11/18/06

As a follow-up to Friday's PS3 launch and contest to win a new Falcon Mach V, our friends over at Engadget have posted complete coverage of the chaos that ensued when the unwashed masses where unleashed upon the unsuspecting gaming merchants at midnight November 17th to collect the short-in-supply "next-gen" gaming system. Check it out:

So, um, the PS3 is out today. Had you heard? That's right, that shiny box which has had been subjected to the harshest criticism, the loudest praise, and a shortage of epic proportions, has finally made it's way in -- and out -- of stores on this launch day to end all launch days. We got a pretty dang good idea of how ugly things were going to get last night, but who could've predicted 12:01AM would be greeted by such violence? We've got ourselves an actual shooting (none of this BB nonsense ), hospitalizations aplenty (due to the genius who lined up 300 people to make a run for the door in the pic above), an armed EB holdup that netted 5 PS3s for the thieves, pepper ball riot control and an escaped convict just to spice things up a bit. Plus, all these suckers missed last night's episode of The Office -- h ow dreadful! Jim and Pam fuhevah!

Read - CT man shot outside Wal-Mart, suspects still on the loose. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - Armed robbers steal 5 PS3s from Ohio EB Games store. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - Riot breaks out at Circuit City. [Thanks, John C.]
Read - Police use pepper balls to control crowd in Tyson, VA. [Thanks, Troutman]
Read - Escaped rapist apprehended in Best Buy PS3 line. [Thanks, MrMarvey]

Update: While not actually criminal, last night's award for cruel and unusual went to PC Gamer, who were on hand in SF to try to convince a card-carrying line-waiting PS3 fanboy to swear off Sony forever. In exchange for a $7,500 Falcon Northwest PC rig, dude had to sign a legally binding contract to not purchase or ever own a PS3, under pain of death paying back $7,500. Some guy named Neil, who'd been waiting for 40 hours, signed his life away - picture below.

11/16/06

Want to win a brand-spankin' new Falcon Mach V? Willing to give up the privilege of owning a Play Station 3 for that honor? Check out the crazy contest PC Gamer magazine is having:

PC GAMER MAGAZINE AND FALCON NORTHWEST CHALLENGE PLAYSTATION 3 HOPEFULS TO “GET OUT OF LINE!”

One Lucky Person Who Breaks Out Of Line And Swears Off Playstation 3 Forever Will Win Custom Gaming PC Worth $7,500!

WHO: PC Gamer magazine, Future US, Inc.’s market-leading magazine covering games made for the Microsoft Windows platform, and Falcon Northwest, the foremost builder of custom PCs for game players.

WHEN: TONIGHT—Thursday, November 16th 2006—TONIGHT!!! PC Gamer Will Be On The Scene at 6 pm!!!

WHERE: The Sony Metreon in San Francisco 101 4th St.

WHAT: In an attempt to prove that PC gaming is superior to console gaming, PC Gamer will be approaching the long line of people who have been camped out for DAYS at the Sony Metreon, in hopes of being the first to get their hands on the new PlayStation 3 console.

To try and sway one lucky person to break out of the line and swear off the Playstation 3 forever, PC Gamer will demo the latest in PC gaming technology with a $7,500 Falcon Northwest custom gaming PC. This “PC on steroids” was specifically designed to play the latest and greatest gaming titles. And with its 30” LCD monitor the Falcon can run games at DOUBLE the resolution of a Playstation 3 running on even the latest 1080p HDTV sets! Agree to get out of line and give up a hard-waited spot to buy a PS3 and get a chance to win the $7,500 Falcon PC – and a better gaming experience! To make sure the winner is serious about graduating from console gaming to PC gaming, they’ll be asked to sign a legally binding contract that they will NEVER buy a PlayStation 3! PC Gamer will be bringing along a notary public to witness the contract!

MEDIA CONTACT: ROB SMITH, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OF PC GAMER

10/09/06

Wow! There is a crazy review over at HardOCP of the newest iteration of the FragBox II from Falcon Northwest. Although the system ends up with a positive overall score of an "Editor's Choice Silver Award" I don't recall any reviewers having so many problems with a Falcon Northwest system in recent memory. Of course Falcon Northwest stood up to the challenge and fixed all of their issues, but it's just nutty how many problems this site has had with Falcon Northwest systems it has reviewed in the past, which they point out pretty clearly in the preamble to their most current review. Go here to check out the article (you'll need a good hour, it's a long one).

Also, in other news, there is a relatively new "Kelt's Take" (don't call it a Blog, he gets cranky when you do) Blog over at the official Falcon Northwest site. This time Kelt takes on the new Core 2 processors from Intel.

06/20/06

CNET.COM has posted a very cool review of an Athlon 64 FX-62 Mach V up on columnist Rich Brown's blog (?). Although the review is complimentary, unfortunately it is a for a screaming system that apparently you cannot purchase because the ASUS motherboard that is in the system is not available to the general public, and when it is will be in a different configuration. The system is amazing however, and the review is definitely worth the read if not for the amazing speed of the system, but also for the peek into the future of what is to come in the world of PC Gaming. Go here to check it out!

Also up today, FIRINGSQUAD.COM has posted an interesting if not somewhat tired (these same questions were posted on this site many times) interview with Falcon Northwest President Kelt Reeves. The interview was conducted by former Alienware flunky John "JCal" Callaham and has a few highlights interspersed between the ho hum questions, and I applaud Kelt for trying his best to liven up the exchange. Go here to check it out!

05/19/06

Falcon Northwest president Kelt Reeves has posted what he is calling "Kelt's Take" up on the official Falcon Northwest web site. The column, which will be done occasionally when Kelt feels like venting or singing the praises of a new technology, is well written and informative and definitely worth a read. Also, if you have any topics that you would like Kelt to tackle in the future, send them along to me and I will forward them on to Mr. Reeves for his consideration. Check out the latest column which looks at the emerging technology of XHD here .

04/22/06

Live in Texas? Planning a trip there? Well, if you do or are, you need to head on over to a little place called C-4 Gaming! Not only are they a really cool group of guys and gals who are dedicated to giving you the greatest gaming experience around, you know they have the best systems because they use only Falcon Northwest machines! Get all the info on 'em right here !

This page has been visited over 175,000 times since March 10, 1999. (Page launched on July 24, 1998)

"FALCON MACH V", "MACH V", "TALON", "EXOTIX", "FRAG BOX", FRAG BOOK", "ICON", "LaserWorks", "FALCON NORTHWEST COMPUTER SYSTEMS", and depictions thereof within are copyright (c) 2006 Falcon Northwest Computer Systems.
This page is best viewed at 1024 X 768 resolution.

Please keep in mind that this web site is independently maintained and supported. It is not edited by Falcon Northwest Computer Systems for content or language. The opinions expressed on this page are that of it's owner and webmaster only, and said opinions may not be shared by Falcon Northwest, it's affiliates or associates. Thank you. Have a nice day. Really. I mean it.