In!  Thanks for the link, now to hope ground shipping isn't too slow.  I have Gears of War ordered from FamilyVideo (another $44 price) and I wonder how long I'll be sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the mailman.

OK, impressions after 1 hour of play

The character models are much improved but the new girl can't hold a candle to Mia from Most Wanted 

The graphics are improved over MW as far as I can tell but I've only had one race (speed trap), an encounter with a rival car (new for Carbon, it was just a quick point to point race, I'm not sure if there will be other types of encounters later on) and a police pursuit all of which took place at night.  They went heavy with the blues and pinks for the backgrounds in this edition, I'm reminded of the old days before EGA graphics when it seemed those were the only two color choices.  Anyways I thought the graphics were fine with the reservation that I don't really like the cars to be so reflective and shiny.

I normally drive the car using the camera the shows only the hood of the car and the framerate was solid and no hitchs but the same couldn't be said when I switched to the outside view that showed the whole car.  In that mode there seemed to be stuttering when I accelerated, I really don't like that camera view so it isn't a problem for me but if you perfer the full view of the car then it may be an issue.

I'm worried about the new crew gameplay addition,  I'd rather it be about me and my driving skills rather than trying to issue orders to a henchman at just the right moment in order to swing the race my way.  I don't have any real time in on this new feature yet so maybe I'll come around with more races under my belt.  The rest of the game seems to be very similar to MW with area bosses taking the place of the most wanted racers from the previous version.  I can see myself having fun with the game as you still race around town dodging cops and getting better cars which I liked in MW.  I have yet to get to Carbon canyon so no comments on that part of the game.

When you start the game you choose one of three types of cars, Muscle, Exotic or Tuner and you can take each for a quick race to see if that is the style you want to use for your career.  I picked the tuner (Mazda RX-8) but each was fun to drive and I wonder how my choice will affect my upcoming car selections.

It is clear AutoZone and Mazda paid for adverts in the game but they don't bother me that much, if I catch one in the corner of my eye I just give an "eh whatever".  I could use a few less bus stops with the Mazda posters on them since I don't see many buses on the road but these stops are placed every 50 yards of so.  I took a look at the marketplace offerings and have to admit I'm a bit put off by the microtransaction thing, I hope that the packages are available in game if you put in the time to unlock them.  I know the collectors edition won't be and that does bother me as 800 pts for extra tracks and cars is too much IMO. 

Ok enough of my bad grammer for now, I like the core element of the game which seems to be similar to NFS:MW and won't be placing it up for sale any time soon.  EA is now on the wait to see before buying list mostly due to the microtransaction thing. 

Fine Fine I'll just go over into the corner and play with myself. Err Carbon, play Carbon by myself that is. 

I did pick it up yesterday but have not had any time to play till now.  I was hoping for more fun like NFS:MW.  I'd better hurry up so my copy can be sold before jblank hits the trade forum. 

NWN2 and Carbon(360) for me.

And I had to watch this game instead of CBS showing the Indy/Denver game.  I went picture frame shopping with the wife instead.

F@#$ my 360 just gave me the RRoD in the middle of a game..........I am sooooo FRUSTRATED- on top of that I have a game stuck in that it won't let me eject.  Refresh my memory....3 red rings is what?

Hardware failure I think
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907534

Sorry to hear about your continued bad luck, I've had to replace my launch system but the backup has worked so far, where is that fingers crossed icon?

Quick question, will it output over component cables? I have an older HDTV that is missing HDMI imputs.

HDTV is for nerds and people with too much money that buy the best of everything. The average joe knows nothing about resolution output.

HDTV is for people with half a brain who are in the market for a new television.

I'd say HDTV is like DSL or Cable internet access a few years ago.  Many people were saying they wouldn't pay that much for the service when 56k was much cheaper and did the job just fine.  But like high speed internet, once you have HDTV it's hard to imagine going back.

I just hope the camera can be moved back just a bit from the skater.  In the demo I just felt cramped trying to view the skating area and planing where to go next.  I will be a day one purchaser.

Dang it!  Fell for the forum effect again, I kept reminding myself how I felt ripped off by the 06 version yet you guys drag me back for the 07 run.  This had better be good! 

Eh, the original NWN still lags from time to time with max shadows, so that doesn't really surprise me.

I dont think I play a single game with shadows on. When they are on, I barely notice them, they add little to nothing to the graphical quality in my eyes, and they almost uniformly kill system performance. Screw shadows

but but bu... where would the thief hide if the shadows are turned off?    I'd love to play with you guys but working nights hampers my abilities to showup at the right time.  If it works out that I could play and since there are a couple of thiefs already    I'll pay homage to the OO thread on NWN and make a bearish warrior (after IceBear) and have him use a rapier (DArtagnan
) or maybe a druid in bear form wielding a greatsword, yeah that is the ticket!

pm sent

Dark Messiah on the list pending decent reviews, that is all.

Just was checking out Ain't It Cool News -- without spoilers, the reviewer of this week's episode claims that it was the best yet...

I agree with you LSS, Blizzard dosen't make you play WoW they just make you want too  .  I had issues with the tone of the blog just like you did about whose responsibility it was for his actions, I believe it is on him for playing so much, WoW didn't invent the openended MMORPG model, they just put out the most popular version to date.  It is also hard to buy into the "WoW has ruined more lives than any drug" line of reasoning since I have yet to hear of WoW related breakin's, car thefts, bank robberies or even prostitutes out there looking for a WoW game fix in return for certain return favors. 

I can see all his points and I wasn't anywhere near that hooked.  The thing that keeps me from going back to WoW for the most part is health, I gained some weight while playing and stopped riding my bike and doing other physical activities.  Now that I've given up the game, I don't have the easy excuse to avoid working out or doing yard work or cooking etc.  I won't go back to WoW because it did consume far more of my time than I finally could be comfortable with and I see no way to just dabble in the game for an hour or two a week as that would turn into 10 or 15 and keep going up and I'd repeat the cycle all over again.

Glad to hear everything is ok oh and

Did you not click the spoiler tag on page 1?  It sounds like that picture wasn't far off   

Yepper, I think you qualify for a deprived childhood if you didn't have the dump truck.

Bah Lasik is nothing, nothing I say!  Well compared to the two different surgeries I've had on my right eye.  Nothing like telling the wife about waking up as they put the final sitches into the eye (couldn't feel anything much, just a small tugging) as she hates eye stuff  .  I could feel them slide out when the doctor removed them, not too bad really but I was envious of the Lasik patients as they just got some drops and sat in a chair for a few minutes and didn't have sharp tweezers right next to their eye.  I'd do Lasik if I could but I have kerataconus (sp?) in that right eye (hence the surgery(s)) and am not a suitable case. Too bad too since my vision is horrible in both eyes.

Ahh I'll just pick one up when I can as there isn't anything PS3 related I really want atm.   

For sheer ease of use you won't beat a Tivo and you only need the phone line for the initial setup (it will remind you to make a daily call after a month but that won't affect your service).  I believe the series 2 Tivo's can network with your PC's but I only have the HDTivo that lacks that feature.  I wouldn't dream of trying to get my technophobic wife to use a PC based solution as she hates having to deal with computers, the cable company DVR's from what I hear are not as slick as Tivo's but do the same basic job. 

how does it keep the programming up to date with only a once a month connection?

if I use their Wireless Gizmo to connec to my network won't that keep stuff updated?

It downloads the program data from the sats not the phone lines, as far as I can tell only firmware updates come over the phone lines.  I've gone months with the phone line disconnected and never lost any programming data.

For sheer ease of use you won't beat a Tivo and you only need the phone line for the initial setup (it will remind you to make a daily call after a month but that won't affect your service).  I believe the series 2 Tivo's can network with your PC's but I only have the HDTivo that lacks that feature.  I wouldn't dream of trying to get my technophobic wife to use a PC based solution as she hates having to deal with computers, the cable company DVR's from what I hear are not as slick as Tivo's but do the same basic job. 

I guessing that different enrichment processes of different countries leave some kind of 'signature'.

I'd think creating and detonating a nuke would make anonymity nearly impossible.

Also, if you're the mastermind who finally does it, chances are you aren't going to be silent about it.

At work we can tell where certain radioactive equipment comes from based on the isotopic ratios we detect.  I assume the military knows the standard isotopic breakdown of each nations weapons after they test one and from that can tell where it was made.

oh and they have missiles that can hit alaska - the test last month didnt "fail" the rocket went up, flew under power and then went down - come on do you honestly think that when a nation tests long range icbms they let them fly several thousand miles? the big hurdle is getting them up - after that its only a matter of giving them fuel

The U.S. missile test range is many thousands of miles long.  The big hurdle isn't getting them up, enough thrust will do that, the big hurdle is getting them to land where you want them to and the only way to be sure of your guidence systems is to fly them thousands of miles.  From what I've read the N. Korean nuke weapons are very large and in no way capable of being launched as a missile warhead.

[Spoiler]

Big thumbs up from me.

Ali Larter doing a RealPeachez/MelissaMidwest thing earned alot of goodwill from me.  In fact, I'm certain that much of this show was designed with today's pop culture/internet savvy audience in mind.  IE,  the Japanese fetish for scat(obliquely hinted at), the Ogrish type elements of the cheerleader's story,  the handheld video of the jump that played like one of those Toyota truck commercials, stuff like that.  I got a kick out of all that.

 I liked that they leveraged their concept for its best advantage- pacing.   They keep throwing the stories at you and it keeps things from bogging down.

One minor pet peeve, and this is just a preference of mine, is that this show should have a rule that ALL their powers must be represented visually in some way.   

Spoiler for Hiden:

Ali Larter's character did her thing off camera- boo!  Considering how graphic the cheerleader's 'hand down the drain' scene was, why cheese out?  We saw the paintings, we saw the teleporting, we saw the jumping and we saw the flying.   At least rewrite the scene so you can show what happened, that's what I wanted to see.   Unless they are saving her power to be revealed in some kind of shocking scene later, but then it had better be damn good.  If it just turns out that her alter ego did some Matrix type fighting they might as well have shown that now.

Spoiler for Hiden:

But it was on film, the camcorder that was running during the event and she grabbed it on the way out so I expect we may see it some day (soon I hope)

I liked it.

Without clicking on the link first I'm guessing Scarface is #1.

edit:  wow not even close 

Rocket Slime caught my attention so I bought a black DS and the game and had lots of fun with it.  Also Saint's Row where I finished off the Las Carnales  and the hitman stuff.  I managed to complete the escort activity near the airport as well.  Probably going to try to finish off the Vice Kings next.  I'll be looking for some more DS games to add to my collection (currently numbering one atm) as I really like the form factor of the unit and the screens are fantastic.

Truthfully, I "use" Destructor's weekly post.  Seriously.

This ++

Damn I still have a Series 1 with lifetime sub stuffed into my storage cabinet.  I use DirectTv with the HDTivo and it rocks but there is a down side, I live in a smaller market size (#121 in the nation) and D* isn't providing HD locals for us yet and only one channel broadcasts HD OTA.  So I'm stuck with the few D* HD's and CBS OTA.  I don't get ABC,FOX or NBC HD so I miss a lot of HD sports and shows .  No telling when we might get more stuff.  The local cable company has more channels I believe but my wife would kill me if we got rid of the Tivo.

I was watching an episode of Dead like Me on HDnet and they had a promo for Arrested Development being re-aired on the channel.  I'd love to re-watch this in HD so Tivo will be getting another season pass soon.

New gangster on the block and lisn to dis

Ice Ice Baby, Ice Ice Baby
All right stop, Collaborate and listen
Ice is back with my brand new invention
Something grabs a hold of me tightly
Then I flow like a harpoon daily and nightly

That's correct people  Vanilla Ice returns (well really Otter Chaos but hey I'm as white as old Icy there    ).  I'm sure I can rhyme listen and invention too.

Well all the good buzz about this show and I've never seen one episode so I figure I'll troll the waters and see if anyone is looking to clear out some shelf space before I go to ebay or amazon.

Well the first week on November is looking wallet walloping with Forza 2 (steering wheel as well?), COD3, Guitar Hero 2, Gears of War all on my list.  Not much in between now and then  but I'm sure something(s) will catch my eye(cash).

I do remember playing UO it seems even before PK'ing got it's start.  Back then I'd hunt birds for feathers or chop down trees for hours, only to lose it all when the server reset back 4 hours, that was too frustrating for me to stick around long enough for the stability issues to be fixed.

Am I missing a link to the front page from the forums?  I usually hit the forums first and then link to the home page but I don't see any hotspot that allows for that.

I really like Tim's Jalapeno chips :


Kettle crunchy and nice n' spicy!

If I'm not in the mood for spicy chips, I'll take regular Lay's BBQ...yum.

Nth, I just went out and bought those.  I love hot and spicy food and these chips were excellent!  Recommended!!

Then track these down!

Imagine how much could be found if we could get past the earth's crust and into the mantle.

I really like Tim's Jalapeno chips :


Kettle crunchy and nice n' spicy!

Hell. Yes.

gellar

Tim's makes the best chips, no doubt about it.  I like the plain old variety best, but they're all good.

Put me down for the regular Tim's as well.  I brought home the Habanero version that were very hot and got quite a laugh when my wife grabbed a few to try! And I got to eat the rest of the bag myself.  On a side note I've  just started to put the chips on my turkey sandwich as well, adds a nice crunch.

Fantastic!  Thanks for the link