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Topics - Dark Fact

#1
Hey all! :)

Just thought I'd pop in for the first time in a while to let you know about a new anime that premiered in Japan this past week called Hi-Score Girl. The anime is about a kid named Haruo Yaguchi who is obsessed with arcade and console games but happens to develop a relationship with a mute girl named Akira Ono who happens to share his obsession.

It's a cute series for those of you who happened to watch it and the recent episode covered Haruo's obsession with the PC-Engine. :D

Games featured were The Kung Fu/China Warrior, R-Type, Bonk's Adventure/PC Genjin, Altered Beast, Darius Plus, and Splatterhouse!

The episode also talked about the affordability of Hu-Card games in Japan at the time as well as the sheer luxury of owning a PC-Engine GT! LOL! :lol:

Unfortunately, I won't put up the episode as I don't know whether it is permitted under PCENGINEFX's terms but here is a blog site that has screen grabs from the episode and more info:
HI-SCORE GIRL EPISODE 2 REVIEW

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#2
Off-Topic / The lame trash talk thread!
01/25/2012, 11:05 AM
Post your lamest attempts at being tough right here! Don't hold back! :twisted:
#3
Off-Topic / Crossword help!
04/30/2009, 01:29 PM
Hey guys.  I'm struggling with a crossword puzzle that I've been working on for the past couple weeks.  I just want to know:

What kind of a word that begins with a "w" and ends with a "p"?

CLUE: Nerd Kin

This is a down facing word.  It's 4 letters.
#4
Hi guys.  It's been a while.

Anyways, I've got a couple of questions related to an arcade accessory that is pretty notorious throughout the net and the gaming community.  That accessory is the X-Arcade stick.

Before I get into the questions themselves though, I'm just gonna let you all in on what I'm doing.

About a few months ago, me and my hobby club members have been brainstorming over a theme room for this year's upcoming Keycon 2009 sci-fi convention in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  After throwing around a few crazy ideas, we decided to settle upon a Cyberpunk themed room. 

Now, the Cyberpunk themed room is based upon futuristic science fiction like in the movies Blade Runner and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. only with a little more 'tude and a lot more outrageous costumes like the ones you create in tabletop RPGs. (Have I mentioned that Cyberpunk is based more on the tabletop RPG than what you see in the movies? :) )

Here is what we've come up so far for the room:

-Metallic walls and counters with aluminum or tin foil
-Pachislo slot machines (The prez of the club is a BIG fan of these)
-blacklighting
-neon lights
-lava lamps
-spiked hair and glove costume accessories along with leather jackets and sunglasses

We're also planning on holding contests and gaming tournaments.  The gaming tournament is where the X-Arcade stick comes in.  Basically, the idea is to have an arcade game tournament (with Cyberpunk themed games that are in the spirit of the room theme) with a real arcade game interface.  The prez suggested a stand up cabinet but the assembly costs for it could be a bit of a hassle.  I think it would be better to have a minimum 2-player stick with the gaming monitor projected onto a white screen using a high grade DVD and PC projector.

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What you see above is the stick in question.  It's called the X-Arcade Dual Tankstick and comes with 2 8-Directional joysticks with 16 customizable action buttons, 1 and 2 player start buttons, a 3" Trackball, 4 side buttons for pinball gaming, and PS/2 and USB support for any computer.  It's also fully compatible with all major gaming stations (except for XBOX 360 on account of Microsoft being total assholes for not allowing compatibility support unless it fell under their terms) as well. 

The official site gives further details on the Tankstick and it looks impressive enough but I do need second opinions on this.

Is the stick worth the cash?
#5
I'm starting a thread here dealing with an issue that's been with me for a week.

Last week, the city of Winnipeg where I live had its own annual comic book convention.  The programming for the con was one of the best I've ever seen.  We had many celebrity guests including John "Q" De Lancie, Lou "The Hulk" Ferrigno, Jeremy "Boba Fett" Bulloch, and Levar "Geordi LaForge" Burton. 

However, a single autograph from any of these guests involve having to pay a minimum of $20.

Now, I understand their positions as celebrities but I've also been to conventions where other famous names gave their autographs for free.  And now, I'm on the fence as to whether or not it's considered worth it for any celebrity to charge for autographs when there are those out there who care about the fans and let them have their sig for free.

So what do you all think? Is the charges for a signature worth it? Or is it a case of the celeb using their star power to exploit their fans?

Discuss.
#6
Okay folks, need some help! ](*,)

So I'm trying to set up a shared network printing connection between my desktop and my sister's laptop.  I have the printer's USB cable plugged into the router.  I even established a shared network connection on both the desktop and the laptop in addition to installing the necessary software.

The problem is: I keep getting a "Connection Not Established" error whenever I try to print any documents.  Now, there is nothing wrong with the shared connection.  I can see my sister's connection and print job list just fine on my end and the cables are tightly in place.  One of my other friends mentioned that it must have something to do with establishing a proper print server address.  Anyone care to clear the air and walk me through this? It's bad enough having my sister whining at me over this. ](*,)
#7
Off-Topic / BlogTV
03/03/2008, 05:39 PM
Hey guys.  I'm not sure if you noticed this site but it's pretty awesome.

BLOG TV
This is a site where you can chat and webcam chat with people all around the world (although mostly from Canada and the U.S.) as well as run your own web shows.  It's pretty neat and there are some really creative people there who run their own shows.  Registration is free and you can chat and cohost. :) I already signed up this past week and I'm having a blast with it. 

So if you want to meet some new people and take part in their shows, sign up! :D
#8
SOURCE

Quote from: Washington PostLast time I wrote about Peter Hirschberg, a guy with a passion for restoring vintage, '80s-era arcade games, he was toying with the notion of building a full-blown arcade next to his Linden home to store his growing collection.
And here it is. Finally, after a couple of years, a pile of money, and a struggle or two with contractors and local building regulations, Luna City Arcade is complete.
Missile Command, Space Invaders, Defender, Asteroids, Q*bert -- all the old pizza parlor favorites are here, chirping away with the same old sounds and waiting for a quarter. Luna City, as he calls it, is Hirschberg's personal time capsule: The walls of the 60- by 40-foot building are lined with posters for "Star Wars," "Tron" and "Battlestar Galactica" (the original series, not the recent remake). The collection is up to 65 games at the moment, and another three are on the way.
"This is what heaven looks like," said Hirschberg, as he welcomed a small group of my friends and me to his recent unofficial grand opening, where about 50 of his friends and co-workers, and their kids, showed up to play.
Collecting arcade machines isn't a huge hobbyist scene, as maintaining these big old systems can be labor intensive. Hirschberg, whose arcade is one of the biggest private collections in the country, sometimes has to cannibalize several different systems to get the right parts for additions. He's had the occasional machine burst into flames.
More on the story on the link...

From what I've seen from the pictures, this looks incredibly awesome! :D The fact that Peter Hirschberg was able to get a good chunk of 80's classic arcades and create his own arcade parlour is absolutely fantastic.  It's times like this that I wish I lived in Virginia.

Oh, and here is Peter's personal Web Site.  Worth a look. :wink:
#9
Hey guys.  I was wondering if you can help me with a little problem I have regarding the PC game F.E.A.R. if anyone here has played it.

Basically, the problem I'm getting is that I keep getting a message saying "failed to initialize snddrv.dll" followed by the game not playing any sound at all.  Now, I have the latest DirectX installed on my PC and all sound and music tests I made had passed with flying colors.  I believe the problem might be with the make of my sound card or the age of my sound driver.  My sound driver is a SoundMAX Digital Audio card.  My OS is Windows XP.  Anyone got any idea as to how I can fix this? :(
#10
Source

Quote from: 1UP.comUPDATE: Story now features quotes from an alleged insider at GameSpot, via Valleywag.

ORIGINAL STORY: By now, most have heard that Jeff Gerstmann, Editorial Director at GameSpot, is now the former Editorial Director at GameSpot. The short of it, confirmed through our own sources: Gerstmann was fired for his negative review of Eidos Interactive's Kane & Lynch. But there's more to the story in which Gerstmann -- one of the site's leading editors for over a decade -- was terminated this week.

The GameSpot staff is currently keeping publicly quiet, but CNET, the parent organization of GameSpot, issued a response today. "For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis," reads CNET's statement.

We're told Eidos had invested a sizable chunk of advertising dollars for Kane & Lynch -- check the before and after shots above of GameSpot's front page for proof -- and then allegedly threatened to pull the ads if the "tone" of Gerstmann's "6.0" review (just under the current Game Rankings average score of 70%) wasn't changed. Gerstmann did alter the tone of his critique ahead of publication, but it looks as if that wasn't enough for management. When asked about the situation, Eidos declined comment to 1UP. "Eidos is not able to comment on another company's policies and procedures," said a company representative.

But pressure from other advertisers may have contributed to the clash with editorial. Just a few weeks prior, GameSpot came under fire from Sony Computer Entertainment America for scoring Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction a 7.5. In his former position, Gerstmann was responsible for overseeing (and defending) all reviews.

1UP did contact Gerstmann, but he declined comment, likely due to signing a non-disclosure agreement upon his termination, common in situations such as these.

What's interesting is the timing of his termination, though. GameSpot has never been a stranger to review controversy or publisher backlash. Gerstmann himself had a long history of bucking the popular trend with certain review scores over the many years he critiqued games for the site, most recently scoring The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess an 8.8 on Wii.

With no transparency into the situation, no one knows if this is something that had possibly been brewing for a while now, but sources point to a recent change in GameSpot management as the real catalyst. Stephen Colvin, former President and CEO of Dennis Publishing -- the group responsible for publications like Maxim, Blender and Stuff -- became CNET's Executive Vice President at the end of October. One of Colvin's jobs would be to oversee the growth of CNET websites, including GameSpot.

On Valleywag, an alleged GameSpot insider has come forward to deliver an anonymous response to musings on the Internet the last few days. One of his comments supports our belief the recent changes in management could be trickling down to GameSpot editorial:

    "I was in the meeting where Josh Larson [Executive Editor replacement for now Electronic Arts employee Greg Kasavin] was trying to explain this firing and the guy had absolutely no response to any of the criticisms we were sending his way. He kept dodging the question, saying that there were "multiple instances of tone" in the reviews that he hadn't been happy about, but that wasn't Jeff's problem since we all vet every review. He also implied that "AAA" titles deserved more attention when they were being reviewed, which sounded to all of us that he was implying that they should get higher scores, especially since those titles are usually more highly advertised on our site."

The editorial in Maxim and Stuff, publications who routinely review games months ahead of their completion and where the line between marketing and editorial is a little less clear, is much different than GameSpot's. That was apparently reflected quickly when Colvin joined CNET. "New management has no idea how to deal with games editorial," said one source not long after Colvin came on board.

Indeed.
I don't know how many of you here had ever been to Gamespot, but this news is spreading like wildfire all over the net...and with good reason.

In terms of those who pay attention to all the professional game reviews from top review sites, Gerstmann is no stranger.  The man had been known for taking pretty popular games and given them lower scores based on his own personal preferences and prejudices.  While I personally never agreed with Gerstmann's reviews, to hear this news fly out of the chicken coop has left me positively in awe.

Gerstmann has been working on Gamespot for as long as the site's been in existence.  In fact, I could dare say that Gerstmann himself contributed to that site more than anyone else.  So, when you see a pioneer like Gerstmann getting thrown out on his ass just because he stated his own personal opinions on a video game made by a company who is investing major advertising dollars to the very site he helped build, you gotta ask yourself: is there any room for opinion when money is concerned?

I don't know about the rest of you but this is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever seen happen to the gaming industry since the Playstation 3 $599 pricing.  Reviews aren't something that should be regulated by corporate sponsors, they're supposed to represent the very feelings that us gamers have towards a particular game.  So to see a review site terminate one of its own pioneers over an "opinion" just so they don't piss off their advertisers makes me fucking sick to my stomach.  As of this moment, Gamespot.com can go fuck itself.

What are your thoughts? :-s
#11
Hey guys.  I recently just nabbed City of Heroes/Villains a couple days ago and am in the process of creating Dark Fact as an official supervillain! :D I've only been tinkering with the character creation system but backed out due to needing more research into Dark Fact's actual appearance and powers.  I'll put up a few screenshots later to show how he looks and you can give me your opinions.  See ya later. :D
#12
Well, by looking at the subject header, you guys can figure out that I've got a major problem dealing with those pesky ants.  However, it's not a household problem, it's the amount of colonies that are springing up in my yard every year.

My dad bought some powdered ant killer from a local hardware and gardening store but it failed to do the job.  I need to know what is a surefire way to get rid of black ant colonies to which they will never come back?

I want a good remedy or a good product.  No exterminators or toxic chemicals that can fuck up my lawn.  I've checked over the web but answers seem to vary between the sugar and Borax recipe to pouring hot water over the ant hill with some people saying one thing works while the other doesn't.

Suggestions?
#13
Off-Topic / The programming help thread!
06/01/2007, 01:46 AM
I've decided to start up this here thread in regards to programming, software design, the whole shibang.

Recently, I decided to dust off my old C programming textbook and get the old programming skills running again.  Now, for the record, I've completed my courses at my university and I'm getting my degree next week.  However, my programming skills have been dropping the past couple years and I want to get back on track when it comes time to get a good job in my programming profession.  That said, I've recently decided to go back to university for one more year to take a few extra credit courses in order to fulfill the requirements for a 4 year bachelors in Business Computing (the degree I'm getting next week is a 3 year bachelors in Business Computing).  Since I've already completed all my computing courses, all I can take is a couple of history and literature ones for the time being until I've got all my credits for a 4 year degree.  My goal is to have my programming skills sharpened by next spring so I can be ready to tackle the work force full time.

That said, I'm going to run into a few problems with my programs every now and then such as a function that just won't work for some reason, a stubborn loop, or incorrect data.  That's where I will ask you guys for advice.  If you can point out some things wrong in my programs, I would like to hear it.  Now, for the record, I don't expect anyone here to write the programs for me.  That is supposed to be my job and I need the experience.  All I'm saying is that if I come to a major snag that is beyond my comprehension, I would like a little help. :)

Finishing university is one thing, but getting a major job in my profession is a whole different ball game.  If I'm gonna go into the work force, I wanna go prepared.

So, with that said, let's get down to business.  I have a little program that I was working on in C today that is none other than the familiar "Fahrenheit to Celsius" conversion.  Now, for the record, the program works.  The problem I have with it is that I'm not sure if the output is correct.  The output seems correct but there was a stipulation in the textbook question saying that the celsius values need to be rounded to the nearest integer.  Oh, and by the way, the values have to be displayed as integers.  Here is the output:

CELSIUS     FAHRENHEIT
-----------------------
     -6             20
     -3             25
     -1             30
      1             35
      4             40
      7             45
     10            50
     12            55
     15            60
     18            65
     21            70
     23            75
     26            80
     29            85
     32            90
     35            95
     37           100

The Fahrenheit values are correct as the question asked me to record the values in five degree intervals.  It is the Celsius values that worry me.  For the hell of it, I converted my "int" values into "float" to test to see if they were more accurate and sure enough, they were.  It's just these integer values that leave me inconclusive.  This is why I need a second opinion on the matter.  Are these Celsius values accurate as an integer definition or are a few of the values not rounded properly?

I'm heading to bed now so I won't be back till tomorrow morning to check what you guys have said.  Any help is appreciated! Thanks. :)
#14
Guys, I'm going to need your help again. 

A few weeks ago, my cousin bought himself a brand new desktop computer.  However, he is Ukrainian and me and him can barely communicate since he knows little english and my ukrainian speaking skills have weakened over the years.  Anyways, my dad wants me to install some antivirus software programs in his system.  My cousin doesn't want to have to pay extra for net security and I'm wondering where I could find some firewall and antivirus programs for free? I remember you guys pointed me out to Grisoft antivirus when I had that GAOBOT virus on my system.  However the site just gives me a blank page and won't load.  Any other suggestions? I need to have these programs ready for my cousin ASAP.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
#15
Guys, I got a problem and it goes like this:

A couple weeks ago, my sister flew in from Ottawa, Canada to stay with us over the holidays for 10 days before she went off to Jamaica to attend one of her friends' wedding.  While she was here, she wanted me to install LIMEWIRE on my computer so she can download songs onto her iPod (her Christmas gift) considering that she didn't want to pay for songs from iTunes.  Anyways, I downloaded the program, got her songs, and all was hicky-dory.

However, after she left, I wanted to download an episode of Cadillacs & Dinosaurs but the file I got contained a nasty virus which after I scanned using Housecall v6.5, turned out to be the GAOBOT.DF worm.

What is this virus you ask? Like I said, it's fucking nasty.  It saved to my System32 and Microsoft Outlook folders, COMPLETELY hid the folders where I can't access them, disabled my task manager, kept rebooting LIMEWIRE, and disabled my desktop.

Housecall couldn't eradicate the virus, and I couldn't access the desktop even in Safe Mode.  So, I went into Command Prompt, deleted the winlog.exe and Outlook folder, and got my desktop back.  I also went and deleted LIMEWIRE and the virally infected folder.

However, this is where I need your help: my task manager is still disabled and I've been getting error messages about the existence of winlog.exe.  Not to mention my System32 folder is still inaccessible.

Do you guys know where I can get a replacement winlog.exe, and more importantly, how to get rid of that GAOBOT virus for good? It's fucking annoying! :x
#16
Hey Aaron, I noticed that when I click the link to the forums on your main page, it goes to the page which tells you to click on the link to the new forums.  Now, while that was all fine and dandy when the new forums were put up a few months ago, it's getting kinda old now.  Maybe it's better that you get rid of that redirect page and replace the link address from "https://www.pcengine-fx.com/phpBB" to "https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums". :wink:
#17
Okay guys, I've got a little problem with one my PC gamepads.  It is a NEXXTECH Illum FX USB cord gamepad.  I purchased it from a Radio Shack a couple of years ago and by now the warranty has expired.  Just a few days ago, I had a friend over and we were playing MAME emulated arcade games on my PC when my friend jerked down hard on the right direction on the directional pad.  Needless to say, the hard press on the direction caused the direction to fuck up majorly and now I can't move right whenever I press right on the direction pad.  Tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to repair this but I need some pointers or advice.  What must be done to get the direction to start working again on the pad?

Any help will be appreciated, thanks! :)
#18
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Ah, Hamburger Helper! The packaged mix of pasta, sauce mix, and other herbs & spices that we all like to buy in our grocery stores and blend it with ground beef to make a tasty lunch or dinner treat! Admit it, we've all had our share of the famous ground beef kit sometime in our lives so why don't we share our fondest memories of it? It could be about that very first time that you've had a taste of Hamburger Helper, how Hamburger Helper was a major part of your life during the Reagan administration or just flat out say what your favorite flavour is?

The premise was simple: you bought a pack of Hamburger Helper, browned up some ground beef, mixed in the pasta and sauce mix, and voila! Lunch or dinner is served! For me? I always make an effort to purchase the Lasagne flavour in addition to any other flavour.  Lasagne is not only my favourite flavour, it was the very first flavour I ever had of Hamburger Helper...and this was when I was 6! Since that first fateful bite, there was no turning back.
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Nowadays, I make an effort to try out every flavour of Hamburger Helper but to this day, no flavour I've tried was ever able to beat Lasagne.  That flavour was just too good for me! :P

Hamburger Helper makes a great meal! Just talk to the hand! =; The helping hand that is! :wink:
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#19
Seeing as how YouTube is taking off in popularity all over the web with hundreds of different video files and TV shows being viewed and uploaded each day, what are you all watching currently?

I'll start off (POWER RANGERS - Season 1, Episode 1 ["Day of the Dumpster"]):