Razumen

So there's no quick 180degree turn button like there was in RE4? If so that's a damn shame as it's probably the only biggest thing that made the control scheme actually work.

Oh no, it's not that I consider ~$60 for 2GB to be expensive, in fact that's a pretty good price, it's just relatively more expensive that DDR2 where I could get twice the amount of GB for the same, even half the price. I guess I'm just a little hesitant to lay down more money for an aging system as this, but I'm going to give it a try regardless.

True, if it was DDR2 memory we were talking about. DDR memory is actually more expensive right now, but I guess buying some new RAM is still cheaper than doing a whole MB/CPU/RAM upgrade - assuming it fixes the problem.

So I built this HTPC several months ago, mostly out of old computer parts I had laying about, it plays any SD content perfectly, but it seems to have problems with HD videos. (720P, 1080P) Basically it seems like the video is slowed down to a point where the audio is out of sync. The strange thing is that I've downloaded smaller file-sized HD (720P) trailers and they seem to play fine, but for large HD files it is a no-go. These are my system specs: OS: Vista Ultimate CPU: Pentium 4@3.02GHz MB: P4S800D-X RAM: 1.5GB DDR (2x512 PC2100 133mhz) (2x256 PC3200 200mhz) GPU: NVidia Geforce 6800 (AGP) - HDMI->DVI out HD: Western Digital 750GB Sound: Creative Audigy 2 ZS Considering it plays small files fine but struggles with large ones leads me to think that it's probably not a problem with the speed of my CPU or GPU but rather related to the fact I'm using only 1.5GB of RAM with Vista. I'm just wondering what everyone here thinks of this, as I'm currently debating whether it's worth buying 2 more sticks of old DDR ram for such an aging system, without really knowing if it will solve my problem or not.

I haven't finished it yet, but I did reach the endgame - I don't know if I agree that the endgame is too long, but I was really disappointed that I couldn't go back after entering entering that town (can't remember its name.) Like the first game, I'm also a little dissapointed how they handled the reactor area, forcing you along a certain path rather than letting you explore in a more free-form manner. And yeah, a lot of the atmosphere from the first was lost in favor of the squad war feature. Things like the underground labs were the best parts of Stalker: SOC. There was far too much of an emphasis on human vs human conflicts. The blowouts were a cool addition as well, but for me they only seemed to ever happen at the beginning of a level, reducing the randomness and unpredictability of them (Having them occur in the middle of a fight would have been interesting, but that never happened.) The squad wars feature, interesting as it is, is still quite bugged and needs tweaking. Any 'feature' that removes the player from having to accomplish a task by letting the AI do it is not much of a feature in my books. Also, being able to see the location and number of every enemy and monster on your radar and map definitively lessens the elements of suspense and fear. Only friendly blips should show up, and enemy's only if you have direct line of sight on them. The ability to upgrade and repair your weapons and armor was a big plus though, definitively made you feel a little more attached to your armor and weapons. All in all I'd say it's definitively an improvement, though a few steps forward in some areas and a few steps back in others. And with all the bug in it, it was definitively a Stalker game . Here's to hoping the franchise keeps alive, it's definitively still a unique experience in games these days.

It will be used primarily for Vista's media center as well as whatever games I end up putting on the system.

Ok, that sums up pretty much what I already know, but an alternative would be nice - everyone's saying don't buy Creative, but what they are not saying is what to buy instead.

I just installed Vista on my new HTPC, but the onboard AC97 sound is ridiculously low for some reason, even after trying every driver I could find. So now I'm looking for a good, cheap PCI sound card to replace it; I had a Yamaha Waveforce 192XG, but it's a little too old for Vista (it only has Win98 drivers). Then I saw a Creative Audigy SE for sale for ~$30, but I've heard bad things about Creative and Vista. I do have a Creative Audigy 2ZS in my other computer, so I'm thinking about moving that over and seeing how well it works. What do you guys recommend?

I personally didn't like how steering was handled in MK:DD, which is not to say that there was something wrong with the steering controls themselves, but rather that the camera seemed to lag behind your turn input, making it harder to judge just how much you were in fact turning. If you understand what I'm trying to say. They fixed this in MK:DS, so I'm hoping it won't be a problem for the Wii version. I also really thought it stupid that while the second person was in control of using items, he/she had no rear-view to see approaching carts and no way to aim items (like green shells) either. Two player Coop really felt like a half-arsed addition.

What trailer? It was a teaser, and it didn't show any gameplay at all. And that 1998 trailer blew, horribly. Now the 2001 E3 trailer, that one was awesome-the first time I saw it a chill went up my spine. The only thing to see now is if the new DNF actually succeeds in giving me that same feeling again, if it does it'll be a great success.

The teaser was alright, I've seen a lot worse, where the only thing you see are boring catchphrases and a image or two, usually with fog - LOTS of fog. The only thing is they did not technically show game-play, all they showed was short cinematic like clips from the game engine, while alright looking, in my books does not constitute as game-play. Still, it was a nice sign of progress, and hopefully also a sign of more to follow soon.

Yeah, Sure.

This is very, VERY awesome. I can understand some of the ire people have for this title, but it IS Duke Nukem, and it IS from Epic - and that counts for a whole heck of a lot. I just hope that people don't expect a full blown trailer like they did when Fallout 3's was released. It's called a teaser for a reason. As long as they follow through with the promise of more content.

Oh I know, I was just clarifying it a bit more.

Thanks for your tips, I'll have to look into it more, don't know If I'll have time for it while I'm taking classes though. Also, I think the fee's around $60 a month for 4 classes, sound reasonable enough? As for the confidence part, I'm really looking for more of a general improvement. Obviously I'll be feeling more physically capable if I stick with it, but I'm far from the type of person that would look for ways to show off or search for trouble.