Freelancer (PC)

Developer:

Digital Anvil

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Release Date:

2003

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Systems:

PC

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This week on Super Adventures I'm having a go of PC Elite 'em up Freelancer. I've been meaning to write about this on my site for years but other games kept taking its place in the queue and it eventually got shoved to the back burner. But I played this game to completion back when it was new and I'm hyped to finally get around to jumping back into the Sirius Sector for some simulated space combat.

The game's by Digital Anvil, founded by Wing Commander developer Chris Roberts, who's probably better known these days as the man space sim fans keep throwing money at in the hopes he'll someday give them Star Citizen. Microsoft bought Digital Anvil in 2000, a few months after buying Bungie, but Freelancer escaped Halo's fate of becoming Xbox exclusive. Instead it remained PC exclusive, which still kind of sucks for console owners. If the Dreamcast could handle Starlancer, I bet the newer consoles could've managed the sequel.

Like Star Citizen, Freelancer promised a lot of ambitious features, like a dynamic galaxy with fluctuating stock prices, supporting thousands of players at once! And then the final game had a static galaxy supporting 128 players. It supports exactly 1 player these days, as the official servers were shut down 5 years after release, but I'm sure fans are still running galaxies of their own. It's all irrelevant to me though as I'm only going to be checking out the single player.

(Click the screenshots to gaze upon them in their full 1280x960 majesty).
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Snaggle Foot Dog Walks and Pet Care Wins 2016 Readers Choice Award

WE WON!!!! Thanks to YOU, our clients who voted for us, Snaggle Foot Round Lake has been voted The Daily Herald's Reader's Choice, Best of the Best!! We are so excited! Thank you so much to everyone who voted for us, we are truly truly grateful.

If you would like to learn more about our pet care services, please check out our website and give us a call or email us to get you started. We offer a wide variety of services to meet your pet care needs!

Thank you again EVERYONE who voted for us. It is truly an honor !

Just click on this link to get started: http://roundlake.snagglefoot.com/

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Choosing Healthy Treats for your Dog

By: Laurie Brzostowski 

 

Treats can be helpful aids in teaching obedience, or a welcome snack, and longer-lasting treats can be useful for keeping your dog occupied.  There are a vast variety of dog treats on the market and it can be quite overwhelming to narrow it down to the perfect treat for your dog.

Treats should be limited and not constitute greater than 10% of your dog’s daily calorie intake.  Choosing healthy treats for your dog is a positive contribution to their overall health.

Prepackaged treats

When choosing prepackaged treats for your dog, it is beneficial to take a quick look at the ingredient and nutrition labels.  Select treats with natural ingredients such as whole grains, natural protein sources (specified as ‘chicken’ or ‘beef’ on the label, not simply ‘meat’), and vitamins C and E for natural preservatives.  Ingredients to avoid include excessive salts, sugars, artificial preservatives and flavours, and food colouring.

Natural treats

Natural treats such as fresh fruit and vegetables can be just as delicious and appealing for your dog.  They are healthy snacks that contain natural vitamins and minerals without the addition of unnatural chemicals and preservatives.  Unfortunately, not all fruit and vegetables are safe for dogs.  Safe produce includes apples, bananas, pears, raspberries, cucumber, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower.  Toxic fruit and veggies include grapes, raisins, persimmons, garlic, onions, wild mushrooms, and rhubarb.  If unsure, check with your veterinarian before feeding.

Dental health and vitamin treats

Multi-purpose treats such as dental chews and vitamin treats can be a useful way to introduce something lacking from your pet’s diet.  Dental treats can help to reduce plaque and tartar build up on the teeth by mimicking the action of a tooth brush; Vitamin treats are laced with vitamins and minerals that help to maintain your dog’s overall health.  Look for vitamin D and calcium for healthy teeth and bones, and vitamins A and E for a healthy, shiny coat.

When introducing your dog to a new type of treat, watch for signs of gastrointestinal intolerance such as vomiting or diarrhea.  Contact your veterinarian if there are any concerns.  Whether you choose prepackaged treats, fresh vegetables, or dental biscuits - it is always good to be aware of what you are feeding your dog for their overall health.

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Book: Mapping the Digital - Cultures and Territories of Play

I want to share good news in this post: in 2014, I presented the paper “Health, consumption and entertainment: the Nike brand embodied as a playful experience”, that I wrote along with my friend Marcelo Vasconcellos for the Video Game Cultures & The Future of Entertainment conference (VG6).

This week, I received awesome news: all the papers from the conference were compiled in a fantastic book named Mapping the Digital - Cultures and Territories of Play. Edited by Lindsey Joyce and Brian Quinn, and published by Inter-Disciplinary Press (Oxford) the book is a wide discussion about the state of play and the state of games in contemporary culture.



This is what I call a level upgrade!

CLICK HERE to buy!

Below, you can read the book's synopsis:

"Mappings the Digital: Cultures and Territories of Play is an interdisciplinary discussion about the state of play and the state of games in contemporary culture. This volume takes a critical look and how our cultures and territories are being renegotiated through our engagement with digital media, games, and tools. This volume argues broadly that our tangible world, and our understanding of it, are being renegotiated and remapped by the digital worlds with which we engaged. Specifically, the chapters in this volume analyse linguistic changes; unique in-game cultures and behaviours; and new methods for communicating across real and perceived boundaries, for understanding cultural experiences, and for learning through play. Drawing from the global expertise of scholars within the fields of Cultural Studies, Game Studies, Foreign Language, Science and more, this volume bridges academic boarders to assemble a cohesive and authoritative resource on digital culture and play".

#GoGamers

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Simon the Sorcerer (PC)

Developer:

Adventure Soft

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Release Date:

1993

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Systems:

PC, Amiga, CD32, Acorn, Android, iPhone

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This week on Super Adventures I'm taking a quick look at classic PC and Amiga adventure game Simon the Sorcerer. It's also got the subtitle The Original Adventure on my box, but I'm not calling it that.

According to Wikipedia:

Simon the Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, in Latin Simon Magus (Greek Σίμων ὁ μάγος), was a Samaritan magus or religious figure and a convert to Christianity, baptised by Philip the Evangelist, whose later confrontation with Peter is recorded in Acts 8:9–24.

But that's entirely irrelevant as the game's got nothing to do with him. This is an entirely unrelated Simon who performs completely different sorcery.

I've played Simon the Sorcerer before, I've even beaten the thing (with the help of a walkthrough), but it's been a while and all I remember about it now is the pitiful Swampling inadvertently poisoning Simon with his terrible cooking, and the theme song. Here, have a YouTube link to the theme so you can permanently burn it into your own brain as well.

I'll be playing the PC CD XP release through Scumm VM, just so you know. It's still pretty much the 1993 game as far as I know, and is likely exactly what you'd get from GOG.
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Houses & Humans

#GoGamers

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Saints Row (Xbox 360)

Developer:

Volition

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Release Date:

2006

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Systems:

Xbox 360

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This week on Super Adventures I'm going to fix an obvious omission on my site that's been bothering me for two years. I've written about Saints Rows 2 to IV, but I've completely overlooked the original game in the series! No I'm not talking about Grand Theft Auto 3, but I understand your confusion.

I'm a big fan of the Saints Row sequels but I've only played the first game once back when it was new, and only long enough to think 'wow, this is familiar'. The impression I've been getting from others is that the game was pretty much a practice run for Volition, a generic GTA: San Andreas clone without the personality the series developed later, so now I'm going to play it properly and see how true that is.

By the way, the game's 10 years old this August, and the console it was released on was discontinued in April, so that means it's officially retro! Maybe. Either way it's a pleasure to finally introduce the Xbox 360 to Super Adventures (even if I'm only doing it because this bloody game didn't get a convenient, easy to screenshot PC release like its sequels).

(Clicking the images will make them big, so you can see all the nice H.264 video compression artefacts).
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