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February 2001

Wednesday, February 28, 2001

Echelon Demo Impressions Nine11 @ 20:30 Comments

It didn't take too long to nail down my impression of the Echelon demo because it's not playable in the current form. I may have a different opinion if I understood Russian, but there are more things wrong with this demo than the obvious language barrier.

Like I said, the entire game is Russian which makes it quite an adventure. Just trying to install the game is a click-n-cross-yer-fingers affair. If you've installed a few games over the years, the button positions pretty much give away their intended function.

During the install process, I noticed the game takes advantage of hardware T&L. Since I'm sporting a GF2, I opted for it. I also picked a screen resolution of 1024*768 and 32-bit color.

Just like the install screens, the in-game text and option buttons are Russian but a little more confusing. The game defaults to the mouse for control and I couldn't figure out how to change it. The keyboard layout is also odd but mashing the keys on the left side of my KB along with the space bar seemed to get me up and flying.

There appears to be some sort of training mission and a combat mission. I didn't get anywhere in the training mission because I simply didn't know what to do. There weren't any arrows to follow nor were there any specific instructions coming across the HUD (not that I would've understood them anyway).

I bailed from the training mission and hit the combat mission. I thought, "Blow stuff up... should be pretty straight foreword, right?" Sort of. I took to the air and headed toward the red reticule on the HUD. The target was in a valley, so I gained some altitude, flew over it, pulled a 180, dived down with lasers blasting, and smacked into the side of a mountain (d'oh). That never would've happened if I had the joystick working... damn Ruskie menus!

Notice how I said, "smacked into the side of a mountain?" Take that INTO part literally because Echelon has some of the worst clipping problems I've ever seen. All types of vehicles can pass through the terrain, and I'm sure the buildings could too if they were mobile. Totally pathetic!

I had a hard time getting back into the game after my intimate encounter with the hills. I was greeted with a 3rd person camera of the battle after my death and, just when I thought the game would kick me back to the post mortem screen, I popped back into my jet and immediately smacked into another mountain. This cycle continued till I hit the Escape key.

So, I was foiled because I didn't exactly grasp the Russian language. The clipping is still a major problem and needs a major overhaul. Also, wingnuts like myself should be able to pop right back into the game without being greeted by landmass.

I would like to mention the game, while unplayable (at least) for non-Russian speaking gamers, looks damn fine! I didn't notice any dropped frames and planes/structures were very complex. Rounded edges and curves actually looked round rather than like a really intricate polygon. Textures were also very detailed, and lighting effects gave a nice light sheen to aircraft hulls which were perpendicular to the sun. The only game I've seen lately which looks any better is Doom III.

I really hope Buka Entertainment gets this game polished. The graphics are stunning and they should be able to hammer out the clipping problems. Echelon is an interesting game to look at, but I'd have to encourage you to wait for the next revision and English translation.

Multiwave's Slick Aluminum PC Case Nine11 @ 19:27 Comments

I found this slick aluminum PC case (described as MWAVE PC60 MID TOWER ALUMINUM CASE) over at Multiwave which is very similar to the Polywell 850GB reviewed in this month's MaximumPC magazine. It sports intake and exhaust fans, tooless entry, and 10 drive bays. Too bad the $165 price tag doesn't include a power supply.

Echelon Demo Nine11 @ 19:07 Comments

There is a Russian version of the Echelon demo floating around the net, and I found a copy over at Avault which seems to be the most reliable place to grab it right now. The demo's a Ruskie because the company developing the game is Buka Entertainment which is deep behind the Iron Curtain. They've actually been in business since 1994 and have an odd pedigree working on games for Acclaim, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Eidos, GT Interactive, Sega, Sony, Interplay/Virgin, etc. The Echelon demo is 45MB, fat-pipe firendly, and is creeping along around 33Kbps on da cable... ug!

On The Road With MP3 Nine11 @ 10:36 Comments

This month’s (April 01) Car Audio & Electronics magazine has an article called “On The Road With MP3” which seeks to determine how viable the MP3 music format is for car audio enthusiasts. Their article centered on the negative aspects of MP3’s “lossy” encoding scheme, which cleaves away inaudible sound frequencies to achieve a small file size. To test MP3 encoded music, they converted 13 songs (pop, rap, and some reference testing songs) from CD audio to .wav, to MP3, back to .wav, burned them to a CD-R, and then played them in a Honda Accord test vehicle. The Accord’s stereo system was considered “middle of the road” with 3-way separates up front (1” tweeters, 4” midrange, and 6.5” midbass), 15” sub in the rear, and a 4-ch 400-watt amp (200 watts for the front stage and 200 watts bridged to the sub).

CAE found the MP3 encoded songs to be lacking both midrange and sub frequencies. The most notable difference being the “flatness” of vocals and main instruments centered in the midrange. Song-specific complaints occurred while listening to Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open” which displayed deadened guitars during the chorus, and lack of bass when listening to Santana’s “Migra.” They also heard some low frequency pops/crackles on other deep-pounding tracks.

From their tests, CAE determined the MP3 format isn’t suited for even modest car audiophiles and those people should stick to CD audio. For others, who only modestly upgrade their car stereos or don’t listen to bass (there is no life without bass), MP3 is an acceptable system source.

While I tend to agree with CAE and direct comparisons between MP3 and CD audio are perceptible, I’m afraid some people may shun MP3 files entirely after reading CAE. CD music is far superior to MP3, but the difference narrows as bitrates approach 192kbps and above. I used to grab 128kbps songs but they tend to be “flat” and sometimes “hollow” (fishbowl) sounding. 192kbps songs have a larger file size but are well worth the disc space.

I’ve had the luxury of owning 3 different cars/stereos in the past couple of years (1 vehicle sold, the wife and I drive the other two). All vehicles had a combination of CD players, 6.5” coax speakers, 6x9 speakers, 8” subs, 10” subs, 4-ch amps, 5-ch amps, and 1-ch mono sub amps. I also have a brother who feeds his bass addiction with a 12” piston driver, a pal with a pair of 15” subs, and another buddy with slick Alpine/Boston/Polk setup. To say the least, I spend a lot of time downloading, sharing, and playing music in cars.

I prefer modern rock but also listen to classic rock, alternative, R&B, raggae, and rap. Some of my burned music does sound a little flat but I’d place most of the blame on the band’s producer (Collective Soul the prime offender because both CD and MP3 songs are as flat as Kansas). The only bass pops/crackles I’ve heard were on lame MP3 songs which were rotten throughout, and I’d blame the lamer who ripped the track rather than the MP3 format (not all MP3s are created equal). I get very solid bass from my burned discs that seem full-bodied and don’t roll off.

Most of the inadequacies of MP3 can be heard in a nice quiet place where you can concentrate on the music, but your car doesn’t fall into this category. While driving and blasting the jams, you’ll also hear your tires on the road, your engine, other cars, and the wind. MP3 music sounds pretty damn good at 192kbps on my office computer and sitting in my driveway, but I can’t tell the difference between CD and MP3 audio on the road.

MP3 music is also very convenient. I’ve got tons of music sitting on my hard drive, and it takes very little time to put together a playlist and burn a CD. This same process would take hours of swapping CDs when burning to CD-R (been there, done that). Also, less scrupulous people would save some dough when burning MP3 files to disc, but we’ll save that discussion for another day…

My point is there’s little difference between CD audio and MP3 encoded music, and these differences aren’t much to worry about. The average guy or gal with upgraded speakers and a couple of subs isn’t gonna sweat listening to MP3 encoded songs driving down the road. Unless you compete in car audio soundoffs, I'd keep on truckin' with MP3 thang and keep things clean by staying at or above 192kbps.

Planetside Preview Nine11 @ 10:20 Comments

ignPC has a preview of the massively multiplayer FPS Planetside. It doesn't cover much new ground 'cept for PKing/friendly fire and a couple of new screenies slid in with the old ones.

New HL-Rally Shots Nine11 @ 10:10 Comments

There are some new screenshots over at the Half-Life Rally web site. While the look pretty good for a HL racing mod, they're still a bit sqare/angular for my taste. Guess I shouldn't complain... the mod's free, right?

Blizzard Sues New Line Cinema Nine11 @ 10:03 Comments

Inside is reporting Blizzard has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against New Line Cinema for naming an upcomming movie "Diablo." Blizzard has the name trademarked and fears the movie, which is about a drug lord, would cause confusion between the two unrelated products. Blizzard was forced to file the suit after New Line refused to rename the movie.

Dungeon Seige Screenshots Nine11 @ 9:48 Comments

Dungeon Seige Vault has five new screenies. While the environment and player models look killer, they are just walking around and combat scenes are M.I.A.

Tuesday, February 27, 2001

Operation Flashpoint Preview Nine11 @ 17:09 Comments

The fan site, Operation-Flashpoint (original name, eh?), has a preview of Operation Flashpoint (no kidding?). It's a long sucker but a pretty detailed and funny read. I especially liked the post mortem of their multiplayer games. They pointed out a few rough edges but really dug the game overall.

Something which struck me about Operation Flashpoint is it's a single player game with multiplayer stuff tagged on. I had been under the impression it was a massively multiplayer game. Alas, the single player missions and campaing still sound cool and, as long as the online stuff is up to snuff, it should still be worthy of playing.

Operation Flashpoint Gallery Nine11 @ 9:56 Comments

Gamespot has a huge Operation Flashpoint screenshot gallery which totals 53 in all. The new screenies are the same as the ones I linked the other day, but there are a mess of older ones which I haven't seen before.

Rash Of Sniping In WWII Online Nine11 @ 9:48 Comments

WWII Online is suffering a rash of sniping in it's closed beta. Everyone is getting nailed from tank commanders to Ju-87 Stuka pilots (WTF!). A solution hasn't been achieved, but the team is mumbling something about putting an end to "L337 5k1LL5" snipers.

Five Myths/Truths of DSL Broadband Nine11 @ 9:30 Comments

TechTV has a couple of nifty DSL articles. Five Myths of DSL Broadband hits on some of hazards of DSL service (like the installation headaches I've mentioned in the past week), and Five Truths of DSL Broadband talks about the bright side of DSL (being able to easily/freely share connections, ect.).

Overclocking Simplified Nine11 @ 9:12 Comments

Technoyard has a nice little article on overclocking. It's written more for people who wanna breathe some life back into an old system rather than Xtreme OC Boyz who gotta run their P4 @ 1.6GHz. Overclocking Simplified hits all the angles from bus speeds to case heat issues. A good read for anyone interested in OC-101.

SyncMaster 955DF DynaFlat 19" Monitor Review Nine11 @ 9:02 Comments

Ctrl-Alt-Del has a review of the Samsung SyncMaster 955DF DynaFlat 19" monitor. It's kinda light with a few techie cut 'n pasties, but it gets down to what matters (how it looks) and gave it a 5 star rating. I've always liked Samsung monitors because they seem to be of good quality and don't bust the bank, and the SyncMaster 955DF can be found for around $320.

GeForce3 Preview Nine11 @ 8:38 Comments

Sharky Extreme has a big nasty-assed preview of the GeForce3. The thing is packed with geek-speak and starts reading like a high school biology text after 4 or 5 pages, so here's the Cliff Note version:

The GeForce3 is really fast (duh) and is blessed with features from the Graphics Gods. Vertex Shaders will allow more realistic surface textures. High Resolution Anti-Aliasing will take the jaggy edges out of our games without the performance hit we're used to. All the really big game think the GF3 is "da shit" 'cept for John Carmack who thinks it's pretty nifty but could've been done better. It's the same chip which is in the $399 Xbox, but the GF3 will set you back $600 on the PC (ouch!).

*Note - I just found another preview which is about the same over at Firing Squad.

*Note - Click here if ya wanna see a Gigabyte GeForce3.

Monday, February 26, 2001

Worms World Party Preview Nine11 @ 10:17 Comments

Gamespot has a preview of Take2's Worms World Party. It's much more detailed than Daily Radar's preview I mentioned last week, and it includes a mess 'o screenshots. Other than a few multiplayer options and objective based single player missions/campaign, the game is essentially unchanged. It's probably a good upgrade for those who need the latest version for online play but solo players sould probably pass on WWP.

PocketPC @ 360*480 Nine11 @ 9:53 Comments

CE4You has some pics of a Cassio EG-800 running in 360*480 landscape mode thanks to JimmySoftware. Pretty slick and much better looking than the standard display.

PocketQuake v0.04 Beta Nine11 @ 9:25 Comments

The newest version of PocketQuake sports 320*240 landscape mode, 24% faster frame rates, faster startup, and some cleaner menus. Oddly enough, CE4You has more info on the download than the PocketQuake site, so I linked to CE. Anyway, it's a must have for all you Pocket Fraggin' loonies.

Day Of Defeat Pic Of The Week Nine11 @ 9:05 Comments

The Day of Defeat site has an awesome Pic of the Week showing off a Sherman tank rolling down a country road. I haven't actually got around to playing DOD yet, but screenies like these are grabbing my attention.

Operation Flashpoint Screenshots Nine11 @ 8:51 Comments

There are 13 new screenshots of the online FPS Operation Flashpoint. They show off various battle scenes, some facial close-ups, and a tactical map. While I dig this game, I thought the screenies had an odd mix of high/low poly count (helicopters look very detailed while soldiers are kinda blocky). Weird.

Napster Ends On March 2 Nine11 @ 8:38 Comments

The next legal deadline for Napster to stop it's little music piracy party is on March 2nd. They've been able to dodge the bullet so far, but I'd grab that rare KC & The Sunshine Band MP3 before the deadline... just in case.

Simple Guide to Building a Home LAN Nine11 @ 8:23 Comments

Sharky Extreme smacked up a Simple Guide to Building a Home LAN . Although they call it "simple," it's 5 long pages of geek-speak but hits about every angle involved in home networking. This is one of the most detailed articles I’ve seen and is a must-read for anyone interested in home multiplayer gaming or sharing an internet connection.

Sunday, February 25, 2001

Carmack Talks About GF3 & Doom3 Pics Nine11 @ 11:11 Comments

This isn't really new stuff, but Gamespot has a nice little rundown of John Carmack's comments on the GeForce3 and a mess of screenies of Doom III nabbed from the Mac Expo. It's a good read and looksie if ya haven't been able to crawl out from under that rock. Also, is it just me or does that Doom Marine look constipated?

VIA Chipset Driver Guide Nine11 @ 11:01 Comments

VIA has posted a Chipset Driver Guide for their core-logic chipset driven motherboards. This is a good reference for anyone running a fresh Windows install and needs to update drivers.

Wind Tunnel Plus ATX Case Review Nine11 @ 10:57 Comments

Chick's Hardware has a very detailed review of the Coolerguys Wind Tunnel Plus ATX case. This case is a DIY which requires installation of 2 92mm fans which fit into blowholes over the PCI slots, one 80mm fan at the front of the case, and a slot exhaust fan which fits in an ISA/PCI slot. The case also sports a 300W power supply and three each 5.25" and 3.5" bays. Despite the DIY stuff, the case is only $129 and cooled their test CPU by 11C.

Saturday, February 24, 2001

DOOM III Gloomy, Carmack Talks Back Nine11 @ 11:56 Comments

Slashdot has comments from John Carmack on how dark and washed out DOOM III looked at the Mac expo (seems like he's taking quite a beating over it). To be blunt, the huge video screens they used to show off D3 and the GeForce3 aren't color calibrated (like our computer monitors) and the game will most likely display vibrant shades of gray AND brown.

Mechwarrior 4 Tips Nine11 @ 11:48 Comments

Dropship Command has a Tactical Guide to Multiplayer MechWarrior 4: Vengeance (what a mouthfull, Mrs. Lewinsky?). It's a damn good read for anyone still playing this game. I may just install it again...

DS9: Dominion Wars Site Updates Nine11 @ 11:04 Comments

The DS9: Dominion Wars site has been updated with new captain and ship profiles . There is also a nifty Ship Scale which shows how different ships size up in battle.

RIAA Goes After "Open Napster" Servers Nine11 @ 10:56 Comments

MSNBC is reporting RIAA has issued "60 legal notices to the Internet-service companies that provide Web connections for “Open Napster” servers." It looks like there are still a butt-load of Napster servers out there which can be navigated with freeware programs like Napigator, and RIAA wants to shud down their royalty-free music party for good.

DSL Self-Install Headaches Nine11 @ 10:44 Comments

PC World had a nightmare with DIY DSL. Here's the Cliff Note Version: they got the hardware but the DSL line wouldn't work due to a Pac Bell "router problem", Earthlink didn't enter the subscriber into their system correctly, they got a 28K connection, and they have to turn their modem off when not in use to avoid DSL signal loss. One more reason cable rules!

Motherboard Shootout: Soyo VS Asus Nine11 @ 10:31 Comments

HardOCP has a comparison of the Soyo K7VTA Pro and the Asus A7V133 Athlon motherboards. Both have strange little BIOS quirks and/or DIP switches. While they're both pretty speedy and will get the job done, I'd have to suggest sticking with an Abit board for their excellent Soft Menu BIOS and "snuggle-fresh" user friendliness.

Nvidia's GeForce3 Site Nine11 @ 10:15 Comments

Nvidia has slapped up a web site for the GeForce3 which details Vertex Shaders (allows characters detailed movement and facial emotion) and Pixel Shaders (high-impact organic surfaces). Yea, sounds like geek-speak till ya look at the DOOM3 video Cage mentioned yesterday. This stuff sounds really cool but probably won’t be implemented in any games for another 6 to 12 months (where the hell is hardware T/L?). Also, Steve Jobs (of Apple) thinks the GF3 will be released for the Mac before the PC... I think not because that doesn't make very good business sense for Nvidia (there's about 10 PC gamers to every Mac gamer).

On a side note, it’s rumored the GF3 is the same video card processor which is in the Xbox. Since the Xbox’s release will trail the PC’s GF3 by a good 6 months or more, that means the Xbox will be released with outdated graphics hardware (graphics tech doubles about every 6 months) and is just another reason why consoles won’t replace PCs.

Operation Flashpoint Preview Nine11 @ 9:50 Comments

XLGaming has a preview of Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. They took a walkthrough of an assault mission and have 10 new screenies. They do a good job of explaining how the game is played and how involved the tactical element of the game is fleshed out. While the screenies are nice, the game isn’t gonna win any graphics awards (it just looks fun!). Also, check the "Classified" movie over at the OP site which I mentioned the other day.

News Monkey Is Back! Nine11 @ 9:31 Comments

I’m back after a 2 day hiatus. My work/home schedule was a little on the busy side, and it figures there’d be some killer news on my days off… always seems to work out that way. I got a chance to check out the DOOM3/GeForce3 stuff from the Mac expo. Damn fine lookin’ game and hardware! Hopefully, I can catch up on things around here and find some more goodies.

I also picked up Virtual Pool 3 and should have some impressions of this game up within the next day or two.

Friday, February 23, 2001

Motor City Online Preview Cage @ 9:13 Comments

Firing Squad has a quickie look at the upcoming Motor City Online. Here's a taste to get you going:

"There are 12 online neighborhoods you can "visit" in Motor City Online - players congregate in these neighborhoods, where they can interact with other drivers. You challenge other players in races, wagering online money, car parts, or even entire cars that you might own. The money and parts you win in races you use to mod your vehicle, or buy a whole new one." - Firing Squad.

If the net code is good, and the servers are robust it should be worth picking up.

Icewind Dale Expansion Shipping Cage @ 9:07 Comments

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter has started shipping to stores nationwide. I never picked up the original game, but the expansion pack looks quite tasty. I'll check around today and see if I can pick it up, and post up some impressions.

Empire Earth Cage @ 8:54 Comments

OGR also has a preview up of Stainless Steel Studios' Empire Earth. This is the next cash cow done by the lead designer on the original Age of Empires, Rich Goodman. Here's some snippage:

"The game offers twelve historical epochs (or "ages," if you prefer) to choose from—the Prehistoric, Stone, Copper, Bronze, Dark, Middle, Renaissance, Imperial, Industrial, Atomic, Information, and Nano ages. If you're not sure that you want Civilization scope in a real-time strategy game, don't worry—you can pick and choose which epochs you play in and tailor your game to cover as much (or as little) of history as you care to see." - OGR.

The eye candy is sweet, and the gameplay looks interesting. The game is scheduled to ship sometime this summer. Visit the official Sierra site for more info.

Age of Sail 2 Cage @ 8:45 Comments

OGR News has a review up of Age of Sail 2. That were not too impressed with it, knocking it for among other things sloppy programming. Here's a taste from the review:

"Instability is the most serious out-of-the-box issue. Occasionally, the game refuses to load a single battle or a campaign scenario. Drops to the desktop accompanied by the grim words "Abnormal Program Termination" are so depressingly common that the game should be subtitled "Runtime Error!" A full Windows reboot is often required to properly restart the game. Even worse, these crashes can corrupt save data and end your campaign endeavors even quicker than a fleet of British 74s." - OGR News.

John Carmack on GeForce 3 Cage @ 8:39 Comments

John Carmack has updated his .plan file with his take on the GeForce 3 and other tidbits. Here's some snippage courtesy of Stomped:

"I just got back from Tokyo, where I demonstrated our new engine running under MacOS-X with a GeForce 3 card. We had quite a bit of discussion about whether we should be showing anything at all, considering how far away we are from having a title on the shelves, so we probably aren't going to be showing it anywhere else for quite a while.

We do run a bit better on a high end wintel system, but the Apple performance is still quite good, especially considering the short amount of time that the drivers had before the event.

It is still our intention to have a simultaneous release of the next product on Windows, MacOS-X, and Linux.

Here is a dump on the GeForce 3 that I have been seriously working with for a few weeks now:

The short answer is that the GeForce 3 is fantastic. I haven't had such an impression of raising the performance bar since the Voodoo 2 came out, and there are a ton of new features for programmers to play with."

The the entire .plan can be found at Stomped.

Quake 3 and GeForce 3 Spankage Cage @ 8:33 Comments

We missed it, but yesterday a movie was released from from MacWorld 2001 in Tokyo of the GeForce 3 in action on a Mac. It also features a look at ID's highly anticipated Doom 3 project running on a GeForce 3.

You can find the files at File Planet.

Un-Caged Cage @ 8:28 Comments

Since "George Harrison" called in today, I'll try to smack up some gaming news and get folks up to date on what's going on. Work has been busy, but I get a few days off starting now. Weekend time! As Nine11 mentioned this week we have been hard at work on a new gaming site. A rash of sites (that's the technical term) have fallen on hard times, and many of those left have been anxiously trying to figure out how to stay in business. We think there is plenty of room for a quality gaming and hardware site that tells it like it is, and isn't in bed with their advertisers. Our overhead will be low, and we have some quality writers who will be coming on board with the launch of the new site. I'll smack up some more details later next week.

On to the news!

Wednesday, February 21, 2001

Half-Life: Day Of Defeat Nine11 @ 13:34 Comments

Daily Radar has a rundown of the Half-Life mod Day of Defeat . The mod takes place in Europe during WWII and sports several character classes (infantry, sniper, ect.), some swank lookin' levels, and a stamina meter to give the game a little realism (can't hop and run forever). Player's score is tallyed from both kills and deaths each of which adds or subtracts a point. HL's multiplayer game never really turned me on, but some of the new mods (like this one) are starting to peak my interest.

NBA Live! 2001 Demo Impressions Nine11 @ 9:52 Comments

I took the EA Sports NBA Live! 2001 demo (demo linked from FilePlanet) out for a spin. Like all the other EA Sports games, the graphics, sound, and gameplay are dialed. The demo is stipped down and only allows exhibition games between the Lakers and Pacers, and one-on-one games between Kevin Garnett and Michael Jordan.

The graphics cover a wide range of settings. My test system is a P3-800 with 128MB SDRAM and a GeForece2. I set the resolution to 1024*768 32-bit color. The game looked damn fine and I didn't notice any texture tears, clipping, or dropped frames.

NBA2K1 is best played from the "wire" view. I'm mostly an NHL player and prefer the joystick, but this game plays much better with a gamepad (I used a Sidewinder). I fumbled with the gamepad's controlls a little but was able to pass, steal, shoot, and pull off a few jump-shots pretty easily.

Control options allow about as many devices as you have hooked to your system. All are active at the same time, so setting up a multiplayer game is very easy (just move each controller to a team/position), and I had 4 controllers/players available (joystick, gamepad, and a split keyboad).

During the exhibition game, the sound was really good with hip-hop playing in the background. The court sounds are realistic and the announcers chat appropriately. Unfortunately, the one-on-one game is nearly silent with only occasional background noises. There was a boom-box sitting on a bench and I was itchin' to turn it on.

The only other annoyance is the camera option. Other EA Sports titles (NHL in particular) will show the perspective of the camera as you change it in the options while NBA2K has you pick one and return to the game to see if you like it. It's not really a big deal, but it would've been so easy to stick in there.

Overall, NBA Live! 2001 seems like a really good 'n fast paced game. I didn't notice any hiccups, and the only annoyances I had were probably personal ones (yea, I'm a weirdo). The single player game is fun, but it'll really shine with 2 or more players on the same system.

Diablo II Music Video - Dragula Nine11 @ 8:40 Comments

I found this cool Diablo II music video over at FilePlanet. It's some of the D2 cutscenes editted to the music of Rob Zomie's Dragula. Very cool, but the video plays inside a Blink player and is kinda small.

Operation Flashpoint Flicks Nine11 @ 8:03 Comments

The Operation Flashpoint site has been updated with a new M60 machine gunner movie. There are also some other movies which show off this cool lookin' game. I really dug the "classified" video which is viewed from a down-n-dirty infantryman's perspective. The flick shows off some terrain which rolls with hills and trees that fall when hit anything big. Other units include some really detailed tanks and helecopters.

Cellular Phone Gaming Nine11 @ 7:28 Comments

FGN is reporting Nokia and Eidos have inked a deal to bring games to cellphones. Gangsters will be the first cellular game and is expected within the first half of this year. It's a cool idea but those screens on Nokia phones are just too damn small, and my parents thought playing an Atari 2600 on a 13" TV ruined my eyes...

DS9: Dominion Wars Update Nine11 @ 7:18 Comments

Mike Wallis, DS9: Dominion War's producer, updated his plan file . Basically, the game is still in Alpha stages but is shaping up nicely. They have 20 missions working (10 each for the Federation and the Dominion). They're also focusing on multiplayer gameplay and getting it to work with GameSpy Arcade (damnit, be a real man and implement your own game browser!). The most significant tidbit was the game seemps pretty speedy and allows some headroom for improvements. Here's a cut 'n paste:

"Since the game was by no means slow to begin with, this only means we'll be able to do more. Lots more: the art team will be able to put in additional special effects, multiplayer will be able to handle larger fleets, and the "brains" of the game (ship captains and pathfinding) will be improved."

Undying Review Nine11 @ 6:53 Comments

Daily Radar reviewed Clive Barker's Undying and declaired it a Hit. They dug the story, graphics, and gun/magic combat system. The game does have some rough spots (triggering cut scenes during battle is the worst), but it looks like a nice change from the Space Marine scene.

Max Payne Flick Nine11 @ 6:39 Comments

Gamespot has a new Max Payne movie , but it looks more like a few new bits spliced together with a lot of old ones. Still, it's good if ya haven't seen anything on Max Payne yet.

Napster Offers $1B To Drop Lawsuit Nine11 @ 6:30 Comments

Looks like Napster is offering $1 billion to make the lawsuit filed by RIAA go away. Napster would charge up to $20/mo as a subscription based service and pay $150 million each year to RIAA. I don't think RIAA will bite because they'll lose the copyright control they're used to.

Tuesday, February 20, 2001

GeForce2 MX Roundup Nine11 @ 15:37 Comments

Review Zone hammered out a 20 page GeForce2 MX roundup which compares the performance of various GF2MX cards against other "budget gaming" cards such as the ATI Radeon and Matrox G450. It's hard to go wrong with any GF2MX, but they gave a nod (for gamers) to the MS-StarForce 818 (MS-8818) for it's image clarity, TV out, and OC to 200MHz. GF2MX cards are going for about $100 USD.

CYPAQ Wireless iPaq Modem Review Nine11 @ 9:10 Comments

PocketPC Magazine has a review of the CYPAQ Wireless iPaq Modem. This spiffy little device will recieve data at 21kbps when operating wireless and 33.6kbps if connected to a land line. The complete package (Type III expansion & modem) is pretty slick but expensive at $749 plus ISP charges.

MS/Sendo Z100 Color Smartphone Nine11 @ 8:56 Comments

CE4You has the skinny on the MS powered Sendo Z100 color smartphone. This little gadget has a 65,000-color TFT display and personal information management (PIM) functions. For some strange reason, it'll even play MP3 and WMA files.

Black & White Goodies Nine11 @ 8:44 Comments

FGN has some Black & White tidbits from the UK eddition of PC Gamer. While they didn't really blow me away, there is a more impressive B&W movie (game trailer) over at the UK PCG site.

DSL Price Hikes Nine11 @ 8:26 Comments

ZDNet is reporting DSL service providers are being sqeezed by the Baby Bells and diminishing returns. As a result, they are silently raising the common $40/mo charge to $50/mo. Additionally, many DSL providers are dropping like flies which serves to justify the price hikes (suppy and demand in action). Here's a nice little cut 'n pastie which summs up the whole situation:

"Probe's Tumolillo said the Bells saw DSL as a way to get bandwidth hogs who wanted to download fat images and files off of the telephone network. But they didn't anticipate the demand. Hiking prices may be a way to get the $40 monkeys off their backs. "For most carriers, each DSL subscriber that comes on is cash-flow negative for three years."

One more reason to get cable!

Nvidia Driver Benchmarks Nine11 @ 8:12 Comments

3DRage has slapped up a Q3A benchmark comparison of the latest Nvidia drivers: 10.52 (unofficial), 7.52 (beta), and 6.50 & 6.31 (both official). With the detail settings at "Fastest", the 10.52 drivers gain 5 fps at 1024*768. All the drivers are even-Steven with Q3A set at the "Normal" and "High" detail settings.

Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 Review Nine11 @ 7:53 Comments

FiringSquad has slapped up a review of the Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 4.1 speaker system. It's very detailed with plenty of purty pictures, and they look like the best thing going for $179 (still gotta get out and litsten to 'em myself). They gave the DSR-100 an 88%

Monday, February 19, 2001

Venom Demo Impressions Nine11 @ 22:09 Comments

I took Venom out for a spin and have mixed feelings about this game. The outdoor environments and level design are very complex, detailed, and fun to run around in. A bit of lighting and smoke effects are there as well, and they add some atmosphere to the game.

Unfortunately, the game installed GameSpy Arcade and I couldn't get it to run without it. I played both CTF and COOP games with 2 to 4 players each. I had to tweak the controls from inside the game since, as I mentioned, it would only run under GameSpy. Control config was a pretty standard affair but there wasn't any in-game resolution/color options.

It played like any other FPS and sports both indoor and outdoor enviromnents. Outside, there are towers to climp and snipe from. The zoom feature is very nice and works with any weapon. The weapon effects were good but could feel a little stronger. Also, I only seemed to have one generic weapon which would morph into whatever type of ordinance I wanted to use (grenade, rocket, laser, shotgun, ect.) which didn't strike be good or bad.

On the COOP level, we started out in some sewers and advanced into some tunnels. We were stopped by some auto-cannons and guards. I don't know if this is a *feature* of the game, but I couldn't move while getting hit by the auto-cannons. So, like a dummy, I kept running back to the tunnels, getting shot, stuck, and dead. The auto-cannon weapon fire sound got stuck each time and wouldn't go away till I advanced to about the same spot where I had previously died. Very annoying!

I dug around on the Start Menu and found the Venom folder with it's Game Setup file. I got in there and tried changing things without any luck. The Setup wouldn't recognize my GeForce2 video card, and all the test patters it ran looked like crap... really slow crap at 1-6 fps.

Overall, Venom looks like it could be a good game but is rough around the edges in it's present form. It's still in development, so maybe the sound and graphics glitches will get ironed out. I really hope so because the levels, graphics, and environments are pretty nifty.

Venom Goodies Nine11 @ 17:01 Comments

Venom is a pretty ambitious 1st person shooter I came across. In the year 2034, the Earth escapes collision with a comet but is infested with an alien lifeform in it's wake. Battle ensues. Not real original but the game environments are pretty darn realistic and sport trees, undergrowth, rivers, and the like. Combat is team based with up to 12 in a squad. The player is paired up with a teammate, and this duo is necessary to complete some objectives like sniping a pair of aliens at the same time (Shoot on three. One... two...). Enemy AI has a range of hearing and line of sight. There's a movie which mostly shows off the levels but very little shooting, and there's a fat-pipe friendly 86MB demo which I can't seem to grab right now...

Future (Imagine Media) Cuts 350 Jobs Nine11 @ 10:03 Comments

FGN is reporting Future (known as Imagine Media in the US) has cut 350 jobs due to a slump in magazine sales and advertising revenue. This makes me wonder what will happen to PC Gamer and, to a lesser extent, MaximumPC because PC Accelerator (best damn game rag, ever!) was cut from Imagine's magazine lineup last year.

Napster II Nine11 @ 9:54 Comments

INSIDE has the skinny on Napster II. There's a lot of geek-speak so here's the Cliff Note version:

Napster II will be subscription based and will still share files (primarily music files) among users. Depending on the type of subscription each user posesses, they can download encripted music files which are registered to their computer. The encripted music won't play on another computer, so the rampant ripping and sharing of MP3 files should end.

It's a little foggy how the business model will operate and how RIAA will get their *cough* fair share, but it looks like Napster is aiming at becomming a net based distribution center for music. Honestly, it's not a bad idea and may work if they can keep the cost down on the user's end, sport an idiot-proof interface, and keep RIAA happy all at the same time.

ATI RadeonVE Review Nine11 @ 9:36 Comments

Anandtech has a review of the ATI RadeonVE video card. There's a suite of benchmarks for a full-scale smackdown between it and the GeforceMX, Radeon SDR, Voodoo 4500, and the Matrox G450. The poor little VE got beat like a red-headed stepchild by all of 'em except the G450. The VE retails for $99, but you'd be much better off grabbing a GF2MX for the same price.

Art of Magic Interview Nine11 @ 9:24 Comments

VE (I keep typing VD for some reason) had a chat with Andy Smith, Producer of the action/RPG Magic and Mayhem: Art of Magic. The game looks kinda like a Diablo/Warcraft stepchild with swank 3D graphics.

Windows XP Nine11 @ 9:16 Comments

The next version of the Microsoft OS is called Windows XP (formerly Whistler). The Windows XP site is up and has some views of the desktop which is quite a bit different from the old Win9x. There's also a signup for an Email newsletter and preview of XP.

Saturday, February 17, 2001

Gateway Country Comes To B-Town Nine11 @ 16:49 Comments

Here's a local interest ditty from Cage. He noticed an article in the Bakersfield Californian about a Gateway Country computer store being built where the Burger King used to be on California Ave. Here's a cut 'n paste.

"Gateway Country will open on California Avenue in a building once occupied by Burger King. Demolition on the 5,300-square-foot building started in January. This week, crews were laying foundation for dry wall and building walls. The store is part of Gateway Inc., which makes and sales computers and related products, and is expected to open late March. The San Diego-based company has 48 stores in California.

So You Wanna Be A Game Designer? Pt. 2 Nine11 @ 9:59 Comments

Daily Radar posted the second installment of So You Wanna Be A Game Designer? This one actually has some meat on it's bones and includes a nice little introduction to the WorldCraft level design utility.

Emperor Battle For Dune Goodies Nine11 @ 9:50 Comments

The Emperor Battle For Dune site has a couple of new pics which were featured in the March issue of CGW and the skinny on the new Harkonnen engineer unit.

Nvidia 7.XX Beta Drivers Nine11 @ 9:43 Comments

VC Drivers got their mitts on a beta build of the Nvidia 7.XX drivers . I can't say how reliable they are so use at your own risk.

Aware Magazine PC Case Mod Nine11 @ 9:39 Comments

Q: What do you get if you cross an Antec case, 120mm fans, metallic blue paint, and some graphic displays? A: A damn spiffy rig to brag about! Aware Magazine did all this and a few other things to their Antec KS 282 case mod . This is one of the trickest cases I've seen.

More NV20 Rumors Nine11 @ 9:21 Comments

Cage had some NV20 stuff whispered in his ear... well... ripped from The Guru 3D . Here's some possible NV20 (GeForce3) specs:

-Core Clock: 200 MHz
-Memory Clock: 460 MHz DDR
-Memory Bandwidth: 7.4 GB/Sek.
-Memory: 64 MB
-Output: VGA, DVI-I, TV-Out
-3.2 Million Sample per second FSAA Fillrate
-76 GigaFLOPS
-800 Million operations per second

Additionally, Tim (da weenie) Sweeney told VE "The NV20. It's going to change everything. No more fixed-function pipeline...developers now have control over every pixel and every vertex."

Steel Soldiers Goodies Nine11 @ 9:15 Comments

Gamespot has some new screenies and a movie of The Bitmap Brothers' RTS Steel Soldiers. The game sports a Myth cam (pan, rotate, zoom in/out), spiffy 3D graphics, and land, air, and sea units. Resource collection is scaled down to conquering/holding territory, and gameplay looks pretty intense. Worth a looksie. Thanks to Cage for the heads-up.

Friday, February 16, 2001

Cage's World Makeover Nine11 @ 10:56 Comments

We're gonna be moving Cage's World to a new domain (hopefully) within the next few weeks. We already have the new doman registered and are fleshing out the layout/graphics. We expect to bring aboard some new meat to help out with the chores, and we'll be doing some articles such as a MP3 Guide, a DIY PC system build, and some product reviews. I'll keep ya posted.

Pocket PC StarterPak for Dummies - Free! Nine11 @ 10:25 Comments

MS is giving away the Pocket PC StarterPak for Dummies . This is a freebie for owners of any PocketPC and includes a 96 page manuscript (I'd imagine it's bits 'n pieces of some chapters). The S/N of your particular PocketPC is required.

New Pocket Quake w/ TCP/IP & Sound Nine11 @ 10:18 Comments

The newest version of Pocket Quake has been pimped out with TCP/IP networking and sound. You'll also need MS GAPI 1.2 to get it up and runnin'.

WWII Online Site Updated Nine11 @ 10:14 Comments

There is a new spit shined WWII Online site . They gave it an extensive overhaul and it's much easier to read and navagate. The site is still experiencing some growing pains and sometimes loads like a slug.

WinGate 4.1.1Review Nine11 @ 9:43 Comments

SpeedGuide.net has a review of WinGate 4.1.1, the Internet sharing utility. The article is pretty tech-savvy and they took the 1-server/2-clients setup including a router. I took a breif look at the Wingate site and figured a simple 2 puter setup can be done with 2 NIC cards and some cable (sans router). Wingate also acts as a firewall and sells for $29 for 3 PCs and $49 for 6 PCs.

Police Bust Belgian Napster Users Nine11 @ 9:23 Comments

MSNBC is reporting Belgian Police, who are investigating mp3blast.com for copyright infringement, have "added four cases against Napster users were currently under review." Damn scary. Time to hit Add/Remove Programs...

Kenwood 72X CD-ROM Review Nine11 @ 9:09 Comments

Tweak Town has a review of the Kenwood 72X CD-ROM drive. It's the fastest CD drive on the planet but is still plagued with CD-R/CD-RW read problems. We've experienced these same problems since the 52X drive hit the scene. I'd also like to know if it'll shake like the 52X drives over time (you could feel it through the floor, damn scary!).

Clive Barker's Undying Quickie Nine11 @ 9:01 Comments

Firing Squad has a first impressions of Clive Barker's Undying. "Best selling authors" don't always make the best games (think F13, Timeline, Rainbow 6 which isn't an action game no matter what anyone says cuz ya spend way too much time in mission setup), but FS seemed pretty pleased with the 1st person shooter. The writeup is one page with an image gallery. *Note - is it just me or do all the screenies look like they were taken from inside a fishbowl?

Wizardry 8 Preview Nine11 @ 8:34 Comments

Daily Radar has a preview of Sir-Tech's RPG Wizardry 8. The game plays from the 1st person and has a mild mix of D&D and sci-fi (old-school setting with a few new-school weapons). Character setup is pretty traditional with classes defined by their abilities, but a Personality System follows your actions and continues to tweak your attributes during gameplay. DR seemed pretty impressed with the graphics (called it an updated Evercrack), but I wonder when someone will get these RPG games to look on-par with UT?

Echelon Screenies Cage @ 5:59 Comments

Echelon is a new sci fi combat sim from Bethesda. The screenshots look promising enough that I want to make sure to give it a whirl at this year's E3 show. Here's some samples:

and my personal favorite below:

Thursday, February 15, 2001

Minstrel 540 Wireless Modem Review Nine11 @ 15:29 Comments

PocketPC Magazine has a review of the Minstrel 540 Wireless Modem. While I feel this tech isn't ready for prime time, the Minstrel is still the slickest wireless solution I've seen for a handheld (Jordana).

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Complete Nine11 @ 15:18 Comments

Gamespot has the skinny on the Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter expansion pack which is due on 2/20/01 and includes new monsters, spells, and maps. They also have some screenies, movies, and previews. Thanks to Cage for puttin' my ass in-the-know.

NV20 Rumors Nine11 @ 15:12 Comments

There's a good chance we'll be seeing some Nvidia NV20 suff around the 27th of this month, so ya may wanna hold off on a new video card purchase if ya got "upgrade fever." Many thanks to Cage for the heads-up.

Domain Name Scam Nine11 @ 14:47 Comments

Looks like 27,000 people got scammed into paying $70/ea to register domain names. The fraud occurred when webmasters were faxed and alerted another domain way too similar to theirs was being registered. They were duped into paying a fee to stop the new domain registration. The FTC stepped in and arrested Darren J. Morgenstern who is named as a defendant in the suit.

Worms World Party Preview Nine11 @ 14:34 Comments

Daily Radar has a preview of Take2's Worms World Party. The Worms series is a cartoonish, 2D, side-scrolling, turn-based, worm combat game which I've been hooked on for years. The games are damn funny but seem to appeal to a very narrow and/or European audience. Guess I got my fill of Monty Python at an early age...

Gigabyte GA-7DX DDR Mobo Review Nine11 @ 14:23 Comments

Sharky Extreme has an in-house review of the Gigabyte GA-7DX AMD 761 DDR Mainboard. It supports DDR Ram (of course), on-board 4-channel audio, and overclocks via the Windows based Easy Tune III utility. ET3 will even automatically OC in small increments till the system becomes unstable and default to the last stable settings. It has some driver issues with Windows 2000 but is otherwise a very nice mobo for $170.

Fate Of The Dragon Impressions Nine11 @ 14:04 Comments

Fate of the Dragon is Eidos' new RTS game with an ancient Chinese warlord premise. Much like AOK, townships must be built and managed, support structures provide various resources, and (of course) armies must be built for ample butt-stopmin' fun. I had a chance to take the 56MB demo for a spin which includes a tutorial and campaingns.

THE GOOD:
Graphically, the game is 2D and very detailed. Textures are very impressive and the gaming environment feels very robust. Structures are built from the ground up and are displayed graphically by various stages of construction. Each object in the game (buildings, characters, trees, birds, ect.) has a shadow, and there are even some limitted lighting effects when mining (the mine lights up) and attacking structures (fire).

THE BAD:
The AI is supposed to take initiative when units are idle. While I did notice my workers gettin' busy, I still found a stray here or there with a big question mark above his head. Also, assigning a worker to a specific area (farm, workshop, ect.) won't make him perform any specific task when he gets there. I found 4 guys kicking back in the barn and had to tell them to get off their asses and work (plant/harvest corn, feed/slaughter pigs).

There is also a serious graphical glitch. The frame rates seem to take a big plunge after any type of on-screen instructions/dialogue and after objecive/status icons roll across the screen. It usually lasts about 5-10 seconds but is unacceptable.

Other annoyances could probably be solved with a good manual. The game interface isn't too busy but is still confusing. There are two game maps (local and world) and it's difficult to navagate between them. A type of "gate" must be used to travel between provinces which the tutorial doesn't mention. "Lack of Resources" keeps popping up when supplies get low but ya gotta figure out which resource to replenish (iron, wood, meat, corn, ect.).

CONCLUSION:
Fate of the Dragon is a good game, and a patch and manual will probably do wonders for it. The AI isn't all it's claimed to be but needs a little less hand-holding than most other RTS games. Other than the frame rate problem, it's pretty easy on the peepers. Overall, it's fun and acceptable in it's present form.

Ducati Racing Demo Impressions Nine11 @ 13:27 Comments

As we all know, Acclaim is one of the biggest developers for console games. Ducati World Racing Challenge is a spiffy lookin' street bike racing sim with a slim little 11MB demo, but I was worried DWRC would suffer the dreaded "port sybdrome" and be riddled with bugs.

THE GOOD:
Graphically, the game is pretty damn fine and I'd put it on par with Need For Speed 3. Textures are detailed and I didn't notice any tearing or clipping. The riders and bikes also look and act appropriately on screen.

THE BAD:
DWRC has some serious control issues, and that's where "port syndrome" rears it's ugly head. Consoles have a pretty narrow array of controls (basically, just gamepads), so not much effort has to go into control configurations. Unfortunately, Acclaim didn't put much thought into the PC controller issue and the game defaults to the keyboard (our default input device) which is way too twitchy for any racing sim. Trying to change any of the control options kicked be out to my Windows desktop.

Turns are very heavy-handed and must be made by tapping the arrow keys. Each tap leans the bike/rider into the turn after which it will "right" itself to the midline. As you can imagine, the control isn't very precise and the bike/rider bobs and weaves all over the place.

THE UGLY:
This game looks nice but is unplayable (in it's present form) on the PC. It appears to be an "official" demo and, unless the full version is more robust with options that work, I'd suspect it will be just as buggy from here on out. Most likely, it'll play just fine on your favorite console, but PC gamers should probably stay away from this one.

Q3 Team Arena Map Pack Nine11 @ 12:55 Comments

There's a map pack for Q3: Team Arena floating around which includes maps from the Q3 map/mod community and polish from id Sofware.

Wednesday, February 14, 2001

MS Outlook Mobile Manager Beta Nine11 @ 17:01 Comments

Microsoft has a beta available of their Outlook Mobile Manager software which serves as a kind of electronic message service. The program resides at your home base PC and will send Email "notifications on your cellular phone, pager, handheld PC, or other text-enabled mobile device whenever your desktop PC is running." The program is smart enough to nab names, addresses, and phone numbers from the Outlook contact list and send them along as well. The beta weighs in at 6.5MB.

ZIOGolf2 Released Nine11 @ 16:50 Comments

ZIOSoft has released the newest version of their golf game and is letting the first 500 gamers, who had bought the first game, get ZIOGolf2 for $10.

New iPaq Rumors Nine11 @ 16:44 Comments

More info on the new iPaq is bouncing around European hardware sites. Sometime this month, Compaq is supposed to release the 64MB version, and an iPaq sporting a GSM Phone should appear on March 22. September will bring the 412MHz iPaq w/o GSM. I'm still treating this stuff like rumors till we get some good 'ol fashioned ENGLISH info on our side of the pond.

Freedom Force Preview Nine11 @ 10:15 Comments

Gamespot has a hands-on preview of the 1960's comic book inspired RPG Freedom Force. They explore this "less traveled" theme for PC gaming (consoles don't seem scared of comics), game characters and the histories which surround them, and FF's turn based style of combat. The preview is also sprinkled with some swank screenshots.

DS9: Dominion Wars Site Update Nine11 @ 10:01 Comments

The DS9: Dominion Wars web site has been updated with an intro screen, info on two new ships, and 10 new 'n tasty screenies.

Ducati World Race Challenge Nine11 @ 9:57 Comments

Acclaim has a new motorcycle racing sim called Ducati World Race Challenge . The graphics are pretty slick and I plan to give it a spin with my dusty 'ol MS Freestyle Pro (with the tilt-steering mechanism), but I have a few reservations because the game is being ported out to everybody (typical Acclaim style) and may not be PC-friendly. The downloadable demo is weighs in at 11MB.

The Cable Guy Nine11 @ 9:43 Comments

Had a cable modem installed lately? Man, some of those guys who show up to crack open yer $3K game rig are scary! I wouldn't let the RR guy touch my puter, and he was totally amazed I could do it without his professional training... he actually asked how I knew the NIC card would fit into the "small" (PCI) slot instead of the "big" (ISA) one. Anyway, NetWorkFusion has a nice little read about similar problems and horror stories.

Cops Nab Kournikova Virus Suspect Nine11 @ 9:35 Comments

The Anna Kournikova virus, which I mentioned yesterday, was traced by the Excite@Home computer network to some dude in the Netherlands. The cops arrested the 20 y/o hacker and held him under suspicion of "damaging computer programs and property." Guess someone from the LAPD was on hand because he's already "admitted" to the crime.

Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 Nine11 @ 9:27 Comments

Anandtech has a review of the Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 4.1 speaker/subwoofer system. The speakers sport a total of 100W and have a nifty break-out box for speaker connections and headphone jack. I've actually been reading about these speakers for a few weeks and plan to get out from under my rock and give 'em a listen. At $179, they're high powered, crisp, and eager to please.

What The Func? Nine11 @ 9:19 Comments

Sorry, I just couldn't resist that one (grin). LatestUpdates.com drove home a review of the fUnc sUrface 1030 mouse pad with a 100% This review is more detailed than some of the "real" hardware reviews I've seen, but it's well written and to the point. If ya need a new mouse pad, this one may fit the bill.

Dual Socket 370 Motherboard Roundup Nine11 @ 9:09 Comments

If you're a SMP kinda guy (or gal, it's the millennium, right?) Firing Squad has put some dual socket 370 motherboards to the test. They gave the nod to the Abit VP6 which had the best layout/performance/price ratio.

Fate of the Dragon Preview Nine11 @ 9:02 Comments

Daily Radar has a preview and 56MB fat-pipe-friendly demo for the RTS game Fate of the Dragon . The game sports some nifty 2D but highly detailed graphics, units with some initiative, some economic factors, and your basic RTS style combat. This game will mostly appeal to AOE fans and seems to be of the same calibur.

Eve-Online: The Second Genesis Preview Nine11 @ 8:42 Comments

Voodoo Extreme has slapped up a preview of Eve-Online: The Second Genesis . It's not exactly an RPG, RTS, or a Space Opera but something in between. Basically, you start out as an unskilled space jockey and try to scrape up some cash by hocking space dust and the like, upgrade your ship, and then follow your own path (merchant, pirate, bounty hunter, conquerer, whatever). The silver lining to this game is the graphics which will require a drool-cup and toung-tuck... they're amazing!

Redmoon Online Preview Nine11 @ 8:30 Comments

Beta Bites has a hands-on preview of the anime-sytle MMPRPG Redmoon Online . The game is 2D 800*600 but the graphics are dialed and look much better than other games which fit into this graphics niche (Diablo II, Planescape). The storyline is pretty basic: in the future you gotta save the world from some sort of Evil. There are specific character classes which use weapons and/or magic during combat. Redmoon will be available as a free download but you'll have to fork over $9.95/mo for online play.

Tuesday, February 13, 2001

Intel XScale Handheld Processor Nine11 @ 10:22 Comments

CRN has a little ditty on XScale which is the next Intel Processor for handheld PCs. It's rumored this little guy will run up to 412MHz and gobble 1/10th the power of the current Intel StrongARM CPU.

Reymen PocketPC Screenies Nine11 @ 10:16 Comments

It's good to see games being developed for the PocketPC platform. CE4YOU has some pics from Raymen which is being ported over to your favorite handheld.

Summoner Screenies Nine11 @ 10:10 Comments

GameSpyDaily has 10 new screenies of Summoner which include 7 in-game and 3 cutscenes. They look mighty fine, so check 'em out.

Napster Bad! Nine11 @ 9:45 Comments

Yep, Napster lost it's case (like it had a leg to stand on in the first place) and has been found guilty of trading copyrighted material. Napster may also be found liable for "vicarious copyright infringement" which sounds like "sue" to me. Appeals are being thrown around but Napster's days look numbered.

Anna Kournikova Virus Nine11 @ 9:35 Comments

It looks like another Email virus has been set loose. This one, like many others, is more annoying than anything and doesn't seem to damage or crash any systems. It's written in Visual Basic and mails itself to all your buddys in MS Outlook. The subject heading it uses can be any of the following: Here you are ;-), here you have ;o), and here you go ;-) and has the attachment "AnnaKournikova.JPG.VBS" I bet alot of pr0nsters are stewing right now...

SimCity on the Moon? Nine11 @ 9:20 Comments

Daily Radar interviewed Bill Wallace of Anarchy Enterprise, the developer of Luna: Moon Colony Simulator. Basically, the game is "Sim City In Space" in which you have to build and manage a moon colony. Luna also adds a story line and mission objectives for the single player game. I had a chance to play with the downloadable demo and walked away with some thoughts. It has a "Myth cam" and is 3D unlike the other Sim games, but it lacks polish... in a "diamond-in-the-rough" kinda way. In fact, you'd have to shove a lump of coal up Janet Reno's ass and let it form a rough diamond first. Basically, it's just a crappy piece of coal which could've been a good game. Don't bother with it. The End.

Monday, February 12, 2001

Castle Wolfenstein Movie Weirdness Nine11 @ 10:34 Comments

I found this Return To Castle Wolfenstein movie which is supposedly from E3. Er... E3 takes place in May, right? Anyway, it's really low quality, kinda like those movies people sell after sneaking their camcorder into the theater. It mostly shows some walking around, kicking open doors, and a little shootin' at the end.

The Sharky Shuffle, Earthweb, & ASUS P4T Nine11 @ 10:17 Comments

A big deal a while back was the purchase of Sharky Extreme for a cool 1 million. Our hats are off to the guys for building a quality site and making some dough from it during this time of .COM failures; however, SE seems to be more of a portal now and shuffles most of their current news to Earthweb who, I assume, bought 'em out. I have mixed feelings about this because the latest review of the ASUS P4T mobo doesn't include the oh-so-important gaming banchmarks we're used to seeing at SE. It's still a "good 'n plenty" review but now what I'd expect looking from SE.

New Napster v2.0 beta 9.6 Nine11 @ 9:58 Comments

While not game related, the Napster guys are being highly optomistic about their impending court decision today and have a new version available. Use it to "share" music you've bought with others and discover some new bands (nudge, nudge... wink, wink... know what I mean?).

Saturday, February 10, 2001

Penny Arcade Is Back Nine11 @ 20:00 Comments

Penny Arcade is up and runnin' on their new server. FYI, Penny Arcade is an on-line comic strip for us gamers. They generally poke fun at the games industry and our little hobby. A good 'n quick read.

Verizon DSL Shuts Down 53 Central Offices Nine11 @ 19:44 Comments

More bad news for Verizon. According to internetnews.com , Verizon has shut down 53 of their central offices for DSL service. Verizon said it wasn't so bad and only "affected only 35 percent of its 1,850 COs in 30 states." Sounds bad to me. In the end, Verizon has to downscale because they can't keep up with the demand for DSL service. I also have a sneaky suspicion they overexpanded and can't provide reliable service. The recent threat of a class action lawsuit has probably made them tread a little lighter.

Planetside Server Running 24/7 Nine11 @ 19:30 Comments

The latest scoop from Planetside is they have an internal server running 24/7 in Deathmatch mode. 12 members of the Planetside team have been taking their new baby out for a spin, but a beta test is still a way off from now. Additionally, they have added internal/underground environments. It's just nice to see this game shape up.

Half-Life Rally Nine11 @ 18:39 Comments

More screenshots and car models have made their way into Half-Life Rally . Basically, players drive a bunch of rice rockets (Powered By Valve?) in this Half-Life mod. Gameplay modes include a simple point-to-point race, circuit race, hot potato (slam a sticky bomb onto another car before it goes off), and deathmatch (like Interstate76).

FBI Renames Carnivore Email Tap Nine11 @ 18:26 Comments

While not related to the usual computer stuff we talk about, CNet has reported the FBI is changing the name of it's Email survailence program from Carnivore to DCS1000. They were worried about the negaitve publicity "Carnivore" would encourage and figured DCS1000 is a little more user friendly. Damn, they could've named it "Wacky Willy's Wonderfull Web Watcher" and it would still do the same thing... please, pass the K-Y!

Overclockerz Implosion Full-Tower Case Nine11 @ 18:13 Comments

Hardware Daily has a review of the Overclockerz Implosion Full-Tower Case. It sports a 300W PS and a mess 'o blowholes and fans. The case chilled their OC'd Duron test CPU by an extra 8C and didn't create too much noise (hard to imagine). For $179, it's a good buy for the Xtreme OC crowd.

Friday, February 9, 2001

Napster Moves Into Gaming? Nine11 @ 10:07 Comments

FGN is unoficially reporting Napster may extend it's file sharing scheme to gaming and other forms of electronic goodies. Something should pop up on the books next week, but I'd guess (if true) Napster would try to become some sort of distribution center for computer games... and pr0n.

DSL Gets 2 1/2 Stars, Cable 4 Nine11 @ 9:54 Comments

DSL Reports has taken a satisfaction survey of 13,000 broadband users and found enthusiasm for DSL slacking off. I'd guess this is a direct result of companies like Verizon, which has a class action lawsuit in the works, who are popping up with DSL service which is buggy and has lengthy term contracts to boot. On a similar note, cable users are pretty smitten and hover around 4 stars on the "pipe meter."

Windows 2000 - Compatibility/Performance guide Nine11 @ 9:32 Comments

3D Spotlight has a nice little Windows 2000 - Improving Compatibility/Performance guide . Other than doing the obvious (using the Windows Update feature, using Win2000 specific drivers, ect.) it's got 7 other pages of goobilygook for tweaking damn near everything. It's very informative but makes me glad I stuck with WinME...

NBA Live 2001 Nine11 @ 9:23 Comments

Daily Radar posted it's review of NBA Live 2001 and it's a Direct Hit (like, duh!). Since this game is ported to both the PC and PS2, they made a breif comparison and the PC version won for both graphics and franchise mode which isn't available on the PS2. Other than the AI cheating on higher difficulty levels, it looks like a solid "thumbs up" for B-ball fans.

P4 Overclocking Nine11 @ 9:14 Comments

Sharky Extreme slapped a 1.4GHz P4 on an ASUS P4T mobo and pushed that little sucker to 1.8GHz! They benched the system with Evola and Q3 with varied results. Evola wouldn't budge but Q3 gained about 32fps. A good read if you've got the interest and/or cash for a OC'd P4 system.

F1 Racing Demo Nine11 @ 9:04 Comments

3D Files landed the demo of the sweet lookin' F1 Racing. It's available in several languages and is 121MB "fat pipe friendly."

Computer Gaming World Rocks! Nine11 @ 8:58 Comments

I just finished reading the 200th issue (March) of Computer Gaming World (the site isn't updated with this month's stuff yet) and have to admit it's the best gaming magazine I've ever read. Johnny Wilson returned to wax nostalgically about the history of electronic gaming and some of the weirdness it stewed up. Being 32, I thought I had experienced electronic gaming from it's infancy but there is so much more to the story. The mag is also riddled with choice "favorite gaming moments" and hits on some of the best titles of the ages. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading CGW, now is a good time to grab one.

Thursday, February 8, 2001

Metalion Patch v1.1 Nine11 @ 10:13 Comments

A patch is available for ZIOSoft's Metalion which addresses some install bugs and improves gameplay. I'm not sure how ya get the patch (buy her some chocolate and roses?) but it's there... somewhere...

SnapStream PocketPVS Nine11 @ 10:02 Comments

Here's an interesting technology which turns your PocketPC into a video recorder/player which saves movies as .asf files. It's still in beta but looks like a cool technology. On second thought, I wonder how many Compact Flash cards would be needed to hold The Matrix?

Summoner Elements Of The Week Nine11 @ 9:51 Comments

RPG Vault has a new movie and screenies from the game Summoner in which a game character summons (duh) a Red Minotaur. The peep show is dialed but I'd like to see more gameplay.

High Heat Baseball 2002 Demo Nine11 @ 9:31 Comments

Daily Radar has landed the High Heat Baseball 2002 demo. Dang thing looks pretty slick and may just get me to play some other sport sim besides NHL 2001. The demo weighs in at 73MB and looks "fat pipe friendly."

More OC Problems w/ Nvidia 6.5 Drivers Nine11 @ 9:23 Comments

Yep, it's looking like OC'd GeForce2 cards are having problems with the new Detonator 6.5 drivers. According to 3D Chipset , the new drivers will re-apply OC settings on top of their previous settings (CoolBITS registry hack enabled) after the monitor goes into "standby" mode. I can definately say there isn't a problem with CoolBITS off, so ya may wanna kick back with the old 6.31 drivers if your card is OC'd. A "big wet one" goes out to Cage for pointin' this stuff out.

Wednesday, February 7, 2001

Talk To Me, Baby! Nine11 @ 15:34 Comments

Sharky Extreme smacked up a nice little Voice Control Software Roundup . These slick little utilities (and, in some cases, hardware) are used to communicate with teammates and issue commands. SE took a look at Team Sound (free), Roger Wilco (free), First Contact (free), Game Commander ($29 download, $39 w/ CD and mic), and Game Voice ($49). For both command and communication, they gave a nod to the combination of Team Sound and Game Commander 2 used in tandem.

Possible OC Problems w/ 6.5 Nvidia Drivers Nine11 @ 14:35 Comments

Cage gave me a heads up on a possible problem with the new Nvidia Detonator v6.5 drivers. Here's a cut 'n paste from HardOCP:

"There is a problem w/ the current Nvidia 6.50 drivers. Upon returning from a monitor standby, these drivers apply overclock settings to your card on top of your current settings, causing hard lockups or visual anomalies associated with overclocking. I can verify this, as these symptoms have appeared w/ my card using these drivers. More information can be found on a post at www.3dchipset.com. I have heard that these drivers, upon returning from said standby, will max your overclock settings beyond what the Coolbits hardware control panel can show. I think you should definitely warn your readers about this. -Jeff Knight"

I've been running the new drivers for two days now, let my system sit idle, and had the monitor shut off (monitor standby) several times. I haven't experienced any lockups or graphics glitches, and DX/D3D games like UT run fine. I suspect the problem (if true) is isolated to the OC crowd since my card is running at the default speed (Coolbits disabled). Also, Firing Squad didn't mention any driver problems in their revent review, but they didn't OC their card either.

FF on in Planetside? Cage @ 2:37 Comments

VoodooExtreme has a new PlanetSide Development Diary up. Here's a quote that I found particularly interesting:

"Now let me come clean here, because there’s no compromise for us when it comes to FF in PlanetSide: It’s going to be turned on, with no contrived alterations in the damage model for hitting friendlies. In other words, FF will do full damage to all teammates, and this will hold true for every type of weapon in the game."

Uh oh. Now if that doesn't set off warning bells, I don't know what will. Anyone who has played an on-line multiplayer game knows that problem players who try to kill their own teammates can be a game killing problem.

The article doesn't talk about how they will confront the problem of "grief players", but it does acknowledge that the problem exists. It's a messy problem to sort out the team killers from the team players.

The eye candy is very sweet from the latest Planetside screenies. Here's one from the official Sony Planetside web site.

Tuesday, February 6, 2001

Inside Half-Life Rally Nine11 @ 9:34 Comments

FGN takes a look at the Half-Life Rally mod. I don't know about the physics 'n stuff they brag about, but the Hot Potato game mode sounds kinda cool. Got a bomb stuck to your bumper and ya gotta ram other cars before it explodes for frags.

NVIDIA Detonator 6.50 Test Nine11 @ 9:23 Comments

FiringSquad put the new Nvidia drivers to the test . As it turns out, I had to squirt my system with FDS... er... MS and install WindowsME last night. I got the new Detonators goin' and haven't had any problems, yet.

Serious Sam Freakshow Nine11 @ 9:18 Comments

Daily Radar has 5 new movies and a mess 'o screenshots of Serious Sam. Some of the terrain looks hilly and cool (not just flat), and there is a pretty slick Indiana Jones style falling rock trap in movie #2 "Frogs of Doom."

Lord of the Rings Trailer Cage @ 2:08 Comments

I saw this one on Stomped. The Apple QuickTime format Lord of the Rings movie trailer is up at Apple's site. It looks quite interesting. Finally, with the advances that have been made in special effects a lot of these classic epics can look like they were meant to on the big screen.

Monday, February 5, 2001

OMF: Battlegrounds Dev Diary & Movies Nine11 @ 9:43 Comments

The latest developer diary for One Must Fall: Battlegrounds picks apart the advantages/disadvantages of combat robots, and there are two new in-game movies of 2 and 3 player fights. They look pretty slick and the game is sure to be a blast online. If ya wanna check the movies, some numb-nutt gave the files the .mp3 extension rather than .mpg. Just save 'em as the appropriate file and they'll be fine.

WWII Online Screenshots Nine11 @ 9:34 Comments

I could be losing it (lemme know if ya find it) but the World War II Online site seems to be updated with some new screenies . They don't really look so hot compared to games like UT, but they're damn fine for a massively multiplayer game which are generally no-frills.

ATI Mobility Radeon Nine11 @ 9:17 Comments

Sharky Extreme gets familiar with ATI's new Radeon Mobility 3D chip for laptops. The chip will sport up to 64MB DDR RAM and run at 200MHz which is pretty damn buff for a laptop. No benchmarks yet, just some good info.

Sunday, February 4, 2001

Freeloader.com... It's Just Plain Bad! Nine11 @ 11:05 Comments

A mess of people have been talking about Freeloader.com and all the out-of-print games they can download for free. I got kinda excited because I've been wondering where I could pick up a copy of Syndicate (circa '93) and figured it might be there. After snooping around and getting a feel for the site, I can honestly say this is one of the most jacked-up pieces of crap I've ever seen! (Freeloader, not Syndicate)

Basically, Freeloader gets paid with advertisement revenue and the site is structured so you get to experience the maximum amount of it. After registering and typing my Email address (required, bet they sell it to Mr. Spammy), I browsed the site which is about as speedy as a tooth extraction. The list of games is also bottom-feeder stuff and most of the companies aren't even in business anymore. Syndicate was M.I.A.

My mom is kinda hip on pinball, so I figured I'd be a nice guy and grab Pro Pinball: The Web. The game is carved into the core program and 6 episodes, each of which have to be downloaded individually. It goes kinda like this:

1. Click on core game file.
2. Read download instructions for the lobotomized.
3. Answer an question like "have you ever placed a bet?"
4. Get a new banner ad.
5. Answer "How frequently do you play games?"
6. Get a more exciting banner.
7. Answer "Do you own a pet?"
8. Resist clicking on the new and improved banner.
9. Click on the link to the core game file and save to HD.
10. Say "D'OH" because you gotta grab the game .dat as well.
11. Slit wrists when you realize there are 6 more episodes to download.

I mentioned the site was slow, right. I have a cable modem and have tested my like up to 1500kbps. There was at least 2 solid minutes between each click and page load. Damnit, I should've had that game in the time I takes to make one click, much less 10 of 'em!

Sure, Freeloader has to make money somehow and advertising isn't so bad (it's on our TVs, mags, ect.), but they make it so painfull and mix in those annoying lame-assed questions. I KNOW they sell those... probably to that wacko Cal over at Interplay.com.

Take my advice and stay away... far, far away from Freeloader.com!

Saturday, February 3, 2001

DSL Tech Cartoon Nine11 @ 12:52 Comments

Ever wonder how the Baby Bells tweak their DSL lines? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words...

ZIOGolf2 Nine11 @ 12:35 Comments

ZIOSoft has upped the ante for PocketPC golfing games with ZIOGolf2. It sports a swank landscape mode, 3D terrain, undulation and sloping (grab those $1 bills fellas), grid mode for putting, and internet rankings. There is a demo version available as well.

Emperor: Battle For Dune Nine11 @ 12:26 Comments

I've only had a mild interest in this game only because I never really could get into the series (book or TV/movie). I just took a deeper look at the Emperor: Battle For Dune web site and found an interesting movie which shows off some pretty cool lookin' in-game footage. It weighs in at 15MB and is Fat Pipe Friendly (sure to please the ladies).

Ultima Worlds Online Peep Show Nine11 @ 12:11 Comments

The Ultima Worlds Online site has been updated with a new screenshot image browser for some new in-game images, some creatures, and concept art.

So You Want to Be a Game Designer Nine11 @ 12:00 Comments

Daily Radar is gonna do a series on the creation of a game mod . They've got all the basic (very basic) info laid out on nailing down a concept, choosing a game to mod on, and using downloadable tools (SDK's 'n stuff). Being members of Imagine Media and having their freakish affection for Half-Life, they chose that game and an idea for a mod called "Barney World." Later installments will walk through creating/editting levels, in-game cinimatics, and pulling it all together into a single gaming experience.

Friday, February 2, 2001

Civilization III Nine11 @ 11:47 Comments

It's amazing I haven't heard any hype about Civilization III yet (guess I gotta crawl out from under my rock). Twin Galaxies has a preview (more of a blurb) about the game which seems to be in the wee-early stages of development. Gamers will populate/dominate a planet planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. A unique aspect of the game is players will be able to build/modify existing units by swapping weapons on tanks and the like. Since the game has ties with Alpha Centauri , I think it would be cool to be able to expand the gaming realm to other planets and moons of the system.

Dungeon Siege Preview Nine11 @ 11:29 Comments

Action Trip has a preview of Dungeon Seige. The preview is kinda stale but there are some new and damn fine lookin' screenies.

Warcraft III Announcements Nine11 @ 11:25 Comments

Blizzard has released their "official" info on Warcraft III races (Humans, Orcs, Night Elves, and Undead) and key game features. Kinda interesting but still CTRL C/V material (grin).

Achtung, Penny Arcade Nine11 @ 11:17 Comments

This Penny Arcade cartoon , specific to RTCW, parodies most of the game previews I've looked at over the past few months. In case you don't get the joke, CTRL-C is copy and CTRL-V is paste. A damn good reason not to post every preview that comes down the pipe.

Giants Demo @ Gamespot Nine11 @ 11:13 Comments

Gamespot has the demo of Giants: Citizen Kabuto . This fatty weighs in at 103MB which is one more reason to love yer fat cable/DSL line.

Idiot Savant Nine11 @ 10:13 Comments

It never ceases to amaze me how crap keeps floating to the surface. I'll get to my point in a minute, but ya need a little history first. Cage and I used to beta test on the doomed online gaming service Engage. We played Descent Online and had a blast when it worked (servers went down quicker than a Hollywood B-movie acress). Engage had a few other games but all were at least 2 years old or poorly developed, or both. They had maybe 60 people playing on their service when they dropped their pay-for-play business model on us for old games which we could play on GameSpy for $10. Everyone bailed and Engage went belly-up... good riddance... I thought.

I just read an interview with Cal Morrell, the new president of Interplay.com, who just happens to be the former senior VP of marketing at Engage. Yep, this is the doofus who thought it was reasonable to charge monthly fees to play dated games on a flaky service. Here's a quote to show just how far removed from reality this dip really is:

"Streaming is, we think, an incredible leap for the Internet. In my view, the Internet is more of a platform than anything else. So, we are streaming content off of the platform, making the content one click away. I'm not saying it is the right model for an RPG, but it is making it easier for casual gamers to play because they don't have to go through the install process. It also provides instantaneous gratification. We think streaming is important, and we think it will not go away because it fulfills a need. It is easy and quick."

Have you ever played a "browser game?" Enough said, and this guy thinks that's the future?! Get real, buddy. He also thinks Descent and Redneck Rampage would be a good basis for MMRPG games. It's scary to think guys like this are trying to shape the future of online gaming.

Quake 3 Benchmania Cage @ 9:20 Comments

G256.com has just released their Q3Bench program which makes running Quake 3 Arena benchmarks oh so much easier. Here's a blurb from the site:

"Q3Bench is a program that automatically benchmarks Quake3 Arena by using customized configuration files and scripts generated from the selections you make. It then starts Quake3 while it exits. When Quake3 is finished running the benchmarks, it will exit and you simply need to launch Q3Bench again to generate the results. It will gather these results from the console dumps Quake3 was instructed to generate. The results will be writen into a easily readable and formated text file. If multiple runs at each setting were selected (as recommended), averaged results will be computed and added to the report file for you!"

Sweeeeeeeeet.

AoK 2: C AI Scripts Cage @ 9:09 Comments

Do you enjoy teaming up with a bunch of buddies against the computer in Age of Kings 2: Conquerors? Well Age of Kings Heaven has an Age of Kings Tournament League with custom Artificial Intelligence scripts that fight it out for top dog in AoK 2:C. You can download the scripts and use them in your own games if you want to give yourself a real challenge. The current league AI script winner is "Iron Chef."

Mafia Interview Nine11 @ 9:08 Comments

Daily Radar probed Daniel Vavra, Lead Designer of (the game) Mafia. They kicked around the game's LipSynch tech, facial animations, driving vehicles, and the Goodfellas lifestyle. There are also three new screenies.

IBM Ultrastar 15,000 RPM Drive Nine11 @ 8:50 Comments

IBM is gonna unleash their Ultrastar 36Z15 which is the speediest hard drive to date. It's 25% faster than currently available 15K drives and 50% faster than 10K drives. 18G and 36G Ultrastars are being pitched to the high-end server/business crowd so you can bet your left... arm... these babys will be expensive.

Thursday, February 1, 2001

Intel Price Cuts - again Cage @ 6:16 Comments

nV News is reporting that Intel is due to cut prices again. Here's the good stuff:

"The 1.7GHz Pentum 4 is expected to debut on April 15 for $776.
Intel will also roll out the 1.13GHz Pentium 3 on April 15 which will be offered at $268." - nV News.

MS Strategic Commander Cage @ 5:16 Comments

Have you been eyeing the Microsoft Strategic Commander, wondering if it's the right controller for you? If so, then this lastest Cage's World review of the Microsoft Strategic Commander is just for you. As always it includes some homestyle pictures and links to other reviews and useful sites. Enjoy!