Photography, geek, gadget stuff and life.
games
Photos from Epic Lan 10, Kettering.
03 months ago
Just came back from a my very first LAN event. An entire weekend of video gaming. Because it was my first time I was very open to what was going on. I talked to many gamers about why they play and why they come!
Gamers came from all walks of life; from plumbers, actors, bankers, body builders, doctors and I even talked to a receptionist! I never imagined receptionists would devote an entire weekend to LAN gaming.
I mainly played Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Left for Dead 2. The pro gamers still stick to Call of Duty 4; personally I got over that experience many years ago. It still baffles me why that old game is still the game of choice for these LAN events.
Overall, I did enjoy myself. The banter and the openness to just game with random people is funny and liberating. It is rare that I get asked to join a competitive game with other players so close to where I sit.
The organizers are already planning the next event; check out www.epiclan.co.uk/epic11
for more details.
Silverstone Sugo SG09 as a gaming and Plex PC
34 months ago
There was an opportunity to start a new PC project based on some spare parts I had just doing nothing. I already have a well configured Windows 7 PC I use for editing photos, editing HD videos and gaming. My second PC acts as a file server for archiving purposes; it does have a decent AMD CPU and a 560Ti GPU but it doesn’t really see much action other than when I need to backup my commercial photos. My third PC is just something I built just for fun but it didn’t see much use other than playing a few games in the spare room so I wanted to give it more purpose by moving it into the living room to serve my 46″ TV. I also wanted a small mobile case so I could transport it to LAN events or hide discretely within my living room.
The case it was in was a cheap no brand case that merely served a purpose but it was too big for my sparse living room so I needed something much smaller and discreet. The motherboard is a Micro-ATX format board, it’s not as small as mini-itx but I didn’t want to buy any new components so the new case had to accommodate that. After extensive research I came across Silverstone’s Sugo SG09 priced around £90 new in the UK. Because I didn’t want to spend that much on a case I waited until it popped up on Ebay for £50! A bargain I thought and snapped it up.
As soon as it arrived I pulled apart the old PC case and set about putting all the components into the Sugo SG09. I had read a few reviews saying it was a tight squeeze when it comes to cable management and they were right! After a bit of trial and error I just cabled up the back with plastic ties but it still leaves a bulge when you put the case on. I had to put some of the cables underneath the PSU by literally shoving it in there. All this cabling is right next to a 120mm on the side.
One thing I didn’t like was the 120mm fan on the left side panel as I felt it served no real purpose; other than the cables I shoved in there, there was no component that needed cooling so I removed it. The rest of the build was very easy like any other case.
The internal specifications are as follows:
- M4A87TD/USB3
- 8gb Ram
- MSI GTX570 GPU
- Crucial 120gb SSD
I overclock the GTX 570 to 850mhz which produces quite a bit of heat so this was a real test for the SUGO SG09 to see if it really could exhaust the heat properly and to my amazement it handled it fine!
I’m sorry if this doesn’t seem very scientific, I just wanted to share my experience with this wonderful little case. I can totally recommend it to anyone who has a Micro-ATX motherboard. I am going to EPICLAN 10 in a months time, and this little case is perfect for taken to LAN events!
I have used it several times to watch videos using PLEX and played several games of Battlefield 3 without any issues at all!
Sugo SG09 with a USB wireless keyboard and mouse dongle
The huge 180mm fan!
The rear of the SUGO SG09. A very well laid out rear end!
Sharkoon Fireglider Black
01 year ago
I got a new mouse yesterday. It’s amazing! I’ve recently gone back into gaming on the PC, specifically first person shooters likes Battlefield 3. I needed a high resolution gaming mouse that didn’t break the bank. I saw the Sharkoon Fireglider Black on Amazon UK. It had a lot of great customer reviews so I took the plunge, spent £20 and waited.
It arrived yesterday and it makes a massive difference to the wireless basic mouse I had been using. I can totally recommend this mouse if you’re even semi serious about PC gaming.
Street Fighter IV. For one week all proceeds go to Japan Quake
02 years ago
The terrifying situation that has impacted Japan recently has received a lot of media coverage. Websites and companies from all over the world are trying to do their part to help. Japanese gaming company CAPCOM have decided to donate all their proceeds from the iPhone game Street Fighter 4 to the Japan Quake cause.
Check it out here. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/street-fighter-iv/id354655665?mt=8
New Battlefield 3 sneak peak. Actual in game footage.
0I enjoyed Call of Duty, but my first love has always been the Battlefield series. I am still playing Bad Company 2 now!! However, Battlefield 3 looks epic. Dice recently released new in game footage of their awesome game. It looks fantastic!!
Asus GT 430. First impressions
0While looking for ways to make my very old PC to run faster, I purchased an Asus GT 430 graphics card. The first few tests are great, but it’s not fair to publish my results yet as it’s in an old Asus A8N motherboard with an AMD 3200 processor; it’s old tech so until I get a new system to build I won’t do any proper testing.
Birthday LAN Party in Aylesbury. Shot on Canon 5D mk2
22 years ago
HI, I just wanted to share this video I made very quickly. I don’t often go to LAN Parties but I always carry a camera. In between games, and sometimes during, I’d grab the awesome Canon 5D Mk2 and shoot small snippets of video. I knew I’d be editing it all together but I never plan the final edit; I make up the edit as I go along.
I’m a geek and I’m proud of it, so when my mate invited me to his LAN Party I could not think of a better way to spend 15 hours other than gaming! The game of choice was Counter Strike Source. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t played it in over 18 months, but it was brilliant. My laptop of choice is the 2010 MacBook Pro 15″ which was awesome. The framerates were just silly fast; shame that laptop isn’t mine!
Surprisingly, most of the gamers brought along desktop PCs. I had imagined the majority would bring laptops as modern versions can run an oldish game like Counter Strike Source quite easily. Also, a desktop is much bulkier to carry.
There’s talk of some of the lads organising another LAN Party in the Aylesbury area, so I’ll keep my eyes open for that.
Anyway, I’m pleased with the way it came out. While looking for a soundtrack I initially went with Rock, but then wanted something a bit more dramatic. And when it comes to awesome soundtracks there is none better than Mr John Wiliams. I chose Duel of the Fates from Star Wars Episode one, a bad movie but great soundtrack.
I love editing as much as I like shooting. I shared the video on Facebook and it has received a nice response.
For your information, the Canon 5D Mark 2 was used in conjunction with the brilliant 24-105mm and majestic 50mm f1.8 lenses.
Play World of Warcraft on your iPad. For real!
2With the recent release of World of Warcraft’s expansion pack Cataclysm, I wanted to stretch my old RPG muscles again. However, gaming technology has been re-invented with the iPhone and iPad. I wanted to see if there was any genuine way to play World of Warcraft on a mobile device and I found it.
It is called EveryAir. Now let’s get one thing straight, it won’t allow you to install World of Warcraft on your iPad; what actually does is capture the video display on your gaming computer and streams it over WIFI at a high refresh rate.
I’ve yet to try it as my Mac Pro is having issues running World of Warcraft right now but I thought I’d share that with you. Let me know if you have installed EveryAir and played World of Warcraft with it!
IGN reviews Battlefield Bad Company 2
0This is the first video review I’ve found from a reputable games review site. Enjoy!
