2007 was a big year. I graduated college, got a crappy job, got an awesome job and had a few ups and downs. It was also the year I returned to gaming. In 2006, aside from the occasional round of CS:Source, or Mario 3 Battlemode, I didn’t do hardly any gaming. I’m not even sure if I bought any games that year. This year; however, I got 3 video game systems (Wii, DS and 360) and more games than the past five years combined (30+). All that and there’s still a rather beefy list of games I didn’t get around to checking out. Here’s my top 5 games played in 2007:

1. The Orange Box (PC)
   Portal and Team Fortress 2. Enough Said. I’ve already talked about TF2 and gave a brief mention to Portal. Combined together in one box this package is almost unbeatable. Portal was short but the most inventive game I’ve played in a long time. TF2 has already replaced CS: Source as my go to game on the PC. A great value and a great time!
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
   This is easily the best game released for the Wii to date. The controls are great and use just the right amount of motion without feeling tacked on. The gameplay is fun and I constantly find myself saying “just one more star”. There’s also tons of variety in levels, I haven’t found a level yet where I thought the game was overly difficult or broken. Although Two player co-op is somewhat disappointing.
3. Rock Band (360)
   Despite only owning the game for six days last year it’s easily one of the best. Guitar/Bass is a bit easier that GH3. The drums are wicked fun to play (despite my lack of coordination). Singing is fun when you have someone who can sing. The track list is better than GH3 despite having less songs. There’s just something undeniably awesome about getting a bunch of people together and rocking. The downside, It is a huge pain in the ass to carry around all that crap; My original guitar was defective and I’m waiting on a replacement; and I can’t use the same characters for different instruments.
4. Guitar Hero 3 (Wii)
   Before Rock Band there was Guitar Hero 3. I bought this game twice, just to get a second guitar for multiplayer. Even after Rock Band it’s still a blast. (It’s also much more portable) Despite the Wii version getting screwed over with mono sound, no DLC (until later this year), and crappy online multiplayer, I’m still happy I got the Wii version. It’s waay more portable and GH3 (and Rock Band) are meant to be played with people in the same room.
5. Paper Mario (Wii- VC)
   Initially I was going to put Super Paper Mario here. The dialogue was great, I had fun playing it and have no regrets buying it but realistically it’s not top five material. It was waaay to easy. Less like a game and more like a story with a lot of walking and jumping. It did get me interested in it’s great granddaddy, Paper Mario. So Paper Mario came out six years ago, I never bought an n64 so it’s new to me. Anyway back to the game, It was a lot of fun but I’m still disappointed I got a fish instead of getting to ride Yoshi around.

Close but not quite:

• Metroid Prime 3 (Wii)
  I like the game so far especially the controls but haven’t had a chance to play much of it yet.
• Halo 3 (360)
  It’s pretty looking and I hear the multiplayer is good but this is another game I haven’t had much time to play with. I plan on using this game to learn how to play console FPSs.
• Bioshock (360)
  Supposedly one of the best games this year, I want it and I want it bad but I don’t have to time for another game right now.

When Bioshock first came out there was all sorts of hoopla about how great of a game it was but at that point I was busy with other stuff so I mostly ignored it. Until yesterday when I read that Bioshock won game of the year at the VGAs. Despite being almost overwhelmed with games to play I found myself oddly interested in Bioshock. So I decided to cave in and check it out. Bioshock won GotY for the 360, but the PC is my chosen platform for FPS games because I’ve never had much luck playing an FPS with a controller. So I booted up steam, my preferred method of buying games and whipped out my credit card. Before making the jump I took a quick look at the minimum system requirements:

CPU: Intel single-core Pentium 4 processor at 2.4GHz check
System RAM: 1 GB check
Video Card: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 128MB RAM and Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA 6600 or better/ATI X1300 or better Well shit.

Since I pretty much live in a hotel, I game almost exclusively on a laptop. While it’s a nice laptop it’s still not made for gaming. Chances are I might possibly be able to hack it with all the settings on low, maybe. This is one probably the best argument for console gaming.

If I had an XBox 360, I’d know without any doubt I’d be able to play Bioshock without missing out on anything. One of the things I enjoy about consoles is being able to just play a game. Everyone is playing the same game with the same hardware. I don’t need to worry about finding the latest patch, software conflicts or upgrading my hardware every six months. No one is killing me because my system barely runs at 30 fps and their system is getting 10,000 fps and baking cakes.

This standardized system is a huge advantage for consoles. One that both Microsoft and Sony seem to be actively trying to kill by having multiple version of the same console. Sure, it’s a requirement that games are must work across all version of the systems but that also means developer can use those extra features. Look at the arcade version of the 360. Why the hell does it not have a hard drive? That is seriously handicapping the 360 platform especially since the capacity for DVD is rapidly being reach. Now developers are forced to either squeeze everything on to a single DVD or span multiple discs neither of which is a good option for games like GTA4. If every 360 had a hard drive then they could install files to it which would take care of that problem.

So now I’m not playing Bioshock. Maybe whenever I get around to buying a 360 I’ll pick it up. Even though I am pretty much inept when it comes to playing an FPS with a controller.

**Update**

I also want to note that this will apply to just about any console with composite (Red/White/Yellow) or component (Red/Blue/Green and Red/White). PS, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube all have composite out by default and use the same basic process except of course the Nintendo Wi-Fi connector will only work with the Wii. Of course older consoles like the NES, SNES, n64, and Sega Genesis, don’t have composite out so you’ll have to use an RF adapter in most cases.

**Original Article**

I noticed a couple of people were directed by Google to this post in search of how to connect a Wii to a hotel TV. I figure if Google is desperate enough to send people here maybe it might be good idea to expand upon my previous entry.

Most consoles come with a composite (Red/White/Yellow) connection by default (Red/White/Yellow). I connect to the TV using a component cable (Red/Blue/Green and Red/White). Either way it’s the same idea just different ports. Start by connecting the cable directly to the back of the hotel TV. If you only see red/white connectors then just plug in those two, if you don’t see any colored connections then you need an RF adapter and you can skip to the next paragraph. At this point you can turn the TV on and try hitting the source/input button. If it changes the screen and you can see the game you’re done. If not that’s because most hotels have the inputs disabled by default. The idea being you’ll be more likely to buy pay per-view movies. This is pretty easy to get around by buying a a cheap universal remote. This will let you access the menu to re-enable the inputs on the television. In general all you need to do is program the universal remote for the brand and model of the TV and then you’ll be able to use the input/source button just like at home. Every TV and remote has different programming sequences and menu structures so I won’t get into that here. Suffice to say follow the directions that came with the remote and you can usually pull the model number of the TV off the sticker on the back.

If the TV does not have any composite or component connections on it then things are a bit trickier. *Disclaimer* I haven’t tried this method yet. **
In this case, you’ll need to use a RF modulator to convert the composite connection into a coaxial connection. Which you can then plugged into the the back of the TV. You might also need to use the universal remote to set the TV to the correct station usually 3 or 4.  Most hotels have a metal or plastic cover over the jack on the TV, to prevent you from messing with things. If you’re feeling bold you can either cut them off and assume no one will notice they’re missing or come up with a way to unscrew them. Whether disconnecting whatever system the hotel uses for their television will set off alarms I can’t say. I will say I have heard stories of people who unplugged the TV and had the front desk knocking on their door to make sure the TV wasn’t stolen. I’ve disconnected most of that stuff with out issue in various hotels and never had an issue but YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). Just don’t blame me if you end up sleeping on the sidewalk because the hotel staff kicked out out.

To get internet access on my Wii I use the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Adapter. The adapter allows the Wii (and/or DS) to connect to your PC and through the magic of internet connection sharing to the internet. The adapter was recently updated to support both Windows XP and Windows Vista. (Sorry Mac & Linux people, Windows wins this round). This allows you to avoid the registration pages most hotels use (which the Wii won’t display) and the general lack of in room Wi-Fi. Another option is to get the Nintendo LAN adapter or just setup a wireless router in you room.

For my Xbox 360 I came up with another solution. This requires two things, one that you have a laptop and 2 that the hotel has a wired internet connection. Under the network settings options there’s an advanced page that will allow you to change your MAC address. Basically a MAC address is you computer’s unique ID on any network, similar to how your phone number works. First you need to connect you laptop to the network and register as you would normally, there’s usually directions on the card neat the desk. Once that is done go into the start menu and click on run, enter “cmd” in the box and click ok. This will bring up a command prompt type in the following

“ipconfig /all”

and you’ll see a whole bunch of information pop up somewhere in there you’ll see an entry that looks something like this

“Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 01-5A-74-1B-94-8E”

This is your MAC address. Now you’ll need to update the Mac on the 360 to match here’s the steps taken from xbox.com:

From the Xbox Dashboard, choose Settings, and then Network Settings.

From the Network Settings screen, select Advanced.

From the Advanced screen, select MAC Address.

Enter the MAC address of your PC in the Xbox Dashboard. Do not enter any dashes, just letters and numbers.

To attempt connection to Xbox Live using the new MAC address, return (Back) to the Network Settings screen, and then select Connect.

After that you should be all set. Just remember to change it back later on or you’ll run into trouble.

So there you go, how to setup a Nintendo Wii video game console in your hotel room. Enjoy!

The Team Fortress Classic was my first love affair with online gaming. I remember meeting up with friends in the Half-Life Spanish Chat room on WON. Coordinating our efforts to find a server we could all play in while hoping noone in my family would try to make a phone call and disconnect me. My first clan (*HWF*) played TFC and we talked about how we’d all switch over to TF2 once it came out. It was a long wait. TF2 was originally announced in 1998 as a realistic, team-based, war game and shown off at E3 in 1999, then delayed in 2000 so it could be ported to the Source engine and eventually just not talked about. In 2004 Valve stated that TF2 was still in development and in 2006 it was mentioned again. Last month roughly 8 years after being announced it was finally released as part of the Orange Box.

…and boy is it fun. It is well balanced, runs pretty darn good on my not so top of the line system. The game looks like a cartoon with a decent amount of blood and gore thrown in. Each of the classes has their own style, voice, and personality. The games oozes style and that style works really well. it actually reminds me a bit of No One Lives for Ever, minus the 60’s. Much of the game has been simplified from TFC. Grenades are gone, as are many guns, the flashlight, ammo backpacks, armor, etc. It actually took me sometime to notice that a lot of that stuff was missing. One of my favorite additions to the games is the stats and achievements. I love being able to keep track of my stats for each class and overall.

As for the classes it’d take me all day to cover them all. My favorite class so far is the scout, who isn’t too different from TFC. He gained a double jump which replaces the concussion jump in TFC. He lost the nail gun which I really miss when trying to take out a sentry gun but his scattergun is more powerful (at short ranges) so he take out other players easier. Medic’s healing gun is awesome but his syringe launcher is lacking. It’s pretty good close range but for long range you’d have a better chance of hitting someone with your bone saw. I do miss is the ability to to infect people. When a medic teams up with a heavy and gets an uber charge that combination can cause some serious havoc. Engineers are still awesome. Supposedly spies are good but for some reason I haven’t had much luck with them. Snipers, Soldiers, Heavy Weapons Guys, Pyros, and Demomen aren’t terribly different from TFC but I haven’t played them much.

Like CS: Source when it came out TF2 has a noticeable lack of maps. Right now there are only 6 maps: ctf_2fort, cp_well, cp_dustbowl, cp_gravelpit, cp_granary and tc_hydro. I am hoping for a few more (Avanti, casbah, crossover, cz2, epicenter, rock2 and my all time favorites maps the hunted). Presumably some of them will be added eventually but I fear I may never get to experience the hunted in TF2. The majority of the maps are control point now as opposed to capture the flag I knew and loved in TFC. Even Well has been converted to the control points which is somewhat disapointing because I think it was a much better CTF map. Maps like dustbowl and hydro aee broken up into sections where you fight for control between two points rather than multiple. This adds some variation to the game by making one map feel like several.

I graduated both high school AND college while waiting for TF2. If anyone from *HWF* happens to read this I’m still around and I have a feeling I’ll be playing TF2 for quite awhile. In fact I’ve delayed posting this about 3 weeks because I was too busy playing to bother with writing about it. Since noone bothers to read any of this, I think it worked out ok.

As for the rest of the Orange Box. I couldn’t beat Half-Life 2 because it made me feel sick so I didn’t bother with Episode One and won’t bother with Episode Two until I get around to buying some dramamine and beat HL2 and Ep1. Portal is quite simply the most fun I’ve had playing single player FPS in a long time and is a complete triumph. It is bit short but full of humor and just plain inventiveness that it’s a huge success. I can only hope there’s a sequel on its way.