I wish I could discuss this topic w/you, but unfortunately, I never played either game...

As much as my friends and I would enjoy playing another flightsim, we don't let StarForce anywhere near our hard drives...

Hopefully, since it's being published by Ubisoft, it'll follow the footsteps of other recent Ubisoft releases and use any protection method other than StarForce.

...does this signal the end of public appearances by Bianca Beauchamp as Elexis Sinclair?!?

(Just thought I'd go off on a tangent here...)

...how the beginning of this "teaser" trailer is purposely made to look like the intro sequence of the original UT (1999)? Obviously, the graphics have gotten a spiffy upgrade... Guess it would've been more obvious if they'd used a woman's voice for the "history" narration of the Tournaments...

Hopefully, it's also some kind of subliminal message that the game will indeed be more like UT99... As much as I enjoyed 2K4, there was just something about 99 that made it infinitely more enjoyable. Hopefully, UT3 will be a blast!

On a side note, it's a shame that Unreal 2 XMP (eXpanded MultiPlayer)/2K4 XMP never caught on... I thought it was quite an enjoyable spin on CTF - w/jetpacks and great level design. (Such as the one in the asteroid field.)

Interestingly enough, I have both a "low-end" X-Fi XtremeMusic (non-XRAM) AND one of the tested mobos, the uber-doubly-sucky (per Tom) ECS RS482-M.

To my knowledge, I've not had any issues w/Creative's drivers, be it using the Install CD or downloads from Creative's site. I originally had the X-Fi in an ECS nForce2 mobo, and had no problems w/that setup, either. I've never had to utilize the oft-mentioned "PCI Latency Tool," and not once have I experienced this crackling that others mention. (Knocks on wood...) And believe it or not, I actually prefer the EAX-enabled effects in a variety of games over certain onboard audio solutions. (Mostly RealTek and cMedia chips...)

In fact, I've gone from the original Soundblaster to the Pro, 16, AWE32, Live, Live 5.1, Audigy 2ZS (which is working great on the aforementioned ECS nForce2 mobo), and now the X-Fi, and I've never had any problems whatsoever. Perhaps I've never angered the audio gods or something?!? (Even when I "sort of strayed" and added a Roland Sound Canvas to the mix back in the 90's...)

Yeah, a Fantastic Voyage game could be loads of fun, if handled well.

Heck, I'm surprised I never heard of anyone modifying Descent 3 or Forsaken to make a Fantastic Voyage-type game...

Let's see what Sega has up their sleeves...

Actually, IIRC, this $22 refurb looks like the Formula Force GP (usually $60+ new), not the original belt-driven non-GP. The biggest tell-tale sign is that the steering wheel is not 100% fully-covered w/the red rubberized grip, as seen here:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/downloads/categories/US/EN,CRID=1789

So the $22 refurb model is still somewhat "entry-level" (for a Logitech FF wheel), while the MOMO Racing, Force, and Driving Force Pro are Logitech's higher-end (both in terms of cost and features).

Just wanted to clarify for those who might want to make the $22 purchase, thinking that they'll be getting the wonderful belt-driven non-GP model.

jayeffaar,

Haha...must be some kind of syndrome, since I seem to have it too!

I also own X-Wing Alliance and Crimson Skies - bought them because of their pedigree and favorable reviews. But I've never gotten around to playing them, because some other game was sucking up all of my gaming time. (Most likely some FPS, hence my handle...)

Over the years, I've probably purchased 30+ games in similar fashion. Needless to say, I've tried to kick such a habit, which my wallet thanks me for. As much as I want to check out CoD2, I think I'll wait until I'm done w/F.E.A.R.

Perhaps one of these days I'll get around to all of those oldies but goodies...