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Lestrade
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SuperWes
Updated the banners, but not his title
Updated the banners, but not his title


Joined: 07 Dec 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shapermc wrote:
SFA2 all the way. Also... I don't really agree with you on most of your comments about SFIII. I note that you are also refering to Third Strike with all of your comments. Have you played Double Impact? Perhaps it is more for you.


Allz I know is that Matt sux at SFA on the Saturn. YEAH BOY I'M CALLING YOU OUT!

(sorry for trashing your journal with 'net speak)

-Wes
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Shapermc
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SuperWes wrote:
Shapermc wrote:
SFA2 all the way. Also... I don't really agree with you on most of your comments about SFIII. I note that you are also refering to Third Strike with all of your comments. Have you played Double Impact? Perhaps it is more for you.


Allz I know is that Matt sux at SFA on the Saturn. YEAH BOY I'M CALLING YOU OUT!

I beat you once bitch.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"
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SuperWes
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shapermc wrote:
SuperWes wrote:
Shapermc wrote:
SFA2 all the way. Also... I don't really agree with you on most of your comments about SFIII. I note that you are also refering to Third Strike with all of your comments. Have you played Double Impact? Perhaps it is more for you.


Allz I know is that Matt sux at SFA on the Saturn. YEAH BOY I'M CALLING YOU OUT!

I beat you once bitch.


One round.

I think I remember trouncing you with Dan a few times...

-Wes
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Lestrade
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember getting punked by a friend playing Dan. Wow, was I angry.

My friend once beat me in Killer Instinct using only his toes. Understandably, I was very ashamed.

- -

Last night in Japanese class we were discussing some local news; that is, the recent oddity involving a man setting himself on fire (apparently) in a Tim Horton's here in Toronto and causing a shocking explosion.

Yeah, fucked up, I know.

So I got to learn all sorts of great words and phrases like bomb, explosion, and commit suicide. I was drawing little icons to represent all the different nouns and verbs (class is Japanese-only, so I try not to write any English notes if I can help it, and thus use my M4D 5K1LLZ to illustrate words). All the sketching of charred bodies, men blasted to pieces and burning cinders reminded me of those carefree days in high school, when I was always drawing something twisted and usually Mortal Kombat-related.

(Scary to thing that if I was a teenager today, I might be fucking jailed for something like this.)

(more later)
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dessgeega
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

on a belated/unrelated note, street fighter 3: third strike is the only non-"melee" non-boxing fighting game i really care about. the character designs are brilliant. i like the music a lot. i can't play it very well. but i do play it, just to marvel at how gorgeous it is.

and i like the way gill and his stage are handled, even if he himself is unfairly hard to defeat.
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

(Continued)

So, back in high school I ended up meeting my best friend at the time because of Mortal Kombat. Literally, that's it all took — that single common interest — and we were inseperable for years.

In religion class — yeah, I know; I don't know what I was doing there either — I overheard him mention something in passing to another student about MK. It was about MK for the Game Gear; the only version of the game I hadn't played.

"You like... Mortal Kombat?" I said. Two days prior to this we were practically at each other's throats, completely at odds with one another.

"Yeah," he stated plainly. And that was that. Now, my friend has a wife and two — nay, by this time three — children, and doesn't have much time for playing videogames. We still keep in touch though, and swap stories about our lives and share memories of all the wacky stuff we did. Which, yes, included playing a lot of Mortal Kombat. Who says violent videogames can't bring people together?


P.S. I was thinking about buying the Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 from Amazon.com but I can't because of Amazon's ridiculous policy. Because the DVD is considered a videogame and is being sold by another user, it's ineligible for "international" purchase. WhatEVER!!

Fuck, if anyone knows where I can get a copy of this, please hook me up!
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Persona-sama
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's not really worth it unless you don't have Substance and want to see a few photos and the full script. And game development timeline. And unused models of New York City and Arsenal Gear.

Yeah. :/

(The next time I go to Gamestop, I'll look for a copy for you, Lestrade!)
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the heads-up, Persona. I'll probably hold off then unless I stumble across a physical copy somewhere.

Well, after months and months of not being able to play DOAU or Doom 3, the beast is back! Yesterday I picked up a dev-kit-green Xbox at my favourite gaming crack dealer, Game Centre. (I also bought the "Making of Resident Evil" DVD that came with some copies of the GameCube version for three dollars, and an eight-dollar copy of MGS2 for the PS2, since I didn't have a real copy up until now.)

It is quite nice to be able to play Doom 3 in the dark with our home theatre system. I still get freaked-out by that game; certain parts just sort of freeze my heart in a moment of fear, which takes a while to fade away, like the tingling sensation of a leg that's fallen asleep. Luckily I was able to cheat my way through the game in less than an hour (L+BAXY!), so I could, for all intents and purposes, restore my save game to the way it was when we pitched the first Xbox.

Sadly, Tecmo doesn't believe in cheat codes, so my full set of costumes in DOAU is going to have to be replaced the hard way. Thank Christ for time attack mode; if I was enough of a loser, I'm sure I could get all the unlockables back in a day or so. (Thankfully, I'm not so unencumbered that I'd actually have the time to do this! That would be sort of sad.)

It's funny, buying a used system that has a hard drive for saved games; I got to peruse the Memory section of the Xbox Dashboard and found save games for a whole lot of sports releases — most likely every EA title for the past few years — but I also found some oddities, like a save-game for some bizarre-looking Japanese title I've never heard of. The Xbox was obviously a recent sell, because its previous owner had a Black save on there. Come to think of it, I shouldn't have deleted that; I think I would prefer the game on Xbox than on PS2. Even with the Logitech kick-ass controller, FPS games just don't feel right on PS2. I think it's the fact that the Xbox pads have those triggers — it's simply more fun (in a Jack-Thompson-was-right kind of way) to pull a trigger than press a button when firing a virtual gun.

Oddly, the first thing I did with my new-yet-not Xbox after I surfed its internal settings was pop in Halo 2 and install the Multiplayer Pack. The person who owned this 'box before me had at least beat a few levels of the game, so I didn't have to start from the beginning in order to recapture my clear-game from before. I decided to start from where he left off, just to mess around, and ended up white-knuckling the game for over an hour. I was impressed; Halo 2 is still viable. Its gameplay is so focused and well-constructed that I just jumped in and couldn't walk away for a while, even though I sort of feared that I might find the game stale by the time I picked it up again.

Now, for the return of the local Halo 2 Beatdowns! At a housewarming/my-birthday party on Friday, someone mentioned bringing two projectors into their large, warehouse-loft space for this. Rock!

Now, having the Big Green Beast back has evoked two related yet opposite trains of thought: one, that I'm going to have fun finding all those odd gems for the system, as I would with any other. I'm sure I'll get the Doom 3 expansion pack, and most likely Half-Life 2 as well, but it's the stuff like Still Life, a mediocre-yet-satisfying adventure game, that really make the Xbox worth the space it takes in my home. In fact, there are a surprising number of PC-ported adventure games on this thing, and I'd love to start picking through those. (And yes, finally I can sit down and play Shenmue II!)

The other line of thinking is this: I wish that Trip Hawkins' plan to standardize videogame hardware had worked. I resent the fact that I have to have two consoles in my home (with libraries that are 50% identical) just to play the few dozen titles I enjoy. Rather than having two diametrically opposed pieces of plastic near my television — one huge, green and gaudy; the other tiny, thin and black — why can't I just have an inoffensive black, white, or grey box that is a standard, that I could buy just about anywhere?

When you think about it, Sony and Microsoft are peddling damn near the exact same thing. Though their perspectives and marketing lines appear unalike, the widget they are selling is mostly identical. Yet most people who want to play videogames are apt to do just that — play them, regardless of console. If it takes the purchase of two (or three) separate machines in order to acquire all the games one might be interested in, so be it.

So then, why not remove that barrier and dispose of all the marketing bullshit, the annual tug-of-war, and adopt a standard? (That's rhetorical; I know that both companies want to sell hardware, even though they mostly do so at a loss.) If we want gaming to be a mainstream medium, than it should be just that! Remove the stigma of the purple cube, the giant black-and-green penis replacement, and give us a box that looks nice next to a VCR or a DVD player. Trip Hawkins' vision was "audio, video, 3DO" — the next logical addition to a home entertainment centre. It made sense, up until he decided that marketing the machine as mostly a games device and then charging $700 for it was a good idea.

To wit: It's hard to agree with the notion that DVDs as a standard are a bad idea. They have obviously been embraced to a vast degree. And now of course you can buy a DVD player from $40 to $400, depending on your budget and requirements. Regardless of the cash you spend, you know something right away as you enter an electronics store: you will be able to watch DVDs. Whether you come out of Wal-Mart or Bay Bloor Radio, you know that you'll be able to go to any DVD shop and play anything they have on their shelves (region lock-outs notwithstanding).

The key here is that adopting a standard doesn't mean sacrificing all the dick-waving gamers love to do, necessarily. But it does remove it from the main point of view; if you want the HDTV-compatible, progressive-scan, gold-plated Games Machine™, you can buy that. (No doubt Sony will make it, and it will break within two years.) But if you just want a cheap box for your mom's place, so you can bring over some games you have to play, you can do that too.

I want a standard, wrapped in a package as unassuming as Sony's PSX, that supports some sort of memory card and wireless controllers. Let developers concentrate on making fantastic games for it of all varieties, like directors make movies, instead of spending all their time and money learning different systems and porting their titles. Update it every five years with the newest technology and make it consistently backwards compatible, at least until the media it uses changes.

Please, for the love of everything holy: get these boxes out of my home!
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Scratchmonkey
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade wrote:
dev-kit-green Xbox


Test-kit green. The dev kits have clear plastic and orange lettering.

And yeah, standardized hardware would be pretty nice. It would greatly offend everybody who's invested in the unique snowflakes of proprietary hardeware design; however, I see this as an additional positive.
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So it looks like I'm finally going to get me a Saturn pad — a PURPLE one. Knowing that the controller was half price (at Play Asia) removed any hesitation I had regarding the colour.

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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 7:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's all true.

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Shapermc
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PostPosted: Tue May 02, 2006 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade wrote:
So it looks like I'm finally going to get me a Saturn pad — a PURPLE one. Knowing that the controller was half price (at Play Asia) removed any hesitation I had regarding the colour.

You are going to love it. It looks pretty nice (being purple) and comes with some AWESOME cards.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"
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Persona-sama
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PostPosted: Tue May 02, 2006 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade, one day I will totally beat you in Guilty Gear and then you will have to draw a wonderfully shameful illustration of me while crying and drinking in sadness and emoness!!
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Wed May 03, 2006 8:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Persona-sama wrote:
Lestrade, one day I will totally beat you in Guilty Gear and then you will have to draw a wonderfully shameful illustration of me while crying and drinking in sadness and emoness!!


I accept your challenge and its inevitable outcome.
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Crap, is that Darkstalkers PS2 controller no longer on sale?

I've been wanting one of those bad boys for a while now, but I could never bring myself to spend $35 on it.
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2006 8:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, it looks like the sale is over. Who knows; the price may be reduced again when they need to clear stock.
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So with all the E3 froth (and believe me, I'm chomping at the bit here for news), I keep thinking about games. So let me ramble here:

(Please keep in mind that I'm talking more about games that rely on plot for their interest, such as RPGs, adventure games, etc. Mario, for instance, sort of falls outside this conversation, because its abstract gameplay defies reason.)

I hate how so many games have no drive to them. I don't understand the fascination with games that start slowly, agonizingly. Role-playing games are often the worst offenders, requiring hours of your time before things get interesting. I think that sort of impenetrable learning curve is old hat; we shouldn't be seeing it anymore.

Further to this, so many games lose momentum (at least in my opinion) very easily. I suspect most examples of this are the result of padding; of trying to give you more value for your money in the form of more gameplay. I can understand the reasoning, but I find the result is never that compelling.

My favourite example for both of these ailments is Final Fantasy VII, albeit for different reasons. I absolutely love the intro to that game; it is a perfect contrast to my complaint about slow-starting games. From the minute you start, you are right in there, being dragged by the hand through the game's frantic opening. You're barely stopping to name your characters, you're practically struggling to keep up. It's great — that sense of urgency, of immediate involvement. You learn about the game mechanics quickly and with minimal interference. You're marvelling at new things — the cuts to and from the CG, the battle system, the more action-based exploring — without the lectures given by most modern titles.

Final Fantasy VII reverses the formula of most RPGs; its opening is the bit most people want to replay. However, the game's later scenes — most notably once you leave Midgar — are less memorable.

And it is for this reason that FFVII is also a good example of my second complaint; at some point, between helping the people at Fort Condor and chasing Yuffie through her home town, the game just loses all focus and narrative drive. I, personally, really hate that. At this point it seems that you play the game despite itself, which doesn't seem right to me.

(Oddly, I find that almost all Japanese cinema I've watched follows the same formula: strong first act followed by a languishing, painfully directionless middle that eventually, though never completely, resolves itself in an anti-climactic fashion.)

So why can't we have games that engage us all the way through? Is it because they strive to be much too big for their narratives to handle; that the story-to-gameplay ratio is skewed? I mean, I really enjoyed Halo 2, but between fighting on Earth and the game's non-ending, I can't remember what I was supposed to be doing or why. I just kept on shooting, and the game was incredibly fun regardless of its attempt at storytelling, not because of it.

Creators, I think, need to better understand what it is they're trying to do, trying to say. If they want to create honest-to-goodness stories, tales that inspire and evoke emotion (and hey, are interactive and fun!), they need to provide enough narrative drive in their titles — conflict, tension, mystery, suspense — to make you want to continue, to make you remember.

I think that in many cases, episodic content is a smarter choice for these sorts of games. I wish that my Mac was Intel-based, so I could play Sin: Episodes. I could get very used to the idea of a game that takes five hours to complete and really does something engaging with its plot. This way you could actually give the narrative the attention it deserves, as opposed to forgetting it over forty hours of drawn-out battle sequences.

Yet, when you play any MGS game, there's a moment early on when you realize that the game isn't a free-roaming, number-tweaking epic. As a player, you're there to play a role (occasionally, quite literally!) in the plot, and to further that plot because you want to; because you're interested enough. It helps a lot that the gameplay is mostly fantastic, and allows for enough variation and improvisation that you don't really notice the very linear path you're on. But you're not really playing because of the bullet-points on the back of the box, you're playing because I get to be Snake (sometimes). You want to play that role, to experience the next chapter in the ever-twisting MGS storyline.

When I hear about the next Final Fantasy, I hear about the storyline and think, "Hey, that sounds interesting. I wonder what happens?" The problem is that I so rarely experience properly what happens, because I'm unwilling to sit through a sprawling, 40- to 80-hour game that probably could have been cut to a tight, excellent 20 hours.

Let's be brutally honest here: "I hate my dad" is not reason enough to sit through 40 hours of Final Fantasy X.

I'm running out of steam; will return to this later (an episodic post?).
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Shapermc
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PostPosted: Mon May 08, 2006 2:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You know, I generally think the same way about RPGs that you do. But see, I got Digital Devil Saga a long time ago, and finally started playing it on Saturday. Man is it good. See, it starts out awesome, slows down a little, picks up and then seems to be running. I mean... hell it is really awesome actually.

I hit a point last night were there was no way that I was going to be able to advance even with level grinding. I knew my only chance was to read a FAQ if I was going to get through this. Normally if a game gets me to the point where I have to read a FAQ I consider it trash (i.e. they did not equip the play properly) and usually don't go back to it. But I was really so intrigued in what is going to happen next that I went with the FAQ and did about an hour of level grinding (hint, learn Void-Expel as soon as you can).

Overall the game may be a little too hard for its own good though. All the fights are stressful for the first 2/3 of a dungeon and you sweat just trying to reach the next save point. The art direction is pretty great too which helps. It really knows the limitations of the PS2 and uses them to the games advantage. I was shocked to see that what I thought was a FMV was actually a cut scene at one point.

Anyways, it is also Episodic as you were mentioning. DDS came in a case large enough for DDS 1 and 2. I am hoping that the story doesn’t turn to shit, because I am really enjoying it so far.
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-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the recommendation. I will add it to my "remember this when you need a new game" list.

Yeah, so as Shaper knows, last night's Sony conference had me so incensed it was silly. I never get worked up about these things, but man, what a bunch of swindlers. The good thing about the whole debacle is that it inspired me to pile a bunch of games I'm not playing so I can trade them in — probably for New Super Mario Bros. I just... I just want to mail Nintendo a giant piece of marketshare or something, such is the bitter taste in my mouth.

EDIT: My new desktop picture at work:

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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I need my games to have a story. If I'm playing Mario, I don't, but for almost everything else, I simply cannot enjoy a game based on mechanics alone. I am a very plot-loving person. I write stories, I draw them, and I enjoy absorbing them. This is why today's games often depress me; where are our equivalents of the film noir, the mystery, the slapstick comedy, the crime thriller? Why is is always fantasy, fantasy, fantasy?

I don't care that Tidus hates his dad or that some crystals in a far-away land have been stolen; I care about real people with real problems. "Videogame story" doesn't have to equal "epic fantasy" — why can't developers get past this?
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
This is why today's games often depress me; where are our equivalents of the film noir, the mystery, the slapstick comedy, the crime thriller?


they're around, but i would posit this:

fantasy is an easy genre, not only because of the legacy of D&D and the lord of the rings, but because it's a blank template. good and evil, black and white, up and down.

noir in particular requires shades of grey. not that antiheroes aren't found, but they're far harder to develop in a noir setting than a fantasy setting.

also, the whole age thing still impacts stuff (though i found it telling that all of nintendo's wii promos featured relatively hepcat 20 somethings. things are changing, somewhat, though nintendo's not exactly a source of the deep storytelling you're asking for)

also, have you played deus ex yet? that's a mixture of noir, political thriller and futuristic fantasy. good stuff.
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yea, while Dhex won't agree here, I think that Killer 7 fills the needs of not only story, but also art direction. It is a pretty decent game to boot.

Much like Silent Hill the story is so shattered that there is really no hope of drawing direct lines from the story and making a whole. No one is good or bad in the strictist sense of the word (ok, well, sorry, yes many are bad) but there is a lot of gray. Assumptions need to be made. It is also a budget title now
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2006 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, I've experienced enough fantasy and science-fiction for a thousand years. How about... a romantic tragedy? Fuck — Empty Words the Videogame? I want games set in the present day with NO CONNECTION AT ALL TO ANIME. I want games about people from different countries... doing things other than flying spaceships, riding mechs, or any other hackneyed, clichéd bullshit.

I want more European developers.
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PostPosted: Mon May 15, 2006 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MY VEIN-PURPLE PS2 SATURN CONTROLLER IS HERE!
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Persona-sama
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PostPosted: Mon May 15, 2006 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LESS TALK, MORE PICTURES!!
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Lestrade
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PostPosted: Mon May 15, 2006 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'M AT WORK BUT WILL OBLIGE YOUR REQUEST TONIGHT AFTER JAPANESE CLASS!!

EDIT: It is done. For loading-times sake, I'll just link my Flickr account,

Hey guys I can't seem to play Black with this stoopid pad it must be broken :( :( :(

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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2006 1:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey, Lestrade! Can you post a higher quality version of your PS3 wallpaper?

Also, your purple controller is very Prince-y.
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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade,

seems like you (and most of us here) solidly agree with the ideas in the "Gamer's Manifesto"

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/manifesto.html

Particularly


PWOT wrote:
"13. Don't bullshit us on the game's features

"Marine, we need you to head to the depths of the compound to rescue a scientist that is being held hostage by Satan and his manyfold minions. Here's your pistol and eight rounds of ammunition. Good luck."

What law says I have to start out the game with none of the fun shit promised on the box art? Again, is this not just a cheap way of extending the life of the game? In FPS games built entirely on the anticipation of using gigantic, phallic-symbol weapons, why not start me out with a damned machine gun and 200 rounds of ammo and go up from there?

Racing games pull this, too. Why do I have to spend 40 hours driving a minivan just to get enough money to buy a Honda Civic? Why can't I have access to all of the content right away? What if I don't feel any satisfaction in "unlocking" the game features I already paid real-life money for and just want to fucking race the Ferrari on the box art!
"



Which seems to be what you are saying about current RPGs starting you off with nothing.


Last edited by Ketch on Tue May 16, 2006 6:53 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade wrote:
Hey guys I can't seem to play Black with this stoopid pad it must be broken Sad Sad Sad


maybe you should have gotten the black controller instead of the purple one.

actually, some games refuse to work with controllers that don't have analog. their loss, i say!
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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2006 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ketch wrote:
A bunch of really good stuff


Yeah, I agree with you (and the Gamer's Manifesto, which I remember reading a while back). Tim Rogers once wrote about the "Law of Miyamoto," wherein at the outset of a game you see something you know you can't possibly do until much later. It's a glorified carrot, really. I just don't see why you can't be tempted by other elements of the game and not start off reasonably powerered, etc.

It seems that due to the simplicity of a lot of older games (i.e. Mario), the Underpowered Hero was a less-pronounced issue (save Metroid!). In Mario, for example, you do start off underpowered (by being small), but are given a fighting chance five seconds into the game. Either way, you have all the tools you need right from the get-go; you can beat the game small, big, or with a Fire Flower in your hand.

The good thing about Black is that its missions are based on flashbacks, and involve someone who is reasonably equipped at the beginning of each mission. Once a level loads, you see that you're carrying, for example, an MP5 and then, hey! I also have a shotgun; you have all the tools you need for the rest of the level, if you're smart. There is no "respawn-with-a-pistol" mechanic. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this!

I think it is mostly a case of artificially lengthening a game, especially in the case of RPGs.I also think in an era where people appreciate the ability to put DS games to sleep instantly, and where micro-games and waiting-in-line cell phone games are becoming more popular, the notion of running with a carrot for 15 hours before a game gets interesting is archaic. Again, give your players the tools they need and then introduce them to the mechanics of the game (with no freaking tutorial!).

Can you even think of a game today like Super Mario Bros. 3, which you could technically (without cheating) beat within 20 minutes of first opening the game's box?

Persona: here's your wallpaper! It's 1024x768.

EDIT: My wife was actually off-camera while I took that photo, holding down the "fire" button. I was trying to get her to cause some massive explosions but all the cars had been destroyed already.
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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2006 9:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade wrote:
Ketch wrote:
A bunch of really good stuff


It seems that due to the simplicity of a lot of older games (i.e. Mario), the Underpowered Hero was a less-pronounced issue (save Metroid!). In Mario, for example, you do start off underpowered (by being small), but are given a fighting chance five seconds into the game. Either way, you have all the tools you need right from the get-go; you can beat the game small, big, or with a Fire Flower in your hand.
...
The good thing about Black is that its missions are based on flashbacks, and involve someone who is reasonably equipped at the beginning of each mission. Once a level loads, you see that you're carrying, for example, an MP5 and then, hey! I.


1. I'm not sure if simplicity is the word, or whether it is -purity-. These older games didn't do a lot of the fluff that modern games, who cares about having fifteen different weapons with different pros and cons, when you could have a fire-flower instead. It also comes down to questions of monster-power balance, does the game feature enemies that are more powerful than the player, if so then you (reduce) the amount of options that the player has--- ie. it is usually the dominant strategy to use better weapons, instead of having an equal playing field where each skill and tool can play a part in overcoming the obstacles. Of course this just highlights that games are set-up so that the player has some kind of innate advantage ie. better weapons, crippled enemy A.I or just the ability to remember the monster layout.

2. A game set as flashback? I've always liked this style of game setting, XIII has in-game hallucinatory flashbacks, so it would be amusing to see a game recounted in flashback, where you actually experience flashbacks (i.e recovering memories). Flashback, flashback, flashback.
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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2006 9:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade wrote:
Yeah, I agree with you (and the Gamer's Manifesto, which I remember reading a while back). Tim Rogers once wrote about the "Law of Miyamoto," wherein at the outset of a game you see something you know you can't possibly do until much later.

I'd like to see a good source for that supposed Law -- I mean, I know I've heard about it a million times, but it's hard to Google for -- since the design of Super Mario Bros (1, at least) is exactly 180-degrees opposite. It is literally "show the player things he could have been doing all along."

Ketch wrote:
2. A game set as flashback? I've always liked this style of game setting, XIII has in-game hallucinatory flashbacks, so it would be amusing to see a game recounted in flashback, where you actually experience flashbacks (i.e recovering memories). Flashback, flashback, flashback.

Spider and Web?
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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2006 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I remember correctly, Tim was mentioning this in regards to Final Fantasy games (in his FF Dog reviews). Which, now that I realize this, doesn't make any sense at all. So... um... yes. Don't shoot; I'm just the messenger!

Good points again, Ketch. This gap in game design theory is like ratios in math (oh fuck, I'm entering a math conversation very poorly armed here).

1:2 is better than 5:10, because it's reduced to its basic form, but says the exact same thing. Also see: in design, less is more; in film, editors are our friends; in games, Shadow of the Colossus. Who needs levels when all you want to do is fight the bosses anyway?

This is very poorly written but I hope you see what I mean.

Persona-sama wrote:
Also, your purple controller is very Prince-y.


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PostPosted: Wed May 24, 2006 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't believe no one responding to my Prince post!

Anyway. After E3 the Xbox 360 is looking like a good investment. I am currently bored with Japanese-style games, and some of the Western-developed titles for the 360 are starting to really impress me. I long to play an emotionally- and mentally-engaging game with an engrossing story that doesn't involve a resolute, self-denying main character (who probably hates his dad) and a "strong-yet-quiet," watery-eyed woman who exclaims, "Ganbatte!" because as we all know, women exist solely to cheer us on.

Mass Effect looks really interesting, and I'm very curious to see how that pans out. That might be the system-seller for me. Shit, it's Canadian — I have to support the homeland, and all that.

I think perhaps the reason why I like the Xbox and now the 360 is because Microsoft's offerings allow a brand of gaming I've always wanted: PC-style, with all the Western-leaning styles of play that entails (adventure, FPS, etc.), but controls that don't require 108 keys.

Yeah.

Also, when I get some spare scratch I think I'm going to pick up the Xbox equivalent of the best damn controller for PS2. I just can't go back to the still-beefy Controller S now. It feels so cheap and awkward.

Yes. Stuff.
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PostPosted: Wed May 24, 2006 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You should look into Bioshock.

Also Lost Planet and Dead Rising, but those are japanese.
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PostPosted: Wed May 24, 2006 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shapermc wrote:
You should look into Bioshock.

Also Lost Planet and Dead Rising, but those are japanese.


Yes! Dead Rising. I forgot about that -- it is basically Dawn of the Dead: The Videogame, which works for me.
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PostPosted: Thu May 25, 2006 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FUCKIN' DRUNK JAPANESE CONVERSATION GET
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PostPosted: Fri May 26, 2006 2:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To explain my last post: last night I attended the most recent "Conversation Club," wherein students (or in my case, recently-graduated alumni) sit with other students and some dedicated, Native Japanese Speakers™ so we can get our gab on. It was fun, as always, and as usual I was placed with my two classmates, which makes things easy-going and inviting.

The real fun though was had afterwards. Earlier this week was our final class at the school, and it was only with a tight ball of regret that I stepped through the school's door as a student that last time. I'm really going to miss the place. Before the emo exit, however, I managed to convince (with the help of the aforementioned classmates) my teacher to meet us for drinks!

So last night as the three of us marched out of the busy classroom, we saw our now-former teacher waiting on the couch in the lobby, looking not like an instructor but like a friend. The moment was surreal; it was the equivalent of your parents inviting your elementary school teacher over for dinner – and at first everyone found it a little awkward.

So off we went to a nearby bar, where we plied ourselves with drinks and yammered on, entirely in Japanese, for about three hours. Three hours! I actually woke up this morning not being able to speak English for a moment, because I was still in "Japanese mode." Very odd.

But last night was a tonne of fun. My teacher – Harumi – is almost stereotypical. She was sort of quiet around us, and occasionally she was easily embarrassed, but I always got the feeling that around her friends, she'd be a hoot. Sure enough, my hypothesis was correct; a few drinks later we were all war buddies, shooting the shit in a language only one of us truly knew about embarrassing drinking stories, weird Halloween costumes, and ghost tales.

I went to the washroom, only to come back and discover that we'd all been invited to Harumi's housewarming party next week. "It'll probably be all Japanese people," she warned. Awesome! As if I could pass up on what will probably be a bizarre event, where I will most likely be the only white guy for some distance. We exchanged email addresses and websites (and I pimped TGQ) and continued to chatter until well past midnight.

It was such a weird yet fulfilling evening, if only because I got to speak in a language I only learned recently non-stop for several hours. Plus, yeah, getting your teacher into the booze and rambling about drunk stories is pretty freaking awesome.

If only I had thought of that in high school, when we had that hot substitute....
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PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2006 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FLAWLESS VICTORY

Shiggy Spine Rip
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PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2006 3:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i would like to see the babality and/or friendship.
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PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2006 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lestrade, you have the coolest Staff Blog out of all of us.

Also, one of my friends ended up dating his college Japanese teacher after going out for drinks with her afterclass. They had a torrid romance despite the almost decade+ age differences.

WOULD YOUR WIFE APPROVE, LESTADE?!
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PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2006 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am jealous! I wish I had someone to practice Japanese with other than my mother. Japanese people don't really seem to exist where I live except in three cities that aren't close enough to visit often. Gaaaah.
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PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2006 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Persona-sama wrote:
Lestrade, you have the coolest Staff Blog out of all of us.


yours is full of boobies.
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PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2006 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dessgeega wrote:
Persona-sama wrote:
Lestrade, you have the coolest Staff Blog out of all of us.


yours is full of boobies.


She speaks the truth!

And Persona, my wife is all right with me dating Japanese teachers. No no, I'm kidding! I am as whipped as a dog, as any good husband is, so my leash is pretty long. Nothing to worry about!

I think my teacher is dating a pasty like myself, which I find to be an almost Hitchcockian twist. I've heard her speak fewer than a dozen English words, and they all freak me out. I'm used to being the student; the change of roles is almost uncomfortable.

Kinuko wrote:
I am jealous! I wish I had someone to practice Japanese with other than my mother. Japanese people don't really seem to exist where I live except in three cities that aren't close enough to visit often. Gaaaah.


Send me an email, or get on Skype sometime!
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PostPosted: Wed May 31, 2006 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As reported elsewhere, the Summer Gaming Drought has officially begun. Thank the heavens we at least got New Super Mario before it hit. I am sort of grateful for the lull, though, because I can use it to catch up on all the titles that have been released over the past year, yet I haven't played.

I plan on getting through more than a few titles, including Half-Life 2 on Xbox and several DS titles (but only if I can find them cheap enough!). I'd also like to get some adventure games for Xbox (like Syberia) and download a shitload of good Doom WADs from Doomworld. Oh yes, and I need to re-complete Halo 2 (to jog my memory) and, I hope, play through at least the first Marathon.

Jesus, I've got my work cut out for me!

Tonight is the official IC:TO Meetup #4, so we'll see how that goes. I'm sort of worried about it, although I won't go into details. I will get to test my Saturn Pad's might against challengers, though, so... uh... yeah.


Last edited by Lestrade on Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank god this journey is over.

DS Lite - Up Close

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like the meta-ness of posting picture of my gaming stuff within the picture of your gaming stuff, which happens to contain an issue of Gamer's Quarter.
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes! That's why I chose that spot in the thread.
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

post po-mo.
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had an art theory professor begin a course last year by saying that we might now be in "po-po-po-mo" and I had to harness every internal resource to prevent myself from doubling over in laughter.
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