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Friday, July 15, 2005

Attack of the Firefox Extensions!

FireFox has a feature that allows extensions to be easily implemented. So a ton of them have been released. This site has a lot of them I have never heard about, with around 450 different extensions. I went through them all and added a whole lot of them. So go there and download a bunch of time saving (and time wasting) FireFox extensions.

Black - Not Just Any FPS

Criterion Games, the makers of Burnout 3, are setting out for a new game, and driving is not the main point of it. Black is a First Person Shooter, that will take more than you would think from the Burnout franchise. You can destroy everything in this game, if the screenshot shows you anything. Crush cars, make buildings fall apart, throw bodies through the air...the makings of a great FPS. It's not all destruction though, it has some tactics to it. Read a Gamespy analysts thoughts below.

"It was pretty much a total war zone out there. Burned out cars, telephone booths, dilapidated buildings and all manner of awaited. I edged out a little further into the street and quickly realized that was a bad idea. Approximately seven different enemies started firing semi-automatic weaponry at me from multiple directions. The red damage reticule indicated the general direction of the incoming bullets, but there was so much noise, so many explosions and ricochets that I panicked and pulled back out of the way. I was about 30 seconds into the demo and already I was completely bewildered and totally hooked." Read the full article here.
This will be keeping my Xbox happy well after the release of the 360. Expect Black in 2006.

The Game Map Site

The Online Video Game Atlas is a site that houses a ton of maps to video games. Every game featured has a handful of maps that will help you out. Well, the games they have. They don't have a ton of games, but they cover a lot of systems (if you need a map for your Apple II, then you should just quit the game) and each one has a lot of content. When they start getting more modern console games on the list, The Online Video Game Atlas will be a true walk-through type site. They really need to branch off into other areas, like cheat codes and full walkthroughs, to get some more traffic. What would be cool is if the put the walkthroughs to video, showing you how to beat a level with the help of a map! Either way, the have some cool game maps you might just need, or want to see for fun.

This Spartan Life - Not Red Vs. Blue

The Halo engine has spawned numerous machinima projects, the most known (and best) of these is Red Vs. Blue, which just released their 3rd season. Besides Red Vs. Blue, most of them really stink. This Spartan Life is set out to make another "great" one. What do I think? It's getting there. This Spartan Life is a talk show set in the Halo game. The host has guests, real people, that he interviews. I had never heard of Bob Stein, his first interviewee, but a Google search says that he is a real person. They make music, and have dancers. It is very well scripted, and the things they do in the Halo engine rivals even Red Vs. Blue, but the content still has a little bit for "great." They break it up into 6 modules and episode, 4 of which are up now. Out of the 4, only the third one was pretty good. The second was cool, but something I have seen a lot of. They took a while to download last night, but traffic has settled a little and they are a lot faster. So go check out This Spartan Life and tell me what you think.

Imperator No Longer Rules

Imperator, an MMORPG from Mythic Entertainment, has been "postponed." Imperator was a game that asked what would've happened if the Roman Empire had not fallen. Set in a futuristic world, in Rome, it seemed like this game had a whole lot going for it. Futuristic setting, a great story, and coming off the sucess of Dark Age of Camelot, it should be a great MMORPG! Mythic said that "Our tremendous success with Dark Age of Camelot set the standard for Mythic of releasing nothing less than triple-A games, and Imperator was simply not meeting that standard."

The company has decided that it would be a better choice to focus on its Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer titles. They will be releasing an expansion to DAoC called Darkness Rising, and a Warhammer MMO (why are all the RTS with "war" becoming MMO's?) slated for release in 2007.

Hopefully it won't be fully cancelled, because when I heard about this last year, I wanted to play it...bad. Please don't leave us Rome!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Antique Mods

Now these are some cool computers. They are modded to look like Toasters, Briefcases, old radios, and other fun stuff. I personally wouldn't want to have it as my home computer, but for the novelty these are pretty neat. And you can bring your gaming computer to work without anyone staring at you. They currently only have picture of the front of a briefcase, and the old radio, so if you buy a toaster, consider yourself warned, you might get a stupid looking toaster, maybe just a one slot!!!

A Big Game of Capture the Flag!

Capture the Flag, in most games, is fun. I spent hours playing Gulch 16 person CTF on Halo PC. Battlefield is essentially based on it! (Not in the traditional since, but close) I have played Capture the Flag in real life, outside (yes there are a few things to do out in the wild) with my friends. What if I played it in New York, with a bunch of other people. Let the games begin. In New York, there is a group of people who play games out in the city. Manhunt, dodgeball, and Capture the Flag are just a few they play out in the open. If you would like to be a part of this fun sport, or just want to see the fun these guys have, go to the games.

Kanukah Out For Gmail

I have a hotmail account as an alternate address, in case I need it. (I used it today actually) I use my Gmail more because Gmail seems like a better name to have in your address, I can trust Google, it has a TON of storage, and it just works better. Hotmail might be trying to get back into the race and make me want to use it more. Code named Kanukah, the next version of Hotmail seems to be about integration. In the screenshot I saw, it looks like it will be more strongly a part of MSN Messenger, and their new service MSN Spaces. It looks very polished, and I like the bars that separate your mail into the day's you received them. In one of the e-mails, it says "Voicemail message (43 sec)" Will it have the feature that Xbox Live has? It might be an easy way to get your podcasts into files without a program like Audacity. Either way, I am sticking with Gmail at the moment, but in the future I might go back to where I started.


View image here

LucasArts Finally Has A Store!

You can finally buy Grim Fandango and Curse of Monkey Island legally! At the LucasArts Online Store you can pre-order the newest games, and even buy a few oldies! These games can be the perfect gift for anyone who loves Star Wars, comedy, adventure, and/or fun games! Go there and look at the special stuff you can get for pre-orders! (Empire at War mousepad anyone?)

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Paper Throwing

"Goal!!!" You scream after making that basket with that paper-wad from across the room. Fun stuff, and major bragging rights after the "Bet you I can make it from all the way back here!" Well, merely it is old school, as we have a new element to add. The fan. You shoot the paper-wad, and use the fan to help you, and try not to get blown away! Play the paper throwing game and kill time, and trees, as you try to get as many baskets as you can in a row!

The Game Programming Wiki!

Have you ever wanted to make your own videogame? I know I have. I want to be a programmer, and do all this fun stuff. Of course I want to make a huge cool game, but if I make a breakout or pong it would be a major accomplishment. I am making a game, but not in code. I am using the Gamemaker program to do it, which it a whole lot easier. Well, if you want to learn the basics of programming, go to this wiki. It is the Game Programming Wiki, which lets you add different entries to help other people (like me) learn how to program in a ton of languages. From C/C++ to Java, it is all there. So go there and make that Pong clone! Bungie, the makers of Halo, made a Pong - , Gnop, as their first game! Look where they are now! So maybe you will make a "Game of the Year" or "Xbox Game of All Time" if you program a game with these tutorials!

'Zone Radio Network

In iTunes, there is a feature that allows you to listen to different radio stations. I never used it much, but I am now. Go to the 'Zone Radio Network and click Advanced, then Open Stream, and paste the URL of the radio station you want into it. There are a ton of video game stations, like all Mario, all Nintendo, all Sega, and some more. They don't have many modern songs, but if I find some in another place I'll tell ya. The Sonic station has interviews and live stuff every once in a while. (I just missed one actually, ended when I got home) These are fun to listen to, and bring nostalgia to any owner of a Nintendo or Sega, and people who own the modern Sonic and Mario stuff will know it, even from games like Super Smash Bros. and Perfect Dark! Go listen to the good stuff!

Homer Simpson Soundboard

Doh! Homer Simpson has the funniest and most memorable phrases! You can listen to them over and over and over and over and...well, you get it. They are funny, and no telling what kind of prank call you can make with them! Try the soundboard to help you out when you need to yell "What's the number for 9-11?!?. Remember, if you don't like, go to Russia!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

All Your Cards Are Belong To Us

The Zero Wing saga. Made famous by the line "All you base belong to us" and in a lesser extent, but my favorite, "Somebody set us up the " And of course the "You know what you doing!" I never have played the game, but have seen tons of videos of these cutscenes. Japanese to English translation spawns many cult followings. This dude might be a little too into it all. They made this card game, Dvorak, which is a set of rules, but the card theme and actual cards are your own. One of the new decks is the "All Your Base" deck. With the famous lines as titles, and little Zigs, you could probably get an hour of fun out of these. You can even download and print off all the cards for free if you want to! Why not try it out, and try the other decks while your at it. Find it and other decks here.

Peel That Potato!


Peeling potatoes. An art many have forgotten. You need to learn to peel a potato, to get anywhere in life. This potato peeling simulation is perfect to help you learn to make that great stew. Try to do it the fastest you can (time is a little faster than normal) by cutting and spinning like a chef. Or a ninja. Ninja's are cool. You can play the most action packed game this year, through this link.

Greek Gamers Are Angry

Greek gamers must be pretty angry right now. Check this out.
"Thousands of British tourists in Greece are unknowingly facing heavy fines or long terms in prison for owning mobile phones or portable video games. The Greek government has banned all electronic games across Greece, including those in home computers, Game Boy-style portable consoles, and on mobile phones.
Law Number 3037, enacted at the end of July, explicitly forbids electronic games with 'electronic mechanisms and software' from public and private places, and people have already been fined tens of thousands of Euros for playing or owning games.

The law was passed to prevent illegal gambling. According to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, "The police will be responsible for catching offenders, who will face fines of 5,000 to 75,000 Euros and imprisonment of one to 12 months. The blanket ban was decided in February after the government admitted it was incapable of distinguishing innocuous video games from illegal gambling machines." One online report said that even watching a film on DVD -- many of which contain promotional games linked to the movie -- had resulted in an arrest and a 10,000-euro fine.

The Greek gaming community has reacted with a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger. One site, www.gameland.gr, has opened a petition and a news service on the ban, as well as providing English translations of the law and messages of support from around the world." Full article here.

Wow, kind of harsh don't ya think? I would move countries! They can't take away a game because of gambling! Maybe games that you can gamble with would be better to take. You could make the argument that every online game is, but not any of the single player! Unless of course you are doing high-scores. I would be playing games in my house on my computer. If an official dude comes to my door, I exit the game, and make sure that it is hidden under a different file name with some other software.

Either way, I feel for the Greek.

I Need A Router

So, I'm currently looking for a router. I have been wanting to get one for a while, but now I am seriously into it. I am wanting a wireless router with at least 4 ethernet ports. I am going to use it for a few different things. Main reason is to get hooked up to Xbox Live. Another one is for my other upstairs computer to have internet access when needed. My dad has a laptop for work with a wireless card that would be easier to hook up to the internet with the wireless than un-plugging our main computer. And of course for the main computer to have internet access. I could probably just go with a 4 port, but I feel we might need wireless in the future, so get it now. I could use it for my Nintendo DS, Revolution, and Xbox 360 in the future, too. I'm trying for a sub-$50 price right now, but might go higher if it means a lot.

If you all have any suggestions for a good router, please comment them, it will help me out!

Ultimate Sonic the Hedgehog Resource

Coming from the Zelda resource, it is the Sonic resource! Tons of stuff, including news, reviews, comics, information on games, pictures, music downloads, even interwiews with developers! If you love blue hedgehogs, go to this site.

You will be pleased...



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Monday, July 11, 2005

Lack of Stuff

I told everyone I would have a ton of fun stuff to share with you guys, but I was saving it. I had a lot, like over 20 or so posts worth, and none of it was news. All fun and games. I use a FireFox plug-in called SessionSaver to save my tabs whenever I exit Firefox, so I can save all my links without bookmarking them or writing it all down. Sometimes, it messes up, and all the links I gather are completely lost. This was one of those times. I will try to gather all the links I can, but at the moment I'm not because I am so frustrated with it. Tommorow, I will have some of the links I originally had, the ones I can remember. The others...I am sorry you are gone.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Microsoft Longhorn Beta Screenshots

I found some Longhorn Beta screenshots! I bet you wanna know what I think about it all. Actually you probably just want the link for them, but I'll tell you what I think anyway. GUI (Graphical User Interface) looks...new. It is kind of cool, one of those Use-it-for-a-month-because-it-is-new things, but after I get used to it, I'll change to...more-classic classic?...to save System Resources and make it faster. Sorry Microsoft, I know you are trying, but it just isn't enough!

Tabbing in Internet explorer was too blocky, hard to distinguish the different tabs. It also showed that it will be just plain "Computer" and "Documents" without the "My". My theory that Microsoft would make millions by saying that it is a plain "Computer" and not yours, therefore Microsoft can take it back and re-sell it, saving money on the disc making! Evil Microsoft..

Note: Please don't send your band of evil monkeys after me...

Microsoft Developing for Nintendo



Now this is some big, and good, news. Microsoft is developing for the Nintendo DS! Well, Microsoft-owned Rare is developing for the Nintendo DS. Actually, Microsoft-owned Rare is hiring programmers and designers for games on the Nintendo DS. It's a start, and it makes it a little closer to getting Halo on our handhelds. You know that the Nintendo DS is the right system for it Microsoft... The touch-screen is just like using a laptop to play an FPS...

OK, enough of the fanboy and more of the "Why are you doing this Microsoft" factor. Why are you doing this Microsoft! You are helping out a company that you want to destroy.

They didn't take the whole "We are in a different medium than the Xbox" thing seriously, did they?

Digg 2.0 Up Tonight?

Digg.com is down for 30 minutes as of a few minutes ago. I think that we will be having Digg 2.0 up and running tonight! Go to Digg right now and be one of the first people to see Digg 2.0!
You heard it here first!

Revenge of the Sith DVD

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is still in theaters, but we already know when we are going to sleep in the electronics sections of Wal-Mart for the DVD. On November 8th, we will be watching The Duel in our houses! That doesn't mean you should stop seeing it in theaters! I want it to grab 400 million before it is out, so go watch it again and again and again. Come on, seeing Yoda totally OWN those two guards before getting whooped by Sidious is priceless!

Project Gotham 3 Screenshots

As I stated in a previous post, I have a lot of fun stuff that I want to show. I also have some news that I want to share. News is first, since if I don’t share it will become…olds? (It already is so I’m hurrying) So I am going to go ahead and start with this. Some Project Gotham 3 screenshots were posted on the net, and they looks simply stunning! They are of a building, but it isn't flat, like buildings usually are in racing games. They have details, and it looks like an actual picture. Some people apparently thought it was an actual picture, until they showed it with the wire-frame. Wow.

There are also some pictures of a car, but to me it looks Grand Turismo 4 in the graphical standpoint. I am sure it will look much better when the game is actually released for the Xbox 360 (launch title maybe?) You can check the picture out here.

The Ultimate Zelda Resource

This site has tons of great Zelda information! With articles, comics, the races of hyrule, the timline theory, and tons of other great stuff for you TriForce junkies. It even has news, most likely regarding Twilight Princess.

Go there and check it out, maybe you will learn something, or tell other people something with their new Wikipedia-esque system.

P.S. This has been put on digg, so go digg it!

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