gareth.halfacree.co.uk

If you’re struggling to find somewhere with the Wii in stock - or can’t afford to shell out a hundred and eighty smackers on a console - then check your local Morrison’s.  I was pleased to find a Zone Wireless Gaming console in my local for under £18 - that’s a tenth the cost of the Nintendo equivalent!

Sadly, I was ordered by my better half not to buy it - despite the “incredible 16-bit graphics” and 7 in-built sports games - 2 more than you get with the Wii.  I guess I’ll have to make do with Nintendo’s offering.

Steam - Valve’s digital distribution mechanism - is having a sale at the moment with some reasonable bargains, including a decent deal on Max Payne and Max Payne 2.  Having enjoyed the original and never having played the sequel, I snapped it up.

There are problems, however: while the original works fine, Max Payne 2 suffers from major audio glitches in the video sequences.  Sticking, juddering, popping every few seconds - it’s a mess.  I tried setting processor affinity, turning Direct3D acceleration off, setting Windows 2000 compatibility mode - the works.

I finally figured out that it’s not actually Max Payne 2 that’s the problem, but rather the Bink video playback DLL that comes bundled.  Having upgraded the RAD Video Tools to the latest version, I was able to recreate the problem outside the game engine simply by playing back the - admittedly fairly high-resolution - intro video within the Bink Player.

It turns out that some older software - Bink playback tools included - don’t like SMP systems, i.e. systems with two or more logical processors.  The good news is that there’s a relatively simple fix.

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In a brave attempt to rid myself of some of the cruft I’ve gathered over the years, I’ve recently had a somewhat brutal clearout.  As well as all the rubbish that I’ve collected, I’m planning to get rid of the vast majority of my old gaming equipment - including my beloved Commodore C64 collection.

Accordingly, I’ve put a page on this ‘ere site called - surprisingly - For Sale, which contains - again, surprisingly - a list of all the items I’ve catalogued.  The page will be updated just as frequently as I can bring myself to, with the easier-to-catalogue stuff getting added first - which means that the C64 with its two large boxes filled with games will likely be last.

If you’re interested in any of the items you see, make me an offer either via e-mail or through the comment link on the page.

Ha! Ceri’s not the only one who can get the MVP achievement in Halo 3.

It sounds so much better if I don’t mention the little fact that most of the other players quit early…

I’m starting to think that Ceri’s been practising without me.

That’s SilverSparks earning herself the 5-point MVP achievement - and before I did, damnit. Proud doesn’t even begin to cover it.