well, i've got a 256k (although i got 320down/128up) and i can tell you, it depends a lot on the game too.

For example, i've played world in conflict, in a 300 ping server, in a 14 player match, and it went smooth (some days, it wouldn't, but it was mostly smooth).

On shooters, the ping gets more important, but depending on what shooter it is, you can get it to work. For a good example that aplies to your case, i played 50 player matches on BF2 in my 256 conection, but it was aserver with 50 ping, since it was in my city.I don't supose BF2142 is very diferent in terms onbandwidth requirements so, if you can finda server like that, you're all set.

Well, here's the thing, I've got a friend who won a 360 pad (on a Virtua Fighter 5 tournament, with the tried and true technique of just pressing the button you like the most untill the other goes down).

Now, I hadnever seen a 360 pad untill yesterday, so the only thing I'm sure ofis that the pad has USB and it should work on windows, but acording to him, the box says "For Windows Vista", which is understandable, I supose Vista comes with the drivers included but he's got XP so, where exactly are the drivers? (Asuming there are, which, if there are not, it would be outrageous, but with Microsoft the posibility always exists)

well, if you want to know what made starcraft so great at that time, is the fact that before it, RTS had one generic race with little or nodifferences (like age of empires, one race with variants depending on civilization) or they had 2 (C&C for example,NOD and GDI)that of course, being 2 it was easy to balance them, but starcraft was the first one to have three, and while it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, it actually was a big difference and it became a landmark on gaming

also, the story was absolutely great for an RTS, which tend to have little story, and they're also never focused on characters so deeply as in SC

or aim for RTS, it's like board games (with more sparks), there's predefined rules to it and you have to use your brain toget every possible one to your favor and beat your oponent

or maybe city-builders/tycoon-type games

or i don't know, you really seem too focused on realism to say a game is bad or boring instead of focusing on the fact that matters the most: the game itself. it should be fun to you for as long as possible (or some other like the short ones with good stories, should be fun for the whole ride, as in a movie) and if you only seek fun in realism, what i recommend is either join the army if you want realistic gun combat, go do sports, or heck, go on a trip around the world and see all of the realistic landscapes that it has, which are real

the arcades (ninja turtles specially)

then when i got my genesis sonic really got me hooked, but games never lasted long than an hour

also, the lucasarts now classics were THE games by that time, and... they got me

but then when i was eight, theme hospital got me playing until i realized i had played for three hours!! from then, you can guess how that evolved (and after that starcraft got the last of my non-gaming part, if there was ever any)

now wait a minute, i see many saying "Villian: HK-47"

wasn't he a hero? i mean, he was in YOUR party, and you were the hero of the story, be it a do-gooder or an assasin full of lines that made you laugh from his many ways of having fun by killng, he's still one of the "heroes" of the story... right?

 as for villians, i say Kratos

come on! the guy didn't even want to be a hero! it was forced! and he actually saved no one on purpose, save those who he needed alive(and the women to have sex with)

as for neutral, Kreia seems a good option

i'd recomend a car arcer, but since the grow of internet playing, PC racers have left split screen behind(only consoles nowadays have that) so i say need for speed 3, i remember that being a good one, and with split screen too

two words: Still Life

story goes good, catches you, you are about to know who the assasin is! you're gonna get him! cutscene with you shooting him!!!!! and... and... who was he? an unknown guy who you never saw and the only thing you know anout him is that he was the "diciple" of the actual bad guy

worse ending ever

bullfrog's "theme hospital", the mother of all tycoon-type games

also, some of lucasarts point 'n click games you missed, like "sam & max" and "day of the tentacle"

and one more, "freelancer", that one's the cream, but not many know about it