Forum

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/drm-dmca-jailbreaking-unlocking-iphone,10944.html

Not that anyone really cared that it was illegal, I'm just pointing out that these are now legal.

You can crack your PC games, but there is a catch.

Video games accessible on personal computers and protected by technological protection measures that control access to lawfully obtained works, when circumvention is accomplished solely for the purpose of good faith testing for, investigating, or correcting security flaws or vulnerabilities, if:
(i) The information derived from the security testing is used primarily to promote the security of the owner or operator of a computer, computer system, or computer network; and
(ii) The information derived from the security testing is used or maintained in a manner that does not facilitate copyright infringement or a violation of applicable law.

Who the hell cracks a game they own for security reasons? It is either to play without a disc or to make it to where you don't always have to be online to play. I feel they did not go far enough with this ruling because the DRM that some companies like EA, and worst of all, Ubisoft put in their games should be illegal.

I am planning on buying a new power supply just in case mine is too weak from me GPU. The problem is that I don't know any good PSU companies besides corsair and their PSUs are pretty much over my budget.

I was looking at these
Rosewill- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200
Antec- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371004

SYSTEMS: PC,360,PS3
STORY
Alpha Protocol is a secret organization that lets the U.S. conduct secret operations without fearing that the public might find out. You are agent Mike Thorton. You are sent to Saudi Arabia to find out what happened to missiles that were lost. But you eventually find out what really happened and the involvement of a U.S. corporation, and are then wanted by the U.S. for being a rouge agent. You go to three places, Saudi Arabia, Taipei, Moscow, and Rome. The amazing thing about this games is that the outcome depends on the options you choose in-game. There are many ways many situations can turn out, making the game have great replay value. you can make friends and enemies depending on the stuff you say to them and how you act. Now this isn't a typical read text and choose reply. All of the conversations are done by voice actors and you choose the way you want to respond to someone talking. An example would be if someone is telling you info or a story you can reply in 4 ways each time, like sarcastic, aggressive, professional, or cautious. There are more options than that but that is just an example.

GAMEPLAY
Alpha Protocol is basically an Espionage RPG with FPS elements. Third person view. At the beginning of the game you can choose which type of player you want to be. Soldier, spy, tech, or a mix. It doesn't really matter what you choose since you get to choose which stats to upgrade anyways, it is just for the start. Later on you can choose a specialty that will give you unique abilities. You can choose how you want to play through the game If you want to go in guns blazing or if you want to be stealth and lurk your way to your objective. It is up to you. The levels are linear but are very well designed with more than one approach to some areas. You must upgrade your character with skill points that you earn at the end of a mission. If you want to be more stealth get more stealth upgrades, or if you want to be better with assault rifles, upgrade that. The possibilities are numerous. There are a few mini-games like when you hack a computer you have to match number or when you pick a lock that add some fun and challenge to the game. You buy new guns, gun upgrades, armor, and gadgets off of the black market or from sellers you meet in-game. No online multiplayer that I know of. The game has a number of glitches that should be patched out in the future.

GRAPHICS
Average. I can easily max the game out and it doesn't look that good. But graphics were never really a selling point for me. The game is very fun and I think that more then makes up for the lackluster graphics. I didn't have time to take screenshots so I just got the pictures off of google images. Note that the pictures are from the console versions.

Bottom Line
The game is very fun despite the average graphics and glitches. The RPG elements are executed very well and the gameplay is fun. It is cool to see your decisions come around at different points in the game.

Gameplay - 9
Graphics - 6
Story - 8.5
Overall - 8.5

Now I do not typically like South Park. As a matter of fact, most of the episodes are just stupid as hell. But I watched the new episode last night and it was the second part of a two parter. I noticed that there was a difference. In the first episode, they censored the image of Muhammad but they freely used the word Muhammad. But in the second episode, the word was bleeped. Apparently it was because of a threat a Muslim group made against the makers of South Park.

http://tv.yahoo.com/south-park/show/492/news/tv-news.en.reuters.com/tv-news.en.reuters.com-20100422-us_southpark_muslims

Was it right to censor the word and give in to the threat?

Command and Conquer is back, cheesy cut-scenes and all.

The intense battle between Nod and GDI finally ends.

GAMEPLAY
Command and Conquer 4 moves away from the traditional RTS style building system and completely scraps bases all together. Gone is also the resource collecting, replaced  with a unit cap. This may sound disastrous, but it surprisingly works quite well. The game is hardly an RTS but is still classified as so. They ditched the old base building in place for a mobile vehicle that creates all of your units, called a crawler. Each faction (Nod and GDI) has 3 classes or generals you can choose. Offense, Defense, or Support. Offense has the attacking units like tanks and walkers but is not able to build buildings. Defense has infantry and the ability to build defensive installments. The support class mostly consists of aircraft and is able to use support powers around the battlefield like an airstrike. This of course can sometimes be frustrating online if your team has too many of one class. The odd thing is that they included a leveling system as well as an unlocking system that is very unfair, especially when it comes to multiplayer. You start off with only a few units and you get new units as you rank up. Here is the interesting part, you get points to level up from campaign and skirmish as well.

STORY
A mysterious substance called Tiberium has landed on earth. No one knows where it came from, or what it is. It is soon discovered that it is very poisonous and is spreading rapidly across the World. Tiberium has spread to almost every corner of the planet, humanity tries to find a solution to stop the spreading of Tiberium which would make the planet un-habitable. Very few un-effected zones exist (blue zones) while there are severely contaminated zones (red zones) where human life is not possible. Most of the world's population lives in moderately contaminated areas (yellow zones). Two factions form on Earth. There is The Global Defense Initiative, or GDI, who protects the civilians and is trying to get rid of the tiberium. The oporate mainly in Blue and yellow zones. Then there is the Brotherhood of Nod. Led by a mysterious figure who goes by the name of Kane. Labeled as a terrorist organization by GDI they operate in secrecy. They operate in yellow and red zones.

CAMPAIGN
Short. Not MW2 short, but it isn't very long. You must also consider the fact that there are two separate campaigns for the two factions though. The class system is frustrating and I have no idea why they would use it for single player. The missions are fun but like MW2 the transition from mission to mission is not very long and not very informative. The cut-scenes are real time and use real actors for the game making some of them semi-cheesy. To sum it up the campaign is forgettable.

ONLINE MULTIPLAYER
Fun, but there is a catch. Usually in a normal RTS if one team has more unexperienced players they are going to lose. This is also true for Command and Conquer 4 but it is even worse. With the lackluster leveling and unlock system not only do experienced players have a tactical advantage, they also have more and better units to beat you with. While it is possible to win with the starting units, it is extremely hard. Thankfully you get points from offline play so you can just beat the campaign and play some skirmished and you should be up there in rank eventually.
GAME MODES
Online has only one game mode, domination. You must control a series of control point. Whoever has the majority of the control points gets more points for their team. The first team to 2,500 points wins. There is 1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3, 4vs4, and 5vs5 player domination.

GRAPHICS
Ok. That is how I can describe it. The units look anything but real but in an RTS type games it doesn't really matter. The atmosphere is pretty well done but should be darker considering the state of the planet.

SOUND
Sound effect wise it is like almost every other RTS. The game does boast and outstanding soundtrack, which every C&C game has had. I'm not talking about actual songs in the main menu but the music as you play the game. The music changes from slow when you are building units to fast paced when you are fighting. Each faction has it's own special soundtrack to fit the style of the faction.  EA might not know how to make a good RTS, but they can sure make a good soundtrack.

BOTTOM LINE
This game looks to be an experiment. They tried to mix an RTS, FPS, and MMO all into one. The outcome is a sloppy game that has no real genre. EA chose the wrong series to try this on as many C&C fans are outraged at the changes. Also the fact that you have to be connected to the internet even when you are playing offline has also deterred customers away from this game. I for one am disappointed as this could have been so much more.

GAMEPLAY:8
GRAPHICS: 7
STORY: 7
SOUND: 9
MULTIPLAYER: 8

OVERALL: 7.5

This is a game EA should not have made but can be fun at times. It is not worth the buy unless you are a big Command and Conquer fan.

I just spent the last 6 days playing the hell out of this game and I have to admit, it is the most fun I have ever had with a video game. While the main story is slow to develope the atmosphere, side missions, and AI characters more than make up for it. I have played it for well over 10 hours and I'm not even at Pripyat yet. (the majority of the game)

About S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Based on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in 1986 "The Zone" as it is called has started to change. Deadly mutants and anomalies have popped up all over the zone. Despite these terrible changes the zone has created many mysterious items, know as artifacts. Artifacts sell for an extremely high price. Stalkers (people who live in the zone) moved there in hopes to find artifacts and get riches; but for most, the journey ends in tragedy. Scientists move to the zone in hopes of making big discoveries inside it. Stalkers form factions and war soon breaks out between them.


Call of Pripyat Storyline
The year is 2012, You are a lieutenant in the Ukranian Military. The military has launched an operation to get to and capture the center of the zone, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It is a dangerous mission since no one has ever got to the center and lived to tell the tale. The military sends 5 scout helicopters to map anomalies for the ground assault. Something goes wrong and all of the choppers crash. Your job is to go undercover as a Stalker and find out what happened to the helicopters. The rest of the story unfolds from there.


Call of Pripyat Gameplay
A bit of a challenge to explain. It is an open-world FPS with some RPG elements. The game is focused on survival and is much more difficult than your average run n' gun game. Plan your attacks carefully; preserve ammo, it is hella expensive; always find cover in a fight, standing in the open will get you killed, and try to avoid anomalies. The game never holds your hand and there are a few missions where it doesn't even tell you where to go. That means that it will give you an objective and a location but it is your job to decide how to finish that objective. My advice is to ask stalkers in the area but that doesn't always solve things.


Bottom Line
The game may not be for everyone, but I find it one of the funnest games available.

I got a Zune HD for Christmas and I am bored so I am going to write a little review for you guys.

Price
16gb-$220
32gb-$290

HARDWARE
-Very sleek and slim with a brushed metal finish on the back.
-The lack of a volume control on the outside of the device is kind of nerve racking. Meaning that you have to look at the screen to change the volume.That
  is definitely a con.
-Zune HD is powered by the Nvidia Tegra chip. Unfortunately there has yet to be an app that shows the true power of this chip.

INTERFACE
-Very easy to navigate and find what you want.
-Designed very well to work with the touch screen.
-You cannot have a custom background as of yet, which is kind of lame but it isn't all that important. This could be change in an update however.

AUDIO SET-UP
-Quality is good, not amazing, but noticeably better than the audio quality on my PSP.
-The music interface set-up is good having all of the the options that the itouch has, sorting by aritst, album, song, or whatever.
-Automatically finds pictures of the artists and album art for the albums.
-You can mark favorite songs and turn on shuffle and what not like most mp3 players.
Computer Software
-In my opinion it is MUCH better than itune and doesn't freeze like itunes does.
-It has a very straight forward layout where everything like the marketplace and your collection is easy to find. It is very simple yet very stylish.
-Software is easy to install and does not freeze or crash as far as I have seen.
-Zune HD has HD Radio although I have not tried it out yet. I don't see a point to radio when I have all the music I want on the same device.

APPS
-Or should I say "lack there of"
-The Zune HD, being new, only has a handful of apps available.
-There are a few good games like Audiosurf Tilt and PGR Ferrari addition but that's about it.
-There is also a twitter app, as well as a calculator and weather app.
-Currently is not an open platform for development. Microsoft gave the dev kits to a select few companies.
-There are user-made apps and games but they do not work very well due to Microsoft holding onto the development tools.

Videos
*supported Video types*
WMV, MP4,M4V
-I have not yet been able to add a WMV movie to my Zune even though it says it should work perfectly. I have, however, converted them to mp4 and they work fine.

INTERNET BROWSER
-No flash support. That means no youtube or any flash based media.
-Besides the lack of flash support, the browser is very fast and loads pages like this website and draat rather quickly. You can adjust the screen size and
 you can change the view from vertical to horizontal rather easily.

SCREEN
-Multi-touch support
-OLED screen allows for more impressive visuals than the ipod or iphone.
-Like most devices, it is sometime hard to see the screen in direct sunlight.
-Touch screen responds very well and works well with the interface of the player.

FINAL SCORE
9.0

Due to not being able to sync a wmv file yet and the lack of flash, exterior volume control, and quality apps I marked it down a point. More apps will come overtime and there might be a patch to fix the wmv syc problem many people are having. Uverall this is a very good media player and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a portable media player.

TEAMSPEAK 3

*This picture is the public server provided by Teamspeak*

AUDIO QUALITY
The main concern with the new release is audio quality. It is definitely better than teamspeak 2, but it still mostly depends on the mics that people have. I have heard people with terrible audio quality and I have heard people with amazing audio quality. It is hard to tell whether or not it is better than vent, but it definitely surpasses teamspeak 2.

SETTINGS and INTERFACE
More sophisticated than TS2 by a long shot. There are many more options under settings and permissions. You can change the design of the window by changing the window style, making it like XP, Vista, or whatever. You can Chane the theme, which starts at a default plain white. The only other theme it gives you is sky blue. There is also an option for different icon packs, but the client does not come with any. My guess is that you will be able to download custom icon packs and themes for TS3. Then you just have the normal playback, security, sound, notification, and chat settings.

SERVER SET-UP
It is kind of hard to review it because I have yet to get it working properly. It is overly complex and no very user-friendly. The server set-up "read-me" was not very helpful and didn't explain things very thoroughly. Maybe it is just because i have not hosted a TS3 server before, but I couldn't figure it out.

CONCLUSION
Based on the quality alone, it is definitely much better than Teamspeak 2. The extra settings, like being able to change the design of the window are nice too. Overall it is much better than TS2. The only problem is that not many people are hosting servers on TS3, so you have to use the public server. Hopefully people will start moving to TS3 though, seeing as it is much better than TS2.

If anyone has any questions, just ask. I'll try to answer them the best I can.