I threatened it before, but now I've finally done it. My PS2 is heading online. Weeeeell, this is all still in process. My WET11 and WRT54G are still in the mail, because I want to create a wireless network. I do already have a PS2 Network Adaptor... I'd like to say that Sony just released some amazing must-have online game that spurred me to action, but the simple truth is that my Toys R Us had two in stock (the first time I'd ever seen them available) and I had a TRU gift card bawling like a starved crackbaby in my shirt pocket.
The LinkSys WRT54G isn't the model I had originally picked out... it can transmit both 802.11b (the old standard) and 802.11g (the new standard.) Or, as Apple has branded 802.11g, AirPort EXTREME. Apparantly Apple's marketing people have opened the lid on their wampyr coffins and stepped into 1997.
Although the WRT54G can send in 802.11g, LinkSys doesn't yet have a receiver that can accept 802.11g. Correction, they don't have a receiver that suits my needs. They do have notebook/pc cards, but I need a receiver that can send the signal to any number of ethernet-based users. Including my PS2, GameCube, guests' equipment, and future computer purchases to be named later. So for now, I'll use the WET11, a purely 802.11b unit. When LinkSys makes a 802.11g version, I'll trade up.
I have many pals with PS2s (and cable modems), so I have eagerly set myself up as the proving ground. If it's great, I'll voraciously talk them all into buying the Network Adaptor... we've all tried the PC gaming world and found it terribly lacking. As my memory scans about their living rooms, I suspect they might have an easier time simply stringing ethernet cable... but I will be available to discuss a wireless LAN should that strike a fancy.
And now to the former portion of my conjunctive post title: I reorganized the long format game reviews, which sadly meant that some old ones had to be tossed. Another casualty was the 1 to 10 rating system... although I find number rankings helpful (if a game has a score of 7, I internally translate that as a 70% chance I will enjoy the game), I think that they become awfully obsolete as time goes on. It's ridiculous to think that a 10 game of even two years ago could compare to a 10 game of today. So I decided to let the reviews stand on their own text merits, with no numbers attached.
The good side of all this change is that it is a million times either for my friends to post their own long reviews. (And it's easier for me as well.) Boris has already jumped into my Movable Type-based system with a pair of classic N64 reviews. In addition, you - yes, you - can add comments to the long reviews, so feel invited to mouth off in ASCII form.
