I bought, used, and returned a 22" widescreen monitor over the past week. It was great seeing Half-Life 2 and Call of Duty 2 in widescreen format, with the widescreen field of view. It really increased the immersiveness of the game. In real life, when you look at something, you have a lot of peripheral vision going on. But on a standard 4:3 monitor, the game screen only occupies the center of your vision, and your peripheral vision is mostly filled with the real world. A widescreen monitor (16:9 or 16:10) changes that, and it's a really cool experience that all FPS gamers should try at least once. It was also gorgeous exploring World of Warcraft and Guild Wars in widescreen.

So if it's so great.. why did I return it? Well, I had no idea LCDs worked the way they work. In order to display the screen correctly, I *had* to increase my game resolutions to 1680 x 1050. Unlike CRTs, LCDs can't scale up resolution without a performance hit. Not a big deal for most people, but for frame rate watching gamers it's a different story.

1680 x 1050 was such a big drain on my PC that widescreen gaming was mostly unplayable, outside of HL2 and COD2. DOD Source and CS Source had crummy frame rates. And BF2142, my fav game at the moment, didn't support widescreen gaming at all. So yeah.. if you're interested in trying widescreen gaming, be sure you have a powerful enough PC.

In other news...

The PS3 and Wii are coming! I'm going to try and pick up a Wii on launch day. While I'm not too excited about any of the launch titles, I figure I'll be getting a Wii eventually, thanks to Smash Brothers Brawl.

The PS3 is a must have.. some day. The launch line up is getting bad reviews so far, with Genji 2 getting a crummy 6.5 from Gamespot. Bummer! I enjoyed the first Genji even though it scored poorly, so I'll probably enjoy Genji 2, too. But with a score of 6.5, I'm not in any hurry to play it.

Besides, I'm drowning in games anyway. Final Fantasy 12, Okami, Xenosaga 3, Neverwinter Nights 2 (which is dissapointing, by the way!), Metroid Prime Hunters, Phoenix Wright, Trauma Center, BF2142, Zelda Minish Cap.... yikes. Can't wait for winter break :)

Been playing BF2142 like mad in the past few days. Great game. The Gamespot review was positive (score of 8.2), but it didn't really mention what's been improved and fine tuned since BF2.

2142 comes with tweaks such as:
In BF2, dropping anti-vehicle mines on the ground often resulted in Teamkills. This is no longer the case in 2142, as mines have been replaced with EMP and Motion Mines, and both of them only trigger when a hostile target is near. The same applies with the Claymore. In 2142, the Claymore only detonates against hostiles.

Commander artillery has been replaced with "orbital strike" ability. Orbital strike damages a wider area, however it is much weaker than BF2's artillery. It rarely kills anyone instantly, instead dishing out damage over repeated strikes. In most cases it's best for seriously injuring enemy groups, or finishing off wounded. At first I thought this change was for the worse, but it's much more enjoyable NOT being killed instantly by these strikes. Feels less cheap.

Medics are no longer the uber class, as their medkits now heal people gradually, instead of instantly. Their defibrillator's still revive people back to 100% health though.

2142's a great game, but at the same time, it verifies the accusation that EA/DICE ignored many of BF2's problems in order to make another game. Is there no more money to be made anymore from a further patched BF2?

http://www.ultimategamechair.com/

o_O Raptor chair. I want it. I think? For $300, it's pretty pricey. But the idea of rumbling along 2142's mech footstep sounds is pretty cool, and the press impressions are very positive so far.

Went to the Gamespot After Hours event last night. My first impression of the PS3 was incredible dissapointment. They only had two games on display... a racing combat game and a Gundam game. The racing game was OK, and it definitely felt 'next-gen'. But the Gundam game was terrible. The graphics were poor, the frame rate was abysmal. Ugh. I've got Gundam games for my PS2 far better than that. Really bad first impression of the PS3.

I went to the event thinking I would be blown away by the greatness of console gaming, but ironically returned wanting to upgrade my PC. After seeing Battlefield 2 and 2142 being played on top-of-the-line Dell PCs and widescreen LCDs, this computer of mine is looking a little long in the tooth. I plan on buying this 22" widescreen HD LCD monitor now (I need it's HD for PS3/X360 play anyway), but do I really want to upgrade my computer just for Battlefield? And maybe Neverwinter Nights 2? Hmm.

Got to play Call of Duty 3, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, and Lost Planet for the X360. COD3 was fun, as COD always is, although the new rag doll death effects need some work. Splinter Cell was incredible, and playing that alone makes me want to buy a 360 within the week, as Splinter Cell releases on Tuesday. The graphics were great, and the multiplayer versus gameplay was pretty fun. Lost Planet was only setup in multiplayer mode, and it seemed OK. Graphically great, the gameplay seemed a bit too shallow and sluggish, but it was a free-for-all deathmatch mode after all. Also saw a demonstration of BioShock.. which was... "O_O" cool. Eye-poppin'.

Still, I dunno if I want a 360. The biggest problem to me is that many of the games I want for the 360 are shooter games (Gears of War, COD3). And playing a shooter on a console controller is blasphemy, IMO. (Where's my mouse and keyboard support?!) Even if these games are lovely to look at, playing a shooter without a mouse just ain't right.

Battlefield 2142 Impressions

I got into the 2142 beta test which just recently ended, and here are my impressions. If you're on the fence about whether or not you want to buy it next month, this might be useful.

I'll be getting 2142, even though right now I prefer BF2/SF/POE2 over what I saw in the 2142 beta. But it's still a fun game. The single map we got in the beta was kinda crummy. But hopefully we'll get some Sharqi/Karkand/Maashtur style maps in the full game.

Pros:
-less dolphin diving. When going prone, your crosshair takes a while to stabilise.
-Support MG weapon now useful/accurate. The gun actually gets more accurate as you shoot it longer, similar to how the HWGuy's machine gun worked in Team Fortress. Cool!
-No instant-healing from medkits. Kits gradually increase your health as you stand by it.
-Aircraft are easier to fly for people without a joystick.
-Cool things that encourage people to form squads. Many special items are not available for use unless a squad has 4 peeps. That's cool.
-Landing an "Aliens movie"-style hover craft onboard the enemy Titan once its shields go down. Sweet.

Cons:
-First-person Muzzle flashes for many of the weapons/turrets are extremely large and obscure your view. Very annoying!
-Aircraft aren't fun to fly anymore. They hover around in a clumsy fashion. As a flight sim fan, this was a huge setback to me.
-Very slow weapon/item unlock progression. In BF2, you begin the game with 6 primary weapons, grenades, smoke grenades, and so forth. In BF2142, you start the game with just 4 primary weapons available.. and it will apparently take a VERY long time to get any more primary weapons. AND you need to unlock standard grenades! Blech!
-Infantry experience feels like a big step backward from what we saw in Special Forces. Where's my grappling hook? Zip line? This is 2142... shouldn't someone at least have a jetpack or something? For a sci-fi game, 2142 is very ho-hum on its take on the future.

The point of your existence is to play Point of Existence 2. POE2 is an incredible mod for Battlefield 2 that any fan of BF2 absolutely *must* play.

POE2 adds new gameplay modes, sound effects, music, weapons, vehicles, maps, textures, and more. It's practically a whole new game, as the BF2 formula is tweaked in a number of ways that produce a very different, and mostly superior, experience. The website of POE2 doesn't do the mod justice, so read the following to see why this mod is so great.

All of the weapon kits have been rebalanced. Medics no longer have grenades, making them less of a combat force and more of a healer as they should be. Support kits don't have grenades either, but their machine gun has been made much more effective: you can actually fire accurately while prone and hit targets at long ranges. The Spec-Ops weapons now come with silencers for stealth killing. And every single gun in the game is completely unique to POE2.

Besides the standard kits you choose when spawning, you can also find special weaponry lying around on the battlefield. Anti-tank rifles, anti-infantry bazookas, and even anti-air weaponry (Stingers!) can be picked up.

Vehicular combat is much more interesting, as the armor on tanks behaves more realistically. Attacking another tank head-on can be a chore, as the armor can shrug off or bounce incoming shells away. You need to flank your target... attack their sides or rears for maximum damage.

Nearly every vehicle in the game is new to BF2. Many of the gunner positions on vehicles now allow you to control the turret through an internal camera system. So you don't need to worry about getting sniped out of your turret anymore.

The aircraft in the game are cool, especially the Mi-24 Hind. This Russian helicopter was featured in EA's Special Forces expansion, but it wasn't very good. Hard to control and lacking any troop transport abilities, it didn't really represent the Hind well. But POE2's Hind is great. It can seat 6 (2 crew, 4 passengers). The new jetfighters (MiG-25 Foxbat, Tornado, Eurofighter, and Su-25 Frogfoot) are fun to fly, and none of them feel overpowered. The MiG-25, in fact, seems too weak as it's weaponry consists entirely of medium- and short- range air-to-air missiles. Finally, aircraft can be much more easily countered by ground forces than before. Instead of horribly inaccurate SAM missiles, infantry can hop into powerful anti-air gun emplacements which can rip apart aircraft.

There are some downsides to the mod, however. The commander assets, the UAV, radar scan, and artillery guns have all been removed from the game entirely. This leaves the commander with not much more to do than to spot enemies manually, which is a pretty tedious process, and drop supply crates (can't drop vehicles anymore, either). So it's not uncommon to see teams without a commander. The lack of a UAV is mostly a great thing, IMO, as the element of surprise is back in the game.. and infantry battles are far more exciting. But with no commander assets on the map, the Spec Ops' C4 feels far less useful.

Artillery is still in the game, however the artillery comes in the form of a single mobile artillery vehicle that must be manned by a player. This artillery controller must also work in tandem with an artillery spotter out in the field before targets can be hit at long distances. It's a very complicated process that only highly coordinated squads will enjoy, so most people aren't getting much enjoyment out of this new system.

To sum up, POE2 is an excellent mod that surpasses the original BF2 in most aspects, and should be considered an unofficial "expansion pack" to the game. Highly recommended!

I have returned!

Yesterday was my last day working at EA, as I'm returning to school on Tuesday.

Let's see... where to begin. EA had me sign some confidentiality agreements when I got hired, so I can't spill the beans on what I worked on. But I can tell you about some of the cool perks and events I got to see while working there.

All employees at EA get free access to the "IRC", a media library where you can borrow movies and games of all sorts. The idea is that this lets the employees see what EA's competitors are up to, and just plain have fun after work . So I got to play Meteos, Nintendogs, Nanostray, Castlevania, and Mario Kart for the DS. Onimusha 2 and Darkwatch for the PS2, and Thief: Dark Shadows for the PC. You can see the IRC in this Gamespot video tour of EA campus (look for the 7/13/06 show).

EA employees also get some great discounts at the EA store when buying EA published games. All console games, no matter how old or new, are $20, while all PC games are a mere $10. Battlefield 2 Deluxe Edition (BF2 + Special Forces) was just $10! I picked up Battle for Middle Earth 2 PC for $10 as well. Yum :)

Probably the most exciting event was the mid-July press event. Here, EA revealed Sims 2 Pets, Need for Speed Carbon, and demonstrated Battlefield 2142. I got to play Battlefield 2142 and even got some gameplay tips from the producer. I don't think I can say too much about the game besides that it was farkin' awesome :). Many BF2 fans feel that 2142 may be nothing more than a sci-fi "mod" of BF2, and thus not worth a purchase, but I thought it was incredible. I got to play against the EAUK game testers of the project, and I was stabbed to death by 7 of them at once. Best death ever.