I just happened to come across this on Kotaku. At first I was just going to pass over it, but I decided to give it a change out of boredom. Turned out better than I thought though, and the Pokemon part was just fucking great.
Note to self: Buy Pokemon Snap on Virtual Console and test your Pokemon Snap Blockbuster cards to see if they'll fit in the Wii's SD slot. I want some fucking Pokemon stickers.
It's apparently been around since mid-April, so I apologize if this is old. IF I HAVEN'T SEEN IT, IT'S NEW TO ME.
Just in case there are any Wii owners around here that WEREN'T rudely awoken this morning by the blinding blue light, I'd like to point out that the Nintendo Channel is now live and available for download. In case you also had no idea what the Nintendo Channel does, it allows you to download DS demos and do other stuff that I don't really care about. :P
This bitch of a channel will require about 122 blocks, which, if you're anything like me and have oodles of Virtual Console games, you probably won't have free. After struggling for five minutes to clear up the space, I finally got the damn thing downloaded. After finally getting the damn thing downloaded and starting it, it asked for ANOTHER 122 blocks to be freed. Fuck you, Nintendo.
There's a couple pages of game trailers available, but I don't really give a shit about those. The only reason I downloaded this channel was because of the DS demos, which they have a few of already:
-Brain Age 2
-Flash Focus
-Crosswords DS-Crosswords
-Jam Sessions
-Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
-Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends
-Disney Friends
-Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Nothing amazingly interesting, but still pretty neat. I downloaded the Jam Sessions demo to test it out and it worked the same way as any DS download station for the most part. It did take a little while for the demo to be prepared and show up in the DS Download Play section, though.
There's also a feature that allows you to rate any games you've played for more than an hour. If you choose to do so, it'll ask for your age, gender, etc and let you rate it on a sliding scale. Pretty neat, I suppose. The only other noteworthy feature is the ability to search the Wii and DS's game libraries and find release dates and other simple information like that.
All in all, I'm not sure it was worth my time clearing space off my Wii, even if most of that space did come from deleting the Check Mii Out and Everyone Votes channels. Hopefully they'll continue to add DS demos and I'll get some kind of use out of this channel.
Hopefully I saved some of you the trouble of downloading this. :P
When I first got GTA4, I absolutely could NOT get online. No random matches (ranked or player) would connect and I only got into one or two matches that I was invited to. It pissed me off to no end because I was really looking forward to the multiplayer.
After a day or two of no online play, I decided to do a little tinkering with my router. I upgraded the firmware, but that didn't do much (well, it DID give me access to my router settings, which I was constantly locked out of). I forwarded the ports that Xbox Live required, but nothing got better. After a few hours of trying to improve the situation, I had nothing to show for it.
Until I found a simple checkbox that made EVERYTHING better.
Now, I'm not sure if this will work for everybody, but it's worked for me and BunnyRabbit2, so I'm going to post it here and see if it works for anybody else.
NOTE: I play GTA4 on the 360, as does BunnyRabbit2, so I'm not sure how well this will work for PS3 owners. I think it will fix things for anybody having problems, but I'm not 100% sure. Also, this is only something you can do if your system is connected through a router, but I think the router may be the issue anyway. I'm willing to bet most people who have their systems connected directly to their modem aren't having many problems with playing online.
I also want to note that I'm going by what I had to do on MY router (which is a D-Link WBR-1310), so it may not match up perfectly for yours. If you have instructions (or can Google for some kind of help) for your particular router, that may help you find what you need.
HOW TO (MAYBE) GET GRAND THEFT AUTO IV WORKING ONLINE:
Step 1: Access your router settings I'm pretty sure this is the same for all routers. Open up your favorite web browser and type in your router's IP address. Mine was 192.168.0.1 and I assume that's the default for most routers. It will probably give you a login screen, which will ask for a username and password. My router had the default username and password printed under the router itself (along with the router's IP address), so that would be a good place to look if you don't know what to enter.
The default for my router was "Admin" for both spaces. If you can't get in with the defaults, you may need to reset it by pressing a button somewhere on the router.
Step 2: Find your console's IP address To do this, I had to have my 360 running, so make sure your console is powered on before looking for this. You may have to exit the router settings and renter them if your console isn't already on.
Somewhere in the router settings, you should find a list of all the clients connected to your router. For my router, I selected the SETUP tab and then NETWORK SETTINGS on the sidebar. Again, this may be different for you.
Once you find it, you should see a list of IP addresses for each of your devices (Dynamic DHCP Client List in my settings), which I believe is usually 192.168.0.10x for each one (my computer is 192.168.0.101, my Wii is 192.168.0.106, etc). The system may or may not have it's correct name next to the IP address, so you may have to use the process of elimination on this one. :P
My 360 was listed as unknown.
Step 3: Enable DMZ Host Once you have your system's IP address (copy it or write it down), you need to find the DMZ Host option. Now, I'm not sure if this is available on every router. I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to routers, so I don't know if this is a standard feature. It was available to me and BunnyRabbit2, so I know I'm not the only one, at least.
To find this on my router, I clicked the ADVANCED tab and then FIREWALL SETTINGS from the sidebar.
You should find an option called DMZ Host. Here's the description it gave me in my settings:
The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) option provides you with an option to set a single computer on your network outside of the router. If you have a computer that cannot run Internet applications successfully from behind the router, then you can place the computer into the DMZ for unrestricted Internet access.
Note: Putting a computer in the DMZ may expose that computer to a variety of security risks. Use of this option is only recommended as a last resort.
Now, I know it says that you expose your computer to security risks, but I don't know what that means for your console. I don't know how at risk your console is by enabling this mode, but I don't think there's much to be worried about. I haven't had any issues yet, and I don't think I will.
Either way, Enable this option at your own risk!
To enable the option, I simply had to paste my 360's IP address into the DMZ IP Address space and check the Enable DMZ Host checkbox. Save the changes, and.......
GET ONLINE!
Once again, I'm not sure this will work for everybody, but I've been able to connect to every match flawlessly since I did this.
Both 360 and PS3 owners: Please try this method if you are having issues and comment with your results. I'd like to confirm that this is actually a working fix for both systems. I know it'll be hard to resist the charms of killing hookers with 16 friends, but please take the time to comment whether it works for you or not.
The more Xbox Live Arcade games I buy, the more I love my 360. My collection of XBLA games never seems to stop increasing, with well over 30 games already bought and STILL a few that I'd like to pick up. At first, I didn't like the idea of buying games from the Marketplace because I tend to trade-in a lot of games when I get sick of them, but I like having all these games forever at my disposal. When I don't feel like playing whatever game is in my 360 (and I'm too lazy to put a different game disc in), I can just check out my arcade games and sink a bit of time into something I haven't played in a while. Some of the games I have on there are really fucking awesome and it's nice to have them whenever I want.
With this, the fifth edition of "XBLA Games That Deserve Some Lovin'", I've added six more great games to my collection, bringing the total up to 37.
I love my XBLA games, but I still don't think they get the love they deserve. I think it'd be really awesome if we gave them a little more attention during Friday Night Fights or even on their own day (if there's even a non-gaming day left on Destructoid's calender). Sure, Bomberman Live usually gets represented, but what about Doom? Or Worms? Or Marble Blast Ultra (which has AMAZINGLY FUN multiplayer, BTW)? Or Necros' favorite, Yaris? There are some good times to be had on the Xbox Live Arcade, most of which are restricted to online multiplayer, so why not enjoy them with your fellow Dtoiders?
Anyway, the Marketplace has been pretty awesome these last few months, with great titles left and right. The one that's probably sucked the most life out of me so far has to be N+.
N+ I have to admit, when I first heard about this coming to XBLA, I wasn't excited for it. I played the flash version before and thought it was neat for a few minutes, but it never really held my interest. Of course, I figured I should at least give the trial a shot when it hits the Marketplace.
So, I booted up the trial and FELL IN LOVE. N+ has since sucked numerous hours out of my life; possibly the most time out of any XBLA game I own. I've spent hours running, jumping, wallkicking, and STILL haven't beaten the last 10 episodes. I have however, gotten the achievement for dying 1,000 times, so I think that's something to be proud of.
The awesome thing about N+ is that the single player alone will provide you with hours of entertainment and then you realize that IT HAS MULTIPLAYER, TOO. Fucking amazing multiplayer, might I add. There's some awesome co-op stages (I haven't finished all of those yet, either) and some some fun competitive modes, too. I can't even believe how fun this game is with friends.
Of course, that's a lot of awesome for $10, so there can't possibly be more, can there? OH WAIT, there's a level editor, too! Normally I'd just be like, "meh, not like I'm creative enough to use it", but I actually decided to mess with it one day. Six hours later, I had created the product of all my anger and hatred towards this game's frustrating difficulty. A massive level, almost as big as they can get, for four players (later knocked down to one player, just because it works better that way). It was a neat experience, because I didn't plan any of it beforehand, I just threw in whatever I thought up. Since then, I've been planning out new maps, though I've only finished one other one (and my first map could use a bit more work). The map editor is easy to use, which is quite apparent considering I could throw something together in it.
N+ is simply amazing and I can't even believe how much they've jammed in there for only $10. Some people bitch about paying for the XBLA version when you can get the PC version for free, but it's more than worth the money. Even though I've put so much time into this version, I'm still looking forward to N+ for the PSP and DS.
Poker Smash I never really took much interest in this until I found out it was similar to Panel de Pon/Tetris Attack/Pokemon Puzzle Challenge/Planet Puzzle League. It's not exactly like them, which I would normally consider a bad thing, but the Poker aspects are kind of neat.
Basically, you move blocks left and right only and try to match three or more of the same color. That's the Puzzle League part. To make things more complex, each block has the properties of Poker cards, so you can also try to make various Poker hands. It's fairly simple stuff if you know your Poker hands, but you can also get chains and all that fun puzzle game stuff.
Aside from the main "go until you die" mode, there's a Puzzle mode in which you have to clear the screen in so many moves (which is HARD) and a multiplayer mode (both online and local). The game takes a Lumines-like approach to levels and music, with different themes that you can buy in the store.
Poker Smash is pretty awesome, though not as addictive as Pokemon Puzzle Challenge or any of those games. I can't really say I've played it much since the week I've bought it, but it's still a pretty awesome game.
Mr. Driller Online I <3 Mr. Driller. He was awesome on the Dreamcast and the DS, so of course I couldn't resist picking this up the second it came out.
Mr. Driller consists of digging through multi-colored blocks in order to reach the bottom of the level. You have to be careful not to get crushed by a falling block or run out of air. It's an extremely simple game, but still very addictive. There are multiple levels that require you to dig anywhere from 100m to 3,000m, plus a level where you can dig forever. Aside from the classic drilling, you can do Quest mode, in which you're assigned a mission to complete a random goal every 100m.
The single player's fun, but how about the multiplayer? This is Mr. Driller ONLINE, after all. Well, let me tell you something about the multiplayer. I've been able to connect to two matches and couldn't move in either one. The online is so broken it's impossible to play. I'm pretty disappointed with this, since it is Mr. Driller ONLINE, but I think I'm even more disappointed with the lack of local multiplayer. Especially when it advertises it in the Marketplace.
I <3 Mr. Driller, but I feel pretty cheated by this game. I think I would have been just fine with no online play if this game was only 400pts, but I paid the full 800 and don't feel as though I got my money's worth. I hope they fix the online soon, because it's just awful the way it is now. It'd also be grand if they added a local multiplayer mode, but I won't hold my breath.
Omega Five I was a little hesitant to buy this game, despite SHUMPs being one of my favorite kinds of video games. I heard it was awesome from many people, but I just couldn't decide after playing the demo. Since the game came out, I've downloaded the trial countless times, trying to decide if I wanted it or not. Finally, I gave in and bought it.
And I'm quite glad I did. I don't care much for the dual-stick style shooting, but I got used to it and managed to get a pretty decent score. I've since played through multiple times, trying to perfect my runs and get the highest score. I'm really loving the Xbox Live Leaderboards these days. It's a lot of fun to try and beat your friends' scores.
Omega Five is pretty fun and will certainly give you something to do for a good while. I still haven't beaten the game or unlocked the secret characters. It can be challenging at times, though nowhere near as difficult as these next two shooters.
Triggerheart Exelica I was also a bit hesitant to buy Triggerheart Exelica. I played it on the Dreamcast a few years back and wasn't terribly impressed, though I did manage to survive to the end (and by survive, I mean die a billion times and continue a billion times).
There are two characters, each with different shooting patterns. You can shoot an anchor out at enemies to grab them and swing them back at other enemies, which is pretty neat. Aside from that, it doesn't seem as though there's much to be said about Triggerheart Exelica. It's a good game, but not really remarkable in any way. It really pales in comparison to another SHUMP that recently hit XBLA.....
Ikaruga Finally, I feel as though I could die happy. Right after I beat my high score, anyway.....
Ikaruga is my favorite SHUMP of all time. I don't really know what it is about it, but I just love it so fucking much. You don't really have any excuse not to own this game. Go play the trial right now. RIGHT NOW. I'll wait.
....done? Greatest game ever, right? Seriously, though, I love it even more than I did on the Dreamcast somehow and will probably end up turning on my 360 and trying to beat out my current high score right after I finish writing this. I'm already pretty proud of myself, almost breaking 2 million and beating out everybody on my friend list. Well, almost everybody......
I don't think I'll ever beat Topher's score. :O
Well, that's all for now. You can be sure that this won't be the last of the series, though. After all, Castle Crashers, Peggle, and Quake Arena Arcade haven't even been released yet! Until those come out, I'd like to know:
What awesome XBLA games do you have that I haven't covered yet?
That's right! Kongregate, everybody's favorite place to go for flash games, has finally opened their online trading card game Kongai to the public! I've been waiting a long time for this (I fucking LOVE TCGs), so I'll certainly be playing the shit out of this.
I just found out this existed. Tomorrow, the Midwest Gaming Classic, the Midwest's largest gaming convention, will begin.
It's only $10 to get in for one day, but I just now found out about this the day before it happens, so I'm going to desperately struggle to make it. I just thought I'd let the rest of you know in case you didn't know (and if you did, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!), so you could also struggle to make it. It's in Oconomowoc, WI at the Olympia Resort Center, which Google tells me it's close to a three-hour drive from my house.
Anyway, this is awesome and I hope I can make it. Any Dtoiders in the Midwest planning on attending?
Ah, Final Fantasy VII. While most people bash it for being overrated, I still consider it one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Of course, the last time I played it was when the Final Fantasy games were still final and Tactics was one of the few titles to go without a series of V's and I's at the end of it's name. These days, things are a little different. Gone is Squaresoft, now going by the name of SQUEENIX (or Square-Enix, if you're not down with the hip abbreviation). Now, don't get me wrong. I liked Square and I liked Enix, but I can't say I'm a big fan of Square-Enix.
Ever since the merger, it seems as though the Final Fantasy games have stopped being so final. The release of Advent Children, a movie about some spiky haired emo chick fighting a bunch of silver haired chicks (sorry for the spoilers, that's pretty much the whole movie), started a trend of idiotic side-stories taking place in the world of Materia and mako energy. Unless you've been living under a rock your whole life, you probably already know that the seventh game in the FF series was a great success, so it's no wonder why Square-Enix has decided to milk it for all it's worth with a shit ton of sequels. I'm sure some people (the kind who write fanficton about Sephiroth having hot steamy sex with the other characters) think this is awesome news, but unfortunately, I'm one of the people who would rather leave the game in the past and not run the risk of fancy new graphics ruining my good childhood memories of the original.
After falling asleep during Advent Children and wishing I hadn't wasted a rental on Dirge of Cerberus, it's no surprise that I was a little skeptical about Crisis Core. I wasn't really sure I'd like it even if it was good, just because I hated Advent Children soooo much. Well, considering the 12 hours of precious, non-refundable life I've put into it over the past couple days, I can't honestly say I hate it.
Crisis Core is not what I expected it to be. I was expecting Final Fantasy VII with a different story and prettier graphics, but I got something quite different than the original game. Not having done any kind of research before playing it, I had no idea that it was a prequel to FF7 rather than some weak bullshit sequel. With sequels, I feel like they're just tacked on, with whatever pretty characters they want to throw in to make it a hit with the fangirls. With prequels, a little more effort is required for everything to make sense and work together with the original story of FF7. It's more interesting to play through and be like "Oh, so THAT'S why this happened in FF7." Crisis Core won some points with me the second I saw the word "prequel" describing it.
One thing I really hated about Advent Children was the over-the-top fight scenes. Yeah, they were cool and all, but they just didn't feel right. Neither did the characters' more life-like appearances. Call me a purist or whatever, but it just bothered me. There was a point in time when I thought of Cloud as the blocky mess of a protagonist that starred in a great RPG. Now, I think of Cloud as an androgynous emo kid that looks more like a J-pop singer than the world-saving type. The opening cinema was just as ridiculous as anything from Advent Children, but it's quite a bit easier to look past it when the characters waving their swords about aren't the same ones from 1997.
Zack, the main character of Crisis Core, is quite the opposite of Cloud. He's silly, reckless, and just a lot more fun to play as. Unlike most RPGs, you don't really have a party of characters. Zack is the only character you play as, which makes sense considering the way the game plays. The combat system is more similar to the real-time action of Kingdom Hearts than the turn-based combat of Final Fantasy VII, which was another big surprise to me. In a combat situation, Zack can run around, attack, dodge, and guard freely. These commands are available at the push of the button, while using magic and items will require the L/R buttons to cycle through the menu at the bottom of the screen. The combat is actually a lot of fun, though simple and repetitive. The battles ARE (kinda) random, but the way the most areas are structured (hallways and rooms, with encounters only taking place in rooms) makes them easy to avoid. If you end up out in the field, however, be prepared to fight every step of the goddamned way.
While the battles are pretty simple on the surface, the DMW (Digital Mind Wave) changes things up a bit. A slot machine-like set of reels constantly spin during battle, randomly stopping on various combinations of numbers and character portraits. Depending on how many 7's pop up, Zack will gain helpful status effects, such as invincibility or no-cost magic casting for a limited time. If two matching characters appear on the outer reels, you'll enter "Modulation Phase", which is your chance for a limit break (if the middle reel stops on the same character), Materia level up (if two reels stop on the same number), or a level up (if all three reels stop on 7).
Exploring is pretty typical RPG fare, talking to NPCs and such, but one thing you'll notice is how limited you are in places to go. You can wander about Midgar, but every other location you visit is determined through story events. Crisis Core isn't your typical console JRPG, but more of a toned down handheld one. There's no large world for you to explore or lengthy side-missions for you to complete. Instead, the story is fairly linear and you're pretty much stuck going from one event to the other, aside from a few tiny side-quests that you can take on while you're in Midgar. Of course, taking the place of side-missions are a wealth of non-story missions (300, in fact) that can be taken on from any save point. These missions are unlocked by talking to certain NPCs, progressing the storyline, and of course, completing already unlocked missions. The missions are great because you can finish most of them fairly quickly and save right afterward, making them perfect for a portable game. The only downfall is that every one of them boils down to the same thing: hunt down a certain monster (which will physically appear in the world, rather than being a random fight) and kill it. As repetitive as they are, I've probably spent most of my 12 hours with the game completing these missions. They're addictive, if nothing else.
Okay, so I like Crisis Core. The combat is fun and the missions are addictive as hell. The story is pretty okay so far, but I'm not on the edge of my seat to see what happens next or anything. Unfortunately, among all the good, the game does have a few flaws. The DMW system is kind of annoying, with no real way to affect its outcome. There's no experience system, at least not a visible one, so gaining levels is pretty much random. I suppose it would make more sense if there was an underlying experience count, but that doesn't really explain why my friend leveled up three times in a single mission. Limit breaks are just as random and summons are so rare that I often forget they're even in the game. As you get more limit breaks, cutscenes depicting Zack's ties to the characters will start to play during Modulation Phase, which gets kind of tiring after a while.
The biggest flaw to some may lie in the difficulty level of the game. If you're looking for a challenge, Crisis Core is NOT for you. Okay, maybe if you play on Hard Mode, but Normal Mode is a walk in the park. The combat is so simple that, if you have enough HP, you can pretty much just tap the attack button until you hit a Modulation Phase, at which point you can just let the cutscenes win the battle for you. Also, you're never without healing items or any other kind of items for that matter, as you can buy items from your menu screen at any point in the game.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII may not be for everybody. It's a fairly shallow action RPG (though the Materia Fusion system adds a bit of depth) with simple gameplay and very little challenge. However, the missions can get really addictive and the combat is fun. For fans of FF7, this is a great game, flaws or not. The story is interesting if you've played the original game, though some things kind of bothered me. How the hell can I buy items from online shops and maintain an e-mail account in this game while I couldn't in Final Fantasy VII? Maybe it has something to do with Zack's SOLDIER status, but it just sometimes seems like technology is more advanced in this game than in the "future" one.
Ah, nevermind. If you're not a fan of FF7 or have never played the original game, I still recommend you give Crisis Core a try. In terms of gameplay, it's nothing like FF7. Don't forget, it's a prequel to FF7, so newcomers are welcome. Just don't expect to pick up and enjoy FF7 after playing this graphical beauty of a game.
This totally isn't my computer, but it's still pretty cool. I wonder if I could run my computer in jello......
Most of the time I avoid contests because I'm so damn pessimistic and don't feel like trying when I know I'm going to lose. Well, I'm still not especially confident that I'll win, but I figure I may as well give it a shot for once. Worse come to worst, I don't win a super awesome computer that totally blows anything I've ever even touched (or seen, for that matter) out of the water.
I have a few computers to show off, because I have such a hard time parting with anything. Ever. I still have some older towers that have been gutted so many times, you'd probably find more computer components in a cereal box, so I didn't bother to take pictures of those. I did, however, take pictures of the two computers that actually work (and as a bonus, my old laptop that stays on just barely long enough for me to show you how bad the screen is messed up).
BTW, I apologize for the shitty picture quality, I used my cellphone to take them. I really need a digital camera. Or at least a better camera phone.
My Main Rig First up, my main computer, in front of which I spend 80% of my life (Just a rough estimate, it's probably a higher number than that). I'm pretty pleased to have this thing, even though it was on the cheaper end of the Best Buy computer isle. You see, I've never actually gotten a brand new computer of my own up until this one (which I believe I got sometime in 2006). My computer before this beast was a crappy Dell that I bought from a used computer store, and every one before that were just old Gateways I'd steal from my mom's work when they upgraded.
Here's a closer shot of the tower, which isn't too bad compared to my past rigs. I really dig the black on computers these days, it's a lot better looking than the ugly gray-ish plastic color all the old ones were. Note the Totoro DVD covering the blinding green LED light below the power button. It's really hard to sleep when that fucking light is shining right across from me. I guess it should be hard to sleep in this room in general, with all the fucking LED lights everywhere and the WHIRRING of my computer.
The DVD case also has a bunch of leftover screws in it from when I tried to mod my Nerf gun (and failed miserably, of course, otherwise I'd probably have less screws left over). Luckily, the cords for my USB headset and PSP transfer cable keep it from falling down and making a racket. There's also a (most likely stale) bag of pretzels (screw you, it's a long walk back upstairs just to put food away) folded up where my Wii should be, if SOMEBODY didn't borrow it weeks ago. Thanks to SOMEBODY, I'll have to wait an extra 12+ hours to play Brawl this weekend. I hope you're happy. :P
I currently run Windows on this computer, but I have jumped back and forth to Ubuntu Linux in the past. One day, I felt like installing it again, but without all the partition resizing bullshit, so I jammed this in there:
I wasn't using the second drive bay, so I slid this humongous extra hard drive in there. It's called the QUANTUM BIGFOOT and it lives up to its name. Unfortunately, only in physical size. Damn thing only has 8 GB on it, despite being so massive. COME ON, DOESN'T BIGGER PHYSICAL SIZE MEAN MORE MEMORY? Fucking computers never make any logical sense.
Here we have what is probably the most unnecessary purchase I've ever made. Setting me back $100, the Logitech G15 is THE ULTIMATE GAMING KEYBOARD. With an LCD screen to check out how many kills you have in your favorite FPS, it's a no-brainer for any PC gamer that can't touch type! It was probably a bad purchase considering I don't actually play many PC games (though I would if I won this contest!), but the backlit keys are great for night-owls like me. Plus, I found a way to make them flash when I play music! I noticed the contest prize includes another one of these keyboards, so when I DON'T win, I could totally NOT have my own little contest to give it back to the people of Destructoid. :D
Next to the beast that is my keyboard, I have my wireless mouse, which works surprisingly well for the few PC games I do play (at least, I think it does), even though wireless mice aren't usually recommended for such things. It has a great battery life, it's very light, and it's very easy to throw at people when they piss me off. I just have to make sure I'm wearing a helmet when my friends use my computer....
Finally, a nice overview of my desk, which is a little messy, but at least I removed the week old bowls of food.....
Littered with Pepsi cans and homework, this is where I live. As you can see, I have an awesome speaker set up, with some old school speakers I found in my friend's attic. I had to swipe the power supply for them from my external hard drive, but that's okay, since I just tore the drive out and stuck it in my computer anyway. It's probably not the greatest idea to use some random power supply with it rather than the one it came with, but I like to live on the edge. Hey, it hasn't burst into flames yet!
You can also see my nice LCD monitor, also a first for me. When I first bought this computer, I used my old CRT monitor that was big enough to kill a dog of decent size and take up ALL of my desk space. It's nice having space to put things on my desk!
Here are the specs for my main computer, just to tie everything together:
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.40 GHz)
RAM: 1 GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Primary Hard Drive: 250 GB
Secondary Hard Drive: 8 GB
OS: Windows XP
Oh, almost forgot about this part.....
What's that? Destructoid on the big screen? Fuck yeah!
Through the magic of s-video, I can use my ever-aging big screen TV as a secondary monitor for my PC. I remember spending hours trying to rearrange this room to ensure that the s-video cable would reach and I would still be able to see the TV from my computer desk. I realize now that it was kind of a pointless concern, considering how much I actually use the damn thing that way. Once in a great while, I'll use it to watch stuff on my computer with friends, but when I'm alone I just watch on the computer monitor. Can't really surf the internet from my couch either, with my corded keyboard and all. Wouldn't want to anyway, with how hard it is to read anything on my crappy TV. Ah well, it's nice the few times I do use it.
My Secondary Rig Meet my second set up, located a few feet away from my main computer at the end of my loooong red couch. Probably not the most comfortable set up (I wouldn't know, I haven't really used it much), but it gets the job done. What is that job you ask?
Well, it's always nice to have a backup computer in case your main goes to shit. I still remember way back when my Dell died on me and had to use my Dreamcast's internet browser to troubleshoot it. Good times. This is probably a lot more efficient, though. It's also great for friends who want to check their Facebooks or whatever the fuck it is they do over there on the couch. The best reason for its existence, though, is for the LAN gaming. I bought Warcraft III for Christmas, which is perfect for LAN play. It kinda sucks, since you can look at each others screens so easily, but we're all pretty honest people. Sometimes.
The tower itself is another runaway from my mom's business, which she actually brought home to use herself. After I finally got it all set up for her, she used it once and forgot about it. After ripping a hard drive from it, leaving it in pieces for months, and returning to find it just as I left it, I decided to take it downstairs and make use of it. It runs pretty well, though it's a little dated. I couldn't tell you the specs off-hand, but I could tell you that they're not good. And that the insides of the computer smell like pee. Did I mention its former home was a pool chemical lab?
My Monstrosity This was actually my main computer for an extended period of time, as sad as that may be. Sporting what I believe to be a Pentium III, 128 MB of RAM, and a lot of mental anguish, this sad puppy of a laptop hardly even runs anymore.
This was another computer swiped away from my mom's place of work, though she always told me it wasn't mine and they may take it back at any point, even though they never did. It's certainly seen better days. I can still remember playing Maple Story on it so many years ago. Ah, those were the days. Unfortunately, those days came to a screeching halt when my poor laptop was left under my recliner and smashed during a heated rocking back and forward motion. It still ran, but it would never look the same again......
By some miracle, the power supply I use for my speakers (which I took from an external hard drive, remember) also works with my laptop. Not well, mind you, I had to repeatedly jam it in to keep the charge going, and even after leaving it be for a few hours, it still wouldn't work without the power plugged in. After messing with it for a bit, I got some concerning squealing noises and it proceeded to boot normally (well, as normal as it could). I kept it on just long enough to show you the damage inflicted upon it after the recliner incident. Beautiful, ain't it?
At some point I also lost my F1 key, which bothers me more than the screen ever could. What will I do when I need help? WHAT WILL I DO?!
So, there you have it. My contest entry. I apologize for the length, but I haven't posted in a while and felt like writing a bit. It also seems (from the ones I looked at) that most of these contest posts are a little slim on content, so I didn't want to contribute to the flood without adding a little something extra.
I'm pretty excited to see if I win this. Maybe I should enter these contests more often. XD
I came across this awhile ago, but didn't really understand what exactly it was, considering the whole site's in Spanish. After looking at the pretty pictures for awhile, I bookmarked the page and forgot all about it.
I just found this video (while browsing Kotaku) of the project in action, which is apparently a MUGEN mod that involves awesome sprites of every goddamn video game character imaginable. It looks really fucking cool (unlike every other form of MUGEN I've played) and I hope they release a playable version sometime soon.
About me: I like video games. A lot. I've been playing games since I was about six or seven, when I received an NES with Bubble Bobble for Christmas.
I've spent most of my life either glued to the TV or glued to the computer, sometimes both at the same time. As a result, computers and video games are pretty much the only things I'm even remotely knowledgeable on.
I also watch a bit of anime from time to time (One Piece FTW, I don't care what you say), but more than most of my time is devoted to games.
Currently Playing (as of 5/10/08): -Grand Theft Auto IV (X360)
-Gitaroo Man Lives! (PSP)
-Everyday Shooter (PC)
Looking Forward to: -N+ (PSP)
-Castle Crashers (XBLA)
Current Systems: -Nintendo DS
-Sega Dreamcast
-Sony Playstation 2
-Sony PSP
-Wii
-Xbox 360
Closet Systems: -3DO
-Atari 2600
-FC Twin (crappy NES/SNES combo system)
-Game Boy Color
-Neo Geo Pocket Color
-Sega CD
-Sega Genesis
-Super Nintendo
Favorite Games of All Time: -Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
-Bubble Bobble (NES)
-Burnout Paradise (X360)
-Burnout Revenge (X360)
-Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (X360)
-Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1/XBLA)
-Cave Story (PC)
-Chocobo's Dungeon 2 (PS1)
-Dead Rising (X360)
-Doom RPG (Cell)
-Excite Truck (Wii)
-God Hand (PS2)
-Grim Fandango (PC)
-Ikaruga (DC)
-Jet Grind Radio (DC)
-Jump Super Stars (DS)
-Katamari Damacy (PS2)
-Kirby's Adventure (NES)
-Kirby Air Ride (GCN)
-Kirby Canvas Curse (DS)
-Kirby Super Star (SNES)
-Mega Man Battle Network 3 (GBA)
-Mega Man Legends (PS1)
-Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (PS2)
-Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
-Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (GBC)
-Portal (PC)
-Psychonauts (Xbox)
-Resident Evil 4 (GCN, haven't played Wii version yet)
-Rez (DC/XBLA)
-Rock Band (X360)
-Sam & Max: Season One (PC)
-Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)
-Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
-The Neverhood (PC)
-The Simpsons Game (X360)
-Toe Jam & Earl (GEN)
-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS1)
-WarioWare: Touched! (DS)
-WarioWare Inc.: Mega Party Game$ (GCN)
Gamercard:
Friend Codes: Mario Kart DS: 378032-415044
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: 0946-1927-1824
Wii: 7349~7505~8502~0053
