is pretty short. Also, while those darkness skills eventually become second nature, they’re pretty confusing to understand and difficult to evoke and control in the early stages of the game; a more detailed training run/explanation would help. Unremarkable ending with final boss Uncle Paulie, and though there are check points, the lack of a save-anywhere feature (as found in Prey or Quake 4, for instance) gets points off in my book.

Bottom Line: Quibbles aside, the game is totally creepy and fun to play. There’s nothing wilder than knocking out all the lights in an area and sending your Creeping Dark scouting ahead for you, going in, over and all around obstacles and rooms and nooks and crannies – then seeing it come flying back in a crazy blur when you retract it. The game is also available for PS3, however I prefer the Xbox 360 version because of those oh-so-addictive achievement points. B+

Also available: The Darkness for PS 3.

Does ‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’ play better on an Xbox 360, PS3 or PC?

“Shivering Isles” lured the author back into playing “Elder Scrolls” on the Xbox 360. But which platform best showcases this epic adventure title — console or PC?

On Apr 30, 2007, at 12:33 PM, Pete Hines wrote:

The patch notes on our site cover both versions:

http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/updates_patchnotes12.htm#5

Specifically for this update:

Fixed a crash caused by bad form IDs

Fixes an issue where the game would try to use a form IDs that was either restricted or not available yet.

Fixed an issue where form IDs were not being marked as free properly, causing objects to disappear in game.

Thanks for the update, Pete.

While my first post on JOEyGADGET.com last year was about Oblivion being a bit of a bore, my feeling about the game has changed, thanks to the Shivering Isles expansion pack that was released several weeks ago. With so much focus in a single (yet huge) region, my enthusiasm for the game has been reignited, and I’m spending many late nights deep in the game.

I’m nuts about the dual realties of Mania and Dementia, and I’ll be sorry when the add-on ends. But by then I’ll be so much more powerful I’m actually excited about diving back into the main quest.

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