rainwood

"We Don't Care" - Kanye West

...finally got the air plane ticket, and I'm leaving on the last day of this November! I will watch movie (I hope I can find the title in Japan...). Angry_Games, I’d recommend buying the stuff here in the U.S. It’d be easier for you. Check this site out (You might have heard of "Kikuo Matsuda”).

“Crysis” rant ends? I enjoyed reading the threads very much. The Orange Box Clive Barker's Jericho Painkiller: Overdose TimeShift Gears of War F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate BlackSite: Area 51 Crysis Unreal Tournament 3 Got “Unreal Tournament 3”. “Assassin'sCreed” & “Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason” won’t come out in this year, so got rid of them. Also removed “Hellgate: London” from the list. The game is just not my type. Reading the professional review of the “F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate”, I didn’t notice the “Bonus Missions”, which are unlocked when the single player game is finished: …too short. I heard these missions are like the instant-action type of games in the “F.E.A.R.” XBox version. I wonder if the Xbox gamers enjoyed such short “missions”… Now I’m playing the “Crysis” with all settings set “High” in 1920X1200. Not bad or I just used to as I was playing the game. “Gears of War”? Oh, yeah, you know, actually I got it when it was released. Just to practice the third-person shooter – I am a poor third person shooter. Horrible. My friends of mine always make fun of my poor play. Honestly, I don’t know where to look / aim / shoot / move when playing the character. Any suggestion?

Beat the “BlackSite: Area 51”: I didn’t rush to get the game done at all. But the game is too liner and no way to go back to the levels that I like to replay (‘’cause no quick save is allowed), so I had to move on and on… it ended with very disappointed ending… The last battle of the game was one of the poorest ones that I’ve ever played. I uninstalled the game from my hard drive. More negative comments: No mini-map: With he command to order the squad provided, why did the game not provide the mini-map to see and locate the position to deploy the squad? Yeah, I understand why there is no mini-map – almost all battles take place in the open space, so no need to use the mini-map, right? Ha, ha. I did not even use the squad to take advantage ‘cause the squad always followed me and I was able to win the battle without caring my squad. The weapons collected in the previous check point can’t be carried over in the next check point: I was pissed off when I found this out. Why did I have to start almost every new level with a handgun and the assault rifle? I guess, I have to admit that there is one and only one battle that I enjoyed throughout the game; the battle against a huge monster on the bridge while I am on the chopper (you guys must have seen this battle in the game play preview movies). It was short but fun in terms of good graphics. O.K, do I recommend this game? No, man. Not at all. Angry_Games, actually, I could play the game without installing the copy-right protection un-lock driver, so the Win Vista installation issue might be resolved in the retail CD / DVD copy of the game. Yes, I was a fan of the game, but I’s almost five years ago that I played the game. Regarding the game’s release, I’ve been wondering why the game has not been advertised very much (or almost no advertisement)… No info. in the ActiVision site, I am not able to find the game’s site yet, and rumor that the game would be released as one of the “value” games from the publisher… Actually, the game was not released as the “value” game, though. Now I got four games that I have not played / completed on my hard drive; “Jericho”, “Overdose”, “Crysis”, and “Payback”. Oh, btw, I ordered the “Unreal Tournament III”, so it’ll be five. Since the “Overdose” is a kind of game to beat one level at one time, no rush to beat it soon. Probably, I will go back to “Jericho”….

Since my last day at work passed, I think that I can answer. The employer tried to keep me by sponsoring visa. The deal was odd; since my employer does not support the green card (not even for the doctors / scientists unless they are PhD.), my manager made a deal with the IT consulting company: I resign and become an employee of the consulting company, though I still work for the same employee. Then, the company helps me get the greencard. However, it did not work out because of running out of the number of working visa in this year and the type of visa that my employer sponsored. My visa sponsored is the “educational” one. This type of visa can’t be transferred to the private profit-making company like IT consulting. As I mentioned, no working visa available for this year, the IT consulting company could not get me a new visa for me. This is how this deal was over. lol. I thought that you wanted a weapon! You might find the better dealers in the U.S. for the art…

BlackSite: Area 51 Applied the patch 1.1. The game still does not save the graphic options. Finished the first stage (“Iraq”) and driving in the “Nevada” stage in hard level. Good graphics, though the AA option can’t be turned on yet… My (negative) comments on this game, so far: No quick save available: The game does not allow quick save. The game is saved when the player gets to the check point, which means the player has to repeat the same things from the begging of the previous check point if the player makes a stupid mistake that kills the play even though the player is about to get to the next check point... The poor set of the weapons: So far, I hand a chance of using the assault rifle, scatter gun, advanced sniper rifle, anti-tank launcher, MK23 pistol, and XM312 (this is a sort of gun turret) in the game. They are so poor in terms of aim and damage effect. Customizing the weapons is not allowed or available (so far). I really wish I could see better weapons later in the game. The “One-button” squad orders: Using one keyboard button can issue two types of the squad commands – 1) move there & 2) mark the enemy to shoot. That’s all. The first squad command is useless at all. Using the command, sure, I can move the squad where I like them to position, but the thing is, they just don’t sit there and wait for my next order. The squad just keeps following me. Especially, when I move forward from the point where I ordered the squad to position, they start moving from the position and go ahead of me… This makes it impossible that the squad cover me until I move from the point A to B… Squad morale: There is no command provided to give the rules of engagement like Rainbow series. The squad seems to get aggressive when the player moves ahead of the squads and attack the enemies. The squad seems to be passive when the player is hiding or avoiding the enemies… The squad (will) never die: They seem to be down on the ground when they take too much amos, but they just don’t die or the game doesn’t end at the point that the squad is down on the ground. When the battle ends to the checkpoint, the members of the squad who seemed to be taken down are around me. (I have not all members of the squad killed so far, the game might end when all the squad is killed…) Only two weapons that the play can carry: When I found this out, I was kindda upset. For the FPS games, I think, at least three weapons to carry must be allowed: the short – mid range weapon to assault, the mid – long range weapon to snipe and the powerful weapon like the BFG. The “secrets” of the story are not provided in real time: The player can collect the secrets, which are named “Dossires”, in the game. The “Dossires” are the record of the secrets in the story of the game, and are supposed to help the player get in the story of the game. However, the player can’t read them in the game. To read them, the player has to quit the game, go back to the main menu and select the menu item (“Dossiers”). This just ruins the story of the game ‘cause the player can’t get enough info. / back ground / episodes pertaining to what is going on now in the game in real time – would you really want to quit the game just to read the secrets you just collected when you are up & rolling in the game? I just started the game but I’ve already had enough negative impression of the game. I hope that the first stage and early levels of the second stage were just the tutorial and the game will get interesting…

…none of my purchased games, except the games downloaded from steam and the unreal tournament series… Graphics of the game with all graphics options set very high is just awesome, though it is not playable. I really want to play the game with as higher graphics setting as my box can support… Thanks to Voltes-5’s post, I will download the benchmark program and spend some time in testing to find the best settings for my box… BlackSite: Area 51 When I started the game tonight, I noticed that the options I set when I did my test run last night were not saved. Then, I set the options and restart the game to see if the game saves these options. No. The game is not able to save the options. O.K., I uninstalled and re-installed the game – the game can’t save the options… I checked the game’s site and saw the patch 1.1 is available. I started dowinloading the patch. I went to the publisher’s site to see support info., and I found the patch 1.2 released but it is not on the public server to download because “Due to Midway's desire to comply with regional regulatory requirements”. Also I found the “special” steps required to install the game on Win Vista… "Installing Area 51 on Windows Vista™ Follow the steps below to install Area 51 on Windows Vista™: Make sure that you are logged on with an Administrator Account. Insert Disk 1 into your optical drive and cancel the installation if it autoruns. Click on the Start Button and type "cmd" into the search field and press Enter. This will bring up the Command Prompt. Type the letter of the optical drive, where Disk 1 is inserted into, followed by a colon and press Enter. A new prompt will appear with drive letter. Type in the following command: msiexec /i "Area 51®.msi" /qb and press Enter. Install the game. After the installation, download the copy protection driver update from the following link: http://www.star-force.com/support/sfdrvup.zip After the file has been downloaded, right-click on the Area 51 shortcut and select "Run As Administrator". Install the protection drivers when prompted but do not reboot. Double click on the sfdrvup.zip to open it. Double click on sfdvup.exe to run the update. Reboot when prompted. You can now play the game. If you require further assistance please contact Midway's Customer Support Staff by using the Ask A Question feature.” …I will perform installation again...

Completed my first and last iteration of the “TimeShift”. I was disappointed in the last battle in the game very much – I did not even think that the battle was the last one and I said, you are kidding me, when the ending movie started… I uninstalled the game from my hard drive. Since I’d hold off playing the “Crysis” until I figure out how to optimize performance, so I installed the “BlackSite: Area 51” and “Soldier of Fortune: Payback”. Played the two games for 30 minutes each, I decided to finish the “BlaacSite” first (BTW, I can’t turn on the AA option in the graphic options menu. Does someone having the same issue?).

SuppA-SnipA, did you download the vehicle (from the pre-order pack)? I can't download 'cause the form does not accept the my user ID (nickname) and password (and my e-mail address) , which I used when I registered the game...

I cleaned my office in the morning, spent lunch with all members of the team (at a bit expensive restaurant), and said good-bye to the team and colleagues on the same floor, turned in the access card, keys,..etc, and I left after lunch. On my way home, I saw snow floating in the air, was this the first snow day here in Rochester? When I came to my home, I found “Crysis”, “Black Site: Area 51”, and “Solder of Fourtune: Pay Back” delivered. BTW, today was my last day at work. Thanks, Angry_Games. I hope I can keep my current e-mail address, but in case I have to change it I will ask you a help. It is very hard to own the “real” katana – a Japanese sword with a working edge, which is sharp and strong enough to hurt and kill people – unless it is registered as “art” - you are an art “katana” collector or you declare “katana” as art. Thanks. I hope I can get back on-line soon… Alumni! Congratulations on your brother’s graduation!!! (White Castle?)

Cool IT Systems Boreas Chiller 12TEC Chiller Unit Cool IT Systems Boreas MTEC Chassis Complete System Cooler Review @ MAXIMUM PC …could be my next case…

Not exactly Vegas. I’m leaving the U.S. in this December due to my working VISA expiration. Since I will completely leave the U.S., I might have to change my e-mail account, which I think that I used for my membership registration. I looked at the “User CP”, but I wasn’t able to find the option to change my e-mail account. Or I could be wrong – the e-mail account change might not be necessary. Please advise me if there is anything I have to do in order to use my member account of this forum. Some background about me… I came to the U.S. when I enrolled to the Bemidji State (I transferred to Mankato later) in 1995. I’ve served Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN for almost seven years, including my internship period (I’m not a Doc. I’m a Java developer) since I graduated from Mankato State. I come from Japan, BTW. I saw one forum member posted a help to purchase some stuff from Japan, but I was not able to provide help since I was here in the U.S…. But since I’ll stay in Japan (I think, at least for a year), please feel free to let me know if I could help you pertaining to Japanese stuff (not 'any' Japanese stuff, of course). I think that I won’t be able to be on-line from the mid November to mid December… I wish I can set up my internet environment at home soon (I hope Angry_Games does not block my access from home)…

I’ve read the on-line reviews of the card. I’m jealous. O.K., I got my 8800 GTX when it was released. It’s almost a year ago. Do I get most from the power&speed of the card? I’d say, no, no, not yet even after almost one year passed. 8800 GTX forced me to upgrade: I was on NVIDIA 580 mainboard with FX-60 CPU. That was not enough, at least I thought. Then I moved to 680i & X6800. It cost me more money than I planned. The 680i was a hit or miss: I wasted more than three months just to get my box working. I ended up with replacing the mainboard. ForeWare is not mature: When will NVIDIA be able to release the driver to make the best use of the card’s potential? A move to the new OS: Forget Vista and DirectX10. Period. ….maybe I’d learn from lessons – just don’t jump to the “flagship” cards / CPUs, Instead, wait until the card like 8800 GT that are fast & powerful enough and worth money, time && efforts to get the card working in the box… Praz, please point me to your post. I’d love to read your article.

The Orange Box Clive Barker's Jericho Painkiller: Overdose Hellgate: London* TimeShift Gears of War F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate BlackSite: Area 51 Crysis Assassin's Creed Unreal Tournament 3 Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason I ordered F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate. Assassin's Creed will not be released in this year… Got TimeShift DVD and started playing; no sluggishness / freeze with all graphic card settings turned on & best level (except the “Vertical Sync” option – I turn it off). Painkiller: Overdose It just gets harder: I spent 10 hours total in playing the very first level in “nightmare” difficulty, and I am not able to finish the level yet. It is hard, very hard. I think that “nightmare” difficulty of the game becomes harder than that of the original one; I completed the original one in “nightmare” & “trauma” difficulty, though… I will change difficulty to “insomnia”. It is not simply fun repeating the same level. Longer loading time: The original one was criticized for the long loading time; not only the initial game loading time but also the loading time when loading the game to the point where the player was killed. It took roughly two minutes on average on my old box. In the worst case, it took more than five minutes (I recall – I thought that the game was frozen). This is not improved or fixed in this new one at all. Every time I got killed, I have to wait for at least one and half minutes on my current box. This kills fun of game. Frozen on changing the settings: It got frozen for about five minutes when I was using the option menus to change the settings of the game. I hit this freeze every time I use the game option menu. Is this because of the OS on my box (Vista 32-bit)? This is an old-school, “run, run, and run more & gun crazy”, game. Even though you liked the original one and/or expansion, and waited for the sequel very bad, I’d recommend you to play the demo first before you buy. Hellgate: London* I will not play the game just because I can’t get into it. The game looks like “Diablo II” to me (no offense); I did not own “Diablo II” but I played it on my friend’s box long time ago – I gave up playing it in a few minutes and did not find it fun at all…