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    007: Golden Eye

    Golden Eye

    Since last Wednesday, until Wednesday, Tim over at Ctrl-Alt-Del is doing a tribute to his favorite games for their holiday, “Winter-een-mass”. He has picked some good ones- but today’s takes the cake so far. Here is his tribute to Golden Eye

    Anyone who was old enough played Golden Eye for N64- One of the best systems of all time, in my opinion. As Tim put it:

    It had a handful of games that stand out for me during that time period, but one of them above the rest was the king of the N64 for me.

    Golden Eye was king of N64. First Person Shooters were relatively new then and Rare did a great job in making this one- I even beat this game. (While I do play a lot of video games, it’s kind of rare the i finish one. I didn’t beat Halo until like a week before Halo 2 came out). The best part, I think, was the multiplayer.

    I remember especially on snow days, my friend Matt, my brothers Phil, Mike and Rob and myself would sit around in our playroom and play for hours on end. Matt and I were the best, and had some epic battles. While we would all usually argue over Bond, I would go for Jaws. OddJob was forbidden and if you used him you were ‘a bitch’. I’d like to thank Tim for writing about this game and allowing some of my fond memories to resurface about that game and N64 in general.

    It was the Halo of that generation. Not as large, but then, video games weren’t as large back then. It attracted people who weren’t gamers by nature, with indescribably elements that added to mechanics to make it perfect in nearly every way.

    Later.

  • Waiting for Xbox

    My Xbox 360

    Pictured is My Xbox. The one that I waited 14 hours on line outside of Best Buy for. You see, the plan was to go to Wal Mart 5 hours before the release (7pm). I get there, and the line is full. They only got 15. So I went to Best Buy. At 7:30pm, for the 9am release. And waited. In the freezing rain. Most of me went numb. I survived thanks to a friend and his family, who brought us stuff to keep warm. But when 9am finally came, I was ready. I got my 360 and the coveted Perfect Dark Zero. When trying to choose a second game, I found it hard. Harder than I thought. People said 360 has virtually no games. But those 19 releases all looked great. And sure there are some on other systems, but they look so much better on 360.

    I’ve been playing Perfect Dark almost non-stop. It looks incredible. The game play is awesome. And oooohhh the Xbox Live. Challenge the World. Perfect Dark is the best game of the season. Hands down. The graphics, the game play, and this new feature called “Cover”. It allows you to hide against a wall and pan around for enemies, using the wall as protection.

    All in all I’m very happy with the purchase of 360. Xbox Live is like nothing I have ever used before, and the lighting, shadowing, look and feel of the games is just breath taking. And, despite what you might have heard- mine isn’t defective. Later!

  • Why I’m getting an Xbox 360

    XboX 360

    Many people have asked me why I am [fully intending on] getting Xbox 360 when it comes out on Tuesday. “It looks like Xbox with better graphics.” Sure it does- it is. But is it also so much more. But, for argument’s sake, let’s start with the graphics

    You see, the graphics aren’t just better. They are better than graphics any other machine has been able to render. And here is why- HD. You see a computer can generate kick ass graphics, sure. But Xbox 360 makes your games ready for HDTV- something your PC can’t do. And this isn’t just for new games, but for all games supported by 360.

    “Xbox 360 boasts a custom ATI graphics processor that clocks in at a blistering 500 MHz. If you want to get even more technical (and who doesn’t?) Xbox 360 can take advantage of more than four times as many polygons as the original Xbox® console, and more than four times (seeing a pattern here?) the number of pixels per second.” –Xbox 360

    But it’s amazing graphics aren’t the only thing going for 360. I could go into how the physics in the game will mimic (or come very close to) real life physics, or how because of the awesome computing power of the 360, the worlds will be so involved, but I would rather talk about the network….

    Since the dawn of the LAN Party with Doom, people all over have wanted to have kick ass LAN games. The cooler game play, the better. Halo 2 has done that. It’s selling point in my eyes is the Multiplayer capabilities in Halo 2. With Xbox Live and networking capabilities, the Xbox has the best LAN and internet play of any console. But still not better than PC gaming. Call of Duty, Medal of Honor and Unreal Tournament have the covered. However, with Xbox 360, they are revamping, revolutionizing and setting the new standard for console LAN. First of all, it will have WiFi capabilities with the adapter, which is sold separately, but probably worth it. But even so, it will support Ethernet. It comes with Xbox Live Silver.That means if I want to download new levels, message friends, or checkout the Xbox Online Market Place, I can. Without subscribing. If I want to get some online gaming going, they are offering Xbox Live Gold. With the wireless controllers, you get the freedom to move up to 30 feet from the console. In my house, that’s enough for me to run into my brothers room, tell him he is about to die, and then pull the trigger.

    Every Xbox 360 is the same. Same hardware, CPU, Gfx Card, etc. This means games that are targeted to utilize those hardware features to the fullest extent. There are no minimum requirements to create the games, which makes for maximum playability. The 360 will bring to the console world power which it has never seen before- the same power that has been in the PC world for a few years now. Later

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    Ilinois votes to ban violent video game sales to minors

    “Lawmakers voted to ban the sale of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors in Illinois, a move other states and cities have tried but federal courts have repeatedly struck down.” – ‘In today’s world, parents face unprecedented challenges in monitoring and protecting their children from harmful influences. This bill will make their job easier’ So now- the parents don’t have to pay attention to their kids. Others can do it for them?? The parents should know what their kids are playing and make a decision accordingly. I dont think a 15 year old playing GTA will actually go out and kill people and steal their car- and if the do the parents have bigger things worry about.

    read more | digg story

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    Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (the video game)


    get the game

    4.5/5- An incredible game that puts you in the movie. It does a pretty decent job of not giving away any major parts that a Star Wars fan didn’t already know. The game play is awesome- it is a 3rd person view and you are either Anakin or Obi-Wan durring the game. Your lightsaber skills are awesome if you can get the combos are your force powers better. Each level you gain expirience which you then attribute to a certain skill. I used mine on criticlaa attacks, force heal, force throw and for anakin, lightning. Now I’m usually not a big fan of 3rd person but it’s nessesary here in order to get the full jedi expirience. The game itself is a little short but the bonus missions and multiplayer makes up for it . In the bonus missions you get to be Greivous’ body guard- which sucks because it is a slow cluncky droid with no special abilities- Greivous- which is cool because of his special ability to use 4 lightsabers (default for him is 2)- Anakin- always fun- and YODA. Being Yoda is alot of fun because he is so fast. He’s really just the ball with a lightsaber. All his force powers are fatal on the lower level enemies and he is fast enough to hit the assassins with his lightsaber- The assassins are very fast. The best part is his force circle (i guess that’s what I will call it). Basically if you are surrounded by enemies, you do that they ALL die.
    Then there is the multiplayer. You unlock various characters in the game- including Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi- you also unlock Mace, Greivous, Dooku, 2 jedi just in the game, not the movie, and of course Anakin and Obi-Wan. You can’t be Yoda, because that would be unfair. The cool thing about Multiplayer is that Anakin’s powers are based on your progress in the game. Once you go to the dark side in story mode, he has lightning in multiplayer. There is VS and Co-Op. I didn’t do too much co-op, but from what I did its cool and different from the actual story mode- you get to be different characters on some levels.
    My only complaint with the game is the view sometimes. When you are fighting a circle of people you can’t change the camera angle, so it leaves you guessing as to where the enemies are. But, the game is still worth it. I highly recommend it. Later!

  • N64

    Today I played N64 in my friend’s dorm room. I forgot how fucking awesome that system is. I remember when I was a kid, especially on snow days, my friend would come over and we would play all day. When people slept over, tournament Golden Eye and Perfect Dark. Who could beat the hardest bots? WCW/NWO Revenge- the best wresting game. Goal- make your guy bleed. Never pin him. Make him tap out. TKO him. Never Pin. Not to mention Bomber Man 64, Mario Kart 64 (which we started playing last year again when Double Dash came out), and the Zelda games. While the new systems are great- The old school games never get old. I did notice that graphics have come a long way in just under 10 years (that’s right, n64 came out in ’96), and it makes me wonder how much farther game graphics have to go. According to Programming God John Carmack, not to much farther. Look at how real games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 look. I wonder how long it will be before we get real pictures, places, things as immersive worlds we play in…

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    Microsoft’s take on 1337

    Microsoft: Software Publisher, Gaming System Creator, Computer Industry Giant….teacher. Here is Microsoft’s take on “Leet Speak” and its break down for parents, so they know what their kids are saying. But Honestly, how many people use this? I especially like how under Leet words possibly indicating illegal activity: is pwn, followed by “Online video game bullies or “griefers” often use this term.” I guess that makes me a ‘griefer’ and I partake in possibly illegal activity. So there you go. Later.

    idk what to w4rez on sat. Ill pron warez something i pwn.

  • A Computer, A TV, A Building…

    Ok, So i don’t know how new this is or how many people have heard of it, But this is the coolest thing. A library in France called Bibliothèque nationale de France is a building composed of lights that offers light shows to anyone who can see it. Well, another thing the building does is allow users to dial to it using their cell phone and play games such as Tetris, Pong, Breakout and Pac Man on it. The building is 3370 m2.
    To see more pics of the building, go here. Later!

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    Masters of Doom

    Now, I don’t read too much, and when I do finish a book, its definitely worth reading. Masters of Doom is the story of the Two Johns that created an empire in video games, with such titles as the revolutionary Comander Keen, which brought console like graphics to the computer, Wolfenstien, the first 1st person-shooter, Doom, which started a new video game craze with networked deathmatching, and Quake which started internet deathmatching. “The Rock Star”- John Romero- had a vision about become an ‘Ace Programmer, Future Rich Person’ and that came to be when He met “The Rocket Scientist”- John Carmack. With Carmack’s brilliant new engines that revolutionized the way video games were played, Romero saw big things to do with those engines. It tells the story of how they met in a small town in Shrevport, Louisiana and then went on to create ID Software, the best video game company for some time, all before they were 30.
    David Kushner did a great job of telling the unique and inspiring story of how ID was built up, how Romero became a video game rock star, how Carmack wrote these revolutionary engines, how it all come together and the lives they effected. My favorite story to read was Carmack’s, because he did in the gaming world what I want to do on the web. Create something new, revolutionary, that no one has ever done before. While I might have a long way to go to do that, and I might not know what Im going to do yet, but this book inspired me to do my best. At the end of the book, Kushnet leaves you with this quote from Carmack.

    If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don’t need millions of dollars of capitalization. You need enough pizza and Diet Coke to stick in your refridgerator, a cheap PC to work on, and the dedication to go through with it. We slept on floors. We waded across rivers.

    Masters of Doom is a great book to read, especially if you are a gamer or a programmer. But the story is a unique one that will pull you into their world, through the ups and the downs, and leave you with the cliff hanger that is their present and future. Later!