The Geek Hunt is an initiative to find new and innovative ways to take advantage of the city’s gigabit status. The Gig Tank summer program has $300,000.00 in prize money up for grabs. If you have a new or interesting idea to utilize the bandwidth, they would love to hear from you. You’d better hurry though. The entry deadline is March 1st! Full PR Release Below:

Chattanooga Offering $300k Prizes and Seed Capital to Geeks

Chattanooga is looking for the next tech geniuses. Yes, Chattanooga Tennessee.

It’s the only city in the western hemisphere with gigabit-per-second Internet speeds available to thousands of end users. Today.

The smartest students and entrepreneurs will do amazing things with the world’s fastest Internet. And we’re inviting them to do it here, in Chattanooga, where bandwidth is no longer a barrier.

These students and entrepreneurs will come to a summer program where the best high-bandwidth ideas and businesses will not only have access to Chattanooga’s network for development and testing, but also seed money, mentors, free room and board, and the opportunity to win prizes of up to $300,000 in cash and seed capital.

Encourage any tech geeks you know to apply by tagging them on Twitter @your geeky friend using #GeekHunt hash tag or by commenting on this video on Facebook. If that person applies and gets accepted into the summer program, and you’re the first to tag him/her, you’ll get $1000.

The application deadline is March 1.

www.thegeekhunt.com

@TheGeekHunt

@TheGigCity

If you didn’t get the idea from the graphic, I plan to build a (somewhat) reasonably priced system that will run with the best of them. I plan to upgrade this box into a top-of-the-line system for less than $1,500. Part 1 is a Rundown of my old system (so we can see what we need to upgrade):

Case: Chieftec Dragon Case
 

Description: This case is roomy, sturdy, and has lasted 10 years.

Upgrade? No

Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650-Watt TX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply

Description: This PSU isn’t even breaking a sweat on my current setup.

Upgrade? No

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 630 95W AM3 2MB 2800MHz
 

Description: I bought this CPU nearly two years ago. It was my first quad-core and has served me well. However, As AMD adds more cores to their CPUs Intel continues to increase performance using only four. I’m going to definitely be looking into building my first intel system this go-around.

Upgrade? Yes

Memory: Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Desktop Memory

Description: DDR2 ram has served me well, but DDR3 is faster and a heck of a lot cheaper. I live in constant fear of DDR3 prices rising!

Upgrade? YES

Motherboard: MSI 790XT-G45

Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB Ram

Description: for 100 bucks this card is amazing, but we are definitely going to be upgrading this bad boy.

Set in 2069, Syndicate takes players into a dark, Machiavellian world run without government oversight with many syndicates vying for total dominance of their local market place. With no one to question their intentions or actions, three mega corporations – Eurocorp, Cayman Global, and Aspari – are at the forefront of this brutal war for control of the pivotal American market. In the world of Syndicate, everything is digitally connected, including the people. Players aren’t limited to the weapons in their hands. Through DART 6 bio-chip technology implanted in their head, players can slow down time and breach the digital world around them to take down their foes using a variety of upgradable hacking mechanics. Syndicate’s blend of fast-paced, futuristic, action shooter settings and story combined with innovative chip breach gameplay instantly immerses players in a unique digital world.

“Our goal with Syndicate is to provide a challenging action shooter for today’s gamers as well as fans of the original. I’m sure they will enjoy and recognize the legacy that made it such a classic,” says Jeff Gamon, EA Partners Executive Producer. “Fans of the franchise will recognize many weapons and environments in the game, but in a whole new way. The game also provides a separate and deep 4-player co-op mode featuring missions from the original cult classic, which adds another layer of depth to the overall experience.”

Syndicate will be available in early 2012 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and the PC. For more information on Syndicate, please visit www.syndicate.ea.com.

I know all of you loyal Techpedition readers have been clamoring to hear my opinion on the new IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series. You’ve been waiting for the proverbial stamp of approval from yours truly before diving into yet another turtles comic series. All cheesy bravado aside, I’ve never been shy about my love for the TMNT and I can say difinitively that IDW’s take on the Turtles is the most “out of left feild” to date. Caution: Major Spoilers Ahead!!!

With 5 or so proper issues and a Micro series half done, enough of the story is on the record for me to start spilling opinions. First off, Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz are rebuilding the Turtle lore completely. When it comes to this revamp, nothing is off limits. The first story arc not only doesn’t include The Shredder, but for the vast majority of it, the Turtles are looking for Raphael, who is lost. Essentially, the Turtles don’t “become a team” until issue 4, that really sets the tone for series.

The origin story is uniquely different in ways that have never been explored in TMNT fiction. Rather than Splinter being the pet rat of ninja master Hamato Yoshi, he is actually the reincarnated soul of Yoshi in the body of a rat. The Turtles are the reincarnated souls of his 4 (murdered by the Shredder) sons. The mutation they went through was originaly caused by a mutagen accidentally spilled by aliens. In the IDW series, the mutagen is a super soldier formula developed by Baxter Stockman for a “yet to be seen” General Krang.

Probably the most alarming change in the story is the fact that the Turtles don’t age to their “teenage years” as Turtles. Immediately after the mutation, they are full grown Teenage Turtles. This is used as a plot device to have April and other characters interact with the Turtles and Splinter both before and after the mutation. It was a bit alarming at first, and I was questioning the writing until the origins of the turtles came to light. Conveniently, to fit the story better, the Turtles don’t need a 15 year maturation period.

Casey has had a pretty big role as Raph’s first post-mutation friend and his story has seen significant panels. This is probably due to Eastman’s fondness for the character. Clearly there’s alot of backstory that is in the works, especially in the Stockman-Krang relationship, but its being doled out very sparringly.

This is one of my principle problems with the story telling style. Ideas that didn’t make any sense in the first issue aren’t clarified in a timely manner. Personally I love it, but I don’t know if its good for the series itself. Readers that are in for the long haul, like myself, benefit greatly from the serialization of the story, but I can see where jumping into the series midrun could be really hard. Once they are 20-30 issues in, the groundwork will be laid and penatrating the fiction will become very hard.

The writing is the sharpest the TMNT have seen since, Tristan Jones’ Tales of the TMNT stories or the Dreamwave series in 2003. I’m not a huge fan of the art style. Its nice to see the Turtles in color, but I can’t get into the intentionally gritty and slightly absracted dipictions of the Turtles. Luckily the story is strong enough to carry the title. I really miss the art from the Mirage series. That weird Jim Lawson style kinda grew on me. The important thing the series has going for it right now is that its interesting. That’s something the Turtles have needed for a long time.

The most significant new character in the series is a mutant cat named Old Hob. He was mutated along with the Turtles and is the reason Raphael was separated from his brothers. I really like Old Hob, he has a swagger about him that other Turtles secondary characters like Hun or Null have had in the past. I’m not sure if a recently mutated cat being a gang member makes sense yet, but if the short history of the series has shown anything, its shown a resilience to logic breaking plot points. So, I’ll hold off on passing judgement just yet.

I really like it when properties venture in new directions and the Turtles have never been afraid to do just that. This is by far the most radical (ha, see what I did there) departure to date. Eastman being involved in the transformation gives the departure some validaty. I don’t think IDW and Tom Waltz could get away with this series “as is” without having someone close to the Turtles supporting them. I’m sure the fans would rake them over the coals.

A note to IDW as a publisher: As a slightly crazed collector of the comics, I don’t appreciate each book having multiple variants on day one. The first 5 issues had anywhere from 4 to 12 variants a piece. I understand it, they’ve got to make money, but 12! I understand subsequent printings having different covers, but retailer incentive variants and store specific covers are disappointing and nearly impossible to rack down. I end up buying multiple copies of the same book for no good reason. It also takes the novelty of the cover art away. One of my favorite parts of the old TMNT books was the iconic nature of the cover art. With four different covers available for each book, no one cover stands out as THE cover to the book.

On the other hand, I want to praise IDW for releasing the nicest collected book to date of the original Mirage TMNT books. The hard cover collection of the first 8 books of the Mirage series is a beefy, beautiful and true to the original books. The weird Peter Laird, computer re-shading, George Lucas inspired, tragedy of a reprinting has been abandoned. Thank GOD! IDW, please keep these collections coming.

Developed by Incognito Entertainment for the PS3, StarHawk is the successor to the PS3 game WarHawk. Warhawk was a semi remake/re-imagining of the original WarHawk PS1 launch title. The original WarHawk was a 3rd person flight game that pitted the player against an invading alien onslaught all by their lonesome. It was revolutionary for it’s time as were most PS1 launch titles.

The remake of Warhawk on PS3 was quite a bit different. Out was the single player mode. Incognito felt it just didn’t hold up to the multi-player section so they just straight dropped it. WarHawk still kept the 3rd person perspective, but added new things. You could run around as a trooper, drive a armored jeep, or hop into a Hawk and battle it out in the sky. If you’ve missed out on WarHawk…for shame. It still has a very large fanbase, and online community even after more than 4 years on shelves.

StarHawk is a in spiritual successor to Warhawk, and it adds some new things to the mix. First up is now you can build structures. Anyone can do so at any time within their team’s green zones, provided you have enough building blocks. You can build walls, auto turrets, jeep garages, jetpack hangers, Hawk platforms, sniping towers, armouries, large anti vehicle weapons, and an energy shield generator. Whew…that’s a lot, but in the BETA there are still two structures in the construct wheel that are blank, so expect that list to grow.

The great thing about building the different structures is that anyone on the team can use them. If you build a Hawk platform for instance, anyone can get a Hawk. All they need is two construct blocks and away you go. Also, the Hawks are done a bit different. Taking a Robotech-esq approach, the Hawks can be in one of two modes, the aerial vehicle mode or a bi-pedal ground mode. Which makes for some interesting tactics in capture the flag games.

In the BETA are just two maps and two gameplay modes. The modes you have are capture the flag and team deathmatch. As for the maps you get, they are two very different types. You have Acid Sea, an industrial island that is literally surrounded by a ocean of acid, and a Space Platform stage that gives great opportunities for aerial fun. For the buildings and spawning, you get drop pods. On the Respawn screen you get a top down view of the map and can choose where to spawn, then you rocket down to the map.

After selecting your construct you get a ghost outline of the structure that when it is green means you can build it right there. Then all you have to do is stand still, look up and you can see it coming down from the dropship to you. Spawning both yourself and your constructs can be used to kill enemy team players which is really satisfying when you pull it off.

I’ve played several BETA’s over the years, but in my opinion this one has changed the most while I played. Every day there seems to be a latest version to update to with generally no less than 4 major tweaks and changes that have been implemented due to player input. Everything from Hawk mobility, to jetpack durability. Most of the BETA’s I’ve played would generally let you play, give input, and add tweaks to the final product. So this BETA has been a huge breath of fresh air.

Final Judgement: If your a Plus member check this BETA out. If not there has been talk about a more open BETA soon, and if so then you definitely need to check this out.

Its not the traditional “my arm turns into a blaster” Megaman or even the extremely popular spin off characters Megaman X, or Zero, its the Megaman found on the original box art for the original game. Yeah, this guy!

Clearly the box art dept had a different idea of what a "Mega" man actually was.

This character looks nothing like Megaman and instead of a blaster in-hand he carries an effin’ gun! Its a series that’s known for its terrible box art, but to bring attention to something so obsure and so bad without qualifying it with an adjective or something, almost proves that Capcom is throwing Megaman under a bus.

Its for certain that Megaman fans will cry foul…they always do, but its very unlikely that Capcom will change anything. The fan outpouring against the cancellation of Megaman Legends 3 hasn’t yielded any success. No games are currently announced for the series and its numerous spin offs are all dead in the water.

...and why the hell is he fat?

Creator of the series Kenji Inafune is no longer with Capcom and the most recent releases were the delightfully retro titles Megaman 9 and 10. Megaman isn’t even getting any love from other Capcom games. Secondary character Zero was included in both Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom with the later also having MegaMan Volnutt (whoever that is). Despite being an overwhelming fan-favorite, he wasn’t added to the re-releases of either game.

In 2010 a Megaman MMO was announced, for it to be cancelled only a year later. What is to blame for Capcom’s cold shoulder towards one of their biggest franchises? Did Inafune piss someone off when he left? Was he the only one championing the name? Have they lost faith in the character? Coming off a decade that saw about 30 or so Megaman games, its surprising to hear nothing but unfortunate news coming out about the Man de la Mega.

Despite Capcom basically saying "Hey you guys, you definitely don't want to play this...it sucks." fans are still clamoring for its release.

The fans are there. Capcom’s major names, Resident Evil, Street Fighter and Megaman all have fervent fan bases. RE and SF fans are getting their itches scratched every 6 months or so, it seems like Dead Rising has replaced Megaman in Capcom’s release calendar.

Here’s an idea, license Megaman out to an American developer, and let them have creative control. Reboot Megaman and bring him into the 21st century properly. Sure, the reboot of Bionic Commando didn’t go so well, but what did they really expect out of Grin? There are dozens of teams that would be honored to reintroduce Megaman to the world. It couldn’t possibly be any worse than what he’s going through right now. I mean com on! this is getting embarrassing.

So I picked up this game at Gamestop for about ten dollars –brand new– out the bargain bin a while back. For obvious reasons, GameStop just wants to get this product out of the store. And for all the horrible reviews Duke Nukem Forever has received, I had to see for myself if such overwhelmingly negative reviews were justified. Brace yourself.

The gameplay mechanics are OLD AND SERIOUSLY OUTDATED. Currently, gameplay mechanics are measured by such games as Halo or Call of Duty, and if a game doesn’t play anything like these games, you can almost certainly know it will be automatically received as being bad. This game plays like all the first person shooters that came out when this game should have come out, about eleven to thirteen years ago. Game intensity and difficulty ranges from calm and relaxing to ‘I want to pull my hair out’. As far as controls go, by today’s standards the controls are clunky at best. Don’t get me wrong, they are responsive, but nothing like what we have become accustomed to. There is no snap feature when it comes to locking onto a target, and no lock-on system whatsoever, with the exception of the rocket propelled grenade launcher, but then you have to manually keep the rectal on the target for a few seconds to get the lock. The multiplayer system suffers from the same outdated-ness. Multiplayer matches are limited to four-on-four no matter what mode you are playing.

The narrative of Duke Nukem Forever hurts the game a lot, but this could partly be due to the game going through several development teams. But honestly, it’s a Duke Nukem game and none of them have been known for their stories. When Duke was first introduced he was a parody of every seventy’s and eighty’s action hero. He’s muscled, kicks-ass, crude, and spouts a crap-ton of one liners. The game is filled with lots of moments of plain silliness.  For instance, on one stage Duke does nothing but go through his strip club finding items to get a lap-dance in a dream sequence. There are moments when it seems your going to have non-player character help, but these are basically cannon fodder and die almost as soon as any action picks up.

There are several places where the gameplay takes a change. A turret sequence, some vehicle driving, and a few places where Duke gets shrunk down and has to do some platforming to get around. The weapons are typical Duke. With many Duke mainstays like the trusty pistol, shotgun, RPG, and devestator, with the added weapons of a Shrink ray, and a freeze ray. You also get two types of throw-ables, the pipe bomb that you throw and then detonate with a car clicker, and a trip mine you can set onto any surface. The bosses are set to where only explosives can kill them so these, along with the explosive weapons are your only means to win.

Once you beat the game on normal you unlock the cheat extras. Which include Big Head, God Mode, Infinite Ammo, and more. Yet like all other games they disable trophy acquisition. Which may or may not matter as for the most part the replay value of the single player is a bit lacking on the whole.

For the multiplayer you have the normal game modes with some twists. Death-match and team death-match are called Duke Match and Team Duke Match. The capture the flag is Capture the Babe, which does have some interesting twists. You of course pick up the enemies Babe, but you lose the ability to use any of your weapons. You must instead use the single shot garter pistol the Babe has on her. She will make it hard for you as well by placing her hand in front of your face, but you can just press the button to spank her ass and she will move it away. The garter pistol is a one shot kill which is nice, but it has slow reload, and the lost of the snap feature does mean you have to use more skill. Your domination match is Hail to the King, where you must take the control points and do a Hail to the King while in the point.

You get quite a bit of customization as you progress through the multi-player. You get different hats, eyeware, and shirt logos to outfit Duke. Also added is the My Digs, that has furniture, games, and babes to unlock as you level up. Which makes wanting to progress through the multi-player a bit more intriguing as you get the ability to ogle the babes.  The maps are interesting. You get simple ones, and some that are really cluttered. Duke Burger map has all of you shrunk and running around the Duke Burger kitchen. It’s a very fun map, in that you have several ways to trap and kill other players with environmental hazards like the microwave, and dishwasher.

Unfortunately the main problem with the maps are the weapon placements. Some are hard to get to, and are set to where you can be a very easy target. Which can make it very frustrating to get the things you need to rack up your points, unless your the guy that gets them first and starts camping. Matches can be set up in various ways: limited weapons, infinite ammo, score counts, etc. As a side not, guys flying around with jetpacks wielding the devastator can just ruin your day.

Overall the game is enjoyable, and will give you a few good hours of playtime. The multi-player is actually a great way to hop online and just play for a few matches and then get off. It also has a huge plethora of challenges you can do that can rack up to big experience point rewards. Again if this game had come out when it was originally supposed to, the only thing that would have given it a run for it’s money would have been Doom 3. As is today, I really think they just put it out to get rid of it and maybe move on to something else.

For the original price it definitely wouldn’t have been worth looking at. At ten bucks or even five, like some Best Buys have done, you get what you pay for. A simple game that plays simple, gives you some fun moments, and has lots of crude humor, and gives you something to go “Damn” about.

Remember the backlash from EA deciding not to release Battlefield 3 on Steam? By making this game an Origin-exclusive, EA seemingly pissed on true PC Gamers everywhere and ushered in a new era of oppression.

I’m kidding, of course.

There is no such era of oppression. This entire situation has been overblown to the point that I want to vomit whenever I hear people complaining about it. The reason I bring it back up, however, is that EA is set yet again to flip Steam the bird. They are releasing Mass Effect 3 with their Origin DRM (and on every online game distributor except Steam).

And before you call me contradictory, I am not. Steam is DRM as well (even though most people don’t think of it as such). It’s a great idea. But, unfortunaely, you can’t copyright a great idea. The idea that digital games not on Steam will fail is not simply fanboyish and arrogant, it’s just plain stupid.

Mass Effect is going to sell millions of copies regardless of what launches it in the system tray. EA doesn’t need Steam for this game to be successful, so why should they cater to Valve? It simply makes business sense. With the recent developer/publisher affinity for consoles, I would say be glad you are getting the game on PC at all.

TL;DR: Shut up already you fanboyish twits! This has the significance of a coyote farting in the desert.

The 11/20/2012 release has been confirmed and even some details have been spilled. Fan favs Leon and Chris return and each will have their own separate storyline in the campaign. I’m told Ashley being included is a big deal too. Hmm, maybe I should brush up on my RE lore.