Alright, here's the deal. I'd like to be able to hook my PC and TV up together so that I can record whatever's on my TV screen whether it be a game, TV show, movie, or whatever.

I have ZERO experience in this and the only tutorials I could find were incredibly vague and didn't help at all, so.. Anyone here able to explain the process and what is needed to do this?

The worst kept secret of the video game world was confirmed yesterday. The PS3 Slim is real and it sounds pretty dandy.

Going on sale September 1, the PS3 Slim will sell for $299 USD. To go along with this, the current PS3 model has also received a price drop effective today and is also on sale for $299.

So, what does this PS3 Slim have to offer besides a competitive price? For starters, it has a nice sized hard drive. 120 GB to be exact. That's twice as much as my big and bulky model has inside. Nice.

The console is also 36% lighter and uses about 34% less energy while running. It is also quieter! I don't find the PS3 to be terribly loud though, unless you are sitting close to it.

I hear that the XMB might look better on the Slim too.  Nifty.

New features aside, the Slim loses NONE of the features that it's bloated older brother possesses, minus the ability to install a new OS. There is some reason for this though which I was not too clear on. Something about new content that Sony will be releasing or upgrading.

So, what does this thing look like?







No surprises there. Just a miniature PS3, pretty much.


So, thoughts? Will this help Sony out in the console wars? Do you expect to see PS3 sales increase as a result of this?

The Tekken 6 topic. Creating a new topic for this game is pretty much a yearly tradition for me, which is a pretty good indication of how long it is taking this game to come out on consoles. Fortunately, the wait is finally almost over!

Anyway, for those who are out of the loop, Tekken 6 is slated to be released around October 27 this year on the 360, PS3, and PSP after a few years of just sitting around in the arcades. This game is trying to be the biggest, baddest Tekken yet. So how is it going to live up to its promise? Well, let me tell you.

First, here is the E3 2009 trailer.

What do we observe in this trailer?
Jin vs Kazuya rivalry is pretty much the story.
Much more diverse stages than previous Tekkens.
A huge roster of characters. (I will post this below)
The most new characters in a Tekken game since Tekken 3.
Another needlessly gigantic final boss that dwarfs everyone.
Heavily improved character customization options.
Visually appealing motion blur during fights.
A new game mode similar to the old Tekken Force mode (Scenario Mode).


So this installment will primarily focus on the little "war" between those with Mishima blood; Jin Kazama, Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi Mishima, and Lars Alexandersson.

I know what you're thinking. If you haven't followed Tekken in the past year or so, then you'll likely have no idea who the hell this Lars guy is. No, he's not GW's favourite Nordic boy wonder. He's pretty close though.



Lars Alexandersson hails from Sweden and is Heihachi's illegitimate son. So, while his nationality and surname may not match that of the Mishimas, he still has the blood. From what I can tell though, Lars isn't an asshole like Heihachi, Jin, or Kazuya. He may actually be a good guy! GASP!! I've watched some videos of Lars in action and he actually looks like a pretty darn cool character to use. He looks quite fast and lethal.

Lars is not the only new face, though. Here's the other "newest" new character.



Alisa Bosconovitch. Rewind to Tekken 3 for a moment. Remember that really bizarre hidden character known as Dr. Bosconovitch? Well, this is a robot created in the image of his daughter. She's no Jack, though. The similarities between Alisa and Jack end at them both being robotic. While Jack is a huge mammoth of a character who can beat you into a pulp before you even realize it, Alisa is... Well, small and feminine. She has rocket boosters, chainsaws, and a detachable head.... Yes, this is still Tekken. Despite how odd Alisa may sound, a "Swiss Army Knife" robot makes a little more sense than a farting dinosaur.



Say hello to Bob. Tekken's first big boy besides Ganryu who was justifiably fat. Bob isn't. His story says that he is, but it's a lot of crap.

Bob is a fighter who hails from America as a martial arts legend. However, due to being unable to defeat larger opponents, Bob disappears from the fighting world and remains in hiding for a few years, with many wondering about his whereabouts.

With The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 drawing near, Bob finally returns, and stuns everyone with his new figure, that of a morbidly obese man. Though Bob claims to have engineered his body to increase his weight and strength while maintaining his speed, few believe him, and most of his fans lose their faith and respect for him.

In order to test his new power and regain his popularity, Bob enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6.

Yeah, uh... I'm not really digging his story, but it's good to see something different in Tekken for a change. Bob was initially REALLY good in the original arcade release of Tekken 6, but from what I understand, he's expected to be dumbed down immensely for the console release and may only be mediocre.



Meet Leo, or Rock Howard after a sex change. Many debate Leo's gender, even though the game's lead developer has stated that the character is female. Leo also has a feminine voice, animations, and customization so... Yeah.. It's pretty safe to assume that Leo is female. I don't really know what Leo is like or how she even plays, to be honest. I expect her to be very friendly to beginners, though. She certainly has the look.



I'm excited to try this guy out. Miguel Caballero Rojo is nothing more than a Spanish brawler who has no defined fighting style. That's right, Miguel's fighting style is essentially, "I'll just hit you and make you bleed until you give up."

He has a pretty cool look, too. I'm anticipating that he'll be one of the more popular new characters. I have my doubts that he'll be more popular than Lars though. He'll also have trouble garnering a larger fanbase than.......



.. Zafina.

Zafina is a guardian to the tomb of a royal family at a village that has been around for centuries. The sealed grave is believed to protect the well being of the tribe. Many martial artists have tried to enter the tomb but Zafina has single-handedly defeated everyone. One day the village elders prophesize that when two "evil stars" meet, the seal on the graves will be broken and the world will end. Following the ideals of astrology, Zafina leaves the village to see if the world is really going to end. Tekken developer and Executive Producer of Tekken 6 Katsuhiro Harada describes her as "a female character from the Middle East who uses ancient assassination arts."

I've seen people say that she fights like Voldo from Soul Calibur, only without the incredibly unnerving poses and stances. Voldo oozed freak appeal, Zafina oozes sex appeal.




The full roster, including these six newcomers, is as follows:

Alisa Bosconovitch (new)
Anna Williams
Armor King
Asuka Kazama
Baek Doo San
Bob (new)
Bruce Irvin
Bryan Fury
Christie Monteiro
Craig Marduk
Devil Jin
Eddy Gordo
Feng Wei
Ganryu
Heihachi Mishima
Hwoarang
Jack-6
Jin Kazama
Julia Chang
Kazuya Mishima
King
Kuma/Panda
Lars Alexandersson (new)
Lee Chaolan
Lei Wulong
Leo (new)
Lili Rochefort
Ling Xiaoyu
Marshall Law
Miguel Caballero Rojo (new)
Mokujin
Nina Williams 
Paul Phoenix
Raven
Roger Jr.
Sergei Dragunov
Steve Fox
Wang Jinrei
Yoshimitsu
Zafina (new)

Azazel (Final Boss, Non-Playable)
NANCY-MI847J (Playable only in Scenario Mode)

Since Tekken always has a mode to take you away from the endless rounds of fighting, you know that Tekken 6 will be no different. While there are no "fun" minigames such as the beach volleyball from Tekken 3 announced, we will be getting Scenario Campaign mode, which is similar to Tekken Force or Devil Within.

I'm not really too excited about it, but I'm sure that it will at least be better than Mortal Kombat's shitty Koqnuest modes. Here it is.


Also, it just wouldn't be a Namco fighter without customization options. In Tekken 6, your customization options are more similar to what you would have found in Soul Calibur 4 than in the previous Tekken (Dark Resurrection Online).

In Dark Resurrection Online, you could buy a few new outfit pieces for each character, along with changing their colours. Tekken 6 expands on this heavily by incorporating many features from Soul Calibur 4. Hair is now completely customizable and there are MANY new pieces for you to customize your characters with. There are so many options that I've actually seen one character turned into Ronald MacDonald. Yes, Ronald MacDonald.

Also yeah, there are new features to the fighting engine itself. Health is drastically increased because of lengthened juggles and wall damage. There's also a "rage" effect that happens when your life bar is nearly depleted, granting your character almost double damage.
Anyway, here's some fighting goodness. Keep in mind that these videos are Japanese tournament players (or close equivalents), which explains why they move about the way they do and so forth.

Miguel vs Lili

Alisa vs Lars

Kazuya vs Bob

Zafina vs Hwoarang

Leo vs Nina

King vs Jack-6 (HD)

Paul vs Law (HD)


Tekken 6 will be available on October 27 in North America and Japan, and October 30 in Europe. See you guys in the ring!

Hidden accents. This subject is something that I have always found to be sort of interesting.


So what is a hidden accent? Generally, it's an accent that comes out in your speech under what I believe to be unconventional circumstances. The most common form of hidden accent seems to be among the drunk population. A lot of heavy drinkers seem to admit that they gain an accent when they drink - not slurring, but an actual accent.. Or at least some sort of noise that resembles one! I know one person who does take on a sort of English accent when he drinks a lot. It's subtle, but it's definitely there.

I personally believe that it has to do with genetics and heritage. Take me for example. I'm completely Canadian, and I suppose I speak with an English Canadian accent. I barely even know a lick of French and I don't like trying to speak the language, but.. When I am at work (like I am now), an accent can come out of me. It usually only comes out in one or two syllables, but it definitely happens. I don't know if it is French or what, but when I have to make a page over the intercom or communicate with someone over the radio, I tend to try and speak VERY precisely. As a result, well, my mannerisms change slightly and the way some words come out really don't sound like they're coming from an English Canadian.

Take the call over the radio that I just made as an example. I had to get in contact with someone named Mary, and when I called for her, out came something that sounded like "Mah Yee?"

When I must page someone over the intercom to call a certain telephone number, sometimes the numbers that I say will have a slight accent. For example, sometimes three will come out like "ta ree" and I'll roll the R a little bit. This happens almost EVERY single time I say "three" over the intercom.

A few months ago, I climbed into a cab and told the driver where I needed to go. He asked where I was from, where I grew up! I told him that I was from around here, which made him wonder why I apparently had a German accent. I don't know what could have possibly come out of my mouth to make him think that, and as far I as I know there isn't even an ounce of German in me. Just mixes of Scottish, French, and some Russian somewhere far down the line.


So yeah, I've always found this to be sort of interesting how these accents just spontaneously emerge from people, moreso as they get older.


Do any of you guys have any strange accents hiding deep inside of yourselves? What does it resemble? When does it come out and how frequently does it happen?

I was cruising around on Wikipedia and noticed a few names of TV shows that I used to watch when I was a kid, and I felt compelled to read up on them. I mostly watched all of the usual cartoons that everyone watched back in the day. Ghostbusters, He-Man, Ninja Turtles, and so forth... But here is one little gem that I had completely forgotten all about.

It was a show called Dinosaurs.


Looking back on it and reading about the stories and themes for various episodes, I realized that Dinosaurs covered MANY pretty serious issues that I would have in no way picked up on as a six or seven year old kid. Dinosaurs dealt with issues such as racism, harassment, censorship, and even masturbation.

I don't remember if this show was geared towards a broad audience or what, and I forget what time it originally aired, but I always used to watch it at 7:00 in the morning as I would be getting ready for school.

Looking back on Dinosaurs and the issues it covered has given me a sort of new appreciation for the show as I realize that there was more to it than just a fat dinosaur getting smacked on the head by his abusive baby son who demanded love simply because he was, well, a baby. 

Loony Toons was much the same way. I remember watching that as a kid and just seeing silly violence such as Wile E. Coyote constantly being squished/incinerated/blown up/etc. and other things, and not the pretty mature themes that were in the cartoons at times.

But yeah, Dinosaurs. I might want to torrent that series now or something, because I suddenly have an urge to watch it again for the sake of nostalgia and so that I can appreciate it for the things it covered that I could not comprehend as a kid.

Anyone else have any shows like this from your early years?

Well, Enterbrain's new game maker is finally here. What were originally referred to as Action Game Maker has been renamed for its English release and is now Indie Game Maker.

The English website (on a Japanese domain?) is open and contains a few interesting pages: http://tkool.jp/products/IGMAKER/

CNET also has a demo/trial up for download.


I downloaded the demo this morning before work, but I did not get a chance to use it yet. Has anyone here used Action/Indie Game Maker yet? Basically, what's like? How user friendly is it?

I've lost most of my interest in RPG Maker, though I still care about an support the RPG Maker community at GW. I'd rather tinker with other things, and the idea of making a platformer really appeals to me after spending so much time with my Mario World level hacks.

So yeah, I intend on giving this a try after work today and am just wondering if anyone here already has (or will)?


And just for the hell of it so this post doesn't look so small..

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/the-17-500-video-game/1332488

Think $60 video games are too expensive? You won't hear any argument from us, but you might from JJ Hendricks, a collector who just paid a clinically insane $17,500 for an obscure NES game from 1990.

The game in question is an ultra-rare, gold-colored version of Nintendo World Championships, a cartridge specially produced for use in a Nintendo-sponsored gaming contest. According to Wikipedia only 26 were created, and Hendricks calls it the "Holy Grail" of video game collectors.

The game itself has a time limit of just 6 minutes and 21 seconds and consists of three short segments from other NES games: Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and Rad Racer. Players are scored according to their performance in each game, and their scores are totaled once the time limit expires. Doesn't sound too riveting to us, but then somehow we doubt Hendricks is in it for the gameplay.

And while $17,500 might seem a bit much for a collection of ones and zeroes, Hendricks actually got a bargain: the game was originally listed on eBay for a cool $25,000.

It is a fucking NINTENDO CARTRIDGE!! Even if there are only 26, why was such a thing even worth such a price? If it was an interesting collectible or rare item, then sure.. But a Nintendo game? This guy is seriously off his rocker. I would never get any fulfillment from doing something so ludicrous.

Anyway, anyone ever see any other gaming accessories go for such wild prices as this?

Why is there no topic on BlazBlue? I expected some of the fighter nuts to be all over this. Anyway, since nobody seems willing to step up to the plate..

So what is BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger? The latest fighter by Arc System Works and dubbed by many as the "spritual successor" to the Guilty Gear series, available on both the PS3 and 360 as of July 1, 2009. I've played a few Guilty Gear games and really enjoyed them, especially for their sense of style. Unfortunately, nobody I know even knew what Guilty Gear was, so I lost interest after having nobody to talk to or play with.

Well, I'm hoping that things will change with BlazBlue. I will assure my fighter fan friends that BlazBlue is a brand new franchise in the fighting game genre which will surely spawn several sequels because the game is undoubtedly THAT DAMN GOOD.

All reviews for the game indicate that this game is one of the best fighters to come around in years, that the gameplay is engrossing and artistic style is the best we've probably ever seen in a fighter. Americans who have their hands on the game seem to deeply love the game as well.

I'm yet to play BlazBlue (beacuse of the July 1 holiday which messed with game release dates in Canada) and instead have been reading reviews and watching matches on YouTube, but I intend to track the game down after work because, hell, I just love new fighters!

Character and plot information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlazBlue:_Calamity_Trigger
And here is a good review by Richard Li, 1-UP's fighting game nut: http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3175007




So, anyone manage to get this game yet? Anyone about to offer any initial impressions?

So, here's the deal. Today after work, I plan on buying a PSP. I want to play a few PS1 classics on the go and I want something to tinker with over the weekend.

I need to know something, though. First, what does the PSP use for saving games and the like? Does it just use standard SD cards?

Second, does the PSP have any kind of a hard drive in it? I love running games off of my PS3 that I have installed (ones that I have downloaded from the Playstation Store) and I am wondering if the PSP has the same capability? If it does, how much space does it have without buying an HD or further cards for more storage?

I am also wondering about the PSP's XMB. Is it set up the same as the PS3's XMB? How does internet surfing and the Playstation Store work on the PSP?

So, has anyone else played this yet?

If you didn't know about about this game at all, then you've been living under a rock and should read this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_The_Video_Game

If you are too lazy to read that article though....

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is an action game released for the Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox 360. The PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions were developed by Terminal Reality, while the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions were developed by Red Fly Studio (developers of Mushroom Men) and the Nintendo DS version was handled by Zen Studios. In North America, all versions of the game are published by Atari. In Europe, Sony Computer Entertainment will publish the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 versions, while Atari will publish the other versions later in the year.

The game is based on the Ghostbusters film franchise. Ghostbusters creator Dan Aykroyd has confirmed that the game is essentially Ghostbusters 3.

Many of the principal cast members from the films were involved in the game's production. Minor script doctoring for the game was done by the writers of the films, Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. They, along with Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson also lent their voices and likenesses to the game. Several supporting cast members, such as William Atherton (Walter Peck), Brian Doyle-Murray (as the new mayor of New York, Jock Mulligan) and Annie Potts (Janine) have also lent their voices. However, Rick Moranis (Louis Tully) declined to end his retirement from acting to be a part of the game. In addition, Sigourney Weaver did not reprise her role of Dana Barrett. Instead, Alyssa Milano is playing the role of the new love interest in the game, Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn.

So, I purchased this off of Steam last night for, I think, $29. That's a pretty fair deal, considering it will probably cost almost twice that much in most stores. I have no reason why the game is so cheap on Steam, but I'd recommend looking into grabbing the game off of there if you're interested in giving it a go.

Anyway, I played this game for about 50 minutes this morning before getting ready for work and I certainly have to admit that the game is a lot of fun so far. I seem to suck at being able to target ghosts so far since I have trouble getting my beam on them, but it may also be because the ghosts that I've met zip around so damn fast and they can be hard to follow.

The game has great atmosphere and is full of that great Ghostbusters charm that we all remember. So far, I've only been through the first hotel area of the game in which I had to capture Slimer with Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis respectively). I only met Winston (Ernie Hudson) just as I left the hotel, and that's also where I left off. But so far, I'm really impressed with the voice work! The best of the bunch by a mile is Dan Aykroyd who still sounds so much like Stantz that it's a real treat to listen to. He does a great job at bringing the character back to life. Harold Ramis is pretty good, but it seemed like Spengler was just "talking at me" judging from most of what I've played through so far. Bill Murray is the weakest link, and this has been mentioned in professional reviews. It's been said that Bill Murray sounds like he is doing an impression of Peter Venkman. I think that this is a bit of a stretch because he still carries the character's personality very well, he's just missing something. He just doesn't have the same flair. Annie Potts as Janine is pretty great too, she still does the voice and accent perfectly.

So far, the gameplay is pretty basic but fun. In some ways, it reminds me of Dead Space. There's just something about the way you move around, target, and attack that feels like it was pulled from Dead Space. It may just be my imagination though... Or it could be how there is no HUD and how everything you need to know is located on your proton pack.

But basically, here's the gameplay from what I have played.
1. Enter room, detect ghostly presence with your EKG meter.
2. Fnd the ghost and chase it a bit.
3. Beat ghost up with your proton beam (used for weakening the ghost and smacking it around, which tires it out).
4. Throw a trap down and get that sucker inside of it!

I had to do that at the hotel for Slimer, bell hop ghosts, and the boss ghost. There were a few standard ghost mobs that I ran into in the form of possessed candle holders. I didn't have to do much to take them out other than target them and give them a good blasting for a second or so.

Overall, gameplay seems fairly standard and may become repetitive, but it's a good kind of repetition. Even though things may end up feeling monotonous, I'm sure that I'll enjoy the ride. The voice acting alone is reason enough to pick this game up if you're a fan of the Ghostbusters.

If you like third person shooter games, you may very well like this.
If you liked the Ghostbusters movies, then DEFINITELY get this, because this game is the best Ghostbusters fanservice that you could ever hope for.

Hey, I can't make heads or tails of this problem and neither can my supervisor so.. Perhaps one of you guys can.

Yesterday, the work computer worked just fine, but the guy on the backshift was taught how to log on, use Outlook, etc.. And when I came in this morning, I found that I cannot print any document in Outlook or Internet Explorer. I had to actually copy an email over to Wordpad just to print.

So with Outlook and Internet Explorer.. If I hit the print button or choose print from the file menu, nothing happens at all. I click and there is simply nothing. Not even an hour glass to indicate any activity. It just simply does nothing as if the buttons have zero function. However, Wordpad prints just fine.

Does this problem make any sense to anyone?

I don't know how many GW members even care about Gran Turismo, but I sure do. As far as racing games go, there's no better series to jump into and play with a friend.

Gran Turismo 5 has been in development for several years now, and last year things had reached a point where people joked about how GT5 has never had a definite release, comparing it to Duke Nukem Forever. I've even read people say that GT5 will never be released. Nonsense.

GT5 Prologue was a massive success. Some people moaned about the game just being an overglorified demo, but so what? You were still getting more content in GT5 Prologue than you would from many other fully released racing games. The prologue version came with nearly 100 cars, if I recall correctly. Though there are only five tracks, each one has a few variations that you can drive on and they're quite a lot of fun to drive on and even just gaze at. Eiger Nordwand and London are each very beautiful to just look at, but moreso Eiger Nordwand with the colossal mountains in the background and the hundreds of trackside dandelions swaying in the breeze. It just looks amazing in motion on an HD TV. I'm sure that the full version will have even more wonderful tracks to marvel over, because it is supposedly going to pack a few dozen tracks in total, at least.

Anyway, E3 has come and gone this year and, with it, more Gran Turismo 5 news. It has been confirmed (again) that the game will have over 900 cars, and this is with the inclusion of NASCAR and the WRC (World Rally Championship). It remains to be seen what role each will play in GT5, but if you can actually play through each championship, then wow. With both NASCAR and the WRC being included, this has increased GT5's scope substantially and, in some ways, it may end up being three games in one now.

From what I understand, there will also be some kind of mission/scenario addition to the game as well. I've never been too big on missions and scenarios in racing games because they've always felt pointless or tacky to me, so I'm not too pumped over this aspect of the game. I may also be thinking of Gran Turismo PSP with this feature, I'm not 100% certain.

Night racing is going to make an appearance again (absent from GT5 Prologue), as will changing weather conditions. Car damage is also finally being introduced to Gran Turismo, but I haven't heard if it will simply be cosmetic, or if it will affect your car's handling.

And also, Kazunori Yamauchi from Polyphony Digital has said that Gran Turismo 5 is in a releasable state at this moment, meaning that they could ship it if they wanted to it and it would be a very complete and playable game. However, they're not going to give us the game just yet because they want to work on it even more, tweaking and perfecting what is already in the game and supposedly adding more new content as well!

Here are a few videos. I'd suggest clicking them to view them on YouTube so that you can see them in all of their HD glory.

E3 2009 Trailer

Gameplay Trailer

Gameplay Trailer #2

Eiger Nordwand


Anyway, with news that Gran Turismo 5 is essentially finished, I am going to predict that we will see it released for the 2009 holiday season. Anyone else looking forward to this one?


UPDATE: August 19, 2009:
Lots of new info!

• 1000 vehicles (170 are brand new to Gran Turismo).
• 170 "premium" vehicles with damageable car interiors.
• Physical car damage! Flapping doors, dents, and much more.
• 60+ tracks. Total number is still unknown.
• New physics for simulation mode. Cars can now do rolls.
• Behaviour of electric cars reproduced faithfully.
• Arcade Mode: Single player and two player split screen.
• GT (Simulation) Mode: Overview map, garage, car dealerships, tuning shop, car wash, oil change, championships, license tests.
• Online: Open lobby, text/voice chat, private rooms, photo albums, YouTube compatibility.
• Gran Turismo TV: video output to PSP (all models including the Go), progressive download, improved UI.
• Gran Turismo Museum.
• Full custom soundtrack support.
• Dolby Digital 5.1 and 7.1
• Cockpit view can be manipulated via PSEye.
• Interactive track environments, such as hitting signs and knocking them around.
• Lambourghini and Bugatti, present in the PSP Gran Turismo, may also be in Gran Turismo 5!

I've played the Trackmania games on and off since 2006 and I remember playing Nations with a few GW members about a year and a half ago or so. I've never found myself being truly bored, especially with United Forever.

The draw with Trackmania has to be, without a doubt, how radically different each of the seven environments are and how different they play from one another. Stadium is pretty entertaining for what it is, but I'd have to say that Bay and Coast each hold a place in my heart. I like the Bay environment because it allows me to make sprawling urban metropolis circuits.

Coast is my newest love. I used to detest it because it felt like nothing more than a jungle/village setting with terrible handling, but after finding out how to make Grand Prix-esque circuits and adjusting to the demanding handling of the Coast cars, I've come to appreciate it a heck of a lot.


So, who else still plays Trackmania to any extent? Which version do you guys play?

And to those who don't even know what Trackmania is (which is becoming pretty rare these days), head on over to http://www.trackmania.com and try out the free version of the game, Trackmania Nations Forever.

If you enjoy that, then you can shell out about $20 or $30 of your hard earned dollars for Trackmania United Forever, which is basically seven times greater than the free version given all the options.

And, of course, you can paint your own cars and create your own tracks. The editors are quite impressive for what they are, and your created tracks can be as realistic or wild as you wish. Both cars and tracks can be shared online, and that is one of the main draws to the game.

Other things which can be customized are music (importing OGG files), car decals/stickers, track graphics (such as roadside signs and banners), as well as full graphical mods.

To top it things off, here are some of the things you can do in Trackmania. Seven videos, one from each of the selectable environments:


A wild Bay circuit that someone made.

One of my simplistic Coast circuits.

The Stadium environment is very fast and intense.

A very interesting Snow environment track

A Rally track. The cars are very flimsy and love to roll

The speed can get very excessive on Island tracks

Last but not least, the Desert environment

My preferred place to download vehicle models/skins: http://www.trackmania-carpark.com
My preferred place to download user-made tracks, though I mostly play my own and ones that friends make: http://trackmania-exchange.com


And hey...



I'm siding with the F1 drivers, the Martini ad is distracting. That damn sign made me crash twice!

(You may not get the above reference at all if you don't follow Formula One.)

http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=18232&news_channel_id=1020&channel_id=1020

Scientists find new killer virus in Africa

Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus.

The Lujo virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists.

It's not clear how the first person became infected but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.

"This one is really, really aggressive" he said of the virus.

A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online Thursday on in PLoS Pathogens.

The outbreak started in September, when a female travel agent who lives on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, became ill with a fever-like illness that quickly grew much worse.

She was airlifted to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she died.

A paramedic in Lusaka who treated her also became sick, was transported to Johannesburg and died. The three others infected were health care workers in Johannesburg.

Investigators believe the virus spread from person to person through contact with infected body fluids.

"It's not a kind of virus like the flu that can spread widely," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped fund the research.

The name given to the virus - Lujo - stems from Lusaka and Johannesburg, the cities where it was first identified.

Investigators in Africa thought the illness might be Ebola, because some of the patients had bleeding gums and around needle injection sites, said Stuart Nichol, chief of the molecular biology lab in the CDC's Special Pathogens Branch. Other symptoms include include fever, shock, coma and organ failure.

Samples of blood and liver from the victims were sent to the United States, where they were tested at Columbia University in New York and at CDC in Atlanta. Tests determined it belonged to the arenavirus family, and is distantly related to Lassa fever, another disease found in Africa.

The drug ribavirin, which is given to Lassa victims, was given to the fifth Lujo virus patient - a Johannesburg nurse. It's not clear if the medicine made a difference or if she just had a milder case of the disease but she fully recovered, Nichol said.

The research is a startling example of how quickly scientists can now identify new viruses, Fauci said. Using genetic sequencing techniques, the virus was identified in a matter of a few days - a process that used to take weeks or longer.

Along with Fauci's institute, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Google also helped fund the research.

Well, ain't that a bitch? It's good that they don't believe that it has any widespread potential, but I suppose it would only take a few really careless people to make this bad boy move around. Here's hoping that it stays right where it is though, and they find the source of the virus (whatever rodents are carrying it?) and do something about it.


A sick part of me wishes that they had called this the Murphy virus, due to the bleeding gums and all.

Just thinking about some older games that I had a blast playing years ago, and a part of me wishes that new games would be released in the series. Anyone else ever get this? Any, say, Uniracers fans (hahaha) begging for Uniracers 2? Basically, what older series would you like to see make a comeback?

Here are my two picks.

Battle Clash/Metal Combat

These games were the ONLY reason to own a Super Scope. Shut up, you know that all the other Super Scope games were useless pieces of garbage! But hey, not the Battle Clash games! I don't remember any console games like this from the SNES era where you could blast the shit out of enemy mechs in a first person sort of view. Knowing your enemy's weakness and being able to time your shots was absolutely key in these games. Also playing with a friend on two player (2P controlling the enemy mech) was always a hoot.
I'd love to see this come back. The Wii HAS the potential for it with all it's motion sensing gizmos, all of which put the Super Scope to shame. They could keep the same style or go for something totally different, ala Armored Core or Mechwarrior.
Regardless, I'd love to see this series make a return. These were the only two Super Scope games that did not feel half assed and were actually genuinely fun as hell to play. Nintendo, bring them back NOW.

Jet Moto

The three Jet Moto games were released over a four year timespan, I believe. The first two games were by Singletrac (makers of Twisted Metal) and the final one was by 989 Studios (coincidentally famous for destroying Twisted Metal).
Jet Moto 1 and 2 were among my favourite racing games ever. Jet Moto 3, not so much.. Maybe because a new developer made the game since 989 held the rights, but it was still Jet Moto so it held a spot in my heart.
But come on, any game that has you riding around on hover bike/jet ski hybrids and using some sort of laser guided grapple system to whip around corners has to be awesome, right? Right. There's a reason why Singletrac managed to make a Jet Moto 2. Because the first one was such a damn great racing experience (this applies to their Twisted Metal franchise as well).
Jet Moto has been dead for about 9 or 10 years now, which sucks, but.. Old Singletrac employees which worked on the first two games are part of a new studio which, interestingly enough, have said that they MIGHT make a new Jet Moto in the future. PS3 maybe? I'd sure hope so. They're already working on Twisted Metal again. They just need to pick up their other golden franchise (this one, Jet Moto) and resurrect it as well. I'd love to play a Jet Moto 4. That would make owning a PS3 worth every fucking penny that I spent on the thing (that's 7000 pennies).


Your turn.

http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/64990/index.html

Voiceover Master Don LaFontaine has died. He was 68.

LaFontaine, far right, is pictured above with ET's Mark Steines and Mary Hart, and fellow voiceover artist Randy Thomas.


LaFontaine, known as the "King of Voiceovers," died Monday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. LaFontaine's agent, Vanessa Gilbert, tells ET that he passed away following complications from Pneumothorax, the presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity, the result of a collapsed lung. The official cause of death has not yet been released.

Over the past 25 years, LaFontaine cemented his position as the "King of Voiceovers." Aside from being the preeminent voice in the movie trailer industry, Don also worked as the voice of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, as well as for CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and UPN, in addition to TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network. By conservative estimates, he voiced hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including commercials for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds, Coke, and many other corporate sponsors.

He recently parodied himself on a series of national television commercials for Geico. At last count, he has worked on nearly 5000 films, including appearances as the in-show announcer for the Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards. Based on contracts signed, he has the distinction of being perhaps the single busiest actor in the history of SAG. Don is survived by his wife -- singer/actress Nita Whitaker, and three children: Christine, Skye and Elyse.

2008 continues to kill off more and more awesome celebrities. George Carlin, Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes.... And now the Lord of the Move Trailers... Don LaFontaine.

I didn't expect this at all, but why would I? As far as I knew, the guy was still going strong and pumping out lots of material. Really sad to see him go. It's going to be awkward not hearing his voice around anymore.

Yeah, so.... This image will explain what's wrong.




For whatever reason, I opened Firefox today and the text on most websites was suddenly in italics. I closed the browser and opened it again, no change. I then checked in Internet Explorer and... The same thing?

What could have caused the fonts on websites to display mostly in italics like this? Anyone know what I can do about it?

I've stumbled upon a pretty cool flash game, not sure how new it is but I'm having quite a bit of fun with it!

http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Pandemic-2.html

What you do is you start off with a basic virus, bacteria, whatever in a region of the world and it is your job to build it into a pandemic.

I'm still playing my first game with a strand of bacteria I've named Deadmuller. It started out with only one symptom, vomiting. It's grown a bit now and is infecting a few more people and that allowed me to add dementia to Deadmuller's symptoms.

I am almost able to add a "tier 3" symptom which I have decided will be.. INSANITY.

I'm having fun with this little sucker. I'm aiming to create some sort of zombification virus and I think this might work out! I can't wait for Deadmuller to hit China, gahaha....

Just a fair warning.. This article is pretty disturbing.


I saw this in today's paper with the headline "Horror on the Highway" and wow.. I couldn't believe it, so I'm sharing it with you guys. It's pretty frightening when you think about how this just "happened" out of nowhere.

This is the article I read in the paper:

Winnipeg RCMP say they don't know what prompted vicious attack on Greyhound bus


WINNIPEG - Police said Thursday they didn't know what prompted a passenger on a Greyhound bus heading to Winnipeg to viciously attack the man sitting next to him.

Passengers said the man repeatedly stabbed his seat-mate before beheading him and carrying the victim's head around the bus.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve Colwell wouldn't confirm those details, but did say a 40-year-old suspect was in RCMP custody and police were planning to interview him.

No charges were immediately laid.

Colwell said the behaviour of the passengers and driver probably prevented anyone else from being hurt.

"It's not something that happens regularly on a bus," he said. "You're sitting there enjoying your trip and then all of a sudden somebody gets stabbed. I imagine it would be pretty traumatic ... the way they acted was extraordinary."

Colwell said they "were very brave. They reacted swiftly, calmly in exiting the bus and as a result nobody else was injured."

Shocked passengers described the horrific attack as something incomprehensible.

One moment, the quiet man near the back of the bus was minding his own business. The man hadn't talked to anyone around him, and seemed to pay no attention to the younger fellow sitting next to him, who was listening to music on headphones.

The next moment, witnesses said, the older man stood up, still quiet, and repeatedly stabbed, then beheaded his younger victim.

"We heard this blood-curdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly, like 40 or 50 times," Garnet Caton said Thursday from a hotel in Brandon, Man., where he and other passengers had been taken to rest.

"There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy."

Caton said the bus stopped and everyone scrambled to get out while the attacker started methodically carving up the victim's body, not paying attention to anyone else.

Caton and the driver shut the bus door from the outside while they waited for police to arrive.

"We put our bodies up against the door, waiting for him to come out ... and he went back and brought the head to the front and pretty much displayed it ... and dropped it on the ground in front of us," Caton said.

"All very calmly. He was wearing sunglasses. It was no big deal to him."

Fellow passenger Cody Olmstead from Kentville, N.S., also recalled the chilling scene.

"The guy came to the front of the door with buddy's head in his hands, decapitated. He dropped the head and went back and started cutting the body back up," Olmstead said.

When police arrived, the victim and his attacker were the only ones left on the bus, Colwell said.

"When attempts were made to have him exit and surrender to police were unsuccessful, additional resources including the RCMP emergency response team and negotiator team were called in to assist."

The man eventually tried to flee by breaking a bus window and jumping out, Colwell said.

"He was immediately subdued and arrested without incident and is currently in RCMP custody."

Both Olmstead and Caton said the attacker and the victim appeared not to know each other.

They said the attacker boarded the bus in Brandon Wednesday night. The victim, who Caton said appeared to be about 19, had been on the bus since Edmonton.

Police would not confirm the victim's age and said his name would not be released until his family had been notified. The suspect's name wasn't released either.

Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the full weight of the law must be brought to bear on the perpetrator.

"We want to make sure the process is followed as aggressively as possible, the full legal process ...." Day said from Levis, Que., where Conservative MPs are gathered for a summer planning session.

"This particular incident, as horrific as it is, is obviously extremely rare. Certainly the horrific nature of it is probably one-of-a-kind in Canadian history."

Greyhound called the event tragic but isolated.

A company spokeswoman said bus travel is the safest mode of transportation, despite the fact bus stations do not have metal detectors and other security measures used at airports.

"Due to the rural nature of our network, airport-type security is not practical. It's a very different type of system," Abby Wambaugh said from Greyhound's corporate offices in Texas.

The bus was carrying 37 passengers and the driver to Winnipeg from Edmonton.

A portion of the east-bound Trans-Canada Highway was closed overnight as officers remained on the scene.

Passengers had not explanation either as to what might have prompted the attack. The suspect had been on the bus for only about an hour and didn't even sit near his victim at first.

"He sat in the front at first, everything was normal," Caton said.

"We went to the next stop and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting.

"He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal. About a half an hour later, we heard this blood-curdling scream."

Here is another article that is basically about the family reaction:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080801/national/bus_stabbing_victim

This is just really... Scary? The fact that it happened on a bus full of people and not out of sight somewhere is what really gets to me. I can't help but wonder.. Who was this guy and why would he do such a thing with seemingly no motivation or reason to?

He was sitting there quietly and then, all of a sudden, butchered the poor guy beside him before taking his head off.


What the fuck makes you do that unprovoked?

I stumbled across a topic which didn't have much of anything in it other than "I hate this game" and I thought that it seemed a little lacking, especially for an opening post so I said to myself, "Hey, there should be a topic for people who want to recommend (or not recommend) a game they've recently played and explain why."

So here we are!

How will this work? Simple. If you've played a new game recently which you think GW should REALLY know about (whether it be a good game or bad game) and you're just too lazy to formulate a nice, big topic about the game.. Then hey, why not tell us what you think here? I'll get the ball rolling.


I haven't played too many new games lately because the PS3's release schedule is a bit lacking at the moment, so I'm going to have to shoot for games which are NOT as popular as, say, Metal Gear Solid 3 or other I don't know, Assassin's Creed. Generally any game that sells well and people are really receptive towards.

I'll do a PS3 game and a PC game because hey, that's all I have except for a DS which I don't play much at all (but I might go over a DS game that I liked too).


If enough people post here then I might compile some sort of "recommendations list" and put it right below this line so yeah, we'll see how that goes.