If you’re of a certain age (or at least have cable and can get Sleuth), then that phrase conjures up none other than the infamous A-Team. I was thinking about that last month while we were scrambling to restore Avault and make it “better, stronger, faster” than before.

We have an incredible team here at the Adrenaline Vault, and sadly, most of them go unnoticed as they creep around behind the scenes keeping things running. How important this team is became very evident a few weeks ago.

For those of you new here, let’s just say that Avault was on the brink of total annihilation! Think I’m exaggerating or exercising the heck out of my poetic license? Nope, not in the slightest. I’m NOT a tech monkey (ask any of my professors), so in layman’s terms…

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The Millville Rescue Squad provides ambulance and other emergency services to its small, quiet New Jersey town, a virtual stone’s throw from the Jersey shore. But six days out of the year, the unit shares its digs with hundreds of gamers for a little slice of gaming heaven: the LAN party.

Once in the spring and once again near Halloween, gamers gather in Millville for three days and two nights of non-stop multiplayer mayhem. The events are organized by the GXL, one of a number of groups in the northeast that put on parties for as many as 500 people at a time. Imagine inviting 100 of your closest friends to bring their PCs to your house, connecting them all in one local-area network (LAN), then attaching all of that to a master server that can handle dozens of games, from arcade racers such as Trackmania Nations to shooter classics Call of Duty 4, Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2. Add a couple of Xbox 360s or Playstation 3s for the console crowd, toss in organized tournaments and prize giveaways, maybe even find some corporate sponsors (electronics retailer MicroCenter and networking hardware manufacturer D-link have made contributions to previous GXL LANs) and you have the makings of a great couple of days of gaming.

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I must say I cannot wait until summer! Gaming has been an afterthought to all the work I have been doing. My job and school have absorbed most of my time. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean I have to excel at something. However, my hands miss the comfort of that 360 controller. Ah, ok, back to reality.

I do have some exciting news. First, for all you nay sayers of the Obama Stimulus Package, here is a little something to think about. The money provided is actually opening up new jobs. Huh, what a concept?! Because of the stimulus package, our school district is not going to cut as many jobs as originally conceived, while at the same time it will open jobs for federally funded programs. So where does this apply to me you may ask? Well, next year I am going to be a fully-fledged special education teacher! I will run my own classroom. I really cannot wait to take on such an honorable position. I love and care for these children and to be in such an influential role is remarkable. Another great example is a person I am currently working with. She was offered a job to work in the school district as a direct result of the funds.

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I check Avault a couple of times a day to see what’s new. It’s become a habit now. I open Outlook, then Firefox, and while my computer is dry-heaving trying to come up with the resources to do both at the same time I light up a cigarette. Another habit, yes, I know, and I’ve been trying to cut back. (Hey, if our President can have the same habit, then so can I, right? Right??) Either way, my ritual was thrown off track the last month when the AV greeted me with a stark white screen and not the usual bounty of gaming goodness. I paid no mind, until hours had passed, then a day, and then…

My eye twitched..

“Oh s***, we’ve closed shop! What about the games?! Will we get a government bailout?!”

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While Adrenaline Vault was down, I undertook a minor experiment in memory upgrades: Readyboost. For those unfamilair with Readyboost, you can tell Vista to turn part of your flashdrive into an extension of the PC’s own memory. Because flashdrives access their memory faster than a hardrive, telling Windows to turn a couple of gigbytes of your flashdrive into extra memory  has the potential to speed up your PC.

In my case, I am not suffering any real shortage of memory; however, I had received an 8 gigbyte flashdrive as a gift. Now, since I don’t make a habit of toting 2 or 3 movies with me everywhere I go, I end up with plenty of empty space. Just for fun, I figured I would asee if I could get better performance out of my PC when running memory intensive games, such as LOTRO: Mines of Moria. I spent about a 3 weeks consistently using Readyboost, and in the tradition of Fight Club, I came up with a few rules.

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Can websites have “sex changes”? I go away for 5 days to fabulous Las Vegas; only to return to find the place I call home sporting a different outfit and calling me “Sugar” instead of the usual nicety! It’s a shock, but I’m glad to say that I kind of like it. All the major hub-bub is laid out on the hood, making my precious browsing time a little sleeker, plus I don’t have to zoom in on my iPhone to click teeny tiny links anymore! We even get a little bit bigger text, so when I do click the follow-up I don’t have to use my special dialing wand! All in all, I’d say the right decision was made, for both me and our readers.

So to answer my own question: Yes Virginia, websites can have sex changes. Hell, if the Sci Fi channel can be called “SyFy” out of the friggin blue, then why can’t Avault adjust their format a bit? We’ve been around almost as long anyways!

Welcome to the new house, everyone! Pull up a beanbag and enjoy the evolution!

Mostly, I spent my time dealing with the everyday problems of life — working, eating, sleeping, trying to play Far Cry 2 multiplayer without either being kicked by Punkbuster or being sent unceremoniously to the desktop by the game’s annoying memory leak, which has survived multiple patches.  It doesn’t help, of course, that I suck at multiplayer deathmatching, but it’s nice to be able to blame the game instead of my deficient skills.  So, if you see someone named Bad Santa getting his butt squashed out there, show him some pity, OK?  Thanks!

While the site was down I decided to reflect on 2008 and finally cobble together a list of my favorite console game experiences. Without further adieu, I present My Top 5 Favorite Games of 2008.

5.   Portal: Still Alive   (360/PC)
This is a slightly controversial pick as I actually played Portal (a 2007 release) in January. At the time, it was packaged on The Orange Box – a compilation of Half Life 2 related games. Later in the year, the game developers decided to revisit the game and append some new challenge maps to the original game and release it as Portal: Still Alive, making it available for digital distribution over the PC and the Xbox Live Arcade service.
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Well it’s a bit of a slow season for video games, and so now is a good time to indulge in some guilty pleasures. Today’s a rainy day and I’m borrowing a title from my young nephew that I’ve been secretly anxious to play – Lego Batman for the Wii.

This probably marks the first time I’ve turned on the Wii in about 5 months, but never-the-less since I’ve popped it in, I can’t seem to stop playing it. I mean c’mon, it’s really just the melting pot of the coolest stuff ever: video games, Legos and Batman.
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For better or worse, I seem to be Avault’s go-to guy for point-and-click PC adventure games.  And that’s fine; one of the things I love about this gig is that I get to play games that I probably wouldn’t buy for myself otherwise.  But a major factor in all of the Mist wannabes I’ve played in the last eight months is the need for a walkthrough to finish them.  This made me recall an ongoing argument to be found on a number of gaming forums concerning whether or not using a walkthrough while playing a game is cheating.
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The other day, I posted Part One of my post E3 series – The Top 10 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play in 2008.

As I mentioned then, originally I had planned to run this as a three-part series, aimed at providing my list of the Top 5 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play per system in 2008 but in pouring through the announced release dates, I realized that there were not enough system exclusives to compile that list. And in the Wii’s case, there’s barely anything on their announced schedule that warrants my playtime.

So, I decided to focus on the Top 10 games releasing this year that have piqued my interest. I’ve broken it up into two posts and listed them in descending order (10 to 1) with the number one title representing the one title that I’ve got to play above all others. Today, you’ll all learn just what that title is. I’m sure the anticipation is killing you.

Without further adieu, I present The Top 10 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play in 2008 Part 2.

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Two weeks ago, I posted a three-part series that documented my reaction to the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo E3 2008 Press Conferences.

Originally, I had planned to run an additional three-part series this week, aimed at providing my list of the Top 5 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play per system in 2008 but in pouring through the announced release dates, I realized that there are not enough system exclusives to compile that list. And in the Wii’s case, there’s barely anything on their announced schedule that warrants my play time at all. Here’s hoping for some late-inning surprises.
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Perhaps I’m holding this generation to an impossible standard after the PS2 and Xbox brought more awesome than most mere mortals could handle, but I just haven’t been impressed with much of anything that the Wii, 360 and PS3 have brought to the table. And the first half of this year hasn’t done much to change my mind. Has everything been bad? Absolutely not. But have enough games pushed the boundaries and showed off that next generation feel? No.

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It’s time to take a look back over the last six months and shine a light on the games that really hit my sweet spot — those that kept me awake, late at night, for “just one more.”

On the 360, it was the dynamic duo of blistering, blitzkrieg action assaults doled out by Capcom’s Devil May Cry 4 and Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden II. Of the twin titles, DMC4 is the more accomplished, blasting its way into this new generation with style to spare. Nero and Dante’s arrival on the 360 was gratifying in more ways than one, as they injected some high-intensity third-person action platforming on a system that was swiftly following its forbearer down the well worn FPS alley, and it introduced a big Japanese hit series on a system that has struggled to make ends meet Down East.

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Wow! 2008 is already more than half over, and I still haven’t even put a dent into my “to do” list. Oh well, there’s always 2009. It took me by surprise when I was asked what the best games so far this year were because I’m still waiting for some of my favs to release. In the mean time, yes, I’ve been playing games, but so far, 2008 isn’t matching up to the year we had in 2007.

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