I wanted to build my new computer myself, because it allows me to spend more money on parts I care about, while saving money on parts I don’t.  Also, building a computer saves substantially when putting premium components into your case.  I couldn’t compete with Dell or HP when it comes to building the $200 internet browsing computer you can get at Best Buy.  But I can compete when it comes to putting some serious gaming performance into a relatively cost-effective computer.

Also, because I’m building my own computer that pretty much makes me a PC, because I can’t put OSX on a custom built system.

Part One: Let’s Go Shopping

Shopping is a little bit more fun for the custom PC builder.  It’s actually the only kind of shopping I like to do.  I went to Newegg with the express purpose of buying the components for a custom PC build. I had debated building now versus waiting until StarCraft 2 came out, but then I realized SC2 isn’t going to push the limits of any system I was going to build.

My 2 main objectives were price and performance.  I wanted to come in at a price point that was in the same ballpark as my last computer build (from almost 3 years ago, wow!) while getting a large amount of performance out of the setup.  That price was $1183.33 shipped.

The performance aspect comes pretty easy because of the processor I chose (Intel’s Core i7) because of the overclockability of it.

The parts list follows.

System:

• Case: Antec Twelve Hundred, $159.99 shipped
• Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts 650W, $79.99 shipped
• Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2, $289.99 + shipping
• Processor: Intel Core i7 920, $288.99 shipped
• CPU Cooler: Vigor Monsoon III LT, $55.99 + shipping
• Graphics Card: Gigabyte HD4870, $169.99 shipped, after rebate
• Memory: OCZ Platinum 6GB (3×2GB) DDR3 1600,$89.99 shipped, after rebate
• Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB, $99.99 shipped, after promo code
• Disc Drive: Pioneer Black 20x DVD Burner, $21.99 shipped
• Total after shipping, rebates and combo deals: $1,198.22 (One interesting note, I actually paid more for the components in this build and less on shipping than in the previous build.  So while I was $15 more expensive, I spent a good deal less on shipping than last time.)

I also got some pretty decent combo discounts by purchasing parts together, I’ll get to that in a second.  (All of the components link to Newegg, because that’s where I bought them.)

I’m only buying the main PC because I already own a good mouse, keyboard, speakers and pair of LCDs.  When building your system, often those are the parts that you take from one to the next.  I’ll also install the copy of Windows Vista that I own, and install my old copy of Windows XP on my previous box.

Now to the why’s…

————————————————————————-– Case: Antec Twelve Hundred

Antec Twelve Hundred (click to enlarge)

There are a couple of reasons I chose to go with the Antec Twelve Hundred.  I’ve read a few columns from different review sites.  High marks seemed to be given to cases from Antec, CoolerMaster and Thermaltake.

My decision came to rest between three different full tower cases: the Twelve Hundred, the Coolermaster HAF and the Thermaltake Spedo. The base price on each after instant discounts were in the same ballpark, but only the Twelve Hundred had free shipping.  Free shipping on a case, particularly a full tower case, can add $20 to the price.   Each case had a respective bundle deal, pairing it with a decent number of components.  The best bundle I found paired the Twelve Hundred with an Antec power supply, the EarthWatts 650.

Ultimately, because the reviews main detriments were price (which has come down) and the LED lights (which I actually like, but can be turned off) I chose to go with the Antec Twelve Hundred.  I look forward to building out my new computer inside of it.

————————————————————————-– Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts 650W

The Antec EarthWatts 650W Power Supply (click to enlarge)

How much you want to cram inside your computer should ultimately dictate the size of your power supply.  In my case, I do plan on doing some overclocking and eventually I may choose to add a second video card, so I wanted to have a high quality and decent sized power supply.

(Of note, this is actually the biggest power supply I’ve ever put in a custom build system.)

Enter: the Antec EarthWatts 650W.  It had gotten some favorable reviews and was used in a pair of gaming rig guides I had seen online.

Ultimately it was price, performance, reviews and the fact that it was bundled with a nice discount that made me go with it.

I’m confident that it’ll have enough juice to power my rig, and I won’t have to worry about the quality because a component from Antec has yet to steer me wrong.

————————————————————————-– Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2

The Asus P6T Deluxe V2 (Click To Enlarge)

The motherboard is the hardest component to change when you’re building a custom PC, so it’s important that you pick the right one.

I think the P6T Deluxe V2 is the right board for my build.  It has plenty of room for expansion and a great number of features that will make it easier to do what I want to do (which is to say overclock the lights out of the Core i7).

The motherboard will hold upto 24GB of ram.  Even though I only plan to put 6GB on there, it’s nice to know I could add more (and I might with the way prices are trending downward).

In Anandtech’s midrange Intel system buyer’s guide, they actually recommended going with a cheaper part, the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R.  While it was about $80 cheaper after rebate, I found that there were a couple of options on the Asus board that were worth the extra cash, and there was a nice combo deal again that narrowed the pricegap with the Gigabyte board.

The ExtremeTech guys wrote an informative article on overclocking the Core i7 and used the original Deluxe board from Asus.  Because I don’t overclock every day, the ‘auto’ feature of the Asus AI Tweaker appealed to me.

————————————————————————-– Processor: Intel Core i7 920

The Intel Core i7 920 (click to enlarge)

For me there was only one real option when looking at processors.  I knew I wanted to buy a chip from Intel’s Nehalem line, because everywhere I’ve read says that this is one of the most friendly overclocking processors to come along in years.  I also knew that I could afford to buy only the 920 variant.

The Core i7 has three different offerings, the 920 which I selected, the 940 (listed at $570) and the Extreme Edition 965 (listed at $1000).

For me, the choice was clear when I saw benchmarks saying the 920 could overclock to speeds above the EE 965’s base clock by a very large margin.  (For reference, the 920 ships with a 2.66Ghz clock and the 965 with a 3.2Ghz clock).  You could overclock the EE 965 and get even better performance, but I didn’t have that kind of scratch.

One of things I’m most looking forward to in this build is seeing just how much juice I get get out of the Core i7 920 that I selected.

————————————————————————-– CPU Cooler: Vigor Monsoon III LT

Vigor Monsoon III LT (click to enlarge)

I’m not a professional system builder.  So I turn to the professionals when they talk about the heat put out by the Intel Core i7 line.  In Anandtech’s system building guide they talked about how the stock cooler included with the Core i7 920 processor is barely adequate for running at stock speeds.  Seeing as I wanted to overclock, a new CPU Cooler had to be included in the mix.  The Anandtech guide listed the Vigor Monsoon III LT as a cooler to get the job done.

Fortunate for me, the cooler was also part of a combo deal at Newegg with the processor I was already buying, so I got to save a bit more.

I chose not to go with a more elaborate water cooling system because I wasn’t confident in my own abilities to set it up right.

————————————————————————-– Graphics Card: Gigabyte HD4870 1 GB

The Gigabyte HD4870 1GB (click to enlarge)

This selection, more than any other, gave me pause before clicking the ‘buy’ button when staring at my shopping cart.  Both AMD and Nvidia have just released some new parts in the $250 dollar range, the exact price point I was looking at going for.  But, by releasing those parts the two companies also pushed down the price on the previous generation of cards and in my case quite substantially.

The Gigabyte HD4870 that I chose to go with was 40% cheaper than the HD4890 part I was looking at.  The performance loss was only about 10% in most reviews I’ve seen comparing the two cards.  It just wasn’t cost effective to spend that much extra on the newer card and not get the same amount of performance out of it.

Also, I can still choose to buy two cards (which I might do when the prices come down even further) and at that point I’ll better the performance that I would have gotten out of the 4890 series because of the CrossFire Support.  (CrossFire basically links the two cards to increase performance output).

————————————————————————-– Memory: OCZ Platinum 6GB (3×2GB) DDR3 1600

OCZ 6GB Platinum DDR3 1600 (click to enlarge)

Memory was a somewhat easier choice for the system.  Prices are down dramatically compared to when I was building a system three years ago.  In addition, everywhere I looked seemed to recommend some sort of OCZ memory.  In the past, I’ve been partial to Corsair and Crucial but couldn’t ignore the recommendations.

The main decision between 3GB and 6GB was over quickly, because I could get 6GB for less thatn $100 bucks shipped.  It was just too cheap not to grab the extra amount, plus it’d feel like I was stepping backwards if I went with 3GB because I have 4GB (albeit slower memory) in my Home Theater PC.

The decision between OCZ’s Platinum and Gold came down to recommendations in system building guides and the similar prices between the two.

————————————————————————-– Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB

————————————————————————-– Disc Drive: Pioneer Black 20x DVD Burner

WD Caviar Black 1TB (click to enlarge)

The final two components I bought came down to a pair of factors.  How ‘cutting edge’ did I want to go?  How important is speed?  Can I save money?

I could have spent a good deal more by choosing a VelociRaptor hard drive that would have outperformed the Caviar Black.  At the same time, I could have gone with a much smaller hard drive to save even more.

I ultimately chose to go with the drive I did because I have a tendency to fill drives up and the performance reviews I’ve seen on the Caviar Black were pretty favorable.

As to the disc drive, no part of me wanted a Blu-Ray player in my desktop PC.  If I’m going to put one anywhere, I’ll toss the $100 reader into my HTPC, but I’m not interested in having one on my desktop.  If prices continue to creep down, it might be an option.

When looking at the gaming industry though, it was painfully slow to make the switch from CD to DVD for games, I can only imagine that the transition to the slower adopted Blu-Ray will take even longer. (In the PC realm at least)  Additionally, game distribution in an increasing number of cases doesn’t involve discs at all.

As for other components, as stated above, I already have a pair of monitors I like.  I own the Sidewinder X6 Keyboard and Razer Lachesis Mouse that I’ve reviewed.  I also have a set of Klipsch speakers that are absolutely ancient (having come through now 4 builds with me) but that I still like when I don’t have a headset on.

More To Come:

Save Your Money: Build A PC continues!  I’m not going to just list the parts and leave it at that, no!  Follow my Twitter updates to be updated the second the order actually ships from Newegg.  And make sure to come back for part two: The Build!  If you’re a novice to the aspect of building a PC, it could be a good read.  I’ll be sure to include pictures from the build.

As always you can leave your comments in the section provided, or shoot me an email at matt(dot)schuler(at)woodtv(dot)com.

The hospital is accepting donations.

The game was made by Valve, the same development house that delivered Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2.  All three of those games are classics in my book.  With Left 4 Dead, Valve goes 4 for 4.

Read on for my review of the game I think is probably the best of 2008.

I bought Left 4 Dead because there are two guarantees in gaming to me.  1) When Blizzard makes a game, I’m going to love it.  2) Same goes for Valve.

I knew that I was going to enjoy this game, it was a matter of fact.

The man who tagged that is probably dead.

I bought a retail copy but installing it sets you up on Steam regardless.  Steam is Valve’s way of protecting its games, while giving the consumers some nice benefits.  Steam is the backbone for multiplayer, giving you a friends list similar to Xbox Live.  It also keeps a record of every game you’ve ever purchased and will let you redownload them, for free, on any computer you ever log your account into.  I applaud game companies when they do content-protection right.  Valve does it right.

So the game is installed, it was a pain-free process.  I double-click the icon and here we go.  From the opening cut-scene, the game is immersive.  Put on edge, I get ready to jump into my first game.  It’s a game that is mainly co-op, so I hope you brought your friends.  If you didn’t, it’s okay because you can jump into games online with some painless matchmaking.  There are three modes, single-player, campaign and versus.  (Campaign and versus are both multiplayer modes.)

If you shoot a car with an alarm, it will alert zombies.

I fired up the campaign mode first because I wanted to learn while playing with others.  Quickly, I was taught that there are some things in the game you just shouldn’t do.  For one, sometimes cars that you walk past are more than just burned out wrecks.  They’re still blinking–some of them even have alarms.  You don’t want to be the player in your group that alerts the horde, it’s not a good thing.

The game’s progression in the campaign mode is impressive.  You’ll play through the same movie (of which there are four, each with 5 separate levels) and the experience will be completely different.  Zombies will not be in the same spot and if they are, there’s a good chance how many zombies are there will be different.  In one spot, where you know there was a second pistol, the next time through you’ll see nothing.  It’s all part of the game’s advanced A.I. “director” who gives delivers to you the zombies, weapons, health and ammo. Speaking of guns…

With the sniper rifle you can pick off zombies from afar.

There are plenty of them.  You start with a pistol and your choice of an uzi or a pump shotgun.   Ammo with the pistol is unlimited, but it’s not as powerful.  There’s a good chance you’ll have to turn to the pistol as uzi and shotgun ammo runs out while shooting through zombies.

Trying to escape the zombie apocalypse you’ll get a chance to upgrade your weaponry.  A second pistol is always nice to carry.  Then there’s the option of the second tier weapons.  Automatic shotgun, assault rifle and sniper rifle round out the compliment of weapons.  Pick your favorite, but don’t hang back from the group sniping, you’ll just get killed.

The automatic shotgun is probably the most satisfying when you’re surrounded by zombies, but it only has 10 shots before you have to reload.  Watching your ammo diminish when surrounded by the hordes of zombies is tense to say the least.  And that’s when you are just shooting at normal zombies… but there are some special ones out there too.

The special zombies come in 5 flavors.  There’s the hunter, smoker, boomer, witch and tank.  I’m only going to show you a picture of one though.

When the hunter pounces your friend, you should shoot it.

You don’t want to be alone when you run into a hunter.  If you’re not lucky enough to shoot him before he pounces on you, there’s a good chance he will destroy you.  He has a crouch attack that allows him to leap further than you’d expect.  Do your allies a favor and don’t let them get pounced.

Sometimes, your allies will be killed by zombies.

n the campaign mode, when an ally dies mid-level, if there’s enough time you’ll probably find them somewhere else in the level.

In between levels you see how well you fared.

The boomer is a big guy.  You could say that he’s been drinking, because he’s a puker.  The boomer will sneak up on you (and when he does you’ll wonder how, because he’s a HUGE guy.) and puke all over you.  If his puke connects with your skin, other zombies flock to you.  The boomer’s main purpose is to cover you with what is like candy to zombies.  When you’re covered you can’t see much and just have to push off the horde the best you can.

Lots of people have passed through here.

The smoker is another kind of zombie that you don’t want to run into alone.  He has a sort of tongue-like thing that snatches up you or your allies and pulls them great distances.  Not only does it seperate you from the group, it also hurts you and gives other zombies the chance to start beating on you.  There are many of times while playing that I thought I was good enough to take on a smoker by myself.  I wasn’t and got wrecked because of it.

You should turn off your flashlight when you hear a witch.

The witch is totally avoidable.  And you would be wise to avoid her.   She’s ferocious.  Claws that cut you down, and if she cuts down everyone, it’s round over, start the map again.

Currency Exchange straight ahead!

Then, there’s the tank.  He’s big, huge even.  Tough to take down is an understatement.  (Depending on the difficulty and what guns you have and what else is around and killing you at the time.)

This plane is not available to fly out of the zombie apocalypse.

The special zombies in the game make it a pretty intense experience.  You can hear them when they’re around and they all make a unique sound so you know what you’re heading in to.

You made it outside and there's a plane!

In the versus mode, all of those special zombies that tormented you during the campaign become playable.  You get to step into the shoes of a boomer, hunter, smoker or tank.  (The witch isn’t playable, but she is there, and it helps if the survivors get her attention.)

Oh no! It's crashing!

The levels are a mixture of linear and open.   There are multiple ways to get from the safehouse you start in to the safehouse you’re trying to get to.  If you take the shortest path from a to b, there’s a good chance you’ll miss some valuable boosts along the way.  The game’s AI director sprinkles ammo, guns, medpacks and pills. (The pills give a temporary health boost that slowly trickles away)

The screenshot does not give this sequence justice.

In Left 4 Dead, all you want to do is escape alive.  Trying to do that is what makes the game so fun to me.  It’s a great experience when playing through the campaigns and the intensity only ramps up when you start playing the versus mode.

When you make it out alive, it's a nice feeling.

Playing versus as a survivor is harder, because the special zombies are controlled by real people and they’re talking to each other about how best to trap you, split you up and ultimately end your existance.  And they do, often.  If you die in the versus mode, there’s no coming back.

You get to kill a lot of zombies in the game.

After playing through each of the four campaigns many times, I find myself going back to the versus mode most.  It’s what makes the game so unique.  I’ve never had the ability to do the things in a multiplayer game that the special zombies can do in this game.  It’s great.

Left 4 Dead is best played with others, which means either online or on a LAN.  If you don’t have a connection, there is the single player option available.  It offers a pretty good experience of what it’s like to play cooperatively, because the other 3 survivors in the group all have some pretty good AI.

That being said, it’s more fun to me yelling help to your friends when you get pounced by a hunter or lassoed by a smoker or puked on by a boomer than having a bot come help you.

To wrap it up, Left 4 Dead is a fantastic game, and you should go buy it right now.  At the store, or on Steam, it doesn’t matter.  Just go get it.

Special thanks to Mr. Slippers for helping out on the playthroughs.

If you pick up a copy of the game, friend me on Steam, just search for Subway.

Have questions about something? You can email me at matt(dot)schuler(at)woodtv(dot)com. And for more, shorter updates, check out my Twitter by clicking on twitter.com/mattschuler.

TF2 is a great game because it’s the one I keep coming back to.  I’ll play other games, but the large-scale team-based gameplay keeps me coming back.

Valve just released another content update for the game on the PC and they’re planning on keeping the content coming.

So here are my 5 reasons you should play.

Team Fortress 2 requires teamwork, or you won't get very far. (Pic from teamfortress.com)

1. It’s a part of the Orange Box.

TF2 is part of the Orange Box, which can be had right now for $30. A quick summary of reviews shows that the Orange Box is well worth it, with a very solid 96.4% average from 38 reviews.

A quick note: for the PC it’s probably the greatest collection of games you can buy right now for $30. There’s TF2, Portal (which is fantastic), Half-Life 2 and Episodes 1 & 2.  I’ll talk about my love for all things Valve in another post. (Right now I’m also playing another great game by Valve, Left 4 Dead.)

Back to Team Fortress 2.  There’s a very important part about why I think so highly of TF2.  Valve supports it.

2. Downloadable Content (DLC) for free.

There has been DLC made available for free to PC users. (Eventually console users will see the content in a massive patch Valve said.)  That DLC keeps remaking the game over and over by adding new maps, game play types and it even goes so far as to change the characters.

This may not be news if you’re playing it right now, but if you’re not it has to be the reason you consider playing it.

3. Class Updates that change the game.

Just released were updates to two classes (the engineer and spy.)  I’ve got the details at the bottom of the post.

It’s just the latest in developments that the design team has made to the game.  So far three of the nine classes have been given new weapons, the Medic, Pyro and Heavy.  All three have changed how the class is played and doubled the amount of weapons available to the class.  The fourth class that will get a revamp is the Scout.

One of the main goals we’re focusing on for him has been to provide tools that make him useful in maps like Dustbowl & Goldrush. If you have any ideas for what you think would work well, post them over on the Team Fortress 2 Forum and we’ll take a look. (Valve Blog)

The DLC keeps making fresh a game that at its core was already great.

4. Great class balance.

TF2 has great class balance, which is important when you’re playing with as many as 32 players on the same server and anyone playing can pick any class.  The added weapons contribute to the balance by varying the specs that people can use.

There’s also the fact that in these updates Valve is also including new maps and gameplay types.  There are multiple gameplay types including your classic capture the flag, but there are also variations on the capture motif.

5. Creators have comic wit and use it.

My final reason you should check it out: The game and its creators are hilarious. There are videos, check the site.

UPDATE 6. Steam & content protection done right.

After posting I immediately thought of the other reason I love TF2.  When you install the game, it registers with Valve and to play you have to be using Steam.  Some people won’t like that the game phones home, but in this case there are good reasons that it doesn’t bother me.  Steam allows me to download and install games that I own, any time and on any computer.  There are no install limits.  I appreciate Valve protecting its content in a way that gives value to the consumer.

-

I definitely want to urge you to check the game out, for 30 bucks it’s hard to pass up.  If you’re already playing then you can travel to my most played servers.  Most of the time I play on the [Q] Servers: Gold Rush #1 (76.74.155.132:27015) and #2(76.74.155.133:27015)

My steam tag is Subway.

Have questions about something? You can email me at matt(dot)schuler(at)woodtv(dot)com. And for more, shorter updates, check out my Twitter by clicking on twitter.com/mattschuler.

Patch Notes:

-The Engineer’s teleporters can now be upgraded to level three. It will recharge faster the higher level it is
-The Engineer’s dispensers can now be upgraded to level three. It will give out metal and heal faster as it is upgraded
-Spies will be able to recharge their cloaking ability by picking up ammo off of the ground or from health cabinets
-Some changes to the second part of the first stage of Goldrush to give the attackers more of an advantage
-Any weapons that fire bullets (shotguns, sniper’s machine gun, heavy’s minigun, etc.) can now break apart the Demoman’s stickybombs
-The icon on the HUD for a person calling for Medic will now give more information to the medic (if the target is low on health, on fire, etc.)
-Added an achievement tracker that will allow people to choose specific achievements that they are trying to get
-There is now a custom icon for death messages when the player was killed from a critical hit
-Added a new particle effect for when a player enters the water
-Added smoke to the feet of a rocket jumping soldier
-Players will now have some particles swirling around them so other players can see when they are overhealed

As I said in the comments of my Blu-Ray post here are the deals you’re going to want to check out for Black Friday.

It covers gadgets, games, TVs, Blu-Ray players almost everything.

Read on and enjoy the savings. Updated Wednesday Night!

These deals are coming straight from Techbargains.com They’ll be updating their site as frequent as possible from Wednesday on to highlight when these deals go live.

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To jump to a specific store, hit ctrl-f and type in the store. (If that’s your browser’s search function)

Included stores: Walmart, Staples, Gamestop, Sony Style, Dell Home, Sears, Kohls, Costco, Target, Office Max, Best Buy, Meijer, Amazon

I’ve added italics to some deals I think are pretty great.

Walmart

Friday 5am – 11am Door Buster Specials (may start earlier)

Samsung PN50A400 50” Plasma HDTV (720p) $798.00
Polaroid 42” LCD HDTV (1080p) $598.00
Emerson BLC320EM9 32” LCD HDTV (720p) $388.00 (That’s pretty cheap, even though the brand isn’t tops)
Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-Ray Player $128.00 (CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!!!  This is the cheapest you will see a BD player for a while!  If you’re wanting to jump in for cheap this is it!)

Garmin nuvi 200 Portable GPS Navigation $97.00
Samsung BL103 10MP 3X Digital Camera $69.00
Venturer 8” Portable DVD Player $49.99
Philips GoGear 2GB MP3 Player w/ Accessory Kit $29.99
JVC Everio GZ-MG230 30GB Hard Drive Digital Camcorder $249.00
Xbox 360 Arcade 256MB Memory Unit Console w/ Guitar Hero 3 Wireless Bundle $199.00
GiiNii 8” Digital Photo Frame $39.00
HP Pavilion a6683w-b AMD Dual-Core Desktop Computer w/ 19” LCD $398.00
Kodak ZD86128MP 12X Digital Camera $149.00
KitchenAid Classic White 4.5QT Stand Mixer $130.00

Friday, Saturday 2-Day Specials (may start earlier)

Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5897 AMD Dual-Core 15” Laptop (4GB/250GB )$548.00
Seagate Free Agent 500GB External Hard Drive $69.00
Nintendo DS Lite Bundle w/ Super Mario Bros Game $136.00
Nintendo DS Lite Bundle w/ Brain Age Game $136.00

RCA M4208GR 8GB MP3 Player $49.00
Kodak EasyShare CD1013 10MP 3X Digital Camera $79.00
Samsung SC-DX103 DVD Digital Camcorder $179.00
Pure Digital Flip Video F230 30-Min Digital Camcorder $79.00

Samsung PN42A410 42” Plasma HDTV (720p) $698.00
Samsung LN40A500T 42” LCD HDTV (1080p) $798.00
Samsung LN32A300 32” LCD HDTV (720p) $498.00
Samsung LN46A500T 46” LCD HDTV (1080p) $1099.00
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Staples
Friday, Saturday 2-Day Deals (may start earlier)

Laptops:
Acer Aspire One Intel Atom 8.9” Laptop (1GB/120GB/XP Home) $349.98
Acer Aspire Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 16” Laptop $599.98
HP Pavilion dv4t Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 14.1” Laptop (4GB/250GB) $649.98AR

Computer Accessories:
Samsung 933SN 18.5” Widescreen LCD Monitor $119.98
Microsoft Wireless Optical 3000 Mouse $12.99
Logitech LX8 Cordless Laser Mouse $14.99
Targus Notebook Fan $9.99
Logitech S520 Cordless Desktop Keyboard & Mouse $29.99

Netgear WNR2000 Wireless-N Router $49.99
Sony 20X DVD+/-RW 3.5” Internal IDE DVD Burner $19.99
Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 $59.99
Norton AntiVirus 2009 Software $19.99AR (or FREE with Upgrader’s Rebate)

Portable GPS Navigation:
Garmin NUVI 205W Portable GPS Navigation $149.99
Navigon 2100 MAX Portable GPS Navigation w/ Lifetime Traffic Updates $199.99
TomTom Go 730 Portable GPS Navigation $349.99
Omnitech Portable GPS Navigation (4.3”, TTS) $119.99

Printers:
HP Photosmart C4480 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer $49.99
HP LaserJet 1215 Color Laser Printer $149.99
Brother MFC-3360C Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer w/ Phone $29.99
Brother HL-2170W Monochrome Laser Printer w/ Wireless Networking $79.99
Brother MFC-7420 Monochrome Laser All-in-One Printer $99.98
HP Photosmart C6380 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer $119.98
Brother 575 Phone & Fax Machine $9.98

Flash Memory:
2-Pack PNY 4GB Flash Drives $19.99
SanDisk 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo $19.99
SanDisk 8GB SDHC Card $19.99
50-Pack HP DVD Blank Disc Media $9.99

For The Office:
Uniden 3-Handset DECT 6.0 Cordless Digital Telephone $39.99
Panasonic 2-Handset DECT 6.0 Cordless Digital Telephone $49.99
Brother PT-1280 Label Maker $9.99AR
Skullcandy Ink’d Earphones $9.99

APC BE350R 350VA UPS Battery Backup $19.99 (That’s $10 less than I paid for mine.)
Staples Manilo Leather Manager’s Chair $49.99
Staples Dugan Terry Manager’s Chair $99.99
Staples Tillman Leather Executive Chair $199.99

Electronic Gifts:
Zenith Philips Universal Remote FREE AR
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W120 7MP 4X Digital Camera w/ FREE Canon Printer AR $129.99AR
Nikon Coolpix S550 10MP 5X Digital Camera w/ FREE Canon Printer AR $149.99AR
Omnitech 7″ Digital Picture Collage Frame w/ 512MB Storage $69.99AR
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Gamestop

Friday Doorbusters (7am – 11am, may start earlier)

FREE Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 w/ Xbox Console ($199.99-$399.99)
FREE PS2 Game (under $20) + $30 Gift Card w/ Sony Playstation 2 Slim Console $129.99
Crysis (PC) $19.99
World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (PC) $19.99

Friday, Saturday, Sunday 3 Day Deals (may start earlier)

Buy 2 Used Games or Accessories, Get 1 FREE
Sony Playstation 2 Slim Console w/ $30 Gift Card $129.99
Sony PSP Madden NFL 09 Limited Edition Bundle w/ $30 Gift Card $199.99

Guitar Hero Aerosmith Game Only (Wii) $19.99, (PS3, Xbox 360) $29.99
Samba De Amigo Game (Wii) $19.99
Nerf N-Strike Game (Wii) w/ FREE Maverick Blaster Gun $59.99
Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) $29.99
Civilization: Revolution (DS) $19.99
New Release Chrono Trigger (DS) $39.99

Final Fantasy 12 (PS2) $9.99
Resident Evil 4 (PS2) $9.99
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Xbox 360) $39.99
Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway (Xbox 360) $19.99

=============
Sony Style

Deals Starting Thursday

Sony BRAVIA DAV-HDX576WF Home Theater System $349.99 (Exp 11/29)
Sony BRAVIA HT-CT100 Home Theater System $199.99 (Exp 11/29)

15% off Sony Style Outlet (Exp 12/1)
$300 off Sony SR Series Laptops (Exp 12/1)
$100 off Sony VAIO Notebooks and Desktops (Exp 12/1)

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350K SLR Digital Camera w/ Lens $699.99 (Exp 12/24)
Sony Ericsson K8500 Phones (BLACK, BLUE models) $349.99 (Exp 1/31)
Friday 1-Day Deals (may start earlier)

$250 off Sony VAIO CS Series Laptops Coupon Code: TECHBARGAINSCSBF
$200 off Sony VAIO FW Series Laptops Coupon Code: TECHBARGAINSFWBF
Sony Walkman NWZ-A818 8GB MP3 Player $69.99 Coupon Code: TECHBARGAINSMP3
15% off Select Sony Handycam High-Definition Digital Camcorders Coupon Code: TECHBARGAINSHDR (models SR10/SR11/SR12)

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Dell Home

Friday Deals (12 midnight – 12 midnight EST but may start earlier)

Computer Accessories:
Dell SE198WFP 19” LCD Monitor $129.99
Western Digital My Book World 1TB External Hard Drive w/ Networking $169.99
Norton 360 2.0 All-in-One Security Software $9.99AR

Home Entertainment:
Sharp 42” LCD HDTV (1080p) $779.99
Sony BRAVIA DAV-HDX275 5.1ch 1000W Home Theater w/ 5-Disc DVD Player $229.99
Microsoft Xbox 360 Arcade Bundle w/ Rock Band 2 (Game Only) $199.99

Portable Electronics & Gifts:
SmartParts 7″ Digital Photo Frame $44.99
Creative Labs Zen Mosaic 8GB MP3 Player $74.99
Pharos PDR200 Portable GPS Navigation $94.99
Canon PowerShot SD1100 8MP 3X Digital Camera w/ 4GB SD Card $159.99

=============

Sears

Friday 5am-12noon Door Busters Deals

Home Entertainment:

Sharp LC-46SB54U 46” LCD HDTV (1080p) $899.99
Samsung LN40A500 40” LCD HDTV (1080p) $799.99
Samsung LN46A500 46” LCD HDTV (1080p) $1099.99
Panasonic TH-42PX80U 42″ Plasma HDTV (720p) $699.99 (Brother has this thing wall-mounted at his house, but he paid $250 more for it.)
Sylvania 42” LCD HDTV $699.99 (item #: 71246/LC420SS8)
Proscan 32” LCD HDTV (720p) $499.99
Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray Player $179.99 (ANOTHER SUB $200 BD player! Wow!)
Memorex Progressive Scan DVD Player $14.99AR
Samsung HT-Z310 5.1ch 996W Home Theater w/ DVD Player $159.99
Portable Electronics:
TomTom ONE 125 Portable GPS Navigation $99.99 (item #: 30719)
Magellan Maestro 1412 Portable GPS Navigation $149.99
Venturer 7” Portable DVD Player $49.99 (item #: 57228/PVD730)
Samsung i85 8.2MP 5X Digital Camera $129.99
Kodak 9.2MP 3X Digital Camera $79.99 (item #: 53298/CD93)
iRobot Roomba 405 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner $99.99 (item #: 38800) (I don’t know if this is a good price, but it’s a robot that cleans for you… that’s nice.)

Gifts:
Nextar 7” Digital Photo Frame $37.99
Sony Wireless Stereo Headphones $29.99
Guitar Hero 3 Wireless Bundle (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii) $54.99

=============
Kohls
Camcorders:

HD Digital Video Camcorder Value Pack $99.99

Digital Cameras:

Samsung 8.1MP Digital Camera $79.99

Electronics:

5-in-1 Music System $69.99
Charging Valet $24.99
Digital Labs 7″ Digital Photo Frame $39.99AR
Digital Labs 7″ Portable DVD Player Kit $49.99AR
Digital Photo Cube $19.99
Digital Photo Key Chain $14.99
Entertainment Projector $99.99
Entire Stock of Weather Stations and Atomic Clocks 50-60% off
HMDX Speaker-on-the-Go Portable Speaker Case $9.99
iLive Stereo Speaker with Dock for iPod $49.99
Innova Universal Dock Clock for iPod $29.99AR
Karaoke system $69.99
KitchenAid Classic Plus Stand Mixer w/ FREE $20 Kohl’s Gift Card by Mail
Nextar GPS Navigation System $79.99AR
Portable or Solar Power Lighting & Chargers 50-60%
Remington 7-in-1 Grooming System $16.49

MP3 Players:

2GB MP3 Digital Audio/Video Player $29.99
Kid’s fashion electronics – mp3s, CDplayers, etc. 50-60% off

Video Games:

Entire Stock of Video Game Accessories 50% off
Video Games – entire stock 30-50% off

=============

Costco

Costco.com (Online)

Friday, Saturday, Sunday Deals (may start earlier)

Sharp 32″ LCD HDTV (720p) $499.99
Garmin nuvi 750 Portable GPS Navigation $199.99
Garmin Forerunner 305 Portable GPS Navigation $199.99
Motorola MotoPure H12 Bluetooth Headset $49.99

Viewsonic 8″ Digital Photo Frame (800×600) w/ 50 FREE Prints $79.99
iTouchless Motion Sensor Trash Can $49.99
P-Touch PT-1100SB Electronic Scrapbooking Label System $18.49
P-Touch 1280VP Handheld/Desktop Label Maker $18.49

Costco Warehouse (In-Store)

Friday, Saturday, Sunday Deals (prices are in-store only)

Samsung 23″ Widescreen LCD Monitor $259.99
HP C5550 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer $74.99
Samsung 23″ Widescreen LCD Monitor $259.99
Western Digital Passport Elite 320GB Portable Hard Drive $89.99
Olympus FE-370 8.0 MP Digital Camera $119.99

iHome iH27 Portable iPod Stereo Speaker System $49.99
iTunes $60 Card Pack $49.99
Magellan RoadMate 1212 Portable GPS Navigation $99.99
SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8GB MP3 Player $59.99

SmartParts 10.4″ Digital Photo Frame $99.99
KitchenAid Stand Mixer Professional HD Series $229.99
Vtech 3-Handset DECT 6.0 Cordless Digital Telephone $39.99
Philips Norelco Arcitec Razor $119.99

=============

Target

Friday, Saturday 2 Day Deals (may start earlier)

Home Entertainment:
Westinghouse 26″ LCD HDTV (720p) $299.99
Audiovox Under-Cabinet 12″ LCD HDTV w/ DVD Player $249.99
Crosley 4-in-1 Music System $79.83

Portable Electronics:
Apple iPod Nano 8GB MP3 Player w/ $15 Gift Card $145.00
Kodak MX1063 10.3MP 3X Digital Camera $89.00
Magellan RoadMate 1200 Portable GPS Navigation $99.99
Garmin nuvi 200W Portable GPS Navigation $119.99
TruTech Dual-Screen 7″ Portable DVD Player $88.00
RCA 7″ Portable DVD Player $49.00
Virgin Wildcard Cell Phone $39.99

Consoles & Video Games:
Xbox 360 Pro 60GB HDD Console w/ 2 Games + $60 Gift Card $299.99
Nintendo DS Bundle w/ Super Mario Brothers Game + $10 Gift Card $149.99
Nintendo DS Bundle w/ Brain Age Game + $10 Gift Card $149.99
Sony PSP Bundle w/ Ratchet and Clank + $20 Gift Card $199.99
Guitar Hero World Tour Bundle (Wii) Game + Guitar $59.00

Health & Beauty:
Dyson DC07 PINK w/ $100 Gift Card $349.99
Sonicare FlexCare Power Toothbrush $149.99
Norelco Speed XL Shaver $79.99
Norelco Arcitec Shaver $129.99
Braun Series 5 Shaver $139.99

Toys & Gifts:
Uniden 2-Handset 5.8GHz Cordless Digital Telephone $29.99
Fly Fusion Pentop Computer Digital Pen $29.99
RipStik Skateboard (RED) $59.00
Storm Rocket Wireless Gaming Chair $44.00
3-Slot Charging Valet w/ Power Strip $15.00

DVD Movies starting at $3.98
Batman Begins, Happy Feet, I Am Legend, Devil Wears Prada all at $3.98
=============
OfficeMax

Friday, Saturday 2-Day Deals (7am – 12 midnight EST but may start earlier)

Computer Peripherals:
Soyo 19″ Widescreen LCD Monitor $99.99
Cyber Acoustics 3ch Computer Speakers $14.99
Linksys Rangeplus Mimo 802.11b/g Wireless Router $39.99
Microsoft Communication Pack (Wireless Keyboard and Mouse + Webcam) $24.99
Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 $14.99
Logitech QuickCam Connect Webcam $14.99

100-Pack TDK 16x 4.7GB Double Layer DVD+/-RW Blank Disc Media $15.99
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 $69.99
Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking V10 Standard Software $39.99

Maxtor OneTouch 1TB External Hard Drive $139.99 (Wow! That’s a BIG! cheap! external HD)
Maxtor OneTouch 500GB External Hard Drive $79.99
SimpleTech Signature Mini 500GB External Portable Hard Drive $129.99
Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini 250GB $69.99

Portable Electronics:
Nikon Coolpix P60 Digital Camera w/ Free Inkjet Printer $119.99
Olympus FE-340 8.0 Megapixel Digital Camera w/ FREE Starter Kit $119.99
Quick Flix Digital Camcorder $59.99
TomTom One 125 Portable GPS $99.99
Centon moVex 2GB MP3 Player $14.99
Centon 4GB MP3 Player $24.99
Motorola H375 BlueTooth Headset $17.99

Printers:
Brother HL-2140 Monochrome Laser Printer $49.99
Samsung CLP-315 Color Laser Printer $99.99
Brother MFC7420 Monochrome Laser All-in-One Printer $99.99
Samsung SCX-4725FN Laser Multifunction Printer $139.99
HP Photosmart C4480 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer $49.99
HP Photosmart C6380 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer $119.99
Epson NX300 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer $49.99

Flash Memory Cards:
SanDisk 8GB SD Card $17.99
SanDisk 4GB SD Card $9.99
Olympus 2GB xD Card $14.99
Lexar FireFly 4GB Flash Drive $9.99
SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4GB Flash Drive $9.99
SanDisk 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo Card $19.99
SanDisk Cruzer Micro 8GB Flash Drive $17.99

For The Office:
Epson PowerLite S5 3LCD SVGA Projector $399.99
Sungale 7″ Digital Photo Frame $39.99
Sungale 8.5″ Digital Photo Frame $59.99
Memorex 10″ Digital Photo Frame $89.99

Brother P-Touch PT-1280 Hand-Held Labelmaker $9.99
Memorex iPod Speaker Dock $29.99
High-Back Executive Chair $59.99
Swissgear Marlet Computer Backpack $39.99

=============

Best Buy

Friday 5am Door Busters (prices may be in-store only)

Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5892 AMD Dual-Core 15.4” Laptop (3GB/160GB) $379.99
Panasonic Viera TH-50PE8U 50” Plasma HDTV (720p) $899.99
Sony Playstation 3 80GB HDD Console w/ Ratchet & Clank Game & Casino Royale Movie $399.99 (That’s a pretty nice PS3 bundle, probably the best you’ll see before Christmas)
Garmin nuvi 260W Portable GPS Navigation $189.99
Transformers Movie (Blu-Ray) $9.99 (Cheap big name BD titles! This is what I’m talking about!)
Wii Game Party $9.99

Friday & Saturday 2 Day Deals (may start earlier)

Computer Systems & Peripherals:
HP Pavilion dv4t (dv4-1114nr) Intel Core 2 Duo 14” Laptop $499.99
eMachines AMD Single-Core Desktop Computer w/ 18.5” LCD Monitor $299.99
HP AMD Quad Core Desktop Computer w/ 21.6” LCD Monitor & Printer $599.96

Acer AL1919WAB 19” LCD Monitor $99.99
Samsung 923NW 19” LCD Monitor $129.99
Western Digital My Book Home 1TB External Hard Drive (eSATA/Firewire/USB) $149.99 (Another cheap big external HD.)
Western Digital Passport Elite 320GB External Portable Hard Drive $99.99

Microsoft Explorer Wireless Mouse w/ BlueTrack $49.99
Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick USB 2.0 TV Tuner $59.99
Netgear WNR2000-100NAS Wireless-N Router $49.99
Microsoft Office Home & Student $69.99
Canon MX700 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer/Copier/Fax/Scanner $99.99

Home Entertainment:
Mitsubishi WD-60735 60” DLP HDTV (1080p) $999.99 (If you’ve got the room… that’s a BIG TV.)
LG 47LG70 47” LCD HDTV (1080p, 120Hz) $1499.99
LG 32LG70 32” LCD HDTV (1080p) $699.99

Samsung LN46A500 46” LCD HDTV (1080p) $1099.99
Samsung PN42A450 42” Plasma HDTV (720p) $699.99
Samsung LN32A300 32” LCD HDTV (720p) $499.99

Polk Audio 10” 100W Powered Subwoofer $99.99
Polk Audio T15 Bookshelf Speakers $49.99
Samsung DVD1080P8 1080P DVD Player $49.99

Consoles & Video Games:
Xbox 360 Pro 60GB HDD Console w/ 4 Games $299.99 (That’s a pretty good 360 bundle)
Guitar Hero Aerosmith Game Only (Wii) $24.99
Guitar Hero III Special Edition Bundle (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) w/ 2 Wireless Guitars $79.98
Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway Game (Playstation 3) $19.99
Top Spin 3 Game (Wii) $19.99

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Game (Playstation 3) $19.99
Sims 2: Double Deluxe Game (PC) $9.99
Bioshock Game (PC) $9.99 (Perhaps one of the best PC games ever released!  If you haven’t played it pick it up.  If there’s a gamer in your life, buy it for them.)
Far Cry 2 (Xbox 360) $37.99

Tom Clancy’s EndWar (Xbox 360) $37.99
Soul Calibur IV (Playstation 3) $37.99
NBA 09 The Inside (Playstation 3) $37.99

Movies:

$16.99 Blu-Rays include The Departed, I Am Legend, Kung Fu Panda, AVP 2,
Indiana Jones & The Crystal Skull, Hitman, Cloverfield, The Bank Job,
The Love Guru, SuperBad, Prom Knight, Bee Movie, 300, Rambo, Live Free Or Die Hard

Portable GPS Navigation:
Garmin nuvi 205 Portable GPS Navigation $119.99
Garmin nuvi 780 Portable GPS Navigation $349.99
TomTom Go 720 Portable GPS Navigation $249.99
Parrot Portable Hands-Free Car Kit for Bluetooth-Enabled Cell Phones $39.99

Digital Cameras & Camcorders:
Olympus FE-370 8MP 5X Digital Camera $129.99
Samsung SC-DX103 DVD Camcorder $199.99
JVC Everio GZ-MG330 30GB Hard Drive Digital Camcorder $299.99
Panasonic SDR-S7K SD Card Digital Camcorder $199.99

MP3 Players & Accessories:
Apple iPod Nano 8GB MP3 Player w/ FREE $20 Gift Card $149.99 (Another iPod deal that’s pretty nice.)
SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB MP3 Player $49.99
SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8GB MP3 Player $69.99
SanDisk Sansa Clip 4GB MP3 Player $34.99
Bose SoundDock Portable iPod Speaker System (Battery Powered) $359.99

Electronic Gifts:
Logitech Harmony 550 Universal Remote Control $59.99
VTech 4-Handset DECT 6.0 Cordless Digital Telephone $59.99

=============

UPDATE! Some great deals I saw in the Meijer circular

Meijer

Sylvania 32″ LCD 720p 379.99

Apple 8GB iPod Nano 149.99 Comes with a $50 Mail in rebate.

50% off select video games.

===============

From Cheap***gamer.com

Some deals at Amazon.com

Xbox 360
*Friday Only – Fallout 3 – $39.95 (Reg. $59.99)
*Friday Only – Far Cry 2 – $49.95 (Reg. $59.99)
*Friday Only – Call of Duty: World at War – $49.95 (Reg. $59.99)
Pure – $29.95 (Reg. $59.99)
LEGO Batman – $29.95 (Reg. $49.99)
The Last Remnant – $39.95 (Reg. $59.99)
Infinite Undiscovery – $18.95 (Reg. $59.99)

PlayStation 3
*Friday Only – Fallout 3 – $39.95 (Reg. $59.99)
*Friday Only – Soul Calibur IV – $39.95 (Reg. $59.99)
*Friday Only – Call of Duty: World at War – $49.95 (Reg. $59.99)
Pure – $29.95 (Reg. $59.99)
Heavenly Sword – $19.95 (Reg. $59.99)
Resistance: Fall Of Man – $14.95 (Reg. $29.99)
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe – $39.95 (Reg. $59.99)

Wii
Wii will be in stock on Thanksgiving afternoon.
Wii Fit will be in stock on Black Friday starting at midnight.
*Friday Only – Guitar Hero Aerosmith Wii – $25.95 (Reg. $39.99)
DeBlob – $25.95 (Reg. $49.99)
LEGO Batman – $29.95 (Reg. $49.99)
Wario Land: Shake It! – $29.95 (Reg. $49.99)
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree – $19.95 (Reg. $29.99)
Animal Crossing City Folk Bundle – $39.95 (Reg. $69.99)
MySims Kingdom – $19.95 (Reg. $29.99)

PC
*Friday Only – Fallout 3 – $29.95 (Reg. $49.99)
Guild Wars Eye of the North – $9.95 (Reg. $29.99)
Spore Creepy and Cute Parts Pack – $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
Far Cry 2 – $29.95 (Reg. $49.99)

PlayStation 2
Persona 3 FES (PS2) bundle – $29.95
Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection – $14.95 (Reg. $29.99)
God of War – $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
God of War 2 – $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
PlayStation 2 Limited Edition LEGO Batman Bundle – $99.95 (Reg. $149.99)

PlayStation Portable
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – $14.95 (Reg. $29.99)
Metal Gear Portable Ops – $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
N+ – $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
God of War Chains of Olympus – $19.95 (Reg. $39.99)

===============

That’s all I’ve got for now, is there something you’ve seen that I’m missing?  Post it in the comments!

-Matt

Both games are among my favoites, so could Fallout 3 succeed in the hands of a new development studio?  The game’s made by Bethesda who most recently released a pretty successful game in Oblivion.

So far, Fallout 3 has been given some high praise.  I have to say, I agree.

I picked the game up on release day a couple weeks back and have managed to play through to see several of the many possible endings.

The number one thing I come away with from playing the game is that the choice is in the player’s hands.  You can choose to be good or evil and there’s even a sliding Karma scale that players can keep track of throughout the game.  Your karma affects the way you’re treated by others and has a pretty big impact on what ending you see when you beat the game.

But please, when I say beat the game, by no means have I “finished” the game.  The world is MASSIVE.  It’s set in post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. about 70 years after the events in Fallout 2.  There are dozens of places you can travel.  You can run to the downtown ruins where there’s a shelled National Mall at your disposal, or head to the Wasteland where there are many different traps to avoid.

Gameplay-wise Bethesda tried to mix the turn-based combat of the originals with FPS mechanics.  That gives you the VATS system.  Essentially, it allows you to pause the game and target specific areas of an opponents body.  You want to blast the rocket launcher out of that mutants hand?  It gives you a percentage that you’ll be able to hit it.  You can aim at any limb, the torso or go for the headshot.  They did take away one target area from the originals, but this is a family site so I won’t say what it is.  All in all, I found VATS to be a good way of conserving ammo, but I could play just as well without  it. The best benefit from VATS is the cinematic-like cutaway that it does when you fire.

There are only 20 levels for your character in the game, so when you’re playing through that’s a good indicator of how close you are to “the end.”  Every level you’re presented with a variety of ways to improve your character.  You can improve small guns, big guns or plasma guns to increase how much damage you deal with a weapon.  Improving the unarmed skill makes you a better fighter.  When you pour points into the repair and medicine skills, it gives you better survivability.  You can get better prices from merchants by adding points to the barter skill.  You can add points to speech to open up new options when talking to characters in the game.

In addition to the points you distribute every level there are perks you can add once per level.  A multitude of options are at your fingertips.  My favorite is probably “Bloody Mess.”  It gives you a nice damage bonus and also gives your enemies a more visceral death.

Character development in the game is pretty important.  When making your character you get points to allocate in to 7 different categories.  They call it the SPECIAL system.  (Strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck.) You can have between 1 and 10 points in each category.  I chose to specialize in strength, endurance and agility hoping those traits would carry me through battles.  I did use some perks while leveling to add points to intelligence.

So that’s your character, but what about the story?  It’s great. You are literally born into the game. You choose all of your traits for your adult character as a baby: hair, eyes, nose, a great number of combinations.  Then you have a little bit of developmental time running around in the Vault. The vaults were built to withstand a nuclear apocalypse and they did.  You are in vault 101.  From Bethesda “For 200 years, Vault 101 has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world.”

But this wouldn’t be a game if you were to stay in the vault the whole time.  Through a dramatic series of events you’re thrust into the world.  You have to defend yourself from giant insects, raiders, slavers, bounty hunters and yes, even Super Mutants.

You can choose to go the game alone, but there are certain party members you can pick up.  In my playing I was not evil enough to hire a mercenary in the first town I was at.  Later in the game though that paid off when I got another party member that was one of the toughest.  I even ended up picking up a dog and a super mutant as allies at points in the game.

There is a ton of diversity in the quests you can do and more importantly HOW you can do them.  Every decision you make has an impact on how your character is viewed in the Wasteland.  Most times it’s fairly straight forward.  Kill the bad guys, save people and you are on your way to becoming the Savior of the Wasteland.   On the flip side, stealing, killing civilians, and following bad guys orders and you’ll be even closer to becoming the Scourge of the Wasteland.   Sometimes though it’s a little more gray and you’ll just have to live with the decisions that you make.  There is at least one perk for those players who want to play both good and bad.  If you’re neutral you can become a better speaker with “Impartial Mediation.”

You gather a lot of the story of what happened to D.C. through dialog with characters in the game.  You can learn so much more by hacking(or using the password you obtained) into computers, reading the contents of people’s journals and listening to holotapes that are left behind in the game.  There is a good amount of flavor to the game from the likes of the original two games.

I saved the game before the final ending so I could turn around go back and explore other areas of the game.  I’m glad I did.  It’s given me the opportunity to travel the wasteland and see things that I missed following the progression of the main quest line.  It also gave me the chance to try and work the opposite side of the game’s karma system which was pretty interesting.

Graphically the game looked good on my PC, even though I couldn’t run it at the highest settings or with my resolution cranked to 1920×1200 on my monitor.  Coming out of the Vault for the first time and seeing the wasteland is quite a treat.  It’s not a bright game, being that you’re traveling around in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but the art direction is well done.

The third installment of the Fallout series has been a long time coming.  With the original coming out so long ago, this is a definite treat.  Bethesda developed the game in place of Black Isle Studios and it’s been great to play.  There have been a number of quality releases this year across all platforms.  Fallout 3 is a game you’re not going to want to miss.

As an end note, the game is rated M for a very good reason.  While it is superb in many ways, it is not a game meant for young kids.

Have questions about something? You can email me at matt (dot) schuler (at) woodtv (dot) com. And for more, shorter updates, check out my Twitter to the right or click on twitter.com/mattschuler.