endperform.org

I had been excited about this game ever since it was announced, as I’m a big Ghostbusters fan. This was one of the few games I actually preordered (60.00 for a video game is pretty crazy) and when the day came, I left Gamestop happy as could be. I got home, popped the game in and off I went, busting some ghosts, wandering through levels and generally having a lot of fun.

I have the PS3 version, having gotten rid of my Xbox360 since it had just been sitting and collecting dust. From various reports on the ‘net, this version has less-than-stellar graphics, but to me it still looks pretty darn good. I played through the game in only two sittings, amounting to around 6 hours or so of game time, short by any standards. I was pretty disappointed to find that I just dropped 60.00 on a short game.

Even with the short single player campaign, there is a multiplayer mode (well, unless you have the PC versoin), which I tried out last night. There are ranked and unranked games, along with a couple of different modes. I didn’t notice much lag, and it seemed to go pretty smoothly with 4 people simultaneously. It did raise one issue: I need to get a headset for the PS3. I do have an old Motorola bluetooth headseat around somewhere that I could use, according to what I’ve read.

At any rate, Ghostbusters is a lot of fun, but the single player campaign is rather short. I’m kicking myself for buying this right out of the gate. Had I known it was so short, I would have waited until this hit the bargain bin.

DSL: It Lives
I managed to get the phone line wired up and the DSL functioning. The line itself was a lot easier than I had hoped. It was just a matter of running the line out to the interface device and hooking up two wires. The most difficult part was crawling around under the house. Hopefully, though, I won’t have to worry about going down there for anything else for a long, long time. The DSL service itself has been running well. Gaming hasn’t been affected, and overall we’re happy with it. In the process, I also canceled Tivo and Vonage, saving us a bit more money.

Valve Releases TF2 Sniper and Spy Update
Valve, within the past week, has released a major update to Team Fortress 2, this time with weapon upgrades for the Sniper and Spy both. Details can be found here, but the other major change is the way the new weapons are unlocked, or should I say given out. With previous updates, you had to complete achievements to obtain new weapons. Now, though, you obtain new weapons by pure luck. There are a few people that seem to have an idea of the statistics, but generally you have a chance for an unlock once per hour. The more you play, the better your chances. Of course, there are some people bitching because of all of the time they spent to obtain the other unlocks, and now people are getting them without much work. Personally, I don’t mind it. Everyone should have a chance to mess around with the new weapons, and some people just don’t have the time required for some of the achievements needed.

JustHost: So far so good
It’s been around a month since I’ve switched webhosting, and so far I’ve been happy with the move. The support is amazing. I had an issue and had it resolved within about 2 hours, which is a big plus. The site does seem to be stable, and I haven’t found any real issues yet. I just need to finish getting the site put back together and I’ll be good to go.

I’m in the final stages of a move, which is why the site has been rather quiet. On the bright side, things are almost in order, I’ve got movers to help us out, and I’m not moving 700 miles this time. I’m just going to be moving about 5-10 miles to another town. We’re escaping apartment life and moving into a nice 3 bedroom house. We’re renting for now with the economy the way it is, but we plan to stay here for a good, long time. The place has all hardwoods, a decent backyard, a nice sized kitchen, and a nice layout. I’ll be taking some photos tomorrow at the lease signing and I’ll put them up in the photo gallery. Yes, it’s back, and even though it’s slow, I’m sticking with Gallery for my needs.

In more geeky news, I’ve completed my first soldering project, which was a learn to solder kit that I got online. Amazingly enough, I didn’t screw it up and it worked. Sure, it just flashes two LEDs back and forth, but still, it worked. There’s really not a lot to soldering, it’s just a matter of enough heating, enough solder and not going overboard. I’m excited to get moved and settled so I can start working on some other things as well. As far as gaming goes, all of the consoles are packed up and ready to move, so I’ve been spending some time in Team Fortress 2, which is always fun. I have a new favorite server, hosted by Noob Gamers, which I recommend if you’re looking for fun, teamwork and some great gamers to play with. I also had the opportunity to play a couple of rounds with a friend in PA, non other than MMMMgggggooosss… err, I’m sorry, MMMwwwhhhiiiittt :)

So anyway, that’s where things are at right now. The move is on Saturday, and hopefully I should have everything in order that there’s not going to be a loss of net access.

There used to be a time when I would rush out to the store and pick up a game on release day. Heck, when Halo 2 was released, I was standing in line at midnight outside of the local Gamestop just to get a copy. In this day and age, though, with console games hovering at 60.00 per copy, it makes it a bit more difficult to go right out and buy the game on release day. Add to this the fact that games will drop in price after they’ve been on the market for a while, and it almost doesn’t make sense to go out now and spend the money when you can get it cheaper later.

Back before I moved and I was single, I spent a lot of time online with my original Xbox, and later the 360. A 50 dollar per year Xbox live subscription and same day release games tend to put a dent in the finances. Since I don’t really play games online that much anymore (save for the occasional PC game), it really doesn’t make sense to go out on the same day and get them. So, what am I missing out on by waiting? Not much, really. OK, so I haven’t played the latest and greatest game yet, but I’ll get there. Waiting allows me to read real-world reviews of the games and then determine if it’s right for me. Additionally, I can also download demos of games (even on the consoles) and try them out that way.

For example, we only recently picked up Bioshock. The 39.99 price tag was a bit better to digest than 59.99, and we still get the same great gameplay. Sure, I may not have it when someone else does, but I also didn’t pay almost twice as much for it. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some games I just can’t wait on (I’m looking at you, Guitar Hero 3), but the majority I can wait for. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, maybe it’s because I have a family now, or maybe I’m just getting more frugal, but regardless, I’m saving money on my gaming habit.

So last weekend I decided that I wanted to play Forza 2 on the good ole 360. I pop the disc in and it starts, and I start going through the menus. Finally, it locks solid and I get the dreaded red ring of death. Now, this wasn’t the first time I had seen it. Bethany got it to red ring while playing Bioshock, but after some messing around it came back up. Unfortunately this time, it didn’t come back.

I called up XBox support, dreading the worst. Luckily for me, the guy on the other end was pretty decent. Within a few minutes, he determined that our 360 was eligible for the RRoD extended warranty and had a shipping box sent to us. 3 days later, the box arrived and I packaged the poor thing up and sent it on its way. I figured it would be at least 3 weeks until I heard anything, but as it turns out, they had the thing tested, fixed and sent out within 3 days of receipt. I’m happy to say that the 360 is on the way home. Whether or not it actually works is a whole other story