Just got an email from Mark Sheeky over at Cornutopia Software.

Flatspace II v1.00 Released 30 January 2006
After two months of testing and feedback from the early adopter version, the first major release version of Flatspace II is now available. There have been about fifteen changes since the early adopter version including new guild levels, a few more tutorial windows and the ability to reload weapons from station stores. The full download, and a smaller update can now be found on the downloads page. Check out the download here, and the official page here.

Mark was also kind enough to send us a registration key for testing. Hopefully I'll have a chance to check it out soon and get a review up.

  Protox sends over a little guild of things to do in World of Warcraft once you hit 60. Some intersting info.

  Still working on that review of the Logitech G5 mouse, but I've got writers block. Bah.

  Ages ago, in 2001 the Shining Force clan webserver blew up. Dopper did a temporary page up for them that I found to be quite amusing. It's still sitting here on FRAGtopia, and I still laugh everytime I think about it.

  Remember folks, the old expression is true. There's no reason to let facts or reality get in the way of a good story. As everyone knows, video games are responsible for all of society's woes. It's a scientifically proven rumor. Now we have something new to blame on games, as all of our local newspapers are declaring this morning. Street Racing! Of course this was a problem long before video games came out... But I'm pretty sure that EA Games was somehow behind James Dean too. Now, I've been playing racing games since... Hmmmmm.... The mid 1980s, and I don't feel the need to go street racing. But it's okay. Video games make for a nice sensational target.

  The new Joint Strike Fighter looks pretty damned sweet. Hopefully we get some of them for our air force up here in Canada, now that we have a Government up here that actually gives a damn about our military. Thanks for the linkage Runez0r.

  Apparently Osama's press people just don't get it. Thanks Chisel.

  I was on Teamspeak with my Forever Twisted buddies chatting and Gonzo mentioned he was making cookies. I asked where the hell mine were, and lo.. a few days later I get a package from PA USA with some cookie mix :D. Thanks buddy!

  In other news, our "Games I hate" contest had two entries. The previously mentioned Gonzo, and my buddy VA Killer. They both win a free game. Universal Combat goes to Gonzo, and Killer gets a copy of Lego Star Wars. Enjoy, and thanks for the emails.

  Sorry for the lack of posts lately, just haven't felt like writing, and I've been too busy and stressed out with work to bother. Also, I've been playing World of Warcraft a fair bit. It's a truly superb game, and the only MMPORG I've played that doesn't, in the end, suck.

But not tonight, because I'm having problems getting on... Just like I have been on and off for about a month. I grow weary of it. Blizzard brags they've got over 5.5 millions subscribers world wide...and I'm guessing the resources to handle about 5 million of them. I hope they soon fix it, but I was finally annoyed enough to go to their suggestions forums and post about it. *sigh*

  I am downloading the newest Rainbow 6 demo, Lockdown. I hope that it is worthy, but we'll know shortly.

  I've been reading a little bit about DnD Online: Stormreach, but have yet to get myself on the beta. If it's as newbie friendly as WoW, we might just have a new MMPORG to play.

  I always find it entertaining when AMD beats Intel out in sales of desktop processors. I've really got a thing for the underdog, and especially for AMD. Intel has had dominance over the microprocessor market for so long they've gotten fat and lazy in my humble opinion, and it's really nice to see them get smacked around a little bit. I've always held that competion is good for any market, and I'd hate to see where we'd be at the current time if it wasn't for AMD. I've lately had a few people buying computers insisting on Intel processsors, who seemed quite put out when I pointed out to them that they'd be better going with an AMD then an Intel, for price vs. performance. A few of them were gamers, which is odd. It's interesting that the people I know who insist on using only Intel CPUs don't seem to usually have any good reason for their preference, other than they've always used Intel. That in itself is a good reason, but it's rather like my father, who insists on driving only GM or Ford vehicles. Why? "They've built in North America!" Never mind that my Toyota was built within a twenty minute drive of my house, and his was built about 400 miles south of here. Anyhows, getting off topic. Everything I've seen in the longest time (and person experiance) tells me that AMD is the way to go at the moment, especially in the higher end of things where Intel is sent crying to the corner after a thorough spanking. Viva la AMD, and booourns to Intel, untill they revamp and come up with a better processor... Or at least one that can compete.

  I mentioned a few weeks back that I finally gave Creative more of my hard earned money and bought a Xi-Fi.... and I've got to admit, it's good. Really good. I'd like to be able to get a value version, as the Platinum drive bay filler and remote control are totally useless for me, and the media player it comes with is quite possibly the worse piece of crap ever. Intuitracker on the Amiga was better. Mediaplayer is better. My trusty old Winamp 2.78 is better. (Yes, you now all know my secret shame.. I use a five year old copy of Winamp.) The card itself is good, and sounds great. I've actually noticed a difference on MP3s, DVDs and gaming.. it just plain sounds better than my ol' Audigy 2 ZS with headphones, which is primarily what I use when I'm on the computer. At work I use speakers, and I can't hear a difference with those.

  As an interesting (well, interesting to me) note, the FRAGtopia site passed 775,000 visits a few days ago. That's alot of people.

  I haven't felt like writing much lately, I've been busy with other stuff, like playing World of Warcraft and fixing people's computers for them. I picked up a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront 2 a bit ago, I might actually get it installed and give it a play sometime. Still gotta get that review of the G5 mouse done.

  Thanks to everyone who attended the New Years LAN, 'twas a hoot. I'll have a few pics up soon. Loving the G5 mouse as well, gotta get working on a review for that.

  Just got the store set up for the LAN and I'm burning Tribes 1 and Savage cds for all :) Woot! LAN in just 15 hours!

  The LAN is still on for this Sunday. So far I've got myself, Blutsauger, Cable, Chaos, Dragon and Protocal confirmed as coming. This means that tomorrow afternoon early I'm going to be renting tables and chairs. If you're coming and you have no yet confirmed it with me, better hurry up. If it's only six people coming, I'm only going to be ordering enough tables and chairs for ten people total. If you show up, and there's no where for you to sit, don't blame me.

  Yup, that's right. Merry Christmas. I'm sick of seeing "Seasons Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" and other stupid, empty, commercial messages everywhere. It's Merry Christmas you heathens. :P If anyone happens to be offended by this festive message, get your priorities in order, and get your head out of your posterior. And have a Merry Christmas one and all!

  Bah! My computer stopped booting yesterday, and after much screwing around it turns out it's a short in my beloved Razer Diamondback mouse :( I've lost the reciept, so I guess it's RIP Diamondback and long live the new Logitech G5 gaming mouse!

  LAN party in a week and a bit! So far we've got a few people coming that have confirmed (4 to be exact) A few others have said they MIGHT be coming. I'm renting tables and chairs, and I'm not going to waste my money on empty chairs. SO, if you're coming let me know. You come and there's no spot for you to sit, tough.

  Rune found the best DVD player of all.

  I finally caved and spent the money on a Creative Labs Xi-Fi soundcard. I've wanted one for a while but I was determined to wait for the value version to come out as I've really got no use whatsoever for the front break out box that slips into your 5.25" bay, or the remote control. I did however manage to restrain myself long enough to not purchase the Fata7ty model since I have even less use for a red LED than for the break out box... and I'd rather have the extra $100 lining my pocket than his. Debating doing a review on the card, we'll have to see. I'm not that great at truly technical reviews, since I just sort of like to tell it from, if you will, the common gamer's perspective.

  The Christmas content went into World of Warcraft in last weeks patch and damn. Some of the new quests are a riot. My personal favorite is called "You're a mean one...." and involves you hunting down and killing a creature called the "Greench". Hah!

  LAN Party! Our regularily scheduled FRAGtopia minilan puts in it's yearly appearance. This year it's at VAM Computers in Orangeville, Ontario on Sunday Jan 1st from 9am -> 9pm. Lots of tables and cables are avaliable, but seating is limited. I think I've mentioned to most of our regulars that it's on, but if you're coming and I have haven't talked to you, please let me know. I'm thinking we should get it on with some wierd games that no one is really good at. Last time we did that it was a riot. There's nothing more fun than playing with a pile of people who have no idea what's going on. :)

  Free games are good, even if they contain large amounts of Engrish. Rune pointed out War Rock to me, and it's actually pretty damned good. It's along the lines of Battlefield 2. The graphics aren't as good, but there's tons of fun to be had... And it's fun! Check it out here.

  Just listening to the Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin talking about a ban on legally owned handguns in Canada. The Canada Handgun Ban and Comminity Safety Act. It's nice that their solution for the problems with illegal firearms on the streets of Toronto is to take them away from the people who aren't using them illegally and are already legislated out the wazzoo. Good job Liberals. At least they're talking about making the penalties for using an illegal firearm tougher......... *sigh* Interestingly he's making the announcements at a closed press release, surrounded by supporters. Love it. I should get into politics, but I don't think I'd be able to stand all the lying and sleaziness.

  Many many moons ago at a small LAN party I broke out a copy of Savage and had everyone install it. 10 hours later we realised the sun was coming up and we'd been hooked on it all night. S2 Games has announced Savage 2 and I can't wait. The screenshots look great.

  I was thinking of buying Starship Troopers, even after playing the demo... Then I saw a little link on SimHQ to a little review on Gamespot and wow. I'm glad I didn't buy it.

  Finally got the Call of Duty 2 review up and posted. That's a damned good game. I'm going to play through the single player again, and that's something that doesn't happen very often at all.

  In other news, what the hell is wrong with people? I wouldn't wait in line for two seconds to get myself an Xbox 360, much less for days. People truly are retards. What? You waited in line? You retard.

  Look out of the windows of the Marauderlair this morning and there's nothing but white. Looks like we got about a foot of snow last night. It's funny... The old I get the less I like winter. I remember when I was younger out on the farm going out for hours and having a great time. Now I just feel like going out and driving to Arizona to hide out for a few months.

  Working on a computer yesterday that's clearly been smoked around a wee bit. Let this be a lesson to you kids, smoking is also bad for your comp. Imagine what this gentleman's lungs must look like. Blech.

  Apparently some people in the Call of Duty 2 community aren't very happy. I'll agree with them on the anti-cheat system. You really can't release a multiplayer game these days without something to catch the cheaters and keep the little bastards in line. That reminds me, must get COD2 review done. I've got a whole day off and a bottle of Bawls. What more do I need to write?

  So, it's up to you. Who makes a better President, Bush or a box of tic-tacs?

  When I'm bored I've been known to check what Google searches are leading people to the FRAGtopia articles. I checked a few for the ol' Fatal7ty Easy Bake oven spoof we did a little bit back and.... lol. When you search for "Fatal7ty Products" guess who's #1 on Google baby?! Rune suggested that perhaps Mr. Wendle should get himself into talks with Hasbro about making the oven a reality. :) I was laughing so hard when I saw that I darned near fell of my chair.

  Anyone who's ever seen the Rune gaming live and laughed about it should perhaps chip in with me and get him a heart monitor and this software for Christmas. Thanks Proto. :) I honestly feel sort of guilty when I watch Rune's gaming convulstions that I didn't buy a ticket to the show. Speaking of Rune, he brought you most of today's linkage.

  There's something wrong with the world when I'm hearing Christmas music in stores November 1st. Now don't get me wrong, I like Christmas music.... But it's the twelve days of Christmas, not the sixty days of Christmas. As far as I'm concerned you don't start advertising or playing Christmas music untill December 1st. Yes, this means you Wal-Mart.

  It's now time for the Rune update. First off, we here at FRAGtopia are greatly sadened by the loss of yet another of our childhood heros. Pat Morita is now catching flies with chopsticks somewhere else.

  I always thought the US's OICW weapons system looked like a huge piece of crap, and here's some more people who think that..... But they've removed the carbine portion of it, now it's just a grenade launcher.. and the Taliban can't hide! Boom baby!

  Thanks to Dman we know yet again that people have way too much time on their hands.... or in their hands. Someone's made a pretty darned sweet PDA desktop theme.

  I've always enjoyed music from Future Frog, or as he's known these days, Monochromatic. He sent me a link today to most of his music over the last few years. Some damned good stuff in there, check it out.

  Woops, looks like yet again our friends at Sony got owned up, yet again by a rather low tech solution to their nasty DRM crap. Thanks Rune.

  Looks like Fatality makes more money than I do. *sigh* Then again the building's janitor makes more money than I do.

  My new monitor arrived today. The Viewsonic VG920 LCD replaces my old Sony Trinitron 21" CRT. So far I'm liking it. I've got the whole desk back, it's sharp, and colour quality is good.

  From Bloodmist comes... Which super hero are you? I was the Terminator for some reason.. But mind you, I'm not complaining. I've always liked miniguns and shooting sprees. I'm not actually sure that I'd count the Terminator as a "super hero" but hey.

I love Canada. It's a shame I'm not a homosexual, disabled, french black guy though. I'd be able to get any job in the government I wanted. Thanks for getting my blood boiling Rune. :P

  Yay! A day off work. I'm planning on doing some more work on my Call of Duty 2 review and perhaps playing a little World of Warcraft as well. Speaking of which I really should work on a review for that. Currently I'm just sitting in front of my computer listening to "Move your ass" by Scooter really loudly

  A few new toys. I've ordered myself a Viewsonic 19" 8ms LCD. As much as I love my 21" trinitrons, they're taking up way to much space on my desks, both at home and at work. I'm going to try one at work and if I like it another shall shortly apear on my desk at home. Unfortunately it means I'm going to have to get myself some sort of little shelf for my huge number of monitor toys. I'm thinking either a nice little corner shelf, or maybe making a little box shelf that I can take to LAN parties. My cheapie Logitech mic died the other day so I went out and bought a new Plantronics headset that's just awesome. The mic sounds good and the speakers sound amazing. Marauder likes.

  Our friend Mark Sheeky from Cornutopia software let me know a few days ago that Flatspace II has been released. The original Flatspace was a darned good game and recieved a four of five rating when we reviewed it earlier this year. Look for a review of FS2 soon. Mark's also added a fan fiction page which offers some interesting fan stories.

  Speaking of Call of Duty 2, I'm VERY impressed with the single and multiplayer in the game. The net code seems very smooth, and I get a lot less lag and wierd crap than I do with Battlefield 2. In fact, even when you're using the bolt action and semi auto guns, you can still get hits and kills, something that in many games is extremely difficult unless you're on LAN.

  What's up with our review scores? I've been getting a few emails lately asking why most of the products we review get such good ratings. Well, the main reason is that when I do a review I'm buying the stuff myself. It's pretty darned seldom that anyone sends me a game or product to review for free. So I tend to use my hard earned pesos to purchase things that I think will be good, and usually I'm right. If it looks crappy I don't buy it.

  On that note, I do have a few games that I bought, hated and never actually played long enough to see if they're any good... So I'm going to give them away. Send an email to themarauder@fragtopia.com explaining why you'd like to get a game that I hated for free. Include your real name and mailing address and I'll ship you a game to the first five or six people who write in. And just to make it interesting, the best email will recieve a new game that doesn't suck.

  I've also been getting a few emails from people wondering why I don't post news and reviews more often, and why there's big gaps when nothing gets done around here.... Well, it's mostly because it's just me posting and doing reviews. And sometimes I just don't feel like it, or I'm too busy. I don't make any money or a living off this, so it's just whenever I feel like doing some writing, have the time and don't have anything better to do, or writers block that day. Sometimes the words just flow and sometimes it's like a mental battle with the greased up deaf guy that controls my ability to write and make it interesting. Sometimes I catch him and win the picnic award, and sometimes he escapes into the woods and doesn't make another appearance untill next years company picnic, it's sort of a toss up. (That's a clever Family Guy reference for those of you who don't watch the TV shows you should be watching.)

  Anyhows, enough babbling. It's time to post the news that Runez0r spammed me with overnight.

  First off: A little Farq photoshop contest. What would happen if Canada took over the United States, eh?. I especially liked the Bob and Doug McKenzie hunt for Bin Laden bit.

  Second off: The most shocking video game moments of all time. I'd agree with him on the Doom, Lord British's death and Oregon Trail. Especially the death of Lord British. That's still something I hear coming up in conversation from time to time.

  I've gotta get me one of these. Interesting principal, it'd be great for guarding your comp at LAN parties, or for moms who want to keep the kids out of the cookie jar. His little brother better watch out that one day the airsoft P90 doesn't get replaced with the real thing. (Watch the videos.) Thanks to The Grabber for the linkage.

More later.

  In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918 Canadian Army)

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Did you remember to thank a Veteran for your freedom today? The below photo is of Dustbunny's Grandfather (on the left) and one of his buddies. Luckily they both made it back from the war. Many of our service people didn't and made the ultimate sacrifice. Make sure you take a few minutes today to remember, it's important.

I'd forgotten how "In Flanders Fields" was written, and today it seems appropriate to post a link to the story of it. It's quite touching.

  Just beat Call of Duty 2 today and wow. I honestly can't get over how good and how intense that game is. Well worth purchasing.

  Got the review for Serious Sam 2 that I've been working on for a while done today as well. Well, okay.. I wrote the intro to it a week ago and did all the rest of it today. None the less, it's done. Click here to check it out.

  Goshwin sent me a very cool video that rather goes with the above review. I think Sam would like it. Yyeeehah! I gotta get me down to Arizona sometime. That's just plain sweet.

  Just got home from work, and I'm about to get back to working on websites... But I was playing a little bit of Call of Duty 2 this afternoon at lunch time and... Damn. It's a cool game... Check this screenie out:

Great game, it actually feels like you're there sometimes. And the graphics.. Uhhh.. wow. I'm fighting in Stalingrad right now and it's the most intense depiction of urban warfare I've ever experianced. The detail is simply mind blowing.

  Made it alive down to Pappys, and got quite a few hours of gaming in. Quake 4 deathmatch is fun, and we got in some Serious Sam 2 co-op play as well. Below you can see Pappy, looking all gheto with his gats. Much fun has ensued, now it's time for bed. :)

  The World of Warcraft Expansion has been announced and I'm super excited about it. Can't wait. :D

  It's lunch time, and that means it's time to wish one of the nicest (though grumpiest) guys on the internet a special day.... The PlanetQuake Overlord himself, THE Pappy-R is having himself a birthday today. Happy Birthday bud. Rune and I will be dropping by Pappy's for a little LANage tomorrow...... It's a long drive, but the company (and steak!) is always worth it.

  Stupid Pappy and numerous other people have their hands on Quake 4 before I do. I hate you all.

  It's my good buddy !FT!Magic's birthday today. He's been going through some rough times lately... But Happy Birthday Scott! Things will eventually get better, they always do.

  So many games, so little time. I'm playing Serious Sam 2, Black and White 2, Quake 4 comes out tomorrow and I've got Battlefield 2 and World of Warcraft to play as well. Damn that's quite a few sequels.

  Just finished up the review for Psychonauts. If you like adventure games at all I highly recomend you go out and buy this one. It's a really, really good game. Heck even if you don't like them go get it.

  Goshwin sent us The ORIGINAL Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products. Heh. I remember seeing many of the these fine devices in action over the years of watching cartoons. This link reminded me of the famous old "Coyote vs. ACME" lawsuit from Ian Frazier so I Googled it. Now that's humor.

  I like Battletech/Mechwarrior perhaps more than is normal or healthy. Rune sent me something I simply must have. Mount some LRMs and PPCs on that bad boy and Revenue Canada's going to have a bad day!

  I love search engines. I'm constantly amazed at where people get links to our site and articles from. Google Easy Bake and our Fatal1ty spoof is on the first page. I guess search engines just like us.

  Sometimes I find it hard to believe how fast time flies. It was June 11.2001 that I did a review on World War 2 online. For a while there it looked like they wouldn't be around long but they hung in and have quite a rabid following of players. The expansion should be out soon. Thanks for the link Vaytan!

  And what a great game it was. The very last jumping puzzle was a tad annoying, but the rest of the game was superbly done, thanks Tim Schafer! You are indeed a god of gaming design.

  Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian readers. And before you Americans go "Thanksgiving isn't untill November you stupid Canuks!!" we're further north than you (but not as far as you think) so harvest time is a little earlier. :P

  From Rune, another of the excellent "in 30 seconds, with bunnies" animations. This time it's War of the Worlds. Hah.

  Techreport has a write up on the new ATI X1000 series video cards. It'll probably be a month or so before we see them, 'twill be interesting. Lets hope the card is as impressive as the flash site telling us all about it. Thanks to Protocal for the linkages.

  Yay! The Battlefield 2 1.3 patch came out. (Well, a few days ago actually.) Played with it a bit last night and it's pretty good. Everyone got some more promotions and weapon unlocks which is really nice, obviously they've redone the ranking system. There's also a pile of other new toys in the patch that make the game much more playable. Go download it now if you haven't already.

  The Thermal Take Shark case mod is complete! I think it actually turned out pretty well, check out the goodness here. It'll load a little slow on some connections as there are many, many photos in the article.

  Speaking of Thermal Take, they've got a new version of the Blue Orb fan out. Their slogan for it? "The acme of absolute quiet you can reach." What the hell does that mean? I'm thinking that maybe the Road Runner better watch out, that Coyote is going to have a new cooling fan in his arsenal of Acme products. I love Oriental people's english. It's a constant source of amusment for me. I'm not sure if it's a hate crime here in Canada to laugh at things like that, but I don't care. Just don't tell anyone, okay?

  With the recent rash of computer items sponsored by Fatal1ty, we wondered... What's next? Introducing the Fatal1ty Easy Bake Oven (tm)!

  Work proceeds on the Shark make over. I'm hoping to have it assembled tomorrow night. I've just put the final clear coat on the paint. :)

  Deep within the FRAGtopia labs a project of unbelievable horror is taking place right now, as I type this. No, it's not a giant zombie army, nor are we about to unleash videos of Rune gaming upon an unsuspecting world. (Although both of those are on the back burner.) Nay, we're moding out a Thermal Take Shark case! Yes, that's right. We've taken screwdrivers and other implements of torture to a $250 computer enclosure. Presented for your inspection:

I'm hoping it turns out okay or I'll have destroyed a really nice case. I've been at this since monday and it's really hard not to get impatient and just assemble it all to see how it looks. I've got to give the paint time to cure fully. I'm hoping that I'll be able to assemble the whole thing on Monday or Tuesday.. If it all works out the case will be a heck of a lot quieter and look spiffy.

I'm all proud, we got a paragraph on Blue's News this morning regarding the Flatspace 2 preview/interview. :) Usually it's just a link to "Review X at Fragtopia."

Stupid Ultra. It seems like just a few days ago that I got my 500 watt Xconnect power supply and now something better is out! Although I just checked the review date and I realise that it was actually eleven months ago. Man, time flies. Anyho, Killer sent me a link to their sweet new PSU. Must have... Tiny tiny easily hidden cables. My current ones are like huge pipelines of power, the new ones are like slim spagetti noodles (also of power).

I don't know if I've ever mentioned Home of the Underdogs before, but I really like their site. And I really, really like their Featured Games list. "Games on this page are those that we believe are the creme de la creme, the Top Dogs of Top Dogs, games that truly transcend the normal boundaries of their genres, and turn non-believers into helpless addicts. In short, your gaming experience won't be complete if you have never tried these games." Check it out. If you haven't played these games you truly cannot call yourself a gamer. Also, not even your dog will respect you.

Blue's news had mention this morning as well of a Supreme Commander interview over on Gamespot. I've said it a dozen times and I'll say it a dozen more.. I truly can not wait for this game to come out.

  People keep asking me what that little blue thing is that I use to tag each news item or post. It's the llama from one of the finest cartoons of all time, The Emperor's New Groove. As of this news post however I am changing my tag. It'll now be the little grenade from the header bar that Donut911 drew for me all those moons ago. Isn't it nadey?

Flatspace 2 is coming out soon and Mark Sheeky from Corutopia Software was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about the upcoming game. Check out the goodness and a pile of screenshots here.

I downloaded and tried the Call of Duty 2 demo today. WOW. Go download it now. I can't wait untill the game comes out. Best of all, it's optimized for my SLI video cards. :> My only complaint is that it's too short for such a huge download. But it's worth it anyway.

I purchased Pychonauts today, just because Tim Schafer is a freakin' genuis, and I'm sort of sick of playing shooters all the time. You might know the name from a few little titles here and there.. Like... Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight, Secret of Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. It's been a really, REALLY long time since I've played any of his games and I'm really looking forward to it.

Got an email today from Mark Sheeky, the guy behind Flatspace... Flatspace 2 screenshots have at long last been posted! Check em out here. We'll be doing a review and hopefully an interview when the new game comes out.

I'm working on moding out the Thermal Take Shark case. So far the painting looks pretty good, if I can stop dropping the damned plates and scratching the heck out of them. Gah. Photos and write up soon. Then, it's time for my next super secret project. This next one is going to be really cool.

Truly all of our childhood heros are passing. Grabber sends in the news that Maxwell Smart has died.

Forgot to post a link to the official StarWars: Battlefront 2 website yesterday. Tried it out. Not too bad. Gotta see if there's some flying maps in the beta, it plays alot like the original, but the graphics are better. That being said, I loved the original. Can't wait to see what number two is like when it goes public. I'm actually suprised the second one is following so close on the heels of the first one, but I'm pleased.

Finally got around to writing a little about the new SLI 7800gt system and did some benchmarking while we were at it. I thought the numbers were rather interesting.

When I was in Future Shop the other day buying a Futurama DVD set, I noticed that they have Aftermath in stock and on sale. I've never seen it in a store before, and I thought it was sort of neat seeing it after we did an interview with the developer a couple of years ago. I'm going to pick up a copy just for my collection.

Gamecloud has a cool interview with Tony Rae of Even Balance (The Punkbuster guys) hard to believe they've been around for five years. Thanks for the link Killer!

Now, I'm off to play the Starwars:Battlefront 2 beta. Just finished downloading it from Fileplanet.

Got home very very late last night. I'm sitting here listening to very loud Scooter tunage (Weekend) and thinking about what to write. First off, The Rune and I were down in Niagra Falls, home of the Planet Quake Overlord Pappy-R, and other minor landmarks such as the falls themselves. We of course were there to visit with Pappy and his crew. (Gizmo, Short Cut, Pappy's Mom and of course his cool new dog.) Always most excellent hospitality at Chez Pappy. It was tons of fun to get a little Quake 3 and Serious Sam in again, even if it was on Rune's old Celeron 1ghz. Man. Sometimes you just forget how good you've got it untill you try to play games on an old comp. I had two 21" monitors, my old Tsunami tower (yes, it's gone to it's final resting place in Niagra), Rune's monitor, comp, gear and Rune himself in my car, so there was no room for the FRAGtopia test rig. Next time I'm taking it to show off though.

I've menioned this a few times, and I'm going to mention it again. Of all the people I've met in my life I think that Rick (Pappy) is one of the very best. Sometimes his health isn't the best, and he's got a rough time of it sometimes... but he's still one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Anyhows, long live Pappy! (And his BBQ!) Heh I've never actually been to Quake Con, but for the past few years I've gotten me a tshirt courtesy of the oft mentioned Pappy. I'm mostly clothed by and charity of others, and if it wasn't for people giving me tshirts I'd likely be roaming the streets mostly naked.

I added a page this morning to keep the specs on our test rig (ex. my computer) on the page. You can see the system specs by clicking here.

There's a few movies coming out soon that serious have my interest. A while ago I mentioned that I'd purchased the entire run of Firefly, an odd little TV show that's part outter space adventure, part wild west shootout. I thought it was quite good, and I was rather sad to realise they only made a season or so of it. It always seems that a different or interesting show will get canceled to make way for another stupid reality show, or another season of "World's greatest blankiety blank" on Fox. *sigh* Anyhows, there's a movie coming out based on Firefly... Serenity. It should be out in a few weeks and I can't wait to see it. Thanks to Guybrush from Northern Dragons for the heads up on this one. I'm also rather excited about Corpse Bride from Tim Burton. I've always enjoyed his movies, especially A Nightmare Before Christmas, so this one should be good.

Tekwiz sent me a link with some great backgrounds. For some reason Rune couldn't see this but no one else seemed to have a problem. Odd.

Ever wonder just what those wacky guys over in North Korea are saying about you these days? Find out here, you vile capitalist dog.

I just read my headline from the news post below this one... Keyboards? What the hell was all that about? I did get Serious Sam 2 working with SLI. No idea why it was acting stupid, I reset the computer and all was well. I wasn't impressed with the demo overall, but we'll see how the final game looks.

I just archived the news from Feb-July of this year. Sorry you modem humpers, I just realised how long it's been since I've done it. This page was nearing 200k in size. :o Woopsie daisy.

*sigh* Can't get the Serious Sam 2 demo to work if I have my SLI enabled. That makes me grumpy. I have to play more and see what I can do. Must.. Have... SLI!

Just got an email from the folks over at Mobrule Studios. Their new game, Tinywarz has gone live.

Mobrule Studios is proud to announce that Tinywarz has gone Live! We would
also like to give a big thank-you to everyone who participated in the Beta
Test - many balance issues and bugs have been resolved with your help.
Additional changes have been made during the Beta, including the addition
of new Faction planets - where factions can battle for the control of a
world.

Players can join the battle at tinywarz.com

TinyWarz is an online, browser-based, 2D strategy game where players
battle each other and computer controlled bandits on distant worlds. Time
is an important factor in TinyWarz - players are given a limited amount of
time to finish their turns and are rewarded for early completion.

In Tinywarz players can can create an army, construct / customize units,
assign crews, design bases, and battle to control planets. Watch your
hired crews improve in combat and select special abilities for your
command crew as they gain experience. Grow your army with salvaged units
or buy them from other players through the in-game market.

Gotta check it out sometime, took a brief look at the site, it looks quite interesting. It's a turn based strategy that runs right in your browser. It's also free but paid users get bonuses and more unlocked content. (Which is of course fair.) Looking at their forums theres quite a number of folks playing already. Here's the pay info from the site:

Do I have to pay to play Tinywarz?
No, but purchasing Paid Days (and helping support server and bandwidth costs) unlocks additional content. Paid Days can be purchased through PayPal (from the Account Settings panel), MoneyBookers (cash payments) or with Tinybucks (from Headquarters -> Tinybucks). Players with Paid Days have access to the following:
* Trading Construx
* Give / Sell Command
* Give / Sell Tinybucks
* Use Intermediate / Advanced vehicles, buildings and mods
* Command Crew can advance past Level 5
* Can deploy to Faction Planets
* Receive 100 Command Points every midnight (PST)

Can I get Paid Days without paying?
Definitely, Tinywarz has partnered with an advertising company (MetaReward) which offers Tinybucks for completing offers. These offers can be found in the Headquarters -> Tinybucks panel. Some offers a "free trials" and require a credit card. There are currently five free offers that do not require a credit card, completing these provides more than enough Tinybucks to purchase Paid Days. These offers are:
* Real Arcade
* Uproar
* Phonehog
* MySurvey
* Survey Networks

Dustbunny sent me an interesting email that sort of makes you think, even with gas prices expected to hit $2.00/litre tomorrow.

Just a little humor to help ease the pain of your next trip to the pump...

Compare with Gasoline......$ 6.31 Cdn per Imp Gal

Think a gallon of gas is expensive? This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.

Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ....... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ...........$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 .......... $10.00 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ........... $33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 .... $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 ... $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ........ . $25.42 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 .....$84.48 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER...

Evian water 9 oz $1.49..........$21.19 per gallon?! $21.19 for WATER - and the buyers don't even know the source. (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)

So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, or God forbid, Pepto Bismol or Nyquil.

I'm so excited. The demo for Serious Sam 2 is out. One of my favorite long running shooters of all time is baaaacccckkk!!!!

One of the guys from Team Forever Twisted I played Battlefield 1942 with was killed sunday afternoon around 2pm in a motorcycle accident. He was 25. R.I.P. Roadkill (Ilya). Far to young.

Avast yea scurvey sea dogs! It be talk like a pirate day, as we mention in the news a few days past! So remember! Walk that plank, or talk like a pirate at least once on this day! Arrrrrrr. I love Talk Like Pirate Day. I knows not why, but it's bootylicious. Yea should check out yon keyboard that Rune is using. It be pefect for this fine day.

Go Intel! Add that AMD compatibility. That's just got to rub their engineers the wrong way. Heh. In other entertaining Intel news, apparently they're going to be using some ATI and SiS chipsets for their motherboards. There's another thing that makes me smile. An Intel motherboard with an SiS chipset. Blah.

Ron Gilbert is a great game designer. He's the guy behind the Monkey Island games. He's got a great website where he complains quite a bit. Check it out. Some really good write ups here. He posted a note in June about the demise of Humongous Entertainment. They're an interesting company, in that they made children's games. Why the heck would I care about a children's publisher? Because they've been around for a long long time, and their little Putt Putt and Freddy Fish games are everywhere. Also they were the parent company of Cavedog, creators of the oft mentioned Total Annihilation. It's always sad to see a long running company go under. R.I.P. Humongous.

A few weeks ago I posted a little "I can't believe it's been five years" thing in the news. It truly is amazing how fast time goes isn't it? Since I was feeling all old and nostalgic I've added quite a bit of new content and comment and put it up in the articles area. Click here to get to it.

Y'all sick of that stupid frog yet? Here, grab a bat and take out those frustrations. Thanks Gosh.

While out wandering the badlands of the internet I stumbled across this. Sure it's short and all in German, but it's a darned cool little movie. The audio was done by Maniacs of Noise who have been doing demo scene and gaming tunes since the mid 1980s (Go C64!)

Shiloh sends in a Mac case mod that should doubly appeal to all the nerds among us for all the obvious reason. Damn that's cool. My buddy Blut should be all over it.

I mentioned a bit ago the Total Annihilation is still the best damned RTS out there.. and I've gotten the guys at work hooked into it. Bwhahahah. Long live Chris Taylor! Hurry up on Supreme Commander so I can slobber all over it. Everyone who wrote me to say that StarCraft is the best RTS of all time.... Well... You're just plain wrong, sorry guys. Millions of Koreans can indeed be incorrect.

Remind me never to become a nun if I'm going to be reprimanded for dancing wildly. Actually, if I'm ever dancing wildly, just shoot me I'm probably rabid or something.

I'm suprised that PETA's not all over this one. Actually I just noticed those stupid Hippie bastards have been spray painting their "meat is murder" logos on buildings in my town. I saw one yesterday with a pig on it, so I went and got myself a nice BLT for lunch. Thanks for reminding me I don't eat enough bacon. I'll try to remedy that situation all this week. Hmmmm.... Bacon fat.......

I've gotta go check out the new Nicholas Cage movie Lord of War when it comes out. Looks like it might actually pretty darned good.

Yet more reasons present themselves to hate cheaters. Go Punkbuster! My compadre Killer points out that with the ranking system DICE sort of shot themselves in the foot, as people are more interested in padding their stats than playing honestly or showing some teamwork.

I finally went SLi. I've been putting it off for ages, but I bit the bullet and spent the cash and... wow.. It's very fast. To give you an idea, here's our comparison benchmarks:

AMD XP64 3500+, 2 gig corsair pro, HIS AGP x800 Pro

Aquamark - 60,979
3D Mark 2001 - 20,028
3D Mark 2003 - 10, 096
3D Mark 2005 - 4,867

AMD XP64 3500+, 2 gig corsair pro, MSI 7800gt SLi PCI-E

Aquamark - 67,989
3D Mark 2001 - 22,789
3D Mark 2003 - 22,890
3D Mark 2005 - 9,331

Suprising that the Aquamark wasn't higher on the SLi rig, but the Massive Overdraw (the only part of Aquamark that really seems to strain machines) was MUCH quicker. I have to do some Doom 3 tests and see what I get. I was amazed at how painless the SLi setup was. Plug it in, the nVidia drivers just pop up and ask if you want to enable it. Done. As a side note to this whole thing, we've done a review on the Thermal Take Shark case as well. What a sweet box. It's a worthy replacement for the Tsunami. Luckily I didn't have to do any video card moding while I was at it. (Thanks for the link Pappy :)

It's almost here again, the day I wait for all year long. That's right Mateys! Annual TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY! AHOY! Just 8 more days untill we start making people walk the plank.

We've got a new lad sending in some news. My buddy from Team Forever Twisted, VA_Killer has decided that he wants to see more regular news posts. You may remember him from some of our ICQ/IRC Madness posts. (See right side bar.) He's been sending me links and telling me to post them. SO! Here's a few of the better one's I've gotten from him lately.

The Lian-Li 20th aniversary computer case. I thought it was quite interesting looking. I sent a link to this a few weeks ago to a pile of my buddies. About half of them hated it, the other half loved it. Apparently I'm the only one in the middle on this one. AMD Review did a write up on it here.

Battlefield 2 has a problem. Other than all the BS wierd stuff that happens in it (ex. hitting players with tank shells, no harm done) there's problems with people "cheating" to pad their stats and gain rank. Here's how it works. You get three players together on a ranked server. One player is a medic. The enemy player shoots the medics teammate, the medic revives him, the enemy pops him again. Repeat 200x a game and you've got a quick way to level up. It's cheap, and EA claims they're going to be doing something about it in the next patch, I'm assuming by having the servers watch for blatent activity like this. I can't really blame people much, as gaining rank doesn't really seem to do anything except unlock new weapons. I've been playing a bit and have yet to unlock my second weapon. Hint here for EA: People like to have all the guns. Add something more to the ranking system.... More accuracy or something as you level up. Anyhows, EA is getting pissed.

Thanks Killer, keep sending in that news! :D

Our friends over at 3DGameman.com have posted yet another video review, this time of the HIS Radeon x800GT PCI Video Card. Get all the video-ey goodness here.

I can't remember if I posted a link to this yet, but it's gotta be the coolest beer advert ever. I've got to get me this tune and add it to my play list. David Elsewhere can certainly dance. It's like he's got no bones. Thanks to Goshwin for the links to Milk and Cookies. Some great stuff there.

Ain't it the truth? Rune claims he's glad he doesn't have a car, but soon gas prices will start to affect his bus ticket. Smug non-car driving bastard, take that!

From the Goshwin files we've got a video of flying squirels. It's amazing how nature adapts for survival isn't it?

Waaaaay back in the day on my old 386 PC I spent more hours than I can count playing a truly amazing game called Starcontrol 2. The original Starcontrol was pretty decent as a multiplayer game, but the second game was an experiance in itself. It had good graphics, great arcade space combat and a wonderfull story line. And the music! Wow. Just took my breath away. I've discovered (thanks to the KFMF website) The UrQuan Masters! It's a total redo on the game based on the code from the 3DO version of the game, with MP3 remixes of the music. I'm looking forward to many, many more hours spent in the Starcontrol Universe. It's a free game, and well worth the download. It's suprising how much playability there is in such an old, classic game. The original version isn't much fun to get working under Windows.. Actually it's a fight to get it working under XP so I never bothered. It's great that it allows people who've never experianced the game to try it. You can also download all the music remixes here.

Now this. THIS is good customer service. Frankly I'm suprised that Rogers Cable doesn't do things like that AND kick people in the shins.

I can't remember where I got this, but I like the movie, it's cute.

Just got back from the Shelburne Fiddleville church service and pork BBQ, and what a great time. Music, singing, a good sermon, and some darned good food and company afterwards. :) So! It's time for some news!

Don't buy Aerial Strike. I figured for the $20 what the heck. The box is better than the game, I'm not even going to bother reviewing it. The annoying bugs in the training mission killed both any desire I had to play it, AND my inner child. And that's after loading seven cds. SEVEN CDS. ARGH. I feel dirty.

Rune sent in a few pieces of news, as always. First off, Quake 4 has 'mechs. Sort of sally looking 'mechs compared to say, a Timberwolf, but none the less I hope I get to pilot them or I will be a very angry little Marauder. Speaking of which, when is Mechwarrior 5 going to be released? It's been almost 5 years since we reviewed Mechwarrior 4, and it's starting to look a little dated to say the least. The game apparently got canceled, but hopefully someone else picks up the game and decides to go with it. I still stand by my claim that Mechwarrior 1/2/3 were FAR superior to #4.... But still, it was a Mech game. I WANT MORE! MOOOORREEE!!!!!!! I still remember waiting so long for number 2, then having to go out and buy an EISA video card and IDE controller to play... and paying $200 for that extra 4 megs of RAM to power the whole thing. Shesh. And a 4x cd-rom. :)

Speaking of old games and franchises... Gas Powered games, led by Chris Taylor (Long may he rule!) of Total Annihilation Fame is brining out Dungeon Siege 2 and the single player demo is available for play. We reviewed the original in April 2002 and it got 4.5 out of 5. It was very good, so I'm downloading the demo now, and at 1.5 gigs it'd better be killer. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sorta getting tired of shooters, I always really look forward to the next RTS or adventure game I can really get into. Shooters are fun, but there's only so many times I can shot nazis before it just gets a little dull and a I need a break. On the topic of Gas Powered, they're going to be releasing Supreme Commander in 2006. Basically it's the sequel to Total Annihilation. Of course Atari owns the rights to TA, so they can't SAY it's a sequel, but face it.. It's Chris Taylor. TA was the greatest RTS of all time, bar none. (Shut up, Starcraft fans. I'm sick of you comparing your little game to TA. :P I read the big preview of SC last month in PC Gamer and I couldn't be more excited.

Goshwin is a bored little man, and he's always sending me good links. A few days ago he sent me one of the best spoof adverts I've ever seen. Heh. Check out, the iPod Flea. I love the accessories. It so sounds just like something that Apple would do, especially the "750x iZoom Visual enlargement device" Damn some people have a good imagination. I wish I could be this funny.

Heh. Speaking of Apple. I'm still laughing about the Apple/Intel thing. I'm not sure where all the Intel hating Mac users I've talked to over the years are going to go now. Perhaps all of their heads will just implode, or they'll use G4s for the rest of eternity.