I thought this was supposed to be an add-on for the main game.  But after installing it, I've got a separate entry for Galactic Adventures in Vista's Game Explorer.

Even better, when I click on the entry in Game Explorer...it starts up GA, with a Spore: Galactic Adventures splash screen...and then the game asks for the DVD in drive?  WTF?

I thought the whole point of EA's DRM method was that no DVD in drive was required.  Now I have to deal with Securom AND the !@#!@#!@# DVD in drive if I want to play Galactic Adventures?

F*** you, EA!

Done!  Do you have the manual by any chance?  I assume you have any relevant cdkey, if any?

Anyone have this and want to sell for a few bucks?

C'mon, someone here must still be playing this and know the answer

$3.49 for 14 new units?

Take your DLC and stick it up your ***.

So I just got around to buying and installing this today.

The system I'm playing it on is an i7-920, 6GB of DDR3, with a 512MB Radeon HD4850.  However, either the drivers/card/MB/whatever has some kind of feature where in addition to the video card's 512MB of onboard RAM, it can draw on unused system memory, up to 3GB worth.
Don't ask me how it works.  PLEASE.  My brain cells will melt.

Anyway, the system has run anything I've thrown at it at 1920 by 1080 with good framerates.  Crysis?  No problem.

So imagine my surprise when I installed GTA 4, ran it for the first time, and the graphics auto-adjust to LOW MEDIUM--and won't let me increase them!  (Draw Distance, etc, set to around 25%)/
So I do a little research online, find out how to unlock the graphics, and crank everything all the way up, to the point where at 1920 by 1080 it's telling me it's using almost 1.5GB of graphics memory.
I run the benchmark, and I get 35 FPS.

Is there any hardware or software related reason anyone knows of why I would NOT want to crank the graphics up?

Microcenter has this:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0306616

Just picked up one for the house.  You can't beat that for the price-it's an i7, for God's sake!

Anyone want to take this off my hands for $25?

Meet me halfway--$25--and you've got a deal.

No, not a platformer...just announce that for Fallout 4 and all subsequent games Bethesda will be making them like Fallout Tactics because that is the "true evolution of the Fallout universe."

That should cause the NMA forums to self-destruct.

Bought this Friday.  Have given it a few days...I should have waited for the demo.  Great game, just not my personal cup of tea.

$30 Paypal and it's sold.

Anyone else have a code?  I'd asked early on in the other thread but I missed this one getting started .

I mean, holy ****, I hope there is more to this story...friend of mine forwarded me a link to this.

May 19, 2009
Letter from a Dodge dealer
letter to the editor
My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.

We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.

I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.

On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.

Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler's insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.

HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?

THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY

This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong.

This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.

Sincerely,

George C. Joseph
President & Owner
Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu

Hey, it was worth watching Wed night if only for the Katy Perry performance.  Take THAT Paula!

Awesome and NOT lipsynched.

If anyone has a code I'd love one also, thanks .

I'm looking for an extra system for the house so my youngest can have something to work on and play some games without having to use someone else's.  It's a choice between

Dell Studio XPS435--$999 at Microcenter

Operating System     Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)
Processor    Intel® Core(tm) i7 Quad Processor 920
Processor Speed    2.66GHz
Level 2 Cache    8MB Level 2 Cache
RAM Installed / Max RAM Supported    6GB DDR3-1067 RAM
Memory Configuration    (6) 1GB DIMM Memory Modules
Hard Drive    750GB 7,200RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
Multimedia Drive    DVDRW Drive
Display Type    Display Not Included
Video Card    ATI Radeon HD4850
Video Card Memory    512MB Video Memory
Sound Card    High Definition Audio Chipset
Sound Output Mode    7.1 Channel Surround Sound
Network Features    10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Network
Memory Card Reader    19-in-1 Media Card Reader
Input Device    USB Multimedia Keyboard, Dell Premium Optical USB Mouse

or

HP Pavilion Elite m9515f--$1079 at Microcenter

Operating System     Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)
Processor    AMD® Phenom(tm) X4 Quad-Core Processor 9850
Processor Speed    2.5GHz
Level 2 Cache    2MB Level 2 Cache
RAM Installed / Max RAM Supported    8GB DDR2-800 SDRAM
Memory Configuration    (4) 2GB DIMM Memory Module
Memory Slots Available    (0) Available 240-pin DIMM Slots
Hard Drive    750GB 7,200RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
Multimedia Drive    Blu-ray Player and LightScribe SuperMulti DVD Burner
Display Type    Display Not Included
Video Card    NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS
Video Card Memory    Up to 2559MB Total Available Graphics Memory
TV Tuner/Personal Video Recorder (PVR)    TV Tuner: Dual-format NTSC or Over-the-Air ATSC High-Definition TV Tuner
Sound Card    High Definition Audio Chipset
Sound Output Mode    7.1 Channel Surround Sound
Network Features    10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Network
Wireless Network Features    802.11a/b/g/n Wireless Network
Ports and Connectors    (1) PS/2 Keyboard Port; (1) PS/2 Mouse Port; (2) Front USB 2.0 "A" Ports; (4) Rear USB 2.0 "A" Ports; (2) FireWire 1394 Port; (1) RJ-45 Network Port; (2) Microphone Port; (1) Headphone Port; (1) Audio Line In Port; (1) Audio Line Out Port; (1) Rear Speaker Port; (1) Side Speaker Port; (1) Center/Subwoofer Speaker Port
Memory Card Reader    15-in-1 Memory Card Reader
Supported Flash Media    Smart Media, xD Picture Card, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, CompactFlash I, CompactFlash II, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+, Mini Secure Digital, IBM MicroDrive
Expansion Bays    2 (1 free) External 5.25" bays; 1 (0 free) External 3.5" bay; 2 (1 free) Internal 3.5" bays
Expansion Slots    1 (0 free) PCI Express x16 Graphic Interface Slot; 3 (1 free) PCI Express x1 Interface Slot
Expandable Drive Bay    HP Personal Media Drive Bay
Input Device    HP Multimedia Keyboard, HP Optical Mouse

The HP is $80 more, but it does have 2GB more RAM, even if it is DDR2 instead of DDR3.  So which system is better?  Price is NOT a consideration.

Was wondering if anyone would be up for a game of DEFCON one night.  I haven't played in ages but I have the urge to fire it back up.

Yea but these kids are allegedly quasi-professional performers, supposedly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRezQTRi014

This is them playing Johnny B Goode with the German band they play backup for.

Are there SO few good backup musicians in Germany?  God, please, stop the insanity!

caveat:  you should only rail against child performers if they're packaged as sex symbols by the Disney corporation, and/or they cover Beatles songs. 

These are just kids having some fun.  cut 'em some slack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwHGec-VYUw&feature=PlayList&p=C3EB1A979286A22D&index=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMzZOWRF1_4&feature=PlayList&p=C3EB1A979286A22D&index=4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw3nVo3bTH4&feature=PlayList&p=C3EB1A979286A22D&index=5

Now can I rail at them?  PLEASE?

Someone, somewhere, needs to get Chuck Berry over to Europe to bitch-slap these kids for their sacrilege.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghYOW4eajjo

Yecch.  DOUBLEPLUS yecch.

I have a relative who works at Apple.

He says they've been told to expect a new iPhone AND a new iTouch this summer.   He thinks the new iTouch may include a 64GB model.  At any rate, if you wait you should get more iTouch for less money.

I seem to recall someone had a mod that would run it at this resolution.  Can anyone help?

For an 82 year old legend?  It was great.  You have no soul, sir.  None.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fh6TIMOCic

At age 82.  Don't we all hope we're ALIVE when we're his age, much less rocking out like that.

http://gamersgate.com/index.php?page=product&what=view&sku=DD-TWMB

Buy this.  NOW.  You are commanded to .

Anyone?  Someone must know .

Was just wondering what kind of changes, if any, they've made to the control schemes. both for on foot and driving/riding, since San Andreas.

All I can say is...MICHAEL !!#@#!#!#!! JACKSON?

A show trying to promote one of these people as the clean-cut "American Idol"...and you start out with a Michael Jackson theme week?

Who's next?  Gary Glitter?

This was a fan-made remake of the original Nuclear War, written in Java.

The only places I've found for it are ripoff sites that want you to pay before you can download.

Anyone know a site for this, or anyone have it and can put it up on Rapidshare?

Thanks.

(1) I'd love the answer myself

(2) 1.2, yea.

Was wondering if anyone can recommend a good stock market game or sim.

Anyone know which email address at consumerist is best to send it to?  I've seen several diff ones on their website.

It's bullshit we can't return a PC game. Look idiots, if we wanted to steal the game we wouldn't have gone to the store in the first place. I'm not sure if you have heard of this "internet" but we can download it easier than walking through your store. I like how retail is stuck 10 years behind the real world.

I'm actually surprised that the no return policy for games and software hasn't disappeared. When I worked in support there wasn't DRM because not enough customers had Internet connectivity of stable enough connections to make it work. On the other hand there were a lot of CD-ROM burners around. That's the era in which the Retailers' no return policy began, and unfortunately it was a necessary evil for the time. With DRM so common now, there really isn't much of a justification for keeping that policy. I guess if people stop buying at storefront retailers that might force the change.

Unless someone "un-invented" cracks then I don't see what purpose there would be to remove the return policy.  You could just install the game, apply a patch and take the game back to the store and say it was defective or didn't work on your computer or something.

Yea, but people can torrent their games for free anyway.  And there are so many private torrent sites out there that it really isn't that hard for someone to get what they want fast if they choose to steal it.

I know I could escalate it further, but they're not worth my time when I can just wheel out the nuclear option (chargeback).
ESPECIALLY after the amount of aggravation I've had with it so far.  If I didn't have a pile of games in my Steam account I'd tell them exactly what they can do with their
precious DRM.

I suggested that.  They told me "how do we know yours is valid and theirs isn't"

Sorry, I just had to blow off some Steam (pun INTENDED) after what I went through today.

Went to Walmart, bright and early this morning.  Picked up Empire:  Total War.
Get it home.  Go to install it.
And Steam tells me that my key has already been registered!  Yea, I bought the game sealed in plastic.

So I take the game back to Walmart.  Go to return it, explaining what had happened.  The cashier at customer service was JUST about to process the return when a manager came by
and asked why the game was being returned.  I told him.  He opens the box, takes a look at it, and tells me they can't accept the return, that they have no way to know whether or not I've actually used that key myself or given it to someone else.  Asking for the store manager does no good--he tells me to take it up with Steam/Valve.

So I email Steam customer service..and through three back and forth emails their message is "Sorry, we can't/won't do anything to help you, take it up with Walmart."

Great.  Their system screws up, and I'm supposed to eat the $50 and change?  It's not the money, it truly is the principle here.

I'm waiting for a call back from a Walmart DM tomorrow.  If I don't hear back and get satisfaction from him, it's chargeback time.

I just find it unbelievable that Steam/Valve's attitude is "sorry, you're SOL"

I know there are several digital download options out there for Spore.  I was just wondering if any of them leave out the obnoxious Securom protection.

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=95164

So let me get this straight.  I buy it in the store--or off another digital download service--and I STILL have to authenticate with Steam?

**** that.

I had the Collector's Edition preordered.  HAD being the operative word.  There are other ways to protect your product
besides requiring people to install Steam EVEN if they get the game from another digital download source.

IS there a collectors edition for this?  Do the elite units get included with it?

I've always loved their music, ever since I was a little girl...theirs together, both in the sixties and when they got back together in 1993 and afterward, and also Judith Durham's solo work.  She has the voice of an angel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfLstywUh90&feature=related (1963)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSVfLNCW4Fs (1968)

And she hasn't lost anything at all with the passage of time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Dvtu6Lpqg (2003)

If you don't love this music; or at least can see it's beauty, even if it's not quite your cup of tea...you have no soul, sorry.  Or taste in music .

I've never understood why they've never gotten any consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.