Name	City	Country
Age to	Gender Both Male Female	Game

Music production/mixing
Hey,

I was wondering if we got anybody here that's into musical production/mixing?

I am assembling a home studio for my band to record stuff and finding the right equipment to equip the studio with is as easy as finding an ant nest and naming every ant by a name, and then coming back tomorrow and calling every ant by his own name. :P Well it's not far from truth, but seriously if anybody is into that kind of stuff, do say? To share experience. Keep in mind that I am more inexperienced about it at this point then I am experienced. :)

Thanks,
Comments: 0 | by Kres Dead Space
If I can recommend a game for everyone, (That's everyone whose not afraid of cr#pping their pants every now and then) I would recommend "Dead Space". It's not your everyday FPS horror game. In fact it's not even a FPS! It's a lot like "Resident Evil 4" except a lot faster and you can use the damn mouse. Graphics wise, it's brilliant, game play is outstanding, horror is good, but after awhile you get used to all of the freaky things that happens around you. For once in awhile the game takes a while to finish, and you enjoy every bit of it. Not like "Alone In The Dark 5" that disappoints you half way in the game and finishes with a pathetic ending.
Comments: 2 | by vEtEr@n Crysis Warhead
Hey people, At first I thought I was going to play as Nomad again going back to the island to save Prophet but NO you play as Sykes(He is British you Muppets) trough out Crysis parrallel to crysis at the other side of the island with at least new weapons and juicy graphics but it turned out better than I thought it would and turned out great! the only downside I find in this game is its rediculisly short but there was more of what I love. . . Asian people to toy with and kill and torture, throw into buildings, drive over, Hit repeatetly, Shoot at, grab, stalk, kill etc. o and WTF? Sykes and his mother?
Comments: 0 | by PJburger1994 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
Hey People, I just want to say that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has got to be one of the most fun and freakiest and also boring at some times but great game yesterday I thought by myself: Im bored . . . checked my games and found S.T.A.L.K.E.R and thought what the hell lets play and first it was boring but also became alot of fun and the only game I play at the moment out of pure boringness but its great! at some points I said WTF is going on? but the game starts to make a little 'sents' the only thing I dislike is weapons are very UN accurate but it also has its own share of well okay it has alot of glithes but what the hay its great! peace out
Comments: 0 | by PJburger1994 Warner Brothers to appeal banning by the OFLC.
UPDATE: According to the Classification Board report on Project Origin, the game was refused classification because of its "high-impact violence".
"The violence is considered highly impactful in such scenes as where Michael uses his sub machine gun to explicitly bisect an enemy, the two parts of the body lying separately on the ground, with copious blood spray. There are also a number of explicit close range decapitations involving both human and mutant creatures. The decapitations are the result of close-up throat slashing from behind and close-up gunshots to the throat," the Board report says.
"All violence results in large blood spray: there are blood-stained interiors and blood sprays onto objects, including the camera lens. With weapons such as sniper rifles, bodies can be torn apart at close range, limbs are seen flying off and the wounded flesh is reduced to a bloody pulp. The use of nail-guns pins victims to a wall before they fall to the ground in a bloody mass. The scenes often have blood soaked walls and floors and the victims’ bodies do not always disappear."

A Warner Bros. Interactive spokesman confirmed that the company will be appealing the Classification Board's decision, and was "looking at all avenues" to ensure Project Origin gets an Australian release.
Comments: 3 | by herodotus ""F.E.A.R. 2" won't be coming to Australian shores any time soon."
"FEAR 2:Project Origin" has become the latest game to be refused classification by the Australian Censorship Board (the OFLC). Following the same action for Fallout 3, Bethesda re-named Morphine to Med-X in the game and in doing so changed it that way for all copies worldwide. Aside from alienating millions of Australian youths, on the pretext of being a mature, guiding authority (>_
Comments: 1 | by herodotus Happy ThanksGiving!
I want to say Happy ThanksGiving to all my good buddies at SI! hope you all have a good one! and get Fat on all that good Food!

Thanks Friends for being Friends!

AND GAME ON!
Comments: 3 | by Zerk The Intel Core i7
The new Intel Core i7 is out and taking top ratings as usual for Intel.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115201
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202


Comments: 5 | by Zerk I just want to say to all
Here this week is Thanksgiven I know not every one has it but I give thanks to all so THANKS to all the good thing we all share in life Like family good friends loved ones event if they are not with us they still are some thing to give Thanks too .Life has so much event if we don't have a lot we all have some thing to give Thanks for good or bad life makes up for it by giving so meny things to take in if you sit down and take it all in from big to small event if times are hard there are thows that are there to make it a little ezer and well werth it all so one agen Thanks to all for making this well werth it all THANKS :)From Me and my family :)And a realy big THANKS to all the men & women that can't be home at this time of the year Big love and thanks for all that you are doing keep up the good work all people should be Free and happy in there lives ;)
Comments: 3 | by HELLKNIGHT1# "Sins of a Solar Empire" receives the big patch Christmas present.
Coming in at around 1.4 GB, the much anticipated Patch 1.1 for this runaway strategy hit has been available for a week now. Many however may not be aware of it, as news of the patch outside Stardock circles is non-existent. If you own the game and have registered it, simply click on the Update tab in the main menu of the game. For a list of the changes, as well as direct DL you should have Impulse installed (Stardock's version of STEAM), The changes are plentiful, broadly covering everything from unit stas through visual improvements, gameplay enhancements to MP changes.
This is one weighty patch, but everyone was expecting it to be. Time for a return to conquering the galaxy/ies if you have been having some time away. Can't wait to see what the Modders do with it, especially the Sacrifice of Angels team (a complete Star Trek mod).
Comments: 0 | by herodotus "Boy killed by deodorant fumes: coroner". Long live B.O.
"A coroner in Britain has blamed the death of a 12-year-old boy on his excessive use of spray-on deodorant. It seems a volatile agent in the spray upset the boy's heart rhythm, but air quality experts say the boy's death is no reason to avoid the products. Daniel Hurley was using Lynx spray-on deodorant in the bathroom of his Derbyshire home when he collapsed in January. He died five days later in hospital because from a cardiac arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythms. His father Robert Hurley told the coronial inquest that Daniel was a fit and healthy young man who was proud of his appearance, and lavish in his use of hair gels and deodorants, which he often sprayed all over his clothes. By spraying the deodorant in a confined space, the coroner found, the concentration of solvents affected the 12-year-old's heart."
- ABC November 22nd

Brings to mind the old saying: If looks could kill. Well, they, along with smelling good, can. Guys grow out your beards, and girls go native with the leg hair thing. We'll all live longer.


Comments: 1 | by herodotus "Far Cry 2" DLC detailed for release toward end of the month.
Ubisoft has announced that DLC for Far Cry 2 will be made available before the end of November. Dubbed the Fortune's Pack, the DLC will add three new weapons to the game - a silenced shotgun (weird), sawed-off shotgun and crossbow (very weird). Also included will be two new vehicles called the Unimog and Quad (hopefully equipped with machine guns). On the Multiplayer side, gamers can also look forward to four new maps, called Cheap Labor, Last Resort, Lake Smear and Fort Fury.
Now the downside, at least for us PC gamers. It's currently unclear if the pack will be available to PC gamers, and if so it will most likely come as a large Patch. Will keep you posted on that one.
The Fortune's Pack will be available to download shortly via the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN, with costing not yet decided upon.
Comments: 0 | by herodotus Everything just feels "Gone!"
Hell I probably am ranting..but anyways I wanted to for a long time and without my internet and hell a lot of financial problems for my family I just wish to let the steam out...
I guess till now the only thing that I ever saw as satisfaction is beating a game. Now sadly I donot have that luxury which was once a necessity. My PC is broken...My internet connection has gone Kaput(Some major flaw has been around for the past 6 months or so)...I am stressed out from preparing for my final exams this year which are given too much importance and my personal failures are mounting on me..
This site oddly offers me solace. I donot know why...but I feel that I have friends here...Good people who think like me...
This place was what woke the gamer inside me..and I am desperately trying to shelter the (gaming)fire inside me from the storm of life. Each week I come to a net cafe at least to login once...
I don't know if I'll be able to continue this much longer..its an odd type of an affection...but you know what its like...years later even if you want to log on again you won't be able to...even if you do,it won't be the same again.
Comments: 2 | by hunter612 Cheats Space Rangers 2 Dominators
Space Rangers 2: Dominators Cheats & Cheat Codes
If you have any problems with entering this cheat codes you can go to our forum and discuss Space Rangers 2: Dominators cheats.

MAIN SPACE RANGERS 2: DOMINATORS CHEAT CODES:
For the following codes goes that you need to hold down SHIFT+CTRL to activate them, and then type the code. There are some codes that need to be entered in a specific area or part of the game. Note: Each of these codes has a cost in cheat points, which are replenished at the rate of 1/day. If you try to activate a cheat you do not have the points for, you will be informed of your current number of cheat points:

Code: Description:
bigmoney (at any planet's equipment screen) 10,000 credits Unknown
boom (in hyperspace) destroys all enemies unless Keller is present 30 points
hugemoney (as above) 100,000 credits 300 points
nextrank (in military base) get next military rank 90 points
packing (in space) reduces weight/size of equipped standard items by half 300 points
rangerpoints (in ranger station) gain 1000 ranger points 150 points
repair fly into sun, full repair of items 40 points
rndbase (on a plant) random base forms in the current system max 3 to 30 points

Comments: 1 | by Jeffrey12 How to make a group - damn I'm such a newbie--- hey snow!!
OK, so I have come to a decision, I will start a group and am now open to suggestions as to how to name it... Also, the content and meaning of the group?
For gaming parents to talk about gaming - of course, but also about how to be a parent. No requisit to be a parent to be in the group. It should be open for everyone, but mostly it is for parents to be among other parents, who can understand the woes of having to leave a game very suddenly, not being able to make a time etc ;)

also, I think that it could be nice for parents to share ideas, thoughts and whatever. Gamers tends to be a rather diverse group of persons so I think we have a strong connection by games already, adding in some small talk and tips and tricks in daily life could also be very appreciated.

Then of course, we can debate the woes of getting our asses handed to us by the younger generations as our kids grow up and sit here wallowing of our past days glories ;)

So, how the heck do I start a group? Anyone knows - please enlighten this newbie!

Hey, it is snow outside here in Sweden, almost fell on my ass this morning since the very thin layer of snow hid a rather large portion of ice - like everywhere...

Oh, and Coca Cola send the first "Holliday's are comming" commercial yesterday (that I saw). :)

What is hot to place under the jolly tree this year?
Comments: 5 | by FoolWolf Artist in any way?
I'm Just wondering if there are any artists here at SI?

It doesn't matter what kind,Like Drawing,3D Modeling,Level Design for games,
or Computer generated Design like Adobe Illustrator,or a PC Wallpaper Designer?

OR anything you like to do that involves art.


Comments: 6 | by Zerk "Half-Life" for $1
Until the 21st of the month, Steam is offering the original "Half-Life" for the paltry sum of USD$1 (yes, one dollar). So if you have a Steam account, or don't mind opening one, this classic is available as we speak, as an almost freebie. Must be Christmas soon...
Comments: 0 | by herodotus "Dead Space" Keymapping Solved for PC users. No thanks to EA.
There is a program called Glovepie that allows you to remap keys to your heart's desire. Those of us who own Dead Space and hate being forced to use the WASD layout, and prefer arrow keys can now do so. Simple to use, you write the script, as is shown in the example, run the program in the background, then run the game. All mapped keys will now work as desired.
Thanks for nothing EA Redwood!

http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=462442
Comments: 0 | by herodotus Somali Pirates a Clear & Present Danger to Oil...and games.
Its' not just the oil empires that are under threat from Pirates off the Somali coast. As three Supertankers were taken hostage this week, with the flourishing new high-tech trade of piracy in Somalia, the term Piracy has taken on a whole new meaning for video gamers. Piracy in the region has stemmed from a failed sea-based economy and these groups have directly grown from what were once security teams protecting the fishing fields off the coast. Large shipping companies are now looking at both employing private security firms to reinforce their ships, and re-routing the major shipping lanes, which would definitely hit the end user (that's us) hard.
With support coming from both Jordan and Dubai, and armed with RPG's and AK-47's, these guys mean business. Even with the presence of the US and British navies, this very real threat to world trade has no end in sight (with the latest ransom set in the tens of millions of US dollars).
Sam Dawson, of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), speaking to Reuters, stated:
"This is not just guys in little fishing boats anymore. We know there are three probably ex-Soviet trawlers acting as mother ships...Despite all the publicity over piracy it will really hit home when consumers in the West find they haven't got their Nintendo gifts this Christmas."
I don't believe SecuROM is going to work in this case either.
Comments: 2 | by herodotus Left 4 dead and more ideas about gaming parents..
I had some time this weekend to ty out the Left 4 dead demo. I couldn't find any games to jump into so I tried the single player campaign and I was soon up in it and have decided to get the game. Now, I don't know if I should go for Steam only, or if I should buy it on DVD. Decisions decisions...
With left 4 dead I realised that my loose idea of gaming parents is even more interesting. It could really be fun to have both some online gaming experiences as well as having a good friendly "while your dead" chat in Counter strike etc.
So, now I need to find a good name. I already got a few good ones from some guys here so I will see what we end up with. :)
Comments: 5 | by FoolWolf "World of Warcraft" megablitz on game fans worldwide. Console gamers miss the boat.
Top video game maker Activision Blizzard threw crowds on streets Thursday for the launch of the much-awaited new extension of its record-breaking "World of Warcraft" which already has a claimed 11 million players worldwide, according to PARIS (AFP). Gamers lined up on Paris' famed Champs-Elysees for "Wrath of the Lich King", released in Europe and the United States at midnight on November 13/14th. Camped outside of the many Games stores the morning before, fans were ensuring they got a hold of their copies when the doors opened. Here in Australia the hype has been just as huge. According to EB Games Australia, , "Lich King" has had the biggest number of preorders for a single platform game in the company's history, said Brand & PR manager Debra McGrath. The previous record holder was Warcraft's last expansion, "The Burning Crusade". McGrath said that turnout was also strong at other EB Games stores doing midnight launches around the country, with the Swanston St branch in Melbourne having close to 1,000 gamers lining up.

Asked to comment on claims that the game could be addictive, Senior Producer John Lagrave of Vivendi declined to comment, stating only that..."We have a problem with using that word."
In addition,..."We're concerned with indulgence and over-use," he said, stressing that Blizzard had installed parental control devices and took the potential for trouble seriously enough to have added rest bonuses that rewarded gamers for not playing. Many gamers interviewed the following morning after the midnight release worldwide, admitted having already been playing some 8 hours since buying the Expansion, with no sign of stopping. I'd say there was a large number of workers off sick on Friday.

In more Blizzard-style enigmatic news, Lagrave said Blizzard was indeed working on a not yet revealed new gaming world. Many gamers are already placing bets on what it will be, but one thing it won't be is a console port. Lagrave stated that they had no immediate plans to take "World of Warcraft" to the console market.
"Right now we have our hands full supporting Macintosh and PCs," he said. Whether that is final, or just a temporary measure we won't know for some time.
Sorry console fans.

Comments: 0 | by herodotus Dads playing PC games - online
yepp, Ok, I am trying this bloggy thing here since I realised that I may be missing out on something here. This community seems to be alive and thriving and the bunch of people here semms generally like more then OK. For me that is a really nice sign, having been around the forums some years, ten or so..

Now, my situation has changed a lot, I could usually priorotize my gaming hobby, I have an understanding wife that also plays on and off so it is not that much of a problem. having a son is though. I mean, I am giving up gaming to to be with him, and I like it alot, he really is the centre of my world, he and my wife. So my gaming is a bit annoyed with me. Not to talk about playing online. I hop on and off gmaes frequently because I want to/have to be able to deal with all kinds of sudden things, from diaper change to laughing baby attacks ;)

Are there any more fathers out there having the same situation? Perhaps we could start a group of people who all would accept the eradic behaviour and also having understanding for it as well as maninly, having a good time playing games online with each other?
Comments: 9 | by FoolWolf My New Game I Didn't Get!
Hay Guy's! There is a new Game out there I want but didn't get,why? Cause YOU! didn't tell me witch one! There are so many I'm wondering what! Well I'll let my Good Friends at SI in on it and see what they say! so here goes!!

Witch do YOU think I should get?

Thanks Friends! :)
Comments: 6 | by Zerk Rome
I love the game Rome total war to bad I broke the disk. This game is great for those who like the the organized fighting style of the romans plus if you can mod the game a bit it makes it all the better.
Comments: 2 | by Vatarr The Eleventh Hour.
The Eleventh, of the Eleventh of the Eleventh. Does anyone remember" I doubt many, aside from the much publisized date. And, it is understandable. The United States did not enter the conflict in Europe, noted as the The First World War for political reasons, and in doing so entered in 1918. The politics are quite serious, yet obvious and I won't go into them here. The whole affair is very tragic for all involved, and anyone thinking it has something to do with Arch Duke Ferdinand's assassination needs to read more. It was inevitable amongst the European Monarchical states at the time, but not so the Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, New Zealand). President Wilson wanted in on the break-up of Europe post-war, just as Rooseveldt wanted in on WWII (much controversy there). Pearl harbour was in fact known well by both the US and British Intelligence Services before it happened, something I based my Doctorate in History on - and won.
Finally, we remember not the battles, but the individual man who sallied forth and fell to the guns that faced him. No glory there.
To the civilians whose whole townships disappeared from the earth.
To the men and women who never forget, but always seem to be forgotten until these dates.

I remember...

Comments: 1 | by herodotus Hello! and Sorry!
Hay buddies! sorry I was not around much lately,I was stuck on a piece of junk PC 450mhz P3 with 192mb ram,and it only stayed connected to the net for 30 sec to 2 min,I was getting puny PC sickness! I had to D-Load a fix to get it to work on my new PC,I tried 3 Modems none would work till i got that Fix! so thanks for being good respectable Friends! and for any of you that ever helped me with anything! Thank you so much!

Also so I don't make another Blog I'll add Fallout 3.

So far I can't say its Exciting but its not boring.

if you don't want to ruin the fun of the game,if you don't have it Don't Read this!

I'm only a few hours into it so far.

The Giant ants are Annoying,I must have killed 50 already!

one thing I don't understand so far is it seams Everything is trying to kill me and not each other?

the Animations "are" kinda jerky, and the AI is kinda Dumb!
like the Head hunters killed someone and were standing there drinking something, I left came back in the middle of the night, and they were Still Drinking! and that one guy Drinks and talks at the same time.

also there is hardly any ammo around!
most stuff i need to kill with a knife.

anyway I can not Rate or judge it yet as I have not yet beat it 2 or 3 times.

Thanks for reading!


Comments: 6 | by Zerk Obama-themed malware on the rise.
Something to watch out for folks. These malicious, anti-creative people are at it again. At least those likely to be targetted will have common sense, and will be protected by Anti-Malware and have 3rd party Anti-Virus guards.

"Within hours of settling the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, spam seen worldwide began incorporating the name and image of Barack Obama, according to various security vendors. The U.K.'s Sophos reported 60 percent of all spam seen by the lab on Wednesday was in some way Obama related. One piece of spam alleges to contain a link to video of Obama's acceptance speech. If you follow the video link within the e-mail message you will be taken to a Web page where you'll be asked to update your Adobe Flash Player with a file, adobe_flash9.exe, first. This is not an official Adobe update file and downloading this file may in turn infect your computer with a Trojan.
Sophos named the Trojan Mal/Behav-027. F-Secure named it W32/Papras.CL. Sunbelt Software also has a blog about this particular piece of spam.
Meanwhile, Websense is reporting a separate threat. An e-mail appears to be an interview with the new president elect. The e-mail features embedded links to a video site that attempts to install a file, BarackObama.exe. Downloading this file may infect your computer with a Trojan."
- CNET 5th Nov. 2008

Comments: 2 | by herodotus Red alert
Red Alert for free dowload, I haven't seen it anywhere else, legally. yet. Collecting the series, I've got the collected pack with tiberian sun, red alert2, yuri's revenge and leastly, renegade, and when I bought this EB made a mistake and threw in tiberium wars too, score, my system can't even play it, yet. downloaded the original but was so novice I deleted it out of frustration before I worked out that if I ran it in compatibility for Win95 it would have worked. Really dissapointed EA have discontinued the first decade pack. I went to order it in to the local store that had looked it up and told me the price of it a day before and they told me I couldn't get it. I felt lied to, but it probably was $50, I just couldn't buy it any more. Oh well they did give me a free game worth twice that.
Comments: 1 | by Damn present doen't wotk
i got good school points so i got a small amount f money wich i baught univese at war and the est goed to my pocket lol

i installed the game perfectly nd good when i run the game i got a error with "abnormal game exit detected" i tried numberous solutions none rearrly works i patched the game i looked on the internet and did some of the solution but eerything didn't work i am in need of some help here :(
Comments: 2 | by lichlord The worst excuses for missing work.
Just in time for the holidays, the folks over at CareerBuilder.com have come up with a new survey, and they certainly conduct some interesting ones. As part of its latest survey, CareerBuilder got employers to share some of the most unusual reasons employees gave to explain an absence (and these might be excuses you’d like to avoid):

1/ Employee didn’t want to lose the parking space in front of his house.
2/ Employee hit a turkey while riding a bike.
3/ Employee said he had a heart attack early that morning, but that he was “all better now.”
4/ Employee donated too much blood.
5/ Employee’s dog was stressed out after a family reunion.
6/ Employee was kicked by a deer.
7/ Employee contracted mono after kissing a mailroom intern at the company holiday party and suggested the company post some sort of notice to warn others who may have kissed him.
8/ Employee swallowed too much mouthwash.
9/ Employee’s wife burned all his clothes and he had nothing to wear to work.
10/ Employee’s toe was injured when a soda can fell out of the refrigerator.
11/ Employee was up all night because the police were investigating the death of someone discovered behind her house.
12/ Employee’s psychic told her to stay home.

Don’t know if they worked or not (especially the turkey), but having been an employer myself many times, I can say employees can certainly be creative.

Another interesting little detail revealed by this particular survey, which was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 3,388 hiring managers and human resource professionals, is that quite a few managers check up on their employees who claim to be out of commission for one reason or another. It’s amazing how many times you can’t hear an employee over the phone because of the background noise of a party or sporting audience.
Comments: 2 | by herodotus EA talks Red Alert 3 expansion plans…sort of.
“”EA is considering giving Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 fans "portions" of post-release content that focus on one particular part of the game, instead of a single, all-encompassing expansion pack. Speaking to VideoGamer.com in an interview to be published later this week, producer and C&C TV presenter David Silverman said that EALA would "address the fans' needs faster" by providing "portions" of a traditional expansion pack. He said:
"I don't know if we're going to follow a pipeline of, here's a traditional expansion pack, maybe looking at something that allows us to be a little bit more nimble and address the fans' needs faster by offering portions of that. So instead of, here's your giant massive $40-50 expansion pack, maybe it's, 'oh you want more story?', well here's the campaign expansion, 'you want more multiplayer maps and what not?', here's the multiplayer expansion, 'you want to play co-op?', here's the co-op expansion. If we can start to think about it like that it allows us to be a little bit more nimble and help address the demand from the fans faster."

While the PC version of RTS Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 was released last Friday, the Xbox 360 version won't be out until November 14. A PS3 version is currently in the works but without a release date.””
- By Wesley Yin-Poole - 04/11/2008
VideoGamer.com

Looks like they are looking to Blizzard for further inspiration. Originality is certainly not one of the EA's finer attributes, and plundering other games and franchises is a matter of course. If it makes for a better game though, I'm all for it.
Comments: 1 | by herodotus Red Alert 3...first impressions.
What?!? Has Disney taken control of EA already?...is the first impression after playing, but given time your outrage settles down. After the quite excellent Intro Video you are introduced to a classic cartoon-stylized Menu Screen. Some hate it, but I think its' in keeping with the flavour of this title. Your next action might be to go into Options and turn the sometimes grating music off. That's better, now we'll adjust the graphics to Ultra High, enable V-Sync and take this baby for a burn. Ooookay, if you intend on doing the Tutorials, as who knows what awaits in terms of units and structures, grit your teeth and just go along with the silly banter of the commentary. After the first Tute, you begin to notice the elaborate animations and detail minutae that are present, and you just might find yourself smirking self-conciously feeling that this might actually be a good game. If you dodge this section, as many initially will, the first attraction will of course be Skirmish, as you do with any new RTS (just as the first thing you do with a flight sim, is crash your plane...natch). Behold the graphical splendour that is RA3, or SC II, or C&C:Generals...can't make up my mind. Obviously the imminent release of SC II has had an effect on this title as the bright colours and very familiar Starcraft-style maps are reminiscent of the initial trailers for that game. The appearance of lush green grass encroaching on beaches populated with umbrellas brings you back to the memories of RA 2 though, and you're back on track...sort of. Now try zooming out...and out, and out. That's right, with 3 patches already available you are able to zoom out endlessly on some maps. The fact that the screen goes black fairly quickly does limit you somewhat, and I've yet to find out why they've done this. At least in Sup Com you can still see things. Then again, this is an EA release.
After battling on the first map I've come to some early conclusions. The game is a system hog, despite the use of very basic cartoonish-style units. The Sage engine has been tweaked considerably, and this is most evident in the structures' looks, animations attention to detail. On the negative side, having pathfinding lines appear when you order your units to move isn't particularly helpful, particularly when they have trouble actually following them. Also 'Attack-Move" doesn't appear to work all the time, as you watch your units trundle past enemies whistling Dixie as they fall down in pools of blood (yes, the claret is visible in this iteration). Then again, with the glaring yellow halos surrounding all selected units you'd be forgiven for missing any other visual effects. Truly awful, though easily overlooked in the heat of battle.
After the underwhelming Victory screen, you will no doubt attempt MP. I say attempt as many can't actually get online. I had no problems there, but no doubt another patch is in the works as we speak.
If you can accept the new style, fight the innumerable problems some have in getting online, forgive the dreadful yellow highlighting of selected units and ignore the prevalent left-overs of C&C: Generals (which are aplenty), you might just stay the course. My first foray did not leave me feeling too hopeful, but after spending a bit more time with this this game, I can actually say that with the proper support, never a strong point with EALA, this could just prove to be a hit.

As I say, first impressions, but this is definitely worth a look. Put on your silly hat, take in the new designs and gameplay and go along for the ride. This is not meant to be a serious title, so don't go looking for that and you'll be okay (the world's a serious enough place anyway). As for the bugs? Well we all know EALA is hard at work fixing them, don't we?
Well, don't we?
Comments: 1 | by herodotus Lol No I still have work..
No it will not be back to WOW I have work too. And I am done with the voting thing we will just have to hope for the best. With luck the next four years will be better than the past eight. But we will see...

I still think it is funny you all figure I'll jump back into WOW, too funny lol

Waves

Silence
Comments: 1 | by Silence Does anyone have this game that can help me??
Ok, I just recently bought CON Champions of norrath because you can play it online. Every time I log in though to look for a game it says there is no public games. I wonder what the deal is..? Is there not that many people who play CON so there is never any public games or is there something more to do to see the list of public games. Does anyone have this game that can help me?
Comments: 1 | by SilverTitan The wheels of th evoting machine...
This an important voting year, I can only hope that others have gone out and made their choices known. Remember folks the World is watching (of course they watch every voting year but this year the world is seriously watching.)

Not telling you who or how to vote just.. get out there and do it.

I have :-)

See I bet you thought I lived only for WOW...

lol

Waves


Silence
Comments: 3 | by Silence Upgrading PC: Would like some feedback.
I'm looking to upgrade my PC enough to be able to play CoD4, Fallout 3 and possibly CoD:WaW (if any of you look at my gaming rig in my greeting message then you have already shit bricks laughing).

I don't have a lot of cash at the moment so I'm scraping everything piece by piece. I'm starting off with the purchase of these two components:

-------------------------------------------

* MBM-GF8200-4800 :: XFX GeForce 8200 Motherboard CPU Bundle - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Processor 2.5GHz OEM (includes a 256MB video chipset GeForce 8200)

* Crucial 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz Memory (0.35 lbs)

-------------------------------------------

So far the total comes down to $287 CDN. My question is if I'll be able to run CoD4 using the Motherboard/CPU bundle and the included video chipset. I'm pretty sure the processor is on par with the requirements CoD4 needs but I'm not sure if the video chipset will support it.

Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4238170&sku=MBM-GF8200-4800




Comments: 4 | by Log!kal Battle of the Engines...Which do you like best?
The games of today, no matter the platform, are all reflecting the growing trend of focusing on graphics over gameplay. While most of us would tend to agree that gameplay is first and foremost, the kid in all of us always is attracted to the Dark Side (or the "flashy side" to be more precise). So I'm listing the most popular gaming engines and what they are known for, in no particular order. Which one/s do you like best and why?

1/ HAVOK: (CoD4, Quantam of Solace, CoD:World at War)
2/ DUNIA: (Far Cry 2)
3/ UNREAL3: (UT3, GoW, MoH:Airborne, BiA:Hell's Highway, BioShock etc.)
4/ SOURCE: (HL 2, Counterstrike Source, Insurgency, Zombi Panic!)
5/ ESSENCE: (CoH, Dawn of War)
6/ SAGE: (C&C3, RA3, C&C:Generals)
7/ CRY2: (Crysis, Crysis: Warhead)
8/ XRAY: (STALKER, STALKER: Clear Sky)
9/ MASSTECH: (World in Conflict)
10/ ID TECH 4: (Doom 3, Quake 4)

Yet to be released:
1/ Dawn of War II: ESSENCE 2.0
2/ Starcraft II: proprietary engine
3/ Diablo III: proprietary engine.
4/ Empire Total War: proprietary engine

And of course any others you may think of. I vote for HAVOK, ESSENCE and UNREAL3 in that order.
Comments: 1 | by herodotus Wallstreet Journal says Disney should buy EA
While EA was busying itself with a Take-Two Interactive takeover, the Wallstreet Journal has suggested that EA itself has what it takes to be a "tasty takeover morsel".

Word comes via Barron's that the Wall Street Journal proposed on Saturday that Disney acquire EA:

"In a bold call in Saturday’s Heard On The Street column, the Wall Street Journal proposed that Disney (DIS) ought to buy Electronic Arts (ERTS). The piece note that the timing is right, after a significant earnings miss last week knocked down the video game publisher’s stock 18% on Friday. The piece concludes that “Disney would be gutsy to step up during the current economic uncertainty. But it might be better than waiting for better times and paying top dollar.”"

It's just a theory, but the fact that EA owns a large series of sports video games (including Madden) and that Disney owns ESPN, it could be an interesting mash up.

I personally don't know how much control Disney would have over EA but I'm pretty sure most gamers don't want to see "Snow White" in a future installment of the Command & Conquer series :P.


Comments: 1 | by Log!kal pavements
I love playing city life, but only one thing really puts me off. It's when you have made a community, lets say blue collar. then nearby you zone for radical chics. As soon as you connect a road the blue collar streets change colour and the blues move out. I have tried seperating the areas with space, but it doesn't look right, and its too far for the other groups to travel to work. What am i doing wrong?
Comments: 0 | by city slicker U.S. Airforce sponsors Midway, Midway gives free games.
In a move that truly shocked me and I think other gamers who have heard about it, the United States Airforce has sponsored Midway, who has in turn given up three of it's games for free:

* The Suffering: Ties That Bind
* Area-51
* Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War

It looks like it's a recruitment ploy for the U.S. Airforce with a link to the Airforce's site, Do Something Amazing. Nevertheless the games are free which should be a nice treat for gamers everywhere.

They can be downloaded here: http://extcamp.doublefusion.com/US_Air_Force/Game_Download_Sponsored_by_Air_Force.htm


Comments: 3 | by Log!kal