The Gamer's Quarter

[ryan]

via GameTap.

"Among the highlights is “The Last Express,” Phoenix Licensing’s debut game on GameTap. When The Last Express was originally released, it received Editor’s Choice awards from Computer Gaming World, PC Gamer, and dozens of gaming websites, as well as being awarded the “Best New Adventure and Role Playing Game” by Games Magazine. Created by Jordan Mechner, the mastermind behind the incredibly popular “Prince of Persia” series, “The Last Express” is an indelible adventure experience. "



This is a pretty awesome addition. I last tried the service during beta and it was already impressive back then. They're really doing a lot right with this.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Dracko]

Oh, nice. The Last Express is definitely among my favourite adventure games ever made. It's so amazingly solid despite leaving most all of the development to the player's whims, and so damned gorgeous at that.

Jordan Mechner is a stunning game designer.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[dessgeega]

ooh.

i need to play this still.
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[OtakupunkX]

Does anybody have a list of all the games available through GameTap? I can't tind one anywhere and I'm curious as to what they have up.

[ApM]

Here. It's kind of like looking through a ROM list, except without all the shit. The lower-profile-yet-still-interesting titles really seem to jump out at you.

Much harder to find on their site is the price, which I've only managed to find by clicking on "Help" and digging deeply into their FAQ. (It's $9.95/month, for the curious.)

Also, no one has yet said anything about Cyan's Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Seudo, which appeared in the same GameTap update. Someone should!

[dessgeega]

someone should say something about gametap's plans to put uru back online! that's crazy awesome.
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[Cycle]

Also of interest, Spelunx is getting it's first PC port thanks to gametap.

I've been trying to get a copy of last express for awhile now, I'm glad I didn't pay a huge price for it (which it usually goes for).

[dessgeega]

so, what's the deal with the free trial? because i'm interested in playing the last express and spelunx (and possibly torment, but that will probably demand a significant investment of time) but not as interested in playing console games on my computer.

although playing the ultimas on gametap seems like a really good alternative to fiddling with moslo. in fact, the most promising thing about gametap is probably its dos and windows (and mac) ports. this isn't a bad solution to compatibility issues.
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[OtakupunkX]

The fact that Toy Commander, one of my favorite underappreciated Dreamcast titles, is available through this thing makes me wish I had broadband.

[dessgeega]

so i'm trying to start a free trial of gametap but it's forcing me to choose a plan, and the plans all cost money. where's this free trial i've heard so much about?
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[Lockeownzj00]

Maybe it's one of those, "free trial but you actually have to sign up with your credit card even though we don't charge you until right before your trial ends and hook you in contractually, bitch, haha!" things.

[dessgeega]

yeah, i tried clicking on one of the plans and that's what it looks like. so it's a two-week free trial and i can theoretically just cancel on the last day to avoid paying, right?
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[dessgeega]

so spelunx is pretty amazing. last express is currently downloading. AND i downloaded haunted house, because it is the halloweeniest game i know (followed by atic atac, maybe?) and i've been wanting to play it.

they have monster world IV for the mega drive, in the original japanese. that bodes well, i think.

their arcade collection is none too shabby. i mean, neither is my mame collection, but still. there is some obscure stuff in here - colony 7, higemaru, grobda, and return of the invaders (!), time pilot 84.

but yes, last express. soon!

EDIT: also, holy shit, twenty-first century commercials for old games totally justify the price of admission (which is thus far usdZERO). i could never put a price on the higemaru ad about pirates shaking their booty.
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[chompers po pable]

dess, i just bought necronomicon, and will be recieveing it soon.

this purchase is due to a thread over at IC. you should check it out, and maybe post in it so it's worth reading plz.

[Cycle]

gametap isn't available here apparently, but i managed to get a sealed copy of the game for $10. i guess i have gametap to thank for lowering the value.

it even came with a bonus... thingy with three free sierra games on it! none of them interest me, but still! I miss getting demo cds and stuff like that with my games. it was the best bit about daikatana.

[elvis.shrugged]

[dessgeega]

elvis, your username here and your one at ic balance very well.

i've played through the first day of the last express. missing a lot, i'm sure, but i'm not in jail! i am enjoying it a great deal. zarf says more than i probably could. i like the tighter authorial reign over conversation, though. i can't imagine branching dialogue working well within the frame of this game.

speaking of which, i'm downloading planescape: torment now! i'm going to either love it or hate it. maybe i'll keep notes. we'll see.
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[Lackey]

Questions: does gametap have a whole bunch of built-in emulators, and do you keep the games? There's not much hard information on the site, from what I can see. It sounds like it would be a good venue for all those games I want to play but will never ever see in a store.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[dessgeega]

you need to log in to gametap to play the games.

the last express has been deleted from my computer. huh? i went to play it and instead of "play the game" hilighted "get the game" was. i'm re-downloading it now. i hope my saved game wasn't deleted too.

planescape question: morte is dead. uh, true dead. how do i bring him back? i can't find his body/skull, either where he was killed or where i woke up. i miss the little fella.
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[dessgeega]

so, phew, my saved data is still there. but now torment is gone. do i only get one game at a time?

i'm enjoying the last express a lot. i just passed munich, and i have a feeling that things are going to go terribly awry soon.
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[dessgeega]

things went terribly awry at vienna, as expected. this rewinding thing is very handy.
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[Dracko]

[dessgeega]

i am making progress, but not the kind that will get me not killed at vienna.
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[dessgeega]

i have made the kind of progress that will get me not killed in vienna, but i have not made the kind of progress that will get me anywhere closer to constantinople. i have a feeling the only way through is to solve this riddle.

so, am i really the only person on these boards who's played this game?
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[Dracko]

I've played it before, a couple of months back.

Don't have it anymore, unfortunately.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[ApM]

I own it, but I got horribly stuck someplace, even using a FAQ. I think I was supposed to climb on top of the train and I couldn't figure out how.

[dessgeega]

so i can't figure out how to get the firebird to sing. i think i've figured out half the riddle - the five gems that must be touched to open the egg correspond to locations in the folktale. i'm sure the solution involves the four gems on the top of the egg as well. there's a line in the tale between england and russia about seeing elena's face "on the rooftop of the world", which i think is my cue to enter some sequence into the jewels on top, one of which makes someone's (who might well be elena) face appear. but as to what this sequence is, i have no idea. i may need to persuse the source text in more detail. right now i can only manage a tragedy-free but anticlimactic (and unresolved) ending halfway between paris and constantinople.

i just thought of something, actually, some place i ought to check. the last time that happened it led me to the egg so maybe i should stay optimistic. i spend a lot of time away from the game thinking about the game and it usually helps. which is why i'm reluctant to look at hints - though i do only have two weeks with it.

hey that new sam & max game is out by the way.
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[Lackey]

The Last Express I downloaded, but apparently playing another game undownloads it? This is not supposed to happen but when I try to play again it starts the download progress all over.

I played Sam & Max. It was pretty nice, actually. I appreciate the inventory narrowing measures the developers seem to have had in mind. I'm not as fond of the humour as I was as a kid, but I still had some chuckles.

I can't find Planescape anywhere in the game vault thing. It would be under Windows, wouldn't it?

Also, please note that to cancel you have to call their support line. They don't tell you how to cancel anywhere in the program or account info pages. I had to do a search for it on the website.

edit: it's also useful to know that if you cancel your account it stays active until the end of the billing period. So if you only intend to do the free trial there's no loss in making the account inactive early.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[dessgeega]

[Lackey]

Huh, it's something else. I have my account settings set to 17+. Also, I can see in the local storage settings that the game are still downloaded (according to the program!) but it still tries to redownload them when I play again. Very odd! Looking for solution now.

edit: Oh, Planescape isn't availble in Canada for some unknown reason. This is both profoundly disappointing and also weird.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[dessgeega]

whaaa
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[Lackey]

Is that in response to the disappearing downloads or no Planescape in Canada?
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[sawtooth]

[dessgeega]

[Dracko]

[Lackey]

I called them and told them to cancel the account and they told me something like "okay, it's been made inactive." I could still use it though, so I called them back to make sure and they told me I would be able to still use it until the trial period ends; this is in November some time. You can probably cancel it Friday still, I'm just saying you might as well do so early.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[dessgeega]

the shadow and the flame has some pretty hot supernatural.
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[dessgeega]

so gametap has the most ridiculous phone system computer thingie. as soon as i dialed the number someone shouted CRACK THAT WHIP! IT'S TIME FOR A BLOODY HISTORY LESSON WITH CASTLEVANIA. it was kind of surreal.

they told me that their account-cancelling computer is having issues right now and i should call back later.

. . .
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[Dracko]

[OtakupunkX]

[dessgeega]

craftily hidden in a dark corner of gametap's site.
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[Lackey]

I got some really bizarre poetry reading (or something!) when they put me on hold. It was even more confusing because the operator cut back in right when one of the people on the recording was about to speak.

I wish I could play more Last Express but it's being all uncooperative. Sometimes getting stupidly choppy, other times just crashing or restarting my computer. At least I've played enough to know what it's like.

Jordan Mechner is probably one of my favourite people now.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[dessgeega]

cancelled!

the person i talked to kept trying to convince me that i could have my free trial extended for another two weeks. i was all like: "that's okay."

their hold music is bizarre.
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[Dracko]