Monthly Archive for April, 2006

You Must Bow… For I Am Freeman!

Published on April 27, 2006 in Games. 0 Comments

So I finally did it. After several months of on-off playing, I finally beat Half-Life 2.

I’m still not sure how I feel about it because there’s no more left to play. HL2 was by far one of my favorite games ever. The astounding graphics and exceptional gameplay amazed me from the beginning and I’m a little emotional now that I’m done. But luckily I wont have to wait too long for Episode 1. Ahhh… the next fix.

I guess it’ll just be a lot of Counter-Strike until then.

Here’s the G-man admiring my sweet HL2 skillz:

Games We Play…

Published on April 27, 2006 in Announcements and Games. 0 Comments

Ever wonder what games we’re playing here at the ModStomp secret hideout?

Well, whether you do or not, now you can see what games are keeping us from all of our ‘adult responsibilities’. We’ve added a new page called… uh… ‘Games We Play‘ (original, I know). Just click on the the link in the nav on the left to read our opinions about all the games we’ve played over the years. We’ll also be adding the ability to leave comments soon so you can give us your opinions as well.

Lately we’ve been sortuv obsessed with Counter-Stike and have been spending a lot of time on the HostageDown.net servers. I’m also just about done with Half-Life II (shut up! I know I should have been done 6 months ago).

I Am Wha…? Chef Brian? Is That You?

Published on April 24, 2006 in Random and WebComics. 0 Comments

Short post today. Just wanted to thank Tim over at CTRL+ALT+DEL for helping me express how I feel today with his excellent web-comic. I’ve used the exerpt below without permission so thanks in advance Tim, and please don’t sue me.

Tune in next week for more super-delicious-fluffy-gooey-goodness.

iRiver U10 mp3 Player en route to Zach’s house

Published on April 20, 2006 in Gadgets and mp3. 0 Comments

I’m the impulsive type. I got reading a bunch of reviews of the iRiver U10, and got thinking that it seems like a cool little player. So I trolled eBay for a while, and lo and behold, I was able to score the 1gb version with a dock for $200. The dock alone retails at $69, and the player retails for $249.

Ok, it’s really expensive for a 1gb player. But it looks like the features are really cool, and it’s definitely one of the more unique players out there. My impulsiveness has an upside: both loyal Modstomp readers can get my thoughts on this little player when it arrives in a few days.

Is Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion the new Myst?

Published on April 20, 2006 in Games. 0 Comments

Maybe it’s too much Counter-strike lately. Maybe I like my RPGs a little more scripted, like KOTOR. Maybe I like my free-roaming worlds a little more free of consequences, like Grand Theft Auto. Maybe it’s the fact that Oblivion makes my computer weep when I try to run it with anti-aliasing on. Whatever it is, I just can’t get into Oblivion.

I like the style, and I’d like to see where the story goes. I just feel like stuff takes too long to do. I’m not the sort of player who soaks in the environment for very long; I want to solve stuff and get more loot and kill lots of baddies. How come I can still lose a whole weekend once in a while playing Diablo II, but I can’t get myself into Oblivion for an hour or two?

I had a copy of Myst back in the day, and I played it in short spurts for a couple of weeks. It looked amazing (for the time) and I felt like I should like it more, but I never got to the point where I good give it the time it required. Oblivion feels almost the same to me.

Anyone else out there feel the same way? Feel free to respond in the comments.

Windows on a Mac… End of the World?

Published on April 19, 2006 in Hardware and Software. 0 Comments

Well, now its official. Apple beat the 1337 hax0rs out of the gate with Boot Camp. Question is… who out there is gonna actually use it?

Historically Mac fans and Windows fans don’t mix so well. Its like getting any two fans of opposing European soccer, er… football teams together in the same room. Utter chaos! I mean, not even Nostradamus saw this one coming. So how will it play out? Will this result in some sort of space-time rift of love and harmony between these two groups?

Would any real PC fan drop their custom rig for Mac hardware (which is now mostly the same being X86 and all), only to run the same OS and software? Would any real Mac fan really ditch OS-whatever for the often complained about (and often rightly so) Windows? Can this end in anything less than the end of the world?

Only time will tell. But I think Scott Johnson sums it up pretty well in his latest ExtraLife webcomic…

Let us know your thoughts on this one… Leave a comment.

HIPER Type-R 580W Power Supply

Published on April 17, 2006 in Hardware. 1 Comment

Well, I’ve been having some weird power issues with my main system, so I figured it was time to replace my old Rosewill with something a little more robust. I wanted to go modular, but I wanted something that would match my silver/red scheme. I wound up buying the Hiper Type-R 580W from Xoxide.com. Here’s a pic of mine:

And here’s a picture of the installation:

It’s a very nice design with modules for pretty much anything. I was able to connect the six pin power connector for my 6800 GT, the four pin connector on my motherboard, and it conveniently let me daisy-chain my optical drives and SATA hard drive. Hopefully this will prove to be more stable over time, as well. Tom’s Hardware has a decent review here. Feel free to ask any questions or post some thoughts in the comments.

The, um… Anti-Case Mod (Thermaltake mini-fridge)

Published on April 11, 2006 in Case Mods and Geek Fun. 0 Comments

When we think of case mods, we generally think of some geek trying to make his (or her) gaming rig look like anything but the standard Dell pc. Well, in our search for cool mods, we happened to come across this anti-case mod. Instead of trying to make a computer look like something else, this intrepid geek decided to make something else look like a gaming rig. In this case, a fridge.

Behold the Thermaltake Mini-fridge!

Inventgeek.com provides more pictures and fairly complete instructions for any other daring modders out there. I imagine this is one mod that will have a high adoption rate, because as we all know… you’ve gotta have some way of keeping all that caffeine cold for those all night Counter-Strike sessions.

Check it out here!

Oblivion, Quake 3, Beyond Good & Evil, etc.

Published on April 5, 2006 in Games. 0 Comments

I haven’t really been playing many new games lately because most of what’s coming out right now is pure crap. I haven’t been extremely interested in any new titles for several months, but there are a few I have tried recently. I thought I’d share my comments and invite your thoughts on the matter.

1. Beyond Good & Evil – This is a short, but fun romp through a futuristic alien takeover plot with an adventure seekin reporter. There are equal parts comedy and suspense and overall, the gameplay is quite good. It has some puzzle solving elements as well as side-quest options (which end up being kinda necessary). The controls are easy and natural and the look is pretty refined. I was quite pleased with this one and am still in the process of beating it.

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