The Gamer's Quarter

[dessgeega]

warning: he cheats!

(and by "cheats", i mean he's really really good.)
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[Lestrade]

[silentmatt]

Thanks for the summary.

My level of excitement for Corruption is so low that I don't even know if I would play it if someone gave it to me for free. Seriously, it just looks unappealing on every level - story-wise, graphical, it's basic gameplay elements...

I don't know about anyone else, but ever since a couple weeks ago when I picked up my PS3... I am totally rediscovering how much I love the PS controller and how much I frigging loathe (the often) gimmicky motion-sensing phenomenon.
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PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[SuperWes]

I got it last night too and so far I'm 50/50. I actually kind of like the voice acting and step up in the production values. I REALLY like the controls, with the exception of getting buttons mixed up here and there. I always morph ball when I'm trying to switch visors and vice versa.

The bad stuff: the feeling like you've always got an explicit objective. The first thing I did when I started Metroid Prime 1 was turn off the waypoints. In 3 they're given to you in cutscenes, so I guess now they're part of the story? And my other complaint is the cutscenes. There are just too many of them. They're generally pretty short, but I'd be just as happy seeing most of the cutscene events happen in the game. Do they really need a cutscene to show a boss dying?

These are minor complaints though, and they're the same ones I had about Metroid Fusion, so it's not like they're breaking from precident. I'll have to keep playing to see if it's better than Prime 2, but so far I'm impressed!

-Wes
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[Shapermc]

Wes, you didn't even get half-way through Bioshock which is a better Metroid game than MP2 or 3 will be and you stopped to switch over to a game that ... ughh. I don't understand you at all.

Anyways, I never got the conrols down 100% in Metroid Prime. There was always something that I would screw up no matter what. I thought the controls in MP1 were crap honestly: too complicated for their own good.
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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!"

[Lestrade]

Well, to that notion, Shaper: I should by all accounts have picked up Bioshock instead, and I totally understand that. I just was in the mood for Metroid, which is why I chose that instead. I'm assuming that's the case for Wes as well.

Wes, I'll be curious to see how our experiences differ or mirror each other. I agree with you on that one major point though: the game is too "cinematic" (gag) for its own good. Metroid is the ultimate "narrative over story" game, and here they're just shitting all over that.

Grapple-swinging is kind of fun, but grapple-rippin'-shit-off-things is much more entertaining. Stealing enemies' shields is satisfying.

[dhex]

i feel like i've finally gotten the hang of bioshock.
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[SuperWes]

[Shapermc]

[helicopterp]

[Harveyjames]

[Lestrade]

[Shapermc]

[Swimmy]

[sawtooth]

I'm playing Wario World!

I remember staying away from this game for some reason when it first came out? I think it got less-than-glowing reviews. It's still pretty fun, though, simply because the engine is so delightfully solid. It's not really a physics-based game, but it's there and all the more enjoyable because of it. I like how later in the game you have to take advantage of momentum to launch yourself to other areas.

There needs to be a company besides Treasure that realizes that grabbing things in games is almost inherently fun.
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[ryan]

I've been playing Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword - Defense. I'm running into a problem with my units disappearing. I read that (Viking) Psycho Samurais and Grenadiers are most likely the problem, but the damn mod doesn't include that information in the combat log. If this is intentional, then a little notice would go a long way considering the alternative to what I'm going through now. What? You wanted those 10 units! Ohhhhh!
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[SuperWes]

(Cross Posted for great justice)

I played a bit more last night, I'm guessing I'm in around the same place as Lestrade. I just got my first ship upgrade and fought a crazy awesome boss that took a bit to figure out.

I'm loving it! It's strange, I keep reading on here about how I'm supposed to hate everything that goes on, but when I sit down to play it I'm really enjoying myself. The movement controls are absolutely perfect, and certain things that might - in theory - be terrible, like switching visors by pointing the controller at different sections of the screen, are actually really fun.

Like Lestrade, I've been getting stuck a lot, but unlike Lestrade I absolutely love this fact. The game isn't totally holding my hand, and in most cases all I need to do to progress is look around for stuff to scan.

I do agree that enemies seem to take a lot to kill, but I have a theory behind that. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to use your PED shots a lot more than I have. I've been avoiding using them as much as possible, and last night I got shot by one too many plasma hits and ended up getting a game over by turning into Dark Samus. I guess you're supposed to expell that energy by going into Power Mode to fight enemies.

So yeah, it's really good so far. Definately worth putting down Bioshock (temporarily) for.

-Wes
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[dessgeega]

i finished the original cases of the first phoenix wright. (there is a brilliant deductive leap at the end of the last case and i felt so good when i figured it out for the first time.) now i'm up to the bonus episode exclusive to the ds port: rise from the ashes. i love this case despite the presence of gimmicky stylus / mic nonsense. (apparently this stuff is also in gyakuten saiban 4, along with terrible characters i don't care about.) i think it's the villian that makes this case. that and the detective who thinks he's a frontier sheriff.
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[dhex]

i am thoroughly enjoying the everloving shit out of bioshock.

and the voice acting is superb.
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[JasonMoses]

[dessgeega]

fair enough! though i guess what i find most telling is that what makes me want to play gyakuten saiban 4 more than anything else is to find out what becomes of phoenix wright.

speaking of which, i finished rise from the ashes. it's my favorite case, like i've said, because of the villian. no other witness wields authority so casually, or menace so subtley. none of the other witnesses reveal so little of their hands. and when that hand comes down, it comes down around your throat. outwitting the true final boss of the phoenix wright games feels like a true victory. just getting the boss on the stand feels like a battle.

if replaying the first phoenix wright has done anything for me, though, it's reaffirmed my dislike for those stupid life bars in the second and third games.

in conclusion, here is my synopsis of the phoenix wright trilogy:

first game: best english script.
second game: worst english script. best moment.
third game: tightest game.
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[Talbain]

I actually have sort of a question, and an observation.

About MP3: I don't really know much about it, but is it more of the same from what we see in the first two?

Observation: MP3 seems a bit odd to look at don't you think? MP3C or something of the like might add disambiguation. I mean, when it's on a game website you kind of know what to expect, but when it goes out onto the interweb, stuff happens to it.
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Stop looking at what it does for them and look at what it does for you.
What they want it to be or think it to be doesn’t–or shouldn’t–matter.

[SuperWes]

[Scratchmonkey]

I just played three really competitive matches of the latest PS2 Winning Eleven with a co-worker.

First match was very tight, he had a handful of half-chances that he couldn't convert and I struggled to get many chances while playing a mainly-defensive formation. Shortly before halftime, I had a decent chance and one of his players took a chance at trying to take it off my foot and put it past his own keeper. The second half was mainly me just trying to hold onto the ball for as long as possible, mainly successfully.

The second match, I out-shot my co-worker 19 to 8 and wound up losing 4-0, with him neatly putting away every other chance and my team conspiring to miss 2 open goals. It was kind of your classic game where one team dominates most of the passage of the play only to get ripped open by well-run counter attacks. Honestly, he could have scored more.

Third game, I went up 3-0 in the first 35 minutes, despite having my right winger sent off for a tackle from behind. I then had another player sent off just before the half as there was a breakaway and I took the chance of trying to nick the ball off of the forward's foot, meaning that I went into the second half using the untried 4-3-1 formation. My co-worker did manage to pull one back; however, I had as many chances as he did, thanks to some nice counter-attacks.

It's just amazing how much better that game is when it's two people playing against each other. CPU games have this horrible stale feeling to them while multi-player is always tense and exciting, even if the game isn't particularly close.

[ryan]

Doom 1 Episode 4 is a beast. I only have 2-3 more sections left before Doom 1 is 100%. I need to acquire Final Doom and Resurrection of Evil, but with work, review, and school stuffs, I think my plans to kick the crap out of demons (for the greatest of goods) will have to be put on hold.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Crazy Bacon Lips]

Yeah, the difficulty and level variety really jump up from episode 3 to 4. 4 was added later, in the Ultimate DooM edition.

Word to the wise: don't play Hexen. Ever. You will actually get sick.

Started up Dragon Warrior VII again today! 15-ish hours in. I still haven't made it to Dharma temple yet, so the battles are sort of BORING. The rest of the game is too charming to pass up, though. Funny thing is, Wild Arms V has the inverse problem. I am going to return it and get STEAMBOT CHRONICLES!!!! which is now only $20!!!

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

[Cycle]

Episode 4 is pretty easy if you know all the tricks for the first couple levels, allowing you to gather a nice collection of ammo and swing through the rest of the levels. The hardest level is the first one, really.
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[dessgeega]

by "first one" you mean "second one".
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[Cycle]

well that's also difficult, but not as bad as the first since you actually have some decent weaponary on the second and some actual ammo! the best thing on the first level is a rocket launcher with very little ammo.
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[dessgeega]

i'm sorry, there are like thirteen barons on the second map.
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[Cycle]

there are 5 on the first one, and you barely have the eqiupment to deal with them! worse yet, the level design makes your encounters with them very intimate! on the second level you can keep your distance!

i'll give you the second level has a cyberdemon, but you just telefrag him!
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[dhex]

ultimate doom is just ridiculous.
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[Scratchmonkey]

Just tried out Hot Shots Tennis, which was released a while back. It's pretty neat, in that like Hot Shots Golf, it takes a system, breaks it down to a relatively simple basis, then adds a good basic-to-intermediate level of strategy and then coats it with a layer of good-naturedness that doesn't wind up being twee or creepy.

My main complaint is that it's really basic. You play as characters, you beat other characters, you unlock them as well as courts and costumes and you move up the ranks. Compared to the Hot Shots Golf series, it's pretty bare-bones. There's no tournaments and there's no equipment that you can use to modify your players, which is pretty disappointing. I was looking forward to taking a guy who had a decent net game and then seeing if I could upgrade his serve or topspin. Oh well, it's still worth it with the discount price.

[Crazy Bacon Lips]

DooM in general is just fucking ridiculous. I mean, look at that capitalization.

Seriously, how am I supposed to kill a baron in a 7 x 7 room with a 9mm? The rocket launcher just kills us both anyway! Fuck that.

[Cycle]

PROTIP: walk out the room
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[dessgeega]

PROTIP: turn off your computer and walk out of the room.
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[Crazy Bacon Lips]

Just walk away. It doesn't have to be like this. Just walk away.

Tonight I realized that Dragon Warrior VII is a real snore. I want to play Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne instead, but that game is somehow considered rare, you know, just because people on ebay started putting "rare" in the listing title; now it is like a hundred dollars.

[dhex]

[Lestrade]

[Harveyjames]

Yeah, I can't remember who it was I was playing Ultimate Doom with co-op, but it was a fucking ball-ache. And I love Doom.

EDIT: Moved my 'news' to the news thread.

[sediment]

I got to play a bit of Age of Conan, at the Funcom booth at Dragon*Con.

I only got to play a melee character, but it was pretty fun charging up to the guy sitting next to me and throwing his life-goo all over the ground (with my sword). They removed dismemberment from this iteration of the game because it was the same version used at the Leipzig Gaming Expo, but the guy there told me they'd be reintegrating it for the US release.

I lament that my computer may never be able to handle this game as it currently stands, and that I can't really afford a new one. I'm really looking forward to being a necromancer and riding on a mammoth and tearing peoples' arms off.

(and I generally don't like PVP!)

also: when not at work or in class, I've been playing Bully, Fable, and (as always) crawl. Bully and Fable actually complement each other very well when you vary between them, especially since you can play dress-up in both games.

I have to say I get a certain thrill out of kicking high schoolers around as a punk. the spud gun is especially delightful.
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[ryan]

Episode 4: done. The last map was a bit anticlimactic considering what all came before it.

Once I start digging into Doom 3 I'm going to install Dark Forces and give it a go. It's been years since I played it, and I really can't remember whether or not I played the demo a ton or actually beat the full version. I do recall finally understanding how the storm troopers could be such poor shots though - damn inaccurate blasters.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[dessgeega]

having finished replaying the original, i tried replaying the second phoenix wright. i can't do it. the puzzle logic is just too obtuse, and combined with that terrible lifebar that never replenishes (and is depleted in totally inconsistent amounts) it just wasn't worth playing through a second time. and i didn't even reach the circus murder, which is the real low point of the series.

i think i'm going to play that game by the hotel dusk people. i've still never played it. i've never finished hotel dusk either.

you know, a handheld adventure game seems like a pretty bad idea - how can you get engrossed in a game during the ten-minute wait for your bus? - but i absolutely love that i can curl up and play these games in bed. it is a cozy experience for which i am grateful.
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[Harveyjames]

I use to love Dark Forces. I thought Jan Ors was proper sexy.



I thought it was genius how polygonal opjects would appear in game, like your spaceship coming to greet you at the end of each level. Amazing!

[dessgeega]

i am playing trace memory. it took me only forty-five minutes to get hopelessly stuck. i hate that you can see objects while you're walking around, even mash your little polygon body against them, but you can't interact with them unless they appear somewhere in the picture on the top screen. and there are fewer of these pictures, and at fewer angles, than there need to be.
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[Harveyjames]

I think that game is for 8-year-old girls.

There's one really good half-implemented feature in it, which is the memory quizzes at the end of each chapter. MILD SPOILERS: These turn out to be significant to the game's finale, except there's no penalty for getting them wrong so it doesn't really have the power it should have. For a second though, it's like you are the character, and your failing memory is her failing memory. If there were actually consequences for incorrectly remembering things, that ending would be amazing.

[Shapermc]

[dessgeega]

[Harveyjames]

I just mean I think it might have been developed for and targeted at the pre-teen girl market, in its native japan.