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What we're playing this weekend

by: Chuck -
More On: What we're playing
Ben Berry - Staff Writer
This weekend, I'm playing Command & Conquer 3. I can't get past the 7th mission, and it's pretty frustrating, as I used to pwn at this series. I'll also be renting Transformers to see if it's worth owning.

Sean Colleli - Staff Writer
I've been playing Manhunt and getting really bored, because the shock value wears off very quickly, and you're left with an uninspired Splinter Cell clone.  I hope that seuqel's good, now that they have the, uh, extra time to polish it

I'm also continuing my trek through slightly dated PC games, with Star Wars Republic Commando.  It's like Halo with stormtroopers, but a lot more fun on the PC.  It also manages to take the crappy prequel movies and make them cool...except for Jar Jar, of course.

Dave Gamble - Staff Writer
I continue to be amazed at the quality and availability of free, downloadable mods for my favorite sims. 
This week, I downloaded Off Road Racing (ORR) for rFactor.  While researching for my upcoming review of TrackMania, I got kind of hooked on flying cars and got to wondering if there was anything similar for rFactor.  I quickly found ORR on rfactorcentral.com and started racing trucks on an arena course.  There was also an outdoor course available, but the jumps were a bit more than I could handle in my early novice stage.  The smaller, more predictable jumps in the arena course are more to my current liking.  There is also a new version of FS One, a Formula 1 mod.  I will be using it to "practice" for this week's F1 race at Magny-Cours in France.  The tracks are very detailed and accurate, and it is often the case that I can improve on my best lap times by watching the in-car shots from the actual race.

I also got back into Microsoft Flight Sim 2004, which I prefer over the newer FS X for reasons of frame rate and the ability to record flights for AI playback, allowing me to practice some formation flying.  I recently had the thrill of trying formation flight in my own airplane  and wanted to try it in more sophisticated jet airplanes.  I found a high quality (and free!) download for the North American F-86 Sabre, the very plane that the paint job on my airplane is modeled after.  Proving that Flight Sim is pretty darned accurate, I found that I suck at simulated formation flying every bit as much as I did at the real thing.

Randy Kalista - Staff Writer
I'm feeling pretty promiscuous when it comes to my gaming playlist.  I'll be measuring the length of my Sword of the New World, seeing if I can "thread the needle" (wink wink, nudge nudge) with some SpaceThread Hyperbol, feeling if my wife is feeling the flOw -- and should we get into an argument instead, that just leaves room for some sweet PeaceMaker lovin'.  (I swear, Chuck should completely kick me off this feature.)

Dan Keener - Staff Writer
While on vacation, it will be PSP all the way.  Lots of cartoon stuff....

Matt Mirkovich - Staff Writer
This weekend I'm kind of at a loss on what to play since I beat Odin Sphere. I guess it's time to crack open some of the games I've picked up on discount recently. Dead Or Alive Extreme Beach 2 will probably be a good diversion from playing poker. I picked up some Lumines content this week. Shame on me, but supposedly it's for a good cause. Other than that I'll probably be working on my Pac-Man CE score. I'm sitting just below the top 100 and I'd like to break in there again. My highest peak was in the mid 80's before getting 330k became so common. Grrrr.

Shawn Sines - Staff Writer
There is darkness all around me. The Darkness and Pokemon? That can't be right can it? And what are these little wizards doing on my Wii?!?
Well too bad I can;t have The Darkness devour the hearts of those meddling kids and the cute fuzzy lightning rat.

Rachel Steiner - Staff Writer
I personally am always working on Shrek the Third...so far so interesting. Other games on my list now include Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, Pokemon Diamond and Ranger, and I am also picking up my copy of Pokemon Battle Revolution.
 
Phoenix Wright caught my attention because to me it harkens back to my old days of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. I also enjoy maki