REVIEW: WD My Passport for Mac

I have been wanting an actual external hard drive for some time. I knew that I wanted a portable external hard drive, but it had to be USB 3.0. I had it narrowed down between a Seagate external hard drive and the WD My Passport for Mac external hard drive. I ended up going with the Western Digital external hard drive since Fry's didn't have the other hard drive. I will admit that I am not disappointed with my purchase.

The external hard drive is a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  While laying horizontally, the external hard drive stands 0.60 inches tall. It is 3.23 inches in depth and 4.35 inches in width. Not only is it quite small, it is pretty light, weighing 0.30 pounds. The WD My Passport for Mac definitely met the criteria for the portable hard drive I was looking for.

I thought the read/write speeds were relatively good. I generally get between 60 to 75 mb/s write and 80 to 95 mb/s read speeds. I have transferred a lot of videos and I really like how quick the transfers are. I transferred a 16.73 GB video in about 4 minutes. I eventually want to get a Thunderbolt external hard drive, but USB 3.0 is definitely meeting the needs I have at the moment. As you know, I have been using an enclosed hard drive to get most of my data transfers done. It is USB 2.0, so videos of that size would take what felt like forever to transfer.

As far as complaints are concerned, it would have to be the cable. I wish the cable were a little longer. It isn't a big deal, but when you're wanting other things within your reach instead of the external hard drive, it becomes somewhat of a hassle. I still manage though.

I managed to acquire the external hard drive that looks much like a MacBook Pro. I really like the design of the external hard drive. I ended up going with 1 TB for now. I felt that that would be enough for me as of right now and that has proven to be the case.

OVERALL SCORE:
8/10

Gaming Slump

Friends, I'm in a slump—more specifically, a gaming slump. Pretty sure that the title gave it away.

The number of games I have in my collection is sometimes overwhelming. Sadly, that doesn't stop me from buying a game I want even though there's a good chance I won't play it right away. When I turn on any of my consoles or handhelds, I sit looking at the UI while I contemplate which game I should play.

About an hour ago, I turned on my PS3 to play The Last of Us. I managed to play two multiplayer matches and then I chose to quit playing. Is it because I am getting older? Is it because I am losing interest in video games? Is there not enough time in my life for video games?

Here are my answers to those questions: Yes, I am getting older. No, I am not losing interest in video games. In fact, I am discovering new interests with video games. There is enough time to play games. I may not play them nearly as much as I used to as a teenager, but there is time.

As I write, I think I am beginning to understand why this gaming slump is happening. The overall reason is this: I am not playing video games the way I used to as a teenager. During my pre-teen and teenage years, I shifted over to the PlayStation brand. Games like the Final Fantasy series and Metal Gear series really caught my attention, and I first experienced them on a PlayStation. When we got a PlayStation 2, I played Gran Turismo for the first time and owned my first Naughty Dog game (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy). I began having new experiences on the PS2 that I didn't think were possible while playing on the original PlayStation.

To get to my point, I was playing games to play games. Things really changed a little after my family got a PS3. We got our PS3 a year after it was released. At the time, there weren't Trophies. I didn't even know what Trophies were until I got Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I managed to get Platinum Trophies on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and LittleBigPlanet. I've actually gotten the Platinum Trophy twice on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune because I began using a new PSN name.

Trophies, to a certain degree, began to be an obsession for me. My focus shifted from playing games to obtaining Trophies. I have mentioned through various posts of the small competition a friend and I have about Platinum Trophies. That hasn't help with the obsession I found myself trapped in.

More often than not, I encounter a situation in which I look at how long it would take to Platinum a game prior to buying the game. Not only that, but I can't justify myself playing a game from yesteryear because they don't have Trophies. That makes writing reviews hard when I don't make an effort to play a game from the past. In fact, even wanting to write reviews for the games I have has been contributing to my gaming slump.

In reality, Trophies don't really matter. I made the unfortunate conclusion that they did, but they really don't. I will still want to increase the number of Platinums I have in my Trophy list, but I will do a better job of not making it a priority. After all, I am a gamer. I play games to play games. Trophies (or Achievements for that matter) are just a nice appendage to the world of gaming. I'm glad I took the time to write this.

I don't expect my focus to instantaneously shift back to the way it originally was when I first started gaming, but I will make it a goal. I will continue to obtain Trophies and I will continue to write about games, but I will remember what my focus: playing games to play games. "Let's play a game."