Recently Played

Fear did absolutely nothing for me. :sad: I don't know if I'll ever go back to playing it to finish it off. Combat to me just felt really flimsy... I hear raving about how powerful the weapons feel and sound but to me they all feel like pea shooters... there's all of one enemy in the game for the first I don't know how many levels, and the scare tactics are on par with an online flash trick - ooh, a frame of a scary face, aah!

Not to say I think it's a bad game, but coming from someone who has loved Monolith's past efforts, I don't think it holds up to what they did with NOLF.

Otherwise most of my time is spent on the 360, though I did just spend a big chunk of time the other day playing through about 30% of the first Jak. Finished all the bronze championships on project gotham overnight on christmas waiting for the baby to sleep (which of course didn't happen :razz: ), and just snagged Kong and Condemned yesterday. Kong on the 360 is really impressive; the updated content really makes the transition to the new system worthwhile - it's no gears of war or anything, but it had a great style to begin with and there are times at the start of a level where I forget I can start moving already. Game looks like an awesomely stylized painting sometimes. Definitely the most impressive cinematic-style game I've ever played. The first person chunks work surprisingly well for having no hud or crosshair, and the combat mechanic of highly limited bullets and scavenging spears and bones for melee weapons kicks ass. Using fire to progress or clear paths also is pretty fun. Achievement design was clearly a tack-on, unfortunately, but there's also some in-game stat recording that unlocks stuff and rumor is the game even has an alternate ending if you reach a certain point total.

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www.button-masher.net

Ive been playing lots of Quake 4 and eve online lately, quake 4 was awesome kunfusquirrel! good job!

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I need a new sig

Just got AoE III. Installing now. Will comment later.

I got the AoE III Collector's, it's a giant crate of goodies, and was only like $5 more than the regular game.

I also got Myst IV and URU as well as Burnout: Revenge and KotOR II for Xbox on boxing day.

AoE III

I haven't played much, but I like what I see. If you've liked the other games, then this is definitely worth picking up.

Fun stuff; when you hit a building with artillery, a huge chunk falls
off from where you hit. Not really useful, but fun nonetheless :smile:

The shipments are incredibly useful for starting off early and getting reinforcements.

Not so fun stuff; the menu at the bottom takes up WAY to much of the
screen. It's driving me nuts! They need to trim it down.

I am actually beginning to worry. I have bought:

Empire Earth 2, Played 1/2 of one game.
Doom 3, 1/2 finished.
HL2, and am 1/2 finished.
Civ 4, played one game for 10 minutes.
Quake 4, played about 1/4 way through.

I have absolutely no inclination to go back to any of them. Spent slightly over 200 bucks and finished nothing. These are not ripped versions from the net, but bought out of my own pocket versions.

The only game I have finished this year is Unreal 2.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Finish HL2, it's worth it. Sometimes it really gets boring (Like 1 week of that hoverboat) but get through it.

I pumped through hl2 pretty quick, but I really enjoyed it. I think valve did a great job, but then again, Orph never finished the first one either. :rolleyes:

I've been playing little bits of Call of Duty 2. Fantastic. It's like, the first one but souped up. I know if I had some better specs it'd look better, but it literally looks like the first one on my machine, except for smoke. I like the little additions, like using smoke to cover your ass. The team aspect is also a very nice addition. I hate it in games where YOU are the only one targeted by the enemy. It's really well made and I'm glad I got it for Christmas :smile:

I have/had a whole stack of games to get through a lot of stuff I've been playing is on GBA, just because out of the ten-odd games I own for it, I've beaten one.

Yoshi Topsy-Turvy: This game looks far more fun than it actually is. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool, but it just lacks the beautiful feel Yoshi's Island had on the SNES. I think the only reason why it bugs me is some of the character animations. It's still fun, I just need to play it some more. I think the gyroscope will have more presence later on in the game.

River City Ransom EX: Awesome. I love this remake. The only thing I find odd is that the fighting is less accurate than the original on the NES. But, other than that little nuance, which I will get used to, it's very enjoyable. I can't wait to link it up with a friend :smile:

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: This game is so much fun. At first it feels like a cheap 3rd party Mario game knockoff, just because of it's pecular look and feel. But, imagine the donkey kong game, Mario 2 (mario USA/Doki Doki), and pretty good puzzle aspect all had a baby together. The basis for the game is what I love the most: there's a brand new mario toy, the advertisements entice donkey kong to buy every last one. When he goes to the store to buy them they're all sold out, so he barrages the "Mario Toy Company" and steals them all. Mario catches him and is now chasing him to recollect all the stolen Mario toys.
The game has a level/world set up, like most mario games, each level consists of two or three stages, each one requires you to travel through a small area (usually the whole thing fits on the screen) gathering the presents there and figuring out how to get a key into the locked door to continue, on the final stage you collect the mario toy for that stage. This continues for about 6 levels, or so. At the end of each world there is a level that is very reminiscent of the lemmings or krusty's fun house, where you, as mario, guide the toy marios you've collected thus far through a stage to collect letters, which spell TOY, when you get them all in toy chess you move to the boss battle for the world, which is donkey kong. I've only gone through the first world so far, and it consists of throwing trash cans at donkey kong a certain number of times. Also, in this boss battle, the amount of Mario Toys you've collected is the amount of times you can get hit.
It's pretty cool, and has some of the abilities dawned in the 3d generations, such as hand stand, rope climbing, and triple jumping.

Metroid Zero Mission: I'd have to say this is just about the best game remake I've ever played. The only problem is, it's a little too easy (on Normal) It's just like the original game got SNES graphics and a complete overhaul. I love it. There are all the abilities you have in Fusion (minus the absorbing the Xs thing) that weren't in the original game. Even after completing the game you can start a new game and play the original nes version :smile: It's just great. I think that the two metroid games on GBA are just about my favorite gba games. I really wish they'd remake #2 and Super Metroid. (It'd make sense too, since Fusion is technically Metroid 4 and the newest story in the entire series.)

I'd suggest all these games, in fact I think the only one I'd suggest not buying is topsy-turvy, but I do think I should invest some more time in it before I make a final judgement.

I really want to get my hands on a nice black ds too ... with new super mario brothers on the way and mario and luigi 2 already out, I'd be very happy. Not to mention the remake for the first tales game.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Just a supposition here, no offense intended I promise

Crono, sometimes I read your replies and think "My f**king Gawd this kid has more time than God himself"

How the f**k does any productive individual find time enough to not only know all the cool s**t you do, but have time to play every f**king game ever released?

I do not usually doubt your replies, where I feel you have a valid point at least but to assume that you somehow have 30+ hours each day to do things is phenomenal to say the least.

Anyway, I just had to say that. I almost suspect that with your attitude on things, mostly negative TBH that you are a paraplegic or something. You must spend each day sitting in a wheel chair grumbly because others can still walk and taking out the frustration on your gameboy and stuff.

*just funning about the handicap my friend :biggrin: *

Seriously, I envy your ability to squeeze in time enough to know the whole world. :smile:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Huzzah! Orph is back!

Have you finished COD2 yet Crono? Tell me what you though of the entire
game when your done. I found it was better at the start and got a bit
sloppy near the end. Also let me know what you thought of the ending, I
almost cringed at it :smile: .

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

Just a supposition here, no offense intended I promise
Crono, sometimes I read your replies and think "My f**king Gawd this kid has more time than God himself"

How the f**k does any productive individual find time enough to not
only know all the cool s**t you do, but have time to play every f**king
game ever released?

I do not usually doubt your replies, where I feel you have a valid
point at least but to assume that you somehow have 30+ hours each day
to do things is phenomenal to say the least.

Anyway, I just had to say that. I almost suspect that with your
attitude on things, mostly negative TBH that you are a paraplegic or
something. You must spend each day sitting in a wheel chair grumbly
because others can still walk and taking out the frustration on your
gameboy and stuff.

*just funning about the handicap my friend :biggrin: *

Seriously, I envy your ability to squeeze in time enough to know the whole world. :smile:

I'd hazard a guess that being a lazy student bum, the concept of employment hasn't grasped Crono in it's evil fingers yet.

Just a guess :razz:

cough bloody students...

I only posted because I am genuinely in awe sometimes.

I also notice things. Years ago, when Snarkpit was new, I got into repeated ageism flamewars over certain comments of mine in relation to members being to youthful to be this or that. I now notice that being here so long that my companions are growing just enough to allow age to influence some of their replies.

Gwil, your post is one such an example. Years ago, if I had made that, or a similar comment I would have been branded an old person who thinks they know so much because they are OLD.

/me bows to time and its eventual enlightenment of our younger members. :smile:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Have you finished COD2 yet Crono? Tell me what you though of the entire
game when your done. I found it was better at the start and got a bit
sloppy near the end. Also let me know what you thought of the ending, I
almost cringed at it :smile: .

I'll just throw in my 2 cents. I thought at the end it did sort
of deteriorate. I thought it was best in the middle though.
The last Russian mission when you retake Stalingrad is amazing, and all
the brit missions except the tank one were also well done.

The american ones though... yeah. It got a bit demanding on my
computer during those huge beach storming missions... I had to turn my
grahics waaaay down.

I beat HL2 in two days, good enough game, just have the same 'ol complaints as everyone else (i.e. retarded squad that follows you everywhere and at very close distances).

Then I got San Andreas, it's also fun, lots of shooting people, taking their money/guns, and running back to my house. Haha, oh dear.

Mount & Blade is also an awesome game, friggin' medieval RTS/strategy/3rd person shooter. Kind of the game I always wanted whenever I played Civ, getting onto one of my horses and just whoopin' some enemy ass. Commanding 40-odd knights is also a blast. Lurv it!

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One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

Hugh: Take a look at the two Xbox games on this page...

http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/itemsearch.asp?itemname=kingdom+under+fire&extsearch=0&sourceid=Mozilla-search

They are both similar from what I can gather by your description. You
control one of various different characters from different factions in
a war, kit our your personal troop and create different types of
squads, and then go into battle and whoop some ass. Unlike Dynasty
Warriors, which does the ass whooping pretty well but has no strategy
whatsoever, in the Kingdom under Fire games you really do have think
out your approach to battles. Do you send in sappers to set traps
around an area then use scouts to lure the enemy into them? Do you use
fire arrows to box in an enemy then use magic casters to call down
meteor showers? Or do you just charge in there yourself and hack them
all down with some cool special moves? It's stylish and fun and can be
pretty challenging at times, and when you fail dismally a few times on
a mission only to then absolutely devour your enemy the next attempt
due to a rethink in your strategy it is very satisfying. Only problem
is that KuF:Crusaders crashed my s**tty Xbox all the damn time, which
puts me off getting the next one :sad:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Damn, wrote a huge post bashing games today and how they aren't evolving the genre. Going on about how Quake 4's mech part was like Mechwarrior 10 years ago, and how HL2 is just a frenzy of physics that removed the features that made HL1 good. Meh...

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

LOL, I like the fact you say games aren't evolving, then you say HL2
sucked because it tried something different to the original :razz:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Yargh, the Xbox ones look/sound like Mount & Blade, only with more strategy and better graphics. There's no sappers/magicians in M&B, just various forms of infantry/archers/knights/peasants/etc. So basically, you just ride in with your little army and kill guys, though I usually like to fight the bigger battles alongside a friendly war party since they have around 3X the troops I do, so they'll take more of the casualties.

The best part is running guys over with my horse, then shooting 'em in the head with my crossbow while they're on the ground... haha.

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One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

Well, first off I'm on vacation right now, I go back on the 9th. I don't get to play games period when I'm not on a break. If I am, then something will be done poorly ... like my final grade.

No, I don't have a job currently, but it's only because no one will hire me. Two reasons: I can't get workstudy and normal job people wont even look at my application/resume. Which is why I'm going to try to get some intern work through my school and do some independant stuff. I'm sick of this bulls**t.

COD2: I can't stop playing it. I blew through all the Russian, first three British, and the first American missions in a day. I don't know how you guys can say "the beginning, middle, or end" since the game is set up in a way you can choose what you play when. I mean, it starts with Russian, but when you beat the second mission, you can start the British, and when you beat the Russian campaign it opens America. However. I've LOVED every bit of the game I've played so far. I played the first American mission ... hard stuff. Guys everywhere. The only thing I don't like that they changed from the first one is that when you shoot someone in the EYE they should be dead. I mean, sometimes I've got a sniper rifle out and I shoot them in the cheek or something, and they go down, just to get back up a second later. That didn't happen in the first one. I'm not sure why. I think it has to do with the "health" idea they have going in the game. Perhaps it's because of the difficulty. Which is really the reason why I play games like MoH on easy, it's just more realistic. Shooting them in the face kills them. If you turn it up higher they don't even flinch and it's like wtf.

Anyway. I'd probably be done with the game now, but my computer keeps locking up from some retarded error. I know what the problem is, but I don't want to fix it (requires a repair install).

But, needless to say, I don't have 30 hours a day. Maybe I just blow through games faster? I mean, when I'm playing CoD2 sometimes, I'm doing like 2 missions in an hour or so. There's only what, 12 in the game or something.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

No, I don't have a job currently, but it's only because no one will hire me.

That's a bit redundant do'nt you think?

French Toast said:
<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<div class="quotetext">No, I don't have a job currently, but it's only because no one will hire me.

That's a bit redundant do'nt you think?
</div></div>

I have been in a predicament a few dozen times in my life where I could say the exact same thing Crono did. Its not a good feeling TBH. Things like "over qualified" come up often in my case.

Try having children to feed. It sucks to hear those words.

</div>

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Yes, they don't say it to me usually, in fact, half the time they simply don't respond. Very annoying. It's as if all the time I've been going to school is just meaningless UNTIL I get the little piece of paper that says, "Now this person is worth something to you". It's bulls**t.

It seems that most places want someone with no educational background (unless it's a REAL job and not some store or something like that), since there's less chance of you leaving and them having to refill the position.

The workstudy thing is what gets to me the most though. They told me your household can't make more than $12,000 a year for you to qualify. If that were the case NOONE would have work study. That's significantly less than working for minimum wage in this state, full time.

Annoying as hell.

I'm glad I'm not in that situation however. That would be ... very difficult. I commend you for keeping a family together under that type of situation. Most crumble under that pressure. A lot of whom blame their family for the life they have now, without realizing it really is their own fault. But, it's nice to hear there are people who can deal with family pressures.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

My f**king Gawd this kid has more time than God himself

Even though I am an atheist, I wonder sometimes whether Crono is God himself. I mean, how does someone know everything in every field and have time to help everyone at the SnarkPit?

Crono, even though the civilized world doesn't recognize your talent, your presence is much appreciated at the Pit. Whenever I run into a problem in life, I come to the Pit for solution.

Perhaps Crono can put that on his resume--physician assistant. No kidding, he helped me out of so many jams I've lost count.

And because you all know me, you know that I am not easily impressed.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I hope none of your patients visit this site Satch, because I'd be just
a bit worried that your taking professional advice from someone on an
online games forum who has no medical training what so ever. But then
again that might just be me :smile: .

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

I forgot to post this but, I bought my first console game over the New Years holiday.

I bought Doom 3 collectors edition for under $20.00 bucks.

/me has hopes of kindling some sort of an interest.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

ill have to pick it up for ps2 Orph..... :wink:

im definately interested... now if i could judt do something about that damn editor......**ducks

Doc B... :dodgy:

Oh, I forgot to mention that the console was Xbox.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

mm hmm....just a minor f**king detail there.....***runs

Doc B... :dodgy:

I've tried GUN. Thought it was a boring game. After watching the intro
I was thrilled. Looked promising, but the game itself wasn't even close
to as cool as the intro sequence. The mouse sense was too high even
after turning it down to minimum inside the game. The gameplay was just
so boring. If anyone thought the Quake IV had boring fighting (which I
didn't, btw), then don't even touch this game. One of the first
missions is to knock out buffalos with a horse. Is it just me, or does
it seem a bit strange when a horse starts kicking down buffalos with
it's front legs? The game looks about as good as GTA:SA. Played it for
a few hours. Wasn't fun.

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What the Snarkpitters listen to!

I have noticed one powerful difference between the Xbox and my PC. The PC is way more powerful.

The Doom 3 version is so stripped down that the HQ textures used in the PC version are missing completely. I am not sure if this is a good example considering how poorly Doom 3 ran on everyone computers but, if all console games are this stripped, how can you guys prefer them over PC gaming? Actually, my question should be, how can you hold them so dearly?

If every title you play on console were available for PC but not stripped (assume for a second that I am also including games not stripped as well), would you still prefer consoles? I realize thats a purely hypothetical question since we will never see every title in PC format but its still a fair question.

I still prefer PC over console. Sorry gents.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Well, first off, you're playing an alright game on an okay console. (A console is only as good as its games), so don't judge an XBox for the entire console world (which is still essentially a computer :razz: )

But, Doom 3 is a port to XBox, most other titles which appear on both Console and PC are ports TO PC. But, of course things are stripped down. The XBox doesn't even meet the system requirements for Doom 3 or HL2 (hardware wise). They had to cut stuff out so everything would run smoothly. This is mostly for things like textures. (little video memory in the machine).

In all actuality, most titles that are ported to PC, sadly, have features ripped out. Halo, is a good example, so is Freedom Fighters, I love that game and I hated playing it on console (pain in the ass), but the console version was the only version with MP. They didn't even do a lan MP for the PC version. (same thing with enter the matrix ... not that that's a great game or anything)

There are some titles that are developed equally, but, usually the PC is a port, because consoles is a larger market (as far as I know).

But, if there's a game that appears on consoles and PC, I usually get it for PC. I can always hook up a controller, so.

The only thing that's annoying, is I can't find a version of King Kong that's as high res as the 360 version. For some reason in the comercials they show the PS2 version, which looks terrible, the high res stuff looks really nice though.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

So essentially what you are saying Crono is, if they did create, not port a game for both that PC is better because of the rather larger sizes of PC's?

I mean, its not the machines fault, they porting seems to be the major contributor to the bad crossing over process.

At least, thats how I read your wording. So, in answer to my hypothetical question, you would prefer PC over console IF all the titles were exactly the same?

Anyone else have an opinion?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Wha? No. However, computer games of the same title tend to cost less. :wink: But, a lot of times they ARE stripped down. I hate hypothetical questions, because it doesn't prove anything, mainly because the situation you're describing won't happen.

It depends on the game. There are different types of controllers, it really depends on the game's style. I don't want to play platformers, generally, on a PC. And I don't want to play first person shooters, generally, on a console. (That may change with the revolution though :smile: )

Also, you can't generally say that PCs are "larger", consoles are SO effecient ... and dedicated. It'd be nice if games on PC didn't rely on an OS or wrapper interface with the hardware, then you could have some games boot instead of the main OS, you'd have no overhead from a bulky POS of running programs.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I'd be glad if Doom 3 or Quake 4 were stripped down for PCs, then I could play them.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I have noticed one powerful difference between the Xbox and my PC. The PC is way more powerful.
The Doom 3 version is so stripped down that the HQ textures used in the PC version are missing completely. I am not sure if this is a good example considering how poorly Doom 3 ran on everyone computers but, if all console games are this stripped, how can you guys prefer them over PC gaming? Actually, my question should be, how can you hold them so dearly?

Well, Orph, compare a game that came late in the system's life span and that's just going to happen. The xbox came out about 5 years ago. The computer I had 5 years ago was an Athlon 800, which the Xbox would have at its 700mHz core at least slightly outperformed. There's probably more memory in one small scene in Doom3 even in the xbox version than the PS2 can handle in an entire level :wink: Now imagine if I tried to run the PC version of doom3 on that system!

PCs will always outpace console hardware by the end of their life cycle. That's what hardware upgrades offer, but the console is still the far better monetary investment in the long run - I've spent less money on my Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox 360 combined than I have on any one of my new PCs over those last 5 years, and while I would have paid more had I picked up this last generation of consoles at launch, the same would still be true.

If every title you play on console were available for PC but not stripped (assume for a second that I am also including games not stripped as well), would you still prefer consoles? I realize thats a purely hypothetical question since we will never see every title in PC format but its still a fair question.
I still prefer PC over console. Sorry gents.

Really, the only games getting stripped are the high profile shooters - doom3 and half-life 2, pretty much, that came late in the life cycle. In the case of some multiplatform titles, the opposite will now be true at the start of this console generation: Kong is visually beefed up on the 360 well beyond the graphical level in any of the other platforms, PC included. Bethesda has stated that Oblivion on the 360 will be equal to a top-tier PC, with most PCs actually stuck with lower quality settings.

Plus, the progress that you see during a console generation, while not as heavy-handed as the technology progression on the PC side, focuses on better use of what's there rather than just requiring more. Games like Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus, Riddick, etc. take what should have been an impossible goal for the hardware they're designed for, and deliver on the same system you've been using for the last 4-5 years. That's the sort of progress that is certainly exciting about this generation of hardware, too, and something that's very tantalizing now that I'm getting a taste in console development :smile:

Anyway, even though there's been some great PC games recently, I find myself more and more preferring the console platforms (especially with the fan-freakin-tastic implementation of the new Xbox Live and whatnot with the 360) for the overall experience I can have playing the game... just need to finally get a new TV to seal that deal :smile:

No matter which I prefer, though, there are absolutely fantastic games on either 'side' and it's too bad that the hardware and the room in which you play the game has more bearing on what of these games people experience vs. the content within (exagerrated even more so in the xbox/ps2/gc fanboy debates :razz: )

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www.button-masher.net

Just got Gun, and just finished installing. GOnna see if it's any good.

Well in the end Andrew it boils down to one unavoidable thing. Money.

I have a limited budget and I am already stupid enough to waste a portion on games I can ill afford so expanding to consoles in my case would be ill advised.

I really do not want to like them so I probably never will simply because I can barely afford my current favorites. My son however likes PC better so he can benefit from my taste in gaming but is much more open minded and owns all our current console titles, which I might add is numbered in the dozens. He has about 6 machines ranging from the old Nintendo to Xbox. Dreamcast and gamecube are in there too if I recall my spending budget clearly.

Anyway, I only have 24 hours each day and spend 27 of those doing things. I really must find a way to restrict myself to 24.

I do not doubt anyone here but I have to live by my own wallet. I trust my son. He says consoles are great. They are therefore great.

/end of story. :smile:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Okay. Gun sucks. The graphics and animation are sub-par and
the gameplay feels like Castle Wolfenstein (the first one)

Well, Orph, that's certainly my achilles heel too - my spending on games is absolutely ridiculous. :smile: (and :sad: at the same time, heh). When it comes down to it, I just love games... and happen to buy them at a rate I can't possibly play them :razz:

I do what I can to hit up the value titles (and hit all the consoles after major price drops, save the 360), but it still eats away, especially with the new price point for the 360 games (which I'll rant about later, I'm sure)... Thankfully my wife is supportive and enjoys many of the games, too... otherwise I'd be done for!

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www.button-masher.net

I think most everyone buys games at a rate they can't play them.
I remember buying the RE games on GCN pretty much all at the same time. Not a wise move. (Especially because I found them cheaper and brand new at Fry's!)

I beat Call of Duty 2 yesterday. I really loved the game, honestly. I would agree that the ending is rather anti-climatic, however, I know that they were going for a "Choose your path" mixed with chronological order type deal. Honestly, all you had to complete first was the Russian missions. You could complete all those, do the American missions THEN the British missions, in that case, taking Caen (if that was the last mission) would have been the climax of the game. And that was actually much harder than the final American mission. But, I enjoyed it.

There's some beefs I have with the game in general. I just wish there was more interactivity. You can't interact with anything except weapons. They had the bottles at the beginning, which can be destroyed, but that's really nowhere else. I think FEAR and HL2 has spoiled me. The one thing I really liked was the size of the environments.

So, after I finished that, I installed Black and White 2 (finally). I'd been avoiding it, since I couldn't get it to work without a cd ... even with an imagine :\. So, I just bit the bullet and used the CD to play. It's a really cool game, I LOVE the changes they made. For instance, the game is pretty much, an RTS now. (more so, than the first) Your creature actually listens. And, as it encounters new things you can teach it more. It's nice now, that you can see its thoughts, so you can stop it before it does something. There's also more modes for the creature: free will, gatherer, builder, and soldier.
It's not quite like what they showed in the videos. I mean, on my machine throwing doesn't even work the way the tutorial says it does :S You'll have to do a lot of customization with the controls until they're comfortable, at the start everything is controlled with the mouse and it's very awkward.

I really like the game though. I'd recommend it definitely. Especially if you're looking for something that will not only be fun, but take awhile to beat. (I've spent about three or four hours on the game and I just unlocked island 4 out of 8) I suppose it feels longer because of what you're doing.
Sometimes though, people are just stupid, I think that was done on purpose though, to temp you to decimate cities.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

happen to buy them at a rate I can't possibly play them

My wife buys me a lot of the games I play. I actually had to ask her to slow down because I just can't keep up playing them. Because she buys them for me as gifts, I feel obligated to play them.

I am working quite a bit nowadays, so I am really stretched thin for time.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

The main problem with the CoD series is that they went for the big ending with the first game. Those of you whove played the game will know what I'm talking about, and why they cant really outdo it. It's one of the best game endings I've seen (in fact I'd only put the endings of HL and HL2 above it, for the feeling they give you after completing the game).

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Thanks for the spoiler there bud.

Sorry for telling you how the second world war ended, but I'll edit my post.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I know how it ended, but not the game, it could have ended in a myriad of ways or locations.

WW2 ended on the deck of the battleship Missouri. I doubt seriously that is how any game you will play ends so, knowing in advance that a game ends differently hardly steals any of its value.

But then again, who am I to talk? I have a dozen unfinished games laying around.

cries

Stupid eyeballs.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Perhaps that's a reason why you haven't finished them.

You're seeing the spoiler the wrong way. The whole point is I want the build up of the final moment, already knowing what it is and where it is etc. just leaves me wondering why bother. There's also ways to say how it end without saying it you know?

Don't play the unfinished games argument with me, my collection spans 200+ games over 14/15 consoles and PC, and that's only considering the full purchased ones. :smile:

Well, you're right. It can be said without exposing the end. I am not one however to abstain from finishing because I know the end. My son ruins the end of every game I own so I got over that ages ago.

No seriously, my eyes ruin the game these days. Mear minutes and I am done playing. I am going to buy a flatscreen soon and see if that doesn't solve my problem. Crono seems convinced that its the refresh rate but I am not sure because its not just a monitor issue. I can get the same reaction doing common things as well. It has got to be something to do with my eyes themselves.

Perhaps its new glasses time again. been almost 2 years.

and, I have a few hundred games too but, only a portion can I claim to be mine. More likely than not I bought the rest but for the kids. (not counting the borrowed titles of course)

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The best things in life, aren't things.

What common things cause problems? I remember you talking about this before, you seemed to think it was your eyes working too hard to focus. If it is that, glasses might help, or playing further from the monitor (you could plug the computer into a TV and play it like a console if that helps).

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I just bought Oni from the bargain bin in the local game-market (:P)
and I must say, although level design looks quite simplistic, it plays
away nicely. It's an anime-styled action game that evolves mostly
around ranged/close combat.

It has a fun combat system that actually makes me take it up close
rather than depending on my firearms too much. It does have some
interesting weapons though, like the Van Graf gun that stuns enemies
(so you can beat em up good) or the Screamer that launches a pack of
aiming micromissiles (that only lock on if the target is not at
close-range). As for the close combat, you learn combo's as you go
(your enemies got some of their own too).

The gameplay depends mostly on this combat and some timed puzzles, for
the rest it's opening some doors through consoles and saving other
characters that will give you some items.

So, yeah, fun game, once you can get it to run. It crashed initially
and since there are no official patches for it, I had to look around
for a while. I found an unofficial one that didn't work with my version
of the game but luckily, after even more time looking, I found a
patched game exe. Yay! :smile:

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Create-ivity - a game development blog