Going Nuts over Gaming Hardware - how crazy can it get?
Also, an admission is made about the iTunes feed woes. You'll have to listen to find out who takes the blame!
Something a little special! Killer Squirrel cooked up a little Abbott and Costello inspired script based on Aion, and a few of our TOG members get a mention: Who_Me, NFi, Whats Up!, and your_Mother. It's very impromptu, but we had fun whipping it up
Feedback
It has been a huge effort to get to here; we have been learning plenty about recording, mastering, feeding to iTunes... and really fine tuning our presentation. We are looking forward to all your feedback! Download Here (For PC: Right Click Save As - 17.6M .mp3)
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We're appreciating the comments we're getting, but please keep them coming and spread the word!
Now i'm finally caught up to the present day after listening to episode 8. (watches Ashlann uploading episode 9 and snickering)
Regarding Microsoft forcing Xbox Live users to pay for downloadable content or DLC. Where PC users will get access to it for Free. Is kinda similar as to how Microsoft gave PC users eventually Gold access for free, i believe. Where Xbox users protested and MS caved in and gave rebates to those who had recently paid for Gold status. (around $50 US)
Kinda the bad thing is gamer consumers in general (minus the hardcore base) are a fickle bunch. As a consumer you can lead them to a cliff and they'll jump off absent minded. (I suppose this can be said of other consumer sectors for the uninformed)
I more of the bent of consumer advocacy i guess. Where an organization in the States like the "Entertainment Consumers Association" (ECA) fascinates me. For years i was yearning for a consumer organization to appear for games. The ECA has been around now for about two years.
I hope in the future the stunts that game publishers and game developers pull on gamer consumers. They'll be taken to task thinking they can get away with near murder. By organizations similar to the ECA or what not.
Headphone chat! Well I'm a gamer that believes good sound is more important than good graphics. To get immersed in a game good sound is essential in my opinion. Years ago I went looking for a set of headphones. I already had one of the first decent 5.1 speaker setups. I walked into this shop and there were sets ranging from $20 to over $700. The plan was to start testing at the cheap end and work my way up to what I thought was the perfect set (for me). The $200 mark was hit and I still wasn't satisfied so I kept going... I tried on this pair of high-end Sennheiser headphones and OMG I was in audio heaven. The difference between this particular pair and what I had previously tried on was enormous. There was one set more expensive than the pair I liked so I tried them out of curiosity and found that (for me) they weren't any better. The pair I bought worked so well that directional sound was possible. I actually got accused of wallhacking in a Call of Duty ladder match because I tracked someone with my crosshairs while they were walking on a tin roof and killed him as he jumped from it (Depot map). I heard where he was! The next piece of audio I'm looking at is a good set of wireless headphones.
OK, Stef has mentioned more than a few times how good Fallout 3 is and I've added it to my "Games to definitely play one day list". Now Ashlann you have mentioned more than a few times about how good the game Portal is. Many others have also told me this.
Help yourself to a generous, 11-level serving of Portal: First Slice, the official demo for the game that challenges you to think with portals.
What an awesome game, a very clever and simple concept that's delivered very well. I can see the appeal for this one.
Regarding the discussion on hardware, like both Ashlann and Stef I enjoy building my own PC. As frustrating as it can sometimes be the satisfaction when you fire it up with a clean install of your chosen operating system makes it all worth while
You guys mentioned water-cooling. I used to be a big overclocker years ago and utilised the Swiftech range. During this time period hardware wasn't cheap and by overclocking correctly I prolonged many an upgrade and saved a heap of money. As an example - HERE [2004] - I paid $160 for an AMD Athlon XP 2500+ and overclocked it to over a 3200+ and it lasted like that for years. At the time of purchase the 3200+ was $830. The 2500+ and the water-cooling were together less than $500 and as you can see from the results in that link the extra performance was substantial. BUT now-a-days I don't think overclocking is worth it due to hardware being so cheap. I haven't overclocked in years.
I'm VERY interested in Stef's 'DVI and USB through Cat5 cables' project to reduce room noise by having the PC in another room. Please keep us informed on this!
I am totally with you on quality sound as an essential PC component. And I have also been accused of hacking in-game over my ability to track people around a map! People who haven't heard what quality sound can do simply don't understand.
That Portal Demo - if you enjoyed it, you are going to LOVE the full game. The "end levels" go to a completely new place; it is simply superb. I don't want to ruin it for you Trust me, it's worth it!
Im still working on the dvi over cat5e cable stuff, kinda next on the list, I've finished some massive renovations first and be rendering my house over the next 2 weeks but yes I am still looking to do that for sure if I can get it to work.
Games Industry Podcast - Episode 8
