``xAfter hunting around the web, I finally found a good news script to use on my site. While it does have some limitations, NewsPro is really slick.

Eventually I'll also be adding full archive support, so that folks will be able to search the archives for news stories etc.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew News Script``x939545909,37081,``x``x ``xPanzer Elite by Wings Simulations has gone Gold and is off to the duplicators.

Panzer Elite is a very promising WW II tank simulation. The beta received some very positive comments from Combat Simulations and SimHQ.

Here's a taste from the beta.

Panzer Elite beta
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPanzer Elite Goes Gold``x939546733,93507,``x``x ``xGameDaily reports that Creative has announced the Nomad II MP3 player at the Internet World convention.

Here's the details ripped right from the article.

"It (the Nomad II) offers easier and faster USB-port connectivity, a wired remote control unit, a backlit display and improvements to the memory-card support, as well as the original specs of MP3 playback, included FM tuner and support software. It’s slated for release in the first quarter of 2000 with an SRP under $400." - Game Daily.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNomad II announced``x939621725,49145,``x``x ``xFighter Ace II, Microsoft's on-line WW II flight sim has entered free public beta testing. You can find out more at Microsoft's Fighter Ace Beta page.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFighter Ace II Open Beta``x940156010,19961,``x``x ``xI noticed that CombatSim has a preview of Microsoft's Fighter Ace II beta.

The sim really does look sweet.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFighter Ace 2``x940232530,96132,``x``x ``xAces High will be adding gunners to crewable planes like the B-17. Here's the details from the news forum.

"The AH gunner system allows either the pilot or his gunner to control multiple positions simultaneously. As you man a particular position and point your weapon, all other weapons that share that field of fire will automatically slew to that direction. You then have the option to fire only the weapon you are manning or all weapons that are pointed at your target. For example, if you're in the nose of a B-17G and you have a target at 1 o'clock low and were to fire all available weapons, the target would receive fire from the ball turret, the chin turret, and the right cheek gun." - Pyro

Ouch! That's a lot of firepower.


``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAces High Gunners``x940241478,3027,``x``x ``xAhh, at last! A new turn based strategy game. Age of Wonders has finally started shipping this last week. After playing around with the demo I think I've finally found a worthy successor to Heroes II.

You can grab the 44MB demo via the Age of Wonders web site.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAge of Wonders``x942737771,89147,``x``x ``xYep, Unreal Tournament has gone Gold/Final. It looks like both UT and Quake 3 will make it by T-Day.

I've been playing around a little with UT, and between the 2 demo's, it's my favorite.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tournament goes GOLD``x942738541,33544,``x``x ``xI saw this little gem inside a press release at Thrustmaster's site.

"The next products to be presented to gamers will be the new ThrustMaster flight sims, which will be shown at E3 in May 2000. These flight simulations tools will be engineered to follow up the successful HOTAS systems - FLCS, F-22 and F16TQS - and will include among other technical features a USB interface."

Oh yeah. That will be nice.

The big questions is will there be a Force Feedback version as well?
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Thrustmastert HOTAS``x942738843,76479,``x``x ``xHigh speed Internet access is finally making it's way to my neck of the woods. Time Warner's Road Runner Cable Internet service will be appearing in Bakersfield in "Spring 2000."

The local Baklersfield Road Runner web page is now up. Be sure to fill out the "Early Bird" form if you want to be one of the first to get the goods.
``xcage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTime Warner Road Runner Internet Service Arriving Soon``x949069692,39513,``x``x ``xI decided to do some cleaning up around the site last night. Things should look pretty much the same, but the front page should load quite a bit faster.

There's more to do, including a possible re-design of the front page. Once all that gets done updates should become much more frequent. Well, hopefully....heheheh.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Cleanup``x950019175,75035,``x``x ``xI went ahead and made a few minor cosmetic changes to the front page. I more extensive facelift will have to wait until I get a bit more inspired.
``xcage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFacelift``x950128875,66414,``x``x ``xWell, I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but I added a "Comments" feature for each news post.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComments Feature Added``x950131703,30328,``x``x ``xThe rest of the goodies for my new computer system should finish rolling in today. I'll be doing a write up after I get everything together, but here are a few details.

Tornado 1000 w/300 Watt Power Supply - 3DCool.

Coppermine Pentium 500e OC'd to 750 MHz with iWill Slocket II and Vantec Cooler - GenXTech.

Mitsubishi 2020U 22" Naturally Flat monitor - Multiwave.

256MB of Corsair PC133 SDRAM - Multiwave.

IBM 27GB 7200 rpm HD - OnSale/Egghead.

I'll be using a few "old" components from my current system. I'm planning on grabbing a new video card in the next few months depending on how the new Voodoo 5 5500/6000 specs out versus the competition.

It should be a lot of fun, and a lot faster then my current OC'd Celeron 300A.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew "Caged Lightning" System Arriving Soon``x950203007,34710,``x``x ``xAll the goodies finally arrived yesterday for my new system. The 3DCool case was the last item to make it, arriving after I had already left for work.

First impressions were mixed. The CPU shipment arrived as promised, but with no documentation for the iWill Slocket II. The Vantec Cooler had also come unclipped from the CPU during it's trip to me, despite being secured in lots of bubble wrap and cushioned in foam filler chips.

The 3DCool case looks very nice, and is of high quality construction. Unfortunately at first glance it appears to be missing one of it's white thumb screws. I'm sure I can grab a few extras at CompUSA if it doesn't show up.

Once I get a chance I'll throw up a couple of snapshots of what the case looks like.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComponent First Impressions``x950283225,4595,``x``x ``xWow, those RB Forums are still hopping. If anything, there seems to be more going on then there was a year ago on Delphi's Flight Sim Forum.

Lots of old faces and characters are still posting there. Who knows, I just might get inspired enough to update my Red Baron pages a bit. At the least I need to install the NewsPro script. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRB Forums/Community``x950284414,82997,``x``x ``xYep, if you hadn't noticed I finally got around to using Cascading Style Sheets on my web site.

One of the reasons I've been slow to adopt using CSS has been the difficulty of finding good documentation and resources. I finally made the plunge after finding some rudimentary CSS support in the laterst version 5 of Hot Metal Pro. I'll have to play around with Dreamweaver 3 and see how it works there.

As a side note, I finally switched from using Netscape Navigator to Internet Explorer and Outlook 2000. Much better stuff. I've had far fewer browser crashes, and the HTML implementation seems much more logical and correct in IE then NN.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCSS/HTML``x950285113,34493,``x``x ``xI really like the way the "Cage's Links" section works now that I changed a few things on the site. It's much easier to add and subtract links.

If you've run across a link that you think should appear under "Cage's Link" drop me a line, and let me know. Just a bit of a warning. I'm quite picky about the links that I put there. If it's not a site that I'd visit regularly it often falls off the list after a short time. A lot of that has to do with my personal tastes, so don't get too offended if I don't put up your favorite link.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCage's Links``x950285412,45449,``x``x ``xYep, my system is back up - kind of.

It looks like I'll need a different motherboard to really reach my new CPU's full Overclocking potential. I'll post up some details later.

Even just going from my OC'd Celeron 300a to a P3 500e I noticed some substantial gains in performance.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPentium III 500e Overclocking Project``x950624044,57695,``x``x ``xI've seen mention on several places on the web, including this Register article that both AMD and Intel will be cutting prices on their cpu's on Feb. 28.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD and Intel Price Cuts coming``x950628034,29882,``x``x ``xThere's an interesting review on PC133 RAM at GamePC To me it seemed like all of them preformed pretty close to each other.

I do dig their "Printer frendly" option for reading articles at that site. AnandTech has the same feature. No more waiting as you load up multiple pages with gigabytes of banner ads in order to get to the bottom line.

Sharky's Extreme is probably the worst offender, since they don't even feature an article index. Even an article index can be a pain, as evidenced at Thresh's Firing Squad. The index at FS pops up a seperate window, much like an irritating GeoCities web site. Ugh!
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPC133 RAM Review``x950628634,58486,``x``x ``xFor all of you Homeworld geeks out there (you know who you are), there is word of a new Homeworld addition this Summer. Here's the rip from Game Daily.

At the Milia trade show in Cannes, France today Sierra Studios revealed a new chapter in the Homeworld series. The new title, Homeworld: Cataclysm, was created in conjunction with Barking Dog Studios and Relic Entertainment, and is scheduled for a Summer 2000 release.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xHomeworld Project``x950629102,69286,``x``x ``x Beta News is reporting that there is a new version of WinAmp (2.6) available for download. Here's the scoop:

After over four months of development, Nullsoft, Inc. has released a new version of their 'llama-whipping' digital audio player, Winamp. Version 2.6 includes some huge changes over its predecessor, namely featuring a new 'SuperPiMP' installation system, Winamp Agent, and an updated version of Advanced Visualization Studio.

Winamp Agent allows you to protect Winamp from being thwarted by other software such as Real Player or Microsoft Windows Media Player. CD audio support has also been drastically improved, along with updated MJuice and AudioSoft code. Winamp now has better integration with Netscape and Internet Explorer, including updated URLs. Highly skilled graphic designer, Steve Gedikian, has also created a new Winamp splash screen, paving the way for a redesigned About box.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Version 2.6 of WinAmp MP3 Software``x950629257,76393,``x``x ``xIf, like me, you purchased the HTML authoring program Dreamweaver 2 a few months ago there is a free upgrade available to Dreamweaver 3. Here's the details.

The following applies to full copies of Macromedia Software only, It does not include versions that are not made by Macromedia, nor does it include versions that were bundled with non-Macromedia products.

If you purchased Dreamweaver 2 between November 8, 1999 and
January 8, 2000 you are entitled to a free upgrade.

All you will need to do to get a free upgrade, if you are in the U.S.A or Canada, is fax a copy of your invoice or receipt, along with your serial number, shipping address, contact name and phone number to 425 222 0382


Yep, it worked out just like they promised. I received a brand new copy of Dreamweaver 3 in the mail last night. Sweet. I'm still not sure how much I like Dreamweaver 3 versus my current HTML editor of choice, HotMetal Pro 6.0 by Softquad.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDreamweaver 3 Upgrade``x950629846,71205,``x``x ``x 3DWars has an article on water cooling your CPU. What caught my attention was that the kit that was mentioned is made by 3DCool, the same folks from whom I bought my new Tornado 1000 cool case.

It's not something I'm inclined to do right now, but it's an interesting read.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWater Cooling your CPU``x950630214,88039,``x``x ``xYep, it's coming up to that time of the year again. The Electronic Entertainment Expo will be in Los Angeles at the Convention Center May 11-13, 2000.

Are you nuts? Of course I'm going. E3 is one of my favorite shows, and is just a couple of hours away from where I live. Of course you are supposed to be "in the business" in order to attend. It's not open to the general public.

You can get more info about E3 at the official E3 site.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xE3``x950630900,84371,``x``x ``xWell it's not like this development should surprise anyone. According to a ZDNet News story President Clinton is proposing an Internet Security Center. Here's the details:

As the investigation of last week's Internet attacks continues, the White House is expected to propose a new Internet-security center following a meeting Tuesday between President Clinton and high-tech executives.
The Cyber-National Information Center, to be known as Cyber-NIC, will be a place where companies "can work together to address cyber security problems and crises," according to a planning document. In addition, the White House is asking its science adviser, Neal Lane, to take the lead in establishing a think tank supported by both the public and private sectors to consider cyber security issues.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPresident Clinton Proposes Internet Security Center``x950631432,7992,``x``x ``xYep, the Unrealism Tweak Guide has been updated again. For those that need to get a few more Frames Per Second out of Unreal Tournament, this is the spot. Even my friend "Pingboy" is starting to realize the need for speed. I see a system upgrade in his near future after I've finished hoping up my system.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tournament Tweak Guide``x950631650,17153,``x``x ``xAnandTech has article on the Intel Developer's Conference where Intel was showing off a 1.5 GHz CPU.

Don't hold your breath. The CPU they showed was not running any benchmark programs, and was very like early silicon.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``x1.5 GHz Intel CPU``x950690874,9027,``x``x ``xSharky's Extreme has another interview up with the Bitboys Oy. The gist is that there will be an announcement in March with solid details on their hot rod video chipsets.

I don't know. It seems at times that the Glaze 3D is a bunch of smoke and mirrors, and at other times there is just enough detail to make me think it's possible. Here's a bit on the claimed specs:

"Sporting 9MB of embedded DRAM connected to the Glaze3D processor core by a 512-bit memory bus in addition to a 128-bit external SDRAM powered memory bus, the 150MHz chip boasts up to 12GB/second of memory bandwidth.

With claimed fill-rates of 1200 million pixels/second with the Glaze3D 2400 and 600 million pixels/second with the Glaze3D 1200, Bitboys gave us visions of high-resolution, environment bump mapped, full scene anti-aliased, 32-bit sugarplums dancing in our heads."


``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBitboys Oy``x950695264,84670,``x``x ``xThis is the first article that I've seen that really shows the benefits from overclocking a video card.

AnandTech's NVidia GeForce SDR Roundup demonstrates that you can get easily 10 FPS more at high resolutions on a GeForce SDR card by overclocking. That's no trivial feat, since it's at higher resolutions that most systems start to bog down.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFPS Increase by Overclocking you Video Card``x950782136,5017,``x``x ``xI caught this little gem at Ars Technica. It seems that some retailers will give you an OEM deal on Windows if you buy only parts of a complete system. Here's a snip:

One way to save money is to buy an upgrade version, but there's another option that a lot of people don't know about. It's called OEM pricing, and it let's you get pricing schemes comparable to getting a new computer, but without the whole computer. Many suppliers (including our own hardware sponsor, The Chip Merchant) offer you OEM pricing with the purchase of a motherboard or hard drive. And the OEM version is the full one -- that means no hunting around for old disks when you reinstall.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xOEM Pricing on Windows Software``x950871558,81301,``x``x ``xYep, my latest system is up and running now. Affectionately called "Caged Lightning", this beast is an Intel Pentium III 500E Coppermine overclocked to 750 MHz. There's not much more then Windows and Dial-Up Networking installed, but it is up and running. I should be able to post up some benchmarks and details tonight or tommorow. Here's a bit of a tease....

"Of particular interest to me is how the Unreal Tournament Frames Per Second scores will turn out. I'll be sure to pass along complete instructions on how to bench your own system. I'll also put up a copy of the UTBench.dem file that I used for some of the testing.

Another topic of interest for me was how the IWill Slocket II would work out. I ended up pairing the P3/Slocket II with an Abit VA6 motherboard. The result? Well so far the system has been rock solid at 750 MHz. A P3 500e runs stock at 100 MHz (bus) X 5 (clock multiplier) = 500 MHz. So to get to 750 MHz you have to run the bus at 150 MHz. I have a feeling that if the Abit VA6 could have run at 160 MHz bus it would have gone even higher."
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCage's "Caged Lightning" System``x950872149,9429,``x``x ``xYep, I'm still alive and I'm feeling much better. I haven't been able to write up a review on my new system yet, but I promise I'll get to it asap. Real life/work and a bout of allergies etc. put a bit of a crimp in my plans. Developing allergies is one of the "pleasures" of living in California's Central Valley. Then again, it's still California weather out here, so I shouldn't whine about things too much.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Update``x951471032,28988,``x``x ``xFans of Unreal Tournament will be happy to hear that the UT Bonus Pack will be released today. Here's the skinny from GameCenter:
Gamecenter will team up with Epic Games to premiere the Unreal Tournament Bonus Pack on Friday, February 25. The free bonus pack will be available as a download to all Unreal Tournament fans. It includes three new skins, 11 new multiplayer levels, and a new feature, Relics. These are special items that grant special powers. Relics will grant increased strength or speed, or even explode after you die in order to avenge your death.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tournament Bonus Pack``x951471340,69951,``x``x ``xHere's something that I saw mentioned on Voodoo Extreme. The new 3dfx video cards, the Voodoo 5000 and 6000 will debut at CEbit in Germany today. The European 3dfx site has this to say:

3dfx has chosen the premier German exhibition, CeBIT, for the launch of its next generation Voodoo cards. The new product line will be demonstrated at 3dfx's high profile stand in the multimedia hall at CeBIT 2000.

The European launch of the new cards will be heralded by a personal appearance by Lara Croft, currently being played by Dutch model, Lara Weller. The famous Tomb Raider character will be on-stand from 2pm on Friday, February 25th. Her appearance will be followed by a launch party in the evening, which will feature a live set from top UK DJ, Tim Lyall, and visuals provided by DNADancer.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo 5000/6000 Release``x951473642,80541,``x``x ``xI saw this bit from a new site that I've added to my links list. 3D Spotlight posted a blurb from Brian Burke about the development schedule for the next generation Voodoo VSA-100 graphic chips. Here's the skinny:

"We have placed orders for production silicon already. Our software development is right on track. We are on the same release schedule as when the VSA-100 product was introduced at Comdex, which we stated would be in the Spring. That product will include all the features that have been promised. It will deliver real time, full scene anti aliasing. It will support dazzling cinematic effects via our t-buffer. It will feature 32-bit color depth, SLI implementations and astronomical fill rates. Despite the outstanding state of this first silicon, the boards used in the Cebit demonstrations do not represent production silicon. Shortly after GDC, we expect to be demonstrating Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 boards that are much closer to production quality."

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo VSA 100 Statement``x951845858,3704,``x``x ``xWell here's some more juicy info by way of 3D Spotlight and KBench. It's so good that I'll just cut and paste the whole thing.

According to the close source of Nvidia, NV15 is going to be 3 times faster than current GeForce256(NV10)
The source told us that NV11 is at least 1.5 x faster than NV10 and it is targeted at budget customer solutions against NV15. NV11 has 2 texel/pixel, 2 pixel/clock rendering pipeline structure and supports both SDR & DDR SDRAMs. Memory clock of SDR SDRAM version of NV11 will be 166MHz.

As an option, NV11 card with additional DAC can do dual display like G400's DH.

In this case, primary displays at 2048x1536 @60MHz, secondary displays at 1600x1200 @100 is feasible.

NV15 will be 3 times faster than GeForce256 with 400MHz of DDR SDRAM. It has 2 texel/pixel, 4 pixel/clock rendering pipeline structure and supports 720P HDTV. NV15 can be configured with SCA(Scalable Cooperative Architecture) that 1 AGP + 1 Virtual AGP(PCI) can be set. 90 frames / second at 2048 x 1536 x 32bit color is expected, the source said. This chip will be manufactured with 0.18 micron process and will be available in late spring.

High-end version of NV15, NV15GL will be released also. NV15GL card will have 128MB of DDR SDRAM(400MHz) and uses AGP Pro 4x interface.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNVidia NV11/NV15 Details``x951846166,86864,``x``x ``xMicrosoft is showing off a new set of game controllers at GameStock 2000. Here's a shot of the new MS Force Feedback 2 joystick, the "Strategic Commander" controller, and the Sidewinder "GameVoice."



All of these devices look interesting, though I'd hoped that Microsoft would introduce a seperate throttle controller and rudders for flight sim fans.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Microsoft Controllers``x952099260,56060,``x``x ``xYep, that's right. Contrary to what almost everyone was saying, the new 1+ GHz CPU's from Intel and AMD will be announced as early as this Monday - March 6, 2000. Here's a clip from the story on CNet.

AMD will try to trump Intel by releasing a 1-GHz Athlon processor on Monday, sources said today, although it's a good bet that Intel will try to move up the release of their one-gig chip to the beginning of the week as well.

The two companies are locked in a race to get the first PC processor running at 1-GHz, or "one gig," out the door first. Two weeks ago, chips running at this speed weren't expected until the middle of the year. Intel, however, recently moved up the release of its 1-GHz Pentium III. Intel's release has so far been planned for Wednesday, sources said.

Computers will be announced along with the new chips. Compaq is expected to release an Athlon system while HP and IBM are likely to introduce Pentium III 1-GHz systems. Low-end Athlon systems with monitors are expected to start below $2,500 and comparable Pentium III PCs around $3,000 and above. Higher-end models could approach $4,000, sources said.

Along with its 1-GHz Athlon, AMD will also come out with 900-MHz and 950-MHz Athlon processors, various sources said.


And I just got my "new" Pentium III Coppermin 500E up and running at 750 MHz. If it's any consolation it may be a little bit before the new CPU's become available in quantity. Until then, expect to pay quite a premium.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew 1 GHz CPU's Announced this Monday!!``x952158386,32885,``x``x ``xNot that anyone outside of Bakersfield would care, but I just got notice that Time Warner's Roadrunner Cable will be setting up installation dates for late March - 2000. You can go to the Early Bird site and get things rolling.

Rats! I just checked and the site is down. Hopefully it will be up soon.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoadrunner Cable Arriving....Soon``x952158562,75011,``x``x ``x GameSpot has a preview of MechWarrior 4 which Microsoft was showing off at Gamestock 2000. There are a few screenshots along with the article. Sweet.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMechWarrior 4``x952158959,78911,``x``x ``xThere's a few more details on MechWarrior 4 at Microsoft's Gamestock 2000 site. Here's a favorite of mine:



``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMechWarrior 4``x952198658,62554,``x``x ``xIntel did up their Pentium III processors to 1 GHz as expected. Pricing in lots of 1,000 CPU's is $990. Here's the PR ripped from Voodoo Extreme.

The Pentium III processor 1 GHz achieves the highest PC performance scores ever, based on today's most current industry standard benchmarks. The Pentium III processor 1 GHz achieves a SPECint2000* benchmark rating of 410 and a SPECfp2000* result of 284, versus 355 and 256 scores, respectively, for an Intel Pentium III processor 800 MHz. Using the BAPCo's SYSmark* 2000 running under Windows* 2000, the Pentium III processor 1 GHz delivers a score of 188, besting the previous record of 170 held by an Intel Pentium III processor 800 MHz. For Internet performance, using Ziff-Davis' Internet benchmark iBench (using Windows 98), the Pentium III processor 1 GHz outpaced the 800 MHz by 14 percent for loading complex Web pages.***

At the Intel Developer Forum last month, Intel showed production-level PCs from Dell, HP and IBM featuring the Pentium III processor 1 GHz and its processor line up for the balance of this year. The company demonstrated its next generation microarchitecture for performance PCs - code named Willamette - operating at 1.5 GHz. Eight workstation and server manufacturers showed Intel's new 64-bit microarchitecture - the Intel* Itanium* processor - in systems targeted to reach the market later this year. These Itanium processor-based computers will become the engine for e-Business. In addition, Intel showed Timna, a product that features smart integration to enable PCs that will cost less than $600, also targeted for the market place this year.

Intel's Pentium III processor 1 GHz is available now in limited quantities and is being offered by leading computer makers targeting today's PC enthusiasts, who demand state-of-the-art performance for media-rich Internet sites and advanced applications such as digital photography, video editing, music, voice recognition and 3-D gaming.

Last October, Intel introduced Pentium III processors featuring an integrated Level 2 cache that runs at the full speed of the processor core. This feature, named the Advanced Transfer Cache, enables application performance to scale with increasing clock frequencies. This technology is a key to the outstanding performance of the Pentium III processor 1 GHz.

Most other processors on the market offer older technologies that keep the cache memory from operating at full frequencies, limiting the PC's full ability to deliver performance to the user.

The Pentium III processor 1 GHz in SECC2 packaging is priced at $990 in 1,000-unit quantities, and is available now in limited quantities. Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel 1 GHz CPU Pricing``x952529084,1501,``x``x ``x Ars Technica Intel Coppermine motherboard review gives the skinny on what they think is the best motherboard to use to overclock a Pentium III 500e. They take a look at the Abit BE6, Intel CC820, Microstar MS-6301, ASUS P3C-2000, Supermicro PIIISCD, IWill VD133, and the Tyan Trinity 400. It's very interesting reading, and I suspect that my own personal experience with an Intel 500e overclocking project will mirror their results.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCoppermine Motherboard Review``x952531005,66701,``x``x ``xATI will be pimping two of their upcoming technologies for their line of graphics chips at the Game Developer Conference. Here's a taste from the ATI press release.

"The Charisma Engine™ is the world's fastest geometry processing unit and is also the first to incorporate advanced game character acceleration for 3D skinning and key-frame character animation. These effects are critical for enabling game characters to reveal life-like facial expressions and to achieve fluid movement and motion.

The Pixel Tapestry™ Architecture features the world's first GigaTexel rendering engine, and includes support for deep multitexturing and new 3D effects with eye-popping photorealistic impact. It easily deals with complex elements such as metals, liquids and wood and their complex interaction with lighting and shadows."

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xATI Next Big Thing``x952531170,12875,``x``x ``xYep, AnandTech already has a review up of the new Intel 1 GHz CPU's. What makes this review really sweet is that he includes benchmarks for Unreal Tournament, and includes a comparison to other CPU's like the Athlon 1 GHz CPU on down to overclocked Intel PIII Coppermine CPU's.

Be sure to use the "Print Article" button whenever you read a review at Anand's. It puts the whole article on one page for your viewing pleasure.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAnand Intel 1 GHz Review``x952531533,35793,``x``x ``xAs expected, it looks like the upcoming Voodoo 5000 and 6000 video cards will be shown at the Game Developer's Conference March 8-12. Here's some details from OGR.

3dfx will be showcasing dual VSA-100 processor boards running on the PC and Mac in booth 616 at the San Jose Convention Center, from Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12. The company will demo the VSA-100 boards and the games utilizing 3dfx's new full-scene anti-aliasing capability.

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo 5000/6000 at GDC``x952531766,32308,``x``x ``x Stomped.com has the latest .plan update from Tim Gift, the Technical Director on Dynamix's Tribes 2. Tribes 2 is one of those games on my "must buy" list ever since I saw it shown at last years E3 show in Los Angeles. Here's some goodies from the .plan.

- "Tested the 6 wheeled tank. All the suspension and
new wheel force dynamics seem to work fine with 6
wheels.
- Added particle emitters to the wheels. They
currently emit smoke particles when a tire slips.
- Switched the way the vehicles are controlled.
Vehicles are Control Objects which have special
properties; including Soonest-Possible transmission of
state data to clients, Move processing and
client-server synchronization. Once you took control of
a vehicle, you basically dropped control of your player
"body" (itself a Control Object). This is how Tribes 1
works, but for T2, we wanted to add the ability to
free-look the player's head while controlling a
vehicle, so I added the ability to control other
Control Objects through the player. Because of the way
we process and synchronize client/server Move
processing, this turned out to be an interesting
addition :) The end result is that the client can now
always control his player, and the player can filter
the moves it forwards to it's Control Object (though a
client can still control a vehicle directly). Since the
player doesn't have to be mounted to an object to
control it, you can be standing on the side of a hill
controlling a vehicle down in the valley (an RC racing
mod comes to mind :)
- Added the player free-look. You can now free-look
while controlling a vehicle. The player's head moves
independently of the body, so you can see pilots
looking around :)"
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 .plan Update - Tim Gift``x952532599,29906,``x``x ``xMicrosoft's upcoming Dungeon Siege does look sweet. I wasn't so sure when I saw the preview that was pointed out to me by "Pingboy." After looking at some of the latest screenshots, and have to admit that I'm intrigued by it's potential. Here's a screenshot that I really liked:





``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDungeon Siege``x952535124,94786,``x``x ``xI called up Time Warner yesterday to check on when we'd see cable Internet access. The latest guess is "the middle of next month." Argh! I can hardly wait until it arrives.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Update (Bakersfield)``x954258988,44466,``x``x ``xYep, that's right. Time Warner's Road Runner Cable Internet service became available April 12 in Bakersfield. Here's the blurb from the local RR page:

Bakersfield, Rosedale, Shafter/Wasco and Arvin/Lamont


"Time Warner Cable's RoadRunner On-line service will be available in the above TWC service areas starting April 12, 2000."

- Road Runner Bakersfield.


Argh! Well I guess I'll have to call them up and see if it's so today.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Available April 12?``x955712105,35592,``x``x ``xI called Time Warner this morning, and "yes, Road Runner service is now available - but there is a backlog of over 1200 people."

Rats. I've already received email confirming that I'm on the list, so I'll just have to be patient and wait my turn.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Backlog``x955729145,95146,``x``x ``xI just caught this gem in today's Bakersfield Californian.
"More than 20,000 Pacific Bell customers throughout Delano, Rosedale and Oildale now have an opportunity to surf the information superhighway faster through an expansion of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology by Pacific Bell."

and

"For more information on DSL service contact Pacific Bell's Emerging Product Center at (888) 884-2375. The company is offering a special promotion through April 30."

- Bakersfield California

Interesting, eh?

No doubt this has a lot to do with the fact that Time Warner Cable is just now offering it's Road Runner cable Internet service to the same area.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDSL Now Available in NW Bakersfield``x955866312,67714,``x``x ``xI updated my links to the new Pacific Bell DSL page. It's at http://www.pacbell.com/DSL/1,1877,,00.html?site_code=PCB ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDirect Link to Pacific Bell DSL Site``x955890056,19640,``x``x ``xArgh.

I checked on my phone number, and I'm too far out even after Pac Bell's latest upgrade for DSL service.

The rep did mention something interesting. Pac Bell will be rolling out a new service in the next 1-1 1/2 years called "Pronto." It will put fiber optic cable close to the house and then run copper in the rest of the way.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDSL Not Available``x955987408,57775,``x``x ``xI finally received notification that I could schedule an appointment for my Road Runner Internet Cable service. I called up the number that I was given, and the installation folks will be coming out this Monday between 9 am and 1 pm.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xInstallation Date``x956280327,4116,``x``x ``xYes, Time Warner's Cable Internet service is up and running at my place as of this last Monday. The only glitch was a bad/corroded connector at the box on the street. Once that was fixed everything was golden. I did miss out on getting any sleep that day, and I had to work that night. Even though I was up for 48+ hours and dead tired, it was worth it.

At the time that I got it installed I was told that there were approximately 170+ folks that were up and running on Road Runner in town. As of Monday there were approximately 1700 poor souls still on the waiting list to be hooked up.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCable Internet Rocks``x956784138,35873,``x``x ``xI finally got around to adding the new site logo to the page. I'd hoped to roll out a completely re-designed site, but I just haven't had the time to work on it.

The links section has also been updated a bit. That's one of the most valuable parts of the site for me, and I hope that others find it useful as well.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Tweaking``x957375334,81313,``x``x ``xOne of the reasons that I haven't been updating the site that much is that I've been having so much fun with my new cable modem. Lots of Unreal Tournament, and of course just surfing the web.

Thanks to my new broadband connection I should be updating this site more frequently in the future. Now where have you heard that before? Heheh. Of course I get to work the next 7 nights in a row, so don't expect a barrage of features or news during that time.

E3 is about a week away. I'm really looking forward to going. I'll be there Thursday and Friday to check out all the latest hardware and games. I'll post up a report once I get back....really!
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEtc.``x957375605,23748,``x``x ``xOf course now that I have a cable Internet connection I've been looking around for the best way to share it with my other pc. From my short search around the 'net it seems that the UMax UGate-3000 is hard to beat. There is a review at http://www.speedguide.net/.

I'll write something up once my arrives and I've had a chance to play with it.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUMax UGate-3000``x957375901,99141,``x``x ``xI finally got my TiVo digital TV recorder set up last night. It looks quite promising. TiVo is a new super smart digital VCR type device. Very slick.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTiVo Digital TV Recorder``x957376367,26800,``x``x ``xI finally got a few days off, and I got my shiny new UMax UGate-3000 installed.

I'm quite pleased with the results so far. I'll put up a more complete report of how it went after the new site design is done.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUMax UGate-3000 Installed``x958893748,10781,``x``x ``xYep, I'm still hard at work on the new site re-design. Bill has put together some ideas that look quite tasty. I really want to finish the site makeover before putting up much new content. At least that's my main excuse for not updating anything here recently. I have an E3 report and a few other goodies ready to go once things are finished off.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Re-Design``x958893959,99721,``x``x ``xYep, the site re-design is finally happening. I went ahead and uploaded it to see how things work. It will be a few days before I can do much more tweaking, but what you see is pretty close to what the final version should look like.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Re-Design``x961858976,49630,``x``x ``xYep, the site is finally up and running. I've finished updating the look, and I'll start to add some content soon. Things to look forward to include: and more.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSite Revised``x963768903,14224,``x``x ``xI've uploaded my review of the UMax UGate-3000 hub and Cable/ADSL gateway. It's a bit short, but it should help those who are looking around for a way to network a couple of computers together and share a Cable Internet connection.

Since this is the first review I've put up on my revised site, let me lay down some of the ground rules for products that are reviewed here:
That's about it. I hope to become more active with updating content in the future. It's not my full time job, but I'll try to get something up at least every few days for now. I'll see what direction things take in the future.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUMax UGate-3000``x963788693,76647,``x``x ``xI just finished playing through Diablo 2 with a Sorceress last night. Despite my attempts to initially create a multi-talented "tank mage" I ended up depending on spells and evasion tactics from after Act 1.

Duriel at the end of Act 2, and Hephasto who appears just before the end of Act 4 gave me the most trouble. Here are a few tips that might help you out if you play a Sorceress.

Duriel is located in a small room that you can not back out of without using a Town Portal. On systems with 128MB of RAM or less you will experience quite a bit of lag as the level is loaded in. Duriel is very strong, so it's quite possible you will get hit several times and killed if you don't start trying to move immediately. Duriel is so strong that he can rapidly kill a Sorceress even if she is wearing high quality Splint Mail armor. Duriel quickly taught me the folly of the "tank mage" approach. No matter how much effort I put into better armor and items to raise my defensive abilities it wasn't enough. The only thing that bought me a little bit of time were items that raised my hit points.

The most effective tactic for my Sorceress was to use Blaze. Pick up a +2 or +3 staff of Blaze, ignite, and run like crazy around Duriel. Create a Town Portal when possible, and make liberal use of your health and mana potions. Duriel has a freeze attack that is a "Demonic power" and resistances to cold won't help much. Items that reduce the time for cold effects will help, as will items that speed your base movement. A good set of Fast or Fastest run/walk are a must for a Sorceress. You will spend a lot of your time in the game avoiding monsters and using hit and run tactics.

Monsters that have high resistances to all magic, and that are fast also pose a problem for a Sorceress. Hephasto has both, and he likes to close rapidly with you and go toe to toe towards the end of Act 4. Cold based attacks can not be counted on to slow him down because of his high resistance to magic. He has a lot of hit points, so any magic based attack will take quite some time to kill him. You definitely will want to try to kill as many of the monsters around him as possible before you take him on.

Against any high level "boss" creature a few successful Static Charge spells can quickly drop some of their hit points. I had neglected to develop this skill, so I didn't even try this approach. Instead I relied on Fire Wall spells. The Fire Wall spell can do massive amounts of damage, and it sticks around for awhile. I could have used a Blaze spell instead, but by then I had sold my Blaze staff. I knew a Level 1 Blaze wasn't going to be too successful. Using Fire Wall still didn't make it easy, and I ended up dying quite a few times in the process. Hephasto was certainly one of the toughest monsters in the entire game for me. In comparison Diablo was a cake walk.

There you have it. For more tips on Diablo tactics and walk-thoughs you can visit Diabloii.net or for those who are especially frustrated you can visit Gameguru for Diablo 2 trainers and cheat programs (single player mode only).``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFinished Diablo II With Sorceress``x964188349,71764,``x``x ``xI'm still waiting for my Compaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC. I ordered mine from Amazon.com. Today I went ahead and put another order in at PDAMart. They say that they don't charge until the order ships, and that I can cancel at any time before it ships. The web site and shopping interface isn't as sharp as it is at Amazon, but they seem to have strong user support for hand held PC's. I also considered ordering at MobilePlanet but their shopping cart gave me an incorrect total of over $1,000. I suspect it had something to do with their use of cookies, and my previous order at PDAMart just prior to using the MobilePlanet shopping cart. In any case it made me nervous about ordering from them, so I didn't complete the process.

Once I do get my PocketPC I'll be sure to post up a review, along with a slew of links to other on-line resources.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCompaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC``x964197046,74733,``x``x ``xOver the last 4 years that I've lived in Bakersfield I've noticed how hard it is to connect with local computer resources. I've added a "Local" section to my links list for those who want to find local web resources for Bakersfield.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLocal Links Added``x964199938,9954,``x``x ``xI've been re-playing Diablo 2 with a Barbarian character. So far I've found it much easier going then when I used a Sorceress. Here are a few tips:While Diablo 2 has been fun, it's lost a bit of interest for me after playing through it once. It becomes very click oriented and lacks real replay value. That type of experience is better found in an on-line RPG such as EverQuest.
In a future article I'll take a look at some of the hot new games and hardware I saw at E3 this year. I'll also be exploring a new computer upgrade. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDiablo 2 Barbarian``x964596776,21383,``x``x ``xOver a year ago I was looking at Force Feedback racing wheels for my PC. At the 1999 E3 I became quite enamored with the Act Labs Force Feedback RS. At the time they were also showing the RS Shifter, which is now available. Here's a shot of what it looks like:


I finally broke down and ordered one today. They have a special deal via the Act Labs web site where you can get the Force RS and RS Shifter for $189.99. The package also comes with a full version of Need for Speed III.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAct Labs Force RS / RS Shifter``x964599187,73455,``x``x ``xI've put up the first article for the new site. Best New Unreleased Games of 2000 Part 1 briefly covers a few of the best games that I saw at E3 and have been looking forward to this year. While there have been more games then ever released this year there still are only a few that will really be worth your playing time. These are some of the best titles you should be keeping an eye out for the rest of the year.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBest New Unreleased Games of 2000 Part 1``x964613665,25295,``x``x ``xOnce again I've updated and added new links. Here's a partial listing of the sites that have made it into my Top Links section.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Top Links Added``x964614636,81792,``x``x ``xWhat an oustanding morning it is! Yep, I actually get a few nights off from my "real" job and have time to play with new computer goodies.

My Act Labs wheel and shifter arrived today. I'll unpack it and play with it later tonight when I wake up. Look for a review on it in the next few days here.

The Bakersfield Californian had a news blurb about Intel releasing a Pentium III that went over the 1 GHz mark. Of course most high end Intel CPU's are in short supply, so it really isn't that big of a deal. My next system might be based on an AMD cpu, since I won't have to upgrade my memory if I go that route.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUn-Caged``x965143915,46627,``x``x ``xFollowing up on the story in today's Bakersfield Californian (which is currently off-line at this time) here are a few more details about Intel's new CPU.

Techweb describes the Intel CPU as a 1.13 GHz processor. Both Dell and IBM have announced new systems incorporating the new Intel CPU.

The Dell system as expected uses Direct RDRAM, a very expensive type of memory currently used with high end Intel CPU's. The system will go for around $4200, and will take around 18 days to build. Ouch.

Price for the new Intel 1.13 GHz cpu will be $990 in lots of 1,000.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel CPU Goes Beyond 1 GHz``x965145999,82652,``x``x ``xFollowing up on the previous story both Firing Squad and Anand Tech have reviews of the new Intel 1.13 GHz cpu.

From the benchmarks done by Firing Squad it looks like the new CPU doesn't offer much more then what you could get with an Over-Clocked P3 700E. Anand Tech also shows only a few Frames Per Second more in my favorite game, Unreal Tournament. My verdict? Wait. Better and faster CPU's are just around the corner. There is also hope that Intel will ditch RAMBUS and move back towards more standard and more reasonably priced memory.

Update: Sharky Extreme also has a review of the new Intel 1.13 GHz CPU.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPerformance Tests on Pentium 1.13 GHz CPU``x965147266,14462,``x``x ``xI received an email from Creative saying that the new Nomad Jukebox will be released "soon."

I'd been looking at the Nomad Jukebox with a lot of interest before I decided to buy a Compaq iPaq Pocket PC. The Creative Nomad has about 6 GB of storage which Creative claims will get you about 150 CD's worth of music. Nice.

Even nicer? Check out the new Sensory Science Rave players. The Rave 2300 is able to use Iomega Clik! disks that each holds 40MB of data. I might just pick up one of these beauties in addition to my Pocket PC. Just so that I could use it to re-invigorate my jogging regimen, of course. It's a tool, not a toy. No, really. Ah, the temptation of a acquiring a new electronic gizmo.

MP3 Shopping is accepting pre-orders for the Rave 2300 to the tune of $289 smackers. Personally I'd wait until I saw a few reviews of shipping product. While the features are nice, I want to hear how it sounds, and how well it works. Of course it might make for a fun review, and I really have been waiting a long time for an MP3 player. The custom stereo I bought last year for my car is already wired for an MP3 player.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNomad Jukebox - Real Soon Now``x965149013,87087,``x``x ``xNot content with inflicting that awful mess called Daikatana on the gaming public, John Romero has now turned his attention to building his own personal web site.

Oh be still my beating heart.

While delicately pushing away his stylish locks John writes about how he yearns to "...document *all* the games I've written since 1982."

How horrible. Has this man no sense of mercy? Wasn't Daikatana enough?

More importantly is John Romero really Derek Smart's evil twin?

Yep, I still haven't forgotten the ads years ago about Daikatana where Romero promised to make us all "his b*!"``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRomero Web Site - oh joy``x965150550,35903,``x``x ``xI finally got around to setting up my local RoadRunner web site at http://home.bak.rr.com/cagesworld/. I checked on the local site and found that RR had this page up with information on how to create your own home page.

It took me an extra few minutes to do the leg work, since I had to set up my RoadRunner e-mail account in order to get my RR server account information. The instructions at the Online Help Desk didn't work for me. The Email setup information is located in the left side menu under "Help Topics". The Quick Reference table says use:

Master Account: username@bak.rr.com
POP server setting: pop-server@bak.rr.com
SMTP server setting: smtp-server@bak.rr.com

The correct server information for Windows 98 Office 2000's Outlook mail program is entered under the Tools/Accounts menu from Outlook:

POP server setting: pop-server.bak.rr.com
SMTP server setting: smtp-server.bak.rr.com
Account name: put your master or sub-account name here.
Password: type in the password for your account.

Notice that your don't put the @ symbol between "server" and "bak." Of course Outlook will also give you an error message if you do, and tell you that you have not entered a valid name for the server.

I then created a a simple index.html page with a re-direct command that points to my full fledged server at cagesworld.com. I uploaded the site using CuteFTP to the home.bak.rr.com server, and I was in business. Not too bad, but it could have been easier with better instructions.

I didn't see any other member's pages listed yet, but the service just recently became available locally. Today was the first time I had attempted to set up my RR web page since I'd emailed RR last week. Everything is working pretty well, and I'm happy with the results.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRoadRunner Home Page Setup``x965159312,39535,``x``x ``xAs promised I did get my Act Labs Force RS force feedback racing wheel set up on my computer last night.

My first impression is that I need a decent game to try it out with. The wheel comes with Need for Speed:3 by Electronic Arts. NFS:3 has been out for quite some time, and feels rather dated. I was very disappointed by the way the cars handled. It felt like I was playing some cheepo 80's arcade game, and not a racecar sim. Slipping and sliding around without much feedback from the car or road became very boring very quickly.

Contrast that with my experience with the Act Labs wheel at 1999’s E3 shows in LA, and you can understand why I felt so let down by the experience.

I was hoping to have the same kind of rush that I'd had while playing a new car racing arcade game I'd tried out locally at John's Incredible Pizza. I could feel the wheels slipping and sliding as I went around a curve. The car responded almost perfectly to control input from the gas, brakes, and steering wheel. It felt like I was driving a real car. NFS:3 came nowhere close to that experience.

I'll have to take a look around, and see if I can find a more up to date racing sim to try out. I know there is a new Need For Speed out, as well as a couple of other similar games.

The only other problem I ran in to was that the wheel does not clamp properly to my computer desk. I need to be able to open up the clamp just another 1/2 to 1 inch or so in order for it to mount properly. I ran into the same problem when I tried to mount it to a cheapo folding table I have in my office. I'm thinking of cutting out or sanding down a few spots on my desk in order to get the wheel mounted correctly. For now it works, at least well enough to give it a spin.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFirst Impressions Act Labs Force RS``x965223231,40053,``x``x ``xI went to the local CompUSA yesterday, and picked up two promising racing titles. Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed by Electronic Arts has received several favorable reviews recently, and looked like it would be a fun "light" racing sim. NASCAR III, by Papyrus/Sierra/Havas Interactive has a reputation for being approachable for both beginners and serious gear heads alike.

The first game I fired up was NFS:PU. The introduction was catchy, but not quite as fun as Need For Speed:III. It did point forward to an intriguing career mode, where you get to progress from the first classic Porsche racers to the modern GT1.

Once again I was a little disappointed by the way the cars felt. NFS:PU is supposed to feature a newer physics engine, but it felt in many ways quite similar to NFS:3. I haven't spent that much time yet with the game, so I'm trying to keep an open mind. It could be that I need to tweak a few game settings, or adjust my Act Labs Force RS wheel.

The scenery is gorgeous, and it's quite a blast to race through the exotic locations featured in the game. The graphics engine has been updated and polished, but it still doesn't look like I'm getting accelerated 3D support. I'll have to hunt around and see if there is a graphics setting that I'm missing.

Papyrus NASCAR III has a much more sophisticated physics engine. It also has obvious support for my 3dfx video card. I'm not a big NASCAR racing fan, but I could see how it would be a load of fun. NASCAR 4 looks even nicer. Check out the screenshot below:


I'll put up a more complete report on the Act Labs Force RS and Shifter once I've had a chance to spend some time playing around with them. So far I’m pretty pleased. I can’t imagine trying to play a racing game without some kind of a wheel. The Act Labs RS is by far the best wheel I’ve tried. The force effects are very good, and the wheel just feels right. My only complaint so far is that I’ve had to modify my desk in order to get the wheel to fit on it properly.

Addendum: SportsPlanet has a review of Nascar 4 up. Thanks, Brett.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAct Labs Part 1``x965315762,36196,``x``x ``xHard OCP has a very nice review up of the brand spanking new Athlon KT7 motherboard. They byline the article with the tag "This could very well be "The Board to Have" this year." They could be right. It's got a ton of features that make it very Over Clocker friendly.

The question will be - "how stable is it?" It looks like Abit takes this issue very seriously, and has incorporated a number of features that should make it the most stable K7 motherboard out there. It's a good article -well worth the read.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAbit KT7``x965379024,66149,``x``x ``xMore Top Links have been added to Cage's World.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Links Added``x965386582,12927,``x``x ``xI've added a new racing sim web site that looks pretty solid. I found it while I was looking around for an alternative to HigherStakes, which has been off-line for the last several days. Hopefully the site hasn't vanished, and will be back on-line in the near future.

Behind the Wheel is a major site that hosts and links to a horde of other racing sites. Lots of good stuff there. It's well worth the visit.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Racing Site``x965713930,28265,``x``x ``xI'd seen this mentioned somewhere - I think it was in a recent issue of ComputerEdge. In any case, Homestead is a free web hosting service that will handle everything from personal web sites to small business sites. Not having used it I can't vouch for them, but it does look like it would work ok. There are no pop up adds or huge ad banners. Instead there is a small plain menu bar at the bottom of your page with links to different Homestead services.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFree Web Site Host``x965716604,11956,``x``x ``xI added the basic freeware version of The Ultimate Bulletin Board on a trial basis to this site. The freeware version doesn't have a lot of features, but it gets the job done. If it works out ok I'll setup the nicer full featured version.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xForum Trial``x965761268,25747,``x``x ``xIf you have what you think is an interesting Bakersfield web site send me an email at cage@cagesworld.com. I can't guarantee that I'll add it to my local links, but I'll certainly consider it. Sites that hold special interest for me are ones with a distinct local flavor. If you have a music, game, club, or special interest site send it my way.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFree Bakersfield Links``x965761646,70696,``x``x ``xAfter installing the new forum software I went ahead and deleted the comments link to each news item.

The comments feature was never really used. Now that the new forum is up there is no need to keep the old comments link.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComments Removed``x965762318,97429,``x``x ``xWill Cox cable bring another broadband competitor to Bakersfield? @Home is a cable internet service that may be coming to Bakersfield in the next year. Cox Cable Bakersfield has been tight lipped about any plans. Phone calls about plans for bringing Cox Cable @ home to Bakersfield have been answered with a "maybe" or "not likely" in the past. Will Cox Cable finally offer broadband service now that Time Warner Bakersfield is offering cable internet connections? Who knows, but there could be quite a few more choices for broadband access in the next year in Bakersfield.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCox @Home``x965818857,68859,``x``x ``x BXBoards now has a review of the Abit KT7 motherboard up. Here's a taste:
"Memory compatiblity is improved over the KA7 - whether this is as a result of dropping the TI data buffer and opting for a more conventional 3 DIMM slot design is unclear, but generally the board is much more forgiving in SDRAM compatiblity than previous Abit boards."
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAnother Abit KT7 Review``x965821990,76494,``x``x ``xThe Register is reporting that there will be a big price drop for AMD CPU's August 14. Here's a snip from the article:
"Sources close to AMD's plans have confirmed that we can expect big price drops on its microprocessors on the 14th of August.

The cuts were originally slated for the end of this month, as revealed here some weeks back."
So if you are looking at buying an AMD system your best bet is to wait for a few weeks. My guess is that AMD will also have to respond to Intel's latest 1.13 GHz cpu with a similar offering of their own soon. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD Price Drop``x965822357,17492,``x``x ``xAha! Someone in the roadrunner.bak.help newsgroup was kind enough to point me to the correct Bakersfield RR Personal Home Page URL. Thanks, jdavis!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRR Home Pages``x966052904,80382,``x``x ``x FilePlanet has the brand new Hasbro NASCAR Heat demo up. It's a 42.1 MB download.

There is also a preview for NASCAR Heat at SportPlanet. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNASCAR Heat Demo``x966058529,26644,``x``x ``x Firing Squad has a review of the brand new Logitech Optical mice.

Being a gadget nut myself, I'm sure I'll pick one up as soon as I can get my hands on one. Currently my favorite mouse is the Microsoft with IntelliEye optical mouse. It's given me a sharp increase in the number of head shots that I score in Unreal Tournament. If you are not careful, it can cause some problems when you lift it off the mousing pad, but otherwise it's been quite a find. The IntelliEye optical mouse is about $30 at the local CompUSA, and by far the best mouse I've tried out.

I have a much more expensive Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer that sits in my closet because it tends to slip out my size 7 1/2 hand with rapid movements. I hate the slippery silver finish it has on it. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLogitech Mice``x966059784,2957,``x``x ``xAfter playing around with the NASCAR HEAT demo I thought I'd post up some of my impressions so far. Bare in mind that I'm not a race sim expert, and that I've never driven a real NASCAR car. At this point I'm one of those "casual" fans that Hasbro is aiming at with their "Normal" mode. I've been playing around with NASCAR:3 and Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed most recently. I made sure that I didn't read any other previews before I formed my own feelings about the demo.

My first impressions of NASCAR HEAT were not all that favorable. The normal mode physics didn't feel as polished as NASCAR:3. The Expert mode was almost uncontrollable because it was so much more unforgiving of heavy handed driving. Much like the difference between a beginner mode and an expert mode in a flight sim. That's not a bad thing, but there is quite a difference between the two modes.

Then I played with NH a bit more, and I started to really appreciate the immersiveness of the sim. Much like Red Baron, you start to feel like you are really there. The detail of the cars with all the flashy decals and paint jobs is quite impressive. The track and crowds seem to be more alive then N:3. I expect that NASCAR:4 will have much of the same types of improvements. You have to love the advances that have been made with faster and better video cards over the last few years. I'm sure it would be even better running a Voodoo 5-5500+ with 4x Full Scene Anti-Aliasing. I can hardly wait until I can get my hands on a V5-6000.

Yes, NASCAR HEAT does support my Act Labs Force RS steering wheel and RS Shifter. So far I haven't found much of a need for the shifter in NASCAR games. Once you get up to 4th gear you usually stay there. The Single Race game starts you off at almost full speed anyway, so there isn't much of a need to do a lot of shifting. The support seems to be quite polished for all types of controllers, and configuring everything was a breeze.

I really didn't notice all that much excitement from the "6 degrees of Freedom" physics engine that is used in NH. Perhaps after I play with it a bit more I might notice the difference. Since I'm very new to racing sims I probably don't have the same appreciation for this feature as do more veteran racing simmers.

One of the more enjoyable experiences I get with any of the racing sims is playing "bumper car" with the other opponents. I find that the only place to really gain ground is around the turns. Even NASCAR:3 allows you to do a little bit of nudging of other cars as you sneak inside the turn. I'm sure it's much more catastrophic in the Expert mode if you bump a car at 180+ mph, but in Normal mode you can give the opponent a good bump and squeeze by in the turns. What's even more fun is that the computer-controlled cars will do the same thing to you. If you fail to bump them quite right all it does is slow you down, and you get to watch them vanish into the distance as you come out of the turn and desperately mash down on the gas pedal to get back up to speed.

All in all the NASCAR HEAT demo was quite enjoyable. I'll seriously considering picking this one up when it comes out in the next few weeks.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNH: Impressions``x966148417,34399,``x``x ``xThe Compaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC's have been in very short supply still. I ordered mine on July 6, 2000 and it's still listed as being on back order at amazon.com. Pdamart has a list of around 150 customers who are waiting for the Compaq Pocket PC last time I checked. MobilePlanet has an anticipated ship date of around September 15. Ugh!

Rumor on the Usenet has it that you can get the Compaq iPAQ 3630 at RadioShack.com. The 3630 is supposed to be identical to the 3650, except it's the on-line version sold via Radio Shack. They list it as being available in stores even, but I have yet to find one locally here in Bakersfield, California.

I'm off today, so I'm going to go hunting again locally and see what I can find. I'm really itching to get my hands on one - soon! ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xiPAQ Stuff``x966353198,80409,``x``x ``xWell I called around locally in Bakersfield and I had absolutely no luck. Not surprisingly the local Radio Shack and Office Max had never even heard of a Compaq iPAQ 3650. "A what?......What's that?" If you live in Bakersfield you know what I mean. It feels like we live in some kind of technological third world country at times.

I double checked the 'net and didn't have any luck there either. Everyone is backordered with varying re-stock dates. I even found a few that were charging $50-$60 over retail, and they were backordered as well. Amazing.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNo iPAQ 3650's``x966387790,87895,``x``x ``xYep, it's time for another round of new links that I've added to the site. I also added a new category for PDA's. In no particular order here they are:

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Links``x966392787,96471,``x``x ``xSad, but true. AGN3D has announced that it will be shutting down. There's some non-specific talk on the forum there that another web site will launch in the future. Jeremy Alford, the one who started AGN3D, developed what appears to be terminal brain cancer. For more info you can visit this thread at AGN3D's forum. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAGN3D Shutdown``x966429976,71700,``x``x ``xI remember running across Tweak3D in the past when I was looking at some hardware reviews. What peaked my interest is that the Webmaster is from Bakersfield. In the interest of building up the local computer community in B-Town I've added Tweak3D to "Top Sites" list for now.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTweak3D Linked``x966431375,49910,``x``x ``xThe Non-Disclosure Agreements were removed a few days ago, and a rash of reviews about the soon to be released NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ultra have hit the 'net. Firing Squad had the obligatory Quake 3 results, showing a hefty 20 to 30 frames per second increase in speed over the NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS.

Of more interest to me was AnandTech's review of the GeForce 2 Ultra. Anand posts up what I consider to be the most valuable information - how fast a video card is running Unreal Tournament. UT, Tribes, and of course Red Baron 3D all use a graphics engine that so far runs best on the Voodoo series of video cards. What matters most to me when I look at the new video cards is "How well will they run my favorite games?"

So how did the GeForce 2 Ultra do on UT? According to AnandTech the current fastest Voodoo card, the V5-5500 scores around 49 Frames Per Second at 1024x768 on a Pentium III 550e. The GeForce Ultra gets around 46 FPS.

When you factor in how great FSAA looks on a Voodoo 5 it really isn't much of a choice. As long as the V5-6000 comes out in the next few months it will remain the top choice to replace my V3-3000. Car sims, flight sims, and my favorite 3D shooters should all run and look better on a V5-6000. A nice computer upgrade combined with a fast new video card should be just the ticket just before the avalanche of choice new holiday games start to hit the market in the fall.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNVIDIA GeForce 2 Ultra``x966435545,76238,``x``x ``x Tribal War has been a regular fount of knowledge about Tribes 2 recently. After they broke the story the attempt to fix Denial of Service attacks on Tribe servers, they are serving up another juicy one.

According to Tribal War:
"In #tribalwar tonight, Dave "Qix" Georgeson stated:
I think the beta app site will go live next week."
Outstanding. It looks like there definitely will be some Tribes 2 fun coming our way soon.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 Beta``x966504955,64513,``x``x ``x Firing Squad has added their review of the Abit KT7 motherboard. The review is quite comprehensive, comparing the performance of the KT7 versus the ASUS A7V. If you are going the Athlon route, the Abit KT7 looks like the one to get.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFS Abit KT7``x966505790,94307,``x``x ``xI was fooling around with HyperSnap and took a few screen shots of Hasbro's NASCAR Heat. Here's a sample of the results

        

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNASCAR Heat``x966521704,97490,``x``x ``xThis last E3 I happened upon a couple of interesting titles from JoWooD Productions.

Two of the more interesting titles that they were showing were "FrontierLand" and "Traffic Giant." FrontierLand features gorgeous 3D graphics and artwork. It reminds me very much of an updated 3D Railroad Tycoon II. Here are a few shots:

  


Here's a snip from the Traffic Giant web page:
"...is the only game that lets you put public transport on the right tracks. You control an entire fleet of busses, trams, underground trains and much more. You experience realistically functioning town traffic with thousands of vehicles and pedestrians. You can ask each inhabitant what he thinks and feels."


And of course here are few shots from the web page

  

``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTraffic Giant``x966530678,16238,``x``x ``xHooray!

I am finally getting my hands on a Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC. The Radio Shack version is the Compaq iPAQ 3630, but it's the same thing as the 3650 that is sold through retail locations. If you visit the RadioShack.com you can order one on-line or you can call up 1-800-TheShack and order one via a real live person. I wanted to make sure that they had them in stock, so I went with 1-800-TheShack. I ordered it next day air, so I should have it some time Friday.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCompaq 3630``x966531040,92018,``x``x ``xThe Compaq iPAQ 3650 Pocket PC's have arrived at my local CompUSA. Of course they only had the one on display, and no accessories. I was told by the salesperson that they had received around 7 of them a few weeks ago, but they were sold out almost immediately.

Speaking of CompUSA, but I've been wondering if the buyout they went through this last year is finally changing things. I've actually talked to a few salespeople who seemed to know a little about what they were talking about. They seem a bit more helpful, polite, and eager to please. Maybe it's new management? What ever it is, it's a refreshing change.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPocketPC at CompUSA``x966625909,23388,``x``x ``xMy brand new Compaq 3630 Pocket PC arrived last night. Unfortunately I was at my night job, so I didn't get to open it up until this morning. I'll grab some sleep while it's getting it's minimum 3 hour charge. Then I'll take it in to work with me tonight and give it a whirl.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPocketPC Here``x966697756,49672,``x``x ``xMy apologies for the lack of updates the last few days. I was a bit busy at my night job, and I had the extreme pleasure of ingesting something that didn't quite agree with me yesterday. Yep, I pulled a "Billy Wilson", but not to worry, I'm feeling much better now. My new Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC got quite a few looks from my co-workers. I've been putting it through it's paces at work, and I've been quite pleased so far by how it's working out. I'll put up review in the near future with more details.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCaged``x966942101,8142,``x``x ``xPlanet Hardware News had a story yesterday about Toshiba's new 2 GigaByte eensy teensy little Hard Drive. Here's a snip:
"Fitting a 2 gigabyte disk drive into a 5 mm thick PC Card form factor, as Toshiba has in its industry-leading MK2001 (announced in May), requires aggressive miniaturization of all components, including IC packages"
I should say. This is a 100% increase over the capacity of IBM's recently announced MicroDrive.

The Toshiba drive is a Type II CompactFlash device. No word on when it will be available, or if it will work with Pocket PC's.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTeeny 2 GB HD``x966942147,82326,``x``x ``xYep, it was another busy day of sleeping here at home. I'm awake now, and ready to make a few updates. I notice that my RedBaron page still gets the lion share of hits, so I'll try to make my way over there and spiff it up a little more. I picked up a new keyboard at CompUSA. It was black, one of my favorite colors. Unfortunately after using it a bit I've noticed that it feels quite cramped compared to my previous keyboard. I have a feeling that I'll have to go back to the old standby shortly. The rest of my Compaq iPAQ order came today. I now have a Compact Flash expansion backpack, as well as a new Rhino case. I think what I'll end up doing is stringing along a series of usability articles on my new Pocket PC. As with most hardware goodies you really don't get a feel for them until you've used them for a bit. Also I'd like to let folks experience from my point of view all the goodies, links, problems, and solutions that I come across while using the PPC. The first order of business will be to switch out this painfully small keyboard for "Old Faithful."``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCaged``x967018096,22280,``x``x ``xI noticed over at Stomped.com a bit about a story on News.com about the Pentium 4. A couple of items from the story caught my eye. First of all the Pentium 4 will be twice as big as a Pentium 3. Next, according to this TechWeb article that Redwood quotes, Intel has to stick with Rambus until 2003 in desktop systems. Ouch! Of special interest from the News.com article is the mention that:
"Intel will announce tomorrow a new version of the StrongArm chip for handhelds and cell phones, along with a new brand name."
There is no doubt in my mind that this could be one of the quickest growing segments of Intel's business in the near future. The Strongarm chip is what powers my Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC, and by all reports is quite a bit faster then the cpu's found in other Pocket PC's at this time.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPentium 4 News``x967018669,94215,``x``x ``xArs Technica has a bit from JC's Intel Roadmap that outlines cost and availability among other things for upcoming Intel CPU's.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel Roadmap``x967019261,48424,``x``x ``x SportPlanet has a brand spanking new preview of Madden 2001 by EA Sports for the PC. With football season just around the corner it's time to start looking at some head crunching goodness from your favorite PC football sim. Here's a sample pic from the EA Site.

 


Addendum: According to this GameWeek news bit, Madden 2001 for the PC should appear in retail stores today.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMadden 2001``x967020105,22659,``x``x ``x AnandTech also has a article on the Intel Developer Forum. From reading the article it looks like the Pentium 4 will not hit wide release until well into 2001. As several sites have reported there was a 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 being demoed at the show, but it was only running CPUID. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt the Pentium 4 will be a possible choice for those looking to upgrade before the end of the year.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAnand@IDF``x967021559,59981,``x``x ``xI haven't even had a chance to break the shrinkwrap on the game before the first patch was released for Warlords Battlecry. The patch text file lists quite a few enhancements and fixes. I was quite pleased to notice how many items on the list relate to improved gameplay, and not bug fixes.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWarlords Battlecry Patch``x967022153,69472,``x``x ``x Local Bakersfield hardware site Tweak 3D came through with an interesting review of the MP3 Solutions CD Player. The player allows you to play MP3 formatted CD's in a portable player. You can also hook it up to your car stereo via a line out jack. The "Mambo X" player listed on the MP3 Solutions site also features an Infrared remote. All for $199.95. I think I'll have to take a serious look at one. As I've mentioned before, the stereo in my car is already rigged for some kind of MP3 player, and this one looks like it could be "The One."

Addendum: According to the follup up "Coments" thread for the article you can find the MP3 Solutions player for cheaper at a couple of places. The Computer Geek has them for around $99. I'm not sure I'd order from them, but they are the cheapest. A more likely choice is EasyBuy 2000 which has them for $115. Not bad.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMP3 CD Player``x967023040,14407,``x``x ``xIt turns out that there are few MP3 CD Players. The technology appears to still be in it's growing stages. The current crop lacks title display and even a basic FM tuner. There is hope on the horizon, with at least one unit which will incorporate title display. The two most promising units I've found so far are:``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMore MP3 CD Players``x967048026,35012,``x``x ``xNASCAR Heat by Hasbro also went Gold and into distribution. It should start to appear at retail today. Call before you go, not everyone has been able to find it yet.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNASCAR Heat Out``x967049349,28069,``x``x ``xWell what to my surprise did I find when I was wondering the aisles of CompUSA yesterday, but a gaggle of Microsoft's Strategic Commanders piled up on the shelves. Being the obsessive computer geek gadgetholic that I am I picked one up. I'll give it a whirl in a few nights - I have to work again tonight. I also noticed that the Bakersfield CompUSA had the new Logitech MouseMan Wheel. I'm not so sure about the finish on the new mice. They look neat, but the finish is a bit slippery. This was my biggest complaint about the top of the line Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS Strategic Commander``x967131423,30944,``x``x ``x Unreal Universe has a new Unreal Tech movie on their site. The movie is a 42 MB mpg. Simply stunning. Not only is there far more detail and skeletal animation, but the outside terrain engine has grown by leaps and bounds. For the first time while viewing a Unreal demo I got the feeling of huge wide open spaces like Tribes. Very nice.

Of special interest to me is mention that Unreal Tech is being optimized for cards that support hardware transform and lighting. That might cause me to look a little closer at the GeForce 256 Ultra versus the Voodoo 5-6000.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUnreal Tech Movie``x968578343,65221,``x``x ``xI've been a bit behind in the updates once again. I've been looking at a couple of different options for doing a database backend for the site. I decided that I needed to install Windows 2000 for development reasons, and of course that led to re-partitioning my hard drive and doing a fresh install of Windows. I then did an upgrade to Windows Me, which has been fairly painless so far.

I had hoped to wait until I did my next system upgrade, but some problems with my Time Warner RoadRunner service prompted me to do it earlier. After re-formatting my HD and installing Windows 98 the problems persisted.

I did some looking around the 'net, and I still didn't find a solution. I did come across a nifty program mentioned in the alt.fan.roadrunner newsgroup called Visual Route that helps troubleshoot network problems. I called up RoadRunner tech support, and they got things fixed in less then a day. I'm still not sure what they did, but everything is running great now. I suspect it was a neighborhood network problem.

I'm working this weekend, so it will be a few days before I can do much more in the way of updates. Another problem I'm looking at is how to do decent photos of hardware that I review here. My older Olympus digital camera just isn't cutting it. I think what I need is some kind of basic studio setup with quality lighting and backgrounds. You may have to put up with some rather amateur shots until I get that one figured out.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUpdate``x969050307,8111,``x``x ``xI'm just finishing up my Windows 2000 Professional installation. All that is left now is to install Win2K drivers for my video card and sound card. It looks like I'll need to set up the network settings so that I can access the Internet via Windows 2000 as well.

I elected to go with a dual boot Windows Millenium Edition/Windows 2000 Professional. My IBM 22GB Hard Drive is partitioned into 14 GB for Windows Me, and 8 GB for Windows 2000.

The only serious problem I ran into was that the Win2K install program would not copy the setup files to my HD. First of all I tried setting the PIO mode in my BIOS to 3, and then 2. When that didn't work I tried setting my BIOS to boot from my CD-ROM drive. Doing so worked, but there still was a file that initially failed to copy at around the 98% done mark. I just held down the Enter key (to Retry copying the file) and it worked after a few attempts.

Incidentally, my CD-ROM drive is a Pioneer 103S DVD drive. My HD is set up on IDE 0, and my CD-ROM drive is set up on IDE-1. I may need to upgrade my DVD/CD-ROM drive in the future, since this is not the first time I've had problems. It's also a little bit slow when playing intro movies and loading level cut-scenes.

I need to work tonight, so I'm probably going to go grab some sleep shortly.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWindows 2000``x969468577,11511,``x``x ``xOne of the reaons I was a bit tardy in getting around to installing Windows 2000 is that I just picked up a copy of Microsoft's Crimson Skies. I was pleasantly surprised with this one, especially since I'd played around with it a little at this years E3 computer games show.

The terrain was nicely detailed. There is full 3D or "Rolling Terrain" with mountains and canyons. The trees are very nicely done, and give a nice sense of speed as you fly around them. The enemy AI likes to get down in the weeds just as much as you do, and it's loads of fun chasing them up and down through the valleys and hills.

My system (PIII 500e Over-Clocked to 750 MHz w/Voodoo 3-3000 video card) noticed a pause or two as a map loaded up. I'm going to have to hunt around and see if there is a Frames Per Second indicator that you can turn out to see how I'm doing. I ran it at 1024x768 with most details on, but ended up dropping it to 800x600. I know it's time for me to upgrade my cpu and video card soon. Just another month before the GeForce 256 Ultra and V5-6000 come out. Plus there should be another round of CPU price drops in October.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCrimson Skies``x969469070,64208,``x``x ``xThe Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC continues to be a hot item. This C|Net story says:
"The Houston-based computer manufacturer aims to produce 50,000 iPaq handhelds per month by December and 100,000 per month sometime during the first quarter,..."
Wow!

I sure like my Pocket PC. I must confess I don't use it quite as much as I expected. Application development is lagging a bit behind my expectation so far. Still, I find it very handy for notes, task lists, and reference. I'm also starting to push the limits of the base 32 MB of RAM that comes with the unit.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCompaq iPAQ HOT!``x969547327,56991,``x``x ``xHere's another interesting MP3 player. C|Net has a story about the just announced Iomega HipZip portable MP3 player. It uses 40MB removable storage Clik disks, and can be used as a PocketZip drive. Very cool. One of these little wonders will set you back $299. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIomega HipZip``x969633818,92357,``x``x ``xThe new Microsoft Force Feedback 2 has hit the stores. I got to see one of these tonight for the first time. Unfortunately the reason I got a look at it was that one of my friends had just picked one up from the local CompUSA, and was having problems with it. After going through the obvious motions of making sure the USB port was working and the software was loaded correctly I took a look around on Deja News Usenet. Sure enough, I found the following post there:
"Okay. The latest update from Microsoft is that the FF2 may not work on VIA chipset motherboards with anything faster than a 500mhz CPU. They've had several people call in today with this problem, and they're still trying to determine if the issue is with the VIA drivers or the Sidewinder device drivers. A solution is pending, but they are working on it. Keep your fingers crossed!" - Sanford
I tested it on my Abit VA6 (VIA based motherboard) and had the same problem. It would show up in the Windows Me Control Panel as being "ok", but it wouldn't respond to any input.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS FF 2``x969966031,93697,``x``x ``xMy copy of Windows Me and Windows 2000 are now happily living together on my newly partitioned hard drive. My friend was not so lucky. He had installed Windows Me over a previous installation of Windows 98. Not to surprisingly he had some problems. His system's network behavior became quite flaky with network clients appearing and disappearing in his "Network Places." He went ahead and re-formatted his hard drive, and did a fresh install of Windows Me. After that things worked much better. Of course we tested it out by playing a round of Age of Empires II: Conquerors. You know, just to make sure it was working. A few hours later his system was pronounced fit, and he was on his way home around 2 a.m. Testing is hard work, you know.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWindows Me``x969966559,1022,``x``x ``xI got this tidbit via iE in my mail just now:
"iEntertainment is planing a FREE week of Dawn of Aces -- our award winning World War I flight simulation game. The FREE Dawn of Aces Thanksgiving week is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 21 -- Monday, Nov. 27. All you need to participate is an email address. "
Well there you go. Now is the perfect time to give DoA a whirl for free.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFree DOA``x969966697,75780,``x``x ``xNo sooner do I add Gamer's Depot this week to my list of top sites when they come through big. According to the news a 69 MB "Test" release of Microsoft's Mech Warrior 4 is available for download for a limited time through IGN PC. Sweet. Here's the link. Just click on the download button at the end of the article. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMW 4 Test``x969969903,90407,``x``x ``x The Guru 3D has a few interesting stories on their news page. After following the link from Hard OCP I found a nice new pic of Hercules 3D Prophet II Ultra. The Guru 3D also has a rumor from "legit" sources about the NVidia NV20's release plans and performance. I don't know if it's true, but it's an interesting read.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xGeForce Ultra``x970001346,65496,``x``x ``xNot that the Pentium 4 was a leading contender for my next upgrade, but C|Net is reporting that Intel is having problems with the P4, and it will be delayed until November 20 or later.

Also this Firing Squad article from August 30, 2000 says that support for SDRAM until late next year. Couple that with the possibility that the P4 will not be as fast as a P3 at equivalent clock speeds and you can see how some are skeptical about how well the P4 will do. It certainly would cause some caution among those who want to be the first ones on the block with Intel's latest CPU.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPentium 4 Delay``x970478228,13625,``x``x ``x Planet Hardware reviewed the Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32x CD-Writer and gave it an impressive "10." I've been looking around for a CD-Burner, and this one looks pretty sweet.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPlextor CD Burner``x970479107,73116,``x``x ``xAfter applying the patch to Microsoft's Crimson Skies I am still frustrated by performance and quality control issues. Doesn't anyone at Microsoft do QA on these things?

The game design is well done. The artwork is not bad. The feeling of speed is fantastic. Overall the game designers of CS are to be congratulated.

The programming, however, is simply horrible. Disk access stalls and pauses are routine throughout the game. Even the menu interface system is plagued by slowdowns. I feel like I'm playing in debug mode, without any speed optimizations.

I would have also appreciated at least the possibility of a stall. As it is, Crimson Skies can be quite fairly criticized as a space sim in flight sim clothing.

The targeting system is problematic at best. Enemy planes refuse to be targeted even when in plain view at times.

A month or two longer in development might have made the difference. Whoever let this thing ship in its current state deserves a swift kick in the pants.


``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCS Verdict``x970495636,74333,``x``x ``xVoodoo Extreme and many other GameFan sites are down after GameFan pulled the plug on their hosted sites, according to a news story at GameWeek. GameFan, recently merged with Express.com, and said in an email to GameFan affiliates that:
"We have found that this service can no longer be supported under our business model,and we will do whatever we can within reason to facilitate any transitional requirements."
Currently there is a message at VE that only says:
"Please excuse the interruption of this site, but our servers are currently experiencing some technical problems.
Our crack team of engineers is working on getting this site up and running, so be sure to check back soon!"
The same exact message also appears at the GameFan home page. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVE Down``x970568159,2160,``x``x ``xI've seen mention at several sites news that AMD will be introducing a 1.2 GHz Athlon soon, along with the requisite price drops. Here's a yank from the Register.
"A spokesperson for AMD Europe told The Register that both the 1.2GHz Athlon and an 800MHz Duron would be formally announced later this month..."
October 15 or earlier has been mentioned as possible dates.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD CPU's & Prices``x970577266,33257,``x``x ``xI saw over on 3DGPU that EBWorld has the Creative Labs Annihilator GeForce Ultra available for pre-order. EBWorld lists the ship date as October 9, 2000.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xGeForce Ultra``x970612203,41527,``x``x ``x Hard OCP is reporting that Voodoo Extreme will:
"be back online around Monday with a slightly new look and all the attitude you'd expect from VoodooExtreme."
About dang time I'd say. I was wondering what was going on at VE.

Addendum: Gamers.com has an interview with Daniel Wool, director of public relations for Express.com about what is going on with GameFan and it's hosted sites including VoodooExtreme.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVE Back Monday?``x970740571,96172,``x``x ``xI spotted this bit on BetaNews:
"A 1.2GHz Athlon and an 800MHz Duron processor will be the newest additions to the AMD processor family beginning here shortly. The new processors are the next step in the company's goal to roll out 1.5GHz Athlons in January, and steps up the heat on rival Intel to keep up with the pace. New processors will be introduced every 5 to 6 weeks by AMD in order to make the January deadline for 1.5GHz."
AMD will really start to put the screws on Intel if they also continue to undercut Intel's pricing while producing faster CPU's.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD Crushing Intel``x970741419,12090,``x``x ``xI decided to give Red Baron 3D another whirl, and in the process wrote up a RB3D Multiplayer Guide. It's very basic, and shows the steps I took to patch Red Baron 2 to Red Baron 3D in order to play on-line. It also contains a few tweaks to the basic settings and tips on how to get going. Those who are going through WW I flight sim withdrawal after the demise of SimGuild's Flying Circus should find it useful. Especially those fine chaps in the Flying Tigers Virtual Squadron. Enjoy!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRB3D Multiplayer Basics``x970776304,8758,``x``x ``xWell surprise surprise, but what did I find in my mail today but a beta CD for Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 2. Unfortunately I work the next few nights, but I'll try to give it a whirl as soon as possible.

Red Baron fans will be interested to know that Tucker Hatfield, the director for Red Baron 3D, is the Lead Designer for MSCFS:2.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS CFS 2``x970779272,48052,``x``x ``xWell Tucker, I think you mostly got this one right.

After spending a little time with Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulater 2 I have to say that I'm generally pleased with what I see. In the same vein as the original Red Baron Tucker Hatfield, the lead designer for MSCFS:2 has created a game that is quite approachable by those new to flight sims and by those who are seasoned vets.

MSCFS:2 is the one flight sim released in the last two years that had rekindled my love of flying. The beta version that I'm trying out is obviously not a finished product, but what is there is very enjoyable so far. I'll put up a more detailed preview with some screenshots in a few days when I get a chance.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMSCFS:2 Preview 1``x970842557,15273,``x``x ``xThere is a new Unreal Tournament patch out. That brings UT up to version 4.32. You can grab it from any of the major UT sites as well as FilePlanet Here's what the patch does:

Version 432 is completely network compatible with all previous public releases of UT (versions 400, 402, 405b, 413, 420, 425, and 428).

Bug fixes

Version 432 is completely network compatible with all previous public releases of UT (versions 400, 402, 405b, 413, 420, 425, and 428).
- faster server browser initial pinging of servers. Added a new default property to [UBrowserServerPing], MaxSimBroadbandPing, which defines the max number of servers to simultaneously ping if your netspeed > 6000.
- team scoreboard holds more players (no more names dropping off the bottom for 32 player games).
- fixed grenade smoke in OpenGL - fixed some D3D compatibility issues
- faster server ping response for servers with mutators.
- admins lose cheats and die when they log out as admins.
- fixed bug causing player team choice to be overriden (also cause maxteamsize not to work when 2)
- fixed thrown weapons sinking into ground in net play
- fixed listen server crashing with too many serverpackages
- fixed server still sending data on disconnect
- fixed server not allowing custom skins because of skin cheat fix
- servers are now prioritized by version on the master server
- improved map decompression time.
- slight improvement to server CPU utilization.
- prevent message spamming in net play.
- centered admin messages - if logged in as an admin, start your message with a # to have it centered.
- voice autotaunts not printed in net games.
- fix for CTF AI.
- limit translocator firing rate (max 2/sec) to prevent translocator spamming bind cheats.
- suicides are counted as deaths.
- admin spectators can use # to center print messages.
- disallow setting of actor properties using the "set" command on clients. Prevents a whole class of cheats.
- faster menu loading with mods. modmakers to make a small change to the way they add items to the Mod menu.
It looks like a worthwhile download. The file is 5.5 MB in size. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUT 4.32 Patch``x970872487,22714,``x``x ``xThe Register has this to say about the new Intel Pentium 4 pricing and release date:
"Intel's Pentium 4 is now scheduled for launch at the end of November in 1.4 and 1.5GHz guises.

The entry level P4 should debut at 1.4Ghz, priced at $652, while the premium part will ship at 1.5Ghz and $827."
Well you knew that Intel wouldn't just site there and let AMD whack away at Intel's customer base. The P4 still needs some work to become a viable alternative, and at this point it appears it will require expensive RDRAM.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xP4 Pricing``x970873100,23843,``x``x ``xOnce again it's time for me to upgrade my system. As anticipated the prices of the Athlon CPU's dropped like a rock in October. I expect that further drops will occur over the next few weeks and months as AMD releases new CPU's.

This time around I went for my first AMD CPU, a 1.1 GHz Athlon Thunderbird. It was significantly faster and cheaper then the latest that Intel has to offer. I mated it with the well received Abit KT7 motherboard and a Leadtek Winfast GeForce2 GTS video card.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSystem Upgrade``x971800620,36474,``x``x ``xMicrosoft's Combat Flight Simulator 2 has hit retail, and I finally found a copy locally. I suspect it's doing pretty well, since I picked up the last copy they had at the local Software Etc.

It's time to break out the old Thrustmaster F-16 Hands On Throttle And Stick setup. I just can't fly without rudder pedals. I'll miss the Force Feedback effects from my MS Sidewinder Force Feedback stick. I sure wish MS$ would make a set of rudder pedals and a seperate throttle system to go along with their new MS FF 2 stick.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS CFS:2 Out``x971801310,68987,``x``x ``xI saw over on 3D Spotlight that the new Voodoo Extreme server is up! Billy and the gang should be back soon to give us all the gaming goodness that we've been missing for far too long. Welcome back guys.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo Extreme Up``x972605568,92754,``x``x ``xI saw over on The Guru 3D a story about Hercules new Game Theater XP. What intrigued me is that it includes a very niiiice front rack with even more inputs then the Soundblaster Live! Platinum. Here's a pic from the Hercules web site:

And here is a list of some of the features:It remains to be seen how well it will function as a sound card, but the list of features for audio gadgeteers is very impressive.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xHercules Sound``x973072049,45141,``x``x ``x Voodoo Extreme has a new temporary URL. Here's the blurb I found on Blue's News:
"Looking for Voodoo Extreme as they wander from server to server? This URL seems to be still be working at the moment..."
And here's more of an explanation from Billy "Wicked" Wilson at VE:
"For the next 24 hours, possibly 48, while we're moving to our final destination (we were a bit in limbo, waiting for some equipment and such), our site will probably not pull up to you, as the DNS is being updated. I, at this point, am unable to reach it by just going to www.voodooextreme.com, as are most of the guys at VE, but it can still be reached by hitting the IP at http://216.105.162.18, but until the DNS is updated, we are going to work on some behind the scenes stuff, rather than attempting to update, as very few, at this point, will even see this message, or will know what our IP is. Also, for obvious reasons, our email won't function either (it'll bounce). If you need to get a hold of me (Billy) hit wicked_ve@hotmail.com. I'm heading out of town in a short while, so this probably came at an OK time after all :)"

"Update: http://www.ve3d.com/ still works, as does VE Forums.com where you can get your chat on until we get this mofo back online. -apache"
I'm adding a couple of alternate URL's to the link list for VE until things get fixed up.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo Extreme URL``x974546025,15,``x``x ``xWell here it is, a scant month or so since I last updated the news. My real life job has kept me busy, and what little time I've had to play has been devoted to family and games.

My new systems is up and running quite well. For those that don't remember, I upgraded to a new AMD Athlon 1.1 GHz CPU mated to a Abit KT7 motherboard. I also picked up a Leadtek GeForce 2 GTS video card. My first CPU was defective, but Multiwave was outstanding in taking care of my problem. I have nothing but good to say about Multiwave, whom I've been dealing with for the last 3 years or so. I buy all my hardware, so that's not a blatant ad plug. The prices are good, and I get what I order usually by the next day.

The latest titles that have taken my time are Mech Warrior 4, Heroes Chronicles, Call to Power 2, and of course Unreal Tournament. For multiplay fun on the home LAN it's Age of Conquerors. I'm planning on spending some time with Combat Flight Sim 2, which so far looks pretty good.
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUn-Caged``x976789025,78520,``x``x ``xI saw this item over at Guru 3D, a very good hardware news site. AMD has dropped their prices even further. Now is not a bad time to upgrade if you are running something less then 700 MHz. Here's the info:
"Not to be outdone by Intel's price cuts today, AMD is kniving down its prices too. A 1 GHz Athlon is now $179 (per 1000), while other Athlons are reduced as follows:

1.1GHz - $223
1.0GHz - $179
950MHz - $161
900MHz - $143
850MHz - $125
800MHz - $110
750MHz - $95
700MHz - $85"
``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD Price Cuts``x976789428,37115,``x``x ``x
  • Blue's News has updated it's look. I like it.
  • Daily Radar has a short preview of the upcoming Diablo 2 expansion pack.
  • New links have been added for Cornered Rat's Software new Massively Multiplayer Online Game WW II Online. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMisc. Links``x976790850,94521,``x``x ``x Gamer's Depot appears to have snuck into my office and snagged a picture of one of my computer desks! Jeremy Allford has a great article on GD called "Clean up that Rat's Nest Behind Your Desk!" ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComputer Clutter``x976791931,35100,``x``x ``xI finally finished putting together a short review of the AMD Athlon 1.1 GHz upgrade I did last month. Now that everything is humming along I thought it was about time to put up a few details. Instead of putting up a lot of filler material that most folks don't care about the review gets right to the system specs and benchmarks. I also listed some very helpful links for benchmarks, resource sites, drivers, and places where you can get good deals on components. Enjoy!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAthlon 1.1 GHz Review``x977063176,4470,``x``x ``xEspecially now that I have a Nvidia video card I thought I'd add a link to one of the better hardware sites out there. nV news not only features news about Nvidia video cards, but also about computer hardware in general.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xnV News Linked``x977064486,58504,``x``x ``xWhile looking around for information on VIA drivers I came across VIAhardware, a site conincidentally enough dedicated to information about VIA chipset based motherboards like the Abit KT7 that I'm using now. The site looks pretty spiffy and has lots of good information.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVIAhardware Linked``x977107036,62676,``x``x ``xSome introductions are in order. I've been a friend of Cage since he moved to our neck of the woods and share his crack... er... computer addiction. We worked together till he couldn't take the nightly whippings and bailed for other employment. We had a few pet projects on the web and a business building gaming systems which dissolved about a year ago (note: does B-Town Bubba really need a 64MB GeForce Ultra to play Bass Fishin' Xtreme? Guess not). Anyway, we're hitched up again and I'll be doing some news 'n stuff. On a personal note, my turn-ons are a mild case of overclocking and MP3s, turn-offs are mAd SKi11z campers, and my one wish would be for world peace.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew Kid On The Block``x977193939,22219,``x``x ``xDrivers are sooooooo much fun. I added a new hard drive to my system and upgraded to WinME on the virgin drive (the old drive got knocked down to the second IDE channel). My Abit VT6X4 has the Apollo Pro 133A chipset and needs the VIA 4-in-1 driver for Windows, so I grabbed the newest version from VIA's site. Got up and running without any need for K-Y till I tried playing UT. Dang thing wouldn't recognize my GeForce2 card and kept locking up tighter than Janet Reno at the Adult Film Awards. There's some alternate D3D drivers available for UT but they did the same thing.

    I reinstalled the drivers for the video card from both Nvidia and ELSA but UT wouldn't play nice. I tried a variety of other games and they ran fine till I loaded the demo for Nascar4 which would crash under D3D but was baby-butt smooth when forced to OpenGL.

    Think some of the video drivers got hosed and would work better with another clean install of WinME? Yea, right. After several more tweaks/installs/head-scratchin', I decided to pay a little more attention to how all my drivers were loading and noticed the VIA 4-in-1 drivers were defaulting to "turbo" mode. I sorta noticed this before but didn't make a mental note of it because *I think* MaximumBS was crying about how they defaulted to "standard" a few issues ago and any extreem computer dude would be in "turbo" mode. Well, don't believe everything you read because their little "tip" blew at least one good day of gaming for me.

    If ya got flaky D3D and use the 4-in-1 driver, try setting it to "standard" mode before overshooting the problem.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVIA 4-in-1 driver headache``x977198359,24920,``x``x ``xI've finally managed to get Nine11 to do some news and reviews here at Cagesworld. I think you will come to enjoy his style of writing and knowledge about games and hardware. He's a quality addition to the site, and hopefully just the beginning of some new things I've been planning to do here. Welcome aboard!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWelcome, Nine11``x977236409,95311,``x``x ``xAs many of you know I've been quite interested in picking up a portable MP3 player. For one reason or another I've passed on making a decision since they all seemed to have serious shortcomings. Dedicated portable MP3 players like the Creative Nomad Jukebox and the Rio 800 are either too limited in the storage they have to offer, or are just too expensive.

    A new device is starting to make its appearance this holiday season - the portable CD/MP3 player. Even here in Bakersfield you can buy a Philips eXpanium at the local CompUSA.

    Second generation products are just now making their way into stores as well. There are now two different CD/MP3 portable players that even support the use of ID3 tags. The Pine D'Music SM-200C has a few quirks and problems, but it is finally available here in the USA. The Classic CM415 also supports ID3 tags, and can be found at Circuit City for a paltry $99. Of course you get about the quality you'd expect at that price.

    So which one to get? Is now the time?

    I found a couple of sites that had reviews of the products I mentioned. MP3.com has reviews of the Philips eXpanium, Pine D'Music SM-200C, and two other highly recommended and reasonably priced units the Encino Electronics Voyager and the LiKKO MP3/CD Portable Discman. There is even a portable CD/MP3 player that also plays Video CD's (a format popular in Asia), the Napa Dav309 MP3 CD Player.

    My first instinct is to pick up the well-rated Encino Voyager. Granted, it doesn't read ID3 tags, but ID3 implementation on the Pine unit is spotty and inconsistent. Also the Pine unit is in dire need of a larger buffer for anti-skip protection. The Philips eXpanium suffers from the glaring omission of a fast forward button, and of course it also does not support ID3 tags.

    Currently the Voyager is supposed to ship within 24 to 48 hours from musicGadgets.

    In my opinion portable MP3/CD players are going to be one of the hottest consumer gadgets in the next year. Look for drastic improvements in technology and further decreases in pricing. I'll do a full review after I receive which ever player I decide to buy. Look for it in the next several weeks here at Cagesworld.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPortable CD/MP3 Players``x977238474,37292,``x``x ``xAs long as the MP3 buzz is in the air, I thought I'd point out the Neo35 MP3 player which was featured in this month's ASS Magazine (Auto Sound & Security). The Neo35 is a pull-out device which houses a hard drive (like the old Kangaroo drives) and adds some navagation controls, display, and MP3 compatibility for the car. It connects to the car via the AUX input on the back of the CD/tape player, or it can use a FM modulator similar to some CD changer hookups. There is also an optional bay for connecting it to a home stereo. It hooks to the PC with an internal IDE PC bay or USB cable.

    I dig the idea of the Neo35 but it's too expensive ($320 sans HD) and it hit every branch on it's fall from the Ugly Tree. I'd cram this nappy thing in the trunk and mount the optional Remote Display Panel ($70) in the dash or center console. Add another $120 for your average HD and the grand total is near $510.

    The Neo35 doesn't look like a Blue Light Special but it's kinda cool and easier than installing a PC in your ride.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNeo35 Car MP3 Player``x977244703,86104,``x``x ``xIt seems like just the other day that I was talking to a friend about the latest rage for computer nuts - "Round Cables." Club Overclocker has a short review of Round ATA66/100 cables. The also point to one place where you can buy them on-line - Crazy PC. Here's a sample pic from the Crazy PC site:

    The hard drive cables go for around $20, and the floppy cable goes for around $18. I noticed that they have temporarily stopped taking orders due to the high demand for these items.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRound Cables``x977327642,66100,``x``x ``xThis one's directly from the WTF bin. Some guy who goes by the handle of HIOP claims his UT SkI11z enabled him to save a lady from getting smacked by a truck. What I want to know is did he jump-strafe or use the Translocator to get at her so quickly? Sarcasm aside, HIOP still did a good job. Here's the original article which was linked from Tweak3D. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUT Saves Lives?!``x977330554,38924,``x``x ``xI've been visiting the news and sports sites fairly frequently, and thought what the heck, why not add my favorites here? So now for your linking pleasure are my top picks for news sites on the right. Here they are in no particular order:
    CNN
    SJ Mercury
    LA Times
    WSJ highlights
    CNNSI
    ESPN
    Fox News
    CBS
    ABC
    MSNBC
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNews Links``x977333224,63167,``x``x ``xI've been considering picking up my A+ certification and I finally got around to looking for information about what I needed to do. I was surprised by how difficult it was to get basic information about the cost and process, so I decided to whip up a short FAQ that hopefully will help others who are interested in getting their A+ Certification. The features is called the A+ Certification Guide.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xA+ Certification Feature``x977358513,63210,``x``x ``xI caught this gem over at Voodoo Extreme. It seems that according to an employee who works there, Best Buy is removing their stock of 3dfx video cards from the shelves. Read the post and comments here. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBest Buy Pulls 3dfx``x977398671,19125,``x``x ``xI caught this story at Digit-Life via a blurb at the excellent the Guru of 3D site. Apparently there is a yet unsubstantiated rumor that Creative will be getting out of the video card business next year. Here is a slice from the story:
    "Our reliable sources close to Creative informed us that next year Creative would leave the graphics cards business. There are several reasons to make such a decision:

    1. They produced too many TNT2 M64 based cards, the sales of which are not so good and the profits are low.

    2. They were to late to enter the market with their GF2 MX based solution (and this solution look not so good as it should be from NVIDIA's partner No.1.

    3. Their product line based on GeForce2 family chips is too narrow (for NVIDIA's partner No.1 - one GF2 MX card, GF2 GTS card, and GF2 Ultra card (all cards are without any additional features).

    4. NVIDIA (according to different sources) is not satisfied with this partnership.

    At the same time ASUS made a great step forward at the graphics market and in partnership with NVIDIA - from Jan'2001 ASUS is NVIDIA's official partner No.1."
    Argh! Will there soon be nothing left but a couple of monopolies for both the hardware and software market?``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCreative Leaving Video Card Market?``x977400977,22665,``x``x ``xI saw over on Stomped that ZDNet has a story about someone hacking into Egghead and stealing up to 3.7 million credit card numbers. Ouch! ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEgghead Credit Cards``x977513505,26653,``x``x ``xOh yeah. All us UT fans are going to love this. The UT Bonus Pack 2 has been released. The bonus pack contains:
    "* 2 new hi-res player characters with skins.
    * 10 new maps spanning 4 UT modes - Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, Domination and Team Deathmatch.
    * 2 updated UT Maps - a remixed version of the original Lament map and a slightly modified version of the infamous Facing Worlds map."
    Very nice. I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUT Bonus Pack 4``x977584791,2566,``x``x ``xPC IGN has a new multiplayer only Mech Warrior 4 map up at their site. I don't know about everyone else, but I've really started to enjoy playing Mech Warrior 4. It kind of grows on you - like a fungus, or something.

    Here's the details from PC IGN:
    "Lakefront is a new multiplayer map for MW4, centered around an island base and the bridge that connects the island to the mainland. In the King of the Hill mission, the bridge is the hill... nowhere to hide, unless you get under it! Lakefront supports Attrition, Destruction, King of the Hill (with team variants of those three), and Steal the Beacon (FFA only)."
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMW 4 Addon Map``x977586047,52446,``x``x ``xI've been up and runnin' with WinME for about a week now and have a new love/hate relationship with Microsoft. The good things are WinME actually boots much quicker than Win98, and certain apps like Media Player are much more stable on the new OS. Downloads are much faster and average around 250-350 kbps. The bummer is WinME still chokes on other apps like Outlook Express (don't mash 3 or 4 keys at the same time, certain combos are fatal) and WinME likes to gimme a weird BSOD when shutting down. Cage gets the same BSOD so I don't feel so special.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWinME Impressions``x977675598,26690,``x``x ``xThe Fallut Tactics Demo has been set loose, and it's a fattie! Dang thing is 115MB and none of the mirrors have had their coffee today. My download is creeping around 82 kbps on the cable line. On a side note, FO:T has left the RPG thang behind and is a more action minded RTS this time around. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFallout Tactics Demo``x977702714,72277,``x``x ``xMerry Christmas from Cage and I. Yep, it's that magical time of year when all the kiddies are looking for the stuff the Fat Red Man left behind. So, have a good one and get ready for the New Year!
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMerry Christmas``x977758550,35851,``x``x ``xI've stumbled through the demo of Fallout: Tactics and walked away with a few impressions. While I got the feeling FO:T is a fine game, they may just have tainted this series by cleaving away the turn-based combat of the previous games and sutured on some squad level RTS combat.

    FO:T takes place in the same post-nuclear universe as the previous games. Rather than building and controlling a single person, you're in charge of a squad of soldiers and have to complete tasks like rescue missions and combat sweeps. Each soldier has their own pre-determined stats and skills, and they will fall into the roles of heavy weapons expert, sniper, medic, sleuth, demolition man and the like.

    I've played very few turn-based games, but the first Fallout game seemed to pull it off with style. The game would play in real-time till an enemy poped up, then the game would kick into turn-based mode for combat. This mode gave you a turn meter for movement, shooting, reloading, scratchin' yer... head, or any combination thereof. It made you think about what you're doing and what was left at the end of your turn. Then it was the puter's turn and the AI is pretty crafty in turn-based games becasue all the CPU cycles are concentrated on strategy rather than some flashy graphics.

    FO:T ditched the turn-based sytem in favor of real-time combat. I can only guess this was to make the game more appealing, but alot of the old stuff from the turn-based system is still there. There's a shot meter for each weapon so you can't just go shooting willy-nilly... which is usually the point of an RTS game. Weapons still have to be reloaded and inventories still have to be managed, none of which can be done with hotkeys. Finally, in the tradition of RTS games, you have to deal with up to about seven units all of which have their own little shot meters, their own little bullets to replace, and their own little inventories to manage while the combat rages on.

    Okay, so I'm an old fart who likes turn-based combat. Is the game fun without it? Yep. Surprisingly, the game keeps the feel of the previous games and makes you think more about tactis (it ain't called Fallout TACTICS fer nothin'). Running the squad around and filling the air with hot lead is a guaranteed failure. You're guys are pretty fragile and go down easier than a Presidential Intern. I found myself setting up a sniper for cover and running a machine gunner foreward to flush out some prey. Sometimes I'd set up a "killing box" with a sniper at one end, shotguns/rifles to the sides, and run the machine gunner up the middle. You can experiment with grenades and claymores as well.

    The AI is nothing to brag about. The enemy will move around a little but has a tendency to stand it's ground too much and force a standoff. I can see this would get boaring after a while because the fighting doesn't seem to vary too much. Pathfinding is lame as well, and it only gets worse trying to control seven guys.

    Still, it's a Fallout game and the universe is killer. I probably wouldn't have been so turned off by the RTS thing if I hadn't played the previous games, but FO:T still makes you dust off the old noggin' and think about what's going on.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFallout: Tactics Impressions``x977904850,42449,``x``x ``xOnce again either Nine11 or myself have had the pleasure of problems with the VIA 4-in-1 drivers. Last night I fired up Unreal Tournament, intent on playing a few rounds. Game play was horrible, with frequent stuttering. I wasn't sure what the problem was, so I went offline and tried the same map and had the same results.

    After trying several different things I finally resorted to re-installing the VIA drivers. Apparently one of the instances where Windows ME crashed the drivers got hosed. Note to self: Serious Sam may be a fun game, but the "Test 2" is far too unstable to risk changing video settings etc. After re-installing the VIA drivers all was right once again.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVIA Drivers - again``x977942635,78704,``x``x ``xNow that I have a new MP3/CD-Player (the soon to be reviewed Encino Voyager), I have found a need to learn all about MP3's and converting or ripping regular audio CD music files into MP3 format files. After searching around on the 'net I came across Media Jukebox 6.0. It supports a wide range of formats, works well with plugins, and is quite handy for the tasks I had in mind. I've started to get the hang of things, and I've "ripped" several CD's with success. I have to work tonight, so further progress will have to wait until I get some more time off this weekend.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMedia Jukebox``x977942997,83516,``x``x ``xThere is a new patch out for the Serious Sam Test 2. Here's the important stuff from the Croteam web site:
    "Here is a short list of most important changes, fixes and improvements from Public Test 2 (build 109) to 2.1 (build 109.2).
    1) problem with firewalls/routers should be fixed now
    2) added option for choosing address on a multihomed system
    3) much faster network packet compression
    4) server location reporting
    5) true dedicated server
    6) client send-behind
    7) server limits for client BPS
    8) additional server info
    9) joystick problems
    10) server password
    11) wait for all players
    12) talk
    13) network parameters in single player
    14) if-else construct in scripts
    15) no more auto adjustments
    16) system info cvars
    17) memory adjustments in scripts
    18) zoom cheat
    19) split screen menus
    20) keys transfer on player disconnection"
    The patch is 1.9 MB and can be found at FilePlanet. Thanks, Stomped.

    Addendum: The Serious Sam Test 2 is a lot of fun now. I've yet to try going on-line again. My first efforts without the patch didn't go well. I suspect that is because I'm behind a firewall, and on a cable connection.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSerious Sam Patch``x977954950,62813,``x``x ``xThis idea has bounced around in my head ever since I've moved here. Now it looks like someone has done it. nXcaffe is a local Bakersfield Internet gourmet coffee cafe. According to a Bakersfield California story,
    "...nXcaffe offers its customers use of 10 high-speed DSL, Internet-connected computers (one of which is hooked up to a big-screen TV), including access to various software, networked games, custom CD creation, scanner use and printing."
    A pretty cool idea, and one that's worth checking out if you live in the area.

    Browsing through the xNcaffe web site a couple of things quickly become obvious. nXcaffe's message forum is painfully slow, even via a local Internet cable connection. The boards appear to have quite a bit of activity, but on closer examination are chock full of Spam. The average age of the posters is quite likely inversely proportional to their Pokemon collection. Sigh. Well hopefully things get better once you actually visit nXcaffe.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBakersfield Internet Cafe``x978106568,83153,``x``x ``xFeel the need for a few extra frames? HardOCP has an article and a few registry files for OCing GeForce and Voodoo video cards. I used the GeForce tweak which enables the Nvidia CoolBits OC functions which are off by default. I gained about 5 frames on the Thunder UT demo on my P3-800/GF2GTS system by clocking the GPU at 210MHz and the memory at 380MHz which are "panzy" settings (I've got no desire to burn a $300 video card). I'm not really impressed but if yer stuck with a slower system or want some bragging rights (I'm totally tweaked, dude), you may wanna give it a try. Remember to keep things cool and check da temperatures in da puter (I use The Card Cooler from 3DCool). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVideocard Overclocking``x978110307,12148,``x``x ``xDaily Radar has a little Motor City T&A ... er... Q&A with Michael Waite, Motor City Online producer. MCO is a persistant online world in which players build and race American muscle cars. An economic system is in place which rewards the winners of races, players trade/sell parts, and can bid in car/parts octions. The game concept struck me as a little goofy a few months back but, now that I realize my stepdad will never let me touch my mom's '47 Chevy coupe, I can see some of the game's appeal. Oh yea, the graphics are dialed as well! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMotor City Q&A``x978216400,87831,``x``x ``xI caught this bit via Hard OCP. The guys over at Speedy 3D have put up an "editorial" about The Athlon effect [game crashes]. I've run into my share of problems with getting my Athlon Thunderbird 1.1 GHz system stable. The article does point to some problems that I've experienced as well. Currently my system is pretty stable so I can't complain. For those that have problems the Abit KT7 FAQ Abit KT7 FAQ is a good place to start.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAMD Problems Editorial``x978364998,78551,``x``x ``xYes, yet another patch for Croteam's First Person Shooter Serious Sam. Here's the fix info:
    "1) problem with multiple IP addresses on client

    Some clients with both a LAN network card and a modem (or other kind of internet connection interface) installed, were able to connect, but would only see message "Trying to stabilize connection" and were unable to play.

    The problem is now fixed.

    2) multihomed server not visible in GameSpy Arcade

    In some cases, when running a server on a multihomed system (with more than one IP address), if you forced a specific IP (as is neccessary behind some firewalls), the server would work, but wouldn't be visible in GameSpy Arcade browser.

    The problem is now fixed.

    This patch 2.1a patches directly on the Public Test 2. You don't have to install the 2.1 patch before it. Or you can apply 2.1a over 2.1, either way does the same. Note that versions 2.1 and 2.1a are cross-compatible. You don't have to install 2.1a unless you need the fixes that it provides."
    I'll have to see if this patch works for me. So far it's been no joy with Serious Sam and on-line play.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSerious Sam Patch 2.1A``x978365453,964,``x``x ``xSeveral sites such as Shugashack and Voodoo Extreme are reporting that C|Net is whacking it's C|Net Gamecenter Alliance for affiliate web sites. Popular sites that have deals with C|Net include Stomped, Gamer's Depot and a few other very popular gaming sites. The .dot com fallout continues.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xC|Net Whacks Affiliates``x978531440,89192,``x``x ``xAfter getting some much needed sleep, I fired up Serious Sam and tried some online play with the latest 2.1A patch. The first 3 or 4 servers failed for one reason or another, but I finally was able to connect to a server in Mass. (East Coast). Initially I was the only one on the server, but we got up to 3 players by the end. There were a few times when I would get a message about stabilizing the connection, but overall it was pretty smooth. One thing that impressed me about the levels is how huge they are. And when you get 20-30 monsters after you at one time it gets pretty hectic. Having monsters spawn out of thin air sure keeps you on your feet. I'd sweep an area and think it was clear, only to hear a screaming kamikaze or some other monster closing on me fast. It's not a Tribes 2 or Unreal Tournament 2 killer, but it should be worth the $20 or so that it will go for when it ships.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSerious Sam Multiplayer``x978539949,55791,``x``x ``xThis won't be of much interest except to the locals, but our local community college got a new look for their web site. The school hopes that the new addy will also be easier to remember - bakersfieldcollege.org. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBC Website Updated``x978541681,48171,``x``x ``x The Register is reporting that Intel is unexpectedly changing it's processor roadmap again. A desire by Intel to slash prices and push the Pentium 4 CPU into the mainstream, coupled with AMD's success with their Athlon CPU's is likely behind this move. The next price drop? January 29, 2001.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel Price Drops``x978606892,28677,``x``x ``x Stomped President, Gary Arndt has put up a response which gives some more details about C|Net's recent decision to axe it's affiliate program. A very interesting read. I wish Voodoo Extreme had done something similar when their host provider Game Fan pulled out on them. Be sure to read the comments after the article. Fascinating stuff.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMore C|Net Details``x978607804,35296,``x``x ``xI missed this yesterday since I was sleeping. The Feds unexpectedly cut interest rates by full 1/2 point. I wouldn't be surprised if another cut happens down the road. The recently approved hike in utiilty rates in California only point forward to a very difficult year. It may be time to get that backup generator or UPS.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFed Cuts Rates``x978608419,45406,``x``x ``xLooks like Egghead has partnered with eNetpc to offer build-to-order computers . Unfortunately, Egghead isn't supplying the hardware and what's available is pretty much bottom feeder stuff. It still struck me as interesting that Egghead is going at this angle, but they gotta get in gear if they're gonna take on the likes of Dell and Gateway.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEgghead's Build-A-PC``x978612778,34249,``x``x ``xThis blurb is being bounced all over the net so, like a good little Lemming, I'll mention it as well. There is a beta of the new VIA 4-IN-1 driver v4.27 which was located on a Soyo FTP server. You can bet your gannies nickers this isn't a supported driver set, so don't go complaining to me or VIA if they don't work. Also, I must stress the VIA AGP driver doesn't always play nice in "Turbo" mode so slap it down to "Standard" mode if you have problems (especially in D3D). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew VIA 4-IN-1 Drivers``x978783812,24587,``x``x ``xWanna be the Original Gangsta? Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven might be right up your alley. In the 1930s, you take on the role of a mafia footsoldier and play hit man, enforcer, getaway driver, ect. The story/setting looks cool and, of course, the graphics are pretty easy on the peepers. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMafia: The City Of Lost Heaven``x978784658,6152,``x``x ``xGameSpy.com had an interesting talk with the webmasters from Achtung Wolfenstein! which is a super Return To Castle Wolfenstein site. The interview takes you back to 1992 when the original game was out and had to be downloaded from the local BBS at 2400 baud (cable and the web are about a bazzilion times faster, kid), stompin' Jerry, and trying to squeeze info from Grey Matter Studios (the guys making RTCW). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGameSpy Interviews Achtung Wolfenstein!``x978785682,94399,``x``x ``xWhile not exactly "PC" (admit it, you'll get one if Halo doesn't come to our little neck of the woods), Senior Gates himself will handle the official unveiling of the X-Box at CES today. There will be a webcast of the event over at the X-Box web site.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xX-Box Webcast Today!``x978786934,15847,``x``x ``xSharky Extreme took a look at Giants: Citizen Kabuto and smacked her with a big 'ol 9.5! Though the game isn't too original (RTS/action hybrid, spellcasting, ect.) they seemed to like the Brit humor and execution of the game (I was raised on Monty Python so that raised and eyebrow). There are a few odd bugs like getting knocked back to Windows without warning (oh, like that never happens) and chugging frame rates when the action gets intense. I'm not really big on 3rd person games and movies of the demo didn't blow my skirt up, this might just be one of those games you gotta experience. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSE's Giants: Citizen Kabuto Review``x978788628,83193,``x``x ``x"From the pages of PC Gamer." That's right, DailyRadar cun 'n pasted the Planetside Preview which is a good read if you missed it in the mag. In a nutshell, Planetside is Verant Interactive's "first-ever massively multiplayer (MM)/persistent-world first-person shooter (FPS)." Boy is that a mouthfull! Anyway, it's kinda like Evercrack in space, so can we call it Planetcrack? Remember, you heard it here first!

    *Note - I just looked at the Planetside website and there are some nifty pics which weren't in the preview. I've never seen grass modeled in a game before...``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPlanetside Preview``x978789527,86055,``x``x ``xOkay, OA had it's share of problems and I think roll-players are kinda "special" (go to a Middle Ages carnival, D&D convention, whatever... you get the picture), but these OA2 movies are damn cool and may just sling my ass into some armor for some orc slappin'. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUltima Online 2 Movies``x978793000,47356,``x``x ``xI just finished watching Bill Gates' keynote address for CES and saw a few interesting things. It wasn't much of a surprise but Bill had a mess of his buddies bring out gadgets, all of which ran some sort of Microsoft OS. The whole deal seemed more like a MS pep rally complete with copious usage of the word "extreme", high-fives, and butt pinching... oh, wait... that was just me. They even brought out The Rock who had a little toung-in-cheek (no, not those cheeks!) dialogue with Billy which was kinda funny. Here's a few of the things I made a mental note of:

    HD televisions with built-in recording capabilities and multiple tuners. This lets you watch one channel and record another. The TV can also store shows and play them later (like Tivo).

    Networks expanded to the home and mobile PCs. They had an iPaq with voice recognition software on a wireless network. The iPaq communicated with a home stereo for playlists and the like. Just tell the iPaq to play a song... very cool. They also had an alarm clock which communicated with a PC which would "alarm" specific info from a playlist like music, weather, voice recorded memos, ect.

    Flash memory is gonna be THE new media format. This really caught my interest because they were using flash memory cards to hold playlists, MP3, WMA, and video files. The flash cards were then being played on everything from PDAs (iPaq, HP Jordana) to car stereos (Clarion AutoPC).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCES Keynote Thoughts``x978807386,11501,``x``x ``xThe Rock. I'm not into WWF at all but he's one cool dude, and he sure makes Bill Gates look like "Nerd #1" when they stood together at CES. They brought him out in support of the X-Box and *probably* to give it that EXTREME marketting edge.

    They showed some games like Alice and Munch's Oddysee. Honestly, they looked damn cool and as good as the best of the PC games. X-Box also sports Ethernet, digital video output, 4 USB connections, and rumble-pack controllers. You can peek at it here .

    It was all cool but the things they left out of the X-Box presentation left me scratchin' my head a little. MS bought Bungie for their game Halo but there wasn't even a screenshot of it. They also brought out The Rock and half-heartedly mentioned a WWF game, but there wasn't any type of demo. Weird.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Rock-Box... Er... X-Box``x978808676,47280,``x``x ``xMiss the X-Box webcast yesterday? GameSpot Live! has it for ya in 56K, Cable, and T1 flavors. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xX-Box CES Replay``x978885524,21447,``x``x ``xI've never seen this before... a mod for a yet-to-be-released game. Anyway, Strike Force: Tribes 2 brings modern battlefield warfare gameplay to T2. Weapons will include a variety of pistols and machine guns along with some vehicles. Movement within the game will allow players to stand, crouch, and lay down (must have some snipers/campers on the team). The mod is in the earliest stages of development but looks interesting so far. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStrike Force: Tribes 2``x978971137,95937,``x``x ``xAccording to email sent to all Egghead customers, hackers were unable to access any credit card information from the Egghead web site. Here's the skinny:
    "While the FBI investigation is ongoing, I can now give you an update on our internal investigation, which has uncovered evidence which suggests that Egghead.com's existing security systems interrupted the intrusion while it was in progress, and that customer data has not been compromised."
    Note the use of the word "suggests." Well if that doesn't make you feel any more secure, there is more that might:
    "In addition, reports from the credit card companies with whom we work suggest that fewer than 7,500 credit card accounts registered with us have shown possible fraudulent activity. This is a very small fraction -- less than two tenths of one percent -- of the approximately three million credit cards registered with Egghead.com. At this point it is difficult to determine whether any fraudulent activity on this relatively small number of credit cards can be traced back to the attack on our system, or whether it may be the result of credit card theft elsewhere. At this point, the evidence we have gathered to-date suggests that these credit card numbers were NOT obtained from our site."
    Well 7,500 cards is still a lot of credit cards, especially if one of them was yours. It just goes to show you that on-line buying can still be risky.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEgghead Safe``x979043989,65068,``x``x ``xYou heard me... gaming in 2000 sucked! Sure, there were a few good games but none of them really grabbed my by the jewels and begged me to play. Maybe I have ADS, or maybe there was too much hype, or maybe I'm just a little "special," but I just didn't walk out of 2000 and think, "Damn, that was a kick-ass year!" Let's take a look at what we were left with.

    Blizzard dropped "da bomb" and released Diablo 2. It felt like the first game and it was still 2D 640*480. We've all been there, done that since '96 and I didn't really appreciate paying Blizzard $40 for their Time Machine. Also, the game was in development for way too long and playing through the game's Chapters was like studying the rings of a tree, "look here Johnny, you can tell they had a nasty case of DX5 in Chapter 2."

    The Sims broke out like a nasty case of the clap. Everyone bought it. Everone raved about it. Everyone stopped playing it, and that's my point. I gave it a good shot but the clock in the game must've been bought from a crack house garage sale becasue it moved way too fast for me. Little Simmy and Simantha were always tired, depressed, hungry, dirty (grungy-dirty ya sicko!), lonely, and broke. That just doesn't sound like fun to me. Supposedly, the game is more fun if you make your Sims a little more disfunctional but one of mine caught on fire and the other one couldn't stand life alone, so she promptly developed a nearly fatal case of bladder control. I would've killed her myself but uninstalling the game was much more satisfying.

    Homeworld Cataclysm was everything the first game should've been. Units serve multiple roles, streamlined interface, time compression, and better navagation in the sensors screen are just a few improvements which made the game worth playing. The problem was it was sold as a new game rather than the patch it really was. Sure, I bought it, played through it in record speed (9 days), and really dug the experience but it still felt like a patched game. Also, it didn't blow my skirt up enough to keep playing it past the end of the single player campaign.

    Deus Ex shipped with a buggy graphics API and no multiplayer. MechWarrior 4 was the spittin' image MechWarrior 3 and jump jets still didn't thrust horizontally. They took the fighting out of NHL 2001 and online play is through EA's crappy matching service. Crimson Skies shipped with unforgivable memory leaks. John Romero pinched off a massive Daikatana and forgot to flush!

    Finally, none of the really huge titles pimped on the pages of the game rags shipped in 2K. Black & White, Team Fortress 2, Max Payne, Freelancer, Halo, Tribes 2, and Warcraft 3 are just a few of the titles which slipped past the New Year. Maybe some of them weren't supposed to ship till later but, damnit, I've been holding out too long and just didn't get my groove on. Don't even get me started on Duke Nukem FOREVER...

    That's why gaming in the year 2000 sucked. Sorry if I slammed your favorite game or didn't recognize it in the first place but, if 2000 was all that and a bag of chips, why are we still playing Unreal Tournament and Team Fortress Classic?``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``x2K Gaming Sucked!``x979058260,7455,``x``x ``xThose crazy Brits have a nice little preview of Red Faction complete with the story, a description of RF's G-Mod tech, and a few new screenshots. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRed Faction Preview @ GamespotUK``x979062781,9091,``x``x ``xSharky Extreme has the skinny on the X-Box form CES. Everything is laid out along with a disappointing surprise: DVD will be an optional feature for the console. It seems that PS2 sales were great in Japan but games sales were dismal in comprison leading many to believe the PS2's draw was merely an inexpensive DVD alternative rather than a gaming system. My question is this, why not sell it as both and hit multiple markets?``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSharky's CES X-Box Skinny``x979239575,32824,``x``x ``xNow I've seen it all. Microsoft, Sony, and La-Z-Boy have hooked up to produce the e-cliner which is a big 'o leather recliner with keyboard, electrical outputs, phone jack, ect. I'd wait to grab one till they release the iFatAss v1.o update. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xLa-Z-Boy e-cliner``x979240604,84419,``x``x ``xOkay, listen up control freaks. Been wondering what gamepad to use in NHL 2001? Wanna pull a better yo-yo in Crimson Skys? The Perfect Controller for Every Game Genre is CNET.com's nice little rundown of their favorite controllers for different types of games. Not all of their picks are off-the-shelf goodies from the local ChumpUSA, but they have a nice variety of *quality* controllers and it'll give ya an idea of what's out there. I've wrapped my paws around a few of their picks (Act Labs Force RS is awsome!) and have to admit their opinions are solid.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Perfect Controller for Every Game``x979451356,56298,``x``x ``xThere are several updates to the Ultima Worlds Online site. The UWO:ORIGIN Fiction Contest lets player/authors send in 500-1500 word fictional essays. The winners will have their stories incorporated into the final game. Starr Long, UWO's producer, has a new comment on the progress of the game. Finally, a few Q&As have been added to the UWO FAQ. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUltima Worlds Online Goodies``x979452469,98705,``x``x ``xI've been wondering if the PocketPC is right for me. I'd like to do a little surfing and gaming away form home but those dang buggers are expensive! I'll be looking at the different PocketPCs, accessories, and games over the next few weeks. Here's a few PocketPC gaming tidbits I've found so far:

    MS PocketPak includes Blackjack, Chess, Cinco, FreeCell, Hearts, Minesweeper, Reversi, Sink The Ships, Taipei, and Space Defence (like Missile Command). Works on the PocketPC platform.

    ZIOSoft makes several cool looking games including ZIOGolf, Fun2Link, Bubble Blaster, Pow Wow, and a dialed looking action game called Metalion which is still in development. These games work on the PocketPC platform.

    Jimmy's Software has various action games made for specific PocketPCs and handheld PCs.

    Power Grip bowling for the iPAQ/CASIO/HPJonada.

    iGolf golfing game with 4 player TCP/IP network play for the PocketPC platform.


    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPondering the PocketPC``x979455317,97185,``x``x ``xWelcome to the Dark Side... of overclocking. SpeedGuide.net has an overview of CPU overclocking . I've been doing it since the days of the P-166 (OC'd to a P-200) and have had moderate success. My current system is a P3-700 OC'd to 840MHz. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSpeedGuide.net Overclocking Guide``x979457853,24441,``x``x ``xThis one smacked me from left field because I hadn't heard of it. Tualatin is the new Intel P3 processor which will fill the speed and performance gap between the P4 and AMD's Thundirbird processors. Insane Hardware has a nice little rundown of the chip and Tom's Hardware included it in his Intel CPU roadmap. Here's a few of Tualatin's specs:

    * .13 Micron Copper Manufacturing Process
    * 1.2v Core Voltage
    * 512k L2 On-Die Cache
    * Initial Release of 1.2Ghz, give or take 66MHz each way
    * 200MHz FSB Support
    * SDR and DDR SDRAM Support
    * Requires Intel 830 Chipset codename "Almador" (3rd party will be available)
    * Available end Q2 2001 / Beginning H2 2001 ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe New Pentium III - Codename Tualatin``x979572568,35235,``x``x ``xThank goodness there is a new version of Napster because the last one went down like a Presidential Intern with a seizure disorder. Grab Napster v2.0 beta 9 here . ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew Napster v2.0 beta 9``x979573131,759,``x``x ``xApple Power Macintosh users finally get a real video card on their side of the fence. Nvidia is rolling out both the GeForce2 GTS and GeForce MX for those cool little clear boxes. Of course, they could've been running a GeForce for months if they'd decided to get a PC (grin).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNvidia does the Mac``x979573809,56322,``x``x ``xI caught a show on TV yesterday about some console fighting games and was wondering why there weren't really any for the PC platform. I had played Epic's One Must Fall 2097 a few years back which was a 2D side scroller but no game developers followed suit. This AM, I saw a link from VE for Epic's new game, One Must Fall: Battlegrounds and it looks like there may be some hope. OMF:B puts players in charge of 90 ft robots who duke it out arena style. The game plays from the 3rd person and should support online play. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOne Must Fall: Battlegrounds``x979664380,74114,``x``x ``xThe Myth series of RTS games are among my favorites, and Myth III: The Wolf Age is the next game under development. Originally a Bungie game, Take 2 got the rights to the Myth franchise when the company was sold to Microsoft, which changed hands to Ritual Entertainment, which is building a new company around the game headed by Scott Campbell of Fallout fame. The game is in the earliest of stages, but CGO got the scoop on Myth III . I'm glad to see someone pick up the pieces because Myth was a barrel o' fun and one of the first games with squad level combat, 3D deformable terrain, various and effective unit formations, and freely moving camera.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMyth III: The Wolf Age``x979665358,36367,``x``x ``xThe Junkyard has a little Q&A from their interview with Kelly Assay, T2's Community Programmer. They discussed clans, webcasting the game, and there are a few new screenies. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 Q&A``x979666822,5035,``x``x ``xThere are some rumors floating around about the new Compaq iPaq PocketPCs which are slated for this year. Improvements include a new OS, 64MB RAM, USB, and a new 412MHz processor. I'll post more as it becomes available and/or comfirmed.

    *More unconfirmed stuff: The next iPaq is model H3660 and adds 32MB RAM to the current line (64MB total), and the 412MHz version is due around the end of this year. Both units are expected to be unveiled at CeBIT 2001.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xiPaq Rumors``x979667543,90529,``x``x ``xTom's Hardware has a nice little rundown on how to build a PC for less than one grand. They pieced this one around an AMD Duron processor and GeForce2 GTS, and they overclocked the little bugger to 1000MHz. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTom's Build-A-PC``x979668940,70714,``x``x ``xGamespot slapped up a preview of Verant's Medal Of Honor . MOH is an online game which takes place in a persistant online world and is played from the 1st person. The preview hits on the story, gameplay, and tech behind the game. Good read. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGamespot Previews Medal Of Honor``x979750303,95995,``x``x ``xIomega has released their itty-bitty 340MB Microdrive . These fit Type II compact flash slots on devices like PDAs and cameras, and the unit retails for $299. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIomega 340MB Microdrive``x979752189,17217,``x``x ``xGaming Age did a quikie on Verant's PlanetSide complete with screenshots . As it turns out, Verant has divided the game world into continents and may add more planets if the game becomes popular (duh) and requires loosening the belt a little on the game world. Servers are expected to hold up to 3500 players and missions will let up to 100 gamers duke it out. Here's a few cut 'n pasties:

    * Player roles to fit the situation, ie. join a team to conquer territory, fortify a base against attack, or support any offensive or defensive maneuver.
    * Character development and advancement through ranks
    * Team tactical combat for control of planetary regions, with real-time updates on control of territory
    * Seamless worlds on a massive scale with large indoor environments
    * Real-time weather and environmental factors
    * Full team support
    * Dynamically assigned missions based on real-time planetary conditions
    * Vehicle physics and flight model
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGaming Age Preview of PlanetSide``x979797167,47658,``x``x ``xStopmed whipped up an interview with PlanetSide's producer Kevin McCann. They talked about PlanetSide gaming for the casual gamer, in-game communication with the possibility of voice chat, and the mod community. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStomped's Interview With PlanetSide's Kevin McCann ``x979797631,55105,``x``x ``xHere's a Myth III movie trailer which shows off some combat behind some scrolling graphics. One thing I noticed is the in-game characters appear to me made of polys rather than 2D sprits on 3D terrain (such was the case in the old games).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMyth III Teaser``x979799046,16570,``x``x ``xThe release date for EA's NBA Live! has been pushed back to February 13th. Guess I gotta get my lardass off the couch and shoot hoops the old fashioned way... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNBA Live! 2001 Pushed Back``x979800813,20309,``x``x ``xEA Sports has patched NHL 2001 to v1.03 . I highly suggest you download the patch rather than use the EA update feature on the Start Menu because that thang locked up my game tighter than a crab's ass. While your at it, may as well nab the latest roster update . ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNHL 2001 v1.03 Patch``x979801303,43896,``x``x ``xVoIP... "what'd you call me?!" Creative has released their VoIP Blaster which is a little USB device that enables free PC-to-PC vioce communications over the internet. The VoIP blaster can also handle PC-to-Phone calls at bargain rates. At $20/ea, I'm sure we'll be hearing more about VoIP as the long distance companies start to bicker.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVoIP Blaster``x979801978,67461,``x``x ``xCreative has jumped on the bandwagon and is making the SoundBlaster Live! sound card for the Mac. Apple already has the killer Cinema Display and with Creative and Nvidia hopping the fence, they could temp a few of us to their "fruity" side of computing (grin).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMac Gets SB Live!``x979803099,64531,``x``x ``xThose damn Ruskies must have a mess of caged programming fury. DailyRadar got the low-down on Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul which comes from behind the Iron Curtain and is the standard action/RPG affair. You play as Zak who has lost his memory but can still weild an axe. The game plays from the 3rd person but has a controllable camera to zoom and rotate. Items and materials in the game can be combined to form unique weapons, and online play supports up to 6 players for a good old romp 'n stomp. The graphics are dialed but the game is being tweaked and translated for us Westerners, so it'll be interesting to see how the finished product flushes out (or down... hehe).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFrom Russia With Love, Evil Islands``x979804294,11218,``x``x ``xSierra has squashed a mess 'o bugs and balanced some of the gameplay for the excellent game Homeworld Cataclysm... even if the game is a glorified patch. Get the patch's patch here, and a big fat "wet one" goes out to Cage for the heads-up.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHomeworld Cataclysm Update``x979840335,2276,``x``x ``xSharky Extreme took a good look at the Dell 8100 THX computer system and smacked her with an 8/10. The review is pretty fat, so here is the low-cal version:

    The Dell 8100 THX uses top-of-the-line off-the-shelf components and performs as such. The THX certification is mostly due to Dell's choice of Altec Lansing ADA885 THX certified 4.1 channel speakers. The computer runs on WinME and crashed a few times on shutdown (which isn't too hard to believe). It's a good value but isn't anything you couldn't build at home.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSharky's Dell 8100 THX Review``x979841345,83382,``x``x ``xCnet has the low-down on iBlast which is TV's way of re-inventing itself. iBlast TV carriers plan to transmit programs, music, and the like to set-top boxes in the livingroom. Sounds like "Push" technology to me, but it's interesting to see what The Man has up his sleeve. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xiBlast for the TV``x979843624,57872,``x``x ``xDailyRadar had a nice little chat with Scott Campbell, the Story Designer and Project Manager of Myth III. They talked about how the new Myth game relates to the old ones, the new story, new units, and 3D graphics including fully 3D units. Although the game is in the earliest stages of development, they expect to show a Myth III demo at this year's E3.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMyth III Interview``x979919054,1422,``x``x ``xMore goodies from DailyRadar. They have a mess 'o movies taken from X-Com: Enforcer. The game looks like a 3rd person console shooter, but it looks nice. Check it out if that's your thang... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xX-Com: Enforcer Movies``x979919446,69359,``x``x ``xEurogamer has a mess of Screenshots from the Russian action/RPG Evil Islands. What I want to know is this: in their attempt to "Westernize" the game for sale over here, will they change the player models so they don't look like Olympic female weight lifters? Those Ruskies should check a few Everquest ads... that's what a chick should look like! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEvil Islands Screenshots``x979920183,46386,``x``x ``xThe Strike Force: UT and Strike Force: T2 guys have combined forces and launched the Strike Force Center web site where you can find everything Strike Force related (duh). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStrike Force Join Forces!``x979920837,82082,``x``x ``xNHL 2001 has been sittin' on my system for a while but I just got around to starting up a season. I've noticed a few quirks which gettin' under my skin. I set the game sliders for a "realistic" experience, played 2 season games on a 7 minute clock, and chose the LA Kings as my team. The first thing I noticed was I almost always pull a slashing penalty when trying to draw the puck from the offense. The next thing was my team seems overly defensive (when the hell did the Kings get defensive?!) and won't attack when trying to kill a penalty... even if I get a clean break away and have the offensive coaching strategy set to "crash the net." The last thing was the player portraits haven't been updated from last year, and players traded to the Kings this season don't look to smug in their old team's jerseys. I still like the game but I watch too much hockey to let these things pass.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNHL 2001 Weirdness``x979933472,52050,``x``x ``xSharky Extreme has a preview of Simon & Schuster's Star Trek DS9: Dominion Wars . The game looks really slick and is an action/RTS hybrid. Players control various ships and select characters from the DS9 univers to command their helms. The ability of each character/commander has a direct impact on the performance of each ship. In-game graphics will sport battle scars and dents on ship's hulls. Online play will include a king-of-the-hill mode in which there is a centrally located space station to which away teams can be beamed and take control of the station's defenses. The DS9:DW web site should launch in a few weeks.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStar Trek DS9: Dominion Wars``x980008122,76714,``x``x ``xI admit that this one looks quite tastey. I've always been a history buff, and the Quake 3 engine has never looked better. I was quite intrigued when I saw the preview in last month's PC Gamer. Gamespot UK's preview has some new screenshots that really show off the eye candy.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMedal of Honor``x980008226,19396,``x``x ``xDailyRadar has a preview of the run 'n gun action game X-Com Enforcer . The game is played from the 3rd person and is oriented toward console-type heavy action. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xX-Com Enforcer Preview``x980008415,53914,``x``x ``xInsane Hardware got a little scoop on the Hercules NV20 video card . They claim the card will be shipping around the 3rd week of February (yea, right) and will sport a itty-bitty Golden Orb cooler on the GPU. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHerculese NV20 Scoopage``x980009201,15518,``x``x ``xGameSpot has a 5 page preview of Myth III. They got touchy-feely with the game's history, OpenGL graphics, skeletal animation, deformable terrain, trees (they're doing some cool stuff with their wood), and some swank multiplayer stuff like being able to save experienced troops from online battles. They're shooting for a beta test with 1000 players of various hardware configs and a Christmas 2001 release. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xG-Spot's Big Fat Myth III Preview``x980010100,25719,``x``x ``xI ran into this over at Battleground Halo and it's just too damn cool. The following is a cut 'n pastie developer's note on vehicles in Halo:

    "Chucky performed some sort of bizarre coding miracle that allowed vehicles to navigate indoors, which they were not able to do previously. He demonstrated this to me by driving the jeep into a building, down several flights of stairs, and ultimately into a portion of the level known as The Shaft. Watching the sucker flip and spin as it plummeted to the bottom made my day."
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHalo Indo``x980010602,85002,``x``x ``x PocketQuake allows you to play Quake on a Pocket PC with an ARM processor. I haven't had a a chance to download it yet for my Compaq iPAQ, which has an ARM cpu. The Pocket Quake web site is getting spanked like a red headed stepchild, and is currently incredibly slow.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPocket PC Quake``x980175867,80345,``x``x ``xEnsemble Studios has a few more maps up on their Age of Kings: Conquerors site. AoK is still one of my favorite LAN games. We have quite the party at my place when we get together to play coop against the computer. I'm already trying to figure out how to add more seats in my office so that we can make room for everyone who wants to play.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAge of Kings: C Maps``x980177907,19671,``x``x ``xThis case sports 5 80MM fans and 3 blowholes (for da fans, ya sicko!). It looks like an overclockers dream and cooled the test CPU by 9 degrees C. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOCZ CoolCase ULTRA Review``x980184606,10912,``x``x ``x3D Action Planet has a preview of Red Faction. They hit different angles of the game such as it's Geo-Mod technology (deformable/destructable terrain, liquids/gasses modified in real-time), physics/gravity engine (projectiles arc over distance), weapons, gameplay, and the like. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRed Faction Preview``x980233676,19689,``x``x ``xIGN has the goods on the super-hero game Freedom Force . There are also a few new screenies tucked at the end of the review... mostly of ants. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFreedom Force Preview``x980234640,12344,``x``x ``xCage, Magnifioso, and I went to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon this evening. It's been a long time since I've seen a real KungFu movie, so I had forgotten how simple the plot can be... "my mastah betta than you mastah" type of thing. This one fell into the "I steal you sword, you try get back" with a few plot twists. Overall, it was a good flick with some of the best head bashin' fight seens I've ever seen. Most of the stuff was done on wires by the same team which worked on The Matrix, so it was pretty trippy. Too bad some of the chase scenes were overdone (and damn obsurd) because they really stole some wind from the momentum of the movie. It's subtitled as well and could put some to sleep when the action gets a little slow (grin).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon``x980235365,40841,``x``x ``xZIOSoft's action game Metalion has been released for the PocketPC. Play on Earth and in space from a 3D over-the-shoulder perspective. A demo is available and the full version will set you back $24.95. This is the coolest PocketPC game I've seen!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMetalion Released``x980236668,46770,``x``x ``xQuake has been ported to the iPaq PocketPC. The Pocket Quake site seems to be down right now, so check it later if ya wanna smack some Strogg booty on the go. *Note, looks like Cage hit this one earlier but, damnit, I feel the need to put yer ass in the know!
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPocket Quake``x980236822,30489,``x``x ``xG-Spot has 36 new screenies of the RTS game, Star Trek: Away Team . Watch those Red Shirts fry! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStar Trek: Away Team Screenshots``x980238402,99367,``x``x ``x PCGamerWeb has a preview of Return To Castle Wolfenstein. There isn't really anything new but it's a good read if you missed out on any of the previous previews of this 1st person shooter.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xReturn To Castle Wolfenstein Preview``x980309794,19131,``x``x ``x Planet Starseige has an interview with the Tribes 2 level designer Eric Lanz. They shoot-the-poop about level design, making levels accessable to different types of vehicles, and the like.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 Interview``x980310280,75499,``x``x ``xThe Encino Voyager MP3/CD Portable Player review is now up. Is this the portable MP3/CD player to get? MP3.com's reviewer seems to think so. Will it live up to the hype, or will it get the dreaded "Unacceptable" rating? Read the Cagesworld Encino Voyager MP3/CD Portable Player review to find out.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEncino Voyager Review``x980348847,18191,``x``x ``x Stomped has a new link to the PocketQuake download. I finally had a chance to download it and play around with it a bit. My impressions? Well, it *is* Quake, but it's quite slow compared to the frame rates you get with even a middle of the road PC. There is no sound yet, and the Compaq iPAQ joypad it quite fussy and limited. I had some difficulty trying to exit the game, and ended up having to do a soft re-boot. It's intriguing, but not something I'd spend much time with. The game runs in a half screen window, and includes the first level of the demo version of Quake.

    Note: You will need to download an updated version of Microsoft's GX.DLL which is not included, but can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/downloads/developer/gapi.asp.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPocket Quake Download``x980352372,35131,``x``x ``x File Planet has a number of games for Windows CE devices like the iPAQ Pocket PC. I've yet to try them, and the documentation seems to be pretty skimpy. Nine11 shot a couple of links my way, and I'll have to give a few more demos a whirl.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPocket PC Games``x980352682,86470,``x``x ``xI just gave Zio Soft's Metalion a whirl on my Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC. It was pretty fun for a Pocket PC game. Maybe there is hope after all. You can use the stylus for movement, which works quite well. The graphics are a little blocky looking, but the game runs quite fast. It's really not my type of game, but it has potential.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMetalion``x980353866,41952,``x``x ``xAs you may have noticed, I've been following the PocketPC hardware and gaming thang. I was wondering if one of these little buggers would be good enough for me to do a little web surfing and gaming away from home. I finally decided to wait because no single piece of hardware has all the features I want and the software is in the earliest of stages. If I had my way, I'd build the best damn little PocketPC from the following:

    HP Jordana 540 Series which has the best wireless modem and swank "Tricorder" style flip cover.
    Casio EM-500 which has the best gamepad and case design.
    Compaq iPaq which has the best display and is the fastest handheld on the planet.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPondering The PocketPC - Second Thoughts``x980356403,19598,``x``x ``xFGN is reporting Unreal 2 will be shown behind closed doors this May at E3, and Unreal 2 is shooting for a Q1 2002 release date. There is also mention of Unreal Warfare but it's unclear if that's a game or engine... maybe it's the next version of UT... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUnreal 2 @ E3``x980356770,6048,``x``x ``xFiring Squad smacked up a review of the S4 MidiLand 8200 Speakers. This is a 7.1 setup with remote and Dolby Digital decoder. They're impressive but expensive at $300.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xS4 MidiLand 8200 Speaker Review ``x980357977,91673,``x``x ``xDaily Radar has some in-game movies and screenshots of Star Trek: Away Team. The movies look pretty cool and show off some advanced features and weapons (sniper rifle and grenades are cool) but are downloading kinda slow right now. The screenies are new captures and higher res than the movies.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStar Trek: Away Team Media``x980358361,83196,``x``x ``xThe Warcraft III page has been updated with a gameplay movie which sports some melee combat, spellcasting, and construction of a structure. Unfortunately, I noticed the AI is the same as any other RTS game and units will stand around picking their noses while their buddies get smeared only ten paces away. Still, it's a Warcraft game...``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWarcraft III Gameplay Preview``x980439642,97228,``x``x ``xDaily Radar has been workin' overtime and brought us some of the "good stuff." Here's a list of goodies to look at:

    Star Trek: Away Team Preview takes an objective look at gameplay from a 4 level beta. This is written from a gamer's perspective... no PR crap!
    World War II Online Interview with Executive Producer Mark Pribe gets touchy-feely about getting different aspects of the game to gel together (RTS/FPS/sim), balancing the game, making it accessable to casual gamers, 'n stuff.
    Fallout Tactics: Trailer & Screenshots has a retro 50's style movie with some in-game footage, and there are 12 new sceenshots.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDaily Radar Goodies``x980441191,2859,``x``x ``xRPG Planet had a nice little chat with Freedom Force's Ken Levine and Jon Chey who co-founded Irrational Games. The interview is pretty damn deep as they talk about FF's combination of tactical strategy and roleplaying, the NetImmerse (game) engine, blended skeletal animation, FF's interface, ect. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRPG Planet Interviews Freedom Force``x980442904,45601,``x``x ``xDirectX 8a is out. Here's the skinny:
    "This latest version of DirectX offers updated graphics, faster frame rates, and support for massively multiplayer games. It also offers more immersive audio when running and displaying programs rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3-D animation, and surround sound. If you had an earlier version of DirectX installed on your system, you will see little difference in available space on your hard drive following the installation. DirectX 8.0a will overwrite any earlier versions." - File Planet.
    You can download it from FilePlanet. 24.7 MB.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDirectX 8a``x980523419,13711,``x``x ``xI've added a link to Age of Kings Command Center, which has a good civilization guide for Age of Kings: Conquerors. AOK:C is one of my favorite LAN games.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAge of Kings Links``x980526752,74681,``x``x ``x AnandTech has their most recent Weekly CPU & Video Card Price Guide up. Intel CPU's still come with a price premium. I thought it was very interesting that for around $300 you could either get an Intel 1.0 GHz CPU for $299, or an AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.2 GHz CPU for $268. AMD is still killing Intel when it comes to price/performance. Intel's latest price cuts should bring the two CPU's closer together in price. Currently the Intel 1.4/1.5 Pentium 4 CPU's do not perform much if any faster then the AMD Athlon's at lower clock speed. Since currently the Pentium 4's feature the dead end RAMBUS memory chips, I'd stay away from them until they support DDR memory, or have a decided performance advantage.

    Rumor has it that the AMD Athlon 1.3 GHz CPU's are right around the corner, though Anand says that:
    "Also, the rumored 1.3GHz Thunderbirds will not be coming out any time soon. And when it does hit, you won't be kicking yourself for making a purchase now since it is highly unlikely that it will be using the cooler-running Palomino core." - AnandTech.
    I'm quite happy still with my AMD Athlon 1.1 GHz cpu. I'll updgrade to a bigger hard drive and a faster video card before I start thinking of a cpu upgrade. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWeekly Price Drops - Anand``x980581065,24438,``x``x ``x AnandTech had a Abit KT7A motherboard up dated January 21, 2001. The KT7A features support for 133 MHz Front Side Bus, and DDR RAM. As is typical for Abit boards you can tweak the heck out of it if you are an Over-Clocker nut.

    I was also happy to see that the KT7A puts 2 USB ports on the back of the board, and 2 USB ports in the front of the motherboard. I really liked how Compaq put USB ports and connectors in the front of their computer cases for quite some time. It's a nice option for USB devices that you swap around frequently. You don't have to get behind your computer tower in order to un-plug or plug in devices. Of course I have a USB hub which sits on my desk, so that makes it a bit more bearable.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAbit KT7A at Anand's``x980582017,84468,``x``x ``xThe MFO Mapster team has a very interesting looking map for Age of Kings: Conqueros called MFO@Nottingham. It features lots of forest and no water. Think of Black Forest without choke points. Here's a screeny:

    Thanks, Age of Kings Command Center. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAOK:C Random Map``x980583511,22033,``x``x ``x AsiaBizTech is reporting that AMD will ramp up to 1.7 GHz by the end of 2001. Here's the relevant rip:
    "The company plans to release a 1.3GHz chip by the end of March, 1.4GHz and 1.5GHz chips by the end of June and a 1.7GHz chip by the end of December." - AsiaBizTech.
    Thanks, HardOCP. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAthlon Roadmap?``x980607875,99925,``x``x ``xSharky Extreme had a nice little chat with Leonard Boyarsky, co-founder of Troika Games and lead artist of Arcanum. They spent much of their time hashing over the fantasy/industrial elements of Arcanum and how they balance out. It's a good read for a very interesting game.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xArcanum Interview``x980632112,84548,``x``x ``xDaily Radar has a two paragraph quickie on Red Faction . The paragraphs are actually pretty long and detailed, and there are 10 new screenies for your viewing pleasure. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRed Faction Quickie & Screenies``x980632438,79332,``x``x ``xDaily Radar has a review of Oni . They rated it a Hit but summed it up as "One of the most fun, poorly designed games we've ever played." ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOni Review``x980717616,77901,``x``x ``xThe DS9: Dominion Wars web site is up. Actually, Simon & Schuster Interactive has had several different domains and versions of the DS9DW site up over the past few weeks, and it wouldn't surprise me if they changed things again. A few parts of the site are under construction but there are some ship and captain profiles, and some new screenies and wallpapers. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDS9: Dominion Wars Site Up``x980718514,22393,``x``x ``xI downloaded the new version of WinAmp v2.72 which has an exclusive Radiohead skin and song. To put it lightly, both suck! The skin is butt-ugly and looks worse than WinAmp's base skin. The song is a live recording from Copenhagen and probably only appeals to diehard Radiohead fans... which I'm not. Topping off the experience, the new installation nix'd all my old plugins and skins so I gotta grab 'em again. If ya feel the need to install the newest version of WinAmp, get the one without the Radiohead stuff.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWinAmp 2.72 w/ Radiohead``x980719218,58443,``x``x ``xThese guys watercooled an ATI Radeon for their souped up OC machine. This stuff never ceases to amaze me. For all the money, time, and effort spent doing this sort of thing, it would cost the same to just do it right and buy faster parts. Also, notice there aren't any benchmarks... another good reason to stay away from this sort of thing (no bragging rights). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRadeon Watersports``x980796286,25286,``x``x ``xStevie Case announced she is leaving Ion Storm for greener pastures. The announcement is fairly vague and typical of Ion Storm PR. Stevie's departure leaves the two remaining co-founders of Ion Storm, John Romero and his Ego, to start development on Daikatana2. It's been rumored Stevie left Ion Storm after being prompted by PC Gamer to persue a career as a "Game God."``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStevie Breaks Up w/ John``x980798364,4983,``x``x ``xSharky Extreme gave the Hercules Game Theater XP a whopping 92%. This new sound card has better CPU utilization than the SB Live! and a breakout box with mini-jacks for headphones, mic, a USB hub, and gameport. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHercules Game Theater XP Review ``x980799237,900,``x``x ``xHere's a nice little do-it-yourself article on relocating USB hubs to the front of a computer case (5.25" bay). There's also a DIY on getting a cigarette lighter in there but it looks more like a joke, and we don't condone smoking around here. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGetting USB Up Front``x980799758,17275,``x``x ``xDaily Radar smacked up a quickie on the Toshiba Satellite 2805-S402 laptop. This unit comes with a GeForce2go (basically a GeForce MX), 15" display, and stereo sound with subwoofer (not sure where they tucked that). Unfortunately, there aren't any benchmarks but they gave it a general "thumbs up." ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xA Laptop For Games?``x980841675,21392,``x``x ``xIGN previewed the giant robot fighting game One Must Fall: Battlegrounds. I played the original game back in '94 which was a side-scroller/robot/Mortal Kombat kinda thing... and pretty damn fun. The new game has 3D graphics, varied terrain, environmental hazards, and the like. Unfortunately, some aspects of the game won't ship (like Tournament mode) till after it's release. Another thing I don't like is online play will be handeled by GameSpy rather than an in-game browser... c'mon guys, it's like the MILENNIUM!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOne Must Fall: Battlegrounds``x980843020,38402,``x``x ``xCGO has a preview of Arcanum which details the game and has a few news screenies for ya weenies (yep, I'm a rhymin' fool). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xArcanum Preview``x980843340,30389,``x``x ``xBuried in a recent Ars Technica "Ask Ars" answer column was this very interesting take on Windows Me, which mirrors other reports I've read on the Web.
    "Well, I've pretty much chucked WinME at home. I've one last machine running it, and it's only because there are hours and hours worth of applications loaded on it, and I haven't had the time to plan a full rebuild. Among my many irritations with WinME is that fact that it's just not stable if you're an avid overclocker." - Ars Technica.
    For some reason I've managed to get achieve a fairly stable Windows Me environment recently (knock on silicon). Perhaps I made the proper sacrifices to the computer gods, or it's just a brief reprieve before the next system crash. Despite the reports of a 10-15% performance hit using Windows Me, I haven't noticed any problems. As long as it works, I'll keep it.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWindows Me Bad, bad, bad?``x980935439,68859,``x``x ``xHave 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!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMS Strategic Commander``x981029799,48253,``x``x ``x 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.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIntel Price Cuts - again``x981033374,51909,``x``x ``xIBM 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIBM Ultrastar 15,000 RPM Drive``x981129051,79897,``x``x ``xDaily 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMafia Interview``x981130095,45937,``x``x ``xDo 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." ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAoK 2: C AI Scripts``x981130173,35589,``x``x ``x 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.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xQuake 3 Benchmania``x981130816,8090,``x``x ``xIt 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.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIdiot Savant``x981134029,11807,``x``x ``xGamespot 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGiants Demo @ Gamespot``x981137605,38405,``x``x ``xThis 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAchtung, Penny Arcade``x981137848,61782,``x``x ``xBlizzard 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). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWarcraft III Announcements``x981138318,16955,``x``x ``xAction Trip has a preview of Dungeon Seige. The preview is kinda stale but there are some new and damn fine lookin' screenies. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDungeon Siege Preview``x981138550,33312,``x``x ``xIt'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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCivilization III``x981139633,31103,``x``x ``xDaily 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSo You Want to Be a Game Designer``x981226803,95952,``x``x ``xThe Ultima Worlds Online site has been updated with a new screenshot image browser for some new in-game images, some creatures, and concept art.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUltima Worlds Online Peep Show``x981227477,67684,``x``x ``xI'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).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEmperor: Battle For Dune``x981228379,29061,``x``x ``xZIOSoft 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xZIOGolf2``x981228930,13452,``x``x ``xEver wonder how the Baby Bells tweak their DSL lines? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDSL Tech Cartoon``x981229947,78942,``x``x ``xA 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! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFreeloader.com... It's Just Plain Bad!``x981309951,5633,``x``x ``xSharky 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xATI Mobility Radeon``x981389848,26199,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWWII Online Screenshots``x981390880,48867,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOMF: Battlegrounds Dev Diary & Movies``x981391435,3717,``x``x ``xI 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.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLord of the Rings Trailer``x981450480,86275,``x``x ``xDaily 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." ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSerious Sam Freakshow``x981476332,67922,``x``x ``xFiringSquad 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNVIDIA Detonator 6.50 Test ``x981476603,81175,``x``x ``xFGN 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xInside Half-Life Rally``x981477293,75872,``x``x ``x 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.

    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFF on in Planetside?``x981538665,19286,``x``x ``xCage 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPossible OC Problems w/ 6.5 Nvidia Drivers``x981581731,54531,``x``x ``xSharky 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTalk To Me, Baby!``x981585249,14092,``x``x ``xYep, 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMore OC Problems w/ Nvidia 6.5 Drivers``x981649387,89507,``x``x ``xDaily 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."``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHigh Heat Baseball 2002 Demo``x981649860,59990,``x``x ``xRPG 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSummoner Elements Of The Week``x981651107,48913,``x``x ``xHere'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? ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSnapStream PocketPVS``x981651729,4449,``x``x ``xA 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... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMetalion Patch v1.1``x981652416,87911,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xComputer Gaming World Rocks!``x981734303,73903,``x``x ``x3D Files landed the demo of the sweet lookin' F1 Racing. It's available in several languages and is 121MB "fat pipe friendly." ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xF1 Racing Demo``x981734663,69469,``x``x ``xSharky 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xP4 Overclocking``x981735262,62786,``x``x ``xDaily 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNBA Live 2001``x981735794,2465,``x``x ``x3D 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... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWindows 2000 - Compatibility/Performance guide``x981736379,72692,``x``x ``xDSL 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." ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDSL Gets 2 1/2 Stars, Cable 4``x981737643,98640,``x``x ``xFGN 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNapster Moves Into Gaming?``x981738474,37179,``x``x ``xHardware 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOverclockerz Implosion Full-Tower Case``x981854000,38900,``x``x ``xWhile 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! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFBI Renames Carnivore Email Tap``x981854785,47387,``x``x ``xMore 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). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHalf-Life Rally``x981855583,60839,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPlanetside Server Running 24/7``x981858617,63515,``x``x ``xMore 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVerizon DSL Shuts Down 53 Central Offices``x981859458,73680,``x``x ``xPenny 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPenny Arcade Is Back``x981860441,61083,``x``x ``xWhile 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?).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew Napster v2.0 beta 9.6``x981997128,85005,``x``x ``xA 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Sharky Shuffle, Earthweb, & ASUS P4T``x981998227,12469,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCastle Wolfenstein Movie Weirdness``x981999281,15054,``x``x ``xDaily 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSimCity on the Moon?``x982081228,6759,``x``x ``xIt 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... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAnna Kournikova Virus``x982082145,78612,``x``x ``xYep, 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNapster Bad!``x982082752,76613,``x``x ``xGameSpyDaily has 10 new screenies of Summoner which include 7 in-game and 3 cutscenes. They look mighty fine, so check 'em out. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSummoner Screenies``x982084237,21529,``x``x ``xIt'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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xReymen PocketPC Screenies``x982084589,83302,``x``x ``xCRN 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIntel XScale Handheld Processor``x982084958,86168,``x``x ``xBeta 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRedmoon Online Preview``x982164612,75804,``x``x ``xVoodoo 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!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEve-Online: The Second Genesis Preview ``x982165371,48949,``x``x ``xDaily 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFate of the Dragon Preview``x982166537,90672,``x``x ``xIf 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDual Socket 370 Motherboard Roundup ``x982166965,19134,``x``x ``xSorry, 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.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWhat The Func?``x982167563,14056,``x``x ``xAnandtech 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xLogitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100``x982168023,49337,``x``x ``xThe 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCops Nab Kournikova Virus Suspect``x982168543,68038,``x``x ``xHad 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Cable Guy``x982169020,68251,``x``x ``xAcclaim 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDucati World Race Challenge``x982169838,81084,``x``x ``xThe DS9: Dominion Wars web site has been updated with an intro screen, info on two new ships, and 10 new 'n tasty screenies. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDS9: Dominion Wars Site Update``x982170095,50350,``x``x ``xGamespot 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFreedom Force Preview``x982170923,5441,``x``x ``xMore 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew iPaq Rumors``x982194284,77178,``x``x ``xZIOSoft 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xZIOGolf2 Released``x982194649,1867,``x``x ``xMicrosoft 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMS Outlook Mobile Manager Beta``x982195279,89583,``x``x ``xThere's a map pack for Q3: Team Arena floating around which includes maps from the Q3 map/mod community and polish from id Sofware. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xQ3 Team Arena Map Pack``x982266951,24874,``x``x ``xAs 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDucati Racing Demo Impressions``x982268831,39007,``x``x ``xFate 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFate Of The Dragon Impressions``x982271060,9066,``x``x ``xSharky 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGigabyte GA-7DX DDR Mobo Review``x982272234,93721,``x``x ``xDaily 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... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWorms World Party Preview``x982272876,98714,``x``x ``xLooks 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDomain Name Scam``x982273641,77141,``x``x ``xThere'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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNV20 Rumors``x982275154,81047,``x``x ``xGamespot 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIcewind Dale: Heart of Winter Complete``x982275503,47405,``x``x ``xPocketPC 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). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMinstrel 540 Wireless Modem Review``x982276175,41131,``x``x ``xEchelon 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:

    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEchelon Screenies``x982328397,38952,``x``x ``xDaily 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? ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWizardry 8 Preview``x982337676,88216,``x``x ``xFiring 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? ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xClive Barker's Undying Quickie``x982339284,76952,``x``x ``xTweak 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!).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xKenwood 72X CD-ROM Review``x982339775,33858,``x``x ``xMSNBC 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...
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPolice Bust Belgian Napster Users``x982340624,10613,``x``x ``xSpeedGuide.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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWinGate 4.1.1Review``x982341800,34118,``x``x ``xThere 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWWII Online Site Updated``x982343643,1724,``x``x ``xThe 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'. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew Pocket Quake w/ TCP/IP & Sound``x982343930,83867,``x``x ``xMS 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPocket PC StarterPak for Dummies - Free!``x982344313,73378,``x``x ``xWe'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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCage's World Makeover``x982346187,64785,``x``x ``xGamespot 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSteel Soldiers Goodies``x982426513,20229,``x``x ``xCage 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."
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMore NV20 Rumors``x982426902,12356,``x``x ``xQ: 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAware Magazine PC Case Mod``x982427969,32174,``x``x ``xVC 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNvidia 7.XX Beta Drivers``x982428215,94228,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEmperor Battle For Dune Goodies``x982428643,91533,``x``x ``xDaily 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSo You Wanna Be A Game Designer? Pt. 2``x982429186,21102,``x``x ``xHere'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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGateway Country Comes To B-Town``x982453777,25002,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWindows XP``x982599365,70415,``x``x ``xVE (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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xArt of Magic Interview``x982599870,87911,``x``x ``xAnandtech 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xATI RadeonVE Review``x982600565,86690,``x``x ``xINSIDE 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNapster II``x982601663,14135,``x``x ``xFGN 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFuture (Imagine Media) Cuts 350 Jobs``x982602205,65728,``x``x ``xVenom 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... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVenom Goodies``x982627286,27889,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVenom Demo Impressions``x982645785,68935,``x``x ``xFiringSquad 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% ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xLogitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 Review ``x982680839,57467,``x``x ``x3DRage 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNvidia Driver Benchmarks``x982681921,32140,``x``x ``xZDNet 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!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDSL Price Hikes``x982682810,19009,``x``x ``xFGN 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBlack & White Goodies``x982683876,99324,``x``x ``xCE4You 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMS/Sendo Z100 Color Smartphone``x982684584,19421,``x``x ``xPocketPC 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCYPAQ Wireless iPaq Modem Review``x982685416,10580,``x``x ``xReview 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce2 MX Roundup``x982708633,53670,``x``x ``xLooks 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNapster Offers $1B To Drop Lawsuit``x982762223,17284,``x``x ``xGamespot 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMax Payne Flick``x982762748,72423,``x``x ``xDaily 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUndying Review``x982763586,71016,``x``x ``xMike 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."``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDS9: Dominion Wars Update``x982765101,10464,``x``x ``xFGN 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... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCellular Phone Gaming``x982765717,80312,``x``x ``xThe 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOperation Flashpoint Flicks``x982767830,22765,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDiablo II Music Video - Dragula``x982770018,75145,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNBA Live! 2001 Demo Impressions``x982774378,32296,``x``x ``xDaily 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHalf-Life: Day Of Defeat``x982787677,97295,``x``x ``xSince "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!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUn-Caged``x982942117,97234,``x``x ``xWe 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. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xQuake 3 and GeForce 3 Spankage``x982942381,89247,``x``x ``x 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. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xJohn Carmack on GeForce 3``x982942780,72612,``x``x ``xOGR 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.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xAge of Sail 2``x982943136,36074,``x``x ``x 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.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEmpire Earth ``x982943685,74266,``x``x ``x 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.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIcewind Dale Expansion Shipping``x982944461,67015,``x``x ``x 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. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMotor City Online Preview``x982944781,1202,``x``x ``xI’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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNews Monkey Is Back!``x983032274,80284,``x``x ``xXLGaming 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOperation Flashpoint Preview``x983033426,85869,``x``x ``xNvidia 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNvidia's GeForce3 Site``x983034932,62923,``x``x ``xHardOCP 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMotherboard Shootout: Soyo VS Asus``x983035918,12808,``x``x ``xPC 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! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDSL Self-Install Headaches``x983036687,80483,``x``x ``xMSNBC 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRIAA Goes After "Open Napster" Servers``x983037407,88210,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDS9: Dominion Wars Site Updates``x983037873,36501,``x``x ``xDropship 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...
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMechwarrior 4 Tips``x983040488,12124,``x``x ``xSlashdot 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDOOM III Gloomy, Carmack Talks Back``x983041014,86739,``x``x ``xChick'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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWind Tunnel Plus ATX Case Review``x983123858,55813,``x``x ``xVIA 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVIA Chipset Driver Guide``x983124068,20077,``x``x ``xThis 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?``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCarmack Talks About GF3 & Doom3 Pics``x983124695,29671,``x``x ``xSharky 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSimple Guide to Building a Home LAN``x983201024,76827,``x``x ``xThe 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNapster Ends On March 2``x983201929,56597,``x``x ``xThere 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOperation Flashpoint Screenshots``x983202666,58672,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDay Of Defeat Pic Of The Week``x983203516,40844,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPocketQuake v0.04 Beta``x983204750,60195,``x``x ``xCE4You 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPocketPC @ 360*480``x983206387,81536,``x``x ``xGamespot 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWorms World Party Preview``x983207822,9612,``x``x ``xSharky 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.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce3 Preview``x983288323,76149,``x``x ``xCtrl-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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSyncMaster 955DF DynaFlat 19" Monitor Review ``x983289733,86290,``x``x ``xTechnoyard 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOverclocking Simplified ``x983290367,47616,``x``x ``xTechTV 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.). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFive Myths/Truths of DSL Broadband``x983291405,53203,``x``x ``xWWII 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRash Of Sniping In WWII Online``x983292524,44689,``x``x ``xGamespot 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOperation Flashpoint Gallery``x983292967,39910,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOperation Flashpoint Preview``x983318962,23879,``x``x ``xDungeon 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDungeon Seige Screenshots``x983378908,65041,``x``x ``xInside 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBlizzard Sues New Line Cinema``x983379805,2853,``x``x ``xThere 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? ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew HL-Rally Shots``x983380231,17458,``x``x ``xignPC 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPlanetside Preview``x983380844,97417,``x``x ``xThis 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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOn The Road With MP3``x983381800,41653,``x``x ``xThere 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! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEchelon Demo``x983412478,37328,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMultiwave's Slick Aluminum PC Case``x983413630,19952,``x``x ``xIt 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.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEchelon Demo Impressions``x983417448,35830,``x``x ``xAfter seeing Nine11's news item I went ahead and took Echelon out for a spin. Echelon is being developed by Bubka (A Russian company) and published by Bethesda Softworks.

    Yep, all the menus and text are in Russian. It does make it challenging to figure out how to configure the options and navigate through the game.

    I had better luck then Nine11 did. To be fair, I have spent a bit more time with flight sims. Also, fortunately for me I was able to select the joystick control by just guessing from the option menu. Since mouse was spelled out, it was just a matter of picking an option other then that. I went for one of the options towards the bottom of the list and hit the jackpot. I got full support for my twist rudders and throttle on my MS FF stick. Woohee!

    The graphics were interesting, but not as stunning as I thought they would be from Nine11's description. It's still easy to see sharp edges on the mountains. Texture details seemed to be blurry and not all that impressive in spots. It does seem like they really went all out to implement fogging and lens flare effects. I don't doubt that it could be "realistic" to have it that way, considering the arena I was flying in, which was high in the mountains.

    Yep, I caught that option for "T&L" in the graphics setup, and of course selected it. I wish I could read Russian. Too bad I didn't stick it out with that Russian language class in college. There were a lot of other interesting looking options that I would have loved to play with.

    I tried out several different err.....jets? I was pleasantly surprised that they at least made an effort to model some basic flight forces. You can't just point/jerk/and shoot like you can in Crimson Skies. While there appear to be some enemy location radar prompts you are not given an exact 3 dimensional fix, which is kind of nice and challenging. A radar map on the HUD shows your relative orientation and distance to the enemy, as well as which way the enemy is pointing. When you get closer a red arrow/carrot will appear in the upper corner of the HUD showing you which direction to go to find the enemy. It does not show you if the enemy is above or below you, which is nice.

    The weapons require that you lead the target to get the proper angle for effective deflection shooting. The projectiles look kind of cheesy, especially some of the energy weapon balls. However the resulting damage and hit effects are quite satisfying. You can see the other jet shake and shudder from the hit. Also you can blow off specific parts and watch the enemy jet try to stay in the air minus a few parts. When you hit a critical spot the resulting explosion and fireball is quite spectacular.

    I noticed several times when I was taking off some stuttering and slow downs in the frame rate. It didn't happen every time, with every plane. That's on my GeForce 2 GTS powered Athlon 1.1 GHz system. Of course I had all the graphic options maxed, but I couldn't tell for sure at what resolution.

    I didn't notice any clipping of the textures. I did have some fun with the enemy as I wove through the mountains and watched them explode into the side of a cliff while they tried to follow me. The enemy AI didn't seem to be too tough, but I have no idea what the difficulty was set at. I know I was mortal, since I managed to kill myself by going head on with an enemy jet twice. Doh!

    Echelon looks like it might be fun, but it needs some polishing. I didn't check out the multiplay, though it did try to connect to the Internet before it crashed because of my ZoneAlarm settings. I might give it another whirl later.

    Echelon demo at Avault - 45.8 MB.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEchelon Demo Quick Impressions``x983447544,50106,``x``x ``xOver at the Official Heart of Winter Chat in GameSpy Arcade, Darren Monahan, Producer of IWDHOW, mentioned a free addon pack. He didn't list any details, but the news should please fans of the game. Thanks to Cage for the heads-up.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIcewind Dale: Heart Of Winter Free Addon``x983463455,51726,``x``x ``xFGN is reporting a new expansion for Baldur's Gate II called Throne of Bhaal. I wasn't able to find anyting over at the official BG2 web site or at Interplay , so I'm treating this one as a rumor ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBaldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal``x983465561,3994,``x``x ``xThe Civilization III site has been updated with new info how diplomacy has been implemented in the game. There's also some nifty Shockwave pictures of Abraham Lincoln and Mao Tse Tung which have sliders that change their mugs from happy to angry (depending on your diplomacy). The update is dated 2/21 but wasn't there yesterday. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDiplomacy in Civ III``x983466610,66094,``x``x ``xCage and I got all the business paperwork hammered out last week, and Cage got the final touches done on the Alien Spider web site with the help of his team. The graphics look great, and I'd like to thank Bill (our artist) for all his hard work. A little more polish is all we need, and the new site should be up within a week!

    Damn, now I gotta work on those reviews/editorials...``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAlien Spider Update``x983467085,23177,``x``x ``xGamespot UK smacked up a preview of Civilization III. It's pretty light because the game's in such early stages of development, and all the screenies of units are pre-game lookin'. Still, it's a good read for all ya Civ fans. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCivilization III Preview``x983553269,32149,``x``x ``xGamePen has a preview of the RPG Neverwinter Nights. Some spiffy features of this game are a rotating camera, detailed environments/characters/animations, and some slick 3D graphic effects. Another feature I thought was cool is the AI will add enemy units to balance COOP games (ie. a singel player will find a couple of baddies in one spot while 2 guys playing COOP will find 4). They've got a few screenies which look killer as well, so go and check this stuff out!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNeverwinter Nights Preview``x983553852,61956,``x``x ``xHere are a couple of contests we ran across:

    Empire Earth University Contest. 3 first prize winners get a $500 gift certificate to Best Buy and an all expense paid trip to play Empire Earth at Stainless Steel Studios. 25 2nd runners up get an Empire Earth Wall Calendar and your choice of Homeworld, Homeworld: Cataclysm, or Zeus: Master of Olympus.

    Win a GeForce3 . Nvidia will randomly select 5 people who fill out their survey to recieve a GeForce3 video card. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWin Stuff!``x983555620,12567,``x``x ``xFallout it an interesting lookin' total conversion for the yet-to-be-released Tribes2. They uproot the Tribes universe and plant it in a nuclear wasteland (think Mad Max) and let the surviving tribes duke it out for survival. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTribes2: Fallout TC``x983556071,67669,``x``x ``xCage turned me onto InStroke.com which is a Virtual Pool 3 site hosted by SportsPlanet. It looks pretty cool and has plenty of info, cues, and tournaments. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIn-Stroke.com``x983556446,31878,``x``x ``xGameSpot has some new Neverwinter Nights screenies running on a GeForce3 which show off some advanced bump-mapping (please, no jokes about the female armor!). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew Neverwinter Nights screens``x983556862,82204,``x``x ``xUSB Workshop is reporting NEC has started production of their Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 host controller device (PD720100). What does that mean for Mr Joe Gamer? Well, USB2 slings data at 60MB/sec which should make make any hardware which sits on the USB interface (CD-RW, broadband modems, Zip drives, ect.) work much better. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUSB 2.0 Is Here!``x983557459,45937,``x``x ``xWhen you were a kid, did ya ever oogle at those big-assed model train sets with all the hills, towns, bridges, 'n stuff? Well, Auran has a model train simulator which looks pretty swank! They also have 4 screenshotz for your viewing pleasure. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTrainz Screenshotz``x983558943,58312,``x``x ``xCage and his team have been workin' overtime getting the new site up and runnin'. I must say, it's very clean and loads damn fast! Thanks again to Bill for all the graphics.

    I've been busy doing the news thang but will move my posts to the new domain sometime next week. We're all working on some unique content (if not unique, just interesting) and should have some of that stuff ready as well. We're shootin' for March 7, but you can check out the new layout here.

    Additionally, our team has been expanded and includes the following people:

    Brett "Nine11" Oetting - "News Monkey" and Co-Founder.
    Ron "Cage" Griffith - Features Editor and Co-Founder.
    John Dunbar - Flight Sim Editor.
    Bill Westerhout - Artist and Strategy Games Editor.
    Franklin Edwards - Games Reviews.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAlien Spider Update``x983559906,65493,``x``x ``xPoor little Napster. Excite is reporting those guys are getting beaten to a pulp by RIAA. Their appeal is going south, and they're trying to implement some sort of software screen which wouldn't list artists and/or songs which are copyrighted. Napster programmers are working overtime this weekend before they have to show up in court on Monday. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNapster Tries To Hide Behind A Screen``x983640488,95171,``x``x ``xDaily Radar interviewed Alan Miranda, BioWare's producer of Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. They hit some specific features of the game such as the ability to import characters/parties from BGII, the addition of two new villains and their minions (some borrowed from IceWind Dale), being able to summon NPCs from BGII, 'n stuf. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBG II Expansion Interview``x983641255,89479,``x``x ``xFiring Squad posted a review of Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter. They smacked it with a 65% verdict because it really didn't bring anything new to the table and was more of an extension of the original game. I have mixed feelings about that because, more than a few times, I've finished a game but just longed to play one more chapter (I had SERIOUS gamelock on Diablo... played it through 3 times!).

    Another ding is the inability to generate a new high level character because the game is meant to be continued right from the end of the original. This means gamers who have uninstalled BGII have to play the original again or start the expansion with a level 1 character... not a good idea. The only other option is to use one of the pre-made characters which ships with IWD:HOW, and no self-respecting RPGer would ever do that!

    Despite FS's general distaste of IWD:HOW's game design and narrow-mindedness of only being an expansion, they really liked everything else. A serious spit-shine has been given to the graphics, sound, voice acting, and gameplay. They even have an extensive screenshot gallery that is quite tasty!
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIcewind Dale: Heart of Winter Review ``x983642786,78343,``x``x ``xGamer's Pulse sat down with the producer of Emperor: Battle for Dune. They hit so many snazzy aspects of the game, it's hard to summarize and you'll just have to go and read it yourself. One thing that did stick out in my mind was a unit called the "projector tank." It has the ability to project any other unit (friendly or enemy) ahead of itself and is used for spying and deterrent tactics. That would be damn cool in a multiplayer game.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEmperor: Battle for Dune Q&A``x983643889,84087,``x``x ``xGamespot has the skinny on the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction expansion which adds a 5th act, two new character classes (Assassin and Druid), and a butt-load of features and gameplay enhancements. I'm really jazzed about the Assassin because she (yep, it's a girl) has some really cool martial arts skills and attacks. Another cool feature is the ability to pimp out NPC mercenaries with stuff from your inventory. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDiablo II: Lord of Destruction ``x983645077,26025,``x``x ``xAccording to PDABuzz , Verizon will be offering the Kyocera QCP-6035 next week. The Kyocera is what you'd get if a Palm Pilot and a Nokia phone got drunk one weekend and forgot the... er... "protection." It runs on the Palm OS, sports 8MB RAM, and has wireless phone, fax, internet functions, but is still kinda expensive at $500. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xKyocera PDA/Phone``x983645710,87871,``x``x ``xnV News took a peek at the GeForce3 benchmarks over at R I V A Station (in German) and have a breakdown of the results. So, how incredible is the GF3? For the basic 1024*768-32 gamer with a GF2 Ultra, you'll get about 10fps but the GF3 really shines from there on with advanced graphic options turned on (in this case, bump-mapping). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce3 Benchmarks & Breakdown``x983722035,53624,``x``x ``xExtreme Overclocking reviewed some slick rounded IDE and floppy drive cables. Because of their smaller size, they offer better airflow through your case and are about 2" longer than standard cables... damn cool if ya got a tall tower (mine is 26", ooh baby!). EO is also giving away some of these bad boys! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRound Drive Cable Review & Giveaway``x983722875,4388,``x``x ``xThere are some new screenies of the mod-in-progress Half-Life Rally. The cars are lookin' pretty spiffy but those hills are still kinda square for my tastes. Still, the cool game modes like Hot Potato (got a sticky-bomb on your bumper to ram onto other cars) keep me waiting for the finished product. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHalf-Life: Rally Screenshots``x983723443,72521,``x``x ``xSharky Extreme has a preview of Volition's RPG Summoner. It's only 2 pages but hits (very quickly) most of the aspects of the game. While the PS2 version only got lackluster reviews, the PC game looks a little more promising.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSummoner Preview``x983806368,96227,``x``x ``xPC World is reporting Pac Bell has several lawsuits filed against it (including class action suits) for shoddy DSL service and fraud. Pac Bell is accused of promoting DSL in areas which didn't have the service, messed up and/or lost orders, billing for service before installation, and interference with competitors' DSL orders.

    The gross offense was Pac Bell's offer for free DSL service through the end of 2000 with the purchase of a Compaq Presario computer. Consumers signed 2 year contracts but Pac Bell failed to install the "free" DSL lines till after the turn of the year which boink'd any of the free internet access and the incentive for the computer purchase.

    One more reason why cable rules! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPac Bell Gets Sued Over DSL``x983807729,44317,``x``x ``xExcite is reporting Intel has cut prices on it's P3 and Celeron processors by as much as 19% due to a decrease in demand. The P4 has also been slashed but not as much. Guess AMD is taking a chunck of the processor biz, or Bush has really fragged the economy, or both.

    I also noticed AMD is slashing their prices, but I don't know by how much. This page lists their CPU prices in quantities of 1000, but I don't think those are the real deal because individual CPUs can be found for a few bucks less on the net (I compared against prices at Multiwave ).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAMD & Intel Price Cuts``x983887861,17040,``x``x ``xVoodoo Extreme has posted some "exclusive" Unreall II info from the April 01 issue of PC Gamer magazine. I haven't got my PCG yet, but the April 01 issue Computer Gaming World also has some U2 info in the Hot Shots section on page 24, and it includes a nearly full-page screenshot.

    Here's the cut 'n paste PCG stuff:

    -Unreal II will take the best parts of Unreal and Unreal Tournament," says Legend's studio head Mike Verdu. "We're creating a single-player game with a rich story that surrounds 13 combat missions [25 levels]."

    -It's an all-new world, and all-new character to play, and an all-new style. While set in the same universe as the first game, Unreal II will introduce five alien races in a story that's designed to be tight-knit.

    -In a nutshell you're a "Terran Colonial Authority Frontier Marshall" who patrols the ass-end of space in an old scout ship named the Atlantis.

    -Within the 25 levels you'll be conducting infiltration, search-and-rescue and other missions. "We want to capture the magic of Assault in UT," says Verdu.

    -Smaller scale battles of four or five monsters at a time, maximum.

    -AI bots/marines will be used in tactical situations to help out.

    -12 months left in its development.

    -Multi-player -- Deathmatch, team DM, Last man standing and CTF, plus a character driven (ala Team Fortress) new mode of play.

    -Artifacts/runes will be present on the maps

    -New weapons - Grenade launcher, flamethrower, leech gun (fires leeches that attach to enemies and drain their lifeforce/energy) and Takkra (think hive gun from Half-Life).

    -GeForce III optimized with 10 times the number of polygons for particles and characters compared to UT, with typical enemies sporting 3,000-5,000 polys and your crew having 7,000-10,000 polys. The improved terrain and level geometry will push 100 times the polycount of UT. There's also an improved meshing system that combined with the new skeletal animation allows for awesome character movement.

    -From Tim Sweeney - "Up to now all 3D games have looked similar because of the hardware. Now they'll start to look more unique - though you can give only 12 instructions to the pixel shaders, so it's still a bit limited," explains Sweeney.

    -"The path from here to photo-realism is now incremental," says Sweeney. "It's still five or ten years away, though, because it needs huge processing power. We need more speed, more precision in color components to let us move up from 32-bit to 64- and 128-bit, but there are no major improvements to be done.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUnreal II Information ``x983889137,98091,``x``x ``xSince we're on an Unreal II kick today, Daily Radar posted some U2 screenshots and a 42MB movie a while back. Take a peek if ya missed 'em. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUnreal II (UT Tech) Screenshots & Movie``x983890138,51351,``x``x ``xIGN Vault has an interview with Dave Georgeson, producer of Tribes2. They jabbered about some new modes of play like Seige (destroy the other team's base then switch), Rabbit (smear the queer), and Bounty (get a list of players and kill 'em). They also hit on some of the Tribes 2 community stuff.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 Interview``x983891509,64318,``x``x ``xDon't know how I missed this one, but there is a demo of Volition/THQ's RPG Summoner. It weighs in at a fat-pipe-friendly 63MB. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSummoner Demo``x983891998,31866,``x``x ``xFlashpoint Combat Trainer has set up a download page for the tactical FPS Operation Flashpoint. They're just waiting for the green light from the game's developer, Codemasters, to link the downloads.

    In case you missed previous Operation Flashpoint stuff, Gamespot UK has a nifty preview and 28 screenshots. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOperation Flashpoint Demo``x983892625,39861,``x``x ``xBrighthand is reporting the Compaq 64MB iPAQ 3670 will be available this spring for around $599. I'd guess the 412MHz version will follow this fall... more on that later. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``x64MB iPaq``x983893100,78780,``x``x ``xThere are a mess of PocketPC promotions out there. Some are giving them away while others are offering huge discounts (with internet service). Here are a few links:

    -Enter to win a Casio PocketPC with the newest version of MSN Messenger. BTW, MSN Messenger is free.

    -Expedia is promoting their free serviece, Expedia To Go, by giving away HP Jornada 548 PocketPCs . Tell your pals to increase your chances to win.

    -Audiomobile is offering a Casio EM-500 PocketPC and a 28MB MM card (40MB total) for $259 with a 1 year signup for their service. This deal is kinda like those "sales" at CompUSA where there's an instant rebate and a mail-in rebate to lock in the price. In this case, the mail-in rebate is for $100. Still, it's a good deal if ya like Audiomobile and an extra 28MB of storage. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWin A PocketPC Or Get One Cheap``x983894326,29940,``x``x ``xAccording to PDA Buzz, it looks like Compaq is price gouging with their new iPaq H3635 which is a plain vanilla unit with an updated ROM, CF sleeve, and $100 price increase ($599). I'd wait till the iPaq KY3669 hits the scene with a price that doesn't... er... hurt so much. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCompaq Price Gouging?``x983894888,677,``x``x ``xI just got back from Cage's pad. We went over some of the stuff on the AlienSpider site, and it looks like we'll be going live tomorrow. We plan on doing all the news on the main page (like this one) and should have some additional goodies up within the next week or two. Here's what to expect:

    -News and views of computer hardware, gaming, ect. (our bread 'n butter).
    -Virtual Pool 3 review
    -Nascar 4 review
    -MP3 guide for getting songs with programs like Napster, newsgroups, burning them to disc, and making disc labels.
    -Message boards
    -E3 trip and our spin on the event. Cage, John, Franklin, and I are gonna make the trip. We've got a digital camera for some screen lovin' and may be able to post from LA each night of the trip. We plan on being there the frist two days of the show in May.

    Cage's World will still be here but will be primarily Cage's personal site (that's what it's always been, I've just been helping out). My involvemenet will shift to AlienSpider but, being a good little News Monkey, I may stick around depending on what Cage needs (we'll hash that out later).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAlienSpider.com Goes Live Tomorrow``x983913845,57930,``x``x ``xI posted this morning's news over at Alien Spider . The site is still a little rough around the edges, but we'll spit shine and comb her real good... hehe.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAlien Spider Is Online!``x983987146,34762,``x``x ``xI'm almost afraid to post these up, but what the heck. Here is a link to the new BETA WickedGL drivers optimized for Tribes 2. Use at your own risk. Note: This link may vanish if it punishes my server too much. Think of this is an 'inside gift" to regular Cagesworld visitors.

    File (1.81 MB): wgl_beta.exe``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 Drivers``x989960784,39254,``x``x ``xAlpha Simulations just posted up some great news for WW I fans. Here's the skinny:
    "Great news for Combat Aces fans ! The first two aircraft off the expansion CD are now available for purchase
    ($7) in the FS Supermarket, 'Pre WW2' Section. The Junkers D.1 Monoplane and the R.A.F. BE.2c will both
    work in CFS2 and FS2000. The flight model is of the newer type which allows startup sounds as well as smoke
    effects (CFS2). Realistic panels are of course provided. Here's a chance to get a sample of the Combat Aces
    aircraft prior to release of the CD next month. The DH.4 and RE.8 will be joining the lineup in a day or two."
    I've got to get some sleep now, but I'll grab the planes and post up some impressions later tonight.

    Addendum: After taking a look at the Alpha Simulations shopping cart I had second thoughts about ordering via their web site. Also Alpha Sim wants $7 per plane, or $25 for all 5 planes once they become available. It seems to me that it makes far more sense to wait until all 5 are available, since it would be cheaper. Plus without the Combat Aces terrain it might be a bit of a let down. I'll wait for Combat Aces to ship before I get any of the planes.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCombat Aces Planes Available``x990542358,81673,``x``x ``xThe local Internet Cafe here in Bakersfield is having a Tribes 2 Tournament. The event runs from 5pm until 10pm, June 19, 2001 at nXcaffe. The cost is $20.00 and includes Pizza & Soda.

    While you are there, you might want to check out Monti Macabre's sculptures. Monti's unique take on art is always entertaining. As one of our fellow co-workers says, "He's a bit freaky, but in a nice way." You know, death, dark, bolts through the head, that kind of stuff.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLocal Stuff``x992963955,63417,``x``x ``xIt was system upgrade time again here at Cage's World. I updated my Athlon 1.1 GHz system with a new Leadtek Winfast GeForce3 video card, another 256MB of RAM, and a new Pioneer 16x slot loading DVD player.

    The HD was also getting a bit cramped, so I changed it out with a new 60GB IBM drive. I'm still installing software and putting it through it's paces, but I'm very happy with the results so far. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSystem Upgrade Time``x993918329,77376,``x``x ``xCage and I have laid Alien Spider to rest for various reasons, so I'll be setting up shop here at Cage's World. After all, this is where we got started and we decided to stay true to our roots. My take on postings will be a little different, and I'll probably get away from trying to do the "news" thang since most of that stuff gets repeated by so many other sites. Sure, I'll still hit a few of the major topics, but we're all gamers here and I should probably stick to stuff which revolves around that and our experiences. Hope you enjoy the ride! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xI'm Baaaaaaack!``x1000737933,76253,``x``x ``xCage and I had a chance to take the Return To Castle Wolfenstein Multiplayer Test out for a spin over his LAN. Being smarter than the average bear, Cage figured out the tag +set net_port 27660 needed to be added to each of the game's executables and set each net_port as a unique value on each puter to get things working over the shared Internet connection (27660,27661,27662, ect). We banged our heads together for a few hours before Cage struck gold.

    RTCW is pretty cool despite it's rough edges, and team play has a dramatic effect on the outcome of each map. Extra ammo and health packs are non-existent unless dropped by a lieutenant or medic, so engineers and soldiers need proper support. Of course, most players are running around willy-nilly trying to fatten their frag counts and we weren't gettin' much help.

    Being Del Taco junkies, I jumped in as a rocket launcher totin' solder named "Slow Cookin' The Beans" and Cage was a lieutenant named "Doin' The Robot". We were pinned down on the beach by Nazi machine guns and snipers, so we picked a nice chunk of cement to hide behind and I started popping off rockets. The launcher only holds 3 rounds, so Cage started layin' down ammo packs while I dished out as much pain as possible.

    Damn, those rockets have HUGE areas of effect and (unlike most other Q3A type games) are one shot/one kill. It was particularly satisfying searching out the muzzle blasts from snipers and sending 'em a little love. For some reason, most of 'em were named "Bob". After thinning out the heard, it was pretty easy to storm the Nazi bunkers and complete the map objective.

    In the end, we had a blast and think you should check out RTCW. As I mentioned before, it's got some rough edges but will get better with time. Just think of it as a Pinto with a super charger... you know it's cool but don't wanna brag about it too much.

    UPDATE: The guys over at Auchtung Wolfenstein! tapped out a quick guide for the RTCW Multiplayer Test. It's a good read if you wanna check the game or just can't seem to get in the groove.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Adventures Of "Slow Cookin' The Beans" & "Doin' The Robot"``x1000739548,61467,``x``x ``xCroteam posted a little ditty on the next game in the Serious Sam saga. The new game has entered Alpha and is slated to hit the shelves with the rest of the Christmas rush. The publisher, Rock Star Games, was supposed to have a press release today but the tragedy in New York has cut them off from their offices... they're only 2 blocks away.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSerious Sam Does It Again``x1000771958,29369,``x``x ``xFor some strange reason, I decided to pop in a Big Head Todd & The Monsters CD while doing a little housework. A pal of mine had turned me onto BHTM back in '94, and I've been listening to their jams ever since. They have a blues-rock style similar to George Thorogood but are much smoother. Anyway, I swung by their web site and found out they've got a new CD in the works, which is really cool because they haven't released any new material since '97. They've also set a few tour dates, and I thought I'd give 'em a plug.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBig Head Todd & The Monsters``x1000792803,33770,``x``x ``xThe Register got some poop on AMD's next processor, the Athlon XP. Yep, the brainiacs at AMD hopped on the coat tails of Microsoft and renamed their product (and distanced themselves from Intel by dumping the "Athlon 4"). Things are still sketchy at this point, but the new processor may debut at 1.33GHz since AMD is kickin' it old school with the Intel-equivalent clock speed model numbers which complicated/plagued their K6 line of processors, and the new part is a +1500. Seems AMD just can't rely on the consumer's common sense and general knowledge that MHz for MHz, AMD processors are brawnier than the equivalent Intel parts. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAthlon XP``x1000840826,41527,``x``x ``xI've been staring at the blinking data light on my cable modem for about a month. The damn thing blinks no matter what. Computer on, computer off, whatever. Everything else has been working fine, so I ignored my little blinking buddy... till last night.

    Feeling the itch to reach out and ping someone, I fired up Urban Terror and couldn't connect any faster than 180ms and gameplay was riddled with redjacks. If that wasn't annoying enough, I booted up this morning and my Email server was down.

    I just got off the horn with Time Warner and their customer service rep told me a few interesting things. It seems the blinking light on my cable modem is due to the Code Red virus which hit the Net about a month ago. The timing seems to make sense but I can't figure out why it blinks when my system is off. Perhaps it's sensing data on the network beyond my computer. Dunno, and neither did the rep.

    Another thing the rep said was no one on Road Runner can receive Email at this time. Apparently, the new Nimda virus has knocked out all Road Runner Email servers nation wide. The good thing is I won't be spammed today, but that doesn't seem to make me feel much better.

    Damn, someone over at Time Warner should hire some network security, register a copy of Norton AV, get protection from the mob, anything! This is ridiculous, and I can't believe they've let Code Red jam the network with data for over a month. Still, it's better than 56K. Guess I'm spoiled. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVirus Attacks Time Warner Road Runner Service``x1000940611,67449,``x``x ``xCage, once again being smarter than the average bear, dug around and discovered some threads over the Internet which discuss the blinking data light on TW Road Runner cable modems. People are pointing fingers at the Code Red virus, which coincides with what the rep at TW had told me. What the rep couldn't explain is the blinking data light represents ARP requests from infected machines trying to give me a digital reach-around. Guess I'll have to learn to love my blinking buddy... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMy Blinking Buddy``x1001083591,95888,``x``x ``xStomped posted 10 screenies for Croteam's next Serious Sam game, The Second Coming. They look about the same as the original game, which is good, but throw in some new environments and Mr. Pumpkin Head. It's purely a run 'n gun affair. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSerious Sam: The Second Encounter Screenshots``x1001084429,17645,``x``x ``xSince I got back on my Big Head Todd & The Monsters kick, I decided to burn a best of CD. I didn't feel like swapping CDs back and forth nor did I have any MP3 encoding software installed, but I've been curious about the "Copy Music" features in Windows Media Player. I popped in a CD and copied it to my hard drive in WMA format at 160kbps, which is where WMP maxes out. I repeated this process three more times for the remaining BHTM CDs I own, saved a playlist of 16 favorites, then copied them to CD... all from within WMP. The program was smart enough to automatically decompress the WMA files and burn 'em. Damn, I've been doing it the hard way for years with separate programs to encode, decode, burn, and I'm feeling a little stupid. Still, the old fashioned way is best for a jumbled mess of MP3 and/or WMA files from different sources which require tweaking the volume levels, but WMP is killer for burning music from a single album and/or artist. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBurn Baby, Burn``x1001085413,63167,``x``x ``xUntil recently, I've had a pretty casual attitude toward the computer virus. I've left my puter nekkid for years and had very few incidents. At one time, a pal of mine infected me with the Happy99 Email virus, and have since deleted all suspicious files from friend or foe. I was safe till I got another virus by LANing with an infected system which wormed it's way through an open port and setup a resource hog like SETI@home or something equally annoying, so I squashed that bugger and installed Zone Alarm.

    Within the past month, I've watched the data light on my cable modem light up like a Christmas tree as the Code Red virus knocks on my back door, and the TW Road Runner Email servers got hosed by Nimda. Damn, maybe I should install some Anti Virus software or something?

    Being an El Cheapo bastard, I found a free version of AVG Anti-Virus 6 which seems pretty robust. As mentioned before, I also have Zone Alarm running, which is free as well, to plug any holes a worm could wiggle through. A note about Zone Alarm, set the security settings to Medium if you do any online gaming.

    Better safe than sorry, so get some protection!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPut A Hood On That Soldier!``x1001121410,11981,``x``x ``xSean "Redwood" Martin will be leaving Stomped.com. Internet business has been limp, and finances have forced his departure. We wish him luck, and thanks for all the great news! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAdios Sean "Redwood" Martin``x1001128978,19238,``x``x ``xA picture is worth a thousand words...

    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBin Laden Must Die!``x1001131139,36315,``x``x ``xYep, we are "Gettin' on back, back on track, so get off of my back!" - err...or something like that.

    Nine11 is smacking up news and views, and I'll starting updating the site a little more as well.

    The first thing you might notice is that once again I'm revisiting the links section to the right. As old sites die, or new ones appear I like to freshen things up a bit.

    One of the first orders of business for me will be to update some of the stuff behind the scenes. I'll also drag over some of the content that we did on AlienSpider as we shut it down.

    It's all good. In fact it just "feels right" to be back doing more here at CW.

    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xYep, We're Baaaaack!``x1001132011,89842,``x``x ``xAll this virus stuff has got me a little paranoid, so I installed the free AVG Anti-Virus program the other night. I let it do it's thang and dig through both my hard discs, which were clean. Everything's cool, right? Not exactly. A pal of mine came over for a little net access and a fresh driver download for his HP scanner. I went to save the file to an old floppy I had layin' around, stuck it in the A: drive, let Windows seek it, and AVG discovered the NYB virus sittin' on the boot sector of the damn thing! NYB is rather harmless, but it was still a shock that little sucker. On second thought, NYB steals 1MB of system RAM which may be the same thing I got when hitched to that infectious puter at that LAN a while back (I had been saving .doc files to the floppy). Anyway, if yer sportin a nekkid puter, check the free AVG Anti-Virus program... can't beat the price! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTrial By Fire - AVG Anti-Virus Is A Winner!``x1001205647,81713,``x``x ``xIt's always nice to know who has a good heatsink/fan for when ya gotta throw a puter together. Gideon Tech reviewed the budget-minded Cyber Cooler P-8000 for Socket-A processors, which performed fair on a stock speed 800MHz Athlon but kept things nice and chilly when OC'd at 1GHz. With some fan/heatsink combo's puttin' ya back by nearly a full C-note, it's nice to find one which does the job for less than twenty bones. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBeat The Heat!``x1001278782,33495,``x``x ``xI had a chance to take the demo for Firefly's Stronghold castle sim out for a spin. The demo includes a tutorial and two missions from the full game. I was disappointed with the tutorial which covers a few aspects of management (mostly taxes) and some basics on resource gathering. Unfortunately, the it doesn't include any info on combat, so I had to guess my way through a siege mission. Overall, I had a lukewarm experience with Stronghold. If you care to check it out, the 57MB demo can be downloaded though Gigex.

    UPDATE: I've played with Stronghold a little more and found the graphics are dated even at 1024*768, and I've had a few crash-to-desktops. It happened before, but I figured I was running my system hard and should've re-booted before playin'. Unfortunately, the game's just buggy and will CTD on a fresh boot.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStronghold Demo``x1001285763,37307,``x``x ``xAccording to Wired, there are some ISPs which are cutting DSL Internet service to users who are infected with the Code Red and Nimda virus. Since those buggers effect unpatched Win2K and WinNT based systems running the MS IIS server software, it doesn't mean much to the average user; however, things could change whenever a Code Red for the masses hits the scene. Here's some cut 'n pasties:



    And...



    As I mentioned before, there's no excuse for not having at least some form of protection with free programs like AVG Anti-Virus and Zone Alarm Personal Firewall. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xISPs Cut Users Infected With Worm Virus``x1001335866,27972,``x``x ``xThe EA.com store is taking pre-orders for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and knocking $10 off the price. The game should be available sometime around February. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPre-Order Medal Of Honor & Save $10``x1001336444,62490,``x``x ``xG-Spot had a chat with Maxis' director of marketing, Patrick Buechner, about the cancellation of SimsVille. While Pat has the gift of gab and is pretty agile at avoiding direct questions, it seemed as though SimsVille got the axe because it filled sat in an odd spot between The Sims: Hot Date and The Sims Online, and it just wasn't fun. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xLet's Talk About SimsVille, Baby``x1001337545,64293,``x``x ``xLarry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle is proposing a national ID card in the wake of recent events in the US, according to a story in Wired. Oracle is a leading maker of database software that might be used in such a system.

    "We're quite willing to provide the software for this absolutely free.."- Wired.
    What a guy.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xEllison = Antichrist?``x1001391119,20916,``x``x ``xAnandtech finally got past their NDA with Nvidia and has posted benchmarks for their nForce based Socket-A motherboards. The nForce was supposed to be revolutionary as single solution for the motherboard core-logic chipset, graphics output, and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. For the most part, Nvidia backs their claims but I feel lukewarm about the virgin product. The brute-force bandwidth of the nForce chipset isn't utilized, the graphics are on par with a GeForce2 MX 200, and the Dolby Digital sound requires an add-in card which wasn't provided for Anand's review; however, the on-board sound processor is pretty beefy and can free up quite a few CPU cycles when processing +16 sounds. Benchmarks had the nForce playing grab-ass with the VIA KT266A (both pimped out with a GF3), with VIA's solution coming out on top more often than not. Overall, it's a good part and will have a second opportunity to shine as it's Dolby Digital capability gets probed, but it's crippled by crappy graphics and isn't a single PCB gaming system. Get a real video card, fella! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xnForce Takes On The World & Wins... Sort of...``x1001436234,25964,``x``x ``xI noticed this PSp (AKA handheld PSOne) linked from Quarter to Three. It's interesting to see what people come up with when they have $400 to burn and some idle time. Sarcasm aside, I was impressed and thinks it's worth a looksie.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWhen Nerds Go Wild!``x1001437965,34539,``x``x ``xI got a new virus by Email this AM. Damn, I don't know why I'm such a magnet for these little buggers! It's not like I'm a pr0n hound. I just appreciate the fine curve of a woman's... er... nevermind. Back in the real world, I got it over my Cage's World Email account, which I just started using again. Good old AVG identified it as I-Worm/Hybris, but my little friend looks like a different variant which was devoid of any text in the subject and body of the Email.

    Speaking of virus, there's one called War Vote floating around which does a long list of nasty things including deleting the contents of your hard drive and sending copies of itself to all your buddies. It also defaces any web pages hosted by infected systems with "America ... few days will show you what we can do!!! It's our turn ))) ZaCker is so sorry for you." I'd imagine the feds are gonna schedule a field trip to honor the author of this one. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMore Virus I Told You So Stuff``x1001439199,14996,``x``x ``xThe latest official NVIDIA 21.81 Detonator video card drivers may not actually bring world peace.

    After installing the 21.81 drivers on my second system some games started crashing randomly to the Windows desktop. Which games? Ironically enough the Sierra Hoyle series started acting up. I would have expected it would be some leading edge tech demo like Return to Castle Wolfenstein that would have had problems with the new drivers - not Sierra's Hoyle Series.

    I re-installed the Detonator 12.9 drivers, and all seems to be well - so far. Even the output from my Hauppauge TV card looks better. I may have to give up a few frames per second in RTCW, but stability beats speed most of the time.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``x21.81 Detonators Breaks Some Games?``x1001488539,37499,``x``x ``x SpamKiller does just that, it helps you kill obnoxious emails from spam email marketers.

    I tried a few others, but I've started to fall in love with SpamKiller. It's very polished, stable, and it works.

    I'm not the only one. PC Magazine gave it an Editors Choice.

    Not only does SpamKiller allow you to filter spam, but it also lets you bounce back an error message to the sender. For even more fun you can auto email complaints back to their Internet Service Provider. Nice.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xI Love the Way You Spank My Spam!``x1001489267,20907,``x``x ``xAs part of the process for updating and upgrading CW, I've set up the latest version of the Ultimate Bulletin Board by Infopop.

    If you hurry, you could be the first one on your block to make a post...err..or... something like that.

    Here's the link: CW Forum.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xForum Upgrade``x1001500918,10409,``x``x ``xI recently swapped out my mouse and figured the left button needed to have it's cherry popped, so I picked up the Diablo II expansion, Lord of Destruction. The 800*600 resolution is welcome but not as revolutionary as Blizzard would have you believe... the graphics are still quite dated. Good thing it's still addictive as ever! I managed to pimp out my Assassin with a mess of goodies, level up to 14, and finish the First Act.

    Cage had some problems with the Nvidia Detonator XP drivers and 2D games, and I seemed to have the same problem running Diablo II in Direct Draw 2D. The game had glitches and locked up, so I kicked it into Direct3D, which seemed to solve the problem. I just hope Nvidia smoothes things out or a new driver version comes out soon.

    On a side note, I picked up NHL 2002 as well but haven't had much time to fiddle with it. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xClick, Click, Click... Diablo II Expansion 'n Stuff``x1001789273,17034,``x``x ``xBeing the controller freak that I am, I found this interesting.

    It seems that Logitech is offering a new DUAL optical mouse called amazingly enough the Logitech MouseMan® Dual Optical. The way it works is that it uses two optical sensors each angled at 45 degrees. Each sensor has a resolution of 800 dots per inch, for a combined 1600 dpi resolution.

    The Logitech MouseMan® Dual Optical will be available "this month" and retail for $49.95. Here's a pic from the Logitech product page.

    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xWell Double Frag to You!``x1001851585,50390,``x``x ``xThe Register is reporting that the new AMD Palamino or Athlon XP processors will be launched on October 9. Here's the relevant snip:
    "The clock speeds of the chips (and the OEM pricing - Cage) are:

    XP 1500 - 1.33GHz ($115)

    XP 1600 - 1.4GHz ($124)

    XP 1700 - 1.47GHz ($152)

    XP 1800 - 1.53GHz ($210) " - The Register.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSuper Duper Athlons Oct. 9``x1001856106,14337,``x``x ``xAre you looking around for a replacement for Voodoo Extreme now that Billy "Wicked" Wilson is gone? You might want to take a look at HomeLan Fed. HomeLAN Fed is the home of John [JCal] Callaham. I enjoyed reading his stuff during his brief stint at VE, and he is quite the news posting monkey.

    The only bad thing about HomeLAN Fed is the microscopic type font they use on their site. What the heck is up with that?

    HomeLAN also runs a bunch of servers for different online multi-player games like UT, Tribes 2, Counter Strike, etc.

    Bottom Line: Even though the HomeLAN fonts looks like the fine print at the end of used car contract, it's still worth a visit. I'll give it a peek over the next few days before deciding where it should end up in the links.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xHomeLAN Top Link``x1001857156,61477,``x``x ``xThe Diablo II expansion, Lord of Destruction, is an evil game. It's sucked up all my spare time, irked my wife, and busted the cherry on my new (well, at least it's a new part) Logitech Wingman Gaming Mouse. I just entered Act III and can't wait to be greeted by all those tiny spear-chuckin' little bastards. Here's a screen capture if you wanna peek at my Level 21 Assassin. I know, still lookin' for some goodies with poison resistance but at least I have three items which reduce poison length by about 25% each.

    UPDATE: Argh, the Detonator XP drivers are really lame! They seem to work great for FPS games and benchmarks, but anything 2D or pseudo 3D (like Diablo II) takes a big performance hit. The big bugs in Act III with fast-flappy wings drop my framerate like Freshmen at a Frat party! I'll have to uninstall the current video display driver, then I re-install it (thomethin' coulda got fragged the first time) or kick it old school with a dusty 14.70 driver. I probably won't have a chance to get serious with all this stuff till later tonight or tomorrow.

    BTW, swing by The Guru 3D if you need an old version of the Detonators or a Detonator uninstall utility. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xButtFloss Rides Again!``x1001969170,55874,``x``x ``xCage is puttin' out the word on the new "Titianium" Nvidia video cards. Basically, they're tweakin' and re-namin' their products. Tom's Hardware has a good review with benchies and a mess of techie stuff, but I'll break it down for ya:


    Confused yet?``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xOne, Two, Titanium``x1001995648,99455,``x``x ``xIf you've been following the forums, you'd know Cage and I have been ordering some puter parts online. Cage's assembled a couple of puters for the SDA school in Shafter, and I had to replace some parts in my dad's puter which bit the big one when his power supply gave up it's ghost. Anyway, we've been ordering from Multiwave for several years because their prices are pretty fair and they're really quick to ship to Bakersfield. In fact, I ordered my dad's parts early yesterday morning and they're on a truck to be delivered today... and that's by UPS ground which usually takes 3 - 5 business days. Here's the tracking screen for my order. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMultiwave Rocks!``x1002040497,41414,``x``x ``xMan, I've been pulling my hair out like crazy while trying to uninstall the Detonator XP drivers and find and alternative driver version which works. I yanked the XPs and tried 14.70 several times, but I kept having problems with Diablo II crashing. For some reason, a 14.10 (or something like that) display property extension .dll was loading. *I think* I had been using the Detonator 12.90 drivers before having all these problems, so I found a copy of 'em and lubed up Daiblo II. Damn thing worked and all my .dlls are aligned as 12.90. Just goes to show ya, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDetonator Dilemma``x1002045336,28466,``x``x ``xI've gotten pretty spoiled with Time Warner's Road Runner cable modem. Speedy surfin', low pings for online games, and it's always on... what more can you ask for? Well, Code Red and Nimda have thrown Time Warner and everyone else for a loop and things have been kinda hit 'n miss. The past week has been especially bad with things really slowing down around peak hours (morning and evening). Email has been especially bad, but part of that is my fault. The RR Email servers got KO'd by Nimda, so no one could send or receive nation-wide. TW fixed the problem, but I still haven't been able to connect. As it turns out, TW renamed the RR Email servers from the old mail-server.bak.rr.com to pop-server.bak.rr.com for the incoming POP3 server and smtp-server.bak.rr.com for the outgoing SMTP server. The only reason I figured this out is because I finished setting up my dad's puter and had to configure his mail, which wasn't working with the old settings, and decided to check the support pages at RR.

    They should've Emailed me or somethin' (grin). ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Mail & Internet``x1002115160,65041,``x``x ``xToday's posts at Quarter to Three are in Spanish and translated to English. For those who no hablo, it makes page navagation difficult and annoying. I really dig QTT, but I don't have the patience to dig though their pages for stuff this cracker can understand. If anyone has any ideas, send 'em my way.

    UPDATE: Things are back to normal now. The bilingual stuff was actually yesterday's news. I still don't know what was up with that.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSe Hablo Quarter To Three``x1002116300,60454,``x``x ``xFor lack of anything better to talk about, here's a quickie on a few things which blow my skirt up. I found a 3M Precise Mousing Surface with Gel Wrist Rest which is comfy and treats your mouse's balls with respect (a rare quality these days). The expansion for Diablo II, Lord of Destruction, is a blast to play with the Assassin character class, and DiabloII.net is a great resource for quests, tactics, Horadric Cube recipies, and the like. EA Sports is kickin' out the sports games, and NHL 2002 seems to have a little more flash 'n effects in the actual game play as opposed to the opening cinematic (go Kings!). When I can tear myself away from Diablo II and NHL 2002, I get my killin' fix with Silicon Ice Development's Q3A mod, Urban Terror, which sports real-world weapons and things that go (flash)bang in the night. The Return To Castle Wolfenstein Multiplayer Test is also a kick, but playing the same beach assault level gets old after a while; however, LANing it with 4 guys in the same room and coordinating attacks and strategy is a blast. Last but not least, the TV sitcom Scrubs is so twisted and sick... I love it. Any show with one liners like "your butt looks like two Pringles hugging" is quality entertainment!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBoys In Toyland``x1002209842,78530,``x``x ``xI slapped my dad's puter together last Tuesday afternoon and had a couple of new "experiences." The first was noticing a pair of slots cut in the right-hand side of my favorite Penguin case in front of the motherboard and behind the drive bays. Oddly enough, they're about the same width of an IDE cable and positioned to accept one off the mobo, so I stuck one through the opening and bent it around and up to the hard drive situated at the top of the case. Damn thing was a natural fit! I lightly folded the cable 90 degrees so it wouldn't get crumpled when sliding the side of the case back on (a trick I picked up from MaximumPC... guess they're good for more than annoying me), and I repeated this procedure for the CD-RW on the second IDE channel. The result was the complete elimination of IDE cable clutter, and it only took me 3 years of using the Penguin case to figure that out!

    My second "experience" was with a pair of inactive USB ports on my dad's new Iwill KK266+. Everything went together like a dream and didn't require any tweaking or even BIOS settings (at first). Got Windows installed, but the USB mouse refused to work. Fiddled around with drivers and peeked into the BIOS, but nothing jived. I called Multiwave and asked what the deal was, and they said to check the BIOS again or I'd have to flash it (that's never a good sign or good advice, trust me). Since Cage had put together two systems with the same mobo (and is smarter than the average bear), I gave him a call to see just what the hell was up with this board. As it turns out, all the USB ports are set to inactive by Iwill, and the adjustments to turn them on are tucked away at the bottom of a long list of settings in BIOS and away from any other I/O stuff. I still like the board, but I wish Iwill tons of tech support love. I bet they won't make that mistake again. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xStupid Hardware Tricks``x1002295387,79579,``x``x ``xI just finished reading Gordon Berg's latest flight sim column titled "I Hate Flight Sims" in the November 2001 issue of Computer Gaming World.

    Laying it out for all to see, Gordon admits "It's time to come clean: I think I hate simulations."

    Why?

    Here it is:
    "What I mean to say is that I've reached a point at which I don't care what comes next. Because sims have experienced feature-creep and not taken a quantum leap forward, because they have become more realistic and less gamelike, because at their core they involve the same gameplay mechanics each and every time, I've simply become tired of them all." - Gordon Berg.
    Is Gordon right? Does his reasoning explain why the flight sim market has crashed and burned over the last few years?

    Well yes, and no.

    Like Gordon, I've stopped playing and buying as many flight sims over the last year. First Person Shooters like Unreal Tournament, Tribes 2, and the demo "Test" of Return to Castle Wolfenstein have kept me busy. Throw in a few strategy games like Age of Kings: Conquerors and you pretty complete my list of what I've been playing recently.

    So why do I think that flight sims have taken a nose dive? More importantly, what can be done to revive the flight sim market?

    Here are my top 3 reasons why Flight Sims Suck:
    1. Current Flight Sim Graphics Stink!

      Yes, that's right. Current flight sim graphics bite the big one. They suck. They are so awful it's embarassing to show the latest FS titles to your non-flight sim friends.

      Ground detail is woefully inadequate. There is very little sensation of speed when you put the plane down on the deck. I want to feel like I'm flying at 120 mph 50 feet off the ground in a World War I biplane. When I hit the afterburners on my F-16 I want to see the terrain blur and feel like I'm close to breaking Mach 1.

    2. Aircraft Sounds and Effects Stink!

      They do, don't they? How many times have you had to rely on fan downloads to get a decent sounding aircraft engine or gun effect?

      High quality immersive sound is essential in any simulation game. It shouldn't be some after thought or low budget item that barely meets specs.

    3. I Want My Rudder Pedals and Throttle Controller!

      Ok Microsoft, this one is on you.

      I like my Microsoft Force Feedback Joystick. I like the way I can feel my plane start to shudder as I reach it's control limits. I like the constant stick pressure and feedback. It doesn't flop around like a dead fish. It feels precise - and more accurate, then my old Thrustmaster F16 joystick/throttle/rudder pedal setup.

      But Microsoft has failed to make seperate rudder and throttle controllers to go along with the Sidewinder 2 Force Feedback joystick.

      Argh! What is wrong with the head monkeys at Microsoft? Don't they see this as a natural extension of their controller line? After all, Microsoft still makes flight sims, and having a decent set of rudder pedals dramatically increases the controllability of an aircraft.

      For that matter, a number of simulations just beg for a good Force Feedback controller setup. The 'mechs in Mechwarrior 4, for example, are a pain in the butt to steer while you rotate the torso. Trying to use the built in "twist" rudder on a MS FF stick makes you look like you have had one too many shots of the hard stuff.
    The bottom line is that current flight sims lack quality and immersion. Several years of generic shovelware products has resulted in the current state of the flight sim genre. The lack of quality controllers has made flight sims less approachable to new comers. The failure to keep up with the state of the art in home PC graphics has resulted in boring products. The resulting slide in consumer interest is the direct result of the greed and blindness to innovation by both software and hardware companies.

    Is it over? Not quite.

    All it would take is the emergence of one quality flight sim game. Just like Baldur's Gate and Diablo revitalized the Role Playing Game market, there is a future title that will create another crush of flight sim "me too" games.

    Until then I wait. And just like Gordon I've moved on to other types of games.

    I understand Gordon, and here's hoping that someone, somewhere is already making the hardware and software that will revitalize our interest in flight sims.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xI Hate Flight Sims?``x1002415937,40874,``x``x ``xI suck at flight sims. Plain and simple, and it's sad because I grew up around airplanes. My pop is a flight insturctor, and we had a Cessna and a few crop dusters when I was growing up. I never really learned how to fly, but I could probably set one down if my life depended on it... in daylight... without wind and at least five miles of clear visibility. I don't ask for much.

    Anyway, I think Gordy over at CGW missed the point of flight sims. There are some people who enjoy the complexity and flight mechanics which are inherent in flight sims and, I'll go way out on a limb here, they think THAT is what makes the game fun. Shoot, even my pop asked me about MS Flight Simulator 2002 the other day. Unfortunately, some other guys (like me) may find that type of game too hard to play cuz we can't yank back 'n forth on the stick like we do in Freespace.

    As Cage mentioned, the graphics suck more than a B-movie actress. Let's face it, you're not gonna see hundreds of square miles of polygonal trees, mountains, buildings, vehicles, and the like on today's hardware. Sims gotta scale everything way back, and that'll pooch-screw the visual realism right off the bat. Want thick 'n puffy clouds too? Forget it!

    Some games like IL-2 Sturmovik do look really cool, but it's not a picture perfect sim and won't feature an idiot-proof flight model the virgin wingnutt needs. Still, it looks cool enough to dupe some into buying it (maybe even me) but it's still gonna disappoint the critics out there and won't appeal to the critical mass of gamers needed to kick flight sims outta their slump. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFlight Sims Don't Suck, I Do!``x1002451823,80037,``x``x ``xHave you ever had one of those "perfect" gaming sessions? Everything just goes right. You get the close kills, you make the pefect flag cap, your heart is pounding, and it's all good.

    The planets must have been in just the right alignment, because we most certainly did we have some fun last night.

    Quigg, Wolf, and I started off with some Tribes 2 Capture the Flag. None of us are particularly gifted Tribes 2 players, but we enjoy the team element and the wide open spaces. The other plus is it works just fine via the shared Road Runner Internet connection I have here at home. Return to Castle Wolfenstein, on the other hand, seems to work best with a maximum of 2 of us connected to the same server.

    Tribes 2 ended on an up note with several close flag caps and some spectacular kills. We almost called it a night, but the promise of a "short game" of Age of Empires: Conquerors lured us into another round of mayhem. We upped the maximum population limit to 125, and had our hands full with 3 computer players on "hard" difficulty. Despite almost getting run over by the initial rush of the computer AI we hung on and smote the heathens by 3 AM. Whew!

    The pizza and soda are gone, but this one will we all will remember for quite some time. Good game, guys. It was a blast. And to think that I was pretty sure I'd skip getting together. It's all Quigg's fault, ya know.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLAN Schmack Down Fun``x1002460085,99632,``x``x ``xI finally got some Detonator 21.41 drivers installed and tweaked my system so Diablo II: Lord of Destruction wouldn't crash in D3D. My Assassin was quite the bruiser, and Act 5 didn't end up being as much of a challenge. I actually had more trouble with Baal's minions than Baal himself, and I got promoted to Slayer ButtFloss after givin' him a good spanking. I had held onto Wirt's Leg for a little end-game bovine bashin', but the Cow Level failed to meet my expectations as well. I thought I'd get some cool Bovine Armor or something, but all Bessie dropped was a bunch of odd magical items barely good enough to sell; however, it was worth it to hear the cows go "moo".``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSlayer ButtFloss``x1002568448,51174,``x``x ``xHere's a few interesting hardware nuggets. Anandtech and Tom's Hardware reviewed an engineering sample of the SiS 635 DDR chipset motherboard for the Pentium4, and proved once and for all it is possible to run a P4 without RDRAM. There are new VIA 4-in-1 drivers at VIAHardware. Cage said there's a Shuttle AK31A VIA KT266A mobo at Multiwave. And finally, this Hedgehog really blows! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHardware Nuggets``x1002580381,93544,``x``x ``xAccording to Gone Gold, Civilization III has gone gold (go figure) and should settle on store shelves around the 30th of this month. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCivilization III Is Gold!``x1002580644,45983,``x``x ``xAnandtech, [H]OCP, and Tom's Hardware agree the 1.53GHz AthlonXP mated to an EPoX EP-8KHA+ KT266A mobo is the fastest combo on this planet... unless you really dig running Quake III benchmarks in 640*480. That upgrade should make ya the fastest kid on your block for at least a month or two.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAthlonXP, Kickin' Butt & Takin' Names (Intel)``x1002640684,45794,``x``x ``xI got finished reading Computer Gaming World's exclusive on Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Honestly, I haven't been willing to sell my soul and fork over a monthly fee for any game since all the online gaming networks (TEN, Mplayer, Engage to a lesser extent) took a nose dive. Massively Multiplayer Online Roll Playing Games just seem to drain too much time and cost too much, but World of Warcraft could change my mind; however, I don't know if Blizzard will really let me play the game the way I want to. See, the Warcraft series of games generally centered around the conflicts between the expansion of the Human race and the Orcs who are gettin' phased out... kinda like cowboys and Indians. In World of Warcraft, I'd like to take on the cause of the Orcs and wage a guerilla war on the Humans. It just sounds so cool to hide in the jungle or mountain passes and ambush a bunch of Humans on their quest to slay the beast harassing their town. Territories could be held by either race, and successful campaigns by either side would push the boundaries of their territory and influence back and forth. Blizzard will incorporate Player VS Player combat into the game, but WoW sounds more like a traditional quest-based game and PVP stuff will probably center more on Player Killers who ambush their own team. Hopefully, Blizzard will see the big picture and expand PVP combat because I really think it could hook a lot of gamers (like me) who have avoided MMORPGs up to this point. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xI Wanna Live In A World Of Warcraft``x1002673040,79222,``x``x ``xIn the "Hey, that's pretty cool!" department, I received an email recently from a fellow Return to Castle Wolfenstein fan right here in Bakersfield.

    t0p_d@wg sends word that he runs an RTCW server called [a0g] official Server. I've been there once before, since it has an understandable low ping from my system. The addy is 66.27.238.113.

    If things go well, he hopes to have a more robust co-located server for [a0g] in the future.

    The only rule is "...that no one named player is allowed to play." Of course "player" is the default name for your character in RTCW, and it's one of the first things that a non-problem player will change after installing the game.

    The RTCW master server appears to be down for the momement. Oh well, I still need to finish off Diablo so that I can get into the meat of the Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction add-on.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLocal B-Town RTCW``x1002701928,63201,``x``x ``xThe 2 computer systems that I built for Shafter have been done for about a week. Unfortunately I could not get a worthwhile educational discount on the Operating System, which has delayed things a bit. As a result I ordered a couple of copies of Windows Me and Microsoft Works from Multiwave.

    While I was at it, I also picked up a new Shuttle AK31A motherboard. I'm not a big fan of Shuttle, but they have received a couple of good reviews recently. Plus it was the only reasonably priced KT266A based motherboard at Multiwave.

    I almost went for a new AthlonXP, but they haven't hit Multiwave yet. Prices should drop, and AMD is going to shrink it down to a .13 die size by the end of this year. More power.......just in time for Windows XP.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSystem Upgrade``x1002702855,36742,``x``x ``xIf you've been reading Computer Games magazine, you would've noticed Phil Steinmeyer's column Inside The Sausage Factory in which he, being the top dawg at Pop Top Software, offers his insight as a game developer. Having recently finished the strategy game, Tropico, he pointed out the fact First Person Shooters hog much of the press (glory) despite sales figures which position strategy games in a clear lead... if they were racing, that is. Anyway, he went off on some tangent about how shooters are better suited for the console platform and all of the juvenile adrenaline junkies (myself included, and probably you too) should abandon our PCs for PS2s. Of course, I was compelled to champion the cause of my fellow fragmasters and popped off this little ditty which got published in the Rebound section of the November issue of Computer Games Magazine. Unfortunately, I signed the damn thing as the News Editor of AlienSpider.com and, having shut down AS, I don't exactly feel like the sharpest tool in the shed. I still think I managed to make my point.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Rantings Of An Angry Man... Get Published?!``x1002776357,98619,``x``x ``x Multiwave has a deal on a Sony 21" CPD-G520 monitor for $699. I haven't seen this particular model, but that's a sweet price for any 21" monitor, especially a Sony.

    The monitor in an aperture grill, has a .24 dotpitch, and goes up to a resolution of 2048x1536 at a refresh rate of 80Hz. Not to shabby.

    Note: I do not have any kind of affiliate deal with Multiwave, I just like their prices and service. Plus they are fast. I usually get stuff from them the day after my order is processed here in Bakersfield.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xDeal on Sony 21" monitor``x1002815292,54937,``x``x ``xIf you care about what Intel will be up to next year, check The Register. Apparently, the P4 line of processors will get a FSB boost to 533MHz, the Celeron line will get the P4 core (and probably half the cache), and they'll continue making their red-headed stepchild P3 Tualatin processor.

    'Cept for the 533MHz FSB, that's an odd lineup. I can see the Celeron getting the P4 core, but a more logical choice is to drop the Tualatin and give the Celeron the P3 core and all of it's cache. Oh well, it's all good for the consumers as long as they stay away from the Tualatin.

    Intel will continue to be the 800 pound processor gorilla till AMD can beat them in the MHz race. Intel is keeping them at arms length because 2GHz and beyond sounds faster than AMD's sub-2GHz parts. Unfortunately, AMD doesn't get any love despite benchmarks placing an Athlon XP running at 1.53GHz at a higher level of performance than a 2GHz P4... and I'd say the AXP can actually crunch da benchies like a 2.2GHz P4. It's kinda like buying a Mustang GT with a V8 and thinking it'll be faster than an Acura TL with a V6. Consumers beware!
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIntel's CPU Roadmap``x1002826521,10244,``x``x ``xSince the Athlon XP is hittin' the scene, I thought I'd throw out a KT266A mobo review. Epox has been catering to the OC crowd, and the 8KHA+ reviewed at AMDMB.COM has a smattering of 0.1 voltage adjustments, 1MHz FSB adjustments, and a 1/5th divider for the FSB. The tested 1.53GHz AXP hit 1.7GHz on a 171MHz FSB. Throw in a decent layout and stability, and you've got a winner!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEpox 8KHA+ KT266A Mobo Review ``x1002894086,95238,``x``x ``xTom's Hardware recently had a bad experience with an El Cheapo power supply which came in a standard case for a system build. As it turns out, my pop also had a PS burn out (and take his HD, CD, mobo, and KB along with it) so this article turned my head. Computer cases are often the last part builders get picky about, and gettin' one cheap with power included is often at the top of the list after blowing a wad on the CPU, video card, and other high-ticket items.

    So how much do you think Case-O-Matic spent on that 300W PS in your new $20 puter case? Figure about $1. Do you really wanna hook thousands of dollars worth of parts to that? My pop's went out after about 2 years of use, and it took about $500 to fix/upgrade and another 5 hours of labor... at least I come cheap.

    We ended up using an 300W Enermax PS which is much more heavy, sturdy, and (ooh) attractive than the "toaster". It also has two fans configured as intake and exhaust, which I didn't realize till reading Tom's article. It set us back $47 and cost as much as most "decent" cases with power, but I'll be swapping my PS so I can get some Enermax love too.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCheap Power Supply Woes``x1002896299,28585,``x``x ``xRune Wizard is a nifty little program (more like a database) which helps you figure out how to apply runes to make rune words, which are specific combinations of runes that are more powerful than sticking them into socketted items willy-nilly. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDiablo II Rune Wizard``x1002898192,37035,``x``x ``xDag nab it!

    My system upgrade is pretty much done, but I have to work the next 3 nights. It looks like it will be a little bit before I get to enjoy the added speed. I tell you, there is nothing like a clean fresh uncluttered install of Windows, and some fast hardware.

    Look for an update and more news in the next few days. I'll talk about the "fun" I had building a couple of IWill KK266+ RAID systems. That story is not yet finished, since upgraded Enermax 350Watt Power Supplies are on their way to complete the systems. Will they bring me back from USB purgatory? Stay tuned for the details.

    I'll also do some benchies and give the low down on my new KT266A motherboard, the Shuttle AK31A. It's mated to a standard Athlon 1.4 GHz 266 MHz Thunderbird CPU, and uses a Leadtek Geforce 3 video card.

    All this goodness came from Multiwave, our favorite store here at Cagesworld.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xUp and Running``x1003249037,72780,``x``x ``x[H]OCP wrapped their grubby mitts around the latest astek Vapochill CPU cooling unit. The Vapochill is very similar to the Kryotech units of days past, but it's much more user friendly and serves to replace the system case for DIY overclockers. Basically, it's a case with power supply and refrigeration unit for the CPU. [H] has a very detailed series of nudies for the Vapochill case, refrigeration unit, and system setup/installation. The results popped off a 1.8GHz P4 OC'd to 2.25GHz (which isn't much to brag about) and a 2.0GHz P4 OC'd to 2.46GHz (which IS something to brag about).

    I've always wondered about the wisdom of using hardcore and expensive cooling solutions. Honestly, they'll only keep you about 6 months ahead of air-cooled solutions. The Vapochill retails for about $750, which is an entire low-end system in today's market; however, the Vapochill is DIY friendly and would probably be a good value for anyone who swaps out their flagship CPU every 6 to 12 months. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSupercooled CPU``x1003257669,19378,``x``x ``x[H]OCP took a look at the Ti series of GeForce3 video cards, specifically the Ti200 and GF2Ti. Both were reference designs from Nvidia, so they were pretty vanilla without any specialty parts (faster RAM or cooling). The Ti200 is a budget GeForce3 without active cooling and has a slower clock for the GPU and memory. As you'd expect, it's slower than a stock GF3 but faster than the GeForce2 Ti. Both of these cards are aimed at the budget crowd.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xLowballer's Banquet: Budget GF3 Cards``x1003261256,79210,``x``x ``xPC Hardware pinched off a review of the Epox 8KHA+ KT266A motherboard. Their review is kinda cool and includes a compatibility test with various peripherals and brands of memory. Other than a slightly funky layout on the mobo, the 8KHA+ performed like a champ and OC'd like a mofo! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xEpox 8KHA+ Review``x1003262458,31979,``x``x ``xAs long as we're on a hardware kick today, Tom's Hardware put the gloves on the Radeon 8500 and let it duke it out with a flagship GeForce3 Ti 500. In the end, the Radeon 8500 is a speedy part and played grab-ass with the GF3Ti500. Unfortunately, ATI hasn't hammered out all the bumps in their latest drivers (ATI has a horrible driving history) and their part failed to sucker-punch the GF3Ti500 in real-world benchies. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRadeon 8500 Vs. GF3Ti500``x1003262998,19601,``x``x ``xSocketA.com cut all the bull from their review of the Shuttle AK31 VIA KT266A, which is the same mobo Cage is using for his latest system build. It should only take 3 or 4 minutes to read the review, but I'll break it down for ya: she's quick, she's stable, she's cheap, and she's ready to play! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xShuttle AK31 KT266A Review``x1003365517,26989,``x``x ``xOverclockers.com has an interesting article on the Yin & Yang of upgrading AMD processors. Basically, they complain about AMD's tendency to put the latest/greatest mobos out to pasture with every new processor FAB. For the speed-freakish OC crowd, they suggest holding off till AMD's 0.13m part hits the scene. As for me, I'd just pick a good spot where the price/performance feels right and jump in. There'll always be something new around the corner.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xYin & Yang Of AMD Upgrades``x1003366108,19488,``x``x ``xGordon Berg over at Computer Gaming World swung by our neck of the woods and had a few things to say to myself and Cage. I get the feeling Cage and I missed Gordy's point, which was (correct me if I'm wrong) flight sims just aren't fun anymore.

    Having only dabbled in the sim thang, I'd have to agree with Gordy. They are packed with too many features and aren't easy for newbs to get into. I used to stick with the Janes series of WWII sims because they didn't involve much rocket science, but they still didn't hold my interest because the game interfaces were poor and/or confusing (exactly where do I launch this thing? Janes WWII Fighters was really bad), they were difficult (call me a baby, I don't like to die from AAA), and there really wasn't much to say about online play.

    The best times I ever had with sim-type games were back in the X-Wing and Descent days. Those games were far from being true "sims", but they were easy to jump into and there was tons of stuff pepper with your lasers. Descent took things a step farther and added multiplayer gameplay, which was so addictive I endured the defunct Engage Gaming Network just to get my frag on.

    Still, I think we all made out points. Sims have lost their fun-factor, their graphics and sound aren't keeping pace with other genres, there are some HOTAS (control) issues, and some people like my pop don't really care because they just wanna fly or supplement some of their annual flight hours. At least we all agree the flight sim genre is desperate for a swift kick in the booty. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGordy Speaks, People Listen``x1003368071,1281,``x``x ``xI noticed Gone Gold put the word out on Bugbear's Rally Trophy Demo. I got kinda excited about Rally Trophy and all of it's retro rally racin' goodness when we were doin' the AS thang. The demo weighs in around 70MB. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRally Trophy Demo``x1003372132,18462,``x``x ``xNow that's a bold statement, but it's only a half-truth. I just got done reading the Price Guide over at Anandtech and, while I really dig their site, I have to ask "what's the real value of a Price Guide with figures from Price Watch?" From my experience, the bargain-basement prices over at PW are a hoax more than half the time and many of the vendors look kinda shady.

    Using Price Watch sheds hours of work surfing for the best price on parts, but it's a cheap shot at getting visitors. Who really cares if the prices are real or not? Well, anyone who actually goes out to buy this stuff will care alot. The Price Watch situation is kinda like the advertisements for low credit card interest rates. They either don't apply to you, don't exist, or there's a catch.

    For the average flagship part, I'll pay another $20 for some peace of mind, and that's why I've stuck with Multiwave and Egghead for so many years. More times than not, my parts will show up within 24 hours if I order before 10AM (LA to Bakersfield). I've also had good luck with Computers4Sure, who delivered a 22" monitor without a single blemish on the box. I had to wait about 5 days (I'm a cheap bastard and always order UPS ground) and, for some reason, it's cheaper to ship an 80 pound monitor from the Eastern US than it is from LA to B-Town... go figure. I've also heard really good things about NewEgg, and Avlogic looks interesting as well.

    Now that you know what I don't like about Price Guides, here's what I do like. Basically, they serve as a snapshot of current hardware and offer some generalized knowledge nuggets of what's hot, what's not, and what's around the bend. Unfortunately, you're subjected to their selection of hardware and not everything gets listed. Where's the vanilla GeForce3, which is still a very popular part at $268?

    So, what's my point? Price Guides are good for feelin' out the state of PC hardware but hard figures obtained from Price Watch should be taken with a few grains of salt. You should also buy parts from retailers who you know, trust, and have taken for a test spin. If you're not sure about 'em, order a case fan or heatsink to see how good their service is. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xShove Your Stinkin' Price Guide!``x1003411827,81896,``x``x ``xRocktunes.com has some really cool Rock Star Cartoon Parodies for your favorite bands. I thought this one for Linkin Park was particularly nifty. Unfortunately, they have more popups than the patrons at your local Sleezy Cinema (yuck!).``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRocktoons.com``x1003417219,24575,``x``x ``xI had a chance to take Novalogic's Comanche4 for a spin. Did I mention I suck at flight sims? Anyway, the controls aren't what I expected and I quickly suffered from the deadliest form of Newbs Syndrome, which is usually fatal. I configured the controls to use my MS Force Feedback Pro and yanked back and forth in a frenzy. As it turns out, the controls are probably close to what they are in the real world:



    Once I figured that out, I had to deal with a mess of ground troops, attack helicopters, and gunship/patrol boats which have overrun our position. The Comanche is also pretty fragile and goes down like a drunken cheerleader. Maybe it's just me... I mentioned I suck, right?

    I also had to drop the resolution from 1024*786/32 to 800*600/16 and set all the other detail settings to "Normal" to keep the thing from dropping frames. It still looked decent and played well on my P3-800/GF2 system, but I'm feeling the need for an upgrade. It certainly didn't look as good as the screenies shootin' around the net, which were most likely done on a Super Slick GF3 system.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xComanche4 Demo``x1003691904,29720,``x``x ``xI bumped into a review of the Shuttle AV24 at VIAHardware.com. This is the smallest PC I've ever seen! Unfortunately, it's highly integrated and has only one PCI slot for expansion, but it sports an aluminum case, onboard sound, Ethernet, and USB and audio up front. Not a balls-to-the-wall puter by any means, but it would be a killer LAN rig if it had an AGP slot. Shuttle is also supposed to be working on a similar box for an AMD based system. Mwave sells this little sucker for $250 and has a spec sheet as well. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSmall Wonders``x1003695988,28289,``x``x ``xWow! What an end of week bonanza for demos. Alien Versus Predators, Comanche 4, Empire Earth, Black Thorn, and Zoo Tycoon. There was almost something for everyone.

    Comanche 4 was a bit disappointing. I was hoping that it would be more approachable for sim "virgins." There were a couple of things that stood out for me.

    1. The controls were, to put it kindly, lacking. Someone who is not used to flying helicopters will find it quite a chore to perform a simple task such as hovering in place. Too often I found myself shooting forward at the most inopportune times. A true "beginner" mode should be available; otherwise this sim badly misses its target audience. Nine11's experience is quite typical of what Novalogic can expect. After a few minutes this one will hit the shelf and never be touched again for most folks who buy it. Whether it's a controller issue or game engine problem it needs to be fixed or else Comanche 4 will be destined for the great bargain bin in the sky. This is the most critical factor that will keep people from enjoying and buying this game.

    2. The water is very pretty. The rest of the graphics were very "ho hum" to me. I was expecting more eye candy.

    3. Performance lagged at the higher settings - even on my Athlon 1.4 GHz 512MB DDR RAM, GeForce 3 equipped system. This made control of the Comanche even more problematic.

    4. It was great fun blowing up the terrorists with missiles. In fact blowing up everything was a lot of fun.

    All in all I would rate this first glance at Comanche 4 as worrisome. I had high hopes for this game, but at this point it looks very much like a work in progress, and I'm not sure it can be salvaged.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xComanche 4 Demo Impressions``x1003736213,97780,``x``x ``xI've been hooked on the Diablo II Expansion like an addict, and my right hand is achin' like a hairy-palmed teenager. Remember Jim Carrey doing "The Claw" in Liar Liar, that's me. I had to give up the old click-click and find something else to do. Luckily, this is my "busy week" at work and I'll be fored into a desperately needed break from gaming.

    I should also be able to wrap up the MP3 Guide, which I've been workin' on since AS. It's shaped up nicely and will be ready this week. Basically, it's a mess of tidbits on getting started with MP3 music. It may re-hash some stuff for those of you who already dig the MP3 scene, but I managed to flesh it out with enough different stuff to make it a good read.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGive That Man A Hand``x1003787437,5923,``x``x ``xI finally wrapped up the first part of the MP3 Guide. It fiddles with some background associated with MP3 music and how to get started using it. There's probably some been there, done that stuff for those who already dabble with MP3, but I tried to dig up a variety of things to make it interesting. Take a peek and lemme know what you think. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMP3 Guide, Part 1``x1004038007,99925,``x``x ``xToday marks the official release date for Microsoft's new operating system, Windows XP. It seems the guys over at Road Runner aren't too keen on it and refuse to support the new OS. Not that you can't have it, Road Runner tech support just won't help you get your cable modem to work with WinXP. This doesn't really surprise me because MS and AOL/TW (who own Road Runner) have been at each other's throat for years.

    Thanks to Cage for the heads-up.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWindows XP Released, Not At Road Runner``x1004045425,46343,``x``x ``xWhile trying to figure out if the upgrade to Windows XP is a good idea, I decided to check the Windows Hardware Compatibility List to make sure all my puter goodies will work with the new OS. As it turns out, MS doesn't support many of their own input devices including the popular Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro. I thought this just can't be right and filled out an online request for support on the Sidewinder stick and WinXP. Unfortunately, the jump to WinXP will render my favorite stick unusable! Here's a cut 'n pastie:



    It doesn't really look like MS has much interest in supporting my crippleware Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro and would rather have me peel off a few bills for both WinXP and a new Sidewinder stick. Yea, right! WinXP isn't required for any of my hardware or software, and I certainly won't buy it and go through the pain of a fresh OS install just to axe stuff which works fine on WinME. Think twice before you upgrade.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Force(feedback) Is Weak With WinXP``x1004377875,93395,``x``x ``xGamespot popped off a saliva-laden review of Sid Meier's Civilization III. Despite an AI that cheats, tedious micromanagement, poor documentation, and multiplayer gettin' the axe, they thought Civ III was the best thing since the Wonder Bra. Honestly, most of Civ III's faults are typical of strategy games but leaving out multiplayer is heinous. Here's a cut 'n pastie.

    Obviously, it's still a good game and has a lot to offer. Just take it for what it is, and figure what it isn't will get patched. That's what VERSIONS are for!

    UPDATE: According to Gone Gold, Civ III doesn't have in-game options to change the screen resolution, but they took a look at the readme file and found out it can be done by tweaking the game's ini file. Don't even try to tell me this game wasn't pushed out the door.

    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAnd On The 7th Day, God Made Civ III``x1004514816,92006,``x``x ``x[H]OCP's Steve wrapped up one of the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) motherboard reviews of recent memory. While taking a peek at P4X266 DDR based solutions for the Pentium 4, motherboards from Taiwanese manufacturers Azza and Acorp failed to impress. In fact, one didn't work at all and the other refused to push a 2GHz processor any faster than 800MHz. Of course, tech support was a pipe-dream. It's too bad these two small companies are so flaky because the P4/DDR platform has so much to offer. Fortunately, VIA seems to feel the same way and will be manufacturing their own motherboard soon.

    I was figuring the P4/DDR was still way more expensive than the AthlonXP/DDR and did a little price comparison. As it turns out, only $54 separates the two at 1.9GHz and 1.53GHz respectively; however, I've seen benchies which give the AXP/DDR the edge.

    If you wanna check some benchies for a real P4/DDR mobo, [H] has a review of the Shuttle AV40 which goes for $103 at Multiwave. It just goes to show ya how important it is to pick the right hardware!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xP4 DDR Mobos Take It In The Azza``x1004516951,24572,``x``x ``x

    I haven't been gettin' too excited about computer speakers lately, but Gamespot took a peek at the Logitech z-560 4.1 THX speakers which seem to fill the void between the haves and the have nots. The z-560 speakers have four full-range drivers, 8" subwoofer, and 400W of power. While a separate tweeter and midrange drivers would've been a better choice for the sats, they seem to sound good enough while the sub really pounds out the low tones. The control pod lacks visual cues for volume settings, but you should rely on your ears and not your eyes when tweaking tunes. Overall, the z-560 speakers look like a pretty good value with street prices around $155.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xLogitech Z-560 Gaming Speakers``x1004761479,12747,``x``x ``xAfter looking at some reviews and comparisons for the Athlon XP 1900+ and earlier processors, it's pretty clear AMD is still having issues with heat and is in serious need of a die shrink or new architecture for their flagship CPU. Let's face it, 70MHz or less separates each part in the XP line and that's just silly with today's technology. AMD can rename their parts with the equivalent Intel performance rating (that + thingie), but they're not fooling me. Here's a snapshot of the XP line:



    "Baby steps" would be appropriate when describing the jumps in speed between each processor. AMD parts are notoriously hot, and you could probably fry an egg on one. Adding insult to injury, Intel will still carry the torch for speed and claim the major market share as long as they can keep 600MHz ahead of AMD despite benchmarks which suggest they've lost their edge.

    In the end, it's all good. AMD will hit 0.13m sooner or later, and a 70MHz overclock is a no-brainer for a little kick in AMD processor speed. Just make sure you've got a good heatsink and fan that work, or keep some eggs on hand. I'll take mine scrambled.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAthlon XP Creeps Forward``x1004978204,33877,``x``x ``xThere's a new multiplayer test for Return To Castle Wolfenstein. It sports the same "Normandy" map but has been tweaked a little and squashed some bugs. Nothing that's a big deal, but you'll need the most recent version if ya wanna get your frag on. Check the mirrors at Blue's News.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xReturn To Castle Wolfenstein Multiplayer Test 2``x1004978955,89528,``x``x ``xCage sent a link for Overclockers.com review of the Shuttle AK31 mobo. Their review gets more thouchy-feely with the AK31 and dabbles with how it handles real world situations like installation, BIOS setup, overclocking, and the like. Honestly, it's a damn good review and sheds some light on how sloppy some pedigree mobos can be.

    "Sloppiness" begs the question of which is a better platform, Intel or AMD. Intel's i845 chipset has been referred to as the new "BX", and I haven't had a setup as solid as my old OC'd Celeron and Abit BH6 for quite a while. I know AMD has the price/performance edge, but I'm wondering if Intel would be a better bet for anyone who wants a few less BSODs. I won't be upgrading till after the holidays, but I'll probably take a good look at what Intel has to offer before selling my soul to AMD.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSloppy Mofos... Er... Mobos``x1005064496,85643,``x``x ``xAccording to G-spot, Maddox Game's WWII flight combat sim, IL-2 Sturmovik, has gone gold and will crash-land on store shelves in a couple of weeks. If you haven't seen it yet, G-spot has various downloads and streams of in-game footage. Oddly enough, the IL-2 was quite the tank-buster but the flick only sports air combat... weird. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIL-2 Sturmovik Is Golden``x1005151674,75749,``x``x ``x

    I stumbled across The Killer Bean II which is an excellent (and twisted) piece of CG animation by Jeffrey Lew. He's accumulated a slew of awards for his work which has a dash of James Bond, The Matrix, plenty of humor, and some beans (pull my finger!). The original Killer Bean is kinda rough, but The Killer Bean II is top-notch stuff. Make sure you've got the DIVX codec installed for the 33MB download.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Killer Bean II``x1005275612,44295,``x``x ``xJust a reminder, Voodoo Extreme is finally off the UGO servers. Until the DNS updates occur and point you to the correct web site you might want to try the alternate link for VE - www.VE3D.com. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xVoodoo Extreme Temp Link``x1005320877,55452,``x``x ``xHere's something you don't see much of anymore. Tom's Hardware has a nifty roundup of flight sticks and throttles for all you wingnuts out there. The list includes all the big boys and a OS compatibility list for Win9X, Win2K, and WinXP. The Saitek Cyborg 3D Gold failed the OS test, but not much love is lost there since it's a pretty gay stick. I personally wrapped "Rosy" around it and felt a little empty after the experience.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``x(flight)Stick It To Ya!``x1005410934,18664,``x``x ``xMS has DirectX 8.1 available for download, and it weighs in at 12.1MB. The MS servers are really speedy this morning, and the download should take less than a minute on a cable or DSL connection. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDirectX 8.1``x1005496455,6503,``x``x ``xI'm not sure how it came about, but I decided to "simplify" the look of the front page. I really liked how the forums design turned out, so I thought I'd take a step towards unifying the site design. I'll try it out for a bit, and see if it's a keeper.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Look?``x1005680464,75267,``x``x ``xWell once again we had a big LAN shindig here at my place last night. There was pizza, soda, and plenty of gaming goodness.

    Return to Castle Wolfenstein finally submitted, and we were all able to play on the same server for a change over my shared RoadRunner connection. RTCW still suffers from a couple of interface irritations, the biggest one being team selection. RTCW will bounce you back to "observer" status if there are "too many on the Allied side." It can be tough to figure out at first what happened, and why you can't play the game.

    A couple of other niggling problems with RTCW:
    We then moved on to some Tribes 2, and finished off with a 4v4 Age of Conquerors cooperative game versus the computer. It was quite fun to watch the hordes roll across the map. Good fun was had by all, though Quigg will have to pay for it today. He was the only one who had to work today. Heheheheh.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xLAN Parteeee!``x1005681533,95348,``x``x ``xWell things are starting to look up for me. The Simped VARIO Rudder Pedals that I ordered are reportedly on their way!

    As some of you might recall, I've often ranted in the past about the unavailability of rudder pedals that will work with a Microsoft Force Feedback joystick. The Simped Vario rudder pedals are made in Germany by a gent who has figured out how to make them work with the MS FF stick. There are several old reviews available around the 'Net, which have led me to believe that they will work just fine with all of my favorite sims. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that the pedals arrive soon, and live up to my expectations.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSimped VARIO Rudder Pedals``x1005682054,99519,``x``x ``xBilly "Wicked" Wilson of Voodoo Extreme fame is back with a new web site. Gaming Groove went live yesterday, and is already filling up with all sorts of gaming news, with the same irreverant Billy style. The site is still getting tweaked, but most things seem to work for now.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBilly Wilson Back with New Website``x1005682394,80623,``x``x ``xStomped is reporting Return to Castle Wolfensetein has gone gold and will show up in stores on the 20th. Good thing I still have a can of Super-Strength Kraut Whoop Ass left! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRTCW Gold?!``x1005845546,82903,``x``x ``xAnandtech got some pre-beta drivers from ATI for their Radeon 8500 pixel pusher. The 8500 has been slammed a little because of ATI's typically flaky-buggy-poor drivers, but the new ones are giving the 8500 a serious kick. The GF3 Ti500 was forced into submission as the 8500 jumped on top of every benchmark 'cept for some with AA on... and real men don't use AA anyway, so that's moot. The drivers were still buggy, but they'll be available in a few weeks for anyone who's willing to take the plunge. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRadeon 8500 (will) Kick Bootay!``x1005928368,98171,``x``x ``xMust.... not... cut... and... paste. Aw, heck. The preview is so short, typing this thing out would take about as much space. What I can tell ya is Deadlands looks interesting (I don't even dig serious RPGs) and we'll probably be hearing more about it over the next year or two.

    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDeadlands``x1005929054,59752,``x``x ``xI've had a chance to play around with RTCW a bit, and I'm starting to reverse my thoughts on it being the "next big thing." Serious play balance problems, agonizing spawn times, geometry collision oddities, and a lackluster interface make it far less fun then almost any other shooter that's available right now. In fact, if you want a good "real world" shooter, you are far better off with a mod like Urban Terror.

    I'm sure RTCW will do ok, but there are some reasons for concern with longevity. Another very interesting looking shooter, C&C Renegade is due out soon. Plus, the number of servers and players is a on the low side if you go by either GameSpy Arcade, or the in-game RTCW Internet browser.

    A few sessions with RTCW, and you can see why games like Civ III and Empire Earth should mop the floor with RTCW in total sales. The previously mentioned problems, and the poor initial map that comes with the demo might turn quite a few potential buyers off. Couple that with the release of two new game consoles, and RTCW might have a very tough time making sales targets.

    Personally, I think I'll pass. I've already picked up Civ III and Empire Earth. Civ III definitely looks like a winner from the short time I've played with it. Right now it doesn't look likely that RTCW will be all that fun. After all is said and done, isn't that what it's all about?``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xRTCW Impressions``x1005929431,10665,``x``x ``xI found this amusing little ditty over at Quarter To Three. Apparently, Diablo is actually a shopping simulation. Pretty amusing stuff written from a father's perspective. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xShopping At Diablo*Mart``x1005967898,89769,``x``x ``xThe Quake 3 mod, Reaction, has been released! This is a pretty big deal to anyone who was hooked on Action Quake II back in the day. I should be able to rack up some quality time with the mod and post some impressions this weekend. The download weighs in at 67MB, so grease that fat pipe for some digital love... or something like that.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xReaction Quake 3 Released!``x1005968623,60863,``x``x ``xI had a chance to boot up the Q3A mod Reaction. Honestly, I had pretty high expectations since I had spent so much time with it's little bro, Action Quake II, and Urban Terror. Reaction has a different feel but the mechanics are the same. Start out with a pistol and pick up weapons and equipment as you go. It's a little rough around the edges, but that's to be expected for a beta; however, Reaction doesn't have that lightning in a bottle feel of the original and of UT. Some of the maps are pretty damn fugly, and it's difficult to hit anything even at point-blank range. I don't think I'll be spending any more time playing Reaction, but at least I gave it a try.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xReaction Reactions``x1006057498,90910,``x``x ``xJoy, oh joy, oh joy!

    My brand new Simped Vario rudder pedals have arrived.

    I'm just getting ready to take my family up to Idaho to see my mom over Thanksgiving, so a review will have to wait until I get back.

    *If* the pedals work as advertised you should see much more sim coverage here at Cagesworld in the future.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSimped Rudder Pedals Arrive!``x1006261791,42657,``x``x ``xIn the real world, I have a job which has nothing to do with computers (gasp). I've tried to change that a few times, but various projects haven't panned out well enough for me to quit my day job which is actually a pretty good gig. Anyway, there's this National Board which dictates how everything is run, and they're changing the rules. No big deal, I'll get grandfathered in on my current license; however, if I advance to the next license after June 2002, I'll get locked into this thing called the Continuing Competency Program. It's about as fun as it sounds, trust me.

    Anyway, I gotta take a class and challenge the National Board for the next license before this June. It's not life and death, but it'll make my life much easier and I'll get a 5% raise from my employer. The end result is I'll have less time to spend on CW and playing games, but I'll still be around and chipping in when I have time. My little hiatus will also give my carpal tunnel a chance to heal... damn that Diablo II Expansion! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGettin' School'd``x1006274748,81899,``x``x ``xFinally, a LCD worthy of a true game rig. It's quick, bright, and pretty damn trick! Too bad it's hard to get a hold of and will set you back about $650. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSolarism LM1503 15" LCD Monitor ``x1006533741,38903,``x``x ``xWhew! I'm back in town after a great time up in Idaho. We drove back non-stop from Nampa to B-Town today, so I'm more then a little bit tired. It's off to bed for me!

    If all goes well, I'll post up some impressions tomorrow night of the Simped Vario rudder pedals I just received - as well as some other goodies.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBack in Town``x1006845539,3308,``x``x ``xWell here's something that (might) help you burn some calories and get in shape while playing your favorite Play Station/PS2 game.

    CycleFX's Gamerider lets you really get inside the game. Gamerider is an exercise bike that hooks up to a Sony Playstation or PS2. Currently it supports over 40 PS1/PS2 games. Here's a pic of what the Gamerider looks like in action.

    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCycleFX Exerciser/Video Game Controller``x1006894693,60613,``x``x ``xYep, 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 .``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHe's Alive!``x1007349861,70378,``x``x ``xBefore 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.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xQuick Simped VARIO Rudder Impressions``x1007399966,90889,``x``x ``xVoodoo 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSlobber``x1007483087,50133,``x``x ``xAccording to Apolyton (a Civilization 3 site), an official patch for Civ 3 should be coming out soon - maybe by this Saturday.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCiv 3 Patch``x1007496477,78057,``x``x ``xI 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!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDie Nazi Scum!``x1007667296,81935,``x``x ``xI'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.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xSimped-VARIO Review``x1007998260,17767,``x``x ``x[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.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``x[H]ercules 3D Prophet III Ti200``x1008103923,74584,``x``x ``xThe 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMedal Of Honor Multiplayer Demo``x1008347975,50765,``x``x ``xI posted some impressions of the Medal of Honor multiplayer demo in the Games Forum. Here's a clip:
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMoH MP Demo Impressions``x1008412909,36541,``x``x ``xLooks 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWindows RG``x1008528762,25762,``x``x ``xThe 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``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xThe Guru of 3D Finally Gone``x1008691930,29873,``x``x ``xMy 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...``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDon't Get "Creative" With SB Live! Drivers``x1008811784,32882,``x``x ``xI 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!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWindows Two-Step``x1008916445,3063,``x``x ``x[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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCase Mods From CPL``x1008947432,32934,``x``x ``xG-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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNew RTCW MP Demo & Trench Toast``x1008947921,68602,``x``x ``xGet yer Trench Toast map or updated multiplayer demo with both the Trench Toast and Beach maps. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRTCW Downloads``x1009040466,88329,``x``x ``xI'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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSnapshot: Half-Life Hardware``x1009208942,42498,``x``x ``xA 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. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xNew Medal of Honor Demo Map``x1009231073,14907,``x``x ``xI 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.
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xPlaynet and WW2:Online Dead?``x1009468602,57363,``x``x ``xI 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..." ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xStomped Out?``x1009535926,91670,``x``x ``xFry'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. ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xFry's Outpost On-line``x1009560580,20577,``x``x ``xI 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. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xI Ain't Scared Of Bass``x1009681815,87035,``x``x ``xFiring Squad popped off a review of Battle Realms and slapped it's fanny with an 89%, which is pretty damn high but short of an Editor's Choice. BR had my curiosity before E3, but I've ignored it since being released. For whatever reason, I dunno. Maybe I'm too hooked on Urban Terror to play other stuff. Anyway, BR has some nifty twists on the basics of RTS games with units which can be upgraded, a *general* unit cap of 30, spellcasting, special abilities, vulnerabilities, and general rock-paper-scissors stuff. Unfortunately, BR isn't much of a "beer and pretzels" game and leeches a lot of attention during gameplay. The screenies also don't do much for the game, but I've seen it in action which looks much better. Maybe I'll download the demo or something. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBattle Realms ``x1010161505,36333,``x``x ``x[H] posted a review of the ASUS A7N266-E motherboard, which left a bitter taste in my mouth. The board is packed with features and is a great value, but it's crippled with a flaky BIOS. Basically, that's what I expected with Nvidia's new chipset and it's bound to have some sort of teething period. Having just got rid of a BIOS problem on my end, I can't really recommend the nForce boards despite their speedy performance. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xASUS nForce Mobo``x1010163291,18264,``x``x ``xNothing too exciting has been goin' on around here. Just been doing the daily grind and getting in a little gaming here and there. My online fix has been sorta so-so with a mix of Day of Defeat, RTCW, Medal of Honor, and Urban Terror. The server list and in-game browser has been pretty damn flaky, so I started using The All-Seeing Eye to locate active games. Cowboy Carnage always seems to have at least 10 players for Team Deathmatch, but lots of other servers are running bots which seem pretty stupid. Medal of Honor is growing on me, and it's my best guess it'll be the next big thing for online shooters. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHeads Up``x1010679752,76143,``x``x ``xGamePC slapped together a review of the ASUS A7N266 nVidia nForce 420 Motherboard. For some reason, ASUS chose to strip away the Dolby 5.1 sound and Ethernet. I really don't get the logic behind that, and neither did GamePC. Benched against the Asus A7V266-E (VIA KT-266A Chipset), ECS K7S5A (SiS 735 Chipset), and Asus A7M266 (AMD 760 Chipset), it failed to pull ahead of the crowd.

    Interestingly, the little ECS board endowed with DDR memory held it's own against the sexier chipsets. This really surprised me and leaves ECS as a good upgrade solution for anyone on a budget or wants to do "baby-steps" upgrades (it supports DDR and SDRAM). Of course, performance is better with DDR. Most places are selling the ECS K7S5A for about $60.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe nForce Is Weak With This One``x1010711405,69432,``x``x ``xI finally loaded the demo for Ghost Recon. Boy, that game is way better than what I saw at E3. It plays like most of the other "realistic" shooters but looks and feels much better. It's got some great sound as well (still diggin' those Z-560s) but I get an odd popping sound here and there... probably something which would be addressed in a patch. I got an online quickie (co-op) through GameSpy Arcade, but there weren't many people connecting through that service and better luck could be had going a different route. Anyway, I got a real kick outta the single player game and will pick up the retail version this weekend. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xBust A Cap With Ghost Recon``x1010823065,18136,``x``x ``xAccording to The Inquirer, VIA is ready to retire their swanky KT266A for the double-secret-probation KT333A. Since reference boards are abundant as Jimmy Hoffa, I'd guess it'll debut around the same time as the next AthlonXP die shrink. The KT333A is pimped out with AGP 8X, DDR 333, USB 2.0, and various other goodies. Many thanks to Cage for the heads-up.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIt's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A... New Chipset?!``x1011111072,58019,``x``x ``xI don't know if it's the Dot Bomb thing or what, but Quarter To Three is nailing the doors shut. Mark Asher has taken a job at Pop Top software, and it's unclear what Tom Chick will do since he's away at Sundance. Sounds kinda like going to work and coming home to find the door locks changed. I really hope that's not the case, but TC still has his gigs at various magazines. We'd like to wish them both well and thanks for the reading. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xQuarter To Three Takes A Powder``x1011201051,60473,``x``x ``xTom's Hardware took a little adventure in overclocking with Intel's new Northwood 0.13m Pentium4 processor. With some water cooling and a Gigabyte i845 DDR based mobo, they pushed that little sucker to over 3000MHz, which sounds impressive till you start looking at the benchmarks. Don't get me wrong, the OC'd P4 is faster than chili verde making it's way through a two year old, but the benchmarks start to narrow at 1024*768. As an example, only 16 fps separate the 3000MHz P4 and the +2000 Athlon XP (1666MHz). Most of the other benchmarks followed suit. Still, 3000MHz is pretty sexy, I just don't know if it's worth the extra $700 entrance fee for an Intel system plus water cooling. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``x3000MHz & Beyond!``x1011458407,74907,``x``x ``xI noticed in the local circular that Tribes 2 has once again made it to the bargin bin. For the low low price of $10 you can pick up a copy at CompUSA. Buy the game that killed Dynamix!``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xTribes 2 "Bargin" Bin``x1011601385,57302,``x``x ``xI'm gearing up for an upgrade next month, so I decided to take a look at some cooling solutions for the AthlonXP. I'm shootin' for a bang-for-the-buck upgrade, which means I'll be overclocking and need to keep temps in line. After reading a cooler roundup at [H] and some user reviews at NewEgg.com, I came up with the following wish list:



    The best performer of that group is the Thermalright SK-6 and [H] slapped the Vantec CCK-6027D with "best all-around HSF"; however, the user reviews at NewEgg.com are swinging me toward the Thermal Integration "Dr. Thermal" which was the only one without major complaints about noise, is easy to install, and offers fair cooling. All that for $22 is hard to beat.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xChill Out... AthlonXP Cooling Solutions``x1011807894,25002,``x``x ``xAnandtech slapped together a mess of benchmarks with today's graphics cards running the next build of the Unreal engine. As it turns out, the ATI Radeon 8500 kicked some serious bootay while the GeForce3 cards ran respectible numbers. Too bad ATI's drivers are such a fly in the ointment (there were some issues rendering fog on the card), and I still don't know if I'd fork over the cash for one. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTomorrow's Games On Today's Graphics Cards``x1011975355,84938,``x``x ``xCage turned me onto the ultimate puter modding site, bit-tech. They've got a mess of cool articles on modding puter parts and cases, and they've started a series on building a clear plexi case. The first part covers the planning stages and introduces some concepts involved. Following articles will cover the actual construction of a plexi case, and is sure to have some nifty eye-candy. It's a pretty good read and covers some interesting concepts of system design even if you don't plan on tackling a project like this.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNaked Puters!``x1011977042,64705,``x``x ``xSince I've been looking toward an upgrade and have been checkin' out all the cool modded cases, I'm fondling the idea of grabbing one of the aluminum variety. Since I've been known to lug my puter over to Cage's pad for some LAN Love, aluminum would be much lighter and have that sexy-geek look... kinda like Stevie Case after she gets wasted at E3 parties and starts to table dance. Anyway, the Lian Li PC-30 is pretty swank, small, and fits an ATX mobo and PS. I could pimp her out with some matching aluminum handles, blowholes, and fan covers. Unfortunately, this adds a little green to my upgrade which could be spent somewhere else. Decisions, decisions...
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMy Wish List``x1011978190,27163,``x``x ``xThere is a patch for Medal of Honor which adds an in-game server browser (who was the dip who left that out?!) and various other fixes. Grab it from FilePlanet.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMedal Of Honor Patch``x1011978647,66768,``x``x ``xWhile cruising the HSF review at bit-tech, I noticed the interesting lookin' Cooler Master HHC-001 which has an integrated heat pipe. This design incorporates fluid-filled pipes which "pump" heat away from the base of the heatsink and through the fins. It's a pretty slick design, and the reader reviews at NewEgg seem positive (I'm putting more faith in user reviews these days). Overall, the design kept the CPU 5C cooler under load than the popular Thermalright SK6. As is the norm with high-performance HSF, it's noisy but a larger fan/adapter spinning at lower RPMs could solve that. The stock unit goes for $29 online, and pimpin' it out for quieter operation would add another $10 or $15. Cooler Master also has an updated version called the HHC-L61 (be a real man and call it the L69, damnit!) which may be out by the time I'm ready to take the plunge.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIs That A Heat Pipe In Your Pocket?``x1012013698,89510,``x``x ``xOne of my favorite computer hardware sites is back! After a 4 week absence, and a new host provider, The Guru of 3D has returned. Outstanding.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xThe Guru of 3D is Back!``x1012094603,97838,``x``x ``xAs you know, I've been pretty keen on the puter mod site, bit-tech. While I'm way too lazy to tackle most of their projects, I did run across a few fairly simple tidbits: installing a case window, glowing hardware, spray paint guide, and Macro's Case Mod which includes stealthed CD and CD-RW drives.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xbit-tech Bits``x1012145454,34524,``x``x ``xI noticed that the Bakersfield Californian featured an article in todays paper about "Computer gamers lost in la-la LAN."

    The story talks about a local group of LAN'rs who get together fairly regularly. The story mentions that "Most in attendance are either employees or customers who hang out at Bakersfield's PC Club, a retail computer store." A couple of them are putting together a web site called BakersfieldLAN.com The web site looks pretty bare right now, but we will keep an eye on it in the future. Anything local is worth pimping here at CW.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xBakersfield LAN Partying``x1012147672,18212,``x``x ``xI swung by Circuit City, which seems to have the cheapest software around, and nabbed Medal of Honor for $29.95. The box it came in is about half-sized, and I noticed some games packaged like this earlier this week at Wal-Mart. I had been thinking it was a "Wal-Mart thing", but I guess EA has decided to save a few trees (or some packaging costs) and go with the smaller box. Honestly, it's confusing and I had to stare at it for a while to make sure it wasn't for a console... or maybe I'm slow...``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGood Things In Small Packages``x1012182768,23235,``x``x ``xHere's some ideas for a special pal of mine who suffers from an extreme case of "cable clutter". I keep telling him to go to the free clinic, but the poor guy just won't listen. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xSpring Cleaning``x1012320758,75441,``x``x ``xLast night I had a friend come over to do some LAN'g. Our game of choice was Medal of Honor:Allied Assault. Unfortunately, as has happened in the past, we couldn't get more then one client pc to connect to the same Internet server.

    This problem occurs with every Quake game that we have tried. Usually we end up having to add some extra commands to change the net_port when this happens.

    Afer a lot of searching around I found a reference to setting up a server for MOH:AA using a Linksys router. Since that is the same type of router/switch that I use, I thought I'd give it a go.

    The first thing I needed to do was upgrade the firmware for my Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with a 10/100 4-Port Switch. You can get the firmware upgrade from the Linksys web page. After downloading the file I printed off the instructions, fired up the included patch program, and uploaded the update to my router.

    Next, you need to start up your favorite browser (probably IE), and plug in the address to your router's control panel.

    Once logged in, you need to click on the "Advanced" tab. You should then see a tab titled "Dynamic Routing." After selecting the Dynamic Routing tab you will see a screen that looks like the one below.


    Change the drop down menus so that the RIP2 protocol is selected, just like the screen shot below.


    That's all there is to it. Now you can use your shared Internet cable connection with Medal of Honor:Allied Assault. I haven't tested out Return to Castle Wolfenstein or any other Quake games to see if it works for them. I've never had a problem with Unreal Tournament or Tribes 2, but those games don't create the same problems that Quake engine based games do.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMoH:AA Yes, You can Share!``x1012573474,77727,``x``x ``xAs I've mentioned before, I'll be swingin' into an upgrade soon and have been looking at some parts. A new case, especially a foo-foo fancy one, adds some cost to the whole ordeal, but I'm really stuck on the Lian-Li PC-30. It's a real looker, compact, and is aluminum to boot. Virtual-Hideout.net posted one of the best reviews I've ever seen for any PC enclosure, and they tapped every aspect of the PC-30 and building a system around it. Of course, there are a few issues with it's small size and orientation of an installed PSU, but these things are much easier to work around with the heads-up. I'll grab a PC-30 in the next few weeks, pop a few blowholes in the top and side, cover 'em with some laser-cut grills, stealth the CD drive bay, and install a pair of aluminum handles on the top so I can cart the thing over to Cage's pad in style while lookin' bikini-wax clean. I figure the entire project will set me back two Bengies and some change, but I'll regret it if I don't take the plunge. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDiggin' Da PC-30``x1012845608,39791,``x``x ``xCage tossed this dog a bone (the kind you eat... no, not that one, silly) and let me know the Q3A mod Urban Terror will be sportin' a new version this Friday. Here's a quick list of what's changed:



    The update sounds like it'll be a .pak file, so the install will be one notch up from a no-brainer. I'll be off this weekend and will try to log in a few hours of UT. You can send me some digital love on the Cowboy Carnage server, which is where I usually hang out.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xUrban Terror v2.4 This Friday, Baby!``x1013021729,17339,``x``x ``xAnandtech finally got past their NDA with Nvidia and posted a review of the new GeForce4 reference graphics boards. Honestly, reading it gives me a headache, so here's the Karen Carpenter version:



    I seem to pay a lot of attention to 3DMark2001 scores, so here's a list of 'em including the ATI Radeon going from fastest to slowest:



    Return To Castle Wolfenstein had a similar pecking order at 1024*768:



    Looking ahead, the latest build of the Unreal Performance test at 1024*768 revealed the following:



    Here's the impression I got as I walked away from all this. The GeForce4 Ti4600 is the new King of the Hill, but most people willing shed the clams for this caliber of video card will nab the Ti4400 and overclock it. Honestly, any GeForce4 card is good... even the 240/500 listed above (I've seen it called the GeForce4 Ti4200). The GeForce3 Ti500 is still a fast card and is firmly placed in the upper half of the performance pecking order, and prices will drop making it pretty darn attractive. The GeForce3 Ti200 is looking pretty weak but certain cards, like the Gainward "Golden Sample", overclock to at least the same speed as the GeForce3 Ti500 for a street price of $188. Knock off another $30 - $50 when the GeForce4 cards hit the scene. For budget conscious gamers, that'll put some bling on da whip! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce4 Rocket Science``x1013026026,65902,``x``x ``xI dug through Price Watch and found GeForce3 Ti500s going for $188 and GeForce3 Ti200s going for $138. That's a pretty substantial drop for both of 'em, and they should get even cheaper over the next couple of weeks. Of course, the low prices are at smaller online stores, but AVLogic.com does have the MSI GeFoce3 Ti200 for $143. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce3 Price Drops``x1013101572,85665,``x``x ``xI decided to make a short list of the games I will be taking a serious look at this year, and I'll be using that list as a "benchmark" for the puter upgrades I've been planning on. Here's the list:



    Those are some pretty heavy hitters, and I'm starting to think about how important a modded case is. That PC-30 I've been eyein' will set me back about $225, and that's pretty damn close to a GeForce4 Ti4200. I'm also turning my office into an A/V room with a TV and couch so the wife and I can snuggle up and watch downloaded movies. In the end, I'll hold off on buying anything and try to get the most bang-for-my-buck near the end of March... just in time for my B-day!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xPower Hungry``x1013791719,57561,``x``x ``xFiring Squad posted some impressions of the latest beta build of Warcraft III. Most of it's been covered before, but they did a good job of popping the multiplayer cherry. The GUI has taken quite a spitshine, and choosing games has become easier with auto-matchups between players of similar skill. It's also possible for players to control allied resources if a teammate drops from the game, so 2v2 games which suddenly turn into 2v1 aren't so predictable.

    Unfortunately, the game hogs resources like Louie Anderson at a all-you-can-eat buffet. WC3 forced FS's fairly decent game rig to knock the graphic settings for acceptable gameplay. Here's a clip:

    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xWarcraft III Impressions``x1013792349,91097,``x``x ``xI decided to stop worrying about which case to get and ordered that Lian-Li PC-30 before I went to work last night. Got the order confirmation and receipt this AM via Email from So-Trick Computers. The Lian-Li has a black carbon fiber strip across the top of the front trim panel, so I decided to get some black anodized fan grilles for the 90mm blowhole on the top and matching one on the side. I'll also try to find some black anodized handles so I can have a pair of 'em on the top. As for cooling, it will be a "positive pressure" case with 2 80mm intake, 1 90mm intake, and 1 90mm exhaust along with the Enermax PS. The fan grilles and "positive pressure" design should keep the dust out, which is something I've been reading about lately. The whole thing set me back $215 with shipping, tax, and handling.
    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTakin' The Plunge``x1014054774,29888,``x``x ``xThere's some buzz over at [H] about how AMD is burning off the contact points and traces on some AthlonXP processors. Basically, this means no more unlocking the multipliers on these "burned" chips. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAMD Burns AthlonXP``x1014055375,50564,``x``x ``xIf you've been following the buzz around burned AthlonXP processors, you'd know these parts won't unlock the multiplier by filling in the bridges. That's a serious bummer for anyone wanting to drop the multiplier and increase the FSB frequency for X7R33M performance. The Inquirer got news from AMD that their stance on overclocking hasn't changed, but they are keen on stopping slower chips from being unlocked, OC'd, and sold at higher prices. Basically, that explains the burned XP chips floating around.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAMD Says "Move Along People, There's Nothing To See Here"``x1014140701,82210,``x``x ``xI should be getting my PC-30 case this week. So-Trick Computers didn't have any case handles and other online retailers are selling them for about $20 after S/H and tax, so I swung by Lowes and found a pair of brushed aluminum 4" handles for $4.80 out-the-door. So-Trick did the two 90mm blowhole mods for me, so I guess drilling 4 little holes for the handles won't be a big deal. Oh yea, gotta stealth that CD bay as well.

    The rest of my upgrade list ended up looking like a whole new puter since I'll only be harvesting my CD-RW, KB, mouse, NIC, and monitor. The new parts will include an AthlonXP, Shuttle AK31, 512MB DDR, Gainward GF3 Ti200 128MB, and Maxtor 120G HD. The grand total is landing somewhere around $1100 including the case, which is more than I had bargained for. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a couplea years outta this upgrade like I did from my last one. I'll post comparison 3DMark 2001 SE benchies from my old and new systems.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMovin' On Up``x1014662207,31463,``x``x ``xTom's Hardware got the skinny on Intel's next fire-breathing processor, the P4 2666MHz mated with 533MHz RDRAM. It's quick, efficient, and will cost a ball-sack skin graft donation. Also, I don't know if I'd debut a chip at 2666MHz. Maybe Microsoft had something to do with that...``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xIntel's P4 2666MHz & 533MHz RDRAM``x1014741674,19381,``x``x ``xCage sent me a blurb from VIA Hardware which sheds some light on the ugliness some early adopters of HDTV are gonna feel. Basically, the current standard... or lack of... is changing and today's HDTVs will be obsolete very soon and unable to display a HD signal. Honestly, people ask me about HD all the time because I'm the local tech geek and I've been very skeptical of the lack of a universal standard. Go to any A/V specialist and you'll be able to choose between 720p (progressive scan - good) or 1080i (interlaced - bad). Of course, the sales people always try to cram a 1080i down your throat because "bigger is better", but that's another story. I can't seem to find the direct link to the news blurb, so here's a cut 'n pastie:

    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHDTV Obsolete``x1014742852,76824,``x``x ``xI've been stressing my upgrade like Bill Clinton at a Congressional Hearing. I can play the waiting game forever, but that won't get me a full-figured hard drive any sooner or get me any closer to my A/V office Nirvana. After talking to my buddys Blickety Blam and hitnrun, I decided to muster some stones and place my order with NewEgg.com.

    My choices ebbed 'n flowed a little, but things are pretty close to what I had originally locked onto. The hard drive got knocked down to a 80G, but that's the best deal around right now. I also settled for a Athlon XP +1800 for the same reason; however, I splurged for some Crucial/Micron PC2100 DDR which should be good for a little OC action and the 128MB version of the Gainward "Golden Sample" GF3 Ti200. Here's the totals:

    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDo It, Ya Sissy!``x1014830885,83089,``x``x ``xWired has an interesting article about how some teenager used an iPod to copy MS Office for Apple's OS X at CompUSA. The theft was as simple as connecting the iPod to the Apple's FireWire port and dragging the MS Office folder onto the iPod's pop-up icon. The whole folder was copied in about a minute including a self-repair mechanism that replaces critical files in the system folder, which is a user friendly feature on the Apple. The person watching the teenage virtual bandit watched him copy a couple of other applications, then tried to alert a CompUSA employee. "I went over and told a CompUSA guy, but he looked at me like I was clueless." ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVirtual Shoplifters``x1014938885,84871,``x``x ``xThis bad boy will pump out 1024*768 at 75Hz. Finally, a TFT for the PC worthy of gaming. The $529 price isn't too bad either, and it's quite a looker!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHerculese Prophetview 720 TFT``x1014939688,7528,``x``x ``xI placed my order with NewEgg.com on Wednesday and got it today! Man, that was fast. Since I had ordered so many different components, I figured I wouldn't see them till next week. The packaging is top-notch as well, unlike Multiwave. Taking all into consideration (good prices, good packaging, speedy service), I'd have to say my first experience with NewEgg.com was pretty sweet!

    Now, all I need is my case. Damn UPS Ground... ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xFaster Than A Speeding Bullet!``x1015020937,6549,``x``x ``xI'm a little angry right now but, being a former business co-owner, I know exactly how not to handle a customer complaint. When there's a problem, you don't raise your voice and say "What!" and "What's your problem, dude?!" Basically, that's what happened when I called So-Trick Computers. I had asked about the status of my order this AM, was told it had been shipped, and they'd call me in 2 hours. After 3 hours, I called again and was told they had boxed the case and had it ready to go but still had to install the fans in it. Other than that, it was 80% ready to go. Er, okay. Of course, I didn't understand and said they didn't even process my order because it's just a case with fans.

    That's when the owner, Robert Harvey, started his tirade, told me I didn't know what the hell I was talking about, how I shouldn't tell him to do his job, and that he was just gonna cancel my order and refund my money. Evidently, they had bothered to cut the blowholes and dropped the ball after that, which accounts for the "80% done" which he mentioned before... my bad. He really caught me off guard, and I made the foolish decision to let them finish the work and overnight the case to me if they'd cover the extra shipping charges.

    The more I thought about the whole situation (missed order, inaccurate details about it having been shipped, the subsequent verbal abuse) the more I didn't wanna do business with So-Trick. I called back and asked if I could just cancel the order, which Robert Harvey refused to do because I had said "okay" to the overnight thang 5 minutes before. Damn, I would've canceled the first time if I didn't have that deer-in-the-headlights thang going on. Now, I'm supposed to have the finished product by Friday.

    Honestly, I really wanted to do business with So-Trick because they have that professional touch to their web site and product line. They also have fair prices and a good shopping cart. Unfortunately, all that goes out the window when you get Robert Harvey on the phone and he becomes abusive and complains about how busy he and his brother are, how they are "60 orders behind", and about how they need to hire two more employees. Sorry, but that has nothing to do with my situation. In all fairness, he said he'd send the case and, if I didn't like it, they'd let me keep it and refund my money. I have no intentions of ripping them off, but I really hope something magical happens this Friday and makes all this madness go away.

    In my younger days, I would've got on my soapbox and shouted at every web site I could think of warning them about these guys. I made a few mistakes, but I think it's a 10/90 split between myself and So-Trick. So, what would you do? Sit tight and hope things turn out okay, or get on the horn and rip 'em a new one? Lemme know what you'd do, or if you think I'm being a pussy, or whatever.

    Sort-of Followup: Just to let you know my day wasn't totally shitty, a pal of mine dropped off $40 and I got an oil change and tire rotation on my truck for $2 (disposal fee) because they didn't get the right replacement center cap for one of my wheels. Now, that's customer service!``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xNot So-Trick Computers``x1015357125,89562,``x``x ``xWell, I got a few opinions about what to do with my dilemma at So-Trick Computers (look at yesterday's posting if ya missed it). Responses were pretty much in my favor, so at least I know I'm not off-base over the way this thing is playing out. The feedback generally landed like this:



    Well, I tried to cancel the order but got some static from the owner. He assured me the delivered product will be of the highest quality and he'd eat the cost if it wasn't... whatever that's worth. I'm left waiting and wondering if it'll show up on Friday.

    In the end, I really hope So-Trick doesn't make me it's bizatch even if I feel like one already. Reviewing the product may let me vent a little, but it'll be really difficult to keep an open mind and be fair. Swinging by ResellerRatings.com is always another option.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe People Have Spoken``x1015442876,29974,``x``x ``xMiracles do happen because I got my case last Friday. Of course, the orientation of the blowholes was a little funky and So-Trick had to change things a tad. The top blowhole was cut as ordered, but the one on the side was swapped out for a hole cut in the side right where the power supply is. The hole exposes the fan, which is normally on the under-side of the PS, and pulls cool air from outside the case through the PS. Everything is finished off with black plastic trim and fan grills.

    The finished product is pretty damn slick, and I'm over at Cage's pad sponging off after gettin' some of that good 'ol LAN Love. The other guys seemed to like it enough, so I guess the blood, sweat, and tears were all worth it... not that I'm showing off or anything... it's more of a function over form sorta thang. My pop and I installed the handles, which make it much easier to cart around, and stealthed the CD drive bay. I'll post more later this week.

    In the end, So-Trick did their best to smooth out a bad situation. I got a better case-cooling design and a free Enermax 330W PS. Unfortunately, I still got everything late and popped a few veins in my head. I feel better about the whole situation, but there are plenty of other businesses which carry similar products and services. I'll have to do some serious soul-searching before ordering from them again.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xMiracles Do Happen``x1015760736,67037,``x``x ``xI'll be offline till later this week because my cable modem seems to have taken a dive. There's been some road construction close to my home, and I think Terry The Trencher musta plowed my line. Time Warner said things will be spiffy sometime later next week. I'm already going through withdrawals...``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xRoad Runner Fall Down, Go Boom!``x1015761008,19384,``x``x ``xI finally got my cable modem working. Of course, it took a call to remind Time Warner them I've been waiting for a little digital love, so they told me to re-set my modem (unplug it & plug it back in) which seemed to do the trick. Wonder if that would've worked yesterday? Oh well...

    I've been outta things for what could be called a couple of dog years, so I'm just gonna write off this past week. Our visitors, being smarter than the average bear, are probably on top of things anyway. If anything catches my eye from here on out, I'll post it.

    My new puter is humming away nicely, which means it's about time to screw things up with a little system tuning and overclocking. Out the door, I'm getting a 3DMark 2001 SE of 6900 and some change, which is much better than the 2300's I was gettin' before. I don't really need to mess with things too much at this point, but curiosity is gettin' the best of me. If you don't hear from me, you know why.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xI'm Baaaaaaaack!``x1016146969,74321,``x``x ``xI took the plunge last night and sweated through a system tune-up, which consisted of tweaking memory and overclocking. The whole ordeal took on a kind of Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde persona with the tweaked memory settings improving things a bit and taking a major nose-dive with overclocking.

    Tweaking the memory settings was pretty easy. All I did was a quick search on Google to see what everyone else is pluggin' in, and copy 'em. Seriously, I'm not that big of a geek and couldn't give a rat's ass about the delicate intricacies of system memory optimization. The settings in bold are the ones I used:



    Then I screwed up everything by overclocking, and it took me about 3 hours to find my original combination of values in BIOS. I was able to POST at 1725MHz from a stock speed of 1530MHz, but booting to Windows was a pipe-dream. Lesser OC'd speeds would get me into Windows, but my system was too flaky and wouldn't play nice no matter how much Mega Head 'n Shoulders I used. Stability is King, so I set her back to the stock speeds.

    In the end, my 3DMark 2001 SE score went from the 6900's to the 7200's. Not a big gain, but that's a little closer to my personal goal of 8000... which I never told anyone... because they'd laugh at me... I'm such a loser... I need a hug! Overclocking was a bit of a disappointment, but things are so much better than they were with my old system.

    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xTune-up, Tune-out``x1016212537,65856,``x``x ``xNow I've seen everything. Xoxide is selling an analog CPU Tachometer which hooks up through the serial port. I can't wait to see some kid with one of these mounted on his monitor along with a shift light which lights up when he needs an upgrade.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xCPU Tachometer?``x1016213257,45608,``x``x ``xbit-tech has a pretty cool Light Fan Mod. Even if you don't plan on doing something like this, it's rather nifty and worth a looksie. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xLight Fan Mod``x1016214034,39919,``x``x ``xI noticed DemoNews got the demo (go figure) for that good 'ol Dreamcast game, Virtua Tennis. Honestly, I've always been curious about VD... er... VT and almost bought a Dreamcast for $50 just so I could see what the big deal was. The cool thing about the PC version is network play. Can you say LAN Love? Keep in mind the game is like 46 hamster years old, so the eye candy may not be so sweet. I'm working this weekend, so I probably won't be able to give it a try for a few days. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xVirtua Tennis PC``x1016300978,77797,``x``x ``xG-Spot got the scoop on a few changes for the next Unreal games. Basically, they're gonna call 'em Unreal Episode II and Unreal Tournament 2003, and they're ditching the multi-play for UEII. That kinda makes sense, but it also makes UEII a much less attractive game. Both are slated for a (late) summer release. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThat's Unreal!``x1016386721,54259,``x``x ``xAthlon OC has an easy to read DDR Optimization Guide, which should help anyone confused by BIOS geek-speak.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDDR Optimization Guide ``x1016633116,70598,``x``x ``xIn case anyone missed it, Microsoft has launched a web site for Age of Mythology. This will probably be the next big LAN game over at Cage's pad, which is both bad and good. The bad thing is AoM isn't too different from AoE, but the good thing is AoM isn't too different from AoE. Does that make sense? If you need some help, check G-Spot's multimedia archive for AoM. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xAge Of Mythology Web Site Launched``x1016633856,32229,``x``x ``xWell, tuck another one under the belt.

    That Shafter system with an iWill KK266+R motherboard is fixed - finally.

    Here's how it went -

    John and I showed up at the Shafter school, and found out that one of the systems that I had built using an IWill KK266+R motherboard (w/AMD Athlon 1.1 GHz cpu, 256MB RAM, GeForce2MX-200 video card) wouldn't even Power On and Self Test.

    After ruling out connection problems to the monitor and power supply, I proceeded to swap out parts with an identical system sitting next to it. Power cord - nope. Monitor - nope. Video card - nope. Memory - nope.

    I took the system home, and started swapping out parts there. CPU- nope. Clear the CMOS/BIOS - nope.

    Resigned to the possibility it might be the motherboard, I stopped by Computer Renaissance and picked up a new MSI K7T Turbo 2 motherboard.

    I got home, replaced the motherboard, and tried again. Nope. Nothing. Nada. It wouldn't even POST. Getting a bit suspicious, I swapped the power supply out with a 350W Enermax power supply. Brett had an entire system pretty much die when a power supply went out on his Dad's computer.

    I installed the brand new Enermax PS, and the board still wouldn't POST. It was getting power, since I could see the CPU fan spinning.

    After doing a Google search, and doing some reading about similar problems I remembered that the MSI board comes with a bracket which has an LED display showing error codes (along with some extra USB plugs). I stuck the LED back plate in, and connected it to the motherboard. Crossing my fingers I turned the system on, and of course once again it wouldn't POST. The LED display was frozen with the very first check, and all 4 lights were on. According to the K7T Turbo 2 manual this indicates, "The D-LED (diagnostic indicator) will hang here if the processor is damaged or not installed properly."

    Ok, so it might be a CPU problem after all. Sure, maybe I'd cracked a core, or it had over heated. Once again I swapped the CPU out with one of my older systems, which had an identical Athlon Thunderbird 1.1 GHz CPU.

    Nope, same problem. No POST, nothing.

    Argh!!

    After beating my head against the wall, I decided that maybe the new MSI motherboard had been Dead On Arrival. I'd swapped everything out and in several times, and that was the only component that might be defective. So last night I went back to Computer Renaissance, and exchanged it with another MSI KT7 Turbo 2 motherboard.

    Being the suspicious sort, I decided that before I opened up the new motherboard I would once again try to use the IWill KK266+R motherboard. I don't know why, but I had a hunch that maybe the power supply had been the problem before when it had failed in Shafter.

    I hooked things up, and voila! The System POST'd successfully. Whew! Ok, now I had something. From here on out it should be pretty straight forward, right?

    Well, that was only the beginning.

    My first problem was that my Microsoft IntelliEye USB mouse would not work. I checked, and nope, the USB port in the BIOS was not disabled.

    I removed, and re-installed the mouse under Windows(Me). Nope, no go. Windows would find the mouse, but the mouse pointer would not appear.

    Well, maybe the USB ports needed to be re-installed I thought. Nope, no go.

    Hmmm....

    Ok, so now what?

    Once again I got a little bit suspicious. I recalled from my first battle with the IWill KK266+R motherboard that the USB implementation seemed to be a bit flaky. Ok, a lot flaky. Numerous posts on the Usenet newsgroups about USB problems came back to mind. The IWill board ships with the USB ports disabled by default in the BIOS, that's how flaky it is.

    So here's what I did.

    1. I removed the USB mouse entry in the Windows ME Control Panel/System applet.
    2. Next, I removed the entries for the USB hub and devices.
    3. I shut down my system.
    4. I re-booted the system, entered the BIOS setup screen, and enabled only 1 of the 2 USB ports, and shut the system down again before booting to Windows.
    4. I stuck an adapter on the end of my Microsoft USB mouse, and connected it to one of the PS/2 ports.
    5. I powered up the system, booted to Windows, and the mouse was back.

    Ok, at least I could live with that. Sure, the mouse should work with the USB port, but at least it was working.

    Getting brave, I plugged in another USB (Logitech digital) mouse, and low and behold it worked as well!

    Huh?

    Ok, so maybe the USB port was working again.

    I un-plugged the Logitech mouse, removed the PS/2 adapter from my Microsoft mouse, and plugged the Microsoft IntelliEye back into the USB port.

    Amazing! The Microsoft IntelliEye USB mouse was working.

    It appears that the USB ports do not get installed correctly if they are not left DISABLED the first time you boot into Windows. At least under the set of circumstances that I faced in this instance.

    Bah!

    Ok, all was well, right?

    Umm....No.

    That would have been too easy.

    The Windows display was set to 256 colors. No, it wasn't in SAFE mode, it just had been set that way, probably from one of the kid's games that was on it at school.

    No problem, I thought. I brought up the Windows desktop display properties, and clicked on the "Settings" tab.

    *CRASH*

    The monitor went black, and the system hung. I had to do a cold re-boot to get back into Windows.

    Well, maybe it was just a fluke.

    I tried it again.

    *CRASH*

    Once again, the monitor went black when I tried to click on the "Settings" tab.

    Hmm.... "Well, maybe the video card was damaged when the power supply went bad," I thought.

    I pulled out a GeForce2 GTS from one of my systems. I plunked it in, and booted back into Windows.

    The card was detected quite nicely, and.....Yes, YES, YES! Now I could get into the "Settings" tab without the system crashing.

    Life was looking up. It was a bummer that the video card might be bad, but at least the system was looking pretty good.

    Next, I went into the Advanced tab under the Windows Display/Settings tab.

    Yep......

    *boink*

    At least this time all that happened was that a Windows error box popped up, with some message about a program crashing. Well, no biggie, I thought. I had swapped in a different video card. Maybe the drivers were just a little bit flaky now.

    Next I moved on to checking out the sound. I hadn't heard the Windows startup sound, and that bothered me a bit.

    I quickly found out that while the onboard sound was enabled, it wasn't working under Windows.

    I checked the motherboard on-board enable/disable Audio jumper, and it was set correctly. I un-installed and re-installed the audio device under the Windows System/Device manager, and still no go. The D*! thing would recognize the device, install the drivers, but the sound was not enabled under Windows.

    After spending some time looking at the Windows sound settings, it became quite clear that Windows would not let me select and enable the on-board sound.

    Once again I went back to Google, and searched for some help in the newsgroups and Web. I came across this site - http://www.x-faqtor.com/KK266.htm - which has an excellent FAQ about the IWill KK266 motherboard. I found some new drivers for the on-board sound, and tried them out.

    Nope, no luck. The setup program appeared to crash, with another error message about some .dll program.

    "That error message looks familiar!” I thought. That was the same one I got when I went into the "Advanced" settings for the video card.

    I went back to Google, and plugged in the name of the program that had crashed - "rundll32."

    The second search entry pointed to a Microsoft support page - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q138835.

    Ok, that sounded promising. I followed the simple instructions, and re-booted Windows.

    Woohoo! I had sound.

    Not only that, but also no more error messages for the video card Advanced Settings tab in Windows.

    Getting a bit cocky, I went ahead and swapped back in the GeForce2 MX-200 card that had originally been in there. It worked as well!

    I shut down the system, re-booted, and everything still worked fine.

    Next, I went to Windows Update, and grabbed some files for Internet Explorer security updates, and DirectX 8.1.

    I'm happy to say that everything is working just fine now. The IWill KK266+R board is stable, and Windows seems to be solid.

    So there you have it.

    I'll take the system back to the Shafter school after a few days of testing. I have to work tonight in any case.

    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xIWill KK266+R Problems``x1017149096,14175,``x``x ``xG-Spot got word from Nvidia the elusive, yet sexy in a cheap kind of way, GeForce4 Ti 4200 will be shipping by the end of April. It's the same as the GF4 Ti 4600 and GF4 Ti 4400, but a little slower. I'd expect the $200 4200 to be the next bang-for-the-buck card, and for companies like Gainward to pop off Golden Samples with faster memory and stock OC'd speeds which will get yer geek-blood boiling! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce4 Ti 4200 In April``x1017162523,19277,``x``x ``xThis one slipped right under our radar. It appears Duke Nukem Forever has shipped and is expected to hit store shelves today! In another odd twist of fate, 3D Realms also licensed that funky voice/mouth/communication technology from Valve but didn't have time to incorporate it into the shipped product and make their little April Fool's Day target. I'd expect the patch in a month or so, and it'll be compatible with the MS Voice Commander and/or Roger Wilco.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDuke Nukem Forever Shipped!``x1017682362,30184,``x``x ``x[H] slapped up a few benchies for the soon-to-be-released GeForce4 Ti4200, which runs at stock speeds of 250MHz/500MHz for the core/memory. We all know I'm the bang-for-the-buck kind of guy, so I was pleased to see the Ti4200 OC to 285MHz/565MHz and offer performance levels somewhere between the Ti4400 and Ti4600. Not bad for less than $200, and [H] is expecting prices to fall around $150; however, I'd wait for a Golden Sample which comes OC'd and is guaranteed to run at non-stock speeds even if ya gotta shed a few more bills. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce4 Ti 4200 Preview``x1017935928,24099,``x``x ``xEver play online and empty a clip on someone, barely scratch 'em, then have 'em turn around and professionally double-tap your ass? Well, that may not always be skill. Check out this little ditty about a HL hitbox hack.``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xHacking Hitboxes``x1017936419,2697,``x``x ``xJust a little reminder, Dungeon Siege is scheduled to hit store shelves tomorrow! ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDungeon Siege Tomorrow!``x1017936725,37044,``x``x ``xDungeon Siege proved to be pretty elusive this morning, but I managed to snag a copy at the local Software Etc. They aren't raping people like they did with Return To Castle Wolfenstein, and DS ended up setting me back $50. They have a few extra copies which aren't reserved, but I'd call to make sure before driving over there. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDungeon Siege Trickles Onto Shelves``x1018041823,89339,``x``x ``xI must say, this blows the hell outta other case mods. The work was done by CDI, who can paint monitors as well. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xThe Dicebox Case Mod``x1018101596,56627,``x``x ``xI've had a few days to get my hands dirty with Dungeon Siege and have walked away with a few impressions. At first, the game plays like a very spiffy Diablo and is slow to offer anything different; however, it gains a significant amount of speed after several hours of clickin 'round. The game interface is very easy to get used to and only a few hotkeys for weapon groups, healing, mana, and inventory are necessary. As the game gains speed, you'll take control of more party members and hands-for-hire. Shuffling armor, weapons, and other items between characters gets sorta involved but never overwhelming, and additional goodies can be stored in pack mules. The graphics and level design are top-notch, but the game is very linear and doesn't offer much in the way of side-quests or booty runs. Overall, I'd say it has the addictive gameplay of Diablo and the superior graphics and story-line of more involved RPGs like Icewind Dale... which is right up my alley. ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xDungeon Siege Impressions``x1018364996,69606,``x``x ``xI've been talking about the GF4 Ti4200 as being the next bang-for-the-buck card, and Tom's Hardware is too. Check this:


    ``xNine11``xNine11@cagesworld.com``xGeForce4 Ti 4200 @ Tom's Hardware``x1018366358,16967,``x``x ``xSimHQ has an interview with Rob Brown, the Game Design Lead for Microsoft's Combat Flight Sim 3. Here's the part that grabbed my fancy:
    "Yes, the graphics engine is completely new for CFS3. It is truly a huge leap in technology and performance over previous offerings. You will see large medium bomber formations in the game; however, the emphasis this time is going to be on ground attack. It’s all about flying down low to the ground in high-performance aircraft and feeling the rush of speed as the trees whiz by. It’s about flying through intense enemy defenses and blowing stuff up in a spectacular way."
    Oh yeah, that's the good stuff. Getting low and feeling the speed is what has been missing from most recent flight sims.

    As is typical from recent Microsoft sims there will be support for user modifications and plane art. Hopefully this time we will see a quality WW I mod or expansion based on this all new engine. Keep an eye on Microsoft's Combat Flight Sim 3 page for more info.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xCFS3 at SimHQ``x1018422664,65718,``x``x ``xThere's another Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3 preview up at NetWings. Nice Screenshots.

    CombatSim also has a free public preview article with more details and screenies. Warning: only the first page of the article is free. You have to be a subscriber to get to part 2.

    According to CombatSim, the target release date for MS CFS3 is Fall of 2002.``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xMore MS CFS3 Screenies and News``x1018424567,33868,``x``x ``xI just started playing Heroes of Might and Magic IV, and had some quick impressions.

    Graphics are of course a step up from the previous versions, but the game interface seems to have taken a few steps backward. There no longer appears to be an option to turn on a movement grid, in order to see the best route for manuevering on the battle map. Computer controlled units needlessly jockey around the map almost every turn, even if they are standing right next to their intended target. When a unit is hit, a floating number displays the amount of damage that has been done, and then vanishes after a few seconds. No longer is there a text buffer to look at to review how much damage has been done.

    I'm sure I'll spend some more time with HOMM IV, but I'm beginning to wonder if one of my favorite game series has been ruined by "improvements."
    ``xCage``xcage@cagesworld.com``xHOMM IV``x1018435699,3710,``x``x ``xMy income tax return was pretty good this year, so I decided to pick up a CycleFX GameRider (Picture below).

    Today I picked up a the last part that I needed - an S-Video cable for the TV. I had already put the bike together over a few hours a couple of days ago, but my work schedule had kept me from getting down to the local Circuit City to pick up the PS/2 etc.

    Finally, after a late night LAN session at my place, I hooked up the CycleFX GameRider, and gave it a whirl.

    I have to say that I am quite impressed. It is quite the kick to hop on it and ride a BMX course or a Gran Turismo track. Being able to steer with the handle bars, and not with the PS/2 controller is a major plus. Couple that with getting a real feel for "kicking it" into gear when you want to accelerate and you have quite an immersive experience. There are a couple of adjustable buttons for the handle bars that control braking, which is quite slick. It's a blast to go into a corner, brake, and then spin the wheels to power slide and accelerate out of the turn and towards a jump ramp. As you hit the ramp you can stop peddling as you sail throught the air, and then start spinning the pedals like crazy as you accelerate once again for the next jump.

    Can you tell I liked it?

    Yep, it definitely gave me a work out, and I probably should have quit sooner then I did. I bet I'll feel it in my legs tomorrow. The only down side, is that the handle bars can get out of whack if you are too enthusiastic. It's easy to get them back in place, and is more a design decision then a design flaw.

    So after 1 session, I'd have to say that the GameRider kicks a major amount of A$$!

    The graphics are pretty sharp as well, and look pretty good even on my TV, which is far from state of the art. Consoles sure have come a long way.

    I need to either get a splitter or a new TV with more audio inputs for hooking up the sound. I'll have to look around, and see if there is something at Radio Shack or what ever. I have the Cable TV stuff going into the VCR, and then into the Co-axial antennae input on the TV. That leaves the S-Video connection open o