Humanoid

3-4 hours maybe? Not a problem for a typical gaming session, but could be if you forget to charge between sessions even once. The larger battery is "up to" double the battery life, though probably a bit short considering the labels indicate 1500mAh vs 2550mAh capacity. Comparison image of battery size: I bought MH3U on a whim, never played it and no idea what it's even like, heh.

Looks like they've finally sorted out the ability to recall the used beta keys and claim back new Steam or GOG keys. Messy launch, but glad that's sorted at least. Only found out by checking manually though, no email or KS update to communicate the fact, eh. (No giving away of keys from me, sorry, since I intend to be playing co-op )

You can also just use it as a minimap - MK8 stupidly doesn't have a way of showing the minimap on the TV - using the stand to keep it upright in front of you and (or prop it up on the coffee table somehow if you have a Basic model that comes without a stand). Battery life for the tablet is pretty poor, but I haven't found it too awkward to use while plugged in, or alternatively you can buy a larger official battery. P.S. I ended up buying a Wii U Pro Controller, which is basically near-identical to an XBox controller (except the buttons and the stick on the right side are swapped). Worth it I think, as comfortable and lighter than the XBox gamepad, and the battery lasts forever (and is rechargeable with a generic mini-USB cable, one is included).

These things also refrigerate the beer, which I imagine the power would be mainly used for.

By tools I mean physical build. Could he have succeeded as a 4'6" footballer? Because developmentally that's technically what's natural for him, in the same way a seven-foot basketballer is expected to have their height: as a consequence of genetic luck rather than through medicine. Look, I realise that to many, I probably look like a bit of a zealot here, but doping in sports is a big area of interest of mine, and yeah, I tend to be a bit of a crusader in this regard. And this is at least a genuinely sympathetic case, in the context of rampant HGH abuse in pro sports in general (which is sad in a way, because HGH has been shown in most people to have minimal performance benefit). P.S. I suppose I should be on the record for this anyway, but I believe that every team in the competition is pushing some sort of technically illegal medical program - some to greater extents than others, sure - but the unfortunate truth is that it's impossible to keep up physically without assistance. Even the most naturally talented players will need that assistance, because ability rapidly drops off with fatigue, and there's no way talent keeps up with the ability to bomb up and down the touchline at full pace for a full 90 minutes. As in any sports, the best players enjoy political protection both from sporting bodies and national governments because of their paramount commercial importance.

I was fine using the controller for one or maybe two consecutive grand prix (i.e. 4-8 races), but got kind of tired afterwards. But the game is flexible in its input, you can use a Wiimote, a Wiimote plus Nunchuk combo, a Classic Controller (wired gamepad that connects to a Wiimote) or a Pro Controller. Of course, being a Wii owner meant I wasn't starved for options, but for those without, they're all separate purchases. I think the tablet gamepad has its place, Nintendoland shows off its capabilities well. And while I haven't tested it personally, Wii Sports Club Golf apparently makes great use of it to create possibly the best golf game ever - the tablet acts as your virtual tee with the golf ball displayed on it, and you can actually see your virtual clubhead moving around and making contact with the ball on the screen as you move your Wiimote. P.S. Wouldn't be surprised if Gamecube controller support for Mario Kart was added later, once the adapter thing (slated for release alongside Smash Bros) is released.

You can use the horn item to kill the blue shell too, though of course you're not likely to have that item if you're racing in first place.

Has the PS4 been shown benefit from an SSD? I remember an article about the PS3 about how while it could use an SSD in that it'd use it just like the stock hard drive, there was basically nil benefit to doing so because of some architectural limitations that bottleneck anything faster than a regular spindle drive anyway.

How so? He's still 5-ft 7 and he's not particularly fast or strong. He doesn't rely on athleticism to dominate the competition. If anything, his small frame gives him a lower center of gravity and greater agility. He's able to squeeze in through openings and have superior ball control in tight spaces. Isn't that somewhat of a contradiction? He now has the advantage of not being 4-foot-something but still has that advantageous low centre of gravity. How would he compare in terms of body weight distribution over someone who's naturally 5'7? My point is that he was born without the set of tools to be a professional footballer. Sure, the deficiency might be classified as a medical disorder, but ultimately it's still constructing a footballer out of a non-footballer through chemistry. It's neither strictly a sporting issue or an ethical issue, but it's an uncomfortable grey area for me as one day we'll probably see that blurry line between a 'disorder' and just being plain unsuited for sports be tested. It's tough to tell a kid that sorry, we can fix your body up to 'normal' standards but it'd make you ineligible for competition, but I think the alternative is an even uglier precedent.

I don't think they play well with time compression seen in almost all CRPGs. When a minute ingame passes in a couple real-life seconds, the sense of urgency can get all muddled up. You wander around a little and get involved in a couple minor skirmishes and oops, suddenly it's night. When were you supposed to meet that NPC again? All of a sudden you find that it's optimal to just throw the rest of the day away and instead use the wait function to stand at the meeting point for 12 hours instead of productively using that time, because accidentally missing that specific point in time would be an even larger penalty.

I went through most of IWD2 with two characters, a Barbarian/Sorcerer and a Fighter/Cleric. Eventually got overwhelmed though, but only after two-thirds to three-quarters through the game. 2nd Edition dual-classing I don't want to think about though, so I guess this post is kind of irrelevant.

Assuming DOTA with graphics taken to 11, plus sex scenes.

We'll all be notified when Sargy is back by means of seeing the dozen-or-so 'like' messages under the notifications icon.

Maybe a bit harsh, but I'm of the view that his HGH treatment gives him an unnatural advantage. Sure, it's something medically justifiable in terms of improving his quality of life, but like the controversy about Oscar Pistorius' spring-like blades (remember when that was the primary controversy about him?), I think it's created an uneven playing field in terms of competitive sports. It's not just neutralised a disadvantage, I feel it's a net advantage.

That's awkward wording, almost if they're not actually sure what they're talking about. US appliances often require a stepdown transformer (and even that doesn't address the 50/60Hz issue), though devices with a switching power supply or a simple power brick can just employ a prong adaptor.

For people without AoE2HD, you can get the same AIs (and indeed, probably more updated versions) here - it's actually a thread about competitive AI building where people compete to program AIs to beat other AIs. The UserPatch is required for most of them, but there's no reason to not use it, since it turns the original game into something like AoE2HD, but better. Apparently of those, Barbarian, The Horde, Khanate, Crusade and Promi are implemented in AoE2HD.

From what I understand, AoE2HD has the option of picking a 'random' new AI (these AIs are community-developed) or using the terrible original AI. Custom AIs have some hardcoded limitations, e.g. always sending out single monks to pick up loose relics, not being able to attack villagers on sub-moderate difficulties, etc, that can't be overcome by scripting, but in general they're very impressive - and perhaps importantly, lag nowhere near as much due to using more efficient routines. And these AIs know how to optimise trade routes so in teams they can manage a very healthy economy. Perhaps the best measure of the new AI is pitting them against the old AI in a non-player match. The new AI can win 5vs1 against the old.

A lot of the booting process is disk-independent stuff going on with the BIOS and whatnot. Modern motherboards boot a lot faster in general - e.g. my 2010 desktop takes maybe 4-5 times longer to boot than my Haswell HTPC, despite the desktop having a faster SSD in every way. The other stuff, well, depends on the applications you load really, office suites and that kind of thing are notoriously slow loading. It's also not having to wait for a spinup to access documents, music, etc. I'm all SSD these days - no spindle drive in my desktop - so I see the benefit in my games as well. Back when I played WoW, levels were several times faster.

That's the classic reaction, yes. And without the early-adopter tax to boot - that said though I have no regrets paying $400 for a 120GB some 4-5 years ago (now $400 buys a terabyte).

Maybe he was just in New Orleans? :D

Also America's insistence on 110V mains power.

Nah, us Aussies usually concede we're the worst. And we often are, once a critical mass has gathered, usually marked by idiotic 'oi oi oi' chanting.

Yes, but he left his car on the moon.

All I've gained from this discussion is probably that my dislike of Dragon Age can now be explained by my existing deep-seated dislike of Star Wars. Apparently.

It's time UU showed up Wolfenstein 3D for the pretender that it was.