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9 Oct 04
And the magic number is ............37. For those without a memorized numerical list of the Presidents, that means the Richard M. Nixon. Apparently only Nixon could go to China and only Nixon could win this contest. Well, actually the two people who chose Nixon won the contest. Let's hear it for members Buster2k and Boofy. I've sent them congratulatory emails. The prizes should be going out Monday. Thanks to everyone who entered. I was having so much fun with this contest, I've been pestering publishers for more games to give away. If any of them give in to my whiny demands, I'll throw up another contest ASAP.
Jason
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8 Oct 04
It's kind of a sad day. Gone Gold is down. A lot of the regulars have been regrouping in the Console Gold forums. Early information made it sound like this might be the end. Since I'm in Houston, home of Gone Gold's hosting provider, I called them. They told me that the account had been cancelled on the 5th of October. So maybe it is the end, or perhaps just a billing glitch or perhaps Rich is just moving to a new server. We'll see, but it's sad to even think about the end. Most of you probably know that this site started out as a wild idea on the Gone Gold Forum. Thanks to the encouragement of people there, this place is here now. Whatever's happening, Thanks Rich and God bless you.
Ok. I'm kind of sad now. Fortunately, one thing that cheers me up is making people happy. Since the contest ends at 11:59 pm tonight (CDT), I should be making two people happy tomorrow and that should cheer me up. Of course a little more community input also cheers me up (hint, hint). Look for the winners to be posted tomorrow.
Oh, a brief Acclaim update. THQ has snagged the rights to publish Juiced. Perhaps good news on the Red Star will be coming soon.
Oh, and another (non strategy) note. I've enjoyed NBA Street and NFL Street. EA has announced FIFA Street. That's soccer for Americans and football to the rest of the world. I'll probably break down and give it a go when it arrives next year.
Jason
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7 Oct 04
Ok. I didn't mention it yesterday, but just to be clear, entries must be in by 11:59 pm Central Daylight Time tomorrow. I'll probably put up a winners post on Saturday right after I send out emails to the winners. Thanks to everyone who's been involved thus far. It's been fun.
On the console side, rumor has it that the buy 2 get one free offer from Toys R Us will come in the last half of this month. Keep your eyes on the Sunday ads for details.
If you could kindly check out the forum, I would appreciate it. I need some help thinking through what to do with hybrid turn based/realtime games and turn based games in general with regards to the continuum. I'm sure there's a way to figure it out, but it will take smarter minds that mine. That means most of you. Thanks for the help.
Jason
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6 Oct 04
Remember you only have until 11:59 pm on the 8th of October to enter the contest. While it does nothing to help you win, it certainly is more interesting to read the entries that defend their choice for best President. You are free to reply to anyone's defense under their entry. Those replies won't count as a separate entry, but they could be a good discussion.
I mentioned yesterday that anyone new here should look around. I think it would be great if we could get some new war stories out there for people to read. With Evil Genius, Kohan II, Warhammer 40k and Rome: Total War all out, I know some of you are playing. Let's get a few war stories going in the forum. Barring that let's at least set up some matches among members.
Theohall started a Rome: TW topic in the forum. I know some of you are playing. Feel free to put your favorite tips and strategies in there. By the way, there's a new multiplayer patch out today for Rome. You'll need it to play online. Look for it at the Usual Suspects.
Jason
Comments?
5 Oct 04
We're up to 10 entries in the contest, but with two prizes those are still some of the best odds you'll find. I'd like to point out that there's absolutely nothing wrong with coming here for a chance to win. But if you'd like to learn more about the site, please take some time to look around. I'd especially encourage you to look around and post in the forum.
The forum is really supposed to be the heart of this place, but everyone gets busy. We're not big enough yet so that "something is always happening" in the forum. Even though I don't always express it, the stories and strategies shared there are really what the original vision of this place was supposed to be. The stuff that gets regularly updated all the time is there to give people a reason to stop in on a regular basis and maybe attract a few new members now and then.
Please take a look around, check out the news section. There's a nice search function there. People can contribute there as well with submitting a mini review, news article or even a link to a favorite game site. If and when we grab a few more members, I think we'll hit a critical mass and create a dynamic gaming community you'll be proud to be a part of. But if you don't know what we offer, you'll never know if this place is for you. So, please, take your time, look around and make yourself at home.
Jason
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4 Oct 04
Well, the contest is still going on. Thanks to Bill Harris for mentioning it. I also asked the guys at Penny Arcade to mention it, but since we've only traded a few emails, I'm not holding my breath. That's not to say I don't think they would, it's just that with all the email they get, I'm guessing that half of my emails don't get through the junk mail filters. Regardless, I asked so the least I can do is mention their contest. They're giving out a few copies of Pikmin (I presume the new version) if you can come up with a description of new colors of Pikmin that didn't make the cut for the new game. Check it out here.
Back to our contest, it's interesting to see whom people have picked. We have votes for the classics: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Then we have three modern Presidents: Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. I suppose if I had been able to vote, I would have gone for Washington. I can only imagine what it would be like to be offered potentially unlimited power and turn around and say I just want to go back to my farm. He set the very definition of what a US President would be. Those first steps are the hardest, and I think we're all glad he did a good job.
I've been thinking about consoles again. I'm guessing with the release of the PStwo, Sony's not looking to drop prices before the holidays. Unless Microsoft wants to spring an October surprise on Sony, I think they'll hold pat as well. After the holidays it's a whole new ball of wax. I'm guessing between New Years and E3 we'll see both drop to $99. The Gamecube will probably check in at $79, but they could surprise us with a drop to $49.
I wonder about the Xbox after the price drop and the Xbox 2 is announced. Really, you'll still have a pretty powerful computer. It's capable of running Linux and I expect that mod chip prices will drop significantly after the next generation is announced. The box is network capable, has a hard drive and an adequate processor for most common tasks. The lack of memory is still a problem, but I keep thinking that you could set up a web server cluster or a game server cluster and have a lot of power very cheap. I might just be dreaming, but it seems at some point the Xbox becomes a better value for the parts than even for gaming.
Today's game has a little (almost totally unrelated) story attached to it. I worked hard to get my wife into gaming. Compared to a lot of guys I know I've had relatively great success. One of the games that really helped break through was Majesty. She absolutely loved that game. I had mentioned to her that Cyberlore was working on Majesty 2, but they had funding problems. So we were walking through Fry's and she asked where Majesty 2 was. I mentioned that strangely she had to hope that Playboy: The Mansion does well since that's the best way for Cyberlore to get funding to finish Majesty 2. Now telling a pregnant woman to root for the success of a game about naked women with perfect bodies taking their clothes off didn't go well. So I cast my eye about to create a diversion. That's when I noticed that today's game had been released.
While it's not exactly like Majesty, it is pretty close to the genre. It's Medieval Conquest (official site) from Catdaddy Games. As in Majesty, you're goal is to create a thriving fantasy kingdom. You hire and equip warriors from various classes and build buildings to support their efforts. However, you do have some control over you minions in this game. You basically point them in the right direction and let them get on with the killing. Perhaps the best thing about the game (besides the budget friendly price) is the fact it has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek.
Jason
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