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San Andreas without fault

Whether you love ’em or hate ’em, and there are plenty of reasons to do both, there’s no stopping Rockstar Games epic Grand Theft Auto series.

Whether you love ’em or hate ’em, and there are plenty of reasons to do both, there’s no stopping Rockstar Games epic Grand Theft Auto series. The past four titles, the most recent being GTA: Vice City, have sold over 30 million copies since 1997. The latest edition, GTA V: San Andreas is expected to sell more than 25 million copies, including almost five million copies in the first week alone.

At about $50 US a pop (Future Shop and Best Buy are selling it for $70 Cdn), that’s about $1.5 billion in total sales, eclipsing the biggest movie box office grosses of all time. Titanic is going down for the second time.

Last week lineups were reported around the block at stores that were given advance copies to sell, and a handful of stores even opened after midnight to appease fans. Only the Star Wars franchise and Harry Potter books command that kind of following.

And yet, San Andreas just offers more of the same controversial gameplay that has sparked police organizations and parent groups to call for bans or at least "Adults Only" ratings for the games.

Once again the central goal of the game is to amass an illegal fortune, kill your enemies, steal cars, run away from the police, and generally create as much mayhem as possible.

But while the general concept is the same, there are several differences in this latest edition. For one, the artificial intelligence of your adversaries, including the police, has been bumped up considerably. There are no pauses when you’re heading to different areas of the map, and your character, CJ, changes over the course of the game. He gains endurance riding a BMX bike and goes to the gym to gain speed and bulk up, to restaurants to gain energy, and to clothing stores and hairdressers to change his appearance. Street fighting has evolved as well, so there’ll be no more punching the same button over and over again to take people down. Instead, you’ll train with different instructors, learning new moves and defenses.

You can also "pimp" your rides a little by customizing the paint and adding new components like shocks. In one of the missions, the goal is to bounce your car to the music by following on-screen directions – kind of like those dancing games.

For more information on Vice City: San Andreas, go to Rockstar Games Web site at www.rockstargames.com.

An interesting note: This November is a video game addicts fantasy, with Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Myst IV, Doom 3 and The Sims 2 in stores or on their way. More than $3 billion in sales are expected before Christmas.

Spammers under fire

Internet spammers are going to wish they kept their penis enlargening secrets to themselves, with Microsoft recently joining three of the biggest Internet Service Providers in the world, America Online, Earthlink and Yahoo, in a string of antispam lawsuits filed in different states.

So far 30 spammers have been targetted, 20 of whom were sending unsolicited porn pitches, with the ISPs making use of a new law, the CAN-SPAM act, which was introduced during the summer. The law set parameters for spammers, such as the type of content and claims that could be made. Spams also now have to include ways to opt out of future mailings, and detailed company information with addresses and phone numbers – no more anonymous solicitations are allowed.

More lawsuits are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Bill Gates calls for harmony

It seems every time that Bill Gates sneezes, tech-geeks around the world catch a cold. They hang on the Microsoft founder’s every word like it’s the gospel.

He’s been wrong before, but let’s face it – with an estimated worth of over $30 billion, depending on the stock’s value, he’s been right a helluva lot more times than he’s been wrong. Yeah, the whole .Net thing kind of sucked, Xbox is still last among the consoles, and Windows XP has more holes than a sea sponge, but it’s not like any of these miscues have really hurt Microsoft. Office sales are still going strong, the Windows XP service packs are selling well, and there is a strong demand for the Windows Service System and Windows Mobile services. That’s why when Gates speaks, people listen.

Gates’s favourite new topic of discussion these days is harmony – the convergence and built-in compatibility of home entertainment systems, computers and accessories.

In a way it’s already happening – computers are replacing stereos and televisions, next generation cell phones are replacing PDAs, and gadgets are being replaced by supergadgets that can do the work of five devices.

On Hollywood Reporter last week the Microsoft chairman talked up the concept of the Windows Media Center, which is the next step towards achieving true harmony. Entertainment companies are definitely intrigued by the concept, which will, among other things, allow people to choose the programs they want to watch and when, whether it’s movies or television programs.

In the near future computers will serve as converter boxes, downloading broadband content to your computer screens, which will more and more double as television screens. Media Center’s will also function as game consoles, allowing more interactive, multi-player games. Computers will also replace your stereo equipment with complete surround sound capability, and allow people to remotely manage their homes and appliances.

The one stumbling block to this plan is advertising, with the conventional model skating on thin ice. (Some systems, like TiVO, let you skip ads completely.) But Gates believes there are ways to work within the technology to ensure that advertisers continue to reach consumers, and that networks will continue to be able to profit from their shows.

Tech jobs disappear

At one point in the late ’90s I’m sure everyone was thinking about quitting their day jobs and getting into technology, with even the lowliest programmers and IT managers making above average salaries. The demand was also insatiable, with companies often employing teams of headhunters to rob one another of high-tech talent.

And now? Let’s just say that a lot of college diplomas and certificates are being burned to heat homes these days.

According to a study by the University of Illinois-Chicago, the high-tech job market has shrunk by 18.8 per cent in the U.S. since 2001, a loss of 403,300 jobs. Some of those jobs were outsourced to places like India and Indonesia, while others just disappeared. San Francisco alone lost more than half of its high tech jobs.