RoadiePC

Well, yeah. Mostly. I was looking for the one titled "Incredible Internet Videos" or something like it. Now I feel dumb. Thx for the link, I missed that thread too!

Topic. I remember getting lots of awesome from that thread, and, as far as I can tell, it doesn't violate any of OCR's terms, so would I be out-of-line asking for it to come back? ...and before someone says "Do it yourself", I just wanted to say that maintaining a thread of that size(updating links/first post/etc) would be way out of my league. I know it sounds lazy, but if i took that pet, it'd probably die under the couch...

And so far, I'd say this whole thing still smells like it did last time I posted. Sony starts witch hunt, gives vague, "you might be at-risk!" scenario, no data is actually compromised, driving people to focus on teh evul h4x0rs, while Sony moves on protecting itself. If you think about it, it's a lot like the plot to Hackers, with no big automated boats. I STILL think it's a ruse.

I would say sensationalism can more easily carry blame. If I were Sony, and I said that some hackers got a few days' worth of free store access, I'd look like a dolt for not implementing security, and pirates will be pirates. However, if I said that some hackers stole CC info, even if it wasn't true, those hackers look more like villains. Instead of 'just' being pirates, they're suddenly identity thieves. Besides, how many of these breaches have occurred in the past couple years(between banks, cellphones, facebook/myspace)? After a while, it becomes par for the course. Once people think that their data is at risk, the ensuing witch-hunt would steal attention from Sony's own ineptitude. Along those lines, if no one comes forward saying their identity was stolen, then the whole thing blows over, and Sony can start planning their next scheisty move. I KNOW I'm speculating, and I know I don't have proof, but I feel it makes sense. Until someone DOES show proof of compromised customer data, it's an easy target for Sony to pin the blame on, without having to take accountability for it. --Edit: Also, think about Sony's recourse so far: if they really felt that their paying customers had been violated to such an extreme extent, don't you think there'd be more aggressive actions taken than just a shutdown? These are the same guys who managed to subpoena IP addresses for anyone who even SAW their precious keys, for chrissakes. I don't know, I just think it smells really fishy.

But What WAS the difference? Or, more precisely, what was the REAL cause for locking down? From my own digging on the 'net, I've only been able to confirm one thing: -The Playstation Store was extremely compromised by people spoofing their PS3s to look like DevKits to the network, allowing access to stolen content. I've tried to find someone other than Sony claiming access to consumer identity data, and I haven't seen it. While that doesn't mean that it should be ruled out completely, I tend to believe that Sony's crying wolf in an attempt to get the masses on their side--face it, their public image isn't exactly golden right now. The thing that pisses me off is that they so easily could've been honest about it, saying "we think that people are pirating the stuff that we work our asses off to deliver. BRB." As a consumer, I feel like Sony insults my intelligence every single chance they get.

I understand the "Hackers are the bad guy"(waaay oversimplified) side of the fence, I really do. If some kid gets caught using said stolen CC info to try to buy laptops online, then YES, I hope the kid is made an example of. If someone DID(try to) get the Sony customer database, then I hope he burns for it. Let me try to put this into (my)perspective: XBOX 360s and WIIs are modded all the time, and piracy is rampant once that happens. However, piracy is an insult to a true Tinkerer. I actually had an old XBOX that could play burned games. Do you know what I did with it? I ran Linux, and using that, got it online to watch YouTube, and played a lot of really old(NES-Era) emulators. The only thing I had to worry about was a voided warranty. Again, I wasn't pirating games, and again, I know and respect the difference. I don't want to get into the legality of emulation, my point here is that Microsoft, Nintendo, and even the PC game devs are fully aware of the potential that their IP could/WILL be violated. The difference is in their response to it. I mean, look at the indie scene. I think it was the guys behind Super Meat Boy(Awesome game, BTW), who said, more or less, "if you're gonna pirate it, there's nothing we can do. Tell your friends if you enjoyed the game, and if you like it enough, consider paying for it." The response to that simple plea was enormous, and despite that it was an indie game with indie-game-security, it did well. Most people DON'T inherently suck. In every populace, you'll find heroes, as well as villains. MY problem with this situation is that it's not simple enough to just classify people as black-hat or white-hat. I do things with my technology that I feel entitled to do: -Hacked graphics card(unlocked GPU speed) -Hacked phone(custom Windows Mobile) -Hacked PSP(explained in previous post) -Hacked Xbox(as mentioned) ......But that does NOT make me a bad guy, or a thief. When a company with as tarnished a history as Sony's starts vilifying people like me, frankly, I get pissed off. "Pot vs. Kettle" doesn't even FIT here, it's just plain hypocrisy. And that's not to even say I would have any idea HOW to modify a PS3, as I don't own one. I DID want one for the longest time(solely for Wipeout HD), but the combination of Sony possibly not encrypting their(and OUR) most valuable data, and THEN blaming guys like ME for it is, in my mind, simply unacceptable.

Y'know, I really respect Zircon for his objective opinions, and I KNOW I'm being more subjective when I say this, but in general, I just hate Sony, and I have plenty of reasons to. Before anyone thinks I'm just some H4x0R, pirate, scumbag, etc, I'm NOT. except with Sony. I'll explain why, and hopefully not get banned for my logic/opinion. First and foremost, Sony's ALWAYS had a God complex. Think back: -Sony finds out, before release, that a whole product line(Vaio laptops) had problems with their chargers and batteries(battery & charger production outsourced to separate companies). Sony releases said line ANYWAY. People's HOUSES BURN DOWN. Sony's response: "The EULA did not cover the battery or charger, OR incidental damage caused by either of the two." -Sony BMG gets into a fight with Apple over iTunes royalties. Sony wants more, Apple literally CAN'T GIVE MORE, so declines. Sony then pulls their whole catalog from iTunes("if you won't play by my rules, then I'm taking the ball & going home"). Some rocket-surgeon at Sony figures out that if 'net-savvy people can't get their music from iTunes, that piracy might climb. In response, Sony releases a NASTY DRM Rootkit, which automatically installs upon auto-run of the affected discs. There is NO mention of said rootkit in the EULA(which is displayed WHILE the rootkit is silently installing). This rootkit opens up vulnerabilities to users' computers, and when one of the heads of Sony BMG is confronted on the subject, responds with: "We figured most users don't know what a rootkit is, so they wouldn't care." -In response to countless lawsuits and violated privacy laws around the globe, Sony releases a rootkit "uninstaller" which does NOT remove said rootkit. Lawsuits continue. In classic Sony style(Pun intended), they settle out of court and FINALLY release a removal tool. -Sony releases PS3 with functionality that they end up REMOVING(as we already all know about), including backwards-compatibility & Linux. -Sony releases PSP with hardware functionality locked out(IR transceiver , full 333 Mhz processor), advertising specs that are NOT actually accessible by the end-user. What I'm saying here is that I'm an honorable guy, but I'm NOT about to let Sony slide when they're not going to be honorable. I use CFW on my PSP, and with that, I can convert my own, legit library of PS1 games to play on my PSP(Wip3out, anyone?). I use it as a remote control(with the IR transceiver). I run at a full 333Mhz, and I load my own(LEGIT) games from the memstick, conserving battery. I consider myself somewhat aware of Sony's transgressions, and while I can't argue at their size, I'm not going to let them rape me just because they say they can. Am I opinionated and subjective? you bet I am. Until Sony realizes that their "might-makes-right" mentality is going to leave them beaten, I plan to continue cheering on the people who, like me, won't stand for consumer abuse. All that said, it sucks that someone could violate Sony's legit users as they have. I'm glad I don't have any personal info stored with Sony, but if they'd taken the honest route with GeoHot, I'd speculate that this mess wouldn't have happened to begin with. Let tinkerers tinker. If you lump me in with the pirates, then you make enemies across the board. Bad idea. Incidentally, I'm pulling all of this from memory, so if I'm incorrect on any of this, please let me know. I'm not Fox News, I'll concede if I'm wrong.

I just wanted to pop in and THANK YOU for offering the music for free. Some seriously awesome tuneage you've put up, and even broke folk like myself are invited to enjoy it. That means a lot when the choices are: A: no mew music B: feeling like a toolbox for pirating(which I try to avoid) THANK YOU for that; I promise I'll try to throw you some bones when the next one hits.

Personally, I tend to use speakers when listening at home, just a pair of simple/cheap Logitechs with a small sub(got them for $25.00 at Fry's), but when I use headphones, I use my Sony MDR-V700s. They're not perfect, the oversized (40mm) drivers tend to be a bit bass-heavy, but for thumpy music, they're great. They've also got awesome sound-isolation. They tend to draw more power than most portable music players can push, so I pair them with a "Boosteroo", which is a small AA-battery powered headphone amplifier/splitter from Radio Shack. The V700s can handle up to 3 watts, which is a lot for headphones, and between the V700s($160.00) and the Boosteroo ($25.00) I have a fairly cost-effective headphone rig that rocks for stuff that's just begging to be played loud.

I'm surprised nobody's responded to this yet. A FREE album, of this size, with these names? ...Thank you, and thanks to all who contributed to it. My birthday was on the tenth, and this was a great way to fight off feeling older.

....THIS. Although, some context may help explain. Despite my usual lurker-tendencies, I will rarely post to mention the awesome emotionality of Homeworld. if you've played it, you know what I mean. If not, I don't want to spoil it. The buildup/crescendo from 6:00 to 7:00 pushed me over the edge(gameplay context included). To this very day, undoubtedly due to that experience, Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings/Agnus Dei is bar none my favorite piece of music. ever. Also, the ending to Chrono Trigger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nMIXAkUBHM That moment, when an all-too-familiar theme becomes something totally new, and EPIC(at 0.47), after everything I'd been through in that game, was what totally brought on the waterworks. Maybe I'm a sissy, or maybe these people are truly masters of their art. I tend to think the latter. EDIT: also THIS: The ending to MGS3. the part starting at 8:20 did it for me.

Noone's replied yet? Okay, well maybe others here know about Osu! already, but I didn't. I'm enjoying it. Thanks, dude.

Gotta say, it's always good to see more free stuff, especially from Jared Hudson. I've been a fan since RPG Cinematic War Scene and I still wanna see a music video of that to footage from the LoTR(Helm's deep). But back on topic, my only question is this: is there any way to nab this as MP3? I like carrying tunes on my phone, and MP3s are pretty much the only format my phone'll run. ...or, there's always transcoding, but if you have it without the possibility of too much quality loss, that's obviously preferable. Again, Thanks for the heads-up, dude. Listening to Acid Raindrops now, and I think it's badass.

I gotta say(and this makes me feel old), Blade Eagle 3-D on the Sega Master System was mine. The title theme is still in my head, and now I can't find it. Youtube, Galbadia Hotel, no dice. First game I ever beat. ....Dammit, now I'm gonna have it stuck in my head all day. Nostalgia's great and all, but anything on the SMS can get old quick, especially if it's stuck in your head.

Good stuff, I'm curious where this all started. This is the first I've heard of the term "ReNix", and I'd like to know more about the Netlabel. Any other info? --Edit: I just nabbed the torrent, and I'm digging it. I'll keep that going as long as I can. Thanks for the tunes!

Well, I'm glad that bLiNd's other track has already been put into a mix, and if a new one happens, I'm sure it'll be a must-listen, too. Til then, though, keep up the good work--I know I'm clearing space on my phone in preparation for the next one.

Voted. Good luck!

Wow, man. good stuff. Personally, I'm a sucker for emotive electronica, and this definitely fits the bill. Music doesn't have to overstate itself to have power, and your work proves that. THANK YOU for putting your stuff out on a "set your price" basis; my budget allows for zero spending at the moment, and I apologize that I have nothing I can offer in return but my gratitude. If anyone's on the fence about grabbing this one, Get the headphones and listen.

I just wanted to hop in here and THANK YOU. this stuff is awesome, especially when something I thought I'd forgotten all about pops up and that euphoric/nostalgic chill hits. I'm probably resurrecting a forgotten thread, but if this gets bumped and more people discover this, I'm all for it. BTW, my hat's off to you for including BliNd's work. killer piece.

Hmm...My "tactics" tend to involve symptoms of OCD. I usually go with the method that ensures either an even field, or an advantage, no matter how small, before gameplay even begins. what I mean is not cheating; just making a methodical setup, and capitalizing on it. For example, in FPS games I have an EluminX keyboard which feels like a laptop keyboard, the logic being the smaller travel-distance on the keys. That, or my Nostromo SpeedPad(which, when set up right, rocks). I also use a Logitech MX Revolution mouse, which has, besides the usual X+Y axes, a whopping 13 inputs(5 buttons, 4-way mousewheel w/button, 3-position thumbwheel). This is extremely useful in both button-heavy games(Mechwarrior series) and more reflex-oriented games(Unreal Tournament series). For example: I'm running around one of the many Deck 16 variants on UT2004, which I still play, with a Lightning Gun or Sniper Rifle, when I turn a corner and find myself face-to-face with a guy carrying a Rocket Launcher. He'd win, were it not for the Flak Cannon I have bound to one of my mouse buttons. Truth is, I'm not a very skilled player, and I know that. I seldom play multiplayer games(counter-Strike and the like), and I tend to prefer singleplayer or bot-filled outings. when I DO play against other players, I tend to get spanked pretty good. I like learning and dismantling patterns and figuring out the psychology that bots and AI players use. I don't know why, really. When it comes to Shooters, I'll always have a spot in my heart for Raiden Fighters Jet--my local arcade has one, and whenever I'm in the area, I drop in one credit, put my headphones on, and go into Zen mode. Music is extremely important on shooters for me, if "Buried Alive" by Billy Idol comes into my playlist, everything else dies. Fast. I usually play older games that I've had some time to learn, UT2004, Soul Caliber 1, MvC 1, etc. Maybe that makes me less of a "die-hard" gamer, but there's something to be said for settling into a game that i'm comfortable with. Anyone else get that way too, or am I just odd?

Could I make a suggestion? Perhaps if someone were able to compile the OCRemoved stuff into a master list, and(based on the size), divide it up into some manageable torrents, there could be an update made whenever a bunch of older ReMixes are phased out. For example(and bear in mind, I'm speaking off-the-cuff, so my numbers are pure speculation), say there's 150 currently OCRemoved tracks, we create three(possibly date-oriented) torrents, and label them OCRemoved series 1 through 3. When the next full set of 50 hits, just compile it into series 4. Obviously, it'd have to be a balance between one HUGE update made less frequently versus micromanagement, but I feel some sort of arrangement could be made. I can also say this: I know I'd seed, and I KNOW that sorting through older, long-forgotten ReMixes could be one helluva nostalgia trip. ...Not even getting into the reduced bandwidth on the sites currently hosting said removed ReMixes... Let's face it; one of the major issues OCR has always faced has been hosting SO MUCH CONTENT. Between manageability & navigating the site, the darkest shadow in the corner has been the cost of transferring all that data--I'd assume that as OCRemoved's library grows, that concern is very likely to carry over. As someone else mentioned, if someone doesn't want a certain Remix from a torrent, they uncheck it. no big deal. That said, I don't see any reason(aside from manpower cost initializing the project) not to consider something like this. I've already had a decent flood of ideas for this, and I would be willing to help out in any way I can. I'd happily do the initial seeding, or perhaps ID3 tag editing to prep a torrent, but I don't want to step on any toes--If someone with the authority does green-light this, please let me know if I can help. But I'm playing a backseat driver here. I don't run any of those sites, and while I can say I'd do my part, It'd likely be up to the people responsible for them to get the ball rolling. Hopefully, with the help of some of OCR's staff, there could be some communication regarding recently discontinued Remixes, and a way to keep the older stuff alive. --kind of Offtopic: Did anyone else notice that the band Rednex has teamed up with a certain torrent site to OPENLY release their next single? The statement that they released on the subject is an interesting read: http://www.rednexmusic.com/info/RednexLovePirateBay_2010-01-07.pdf I hope I'm not bending/breaking any rules with the address above, there's no link to illegal content, but if someone thinks I shouldn't link directly to it, please let me know and I'll remove the link. The reason I post the link about Rednex is simple: not ALL torrenting is illegal, and we might be able to help change the negative stigma attached to torrenting if we consider it as a low-cost alternative to expensive webhosting. That, and my personal beliefs, aside, I feel the benefits to an idea like this are huge, not to mention at a minimal cost--and the OCR lurkers(like me!) would be able to give back to a much-loved community in our own way. any thoughts?

I'm afraid that the emulation itself is imperfect--without waiting on Mame's devs to improve the situation, I'm not sure what can be done. Even with that idea, between arcade emulation being extremely finicky between hardware boards & the rarity of the game, this may be as good as it gets. On the bright side, if a ReMix comes out of it, you might just find that you have more creative license =Þ I DID find a program that allows replay and WAV extraction of arcade rom audio, but I honestly don't know if it'd be OK to post the link here. The software's named M1--pretty vague, eh? That software runs in the command-prompt only, has a somewhat limited list of compatible emulation, and, you guessed it, Twin Eagle II is not in that list. I'm still looking, though. maybe Twin Eagle II shares a hardware board with a more popular game, but that would take more research than I can pull off ATM. ---EDIT--- I did find some more info on the game. It ran on the SETA SSV hardware, but nothing really noteworthy(that I've found) shares it. I also found a discussion with some of the special moves listed, thankfully with no forbidden linkage. I may be the only person interested, but I did say that I'd share: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28926

Well, I tried the usual sites I frequent, no luck, but if anyone knows a way to extract the audio from the emulation filesets, I would be more than willing to try. some console emulators allow that as an option, but with arcade, I have no idea where to start. I'll do some digging and see what I can come up with. If anyone else has done this before, please let me know. I have the means, but lack the knowledge.

touché. I am bested. Oh well. Maybe a "Random-Obscure-Game-Trivia" thread might surface later on. If anyone hits pay-dirt on Twin Eagle II, though, I'm still interested. To be fair, if I find any, I'll send it over. FWIW, the game has a surprising amount of depth once you DO learn the moves, though...and freeplay mode never hurt anyone(regarding old, extremely rare arcade games, anyway).

Coop, thank you, good sir. I appreciate the info. I did actually try looking through the forum rules & such to prevent asking an answered question, but didn't find the answers. maybe a addendum to the posting rules(unless I missed something)? Either way, thanks again for the heads-up on that game. your knowledge, is, indeed, legendary. Now then, If you told me what item is obtained by charming a Nu(Chrono Trigger), I would truly bow down. =Þ The answer's probably waaay too easy, but that's about as obscure as I can go at this hour. Back on topic, Twin Eagle II is awesome. Only problem is, there seems to be NIL covering it on the web. I think I read somewhere that there's something like 17 genuine cabinets still in existence in the USA. If anyone knows the location of a moves list, or something along that vein, please share! IIRC, the moveset was printed on the cabinet itself. Happy hunting, eh?