First, the hit points.  Diablo in Normal Mode of Diablo 2 has 13818 hit points (according to the useful Diablo Wiki).  So we can rule out that little piece of numerology.

Second, the error message.  We need to see a screen shot of the error before we can really be confident.  Otherwise, someone is just playing around with hex.

Third, the item.  I’ve never encountered a "Gnaw Fold" ring in my play, and I can’t see a note of it in the item lists I’ve checked.  Though I’m open to the idea, I don’t think it exists.  The solution might be to install and not update, then play through single-player in an attempt to find it. . .maybe someone else has the time.

So, with no item, we can’t test the theory and get a screenshot.  I call this a fun myth until someone can show me otherwise.

• The Engineer’s teleporters can now be upgraded to level three. It will recharge faster the higher level it is
• The Engineer’s dispensers can now be upgraded to level three. It will give out metal and heal faster as it is upgraded
• Spies will be able to recharge their cloaking ability by picking up ammo off of the ground or from health cabinets
• Some changes to the second part of the first stage of Goldrush to give the attackers more of an advantage
• Any weapons that fire bullets (shotguns, sniper’s machine gun, heavy’s minigun, etc.) can now break apart the Demoman’s stickybombs
• The icon on the HUD for a person calling for Medic will now give more information to the medic (if the target is low on health, on fire, etc.)
• Added an achievement tracker that will allow people to choose specific achievements that they are trying to get
• There is now a custom icon for death messages when the player was killed from a critical hit
• Added a new particle effect for when a player enters the water
• Added smoke to the feet of a rocket jumping soldier
• Players will now have some particles swirling around them so other players can see when they are overhealed

Kudos to the guys at Valve for sneaking a nice little update in.

Sorry about the stupid player and the ads. The vid loads pretty slowly, but just give it a few minutes. You’ll be glad you did.

I got a chance to play with one of these, taking out some enemy armor.  The weapons selection seems very close to what’s in the current US arsenal.  The vehicles I saw were really well modeled; this is the same attention to details that we saw in the WWII games.

I can see they’re trying to give us a full-scale, near-symmetrical modern conflict.  That’s where I’m a little unsure of the realism, because we haven’t had a symmetrical war for more than fifty years, to my knowledge.  I can understand the political problems with presenting a game based on our asymmetrical fights in the Middle East, but that’s what we’re familiar with.  I see them trying to give us that as well: RPGs were flying everywhere in the demo. 

I think I can sum up the challenge this game will have.  The original CoD games put you into a historical context where you relived some of the most pivotal, defining, and heroic events in our history.  One of the best moments in any game, any platform was that final, frenetic push through the Reichstag.  The Volga crossing into Stalingrad is another.  Can CoD 4 give us moments like those in a fantasy conflict?

Like many of the rest of you who rushed out to buy this bundle, I’ve already beaten Portal. My initial impressions… I NEED MORE!!! This was a very refreshing romp through a world with physics and graphics that we’re all used to, but with a new twist. Source still looks gorgeous after all these years and I found myself being blown away by this new space-bending aspect they’ve introduced. Like all truly great games, this one has begun to bleed over into my reality and I’ve found myself studying any white wall I encounter to judge whether or not a portal would fit there and where I might place the other end.

In short, Portal is one of the best PC games I’ve played in a good long while. In fact, it’s good enough to have torn me away from Phantom Hourglass these last few days. The only downside to the entire experience was how short it was. The gameplay mechanics, environment and generally humorous tone were all pretty much perfect. Incorporating the Portal gun into the final sequence proved to be a bit challenging and quite rewarding when finished. I don’t want to give anything away here, but the closing credits made it all worth it as well as making me hopeful for another installment. What we really need now are some good old fashioned mod community maps.

In closing, if you currently own the Orange Box and haven’t tried Portal yet… shame on you. Get your butt home (or wherever you happen to game) and give it try right now. You won’t be disappointed.

Still, a nerd likes to tweak, and this thing seems pretty tweakable.  Might be worth a look when the prices come down, neh?

Impressions?  The gameplay was really pretty decent.  The areas were really creepy, and it’s got style like no other game.  Story seems intriguing.  It’ll play on my rig, but I’ll have to turn off some of the cooler effects.  I zapped guys with electricity, and fried some with fire, and shot some.  Seems like lots of options for destruction.

I’d like to get a feel for how it’s running on older hardware, so if anyone’s played the demo, feel free to give a report with your specs in the comments.

Good thing there’s a site like DSIcons.com to assist those of us who are less apt at creating anything other than a pixel blob in the icon editor. As the picture to the right shows, the instructions are pretty decent at helping you create that perfect car badge to help you express who you really are deep down inside.

There’s probably close to 50 free badges over at the site as well as several more packs that you can pay for (not sure why you would though with all those free ones to choose). I’ve tried a few of them out and they all look pretty decent in-game. So head on over and make everyone think that you have icon skillz.

In a fit of boredom last week, I decided to try out a few DS games that I’ve had laying around for a while and have never taken the time to play. I can’t say for sure why I hadn’t tried this game until now, but I think it was mostly due to the fact that I didn’t have very high hopes. I realize that it got reviewed pretty well and I realize that most Nintendo games that revolve around first-party characters and themes are usually decent games. But every now and then, the touchscreen seems to “get in the way” a bit for me. For instance… Metroid Prime: Hunters reviewed pretty well and I know a few people who enjoy it, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’m just too much of a keyboard-mouse person when it comes to fps games I suppose. Anyway, I was a little worried that the touchscreen would just be gimmicky… boy was I wrong.

In the case of this game, I personally think that the touchscreen controls actually make the game better than the average basketball game. In fact, I haven’t had this much fun with a hoops game since back in the day when I’d spend hours-on-end dumping quarters into NBA Jam trying to obtain the code to unlock Jordan (how disappointed was I when I figured out it was all a lie. AAARRRGGHHH!). As a basketball game though, it does surprisingly well.

So how is this game different than other basketball games you ask? Well, there are a few things that make this game unique in the b-ball genre. First off is the fact that Nintendo didn’t spend time trying to make this game too realistic (which is definitely the trend for sports games outside the scope of Nintendo). I guess it’s obvious that any game where your team consists of giant lizard-turtle thing, a ghost and a lanky Italian plumber can’t be too realistic anyways. But the list of selectable characters is the first reason I like this game so much. Each character has strengths and weaknesses, but none are terribly over or under-powered. There’s a good mix which consists of most of your Nintendo favorites.

The next thing I enjoy is the unique method of score-keeping. Unlike real basketball, in Mario 3 on 3 baskets are worth 20 points instead of 2. And on top of that, you have the opportunity to gather coins that pay out when you make a shot. These coins can add up fast and pay out big with some good game planning. A well placed 80 point shot can be a quick way of coming back from a large deficit. Another way to make a comeback is to use “special shots”. Each character has a unique “special” shot that is activated by tapping out a specific pattern on the touch screen. These shots can be blocked as you go through the activation process, but once you’ve completed the initiation, they’re basically unstoppable and are worth 40 points.

Another unique aspect of this game is the “Mario Kart” style power ups. During play, the court is covered with floating “?” boxes. When on offense, these boxes provide you with the coins that you collect for points by bouncing the ball on them. When on defense though, these boxes provide all sorts of fun items which can be used to relieve the opposing team of the ball. There are all sorts of items that can be retrieved from the boxes, but I’ll just say that blue turtle shells create the same level of fear in this game as they do in Mario Kart.

With several unlockable arenas and characters this game provides lots of reasons to keep coming back. The online mode offers up a fun opportunity to school your friends in a friendly pick-up game as well. Much like Mario Kart this game is quite easy to learn, but does take some time to master. The AI seems to be pretty decent and offers up a pretty decent challenge as you progress further through the game. Overall, I’d easily give this game an 8 or 9 out of 10 on my scale and would have no problem recommending it as a definite purchase for any DS owner.