Another day, another game Today I purchased Battlefield 2 for i386.
Well it was a long time ago since I've used MS Windows. You have to update the drivers, install 40 patches and you need 30 reboots. At the beginning the game crashed several times until I updated the graphic driver again. It is still a pain in the ass. I would prefer more games for my Mac.
Battlefield 2 is a military tactical ego shooter. It's fun to play. Particularly online with 64 players. Lot of huge maps and many vehicles. Perhaps I will setup a server for the game this weekend except the hardware requirements are not that high for servers as for desktops.

About hardware requriements. You need at least 128MB ram on your gfx card with pixel shader 1.4 (or higher) and 512MB ram in your windows desktop. IMHO it's a bit to much for a game. The graphic engine is nice but we've seen much better in-game graphics in the past (Far Cry, Halflife 2) with less hardware requirements.
Please test the game in a shop before you buy new hardware. IMO it's not worthy to spend several hundred bucks for new hardware just to play this game.

Today I took an opportunity to play Meteos for Nintendo DS. It's an awesome puzzle game. The graphic is very simple like Tetris. Check out some screenshots.

The last time I had so much fun to play a puzzle game alone or against other players was back in the early 90's with Tetris (link needs flashplayer) for the originial GameBoy. So I ordered the US version of Meteos from g-games.ch. Good pastime.

Today I had the opportunity to play Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 for the PC. The game has a strong affinity to the TV series Band of Brothers.
My first impression of this game is very positive.
The game plays during the D-Day in World War 2. It’s a tactical first person shooter but with a lot of action too. You have not only to look for your safety but also for your squad too. The graphics cannot hide its Xbox history but it’s still good for PC too. But the real highlight of the game is the amazing ambiance and the cinematic presentation of the story. It’s absolutly great. But be careful, the game is very violent.
It’s availabe for Xbox, PS2 and PC.

I received my US version of Nintendo’s new hand-held Nintendo DS. I know this gadget is technically not as much advanced as Sony’s competitive product Sony PSP. But I grew up with Nintendo’s Mario.
Mario 64 DS is pure fun. The game looks very similar to Mario 64 for Nintendo’s older console Nintendo 64. It includes several mini games and some new level design. The biggest difference between the two games are that you’re able to play with Mario, Luigi, Wario and Yoshi. Great game. I’m really looking forward to Mario Kart and some hot challenge against other DS player. The integrated wireless card gives you a new multiplayer experience. No more wiring.

o Mario 64 for Nintendo's ...

We started with Burnout 3: Takedown. It’s a racing demolition game with superb graphics and good gameplay. Bassmatic already played this game a few times in the past. He took his chance, because I’ve never played this game before. He defeated me in a close race 20:15 (WOW, what a crash!).
Next game was NBA Jam. The gameplay is solid but not so sportfully as we expected. This time I took my opportunity. It was the first time he played this game, but he still was a very weak challenger. Just for the records, I defeated Bassmatic in every match (ALLEY-OOP! Boom-shaka-laka).
Last but not least we played Winning Eleven 8 from Konami. It’s an amazing soccer game. It doesnt’ look as good as Fifa 2005 but has a much better gameplay. We played a few dozen matches. Bassmatic won two or three times. Not that bad for his limited gaming possibilities. In overall he lost more than a dozen times in this excellent soccer game. We both played this game the first time. So there was no excuses for his weak performance. I guess it was very frustrating for him. (GOAL! Ronaldoooo!!!)
It was a fun night and a successful revenge for the many defeats in the crappy fight game Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus several months ago. Yes, he badly defeated me in this unbalanced fighting game at the last game night.
I’m looking forward to the next game night. We need more players next time. Bassmatic wasn’t a big challenge for me and never will be.