No, what I needed was a laptop that was mobile. I decided that my “requirements” list was as follows:

• 12-13″ form factor
• < 5 lbs
• < 1.5″ thick (these last 3 can essentially be covered by “thin & light” notebook category)
• 3.5+ hours battery life (4+ highly desirable)
• Video capable of running Compiz (Linux) / Aero (Vista) well
• Stock RAM and HDD configurations completely irrelevant, would be upgrading on my own
• Glossy screen (necessary for outdoor use, matte screens diffuse light and become nearly unviewable in even fairly mild levels of ambient sunlight - and forget about direct sunlight)
• Built-in webcam (family has become geographically dispersed, and will be using video conferencing very soon)
• 802.11n adapter

I thought I had found a winner in the Toshiba U405. It had the form factor that I desired, the glossy screen, the webcam, and the 802.11n adapter. All of my local stores, however, were sold out. Finally, I found one at a nearby city… but it turns out to have been the U405<b>D</b>, a nearly-identical machine except with the new AMD “Puma” platform in place of the Intel-based solution. I figured this was OK, as the new Turion X2 CPU was rated at 31 W (4 W fewer than the Core 2 Duo of the U405), and is supposed to handle processor sleep states automatically, without requiring anything from the OS (which would make things easier in Linux).

Unfortunately, I took it home, and found the battery life to tail off at 2.5 - 3 hours, whether in Linux or Vista. Such a disappointment! The machine was ideal in virtually every other regard. I <i>could</i> have ordered a 9-cell battery to replace the stock 6-cell battery, but I decided that that still wasn’t enough.

In the end, I returned the U405D. Then, I stumbled upon a deal on BestBuy.com: a MacBook (Santa Rosa) for $899. At 2.0 GHz, it was only slightly slower than the current models, and while the stock HDD and RAM configuration was pitiful, that played right into my hands, since I was upgrading those things anyway.

I bought the MacBook, reviving long-forgotten dreams of a triple-boot notebook. I found, however, that the triple-boot dream would be easier imagined than implemented…

I fixed a couple of CSS issues that were mangling the layout in IE7. If anyone is seeing any layout issues on any browsers/platforms, let me know.

CPU price drops across the board have made some nice upgrades oh so tantalizingly within reach. However, GPUs continue to inch down, making an NVIDIA 8800 GT also within reach.

Like Sophie’s Choice, I can only choose one. Better CPU, or better video card?

“Don’t make me choose. I can’t choose!”

The Guts
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2220 ($90)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L ($90)
RAM: 2GB Wintec AMPX DDR2 800 5-5-5-15 ($40)
Video Card: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB ($170 before $10 rebate)
Sound: [onboard sound]
“Guts” Total: $390 (before rebates)

That CPU name is not a misprint - the E2220 is a new processor. It’s similar to the E2200 but is clocked at 2.4 GHz instead of the E2200’s 2.2 GHz. Obviously, Sophie I chose the video card, but we still get a 9% CPU clock speed increase from last month April.

The Gigabyte P35 motherboard returns in a slightly different model. This one has an “E” in the model name, which denotes Gigabyte’s new “dynamic energy saver” design. In addition to that, this updated model brings DDR2 1200 RAM support to the table. It comes in at the same price that the old model was retailing for, so it’s a welcome replacement. Overclockers, however, will want to disable the energy saver feature in the BIOS in order to have full voltage control.

Finally, I’ve managed to sneak an 8800 GT into the $750 PC. My first draft of this article had the XFX card in the build for $180, and I was very happy to finally have an XFX card in one of these builds. Then EVGA’s card had to undercut it to $170 plus throw in an additional $10 mail-in rebate on top of that. The XFX card, however, comes with a free copy of Company of Heroes, which is worth the extra $10 (and I believe CoH is one of those games where you can add the key to Steam and not need the disc anymore - someone correct me if I’m wrong).

I’m sticking with the Wintec RAM - none of the other RAM at the same price managed the same 5-5-5-15 CAS timings.

Alternatives

Sophie could have chosen her other child, and gone with the E4600 or even the sweet new E7200, a nice 2.53 GHz Wolfdale (Penryn) chip with 3MB of L2 cache for only $135. If this was an $800 PC, I’d be able to pair the E7200 with the 8800 GT and be a very happy little boy.

If not for the continued drops in 8800 GT prices, the $140 XFX 9600 GT would be extremely tempting. Radeon 3870s unfortunately don’t quite match the 9600 GT’s prices, although the two are extremely competitive in performance with no clear winner. The 3870s are cheap enough now, though, that the die-hard AMD/ATI fan would not be making a poor price/performance purchase by grabbing one. On the 8800 GT front, the $180 XFX with Company of Heroes is a great deal, and they also now have an 8800 GT with a giant Zalman fan on it for $170. If you’re willing to go with an off-brand, ECS’s 512MB 8800 GT is currently selling on NewEgg for a mere $155. Yikes!

There’s still no sub-$100 motherboard worth looking at besides the newly-updated Gigabyte, as far as I can see. Boards with NVIDIA’s 700 series chipsets are all well over $100, and no other great low-cost P35 contender has stepped up - certainly not with the same level of feature set, at least.

The Trimmings
Case: Thermaltake WingRS VG1000BNS ATX ($40)
Power Supply: Cooler Master eXtreme 500W ($50)
Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.10 250GB SATA 16MB cache ($60)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IDE 20X DVD±R ($23)
Monitor: Acer X193W+BD Black 19″ 5ms Widescreen LCD ($180)
“Trimmings” Total: $353

GRAND TOTAL: $743

The Thermaltake WingRS is a very standard, no-frills black ATX case. It’s not going to get you inside the Victoria’s Secrets of any hot PC rig groupies, but it will look just fine on your plain ol’ IKEA desk. It’s got a nice tool-less design and the ever-helpful left side intake vent with extendable (and removable) duct.

The Cooler Master power supply is a decent unit from a reputable vendor, though some users have complained that it is louder than average, though still reliable.

Progress often claims victims, and the nice upgrade to a 500GB hard drive that we enjoyed last time around had to be rolled back in order to help fund the GPU and CPU upgrades. 250GB is still nothing to sneeze at, and if you need more that that… download less porn, ya perv. (Or just slap another drive in later.)

Our old buddy LITE-ON returns to us this month, and he even comes in $2 lighter.

We get a nice little upgrade at monitor, with a new model from Acer. This one boasts a 1680×1050 native resolution and a nice 2000:1 contrast ratio. Although the contrast ratio is one of those fudged “adaptive” ratios, users have been extremely happy with the results. Getting the 1680×1050 resolution at this price is especially pleasing to some.

Alternatives

Too many to deal with. I think I’ll wave “goodbye” to this little roadblock in the article, and stick with just listing alternatives to the “guts” (unless there’s something in particular that I really want to highlight).

That’s it for this month. $500 PC build very soon, I promise! (That’s right readers, keep accepting my new empty promises and come back like beaten spouses that never learn…)

A lot of PC hardware & software vendors have been pondering ways to make PC gaming more accessible to the non-enthusiast. One of the most famous was Windows Vista’s “Windows Experience Index”, a numerical rating that indicated the relative level of performance that the rated machine was capable of delivering (a number which could be compared against a piece of software’s requirements to determine if the PC was up to snuff).

Vista’s failure to gain widespread adoption has prevented the WEI from taking off, leaving other vendors looking to take the next crack at the problem. Enter AMD.

A couple of weeks ago, AMD rolled out their “AMD GAME!” initiative. What is “AMD GAME!”? Good question.

AMD GAME! is a number of things. For starters, it is a web portal that features community forums, drivers and tools, and information on AMD-approved products and PC rig specs.

It’s also a product branding system, in which hardware (from individual parts like video cards all the way to complete pre-built systems) are branded with a certification. The two current certification levels are “AMD GAME!” and “AMD GAME! Ultra”.

The idea is that they will revise their certifications on a 6-month cycle. Gamers who want to ensure that they are getting a PC that’s capable of playing the games they want can buy a pre-built system with an “AMD GAME!” certification, or they can consult the “tested configurations” on the AMD GAME! portal page and assemble a parts list for a PC to build themselves.

So, what are the current specifications?

AMD GAME! (minimum requirements)

• AMD Athlon X2 5600+ CPU
• AMD Radeon HD 3650 graphics card
• AMD 770 chipset-powered motherboard
• 2GB DDR2 RAM

AMD GAME! Ultra (minimum requirements)

• AMD Phenom X4 9650 quad-core CPU
• AMD Radeon HD 3850 graphics card
• AMD 770 chipset-powered motherboard
• 2GB DDR2 RAM

Right away, something jumps out at me. The mimimum CPU requirements far outpace their respective GPU (video card) requirements. An Ultra system requires a quad-core Phenom but only a relatively puny Radeon HD 3850? The lower end system needs a 2.9 GHz dual core CPU at minimum, but only an extremely modest Radeon HD 3650 GPU? In both cases, the CPU requirements are far out of whack with the GPU requirements. Either one is way too high, or the other is way too low. Luckily, a quick glance at some OEMs indicates that they are hitting a bit higher marks than the video card bare minimums with their certified builds.

The certification system has already gained the support of a large number of OEM PC builders. Despite its questionable consistency with the minimum requirements, I feel comfortable saying that the complete PC gaming newbie will be able to at least get themselves in the right ballpark with a glance at the system certifications. And, if nothing else, AMD getting out in front will hopefully spur movement from other hardware manufacturers to address their product presentation, and help give non-techies some tools to make semi-informed purchasing decisions.

Maybe if I pretend like nothing happened, no one will notice that we skipped May.

June 3 - Ninja Gaiden II (360): The first “modern” Ninja Gaiden was great. The question is, to play this sequel now, or wait for its inevitable string of remakes?

June 3 - LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (360, PS3, PC): The LEGO games step out of the Star Wars universe.

June 9 - Don King Presents: Prizefighter (360): With the close of EA Chicago delaying Fight Night’s inevitable return, Take Two gets to take a shot at the vacant championship belt.

June 12 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3): Sony breathes a sigh of relief, as one of the feathers in its exclusivity cap finally comes into play.

June 16 - The Political Machine (PC): Brilliant political board game-style PC strategy game. Near the top of my list this month.

June 16 - Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People: Episode One (PC): A new point-and-click episodic adventure title from the makers of the Sam & Max seasons.

June 17 - Spore Creature Creator (PC): If you just can’t wait until Spore, or if you only wanted Spore to make funky creatures, this is for you.

June 17 - Secret Agent Clank (PSP): Ratchet’s sidekick gets his own PSP 3D platformer.

June 22 - Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS): Guitar Hero addicts will be able to get their fix on the road.

June 23 - Commander in Chief (PC): Did you play Third World War for the Sega CD? Then this is probably right up your alley.

June 23 - Battlefield: Bad Company (360, PS3): One would not be out of line to suggest that this is the first real console Battlefield game. Can it finally deliver the quality of Battlefield’s PC online play to the next-gen consoles?

June 23 - Top Spin 3 (360): For fans of tennis who hate watching Virtua Tennis characters retardedly dive at practically every shot.

June 24 - Alone in the Dark (360, PC): Eden Studios tries to reboot the original survival horror franchise, and may just succeed.

June 24 - Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (DS): The sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance gets the award for most cumbersome game title of the month.

June 29 - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (360, PS3): The eggs that the goose has been laying lately are looking less golden..

It’s been so long since we’ve talked.

Sometimes when we touch… the honesty’s too much…

I finished the Company of Heroes campaign mode. Unsurprisingly, it was outstanding. All of the praise and laurels appear to be completely warranted. However, it was nothing compared to the skirmish mode (multiplayer vs. CPU) that I’ve been playing ever since. The game really starts to shine in that adversarial mode. The number of different units and base structures to build are quite limited, but offer endless layers of strategy. The “victory point” system keeps battles progressing instead of allowing for endless stalemates. Company of Heroes and World in Conflict have restored my faith and interest in the RTS genre.

Team Fortress 2’s big update a few weeks ago brought a new game type (Payload), a map for the new type (Gold Rush), as well as the first set of class-specific achievements and weapon unlocks. I have 2 of the 3 Medic unlockable weapons, and they’re nice without being overly game-changing. I really, really look forward to the soldier’s update. What would I want? I’ll take a rocket launcher with hire base damage but shoots no “crits”. My “crit rocket” luck sucks anyway, I’ll happily give them up.

The new Gold Rush map is awesome, but some new user-made maps have become must-plays too. In particular, cp_steel_b4, cp_castle4 and ctf_mach4 are outstanding. I’m also a fan of cp_desertfortress, cp_junction_v2, and cp_mof_a3. And then there’s my “I love it even if it’s flawed” favorite, ctf_snofort_final. Help keep SnoFort alive!

I picked up SOCOM: Tactical Strike for the PSP. Unlike the other PSP SOCOM games, Tactical Strike plays out like Full Spectrum Warrior: a 3D tactical strategy game that plays out from a 3rd person shooter style perspective. I found that I liked Full Spectrum Warrior a lot more in concept than in implementation, and thankfully, Tactical Strike fixes a number of problems that I had with FSW. One thing that annoyed me with Full Spectrum Warrior is that soldiers would appear to have body parts exposed from behind cover, but the game would decide that the soldier is sufficiently “behind cover” and would not be struck with bullets, even though his exposed parts would appear to be vulnerable. More importantly, orders in FSW required line-of-sight, making certain orders unnecessarily difficult (like ordering to get behind a cover that you can’t see the backside of - you *know* that there is such a side, but if you can’t point directly at it, you can’t order to it). Tactical Strike’s movement orders brilliantly mix the 3D line-of-sight with the mini-map - start pointing where you want to go, and use the mini-map to fine-tune the order to hit an exact spot, or to go around a corner that you can’t directly see. It works extremely well.

I bought Echochrome for the PS3, which is a $9.99 PSN downloadable title. The big draw for me with the PS3 title is downloadable user-made levels. In fact, when firing up the game, it will ask if you want to download new content. Tell it “yes”, and it does so transparently. What levels is it downloading? Who knows? I do know that I have encountered a couple of them when playing “Freeform” mode (where the game throws random levels at you). I have encountered some levels that are also on Echochrome Plus, the import UMD version that comes with English language support. It’s disappointing, but most American gamers won’t get a chance to play the full UMD version of the game.

Playing Echochrome is a bit more difficult on a large TV than it is on the PSP. It’s easier for me to squint and see the very fine connections I’m trying to make on the PSP screen than I can on my 47″ HDTV.

I played in the Metal Gear Online public beta, which was thoroughly disappointing. There were some neat ideas there, particularly with the “Solid Snake vs. everyone” gameplay mode. Some negatives really stood out, though:

• Level design was just poor. There was a clear lack of understanding of what makes a good multiplayer level.
• The signup/registration process was ridiculous. Rather than just using your PSN ID, it was necessary to create a “Konami ID”, as well as a third, completely separate “Game ID” for this particular title. Dumb? Oh yeah. Did I mention that Konami’s website continually failed to serve pages to the mass of players trying to create these throwaway user IDs?
• Sneaking around is fun, but as some point, you have to shoot at people. And that’s where a lot of the gameplay starts to suffer. The gunplay works, it’s just not very satisfying.
• The game features an idiotic “auto-aim” feature, which seems to serve no purpose other than giving players an annoying thing to have to turn off. Even more strangely, the auto-aim toggle isn’t a menu entry, it’s mapped to the Square button. What? Why waste a face button on such a pointless feature?

Put frankly, this game’s appeal will be to Metal Gear fans and Metal Gear fans only. Unless you really like Metal Gear, stay away. I plan to play through Metal Gear Solid 4, but I don’t expect to give Metal Gear Online anything but another cursory glance when it’s final.

Donna Mei-Ling Park, co-host of the gaming television show The Electric Playground, wrote an opinion piece in the June issue of Game Informer, titled “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (page 44).

In the piece, Donna takes exception with the way some male gamers perceive her, questioning her credibility as a games journalist and a gamer. It’s no secret that females that work in the gaming industry often have to endure unwarranted attacks from male gamers who assume that they’re only in their jobs to serve as eye candy.

There are some problems with Donna’s opinion piece, though.

First, Donna does not seem to differentiate between being criticized as a gaming TV show host, and being criticized as a gamer. She gives a couple of examples of stupid things people have said to her about her TV show. Rather than viewing these through the lens of her as a games journalist, she spends the rest of the article talking about her as a gamer, and, as the next logical step, ascribing the same plight to the “girl gamer” in general. Her article’s conclusion states that female girls often play games like The Sims and Cooking Mama, and asks that if they’re fun, what’s the problem?

Of course, the problem is that the criticism that Donna herself cites isn’t because she’s a girl gamer that plays and enjoys such games, but rather is directed at her role on television. Donna is correct in thinking that the “you need to be hardcore like us, or we will laugh at you” arritude that is sometimes directed at girl gamers in general is misplaced. She seems to miss, however, that such an attitude might not be so misplaced when directed at a person presenting themselves on TV as someone who “knows games”.

If we focus solely on what the cited criticism is actually directed at, we can sum it up as gamers saying to Donna, “we don’t think you know gaming well enough to be on TV as some sort of gaming authority.

Donna spends about 1/3 of the article detailing her gamer background. In doing so, she really doesn’t do herself any favors. She writes,

I’m not goint to try and profess that I am a hardcore gamer - let’s just say that most people can kick my ass in Halo 3 in less than 10 minutes and I’m not making any waves with my presence on Xbox Live. I am a casual gamer, a softcore gamer, if you will - the most hated species by the hardcore fanboys of the world.

She continues by talking about how she used to play a lot of Tetris on the original Game Boy, and how she was really good as Chun-Li in Strett Fighter II. And that’s about it.

She argues, rightly so, that such “game cred” is more than sufficient to be treated as a gamer - casual, perhaps, but a legitimate partaker of the hobby. She completely avoids the argument, however, of whether such “game cred” is sufficient to be treated as a legitimate games journalist.

She quotes one of her critics as having said to her, “Oh yeah! I love [Electric Playground]! You don’t really know what you’re talking about, though.” Frankly, if I’m that guy, Donna has done little to dissuade my opinion.

To be fair, defending her position as a TV gaming personality doesn’t appear to be the article Donna set out to write. She clearly feels that girl gamers are not treated with the kind of hospitality from the established, hardcore gamers that they should get. OK, that’s fine. It only falls apart because she used herself as the example, failing to realize how her “special circumstances” change the argument entirely. You can talk about your treatment as a TV host, or you can talk about your treatment as a girl gamer, but you can’t confuse the two, and use examples of the former as evidence of the latter.

Also, to be clear, I don’t doubt that plenty of the criticism Donna receives is out of line. She talks about being perceived as a “bimbo with a microphone” and takes exception with people suggesting that her interviews are actually scripted. That kind of baseless criticism has got to be frustrating. Still, while some go too far, is a less extreme version of that underlying criticism really so far off the mark? It would be unfair to suggests that she knows nothing, but does she know enough? A male gamer who plays nothing but Madden and Halo would not be equipped to do that job either.

Obviously, people don’t get put on TV because they’re necessarily the foremost experts on their subject matter. TV is about presentation every bit as much as substance (and that’s being generous). Leo Laporte didn’t become the most recognizable face in tech media for having the deepest and broadest understanding of tech. He doesn’t; there are plenty of other people who know more. He became the most popular in his niche because he is exceptional as a broadcaster. But most importantly, while not necessarily the most knowledgeable, he does have a strong baseline level of knowledge over an incredibly broad range of topics. He knows enough about a lot of things to be an authority to his average viewer/listener.

Does Donna know enough to be an authority to the average Electric Playground viewer? I can’t speak to that one way or another, but it would have made for a far more interesting discussion. Donna may be treated unfairly, but she might not be treated as unfairly as she thinks she is.

“Cousin! Where have you been? Come, let’s go to the club and see some titties! I love America!”

Whew! First I was away from home for two straight weekends, then I had to leave town for Monday & Tuesday right after the first weekend I have been home. Not exactly an environment conducive to writing about games.

Despite demands on my free time, I have found time to play a lot of Grand Theft Auto IV. I haven’t checked my completion percentage lately, but I know I have finished most of the storyline missions, and very little of the extra incidental content (I haven’t found a single pigeon, for example).

* Reviews and impressions of this game that have been posted online are maddening. On the one hand, there’s the breathless professional game reviewers, who have fallen all over themselves trying to find ways to give this game a 10-out-of-10 that’s “tenner” than the last guy’s 10. On the flip side are the curmudgeons who get wrapped up moaning about all sorts of minutiae garbage. It’s a nasty reverse echo chamber, where the reviews get more outlandish, and the cranky old guys find the most amazingly trivial and superfluous aspects of this huge game to hang their “moan” hat on.

* I love the way that the game’s story is presented. In typical GTA fashion, the narrative is played out largely through pre-mission cutscenes, most of which don’t follow a strict chronological relationship with each other. Each mission provider has a string of missions which clearly follow a chronological path, but most could take place well before or well after the string of missions from other providers. There are a few “touchstone” sequences that bind separate strings together into a single point in time, but by and large the game’s narrative sequences can be rearranged in any order. Not to give GTA’s narrative too much credit, but it reminds me of certain art-house films, where the viewer might not leave with a clear understanding of a start-to-finish narrative, but instead walks away with definite impressions of tone, themes, and characters. It would be a stretch to call the GTA4 narrative a good “story”, but I think it does a very good job of getting certain themes across to the player. While the approach and style is nothing new to GTA, I think it’s the first time that there has been sufficient depth of character to make it effective.

* I’m shocked at how good the JNR (jazz) and Journey (ambient) stations are. The lack of classical and metal, though, is a bummer. I played GTA3 on PC exclusively with a classical MP3 custom soundtrack.

* There’s a lot of small game mechanics that really could have used a little more thought. One particularly distressing one is the discrepancy between your “on foot” weapon and your “in car” one. You might have no weapon in hand when getting into a car, and decide to switch to your SMG while driving. Get out of the car, though, and you’ll be switched back to your fists. That’s very bad when you’re getting out of your car in a shootout! “On foot” and “in car” are treated differently because you can’t wield every weapon while driving (only one-handed weapons like the pistol or SMG). Still, the game needs to be smart enough to know that I don’t want to switch to my fists when jumping out of the car and into a gunfight.

* Some people have complained about how the game world’s “rules” are inconsistant with its more realistic appearance. While that is true, they are very consistant with the rules GTA worlds have been operating under for some time now. It helps to think of GTA as an “alternate universe” the way one does with, say, the X-Men or Fantastic Four, who aside from the mutant/superhero stuff are ostensibly set in “real world” New York. That said, the number of buildings that appear “real” but can’t be entered brings fake Rock Ridge to mind too often.

* If there’s one serious complaint I have with the game, its how it discourages creativity in performing missions. I understand why the game prevents players from “stacking the deck” before a mission (for example: roadblocking in the mission chasee with a dozen parked cards before triggering the mission and the subsequent chase). However, what is truly annoying are missions that “break the rules” in order to force themselves to be played out in a very specific way. There are a number of missions where the player pursues someone on a vehicle, and kills them with gunfire during the chase. Then there are a number of missions where the player is chasing someone, but gunfire does not hurt or impede them at all, in order to force the chase to reach an eventual destination and have a different “endgame” play out (chasing the person into a building on foot and shooting them there, for example). Sometimes, these missions convey how they are supposed to play out through narrative cues. Other times, however, the game is just telling players to “chase them, shoot them!”, even when shooting them is a waste of ammo. There are many other examples of this stifling of creative mission approaches, including some that force the player to use a certain vehicle to chase, or a certain approach to a mission, even when there’s no gameplay or narrative-presented reason why the player shouldn’t be able to switch to a more tactically advantageous vehicle or approach.

* I have not played the game multiplayer yet. I know, it’s a travesty. Every invite I’ve received has been from someone spamming invites in order to fill their last spot or so, and invariably one of the other recipients gets into the slot before I respond. Lame!

I want to play it. It’s really fun.

But I can’t play it.

Why?

THE WIFE.

It’s not because it’s too violent.

It’s not because it’s full of coarse language.

It’s not because she thinks the game turns people into sociopaths and eats children.

It’s not that she thinks games in general are worthless garbage.

No, the problem is that she loves watching this game so much that I am under strict orders NOT to play when she isn’t there to watch!

And right now, she’s fast asleep. Which is usually prime gaming time for me.

She’s trying to takeses my preciouss away from me.

… I bet I could get away with some multiplayer …