So far it’s really fun.  I started playing the Subspace Emissary mode and I really like it, but I only unlocked Marth.  I played online with a friend and his brother (both in Illinois) and it wasn’t as smooth as it can be, I was disappointed.  It was laggy during the intro before the brawl starts, the part where the players enters the stadium.  The game speed was slow compare to solo play, it’s not choppy or anything like that.  It’s still playable but you can tell there’s a slight delay when you attack.

It’s cool that you can input custom taunts in your multiplayer profile, it just shows up as a big chat bubble.  I’m sure there will be lots of profanity taunts but at least you’re playing with a friend so it’s funny.  The new stages are crazy too!  I haven’t been this excited about a Wii game in a while, I’m addicted….need to unlock more characters!

Mmm….

Mmmmmmm……

MMMMMMMmmmmmMMmmMmmMMmm…..

A few years has passed since I built my previous machine and now it is a good time for an overhaul.  I’ve been itching to play the latest games like it is meant to be played, at the highest quality.  After much research and shopping I am set on these components:

• DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard


• Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz


• Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2 6400 – BL2KIT12864AL804


• Coolmax CU-600T 600W Power Supply


• Western Digital 74GB 7200 RPM SATA (Boot drive)


• Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA


• MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E OC Geforce 8800 GT 512MB

The gaming experience is awesome!  Love the Ballistix Tracer RAMs, the LEDs that light up are pretty psychedelic when it’s busy.  I’m never really a big fan of using RAID in my game machines, I like to keep it simple.  A 10,000 RPM drive would be nice but it is almost 3 times more expensive, I’ll keep the money saved to buy games with.

I’ve also heard there are issues with the fan’s auto setting in the 8800GTs, the speed doesn’t increase when you’re playing a game and it’s true so keep an eye on the temperature.  Many have reported games freezing and/or crashing when playing for more than 30 minutes because of overheating.  You’re best to download nTune and manually set the fan speed for now until an update have been released.  Also the latest NVIDIA driver didn’t cause a BSOD on Vista as I mentioned in my previous blog so I’m relieved.

The power supply is decently quiet and it has a weird smell coming out of it.  Kind of like that new car smell except not quite as good.  The SATA power cables is way too short even though I have a mid tower.

So far so good and everything is running smoothly as expected.  Another fine machine built without breaking the bank. 

If you’re a NVIDIA user and have encountered such error message with Windows Vista you’re not alone.  This all of a sudden happened to me when I reinstalled my HTPC which did not occurred before.  I am currently using version 7.15.11.6369 (9/11/2007) on my GeForce 6800GT.

Solution -  Use the driver from Windows update or roll back to previous stable version.

I got a BSOD when I was trying to watch TV with Windows Media Center (#&^$ I said when it happened).  Then I recall that it was working fine before I updated to the driver I downloaded from NVIDIA (169.25).  The next thing I did was to uninstall the NVIDIA driver and go back to the Microsoft driver, but I received an uninstall failure and after a reboot Vista couldn’t re-install the driver automatically.  I cussed a bit then proceed to download and install the NVIDIA package again.  After it installed followed by a reboot, I launched WMC and proceed to try it again.  It BSOD again!  So I knew something is wrong with the latest NVIDIA drivers and I went back to the control panel to uninstall it again but this time I choose to removed all the NVIDIA drivers I previously installed.  That includes the chipset drivers and rebooted.  When Windows started it successfully installed the drivers automatically and after a reboot I was able to watch TV again.

There is definately something wrong with the driver from NVIDIA’s website.  I did some Google search and it seems like quite a few people have ran into this issue where nvlddmkm.sys have caused their PCs to BSOD when playing a game.  But they had earlier versions of the driver and it’s possible that some versions are not stable.  Other people have suggested that it was hardware related or a weak power supply (it’s possible) but the BSOD message clearly says that it was one of the driver files.  I would also suggest trying previous versions from NVIDIA’s website to see which one is stable.

I can’t exactly say that this solution will work for everyone out there but it worked for me.  I hope this will help in some way.

http://www.fingerjoust.com/

It’s a lot harder than it looks.

I recently discovered a new hobby, pepakura or papercraft, it is where you make 3-D objects out of paper.  It’s different from origami because you don’t fold paper into 3-D objects, you cut and glue pieces of shapes together with some minor folding to form an object.  I’ve made one a while back which is the motocycle from the game Contra, it was crappy because I didn’t print it on thick paper.  The one I made recently came from Macross, the YF-1S Valkyrie from this website which they have other things you can make.

I didn’t time how long I’ve spent on it but probably 6 or 7 hrs.  Next one I will print it on a color printer, this one I don’t really care because I just wanted to test myself.  I might even make another one in color but I need to pick up a new x-acto knife and a cutting mat, it is crucial to have the right tools otherwise it’ll take longer than it should.

Today is the big day, the day where Pokemon Diamond & Pearl is released.  Nintendo had a huge launch party at the NY’s Nintendo World Store and I went to see that sort of cool stuff they have.  I wasn’t surprised to see a lot of kids waiting eagerly to get their little claws on a fresh copy of the game.  There was an area closed off to demo the game, a preview of the new movie and a little live stage demo.  To get in there was a long line stretched all the way down the block, which it would take more than an hour just to enter the area.  At the end I didn’t get anything cool but I did got my picture taken with the Pika mobile.  It was a little crazy but it was fun and exciting to see many fans.  Be sure to check out my Pokemon Launch Party album!

I showed this guy I know (P) the site for the new Pokemon game for DS, on the site it states that if you reserve a copy you will receive a free collectible stylus.  But he said something like “why would i want that?” and I said something like “it’s a collectible stylus with legendary pokemon on it!!”.  Anyways….

The new Pokemon game looks promising and I want to play it, I did read a preview article on IGN but there wasn’t much info about it because Nintendo only had a short playable demo at the GDC.  Then I started telling him that it be a cool feature if you put your Pokemon game in standby mode and when you get near someone with their game in standby mode, both DS would make a noise like *dee doo dee doo* so both party can engage in a Pokemon battle.  (This feature has been implemented in Nintendogs except your DS starts barking)

Then P thought it was stupid and I started explaining how awesome it would be when I walk down the street of NY and all of a sudden my DS alerts me of a nearby Pokemon trainer.  We both busts out our DS and starts a battle!  P said something like “it’s going to be some stupid kid that’ll pwn you”, I said “whatever.  i’m going to kick that kid’s a** and take away his pokemon, then he’ll cry and say “noooo, not my squirtle!” then i’ll laugh and walk away with his pokemon”.  If that feature is part of the game it’ll be awesome but since the Japanese version was released last year and I didn’t hear any about it, so I highly doubt it.  I’m looking forward to the game release and I still haven’t decide which version I want.

There will be a launch party at the Nintendo World Store with Pokeball scavenger hunt!  I’m going to go check it out and hunt me some Pokeballs!