bobwinkle12 presents Catherine Review posted at The Broskington Post. A review of the game Catherine, which certainly sounds odd. There are quite a few plot details spelled out concerning the beginning, but it seems like that may be necessary to really convey what the game is like. Should be an interesting game for those into what it’s about.

Jason Ward presents Dead Space 2 | ScifiWard posted at ScifiWard. A review of Dead Space 2 by a veteran of horror, claiming the game isn’t particularly scary. Highly recommended by the reviewer though, for reasons explained in the review.

The Dude presents What Makes It So Great (Gotham City Impostors Discussion) posted at Geeks on Games. He certainly has some thoughts on what makes it fun, and what sets it apart from other games, so check it out and see if it may interest you too.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. Join us next month for more great gaming info. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

Which brings me to what I want to write about today. While I think the complete package of League of Legends is the better game, I think Tribes: Ascend is more fun to play. How can this be? Well, it’s because Tribes is more accessible than LoL. There’s only one way to unlock the full potential of any character in LoL: get to level 30 to fully unlock your rune pages and masteries, and grind out the IP needed to buy the runes you want to use for your character. In Tribes, you still have to grind, but you don’t have to hit any specific level to fully unlock the features you wish to use for a given class. Get the XP, and spend it. In both games, naturally, you can pay real money to unlock new classes and options as well, but you can not spend real money to get upgrades, which must be bought with IP/XP earned in game.

In any case, in Tribes, I’ve played for a couple months, and unlocked all the stuff I need for my two favorite classes. Meanwhile, a couple years later in League of Legends, having put a lot more time into it, I do have a lot of characters and more options on what to play effectively, but none of them are yet at their full potential, as I’ve not yet hit level 30. This, of course, many players will jump to say I could easily be level 30 by now. And it’s true, if I played LoL more, I could be. But this misses the point entirely. LoL is much more of a time investment than Tribes is to get your favorite options up and running at their full power. This makes it less accessible.

Likewise, I tend to play Tribes more often because I can jump into a game whenever I want, against real people for opponents, without having to worry about getting my account suspended if something unexpectedly comes up that I’d rather be doing or have to do. In LoL, the only option to just jump in and play is against bots, and not only that, but even though bots of intermediate difficulty exist, they are not an option to fight against in custom games, the only game mode that exists for those wanting to play without a time commitment. This is because in League, any game you leave with at least one other human player involved counts against you, and accumulating too many in too short a time (specifics are not explained) will get your account suspended for leaving.

As was noted by a recent submission to this month’s blog carnival, MOBA’s and some of their players sometimes take themselves a bit too seriously. This, naturally, does not apply to everyone, but it applies to a large enough part of the community, not to mention the developers, that it’s hard to just play to have fun. Frankly, League could be a lot more accessible if normals would allow people to leave at any time, replacing them with a bot until someone else wanted to hop in and take over. Naturally, ranked could keep its rules as is, as ranked is typically the intended game mode for those wanting to take the game more seriously. But an option for more casual players that still want to play real matches with real players would go a long way to making the game more accessible.

Tribes, meanwhile, makes it easy to drop out if something comes up. Escape, exit game, and you’re out. Not only that, but you still keep any xp you earned during the match, a step I don’t think is necessary, but is certainly welcome. League developers would never consider such a thing. Add in the fact that a typical Tribes match takes place in about 10-20 minutes, while a typical League match is about 40 minutes (and if it runs long, you’d better have the extra time set aside if you don’t want to get closer to an account suspension), and you see how League requires more time investment even in the short term.

Naturally, there must be something that keeps me coming back to League, given the grievances I have with it. And there is. The large roster of characters, alongside rune and mastery builds, provides a huge variety of gameplay options. Not only that, but this also leads to more strategies and counter strategies depending on the characters involved in any given game. Furthermore, I really do enjoy the way the game evolves over the course of the match, and that it’s not the same thing throughout. This is, naturally, an upside to having longer lasting matches with objectives to take and tradeoffs to make. Tribes also has a good variety of gameplay options, but it does pale in comparison to what is offered by League in this area. Also, I prefer rpgs to shooters, and LoL, like most MOBA’s, carries over a lot of the rpg goodies, such as character growth throughout the match in the form of XP and items to purchase.

The long and short of it is this though. I like both games quite a bit. However, Tribes is far more accessible, both due to the nature of the game, and the way its growth system in the metagame is designed. As such, I tend to play Tribes more and have more fun with it, despite the fact it’s less my kind of game. It’s simply designed to be more inviting. League, while the game I prefer in terms of the actual game, is less accessible and harder to get into due to the time commitment needed, both for a single game, as well as to get your characters up to the point where you can realize their full potential and options available to them. Perhaps someday, LoL will pick up on the fact that a player base similar to me exists, and make sensible changes to get us in on the game in a better way than playing against beginner bots when we just aren’t sure if we have the time to commit, even though we think we likely do.

Ben presents Sidescrolling Platformer ~Part 1~ Setup and Planning posted at AS3 Game Tutorials, saying, “Tutorials to create your very own platformer video game in Flash actionscript 3.” If you want to build your own side-scrolling PC game, this particular post looks like a good place to pick up some ideas.

Eric Hoff presents A World Without Online Multiplayer, Shank 2 Review, Dustforce Review – GameNTrain.com, and Turtle Beach XL1?s – The Review – GameNTrain.com posted at GameNTrain.com.

Jesse Leigh presents The only problem with MOBAs | Gamer MC posted at Gamer MC. Jesse nails the one major issue I have with League of Legends, a game I otherwise love playing. Can’t we just agree to have some fun? Even in the unranked games?

Erik presents Review: COD: Modern Warfare 3 (Video Game) posted at Fireball916′s Daily Reviews. Erik let’s us know right from the start he loves Modern Warfare 3. Just what you need to push you off the fence if you were thinking about picking up the game. (I’m not, by the way.)

The Dude presents From Software Says Another Souls Game May Not Happen! posted at Geeks on Games. This news is disheartening to those who like their games with a side of pain. On a brighter note, those of us gaming on PC get our copies of Dark Souls in a few months.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. Join us next month for more great gaming info. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

Wesley Copeland of VGI presents EA in Lawsuit Over Free Copies Of Battlefield posted at Video Games Interactive. Here’s a quick piece on a Lawsuit EA is involved in. Hopefully this is one more push on them to get their act together, but honestly, I’m not expecting much to come of it. Still, it would be sweet if they were somehow forced to make good on their promises.

Will presents Are Strategy Guides Worth It? posted at Former Banker, saying, “Is it ever worth it to fork out $20 to buy one?” Will hits my thoughts on strategy guides pretty solidly in this piece. Hard to disagree, unless you want the physical copy as a collector’s item.

Jesse Leigh presents Deep Sea – Shifting from entertainment to experience posted at Gamer MC. Here we have some info about a game that sounds like an interesting deviation from the norm. I’m not about to drop traditional visual gaming for it, but it could be interesting to try.

Jesse Leigh presents The real cause of piracy posted at Gamer MC. Want to know why I don’t buy from EA or Ubisoft, on console or PC? This article nails it. If only the big publishers would listen to some common sense about how to deal with piracy.

Jesse Leigh presents Pre-order? I’ll pass posted at Gamer MC. An interesting read about pre-ordering and how it is used for marketing.

Patrick Dunkley presents What is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning? posted at PC RPG Reviews & Previews | Single player fantasy roleplaying games for 2012.. I’m downloading the demo of this game via Steam as I type this, and depending on what I find, I may have to purchase. In the meantime, this article has tons of good info on the game, and you should check it out.

John M presents A look at Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing on the iPhone posted at iPhone Experience, saying, “SEGA’s classic racer makes it debut on the iPhone, but is it a winner?” A brief review of Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing on the iPhone, there’s not much more to say. Except why does Sonic use a car? Have to level the playing field so he doesn’t auto-win or something?

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. Join us next month for more great gaming info. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

I’ll admit, I’ve only played a small amount of Left 4 Dead, but it seems the video did a very nice job capturing a small part of each aspect of the game, while also recognizing it is in fact a movie and not a game that we’re watching.

While perhaps some liberties have been taken with some cameos, I thought it was quite well done and entertaining to watch, and the cameos provide some nice shout outs to those who have been gaming for some time now.

Kudos to those who created it. I think I’ll be heading back to YouTube to look for more of their work after I finish writing this.

The video actually makes me want to really play Left 4 Dead. I’ve actually avoided it because I have no 360 and no love for Steam (yes, if I had to choose a DRM scheme that uses online activation, Steam would be it, but I still don’t like it), but the fact that Skyrim uses it has dragged me into accepting it’s here to stay… for now. Which means I’m now considering going back to purchase Left 4 Dead and play what I’ve been missing out on.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not generally a fan of shooters. The last one I completed single player in was the original Unreal Tournament, and the last one I played for more than a couple hours was Brink. But the taste I got of Left 4 Dead on a friend’s 360 does leave me wanting more, and this video reminded me a little of that. So, sometime soon now, I should go pick up a copy (yes, I still insist on buying it on disc), so I can really play through it. Might give me something a little different from my usual gaming fare.

And this leads to my first point. Skyrim is designed in a way that your first playthrough is going to last a long time, and then you’re going to want to replay it to do even more stuff that you didn’t get to the first time. There’s a lot of game here, and it’s lasting appeal means you’re getting a lot for your $60.

Of course, a game being long and drawn out is no fun if the game is no good. But this is the Elder Scrolls we’re talking about. Unless you revile the concept of open world games and everything they stand for, of course it’s good. You may quibble about which one you like best, but every one that I have played (Morrowind on) has been a great experience. I’ve found the series has become better with each iteration, culminating in Skyrim being clearly one of the best games I’ve played. Yes, even though you can’t levitate, and there are no Oblivion gates. Actually, both of those help a lot in providing a better crafted experience. Quest markers are nice too, no matter what the Morrowind fans are telling you.

Getting to the meat of things though, Skyrim grabs you right from the beginning. You aren’t stuck in a dungeon following the emperor and killing rats. You don’t have to go through some dumb checkpoint in Seyda Neen. No, you’re about to die by the executioner’s hand, then a dragon attacks, and suddenly you’re fighting your way out of this place you’ve been brought to trying not to be killed by the dragon or any others who would impede your progress. Ah yes, much, much better. After that, you’ll be given some clear direction on where to go to get the main quest rolling, and not long beyond that, you’ll have more sidequests than you know what to do with. And when I say that, I mean in the sense that Baldur’s Gate II threw quests at you, and you would never run out of anything to do. In fact, if you focus on sidequests, you could ignore the main quest entirely and build your adventuring career on everything else you do.

That leads me to something else I feel Skyrim has done very well. The guild quests that I have done so far feel more like stories in their own right, rather than mini-quests meant to supplement the main quest. Playing through the guild quests feels, for the first time, just as rewarding as playing through the main quest. And that is meant to say I felt the guild quests were that good, and not meant to detract from the main quest.

Also, the new character building system is much nicer as well. No longer do you choose to define your character by choosing your primary skills, pigeonholing you into one playstyle. Instead, you just play the game as you want to play it, and your character becomes what you play. This is a very natural evolution of the Elder Scrolls, and one I’m extremely pleased has come to pass. As you level up, you can specialize your skills by choosing perks, but having played the game, you’ll know where to put them based on what skills have been leveling up. It’s a much more natural character generation system than just picking some skills or a class at the beginning of the game.

Moving into gameplay, this translates into you being able to do whatever you want effectively. Until I was heavily invested in the perks and gear I had chosen to define myself with, it was common for me to unleash all my magic at an enemy, then pull out my bow for some damage from afar, followed by mopping up with sword and shield. That could change in a boss fight, where there’s more running, shooting, and nuking, but let that boss get close enough, and you’ll be happy you have that shield to pull out. Moreover, I’ve noticed that making subtle changes to the way you fight a boss can be all that is needed to mean the difference between victory and reloading after an untimely death. Still, these things add a depth to combat that didn’t exist in previous Elder Scrolls games, and that I have yet to experience in any other first person adventure/rpg.

Then there is the newly revamped crafting system. Through most of the game, this system will let you upgrade your gear frequently, but it will commonly be replaced by better gear you find while adventuring. It’s a good balance that makes crafting useful, and keeps exploring fun. As you come closer to maxing out your enchanting and smithing skills though, you will eventually find that it is possible to create sets of gear better than anything you can find adventuring. You will still find single pieces better than any single thing you can create, but having a set of gear designed for one purpose will always outweigh the benefit of having that one more powerful piece. It’s very close to as good as you can balance a crafting system against the world though. Of course, it is also possible, with a lot of time and effort, to break the crafting system and make stupidly powerful gear, but for my purposes, it’s quite balanced, so long as you don’t make the effort to break it. If you are making that effort, you probably like doing that kind of thing anyway, so probably appreciate the ability is there.

Let’s move on though. I haven’t yet talked about the look of the game. Skyrim is hands down the best looking game I have played. It’s a bit dreary, as we are adventuring through the frozen north, but it is also a gorgeous land. Bethesda really outdid themselves this time, truly rendering the landscape as far as the eye can see. If your PC can handle it, they game can, with some tweaking, literally be set to render everything in sight. Otherwise, if you game on a PC like mine, the game is set to render the big stuff you’ll notice, and leave out the little things until you get closer and will actually be able to see them. And like most Elder Scrolls games, if you can see it, you can get to it. No prerendered backgrounds here. Then, there is also now a third person mode that looks good and plays fluidly. No more stiff animations for your character, and with the crosshair remaining on screen, you can still see what you are doing. I still prefer first person, because it is how I’ve always played The Elder Scrolls, but for those who like third person gaming, it is truly a viable gameplay option for the first time. Also, for those playing on PC, like me, there are already tons of texture packs and a couple post-processing mods coming out to enhance the visuals even more. And if, like me, you prefer a brighter look, that is also an option.

The soundtrack is also amazing, which you’ll know as soon as you hear the main theme, a version of which is played not only at the title screen, but also during some dragon fights. While that particular theme is a favorite of mine, the other music is also very well done and suits the game very well. The shift of music between different events is also handled very smoothly, and is done in a way that shifts you into and out of combat appropriately.

Finally, there are the iconic dragon fights. When first starting out, these are what the game is all about. Open world, many of them random, boss fights with the creatures threatening to destroy the world. An awesome soundtrack to go with them. And a good, solid level of difficulty in each fight. Unfortunately, as you become more powerful, even with the difficulty cranked, the dragon fights do eventually become a bit of a sad joke, and more an exercise in farming souls for your shouts. It takes a long time, and doesn’t happen until near the end of the game, but a method of scaling dragon power to level and gear would go a long way toward fixing this. Not a major issue, but it does kill end-game immersion a little bit. In any case, with that bit out of the way, the dragon fights are otherwise an exciting element of the game, and perhaps one of the defining elements, given that the game is built around them. And they play out far differently than any other battle as well, since dragons are the only enemy that can actually fly out of range of your attacks, changing the dynamics of the battles significantly compared to any other fights in the game.

Unless you have something against open world games, there is no reason to not buy this game. In the event you just usually aren’t a fan, you should probably try it anyway, as it really is that good, and will make you a believer. This is everything an epic fantasy adventure should be in game form.

Kylak presents VG Talk #6 To Reboot or Not to Reboot posted at All Geeks Rejoice. Kylak discusses the idea of reimagining a series to give it a fresh start. I agree that, so long as it’s done well, it can definitely breathe new life into a series.

Kylak presents VG Talk #7 Dark Souls Loves You posted at All Geeks Rejoice. Another piece from Kylak, discussing the difficulty of Dark Souls. Wish I could weigh in, but there’s currently no PC version for me to sink my teeth into. I do like the concept of a very difficult game to play once in awhile though.

Zack K. presents The Four Parks: Kirby Mass Attack Review posted at The Four Parks. Zack has a brief review for us of the new Kirby game recently released.

wearechange tv presents Warco: an FPS where you hold a camera instead of a gun posted at WeAreChangeTV.US. Wearechange talks a bit about Warco, which looks like a nice spin on the usual fps setup.

Marcy L presents A noob gets pwned: Giving World of Warcraft a try at my children’s insistence | (Don’t Be) Too Timid and Squeamish posted at (Don’t Be) Too Timid and Squeamish, saying, “A humorous look at two gamers’ mother trying World of Warcraft for the first time.” The experience of an inexperienced gamer trying out WoW for the first time. Perhaps a bit heavy on buzzwords, but that’s likely for effect. An interesting read to see perspective from those less inclined to gaming.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. Join us next month for more great gaming info. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for January’s carnival, as I’ll be taking a break from the carnival for December for Christmas. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

AMD A4 1.9 GHz (2.5 GHz Turbocore) Dual Core Processor
AMD Radeon HD 6480G embedded video card
4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ram. (I just recently upgraded to 8 GB)
320 GB Hard Drive

For those unsure what embedded video is, it’s basically an integrated card that is on the same die as the processor. This improves performance pretty dramatically, but is still not as good as a dedicated video card.

This has opened some new opportunities for me in gaming. There are, however, some things I had to do to get the most out of it. Some are easy and definitely worth it, others are a trade off and you’ll have to make an informed decision. Some of these will apply to any computer, some less so.

Obligatory disclaimer: I, nor anyone I am affiliated with, can take any responsibility for any damage caused by your use or misuse of this information. I’m a hobbyist, and simply sharing what has worked for me. Some of this is pretty common knowledge, some of it less so. I have done my best to outline any risks I am aware of, but there is always some risk involved when changing settings on your computer. When in doubt, consult a computer technician or expert for advice.

1) Upgrade Your Ram

Seriously, just do this one. A 4 GB stick of ram cost me a very cheap $25 on Newegg. It’s worth it, especially if you run Windows 7 (most versions of 7 are 64-bit, more on that later). Remember, on most laptops you have an integrated video card that is competing with the OS for the ram in your computer, and you want both the system and the video card to have plenty. Also, in Windows Vista and Windows 7, the OS actually designates extra system memory as shared memory based on how much you have, so the more you have in your computer, the more your video card will have access to. On the flip side, this also means that you’ll have less to use for the system when your video card is hogging it all. With enough memory though, it won’t matter. After my recent upgrade, I now have 512 MB dedicated to my video card via the bios, 4 GB dedicated solely to Windows, and 3.5 GB shared between Windows and the video card based on the Windows formula for shared memory. Before, those numbers were 512 MB dedicated to the video card, 1.5 GB shared, and 2 GB to the system. This got me to the point where the Witcher 2 went from barely playable on low settings to pretty smooth on medium settings, with a notable drop with lots of people on screen.

Remember though, you do need a 64 bit OS to use more than 3 GB -4 GB, so don’t bother going above 4 GB if you aren’t on a 64-bit OS. That said, on an integrated video card, more memory is gold, because it helps your system and your video card. Also remember though, the OS sharing memory with your video card was introduced in Windows Vista, so if you’re still gaming on XP, your video memory will be determined solely by your BIOS and/or video card settings.

For those with dedicated cards (unlikely on a cheap laptop), remember that Windows Vista and 7 will do this memory sharing anyway, so it may still be beneficial to upgrade to make sure your system has consistent access to enough memory, or to augment the memory that comes with your card.

Upgrading ram on laptops these days is pretty straightforward, and your laptop’s instructions should detail the process. If not, there are instructions online. Be aware that you do want to avoid any static discharge in your computer while it is open, so it’s a good idea to touch your hands and any tools you are working with to metal before performing the upgrade.  I’ve been told whether or not you should keep your computer connected to power or completely disconnected varies between computers (it should certainly be powered down though), but honestly, every single laptop I’ve found instructions for has said to disconnect the power cord and remove the battery before opening it up. Still, it can’t hurt to do your own research if you are unsure.

2) Turn off Windows features and programs you don’t need

Windows Aero is a resource hog, as are other features of the new versions of Windows. And there’s a nice, easy way to turn them all off. Start, right click computer, choose properties, click performance and information tools in the lower left, then click adjust visual effects toward the upper left. If you click adjust for best performance, it turns off all the visual bells and whistles for the Windows desktop. Freeing up your computer to do the stuff you want it to do, like play games.

Some other low hanging fruit is in msconfig. You can access it now by typing msconfig in the start menu search bar, then selecting msconfig.exe. If this doesn’t work, you can also bring up the run menu and type msconfig to bring it up. Then, generally speaking, it’s safe to turn off all the startup programs and all the non-Microsoft services. Generally speaking. I did have some issues with my touchpad after I did this though, and had to do a system restore to a day earlier to fix it, so be aware it could cause problems, so be prepared to fix those if need be. It caused no problems for me at all on my previous computer though. You may also prefer a more selective approach to disabling startup programs and services, if so, by all means, go for it.

3) Update video card drivers

This one can be a true pain for laptop owners, as video card manufacturers often lock their drivers from being used on integrated cards at the request of laptop manufacturers who wish to release their own specialized drivers. Of course, the laptop manufacturers then fail to produce timely driver updates, if they produce any at all. Luckily, there are communities dedicated to modding the official drivers to work with integrated cards.  Unfortunately, they are not always easy to find. For those looking for modded AMD/ATI drivers, the most recent I’ve found as of this writing are the Catalyst 11.9 found here. Choose the MobilityMod download. You could also try the Mobility Modder, but I’ve not had a lot of luck with it lately.

I’ve never had trouble with modded drivers on any computer I’ve used, but it is possible, especially if your laptop manufacturer uses heavily modified drivers, that modded drivers could cause problems. Probably not a big risk to take, but it’s worth knowing about just in case. It would probably be a good idea to create a restore point first if you want to play it safe.

4) Try Overclocking

If you’re careful, the first three suggestions I’ve written about are unlikely to cause you problems. I’ve noted how they can cause problems, but they are usually easily fixable problems, and I’ve done those three things many, many times, with minimal to no problems. Overclocking, on the other hand, can cause serious problems if done improperly, on the wrong hardware, for too long, without enough cooling, or a host of other reasons. In short, if you are looking at overclocking, you should not take what I say here and think it’s time to give it a shot. Consider this some preliminary information, and a nudge to further research if you think it might be right for you.

I’m going to talk primarily about CPU overclocking, but principles are similar for other components. I’ve chosen to focus on CPU because in my limited experience, it’s very difficult to find a utility that will let you overclock an integrated GPU. In fact, I’ve not found one yet.

The big killer of overclocked computers is heat. So it’s not a bad idea to use some hardware monitoring software to keep an eye your components’ temperatures. I use CPUID’s Hardware Monitor for this. Depending on how much of an overclock you’re going for, you may also want to look into cooling of some kind. For laptops, cooling is pretty limited, but one of those base fans might help some. Also, gaming in an environment with a low ambient temperature will help a little too. Also, if your laptop already runs hot, as many do, you should probably ignore the rest of this section and not give it a shot. Overclocking laptops is generally not recommended to begin with, though that’s beginning to change a little with some cooler running laptops coming out, which is why this section of this post exists.

Knowing if your overclock is successful is also important. CPU-Z will tell you what it’s current reading on your system is and if it’s running at a higher speed.

Finally, there’s the actual overclocking to discuss, not just how to monitor it. Most overclockers I’ve read from seem to prefer overclocking through the BIOS. This makes sense, as the BIOS should be the primary controller of your hardware, rather than the OS. However, there are a couple reasons I don’t like going through the BIOS. The first is that mistakes are harder to correct, especially if you don’t take notes about all of your default settings. Incidentally, you should note your default settings. The second is that most laptops’ BIOS settings don’t provide the ability to tweak the settings you need to overclock.

I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here, but there are three basic settings to look at. There’s the front side bus (FSB), your clock multiplier, and your voltage. Some AMD systems don’t have an FSB, but they have another setting that is similar and close enough for our purposes, and I’ll refer to it as the FSB here. The FSB is a clock that basically controls the speed of everything in your system. That may be slightly inaccurate, but it is an easy way to think about it and is mostly true.

According to CPU-Z, my computer’s bus speed is 100 MHz. My multiplier is set to 19 when the processor is running at full capacity, 25 while running in turbocore, and at settings below 19 when my system doesn’t need the power and is trying to conserve energy by slowing the processor down. In any case, I’m sure you’ll note that 100 MHz * 19 gives you 1900 MHz, or my processor’s rating of 1.9 GHz. So that’s the basics of the multiplier and bus speed.

Then there’s the voltage. If you want your processor to perform at a higher level, it may need more voltage to be able to do so. Now, I’ve found in my research that some processors are set to a higher voltage than they need, so you also may not need to increase this either. Note that changing voltages to be too high is likely to be the easiest way to fry your components, and changing them too low will cause system instability when your components can’t get the power they need. So all of this is a careful balancing act.

Now, for those looking to give it a try, I’ll note that the program I use, which works for a good chunk of AMD processors, is called K10stat. Just because I’ve linked you to the program does not mean you should download it and start messing around with it right away. I’ve linked it so it is easy to find when you have done your research and are ready to use it. If you, like me, have an A-series processor, then be aware you will need the most recent version of the program, and older versions will simply give you an error message saying your processor is not supported. Also note, K10stat only allows you to change multipliers and voltages.

I’ve had success setting my processor to be overclocked to 2.5 GHz. I chose this because it is my turbocore speed, and therefore the processor is designed to run this fast, but typically only on one core. So the purpose of the overclock was really to get it to run that fast on both cores, which so far has worked fine for me. I only keep the overclock running when I’m gaming, otherwise I keep my default settings. No point in wearing out my hardware any faster than necessary to get my performance boosts, after all. I’m considering trying to push it a little faster, as I’ve read success stories of pushing this processor to 3 GHz. I’ve noted that my laptop runs pretty cool compared to past laptops, so it may be something to give a try going forward. I’ll likely want to consider a fan for the vents before I do that though.

For me, the overclock to 2.5 GHz actually smoothed out the rest of my performance problems, that remained after my ram upgrade, with The Witcher 2 on medium settings. So it has had a noticeable effect. I also noted that my components so far have maxed out at a single degree Celsius warmer overclocked than they do on stock settings, 71 C as opposed to 70 C, so I’m satisfied with that in terms of heat, as that is likely a negligible difference.

So there are my thoughts on squeezing some more power out of your laptop. Obviously some are easier and safer than others, and it’s up to you to decide what you are willing to do and what you’d prefer not to.  This is, by all means, not comprehensive, but it’s a good start that covers options ranging from low risk and low reward, to high risk and high reward. So for those of you who, like me, are trying to push their laptops as much as they can for gaming, I hope you find something in here that helps you out.

Garret Moniz presents Gears of War 3 – For those who can’t game 9 to 5 posted at Gamesters Paradice, saying, “The Gears of War trilogy is finally over. Took a look back at an iconic moment that wasn’t even a part of the game.” Garret discusses some of the emotional impact Gears of War had for him. Short, but a good read.

Valaney presents Which Gaming Console Will Create the Next Big Thing posted at Techchai – Technology Tips, Tutorials, Articles and Updates, saying, “Rumors of next-gen consoles are starting to heat up, what do you think will be hot?” Some conversation about what consoles will be big next generation. Not a lot of talk of specifics, but Valaney still has a winner in mind.

Victor Stanescu presents Online Social Games ? Billion Dollar Industry posted at Vectorash.ro, saying, “A Sociable and Nice take on Online Social Games, a billion dollar industry for Facebook Games and Google+ Games!” Victor lays out some statistics on social network gaming and discusses a bit about what he sees as the rather mindless experience of playing social network games. I’m inclined to agree, and can happily say I play none of these Facebook games. Want a real social game? Invite some friends over for some Smash Bros., Mario Kart, or Gears of War, and actually socialize while you play a game.

Mark Roberts presents Man of Few Words posted at Alatar Tales, saying, “An investigation exploring the effects of a certain theoretical physicist’s lack of vocal chords.” Some thoughts on a certain main character’s lack of speech, and how Mark feels it takes him out of the game. Personally, I’ve never minded a mute main character. It’s a little odd at times, but it’s never pulled me out of the game experience.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. Join us next month for more great gaming info. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

1) Morrowind Sounds and Graphics Overhaul

First things first. You probably want a graphics upgrade. If you don’t, that’s cool, you can skip this one. Otherwise, you’re going to want to install the Morrowind Sounds and Graphics Overhaul. This beauty is a compilation of tons of graphics enhancements for Morrowind, and it comes with a nice installer and guide to getting everything working the way you want it. Naturally, it won’t look as good as Oblivion from a technical standpoint. There’s only so much that can be done with the engine Morrowind is on. But this mod does a great job of pushing the engine to do more, and I think you’ll be impressed. Here’s a video showing off the best of this Morrowind Overhaul mod.

There are also some new sounds added, notably some voice acting for a few important plot points. If, like me, you prefer to read, you can disable those added voice overs. Be sure to grab all the patches as well for this mod, since they offer more options for graphics and added sound, as well as a nice gameplay tweak in the final patch. What is this gameplay tweak you may ask? Well, in the Morrowind Code Patch (included in this package), there is the option to enable “swift casting.” This makes it so the spell button in Morrowind no longer puts you into casting mode, but instead casts the spell you currently have selected, just like Oblivion. This alone makes gameplay for hybrid characters feel far more fluid.

For those of you not picking up the sound and graphics overhaul above, you can still get the swift casting and other game tweaks that may appeal to you by downloading and installing the Morrowind Code Patch separately.

2) Magicka Regeneration

Next up, there’s Magicka Regeneration. Because really, who wants to have to chug a potion or rest for a day after casting a couple powerful (or not so powerful) spells in order to keep casting. It’s not quite as forgiving as Oblivion’s magicka regeneration, but I find this mod regenerates magicka at a comfortable rate while adventuring. Just be sure to note that magicka does not regenerate during time that you are using Morrowind’s wait command. Likewise, when sleeping, magicka regenerates at Morrowind’s normal sleeping rate. It’s a small thing, to be sure, but something to be aware of while playing.

3) Bantari’s Ravenloft Mod

So now you have need of two more things. You need a stronghold, and fast travel. Yes, fast travel, though it is done fairly differently than in Oblivion. I assume it has to be without a lot more digging into the game engine, and this mod is primarily a stronghold mod which I also use for fast travel since it suits me.  It’s the best I’ve seen yet for Morrowind, and I appreciate the effort that went into it. With that said, there are two things to note about how it works. First, it’s a portable mansion you can access at any time to stash gear while adventuring, and you can return to where you were moments earlier by employing Mark and Recall spells. Alternatively, there is a teleporter room in this mansion with a Map of Vvardenfell with handy markings to bring you to any city in the base game, along with some other important plot locations. It’s not everything, but it sure beats walking, and makes Morrowind far more enjoyable. When you want to go somewhere new, just go to your stronghold, use the teleporter room, and off you go. As for the trinket that lets you access the stronghold? Well, the author of the mod wants you to work a little for that, so I’ll just say this. If you play from the beginning of the game, you can’t miss it. Otherwise, you want to be looking on the path through the Census and Excise building in Seyda Neen that you went through at the beginning of the game.

So with these mods, what’s missing? Well, the combat is still pretty lackluster compared to Oblivion’s, but really, I don’t think Oblivion’s was anything to phone home about either. Fast travel does require some movement, though once you get used to it, it’s almost as fast as navigating the menus in Oblivion. There’s still very little voice acting as well, which I am perfectly fine with. When I grew up, we read everything that characters said in our rpgs. You may feel differently though. Most notably, there is no compass to point you toward quest objectives. This still takes some getting used to, but talk to npcs and read your journal, and that’s something that can be overcome. Directions for quests are very well written in this game, and there are plenty of landmarks to follow.

That sounds like a lot, so here’s a quick summary of what you get. Enhanced graphics. Spellcasting while keeping your weapon ready for use for a smoother combat experience. Constant magicka regeneration to make spellcasting a more consistent option. A stronghold to store your gear like those available in Oblivion. Finally, an option for fast travel that doesn’t involve getting to town and then going town to town on silt striders or through the mage guild. Just finish your dungeon, jump to your stronghold, then teleport to any town you need to get to in order to finish up. Includes Ashlander camps too, among other helpful locations.

Morrowind is, of course, still its own game. Even with these mods, as I explained above, there are some differences in gameplay. Some are pretty major, notably the lack of compass, and will take some adjustment. This set of mods should help lower the level of adjustment needed so anyone used to Oblivion can get back into Morrowind faster if they wish to do so, but you will still most likely need to get used to it.

All in all though, this is a package that moves Morrowind very far in the direction it needed to go to keep up with Oblivion, and I was very pleased with the improved experience these mods provided. Many thanks to the authors who created them and put them all together. I hope this guide helps you get some more life out of Morrowind.