Death of Strategy Gaming is Greatly Exaggerated

Galactic Civilizations II is quickly becoming something of a phenomenon, in a world where PC gaming, and turn-based strategy gaming in particular, is supposedly dying off. Throw in that there is no copy protection on this game whatsoever, and it’s obvious that GalCiv2 is thwarting conventional wisdom at every turn.
Read the rest of this entry »

Civilization… IN SPACE! — A Review

Wow. Galactic Civilizations II is awesome. If you have played the first iteration of this series, the sequel will more than satisfy. It’s exactly what a sequel SHOULD be. No dumbing down and no bullcrap, just a whole bunch of really cool new features.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Leveling Guide I wish I had 15 levels ago

My main just recently dinged 45, and so NOW I find a really great leveling guide.

This would’ve been infinitely more useful back when I was 30!

Anyway, this is a REALLY well-made guide. I will be giving my main a break, and switching to my alt in order to take advantage of this smorgasbord of information.

Uh… Hey, Bethesda? You’re screwing us over, here!

Bethesda released the necessary PC specs for Oblivion. Overall, not too bad.

Recommended:

* 3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
* 1 GB System RAM
* ATI X800 series, Nvidia GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Minimum System Requirements:

* Windows XP
* 512MB System RAM
* 2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
* 128MB Direct3D compatible video card
* and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
* 8x DVD-ROM drive
* 4.6 GB free hard disk space
* DirectX 9.0c (included)
* DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
* Keyboard, Mouse

My system should be able to EASILY handle this. Oh hey, what’s this? It looks like Bethesda also included a list of “Supported Video Card Chipsets:”

* ATI X1800 series
* ATI X1300 series
* ATI X850 series
* ATI x800 series
* ATI x700 series
* ATI x600 series
* ATI Radeon 9800 series
* ATI Radeon 9700 series
* ATI Radeon 9600 series
* ATI Radeon 9500 series
* ATI Radeon 9000 series
* NVIDIA Geforce 7800 series
* NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
* NVIDIA GeForce FX series

Oh look, the nVidia 6600 series isn’t listed. Yeah, basically, one of the most powerful and affordable subsets of nVidia graphics cards (especially when used in SLI) have been ignored. I’d like to point out that a single 6600 GT benchmarks HIGHER than the early 6800’s. Thanks, Bethesda! Those of us that don’t HEMORHAGE money for our computers’ video cards are completely shafted.

UPDATE: This just in from the Bethesda forums:

We aren’t done adding to the list and that, along with other cards, will be added today to the list.

You’re welcome, for nothing.

Good to hear.

MPAA admits to pirating a DVD

Unbe-frakking-lievable.

The MPAA copied a DVD of a movie recently shown at the Sundance Film Festival. This movie, titled This Film is Not Yet Rated, examines the MPAA’s film rating system and whether or not it discriminates against independent films.

Basically, an MPAA lawyer admitted to copying the film, and then they showed it to some of their employees.

The MPAA’s response:

Kori Bernards, the MPAA’s vice president for corporate communications, told the Los Angeles Times: “We made a copy of Kirby’s movie because it had implications for our employees.”

Bernards also claimed that Dick spied on members of the MPAA’s Classification and Rating Administration, including going through their dustbins and following them as they drove their children to school.

“We were concerned about the raters and their families,” she said, adding that the MPAA’s copy of This Film Is Not Yet Rated is “locked away” and is not being copied or distributed.

So, it’s okay to copy a DVD as long as it is “locked away” and is not being copied or distributed? Well, then why try to force everyone to use Macrovision? Shouldn’t I be able to back up my DVD collection as long as it is “locked away”?

It would seem that the MPAA’s hypocrisy knows no bounds.

I am so tired of crap like this. When will consumers no longer be forced into using invasive DRM? Sure, people are ticked off about the Sony rootkit now, give ’em a few years, and it will be back, and likely no one will ever notice.