OK, so I've done something that most people would probably say is silly. I bought Call of Duty 4 for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Mainly I did this because some of my friends are on the 360 and others are on the PS3 and I wanted to be able to play with both. But anyway having owned both versions I've noticed something very disturbing for the PS3.

By all rights the PS3 should kick the Xbox 360's ass in terms of CoD4 play. PSN is free. LIVE is not. The graphics for both consoles are pretty much identical but the PS3 has much better hardware than the Xbox 360. And yet despite all this, the Xbox 360 has WAY better CoD4 gameplay.

Unlike the PS3, I can get a game going on the 360 whenever I want. I could go online at 4am and still get a game within a minute. Not so with the PS3, it once took me 15 minutes during gaming prime time (5-7pm). NOBODY talks on PS3 because the console does not come with a microphone, unlike the 360. And despite the fact that I've never lagged on the PS3 (and many, many times on the 360), that's mitigated by the fact that I have played less than half the number of games.

So that deeper problem I was talking about? It seems that the PS3 players are just way too apathetic! Really, you guys either feel that the PS3 is going to succeed because Sony is going to have money dropped on them like Mannah from Heaven or else you're praying for a miracle. By my (admittedly limited) count, it seems like the PS3 CoD4 community is less than 1/10 of the Xbox LIVE CoD4 community.

Why is that? That should not be. If anything else, the PS3 CoD4 community should be BIGGER, because the 360 has a ton of great FPS to compete with CoD4 like Halo 3 and the Orange Box and Gears of War. The PS3 really doesn't (and don't get me started on Haze) so all the PS3 FPS fans should be flocking to CoD4 like moths to a flame. That's clearly not happening!

I really am curious as to what the PS3 players are thinking. On the one hand they're all like "oooooh the PS3 doesn't get any gaaaaames" but then when a great game like Call of Duty 4 comes out for the PS3 they don't play it! I don't know if that discourages the developers from making the game for the PS3 in the future but it sure as hell doesn't encourage them!

When a game that had up until now ALWAYS appeared exclusively on Sony platforms (Katamari Damacy) becomes an Xbox 360 exclusive (Beautiful Katamari), you know something is very wrong. But to be blunt, the PS3's problem is not the console or the games. It's us. It's the players who for some unfathomable reason choose to not play games on our chosen console, and then go out and complain about the lack of games. If we want the PS3 to succeed we need to show third-party developers that it's worth it to make games for the PS3. Or else the next CoD4 won't even be a multiplat, it'll be a 360 exclusive.

Hi there everyone! After finally finishing building my brand new gaming rig, I thought I'd provide some tips for those of you interested in this very fun activity. Building your own PC is fun and rewarding. Not only do you end up with a personalized computer that you could truly call your own, but by purchasing each part individually you know exactly what you're getting.

Oftentimes it ends up cheaper as well, not to mention the satisfaction of knowing that you managed to build something as complex as a computer. However, for first-time builders, there are some pitfalls that can only be learned in one of three ways: luck, experience, or a list like this! So without further ado, I would like to present the some tips for building your very own PC.

1) Be very careful with your equipment.

At one point, in an effort to remove my hard-drive from my truly awful little Hewlett-Packard pre-built PC, I accidentally snapped off the data input pin. This destroyed the drive: it was no longer possible to retrieve any data from it, reducing it to a $100 brick. Don't make my mistake: be extraordinarily careful with electronics. Electronics don't like being dropped, stepped on, or otherwise man-handled.

This may sound very obvious, but when you have computer parts spread out all over your floor, and your brow is furrowed trying to figure out what parts go where, it's very easy to accidentally fall onto something and break it. Try to avoid touching anything that is shiny or emits light. And NEVER, NEVER, EVER work on your computer when the power is still on. Seriously. Take it from me, I got zapped so you don't have to. Oh and, don't let any dogs, cats, or children anywhere near your equipment until it goes into the computer, just to be safe.

2) Make absolutely sure your parts are compatible.

Nothing is more frustrating than purchasing a beautiful new case, only to discover that the stock motherboard that came with your pre-built computer is not compatible with it (a very likely situation, since HP, Dell, and Sony rarely use standard parts). The standard motherboard format is something called "ATX", look for it. If it isn't ATX or mini-ATX, then it probably won't fit in your case correctly.

Even if you somehow manage to force it inside, it'll be at all odd angles and bad things might happen. Similarly, make sure your motherboard is compatible with your CPU. In fact, I suggest you double, triple, quadruple check it! I say this because even if the motherboard isn't compatible with the CPU, very occasionally it'll still let you turn the computer on and use it. Except, of course, after a few minutes of use, the chip will fry and so will the motherboard.

Most other parts tend to be standardized cross-industry, so you can be reasonably sure your video card will probably fit on your motherboard, as long as the motherboard is standard. Just be aware of the expansion card types: PCI Express, PCI, and rather ancient AGP graphics card interface. Make sure that if your GPU requires PCI Express, your motherboard has such a graphics card interface expansion card (most do).

3) When building a PC it's important to remember that everything in the box needs power.

Nothing in life is free; if you want the best you have to feed it a lot of energy. Video cards and high-end CPUs, especially, are very power hungry. So a $600 video card might set you back further than just $600, because it will in all likelihood also set you back another $150-$200 for a decent Power Supply Unit (PSU). If you choose not to provide your system with a good enough PSU, then your equipment will not function to capacity.

In fact, if your PSU is too weak, your equipment may not function at all. One word of advice for aspiring PC builders who had purchased a pre-build and want to salvage parts: don't salvage the PSU. Take it from my experience: almost no pre-built computer comes with anything close to a half-way decent PSU. If you must salvage parts, may I suggest salvaging the hard drives and the DVD drives.

Assuming you have 500GB of hard disk space and 2 DVD drives, this will still save you about $200, which no small chunk of change. I'd only suggest salvaging the monitor if it's larger than 17" because pre-built PCs tend to come with sub-standard monitors.

4) If in doubt, ask an expert.

In software, even under the worst case scenario, you can always just reformat and start over again. But hardware is delicate, and once damaged is probably irreparable. No matter how clever you might think you are, there is no substitute for the experience of having done it a million times before. Some motherboards have tricks to them, others have non-standard features, and it's very easy to get overwhelmed.

Before you go asking however, may I suggest reading the manual for all of your equipment first? 99% of things you might ask, such as, "where do I plug the PSU into the motherboard?" (there are two places) or "why won't my computer turn on when I press the power button?" (you probably didn't connect the case's power button socket to the motherboard's "on/off" pin) can be found in the manuals.

Many of the system managers that I know tell me that a huge chunk of their experience was drawn directly from thumbing through manuals. If it's not in there, try bringing your computer to CompUSA (for the technician area), BestBuy (for the GeekSquad), or Apple (for the Genius Bar). If even they can't help you, try contacting the manufacturer for the part that's giving you trouble. And pray they don't put you on hold forever.

5) Do your research before you go out and buy parts.

Oftentimes, if you're patient, you can get excellent deals from unexpected places. As an example: I had salvaged the terrible RAM from my old computer for my new one. I held off upgrading them because decent RAM could set me back $100 or more. But, on Cyber Monday, I received an amazing deal: 4 Gigabytes of RAM for only $60! If I had rushed into the market as I was building my machine, I would have ended up paying $60 more (the memory cards cost $120 originally).

These sorts of deals are everywhere, as long as you're patient enough to wait for them. If money is tight, wait for good deals. Cyber Monday is pretty good. So is the day after New Years, when the stores are trying to get rid of stock they couldn't sell during the holidays. Just make sure you check the reviews of the product before buying. If not, you could end up with a lemon (this comes from hard-earned personal experience!).

6) Parts snap into place naturally.

When you put an 8800GT into the PCIe slot, it'll slide into place and snap securely. If the equipment does NOT do this, DO NOT continue to attempt to force it in. A rule of thumb: if it doesn't fit, it doesn't belong. If you continue to attempt to force the hardware into a port it wasn't designed for you could end up damaging both hardware and port: not a good situation to be in.

Man, those are all extremely classic and respected RPGs.

Fallout - the game that singlehandedly revived the RPG genre when it came out. It's a ****c in the best sense of the word. Great voice acting, and amazingly good storyline (unique!) and surprisingly deep despite its tongue in cheek ****

Planescape: Torment - some call it the best role playing game ever designed ... if you like the dungeons and dragons ****of RPG. It may be heavy on the text and light on the voice acting, but it is one of the deepest and even philosophical RPGs out there. I still play it when I'm in the mood for some deep thought. And the ending left me sitting in thought even while the credits rolled. The only game to date that did that to me.

Baldur's Gate: it's a romp. I don't think it's as deep as PS:T but it's definately a lot of fun. If you like spending hours and hours having tons of fun slaying monsters, getting awesome gear, and also getting some RPGing in there as well, this is the game for you!

damn it look at what it's stacked against:
Bioshock
Halo 3
Call of Duty 4
Orange Box
Gears of War (for PC)
Crysis

On BOTH platforms that it's released on (Xbox 360 and PC) it's completely out****d by vastly superior games. So no, it doesn't stack up. At all. Heck even the mediocre Timeshift is better. This is a rental. If even that.

After thinking about it, I've concluded that continuing to build my PC will probably be cheaper in the long run. For instance, I won't need to replace my monitor & hard drives for a while, so there's about $750 saved right away. RAM is DDR2 800GHz, so they might be able to stay awhile without going out of season. Now onto another topic: laptops.

I wanna get a laptop. At first, I was thinking, "well, I wanna get a gaming laptop too! Because I'm a gamer and I love games." But then I saw the price of gaming laptops and my jaw hit the floor. $4,000? For a LAPTOP? :( I can't afford that! And so I got to thinking. Maybe I should just get a budget laptop. "But I can't game on it!" Maybe, but after thinking some, it seems to me that gaming on laptops is pretty silly anyway when I have a desktop ... right? I mean, I need it mostly for travel purposes to check email ... the gaming part was just for entertainment. So what do you guys suggest? Heck for the price of a high-end gaming laptop I might as well get a PSP and a DS and a low end budget laptop and still have money to spare, right? Maybe I should do that instead ... ?

Don't get me wrong. I had a BLAST building my rig, I loved every second of it. But I mean, the costs did add up. More than I thought it would. Is it really cheaper to upgrade/build manually than it is to just get a computer off the shelves?

In a few years, or maybe even a few months, my custom-build computer would probably not be up to scratch anymore. Should I chuck it for a prebuilt? Or should I continuously nickle-and-dime myself, and upgrade parts? I mean, getting a pre-built usually gives you an upgrade for everything anyway, so why nickle-and-dime yourself?

And in the interests of buyers out there, if you WERE to get a prebuilt, what's a good brand? Dell? Hewlett-Packard?

I think the US is hated because everyone believes too much in the media. It spawns the same result as racism, sexism, or any other generalization you'd speak of. The media makes us look like we're arrogant, rich, and fat. If you hate the US (you're talking about a LOT of people, a WHOLE LOT of people) and generalizing all of them, then shame on you and your uneducted self.RiSkyBiZ-13

Well I think when they say, "US", they mean "United States Government", not neccessarily "Every United States citizen". Although, to be honest, oftentimes the two become interchangeable, I have had several instances were I felt unwelcome in a foreign country due to the fact that I was from the US, despite the fact that I despise the way my government acts probably more than they do. And before someone says, "Republican hater!" let me just say that the Democrats are not much better. Let's not forget it was the Democrats that brought us away from isolationism and began the "let's go interfering in everybody's business" way of doing things.

Or perhaps it has something to do with United States arrogance, like how the US loves to call itself "America", as though Canada, Mexico, and all of South America didn't count. Or were secretly part of the United States as subsidiary territories. Or maybe it has something to do with how the US loves to interfere in everybody's business, as though it's the US's right to go meddling in the internal affairs of other nations. Ironic: Star Trek was made in the US, and in Star Trek the prime directive was that Starfleet never interfered in the internal affairs of other races. Huh. Sure wish the US would learn a few lessons from that.

The US projects its aura of arrogance with pride, too. It doesn't hide it, it proudly displays it, like as though destroying the Iraqi economy was a good thing, or muddling the waters in Israel. Frankly, the US believes that only it knows how the world should be run and anyone who disagrees is either stupid or a terrorist. This is not a stance that is likely to win the US any friends.