PNY XLR8 GeForce® 9800 GT Video Card

My Alienware system is 5 years old now and is still a decent gaming system.
The video card was an ATI X850 w/ 256MB which at the time was a high end card. I have purchased a few games namely GTA IV and Modern Warefare 2 and was unable to play these games on the computer because the new games require pixel shader 2.0  technology. The ATI card was running hot lately and seemed a little flaky so I took the alien apart and blew out lots of dust bunnies but the damage was done. I didn't want to spend alot of money so I looked around and found this card: PNY XLR8 GeForce® 9800 GT.

The reviews seemed favorable and seemed cheap at only $105 so I took a chance and purchased it. Installation was a snap.  No problems installing the drivers either. I installed Grand Theft Auto IV and Modern Warfare II and WOW!. Let me repeat... WOW! What a difference in so many ways. The computer runs faster and I can play my games in 1280x1024 with lots of bells and whistles enabled. GTA uses almost all of the 1GB of ram on the card and it runs great. My other games run better. Next I need to install FEAR and give that a try!

Angry Birds

Angry Birds! What a great game for the iPhone. I recommend you download this ASAP!

Using a slingshot and several different types of birds you shoot the birds to destroy the pigs who have stolen your eggs. Each bird has a different ability to help overcome each level's puzzle.

Netflix streaming on the Nintendo Wii

I had ordered the Netflix streaming disc for the Nintendo Wii and it just came today in the mail.

I was wondering how Netflix would implement this and it turns out they implemented it pretty well.

You startup the Wii with the disc in the drive and it displays a code. You then go to http://www.netflix.com/wii and enter in the code and it is activated and linked to your account.
It come up pretty quickly with our Watch it now queue. Browsing is a little slow, it isn't clear if the memory card is used at all to cache any information. Netflix needs to get their streaming service on every device they can. An iPhone streaming app would rock!!!!

Grand Theft Auto

I have been a fan of of the Grand Theft Auto franchise for many years. It has been the catalyst for me buying two game systems the Playstation 2 and the Playstation portable.

I have GTA on several platforms:

• GTA 2 on the Sega Dreamcast
• GTA 3 on the PC
• GTA San Andreas for the PS2
• GTA Liberty City Stories on the PSP
• GTA IV on the PC
• GTA Chinatown Wars for iPhone

Chinatown Wars is a great port for the iPhone. It has a sort of GTA2 look with lots of details like the newer games have. For example when you steal a car you have to use a screwdriver or in some cases hot wire it by crossing the wires and twisting them. It's a good game that takes advantage of the multi-touch capabilities of the iPhone. I do wish the driving was easier. Using the accelerometer would have been a better choice for driving.

I haven't been able to play GTA IV much since my PC's video card is getting old. Luckily the laptop has a newer video card so it works there. It isn't very convienent playing GTA on a laptop especially one that is prone to overheating.

My Current Gaming Systems

My Current Gaming Systems:

• Nintendo Gameboy (Original!)
• Commodore Amiga 500
• Sega DreamCast
• AlienWare 3.2GHZ Dual core  w/ ATI X850 XT 256MB video card
• Sony Playstation 2
• Sony Playstation Portable
• Toshiba Satellite Core2 Duo Laptop 256MB Video
• iPhone 3g