Hello evil, evil world fans! What a week it’s been here on GrE. For fear of stepping out of line, I want to affirm that there have been some operational changes, but we’re committed to keeping things running as smoothly as possible! With that in mind, dig in with me as I go through a (rather incoherent) list of tech things in the last week.
- Last Wednesday I had a chance to go to Dave and Buster’s with some friends. Had a blast, won a lot of tickets on the coin drop and beat the cheesiest arcade shooter ever. If you ever get a chance, go play some arcade games and feel like a kid again.
Let's Go Jungle! Amazing how something so cheesy can eat so many D&B card swipes...
- Oh yea, Wednesday is 1/2 off game night.
- A couple of pretty big demos have dropped over the last couple of weeks; X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Bionic Commando to name a few. I gave them both a try, and I can’t say that they really blew me away.
- XO: Wolverine is great if you’re looking for mindless hack ‘n slash button mashing with great graphics and a lot of gore (Moms, this isn’t the Wolverine for your kids!). It looks to be a lot of fun, but the demo certainly doesn’t require much thought. In a game where the protagonist shouldn’t be able to die, you’re going to need a challenge somewhere!
- The demo for Bionic Commando was just multiplayer, and it was pretty lame (commence flaming). It reminded me an awful lot of the old Quake 2 mod Weapons Factory with the grapple, mixed with a bit of (insert 3rd person, over the shoulder shooter title here) to make things “interesting”. It didn’t.
- “House guest?”
- Yea, here’s the part where I explain the “House Guest” part of the post title. A buddy of mine somewhat unexpectedly dropped in on Monday night for an indefinite period of time. When he reads this, it’s totally cool, so don’t worry about it. He’s a gamer, has background in IT and, as he pointed out, is to be considered free labor.
- Yesterday we painted the guest room.
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The elegance of a bird and the badassedness of Jack Sparrow does not make for a fierce hero.
I leafed through his 360 games case and started Fable II. Yea, I’m late to the party, but it’s pretty fun. Why can’t I name my character? And, understanding that the dialog is probably the same for male or female characters, they should have picked an even girlier “gender neutral” name. Sparrow? How about Marian or Kelly?
- He’s also going to help me convert my pre-wire phone cable throughout the house to ethernet. He might not know this. I hope he remembers his tools at work.
- For the PC gamers out there, Windows 7 RC has been released. My download just finished, and I’m going to give it a whirl. Maybe I’ll have a few thoughts on gaming on it for next week. Or, my PC will be shot and I’ll have a very abbreviated version of Jimmy’s “What I Hate About…” and it will be all about Microsoft.
- Unfair to hate on a free beta.
- Speaking of PC gaming, how about a few cheers for ATI’s new Radeon HD 4770? In case you hadn’t heard, this $109 (as low as $90 with MIR at Newegg) video card can compete with nVidia’s GTX 280 when run in CrossFire mode with one of its brethren. That makes a $220 option competitive with a $270 solution from the industry competitor. Let’s hear it for the underdog!
- With only one card, it’s still respectable performance, especially for the price.
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From my home theater on the left to something like the one on the right. Speakers? Placement? I have a fireplace behind the TV.
I’m looking to do a pretty hefty home theater upgrade in my family room. I have to mount the TV to the wall and run a bunch of wire. Anyone have any DIY experience/pointers? I’ve run electrical and other things, but I’d like to make everything in-wall and may need a bit of guidance. Tweet me if you have any suggestions/links to check out.
Alright kids, that’s it for this edition of CHoPO. Until next time keep your kids safe, controllers charged and gasoline generator on the ready!
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