Looks like some jolts of electricity have been sent through Team Fortress 2 (TF2). TF2 is set to be released with HL2 episode 2. Episode 2 is due out during the holiday season. I hope the characters look the way they do in that screenshot.

The original idea for TF2 was going to be more of a military similuation. This would be back when TF2 was first announced in the late 90s. Since there is an over-saturation of military games right now, looks like they are going more toward the cartoony nature of the original Team Fortress. I hope TF2 is closer to Quake Team Fortress, than to the Half-Life version. Here is the Wikipedia entry for TF2 for more info.

1. Dell Dimension 8200
-P4 2.3GHz
-768MB RAM (RD aka Rambus)
-80GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
-64MB ATI DV8500 TV Out Video Card with RF Remote
-2 USB in front 2 USB in back.
-Dual Firewire Card with Dazzle Video Capturing Device and Software
-DVD +RW Burner (Plays DVDs and Burns them)
-Windows XP Home Edition
-Keyboard/Optical Mouse
-3.5″ Floppy Drive
-Been using it as my Home Theater PC.

You-Pickup-Haul for $225

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2. Custom Built 4U Rack Mount Server (About the same dimensions as a standard Desktop)
-Black Metal Case with Lockable front door.
-Dual Pentium III 733MHz CPUs.
-160GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
-512 MB SDRAM
-500W Power Supply (New 2005)
-Two Drive Cages
-New Front Fan (2005)
-Matrox 32MB Video Card (Low end)
-ASUS CUV4X-D Dual VIA Apollo Pro 133A Motherboard:
* VIA 694X-DP Chipset
* Dual Socket-370 FC-PGA
* Supports up to 1.13 GHz Pentium III Processors (Bios Updated to latest version)
* 4 DIMM Slots (4 GB Max)
* 2 USB Ports
* ECC, VCM, Parity Memory Support
* AGP Pro 4x, 5 PCI Slots
* Dual Channel ATA/100
* Jumperless Overclocking in BIOS
-3.5″ Floppy Drive
-Great Linux/FreeBSD Server

You-Pickup-Haul $175

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3. Custom Built Lightweight Mid Tower
-Mister Yuck Sticker Included Free on case!
-Dual Pentium III 733MHz CPUs.
-80GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
-512 MB SDRAM
-450W Power Supply
-TNT II Ultra 32MB Video Card (will throw in a spare 64MB GeForce Free)
-Aureal Sound Card with Optical Out
-ASUS CUV4X-D Dual VIA Apollo Pro 133A Motherboard:
* VIA 694X-DP Chipset
* Dual Socket-370 FC-PGA
* Supports up to 1.13 GHz Pentium III Processors (Bios Updated to latest version)
* 4 DIMM Slots (4 GB Max)
* 2 USB Ports
* ECC, VCM, Parity Memory Support
* AGP Pro 4x, 5 PCI Slots
* Dual Channel ATA/100
* Jumperless Overclocking in BIOS
-3.5″ Floppy Drive

You-Pickup-Haul $175

(If you want both 2 and 3 I’ll sell them as a package for $300 – identical motherboards can be useful from time to time)

For those who just want a machine to surf the internet, play music, run office and have everything run well all of these machines will work just fine. For those wanting to run a decent inexpensive Home Theater PC, the first computer is really the only one that can handle it. RAMBUS memory is still kind of expensive but you can get it on eBay if you want to go above 768. For those who want a modern gaming machine–these are probably not for you–Although you can play CounterStrike, Unreal Tournament 2004 and early GL games like Quake II and Starcraft. Will play Battelfield 1942 but not Battelfield 2.

I heard a cry for help in the distance. So here I am posting something.

There will be a bowling center opening soon in Wyoming, MN. The name of this place is Star & Strikes. Besides bowling, looks like they will have lots of other sources of entertainment, including old and new video games. Probably should send out an exploratory probe to check this place out. Seems like it has possibilities.

In personal news, I will be moving from Duluth to the cities in the next month or so. Probably be setting up shop in the Apple Valley region for the short-term.

Microsoft has a kind of neat promotion where they will pay for a pizza and give you 1000 Microsoft Points if you throw a little party to have people over to play with your Xbox 360 and some of the new Xbox Live Arcade games that are being released over the next few weeks.

I downloaded Frogger this last week and am pretty happy with how well it plays, though I haven’t had a chance to try the new online multiplayer variations yet. I’m a bit curious about the version of Street Fighter that is due out in a few weeks.