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Topics - vivman1107

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21
Handheld Gaming / PSP Core is now $169 US
« on: April 07, 2007, 11:13:28 AM »
Effective this week, the PSP Core pack is now $169 US. The Core pack just has the system with AC adapter. This puts it just within a reasonable price range for anyone who was thinking about it before. Now the only question is if I should spring for a PSP or stick with my 360 for Lumines (one of the few games I want for PSP).

22
Media / Shooter
« on: March 29, 2007, 08:00:19 PM »
I always liked Mark Wahlberg and this is another good reason why. If you happen to like snipers or Sam Fisher, this is the movie for you. He has to be the coolest sniper since Barry Pepper from Saving Private Ryan. A special bonus is the presence of two hot actresses. One of them may be familiar to old school Tomb Raider fans ... Rhona Mitra, a previous model for the series.

23
PC Gaming / Ancient Wars: Sparta
« on: March 27, 2007, 10:44:37 PM »
For those of you who find yourselves wanting to kick people and bawl, "This is Sparta!!!", this may be the game for you. It is a RTS set in the time period of 300 and a little further. You get to control Leonidas and his army and try to defend Greece from the Persians. You can also play the Persians or Egyptians. As a fan of historical RTS's, I think I may be checking this one out (after a few others I have yet to play) if it turns out to be well made.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/spartaancientwars/news.html?sid=6168108

24
PC Gaming / replacementdocs: The original web archive of game manuals
« on: March 27, 2007, 08:54:07 PM »
I thought this would be a good website to recommend to GATT members. I have gotten the distinct impression that many GATT members "acquire" their games. Chances are that some of these games come without manuals. Even if you purchased your games (like I am fond of doing), you may run into the situation where you lose a manual somehow (friends, dogs, etc.). In my case, I am currently in Trinidad with a lot of my PC games while my manuals are in Florida with my brother. It may also be useful to have the manual in a soft format rather than a hard copy.

This is where replacementdocs comes in. The site has full color scans of manuals for games from many current and older systems including PC's. All manuals on this site are in PDF which makes them truly portable. They welcome submissions from anyone who wishes to add to the site. I have started scanning in some of my manuals which are not currently on the site. Sites like this make the interweb a better place.

http://www.replacementdocs.com

25
PC Gaming / Best PC games ever from IGN
« on: March 20, 2007, 01:30:58 PM »
IGN comes up with this list every few years and it is always interesting to see which recent games they include in the list. They have decided to include only one game in any particular series and they chose the one that they think is the best in that series. I still have not played their number one choice but maybe one of these days I will check it out (if I can get it to work). Here is the link:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/772/772285p1.html

26
Console Gaming Archive / Best console games ever by IGN
« on: March 20, 2007, 01:26:31 PM »
IGN has compiled lists of best games ever for last gen consoles and the GBA. They figure that few new games of importance will be released for these systems now that the next gen is officially here. These types of lists are interesting because you can check off how many games you have played from the lists. You also get an idea of some games you should check out that you have not played before. Here are the links:

PS2
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/772/772296p1.html

Xbox
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/772/772315p1.html

Gamecube
http://cube.ign.com/articles/772/772300p1.html

GBA
http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/772/772284p1.html

27
Well, it seems the RIAA has now resorted to contacting universities to get people who engage in illegal file sharing. Wired has the full info:

http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/03/university_of_m.html

28
As Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console and PlayStation Network become more popular, many games will be released both old and new. What are some of the games you would like to see released?

Here are a few of mine:

Trading card game(s) - Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! or any other CCG would be a nice fit for these networks. It would open these games up to an audience that may not have been exposed to them otherwise. Pricing may kill them, though, if they stick with selling packs rather than just releasing a fixed set of cards. An option would be to offer new sets as downloads that gives you access to all the cards in those sets.

Risk - The classic board game would absolutely rock on if it is done right. HDTV's would be perfect to display that board.

Classic Sierra adventure games - King's Quest and Space Quest games redone for consoles would add a whole new dimension to these services.

29
Sony PlayStation / God of War II
« on: March 13, 2007, 10:51:59 PM »
Ok, so Gamespot says the game is bad@$$ but what is really interesting to me is the mention of these two voice actors:

Harry Hamlin as Perseus (from Clash of the Titans - very very cool)
Michael Clarke Duncan as Atlas (the voice)

Full review:

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/gamespace/reviews.php?pid=932295

30
Software, Security, Programming and Internet / Rapidshare downloads
« on: March 10, 2007, 06:54:02 PM »
Does anyone know of and use a program that can automate downloads from Rapidshare? It would help eliminate the waiting between downloads.

31
Media / The Black Donnellys
« on: February 28, 2007, 08:39:50 PM »
I stayed after Heroes to check this out. If you saw and enjoyed The Departed, you are likely to enjoy this as well. It is like watching an Irish mob movie on TV. The show pulls no punches when it comes to the subject matter which is surprising for a network TV show. You would expect that for something like The Sopranos which is on HBO but this is on NBC. Of course, the language is toned down but the violence is there and the storyline is very interesting. There is a repeat of the first episode on Thursday at 10 pm ET (11 pm Trinidad time). If you missed it the first time, you should check it out then.

32
Software, Security, Programming and Internet / Virtual PC 2007
« on: February 25, 2007, 11:05:08 PM »
If Microsoft made all their products this good, we would have no complaints. This thing works so smooth it is amazing. Basically, you download the installer (only 30 MB - first pleasant surprise) and run it. You then have the Virtual PC Console which is a program to manage your virtual machines.

Maybe I should back up a little to explain the concept of virtual machines for those who don't know. A virtual machine is a separate PC (with different hardware) and its own operating system running within your current OS.

So, from the Virtual PC Console, you create your virtual machines. This is done through a simple wizard which allows you to choose your OS and adjust certain hardware settings like RAM and hard disk space. Now, you are using actual RAM for your virtual machine. Hard disk space is also used but a separate virtual hard disk file is created for your virtual machine. So, if you want a 2 GB hard disk, you will find a 2 GB hard disk file created for the virtual machine and your actual hard disk's free space will decrease by 2 GB.

Now you have a virtual machine ready for use. You then have to install your OS. This is done just like you would with any other PC. You pull out your install CD's (or floppy's for older OS's) and go to work. You may even have to create a partition and format it for some OS's (like Windows 98). It is just a trip to watch the Windows 98 installer running within Windows XP. When you are done, you have your new virtual machine ready for use.

I have been using this for about a week now (GATT site was down so I had to find some other way to occupy myself). I installed Windows 98 on my virtual machine and allocated 256 MB of RAM and created a 1 GB hard disk. The thing runs really fast. If you have ever tried any kind of emulation or virtualization before, you will be amazed by this. I installed Caesar III (which refused to run on XP) and it runs perfectly. The cut scenes skip a little but I remember that happening back in Windows 98 days.

Microsoft says that OS's from Windows 98 to present are supported with Virtual PC 2007. This means that you can use special Virtual PC additions within those OS's. You can share folders with your host and virtual machine OS's and other interesting features. Even though other OS's are not supported, that does not prevent them from working. I tried successfully to get Linux to work in a virtual machine and I believe that even MS-DOS will install.

You may be wondering what the benefit is to running a virtual machine. It is simple. You can run programs that will not run in XP (assuming you currently run XP) or just try out another OS without screwing with your current OS. I can finally run Caesar III with no worries. I am sure there are many who would like to try Linux without partitioning their hard drive. This enables you to try it.

When you are done with it, you just delete your virtual machine and your virtual hard disk. It is that simple. Now, since your virtual machine and virtual hard disk are just 2 files, you can copy and save them to any media you like for later use. So, it is possible to do a fresh install of Windows 98 on a 500 MB virtual hard disk and save the files to a CD (or USB flash drive). Ponder that for a bit, you should.

33
Ole Talk / Spectator sports
« on: February 12, 2007, 04:11:36 PM »
I know that this is just asking for licks but I feel like it is my duty to do it. I was born in Trinidad and lived here until I was in Form 2. Then, my family emigrated to the US and I lived there until 2002. Since then I have been back in Trinidad.

When I was growing up, I was just like most other young boys in terms of my interest in cricket and football. That was mainly because we did not have cable TV yet in Trinidad and had little exposure to other sports. Tennis and the Olympics were shown on TV every now and then but not much else. Eventually, basketball in the form of the NBA started to come on TV and that seemed (in my eyes anyway) to be more exciting than the other sports I had seen up to that point. You had the Lakers with Showtime, the Bad Boys of Detroit and His Airness, Michael Jordan. What could beat that?

Well, when I was living in the US, I found out what could beat it: NFL football. Here is where I expect the heckles and jeers from the peanut gallery. "Why dey even call it football? Only a backward country like the US could have something like that." Ok, I understand that this is Trinidad and people are used to their cricket and football. However, there has been widespread acceptance of basketball here at the very least as a spectator sport.

There has been cable TV here for some years now so people have access to NFL games. I wonder why the NFL has not attracted as many people as the NBA has. I, for one, cannot see why Trinis would not like this sport. It is pure, unbridled violence packaged in a way that any Trini can appreciate. I have seen hits in that game that make me cringe and this is coming from someone who played through Gears of War twice.

There is also a high level of finesse at the skill positions - quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers especially. The NFL has some of the best highlights that can be found in the form of NFL Films. This is a company that was formed solely to catalog each and every game in movie-quality footage. They capture the action on the field as well as player reactions on the sidelines.

Of course, as with any game, there is a learning curve to understanding NFL football. It is a lot like chess when you finally do understand it (Battle Chess, anyway) with offense and defense having distinct players. I have found it to be more exciting even than basketball as a spectator sport. I realize that this is just a few words but I hope at least a couple people decide to watch a game or two when the next season starts later this year. Who knows ... You might end up being a fan.

Feel free to use this thread to debate my views above and also to express your own opinions on your favorite spectator sports.

34
PC Gaming / Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
« on: February 12, 2007, 12:48:39 AM »
Turbine, the developer of LOTR Online, recently announced the Founders Program. Players who pre-order the game have two choices of special pricing:

$9.99 per month subscription

OR

$199 Lifetime membership

This Founders program will be available for sign up until the launch of the game in April 2007.

For more information check out this link:
http://lotro.turbine.com/article/256

35
Media / Ninja Warrior
« on: February 10, 2007, 02:46:28 PM »
I just saw this show for the first time on G4. It is unbelievable. Basically, there are 100 contestants who try to complete a 4-stage obstacle course that could have been designed to train ninjas. This show has to be seen to be believed. The amazing thing is that guys actually get through a lot of the obstacles. It is a Japanese TV show so a lot of the dialogue is in Japanese with subtitles but it just adds to the atmosphere. The show has been going on for some time now with some guys on for their 15th time. It was on today, Saturday, and I am not sure when else it is on. They aired quite a number of episodes back to back so you get to see guys passing through each of the stages. If you want to see something decent on G4, make sure to check it out.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Warrior

36
Console Gaming Archive / Gaming rants
« on: February 08, 2007, 10:51:22 AM »
This thread is a place where you can rant about games you are playing. Sometimes you just come across something in a game that makes you want to pelt the controller and scream. It could be a level, boss or just some strange thing that irks you to no end. Think of this as your place to let it all out and warn others as well. Let me start this off:

- I was playing Need for Speed Most Wanted and got up to the number 1 blacklist racer, Razor. Before I could race him for the top spot, I had to get a pursuit milestone out of three choices: tag (ram) 30-something police vehicles, get 850,000 bounty (how bad the cops want you) or engage in a pursuit for 13 minutes. Of course, you had to escape the pursuit after completing the milestone. That was the hard part. You see, by the time you complete one of those milestones, virtually ever cop in the state is on your @$$. It then takes some serious driving to put even a little distance between you and them. I played that pursuit for at least a week before finally finishing it. The thing about it is that all the pursuits before were a cakewalk. This one was a huge jump in difficulty. I understand that it was getting close to the end but that stands right up there with one of the hardest things to do in a game that I have played.

37
Ole Talk / Tiger Woods or Roger Federer?
« on: January 26, 2007, 11:22:06 AM »
I was just watching Cold Pizza on ESPN2 and they brought up this interesting question. Who is more dominant in their sport - Roger Federer or Tiger Woods? There were two sports writers who debated the question with each picking one of the guys. The guy who chose Tiger said that he has been dominant at each and every venue in golf while Federer has not yet won the French Open. The guy who chose Federer said that he has won 8 of the last 12 majors while Tiger has won 4 of the last 12. I would have to choose Tiger simply because he has shown that he is so clearly better than most of his competition and has won every major there is.

38
Media / The Fountain
« on: January 20, 2007, 02:45:37 AM »
Short and sweet - See this movie only if you trying to get away from doing a root canal and even then I am sure you can find a less painful alternative. Words cannot describe how truly terrible this movie is. I thought Vanilla Sky was bad ... hmm ... leh we stay away from that one. This movie approaches Vanilla Sky for strangest, most unwatchable piece of $hit ever put on film. Just for the record, I did not pay to see it.

39
Hardware, Tweaking & Networking / Impact Acoustics HD Selector
« on: January 19, 2007, 12:07:09 PM »
I just received this Impact Acoustics HD selector from Amazon today. It has 3 inputs and 1 output. It takes component video and either composite or optical audio. I hooked up my Xbox 360 and PS2 (with my new Monster Gamelink cable) and used optical cables for audio. It works perfectly with both systems. It comes with a credit card size remote that you can use to switch between inputs and turn off the box. Of course, the PS2 has less choices with progressive scan stuff but it works fine otherwise. In a couple days I will receive a component cable for my Xbox so I will have all three systems connected via component and optical. There is no noticeable degradation of signals (audio or video) that I have seen so far. If you choose to use composite audio, it does not switch it to digital audio (you have to output composite audio as well). I highly recommend this box for anyone with few component and optical inputs on your TV or receiver. It is a great deal from Amazon at about $50 US.

Impact Acoustics product page
http://www.impactacoustics.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=1002&sku=40324

Amazon product page
http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Acoustics-A-v-Selector/dp/B000AM3U2I


40
The Archive / WTB Xbox High Def AV Pack and PS2 Component Cable
« on: January 10, 2007, 12:51:49 PM »
I am trying to locate a Xbox High Def AV Pack for the original Xbox. This is the one with component video cables (Red, Blue, Green) and not composite video (yellow). Also, I am looking for a PS2 component cable. Anyone who has the cables or has seen them for sale can either PM me or post a message with contact info. I am willing to pay any fair price for them. For reference, Radio Shack has the Monster Cable component cables for these systems at about $500 each. The original cables were about half the price of those.

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