 |
May 2002
SoF:2 at Circuit City
Cage
@ 7:29
Comments
Well, it looks like I might finally be able to get my hands on a copy of Soldier of Fortune:2. The weekly circular for Circuit City has SoF:2 for $15 off. Hopefully that means that they also have it in stock.
I just bought a new TV via Amazon.com, which has a deal with Circuit City where you can pick up your on-line order locally - without waiting for the product to ship. Quite cool.
Addendum: CompUSA also has SoF:2 for $34.99, and they throw in a free copy of SoF:Platinum to boot.
Halo M.I.A.
Nine11
@ 7:23
Comments
It's not like we all didn't know this, but Shaknews got some quality time with Microsoft's PR and discovered the PC version of Halo isn't currently in development. Big surprise. Here's a few snipplets:
"...it’s on the board as planned to do, but in terms of actual development of it, it is not."
"...we do have the whole team there, but they are obviously occupied with a major title for the console, a platform driver for the console."
Battlefield 1942 Movie
Nine11
@ 7:15
Comments
Take a peek at IGN.PC's Battlefield 1942 movie. It's in QT format and is fairly short, but it looks pretty cool, shows off several different perspectives from different vehicles, and should be one heck of an online game... which is basically WWII Online but on a smaller scale (64 players).
Dungeon Siege & RTCW Patches
Nine11
@ 6:33
Comments
Well, Gas Powered Games finally let a patch fly through their clenched cheeks for Dungeon Siege. It's really small at 252K, but it addresses issues with framerates and EAX which I seemed to have problems with. Get it from 3D Gamers.
3D Gamers also has a patch for Return To Castle Wolfenstein which adds trueform for those of you with ATI cards, support for moving objects (trams), and the Tram Siege multiplayer map.
Soldier Of Fortune II Thread
Nine11
@ 11:47
Comments
There's a pretty good Soldier of Fortune II thread going on over at Voodoo Extreme. The game has (for the most part) made some positive impressions in both single and online play. Of particular interest are the randomly generated maps, so you don't feel like you're playing D2M6 (or whatever) forever. Here's the most coherent tidbit of the bunch:
I've been playing this with a few guys at work on the LAN here, and it's a fucking BLAST. There are definate differences in the ways the weapons handle between single and multiplay -- so don't be 'put off' if you try the single player first and think that it might be too 'simulistic' for multiplay. The multiplay "feels" in many ways like the test, except it's smoother, more polished, and the maps are very nice (as well as having far more skins to choose from). I wish there had been an option to turn on the really detailed gore models that were in the single player game, but even still, there is more gore in the full player multi than in the test (i.e. blood spurting out of the stumps of severed limbs). The randomly generated maps are not there to be direct substitutes for the maps included there in the game. However, one important thing to remember, is that the random maps are really large, and would much better support more 'stealthy' and/or long range shootouts, than many of the maps that are 'premade'. And while they are all similar, I've found that the changes in where buildings, bridges, rivers, etc are placed, are different enough so that you aren't playing (obviously) the same map over and over again.
Perhaps the game doesn't push anything new in the 'innovation' department...but for a solid shooter with good graphics, sound, and play, I'd say that this game is definately fun and worth the purchase. I can also see a *HUGE* potential here for mapmaking, mods, and community created weapons. While not directly related to the value you're buying "out of the box" -- I also can't wait to see what some of the map wizards out there could create with this baby.
BlackGangsta...my computer here at work is a 900mhz p3 and a geForce2mx...and the game doesn't take that long to load, and I've got quite a few details turned up and it runs just smooth. So...perhaps you've got something 'wrong' going on there. (Also, I've never encountered any of the 'corrupt' errors or whatever people were talking about. if you do, check the readme file in your docs directory, there's a spot in there about I/O errors and very fast CD-rom drives)
E3 2002: Unreal II Impressions
Nine11
@ 10:57
Comments
I'm hittin' da G-Spot again for more E3 goodies, this time Unreal II. The game's plot revolves around an evil corporation and a Space Marine who's gotta stop 'em. So much for an original concept. Anyway, the game sports 30 levels in 10 different environments raning from techno-alien to a planet-sized alien, which grew to it's enormous size while drawing power from an artifact. Sounds interesting...
E3 2002: Doom III Impressions
Nine11
@ 15:39
Comments
G-Spot got a good whiff of DOOM III at E3, which kicked off today. Their little two page thang includes 4 new in-game screenies and a rundown of the presentation movie rendered in real-time. Having played the original DOOM series, I got the feeling this new game is more of the same but with more bling and graphics on par with last year's Final Fantasy movie. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing... just more Space Marine kickin' Mr Evil in da ass... which was plenty of fun the first time around.
Big Head Todd & The Monsters
Nine11
@ 9:41
Comments
While it's not exactly puter related stuff, the little lady and I caught a Big Head Todd & The Monsters concert in LA this past weekend. A pal of mine turned me onto them back in '96, but I'd never seen 'em live till now. Man, they put on a really great show and I've never seen anyone bust so many guitar strings in a single performance... three to be exact. Anyway, if yer into some really good blues/rock, there will be a live webcast of their San Diego show tonight on DCN.
Unreal Tournament 2003
Nine11
@ 8:03
Comments
G-Spot scored some streaming media of Unreal Tournament 2003. It's a fairly low-res affair but much easier to swallow than the lard-butt download I mentioned before.
GTA3 Hit's The G-Spot
Nine11
@ 10:16
Comments
GTA3 hit the G-Spot for a little hands-on action. The game sounds pretty slick with attention paid to the graphics and controls, which seem to be the biggest issues with crossover console titles. GTA3 should slide onto store shelves in the next week or two.
The Matrix: Reloaded Movie Trailer
Nine11
@ 9:54
Comments
Here's the Quicktime movie trailer in supermodel, girl next door, Anna Nichole Smith, and roll her in flour sizes.
Gainward Ti4200 Review
Nine11
@ 9:33
Comments
Here's another Gainward Ti4200 review at TBreak. Yea, we all know how much I love Gainward's Golden Sample cards and how I dig their cheap thrills.
Parhelia "Fast As Stink!"
Nine11
@ 2:07
Comments
[H] got some tidbits from Matrox on their next video card, Parhelia (what a name!). Among other things, the card will have 20GB of bandwidth and up to 256MB of memory, and it'll support surround gaming. Now we gotta lug three monitors to the LAN party?!
UPDATE: If you don't mind a mess of geek-speak, Anandtech has an even tastier preview of the Parhelia.
Gainward Ti4200 Review
Nine11
@ 15:57
Comments
Anadtech wrapped their grubby mitts around a retail version of the Gainward Ti4200. Aside from a few snooty remarks about construction and the heatsink, they found the card overclocked well and boosted the stock 250/444MHz clock to 330/540MHz. Performance-wise, the OC'd card landed between a Ti4400 and the flagship Ti4600. Not bad for $200.
Guillemot Layoffs
Nine11
@ 8:07
Comments
This is quite a shocker. [H] caught wind that Guillemot has been trimming some fat in order to meet or boost their bottom line. I'm a big fan of their Golden Sample video cards and really hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Here's a snipplet:
...April 30th, 2002, there were 10 people laid off from the North America group. This is the second wave of layoff in the company in the past 6 months as there was a shocking wave in November. I believe about 20% of the staff was cut at that time. The April layoffs included the entire Tech Support team, the RMA department, the Graphic designers and the Web Department. One top of these departments being completely gone, there has been someone from Human Resources, the two Head Testers at the warehouse (test the RMAs), some sales reps that are in California, PR (Tali) and someone from the Marketing team. The reasons are pure economics. The Decision to completely get rid of the tech support team was a surprising one...
UPDATE: Boy, was I out to lunch! I was thinking "Gainward"... my bad...
Battlefield 1942
Nine11
@ 2:16
Comments
Battlefield 1942 is a WWII shooter which lets up to 64 players mix it up grunt-style or in various air, land, and sea vehicles. Sounds linda like WWII Online, but on a smaller scale... which would be less of a pipe dream.
Kids + Violent Games = Federal Crime
Nine11
@ 8:30
Comments
G-Spot caught wind of a proposed bill which would make selling computer games with violent themes to minors a Federal crime. I can see the reasons for this, but is it still okay for the WWE (formerly WWF, they've branched out into "entertainment") to carry on as they do?
Intel's New Chip & Reality
Nine11
@ 8:54
Comments
Intel released their Northwood B processors, which run at 533MHz FSB. Normally, I'd be more impressed but these suckers will set ya back just shy of $700 and may not help much in the end. You see, the next generation of games will be pushing CPUs and GPUs much harder... so Q3A benchmark scores of +300 won't mean squat.
If you haven't seen the Unreal Tournament 2003 in-game movie yet, take a look. Damn thing is impressive but makes me feel my hardware upgrade may have been in vain. A faster CPU may help, but ya don't have a damn thing if your graphics card goes limp under the strain.
Anandtech used the latest build of the Unreal engine to test the Northwood B. Paired with a Ti4600, the bottom end of the benchmark spread was represented by the P4 1.6GHz at 33 fps. The king of the hill was the P4 2.53GHz, which hit 50 fps. Various Athlon and P4 CPUs were scattered between with 1600+ to 2100+ ranging from 42 to 47 fps. That's not much of a spread no matter how you look at it.
So, I'll be lucky if my 1800+ paired with a Golden Sample Ti200 will break 40 fps. Big whoop. Video cards are still have a strangle hold on gaming performance, and today's top dog can't speed past 50 fps... and that's an average with the spread of the benchmark test falling above and below that number.
IMHO, we need a new graphics card which is clocked somewhere around 1GHz and has double or quad pumped memory. We also need a stable set of drivers which don't change every month. Maybe I'm dreaming, but I'm tired of upgrading every time the next generation of games comes out and it's hard to explain to the wife why I sink a grand into my box every year. Sheesh!
Morrowind First Impressions
Nine11
@ 11:02
Comments
Gone Gold slapped up a first impression of Morrowind. Basically, the game has to run in 32-bit or it'll barf up to the desktop, but it's gorgeous and sounds like fun to play. Too bad no one can release a game these days without the bugs.
Unreal Tournament 2003 Movies
Nine11
@ 9:05
Comments
There is a pair of Unreal Tournament 2003 movies floating around the net. They were filmed in Germany and depsite their "handicam" quality, they do a pretty good job of showing off the next installment of the UT series. The first movie is you basic PR demonstration with actors and a light show (skipped that one), and the second one shows off some in-game LAN action. The second movie starts off kinda lame as the player keeps sticking his noggin' in the camera lense and tries to figure out the controls, but things pipe-up as he gets into his groove (about 8:44 into the movie, it's 35:14 long). Both movies are over 200MB, so get ready to lube your digital love canal before trying to take on this fatty! The flicks can be had from Unreal Tournament II.net or Warp2Search.net.
Belkin Wireless LAN
Nine11
@ 8:05
Comments
A pal of mine recently setup a wireless LAN for sharing his cable connection between his main puter and his wife's laptop. Things have been working out pretty well, and they've been playing MoH over the WLAN as well. Anyway, I've been noticing Belkin WLAN stuff at cutthroat prices in the Sunday flyers, and Bjorn3D decided to review their wireless router as well as USB, PCI, and PCMIA cards.
MP3 Virus?!
Nine11
@ 7:36
Comments
It hasn't happened yet, but some jerk could stick a virus in a MP3 ID tag and have it executed through WinAmp's minibrowser. The best defense against this type of attack is to disable WinAmp's minibrowser or to upgrade to the latest version of WinAmp.
|
|
|
