Sorry to disappear on you, folks. My computer went into the shop…in order to get transferred to my new monster gamer system computer!

I told the guy at Miracle Computer that I didn’t need a gamer system. The only non-Solitaire, non-M.A.M.E. game I play anymore is Small Rockets’ Red Ace Squadron. I haven’t even cracked open Worms in ages. Don’t get me wrong, I love games, but I’m 37 years old and can’t be devoting massive amounts of time to huge adventures, and I don’t have the dexterity to tackle these games that require the use of 30 buttons simultaneously.

I grew up on Pac-Man. I couldn’t even get the hang of “Defender” with its flakey button controls! When game consoles started coming with a bare minimum of 8 buttons instead of a joystick I started losing my love of video games. I like some first-person shooters, but I like creeping around and taking my time to kill everything on every level; watching friends and co-workers as they run like maniacs through twisting corridors that they’ve committed to memory and finishing a level before I can even comprehend it…it makes my eyes hurt!

But I love Red Ace. It’s a flying game without any stupid need to learn to fly a plane. Just start up the propeller, leap into the sky and begin shooting down the hairy hun! Fun. They even came out with a multi-player version a while ago so that once you’ve mastered the missions you can battle with your friends!

If only I had friends that played Red Ace Squadron. Oh sure, there’s probably some public server where I can play against strangers, but there’s no fun in getting shot down by some hardcore gamer equipped with cheat codes, carpal tunnel-free hands and no mercy. I suppose it doesn’t matter that I’m without friendly competition, since I cannot figure out how to play online. Go ahead and laugh. Last time I played a game online it was “Worms: Armageddon” against my college buddy Blaine, and W:A had the easiest point-and-click method to play online I’d ever seen.

I’ve strayed a bit from my subject. Anyway…I installed Red Ace Squadron on this new system, fired it up…and found out how much fun it is to play when I can crank the settings up to maximum! The game doesn’t hickup when I start playing, either!

If any of you play Red Ace, give me a shout out on the Forum and maybe we can arrange something.

Ah yes, the Forum. Speaking of which…

As soon as I get my software installed on this new computer, I’ll be updating the PHPBB system. They just revealed the new 3.0 system. I’m going to install that, then get some good plugins for it that will screen out the spam. Due to the massive influx of spam registrations, no one has been able to get a membership on the board for ages. I’ll get that fixed.

I’m also working on some blog system updates. No promises…I’ve still got a garden to get in the ground…but hopefully we’ll have some new capabilities soon.