NEW : ONLINE GAMER 4

Skin Cancer
Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers among teenagers and young people.
As well as the social pressure of getting a tan, many of us still don’t know how serious the consequences of overexposure to strong sunlight are.

There are two types of skin cancer:
- malignant melanomas
which are the more serious types of skin cancer
- non-melanoma skin cancers
which are less serious and mainly affect older people.

Who's at risk
Anyone who spends long periods of time outside in the summer months can suffer from skin damage caused by UV rays but there are a few types of people that are in the high risk zone.

As a general rule, the fairer your skin, the more careful you should be in the sun. Even if you have naturally dark skin, you're still at risk if you don't take the necessary steps to protect yourself.

Sunburn
If your skin has gone red in the sun, it’s sunburnt.
A sunburn is a clear sign that ultraviolet (UV) radiation has damaged the genetic material in your skin cells - their DNA.
YES THE SUN IS DESTROYING YOUR DNA.
Damaged DNA can cause cells to start growing out of control.
This is what leads to skin cancer.
Your body's attempt to repair this damage is what causes the painful symptoms of a sunburn.

Why are sunburns red, hot or painful?
When UV radiation damages DNA, your body tries to repair the damage.
The blood vessels in the local area swell, allowing blood to rush into it.

Blood inside your body is also hot, which is why it feels like sunburns give off heat - actually, they are usually no hotter than your core body temperature which is kinda freaky.

Why do sunburns peel?
Sometimes, the sun damages skin cells so severely that they must be destroyed. Peeling after sunburn is your body's way of getting rid of these damaged cells.

How can I protect myself?
Don't let sunburn catch you out. When your risk of burning is high you can use shade, clothing and  SPF15+ sunscreen to protect your skin.
 

On particularly hot and sunny days,spend time in the shade
between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm when the sun is at its peak

Use a good factor 15+ sun-tan lotion that
protects you against UVA and UVB rays

Wear a hat and sunglasses
to protect your head and eyes

Keep a loose shirt with you
to cover up every now and then

Came across it while watching E3 videos at YouTube and it looks insane.
Chicago, June 2009. A 10.3 magnitude earthquake destroys the city and shatters your life as an ordinary citizen. As the rescue mysteriously fails to arrive, you are trapped in an environmental and social chaos that gets worse by the hour. Your only way out is to set up a massive refugee camp to hopefully attract rescue's attention. You will need to find resources and organize survivors to create your headquarters. In the midst of Chicago’s ruins, you’ll have to both preserve and sacrifice in order to survive during 7 days. Rescue, heal, protect, kill, ambush or steal. But first, try staying alive. It could happen to you, so ask yourself: what would you do? 2012

Release Date: TBA 2011
Also on: PC, PS3
ESRB: RP-T+

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/

The level, previewed in the paper and on its games blog, is called "WMD" and is set in Russia's Ural mountains in 1968.

Players begin by looking down on the action from an SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, directing a group of four black ops soldiers on the ground to guide them past a convoy of Russian troops. You won't be piloting the plane directly.

Then the action switches to the team on the ground as the four operatives infiltrate a Russian radar station. A scoped crossbow provides a stealthy sniping weapon, but by changing ammo on the fly - a new feature for the Call of Duty series - it's used to accurately place explosives.

Despite these touches, Treyarch's game isn't going to rewrite the series' rulebook. "The firefight that ensues is textbook Call of Duty," says USA Today, chaotic and intense, and cinematic moments include a dramatic rappelling scene and a cliff-hanging close.

Confirmation of four-player co-op comes in USA Today's interview with Treyarch head Mark Lamia. The article, ambiguously, describes this mode as "beyond the single-player story".

The game's story will encompass "at least two main characters in multiple covert international conflicts" over quite a long period of time during the Cold War. "We are not getting into the exact period of time, because it is part of our story that we are going to reveal later, but it does cover a longer period during this era," said Lamia.

Lamia revealed that it has done extensive research into the secret warfare of the period, consulting with a veteran of the innocuous-sounding Studies and Observations Group, a CIA-led black operations unit that fought in the Vietnam War. A former Soviet special forces soldier also contributed to the game. The modified crossbow, and its use to place explosives, is an example of a gameplay element that came directly from their accounts.

"Variety of gameplay. Variety of setting," are Treyarch's watchwords for Black Ops, Lamia said.

Source: eurogamer.net

The map pack is available with the VIP code which is included in every new copy of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Players that do not have a code can purchase one via the in-game store, PC players will get the content as a game update. VIP status is also available to those on consoles without a VIP code through Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network.

To access the map pack content on console with your VIP status, go into the in-game store of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and select the VIP Map Pack 2. The maps will get added to your available map list so you can get straight into the servers and play. PC players will automatically have these maps added to the map rotation by the server providers.

According to community manager Robert Bowling, writing on his blog, "We've decided to throw the Double XP switch early when the new maps hit."

As Bowling points out, today also sees the release of The Stimulus Package, the first batch of multiplayer DLC for Mod War 2. Launching first on Xbox Live, it features five new maps.

On top of all that IW is adding new maps to the Hardcore Headquarters Pro playlist on Live, "Allowing you now play all the Ranger maps in this gametype." Plus there is a title update which will tweak the One Man Army feature, improve matchmaking and "help improve the overall quality of multiplayer".

The Stimulus Package is priced at 1200 Microsoft Points (£10.20). A release date for the PS3 version has yet to be announced.

Released in the first week of the month, Bad Company 2 has now sold over 2.3m copies - according to EA's internal counter.

Players have amassed 81bn points during online multiplayer battles and unlocked 43m weapons and gadgets. Also, more than 6m YouTube videos of gameplay have been recorded and the BFBC2 Twitter account has 44,000 fans - the most of any EA game.

Just in the last 24 hours, over 2.9m hours of BFBC2 have been racked-up online. The most people together online at one time is recorded as 230,000.

Comparisons were always going to be made between Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Modern Warfare 2. To combat that, EA and DICE went on an aggressive PR campaign, flaunting dedicated PC servers, parodying viral videos and shouting about free map DLC.

Infinity Ward and Activision appear to have done nothing other than be responsible for the world's best-selling videogame.

Nevertheless, EA and DICE did deliver. "Modern Warfare is the obvious benchmark, and Bad Company 2 meets and even passes it with ease,"  Eurogamer said in their Battlefield: Bad Company 2 review, before awarding the game 9/10

Source: eurogamet.net

To have its own identity in Xcore and to become attractive to the kind of gamers that play Promod Live the team has its own tag and name.

The clan tag for this is 'Xcore. as opposed to [Xc] to differentiate between those who play for the competitive team and those who are a member of a community, obviously there can be both and it will be their choice which to wear.

The recruitment is NOT done by vote by all of us. The recruitment is done by F A C E

What does this change for Xcore clan members?

Right now, all of this might be slightly confusing but trust me when I say that i will not affect the Xcore CLAN or what we do here. The team is an option.
If you want to play matches/scrims/league games with 'Xcore just go talk to F A C E

Why oh why?

As I said before and the reason why F A C E became Division Leader of CoD in the first place is that he knows his way around in the CoD scene and in game. The idea comes from him and his brother okzokz.wuT. They are given the chance to pursue their dream to battle it out in game with other clans, fellow gamers or in a league.

ATTENTION

If you are confused or if you have a question about TEAM 'Xcore you can ask F A C E for info or for answers.
If you have ideas, are not happy, have complaints or want to do something within the Xcore CLAN, be it whatever as long as it's somewhat gaming related, you can talk to Flux.

Any reactions and shouts can be given on here so feel free to comment

• Improved Vehicle Armor: An up-armor package is mounted on all vehicle types, decreasing the effect of both explosive and penetrating warheads, significantly improving vehicle survivability.
• Supreme Vehicle Firepower: Additional weapon packages are mounted for the driver of all armored vehicles, greatly expanding the range of targets the vehicle can successfully engage and destroy.
• Vehicle Motion Sensor: Use this electronics warfare package to locate enemy units in direct proximity to the vehicle.
• Tracer Dart Pistol: This magnetic dart attaches to any vehicle surface, allowing squad members to track, lock on, and fire rockets onto moving targets even beyond line of sight.
• M1A1 Sub-machine Gun: Reliable but heavy this classic weapon is a powerful force in the hands of any Battlefield veteran.
• M1911 Pistol: Highly customized M1911 are favored for its dependability and the power of its large .45 caliber round.

Q. My Limited Edition key is missing, what should I do?

Contact Steam by sending a ticket. No one on the forums can fix a key issue, only those with access to administrate your account does.

UPDATE:  Restarting your Steam Client should have properly assigned a missing key. If this has not happened, follow through with a ticket.

Q. How do I redeem my promo code?

When logged in, go to Multiplayer, Redeem Code. You may need to put in the dashes for the code to work. Your unlocks will not show until you have been in at least one ranked multiplayer game.

Q. How do I monitor my FPS?
You may need to use a third party program such as FRAPS. There is no currently known method to monitor framerate natively.

Q. How do I deal with a BSOD (STOP ERROR) when trying to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2?

Normally STOP errors are an indication that there is a major fault with drivers. One of the most overlooked problems lies with audio drivers, especially for on-board chipsets. However, in order to be able to read your STOP error, you will need to make sure your machine doesn't restart automatically when it happens.

1. Start
2. Right-Click "My Computer"
3. Properties
4. Advanced
5. Startup and Recovery
6. Settings
7. Uncheck "automatically restart"

Once you get your BSOD again, look for a bit of text at the top. It will usually say something along the lines of IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (most common), and nearer the bottom you will see a file listed with a .dll extension. The error at the top will tell you whether it is something more serious than a driver problem, and the file will tell you which driver is causing the problem.

nv4_disp.dll is commonly associated with nVidia drivers.
ati3duag.dll among others with "ATI" in the name may be associated with ATI video drivers.

Reinstalling your drivers, or updating them to the newest revision may solve this problem. Make sure you uninstall old drivers first!

Q. When I try and start Battlefield: Bad Company 2, PBSVC_BC2.exe seems to get stuck?

This is a slowly building problem. At the moment the only suggestion is to cancel it, and try again. It may be a good idea to make sure Steam is running with admin priviledges, and consider giving the setup itself admin rights.

The setup exe can be found in ..\steam\steamapps\common\battlefield bad company 2\install\PunkBuster

Q. What are the ports I need to open to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2?

• 18390 TCP Outgoing
• 18395 TCP Outgoing
• 18395 UDP Outgoing
• 13505 TCP Outgoing
• 80 TCP Outgoing

Q. Punkbuster keeps kicking me from games with a "Disallowed Driver" error?

Disable Steam's in-game overlay. Go to Steam's option page (Either File, Settings on the "live" UI; or View, Settings on the "2010 Beta UI"), go to In-Game, and uncheck "Enable Steam Community In-Game".

If it continues after this it may be something outside of Steam. Generally a google search for the disallowed driver number can help identify what is causing problems.

Steam's Overlay, older versions of FRAPS, and other old versions of video capture tools can be blacklisted as a "Disallowed Driver" or program.

Q. Why do I keep getting kicked when trying to join a server?

Like all online games, the servers are swamped resulting in people being kicked randomly. There's not much you can do to improve your chances of staying online at the moment.

Q. Does Battlefield: Bad Company 2 support widescreen, how does the Field of View work?

The default setting for the field of view is rumored to be a bit small, but after the first patch, you should be able to manually edit your fov in your config (settings.ini) file (Check My Documents\BFBC2) by adding "fov=(#)", where (#) is the vertical field of view which changes horizontal fields of view.

See this to better calculate the FOV that you'd prefer. Keep in mind there MAY be some visual problems with non-standard fields of view.

A quick and dirty comparison:

Default (1920x1080; 85 degrees horizontal)
90 Degrees (1920x1080; 90 degrees horizontal)
110 Degrees (1920x1080; 110 degrees horizontal)

Q. How do I turn off Bloom?

To turn off Bloom, go to settings.ini in My Documents\BFBC2 and look for the line "Bloom=true", change that to "Bloom=false". Save it and restart your game.

You may need to configure your brightness and contrast in-game to compensate for the overall brightness of the maps.

Q. How do I force a specific DirectX version?

(Thanks, Kalms!)
To force a specific DirectX version, go to your settings.ini in My Documents\BFBC2. Look for "DxVersion=Auto" and change it to the setting you prefer based on the list below.

• DxVersion=auto
• DxVersion=11
• DxVersion=10
• DxVersion=9

If for some reason a higher version of DirectX fails, it will automatically try the next version. IE: If you set it for DxVersion=11, it will try version 11, then 10, and finally 9.

Q. What is this little white pixel in the bottom right hand corner?
Not so much a bug as it's just there. I'm not sure why it's there, but everyone has it, and it's not a problem with your monitor.

Q. My view keeps spinning, or is otherwise uncontrollable! What can I do to fix this?

First, double-check that any controller you won't be using isn't plugged in. Second, double-check that any throttles or other sliders, throttles, and axis-based inputs are "neutral". Joysticks are typically the biggest culprit of causing this issue.

Q. My weapons and unlocks seem to be lost?
At the moment, the account servers are a bit busy, typically resulting in unlocks not being given properly. Unlocks should be restored once the servers are stabilized.

Q. Who was the first banned by Punkbuster?
Supposedly a guy using the alias WadeTwilson. (Pbbans.com)

Primary: M24, QBY88, SV98, SVU, GOL, VSS, M95
Gadget 1: Sensor Ball
Gadget 2: C4, Mortar Strike
Perk 1: 4x Scope, 12x Scope, ACOG
Perk 2: Auto Spotter

Weapons

The recon specific weapons come in two categories: bolt-action and semi-auto.

The bold actions do very high damage, but force you to unscope to reload rather then doing it automatically. The semi-automatic rifles do less damage but have a much higher rate of fire and allow you to remain zoombed in while firing continuously.

The bolt actions are not one hit kills, but one hit will leave your opponent requiring only a single pistol shot to kill. The semi autos will take a number of shots to take down an enemy, and are not as useful at long range.

Tactics

A good load out if you want to take out enemies from a long range is a bolt-action rifle, pistol, double ammo, marksman bullets and mortar strikes.

From a distance, you can easily get points by spotting an enemy and hitting him. If a teammate finishes him off you will get points for the spot assist and the critical kill assist. Mortar strikes are quite nasty as they can take out a camp of enemies and tanks with ease.

Communicating (spotting) enemies to the rest of your team is an important role as from a distance you have a nice view on the battlefield.

Throw motion sensors around objectives you are defending before finding a nice cover spot.

The bullet drop makes it the recon class and the weapons realistic and slightly trickier to get the perfect shot so do not forget the bullet drop when you are aiming. You are able to adjust the bullet drop when you stay scoped after firing a bullet with a bolt-action rifle.

If you want to go recon, because that's what the class is, it's not sniper class, it's recon. If you go stealth pack a shotgun or a Thompson, pistol, C4, the sprint perk and ceramic plating. Flanking enemies works like a charm.

Primary: PKM, M249, QJY88, M60, XM8LMG, MG36, MG3
Gadget 1: Defibrillator
Gadget 2: Health Pack
Perk 1: ACOG, 4x Scope, Health Pack Speed Upgrade
Perk 2: Health Pack Range Upgrade, More Accurate Barrel

Weapons

The default weapon for the Medic is the LMG. The QJY88 is a great weapon to start with as it has 200 rounds instead of the standard 100 rounds on LMG's.

The best weapon in the pack is probably the M60. It has very little recoil and the bullet spread is minimal, only disadvantage is the somewhat weird iron sight.

Tactics

LMG's make you very effective at medium at long range, so you should be the first to engage targets at those distances and let your teammates concentrate one close combat. As a medic you are the back guard of the force, let your teammates go first and engage the enemy. You are there to revive, heal and assist them when needed.

The shock paddles is your most useful gadget of course. Do not run around like a crazy medic with your shock paddles out from the second you see the greenish arrow. Relax, assess the situation. You have about 7 seconds to get there and revive him.

Although I thought otherwise as you can see in one of my vids. The shock paddles are a one hit kill melee weapon. If an enemy comes up close give him the shock of his life and he'll drop down to the ground.

Something else is the range of the shock paddles, you do not have to stand exactly on top of someone to revive him. Once you get the feel of the shock paddles you'll see what I mean.

Primary: 9A91, SCAR-L, XM8C, AKS74U, UZI, PP2000, UMP45
Gadget 1: RPG-7, M2CG, M136, Anti-Tank Mines
Gadget 2: Repair Tool
Perk 1: ACOG, 4x Scope
Perk 2: Accurized Silencer

Weapons

The default primary weapons of the engineer class are the SMG's.
The AKS-74U is probably the best of the BFBC2 Engineer weapons.

The RPG-7 is supposed to do highter damage to tanks while the M2CG is supposed to do more collateral damage making it better against infantery.

Both launchers are capable of locking onto Tracer Darts. The M136 is comparable to the emplaced missile launchers. If you are not the rocket launcher type of trooper, you can choose to gear up with Anti Tank mines.

To me there's nothing more satisfying then laying a series of AT mines on a heavily used road and seeing tanks being blown into pieces.

Tactics

Your main job as engineers is keeping the tanks alive and/or destroying the enemy tanks. If you are in a tank with a teammate that's not an engineer, get him to drive so that you can jump out and do the repairs when needed.

Your drill is also a melee weapon but it is not very effective, it's funny but don't imagine that you can run around drilling your enemies to dead.

It's not because you place your AT mines in the middle of the road that they are going to blow up the tanks . If you want to save the day and be a 100% sure that a tank is blown into pieces, sneak up to the tank, place a few AT mines next to it, take cover and shoot them. Same thing you can do with the COM's.

Dante's Inferno is an action-adventure where players take a third-person control of Dante, the game's protagonist, and engage heavily in fast-paced combat, platforming and environment-based puzzles. In the game, Dante's primary weapon is a Death's Scythe that can be used in a series of combination attacks and finishing moves, and his secondary weapon is a Holy Cross that fires a volley of energy as a projectile attack. In addition, Dante can use numerous magic based attacks and abilities channeled from a mana pool to help in combat, many of which are obtained as the game progresses. Another form of combat available to the character is an ability to take control of a large scale demon capable of dealing devastating attacks after its rider has been killed, a tactic often times required to overcome a hazard or obstacle. A quick time event system is used when attempting to discharge the demon of its master and during boss fights, where players must press the highlighted button on screen in order to continue the chain of attacks, or be countered and wounded otherwise.

Many attack combinations and abilities can be unlocked and/or upgraded in exchange for souls, an in-game currency that is collected upon defeating enemies or locating soul fountains. Each of these purchasable skills fall into two categories; into Holy (represented by blue orbs) and Unholy (represented by red orbs) skill trees. At the beginning of the game, both skill trees are equal in power, but as Dante gains more Holy and Unholy experience in his fights more Holy and Unholy abilities become available for purchase. That experience is collected through the game's "Punish or Absolve" system, where enemies upon defeat are either be punished and dismembered by Death's Scythe or absolved and saved with the Holy Cross. Much experience can also be accumulated in punishing or absolving the damned souls of many famous figures in history that appear in Dante Aligheri's original The Divine Comedy — upon choosing their fates, players enter a mini game where the characters' "sins" move towards the center of the screen, pressing required action symbols once the sin in place. Players are rewarded with more souls and experience the more collected.

There is plenty of platforming in the combat including swinging between ropes, climbing walls, and the environment-based puzzle sequences can impair progress. In addition, there are numerous hidden passages where biblical relics can be found and equipped to improve a certain ability of Dante's. (read more here )

~Trailer~

~Walkthrough~

(watch the entire walkthrough here) 

I've only bought this game today, but I am really enjoying it.

The way the game is created, the monsters, the screwed up idea behind it. Exactly my kind of game. The game is a hack & slasher, with some christian flicks to it, and I'm not to big of a fan of that, but this game is just really epic.
The gameplay is good (can be a little off from time to time) but the good thing is, it's (kind of.. hehe) gorey, and as I said the monsters are really weird, in a f**ked up way.
I do think this game will bore me after 1 week of playing it, but for as far as it is now, I would give it a "9" it's a bit like prince of persia, but then in a sinister way, and way to overgorey. It has a reason it is 18+ in NL.

The one thing I really enjoy (call me weird) is killing the babies, don't get me wrong but it's so epic in that game . You can pick 'm up with your reaper sword (I always forget the name) and then "absolve" them so they become good or just "punish" them and let them die... again, ofcourse my first thought was punish them, and I just can not stop doing it, you just pick them up throw them in the air pick them up again and throw them on the ground, decapitate them, whatsoever.. as I said it's screwed up, but freaking awesome in my opinion. When I get my laptop back I'm sure as hell going to record some footage.