G_D

Dang. It was lost in the Pokemon discussion, so I missed it. Anyway, that's pretty good news for DS. I personally can't wait for Sim City. Not until the DS sells a billion units...

Spore DS confirmed. Discuss.

It's the next 'Question Mark Box' scare!

You need one of these (2 different mice): The best mice ever, IMHO.

Thanks to everyone who participated! I'll get the results up as soon as I can.

Well, all but two people voted. Voting will end tonight at midnight, but I won't be around. I will probably get the results up in a couple days.

I don't understand why the media industry keeps insisting on DRM. It hurts the non-pirating customers, and hasn't yet been able to stop the pirates. IMHO, there will NEVER be a usable DRM scheme that both stops pirates and allows non-pirates to actually use their media. It just isn't possible. No matter what they come up with, if hackers want it bad enough they will get it. Plus, the harder they make it to crack, the more glory is in it for the hackers (think of how well-known muslix64 is now for cracking the BluRay / HD-DVD protection). It's just a pointless endeavor that increases cost and decreases legitimate users' freedoms. /off-topic rant

^ I see. I didn't really look into it, just took it at face value.

You know, because of this comment I just had to look up how much RAM Vista will support...and I must say I'm surprised. Here is my source. First, don't get a 32-bit edition: As you can see, there isn't a 32-bit Vista edition that supports more than 4 GB of RAM, and the Starter edition supports even less than XP (unless I am mistaken, XP can support 2 GB).Now, the 64-bit versions all support at least 8 GB of RAM, with the most taxing supporting an enormous 128 GB: That's insane! I'm sure eventually normal consumers will have dozens of gigabytes of RAM, but this seems like a ridiculous amount of RAM for a PC. Better to be prepared, I suppose.

I really want to get into Linux, but I haven't yet. I'll have to eventually, though, because I've sworn an oath that I will not buy Vista Also, here's some potentially good news for Linux that was posted on Slashdot today.

Mudslinging? All I'm doing is suggest that people don't rush out to get Vista. There is no need, and it is NEVER a good idea to get the first release of a new Windows version. Wait until the kinks are worked out.

Apparently Vista isn't a better gaming platform yet. (though given the hardware requirements I'd think it to be rather obvious) From the article:

CAUTION!!! I would suggest you read this and this and this before considering upgrading to Vista. And apparently the built-in virus protection is set up to automatically delete programs that it deems as "unwanted" without even asking.I wouldn't even DREAM of buying Vista until after SP1 has been released. And I am 99% positive that I will never buy a Microsoft OS again. Basically the only things that either isn't supported or doesn't have a replacement on Linux are games (and I'm not a gamer) and some professional-quality media production tools. Since I'm not interested in either, it's the trash can for Vista. Besides, if enough people dislike Vista enough to make the switch, we may see major companies porting to Linux. Judging by the express lack of hype surrounding Vista - hype that was in place during the release of XP - there may be a chance of alternative operating systems gaining significant ground due to Vista's release. Just my opinion, though.

Yeah, I pm'd everyone the second or third day of voting. REMEMBER TO VOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T!!! Three days remaining...

Thanks for the suggestions. Actually, the more I look at it the more I think Hotel Dusk might be closer to what I'm looking for. I was mistaken about NSMB, I guess. I never really looked into it much, and for some reason was associating it more with SMW than SMB. I still don't know about EBA. I've played a couple short sessions in the store, and it just doesn't strike me as being anything I'd enjoy. I've heard a lot about it, but I'm still unsure. Have any of you played Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime? I have a friend who practically worships that game, but I don't really know anything about it.

So, my DS has been collecting dust for a while now, and I'm looking to get a new game (I rarely buy video games, relying more heavily on Christmas/birthday...but unfortunately I didn't get any games for those occasions this year). The most recent game I have is MP:H. I'm looking for something with depth (not just mini-games or whatever), and something that'll keep me occupied for a while. Suggestions (suggestions not listed are also welcome)? Possibilities: Either Castlevania NSMB DQ: Rocket Slime Hotel Dusk Non-possibilities: Diddy-Kong racing - It would have to be REALLY good to impress me Elite Beat Agents - I'd like something with more depth Neutral: Phoenix Wright Trauma Center

[offtopic]That's actually what killed my interest in FF: Spirits Within. I saw just one scene where the main character was making this ridiculously terrible face, and I thought "nope, not for me."[/offtopic] It's also the one thing I really dislike about Oblivion. (I hope that was slightly on topic...)

Yeah, seriously. The faster all the votes come in the faster the competition is over, but I've only received votes from two people.

I almost got in an accident once trying to find the button to pause so I could look at a map. Yeah... I also regularly use "pwn" and "n00b" with my friends (as a joke). What's even worse, though, is something that has nothing to do with video games. I go to an engineering school, so 9 out of 10 people that I know are engineers-to-be. When put in situations with 'normal' people from other schools, it is easy to use terms like "net work", "mean value", and other technical terms to describe everyday things. One of the worst cases of my inner-computer engineer coming out was when my three housemates and I had a half-hour discussion of what would happen if God 'open-sourced' the universe. That was awesome.

Like I said, I've been swamped. I haven't even looked at the new chapter yet, sorry. I will get to it in time, though.

We have a while left for voting. I set it to end January 31st, but if everyone votes before then it can end earlier. I just know that sometimes we've had trouble with people not voting very quickly (myself included). So, does somebody want to volunteer to write something up and send it to TO? I'm getting pretty busy right now, and just don't have the energy. I'd suggest sending a description, history, and links. I would appreciate if someone would do this, but if nobody does in the next couple days I'll try to write something up Saturday.

Those, I believe, are only the official music competitions. This is not official, nor is it a music competition, so it doesn't fit there. PMing me your votes is good.

Ok! The voting stage will start in about 45 minutes. Though there are no freeform entries, you will still get an extra point if you vote in Short Story and Poetry. Also, before you vote please read through the Judging Rules again. All entries are posted on the first page. Happy voting! EDIT: I just realized I missed Manic Cinq's poetry entry. I really apologize if I missed anything else, and please let me know ASAP if I did! EDIT 2: I also just added ZeaLitY's entry, so be sure not to miss that one. Man, poetry competition is stiff this round!

As of this writing there is just under an hour and a half left in the submission stage. I won't be awake when it gets over (slight oversight), so I'm pushing the start of the judging stage back to 1:00 pm tomorrow. That way I'll be sure to get all the entries onto the front page. In other news, I added a Judging Rule: You can't vote for yourself. That's just lame. If you have a serious complaint, please let me know.

I've been having a heck of a time with text format in my longer posts...can anyone explain why this is? It always appears fine in the editor, but then when I go to preview or save, it changes. Examples include, but are not limited to: having an underline that is halfway down the next line; text at the bottom being smaller than text at the top; spacing issues between paragraphs. The second and third posts in the Writing Competition Thread (linked in my sig) are prime examples of this difficulty. Maybe it's just my browser, though. If anyone could explain this to me it would be appreciated. As a perfectionistic post editor, this is a great annoyance for me. EDIT: Well, apparently it's just my browser, though the text editor still seems to not work as well for me as the old one did. Guess I'll have to learn to deal with it.