Now people who want to enjoy this DLC must either rent the game multiple times, or purchase it. Since local rental stores (esp. Blockbuster) are going out of business, Redbox and other kiosks are the only thing most people have access to, but Redbox has a tendency to cycle out old games quick, so I doubt RE:ORC will still be available for rental in ~3 weeks.

I'm beginning to think Capcom knew this game had "rental" status written all over it, so they planned DLC in advance. Knowing the DLC "Street Fighter x Tekken" controversy, it's not unrealistic to think they had this content made well in advance at the Capcom offices, but that's for another topic.

I'm personally going to wait until all the DLC comes out, then buy the game used for ~$20. I figure the DLC will total at least $10, so I need to buy this as cheap as possible.

The issue I have is that the ground pick-up priority seems to value weapon retrieval over player revival. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Well, I gave it a shot. For $1.90 w/ free s+h, I figred I may as well try it. I bought this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Virtual-5-1-surround-External-Sound-Card/dp/B000N35A0Y/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_img_b

The PS2 recognizes it's a USB device, so it lets me into Lifeline's main menu, but the microphone doesn't work whatsoever. I heard this device works with the PS3, so I was optimistic it would work on the PS2, but no dice. The USB device works on my PC, so there's nothing wrong with the USB adapter - the PS2 is the culprit.

Guess I have no choice but to buy an actual USB mic. Used runs me a minimum of $19 not counting s+h. Considering LifeLine is a PS2 game with questionable mic quality recognition to begin with, this seems ridiculous. Meanwhile, retail versions of the official SOCOM PS2 headset are as much as $32.49 used!

If anyone has alternatives, let me know.

I'm trying to play LifeLine, but my old SOCOM headset has died on me. Instead of buying a new mic, I thought I'd save money and go with a USB adapter, like one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-Adapter-C-Media-Chipset/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1329282268&sr=8-3

Problem is I don't know if these things work on the PS2, and there's a huge lack of interest in PS2 mic communication technology, so I have no clue who to turn to for assistance. Does anyone have any ideas if this hardware is compatible with the PS2?

I have an original phat DS. I don't want to bother purchasing a new DS, so to save money, I just want a new battery. The problem?... The DS Phat is apparently so obsolete that the majority of batteries are marked "Lite." Would a "Lite" battery work instead?

I opened up my DS Phat and it says the battery is a 3.7V 850mAh NTR-003.

I'm currently using an Intel Core 2 Q6600. I want a CPU upgrade, but I don't want to spend money on a new mobo. What's the best CPU for an LGA 775 that money can buy? I say that because I've got a feeling LGA 775 sucks by today's standards, so the CPU needs to be a lot more powerful than my Q6600 CPU for me to warrant purchasing it.

Or it could be all the CPU's for LGA 775's are bad by today's standards. I can't be sure.

k last post, as I don't mean to beat this topic like a dead horse, but I just wanted to give out a little advice to anyone referencing this topic in the future plagued with CPU temperature issues...

Today, I ran into an issue where my cpu was overheating again (78C!). I preceded to clean out the new thermal paste, reapply the same amount I did last time (plus a very tad extra), reseated the heatsink/fan, and yet it only reduced the temp to 58C. Knowing something was wrong, I flipped through my mobo's manual to figure out the precise policy to install the heatsink/fan for optimal effect. I reseated the whole thing by pushing down the pins in a diagonal fashion from one another (I was pushing two pins on one side before!), then the other two remaining pins diagonally, and there was definitely a much stronger popping sensation of the heatsink/fan onto the mobo. It was on a LOT more strongly now - more than I ever thought it could be.

Basically, somehow my heatsink/fan wasn't applied 100% correctly the last time I mentioned my cool temperatures, resulting in it somehow coming loose just microscopically enough to effect cpu temperatures dramatically. Having applied it correctly, I now idle at 36C (-5C cooler than even last time!).

So lessons learned:
1.) Yes, thermal paste is good, but it pales in comparison to...
2.) Make sure your heatsink/fan is on A+ tight! If it is not, then all the thermal compound or cooling in the world isn't going to matter. Those microscopic centimeters is insanely important for a cpu's cooling efficiency.

In theory, I dont know, I could probably get it even cooler maybe if I applied more thermal paste, but I didn't want to overdo it. When playing Starcraft II, I usually run at 52C, so I guess that's alright. There is no slowdown, which is telling me my Intel CPU seems fine with the temp, so I'm probably better off leaving it as is.

Heyaz, I just wanted to give an update after enduring an extra non-business day (labor day) without seeing my shipment. Now that its finally here, I looked at the old thermal paste on the fan and cpu and it was really bad. It was unevenly applied, and looked like a mess (no surprise, considering I never did anything with it for 3+ years).

After getting my compound and cleaner, I installed a new side fan, cleaned the heatsink, fan, and cpu, then reapplied the thermal paste (about the size of a pea, center on cpu), and I'm looking MUCH better now:
http://www.davidjscott.com/misc/cpuTempFixed.jpg

^ That's when I'm on idle, so roughly a -30C change! I stress tested a Call of Juarez benchmark demo and averaged 80 fps. My Starcraft 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 stuttering is also fixed. That's just unbelievable how effective thermal compound is.

Lately, I've been seeing huge framerate hits in Starcraft 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 (despite settings on both set very low). My system is more than capable. I think I've finally isolated the issue to my cpu overheating. According to SpeedFan, it gets to 72C on standby, and 80C on a full-load. Now oddly, these huge temperatures have only started happening recently. My CPU used to be in the ~50'ishC range. My theory is either one, that I installed a new Soundblaster Fata!ity soundcard (doubt it), and or two, I've literally never applied thermal paste to the cpu in over 3.5 years. I never knew about thermal paste until a few days ago!

So my questions:

1.) Would an overheating cpu cause a drop in framerates? Is this some kind of safety feature to protect the cpu?
2.) Considering I haven't used thermal paste on my cpu in 3.5 years, is this a likely culprit? It seems like the only plausible reason why I would have sudden temperature gains. How much temperature drops can I expect to see with thermal paste, in my situation? It needs to be a drop of 20C, minimum, in my opinion.

As a bonus, I'm installing another side 120mm side fan. I'll have one in front, two on the side, one in back, and, of course, one on the CPU.

My temperatures - Standby(the cpu is the only one effected, leading me again to believe it's the thermal paste):
http://www.davidjscott.com/misc/cpuTemp.jpg

My specs:
Windows 7 (x64) Professional
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 ~2.4ghz on Asus P5E Mobo
6gb DDR-2
ATI Radeon HD 5800
750W Cooler Master PSU