VonGeekenstein

Geeky News, Reviews and More!

A couple of weeks ago, I was introduced to a site called The CRPG Addict, in which one man chronicled his journey through playing every computer role playing game ever. I loved and was inspired by the site, so I decided to do my own take on it involving computer space games — which are my favorite type of video games — and thus, Space Game Junkie was born.

On Space Game Junkie, I’ll be talking about every space game ever made for a computer, and will usually be going in chronological order unless a new game is released, such as Space Pirates and Zombies. This will take a long time, as the list of games — which is currently still being completed and can be viewed here — is very extensive, but I’m damned excited about it.

This is why my “300 Word Review” project has been a bit delayed, but I still plan on accomplishing that task as well. :) So please, head over to Space Sim Junkie and enjoy the new site. Thanks for reading. :)

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According to the folks at Engadget (and others, but I like them best), the original IBM PC turns 30 today! The original IBM PC, called the 5150, had a 4.77MHz 8088 processor, ran PC-DOS for an operating system, came with one or two 5 1/4 inch floppy drives and had 16 or 64K of RAM. ;) It’s amazing how far we’ve come, huh?

This makes me look back on my own PC usage back in those days. I honestly came to the PC party a little late, getting my first DOS-based computer in 1986 with the Radio Shack Tandy 1000-EX. I had a TRS-80 for the years leading up to that, which I got in maybe 1981. I actually only got my first IBM PC in 1988 with a IBM PS/2 Model 25, which was an awesome PC and ignited my love of the IBM Model M keyboard. Ahh memories…

What about you? What was your first PC-based computer?

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My PC is a bit over five years old now. I built it to last, but for the last year or two it’s had more and more trouble running modern games on it. I do plan to upgrade when I finally find full-time work, but for right now she serves me well.

However, sometimes a game will be on sale for a ridiculously low price (like, $4 or something) on Steam or GamersGate, and I’ll be curious if I can run it on my PC. Recently I found a website that can help with that question entitled Can You Run It?.

This site scans your system and tells you simply whether your PC meets the game’s minimum requirements. It’s been very handy for me, so I figured I’d share it with y’all, especially those on laptops or netbooks.

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Wow guys, another awesome deal I felt the need to share with y’all! Steam is having a sale on Frozen Synapse wherein you can get this AMAZING game for only $12.99 for the base version, or $14.99 for the version which includes the amazing soundtrack. I’ve written about Frozen Synapse before, and while I still suck at it, it’s still an amazingly fun time. ;) Go check it out, especially now that you can also snag a demo and try it out for free first. :)

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Hay guise, I don’t usually pimp deals like this, but today you can get Beat Hazard — the amazing music-based shoot ‘em up that I’ve talked about before — for 75% off today on Steam, making it a mere $2.50. If you want all the DLC, including the amazing Ultra add-on, you can get it all for $3.25. This is an amazing game that y’all shouldn’t miss.

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The awesome folks at Good Old Games are having what might be their best promo in a long time, maybe ever. The ENTIRE Might and Magic series is on sale, which includes:

  • RPGs Might and Magic 1-8
  • Turn-based strategy games Heroes of Might and Magic 1-4, along with Heroes Chronicles

These are some of the best games of their type, and will give you hundreds, if not thousands of hours of exceptional entertainment. If you’ve never played any of these games, check ‘em out, they are well worth your time and money. They also include the soundtracks to nearly all of the games, which are all excellent.

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According to BuddyTV, the CW is fleshing out its schedule with more episodes of many of its shows, which means Supernatural will be getting a twenty-three episode season instead of the usual twenty-two. If the seventh season is any good — and I sincerely hope it will be — then this is an excellent thing. Nikita is also getting twenty-three episodes, while Gossip Girl and 90210 are getting twenty-four, but I don’t watch those, so I care a lot less. ;) Yay more Supernatural!! ;)

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I in no way hide that I am a massive fan of The Dresden Files series of books (and the sadly-canceled TV show as well). I’ve read the entire series numerous times and have triple dipped on many of the books (first hard copies, then e-books, then audio books) and have become intimately familiar with the OTHER wizard named Harry, Harry Dresden. At the end of the previous book, Changes, Harry’s world — the world we’ve come to know through twelve books — lay in ruin for a variety of reasons (I’m trying to avoid spoilers here). The thirteenth book in the series, Ghost Story, addresses what happened at the end of Changes, for better and for worse, and I just finished reading it a day or so ago, so I figured I’d give y’all my thoughts. Please know, this review will be spoilery as hell, so if you’ve not read Ghost Story, stop right now.
continue reading…

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When I was a professional gaming journalist many moons ago, I realized I had two things given to me by others that I don’t have now…structure and order. Structure because I had someone else doling out writing assignments (at least until I became Editor-in-Chief a few times) and order because others also set deadlines. I do enjoy writing a great deal, but I realize I do more of it when someone else kicks me in the ass to do so, and this blog has honestly suffered for it. I was thinking of ways to not only try to revitalize this blog (yeah, as if it was ever vitalized), but to also learn how to give myself both structure and order as well, and I came up with an idea…, regularly posted gaming reviews of all the games I own.
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I’ve always been of the opinion that PC gaming’s golden age began around 1992/93 and ended around 2000, and that since then PC gaming hasn’t been as…innovative and unique as it once had been thanks to the rise of consoles and the changing nature of video games into a more mainstream audience. Well, for the past year or so, I’ve noticed a sea change. Whereas for many years gamers would cry “PC GAMES ARE D0MED” and so on because more and more AAA titles were finding their way to consoles first, we’re now seeing that…that rarely matters anymore, because thanks to two forces in PC gaming, it’s really becoming the premiere gaming platform once again. These are digital downloading and independent developers.
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