Vacation - from 07/18 to 07/26

Everything is in the title, a little more is in the picture...

I will have a one week break, if you just got here, check out my older articles, I'll be pleased to read some great quality comments when I come back !

Bye!

LAN party time ? no, cheap LAN party time !

Welcome back !
Today I'm gonna talk about something I just LOVE : LAN party !
I used to organise a lot of LAN party with my friends, and for that we did a LOT of research for fun, cheap/free games to play on a LAN party, so I had to write an article to share some of the best stuff we found !  (and yeah I love to write "LAN" with cappital letters !).

So you want to organise a little lan ? For like 10 persons ? your friends don't all have a f$cking alienware and 300$ to put on a lan week end ? Here you go ;)
I'm gonna start with some advices to keep in mind, and then a little cheap and free games selection !

(I just love that pic !)

4 tips to make a great LAN party :

1) You need an ethernet switch + ethernet cables : to be honest with you, I don't know so much about that, the only one I've ever bought was the cheapiest available, with cheap ethernet cables : never had any problems with it. So maybe they are some better switch etc...but really ? Unless you want to organise a 100 persons LAN party, just go with the cheapiest with the number of slots you want ! 

Don't ever try to play a "LAN party" on wifi...it can work, but trust me, it sucks !

2) Then you need a place to setup your awesome cheap LAN party. Here there isn't real advices I can give you. Just make sure that everybody can sit well in front of his computer and that nobody can watch somebody screen too easily !

3) Choose the games BEFORE you LAN party ! If you do so, you'll be able to set up tournaments (1V1, 2V2, 3V3 etc...) and also to install the games on everybody's computers before the LAN party, you'll just earn a lot of time, and then you'll be able to use this time to play HARD !

4) Being an even number of player is always better for playing any games. If you can't, well it can work (I've done it several times, sometimes it's fine, sometimes it's a nightmare...). Don't say "sorry man you can't come to my LAN party, we need to be an even number of players", say "WE NEED MOAR PLAYERS!!!"

Anybody who had already organised a LAN party know about this stuff, so here's I guess the most important part : the GAMES !

So just because I have to say it, here you'll find cheap or free games, that don't require a brand new computer, so it will be easier to find people to play with !

tip : I've tried all of the games here, so they are all 100% compatible for LAN playing

- FPS :

Unreal Tournament (Classic / 2K4)   

Why the two versions ? Well it depends on the computers you have. I think most of the computers can run the 2K4 easily now, it add a lot of the contents such as vehicles, new games mode etc...But the "classic" UT is still a great game, make your choice, it's a classic nervous FPS you got here.

Serious Sam 2

This game is pure FUN ! This is a classic FPS, you run, you shoot and your guns are bigger and bigger ! The real great part of this game is the co-op mode, you can do the entire solo campaign with up to 16 players !! A classic LAN party game.

Alien VS Predator 2

Why this game here ? Well this game is one of my favorite on a LAN because of the scary part of it ! It's a great game to play in the dark, trying to scare your friends etc..When I was young, we used to play it while listening to horror movies Ost...EPIC !

- STRATEGY :

Warcraft 3 (fun maps) / Starcraft

Ok so here it's not really my type of games, I'm more like a FPS fan, but RTS are well recognized multiplayer games. I've only really played Warcraft 3 funmaps and the first Stacraft on a LAN party, they are really cheap and you can find a LOT of maps for free on the internet, you can choose to play some fast games or little "scenario" (in Warcraft 3) to play for hours.

- MISC. :

Flatout 2

Flatout 2 is just AWESOME on a LAn party, I had to say it first because a lot of people just don't want to play games like this on a lan. In fact, you have to know that there is a classic race mode, pretty fun because you can smash your friend's cars, and a "destruction derby" mode, on the last one you just have to smash your friend's cars in arena. That's the perfect game to take a break, since everybody can play it easily !

BONUS : FREE GAMES + LINKS !

 Poker TH : really light and cool poker game, perfect to play some fast poker games

http://www.pokerth.net/download.html

Tee Worlds : nice 2D action game with a lot of skill ! Really small but it can be addictive !

http://www.teeworlds.com/?page=downloads

Bontago : great puzzle game, you really have to try it to see if you like it or not. Very fun anyway !

http://bontago.softonic.fr/

Warsow : you don't want to pay for a quake - like ? This one is free, it really looks nice and it has all you can want from a FPS game ! 

http://www.warsow.net/download/

So I'm done here, I just love to have LAN party and I hope you'll have FUN doing it ! 

Bye!

ps : If you have some more great LAN games, just post it in the comments ;)

Blogging about my blog...

Hi everyone !
Today I'm talking about...well my own blog !

Take a look over there 

..and now scroll down (or up), you'll see my "Usefull links to a better computer experience"

In this article I'm gonna show you a little more about this, if you don't already know it !

- deviantART

this is THE #1 website to find any graphic content. The great stuff about deviantART is that anybody can create an account and post his stuff, so the database is HUGE and you can find here anything : wallpapers, icons, logos, drawing, ...

tip : browse it by categories, you'll see what I'm talking about.

- Zune Software

Why zune here ? Well it's the software I use to play music, I think it is one the best way to play albums with a wonderfull interface ! Check out some videos to see what I'm talking about, but since it's free, you can just check it out by yourself, with your own music collection ! 

- Picasa

(this screenshot is pretty creepy, sorry about that)

This software is just awesome if you want to see your picture collection in a pretty way. The interface is really simple and you can also edit your pictures really easily. I use photoshop also, but I have to say that Picasa can do a real good job if you're just looking for simple modifications like correcting red eyes etc...

tip : use it as you default images viewer, it's really nice !

- RocketDock

For a very long time, I've always been saying that this kind of software are crap, eating your RAM memory for nothing. But I've tried it recently and I have to say that they have done a really great job on that point, it's very fast now, and very light too. If you take some time to search for nice icons, and the right settings for what you need, it can really change your computer experience. To be honest with you I'll say that without this software, I would probably be using a mac today haha

tip : search for icons on deviantART !

- OpenOffice.org

I bet everybody know this one ! I'm just putting this here because I see too much people using Microsoft Office in college...and when you ask them "why don't you use OpenOffice ? it's FREE !" they just tell you that MS office is prettier, with better templates for powerpoint for exemple...

It's sad, you can do wonderfull powerpoint with OpenOffice ! It will just take 10 minutes instead of 2 on MS office...so seriously, why pay for this when it's free and awesome and open source on the internet ?!

Well, I know that maybe you won't agree with me, but I'm just sharing some free stuff here, and if somebody around you ask for a list of things to try on their computer to start, you can take one or two exemple from this list ! 

Byebye!

BONUS : Ideas for cheap PC games !

Here's an awesome "Brief History of PC Games".

But you can also use it to find ideas for games, it starts in 1990, that's the golden age for me, so if you have a shitty computer and you don't know what to play on it, there you go ;)

LINK TO THE ORIGINAL FULL SIZE PICTURE!

source : http://infothread.org

The Cheap games Interval !

LOL

Hi ! Here I am to tell you one of my own advice again !

Today I'm talking about something I call "The cheap games Interval". It sound like crap but it's real ! 

It's pretty easy : look at the prices today, a new game will cost around 50/70$ but if you just wait a few months, you'll find the same game, new, for half the price (depends on the games of course) ! So the only thing you'll have to do is to wait for them to be cheapier. 

Here's a list of advice :

1. Patience

That's the Key ! When a games comes out, you will see all these awesome advertising about how you should pay A LOT to play it NOW ! It's bullshit. So if you really want to pay less for you games, remember to be patient !

2. Catch the right moment.

So here's one of my secrets : you'll have to know how many time you can/want to wait to play new games. I'm on a 3 months interval right now, wich means : when I see a new game coming out, I'll wait at least 3 months to buy it, and then I'm gonna buy it for 30$ or less !

Find your own interval and think twice before buying a brand new game !

3. Make exceptions

You'll say that I'm a bad teacher (lol), but that's really a part of it : making exceptions. My "theory" depends on your budget, if you can afford a 70$ game, think about it twice, and if you still want it well, you don't have so many option : HAVE FUN ! (but it's funnier when it's cheapest !)

Hope you will think about it, bye!

2 easy step to buy only the best

Hi !

In this new article, I'm gonna give you some advice gor buying ANYTHING !
The secret is time : you've got to spend time searching for what you want.
Most of you will probalby know how to do it, but it's always good to do this before buying stuff :

1. What do you want ?

First off all, you have to know how much you want to spend.
Then you have to find the best product in your price range.
Google is now your friend ! With some research it's pretty easy to find a forum or a website with people who are crazy about what you want to purchase (ex : if you want to buy a camera, there are a lot of website with people who know what they're talking about). Don't be afraid of posting a thread on a forum, that's the best way to find exactly what you want !

2. Where will you buy it ?

Now you can tell the exact model of the stuff you want, let's check for the best price.
Internet is awesome to compare price, again google is helpfull : there is a tab called "Shopping" to compare prices easily. But google will provide you a lot of different shopping websites, so how to know wich you should trust ?
Well it's not 90's anymore and purchasing stuff online is pretty safe now. But to make sure, always google the name of the website before paying on it, just to check some reviews from other people. Don't hesitate to ask the website assistance, that's what they are paid for.
Final advice : always check the prices IRL ! Most of the time, the best prices are on the internet, but often you can actually buy it around you for the same price or less sometimes. tip : if you want to buy any electronics, always consider the shops around you AND the internet. For exemple : a blue ray player cost almost the same price online and in your retailler, imagine that you've got the same warranty on both of them. Wich one will be the easier and the faster to return ? I'm sure you've got the answer !

see that nice and happy couple ? that's because they read my blog before buying stuff !

So don't forget, take your time, and compare by yourself, that's the best way to buy the best stuff !

I hope it will help somebody ! Bye !   
   

First Article : I have a Dream(cast)

I'm verry happy to start this blog with one of my favorites console ever ! The DreamCast !

Why ?

The first thing you'll have to know about the Dreamcast, it's his generation : between the first popular 3D system (Playstation, Nintendo64) and the second generation (Playstation 2, Xbox, Gamecube). So basically, what I am gonna tell you is how many you should pay your dreamcast, and what are the best multiplayers games I've ever experienced on the Dreamcast !

After this article, I hope you will try it, or even play to your old dreamcast again !

How does a Dreamcast cost today ? where to buy ?

This is maybe the best part : Sega has stopped the production of the Dreamcast for years now, so if you want to buy a dreamcast, it will be only a second-hand one. I won't give you links to ebay since everybody knows it is a good place to buy stuff.

Online, it cost around 20$, it is a good price for a dreamcast with like one or two controllers. Above 40$, there must be more than 1 controller, and some games with it otherwise the man is overpricing it.

The games : 5$ for a game is a good price, 10$ must be your maximum, unless the game you want is a little bit hard to find.

A good advice I can give you is to buy a pack from someone you just want to get rid of everything. It's a little harder to find, buy I remember that like 3 / 4 years ago I bought mine with 2 controllers and 5 games for something like 30$, it was a great deal and for only  around 50$ I had my console with 4 controller and a like 10 games or more.

So if you don't want to pay 50$ for a new game and try something fun instead, go go go !

Wich games really deserve your attention ?

Dreamcast has a lot of great games, and some of them looks incredible.

First I'll give you my #1 source for finding the best dreamcast games. 

The reason why I just drop a link here is because I didn't had time to play all of thoses games as I'd liked to, so my opinion might not be really great.

After this, I'm gonna show you my favorite part of the dreamcast, the one I really played a lot : the multiplayer.

My very best link : from racketboy.com The Best Dreamcast Games For Today: The Top Titles That Still Matter

This selection is really nice because the man wrote it in 2006 when the Dreamcast was sadly already dead. Here are the games that will still impress you today, because they look fantastic !

Now for my part : I've always liked the multiplayer games on Dreamcast, me and my friends have played Dreamcast for ours, when the playstation 2 and x box was at their best.

MULTIPLAYER ! 

one selection game, only the best here ! (tip : videos looks ugly on pc, really try it at home)

action / fighting games

Power Stone 2

-

He you want to play a 4 player crazy fighting game, here you go. 

The gameplay is pretty easy, is a 3d fighting game and to do the special attack you'll just have to push one of the trigger. Really awesome level designing, add to unlock new character there is "Story Mode", a series of level with 2 awesome boss. The really great point is that you can play this Story Mode in co-op with one friend. Try it, with 2, 3 or 4 player, it's AWESOME!

Try also : Soul Calibur, Marvel VS Capcom 2, Dead or Alive 2, Worms World Party

sports

Virtua Tennis

-

First of all, why not Virtua Tennis 2 ? Well it's simple : the first one is for me the most arcade one. The second one is not as good, it still a great tennis game (and there is girls in the second one...) but my choice still the first one. Here again, enjoy 2, 3 or 4 players, the arcade style make the game FURIOUS ! The single player mode is great too but I won't lie here, it's pretty boring, you won't play it everyday for months. TIP : try the arcade mode with only two players. You will be a part of a little "Story Mode" like in PowerStone 2 : 2 players and a succesion of levels. Really great, and if you don't loose at all, there is a special stage with cheated players to unlock ! I player hours trying with a friend to unlock this bastard, hours of pur, cheap, FUN !

Try also : Virtua Athlete, NBA Show Time (2 vs 2)

puzzle games

BomberMan Online

-

First of all, you won't be able to play this game online since all the server are down (except maybe for Phantasy Star Online 2 ?). But here again, 2, 3, 4 players is the best. Everybody know Bomberman, here it comes with classic mode and also a lot of others concept. Try them all, it's hours of fun here, on a silver plate. But again the solo mode is not that good, but if you have 4 controllers you will enjoy your investisment.

Chu Chu Rocket

-

Another puzzle game. The first time I saw this thing, I was like "WTF is that shit ?". It's actually one of the first games released on the Dreamcast. But anyway I was wrong ! It's looks a little anoying and ugly but trust me, it's awesome. Again and again 2, 3 or 4 players is the best. I can't see how somebody could play this game alone ! The CPU are pretty good, but with just a friend with you, it will be EPIC! The game is crazy, watch the video above to understand it. With 4 players, it's just really really addictive, people around you will now think you're crazy while watching the games you're playing.

rpg / misc

Armada

-

This is a masterpiece. Ok maybe not, but it's really my favorite one. The gameplay is pretty new : it's like a 2d crolling shooter with some RPG aspect in it. The really great part is that you can it up to 4 players ! So basically I've been playing this with friends for hours, it's really addictive and the co-op is just awesome. The game is a little bit hard I think, but you really have to try it if you can. If you're into space shooter, of maybe a little bit sci-fi geek, this game will really amaze you ! This is I think one of the deepiest multiplayer experience one dreamcast. Brillant !

BONUS : my favorite solo game

Jet Grind Radio (Jet Set Radio in europe)

-

As I said it, I didn't play the Dreamcast alone a lot. I was just testing the multiplayer games, and call my friends to play the best of them. But one solo games really amazed me ! Jet Grind Radio is an awesome roller / graffiti game. Check the video up here, and listen to this music too. I just felt in love with the universe of this game. The music is great, the gameplay too, the characters have style and the difficulty pretty hard at the end !

So there is no multiplayer mode here, but if you want to see how Dreamcast can be beautiful, try it !

That's the end, as it's mly first article I try not to be too long, and I also try to write well, because English is not my native language. I hope you'd fun, and I also hope you will have fun playing Dreamcast with your friends, because even if there are a lot of great solo games on the Dreamcast, the multiplayer part is really huge and awesome too !