Yawning Cat Outbounds

Random thoughts part 3: back from the city of brotherly love

2011-01-13T22:06:00.003-05:00

Driving across the state for 6 hours straight is never easy, especially after you stay home and sleep on your own bed for 2 weeks. Even though this will be my final trip for the time being it was still hard to get in the mood of driving and staying in a hotel for 2 weeks again.

-When the weather is nice it's always an uneventful drive, but when it start snowing it can be real bad. Especially if you are driving at night on an interstate highway used mostly by truck drivers and there is a blizzard. With the combination of asshole truck drivers and hellish road condition it was almost the end for me...by about 2 inches.

-The city of Philadelphia is very weird to me as it one of the largest metropolitan in the U.S., but I am just not used to the grid set up with the tiny narrow roads with cars parked on both sides and people riding bicycles on it. I was waiting all night for us to hit someone or some car parked on the street.

-A night in Philadelphia China town, one of the oldest China towns in North America. However half the people on the street were not Asian but Blacks. Overall it was a good night fun that involved clubs, spicy squid and Ox penis soup...hmmm maybe that was club "Woody" at the Gayborhood, not really sure.

-Now for the real random thoughts of the day. I keep on seeing the what can Toyota's innovation do for you commercials and it made me think, who are some of the LEAST innovative car makers in recent memories?

1. Honda/Acura
Honda and Toyota used to be like flavor of ice creams, whoever you pick is the same at the core. But last 10 years Toyota has really differentiated itself from Honda as it really made a huge push for their luxury brand Lexus, a huge push for technology and all these has helped Toyota become one of the largest car maker in the world, leaving Honda in the dust. Buy a Honda today you will realize a few things, they either really believe the motto if it aint break don't fix it or they are just that conservative. Did you know that my 2008 highest trim Civc doesn't even have any kind of stability control? Neither did I, and you will not believe it either when I tell you Honda is about to make an Insight w/o cruise control. Honda is really starting to wear thin that reputation for reliability and the once mystical V-tech engine. But Honda wasn't always this way, here is a list that will shock you.
-Honda is one of the first to develop the stability control system in the early 90s, yet it is one of the last to adopt it on all of its car line ups.
-Honda is the first to differentiate their brand by inventing Acura for the North American market. Shocking because you will never know it if I ask you which one is more well known, Lexus or Acura.
-While Lexus used to be re-badged Toyota cars, it is no longer the case as Lexus is making more and more luxurious cars with very high techs. Acura on the other hand still plays the same hand since the introduction in early 80s. The Acura TSX is still a re-badged Honda Accord, in fact it's the Honda Accord in the rest of the world and in every sense of the car too. For example it still doesn't have keyless start/stop while Ford Fiesta has it.

2. BMW.
-Speaking of wearing that reputation very very thin. BMW used to represent the pinnacle of automotive engineering, from that mystical 50/50 weight distribution to the world renowned straight 6 engine. Every part of each BMW makes the ultimate driving machine come alive, and then it decided to join the luxury market and battle it out with Mercedes. It's all good but race cars are usually light and nimble, while luxury cars are big and lazy, so something has to give. Well unfortunately for all the car enthusiasts out there the cars are getting bigger and heavier, and to make up for the weight gains, the engines are getting bigger too. So now that unique bimmer experience is almost no more than a big muscle car.

-Another problem with BMW is using their their reputation to sell cars. They charge a hefty premium on their cars because they know people want that advanced German engineering and the luxury branding. But did you know BMW still live in 1990 when it comes to the definition of luxury? Here is a list of things that are not standard on the best selling BMW 3 series that starts at $34000, be warned this could be so shocking it could cause potential blindness.
a. Leather is not standard. This is truly a WTF moment, seeing as you can get leather standard on a 20000 dollar VW Jetta. I have no idea why it's not on a Bimmer.
b. Fake plastic wood. If I wanted those I could get them on a 18000 dollar Toyota Corolla and not a 3 series that can cost as much as 52000 dollars and not have real wood trims.
c. other seemingly minor things that are not standard on a BMW 3 series. Moonroof, Xenon headlights, heated seats, keyless entry, keyless start, the list just goes on and on. Now you may say not having these are not as bad but when you realize that these are standard on a Hyundai Sonata then it doesn't look particularly good for BMW when the cheapest 3 series is about 15000 dollars more than said Sonata and with all these options equipped, you could easily add another 10000 dollars to that price tag. What's more to this embarrassment is the lack of power in the 3 series, because the said Sonata also has way more power and speed than the world renowned 3 liter straight six engine, the ultimate driving machine indeed.

WoW Pic post

2011-01-13T17:12:00.009-05:00

As Promised before, I am posting pictures I took while I did my review for Cataclysm since I did not post them on the review post. Here they are.

-The world Tree of Hyjal is now here for everyone to see.

-Here is the World Tree in the distance while in Orgrimmar.

-Starting Zone Vasj'er puts a whole new perspective in underwater adventures.

-Someone order a Seahorse ride?

-Everyone knows about the new water graphics, but check out this sweet lighting.

-There are no new classes in Cata, but new class/race combos like this troll druid.

-Goblin starting quests involve a lot of getting blown into the air, rocket boots, oh and Goblin engineering at it's best, rocket mounted laser shark.

-Pain. Agony. My hatred burns through the cavernous deeps. The world heaves with my torment. Its wretched kingdoms quake beneath my rage. But at last, the whole of Azeroth will break! And all will burn beneath the shadow of my wings!

-And lastly you can always count on Blizzard to put in a subtle pop culture reference like they have done in the past 6 years.

Going Green?

2011-01-04T18:17:00.005-05:00

With the gas price continues to climb toward the 5 dollar a gallon mark that is supposed to be by the end of this year, the once unthinkable mass hybrid cars is not so far fetched in the U.S. anymore. There was a time that when you talked about hybrid vehicles the only car that popped in one's head would be the Toyota Prius, and the only people that drove those cars were the extremists that wanted to make a statement. In another words they were as rare as a Ferrari on a regular U.S. road. But with the oil crisis upon us once again we are starting to see more and more manufacturers show casing their hybrid vehicles, and we are seeing them on the roads regularly now as well. It seems that every auto journalist is raving about the new hybrid or even true electric cars, about the insane gas milage they get. Drastic time calls for drastic measures, even some of the performance orientated car makers such as Porsche are making hyrids, and you know we are really in a shit now.

BMW has been known for making all around performance cars that are not so gas effient for the best part of last 50 years. But even they can not escape the current situation, however in true BMW fashion they will not just make another hybrid cars like everyone else is doing, they are making a BMW first and foremost.

Since 2009 BMW has been working on their next gen hybrid vehicles code named "Vision Efficient Dynamics". So what is it exactly other than the extremely long name? Well it will start with a very small 1.3 liter 3 cylinder turbo charged diesle engine, which is the engine of choice in Europe to save gas instead of regular gas engines or electric engines. It is then mated with 2 electric motors on each drive axl, and all these 3 engines will then be routed to all 4 wheels producing approximately 360 horse power thus making the vehicle going from 0-60 in less than 3.9 seconds. In another word instead making another boring hybrid BMW basically made a super car, but how good is the miage? BMW recently test it out in Dubai and got around 63 mpg average, and that is damn impressive for this what I think is ridiculous car and totally not one would have anticipated when they heard a hybrid. So yeah if you have 200 grand laying around and wanted to make a green statement, check this car out which is due in 2013.

My review on WoW: Cataclysm

2011-01-03T20:32:00.011-05:00

Disclaimer: This is in no way a representation of the end game experience with current end game raids and other level 85 contents, this is just my initial impression of the game. Also there will be no pictures in this presentation as they were mistakenly stored on a different computer.

Six year after initial launch and the game has been dramatically changed, but was all this worth it for someone that has stopped playing after that disastrous Wrath of the Lich King? At first look Cataclysm is definitely Blizzard's most ambitious expansion pack for WoW yet, it contains so many game changing fixes that it could very well be it's own game. I took a closer look at what all these changes mean to a game in many ways need a jolt to reinvigorate millions of its loyal fans.

-vs. WotLK
Any veteran WoW player will be able to tell you, Wrath of the Lich King started on a good note as it featured one of the the most dramatic story line in the Warcraft history with the fall of Arthas. However as all these players will be able to tell you that all that good didn't last as WotLK ended on a sour note with many can not wait for the arrival of Cataclysm. Wrath did add many good features but in the mean time took away quite a few very important things that made vanilla and The Burning Crusade great. Wrath continued the transition of making the game more and more accessible to more players meaning it has gotten easier. To many this was the main complaint as it got so ridiculous by the end that you can literally hit level 80 and be decked out in epics in two weeks. Everyone in the game had a chance to kill the Lich King, a very good chance too. On the other hand PvP continues the imbalance of classes through more emphasis on arena. By all it feels like it has lost everything that made WoW a unique and perfectly polished MMO into a browser game that anyone that knows how to turn on a computer can play, and kill the Lich King on top of that. Arena titles like Gladiator meant nothing as well since anyone that plays a Warlock and have a cat can get the title.

But not all is bad though. Wrath did introduce some new game plays and techniques that were welcome in this aging game. Blizzard experimented phasing with the Death Knight and other key events through out Wrath that really made story telling in an MMO much better, and they also made looking for group easier with the queue system that was much much better that the dreaded hour long search for a tank on top of the Orgrimmar bank. One thing you will notice when you first play Cataclysm is all these welcome features are back and more heavily used. You will see phasing right away in the starting zones in Cataclysm as you progress in quests the landmarks and things around you will change. The LFG queue is back as well as you can queue for Catacylm dungeons right away provided that you have discovered the instance entrance. As for the bad things, this is what makes Blizzard one of the greatest developer in the industry. They listen to the community and change what is not right accordingly. It has been known for a year now Blizzard intend to fix everything that is wrong with Wrath by increasing the difficulty level of the game and making epic gear and epic end game bosses truly epic again. Meanwhile they will reinvest in battlegrounds again in hope of lessening the importance of arena game play. All these sounds good at Blizzcon but can they really deliver since it contridicts to what they wanted to do which is make the game more accessible and more casual?

-Changes for the good?
Cataclysm features two starting zones just like Wrath and immediately you will realize that the difficulty has been kicked up a notch. The mobs have alot more health than you and hits like a truck espcially if you are poorly geared to start with. Even classes that feature extreme ease in leveling such as Warlock or Death Knight have to stay awake this time around as if not careful you can easily die on one of the first quests. This will be more evident if you play a class that can not take a hit or in poor gear as you will die a lot. So in a way the game is more difficult right off the bat even though this is probably not exactly what people were complaining about. So what are the dungeons and raids like? espcially the heroic versions? Well I couldn't really comment on those since in the limited time I had to spend with Cataclysm I really didn't get a chance to try them out. I did however tried various normal version of different dungeons while leveling but they were nothing special in terms of difficulty. I did have a chance to tank in one of the heroics in beta and it was quite difficult, I wouldn't call it TBC difficult but it was still hard. It's a step in the right direction although you will still question Blizzard's intention after guilds have finished raids within 2 weeks of the release of Cataclysm. It definitely puts the wrong messages out there and slowly the epic gears are starting to make it's way into the game and all the blue gear lasted all but 2 weeks of the game. As far as PvP goes battlegrounds are more important now but arena still plays a big role for people that want to earn PvP gear quickly, the way I see it the only way to fix this problem completely is to remove arena entirely.

For the noobs and casual players that started playing in Wrath and still want to feel superior with all their easy kills and easy gears, what does all these changes mean? It means the game is more chanlleging to play and you might actually need your brain now, but it is still not nearly as hard as Vanilla or TBC ever was. As far as accessibilty goes it has gotten more so in a different way. You see for the person that is just getting into the game now the level 1-60 quests are much easier to do and make much more sense while doing them, you get quests that lead you to the next zone and quest rewards that are actually useful. It also features mount service to zones so lower level noobs don't have to wonder around for hours looking for the next town and getting killed in the wilderness and eventually get frustrated into rage quitting. The story line involved with questing make much more sense too if anyone still cares about story plot. And if questing and exploring the vast land of Azeroth is not for you then queue for random dungeon not only gives you superior experience to leveling it also gives you blue gear as reward for doing it. It also helps that majority of dungeon quest givers now are inside of the dungeon rather than making noobs going all over Azeroth collecting them thus further confusing said noobs. To test the accessibilty of the new leveling system I personally make a new hunter and through mixure of questing and random dungeons I was able to get all good blue gear and level to 35 in roughly 2 days of playing.

After all I can safely say all the changes are for the better even though it's not quite on par to what everyone hoped.

-New Content
All the changes to the old world is great for attracting new players but is there enough new content for vetern players? That is a very important question since the biggest problem with Wrath was at times it felt like Blizzard was only concerned with attracting new/casual players and they don't really care about all the die hard vetern players. From what I have heard that there is actually less new zones in Cataclysm than WotLK but they all vary greatly in terms of landmark and quests they feel a lot more fresh than Wrath zones. For example many player seems to prefer leveling in mount Hyjal but I found that Vasj'er was a lot more original and overall cooler zone. It's starts with a movie with your boat sinking along the shore of Eastern Kingdom and the whole zone then is under water, with you getting your seahorse mount shortly afterwards. It doesn't give you as much gear rewards as Hyjal quests so if you are not already decked out in ICC epics then it might be better for you to level in Hyjal, other than that every single aspect of Vasj'er is supperior to Hyjal. Also the game ships with 4 end game raids compare to the 1 that was in Wrath, and none of these raids are recycled like Naxx was for Wrath. Other changes such as game mechanics are no strangers to WoW as Blizzard constantly fine tunes game play through each patch, however I can not comment on them too much as I didn't reach end game to really know how each class plays different. What I can say is some more evident changes are welcome while some are not. The changes to the talent tree are welcome in my opinion as the old talent tree was getting too bloated with a lot of pointless talents. Now it's more concise and most of neccessary passive talents and some more important ones that everyone gets such as mortal strike, everyone will get them depending on the tree you go for. Some of the less welcome changes to me include changes to Orgrimmar, I really hated it at first and while I am slowly getting used to it now I still enjoy the less confusing design of the original Orgrimmar. Others include the deletion of Portals in major cities, and here I thought Blizzard is trying to make the game more accessible to noobs.

With Cataclysm Blizzard also introduces 2 new races but no new classes. Both Goblin and Worgen are cool race in their own right with Worgen more so for obvious reasons. But what makes them cooler is their starting zones. Both feature heavy phasing especially Worgen. The city of Gilneas is a dark gothic city along the coast of Eastern Kingdom, and the starting quests will take you through out the city and the vast lands around it. As you progress through the quest line you will slowly see the changes within Gilneas as the city slowly decays and eventually falls into ruins with the invading Forsakens. Goblin starting zone is at a much lighter note with the upbeat music even though the island of Kezan is getting destroyed by Deathwing but the lack of seriousness is apparent in the Goblin's solution of blowing everything up. This includes putting rockets up monkeys' asses and chickens while setting bombs off on everything you touch. Overall Blizzard really out done themselves on these 2 starting zone in terms of showing off the new phasing tech and story telling. It translates well for the rest of the game too and that's what makes Cataclysm leveling less tedious.

-Conclusion
All these are great but is Cataclysm enough to bring excitement to a 6 year old game? Blizzard always make great trailers to hype people up but at the end of the day as you play in Cataclysm you realize it's still the same old WoW, you get to 85, you grind all the rep, you get gear in heroics and you do raids. Nothing more nothing less it's just the road to that goal might be more enjoyable now than Wrath. For me all the changes are great but Blizzard needs to do a lot more than this to convice me, therefore Cataclysm is not quite that earth shattering event I am looking for.

-Final Score: 8/10

nostalgia part 3 (a World of Warcraft special)

2010-12-19T19:10:00.005-05:00

Many things have changed in WoW over the past 6 years. Class mechanics have changed numerous times that classes today plays nothing like when the game originally came out. The game itself has changed not just the cosmetic change with Cataclysm but the game mechanic itself. This is what makes WoW the best MMO out there because it's constantly evolving, for better or worse. I can sit here and say that the game is always evolving toward mainstream audience since it's getting easier and easier, but at the mean time it's not such a bad thing all together seeing as it's becoming more and more accessible.

One thing that has never changed is the epic music in WoW. With whatever changes it may deliver with each content patch or each expansion pack, WoW has always had that glorious music. Long after the game is dead, many other MMOs will learn from many things that made WoW great, the lore, the classes, the game play, the smallest detail, the constant updates and many more. I will always remember the game that has some of the production values and music that we have ever seen in the game industry. The epic music starts right away at your log in screen and here is some nostalgia to the past WoW log in screens.

-World of Warcraft (Vanilla)

-The Burning Crusade

-Wrath of the Lich King (my personal favorite)

-Cataclysm

nostalgia part 2 (a World of Warcraft special)

2010-12-19T18:42:00.002-05:00

Cataclysm is here and the world of Azeroth as we know it is no longer the same. There are many things I personally will miss about the game, yes I don't play the game anymore but it was part of my life for the better part of last 6 years and whether good or bad it will be missed.

Blizzard usually don't screw up very often and when they do they almost address it immediately in the form of a content patch. People that plays WoW know what I am talking about as we have see endless changes with raids in term of difficulties and how the encounter works. People have also moaned and groaned whenever Blizzard changes how fundamentally a class works through buffs and nerfs. But after all It's Blizzard's way of tweaking the game mechanics in response to the community, they are trying to fix the game through each patch whether you believe it or not. One glaring omission however still remains in the game. Blizzard introduced pvp arena with the release of the Burning Crusade and it has been a total failure, even Blizzard themselves have admitted so. But guess what, arena is still in the game. Personally I feel like it destroyed pvp in WoW, the old battleground was not skill based but neither is arena. It was the purpose of arena but with the game so unbalanced around certain classes and gear sets, it turned into a faceroll competition of who has the best geared warlocks, rogues and healers. Don't get me wrong I played in arena as a gimp shadow priest in 3v3 and got to top 5 in the battle group, it was a real feat considering that if I kept on playing at the time I would have been one of the few Gladiators in that season that wasn't a warlock, rogue, warrior or some type of healer.

To be honest I miss the good old battlegrounds of large group pvp, that was WoW at its best. With Cataclysm Blizzard again is not removing arena in fear of warlock uprising since the warlock community seems to believe it takes true skill to play a warlock and the best place to display such skill is in arena. However Blizzard is making Battlegrounds relevant again now that you can gain pvp points from doing battlegrounds vs just in arena. I am really looking forward to getting the old pvp titles back too, now it's time to enjoy the old battleground music while one gets pumped up to slay thy alliance scum!

Random Thoughts part 2: Windy city edition

2010-12-19T18:08:00.003-05:00

As Random Thoughts part 1 indicated that I don't travel very often, usually no more than 100 miles away from home. But sometimes life leads you to places that you never dreamed of going, and this time it led me to Chicago.

It has been some 13 years since I last boarded a plane. Some people suggested that I drive to Chicago instead of flying but there were two major flaws with that line of thinking:
-I absolutely hate driving. My car is not comfortable enough to allow me sitting in one position for more than an hour. I am also a conservative when it comes to driving long periods of time, the more I'm on the road the more pissed off I am with other driver and more prone to accidents. It's law of large numbers, its a fact. If those weren't enough then after driving 6 hours to the other side of the state had proven my theory nicely.
-I hate driving in the city. You could bundle this with I hate driving overall but a nice cruise in the country side is nothing like driving in the city, and in this case in Chicago.

That being said I chose to fly to the windy city. Since I haven't done this in a long time there were a few observations along the way.
-don't fucking pay for all your bags. It's a fucking rip off, big time. Unless you enjoy paying 30 dollars for a bag then I suggest carrying at least one or two with you. But the problems is the airline check in system isn't exactly very user friendly, it keeps asking you to pay for this and that sometimes you miss click and paid for something you don't even know.
-After 9/11 they have really upped the security at airports. Okay it's nothing like dogs and FBI agents standing around but I didn't realize you can't bring water bottles on with you anymore.
-After boarding the plane everything is pretty uneventful. The plane ride only took about 50 minutes, much less stressful than what would be 8 hours of driving. I didn't get lost in Chicago O'Hara airport like some people suggested, and my supposed limo service turned out to be a Russian dude driving a Mercedes. But everything worked out pretty nicely.

The hotel was pretty nice. It had 2 dinning services and my room had an 40 inch HDTV. One thing I don't get is why every hotel out there all have a copy of the bible? And they all look exactly the same too. Other than that the week in windy city was pretty boring, we didn't get to see much of the city not that I really cared. After all it was a business trip not a pleasure vacation. One thing that was very interesting to me was that since I don't travel much I don't meet a lot of people, but this trip had many others that were from all over the country. It really opened my eyes talking to them. From an Italian dude from Brooklyn, NYC to a good old country boy from Alabama, everyone was cool to talk to.

Chicago seems like an ages ago now that I am back, but it definitely went a lot better than I initially predicted.

Cataclysm Review

2010-12-19T09:38:00.001-05:00

Video Games | World of Warcraft: Cataclysm | Review HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Diablo 3 in 2011?

2010-12-04T17:36:00.005-05:00

The official word will always be soon, but if you can believe this picture of what suppose to be leaked official Blizzard product calender then yes, it's coming in 2011.

link

Random Thoughts part 1

2010-12-04T15:58:00.004-05:00

For those that actually read our blog I realize that it has been awhile since we updated the blog last, what can I say the cat had to take a nap...that was about 5 months long. Well the truth of the matter is that everyone was extremely busy with real life but do not worry because yawning cat is back and better than ever.

This post is dedicated to what was happening with me in the recent weeks and future parts will be the updates on each following weeks. Anyways as everyone knows one tend to have a lot random thoughts in a long period of time with nothing to do, especially when you are in a car driving across the state. That's exactly what I had to do last week when I drove from eastern side of Pennsylvania to the western side and it generally take about 6 hours going from north side of Pittsburgh to just outside of Philadelphia.

-Hour one. I knew that I can just take the interstate highway and make it a straight shot there but that would be too boring. To make things more exciting I wanted to see if it was possible to drive around and not pay any toll at all. Started driving on the highway and it was a pretty relaxing drive in a beautiful sunny December day. I started to think this was not too bad I can do this for 6 hours no problem.

-Hour two. Still on the same highway and started to get bored after looking at endless empty lands with trees. Decided to put in the Harry Potter audio CDs in and listen to it, but the road was still very much straight and boring, not much excitement there.

-Hour three. Closed in on a toll station, decided to get on a different highway that felt like I was going backwards. Now nearing PA state college which is middle of the state. Totally not paying any attention to the Harry Potter CD although what I can tell was the person who did the reading was very good. Around the state college the traffic got a little bit hectic. Started to think what I got myself into.

-Hour four. Back on a different highway now going west again. Started to get some discomfort as my head and my lower back started to hurt after sitting there for so long. But I refused to stop somewhere and rest, was making good time. This was when the driving started to get interesting, for awhile I had to get off the highway to avoid another toll and got into a small town. Drove for about 15 minutes and back on another highway but now on top of mountains going down hill. The roads were twisty and very steep yet everyone was flying down at 90 mph which was quite scary. Started to think real hard on what I got myself into and total was not listening to Potter, might even listened the same CD twice. After the steep decent I was back on straight way again except I was on the side of the mountain and the highway to go the other direction was nowhere insight. Soon enough I was in the hectic traffic outside of Harrisburg.

-Hour Five. Somehow swerved through traffic and survived. I guess I'm not in Pittsburgh anymore. Couple drastic moves through four lane highways and got off Harrisburg to avoid another toll. Seriously thought about how anyone could ever enjoy a drive more than an hour. At this point both my head and my back were killing me and I had a million different things I can do other than driving for 6 hours. Starting to really hate life and how it makes us the slaves and society, yes I know it was totally random but why else would I be sitting in a car for six hours torturing myself unless I enjoy pissing money on petrol? On a small country road at this point and probably for 30 minutes until I got into another city of Lancaster. Had to stop for petrol and came to a sudden realization that I was close since the past 5 hours seemed like eternity. Drove out of Lancaster back on a country road for 20 minutes more until I was in the city highway again.

-Hour six. After couple near accidents on city highway I was safely at my hotel destination. Finally was able to relax and felt pretty good mentally, although physically I couldn't feel my ass anymore. Watched TV in my hotel made me realize just how much I can piss away time watching TV and how much I missed not having TV for the past year.

Later on the first night I decided to go buy some stuff at local Wal-Mart and after almost getting into a few accidents because apparently Wal-Mart was in the neighboring town and the only way to get there is to get on the city highway and deal with the worst city traffic I had ever seen. Other than that the week was pretty uneventful and the drive back was a lot more relaxing although I did get lost on a stretch of highway with no turning around for 70 miles. Still I thought I went a lot faster and smoother than the drive there for some reason. Stay tuned for my adventure next week to Chicago.

nostalgia part 1 (a World of Warcraft special)

2010-12-03T20:21:00.004-05:00

It's scary to think that recently World of Warcraft turned 6 years old, that's almost 1/4 of my entire life time!!! Blizzard truly has a strong grasp on 12 million fresh souls. It is also sad on this date what we know as WoW for the past 6 years will be permanently changed from the smallest detail due to the current expansion pack Cataclysm, and that made me think of all those great things I love about WoW that is about to disappear even though I quit the game 2 months ago (for the 4th time).

What will I miss more than that sweet music when you first walk into the Horde Capital of Orgrimmar? I only spent the better part of last 6 years running in a perfect circle on top of the bank roof while the music is being permanently burned into my brain. Well here is the Orgrimmar music, I will miss you!

And here is the music that will be the new Orgrimmar for the next....who knows how long.

Texas and Pussy

2010-07-09T22:36:00.004-04:00

Why spend money on these cat houses when you can use an ordinary plastic bag?
And random thought of the day. Good thing I didn't move to Texas, because I don't know what it's all about. Apparently it's the home of players and pimps.

sick beats though.

Purple Drank

2010-07-07T21:07:00.002-04:00

It's purple purp purple purp purple and swallow it down
with the yurple yip yurple yip yurples
It's going down!

Battle of Entry Level Luxury cars, part 3.

2010-07-05T10:08:00.010-04:00

Continued from the last part. We are starting to get a theme here on these cars, most of them get the luxury part right with the big, heavy cars that rides very smooth but somewhat boring demeanor make them have a disconnected feel while driving. So far only Infiniti gets it right but good thing we save the best for last.

-Bundesrepublik Deutschland

1. Bavarian Motor Works

There is a reason that year after year BMW 3 series has been considered as the best car in the world, and there is a reason that the famed 3 series is used as the benchmark for all other entry luxury cars in this segment. The latest 3 series has done it again, while all other cars in this segment has gotten bigger, and heavier to promote the luxury feel the 3 series has retained its nimbleness and thrill on the road. The current 3 series has gotten bigger over the years as well just like all other cars but it is the smallest in this class, all others we have looked at are bigger than 185 inches weighing over 3500 lbs making them perfect mid size family sedans. The 3 series however is only 178 inches making it slightly longer than compact cars out there, and this way it really has that sports car handling. The Bavaria's best also has some other thing up its sleeves in making this the best driving machine on the road. Under the hood is the award winning inline 6 engine that has been in BMWs cars for decades, it has superior power deliver compare to regular V6 engines and its also a lot smoother than V6. However it is much more expensive to produce than V6 but you pay for the best. BMW engineers also utilizes the ingenious 50/50 weight distribution. Most cars with engine in the front are usually heavier in the front, this is common sense. Therefore most cars you see on the road are 60% weight in the front and 40% weight in the back, this makes front engine cars nose heavy and harder to handle than mid engine cars such as most European sports cars. All BMWs have the perfect 50/50 weight distribution despite being a front engine car, and no there is no extra weight being added in the back to off set the weight in the front, because a 328i weights less than an Acura TSX. Back to the 3.0L I6 found in 328i, it produces 230 hp and 200 ft/lb of torque. It may not sound like a lot but for this small of a car its plenty, and you get most of it at the lower rpm. The superior German engineering is not a myth and it is on full display with the BMW 3 series. The entry level 328i is not the fastest car in this class but it does have similar 0-60 number as the Cadillac CTS which has a much bigger engine, and it is a much refined car in all aspects than the CTS. It is definitely one of the best on the road in every category except for the G37 but that car compares better to the more expensive 335i rather than the entry level 328i.

2. Mercedes-Benz

In the luxury world there is no name bigger than Mercedes. All rich people drive it and all poor people want it. It doesn't matter what era you are looking at, Mercedes has always been the best at producing luxury cars and that begs the question, can they change and compete with BMW to produce the best sport sedan at the entry level? There is no question the flag ship S class from Mercedes is the best you can find anywhere, but not everyone has 150000 dollars for cars and not everyone that want to drive a boat that makes you feel like that you are sitting in first class of a airplane. In coming the new C class from Mercedes, its only 182 inches long, weights only slightly over 3500 lbs and suspiciously it has a V6 that makes around 230 hp. This all sound very much like the BMW 3 series but all the racing history from Mercedes can not save them from this one. It drives very much like all other Mercedes, which is smooth ride, smooth acceleration, smooth steering...everything is so disengaging that it can put you to sleep. Its definitely luxury at its best but that is the exact problem I had when I started this blog, the market is changing and younger people don't drive boring cars like that.

Mercedes is still the ultimate symbol for wealth however and no one can take away that from them. So if you are buying a car to show off on the road, then Mercedes Benz is the right choice.

3. Audi

Audi has been overlooked a lot in the discussions of which auto maker from Germany makes best cars. Truth to be told that once a while that Audi makes better cars than both BMW and Mercedes but they are just not consistent enough to over come the name brand of those two much larger companies. Inconsistency is the key word here, its like Audi can never make up its mind on what it wants to do. Whether it wants to produce a more luxury driving experience like Mercedes or make a very sporty to beat the 3 series, its always moving back and forth. And the end result of that is its stuck in between. In coming the new Audi A4, recently scrapping the bigger V6 engine from its engine of choices and sticking to only the small I4 engine. Its like completely opposite of what Acura is doing with the TSX. Audi knows that the V6 model starting way too expensive to compete with 328i or c300 and it also got close to their own A5 so it had to be scrapped. However that left us with a turbo charged 2.0L I4 that makes 210 HP similar to what you get in a VW GTI, except there is just one small problem, or large one rather. The A4 is one of the bigger car in this class at 185 inches and 3700 lbs its is a whopping 20 inches longer than the GTI and 600 lbs heavier. Its still a pretty fast car since you get a lot of the power early due to the turbo but there is definitely a difference in driving a truck and a mustang even if they might have a similar engine. Also with the car being this big you can be sure the driving dynamics will not be as good as the 3 series. You will have to go to the next trim in the A4 platform which is the S4 to find any type of trill but with an S4 costing 5000 dollars more to start than the 335i but its not as good as the M3, basically stuck in the middle again.

-Conclusion

There are a lot of competitions in this segment and each ones of them is a very good car, but you can not deny that they are all very different cars trying to achieve the real sports sedan crown that BMW 3 series has held for so long.

Performance wise out of the pack the Infiniti G37 is definitely the best with its 328 HP V6 that travels from 0-60 in 5.4 seconds. Now you may say there are other non-luxury 4 door sports car on the market with the same performance, so why do you want to pay 34 grand for a luxury car pretending to be a sports car? Well take another look, both non-luxury sports cars such as the Subaru WRX STI and Mitsubishi Lancer EVO costs the same or even more than the G37.

If you are that old person looking for a boring, steady luxury car than you might want to look at Lexus or Acura, they carry the quality assurance that comes associated with Honda and Toyota but if you just think about it, Why spend up to 10 grand more for a re-badged Honda Accord or Toyota Camry when you can...well buy an Accord and Camry? The Acura TSX is a straight re-badge of Accord while the Lexus IS 250 is not but its so boring and disconnected it might as well be a Camry.

In the end if you want to have an all around car is does everything well but nothing best out of this group then you have to go back to the roots and take look at the BMW 328i. Its not the fastest, doesn't have the most comfortable ride, nor does it have all the latest tech gadgets but it would scored 8/10 on every category. It's the most engaging car to drive on the road, maybe even more so than the G37, its got the most smooth power delivering engine and a very smooth ride, very close to that of a Mercedes C300. Quality wise German auto makers has always been known for electrical problems, but with Lexus and others adding more and more electronic gadgets can you truly say they will be better in the foreseeable future?

Battle of the Entry Level Luxury cars, part 2.

2010-07-04T09:42:00.005-04:00

As we can see that American Auto Makers are largely unwilling to change their products in order to fit the current needs of this segment, but at the mean time the Japanese are doing everything they can do dominate every segment out there.

-Land of the Rising Sun

1. Acura

Honda has been in the US market as long as we can remember, and they have always dominated in one particular segment, the cheap family sedan segment. But this once racing bike manufacturer is still known more overseas for its high performing, high revving VTEC engine. The engine is said to be the father of all modern day variable timing engines, and the architecture has remained same for few decades. Honda's brand image in the US was cheap, reliable but what people didn't know was they were selling a lot more expensive track cars with the VTEC engine. Therefore they had to do something about all their high performance cars segment since everyone that was buying a Civic in the US wasn't about to dish out double premium for a different Honda. In coming the Acura name tag that is specially created for the North American market. This was a absolute genius move at the time as Honda pretty much moved all of their high performance cars like the Integra and others that were slightly better built than the Civic and Accord. Over the years they have enjoyed the success Acura has brought them in North America, but you can hardly call Acura a substantially different brand than Honda. The Integra was built much like its brother the Civic, in another word a tin can. The only luxury option you could find on it was leather seats and that was on the higher trim. As time went on Honda realized that they need to improve differentiating Acura from its core Honda cars in order to face changes in the luxury car segment. Long story short, Acura took in the features that made German auto makers great in the modern era. In coming the entry level Acura TSX as Acura was phasing out all of their boy racer "tin can" cars such as the Integra and the RSX. The TSX is built like a hybrid of an American and German car. It is big and heavy, like a real luxury car but there lies the underlying problem. The VTEC engine traditionally is a small 4 cylinder engine, and it works well on Honda cars because they are built like a real track car, small, extremely light, so when you revving it up to 8000 RPM for 170 HP the car is very fun to drive. But not when you are powering a 3500 lb beast. As a entry level luxury car the TSX is much larger than the BMW 3 series and even the Mercedes C class, its not quite as big as the Cadillac CTS but its close. But the CTS is powered by a large 300 HP V6 not a small 200 HP I4. So when you drive the TSX it has lost all the fun factors that made the Integra great, its not nimble, its not fast, and it definitely feels like you have to work way too hard to get the car going, all killer no nos for a luxury car. Good thing Honda is not an American brand, they quickly changed that by putting a large V6 engine as an option on the TSX, but this had 2 implications. One is that with the V6 the TSX starts at 35000 dollars which is at least 1000 dollars more than the BMW 328i and Mercedes C300. Two it is now about the same price as the Acura TL which is much larger car filled with much more luxury options. Over all it feels that Acura has lost its soul in this car, even with the V6 it drives like a big family sedan rather than a nimble sport sedan that everyone strives to be at this entry segment, it drives too much like the Honda Accord if you will and coincidentally the TSX for North America is no more than a re-badged Honda Accord in other countries.

that guy is obviously an Acura fanboy, the car is 20 inches longer and more than 1000 lbs heavier than the Integra with the SAME engine, you do the math.

2. Lexus

Like Honda, Toyota followed its lead in differentiating some of their more expensive cars for American market, and thus the Lexus brand was born. Unlike Honda, Lexus came much later than Acura and Toyota kept some of its high performance and luxury cars under the Toyota name brand even after Lexus was well established. Toyota had the ultra high performance and expensive Supra under its name as well was the highly expensive luxury cars such as the Avalon and Land Cruiser. Lexus however, Toyota wanted it to make completely different cars not just for the US but internationally instead of re-badging everything and leave the Toyota name on there outside of America like what Honda is doing. The Lexus IS, on the surface it looks closer to a German sport sedan than your good old boring Toyota but is that really the case? Many critics have said over the years that Lexus is just as boring to drive as a Toyota even though they may look sportier, and yes there are high performance cars like the Lexus LFA, which is a grossly overpriced Supra but that's different story. However the core cars are no where near say a BMW 328i which is a entry level car but still very fun to drive even to a car enthusiast. In another word, a fancy looking old people's car. Oh well at least they didn't just re-badge like Honda did, or did they?

3. Infiniti

The dark horse out of these three picks. Infiniti was on the verge of bankruptcy a few years back but now they are back and with a brand new attitude toward the entry luxury car segment. Instead of trying to be both luxury and sport and fail miserably at both like Honda and Toyota, Nissan decided to go for one thing at a time and do that one thing extremely well. Infiniti G37 comes standard with a 3.7L V6 that makes a whopping 328 HP which is 100 HP for than the BMW 328i and easily the front of the pack, and did I mention its the same price as the 328i? Infiniti knows that it can't not win the luxury crown from even Lexus or Acura so they decided to win as a sport sedan, and to be honest I have to agree with them on this approach. There just way too many luxury cars with their high techs or luxury options, but none of them will drive like a G37, at least not at this price range.

The Infiniti G37 is definitely my winner out of the three, not just because the engine but because what you get with your money. Out of all three, none of them look particularly good compare to German sedans but obviously better over the American competitions. Both Acura and Lexus can not compete with the German cars at the lowest entry point since both lack any real power to be exciting to drive the heavier cars, both need to be moved up to the much more expensive trim and bigger engine to compete so in a way they are not cheaper when compared apples to apples. The Infiniti however offers class leading power and enough luxury appeal to really compete with the best, if its not already the best.

Battle of Entry level Luxury cars, part 1.

2010-07-03T10:32:00.017-04:00

The entry level luxury car market has gotten bigger and bigger over the years in America, and it no longer is a "luxury" to those that makes millions but to anyone that has a decent job and makes good living. Some of the normal cars today fully loaded approaches or even exceeds the price tag of these entry luxury cars and sometimes they are even less drivable. Because of these reasons the market has become more and more popular as we Americans start to share the views of the Europeans, that a car is not just a means of transportation.

Out of all the luxury cars the entry level cars are the most popular not just because one can show off their status on the road for the cheapest price but because sometime even if you can afford one you don't want to be too flashy or broadcast the fact that you are driving a 200,000 dollar Mercedes. It's segment for the average Joe, the corporate executive, or a successful businessman. It is a segment where the world leading luxury car producer BMW, sells most of its cars. So without further delay lets examine a few of these so called entry level luxury cars.

-Part 1. Home Grown.

It is only appropriate to start in a country that only has the biggest auto industry in the world. No matter how you perceive American cars, American auto makers are no stranger to the luxury brands. GMC, Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick have all been with us for a long long time. But one thing that American brands don't share with foreign auto is how a car should be built, and I am not talking about quality either. There was a time that US luxury cars were viewed only as...well luxury cruisers. They are big, heavy, unresponsive boat like machines that often have the biggest V8 engine you can find but accelerates slower than a diesel truck today. So yes they are perfect highway cruisers for older people and back in the day only older folks were the ones that could afford these types of cars, that or rich and famous people who has a chauffeur. Either way those types of people want to have a boat like car because they are either old or sitting in the backseat disconnected from the driving experience. But like I said the times have changed, younger people that have good jobs or their parents fortune are starting to buy these kind of car, and they do not want a boat. What they want is a sporty car that is engaging to drive yet retains that luxury feel. European Brands like BMW and Mercedes started doing this a long time ago partly because they were once race car makers but everyone in Europe drives them everyday anyways, there was no luxury or normal car. I fault the downfall of American Autos on their inability to recognize that the market is change rather than their failing in making quality cars. In the last few years they have finally realized that they can no longer only target the older segment, and started to endorse the sporty, young, and hip images of these American luxury brands, but is it too late? And its not as easy as it sounds, Luxury cars were big and heavy for the reason of ride quality, like Cadillac and Mercedes, and sports cars are usually light and nimble with rough ride quality, like Porsche and Lotus, so if you combine the two something has to give. After all can Americans truly compete with Europeans on something they have been doing for decades? We shall see.

-Cadillac
There is no name synonymous with American luxury than Cadillac, But there is also no other that display the image of boat like than it either. Cadillac Escalade, the original reason others hate us for the display of wastefulness before Hummer came along. All the movies you see, all the Cadillac you see on the road, there is just no other cruisers like it. But now it is changing its brand images with the youger crowd, and in comes the entry level Cadillac CTS. At the starting price of over $36,000 it is by far the most expensive car in this segment. This is one myth I will destroy in the blog, people always do a double take when they see the current price of entry level BMW and Mercedes thus creating the lie that German cars are much more expensive than others. That might be true for their flag ship cars but next time check out the price on an American car too, you would be surprised. Anyways this is by far the smallest and sportiest Cadillac we have seen so far, it sports a reasonable sized V6 engine that produces 270-304 hp, which puts it at the front of the pack but I have learned long ago to not just rely on numbers on a piece of paper. The CTS is smaller than other Caddys but at the price range it is probably one of the largest entry level luxury car standing at 192 inches and over 3800 lbs. So its got all the right numbers on paper but just well does this car drive compare to others?

Ok so three things, exterior, interior, and the engine. These so called reviews might say how they love the exterior but any car enthusiasts can tell that its still got the same big, bulky in your face look of a traditional Caddy. There is no way you can say side by side that it looks better than a BMW 3 series or a Mercedes C class. On to the interior now the CTS interior looks much better and more modern than the older Caddys as it is an obvious attempt to get more younger crowd. I am not big on interior design or have a strong opinion on this subject so I will give CTS the thumbs up for attempted modernized interior. Lastly the engine, on paper it rivals the BMW 335i and as it stands today, the 335i cost 4000 dollars more to start. But does it really drive as well as the 335i? Cadillac never released any official times but it has been said that the CTS accelerates from 0-60 miles in around 6.6 seconds, and if that's the case than its no where near the 5.4 seconds on the 335i. That is actually closer to the cheaper 328i but the 328i has whopping 70 less hp and 70 less ft-lb of torque than the CTS, and I am not even going into the technical aspect of why even so the 328i is still better the CTS because you get power on the 328i at much lower RPM. Okay so the CTS is much bigger and heavier car than the 3 series therefor slower is to be expected, but looking at it this way even though no review would say how well it handles I am certain because of the size factor CTS also handles no where near as well as the 3 series.

Last Impression of the CTS is good, it is a nice attempt for Cadillac to finally join the rest of us in the 21st century but it still has a long way to go if it ever wants to truly compete with the best.

-Lincoln, Buick

I'm not even going to bother with the new Lincoln MKZ and whatever Buick as to offer knowing they are both built on the much cheaper Ford fusion platform and perhaps even with the same engine too. It seems to me they have either given up hope in selling any more cars or just contempt in selling to the older generation which is slowly dying off. Or maybe they are just too lazy for change, that always is the right answer when it comes to American Auto Industry.

E3 2010 round up

2010-06-17T13:07:00.005-04:00

Being a gamer like myself there is probably no bigger event than the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, dubbed E3. Every June the biggest players in the industry gather in the city of Angels and show off the latest gaming hardware and software. A lot of secretes that have been kept for years are usually unveiled here along with new and exciting footages of the games that we already know about. E3 is not just a show it is a extravaganza, for a week in June Nerds and the media gather together for press conferences like its a matter of national importance. The show is usually very flashy as well with things like thirty large displays used at the Sony Press Conference last year and all the craziness that surrounds the booths for each game, oh and the booth babes.

This year is no different, every gamer like myself out there gets excited for E3 for all the cool gaming related news. As my anticipation gets higher and higher with the days getting closer I sudden realized something that could completely ruin my hype level for this year's E3. The theme around this E3 is the word "casual". Corporations are always going with what makes the most money and not what the consumers want, in this case what the gamers want. Ever since Nintendo opened the flood gate with Wii, Microsoft and Sony has been trying to play catch up in this who will get the most casual crowd game. Its a game that hurts us core gamers but it does bring them a lot of money. After all core gamers are still a minority and the casual crowd out weights us by a ton. Its not just gaming industry either, you see it everywhere. Movies started to do this a long time ago when more and more movies dropped the R rating and when PG 13 to gain more casual watching crowd.

So that being said lets see how the big three did in this years E3.

-Microsoft

MS started the show with a trailer of the next Call of Duty, yeah I know you heard it right, another Call of Duty. But at least my fear has been put away by this seeing as Call of Duty is not a gimmick causal game, so maybe the rest of the show won't be too bad. MS followed by showing more core games such as Halo Reach, Gears of War 3, Fable 3, etc. All looked good but nothing surprising. About half way through they introduced their long waited motion senor code named Project Natal, which at this point has been renamed to Kinect. Don't know why because Project Natal sounds so much better. This also marks the turning point of the show, with the bullshit motion sensing sports games that are essentially Wii sports repackaged, and some 5 year old girl petting a virtual tiger to a crazy white guy dancing to nothing at all...the worst part of the show is not even how big of a slap in the face Kinect is to all the gamers out there, its the integration of ESPN on Xbox. For what seems to be an eternity the Sports Center anchors talked about how you can watch ESPN on xbox...holy fuck this is a goddamn game conference so why the fuck half of the show is not about anything game related. My rage is at close to 9000 at this point, I definitely thought MS approached the fail level of Nintendo from 2009.

-Sony

Like Microsoft Sony introduced their own motion sensor device called "Move". Unlike the MS Kinect which is like a camera, the Move is like a controller oddly similar to the Wiimote. Except for the big gay ass purple head...yes big round purple head. And in typical Sony fashion Sony executives comes out with bunch of sales number to impress the media, and long speeches on how great Sony is. So yeah the usual cocky Sony attitude, but in case they forgot this cocky attitude is what landed them in this mess with the PS3. PS3 is in the last place because Sony though they could do no wrong even if it means to charge 600 dollars for a video game console that had ridge racer as the biggest launch title. And for the love of God no one cares about how much PS2 sold anymore this is 2010 not fucking 2000 when PS2 was still relevant, and the success of PS2 doesn't automatically make you the winner of this generation, so stop talking about the PS2 in every fucking Sony conference. Now also like the MS show Sony showed some core games such as Killzone 3, Twisted Metal, Gran Turismo 5(which is never coming out) and...well not much more after that. Everyone said that biggest surprise was when the fat guy (Gabe Newell) from Valve showed up and said Portal 2 is going to be on PS3, well not me. Valve is a corporation so sooner or later they will make a game for the PS3 if they love money, to me all Valve game should be played on PC anyways, there is not much to look forward to consider how GREAT orange box did on the PS3.

I just want to say something about all these motion sensor bullshit. Nintendo frankly figured out something by watching Apple do business. When you can not compete in your own market anymore, you got to differentiate. Just look at how much Gamecube failed again Xbox and Ps2 like how much Apple has been sucking in the personal computer market, exactly the same thing. Now what did Apple do? Instead of spending billions trying to improve the Mac to compete with PC they decided to do something else like Ipod and Iphone. Using what is essentially an already existing tech, the touch screen and make it mainstream. One attribute of the casual mainstream consumers is that they lack of real knowledge on products and is easily swayed by the newest, most flashing tech out there, even though things like touch screen tech has been out for ages. Apple capitalized on this notion and made millions on touch screen Iphone and Ipods. Nintendo is doing the exact same thing, they realized that they can no longer compete in a industry where they helped buiding so they differentiated with the motion controller, even though the motion control tech has been out for ages. But main steam consumers never knew this and because we are easily swayed by the newest, most flashy tech Nintendo was able to capitalize with the simplest and most gimmicky console that I have seen in years. Its not Nintendo's fault but the consumers'. Lack of real knowledge combined with ADD have doomed us all.

-Nintendo

Speaking of Nintendo they were once again the winners of this console war with their shows at 2010 E3, not because they topped both Sony and MS in the gimmicky shovelware but because they actually had the best game related show. Nintendo pulled a 180 on both MS and Sony and showed nothing but core games such as a new Donkey Kong game for the Wii, the new Metroid Wii game, new Zelda Wii game, new Kirby game, along with new IPs...you get the idea. I know Nintendo had a awful showing last year with all the motion sensor shovelware, and they were shamed by all the media. This year they made a concerned effort to show all the core games in a game show and did a good job, I just wonder if they are laughing now at MS and Sony for following what they did last year by pumping out nothing but bullshit. Nothing Nintendo showed was particularly interesting to me but I have to applaud them for learning from their mistake and correcting it in this years E3. Therefore I will have to give the best E3 showing award to Nintendo.

If this year's E3 is suppose to give me a glimpse of the industry's future then I can not say I am pleased with the direction that is going. I am just glad that PC gaming is still somewhat staying the course and not following in this causal mayhem. But with all the big time PC developers jumping ship onto the console wagon its hard to say how long will true hardcore PC gaming last, oh well at least we still got Blizzard and Valve...wait scratch that, seeing the fat guy on Sony's stage almost made me vomit as much as seeing just how fat he really is.

My top 5 most hyped upcoming games, as of 6/7/2010

2010-06-07T19:17:00.010-04:00

2010 sees some of the biggest titles being released in the video game industry, games such as Mass Effect 2, Bayonetta, God of War 3, Bioshock 2, Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption, etc all were released in the first half of year. I however have only gotten Mass Effect 2 out of the bunch, it was in fact the first new game I have gotten in awhile. If it was couple years ago I probably would have gotten at least 75% out of all the titles I have mentioned but time have changed, games are just not what they used to be. There are very few quality games out there that still gives me an epic feeling when I played through it and I'm not just talking about it graphically either.

That being said there are a few games that are coming out later half of this year and first half of next year(hopefully) that have got me hyped. This by no means that I will get all these games, like I said number of quality games are diminishing and these are just ones that got me interested or intrigued to learn more about them.

1. Diablo 3 (soon)

Long before World of Warcraft had earned the reputation as a soul sucking and money printing mega phenomenon, another Blizzard game quietly has set this path for the company's future. Diablo 2 was one of the most addicting and probably most played online game outside of Counter Strike at one point, it was so simple yet so difficult to unlock all the secrets, so mindless yet so addicting, so apparent yet so fun. I have spent countless hours play this game online doing essentially the same thing over and over again, the infamous Baal runs. I don't know why but there is just a certain charm about the game that makes me want to play online with a friend even though the game is some what short and simple and supports a somewhat backward online system compare to today's online games. It has been 10 years in the making and finally we can say yes Diablo 3 is coming...soon. If any game can rekindle my interest in a 4 player online co-op session then this is the perfect game. It has been so long since I have had a good game that I can actually play with a few friends and have fun, FPS not included.

Hype Meter: 9/10

2. Star Wars: The Old Republic (April, 2011)

Personally I hate Bioware for not doing a proper sequel to the original Knights of the Old Republic. It was one of the most underrated single player RPG when it first came out, it single handedly made Star Wars games relevant again and it was one of the my favorite RPGs of all time. I hate Bioware even more after they teased me for coming back with by doing a third game in the series...only telling us that this is going to be an MMORPG so its not a direct sequel. In a way it seems like Bioware is trying to cashing in on the MMORPG frenzy that is caused by WoW but now thinking about it Star Wars universe is big enough to do a game like this but I am anxious to see more. So far very little information or game play video has been shown considering how close we are to the release date, but I have no doubt this game will be at least decent with the Bioware pedigree on the line. However it scares me that all the people that attempted to copy WoW's success by going head to head with WoW has pretty much been annihilated, but at the same time those people are not Bioware. WoW needs to die already I need to see something refreshing and this game might just be it.

Hype Meter: 6/10

3. World of Warcraft Cataclysm (Fall 2010)

Speaking of WoW, the latest expansion Cataclysm is sure to bring back a lot of former players that have quit the game. I will not be one of them. It has been a long time since I have played WoW, every time I quit the game I sometimes will encounter whats called withdrawn symptoms that is common among crack addicts. That is the main reason I have quit and started playing again for 3 times, because every time I see a WoW video, hear a WoW story and even hear that epic music again I feel the itch and the fire being rekindled. Not this time, I have quit WoW for more than a year now and simply do not feel any urge to play it again. I do not like the direction the game is going since the last expansion as the game is going toward more and more casual oriented in order to maintain its player base. Blizzard must feel the effects of player leaving due to the staleness of the game, and like I said you can feel the end coming. It was a good 6 year run for WoW but now it just needs to die but however I am interested in seeing what Blizzard has in store for the latest expansion pack, whether they will continue in the route of making the game more accessible to attract new players or they will actually do something new.

Hype Meter: 3/10

4. The Witcher 2 (Spring 2011)

The first Witcher game was a real hidden gem. I have heard of many good things about the game but never had the chance to play it until recently. It turned out to be the right decision as the original version is hampered with bugs and various graphically glitches. The enhanced edition director's cut that I have played was a much smoother experience, but it still had rough edges in both technical and game play aspect. That being said it is definitely one of my favorite games in recent memories. Rookie Polish developer CD Projekt followed a true and proven Bioware formula in the game in terms of engine and story telling, and it paid off see as Bioware makes some of the best story based RPGs out there. In term of game play they switched it up using somewhat time based hack and slash system that is not so common in modern day RPGs. All in all it gave players a memorable experience through out. The sequel is coming out next year with all new graphic engine that looks absolutely stunning, and the developer promises improved game play as well.

Hype Meter 8/10

5. Mass Effect 3 (TBA 2011)

To be honest Mass Effect 2 has killed a lot of steam I had for this series but don't get me wrong it is still one of my favorite new series this generation. Mass Effect was a great new and bold game by Bioware, it had so much ambition and promises that it was certain it would disappoint. But in the end Bioware pulled together and made it an epic although somewhat rough RPG experience. And in turn Mass Effect 2 became one of the most hyped games in recent memories that does not have Halo in its titles. I know personally Mass Effect 2 was a disappointment on many levels, mainly because of all the hypes surrounding the game before it was even out you know there was no way the game would live up to it. On the other hand the game never lived up to the promises Bioware made, things like improvement over the first game and some the good things that they did with the first game were scrapped. Its a good thing that Bioware takes all the community suggestions to heart, because after all the second game is still great but no where near the bar Bioware had set for itself. But this does not mean I am not pumped for the conclusion of this series, this would be the first time in a long time since Bioware started and finished a series properly.

Hype Meter: 9/10

Honorable Mentions:
Deus Ex 3
Guild Wars 2
Mafia 2
Gran Turismo 5
Unannounced Blizzard MMO

Dickweeds on the road

2010-05-31T17:23:00.010-04:00

I have always hated dumb asses on the road, everybody does. This is why I don't live in the cities in fear of road rage every 5 seconds or so. I have compiled a list of people I hate on the road and not just bad or careless drivers.
1. People that are driving the Porsche, the Corvette, or whatever other highly dangerous cars on road. now wait I know what you are thinking, I hate people that drives like maniacs in these cars and show off the size of their egos right? wrong I hate the opposite, well sorta of. Over the weekend I happen to get behind a Porsche 911 turbo going 40 mph...in a 60 mph zone. This happens to me more often than you think, and usually those are old people that are so old they shouldn't even be driving. So what in the Sam Hell are they doing in a Porsche? To me cops should stop these people as much as the ones that are going 90 mph in a Porsche, they are equally dangerous if not more. I absolutely loathe them.2. Speaking of going fast. I hate people that goes 90 mph in their beat up Cobalt, Civic, or some other shitty ass car that is so old they should even be drivable. Now I understand their are still handful of people that think Fast and Furious is cool and the only reason they have those shitty cars is because the car was in the movie. Now the other part of this hatred comes from the ridiculous amount of body kits these people put on these old cars. It usually starts with the huge wing in the back and cannon size muffler that amplifies noise coming out the the car by 100 fold. They think they are so cool in their 300 dollar 1995 Civic with 1500 dollar worth of body kits. These people incite rage in me regularly when I see one going 90 mph in a 40 mph zone.
3. Rich toolbags. Over the weekend I saw another exotic car on the road, a brand new Lamborghini Gallardo driven by a young teen. Now you might think this angers me as the guy barely knows how to drive and probably don't even know anything about the car to truly appreciate it. No not really. He might not know anything about the car and have rich parents who will allow him to not work a single day for rest of his adult life but he could also be a young successful entrepreneur, which would only sadden me. But like I said it did not anger me. Today I saw another car on the road, a silver 2009 BMW 750i. Flagship car from BMW that displays both the very best in luxury automobile and extreme superiority in German engineering, until I saw the driver. A typical young punk wearing a wife beater who is all tattooed up and that flat rim Yankees cap which is barely floating on top of his head. In another word, a wanna be thug. I can feel my rage building up for this toolbag and then all of a sudden it just hit the roof. He had removed the stock mufflers and installed two cheap cannon mufflers which made this 100,000 dollar BMW sound like a cheap civic. Did I mention he was white all buffed up like a real winner? Yeah that what we get for living in a redneck town.

Game Review: Alpha Protocol

2010-05-31T15:49:00.015-04:00

Whenever I see the name Obsidian Entertainment I cringe a little bit but at the same time I am somewhat interested in the game that they are working on. This is because that Obsidian is made of mostly people from the legendary and now defunct Black Isle Studio. Anyone that loves WRPG knows that Black Isle made some of the most influential RPGs on PC such as Planescape Torment and the Fallout series. But anyone who follows Obsidian because of that track record also knows that they have been nothing but disappointment under the Obsidian name, now don't get me wrong they still made a few good games like Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 but they are all generally considered by the public to be the lesser compare to the original done by Bioware.

So if you have done your homework then you will know ever since Black Isle reformed as Obsidian they can't seem to escape the shadow of Bioware. Every miscue and disappointment Obsidian has had some type of excuse for it, whether its because they were rushed by the publisher in the case of Star Wars or wanting to go a different direction only to incite anger from fans with Neverwinter Nights, it is finally time because now they should not have to use these excuses. Sega gave them plenty of time to finish Alpha Protocol and this game has nothing to do with Bioware. Therefore Alpha Protocol should be an intriguing game to say the least. But enough background stories already.
-Story

This should be the strong point of an Obsidian game since they follow so closely to Bioware. But like I said they are trying to get away from Bioware and make a name for themselves, well maybe they should have followed tradition at least on the story part. You play the role of an American spy named Michael Thorton who works for a secret agency called Alpha Protocol, you were sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist missle attack on a passenger plane. As would any story and bigger picture unfolds there and eventually leads you Rome, Taipei and Moscow. The story is very straight forward and...bland, almost like they have taken a page out of a James Bond script. It's your typical overused hollywood spy theme and makes you don't want to care for it, even in the end with a supposed big twist unfolding in front of my eyes I felt nothing. Whats worse is that all the characters feel the same way, they are boring and bland, you don't care for any of them.

-Game Play

Game play is somewhat unique as it is played out in a third person shooter perspective. There are not many of those in the WRPG scene as the genre is usually dominated by high fantasy themed with swords and magic, I would almost go out of my way and say Obsidian is definitely taking a risk and trying something new to get away if it weren't for a little award winning series from Bioware called Mass Effect. But they are trying, and trying is the key word here. The game mechanics are a mess to put it nicely, you have got one of the worst AI in any modern games that I can remember. Enemies are not just dumb but they will do dumb things, they would be shooting at you and suddenly turn around and shoot at the complete opposite direction, or worse they would shoot and all of a sudden decide to climb a latter. Gun mechanics are awful as well, all the guns don't shoot properly and don't do the proper damage when you line up a perfect headshot, its like no one has ever designed a shooter before and this is the first one. And don't even get me started with the usual crap that comes with being an Obsidian game, the frame rate hiccups, the bad animation, and the unending amount of bugs. I mean I understand this is an Obsidian game and you get those bad with it but holy shit the game has only been delayed for a year for them to polish it? This incomplete mess shouldn't even be on the store shelve to begin with that's how bad it is. Now I don't want to be to harsh since the RPG element in the game is somewhat better than the rest of the game. At least you get way more skills in this game to feel like an actual RPG (I'm looking at you Mass Effect 2). Also I like the conversation system that kind of mirrors the Mass Effect wheel but at the same time it is completely different. Instead of choosing that actual context like Mass Effect you pick different tone of voice such as professional, casual or aggressive. Each tone has different effect on different characters at the different juncture of the game. They influence how much a character like you or dislike you but have no moral consequences like Mass Effect. Whatever you choose to say will still have a sizable impact in the game but there is no good or evil.
-Graphics

One word. Bad. We live in an age of HD graphics even on the consoles, and I am playing on my PC with 1080p with everything turned at max and it just looks like shit. character models looks bad, the design is bad, textures are bad and colors are bad, need I say more? I know this game uses Unreal Engine but does it use Unreal Engine 1? Because it looks nothing like Mass Effect 2 which uses Unreal Engine 3.

-Conclusion

In the end one would expect all the bad things I have listed to go along with an Obsidian game because they have built a reputation for those things in their previous games. But despite all the bad what draws people to their games is the story and the the characters, and none of those are even remotely interesting in this half assed attempt in a game. It's a shame that so much potential in a game and never can be realized, its got a famed RPG studio behind it, its got an interesting concept that has been proven to be successful when done right. I just don't know what happened to this game it's like Obsidian finally have what they wanted which is make their own game and not pick up left overs from Bioware and they just can't deliver, maybe its a case of you don't know you had it good until you don't have it anymore, maybe they can still go back to working with Bioware...

All in all Alpha Protocol is another game to add on the long list of disappointments for developer Obsidian, maybe its the biggest of them all. Unless you are a hardcore RPG lover like me or a hardcore Black Isle lover I would recommend stay away from this broken mess, instead go re-install Fallout 2 and reminiscent on what it would be if Black Isle was still around.

Half-life 2 Portal Mod Gameplay

2010-05-28T21:48:00.000-04:00

The Ultimate Driving Machine. (or is it?)

2010-05-17T10:34:00.028-04:00

BMW has long had the reputation as the Ultimate Driving Machine, no matter its on the highway of Germany, a pothole filled American city road or a closed high speed track in Japan it has retained this title. It is curious to me however that BMW had given itself such a title almost 70 years ago when it had won all those races, but does it still hold true today when the new bimmers are nothing like back then and there are a lot more fast and exciting cars on the road?

Bavarian Motor Works or commonly called bimmer, break my window and some other inappropriate names, it doesn't matter what its called as soon as you see the trade mark blue and white badge that represents their aircraft making days you know it suppose to be the most exciting everyday car to drive on the road.

It is surprising to me that another German auto maker Mercedes-Benz with all of its racing heritage is somehow viewed as tame, boring and too slow compare to BMW, well I am here to test that myth.

For this particular review I tested the famed BMW 3 series and will pit it against its closest competition on the road, the all new Infiniti G37, as well as testing it against a normal everyday car you would see on the road, the Honda Civic. I looked at all the 3 series model and deemed that the 335i was the best one to test. The reason behind that is on paper the 328 looked a little bit "weak" with its 230 hp 3.0 liter engine, I am sure in reality the car is very fun to drive since thats plenty of power for a compact size car but this is BMW that we are talking about, there are Hondas that have more power than that. Then on the other end of the extreme we have the M3 with its 414 hp V8. That is obviously an enthusiast car that is not meant for daily driving so its out of our range as well, therefore it leave me the 335 with its twin turbo 3.0 liter flat 6 cylinder that produces a cool 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque that peaks at 1400 rpm. Also it comes the closest to the G37 in terms of power.

It was unfortunate that the particular dealership we went to did not have any regular 335i but only the all wheel drive models, keeping that in mind I will go a little easier on the handling and acceleration.

-First Impression (Exterior)
There is no doubt that this is a beautiful car, I actually like the conservative look of the 3 series. Sure its got the aggressive front end but probably less so than Audi or even Mercedes, and the back end well you can almost mistaken it as a much cheaper car. Overall its unmistakably BMW although I personally prefer the boxy look it had back in the early 90s. see below picture of a 1995 bmw 5 series.

One other note, the all wheel drive model sits about half inch higher than the rear wheel 335i. The Infinti G37 is no exotic looker either, it retains most of the exterior features from the platform that it was build on which is the Nissan Altima. This is a big turn off so I am giving a slight edge to the BMW here.

(Interior)
Way too many buttons. Even with most of the functions tied to the infamous i-drive(more on that later) there are still way too many buttons on the center console. And whats with the fake plastic wood? You can get that in a Toyota Corolla but this is a 45,000 dollar bimmer, it was definitely a turn off. The seats were very comfortable like most BMW but I also have to say why does the leather feel so hard like it is a fake plastic leather? Same thing goes for the steering wheel. The tilt and telescope steering wheel combined with 8 way adjustable seats give you great driving position but I did not like having 2 sticks coming out of the left side of the steering wheel as one is for turn signal and one is for cruise control, I didn't get confused but I can see how some people will. The front was pretty spacious but not too spacious, it almost feels a tad smaller than a new generation Honda Civic. The back seats are terrible there is almost no room there even though the 3 series is about 3 inches longer than the new Civic.

Now back on the i-drive, I have heard of horror stories about it but never quite believed into people's hype. All I can say is my co-pilot JT snowball should have been taking a lot of pictures but he didn't and somehow I don't blame him, it took him 20 minutes just to figure out how to turn on the radio through i-drive, lets just put it at that. Later we found out that the radio can be controlled completely from the voice command center from the steering wheel and that still does not make the I-drive any better.

-The Driving Experience
Enough about the look and the feel of the car, this is where the 335 should shine. You plug in the key and hit the start engine button and it was so quiet you can hear a pin drop...I am not saying it should sound like a big V8 mustang but it was strangely quiet. As soon as I step on the gas paddle I get no response from the engine and I was a little puzzled at first so a little more gas the engine finally comes alive but it was still relatively quiet. Again I'm not comparing to a muscle car I am basing this on driving a Civic everyday. The throttle response is definitely disappointing, I understand that this is an all wheel drive car unlike the rear wheel one where you can do a proper burn out but like I said I hit the gas paddle and it felt like it had to go three blocks to find where the engine is. The Infiniti has a lot more peppy engine in this bay with a 3.6 liter V6, but you have to push the engine a lot harder to get to those numbers as the torque is maxed at 4500 rpm. Because of it the engine sounds a lot more thrashy on the Infiniti as well but no car drives as smooth as the 335i. The I6 is so smooth that you do not feel any type of turbo lag at all, you don't even feel any kind of indication that its shifting gears, its so buttery smooth that JT literally was yelling at me to stomp on the gas as hard as I can which I did but we still felt nothing...until I looked down on the speedometer. We went from 0-50 in matter of 4 sec and we didn't feel a thing, part of it is contributed to the all wheel drive system for being in too much control and another part comes back to just how smooth the engine is. I just cant get over how smooth it is since this car makes a type of power a V8 mustang would, so it shouldn't be so quiet and tame. On the road the Bimmer never fails either, we heard almost no road noises and felt no effects from the potholes at all...have I mentioned how smooth this beast of a car is? It really really feels like a civic rather than a sports car, until you look at how fast you are going that is. It's got that deceptive speed. I can understand now why BMW stayed with the I6 engine while almost everyone else has moved on the the cheaper V6. Its just so smooth compare to V6 I never thought I would say a V6 engine on a Honda can be called rough but you haven't felt anything until you drive a BMW with its I6 engine.

Ok I am officially done with the word smooth for the rest of the review. Now the G37 is not too shabby either with similar numbers from 0-60 compare to the 335i but it definitely has a very different driving dynamics as the engine is naturally aspirated so you need to operated it at a lot higher rpm to get the max power compare to the twin turbo charged 335i.

BMW is not only known for its famous engines and drive qualities but also its handling that no American sports cars can compete with. My first reaction is the steering wheel felt extremely heavy to me, so heavy that I have no doubt that I can not drive this car with one hand. Again I'm sure part of that is contributed to this car being all wheel drive but it is significantly heavier than the Infiniti. But a light touch on the steering wheel will move the car, now my civic is very responsive like most Japanese cars but the 335i felt like an extension of your arms.

-Lasting Impression (Value)
Over the years BMW has became more and more expensive in order to match up with the same luxury segment and imagine that Mercedes is projecting. The 335i we drove is very well equipped but the price tag is pushing to around 46-47k. I don't know about you but thats a lot of money for a car that is no bigger than a civic, that doesn't look as exotic as a Porsche and a engine that is very good but certainly not as powerful as a Shelby Mustang which cost around the same amount. On the other hand a fully equipped Infiniti G37 cost about 10k less even though it might not be as good of a driving machine than 335i or won't give you the status and looks from people as a BMW would, 10k is still 10k. Therefore the 335i is a very grossly overpriced car for people that want to enlarge their ego on the road or maybe some other things as well. Don't get me wrong the 335i is a beautiful yet conservative car that oozes German luxury, and it is a very good driving machine, but its definitely not the Ultimate Driving Machine.

Top 50 PC games of all time. 10-1

2010-05-01T21:36:00.005-04:00

It is finally here, the top 10 PC games of all time. Each of one of these games are so well crafted in every aspect that it stood the test of time and is almost enjoyed by all gamers all there. There are many of my personal favorites that did not make this list and that just shows the amount of good games that still come out on PC, this not only shows that PC gaming is superior to consoles but it is still live and well.

10. Diablo 2 (2000)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

on the surface its a shallow hack and slash RPG with no story, no direction, no script for anything. Yet 10 years later Diablo 2 remains one of the most popular online RPG ever. With lack of story, in depth RPG element and characters Blizzard has made it up with incredible amount of attention to detail, customization and mind blowing complexity and variety when it comes to items in the game. The game play is simple yet hard to master and most important it set an addicting style that is to become the Blizzard trademark for years to come. The amount of content in the game and the addicting game play far surpasses 90% of all modern games.

9. X-COM: UFO Defense (1994)
-developer: Mythos Games

This is probably the father of all modern RTS games. Compare to today the game play is a bit simple but the execution was exceptional for a game that was build in 1994 with limited tech. Subsequently it became widely popular among strategy and wargame fan for reasons such as the excellent squad-based tactical interface, the combination of tactical and strategic elements and the ability to use and create new types of weapon and equipment as the game progress. In another word the game was pretty much way ahead of its time.

8. Fallout 2 (1998)
-developer: Black Isle Studios

One word: atmosphere. The Fallout series' desperate, dusty, washed-out world owes as much to classic Western films as nuclear holocaust science. Broken, wasted towns filled with broken, wasted people litter the radioactive landscape. You wield rusting rifles and meat-cleavers rather than shiny high-tech stuff. Bottle-caps are the currency. With a solid RPG system on top, Fallout 2's legendary status is secure.
It also secured Black Isle Studio somewhat short lived best RPG makers of all time status.

7. Planescape: Torment (1999)
-developer: Black Isle Studios/Bioware

As games get harder and harder to make, we're losing something: wealth of ideas. Since Planescape only used graphics to set the scene, and conveyed most of what went on through text, it had a richness that can't be matched when everything has to be represented graphically. A staggering 800,000-word script wove the epic story of your undying protagonist, his many misdeeds, and a past that will haunt you forever.
The game is not without faults however as the gameplay is not nearly as epic as the story, but that is the trait usually associated with games that has Bioware involved. But it did set many bars for modern RPGs and story driven games in general.

6. Warcraft 3 (2002)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

It goes without saying that a Blizzard game will be perfectly balanced, and give you elegantly crafted units that each serve a single tactical purpose. Where Warcraft 3 surprised was the excellent narrative - every mission was there to draw you through an intricate story, and the key characters joined in with the battles. At the middle of it all was Prince Arthas and his massacre of an infected village and subsequent exile. Strategy has rarely been so perfectly produced. And since it a Blizzard game you know its addictive, and Warcraft 3 is no different. It is still one of more played RTS online today with many different user created mods. In fact one of the most popular DOTA game is created from Warcraft 3.

5. Team Fortress 2 (2007)
-developer: Valve

Lets see Counter Strike was one of the most success mod turn into a stand alone game from Half Life, so what can Valve possibly do to top that? Incoming Team Fortress 2 and sequel to another mod and now its a stand alone game. It’s remarkable enough that TF2 can have nine classes and still make them all so different to play. That they all tessellate so satisfyingly, that their tools are expanding over time, and that each new map gives them all a new part to play, is a genuinely incredible accomplishment.

4. Baldur's Gate 2 (2000)
-developer: Bioware

Hundreds and hundreds hours into the game, and a decade later people are still discovering new things in Baldur's Gate 2 that they have never seen before. That is the amount of jaw dropping content Bioware decided to put into this RPG where its called the game of all games. It has the most complex game play and RPG element of all Bioware games and it has a world and a story that put all other Bioware games to shame, in fact it probably puts all other single player games out there to shame. Talking about getting your moneys worth you could easily get 10 times as much back from this game. It marked the high point for developer Bioware and RPG genre in general and since that day no one can duplicate the magic that is Baldur's Gate 2 not even Bioware themselves, it was truly a one of its own kind.

3. Half Life 2 (2004)
-developer: Valve

Valve’s masterful sequel was a turning point for the linear first-person shooter. It was the game that did everything so right that it diminished the accomplishments of every other contribution to the genre, and it seems to challenge anything that followed to do things differently or perish. Character, setting, physics, combat, puzzles: it’s nothing less than an object lesson in great design. And like the predecessor Half Life 2 has sprouted many popular mods, its like if you make a mod from Half Life 2 the sheer association alone would propel your game into one of the best PC game ever made, talk about the unique power Valve holds over PC gaming.

2. Starcraft (1998)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

When you think of a country's national sport what pops into your head? Football or even Baseball for us Americans, Table tennis for China, European Football for...Europeans, and hockey for Canadians. Well you get the idea but would you believe me if I said this sport in South Korea is in fact a 13 year old game made by Blizzard Entertainment? Pro sport style teams, pro sport style media coverage, pro style style tournament, and pro sport style stadium filled by hundreds and thousands fans watching. And yes that game is the internationally famous real time strategy game Starcraft. You don't even need to know that if the game is good or not, those alone make Starcraft worthy as the number 2 on this list. 13 years in the making Starcraft 2 is also the most anticipated sequel we have seen in recent times, and not just by South Koreans too.

1. Mine Sweeper (???)
-developer: ???

Oh you know you are the guilty one, playing mine sweeper at work when no one is watching. The truth is if you know how to turn on a computer then you have probably played mine sweeper before. Its not much of a modern game and an amateur game programmer can probably make it work but the number of people in the world that have played this game on their pc one time or another have made this game the number one game on this list.

Well all jokes aside the real number one on the list is:

1. World of Warcraft (2004)
-developer: Blizzard Entertainment

It consumes 12 million souls a year, it makes Blizzard the richest video game developer without making a new game for 6 years, it has been said(and tested) to be more addictive than crack, and it has caused plenty of media drama in regards to health related issues. Whether you like the game or not, have played it or have enough restrain to stay away from it you can not deny the effect that World of Warcraft has on the modern pop culture. No game besides WoW has caused such a big stir in the media with reasons other than violence in video games, no game has had so many media platform wanting to talk about it, the news, talk shows and even south park. All the bullshit aside WoW is an incredibly remarkable game on the technical level. No game has ever had such a large world for you to play in, no game has ever has such large and detailed lore behind the game that actually makes it believable, no game has ever had so many details to the smallest degree that its almost like a real...world. WoW is an unique experience like no other and I am not just talking about the addicting part, it is truly a master piece, a world so well crafted, an online community so large that you really feel like you are a small piece struggling in this enormous realistic fantasy world.

Yawning Cat Outbounds Performance

2010-04-26T17:08:00.004-04:00

We here are Yawning Cat Enterprises are thrilled at the amount of attention we have been receiving recently. Its less than a year and our blog has already had several requests from international magazines for reprints of some of our articles. We however had to decline these reprints, we enjoy keeping our content exclusive and free for all. Also our Company has received windfall profits from our anti-addiction WoW (World of Warcraft) clinics in undisclosed Eastern European countries.

To conclude this post I would like to share some stats with you..

The 3 most popular countries our readers are located in are: USA, Germany, and Poland

The 4 most popular browser software used are: Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera

The 3 most popular operating systems are: Windows, Mac, and Linux

The blog received the most ever hits on March 28, 2010

And the 3 most popular posts are: Top 10 of the Last Decade, Game review: Dragon Age: Origins, Game Review: Uncharted 2

I take from this that we have a very "tech minded" crowd that is on top of the new internet software and products. What we have to look forward to is more game reviews, computer reviews, relevant technology reviews and opinions posts. I hope everyone is enjoying the blog and a big congrats to our most popular writer XL.

PS: Wtf people, you dont like Trololo Cat?!

Top 50 PC games of all time. 20-11.

2010-04-23T19:43:00.008-04:00

20. Quake (1996)
-developer: ID Software

Doom might have been the father of all FPS but it was another ID Software game that will define online death matches for future FPS. Quake was released when internet was just coming onto its own, it quickly garnered popularity as many people started to play the game competitively over the internet. It is hard to imagine this now but the game rely on fast paced action and precise controls but was played on somewhat primitive 32k and now many people even had internet back then. Never the less enough people got the thrill of killing enemies that were controlled by real life opponents rather than the same old bots and thus the internet ownage and trash talking have started.

19. Dragon Age Origins (2009)
-developer: Bioware

Touted by Bioware as the spiritual successor to perhaps one of the greatest and most beloved RPG of all time, Dragon Age had high expectations and big shoes to fill when it was announced. And Bioware did not disappoint as it was almost everything any cRPG fans would ever wanted. Now it might not be as big, expensive and rich as some of Bioware's older games but we live in a time where games are all about graphics and little about game play. Bioware gave us a little taste of what they are still capable of in Dragon Age. Even though you could say Dragon Age was merely a fraction of what Baldur's Gate 2 was but I will still gladly take this game over majority of the games out today.

18. Deus Ex (2000)
-developer: Ion Storm Inc.

Besides the fact you can not pronounce this games name there are several things about this that was out of the ordinary when it came out in 2000. It was one of the few FPS/RPG hybrid and it was so well done through out the whole game you do not feel like you were playing a game but rather going through an epic experience. Its an action packed game unlike many RPGs at time which were slow paced and were rigorous in combat. And then the story, puzzles, interactions and the choices you can make easily rivals the best RPGs out there.

17. EverQuest (1999)
-developer: Sony

EverQuest was the first truly Massive MMORPG on the market, it had massive worlds, massive raid encounters, massive player community and massive amount of contents. The technology part of the game at the time was quite impressive as the game was first real main stream MMO that you could play. And it also was the first real addictive MMOs on the market as millions and millions people subscribed to the game and played 24/7, you can say EverQuest was the WoW before WoW was here.

16. Unreal Tournament (1999)
-developer: Epic Games

Long before the battle between Call of Duty and Battlefield started for the console kids to argue which is the better FPS, the original battle between the two greatest FPS franchises torn the PC community in half. Quake or Unreal, it was the question. Not only did the two play very similar they also looked similar, and the battle don't just end with the game play as they were also fighting for the dominance of their respective graphic engines for the next two decades. In the end Unreal won and to some people dismay many games today uses the Unreal engine. This great victory also earned nerds like Clifford Bleszinski cool nicknames such as Cliffy B and Dude Huge as well as his own wikipedia page.

15. F.E.A.R. (2005)
-developer: Monolith Production

A truly brilliant game is one that ruins other truly brilliant games for you. After playing FEAR, the inability to kick enemies in the face in every other FPS makes it feel like our legs are tied together. How can any game not have a slow-mo key? Why don't other shotguns feel this right? Why, more importantly, don't they literally blow your enemies in twain? Why can't everything be a little more like FEAR?

14. Day of the Tentacle (1993)
-developer: Lucas Arts

Funny and brilliantly written, but more to the point it had ingenious puzzles. Playing three characters trapped in different periods of time, you twigged that simple and ridiculous actions in the past could have life-saving consequences in the future. It makes me sad that games today has lost the touch of fresh, unique and awesome game play rather then the same old graphic war. This game also makes me realize that we need Tim Schaffer to make more games such as this and Grim Fandango.

13. Civilization 4 (2005)
-developer: Firaxis Games

It's that time when, playing as the Britons, you sacked Rome. Or when playing as Germany, you invaded west - through Poland and France, into Britain, and didn't stop, across the Atlantic, through the US, and into Russia. Whether founding your own religion, seeking the counsel of Great People, or assimilating enemy cities by making your own too wondrous to resist, Civ IV creates more memorable moments than any of its predecessors.

12. Neverwinter Nights (2002)
-developer: Bioware

Not the greatest singleplayer RPG ever, but Neverwinter Nights was so much more. Dedicated Dungeon Masters could create and run their own D&D campaigns without all those pesky dice and bits of paper, and Neverwinter was also the prime source of peoples Co-Op fun before more sophisticated online RPGs have arrived. So many people ended up making unique maps and mods for this game that after the main game has long fallen off the face of the earth there are people still playing customized Neverwinter Nights games.

11. Half Life (1998)
-developer: Valve

It was 12 years old we were introduced to the voiceless Gordon Freeman and perhaps the greatest FPS Half Life. Well where should I start with this game? First FPS with a story, a purpose, a well crafted cast, a game play that involves more than just run to the end of the corridor and shoot, a game with scripted events which was very rare at the time...well you get the idea. Not only that the game was so popular that even the mods of the game became extremely popular now how about that.

Top 50 pc games of all time. 30-21.

2010-04-22T19:05:00.007-04:00

Continue of my top 50 pc games of all time after I was interrupted by a rage post.

30. Battlefield 1942 (2002)
-developer: Dice

The FPS genre is flooded on the PC and especially the WWII themed ones, and I have to say we can all thank EA for that. Battlefield 2 was certainly miles better than the original but battlefield 1942 is the game that started this WWII frenzy. It wasn't just another FPS back in the day with mindless killing in an arena styled map but this game had large open maps with two factions involving various vehicles ranging from jeeps to tanks, even aircraft. Playing in a real landmark from WWII in a objective based multiplayer mode made you feel like your victory meant something in a historical setting.

29. Ultima Online (1997)
-developer: Origin Systems

So this is where it all started, Ultima online officially opened the door to a land known as Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. It was based on the expensive fantasy world that was in the previous Ultima games. To many extend this game is very much like the modern MMORPGs that it had a monthly fee structure, thousands of players were playing in the same open world from a game server, there was a player vs enemy and player vs player combat structure, and the online community is monitors by whats called Game Masters. So all the MMOs today can thank Ultima online for making them billions.

28. Age of Empires (1997)
-developer: Ensemble Studio

Like many other RTS on this list, game play wise Age of Empires does not strait away from the basic RTS element but what make it different is that it also had that simulation element built in the game. You are not only building your resources and units just to win that round or that map but you are also building your empire. As the game progresses you the king or emperor will conquer more and more land, and it is up to you to successfully rule your entire empire. It also had different time periods in history thus adding another element to the game play.

27. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind (2002)
-developer: Bethesda Game Studio

Bethesda always had their special way of doing an RPG like Bioware. They seem to aim in creating the biggest world possible and allow you to roam the world as you see fit, and Morrowind was no different. Although Technically Morrowind was a much smaller world than their previous work Daggerfall but Morrowind improved on just about everything. The world felt much more livelier with bigger variety in the NPCs, and the combat along with the story of the game was much better as well. Although Bethesda was never known for well structured quests and story telling in their games, Morrowind was probably their best attempt as one of the most rich RPG experience at the time.

26. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
-developer: Bioware

It was not the first time Bioware ported or developed a game for the console but this is the game that made them a household name. Possibly the best game using the Star Wars license Bioware stayed true to their nature, crafting a completely new and original Star Wars Universe that complete different from the movies and yet believable to the fans. The world of Kotor was big and expensive with many many unique characters, and it was said that there were enough dialog to fill 2 novels. It was a game that made you wish Bioware writers did the Star Wars prequel trilogy instead of George Lucas, and it had everything that is great about Star Wars and a Bioware game.

25. Counter Strike (1999)
-developer: ???/valve

The only game on this list that is not even a proper game. It all started as a Mod to one of the greatest FPS ever then realizing the popularity of this Mod, Valve promptly bought the rights to it. Counter Strike continues to be one of the most played online FPS ever and is used in many competition as a measuring stick for someone's mad skills. It also did a number for future team based tactical shooters and more mods for Valve developed Half Life.

24. Rome: Total War (2003)
-developer: The Creative Assembly

From a handful of soldiers to international diplomacy and everything in between: Total War has always done scale brilliantly. Rome is the series' peak. Successfully besieging Rome itself, overcoming its towering walls and charging thousands of men and horses through its streets is one of PC gaming's sweetest moments. Endless hours of sweating over the strategy map pay off on the battlefield in spectacular style.

23. System Shock 2 (1999)
-developer: Looking Glass Studio

"Hurry, run!" - words that still send a chill down the spine of anyone who's played the scariest FPS/RPG ever made. It was the urgent groan of the pipe-wielding zombies who roamed the corridors of the huge spaceship Von Braun - just before they clubbed you to death. They were warning you about themselves. Somewhere inside there was a helpless human being, aware of the atrocity it was about to commit. This is a game to play if you wonder where Bioshock came from.

22. Thief 2 (2000)
-developer: Looking Glass Studio

When you think of great PC games of the past a lot of FPS, RPG and RTS will pop in your head. Those genres make up majority of PC games but every once awhile a different type of game like Thief makes you say this game is awesome. When ask about the great stealth games to today's console kids they will likely say that either Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell is the best stealth game and that's when you laugh at them by showing them a picture of Thief 2, as well as educating them on why PC gamers are like glorious master race and console gamers are like dirty peasants.

21. Doom (1993)
-developer: ID software

The father of all modern FPS. Doom started it all with the first person gun view, the 3D game play, the networked multiplayers and eventually the modification of a game. designer John Carmack won a life time achievement award for making this game as most his later works with ID software are pretty much the same plotless, mindless shooters. I have also heard that all the bitches want him for that he is the creator of doom, could be just a rumor though. Doom can also be used as a trivia question as many of the console generations today thinks Halo is the first ever FPS made.

The Harrowing Tale of Building my New PC or: How I Learned to Love the Newegg Part 2

2010-04-22T10:49:00.000-04:00

Ive discussed the fun I had with the monitors, now for the fun Ive been having with the actual computer!

I ordered from Newegg and a couple days later everything is waiting for me:

Original parts list:

Dual Radeon HD 5970 Graphic Cards
EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI Motherboard
2 640Gb + 1 720 Gb WD Caviar Black Hard drives
Intel Core i7 930 Processor
6 Gb OCZ Gold DDR3 RAM
CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full tower Case
Enermax Galaxy EVO 1250 Watt Power Supply
Coarsair H50 Watercooler

So I set out to get everything pieced together:

And get it all together:

This looks great, but my room was turned into a disaster zone:

I fire it up and it won't POST. I probably should have just put in the processor and some RAM and tested it but it sure does look pretty when everything is put together. Anyways, I take out all but 1 stick of RAM and remove one of the graphics cards. POST's just fine. Add in the RAM and try again, and it won't POST again. I know for a fact that the RAM is good because it literally just came out of my other computer which was running it just fine. So I start fiddling and I find out that it will POST with memory in slots 1 and 5 but not 3. So I think its a bad motherboard. I get my old computer running again and RMA the board through Newegg.

Couple days later the new motherboard arrives and what do you know, same issue. So I have my friend come over and start really getting into this issue. We test every stick of RAM in every slot. Turns out slots 3 and 4 are bad. We figure the chances of getting 2 boards with the same issue are incredibly low so we think maybe the memory controller on the processor is bad. We swap processors but my board still has the same problem, and his board boots up just fine. I have no choice but to RMA another board. After some complaining and reminding Newegg of how much I spend there they give me a refund and I buy a Gigabyte board.

So instead of the EVGA board, the semi-final parts list contains a

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 motherboard

Couple more days later the new board arrives. I build everything up and try to fire it up. Fans turn on for a second then everything dies. At this point I want to kill someone. I take it to my friends house for some extreme troubleshooting and as it turns out I'm an idiot. I had screwed in all the motherboard spacers, which caused a short circuit. We took out all the unnecessary spacers and the board fired up no problem.

At this point, I have my computer at stock speeds and a single 1920x1080 monitor. Games run extremely well with max settings. In my next post I will talk about overclocking and Eyefinity and some of the trouble I had with those.

Top 50 PC games of all time. 40-31

2010-04-21T15:00:00.005-04:00

Continued from last part.

40. Gothic (2001)
-developer: Piranha Bytes

It was a time when PC gaming was in transition from 2D to 3D and Gothic was the first RPG to do so, it had beautiful 3D towns filled with different NPCs minding their own businesses. It had life of its own a world that you can believe in and not just another lifeless virtual land. It definitely wasn't the best Western RPG ever made but it did well as one of the first 3D high fantasy game paving the way for many others to follow.

39. Mass Effect 2 (2010)
-developer: Bioware

A lot big budget modern games receive a lot of hype especially the multi platform ones from Activision or EA. Bioware was never one that hypes its game very much in fact the original Mass Effect received almost zero media coverage prior to launch, but now that Bioware has been purchased by EA something has to give right? Well two years prior to the launch of Mass Effect 2 a 30 sec teaser trailer was shown as the official announcement for the game and it caused a huge internet uproar. Months before the launch you can not visit a site without some kind of Mass Effect 2 video and video game site are filled with the game's coverage. It was a hype train that stretched longer than the great wall. But in the end Bioware did live up to that hype where many others would have failed.

38. Crysis (2007)
-developer: Crytek

Some called this a Tech demo and others called this the greatest first person shooter ever made, whatever you take away from playing Crysis or the inability of playing it is that Crysis was way ahead of its time in terms of Graphics and Tech. No game has ever pushed boundary between virtual and reality as far as Crysis has and like I said its a shame its so ahead of its time because 3 years of its initial launch its still almost impossible to play Crysis on HD resolution with highest possible setting and Frame rates.

37. Tribes (1998)
-developer: Dynamix

Speaking of ahead of its time back in 1998 Tribes was truly revolutionary in its team based game play with guns that shoots Frisbee, jet packs and player controlled turrets. We see those interesting game play elements in many of today's acclaimed FPS such as Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 but this was almost 13 years ago with 3D graphics still in its infancy.

36. MechWarrior (1989)
-developer: Dynamix

It just seems that big customizable robot duking it out with each other makes a perfect sense for a good video game...today. Then you look at the date for the original Mechwarrior, its almost shocking that 20 years ago Dynamix made that popular Mech simulation that no one today could duplicate, talk about being ahead of its time and feeling like I have been repeating myself.

35. PlanetSide (2003)
-developer: Sony

Believe or not Sony made a lot of games back in the day, especially online MMOs so you could say that Sony foresaw something in the MMO genre but unfortunately MMOs are a very niche genre and very expensive to develop so one small error it could be its a goner, sometimes even good MMOs have a hard time staying alive. Planetside remains a special game in many ways that its one of a few FPS MMOs and one of a few that incorporates Sci-Fi elements.

34. Command of Conquer (2005)
-developer: Westwood Studio

Real Time Strategy games and PC are like Bread and Butter. Command and Conquer is one of the most recognizable RTS series out there, it single handily made RTS what it is today and popular among gamers. Since then the C & C series have sprouted into many different games ranging from Sci-Fi to realistic to god knows what but one thing it has retained is the same great epic game play from day one.

33. Alien Vs. Predator (1999)
-developer: Rebellion

Most of the time games that are made from movies suck, there is no other way to say it. But once in a new moon movie based games that turns out so good Hollywood decides to turn the game into a movie and that is exactly what happened with AVP. A game with two biggest Sci-Fi monsters on screen going head to head in a game except this time the game is good and the movies suck. You get to play all three factions and get exact feeling you would expect from playing. As predator you feel mighty and powerful and sometimes invincible, as an Alien you feel like a deadly monster prowling in the shadow, and as a marine you feel helpless. The atmosphere was dead on in the game as it was in the movies.

32. Homeworld (1999)
-developer: Relic Entertainment

Majestic. Soulful. Atmospheric. Downbeat. Not words we usually associate with strategy games. Homeworld is different. It is the only strategy game on this list that manages to create a mood other than euphoria or tension. Homeworld is important not just because of its mechanics, not just because it was the first time players asked to control vast fleets in space. It was important because it made our battles matter.

31. Grim Fandango (1998)
-developer: Lucas Arts

Damn Lucas Arts again? Well the truth is without designer Tim Schaffer there would be no Lucas Arts and now that he is gone I am right, Lucas Arts has turned into shit. This classic adventure game is one of the greatest game ever made not just on PC, but saying it is does not do it justice. It had many firsts in a game, one of first great 3D game, one of the first game that the character would actually look at the direction of the NPC that he is talking to, and one of the first where you will engage in a conversation in a style of conversation tree to learn more about the story and progress...strange this all sounds like one of my current favorite game Mass Effect, and speaking of Mass Effect.

30. Mass Effect (2007)
-developer: Bioware

The game had very little fanfare at the time of the release, it was a launch game for a new console where everyone had doubts about the game being able to sell, it was a game that was condemned to fail by bitter fanboys because Bioware refused to do a sequel to Knights of the Old Republic and lastly it was going to fail because critics said you couldnt combine Sci-Fi, tactical shooter and a Western RPG in one game. In the end the game was not perfect but it had a certain charm that you just want to love it and play it again and again. It definitely is not one of Bioware's best games but it sure is one of their most lovable franchise today.

Top 50 PC games of all time. 50-41

2010-04-21T10:02:00.011-04:00

Now that I am back in the PC gaming world it is only natural to look back at the all the great games made for the PC platform. Today PC exclusives are almost an oxymoron as developers desperately want that piece of the console pie that is known as the mass market. Game industry has changed it is no longer a niche market and while most indie companies still chooses PC as its starting point, most big name developer have profits in mind.

50. Flight Simulator X (2006)

-developer: Microsoft Game Studio

Its rare seeing a quality game from Microsoft Game Studio, or any game for that matter but the flight sim series that started in 1982 is truly the best aircraft simulation game on the market. It has won numerous awards and held the test of time as Microsoft tends to push out a new one every a few years to update its engine. If you want to virtually pilot a plane across the country as realistic as possible, then this game is it.

49. Sim City 2000 (1993)

-developer: Maxis

Lets be honest, there are a lot of sim city games and I could have easily picked anyone of them but this is the first one that had all the details modern sim city games would have. All the cool buildings to build, a neighboring city to trade with and entertaining newspaper to read. It felt like a real live city that is in control of you hands.

48. The Sims (2000)

-developer: Maxis

Okay so there are a lot of simulation games on the PC and that genre was a big part of PC game back in the day. They are usually huge in size, expensive in the details and well played best with a keyboard and mouse. Lastly they were almost all made by Maxis. The sims let you live a virtual life from day to day stand point in a customized neighborhood. Like your real life does not suck enough you have to endure the same issues in this virtual life like getting married, eating, sleeping and even go to bathroom for godsakes. But overall its another step toward virtual life style like many other simulation games.

47. Grand Theft Auto (1997)

-developer: Rockstar

Before all the controversies and news reports Rockstar North made a little niche game on PC called Grand Theft Auto. It was nice little game that allowed you to run around in couple of the city streets killing pedestrians and fighting cops. It was a pretty violent game even back then but it never was very realistic and popular in a sense that not many people knew about Rockstar or this PC game. The game later was ported to PS1 and Gameboy but as far as I know the franchise started this crusade against violent video games started on PC.

46. Need for Speed (1994)

-developer: EA

This was a time when EA still made games rather than just buying bunch other game studios and destroy their games. Need for Speed was one of the first big time racing game on the PC with realistic cars and realistic mechanics. Nowadays every other game allows you to drive a dream car but back then this was the one and only that had cars like a Lambo or Porsche. It eventually sprouted into many other different versions of Need speed and with time just like every other EA franchise, it turned into shit.

45. Star Wars TIE fighter (1994)

-developer: Totally Games

Space dog fights and Star Wars, what could go wrong with that concept? Actually it goes wrong quit often for Star Wars related games. But this wasn't one of them as the game was very balanced on the game play and the Star Wars setting helped its cause as well. Several things such as the HUD and flight mechanics made it feel very real like what piloting a TIE fighter in Star Wars would feel like. It also helps that you are playing as the bad guys.

44. Monkey Island 2 (1991)

-developer: Lucas Arts

Its unthinkable that studios like Lucas Arts and EA used make games, and good ones at that. The secrete of Monkey Island is one of the most acclaimed point and click adventure game series on PC, it had good action and puzzles and it was one of the first to pave the way for this genre on PC. I mean think about it, how hard would it to play a point and click adventure game on a console?

43. Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)

-developer: Microprose

this game should probably be rated a lot higher on this list but most gamers today don't even know about this game or who Sid Meier is. He is a legend in PC gaming and this game is the first game with a open ended world with non-linear story line. Today games like that is like a given but Pirates is the first to pave that road making action/adventure game focus on a good experience overall rather than the shallow go through a corridor and kill everything that moves types of game it had been to that point.

42. Call of Duty (2003)

-developer: Infinity Ward

At a time when PC gaming seemed to be defined and only defined by its vast and unoriginal backlogs of First Person Shooters, Activision decided it was necessary to make another one and based on the overly done WWII theme none the less. Well it went head on with the popular Battlefield Franchise from EA and it was truly a battle of the Titans, not the two games but the two corporation that made gaming into a business rather than entertainment. Its hard to say who has won in the end after about 80 billion literation of both franchises but they sure have made their mark in gaming history, good or bad.

41. Dawn of War (2004)

-developer: Relic Entertainment

Warhammer is one of the oldest PC fantasy setting and Dawn of War is one of the most acclaimed real time strategy games on PC but you cant help but feel that they have been overshadowed by someone else doing exactly the same thing. I am not here to argue who stole whos idea but its hard to dismiss the similarities between Warcraft with Warhammer and Dawn of War with Starcraft. However we can all agree Relic is still that same niche PC developer from day one that makes incredible RTS games.

Game Review: The Witcher enhanced edition director's cut

2010-04-15T09:31:00.004-04:00

The witcher is a series of fantasy short stories written by the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski about the witcher Geralt of Rivia. The books were published in the early 90's in Poland and never had an English version until recently, and the books were actually quite popular in Europe and eventually had a big screen adaptation along with a TV series. The setting is much like other high fantasy stories such as Lord of the Rings, and this made it perfect for a video game.

Polish rookie developer CD projekt started designing the game in 2004 utilizing the then popular Aurora Engine from Bioware. It was their first game ever release but being that the Aurora Engine was very well designed and had pretty much all the coding in place it is only fair to view this game not as a debut effort and a quaility western RPG going head on with the likes of Bioware's own games.

The original Witcher was released in 2007, and the enhanced edition smoothed out many of the bugs with updated graphics. Later the director's cut version was added for the US to uncensored all things considered to be too risqué for America.

-Story

Much of the story is told through the opening cinema before the games main menu but it still doesn't tell you a whole lot about the witcher. The game itself starts right off without any background stories, I guess the developers really expect you to read the books. You really only learn small pieces of the background story and who you really are much later in the game so for those who don't know the witcher story you are left out in the dark trying to figure out what is going on. This is unlike any of the Bioware's games as they tend to be very story heavy, not to the extend where the game is shoving unwanted info in your face but definitely not like the witcher where you are thrown into the dark.

The story of the witcher or from what I gather in game and wikipedia is that the witcher is a secrete organization of monster slayers for hire, they go through special trainings at a young age where they go through a series of mutations making them stronger and tougher. They are also looked down upon by some people since they are mutants. Geralt who is the main character of the story is a cold bastard who doesn't display a lot of emotions and seems to be only occupied with killing for gold. At the beginning of the game he loses his memory and is on the verge of dying until he is revived by the fellow witchers, and then the witchers base is attacked by a group of mysterious assassins known as the salamandra. They steal a sacred witcher artifact where you will attempt to recover through out the game while trying to get your memories back. Over all its another high fantasy themed story but its slightly different this time with some European flavors.

-Game Play

The game play is quite interesting unlike any other Bioware games. First of all you will not have any party members at all, the whole game you control Geralt. So right off the bat there is no party macro management that is famous in some of the Bioware's games such as Baldur's gate and Dragon age. And since there are no party members another Bioware trait is out of the window; the ability to gather interesting background stories from your party members by repeatedly talking to them and slowly influencing them ala character development. There is not to say the witcher doesn't have its share of interesting support characters but they are nothing like a proper Bioware game. For example you meet a group of interesting witchers in the beginning but that was just the tutorial and you will never see them again until the end of the game. The story itself however is like pen and paper RPG in many western RPGs where you go through the story in the style of conversation and different choices will have different consequences.

The combat is quite different too as all Bioware games utilize the dungeons and dragons formula implementing what is known as dice roll or random number generator. This game plays more like an action game where the pause function is still intact but you really dont need it for any tactical reasons. You have two swords one for human and the other is for monsters, with each sword you get three styles suited for heavy, agile, and group enemies, and the rest if like hack and slash with some timing involved.

The rest of the game play are pretty standard for an RPG, you have your stats and potions. Run around killing/gathering for this quest and that trying to advance in the story. One thing different is that the game does have day and night and some events will only happen in the day while others only happen at the night.

overall I think the game play is pretty simple but enjoyable enough that you don't really missed the hardcore tactical stuff that Bioware tends to put in their RPGs.

-Presentation

Like I said the game uses the Aurora Engine that was made in 2004 so it looks a little outdated today very similar to Neverwinter Nights 2 which is also an Aurora game. There are a few places you visit through out the game but they aren't huge open areas where you can explore unlike some other RPG games such as Elder Scrolls series made by Bethesda where its a totally free roam open sandbox type of game. So in this regard the game follows closely to Bioware's footsteps as Bioware games are not known for huge open explorations either. The game play takes around 60 hours to finish so by no means is this a short game.

Oh and last but not least it wont be a proper Bioware influenced game without talking about sex scenes. Throughout the game there are subtle hints that the witchers are not only this league of mutants for hire but they also show up and take all your women. This was pretty apparent in the game as almost all female NPCs that you can actually talk to, you will have a chance to...plow. One second you are having a normal conversation about the weather and next second you know you are banging the bejesus out of her. Maybe its a thing with the European women, I don't really know or it just comes with it being a European product.

-Conclusion

Overall the witcher is an above average RPG that was build on a well established RPG engine but its still a game worth checking out for all RPG fans out there. The story is kind of disappointing and the game play is a bit on the simple side but its still a fun game, besides sometimes you just don't want to play a hardcore RPG like Dragon Age.

With the Witcher 2 on the horizon and a brand new engine at work I am truly excited to see what improvements CD projekt can bring in this exciting second chapter.

Obey Standing Cat

2010-04-10T09:11:00.001-04:00

Trololo Cat

2010-03-31T13:02:00.006-04:00

Turn your sound up and enjoy!

The Harrowing Tale of Building my New PC or: How I Learned to Love the Newegg Part 1

2010-03-26T09:00:00.004-04:00

The tale begins several weeks ago when I ordered the pieces to build my ultimate PC. This thing was going to be a monster, 2x HD 5970's, an i7 930, and 3x 1920x1080 Dell Professional 22" monitors in an Eyefinity configuration.

I ordered everything but the monitors from Newegg.com, which doesn't carry Dell. I decided to purchase the monitors directly from Dell's website. The first clue that this wasn't going to go as planned was after I ordered from Dell, they had a 'build time' in addition to processing, shipping, etc. Turns out they weren't kidding about this build time, 3 weeks after I ordered from them, the monitors were still being built. If I would have ordered from anywhere (not the case as I would find out) else I would have those monitors on my porch in a week. Not only were they being "built", they had no estimated ship date and no other information on their order page, so as far as I could tell they took my money and had no intention of shipping those monitors any time soon.

Nearly 4 weeks after the initial order, they finally updated the order status page to say they would be shipping in 3 weeks with a shipping time of 1 week. Thats 2 months to get a couple monitors shipped to my house. So I called Dell, told them that was unacceptable and canceled my order. I planned on either buying comparable products from Newegg or buying those monitors from some other retailer.

I managed to find the exact same monitors for sale at Buy.com. I quickly ordered them Friday night and hoped to have them plugged in next Friday night. Well Monday came and went, and their status page showed they were still processing. As I left work at 5pm Tuesday I checked the status page and they still had not shipped. If I had more time I probably would have canceled the order and crawled back to Newegg to get some Samsung's. But I get home and there is a voicemail from Buy.com requesting that I call and confirm my shipping address. Peeved, I call the number and of course I get the person's voicemail so I left a message hung up. Why do they even ask for the damn shipping address online if they are just going to call and ask for it again? Wednesday comes and goes, and still the order has not shipped. I wait for my lunch break on Thursday and call the guy back just itching for a fight, but thankfully the order had finally shipped.

You would think that if Buy.com wanted to get a loyal Newegg customer on their side they would try to make the purchase as painless as possible. Instead, an online retailer decides to call to confirm an address. They only made me type my address twice, and its on file with the credit card, I can't understand the reason they had to call other than to delay the order and to make sure I never use them again for my online purchases. If it were Newegg, those monitors would have been there Thursday at the latest, instead they weren't even shipped until Thursday.

This concludes Part 1, stay tuned for Part 2 where I reveal stunning new developments! (such as how I screwed up my motherboards for 2 weeks)

new rig is finally here

2010-03-14T20:16:00.003-04:00

It has been awhile since I got a new computer last time, in fact it was more like 6 years ago where I was forced to get a new computer for school because the computer I had prior to that was so ancient it was literally falling apart. So as you can see I like to put stuff off as long as humanly possible and sometimes I just feel if it aint broke why fix it.

But time has come and I realize I must part from the Gateway computer that served me well in browsing the internet, typing word documents and play casual games. In fact I realized this probably a year ago when that good old pentium 4 started to go into overdrive just from watching an HD video on youtube. However I managed to put it off for another 6 months after that but now I have finally got enough in me to pull the trigger in buying a new rig, and here are the specs:

Case: Antec 900

Motherboard: EVGA X58 SLI

Processor: Intel Core i7 920

Graphics Card: MSI Geforce GTX 260

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 750gb

Ram: Corsair DDR3 1066 6gb

PSU: Antec True power 750 watts

CPU fan: Zalman 120mm LED

Monitor: Asus VH222H 22inch 1080P

DVD: Sony Optiarc

OS: Windows 7 home premium 64bit

This is my first custom built rig and to answer your question yes it can play Crysis. I am still working out the bugs since windows 7 is somewhat different from XP and I haven't really put the rig in any sort of gaming tests yet although I did tried to play the new racing game Dirt 2 and was getting 100 fps on 1920x1080. More updates coming soon.

ehh whats up doc?

2010-02-28T12:27:00.003-05:00

Who says doctors only cure people through medicines, surgeries, physical therapy or any other conventional means? I know a pair of doctors specializes in curing boredom of all nerds through out the world.

In 1995, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk are your two average medical doctors in Canada. Like many before them they went through many grueling years of medical school at University of Alberta, and heavily in debt like also like many before them they would either start working in a hospital somewhat or open a clinic somewhere. That's exactly what they did.

But there is something odd about these two doctors, who went to med school together and have been friends forever. One could almost say their doctors by day and something else by night...just exactly what are these recently graduate doctors think they are doing? It goes back to when Ray and Greg were in still in school that they like many other nerds before them had secrete hobbies of computer gaming. They even went as far as dreaming about becoming game programmers but with very little knowledge in programming and heavily invested in medical future they could only suppress those thoughts.

Its 1995 again, Ray and Greg are happily working in a clinic but something is not right, something is missing in their life. They started to borrow money everywhere, maxing out their credit cards and said fuck it...you only live once. With that as motivation they started to hire whatever computer programmers they can find only to promise them payments of glory and not cash. It is cold day of February in Canada and Ray and Greg officially started with own company. This company is solely built on two young guy's dreams and a lot others dedication that one day they would make something out of themselves. Many would say that they were crazy, and I would too. But they were brave enough to believe in their life goals and if you were dedicated enough and you can achieve anything.

It is 2010, Dr. Muzyka and Dr.Zeschuk are still Medical Doctors who makes millions a year but not from practice of medicine but from their shares of stocks and paycheck made to them from Electronic Arts Corporation. Yes now Ray and Greg has sold their company they co-founded back in 1995 to EA but they still have full control of the everyday operations, and they are also been name Vice Presidents of EA's role-playing department.

Yes Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk are your one of only doctors that cure boredom with their unique creation of video games. By the way the company that they co-founded plays a big part for EA and has made many many award winning games for the past decade, you can go as far as to say its one of the most respected video game developer in the industry. And this came from two doctors that like to play games in their spare time who knew nothing about programming...only to create what is know as Bioware Corporation today.

Top Ten iPhone Apps

2010-02-28T12:09:00.004-05:00

So people love top ten lists and thats why I decided to make this post. I will list what I think the top ten iPhones apps are as of late February 2010. I will determine this based on how innovative the app is, how well polished the app is, and most importantly how often I use the app.

10. Amazon Mobile (free) - Allows the user to quickly search Amazon, compare prices, read reviews, and easily make purchases. The interface is very well made and gives you access to your wishlist, cart, payment and shipping options, and order history.
9. iHandy Tip Calculator (free) - A fast and visually pleasing tip calculator, there are many but this one is very easy to use. It supports splitting the bill with many people and plays nice with tax.
8. eBuddy (free) - A chat client that works with just about everything. What else is there to say? It can keep you logged in too even after you close the program.
7. Relax Lite (free) - A hypnotism app with an amazing speaker that will put you in a calm relaxed state. Perfect for sleeping or just having a rest.
6. Flickr (free) - The official Flickr app allow you to upload multiple pictures to your account and to view your page as well as the page of other users.
5. Bump (free) - Allows you to share contact information, pictures, files with other users by bumping your phone together. You can now even instantly become facebook friends using it.
4. PS Mobile (free) - Allows you to edit and crop photos, apply filters and borders to them, as well as other manipulation. A first rate program, amazing that its free.
3. Brushes ($4.99) - A painting application that allows you to do deep zoom, have multiple layers, use different brushes etc. Basically any amazing painting made on the iPhone was made with this program.
2. To Do's (free) - A simple to-do list. I like how its quick and easy to use, simple to see but has a field for extra details if you need it. Great for keeping you life in order.

And the most useful app is:

1. Echofon (free) - A great Twitter client that helps everyone keep up to speed with what you are doing. It allows for Geo-tagging posts, photo upload, and allows you to access most of your Twitter profile account info.

And just to trick you I will throw in an honorable mention. That being the BeeTag Pro app (free). This app will scan QR, Beetagg, and Datamatrix codes for you. It also allows you to add them into your favorites and has a fast and responsive interface. You can also use pictures from your photo gallery. Id love to add this into the top 10 but truthfully I have not been able to use it much.

You might notice I didn't list any games. While they can be a fun distraction for a couple minutes there are really no games that keep me hooked or interested. I would much rather use the internet, read the news, Twitter, and check my calendar. These I feel are much more rewarding activities.

OtterBox Impact Case Review

2010-02-28T10:30:00.005-05:00

I just thought I would do a quick review on my iPhone's protective case. I chose the OtterBox impact case because it comes from a well known a respected company (name brand value) and due to the many positive reviews I read praising the case. Also the case was in my price range and came with a "free" screen protector. So for less than $15 you can get a nice iPhone case and a good high quality clear screen protector. Quite a bargain.

Pros:
-Protects phone well with extra material to protect the vulnerable corners of the phone
-Provides protection to the front of the phone in case a drop lands it screen side down
-Attractive design which leaves the Apple logo uncovered through a portal
-Low price
-Covers the power button, volume rocker, and home button
-Has precise cutouts for light sensor, silence key, camera, and input/power jack and speakers
-Easy to put on, material wont damage your phone like a hard shell might
-Provides perfect grip for phone so it wont slide off table or out of your hand

Cons:
-Only comes in black or white
-Material of case make it a little hard to get in and out of your pocket
-A little lint can get stuck to the cases material
-Not free

So that pretty much sums it up. You can probably tell I think its an awesome case and I would definitely
recommend it. The few cons there are about the phone are not too bad and can easily be overlooked in my opinion. If you absolutely need a case that can slide in and out of your pocket easily then I would recommend the OtterBox Commuter TL case which is also a gel case but has a hard plastic back attachment to it which would allow it to slide better. The downside of this case is that the home button isn't protected, the front isn't as well protected, and its a few dollars more. But it also looks like a great case.

Comparisons: Part 2

2010-02-25T13:22:00.004-05:00

Please read part 1 here http://therealyawningcat.blogspot.com/2010/02/comparisons-part-1.html

After careful examination the Original Mass Effect comes out as the better game in both Story and Music, but those are not all that make or break a game even though they are the two most important categories in a Bioware game.

-Game Play

Now this is perhaps the biggest difference between the two games as they have several game play aspects that are drastically different. Therefore I will break them down into sub-categories.
1). Both games as Tactical Third Shooter. Now I wouldn't say the first game was bad in terms of game play but it was definitely weak at best. There is really no tactical values in any of the fights, even at insanity difficulty you could run around like a mad man and just hold down the trigger, granted that you have gotten all the best items in the game. At that point there is really no reason to cover or command your squad or do anything remotely tactical, because you basically turn into a boss yourself. In Mass Effect 2 all these have been changed. Guns feel more realistic with ammo clips and recoil so even if you have the best weapon you still cant keep on firing like a total badass. Squad command plays a bigger part too as in general the game feels a lot more difficult than the first because the gun changes. Your teammates play a vital role in your survival especially on insanity and they are not just target dummies. All in all gun play in Mass Effect 2 feels a lot more polished like a real tactical shooter such as Gears of War. These apply to all the powers in the game as well, just like guns powers this time around feel a lot more useful and cool.

2). Items. A lot of people are going to disagree on this one as getting different items from your enemy is as big as the actual role playing in a role playing game. And to put it in a simple way, the first game had tons and tons of different items and guns and the second had about handful of guns and one armor with a few different body parts (no im not counting the bullshit armors you get from different DLCs). But the first game had horrible item management system, and most people that played the first game would remember the horrors of sorting through hundreds of useless shit in their inventory and spending hours and hours just to do so. Now the second game everything is simplified where everyone share the handful of weapons that you can research to upgrade them a few times. This effectively got rid of the whole inventory system and you no longer have one. Now I don't know about you but I enjoy the customization and item management part of a RPG and what Bioware did in both games to me are two extreme measures, and I just hope they can find a medium in the third game.

3). Role Playing. Now in all honesty Mass Effect is not the most complex RPG out there. The character customization, the stats, the classes are all very simple like Bioware's previous title Star wars knights of the old republic. But what in the Sam hell would someone simplify something that is already this simple? It's impossible right? Well thats exactly what Bioware did with Mass Effect 2, simplify it even further. Now you can hardly call it a RPG where characters have less than half of the stats they had in the first game. Class roles might be more define in the second game however because the class powers now are more effective but there are just too many of the same/similar classes in your party.

4). Side quests. The best way to describe the side quests in the first game would be tedious. Driving around in your mako in all these cut and past planets and kill bunch people in yet more cut and paste buildings are not exactly fun, they are more like pointless diversion to the main game. Now the second game got rid of all that driving and basically makes you scan the planets for resources which now are used to upgrade stuff and no longer useless. Also the side missions comes from scanning as well, where you find some signals and land in a building to retrieve something or kill some baddies. In another word much more variety and less pointless repetitive bullshit.

In the end I have to give this one to Mass Effect 2 just because the much improve on the shooting and questing.

-Presentation

This is another important category for a Bioware game. Again sever sub-categories are needed.

1). Graphics. Now when you first look at Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 there isn't really much graphical differences besides the artistic theme and tone. And there shouldn't since both use the same Unreal 3 engine. But underneath all of it the first Mass Effect is plagued with Unreal 3 problems when not used right. Stuff like pop up textures and drastic frame rate drops are just a few to name that comes up in the original Mass Effect. In the sequel however Bioware promised better control of the engine and boy did they deliver. The frame rate is now butter smooth and with no apparent texture pop ups. Therefore Mass Effect 2 feels like a better looking game without really being better in such a way.

2). Cast. Bioware has been known for getting amazing voice casts in their game and Mass Effect is no different. First game has probably best voices in a game that I have played so far. So how can you best that? How about hire some big name actors and make this into one of the most expensive cast in a video game ever. That's exactly what Bioware did as they hired the likes of Martin Sheen, Adam Baldwin, Carrie Ann Moss, Simon Templeton, Yvonne Strahovski, Tricia Helfner and more. It's truly mind blowing the amount of money they spent on such small part of a game to make something perfect.

This one goes to Mass Effect 2 as well.

Ok so now the score is tied at 2, it leaves me with that last and the most important category in a Bioware game to settle. Just which game is better? This is it.

-Sex Scene

It just won't be a Bioware game without a proper sex scene that will cause all kinds of problems in the media. whether that's blue alien sex in Mass Effect or Gay sex in Dragon age Origins you can bet it will be tastefully done. Now in the original Mass Effect the scene last about 30 seconds where all you see is half of a bare ass, and the choice is limited to a blue alien or a human so nothing extreme. In Mass Effect 2 however you have a lot more choices and bigger variety of aliens that you can sex up. Most of the scenes are pretty tame as well and only the one with lead female protagonist is somewhat...interesting. See my previous post of a video on some of the scenes in Mass Effect 2 here: http://therealyawningcat.blogspot.com/2010/02/fox-news-mass-effect-scandal.html
I just love that 80s porno music they put in that video (not actual game music).

-Final Word

In the end I just have to give it to Mass Effect 2. It improved on almost every aspect of the first game. Maybe its somewhat dumbed down but that's just the trend today in order to sell more games. I can only hope that Bioware can do the series justice by deliver the best conclusion in the final chapter.

This also effectively ends my coverages of Mass Effect 2.

iPhone 3G Review

2010-02-24T12:28:00.007-05:00

What a difference a smart phone has made in my life, let me tell you. The iPhone is basically like a miniature computer that fits in your pocket. You can do almost anything on it. Checking email, browsing the web, using its ton of apps. Its the perfect mobile accessory. Sure there are other phones out there which have better specifications but the iPhone has the app store which has an almost limitless number of things to download. Also if a company is going to make an app you can bet it will be available for the iPhone. Thats just the industry standard. The phone looks great and is very thin. And for things such as the calendar and email I can sync them wirelessly with my computer which makes things really easy for me. All this for $99 is an awesome deal.

The downside of having a smart phone with a data plan is the plan fees. Expect about $70-$80 a month per person. Although now that I have a smart phone it would be hard to imagine not having one anymore. Equivalent to turning off the internet in ones home I imagine.

It would also be nice if the iPhone 3G had a higher mega pixel camera, video, and a flash. But for $99 you can accept those sacrifices. In fact the simple camera that comes with the 3G works surprisingly well and you can get some really realistic and artistically beautiful pictures with it. I think lacking all of the fancy features of modern digital cameras, such as zoom and flash etc, it works closer to that of a human eye. The phone is easy to use, awesome screen, and has nice eye candy while still being responsive. One of my favorite things about the phone is the little "click" sounds it makes as you press each key while you are typing on its on-screen keyboard. Its a very addicting sound.

The phone also comes with apple headphones which has a built in mic. This was a surprise to me. The mic works extremely well and people on the other end of the call can hear you normally. This is a big bonus to me as I always wanted a mic that worked well and was wired. I plan to stay away from the bluetooth head sets that give you brain cancer. So far I think my favorite apps are the different utility apps you can download. Such as apps to see what stores are around you, to-do lists, translation tools, photo manipulation tools, etc. I also love the Brushes app which allows me to make drawings/painting on my iPhone and then email them to people or upload them onto my Twitter page. So in conclusion I love my iPhone. The only problem now is I'm hooked on smart phones and I want to try them all out.

product review: Logitech 250 Keyboard

2010-02-22T20:16:00.003-05:00

When you think of computer parts in terms of importance first things that pop in your head is probably the CPU, the PSU or even the VGA if you are a gamer, but rarely do you think of the input devices such as the keyboard. The truth is keyboard is probably the part where most people spend the least amount of money and research when it comes buying parts. Sure there are the hardcore that will spend over a hundred dollars on a gaming keyboard but to me a good keyboard should not cost more than 30 dollars.

Today I bring you the review of Logitech internet 250 usb keyboard.

-Pros

At first glance the 250 is a very ordinary looking keyboard. Its almost entirely rectangle and slight curves on the two bottom corners. This is the perfect look for me personally as I don't like keyboards that are huge with weird ass shapes like my previous Gateway keyboard or the smallish ones with the boarder cut off like the ones Dell tend to have. Its also built with very sturdy plastic with nice matted finish, and it also feels a lot heavier than the larger Gateway keyboard I had. So what I'm trying to say is the 250 feels very eloquent and not cheap even though it cost under 15 dollars.

The keys are also located at the right places in right sizes. This is a plus for me as you don't how frustrating it can be when some of the supposedly more expensive board have irregular keys that you have to look and search to hit. The keys also feel very firm and very quiet, although I do not know if this board is suppose to have quiet keys as it is not one of the features listed.

Lastly I like a simple keyboard. I don't want a board clustered with useless hot keys that I will never use such as the internet button, or the email button. Like I will ever use MS outlook besides at work. The 250 is very simple, beside all the necessary keys it doesn't have one extra function keys.

-Cons

Well I really only have one con with this board. The "legs" at the back of the board doesn't stand up very high so even with them opened the board seems to sit a lot more flat than most other boards out there. This has caused some serious wrist discomfort for me even just by typing this short review.

-Final Word

Logitech is really the only brand I choose when it comes to PC keyboards as they have always made quality ones no matter if its the 14 dollar 250 or the over 100 dollar gaming G19. But in my opinion they are used in the same way and perform the same way. The little advantage you gain by having a G19 compare to the price you pay is definitely not worth it, now if we are talking about mice then its a different story.

TV show review

2010-02-22T09:36:00.003-05:00

I don't watch a lot of TV so this is all new territory for me, but what the hell we do all kinds of other reviews on this blog so I decided there is first for everything. Like I said I don't watch a lot of TV so a show has approximately 5 minutes to grab my attention before I move on.

It is incredible the amount of garbage Hollywood puts on TV therefore it is hard for people to sort through all of them and find that good TV show to watch. A couple of TV shows that I like such as House, Top Gear or Family Guy either challenge you intellectually or are very funny and unique. And being that huge nerd that I also enjoy the likes of Battlestar Galactica. Well the thing is watching TV is suppose to be an entertainment and sometimes you just don't want to think too hard to get a laugh or be entertained. Recently I did just that when I started watching the show "Chuck".

-Plot

Chuck Bartowski is a 20 some year old video game nerd that works at a Buy More store as a Nerd Herd(parody of Best Buy and its Geek Squad) with his best friend Morgan. He also lives with his sister Ellie and her boyfriend Captain Awesome, both are doctors.

Chuck receives an e-mail from his Stanford roommate Bryce Larkin, who he hates for kicking him out of Stanford and stealing his then girlfriend, but now is apparently a rogue agent. The e-mail contains the entire database of US government secretes embedded in various images and after Chuck opens it, it is now embedded in his brain. The NSA sends out Major John Casey and the CIA sends out special agent Sarah Walker to retrieve the date, code name "intersect".

The story continues from there where both Casey and Walker are eventually assigned to protect Chuck, and Chuck would help them on various missions with his now new found ability to "flash" and get information when certain things triggers it. The show is all about Chuck trying to balance his nerd life at Buy more and his secrete life working with two spies. He also has to pretend everything is normal at Buy More and with his friend while on this pretend relationship with Sarah.

-Cast

Chuck is played by Zach Levi who strangely looks like Zach Braff from Scrubs. He does a pretty good job playing a computer nerd although I'm sure if he got a hair cut he could look like a male model, but otherwise he plays a loser quite well.

Sarah Walker is played by a little known Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski. I didn't even know who she was until I played Mass Effect 2, which she models and voices the lead female protagonist. But she does good enough job to play as a CIA spy and fake girlfriend of Chuck.

Major John Casey is played by Adam Baldwin who really is the star of the show. I love him as the insane animal mother machine gunner in Full Metal jacket and a ruthless assassin in the show Serenity. He seems to be made for these kind of roles, the hardcore killer type. He also played a minor role in Mass Effect 2.

-Entertainment value

The show is like a pure nerds' wet dream. Nerd by day and spy by night, working with perhaps one of the hottest CIA agent on the planet doesn't hurt either. But I have to say its pretty entertaining and grabbed my attention rather quickly, maybe I was just bored. But you can't deny the funny moments in the show and the awkward relationship between Chuck and Sarah combined with Casey's angry grunting, it makes a pretty good show. With all kind of crap on TV today I found the show watchable and maybe just for a few cheap laughs but that's all you can ask for from Hollywood today.

-Final word

I'm somewhat of a nerd so maybe thats why I like the show, but maybe not, maybe I'm jut looking a something to entertaining in general and show did its job. It was almost canceled before season 3 due to low ratings but think the target audience of the show, the late teen to 20 something nerds, they are never going to watch it on TV but rather online somewhere. But what do I know I'm not paid millions to figure it out, the geniuses at NBC know what they are doing...right? Just ask Conan O'brien.

Comparisons, part 1

2010-02-15T21:35:00.004-05:00

Now that Mass Effect 2 is behind us I want to put the original Mass Effect and the sequel side by side and do a comprehensive comparison just to put things in perspective. Which game is the better RPG? Which is the better game overall? Which game had more cultural influence?(lol foxnews) And most importantly what will we see in Mass Effect 3 and future games from Bioware.

-Story

I have to give this one to the original Mass Effect. The story was on a epic proportion with Bioware creating a universe with living, breathing creatures that are so real you could easily believed in it. The Sci-Fi setting is nothing new in the genre but it was very well done with the struggle of good and evil and a greater evil lurking in the shadows. It was a story that you know it was on a grand scale as soon as you start the game and with very few others like it, it is also one that you can say "wow I'm going to dream about this one for awhile!" You also cared very much about every character in the game, major or minor. Shepard immediately establish him/her as a larger than life, badass heroic figure no matter how you wish to play. But you also cared for all the party members, their back stories and what make them go. That has always been a Bioware way, which make you continuously talk to your group as game progresses to slowly reveal more about them. But that's not all, to me a great story not only has to have a recognizable hero but also has to have a good villain. The original Mass Effect have that with the hated Saren but as the game goes it is also slowly revealed things about Saren that might make some people feel sympathetic toward him. In short, I liked the story of Original Mass Effect a lot, I will even say its probably one of Bioware's best work ever.

Now the second game follows the first game in many traditional ways, but in the end you feel like something is lacking. Like the story has lost its identity, its backbone or its soul. The universe is as good as ever but why does my gut feeling tell me that the first game is so much better? Well I'm here to look at the smallest details. First unlike the original game you are not as involved in the Galatic affair. Sounds cheesy but now it feels empty, the game is alot larger but you dont care for the other alien races, they don't have anything that interests you, it is more about humanity in the second game. So in a way Bioware was able to physically increase the size of the galaxy but somehow also makes the game feel...smaller in scale. Second you don't care about your party members. There is a lot more party members this time around but they are just not interesting. Most of them have little to no back story and it takes 2 or 3 times for them to spill their guts to you its almost ridiculous. These people are suppose to be criminals, assassins and terrorists if anything they should distrust you. Again making the game larger somehow had opposite effects. Last The game has no recognizable villain. The collectors might as well be faceless zombies. you don't feel anything toward them, there are little stories revealed about them as the game goes on. You go through the whole game to save humanity yet somehow you get this empty feeling in the end...is that normal?

-Music

Again I have to give this one to the original Mass Effect as well. One thing that made the first game so epic was the music. It was true to the Sci-fi opera setting in every way. I haven't felt this way since hearing the original Halo March music. Every time I hear the intro theme it gives me the goosebumps and the imagines of Mass Effect flashes vividly in front of my eyes, that to me is a sign of greatness. Here is the intro theme, I can tell you that the words Mass Effect pops on screen at about 1:01 (yes it brings tears to my eyes).

Now I have listened to the official track for Mass Effect 2 as well and by no means that its bad music but the reason I had to listen to the official track is well you just don't hear the music in game. Let me explain, the music is so tuned down that you don't even hear a hint of music through out, but that might just because the gameplay is so intense you don't notice the music...nah I checked. Funny thing is the first game had such an epic intro and the second game had no back ground music at all when the words Mass Effect 2 was shown on screen...yes I checked my speakers were working perfectly. However if you listen to the official tracks that you can see the music were used perfectly to portrait the dark theme of the second game, showing that trouble is looming. Here is the "intro" to Mass Effect 2.

But since you can't hear any of this great music in game, I will have to give it to the original game by default.

To be continued...

HE IS BACK!

2010-02-06T12:00:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I posted a video of Commander Shepard being a jerk in Mass Effect and now he is back and badder than ever. Here is him in Mass Effect2, being bad is just so much funnier than being good.

Fox news Mass Effect scandal

2010-02-05T10:36:00.002-05:00

Three years ago Fox News did a report on the corruption of the gaming industry claiming it uses sex to sell games to minors. The focus point of this attack was on the Bioware's infamous sex scene from Mass Effect. It was the worst display of biased news report I have ever seen as all reporters clearly did not play the game whats so ever claiming that the sex scene was what made the game. Even though the "sex scene" was about 30 sec of a 30 hour game that is tastefully done and showed next to nothing.

Well Bioware is back at it again in Mass Effect 2 and apparently they are back to their old tricks.

Video Games | Mass Effect 2 | *SPOILER* Hooking Up Montage HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Game Review: Mass Effect 2

2010-02-02T10:04:00.030-05:00

Over 40 perfect scores, over 2 million copies sold in under a week, already talked about as the Game of the Year and its only January, and yes I'm talking about the latest hit from Bioware.

All these perfect scores from respectable reviewers must mean the game is perfect right? And all this hype generated by EA also mean its the greatest game ever right? EA can't possibly lie to consumers with their...well less than reputable past, am I right? It's no secrete that I love most of Bioware's works, but seems its up to me to provide an unbiased review of the year's biggest hit.

-Story
With any Bioware games, Story is the first thing you look at. In Mass Effect 2 you are back in the shoes of Commander Shepard, first human spectre and elite soldier of the system alliance military. Herald by Bioware as the dark second chapter of the trilogy, it is said that ME 2 has the feel of an "Empire strike Back". To me the first Mass Effect grabbed your attention with the epic story of human advancement and the struggle with other Alien species. You learned rich background story on how human achieved all these in such a short time as well as various alien races and their history/culture. It was a large and very well crafted universe with many interesting tales. Oh then there is the epic struggle of evil and good where you chase down the rogue spectre Saren but slowly learns the bigger picture of the incoming doom. It probably wasn't anything that hasn't been done before but through Bioware's careful craft it turned out to be one of the most epic story in recent memory. Now Mass Effect 2 had a tall order to live up to the original game, and let me be straight forward here, it simply doesn't measure up to the scale.

At the beginning of the game Bioware gives a little scare where you might think you will not play as Shepard this time around but that soon was squandered as you again return in the role of a hero/villain trying to save the galaxy from a certain doom. However after that the story is somewhat...ordinary. Shepard is send to compose a team of assassins, criminals, and terrorists to go on this suicide mission in order to save mankind. It all sound good except thats all you do through out the entire game, you really don't get to the bigger picture on the threat or any the galaxy affairs. And gathering these people and gaining loyalty from them is as easy as 1, 2, 3. There is just not much back story with these people at all, granted that there are alot of party members but I don't feel attached to any them by the end of the day unlike the first game. So all in all I felt that they didn't have the right focus on things and it just didn't have the epic scale/feel of the first game. The first Mass Effect will have you revisit the story in your dreams, but this one, not so much.

-Game play
This is probably the biggest improvement over the first game. Bioware games have never been known for game play AS MUCH AS story telling and character development but the first Mass Effect was probably one of their worst. The game play felt clunky, over simplified and uninspiring compare to everything else in the game. Most of that have been over hauled with game playing much more like a third person shooter, closer to the gears of war pedigree. Fire fights last alot longer and more intense with few times where I was actually frustrated and overwhelmed. Another thing changed from the first game is the inventory system, where majority of people disliked. I however was not one of them, I actually liked the inventory management aspect of an RPG however it was kind of unrefined. So I was one that was saddened to see them scrap the whole thing rather than just refine the system. In ME 2 the inventory is gone where you will no long get any "loot" from enemies, and now you will occasionally get upgrade parts and where you will be upgrading in the ships lab to be used for everyone. This is seriously disappointing as loots are an integral part of an RPG. And this is not the only thing that they have done to make game play less like an RPG. Most of the talents are stripped away as everyone only has only 4 or 5 skills, I guess its a more obvious sign of the game moving to a shooter. One more change to the game play was the lack of exploring planets, now instead of exploring the cut and past planets for the useless resources you just scan them for the ship. Also the resources now play a part where as they are used to upgrade you weapons, armors and ship. And Because of this all the planets you do visit have a lot more variety so I guess its a welcome change. It seems Bioware were true to their words when they said they will take everyone's opinion in to factor on how to improve ME 2, maybe just a little too much.

-Graphics
The game has more of a darker tone compare to the first one, I guess to display the impending doom. Over all the game looks very much like the first one using the same Unreal Engine 3, however the frame rate is much much better in the game and there were no apparent textures pop ups. otherwise the game has the same crisp look with awesome character design and facial animation. So in the end graphically this game is much better than the first one. Voice acting is also superb as many big name actors are used in various roles. Its almost shocking the amount of famous actors are willing to do small roles in the game.

-Presentation
Mass Effect 2 display the story in the similar Bioware fashion with the epic cut scenes and rich dialog tree. Although there were less of each in this game compare to the first one, less movies and the dialogs are simpler. However keeping with the tone of the game the line separating good/evil is a lot more blurry than the first. I chose go with my Mass Effect 1 Shepard import on my first play through and doing so I set out to go with good path the entire game. However shockingly the good path required a decent amount of lying and cheating, and few times I also executed people. If you don't have a file to import from the first game then most major decisions from original Mass Effect are pre-determined for you such as the destruction of the council, but I don't how some of the smaller ones will play out as with my imported files many of the small encounters shows up in Mass Effect 2 like the Reds and Shia'a contacting me again for quests. And I do feel a lot more attached to the story and some of the returning characters because I have played the original many times.
Overall the game is still a blast to play with beautiful and epic presentation through out even if you have not played the first one.

-Conclusion
So does Mass Effect 2 deserve all those perfect scores? It all depends on what criteria we are looking at. As a game its almost perfect at every angle, but looking deeper into the roots as it was an RPG first? then no its definitely not the perfect RPG. Is it the best game in this generation where we love simplified everything? probably as itself is a watered down RPG that most people will love, but is it the best game ever? no its not even the best game Bioware has made. It doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to the conclusion of this series in Mass Effect 3 but I do hope Bioware will combine what was good with the first game with this one and deliver a what can be called the best RPG of this generation.

Did I hear you say sale numbers?

2010-01-29T16:55:00.001-05:00

Well here is it less than a week into the game's launch.

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/news/783/mass-effect-2-first-week-sales/

my review of the game coming soon.

Mass Effect 2 launch center, part 5

2010-01-23T16:48:00.001-05:00

IGN.com putting up first video review of the game.

More Mass Effect 2 Info

Mass Effect 2 launch center, part 4

2010-01-21T13:26:00.003-05:00

Mass Effect 2 launch trailer. Contains spoiler like 8 billion Mass Effect 2 promotional videos out there.

Video Games | Mass Effect 2 | Launch Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Mass Effect 2 launch center, part 3

2010-01-19T12:40:00.002-05:00

Mass Effect 2 is almost here and in light of its greatness I decided to do a review on the first Mass Effect. People need to know why why a game that didn't even out sell Star Wars Knights of the old Republic is so deserving a sequel when Bioware has always been quick to pass up opportunities when it comes to milking a popular franchise. And the game also has many of its shortcomings, by no means is the first Mass Effect a perfect game and some will even go as far as to say its one of Bioware's weaker games. We shall look into all of the above with the following review.

A blast from the past.

-StoryIf you have played any Bioware games at all then you would know that it does not disappoint in the story department no matter how bad the rest of the game is. Mass Effect is no different, it will leave dazed thinking about it long after you have completed the story, as it is as well crafted as any science fiction novels out there. The story takes place hundreds years in the future where not only travelling through out the galaxy is no problem for humans but also living with other aliens. You are playing as Commander Shepard, elite soldier of the human alliance military. Chosen to go on a secrete mission turn out to be an evaluation of the Alien council to determine if humanity is ready to join its ranks. From there all hell breaks lose. With any Bioware games a few things come as standard, rich background story that can compile several novels and almost every npc that you interact with has his/her own unique story to explore. Dialog system has somewhat been simplified compare to previous games where now its pretty clear the good and evil paths. And this time around the morale choices also have less meaning in the whole scheme of things which is another weak link in this game. Over all the whole experience from beginning to end feels like a well crafted yet somewhat cheesy B rated Scifi film. Which all fine by me since this is the closet thing as a space opera that comes to mind compare to Battlestar Galactica. Playing as a heroic spaceship captain on a grand journey to save the galaxy, what more can you ask?-Graphics
When the game first came out in 2007, it was considered by many one of the best looking game on console. Details of space travelling and different areas you explore are truly a cinematic experience, and the character models and their animation were superbly done as well. At the time only Crysis on PC had better looking characters. However the game was hampered by graphic glitches and texture pop-ups famous to those who used Unreal Engines. The PC version fixed most of these glitches and pop-up were less severe as well. Overall the game still looks good even by today's standards.
-Game play
Where do I begin, the game is obviously not your Daddy's RPG with its unique tactical based third person shooter play, however it just works. But thats another thing people will say about this game, its not a true RPG but a shooter wana be RPG. To me that claim is just ludicrous, you still have the stats, the skills, the leveling up, the hot bars and different classes/roles to play as, so just because it doesn't use the age old DnD dice roll everyone else uses its not an RPG? Bioware took a chance with a whole new idea and ran with it, and in the end I think although game play is somewhat lacking it still works. At the end of the day, none of Bioware's games are focused on game play but that seems to be changed in Mass Effect 2.

-Presentation
This is probably the one of the first game from Bioware that gives you the "Epic" feeling through out the game. Not saying their other games aren't so but they usually are presented in a more toned down, reserved manner. Not with Mass Effect, its not afraid to show its Epic story with Epic Scifi music through out. And knowing its a Bioware game its not complete unless it has a romantic subplot hidden with the inevitable sex scene. Just ask Fox news about it, they taught me that arm and bare back is considered full digital nudity...

-Conclusion
Mass Effect is a memorable game like most Bioware's works, but its not with its share of flaws. But if you can over look these flaws then its one of those game you just simply can not pass up. Bioware did a great job exploring new territories in the RPG plane and now its only a short while before we can see how they will improve upon this already epic adventure with the upcoming Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect 2 launch center, continued

2010-01-18T20:37:00.002-05:00

Mass Effect 2 is undoubtedly the most hyped Bioware game to date. This comes to no surprise as Bioware is trying to transition itself from that niche PC developer into the lucrative console market.
Thus many so called hardcore PC gamers would be hating on what comes inevitably when someone goes for the mass market appeal, dumb everything down in order to get more people to buy your product. The most heat I have seen are toward project director Casey Hudson. After all Casey had his hands on virtually all Bioware's console games, from being an art director of a little known game called MDK 2 to being the lead designer to the hugely successful Star Wars Knights of the old Republic, which ended up winning over 40 game of the year awards. People hate him because he represents nothing that made Bioware one of the beloved company among PC gamers but everything that's wrong with today's simplistic approach to games.
To me, Casey Hudson is an extraordinary designer in the industry, and he is every bit what Bioware does best, which is taking a new IP that no one want to touch and make an RPG out of it (see star wars). And he continues to push the boundary in modern WRPG with the release of Mass Effect series. Yes I have no doubt that if Black Isle Studio is still here they would probably make the best DnD based fantasy RPG ever, but the truth is they are gone and what make Bioware great is that they are not afraid of change for the traditional swords/magic setting. To that I applaud them for thinking outside the box and Casey for having the balls in making something everyone thought would fail.
One thing I do hate about Casey is his constant smirking and blinding white teeth, which angers me greatly. See below.

Top 5 TV Shows

2010-01-18T17:03:00.003-05:00

What are your top 5 favorite television shows? Readers and authors please list them in comments.

Mine are:

1) Top Gear

2) Dr. Who

3) The Daily Show

4) The Colbert Report

5) Torchwood

Crash Test 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air VS. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu

2010-01-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

Mass Effect 2 launch center

2010-01-14T20:50:00.002-05:00

Video game developer Bioware has made a name for itself as one of the best WRPG maker on the planet since the 1990s, and with the help of popular home consoles their games are also becoming extremely hyped with various media outlets. Hardcore PC gamers might see Bioware only as the shadow as its form self after the split with Black Isle studio but as far as I am concerned Black Isle is no more while Bioware still stand and continues to push the envelop on an aging WRPG formula.

A new decade is just upon us and Bioware has already got big items on the menu. Next on the order list comes the higly thought after sequel to the 2007 critically acclaimed space opera RPG Mass Effect. Due out on 1/26/2010 Mass Effect 2 has created such a hype train that I have not seen since the day of Halo 2. With its release upon us I have a few items of my own to complete launch experience, and first to come is a comprehensive video showing various results on what happens in Mass Effect when you decide to be naughty rather than nice, and I have to say I have put in well over 100 hours in the game and some of these scenes are still new to me, and quite funny.

Top 10 of the last decade, part 2

2010-01-13T22:01:00.002-05:00

Virtually everything about the last 10 years sucked balls, the financial world sucked, job market sucked, gas prices sucked, movies sucked, music sucked, my life sucked...however I will try my best to do this top 10 count down.

Top 10 cars of the last decade.

10. Toyota Prius
Tree huggers unite! What car driven by someone on the road has made a even bigger "status" show off than BMW and Mercedes? You guessed it.

9. Mazda RX-8
Plenty of faster and more flashy sports cars out there but none is more unique than this rotary engine gas hog.

8. Nissan GTR
Fast and Furious nerds unite! No car has made a bigger impact than the famed Nissan skyline after those shitty movies and now with the new GTR Nissan has officially dropped the skyline from the name and changed it from a cheap tuner car to an expensive super car.

7. BMW X5
What do Germans and large gas hogging SUVs have in common? Absolutely nothing. What is this thing doing in this count down? Absolutely no idea. Though an advise to all German automakers, stick to what you do best which is fast, luxury sedans and let us Americans worry about big, poorly designed, poorly engineered gas hoggers.

6. Lamborghini Murcielago
Perhaps not as well known as its older brother the Diablo but all I can say is, Cmon its a Lambo.

5. Porsche Cayman S
Perhaps not as well known as its older brother the 911 GT but all I can say is, Cmon its a Porsche.

4. Tesla Roadster
0-60 in 3.9 seconds in a electric car...ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?

3. Audi R8
Okay so Audi doesn't have quite the same luxury as Mercedes or the driving experience as BMW, and this super car is clearly a Lambo want to be but Audi does all those very well but the car just looks freaky sweet going on ice.

2. Rolls Royce Phantom
half million dollars can buy you a lot of things, a small jet, a company, a boat load of slaves...or a phantom. Old world class and luxury oozes from this state of the art car that is reserved for only two kinds of people in the world: old white billionaires living in a chateaux or large thuggish looking gangster rappers.

1. Bugatti Veyron
There are couple numbers I want you to know. 0-60 in 2.9 seconds. Top speed of 261 mph. cost 4 million dollars. Enough said.

Top 10 of the last decade

2010-01-12T22:21:00.003-05:00

It seems everywhere I turn people were doing the best of last decade, but was the last 10 years really so memorable? I decided to give it a try and do one of our own top 10 of the last decade, and I will start off with something I know the best, a game themed count down.

Top 10 RPGs of the last decade.

10. Pokemon(pick a color) - Nintendo.

9. Deus Ex - Eidos.

8. SMT: Persona 4 - Atlus.

7. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic - Bioware.

6. Elder Scrolls: Morrowind - Bethesda

5. Final Fantasy 10 - Square Enix

4. Diablo 2 - Blizzard

3. World of Warcraft - Blizzard

2. Neverwinter Nights - Bioware

1. Baldur's Gate 2 - Bioware

XL's Dream car

2010-01-11T22:20:00.004-05:00

JT's car is nice but can his car do this?

nope. And by the way Mercedes AMG makes the engine for the Zonda so there is nothing special about it sorry Noah =P.

JT's dream car

2010-01-11T22:15:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of JT's dream car, AMG SLS by Mercedes Benz. Driven by Jay Leno through a part of L.A.

I would just like to point out that if you are not watching the video but listening to it sounds like he is riding a Harley Chopper rather than driving a car, that's how unique this car sounds.

Teen found after meeting his 42-year-old online 'soulmate'

2010-01-06T22:28:00.005-05:00

The Grade 11 student was found Thursday afternoon, after his parents spent two days desperately appealing for his safe return. On Wednesday, police had released pictures of Lauri Price, a Texas mother of four who had allegedly flown to Toronto and driven a rental car to collect the teen after striking up a relationship with him while playing the popular online game.

His disappearance this week is the latest instalment of the family battle over World of Warcraft, an online multiplayer swords-and-sorcery game.

For more than a year, Ms. Kane said her son has played the game “every waking hour,” and has rarely attended school because of the addiction.

His parents took his computer away for four weeks last year and put him in a counselling program, but after a month, Andrew's psychologist suggested that his computer privileges be reinstated as a reward for the progress he had made.

“We thought he was managing it well, but eventually he was back to his old habits,” said Ms. Kane. “It turned out to be not so great advice.”

But Andrew's safe return Thursday was still a happy ending.

In 2008, 15-year-old Brandon Crisp ran away from his Barrie home after having his XBox confiscated. He died after falling out of a tree and was found three weeks later by hunters.

According to his parents, Brandon was addicted to the video game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. They took away his game console and when Brandon threatened to run away, his father helped him pack his knapsack, assuming he would soon return.

Link

LOL of the day. The so called game industry experts and jounalists

2010-01-06T15:07:00.003-05:00

I usually find most so called game industry experts and journalists being morons that have no idea what they are talking about, maybe they all worked at Gamestop one time. One thing that has always puzzled me is over the last 2 or 3 years experts have been proclaiming the coming death of PC gaming and I have been trying to find evidences to this claim. Here is one example:

http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/PC-Gaming/PC-Games-a-Dying-Breed/

If you read the article it claims several reasons PC gaming is dying. All of them pointing to PC market in decline, but don't you have to have a high point in order to have decline? When has PC gaming been more popular than now? When has it been more popular than home consoles? PC gaming has always been a niche market if anything it has gained popularity steadily over the years as now more people understands the technology and what it takes to build a gaming rig. So that argument is obviously flawed when trying to compare it to home consoles. Video games has moved toward mass market as a whole so maybe PC gaming is not moving as fast compare to consoles but its definitely not dying. Other reason given in the article are also laughable, things such as hardware. Again more people understands what is needed to play games on PC then ever, no one goes best buy and buy a 300 dollar pre-build with the intention to play Crysis. And as for Pirates they have always been there, now so now but that only attribute to the rising popularity of PC gaming. If its that big of a problem then why are people still making games for PC with rate 3 times faster than consoles?

What makes me laugh is people that hold real job as analyst in Tech market, who works for a real investment company and making millions for statements like these. I want to laugh and cry at the same time, this guy makes millions!!!(no name) for saying no computer in the world is as powerful as PS3. Fuck how do these people do it? Remember kids only people that are more full of shit than politicians are probably the ones that work on Wall street.

At the end of the day the only reason I like PC gaming is because its niche. Sounds crazy but the best PC games are made by little known companies targeted at the hardcore gamers rather than this mass market bullshit consoles are trying to pull. Looking back in time Bioware made their best games when they were just a small unknown company and so did many many others like Black Isle and Blizzard.

product review: Creative Inspire A200 speakers

2009-12-21T20:02:00.005-05:00

When do someone know that they need new speakers for their PC? When your current ones break or when you can not stand the cheap speakers that came with your pre-built. Well you can say both for me. When I bought my pre-built Gateway pc 5 years ago it came with some of the shittiest speakers I have ever seen but at the time the whole thing was only 500 dollars and I was in save money mode so sound quality was the last thing I worried about. Today those speakers are starting to go bad but hell they did last me 5 good years even though they are not even shielded speakers I was saddened by their passing. This is the time for me to pick out some relatively cheap yet good speakers for my pc.

I had my sights on the Altec Lansing speakers as they are known for good speakers but unfortunately for them they were sold out everywhere. Therefore I had to settle for the same priced Creative Lab Inspire A200 series. It is a 2.1 speaker system priced roughly around 30 dollars, so it's not expensive at all but is it a cheapo speaker? Previously I have never had any experience with Creative Lab products but my first impression is that these speakers are very stylishly design, a contrast to the often boring Altec Lansing speakers. The speakers sits on a nice stand and itself looking like a miniature version of much more expensive stereo systems. Another thing I noticed right away is how big the subwoofer is. It's so huge it would not fit the side cabinet on my computer desk which is kind of disappointing since I visually planned this lay out many times before the purchase, and so now it sits on the floor.

Onto the sound quality now. The speakers are loud and clear although it might just be a sharp contrast of how shitty my old ones are. One thing I didn't like on these speakers is not only the subwoofer is physically huge it's also a cannon. What I mean by that is the default bass is so loud that I can feel my floor shaking, almost like hearing some dumbass with their bass on full blast in their car driving past your house at night...do you know that feeling? Since the subwoofer itself doesn't come with any kind of physical volume control I am stuck playing around the Equalizer that came with my sound card until I find a suitable setting. So this is a great annoyance to me, but other than that the speakers look nice and sounds nice as well all I need to worry is how long they will last since I have had no experience with the Creative Lab brand.

epic rick roll video

2009-12-17T10:11:00.003-05:00

would have been a lot more funnier if the guy actually knew what is happening to him.

Chevy Volt Presentation

2009-12-14T22:30:00.001-05:00

This is how America will sell the cars of the future.

I actually quite like the video. Its nice to have a presentation that doesn't involve someone literally fucking a car. Quirky music and dancing actually works really well. I'd like to see more..

AAAAaaaaHHHHhhh skeet skeet skeet!

2009-12-11T10:01:00.007-05:00

Bioware is one of my all time favorite video game developer, there is no doubt about that. They are perhaps the lone bright spot in the industry's current state of fail, and to my likings they have been much more active in current generation than their previous ones. With one big title after another, taking gamers to glorious adventures to save the galaxy or save the kingdom of Ferelden while siphoning their hard earned money. But hey they deserve it, with all these endless shovel wares I am willing to give my money to Bioware.

Just when you thought you could take off your wizard hat and robe after saving Ferelden, Bioware's upcoming Mass Effect 2 has been gathering more and more hype in the community and I'm on the verge of exploding in my pants. They have just released a trailer revealing the voice cast for Mass Effect 2 and let me tell you something I have always been impressed by Bioware's dedication to story development and voice casts but this is just ridiculous. Martin Sheen? Seth Green? ADAM FUCKING BALDWIN??? AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH SKEET SKEET SKEET!!!!111!1 I didn't know we are casting for a high budget hollywood movie here.

Game review: Dragon Age: Origins

2009-12-09T11:14:00.006-05:00

It has been awhile since we updated the blog with anything video game related but that is because I have been in a foul mood. Everywhere I go I see endless shovel wares being sold for millions of copies and every forum I visit I see endless deluded console fanboys fighting over games that has nothing to offer but pretty graphics. The casual movement angers me and the amount of casuals that are playing games now and pretending to be hardcore angers me even further.

Just as I thought that all hopes have been lost Bioware swoops down and saves the day again with the release of DnD based dark fantasy RPG Dragon Age. So does this game live up to the expectation of spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate? Or is it just another casual release by Bioware to garner more fanbase?

-Story
no matter how casual a game gets but as soon as Bioware puts their name on the box you know that its a game with story that will have you dreaming about it at night. Dragon age is a well crafted sword and magic RPG with a rich back story and lively fantasy world that will have you remember this title for a long time to come. In the Land of Ferelden you will meet many interesting characters each with complicated background history from many races, and all in you will become a hero to fight in a cause to save the world. This is Dungeons and Dragons at its best, Lord of the Rings esque at its best, Bioware story telling and creating a world at its best...
The game starts with you picking 1 of 6 different races and then a class, nothing new in the RPG genre. Then it moves on with a unique origins story for that race you have picked, a few hours of game play to get to know who is the character that you have picked whats his/her story, whats his/her situation like. It ranges from being a dwarven prince to being a lowly elf slave, but everyone has their own problems to deal with. In the end no matter what origin you pick it all end up at the same place where you have to save Ferelden by fighting an impending attack from the dark spawns. Personally I did not care for the setting much as Sword and Magic with medieval fantasy setting has been done to death. However I can not deny the fact that Bioware has done it again with the story, characters and the world. I much prefer Mass Effect with its refreshing Space setting even though the game is a lot smaller in terms of scale compare to Dragon Age, but Dragon Age is an epic adventure none the less.

-Graphics
Bioware games have never been known for their graphic achievements except for maybe Mass Effect, and they have always opt to spend time on the quality of the game, mostly story and presentation. This is true with Dragon age as well, its not a very good looking game by today's standards but it gets the job done. Out of all the version its no surprise PC version looks the best then PS3 and 360. The setting is blend and gloomy which fits the dark fantasy theme, and characters are detailed somewhat close to Oblivion rather than the extremely polished Mass Effect. One thing about the graphics is that after slaying enemies large amount of blood will show up on characters' faces and body making some conversations and cut scenes appear slightly awkward.

-Game Play
on PC the game plays a lot like some MMOs with hot bars on the screen where you can put you skills onto. Character level up and will get stat points to spend on various stats and skill points to spend on their skill tree, so nothing is out of the ordinary. Combat starts like an MMO with all the point and click business but it soon transforms into the good old Baldur's Gate style tactical combat. You can pause the combat at any point and then plan the up coming strategy and since you will have control for all party members that presents a good amount of planning and playing around. You can also set behaviors for your party members if this gets kind of overwhelming so the party members will act according to the behavior sets rather than stand there until you take control of them. Bioware has gotten a lot of criticisms in recent years for lack of depth in their game play department. Most of are apparent in their Mass Market console movement games such as Star Wars Knights of the old Republic and Mass Effect. But have no fear, Bioware has been true to their words with Dragon Age, the game indeed plays like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter nights. Its another master piece in their list of hardcore PC stategy RPG. So the game is hard and sometime overwhelming, but what is it like on consoles? Because the lack of some strategic advantages on console such as locked 3rd person view, the game is slightly easier and instead of hot bars you get to good old radio dial menu via Mass Effect.

-Presentation
Like all Bioware games Dragon Age is story and conversation heavy. But unlike some of the games this one does not have the good or evil paths, it does present you many different choices to have a conversation or solve a problem and they do lead to different results with different consequences. If the different classes combined with different origins stories weren't enough to warren countless replies then simply trying to see the result of one different choice will. Even if you don't replay the game for some reason this game is massive enough to take around 50 hours to beat. So take some time off and put on your wizard hat...maybe robe too and embark in the epic adventure to save Ferelden! And maybe get a piece of ass along the way, or two.

-Conclusion
So how good is Dragon Age? Is it really on par with some of Bioware's claims to fame? Or is it just another dumbed down game to the ignorant console audience? In my opinion Dragon Age is one of the best single player RPG in years, its game play and presentation surely will bring all Bioware fans to great memories of Baldur's Gate. It's an Epic game to every small detail as all Bioware game tend to be but in the end of the day I have to say it falls a little short to the greatness that is Baldur's Gate 2, however it does deserve the title of spiritual successor to the BG franchise.

Over 9000?!?!?!

2009-12-05T21:41:00.002-05:00

Cats for Gold

2009-11-24T16:50:00.003-05:00

Here is a great new way to turn that glitter into litter. Do you have any old gold laying around? Simply send it in a get some cats delivered to your door! http://www.catsforgold.com

Best Video I Have Ever Seen

2009-11-19T23:40:00.004-05:00

This is the best video I have ever seen on YouTube. It is truly epic. Please watch the video in its entirety with sound:

What is Google Chrome OS?

2009-11-19T14:11:00.016-05:00

Google has open sourced its new Google OS project today. The open source Chromium OS webpage shows some of the inital designs for the new operating system.

Today we are open-sourcing the project as Chromium OS. We are doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers. As with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on. Link

The Google Chrome OS, will be an, "open source operating system for people who spend most of their time on the web." Google posted a great video explaining exactly what it is they want Google OS to be and how it will work:

From the screen shots on the project page (Link) I think the OS looks really nice. Although you still wont be able to play video games on the OS from what I understand right now (other than games that can run on a web page.) But other than that it does look like it would be able to do everything you want it to do. The video game issue is a common problem to all Linux type operating systems unless you are willing to do a lot of complicated hacking stuff to get the game to sorta run.

Google OS Interface Screenshot:

The security features of the new operating system also sound very innovative.

Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn't trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer. Furthermore, Chrome OS barely trusts itself. Every time you restart your computer the operating system verifies the integrity of its code. If your system has been compromised, it is designed to fix itself with a reboot. While no computer can be made completely secure, we're going to make life much harder (and less profitable) for the bad guys.

This will be something all consumers should keep their eye on. Although in discussions with co-blog contributer XL, he suggested that no other operating system will be able to thrive as long as Microsoft is around. Although I can see a market for the Google OS on netbooks that serve as peoples mobile laptop. In those situations you want something light and fast that stores all your information on the internet. I bet Microsoft is concerned about that.

I have read that there is already at least one netbook scheduled to be manufactured with Google OS as its native operating system. I would much prefer Google OS on my netbook rather than Windows 7 aka Vista re-packaged. You want something small, lite, and fast when you are on the go, not a dead elephant.

Big Bob and his cock meat sandwich not out of job..

2009-11-19T10:57:00.015-05:00

Barack Obama, the US president, has admitted that his administration will miss the January 2010 deadline set for closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.

Obama said on Wednesday that a new deadline would not be set for the facility, which still holds more than 200 detainees, but does expect it to be shut down at some point in the new year.

[...]

The White House has said that it will continue to push for the facility's closure, and is moving to repatriate some of the detainees who have been cleared for release, while seeking countries willing to provide asylum to others.

[...]

John McCain, a Republican senator and rival for the presidency, said the decision sent "a mixed message about America's resolve in the fight against terrorism".

"We are at war, and we must bring terrorists to justice in a manner consistent with the horrific acts of war they have committed," he said. Link

Its too bad McCain didn't win the presidency. I would love to see him line up all the prisoners from Gitmo on a tarmac and crash a plane into them. I assume that is what he means by punishing the detainees that havent been found guilty of anything in a manner consistent with what they are accused of doing. I love how it sounds like Sharia law. Ah-lalalala.

On another side note, Russia has now extended its ban on capital punishment, leaving America alone in the ranks along with North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and Texas as countries that use capital punishment. Link Remember life is only sacred if your a fetus or a rich white guy.

Ok, enough of my bitching. I guess its just frustrating that the politicians who are supposed to fix things are pussies who cant get anything done (like healthcare reform.) And the politicians who fuck things up can go all gang busters and do whatever they want when they are in power. Basically if you live in America, you are fucked.

Dragon Age Origins Review By The Escapist

2009-11-18T16:57:00.001-05:00

Hitler finds out Michael Jackson has died

2009-11-17T21:52:00.002-05:00

Hitler finds out about the DSi XL

2009-11-17T00:37:00.005-05:00

Droid review

2009-11-12T13:44:00.006-05:00

Last week I went out and bought the new Motorola Droid. I was a little skeptical because it was made by Motorola and for the last couple years they have made poor quality phones. But it seems they may have redeemed themselves with the Droid, although at first I didn't think so. When I first got the phone it was constantly freezing up, throwing errors, and restarting. I went back to the store on Monday and exchanged it for another Droid and this one has performed flawlessly. (Kudos to Verizon's service, it was a painless return process and I was in and out in under 15 minutes)

So before I get too in depth, I'll give you the TL;DR version:
Its a great phone, the screen is absolutely stunning, integration with Google services are amazing, and the voice search is the best I've ever seen. On the bad side, the camera, although 5 megapixels, is slow and a pain to use, the phone is pretty heavy (not bulky), and the lock button is annoying.

On to the in depth review:
The first think that struck me was the screen, it is gorgeous. The thing that impressed me the most was when it renders web pages there is no need to zoom. The text is crisp and clear and I have no trouble reading it. If you do have to zoom (usually to click on links that are too small) you can't use the iPhone's familiar pinch motion, you will have to double tap which may cause you accidentally click a link. As of right now the Droid does not support multitouch. The screen also has a sensor so it automatically adjusts its brightness depending on the ambient light. So it always appears very bright, even when outdoors. You really have to see the screen in action, the resolution on it is amazing for such a small device.

However, what it lacks in multitouch support, it more than makes up for it with the Google voice search that seems to be built into the OS. Need to get to Pittsburgh PA? No problem, just tap the microphone and say 'Navigate to Pittsburgh.' Want to browse to youtube.com? Beside the address bar on the browser is that microphone, and all you have to say is 'youtube dot com.' My brother was over last night and was trying to trick it. He tried such things as "shamalamadingdong" and it actually found a youtube video, and it seems to be a song from Animal House. Basically you won't need to type much on this phone. Its also interesting to point out that you cannot use voice search if you don't have service, so it seems that your voice is transmitted to Google and processed, and not processed directly on the phone.

Which brings me to the next item, the keyboard. This is probably a matter of personal taste, but I really can't figure out why the phone needed a physical keyboard. In landscape mode, the virtual keyboard actually has bigger keys and I can type much faster on it. It also has the auto correct ribbon which is basically a spellchecker. So this gets a thumbs down from me, I think this hardware was unnecessary and adds to the cost and weight of the phone. (This phone is pretty beefy, easily the heaviest phone I have held.) The other buttons on the phone are lacking as well. The volume buttons are on the right side of the phone, have become accustomed to them being on the left side. They also have some wiggle room and feel cheap. The camera button is two stage, but also has too much wiggle for my comfort. The only button that seems high quality is placed in an awkward position and that is the lock button. I wish it was placed right where the USB input was. The 4 'buttons' on the bottom of the phone are not physical buttons.

The next item on the list, is the camera. It is god-awful. Not because I think 5 megapixels is not enough. Its actually more than enough for a phone. But the camera is very slow, taking up to 5 seconds to take a picture, and another 5-15 seconds before you can try to take another picture. I found that many times it is out of focus. When it does focus, the pictures it takes are quite stunning when displayed on the screen, so it seems to be a software issue. Hopefully it will be resolved in an over-the-air update soon, but for now I would take a standard 3.2 megapixel camera over this.

Making phone calls on the phone is a breeze. You can either start the phone app, or go through your contact list. Calls sound good and I have no trouble hearing on this phone. The only complaint I have is that once you dial, the dialpad disappears so if you call your voicemail and need to put in your password there is an extra button you have to click.

Some other things of note: the app store is pretty good, and the voice search is integrated so you should have no trouble finding exactly the app you need. The battery life is decent. Over the past few days it seems to average 6-8 hours under heavy use and a full day under medium use. Whats nice is that you can use a computer's USB port to charge the phone. The USB cord actually plugs into the wall charger, its a pretty neat setup. The music player annoyed me, there is no stop button, only rewind, pause, and fast-forward. So once you start the music player, it will sit and take up system memory until you go into setup and kill the process. The ability to view running processes and kill them is a nice feature. You can also see how much of the battery is being used for what. About 70% of my battery use goes to the display. So I'm sure that if I changed a few settings I could extend the battery life, but honestly I just love the screen too much to dim it or have it time out any sooner. The integration with Google services is amazing, It receives mail from gmail, messages from google talk, and remembers my preferences in google maps. I also downloaded an app so I could write this blog from my phone.

Rage part 2

2009-11-12T10:19:00.004-05:00

Today's games are so shitty I always hesitate when I want to buy a certain game even though the reviewers might be jizzing in their pants for it. It appears to all the reviewers have all been dumbed down a notch as well. They all act like nothing happened in this industry transformation to Mass mainstream, that or they are afraid of angering mobs of 12 year old fanboys/girls who just started playing games yesterday. After all those people seem to the target audience now. I on the other hand am not afraid of fanboys, I have been playing games since the late 80s, I have seen the top of the mountain...and it is good. So if you don't agree with me then Rage #2. Metal Gear Solid 4

The first MGS was great, it had everything. Good story, awesome characters, good stealth play, epic boss fights...you get the idea. It was a refreshing game in a stealth genre that hasn't been really explored yet at the time. Then there was the debacle known as MGS 2, the start of a movie franchise. MGS 2 had so many cut scenes and useless codex conversations it was mind numbing and thoroughly broke the pace of the game play. Also there was Raiden, for most part of the game play don't even play as the franchises hero Snake but forced to play this obnoxious, homosexual, whiny piece of shit. Just what in the sam hell possessed Hideo Kojima to do such a thing? Then again Kojima always thought of becoming a movie director rather than a game director, and his ambition/hallucination was at full fledge with the release of MGS 4. If you thought MGS 2 was bad, MGS 4 is 10 times worse. Here is exactly what happens at the beginning of the game and Im not making anything up. A long intro movie, which is nothing out of ordinary and then when I finally got hold of Snake I walked 2, count it, 2 steps toward a truck and then another long ass movie. After that I walked from one end of a corridor to another then you guessed it, movie time. In fact rest of the game takes similar pattern, you walk from one end to another it and watch a 2 hour long cut scene. I beat the game in 15 hours and I reckon I watched at least 12 hours of movies out of 15. When do you say enough is enough? Apparently that question never entered Kojima's mind when he made this game. As result the pace of the game feels very choppy and any reminging of my sanity has vaporized along the ridiculousness of the cutscenes.

What's more surprising is the amount of people ready to crown this game as the second coming of Jesus, I don't know if its because they are ignorant kids brain washed by the mainstream media or they are just fanboys since this is a PS3 exclusive, either way MGS 4 has to be one of the worst game I have ever played. Worst of all the selling point to many people was the graphics and I thought it looked less than impressive. But since its MGS people were flocking the stores confessing their homoerotic desires for Kojima, and to that it just promises us there will be more MGS coming.

/Rage.

Biggest video game flops this generation? Rage part 1

2009-11-12T09:36:00.006-05:00

Rage. As we move into the HD era I can't help but ask myself what's wrong with the video game industry? Games today don't have nearly the same feeling as yester year, all the games looks great but plays like shit. It seems what everyone is only concerned about how good a game looks in 1080p and a good looking game is usually being hyped to no end eventhough in some cases the game play has been proven to be below average (Killzone to Killzone 2). I guess that is what I am saying, when did we care so much about the graphics that none of the other elements which make a video game what it is such as game play matter anymore? This not only extent to the ignorant consumers but also the developers themselves, to which I can understand. Developers are here to make money so they will make whatever the consumers want even if its ultra flashy 1080p game that is literally a 10 hour long movie with 2 hour of game play....hmm they wouldn't go that low would they?

Well I can talk to no end how bad of shape the industry is in but for specific examples I will look at some of the highly hyped flops this generation in my opinion. So if you don't agree then I can only kindly to tell you to

with that said I will start my top 5 shit list.

Rage #1. Halo 3

I loved the first Halo, practically bought an Xbox for it. I remember having countless hours of fun on Co-Op and multiplayer, and it was one of the few FPS that I enjoyed playing on a console. It had the perfect setting, large, outdoor, planet that felt unlike any other FPS at the time which mostly had small corridors with predetermined path. It also had a good story whether you liked it or not, and the pace was right. It was not just another run and gun but it had the characters, the suspense, the plot twist...in the end it was more than a FPS, it was something much more epic. In coming Halo 2, where they scrapped everything that made Halo stand out in the otherwise numbing FPS genre and formed another generic piece of shit. So what made them think it was a good idea to have more Halo 2 in what essentially was Halo 3? More money. The game industry is rapidly moving towards mainstream media, its no longer a niche entertainment. So like all other forms of entertainment out there, developers decided to waterdown the contents to conform the idiotic mass. Therefore we have Halo 2 and 3, and it all worked according to the plan since original Halo left a mark now anything Halo is guranteed to sell billions.

In the End Halo 3 is mere shadow of its former self, the result of this massive mainstream movement. But whos fault is this? Is it the consumers fault for buying the shitty games? Is it the developers fault for wanting a bigger market? Or is it Capitalism at work just as usual? We shall see.

/Rage.

First look: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi

2009-11-09T21:33:00.004-05:00

I don't know about you but when I see the name Suzuki I think of ATVs and dirt bikes kids ride on but once awhile I will see a very cheap looking "mini" SUV and say what is that? That is when I remembered Suzuki also makes cars. This just show the auto market that Suzuki has in the U.S., which is almost none existent.

So Suzuki has made a name for cheap cars with good all wheel drives in the U.S. that most people won't consider, but now they are ready to move to the next level and obtain more market share with the introduction of new 2010 Kizashi. On the exterior the first thought of Kizashi is very well build with nice slick styles that one would think it came from an European maker. In fact I had to do a double take since the Kizashi look so suspiciously like the new Jetta. Under the hood the Kizashi will sport a 2.4 Liter 4 cylinder engine that puts out around 180 hp with around 180 ft/lb of torque, and this is very much competitive to what the Kizashi's competitor bring out which is the mid-size sedans. Power is teamed with either a Manual or CVT transmission with paddle shifter, and the car will continue to have the Suzuki trademark to include optional all wheel drive. Whats interesting here is according to Suzuki it won't be just any all wheel drive in fact its an intelligent 4 wheel drive which you can turn on and off like something in a 4x4 truck. This is surprising since no other cars on the market will feature it. A 6 cylinder engine is also rumored in the works that is a good news since personally I don't feel including all wheel drive with a 4 cylinder engine is a good idea.

The interior of the car is also very high class like its exterior, which is made with all the quality materials. This obviously is a big change to what Suzuki currently offers but also stays true to what they are planning for the car. It is said that Suzuki is aimed to compete with the likes of Acura TSX and Lexus IS but how exactly does it plan to achieve these goals is puzzling to me. First of all the brand image conscious consumers in the U.S. will not pay luxury price for a Suzuki, so how will they compete for that market? Will they continue to use price as their means to gather market? But then how do they hope for compete with that entry luxury car segment with sustainably lower price? In the end they still have to worry about the brand image, after all Honda and Toyota had to change names for the U.S. since no one would pay for luxury cars from them. It has worked well for them as ignorant consumers still consider Acura and Lexus something that came out of Europe, so it will be interesting how Suzuki market this car. Personally I really like this car, people might have their opinions about how Suzuki is a motorcycle maker but they don't realize that Honda started out as one too and didn't start making car till the 60 or 70s. This is a big step for Suzuki in building this very good looking nice quality car for a change but they a lot time and invest to reverse their brand image in the U.S. than simply building one nice car.

Internet Addiction

2009-11-09T09:53:00.008-05:00

Over at Boing Boing there is a good post about internet addiction that appeared on their site today. They talk to a psychologist at a rehab center who tells them that 20% of all addicts that check into the center are now checking in for internet addiction. Internet addiction is sometimes a response to other mental illnesses like depression. The biggest abusers now are World of Warcraft players and Everquest players. Surprise, surprise huh? A typical stay in a rehab facility is around 30-90 days and the cost can be around $1200 a day. But some people insurance will cover part of it, of course that's only if you have good insurance. If you are a normal person they probably won't cover a dime. Some things to look for as warning signs of addictions are:

Are you getting in trouble at work? Is your partner leaving you? Are you forgetting to shower, eat, and pee? If so, you might want to consider getting help. "An addiction is an addiction," Young says. "It doesn't matter if it's porn or the Internet."

There is an addition test you can take HERE and you can read more about internet addiction at the website maintained by the psychologist that was interviewed for the article above, netaddiction.com.

Some of the questions from the test are real food for thought such as:

How often do you block out disturbing thoughts about your life with soothing thoughts of the Internet?

Id recommend taking the test, many questions may not apply to you but it may give you an idea what to look for if you have friends or relatives that may have a problem.

Game Review: Uncharted 2

2009-11-03T22:01:00.006-05:00

Things are looking better and better for Sony's beloved PS3 going into this year with slew of big name titles and each has been proclaim by the next PS3 lover as the second coming of Jesus. But the truth is quality exclusives on PS3 have been few and far between, even the most hyped titles such Killzone 2 and MGS 4 turned out to be garbage. So is the PS3 ever going to live up to its hype or is the ignorant community going to keep on crowning every exclusive the next Halo killer?

Incoming Uncharted 2, one of biggest PS3 titles that I was personally looking forward to. The original Uncharted was a sleeper hit when PS3 launched, and it received alot of praises from critics for the graphics and game play. Thus it is no brainer for me to check out what the fuss is about and why idiots are suddenly calling developer Naughty Dog the best thing since slice bread.

-Story

Game follows the adventure of treasure hunter Nathan Drake as he set foot on pursuing yet another artifact. But as the adventure continues Drake soon finds out the power within the artifact as he tries to stop some evil dude who has a Russian accent and unlimited supply of soldiers trying to get his hands on it. The story is pretty straight forward with few twists that you can see from a mile away, but it also reminded good old fashion Indiana Jones which is a good thing. Drake is a likable character with his charm and sarcastic comments with other characters in the game, however cheesy it may sometime be but it does make drake and most characters in the game very life like.

-presentation

The game is very good looking, there is no doubt about it. Naughty dog has really done a good job in the visual department making this one of the best looking title on any console to date. Story is told in various forms of CGI like cut scenes, that is until you realized that the cut scenes are the in game graphics! In fact the game looks so good sometimes you just want to stop and admire the environment.

-Game Play

So this game is supposed to be like what Tomb Raider was, alot of climbing, platforming, gun plays and puzzle solving...well its both true and untrue. Yes there are alot of climbing various buildings, mountains, trees alike but they all feel very scripted hence there is no way to explore but the rocks are pointing to the direction you need to go. I feel like they could have been so much more creative in this department seeing as the amount of awesome structures Drake end up climbing. As for puzzle solving I could count the number of puzzles in one hand, which doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing if these puzzles are anywhere near to the qualities one could find in other adventure game such as Soul Reaver, except these puzzles are so uncreative, uninspired, a blind folded 2 year old could solve them. Gun play on the other hand feels very solid with third person view and cover system combined with easy melee its like copied straight out of Gears of war, which is a good thing. The gun play system also makes Uncharted 2 have a pretty entertaining multiplayer mode and that's also a good thing seeing as the game is only about 10 hours long.

-Sound

I absolutely love the music in Uncharted 2, it feels right with the type of game it is and the mood of the game. The voice acting in the game is also done superbly.

-Conclusion

Uncharted 2 is a great looking game and a fun 10 hour ride all the way to the end, but it is also a prime example of what is happening to the gaming industry today. Video games has gone main stream like all other forms of entertainment and so it has been dumb down severely for the masses. The degree of easiness in this game is just absurd, Im not asking it to go where games like Soul Reaver did with puzzles around every corner and will frustrate you to no end but adventure games like this could be so much more then just a pretty face. In the end Uncharted 2 has very flashy presentation but failed miserably with the game play that has no real substance whats so ever.

How to Rick Roll Someone

2009-11-02T14:37:00.004-05:00

Here is a good explanational video on how to Rick Roll your friends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmPmIJyi0sc

Unfortunately the embedding was disabled by the video poster, so please click on the link.

And to end the post here is a video of Peter getting Rick Rolled on Family Guy:

Enjoy!

World of Warcraft Detox Clinic

2009-11-02T14:19:00.004-05:00

Competitive prices for the total cure!

Yawning Cat Enterprises is please to announce a new service to be provided at the beginning of 2010. Yawning Cat Detox Clinic and Addiction Recovery Program. The aim of this service is for concerned parents, friends, and other relatives of WoW addicts to be able have their relative or friend taken to a secure rehabilitation center in Eastern Europe or Central Asia to be cured of their WoW addiction.

We have been able to recently purchase several compounds located in the regions above from the US government at a great price. We pass the savings on to you. With our licensed counselor we make sure your WoW addict is cured by whatever means necessary.

Some of the techniques we used are all authorized by the US government and are not torture! Our facilities follow all local laws and regulations. In fact many addicts are treated more humanly than their employers would treat them should their dark addiction be discovered.

Interested parties can contact us for further information. Space is limited and there is an overwhelming interest for this new service. We will offer a 100% satisfaction money back guarantee that one way or another your WoW addict will never want to play WoW ever again or will be unable to ever do so again.

WoW Addicts and Cocks Machine

2009-11-02T10:01:00.007-05:00

WoW addicts, more of a threat to America than terrorists?

I would argue, yes, WoW addicts are more of a threat to America than terrorists. Its an addiction harder to beat that crack cocaine. I have heard so many stories of people dropping out of college because they are so busy playing WoW. And from my own personal experience I know of someone who no longer communicates with his friends except in unusual circumstances because he is so glued to playing WoW. Its a sad state of affairs indeed.

The real danger comes from the games ability to rob America of its youth and to dumb them down into mindless zombies. So in this sense, yes they are a bigger threat than a clone army of Osama bin Ladens. Why WoW is not regulated by the government, I dont know. Its obviously an addictive substance, in fact they have even opened de-tox clinics for gamers in South Korea. The threat is real rather or not people choose to admit it. I suspect that WoW increases dopamine levels in the brain to a high level just as crack does and crystal meth does. So while at first when people play it it is fun and adventurous it soon becomes dull and repetitive. However they cannot stop playing it because when they are not playing it there are chemical signals in the brain screaming to be fired by playing the game. The repetitive playing of the game only re-enforces this habit and need to play it.

One reason I think people dont give two shits about WoW addicts is because they are locked up in their dark damp dungeons playing WoW by themselves. They arnt hurting anyone. But this sedimentary lifestyle is only going to rip money directly out of our wallets to pay for their future medical costs. Furthermore to think of a the detrimental effects the game has on the player bring to mind serious questions of ethical behavior and intervention.

I know that I would never hire a WoW addict, in fact once I found out they played WoW I would just tell them to GTFO.

Now visit the http://www.cocksmachine.com. I would especially intrigued by the Double Cocks. This website is definitely a pleasant surprise, not what you would expect.

Practical and Dream Car Round Up Time

2009-10-30T22:19:00.031-04:00

Today I have a collaborative post from all of our blogs contributors. The question that was presented before us was this: "If you were to buy a reasonable car today (reasonably priced not extravagant etc) what car would it be? And if you could pick any super car in the world (disregarding all practical considerations, price, and devaluation) what car would you pick?"

XL:

1. Today realistically speaking i would try to find an Acura RSX type s. First of all its one of the best sport compact ever build known as Honda integra in Japan and it costs around 20k if i can find one that is as they are extremely rare. With 210 horsepower and 150 ft/lb of torq 2006 RSX has one of the most powerful 4 cylinder eng ever without the aid of a Turbo, and it has one of the highest regarded 4 cylinder eng in Honda's Vtec engine. All tech aside its just a good sport compact with lux options for around 20k.

2. As for a dream car i cant decide between a good old fashion American muscle car or a real fine european engineered supercar. Either a 1960s Mustang Cobra or a 2010 Audi R8 would do for me. both are cars you can drive everyday and both will attract some attention to you. Audi R8 has the combined of German engineering and Italian engineering as the engine is designed by Audi and car is designed by Lambo, whats better than that? oh and the 500 hp V8, 0-60 in under 4 sec but those are minor details. As for the mustang there is just a tradition in american muscle cars, not lately but they were very well made back in the day. so if you want a big, loud, a car that is fast in a straight line then this would be my choice. surprises surprise i didnt pick bugatti veyron.

JT Snow Ball:

1. I would buy a 2010 mazda3. of all the cars that are under or around 20k this one doesn't look shitty and uninspired and it has the most options for the best price. im probably going to go with the s sport with the automatic transmission. i have to test drive it first though.

2. As for a super car i like the look of the mid engine cars but nothing beats a big front end. id probably go with a Mercedes SLR

my 2nd choice would be (after being heavily influenced by the countless hours put into Need for Speed HP2) the Lamborghini Murcielago

Noah:

1. For a practical car I would pick the Honda Fit. Simply nothing matching is offerings for its price. Besides having the reliability of a Honda its new styling is very easy on the eyes. It is also reportedly has a freakishly large interior compared with its relativly small looking exterior. This makes for plenty of leg and head room. I also like how the back seats of the car can be completely removed turning it into a flatbed. This just seems beyond useful. Combine all these features with the high score it received in its vehicles cost of life and you've got a great car. Of course this is all not even mentioning the usefulness of its small size when its comes to parking and its great MPG.

2. For a super car I would pick the Pagani Zonda. I would have to agree with the television show Top Gear where it was described as everything a super car should be. Its extravagant, totally impractical and would be a horror to drive in the city. Its styling would turn heads and its interior looks like something out of a future domestic space craft. Couple these things with its screaming performance and in my opinion its the perfect super car.

Top 5 Count Down: Part 5

2009-10-29T11:41:00.004-04:00

The day is finally here for me to finish this countdown, it has been a long time since we arrived at end of this chapter but I promise it will finish with a bang. It was hard trying to fit so many great developers into the top 5 without leaving out a few but to me all the ones that made it had changed the industry one way or another. This is no different for me with the last spot remaining however I feel that 2 particular developers both had huge influences in the same genre so I am obligated to include both.

Number 5. Valve/Epic games

Today the first person shooter genre is ultra popular whether on PC or consoles. It has many multi-million selling hot franchises around the world and also used as the measuring stick in many competitive gaming events. But before you had a scream fest with the annoying 12 year olds on Halo or endured another nadefest by some noob in Call of the Duty there were Counter Strike and Unreal Tournament. No Valve and Epic games are not the ones that invented first person shooter but like my previous posts they are the most influential.

In the case of Valve, first person shooters were a very niche genre at the time with the likes of Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and a online sensation known as Quake. But one thing in common that made the genre not very popular was all these games were run around in a place that resemble a maze and shoot whatever that moves. In 1998 Valve changed that with the release of Half-Life, it offered an amazing story based experience and for the first time players felt like they were in the shoes of an action hero ridding world full of baddies rather than just a gun and point shoot. One could say if its not because Half-Life then there won't be any story based shooter such as Halo today. Oh and did I mention some of the mods that were made from Half-Life such as Counter-Strike became one of the most popular online game ever? Yeah those are minor details. Today Valve also operates one of the biggest digital distribution service of PC games in the world with Steam, but personally I think Valve needs to go back and develop good games rather trying to control the PC market like they are doing now.

Picture of Gabe Newell, head of Valve and someone every PS3 owner hates. Did I mention he makes millions? yeah he doesn't care what you think.

In the case of Epic Games they were definitely not the first or even the biggest name at the time. In coming Unreal Tournament in 1999 with refined game mechanics, balanced game play and new game modes that were not seen in any previous online multiplayer FPS. But rival ID software has been in the genre since the dawn of mankind with heavy hits such as Quake arena that offers virtually the same experience as Unreal, but something happened that made Unreal grab more popularity from the maker of games such as Wolfenstein and Doom. Maybe it was the new game modes that was finally different from standard death match or balanced game play, it is hard to explain what exactly happened that made Unreal series the standard for online FPS and Unreal engine the standard graphic engine. Just thinking about how many games that uses the Unreal engine is mindboggling, especially games you don't even think about such as RPGs and action games.

nothing beats Epic's director Cliffy B aka "Dude Huge" sawing someone with a chainsaw rifle.

with waves of waves of new FPS coming out each year its pretty easy to say that it has become one of the most popular genre out there but at the same time Unreal and Half-Life still measure up many of today's top games with their deep history. That concludes my top 5 countdown of 5 best video game developers of all time, it turned out to be 6 but whatever its my blog so deal with it.

honorable mentions: Sega, Capcom, Konami, Namco, Rare.

games to play by Valve/Epic games

Half-Life 1/2 (and the various mods)

Left for Dead

Unreal Tournament 3

Gears of War series