I'M FREE I'M FREE!!!

Okay, I've been suspecting this to be the case for sometime now, but since I've been doing my computing degree it has been confirmed.......Windows is a bit rubbish!

For years I have been turning the air blue with my foul language as Windows decides to freeze, or Windows decides to slow to a crawl, or Windows decides not to connect to a network unless I reboot, or Windows applications decide stop responding with no explanation as to the cause.

Many people have told me that I should buy a Mac, usually whilst their smug self satisfied selves are watching me thumping my laptop in frustration. Maybe I should "buy a Mac", but they are overlooking one problem, they are about double the price of a PC and I'm not Roman Abramovich! I have to agree though that Macs are good looking, have good quality hardware and their operating system is stable.

So I have had to explore other avenues. One of the reasons Mac is so stable is because Mac OSX is built upon the Unix operating system, the most stable system of all. Luckily this means that PC owners can also benefit from this stability. I therefore decided to try Linux which is also a Unix based system, and best of all it's completely free.

It's not a new idea for me to try this, I have dabbled in the past. There are many different flavours of Linux to consider from the beginner level Debian to the more geeky Slackware. I tried Mandriva Linux a couple of years back but had trouble with a flaky wireless connection and video that would only play sound with no picture. So back to Windows I went.

It wasn't until our resident Gameov3rite ed.kilverts mentioned that he moved to Kubuntu Linux that I decided to dabble again. The newest Mandriva, Debian, Mint and Kubuntu all gave me trouble with my internet connection. It wasn't until I tried Ubuntu that I had success with a driver for my wired connection installed 'out of the box', and my wireless driver recently being available on the internet.

I installed Ubuntu as a dual boot with Windows (just to fall back on if needed) and started to play. At a basic level it's a good looking beast with everything available in a logical place. Even better is the fact that Linux has a 'repository'. This is an application that allows you to download (again, for free) applications for pretty much any purpose you can think of. Simply type what you're after, mark the relevant application from the list that you wish to install and click apply, job done! You can also download Wine which allows you to run Windows programs in Linux with ease. It even comes with Open Office as standard so you don't need to worry about Microsoft Office.

Linux is by no means the most user friendly of operating systems. If you download an application from the internet rather than using the repository you will probably need to learn some commands to type into the terminal (the Linux equivalent of the Windows command line). Executable files are a rarity here so you have to embrace your inner geek.

My Uni lecturers will tell you that Windows architecture, ie the very bowels of the operating system that sits beneath the skin of what's on screen is poorly designed making Windows slow, long winded unstable and prone to security issues. Sceptical? Well, let me tell you that Linux doesn't require an anti virus solution. The architecture and permissions system on Linux means that whilst a virus can get onto your system, it stays contained and cannot do any damage. Windows on the other hand allows viruses do pretty much do whatever they want which I think says it all.

So I'm finding Ubuntu fast (no matter how much I install), stable (hasn't crashed once), good looking, logical and most importantly a usable alternative to Windows. If you are a person who has ever shouted "STUPID F'ING WINDOWS" or cursed Bill Gates, or even if you're just feeling brave, I would wholeheartedly recommend giving it a go. You could end up being like one of those Mac users who says "you should try Linux" in a smug tone.

I genuinely feel liberated to have finally escaped Bill Gates' clutches. Hang on, who makes the XBox? Oh s**t!!!!

Buying Mass Effect 2

To say I can’t wait to get my feet back onto the Citadel, wander around the Wards, perhaps go for a pint in Chora’s Bar and chat up that foxy Asari Consort, would be mildly inaccurate. Mass Effect is one of my favourite 360 games and after reading all the positivity surrounding the second episode it looks like Bioware have taken their already high bar and launched it javelin like over the moon. Hopefully missing the cow or else the animal rights activists may well burn down their offices. I am very excited at the prospect of playing Mass Effect 2!

Mass Effect 2 could quite possibly turn out to be my game of the year so you’d expect me to be queuing up for a launch copy. You'd be wrong. My plan is this, I’m going to I catch up on all the 360 games I’ve yet to start/finish as well as finishing New Super Mario Bros Wii and getting stuck into Tatsunoko vs Capcom on the Wii. Then, in about 7 or 8 months time, I’ll buy Mass Effect 2. For a tenner. Oh and Bayonetta too. For a fiver.

Not buying Mass Effect 2 at release either? Well, while you’re waiting come and check out the Forum. Everyone’s welcome and hey maybe an Asari Consort or two will join us and keep us all warm and cosy. Or not.

Real Transformers

Now these guys really are committed to their hobby.

Or should that be.... they should be committed!

Check out the GAMEOV3R Forum

The Way of the Exploding Eardrum

Whilst looking through the archives over on the Gameov3r Forum I came across an old post of mine about the first time I was impressed by speech in a video game. Ghostbusters and Impossible Mission were 2 games, both on the Commodore 64, that I'd recalled.

Reading this I was reminded of a speech related gaming incident. A pant filling, speech related gaming incident. This is another Commodore 64 game and this incident happened the first time I loaded up the game.

Picture the scene, I'm sitting at my Woolworths own brand, fake teak, computer desk in front of my C64. I press Shift, Run/Stop on my trusty Commodore breadbin followed by the play button on the tape deck. All going well so far. Found:Exploding Fist is confirmed on screen and then colourful lines begin their dance down the screen. Nothing unusual and I remember having my head firmly buried in the fold-out instructions trying to learn all the moves. Then this >>> appears on screen and a Bruce Lee-esque yell comes screeching from my 14" portable TV's tiny speaker, piercing the tranquillity of my room. I almost fell off my chair with surprise! I didn't really fill my pants, honestly I didn't, but I did jump out of my skin!

There are a few things on the Gameov3r Forum that might make you jump. In fact there are a few members that might make you jump too but only if you feed them after midnight. So avoid that and come over for a chat and a drink at the bar. Using a synthesised voice is optional

girl gamers

Mari Yaguchi rocked to fame in the late 1990s as a member of idol group Morning Musume. (Check her out in the video for Morning Musume's Jyosei Kashimashi Monogatari.)

Now, Yaguchi records solo tracks and appears on popular program Quiz! Hexagon II. She is also a columnist for Famitsu, where she writes the column "I'm A Gamer." According to Yaguchi, "I want to write about how girls too are passionate about video games."

Source kotaku



Mari hasn't joined the Gameov3r Forum yet. Have you?

A Festive Musical Interlude

The graphical debate pops it's head up again!!

Ever since the release of the Wii there has been a debate of graphics vs gameplay. The Wii owners will argue that it's the way you play the game that makes the machine relevant, while the 'next gen' contingent claim that graphics help to suck you into the game.

To some extent I agree with both of these statements, but lately I have been pondering this debate more.

Y'see, Codemasters are the source of my musings. I have always loved Codies right from the C64 days of BMX Simulator and the Dizzy series but I have started to get a little disappointed with them of late. The problem comes with this current gen of machines and in particular their Wii releases. The problem started with Dirt 2. As a big Dirt fan on the 360 I was really looking forward to applying some Wii steering wheel loveliness to the hardcore rallying action. Things looked promising as this is a driving game and Codies do some of the best road based games of recent years. Games like TOCA Touring Cars on the original Playstation, Race Driver on PS2 and Grid on 360 have proved that for high speed thrills you can rely on Codemasters to produce the goods.........until now.

Put simply, Dirt 2 on Wii turned out to be a complete dogs dinner!! Codemasters decided to hand development rights over to Sumo Digital rather than develop in house which didn't exactly go according to plan. Graphically the game was average, and before I hear the cries of "THE WII ISN'T ABOUT GRAPHICS" I agree. The problem is I love using the cockpit view in racing games, I find it the most exciting way to play, so for this game to omit the cockpit view completely is terrible! Just to get this into perspective, TOCA Touring Cars on PS1 managed to have a cockpit view, PS1 FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! I have also seen what Sumo can do with Outrun 2 on the original XBox, it's gorgeous! This isn't a case of the Wii having less power, this is a case of developers being lazy! All of this may have been forgiven if the motion controls worked but the steering couldn't keep up with the pace of cornering needed in the race. Overall a massive disappointment.

So now Sumo are at it again, this time with a massive F1 license. This game at least ticks most of the boxes, the steering controls are spot on and it has the cockpit view I wanted. It's fairly smooth and chugs along at a blistering pace. So far so good then, but why are the graphics poor again? Luckily this doesn't seem to detract from the gameplay which is the most important thing, but don't devs think that Wii owners are worth the extra effort? I can't help feeling that after all this time some developers have still got the mental attitude of "Wii owners don't care about visuals because they didn't buy a PS3, let's cut the development budget".

From what I've played I love F1 2009 and I'm certainly going to buy it, but by doing so am I condoning lazy visuals? Am I proving them right? Do we deserve great controls, great games and great visuals all at the same time?

Answers on a postcard...............