Deep Space Nine

Rewatching DS9. Will keep track of my progress here.

S1E1 - 12/04/2010
S1E2 - 12/05/2010
S1E3 - 12/06/2010
S1E4 - 12/06/2010
S1E5 - 12/10/2010
S1E6 - 12/10/2010
S1E7 - 12/10/2010
S1E8 - 12/10/2010

Star Trek Online Still Sucks

Was playing some Borderlands last night but the folkl I was playing with dropped out after about an hour and a half so I thought I might see if Star Trek Online has improved over the past few months. I have the scamlifetime subscription that they insisted you could only get before launch but now blimp it all over the place so I can pop on whenever I want, which is not very often. I tried out one of the new diplomatic missions which, while a nice change from the arguably non trek style balls to the wall combat missions of yor, was seriously disappointing. The game interface and interaction engine was simply not designed for non-combat content. It wasn't designed for the sort of explorative non-combat content the Star Trek universe deserves. They also took the complaints about scanning for anomalies to heart. Prior to some patch you looked for a flashy thing, hit F, it scanned. Now you look for a flashy thing, hit F, and do a super tedious minigame of match the waveform!!! Great! They took a tedious aspect of the game, and made it even more tedious. Needless to say I pew pewed some klingons for a bit, got bored and went to play Global Agenda. Which is pretty fun, it's sort of like future Team Fortress.

The Singularity is Near

I recently finished up with F.E.A.R. which was entertaining and creepy, if a bit "by the book" scripted. Since I recently re-upped with Gamefly I just started playing Singularity. I have to say so far I'm really digging it. I'm real big into anything that delves into alternate history so the story behind the destruction Katorga-12 and Element 99 is drawing me in. A couple phases between the 50's and 2010 and the recon team has turned the world in to a devastatingly different place. I'm only about an hour in so I'll report back when I have played more.

GoG, ye are a cruel mistress

The buzz was abound the net this weekend about Good Old Games closing. Turns out it was all a PR stunt designed to build buzz on no budget. I suppose in that sense it worked, as they can't keep the site up from traffic right now, and every gaming site (and some non gaming sites) were talking about the abrupt closure. I keep all the exes I buy from them so it wasn't a big deal to me either way, DRM free so there was no concern on my part there. As a business built on fierce consumer loyalty this probably wasn't the best move, but it does show some gusto. The fact is they slapped us in the face and said, we are not corporate troggs, we are gamers like you. Guess what if we shut down, all your exes will work forever.

They did come back with Baldur's Gate so I expect most will forgive their sins.

Rogue Wallet Replaces Entire Batch Of Bad Wallets, Stuns Customer - The Consumerist

Rogue Wallet Replaces Entire Batch Of Bad Wallets, Stuns Customer - The Consumerist

I've been in the market for a new Wallet, I know who is getting my cashe very very soon. Impressive customer service in an age of corporate ruthlessness.

I love Legos

Games To Play

Currently Playing Warcraft III Campaigns

Avernum 1
Avernum 2
Avernum 3
Avernum 4
Avernum 5
Avernum 6
Blades of Avernum
Geneforge 1
Geneforge 2
Geneforge 3
Geneforge 4
Geneforge 5


Chrono Trigger

Fallout 3
Dragon Age

The Witcher
Sacred 2
Borderlands
Dragon Age
Calactic Civ 2
Sins of Solar Empire

Ghostbusters

Phantasy Star 1
Phantasy Star 2
Phantasy Star 3
Phantasy Star 4

Darwinina
Multiwinia
Uplink

Mass Effect
Half Life 2

All my PS2 Games
All Steam Games

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX

Civilization IV
Civilization Colonization

Bauldars Gate I+II
Icewind Dale I+II

Neverwinter Nights

Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IV Wii

Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy V

Dragon Warrior 1
Dragon Warrior 2
Dragon Warrior 3
Dragon Warrior 4

Super Mario RPG
Paper mario
Paper mario gamecube

neverwinter nights 2

Might and magic 1-6

Divinity II Eco Draconis

Mass Effect

Mass Effect 2

After 8 Bit Dr. Horrible

this is the second greatest thing ever.

Midwest Gaming Classic Harkens

It's time again for the Midwest Gaming Classic, the midwest's premiere gaming event. We didn't make it last year (for the first time) because of Owenface. This year we will be there in full force, Owenface in hand. So lookout Retro Gaming, Rakden is coming atcha.

Oh Sh*t, I've Grown Up

Gamers with Jobs has an interesting read about feelings all us gamers have probably had at one time or another.

This little blurb especially struck home.

Where I used to dig into every game and scrape every bit of flavor out of it like a dog with his head in an ice cream bucket, now I mine them for the good bits with a surgical spoon. Once all the chocolate pieces are thoroughly rooted out, I toss it aside and look for the next one. It’s the most efficient way to experience the medium and all it has to offer without letting it take over more of my busy life than I can afford to give.

My feelings almost exactly. In the past I would have played a game like Dragon Age:Origins or Sacred 2 to completion, finishing every quest, getting every item. Now with a 1 year old and a house on the near horizon I find myself with maybe 10 to 20 hours a week to immerse myself in my favorite medium. Even then that is mostly a coffee fueled gamer rage after everyone has gone to bed.

I think about the hundreds of hours sunk into games like Final Fantasy VII. While I enjoyed my time with the game immensely, and I'd love to go back and play it at least twice before I die, the thought of sinking a man-month of time into grinding out a Gold Chocobo makes my unproductive sense tingle.

Someone win me the lottery, anyway link below.

Oh Sh*t, I've Grown Up

The Intel Fako Fiasco of 2010

We'll be tellin our grandchillins about this one. The time Newegg got fleeced into selling fake processors.

Seems like an extraordinary amount of work for not a lot of gain. Maybe whoever did it, did it for the thrill of getting fakes high up into the supply chain.

http://www.gearlog.com/2010/03/hands_on_fake_intel_core_i7-92_1.php

Blaster Master

Remake of Blaster Master. Nuff said. Go buy it now.

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3177897

IRC in your BBC with the NZB

My IRC needs are meager these days, I don't hang in as many channels as I once did (nor hang in them for reasons I once did). For the better part of a decade I swore by Ircle which, while amazing in the OS 7-9 days, did not make a great jump to OS X. I've been using Colloquy for a couple years but it's development has become stagnant. Linkinus was new kid on the block a couple years ago and I had a license from MacHeist but it was missing too many features I needed in an IRC client. Linkinus has been updated to version 2 and seems to have fixed many of it's original shortcomings. So far I'm not hating it, though it's a little too "OS X'y" for my taste in an IRC client. I think years and years and years of using IRCLE shaped my idea of what an IRC client should be. It's what I'm currently using right now however and I'm not displeased with it. I wish they included instructions for installing an identd service. While I've had one installed for years, I assume most people new to IRC would not know how to track one down.

Are there any other IRC options for Mac that I'm missing? Is Linkinus my best option for the time being? SNAK was never my thing and it's development seems dead in the water.

iClipboard rEdux

I've been using iClipboard for a couple weeks now. It is about as close a replacement to iClip as I've found. I don't really like how it uses a System Preference Pane to adjust preferences but I can live with it. It's defiantly fast and doesn't seem to tax any system resources. At this point it comes down to will I be willing to spring the 25 bucks for the full version when the trial runs out. Given my affinity for multi-clipboarding I probably will have to but it really seems like it's worth around $15 given that it's really a 1 trick pony. Granted a 1 trick pony that really meets my needs.

iClipboard

Yeller Plastics

Having a large collection of classic video game consoles I've experienced this issue first hand. Luckly it seems that many of my systems may have came out of slightly better batches of plastic. Or the fact that places I've lived have been super drafty and cold, thus limiting the effect of heat on the oxidation, has been a benefit.

http://vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/189

Clipboard Software

I used to use clipping software called iClip. I've been using it for the past, I dunno, 3-4 years. Has worked great, simple, easy to use multi clip software. I've never needed any of the advanced features in some of the other clipping apps. It was abandoned for a while and the developer has now taken down the site completely. It's never worked right in 10.6 but I dealt with it because I couldn't find a suitable replacement. I'm currently testing iClipboard which seems to be pretty comparable in features and ease of use. Anyone have any experience with clipping software?

Some of the Excitement

We are closing on our first home in the end of March. It will drain us to the brink but it's big, has a nice yard, and a largeamoungous basement for maximum computer, console, and tabletop gaming. Will talk about this more as we get closer to closing.

Going to get back in the swing

Going to attempt to get back in the swing of regular blogs. Lot of exciting things on the horizon for Rakden.

For now look at this cute picture of a handsome baby.

This is a story all about how

my life got twist turned upside down.