On Final Fantasy VII - Crisis Core

If you're thinking about buying or downloading crisis core, spend no more time on the matter because it is worth it.

I have always been a fan of the series however I have learned to hold back my joy until I have my dirty little hands on the game and know it is a winner. While Square-Enix has released a host of terrific games, there have been some that are less than stellar to be sure.

Action:The game is certainly long enough, however it is an action RPG, so if that turns you off, it may not be the right game. The battle system was actually lacking a bit. Most of the first half of the adventure is hack and slash and the second half involved staying alive long enough to cast the powerhouse spells, pray for the right limit breaks, and fuse materia until your eyes are bleeding.

Story: Final fantasy storylines usually are fairly amazing. This one is no exception. Probobly the best feature of the game, the story got into the heavy issues of notions of god, man vs. machine, genetic modification, jealously, anger and all of the other subjects that make a person keep reading. This is bar none the best aspect of the game because it fills in many of the blanks left by the notorious Final Fantasy 7. This is enough reason alone to buy the game.

Graphics: Terrific. Enough said. I was blown away and for the first time, really saw the power of the PSP engine. You are treated to stunning summoning visuals, great in-game cutscenes and a very decorated enviornment to play in. There is a good deal of eye candy to be seen here.

Replay value: High. New game plus allows the player to go back and pick up all the goodies they missed out on. Without a strategy guide, it would be pretty easy to miss a good portion of the game and there are enough secrets to unlock that it gives the player plenty of value.

Overall, the game was very good. I give it an 8.5/10. It would be higher but for the somewhat boring and random combat system.

My background is in P & C insurance, sales, and marketing. I also work with invesments and bank products. I have worked in sales and marketing in various capacities for over six years. Much of the work has included heading PR and marketing campaigns and creating formulas for lead generation. I can write a large number of subjects.

You can reach me at nickprieve@yahoo.com

AP - New South Korean intelligence indicates that ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il suffered a serious setback in his recovery from a stroke and has been hospitalized, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

How Modern Technology And Work Are Impacting Cruise Holidays?

As more and more of us are leading busy lives, and the pressures of work constantly on the rise, going away on that cruising holiday may not be as relaxing as it sounds. Cruising is all about getting away from it all, relaxing in the sun, finding cheap places to eat on excursions. However, more and more people are using this free, relaxation time to use the ships internet caf or wi-fi to check work emails.

This "work addiction" was seen years ago, when mobile phones were all the rage, but now it appears to have switched to emails. Cruise holiday agencies are responding to this demand, by increasing the use of Wi-Fi on board ships. So not only are people moving from mobiles to email for work communication, they are also going as far as taking their works laptop on board and emailing from the top deck by the pool. I saw this on numerous occasions during the last cheap cruise I was on.

Are the days of people reading by the top deck pool numbered? (not for the Cheap Cruises I go on). Research from a leading UK newspaper suggests that one in five couples argue on holiday, due to their partner accessing work online. The terrible truth behind this, is that maybe people are so used to the hustle and bustle of everyday life, they are unable to completely relax, even when on holiday, floating in the sun.

In twenty years time, will most people be lying by the pool chatting to colleagues on MSN instead, or finishing off that report due in on the first day back? Only time will tell.

I have been on many cruise holidays in my time (expensive luxury cruises, and Cheap Cruise holidays), and I have seen a startling change during the past 10 years. These days, the internet caf will be full (20+ people), despite it being 35 degrees outside. Maybe work is more of an addiction that we can not escape, even on a cruise holiday? We'll save that for another article.

Cheap Cruises

Dear Margo - DEAR MARGO: I am 18 years old and have recently come to terms with the fact that I am gay.

How To Buy A New Computer

Not terribly long ago, I wrote that anyone considering the purchase of a new computer should 'Stay calm despite tempting computer prices.' The revolution that took about six years to develop was underway at the time and newer technologies revolutionized the guts of PC's we can buy in the stores.

Break time is over. Capable 64-bit applications, processors and Operating Systems (OS's) are now mingling on store shelves with the old, standard 32-bit applications. SDRAM was stamped out by DDR RAM that fathered DDR2 and DDR3. Graphics hardware has become a branch of processor science all to itself. Single core processor motherboards share the market with dual-core processors and dual processor motherboards. Add to all that clutter on the market the impending release of the World's largest software maker's newest OS due out shortly and you get panic at purchase time.

With the idea of a computer purchase between 'now' and mid-2007, here's what's best for us... We'll need either a 3Ghz single core processor or a dual-core processor that's 2Ghz or better if we can't get a computer with TWO processors. We can even explore purchasing a 64-bit OS for any 64-bit processor scheme that we like provided the letters X and P don't show up together in the OS title.

Getting DDR2 RAM (the computer's short-term memory) where one stick provides a minimum of 512MB is great insurance against being left behind by a faster future. The DDR2 prefix means that it won't soon be phased out, but will get old enough soon to drop in price when it comes time to purchase another 512MB or even 1GIG stick to increase performance. Keep your eyes sharp on the Specification sheets and know that 'dual channel' DDR RAM is okay too.

Your love of graphics may not extend beyond the picture you have on your personalized desktop, but pay heed! "Shared RAM" was one of the best ideas ever, but is now so completely backward and obsolete that it's a term to avoid at any cost. That cost is quite real in many cases; high-end graphic cards sometimes have better RAM (DDR3) than the Motherboard. But this is paramount to a future that will be filled with online video and pictures in e-mails exceeding data sizes of 3 and 4 Megabytes. Nearly any PCIe or PCI-e (most common notation) or PCI-express card will ensure that you physically have a slot to fill in the future with a more powerful PCI-e card. The antithesis of good graphics cards is the replaced nomenclature, AGP. That's the slower stuff that PCI-e helped phase out even though PCI-e was slow to mature.

Finally, we arrive at one of the most understated but vital numbers to look at when purchasing a computer that should last us a while. It's called the chipset and is usually a three-digit number where higher is better. A Pentium 4 with a 745 chipset will not deliver the computational speed that the same Pentium 4 with a 925 chipset would. This difference can create a $100 jump that's worth it in the long run. The chipset more or less represents the speed limits on the pathways that data travels on. Faster is better.

Bryan writes about a plethora of topics for http://www.DINARIUS.com where computer users are made smarter everyday. Knowledge is wealth.

AP - Shades of the region's racist past came creeping back this week just as the South could be poised to play a pivotal role in electing the nation's first black president.

Game Consoles - The Best Entertainment Package

The latest and the advanced game consoles are on high demand these days. This is particularly because the expectations of the people are reaching sky limits as innovations in this arena are also quite tremendous. In order, to stay updated with the recent market trends a gamer always clamors to own high-end gadgets to ensure unlimited gaming experience. Moreover, there are numerous manufacturers in this arena which always develops feature-rich widgets to offer ultimate gaming experience to the players. However, the three most preferred gaming gadgets among the gamers all over the world are Sony PlayStation 3 by Sony, Nintendo Wii by Nintendo and Xbox 360 by Microsoft.

These game consoles are enhanced with advanced hardware, software and services which have the potential to support DVD movie playback, photos, high-definition videos and music tracks without any hassles. As a matter of fact, these gadgets are popularly known as interactive entertainment gadgets as they come with the capability to support videos too and that also without any hassles.

What is more these feature-rich game consoles are designed not only to offer entertainment but also permits the users to access valuable information without any hassles. For instance, the Xbox 360 from the Microsoft has been enriched with various high-tech options that one can easily enhance his or her gaming strategies and skills. In this gaming system you can even enjoy DVD movies of latest music tracks without any hassles. Moreover, this gadget has been enriched with high-end but user-friendly features hat even a layman can also easily operate it. Now, to get a better insight of the Nintendo Wii we can say that these interactive gaming console has been adorned with several smart features such as wireless controller, remote and accessing internet whenever and wherever.

In fact, all these interactive gaming gadgets are designed in such a manner that even the grown ups find it interesting to play games in them. Furthermore, the audio and the video features of these gadgets make the games even more exciting and thrilling. As such, to get the best gaming console for all your requirements you can search the online stores at ease. In these stores you can easily compare the features and specifications of these gadgets to ensure that you are getting the best return for your hard earned money.

Game Consoles, Online Games

AP - The first big snowstorm of the season in the Northeast closed sections of major highways Tuesday and blacked out more than 100,000 utility customers.