Bionic Commando 2?

Bionic Commando 2? No, it's only a rehash but I've waited 18 years for this.

Back when I was in 6th grade, when almost everyone was playing casual games like Twin Bee, Pinball, and Mappy, I was burning green with envy at the "members of the lucky sperm club" --- friends who had the most expensive NES cartridges in their collection.

Even back then (though I didn't realize it), I was never a fan of casual games. I went for games that had stories (or what passed for video game background plots during that time) and had definite conclusions. Ninja Gaiden, Batman, Metal Gear, Contra --- these were games I gravitated to like a moth to flame. It was also at that time that I saw the friends of my Uncle Jerry (who's an electronic whiz) play Bionic Commando. It was only once, but the game's innovative approach of using a bionic arm to let the player swing though obstacles really left an impression on me.

Unfortunately though, I could only buy NES games using savings from my daily allowance, so I never got to buy the more expensive ones. (Though my father did buy Gradius, Goonies, Macross, and Rockman. Thanks pa! :D)

In the years that followed, Capcom never made a Bionic Commando 2. All hope of getting my hands on an incarnation of that impressive game slowly faded with time.

(Hmm. Maybe this explains my addiction to Tribes: Vengeance.)

Some months ago however (and to my surprise and glee), the makers of Bionic Commando announced that they were making a rehash of the game. While it's not a Bionic Commando 2, the game they've produced is priceless in that it really evokes memories of that day in that stuffy, electronics repair shop when I first beheld the rescue operation effort of Super Joe in all its 8-bit glory.

Before:




Now:



Eighteen years.

I am so going to buy this.


Here's an upcoming game that's going to be --- not a Bionic Commando 2, but a Bionic Commando three. You'll reprise your role as Rad Spencer. And Super Joe's going to make an appearance.

It's going to be more awesome.

IT'S GOING TO BE LEGEN ---- wait for it; wait until he leaps off the building, THERE! --- DARY!

(Apparently the Bionic Commando for the NES was a sequel for the arcade version of Bionic Commando.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

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ASquared 4.0 - New Interface for a Freeware Anti-malware Solution

PC users, at one time or another, have --- what with the profusion of malware in the Internet --- all asked the question "how to remove malware?" There are a lot of anti-malware solutions but most involve hefty sums of cash. Fortunately, there are freeware anti-malware solutions that provide excellent protection from malware. One of my favorites has lately undergone a makeover.

Emsisoft has released ASquared 4.0, bringing with it bugfixes, signature updates, and a GUI overhaul.

Cool, classy look without sacrificing the techie feel

The update page

>>>Click here to read more...

Merry Christmas to All!

:D

Tried making peace with four persons; two of those responded amicably while the other half... oh well, one can't have smooth roads all the time I suppose. Now I know how that girl from Surigao felt. :P Peace!

I'm out of things to say at the moment so ya:

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

Winnie just gave me perfect gifts to while away the holidays and there's a new codec driver pack released. Woohoooo!!!

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Keanu Reeves Doesn't Own a Computer

Yes, she should be freaking out now.

ROFL!! (Source: MSN)

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Is Online Piracy Destroying Game Studios?

I surfed Yahoo! today and I got surprised by what the music industry came up to decrease the rate of online piracy: cut off ISP services to the perpetrators. That's kind of extreme but it's true. See the article HERE.

This radical solution and the severity of the problem it's trying to solve reminds me of what happened to Iron Lore Entertainment. The studio, which was co-founded by the co-founder of the Age of Empire series, made the impressive Titan Quest RPG. Despite Titan Quest's 7.6 rating in Gamespot, the studio folded due to insufficient finances.

Was the studio a victim of rampant online piracy?

While news of Iron Lore's demise got mixed reactions, there was a good chance they still should have been sailing on if not for rampant Internet piracy. This is just my opinion though as there are sources that say that despite the industry booming, a lot of gaming studios still close down. Nonetheless, everywhere I look it's discouraging; people are buying pirated stuff, selling them even.

Friends may argue that what I'm doing is ridiculous, extravagant, and that I can do nothing to stop the trend but let's face it, one way or the other, offline and online piracy WILL hurt game studios and the people working for them.

Koroush Ghazi, a person I dislike for forums-related reasons, has published a lengthy but very sound article on online piracy. (I may not like him, but what he stands for and the fact that he is one of the shining beacons of PC knowledge, I salute and respect deeply.)

Some excerpts to entice you to read his "PC Game Piracy Examined" article:

"So if you enjoy single player games for example, then you're faced with the very real possibility that fewer and fewer developers will risk investing large sums of money into this type of game. If they do, then instead of a lengthy and high quality gameplay experience, you may be looking at shorter, less challenging games which may be less than satisfying. Or you may wind up with more poor quality console ports." --- Koroush Ghazi; Tweakguides.com

Do you really want the above to happen?

"Alternatively if you enjoy multiplayer games, then you may find that if the number of unofficial pirated servers for such games continues to grow, and the tools to find and join such servers become more popular, that this will tip the scale towards more and more multiplayer games being created in the Battlefield Heroes mold: cheaply developed, free to play, low-spec quality, designed for the lowest common denominator of online gamer, with little focus on actual skill and more on simply making the game as attractive as possible to anyone who can operate a PC keyboard." --- Koroush Ghazi; Tweakguides.com

Again, you can read the article in its entirety HERE.

The last excerpt hit me hard as I've been playing those kinds of games lately while all the while bemoaning their quality. (Freemium MMOFPS do attract more players but yes, I see the blatant dip in quality from games such as Tribes: Vengeance or FEAR Combat.)

Are games like this doomed?

Why legit games when you can have games for free? That's for another article.

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FEAR Update: FEAR 2: Project Origin Video Shooter Developer Videos

GameSpot has posted several FEAR 2: Project Origin video shooter developer videos the past few weeks and man, I can't wait until February. If the FEAR updates are any indication how awesome this video shooter will be, I think this will be one game that will have to be on my display shelf. I don't care how much this video shooter will cost when it hits the stores --- if SM will sell the thing, I'll buy it. Shell out and ask questions and deal with the missus later.

I just hope she won't turn into this when she sees the bankbook. My life is already akin to a video shooter enough without a naked ghost--- wait, maybe she's going to claw at me n---? (/me receives a bop on the head)

Anyway, the FEAR updates:

"... and one of the critiques that came from the community... said we were... confined in office spaces..."

"...augment that with a change in the volume of space...we went to places like a nuclear facility... we went to a school... we went to a hospital..."

Hmm. Dave Matthews clearly didn't play FEAR: Perseus Mandate --- that video shooter did have battles in expansive areas. Talk about Monolith really being hellbent in ignoring the Vivendi timeline. Still, the comments are very much intriguing; mayhap Monolith will integrate really large levels into this first-person game.

"We basically built a color story, much like they do in film... as things start to become a little more tense, you're gonna start to see more aggressive colors... as things start to become a little more subdued in the story, we're gonna bring down that color map..."

I learned something new with this FEAR update. Color story. Useful concept, that.



"The destructibility is much more immense." 'Nuff said.

In a PC video shooter, however, much of the game's success would largely hinge on its Artificial Intelligence. I saved the best for last:




"On a conceptual level, Monolith's AI works pretty simplistically. The complexity comes in the details. It's pretty analogous to the way human players think: 'I have a goal and in a game like FEAR the goal would be 'I want to kill the enemy.''"

"If the player decides to move to one side of the level or one side of the screen, the AI will choose the correct behaviors in order to engage him appropriately."

"It plays differently every time. It's very impressive."


Bring it on you test tube m****f***.

>>>Click here to read more...

Freeware Strategy Games Update: UFO: AI Development News

UFO: Alien Invasion is one of those few freeware strategy games that's not only well polished, but also impressive enough that it has attracted a robust following and several game reviewers to rave about it. Granted, it's based on X-Com but any game with a modicum of gameplay innovation that's based on this classic is something that no strategy gamer should miss. Considering that it's one of the myriad freeware strategy games that are floating in the ethers of the Net, it's surprising to note that UFO: Alien Invasion delivers; its audio is impressive and its 3D presentation of the X-com gaming experience is a retro gamer's dream come true.

It's not complete yet, but the game can be downloaded from the UFO: AI site. Recently though, the development team has released changelogs for the October-November interim and what caught my eye are these:


"

• Various improvements on the renderer, including merges from q2w (GLSL shaders, specular lighting, bump mapping, deluxe mapping, ...)
• A lot of fixes and cleanup to maps
• Support for SAM sites and installations
• New models, artwork and sounds
• Particle lighting improvements
• Map fixes and improvements
• Alien morale fix and other AI improvements
• Start of new airfight implementation
• New weapons
• A lot (really) of improvements to GUI, mostly various menu fixes
• Improvements for geoscape (especially 3D geoscape, installation & radar related), soldier stats and equipment handling

"

Being a digital artist myself, I volunteered to do a painting for the development team of this freeware strategy game several months back (the XVI Census specifically) but --- sigh --- real life work got in the way. I need to eat too. :P

Anyway, I'm excited about the items in bold font; I hope UFO: AI v2.3 is not far off.

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Hard Drive Serial ATA and How it Affects Performance

Ordinary gamers have scoffed at my insistence on researching about what hard drive they should buy for their PCs, saying that size is everything. Do they know that a larger buffer size can reduce hard drive wear and tear? Probably not.

My thoughts about buying an additional small hard drive serial ATA just to house my PC's OS just got justified: Tweakforce just released a helpful article about the types of hard drive serial ATA and their effects on performance. Search for their "Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB Review" news article (date: Dec. 14, 2008); it also contains a wiki link about hard drive serial ATA and their performance impact.

Here's a collection of articles about hard drive serial ATA:

Suite101.com's SATA Hard Drive Performance Tutorial

About.com's What to Look for in a Hard Drive

StorageReview.com's Hard Disk Performance Guide

Really, you should read; there's nothing more annoying than having a PC that has powerful components that are being held back by data rate/bandwidth issues. (As an owner of an AGP 4X motherboard, I should know.)

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Nvidia Beta 180.84 Graphic Driver Benchmark Software Results

I just installed Nvidia's graphic driver 180.84 and I must say, this is one of the best Nvidia drivers to come out, never mind the fact that this is a beta version. Contrast has been bumped up and the primary colors stand out with sheer clarity. The image quality of this graphic driver is so superb that it's still easy to spot the minute shotgun shells in 3dMark 2001 SE's (a freeware benchmark software) "Lobby" sequence.

For the benchmark test results of the Nvidia GeForce 180.84 see my "Nvidia Graphic Drivers Benchmark Tests" article.

A new PC and then an upgrade to a 2GB, DDR2-800 dual-channel kit; a shift to Bayantel; and I'll be back to cradling a spinfusor. Right now though, I'm seeing vermilion. Damn you Sm**tBroken.

Readers might also be interested in this site's "How to Change Graphic Drivers for PCI and AGP Graphics Cards" article.

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Xtreme-G 180.70 Graphic Driver Tested Using (mostly) Freeware Benchmark Software

I did a driver update for my low profile video card days ago. The Xtreme-G 180.70 churned out a better overall framerate than its predecessor in F.E.A.R. (framerates below the 25 FPS mark has decreased by 3% from 21 to 18%.). The IQ with this graphic driver for GeForce GPUs is nothing to write home about however.

The results of the benchmark tests (using a 512Mb video card --- albeit a low-end one) can be found HERE.

Crayven APP-671 Artillery Terradynes rain destruction from behind a hill on forces of the Order of the New Dawn in Ground Control, a freeware downloadable game for Windows XP.

Readers might also be interested in this site's "How to Change Graphic Drivers for PCI and AGP Graphics Cards" article.

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Nvidia Driver 180.70 Video Card Benchmark Tests

I did some video card benchmark tests with the Nivida driver 180.70. Barring Xtreme-G Nvidia drivers, this one is probably the best (vanilla) Nvidia driver in terms of image quality (IQ).

Take note that this is a leaked BETA driver; Nvidia drivers are not supported by the company. It may show strong numbers in my video card benchmark tests but every PC is different; what may work for some may not work for you. Install at your own risk.

Crayven Corporation Main Battle Terradynes and CCMIB-2 Rifle Infantry advance into defensive positions in the siege of Base Charlie Baker-401 in Ground Control, a freeware downloadable PC game.

Readers might also be interested in this site's "How to Change Graphic Drivers for PCI and AGP Graphics Cards" article.

>>>Click here to read more...

Update: K-Lite Codec Pack Full

Free-codecs has version 4.3.4 of the K-Lite Codec Pack full. Details HERE. This version produces the best audio clarity so far. Disco! Disco!

Speaking of clarity...

It was all so clear...

I wouldn't have embarked on a "journey" no matter how the thing went down but the event should have been something that we all could have looked back and smiled at. I wanted coconut trees in the distance as my dinghy floated away into the great blue beyond. I wanted birds in the sky soaring as the gentle lapping of the waves lulled me to sleep. Instead...

... someone took a gun and started shooting. It's all gone and there's nothing left but glass shards and blood on the floor. I never wanted it to have a conclusion like this. When I said to someone I just wanted to teach that someone how to row and find that person's island --- an island without me on it --- I. Meant. Every. Word.

And yes, the above are all video game screenshots.

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My Wife

These past few weeks for some very disturbing, weird-f**** reasons, this video reminds me of my wife:

Yes baby, when in "Selos Mode," you are the ultimate weapon. You. I love hyu Light of my Life!

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GameSpot's List of Freeware Downloadable PC Games

GameSpot has published "Cheaper by the Dozen," an article showcasing prominent freeware downloadable PC games. The freeware Windows games are mostly first-person shooters (FPS) with hybrid strategy games thrown in. While the list of freeware downloadable PC games is a solid one, consisting of Nexuiz, Alien Arena, Allegiance, and Tremulous just to name a few, I'm surprised they didn't include freeware Windows games War Rock and UFO: AI.

These two Windows XP freeware games are good ones that gamers shouldn't miss. War Rock --- while essentially a Battlefield 2 clone, is a superb shooter that touts decent enough graphics and an array of realistic War Rock weapons to make an arms depot proud. UFO: AI on the other hand is a Quake 2-powered turn-based strategy game that is reminiscent of X-com, which is widely considered to be a gaming classic, if not the greatest game of all time.

Two player-controlled Tyrants assail a Terran marine base in Tremulous, one of the Windows XP freeware games featured in the article.

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CCleaner Download - Download CCleaner v2.14.750 Now

CCleaner, one of the best freeware utilities for Windows XP, has just been updated to v2.14.750. This new version of the freeware utility that optimizes PCs and cleans the registry supports Windows 7 and has been tweaked to better support Google Chrome. You can download CCleaner from HERE.

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Guru3d - Leaked Video Controller Drivers for XP

Guru3d has made two video controller drivers for XP available for download on their site. These are not ATI drivers but are Nvidia drivers, namely:

GeForce ForceWare 180.60 XP (32-bit)

ForceWare 180.70 XP (32-bit)

Please read the lists of Nvidia GeForce video cards they support before downloading them. Also these are BETA video controller drivers for XP; Nvidia doesn't support them. INSTALL AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I will be doing video card benchmark tests using ForceWare 180.70 XP (32-bit) within the week.

An Armacham Leviathan power armor airdrops into an arena in F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate. I wonder how this game will look with the video card benchmark tests I will be conducting...

Here's my video card benchmark test results for previous drivers.

>>>Click here to read more...

At Least I Tried

This was done in under 10 minutes and is unedited. I don't know if I'll refine this or not but I hope somebody will enjoy reading this. :P



"Well, at least you tried." Roflarx chuckled. The last of the Mark VI prototype's armor plating fell off, clanging hollowly in the stillness of the foundry. The gears, now exposed and unsupported, soon followed in a rain of circular metal pieces that pitter-pattered on the plates lying helker-skelter on the stone floor. Soon only the mana powerstone remained, a glass cube that powered the golem's actuators. It hung suspended inside the mass of metal that was the golem's frame; all semblance of the construct being a war machine now gone.

"Meh," Deermalx, the gnome artificer replied, sticking out his tongue,"I told myself it wouldn't work but I fooled myself." He took a playful swing at his companion with a bottle of lambanog but the latter dodged this with ease, laughing at the artificer's failure all the while. Sticking his tongue one last time at Roflarx, Deermalx climbed up the scaffolding surrounding what remained of the machine and snatched the glass cube from its housing. Instantly, all lights winked out and only the forges' fires illuminated the small gnome-made cavern.

"It's time to house this in another construct I suppose." Deermalx said with cheerfulness. Roflarx however, noticed the tinge of wistfulness in the other's tone. He didn't let that drag on however. He bopped the lead gnome on the head and the two soon chased each other around the foundry like two little children who just destroyed a sand castle.

"At least you tried haha!" Roflarx laughed in earnest, and ran out of the foundry and into the midday heat of the bustling streets of Praetoria.

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How to Take Screenshots in Windows Media Player 11

Taking screenshots in Windows Media Player 11 is a breeze. See the instructions below. (Now you won't have to ask WMP 11 the question "What good are you?")

Ever wondered how to take screenshots in Windows Media Player 11? Want to make one of those ultra-cool 501st Legion Clone Troopers your YM avatar? Simple. Use the screenshot feature of FRAPS.

Launch the program, play your favorite DVD and take a screenshot in Windows Media Player 11 with just a simple click of whatever keyboard button you have inputted in the "Screen Capture Hotkey" field.

Taking screenshots in Windows Media Player 11 the easy way without having to disable overlays.

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Xtreme-G 180.42 Video Card Benchmark Test

I did some video card benchmark tests with the Xtreme-G 180.42 video driver and I have to say the IQ this driver churns out is simply astonishing. It's leaps and bounds ahead of earlier versions of the Nvidia GeForce video drivers; terrain details in RTS games are so sharp I'm noticing minute details that I haven't before.

The numbers my video card benchmark tests outputted are not something to write home about however; except for the maximum framerate --- which has been a steady 85 way back Nvidia GeForce 178.15 --- every other framerate in F.E.A.R. suffered minor hits. (Framerates below 25 FPS have risen by 3% while framerates between 25-40 have gone down by 1%. Also, video card benchmark test framerates above 40 FPS have gone down by 2%.)

To make matters worse, I've run into serious bugs as far as visual tweaking is concerned --- moving the Contrast, Digital Vibrance, and Brightness sliders messes up your display. It will look like you've moved the Image Sharpening slider all the way up. (Restarting the PC will solve this however.) This is the sheer height of irony as the Image Sharpening slider is still inoperative --- as it has been since when? Nvidia GeForce 177.92? (Nvidia should really fix this; I miss the 4% adjustment that produces even more stunning clarity.)

Still, video card benchmark test results and bugs aside, this driver is phenonmenal --- the hits in the video card benchmark test results are negligible and who needs operable sliders when the IQ makes you think you actually own authentic Warhammer 40,000 figurines? Zoom in on any RTS game and you can almost imagine you can reach out and pluck those ultra-sexy Eldar Banshees from your screen.

It's that good.

This is one ghost you don't want to pluck however.

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XbitLabs' Cheap LCD Monitors Roundup

I've been pondering about buying a cheap LCD monitor for months now but I never got around to doing it.

Why am I still using a CRT? Simple. I like the colors that CRT monitors offer. I am (was?) a digital artist and I'm very picky about monitors. I've seen monitors from various cafes including my cousin's and heck, not one of those cheap LCD monitors they have can perform at par with my CRT. Weak blacks, small viewing angles, slow response times, the list of cheap LCD woes goes on and on.

I tried searching for LCD reviews and found XbitLabs' cheap LCD monitors roundup. The article provides LCD review for cheap LCD monitors that have 19" screens. Hopefully one of the cheap LCD monitors there will be a good enough purchase in the coming months.

>>>Click here to read more...

Update: K-Lite Codec Pack Full

Free-codecs has version 4.3.1 of the K-Lite Codec Pack full. Details HERE. I'll install this new version tomorrow and see if it fares better than its predecessor.

Arf! Arf! TAKE THAT SPOTTY! (I lied. Sue me.)

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CollegeHumor's "The Matrix Runs on Windows"

The last line is hilarious:

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Definition of Video Card

A lot of persons judge video cards by the size of their VRAM in megabytes. "Hey man, I just recently bought a 512Mb ATI video card." When asked what model: "It's an X1550."

Gods of gaming.

Before delving into video card drivers or whether what one has bought is an Nvidia video card or an ATI video card, perhaps one should have tried to research the definition of video card; this would have saved the consumer from the ignominy of having been tricked into buying badly-designed video cards that can't even utilize the huge amounts of VRAM they come with.

Forget video card benchmark tests or video card drivers for the moment. It's high time that you should learn the basics. Here's a Tom'sHardware article that discusses all the basics of the definition of video card.

Don't be tricked into buying derelicts; learn!

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Penumbra: Overture

New game!

Dead Space really set the horror geek in me salivating so I decided to install and play Penumbra: Overture. (Sorry SWAT 4!)

This looks promising...

Added:

Dark. Creepy.

Darker. Creepier...

And no, that's not Spotty.

>>>Click here to read more...

How to Change Graphic Drivers for PCI and AGP Graphics Cards

NOTE: I've been using this procedure for well over three years now (Driver Sweeper is relatively new however) and so far I've yet to encounter problems. However, I won't provide tech support in case something goes wrong with your PC. Use the procedure at your own risk.

Please be aware that I own an Nvidia GeForce card and hence use Nvidia graphic drivers.

My procedure:

1. Uninstall the old Nvidia graphic driver.


2. Reboot to Safe Mode

3. Run Driver Sweeper (make sure to check "Nvidia - Display" ONLY). This freeware will delete all registry entries that have been left behind by your old Nvidia graphic driver.



4. Reboot

5. Run RegCleaner.

6. Reboot again.

7. Make a restore point using Windows XP's System Restore tool or ERUNT. (Just in case you're installing a third party tweaked driver or a beta driver; restore points are handy in case something goes awry.)

8. Install the new Nvidia graphic driver.

>>>Click here to read more...

Dead Space Trailer

What is it with the profusion of games that feature anatomical damage nowadays? Fallout 3 has it. Dead Space, a horror-sci-fi third-person shooter for the PC, takes it to the next level --- headshots won't do much good in this game; you have to dismember your opponents to incapacitate and finally kill them.

For months, I have been blabbering about "I have a mountain of games I have yet to install and finish. Why should I buy a new PC?" A few of my friends have been derisive about it, thinking I am sourgraping but yes, I do have a mountain of games (not to mention truckloads of freeware like Nexuiz and UFO: AI) that I have yet to install. Now though I'm starting to feel the itch for a new system. You have to see this vid to see why:

Stirring music, great sequencing, solid color composition --- this is a must-see trailer.

>>>Click here to read more...

F.E.A.R.: Project Origin's 3rd Official Trailer

This has got to be one of the coolest trailers I've ever seen. (Or maybe it's just the fanboy in me gushing? Lol!)

Will she stop doing that? She's n@k3|) again! Now how am I going to get scared?

>>>Click here to read more...

F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate - Leviathan Encounter

Perseus Mandate

I may have finished the game but my hard drive's full of F.E.A.R. videos and screenshots. Here's one of the best firefights of the game: an encounter with an Armacham Leviathan (Good thing Nvidia GeForce drivers provide options in their Nvidia control panel that improves PC performance otherwise this scene would have stuttered like hell):

A Replica REV8 Leviathan fires rockets in Extraction Point.

>>>Click here to read more...

Tribes: Vengeance Fan-Made Military Science Fiction

This is a sci-fi short story I made that's set in the Tribes: Vengeance universe:




You freefall for several meters and land on a slope, spinfusor rounds exploding ineffectually all around you. You ski down the mound, your repulsors defying gravity even as your 500-pound power armor easily shrugs off enemy fire. You jetpack up another hill, gathering momentum as your telemetry sensors tell you the objective is close.

Somebody armed with a chaingun is chasing you, judging from the staccato you hear several meters behind. You pay the enemy soldier no mind; the objective is all. You crest the hill, activate your energy pods, and catapult through the air. You look down and you see the enemy base, naked --- naked like your love the day these blackguards landed on your country while their capital ships rained down tactical nuclear rounds on your world.

You close your eyes that have suddenly brimmed with tears and you see brown skin swathed scantily in red sheets; lips that moaned, sighed, and murmured your name; and a lithe body that moved with you gently, slowly, in that steamy room so long ago.

It was your honeymoon but they chose that day to burn away your home, your family, with particle cannons and nuclear bombs.

Your energy pods run out of juice and with the sun behind you, you freefall again, a falling Angel of Death come to slake its thirst for retribution.

"This is for Mary you m*****f*****s," you whisper, thumbing down the trigger. The mortar you're holding quietly coughs out a round, which arcs lazily down, screaming promises of dismemberment and obliteration...

>>>Click here to read more...

F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate - Nightcrawler Firefight

Perseus Mandate

SPOILERS!!!!

I've uninstalled F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate yesterday. I said my goodbye to the series that provided me a level of after-work catharsis unprecedented by any game in my collection. Superb AI (better than Crysis' so I've heard from forums and officemates), awesome physics, and good graphics make this series a true classic for me.

I'll be playing it again when (hopefully) I'll get a new PC in the coming months.

I'll be playing Perseus Mandate and the entire F.E.A.R. series again when I get a video card upgrade sometime in the ("FAR!!!" - my wife) future. >)_)

Here's the video (This is one of the hardest levels in Perseus Mandate where you get to fight a swarm of Nightcrawlers --- a free-standing army of mercenaries tasked to recover the DNA of Alma Wade and Paxton Fettel. While it may look like cakewalk, I died 4-5 times before deciding to choose a chokepoint in the level, laying turrets on it, and then laying mines on the area across the general area where I stood my ground.):

F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate at Extreme Difficulty. No SloMo.

>>>Click here to read more...

Xtreme-G 178.26 Video Card Benchmark Test

Video Card Benchmark Test

The people at Tweakforce have once again made another version of their Nvidia-based tweaked drivers. Xtreme-G 178.26 brings nothing new (my video card benchmark tests showed numbers that are at par with 178.15) but as always with new versions of Xtreme-G Nvidia video drivers, this one does produce better image quality than its predecessors.

Please take note that this is an Nvidia Quadro driver.

The video card benchmark test results of the Xtreme-G 178.26 Nvidia-based tweaked driver HERE.

Taking a shotgun blast at this range is not pretty.

Don't you just love having a 12-gauge VK-12 Combat Shotgun and super-fast reflexes? With SloMo, you can take out the second guy with another round as his squad mate is still crumpling to the ground.

>>>Click here to read more...

I Finished F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate at Extreme Difficulty Without Using SloMo

Perseus Mandate

SPOILER SCREENSHOTS!!














I don't know if anyone has let the implications of one of my videos sink in (SPOILER VID HERE), but yep, I beat Perseus Mandate at Extreme Difficulty without using the game's SloMo (bullet time) feature.

Turrets? Check. Lots of weapons and health lying around? Check. Orange-tinged level? Check. I don't know about you, but this whole level is a spitting image of THIS.

>>>Click here to read more...

Nvidia GeForce 178.24 WHQL Video Card Benchmark Test...

Video Card Benchmark Test

I shoved Nvidia's GeForce 178.24 into my gauntlet of video card benchmark tests and it just shrugged off the trials like a golem wading through an army of gnomes.

Unprecedented IQ and good numbers --- Nvidia nails it again with this one.

See the results HERE.

>>>Click here to read more...

F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate - Last Firefight

Perseus Mandate

Extreme Difficulty. No SloMo (I accidentally pushed the button somewhere at the last part though. :P). SPOILER!!!

No Armacham Replica soldiers were left alive in the making of this video.

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F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate - Boss Battle (Nightcrawler Commander)

Perseus Mandate

Here's a video of me taking on the Nightcrawler Commander at Extreme Difficulty without using SloMo (It's dark at first but the Commander soon turns on the lights.) :

GameCam does eat up system resources so the frames are terrible. I had fun spraying lead though. >)_)

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GameSpy's Fallout 3: The Art of Writing

GameSpy has released an article about the how the story of Fallout 3 was woven by the game's designers.

Writing. Yummy.

This should prove to be an interesting read. For now... work. :P

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Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R and ECS GF9300TA Review Articles

I've been curious these past days about what cost-effective motherboards are out there so I decided to surf for P45 motherboards again. I hit paydirt:

HotHardware.com's review of the Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R


This is the cheapest P45 motherboard that I've found so far that offers DDR3 support. HotHardware even gave it a "Recommended" award. It also features Crossfire support (which is a major bummer to me, since I prefer Nvidia cards).


I've also found an Nvidia-based motherboard, the ECS GF9300TA.


Guru3d.com's review of the ECS GF9300TA


While it doesn't support DDR3 since "the motherboard has only DDR2 sockets" according to


HardwareSecrets.com's review of the ECS GF9300T-A,


it does have a built-in video solution in the form of the GF9300 mGPU. While this may not seem to be something to write home about, you can enhance your PC's gaming performance by using an add-on video card while using the integrated one as a PhysX processor. Now that's awesome!

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Update: K-Lite Codec Pack Full

K-Lite Codec Pack Full

Free-codecs has version 4.2.5 of the K-Lite Codec Pack full. Details HERE. I'll install this new version tomorrow and see if it fares better than its predecessor.

I wonder how Men of Valor will sound now. All those "F$$$$ you G.I.!!"s will sound more convincing lol!

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Veruca Salt's Loneliness is Worse

This LINK contains Veruca Salt and Placebo playlists.

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Nvidia GeForce 178.15 Video Card Benchmark Test

Video Card Benchmark Test

I've done some video card benchmark tests using the leaked Nvidia GeForce 178.15 video driver a few days ago. The results HERE.

When you're playing any of the F.E.A.R. games at Extreme Difficulty without using SloMo, you'd want to squeeze every armor point you can get. That means not picking up armor vests when you still have 74 points left. This "item trap" is annoying; to get to the Alienware laptop, I had to jump on the chair.

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Food for Thought

When a friend reaches out and gives you a torch with which to light the darkness but refuses to accompany you on your journey because of rules and commitments, should you feel sad? No. Let the torch give you strength; always go forward and from time to time, look at the light and remember. Remember and be glad that someone cared immensely to give you it.

I have faith in you.

Godspeed.



I now walk in the light with my partner but I have not thrown away the torches people gave me. To these people, my thanks.

MaPaJovieMs.FloresHanzelJonasRubyJuvelynCarlotaMajallaMelodyMichaelMKRichard...
...FermandyStevenPatrickShantaBrentLolaNeneArwatMaeTatayObetDonnaAndreaAuntiEden
....UncleMaggiNanayPepeMrsPanalScottJBGiovanniEJTontonLolaEldaKuyaPeterAnnabelle....

...and legions more. Thank you.

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Nvidia 178.15 Leaked Driver (Guru3d)

Video Card Benchmark Test

(A word of warning about this driver: right after I installed it, my PC did nothing. I found it strange as there should have been a prompt that should have asked me if I wanted to restart my PC. None appeared. I had to restart the PC the old-fashioned way. Also it's a LEAKED BETA. Install at your own risk.)

I installed the Nvidia 178.15 leaked driver (for Windows XP 32-bit) I got from Guru3d and while it's nothing spectacular, I do notice a bumped-up image quality that is more pronounced whenever I do a video card benchmark test with Lightsmark. I'll post the video card benchmark tests tomorrow.

Over the course of two months, my PC's performance has improved gradually what with the slew of video card drivers that Nvidia has been churning out. I can now play F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate with minimal stutter at higher graphics settings.

It's still 640 res but what the hell, the game's still a looker:

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Nvidia GeForce 178.15 (Beta) and Nvidia GeForce 178.24 WHQL

Video Card Benchmark Test

Nvidia GeForce 178.15 (Beta) and Nvidia GeForce 178.24 WHQL have been released. Exciting times lol!

But I'm stuck with work.

And I'm going to go reef snorkelling again this Sunday.

Oh well, one can't have everything.

I'll probably do some video card benchmark tests this Sunday night.

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Vanilla Sky Quotes

Taken from IMDB: (Vanilla Sky spoilers!!)



Brian: We almost died, man... And do you know what I saw?
David: What?
Brian: Your whole life flashing in front of me...
David: And how was it?
Brian: Almost worth dying for...



David: See, I've got this little problem. I've got a stalker.
Sofía: It doesn't sound life threatening.
David: But I need a cover. I need for you to pretend we're having a scintillating conversation, and you are wildly entertained.
[Both laugh]
David: I know it's tough.
Sofía: I'll improvise.



Brian: But wait. You're rich and women love you, and I'm from Ohio and I'm drunk. Can I tell you the truth?
David: Everybody does.
Brian: I dig her. And I've never said this to you before about any girl, but she could be - could be, could be, could be - the girl of my f___g dreams.
David: You're not from Ohio.
Brian: I know. But if she f__s up our friendship, she can go to hell. I won't allow it. We are bros.



Edmund: You were missed, David. It was Sofia who never fully recovered. It was she who some how knew you best... and like you, she never forgot that one night where true love seemed possible.


[last lines to Sofia]
David: Look at us. I'm frozen and you're dead, and I love you.
Sofía: It's a problem.
David: I lost you when I got in that car. I'm sorry.
David: Do you remember what you told me once? That every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.
Sofía: I'll find you again.
David: I'll see you in another life... when we are both cats.


Vanilla Sky. One of the best movies ever.

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"Volcano" by Damien Rice

This year --- crazy.

I got touched by this song given how it nearly describes this sphere of surreality I've been thrust in. I'm holding up fine though, thank you. I've always been this way; dabbling, dabbling. This might be the death of me yet, this incessant need to touch others' lives.

XU? A selfish need to justify things in life? Too much Pay It Forward-like films? I don't know. I just hope I won't wake up to vanilla skies.

Hell, for all I know, this is all a lucid dream.

...but that's all I need...

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F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate - Close Encounter with an REV6 Power Armor

Here's a video showing me duking it out with a Replica REV6 Power Armor. I like this firefight; I didn't know the mech could go through the door!

"Take that you test tube m****rf******s!" - Douglas Holiday

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Matrix Sunglasses

Best shoot-up scene, hands down. The Propellerheads rock!

Why the ramble? Go HERE.

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Xtreme-G 178.13 Video Card Benchmark Test

Video Card Benchmark Test

I did some video card benchmark tests with the Xtreme-G 178.13 video driver, which is based on Nvidia's 178.13 WHQL.

Graphics are even more awesome with this tweaked drivers and gameplay and video card benchmark tests go smooth with this one. If it weren't for the Digital Vibrance bug inherent with the stock Nvidia 178.13 WHQL, I'd give this one an Imba Award. :D

Who says nobody plays classic games anymore? This game has better AI than most run-of-the-mill games of 2005.

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Realtek AC'97 Audio Update -- 4.06 Released

Realtek AC'97 v4.06 has been released for quite some time now.

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Download Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne 1.22 Patch

Those guys at Blizzard never cease to amaze me. Five years after Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne got released, they're still releasing patches for the said game. If that's not support, I don't know what is.

Download Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne 1.22 patch from Gamespot. The patch weighs in at 57.3Mb and given that an incremental 1.21b-1.22a was released last July, this new one might be a stand-alone version of the previous patch release. The page of the downloadable Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne 1.22 patch contains a ReadMe that shows a list that's nearly identical to the previous patch so it all checks out.

This is giving me the itch to install the thing again.

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Google Problems

Now this is nice.

I moved twice within the city recently and hell, I never got my Google PIN. Blast, it's gonna be 2-3 weeks with no Adsense --- if the blasted PIN is going to ever arrive. Gaar.

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Kilawinguwak's Band

I got this link from Martin Cruz, a bassist friend of mine. The songs are good; they remind me of Wolfgang. Thanks for sharing Mart!

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For my Wife

--- five minutes twenty seconds into the vid ---


it's moments like this that I realize time and again how lucky I am to have someone like you to share my life with:

Even the great RWilliams...

Thanks to Fr. Poulin who believed we could pull through the inferno we passed through all those years ago and to Lia, my boss, who continually sees what my wife and I have. And of course to the love of my life, the reason I go to --- and wake up from --- sleep smiling.

Now all I need is a house by a beach with coral reefs and life would be perfect. :D

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Xtreme-G 178.13 Released

Video card benchmark test

That was fast.

Tweakforce just released their Xtreme-G 178.13, a tweaked video driver based on Nvidia's 178.13 WHQL. Instructions on how to circumvent the Digital Vibrance bug is provided on their site. (I haven't tried it though; proceed at your own risk.) Time for another round of video card benchmark tests tomorrow.

SmartBroken. Owned by WiFi. Oh yeah, baby.

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Nvidia GeForce 178.13 WHQL - Bugged?

Video Card Benchmark Test

I installed and did some video card benchmark tests with the Nvidia GeForce 178.13 WHQL drivers and while it performs fine in video card benchmark test results and doesn't detract from what the previous version offers, it doesn't bring anything new to the table either. Gameplay with F.E.A.R., like the Nvidia GeForce 177.92, is smooth but the framerates in my video card benchmark tests took some slight hits.

While the video card benchmark test results are fine though unremarkable, what bothers me is that with this version, Digital Vibrance can now only be set in 33% increments. This is a big thing as I usually set my Digital Vibrance to 4-9% --- any more than that and even the slightest bits of light brown in images become vibrant orange spots on my monitor.

The Image Sharpening slider has also been disabled.

This is the second time in three years that Nvidia has released a bugged WHQL GeForce driver. The video card benchmark test results are ok but these bugs really hurt this new Nvidia GeForce version badly.

UPDATE: I take back what I said about this driver being "unremarkable." I ran some games and hell, its IQ --- for a stock Nvidia driver --- is off the charts. With IQ like this, who cares about Digital Vibrance and Image Sharpening? It's a keeper! Now to see what magic Tweakforce can do on it!

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