Not sure who will win the next gen graphics war but nVidia and ATI are trying hard. ATI has there Eyefinity which allows one GPU power multiple screens as one monitor device with the right card you could have up to 24 monitors acting as one device.

nVidia is focusing more on 3D and the mobile market. Play a bit of Bad Company 2 and WoW in 3D. The experience was ok but not mind blowing. I could live without the 3D effects for now. In WoW players felt flat like it was a paper cutout. While the  world look everything else was distracting.

Not sure who will win this round but it will be quite a show.

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Alienware has a nice looking portable gaming laptop called M11x. This will be my next laptop. Its very small but powerful. Saw it play Bad Company 2 in high graphics with little issues. More details to come later.

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Ok PAX finally made to the east coast. Those who couldn't fly to Seattle to experience PAX now have the option of heading to Boston to see what all the hype is about. So far they are experiencing the PAX fun of standing in line! For those who don't know PAX attracts a lot of gamers, 60,000 of them in fact. With this many people everything is a line and they aren't small lines they are big lines. Its not bad people are friendly and will have games so just talk to a neighbor and play some games.

The show floor isn't as impressive as it is in Seattle, but I was expecting that people don't know what PAX East was going to bring. Its not bad and I think next year it will be better as they see PAX East bring gamers. EA is here in full force showing off 3 different games, 2K with Bioshock 2 and Mafia 2, Red Dead Redemption is very popular with lines wrapping around the booth. UBISoft is here making a big showing with the new Splinter Cell game.

The think the most impressive booths are actually nVidia and AMD showing off the latest advances with graphics. nVidia is showing off the 3D tech and AMD showing off their multi-screen graphics power. Also Alienware/Dell are showing off their new Alienware laptop which is pretty sweet. Watch this space for more about the laptop and the graphics advances.

See you all tomorrow with Day 2!

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Well I bit the bullet and went out to Best Buy and bought a new 360 Arcade box. I know I could have saved $200 dollars and shipped my old 360 to get repaired and I plan on still doing that. I just want to be able to use my 360 in the mean time and I did. Over the weekend I used NetFlix streaming and beat Shadow Complex and restarted playing it again. When I get my old 360 back from Microsoft I will either keep it as a spare or maybe sell it. I think the spare will win though as there have been a few times when I needed a second 360 to use at conventions or to take with me to other places and having one I don't need to hook and unhook all the time would make it nice.  Also its nice to have a few spare wireless controllers those always come in handy.

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Yes I know this story has been posted many many times and I won't be the first to blog about my woes with my 360 no longer working. Personally I expected to happen at some point in time. My real issue now is deciding if calling Microsoft playing phone tree for an hour and then waiting a few weeks is worth it. I could go out tomorrow and just buy a new 360 arcade and put my hard drive on it. No hassles on the phone and no wait time. Granted I do know for a fact Microsoft will place my system with no issues but I would have to wait for it.

Guess it all comes down to how much my time is worth in relation to my 360. I could get a used one for $159 and get another wireless controller. Or a new one for $199 and get everything that comes with it extra. Wow after doing a quick search seems like Dell is having a sale this week and I could get a brand new 360 Arcade for $159. Guess I have a weekend to decide what to do.

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Video games have never been more popular and more diverse than they are currently. Even today, video games are seen as a great source of entertainment and remain popular among the young and the old, alike. However, as with any popular item on the market today there has been an abundance of controversy over video games. The issue is of some of these games contain violence, antisocial behavior, and gore. Grand Theft Auto has always been in the forefront of the video game fight. From buying hookers and then beating them up for money to being able to run people over. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas caused a ton of controversy in 2005 with the famous hot coffee hack. We all know about Jack Thompson and his wonderful fight on getting violent video games banned. Though the last time I checked he has never won a fight. The one thing I do know is the video game industry is slow to fight back. A few big publishers and developers have spoken out but no where close enough to begin to win the fight.

Regardless what the industry does I think the biggest fighters are the video gamers themselves. We have the Penny Arcade guys starting Child's Play a charity that benefits children who are living in a hospital. We have the formation of Entertainment Consumers Association, founded to give gamers a collective voice with which to communicate their concerns, address their issues and focus their advocacy efforts. There is a group of gamers in Australia using politics to get their issues heard. Gamers 4 Croydon was formed to help Australia to form a Mature ratings for video games and it appears to be working!

Sadly our fight is far from over we have a few more years coming where people will continue to blame video games for all of the world's faults. What we need to do is stand up and fight for our hobby. Get out and inform people of all the good video games and gamers do in the world. Help fight the stereotype of gamers being children and anti-social freaks that never come out in daylight. Volunteer in your local community and show the world that we are not what they think we are. Also let the industry know that they need to help us in this fight, while its our hobby its their livelihood. The best part of all of this is the first generation of video gamers is grown up and some have started entering politics.

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MAGFest 8 happened over the New Years weekend. For those who don't know MAGFest is a video game and music festival run by fans, for fans. MAGFest was held in Alexandria, VA., which is near Washington D.C.. Understand MAGFest isn't like PAX or E3 or any other huge game show. MAGFest is a small friendly convention. This year saw over 2100 people and its like everyone knows each other. Everyone I talked to was friendly and very into the spirit of the convention.

I think the best part of MAGFest is the live music they have. Every night there were 4 or 5 bands playing. These are small indie bands that for the most part either recreate video game music or write music based on video games. Not only do you get to enjoy a live show you will also have a chance to purchase their music at the show. Most of the music is from the older video games so for me its some of the best music that comes from gaming. I walked away that weekend with 2 CDs and websites for a bunch of bands to check out later.

If music isn't you thing don’t worry, remember MAGFest is also about video games. They had a huge area setup for arcade and console games. Ranging from the oldies to the newer games. I stopped in and played some Mario Kart and Sonic and watched people try their luck on some Japanese music games. Not sure how these people do it as these games make Guitar Hero look like a kindergarten game. In one corner of the game room they had a challenge area setup. You could try your skills on some older games and see if you can bet the challenge. Some of these were just brutal most required pure skill to bet and we are talking skill that’s been perfected. Upstairs they had a large BYOC lan room. I didn't spend much time here as I didn't have a PC at the show but walking around most were playing the normal FPS fair you would expect.

What would be a con without a dealer area. MAGFest does the dealer area a bit different than others cons. First they place the dealers right in the middle of all the action and secondly they can be open 24 hours a day. Not sure if any of the dealers stayed opened the whole show but they were there most of the time. What was for sale the most was older games. From NES to SNES and newer were being sold. If you were a collector of video games this would be the place to find them. Not only games sold but working systems as well. I saw a Virtual Boy still in the box and a top loading NES for sale.

MAGFest was a blast I know I will be going back next year and I recommend you do as well. Make sure to bring cash with you to buy from the dealers room. I would also recommend some energy drinks cause you will want to stay up late to play all the games and check out the live bands. If you are interested in MAGFest 9 or what happens at MAGFest head over to he MAGFest website and check it out.

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Steam is having one hell of a Holiday Sale and I bought Battlefield 2 for $7.99 a few days ago. I had this game when it was new and loved it then. Figuring I would get a good day or so before I get bored with it I bought it $7.99 isn't that much and with a week off I could use something different. I didn't know how much this game rocks. I completely forgot how fun it is. Playing on a 32v32 server is just a blast. Wish modern FPS could handle that many players. No matter until the next gen game comes out there will be Battlefield 2 for the large mass of players. 

For those who missed the sale but still want some Battlefield 2 Action Steam sells the complete package for $29.99 head over to the Steam Store to buy it. Okay back to the game! By the way expect a Pure Gamer Battlefield 2 server to pop up in the next few days.

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We all know the game industry works in cycles, well not exactly cycles but genres have their ups and downs. Some years FPS take the lead in popularity other years its RTS and then its RPGs etc. I'm certain all gamers see this cycles in games. I have a feeling this cycle happens in the gamers as well. I know it does in me. For the last few years I'm been playing a lot of FPSes and lately I just can't get into them that much. I can play for maybe an hour then I get bored.

So I'm looking for the next genre that will keep my attention for a while. Maybe it will be RTS and StarCraft II will help bring that in. Maybe it will be action RPGs, I loved Torchlight and would play it for hours at a time and I know I can't wait for Diablo III, but that will still be at least a year away. Granted BioShock 2 comes out early next year that could bring me back into the FPS fold for a little bit but ultimately I don't think it will last much after beating it, we will have to see with its multiplayer options. Wonder if its actions games I loved Batman Arkham Asylum maybe I should check other games in that genre out more.

I know I can't be the only one who goes in cycles with games. Do you see these cycles in your own gaming habits? What games are you all looking forward to that is outside your normals genres?

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We Video  Gamers get a bad rap sometimes. Other times Video Gamers do a lot of good. This week a group of gamers raised $132,438.94 for Child's Play get this playing Desert Bus, which is known as the most boring game in the world. For those who don't know Child's Play is the charity started by Penny Arcade that raises money for children's hospitals to supple toy and games for child stuck in a hospital. 

LoadingReadyRun isn't the only group doing video game marathons for charity. For 2 years now a group of people run Mario Marathon which over the last 2 years raised around $40,000 for Child's Play. These marathons are great for us and the charities they raise money for. The best part is these people are doing something they love and helping those in need. These are not the only two groups doing marathons either over the last few years I heard about many more of these. There was a Zelda marathon a Final Fantasy Marathon and other video game series as well.

For those who don't know these type of marathons are broadcast over the internet showing the game and the group of players playing them. Generally the show the players put on is better than the game, and in Desert Bus' case mostly so. Some chat with the viewer and pass tips and tricks to the players. I have a feeling as more these happen they will get more and more involved and ran better. Its almost certain that they will raise more money as each year these are ran they earn more money.

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