BlueMage

The most obvious effect? Well, I've got roughly a week's worth of music that, by and large, has no lyrics! (Yes, this is a good thing - lyrics generally destroy awesome music because the singer is often poorly trained, if at all) More than that, it's helped keep me sharp, dealing with some of the more, er, aggressive personalities on here. Finally, being the relatively normal person that I am (aside from the incredible intelligence, amazing good looks, awesome sense of humour and great modesty) on an otherwise geeky-site, I like to think I might've been able to help a few folks in their IRL encounters with others. In a way, that's possibly the most rewarding part.

Queensland, Australia. Born up north, moved down south for uni.

Regardless, Vader looks pretty hardcore. And really, with a system like the PS3, that's all you can ask for. Heaven forbid you get gameplay.

Depends on the game. I'll echo support for the 8800GT - they're a solid mid-to-high end card. If you intend for your system to be a games/multimedia rig, I'll also recommend the quad - I run a QX6700, and the system itself usually is running a media player, several instances of firefox, any number of documents and a game simultaneously. Thanks to the quad, I don't suffer crashes from deadlock. Keep in mind the QX6700 was the first available quad - there are at least two others on the market now, one higher spec, one entry spec.

I name Puppy Linux 3.00 as my contender. Because this little guy never gives up, even on old hardware, is playful, and is Australian (yay, I'm patriotic). He also fits on (and boots from) a 256MB USB stick very comfortably with room for expansion.

I'm going to go against the grain, assume you have a legit copy of windows, and recommend Windows Media Player 11, because it has pretty eye candy.

Hence why I said grab yourself the latest patches from the website - it includes a high-def texture pack, a higher-poly-models pack, etc. Seriously, it's worth getting - BioShock simply did not live up to what System Shock 2 started. SS2 is from the era when Looking Glass Studios still graced us with their presence. That said, Crysis <3

I've said it before - grab yourself System Shock 2, with the latest fan-patches from www.sshock2.com and you'll have a still-good survival-horror game with co-op play available. Only issue would be that the patches also decrease the difficulty.

That sounds like Cyberspeed. Man, I remember that. Fun times.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT ON A SANDWICH!!! I mean, ah, well, about time. Yes.

Hassle I hear you say. What hassle? You get the patch, you click the button, and off it goes. You just have the choice about whether you install the patch or not (example, I personally prefer the unpatched version of System Shock 2). Beyond that, the only hassle I've encountered was with mods, and then, more a case of weeding the worthwhile from the piss-weak. Given that I find the cost of purchasing most game media ridiculous, I'm going to go out on a limb here and call it fairly necessary. Let us not forget the hassle of importing if you wish to go the purely legal path, nevermind ensuring your system is compatible with the game you imported. I couldn't care less - 2% of several millions is still on the order of tens of thousands - significant. Huzzah! What problems? No, really, what problems? Maybe it's because I live in the magical wonderland of Australia that I'm not subjected to what PC gamers in other nations clearly are, but I'm not sure I quite understand what problems you refer to. Jesus fucking Christ what did you DO to that poor thing to make it do that? Never ending? What, you click every single .exe that comes into your inbox? This "never-ending" stream you talk about is hype - browse intelligently, sufficiently obfuscate your email, and you won't be subject to this. Common sense. Uh, yeah? Where did I ever say it wasn't more of a hassle. Pardon my geekiness, but that's always been half the fun - getting things just right. Must be my perfectionist streak at work again, but knowing I got the game running by my hand alone is significantly more satisfying than just popping it in and watching the pretty colours. Granted. I have a theory on that. You probably won't like it. Anyone who espouses the "wisdom of the masses" definitely won't like it.

I got myself Crysis ... and I guess this holiday in Dubai counts too. Also guys, get it right - Boxing Day is AUSTRALIAN. And a public holiday. We're lazy tossers

I did nothing of the sort - it's not a point of contention that console hardware does not require upgrading as PC hardware does. However, the console traditionally required NO upgrades, software or otherwise, nor online activations, nor anything else of the like. Simply, this means that if anything, PCs and consoles now share a similar limitation. Bullshit. Patching a modded X360 leads to a useless X360. Hardly inconsequential. Yet some games require that update. I'm sorry, what was that about not requiring upgrades? I'm going to point out that it seems to be a far more likely if in the case of the X360 and PS3 vs most PC hardware. And it's more the way you approach the issue of your warranty. To date, I've never been screwed over on warranty for any of my PC hardware in the long-run.

See, that's the thing - I've never encountered it. Ever. As far as I'm concerned, it's a non-issue.

Hahahaha, hahahahaha, haahaha. Never tried to play Guitar Hero 3 out of the box, did you? Perhaps not hardware upgrades, but this latest batch of consoles suffer all the same software upgrade limitations. O rly? I thought it was because I was a cheap bastard who is very picky about what he plays in the first place, and therefore only gets the games he really wants. Oh, and the fact that console media are the same price (or more expensive) than PC media. 120AUD for a PS3 game? Please, Ridge Racer isn't that good. Also, what DRM issues? I've not yet had a DRM issue. I dunno, maybe I just take good care of my rig.

The simple fact is that you have far greater and exacting control using the keyboard and mouse. They are testing water for mods. PC games are better off being ported to console than the other way around, however - it's easy to remove complexity, not so to introduce it.Also, my rig was only 3500AUD for the entire lot, and apparently we have far higher costs on electronics than in the US, so 5000USD in upgrades is a bit overkill. Unless you're intending to get a 30" screen. Max, for modern games, Vista is superb. I have not encountered any Vista-related problems on modern games - it's rather well-behaved regarding system notifications, hasn't crashed due to OS faults, and politely concedes RAM to the higher priority applications, all without bothering you over the details. And then, when you finish your gaming session, it returns to your usual settings.

Because the PC exclusives tend towards superiority. Don't blame the game for your machine's inadequacies - you noted that you're not using the recommended card, you have none to blame but yourself. And for the record, I run Crysis at 1680x1050 all settings on high. Very playable. And Bigfoot, I checked - even on Low settings, Crysis looks anything but ass.

"Fuck 'em." Rly.

I didn't have too many issues with the demo - only one instance whre I alt-tab'd out from the menu, and when I went back in I'd managed to corrupt the install. Delete'n'reinstall seemed to solve that problem. I had no problems afterwards. So ... I'm guessing graphics card.

Me. But for completely different reasons.

I don't want to go to Dubai. I want to stay home, and spend the time with my girlfriend. Understandably, I'm not getting what I want for Christmas this year. But I do get Crysis when I come back (makes me look forward to going in a way) Oh yes, something else I'd like for Christmas - a well-paying job in my field of study. Because I enjoyed what I studied Goddammit and I want to work in that particular field.

The best part is the hard stuff is already done for you - getting wireless and sound working (these two seem to be the major hurdles for linux on laptops) and for about 400USD it's not a bad little workhorse.

I fought my sensei this evening and won. I AM SUPER SAIYAN!!! No, really, I did spar with him - he went easy on me, let me get a few hits in, only hit me twice.

It will eventually. But the Eee is intended at this point to run linux. It's a way of getting linux some more market exposure while simultaneously demonstrating the low spec requirements compared to a comparable Windows system. I've seriously toyed with the idea of getting one.

A retractable shiv would be pretty damn cool ... but for practical (and I guess legalistic) reasons, I'd take a telescopic high-density plastic baton. Unlikely to kill, and would work a treat against a knife-wielding opponent - a quick snap to the wrist and I disarm my opponent without risking my possibly-unshielded foot. As for multiple opponents, that is not something you can win by playing defensively. You need to take the initiative and not surrender it. Not as hard as it sounds, as multiple opponents simply means more possible attack opportunities. If you are going to take one of them down for purposes of aweing the rest, treat it as you would a dog-attack: Pick the biggest, meanest looking one, and you take him down with one hit. If you don't, no-one's going to be awed. They'll simply go all at once and you will get swamped. I'm not going to comment on the differences between traditional and modern arts - my own experience tends more towards the traditional ones, with application included, which generally would be greatly influenced by modern arts. All arts have an underlying philosophy, and it is that philosophy that will drive the techniques taught. If that philosophy is winning the fight and saving your own skin without regard for the opponent, techniques will be geared towards bodily destruction and brutal attacks - muay thai and boxing come to mind. If the philosophy is geared more towards preserving one's self while causing as little harm as possible, the techniques will hinge more on understanding the body's weakpoints and how to manipulate them. My only comment shall be, I'm pretty sure I know which one would hold up better in a legal sense.