PC Game

Silverfall; Diablo 3?

2007-12-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to try its demo version yesterday and my verdict is; it's a Diablo-like game without the Diablo and this is no typical DnD-like game, here you can use Troll and goblin as your character. Well, that's something new. Though not intriguing enough for me but who knows, eh?

If you love Diablo, you'll probably want to try this one. Gameplay and the key bindings are almost the same. Just download the demo first, if you like then buy it.

Minimum Required System Configuration

Operating System: Windows XP
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz or AMD Athlon XP +2800 higher (Intel Pentium 4 3 Ghz or AMD Athlon XP +3000 recommended)
Memory: 512 MB RAM (1GB recommended)
Hard Disk Space: 10 GB free
DVD-ROM Drive: 8X speed or faster
Video: ATI Radeon 9500 128 MB VRAM or NVIDIA 6600 GT with 128 MB of VRAM or better (256MB ATI Radeon X850 or NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT recommended)
Sound: DirectX version 9.0c-compatible sound card
DirectX: DirectX version 9.0c (included) or higher
Multiplayer: Internet (TCP/IP) play supported 128 Kbps DSL/Cable Broadband Internet connection required for online play
Input: Keyboard, Mouse

*To tell you th truth, even with 1 GiB of RAM I'm still experiencing low frame-rate.

Enemy Territory; We're Goin' Old Skool!

2007-12-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

I've been playing this game for a while and boy, it's fun! Before this I tried Quake Wars (its sequel) demo and this game; Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is like the granddad of Quake Wars. Same style but old skool. And the graphics too. But hey, it's free to download and play!

See the helmet, cross, spanner, bullet and crosshair icons? They resembles classes which you can choose; soldier, medic, engineer, field ops, and covert ops respectively. Each has its own set of weapons.

There's also experience points that can increase your abilities and ranks giving it a bit of RPG feel (shown on the helmet).

Here's the spec:

* Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP OS (Windows NT 4.0 not recommended for clients)
* 100% Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP compatible system (including all 32bit drivers)
* Intel® Pentium® III 600Mhz processor or AMD equivalent
* 128 MB RAM
* 32 MB 100% fully OpenGL® compliant 3-D video card
* Microsoft® Direct X® 8.1 or higher (not included)
* 271 MB total disk space for game files
* 500 MB free disk space for swap file
* 100% Microsoft® Windows® compatible keyboard
* 100% Microsoft® Windows® compatible mouse
* 100% Microsoft® Windows® compatible sound card
* For internet play, 100% Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP compatible 56.6k modem or better internet connection. 56.6k modem play is not recommended for games with more than 8 players total; broadband players should be able to handle up to 32 depending on their connection with the server on which they're playing.

You'd definitely want to try this, trust me!

BTW, noticed the player's name "t_tree" (on the 1st screenshot)? That's me. I always play at server 87.117.203.94 but if you want to challenge me, you'd be disappointed since I'm a lousy player. Capische!?

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Not Gandpa's War Anymore!

2007-12-03T03:11:00.000-08:00

One of the memorable moment when I'm playing CoD4: MW, is when I got to be a sniper, crawling opposite direction of marching armies. I died gazillion times. Guess I never cut to be sniper am I?

The A.I.? They're great, moving like a team with their cool C.Q.B. techniques.

The cinematic, they are almost life-like and it's fast paced so no time to take a piss! And Captain Price, you're suppose to be really, really, really old!

Wait a minute, there's a few unlockables I'd like to mention, as far as I got (I only finished playing with Recruit difficulty setting, geez!), There's Arcade and Epilogue. Go figure it out yourself. Buy it or play at your friends house or cyber cafe.

Spoiler, it's the Epilogue!

Here's the spec:

2.4 GHz dual core or better is recommended
1024MB RAM (2048MB for Vista)
3.0 Shader Support recommended. Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better or ATI Radeon X1800 or better

Checkout it's website.

PC Gaming, Linux Or Windows?

2007-12-02T05:27:00.000-08:00

Which one will you prefer, playing PC games with your Windows or Linux box? Let me give you a few non-bias fact.

Most games run on Windows. Yes, there are many games for Linux too, but there isn't many newer ones built specifically for Linux, except Enemy Territory: Quake Wars(at the moment I'm typing this post)
To play PC Games which currently not available in Linux, you have to use ''compatibility layer" program such as Wine to enable you to have a chance on playing them.

Actually, it totally depends to you, the user. If you wanted something free, including the OS itself, Linux is for you. But if you willing to pay and you don't want to miss the new PC Games that heavy on Windows side and I'm expecting the scene to continue for.. like, forever, why not Windows? And I recommend Windows XP Pro. Wait 1 or 2 years until Vista stable enough, then you can have it a go. Just a recommendation.

Free FPS

2007-11-30T02:31:00.000-08:00

..and I'm taking you to 'em!
Even though am listing only my favorite ones.

World of Padman

Guess what? This game was made using Quake 3 engine. Just Imagine Quake 3 without terrifying looking monsters and the game support bots too, BTW the weapon isn't so scary looking but consider a toy-ish version of Quake 3's.

So if you don't want your friends to laugh at you just because they fragged you the entire hour, so this is your escape and if you practice harder, might have a chance on a come back if you've been trough that. :) Now, don't waste your time, go here: http://www.worldofpadman.com/ and download it now!

If you want more, there's a list of free FPS at Wikipedia you might want to check out. Happy fragging!

Gamespy Comrade

2007-11-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

GameSpy said; GameSpy Comrade is next-generation gameplay software designed to connect you to your gameplaying buddies across games and gaming platforms.

Once installed, Comrade will enable you to ...

Join the perfect game in seconds with GameSpy Comrade’s SmartMatch technology
Launch and play over 640 PC games and game demos
Send instant messages to comrades playing games on the PC, PS2 and more!
One-click follow friends onto dedicated game servers
Dynamically track your gameplay stats in Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142 and more!
Organize your clans and guilds
Auto-patch your games
Integrate with in-game buddy lists and GameSpy Arcade

And I said; it's neat! It's like YM, but you can launch your PC games right from it.

See the picture above, under 'installed', there's an option for each games. The first button for UT 3 will launch SmartMatch which will pop-up a window with lists of available server and let you jump in for a fragfest! Total neat stuff I said.

Try it.

Battle Realms

2007-11-28T18:55:00.001-08:00

Requirements:

PIII 750 or equivalent
Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
128 MB of RAM
DirectX 8 compliant 32MB VRAM 3D AGP accelerated video card
DirectX 8 compliant sound card
DirectX 8 or higher (included)
600MB of hard drive space
4x CD-ROM
ISDN, DSL, Cable Modem or T1+ for online play

Now that you know the requirements, I'll let you in for a brief explaination.

As of now, its graphics isn't much to be desired. But the gameplay, on the other hand, is quite unique. What I'm saying is, how many games that incorporate martial art style in RTS? Not many and Battle Realms is at it's best. Even now they're dudes out there playing Battle Realms. I just installed Comrade. It detects my Battle Realms files on hard drive, a few clicks here and there and online!

In Battle Realms, there's 3 clans at your expense which are The Dragon, Serpent and Lotus clan readily at your disposal. The coolest thing is, you got to make peasant hut in order to produce more peasants from time to time until population limit exceeded. From then, you had to build training facilities to train the peasant to your heartfelt. Each peasant can perform 3 non linear training at 3 different facility to become Samurai(Dragon clan), Ronin(Serpent clan), and Warlock(Lotus clan).

Now Battle Realms only cost you less than 10 USD. I bought it for RM 9.90 from pcgame.com.my
* 1 USD = around RM 3.50, that's no more than 3 USD pal!

Integrate Fun and Learning with PC Games

2007-11-28T04:01:00.000-08:00

Integrate Fun and Learning with PC Games
by: Steve Hall

Children are always up for a good game. Well, who isn't? Pretend that you are back in school. For the rest of the class period you have two choices as to how you can spend your time. Option #1 is to struggle through endless arithmetic and English worksheets without any feedback except for a stamp that says "Great Job!" Option #2 is to work on the same arithmetic and English content, but on a computer. Yes, you can play a computer game to learn your numbers and verbs. Which option would you choose? Which option would children most likely choose? Option #2 of course!

Using computer software in education is not a new concept. Computer games have been used as a learning tool for the past two decades because they help students with basic skills, logic, problem solving, and various other academic skills. The Oregon Trail was a popular computer game in the 1980's. This game helped students to work on their planning and problem solving skills. If you have ever played that game you might have realized that it was difficult to complete the trail. Everyone in my wagon always died of Cholera.

Parents and educators that are unfamiliar with computer game technology may automatically dismiss the use of computer games for learning. They view computer games as nothing but "shoot 'em up" and mind numbing entertainment. As avid computer gamers we all know that they are way off base. Just think of all the problem solving, logic, and planning that goes into working on a team in a computer game, playing a puzzle, or figuring out a code.

There are computer games that are specifically based around educational learning standards. These games explicitly include counting, grammar, etc. They range from learning software that has a battery of tests to mimic standardized testing to fun, interactive learning games such as Caillou Magic Playhouse. This game allows a child to learn about numbers, patterns, spelling, phonics, and many other skills.

One advantage of using computer games in education is that the student is learning whether they realize it or not. Many children sigh when it is time to work on multiplication, but if you bring out a computer game - poof! They suddenly want to go through their multiplication tables. The computer game presents the same academic material, but makes it fun by integrating colorful animations and cool sounds. Plus, computer games allow for instant feedback and gratification. We have become a society that runs on instant gratification. A computer game can provide this feedback and it can also provide a means of competition. You will be stretched to find a student that wants to "beat" their worksheet, but a child who wants to beat a computer game? You will find them everywhere you look.

Computer games are advertised as forms of entertainment, which they most certainly are, but they are learning avenues as well. Gamers of all ages are learning every time they play a game. For example, there are games that work on your business skills. Games like Lemonade Tycoon and Mall Tycoon are prime examples. You are learning the skills to succeed in a business through simulation. Simulation is how many professionals acquire the skills for their occupation. Even though you are in a computerized environment, you can still come across many different business situations.

Computer software is here to stay. Email will one day override handwritten communication and perhaps games will take over traditional education. Granted games most likely will not take over traditional education, but they should become part of the educational experience. A child is learning while playing a computer game. Their memory and reaction time increases. They are sharpening various parts of their brain. The key is to play a mixture of games that range from pure entertainment to ones that are specifically designed for educational skill sets.

If your child or student is having trouble with math, English or any academic subject, set them up with a computer game. Their interest in learning will soar. Computer games can bring any student that is hesitant about school to learning whether they realize it or not. Computer games make learning fun.