The Gamer's Quarter

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

I've been playing quite a bit of Two Worlds on the 360. Unfortunately, the game was tossed onto the 360 without any optimization whatsoever. The huge world and interesting ideas - stackable magic cards and boosters as well as the ability to combine similar low grade weapons - are offset by the spiteful menu navigation system and horrible performance. Just running along a path results in dips in the framerate and pop-up so bad that entire towns and mountains just appear out of nowhere. I really like where the game was going - it's massive and impressive in its own right - but they really make you work for it. A mention was made about a possible update via Live to improve online performance, so maybe they can do something with the single-player portion. And, if so, the game should be much cheaper by then.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

dessgeega · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:40 am Post subject:

i finished trace memory last night. the game is terrible, but the writing is strong. i remember what i played of hotel dusk as being basically the same. am i up to replaying that game yet?
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Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

I got all achievements in Marathon, after I got the Vidmaster achievement. I am so awesome I can hardly believe it sometimes.

Ok, now I consider myself done with marathon, apart from multiplayer and survival games every now and then, so I got back to Bioshock. I'm in Arcadia right now. I'm enjoying it, this game certainly gets more fun as it goes on, what with all the new toys it gives you to play with.

This is basically the game I wanted System Shock 2 to be, although I must admit SS2 did some things better, this is a much more pleasent overall package.
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Chlazza · . Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 9 Location: Lh'owon

I'm playing Homeworld 2 again. (3rd? 4th time?)

I don't have a functional gaming PC right now so imagine my surprise when it runs on el-cheap-o Dell laptop with a minimum of stutter (dust clouds really slog it down, but whatever). Granted its at the min graphics level, but honestly I can't tell the difference.

I love the setting of this game. The whole depths-of-space, high-tech aerospace industry vibe really appeals to me, and I spend awful lot of time in game just selecting ships and zooming in and looking at the detail. The skyboxs/backgrounds look sketchy and almost abstract, giving a sense of distance and age. The whole game has a very strong and distinct style.

One thing that does annoy me though is how heavy handed the game is with the mystical properties of the hyperspace cores and the Progenitors. It all Oracle says this, and The Prophesy states that, and that Fleet "Priority Alert!" Intelligence knucklehead really won't shut up about it. I liked how, in the first game at least, the apparent mythology/religion of the Hiigarans is vindicated and explained by the discovery of the hyperspace core and crashed ship in a desert on their planet. That was cool. But this time around the hyperspace cores are magical devices that interact with random bits of 10,000 year old debris on the battlefield in ways that nobody apparently understands, and all this Prophesy stuff is pulled out of thin air. I feel this clashes with what I felt was established in the first game, and the general techo-vibe I like so much.

I haven't played for a while, so I had to rediscover the trick to making the game super easy: know the level layout, objectives, and script triggers/consequences ahead of time.

The Mover mission is an excellent example of this: the Mothership gets hijacked and makes several 'random' jumps, and the game doesn't tell the player where the ship will reappear. I had forgotten what exactly happens in that mission since I last played the game so when the Mothership reappeared halfway across the map my entire fleet had to drop the mop-up operation and haul ass to get to her (since for some reason Motherships are equipped with zero weaponry default). The second time this happened I couldn't get there fast enough and failed the mission.
The second time I played it, as soon as the MS hyperspaced out I told everybody to move to where she would reappear, based on knowledge gained from the previous mission, and I won the mission with ease.

Most of the missions are like this, which makes me wounder about how Relic tuned the difficulty of the game. When the game came out it was freaking hard, so I wounder if the perception of difficulty (or lack thereof) by the devs was skewed by their knowledge of the tricks for every mission (since they built them all), but the average player would have no idea what to do and would end up getting swamped in the chaos.

I also learned to not be so afraid to recycle everything deployed so I could rebuilt the fleet in a configuration suitable for the task at hand. Its better to recycle mostly useless ships so you get the RU's back at least, rather sacrificing them at the hands of the enemy for a minimal effect.
(I remember how in the first game how I would recycle everything before ending a mission since the number of enemies in the next level was determined by the number of ships you entered the map with.)

Oh yeah and: Torpedo Frigates for the win. Flak may be able to chew up fighters, Ion might punch through destroyers and other frigates with ease, but for all around general multipurpose use you can't beat a large fleet of Torpedo Frigates.
And Scouts with the EMP upgrade 0wn Movers.

Man, I meant for this post to be, like, four sentences...

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:05 am Post subject:

i know hacking sprites from other games into super mario bros. is the most common thing in the world, but mario in zebes is really cute. and, more surprisingly, it has pretty reasonable level design! most romhackers know shit about level design, and seem to think that producing the hardest game possible validates their machismo.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:12 am Post subject:

i finally started replaying hotel dusk. the first time i played it, i lost my save file while close to the end of the game, so i've been reluctant to go through all that again.

the presentation is magnificent! the characters are great! the writing is superb! the story is padded! the puzzles are terrible! someone give cing a couple game designers, please. they're so good at everything but the part where you actually have to play.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

The DS-gimmick jigsaw puzzle piece was the part that made me want to break my roommate.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

captaincabinets · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:08 pm Post subject:

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Lair has done two things to me tonight: make my arms burn and freak out my cat. I had to shake the controller up and down to rip off some weight that was hanging by a chain, but the controls here aren't like the typical Wii game where exaggerated motions are just part of the fun, they are required. I look down to see Earl freaked out - eyes open wide, head back, ears up. Sorry, buddy, it's not as easy as you'd think.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 12:40 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

silentmatt · Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:11 am Post subject:

Yeah... I really really really miss rumble.

Whenever (and it better) comes out, I'm definitely going to replace both my PS3 controllers. If the Wii was enough to make me mostly bored with motion sensing, the PS3 was capable of making me loathe it.

If Assassin's Creed uses it, I swear to god. I'm going to be pissed.
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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."

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

Drawn To Life is pretty neat.

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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

I want there to be a game which uses the Wii controller as a regular NES controller, but during testing the developers note when the players unthinkingly tilt and roll the controller, and duck and swerve their bodies (as people often do when playing games). Then they work out what the players subconsciously hoped to achieve through these reflex actions, and actually implement them into the game!

jjsimpso · . Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 94 Location: USA

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:32 am Post subject:

i'm getting close to where i left off in hotel dusk. which will be good, since i think the plot was just about ready to take off again. there's far too much solving everyone's problems in the game (even if everyone's problems are tied to the main plot in ways that seem increasingly sinister). it's all so videogamey, but the writing is strong enough to make it work. imagine if they were good at game design too!
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dessgeega · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:47 pm Post subject:

finished it. wow, the last chapter is a checklist of things not to do in an adventure game.

okay, so you're trapped in a room and suffocating. i've got to find a way out of this room! the solution is to solve a cryptogram (one that shouldn't even be there, as the original recipient of it already knows what it says). when you solve the cryptogram, your friend comes looking for you and lets you out of the room. if you don't solve it, he never comes looking for you and you pass out. then you need to figure out where the culprit is. he didn't go up the stairs, so there must be a secret passage around here somewhere! there's a totally obvious secret door in the wall, but you're not allowed to open it until after you've found the other hidden door!

it's like they wrote up a story and then had absolutely no idea how to go about turning it into a videogame. that said, the story makes a fine mystery novel. the characters shine and the script sings. can we pair these people up with the gyakuten saiban team or something?
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Six · . Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 313 Location: montreal

lordy dog, yeah. i'd likely have put it down right there if it wasn't obviously into the home stretch (and i hadn't invested so much in the story.) so infuriating.

having played it when it came out at the beginning of the year, and reading your thoughts now, i'm kind of torn. i want to revisit hotel dusk, but i absolutely do not have the patience to schlep through it again. there's a lot of schlepping.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Thank god I forsaw that kind of stuff happening! Should I sell back HD, or keep it just to watch the opening movies?
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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!"

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:28 pm Post subject:

Andrew Toups is online.
anna
andrew
this tingle adventure
is pretty brilliant

Sent at 8:08 PM on Thursday
Andrew Toups: I'm not here right now
Andrew Toups: “So talk all the trash you want, I got my epic Flying Mount and I got laid, which is more than most of you failures can hope for.”
Andrew
it is
is it?

anna
it is a parody of the statistical analysis approach many "gamers" take to jrpgs
Andrew
oh really

anna
every interaction in this game is a financial transaction
Andrew
huh

anna
there is one value that is tracked in the game
and that is rupees
rupees are your life. when you fight enemies, you lose rupees
when you run out of rupees, you die
everyone you meet tries to sell you something
most people won't even talk to you unless you give them rupees up front
the good part is
usually they don't tell you how much they require
Andrew
hah

anna
a calculator pops up, and you enter as many or as little as you want
you try to spend the least possible
and people get ticked off at you
and you lose money on commissions
it's pretty great
the goal is to raise enough money to get to RUPEELAND
where you will have food and women and beaches forever
Andrew
this game sounds...
FAB U LOUS

anna
it is
and it is a really grotesque take on the zelda universe
there are all these disturbing closeups of characters
Andrew
this is where all those extra rupees that you never spend in zelda go

anna
and the protagonist is a middle-aged lecher
in a fairy suit
who worships a giant rupee

Sent at 8:24 PM on Thursday
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Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

i am going to download this game asap.
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JasonMoses · . Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 407

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

I always said this sounded great!

What do you use to play DS roms? do you have flash carts?

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

Has anyone here played Skate? The descriptions I've read of it in reviews have me interested.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

SuperWes · Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:18 pm Post subject:

I ordered Rupeeland from NCSX. It should be here next week.

The full version of Skate I haven't played, but the demo is freaking amazing. Seriously, if this game doesn't kick Tony Hawk's ass there's something wrong.

-Wes
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dessgeega · Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 2:12 pm Post subject:

yeah, the demo is wonderful. it trims all the stupid things that the tony hawk series has accumulated. tricks feel like tricks: they take skill, they feel good to pull off, and they're actually unique - you don't just tap a button to execute a scripted trick.
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SuperWes · Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 2:56 pm Post subject:

Pink Teddy Bear · . Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 180

Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 12:35 am Post subject:

Highway Speed, which is a game that I made myself for Klik Of the Month Klub #3 that me and my fly dogs over at Glorious Trainwrecks have every month. It's much easier now than it was and I included the required .dll files so you won't need a copy of Klik and Play to enjoy it.
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captaincabinets · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:57 am Post subject:

SuperWes · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:15 am Post subject:

In between wedding preparation shit I've been playing Jeanne D'Arc and DK: Jungle Climbers.

Jeanne D'Arc is really great. I'm amazed that Level 5 was willing to put so much effort into a portable game that would have been right at home on a home system. It probably has the best production values of any game on the PSP and maybe even any Tactics RPG for any sytem period.

It's also really fun, and despite pissing on history the story's pretty decent! I really dig being able to combine ability gems to get new ones. It's balanced just to the point where you don't feel you'll never be able to find all of the combinations, but there are enough of them that you're almost always able to create something new.

It kinda makes me want one of those new PSP2s, but there's no way I'm going to pay $200 for one! Maybe when they release firmware that puts games in full screen on your TV and lets you use the PS3 controller.

Oh, and DK Jungle Climber is decent. I liked the art of the GBA version a lot better, but this one has a lot of new and interesting ways to use the mechanics. They should make the old art style unlockable.

-Wes
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silentmatt · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:19 am Post subject:

I totally glad you like Jeanne. I am still playing it off and on (I think I'm around stage 30 or so). It is a really great game, eh?

The PSP slims do look nice... but I'm definitely content with my CF "regular" PSP. The new features are OK (I like the TV out especially) but not enough to warrant buying one.
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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."

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

It's been kind of a big day for me.

This afternoon, I scored an 'S' ranking in "Jumpin Jack Flash" on hard mode. I think I can now consider elite beat agents finished.

And I knocked over the last colossus in shadow of the colossus.

Both moments were extraordinarily satisfying. Now that I have those two officially out of the way, I can't wait to get a paycheck and play something new for a change.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Yeah, one of the best parts about the Sega Nomad was not only that you could use it as a Genesis with TVout, but that you could hook, up a controller and have a second player playing at the same time. Not quite the same as using the controller yourself, but yeah.
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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!"

Slonie · . Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 141

So my friend gave me (another) Xbox and a couple games.

So now I'm playing Half Life 2 for the first time...On the Xbox.

Is this really the forgotten port?

After that I'm going to play Stubbs the Zombie, and/or softmod the thing.

PS: Or trade this extra xbox for somebody's extra PS2...
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-Slonie

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

I know quite a few people who first played HL2 on the Xbox (myself included). I would hardly consider it forgotten (yet). It will probably end up like the Saturn port of Myst in a few years: "I had no idea Myst was ported to the Saturn!" "Yeah, man, like that's the only way I could play it back then."

Also, I highly recommend that you pick up Stranger's Wrath if you haven't before.
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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!"

Pink Teddy Bear · . Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 180

I'm gonna be playing TF2 after my class tonight, so I'll get back to you guys on that.

Slonie · . Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 141

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

Is it emulated decently on the 360? Or at all?
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:23 pm Post subject:

the second boss of tingle quest is great by the way.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:47 am Post subject:

Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:44 pm Post subject:

Got to keep up with these sorts of things.
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dessgeega · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:55 pm Post subject:

i was in the midwest ;__;
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