1
May
2010
PS3, S/PDIF output to computer
Recently posted this on a forum but I figured this might be a good place as well:
Goal:
5.1 output from my PS3 through my computer.
Why? I don’t have any other way to output to 5.1 from it without spending money (receiver + different speakers).What I have:
First gen PS3, HDMI and TOSLINK cables.Monitor has HDMI -> analog stereo output
Problems: Constant low hum (monitor has bad quality output) and only 2.0 sound. This requires the monitor to be on HDMI output to passthrough audio as well.This motherboard. It has a Realtek ALC888 chip. I also have the separate bracket for TOSLINK in.
Problems: This can do stereo but no DTS/Dolby, but it fixes the buzzing problem. It can also play when the monitor is on different output.And a Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio card.
This has S/PDIF in, but I am not spending $100+ on the options they have to actually use it. Instead I am trying repin the gigabyte bracket and have it connect to this card. It does have DTS/Dolby decoding
So, the gigabyte manual says that the bracket has three pins.
1. red – Power
2. yellow – SPDIF_I
3. black – GNDSo I switched black and yellow to match up with this pinout diagram of the creative card (top left, +5V, GRN, SPDIF0 IN)
Plugged that in and… nothing. I can hear feint popping when I switch audio output devices on the PS3, but the Creative card never shows a signal (“Unknown or invalid signal”, just like when disconnected).
Any help or insight would be appreciated, thanks.
P.S. I think I may have destroyed any input on my sound card by fooling around with this. My microphone no longer works on that sound card 
11
Apr
2010
Gaming, gaming and more gaming
So I’ve been doing a lot of gaming recently, and, non-standardly for me, on the PS3. I finished both Heavy Rain and God of War 3 in about a day each and then started on FF13.
Heavy Rain was pretty damn good and a unique kind of game I wouldn’t mind playing again. Could have used some more polish in places but it was a great foray into a new kind of game. I want more of it, just… not too many. I don’t want another age of brown WW2 shooters.
God of War 3 felt like more God of War. Which is a good thing. I got to finish my God killing quest although the ending was a built lengthy and not-so-action-game style, all I wanted was a prettier game with more killing random things for the hell of it.
Final Fantasy 13 was, as many people have already said, very linear. Takes about 20 hours to actually make a decision in where you go. I wasn’t disappointed with this though. I went for this game purely for the visuals and they don’t disappoint. The hair on every character especially. As much as it is partially overdone asian JRPG hair, it’s much better than the everyone-is-bald-or-ugly syndrome of Mass Effect. Not to mention the combat mechanics which I absolutely love. Every character can fulfill three separate roles (or all 6 later on) instead of being stuck with a healer all battle when you don’t need one. I may not be always picking my attacks (auto feature does a pretty good job) but I am constantly switching paradigms. I’m not really a fan of the lore and the universe, but it works well enough for me.
On the PC gaming side I’ve been working on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 which I picked up for $40. It has many buggy parts to it but it still ends up being a bunch of fun. I’ve already maxed out the recon class (love those long range sniper shots) and I’m working on the rest. If this game had a few bug fixes it would probably top my favourite shooters this year.
I’ve also invested a bit of time into Plain Sight which is a little nauseating but the core mechanics are inherently balanced for risk/reward. Kill people to get energy, more energy for people who have more energy, turn energy into points by blowing yourself up. More points if you had kill streaks and if you catch people in your suicide blast.
Also recently I’ve been playing League of Legends (although this has died down a bit). A DotA clone that manages to be fun although bit rage inducing at times. The problem with games like this is that the learning curve is ridiculous. A player is basically required to know everything before playing a game. There is at least a tutorial in this clone (and I’ve played other before so I was fine) but there is still way too much content to cover.
P.S. Still waiting for that SC2 beta invite Blizzard.
6
Dec
2009
99 Steam Games
I have 99 steam games. That is significantly larger than I have physical games. There are two reasons for that:
- Steam offers me many, many deals, especially on older but still relevant games.
- Steam offers large packs of games at discounted prices.
I began using steam back in 2004 when they were throwing around Half-Life 2 with every video card, but before it came out you could play the older games. And a $10 upgrade got me Day of Defeat: Source and I could keep the back catalog. $10 for Half-Life and all associated mods PLUS a new game that I was waiting for? Sign me up. Read the rest of this entry »
7
Apr
2009
Broken Picture Telephone
Remember that telephone game as a kid? One person would start a message and then whisper it to the next kid and eventually it would morph and change based on how they heard it? Now imagine doing it on the internet but instead of whispers you use text and pictures, alternating back and forth. That is exactly what Broken Picture Telephone is.
Read the rest of this entry »