.the gpb kids.

2:30am

Posted by Mike - August 30, 2007 at 08:08:25 am

That’s roughly when I went to sleep last night after assembling my new computer and playing Bioshock on it. The assembly took roughly three hours and the OS and game installation took another two hours or so.

This was probably the smoothest hardware assembly I’ve ever done. Only had one hardware problem; I forgot to change the DVD-ROM to be the slave drive. Installing Vista was alright except I had the problem of it not having default drivers for the ethernet ports again. So I had to download them on the Mac and transfer. But after all of that I got a good 30 min of gameplay in.

I’ve got to say that the Antec P180B case I got is infinitely better than the other case I had. I should have taken pictures while I was assembling everything, but I’ll just throw out some highlights.

1. The power supply is on the bottom. I always thought it was funny how the heaviest component in a PC was always placed at the top. This is way better.
2. There is space behind the motherboard to route all of the power cables so they’re not hanging over it and getting in the way.
3. The HDD slots have silicon pads for the drives to sit on so they’re quiet.
4. The fans on the front of the case that suck air in have filters over them that you can easily clean. Brilliant!
5. No crazy lights! I got over the whole clear case light-show pretty soon after I got my old case.

Maybe I’ll take a picture of what it looks like when I get back later tonight.

Sega Dreamcast Championships 2001

Posted by Mike - August 4, 2007 at 09:08:51 pm

I may have told you about my friend Lindsay, who in 2001 bested everyone in the Sega Dreamcast Championships of 2001 to win $15,000 by playing Crazy Taxi. Well I just found some pictures I took so here they are.

It’s also interesting to to see Lindsay on Wikipedia’s 2001 in video gaming page.

Sorry about the lame thumbnails. Apparently Windows Vista’s photo gallery program doesn’t let you nicely export pictures at particular sizes like another operating system I know…

New World in Conflict Trailer

Posted by Mike - August 3, 2007 at 08:08:46 am

Alright, who recognizes the music??

DiRT-y

Posted by Mike - July 17, 2007 at 09:07:51 am

This is what I feel like when I’m playing DiRT.

Jules can attest. I probably spend more time watching the replays then actually playing the game.

“Hey Jules look look!”

“Huh? Yeah okay…”

“You’re not looking! Great you missed it. Look!”

“Uhhh”

“There goes my wheel!”

“Uh huh…”

Top 5 reasons to get a PS3, and why I’m not.

Posted by Mike - July 13, 2007 at 10:07:48 am

My current gaming platforms include the PC, Xbox360 and the Wii, but after watching the Sony press conference and some PS3 stage demos I’ve come up with five strong reasons to get a PS3.

5. Heavenly Sword

4. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

2. Killzone 2

1. LittleBigPlanet

Why I’m not going to get a PS3… yet

One of the big selling points of the Xbox360 for me was Xbox Live. By the time I picked one up for myself, I already knew a lot of people who had it so I was able to start playing with my friends from the get go. I also picked one up for each of my brothers, which helped. Most of the things I’ve heard about the PS3 network have been negative. It’s either hard to connect with your friends to play, or you have to sit in lobbies or other things.

But the games I’ve listed above, except LittleBigPlanet, are all really meant to be played by yourself. So the real roadblock for me is the cost. Not just the cost of the console itself, but the cost of the HDTV that I’d want to get to take advantage of the games and the blu-ray drive. And really, what’s the point of getting a cheap, mid-sized HDTV? When you get an HDTV you have to go all out! And it doesn’t help that I have coworkers and friends with huge HDTV’s and projectors. Jerks.

Waiting for September

Posted by Mike - July 11, 2007 at 09:07:35 pm

It looks like the big gaming month for me is going to be September. Three major games that I’m looking forward to are dropping a week apart from each other.

September 11 - Crysis

I’ll start it off with some gorgeous first-person-shooting action. I know there are people out there who think this will just be eye candy and won’t have good gameplay or a story, but I’m banking on it being more. I think it’ll raise the bar, graphically and gameplay-wise.

September 18 - World in Conflict

I’ve been participating in the multiplayer alphas and betas for this game for a while and I’m excited to see what the single player version has to offer. Another visually stunning game, but this one I know has good gameplay.

September 25 - Halo 3

Despite my better judgement, I’m actually getting excited about this game. I didn’t really play either of the first two installments but online co-op play is a thirst that has only grown more pronounced since Gears of War and Rainbow Six came out.

Carcassonne

Alright, I know what you’re thinking… those games are all violent. Have no fear! I recently downloaded Carcassonne on XBOX Live.

It’s the video game version of a popular board game that I got hooked on while I was in Seattle visiting Jules’ siblings. We recently purchased the physical version as well. So far I’m 0-1 against Jules. >_<

Other games I’m excited about

Assassin’s Creed

It doesn’t come out until November but this game looks like it could be pretty good. The biggest perk for me would be the parkour-esque roaming of the cities.

Killzone 2

I have to admit that the trailer still looked pretty good, even though it’s been two years since they showed the original pre-rendered version. But not good enough to get a PS3.

Metal Gear Solid 4

The trailer was pretty, don’t know anything about the gameplay, but again, probably not worth getting a PS3 + the entertainment system I’d want to get with it.

E3 2007 is Here!

Posted by Mike - July 10, 2007 at 10:07:48 am

Even though it’s been dramatically reduced in size, E3 is still where all the big news will drop regarding video games. Here are some games that I’m eager to get more info about. Since GameSpot has finally enabled users to embed their video content, I’ll do that here.

Crysis

From the people who brought you FarCry, this game looks absolutely amazing. I’m basically waiting for this game to come out before I upgrade my computer.

Ace Combat 6

I haven’t played a flying game in years, but this one looks like it may be good enough to get me playing again. 16 player online dogfights!

Call of Duty 4

The last Call of Duty left a bad taste. I haven’t even finished it yet. I don’t feel any connection with any of my squadmates or anything. Call of Duty 4 is taking the game in a new direction and bringing the previously WWII specific franchise into modern times. Let’s see what they do with it.

Grand Theft Auto IV

I honestly have never really been into the GTA series. I never really played them to progress in the story. I had a much better time just driving around the city and getting into car crashes. But I did enjoy playing Saints Row and this should theoretically kick that game’s butt all over the place.

The unannounced game

Can’t wait to see what they unveil this year!

On the Spot

Posted by Mike - April 23, 2007 at 09:04:59 am

One of the things I like to show people when they come and visit me at the office is the GameSpot Live studio where they film video reviews, previews and some shows. On the Spot is GameSpot’s weekly live show where they show off new games and talk to developers and such. They’ll be quick to tell you that the best part is the viewer feedback, and I agree. An editor decided it would be a good idea to do a behind the scenes for the show, and here it is.

Boom, headshot

Posted by Mike - March 1, 2007 at 11:03:11 am

Nice blindfiring.

Emergence Day

Posted by Mike - February 24, 2007 at 12:02:39 pm

My brother pointed me to an article yesterday depicting a huge sink hole. I don’t know the details, can’t read “Bakken kollapset og slukte hus” but that’s an emergence hole if I’ve ever seen one! Now where’s my chainsaw gun when I need it? There will be some locust slicing action in the near future!

In other gaming related news, Jules has taken to playing New Super Mario Bros. on the DS. And by ‘taken to’ I mean she occasionally makes the recognizable outcry that roughly translates to “I’ve died 10 times on this same part! !(*&#^!@(*&”

Good luck Jules, we’ve all been there.

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