Well after having a 5 hour fuck up and almost losing all my data, I got to thinking! What are some of the best free apps on the web? ( Fyi be very careful if you try to install MAC OSX on your main pc it can cause you hell!!! www.OSX86project.net)

So after a complete reformat I decided I would only use free apps to help keep my pc up to date from viruses and spyware. After a few hours searching around I have developed a list of apps that I find very useful for most pc users.


1. AVG Anti Virus Free Edition

Provides a great anti-virus suite with restoring capabilities with taking very minimal system resources.

Link: http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

2. Windows Defender

Who better than to protect you from spyware then the people who made it possible to run on your machine...( I like this proggy cause it lets you see what programs are running from where)

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

3. Spybot Search and Destroy

Has a great tendancy to find any spyware Windows Defender may miss. Very easy ui.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/

4. U torrent

Not really a defense program but man this has got to be the coolest torrent program I have ever used. It has a great Win32 gui and dosent use java like Azureus which frees up resources.

http://www.utorrent.com/download.php


This is just a simple list I put together for Apps I believed that are very useful. I am sure there are many more and I would appreciate some feedback to what YOU believe is needed in everyday WINDOWS life. Please only refer free programs.

Sony Online Entertainment has been under fire from subscribers and the press far too often. Today we take a look at why, and outline their future endeavors.

There is no doubt that SOE is a great company. They have had a rich history in the world of MMO's, with EverQuest being the cookie-cutter template for what an MMO should be like. However, in today's world, things aren't looking so bright for the company. What happened to the company? Where did they go wrong?

First and foremost the largest hit SOE has taken recently is due to the butchering of Star Wars Galaxies. The company saw fit to change the entire game not once, but twice...the second time being the worst. The "NGE" is now a lesson for other MMO developers on what NOT to do to an MMO. To drastically change the game so far into it's lifespan isn't the worst thing. What really hurt was they alienated their userbase by removing almost every class in the game, including my favorite, the Creature Handler. I played personally as a Master CH/Master TK from launch until the NGE, when both of the classes I played dissapeared. SOE says this change is sticking, despite execs admitting they lost a HUGE number of their subscribers.

Another dissapointment from SOE was the launch of EverQuest 2. SOE had hoped the old school EQ players would be wowed with the new game, but it didn't quite work out that way. Gamers tha twere used to a rich, involved, and sometimes complicated MMO were offered a watered down WOW clone as their favorite games' predecessor. Most EQ players said "no thanks" and stayed with EQ. Don't get me wrong here, I love EQ2. I love the game for what it is. It has some great content, but when you really get into the game, you find out that it's now become a pissing contest between EQ2 and WOW. The two games are so often copying eachother that it makes you wonder who had which idea first. To help aleviate this problem, SOE is now offering "progression servers" for EQ1 that allow you to breeze through the original game at an accelerated pace. This is to prepare gamers for the long promised cross-over quests that SOE announced so long ago. Can SOE win over some of the old timers? It remains to be seen.

Another problem that plagues EQ2 is the now infamous "DX9 out of memory error". I am a victim of this, as are many of the players of the game. SOE would have you believe that it is all of our individual PC's causing the crash, but the gamers (including some very tech savy ones) feeel that this is a software issue. SOE refuses to admit that this is their problem. Instead they say that everyone just has "bad RAM". You can see a long running thread about this very issue by clicking the link below.

http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tech_support&message.id=129453&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Then there is Matrix Online. SOE thought they could save this dying MMO by buying it from Warner Bros. Unfortunately they couldn't do that. The game is in the same piss-poor state it was in before SOE took it over. Why they decided to buy a failing game when they were already having problems is beyond me. At any rate, MXO is just one more failure that SOE can put on their list.

On the same front, SOE also bought the rights to a DC Comics MMO that Warner had in development, and most recently bought publishing rights to Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, an MMO that can't seem to find it's way onto shelves. Will either of these games be able to help SOE recoup some of their losses? We will have to see.

PlanetSide. Well, it is what it is. I call it another failure from SOE, others call it an awesome game. Despite people's views on this game, it still feels like an empty game most times when playing it, and obviously is another piece of fat SOE needs to trim. Match with that the dastardly hacking of the game that we reported on a few weeks ago, and you have yet another negative for SOE.

What about SOE's console outings? Well EQOA for the PS2 was an awesome game, albeit toned down from the original EQ. It still has somewhat of a user base left, and still gets some cool updates like new areas and such. but perhaps the greatest thing in my mind that SOE has done in recent times was the development of Champions of Norrath 1&2 and the Untold Legends games for PSP. I love the top-down hack and slash RPG, and using the awesome Snowblind engine further accentuates the awesomeness of these games. Can they keep the same feel with the PS3 version? We hope so. It seems SOE is ready to listen to gamers, at least regarding certain products. Complaints about the player model from Untold Legends PS3 prompted SOE to quickly change the model to a more serious, less cartoony looking figure.

With new MMO's on the horizon like Age of Conan, Tabula Rasa, Warhammer Online and LOTR Online, SOE has a lot of work to do if they want to stay competitive in this booming business. Our view is that SOE needs to be more concerned about their player base and our opinions and less concerned about making a quick buck. SOE needs to realize that veteran players are what keeps an MMO alive. Alienating the veterans in hopes of gaining all new subscribers is bad business.

Let us know what you think! Feel free to post a comment in the section provided below this post!

Today we look at VONGO, a new internet pay service offering films and "shows". What many people don't know right off the bat is that VONGO is owned and operated by Starz Inc. That means that you will only have access to whatever films Starz has under license when you pay for the service. Additionally, when Starz loses the rights to whatever film, you lose access to it.

They don't go out of their way to tell you this information either. When you sign up, you are notified outright of these things, but upon watching their TV ads or visiting their website, the Starz name is nowhere to be seen. Don't get me wrong, Starz Inc. is a great network of channels with great movies. They have come a long way since their meager beginnings. However, it seems a bit shady up front that the first time they really mention Starz to you is when you actually sign up.

The service is $9.99 a month, and includes unlimited downloads of whatever films Starz has under it's belt at the time. The films can be watched while they download, but people may see the standard pausing of the film for buffering when doing this. While subscribed to the service, VONGO says that you can transfer the flms to removable devices like video iPods, but only while the movie is under rights to Starz. So I ask, does this mean that you must constantly check the Starz catalogue to make sure your current copy of Deuce Bigalow is legal? I suspect that when they lose license to a film, they would notify you of this fact so that you don't inadvertently break the law.

The service also offers a pay-per-view service, though it's not the type of pay-per-view offered by your local cable or satelite provider. Basically VONGO offers users who do not pay the $9.99 monthly fee an opportunity to download select films from their library for $3.99 a pop. So in a nutshell, you can't order the latest Roy Jones fight through this service.

You can also watch Starz live through VONGO, which is also in a streaming format. However, the quality is not as awesome as they claim. It is actually below VHS quality in most cases due to the format that they use to stream the films. If you watch these films on a small screened portable device, you probably won't notice much. However when viewed in full screen on your PC you may feel like you are watching a mediorce quality pirated film.

Last but not least is their program itself. The VONGO program is indeed a small file size like they claim, and has numerous features to make you feel like you've got your money's worth. For example, the program uses targeted marketing, which will recommend specific films for you depending on what you view the most. You can also check out reviews and info for almost every film in their database.

All in all, this is an ok beginning for VONGO. It's more convenient than NetFlix because you can download as much as you want whenever you want, no need to send stuff off and wait for the next one to get there. On the flip side, the library is simply too small to compete with a mainstream video rental company, whether online or in a brick and mortar location.

I suggest anyone considering VONGO try out the 14 day free trial, or simply sign up for the free non pay account just so you can have a look at what they have to offer. You may not find what they have to offer worthy of the $9.99 a month.

Source: http://www.vongo.com

We have uncovered a release date for the upcoming game Halo 3. The online retailer futureshop.ca, a Canadian company with a good reputation, is taking pre-orders for the game. They list the estimated date as November 30, 2007. Ok, so the site says estimated. However, I have heard this date come up a few times in conjunction with Halo 3, most notably from a Microsoft rep. My local FYE also has a Halo 3 poster touting pre-orders for the same date.

Could this be the real deal? We think so. First, it's a notable date for Microsoft. They always seem to release their big guns in November. Then there is the statementPeter Moore said on G4TV's coverage of E3. He stated that the real console war wouldn't happen until Christmas season of 2007. the strategic placing of Halo 3 at this time of year would almost ensure MS stays in the game through that Christmas.

At any rate, Bungie hasn't officially announced anything, so this is all mere speculation. However, don't be surprised if the game really does drop on that date, and as always remeber you heard it here on Rated-M.com first!

NOTE: Best Buy lists the game as March of 2007, but we know that is way too early.

Source: FutureShop.ca

Fresh on the heels of yesterday's news that the DS game Final Fantasy III was delayed, we have yet another date change to report.

The new, and final date is now October 4th, with an October 3rd ship date. We have been assured by GameStop corporate that this is indeed the final date handed down by Square/Enix themselves, and that the previous date was a misprint.

To further confirm this, GameStop has updated their website to reflect the new date. Also picking up the story is GameSpot. We are proud tha twe brought it to you first, we just regret that we had the wrong date initially.

Source: http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=180155
Source: http://www.gamespot.com/search.html?type=11&stype=all&qs=final+fantasy+III

I was tipped off by a viewer that the HALO alternate reality game (ARG) ilovebees2 has been siezed by the FBI. Upon going to http://www.ilovebees2.com I was informed that my IP address has been recorded and that an agent may contact me soon. What is strage is that this site is owned and operated by Bungie along with the original ilovebees.com (the original site remains unchanged). no word yet from Bungie on what is going on here, but my theory is that it is another hoax type thing to promote yet another game, possibly Halo 3. The ilovebees2 site has been used in the past to promote Oblivion and the 360, so at this point it's anyone's guess.

IGN.com did a write-up on the site (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/693/693770p1.html), but the article pre-dates anything that's going on now. If your balls are big enough, visit the site for yourself, but keep in mind, "an agent may contact you soon", and remember, you saw it here first on Rated-M.com!

Today we look at the first 8 months of the XB360's life, and take a look into the near future for the system. I hope you all enjoy this special edition article!

The Hardware

The system got off to a rocky start. A lack of systems on the shelves matched with the boisterous over-reserving by many retailers left a lot of people burned right at Christmas time. Then came the reports of overheating systems. Then the urban legends began about houses burning down, 360's exploding, and all kinds of other rediculous shit. The truth is that the launch had about 1-2% defective units. This is quite normal, and rather low in comparison to the PS1 & 2 which both had around 15% of their launch systems come back defective. At any rate, the system is fine now, and accessories like the Nyko Intercooler get rid of the overheating worries. The system does have a lot of useless accessories though...

The Games

Some people's biggest complaint about the 360 is the lack of titles. I shouldn't have to remind everyone that the first year of a system's life is ALWAYS the slowest. that being said, there does seem to be a lack of QUALITY games available for the system, but perhaps we can help you find one to hold you over until the Fall. Rather than go through every single game and all their ups and downs, I will just gve you my top and bottom 5.

TOP 5

5.) Call of Duty 2
I was torn about this one... I love this game, and it is obviously better on the PC. However, the 360 port is really nice, probably the finest PC to Console port out there. On top of that, the online community in the game is still alive and kicking, and with 3 downloadable map packs and more on the way, you can bet it will stay that way.

4.) Dead Or Alive 4
Some of you may not agree with me on this one, especially since I placed it above COD2. However, the quality of this game is what next-gen is all about. Plenty of unlockables, both easy and tough achievements, and awesome (but a tad laggy) internet play make this a winner in my eyes. If the eye-popping visuals don't make you squeal, perhaps playing as a Spartan from HALO will... This is one hell of a fighting game!

3.) G.R.A.W.
Well it's no surprise that this ended up in the top 5. Personally, I find this game a bit hard, but the quality of visuals and gameplay promise more than just a few hours of gameplay. Add to that a downloadable expansion pack on the marketplace, a dedicated XBL community, and the promise of even more updates and you have a winner.

2.) Kameo
An amazing game all around. Rare has been on my bad side lately, but this redeemed them to me. I played this game for the Cube at E3 a few years back and loved it. It used the traditional Zelda controls, and it looked nice. Years later the game emerges a polished platforming gem, even better than the original Cube version! This is yet another game with some awesome DLC...a co-op mode through XBL and numerous costumes are amoung the extras you get here. Highly recommended.

1.) Oblivion
I don't think there are many people that disagree with me here. This game set the bar for future games across all consoles. A work of graphical and technical genious, Oblivion offers you infinate possibilites of how you play. Don't get me wrong, Oblivion has it's problems just like any game, but they are easily looked over. You can sit down and play this game for an hour and end up in a 8 hour session. Incredibly immersive, intuitive, and challenging, Oblivion is hands down THE best 360 game out there.

HONORABLE MENTION

1.) Rockstar Presents Table Tennis
Yeah, it's table tennis, but it's damn addicting! You must try this game! This is rumored to be the graphical engine tha tthe next GTA will use. If so, we are all in for a treat!

2.) Fight Night Round 3
One of the most visually stunning games I have ever seen, and hella fun to boot! PS3 doesn't get this until November, same game, same graphics, no extra features. Go ahead, rub it in the Sony fanboy's faces!

3.) Condemned
This game was the true underdog of the 360 launch. It got passed up by so many people mainly because they didn't know what the hell it was. Part survival horror, part FPS, part CSI, this game was one hell of an awesome play-through. The only thing this game was lacking was online deathmatches, but I can forgive them. This game is for the 360 what Chronicles of Riddick was for the XBOX. It's a reinvention of the way FPS are played, and if you haven't checked this one out yet, you need to. However, the gore and scares can be a bit intense for some people...you have been warned.

BOTTOM 5

5.) Perfect Dark Zero
This was a hard game to place in the bottom 5. I like it, but unfortunately I am a minority. The game is well crafted, sporting gorgeous graphics and a great story line, however most people hated the shooting. I call this "Halo-itis". Most of the people that hated this game forgot the series that got it started. they have all become Halo addicted pussies that can't handle a tough game where you can't always one-hit-kill. Yeah, I fucking said it...so what? Deep inside you all know it's true. The original PD as well as Golden-Eye had the same exact type of armor system. But alas, those games are both old and outdated now. People want fast, furious, BOOM HEADSHOT, pwn da nubz...this game didn't have it. What it did have was fun and challenging, but when you beat the game, the fun is over. The XBL play was sub-par, probably the game's biggest shortcoming in my eyes, even after the new maps. This game gets on the bottom 5 merely because everyone hates it. If you admit you even own it, you are indeed a man confident in yourself.

4.) Blazing Angels
This game is beautiful, however graphics can't always save a game. The horrible controls top off over a dozen other horrible things about this game. If you can get past the crappy controls (most people can't), you MIGHT find a decent game under there somewhere.

3.) Tony Hawk American Wasteland
Don't get me wrong, I like this game ok and everything, but it is nowhere near next-gen quality. I can't justify paying $60 for a shitty half-assed port of a previous generation game. There is no reason a 360 game like this should have muddy, blurry textures. I would consider this game for $20, but that's even pushing it. Also, on a personal note, I hate the direction Tony has gone with his games. Tony Hawk USED TO be all about promoting skateboarding as a respectable professional sport. However, this is the third game that incorporates "Jackass" style destruction and assinine stunts that have NO place in the real skateboarding world. I don't want to say that tony sold out, but it seems like he fucking did it...promoting what he used to speak against. The only light at the end of this tunnel is that Tony Hawk 8 is supposed to be a return to the TRUE sport of skateboarding minus the retarded "Jackass" stunts. No retarded kid in a wheelchair in my skateboarding game please! kthx...

2.) King Kong
Great movie, shitty game. Ok the game wasn't that horrible, but for cripes sake you could beat it in one sitting! How many people paid $60 for this shit, beat it the same night, and were pissed at themselves? Another case of "good graphics don't make a game", and another case of "maybe for $20". In my opinion, they should have just made the entire game out of the 3rd person Kong levels and beefed it up...but oh well.

1.) EA Sports Launch Line-Up
The EA Sports offerings up until FIFA were just abysmal. It seems that EA really skimped on the sports titles, with Madden, Tiger Woods and others all changed or altered for the worse. Tiger Woods 360 only had a few of the courses available for the other consoles. I thought the 360 was supposed to be more powerful...why couldn't they fit it all in? Despite their shitty line-up at launch, EA redeemed themselves with Fight Night Round 3.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

1.) Batllefield 2
A decent game ruined by both the shitty XBL interface and the even shittier community. Who the fuck wants to play the same level over and over and over and over and over again? Did I forget to mention that it's also the level that was released in the demo? Come on people! EA game us a method to vote at the end of a match, and everyone always votes for the demo level. Why not just make it random like Halo 2? At least it would add some variety. Another problem with this game is that it is merely a port of the console version, when the system could have handled the PC version just fine. Also the shadows were all fucked up...checkerboard and glitchy. No downloadable content...

2.) XBL Arcade
How does MS react to our dissaproval of the lack of games? By getting us to pay for shitty arcade games with shitty achievements. To top it all off, these games are mostly too expensive considering a lot of them started off as free internet games on PC. On the bright side, they are adding Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat 1-3, but will they cost us an arm and a leg? Who knows...

3.) Backwards Compatibility
Why the fuck is barbie Horse Adventure backwards compatible, but most of the XBOX's first party titles aren't? Why no Morrowind? Why no DOA series? now Peter Moore says they probably won't keep their promise of 100% backwards compatibility? WTF!!!

XBOX LIVE

The best feature of the system is the XBL network. The most secure gaming experience on a console to date, XBL offers gameplay of all varieties for almost all of the current and coming 360 games. On top of that you can download updates for games, some free, others not. You can download movie trailers, music videos, and even game demos. One of the greatest things I have seen MS do is to offer the average gamer 3 exclusive demos straight from the E3 floor that you could download in your home. I think we can all agree that the Lost Planet demo kicked ass! not to mention the world premiere of the Halo 3 trailer on the marketplace! This is hands down the 360's best feature. If you aren't on XBL, you aren't experiencing the 360. Nuff said.

THE FUTURE

This Fall is gonna be hot for the 360. The following is a list of games due out before Christmas:

Prey
LOTR: BFME2
NCAA 07
Madden 07
Dead Rising
Forza 2
Viva Pinata
Gears of War
Saint's Row
WWE Smackdown VS. Raw 07
Tony Hawk 8
Stranglehold
Need For Speed Carbon
Chromehounds
Fable 2
Enchanted Arms
N3
Too Human
Crackdown

That is not even a complete listing. There are even more than that. On the gaming front, this is shaping up to be one hell of a Christmas! How will it all turn out for the 360 with 2 new systems on the horizon? We will just have to wait and see! In the meantime, enjoy your stay at Rated-M.com, and feel free to express your thoughts on this article in the comments section below!

That's right folks, we have breaking news here about the DS killer app Final Fantasy III. After E3, FFIII was given a September 12th release date, along with the Dragon Quest DS game. However, as of Tuesday, GameStop and EBGames have changed the date to October 10th. Dragon Quest stays at September 12th.

Why delay the game? Does it need more work? Not likely. We bet the reason is more likely that Square wants to spread out their properties. Releasing FFIII on the same day as Dragon Quest for the same system may cut into sales of the Dragon Quest game. Placing them a month apart seems more prudent, as more people will be likely to pick up both Dragon Quest and FFIII rather than be forced to choose between the two.

Another good reason for the October 10th date is that it places the FFIII game right in the path of the Wii launch, and you can bet on some connectivity between FFIII and FF Crystal Chronicles.

At any rate, the game hasn't been delayed much beyond it's previous date. Stay tuned for more updates on this story!

Rated-M.com is hiring for the following positions:

News Editors (3 positions)
HTML/Coding (1 position)

We are also hoping someone would donate their server space to us. When I ran UDCW.net, the owner of ultimategamez.com gave us his server space to use. We will gladly host a banner ad to whomever donates the space.

Those interested in positions, please e-mail me at the address below:

Jason Triplett
lotusfilms@hotmail.com
RE: Rated-M.com positions

ECW wrestlers Rob Van Dam and Sabu were pulled over the other night by Ohio state highway patrol for a traffic violation. Found in the car was an untold amount of an untold narcotic.

Vince McMahon, who now owns ECW and holds it under the WWE's Wellness Policy, was quick to "lay the smack down" on these two wrestlers. RVD was suspended for 30 days without pay, and Sabu was fined $1000. This alone implicates RVD as the possessor of said narcotic.

The duo are due in court tomorrow on possession charges, possible trafficking, driving under the influence, as well as whatever the original driving violations were.

Stay tuned for more on this as it breaks!

You read it right folks. Dallas Austin received a 4 year prison sentence for smuggling coke into the UAE. The next day, he is set free. The conviction stands (not in the U.S. though), and I doubt that he can ever return to that nation, but the question still stands...Did his fame and money come into play in this decision?

Most likely. We all know what happens to REAL people when they smuggle drugs into other countries. "Midnight Express" anyone? This decision is complete bullshit, and it just promotes the fact that money can buy you out of anything.

So Sports Illustrated for Kids gave the Nintendo Wii a November 6th release date. First of all, what does a crappy sports rag know about video games? Judging from past articles and reviews in the magazine, apparently not much...

We don't think that the November 6th release date is real at all, and we have our own reasons to believe this.

1.) Most of the Wii launch games are currently in system at Gamestop, EB Games and GameCrazy for an October 2nd ship date, which would make the release October 3rd.

2.) Games and game systems primarily launch on Tuesdays. October 3rd is a Tuesday. On the flip side of this, Nintendo did ship the DS Lite early and gave it a Sunday release date here in the states. However, the launch was unsuccessful in terms of numbers.

3.) Most of the release dates of the "big guns" from Microsoft have been shifted around to match the October 3rd date. Gears of War, Forza 2, and Viva Pinata are amoung the 7-10 games scheduled to hit the 360 that week. Most of these games were previously scheduled to match the PS3 launch. This is undoubtedly due to Peter Moore going ga-ga over the Wii. He says he doesn't fear the PS3 launch, but couldn't stop talking about Nintendo.

4.) Nintendo wouldn't want to risk a launch so dangerously close to Sony's. Granted, the PS3 launch looks incredibly weak, and the price point is well above what most people are going to pay. However, the early adopters that have to have anything and everything Sony no matter what it is, could really hurt Nintendo's launch financially. Nintendo says they aren't in competition with Sony and Microsoft, but we all know that's a load of shit.

Logistically launching a month ahead of Sony would be more prudent. The month head start would put the Wii in homes and get the word of mouth started. A month ahead of Sony wuld mean the Wii is on it's 3rd or 4th shipment, meaning there should be plenty of Wii's on shelves when there are no PS3's.

If Nintendo DOES launch a mere 12 days before Sony's behemoth, Microsoft could come out the winner. With no Wii's or PS3's on shelves, gamers might look at the 360 and it's awesome fall line-up, not to mention systems on the shelves ready to buy. That's our view. Stay tuned as we cover this story to see how it realy unfolds.

John Woo has left the production of the film adaptation of the popular video game Spy Hunter. Woo was set to direct the film, and had reportedly already shot a lot of footage. Woo decided for whatever reason to pull a Bryan Singer and go about other projects, abandoning his current one.

However, the current state of video game movies is very poor, so I can't say Woo made a bad decision. So is the film dead? Not at all. A new director is being chosen to finish Woo's work, and The Rock is still on the project. Hell, he had better be. He already lent his likeness and voice to the new Spy Hunter game. You can't have The Rock in the game and not the film. How awkward would that be?

Anyways, the studio promises a new director to be announced soon. Stay tuned as we cover this story!

Dallas Austin is a world famous music producer, having worked with the likes of TLC, Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Pink, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson...the list of names goes on and on. On May 19th, he was detained and arrested at the airport in Dubai for possession of a small amount of cocaine. He was on the way to Naomi Campbell's birthday party (who is also a rumored coke-head).

Well earlier today, Dallas plead guilty on all counts, stating "it was an accident". Now first of all, how the hell do you forget you have coke in your possession as you cross into Arab country? I mean for cripes sakes, the penalty for trafficking in the United Arab Emerates is death by beheading!

Well, fear not. Mr. Austin is not losing his head. When his sentance is passed down tomorrow, authorities expect a 2-3 year term in Arab prison. Check back with us tomorrow to find out his fate!