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December 2001

Saturday, December 29, 2001

I Ain't Scared Of Bass Nine11 @ 19:10 Comments

I took the plunge and picked up a set of Logitech Z-560 speakers, and these suckers get down! Compared to Klipsch, I think Logitech has way more bang for the buck. There could be a little more midrange/midbass, but that's to be expected with a satellite/subwoofer combo. Some reviews have whined about the bass-heavy subwoofer, but I ain't scared and can roll with it. Overall, it was $200 well spent.

Friday, December 28, 2001

Fry's Outpost On-line Cage @ 9:29 Comments

Fry's Electronics finally has an on-line presence. I noticed in todays LA Times that Fry's on-line storefront is up at the old Outpost digs.

I can't say I am a big fan of their layout. The product selection seems to be a bit limited as well when you try to shop by product. A search will bring up a more complete product list, but is irritatingly clumsy when compared to Multiwave.

Stomped Out? Cage @ 2:38 Comments

I caught a bit over on Voodoo Extreme about Stomped's news site maybe going the way of the Dodo bird. It seems that Stomped is going to focus more on their LAN center business, and change the direction of their company.

It's not a bad idea, if they have the clientele to support it in that area. LAN centers appear and disappear almost as fast as web sites, but there have been some successes.

Anyways, here is the story/link/comment thread from VE: "Stomped Out..."

Thursday, December 27, 2001

Playnet and WW2:Online Dead? Cage @ 7:56 Comments

I caught this bit over at Gaming Groove.

"This is just one of those "we knew this is coming" type of news. Icrontic sent us a word that Playnet has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. This might also mean goodbye to Cornered Rat Studios and World War II Online, which just sucks. Here's the chunk:

[Well, in no surprise, Playnet has filed for Chapter 11 bankrupcty. I got an appearance and demand for service letter today from their lawyer in re to PLAYNET INC., a Texas coperation, filing for Chapter 11, case No 01-49209-BJH-11. The same letter was mailed to all of Playnet's debtors, including credit card companies and past affiliates. Apparently I'm not going to get paid what's owed to me (I'll have to see my lawyer about it), which is around five months back pay. I was the biggest money making affiliate at Playnet, and was owed the most money out of any other affiliate in the network. Playnet also owns Cornered Rat Software, which developed World War II Online. I would presume they are going to be shutting down as well.] - Icrontic. "

- Gaming Groove.

Monday, December 24, 2001

New Medal of Honor Demo Map Cage @ 13:57 Comments

A new Medal of Honor:Allied Assault map has been released. It's about 6.18 MB in size, and can be grabbed from 3D Gamers or the ever not so speedy File Planet.

Snapshot: Half-Life Hardware Nine11 @ 7:49 Comments

I've recently done some work on my puter and decided to give a few of the Half-Life mods a go. The latest patch for HL takes a hardware snapshot and sends it to Valve. It seems the average HL player has a 700MHz to 800MHz processor, 128MB RAM, RIVA TNT2 video card, and 512K cable Internet connection. I can't help thinking "sheesh, these people gotta upgrade", but that's not too far off from what I have (256MB, GF2 GTS). Guess lots of gamers are chuggin' along just like me.

Saturday, December 22, 2001

RTCW Downloads Nine11 @ 9:01 Comments

Get yer Trench Toast map or updated multiplayer demo with both the Trench Toast and Beach maps.

Friday, December 21, 2001

New RTCW MP Demo & Trench Toast Nine11 @ 7:18 Comments

G-spot got the skinny on a new multiplayer demo and map for Return To Castle Wolfenstein. The demo will include both the Beach and Trench Toast maps, and Trench Toast will be available for download by those who forked out some cash for the retail version of the game. Trench Toast looks like a pretty cool map, but snipers and lieutenants are bound to have quite a little party in the cramped and exposed trenches.

Case Mods From CPL Nine11 @ 7:10 Comments

[H] snaked a few nudies of some case mods from the last CPL. Man, these things are cool, take case mods to a whole new level, and make your basic Lian-Li/windowed/neon case with rounded cables and colored components look gay.

Thursday, December 20, 2001

Windows Two-Step Nine11 @ 22:34 Comments

I toiled with my puter all night, slept a little today, and finally got things all lubed up this evening. WindowsME had been actin' up a little, so I decided to nix it and start over with a spanky-fresh hard drive format. I also found a new BIOS for my ancient mobo, flashed that sucker, removed a couple of CD drives, installed a new Richo 7200A 20x/10x/40x, swapped my generic power supply for a 340W Enermax (thanks Cage!), did the Windows two-step, loaded two assloads of drivers, utilities, and games. A few headaches were involved, but the end result is a less shaky Windows experience.

Now I just gotta try and remember my Tribes 2 login info... d'oh!

Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Don't Get "Creative" With SB Live! Drivers Nine11 @ 17:29 Comments

My puter has been about as stable as The Church Lady at a hands-on proctology workshop, so I've been gathering drivers and updated utilities before doing the Windows two-step. I figured Creative Labs might have a new driver for my SB Live! but multiple attempts to nab their software kicked me to various "not found" screens. As it turns out, Creative's SB Live! drivers and software are no longer available for download, and users must send Creative some cash before getting a driver CD in the mail. Oh joy! Thank goodness I still have an older version of Liveware...

On a side note, I got my Richo 7200A CD burner by UPS this afternoon and will replace both my flaky Pioneer slot-loading DVD and ancient Smart & Friendly SCSI CD-R drives. I'll pull the SCSI card as well, and replace my P/S with a 340W Enermax unit. My main problem has been stability, and I found some software and BIOS updates which should smooth things out for me. Flash the BIOS, re-Format the C: drive, install WinME, games, utilities, and I should be good to go. If not, I'll be offline for a few days...

Tuesday, December 18, 2001

The Guru of 3D Finally Gone Cage @ 8:12 Comments

The Guru of 3D computer hardware site has finally vanished into the nothingness of the .dot com apocolypse. Citing a desire to get back to other things in life - and the loss of his sites host provider -Guru3D's founder Hilbert Hagedoorn announced that the site would shut down yesterday.

Funny thing, I just tried to swing by their site for some drivers. Man, I'm sad to see them go. Such is the Dot Bomb life. -Nine11

Sunday, December 16, 2001

Windows RG Nine11 @ 10:52 Comments

Looks like Microsoft is working on the next version of it's operating system, Windows RG, which stands for "Really Good". It's worth a look for anyone familiar with a MS OS.

Saturday, December 15, 2001

MoH MP Demo Impressions Nine11 @ 2:41 Comments

I posted some impressions of the Medal of Honor multiplayer demo in the Games Forum. Here's a clip:

The weapons offer a fairly good mix and have a satisfying feel. Explosions could be a little bigger, but I'd guess their size is more for play balance than realism. All weapons kick, so it's a very good idea to aim low with machine guns and rake your target up from the mid-section. The sniper rifle is a kick but is very slow to reload. Watching two snipers bump into each other is kinda like watching geriatric porn... slow and sloppy.

Friday, December 14, 2001

Medal Of Honor Multiplayer Demo Nine11 @ 8:39 Comments

The multiplayer demo for Medal of Honor is available. Your best bet is to grab it from one of the mirrors at DemoNews.com. Make sure to lube your fat pipe for about 133MB of digital love.

Tuesday, December 11, 2001

[H]ercules 3D Prophet III Ti200 Nine11 @ 12:52 Comments

[H] banged out a nice little review of the Hercules 3D Prophet III Ti200. This card is gettin' quite the rep for being a real performer at a budget price (less than $200 USD). The stock drivers and utilities are also pretty slick and enable options for overclocking and tweaking the AGP bus. With all that, they got this little TiKE running at Ti500 performance levels.

Monday, December 10, 2001

Simped-VARIO Review Cage @ 7:31 Comments

I've finally finished my review of the Simped-VARIO/Pro rudder pedals. Take a look, and see why the Simped pedals are THE solution to sim fans with force feedback joysticks.

Thursday, December 6, 2001

Die Nazi Scum! Nine11 @ 11:34 Comments

I finished the RTCW single player game and walked away with a few impressions. While it was a fun experience, it really wasn't all that and a bag of chips. It looked cool and had some nifty weapons, but the AI keeps nagging at me. Sometimes it's so stupid and sometimes it seems to have "Spidy Sense". It's a real bummer when you're trying to sneak around and some paratroop soldier double-taps me from 100 meters out. In fact, I had more problems with groups of eliete troops than I did with level bosses. Very frustrating!

Tuesday, December 4, 2001

Civ 3 Patch Cage @ 12:07 Comments

According to Apolyton (a Civilization 3 site), an official patch for Civ 3 should be coming out soon - maybe by this Saturday.

Slobber Nine11 @ 8:24 Comments

Voodoo Computers are one of the new kids on the block, but they're puttin' together some really slick rigs. There's a review in the latest CGW, and I thought I'd toss out their link. On a side note, Voodoo's web site is really polished and has tons of "click" info.

Monday, December 3, 2001

Quick Simped VARIO Rudder Impressions Cage @ 9:19 Comments

Before this last stretch of work started, I got a chance to play around a little with my new Simped Vario rudder pedals. A few of the titles that I tried out included Aces High, Fighter Ace 2, Crimson Skies, IL2, and Mech Warrior 4.

There were a few minor setup problems to start. While the instructions are in English, the translation is a bit lacking. Also the documentation did not include a step by step setup guide with illustrations - something that should be standard with any new hardware. Fortunately it didn't take too long to figure everything out, and I was soon happily blasting away at enemy planes.

Wow, was I in for a surprise. It has been quite some time since I've done any flight sims, and I was quite rusty. I quickly found out that the "simpler" flight sims like Crimson Skies and Fighter Aces 2 were much more enjoyable for me to fly at my current (no)skill level.

I let "Wolfman" try them out, he seemed to be similarly impressed. The pedals feel very precise and smooth. The footrests are a tad small, but I had no problems using them with my shoes on.

The total cost for the pedals was around US$200 after shipping and currency conversions. For me it was definitely money well spent. I'll post up a more comprehensive review along with plenty of pics of the Simped rudder pedals later this week.

Sunday, December 2, 2001

He's Alive! Nine11 @ 19:24 Comments

Yep, I'm still live and kickin'. I've been hitting the books and burned thorough three chapters in Physics already. Man, I'm gettin' too old for this school stuff... but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Hopefully, I'll be able to challenge the Registry for Respiratory Care before June 1 or else I'll be locked into this extra continuing education stuff.

Cage and I picked up our copies of RTCW. Software Etc. sure is raping their customers. Damn thing set me back $64 after taxes and K-Y! The game is fun and sure is a looker, but it doesn't strike me as the Magnum Opus of first-person shooters. I'm still draggin' through the single player game before going online... I'm just like that.

I just got back from my pop's and had a chance to do a little spit 'n shine on his system. I also had a chance to try out his new Richo 7200A 20X CDR drive. Dang thing is quicker than chili verde makin' it's way through a five year old! It also makes copies of write-protected game CDs with the default software... at least on the one I tried... for backup purposes.

We also had a chance for a few hotseat games of Pro Pinball: Big Race USA. I had forgotten how fun that game is. Pop kicked my butt, so I'll have to teach him a little deathmatch UT, or something along those lines .