Gamers Blog

A New Generation Of Dota("LOL")

2010-01-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

Built using the same principles as the wildly popular Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III, League of Legends gives each player control of a powerful champion unit in a team-based battle to destroy each other's bases. real-time strategy elements, like AI controlled foot soldiers and turrets, and roleplaying features, like leveling abilities and buying better equipment, provide lots of variety and flexibility. The popularity of this Defense of the Ancients gameplay style seems to be rising with the release of not just League of Legends, but also Demigod and Heroes of Newerth.

With so many options on the market, it can be hard to tell just which of the games is right for you. Whichever way your own personal tastes are leaning, there's a lot to like about League of Legends. The game design is relatively direct but still has a lot of nuance, and the core strategies are basic but still allow for multi-layered tactics. On the downside, the game's official launch status is still a mystery with no clear reason for the abundance or shortage of various features throughout the game.

It's important to keep your minions safe or the other team will chew them up.

The highly inventive champions are clearly the best part of the game. The developers have created something like forty different champions you can choose from, from hulking brutes to nimble archers to stealthy assassins. The visual style is very charming, so you'll see mad scientists, giant robots, jesters, little girls with dolls, big-headed mummies all fighting it out with explosive and colorful visual effects. As you defeat enemy AI minions and champions you'll level up and gain access to even more powerful abilities that allow you turn invisible, fire missiles, set glue traps and a host of other options. Heading out into the field of battle with these effects at the ready is an awesom feeling and at higher levels you can really chew through enemy minions and even other champions.

Each champion has his or her (or its) own abilities but one of the downsides is that there can seem to be almost too many much to choose from at times. Fortunately, you can filter the champions based on the general characteristics you'd like and even investigate their abilities and read tips for fighting as and against them. Even so, it can be hard to settle on a favorite, much less determine what your opponents are likely to do. Sure, you'll soon learn that Ashe hits at long range and can slow you down, but you'll spend a lot of the early game being surprised by your enemies. Fortunately, there's a less competitive solo practice mode where you can fight against entire teams of bots.

Leveling up your abilities is only half the story. As you kill the AI minions, destroy turrets and slay other champions, you'll also be earning gold that you can use in the item shop. Unlike Defense of the Ancients, there's just one shop here and the items are all laid out in smart groups. So if you know you need mana regeneration, you can just flip to that page and see all the items that confer that ability. Better still, you can see all the combinations at a glance and can even buy finished projects for the full price of all the items it contains. It makes for a much faster way to customize your champion and get right back into the action.

It's possible to win against the odds, but you're better off working in groups.

There's a persistent element to your character as well. As you level up you'll be earning points you can spend in a few different skill trees that help you further refine and customize your individual champions. You can also equip various runes to help you in certain areas, like magic resistance or health regeneration. Having a persistent element that exists outside of the individual battles discourages players on the losing side from quitting outright, but it also increases the pressure on new players to get good fast.

Though some of the champions tend to play the same way, the level of variety is incredibly high here and it's to the designers' credit that most of the champions are interesting and competitive. We've found a few popular ones that we hate and some quirky ones that we love.

If you liked the colorful and bright style of Warcraft III, you'll like League of Legends. The game's visuals are very lively, particularly when the more outrageous spell effects start flying. It's not to everyone's taste, but I like the stylized approach. It can sometimes be a bit too much when lots of folks are involved in a fight, and at that moment it can be particularly difficult to pick out targets or even your own health bar, even when zoomed all the way in. The audio side of the game is generally pleasant with solid music and effects, but I can do without the repetitive unit acknowledgements.

Strangely, our two main points of criticism for League of Legends aren't actually about the game itself and instead have to do with the confusing launch and the attitudes of some members of the community. It's not exactly fair to let circumstances outside of the developer's control influence our overall opinion of the game design but they still have to be considered to the extent that they'll influence the fun you will (or won't) have if you decide to try the game.

We just came off the recent disaster of the CrimeCraft launch, and it looks like we're in similar territory here. Whether motivated by the publisher's schedule or financial necessity, League of Legends was released before it was ready. Some features are missing and some features that are currently part of the game will be removed and then sold in the game's store, which launches on November 17. The idea that players are enjoying features that they will have to pay for at a later date is almost as obnoxious as having to play the same map over and over again in multiplayer. We know there are more in the game, but why aren't we allowed to play them?

The visual effects are very nice but can be a bit distracting in the large battles.

Things are even more aggravating and confusing for players who bought the thirty-dollar collectors edition and are now playing with the exact same feature set as players who simply installed the free version. The differentiation is sure to become more apparent when the store launches, but until then, the fact that the publisher is charging people for a game that's available for free is pretty dodgy.

While it might be fair to lay some of the blame for the open beta feel of the launch at the feet of the game's creators, it's impossible to fault them for some of the more unfortunate attitudes in the community. The problem is that League of Legends is built around a popular mod for a popular game (which itself has a notoriously hostile community), so there are a lot of players who hit the ground running with a solid understanding of the mechanics and little patience for newcomers. This is especially true given the relatively long length of the individual matches. Matchmaking should solve this to a certain extent but if the system can't find players of the appropriate level, it becomes less and less discriminating.

Again, neither of these issues really affect our overall opinion of the game design, but they are matters that may drastically impact your actual enjoyment of the game itself, particularly if you're not already familiar with the tricks and tactics of Defense of the Ancients.

Putting snow down does not make it a new map.

Closing Comments
There's a lot to like about League of Legends. The game design is enjoyable and there are tons of great champions with nearly limitless customization options. The strategy elements are sound, and it can be fun to just pick a lane and start chewing through minions as you work your way towards enemy towers and champions. But sometimes it feels like League of Legends throws too much at the player, both in terms of the number of champions and the general confusion of the larger battles. While that's not enough to dampen your enthusiasm of the game, the vague status of the launch and the more-than-occasional hostility of the community just might.

Aion Review Blood for Blood

2010-01-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

You wonder why no WAR updates over the weekend? Well, during the closed Beta Weekend 3 i was able to check out the upcoming Aion MMO some. Since i know a bunch of people are interested in it i took the time to give you a rundown from my perspective. I leveled an Asmodian Templar (Tank) up to level 18 during that weekend. So all my findings will be based on what i saw during that time. Also important to note: Apparently NCsoft will release Aion with version 1.5, so there are several patches missing (translations: 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.5) on the EU/US servers at the moment. Some things might get fixed with those, where i know it will its mentioned in my article.

Before we start to talk about the game, let me say a few words about the GameGuard software, a hacking prevention software that Aion uses, which sucks a lot. I know many players had trouble with it, me as well. I had to deinstall (not simpy disable) my NetLimiter (firewall & bandwidth shaper) as else i would get some error window that only told me some korean gibberish with no hint towards the problem. Users of 64bit windows had major trouble as well, those had to exchange some files taken from another game to fix their problem. I fail to understand how a company can use such a crappy software that does not even yield a proper error message in the first place. Lets hope they improve it, but from what i hear people are not happy with GameGuard, tho its unlikely to change.

Who will have fun in Aion? Well, if you dislike grinding at all - Aion is not the game for you. Period. If you need the game to take you by the hand for everything or want a rich storyline with a lot of lore - Aion is probably not the right game for you. Can casual gamers have fun in Aion? Yes, they can but the most fun you'll have while playing with a good guild (called Legion in Aion). Due to the way things work a good guild will speed up your progress a lot. The game itself immediately reminded me of some of those typical asian free-to-play grind MMOs (like 2Moons and such), but its a notch better done. A lot of features are not really explained inside the ingame manual and you have to figure them out yourself. I'd suggest that this gets fixed before release, else the whining will be huge since people have no idea how to use certain things.

Graphics
The game looks very good. Character customization at character creation (and also later on) is huge, a lot of stuff to play with. Despite the lower polygon count used for models in Aion, they made good use of some high-quality textures on the monsters and the surroundings. Like so many other games they have a bunch of places with blurry/bad textures as well, but the overall feeling when you run around is great. In general the maps are nicely done, tho often a tad colorful for my taste... guess thats the asian influence. Several monsters or plants/trees have a cool and unique look to them tho, you don't think i saw this similar model a hundred times already. Some races are the "cute kind", like large squirrels or pandas - but heh, who does not like to slaughter cute Mumu herb gatheres while they do nothing wrong but work?

Audio
There is a lot of good and catching music in Aion. Sometimes it feels a bit out of place when the different themes switch, but overall there is a larger amount of good music then in many other games.

UI in general
The Aion UI is nothing special or really new. It looks clean and has enough features to work with tho. Often i wish it had more options to turn off some confirmation windows or other parts to save a few clicks, but its ok to use. You can't freely place or resize the UI, its rather limited in ways to modify. Annoying: It seems at many places the UI is missing tooltips to explain what certain settings or attributes do. The UI luckily has a moderate color/feel to it so not to distract you from the gameplay. Everything you look for in a MMO UI is basicly there, can't remember important parts missing. Annoying is that you can't switch the camera view to look freely around while running into a direction, maybe its because coordination in flight later on, not sure. You can use the middle mouse button to switch the camera 180 degree and eg. look behind you while running forward, but thats about it... else you'll always run where you look. Note: Someone mentioned patch 1.5 has enabled left mouse button to rotate camera and also invert mouse. The UI has many auto move/pathing features that will make your toon run by its own. Parts of it can be disbled (stick to target) but some others can't. This can be tricky if your toon starts running off and aggros close by mobs because by accident you clicked a gather note.

Instanced gameplay
The game world is instanced. While one instance (called channel) can hold a lot of people (no idea how many) it seems at any point there are 10 channels from any given area. Not so sure about the main capitol, can't remember if that was instanced as well. You see a lot more players running around then eg. i saw in AoC instances tho. The game engine supports a large amount of players and runs very smooth and stable. While playing i seldom had lag and even with 50+ players on your screen inside the main city the performance is very good, no heavy drop in FPS for me. You can change channels by choice any time you wish. If you're in a group you can choose to teleport into the group leader's instance from the group menu. If certain quest points are camped you can always try to switch the channel to avoid the crowd. Sometimes this helps, sometimes not. I also hear that only the first few areas in the game have channels, later on and in the Abyss there is only one - anyone knows this exactly?
Note: I heard tho, come launch the channel change will have a 10-15min delay. So no avoiding crowd or farming named mobs with channel change.

Leveling/Quests/Grinding
During the beta weekend there were a few points when you ran low/out of quests and needed to grind a little bit to get to the next level. From what i read one of the patches added a bunch of more quests to help with that. When it comes to leveling you can do both questing or grinding. It will depend on what you do which is more effective. If you get a small group of people and grind those elite mob areas, this can yield very good XP. I was going solo at some point and killed mobs 3-4 levels above me and that yielded very good XP as well. It will depend on your level, your gear and if you're solo or in a group, but so far it looks like you don't have to quest. Tho usually the quests will lead you through the areas and some follow-up quests will give you item rewards. Every so often a quest will give you a short intro with a cutscenes (using the game engine), which can really add to some stories, but often felt a bit out of place. I'd rather have a sequence explaining me what happened then show me some abandoned hut in the middle of the forrest i never saw before. There is a quest helper system in place and when a quest text mentiones a certain NPC, mob race or place you can "locate" them and if possible get a mark on your map where to go to, sometimes things are at hidden/hard to reach places and it does not work.

During leveling i had two aspects that annoyed me big time:
1. Loot rights are given to the person/group that did the highest damage to a mob it seems. This results in high damage classes to "steal" the mob you have been fighting already. There are a few quests on a timer, you already fight a mob down to 70% HP to get a quest drop and some sorc jump in, kills the mob with a tad higher damage then you, grabs the stuff and runs off. I met a bunch of players that did this by intend. Supernice.
2. Sometimes there is a very long respawn timer on quest objectives (you scouted the area already three times only to realize the object spawns on a table you ran past several times) or quest mobs. I did a few quests where only special mobs would drop the needed items and in the whole frickin' village spawned 3-4 of those for like 15-20 players running around there. Add point 1 to that and go figure the annoyance.

There will be griefing and spawn camping in Aion on a larger scale then in some other MMOs.

A nice feature during fights inside NPC villages and such: Many NPCs alert each other when attacked or start to run away and alert others when low on health. You'll really have to watch were you are going and which mobs to pull later on if you're leveling in areas where the mobs are challenging to you. In addition ranged NPCs are hard to move, looks like they use their ranged "attack skill" also when close to you. So no step-by-stepp pulling them back. To a certain degree you can work around it with corner pulls and such. Training NPCs into other players is rather easy as well and i can imagine this leads to griefing as well. When you run away too far from a mob it will reset and leash back, BUT can aggro players on the way sometimes. While you kill mobs somewhere one idiot running away with a large groups of mobs on his tail is often enough to get you killed, so watch whats happening around you. Overall fighting mobs is more challenging then in many other MMOs, which is refreshing. I also hear rumours about a hate list system used beside the normal aggro system. Mobs can have certain "rules" why to hate certain players more then others.

Combat
Killings monsters feels like its taking longer and more effort then in WAR, WoW or AoC. Depending on the level difference against a mob you will use several different skills before the mob drops dead. When fighting equal level monsters you use a few skills to kill it, but i had to use at least one rotation from all available skills at the early levels to kill it. Level difference has a major effect on the power the mob has and the time it takes to kill it. If you fight a mob three levels higher then you, its already dangerous if you get adds at the wrong point and you'll have to use several skill rotations to kill it. Combat overall feels good tho, the animations are very fluid and if i use a shield bash my toon will really take his shield and smash it into the foe. Combat skills are used similar to Black Orcs in WAR. While you have "single hit skills" as well, the best skills are part of a chain which opens up after you used the starter skill. Depending on your level you get more skills to use as 2nd or 3rd. The chains are easy enough to identify/use since there is a good display for them and when they become available they'll start to glow. Then you got a few seconds to press the corresponding key. There is no skill "queue", so if you press the needed key to early it won't fire. Should you use a different skill while moving down a chain, the chain will be lost since you need to wait for the starter skill to come off cooldown again. The different chains for my templar had 1-3 branches they could lead to. Many skills are in reaction to eg. block, parry, etc. ergo only open up if the condition is met. Playing my templar from the skill system itself really felt like being on my Black Orc, i can live with that. The fights sometimes feel a tad long, if you bang with two people on some elite mob it can take forever to get it down. On the other side you have the feeling something is happening, the good animations underline that feeling. The fight animations and sounds are a bit too much mortal combat IMO, but i read somewhere one of the patches gives you an option to disable at least most of the "mortal combat ninja cries" your toon does while fighting.

The skills use MP (Mana Points) and Divine Points (DP), some are free without any costs. DP are collected through fighting players & NPCs, through dealing/taking damage. You can't store DP and should you die or log off, that bar goes to zero. DP skills are really powerful from what i saw. It takes quite a while until you filled your DP bar enough to use a skill.

Death
If you die you'll get a short debuff (1min) reducing movement speed, lose a small percentage of XP and resurrect at your last binding location. You can pay a Soul Healer to get the XP back, does not matter if you do it while you still have the debuff or not. If you adventure into dangerous areas its adviced you spend a few coin to bind before you go so you don't respawn too far away. It's annoying to have to wait for people to travel back across the continent. If you die there is a 30min timer another player can resurrect you. You can buy resurrection stones rather cheap from general goods vendors - good investment to be able to rez your cleric if things go wrong.

Items
Come in different quality: grey (trash), white, green, blue and orange. During to the beta weekend i sometimes found green items (a few levels better then white) and one blue chest piece from a named mob. There is a neat item comparision system in place and if you compare two items red/green indicator will tell you which stats are worse/better on the different items. Item tooltips are a bit unclear tho, could use some work. I found it very annoying tho, that many items have the same name, but very different stats on them. You really need to look at them in detail. Very few items in the game seem to be bind on pickup, from what i hear only the boss loot from the high-end dungeons will be BoP. The vendors have a button to sell all misc (grey) items. All UI parts that deal with items work more like an online shop, you can choose the stuff you want to buy and then have to press the final button to check out and confirm the transaction.

Tips:
# strg+left-click on an item will open up a preview dressing window.
# strg+right-click will link an item into chat.

Auction House & Private Stores
There are brokers in major cities. The AH interface is a bit cumbersome and lacks more filters (stuff like enter item level filter was improved in 1.1 apparently). The amount of items you can list at the AH is limited (dunno exactly how many). If you buy stuff from the AH it goes directly into your inventory. If you sell stuff at the AH, you need to "settle your account" at the trader to obtain the money. There is a private store system in Aion. At any place you can start your own private shop and sell stuff from your inventory. Many players use it while being afk. Some major areas in the capitol city are *full* of private shops, you can spend a lot of time to run from player to player and see what they offer. When you open the shop you can put one line of text in, which will be displayed over your head - also often used for guild recruiting messages etc.

Tip: Double left-click on a player-store to automaticly run to that player and open the shop interface. Since players move right into the player with the shop sometimes it can be hard to target them.

Mailbox system works like in every other MMO. Its a bit confusing tho as you have "normal" delivery (which is instant into the other mailbox already) and "express" - unfortunately i did not test this, but i read this results in a Shugo (small squirrel/hamster NPC) messenger coming to the recipient and delivering the letter.

Group/Party System
There is no real LFG system, which makes the task of finding a party for certain elite quests a bit harder. One reason I'd only play Aion with other people i know. A party can have up to six people, a raid up to 24 players. There is no need/greed loot roll system, only roll dice or abandon roll. This should be improved IMO. In the group distribution you have some nice additional features. You can distribute money to group members, can choose to auto distribute misc items, there is a master looter and some strange bidding system wherer you loot for coin you bid (and coin is distributed between party members).

NPCs have some sort of point indicator next to their name when targeted, this shows you how strong the mob is. While i can easily kill a mob with 1-2 points on my own, those with 4 points could be very tough cookies, sometimes impossible for me to kill solo, depending on the mob. Some quests don't indicate that they are group/elite mission and you'll need to group up. So you'll need to watch out if you run into some elite area.

From what i hear there will be several high-level dungeons available a release, some instanced some with PvP in them. Tho i doubt you should expect very complicated scripted encounters from what the game felt to me. I'm sure the bosses will have some tricks up the sleeve, but thats about it.

Flying/Gliding
With level 10 you'll finish a quest chain and "earn your wings". Despite what many people think you CAN NOT FLY EVERYWHERE in Aion. At least in the first areas there are only few places you can fly freely. Depending on the wings you have and gear stats, etc. you'll have a certain amount of flight time (rather limited). Once the timer runs out you'll get a nasty (fun!) warning *meeep meeeep* and start to fall. Yes, you can die if you fall deep enough. ouch.
What you can do everywhere is glide. You do this by jumping down a slope, just jumping from any higher place and use space again to spread your wings. Many players fail to grasp the concept of gliding, so here is how to: As long as you glide downhill and don't get stuck uphill or at an obstacle you can glide until your timer uns out. Gliding over water is good as well. Don't push your forward movement button while gliding, only adjust your direction by going left and right - this way you can glide a very long time if the area supports it and you use the environment smart. While gliding you will aggro mobs and they can hurt you, so be aware of that. Utilizing gliding properly will speed your movement up a lot.

Other forms of transportation include a flight master system between major hubs inside the same area and teleports between the different regions. So far there are no plans for mounts from what i hear. You can upgrade your wings later on tho. You also have a personal teleport skill (20min cooldown) you can bind at various obelisks, this does cost a small fee.

Swimming
You can't swim in Aion. Should you enter water deep enough, you'll simply walk on the ground under water. *lol* There is a system that will damage you when you enter "deep water".

Title System
By means of questing (and maybe other things) you'll obtain titles. The thing in Aion is that titles have a small stat boost attached to them. So if you wear a title (and only then) you'll get that stat boost. The title system is not very intuitive and i disabled title display on PCs rather quick as it looks annoying because the title is displayed together with the player name. I never saw a message that i acquired a new title either, so check the title list from time to time.

There are many ways to enhance your gear/weapons: manastones (gems you socket into gear), enchantment stones (obtained by "disenchanting" gear with vendor bought tools), power shards (drop from mobs can be bough at vendor) that enhance your weapon damage for one hit. The different ways to enhance your gear are not very intuitive at first, check here for more info.

Crafting
I tried crafting a tiny bit. Crafting overall does take a long time and some major coin. You'll have to to go into the main city for crafting stations. No crafting anywhere else. There are normal crafted items and you can crit on a craft, resulting in a better item. There is some wierd upgrading system, where you basicly take an already crafted item, add some more materials and refinement stones and then create a better version. Since crafting can fail (no idea about the mechanism) i can imagine it will take a lot of time and materials to craft the best gear. Apparently you can train all crafting trades up to 399 skill, but only master one to 450 skill.
Gathering materials is done in two ways: You gather stuff like ore, food, plants, etc. from the floor and you have to gather aether that is floating around in the air in flying enabled zones.

Armor dyeing (so far i only saw vendor bought dyes) did look like crap ony my plate armor due to the armor reflections not working together well with the new colors.

Legions (Guilds) System
There is a guild system implemented and you eg. get a guild vault with a guild plus some other organization tools. A lvl 1 guild (register) cost 135.000 Qina (coins in Aion) and can have max. 30 members. You'll get a random crest assigned for the guild cloaks (also displays on player tooltip). Lvl 2 guild can be obtained while having at least 10 members and paying 845.000 Qina. You get to choose a crest from a certain pool and your guild can have max. 60 members. A guild rank 3 can upload their own crest (if you can really upload and not just create one, thats cool) and have unlimited members, but you need to pay 3.151.000 Qina and obtain 10.000 Legion points (from PvP and maybe fighting the 3rd faction inside the Abyss). Note: Above figures to buy higher legion rank seems to be outdated, but you get the picture.

The fluff stuff
Aion has a lot of fluff stuff, like googles, funny hats, festival dresses, etc. Very early on you get cool disguises via quests as well. Lets not even start to talk about remodel shops that will let you switch even the 3D model your gear displays, if you got enough coin. There is a lot of stuff to spend gold on: resurrection stones, teleport scrolls, custom 2h binding stone scrolls, etc. Overall there are many money sinks already in the game. Some of the stuff you buy from the vendors is really useful.

NCcoin?!?
One thing that jumped my eye while reading over the user agreement, they mention NCcoin as some kind of currency to pay for ingame items with real money. I'm not sure if this will really make it into the game, but i know many hope it does not. Also paying a monthly fee (no one knows yet how much for EU/US) as for other MMOs would not be welcome if they make money on the side with this.

Due to the nature of the game you'll be able to spend hours by trying to improve crafting, gathering materials, etc. The later game levels are supposed to be a bit of grind, but then again even WAR or WoW felt like that in the end, tho i assume the feeling might be more present in Aion. Will Aion be a game i could have fun with? Only in a good guild. Should a large part of my guild mates move over to Aion, probably so would i. It's no game i would start without being part of a Legion tho. You hit the wall playing solo rather quick and the lacking LFG system does not help that much. Aion overall was better then i thought it would be, but my expectations were not that high and i doubt it will be THE upcoming MMO people waited for. I think it can be fun for a while tho. Some things are new and refreshing to look at or use. The higher challenge rating while fighting "normal" NPCs was very welcome. They had more AI to them then in the other MMOs i played recently. Most likely i forget a bunch of stuff in this review, should you have any questions or want to share your own thoughts, feel free to use the comments.

2009-01-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

Me and my gaming buddies absolutely love Zombie flicks and of course, FPS shooters. Valve, the creators of CS and Half-Life) have combined this into a gaming package that’s already a contender for one of this year’s best games. I’m actually playing it now and all I can say is that “it rocks”. It’s scary and the graphics plus the gameplay will blow your mind away - that is, if you don’t blow of a zombie an infected’s head first.

Left 4 Dead
From the official site: From Valve (the creators of Counter-Strike, Half-Life and more) comes Left 4 Dead, a new kind of action game for the PC and Xbox 360™ that features single player, co-op and multiplayer game modes.
Set in the immediate aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, L4D offers four expansive “movie campaigns” that challenge you and your fellow survivors to battle thousands of swarming zombies as you travel across the rooftops of an abandoned metropolis, through rural ghost towns and pitch-black forests. In addition to the movie campaigns, Left 4 Dead features a Versus mode that allows you to play as the Boss Zombies.

Game Features
Multiplayer, co-op and single player modes.
4-on-4 Versus mode, Zombies vs. Survivors.
AI Director ensures dynamic re-playability.
4 deep cinematic ‘movie’ campaigns.
Matchmaking, stats, and achievements.
Behind-the-scenes Designer’s Commentary.
Powered by the Source engine and Steam.
The multi-player of this game is DA BOMB! We’re anxious to go into multi-player and do toe-to-toe as Zombies vs Survivors. Once we do, we’ll let you know what the experience is.
At last, something to do on the long Christmas break…
Meanwhile, I leave you with more screenies

Devil May Cry Movie?

2009-01-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Ever since the 2003 announcement that Tokyo-based film distributor Gaga Communications has partnered with Capcom, there has been no more news about this project.

The last we heard was from the IGN story about the supposed deal where they should begin shooting and developing the movie in 2005. Well, it’s now 2009, peeps. Is this project dead? We need some updates here, Capcom and Gaga.

Meanwhile, as for the movie’s plot, it’s generally believed that it will revolve around Dante, the game’s protagonist.

“Dante, son of the legendary Sparta, a devil lieutenant with a heart for humans who turned against the Devil Prince more than 2,000 years ago, and in doing so turned the Usurping Devil Prince’s evil dreams on their head. He conquered the devil, trapping him, and then left his evil past and the Underworld, so as to live with humankind. He married a woman who bore a half-devil, half-man child, Dante.”

No cast or director has been named for this film yet. Even a quick search on IMDB reveals that the movie will be released in 2010 but more detailed info is available only of the paid IMDB pro version.
Ho-humm… we won’t be shelling out precious moolah just for that.
Let’s just wait for updates in the meantime.

Fun and free arcade games

2009-01-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

For those that grew up in the 1980's: they remember those classic arcade games very well. Everybody loves arcade games. From kids to adults, they are all fascinated by this kind of entertainment. You can play simple arcade games like Pong and Tetris to more challenging games like the Virtual Fighter series. If you asked your dad about the video games he used to play when he was a little kid, he will tell you about games like Pacman, Pong, Pinball, and maybe even the old classic Space Invaders. A trip to the mall to play arcade games is worth it if you want to have fun. However, you can also play arcade games right in the comforts of your own home. There are many choices on the internet that provide online arcade, for freeArcade game companies started during the midyear of 1960’s and continuously grew up to the present time. They all transformed arcade games into a much more significant direction. The coin-operated machines of the 1980’s are no match for the Arcade games of today. Back then, the gamers had to content themselves with simple, two dimensional games with bad graphics. You no longer have to wait in line at the coin-operated machines to play games. Several internet sites have arcade games that you can play online for free. Sites like Wheelofgames com and Freerollmaster com are both free sites with many thousands of free arcade games for you to play.Playing free arcade games can be great entertainment. You can play against family members or friends that come to your home. You can even play online against others on the internet. The only problem you will run into now, is that your family will begin to have a real hard time in being able to drag you away from all of the fun you are having.Pac Man and Tetris was one of the first video games. Tetriswas a popular classic arcade game. This game involves stacking squares and rectangles to make perfect lines. Along with being able to find any type or style of game you could possibly be hoping to find, you will also be able to find many of the most common help topics that game players are always in need of finding.Today there are so many arcade games to play. Sometimes it feels like it is hard to keep track of exactly how many games there are out there that both children and adults can enjoy. Classic arcade games are ideal as often these games can be enjoyed easily by adults and children.No matter what kind of game you prefer, you willl definitely find it online for free. Enjoy the game.

Guidelines To Uninstall Software From Your PC

2009-01-20T03:31:00.000-08:00

One of the most important tasks to help in speeding up a slow computer is uninstalling unwanted software. This is an important activity because when you install a new program, several files and folders are added to the disk and several configuration-related entries are added to the Windows registry. When you do not use a program, all this data unnecessarily eats up disk space.
Additionally, a few programs may add startup services that may feed on your system resources and contribute to the deteriorating performance of your computer. If this was not enough, failure to update programs you do not use may also make your computer vulnerable to malware infections and unauthorized access by hackers.
One important point that you must consider while uninstalling programs is that you use only legitimate methods to perform program removal. Failure to do this can lead to an incomplete program removal and a hard disk that is left with the clutter of orphaned files and folders. There are many different ways in which you can uninstall programs. Discussed below are some of the most commonly used methods:
* Add Or Remove Programs: This is the most commonly used utility. Primarily, because it ships with your Windows operating system and comprises a comprehensive list of almost everything that is installed on your computer. You can launch the utility from the Control Panel or by running the appwiz.cpl command. For example, if you want to uninstall Office 2007, you would use the add or remove utility. You may also look for a program uninstall shortcut in the Program’s folder in the Start menu to launch its uninstaller.
* Program Uninstaller Tool: Many software manufacturer’s, such as Symantec develop specific tools to help you completely remove their products. You can download these tools from the manufacturer’s web site and then run them to remove your program. For example, if you want to completely uninstall Norton Internet Security Center, you may download its uninstall tool from the Symantec Web site.
There are also some third-party uninstaller tools available that you can download from the Internet. These tools are quite useful, especially if you want to remove programs with damaged uninstall files. Program uninstaller tools are designed to scan your entire hard disk and registry to weed out all data related to the program you are trying to remove and ensure complete removal of the program.
* Antispyware Tool: There are some programs that install on your system without your knowledge. These programs are usually spyware and adware and are known to track your PC activities, cause problems while browsing the Web, and also slow down your system considerably. To get rid of these programs and also to prevent them from installing, you need a reliable antispyware tool. You must keep this tool updated with the latest database and run regular scans to ensure that your PC is free from them at all times.
* Registry Tool: At times, there may be some software that you cannot remove by using any of the methods listed above. You will have to remove these programs by directly editing the registry using the Windows Registry Editor (regedit) tool. For instance, many users want to know ‘how to uninstall DirectX 9 update from Windows XP?’ For this, in the Registry Editor tool, delete the ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\DirectX’ registry entry and then restart your PC. Doing this will remove DirectX 9 and restore the default DirectX version on your XP computer.
Additionally, it is recommended that after performing a program removal using any of the methods discussed above, you use a good, third-party registry tool to scan and remove any orphaned registry entries to ensure complete program removal.

Gamespot's Best Games of 2008 Editors' Choice Winner

2009-01-19T17:48:00.000-08:00

Some may criticize Metal Gear Solid 4 for being just as much a movie as it is a game, but that very facet of this extraordinary package is what makes it so remarkable. Never before has one entertainment experience so flawlessly combined storytelling and gameplay, yet the game's most cinematic moments aren't those you watch, but those you partake in. An exciting motorcycle chase with larger-than-life consequences, a stealthy search in the foggy streets of an eastern European village, your first glimpse of a mechanical Gekko as it emits its bloodcurdling moo--these experiences get your blood pumping and stay with you for days, weeks, even months later. Yet as tremendous as each of these sequences are, two split-screen moments are bound to be etched into your brain, including one so emotionally taxing that you may emerge just as exhausted as the aged and fragile Solid Snake himself.

IGN Game of the Year

2009-01-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

This evening i received excited news: IGN announced their Overall Game of the Year Award for 2008 — selecting Fallout 3. Above you can check out the video they made paying tribute to the game

Best 10 flash games i have played for a latest time!!

2009-01-19T05:49:00.000-08:00

Flash had been around from the very beginning of a wide-public internet. It's hard to imagine that anyone falls into frustration questioning 'flash tech? i've never heard about'. Actually it's everywhere on an internet and alternatives if even exists not so well suited as Adobe(ex Macromedia) Flash. You are seeing movies and videos online, you are looking at flash banners, interacting with friends by flash chats and so on. With an army of talented flash developers and huge user's interest on what they're doing Flash demand seems never gets exhausted. And ñårtainly flash games. Broadband access gave as opportunity to play online downloading games right in our browsers, so there's weak reasons not to use it. Some claims flash games just for a rids. I can't share the opinion (thought i realize majority of players is kids) and gonna show you why with a help from myTop10. This isn't latest flash games ever developed, no it's just what i developed, no it's just what i discovered in lateset time.

Double Ball - cool small flash game. Two level of player's attention keeps you completely concentrated every single moment of the game. I found it hard to stay in for more then a 30 seconds. The game is really attractive. Rules are easy to learn - you just need to keep upper ball jumping while keep lower ball from falling.

Real Pool - a flash pool game. Why is it chosen? Because of nice graphics and complete real life experience imitation. Except for strokes directions. Your aponent in the game is a computer which sometimes makes a moves you should put on a paper and learn. But computer may makes mistakes too and that means your chances is still valuable before the game is over.

Tactical Assassin - is a shooter. You are a sniper and your mission is to complete objectives. Once you failed you start from beginning. It's cool because I like the way it done. Graphics and player experience can make you flow with the game to a final. But the game has one minor issue. Once you pass it through you may loose interest.

ROFL Attack - is a parody game written in a style of Heli Attack. No colorful graphics and said for themselfs personages. The game is based on spartan ASCII animation. The idea and realization is great.

Action Driving Game - a race game. History behind the game is: you're a running robber trying to reach safe point on a speedy car. By obstacles on a way you're always surprised. Some of them you should avoid and some of them you may pick up.

Chamgam - is just funny. That nice little boy trying to escape from big problems above him makes me laughing every time i click a mouse. I know that Chamgam is a terrain in Cameroon and I can't figure out how it tied to the game, but as far as I know 'Made with sense of humor' is a suitable label.

IQ test - is a weird game from japanese developers. As it said japanese employers uses this game to exclude IT candidates - if solution is found in 15 minutes you passed the test, otherwise.. Truly, I failed the test. And even more I still don't get into decision.

Hockey - for those who love ice hockey. The player is on offensive shooting pucks to a goal from a blue line. Also 2 defenders and goaltender is on the game. It's hard to pretend that the game is written for a grown up men, but why not take some time shooting flash pucks.

Dunk - for basketball fans. Score points dunking. The game isn't so easy as it may seems. Highly sensitive indicator of high and strength protect users from boring successful acts and you need fast clicks and keen eyes to dunk.

Xtreme Shell Game - Where is a ball? Keep your eyes targeted on a shell with ball while computer shuffles. As for 1 ball solution is relatively easy, but how about 2,3 and even 4 ball shuffled simultaneously?

Welcome To The World Of Game Downloads

2009-01-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

You Can Download Any Game Imaginable.We all have those days of sitting around and just being bored out of our minds. We surf the net and try to focus on something that really holds no interested to us. And then out of the blue we see an ad for game downloads on the TV while flipping through. We think back on those days that we played video games on our Atari or commodore computers. But when you took a closer look at the games offered to you, you where surprised. This does not look like the games that we are so used to. These games look so realistic and fun. Has it really been this long since you have played those games? Video games are, and always have been our escape from reality. They allow you to be someone else, a fiction of our imagination. That’s what makes them so much fun. Imagine what or who you can be with the right game. And now, finding the right games has never been more easy. The only thing you need to do is go online and find thousands of games downloads. Did you see that rally on TV the other day? Well than climb in the driver’s seat and rip that tarmac apart. Fly thru the course with a smile on your face and beat the champ. Or is 3d shooters more your thing. Rescuing hostages from their capturers? Well then kick that door down and cock your gun. Look for that bad guy and waste him hardcore. Leave no trace of your intervention, and make sure you get out in one piece. Those games are only one download away. Welcome to the world of unlimited games.Even if this all does not feel like you, there are all sorts of games out there, from card games to online poker. Just picture yourself playing poker with some one in Europe or even Russia, learning new tricks that you can use the next time your at your friends house playing cards. Always dreamed of being a pilot but never had the chance? Well you will be happy to know that yes, even flying is one of the options that you have at your fingertips. Just find those game downloads, and fly that big 747 400 series right out of here. Do you have kids? Why not play a nice game with them, and see them enjoy this special time with you. Just remember that when they are in bed, brush up on the game play. Are you having trouble with a curtain part in the game? Well just download a cheat code. Yes it is that simple. So when that boredom sneaks up on you again, or the rain outside is bumming your kids out, remember you can always look for the best game downloads out there. So you see, there really is not an excuse for those long winter days or any kind of boredom that might make it into your life.

Extend Your System's Value - PlayStation 2 Console Tips

2009-01-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

In the world of interactive entertainment, it's pretty much a fact there are a lot of video game fanatics that are having a lot of fun with today's consoles of course, and there's nothing wrong with that. That being said, it doesn't mean you have to pay no heed to the console's of yesteryear.To start with, I would like to discuss things about the first PS2 model that was released. Let's just say that the video game console isn't exactly tiny, and because of that, it uses quite a lot of space. For folks that don't know, Sony ended up creating a thinner version of their PS2, which they ended up naming the Slimline. It looks great and just looks really sleek, thus being much more pleasing to the eye, and is supreme at using little amounts of space. So, that is my first PS2 tip. If it was my choice, my choice would be the Slimline. The video game platform isn't tough to get and isn't that expensive, so that's nice to hear.Now, I want to quickly talk about the power of purchasing used games. I don't think that a lot of console gamers would dispute that today's out-of-box video games are quite costly. In terms of cost, used games are much cheaper. Here is a quick real life example. I get my used games at my regional Blockbuster, and when I got to to Blockbuster and chose the video games I wanted to buy, I was able to grab a pretty awesome deal. I ended up acquiring three games for only $10 dollars. Yup, I'm talking about only $10 bucks. Now it is your turn to do the same!With that told, I am finished. I sincerely hope you have liked this article. If just for the titles already used, I want everyone to take their PS2 gaming platforms outside of their closet, blow away the dust, and plug it into their t.v.'s, because the PS2 is not even close to dead.

How To Rip Dvds, And Print Scenes From Videos With Your Printer

2009-01-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

There are several software programs available for ripping CDs. However, ripping DVDs is not so common and many PC users are not fully aware of the procedure involved in ripping DVDs. Let us examine the steps involved in ripping DVDs.

1. In the first place, you should have the right for copy the DVD for your personal use. Notice that it is illegal to copy DVDs for every purpose.

2. Due to legal hurdles, the DVD ripping programs are not very easily available. Therefore, you could use a popular search engine like Google to locate suitable software. The products may not be offered by any reputed companies.

3. Once you have obtained the free soft ware launch it on your computer. Broadly, the program should be able to read the DVD and extract digital files to encode the contents of the file into a file format that can be read by your PC.

4. Now you can use the DVD drive on your computer and follow instructions for ripping.

5. You now need a DVD decrypter. Though this is a free program, not many are distributing the program and you should have the patience to search and obtain the right program.

6. You should now install the decrypter on your computer. Once the installation is complete, open the program.

7. The DVD you intend ripping should now be inserted in the DVD drive of your PC.

8. Most DVDs have huge storage and ranges between 6 and 8 GB. Therefore, you should ensure that your hard disk has adequate free space.

9. When you are looking to burn this ripped DVD to a new 4.7GB DVD, shrinking it would be a great idea because often the original DVD has more than 4.7 GB of data. You need to find very good DVD shrink software to achieve this.

10. Close to a dozen individual files may be created in the process of ripping. A new folder for each DVD on the hard disk would be more convenient for you.

Printing Video ScenesWhen you look to print images from your video, two key elements need attention. The first is grabbing the image and second is the ability to print an image that is usable where the source is not of print quality. While the extraction is relatively simple, getting a print that looks great is a bit more complicated.Windows movie maker and WinDV are good applications for importing the video to your PC. With the Windows movie maker, you will choose the clip with the frame to be exported to video collection, scroll to that frame and click on “take picture” button. The resulting clip will be 640×480 and should be saved the hard disk.

How to Speed Up My Computer - Speed Up Your Computer in Three Easy Steps

2009-01-17T16:41:00.000-08:00

How to speed up my computer?? I get this question a lot. Or some kind of variation like why is my computer slow or how can I speed up my PC? Well I will tell you what you do not need to do. And that is spend tons of money upgrading your system or buying a new PC.

You may be able to speed up your computer to it's brand new out of the box speed. See what happens is - the older your computer gets, the slower it gets. Yet it does not have to be that way.

How to speed up my computer?

Raise your hand if you perform regular maintenance on your computer. Did you think you can expect a blazing fast computer when you do nothing to help maintain your PC speed? People bring their cars to the mechanic every few months for tune-ups. So why do you expect anything different from your computer?

But this does not mean you need to bring your computer to the repair shop. With computers you can simply download software that will speed up your computer performance tremendously. In fact you can use the same software that computer techs will run on your computer yet charge you hundreds of dollars.

I will break it down in a few steps of what the computer technicians will do to speed up PC speeds:

1. Run a disk defragmenter (this should be done at least once a month).

2. Remove unneeded and hidden startup programs that are secretly running in the background. Computer feeling sluggish? This is usually why. These hidden programs eat up a ton of RAM

3. Clean up registry problems and fix registry errors - most important!

While there are lots of other speed tweaks you can make. These are three of the most popular. Now you can attempt to do these yourself (very hard!) or simply download software used by software techs that completely automates the process with a push of the button.

Stop wondering how to speed up my computer and start doing something about it! Speed up your computer by scanning the PC for free below.

Tired of your sluggish computer? Do you wish it ran more like the hare and less like the tortoise? Did you know you can get your computer running like new with a simple free scan? Speed up your computer with the best registry cleaner on the market.

Jim Marshall is a computer technician expert with over 15 years in the industry. He has an intimate knowledge of the windows registry and various register repair software. After testing some of the top registry cleaners on the market, he has created a comprehensive review site that details his findings.

http://www.registry-clean-up.net

How to Connect 2 Personal Computers Directly

2009-01-17T16:36:00.000-08:00

Networking between the computers is very beneficial in different respects as they give the access to various files present in some computers. Thus the sharing of information within an organization is easily accomplished. Even in homes two computers can be easily connected so that the work or the internet connections or any peripherals or the printers can be shared. If you don't have the idea you can look for some tips for connecting 2 personal computers directly.

The ways of making the connection

Computers are connected either by wires or through wireless means. The customary way of making the connections is that of using one dedicated connection through the plugging of one crossover cable among the computers. But you can also use other methods. Use of USB cables or Ethernet crossover wire or the parallel peripheral wire or the serial cable for null modem can also make the connections.

The processes of connection with wires

Ethernet is the vast preferred way for connections through wires. It has the benefits where very lesser configuration is needed though the speed is high and the medium is very reliable. Universal serial bus is a choice for the connections but you must remember to get a good quality of cable as common cables have much chance of damaging the system. There are special cables for USB by which is safe for the use and if the Ethernet adapters for networking are not available then you can use this as a great alternative. Using serial in addition to parallel cabling which is also known by direct cable connection -dcc, don't give great accomplishment but its functioning is almost same as the Ethernet. You can also use this mode if you have Microsoft Windows. You can depend on this service when the speed is not a major factor. There is a way by which you can connect two computers but in indirect mode by the use of a network infrastructure which has central access, but since we are dealing with only the direct methods we can avoid this way.

Use of the wireless means for connections

You may wish to get some wireless connections as though the wires are a good choice the wireless means is also gaining popularity. The basic wireless means prevailing are those of infrared; Wi-Fi; Bluetooth. Though technology of HomeRF existed earlier these days the use of this technology is not common. Infrared is the connecting option that was primarily accepted for laptops but the device is now also popular for connecting two computers only. You can work without the help of fixtures and the simple set up method can allow easy usage and the speed is also very fast. Though Wi-Fi techniques are very worthy for the vast distanced systems it is also option for two computer connections. Bluetooth technology is also well known and the method supports the networking through the mobile communications. All these are the very simple yet popular modes and are great tips for connecting 2 personal computers directly.

How to Make Easy WoW Gold For Your First Mount

2009-01-17T16:24:00.000-08:00

As a young Alliance Mage of Stormwind in my early levels, I envied the more experienced players around me with their mounts and epic mounts. I longed for the time when I could ride - instead of run - into battle against the Horde and Scourge, but struggled to make enough wow gold to pay for my bar bill in the Pig and Whistle (Stormwind).

While Blizzard have lowered the level at which you can buy your first mount - from level 40 to level 30 - many players still struggle to make enough wow gold quickly and easily enough to afford the cost before they reach this threshold level.

And it's important that you get your mount as early as possible. You'll not only level faster (you'll waste less time getting from A to B), you'll make gold more easily (cover a larger playing area, faster when gathering or grinding).

Here are a few tips that will help make easy wow gold and get you your first mount:

Learn A Gathering Profession

It's important that you learn at least one gathering profession (Mining, Herbalism and Skinning). I always recommend a crafting profession (Blacksmithing, Alchemy etc) to complement the gathering profession as it will balance your game and give you a more enjoyable playing experience - which is why we are all here in the first place. Once you have your chosen profession then gather, gather gather!

Buy Big Bags

The Horde have a saying: ' Da bigger da bags da better'. You'll be able to gather more and waste less time running back and forth to the Auction House having to sell your loot. I've written a whole guide just on bags! Follow the link below to check it out.

Learn The Auction House

You must learn how to use the Auction House. This is where you will make easy wow gold. Always auction your loot from gathering. It will fetch you vastly more gold than selling to a vendor. Make sure you check the Auction House prices before you sell your loot and always set a buyout price as well as a bid price. Again, I've a whole guide on this just follow the link below.

Grind With A Purpose

It's alway best to grind with a purpose as part of a quest. You'll level faster that way. But you should always be on the look out for loot. Grinding at this low level won't make you much gold, but you should become familiar with those mats that sell well on the Auction House for much gold. An example is Cloth and Meat. I've written a whole guide on just making gold from farming Meat in World of Warcraft. See the link below.

Follow these simple tips and you'll earn gold fast in wow. If you think you need a little more help I also recommend several good gold making guides - just follow the links below.

Marcus Ty is a level 70 Alliance Mage of Stormwind and has written extensively on the art and craft of making World of Warcraft Gold. His tips and strategies are chronicled in The Journal of Marcus Ty - WoW Gold Guide which is free to subscribers. More articles may also be found on his World of Warcraft Gold Blog together with details on how to contact the great Mage.

Racing Simulators - Why Are They Never Just Right?

2009-01-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while a daring company decided to make a video game simulating some sort of activity. This is often a risk because you can expect only that small crowd that loves that sport enough to actually want to go out a

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video game based on it. So that when they go home tired from doing that same activity, they can keep playing it on their favorite console or PC. Racing games is one these categories, although more often confused a racing simulator is not the same a racing arcade game.

There difference being mostly the difficulty curve. A racing simulator is not a game you can simply jump onto and go. At least not without some serious prior knowledge of cars and how to drive a proper race car. The way a car handles in say "Cruisin' USA" is not the same way a car will handle in "GTR-2" because GTR-2 is racing simulator so if you try to take that corner while you slam on the brakes expect to lock your wheels and slam onto the wall. That's not to say racing simulators are without flaws. I have yet to come by a "perfect" racing simulator, there is always something wrong with them. The best one by far in my opinion is GTR-2 but even then, the collision and damage physics are simply too forgiving.

Too many times have I crashed onto another car doing well over 100mph only to see them receive a small dent and only once did I crash onto a wall and my car caught fire and that was only because I was going over 270mph. Other games such as Gran Turismo and Forza Motosport 1 & 2 are great, but border on the the Arcade category as by default they are extremely easy to play. That's not to say you can't go into the menu screen and kick up the difficulty by turning off ABS, TCS & STM but even then Gran Turismo offers no damage physics so there goes that and Forza has a dumb AI so there is no challenge to be had. The latest Gran Turismo looks promising and I am almost done installing GTR-Evolution. The latest followup release to the GTR series which looks very promising. You can be sure to look forward to my article about GTR-Evolution.

$299 for the PS3

2009-01-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

There has been a rumor which is spreading online that PS 3 will be dropping their price from $400 to $299 this year. A financial analyst named Michael Patchter said that Sony would be lowering the price to $299 on April. The Xbox will soon follow on June.

Honestly I think that this rumor could become true because the world is in economic recession now that it is hard for the people to let go of their money. It would be e good move to trim down the cost to get the sales up but I think that $299 is still higher. Though, I’m hoping of the price cut I wouldn’t count about it since Patchter has some predictions that didn’t come true back on 2007.

Build Your Own PC

2009-01-17T04:07:00.000-08:00

It is increasingly popular to build your own computer. In most cases, it saves money, and it guarantees you get what you want. It also assures you avoid proprietary designs many companies use to keep you coming to them for new parts. Best of all, having built the system yourself, you become very familiar with that system and with computers in general.
People from all walks of life today build their own PCs. Executives, engineers, students, housewives, they all do it today. But, at the same time, pre-built PCs have come down in price quite a bit. Today, one is left to wonder whether it is best to build a PC yourself or to simply buy one off the shelf. I’ll address that here.
If you are a real PC enthusiast, this question may be a non-issue. The answer may be as obvious as the color of the sky. This is predictable, of course. When one builds their own PC, they are able to not only understand their PC better because they built it, but they are able to choose each component that goes into their PC. There is really something to be said for choosing your own components, and I’ll go into that further below. There is also a certain sense of satisfaction with having built a PC. One spends a few hours (or less for those more familiar with the process) to put the thing together. Then comes the moment of truth when one hits the power switch for the first time. If it works on the first try, its beer time!
But, besides the joy of it, is it worth it? Is it a practical use of your time? Will it really save you money? The answer to that question today has become a bit gray. A few years ago, the answer was obvious. Pre-built PCs were typically built from OEM, cheap components. The performance was average to simply awful. The choice was obvious: If you wanted a decent PC, you better build it. Today, the line has blurred. Where many off-the-shelf PCs today still use cheaper components in an effort to save money, there are more pre-built PCs today which do use quality hardware and whose performance ranks up there with the best of them.
Let us look at some of the key areas of interest in this:
Component Selection
Most commercial PC buyers (except for the ones who build higher end models) do not make a big deal of which components they use. They will, of course, tell you the specs of the system, but often do not elaborate on the brands of the equipment they use. Most lower to average priced pre-built PCs use more or less generic hardware. It gets the job done, but what you get is what you get. Upgrading can be a problem for this reason. In contrast, building your own PC means you can handpick all components in your system. You can ensure you get good, name brand hardware which will have proper manufacturer support and driver support. Most importantly, you can ensure you get hardware that will perform. One aspect of pre-built is that compatibility issues are taken care of by the manufacturer, but there is a tradeoff made in that guarantee.
Price
In general, you can get more bang for your buck building your own PC. In many cases, you will find equally priced and comparable PCs, where one is pre-built and one would be homebuilt. You can buy PCs cheaper than you can build them, but when you consider the hardware choices within, the price is offset in favor of homebuilt. One thing to consider here is the value of your time. If you are a very busy person where time is money, then you most likely want to buy a pre-built PC. If you don’t mind taking the time, though, you can do better doing it yourself.
Support
Available support is a key concern for do-it-yourselfers. When you build it yourself, there is nowhere to take the PC for service. You can’t say “Here, make this work.” On the other hand, pre-built machines typically do come with manufacturer support. But, support is anything but consistent. Some manufacturers have questionable records on support whereas some are quite good at it. Having support for your PC is no guarantee of having a problem-free user experience, and it is certainly no guarantee that they will take responsibility for your PC if it doesn’t work. The good news for do-it-yourselfers is that the community of people who do this kind of thing themselves is increasing. There is a lot of data on the internet, and community sources for assistance. I’m compelled to mention our own forums where a community of thousands is available to help you out on your PC.
Warranty
On pre-built PCs, there is typically a warranty on the whole system, and in many instances, you are offered an extended service plan at the time of purchase. Home built PCs do not have full system warranties, of course, but if you buy good name brand hardware, most of the components will themselves have warranties. So, really, either way, you can be covered here.
Software
Pre-built PCs often come with much software on it, most importantly the operating system itself. The actual price of the software is pretty good, because manufacturers get great deals on this software because they buy in bulk. On the flip side, though, these PCs sometimes come with too much software, meaning garbage that you do not want and just clutters the hard drive and bugs you to buy stuff. It can be quite annoying. On homebuilt PCs, you might pay a little more for the software per unit, but you will get what you want and only what you want, plus you can set it up how you want.
In general, I’m a big fan of the homebuilt PC. I’ve never used a PC I didn’t build myself. I think its a huge money saver. In my case, I built it myself, and then as technology progressed, I incrementally upgraded the machine. This saves a lot of money in the long run, because with a pre-built commercial machine, once it goes out of date, you pretty much need to start anew with a new PC.

AMD THE NEW PHENOM II CPU!!

2009-01-17T03:54:00.000-08:00

AMD's first Quad Core 45nm CPU chip is finally out the doors and its being called the Phenom II. AMD has positioned the Phenom II CPU in between Intel's Core 2 Quad and Core i7 and is being sold in two versions, the 2.8GHz X4 920 ($235) and the 3.0GHz X4 940 Black Edition ($275). Each Phenom CPU has an L3 cache size of 8MB but still trails in performance when compared to the 12MB L3 cache of the Intel Core i7's. However, what truly makes this chip stand out is that the Black Editions overclocking capabilities. Overclocking enthusiasts using liquid nitrogen have managed to bring the Phenom clock speeds over 6GHz surpassing the world record for Intel Core i7 processors, which stands at 5.5 GHz.

HITLER QUITS RF ONLINE!!

2009-01-17T03:35:00.000-08:00

This video first became popular with Hitler being banned from Xbox Live.
Now, in a cool and funny remix by Orkzie, Hitler and his Bellato army commanders are frustrated about the cheat engine users and hackers. So are we. Yeah, we hear you guys. We’re working on it. We hope that CCR finally listens and helps us rid the game of these darn cheaters.
Now, watch the video after the break. Enjoy!

Hitler Quits RF Online

Alienwares M-17 Notebook

2009-01-17T03:22:00.000-08:00

Anyone who wants a laptop or any computer for gaming knows exactly where to find on; Alienware. Alienware is the leading producer of top-of-the-line, kick ass gaming computers and the new M-17 notebook is no different.The M-17 is powered by the world's first ever mobile quad-core CPU's. The intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core Processor delivers ridiculous power allowing for you to enjoy more multitasking and faster speeds to allow you to take on next-gen video games that require alot of resource-intensive tasks. Another first for the M-17 is ATI CrossFireX dual graphics. ATI CrossfireX multi-GPU technology brings enhanced performance as well as DirectX 10.1 support. ATI PowerPlay allowe\s the notebook to monitor its GPU usages, automatically conserving energy for less-intensive programs and blowing the roof when necessary boost is needed.The M-17 comes equipped with a Clearview 17-inch LCD screen which supports extreme high-def 1200p for the highest quality. For some, storing all your files can be a bit of a problem. But with the M-17 all that is water under the bridge. This notebook holds dual 500GB drives in a RAID 0 configuration. And with its wopping 1TB of memory you can hold an astounding 250,000 songs, 250 full-length movies, or 150 games! And, on top of all that, all Alienware 7200RPM drives feature Free Fall Sensor technology for added protection for your important files. The M-17 uses the latest in todays technology to harness up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, this is also Alienwares first notebook to harness DDR 3 memory.Ever see those ridiculously cool computers in like the James Bond movies? You know, the ones that get your fingerprint or scan your face for access? Haven't you always wanted one of those? Well now you can because the M-17 comes secure with multiple biometric features including a fingerprint scanner and the AlienSense facial recognition software relying on unique double biometric measurments locking out all unauthorized users from accessing your notebook. Now whats cooler than that!?Even though $1,399 maybe a bit of cash for some, it is worth it! With all the power and features I doubt anyone would be disappointed with this sitting on their lap!

Welcome to my new blog

2009-01-16T17:13:00.000-08:00

Welcome!!Free to visit my new blog "olgamers"
http://www.olgamers.blogspot.com