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1 Jul 05

Shhh. It's a secret. Sure, this site is about strategy and tactical games, their stories and the tips of the trade, but there's a hidden purpose as well. If you think about it, you know it too. It's like the secret of the phoenix, but nothing so banal. Everyone knows, but no one talks about it. Except me. That's what I'm here for.

Don't worry, this site isn't making me rich or anything exciting like that. It's more simple and perhaps more sinister. It makes people buy games. Worse, it makes people buy games for your amusement. Yes, I have affiliate links, but that's just to cash in on the phenomenon.

So how does it work? It's simple really. Enthusiasm is infectious. If you're having fun playing a game, even if it's not a great game, and you can communicate that experience to others, they'll want in on it. So yes, these stories act as gateway drugs to get people to buy games.

It's not all bad though. In fact, everyone wins. Even playing and complaining about a poor game together, often can be more fun than playing a good game that it seems no one else is playing. Playing a good game together (even if its really separately, at the same time), sharing experiences, pointing out cool things and reveling in the cool gameplay is sublime. It makes gaming more than a temporary escape. It turns it into a true hobby. If we can help that move down the road, then this place is worth it. I guess the secret's out.

Jason
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30 Jun 05

Instead of spending time playing (read learning) Battlefield 2 today, I spent my gaming time trying to solve some lock up problems. You see I figured that with the new video card some of the games that have given me trouble might have had their problems solved. I was wrong.

Of course, I did stay with Nvidia so if the problem lay in something specific to their cards I wouldn't have solved anything. It seemed more likely that my particular card might have been having problems. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have been the case.

Something else in my rig configuration seems to be the problem. So I've spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what it is. I've checked for device conflicts. I've updated all drivers even seemingly unrelated ones. I've uninstalled or removed background programs that aren't essential. I even disabled the sound card to see if the problem still occurred. It did.

The big three I'm having problems with are Rise of Nations, Evil Genius and Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 with the Soaked expansion. They all run seemingly fine until they lock up. They don't seem to be triggered by a common event. I had worried that the video card was overheating, but with a second card exhibiting the same behavior, it seems unlikely. The weird thing is that more demanding 3D games don't have problems. That really leads me to believe there's a simple conflict there. If I could find it, I'd be able to solve the problem. I just don't have a clue about what it is.

Anyway, I'll be moving on to games that work. Any advice is appreciated.

Jason
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29 Jun 05

Yesterday was Tuesday when the Fry's sale ended. Today, I was spending time trying to get a new video card working. I'm sure you can deduce the rest.

The new card, a Nvidia 6600 GT, is a last ditch effort to get my rig to last a little longer. If I didn't have to play games, this rig could last forever (at least in gaming rig terms), but gaming is my love and my burden. Heartbreaking isn't it.

Of course, my rig only has an AGP port. I nearly had a heart attack when it didn't mention 4X AGP support anywhere on the box. Then the connector is slightly different. Fortunately, there were no problems there. Oh yeah, if you haven't checked lately, there's a latch on the AGP port. You have to pull the pin to get the card off. I'm always very gentle with circuit cards, so it took me a while to figure out that it wasn't just a tight port. I realize the port is somewhat limiting to the card (hence the 6600GT over the 6800), but it's not as much as my CPU. Basically, I've given up some of the higher resolutions, but I'm not complaining.

The other problem is that the 6600 GT is designed for the power draw of a PCI express port. The AGP version has a handy power connector. I tried just plugging in the closest connector. Boot up, looking good. Install drivers, reboot. Nvidia Monitor bot: 6600 GT does not have enough power, lowering clock to run at safe levels. The normal speed is 500/900. It turned it down to 100/300. Ouch.

I tried swapping it around. Then my hard drives didn't boot. Oops. Then I lost a DVD drive. Oops. I had to put on my Scotty hat. I figured I should have enough total power from the old Antec. So I just had to figure out how to keep the high drains from stepping on each other. After cleaning up the wiring in the case, I was able to give the hard drives their own line, the video card its own and the removable media drives their own. Amazingly, logic works. It boots up and everything works.

I've barely had a chance to play around with the card, but it's pretty impressive. Hopefully it will keep me in games for a while. Now maybe I can get back to gaming.

I added a poll in the news section for everyone to post their thoughts on the SWAT 4 patch/ads situation. Please share your opinion.

Jason
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28 Jun 05

David is eight months old today. It's hard to believe. It's also hard to believe that that little four pound two ounce baby has grown to reach seventeen and a half pounds so quickly (and showing no signs of slowing down).

The recent SWAT 4 patch added Massive's in game advertisements. I put up a picture so you could see what they look like Here. Sorry for the jaggies. I forgot to turn antialiasing on. Bill Harris and I had a little argument about the patch. My point was that the patch wasn't required, but did make the game better. If it took ads to green light it, that's a small price to pay (especially since the patch included the SDK). You're free to make your own call.

Thanks to Slashdot for pointing out the NER0 project. It's an interesting experiment in artificial intelligence as applied to games. It's definitely worth checking out if the subject interests you. I'll play around with the demo and report back.

Finally, AMD had an interesting day. They released a new super high priced CPU targeted at gamers called the Athlon 64 FX-57. It's their fastest single core processor. I'm sure the hardware sites will have the internal details shortly. Interestingly, like the recently announced Nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX, the FX-57 will be available immediately. Could this be a great new trend in hardware announcements?

The other news from AMD is they're suing Intel. They're claiming antitrust violations. Basically, they're calling Intel a monopoly using unlawful tactics to keep systems manufacturers in their camp. I suggest you read through that article. It's pretty amazing the heavy handed tactics they allege Intel used. AMD has even set up a special section of their website dedicated to "fair and open competition." It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Jason
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27 Jun 05

An interesting day today. All kinds of things going on. Supreme Court decisions, strategic alliances, announcements and analysis. But let's start with an award. It looks like we have an early winner in the headline of the year competition. Let's hear it for the Register with, "Microsoft deletes 'freedom' and 'democracy' in China." That's great. That action has lead Gamepolitics to call for a boycott of the Xbox 360. I'm afraid I can't support the boycott since Microsoft is merely working within U.S. Government policy for dealing with China. Still, you have to wonder if they even thought of public relations disaster that would ensue.

I'm sure most of you have seen it, but AnandTech has put up an interesting article on what we know about the next generation platforms and performance. I thought it did a very good job, but they missed one key thing. They mention the potential difficulty in implementing a physics solution geared to use the cell in the PS3. Sony already has a solution for that called PhysX. It will cost devs some money, but could prove worth it to help unlock the power of the Cell.

I did mention the Supreme Court. They've made a couple decisions that could affect gaming. First, they determined that file sharing developers could be held liable for illegal activities performed on their networks. That could help reduce piracy or it could have a chilling effect on information exchange and related software development. Their other decision allowed cable companies to keep exclusive use of their high speed infrastructure. This could either speed up new infrastructure investment or stifle competition. On the other hand, generally speaking deregulation helps the consumer. What murky waters indeed.

Speaking of murky, Microsoft emphasizes their close ties with Toshiba and their HD-DVD standard (as opposed to rival Sony's Blu Ray solution), but then explicitly state they are not taking sides. I guess we can take that as they wouldn't mind seeing Sony fail, but they can't afford to be on the wrong side if one loses out. Oh well.

I found this week's game while surfing the net. I realize it might not make it stateside (outside of Fry's and GoGamer), but I always applaud different. It's Coffee Break (official site) from Abell. It's kind of like the Sims go to The Office. Can you develop good relationships with a bunch of jerks, er, I mean your coworkers? Can you handle the ultimate game, Office politics? Most importantly, can you have fun without getting fired? Look for Coffee Break by the end of the summer across the pond.

Jason
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