The Spam Thread!

[cpd2009]

Strange they listed it as a dual core when the MT6582 is a quad; it's the 6572 that came with a dual-core processor setup.

Since Poppy is a $19.99 Tracfone, it's logical to assume two cores of the MT6582 were disabled somehow. Even so, her performance puts the old Galaxy Centura to shame. I can actually browse the web or look at the news over lunch without the phone freezing or getting slow.

In other news, Patsy's upgrade is almost complete. I just ordered the final piece... the MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti direct from NewEgg. It should play nice with the new Corsair CX430 PSU Patsy now has.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127836&cm_re=gtx_750_ti-_-14-127-836-_-Product">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product</a><!-- m -->

It was $20 off when purchased, only being $109.99 final cost with the free shipping option. Now, I wait.

[huckleberrypie]

Strange they listed it as a dual core when the MT6582 is a quad; it's the 6572 that came with a dual-core processor setup.

Since Poppy is a $19.99 Tracfone, it's logical to assume two cores of the MT6582 were disabled somehow. Even so, her performance puts the old Galaxy Centura to shame. I can actually browse the web or look at the news over lunch without the phone freezing or getting slow.

In other news, Patsy's upgrade is almost complete. I just ordered the final piece... the MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti direct from NewEgg. It should play nice with the new Corsair CX430 PSU Patsy now has.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127836&cm_re=gtx_750_ti-_-14-127-836-_-Product">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product</a><!-- m -->

It was $20 off when purchased, only being $109.99 final cost with the free shipping option. Now, I wait.

I bet the cores are disabled through the kernel. Assuming that the sources to Poppy is available on Alcatel's website, and since sources to the vanilla MT6582 kernel can be had, it shouldn't be that hard to reenable the extra cores given enough effort.

And yeah, I'm glad you got a discount with the 750Ti, which is a tad less than the $120 I spent on the regular GTX750.

EDIT: Looks like the Pixi Glitz appears to have a locked bootloader from what I gather.

[cpd2009]

EDIT: Looks like the Pixi Glitz appears to have a locked bootloader from what I gather.

I believe it is since the box it came in mentions the phone is not unlockable, and unlocking or rooting the phone would violate the Tracfone license agreement.

I don't need to unlock Poppy, but for others who want an unlocked Android, it's best to buy a Bring-your-own-phone prepaid SIM and buy your own rooted Android phone, and stay away from Tracfones. Tracfone does offer ways to use your own unlocked phones I believe and so does Net10, another prepaid carrier.

[huckleberrypie]

EDIT: Looks like the Pixi Glitz appears to have a locked bootloader from what I gather.

I believe it is since the box it came in mentions the phone is not unlockable, and unlocking or rooting the phone would violate the Tracfone license agreement.

I don't need to unlock Poppy, but for others who want an unlocked Android, it's best to buy a Bring-your-own-phone prepaid SIM and buy your own rooted Android phone, and stay away from Tracfones. Tracfone does offer ways to use your own unlocked phones I believe and so does Net10, another prepaid carrier.

Unless if the warranty period is over, but I'd rather play it safe too.

[cpd2009]

Well, it's time for me to play through my game of the week... Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for the Wii U.

Is it as bad as people say it is? Well, the later patches iron out most of the bugs based on a video review I seen on YouTube, so the experience should be better.

[Stella Grapes]

Congratulations to Leonardo DiCaprio!

Fuller House was okay. I remembered watching it how cheesy and somewhat boring I found Full House. Kimmy was definitely treated better, though. While some of the humor was the same, it was funny towards adult Kimmy whereas it was weirdly mean when she was a kid and a teenager (especially since it was usually her friend's uncles putting her down when she was young and just wanted to be with her only friend).

[cpd2009]

So far, Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric has been SoOkayItsAverage in my opinion. A good game to play on a lazy afternoon or rainy weekend. Definitely not as bad as the critics say it is, but it's not perfect either, even with the bugfixes. I shall give my full opinion once I get through the game, which may be tomorrow or this weekend sometime.

[Stella Grapes]

Pomegranate Parfait is five years old today! Five! That's only one year from six, the age Strawberry Shortcake was originally.

[huckleberrypie]

Pomegranate Parfait is five years old today! Five! That's only one year from six, the age Strawberry Shortcake was originally.

I hope she's having a 'swell birthday then!

[cpd2009]

I just got done playing through Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for the Wii U. How is it?

Not bad, somewhat good, but not excellent. In short, So Okay It's Average.

To start, the graphics leave a lot to be desired. They are colorful and represent the various story settings good enough, but the quality is definitely not eigth-gen level. In fact, it looks no better than a late PS2 game or early PS3/XB360 game. The textures and lighting are basic and things like trees lack the immense detail the PS4 or XBone can bring. From what I read, the initial trailer of Sonic Boom looked far better graphics-wise than the final product.

Performance is also so-so. While the framerate is good enough for gameplay, there are times where the framerate drops and stutters when going to different sections of a world. The same also happens when there are a lot of enemies on the screen, such as the final battle. The performance issues apparently stem from the developers (Big Red Button) choosing to use CryEngine 3 which doesn't run that good on the Wii U.

The audio production goes two ways. The music is great with lots of beautiful orchestral scores. The voice acting is also rather good, but they really need to improve the one liners that they seem to shout out on a consistent basis. These happen when you run on a boost pad, go through a boost ring, or hop on a bounce pad. Sonic REALLY never gets tired of those boost rings, and Amy Rose can't stop stating the obvious.

Storywise, the plot is interesting at times but some parts could have been explained in more detail. This carries over into the game proper as there are times where you need to complete some objectives, but the objectives aren't clearly explained in detail, leaving you wandering around aimlessly and eventually figuring out what you are supposed to do.

The biggest thing about the game on release was how it was in such a state of Obvious Beta. Bugs and glitches plagued the game from the get go, and it got blasted by the critics and players as a result. A patch to fix many of these issues was released in January 2015, and it installed when I first launched the game. During my week long playthrough, I only encountered a few major bugs. One was Sonic getting stuck behind a rock and I had to press the jump button several times to get free. The second was more serious. I was on one of those running lanes Sonic and friends run on in the high-speed portions of the story. I hit a bounce pad, and instead of landing back on the lane, Sonic and his friends fell through the floor and out of the game area! It soon registered as a death, and it took me back to the last checkpoint. Even so, a glitch like that has no place in a supposedly final release game.

Finally, the gameplay is a rather interesting mix of styles. There is exploration, there are beat em up sections, high speed race-like tunnels and tracks, side scrolling areas, and puzzle solving elements. There are even parts where you get to control a vehicle, though with the underwater vehicle, I couldn't get used to the inverted shop control good enough to avoid getting hit several times. (down is up, up is down like an airplane for some reason). There are also times where you go through a large ring and you can run on water, but the control here is very twitchy and not precise. You will hit some things.

In the end, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is a good game for a lazy weekend or if you fancy some puzzle solving and beat em up action. It could have fared better in the story department and quality control. If Sonic Boom had both of those, it could have been a great game worthy of praise.