So I guess the Fable 2 Pub Games are a way that adventurers can get some cash before the game actually comes out. Okay, that’s cool. What’s not cool is that someone has already found a glitch. It’s really the developer’s fault though. They should have a solid system. Oh well…cheat away. The fact that this can be done so easily makes me shy away from the actual game.

Nobody seems sure just why, but at the exact moment Li Ning was swinging down to light the Olympic torch, the famous Blue Screen of Death appeared overhead on the roof of the Nest. Was it some crazy evil omen? I think it is. The same thing used to happen to me now and then right before I lost my CD case from the back of my truck while out driving. Sure, they seem unrelated…but that’s the mystery isn’t it?

I downloaded and installed Service Pack 3 this weekend on two of my computers.   

With one of my computers I am having some minor problems now.  I have tried to install it on the other one twice and both times it has completely crashed the computer.  The only way to fix the issue is to do a recovery. 

For more information about other Service Pack 3 issues, check out this article

According to this article:

Users who experience problems installing XP SP3 can get free tech support at (866) 234-6020. Alternately, XP Home users can get free support here, while XP Professional users can go here.

Now Microsoft has gone back to getting the chipset from an ASIC vendor after having a 33%+ hardware failure rate, many thousands of upset customers, extending the warranty to 2 years, and losing plenty of money. They could have saved themselves the trouble by doing it right the first time, but as anyone who receives their patches that update other patches for Windows knows, that’s not the Microsoft way.

Sometimes I find the world of the internet to be a baffling and confusing place. I’m a tech guy and it’s not a technical thing at all. It’s the people that confuse me. Case in point is an email submission I received from Brandon. I’ve edited things for spelling and so on, just to make the read easier.

Points Taken Away

I just got 2,000 points and I bought the legendary maps for Halo 3. It worked out perfect, but when I was playing in matchmaking a paragraph popped up and said you have just bought Bungie Pro. You now have 310 Microsoft points.

I was really angry that it took my points away with out me buying Bungie Pro. I was asking if you could give me back the points. My gamer tag is xxxxxx. Thank you for reading this message and I hope you will give me the points back.

Brandon

After converting that email submission into traditional spelling, I was pretty baffled by it. Does Brandon somehow think I work for Microsoft? Does he think I’m the master of Halo 3? Am I supposed to give him points from my own account? That last one is even more confusing since I’m a PlayStation 3 guy and we pay in cold hard cash and not points.

In the end I realized a couple things. 1) Brandon’s tale was full of woe and sadness. 2) People are weird and confusing. 3) Halo 3 sounds pretty lame compared to Call of Duty 4. 4) I’m hungry and it’s lunch time. 5) Spelling and context have been lost to the new generation. And finally, 6) Microsoft seems shady.

If anyone from Microsoft reads this and can help fix this whole matter, drop me a line and I’ll pass Brandon’s gamer tag to you. Perhaps some good karma and redemption will come your way and save your evil soul.

In the end, I hope you get your points back Brandon and then become the Master Chief of all Xbox Land…if there is such a thing.
Peace

Sure, the PlayStation 3 has had a 20GB, 30GB, 60GB and an 80Gb console, but other then the backward compatibility and drive size…they’re all the same. Microsoft just doesn’t inspire much faith because every time I’ve thought about getting one, they have a new box come out just a while later and I’m glad I didn’t get whatever model I was looking at.

It all just adds up to Microsoft robbing me of every nickel and dime for each special add-on, online gameplay, and whatever. With my PS3 I’ve bought games, a dvd remote that wasn’t actually a need, and now a single rumble controller. That’s it.

Anyway, if the Blu-Ray thing happens it will just allow Xbox 360 fans to give us PS3 people another “in your face.”

As you may recall, Microsoft decided to give all of us XBOX Live members a free game because their service was so shoddy this past Christmas.  The game has been revealed and is available for download.  For free, of course. 

The game is called Undertow.  I would definitely say it is worth the price.  Free.

Actually, it’s not too bad.  I’m not sure what the story involves… I had the volume turned down this morning so I wouldn’t wake my family.  But the gameplay is fun.  You play a pirate of some sort who has to take control points.  You can swim all over the place, and shoot darts.  All the people are really small (hard to see), but there are also ships.  The environments are cool and watery. 

It’s funny watching the cut scenes with the volume turned low.  In this game everything is so dark you can’t see faces… just the bodies moving their arms. The game takes up a total of 48MB, so not a lot of code went into the actors, or much of anything else, it would seem.

Nonetheless, it got an “Editors Choice” award from Microsoft and also “IGN’s Best of E3 2007 Winner Award”, whatever those are.    

I’d give this game an Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.  If you have a couple of hours free, why not download it.  You can’t beat the price.   

Get more information here:  Undertow

PS:  OOOPS!  You better hurry.  It’s only available for free until 11:59 PST tonight, Sunday. 

On a personal note, I really appreciate all that Microsoft has done to ammend issues they have had with the XBOX360.

First, they upgraded the warranty, then there was the free shipping box, and now this.  Still, it would have been nice for them to get it right the first time.    

To see the full letter, click here.

Fun fact: Did you know that 9 out 10 PS3 owners spend more money on themselves during the holiday season than they do on their families?

Now that’s evil. Well, educational statements aside; let’s get to it, but let us concentrate on the shooters coming out on XBOX 360.

Now that I have finished Gears of War, Bioshock, and Halo 3 (three awesome shooters those PS3 commies can’t play on their systems), I’m ready for my next challenge. Yesterday was the release of 2007 E3’s best in show game: Call of Duty 4. XBOX 360 and PC owners have their choice of the normal edition or the Collector’s Edition that comes packed with a bonus DVD and hard cover artwork book.

Wait, what about PS3 owners? Oh, they don’t get a choice. They can only play their regular edition; that sounds surprisingly communistic to me. Hard to play a game where the purpose is fighting for freedom: freedom to choose. Okay, I’ll stop with the PS3 bashing, for now. If you consider yourself a gamer, but haven’t heard of the Call of Duty series, find a “Big Daddy” and have him stomp on your head.

Call of Duty 4 - Call of Duty came along with Call of Duty 2. Activision had Treyarch and Pi Studios develop Call of Duty 3 and it was pretty crappy compared to the originals. So, if you haven’t picked up your copy of Call of Duty 4 and you call yourself a hardcore first person shooter nut, buy the game now. was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. Infinity Ward developed the original

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