January 8th, 1999
Once, Twice, Three Times a Pentium
Katmia will be unveiled this upcoming Monday. Intel will also officially rename the chip as "Pentium III". What this really means to everybody is that the K7 vs. Katmia arguments will now become K7 vs. P3 arguments. Oh, and not only that, once again we're all using obsolete systems. Time to buy new computers.

Annoying and Interesting
For anybody who has beaten Zelda 64 there has been a mixed feeling of accomplishment and having been let down. I won't say too much except that you don't actually get to see the Tri-Force that we're all used to seeing.

No big, deal, right? Since the Tri-Force is explained in a way that differs largely from the previous Zelda games, it only makes sense that there is no "Physical" Tri-Force Treasure in this new explaination. Or is there?

A few very die-hard gamers are so sure there is a Triforce in Zelda 64, they apparently will stop at nothing to get the chance to see it.

This site has an interesting rumor about the exact whereabouts of the Triforce. It all sounds a little far fetched (actually, it sounds a whole lot far fetched) but if you're bored and have already defeated Ganon, then hit this site and take a look.

Be forewarned that the site contains a complete walk-through as well as other hints that may spoil the game if you have not yet completed it.

Baldur's Late
If you are an avid AD&D fan like myself then you might have been waiting for Baldur's Gate. If you are impatient like myself then you might have forgotten about Baldur's Gate by now. Well, it's out. And I have it.

My first impressions? It sort of reminds me of Diablo with a plot and a more refined single player mode.

Apparently, multiplayer mode is available because any self respecting game of this type would have a multiPlayer mode. However, it is clear that the developers more or less intended for this one to be a single player game because even in multiplayer mode, the game still centers around the same storyline. The "Host" or "Leader" of the game, though able to give other players certain levels of control over some of the characters, still is ultimately the one in control of the game, and the other players do little more than replace the NPCs that would otherwise be present.

This isn't all bad though, since the storyline seems to be very well laid out, and doesn't seem to be linear as far as I can tell.

I've only had a chance to play it for a little while now, but I do like what I have seen, and that's not a bad sign at all.

I will keep you all updated on how well this game keeps my interest, but there are a few things I should mention.

First off, the game has some rather stiff memory and hard disk requirements. Shipping on 5 CDs, the game boasts 2.6 gigabytes of the Forgotten Realms. I wasn't able to do a custom install that I considered satisfactory for under 800 megabytes, though the box does claim the game can be run on a 16 megabyte system on as little as 300 megabytes of hard disk space, but I wouldn't personally want to be the one playing it on such a configuration.

But if you've got the space, you've got the time, and you've got a craving for some official TSR Role Playing, this could be the best thing to happen to you since the Eye of the Beholder Series.

I will post some screen shots later on today.

-Fuse!

January 7th, 1999
Is it worth it?
This morning I received several E-mails of a negative nature. Apparently they were from users who were sympathetic to Down Syndrom Aids Patients. Throughout the various letters, I was called several things from Asshole to "a Hypocritical wannabe who probably has a 3Dfx card."

While it is true I do own a 3Dfx card, and it is also true that I'm an indeed an asshole, I must say that the last time I checked I was not a wannabe nor am I hypocritical.

One of the more intelligent letters I received asked a question which somewhat took me off guard. The letter asked "Is it really worth all the work?"

I began to ponder that thought because as many of you know the site has been dead in the past few months.

In the end, I concluded, yes, it is. And here's why.

I have on a couple of occassions had direct conversations with software developers on many of the issues discussed on this site. As a jaded gamer who rememebers the old days when saying you finally defeated a game meant you'd actually accomplished something, I feel that today's gamers who do not go that far back have missed out on what it means to play a really good game.

Faster Graphics, More Colours(tm), Better Sound(tm), and More Responsive Game Play(tm), these gimmicks are all welcome of course, but if the game does not get your heart pumping, does not make your sweaty hands grip the controller tighter, if it does not actually put you in the action, or in some cases, actually close out the entire real world around you, then the game may be failing miserably.

We do also realise that different gamers desire different things. Some people do not get their rocks off on shooting aliens and other players can't seem to understand what is/was fun about Tetris. But if you sift through the people long enough, you'll find at the center of the crowd, a specific type of gamer. A gamer who buys 10-15 games every month and only ends up playing the best of the best. A gamer who has a stack of Software Boxes that can fill a room, spanning platforms that go as far back as 1980 and as late as Tommorow. Though tastes will vary, one thing is consistant. Something about that title stood out from the reast, something about it was original, and in some way it meant something special to that game player.

This gamer is the Alternative Gamer. The type of gamer who doesn't want to hear "This game Rules!" because he's said it about 30 times in a single year the first time he saw game "X" and now it's collecting "X" amount of dust. In reality, what this gamer wants to hear is "This game, this game, and this game that I bought this month suck... but I've really been playing fill in your outstanding title here because it actually does stand out." The Alternative Gamer likes to see bullshit developers insulted, bullshit games knocked down, and bullshit companies mocked for what they really are.

This gamer is SICK of companies pawning their SHIT off on us.

To this date, this site has not fully accomplished the goal of knocking on all the trash we could throw our fists at. But we will continue to try, and hopefully we will reach that .01% of the gamer out there who fully undersatnds how we feel, and perhaps, prevent him from buying another shit title for his collection.

This site is for the Alternative Gamer.

If we're really lucky, we'll reach a few more developers as well, and perhaps we'll make a few of them realise that they really are fucking up what was once a very elite artform. Then maybe we'll have a larger selection of high quality games, and a whole lot less unplayed rubbish.

So if you like what you see here, then thanks, and we promise to try harder on the updates.

If you don't, then go back to running those Banchmarks on your 3Dfx. Go back to playing with the two or three games you actually bought (if you even bought them). Go back to the sites you like, with the opinions you agree with. If you continue to read this site, it's just going to piss you off much more in the next few months. That much can I promise.

-Fuse!

January 6th, 1999
3Dfx Still Bastards
I have just read an interesting article that I think everybody at this site needs to read if you have not already. Not only will I be linking to this article, but I have also saved a copy locally in case for some reason the Article gets taken offline.

It's an interesting little writing about a Direct3D Wrapper that a Microsoft employee was working on in his spare time.

Click HERE for the article.

We all know of course that 3Dfx is flat out wrong in this case, and anybody who thinks otherwise is a fucking retard.

We also know 3Dfx is run by AIDS Patients and Down Syndrom Children.

iMac and other Toys.
iMac and Playstation. Two cheap plastic doodads which are both selling very well. What do they have in common? Well, nothing, really, except the Playstation has lots of games and the iMac looks really cool.

But if you happen to want something that is really cool that plays a lot of mostly stupid games (that is, if you want something ELSE besides your PC that plays lots of mostly stupid games), then you might want to pick up Virtual Game Station. Vitual Game Station is a commercial software Emulator of the Sony Playstation that promises to play most Playstation software on an 8 Megabyte G3 powered Machintosh such as the iMac.

Given the highly versatile power of Motorolla CPUs, this doesn't surprise me. It does surprise me though that Sony appears to be allowing this.

Virtual Game Station sells for $49.99.

The really sad part is that I'd rather spend the $1200+50 to buy the iMac than spend the $120 for a Playstation. Wow. A reason to own an iMac.

-Fuse!

January 1st, 1999
Happy New Year
Within the next few months, this site should be more active for a few reasons. For starters, we're attempting to move the entire site to it's own domain. On top of that, Noxious should be moved into his new apartment sometime in the middle of January, and will be in a much better position to actually work on the page.

For now, however, news is only being posted on a 'We deem it totally important' basis.

Microsoft Delays Windows 2000
Windows 2000 has been officially delayed until sometime in early 1901.

-Fuse!

Hellmonth Day 25, 1998
Glad That It's Over...
Well, the Holiday that turns December into Hellmonth is now here. Remember, it's the most commercial time of the year. There are good things that come out of it though. Game companies that never seem to get anything out the door on time anymore always push for Christmas. I think that about sums it up. I hope you got everything you wanted, and didn't get put on a wanted poster. Merry Christmas, etc... -Noxious?

Hellmonth Day 23, 1998
Technomas
Some of you might be wondering what the hell Technomas is. Others of you know we're nothing but a bunch of excentric wackos here and assume it is something only wackos care about. For any of you who might be wondering, Technomas is a holiday of giving that occures on the 23rd of every Hellmonth (Some calendars refer to the month as December.) The holiday is an either/or type holiday. Either you can go out and buy yourself a nice new piece of technology for yourself (or someone you love and are very close to... Like your game console or computer, but not for any humans.) or smash and destroy a worthless piece of old technology. A good example is to maybe take a hammer to that old 84mb hard drive your keeping around for some odd reason. Now technomas doesn't have to be an expensive holiday. I'm not suggesting you go out and purchase a new Pentium II 450 system with a 21" monitor (Though, it is a valid option.) it can always be something simple. For a good example of that I bought myself a nice new Logitech track ball. Which I'm attempting to get used to. So, from at least me remember to think about yourself this holiday season, and have a great Technomas. -Noxious?

Hellmonth Day 21, 1998
StarCrap ExpansionCrap
Blizzard announced Friday that StarCraft: Brood Wars has gone gold. So if you want it you should probably add it to you Christmas list now, or buy it for yourself on Technomas, which it probably won't be out in time for either. Also of note is the StarCraft Battle Chest which includes StarCraft, Brood Wars, and strategy guides for both games. -Noxious?

Nexus, Isn't That a Shampoo?
ATI announced today that their very hot (pun intended) Rage 128 now has a Mac version. Called the Nexus 128 for some reason, not only does it have blazingly fast 2D and 3D, but your Mac will also work as an Easy Bake Oven. Read all about it HERE. -Noxious?

I Killed Kenny
As it seems any game based off of a TV show, movie, famous artist, or music group, is complete and total crap. Crap is probably not a strong enough word. So, let us use shit. So, I bring to you the topic of Acclaim's new South Park game shipping today with a bit of loathing. Hell, maybe they can pull it off. Right? Give them the benifit of a doubt that they were not just making a game that would sell to South Park fans on the South Park title alone. Right? Well, the N64 version shipped today, maybe it isn't shit. -Noxious?

The Life of Noxious?
I'm moving. The site, as far as I know will stay right here and look just like this (much to my annoyance), but I am moving. Which really isn't leaving me a lot of time for my life, the site and me playing Carmageddon 2. So, I'm slacking on the site, of course. On the subject of Carmageddon 2, it is a touchy subject for me. Still a good game... But it is missing a lot of the things that made Carmageddon such an awesome game. Namely I miss Die Anna and her comments... As does Fuse and Chuck. Ah well, she is still in the first game. -Noxious?

Hellmonth Day 7, 1998
What The Chuck?
The life of a Windows machine is, at best, a slightly unstable one. I'm not sure what happened to my system, except that I was moving a lot of .DLL, .INF, and .VXD files around when I probably shouldn't have, in attempts to get my modem working properly under Windows98. (Read: I was attempting to use drivers not made for my modem.) So, Friday night my PC decided it wouldn't load Windows98 anymore. After spending most of Friday night attempting to fix this problem, I gave up and removed all important files from drive C: and formatted it... Or so I though (Read: He forgot something.) I accidently deleted all of my news gathering sources. (Read: Deep Sigh.) So, I began reinstalling Windows95, which didn't feel like cooperating. (Read: Deeper Sigh) Eventually I turned off the computer which didn't get turned back on until Sunday.

Saturday I did nothing with my machine. Spent some time with my girlfriend. Watched Armageddon and Scream 2. Slept a large ammount. I even decorated for the most evil holiday of the year. I now have a 2 ft. tall Christmas tree decorated with beer caps, and a Nissan pickup grill covered in flashing lights hanging on my wall. Sadly, Miss December got left off the wall. So, I did do something constuctive.

Sunday came along and I finally sat down and started setting up this beast again, which proved to be a bumpy road. Eventually, I got it up and running with all the correct drivers in the right place. After fooling with the modem for a bit, I even got it working right with the correct drivers, and um... Though 56k is still prohibited by the FCC (It makes them feel important to do such things.) 50k is sweet.

So when I was downloading ICQ I noticed that a demo version of Rogue Squadron was available. I'm not sure when it became available, but you can find it THERE. Just so this isn't a wasted update with me bitching about computers, here is some screenshots and my opinion.

The Good - Very Star Wars, but what did you expect? I consider it a good thing. It takes the best part of Shadows of the Empire (The Snow Speeder on Hoth Scene) and turns it into a full game. The sound is excelent, and the graphics are fairly impresive for being so sparce.

The Bad - It is a rather large download for being so short a demo. I wish that I could have played Mr. Solo's ship but it wouldn't even let me look at it. Kind of annoying to get to look at all the cool space craft, but only get to play the X-Wing... Minor complaints though, really.

The Ugly - Try playing the game with a mouse. -Noxious?

Hellmonth Day 2, 1998
Descent 3 and TNT
Well, spent a good ammount of Monday night downloading the Descent 3 demo and eventually I got it, so here in all it's, um, we'll use the word "glory" for lack of a better word, is my rundown (or over) of the Descent 3 demo.

The Good - The game is beautiful and once the controls are set up properly, even quite playable on my vastly overclocked system. Many improvements have been made over the old Descent II enemies, and there is a larger variety of them as well. For some reason I found it more fun to play than Descent II or its clones.

The Bad - To play on my TNT in OpenGL mode I had to set my desktop to 640x480x16 or it won't play. Want to skip OpenGL mode and run D3D then? Well, it doesn't quite work right on a TNT either. Also, the OpenGL mode has some visual glitches, most notable being what I think is supposed to be the canopy of the ship glaring over when it is next to a light source, and some odd bit where I would turn and it seems evey other scan line turned, but the rest stayed perfectly still. Music would have been nice too, with more and more games running MOD type music it really wouldn't be asking too much.

The Ugly - This game still has a long way to go to run properly on my machine, and well... Games that don't run on my machine, don't get bought for my machine. -Noxious?

Hellmonth Day 1, 1998
Eidos Stuff
Eidos has released a playable demo of Thief: The Dark Project, (Woohoo!) and it can be found HERE. Also, Gangsters: Organized Crime should be in stores on the 7th day of Hellmonth. Lastly, a Warzone 2100 demo will be out on the 3rd day of Hellmonth. Well, time to play Shogo some more. -Noxious?

Fast and FASTER
Samsung is on the verge of producing a 600mhz Alpha chip. The second generation Alpha chip has the catchy name of 21264. (They should really fire their marketing department.) Samsung is claiming that they will have 1ghz chips next year. Slot A anyone? -Noxious?

Zerglings In Your Stockings, Pt. 2
Those Starcraft and Warcraft action figures are now at your local Babbages and Electronics Boutique. So you can now own an Orc to beat the living hell out of your Lara Croft doll. Cool huh? -Noxious?

Quarter
Fuse! has added another year to his age today. Wish him the best if you get a chance. -Noxious?

Lies
Usually, I double check my sources before I post something to make sure it true, at least to me, but I lied yesterday. Remember when I said I had not bought an EA game since Bard's Tale III? Well, I have. I bought both Road Rash 2 and 3, and borrowed the first Road Rash until I sold it. There, glad I got that off my chest. -Noxious?

Hellmonth Is Here
I could go on and on about how much I hate the holiday season, but it wouldn't accomplish much. I usually don't like shopping at all, but this time of year even going to the mall requires you to bring your Super Nail Gun. (sigh) -Noxious?

November 30th, 1998
Hey!!! Ocarina!
Picked up Zelda 64, Gold Cartridge and all. My first impression was "Gee, just another game that looks and feels like Mario." Soon after that I thought I was beginning to see that as a bad thing. The lack of a "Jump" button and the automatic camera controls got irritating very quickly.

Soon, though, I began to realise that there was more to this game than just another romp around a bunch of level-selection zones and enclosed worlds ala Mario and Banjo Kazooie. In fact, the large interconnectedness of all of the levels made for a more 'convincing world', and I was very quickly into the story.

Graphically, the game is pretty much everything we've come to expect from a Nintendo 64. But what it comes down to is that this game is really as much Zelda as any of the other games.

The sound is on par at least with Zelda: A Link to the Past, and that is not at all a bad thing, since nobody complained about the sound then, either. A few spread out voices (but not too much) works out really well.

The controls took some getting used to, though. Link handles many things automatically, such as jumping and climbing, as this game is more a logical evolution of the previous Zelda games where Jumping wasn't really a part of the game.

My overall opinion of this game is that even if it weren't a Zelda game it would be well worth buying, and the fact that it is a Zelda game only propells it well on into must-own territory. It's just hard to describe this game, really, except that it contains elements that Final Fantasy was attempting, but failed miserably at, and not only does it do them, it does them very well. Many times I found myself laughing out loud and saying "Damn, that's cool...". The puzzels aren't always obviously simple either, though none of them have been exceptionally difficult, I didn't just breeze through all of them. Sometimes it takes some real-world logic that is normally ignored in video games. It's just something you are going to have to see for yourself. So go get yours, even though if you haven't reserved it already, you probably won't get a Gold Cartridge.

-Fuse!

Building A Better Patch
More Fallout 2 patch news... Another beta patch has been released. This one goes by the name of Beta Patch v1.02, and you can find it HERE.

It seems Sin wasn't perfect, just fun. To help fix it Ritual has released the v1.01 patch. It can be found HERE. It is quite a hefty patch, weighing in at 18mb...

Haven't had your fill of patches yet? Then download the Shogo-MAD 2.0 patch. It can be found HERE is only 6mb or so and is well worth the download. -Noxious?

Knee Dragging, Helmet Wearing, Kind Of Fun
EA has released Moto Racer 2 to the public. So, here is a big hint on what to get me for Christmas. For a full Christmas list just e-mail me and I'll send you the short (733kb) or long (1.5mb) version of the text file depending on which one you want. As an odd side note, it occured to me the other day that I have not purchased an Electronic Arts game since Bard's Tale III for the C=64. Then again, they haven't made a game up to those standards since then. -Noxious?

Going Down, For The Third Time
First off, Many thanks to Jonathan Fingas for the news about the Descent III demo being released. I had planned on downloading it and showing off some screenshots but I haven't been able to download it yet, but I'll try again this evening. So, screenshots again sometime this week... Really. I wonder if Descent III will have Jenny McCarthy in the commercials like Descent II did. Hmmmmm.... Want the demo? Click HERE and look around a bit. Want Jenny McCarthy? Look HERE, it might help. Maybe. -Noxious?

Copyright 1998 Shattered Image Productions