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Monday 30 April 2001 Well, I have sort of been a naughty boy for the last few days! Unfortunately I had to enter a large amount of data for my Honours Thesis and it took quite a long time! When I had finished that, the last thing I wanted to do was update the site........Sorry! Not much of import has been happening over the last few days anyway, so I guess I picked the right time to do some study! For those of us who think we are hardcore gamers, take a look at a humorous article on "You Know You're a Gamer if....." over at 3DActionPlanet. There is a new version of NVmax 2.0 Build 2050 available for download at3DFiles.Com. If you have an nVidia based card then go grab it! For those of you who were into the flight sim B17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty Eight you can also pick up the 25 meg patch form the above link. This patch mainly fixes the way the sim handles engine management. With all the talk of profits dropping and less than expected revenues for PC related manufacturers and distributors, It is no wonder we are all confused when the companies then go on to post large profits. All is fair in love, war and profit reporting.....or so it is said. If you want the low down on the shifty accounting practices of these firms, then check out this article from Wired News. Well that's about it for today! I told you it was pretty quiet at the moment!
Thursday 26 April 2001
It seems that reader submissions are increasing (which is always a good thing!). I have posted a new article in the Odd Comments section entitled Irish Bank? Robbers. If you are wondering about the strange usage of punctuation, then you'll just have to check the story out! There is also a piece on how to tell if you have a real friend. Check it out here. Looking for some activist action? If you like to support struggling causes, then check this one out. A libertarian University, the Cato Institute, is urging people to develop "splinternets" that are outside the (mis)management of governments! An interesting concept, but one that I feel has not quite been worked through! Check the Wired news article out here. Another strange Wired News article deals with the recent "discovery" by scientists, of a four cylinder engine that drives our planet! Yep, you guessed it! They've finally gone nuts! Well the engine bit is just an analogy, and the theory may have some explanatory power, but you can check the story out here. And while I am commenting on news articles... In an update to the story of the Internet summit, it turns out that the Arab community is very wary of the internet. Low penetration of technology is usually a result of poverty, but in the case of the Arab world (at least the rich countries such as Saudi and Kuwait) it is cautiousness that is driving the level of penetration. You can find more detail here. There is a new patch for Serious Sam bringing it up to ver. 1.00c. You can get it from 3DFiles. The guys at Codemasters have given the Operation Flashpoint site a major overhaul. Check it out here. The new look is great and it contains some updates on just how close this great looking game is to completion! It looks like they are aiming at a European release date of for June 22. Gamespot have posted a new guide to Black & White. As with all their guides, you can either view it on-line or download it in PDF format. The guide contains walk throughs for all 5 lands as well as general tips for creature training and village takeovers! Check it out if you are stuck! There is a new version of Microsoft's Gamevoice software out. Be warned this is a beta release and it is not backwards compatible with previous versions! You can download it from Microsoft. Hopefully this will fix the firewall problems of previous versions! Savage News have posted new Detonator Drivers for nVidia based cards over at their site. They claim that they are "official" but there is rarely any way to tell! If you own the cards then check them out! For a strange but pleasant smelling story, check out the BBC News article on the "Tube Scent Machine". I wish they would use it here! For those of you who are curious about writing professionally, or just for a hobby, then check out the article on what it takes to be a professional game reviewer/writer over at eUniverse Games. It may not be as easy and as glamorous as you think! For those who moan that computer games are bad for you, guess again! A recent study published in the February edition of "Journal of Pain" suggests that computer games may be good at reducing pain sensitivity. For the full story check out PC.IGN. Here's one for the male chauvinists amongst us. The Detroit Free Press on line magazine, FREEP, has published an article about several intrepid female adventurers who are journeying to the North Pole. The article starts out by congratulating them and then shatters the good work by revealing that they started out heading in the wrong direction. It must have been days before they could find a fence to ask for directions over! That said, they are now expected to make history today by reaching the North Pole! Good on you girls! Check the full story out here! ABC News have run a story about a man who caught foot & mouth disease when he was caught napping by an exploding carcass. My first reaction was BULL!! But then I read the story and found out it was accurate. Check it out here. And lastly for today, I have a story about a man who is suing his marriage counsellor...For stealing his wife! Check it out here! Also it is reported that President Bush has banned all porn videos on Airforce 1. I have a sneaking suspicion that is why the country is F#$%ed! Check the story out at Ananova! I can't resist putting this one in! It should make the Darwin Awards this year, with the exception that no one actually died! These guys certainly should be carrying their STUPID sign! What some people will do for their moment of fame! Check the story of how one mate tried to run over another with a car just to get onto MTV! You can find the story here at NewsNet5.com. And the best thing is - they captured it all on video so that everyone else can see just how dumb they really are!
Wednesday 25 April 2001
Over here in the sunny land of Oz, it is a public holiday - ANZAC Day. And, from the lack of interesting news, it would seem like it is a holiday the world over! On the game news side of things, life has been rather slow! One item of note is the release of several preview stories of Westwoods new MMORPG Earth & Beyond. Check the reviews out at PC ZONE and GameSpot. Of interest on the homefront, there is an article in Wired News about Net Censorship in Australia. It is quite a good read as it exposes several of Senator Alstons lies and misinformations from the initial campaign. What it suggests is that we are not any better protected now than before the legislation was passed! Net censorship is a huge issue the world over, and I personally don't believe that any form of legislation or control will ever be effective. What is required is a level of social control that would scare any big company out of its' profits. People have power when organized, and that is what capitalists really don't want!
Tuesday 24 April 2001
Would you deliver to this address?? Check out the Pizza Delivery guy's reaction to this FBI delivery address! You can see it here. If you follow international politics at all, you might be interested in following the upcoming International Summit on Internet and Multimedia, which is being held in the sunny and remote climes of Abu Dhabi this weekend. Much will be discussed at the conference but the greatest interest will be in the acceptance of the new technologies in the Arab world. Known for their almost rabid refusal to enter into the western technological age, the Arabs will be confronted with globalisation and all its faults and promises. Should they embrace the technologies or should the remain apart from the global village? Only time will tell. If I find any more on the topic I will post it here. If you want to read what Wired News has to say about it then go here. Interested in something different in terms of HalfLife mods? If you are, then check out Action HalfLife. This mod does not aim to be a "realistic" shooter but instead puts you in the role of action star in your own movie. The environment is interactive and things stay broken. All in all it is a good beta version. There are some small polishes needed before the final release but it plays well. Team-play mode is exceptional and the mod offers several other play modes. Check it out, it is well worth the download! For all you Tribes 2 fans, I know you want to speed things up and get them running just right! So check out 3DSpotlights new Tribes 2 Tweak Guide. This should help you optimize everything from swapfiles to video issues. It also includes some of the troubleshooting guides for those who still have problems. Do you spend hours in front of your computer? Tired of people telling you to get up and do something? Well then check out this slightly controversial story from BBC News. Professor Peter Axt from Germany has released the results of his research and claims that being lazy is good for your health and is a necessary antidote to todays stress filled lifestyles. Just the perfect argument to justify your computer based lifestyle! Surprise surprise!!!! Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world! Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates has been ousted as the world's richest man by Sam Robson Walton, the chairman of the Wal-Mart retail empire and eldest son of its founder, a newspaper reported Saturday. Early editions of The Sunday Times newspaper, which compiles an annual list of the richest people in the world, said Gates had lost pole position to Walton after the worldwide plunge in the value of high-technology stocks over the past year. For three years Gates beat all-comers with a fortune that rose to $76.50 billion in 2000, but the value of his holdings has fallen to $54 billion, the newspaper said. I am devastated by the news!
Monday 23 April 2001
Although this is a slightly old story, it has ramifications for the entire internet community! The old Eagle of world politics, the USA, has again trampled upon the rights that it so dearly cherishes and holds out as a beacon to all the world's struggling democracies! Yes the two faced policies of any US Government have struck again. Now while I am not in favour of the media/press hounding and gossiping about those people and families who are in the spotlight, neither am I in favour of Government controlled "free speech"! Now the US is in an enviable position as the world leader and fundamental force behind the globalisation trends, but does that give it the right to sacrifice the ideals and rights of its people? Now they own and control the nexus of the Internet, and they have used it to electronically isolate countries from the rest of the world. The most recent flexing of their server muscle was the silencing of Slobidan(?) Milosovich and this was achieved by killing all the IP addresses for the country in the main DNS server in the US. So what does this mean for us little people and the Internet? Well with the potential control of every IP and web site, the US government can, without excuse or recourse, shut down any site that they deem to be offensive to their national interests. That means that they effectively control the news and the information that we see! Do you find that a scary prospect? I do! And the worst thing is that we have no power to change it! So what has raised this issue? Well, there appeared an article in the Yale University student tabloid Rumpus a less than flattering piece on the protection of Barbara Bush (President's daughter) by the Secret Service agents! It took a week but the newspaper was required to withdraw all copies of the rag and also remove it from their web site. The site is now unavailable until the next issue.You can check out some of the comments about the incident at Wired News and Cluebot. While not being an overly serious matter in the global perspective of things, the undertones of the incident show that the US can and will use all their muscle to remove anything that tarnishes the rusty image that they so dearly project! Hell, this site may be shut down for this little tirade! Of course they would have to find me first, but I do have regular visits from several international government servers!! Let me know what you think and I'll put your comments on the site! So that ends it for a fairly slow Monday (mainly because it is still Sunday - God's day of rest <grin>- over in the great promised land of the US) and nothing ever happens on the weekend!
Sunday 22 April 2001
For all those who own a Playstation or have access to the games, Bleem! Inc have announced that they are releasing a new version of their controversial software for the Sega Dreamcast. For those of you who haven't heard of their program, it allows Playstation, and now Dreamcast, games to be played on the PC. There is a newer version of GameSpy available for download or online update. Clan FIGJAM had a go of it over the weekend and found little difference from the last one. This one is a compulsory update. Fixes supposed to be in the software included updating the voice chat side of the chat rooms. We tried this and could not get it to work. Some could but it was very unreliable and prompted many calls to return to MPlayer. Hopefully in the next patch these problems will be addressed. Whilst surfing the good and reliable Blues News today, I came across reference to this article about violence in video games. The article appeared in the Denver Post newspaper and states that the family one of the slain teacher at the Columbine High School, has filed a class action suit against 25 media companies claiming that if there was no violence depicted in the media, then the massacre would not have happened! The bottom line of the suit is $5 Billion in compensation and damages The suit contends that the $20-billion-a-year video game industry will not effectively regulate itself, and that court intervention is necessary to keep violent games out of the hands of minors. You can read the full story here! This is a disturbing trend in legal battles! Just cause some idiots and their parents don't have the necessary restraints in place, the rest of the world has to suffer. Be careful all, you may have to surrender your cutlery and remove all sharp objects from your house, just in case someone breaks in, steals it and later cuts someone's heart out with a spoon!!!!! Where will it all end?? There is only so much that you can do to protect the public from themselves, and legislation just doesn't cut it! Neither do Law Suits! I would really like to hear what you, my readers think about this issue, as it relates to my interests in politics, sociology and psychology. Please send me an e-mail and let me know what you think! And by the way HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!!!
Saturday 21 April 2001
(Later in Day) I have added 3 more articles to the Odd Comments Section. You should enjoy all of them! For those of you who are into Tribes 2, Strike Force Center have released a new Map Pack. You can check out the screen shots and download it from here If you are into strange news stories, then check this one out! It is all about exploding cows in the European Alps! The story is bang (ouch) on if you ask me! For those of you who enjoy reading my Comments Section, check out the new Famous Last Words article for some interesting snuffing comments! Tim from Tim's News has created a Tribes 2 clan along with the United Devices, SETI, and General Online Games Clan. He is now actively recruiting for members to bolster the ranks. Join one, two or all and support our team online! I know you want to! Check out his site for more information and links! For those of you who also own a console or are thinking of buying the PS2, then flip over to the Gamesmania site for their preview of the upcoming FPS for PS2 - Red Faction. This game looks and sounds really good! I just hope they manage to at least come up with an AI like HalfLife's! For those of you who just love to micromanage your computer games...Check out the demo for Settlers IV. If you are interested in the development of games and the effort put into programming the AI, checkout the article at Feed on the development of the AI for Black & White. The guy's over at Gamespot-UK are concluding their 4 day preview of the equal to Commandos-Behind Enemy Lines, interestingly titled - Commandos 2. THey have posted their review of the game here, check it out! Also for those of you who are into CounterStrike, or would like to try it but are afraid, FiringSquad have released a beginners game guide for CounterStrike. Check it out here. You never know, you just might find out something new!
Friday 20 April 2001
Diablo 2 Fans will be happy with the new patch. It fixes several online and CD Drive compatibility problems. You can get it from 3DFiles. There are also rumors of a possible Diablo based movie in the wind. I will keep you updated as things filter in! The Ecronom have released an advanced strategy guide for Black & White as a follow up to their first tips & hints guide. Slip over and check it out here.
Thursday 19 April 2001
Well Tribes 2 has been patched yet again! You can pick it up directly from Sierra or simply use the in game patching process. Good luck with this one guys! It might be time to cut out giving laptops to the British Intelligence!
Enough of the fun, now back to the news! A new Everquest expansion has been announced and it is titled Shadows of Luclin. You can find out more about it here. It is scheduled for release in the last quarter of this year. It should be fairly on time as most Everquest expansions are! There is a new Operation Flashpoint demo available. This one has you playing a KGB Sniper complete with a Dragunov sniper rifle. You can get it here. There is a new HalfLife game coming which allows you to play as the veritable "Barney" the guard. You can check the updated graphics engine and other details about the game here! Thanks to Amas for pointing me to this one! You may well ask where Team Fortress 2 is, but no answer can be given. Rumour is that it may come out sometime before 2010!! Here's hoping! The delays and hype for this product almost go down as one huge hoax!
Wednesday 18 April 2001
For those of you who are interested in SEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Activision and Raven Software have announced plans for the sequel to the "blood & guts" fragfest of last year, Soldier of Fortune. Creatively titled "Soldier of Fortune 2", it is supposed to deliver a realistic covert-operative themed gameplay experience with intense action, mind blowing QUAKE III Arena powered graphics and a mile-a-minute storyline. It also comes complete with child-proof locks (Yeah right!!!!) and the ability to use vehicles, instead of just running around killing people! I will post more information as it becomes available. For those of you interested in games that teach valuable lessons in life, slip on over to File Planet and download this neat little game. I kid you not, this game was developed by the Swiss Public Health Office and is called Catch the Sperm! For all those of you who want to run Black & White faster and more efficiently, then check out the Black & White Tweak Guide over at 3DSpotlight. It helped me! Also it has been reported that you can increase the growth rate by leaving the camera focused on the creature if you leave the game on overnight! So if you want to create a bigger Creature then just try pressing "C" before you leave it alone for a while. Let me know the results if you try it! The Guys from over at The Ecronom have posted tips, tweaks and playing strategies for B&W, check it out here! For all of you who are into the HalfLife game mods, there is a new version of Frontline Force (Ver1.2a) available. Get it here. Microsoft have finally released their update to the GameVoice software. It should fix several of the present bugs and make it fully compatible with Windows 2000! You can get it here! Also you might want to slip over to Adobe and pick up the latest version of their FREE PDF viewer Adobe Acrobat Version 5.0. And there is a new version of the file download manager GetRight. You can get it from here.
Tuesday 17 April 2001
The upgrade for Day Of Defeat (ver 1.2) was released on the weekend. The upgrade is available form the website and is 40Mb for the patch and 86Mb for the full version! Download them here! the new version includes:-
Tribes 2 is on sale here tomorrow! Be warned that you may have installation and other problems! If you go to Planet Tribes you will find various utilities to make your life much easier! THere are also several patches for the game which may fix some of the in-game problems reported! Whilst trolling the unchartered waters of the net I came across this article on an Easter Egg in the popular graphics benchmarking program, 3DMark 2001! I have tried this one and it works. To activate the egg, just run the program and then edit the project name to "Holy Cow!". This will unlock the game demo button. If you click the Game Demo button it will allow you to drive the 4x4 vehicle you see in the benchmark tests. Instructions are on the loading screen. Try it and enjoy. Of course, if you haven't got the program then download it from Mad Onion !
Monday 16 April 2001
Well it would appear that the Easter bunny has brought some good eggs for all those Mac users! It is rumoured that the port of Black & White is coming after all! C. Tamas over at MG News has posted an article claiming that the word on the circuit is that it is planned and will be released. No time lines yet, but heres hoping it is soon! For those of you who can't get enough of the Operation Flashpoint Demo, and want some more missions, zip over to Axle Online for a ton of new missions! Version 1.07 of Gamespy Arcade is available now for download from here. Be careful as it seems to install Gator along with the program. Tim over at Tim's News has had a devil of a time trying to get rid of it! Also for all those avid Black & White players, check out the Easter eggs hidden in the game! Check out Planet Black&White for details on how to activate them. A new version of the ever popular MP3 player WinAmp is now available, bringing it up to version 2.74. Download it here. While on the subject of MP3's, it would appear that Napster is all but dead! Recent court decisions have not gone well for the file sharing pioneer, and it looks like there may be cause for a class action against the company which will guarantee it's demise! They may kill one but there are other file swapping programs that will take its place. They couldn't stop cassette tapes and they won't stop MP3 sharing. They should just get on with the business of bringing music to the people instead of making the lawyers fat and lazy! I hope you all had a happy Easter and didn't get too sick from the food and chocolates!
Good Friday, 13 April 2001
Before I say too much more, I have added a new page to the comments section. This page contains some interesting little factoids. Check it out here! Well, I have received some feedback about my last little <GRIN> tirade! The main issue was my bagging of the mod makers. I did not intend to malign them, I was pointing out that often the mods follow the games here in Australia by only a few months. That is not their fault and they do a wonderful job. But having to wait for the games for so long is the real crime! But I have already covered that. Thanks to Tim for pointing out my error in words!
Thursday 12 April 2001
Well, well, well! I sit here stunned and amazed. The distributors for Tribes 2 have decided to bring forward the release date for those of us here in the sunny land of Oz! The new date is 18 April. Now don't go celebrating just yet, as most stores have the game in storage and are strictly prohibited from selling it until the release date! There is a strong rumour about that they only decided to release it so that the rest of the world may enjoy it for at least a week before the first mod is released for the game! Yes, like Black & White, the game has not been out for more than 2 weeks before the mod developers announce plans to modify and add to the game. Now come on guys, I know that your jobs are to release mods and updates for the games but surely you can wait until it is available world wide and people have actually played with it????? Once again the distributors have F**$&%^$%#$@ UP! Due to the fact that I do not have a high speed internet connection, I will be boycotting this game. I trust that it is a fine game with lots of playability and such, but so annoyed am I with the idiots (and I can't name them, unfortunately due to legal reasons - but I know who you are!!! ) that I refuse to part with my hard earned dollars and precious time in order to play the game. I hope that there are a few more like me and that it hurts Sierra, so that they put pressure on the distributors to meet the release date deadlines. How I long for parallel importing in Australia!!!!! Enough of that now!! I do rant and rave a bit! But before I leave that topic, I just want to put in a good word for my Macintosh visitors, and say that you guys are the worst off of all. Normally the Mac community has to wait several months, sometimes years, before the games that we so enjoy, are released for their platform! I know that some would say that you deserve it for buying a Mac, but I don't think that it is really fair for you either! If they work for so long on a game why can't they develop it for more than one platform. Most of the general coding should be the same, and it would only be the graphics engines that would need separate development. They leave that till almost last for the PC anyway! It is usually only a couple of months before they port it to the Playstation so why don't they maximize their outlay and do it all at once! Equality for all gamers the world over!!!! Enjoy Easter!
Wednesday 11 April 2001
Well it is already starting. Not content with such a wonderful game, the mod makers have already announced that work has commenced on a mod for Black & White. I am quite surprised that it has taken them this long! What has it been - 2 weeks. The concept is quite nifty and should prove to be an interesting total work over of the game. Check it out at Planet Black&White.
Monday 9 April 2001
There is not that much going on in the gaming community at present. What with the recent releases of Black & White and Tribes 2 (at least in the US). It seems that even the developers are off playing these new games. So, today will be really short. A new creature has been released for Black & White. You can get it here or over at Planet Black & White. Tribes 2 may be released in Australia sometime about ANZAC Day. That will make it almost a month later than the US release. But for all those who are feeling sorry for themselves, spare a thought for the countries who will not be getting Black & White until after Easter. Says so much for the First to Third world divides doesn't it!!!!!!! The next major game release will be the ground breaking Operation Flashpoint. This game seems set to take first person, squad based shooters into the new age! If you haven't already downloaded the demo then DO IT NOW!!! I know you want to! And for those that are interested I have posted another poem in the poetry section.
Sunday 8 April 2001
Well not much that's interesting has been happening here at the moment. Black & White continues to amaze me with it's intricacies and subtle effects. They have even created an interactive splash screen. If you want some minor amusement while loading the program, just move your mouse around during the intro and watch the swirling Lionhead mists coalesce and follow your mouse movements! Some say that the creature doesn't dance to MP3 music in the background. I have found that if I am playing them then the creature will dance. Not exactly in time to the music, but it dances. With no background music the creature just wanders around casting spells! I have even managed to train it to dislike country music, but I don't know if that is song specific or just a general hatred? Oh well when the patch comes out we shall see how much different it is.
Saturday 7 April 2001
Well Black & White has certainly lived up to my expectations! I find that I can lose several hours at a time while playing it. There are some reports of bugs and problems, but I have not even had a crash to desktop yet that can't be explained by something else! The only annoying thing I have found in the game is the length of time it takes to save the game and the fact that there is no hotkey for saving or going to the temple! I belive this sort of thing is being addressed in the first patch. Several of the missing, but much hyped, feature will also be enabled in the first patch. So I'm going back to my ape Ronald. We have villagers to impress!!
Friday 6 April 2001
It's here!!!! Horay, hurrah! Jump for joy.................Going now my ape beckons me!
Thursday 5 April 2001
Well, I've been a bit naughty with my updates for the last few days! I apologize, and I think I have a really good excuse! In true externalist fashion I can honestly (honest!!) blame Uni. Not that you are probably interested but I have had a bit to do there since the weekend and I have neglected this poor site! Not to mention a terminal obsession with completing Oni! Nearly there, but not quite! I had sooo wanted to have finished the game by today as today is the day that Black & White is having their picnic down in the woods of Eden! Yes, finally, barring any more cock ups by the distributors, my most anticipated game ever, is arriving in stores all across our rather large brown land! I am sitting here typing this update early in the morning barely able to conceal my eagerness! Almost like a drug addict waiting for his next score! Palms sweaty, nerves frayed, teeth rotting, anticipation! I haven't said much about the release date thing for a few days (OK! I haven't said anything else either) but it is still a sore point! I urge you to let us know how you feel about it so that maybe we can get something done! Nothing much else of real interest has been happening in the gaming world. We are still waiting for Tribes 2 and Operation Flashpoint has not updated further. If you like the LAra Croft - Tomb Raider style perspective, then I urge you to try Oni out. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it is! Don't worry if you think that it is just for consoles either! The control options for the PC are very usable and flexible. THe only problem that I had was with coordinating my fingers with the action. Some moves require timing and practice, not just clicking on the mouse! Check out the Bungie Studio's website for more info about the game. I intend posting some game reviews in the near future and my creature may just produce it's own website which I will host here. Black & White will probably be the first and then I will write one about Oni. So check back to see what comes up in the next week or so.
Sunday 1 April 2001
Happy April Fool's Day to you all! Did I tell you about.....................
It seems that there is a bit of a storm brewing within our little web triangle over the release date issue! Check out the other sites and see what they have to say. Doran over at Viper Downloads is trying to gather the support of the local gamers with a view to doing something about this sorry state of affairs. If you wish to be a part of the process drop us a line and tell us what you think about it all, and we will make sure someone listens!!! Enjoy your day! |