Straight Jacket Type Fun
12/31/2005
They're already talking about Serious Sam 3 and I haven't even played Serious Sam II yet!
Apparently, a game dealing with the Incredible Hulk lacks any sort of subtlety. Oh say it ain't so, I was so hoping that I could have the Hulk make a flower garden or help the poor!
I fail to see the point of Windows XP memory tweak guide. The easiest way to tweak memory to keep Windows XP happy is to just add more of it.
After reading this article, the Sanitarium has designated a new award: Biggest Fluffer piece of the Year. It's great to know that a site called Hardware Secrets is letting the public know how to hook up their 5.1 speakers on their computer. A true bastion of journalism which ensures that people who are unable to match a plug on their motherboard and their speakers of the same color will never be confused. Next article for them: pros and cons of tying shoes.
Quick Year in Review.
Best game of the Year I played: Battlefield 2
Worst game of the Year I played: Battlefield 2: Special Forces
12/26/2005
It's odd that I didn't post more as Christmas drew closer but the news coming from the various gaming news sites was pretty dry stuff that didn't seem worth mentioning (woo hoo! A new patch for Roller Coaster Tycoon 3).
Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas. As is my usual trend, I tend not to ask for tech toys for Christmas since I probably can do a better job at shopping for those than my family could do. Of course, I won't complain about the new printer.
Regardless, one interesting piece of news today is that if you use Windows XP 64-bit, you can download and play Half-Life 2 in full 64 bit emulation. Bit. the 64 bit version has several bugs included broken AI, lost textures, and a few other things that make it questionable why they even released this if it's so broken. Seems uncharacteristic of Valve to release something so flawed.
12/21/2005
I was asked not to post for a few days because I pissed off EA. Ah, I'm just kidding. Screw Special Forces!
Now my friends and I play a lot of games. We're not at the Tycho level of game playing but we do spend some cash on our PC games. Undoubtedly, after some time it can become tiresome even on our new favorite games like Battlefield 2. So, to break up the monotony, we made our own group of friends and made a challenge. The challenge is, how many people can we teabag in a game. It doesn't matter how you get the teabag just get the teabag. So far, in my opinion, Maulf leads the pack with creativity since he teabagged someone in an attack chopper. Yup, just started hopping up and down on them in a perfect hover.
There have been many others but it sounds like the most recent patch of BF2 will prevent some of the more creative ones like the "Worm."
Regardless, our group is Teabagging for Jesus [TfJ] and if you want in, just put the tag on and get to the bagging. Also, you probably need one of these T-shirts.
I freaking hate Seagate and their piece of crap drives. Sure the Baracuda's were nice but otherwise I hate their crap. Now they bought out my personal preference Maxtor. So I guess this means I'm switching to Western Digital.
The folks making Call of Duty 2 heard their fans pleas and protests and are including Punkbuster in the multiplayer. It's about damn time. I almost felt sorry for that crowd.
Power lines will start providing Internet access here in Texas. I'm intrigued by this but not just for personal reasons but also will this make internet connectivity more available to other users not exposed to it yet like poor urban or rural areas? Time will tell I suppose.
12/12/2005
Ok, so I have been playing Special Forces for Battlefield 2 for a few weeks now and I can come to only one conclusion: it pretty much sucks.
Reason #1 - Games should NOT USE NIGHT VISION GOGGLES.
True, there might be an exception or two like Splinter Cell. You can't see shit, you can't tell friend from foe most of the time, and it's just boring not being able to see what you're doing or having background textures that are so dark that it wipes out any depth perception. Also, why the hell do I have a video card with 8 pipelines and able to pump out 128MB of video information when all I get to see is four colors. If I wanted four colors I'd go back to playing Ancient Art of War. If you're a developer and your game doesn't require stealth then AVOID using night vision. It's a cheap gimmick, which I'm pretty sure is a way for the developers to cheat on the level design.
Reason #2 - The maps suck. The vanilla BF2 has some great maps like Karkand, Mashtuurr, and Oman. Special Forces gives you some shit map near a Russian phallus and another in a city whose walls who like they were made for an EGA game from Sierra.
Reason #3 - The new vehicles suck. Yeah, the BMP-2 is realistic but it also sucks because now your passengers have nothing to even look at or shoot at unless they want to start a four person circle jerk in the crew compartment. I haven't played the choppers but some chopper junkies told me they aren't that good either. The jet skis and ATVs are just gimmicky tripe which might work in a GI Joe cartoon but don't belong in this game. The techincals (cars and trucks) are a nice touch. The four-wheel drive vehicle with 3 machine guns is just dumb though.
One reason the expansion is nice: New guns that can be used on the original maps. Yeah, the new support weapon sounds like a homo after a three bean chili salad with it's weak, high pitched ammo, but the Assault class and special forces class aren't too shabby. My buddy Maulf describes the medic gun as love put in physical form topped off with fuzzy kittens, too.
So, basically this game fails two out of the three things an expansion pack should provide: new fun maps, new bad guys (nothing new there either folks), and new tools to use. I didn't quite understand the gripes people had about EA, but I think I have seen a small bit of the problem. Special Forces needs some work.
Save your money for something else folks.
Whoa!! Someone making the classic Doom maps with the Doom3 engine? I'm there!
12/8/2005
It took a little longer than I had hoped but the Serious Sam patch that's coming out in the next week or two will FINALLY have dedicated server support.
If you need an AGP card on a relatively recent machine,
you might want to wait till the end of January when ATi will release
an AGP x1300 and x1600. If you're like me and just bought your machine a year or two ago and aren't ready to part with it, but don't have PCI-Express, now's probably the time to get your next generation AGP card before they are not on the shelves anymore.
I would think that if the ATi cards are on the shelf by the first of February you probably won't be able to find them anymore after the first half of the year. Probably by this time next year you won't be able to find a decent AGP card anywhere to play games.
So, I guess start saving those pennies now for either a new (and last) AGP card or a new motherboard/video card that will run PCI-Express.
Hey folks nevermind that most people from New Orleans are still in shelters or displaced and might be for a very long time; same for those in Mississippi. Nope, it's MORE important to get that Xbox360 and raise a tizzy when Best Buy is accused of hoarding them.
12/1/2005
400 thousand people are idiots because they bought Xbox 360s. Hell people tell your kids NO sometimes, okay.
Roger Ebert, whose reviews I really do like, doesn't think video games should ever be considered art. You know what, I think he's right. Art is something you like at or read or listen to and let the creator of the art transport you into THEIR world. However, with video games you have to move around or click on places to get into their world.
The cost of games today are your fault. Did you know that? Actually, adjusted for inflation, games are now CHEAPER than they were back in the 1980s and 1990s. Top of the line games in the 80s cost around $40-50. Today they're still that price so there you go, the industry is right.