Hurlshort

$1500 will get you very close to top of the line buying components. Paying an extra $1500 to have it ready to go vs. two hours to unpack and assemble plus however long it takes you to partition drives and install an OS (you can have any number of live cd Linux OSs up in a minute )...I don't think I'd call that laziness. Well, you figure it's about a day of work for someone without a lot of experience building systems. I've built a few PC's in my life, and one thing that can be gauranteed is that I'll run into a few technical issues that will be tough for e to figure out. I can typically get it to run, but there will always be a hiccup here and there. At some point, you have to weigh what time you have available, the possible frustration levels, and how much money you have on hand. Going off the fact that a good PC boutique will charge you about $1000 more than putting it together yourself, it might be worth the extra cost depensing on what your life is like.

Eh, the whole console vs. PC argument has been done to death. I just bought a new PC for quite a bit of money, but I also love my 360. They are very different beasts. If Sand wants a new PC, that's great. Hopefully he'll have the funds available someday to grab a 360 and join us on Live.

Yes, religion belongs in Social Science, which is the class formally known as Social Studies.

There's a pretty good sized group on the 360 right now, and I'm having a blast playing with everyone. Llyr and I got killed in NHL 08 by some ringer this morning playing in team mode, and then Nick won a game of Carcassone against the two of us. The voice chat is solid, there are just a ton of classic games to play on Xbox Live Arcade, and there's usually someone online to get a game going with.

Wow, those are all very recent Tom Cruise flicks. Top Gun, that bartending one, Interview with a Vampire, The Firm... Actually, A Few Good Men is one of my favorite movies ever. I can understand having issues with Tom Cruise as a person, he seems pretty whacko, but as an actor he's got a pretty solid resume.

Yeah, hopefully I can figure out how to play against more than one person. I was watching a movie tonight with my wife, so I couldn't join y'all. What does it say I'm doing when I have a movie in?

Well, Bioware releases one large RPG every few years, and most people tend to love them, so I guess it makes sense.

I like how in the Witcher, the dark is actually dark, and you really can't be expected to go into a crypt without a cat eyes potion or a torch.

Dang, I need to grab Halo, since all 6 guys on are currently playing it.

I actually enjoy the single player of Crackdown a lot. I've probably played it more than any other 360 game since release. It's basically a very solid GTA clone, with a bit of crazy 3D jumping thrown in.

I can see where Sand is coming from, this is an adult who knowingly targeted a child, and it ended tragically. While there is no precedent for holding the adult responsible for the suicide, I think there should be a way to discourage anyone from targeting another online and bullying them. Not necessarily criminal proceedings, but some way to discourage this behavior should exist.

So two humans can play against a computer opponent online? Yeah, you can even play with 5 human players against the computer team, or up to 4 vs. 4 human players. I'm not sure how well it works, but I read up a bit on it and it sounds cool. I'll have to try it out when I get a chance.

Oops, I was thinking of Adaptation, which is a movie about orchids. Dang flowers.

Actually, there are plenty of steroids in cream form. The whole "illegal substance" debate is extremely complicated. When an athlete gets injured, he needs to rehab, but he can't use just anything because of league rules. When I had an asthma attack last year, my doctor prescribed an inhaler. It also contains a steroid. When my daughter got a daiper rash a few months ago, we got a prescription for a steroid cream. Bonds is saying he didn't knowingly take any illegal substances. That seems pretty impossible to prove, but I guess we'll see in the coming months whether the prosecution has actual evidence that he understood he was taking an illegal substance. Until then, he's innocent.

Nick, NHL 08 has online team play. I assume that's what you are looking for in coop. Anybody have Crackdown? I'd be interested to see how that plays online.

That's Nicholas Cage, not Tom Cruise

Kor won the first game, 4-1, with his Ducks beating my Bruins. I don't think it counted as a league game though, so we can rematch with the Oilers later.

Ok, league created, it's Obsidian (abbreviation is OBS) and the password is sawyer. Go ahead and join if you can.

Gah, that seems to be a common theme with EA Sports games. He should be able to exchange it for a new copy free of charge, but he'll have to call EA tech support.

Are you sure it doesn't have online coop? There's got to be a way to set it up, that would be odd if there wasn't. Anyways, I don't think anyone needs to be available to set the tourney up, but that's why I'm going to tinker with it. I'd imagine you would just log on and play your game whenever you can, although when it's a head to head game, you'd need to organize that with your opponent.

My wife and daughter are out of the house tonight, so I think I'll try and set up an online tourney for NHL 08. I'll tinker with it and post what it up. Kor and Jags need to add me to their friends list. Does the roster look like this for folks with NHL 08? Me Krookie Jags Kor Nick Llyr Anyone else?

I'm not claiming that UMD's are better or worse than DS cartridges, I was really just talking about the price point for UMD movies. It was $20 for a movie, and there was no way to play that movie on my TV (although I hear that's possible now.) I also realize that the PSP has come a long way, but I owned it for the first year and it was basically a paper weight. There just weren't any games that appealed to me. The DS came onto the market ready to play with a strong stable of games and the ability to put in GBA games. I was very excited about the PSP, but it just seems like they failed on the movie front and took too long on the games front. Where are the Phoenix Wright's and Brain Age games for the PSP? Those are the unique titles I turn to a handheld for, and Sony didn't deliver them.

The problem with the PSP is it tries to be a miniature console instead of focusing on the fact it's a handheld. DS games are designed for a handheld experience, they aren't hindered by a tiny screen and they are usually creative, quick diversions. PSP ports just make me want to go home and play an actual console. Plus, UMD's were overpriced and now they are a dead media.

My tag is pretty obvious, and it's also in my sig :D It would be awesome to play a tourney in NHL 08. I know Krookie is still itching to get back at me for beating him 1-0 awhile ago. I'll get my headset out as well. Do I need to buy Worms in order to play it online with you guys? I've got the demo currently, but I suppose I'll shell out a few bucks.

The dance scene at the end made the entire movie for me. It was pretty average until then, but that one scene cracked me up so much that it really made it worth watching.