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[Agyar]

The intensity is natively Mac, and yeah that's the thing I'm buying. I need something simple, something I can plug in and start recording on. While I'd love to buy a MBP (my Air shits me), I'm holding off on going too far with money outlay for this project this early.

Also, I've just popped in a quick post on the site explaining how people can get involved: http://www.gamecrux.com/

The problem I have is that I hardly have time to get stuck into this stuff generally. Get up at 7:45, go to work, get home at 8:00pm, eat dinner, go to bed, do it all over again. So if anyone has any inclination to update stuff that would be great. I'm happy to create accounts on the main page for people who want to contribute interesting news or general gaming banter.

I will consider writing a review of Awakening for your website, although the video part may take me some time. Or perhaps you could do the video, wink wink nudge nudge time to play Awakening already.

 

[legend166]

So can Aussie Starcraft II go on the North American servers yet?

 

[VOOK]

AusGAF, I wrote this article about Hype and the people who just buy games because others tell them too and things like.

It's here, but I'm wondering if I should post it here as a topic on GAF too - seemingly most of the people on here are the people I am bitching about in it.

Thoughts?

 

[rass]

AusGAF, I wrote this article about Hype and the people who just buy games because others tell them too and things like.

It's here, but I'm wondering if I should post it here as a topic on GAF too - seemingly most of the people on here are the people I am bitching about in it.

Thoughts?

The first thing I noticed was that Super Scribblenauts exists, how did I miss that?

As for posting it on here I don't see why not, it might be a little bit inflammatory to the elitists/collectors, but it's an issue to do with gaming. Also, I used to be like that, not for the last year or so though. Feels much better to not get hyped about something

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

AusGAF, I wrote this article about Hype and the people who just buy games because others tell them too and things like.

It's here, but I'm wondering if I should post it here as a topic on GAF too - seemingly most of the people on here are the people I am bitching about in it.

Thoughts?

Post it. You'll find that there's a large segment of GAF who agree with you.

 

[Mar]

AusGAF, I wrote this article about Hype and the people who just buy games because others tell them too and things like.

It's here, but I'm wondering if I should post it here as a topic on GAF too - seemingly most of the people on here are the people I am bitching about in it.

Thoughts?

There are certainly people out there that buy almost everything, I'm not overly convinced that's based on marketing or false hype though. These people buy everything regardless the amount of pre-release coverage it gets.

For instance, I'm often humbled here in GAF, because I stupidly think I have an enormous game collection. But whenever 'one of those' threads are started my collection looks like an ant pile compared with many of the gamers here.

Do they churn through games and gain no enjoyment, only encouraged on to the next game based on hype? I'm not so sure. They seem to enjoy their games as much if not more than us gamers who are still collecting all the orbs in Crackdown 2, ignoring the urge to move on to the next best thing. These gamers seem to have more a compulsion to consume than an aversion to riding the hype wave, and they seem as impassioned by the games as we do.

There's room for all sorts. Sometimes I wish I had the time to play games like that, to churn through releases like I used to do in the early 90s. But other times I don't think I have the interest to do that anymore regardless. Some weeks I don't play a single game at all even if I have the spare time.

 

[VOOK]

I want to post it, but do I post it all or just some. :/ Gonna get a lot of tl'dr other wise.

Yeah Mar, me posting on GAF has basically led me to writing that. I can't take all the endless cycle of hype.

 

[Shaneus]

There are certainly people out there that buy almost everything, I'm not overly convinced that's based on marketing or false hype though. These people buy everything regardless the amount of pre-release coverage it gets.

For instance, I'm often humbled here in GAF, because I stupidly think I have an enormous game collection. But whenever 'one of those' threads are started my collection looks like an ant pile compared with many of the gamers here.

Do they churn through games and gain no enjoyment, only encouraged on to the next game based on hype? I'm not so sure. They seem to enjoy their games as much if not more than us gamers who are still collecting all the orbs in Crackdown 2, ignoring the urge to move on to the next best thing. These gamers seem to have more a compulsion to consume than an aversion to riding the hype wave, and they seem as impassioned by the games as we do.

There's room for all sorts. Sometimes I wish I had the time to play games like that, to churn through releases like I used to do in the early 90s. But other times I don't think I have the interest to do that anymore regardless. Some weeks I don't play a single game at all even if I have the spare time.

I think it's ADD I must suffer from it because I have (what I think is) a fairly big collection of games, about 90% of which I either feel I've gotten sufficient value out of or finished. The JB/GAME sales were horrible for this

Having said that, I've come to realise that there are a few genres that just don't interest me at all which the mainstream go bananas for, in particular FPSes. The fact that I traded in both MW2 and Borderlands shortly after I picked them up attests to this. It's also a massive indication that I (used to) give into hype fairly easily.

 

[CryptiK]

Picked up a Driving force GT was $99 but Im like maaaaaate.... its an ex display that means its used and he's like fine $79 and Im like

 

[giri]

I want to post it, but do I post it all or just some. :/ Gonna get a lot of tl'dr other wise.

Yeah Mar, me posting on GAF has basically led me to writing that. I can't take all the endless cycle of hype.

I don't even know what the point of your article is. You acknowledge the hype train, but you now don't get on board it. Are you criticising them for it, annoyed by the amount of money spent on it, or......?

 

[VOOK]

I don't even know what the point of your article is. You acknowledge the hype train, but you now don't get on board it. Are you criticising them for it, annoyed by the amount of money spent on it, or......?

Simply offering another perspective on the hype train and pointing out it isn't the only way to enjoy games. That infact you might enjoy they more, if you don't follow the leader and buy so many.

 

[Ydahs]

What? Ten's launching a new channel, called Eleven? And it's non-HD channel? Screw that, bring back Ten HD

They were one of the primary pushes of HD media in Australia and now only One is in HD.

EDIT: Oh, it's a 'classics'-type channel. Explains non-HD. Simpsons to move exclusively move to 11? Hmm.

 

[Mar]

I will consider writing a review of Awakening for your website, although the video part may take me some time. Or perhaps you could do the video, wink wink nudge nudge time to play Awakening already.

Yeah I'll do the video. Going to buy the game anyway.

 

[Clipper]

What? Ten's launching a new channel, called Eleven? And it's non-HD channel? Screw that, bring back Ten HD

They were one of the primary pushes of HD media in Australia and now only One is in HD.

EDIT: Oh, it's a 'classics'-type channel. Explains non-HD. Simpsons to move exclusively move to 11? Hmm.

Due to the restriction on bandwidth, each station can only have one HD channel amongst its offerings. To bring back Ten HD, they'd either have to drop One HD or manage to fund an entirely new channel (which won't happen).

One HD is probably the most logical of the non-simulcast HD choices we'll have when 7mate starts up. The removal of ABC HD is definitely my least favourite of the choices. It probably won't be long until 9HD disappears too, as I posted earlier. There'll be pressure from 7mate, for sure.

 

[Nemesis_]

I want HD channels. Why won't they just leave them.

=(

Also, why the hell is an hour of Seven HD recorded on PlayTV fucking 7GB?

Is that right? =/

 

[BSS]

Yeh. Digital TV streams are about that big. It's all just MPEG2 unless you want to transcode it.

 

[Mar]

Just record you 4 playing gaymes at nights on the weekend. I can only imagine ploks language in a review will add to their sales, and your credibility.

We talked about starting a podcast, but that was as far as it got. One of these days I'll bring it up again.

Also, surprisingly, it was pl0k who brought it up the first time.

 

[FormallyMegadrive]

Picked up a Driving force GT was $99 but Im like maaaaaate.... its an ex display that means its used and he's like fine $79 and Im like

 

[hirokazu]

I want HD channels. Why won't they just leave them.

=(

Also, why the hell is an hour of Seven HD recorded on PlayTV fucking 7GB?

Is that right? =/

Not enough bandwidth allocated to each station to have more than one HD channel and a couple SD and still look decent, especially since our DTV standard uses MPEG2.

One HD channel and 2 SD is pretty much pushing it, that's the current setup for all the commercial channels. SBS looks like shit no matter how much bandwidth they have. ABC3's image quality is disgusting since they went with one HD channel and 3 SD and had to compromise the bitrate.

I say ditch MPEG2 and go for MPEG4, at the very least for HD channels. The decision to go with MPEG2 was stupid and short sighted.

 

[speedpop]

Hopefully 7mate will mean proper Friday night football. So sick of having to stay up till 11:30pm in QLD to watch it, glance at a live score and see the result, resulting in the TV turned off at midnight.

 

[BSS]

To change away from MPEG2 would require all new hardware for everybody. I don't see that ever happening.

The only thing that annoys me is all of the interlacing that goes on. 1080i, 576i, fuck it all. I thought we were trying to move away from CRTs. That shit needs to go back to the 20th century where it belongs. ABC and SBS are the only ones with a 720p channel, but ABC are wasting theirs on news now.

 

[Fredescu]

I'll ask in the PC thread too, but what's the best bang for buck SSD at the moment?

 

[evlcookie]

I'll ask in the PC thread too, but what's the best bang for buck SSD at the moment?

How much buck do you have ? Best thing is either an intel or sandforce controller

 

[Fredescu]

It's a build for someone else, so I just have to bring the whole thing in under a certain budget. The Vertex 2 has the sandforce controller right? They seem easy enough to come by.

 

[FormallyMegadrive]

After posting in the thread about the kid getting into a car accident at 100mph, I've come to realise just how fucked up Americans are in terms of speed limits. Apparently, to them, the word limit means "something I can exceed if I feel like it".

e: Oh, and they're all angry at me. :lol

 

[Fredescu]

I've come to realise just how fucked up Americans are in terms of speed limits. Apparently, to them, the word limit means "something I can exceed if I feel like it".

You're naive as fuck if you don't think there's a huge culture of speeding and muscle cars and such in Australia.

 

[evlcookie]

It's a build for someone else, so I just have to bring the whole thing in under a certain budget. The Vertex 2 has the sandforce controller right? They seem easy enough to come by.

Is it just going to be an OS drive? So say 30GB or 60GB in size nothing bigger? Then the vertex 2 is probably fine. Looks like PCG have 40GB or 60GB from $160 - $190 or so, both with sandforce controller.

There could be a lot of setting up though if you want to increase the drives life. But sandforce controllers are meant to have the lowest write cell wearing around, so the tweaks and crazy stuff might not be needed. If it's not on 24/7 anyway.

You still in PNG?

 

[Fredescu]

Is it just going to be an OS drive? So say 30GB or 60GB in size nothing bigger? Then the vertex 2 is probably fine. Looks like PCG have 40GB or 60GB from $160 - $190 or so, both with sandforce controller.

Yeah was thinking the 60GB. It's for a WoW player so I assume that's enough for OS+WoW.

There could be a lot of setting up though if you want to increase the drives life. But sandforce controllers are meant to have the lowest write cell wearing around, so the tweaks and crazy stuff might not be needed. If it's not on 24/7 anyway.

This is meant to be for a dummy who will want it just to work for a few years, but really plays the living fuck out of WoW. Is SSD not reliable enough for those sorts of users yet?

Edit: Wait, the Vertex 2 has a three year warranty? That's probably fine.

You still in PNG?

Been back for a few days, but sick as a dog. I was careful too, and the guy I went with who was less careful is fine. Although he wasn't quite as fine while we were there.

 

[evlcookie]

Yeah was thinking the 60GB. It's for a WoW player so I assume that's enough for OS+WoW.

This is meant to be for a dummy who will want it just to work for a few years, but really plays the living fuck out of WoW. Is SSD not reliable enough for those sorts of users yet?

Edit: Wait, the Vertex 2 has a three year warranty? That's probably fine.

There's a 3 year warranty but it doesn't really cover general use. If the cells all die within that 3 year period then so be it, that's the users fault.

They might be ok. WoW itself is probably 12+GB and then add in the expansion, so you could be pushing 20GB. The OS should be around 20 as well, so 60GB should be fine.

I'm not sure how much WoW writes to an SSD. There might be some tests floating around to get a good idea. If possible put say 5 or 10GB to the side so it can switch between cells. It's like 5 or 10GB of stuff that isn't used at all apart from the controller.

They should honestly be fine. Hard drives die by nature. Some can last you 6 months while another might last you 10 years. It's always a guessing game and SSDs are similar. You can reduce the write cycles to it to make sure it lasts longer but for the average user they could be ok.

Just to be on the safe side. When you install it all and update windows. Install ocz smartmon and make sure it boots on startup along with running the ssd tweak utility to distable a few things. After a week of use, check the life/write etc of ocz smartmon and if it's still at 100% with no real changes, they should be fine. Check it again in a months time and it might drop by 1%. If it's dropping like mad then changes might have to be made.

 

[FormallyMegadrive]

You're naive as fuck if you don't think there's a huge culture of speeding and muscle cars and such in Australia.

No, I know there is. It just seems like it's what everybody speeds just because _they_ feel the road should be faster, at least from the GAFfers that are posting. But just because they feel it should be faster doesn't mean it's fine.

 

[speedpop]

The whole "going over the speed limit by 10km/hr makes the trip seem faster" mentality.

 

[Clipper]

I doubt it's really the 'I feel it should be faster' mentality, but moreso an 'I know I won't get caught' mentality. This especially seems prevalent among young Sydney P-platers given the number of high speed accidents with multiple deaths and stupid teens getting pulled over (e.g., with 9 people in the car, including 2 in the boot) lately. It is a minority that's messing up the image of everyone else, but it still sickens me whenever I see these stories in the news.

Then there's that recent news of the road with the 'ghost' that appears when you drive fast and all the hoons risking their lives to see something which is probably a reflection of their own headlights.

 

[trinest]

Cites? No.

Country sides? Yes.

Not that I partake in such activites.

 

[Mar]

Cites? No.

Country sides? Yes.

Not that I partake in such activites.

Dangerous to think you're safer in the country. I'd say the numbers even up with the chances of hitting a kangaroo or something else running out onto the road.

My sister hit a kangaroo that totaled her car on impact and then continued on into a tree. Look at the amount of road kill on country roads. It's common.

 

[FormallyMegadrive]

I doubt it's really the 'I feel it should be faster' mentality, but moreso an 'I know I won't get caught' mentality.

Now you've said it, that makes way more sense.

 

[giri]

Dangerous to think you're safer in the country. I'd say the numbers even up with the chances of hitting a kangaroo or something else running out onto the road.

My sister hit a kangaroo that totaled her car on impact and then continued on into a tree. Look at the amount of road kill on country roads. It's common.

The amount of truck drivers we have that hit cows/roo's/horses is staggering. And it completely totals even the largest of Prime Movers traveling at 100km/h.

 

[JaseC]

Just bought a 180GB data block from Astraweb and got a call from BankWest Fraud Investigations barely a minute later. First time in the 3 or so years I've had my debit card.

Still waiting on Vodafone to finish their credit check. I want my bloody iPhone already.

 

[rass]

^^^
that sucks but at least you know your bank is on top of shit. I got a call from the Comm bank a couple of months ago, someone had tried to book airline tickets to the Bahamas on my Debit Card, but they got rejected coz I only had $2 in the account haha.

I signed up for a waiting list for the iphone4 finally last night, the guy at the counter felt bad for me (signed the "notify me" form on Virgin website 3 weeks before launch, never got a notification) so he put me in 12th place instead of like 80th. Hopefully get one in a week or two, but I'll find out soon enough.

 

[evlcookie]

I've never had an issue with buying 180GB from astraweb, done it twice so far. So good

 

[Clipper]

I have no issue with receiving calls from the credit company. I even got one the other day for buying stuff from Target and JB HiFi, but that's because I was visiting the US two days earlier.

Anything out of your traditional purchase pattern has a chance of setting off their triggers and that's a good thing. The call typically only lasts a minute or two if you really did make the purchase, so it's not like its a pain either.

I did have my card number stolen once (I assume via a certain store I used online), and they did call after they had made a third transaction or so (first two were a week prior and quite small). The strangest thing was that the largest transaction seemed to be to a charity for people providing prosthetic limbs to people. Why would somebody make a donation to charity with a stolen credit card?

 

[Sew]

I got a call from the Comm bank a couple of months ago, someone had tried to book airline tickets to the Bahamas on my Debit Card, but they got rejected coz I only had $2 in the account haha.

This is about the best banking security method you can use. My keycard, debit card and all direct debits are tied to one account which I keep under $500 at all times. Salary & savings go into another account, which is linked to nothing. It means weekly management to keep my working account topped up, but if I ever get skimmed or otherwise screwed I only stand to lose a few hundred.

 

[Fredescu]

Anyone know the cheapest place to get the GT5 Signature Edition? Zavvi/The Hut and 365/ozgameshop don't seem to stock it, and game.co.uk won't ship it overseas. Any ideas?

 

[Frawdder]

Anyone know the cheapest place to get the GT5 Signature Edition? Zavvi/The Hut and 365/ozgameshop don't seem to stock it, and game.co.uk won't ship it overseas. Any ideas?

http://www.fishpond.com.au/product_info.php?ref=1494&id=9400564012142&affiliate_banner_id=1
Cheapest I've seen it

I couldn't bring myself to spend that much. Also, I need to remember to pre-order the game (the much more sensible Collector's Edition).

 

[Fredescu]

Cool. What are Fishpond like with delivery times and such?

 

[Rahk]

Cool. What are Fishpond like with delivery times and such?

Usually arrive within a week. Not sure about preorders though.

 

[Nemesis_]

Dangerous to think you're safer in the country. I'd say the numbers even up with the chances of hitting a kangaroo or something else running out onto the road.

My sister hit a kangaroo that totaled her car on impact and then continued on into a tree. Look at the amount of road kill on country roads. It's common.

I don't actually think you're safe in the Country at all. Mainly because the roads are mainly not as well maintained as the roades in the cities. This is also coming from someone who's lost two mates in car accidents, both of which happened in the country.

=(

 

[hirokazu]

To change away from MPEG2 would require all new hardware for everybody. I don't see that ever happening.

The only thing that annoys me is all of the interlacing that goes on. 1080i, 576i, fuck it all. I thought we were trying to move away from CRTs. That shit needs to go back to the 20th century where it belongs. ABC and SBS are the only ones with a 720p channel, but ABC are wasting theirs on news now.

I say fuck everybody.

1080p isn't part of the DVB-T standard, so it's a choice between 720p or 1080i for HD. I don't care either way, I can't tell the difference. The 576i shit, I think again, blame the fact that we're stuck with MPEG2 without enough bandwidth allocated to each network.

I thought SBS's "HD" was still 480p, but either way it looks like shit?

 

[Nemesis_]

There's no pre-order bonuses for Other M in Australia, is there? I know there's an artbook in America. I wish we could get that. =(

 

[markot]

There's no pre-order bonuses for Other M in Australia, is there? I know there's an artbook in America. I wish we could get that. =(

According to some vook guy there is something you can get if you go to some sydney nintendo connect thingy >.< but otherwise nein.

 

[Nemesis_]

According to some vook guy there is something you can get if you go to some sydney nintendo connect thingy >.< but otherwise nein.

Yeah, that kinda sucks. NOT EVERYONE LIVES IN SYDNEY U_U

And seriously, "some vook guy"?

Spoiler

Not sure if serious