Recently Played

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

Well, I have a fantastic idea, Jon. Ask someone. Like an eye doctor and your medical doctor, explain what happens and ask them to elucidate the reasoning being your body's reaction. You also have to remember that most games also have seizure warnings ... so it could be the game's use of brightness. You could, for all I know, have mild epilepsy.

And the reason why I'm telling you to look at the refresh rate is besides any epileptic elements, un-synced wavelengths cause "motion sickness" in many people.

It's not like what is happening to you is new or anything :razz:

Also, I'd say the co-pay to talk to your doctor would be well worth being able to play the $1,000 you've spent on games and ... Internet access to obtain ... stuff.

Anyway:

I was at Target today and I stopped by the game area, there was a couple demos out (I miss the days where every new game got a demo play) I went over to the gamecube (only demo open besides a 360, which only had King Kong ... which oddly enough is a pain in the ass as far as I can tell. Not telling people what buttons do what is annoying.) In the demo disc that was playing they had Super Mario Strikers. Now, when I first saw this game I thought it looked terrible, a Mario soccer game ... whatever. This seems to be happening a lot lately, but I was thoroughly surprised, the game is incredibly fun. I can see it easily becoming a group game favorite. I plan on buying it when it goes down (I just can't bring myself to pay $50 for games anymore)

I'd strongly recommend renting it or something like that. The best part is, it's intuitive as hell. There's about three actions which change sets based on if your team has the ball or not.

Pretty much ... If I had to sum it up, I'd say Mario Kart:Racing::Mario Strikers:Soccer, if that gives you a clear idea of what it's like (yes, you even get items to launch at the other team)

Speaking of Mario Kart, I've hear nothing but good things about the DS version, how is it?

Oh yeah, Oni blows. There's three games that have been suggested to me in the last two years which after the fact, I was pissed at the person whom suggested them the games were: Oni, Gothic, and Gothic 2. All are s**t. They all suffer from pretty much the same problem too, terrible controls. It's not that the control scheme is hard, the games just handle worse than NES Metroid. (In Gothic, I was killed ... by a rat ... because I got stuck on a rock ... the size of my foot ... ...)

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I talked to the doctor a couple years ago. Remember, I am a bit older than most here so some of my problem is age related. It seems that since I drive so much, my eyes are used to almost constantly looking far away. Most drivers don't do this as much as I but I actually went to school to learn "How" to drive properly. I have Class A CDL's and as such tend to look as far in advance as is possible during driving.

I drive on average 16+ hours each trip. I drive on average 900-1,000 miles each day during each trip. As such, my eyes are accustomed to literally looking at the horizon a lot.

Now, at home my monitor is less than 18" from my face. I am not positive that that is the exact reason but it could be.

Common things that cause issues are the need to rapidly focus from close to far are killer nausea inducing stuff. Looking at this keyboard for instance, (yes, I am a looker, I cannot type without seeking the keys. Admittedly I am very fast at it, but I cannot do it without looking down) causes me serious issues with my eyes and as such, I will have to go away soon after posting this long reply.

But, anything that causes me to look near and not so near rapidly will cause me serious issues.

Worse, if its snowing when I drive I must pull over till the storm abates. The constant flakes coming at the wind shield will have me blowing chunks within half an hour.

Anyway, I already wear glasses for driving purposes. Up until my last eye exam I did not require them for anything else as my eye sight is still 20/20 otherwise. My glasses are simple clarifier's. There is almost no magnification noticeable within them.

/ rambling.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Sounds to me like getting an LCD or changing refresh rate wont help you... maybe glasses with magnification would.

---

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

• My yr11 Economics teacher

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting wil5on</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Sounds to me like getting an LCD or changing refresh rate wont help you... maybe glasses with magnification would.</DIV></DIV>

Perhaps you are right. Changing resolution hasn't helped so far. I am just postponing the doctor visit until I need to go for financial reasons. Playing a video game isn't a priority ATM. The glasses I have on right now are over 300 bucks, not counting the exam.

I do not cut corners on my glasses. I get the works but, right now the bucks just aren't there.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

While I don't know how to solve your motion sickness problems when it
comes to gaming, perhaps it would be worth learning how to type without
looking? It probably wont need a huge time investment (and there
are tons of free learn-to-type programs floating around out there ...
as well as games) and the reward would probably be worth it (judging
from what you've written).

My third grade teacher forced us to learn how to type without looking,
and it's one of the best things that I've learned in school, no
joke. I probably type around 50-60 words per minute normally, but
I can get up to around 90-110 when trying hard in typing programs (and
games like typershark: http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=typershark ). I mean -- I'd never be able to write
papers as fast as I do now without the typing skill.

I just did typershark on expert and got 105 wpm and 96% accuracy.

/brag

Without sounding ungrateful, which I am not. Have you any idea how hard it is to instill new knowledge into an older person. I have prolly 3 typing tutors and all failed me. Now, it could be my stubbornness, and my current level of typing is pretty snappy considering my handicaps.

Still, I will check out your link.

and, thanx a lot.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Well -- I know the adage about teaching old dogs new tricks, and my dad
is a perfect example of it... but I wasn't sure if you had tried
learning touch typing before.

And typershark isn't really a teaching tool, its just something fun to practice with.

Addicted to Morphine said:
Well -- I know the adage about teaching old dogs new tricks, and my dad is a perfect example of it...

As difficult as it is for me to say this, its basically true.

Learning, and retaining is not as easy as when I was 20ish. I am not stupid but somehow things penetrate slower. I asked once, it seems that the older one gets, the ability to NOT think about other things increases. I mean, my mind is on my next run,bills,debt,car wash,oilchange..... the list goes on and on and I am also, typing in response to you.

sighs

be glad you can still learn with some sense of ease.

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

damn ghost recon 2.....grrr.....it sux0rz so badly that its addicting.....

"just put my dinner by the door dear...." :heee:

Doc B... :dodgy:

damn ghost recon 2.....grrr.....it sux0rz so badly that its addicting.....
"just put my dinner by the door dear...." :heee:
Doc B... :dodgy:

I refuse to play that one a console, and since there is no version for computer, I'm waiting for 3 ... which isn't that long of a wait, it comes out in a few months ... and it looks badass.

http://www.ghostrecon.com/uk/ghostrecon3/seemore_pc.php

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

yeah, it blows on ps2....the boys just seem to drag ass when they need to be haulin it....lol etc etc....controls arent condusive to fast play either, let alone the AI......

..............and somehow, i still end up late to bed at night..... :heee:

Doc B... :razz:

can't wait for number 3. Looks beautiful, but I foresee some hardware upgrades before I'll be playing it :smile:

We Heart Katamari is taking up my time nowadays. I love the style and the gameplay.

Just got my new laptop allowing me to play Thief finally, though i've
never played a game quite like this i am finding it to my liking

it is very realistic and at this point i highly recomend it

If you like Thief, you'll like Thief II much better.

Enjoy them.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

is 2 better than the 3rd because thats what i was refering to, sorry not to be specific

Picked up some cheapy games in the sales recently, though haven't actually played them all yet.

I had to buy the Sims 2 as my uni honours project is quite closely
related to what those games are all about, and while there is certainly
some novelty to the game and definately a challenge (looking after a
family of 4 complete bloody idiots is a near impossible task from my
limited experience with it), it just isn't my cup of tea. Doubt I'll be
playing much more of it - I've given it a shot and noted what it does
well and what it doesn't, so it will probably reside in my collection
of underused titles.

While ordering the Sims 2 I saw Unreal Championship 2 for a decent
price so decided to pick it up. I'd played a demo of it a while ago and
enjoyed it's twist on the familiar Unreal Tournament style gameplay, so
I knew what to expect. That said, I wasn't quite ready for something so
challenging. I'm playing on adept - a slightly above middle difficulty
level and one I have no problems with in the UT games normally - yet it
took me about 3 goes to get past the tutorial level, and every level
since has taken more than one shot. I'm not very far in, as I've got a
few too many games to play at the moment and not enough time, but I'm
glad I bagged it for the price I did. If you haven't heard of it, just
think of a console friendly UT complete with third person camera, added
emphasis on acrobatic movement, simplified weapon system (not
simplified weapons however), special moves, melee weapons, and a proper story.
Probably not for the UT purist, but I think it's a nice reimagining of
the series.

Yesterday I snagged a few more games - Timesplitters: Future Perfect
for under ?5, Psi-Ops for ?3, and Silent Hill 2 for ?12. The first two
were mostly just "why not?" purchases though as a fan of Timesplitters
2, I'd always meant to give Future Perfect a try. Silent Hill 2 I've heard is the
best of the series and having enjoyed both the first and fourth in it,
I decided it was about time I picked it up.

As of yet the only one I've actually played of these three is Psi-Ops, which I
had played a short demo of before but not really been excited about.
Playing it now however has proven it a very worthwhile purchase. Though
physics objects aren't anything new these days, Psi-Ops was one of the
earlier games to really focus on it, with impressive ragdoll physics
shown off thanks to the lovely and over the top psychic powers.
Telekinesis is at first a bit awkward but quickly becomes a joy to
control, letting you pick up crates and run around using them as cover,
fling an enemy into another to trip them up, or just hold them up in
the air while you fill them with bullets. Unlike HL2 where hitting an
enemy with an object instantly kills them, in Psi-Ops enemies quite
happily pick themselves back up off the floor once you've smacked them
against a wall a few times or knocked them off their feet with a flying
barrel. The AI is pretty daft, graphics fairly run of the mill, and the
storyline and character design nothing to write home about, but the
action is fast paced and the various powers and odd environmental
feature lend to a very fun experience with plenty of "Oh man!" and
laugh-out-loud moments. Had I paid full price for it I'd have been
relatively underwhelmed, but for ?3 I'm ecstatic :biggrin:

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

I think you'll find that as with TS2, the best parts of TS3 are the arcade mode and the challenges.

The story mode is fairly weak, and even though co-op is always a
plus... the levels aren't quite as memorable as Siberia or Atom Smasher.

I just ordered Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga ... for free. Go American Express points. Next is Mario Kart: Double Dash, Star Fox Assault, then Super Mario Strikers. Just games I'd like to have, but don't want to pay an arm and a leg for.

I also picked up a mint copy of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for $15 (didn't feel too bad about the price since it's $50 everywhere ... and hard to find), I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I'm excited. I'm really looking forward to Twlight Princess, I might just take a run through the other GCN versions before I play it (If I could get my hands on the "collection")

Also, I'm trying like hell to find a copy of Silent Hill 4 ... no one carries it now, which is odd since it came out last year :sad:

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Some games do just seem to disappear don't they :sad:

Been playing a bit of Timesplitters: Future Perfect today. It's much
the same as Timesplitters 2 to be honest, which I had expected, but
throws in more of everything really. Seems to be loads of unlockables
and a nice variety of things to do in challenge mode and arcade mode,
but I've not been hugely impressed by the story mode. For some reason
it feels less polished than the second game, but maybe my expectations
have been risen or something. My mates were never big fans of
Timesplitters 2 multiplayer (with the exception of the crazy "virus"
mode) so I'll probably only play this one myself unfortunately.

Tonight I'm gonna tuck in to some Silent Hill 2 action me thinks :smile:

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

SH4 is not a good game. The storyline doesn't really get fleshed out anywhere, they basically artificially double the length of the game by making you run through the game twice, only the second time you have a gimpy chick who almost always gets murdered with you, they limit the number of things you can carry in a cheap attempt to make you "think" and add depth to the puzzles. The constant backtracking to your appartment is just a pain- eventually even THAT becomes haunted and you can get hurt just by being there (oh, yeah, the only place to save is in your hovel).

Grah.

The soundtrack is probably the best one so far though. Very well done.

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Shameless plug.

I didn't find it that bad monqui - some pretty freaky s**t happens in
your apartment that certainly got me quaking in my boots, and while it
is a bit of a chore to run through the entire game twice, the second
journey is different enough thanks to extra locations and enemies that
it didn't hugely bother me. The gimpy woman is a bit of a hassle but I
can honestly say she only died on me a couple of times. More often I
was just getting mauled by that freaking guy charging at me at times I
really couldn't be doing with it. It wasn't perfect by any means and
didn't live up to the first game, but worth playing I'd say. Then
again, I am quite a survival horror junkie, so maybe I'm just easy to
please/scare :smile:

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

Yeah, it's not terrible (well, it's not really terrible), but I just didn't find it even in the same regard as the other three. Yeah, some of the stuff in the appartment was freaky, but it wasn't involving in any way. It was just some cursory thing that takes place ("Ok, my wall is made of wailing babies. K." /me lights a candle. "Sweet. No more fetal ghosts.") It wasn't something really related to anything other than some gimpy ghost scare attempt.

The other ones draw you into their world- and stuff that happens to them mostly has a meaning or at least some sort of an objective attached to it. It's not just something that you need to do "just 'cuz."

And I don't know if I was doing something wrong, but I spent most of the time hovering around and babysitting the chick, and she would still get eaten by those goddamned bees in the forest. Hated those things.

Not to mention I liked the fact that you could at least somewhat explore the towns in the other 3. It felt like a real city- not just a claustrophobic conglomeration of passageways. Meh.

---

Shameless plug.

I agree on the lack of exploration part. The fourth game leads you by
the hand through environments in a fairly linear fashion, while the
others guide you but not as forcefully. It's comparable to how the
Resident Evil games have evolved - from the first game's "Explore this
mansion" freedom, through the intermediate games' partial explorative
feel, to the very linear fourth game. I guess some people don't like
freedom in games.

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

I've been playing the Auto Assault beta and really enjoying it. I was
drawn to it because it was an interesting spin on the MMO genre by
mixing it in with vehicular combat, harking back to the days of
Interstate 76, Carmageddon, and Vigilante 8. It actually does this in a
less skill based way than I had expected - aiming is (mostly) automatic
and hit chances are all stat based - but it still works nicely. I had
expected it to be more like a car combat game with MMO numbers
involved, but its basically just an MMO in cars. The cars feel
reasonable to drive if not overly exciting, but it is still far more
fun getting from A to B than it would be on foot, with some pretty
crazy jumps littered around the place. I've not really found many other
human players in the game and I've also exclusively been going solo,
but if even that is fun I guess the "convoy" experience must be pretty
good too. Missions are typically short, and while they are very
standard (kill 12 scav raiders, take this item to Billy in Upside,
etc...), they certainly get the "just one more" mentality going (as my
two post 5am nights in a row will support!).

Graphically it isn't very noteworthy, though the cars do look pretty
cool once you get a few "tricks and trims" on them. There are quite a
few glitches - possibly due to still being beta - such as the upper
halves of buildings being rendered before the bottom parts pop into
view - and the draw distance is pretty poor at times, but it gets the
job done. There are some neat environmental effects that come into
effect as you go from area to area, from dust clouds being thrown
around by the wind, to little bits of charred debris flying everywhere,
and while the transition between two sub-areas is far from subtle, it
makes them very memorable and easy to differentiate between.
Performance is pretty poor at the moment though with some pretty
massive frame rate drops at times, which is certainly a worry consider
the relatively quiet areas in terms of other human players. My computer
is far from cutting edge, but I'm running the game at medium to below
medium settings, so there really isn't any reason that my computer,
which can handle most games at near top settings, is struggling.

Pity the beta only lasts the weekend, though for the sake of my uni
work it's probably for the best! I might pick it up when it comes out
in a few months time :smile:

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

After playing ~4 hours of mario kart 64 a week for the past 4 months,
I've grown tired of the game. I feel like I've reached the point
where there's no more room for improvement, so I decided I needed a new
game to learn.

So... there's a kid in my dorm who is pretty good at Halo, and I've
become his student in a way. We started off playing a ton of
Slayer Pro, which I love because I quickly learned I'm a pistol whore.

What's interesting is I've found there's a huge divide between Halo 1 and 2 in terms of who prefers which.

I can literally kick the ass of this different kid in Halo 1, and then
we pick up Halo 2 and I can't get more than 5 or 6 kills in a timed
round to his 18 or so. The lack of the pistol really takes its
toll apparently.

Which game did you prefer (from a multiplayer perspective) and why?

My flatmates and I used to play a load of Halo 1 in 4 player split
screen mode...and when I say a load of Halo 1, I mean a load of Blood
Gulch :smile: We seriously played that to death, but it was THE game of 1st
year uni for us. Halo 2 came along and everybody was pretty tired of
Halo except me, so for us it never really took off in multiplayer. What
doesn't help is the difficulty in seeing things properly in Halo 2
split screen - the rather minimalist approach in Halo meant the players
always stood out, but in Halo 2 playing Coagulation (the new Blood
Gulch) split screen is damned near impossible. Another negative when it
comes to Halo 2 is the matchmaking system, which isn't all bad of
course (you don't find 1000's of 1 person servers; games are always
full) but does remove the choice of game from the player. I can't just
jump in to a game of last man standing on Coagulation, or 2 flag CTF on
Zanzibar, and instead get forced into something I really don't want to
play like rockets only 4 team CTF on Warlock. Obviously this is kind of
a moot point given that Halo didn't even HAVE online multiplayer, but
it still annoys me.

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

I've just been playing CSS for some god-forsaken reason, not a bad game even though I feel the hitboxes are utterly ridiculous, either that or I miss 90% of the time at close-range. :/ WHICH I DOUBT. Fun enough, though, the bots are reasonably intelligent, sometimes too intelligent when they're shooting me through opaque grates...

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

Maps! - Audio blog!

I found playing the Zombie Horde server side mod for CS:S actually improved my accuracy in the normal game, simply because you can only kill a zombie by shooting them right in the head. I went on a normal server full of guys who usually own me and I was actually holding my own. If you haven't played the mod, it essentially turns the T team into a bunch of knife wielding zombies who outnumber the CT's 2-1. The T's are mainly bots and the CT's have a limited range of weapons with which to kill them. It's a pretty fun twist on the generic CS gameplay.

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

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

I second the merits of ZH. It's the only reason why I installed CSS again. It's even better when there's a serverside mod of cs_militia which reverses the spawnpoints, so the CTs end up having to defend the house from the mass of zombie invaders. :smile:

I play my own version of that, which doesnt even require a mod. The following console commands will fill the terrorist team up with crazed knife-wielding bots:

mp_autoteambalance 0
mp_limitteams 32
bot_knives_only
bot_join_team T
bot_quota 32

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

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Maxing the bot skill also helps.

Im recently playing Quake 4 Multiplayer, its hard to find a low-ping server, but i enjoy it alot, its really nice, then comes css, the classical internet gameplay...
Im just waiting for halo3 to come out...well, its gonna take a long time...
the third comes NFS :mostwanted ... its getting boring but...lol i like it :biggrin:

Oh btw, anyone heard of any new titles for splinter cell ?? i hope they wont stop at 3 !! its an amazing game.

If anyone plays Q4, please tell me, we could play together one day :smile:

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

Yeah there is a new splinter cell coming out late this year, called "Double Agent" I believe. Sam Fisher is working undercover for a terrorist group, and your actions can determine whether their plots succeed or fail I've heard. Have a look at some of the big games sites, I'm sure there are probably previews and things.

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

isnt that on the PSP ????

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

Wouldn't think so, though with the PSP it would be foolish to discount the possibility of a port :biggrin: The game is definately mainly a PC / home console game. Don't know if there are any next gen versions planned - I think it's going to be one of the last current gen releases, so Xbox / PS2 / Gamecube / PC.

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

Oh cool, i cant wait for that sequel .. splinter cell rocks !!!

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.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.

For those with access to a Dollar General store, they have a shipment of PC games in.

I bought "Splinter Cell- Pandora Tomorrow" for $6.00

Might be worth you finding the store, if you want a copy.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Recently been playing Driv3r and I was quite dissaponted as it
feels tomuch like gta to me it good for nost of the missions its just
the getting out of the car and randomly killing someone and then car
jacking someone else.

I have also been playing Act of War: Direct Action and I really
like it its a good substitute to C&C as I highly doubt that the
will be any more of them and if there is they wont be to as high
standard what with most of the Weatwood team leaving. But anyway Act of
war has a good strong storyline that im quite surprised hasnt caused
contraversity what with the attacts on main land US it has in it and
all the securing of oil refinerys you have to do.

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Tinterweb site
Deviantart

Human knowledge belongs to the world

I bought Doom 3 and Call Of Duty:Deluxe (thats plus the expansion) yesterday.

I crapped my pants at Doom 3, period.

I've played Call Of Duty before with a friends copy, but I wanted to own the game myself. Solid gameplay.

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:: Forceflow.be :: Nuclear Dawn developer

Well the UK is finally getting some interesting releases over the past/coming weeks...

Last week: We Love Katamari
My flatmate picked up a copy of this, and I will do, but there are other games on my list that take precedence. Although it came out last week the deliveries to sunny Dundee only arrived yesterday it seems, so I've not really played it much. Unfortunately the first game never made it out here but they have rectified the matter by briging out this sequel, and thank god they did. Ultra-crazy game that is almost painfully charming - disliking this game is seriously impossible. The soundtrack is so happy and cheesy that getting a smile on your face is a given every time you hear "Katamari Damacy!". The gameplay is the perfect pick up and play example, and though the Katamari isn't all that easy to manouvere, it's nothing to do with overly complex controls. Great game and one of the most imaginative of the past few years. Glorious :smile:

This week: Psychonauts
Woohoo, after countless little delays (it kept getting pushed back a month or two at a time) it has finally hit the UK. Good platforming gameplay but that isn't really the appeal of this game, which I'm sure more people bought for its humour value. By Tim Schafer, the guy behind Grim Fandango, Psychonauts is full to the brim of witty dialog and charming characters. For people who like collectibles in games, this is perfect too, as there is plenty to explore and collect in order to reach the top rank and earn all your Psychonaut merit badges. Awesomeness.

Next week: Shadow of the Colossus
Another delayed one, I think little needs to be said. The Ico team, beautiful visuals, giant monsters you have to climb to kill. What more do you want to be honest? I can't say it appeals quite as much as Ico did to me, but I'm definately getting it nonetheless.

Week after: Project Zero 3: The Tormented
Project Zero is the king of Survival Horror games in my opinion - one of the few that genuinely scare the s**t out of me on a regular basis. I've heard this one relies a bit on the game mechanics established by the previous games, but ups the difficulty (the second game was a bit easy) and has a great storyline. If you like your survival horror without rocket launchers and machine guns, and find the idea of being chased by dozens of unique ghosts with their own stories intriguing, the Project Zero (Fatal Frame in the US) series is for you. Fingers crossed this one holds up.

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

ws playing system shock 2 , not played it in ages, cant belive a 7yr
old game can still retain qaulity, the amount of times i got a fright.
wish they could make like a mod for it to bring it up to date with the
graphics of today, or make ss2 hl2 mod that would be cool,

The only thing I have left in Katamari Damacy is the journey to
1,000,000 roses, and I don't konw if I'll do that... seems way too
tedious.

I really should pick up Pyschonauts... which platform should I go for? PC or PS2?

It's ideally a controller game rather than a keyboard game, so I would normally say PS2. On the other hand, if you have a controller for your PC, you might be better off going that route to ensure nice smooth framerates and better graphics. I got it for the Xbox, so can't really comment on either of the other two :smile:

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Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Thanks ReNo. I loved Grim Fandango's style so I really should try
to pick this game up (or give it a rent at least) for PS2. I
don't have a controller for my PC.

Next week: Shadow of the Colossus
Another delayed one, I think little needs to be said. The Ico team, beautiful visuals, giant monsters you have to climb to kill. What more do you want to be honest? I can't say it appeals quite as much as Ico did to me, but I'm definately getting it nonetheless.

I was a huge fan of Ico, and I had some great expectations for this game, and in all honesty, it is probably one of the single best gaming experiences I have had in a loooong time. I'm not sure what it was about the game, but it really does draw you in. Theres not much storyline (the opening credits/cutscene plus about a 2 minute clip somewhere after one of the bosses, one little clip before the final colossus, plus the long ending is pretty much it). In my opinion, it blows Ico out of the water.

But it flows so well- and defeating the colossi is just such a weirdly rewarding experience. I can't really explain it, but it just feels so good to take down one of the giants. Each time you defeat one, you're told where the next giant is, and that's about all. The rest of it is just you traveling around with your horse exploring.

Plus, the world it takes place in is simply gorgeous. I can remember several times when I would just wander around trying to find fruit and lizards (increase health-bar and stamina guage) just to take in some of the sights.

Very impressive. I'm sure it won't disappoint.

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Shameless plug.