Digital Living - Glasses made for digital screens & human eyes - Gunnar

I wanted to take a quick shot at writing up my thoughts on what I often refer to as “digital life” glasses.  In my particular case I’m going to review the Gunnar brand glasses that I own and use.  I was first introduced to the glasses seeing them in pictures of gamers in tournaments or playing at home.  They would often show the glasses accompanied by individuals wearing a full headset gazing at the TV while they are in the heat of play.

I did come across some demo pairs when I would visit PAX. I would try them on and look around, but nothing stood out as a noticeable difference or benefit to me.  Looking back, I don’t think people will really understand what these glasses can do for them unless they have context to really lay it out.  I still did not purchase my first pair until many months later when I came across them on sale at www.woot.com.   They were selling a number of different models price between $30-45.  Normal market price I’ve seen for these would be $79.99 and up.  I dove in immediately and ordered a pair to try them out.  Here is my review:

Gunnar – Rayne – Tortoise Shell (followed by Weezers)

I found this pair on woot.com on sale as the lowest priced model that still looked cool and comfortable. At the time there were COD branded styles by Gunnar and they were always sold out, even when stocks were replenished during the sale. 

Gunnar - Rayne

There are 2 main things to note about these glasses to me: 

1. The lens and its benefits
2. Comfort and style

In the case of reviewing these glasses I will note first that comfort and style are most likely the things a new consumer should consider first. The reason for this is that the lenses are all the same, unless you get a prescription pair (that is pricey $150-300.) I will detail the lenses next, but for now, do consider how you plan to wear these.  My first pair, the Rayne's have an aesthetic style and look to me that seemed like something I could wear in the office and seem trendy.  I sit at a computer throughout the day and many people often come by to chat or collaborate on projects.  These would keep me looking professional and also be comfortable all day.  

Having only 1 pair, I would take these home w/ me to use for gaming and general TV watching.  I received the same benefits, EXCEPT, when it came to wearing headphones with this particular pair of glasses.  Wearing full cup earphones and the Raynes caused some discomfort for me.  The headphones are made to cup over the ears applying pressure to lock in the sound, combined w/ the headband also trying to stay snug ends up compressing the glass frames and squeezing into my head.  I could wear these, but over time I would feel soreness around my ears and sometimes the bridge of my nose, since the added weight of the headphones pushed down on the glasses. 

Not to fear, as I remedied this quite easily, so take note.  I liked the glasses so much that I caught another sale of the brand on Woot and purchased the Weezer model.  This pair had a much slimmer profile in terms of the material build.  They style was all black w/ a standard sunglasses type frame style to it.  Once I tried these on, it was so much better all around for me.  These glasses are slim and light enough and flexible I can wear them w/ gaming headphones for hours w/ no issue.  They do not create footprints on my nose nearly as much if at all compared to the Raynes, which is a nice side benefit.

Gunnar - Weezer

If you’re going to buy these glasses for gaming definitely keep in mind the frame shape, bulkiness and weight if you can.

Once I had the glasses in hand, I was ready to test them out see what the buzz is about, or should be about.  I found 3 main benefits:

1. Increased contrast – immediately upon putting the glasses on, at work, I noticed the contrast change allowed me to read text on screen much easier.  The dark colored fonts stand out much better on the white backgrounds when they glasses are on.

2. Reduced Light directly into the eye: The lenses are made from material and coatings used to reduce the amount of light directly received by the eye along with some other physical properties who’s benefits reduce eye fatigue and strain.

3. Magnification – there is a very slight magnification that is helpful for computer reading and game playing

In terms of gaming, an increase in contrast and magnification should interest anyone who plays games competitively.  If you’re big into the FPS fast action games, you will want any advantage you can to have a faster reaction time.  Wear the glasses, set your TV up w/ the optimal picture, and you should have the benefit of being able to distinguish enemies in the shadows a bit easier or faster.  If you play games in the dark and have the TV or monitor as your only source of light in the room, then these glasses will keep your eyes from getting beat up by all that focused light directed in your face!

A quick personal note for anyone interested in a pair of these.  Yes, the lenses are tinted yellow.  If you’re familiar w/ wearing ski goggles or sport goggles that help shade the sunlight you’ll recognize that the design in the lenses is made to work w/ your eyes.  Your eyes will adjust to the new way it is receiving light, and within a few minutes you’ll see colors as you would normally.  This really is not a big deal unless you continue to focus on it or continually take the glasses on and off. 

Also, due to the slight magnification, it is advisable you take the glasses off when not using them for a digital screen experience. The magnification change may affect your ability to complete ordinary tasks by misjudging physical space limits not thought about prior.

Overall I find these glasses extremely valuable for me. I have 2 pairs, one for work, one for home. I do find myself wanting to have these on most anytime I will be in front of a digital screen for more than few minutes.  $70 is a steep price point to me, but finding it for <$50 on sale is an easy introduction, and I'm sure I will continue to buy these in the future, if not Gunnar, then a new brand on the market.

Far Cry 3 -The Open World Gameplay You've been Waiting For

It’s been harder and harder to find the inspiration to write up some blogs like this, that or I’m just too distracted to come back here consistently, but as of late I have some time on my hands, AND I picked up a game after Christmas that really knocked my socks off.

Far Cry 3 came out at the end of November 2012 and could probably be considered the caboose of the release train of AAA titles for the 2012 holidays.  This game was on my radar from the media publicity, but I had not played any of the previous games and really didn’t know or care what this game was about.  Yes it looked pretty, and the video outtakes of the core villain Vaas was very intriguing, but by this point in the holiday season I had my game cash already doled out to released games or pre-orders.  It took a large number of gamers on my Xbox friends list playing the game and recommending it for various things to finally inspire me to pick up a copy.

This game really blew me away and I hope it would for anyone else looking for open world adventure gameplay.   I’ve heard many analogies for the gameplay to help relate it to those on the outside looking in, but here is my take at it.  This game plays like Skyrim in terms of the 3D dynamic world you play on.  It is gorgeous and vast and adds a wonderful element of NPC random encounters and interactions, almost like you would experience in Red Dead Redemption.  In terms of general gameplay, I felt the game was very much like a grand theft auto in the sense that you can check the main map and see numerous icons indicating various missions, objects, or loot items to find scoured across the landscape.

So, I must say this game was one of those that I knew the overall set up and gameplay would be fun and enjoyable for me, but wow, putting in hours exploring and trying things out I started to notice the small features built in and I have been astonished a number of times.  I really love the small inclusions and fine details made to create this interactive and dynamic world.   I’ll try to list out everything I recall that I loved and hopefully it will not be too drawn out to lose your interest in this write up.

The plot of the game and the whole set up is that you play as Jason Brody a white kid from the US who is on vacation w/ his friends in a tropical paradise.  You can find bits of the backstory through various interactions during the game, but essentially your crew of adventure friends decided to sky dive over an island that ended up being inhabited by pirates.  The pirates kidnap you and your friends to hold you for ransom and then sell you off to a slave trade.  You escape and find yourself as a stand out foreigner in this 3^rd world island which is inhabited by both pirates and then simple local villagers.    You make friends with some locals and they assist and guide you as you grow from suburban softie rich kid into a hardened warrior dedicated to freeing your friends, and eventually killing and extracting revenge on precarious pirates.

Immediately upon escaping the pirate camp and finding my first friendly local, I was set on unlocking map areas by climbing radio towers to release the blocking mechanisms on my HUD so I can see nearby landmarks and icons.   The thrill in all this is knowing that anywhere you go on the island you’re like to be hunted by pirates dead set on bringing you down, that and the anxiety that a wild animal could be unseen nearby and may ruin your plans and your health! 

A major feature of the game that surprised and highly impressed me is the use of fire in game.  You can start a fire in a number of ways; flamethrower and Molotov cocktail are direct methods, but sometimes you can set an object on fire through explosion using a grenade or C4.  The real treat in this is that if the fire is started near flammable objects, it will spread and continue to burn anything in its path.  I had a couple of key moments in game, but one of the big ones for me was finishing off a campaign mission that had me infiltrate a pirate base.  I don’t recall how I ended up on the roof of a warehouse building, but I recall the inside of it was caught on fire, so this was my escape route.  During this sequence though I completely lost track of trying to escape and instead focused on killing all enemies within site.  This attempted action only lasted about 30 seconds before I realized the fire from inside the building had now spread completely throughout and the roof I stood on was on fire.  As I turned to run, the game indicated that my arm was on fire and I need to put it out pronto or else I would sizzle up like a sausage in a pan and die.   That was fun, but the real moments using fire are jungle battles w/ pirates.   Whether I choose to light something on fire or it is a consequence of other actions, there is real delight in watching and listening to fire spread into the jungle as it burns down anything (even green plant matter).  You can hear Pirates run and yell and scream to death if they get caught, just make sure you’re aware of the fire spread and have an escape plan because nothing can be as disheartening as watching pirates burn in front of you only to realize, you’re trapped w/ no where to go in the ring of fire.  It is a great animation and I recommend you try it out if playing, otherwise look up some videos on Youtube!!

If you follow the story line you’ll still be directed around the majority of the island.  You can drive, walk, hang-glide, or boat towards your destinations.  I would often set a market and just walk to the next location.  This allowed me experience the map and areas off the beaten path per se.  There were always random encounters with pirates animals, or even sometimes just friendly NPCs.  I would often set my Xbox capture device on record during these roaming adventures since so many neat and fun things would occur.  There is a fast travel option if you want a fast track back to the storyline gameplay. 

I confess that this game wrapped me up like no other experience except Skyrim this past year.  I really love immersion in games and this one let me right in the front door.  I grabbed the game on sale, but is easily worth the full price of $59.99. I put in 40 hours on this game over 5 days because I could not get enough.  I even started up a 2^nd play through, which is something I hardly ever do.  Keep in mind that the game is through Ubisoft, so you would need a new copy of the game or an online pass if you wish to play the multiplayer and coop.  I have not tried the competitive multiplayer, but I did get into the coop.  The coop is a lot of fun, but I recommend playing w/ friends.  Public games were good, but it’s all shooting and fast action instead of tactics and planning.    Also, the game seems to have been built for 4 players, so it was really rough on just 2 of us attempting to play through.   I’m not sure if they scaled the difficulty properly.  Keep an eye on the game, as I’ve seen it drop down to $35 on sale through various retailers!

Catch ya later Snow White!