December 1st - December 5th
Before we launch into our weekly exploits of the new, a well deserved Respeck Knuckles go to forum member Parallax Abstraction and his PC repair company Digital Lifeline that saved me from the evils of online miscreants and their sorcerers ways. He was able to remotely diagnose and do a deep clean to smoke out a nasty little rootkit that had torpedoed my system. And, to answer his question: yes that's a Star Wars Galaxies icon on my desktop; I've just not gotten around to uninstalling it yet. In two hours he was able to do what I was not with a full day, thirteen incense burners, a Necronomicon and the blood or four cloven hooved ruminants.
As for the release list for this first week of December, the choice for game of the week is a fairly easy one. Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia is apparently a reboot of a reboot, a new take on among the oldest franchises. Artistically the previews and pre-release footage is stellar, and like every other game on the market these days the attention has shifted to an open world structure, though honestly that could mean anything. Early buzz has been fairly positive and there's not much else going on this week unless you've always longed to be part of a Swedish 70s Super Group.
So, as we continue to wind down into the impending doldrums of mid-to-late winter, Game of the Week goes to Prince.
PC
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Shaun White Snowboarding
- The Tale of Despereaux
- A Vampyre Story
PS2
- Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
- Singstar ABBA
- The Tale of Despereaux
DS
- Animal Boxing
- Burger Island
- Dreamer Series: Puppy Trainer
- Emma at the Farm
- Emma in the Mountains
- Happy Cooking
- Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi
- My Fun Facts Coach
- Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
- Slingo Quest
- The Tale of Despereaux
- Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge
- Wordfish
PS3
- Prince of Persia
- Singstar ABBA
Xbox 360
- Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon
- Prince of Persia
- The Tale of Despereaux
- Winter Sports 2 The New Challenge
Wii
- Family Party: 30 Great Games
- The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga
- Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars
- My Fitness Coach
- Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek
- SafeCracker
- Ski and Shoot
- SPRay
- The Tale of Despereaux
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Damn, another one! I thought I was done for big releases this year. This'll have to be caught up with GameFly now.
"I'll be breeding pwners, but someone has to breed the pwned." - Legion
"Take that you jerks! You got a good job and a nice life and I hate you for it!!!!!" - Pharacon
I still use my SWG shortcut
Gamer Tag: Rantyr
Etiquette demands you disclose what the rootkit was and what you got it from so that other folks, who may not be as aware/savvy/bearded as yourself, can make sure they're not being hobbled by the foul vapors that infected your system.
Also, I am curious because in a prior article on piracy you had claimed you hadn't been affected by any of the draconian anti-piracy measures publishers like tacking on to games, and I'd be curious if this might be qualified as a "hit."
I'm not exactly sure what it is I am doing here...
XBL ID: HedgeWizard| Steam ID: HedgeWizard_SF
Sooo... not Singstar ABBA then? No love for Singstar ABBA?
XboxLive: Clemenstation
"If all of those guys get into that tiny little tent, I am gonna lose it."
Let's just say I had family using my PC over the holiday and then suddenly I had a rootkit/trojan horse. Infer from that what you may.
I felt -- I feel -- that Shawn, Rob and Julian were making out with the game, and as their friend I felt it was important to point out that they were making out with an ugly chick. - Cory Banks, keeping it real
Too bad there isn't a Anti-virus rule set or patch for human stupidity.
XBL: GWJ Stryker
PSN: GWJ_Stryker
I'm not a scary guy but the vibe I get from friends and family is that they're terrified of what might do to them should they touch my computer, let alone mess something up. Fear is the best protection.
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
Nice! A little Bratz! Back to School web gaming going on I see.
I'm not exactly sure what it is I am doing here...
XBL ID: HedgeWizard| Steam ID: HedgeWizard_SF
Good plug for Digital Lifeline, may come in handy when my parent's computer is on the fritz and I don't have the time or patience to deal with it.
I feel for ya, man. When my wife told me one afternoon last week that she couldn't use the computer "because it was scanning for viruses," I knew something was wrong--I have them scheduled weekly during the a.m. hours--and suspected I knew what it was. Sure enough, a nasty bit of malware called Antivirus Pro 2009 had taken over my system. It had hijacked my browser, blocked spyware and AV programs, and even disabled System Restore. Total bastards!
After many hours of swearing and removing 100+ files/registry entries, I disabled it to a point that it was hardly noticeable...but I knew it was still there, mocking me silently, so I chose the nuclear option and wiped the drive. I think that little episode has finally convinced my wife to actually use this firefox thingy I've been pushing on her.
Oh, I almost forgot...AVP2009 comes from some eastern European extortionist outfit, and they try to get you to pay them to remove all the malware on your computer, pretending their program isn't the cause of all the problems. It's like paying "protection money" to the mafia. Anyway, when I mentioned this to a guy in our IT department, he told me that one of my colleagues, an older gentleman who's not very experienced with computers, got the same thing and actually paid them the $40. Within two days, his credit card had been run up with all kinds of illegitimate charges. He had to cancel the card & go through the hassle of getting all the charges removed.
"Come, amigo, throw away your mind." --Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano
My workplace was recently hit with AVP2009, and I completely feel your pain about having to clean it up. Thankfully, none of the systems I was working with had been infected for very long and so hadn't had a chance to install much else.
Agemmon wrote:
doubtingthomas396 wrote:
I heard that using shotgun 'pre-scanning software' alleviates this problem...
EGGmen - gaming blog with podcasts!
>I SURVIVED THE SPAMOCALYPSE OF JUNE '09<
Yep, it is a mega nasty piece of work. It has tons of variants and can affect your system in many different ways. I've seen it do things as little as annoying popups from the system tray to putting system access policies in place that lock you out of your Start Menu, Control Panel, network connections and a whole bunch of other things if you decline to buy the "solution" that offer you. Elysium was actually hit with the 2008 version of the trojan which uses a rootkit to make itself hard to remove. The "good" part about the experience is that the rootkit corrupted itself when it installed so while it was preventing his system from booting, it also prevented the trojan from really taking root. Once we managed to dig out the rootkit, it was OK. I've had to remove this for a number of people lately and its becoming a real problem.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
Yup, as PA notes this is a version of what I had. It was not with the fun.
I felt -- I feel -- that Shawn, Rob and Julian were making out with the game, and as their friend I felt it was important to point out that they were making out with an ugly chick. - Cory Banks, keeping it real
Ubisoft's prior missteps with the Prince worry me a bit, but I'll still be playing the new PoP on release.
XboxLive: Fly GWJ | PSN: The _Fly | Twitter
Very interested in PoP. I really hope it's good.
XBL / Steam / Art / Blog
I say we change the game of the week to AntiVirus Pro 2009, sounds like everyone has been playing it lately!
"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
It's actually my pick for GOTY.
It's like whack-a-mole with emotional consequence. Jason Rohrer would be proud.
Agemmon wrote:
doubtingthomas396 wrote:
Don't you mean "The Artist Formerly Known as Man, this is a terrible joke.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
http://elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
Could I have saved myself 6 hours this morning by coming to GWJ first? Maybe I should top by and read every morning from now on. I could tell the boss it's actually going to save time in the long run?
I just spent all morning clearing up this little beast of a trojan myself. It takes a while to start digging as deep as you have to go to find hidden system drivers to finally come up with an answer to what you have.
Feeling your pain.
Maybe they should just call it
of Persia.
Steam id: muttonchop
Impulse: mutton_chop
He's right. He's not a scary guy at all.
I'm an Uncle!!! -8/20/07
Scrub wrote:
ICO: General Fancypants l Steam: Grenn[GWJ] l WoW: Goquelyrslf, Grendwar l XBLA: GWJ Grenn
Ahhh that's what it was. My fiancee's brother had this take over his machine a couple months ago, I'm assuming he picked it up from the online poker sites he frequents (semi-pro poker player). Yeah it was a pain to handle, I think it was the first time I had issues even in Safe Mode. I managed to follow some online guides though it took me about a whole day to get everything back in order.
If it sucks, just get someone else to play while you watch. I saw the game live a while ago, screenies and videos don't do it justice.
If anything it seems a little easy, the girl is like a no-fail button. But, it's so beautiful, and as I get older I like easier games, I don't deal well with frustration from my entertainment.
Twitter |Steam |Raptr |Gamertag
IGN has a video review. Looks EXTREMELY promising. The even though the new prince technically doesn't even appear to be a "prince" anymore, the warmth of old Sands of Time storytelling lore is back. Evidently Ubi Montreal has gone for the emotion-evocative gameplay which is all the rage these days, and they managed to totally nail it. Which is not even to mention that the art and level designs are dripping with style.
XBox Live | Twitter | Flickr
Persona 4 slipped to next week?
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. - Oscar Wilde
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. (Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.) - Roedy Green
So far I'm two hours or so into the new PoP. It's ok, I like the art style but the voices are awful in a DUDE amercan kind of way. No metal music yet , thank the heavens, but I'm disappointed that they did not get voice actors that can carry the Arabian nights feel like they did with sands of time (it's pretty jarring for me so top of mind). The controls are pretty tight so far and easy to use. The combat, well it seems mildly interesting but 3 boss fights later I have never had more then one opponent at a time... your are basically locked into a circle cage match and it dose not have the open feeling to really maneuver around much.
Style yes, substance... mmm will see.
-Griffon
Did Samurai Jack ever get back to the past?
One can imagine...
"Son, I said never ever put that EVIL thing into my machine!"
"But dad I only wanted to play spore..."
Boom, root kit.
-Griffon
Did Samurai Jack ever get back to the past?
I had the exact same thing happen to me. I tried to remove it in safe mode but it wouldn't let me. Eventually I had to delete everything from my hard drive.
To whom much is given, much is expected.