You can feel it coming…Anticipatory excitement like mild electricity surging through your body… E3 is close. And this year, we will be covering the expo for the first time. And yet, many people I talk to about E3 seem ambivalent. They tell me how last year’s was ‘lame’ and disorganized. Thats when it hits me. That electricity I feel is a remnant from the previous incarnation of the expo, when it was huge and a spectacle to behold.
The whole point in downsizing the expo was to save everyone money but all thats seemed to happen is that exhibitors are spending more than ever not only on the E3 expo, but their inhouse showings and other gaming events like Leipzig.
E3 must make a comeback this year. Its very survival depends on it. All hope is not lost, thankfully. There is still enough memory of ‘what was’ to get us through this rough patch should they improve the show. Bring back some of the spectacle, the glitz, the energy. Everyone here is pulling for the event and hopes it lives up to our expectations.
Which brings us to this…Only a handful of days remain until it begins. Our preparations are fully underway. The hotel room has been booked (long in advanced thanks to the Shogun), the right configuration of bags have been selected and are waiting for their final payloads, and our transportation has been arranged. Pfgonzo will be flying down early next week before the festivities begin to meet the rest of us so we can get underway. Our meetings have all been scheduled save for a few select timeslots which I am wrestling with as I type this. We have been contacted by several last-minute requests to meet, so I am confident we will get those assigned in no time.
We will post again soon with our official GamingShogun.com equipment list so you know what tech we will be using in our coverage.
However it is far easier to select a game from the hot buttons where you can read the names of the available games instead of hovering over tables attempting to remember where that darn Pai Gow was.
The online aspect not only gives players a chance to meet up and play against one another, but it also gives players a location to trade gambling stories, tips, general chit chat. This community will spur alot of growth in the franchise.
We verified this using the standard Double Double Bonus payout table and it checks out. This is fairly misleading and, as previously mentioned, confusing.
This is, without a doubt, the coolest-design for a card that Creative Labs has ever made. The circuit board is semi-enclosed and shielded by a black metal casing that gives the X-Fi Titanium the look of a cartridge that would record data aboard Blue Thunder. It features color-coded input ports on its backside that make connecting your speakers extremely simple. I remember a time when I would connect the plugs, run the surround sound test, and try again and again until it was correct. Well, times have changed. We have colors now. On our original X-Fi Fatality, the lack of optical plugs was disturbing. Creative has added such an option now with an optical input and output. This makes it much easier to connect to your home theater’s receiver/decoder. On the outer edge of the card when seated on the mobo is the standard X-Fi logo, back lit in white when the PC is running.
With that and the additional features that EAX, the Crystalizer, and the inclusion of Dolby Digital Live provide, it is hard not to recommend this card to gamers looking for the most immersive audio experience possible. Audiophiles will enjoy the card with all its audio-processing mojo, as will home theater PC builders, but REALLY big audio geeks (we use the term with love) might consider picking up the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty ‘Champion’ series card that comes with a 5.25” drive bay panel with lots of extra sweet audio ports, knobs, and switches to rub your ears all over in aural glee.
Nor are most people that altruistic. Indeed, one of the things we admire most about the single-player portion of the shooter is the bantering that goes on between your squad mates and their fairly sardonic (yet highly amusing) views on life, each other, and everything else. In Battlefield: Bad Company, you play as a new recruit to B-Company, a special four-man squad in the U.S. Army full of very skilled rejects from regular units.
Unfortunately, the AI in the game is a bit spotty, and every so often you will find an enemy standing in the open waiting for your to blow them away. Thankfully, most of the NPCs have terrific fighting AI and can be a real challenge when you find the cover you are hiding behind had been blown away!
Vivendi Games has launched the Bourne Conspiracy on the ‘mobile’ platform, basically meaning cell phones. The game appears to be primarily a side-scrolling fighter. You can find out more at 
Even the stuff not much appreciated ’round these parts. Like the Allman Brothers Band…Alot of people just don’t get those guys… But, I digress.