Video Game Stuff

[IanC]

WHAT?

F-Zero GX is an amazing game. Though as hard as a really hard rock shaped hard thing.

[James]

SHOW ME YOUR MOVES!

OK

F-Zero GX brought me way less joy than F-Zero X. It was too hard for my non-race-game-playing self.

Skimba, was that half-pipe snowboarding game 1080º Snowboarding for the N64 by any chance?

[chrismachine]

1080 is still the best snowboarding game yet to be produced in any capacity.

[giantsfan97]

Way too many loose ends to tie up, though.. which means this will probably end up being another unfinished game.

So true. I first made a sneaking/archer but the combat became too boring and slow for me. So I made another character who swings a sword and makes a ghost wolf ally and shoves fire down her enemies' throats. A great thing about this game is that even though I played a lot on that first character, I'm doing totally different quests with this new one. Unfortunately, the combat again starts to get boring after a while.

I will be getting Batman: Arkham City for Christmas. The first game has the most fun combat mechanics of any game I've ever played EVER. They need to sell the game engine or something so EVERYONE uses it for any kind of beat em up game.

[James]

For those of you not subject to my occasional Twitter outbursts:

"I finally finished Mass Effect 2. Now I'm allowed to get Skyrim and spend two years playing that (on and off). COMMENCE DOWNLOAD."

I also have Assassin's Creed: Revelations on the go, and made a tiny dent in Batman: Arkham City a week or two ago. Games games games.

[Dusk]

I will be getting Batman: Arkham City for Christmas. The first game has the most fun combat mechanics of any game I've ever played EVER. They need to sell the game engine or something so EVERYONE uses it for any kind of beat em up game.

I MUST disagree with you here.. to a point.
I enjoy it, but once you're up to your 50th punch/kick combo and you fail what is ultimately a quicktime event and miss completely, then get smacked in the head by a hired goon, you feel less and less like THE BATMAN.
It's good and bad. Perhaps if I were better at it, I would like it more.
I hope I get some time in the "holidays" to return to that game.

SKYRIM
I had an EPIC battle with a white cave bear during a blizzard last night. I used about 40 arrows and fell into freezing, icy waters. Then I got trapped under the ice! Then I found my way out and climbed to land (snow) only to find that the bear had brought two friends (wolves) who were equally as invisible in the neverending whiteness of SNOWRIM.
I defeated them by shouting fire from my character's mouth. I like to think he says, "MR BURNS" when he does this.

[James]

I will be getting Batman: Arkham City for Christmas. The first game has the most fun combat mechanics of any game I've ever played EVER. They need to sell the game engine or something so EVERYONE uses it for any kind of beat em up game.

I MUST disagree with you here.. to a point.
I enjoy it, but once you're up to your 50th punch/kick combo and you fail what is ultimately a quicktime event and miss completely, then get smacked in the head by a hired goon, you feel less and less like THE BATMAN.

There is actually more to the combat than punch/kicking, but it's easy to ignore; perhaps a little too easy. But what's brilliant about those games isn't the combat system, it's the animation system. It does indeed shine the brightest during combat, but it's not what you're doing that impresses, rather how it translates into near-seamless action on the screen.

All that said, I did find the combat in Arkham Asylum satisfying all the way to the end, and it appears to have a little more depth in Arkham City, so I do enjoy the mechanics of it, too.

SKYRIM
After much consternation I decided to be a Dunmer WIZARD. I came quite close to being a Nord fighting dude, as there were some pretty fantastic beards available, and because it's their realm, and because VIKINGS, but I'm not sure how much I really enjoy bashing things with things, and I kind of regret not having pursued magic further in Oblivion. I also considered being Sneaky McArrowington, because I like both sneaking and arrowing fellows, but that's precisely how I played Oblivion, and I think I ought to give something else a try. Part of what made the decision a possibility was that the other species look a lot more realized in this game. I was particularly impressed with how ragged the orcs and dark elves look. Also, what helped ease the rejection of a full and majestic Nord beard was the positively villainous long beard I put on my Dunmer. Beards are very important. And his sinister red eyes. I don't know if I'll play an evil character (I probably won't be consistent), but he looks like he has bags of history. Of course this is all kind of academic, playing the game in first person, but occasionally I switch to third and swing the camera around just to remind myself who this guy is.

Anyway, the game itself seems good so far, although it's early days yet. I'm still considering making a viking dude with a sweet beard, but given my chances of finishing the game just once, starting a second character would be pretty foolish.

[Skimba]

Skimba, was that half-pipe snowboarding game 1080º Snowboarding for the N64 by any chance?

That looks about right. I honestly am not sure. Was there a character to unlock that was like the Silver Surfer...and a penguin for a snowboard?

[IanC]

SKYRIM - SHUT UP ABOUT IT

[James]

Skimba, was that half-pipe snowboarding game 1080º Snowboarding for the N64 by any chance?

That looks about right. I honestly am not sure. Was there a character to unlock that was like the Silver Surfer...and a penguin for a snowboard?

Definitely yes.

SKYRIM - SHUT UP ABOUT IT

:lol:

Definitely no.

[Nyperold]

I got Skyward Sword. I'm in Skyview Temple. A few nights ago, I had the best experience I've ever had playing a Zelda game: getting past that eye sentry after a hint from Fi that seemed useless at the time.

Skip if you haven't figured it out and still want to:
The first thing I tried was shooting it with the slingshot. Of course, it closes up as soon as you pull the slingshot out. I did the command for getting a hint, that being that the eye "follows" the tip of sharp objects. My reaction: "So?" I thought maybe I could distract it with my sword, then, I don't know, give it a Skyward Strike or something. So, in an attempt to basically amuse myself while I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do there, I started moving the sword in figure 8s. Finally, I started moving it in circles, and imagine my surprise when that's what worked!

I went back to Skyloft later and learned that the Sheikah Stone basically shows you what to do in that and other instances, but it was still a hilarious surprise.

(Also, I broke a chandelier. It's the proprietor's fault for storing something I wanted on top of it, and then basically posting a sign telling me how to get it! )

I also got Professor Layton and the Last Specter. In the main game, I'm at the point where if I proceed further, I can't save, so I'll want to do the minigames before then.

The Super Hint system returns, albeit without the fanfare in Unwound Future. This is kind of odd, as Last Specter takes place before (save possibly flashbacks) Unwound Future, so Super Hints should be unfamiliar to him, or familiar in UF. In fact, the entire hint system should be known to him by the events of Curious Village. Oh well.

A little disappointment perhaps for those of you in the EU market: you don't get London Life in your version (called The Specter's Call).

It's a game in which you create a character and have him move into "Little London", a small 'burb populated by the characters of the main game and the previous three. You go around doing various jobs for Happiness and Wealth, the second of which is used to buy things, the act of which increases your Happiness. And both help you get a bigger place to live.

It's been compared to Animal Crossing, but one thing it doesn't have that Animal Crossing does is that "real time = game time" thing, and as innovative as that was, I'm glad not to see it in London Life. It has a hyperspeed day when you're outside, the sun and moon stand still while you're inside, and time stops at the point where you last saved. Also, you get a list of the day's troubles in the (in-game) daily newspaper. You can solve them, do jobs for Rodney, juggle for a little girl, stamp tickets for Beluga, or -- once you can get in -- carry luggage for Matthew. You can also fish and pick flowers (once you have the proper items for each), but the point to doing so is... mainly for some of those troubles I mentioned, since, as far as I've seen, there's no way to sell the excess; you just have to drop it into the ether (i.e., whatever you drop immediately ceases to exist, but you can probably get another). Also, fishing and flower-picking each have a number of outcomes which result in you not getting another flower and losing Happiness... and catching certain fish will take away some Happiness, as well!

So, yeah. If you get the version of this game with it, then you can decide for yourself whether you find it an interesting diversion or not.

[Skimba]

SKYRIM - SHUT UP ABOUT IT

I didn't ask you, so shut your face and some other poopcakes and stuff.

[quetzalcoatlus]

My dad gave me his PS3 and a few games because he wasn't using it. Right now I have just started out on Fallout 3, which I am enjoying so far. Other games that were his but are now mine would be Uncharted 2, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and some pinball collection. Games I already had for it but didn't really get to play much would be Bioshock and Grand Theft Auto IV.

I also got Plants Vs. Zombies for the DS - it's a good "wasting a few minutes on the train" kind of game.

[chrismachine]

I also got Plants Vs. Zombies for the DS - it's a good "wasting a few minutes on the train" kind of game.

My wife LOVES that game. I had fun with it the few times I played with it as well.

[Zombie Protestor]

I also considered being Sneaky McArrowington, because I like both sneaking and arrowing fellows in the knee.

FTFY.

I tried Plants vs Zombies and thought it was well-made and cutesy in a good way, but resource management is definitely not one of my strong suits. On WoW, for the quest to get the singing sunflower by completing a Plants vs Zombies minigame, I had to have my wife do it.

[Judas Maccabeus]

I recently just started playing Dragon Age. Yes, really. I'm very good at getting to games in a timely fashion, aren't I?

[Binkatron5000]

I recently just started playing Dragon Age. Yes, really. I'm very good at getting to games in a timely fashion, aren't I?

Origins I presume?
Do you have the golem?

[Judas Maccabeus]

I recently just started playing Dragon Age. Yes, really. I'm very good at getting to games in a timely fashion, aren't I?

Origins I presume?
Do you have the golem?

Yes, and I don't have any golems yet. Right now I'm messing around in Orzammar (I've already done the Circle Tower and Dalish Elves sections), so it wouldn't surprise me if I ran into one soon, though.

[ntw3001]

Circle Tower

That's where I got sick of the game's bulllshit. I fought my way to the top floor, killed my healer and then the game apparently expected me to turn round, go downstairs, pop to the shops and fetch Morrigan. Epic adventures! I stopped playing instead, and haven't felt any real pressure to start the game up since. People make a fuss over it and I wonder if I should try it again, then I remember that it just wasn't terribly good.

[EsBe]

Okay, so, Serious Sam 3: Before First Encounter (or My God, it's full of Kleer!)

I just finished it after, according to Steam, 19 hours. While it took a few chapters for the action to get up to speed (two initial snoozefest levels in other words) the rest of the game was the utterly bonkers off-the-wall insanity that I expected. (Literally off the wall, as in frequently being a human pinball in hordes of werebulls.) And oh my god, the last level. The game has a Windows Sideshow app that can display on G15 keyboards and the like... one of the things it displays is the number of enemies killed out of the level's total... on the last level I had around 1750 coming at me. Even the final boss fight where you kinda "have to burn the rope" to beat him, was still a crazy epic battle. The game's greatest feature is that it makes you feel like the world's finest badass over and over again. (Which should be the objective of every game.)

My only complaint is that everything's brown. Of course it takes place in Egyptian ruins, but in the first game you actually got to play in ancient Egypt when all the buildings were painted and covered in gold. Oh well, can't have it all. Rest of the game is darn pretty.

Aaaaaaaaanyone up for co-op?

[quetzalcoatlus]

Bought Splatterhouse, the 2010 game, for PS3. It got bad reviews apparently, but it was cheap, I sort of wanted something more actiony in my collection and this video review swayed me. I kinda suck at it so far, but it's pretty fun. I forgot to add how I like that the text on the back cover is translated into French. Such a sophisticated-sounding language for touting a game's gore and heavy metal soundtrack: "Une violence monstrueusement brutale et sanglante", "Une bande originale killer metal", etc.

Just started out on Oblivion. I am a redheaded Nord named Leahcim, because I'll admit I am uncreative at naming characters and, when given the option. will almost always play as a hot chick. I have not actually gotten out of that first cave yet. Already the plot is a bit silly ("hey, the king needs to escape directly through the prison cell you are in. See this big gaping hole we just made in your wall? Don't follow us through it, even though you're completely unrestrained and we will do absolutely nothing to stop you"), but I like the atmosphere and combat style.

Enjoying Fallout 3, but I need to work on the combat aspect of it a lot. Also, "Butcher Pete" is a hell of an earworm. I've already noticed the gameplay mechanics of both this and Oblivion are a bit similar, so maybe as I get better at one I'll get better at the other.

[James]

The entire music selection in Fallout 3 is excellent. A friend and I became particularly fond of the Ink Spots songs, of which there are several.

[sum yun gai]

"Butcher Pete" is a hell of an earworm.

but he loves that meat!

[ntw3001]

Enjoying Fallout 3, but I need to work on the combat aspect of it a lot. Also, "Butcher Pete" is a hell of an earworm. I've already noticed the gameplay mechanics of both this and Oblivion are a bit similar, so maybe as I get better at one I'll get better at the other.

I did not find this. I picked the perks that, after a few levels, made combat like a point-and-click game. Open up 'shoot man' menu, click on head four times, watch short film again. I did get tired of it. New Vegas had the giant bonus of guns-that-shoot-straight, so you can actually use them without VATS.

[Jemry]

There are a lot of pages in this one and I'm lazy, are there any people who play League of Legends here?