My Top Ten Games of the Year 2012

This year I decided to put together a top ten list for my favorite games of 2012. Some tough cuts had to be made, but I was curious where I would have to draw that line. We've had a good year for games -- although 2012 wasn't really been too kind to the developers -- but how did I spend my free time? I decided to reflect on the past year and find out what I still remembered most fondly.

The results were actually surprising. A Kickstarter game for PC? Three XBLA games? I played games on a PC? My 2011 self would be baffled.

My Batman Pilgrimage

Batman fighting the inmate of Arkham on the cover of Batman #1 - Wonderful.

Getting into comic books can be hard work. You need to be willing to ask questions and do some research. To dive-in blind is to invite destruction and confusion. I stayed away from comics for a long time because I thought I would be too lost to enjoy myself. However, that is, after all, the reason DC launched their New 52 initiative last September: to give newcomers a new place to start with fresh stories and new creative teams.

But what if you're interested in the older issues that you hear everyone rave about?

I wanted to learn about the Batman. As a kid, I watched everything from Adam West to Kevin Conroy and Val Kilmer. I thought it was time I gave the New 52 a try. Scott Snyder's new Batman series sucked me in and I knew I had to go deeper.

With the advent of ComiXology and digital comics, I decided to jump into the deep end and explore the world of The Goddamn Bat-Man for myself.

Siri Bypasses Passcode Prompt with Timer App

Update: Initially, Apple disregarded it as a non-issue. A few weeks later, I received an email asking for a video and more information. They asked me not to talk about it while it was being investigated, so it seems they took this seriously. However, they eventually stated it was working as intended and reiterated that I should use the "Immediately" setting if I was concerned. I was disappointed, but I can no longer reproduce this after iOS 6 was released. 

When the iPhone 4S was released, there was some complaints about Siri allowing a user to use the service without the passcode. You can check your calendar, make a phone call, etc. even while the phone is locked. That's not good, but at least Siri can't show anyone your files or give them access to your apps. Apple also provides you with the option to disable Siri when the phone is locked.

I stumbled across a slightly different issue today. By using Siri, I was able to bypass my passcode prompt and get to my homescreen. I reported the issue to Apple via email. Here is that email.

Street Pass Magic

Panels were great for Street Pass

Lets talk Street Pass. I spent the past five days in Boston at PAX East 2012. It was there that I experienced the magic of Street Passing for the first time. When I first learned about Nintendo's Street Pass for the 3DS, I agreed with a lot of the critics, i.e. it seemed like a really dumb way to waste time. Sure, I could collect puzzle pieces and funny hats for my Mii, but so what? After all, the puzzles assemble themselves once you select the piece you want to collect and Find Mii is not the deepest RPG around. The magic is in the Street Pass itself.

Testing the Nest: Thermostat of the Future?

The Nest is a really neat idea. It's a thermostat that learns your preferences and routines so it can adjust your home's temperature for comfort and energy savings. It's only available from nest.com right now. You have to sign-up and receive an invitation (I received mine within a few days). You can buy up to five at once for $250 a pop. That's pricey for a thermostat, but the device looks very nice and I figure, if it does its job, it will pay for itself eventually. Also, I love playing with new technology.

Protect Your Phone Without the Cost

This amounts to less than $10

You just bought a new phone and spent $200-300. You want to protect your investment, so you breakdown and decide to buy a case. After paying $30-50 for a case, you're unhappy. It's bulky, it's heavy, it's ugly, and now your sleek new phone feels funny in your hand. Cases can be a gamble, so why spend the money when the case will probably just cause you more strife than a few nicks or scratches? Just reduce the risk.

Monoprice.com has built-up a name for itself as being the place to go for reasonably priced cables, but they also make other things: like phone cases. When I bought my iPhone 4S I did not want to compromise the design and size with a bulky case, but I also wanted to protect the glass from my clumsiness. My philosophy is if I drop the phone, I mean really drop it, it's probably done anyway. I just needed something to protect it from bumps in my pocket. Monoprice offered just what I wanted for ~$1.30 a piece.

What's in an Ending?

I finished Mass Effect 3 and Darksiders this week. For this article, I will assume some familiarity with the controversy over the ending of Mass Effect 3. Darksiders was released in 2010, but I still hear about the ending - it was supposed to be one of the best in recent years. Even with the hype, it did not disappoint me. Darksiders tells a great story and it ends with a bang. It's the kind of ending that makes you sit-up and think (or shout), "Fuck yeah!"

I have not heard the same thing said about the end of Mass Effect 3. However, they offer very different stories and experiences. Darksiders tells a story over about 10 hours. I spent ten times the number of hours, easily over 100, following Shepard's story through Mass Effect. I developed attachments to Tali, Liara, Garrus, and the others. They were my crew and we were saving the galaxy together. During Mass Effect 2's suicide mission, I had to hold my breath before every cutscene and seriously consider every decision I made. After ~60 hours, I really cared about the outcome and wanted to get my crew out of there alive. In Darksiders, I only had War, the main protagonist, to care about and I knew I would make it to the end of the story.

Switching from Android to iOS

I finally had enough of my HTC Thunderbolt and went out to find my new phone. When I purchased the Thunderbolt I was very happy with it, but then some of Thunderbolt's quirks started to bug me. Battery life was terrible, so I had to shut-off 4G more often than not. It hurt to sacrifice such a big feature. I thought I would adore the 4.3" screen, but sometimes it just seemed too big and clunky. I do not agree it was the worst phone of 2011 (an honor given to the phone by so many others), but I was not happy with it. I tried to fix the issues with Android and the hardware by trying ROMs and different kernels, but nothing helped.

My wife and I both bought iPad 2s about 8 months ago and we really enjoy them, so the iPhone 4S was on my mind. I am not invested in the Apple ecosystem or iTunes beyond the apps on my iPad 2. I also have Android apps, so it evens out. I am, however, heavily invested in Google with Gmail and Google Calendar, but that is easily synced to the iPhone thanks to Google's support for iOS devices.

Do What You Love and Make it Rewarding and Meaningful, Help Others Do the Same

Gina Trapani, of Smarterware.org, Lifehacker, and This Week in Google fame, wrote a great article about doing what you love and not settling for anything short of meaningful work. You can read the article on Smarterware.org, here.

I feel compelled to write something that has been stirring around in my brain for quite some time. In a way, it's very much related to her article, but it also carries a different message. I leave reading Gina's article up to you and I also recommend reading the articles she links to as well.

Why I Bought an iPad: Part 2

When I set out to buy a tablet I had a specific goal in mind. I wanted a device that would allow me to consume information. Entertainment was a distant priority. I watched a lot of iPad Today on the TWiT network to get an idea of what I would be getting and made a list of apps I thought would suit my needs. Those apps now dominate my homescreens and my quick launch bar.