Hurlshort

What exactly are your worldly possessions? When I was 19, the only thing I had that was valuable was my hockey gear and my computer. I would say sell everything you can and go light. If you can fit all your stuff in a large duffel bag, go Greyhound and save money that way. Then you don't even need that license.

It's a pretty interesting drive across the country, and can be done pretty cheaply, but New York is not an easy place to jump into. Actually, if you are in Northern California, I'm surprised you don't just head to San Francisco. It's definitely a city, and it's about the same cost of living. If you are looking for a city that you can afford to move to on a tight budget, and possibly live comfortably, NY isn't the best choice. Some alternative cities are Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston. If you are dead set on NY, which I completely understand, then you want to build a decent buffer for your savings. If you have a car that can make the drive, you can probably make the trip for $500. That includes gas, lodging, and food. Once you arrive at your location, go to a Hostel until you find a place to rent. You can find Hostels on line easily. http://www.hostels.com/en/us.ny.ny.html These are cheap because you tend to share a room. You can also just search for a room for rent situation, but that's always shady because you can't really see the place beforehand. Jobs - assume it will take 1-2 months to find a job. It may be working at Staples, but if you can't find anything by then, you aren't looking hard enough. You can try and sell your car when you get there if you really plan on staying. After the $500 to get there, you want at least a 3 month buffer in case something goes badly. 3 months at about $1500 a month...so you want about $5000 for the entire deal. That may seem like a lot, but it's to keep you going for awhile. I'll chime in later...

I'd be a bit surprised if steroids were rampant in the NHL because the advantages of drug use are relatively minor for the sport. Steroids build muscle, but hockey is more reliant on speed, agility, and vision than brute strength. The best players in the league are not built like baseball's sluggers. I'm not saying hockey players aren't buff, but I doubt they would take the risk in this situation. Steriods do not help your agility.

I went to the Sharks game last night...it was dreadfully exciting. It was a serious emotional roller coaster, which ended with the Sharks losing to the Red Wings 7-6. Shanahan scored the last two goals in the final 4 minutes. I'm at a loss on the Sharks. The goaltending seems broken, but they keep playing Nabakov. They put pressure on all night and then get scored on every time the momentum shifts. They've lost 9 games in a row, and I'm pretty sure they have all been 1 goal games.

I wonder what people were expecting from this game? It's a very standard story about a family of heroes. It wasn't epic like BG or Torment, but I wouldn't say it was boring. It was a fun bit of storytelling and character development. The sad thing is, it's a creative project, and if it doesn't sell, we'll just see less creative projects out there. I would really like someone to take all the mechanics and concepts of this game and make an epic story for it.

I actually thought the show really ended well this week. There was some time there where I thought they would keep them stuck out in the jungle for another week. They actually made it possible for everyone to come in with a smooth transition. Although I was hoping Ana Lucia was going to take off solo and be the next frenchwoman, all crazy and alone.

That site gave pretty normal reviews of games. It had a few lines about the morality of the game, but I don't see how that's bad. When I was a kid, my buddy was only allowed Christian games on the NES. There was one really neat Noah's Ark game where you ran around collecting animals. I remenver it was pretty advanced for those days.

Is there an after picture? I haven't been posting late because it hurt too much. My sharks are broken.

Ok, I read a few of the tributes...because I can barely believe this is real. Creepy stuff, seriously.

My Malkavian went into a blood rage against the final plague bearer, and it was the only thing that save my butt. I'm really enjoying the unique dialogue for the Malk's, although I've insulted a few people without really knowing it.

I enjoyed the original on the Xbox. It wasn't epic, but it had a lot of neat stuff and was a decent story. I liked showing my trophies off.

I wish I could! Unfortunately I don't have a GBA or a Gamecube. I also struggle playing strategy games with a console controller.

That guy better be a light technician for a rock band or something...otrherwise that's some serious talent not being used. Do you think he has a master control board set up for them?

Ice, the laid back killa' :D

Blah blah blah... Piracy is wrong.

JA3D was cancelled. It was called African Alliance, and then they shelved it a few months ago. They are focusing on JA3 now. http://www.mistgames.ru/eng/news.php

Lady Crimson wrote: I Wrote: Your response: Clearly, you are. Here is the real parallel: Clothing that is developed cheaply in sweat shops and then sold at undercut prices. compares to- Books that are re-printed en mass and unbinded and sold without permission. compare to- Games that are made easily available for download or copied on to CD's en mass. What is en mass? Tough question. I would say more than one, but if you make three copies of something, no one will break down your door and arrest you. I don't really know the answer to that one, I just know that piracy is stealing from the hard work of others.

There actually is a Jagged Alliance 3 in the works...but I'm extremely pessemistic about it. It's being done by the bankrupted Strategy First. They have a couple people from the Sir-Tech team working on it, but I don't think it's any of the important people. Still, a little hope is better than none.

I don't think anyone is arguing that lending your copy of a game to a friend is piracy. Taking that copy, making a dozen copies, and handing them out to all your friends at school is. You can't "dupe" clothing and books (you can, but that's difficult, and actually has been subject to lawsuits as well) in real life, so I'm not sure how that argument can work here. I enjoy watching people try and justify their piracy. The only good argument I've seen is the pron one because...well...I'm actually guilty of that.

Interesting attempt at justifying the black market. I don't know how much you know about the economic and political structure of countries in Asia, but those software piracy rings in Asia are making money to fund organized crime. These are not benevolent organizations that are just trying to supply much needed games and movies to the commoners. They are profiting off the poverty of their own country.

I've been trying to find a store that actually has this game in the US, but it seems to be a ghost. I hear it's selling decently in Europe though, so I wondered if any of y'all have seen it or noticed anything about it. It's supposed to be an Xcom style game, although it has an RTS style combat. Anyone thinking about getting it? I'm actually just dying for a new turn based squad level game. The only quality games I know in this genre are Jagged Alliance and Xcom.

I agree with squiggly line Di 100%. Many pirates don't recognize the hard work and creativity that goes into today's media. Even a bad game or movie takes the blood, sweat, and tears of people to come to fruittion. When you pirate, you piss on them. You may think that's funny, but it's not, it means you are morally bankrupt.

I rarely play anything through twice, so I try and complete everything like Hades. There are many games I've tried to play through a second time, like going Darkside on KotOR or trying new parties in BG, but I tend to get tired of repeating stuff and stop playing. Even Jagged Alliance 2. I've only made it to the end game once, but I love to start a new team and take a few towns before I lose interest.

Fish wrote: Both of you are disrespectful towards the beliefs of others when you make comments like that.

I don't think PC gaming is anywhere near death, however... Boutique stores like EB and Gamestop are no longer reliable source for PC games. They've gone the way of Best Buy and completely forgotten thier PC roots.