Well, defintely not Dante's Inferno and I hate mushrooms so I settle for Assissin's Creed's Florence.
I've been there in this day and age and it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.

ICO AND SOTC.

Sincerly loved by many people I respect and whose opinions I value.
Despised by yours truly.

Rome Total War is a great game but if you want to step into the wonderful world of pc gaming, I wouldn't recommended it as a first trip.

Read some reviews of Company Of Heroes & Dawn Of War II.
Both typical PC games but breezy and friendly enough for a (soon to be ex-) console player to get into.

Check out the Age Of Empires series.
II (with expansion pack) is the best game IMO.
It has all the stuff you're looking for.

Let me spare you the research. Just go with the xbox360 controller. I fought with the same question a while ago. After a long time of strictly playing RTS and FPS games on pc I needed a controller when I bought Grid and Dirt 2. It's universally regarded as the most comfortable pad for PC games. Now that I own one myself I can only agree. It's a great controller.

(I own the wired, windows live version. It comes with a driver disc and a usb connector.)

Never ask for things you're truly passionate about from people who don't know you intimately. Gift exchanges and work draws suck in general. It's hypocrisy. Perhaps the person who had to buy you the present doesn't even like you.

I'm a music collector but only a few people are 'allowed' to give me cd's. And these people better go out of their way to get me the right ones because I do anything to get them their dream presents too. I'll put in effort, time, money. Whatever is needed. That's called love I guess.

If someone else gives me anything I'm just grateful. Socks or maroon sweaters. It's all good. Then it's only the effort that matters to me.

really? doutzen kroes? i used to have a pic of her as the wallpaper on my computer. i dont believe that youve met her and actually talked to her!escapeoftheape

Yes. Doutzen Kroes.
Sometimes real life is truly stranger than fiction.
She was born in the same village as my girlfriend.
I know it's silly but it was still a holy **** moment :D

Cool story brah. But anywya, the strangest thing that happened to me in 2009 was that I lost my memory for a week.

Assassin1349

And with strange I actually mean something a bit surreal. As if the Matrix flickered for a second. Something like winning the lottery, escaping a certain death, dating the prettiest girl in school, getting married in Vegas, losing a nice job just to watch the greatest job in the world fall right into your lap the next moment. It doesn't have to be ultra impressive. Just something that was remarkable or totally unexpected for you personally. Something that made you say HOLY ****!

My tale is this one, call it remarkable or not:

I met a really nice lady this spring, we started dating and I currently have the right to call her my girlfriend. That's special in itself but not world shocking. What was world shocking was when my girlfriend said, after a few weeks of dating, that her younger sister would come around for dinner that evening and that she would bring her best friend along. When the bell rang and I opened the door not only did I meet her sister but also, in the heat of the moment, without pre-warning, one of the most beautiful women in the world. It turned out that the best friend of my girlfriend's sister is this lady:

http://www.vivagoal.com/images/wallpapers/doutzen-kroes-1.jpg

A genuine supermodel and Victoria Angel no less. I still don't know how I managed to get my tongue back. It was just the four of us that whole evening. I've met her a few times since then. She travels a lot for her work but she has an apartment over here in Amsterdam so once in a while she just drops by. I can only say she's truly an angel. She doesn't do drugs or arrogance and she's really kind. She also has a big, mean looking boyfriend who happens to be a nice guy but hey, who cares?

I realize this probably won't be become a very hot topic but I just had to get it out of my system anyway. I got nowhere else to go :P

I'm too old to tell this to someone in real life without embarrassing myself (I'm in my thirties dam it) especially since there isn't much to say except HOLY ****!

(thx Lord Daemon. I edited the post.)

Have you checked your firewall settings.
Is Punkbuster still an exception on the 'not allowed to go outside' rule?
I believe it calls itself PnkBstrA.