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Napoleon Total War

I have always been a fan of the Total War franchise, but in my opinion none of them have been all that great.  Good and fun in most cases, sure.. but great?  Eh not really..  All of them have had their share of issues of which Napoleon TW shares some of them.. NTW is by far the most refined version so far and a lot of fun but, I’m not quite sure it peeks the “great” meter just yet.. I will say its pretty darn good and a lot of fun though..

Totally worth the price as it’s clear to me that Creative Assembly (the developers) are getting better at their craft but the game has one staggering short fall that it shares with all it’s siblings;  Horrible AI.

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Splintercell Conviction

I really like a good first person shooter..  But most FPS games these days aren’t about thinking or planning your way out, they are just run and gun, “zerg-fests” where you run in shoot a few.. die, respawn, run in shoot a few, die, respawn.. wash, rinse, repeat..  Boring..

The new Splintercell game isn’t this..  I would call it more of a first person sneaker.  In that it’s entirely conceivable to play through large swaths of the game without firing a shot, and that’s just cool..

As with any game it has it’s ups and downs, but over all its up and I think UBISoft has set themselves up with a game that they can kick out a lot of downloadable content for, if they leverage this correctly..

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Tron Lightcycle

I want one..

So I have gone above and beyond out of my way to avoid learning any details about Tron 2.. (Tron Legacy is it’s officially called.) ..but it’s hard not to see the lightcycle.. And man does it look cool..

It’s very reminiscent of the Dodge Tomahawk concept bike but for some reason, just looks cooler.. The dodge just looks like raw power, and as such dangerous.. I’m pretty sure the lightcycle looks cooler to me because its tapping directly into my childhood fantasies..  I loved Tron as a kid.  I loved the universe, I loved the movie, I loved the games.. and I loved Cindy Morgan but that’s another story.. Most of all I just liked the concepts, core of which was the whole lightcycle fight..   The lightcycles really made the universe feel real..  And to this day I have to wonder how many people ride around on their “crotch-rocket” with the Tron theme running through their head..

Well apparently, the lightcycles in the new movie are real working motorcycles.. (or so is the rumor.. )  That appeals to every childhood fantasy I ever had regarding the Tron lore.. I so want one!  I’m pretty sure everyone else wants one too..  I am willing to bet if they sold them, they would go like hotcakes..  I’d get one if I could..   Dream on…

BN.com Nook

So I have been in the market for an e-reader for a while.  I do a lot of reading and thought it would be darn handy to have a single device that could carry multiple books, and have the ability to order new books at any time, anywhere.  I like real paper books, but the ability to carry many books in one small device is appealing.  And despite what my sister in law says, I think they are generally a good idea and can only encourage reading..

Everyone I know swears by the Amazon Kindle, and while the device works just fine I just didn’t much like it.  I got my paws on a friends and it felt cheap to me, plus I really didn’t like that keyboard down there.. The Kindle DX looked really nice, but it’s big and really expensive.. I could have purchased an Apple IPad for the cost..

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Net Neutrality

Most gamers typically play games online, download expansions or other forms of DLC, watch hulu, stream music..etc.. generally speaking, use more bandwidth than your average user who just browses the occasional website or checks email.  As such, Comcast feels they can charge those users more or block / throttle  them.   This led to the whole “Net Neutrality” fight.  For those of you know up on what that means, it’s basically the fight to keep the price of bandwidth static and common for all users.

You see, back in 2007 Comcast actually did start blocking and throttling certain types of traffic, and targeting gamers because they did use more bandwidth..   Well the FCC have been fighting it, but yesterday three federal judges sided with Comcast saying that the FCC “lacks authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks”.. This means Net Neutrality is dead and really soon you can expect all broadband providers to raise their fees.

Read more about it here:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FCC-loses-key-ruling-on-apf-78990100.html?x=0

This sucks for everyone.. Frankly it’s a greedy ploy by all the companies involved and ultimately as with anything else, we pay the price.   If Time Warner raises their rates I will leave.  Vote with your wallet people..

Reloading Press

I really enjoy shooting..  I always have..  In the military I would go to the range every weekend and throw some rounds down range just for the pure joy of it..  And while I would sometimes shoot my pistols, I prefer rifles..  I dunno what it is, but there is something very peaceful about the focus and presence of mind you need to effectively shoot a rifle..

I liked it because when shooting, all the cares of the day seemed to kinda slip away..  You had to focus on what you’re doing and not be distracted by anything in order to hit your target, especially at range..  I have missed it..

The main reason I have missed it was due to cost, and distance..  Simply put there aren’t any ranges near where I live, and since my primary round is 7.92x57mm Mauser it can get a tad pricey..  Enter reloading..

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