Good gravy, it's time for another update to the ShackReviews database. We've got five new games this week, including the long-awaited new Tomb Raider adventure, and the sequel to the well-regarded GBA title Advance Wars. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide (PC)
• Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (PS2)
• Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick (PS2, Xbox)
• Midtown Madness 3 (Xbox)
• Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (GBA)

I polished off pretty much every major quest (and most of the minor ones!) in Bloodmoon the other night (I highly recommend it -- look for my review soon), and I'm currently debating what game to play next. I really want to finally play through Majesty, since that's been sitting on my stack seemingly since time began, although when I started it up yesterday I got all kinds of horrible sound glitches. I'm hoping a driver update will fix this, otherwise it's back on the stack for that one. I've got quite a few other games to play regardless, including Zelda: The Wind Waker, so I may just give that a long overdue whirl.

A little separate pre-ER thread as some blatant abuse of having my own dumb website. So after what can only be called mass-confusion with SBC I have found out that the place I'm moving to does not qualify for regular ADSL/SDSL but is in fact part of the Richardson TX FTTC (Fiber To The Curb) program. I havent really been able to find any actual reviews of service even on Broadbandreports but the $65/mo for 6mbit downsteam sounds pretty darn good.

Anyone out there have first-hand experience with the Richardson TX FTTC program? Yes I'm sure everyone has horror stories about SBC DSL service, even I do. I'm hoping someone out there has specifically seen or tried out the VDSL in Richardson TX though. All I can seem to find out is that the deployment when the service launched was "very rocky" but not much outside of that. Anyone?

Why will you look at that...it's time for another update to the ShackReviews database. We've got four new games this week, including the latest Sonic revival for GameCube and a combination FPS/space sim from the people who brought you Starlancer. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon (PC)
• Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut (GC)
• Unlimited SaGa (PS2)
• Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter (PS2, Xbox)

I've been playing the heck out of Bloodmoon this past week, and I'm liking it quite a bit. It's definitely just an expansion pack, but it's a lot of fun, and definitely a better one than Tribunal (which I also liked, but was not particularly exciting, since it took place in yet another city, and really closely resembled the stock Morrowind game). One thing I noticed is that Bloodmoon definitely has higher system requirements than the already heavy Morrowind. The new snow effect is gorgeous, but a real memory hog. I just upgraded the RAM in my game machine (from 256 to 768) and it made a world of a difference. I also overclocked my GF 4200 slightly, and that helped out a little bit. Once you get past the system requirements, it's fun, and life as a werewolf is surprisingly entertaining.

Well this is a first I think. A little while back we had some pretty crazy power outage issues in the Dallas area which actually managed to get by our UPS systems and bring down our servers in Dallas for about an hour. When we came back online our primary web box barfed and we've been struggling with it for a few days and cant seem to find the answer to what's wrong exactly. We're getting pretty close to just doing a total wipe of the system since we've tried pretty much everything else but thought maybe some of you Linux experts may have seen this error.

- On boot, we get an 'unexpected consistency error' on our /var/ partition
- FSCK running in parallel mode  ( -A mode ) shows an inode12 has illegal blocks error
- That is the only way we see any errors, no other tools or modes have shown anything
- We're running Redhat Linux 7.2 with a custom kernel (Yes, the AOL of linux)

We've tried every error check out there, re-creating partitions and partition tables and re-copying data and it still keeps showing up. /var/ is spread across 4 15krpm SCSI seagate drives in RAID5 mode. We've got some pretty sharp guys on this one who have already gone through the obvious possible solutions and done a whole bunch of googling but we've come up empty. If you have any first-hand experience with this error though we'd love to hear from ya via email or in the comments here. Otherwise we'll probably be without one of our servers for a while longer. :(

It's Father's Day, but nonetheless it's time for another update to the ShackReviews database. We've got five new additions this week, most of which are a little older. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• Lost Kingdoms 2 (GC)
• High Heat Baseball 2004 (PS2)
• Dragon's Lair 3D (Xbox)
• Inside Pitch 2003 (Xbox)
• Donkey Kong Country (GBA)

I'm not finished with Splinter Cell yet (that last mission is driving me nuts!) but nonetheless I sold a crapload of games at my local GameStop last week, and with that credit I walked away with a handful of games. Specifically I got Final Fantasy Origins for PSOne, Munch's Oddysee and The Thing for Xbox and Wario Ware for GBA. This brings my big stack o' games up to around seven or eight games, although it's lessened somewhat thanks to my wife's current Sims addiction, which is preventing me from trying out any of the PC games I've got waiting for me.

If you hadn't seen enough impressions of the early Painkiller beta just yet, PC.IGN is the latest site with a preview of this first person shooter. Another preview is up at Game Zone Online.

Another Sunday, another update to the ShackReviews database. We've got five new games this week, including the freebie Wolfenstein game and a game that moves so fast if you blink you'll miss something. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (PC)
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Operation Resurrection (PS2)
• Midnight Club II (Xbox)
• Wario Ware Inc: Mega Microgame$ (GBA)
• Wing Commander: Prophecy (GBA)

Splinter Cell got good and challenging on me this week, slowing my progress through the game somewhat. But I've kept at it, and haven't gotten so frustrated that I'm going to put it down any time soon. Meanwhile, my stack of unplayed PC games is about to get even bigger, as I'm expecting Morrowind: Bloodmoon and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne to arrive in the near future.

The weather's been really crappy here in New York this weekend, but regardless, it's time to update the ShackReviews database. We've got a handful of new and older titles this week, including Digital Anvil's long-awaited co-op shooter and a massively multiplayer space opera. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion (PC)
• Eve Online: The Second Genesis (PC)
• IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles (PC)
• The Hulk (PC, GC, PS2, Xbox)
• Brute Force (Xbox)
• NBA Inside Drive 2003 (Xbox)

I spent my game playing time this past week totally immersed in Splinter Cell. I'm zipping right through it (I'm already about half-way!) but I'm really having a blast with it. I was pleasantly surprised to see a review copy of PlanetSide arrive yesterday, and despite the negative things I've heard about it, I'm looking forward to giving that a shot, because on paper, I think it could be really fun.

I've still got more E3 stuff coming, but it's Sunday, and that means it's time for an update to the ShackReviews database. We've got a mix of new and recent titles this week, including the world's first massively multiplayer first person shooter, and the first big huge game from Big Huge Games. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• PlanetSide (PC)
• Rise of Nations (PC)
• Burnout 2: Point of Impact (Xbox)
• MotoGP 2 (Xbox)
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (GBA)

My birthday isn't for another week, but my family celebrates it on Memorial Day weekend, since that's the only time we can all get together. Anyway, I was given a couple of gems this year, specifically Splinter Cell (the Xbox version) and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I've been getting bored with .hack://INFECTION," rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="external so I think I'll put that down for a while in favor of one of my two new shiny games.

A new site for all you hardcore Shackers to play around with, Shackifieds was created by majestik and its pretty much a buy/sell/trade all your geeky games and hardware and DVD stuff within the Shack community.

This site is not owned or maintained or supported by Shacknews, it's strictly a product of the community for the community. A huge thanks to majestik for all the time and effort he put into the project. It's really a cool feeling to see stuff like this come up. Just a reminder for you guys though, be careful this is the internet.

Hey, I'm back! I've got a ton of games to write up, and all kinds of backlogged work to do, so this week's ShackReviews database update is going to be minimal. Having said that, there were two major releases this week, so here they are:

• Enter the Matrix (PC, GC, PS2, Xbox)
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PC)

Okay, back to work for me. Look for more E3 impressions soon.

Yeah, I'm getting ready for E3, but it's time to update to the ShackReviews database. We've got a bunch of new titles this week, including the latest GBA Castlevania and the Xbox Live debut of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• Day of Defeat (PC)
• Operation Flashpoint: Resistance (PC)
• .hack//MUTATION part 2 (PS2)
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War (Xbox)
• Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

While I haven't been playing it non-stop, I have been playing a little bit of Metroid Prime on and off for the last few months. Well, I'm finally nearing the end, and it's going to be sad to part with it. The game was a great deal of fun. I'm sure if I played it all in one sitting it would have seemed too short, but devoting 30 minutes a week meant I could savor it a bit more than usual. As I'm facing a lengthy plane flight this week, I picked up Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. That should keep me busy. If not, I've still got the Phantasy Star Collection, and lord knows there's a ton of gameplay in there.

I'm finally back online after moving last weekend, and guess what? It's time for an update to the ShackReviews database. We've got a bunch of new titles this week, including a non-violent MMORPG and a the first online Star Wars game for Xbox. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• A Tale in the Desert (PC)
• X2: Wolverine's Revenge (PC, GC, PS2, Xbox)
• NBA Street Vol. 2 (GC, PS2, Xbox)
• Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (GC)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Xbox)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Xbox)
• Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder (GBA)

Boy is it nice to be back online. My only Internet this week was via a mind-boggling 9600 baud connection to my cell phone, which meant I was browsing the web with images turned off and spending up to 45 minutes downloading my e-mail. Whee! I did manage to get in some HOMM IV while I was offline, and I finished another campaign. I think I'm going to take some time off from that one and fire up .hack://INFECTION" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="external tonight, which should be interesting.

There's a Q&A with Relic Entertainment's John Johnson on HomeLAN Fed this morning. JCal asks John about the upcoming free Insect Invasion mod for Impossible Creatures.

My apartment's a disaster area of boxes and other flotsam, but who cares? It's time for an update to the ShackReviews database. We've got six new games this week, including the long-awaited North American release of Treasure's latest shmup. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it! (And don't blame me if a game you never submitted isn't added!)

• Indiana Jones & The Emperor's Tomb (PC)
• Postal 2 (PC)
• Red Faction II (PC)
• Burnout 2 (GC)
• Ikaruga (GC)
• Midnight Club 2 (PS2)

When not yelling at my cable company or laying down wires in my new apartment in preparation for our move next weekend, I've been attempting to relax with good ol' Heroes of Might & Magic IV. I love this game, but I really hope the next one is more than yet another incremental step forward. New World hit the gameplay jackpot with the HOMM formula, and while it hasn't aged by any means, I keep thinking that it's time for something to shake things up a bit.

Hey, it's Sunday! That means it's time to update to the ShackReviews database. This week we've got five new titles, including the PS2 and GameCube debut of Splinter Cell, and the PC port of Metal Gear Solid 2. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it!

• Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (PC)
• Def Jam Vendetta (GC, PS2)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (GC, PS2)
• World Series Baseball 2k3 (PS2, Xbox)
• Final Fantasy Origins (PSOne)

Earlier this weekend I polished off Xenosaga and posted my review of the game. My review says pretty much all I have to say about it, but the gist is, that it's a good, but very deeply flawed game. Oh, well. Next up for me could be any one of half a dozen games, including Delta Force: Black Hawk Down or .hack. We'll see which one strikes my fancy when I reach for something this evening.

It's been a while since we've done a full post for a poll, but what the hey, it's a slow afternoon. Today's question is about Enter the Matrix, Shiny's upcoming cross-platform title that was made in collaboration with the same people behind the upcoming Matrix sequels (see trailers here). So what do you think?

Enter the Matrix?

- Looks awesome
- Looks okay
- Looks like too much FMV
- Is that the Quake 1 engine?

Well we seem to be off to a very good relationship with the folks at CDW and the Mercury discount program. After just a couple of days of the relationship I've managed to get CDW to kick up those discounts even further. So much so that they are beating quite a few of the known 'discount' hardware spots. Actually I'll use the same 3 examples to give you guys an idea of how things have improved:

OLD DISCOUNTS
- NEC 18.1" LCD was $639, w/ Mercury is $560 ~14% off
- Sony Clie NX70V was $596, w/ Mercury is $495 ~20% off
- Sony 24" CRT was $1,799, w/ Mercury is $1,689 ~6% off
NEW DISCOUNTS
- NEC 18.1" LCD was $639, w/ Mercury is $533 ~20% off
- Sony Clie NX70V was $596, w/ Mercury is $464 ~28% off
- Sony 24" CRT was $1,799, w/ Mercury is $1,649 ~9% off

As I also mentioned the other day CDW is working on some discounts specifically for you guys that will start showing on up the CDW frontpage when you login. Oh and dont worry about this getting regularly plugged here on the front page, I just figured a lot of the people who looked earlier wouldnt expect or know to look for even further discounts.

Oh also keep in mind that myself and Shacknews do not endorse CDW, we simply secured a discount for you guys who buy your hardware online. We encourage you to shop around.

So, over the weekend I wrapped up our CDW discount deal for Mercury users, This comes at no additional cost to existing subscribers and should help you to score with more hot chicks (or guys) in the sack. The discounts average around 5% across the entire CDW inventory and run as high as 20%. Here a few example discounts:

- NEC 18.1" LCD was $639, w/ Mercury is $560 ~14% off
- Sony Clie NX70V was $596, w/ Mercury is $495 ~20% off
- Sony 24" CRT was $1,799, w/ Mercury is $1,689 ~6% off

Also, a mini FAQ for you guys:

- The price you see once you login with the coded info (on your Mercury page) is the discounted price
- The discount varies per product, the only way to see how much your discount is right now is to logout and compare
- Remember, logging in to Shackmail use all lowercase letters in your username.
- Yes, I am working on more discount deals with other hot "e-marketers" in the hot hot "e-marketplace"

Oh, I dont really suggest using these deal for CPUs or Videocards. They do have a lot of other stuff though that is pretty cool, keep in mind these guys deal in large business stuff mostly. Check out their networking stuff, LCD screens, etc.

Steve and the gang seem to be MIA (or at least AFK), but it's time to update to the ShackReviews database, and that's what I'm gonna do. We've five new games this week, including a cool-looking cel-shaded racing game (with online multiplayer, to boot). As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it!

• Vietcong (PC)
• Galactic Civilizations (PC)
• Auto Modellista (PS2)
• Red Faction II (GC, Xbox)
• X-Men Next Dimension (GC, PS2 Xbox)

As of this week we have 892 games in the database, and a whopping 1791 reviews. That's not bad, considering we've only been doing this for about 18 months. Keep 'em coming! I know I'm not the only one who consults these things before buying anything. And as usual, if there's any suggestions you have for how we can improve the ShackReviews system, by all means let us know.