It takes two HTTP servers to keep the site running smoothly, and the main one - the one I publish updates to - is housed at a co-lo facility that was having some kind of router problem. Many of you were getting in just fine, hooking up to the other of the two servers, and many of you were (more than likely) just timing out. Sorry about the trouble, it's nice to have you with us and that behind us.

I have gotten a lot of mail about our PSO weekend. I want to make sure everyone knows not to purchase a used copy of PSO version 1. This game will only work on the first Dreamcast it is played in. You need to buy a new copy if you do not already have one. You can get it on the cheap right here if you are interested. Also make sure you get version one not version two.

I was extremely pleased with Red Alert 2, as well as the Yuri expansion - they married creative, sometimes bizarre units with a frantic pace that approached arcade intensity.

Well I said that Batjew and I would deliver a full review of Herdy Gerdy today. It turns out that was a big fucking lie. What we did deliver though is something I think is even better. Really I do. We got together the other night to discuss our feelings about the game over messenger and then figured, why should we do any extra work? Let's just post the chat log. So that is exactly what we have done. It's a candid, behind the scenes look at something or other. Be sure and check it out.

Scouring Evil Avatar for tender news, they had a couple links from Planet GameCube that I found highly relevant. There's an article up that explains some of the history behind the recent Square developments, and another item that claims a port of Final Fantasy Tactics may be on the way for the GBA. Of course, the The Madman has all this and more.

Gabe's had this royal air, this cocksure swagger since that Square/Nintendo info got out - obviously, that's not something we could pass up as strip fodder. No-one is quite sure what all this means, yet - and while theories abound, in the short run I'm enjoying the mystery. The latest Double Agent (The GIA's essential letters column) was flush with prognostication, and I must say, I've done a fair bit of imagineering myself. An important thing to note about Square's dalliance with Nintendo is that the original project they bring to the system must exploit the connectivity between the Cube and the GBA. When I think of what such a union might mean in an RPG context, I nearly black out.

But I do like the new post system!

The Sega ads are now working correctly. Please feel free to interact with them in a clicking oriented fashion. If you’re hungry for more information about this whole free SegaNet deal give this page a look. It breaks it all down and gives you links to all the important stuff. As Tycho mentioned before we plan on playing PSO all day on the 16th and 17th. As it gets closer we will put up some more information about how to hook up with us.

Astute readers are quite correct - Battlezone (and its sequel, Battlezone 2) do many of the things we discussed today - and then they disappeared completely. Not just the games, now. Like the bold strokes of Allegiance, their advances - and indeed, the germ of some new genre - vanished entirely. None of the games I've mentioned sold well, so while it is unfortunate, it's also easy to understand why these concepts never took root. But a vigorous design - gleefully deep, immediately accessible, and marshalling the true vigor of the C&C license - I'm naive enough to hope things would be different.

I could probably talk for a long time right now about Herdy Gerdy. I know I like it…I think I may love it. It is a game of extremes. It's amazing to see a game go from moments of absolute genius to scenes of un-paralleled stupidity. However since I have not done a review in a while I think I'll save my thoughts on Herdy Gerdy and actually right a full review of it. I am gonna try and burn through it this weekend and see if I can't have something up for Monday. I keep thinking there is someone else I know playing this game right now as well, but I honestly can't remember his name.

It's been said that Fatal Frame is a Next-Generation homage to the N64's classic "Resident Evil: Snap," but it's hard to say.

Fortified by healthful bran, we appear to have defeated proud Continuity, who is our eternal foe. I give you Das Oldskoolen, Part 2 - the second (and blissfully final!) portion of our gripping whooziwhatsit. Mordo - though an excellent name for villains of any stripe - is especially apt, "Mordo" being our crew's omnipotent nemesis on "Lipton," the Medal of Honor server we frequent. Frequented, perhaps I should say. I find the addition of Crow King's Realism Mod roughly as appetizing as a public urinal coated with pubic hair.

Let me tell you how easy it is to make a great videogame. First you need a bunch of zombies. Then you need a ton of great weapons like shotguns and cross bows. Then add a pinch of four player cooperative play. That my friends is a fucking recipe for success. Gamespy has delivered a very complete preview of Hunter: The Reckoning. Now I know what you're thinking. "But Gabe, that is an Xbox title! I heard it gives you a terrible itchy rash all over your body if you just look at it!" That may very well be true but this is the game I want to play. Sega won't step up to the plate and deliver a Zombie Revenge 2 so I have to get my un-dead fix someplace else. Between Star Wars and Zombies it looks like the Xbox has me by the balls.

Two things to keep in mind when sampling today's product: one, I love Warlords. It's got these cool castles, and you have to kind of bounce these things. Two: due to lack of sleep, poor diet, or some commingling of the two, dreaded Continuity has us at a disadvantage. We will do our best to cast off its deleterious effects by Friday - but we promise nothing!

(Longer, deeper sigh.)

I would say that I get around 10 or so requests each week to sign some wacky petition. I have never signed a single one. I especially wasn't about to sign a petition asking me to boycott fucking Blizzard. I mean what the hell? They have delivered some of the finest gaming experiences since the mid nineties and you want me to boycott them because they are making an effort to protect their copyrighted material? I know some people out there are gonna use the product for legitimate purposes. But the majority of people are going to use the thing to play pirated software. I don't care if they did ask Blizzard to allow them to implement CD key checks. Blizzard doesn't want them making the product period, and that is their right. I read all the posts on Slashdot talking about the purity of code and how information should be free. I have a message for all these hacky sack playing Volkswagen owners. They can read it on their Apple iBook's brilliant 14.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display. "Fuck you hippy, get a haircut!" In all their frenzy they seem to have forgotten something most of us learn when we are old enough to walk. You shouldn't steal. Sure shit should be free, I agree one hundred percent. But what if it's your shit? It's a fantastic idea until people start taking your work. I can't count the number of times I have seen my artwork in other people's galleries or posted in forums with their fucking name at the bottom. People get this bug up their ass about how the internet is for the free trading of information and it's all just code man. That's bullshit. My creative work is not free information. I salute Blizzard for what they did. You need to go after these fucking people whenever and wherever you can. I'm glad they sent a cease and desist letter. Hell if it was me, I woulda sent the letter and man over to their house to punch them all in the dick.