I am anxiously awaiting the September 7th release of Spore, a game in which you build, paint, play and share your creature. In the meantime, Spore Creature Creator (a starter kit), will have to suffice. I even made a video of one of my spores. Of course, now I’m even more impatient for the full game to come out!

The Saitek X52 Flight Control System– I has it!

Developed using customer feedback from our previous award-winning X36 and X45 stick and throttle controllers, the X52 Flight System is the premium stick model outside our Pro Flight Range.
Featuring 23 buttons, three 8-way hat switches and 7 control axes, the X52 gives you 47 basic commands plus the control axes. But when you include the programming options provided by powerful Saitek Smart Technology programming software, which allows you to make use of the 3 position mode switch and Pinkie shift switch, the total number of programmable commands rises to 282!

* The most fully integrated PC Flight Control System
* Precision engineering, ergonomic design and a detailed fusion of features deliver maximum aeronautical authenticity
* Advanced programming provided by Saitek Smart Technology (SST) software
* Enhanced game play through intuitive Multi-Function display (MFD)
* illuminated buttons and MFD - ideal for low light environments
* Rubber grips and ergonomic design for increased comfort and fatigue-free gaming
* Part metal construction for increased durability and authenticity
* Includes Roger Wilco Chat software - the ideal accompaniment for on-line multi-player gaming

Trying to figure out which flight system to purchase was a little daunting. Online customer reviews of various systems are either five-stars, or one-star. Very few customer ratings are in between. I knew I wanted a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) system, but that was the extent of my wishes. The Thrustmaster Cougar Flight Control System had many great, five-star reviews, but for the extra cost ($204.98 on Amazon), there were a lot of complaints about quality and breakage. After comparing the Thrustmaster reviews to the Saitek reviews, I was confident that the Saitek would be best for me. Not only is it less expensive ($86.49 on Amazon, but I found it for $79.99 at Best Buy), it had more positive reviews, and over all seemed more comfortable (and it is comfortable). I’ve had no problems with Microsoft Flight Simulator X responding to throttle controls, and the controls are easy to program for sensitivity. I will agree with many negative reviews that the profile editor for the controls are sub par, and it’s probably best to get instructions on use through flight simulator.

Next up for me? Rudder Pedals. Should you be worried that a flight instructor may someday give me a Pilot’s Certificate? Nah…

From Braingle

What is This?

In this teaser, I have given you 4 words. Beside each word is a series of letter groupings. Your task is to find the answer to the word on the left by choosing one letter from each of the letter groups to the right of each clue.

Example:

Fgo evI Gse rpU loR naI Ngd rEp = FIGURINE

1. Building: ant uhp yte alk ttr wrq ase
2. Kettledrum: qwt gig hjm klp all rnq tti
3. Image: ppo ghi kcl axt dug nrm eue
4. Music: sds fof uhk jnl dlk

And just a few more riddles:

1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years - Which room is safest for him?

2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 10 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together - How can this be?

3. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?

4. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?

5. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

6. This is an unusual paragraph. I’m curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any coaching!

I’ll post the answers tomorrow.

All Dan wanted out of a video game console was Guitar Hero. All I wanted was Zelda. Naturally I won. It was a Nintendo Wii for us and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess goodness.

Then came Sunday’s release of Guitar Hero III for the Nintendo Wii.

I anticipate sleeping again sometime in 2008.

Side note: I went to my 12:30 Drawing class today prepared for mid-term critique. I got out of the car, pulled my portfolio out of the back seat and began to head towards the building. “Excuse me, Miss? Classes in the ATB building have been cancelled; there was a gas leak.”

The brand-spanking-new, ten-million-dollar, ATB building — had a gas leak.

Wonderful.

After asking my math teacher what date I should put at the top of my test today, I realized, “It’s going to be Hallowe’en in a few days.” I’m a little on the bah-humbugey side of the holidays this year. I was hoping to have my own home by this time, but the slackers at the VA have put that on hold. Well, not having much time to house-hunt has kind of put the search on hold, too. I’d even be happy to rent, but land-lords have little interest in renting to people with any pets, let alone a whole passel of critters.

It’s not that I mind missing out on the Hallowe’en festivities much. Most of the moochers don’t even bother to dress up or even say, “Trick-or-Treat,” anymore. They just knock on the door and blink. Don’t I know that I’m just supposed to give them candy? So, there will be no decorating, no passing out of the candies, no dressing up. Maybe a few late-night, horror movies. Maybe some games. Maybe I’ll just do my homework.

Speaking of movies and games, the M&Ms 50 Dark Movies, Hidden in a Painting game is back again this year. After the game loads, you can navigate around the ‘painting’ with your mouse cursor. You can click on certain images and type in the name of the corresponding movie. Remember, there are 50 images that match a movie title. If you click the image below, I’ve given you the answer to one, can you name the other 49?

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express featuring the voice talent of David Suchet.

Now I can start And Then There Were None.

I thought I’d put up another brain teaser. I’ll post the answer tomorrow.

Mr. Ixolite was in Mexico on his holidays and was looking to try the hottest chili he could find.He went into a restaurant and ordered a hot one. After the fire in his mouth had been put out, and he sat there gasping for breath, the waiter came up to him and said, “Excuse me Senor Ixolite, we are very sorry but we accidentally gave you the wrong chili. We gave you the mild one instead of this very hot one. Would you like it?”

MrIxolite paled but being unable to speak, grabbed a napkin and wrote out the following rebus:

Hose A.
Hose B. Way
Hose C. Way

What was Mr. Ixolite trying to say?

Since purchasing a new PC game, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and not being able to install it, I’ve searched online for a few cool mystery games.

One, or three rather, that I’ve had a little fun with is Mystery! Games. Yeah, they’re a little cheese ball, and kind of silly, but entertaining nonetheless. And yes, the Mystery! here refers to the PBS series. I grew up with that familiar Edward Gorey opening, and although I hated Mystery! as a child, I now love it. And I have a particular liking for Gorey, in general as an artist. The games are simple, a flash animation fair-play minute mystery, and you get to be the Chief Inspector.

Another one I’ve enjoyed is the M&M’s Fifty Dark Movies, hidden in a Painting. I found this on Leesa’s site, and had way too much fun. Between Dan and I, we got all 50 films. With Halloween coming up, this was a much needed refresh-my-Halloween-spirit game. This, too, is simple. There is one image, the painting, and within it are visual references to movies. You can move around the painting, zoom in and out, and when you think you know what one of the clues is, you click on the clue and type the movie title. They’re not necessarily horror movies being referenced, but they are ‘dark.’

The downside to these games is that once you’ve completed them, there’s no need to return for a more detailed attempt at a higher score. I tend to find this notion applicable to mystery books in general. I love to reread a great book, but when it comes to a mystery, even if it’s the most well-written, enjoyable read, there’s just not much point in rereading it. However, I suppose, if one gets to the end of a fair-play mystery and did not figure out whodunit, they may want to reread the book to look for the clues that should have given it away. Sort of an, “oh, that’s why ________ happened/was placed there/did this. I should have caught that!”

By the way, for those not familiar with Edward Gorey, check out Edward Gorey House dot org. Also, I tried all of the troubleshooting steps on Adventure Games, and the !$#@%$ game still ‘hangs’ when it gets to a certain point in installation, before I email the company — any tips or ideas?
I don’t know if the error message can be read in this shot…