Anyone catch this story this morning?  Kobe is mad because Karl Malone apparently made a pass at his wife.  While it wouldn't surprise me if he did, how in the world does Kobe think he'll get any sympathy from the public?

Dude, you apparently didn't care enough about your wife not to cheat on her, so why suddenly get all concerned and possessive now?

We have 3 cats and brought a puppy into the mix earlier this year.  I really think that how they get along depends on the personality of the individual animals more than anything.  One of our cats gets along fine with the dog.  They play together, wrestle on the floor, play tag, etc.  The middle cat doesn't play wtih the dog, but seems to tolerate him fine.  No hissing or growling when the dog's around.  The third cat, however, goes completely batshit if the dog comes within 10 feet of him.  Hissing, spitting, and full-on attacking the dog.  We've had the pup almost 10 months now, and they've all just kind of settled into their roles as the friendly cat, the indifferent cat, and the psycho cat.

We were pretty lucky in that from the time Vader (the dog) was little, we trained him not to go into the basement.  So the cats can go down the stairs to "escape" from him if they need to, and we also keep their food and water down there.  We tried leaving both food dishes upstairs, but the dog ate the cat food more than his own so we had to move everything downstairs.  Don't know if something like that would be an option for you, but it's worked great for us.

I am up to level 24. At 21 started getting 3 skill points per level. The game requires you to do quite a bit of powerleveling. It basically pins you and you can't go anywhere until you level up enough to get past it. The levels come quickly and the levels matter. You can be having a tough time with something and 2 or 3 levels later you can handle it easily. If you leave a dungeon it respawns and you have to fight your way back in again. It also changes the layout. This sounds bad, but the dungeons are very simple it is impossible to get lost or to miss anything. At the end of the dungeon there is a save point and you kill the boss and you are able to proceed in the game. Although, twice now first time I got there I wasn't strong enough to win, and I had to fight my way back out, level some and come back.  

That's the point I'm at right now.  Just got to the fight with the Guardians at the top of the tower and got my ass handed to me.  Looks like I'm going to have to fight my way back up a couple times in order to be powerful enough to handle it.  Good thing the combat is fun.

[not]

Trust me, I know it's not just Utah that got the shaft.  Cal, Boise St., Auburn, also got screwed royally by this system.  If there was ever a year that screamed out for change, this is certainly it.  At least Utah gets the BCS payout, which somewhat helps to make up for the fact that we will never get a chance to prove how good this team really is.  Oh well...  

Sad thing is, had Utah not made it to the Fiesta Bowl, they would be matched up against Louisville in the Liberty Bowl.  Now that would have been a hell of a game to watch.  Two top 10 teams (not to mention the #1 and #3 offenses in the country) going head to head.  What a blast that would have been.

Quick question:

In GIII, do you ever gain more than 1 skill point (or whatever they're called) per level?  Some of these skills take 8-9 points to master, which would take forever!

College football is, at the same time, the most exciting and most anti-climactic sport in this country.  Don't even get me started about the crapfest that is the BCS.  There's too many teams with too many reasons to be pissed off this year (see my sig for example 1.  An 11-0 season and we get Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl.  You kidding me?), and it could all be solved with a playoff.

Too bad the powers that be will never let it happen.  Too much money involved.  

Yum, yum, Bumblebee,
Bumblebee tuna.
I love Bumblebee,
Bumblebee tuna.
Yum, yum Bumblebee,
Bumblebee tuna.
Love a sandwich made with Bumblebee.

"The Bumblebee Tuna Song" by Mephiskapheles.  Funny stuff.

[always]

I have a pretty large collection of game OSTs (somewhere around 150).  Since I'm mainly an RPG'er, I get most of mine as imports from Japan (E-bay is your friend).  I've found that it's much, much harder to track down soundtracks from western games.  

If a "special edition" that includes a soundtrack is released for a game, I will always pick it up.  It's never a bad thing to add more OSTs to the mix.  

Listening to "Beyond Good and Evil OST" as I type.

I played a couple hours of GGII last night and was very, very impressed.  Combat-wise, it plays a lot like a simplified Phantom Brave.  The strategy element is very prevalent, and you'll get wiped by basic enemies if you don't plan carefully.   The sprite characters graphics are PS1 level, but all the backgrounds and character close-ups (it switches to a larger character view when speaking) are extremely clean and well rendered.  The voice acting is a bit bland, but I'm really digging the story so far.

It's been a while since an "old-school" RPG has really grabbed me.  I most recently tried Phantom Brave, but never could figure out the overly complex levelling system (do my characters get XP?  Do my weapons?  Why am I getting extra mana?  Etc, Etc.).  GGII really plays like a simpler version of it, which is a good thing.  Looking forward to putting in a few more hours tonight.

A couple reports I read say the shooter hopped the fence and snuck in through a back door.  Farkin bastage.

Damn, that just sucks.  Pantera was the first metal band I really got into back in high school.  They broke me out of that bizzare rap phase I was going through.

I'm going to go put on some "Fucking Hostile" now.  RIP Darrel.

I'll be trading in MGS3 for it tonight.  Will hopefully have some impressions later.

Might want to check this thread.  A couple pages of impressions there.

I thought it started well, had some genuinely funny moments, but became way too repetitive and frustrating towards the end.

30.

Man, what a bunch of old farts we are.

Thanks for the tips.  I've kind of suspected it was a heat-related issue.  I forgot to mention that every once in a while, I will hear a couple beeps from what I assume is the mobo speaker (sound similar to the POST beeps).  This only happens when I'm gaming, and is usually followed by a lock-up within 5-10 minutes.

However, the only temp sensor I can find is the one with Sisoft's Sandra program, and it only measures CPU temp.   I also heard it is wildly innaccurate.  My guess is that since I only get problems when playing a game that taxes my video card, then that is what is overheating.  Is there some sort of utility I can use to measure the temp on my vid card?

Also, if it is a temp problem with the video card, what can I do to cool it down?  I already have 2 side fans blowing directly on it, in addition to the dual fans that came mounted.  I've tried actually removing the side of the case to let more air in, but it doesn't seem to help much.  

Thanks again for the tips!  

EDIT:  I reverified some HL2 files after install, and it seemed to fix the lockup problems with that particular game.  I've actually been playing for about 6 hours without any problems.  I tried the Doom 3 demo again, however, and it locked up within 10 minutes every time.

I'll second  Big Trouble in Little China & Iron Giant.  These would also be added to my personal "must-see" list:

-  Spirited Away
-  Clerks
-  Princess Bride
-  Akira
-  Jaws
-  Pirates of the Carribean
-  Braveheart
-  Monty Python & the Holy Grail
-  Young Frankenstein

I'd throw in:

PS2
-  FFX
-  Xenosaga
(I'd also have to include Chrono Cross, FF Tactics, and FFVII for PS1)

X-Box
-  Beyond Good & Evil
-  KotOR
-  Burnout 3

GBA
-  FF Tactics Advance

Nostalgia is a funny thing though.  I can go back and play FFVII today and enjoy it just as much as I did in '97.  But, as vagabond can attest to, someone who has never played it before probably thinks it's crap when compared to today's standards.  I guess we just look back on our faves with rose colored glasses.

I've gone through a ton of stuff lately.  Seems to happen whenever Gamestop does a "Buy 2 Get 1" sale.  Most of it has been of the "play for a couple weeks, then return for credit towards something else" variety.  In the last month I've played:

-  Katamari Damacy (fun)
-  Shin Megami Tensai (meh)
-  Demon Stone (short, but fun)
-  Need for Speed Underground 2 (utter crap)
-  X-men Legends (probably great if you're really into X-Men.  I'm not, so it's just so-so)
-  Bard's Tale (fun until about 10 hours.  Then really boring)
-  Bloodrayne 2 (just awful)
-  .hack (meh)
-  Fallout:  Bos (crap)
-  Gladius (great)
-  Phantom Brave (undecided.  Still trying to figure out the combat and XP system)

Also got HL2 yesterday, and will be picking up Metal Gear Solid 3 this afternoon.  And hopefully getting Growlanswer and KotOR 2 for X-mas.  

One of these days I'll actually pick a game and stick with it.  Too much good stuff to play right now though.

Sorry, forgot to list specs:

Athlon XP 2200+
Asus A7V8X mobo
GeforceFX 5900
512 MB PC2700 RAM


I checked on the Steam boards and got the texture and wireframe issue fixed by reverifying the HL2 Steam files.  However, it caused my water not to show up at all.  The only way I know I'm in water is if I hear a splash when I jump.  Any ideas here?

Now I'm remembering why I quit playing PC games in the first place.  Way to much pain in the ass just to get one running.  

So I got HL2 through Steam this morning, but it's having major problems running.  Here's a couple examples:

The loading screen.  Notice the missing textures and wire frame


In-game.  As I move my view, you can see the repeating tetures and (again) a bunch of wire frame stuff showing


I updated my video drivers to Nvidia's latest (6693) as well as DirectX to 9.0c this morning.  Oddly, it played fine for about 1/2 hour up until this point, then it all went to hell.  

Any ideas where I should start troubleshooting?  Did I get a corrupted download, or do you think something is just out of whack with my system?

P.S.  I tried a couple other 3d games (Etherlords 2 and Neverwinter Nights), and they both ran just fine.

Specs:

Athlon XP 2200+
Asus A7V8X with onboard sound (I only have a 2 speaker system.  Haven't had the need for a better sound card)
512 MB PC2700 RAM
Geforce FX 5900
80 GB HD
120 GB HD

Problem:
It seems that whenever I play any of the newer games (Halflife 2, Doom 3 demo, Farcry demo, etc), after about 20 minutes my system goes into a loop where the image freezes, and whatever 1 second sound happened to be plaing repeats over and over.  After about 30 seconds, it boots me back to the desktop.  If I reboot the system, I can play for another 20-30 minutes before it happens again.  Reboot, 20-30 minutes, lock up, reboot, 20-30 minutes, lockup...you get the idea.

I've tried updating video card drivers and Direct X this morning to the latest versions, but I'm still getting the problem when playing HL2.  Any ideas where else I should start troubleshooting?

Thanks fellas, I think I'll give it a shot.  I'm just hoping my system can handle it (Athlon XP 2200+, 512 RAM, GeforceFX5900). :crosses fingers:

BTW, I've been digging through the Steam FAQ's for the last hour, and managed to find the answer to #1, but not #2 or #3.

Bear with me here, as this morning is the first time I'd even heard of Steam.

I'm not a big PC gamer, but am interested in trying out HL2.  It appears that you can actually purchase the game through their Steam system.   A couple questions:

1.  Does purchasing the game through Steam allow you to download it, or are they shipping it to you?  From the little research I've done this morning, I'm assuming it's download, but it doesn't really say anywhere.  I'd like to DL it if that's an option, but if it's not, I'd rather just head to the Gamestop down the street rather than wait for it to be shipped.  I just really didn't want to get out of my pajamas this morning.  

2.  Related to the first question:  In their disclaimer at the bottom, it says something along the lines of "This is an unreleased product and you should not rely on any release date...etc, etc."   Does this mean it's not available for DL through Steam yet?  The physical product is not available for shipping yet?  Or just that they haven't updated their page?  Color me confused.

3.  Again related to the first question:  If you can DL the game off Steam, are you allowed to make some sort of physical copy of the game.  My system is not the most stable thing in the world, and I'd hate to simply be out $50 if my hard drive crashes and I didn't have a physical copy.  

This stuff is probably common knowledge among PC gamers, but HL2 is only the 2nd PC game all year I've had any interest in purchasing.  So sorry for the ignorance about it.  Gawd, I feel like a n00b all over again...

[everything]

The North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club

There is now officially a club for everything.

Y'know, I'm happy for Urban.  He deserves better than the Utah gig.  He's going to do great at Florida, and with their talent, his offense should be really fun to watch.

But...

He's pretty much fucked us at the U.  All this "maybe I will, maybe I won't" crap that he's been doing for the last few weeks has killed our recruiting.  It was reported on the local news yesterday that of the 13 recruits that were supposed to visit the Utah campus this weekend, 11 of them bailed out.  We had a verbal commitment from a blue-chip QB to take over after Smith left, but Urban wouldn't return his phone calls last week and he decommitted.  We could have sewn up one of our top assistant coaches (Mike Sanford or Kyle Whittingham), but he hemmed and hawed for so long that they are both now looking at other jobs.  Not to mention the fact that we will be playing the biggest game in school history in a few weeks, and the entire focus has turned from the team to the now non-existant coach.

If he had simply come out 3 weeks ago and said "I won't be here next year", most of this could have been avoided.  Instead, he dicked around and left the U in a really bad position.  I can't even describe how tough it is to have such an amazing season end like this.  

and a probable BCS bowl berth (the first team outside of a BCS conference to do so)

Uhm, what? ND isn't in a BCS conference right? Call me crazy but weren't they in the Fiesta bowl a few years ago?


/and got their arses kicked  :wink:

ND gets an exception to the non-BCS conference rule.  They are eligible for any BCS game as long as they finish in the top 12 (six?  Not sure here) in the BCS standings.

I'm actually more impressed that X-Box apparently has an installed base of 15 million.  I honestly had no idea it was that many.

[if]

Count me in the "hated it" group as well, for the reasons already listed.  Horrible camera,  boring storyline (the ending may be good, but I was to bored to play through to it), grating music, dull characters, too repetitive, etc, etc.  It was also way too "kiddle" for my tastes.  The whole thing felt designed for an 8 year old, which it probably was.

I really wanted to like it (hell, I actually bought it twice to see if I could figure out why everyone thought it was so good), but it felt like a marketing piece instead of a game.  Oooh look, here's Donald!  And here's Aeris!  And look, you can talk to Jack Skellington!  And you get to be in Wonderland.  That's all well and good if the gameplay is compelling.

Local sports radio here has been buzzing with the name Urban Meyer as a possible replacement for Willingham. I have no idea who the man is, but they've said he was up for a coaching job at Florida and that Notre Dame was willing to dump Willingham for the chance to give Meyer the job.

Urban Meyer is currently the coach at Utah.  In 2 years, he took a middle of the road Mountain West Conference team that had won one conference titles to a 21-2 record, 2 conference titles, and a probable BCS bowl berth (the first team outside of a BCS conference to do so).  He was also an assistant at ND for 4 years.  In short, the guy's a stud.

Rightfully or not, he's the hottest coach in the country right now and I'm sure he'll be taking the ND job.  Rumor has it that he's interviewing there today linky.

[ANY]

Just a couple thoughts...

Do you pay ANY attention to college football? If they join a conference (1) they will lose there own private TV contract (Only School in the NCAA with it's own personal TV contract) and

Exactly how long do you think that TV contract is going to last if they have many more 6-5 seasons?

(2) they will then have to split bowl money with the other conference teams, same as FSU, Michigan, etc.   Ther greed will NEVER let them join a conference.  

If they were playing in BCS bowls, I'd agree.  Maybe I'm wrong here, but somehow I don't imagine splitting the $5 they get from the Middle-of-nowhere Podunk Bowl is going to make or break the ND athletic program.  

You also mentioned that Ty went 10-2 with Davies recruits.  The difference between him and Meyer is that Willingham's 2nd year was 6-5.  Meyer's was 11-0.  Meyer simply has a way of motivating players and energizing a football community.  That said, the football atmosphere at ND is a hell of a lot different than Bowling Green or Utah.  At ND, he will be expected to win immediately.  At Utah, it was simply an unexpected bonus that he did.  I don't envy him stepping into that pressure cooker.

The problem with recruiting at ND is their academic standards are so high, it makes it tough to recruit some top level athletes.  Bob Davies said on ESPN last night, that out of 100 blue chip kids in the country, ND could only recruit about 30 of them because of academics.  The Floridas and Oklahomas of the world could recruit 90 of them because the standards are lower.  

Not saying that having high standards is a bad thing, but it certainly makes it tougher to bring kids in.  Combine that with the fact that most of the ND "mistique" has vanished over the last 10 years, and you're in for a tough recruiting road.  Kids won't come to ND anymore just for the sake of getting to play at ND.  They want to go somewhere they have a chance to win a championship and get to the NFL.  ND simply isn't that place.  If they were smart, ND would align themselves with a conference so they wouldn't have to play such a brutal schedule year in and year out.

Ty willingham is not only a superb coach, but he is undeniably a superb man. SHame on you notre dame for not giving him teh chance. Yes, they lost some stupid games they shoudl have won, but he beat michigan, he beat Florida State, he beat teams he should never have beaten.

And you know what, lets be honest? The talent on Notre Dame for the most part just sucks. Im sorry Irish fans, it does, the team is just not very good and Ty got every ounce out of them.

Urban Meyer isnt going to have any better luck.

Ty Willingham to Florida!! GO Gators!

I completely agree about Ty.  He was a great coach and a great guy, and probably shouldn't have been let go.  If Meyer wasn't available to them, I highly doubt he would have been canned this year.

However, if there's one thing Meyer is a master of it's getting the absolute most out of his players.  Last year, he took nearly the exact same Utah team Ron McBride coached to a 5-6 record to a 10-2 mark.  He took the same players that everyone called "mediocre", but he installed a completely new attitude and work ethic.  And it worked.  He did the same thing at Bowling Green.  As much as it pains me to say it, I think Meyer is a great fit for ND.

I just wish the timing were better.  Utah has had a history making season, but now the coach that got them there will (most likely) not be coaching the biggest bowl game in school history.  It's unfortunate that it is taking the lustre off such an amazing accomplishment.  I can't help but wonder how much of a distraction this will be to the players trying to prepare for Jan 1.

Yikes..burnout3? I loved #2 but held off getting 3, was going to wait until it was cheap used. Whats wrong with it?

Not a damn thing, imo.  Best arcade racing game ever made.

My experience with Bard's Tale:

-  1 hour:  "Damn, this game is hilarious!  Spot-on voice acting, some funny as hell moments, and a cool combat and summon system.  Exactly like Baldur's Gate:  DA, but with a sense of humor.  This is perfect!"

-  3 hours:  "Y'know, the combat is kind of annoying.  If I'm ever under the scenery I can't see what I'm doing.  But hey, I got a couple new summons and I just laughed my ass off at the 3 goblins having an oompa-loompa moment."

-  6 hours:  "I really wish my character didn't have to go through his entire 8 swing combat animation every time I attack.  It's awfully bothersome if I miss the target.  Aw, shit.  I just died again because I couldn't get the 3 buttons for the healing spell in time.  Would help if my guy ran a little faster so I could actually get away from the guys thumping my head for 2 seconds and cast the spell.  Damn near impossible to do in the middle of a fight.   But the bit about the princess fantasies was pretty funny, and the graphics on the new level look good."

-  9 hours:  "You kidding me?  I fought three levels to the top of this tower, beat the boss, and now I have to fight those same 3 levels back down.  For the second time?  What genius thought of this?   Damn, respawning enemies are just annoying as hell.  The new flute with 3 summons does help, but none of the new summon tunes are that great.  Y'know, I haven't had a laugh in a while.  Wonder if he's going to say anything other than simply being sarcastic."

-  12 hours:  "Oh goodie.  Yet another death as I get swarmed by mobs of enemies and can't get away to cast a healing spell.  And I just spent all my gold on new armor that doesn't make a lick of difference.  And there hasn't been anything funny in the last 3 hours.  And these fed-ex quests are getting really, really old.  Even though I only have 2 chapters left, I think I'm going to trade this one in while it still has a little bit of value left.  And I'm never, ever going to get that 'Oh it's bad luck to be you' song out of my head.  Aaaaaargh!"

Traded.

As a Utah season ticket holder, two words came to mind when I heard Willingham got fired.

Aw.  Shit.

For anyone who doesn't know, his replacement is most likely going to be Utah's Urban Meyer.  Nobody in Salt Lake thought that Urban was going to be here for the long haul, but up until this afternoon, chances looked pretty good that he would stick around for next year.  Especially with the Butch Davis to Florida rumors flying around.  He has a ton of returning talent, a legitimate Heisman candidate in Alex Smith, and another favorable schedule for going undefeated.   However, Notre Dame is one of the 3 schools that he made Utah give him an "opt out" of his contract for (Michigan and Ohio State being the others) when he was hired.  It's his dream job, and I'd be absolutely shocked if he wasn't hired by weeks end.

As much as I've always disliked ND, I'm going to have to begrudgingly root for them with Meyer as the coach.  He's truly a class act and I'm glad he gets the chance to coach at such a major program.  While I wish we could have kept him here, I wish him nothing but the best of luck at ND if he goes.  He put together the most exciting season of football this city has ever seen, and I highly, highly doubt it will ever happen again.  

Kinda like a fling with an uber-hottie, 'twas fun while it lasted.  

I only got through the first 2/3 of the first book before I was bored to tears.  Nothing about his characters or world interested me at all, so I didn't bother to read any further.

Need for Speed Underground 2

I loved the first one. The second one has a terrible implementation of the "free-roaming city" interface in it and it completely ruins the game.

I don't want to drive around for 10 minutes to find a race.. I want to deck out my car and race NOW damnit.

The game completely lost it's "Just one more race" addictive quality and got boring after twenty minutes.

Garbage!

My thoughts as well.

Perfect.  Thanks gents!

I need some fantasy suggestions I can ask stick on my X-mas list.   I know there were a ton recommended here before, but I can't for the life of me remember names & authors.  So start throwing some out.

Read and like:
-  Greg Keyes
-  George R.R. Martin
-  Tolkien
-  Robin Hobb
-  Most Dragonlance
-  Terry Pratchett
-  Terry Goodkind

Read and didn't like:
-  Gene Wolfe
-  Terry Brooks
-  Robert Jordan
-  R.A. Salvatore (didn't really dislike, just not crazy about)
-  Stephen Donaldson (jury's still out.  Halfway through "Lord Foul's Bane" and am pretty bored.  Don't like the Covenant character at all, although I suppose that's the point.)

Any suggestions would be great!

I was just lamenting to Mrs. Gratch yesterday that this will be the first X-mas in 3 years where we can't go see a new LotR.  I think this will make up for it.  

So who else is doing an extended edition back to back to back marathon when this is released?