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7 Apr 06
I still haven't found a laptop yet. I think laptops must be hard to buy unless you don't care about cost. You've got so many considerations. Processor power, screen size, memory, video cards (or integrated graphics), battery life, form factor, additional functionality and hard drives. All those have to be balanced based on the projected use of the notebook.
Unfortunately, browsing through ads doesn't give you all that information. It takes time to find the make and model and then dig through the stats. I started doing some of that when I realized that most of key stats were different for notebooks. The processors have different functionality and ratings compared to their desktop counterparts. The video cards are related similarly numbered desktop versions (except for the high end desktop replacements), but have differing performance.
I was initially confounded. On the Intel side, the core solo seems to be the most battery friendly with decent power. The core duo has two cores (as you might expect) so you get better performance if multitasking or if your application can use the second core. I think the core line (marketed Viiv) is replacing the Pentium M line (Centrino). I'm thinking the premium prices associated with Viiv are pushing it out of consideration. Plus I haven't seen many systems sporting it. The other options are the Pentium M, the AMD Turion 64 or a desktop chip. If you go the latter route, forget about battery life.
Most of the ones I like seem to have a Pentium M and a mobile Radeon X700. Part of me is not sure I need even that much power, but it's fighting the part that wants a desktop replacement. I'll try to keep the difficulty of wading through the information from paralyzing me and preventing a purchase. As always, any advice is appreciated.
Did I mention this link (from Slashdot) where the National Review defends video games. Maybe the tide is starting to turn.
Don't forget about the GalCiv 2 contest.
This week's game is from the makers of the Codename: Panzers series. It's Rush for Berlin (official site) from Stormregion. It's a World War II RTS set in the closing months of the war. The Western Allies and the Soviet Union are the competitors in the race. The Germans don't want either side to win. Rush adds some new twists in the form of hero units. They're the officers in your command with special abilities that can help turn battles. You can play as the Americans, British, French, or Soviets racing for Berlin. If you play as the Germans, they get to tinker with history a bit. Stormregion gives you access to some of the prototype technologies that the Germans were working on. It's up to you to figure out how to use them to keep history from repeating itself. Look for Rush for Berlin next month.
Jason
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6 Apr 06
I played the Tomb Raider demo on the Xbox 360. I know. What does that have to do with strategy gaming? Actually it's more about the strategy of the gaming industry. If you recall, it was quite a stir when Eidos took their golden goose franchise away from Core. I mean Eidos is largely the company it is based on the strength of the original Tomb Raiders.
Eidos turned to Crystal Dynamics makers of the Kain (Blood Omen) series of games, among others. So how did they do? I have to say I'm pretty impressed. It certainly captures the spirit of the original Tomb Raider while not ignoring the advances in controls, gameplay and technology. They've gone with a stylized look that works for the series. The controls were a little floaty but compensated by being intelligently context sensitive.
I think the biggest problem the game will have is expectations. Any Core loyalists will be looking for any flaw. While other gamers might expect it to match the Prince of Persia series in its environmental puzzles. Combat seemed pretty awkward. The bright spot there was the ability to execute some canned environmental attacks. Let's just say I hope the final game focuses more on the puzzles and adventure than combat.
I'm going to assume the story is pretty meaty since it is from the people who brought us Kain. I don't see the game winning too many game of the year awards, but Tomb Raider fans have been clamoring for a decent Lara Croft adventure for years now. So what looks like a good one will seem that much better. I think Eidos made the right move.
Jason
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5 Apr 06
I don't have much today. Actually, I have a large headache for anyone who wants it. I certainly don't. Some new pollen has blown into town and my sinuses have launched a counter offensive. I just wish my head wasn't in the middle.
I enjoyed Eurogamer's review of Odama. What an odd, interesting sounding game. It is too bad no one will play it.
I got a few minutes of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (360) in. It does feel like Ghost Recon. You pop your head up foolishly; you die. Run and gun does not work for long. Your team alternates between good and stupid. That's loads better than just stupid. I'll report back as I dig deeper.
I've uninstalled the Rise of Legends demo. It's just too unstable on my rig. I liked what I saw especially the art design and game flow, but I don't think I'll be purchasing without a final demo that runs on my rig, or I'll wait until next year and the new rig.
Don't forget about the GalCiv 2 contest. You know I can't recall a contest winner writing up a story from the game they won. Hint, hint. Time to sleep.
Jason
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4 Apr 06
No welcome back, we missed you comments or emails? I'm hurt. Just kidding. I bet we'll have a couple comments to this story since I'm finally getting around to the contest. Yes, I have one copy of the collector's edition of Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords. I'm giving it away.
As I mentioned before, this is a hybrid contest. If you just want a quick and dirty entry, just post a comment at the end of this article. What comment? This time the theme is a favorite science fiction character. I realize it's hard for some people to choose so it can be any favorite, not necessarily 'the' favorite. You're free to explain your selection or not. For instance, I might have to explain the Stainless Steel Rat, but Dr. Who pretty much stands on his own. Of course, registration is required to post comments. It's free and easy if you haven't already taken the time.
So how do you get a second entry? This site is based on gaming stories. To enter again you have to write one. Let's keep entries between 100 and 1000 words long. Please clearly mark the beginning and end of your story. Longer stories may be entered and could be edited at my discretion. Stories should be based on your gaming experiences, must be an original work and can not have been submitted here before. Entries must be sent to contests@talkstrategy.com. Entries should be in English and describe a gaming experience. All entries must be in by 11:59 pm CDT on Apr 21, 2006.
Entries will not be evaluated on the quality of their content. Each entry of either type will be assigned a number. The winning number will be randomly drawn. Since you don't have to write a story to enter, all story entries will be published on the site. If you do have a username on the site, please include it in your story entry. Please give your full name with your story entry.
This contest is taking place in Texas and is void where prohibited. There is a maximum of two entries per person. You must write your story yourself and/or post your comment yourself. Please contact me with any questions. Good luck to all entrants.
Jason
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3 Apr 06
I'm sorry about last week. Even though there wasn't much I could do about it, I still feel bad. You'd think being sick for a week, I'd get a lot of gaming in. Unfortunately, no. I also had a ton of fatigue and no ability to focus. Essentially, I had no gaming until yesterday.
Yesterday, I spent trying to fight the Rise of Legends demo. I realize it's an alpha demo. I also know that most people didn't have too many problems with it. I did. I think I'm cursed when it comes to this series. Anyway, I had downloaded it without problem. I tried to installed and kept getting a database error. So I deleted it, and redownloaded it from another mirror. This time it installed.
It ran automatically from the installation. Instant lock up. Reboot. Try again. This time I got to the menu screen. Well, that was after the apology screen stating it was an alpha demo. I tried to start the campaign. I choose the campaign. I upgrade my hero. I tell him to go attack the only available province. It started loading all the information. I get to where it should start. It flips to desktop and says RoL has encountered an error and needs to stop. Would you like to send an error report?
Sure, it's a Microsoft game so it might actually help. Great it says. Then I get a dialogue saying that it needs to send some the data in use at the time. The files could be large and take a while to upload. Oh, ok. Maybe if I do this, the retail version will run on my rig. Then my rig appears to freeze. Then it unfreezes. I check the task manager. Error reporting is sucking up all the CPU cycles. Ok, I'll go get a drink while it finishes. Ah, a cool refreshing beverage. What? It's still not done? I go watch that Dr. Who episode I recorded. It's still not done? Oh my, I really want to help them solve this problem, but this is getting ridiculous. Right as I'm about to give up, it finishes. Great. Transmitting report. Great. The bar's not moving. Great. At least I have some CPU cycles now. I can surf. Forty minutes later, it finally finishes. BHG and Microsoft, I really hope that helped.
Needless to say, the next time it crashed, I told it just to send a standard error report. Done in 30 seconds. Of course, that means it did crash again. In fact, I couldn't get it to run at the default resolution. I tried all the options. I reinstalled drivers. Nothing. Eventually, I noticed that at the bottom of the resolutions list were a couple of lower resolutions. No doubt there for debugging or something. I give it a try. It does switch, but the menu does adjust. Most of tabs are off the screen. Fortunately the edge of the bounding boxes run across the top. I'm still able to adjust things. I save my minimalist settings and go back to the main menu. It now has scroll bars. The main menu has scroll bars. Whatever.
I try a quick game. It works. It's not overly pretty with everything turned off, but it works. It takes me a few miserable failures to figure out how the basics of the game work. I finally get off to a good start and am battling for control of the map when the game crashes again. Hard lock up. Reboot.
Just for fun, I try one of those weird mac resolutions. What do you know. It works. Well, for half a game anyway. Then it locked up. It looked much prettier this time. The camera seemed awfully tightly zoomed in, but otherwise it looked good. It really seems like the type of game I'd enjoy if I could get it to work. Oh well, I think I'll spend some time on the Xbox 360. It wouldn't lock up on me would it?
Thanks again for all the kind thoughts and prayers.
Jason
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