hmpf PC troubles have me down

PC troubles have got me down as of late. I have an updated video card, but I'm still having issues, just different issues than I had before.   I've gotten way behind on my twitter and  blog posts, don't know when I'll be able to get back to them as I've yet to determine if it's a software issue or hardware issue that is causing the problems.  I restored an image back to August, before I had problems and the issues have not gone aways, so I'm leaning toward it being hardware related.

Well at least my Xbox is working and Mass Effect is working with the new content.

HOWTO: Fix for Pinnacle Station for Mass Effect Platinum Edition now available on Xbox Live

The title update to fix the issue with Pinnacle Station on the Platinum Hits version of Mass Effect is now on Xbox Live.   What has people confused is it's not a title update for the game, but the Bonus Content disk, so people that are checking the game to see if there are updates are not seeing the updates.

The steps needed to activate the fix that I figured out myself.

1. Go into system properties, storage, games and select & delete existing Bring Down the Sky Content from your Hard drive under Mass Effect.
2. Go back to the dashboard and insert you “Mass Effect Bonus Content” disk and launch it.
3. You will be prompted to install an update, install the update and the Bonus Content disk will re-launch.
4. Install the Bring Down the Sky bonus content from the disk.
5. Exit back to dashboard and eject the bonus content disk.
6. Insert your Mass Effect disk and launch it

Enjoy being able to play Pinnacle Station with your character that you've already used with BDtS!!!!

YEAH!!!!

EDIT: Official steps from the BioWare forum follows…

Posted: Wednesday, 23 September 2009 02:37PM

Here are the official instructions from Microsoft (they're pretty much what subsolar already told you guys; thank you for that post) and it appears as if the title update was live roughly 11 hours ago.

1. Launch Xbox Dashboard
2. Sign in with the profile that was used to install Bring Down the Sky from the Mass Effect Platinum Hits Bonus Disc
3. Navigate to "My Xbox", scroll right to get to "System Settings" and press A.
4. On the System Settings page navigate to "Memory" and press A.
5. On the Storage Devices screen select "All Devices" and press A.
6. On the All Devices screen select "Games" and press A.
7. On the Games screen navigate to Mass Effect and press A.
8. On the Mass Effect screen locate "Bring Down the Sky" and press A to select.
9. Delete the Bring Down the Sky downloadable content package and confirm the download when prompted.
10. Insert your Mass Effect Platinum Hits Bonus Disc into the Xbox 360 DVD tray and launch.
11. You will be prompted that there is a title update for the title. It will install and reboot the title.
12. Reinstall the Bring Down the Sky downloadable content package from the Mass Effect Platinum Hits Bonus Disc

Edited By Jack Lamden on 09/23/09 14:37

I’m tempted to purchase an Antec Mini P180 from Newegg with #freeshipping

Newegg has free shipping on an Antec Mini P180 MicroATX case.  It’s looks like a pretty sweet case and I’ve been tempted to start building a new gaming rig seeing mine is 2 1/2 years old now.

I’ve been planning on building a MicroATX based system for my next rig as it’s getting to the point you don’t need as many slots (unless you want to run Crossfire or SLI) as everything except video is built in the motherboard now and it’s all “good enough”.  With the new Intel LGA 1156 systems out now, that’s kinda the sweet spot between price and performance.

Not that I’m saying that you can’t build a good AMD based system … AMD’s new Athlon II X4 CPU is a budget builder dream.  The X4 is pretty good at overclocking from what I’ve read and it will work with existing AM2+ and AM3 motherboards (something I wish Intel would do).  For about $220 you can get the CPU, Motherboard and RAM that would be a good base for a budget gaming rig and at least $100 cheaper than a bottom Intel LGA 1156 i5 rig.

Xbox 360 ODST “Prepare to Drop” Premium Theme free for Xbox Live Gold Members #xbox360 #halo #xboxlive #halo

Well according to the following tweet …

@majornelson Gold Members can download the #FREE Halo 3: #ODST theme for their #Xbox360 this week only. Grab it now: http://bit.ly/YfSTU

from @majornelson an ODST premium theme is available for download for free for all Xbox Live Gold members.

I’ve downloaded it and installed it and it’s better than most free themes in that it’s more than a background image …. it has backdrops for your friends channel, but that seems to be about it from a quick look around.  I think I’ll keep my Mass Effect Pinnacle Station theme as my Xbox theme for the time being.

Halo 3: ODST hmmmmm $60??? don’t think so. #xbox360 #halo

Listening/reading of the reviews of ODST and thinking I’ll keep my $60 as I’m not a Halo fanboi and the shortness of the single player campaign I’m going to pass on this till the price drops down to what is reasonable for a add-on pack as it seams to be.

Gamespot gives a pretty glowing review of the game, does not mention the shortness of the single player campaign and primarily focuses on the multi-player add-on.

Xplay gives a 5/5 rank but mentions that the campaign is pretty short but well done but says it probably not the game for you if you are not a Halo 3 fan.

Ars Technica basically pans ODST as a not terribly good expansion pack for Halo 3 that is way over priced.

So I’m still saving my money for Fallout 3 GoTY or Modern Warfare 2 as those are the games I’m looking forward to (Mass Effect 2 is too far off to think about).

Wedl’s Hamburger Stand in Jefferson Wisconsin

I was traveling through Jefferson today and was getting a bit hungry for something to eat. I remembered that I used to stop in at a hamburger stand on the corner of Racine& & Center streets called Armstrong’s that had some of the most delicious burgers I’ve tasted. The stand is there but it’s changed hands and is now Wedl's Hamburger Stand, but other than that not much has changed.


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The little (can't be more than 8'x8') stand with the grill in front of the order window is still sitting on the corner serving up burgers to local people like it had when I was much younger.

They mix up fresh hamburger with salt, pepper and other spices and roll it into balls that once you place your order they place on the grill and flatten out into thin patties.  On the grill next to the burgers they have caramelized onions that you can have on your burger (along with cheese and bacon). While your order is being cooked you can wait on the bench next to an Ice-cream Parlor owned by the same people.  Once your order is finished the put the burgers in a brown paper bag and hand them out the window to you.

The burgers are simple, slightly peppery and delicious that no chain burger can compare to.

Edit: There is a review in the Waun-a-Burger blog that I just found about them also, they were Peterson's for a while apparently.

Pinnacle Station patch for Mass Effect on Xbox 360 finally passed certification for Xbox Live

According to this post on the BioWare forums Mass Effect Platinum Hits owners will FINALLY be able to play the Pinnacle Station with their existing characters that they have played Bring Down the Sky with.

Now for the downside, the patch probably won’t be available till Sept 21.  The reason given on the BioWare forum is that Xbox Live only schedules certain update types at certain times and the patch missed the window for this week.

This is all very frustrating.

Purchased a Chatpad for my Xbox 360

Just purchased the Xbox Live, Project Gotham Racing and Chatpad combo.  I mostly purchased it for the Chatpad and the Xbox Live 12 months.

As far as the chatpad goes, I think it’s pretty sweet.  I do like the feedback of the buttons, they are spaced far enough apart so I don’t have problems hitting multiple buttons at the same time.  The backlight is pretty nice along with the messenger button that lights up when somebody sends you a message.  Also the pad does not seem to get in the way of any of the controls and appears to be part of the unit when it’s attached.

One minor gripe I have is that the controller with the chatpad is that the width makes it a bit harder hitting the center buttons of the pad, somebody with smaller hands would definitely have an issue typing I think.

I know that they can’t retroactively make the controller smaller, but maybe they will make a version of the controller with the pad integrated or offer an Xbox compatible Wireless keyboard … that would make some sense with Microsoft pushing Twitter and Facebook on the Xbox.

Yeah GoTY edition of Fallout 3 coming for Xbox 360

According to Gamespot Bethesda Softworks will be releasing the Game of The Year edition of Fallout 3 on October 13th!!
I’ve been holding out buying the game and DLC till the GoTY edition comes out as I can get the whole shebang for a heck of a lot less than I would have if I purchased it when it first came out … I’m really cheap!!
Multi-player games are a bit different as if you don’t join in early everybody else has been playing for a year and you get totally owned when you finally purchase the GoTY edition.

Game play footage of Modern Warfare 2 posted on Gametailers.com

Gametrailers.com has posted some new game play footage from Tuesday night’s press event showing off Modern Warfare 2 multi-player game play.

All looks pretty good to me!!!

Looks like no 250GB drive for Xbox 360 owners for now

According to Gamespot and Joystiq Microsoft has no immediate plans on selling a 250GB add-on drive for 360 owners.  A bit of a disappointment, but eventually they will have to offer larger upgrade drives if they expect their Games on Demand and other DLC to keep moving forward.

A Modern Warfare 2 edition of the 360 will be released November with ME2

According to @majornelson and @IGNcom Microsoft will be releasing Limited Edition Xbox 360 Modern Warfare themed and will include the game for $399, features include…

• Modern Warfare 2 themed appearance
• 250GB Hard Drive
• Two Controllers
• Of course the Modern Warfare 2 game

Not sure if I’m crazy for the price, but the hard drive size has me interested along with the paint job (silk screen?).

Would be more excited if the hard drive was a 320GB or 500GB model, hopefully they will sell the 250GB as an add-on so us with 60GB hard drives can upgrade.

More information at IGN.com and MajorNelson.com.

Xbox Live hawking Mass Effect Pinnacle Station content to people who already purchased it.

Well to add insult to injury to people who purchased the Mass Effect Pinnacle Station DLC are receiving marketing emails from Xbox Live trying to sell them the new content.  This is really a slap to us who can’t play it because they have the Platinum Hits Edition of Mass Effect

Come on Microsoft, you use my gamertag to send the message and so your *should* already know that I purchased the damned content, why the heck are you bothering me with it??

Does anybody at Xbox Live even look at their own forums to see that there is an issue with the content??   Somebody needs to walk over to Xbox Live and use a Clue by 4 to wake them up to their crappy customer support.

New Intel Core i5 750 Pushes AMD out of mid-range Systems

Looking at the benchmarks on Tom’s Hardware of the new Intel LGA 1156 processors it looks like AMD’s top of the line Phenom II X4 965 BE can’t keep up with the i5 750 and currently costs significantly more.

With the new Intel CPUs it looks like AMD CPUs will be relegated to the low (sub $700) end of the gaming PC market and the $800 on up gaming PC market is dominated in the new i5 & i7 in the $800-$1000 price range and $1200 on up by older LGA 1366 Core i7 CPUs.  This is not a good situation for AMD to be in seeing that they are still running in the red.

That being said AMD still is a decent value when an Phenom II X3 720 is paired with a Radeon HD 4780, you still have a good gaming rig that will run current games at medium to high detail on a 22” LCD.  It’s a good rig for a semi-casual gamer, or a gamer trying to stretch their budget as far as possible.  The downside is AMD makes very little money off such a rig and would rather be selling the mid to high end part of the market like they were three to four years ago.

After 2 1/2 weeks no Resolution for the Mass Effect Platinum Hits and Pinnacle Station Problem

Actually it’s gotten rather ridiculous that after more than two weeks there still is no resolution for the the conflict in the Platinum Hits version of Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station from Xbox Live.

What is really bad is that supposedly there is a fix that the Xbox Live Support people can give out and apparently they are not doing for whatever reason.  The real kicker is that there is no acknowledgement on the XBL forums of the issue and the DLC continues to be sold.  This is not the kind of support that a company that is pushing their console based on friendliness and ease of getting content vs. their competition.
At least on the BioWare forums there at least is an official status thread and a representative that posts semi-regular updates on the status of the patch

Unfortunately the status is as follows…

• There is a “quick fix” that XBL support can give, but people are not getting it.
• A patch has passed internal testing and is waiting for certification by MS for the past approx. two weeks.

For the time being I’ve been playing the classic Xbox game Psychonauts that I missed because I was not an Xbox user at the time and the PC version when it was first released seemed to have issues.

Blog Consolidation

I've consolidated a couple blogs I used to run into this and now I have content going back to 2003 if you really wish to read it. The biggest headache was importing the posts from a custom blogging application I wrote back to 2003 when I was running game servers and I wanted to post gaming clan news.

The clan's site is The Fragaholic now run by Goatboy and while nobody plays together much anymore it's still of use as a message board to keep track of members and former members.

Still waiting on fix for Pinnacle Station

Well over a week on and still no fix for Pinnacle Station purchasers that want to use it with the Bring Down the Sky in the Platinum Hits version of the game.

Apparently there is a fix that is being qualified by Microsoft so the issue may be resolved soon, but it’s been a very frustrating time for people on the forums, especially the Xbox Live forums where there has been no official word released at all.   The only place where there has been any good information at all is the BioWare Mass Effect forums.

Mentioning the BioWare Mass Effect forums, I would like to thank Jack Lamden who has been feeing what information they have on the problems and putting up with all our cussing a bitching about the issue.

At this point I give BioWare a +1 for dealing with their customers and I give Xbox Live Support a –5 for being totally clueless even a week after the issue was discovered.