I play guitar. My guitars are all bolt-ons because they are lower-end and cheaper. Yes, I know there are expensive bolt-ons, but for the most part, the higher-end guitars that are well-sought after have set necks or are neck-through. This adds a solid feel, eliminating the possibility of a loose-fitting neck socket.
RedOctane chose to make the necks detachable for Guitar Hero 3's guitars. Why? I have no idea. Probably for easy portability. Granted, it now fits in my backpack, but I had no problem carrying my GH guitars around before. They added another point of failure, and one that has been plaguing many a GH3 owner. Myself included.
I was worried that the GH3 guitar problems (necks not fitting snug, buttons not responding, buttons cutting out) would plague me, but when I was looking around about the issue, I couldn't see many posts regarding it. I thought I'd try my luck with the 360 version and bought it. Unfortunately, I had the same problems.
I cleaned the contacts with rubbing alcohol and even used double-sided tape to keep the thing snug. Didn't work. I upgraded to 3M industrial strength double-sided tape (the same kind used to hold fiberglass car accents onto car lips/hoods/etc) and it didn't help. A slight wiggle and the buttons would cease to function.
I swapped the guitar to the X-Plorer wired guitar (yanno, the one that came with Guitar Hero 2 for the 360) and I'm having a breeze now. I can finally hold notes and activate star power without worrying about the note cutting out. I can do fast hammer ons and pull offs and have all the buttons register. I was worried that I was losing it, but confirmed it to be just the hardware.
This is a time when I CAN blame it on the guitar. I also have the Wii version here to try out and I hope I'm not met with the same results. I've put the Wii guitar together and it feels a bit sturdier. I noticed the connectors are different between the 360 and Wii versions, so this might be a better guitar. We'll see when I get to playing the Wii version.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I retract my previous opinion
So, TF2 has become a whole lot more fun than Enemy Territory.
I don't know what it was...maybe it was the seemingly over-unbalanced servers or some badly-chosen, low performing servers on my part, but TF2 just didn't do it for me in the beginning.
I gave it a second chance and it seems there's a better overall balance in the servers I've played for the past week. I even added 2 to my favorites. The fun is there and it's better than ever. I still suck hard at spy, but even though I suck, it's still a blast to play. It's like bowling.
Unfortunately, Quake Wars has become less fun. I guess the twitch-shooter-fan in me is showing here because Quake Wars is feeling very sluggish, and the inital appeal it had has worn off. While it really isn't nearly as repetitive as TF2 can be, it just doesn't have the staying power. I still enjoy the game very much, but I feel like TF2 is going to be my new most-played (until Unreal Tournament 3 hits my computer, then we'll have to see).
I don't know what it was...maybe it was the seemingly over-unbalanced servers or some badly-chosen, low performing servers on my part, but TF2 just didn't do it for me in the beginning.
I gave it a second chance and it seems there's a better overall balance in the servers I've played for the past week. I even added 2 to my favorites. The fun is there and it's better than ever. I still suck hard at spy, but even though I suck, it's still a blast to play. It's like bowling.
Unfortunately, Quake Wars has become less fun. I guess the twitch-shooter-fan in me is showing here because Quake Wars is feeling very sluggish, and the inital appeal it had has worn off. While it really isn't nearly as repetitive as TF2 can be, it just doesn't have the staying power. I still enjoy the game very much, but I feel like TF2 is going to be my new most-played (until Unreal Tournament 3 hits my computer, then we'll have to see).
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Picked up a couple new (to me) games...
Went on a little gaming splurge during my break from school, having a blast just relaxing and getting to actually play some new games.
I picked up Oblivion and Guitar Hero 2 for the 360 and the Orange Box and Enemy Territory Quake Wars for the PC. Sadly, nothing for the Wii...nothing appeals me at the moment, but I am counting the days until the new Smash Bros.!
Oblivion and Guitar Hero 2 for the 360...Yes, I own both of these games already. Why did I pick them up for the 360? Guitar Hero 2 has Mother (Danzig) and Hush (Deep Purple) on it this time around... I love those songs. Oh yea, and THE TROOPER from Iron Maiden. That was almost reason enough to buy it. I also heard that the 360 guitar has a bit more "stiffness" in the buttons, which I really wanted to see (Yea I could have modded my PS2 guitars, but oh well). I finally beat Jordan on expert, and I really think it's all thanks to the nicer response I'm getting from the 360 X-Plorer. The shape is a bit awkward for me, but I've gotten used to it.
I never picked up Shivering Isles for the PC, so I decided to just buy the 360 version. It's a whole lot easier to pick up and play Oblivion now, especially if I'm staying over in Fresno and bring my 360 along. I've gotten a lot farther in the game than I ever did with the PC, and while I am missing out on some neat Oblivion mods, I'm still enjoying it a lot more on the 360 than I did on the PC. I just wished it looked as good as it does on my PC though.
And now comes to the showdown, TEAM FORTRESS 2 or ENEMY TERRITORY?!?! This was tough. I almost didn't buy Enemy Territory Quake Wars BECAUSE I had Orange Box preordered already. I decided to try it out and if I didn't like it, I could pass it on to my dad who loves the Battlefield-esque games (and face it, ETQW is pretty much a faster-paced Battlefield).
I played the TF2 beta and sad to say, I really could not get into it. I loved TFC to DEATH but even though I really enjoy the art style in TF2, I couldn't stay in it. Even when I was a little bit dominating and was on winning teams, I could not feel like going on for a round 2.
Quake Wars, however, really delivers on the very deliberate pace and constant "need" to get into the battle. The fights are intense and I'm having fun with the dynamic changes in the battlefields and receiving new missions. It keeps things moving and I don't see that much of a one-sided type of fight like I've seen with BF online.
Right now, I'm going to say I'm enjoying Quake Wars a whole lot more than TF2 (and yes, I did play TF2 retail, not just the beta!).
But the best deal in gaming is still the Orange Box. 5 games for $50. That's a steal. Even if you have HL2 and HL2 Episode 1, you're still getting Episode 2, TF2, and Portal. Portal alone is worth at least $30, because it's just so entertaining and FUN. Haven't tried Episode 2 yet, though.
And by the way, if you are like me and already owned HL2 and Episode 1, you get 2 free gifts for those games when you activate Orange Box on Steam! So you get to give those 2 games away to a friend... neat huh?
I picked up Oblivion and Guitar Hero 2 for the 360 and the Orange Box and Enemy Territory Quake Wars for the PC. Sadly, nothing for the Wii...nothing appeals me at the moment, but I am counting the days until the new Smash Bros.!
Oblivion and Guitar Hero 2 for the 360...Yes, I own both of these games already. Why did I pick them up for the 360? Guitar Hero 2 has Mother (Danzig) and Hush (Deep Purple) on it this time around... I love those songs. Oh yea, and THE TROOPER from Iron Maiden. That was almost reason enough to buy it. I also heard that the 360 guitar has a bit more "stiffness" in the buttons, which I really wanted to see (Yea I could have modded my PS2 guitars, but oh well). I finally beat Jordan on expert, and I really think it's all thanks to the nicer response I'm getting from the 360 X-Plorer. The shape is a bit awkward for me, but I've gotten used to it.
I never picked up Shivering Isles for the PC, so I decided to just buy the 360 version. It's a whole lot easier to pick up and play Oblivion now, especially if I'm staying over in Fresno and bring my 360 along. I've gotten a lot farther in the game than I ever did with the PC, and while I am missing out on some neat Oblivion mods, I'm still enjoying it a lot more on the 360 than I did on the PC. I just wished it looked as good as it does on my PC though.
And now comes to the showdown, TEAM FORTRESS 2 or ENEMY TERRITORY?!?! This was tough. I almost didn't buy Enemy Territory Quake Wars BECAUSE I had Orange Box preordered already. I decided to try it out and if I didn't like it, I could pass it on to my dad who loves the Battlefield-esque games (and face it, ETQW is pretty much a faster-paced Battlefield).
I played the TF2 beta and sad to say, I really could not get into it. I loved TFC to DEATH but even though I really enjoy the art style in TF2, I couldn't stay in it. Even when I was a little bit dominating and was on winning teams, I could not feel like going on for a round 2.
Quake Wars, however, really delivers on the very deliberate pace and constant "need" to get into the battle. The fights are intense and I'm having fun with the dynamic changes in the battlefields and receiving new missions. It keeps things moving and I don't see that much of a one-sided type of fight like I've seen with BF online.
Right now, I'm going to say I'm enjoying Quake Wars a whole lot more than TF2 (and yes, I did play TF2 retail, not just the beta!).
But the best deal in gaming is still the Orange Box. 5 games for $50. That's a steal. Even if you have HL2 and HL2 Episode 1, you're still getting Episode 2, TF2, and Portal. Portal alone is worth at least $30, because it's just so entertaining and FUN. Haven't tried Episode 2 yet, though.
And by the way, if you are like me and already owned HL2 and Episode 1, you get 2 free gifts for those games when you activate Orange Box on Steam! So you get to give those 2 games away to a friend... neat huh?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Frugal Computing
So I was tasked with spending under $300 to create a computer worthy of playing Battlefield 2. That task wasn't that hard, especially since I have some spare parts lying around...
I had a case, a hard drive, CD-ROM drive, Windows XP Pro, and MS Office 2003 to spare. Since this computer's main focus was to create word documents and play BF2, the CD-ROM drive would suffice.
Anywho, I dug up my spare copy of Windows XP Pro (academic versions replaced my retail versions, so I reactivated a retail XP Pro) and I had a few open licenses to MS Office 2003... so I threw those in.
If I didn't have a spare license of MSOffice2003 I would have just installed OpenOffice.
Anywho, the final computer ended up being:
Athlon 64 3500+ with 1GB DDR1 RAM
Geforce 8600GT and 120GB Hard Drive/CD-ROM drive
Windows XP Pro all running on a 450watt PSU
Yea, I went with the 8600GT since after a rebate it was only $80... I was going for lowest of the low with the ability to play BF2. After putting everything together I was happy to see BF2 runs very smooth at 1280x1024. Everyone's happy with this computer. I spent about $280 in parts and that was with tax and shipping. I suppose if you didn't have a copy of Windows lying around you could tack on about $150 for a license of XP Pro... Still a pretty good frugal computer and the most important thing is that it does what it needs to do with the budget that we had to accomodate for.
I did a stress test on the Power Supply I went with and it does great. It is a 450watt that we grabbed for about $40 and although it is on the light side, the power coming out of the unit is spot on and after the two days of straight testing it still holds up.
I had a case, a hard drive, CD-ROM drive, Windows XP Pro, and MS Office 2003 to spare. Since this computer's main focus was to create word documents and play BF2, the CD-ROM drive would suffice.
Anywho, I dug up my spare copy of Windows XP Pro (academic versions replaced my retail versions, so I reactivated a retail XP Pro) and I had a few open licenses to MS Office 2003... so I threw those in.
If I didn't have a spare license of MSOffice2003 I would have just installed OpenOffice.
Anywho, the final computer ended up being:
Athlon 64 3500+ with 1GB DDR1 RAM
Geforce 8600GT and 120GB Hard Drive/CD-ROM drive
Windows XP Pro all running on a 450watt PSU
Yea, I went with the 8600GT since after a rebate it was only $80... I was going for lowest of the low with the ability to play BF2. After putting everything together I was happy to see BF2 runs very smooth at 1280x1024. Everyone's happy with this computer. I spent about $280 in parts and that was with tax and shipping. I suppose if you didn't have a copy of Windows lying around you could tack on about $150 for a license of XP Pro... Still a pretty good frugal computer and the most important thing is that it does what it needs to do with the budget that we had to accomodate for.
I did a stress test on the Power Supply I went with and it does great. It is a 450watt that we grabbed for about $40 and although it is on the light side, the power coming out of the unit is spot on and after the two days of straight testing it still holds up.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Some gamer profile information...
Hey, I've got a Wii, Xbox Live, and Steam, so if you have any of them, feel free to add me. My info is as follows:
XBL: ein311
Steam: ein311
Wii: 5845 5599 2444 9231
I don't have any online games for the Wii yet, but I'm anticipating the new SSB. I'm playing Gears of War and Lost Planet on the 360, but Lost Planet's mostly single player right now. As far as Steam goes, I'm always up for a little messing around on CS, but I've been sucked in with Bioshock as of late.
XBL: ein311
Steam: ein311
Wii: 5845 5599 2444 9231
I don't have any online games for the Wii yet, but I'm anticipating the new SSB. I'm playing Gears of War and Lost Planet on the 360, but Lost Planet's mostly single player right now. As far as Steam goes, I'm always up for a little messing around on CS, but I've been sucked in with Bioshock as of late.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
DOMINATING!
So I reinstalled Unreal Tournament 2004 yesterday after about 2 weeks worth (off and on) of content downloading and patch downloading, so I could jump right back in it.
After the install, patching, and installations of additional content--about half and hour total--I scoured to find a decent server.
Three matches later and I was top of the scoreboards for a game, and in the top 5 for the other two. I played two TDM and an ONS game. That really brought my confidence up.
And then I played Gears of War and got shattered.
Long story short, I can't wait until Unreal Tournament 3 comes out. I just hope it's super optimized like UT2k4 was, that game ran so smooth on anything.
After the install, patching, and installations of additional content--about half and hour total--I scoured to find a decent server.
Three matches later and I was top of the scoreboards for a game, and in the top 5 for the other two. I played two TDM and an ONS game. That really brought my confidence up.
And then I played Gears of War and got shattered.
Long story short, I can't wait until Unreal Tournament 3 comes out. I just hope it's super optimized like UT2k4 was, that game ran so smooth on anything.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I should be sleeping...but techy stuff calls!
So I got out of work early today. Hooray! Actually, it was my scheduled time, but seeing as how I always stay at least 30min later than I have to, I consider this early...
ANYWAY.
My 360 has an HDMI port on it. Great, except with my setup I don't have anything with an HDMI port. What does one do? Why, use an HDMI to DVI adapter!
So I have my 360 connected via DVI to my sweet 20" running at 1920x1080, and the sound right now is connected to the built in speakers...I'm too lazy to crawl under the desk and plug it into my line-in on my subwoofer. I will later today though, once I straighten my desk out again.
Instead of taking it from Microsoft and paying $100 for a wireless adapter, I decided to just go the frugal route and bridge my wireless connection on my computer to get the 360 connectivity. 2 minutes later I made the crossover cable and had the connection bridged. I set up the static IP on the 360 and voila--instant connectivity.
I also did an account migration and linked my existing Zune account to my Xbox Live account. It kind of sucks because my gamerscore and all of that have been reset, but that's OK--I only had about 200 or so gamerscore and not that many achievements... I can start over, no big deal. Plus now I have a convenient Zune content stream from my PC and all my MS-related accounts are linked under one email address.
Yea, I didn't really do anything special, just thought I'd blog about it. There's a lot to be said about the 360, it has a lot of awesome features. I'm downloading the skate demo right now. I'm a bit reluctant to buy another skating game, but if this brings enough of a change, I may go for it.
ANYWAY.
My 360 has an HDMI port on it. Great, except with my setup I don't have anything with an HDMI port. What does one do? Why, use an HDMI to DVI adapter!
So I have my 360 connected via DVI to my sweet 20" running at 1920x1080, and the sound right now is connected to the built in speakers...I'm too lazy to crawl under the desk and plug it into my line-in on my subwoofer. I will later today though, once I straighten my desk out again.
Instead of taking it from Microsoft and paying $100 for a wireless adapter, I decided to just go the frugal route and bridge my wireless connection on my computer to get the 360 connectivity. 2 minutes later I made the crossover cable and had the connection bridged. I set up the static IP on the 360 and voila--instant connectivity.
I also did an account migration and linked my existing Zune account to my Xbox Live account. It kind of sucks because my gamerscore and all of that have been reset, but that's OK--I only had about 200 or so gamerscore and not that many achievements... I can start over, no big deal. Plus now I have a convenient Zune content stream from my PC and all my MS-related accounts are linked under one email address.
Yea, I didn't really do anything special, just thought I'd blog about it. There's a lot to be said about the 360, it has a lot of awesome features. I'm downloading the skate demo right now. I'm a bit reluctant to buy another skating game, but if this brings enough of a change, I may go for it.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Newegg brings out my impatience...
Newegg says my order is on step 3. It was at step 3 yesterday. I really wish it was at step 5--the "shipped" stage. I'm growing impatient.
I don't like waiting.
But, to make matters worse, they are shipping my order in 3 different boxes. Great. I have one item on Step 5--a video cable. Awesome! So I have a video cable shipping to my house today while the awesome stuff I bought to go along with the cable isn't even shipped yet. This is going to irritate me to no degree.
On other news, I do highly recommend Bioshock. I've been playing it when I can, and it has been a blast. I have it for the PC and switching from the mouse/keyboard to the 360 controller, I have to say: Mouse and keyboard is much better than the 360 controller.
This is coming from someone who loves the 360 controller and thinks Gears of War should only be played with one. Just my personal preference, but I'm happy I bought the PC version. Securom and all.
I don't like waiting.
But, to make matters worse, they are shipping my order in 3 different boxes. Great. I have one item on Step 5--a video cable. Awesome! So I have a video cable shipping to my house today while the awesome stuff I bought to go along with the cable isn't even shipped yet. This is going to irritate me to no degree.
On other news, I do highly recommend Bioshock. I've been playing it when I can, and it has been a blast. I have it for the PC and switching from the mouse/keyboard to the 360 controller, I have to say: Mouse and keyboard is much better than the 360 controller.
This is coming from someone who loves the 360 controller and thinks Gears of War should only be played with one. Just my personal preference, but I'm happy I bought the PC version. Securom and all.
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