Topics

51

General Chat / Depressing Movies

« on: June 01, 2003, 02:53:18 PM »

In case you hadn't noticed by my avatar, I have finally connected with Silent Hill 3.  Although I was interested in the game, and was carefully watching it, I just couldn't get hyped about it.  The trailers for the game just didn't do anything for me, which was in HUGE contrast to the trailers for Silent Hill 2, which had me hyped like you wouldn't believe.

Anyways, since I have the Silent Hill thing going again, I naturally thought of Jacob's Ladder.  Those of you who have played Silent Hill and seen the movie, you will immediately know what I am talking about.  (I hope).  Suffice to say that it's just as much a part of Silent Hill as Escape From New York is to Metal Gear Solid.

But I have already seen Jacob's Ladder, and I can't find the DVD anywhere.  (I can't afford it right now anyways, but that's beside the point).  What I was wondering is if there are any further movies that I can watch that are related in "feel" to Silent Hill or Jacob's Ladder?  I have a free rental from a local video store, and I was planning on using it on the new James Bond movie which I still haven't seen, but I suppose I could make an exception for a good movie of this style.

I heard the title...  "Session 9" When I was looking at the Jacob's Ladder DVD on Amazon, and was wondering if anyone here had seen it.  Is it any good?  Is it like Silent Hill?  

52

Nintendo Gaming / Mainstream Media trys to Cover Video Games.

« on: May 29, 2003, 01:51:52 PM »

Why the hell do these people even bother trying to report on this stuff?  It's perfectly obvious that they don't have a freaking clue what they are talking about.  Guys, Nintendo's biggest enemy isn't us.  Nintendo's enemy is the anti-hype machine going against them 24/7.  It's a foregone conclusion by most retailers and media people that the GameCube will fail, as all Nintendo consoles.  This is of course total BS, but it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when retailers don't stock appropriate numbers of GameCube games, or don't get certain titles at all.

Anyways, here's a link to the article.

I just wish that these people would STFU is all.

53

General Chat / You know you have a problem when...

« on: May 28, 2003, 05:31:03 PM »

Today was another job hunting day for me.  I have been unemployed and not in school for the last month.  I am broke, in debt, and I have about enough money to make rent and $25 left over for food.  For food at the moment, I have a bottle of mayo, 2 cans of tuna, and a loaf of bread.  I also have a few cans of soup.

I took my resume to a few places, and Toys R Us was one of the places I took it to.  I filled out a form, and dropped it off, then figured I would check in electronics for the GameCube demo disc.  It turned out that they had them, but they were keeping them behind the counter.  They were giving them out to people who bought GameCube games.  I was a little bewildered at this policy, but kept my mouth shut, as I knew it was a pretty damned good deal.  So I asked if I could buy the disc seperately, knowing that I wouldn't make rent if I bought a game.  The girl said no, as the disc would ring it at $0.01, and the manager said that it could only be given away with a game.  I walked over to the GameCube section, held the $40 Resident Evil in my hands for a few seconds, then left the store.

My willpower didn't even last long enough for me to walk out of the parking lot.  I went back into the store and picked up the last copy of Resident Evil and put it on the counter.  A new girl was behind the counter this time.  I informed her that I would like a demo disc with the game, and showed her where they were kept.  (Toys R Us employees don't keep up with gaming news in this town).  To my surprise, when she passed it through the scanner, it showed up as $14.99.  Knowing I had a chance at making rent, I asked her if I could have just the disc.  She called the manager (again... hehe), and the manager said yes this time.  I passed over the money to pay for the game, and walked out of the store, just as the other lady was coming back to the till.  I could tell that she was kind of miffed that I had gotten away with just buying the demo disc.  I didn't want anyone to take my disc away, so I said thank you and hurried out of the store.

Walking home sounds very simple, but I decided to save the $2 I would normally spend on bus fare and walk home instead.  That involves a walk of about an hour down a hill, and then up the other side.  Today was also a very hot day.  By the time I got home, I was parched, exhausted, and VERY eager to try out Soul Calibur II.  To my surprise, I discovered I had left my key inside the house.

So I did the onyl thing a man in my position could do.  I went to the store and bought donuts with the $1.50 I saved by not taking the bus, went into Dairy Queen and drank water out of the tap until I gave myself a headache, then walked to the school to use the computers.

My roommate usually comes home around 2AM.  I figure I only have about 5 hours to wait and reminisce about my video game addiction that has led me to spending $17 on a demo disc that would have fed me for over a week.  As it is, I can probably roll pennies to last me another week or two, but if I don't find a job soon, I am going to have to see Welfare or the Food Bank.  Or both.

God I wish I had my GBA with me right now.  So anyways, does anyone else have a story about their videogame addiction leading to circumstances that are somewhat "less" than pleasurable?

54

General Chat / nVidia vs ATI

« on: May 24, 2003, 01:02:52 PM »

It's unlikely that anyone else here really cares about the nVidia/ATI feud, but I am personally enjoying the hell out of it.  I haven't liked nVidia much ever since they bought out my beloved 3dfx... and I am really liking how much ATI is wasting nVidia right now.

http://www.megagames.com/news/html/hardware/dawnatiflingofficial.shtml

nVidia's own Dawn demo seems to have been beaten by ATI...  coupled with the recent announcement that nVidia was found cheating at 3DMark 2003, I think that it's safe to say that nVidia's stranglehold on the graphics chip market is officially over.  nVidia can whine about 3DMark not being a "valid" benchmark all they want, but when their own demo apps run better on ATI cards, it's time to admit defeat.

Welcome the new champion, ATI.

55

General Chat / Rurouni Kenshin

« on: May 23, 2003, 01:46:05 PM »

I have been watching Kenshin for a good 6 months now.  I have just never gotten around to watching Kenshin before then.  Being that there's 95 episodes, 1 movie, and 6 OAV episodes, that takes a lot of time.  Last night I finished watching the 95th episode, then decided to watch the movie.  It was about 3AM at that point, but I still wasn't sleepy at all.  I decided to throw in the first OAV episode and see how it was.  I had heard that it was good, and I was in the mood for some blood.  The last 20 episodes or so of Kenshin were actually starting to bore the hell out of me.  They just seemed uninspired to me.

I am a strange person.  I have an artistic side of me, but it rarely gets expressed in anything tangible.  I write short stories now and then, and I will sometimes program myself something, but my coding skill just isn't there yet, and I can't focus for a long enough period on my writing to make something great.  Someday it is my dream to bring the two together though, and make a game worthy of recognition.  Nevertheless, I sometimes get dim visions of what I would like to see.  It can be something as simple as watching a leaf fall from a tree, or something as meaningless as watching the sun go down.  But I always have a strange obsession with a landscape that is both serene yet active.  Like I said, I cannot explain precisely what I see, and to do so would involve explaining myself for a good 20 pages of posts.  It does have meaning to me though.  My friends recognize that I am a very twisted person, and although I recognize the real world, and can navigate through it without issue, I am really living in my own nightmare world.

When watching the 1st Kenshin OVA, I felt a connection.  It wasn't showing me what I have been seeing for a long time, but it was showing me what I needed to see.  There was killing, there was misery, there was great tragedy.  Yet it was all sort of surreal.  It was done with a numbness and a foreboding that was played precisely into my deepest thoughts.  It was the effect I was looking for.  The story of the OVA was fairly run of the mill Kenshin stock, but the presentation was entirely different.  This is what I found so captivating about it.  It was the world as if seen through my own viewpoint.

Even if you don't like anime, I urge people to watch the OVA at least.  It's one of the finest works of art I have ever witnessed.

56

Nintendo Gaming / Denis Dyack Interview

« on: May 23, 2003, 01:15:51 PM »

I have searched around for an existing thread on this, but I haven't found one.  If there is already a thread, please close and hide this thread, and point me in the right direction.

First of all, I would like to congratulate PGC for snagging the interview, especially since IGN reported in their latest Mailbag that they were unable to get an interview with Denis... (*snicker*)

Second, I would like to thank Denis for taking the time to give his opinions and insight into the state of video games.  It was a very interesting read (as always), and was very enjoyable to read.

Basically, I am just saying thank you to Rick, Jonny, and Denis for taking the time to tell us these things.  It was a great interview.  

57

General Chat / Canadian Dollar

« on: May 21, 2003, 11:57:35 AM »

Last night I was completely SHOCKED at the price of the Canadian dollar.  According to the powers that be, the Canadian Dollar is now worth over $0.75 USD.  That's completely amazing.  That means that it only takes 4 dollars Canadian to make 3 dollars American.  At this rate, buying stuff from the US is actually going to be a BARGAIN.

I can buy games, hardware, and doodads from the US cheaper than I can get them from Canada right now... this is truly a great time for Canadians.

58

General Gaming / Penny Arcade's E3 report

« on: May 19, 2003, 01:26:39 PM »

This is REALLY frickin good stuff.  You owe it to yourself to check it out.

http://www.penny-arcade.com  

(this auto parse thing had better start working for me really damn fast.  You should all have this page bookmarked or something anyways.)

59

General Chat / I just got a Voodoo 2!

« on: May 18, 2003, 05:09:27 PM »

Alright, I am sure you are all wondering why I am thrilled to have just paid real money for a 5 year old video card.  It's a long story, so I should probably start from the beginning.

In the old days, 3dfx cards (Voodoo) were the best around.  They had their own API (Glide), and they were fast and looked great.  My first "real" 3D accelerator was a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI, as I was broke, and not too into PC gaming.  However, the card performed marvelously.  I could play Wing Commander Prophecy in all its Glide splendor, and Need For Speed High Stakes ran with a beauty and a silky smoothness like you wouldn't believe.  My Pentium 120 was finally able to run new games at 60fps, and look just as good as the ultra-modern Pentium IIs.    I would regularly be able to play games that would list a Pentium 166 or even a 233 as a minimum system requirement.

However, my mother's computer was a storebought computer while my own was home-made.  Needless to say, my computer ran a fair bit better, but it seemed that her computer was a certified lemon.  It would crash regularly, and the problem wasn't only the newfangled Windows 95 that was installed on it.  After months of trying to track down the bug, I eventually found that her computer's stability was greatly increased with my Voodoo 3 card installed.  With great reluctance, I offered her a chance to trade video cards.  I would take her nVidia TNT, and she would get my Voodoo 3.  I did get a fee for it, in the form of more memory, and an upgraded hard drive, but I always missed my Voodoo 3.  I was no longer able to use glide, and the TNT just wasn't very fast.

As time went on, new technology came out, and my computer evolved into a celeron 600, and I came across a GeForce 3 when the card came out.  In spite of the clear performance gain that I had over my computer as it was in the old days, I still missed my Voodoo 3.  Not being able to use glide still pained me, and wrappers just didn't do it justice.  My computer evolved further, and I learned to live without glide.

However, a friend of mine recently lost his computer due to a motherboard failure, and bought an entirely new one from the store.  Knowing that he had a Voodoo 2 card in his computer, I jumped at the chance to buy it off him.  So, $20 poorer, I plugged in my "new" video card, and saw the 3dfx logo pop up on my screen for the first time in years.  Not having any of my old glide games installed, I was playing Gran Turismo 2 with Lewpy's glide GPU plugin.  The smoothness and the beauty of the game running on the Voodoo2 truly does 3dfx justice.  I did experience a few frame drops, but I think that my GeForce 3 has been retired from PSX emulation in favor of a 5 year old video card.    I may buy another Voodoo 2 off ebay at some point, and link the two in SLI, but right now I am just happy to have glide support again.  The API may be long dead and buried, but it's still loved by all of 3dfx's fans, and a testament to that may be found when I went out to seek Windows XP voodoo drivers.  So many coders had written Voodoo drivers for Windows XP, and so many people had downloaded each and every one that it brought a tear to my eye.

Anyways, a toast to 3dfx!  May their memory live on forever.

60

NWR Feedback / What's up with the auto-parse URLs?

« on: May 16, 2003, 12:24:08 PM »

Isn't that supposed to make a hyperlink out of the urls that are posted in plain form in a post?  If so...  why isn't it working, and is there an ETA on that?    I realize it's post-E3 madness still, and I am not pushing or anything, I am just curious.

61

General Gaming / Call of Cthulu

« on: May 15, 2003, 05:53:18 PM »

Given how much Lovecraft hated games, he should be turning over in his grave right now.    It seems we are getting an Eternal Darkness inspired PC game that is more true to the original Lovecraft stories.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/402/402672p1.html

It looks pretty interesting to me.  I am curious if they can do a better job than SK.  The project seems ambitious enough, but I am wondering if they can actually pull it off, or if it will be a letdown of collosal proportions when it comes out.  I am not too fond of PC games (especially not first person ones), so I am not really expecting much right now.  But I will be keeping an eye on it.  

62

Nintendo Gaming / Star Fox

« on: May 14, 2003, 11:53:56 AM »

In a thread around here somewhere... (I seem to have lost it now, and there doesn't seem to be an existing Star Fox thread) I said that I wasn't too impressed with the new Star Fox game...  I take it back.  

I just watched the full trailer, and I am quite impressed.  It looks a lot different (and better) in full motion.  It's like Star Fox 64... on GameCube.  I read the impressions both here and at IGN, and I guess it plays like Star Fox 64 as well.  What more could you ask for... seriously?

63

Nintendo Gaming / I-Ninja thread

« on: May 11, 2003, 08:46:12 PM »

Alrighty... who else burst out laughing when they saw the screenshots of I-Ninja?  It most certainly WAS NOT what I was expecting, but I warmed up to it pretty quick.  I am actually really looking forward to this game, just so I can see how it plays.  It could be really good, and it's a huge departure from other ninja games out there.

64

General Gaming / Metal Gear

« on: May 10, 2003, 06:52:59 PM »

This is going to sound really stupid, since I have had the cart for the game for over 10 years, and I played it a lot back in the day... but I just finished the game today.  I started a new game last night, and finished the game once and for all today.  This was entirely inspired by the new MGS 3 trailer which can be found in my sig if you missed all the other threads about it around here...  Of course I didn't finish it without a guide, as the game is stupidly difficult, but it was a good game nonetheless.

I was considering lifting my self-imposed ban from playing Metal Gear Solid, but I figured I would just code something instead. In my continuing reborn obsession with Metal Gear, I have decided to make my own Metal Gear game.  Anyone know what the laws are like on making a non-profit game based off of a commercial game?  It wouldn't be any different than fan fiction would it?

I think I am going to go hunt down some suitable sprites now.

So yeah, how many of you have played and finished the original Metal Gear game?

65

Nintendo Gaming / Fire Emblem comes to North America.

« on: May 08, 2003, 01:27:33 PM »

According to The Magic Box, Nintendo has announced that Fire Emblem: Sword of Fire is coming to North America.  Looks like all our pleading for this game have been sufficient.  

Also, it seems that Sega has announced that they are developing a new Shining Force game?  Interesting.  I wonder if it's coming to GBA or GCN?

66

Nintendo Gaming / Anyone else find it strange.....

« on: May 05, 2003, 02:54:06 PM »

That IGN Cube has this posted on the main page?  

http://cube.ign.com/articles/400/400780p1.html  

67

Nintendo Gaming / Ninja Turtles

« on: May 04, 2003, 10:25:24 PM »

Looks pretty damn cool to me.  Check out a couple of screenshots.  It's like the NES has come back to life on the GameCube.  

http://www.newtechnix.com/Affichage_Article.php3?Id_Article=10037

68

General Chat / Star Wars Kid

« on: May 04, 2003, 01:25:37 PM »

I just read about this poor bastard on Penny Arcade...  I must admit that like Gabe, I have done my fair share of lightsaber fighting as well, but I hope to god that I am not THIS bad, and I would never have the urge to videotape such a thing if I was that bad.  

http://www.waxy.org/archive/2003/04/29/star_war.shtml

This is just hilarious though.

69

Nintendo Gaming / Article on Cinescape.

« on: May 03, 2003, 08:56:21 PM »

I was browsing through Cinescape, looking for a preview of "The Last Samurai", which I have just heard the title of, and thought it sounded interesting.  I got sidetracked though when I noticed an article on Nintendo printed on the front page of Cinescape.

I sent them a rather angry response (included below).  What do you guys think?

Quote
Personally I think that your article is simply not focusing on what is important.

"but when you’re taking the best licenses, and only getting remakes for your console, something isn’t quite right."

The 3 franchises you mentioned, Resident Evil, Sonic, and Metal Gear Solid are interesting choices.  

The ENTIRE Resident Evil series is being brought to GameCube, and 2 ENTIRELY new games are also coming with them.  Resident Evil 0 and 4 never even crossed your mind when you wrote the article.  The other games were brought to GameCube so that Nintendo's fans could play the entire series on a Nintendo console.  It ensures that Resident Evil fans will own a GameCube.  Resident Evil 1 was remade as the graphics in the PSX version were too horrible to still be marketable on GameCube.  I don't see the problem with remaking one game, and giving us two entirely new ones.

As for Sonic, that's the same deal as Resident Evil.  If you are a Sonic fan, you are going to have to own a GameCube, as with the release of Sonic Adventure DX, almost every Sonic game ever made is going to be on GameCube.  That's a lot of games.  It puts Nintendo in a very good position when the ALL NEW Sonic Heroes comes out later on.

For Metal Gear Solid, PS2 and Xbox got MGS2, which most fans agree was simply horrible.  I assure you that I would never buy MGS2 if it came out on GameCube.  It's a crappy game, and it's been out for far too long.  However, most fans will agree that MGS was something special.  Nintendo is capitalizing on this by giving us a thorough remake of MGS, and since it's being developed by a Nintendo 1st party, there is no chance of it being ported to another system.  Metal Gear fans are going to go nuts over the game.

"But even to get some stuff from Namco and Sega the company had to hand the keys over to some of its best franchises – F-ZERO and STAR FOX."

In case you hadn't noticed, Namco, Sega, and Nintendo have been very close lately.  They developed the Triforce hardware together, and relations between the three have been very good.  F-Zero and Star Fox are being developed by Namco and Sega so that EAD doesn't have to make them.  Miyamoto has been saying for a long time that he is stuck with making sequels to so many of his popular franchises that he hasn't had time to make something completely new.  The solution was to give Metroid to Retro, Star Fox to Rare and Namco, and F-Zero to Sega.  As a result, he will have lots of entirely new stuff to show us at E3 this year.

"Square is back in the fold, but with FINAL FANTASY CHRONICLES, a game that could be great, or could be lame, and definitely isn’t the FINAL FANTASY XII that Nintendo fanboys hoped to see."

Kind of strong words considering that you have only seen one piece of concept art for Final Fantasy XII.  I don't see how you can just decide that it's going to rock, especially in light of Square's recent track record.

"That said, I still think there is more than enough reason to own a GameCube solely in the first-party lineup. Yet Nintendo is going to have to do more to attract gamers who aren’t exactly turned on by Mario, Link, Fox, Pikachu and co. if it’s going to be a challenger in the next console race."

That's what Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 4, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid, Too Human, Dead Phoenix, Killer7, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Phantasy Star Online Episode III, Rogue Squadron 3, etc. is for.

Look on Xbox.  Is it any better?  

On Xbox, you hear 3 names, and that's about it.  Halo 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Fable.

I just really wish that you would take the time to do some research before you start pumping out the old myths.

70

General Gaming / SILENT HILL 3!!!!

« on: April 30, 2003, 12:47:59 AM »

YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!

Konami might not give a rat's ass about GameCube, but as long as they keep giving us good PC ports of their PS2 games that are worthwhile, I will be plenty happy.  

Silent Hill has long been one of the few games available only on Sony consoles that I have really really wanted.  When Silent Hill 2 came out, it killed me to be without a PS2, and I actually put aside my pride and rented one so that I could play the game.  When a PC port was announced, I was overjoyed, and the quality of the PC port very much impressed me.  The inclusion of exclusive Silent Hill 3 trailers on the PC disc kind of clued me in that Konami was giving some serious thought to making more good PC ports.

Now that it's officially announced that a release will come quite early this time (August 2003), I couldn't be happier.  I am still worried that Silent Hill 3 might suck (some of the trailers are off-putting), but I now have the opportunity to buy it.  

Man, with Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Shadows of Destiny on PC, and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes on GameCube, I am finding it hard to hate Konami right now.  

EDIT:  Forgot to mention.  The PC version will also include the soundtrack for the game.  This will save me bloody ages trying to hunt down the soundtrack elsewhere this time as well.  

71

General Chat / The Sprite ad

« on: April 28, 2003, 12:33:22 AM »

Is anyone else as mesmerized as me looking at that ad?  I actually went out earlier and bought a Sprite ad.  I figure that if you are going to make an ad, you might as well make it a cool one.  The Sprite one is very cool.  It's like a great big stoner light...  As a Canadian, I have to approve.  

72

General Gaming / E3 Press Conference

« on: April 27, 2003, 07:16:22 PM »

I would just like the staff to answer a question for me...

Even if you don't have a DVD this year, will you still make the Nintendo press conference available to us in some form?  That part of the DVD was really the highlight for me last year, and I want to make sure that I don't miss the press conference again.  I'm sure that someone here would be willing to host mirrors for the file if bandwidth was a problem.  I would host some myself, except I am probably going to lose my internet access in a couple of days.

73

General Chat / New Terminator 3 Trailer

« on: April 25, 2003, 09:11:03 PM »

I am SO stoked about this movie.  It comes out on my brithday too.  

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/t3-international/

74

NWR Feedback / About the ads....

« on: April 18, 2003, 02:49:39 AM »

I know I am going to get anally violated for posting about the ads...

But I just took a weird survey that was in a banner on the front page.  When it was done, it said click this link to return to the site you were at before taking the quiz.  I followed the link, expecting to come back to PGC, but I wound up at Gaming Invasion or some crap like that.  Are you guys sure you are being paid for that ad?  Are they directing your funds to Gaming Invasion, or is it just a buggy link?

75

General Gaming / I miss Rare.

« on: April 17, 2003, 10:59:52 PM »

I was just reading about some retarded racing game that Rare is making (no, I am not a fan of Diddy Kong Racing), and I had to smile, even though it was in the Xbox section.  I know that it's going to be like 5 years before the game is seen in public, and chances are that I wouldn't buy it even if it was on GameCube, but I just miss the concept of Rare.

It's true that Rare as an entity is gone and nothing more than a memory, even if you own an Xbox, but the news brought fond memories back.  I remember when Rare used to promise us games, then totally get quiet about them for years...  They were a lot like Nintendo in that regard.  Now they are gone forever...

(Looking over my post, I have to say that this is some of my worst writing EVER, but I think I got my point across.)