Gearheads of War

This diary is made to once and for all end the debate of limited melee or no melee. I think everyone knows my position on the topic as well as the opposition's. If the majority votes for limited melee, then I will suck it up and play with limited melee (although I will still refuse to ever do it). If the majority votes for no melee, then I think everyone else should respect that. As demonstrated in another diary, polls clearly do not show clear evidence, so I am going to use a bit of a different technique. Please put your vote as the subject of your entry. Your choices are as follows:
Option 1: NO MELEE
Option 2: LIMITED MELEE

Update [2008-6-16 13:42:53 by MacheteMan7]: I really want this arguing to end, as my love for SweetTea is being ignored in this topic ;). I think this is really the most decisive way to settle the topic. In the end, it really is up to papi, but this may sway his decision.

I just read a great article on IGN where Valve explains how the platform isn't dead at all. In fact, they argue that it is thriving now better than ever. They really put things into perspective with some of their numbers and they described the direction that they see PC gaming going in the future. It is a great read for any of you who think PC gaming may be a dieing market (SweetTea ;)).
http://pc.ign.com/articles/878/878144p1.html

Wow. That is really all I can say. I am incredibley impressed at how determined Microsoft is to punch a hole in the iPod market. The new zune social (still in beta form) is one of the coolest things I have ever seen Microsoft do. You can basically see what everyone on your friends list (automatically detects you have a live account) has recently listened to or has set to their favorite. Here's an example:

at least in terms of sales. About three days ago, I walked into the Best Buy warehouse and was greeted by a tower of wiis. I quickly called my dad and told him to come and buy one as quick as he could because I knew they would sell out before the end of 4-5 hours. So far, the only games I have are wii sports and Mario Galaxy, so this review will be based on those two games. Wii sports is a blast... if you have about 4 friends over. Playing it by yourself makes you feel like a complete loser and you eventually ask yourself why you don't actaully go bowling. But for coming free with the system, you really can't complain about it. Mario Galaxy on the other hand, is an absolute blast by yourself. The gameplay is pretty much genious and the difficulty progression is absolutely perfect. They seem to add a new obstacle on every planet and before long, you feel like you have seen everything, and then they throw a completely new twist at you (such as a planet captured in a capsule with anti gravity floors all around). Overall, for $300, I would really only recommend picking one up if you tend to have a few buddies over a couple times a week. Mario Galaxy can only last a few days tops and I really don't know how much I am going to end up playing it by myself after I beat it. Until the new Smash Bros. comes out, I don't know if I would really recommend buying one, especially because they are nearly impossible to find. As of right now, 360 is definitely king by a large margin in terms of gameplay and value.

First of all, keep in mind that this is coming from a pretty huge fan of infinity ward, so my review may be tilted slightly in their favor ;). I can pretty much sum up what I have played so far in one word; incredible.

Single Player- I have only played through the first two or three missions, but they have given me an idea of how rediculously great it will be. I have heard it is short, but in my mind, it's quality over quantity, and the quality is definitely there in CoD4. The friendly AI is amazing. Captain Price will order Gaz (2 main characters) to flank around the back of the house while you, him, and another squad member rush in through the front door. Gaz always seems to get their at the perfect time and save your ass. Throughout the entire thing there is constant squad chatter, telling you where the bad guys are and who to shoot. This really adds a TON of depth to the game and it almost makes you feel as though you are playing a game of co-op.

Multiplayer- Anybody who played the beta will basically be right at home when they start playing this. The game ships with 16 maps and nearly all of the are incredible, with a few average sprinkled in between. The ability to create your own class after leveling up to a level 4 (which only took me 2 games btw) just adds a rediculous amount of depth. So far, I haven't gotten past the beta level cap, but I know that once I get above a 20 or so, the combinations will be nearly endless. The gameplay is incredibly balanced and they have tweeked it slightly since the beta to give it an even better overall feel. Hit detection is absolutely spot on (as with other IW games), and you never really feel that your shot should have hit someone and it didn't. The only downside to MP is the snipers (but hey they're in every game right?), but they can easily be taken out by a well placed flank and shank as I like to call it.

Graphics- ... I honestly can't think of a word to describe them. The textures have the most insane amount of detail I have ever seen in a console game and the effects are incredible. What has me most impressed however, are the animations. Seeing your squad running in front of you really immerses you in the game. I have honestly never seen animations done this well.

Overall, just go out and buy the game. It pretty much defines the term "must buy" with the combination of it's graphics, multiplayer, AI, and single player... plus I need somebody to play online with :). Score- 9.7

I am about to order the PC now, but I am just checking to see that everything will work together 100% correctly. Do you think you could just run a double check for me zoso/grymm/boxin? I'm still kind of a newb... If I order it tonight, It should be here by either Monday or Tuesday. If anyone wants to play something early next week with their pc, let me know here! I'm really looking forward to this... plus, I only have 2 days of shool next week!!!

What, you ask? This isn't another Halo diary??? ;)
According to IGN, Ubisoft has been busy since E3. Many of us gearheads were expecting a delay of the game until at least early 08, but apparently our suspicions were incorrect. IGN even went as far as saying that the game is DONE. Ubisoft is just putting the last layer of polish on and maximizing the framerate. The preview also says that the game is MUCH more of a sandbox game than what they have shown. They said that you can do missions at your own pace and you can explore the city and climb around all you want. This is probably my second or third most anticipated title of the year now. Looks like our wallets will be hurting even more than we were expecting...
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/820/820843p1.html

Holy crap... http://www.apple.com/
These look absolutely rediculous. I love my zune, but it's going to have to step aside for the new iPod touch. These things look incredible, they have internet built in, and they are only $300-$400! The only downside is that the come in an 8 gig model and a 16 gig model, not quite as big as the older ones.

I think they may actually be legit this time!
http://www.achieve360points.com/game/halo3/
Personally, I think there are way too many 5 and 10 point achievements, but I like how they put the emphasis on single player. We have all witnessed how multiplayer achievements can ruin a game... (gears ranked matches). It seems like putting alot of achievements in SP will also add some legs to the campaign, which is great seeing as this is primarily what many of us will be playing.

Crap. Looks like maybe Microsoft should have spoken a little bit about 2008 at e3 after all... I think most people, including myself, thought that they would talk about 2007 at e3 and then 2008 at X07. This is a huge disappointment for pretty much evey xbox 360 owner around the world. Looks like we only get to "bring it home" once this year :(.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/805/805935p1.html

That's right, Peter Moore is well... no more! He has left Microsoft to become the head of EA Sports. I don't know why he would leave at this point in time, but it seems like this is legitimate and that Microsoft needs to find someone to replace him as the head of xbox360.
 But why would you leave when the 360 is on such a roll? Especially for a quality questionable company like EA (and EA sports at that)! http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/805/805713p1.html

So I finally went and picked up the VGA cable so I could play on my 21 inch monitor. I have to say, the picture looks rediculously good, but I have one huge problem... I have no audio. If anybody could help me out I would be VERY thankful. For my computer's sound, I use two pretty crappy speakers. The VGA cable has the red and white plugs, but there is nowhere for me to plug them in. It also came with an adapter to plug the two audio wires into a headphone jack, but when I do that, I still don't get any sound. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Would it be easier for me to just go out and buy some better speakers? If so, could anybody recommend a good set?