What is second life? Well… I’ve been playing it for a few days and… well… I really don’t know! But besides nor fully understanding what’s going on in the busy world around you, it’s pretty fun! You start off as an avatar wearing basic clothing, but don’t worry. Just go for a walk and you’ll find a whole pile of freebies like clothes, tools, textures, even vehicles! There are plenty of things to see and do for free. But the big part of this game is the social part. There are thousands of other players roaming the virtual world that are (usually) glad to talk with others. After a while of playing, you might want to make some cash to buy cool items, clothing, and even land, houses, and apartments. If this is the case, a quick search will reveal several job opportunities that you can apply for. Some are simple and just require you to teleport from place to place, and some actually require you to work at stores, and commercial places. But if working isn’t your style you can buy some in-game currency with real money to spend around, or to start your own business and become a virtual world entrepreneur. I find that this game is along the lines of Entropia Universe, except everything is user generated, and it runs on Windows as well as Mac OS X, and Linux (still Beta). So if your looking for a fun game that runs on Mac, or Linux then you might want to try it out. Did i mention it’s free?
Well I got the new 13.3 inch MacBook Pro just a few days ago. The setup was really easy, I could get it done on the drive back home (not me driving though). The notebook is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz, 2 GB of DDR 3 RAM (upgrading to 4 soon), and a Nvidia GeForce 94oom video card. All this power is a perfect combo for Mac OS X Leopard witch runs very smooth. This laptop has quite a few features that I have never seen in a laptop before. So just to list off a few… The trackpad support multiple fingers, one moves the mouse normally, two can scroll, or when pinching can zoom in and out, and rotate pictures, three fingers will flip page by page through documents, or surf forward and back through your web browser, four fingers will change through running applications, or push all windows to a side to show the desktop. The keyboard lights up for easy typing at night. The monitor has a light censor so the LCD brightness is determined by the brightness of the room. The built in Isight camera is built into the screen, and is almost invisible. The power adaptor clips on with magnets, so if someone trips on your charger, the computer won’t go with them. So like you see, this notebook is filled with lots of nice convenient features. An other really nice thing that comes with Mac OS X Leopard is Boot Camp. This nice little tool lets you partition your HD and install Windows on your computer. So now I have Windows 7 RC1 on my MacBook Pro witch is really nice because now you can use all this computer power for gaming as well, since it supports Direct X 10. Mac OS X Leopard is a really easy to use OS. It’s comparable to a easy to use distribution of linux. except installing software is quick and painless. Simple open the installer and drag the program into your applications folder. Just searching the Apple site, you can find a whole pile of nice programs/games available for download. Stuff like Windows Messenger, OpenOffice.org, even Second Life is compatible with Mac. So in the end this is a great computer, and with a little practice you can do anything you could with windows, and if you can’t… Just install Windows on it! The only, and I mean ONLY problem I found with the computer is… The price. 1300 for a laptop now days is a bit expensive, but it’s a high quality machine. So If your looking for a new laptop, and have lots of money to spend, maybe you should take a trip to the closest apple store, you might find something you like.
I recently bought a Philips GoGear SA3285 8GB MP3/Video Player. It sports all the features that any other MP3 player has, and a few more. It plays MP3, and WMA audio, displays pictures, has a text reader, voice recorded, radio tuner, radio recorder (nice addition), and video playback, although the videos have to be in an odd format. However Philips was nice enough to package a quick and easy to use video converter with the software bundle. The device has some problems with too many folders, so It’s best to keep all the songs in one big folder. All the songs are ordered by their information rather than there file name so it uses title, album, artist… Witch means that some songs will appear as unknown artist, or unknown song. But It isn’t to hard to add this to the problem songs. Phillips periodically releases firmware updates for their products, so there constantly getting better. The PC software comes with a repair application, that in the case you “brick” your MP3 player, you can fix it easily. There is also a reset button on the device itself witch is a life saver. For some reason, running Windows Media Player at the same time as you plug your MP3 player into your computer, makes it mess up, but hey, it’s Windows. Its really a great little gadget to have if your looking for a MP3 player with a little extra.
Entropia Univers is being completely remodeled to use the CryEngine2. This is expected to be released sometimes this summer! CryEngine2 is a awesomely powerful game engine with advanced lighting, physics, and game mechanics. Here are a few screen shot of how some familiar places in Entropia Universe will look after the update.
As you can see, it’s pretty unbelievable! although the terrain will be quite different, the buildings, and game mechanics will be very similar to the Entropia Univers we all are used to.
Have you ever thought of what the world’s worst game is? Do you want to find out? If you enjoy games you might want to look away, because I recently found a game so horrible, that… Well I can’t really explain it. Yes I’m talking about Big Rigs Over the Road Racing! It’s a racing game… Released in pre alpha stage you only use big rigs, however the game developers have still managed to fit a picture of a car in the loading screen for some reason… When you start a race, granted that the map you chose was there, and the game didn’t crash, you’ll notice that your opponent does not move. As you slowly drive down the road you will probably notice the huge numbers of road signs on the side of the road… Some actually spawn in the road, but that’s no problem, because just like every other structure in the game, you can drive right through it. Sounds bad? It gets worse. Shift your big rig into reverse, and notice that you can drive infinitely fast! You can also do a infinitely fast reverse power turn on a dime, and stop the instant you release the reverse button. After you finish your incredibly glitched out course of checkpoints, bumpy roads, and random street signs, you will end up back at the start, with your opponent still waiting to go. Here comes the best part! Cross the finish line and boom! A big screen comes up showing a three gripped trophy, and a caption saying “You’re Winner!”. They couldn’t even spell! Really, you all have to get this game! It may actually be the worst game you will ever play!
Entropia Universe is such a huge and diverse game, to bad there isn’t a radio sation to deliver event news, music, and other fun stuff. Wait a minute… There is! Atlas Haven Radio is an internet radio station all about Entropia Universe. Music, Event news, Contests, Advertising anything a radio station would have this does too and better. Since I’ve started listening to Atlas Haven Radio, Entropia Universe has suddenly become much funner. Theres almost always events, and contests going on, you can chat with the DJ’s in-game, request songs and “shout outs”. There playlist is quite pleasing with everything from Techno to Metal, and everything in betwene. The DJ’s are funny, and always glad to interect with other players in-game, by chatting, and making random contests where you win money and other items. So really, if you play Entropia Universe you wouldn’t want to miss out on this, and hey you might just get to be a DJ.
P.S. If you want to open the stream in windows media player use –> mms://www.entropiaradio.com/atlashaven
Its a new video of the old F.F.W. Were trying to start it again. We need some new members because most of the old ones aren’t interested. This video is sort of a trailer of things to come.
Mirror’s Edge is a game based almost totally on Parkour. You live in a city governed by a Totalitarian Regime, so all your messages and actions are monitored. Your sister is framed for a crime she did not commit and now the police are out to get you. You must find out who is behind all this and how to rescue your sister as you avoid being killed by SWAT teams or police helicopters. The best part of this game is the Parkour. You can use almost any wall, object, or ledge to escape from the cops. Jump from sky scrapers, wall run across gaps, climb pipes there are almost no limits to what you can do. The combat system is excellent. Though it is mostly melee you can use guns. Throw together combos of jumps, kicks, and punches to combat your enemies, or hey you can also jump off roofs onto enemies for a one hit kill. The controls are very good, although sometimes you seem to have trouble grabbing onto stuff, and shooting weapons seems to be slow. The graphics are amazing. The colors are vibrant, and the city seems like an actual city! If your computer is a bit on the slow side you might want to leave the settings on low, because any lag in a game like this ends up on a lot of deaths. So if your a big Parkour fan, or just want a FPS like no other, go and try this one out.
Have you ever thought of what a day in the life of a drop of water would be like? Well of course not, but for anyone who wants to find out you might want to take a look at I-Fluid. What? A water bottle made by Mac? Nope actually its a game where you assume the role of a very adventurous water drop. Complete simple objectives while trying to avoid things that could absorb you or dry you up. Try not to get fried as your being chased by thirsty bugs, or trying to navigate a firefly lit kitchen. Everyday objects become dangers and tools on your way to completing your quest. The game itself has not bad graphics… I’ve seen worse, and the controls are excellent. There are many levels, with different difficulties and play modes. If your looking for a different game to play every once and a while then you should check this one out. I mean it’s only $9.99 on Steam.
We all heard of the great, the awesome, the unparalleled Half Life 2 haven’t we? Its a superb game but after you beat it for the 10th time… then what? Well Valve was nice enough to include a nice SDK (Software Development Kit) enabling anyone to modify any source based game. There are literally hundreds of Half Life 2 modifications out there. Where do we start? Here is a list of my favorite Half Life 2 mods.
7. Eternal Silence. Eternal Silence it a great Half Life 2 total conversion based on space combat. Not only can you fight in space ships, but you can also fly around in outer space dog fighting with enemies and bombing the opposing mother ship. All the maps are really well made, and the flight controls are excellent. There’s a large number of guns from pistols to flamethrowers to choose from. If you want something different you should try this mod out!
6. Golden Eye: Source. Do you miss the good old days of playing Golden Eye on the N64? Well now you can re experience the cross hair free fast paced action game play on the Source game engine! All the guns, and most of the characters and levels have been re created and look quite amazing. If your a fan of the N64 version you probably should download this mod now!
5. Digital Paintball: Source. A squeal to the Digital Paintball Gold, this mod takes the fast paced action of the paintball field and brings it to the source engine. This mod is still in alpha phase but its still a must have. The game puts red and blue against each other in various paintball games like forest, or speed ball. The markers have double triggers so both of your mouse buttons shoot. So like I said paintball fan or not this is a must have.
4. Insect Infestation. What do you do in a mod entitled Insect Infestation? Simple you build your nest and protect the queen. Still confused? Let me explain. You play as bugs, ants or termites, and you protect your queen from the opposing team by planting plants that act as structures for defense. Being bugs you can do the basic stuff like walk on walls, and fly. You gather resources with worker bugs laying down scent trails for them to follow. This mod is so different that you really have to try it out for yourself.
3. Synergy. One of the best mods that I’ve played, Synergy is a multilayer coop mod for Half Life 2. You can complete user made Synergy maps as well as the levels from Half Life 2 all the way through to Episode 2. There’s nothing really more to say about this mod except it kicks ass! So download it now!
2. Brain Bread. Do you love killing swarms of undead zombies with a bunch of your friends? If so you would want to try this one out. This is one of the best Half Life 1 mods that I’ve played. You kill zombies and complete simple objectives like retrieve information and kill the bosses. The best aspect of this game is the leveling feature. When you level up your character you can add skill points to different stats of your player to make it better. When you log on on the next time your character will be at the same level as you left off. So if your cool enough to own Half Life 1 you should be cool enough to own Brain Bread.
1. Garry’s Mod. This is hands down the best mod ever made for any game in the history of the world! What do you do in Gmod? Well… What can’t you do? Nothing! Spawn any prop from almost any Source game. Weld it, color it, blow it up! Choose dozens of tools to do whatever you want. And when that’s getting you bored you can download literally millions of add-on props, tools, weapons, maps, and game mods! From simple fruit or a flying fighter jet to a fully working atomic bomb! The only limit is your patience and imagination! If you don’t believe me look on YouTube and you’ll see what i mean. The only down side is that this mod was so good that Valve bought it and now you have to pay $10 to buy it. But its worth every cent!
