I’d like to think that Prototype is a blend of GTA and freaky mutant powers, you are Alex Mercer, an innocent man who suddenly woke up from the morgue with new found powers at his disposal, so of course he tries to find out what happened to him the only way a man knows how, by killing everyone in sight until an answer can be found among the remains.

While out and about the giant city the game allows you to explore, there are extra things you could be doing instead of the main story missions. There are hidden landmark collectibles strewn about, as well as hidden hints and tips, both give you points that allow you to upgrade Alex’s abilities (Of which there are MANY), you could also do a side activity, however, if you are looking for variety in your side missions, don’t come crying to Prototype. Target gliding, survival, and assassination are pretty much all you can do, although invading the occasional military base can yield some useful firearm upgrades, not to mention stealth-killing 90% of soldiers in a base never gets old.

The game looks good considering that at any moment you might need to hijack a helicopter, parkour over buildings, people, and cars, or dodge tank fire. I experienced slow-down only when things got truly crazy. When Alex changes from one form to the other, it looks realistic, absorbing military personnel also looks gruesome.

The story has it’s ups and downs, at some points it will foreshadow to the end of the game with key parts missing leaving you to get to the end to figure it all out for yourself, but there are points where you need to get back to your base to talk about something important, but all you hear is Alex’s voice saying “By the time I got back, she disappeared.” Awesome.

The main missions however are a different story, they go long enough to keep you satisfied, but they never go on for too long, there are also many different mission types, Prototype makes sure that as long as you’re playing the main story, you won’t get bored. The game took me about 12 hours to beat, because I was obsessed with trying to get every ability unlocked, there aren’t as many boss fights as I’d like, but there are still a passable number of them.

The combat is obviously the big draw of Prototype, over the course of the game, Alex will have different kinds of defensive, offensive, and sensory abilities to help you cleave through the infected military threats you encounter, as the game progresses, the military and infected will control more and more of the island, so by the end of the game, danger is pretty much a constant, so you will need to make sure you upgrade your arsenal frequently, or, even better, you could absorb so many infected that your health bar goes over the maximum, therefore allowing you to perform a screen-clearing bloodbath attack.

The only gripes I had with the game are the lack of variety in the side missions, and whenever you unequip a defensive ability, you also have to re-equip your offensive ability, which is, at it’s worst, a very minor annoyance, so I’ll let that slide. Prototype is a game that is definitely worth your time, if you are a fan of sandbox games, there is a lot to keep you occupied.

Score: 9.0/10

More and more of you are jumping to Linux, so I thought I’d help you all hit the ground running.

The first thing I recommend is NOT installing 64 bit. 64 bit Linux is usable, but there are sometimes quirks that it would take an experienced user to get around. And if you’re an experienced user, you don’t need this guide in the first place. So go away. Install the 32 bit version of the OS.

This guide assumes you know how to install the OS (either via Wubi, a LiveCD, or an alternate install disc) and that you already know which flavor of Ubuntu (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc) is right for you. If you don’t know how to install or what version you want, make a topic about it on the forums and we’ll help you out.

So, after you get it installed you’re going to want to run the updates first. You’ll find an orange or red icon towards the top right of your screen. Click it and tell it to install the updates. It will ask for your password. Type it in there and wait for it to finish. It is probably going to take awhile, so sit back and relax.

After it finishes, it’s going to ask you to restart. Tell it to restart later, because we’re going to do some other stuff that requires a restart and we want to get that all over with at once.

The rest of the guide is going to require use of the terminal. You can access the terminal by going to
Applications->Accessories->Terminal

It may periodically ask you for a password after you input a command. Just type it in and hit enter, then proceed. The cursor will not move, so don’t expect it to when you’re typing your password. Just copy and paste any listed command that applies to you. I’ll mark which command applies to which users as I go along. A new command is indicated by a double spaced line, so they’re essentially separated by paragraphs.

Part One: Enabling your 32 Bit OS to use more than 4 GB of RAM[/u]
This only applies to 32 bit users that have more than 4 GB of RAM

Here are your commands. Enter them one by one, copying and pasting (using the right-click method) and hitting enter after each one.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-server linux-image-server linux-server

Part Two: Multimedia[/u]
This applies to everyone. It will install VLC, flash player 10, a PDF reader, all the codecs you need, DVD playback, a program to open zipped files and .rar files, and all sorts of other good stuff. If anyone wants to do any audio and video conversion or get their iPods working in Ubuntu, make a forum topic and I’ll help you.

Here are the commands. You’re going to eventually have to agree to a Java license. Just arrow over to “yes” and hit enter, then keep going.

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/`lsb_release -cs`.list –output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list; sudo apt-get -q update; sudo apt-get –yes -q –allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring; sudo apt-get -q update

sudo apt-get install vlc

sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll libmp3lame0 non-free-codecs sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar

sudo apt-get remove kaffeine-mozilla mozilla-helix-player mozilla-mplayer mozilla-plugin-vlc totem-mozilla xine-plugin

sudo apt-get install gnome-mplayer gecko-mediaplayer

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread4 libdvdnav4 vlc

There you go. VLC will play most any file, and I recommend it. Totem will open by default when you stick a DVD in the drive, but I advise closing it and opening VLC. And I covered all of the browser plugins for both Firefox and Opera.

Part 3: Opera and Pidgin type stuff[/u]
The Opera browser is much more efficient than Firefox on Linux. Pidgin is a chat client that will let you use IRC, AIM, YIM, xfire, Facebook chat, and some others all at the same time.

By the time you read his guide, the final version of Opera 10 should be out. To install it, go to www.opera.com and download it. It should detect your OS. Save the file to the desktop. It will be in the form of a .deb file, which is the Ubuntu/Debian equivalent to a .exe in Windows. Just double-click on it and follow the prompts on screen. Easy enough?

Now for Pidgin. Almost everything is installed by default, but you need external plugins for things like xfire and Facebook Chat. Since Pidgin is pretty easy to figure out, I’ll assume you know how to set up your accounts (inputting username and password, selecting which chat client you want from the drop-down menu). If you need help, make a topic on the forums. Here we go.

For xfire, download this file:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gfire/files/gfire/pidgin-gfire_0.8.3-1_i386.deb

Again, it’s a .deb file so it works just like an .exe in Windows.

Now for Facebook:
sudo apt-get install pidgin-facebookchat

Then restart Pidgin. You should be ready to go.

That’s about all I’ve got for right now. If you have any questions, take them to the forums. You can find literally thousands of free programs in the Add/Remove section of your menu (top left). It’s a graphical installer, and it’s easy. Just make sure to set it to “all available applications” and you’re good to go.

For the fancy visual effects, you’re going to want to install Emerald and the Compiz Fusion settings manager. I’d tell you how to do this, but if you’re going this far you need to learn how to start doing things yourself. If you want a Dock, I recommend Cairo-dock. Google it.

If you want to do fancy 3D stuff, you’re going to need the Nvidia or ATI drivers for your card. Since it’s different for different cards, make a topic about it on the forums or look it up yourself.

Here are some great resources to check out if you need additional help:
ubuntuforums.org
ubuntuguide.org

The people on the Ubuntu forums are way smarter than I am when it comes to Linux.

So, that’s it for now. Restart and you’re ready to go.

If you’re like me, you hate social networking sites. But all of your friends use them, and they assure you that you absolutely HAVE to have one.

Well, I have a solution for those of you who are too lazy to actually keep up with a Facebook page. It’s called Pidgin.

Pidgin is a free program that combines your AIM, Yahoo Instant Messenger, MySpace IM, ICQ, Google Talk, and MSN (among other) chat programs into one. That means you’ll only have one buddy/friends list to manage, but you’ll be able to talk to all of your friends who use different chat programs. And you’ll only have to open one program. Isn’t that nice?

And I’m going to tell you how to set it up so your Facebook friends list appears inside Pidgin as a normal instant messenger program, so you don’t have to go to your Facebook profile or even open a web browser to talk to your Facebook friends.

So, here’s my quick little guide. I’ll separate them into the Ubuntu and Windows versions.

Part one: Windows users
First, you need to download and install Pidgin. Go to this site:
http://www.pidgin.im/download/windows/

And download it. Open the file and let it install.

Next, you’re going to need the Facebook plugin:
http://code.google.com/p/pidgin-facebookchat/downloads/list

Go there, and download the Windows version. It ought to be the second from the bottom. When it’s done downloading, open the file and let it install.

(Skip to part three to see how to set everything up. Part two is only for Ubuntu Linux users)

Part two: Ubuntu users

This is going to be a lot easier, since Pidgin is installed by default.
Go to Applications->Accessories->Terminal

When it opens, copy/paste the following line exactly as it appears and hit enter:
sudo apt-get install pidgin-facebookchat

It should ask you for your password. Type it in, and hit enter again. You’re done. Go to part three.

Part three: How to set it up
Open up Pidgin. It should prompt you with a box asking you to manage your accounts. Click the add button, and select Facebook (or AIM, or Yahoo, or whatever) from the menu. It will ask you for your email and password. Put them in, and tell it to remember them. It will now open up your Facebook IM account and let you talk with any of your Facebook friends who are online whenever you open up Pidgin. You can repeat the same process to get your AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, MySpace, and MSN friends on your list, too.

Now you can talk to your Facebook friends without ever actually having to go to Facebook, and you can also combine them with your friends list from your favorite instant messenger. It should be a hell of a lot more convenient than just hanging out on a web page all day long. If any of your Facebook friends IM you, it will appear in a Pidgin window and you’ll be ready to go.

Why won’t this show up?

I covered this in an earlier post, but I’m still pretty angry about it, so I’ll give it another go. You are killing the video game industry as we know it. Stop it.

DLC
Never, EVER buy DLC add-ons to console games. Many times, the DLC you’re buying is actually just a key that unlocks content on the disc you’ve already paid for. Other times, the DLC you’re buying was completed at the same time as the normal game. The developers CHOSE to leave those parts out of the game so that they could sell them to you later. By the time you get the game, most development studios have already moved on to new projects. In the rare case that the DLC is actually developed after the game is released, half the time the DLC was done by some unrelated developer, and what you’ve got is a haphazardly thrown together expansion. Any way you look at it, it’s bullshit. You’ve already bought the game, and upon doing so you should be entitled to experience everything the game has to offer. Video games are already too expensive, but if you buy a sixty dollar game and a ten dollar expansion the developer has already milked seventy dollars out of you. Buying DLC lets developers know that it’s okay to charge for it. Even if it’s just a five dollar little pack. You’re setting precedent. You’re giving them incentive to leave things out of the game intentionally so that they can sell them to you later. You’re letting them know that they don’t have to put all their effort into a game to get you to buy it. There have even been rumors all around the industry about game endings being DLC. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. That’s like buying a DVD, watching it for an hour and a half, and having to pay again for the last half an hour. There’s no excuse for it. But you can bet it’s going to happen if you keep buying DLC. You’re encouraging these developers to put less and less on that disc you paid sixty dollars for, and more and more in little ten dollar packages for you to download. You can’t reinforce this kind of behavior. Game developers are like bratty children. These men are running a business. If DLC remains successful, it’s going to grow and we’re going to suffer the consequences. If DLC fails, we’ll see less of it and benefit from that fact. Don’t confuse DLC with patches, though. Patches are good things, so long as they don’t charge for them. A patch can increase compatibility, correct technical errors, and add elements to games that the developer wanted to put in the first time, but screwed up in some way or another. Patches show that developers care about the experience you take away from a game. It shows they’re making an effort to correct their mistakes, which is a very good thing. And some DLC is free, which is great. They’re adding new content to the game at no charge to you, which is never a bad thing. Yakuza 3 gets free DLC updates every week. So if the Yakuza developers can give out DLC for free, why can’t other developers?

Company currency
Microsoft Points. Wii Points. You know the drill. By selling you these points, they’re hoping you’ll spend them more freely than you would actual money. It’s the same thing, but there’s a psychological barrier there. Would you rather spend 1000 Wii Points or ten dollars? A dollar is tangible. You can hold ten dollars in your hand. Wii Points are abstract. They’re little pieces of data. They’re easier to part with. Expanding further, it’s a lot harder to spend just the amount you want. You can only buy MS Points or Wii Points in predetermined values, so you’re fucked if you want a 600 point game. You’ve got to buy 1000 points, and you’re stuck with 400 left over. Except you can’t buy anything with that; you need at least 500. But you can’t buy 100 points at a time, can you? So it’s another five dollars, just to get 900 points. Which still doesn’t divide evenly. You can only buy points in increments of five dollars, but most games aren’t priced in said increments. So you’re going to end up paying more than they’re charging, or buying games you didn’t really want to get rid of all your points. If you’re going to buy something on Marketplace or Wii Shop Channel, make sure you’re going to spend all of your points. I’m not saying to avoid these things altogether; just be aware of what’s going on.

Digital distribution
This is related to the two above points, and both will only become more of an issue as digital distribution becomes the mainstream. When you pay to download a game, you don’t own that game. You can only do with it what the license allows you to do. Want to take it to your friend’s house? Too damned bad. Want to use it as a frisbee? Eat shit. You can’t sell your games. This circumvents the used game markets, so be prepared to pay full price for three year old games. That’s totally ridiculous. You bought the game, and you have the right to do what you want with it. And you also have the right to buy the game from someone else, if they feel like selling it for less than the store does. Should you avoid all downloadable games? No, because some are only available via digital distribution. And in some cases, digital distribution is the only way a developer can afford to put their games on the market. But there will soon come a time when games are available in both download form and physical form (read: Warhawk). In such cases, ALWAYS buy the physical copy. When this happens, it’ll be because developers are testing us. They’re trying to see whether or not they can get away with releasing games ONLY over the Internet to cut down on manufacturing costs. So, stop and think. What are the disadvantages of download-only, aside from not being able to take the games with you, not being able to sell your games, and not being able to buy used games? What if the company you bought it from goes out of business, and your console breaks down? How do you get your game back? If you own a game via Steam and they go bankrupt, where are your games? If you buy a shitty game, you’re stuck with it. No seven day Gamestop refunds if you don’t like it. No pawning it off on your little brother as a gift. It just sits on your hard drive, taking up space. Which is another problem. The size of your library is limited by the size of your hard drive, so you can only have X amount of games. Sure, you could buy another hard drive. Or you could have your downloads tied to your account, ala Wii Shop Channel. But do you really want to have to re-download a game because you feel like playing it again, or switching between hard drives wondering which game file is on which drive? I sure don’t.

Special editions and games with peripherals
Don’t buy into this bullshit. Do you really think those pieces of plastic they give you with Rock Band jacks up their production costs threefold? Spare me. They sell you a game along with five dollars worth of plastic, and the game is now worth how much? 70, 90, 150 dollars? I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy games like Guitar Hero or Wii Fit. I’m saying you should buy the games and peripherals separately, and used if possible. The same thing goes for special editions. Special editions are market research. They’re seeing how much they can get away with charging for games. Do you think PS3 and Xbox 360 games would be sixty dollars this generation if nobody had bought Guitar Hero, Halo 2 Special Edition, Madden Special Edition, and Donkey Konga last time around? Hell no. If you dropped 90 dollars on Halo 3 Legendary, don’t be shocked at all if games are ten dollars more expensive next time around. It’s your fault.

Paying for online play
Let’s get this straight: PC online gaming is far superior to Xbox Live. So if (most) PC developers don’t charge for it, why does Microsoft get away with it? Sure, Xbox Live is superior to PSN and Nintendo WFC. But at what cost? Paying for online lets people know that it’s okay to charge for online. I can play Call of Duty World at War online for free on Wii, PC, and PS3. Why can’t it be free on Xbox 360? The answer is that people are willing to pay for it. So when Nintendo and Sony charge for their service next time around, don’t come crying to me. I fucking told you what would happen. There are alternatives to Xbox Live. Look into Xlink Kai. If your game is LAN compatible, you can play it online for free with people in your area over Xkink Kai.

——-
The video game industry is getting worse and worse, and it’s happening because of ignorant consumers. Video game companies are businesses, and they’re going to make good business decisions. Don’t hold it against them; just educate yourself and let them know that you won’t stand for it. Buy games with peripherals used. Don’t pay for DLC. Be weary of digital distribution, and NEVER pay for Xbox Live.

 

 

If you like free stuff as much as I do, then you probably do a lot of downloading. The thing is, most of the free-ware out there is crap. To save you time I’ve compiled a list of little applications I’ve found and the reason I love them. This way, you won’t have to spend your time searching for free programs and can use the Internet for it’s intended purpose. Searching for free porn.

 

OpenOffice.org- Whenever a new set of Microsoft products come out, there is usually a period of time between it’s release and the point when it is offered for free. Enter Microsoft Office 07. This collection of task oriented programs is, with out a doubt, the worst version of Office I have ever used.

Microsoft moved all the operations and tools into little groups and subdivisions you have to select individually, making what used to take two seconds, take two minuets because you have to hunt down the correct group.

Honestly, it looks like Microsoft tried to make ‘07 look nice without worrying about the ease of use. Or they were trying to make it more user friendly (read “make it seem more like a mac”) and Microsoft is staffed by a bunch of retards. I actually watched someone at work curse at his computer for fifteen minutes because he couldn’t figure out how to print a document. To add insult to injury, they expect you to pay for this coding abortion. Your only other options are to use Word Perfect or download free-ware. That is why I love OpenOffice.org. It is compatible with most document file types and transfers information with other office programs well.

 

The Good:

Retains all the elements of other office programs you know and love.

Infinitely customizable.

Has a myriad of tools not included in Microsoft’s office brand; just waiting for you to discover.

 

The Bad:

It has a terrible spell checker. (Sometimes its suggestions are way off)

It does not have a dictionary.

It always retains source formating. (So you won’t find a ‘keep text only’ option in its text writer.)

 

Paint.net- I love this little guy. Think of this application as a casual version of photo shop. It has a lot of the features of a major photo editor with out the three thousand page manual. Simplicity is the major selling point of this piece of code. It is not meant to be the most comprehensive editor out there but, for the average user, you’ll find all the photo manipulating tools you’ll need. Without actually having to do something crazy like pay money to somebody.
The Good:

Easy to pick up

Fast and simple photo manipulating

You can draw straight lines.

 

The Bad:

Long load times (god only knows why)

 

 

Skype- This program allows you to call cellphones from your computer for very cheap; or other Skype users for free. Its simple to use and great for people who have friends and family spread out over wide areas. It even supports web cams so everyone can see your dorky face (Did you know the word “dork” was an old nautical term for a whale’s penis? Thats right, you have a whale penis for a face)

 

The Good:

Instant access to all of your friends and family.

Call conferencing allows you to talk to multiple users at once.

The program has a built in IM feature.

 

The Bad:

Your family and friends have instant access to you.

The program features a web cam snap shot application so any embarrassing thing you do will be preserved for eternity.

 

Speakonia- is a text to speech converter that offers a wide range of voices. The program is intended for handicapped people but I use it to proof read articles. And to make my computer say funny things in a robot voice.

 

The Good:

Whenever you copy something to your clip board, Speakonia will read it for you. (Try copying a forum argument, its hilarious.)

Its a real time saver if you need an article you wrote proof read. Or if you were too busy to learn how to read in kindergarten.

 

The Bad:

You can make your computer talk dirty to you, I’m pretty sure that voids the warranty.

 

 

So there you go, four cool programs you should download. They are all free so what are you waiting for? Ya big whale penis.