Software I Recommend

Auslogics BoostSpeed is a great suite of programs designed to speed up your Windows-based computer.  It can optimize so many aspects of your computer's performance that once you use it, you'll be pissed off whenever you use someone else's inefficient piece of crap.  With something this good, there has to be a drawback.  Right?  Well there is: you have to pay money for it.

*GASP*

Here's some good news for you all!  You can get just about the same increase in speed and performance, all for free!  The only drawback to this is that you must scour the internet for all the programs that emulate what this amazing suite can do.  Or you can just read on and get them all here.  Whichever works.


Disk Space Fan

This is definitely one of the prettier programs out there.  It shows you all of the files that are taking up space on your computer.  Running out of hard drive space and you don't know why?  Fire this up and track down all that porn....err....important work documents that are taking up so much space.  It displays all your data in an easy-to-use and intuitive manner.  Give this program a shot.

CCleaner

This great program does 3 tasks in one!  It tidies up your registry, checking for errors and fixing them where needed.  It also keeps track of what online activity you have and "cleans" that appropriately.  Lastly, it also keeps tabs on your installed programs, giving a much cleaner management interface than the default one provided by Windows.  Definitely worth a look.


TCP Optimizer

This is a great program for novices and experts alike.  It optimizes the way your computer handles TCP packets from your internet connection.  This kind of modification vastly increases your connection performance on many levels.  It also has a tonne of different options that you can tweak if you're brave enough, customizing your connection to your needs.  There's a nifty video on the website if you want to check it out.

Auslogics Boostspeed offers many more features, but these are the ones I felt were most important.  Have any experience with these?  Comment and let me know what you think.

Games I Should Really Finish

As an avid PC gamer, Steam and I are like this!  (Imagine me crossing my index and middle fingers)  It gives you so much freedom with your games, has built-in chat, and saves all your game settings across multiple computers.  Aside from being a great game platform, it is also a distribution system for many developers.  That means that they always have sweet, sweet deals.  Whenever I see something like Braid for only $2.50, I must have it.  That being said, I now have so many games that I really need to play.  So many in fact, that it almost seems like a chore.  I found that I need to carefully plan out which games I must finish, and in which order.  So here is my list, in order of priority, of the games I must finish.

Magicka
This is such a unique and fun game.  The game mechanics introduced in this game are ideal for playing with a bunch of friends.  You play as a nameless wizard who must dungeon crawl and use a unique set of abilites in a variety of combinations.  It's fun, it's addicting, but it also suffered from a large amount of bugs on launch.  This made it very frustrating to play, so I haven't touched it in months.  Hopefully with the new DLC releases, some of these issues have been fixed.

Super Meat Boy
What a premise: a boy made of meat must rescue his girlfriend who is made of bandages from the evil Dr. Fetus.  This ridiculous setting is backed up by some of the most intense platforming I've ever experienced.  Full of a shit-ton of short-and-sweet levels, a variety of characters, and a level-editor; this game has a ton of replayability.  I started this game enthusiastically, but then I had Christmas break and I wasn't able to play.  Once my break was over, the fervour I once had was gone.  But with summer coming soon and plenty of batteries for my gamepad, this is a top priority of mine.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series
I've heard incredible things about these games.  I've seen many screenshots and videos of this game and they look gorgeous.  So why haven't I played these games yet?  The incredibly immersive environments and unique gameplay features make it a great game experience, but I hear that it also takes a while to beat.  Add to the fact that I have Shadows of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat, and we have a very daunting task ahead of me.

Company of Heroes
$2.50!!!  That's how much I got this for, how could I resist?  I'm not a huge fan of RTS games, but I have heard great things about both the gameplay and storyline.  Plus it's set in WWII; what was once a fad in the early 2000's is now a rarity in today's games full of modern warfare.  (See what I did there?)  Now to train myself to handle so many actions at once, I hope my feeble mind can take it.

Games that I should finish but probably won't:
Machinarium - Got it in the Humble Indie Bundle, haven't touched it.
Overlord - Same deal.
Deus Ex - People are totally going to flame me, but I just can't bring myself to play it.  I know it's supposed to be amazing, but I just....meh.

So what's the verdict?  Are any of these games worth my time?  Please let me know, I should probably do more productive things with my time than playing a ton of video games.  Oh who am I kidding?