Messages

51

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Dead Rising coming to Wii!

« on: August 21, 2008, 12:22:56 AM »

This games looks like RE4 but with less mood..........but with more freedom.............I'd buy it for $20.

I just bought the 360 version for $20 on Amazon.  I don't know if it's a universal price drop or not, but I couldn't pass it up at that price.  So it'll be the 360 version for me unless I get hit in the head after I play it, then buy the Wii version at a later date due to memory loss.

52

General Gaming / Re: Too Human Trilogy: Exclusive for 360

« on: August 21, 2008, 12:19:08 AM »

Kevin Perirrrieiaieria from G4 has a video defending the game. I still think it sucks, but he has some good points, and he's kind of funny in it.

G4 has a very odd reverential/sycophantic relationship with Denis Dyack, so it's no surprise that Pereira and Sessler are defending this game.  The myriad previews of the game on X-Play over the last few months got me interested in the game, but the demo killed all that last month.

If the pre-order numbers are true, I have a feeling I can pick this up used for under $20 in January.

53

General Gaming / Re: Indigo Prophecy

« on: August 17, 2008, 05:19:53 PM »

wait till you finish the game.

I haven't played the game, but I've read enough about it to know that this is funny.   

54

General Gaming / Re: Braid (XBLA) - The next Portal?

« on: August 16, 2008, 12:35:11 AM »

Whoo, I got the final achievement!  I just completed a speed run at 42:something.  It was my second full run, so I'm pleased with myself.  I started a bunch of times, but usually gave up on one of the levels in World 3 when the stupid cat-bunny kept killing me.  I think I could still cut 3 or 4 minutes off my time, too.

Pro tip: When attempting a speed run, be sure to practice certain tricky puzzles beforehand.  Particularly Fickle Companion (World 4), Window of Opportunity (World 5), and Impassable Foliage (World 6).  You don't want to reach a puzzle and have to figure out how to solve it all over again.

55

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Dear Nintendo: Re: Wii Home Menu

« on: August 15, 2008, 10:59:49 PM »

But then another friend of mine not only doesn't have a cellphone but also doesn't wear a watch even though he had both in high school (having a cellphone back in 1997 was a pretty big deal).  So he's always asking me what time it is.  TIME TO BUY A WATCH, CHEAPO!

This made me laugh.

56

TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Blast Works: Build, Trade & Destroy

« on: August 14, 2008, 10:14:56 PM »

I rented this a while back because I was intrigued by the customization aspect of the game.  I'm terrible at side-scrolling shooters, and this one was no exception.  I totally sucked at this game.  The user interface for level creation was also overly complicated.  I was expecting an interface along the lines of Maya, with similar mouse controls being implemented with the Wii remote.  Some people have created awesome things, but I couldn't.  At all.

57

General Gaming / Re: Achievements

« on: August 14, 2008, 12:07:56 AM »

I'm kind of looking for specific achievements, like the name. Like "Little Rocket Man."

The only story-mode-completion achievement I can think of offhand is "Heartbreaker," which you get after beating Portal.  But the (much) bigger reward was hearing the ending credits song.

XBOX 360 games for kids (like any THQ game, licensed game or Viva Pinata Party Animals) are infamous for handing out achievements like they were candy.

Yes.  20G for naming my Piñata was the best!  I felt so special!  (Wow, there's actually a Viva Piñata ad right next to me right now.  How strange...)

Also, I'm always comparing games with people to see how similar our achievements are.  That's part of what got me back to playing GTA IV.  Seeing that other people had beaten the game and gotten a bunch of multiplayer achievements made me go back to the game, beat it, and get into the ranked multiplayer matches.

58

General Gaming / Re: Braid (XBLA) - The next Portal?

« on: August 14, 2008, 12:00:09 AM »

Holy crap, that actually makes some sense. Good job, Bill.

um, not to be rude or anything, but did you not get that the first time you played through the ending?  It was a great twist that honestly gave me goosebumps.

The fact that the princess is trying to escape from Tim is undeniable, but I'm more interested in figuring out who/what she represents exactly.  I'm sure she's just one of those "whatever you want it be" symbols, but after reading all the text in the game, it could conceivably Tim's lover, his mother, or the atomic bomb.  My biggest question, though, is this: do Worlds 2-6 come before or after World 1?  Is Tim going through everything in the game to reach the princess for the first time, or is he doing it to find her again?

Someone on a message board somewhere pointed out that the nautical flags at the end of each level relay messages telling Tim to stop, to varying degrees.  Then there's the dinosaur at the end of each level who eventually asks if the princess even exists.  It's all very confusing, but very interesting.

I've only got 1 star to go.  I had a list of all the levels they could be found on, so that's how I got them.  I needed a video walkthrough for one of them though, because it wasn't gonna happen otherwise.  The fact that there's no mention of them anywhere in the game (and no achievements for them, either), kind of reminds me of old school platformers that had different ways to solve levels that you may never even find.  It kind of makes me want to break out Super Mario World and play through it again.

59

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Okami (Capcom to send out replacement box art!)

« on: August 11, 2008, 05:11:18 PM »

Did Capcom send out the new box art yet?  I returned my game a while ago, so I don't have any use for it, but I'm just wondering.

60

General Gaming / Re: Don't buy scam DLC

« on: August 11, 2008, 03:22:09 PM »

When I rented Beautiful Katamari on the 360, I was surprised that some of the achievements weren't attainable without downloading new levels.  So I downloaded one for the hell of it, and all it did was unlock a new level that was already in the game.  That's when I understood why everyone calls them Scamco.

The only way it'll stop is if gamers stop buying them.  But since gamers are the most masochistic consumers out there, that'll never happen, and we'll probably see more and more companies selling keys to unlock content that you've already bought.

61

General Gaming / Re: Braid (XBLA) - The next Portal?

« on: August 10, 2008, 11:20:46 PM »

Correct me if I'm wrong matt, but to get the puzzle piece in the picture above, you had to have your shadow stand below the drop in the middle of the picture, wait for the enemy to fall on it, then jump off the enemy as it flies through the air to get to the platform above the door. If so, I can't believe I ever thought of it. 

Yeah, that's right.  I think if I had spent more time with the puzzle, I may have accidentally come across the solution.  But as it was, I had spent over an hour on that piece and decided it was time for help.  I thought World 5 was the hardest overall.  I didn't really like the time mechanic that was introduced, and I had trouble grasping it in certain places.  I've heard a lot of people say they had trouble with World 6, but I thought that was one of the simplest.  6's time mechanic just made sense to me, and I rarely had to think about how to use it.

I played through the final level again earlier, and it gave me goosebumps all over again.  I took notice of the little things, like how it looks like the princess is pushing against a barrier as you go forward, but when it's played in reverse, it turns out she stops to catch her breath.  Also, her rescuer has red hair.  Is that Tim's alter-ego?  How he imagines himself?  What he wishes he could be?  I love this game!

Regarding the epilogue text, I was reading somewhere else (don't have the link, sorry), that there are a lot of connections between the game's story and the Manhattan Project.  It made sense as I was reading it, but some of it seemed like a stretch.  It also didn't take into account 90% of the book text in Worlds 2-6.  There are probably dozens of interpretations of all of it, but I thought the most interesting part was the mention of his mother's braid, which is why I vote for incest as the theme of this game!

(It was too tempting not to leave incest by itself.  Sorry.)

62

General Gaming / Re: Braid (XBLA) - The next Portal?

« on: August 10, 2008, 07:26:27 PM »

I finally beat this yesterday.  I had to use a walkthrough for one puzzle piece.  Coincidentally, it's the puzzle piece in the picture I posted in the OP.  First, I used a text walkthrough and still couldn't figure it out.  Then I had to watch a video on YouTube.  The solution was something I never would have thought of, so I don't really feel like I cheated myself.

The ending was certainly interesting.  The story is much deeper than what's presented at the beginning.  I know that I'm missing something, because I'm not really clear on most of it.  Who is the Princess?  Is it his mother?  A lover?  His mother/lover?  A stranger?  An abstract idea?  The alternate text in the epilogue makes even less sense out of everything.  There's one screen I can't read it on though.

Then there's the whole thing with the stars.  I don't know how people discovered this.  I have a list of the levels they appear on, and I've made it to one, but wasn't able to actually get it.  The unfortunate thing is that if you've already completed the puzzle for World 3, you have to start your game over to get one of the stars.  So I'm contemplating if I should start over before trying to get any stars.

63

General Gaming / Re: Braid (XBLA) - The next Portal?

« on: August 08, 2008, 04:22:45 PM »

Overall a wonderful game that I only wish had been a bit cheaper, but I feel I got my $15 worth.

Yes, that's something I forgot to mention in the original post.  When I first played through the demo, I was hooked.  When I saw it was 1200 points, I hesitated for a day, then decided to take the plunge.  It's definitely worth the price though.  I believe Portal is going to be 1200 points when it's on the marketplace this fall as well, so that's pretty comparable.

64

General Gaming / Braid (XBLA) - The next Portal?

« on: August 08, 2008, 01:51:38 PM »

Wow.  That's all I can say as I play through this game.

The game came out on XBox Live Arcade this week.  I know there was a lot of hype for it, but I didn't really pay attention to it, because I mistakenly thought the game was a shooter, because that's all that's ever released on XBLA.  So I went into the demo with no preconceptions, and I was completely blown away from the beginning.



The art style is just stunning.  It's like you're playing inside an impressionist painting.  Since I play my 360 on a regular CRT TV, I don't get the benefit of HD graphics.  In fact, most games I've played on the 360 don't really amaze me graphically, because they don't look that much better than some last gen games.  It's all about art direction, so in my opinion, this game has some of the best graphics I've seen on the 360.

The gameplay is truly innovative.  Without giving too much away, your character has the ability to control time in order to reach puzzle pieces to complete puzzles and advance the story.  In the first game world, it seems almost derivative of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.  But each world has a unique time control ability, and that's what makes the puzzles so innovative.  There's one puzzle in world 6 involving an elevator.  At this point, you know that you need a particular ability, and it's all about figuring out exactly when and where to use it.  Once I figured out what I needed to do, I just smiled and didn't stop until I had completed the level.  It was truly ingenious.

It's almost like each puzzle piece has a unique way to retrieve it.  Only in the early worlds do you find repeat methods to obtain the pieces.  Later on, it's all lateral thinking as you make your way through the game.  There are a lot of challenges in the game, but they're implemented so well that it's not frustrating, and once you figure it out, it's really rewarding.  This is where I think the comparisons to Portal are really apt.  For example, I need one more puzzle piece in world 3 to complete the puzzle, but there's no way I'm gonna cheat and find a walkthrough for it.  I'm gonna keep trying until I figure it out, because I know it'll be so much more rewarding that way.  It was the same way for me in Portal, particularly the challenge levels.  I know I can do it, I just have to wrap my brain around it the right way.

I know there's a few NWRers who are currently playing this, too.  I know Caliban's got like 20 more puzzle pieces than I do.  What are everyone else's thoughts on this?  2D game of the year?  Greatest puzzle/platformer ever?  Totally overrated?

65

General Gaming / Re: Rockstar has a new game called IV

« on: August 04, 2008, 08:15:47 PM »

Well, I finally beat it after putting it down for nearly 2 months.  This may be the first time I've ever gone back to a game and beaten it.  I always tell myself I'll do it, but I never do.  (ie - every PS2 RPG I've attempted playing.)

In the end, I wasn't overly impressed with the story.  I didn't really feel anything for Nico.  Sure, he's dealt with a lot of crap in his past, but he became a horrible person.  Roman was no angel, but he got over it.  I felt really bad for Ma McReary.  Two of her kids are dead, one's in jail, one's a smack addict, and the only one she has left is Packie.  So sad.

I would've liked to see more missions with the McRearys.  They were by far my favorite to work for.  Three Leaf Clover was the most challenging mission in the game, and for all the right reasons, too.  The dynamic among all the siblings was interesting to see.  And the Blood Brothers mission was a very good choice on Rockstar's part.  That was the only "choice" mission where I hesitated, but I think I made the right decision.

Overall, I'd give it a solid 9/10.  It's not perfect by any means, but it was an awesome "next-gen" gaming experience.  It wasn't as immersive as Mass Effect, it wasn't as innovative as Portal, but it did a lot of things right, and I can't wait for the DLC.  I'm hoping to see some new friends, new activities, new islands, and then a bunch of new side missions to go along with all that.

66

General Gaming / Re: Do you advocate a "medium and a half" mode for Guitar Hero/Rock Band?

« on: July 26, 2008, 04:04:58 PM »

I've been trying on Hard on Rock Band these last few days, and I'm getting significantly better.  My main problem is alternate strumming.  For some reason I can't hit all the notes when they come at you rapidly.  It seems to me that I'm strumming up and down at the right times, but it isn't registering or something.  Is it just a feel you have to develop to know when the game will recognize a strum properly?

I've found the GH guitar is much better suited for alternate strumming because the strum bar gives you tactile feedback when you strum.  It also makes the clicky-clacky noise, so you get the aural feedback as well.  The Rock Band guitar's strum bar just really sucks.  There's no sound and no tactile feedback, so it just feels like you're doing nothing with it.  I find it much easier to do fast strumming in GH, even on songs like Barracuda on Expert where the pattern's irregular.  (And since my GH and Rock Band are on 2 different systems, I can't use one for the other, unfortunately.)

67

General Gaming / Re: Do you advocate a "medium and a half" mode for Guitar Hero/Rock Band?

« on: July 24, 2008, 01:12:22 PM »

Maybe instead of an upper-baby mode you should just get better at the game

I agree.  In GH3, I moved up very steadily from easy to expert.  It was my first GH game, but I was used to the gameplay because I was AWESOME at Amplitude, one of Harmonix's previous titles.  Maybe that made it easier for me to grasp everything, but like I said, it was a steady progression, and I was playing decently on hard in a few weeks.  As it stands now, I can complete any song on hard, and maybe half the songs on expert.

As for Rock Band, I found Hard mode in guitar to be much easier than GH.  The whole time I played, I failed one song, and that was in the final tier.  Compare that to GH, where it took me dozens of tries to complete Knights of Cydonia or Raining Blood on Hard, and it's easy to tell which game has the more robust note charts.

And for the record, I find it much easier to stretch my pinky, so I play in the first position on the guitar.  I know it sounds weird, but all of my pinkys are extremely... stretchy?  Like, they can stretch really far away from the rest of my fingers.  I include my toes in that, too.  My pinky toes can move independently about an inch away from the fourth toe.  Isn't that interesting?

68

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo E3 Press Conference

« on: July 15, 2008, 11:49:55 PM »

What amazes me is that they didn't even show any "hardcore" titles in montage trailers.  I figured they'd at least throw us a bone...instead, there was no bone.

There was very brief gameplay footage of Call of Duty: World at War, mixed in with Rayman and The Clone Wars.  Personally, none of those titles interest me, being that I have the tolerance for one FPS per generation, I won't make the mistake of buying another Rabbids game, and I have no interest in Star Wars.

I was watching G4's live feed, and their interview with Reggie afterward was so funny.  You could tell Kevin and Morgan were holding back when Reggie said that Animal Crossing and GTA DS were the games to satisfy the "core" gamers.  As much as I loved Animal Crossing, I have absolutely no desire to play the same game again with the same graphics.  Visiting other peoples' towns doesn't seem like a big enough leap for the series.  As for GTA, would it have been too much to show a video?  A screen shot?  Concept art?  Tentative release date?

Wii Music...  I completely agree with Ian and the rest of the naysayers out there.  Seriously, if Guitar Hero is TOO HARD for you, then put your helmet back on and go rock back and forth in the corner.  My sister happened to come into the room while Miyamoto was miming playing a virtual saxophone with a Wii remote, and she said, "He's not even blowing!"  I just laughed because that would've been so perfect.  Why not complete the picture of miming playing virtual woodwind/brass instruments by blowing into them?

Oh, and Cammie Dunaway needs to never speak in public again.  I really miss Perrin

69

General Gaming / Re: Civilization Revolution

« on: July 15, 2008, 09:10:11 AM »

Am I the only one who's playing this?  I got it through Gamefly the day after release, spent about 3 hours with it in one sitting and decided to buy it.  Brand new for $48, so not a bad deal at all.

Anyway, I'm surprised at both the depth and the accessibility of this game.  The lower difficulties are great for experimenting and testing things out, like trying to figure out which civilization is the best for a certain kind of victory.  Then you can refine your gameplay to a point where you go into a higher difficulty and implement everything you've learned.  But since all the maps are randomly generated, you get an added layer of challenge.  Like the last map I played, I was going for a domination victory.  It turns out the Egyptians were isolated from the rest of the world because they were on their own island.  I didn't even encounter them until midway through the game.  So I had to focus on building naval units to transport my troops.  That actually worked out well all around, because I was able to get my troops to other places much faster as well.

This game is gonna be a huge time suck for me, so I'm trying to pace myself with it.  I haven't even touched the multiplayer, or the game of the week, or the different scenarios.

So basically, buy this game if you like turn-based strategy.  Even if you don't, buy it anyway, so I have someone I can play with once I get into multiplayer.

70

General Gaming / Re: Mirror's Edge

« on: July 15, 2008, 09:02:24 AM »

Both Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed have effectively done free running in a game, and everything I've seen of Mirror's Edge so far seems to be the same, just in first person.  And with "optional" gun combat, this just sounds like a mess.  I was really intrigued by this at first, but now I'll have to wait until it's finished to see if it's worth it, because they've completely lost me.

71

General Gaming / Re: Gaming and the Economy

« on: July 11, 2008, 09:13:28 PM »

Alls I know is that no one buys newspapers anymore, so my job was outsourced to India 6 weeks ago, and I still haven't found anything else.

Oh wait, this thread's about gaming.  Umm, I've actually bought more games since being laid off because of all the time off I've had.  Actually, most of what I've played were rentals from Gamefly.  All I've bought over the last few weeks were Mass Effect and Rock Band (lttp, got it 2 days ago, can't stop) for the 360.  I guess gaming is my lipstick pick-me-up, because if I took the time to think about all the poor decisions I've made in my life, I probably wouldn't stop crying...

72

General Gaming / Re: Leaked Microsoft Email bye bye 20GB 360s hello 60GB 360s

« on: July 08, 2008, 04:35:31 PM »

I love how this is the generation of a dozen SKUs per console (Wii notwithstanding).  I bought my 360 Pro in May.  I could've waited 2 months and gotten an additional 40GB hard drive, plus whatever other improvements are going into the chipset and whatnot.  It makes me feel like a chump now, knowing I could've waited just a bit longer and gotten a better deal.

Nintendo's the same with their handhelds.  I got an original GBA about 2 weeks before the SP was announced.  I was really pissed off because I couldn't even play the GBA because of the damn screen.  The only place I could play it was lying in bed next to my lamp with the lampshade taken off.

I may as well just stay behind and wait a full generation before buying/playing any more games.

73

Reader Reviews / Re: Guitar Hero: On Tour

« on: July 05, 2008, 10:27:00 PM »

Yeah, you ruined the whole ending of Guitar Hero: On Tour for me!  I was really looking forward to playing through the story mode and getting the surprise ending for myself.

74

General Chat / Re: Good News Everyone!

« on: July 05, 2008, 06:54:01 PM »

POSTAL FRAUD INVESTIGATOR

haha, I never said it was the post office's fault.  If anyone sends something small and soft inside a gigantic envelope, it's going to get crushed.  I'm just surprised it happened twice, since Amazon's usually good with packing stuff securely.

I ended up watching the movie yesterday.  I didn't like it as much as Bender's Big Score, but I'll definitely buy it the next time I'm at Best Buy or something because I really want to see the extras.  I thought the extras on the first DVD were really awesome.

75

General Chat / Re: My new mini notebook

« on: July 05, 2008, 01:23:09 PM »

I bought one before a trip overseas, and it was perfect for web browsing and Skype.  It's really got everything you need in a laptop.

I haven't touched mine in almost 3 months though.