A World of Warcraft player’s primer to Star Wars: The Old Republic’s advanced classes, part 1

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s (SWTOR) is in full swing, and for many of you, that means a chance to hop into BioWare’s sprawling massively multiplayer masterpiece alongside fellow defenders of freedom and chokers of Imperial subordinates. However, for the ambivalent World of Warcraft (WoW) hero, taking the leap into a galaxy far, far away can be a daunting task.

The decision of which advanced class to play can be as difficult as finding a Wookiee in a wig shop, but don’t freak out. These advanced classes, unlocked at level 10, are what define your mere Bounty Hunter as a flame-wielding torch of Republic misery or a sensitive tech-lover hellbent on healing. We’ve put together some brief descriptions of each advanced class’ functionality in comparison to WoW starting with the stalwart Republic. Note that this guide doesn’t chart effectiveness but rather provides a general overview of how similar playstyle mechanics feel between both games. 

Just like a certain whiny Tatooine farmboy learned, the choice ultimately resides entirely within your power – but at least you won’t have to endure through an unnecessarily long emo-stare into the sunset to realize that.

Jedi Knight

Continuing his unmatched reign as winner of the “most likely to strike a heroic pose on a movie poster” award, the Jedi Knight offers a no-frills approach to the art of bashing things silly with oversized glowsticks. Using a Focus resource system akin to the Rogue’s combo points, the Knight’s playstyle centers around a Wampa-sized pile of in-your-face melee combat aided by brief dips into the Force.

Guardian
Protection and Arms Warriors, meet your destiny. Specializing as a Guardian – specifically, the Defense talent tree – means “willingly stepping into harm’s way” is your idea of a relaxing hobby. You’ll access abilities closely mirroring the classic tanking repertoire of Charge, Taunt, and Sunder Armor along with a few surprises sprinkled in – Force Exhaustion, for example, deals damage over time while progressively slowing down a foe to a crawl. A sizable chunk of defensive cooldowns makes the Guardian well-equipped to thumb his nose at whatever hurtles his way.

Want more damage? Pour your talent points into the Vigilance tree. Much like Arms, your one-handed attacks get souped up at the expense of protection, although your retention of heavy armor still offers considerable fortitude. Dig the Burning Blade and Plasma Brand talents which augments some of your attacks with additional burning damage.

Sentinel
The Sentinel considers the notion of restraint so 20 parsecs ago. Wearing medium armor and dual-wielding two lightsabers, this specialization boils down its role into cutting down the poor fool at the end of your blades as fast as possible. Fury Warriors will fawn over the Sentinel’s multiple methods of dispensing flurries of acrobatic melee attacks with stacking bonuses to armor penetration and critical strike. Journey up the Combat tree for loads of helpful boosts to your output, culminating with the almighty Blade Rush – a devastating triple-strike combo. Alternatively, the Watchman tree offers a similar focus to damage-over-time (DoT) bonuses as the Guardian’s Vigilance tree.

Jedi Consular

Slightly more cerebral than his flailing counterpart, the Jedi Consular knows the intricacies of balance and self-mastery – and how to chuck a floating rock into someone’s face really well. Both the Sage and Shadow specializations primarily rely on a Force pool (similar to mana) for their abilities, but that’s where the similarities end.

Sage
Sure, the Sage sounds like something embossed on a pompous librarian’s business card. Picking this specialization, however, sits you squarely in the domain of the ranged spellcaster. Heading up the Telekinetics tree offers equal effectiveness to a Fire Mage with powerful, long-casting or channeled nuking abilities laden with enough flashy effects to send even the most hardy Industrial Light & Magic engineer aflutter. Don’t renege your potent crowd-control (CC) skills along the way; Force Lift and Force Stun works wonders for culling challenging dungeons and group quests. 

Nabbing the Balance tree’s talents transforms the Sage into an efficient healer, mixing single-target and group health restoration duties with colorful damage absorption bubbles not unlike the Discipline Priest’s Power Word: Shield. Check out the nifty Rescue: it yanks an ally to safety while simultaneously lowering his or her threat – if that doesn’t help hammer home the MMO golden rule of “don’t stand in fire,” then little else will.

Shadow
Playing a Shadow is sort of like participating in a political debate: If cornered, muttering a mysterious one-liner and disappearing in a surge of energy is your best bet. As the name implies, the Shadow keeps to the…well, shadows, pimping out with a double-bladed saber staff and employing stealth for advantageous mobility. Assassination Rogues should be nodding in recognition at the Infiltration tree’s emphasis on stealth, positional attacks, and massive burst damage helped along by Shadow Strike, your bread-and-butter backstab.

Those seeking a fresh perspective on tanking should give the Kinetic Combat tree a whirl. Its emphasis on mitigation and dodge imitates the Blood Death Knight’s playstyle – an observation especially prevalent with Force Pull, an ability exactly like Death Grip. And if anything, you’ll be the proud user of a tree that sounds like a Nickelodeon educational game show.

Smuggler

If you’re wondering why that rocky outcropping is continually lamenting about its stolen ship, chances are you’ve stumbled upon a Smuggler hard at work. He brings the pew-pew from afar by using Rogue-like Energy and taking cover behind objects (or just crouching down), thus lowering damage received and enabling access to long-range shots.

Gunslinger
You’re in for a special kind of warm, fuzzy feeling when delivering a friendly “hey, there” via the red-hot muzzles of a pair of blaster pistols. Like the Marksmanship Hunter, the Gunslinger specialization mixes quick, instant shots with inductive abilities thematically similar to Aimed Shot. Plunking points into the Sharpshooter tree hulks up your shots with faster cast times and more demolishing critical strikes.

For appeasement of your inner Demoman, set your sights on the Saboteur tree. DoTs and grenade buffs galore beckon your points like an unencrypted credit safe; Incendiary Grenade, for instance, immolates enemies with a napalm AoE thrown from cover’s comfy confines – just the ticket for Explosive Shot-happy Survival Hunters. Maniacal cackle optional.

Scoundrel
Although the Smuggler’s trustworthy mainstay is the almighty pistol, he nevertheless won’t balk about shortening the gap for a more personalized tussle. Specializing as a Scoundrel (figuratively, of course) will have you strapping on a stealth belt for surprising enemies with the gentle love tap of a sucker punch right in the gut. The Scrapper tree advertises a risky yet rewarding style of play: sneak in, ravage an unfortunate soul with Back Blast, then dance the melee tango with careful management of costly short-range strikes. The Feral Druid’s absolutism on nailing that initial burst damage out of stealth is as crucial a requirement for the Scoundrel’s cocksure grin to see the light of another day.

Of course, the Scoundrel takes every advantage he gets, and that typically includes fixing up his fellow buddies with healing medpacs boosted by the Sawbones tree. Its periodic healing ability improvements echo the Druid’s Restoration tree, even rubbing shoulders against Wild Growth with the AoE Kolto Cloud.

Trooper

Heavy armor, heavy guns, and empty skulls – that’s the Trooper’s mantra. (Maybe not the last part.) Helping him reinforce that tenet is an arsenal worthy of a first-person shooter protagonist’s jealousy: cannons, grenades, arc projectors, and several other remorseless pieces of metal. The payoff is a combination of durability and a withering amount of firepower.

The Trooper uses a bar filled with 12 steadily refilling Energy Cells that are spent on attacks and abilities. If you exhaust your entire bar, you’ll have to wait a moment while “reloading” more Energy Cells before carrying on.

Commando
Remember that climactic scene from Terminator 2 in which Arnie turns a parking lot into Swiss cheese with a minigun? Yeah, that’s the Commando. Consider the Gunnery tree as the end result of a Warlock getting his hands on a mammoth laser cannon. Using a single, pivotal debuff to work with – Grav Round – Commandos increasingly crush their target’s armor before saying “hasta la vista” with a mega-shot coup de grace.

Taking the Combat Medic tree offers quick, single-target heals with a chance to increase efficiency, a niche similarly filled in WOW by the Holy Paladin. If multiple allies need healing in a pinch, toss a Kolto Bomb their way – yes, that means bombs filled with healing gases. Don’t ask me how that works.

Vanguard
For the Vanguard specialization, getting shot and bludgeoned is just good business. The abuse he takes just means less pressure on their allies. Coupled with the natural movement advantage of being at range, the Vanguard’s playstyle offers an interesting approach to the typically melee dominated task of keeping the enemy’s attention squarely on themselves.

The Protection Paladin closely resembles the Vanguard’s absorption-oriented Shield Specialist tree that holds the line with AoE threat generation abilities similar to Consecrate and Avenger’s Shield. Your mitigation stems from superpowered shields shrugging off damage while your pour on the punishment through grenades and sheets of laser fire.

Spending points in the Tactics tree turns the Vanguard into a zippy front-line combatant capable of armor-penetrating strikes and DoT effects, an ability arsenal Retribution Paladins know well. Lastly, the Vanguard’s heavy armor gives groups a second wind via a backup tank in case things go awry.

Check back tomorrow as we turn to the dark side with part 2 of this guide focusing on the Empire’s specializations. As always, if you have thoughts or experiences to share, leave ‘em in the comments.

Games of 2012 – Diablo III

Not since Quake Test have so many played such a small chunk of such an exciting game for so long. The first two Diablo games mixed the compulsive character progression of an RPG with the reactive combat of an action game, and Diablo III refines both. It’s going to be the drug of choice for the addiction-prone PC gamer in 2012. And we know this because we’re playing the same small chunk of it – a modest beta version – over and over again.

Interestingly, though, it’s not quite the same chunk each time we play it. Not just because of some randomised side quests and environments, but because we’re getting to see Blizzard revise and overhaul the game as it gets closer to completion. Quite drastically, it turns out.

Until recently, one of the five classes you can choose from was rather underwhelming. The crossbow-based Demon Hunter had a few fun abilities, but she felt much more vulnerable than the other classes, without any extra damage output to make up for it. But as Blizzard shuffle skills around, changing damage percentages and the order in which they unlock, they’ve given the Demon Hunter some much-needed muscle.

Skeletons aren't very good at playing Just Dance.

An early Demon Hunter skill called Impale is now powerful enough to give her an edge: it’s a fast, high-damage projectile with almost no cooldown. It makes the Demon Hunter an assassin: with a full reserve of her main resource, Hatred, she can fire a flurry of these in rapid succession to cut down a boss monster brutally fast.

Soon after, she unlocks Rapid Fire. It’s a torrent of arrows that costs a chunk of Hatred to start, but is relatively cheap to sustain if you keep holding the button down. It gives her a satisfying crowd control ability, and adds an interesting layer of strategy: often it’s more costefficient to keep firing between groups of enemies than to stop and restart.

Between them, they define the role of the Demon Hunter better than before: she’s the only class for whom it’s cheap to take out single bosses, but costly to deal with crowds.

Thedemon hunter is fuelled by Discipline and Hatred. Aren't we all?

There’s also been a universal change in Blizzard’s take on how customising your character should work. Previously, you could switch between any and all skills you have access to, at any time. You had limited slots, but there was nothing to stop you putting something else in them midcombat. Now, you can only do that at Altars of Nephalem, stones found in town and at major checkpoints.

The previous system was pretty ridiculous, in terms of the potential exploits, but it also feels needlessly awkward now to trek back to town every time you want to tweak your build – why not just let us change skills any time we’re not in combat?

The general combat balance of Diablo III makes it magnificently fun: you butcher and frazzle enemies in seconds, and every skill feels ferociously powerful. But that did make it conspicuously easy. In the new beta, your powers are still devastating, but more of the monsters you encounter are vicious too. The Wizard finally feels vulnerable when mobbed, and death is no longer unheard of.

The zombies have been taking sartorial advice from Dr Manhattan.

The best of the difficulty tweaks do more than rebalance the numbers. Some boss monsters now have the ability to spawn floating points of purple light that fire out a beam of death that rotates around them. In frighteningly short order, you can find yourself surrounded by deadly clockfaces, dashing to avoid their swinging hands. They’re one of the few things in Diablo that force you to manoeuvre precisely in order to stay alive, and I’ve died at least once every time the bastard things crop up. They’re brilliant.

It’s a bit of a pain that you have to connect to Blizzard’s servers even to play singleplayer, but if they continue to tweak the algorithms and add new features like this after launch, it may be worth it. Particularly in a randomised game, encountering something you didn’t know existed is a great experience.

Skirt or no skirt, the Demon Hunter kicks monster butt.

Replaying it so many times has revealed an interesting difference in the way your character develops compared with the previous games. Almost everything, even the magical spells you cast as a Wizard, depends entirely on the weapon in your hands. When I fire an Arcane Orb, a glowing magical projectile that explodes on impact, the damage it does to the zombies across the room is a function of how sharp the sword in my hands is.

It’s a strange idea, but a good game mechanic: it means equipment is equally important to all classes, so Wizards can get as excited about loot as Barbarians do. It also means that if your character is struggling to keep up with the monsters, a trip to the blacksmith will usually fix it.

The formula is still evolving, and it’s exciting to see Blizzard work so fast. Diablo III is already slicker and more satisfying than any other action RPG out there; it’s almost scary to think how good it’s going to be next year.

Sony: Vita Has Biggest Launch Lineup In PlayStation History

Yeah, you gotta have the games if you want a new piece of hardware to succeed. Sony appears to have finally learned that lesson.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that the PlayStation Vita will enjoy "the biggest and best launch lineup across the history of PlayStation platforms." This will include recognizable, popular franchise names and promising new IPs.

The press release says Sony's new handheld "has the full development support of the gaming industry, including SCE Worldwide Studios and all third-party publishers." All in all, this will result in no less than 25 available titles on the first day of the Vita's availability. Featured on that expansive list are the likes of Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Wipeout 2048, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, ModNation Racers: Road Trip, Little Deviants, and more.

Pricing for Vita software ranges between $9.99 and $49.99; they'll be available via PS Vita game cards at retail stores or digitally via the PSN. Said SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton:

"PlayStation Vita is the ultimate portable gaming device, offering all of the interface, controls and social connectivity that gamers have been dreaming about to deliver unsurpassed entertainment and completely new ways to play. PS Vita features the most extensive launch lineup in PlayStation's history, and there are more than 100 games in development, ensuring that PS Vita gamers will always have a steady stream of amazing titles at their fingertips."

The release finished by saying the Vita "is unmatched by any other mobile device in the market." With the 5-inch OLED mult-touch screen, rear touch pad, dual analog sticks, dual cameras, and the Sixaxis motion sensing system, it's one hell of an advanced unit. Don't forget that the Vita will also interact with compatible titles on the PlayStation 3; it's one of the most appealing features.

DUST 514 Private Beta Kicks Off Soon

It's exclusive to the PlayStation 3, and it's by far one of the largest, most ambitious projects of the generation.
So don't you want to be involved in the early testing? As revealed at the EVE Online website, anticipatory gamers can now sign up for the closed beta for CCP's DUST 514. Remember, the latter is a massive extension of EVE Online.

It's called "DUST 514: Mordu's Private Trials," and it's a private beta test for a select group. Right now, registration is only available to "active subscribers of EVE Online;" those lucky individuals will get preferential treatment in the beta selection process. And rightfully so, wouldn't you say? Those are the EVE veterans, so they'd be able to spot any issues with relative ease. So basically, this is incentive to sign up for the community and get yourself a spot in the beta.

If you don't feel like doing that, then just wait for the next beta phase where the developers will allow more participants. No idea when that will be, but we're hoping it's not long after the closed beta is complete.

Resident Evil 4 HD Now with English Subtitles

Zero233 has found a method to change Resident Evil 4 subtitles to English. Before this method the game could only be played with English audio and the rest in Japanese. This will prove appealing to some.

To Quote:

first off, thanks to ray13j for the idea. i can confirm it works

this game can now be played with english subtitles. all that is needed is the US save data of the game so heres what you do.

1. download the US save data from here:
Code: [Check Download Links]
Resident Evil 4 HD Save Game Files for PlayStation 3 - GameFAQs
2. copy the save to a usb (or use ftp) and start up multiman on your ps3 and go to the file manager

3. on the left side navigate to your usb drive and then to the save and on the right side navigate to dev_hdd0/home/0000000X (the X is for your profile id, so it will be different) /savedata/NPJB00084-JPN-000

4. copy everything except for the PARAM.SFO from your usb to that directory.

5. load a game from multiman, and launch resident evil from the XMB. the opening will still be in japanese but the in game subs will be in english!!!
first english fix for this game i have seen anywhere

Source: PS3News

Download

Thanks to Tranced for the news update!!

CobraUSB Firmware v4.0

The team behind the CobraUSB has announced today the release of their latest dongle firmware, version 4.0. New to this version, is the ability to play PSP games in ISO format. Although still being worked on, and not being able to save yet; it is reported that some games are at least running at full speed. Also updated is the new version cobraflash, which will be more secure than the previous version.

04 - 10 - 2011

Cobra Firmware v4.0

- Added initial support to play PSP games in iso format. Please read the user manual for instructions.
The emulator is not perfect and it currently fails in saving/loading data, but there are several games playable at full speed. We've fixed some bugs in the emulator, and it loads now more games that it originally did. In the future, we will continue to improve the compatibility of the emulator and fix the savedata issue.

- A new version of cobraflash has been released, and is required to install firmware 4.0, that uses a new format. You can find it in the download section. Drivers remain the same, there is no need to update them.
New update format is more secure against bad writes, and it will be compatible with cobra updater for PS3 which will be released along with firmware 4.1.

True Blue Official Site Opens

Seems profits are definitely churning over for the True Blue team. Recently they have launched their own website to provide easier access to news, patch lists and frequently asked questions for the games requiring the True Blue dongle. However game patches are not linked on their site due to obvious reasons.

For those of you who are new to the scene. The True Blue dongle allows the playing of games requiring firmware 3.6+ on systems running custom firmware 3.55. You will need to use their version of custom firmware 3.55 and the True Blue dongle accompanied by modified/patched EBOOT's for the games you want to run.

Source: truebluejb2.com

Proudly brought to you by PSX-Scene's Tranced! News to a T!

True Blue Dongle Cloned - JB King

Here is something that comes as no surprise. It seems the True Blue team has some competition with a soon to be released clone of their dongle called JB King. However looking at the feature list suggests that this dongle will, for now I hope, only have older features such as running games from the "special" Blu Ray discs. (Although the flash ad on their website suggests differently and also the HDD icon in the backup manager.) I have contacted them in hopes of getting more information so watch this space for updates.

To Quote:

PS3 JB-King Dongle:
Unlock the true potential of your PS3 with JB-King Dongle---keep your PS3 on a homebrew enabled custom fireware,while at the same time enjoying the latest and most popular PS3 games

• JB-King introduction:
• Booting of games from v3.6+ (up to v3.73) from special BD-R discs available from official resellers
• Runs games up to v3.56 from HDD in conjunction with ´backup managers´
• Does not require the Power/Eject trick
• Custom v3.55 Dongle firmware behaves like OFW when ´JB-King´ is not inserted
• Manufactured from highest grade components and Actel based
• Durable and high quality plastic case design
• Tough and durable plastic packaging
• Further features to be added as they are developed
• Supports Fat and Slim consoles currently running any firmware up to v3.55
• And any PS3 console which can be downgraded from v3.6+ to v3.55 (NOTE: Requires other tools, ´JB-King´ currently can’t downgrade a Console)
• Supports all regions of consoles
• Supports all regions of ISO´s to be released
• Rock solid crystal oscillator on board for flawless timing
• The ´JB-King´ dongle allows booting of the latest the ISO´s (3.6+) from special BD-R discs which can be purchased from all official resellers.
• The discs can be burned by any BD-R recorder and there are no special requirements on either PC or BD burner types.

No Paper Manuals For Vita Games?

People are cracking open new Vita games in Japan already, and it seems there are no paper manuals; they're digital. Is this the case for all Vita titles...?

The first step towards fully digitizing video games is to ditch the paper manual.

This has already been done by some publishers, but it's still a rarity. Most times, when you purchase a game from a retail store, it comes with a paper copy of the instruction manual.

But times are changing fast and according to an Andriasang report, it appears that no PlayStation Vita games will come with a paper manual. They know Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom won't have one and another Japanese source, Inside Games, got their hands on a Vita retail copy and again, no paper manual. It seems all manuals will be included in digital format, although we can't say for certain just yet.

It could just be a coincidence that the few games we've seen don't have paper manuals, but some are thinking this isn't just a trend, and that it will apply to all Vita games. I'm not quite as annoyed over this as I am over the loss of the box itself but even so, I'm definitely gonna miss my manuals.

SCEA On Sorcery: "More Hardcore Than Most Motion Games"

It's exactly what the big-time gamers wanted to hear. Sony says Sorcery is all about great precision and the kind of gameplay ardent fans will love.

It's the word avid gamers want applied to the PlayStation Move: hardcore. Sony promised such software for their new motion-sensing hardware, after all.

SCEA Santa Monica creative director Brian Upton told IndustryGamers that quite frankly, Sorcery proves Move's superiority to the Wii and Microsoft's Kinect.

Not only is it very precise, but the gameplay should appeal to all the hardcore gamers out there. Said Upton:
"What we're trying to do with this... it's more hardcore than most motion games are. Most motion games are intended to be very, very casual. They have an almost Simon Says quality to them. We wanted something that would appeal to a more hardcore audience and would have depth and complexity. So we wanted to make it more interesting for the hardcore but still make it easy enough that the average Move owner – who may have bought it as a casual gaming system – can still play the game."

Upton went on to say that the team wanted to show "how much gameplay you could get out of really tight motion control." In other words, the different control nuances will require you to learn and practice; therefore, skilled gamers will benefit from that knowledge, and it's not just about knowing how to flick your wrist. Upton describes Sorcery as a "skill-based motion control game," which in our ears sounds significant. He finished:

"I think this title does an excellent job of showing what makes Move a better and different system than other motion controls that are out there. It's tighter, it's cleaner, it's more precise – I don't think you could do a game like this on either Kinect or Wii. I don't think technically they'd be able to support this kind of gameplay."

FCC Filing Confirms Ceramic White PS3 For North America

Sony hasn't announced it, but that's okay: they have filed with the FCC to bring the sleek Ceramic White PS3 to North America! Isn't the black and white contrast pretty?

We figured it might happen eventually, but as Sony has stayed mute on the issue, we couldn't really say it was confirmed. However, thanks to recent filings at the Federal Communications Commission, it seems the move is inevitable: Sony will be releasing the Ceramic White PlayStation 3 in North America.

The system has been available in Japan since last November; the 40GB White PS3 comes with a white DualShock 3 controller, too, and retails for 39,980 yen. According to GamesIndustry.biz, a letter from Sony Japan proves that the machine was submitted to the FCC and the American Telecommunications Certification Body in October of last year, requesting "short-term confidentiality to avoid premature release of sensitive information prior to marketing or release of the product to the public." Yeah, well, so much for keeping all that "sensitive information" private. Sony still hasn't made this official, but they sure didn't file this for their health.

All that's left now is an actual release date. Wouldn't it be interesting if that sleek new Ceramic White PS3 launched at the same time as Grand Theft Auto IV or Metal Gear Solid IV? Or, better yet, it comes packaged with Gran Turismo 5 some time down the road? Oh, the possibilities!

New PS3 Starter Pack Hits Europe Tomorrow

If you missed out on the Resistance/MotorStorm Starter Pack, Mr. Euro Gamer, than you can't possibly pass up the Uncharted/Ratchet and Clank Future Pack, now can you?

While we're still waiting on an official reply concerning the possible discontinuation of the 80GB PS3 and the introduction of a new model with a giant hard drive and Dual Shock 3, European gamers should get a nice surprise tomorrow.

According to Sony Computer Entertainment's vice-president for Spain and Portugal, James Armstrong, a brand new Starter Pack is scheduled to arrive at European retail stores tomorrow, January 31. The original starter pack that became available in the region included Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm, and this one includes the two latest Sony-published titles- Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, which are arguably the two best PS3 games of 2007. It also comes with two Sixaxis controllers (no word on the Dual Shock 3). However, while the previous Starter Pack included the now-discontinued 60GB PS3, this one is going to feature the 40GB model.

The new Pack will cost 499.99 Euros, which means you're definitely going to get your money's worth. We know there are plenty of Euro gamers out there who don't yet have a PS3, and this would be your best option to date. Hey, two games you're definitely going to want come right in the box, along with two controllers! What more could you want?

Incognito Announces Warhawk Paint Scheme And Insignia Contest

Here's your chance to get your very own designs into Warhawk! This contest is open to all eligible U.S. players, and you can submit new paint schemes and insignias.

Warhawk was one of the best games of 2007 and remains one of the most entertaining online experiences anybody can have. It also helps that Incognito is always looking to improve that experience, and they're taking a new approach to fan interaction by announcing the Paint Scheme and Insignia Contest for U.S. players!

Dylan Jobe, the game's director, posted up all the information, including the rules and guidelines, today. He starts off by mentioning that patch 1.3 is on the way, and it will include these Player-created insignias and paint schemes for use with aircraft and character customization. The submission deadline is February 15, 2008, so all you would-be designers and artists out there need to get moving! Jobe and the rest of the team will be judging all submissions, and they will select 50 new insignias and 20 new paint schemes as the winners. If one of your creations is accepted, it will be included in that Warhawk 1.3 update, and you will also receive a limited edition Warhawk statue from Gentle Giant Studios.

All the information you'll need is in that blog post, but you can also visit the PlayStation site, and remember to send your submissions to Playstation_community_support@playstation.sony.com. Good luck all!

Target PS3 Bundle Deal For Australia

It's probably the best PS3 promotional deal to date for Aussie gamers: the 40GB PS3, an extra Sixaxis controller, and copies of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Heavenly Sword, all for AU$779!

Maybe Santa didn't bring you gamers down under what you really wanted this past Christmas. Maybe you were hoping for a shiny new PlayStation 3 and a couple new games, and now, you're a little concerned about the total cost of purchasing the PS3, an extra controller, and a couple games. Most people want at least that with a new console, right?

Well, according to Kotaku, we suggest you check out Target. This picture here says it all: the promotional bundle for Australia will include a 40GB PS3, an extra Sixaxis controller, and one copy each of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Heavenly Sword, and you can get it all for AU$779. If you bought it all piecemeal, your total would normally be over AU$880, which means you'll be saving at least AU$100. Considering the PS3 is more expensive in Australia than just about anywhere else, this deal should be a sight for sore eyes. We're not sure how long the promotion will last, though, so we suggest you move quickly if you wish to take advantage.

We'd love to see something like this come to North America. Europe is getting a similar deal with the new Starter Pack, but how come we're left out in the cold? Oh well, we suppose that PAL regions deserve some special treatment, especially considering all the software they've missed out on in recent years. Why shouldn't they get some deals like this?

Spent a month away from the PS3

For no particular reason I have not played a PS3 game for about a month.  I fired it up yesterday and played enough inFamous to earn a trophy [number 311].  Then I switched to FIFA11 and discovered something wrong with the career mode that I was playing.  I'm not sure what is up with it unless I forgot the way I left it the last time I played it.  Not so happy with that.

I'm trying to sell an old PS3 on Craigslist.  Not much luck with that.

The PS3 does have a function to transfer data from an old machine to a new machine that works very well.  I used it when I upgraded my PS3 a couple of months ago. 

300 trophies

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I've finally earned 300 trophies.  The big push was from inFAMOUS.  I beat the game [tons of fun] earning a bunch of trophies along the way.   Right now I'm doing some trophy hunting in the game, trying to pick up some easy ones.

The next game I'm going to play a lot of is COD:MW2.  I've beat it once but had started playing through on a harder difficulty in order to earn some extra trophies.  I'm going to pick up where I left off and hopefully be able to beat it again.  If I'm able to make it through on the harder difficulty I may try to finish COD:WAW for the second time.

My two free games from PSN

I picked inFAMOUS and Dead Nation from the list of five games that PSN is giving away as a way to say sorry for the outage.  So far between the two games I have amassed 14 new trophies all but one is bronze though.  With these additions I have run my total trophies up to 269.

I thoroughly enjoy inFAMOUS and once complete will probably play through again with an evil character in order to see the game from that perspective.

Dead Nation might be a different story.  I like the game but I'm not sure about the re-playability of it.  Game play is a look down 3rd person view, of which I'm not a big fan.  I do like the scary atmosphere that the game has, it can startle you when a group of zombies come out of the fog when you are not expecting it.

PSN returns

After several weeks the PSN has returned to the suffering masses.  What did everyone do while the PSN was down?

I for one replaced my PS3 with a newer model.  I did play some offline games.  But not a ton.  I spent some time reading books from the library.  I read a couple of Heinlein novels I had never read.  As well as a couple of Spider Robinson books.

I have not personally been logged into the PSN so I don't know if any of my friends have moved their trophy count higher.  I'll look into that in a day or two.

PSN outage

The other day I tried to log-in to the PSN via the website to check my trophy totals against my friends.  I could not.  It seems Sony has taken the PSN offline due to "an external intrusion."   In other words they have been hacked.  And at this point we don't know when the PSN will be back up.

So far not a huge inconvenience for me as my PS3 is out of commission. 

My PS3 is dead

Ok it is several years old now.  But it looks amazing.  However it doesn't power on.

Bummer.

Time to see if I can fix it.  I did fix a couple of PS2.  One was mine and the other was a friends. 

Just as I was starting to play the first Uncharted game.  Oh and I'm up to 201 trophies.

I've hit 150 trophies

I noticed a PSN friend attempting to catch my trophy total.  Ok I'm not sure that he is really trying to catch me but I will not let him catch up with me.  I've added a couple of quick FIFA 2009 trophies and I've made plans to purchase the new FIFA Soccer 11.  And I have gone back to playing the campaign in Call of Duty:Black Ops so I've picked up a couple of trophies there as well. 

My new goal is 200 trophies. 

Trophy total has hit 120

Between Guitar Hero 5 , The Godfather II and NBA 2K10 I've added 15 trophies to my ever increasing total.  I've placed some good distance between myself and my PSN friends.

One of my PSN friends may be plotting a come back so I will have to keep an eye on him.  And not spend to much time playing Call of Duty.

Where has the time gone?

I'll tell you where.  Call of Duty:Black Ops.

I am very much addicted to playing online.

I need help.  Maybe an intervention. 

Forget about earning trophies.  I must work to improve my K/D ratio.

Prestige once....not enough....Prestige twice....still not enough.

I think I need a new headset so I can communicate with my teammates....we have to win!!!!

Disk no longer needed for Netflix on the PS3

Not that having to use a disk to watch movies through my PS3 was a deal breaker.  But I am glad that I don't have to swap out disks any more.  Just last week Netflix made the announcement that you could stream movies without swapping a game disk out and replacing it with the Netflix disk. The download was pretty quick and the install was quick as well.

I opened up a movie real quick and it worked fine.  Nice job to Netflix and PS on this one.

Pushed my trophy total to 92

My efforts of trophy domination have not let up.  I've switched games again.  This time to Burnout:Paradise.  I have earned 13 trophies so far.  There are several that are pretty easy to earn.  I've systematically been trying to earn them by focusing my efforts on the different ways to earn trophies.  

I've enjoyed playing the game so far but I'm thinking of switching games again to earn some more easy trophies.  I have not picked out a game yet.

I'm also going to try to add a few more people to my PSN friend list but I'm going to try to be somewhat selective by making sure they are close to my trophy totals.  Although adding someone with a huge trophy total might make me a little bit more competitive...not that I need that.

More trophies

  Since I've started playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance I've added 19 more trophies to my collection.  I have created that gap I wanted between myself and my online nemesis.  I played through the game on the easiest level and have started paying through again on a more difficult level hoping to pick up some of the trophies that I might have missed the first time through.

Right now I have 79 trophies to my name.  I hope to increase this number significantly by the end of the month.

Trophy laggard

So I've owned a PS3 for over two years and I only have 67 trophies.  I think I spend to much time playing COD online.  On a whim I played Little Big Planet the other night and made a friend while online.  They had 69 trophies.  Upon noticing this I felt a competitive rush surge through my Mountain Dew infused body [no it wasn't the caffeine.]  At that moment I knew that I had to crush my new friend's trophy total.

I started by looking at my trophy collection and determining which games I would have the best opportunity to earn several trophies in a short time.  Reading through the Little Big Planet's trophy list I decided, based on the description, I could knock out a few really quick. By the end of the night I earned three new trophies and had passed my new online nemesis.  That was my first goal.  The next goal is to put a sizable gap between us.

After further analysis of my game collection and available trophies, I decided that beginning tomorrow would start playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance. 

COD:MW2 Prestige

I've been sitting at level 70 for several month, unwilling to give up all the hard earned weapons and equipment.  This weekend I've decided to bite the bullet and prestige.  Oh how I miss my favorite weapons and attachments.  I have not had a long kill streak all weekend.  I did, however, have my longest win streak.  My prior long win streak was 10 and my current best win streak is 13.  I don't know if that has anything to do with prestige or not but I'm glad to have increased it. 

PS3 version 3.40

Last night after volleyball on the beach and a quick shower I headed to the basement where the PS3 resides. I fired it up and loaded MW2 only to discover that Sony required me to do a system update. So being the loyal PS3 owner I ran the system update. At the time I had no idea why there was an update waiting to install.

Probably the biggest new feature is the Playstation Plus premium online service. I'm not sure that $49.99 per year for cross game chat, some exclusive demos and trials, and access to the Qore premium video series is worth it. But I'm sure some people will take advantage of it. The beach bum in me says save the $50 for something else. A new game perhaps.

Other features include a beefed up Facebook on PS3, the ability to upload pictures and video to select sites on the Internet.

Not entirely impressed.  I would rather see the ability to switch users within a game.  Instead of having to reload a game that another users had been playing.  But that's me.

MW2 kill streak still at 20

I can't seem to get past 20.  I've set me kill streak rewards to Harrier, chopper gunner and nuke.  I've been having trouble getting to the Harrier kill streak.  I have not earned it in the past week.

FYI, yes I'm still obsessed with this game.

PSN down?

Wow...this sucks.  My PS3 doesn't connect to PSN.  Initially I thought that my PS3 had a big problem.  I did some research and discovered that PSN is down.  It has something to do with the date on my PS3.  So now I can't play my current favorite Modern Warfare 2.  So I guess I'll play a little Fallout 3.

.

I Just Won 20 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

I Just Won 20 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

Modern Warfare 2 trailer

MW2 kill streak

I've been playing COD:MW2 online quite a bit recently. I'm not the best player in the world so my best kill streak had been sitting at eight. Not real great but not the worst I've seen either.

Yesterday I was playing the Domination game online. The point of this game is for your team to capture and hold the three flags on the map. You team earns points based on the number of flags held until one team earns a total of 200 points. I selected my sniper class where I use the Intervention sniper rifle as the primary weapon and a shotgun as the secondary weapon. I started out very slow and died six times in a row. That's when I got going.

My first kill was a long shot that took out a sniper on the other team. I was moving around some wrecked vehicle near one of the flags that my team was holding. I noticed two guys moving towards the flag, since they were still pretty far away I was able to take them out with my sniper rifle. I then called in a UAV which enabled my team to see where on the map the enemy team is located. With the UAV up I saw another enemy moving towards the same flag but he was pretty close so I switched to the shotgun and pumped to rounds into him. Earlier I had set a claymore mine at the flag. And someone set it off pushing my kill streak to five. I was now able to call in a sentry gun. So I ran behind a shed near the edge of the map and waited for the sentry gun to be dropped. Once I recovered the sentry gun I placed it near the flag and then returned to the area behind the wrecked vehicles. The sentry gun killed a couple of people and I was able to snipe one more from behind the cars. Next up I called in a harrier strike. One kill from the bombing run but the hovering harrier made significant progress on my kill streak plus I sniped several men as they tried to shoot down the harrier. As the game ended I had twenty kills and the six deaths that started the game with.

I wonder how many kills I could have strung together if the game didn't finish when it did.

Modern Warfare 2

The newest addition to my PS3 game collection is Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2. Wow!!! The game play is similar to the other COD games.

The player is given three options: Co-op, single player, and multiplayer.

Co-op allows two players to play together with a common goal. The single player mode offers an exciting storyline that the player works through. And multiplayer mode pits you against other players either in your living room or on the other side of the world.

In my opinion it is one of the top games this year.

Coming soon to a PS3 near you

In a recent announcement by Sony and Netflix we have learned that streaming movies will be available soon on the PS3. Netflix currently has streaming through several devices including the XBox 360. So I'm glad to see that the PS3 is going to have the same ability. Not that I'm a current Netflix customer but maybe someday I'll sign up for their $9.00 plan [the cheapest plan that allows streaming movies].

I think it would be cheaper than renting movies from the local Blockbuster. Plus I wouldn't have to get in my car and drive to pickup and return the DVDs. The downside would be I would have to watch the movies on the TV to which the PS3 is attached. Not that it would be awful but I like to have choices when it comes to entertainment.

An interesting component of the announcement is the fact that Netflix will send you a Blu-ray disk that will access the Internet and activate Netflix services so you can locate the movies you would like to stream.

Hmmmm....I think I should become a Netflix affiliate so all my readers could join and I could earn the resulting fees. Give me a couple of days to get it in place before you go and join Netflix. Or not.

Weeding out my links

Today I'm taking time to check all my links and making sure they all work. Deleted one so far. I'm also checking links to make sure my reciprocal links are still in place on the other site. Deleted one of those too.

So I have space for a couple of links...anyone interested in reciprical links? Just add a link to this site and let me know about it and I'll recipricate with a link back to your site.

Monopoly City Streets

Warning!!!! Non Playstation post alert!!!!

I signed up for the Google/Hasbro Monopoly mashup called Monopoly City Streets last night. It is an interesting concept where Hasbro takes the Google Street API and creates a global game of street ownership.

They start you out with $3,000,000 to purchase streets and buildings. My first purchase was the street that I grew up on, way back in the dark ages before Google or even the Internet. Then I spent to much on a building that I placed close to my childhood home. I quickly learned from this mistake [maybe it wasn't a mistake...I'll find out over the course of the game]. I ended up a couple thousand dollars short when I wanted to by a more expensive street. I ended up with six streets with buildings on four of them.

My $3,000,000 bankroll was gone pretty quick. Now I have to wait until tomorrow for my daily $1,000,000 Monopoly allowance plus any rent that I might earn.

More Monopoly City Street posts will follow.

My thoughts on the new PS3

The good:
Smaller-size kinda matters
Cheaper-I love to save money
Reduced cost of ownership-it runs with less energy..."greed is good"...oh wait...I mean green is good.

The bad and the ugly:
Buttons-what is up with those buttons?
Matte finish-I like the older shiny version better
Ugly-come on look at it!

Replaying Fallout 3

After hearing about the DLC for Fallout 3 I decided to start playing again. I had finished the game earlier this year but didn't finish several quests. This time I'm focusing on the quests that are not in the main storyline.

I've already completed one quest that I hadn't finished last time. Now I'm working on a quest that I started last time but never finished. Unfortunately I'm stuck in the same spot as I was last time.

I guess I'll give my brain a rest and work on a different one.

Modern Warfare 2:Prestige Edition

Ok I can't wait for Modern Warfare 2 to be released. But have you heard about the "Prestige Edition?" It will be a collector's edition that should retail for $150.00.

What do you get for your hard earned money? A fully-functioning pair of night-vision goggles to start with. This special edition will also include a head-shaped display stand for the goggles, an art book, and limited-edition packaging.

Personally I've always wanted a pair of night vision goggles. But I'm not sure about actually paying for them. They will carry the MW2 logo and look super cool. I guess it depends on if you are willing to spend the money for the special edition or not.

Extra content for Fallout 3

I just heard that Bethesda will be offering extra content for the PS3 version of Fallout 3. The first add-on will be named "Broken Steel." This downloadable content (DLC) will allow the player to continue on past the main quest and advance to level 30.

The player will assist the Brotherhood of Steel eradicate the Enclave from the Capital Wasteland in the "Broken Steel" download.

Other downloads will follow the "Broken Steel" DLC. Finally Bethesda has created additional content for the PS3 version of Fallout 3!

YouData

I've been using YouData since January. As of May 25th I've earned about $9.44 with very little effort.

For some of you big time Bloggers that is not very exciting but I like it because it does take so little effort. Also they pay weekly, which is very cool, to a PayPal account. The only thing that would make it better is more opportunities to view ads so I could make more money.

For more information see my post on my other blog. Please consider joining through one of my links.

Two weeks no games

Hello my name is Surfin' Sid and I'm a video game addict. It had been 15 days since my last gaming session. Welcome to VGA -video gamers anonymous.

Just kidding. Although it has been 15 days since I've played a video game. The first seven were because I was on vacation with the beach bum gang in Myrtle Beach, SC. I could have taken the PS3 but decided against it. The second week of no games was due to the fact I didn't have much free time. I had a lot of catching up to do.

But I'm back playing COD:WAW just in time for double XP weekend. Good timing I guess. So if you need to level up now would be the time.

Guitar Hero-World Tour

The newest acquisition for the PS3 is Guitar Hero-World Tour. After loading the game and putting the "instruments" together I decided to give the guitar a try. Some how I was able to strum my way through the first gig in career mode. Just as I was completing the gig my son and a friend arrived and wanted to get in on the action. So I was moved from guitar to singing. We rocked for about two hours straight. Lots of fun!

I highly recommend this one. Fun for all.

I've played a couple of times since. Twice with my son and his friends and once by myself. It is a good game to play with a group. Just as long as you don't mind getting made fun of when you stink up a song.

CoD 4 prestige

I finally made it to prestige in Call of Duty 4. I got a bit of track playing Fallout 3 and Call of Duty 5. But recently I went back to CoD 4 because I was sooooooo close to prestige. After playing about three games I accumulated enough experience points to advance to prestige. YES!!!!



So then I promptly loaded up CoD 5 and resumed killing Nazis.

2nd Christmas money game

Little Big Planet, another top shelf game, is a puzzle platformer with an adorable entity named sackboy [or sack girl if you prefer]. You guide sack boy through the different levels unlocking more levels as well as costumes and decorations. You can play in two player mode which makes collaboration necessary to obtain certain unlockables.

The levels that you navigate include puzzles, dangers, and races.  The basics are similar to other platformers but the creativity factor as well as the online community/multiplayer are what takes LBP to the next [pun warning] level.  The "main menu" is accessed through the sack boy pod. This is where you decide what level to play or if you want to play online/community levels.  I actually ended up in some else's pod.  Of course I couldn't access their menu structure and I think I kinda pissed that person off...they emphatically asked me to leave!!!!  lol....so I left.

LBP is available on the PS3 only.  LBP has won tons of awards like the Edge's Best Game, Eurogamer's Best Game, Gamepro's Game of the Year and Spike's Best PS3 Game.

Rate E for Everyone

1st Christmas money game

Fallout III, the post nuclear RPG based in and around Washington, D.C. in an alternate reality where the United States has been bombed by the Chinese. Fallout III takes place 2277 which is 200 years after the bombing.

The player takes the persona of a teenager who was rasied in Vault 101 and is suddenly left alone by his father.  The player then must exit the Vault and experience the Capital Wasteland.  In the Wasteland you will discover settlements where humans have tried to piece together an existance. Usually a very meager existance.  Upon meeting various people you have the opportunity to help them out by completeing a quest.  One such quest is to find your father.  

As you travel through the Wasteland or even Washington, D.C. you will encounter Super Mutants, ghouls, a variety of animals, raiders, slavers and soldiers from an organization called the Enclave.  They are all going to try to kill you.

Although I enjoy the game [which has received lots of accolades] I would hope that 200 years after a nuclear attack we would have created a better society than Fallout III has placed us in.

Rated M for mature.

The strange Christmas at the PSX Gamer house

Well the strange part is no games were exchanged for Christmas.  I'm sure that you are all thinking "how does this guy call himself a gamer if he doesn't even give his son a video game for Christmas."  Well with the economy in the dumper and PS3 games generally running between $50 and $60 I decided that more practical gifts were the prudent option.

I know that you can find games for the PS3 for less that $50 but we have been enjoying COD:WaW and I didn't feel the need to take attention away from that game since it is still fairly new and my son has not grown bored with it.

Well during different Christmas celebrations [my family/her family] he received a large amount of cash gifts.  Obviously his relatives were feeling generous this year.  Three guesses what the boy wanted to buy with this windfall.

You guessed it... games.  Anyone hazard a guess what game(s) he ended up with?

My Internet problems

Recently I moved some stuff around in my kitchen. This is where my main computer is located and the move included the computer and all the associated peripherals. Two of the key peripherals are the cable modem and the router. I had coaxial cable running up through the floor at the computer's old location but the connector was to large to be pulled back through the hole.

Out came the drill to make a larger hole right next to the existing hole. In hind sight this was a bad idea. I nicked the coaxial cable when I drilled the new hole. Whoops.

After reconnecting everything in the new location the Internet connection was a bit unreliable. I attributed the issue to the nicked cable. Darn it! I moved the modem and router to the basement and connected to the cable down there. The PS3 [which is located in the basement] is now connected to the router by Cat5 cable instead of via wireless. The main computer is now connected by wireless and my daughter is without Internet on her computer that is in her room. Sorry missy.

COD : World at War

My son just had to have the new Call of Duty game. He saved his allowance and bought it a few days ago. One feature that I love is the coop game play. I can finally play with my son instead of against him. Very cool!!!!

COD 5 also has trophies. So far I've earned three of them. I was playing in solo mode and all of a sudden the trophy message popped up on the screen. This is the first game that we purchased that has the trophy system. I think that it will give the solo mode more meaning.

So far the online play has been pretty tough. I have worked my way up to level 10 though. So far I have enjoyed the new features on COD 5.

Mirror's Edge Demo

I down loaded the Mirror's Edge demo from the PlayStation Network and installed it on the PS3. The game play is a classic run, jump, leap format with stunning visuals that remind me of a comic book. You play as Faith who is a runner [an underground courier that carries information and documents across the cityscape.] The storyline is based on a conspiracy involving the death of the city's mayor and Faith's sister who was framed in his murder.

As Faith you will run across rooftops and along walls, leap between buildings, balance on pipes and elude the authorities as you work to deliver your packages and gain information about the murder plot.

Game play is tricky but fulfilling when you complete a tricky maneuver. I enjoyed the demo.


Rated T for Teen

Call of Duty : Level 50

Ok I've been playing Call of Duty 4 online since the end of June and I have just now reached level 50. Five more levels to go before entering the prestige levels. I've completed a lot of challenges along the way and hope to complete several more before I reach the prestige levels.

I realize many of my readers are now getting tired of reading about my Call of Duty experiences, so I've downloaded a new demo which I will review in the coming days. I'll bet you can hardly wait!!! ;-)

More domination

My son called me out the other day. We played a Call of Duty deathmatch with a max score of 20 kills. He dominated me mostly using a hand gun. Ouch.

The kills were 20-3 in his favor. The map we played on was one of the middle eastern maps and he obviously knew it very well.

He wanted to play again. We ended up on the chinatown map. In this match I did much better. When time ran out I still lost but only by the score of 12-11. I was about 12 seconds from claiming a tie. DARN!

COD 4 domination

Last night I was in the basement watching my son play Call of Duty. He trash talks with me all the time and tells me how good he is at the game. I tended to think that he was just a little better than me. But after watching him dominate the other online players last night I have to give him props.

In the deathmatch game that I watched, he had two different kill streaks of ten. Not only was he the high score for the game but his number of kills were more than double the next highest number. He also accounted for more than a third of his team's score.

Yes I am jealous. And I am no where near being in his league.

Top droppers for October

Politi-Gal	25
Income Alternatives	20
New Orleans Food & Fun	19
Dungeons and Dragons Corner	18
webomatik	16
Michigan Beach Bum	15
Poker Info Page	15
Albatross on the Horizon	15
Septagon Studios Inc News Blog	12
life together starts	10

Get Mint

I was listening to the radio on the way into work today and they had a story about a mint farm in Michigan that is on the verge of being in foreclosure. The farm is the oldest mint growing farm in the United States and has been in the Crosby family since its inception.

To get some additional information for this post I have visited their website, and it is running very slow. I hope that means they are having a successful campaign to sell drams of mint.

They are running a "Save the farm, Buy a dram" campaign where they need to sell a quarter of a million drams by November 1st. They have done pretty good so far and as of today are down to 71,000 drams to be sold. So if you like mint give some thought to buying a dram.

Disclosure: I have not been paid for this post. I have posted this out of the kindness of my heart.

Who knew I had kindness in there?

No new PSP content packs since April

I was poking around the PlayStation Underground and decided to look for the newest PSP Content Pack. Imagine my surprise when I realized that they have not offered a new one since April. Bummer!!!

Have they cast the PSP aside in favor of the more exciting PS3? Otherwise why drop the Content Packs? Curious minds want to know.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed revisited

On my prior post I received a comment from a reader who felt that parents should not allow children to play as a "bad guy." While I respect the opinion and certainly don't condone actual violence I believe that the choice to allow a child to play as a Sith apprentice should be made by each individual parent.

The game is rated T so the majority of game players will be 13 and above. In my case my son is a teenager and I feel that he is capable of knowing the difference between playing an evil character in a video game and living life and interacting with actual human beings.

I do feel that not every child is equipped to differentiate between video game violence and real world violence and parents need to know what level that their child is at developmentally and what content video games contain.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

I downloaded and installed the demo of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed yesterday. Apparently Darth Vader had a secret apprentice that the Emperor didn't know about. And he wants to keep it that way. The game takes place in the era between Episodes III and IV.

In the demo you get to play as the apprentice as he raids an outpost hunting down a Jedi Knight. Unfortunately the demo is rather short and ends after you defeat an AT-AT which for me required several do-overs.

According to LucasArts their new technology allows them to have glass break like real glass, wood to splinter like real wood and metal to bend and dent like real metal. The character AI is suppose to be reactive so that their behavior will be different every time you play it.

Rated T for Teen.

Intel talks about programmable matter

Intel is apparently working on technology that can change shape. An example would be a device that could fit in your pocket and then on demand shape shift into a smartphone or maybe a laptop. Intel claims that that technology is still several decades away but imagine the possibilities.

Another technology that they are working on is wireless transmission of power. They provided a demonstration that had only a 25% efficiency loss over two feet. Not great but give it time and I bet that efficiecies will improve to close to 99%.

Have you tried Swagbucks?

I thought that I would give Swagbucks a try. Once you have signed up and then do searches from their search site you can win Swagbucks that can be redeemed for merchandise. Pretty cool for not doing anything special. It could take a little bit of time to win enough Swagbucks to redeem for a nice prize but what the heck.

Click the search & win logo to join Swagbucks. They give you 5 Swagbucks to start.

This morning I am up to 12 Swagbucks. Not a bad beginning.

Bought another new game

This time the new game for the PS3 is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. I've only run a couple of races and have won them all. The last version of this game that I had played was GT3 for the PS2. Obviously the graphics are much better on the PS3 but I am still trying to get the whole "upgrade the car to make it go faster so you can win races" mentality out of the way. It doesn't seem to me to be part of GT5. Am I missing it? Like I said I've only played it a little bit.

That aside the visuals are very cool. Much more realistic than Motorstorm and Burnout Paradise.

Some features:

• 60 cars are available to win or buy.
• 12 different race layouts.
• Online racing against up to 16 other players.

Rated E for Everyone

Upgraded to v2.41

As I have recently upgraded to PS3's version 2.41 without any difficulties I thought I would let everyone know. Two items that I noticed right away are the ability to shut down from the User menu and the trophy option in the Game menu.

That's all I know for now. I assume that the trophy option means that you can earn trophies somewhere somehow. I guess I'll look into that possibility.

My progress in CoD 4

I have decided that the weapons and perks that you unlock over time as you level up can make a significant difference in how well you do in the online game. The most recent game that I played online I did quite well. I set personal records for kills and had a kill streak of four in a row.

I know that all of you hardcore CoD 4 players may scoff at my delight in getting four kills in a row but I'm still learning.

PS3 System Software Update (v2.41)

Reported at Sony's Playstation web site....

Hi, everyone. As many of you know, we released PS3 firmware update v2.40 last week, but had to take it offline temporarily because, for a limited number of users, the XMB wouldn’t display after the update was installed. We’ve been able to fix the problem, and I’m happy to report that firmware update v2.41 will be released shortly.
We want to extend our apologies to the PlayStation community for any inconvenience. Now we’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone online and racking up those trophies!

I have not downloaded this update [or v2.40 thankfully] so I don't have any first hand experience to share but I'll pass along info as I learn it.

Playing lots of CoD:Modern Warfare

....and getting killed. Online play can be brutal. And I must not be that good. The most kills in a game that I've had was seven. The next highest was five. I usually get about two kills with two assists.

I have played enough to reach rank 9. I've unlocked several perks, new weapons, challenges and weapon upgrades....and I still get killed way more often than I get kills.